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Duckett, Stokes revive England in chase of 371
Ben Duckett’s half-century and his unbroken 69-run partnership with Ben Stokes led England’s recovery in the final session on Day 4 after Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins combined to rattle the hosts early in their chase of 371. After Stuart Broad’s four-wicket haul bowled Australia out for 279, England had slipped to 45/4. But Duckett, who was the beneficiary of a controversial ruling from the third umpire late in the day, helped the hosts to 114/4 at Stumps on Saturday (July 1), with the hosts needing 257 more to win the Lord’s Test and square the series.
An innocuous delivery which was heading down the leg side gave Starc his first wicket as Zak Crawley got a faint tickle through to the ‘keeper. Duckett, who was put down by Cameron Green (a very tough chance) in the opening over, also managed to overturn a leg-before decision. But the left-arm pacer struck in his next, with beauty that swung in late into Ollie Pope and uprooted the middle stump. Joe Root and Duckett then built a steady partnership – rotating the strike well, with the former also scoring a couple of boundaries.
Cummins sowed the seeds of doubt with short balls in the 13th over and there was immediately a change in the atmosphere. Root, hit on his forearm, fended the next one to Warner at first slip to depart for 18. Harry Brook got off the mark with a confident straight drive over Cummins’ head. But he got a terrific delivery soon after, one that pitched on a length, seamed away, beat the outside edge and crashed onto the stumps.
Stokes and Duckett put their heads down and built a steady partnership to aid England’s recovery. They kept the pacemen at bay before taking on part-timer Travis Head. Stokes came down the track to hit a six while Duckett went over mid-on for a boundary as the two batters did not allow the spinner to settle down. They also rotated the strike well, picking up the singles and twos to ensure England weren’t bogged down as they maintained a decent scoring rate.
The introduction of Green saw Australia turn to short balls again but Duckett was up to the task, scoring a couple of boundaries, and also put away a loose ball from Starc for a four. Green, however, troubled Stokes with his short length deliveries and nearly dismissed the England skipper, with the ball just dropping wide of gully. In late drama, Duckett was given not out after being caught at fine leg by Starc off Green, with the third umpire ruling that the ball made contact with the ground when the catch was about to be completed.
Earlier, Khawaja and Smith were untroubled in the first hour, making most of the sunny conditions as they stretched the lead past 250 and extended their stand past 50. James Anderson, who wasn’t effective, was taken off the attack after only three overs. Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson, who bowled in tandem, came up with a barrage of short deliveries. Smith and Khawaja were disciplined with their shot selection against the short deliveries but they also had a few uncomfortable moments.
It was Stuart Broad, introduced after the drinks break, who made the breakthrough as he had Khawaja off a top edge to end a 64-run stand. Smith handed a catch in the deep trying to guide a short one from Tongue in the gap. Head, dropped by Anderson on 0, had a short stay as he too fell to a short ball from Broad, with Joe Root taking a splendid one-handed catch at short leg. Alex Carey and Green kept the England bowlers at bay as they added 25 before the Lunch break to stretch the lead past 300.
It was an attritional second session with England being relentless with their short-ball strategy while Carey and Green were happy to play the waiting game. Eventually, it was England who came out on top in the game of patience as Robinson’s short-pitched balls got the better of Green and Carey in quick succession after a 42-run partnership that came off 123 deliveries.
Ben Stokes, who bowled right from the start of the post-lunch session, delivered 12 overs on the trot and was struggling with his knee, but continued nevertheless. He eventually accounted for Josh Hazlewood’s wicket, after Broad, who replaced Robinson (nine successive overs) dismissed Cummins. Nathan Lyon, who walked out to bat to a huge reception, added 15 runs with Starc before being the last to be dismissed as Broad finished with four.
Brief scores:
Australia 416 & 279 (Usman Khawaja 77, Steven Smith 34; Stuart Broad 4-65, Ollie Robinson 2-48) lead England 325 & 114/4 (Ben Duckett 50*, Ben Stokes 29*; Pat Cummins 2-20, Mitchell Starc 2-40) by 256 runs.
Australia are the last side to begin their T20 World Cup campaign and the late start plays heavily into their favour, given the injury issues they have had coming into the tournament.
They are already without Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood after both were ruled out with injury, and Australia’s selectors have intriguingly not yet replaced Hazlewood in the 15 and will only have 13 to choose from for their opening match against Ireland with Tim David expected to miss the opening round as he continues to rehab his hamstring injury.
Had the first match been any earlier, there may have also been doubts on Nathan Ellis coming off a hamstring concern and Adam Zampa, who experienced some groin tightness in the last T20I of the tour of Pakistan a fortnight ago, which Australia lost 3-0.
Australia are also struggling for form, having been hammered in Pakistan despite many of them coming from the BBL. However Ellis, David and Glenn Maxwell were all absent from that trip while many of the World Cup squad only played one or two games in the series at most. The change in conditions will challenge them, as will Ireland’s spinners George Dockerell and Gareth Delany after both bowled well against Sri Lanka.
Ireland themselves will feel under some pressure after butchering a chance to beat Sri Lanka in Colombo in their tournament opener. They dropped seven catches and gave up 59 runs from their final four overs with the ball. They were 105 for 2, albeit with the required run-rate climbing, but lost 8 for 38 to lose the game by 20 runs.
In theory, Ireland have the advantage of being a slightly unknown quantity to Australia. The two teams have only met twice in T20Is and only once in all international cricket since 2016. They played at the Gabba in the 2022 T20 World Cup and eight of the Ireland XI that played against Sri Lanka played in that game too. However, Australia may only have four players in their XI who played four years ago, with a number of retirements and injuries changing the formation of Australia’s team.
The only other time the two teams met in the shortest format was in the 2012 T20 World Cup in Colombo. Paul Stirling, Dockrell and Maxwell all played in that game.
Can Glenn Maxwell go to the well one more time to produce a stunning World Cup for his nation? Given he turns 38 this year, it seems unlikely that he will play another one for Australia, having already retired from ODI cricket. But since a match-winning 62 not out against South Africa last August, he has had a very lean run in all T20s. In eight innings in the BBL when he got past 3 he remained unbeaten, but that only happened three times with a highest score of 39 not out. His bowling will also be vital in the tournament as he will likely be the lone spinning allrounder in the top seven for most of the event.
Ireland need skipper Paul Stirling to set the tone at the top of the order, particularly against an inexperienced new-ball attack for Australia. His returns have also been lean in recent times with scores of 21, 29, 38, 0, 23, 45, 8, 14, and 6 in his last nine T20Is, striking at just 125.17. His 6 off 13 against Sri Lanka was not the start to the tournament he or Ireland were hoping for.
Australia appear set to play two specialist spinners in Matt Kuhnemann and Zampa. It will mean one of Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis will miss out. There is another option Australia could take with Cooper Connolly playing at No. 8 to lengthen the batting, but that appears unlikely based on form. David’s absence will likely give Matt Renshaw a chance in the middle order. The combination of the top seven is likely to be fluid with the potential of elevating Maxwell early against spin.
Australia (probable): Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Matt Renshaw, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett/Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Matt Kuhnemann, Adam Zampa
There could be a temptation to bring in left-arm seamer Josh Little, who bowled very well against Australia four years ago, but he has gone wicketless in his last four T20Is. Ireland will more than likely remain unchanged given catching was the major issue against Sri Lanka.
Ireland (probable): Paul Stirling (capt), Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Curtis Campher, Ben Calitz, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Matthew Humphreys
[Cricinfo]
Afghanistan made it till the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup, but this time, after just one game, they face an uphill task. Their loss to New Zealand in their opening match has put them, in all likelihood, in a do-or-die situation against South Africa: if they lose, even the wins against Canada and UAE may not be enough to qualify for the Super Eight stage.
It will not be easy for Afghanistan. They have faced South Africa three times in T20Is. On all three occasions, they were on the losing side. Their last defeat – in of the 2024 edition – was particularly chastening: South Africa bowled them out for 56 and then chased down the target with nine wickets to spare.
Apart from all that history, too, South Africa will be well primed after their win against Canada, where they ticked most boxes. Their captain Aiden Markram scored a half-century, David Miller and Tristan Stubbs added 75 in an unbroken stand, and the team posted the highest total of the tournament so far. Lungi Ngidi’s four-for was the icing on the cake. A win against Afghanistan will make their path to the Super Eight stage smooth.
It’s a day game, starting at 11am. But as Stubbs said after the Canada match, it may not make much of a difference.
It may feel like Rashid Khan is not the same bowler he once was. But numbers tell a different story. Since the start of 2024, he has taken 52 wickets in 26 T20Is against Full Members. Both his strike rate (11.3) and economy (5.83) in this period are better than his career numbers. If Afghanistan are to qualify for the next round, they will need similar performances from their captain.
Since his return to T20I cricket in October, Quinton de Kock has five single digit scores in 11 innings. But when he gets going, it’s not easy to stop him. He has scored 355 runs in this period, at an average of 32.27 and a strike rate of 181.12. His overall record in India is also impressive, and he will be keen to put behind his 22-ball 25 in South Africa’s opening match against Canada.
Expect Noor Ahmad to replace Ziaur Rahman, who conceded 33 from his three wicketless overs against New Zealand.
Afghanistan (probable): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (capt), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi
South Africa could consider bringing in a second spinner in George Linde for one of the many fast bowlers.
South Africa (probable): Aiden Markram (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi
[Cricinfo]
There was the odd hiccup or two. Glenn Phillips bowling the 18th over and giving up 27 runs. James Neesham turning a leg bye into an all-run four with an overthrow. But in the end, New Zealand wrapped up the win that was expected of them against UAE – with all ten wickets and 27 balls to spare – and look in good shape to make the Super Eights.
Finn Allen and Tim Seifert knocked off the entire target of 174 by themselves. In the course of doing that, they recorded the highest partnership for any wicket, by any side, in the T20 World Cup.
An even-paced pitch and its location on the square – making one side of the ground smaller than the other – resulted in the batters really enjoying themselves.
Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu are the most accomplished players in the UAE line-up and they stepped up – together – to put on a 107-run partnership. It is their second highest for the second wicket in T20Is.
The logic behind their strokeplay really stood out. Sharafu (55 off 47) backed away against Mitchell Santner and carved him over cover point for four. That shot was about getting the odds in his favour – hitting with the turn and to the short boundary. Waseem (66 off 45) backed his upper cut off Matt Henry’s slower bouncer because short third was inside the circle. It was high-percentage cricket in a high-pressure situation.ll
New Zealand’s bowlers had a really tough time against India in the bilateral series leading up to this World Cup. Huffing and puffing against UAE, who had crumbled to 81 all out in a warm-up game in Chennai against Italy, isn’t the kind of confidence boost they’re in need of
Phillips bowling in the death was odd. The four overs leading up to it had brought only 17 runs and two wickets. This one over alone yielded 27, including a wide, a no-ball four and a free-hit six. All while frontline quick Jacob Duffy had two overs left.
Alle and Seifert knocked off almost half the target in the powerplay itself. The 78 runs they put on together included nine fours and four sixes, which amount to a balls per boundary ratio of 2.77. This is a strength Santner had alluded to in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Afghanistan game, and it came good to take New Zealand to a 2-0 record in the group of death.
Allen showed game awareness when he played out UAE’s pinpoint accurate spin bowler, Haider Ali, and took down their quicks with ease instead. He had tried to do too much against Mujeeb Ur Rahman and lost his stumps during their previous match against Afghanistan. Here, even when Haider tempted him with mid-off up, he held back his big shots.
Seifert backed up his 39-ball fifty on Sunday with a 23-ball fifty today, continuing his path to becoming a high-volume batter instead of his previous version, where he was a high-variance batter. He didn’t have any trouble taking on Haider as the game neared its conclusion, reverse-hitting him for a six and then a four. New Zealand’s bash brothers were in full flow so the chase didn’t last beyond the 16th over.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 175 for 0 in 15.2 overs (Tim Seifert 89*, Finn Allen 84*) beat United Arab Emirates 173 for 6 in 20 overs (Mohamed Waseem 66, Alishan Sharafu 55, Mayanak Kumar 21; Matt Henry 2-37, Jacob Duffy 1-16, Lockie Ferguson 1-35, Mitchell Santner 1-23, Glenn Phillips 1-30) by ten wickets
(Cricinfo)
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