Sports
Deepti, Ghosh help India make it two in two
Deepti Sharma became the first Indian, male or female, to reach 100 T20I wickets as she set up India’s six-wicket victory against the West Indies in Cape Town on Wednesday (February 15). On a wicket aiding the slower bowlers, Deepti finished with excellent figures of 3 for 15 from her four overs to restrict the opposition to 118/6. India stuttered a bit in the chase but a 72-run partnership between Richa Ghosh (44* off 32, 5 4s) and Harmanpreet Kaur (33 off 42, 3 4s) helped them over the line with 11 deliveries to spare to make it two wins out of two.
Shafali set the tone for the chase by striking three fours off Shamilia Connell in the opening over and followed it up with a boundary off Chinelle Henry. The bowler was also hit for two more fours by Smriti Mandhana, returning to the playing eleven after missing the first game due to a finger injury. Mandhana’s stay, however, was a short one as she was stumped off Karishma Ramharack in the fourth over and Hayley Matthews took a sharp catch off her own bowling to send Jemimah Rodrigues back to the hut. A boundary for Shafali off Ramharack helped India end the powerplay at 41/2.
A tight over from Matthews followed and in her bid to up the ante Shafali became the third to depart as she slog-swept Ramharack straight to deep backward square leg. The onus was on Harmanpreet and Ghosh to stabilise India’s innings and the Indian captain, after a slow start, struck successive fours off Afy Fletcher in an over that yielded 16 runs. Just before that, Stafanie Taylor had to be stretchered off the field after injuring herself while throwing. Meanwhile, offspinner Ramharack continued to strangle India as she gave away only four runs off her final over to finish with impressive figures of 2 for 14, with India managing only 64 in the first half of their innings.
But Connell ended up going for nine in her second over, which included a boundary for Ghosh, while Harmanpreet swept a full toss from Fletcher for a boundary to bring the equation down to 27 off the last six overs. Fletcher was also guilty of not collecting a throw properly, which would have given West Indies the chance to run Harmanpreet out. The half-century stand was raised shortly after, with the fourth wicket pair pacing their partnership well, with plenty of singles and twos interspersed with boundaries. India crossed 100 at the start of the 16th over when Ghosh pulled Henry for a four. Ghosh then hit two fours off Gajnabi and despite Henry dismissing Harmanpreet and bowling a maiden, India’s wicketkeeper-bat finished it off with a four in the penultimate over off Connell.
Earlier, after opting to bat, West Indies were sluggish during the powerplay as they managed only 29 runs and also lost Matthews early in the innings. Pooja Vastrakar got the West Indies captain edging to the ‘keeper with a delivery that moved late, dismissing Matthews for the fifth time, as she started with a wicket-maiden. Vastrakar conceded only five runs from her first two overs and despite Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle managing a few boundaries, West Indies could not make the most of the fielding restrictions.
The second wicket pair did pick up pace as the innings progressed, managing regular boundaries and rotating the strike well, as they added 73. But the set batters fell in quick succession to Deepti – Campbelle fell to a reverse sweep, with Mandhana taking a diving catch, while India used to review to send Taylor back lbw. Chinelle Henry was run out soon after as West Indies slipped to 79/4.
Shabika Gajnabi and Chedean Nation struck a boundary each off Devika Vaidya in the 17th over, and the former also edged a Vastrakar delivery for a four. But she fell to Renuka Singh and Deepti added another wicket to her tally by having Fletcher bowled in the final over, as India conceded 36 in the last five overs to complete a tidy job with the ball.
Brief scores:
West Indies women 118/6 in 20 overs (Stafanie Taylor 42, Shemaine Campbelle 30; Deepti Sharma 3-15) lost to India women 119/4 in 18.1 overs (Richa Ghosh 44*, Harmanpreet Kaur 33; Karishma Ramharack 2-14) by 6 wickets.
(Cricbuzz)
Kusal Mendis’ 93 not out off 117 balls provided the backbone, Janith Liyanage punched out a 46, and DunithWellalage produced late burst, as Sri Lanka strode to 271 for 6. On a track that offers turn, and at a venue at which chasing has historically been difficult, Sri Lanka’s is a solid – if not imposing – score, even if the hosts are resting some key bowlers.
Adil Rashid added to his excellent Sri Lanka record with 3 for 44, and was unsurprisingly England’s primary weapon, given the conditions. Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, and Rehan Ahmed claimed a wicket each, as England found frequent-enough breakthroughs to cut partnerships short before they grew truly worrying. Although Sri Lanka will be pleased with their score, England will believe it is within their reach.
Mendis was cautious early on. Arriving in the 11th over, he faced out 12 scoreless deliveries – 10 of those from England’s legspinners – before he nurdled himself onto the scoreboard. He was awake to scoring opportunities, particularly in his favoured zones square of the wicket, such as when he struck Rehan for successive boundaries behind point in the 15th over.
But as England continued to bowl tightly to him, and the spinners extracted turn from a dry surface, Mendis chose to proceed in a middling gear, pushing for singles and twos instead of dusting off his more aggressive sweeps. He got to 50 off 62 balls, but slowed down a little after that, particularly after he lost Liyanage, with whom he had put on 88 for the fifth wicket.
Although Mendis hit only a single four after the 41st over, Sri Lanka had Wellalage to crash the finishing boundaries. He hit three fours and a six in his 12-ball 25 not out. Mendis was in the 90s in the last two overs, but Wellalage claimed the majority of the strike, taking a particular shine to Jamie Overton in the final over, which went for 23.
Rashid was masterful with the ball almost from the outset. He slipped a googly past the defences of Kamil Mishara 10 balls into his first spell, then later trapped Dhananjaya de Silva in front, having beaten the batter in the flight. Then in the 43rd over, he cramped Liyanage up and took a simple catch off his own bowling, just as Liyanage was preparing to press the pedal to the floor.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 271 for 6 in 50 overs (Pathum Nissanka 21, Kamil Mishara 27, Kusal Mendis 93*, Janith Liyanage 46, Dunith Welalage 25*; Adil Rashid 3-44) vs England
[Cricinfo]
Asif Nazrul, the Bangladesh government’s sports advisor, on Thursday said that the ICC and the BCCI made no effort to convince the the Bangladesh Cricket Board of the security for their players in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to be hosted in India and Sri Lanka. He also added that they did not deliver justice to their plea of shifting matches to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first in the opening ODI in Colombo, a venue that has historically been difficult for chasing teams. England captain Harry Brook said his team would have batted first as well.
England made one change to the XI they had named on the eve of the match, with allrounder Will Jacks having taken ill overnight. Jacks, an offspin-bowling allrounder, has been replaced in the XI by legspinning allrounder Rehan Ahmed.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have opted for a young attack, perhaps with a view to resting the more experienced bowlers for the T20Is coming up. There is no Wanindu Hasaranga or Maheesh Theekshana in the XI. Left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage and legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay will lead the spin attack instead, with the likes of Dhananjaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka also able to bowl.
Asitha Fernando and Pramod Madushan are the frontline seamers.
Although conditions were warm and fair at the toss, there is a chance showers could roll through later.
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt.), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Rehan Ahmed, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Pavan Ratnayake, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando
[Cricinfo]
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