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England keep series alive with clinical bowling display
A disciplined bowling attack, to follow up on Ben Duckett’s second T20I half-century, helped England to a 26-run victory over India, in Rajkot, on Tuesday. With this win, England cut India’s lead to 2-1 in the five-match series.
The visitors had hoped that their counter-attack would eventually be able to outwit India. They tried, and somewhere till the end of the ninth over, it looked good. Jos Buttler and Ben Duckett in the middle, and 83 for 1 on the board. And then, a new but by-now-old nemesis emerged – Varun Chakravarthy. This time, with a ball lower than Buttler had anticipated, which was eventually undercut to the wicketkeeper.
Till the time Buttler and Ben Duckett were in the middle, the conditions for batting seemed pleasant. In a matter of seven deliveries in the fourth and fifth over especially, bowled by Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar respectively, Duckett clubbed five boundaries and a six. Buttler didn’t find similar acceleration in his innings but after reverse-sweeping Bishnoi for a boundary in the seventh hope, he launched a tossed up delivery by the leggie over the long on fence.
But against Chakravarthy, it was a different story for the English batters. At sea against the wily variations of the spinner, Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton departed in successive deliveries in the 14th over. In the last over of his spell, Brydon Carse flicked him to the fielder at deep square leg, and Jofra Archer was cleaned up with a google. In a matter of seven overs from since Buttler’s departure, the visitors slid to 127 for 8, with Chakravarthy finishing his four-over spell with five wickets to his credit.
Fellow spinners – Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi also joined Chakravarthy’s party and threw England off their momentum completely. Duckett mistimed a slog off Axar to mid on and Harry Brook underedged a sweep off Bishnoi on to his stumps. Liam Livingstone’s late assault, a 24-ball 43, offered some respite. He slogged Bishnoi for three sixes in the 17th over, but departed in the next over. England’s last two batters, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood negotiated in the remaining deliveries in their innings to help them to a respectable 171 for 8 – slightly more competitive and eventually match-winning.
The contest, which seemed slightly in India’s favour courtesy Abhishek Sharma’s early assault, got a bit more exciting when Suryakumar Yadav top-edged a scoop flick to Phil Salt in the last over of the powerplay, reducing India to 48 for 3. By then, his enterprising strokeplay and Abhishek Sharma’s cameo were undone by the dismissal of the duo along with Sanju Samson, leading India early into a rebuilding phase.
Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma handled the situation calmly, but the Indian batters too were put to test against Adil Rashid’s spin. With turn on offer in the surface, the leggie used his variations in pace to excellent effect. Varma was undone by a sharply turning legbreak that beat him on the inside edge and cleaned him up in the ninth over.
Washington Sundar didn’t have it much easier either trying to negotiate the loop, dip and lack of pace to accompany the turn that Rashid was getting from the surface. His 14-ball 6 in the middle overs firmly shifted the control in England’s favour. At the same time, Rashid finished an excellent spell, conceding only 15 runs.
With the ball keep a little slow and low, Hardik Pandya, despite several attempts, failed to get the big shots going. The English pacers played around well with the pace, disguising the slower ones well with their high speeds. A couple of sixes were peppered with several mistimed shots for singles. Axar Patel didn’t have it any easier either, clawing his way to a 15-ball 16 before top-edging Jofra Archer to short third.
As the required rate kept mounting and went past India’s realistic chance, It just turned out to be a procession of wickets in the end, with Shami top-edging his swing to deep long on and Dhruv Jurel scooping the ball to the ‘keeper. Bishnoi drove the last ball for a boundary, but that was far too little for India.
Brief Scores:
England 171/9 in 20 overs (Ben Duckett 51, Liam Livingstone 43; Varun Chakravarthy 5-24, Hardik Pandya 2-33) beat India 145/9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 40, Abhishek Sharma 24; Jamie Overton 3-24, Brydon Carse 2-28) by 26 runs
South Africa successfully defended 136 in an 18-over game against Ireland in the Women’s T20 World Cup warm-up fixture in Loughborough . The experienced Marizanne Kapp led the way with the ball, her 4 for 24 helping South Africa dismiss Ireland for 120 in 17.4 overs. Shabnim Ismail, who had recently reversed her retirement, picked up 1 for 25 in her four overs.
Leah Paul was the only Ireland batter to pass 20 in their chase. Apart from Paul, only four Ireland batters got to double figures.
After South Africa were asked to bat first, they posted 136 for 8 on the back of captain Laura Wolvaardt’s 65 off 37 balls, including seven fours and three sixes.
SCORES:
South Africa Women 136 for 8 in 18 overs (Sune Luus 17, Laura Wolvaardt 65, Annerie Dercksen 26, Nadine de Klerk 11, Aimee Maguire 1-13, Arlene Kelly 3-29, Cara Murray 2-13, Ava Canning 2-08) beat Ireland Women 120 in 17.4 overs (Rebecca Stockel 19, Leah Paul 29, Alice Tector 17, Louise Little 13, Arlene Kelly 15; Marizanne Kapp 4-24, Shabnim Ismail 1-25, Tumi Sekhukhune 2-18, Nadine de Klerk 1-16, Nonkululeko Mlaba 1-25) by 16 runs
(Crickinfo)
In the 11th over, KL Rahul edged a cut to the keeper off Ziaur Ahmed when he was on 16. Afghanistan did not review the not-out decision. In the 61st over, Rahul flicked a full ball off his pads, bringing up a gritty century – his 12th in Test cricket. Afghanistan’s bowling attack had been worn down in the intervening period. They could not cash in on their half-chances aplenty, in their first Test against India since their format debut in 2018. Instead, Rahul – alongside a regal Shubman Gill – headlined India’s march to 368 for 3 on day one in New Chandigarh.
The city was hosting a men’s Test for the first time. Temperatures soared up to 40 degrees Celsius, and India captain Gill opted to bat first, expecting the pitch to worsen as time wore on in the match. However, Afghanistan’s new-ball bowlers – Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohamed Saleem – extracted uneven bounce off the pitch right away. They kept bowling back-of-a-length deliveries to Jaiswal and Rahul, moving the ball away from the openers.
Rahul reached for deliveries far from his body early in the day, often mistiming his shots. He ambled away to 16 off 34 by the end of the 10th over. At the other end, Jaiswal pounced on fuller deliveries with more regularity to race to 20 off 26.
Then, in the 11th over off Ziaur, Rahul slashed at a wide delivery and both bowler and keeper went up with a big appeal. However, they opted out of the review. Replays later showed Rahul had edged the delivery. Rahul rode his luck thereafter, leaving balls outside off, and dead-batting fuller ones that gripped in the pitch.
In the next over – the 12th – Jaiswal leaned into a front-foot drive off Mohammad Saleem. Then he jumped at an inswinger drifting down leg, and tried to flick it off his hips. He edged it to the keeper instead. Against the run of play, Jaiswal departed for a 32-ball 24, giving Saleem his maiden Test wicket.
Soon after, the new-ball swing dissipated and the bounce became less treacherous. B Sai Sudarshan made full use of this period of play at the back end of Saleem and Omarzai’s extended spells. He laced three fours in his first 15 deliveries.
In the 35th over off Ziaur, Sai Sudharsan stepped out of his crease for a tentative defense outside off. His edge dissected the wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai and first slip. Eight overs later, with Sai Sudharsan looking set for his maiden Test century, the batter played an expansive drive outside off against Saleem. Once more, the ball flew into the slip cordon, but was snared by Zazai with a one-handed stunner to his right. Sai Sudharsan was dismissed for 81. The second-wicket partnership was aborted at 131, with Rahul still steady at the other end.
As the day wore on, the New Chandigarh surface began gripping and turning more. Afghanistan’s captain Hashmatullah Shahidi was their most effective spinner. He bowled slowly, often keeping his speeds under 80 kph, and used drift to troublealla batters. Still, he never induced any real chances, with edges off him flying past short leg or the keeper.
From the other end, debutant Nangeyalia Kharote induced a thin edge off Sai Sudharsan with just his fourth delivery. Rahmanullah Gurbaz dropped the consequent one-hander, diving to his right at first slip. On his return spell, Kharote – as well as part-timer Abdul Malik – both strayed into leg-stump lines too often.
With Afghanistan’s fast bowlers erring in discipline too, Gill took full toll on them, especially after the tea break. If Rahul’s knock was a product of battling against the early swing and seam, Gill’s imperious century – his 11th in the format – was aided by a worn-down attack. Still, he pounced on good-length deliveries outside off as he unfurled his drives, and cut close to his body, in trademark fashion to rack up 11 fours and one six.
Gill had Rahul for company through the beginning of his knock, during a 67-run partnership for the third wicket. However, just one delivery after bringing up his century, Rahul perished for the third time in Test cricket on exactly a 100 – the joint-second most times in Test cricket, right behind England’s Len Hutton (4). Rahul had been out playing a loose waft away from his body, off Ziaur, straight to short extra cover.
Once Rishabh Pant walked out to join Gill, the brief was clear: by their standards, India had already shut up shop for the final hour of play. An unusually restrained Pant, also playing his 50th Test for India, batted within his means until his eyes lit up against offspinner Abdul Malik in the 68th over. He took advantage of half-trackers to flat-bat three sixes in trademark Pant style. Tellingly, these would also be Pant’s only sixes of the evening.
Gill brought up his century just a few minutes before close of play, off a flick to square leg, in the 83rd over off Saleem. Afghanistan had opted not to choose the new ball, bowling through till the close of play with a battered ball. Pant manipulated a thinly spread leg-side field in these final overs to bring up his own fifty off 70 balls, on the penultimate delivery of the day’s play.
SCORES:
India 368 for 3 in 85 overs (Shubman Gill 103*, KL Rahul 100, B Sai Sudharsan 81, Rishabh Pant 50*; MohaSaleem 2-67) vs Afghanistan
(Cricinfo)
West Indies won the toss and put Sri Lanka into bat, but that was the extent of the action from thesecod ODI at Sabina Park, as persistent rain put an end to proceedings before they had even begun.
The washout means West Indies’ hopes of winning the series are wiped out, but they can still draw level in the final game on Monday. Perhaps more importantly, a win there will give the hosts a much needed rankings boost, with qualification for next year’s World Cup hinging on their final position come March next year.
The toss itself had been delayed by 30 minutes following rain earlier in the day, and it was the possibility of rain intervening later on that had influenced Shai Hope’s decision to field first.
Both teams had also made changes, with Amir Jangoo due to get a game for the injured Matthew Forde, while Eshan Malinga had been drafted in for Asitha Fernando. Shai Hope, playing his 150th ODI for West Indies, received a special jersey before rain came along.
(Cricinfo)
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