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Holder’s 4 for 19 and last-ball heroics keep series alive
This was not so much a game as an exhibition to showcase the brilliance of Jason Holder. The allrounder opened the bowling, took four wickets across phases of the Pakistan innings, walked in to bat when the equation was steepest, and won West Indies the second T20I with a boundary off the final delivery from Shaheen Shah Afridi. The two-wicket win sees the hosts level the series following a pulsating contest, one that ended with a savage Holder swipe past fine leg when they needed three off one, and a yell of unadulterated joy that ripped through Florida.
West Indies had won just two of their last 19 completed T20Is before this, but began the better of the two sides, puncturing Pakistan with early wickets that left them trying to catch up through the middle overs. They accomplished this to a point thanks to a counter-attacking 60-run fifth-wicket partnership between Salman Agha and Hassan Nawaz, only for Holder’s double-strike to peg them back again. The hosts dominated the final five overs which saw Pakistan produce just 23 runs, setting Shai Hope’s side an eminently manageable 134 for victory.
But batting appeared only to be getting more difficult, and Pakistan’s immaculate bowling complicated matters further for a tentative West Indies. Beyond a brief early flair from Jewel Andrew, West Indies soon fell behind the asking rate, epitomised by a tortured stay at the crease for captain Hope, who limped to 21 in 30 deliveries. With spinners scything through the middle order, it fell once more to Holder to pull off a heist.
There was some support from the other end as Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd struck blows of their own. But just when West Indies had it in control, they appeared to lose it once more as Holder found himself stranded at the non-striker’s end for large parts of the final two overs. He was given the most consequential delivery of all though – the final one. When Afridi tried the surprise delivery by going at the pads rather than wide outside off, Holder found a way to get enough bat on it, slicing through two fielders, dashing Pakistan’s dreams in the process.
Holder was on fire with the bat as the first T20I closed out, taking West Indies closer to the target than they appeared on track for throughout the innings. With ball in hand, he carried on where he left off in the powerplay, drawing Saim Ayub into a slog wide outside off which kissed the edge. His opening partner Sahibzada Farhan, too, fell to Holder in the fourth over. Holder was everywhere, taking a sharp catch that sent Mohammad Haris on his way to reduce Pakistan to 21 for 3.
An hour or so later, Pakistan had stormed their way back into the game. Hasan Nawaz shook off a stodgy start to wallop Shepherd for three successive sixes to round out the 15th over and put Pakistan on target for a total in excess of 150. Once more, though, it was Holder who dragged them back, inducing Hasan Nawaz into a chip back to him to send him on his way. He would round out his bowling figures by dismissing the other Nawaz – Mohammad – and his figures of 4 for 19 did not flatter him in the slightest.
And then, of course, there was the small matter of what he did with the bat.
When Agha won the toss, he broke somewhat with modern convention and opted to bat, saying he believed the conditions would assist spin towards the back-end of the game. For the best part of the West Indies innings, Mohammad Nawaz, Ayub and Sufiyan Muqeem set about proving their captain right.
Mohammad Nawaz broke open the West Indies innings in the powerplay, removing the top three and putting paid to any notion this would be a straightforward chase. Ayub, often only good for the odd over or two, ended up bowling his full quota, showcasing his full range of variations as he removed Sherfane Rutherford and Roston Chase, while Muqeem’s masterful control of pace, length and spin tormented West Indies at a time they needed quick runs. The trio combined for six wickets in 12 overs for 53 runs, and had set Pakistan up nicely by the time they were done. But for Holder.
Thirty-one runs ahead. For all the tight margins this game saw, for all of Pakistan’s poor powerplay and sluggish start with the bat, this was how far clear they were of West Indies after the 15-over mark for each side. And though West Indies bludgeoned their way to 56 in their final 30 balls, it should have been nowhere near enough given this gulf at that late stage between the sides.
If you sense this is getting repetitive, it’s impossible to talk about this game without coming back to Holder. With Hasan Nawaz breaking the shackles with three straight sixes, Holder’s removal of the batter suddenly deprived Pakistan of their only free-flowing slogger. Though Pakistan pride themselves on batting deep, their lower order – unlike West Indies – fell apart under that pressure. The bottom five managed 13 runs between them, none with a strike rate better than a run a ball, and West Indies suddenly found bowling very easy as the boundaries dried up and the dot balls began to pool. Those three Nawaz sixes were the last boundaries Pakistan scored in their innings, and as Holder showed, hitting boundaries right down to the very last ball can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Brief scores:
West Indies 135 for 8 in 20 overs (Jewl Andrew 12, Gudakesh Motie 28, Shai Hope 21, Roston Chase 16, Jason Holder 16*, Romario Shepherd 15; Saheen Shah Afridi 1-31, Mohammad Nawaz 3-14, Sufiyan Muqeem 1-19, Saim Ayub 2-20 ) beat Pakistan 133 for 9 in 20 overs (Fakhar Zaman 20, Hasan Nawaz 40, Salman Agha 38; Akeal Hossein 1-16, Jason Holder 4-19, Shamar Joseph 1-22, Gudakesh Motie 2-39, Roston Chase 1-11) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
Harshitha Samarawickrema’s splendid 48 not out off 37 balls took Sri Lanka over the line in a low-scoring thriller against Bangladesh. The defending champions secured a semi-final berth with a four-wicket win, and by virtue of topping Group B, will play the side that finishes second in Group A on Friday.
An excellent opening spell of 2 for 17 from Marufa Akter put Bangladesh in firm control of the match after they posted a below-par target of 115, thanks to Chamudi Prabodha’s career-best figures of 3 for 21.
Sri Lanka found themselves behind the required run rate for much of the chase after losing their top order inside the powerplay and slipping to five down by the tenth over. But a resolute Samarawickrama brought Sri Lanka back into the contest by absorbing the pressure throughout the middle overs before landing the final punches to seal the win. This was Sri Lanka’s seventh consecutive win over Bangladesh.
Praboda strangles Bangladesh
This was only the sixth international match the 17-year-old left-arm spinner had played after making her debut against Pakistan in a three-match T20I series last month, and she doubled her tally of wickets on Sunday.
As Bangladesh looked to rebuild after Juairiya Ferdous fell in the fifth over, Praboda struck in her first over, the seventh of the match, to send the dangerous-looking Dilara Akter back to the hut two balls after being hit for a boundary by her. Dilara made a run-a-ball 26 after adjusting to the slow surface. She made her attacking intent known in the third over when she dispatched three consecutive balls from Sri Lanka pacer Chethana Vimukthi for boundaries.
Praboda and the other Sri Lankan spinners bowled with great discipline and used their variations with great guile to put a stranglehold on the Bangladesh batters, who managed just 114 for 8.
With Sobhana Mostary (34 off 41) and Shorna Akter (9 off 14) stretching their steady 41-run stand into the death overs, the Bangladesh dugout must have anticipated a much bigger total than what they eventually managed. Their hopes were bulldozed by Praboda in her last over as she accounted for both batters inside three balls. The left-arm spinner bamboozled Mostary with flight to have her stumped before drawing Dilara into chipping a tossed-up delivery back to her.
An unlucky outing for Athapaththu
Nilakshi Silva and Vimukthi dropped sitters off Chamari Athapaththu’s bowling, with the former putting down Mostary in the 14th over. Athapaththu eventually got a wicket in her last over, but missed out on a second when on-field umpire Humaira Farah turned down a clear caught-behind appeal off the last ball of her spell.
During the chase, her stay at the crease lasted only two balls, as Fahima Khatun took a sharp catch at first slip when she advanced down the pitch to smash Marufa over the top of her head. That shot, on any other day, would have landed in the stands, as is often the case when Athapaththu charges at the bowlers.
Marufa turns a straightforward chase into a contest
Bangladesh needed early wickets to make a contest of what many expected to be a cakewalk for Sri Lanka, with the required rate below a run-a-ball at the start of the chase. Marufa delivered exactly what was needed, accounting for both Sri Lankan openers.
Marufa had Athapaththu caught at first slip off the last ball of the first over before bowling a jaffa in her next over, rattling Imesha Dulani’s stumps with one that ripped through the gate. Her three powerplay overs yielded 2 for 17.
Sri Lanka’s middle order crumbled under pressure as Sanjana Kavindi was bowled by Sultana Khatun off the last ball of the powerplay. They were soon five down for 44 in the tenth over, but a gutsy 38-run stand between Samarawickrama and Nilakshika Silva brought them back into the contest and threatened to take the game away from Bangladesh.
Desperate for a breakthrough, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana returned to her trump card in the 17th over, and Marufa obliged with a perfect over to shift the momentum back in her side’s favour. The seamer bowled Silva and conceded only four runs to finish with career-best T20I figures of 3 for 21. It was the fourth time in her 48-match T20I career that she had taken three wickets in the format.
Samarawickrama finishes the job
Ritu Moni had been immaculate in her first three overs, but Samarawickrama plundered 16 runs off her last over – the most conceded in an over in the match – to swing the game in Sri Lanka’s favour.
A lucky inside edge off the second ball raced to the fine-leg boundary as Moni followed Samarawickrama after she backed away to make room on the off side. The next ball landed straight into the advertising cushion at midwicket as the batter swept the medium pacer for six. She then danced down the wicket to launch Nahida Akter for a towering six down the ground, reducing the equation to two off the final over.
The win came off the second ball of the final over, with the ball trickling past the keeper after brushing her pad.
Scores:
Sri Lanka Women 115 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Imesha Dulani 12, Harshitha Samarawickrama 48*, Nilakshika Silva 18, Kaushini Nuthyangana 11*; Marufa Akter 3-21, Sultana Khatun 1-14, Ritu Moni 1-29) beat Bangladesh Women 114 for 8 in 20 overs (Dilara Akter 26, Juairia Ferdous 14, Solbhana Mostary 34, Fahima Khatun 14; Sugandika Kumari 2-22, Chamari Athapaththu 1-20, Chamudi Praboda 3-21, Kavisha Dilhari 1-17) by four wickets
[Cricinfo]
Pakistan were bowled out for 55, their lowest total in T20I cricke. A collapse where they lost six wickets for eight runs in 29 balls set them so far back that they couldn’t even bat out 20 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur, who broke new ground by becoming the first player – male or female – to lead her team 150 times in T20Is, had the time of her life celebrating each wicket and eventually scoring the winning runs as well.
Shree Charani shines
Old-fashioned left-arm spin is having a resurgence. India men have found Manav Suthar. India women already had N Shree Charanin. The No. 1-ranked T20I bowler in the world picked up two wickets in her first over on Saturday.
The flight on the ball drew Gull Feroza out of her crease. The drift in had her looking leg side. The dip and the turn resulted in a leading edge and a simple catch to point. The bowler did everything right. The batter did everything wrong. Shawaal Zulfiqar was the only Pakistan batter to put any kind of pressure on India. Charani had her lbw for 14 off 14 and from there it was a procession.
Pakistan’s batting troubles
Playing their 200th T20I, Pakistan went from 27 for 0 to 35 for 6 before the innings was halfway done. They could not find a risk-free way to score runs, absorbing long periods of dot balls and trying to get out of it by playing low-percentage shots, often against the turn, on a Dubai pitch that was offering plenty of it. Only the openers got to double digits and only Zulfiqar was able to score a run a ball.
Rawat’s support act
Prema Rawat finished with figures of 4-0-9-3. Nineteen of her 24 balls were dots. All of that is remarkable considering she is a legspinner, whose release points tend to be just shy of the perpendicular. Like Shane Warne. From there, they turn their wrist over and it can either be awesome or awful. Rawat’s release point is perpendicular, maybe even beyond it, like Rashid Khan’s. And she doesn’t turn her wrist. For the most part, she just flicks the ball out the front of her hand. This gives her better control at the cost of big turn and in T20Is, that trade-off is well worth it. Nobody could hit Rawat off her line and length and when Sadaf Shamas tried, she got bowled off her pads.
A simple enough chase
Scores:
India Women 57 for 3 in 8.4 overs (Shafali Verma 12, Harmanpreet Kaur 18*, Deepti Sharma 12*; Fatima Sana 3-17) beat Pakistan Women in 18.1 overs 55 (Muneesha Ali 13, Shawal Zulfiqar 14, Shafali Verma 1-10, Shree Charani 3-07, Deepti Sharma 2-05, Prema Rawat 3-09) by seven wickets
(Cricinfo)
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Sun directly overhead Bentota, Thiniyawala, Iththakanda, Udawalawe, and Kataragama about 12.08 noon t9day (06)
The sun is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from 28th of August to 07th of September due to its apparent southward relative motion.
The nearest places of Sri Lanka over which the sun is
overhead today (06) are Bentota, Thiniyawala, Iththakanda, Udawalawe, and Kataragama about 12.08 noon
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