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Rashid the spark for England before Buttler, Salt dismantle chase
There wasn’t much to separate these two sides when they met in the last T20 World Cup final, but in the final T20I before that tournament’s next edition kicks off, the gap between the two is positively chasmic. A disciplined, all-round bowling performance from England, followed by a brutal barrage of top-order hitting from openers Jos Buttler and Phil Salt saw England crush Pakistan by 7 wickets with 27 balls to spare, and claim a 2-0 series win.
How the game started under overcast skies wasn’t quite a harbinger of the overwhelming dominance England would eventually establish. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, who opened the batting for the first time this year, got Pakistan off to a steady start in the first four overs before finishing the powerplay strongly; the 59 they managed was Pakistan’s second-highest powerplay score since January. But England struck back with five wickets for 27 runs either side of a brief rain break, spearheaded by Adil Rashid.
Brief, happy-go-lucky resistance from Usman Khan – whose 21-ball 38 bolstered Pakistan when they were in danger of crumpling – kept hopes of a competitive target alive for long enough. But Liam Livingstone, who England utilised to perfection in the middle overs, prised him out thanks to a stunning catch from Chris Jordan, and Pakistan eventually folded for 157.
There was a suspicion it wasn’t quite enough, but England’s openers made a mockery of the idea it was ever even in doubt. Mohammad Amir was leathered for 16 in his first over, Naseem Shah pulverised for 25. England scored 78 in the Powerplay, their highest since they managed 82 in Lahore against the same opposition in 2022. And though Haris Rauf restored some respectability to the score with three wickets in a fiery, spirited spell, the hosts wouldn’t even let him have the last laugh, with Harry Brook clobbering him for six over cover to seal a statement-making win before their World Cup defence begins.
Rizwan and Babar had given Pakistan a platform, but what happened off the final ball of the powerplay was more significant than anything that went before. The Pakistan captain edged one to short third, which Rashid held on to. The openers have often been accused of slowing down after the powerplay, so when Rashid breached Rizwan’s defences next over, the middle order had their platform laid out for them. But Fakhar Zaman holed out as Rashid took a sharp catch during a passage of play when he simply couldn’t be kept out of the game. He returned to clean up Shadab Khan first ball, with Mark Wood’s sheer pace sending Azam Khan packing for a five-ball duck. His nightmare was only just beginning.
Wrong. Shaheen and Naseem might have been slightly unlucky to concede 18 without reward in the first two, but everything that followed was a one-sided drubbing. Even the pace of the wicket played in the batters’ favour, the touch and timing of Buttler and Salt meaning caresses flew to the boundary. Pakistan’s bowlers, flustered and harried, found their lengths wavering and their pace one-dimensional. It was only too easy for England’s openers to take full advantage.Azam receiving a snorter of a short ball he wasn’t mobile enough to evade was just the start of his horror day. With his credentials as a middle-order batter severely diminished by his stint in the side, his status as their wicketkeeper also took a battering. Stationed there only because he can’t be hidden elsewhere, he dropped two straightforward chances off an otherwise impressive Rauf, with his embarrassment so palpable it was borderline uncomfortable viewing. When he eventually did grasp a straightforward catch, Rizwan jogged up to give him a pat on the back. You would imagine it isn’t long before Rizwan is stood there permanently again.
Brief scores:
England 158/3 in 15.3 overs (Phil Salt 45, Jos Buttler 39, Will Jacks 20, Jonny Bairstow 28*; Haris Rauf 3-38) beat Pakistan 157 in 19.5 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 23, Babar Azam 36, Usman Khan 38, Ifthikar Ahmed 21; Mark Wood 2-35, Joffra Archer 1-31, Chris Jordan 1-24, Moeen Ali 1-23, Adil Rashid 2-27, Liam Livingstone 2-17) by seven wickets
(Cricinfo)
Ireland Women 118/9 in 20 overs (Alana Dalzelle 14, Orla Prendergast 26, Leah Paul 10, Alice Tector 10, Louise Little 26*; Lauren Bell 1-39, Linsey Smith 1-20, Sophie Ecclestone 3-22, Charlie Dean 2-11, Dani Gibson 2-10) lost to England Women 119/6 in 17.3 overs (Dani Wyatt Hodge 16, Nat Sciver-Brunt 48, Heather Knight 26; Aimee Maguire 2-23, Orla Prendergast 2-17) by 4 wickets
Lionel Messi marked his record sixth World Cup appearance with his first hat-trick at a FIFA tournament as Argentina beat Algeria 3-0 to open the defence of their global crown, he also became the joint highest scorer at World Cups with the feat.
The former 38-year-old forward thought he had opened the scoring in the eighth minute in Kansas City on Tuesday when he slotted home from close range, but the offside flag was raised.
The dream start to his record-setting appearance, which will be matched by Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal against DR Congo on Wednesday, was not to be denied for long though.
A trademark, mazy run was capped by a drive on the edge of the box from that famed left foot. The power too much for Algeria keeper Luca Zidane, son of World Cup winner with France, Zinidine.
Messi doubled his tally on the hour mark with a simple tap in from a rebound off the keeper following a drive from Alexis Mac Allister.
The moment that even a player as decorated as Messi came in the 76th minute when he drilled low past the keeper from just outside the box.
The strike took Messi level with former Germany striker Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals.
His substitution came just three minutes later to a standard ovation, even old maestro seemed disappointed to be removed – and most likely rested for Argentina’s tilt at becoming only the third side to defend a World Cup title.
Algeria – the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations winners – offered little, but were themselves denied an early goal when Fares Chaibi’s ninth minute strike was ruled out for offside.
Messi saw to it that there was no opening game upset to be had tat this edition, having lost their opening game at Qatar 2022 to Saudi Arabia.
Messi, who spent the majority of his club career in Spain with Barcelona before moving to French giants Paris-Saint Germain, plys his trade in US football’s Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.
Jordan and Austria open their account in the group later on Tuesday in San Francisco.
[Aljazeera]
United States sprinter Noah Lyles has set the world’s best-ever time over the rarely-run 150 metres race, clocking 14.67 seconds at the Golden Spike meet in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava.
The 28-year-old Lyles on Tuesday beat the previous best of 14.72 set by Kishane Thompson of Jamaica in Florida in April.
At Ostrava, Lyles beat Sinesipho Dambile of South Africa with 14.78, while Australian teenager Gout Gout finished third in 14.96.
“Was there ever any doubt? Was there ever any doubt? We came for a show,” an elated Lyles told Czech TV.
Earlier this month, Lyles took a comfortable win at the Wanda Diamond League meet in Rome with a 9.88 in the 100m, his fastest since clinching gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The high-energy, anime-loving showman has had strong indoor and outdoor performances throughout the year so far, and was named on this year’s Time100 list of the most influential people.
Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol had to bow to in-form Swiss Audrey Werro in her outdoor debut in the 800m.
The 26-year-old Broeders-Bol has switched from 400m hurdles, in which she had won two world gold medals, and clocked an impressive 1 minute 57.13 seconds for second place.
“It was so cool, I love racing in Ostrava. It was tough, but I enjoyed it,” she said.
Broeders-Bol has also claimed multiple medals as the anchor leg in 4x400m relay teams, notably a gold in the mixed event in the Paris Olympics.
She ran her first 800m since 2017 in February, clocking a national record of 1 minute 59.07 seconds before withdrawing from the rest of the indoor season to nurse a foot injury.
The 22-year-old Werro won in 1 minute 54.45 seconds, half a second behind her personal best from March, after shedding Broeders-Bol with 200 metres to run.
“It was a really crazy run, but the time is very good, so I’m really happy,” Werro said.
Having set the eighth best time ever, she stayed over a second behind the oldest world record in athletics of 1:53.28 set in 1983 by Jarmila Kratochvilova of then-Czechoslovakia, who watched the race from the stands.
South Africa’s 20-year-old Bayanda Walaza won the men’s 100m as he equalled his personal best of 9.94 seconds, beating Emmanuel Eseme of Cameroon with 9.99 seconds.
US favourites Ronnie Baker and Jordan Anthony were demoted to the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, with times well over 10 seconds.
[Aljazeera]
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