Bangladesh, Afghanistan progress to quarter-finals; Pakistan crush PNG

Sreshth Shah23-Jan-2022Opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi struck 144 and No. 4 Raj Bawa smacked 162 to give India the second-biggest win in the history of Youth ODIs as the Covid-hit team trounced Uganda by 326 runs in their final Group B encounter in Tarouba. The pair’s partnership of 206, that propelled India to post the tournament’s first 400+ total, was also the highest third-wicket stand in Under-19 World Cup history.Related

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The 16-year-old Raghuvanshi started attacking the Uganda bowling right from the first over when he cut one square for four, and then dominated a 40-run opening stand with Harnoor Singh by playing the short balls offered by the Uganda bowlers on both sides behind square. He displayed his wristwork by flicking shots off his toes through midwicket and playing strong drives down the ground to reach his fifty in 49 balls.Raghuvanshi, on 50, was joined by Raj Bawa after Nishant Sindhu fell for 15, and together they dominated for the next 22.4 overs where they scored 206 runs together. Bawa started his innings by putting away a low full toss through midwicket, and after a short period of quiet batting till the 21st over, the duo broke free.The 22nd over went for 20 runs as Raghuvanshi hit two fours and Bawa smacked back-to-back sixes, the 26th had Raghuvanshi playing two sweeps for four and one drive past the bowler, and in the 27th over, Bawa played a sublime punch through deep cover and followed it up with pull to the long-on boundary to push India to 172 for 2. Bawa reached his fifty in 44 balls in the 28th over in style slog-sweeping a six over the leg side and by the end of the 30th over, India had breached 200.Raghuvanshi reached his 93-ball century next over by pulling a short ball for four, and with at least one boundary coming off their bat till the 34th over, India’s run rate was hovering near seven and the chances of a 400+ score was looking like a reality for the first time in the innings.Bawa then tore into Uganda bowler Joseph Baguma by hitting consecutive sixes off full-tosses and on 90, offered the first real chance when he edged a shot past the vacant slip cordon for four. He followed it up to move to 98 with a square cut that raced through the carpet. He reached his century in only 69 balls with a single to midwicket.With both batters in triple digits, it appeared like the duo had shed all inhibitions and looked to tonk every ball out of the ground. Raghuvanshi went 6, 4, 4 in the 38th over, however, he was out on 144, top-edging a swipe to the wicketkeeper.Bawa, though, was not going to stop, and he brought up India’s 300 in the 40th over with a six over extra cover. He kept finding the boundaries with ease and buried a six down the ground to reach his 101-ball 150 by easily flicking a shot over deep midwicket.With Kaushal Tambe not lasting long, Bawa needed someone from the other end to also bring out the fireworks to help India breach 400, and wicketkeeper Dinesh Bana offered that aid by hitting a quickfire 14-ball 22. Bawa then saw off the innings in Aneeshwar Gautam’s company as their six-run 50th over took India to 405 for 5.Uganda did not get going in their chase at all, with six batters failing to score a run. Rajvardhan Hangargekar rattled the top order with his two wickets and the stand-in captain Nishant Sindhu, who had bowled tight through the tournament but without the wickets to show for it, then ran through the middle order with a four-for, including the scalp of Uganda captain Pascal Murungi (34). Vicky Ostwal and Vasu Vats, drafted into the India squad hours before the match, took a wicket apiece to complete the rout. India will next play Bangladesh in the quarter-finals.Mahfijul Islam cuts off the backfoot•ICC via Getty Images

In what was a virtual pre-quarterfinal match, defending champions Bangladesh rode on the back of a complete bowling performance in a rain-hit Group A game to secure their passage into the final eight by beating UAE by nine wickets.Right-arm seamer Ripon Mondol took 3 for 31 while Ashiqur Zaman and Tanzim Hasan Sakib took two wickets apiece to bowl UAE out for 148. UAE had three batters getting starts, with Punya Mehra top-scoring with 43, but they lost their last six wickets for 46 runs, with Mondol causing maximum damage.A rain-break changed the 149-run target to Bangladesh requiring 107 in 35 overs, and their openers set up the chase with an 86-run opening stand. Mahfijul Islam hit six fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 69-ball 64 and was assisted by Iftakher Hossain’s 70-ball 37. No. 3 Prantik Nawrose Nabil then gave Mahfijul company through to the end as Bangladesh wrapped up the nine-wicket win by the 25th over to finish second, behind England, in the group.Seam-bowling allrounder Muhammad Shehzad took a five-wicket haul while conceding only seven runs to set up Pakistan’s demolition of Papua New Guinea and help his side finish table-toppers in Group C. Their nine-wicket win now sets up a quarter-final date against Australia.Shehzad was the first-change bowler, and he had middle-order batters Aue Oru and Patrick Nou caught behind first up. He then returned to pick up the wickets of Sigo Kelly, Rasan Kevau and Karoho Kevau – all three for ducks – to bowl PNG out for 50 in 22.4 overs.Shehzad’s bowling form, however, could not convert into a good batting show for him personally. He was out for a duck as opener, but the other opener Abbas Ali scored 27 in 32 balls in the company of the captain Hasebullah Khan (18*) to leave Pakistan with a perfect Group C record of three wins in three games.In a must-win game for both sides, Afghanistan rode on the back of their captain Suliman Safi’s 111 and an all-round show from Nangeyalia Kharote to pip Zimbabwe to the second spot in Group C with a comprehensive 109-run win. Afghanistan will now participate in an all-Asian quarter-final against Group D toppers Sri Lanka.The left-hand opener Kharote hit a 45-ball 50 to build Afghanistan’s foundation, but it was Safi’s century from No. 4 that took them to 261 for 6. Safi hit 14 fours and three sixes in his 118-ball 111, dominating a 108-run fifth-wicket stand with Mohammad Ishaq where he made just 39. Although expensive, Zimbabwe seamer Alex Falao took a three-for.Zimbabwe made a promising start to the chase, putting up 49 in their opening stand, with Matthew Welch making most of the runs. However, Kharote’s left-arm spin then ran through the middle order, helping him finish with 4 for 30, which also included the wickets of Zimbabwe’s top-scorer Welch (53), the captain Emmanuel Bawa, and David and Brian Bennett. Sandwiched between his wickets was the run out that Kharote effected to send Connor Mitchell back for a duck, and leg spinner Izharulhaq Naveed made short work of the tail. The other left-arm spinner Shahidullah Hasani took two top-order wickets too, and Zimbabwe folded for 152.

Joe Root passes 150, Matt Fisher claims maiden Test wicket with second ball

Valkerie Baynes17-Mar-2022Ben Stokes made a welcome return to the ranks of Test centurion with a belligerent display against West Indies as England set a commanding first-innings total.It had been well over 18 months and 23 Test innings without a ton for Stokes and much has happened in that time – from losing his beloved father, Ged, to a four-and-a-half-month absence from the game during which he had two operations to repair a serious finger injury and took time out to manage his mental health. But once he got going on the second morning in Barbados, it was something to behold.He struck four sixes and 11 fours as he reached 89 off just 92 balls by lunch, having started the day on nought after Dan Lawrence fell on the last ball of the opening day.A quieter period ensued after the interval as Kemar Roach and Jason Holder put the lid on England’s scoring for a time, but Stokes went out swinging once more, for 120, after bringing up his 11th Test hundred with a scampered single and celebrating with his crooked-fingered salute to the heavens in memory of his dad, who died in December 2020. Stokes’ last Test century had come against West Indies at Old Trafford in July of that year.Meanwhile, his captain, Joe Root, was at the other end of the pitch for the most part, during a 129-run partnership for the fourth wicket, having brought up his second consecutive Test century the evening before, his eighth in 19 Tests since the start of 2021.Root ended up with 153 on this occasion, before leaving Stokes to carry on and then seeing a 75-run seventh-wicket stand between Chris Woakes and Ben Foakes, allowing him to on 507 for 9 shortly after tea.Debutant Matthew Fisher, drafted into the squad after the Ashes debacle and handed his chance when Craig Overton fell ill on the eve of this match, struck with just his second ball in international cricket before Kraigg Brathwaite and Shamarh Brooks resisted further damage to steer West Indies to 71 for 1 at the close.Having seen John Campbell thread his first ball to the rope through backward point, Fisher elicited a prod outside off-stump and the ball flew off the toe-end of Campbell’s bat to Foakes behind the stumps. Poignantly, as he celebrated his maiden Test wicket, Fisher raised his finger skyward in tribute to his own father, Phil, who died when Matthew was just 14.Fisher thought he had his second wicket when Brooks jabbed in the direction of second slip, where Zak Crawley stooped very low to grab the ball in his fingertips, although he came up looking uncertain as to whether it had been grounded in the process and replays showed it had, confirming the not-out soft signal.Brathwaite was then given out lbw on 14, Jack Leach skidding one into his back pack – but not before it had grazed the bat, as the DRS confirmed to reprieve West Indies’ captain.Earlier, Stokes and Root had England innings looking like London buses as they carried their side past 300. That mark had evaded them for 12 innings and more than six months, until the first Test in Antigua, when they racked up 311 and 349 for 6 declared.Matt Fisher struck with his second ball in Test cricket•Getty Images

Having begun the day on 244 for 3, with Root on 119, Stokes lit up the morning. He twice advanced on left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul to launch him down the ground for six in consecutive overs, bringing up his fifty in the second instance. He later muscled Permaul over the fence at midwicket before clubbing the very next ball over cover for four.Stokes took to Alzarri Joseph in the following over with three consecutive fours, bringing up the 100-partnership with Root via a powerful drive through cover before launching him over long-off and through midwicket. But Stokes wasn’t done, passing 5000 Test runs with a mow down the ground to clear the fence by some distance.Root passed 150 for the 12th time in his career, the most by any England batter, but then Roach, with his first ball back into the attack and the seventh after lunch, ended his stay with one that nipped back from outside off and rapped the front pad. Initially adjudged not out by umpire Nigel Duguid, the hosts reviewed and Hawk-Eye showed the ball crashing into the top of leg stump to move Roach past Sir Garry Sobers and clear into seventh on West Indies’ list of all-time wicket-takers.Jonny Bairstow crashed Jayden Seales down the ground and through the covers before holing out to deep midwicket off Joseph, and with that Stokes threw the bat again. He heaved Brathwaite over the fence at deep midwicket for his first boundary since lunch, some 13.2 overs after the resumption, and was very nearly out on the next ball, lofting Brathwaite to long-on, where Campbell spilled a tough chance while stepping on the rope. Stokes came undone going big again one ball later, this time skying Brathwaite to Brooks at long-off.West Indies took three wickets for eight runs in the space of 14 balls, prompting Root to call his men in six overs into the evening session. Permaul, who had come in for some tough treatment, particularly at the hands of Stokes, had Foakes and Leach stumped by Joshua Da Silva to bookend Woakes’ dismissal, sending Roach high into the air on the leg side to be caught by Seales.

Smriti Mandhana leads Indian batting effort again, just two days after retiring hurt when she was struck by a Shabnim Ismail bouncer

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2022India beat West Indies in their second warm-up fixture ahead of the Women’s World Cup, and now enter the main tournament on the back of successive warm-up wins after also beating South Africa on Sunday. While half-centuries from Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma set them up for a total of 258, a solid all-round effort with the ball ensured West Indies stopped at 177 for 9.Mandhana and Deepti added 117 for the second wicket after Shafali Verma fell for a second-ball duck, the opener’s relatively dry recent run continuing – she made 0 and 9 in the last two ODIs against New Zealand last week after having hit a 57-ball 51 in the third game, her first score of note in some time.Related

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But India would be relieved with Mandhana’s innings, as she cracked 66 from just 67 balls just two days after being forced to retire hurt when she was hit in the helmet by a Shabnim Ismail bouncer that caused “a mild soft tissue injury to her left earlobe which caused discomfort while batting”.Mithali Raj and Yastika Bhatia also chipped in with decent hands, of 30 and 42 respectively, after Cherry-Ann Fraser dismissed Mandhana and Deepti. Despite the good contributions, it was a worry for India as they slipped from 142 for 2 in the 27th over to 195 for 5 by the 37th. Fraser finished with 2 for 24 from five overs.Karishma Ramharack and Hayley Matthews picked up two wickets apiece too, but West Indies’ batters didn’t quite come to the party during the chase, losing their top four with just 53 on the board.Pooja Vastrakar struck twice up top, while Deepti and Meghna Singh picked up a wicket each. A brief recovery between Matthews and Shemaine Campbelle took West Indies to 122, before Meghna got rid of Matthews for 44 in the 38th over.By then, West Indies’ required rate had shot up, as they needed another 137 from the remaining 73 deliveries. And Vastrakar pretty much sealed it for India after she bowled Campbelle for 63.Sophie Devine smashed 161 not out in just 117 balls•ICC via Getty

New Zealand chased down a steep target of 322 seemingly with ease against Australia, getting to 325 with nine wickets in hand and nearly seven overs to spare. Captain Sophie Devine led the show with an unbeaten 161 off just 117 balls, an innings that featured 23 fours and four sixes. She got great company from fellow opener Suzie Bates, who hit 63 in a stand of 119 for the first wicket.There was no respite for Australia even after Alana King got rid of Bates, as Amelia Kerr continued her excellent form to remain undefeated on 92 from just 75 balls, cracking 13 fours on her way. The New Zealand batters took a special liking for Annabel Sutherland, smashing her for 41 in three overs, and Ashleigh Gardner, who went for 34 in her three.Before that, four half-centuries from Australia’s top six took them to what seemed like a winning total of 321, with captain Meg Lanning leading the way with 87 at just over a run-a-ball. Opener Alyssa Healy hit 64 and Beth Mooney struck a 51-ball 55, but the real impact came from Gardner at No. 6, as she clattered 60 from only 32 balls with six fours and four sixes.But Hannah Rowe, with 4 for 49, cleaned up Australia middle-order to help bowl them out with three balls left.In the end, though, the total wasn’t enough for Australia, who had beaten West Indies in their first warm-up. New Zealand, meanwhile, hit their straps after losing to Pakistan on Sunday. They will play the tournament opener against West Indies on Friday.

A round-up of the fourth week of matches, which included Mohammedan nearly falling into the relegation zone

Mohammad Isam16-Apr-2022 Key takeaways Defending champions Abahani Limited crossed a difficult last week by beating Prime Bank Cricket Club and Gazi Group Cricketers but went down to Sheikh Jamal, the team in form. But to everyone’s surprise, Rupganj Tigers made it to the top six, despite earning promotion only this season.That Mohammedan Sporting Club missed out on a Super League place is also big, especially after they spent heavily on international stars. There were elements of drama when Mahmudullah snapped at a groundsman for the lack of bounce at the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch and later kicked the dressing room glass door. This was the game when they slipped to ninth place after a seven-wicket defeat against Rupganj Tigers.Meanwhile, the Super League line-up has now been finalised with Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club topping the table, with nine wins out of ten matches in the first phase.Best batters Legends of Rupganj’s Naeem Islam and Prime Bank’s Anamul Haque became the first batters to cross 700 runs in the DPL’s first phase. The next highest is Zakir Hasan’s 487 but all three of these batters struck two hundreds each.Amite Hasan, 20, was one of the impressive uncapped youngsters, with 465 runs at an average of 58.12, which included three half-centuries and a century. But his side, Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity, is fighting for survival after finishing at the bottom of the points table.Rupganj’s Chirag Jani also finished as the highest run-getter among overseas players, having scored 435 runs at an average of 48.33 average, followed by Sikandar Raza’s 425 runs at an average of 47.22. Both of them scored a hundred each. Best bowlers Dhanmondi’s Parvez Rasool was the highest wicket-taker in the first phase, with 20 scalps at 13.25, including a five-for against Abahani. Jani was perhaps the best allrounder in this phase, as he took 18 wickets to go with his 435 runs.Young left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan, playing for Prime Bank, took 19 wickets at 22.36, while Masum Khan and Qazi Onik took 17 wickets each, among the Bangladeshi fast bowlers.Parvez Rasool finished as the highest wicket-taker with 20 scalps in the DPL first phase•BCB

Best match Abahani’s one-run win over Gazi Group was a last-ball thriller. Tanzim Hasan Sakib went for 89 runs in his nine overs, but his dipping yorker prevented Husne Habib from hitting the last ball for four, and he ended up with just two runs. Abahani had earlier reached 311 for seven, courtesy Jaker Ali’s quickfire 109, before Al-Amin and Akbar Ali fought back with the bat for Gazi Group. But in the end, Abahani snuck home with the barest of margins, ensuring a top-two finish. Points to ponder One out of Khelaghar, City Club and Brothers Union will be relegated to Dhaka First Division Cricket League next season. Khelaghar have won just one game while Brothers Union and City Club have three wins each, which will help them finish ahead of Khelaghar in the play-off.Mohammedan’s downfall is more intriguing this season. Even their traditionally strong fanbase was unable to push their team to get into more points.Players to watch Aminul Islam is known for his legspin. While he took just six wickets for Brothers Union, he was impressive with the bat as well. Left-arm quick Mrittunjoy Chowdhury also took vital wickets for Sheikh Jamal, while Akbar’s first foray as a DPL captain went well, particularly as a keeper-batter.

One-Test keeper leaves his head of national development role to become Victoria’s general manager of cricket performance

Alex Malcolm11-May-2022One Test wicketkeeper Graham Manou has become the latest figure to depart Cricket Australia’s high-performance team leaving his role as head of national development to join state side Victoria as their new general manager of cricket performance.Manou, 43, was head of national development at CA for 10 months after a four-year stint as pathways manager overseeing the underage programs.But he has departed CA to join Victoria, taking over from long-time GM Shaun Graf who retired after several decades in the role earlier this year. Manou will work alongside Victoria head coach Chris Rogers after the pair worked together at CA when Rogers was a high-performance coach working at the National Cricket Centre with the Under-19s.CA has a number of holes in its high-performance team that need to be filled. Ben Oliver is holding the fort as general manager of national teams but there has not been a replacement in the high-performance role that was vacated by Drew Ginn last year, in part due to a health issue. Ginn was incidentally part of the four-person recruitment panel that was assembled by Cricket Victoria to hire Manou.Manou will begin his role with Cricket Victoria in June. He played one Test for Australia on the 2009 Ashes tour, filling in at short notice for Brad Haddin after he broke his finger on the morning of the third Test in Birmingham. He also played four ODIs on the 2009 tour of India.Manou played 103 first-class matches, predominantly for South Australia, during a 13-year career. He also played in the inaugural BBL season for the Melbourne Renegades.

Becomes second player after Gulam Bodi to be convicted

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2022Pumelela Matshikwe, has been handed a six-year jail sentence – suspended for five years – for his involvement in the 2015 match-fixing scandal in the Ram Slam T20 tournament in South Africa.Related

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Matshikwe, the former Lions and South Africa A fast bowler, was one of six players to be handed lengthy suspensions by CSA’s anti-corruption unit back in 2016. He was suspended for ten years from all cricket and has now become the second player – Gulam Bodi was the first – to be convicted under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities (PRECCA) Act, which came into effect in 2004, in the aftermath of the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga at the turn of the millennium. Matshikwe was convicted following a plea agreement with a crime court in Pretoria on Friday.Matshikwe was convicted for the following breaches:

• Receiving an incentive or payment to fix, contrive, or influence improperly a match or matches in the 2015 Ram Slam tournament
• Making a payment which would bring the sport of cricket into disrepute
• Failing to disclose payment to the CSA anti-corruption officer, which they knew or ought to have known was given to them for a breach of the Code
• Failing to disclose details of an approach to engaging in corrupt conduct and failing to disclose full details of matters evidencing a breach of the code by another participant.

The other players who have been penalised in connection with the 2015 case are Bodi, Thami Tsolekile, Jean Symes, Ethy Mbhalati and Alviro Petersen. Bodi was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to eight charges of corruption, in 2019.Tsolekile, a former South Africa Test cricketer, was handed a 12-year ban for “contriving to fix a match or matches in the 2015 Ram Slam; failing to disclose to the CSA Anti-Corruption Officer the full details of an approach to engage in corrupt conduct”. Symes was banned for seven years, while Mbhalati was handed a ten-year ban. Petersen, the most prominent of the cricketers who turned out in 36 Tests, 21 T20Is and two T20Is, was banned for two years by CSA after admitting to 13 breaches of the anti-corruption code.Matshikwe, now 37, played 77 first-class matches, in which he picked 178 wickets at an average of 30.01. He was also part of 57 List A matches, and 24 T20 games between 2009 to 2016.

New Zealander will play two Championship games with three frontline seamers sidelined

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2022Jacob Duffy, the New Zealand seamer, has signed for Kent on a short-term deal that will see him play two County Championship matches.Duffy, 27, was part of New Zealand’s enlarged squad for their ongoing Test series against England but was trimmed from the initial 20-man group ahead of the first Test at Lord’s, having played in both warm-up games.Kent have struggled with injuries to seamers throughout this season with Darren Stevens, Harry Podmore and Nathan Gilchrist all sidelined as things stand, while Jackson Bird had his early-season spell as an overseas player cut short by a shoulder injury.Matt Henry, Duffy’s compatriot, is due to return to the club after the third Test at Headingley but the club were keen to recruit an additional seamer for their upcoming County Championship fixtures against Gloucestershire and Surrey, which are interspersed with T20 Blast fixtures.Related

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“We’re delighted to be able to secure Jacob’s services for our next two Championship matches,” Paul Downton, Kent’s director of cricket, said. “It’s a very busy part of the season with Championship matches intermingled with the Vitality Blast and Jacob will strengthen our seam attack at this crucial stage of our Championship campaign.”Duffy will be Kent’s second overseas player for the Championship alongside the South African allrounder George Linde, who is available across formats. Qais Ahmad, the Afghan legspinner, is at the club for the T20 Blast but is not expected to play in the Championship.Kent have endured a difficult start to the season and are ninth in the 10-team top division of the Championship, with four draws and two losses from their six games so far. They have also struggled in the Blast despite their status as defending champions, finally picking up their first win in their sixth group game against Middlesex on Sunday.Elsewhere, Durham have announced that Keegan Petersen has returned to South Africa ahead of schedule due to personal reasons. Nic Maddinson, the Australian batter, is expected to replace him after Australia A’s ongoing tour to Sri Lanka.

The series next February could yet be vital in the World Test Championship

AAP04-Jul-2022Australia’s coaches have turned an eye to next year’s tour of India as they prepare for the possibility of pulling off a rare hat-trick on the subcontinent.Andrew McDonald’s men were set to return to training on Monday after two days off, as they begin to ramp up preparations for Friday’s second Test against Sri Lanka.A win or draw in Galle will secure a second straight series win in Asia, after breaking an 11-year drought with victory in Pakistan earlier this year. But they are also aware a bigger challenge awaits next February.Australia have not won in India since 2004, while victory there would mark just the third time in the team’s history they have won three straight series in Asia. None of those streaks have come inside the space of 12 months.There will also be greater implications, with the series the last played before the World Test Championship final and Australia well clear in first with India third.Related

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It’s why Australia are more than happy with their busy Asian schedule this year, offering up a greater chance to plan for how to best combat the conditions.Pakistan served up flatter wickets than those traditionally expected in Asia, with Rawalpindi a batter’s paradise and Karachi and Lahore only breaking up later. Galle meanwhile was a raging turner for the first Test against Sri Lanka, with some Australians describing it as the toughest they have batted on.In India, Australia expect a mixture of the two scenarios and anything in between during the four-Test series.”In a lot of ways it’s been nice to have a subcontinent tour of Pakistan, then here [in Sri Lanka] and build towards India,” assistant coach Daniel Vettori said. “Conditions will be very different. We will get a lot of variation from venue to venue.”You could get anything in between [the pitches in Pakistan and Sri Lanka]. If you play at Mohali it is going to be flat, if you play at Wankhede [in Mumbai] it could turn square like here. You can’t just have one plan.”Australia’s batters have made a point to meet the tempo of the match on both recent tours, playing the long game in Pakistan before upping the scoring rate in Galle. But regardless of the tempo, they want to use their crease and be busy enough to unsettle the spinners.A new-found willingness to sweep more is also key. Some 45.7 percent of Australia’s boundaries in the first Test were either swept or reverse-swept, compared to 20.8 per cent in their 3-0 loss in Sri Lanka in 2016.”In a lot of ways sweeps can be blocks over here,” Vettori said. “There have been plans for individuals to use whatever they feel comfortable with, and to be as proactive and brave as they could with it.”The guys who do sweep very well tried to emphasise that as much as possible. Alex Carey, I think his first 12 scoring shots were sweeps.”

The pair added an unbroken 141 to ensure their team finished top of the group with a convincing victory

Valkerie Baynes03-Aug-2022An unbroken third-wicket partnership worth 141 between Tahlia McGrath and Beth Mooney rescued Australia from a shaky start against Pakistan to secure a third win from as many matches at the Commonwealth Games.Australia – already assured of a place in the semi-finals – had slumped to 19 for 2 inside the first six overs before McGrath hammered her way to 78 not out off 51 balls and Mooney reached an unbeaten 70 off 49 at Edgbaston. It was the fourth time McGrath has gone unbeaten in her six career T20I innings. McGrath also took 3 for 13 from three overs as Pakistan’s pursuit of 161 faltered.Pakistan were bundled out of the tournament after going winless from their three matches, meaning that the winner of the evening match between India and Barbados would progress to the knockout stages with Australia from Group A.Dream start for PakistanPakistan couldn’t have hoped for a better beginning after restricting the gold-medal favourites to 22 for 2 in the powerplay, having claimed the prized wickets of Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning, both for just four runs each.Healy was dropped off the bowling of Diana Baig in the first over when she sent a thick edge to first slip, where Omaima Sohail failed to hold on. The damage was limited, however, when Healy fell without adding to her score in the next over edging an excellent delivery from Fatima Sana which angled in, found the inside edge and clattered into leg stump.Sadia Iqbal, playing her first match of the Games, then struck in the sixth over with a gem to beat Lanning and pegged back off stump. After six overs, Australia had found the boundary just three times and were scoring at a run rate of 3.67.Omaima Sohail lost her leg stump off Alana King’s first ball, much to the delight of Alyssa Healy•Getty Images

McGrath, Mooney issue wake-up callMcGrath and Mooney began to regain control, adding 36 runs in the next four overs to recover to 58 for 2 at the halfway point of the innings. After reaching 30 from 24 balls, McGrath was adjudged lbw to Iqbal when she was struck on the back pad attempting to reverse sweep, but overturned the decision on review with replays showing the ball had brushed her glove on the way through.McGrath’s shot-placement was sublime. She stroked two fours in three balls off Sohail, muscled over cover and swept through backward square leg before moving to a 37-ball fifty in the next over with a powerful drive to the rope at long-off from the bowling of Iqbal.Mooney brought up her fifty in 42 balls with a single off Aiman Anwer to also raise the century stand. The 19th over, bowled by Sana, went for 21 runs, including a six each to Mooney, launched over deep square leg, and McGrath finer but with plenty of power behind it. Twelve runs off the final over, by Anwer, including four from McGrath through cover off a full toss to close the innings, had Australia in command.Pakistan’s pursuit falls flatPakistan were 8 for 2 after just two overs with Megan Schutt removing Muneeba Ali with the third ball of their reply, slashing straight to Darcie Brown at backward point. Brown then chimed in with the wicket of Iram Javed in the next over, skying an attempted pull to Grace Harris at short midwicket.After six overs Pakistan were ahead of the curve at 32 for 2 but needed something massive from captain Bismah Maroof. She enjoyed a let-off when she spooned Ash Gardner straight to mid-off where Harris shelled a simple chance.Alana King, who took a career-best 4 for 8 in Australia’s nine-wicket victory over Barbados, entered the attack immediately afterwards and struck right away, bowling Sohail with a beauty that brushed the pad and hit leg stump two-thirds of the way up. When Aliya Riaz was run out, effectively sacrificed by Maroof who sent her back halfway through a second run, Pakistan slumped to 47 for 4 in the 10th over.McGrath shines with the ball tooMcGrath capped a wonderful all-round effort with three wickets, includuing two in two balls. She had Ayesha Naseem well caught by King, running round to long-on to take a high one just inside the rope.Then she ended Maroof’s laboured innings of 23 from 32 balls when a miscued drive sailed to Jess Jonassen at mid-on and, next ball, trapped Tuba Hassan lbw playing across a straight one. When Baig left the hat-trick ball alone outside off, Healy shot a smile from behind the stumps at first slip, where Lanning stood once more, having dropped a catch there which would have given King a hat-trick in the previous match. Sana finished unbeaten on 35, but her team fell well short.

With the T20 event imminent, they may want to rest players during the ODIs in India, but that could put their 50-overs qualification at risk

Ashish Pant22-Sep-2022South Africa face a dilemma as they head to India for a white-ball tour that comprises three T20Is and three ODIs. With the T20 World Cup barely a month away, most teams have their focus set on the marquee tournament. But South Africa don’t quite have that liberty.They are currently in 11th place on the ODI Super League points table, with just four wins from 13 matches. They also withdrew from the three-game ODI series against Australia that was originally scheduled for January 2023, and will lose all their Super League points from that series. All this effectively hurts their prospects of direct qualification for next year’s ODI World Cup in India, with only the top eight teams on the table eligible for direct entry. The bottom five teams, along with the Associates, will have to play the World Cup Qualifier in a bid to seal the last two spots at the ten-team tournament.Related

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So how do South Africa approach the three-match ODI series in India, which begins on October 6, just 18 days before their first game at the T20 World Cup? Do they put out a full-strength unit days before a crucial tournament and try to secure Super League points, or do they put direct qualification for the ODI World Cup at further risk by not playing their best XI?”I think the one-day series that we are going to play, we want results, and we want to win,” Mark Boucher, the South Africa head coach, said ahead of the team’s departure to India. “But everything with regards to the Indian tour will be bearing in mind that we have got a [T20] World Cup ahead of us.”So if it is resting players or giving opportunities to players… I see the squad that is going with us – maybe 19, 20 players – I don’t see it like a T20 squad or a one-day squad. I look at opportunities throughout 20 individuals that we just need to manage and get them in the best space for the [T20] World Cup.”While South Africa have lost just four of their last 21 completed T20Is, their ODI cricket has suffered over recent months. Boucher attributed this to not having their best players available at various times.”One-day cricket, we have had a bit of a mixed bag because we have lost players at crucial times in series to IPL and all that type of stuff, which is uncontrollable,” he said. “So we haven’t always been able to have our best players playing certain competitions and series and games that we have always needed.”That’s why we are in the situation where we have to manage regarding qualification. This white-ball team has a lot of special players. It’s just the balance on trying to work out how do we get everyone involved and get them ready for a big event, which is the World Cup.”‘I saw an opportunity for my future, for my family going forward, and I took that opportunity’ – Boucher on signing up with Mumbai Indians•Getty Images

India will be South Africa’s last pit stop before they head to Australia for the T20 World Cup. Incidentally, India and South Africa are in the same group in the tournament, and will face-off on October 30, in Perth. Boucher is well aware of this fact.”We have got to be mindful of the conditions that we are going to be playing in,” he said. “It’s more about not getting too many cards out, especially in India because they are in our pool as well, so we are going to meet up with them at some stage,” Boucher said. “There are quite a few games that we play against them, the venues that we are going to, we are not sure what we will get.”Boucher recently announced that he would step away from his role as South Africa head coach to take up a similar position with Mumbai Indians in the IPL. While he was non-committal over the reasons behind his departure, citing “contractual obligations” with CSA and Mumbai, he insisted that he remains “100% committed to the players”.”It was just a situation I was put into, and I saw an opportunity for my future, for my family going forward, and I took that opportunity,” Boucher said. “My decisions from a personal perspective aren’t going to hamper these guys at all. I will continue to give them everything that I have in order to have the best outcome in a World Cup.”It is a massive World Cup for us, and I am really looking forward to it, and I know the players are looking forward to it too. It is a very strong squad as well, and it is a massive opportunity for us, and we have the players to push for a great outcome in the World Cup.”