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Collective batting effort takes New Zealand to a strong total
Put in to bat on a dry, sluggish surface in Hyderabad, New Zealand posted a healthy 320-plus score against Netherlands on Monday (October 9) thanks to contributions from their top five and a sizzling cameo at the end from Mitchell Santner. Netherlands were disciplined for a large part of the innings and went a notch up after the 40-over mark with some solid defensive bowling but like in the game against Pakistan, they leaked a few runs in the final few overs to let New Zealand off the hook.
When the innings started in the afternoon, there were clear signs that this pitch was nowhere as flat and easy-paced as it had been during the warm-up games here last week. Netherlands started with a bang by bowling three maidens on the trot to put pressure on New Zealand’s openers. Most teams would have panicked but Devon Conway and Will Young were calm in their riposte. They upped their intent and importantly, played the ball on merit to punish anything remotely loose. The next three overs went for 28 runs and the batting side had gotten momentum.
Aryan Dutt was excellent at his end with the new ball, making optimal use of the surface but he was let down by Ryan Klein who was drafted into the XI for the injured Logan van Beek. Both Conway and Young took the attack to Klein with the former also carting Dutt for a big six over cow corner. Despite starting the game with three maidens, New Zealand ended with a whopping 63 runs in the first Powerplay. Netherlands, though, found their bearings once the field was spread and the radar was much better. Roelof van der Merwe broke the opening stand by dislodging Conway and that wicket further helped the Dutch to keep a lid on the scoring rate.
Young was joined by Rachin Ravindra who once again looked comfortable out there despite not being as fluent as the England game. The surface also had a part to play in that. The pair accumulated runs and got their respective fifties but the scoring rate wasn’t intimidating enough. Perhaps, the Black Caps knew a par score for the surface and were working quietly towards that. Or maybe, it was just street-smart bowling from the Netherlands bowlers who bowled to the fields more often than not. Young looked set for a hundred but he and Ravindra both fell to soft dismissals.
The baton was carried forward by Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham but there was a significant difficulty in forcing the pace after the 30-over mark. However, the experience of the batters meant that scoreboard kept ticking. It was Mitchell’s dismissal in the 41st over that started a downward spiral for New Zealand. They lost a few more wickets even as skipper Latham held his own at the other end. The scoring rate dipped and it even seemed like the Dutch may have an outside chance of restricting the Kiwis to less than 300.
However, Latham and Santner provided a good finish to the innings with the latter ending the innings with a no-ball six and a Free Hit that was also dispatched for six. The last three overs produced 50 runs, an extraordinary finish on the sluggish pitch as New Zealand have pushed their total from a respectable one to a score around the par levels.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 322/7 in 50 overs (Will Young 70, Tom Latham 53, Rachin Ravindra 51; Roelof van der Merwe 2-56, Paul van Meekeren 2-59) vs Netherlands
(Cricbuzz)
Latest News
Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka
It has been decided to establish a BIMSTEC technology transfer facility in Sri Lanka by entering into a Host Country Agreement at the second leaders’ summit of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal
Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) held in New Delhi, India, in 2008, with the objective of enhancing regional cooperation.
The relevant cooperation agreement was signed by the member countries at the 5th BIMSTEC summit on 30-03-2022 in Colombo.
The prime objective of this technology transfer facility is to provide technology, capacity building, and management of intellectual property for the micro, small, and medium-scale
enterprises of the BIMSTEC member countries.
According to the cooperation agreement, an agreement should be entered into between Sri Lanka, as the host country, and BIMSTEC Secretariat for formalizing the legal status, privileges, and immunities of the technology transfer facility.
The drafted agreement has received the relevant institutional approval and legal clearance.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Science and Technology to sign the proposed agreement.
Misbah ul Haq has offered his resignation from the Pak7stan men’s national selection committee the day after the PCB made wholesalw changes to the Teat squad and team management midway through the ongoing tour of England. Misbah has also decided to step down from his role as a batting consultant at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.
After going 2-0 down in the three-match series by losing at Lord’s by 194 runs, the PCB removed seven players from the Test squad and also released Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul as head coach and bowling coach ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston from September 9.
Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar, and Khurram Shahzad were the seven players released. Five uncapped players – Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, and Razaullah – will join the Test squad along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal. Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke – the head coach and bowling coach of the white-ball set-up – have joined the Test coaching staff.
Cricinfo understands the PCB served a notice to members of the selection committee following the Lord’s defeat seeking a written explanation regarding the selections of Rizwan and Imam in the squads for the tours of West Indies and England.
The notice was sent on Monday, the same day the board announced its decision to send home the seven players and two coaches, ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston from September 9. The notice asked for a written explanation outlining the reasons for their selections and the process through which it was arrived at, within 24 hours of the receipt of notice. From the start of 2024 until the West Indies tour, Rizwan was Pakistan’s top Test run-scorer with the highest average. Imam had only played two Tests in that period but was a heavy domestic run-scorer.
Since retiring as Pakistan’s most successful Test captain in 2017, Misbah has served in various capacities in the PCB. He was appointed in the dual role of head coach and chief selector in 2019. He served in both roles until October 2020, when he resigned as the chief selector to focus entirely on the head coaching responsibilities, from which he ultimately resigned the next year.
Two years later, he was brought in as an advisor by the then chief of ad-hoc management committee Zaka Ashraf and had since remained involved with the PCB. He was announced as one of five mentors for the now-defunct men’s Champions Cup after the current management took over in 2024, and he also mentored women’s teams in domestic competitions. He was the coach of the Pakistan Gold side which won the 50-over National Champions Cup in Multan last month under Shaheen Afridi’s captaincy.
Misbah was made part of the four-member selection committee which includes Aaqib Javed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Asad Shafiq in March this year and had also been on a 180-days-a-year contract with the PCB as a batting consultant.
(Cricinfo)
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President to make a donation of United States Dollars One million as humanitarian and economic relief to the government of Nepal
Cabinet aporives recruitment of Nursing Instructors for Nursing Schools under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media on Contract Basis
Signing agreement for the establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka
The cabinet approves agreement on mutual legal cooperation in criminal matters between the Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea
Misbah-ul-Haq resigns as Pakistan selector after Test squad upheaval
Amendment of the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance No. 3 of 1897
Cabinet approves donation of USD One Million to the Government of Nepal
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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