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Abhishek blasts 14-ball fifty to hand India unassailable 3-0 lead against New Zealand
India waltzed to their 11th straight series or tournament win in T20Is as they restricted New Zealand to 153, and chased it down with ten overs to spare. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi bishnoi, the two bowlers brought in for this match, took five wickets between them for 35 runs, before Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Krishan made light work of the target.
A 3-0 series win with two matches to go, on the back of two players who are not in India’s first-choice XI right now, is as emphatic a challenge as any as India get ready to defend their world title at home; this series winning streak started before the said World Cup two years ago.
Harshit Rana took a wicket in the first over, Bumrah flattened the off stump first ball, and Kishan and Abhishek hit multiple boundaries in their first overs despite a golden duck for Sanju Samson on a night where India dominated their conquerors from Tests and ODIs.
Abhishek went on to register India’s second-quickest half-century in just 14 balls, almost mocking New Zealand’s plan to bowl at his pads and take away his room. Not as spectacular as Abhishek, Suryakumar still continued his comeback to form with an unbeaten 57 off 26 balls.
Perhaps tongue in cheek, Mitchell Santner said after the last match that you need 300 against “these guys”. Devon Conway wanted to start accordingly even though he had fallen to Rana four times in four innings on this tour. All he managed, though, was a mis-hit to mid-off, this time to an on-pace delivery. At mid-off, Hardik Pandya took a brilliant overhead catch, and in the next over created a much simpler chance for Bishnoi with a short ball to Rachin Ravindra.
India are used to bowling at least one over of Varun Chakravarthy in the powerplay, and asked the replacement for the resting No. 1 T20I bowler in the world to play the same role. Bishnoi’s unusual action and trajectory conceded just one run in the fifth over to Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips.
At 34 for 2, you’d expect New Zealand to be forced to take risks against Bumrah in the last over of the powerplay, but Bumrah didn’t even need a risk for a wicket. He was quick and accurate, and the ball straightened a touch to have Seifert playing inside the line and losing his off stump.
Phillips and Mark Chapman had to play the first two overs outside the powerplay out before they took on Kuldeep Yadav and Shivam Dube to reach 75 for 3 in ten overs. And then Bishnoi and Bumrah came back. Bishnoi had Chapman caught at the wicket with a 105kph non-turning delivery. Once this 52-run partnership ended at 86 for 4, wickets kept falling regularly as the batters had to keep taking risks. Santner’s 27 off 17 balls took New Zealand past 150, but it looked grossly inadequate on a good batting surface.
Any misgivings New Zealand might have had about the inadequacy of their total thanks to the first-ball wicket of Samson were dissipated by the blinding bat speed of Kishan, who dismissed Matt Henry for 6, 6 and 4 after getting one sighter in. Almost as if offended by someone upstaging him even before he had had strike, Abhishek charged first ball at Jacob Duffy, who followed him, but still deposited him over midwicket.
Abhishek followed it up with two fours. He and Kishan two added 53 in 19 balls, with Kishan eventually falling to a flipper from Ish Sodhi.
When Kishan got out for 28 off 13 deliveries, Abhishek was on 23 off six already. Bowler after bowler tried to bowl outside leg to Abhishek, but he kept charging at them and backing away to go over the off side. By the time he got inside the line of one and pulled it over fine leg for six – just for variation – he had brought up his fifty inside the powerplay.
Abhishek missed his hero and mentor Yuvraj Singh’s record by two balls, and at 94 for 2, India missed their highest powerplay total by one run.
Suryakumar dominated the hitting and the strike post powerplay as New Zealand kept searching for non-existing answers. He played the signature flick over backward square leg, but was equally fluent on the off side. The last missing piece of a dominant side fell in place.
Brief scores:
India 155 for 2 in 10 overs (Abhishek Sharma 68*, Suryakumar Yadav 57*, Ishan Kishan 28; Matt Henry 1-28, Ish Sodhi 1-28) beat New Zealand 153 for 9 in 20 overs (Tim Seifert 12, Glenn Phillips 48, Mark Chapman 32, Daryl Mitchell 14, Mitchell Santner 27; Harshit Rana 1-35, Jasprit Bumrah 3-17, Ravi Bishnoi 2-18, Hardik Pandya 2-23)by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka survived an early onslaught to qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup Super Eights, leaving Australia right at the exit door and hoping for a miracle.
The returning captain Mitchell Marsh and the returning-to-runs Travis Head were brutal in taking Australia to 104 in the first 50 legal deliveries, but some spectacular fielding and spin bowling helped Sri Lanka take 10 for 77 off the last 70 balls.
In front of a partying full house in Pallekele, Sri Lanka’s two most prolific batters, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, brought out both the axe and paper cuts to slice through the chase. Nissanka, who had earlier dropped Glenn Maxwell and then dismissed him with a stunner, went on to score an unbeaten hundred and take Sri Lanka home with two overs to spare.
In the absence of Matheesha Pathirana, who walked off with a calf injury in his first over, their spinners contributed six wickets to go with excellent closing from Dushmantha Chameera. Australia’s lead spinner Adam Zampa, among the best T20 spinners of all time, took no wicket and was lucky to go for only 41 in his four overs.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 184/2 in 18 overs [Pathum Nissanka 100*, Kusal Mendis 51, Pavan Rathnayake 2*; Marcus Stoinis 2-41] beat Australia 181/10 in 20 overs [Mitchell Marsh 54, Travis Head 56, Josh Inglis 27, Glenn Maxwell 22; Dushmantha Chameera 2-56, Maheesh Theekshana 1-37, Dushan Hemantha 3-37, Dunith Wellalage 1-33, Kamindu Mendis 1-19] by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
A win against Canada in their first T20I against them on Tuesday will firm up New Zealand’s spot in the Super Eight. This result will also knock out Canada; South Africa have already qualified for the next round from Group D with three wins in as many games.
New Zealand have faced Canada just three times in international cricket so far – each time in ODI World Cups. Their most recent meeting coming in the 2011 edition in Mumbai. They have won all three games and are poised to make it 4-0 against Canada in World Cups, despite the absence of Lockie Ferguson. The fast bowler has returned home for the birth of his first child and is expected to link up with the side ahead of the Super Eight. In Ferguson’s absence, Kyle Jamieson, who wasn’t even in the main squad in the first place, is set to make his T20 World Cup bow.
As for Canada, they had their moments against South Africa and UAE but they have failed to convert those into wins. On Friday in Delhi, they had UAE at 66 for 4 in the 13th over in a chase of 151, but they left the door ajar for Aryansh Sharma and Sohaib Khan to sneak home. Canada can’t afford such slip-ups against New Zealand – and then Afghanistan – if they are to notch up a win in this World Cup.
Kyle Jamieson doesn’t quite have Ferguson’s express pace, but can bang it away on a hard length and stifle the opposition batters. He also has some slower variations in his repertoire and his high-arm release could pose a big threat, especially to batters who are facing him for the first time.
Once known as “Vettori” in Canada’s club cricket circuit, Saad Bin Zafar will run into the team that was once captained by one of his heroes. The Canada left-arm spinner often attacks the stumps and keeps it tight, as his economy rate of 6.02 across 67 T20Is suggests. At 39, Saad knows he won’t be playing the game for long and will be eager to cause a few upsets on the big stage.
Jamieson is set to slot in for Ferguson unless New Zealand want to give veteran legspinner Ish Sodhi a game.
New Zealand (probable): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy
Canada are likely to play the same XI that lost to South Africa and UAE.
Canada (probable): Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), Yuvraj Samra, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (wk), Harsh Thaker, Saad Bin Zafar, Jaskaran Singh, Dilon Heyliger, Kaleem Sana, Ansh Patel
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana left the field four balls into his first over, after collapsing to the ground clutching his left calf, and did not return to the field during Sri Lanka’s bowling innings against Australia. Having briefly received treatment from the Sri Lanka physiotherapist immediately after sustaining the injury, Pathirana hobbled off the field with assistance from support staff.
He then spent the majority of the innings being treated in the dressing room. Sri Lanka will likely send him off for scans as soon as the match finishes.
“Matheesha Pathirana experienced discomfort in his left leg calf while bowling during the match and was unable to continue,” a statement read. “He will not bowl further in this game. A scan will be conducted tomorrow to determine the extent of the injury.”
Pathirana had begun well against Australia, bowling two dot balls and giving away three runs (including a wide) in those first four deliveries. The last two balls of the over were delivered by Dasun Shanaka, who gave away a four and bowled a dot.
Pathirana is the quickest bowler in Sri Lanka’s attack, and a key part of their death-bowling plans for the tournament in particular. He is also the second Sri Lanka bowler to come under an injury cloud, with Wanindu Hasaranga already having been ruled out of the World Cup with a hamstring injury of his own.
After this game against Australa, Sri Lanka have another group match to play, against Zimbabwe. They have not earned qualification for the Super Eights yet.
(Cricinfo)
Nissanka ton stuns Australia, puts Sri Lanka in Super Eights
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