Sports
Pooran and Powell pound nine-man Australia in final warm-up game
Blistering half-centuries from Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell helped West Indies make a statement ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 as they hammered an undermanned Australia in their final warm-up game in Trinidad.
Australia fielded a team with just nine players and coaches for sub fielders again, as they did two days ago against Namibia. Pooran and Powell smashed 12 sixes between them with the left-hander cracking 75 from just 25 balls while the skipper thumped 52 from 25 as West Indies made 257 for 4 from their 20 overs. Sherfane Rutherford also pounded 47 not out from just 18 balls to finish the innings.
Allrounder Marcus Stonis did arrive in Trinidad on Wednesday meaning Australia had 10 players in camp but his kit had been delayed in Miami so he did not feature. Chair of selectors George Bailey alongside assistant coaches Brad Hodge and Andre Borovec sub fielded at various stages again with Borovec dropping Pooran.
After being sent into bat, Pooran had walked to the crease at 38 for 1 in just the third over following a quick start from Shai Hope and Johnson Charles. The left-hander hit the first three legal deliveries he faced for six and never took his foot off the gas. He took a particular liking to Australia’s main spinners in Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa smashing them for five sixes in six balls in the first two overs outside the powerplay after West Indies had posted 78 for 1 in the first six.
Pooran reached his half-century in just 16 balls. Borovec dropped a towering skier but it did not cost much as Bailey held onto one shortly after off Zampa.
Powell picked up where Pooran left off. Zampa and Agar conceded 120 runs from their eight combined overs. Extraordinarily, Tim David was Australia’s least expensive bowler claiming 1 for 40 from his four overs of part-time offspin, having been their most expensive against Namibia.
Nathan Ellis also continued to press his claims to be part of Australia’s first choice XI in the World Cup, conceding 42 from his four overs while Josh Hazlewood was hammered for 55. Rutherford took on Zampa late in the innings clubbing 22 off the legspinner’s final over. Ellis kept the damage to just 14 in the last as Rutherford found the fence three times but was unable to clear it.
Josh Inglis struck a 30-ball 55 in Australia’s reply but they were never in the hunt with just nine batters available. Australia pulled a surprise by opening the batting with Agar, something he has done twice before in T20I cricket. Coach Andrew McDonald confirmed post match that he was shifted there to allow others to move back to their preferred positions with Mitchell Marsh returning to No.3. Agar smashed 28 off 13 in the powerplay including four fours and two sixes off the left-arm orthodox spin of Akeal Hosein. But Agar eventually miscued one to mid-on off Obed McCoy.
Shamar Joseph gave David Warner a glimpse of what he missed out on during the recent Australia-West Indies Test series, rattling his off stump for 15 despite conceding two fours and a six off the previous three deliveries.
Marsh fell cheaply while David and Matthew Wade managed 25 apiece as the required run-rate spiralled out of control. Gudakesh Motie put the squeeze on Australia in the middle overs, picking up Inglis and David to finish with 2 for 31.
Ellis added some respectability to Australia’s total scoring 39 off 22 balls in a 51-run seventh-wicket stand with Zampa who finished 21 not out as Australia managed to bat out their 20 overs.
Brief scores:
West Indies 257/4 in 20 overs (Johnson Charles 40, Nicholas Pooran 75, Rovman Powell 52, Sherfane Rutherford 47*; Tim David 1-40, Ashton Agar 1-58, Adam Zampa 2-62) beat Australia 222/7 in 20 overs (Ashton Agar 28, Josh Inglis 55, Tim David 25, Mathew Wade 25, Nathan Ellis 39, Adam Zampa 21*; Akeal Hossein 1-45, Shamar Joseph 1-31, Alzarri Joseph 2-44, Obed McCoy 1-50, Gudakesh Motie 2-31) by 35 runs
(Cricinfo)
Egypt forward Mohamed Salah has signed a new two-year contract with Liverpool.
The 32-year-old’s previous deal was scheduled to run out in the summer and there had been doubts he would stay with the Reds following comments from him during the season and speculation linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia.
However, he is staying and will have the chance to add to his 243 goals and 109 assists for the club in 393 appearances.
“Of course I’m very excited – we have a great team now,” said Salah.
“Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.
“I have played eight years here, hopefully it’s going to be 10. I’m enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I have had the best years of my career here.”
Salah has scored 32 goals in all competitions this season, including 27 in the Premier League as the Reds chase a 20th top-flight title. Liverpool are 11 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with seven games remaining.
Salah, who joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017, has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Fifa Club World Cup with the Reds.
He was one of three key Liverpool players who will be out of contract this summer, along with right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Netherlands defender Van Dijk has said there has been progress on talks over a new deal but Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.
[BBC]
MS Dhoni will lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the remainder of IPL 2025 after Rutraj Gaikwad was ruled out of the rest of the season with an elbow injury.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed the development on the eve of the home game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday. It is a significant blow to CSK, who have made a bad start to their campaign by losing four of their first five matches. They are currently ninth in the points table, above only Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Gaikwad suffered the injury during CSK’s match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati on March 30. He was struck on his unprotected elbow after stepping out to fast bowler Tushar Deshpande and missing the ball in the second over of CSK’s unsuccessful chase, but continued batting and scored 63 in that game. He played two more games after that and made 5 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Chennai on April 5 and 1 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur on April 8. After five games, he was CSK’s second-highest run-scorer with 122 runs at a strike rate of 150.61; he was CSK’s highest run-scorer in IPL 2024.
“He [Gaikwad] got hit in Guwahati. He’s been operating with an amount of pain,” Fleming said in Chennai. “We got an X-ray, which was inconclusive, and we had an MRI, which revealed a fracture in his elbow, in the radial neck.
“So we’re disappointed, and feel for him. We appreciate the efforts that he’s gone to in terms of trying to play, but unfortunately, he’d be out of the tournament from now. We have an uncapped player, MS Dhoni, who will take over as captain for the remainder of the IPL.”
Dhoni, 43, had led CSK from 2008 until 2024, when he handed the captaincy to Gaikwad. He had also handed the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja in 2022, but took back the leadership some way into the season after the team went through a bad run of results. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, CSK have won five IPL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023 and two Champions League trophies as well.
“He [Dhoni] had no hesitation to step up and help guide us out of this if we can,” Fleming said. “So that was never a doubt. We’ll look at replacements. We’ve got some good players in the squad that have been with us a while, so we’ll look from within first. But yeah, there is an opportunity to see how we can enhance the squad probably moving forward into subsequent years.”
After their home game against KKR on today, CSK play two away games against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 14 and Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 20.
[Cricinfo]
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