Sports

Amin, bowlers leave West Indies Women’s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread

Published

1 year ago

2025/04/15

Priyan

File photo: Sidra Amin scored 54 in Pakistan's total of 191 [Cricinfo]

West Indies’ ODI World Cup hopes are hanging by a thread after they slumped to a second defeat in three matches in the qualifier in Lahore. They were beaten by 65 runs by hosts Pakistan, who have moved to the top of the points table, and are undefeated in the event so far as they remain on track for the Women’s World Cup.

Both teams, though, still have to play unbeaten Bangladesh and win-less Thailand. West Indies, meanwhile, have to win their remaining two matches, and hope other results go their way to help them get to the World Cup.

After bowling Pakistan out for 191, West Indies would have felt their bowlers had done most of the hard work against a line-up that continues to struggle to build partnerships and score quickly. Pakistan had no half-century stands – their highest was 47 runs for the second wicket between Muneeba Ali and Sidra Amin – and no one in their top five had a strike rate over 60. But a quality bowling attack and much improved fielding helped Pakistan defend what seemed a bowler-par total for the second time in the campaign.

Captain Fatima Sana led from the front, and after holding herself back until the 24th over against Scotland, took the new ball under lights in this game. Her first delivery was full and straight, and clipped the top of Hayley Matthews’ back pad. As a result, Sana had her opposite number out for a first-ball duck. Matthews looked disappointed with the decision, but with no reviews at the qualifier, she could only trudge off.

The experienced Shemaine Campbelle was sent out ahead of Zaida James at No. 3 but was run-out for the second time in the tournament. Campbelle tucked a delivery from Sadia Iqbal on the leg side, and set off for a single, but didn’t account for Sidra Nawaz’s speed. Keeping wicket in place of Muneeba, who has been left to focus on her batting, Nawaz charged off to field the ball, and her direct hit caught Campbelle out of her ground.

Three overs later, West Indies had another mishap. Diana Baig appealed for an lbw against Jannillea Glasgow as the ball bobbled to slip. Glasgow and James took the opportunity to steal a run, but Nawaz was quick to see them hesitate and called for the ball while the umpire was still deciding on the appeal. Nawaz ran James out to leave West Indies at 29 for 3, but with Stafanie Taylor still in the hut. Taylor had taken ill in the field, and could not come out to bat until an hour and a quarter into the innings, or until West Indies were five down, whichever came first.

That is why Chinelle Henry walked out to bat at No. 5, and joined Glasgow. Henry slapped the first ball she faced for four, and hit two more boundaries in her first seven balls.

Left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu was brought on in the 12th over, and dismised Glasgow and Henry in the space of three balls to all but end West Indies’ hopes. They were 54 for 5 when Taylor walked in, before she shared a 34-run sixth wicket stand with Shabika Gajnabi. Taylor started to look threatening when she hit Rameen Shamim back over her head for six but was caught by Muneeba at short fine leg, and West Indies had no senior batters left.

Sana came back to take two late wickets, and finished with figures of 3 for 16. She is now joint-second on the tournament’s wicket-takers’ list, and just behind Matthews, who has ten wickets. That will be scant consolation to Matthews, who had Gull Feroza out early and took 2 for 30 in ten overs in this match, given the state West Indies find themselves in.

Though their bowling was tight, and only Karishma Ramharack conceded above five runs an over, their batting has let them down. After finishing World Cup 2022 as semi-finalists, they could miss out on the 2025 edition altogether after losses to Scotland and Pakistan.

West Indies have two days off before their next match against Bangladesh, and will want to use that time to address their batting concerns, including whether to bring Qiana Joseph back into the XI. Pakistan, too, will have some worries about their batting. Muneeba laboured to 33 off 60 balls, and Amin took 86 balls to get to fifty, but they anchored the innings.

No other batter scored more than Sidra Nawaz’s 23, and the middle order’s inconsistency is something they will want to address in coming games. Pakistan play Thailand on Thursday, and then play Bangladesh in their final game on Saturday.

Should Pakistan qualify for the World Cup, their matches will take place outside of India, in accordance with the hybrid model agreed on by the BCCI and PCB earlier this year.

Brief scores:
Pakistan Women 191 in 49.5 overs (Muneeba Ali 33, Sidra Amin 54, Aliya Riyaz 20, Sidra Nawaz 23; Hayley Matthews 2-30, Afy Fletcher 2-39, Karishma Ramharak 2-55) beat West Indies Women 126 in 39.2 overs (Aaliya Alleyne 22, Shabika Gajnabi 21; Fatima Sana 3-16, Rameen Shamim 2-26, Nashra Sandhu 2-31) by 65 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Sports

New Zealand edge Tuskers in Racecourse arm-wrestle

Published

4 hours ago

2026/04/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

A spirited performance by Sri Lanka’s Tuskers saw them putting up a tough contest against New Zealand Under-85kg at Racecourse on Saturday.

Sri Lanka’s Tuskers showed bite but not quite enough teeth as New Zealand’s Under-85kg side edged a bruising 27-16 win in the opening leg of their two-match series at Racecourse on Saturday.

Under lights for the second straight year, the visitors rode pressure, precision and a late sucker punch to take first blood in a contest that swung on momentum and discipline.

New Zealand struck early at the breakdown, forcing a turnover penalty with Sri Lanka pinged for holding on. Taine Cordell-Hull made no mistake from the tee to open the scoring.

The hosts hit back with purpose. A knock-on gifted them a scrum platform and the pack went to work, grinding through tight phases. Scrum-half Harsha Maduranga pulled the strings before releasing Mursheed Zubair, whose inside ball sent centre Akash Madushanka on a hard, direct line to crash over for the opening try.

But just as Sri Lanka found their rhythm, New Zealand pounced. Maduranga’s clearance was charged down by Josh Gellart and the ricochet sat up kindly for Simon Sia to dot down, restoring the visitors’ lead.

The Tuskers’ forwards continued to carry with intent, their rolling maul chewing up metres before the ball was shifted wide for winger Janindu Dilshan to finish in the corner. Any momentum, however, was short-lived, Dilshan was sin-binned moments later for foul play, leaving the hosts a man down.

New Zealand wasted little time exploiting the overlap. Kicking deep and setting up camp, they drove a clinical maul, with number eight Pasia Asiata peeling off the back to power over and swing the contest again.

It remained a tight arm-wrestle. Cordell-Hull added another penalty on the stroke of halftime after Sri Lanka strayed inside their own 22, while a potential home try was chalked off for offside. Thenuka Nanayakkara slotted a penalty from advantage to keep Sri Lanka within touching distance, the visitors taking a slender 16-13 lead into the break.

New Zealand resumed with the same clinical edge, winning an early breakdown penalty that Cordell-Hull converted to stretch the margin. Sri Lanka refused to fold, upping the tempo and earning a lifeline when Asiata was shown yellow for a high tackle on Madushanka. Nanayakkara kept the scoreboard ticking, trimming the deficit once more.

But the visitors held their nerve. After soaking up sustained pressure, they forced penalties of their own and Jarred Percival stepped up to bisect the uprights, giving New Zealand breathing space heading into the final quarter.

The killer blow came late. With Sri Lanka chasing the game, a loose clearance towards touch was snapped up quickly by Ben Kelt, catching the defence napping. The move opened up broken field, Pieter Swarts slicing through before sending Matt Treeby over in the corner to seal it in the 77th minute.

New Zealand finished with three tries and four penalties to Sri Lanka’s two tries and two penalties, a late flourish settling a contest that had been on a knife edge for long periods.

The Tuskers will take heart from a far sharper display, but it is New Zealand who carry the upper hand into the second leg in Kandy next week.

by Carlos Van de Berg

Sports

Wins for IPD Colombo, Brandix Apparel, VS Information Systems, Pyramid Wilmar, Future Life Holdings, and LOLC Insurance on Saturday

Published

4 hours ago

2026/04/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

15TH STAFFORD MOTORS – MCA G DIVISION T20 LEAGUE CRICKET TOURNAMENT

IPD Colombo, Brandix Apparel, VS Information Systems, Pyramid Wilmar, Future Life Holdings, and LOLC Insurance won their league stage games in the Stafford Motors sponsored MCA G division which resumed on Saturday [25]

IPD Colombo beat Union Bank by five wickets in the morning game played at the Nalanda College grounds while in the afternoon game, Brandix Apparel powered by a half ton from Dayan Indunil registered their third win to lead group G undefeated.

At the Royal College grounds, VS Information System’s Adeesha Bandaranayake captured five wickets for thirteen runs to restrict Swisstek Ceylon to 101/7 which his team chased down in 10 overs with nine wickets in hand. VS Information Systems lead group F winning five wins in six outings. In the afternoon game played at the same venue Sahas Vihanga [50] and Upeksha Lakshan [43] powered Pyramid Wilmar to a seven wicket win over AIA.

At the Thurstan College grounds, In a game reduced to 18 overs per side, Future Life Holdings defeated Ceyline Holdings by 3 wickets in the morning, while in the afternoon game LOLC Insurance beat Sri Lanka Telecom by six runs

At Nalanda College grounds:

IPD Colombo beat Union Bank by 5 wickets

Union Bank

163/6 in 20 overs [Gavin Fernando 31, Ayeshan Perera 18, George Banushanth 35, Nishan Maduranga 57, Rushin Dulanjaya 10*; Kavinda Sudeshka 1-22, Masood Mursheed 2-36, FredickWendt 1-18, Kasun Wijerathna 2-32]

IPD Colombo

167/5 in 19 overs [Sachithra Shanika 24, Masood Mursheed 40, Aravinda Bandara 35, Sajiv Dharmasena 33, Rajitha Dihan 10; George Banushanth 1-20, Gavin Fernando 2-20, Sasika Chathuranga 1-27, Ayeshan Perera 1-13]

Brandix Apparel won by 7 wickets

Sitecore

112/8 in 20 overs [Pramodh Maduwantha 29, Thanuja Senevirathne 28, Dineth Sathkumara 25*; Janaka Prasanna 1-25, Dayan Indunil 1-26, Sasitha Ashan 2-18]

Brandix Apprarel

115/3 in 7.2 overs [Dayan Indunil 51, Sampath Jayalath 22, Sasitha Ashan 16; Pramodith Maduwantha 1-36, Dineth Sathkumara 1-32, Risitha Dilshan 1-09]

At Royal College grounds:

Adeesha bowls VS Information System to 9 wicket win

Swisstek Ceylon

101/7 in 20 overs [Daminda Perera 21, Nadeera Liyanage 27, Gamini Wanasinghe 13*, Lahiru Piyumal 21*; Adeesha Bandaranayake 5-13, Nimnada Kirindage 1-32, Ayesh Lakmal 1-12]

VS Information Systems

102/1 in 10 overs [Shamilka Wickremathilake 31, Kisal Ranathunga 42*, Shan Aniketh 19*; Lahiru Piyumal 1-23]

Pyramid Wilmar win by 7 wickets

AIA

120/6 in 20 overs [Nuwan de Silva 55, Madhura de Silva 16, Malindu Kalishka 24; Bdhdhuka Herath 1-20, Upeksha Lakshan 1-23, Udesh Nishan 4-12]

Pyramid Wilmar

121/3 in 16 overs [Sahas Vihanga 50, Upeksha Lakshan 43, Malintha Pieris 13; Anuja de Silva 1-23, Malindu Kanishka 1-22, Nimesh Rodrigo 1-19]

At Thurstan College grounds:

Future Life Holdings win by 3 wickets

Ceyline Holdings

126/8 in 18 overs [Tharindu Munasinghe 43, Sasindu Prarthana 40, Anushka Fernando 11, Dilushan Peter 21; Prabath Wujesinghe 1-08, Sahan Ranasinghe 1-42, Tharuka Sooriyarachchi 2-15, Neluka Dilshan 2-22]

Future Life Holdings

128/7 in 17.3 overs [Kavindu Ranahansa 23, Neluka Dilshan 19, Savindu Rodrigo 24, SahannRanasinghe 23* Purna Ranasinghe 11; Anushka Fernando 2-25, VKS Kithmina 1-22, Chameera Manamperi 1-30, Devindra Fernando 1-16, Tharindu Munasinghe 1-14]

LOLC Insurance win by six runs

LOLC Insurance

119/9 in 20 overs [Malith de Alwis 57, Panduka Madumal 14, Chamara Thennakon 19; Hashan Baramane 2-16, Viduranga Fernando 4-18, SandunWijayarathne 1-29, Sandakelum Fernando 2-17]

Sri Lanka Telecom

113/8 in 20 overs [Namal Dissanayake 14, KasunnSachitra 11, Thaveesha Gunawardena 46, Malinda Perera 15, Viduranga Fernando 11; Chamara Thennakon 1-16, Deneth Nissanka 3-19, M Z Osman 3-25, Tharindu Mohan 1-17]

Latest News

Sooryavanshi ton in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad raze a 229 chase

Published

23 hours ago

2026/04/26

Priyan

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi salutes after hitting a century [Cricinfo]

Twelve days after defeating Rajasthan Royals [RR] by nullifying Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sunrisers Hyderabad [SRH] defeated them in spite of an astonishing innings from the boy wonder.

Sooryavanshi scored his second IPL hundred, getting there off just 36 balls, and struck a six every third ball before his dismissal. The rest of RR’s batting, however, struggled around him. Sooryavanshi made 103 off 37 balls, and his colleagues and extras combined to score 125 off 83.

It wasn’t clear at the innings break whether 228 for 6 would be enough for RR, on a day when Punjab Kings (PBKS) had broken the T20 record by chasing down 265 with an over to spare. It wasn’t, and this was because SRH were able to fire at both ends where RR only went from one. A red-hot Jofra Archer dismissed Travis Head in the first over, but Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan quickly took over, enjoying their share of luck in a match where the two teams combined to put down seven chances (there had been nine drops in the Delhi Capitals-PBKS game).

Individually, neither Abhishek nor Kishan matched Sooryavanshi for pace of scoring. Together, though, they comfortably outscored Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel, who had put on RR’s biggest partnership – 112 off 62 balls for the second wicket. Abhishek and Kishan put on 132 off just 55, and when Donovan Ferreira broke their partnership, SRH needed just nine an over in the last 10. They got home with an over and a half to spare.

Praful Hinge had made an eye-catching debut in the reverse fixture, taking a match-winning four-for that began with the wicket of Sooryavanshi. On this day, Sooryavanshi had his revenge. He faced five balls of Hinge in the first over of the match, after SRH had chosen to bowl. First a dot – a play and miss. And then 6, 6, 6, 6. Hinge began short and kept getting gradually fuller, and Sooryavanshi put everything away: a pull, a whip over backward square leg, and two clean, flowing hits down the ground.

It took until the last ball of the second over for Sooryavanshi to get on strike again, and now he was facing Pat Cummins – playing his first competitive game since the Adelaide Ashes Test in December – for the first time in his life. Cummins bowled a good short ball, angling across the left-hander and climbing, but Sooryavanshi picked the length in a flash and swatted it for another six, well in front of square. He had faced six balls and hit five sixes.

Sooryavanshi was never going to keep up that rate of scoring, but he didn’t slow down by much at all. He finished the powerplay on 51 off 16, along the way getting to a 15-ball half-century for the third time this season, and getting to 1000 runs in fewer balls than anyone in T20 history. He had also enjoyed one major slice of luck, Aniket Verma putting him down off Eshan Malinga on the leg-side boundary, when he was on 32.

Sooryavanshi kept hitting boundaries at an absurd rate even when the fields spread, showing he could innovate to disrupt bowlers’ plans: a reverse-swat over backward point, for instance, forced left-arm wristspinner Shivang Kumar into a fuller, straighter follow-up that he launched over wide long-on for six.

Another attempt at innovation – he opened up and shaped to reverse-scoop – led to his wicket off a Sakib Hussain yorker in the 14th over, but he had hit his Bihar team-mate for 6, 4, 6 before that to bring up his century. It was only his second-quickest century in the IPL – his maiden hundred, against Gujarat Titans last year, had come off 35 balls.

He now has the second and third quickest centuries in the history of the IPL. He’s only 15.

While the Sooryavanshi whirlwind raged at one end, SRH’s bowlers found life significantly easier at the other. Jurel struggled for fluency early on, and despite a late flurry of boundaries only managed 51 off 35. Riyan Parag, enduring a miserable season, was out for 7 of 9, bowled by a terrific Cummins yorker with late tail.

Cummins and Eshan Malinga used the yorker brilliantly at the back end of the innings, and only Ferreira (33 off 16) managed to break free of SRH’s post-Sooryavanshi shackles.

Archer produced a chance with the first ball of SRH’s innings, his pace, bounce, constricting line, and angle from over the wicket producing a nervy jab and edge from Travis Head. Jurel, diving left, put it down.

There were two plays and misses in the next three balls (one was adjudged wide), and then a bit of width that Head carved for six. But just when Jurel may have wondered how costly his miss would be, Archer bowled another Test-match jaffa, squaring Head up, and this time the edge settled nicely in Jurel’s gloves.

The drama wasn’t done yet; the last ball of the over was a searing bouncer, and Kishan, taking his eyes off the ball while looking to fend it away, edged it for six over fine leg.

That proved to be a bit of a sign in the early exchanges. There was luck early on for Abhishek too; an edge over slip in the second over off Nandre Burger, and two missed chances – one from Shimron Hetmyer who lost the ball in its flight, one from Ravindra Jadeja who put down a sitter – in the fourth and fifth overs.

Either side of those chances, the two left-handers peppered the boundary, particularly by piercing or going over the off-side ring when the bowlers offered width. Some of this was down to mis-executed plans: Tushar Deshpande, for instance, looked to hide the ball away from their hitting arc with protection square and behind square on the off side, but he didn’t quite find the line control on the day.

The presence of two left-handers also meant RR went with the part-time offspin of Parag and Ferreira before either of their frontline spinners. By the time Ravi Bishnoi and Jadeja came on in the 11th and 12th overs, the match was nearly done, and they ended up bowling just an over each. Heinrich Klaasen (29 off 24) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (36 off 18) took SRH to the doorstep of their target before both fell late in the chase.

Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 229 for 5 in 18.3 overs (Abhishek Sharma 57, Ishan Kishan 74, Heinrich Klassen 29, Nitish Kumar Reddy 36; Jofra Archer 2-34, Brijesh Sharma 2-44,Donovan Ferreira 1-14) beat Rajasthan Royals 228 for 6 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 10, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 103, Dhruv Jurel 51, Donovan Ferreira 33, Shimron Hetmyer 11; Praful Hinge 1-49, Pat Cummins 1-27, Eshan Malinga 2-38, Sakib Hussain 1-62, Nitish Kumar Reddy 1-20) by five wickets

[Cricinfo]