Sports
Iyer, Gill, Suryakumar and Ashwin stud India’s series-clinching win
India’s box-ticking ahead of the World Cup continued, with Shreyas Iyer and R Ashwin coming up with impressive performances, as the hosts secured a 99-run victory (DLS) in the second ODI in Indore on Sunday (September 24) to seal the three-match series. Iyer’s third ODI ton and Shubman Gill’s sixth hundred, along with half-centuries from Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul, powered India to a commanding 399/5. After a rain break in the second innings, Australia’s target was revised to 317 in 33 overs but they ended up well short as Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bagged three apiece to bowl the visitors out for 217.
Matthew Short started positively in the chase as he managed two fours off Mohammed Shami in the opening over. But Prasidh Krishna, who replaced Jasprit Bumrah for this game, had Short caught at third man and also got Steve Smith, the stand-in captain, to edge to slip. The bowler, though, was taken for a few boundaries by David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne as they took Australia past 50 before it started to rain again in Indore, forcing the players off the field. Upon resumption, Australia faced a steep challenge as they needed 261 in 24 overs at close to 11 an over as per the DLS revised target.
Warner and Labuschagne, who extended their stand past 50, had to play their shots from the get-go and they were up for it as they targeted Shardul Thakur. Ashwin, on the other hand, wasn’t as easy to score off and Warner even batted right-handed against him, executing a sweep shot for a four. Labuschagne, though, fell to the offspinner as he was bowled off a back flipper. Warner, who registered his second fifty-plus score of the series, persisted with his right-hand tactics against Ashwin, and ended up being out lbw attempting a reverse sweep, although replays revealed he had edged the ball onto his pad.
Ashwin also removed Josh Inglis soon after and Jadeja, after an expensive start, accounted for Alex Carey. A direct hit from Ishan Kishan, who was ‘keeping in this game, caught Cameron Green short of the crease. Jadeja picked up his second by having Adam Zampa bowled, as Australia slipped to 140/8. Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott struck a few big hits while a couple of dropped catches came as blemishes in an otherwise dominating show by India. Australia got some ticking done too as Abbott showcased his hitting skills to bring up a 29-ball fifty, his first in ODIs. A 77-run ninth wicket stand came to an end when Hazlewood, who had hit two fours off Shami, was eventually bowled by the experienced pacer for 23. Abbott was the last to fall, bowled by Jadeja, as Australia’s innings ended in the 29th over. It meant they had now lost five ODIs on the bounce.
Earlier, having been asked to bat, India got off to a good start as Ruturaj Gaikwad struck two fours off debutant Spencer Johnson. Hazlewood, back in the side, bowled in the right channels, and reaped the reward as he got Gaikwad to edge to Carey. Iyer hit the straps straightaway as he dealt in regular boundaries. Be it driving through covers or going over it, he exuded confidence as he helped India pick up pace. Gill was a bit subdued until he went straight over Abbott’s head for his first boundary-shot, which was a maximum, and then came down the track to hit one past cover for a four. Gill also took on Green in his first over, striking a four and a six. After a brief rain interruption, Gill and Iyer continued to tee off, with the former bringing up a 37-ball fifty and the latter getting to a 41-ball half-century with a six off Johnson.
Australia weren’t able to keep a lid on India’s scoring rate, with Iyer targeting the spinners for a couple of sixes and Gill finding the boundaries regularly. India’s 200 came up in just the 29th over and an 86-ball ton for Iyer came next, and the joy and relief of getting to hundred was palpable in his celebrations. Iyer was reprieved when the third umpire ruled that Abbott didn’t take a return catch cleanly. But the batter fell in the same over, soon after hitting a boundary to raise the 200 partnership, when he failed in his attempt to clear the fence. Rahul started with a six off Zampa, after which Gill reached three figures, becoming only the fifth player to get five ODI hundreds in a calendar year before turning 25. Rahul also hit a Green delivery out of the ground before Gill’s innings came to an end in the same over when he was undone by a slower ball.
Rahul and Kishan kept the big hits coming as they raised a 59-run stand to help India past 300 in the 41st over. But Kishan fell soon after, getting out to Zampa for an 18-ball 31 looking to go for another big one. After two quiet overs, Suryakumar unleashed his array of strokes in the 44th over off Green, hitting four successive sixes. Rahul got to a 35-ball fifty but it was Suryakumar who scored the bulk of the runs in a half-century stand before Green ended the Indian skipper’s stay. But there was no stopping Suryakumar, who smashed a six and two fours in a 17-run over from Abbott as he got to a 24-ball fifty. Jadeja and Suryakumar scored a four apiece off Hazlewood in the 48th. It was a forgettable outing with the ball for Green, who conceded 103 runs despite giving away only five runs in the 49th over. Abbott was hit for a six by Suryakumar in the final over but he kept it tight otherwise, preventing India from reaching 400.
Brief scores:
India 399/5 in 50 overs (Shreyas Iyer 105, Shubman Gill 104, Suryakumar Yadav 72*, KL Rahul 52; Cameron Green 2-103) beat Australia 217 (Sean Abbott 54, David Warner 53; R Ashwin 3-41, Ravindra Jadeja 3-42) by 99 runs (DLS method).
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Henry, Santner, Nathan Smith ruled out of rest of West Indies Test series
New Zealand’s bowling spearhead Matt Henry (calf strain), seam-bowling allrounder Nathan Smith (side strain) and spin-bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner (groin injury) have all been ruled out of the rest of the home Test series against West Indies.
Glenn Phillips, who joined the squad in Christchurch early as a substitute fielder, has officially been added to the Test squad for the remainder of the series, New Zealand Cricket confirmed. This after he proved his match fitness in the Plunket Shield before joining the squad for the first Test, and he could be in contention to be selected in the XI for the second Test.
In another bit of good news for New Zealand, Daryl Mitchell, who put in a long shift as a substitute fielder in the first Test, is set to be available for the second and slot back in as their middle-order mainstay.
Wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell had already been sidelined from the second Test in Wellington after suffering a hamstring injury while batting on day one in Christchurch. Mitchell Hay has been added to the squad and could make his Test debut.
Also, a day after uncapped seamer Michael Rae was called up to the Test squad, Kristan Clarke, a seam-bowling allrounder from Northern Districts, was added to it. With Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke managing “return to play” protocols, New Zealand were left scrambling for last-minute replacements, with the Wellington Test set to begin on November 10.
Both Rae and Clarke were pulled out of the third round of the Plunket Shield. Clarke didn’t bowl for ND in the final innings against Otago in Hamilton, with rookie James Naylor stepping in as his replacement.
Clarke, 24, is uncapped in Test cricket, but was recently part of the ODI series against England as a replacement player after Henry had suffered a separate calf injury. He has now earned his maiden Test call-up as a like-for-like replacement for Smith.
“On the cricket field, I’m a bowling allrounder, you know, and I pride myself on trying to offer as much as I can in the game,” Clarke said in October after breaking into the ODI side. “I just want to be a good person around the group also and just offer as much as I can.”
Clarke has played 27 first-class games so far, taking 77 wickets at an average of 33 and scoring 893 runs at an average of 23.50. He was also part of a New Zealand A tour to Bangladesh during the winter. Though bowling is his primary skill, Kristian is also a capable batter and had notched up his maiden century in senior cricket, against Central Districts in the one-day Ford Trophy, in October.
Clarke hails from Te Awamutu, a small town in the Waikato region and played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup before rising up the ranks in New Zealand cricket. His brother Matti Clarke has also played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup.
“Yeah, so [I was] born and raised in Te Awamutu, [and I] still live in Te Awamutu, still at home,” Clarke said. “I hold Te Amuru very dear to my heart – it’s a cool little town and yeah, quiet little place. Just sort of grew up through the cricket system there and then yeah, sort of just went from there.”
While Blair Tickner, who was the reserve seamer at Hagley Oval, comes into the selection frame for Wellington, there might be a toss-up between Rae and Clarke for a potential Test debut at Basin Reserve.
The first Test was drawn after West Indies, faced with a 530-run deficit in the fourth innings, held on for 163.3 overs to pull off a draw, with Justin Greaves (202 not out) and Shai Hope (140) their main men with the bat
New Zealand squad for second Test vs West Indies :
Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell, Zak Foulkes, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner, Michael Rae, Kristian Clarke
[Cricinfo]
Sports
Van Niekerk cameo, Tunnicliffe fifty give South Africa series win
Dane Van Niekerk’s late blitz on the back of a sedate half-century from Faye Tunnicliffe helped South Africa beat Ireland by 65 runs in the second T20I in Paarl and take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Opting to bat, South Africa racked up 201 for 5 in their 20 overs. In reply, allrounder Orla Prendegast scored an unbeaten 43-ball 51 while Leah Paul hit 40 off 29 balls, but Ireland could only manage 136 for 3, falling well short.
In her comeback series, van Niekerk thrashed a 19-ball 41 in the back half of the first innings, taking South Africa past their second consecutive 200-plus total of the series. She struck three fours and three sixes in her knock. By the time van Niekerk fell to Arlene Kelly, South Africa’s run rate had jumped past ten an over. Chloe Tryon’s unbeaten seven-ball 16 in the final overs took them to 201, as she also broke Lizelle Lee’s record for most sixes by a South Africa batter in women’s T20Is (49).
Van Niekerk’s cameo complemented a slower – but equally crucial – knock by Tunnicliffe at the top of the order. She reached her maiden T20I half-century off 40 balls: the majority of her innings was played alongside fellow opener, Sune Luus, as the two put up a 78-run opening partnership to lay the foundation.
Aimee Maguire dismissed both of them, as well as captain Laura Wolvaardt, returning 3 for 43 in her four overs.
Ireland’s batters were slow in their response, scoring 33 runs in the powerplay despite losing no wickets. Tryon sent back both openers – Amy Hunter and Gaby Lewis – as Ireland were reduced to 35 for 2 in the seventh over.
Their run-rate never picked up, but Prendergast and Paul stayed solid in the middle to share a 76-run partnership for the third wicket. Paul finally fell for 40, but Prendergast stayed around till the end to bring up her half-century in the final over, off 39 balls. By then, the result of the match was a foregone conclusion.
Brief scores:
South Africa Women 201 for 5 in 20 overs (Faye Tunnicliffe 51, Sune Luus 37, Laura Wolvaardt 22, Dane van Niekerk 41, Marizanne Kapp 16, Chloe Tryon 16*; Orla Prendergast 1-29, Arlene Kelly 1-40, Aimee Maguire 3-43) beat Ireland Women 136 for 3 in 20 overs (Amy Hunter 14, Gaby Lewis 19, Orla Prendergast 51*, Leah Paul 40*; Nonkululeko Mlaba 1-25, Chloe Tryon 2-24) by 65 runs
[Cricinfo]
Sports
Nissanka, Vince continue Gulf Giants’ unbeaten start
Pathum Nissanka continued his good form in the ILT20 with 67 off 31 balls, to give the Gulf Giants their second win in as many games in the competition as they beat the Dubai Capitals. James Vince anchored the innings with a composed 45-ball 50* as the Giants chased down the target of 161 with four wickets to spare.
With the Capitals having been put in to bat, they began with a boundary in each over but Azmatullah Omarzai got Shayan Jahangir to chop one back onto his stumps. After four quiet overs, David Willey and Sediqullah Atal slammed a six each off the Afghan fast-bowler to bring some oomph into the innings. The duo put on a 61-run stand in seven overs before Atal miscued a pull off Moeen Ali to deep mid-wicket.
The wicket ensured Moeen and Liam Dawson could fire in a couple of quiet overs before the latter picked up the set David Willey. Ayaan Khan scalped Gulbadin Naib in the next over as the Capitals fell to 93/4 in 14 overs. Jordan Cox slammed two sixes and two fours in a quick 17-ball 31 and found success against fellow Englishman Moeen to get the Capitals’ innings moving. But the brakes were once again applied, when Cox and Rovman Powell fell to Omarzai in the 18th over.
Looking for a strong finish, Dasun Shanaka pulled Omarzai over fine-leg for four before smashing two sixes on the offside, in an 18-run final over, to take the Capitals to 160 for 6 in their allotted overs.
In reply, Rahmanullah Gurbaz survived a review in the first over and then slammed David Willey over mid-wicket for six before falling to a stunning catch by Cox. Nissanka, who had scored 81 in his last game, took a liking to Mustafizur Rahman with a boundary down-the-ground and a six over mid-wicket to get his innings moving.
The Sri Lankan then smashed James Neesham for 22 runs in the fifth over flat-batting two sixes and a four along with a maximum down the ground. Vince hit two boundaries off Mustafizur as they raced to 60 for 1 at the end of the PowerPlay. He was also dropped by Willey as the Capitals began to look poor on the field.
Nissanka hit consecutive boundaries in the 10th over to bring up his 50 of just 23 balls. He then slammed Waqar Salamkheil for two fours and a six in a 15-run 11th over as the Giants continued to cruise to victory. He was finally dismissed by Mustafizur after failing to hit one over Cox’s head at long-on.
Towards the end, there was a flurry of wickets but Vince stood firm at the other end bringing up his 11th fifty of the competition and taking his team home.
Brief Scores:
Dubai Capitals
160/6 in 20 overs (Sediqullah Atal 35, Jordan Cox 31; Azmatullah Omarzai 3-46)
Gulf Giants
161/6 in 18.5 overs (Pathum Nissanka 67, James Vince 50*; Dasun Shanaka 2-16) (cricbuzz)
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