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Rizwan takes Pakistan to their first win after Amir-led quicks put on a big show
There was finally something at the T20 World Cup for Pakistan to be happy about as they produced a strong all-round show to record their first win of tournament, beating Canada by seven wickets in New York.
The win was set up by the fast bowlers, who combined to pick up six wickets to restrict Canada for 106 for 7 in their 20 overs despite an Aaron Johnson 44-ball 52 – that score was quick by the standards at the New York venue, and Canada’s total was not insignificant at all.
In reply, Pakistan stumbled in the powerplay.
They had brought in Saim Ayub in place of Iftikhar Ahmed, and Ayub walked out to open with Mohammad Rizwan, thus splitting the Rizwan – Babar Azam partnership up top. The decision did not pay dividends, though, as Ayub fell for 6 off 12 balls.
But Babar and Rizwan brought their experience into play, adding a 63-run stand off 62 balls for the second wicket. Babar fell with victory in sight, but Rizwan stayed put, crafting an unbeaten run-a-ball 53 to give Pakistan victory 15 balls to spare.
Babar won another crucial toss and had no hesitation in fielding first. He would have hoped for “first-over Shaheen Afridi” to do his magic. But instead, it was first-over Aaron Johnson setting the stage alight. He flicked the first ball of the innings, a shin-high full toss, through mid-on for four, before pumping Afridi straight down the ground for four more next ball.
This was the first time the first two balls in a men’s T20 World Cup match had been hit for boundaries. The third ball would also have gone for a straight four if not for the sluggish outfield.
Johnson then smashed Naseem Shah over backward point with Pakistan looking off the boil.
Mohammad Amir was the only one who got his length spot on from the get-go and he was duly rewarded. Navneet Dhaliwal picked him for a four through point first ball but Amir exacted revenge by sending a searing in-dipper that flattened Dhaliwal’s middle stump.
Afridi and Naseem, too found their lengths soon. And though Johnson continued to play his shots, there were plenty of plays and misses. And Afridi changed his bowling end and had Pargat Singh edging to first slip as Canada reached 30 for 2 after six overs.
The most crucial moment of the Canada innings came in the seventh over, when Nicholas Kirton, their best batter so far in this competition, was run out by a direct throw from Imad Wasim from the covers.
Johnson stayed put, but Canada kept losing wickets at the other end after that.
Haris Rauf struck twice in three balls when he removed Shreyas Movva to claim his 100th T20I wicket and then had Ravinderpal Singh caught at slip – Canada, after their bright start, had slipped to 55 for 5 after ten overs.
Johnson deposited Wasim twice over the ropes in two overs, the second hit fetching him his sixth T20I fifty off 39 balls. But he failed to carry on, falling for 52, his stumps rattled by Naseem.
Canada failed to inject any momentum into their innings after that, as Pakistan only conceded 29 runs in their last five overs, which included two fours and a six. In all, Canada faced 76 dot balls, the most in an innings at the men’s T20 World Cup.
ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster gave Pakistan a 93% of winning the game at the halfway stage. But the pitches in New York have often disrupted calculations.
Kaleem Sana gave away five wides in the first over, but apart from that, Canada were really tight with their lines. Ayub tried his shots before edging Dilon Heyliger behind. Babar, at No. 3, then had a tense moment when an appeal for a caught behind down leg was sent upstairs. But replays suggested the ball had gone off his pad.
The only four off the bat in the powerplay was struck by Rizwan in the sixth over. In comparison, Canada had hit five fours in their first six overs.
According to ESPNcricinfo’s logs, 31 of the 36 deliveries from Canada in the powerplay were on a length or short of a length. And the Pakistan batters struggled to deal with them.
Junaid Siddiqui and Saad Bin Zafar had the Ireland batters in a spin in Canada’s previous game, but Babar and Rizwan weren’t having any of it.
Rizwan first swept Saad’s full delivery through deep-backward square-leg, before Babar walloped Junaid for a six straight down the ground. The two added 31 runs between overs six and ten, and put the chase right back on track.
They kept the scoreboard ticking over before Babar fell edging Heyliger behind the stumps. Babar walked off in disgust. But Rizwan ensured he stayed till the end. He reached his 29th T20I fifty off 52 balls. It was the slowest by a Pakistan batter in the format but such were the conditions, and the win was more important.
Usman Khan hit the winning runs as Pakistan reached home in 17.3 overs. The win did not lift their NRR above that of USA, but it wasn’t a bad start in trying to turn the qualification race in their favour somewhat after back-to-back losses.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 107 for 3 in 17.3 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 53*, Babar Azam 33; Jeremy Gordon 1-17, Dilon Heyliger 2-18) beat Canada 106 for 7 in 20 overs (Aaron Johnson 52; Shaheen Shah Afridi 1-21, Naseem Shah 1-24, Mohammed Amir 2-13, Haris Rauf 2-26) by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
The Department of Education has announced that the results of the 2024 General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Examination have been released online, and can be viewed on : www.doenets.lk
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IPL 2025: Harshal, Kamindu lead Sunrisers Hyderabad to their first win against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai
A three-pronged performance from Kamindu Mendis and Harshal Patel’s use of the middle of the pitch led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to win their first-ever match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Chennai, a win SRH will hope revives a faltering campaign.
Dewald Brevis, on his CSK debut, and Ayush Mhatre, the youngest CSK player ever in only his second innings, threatened to inject some freshness into a stale CSK campaign, but the 154 they took CSK to was not enough to avoid their fourth loss at home in IPL 2025 even though they did give SRH a scare on the dry pitch.
In the kind of slugfest you expect of lowly-placed sides on a tricky surface, the batters overcame the conditions only in small pockets despite heavy dew for considerable duration of the game.
Brevis looked every bit the player that earned the nickname ‘Baby AB’, but his threatening innings was cut short on 42 off 25 balls by arguably the catch of this IPL by Kamindu, who had earlier wowed us again with his ambidextrous spin. CSK mounted a spirited defence, but Kamindu calmed SRH with his unbeaten 32 off 22 to see them home.
Despite a first-ball wicket for Mohammed Shami, the 17-year-old Mhatre continued to display his quality through good intent and efficient hitting through the off side. He hit six fours in the first four overs to take CSK to 37 for 1, but now SRH began to dig the ball in and started to make both him and Sam Curran hit into the leg side.
Harshal was the bowler to kickstart the plan. Mhatre nearly holed out to deep midwicket before Curran actually did so. In the next over, Mhatre drilled Pat Cummins straight into the lap of mid-off. At 50 for 3, CSK edged past only their fourth powerplay of 50 or more in nine games.
Brought in in place of Rachin Ravindra, Brevis immediately looked a notch above the other batters in the match. Even as the placeholder No. 4 Ravindra Jadeja struggled to get any fluency, Brevis took down Kamindu, who had bowled the first two overs for no boundaries and took the wicket of Jadeja. On a dry pitch with enough grip in it, Kamindu made no mistake but Brevis still hit three sixes in his one over, the 12th. He then cut a slower bouncer from Harshal for a six off extra cover.
This is when Brevis looked to hit a second six off Harshal. The ball was in the slot too. He got a good part of it but not quite the elevation. Kamindu, however, was too far in off the long-off fence, so it looked like he would be beaten but he flew to his left, went with two hands at this missile, and came up with the ball in his right hand.
After Brevis’ wicket, SRH turned the screws right in. Cummins bowled overs 16 and 18 for no boundary, hitting a Test-match hard length and beating the bat with some away movement. SRH kept chipping at the wickets, including M S Dhoni caressing Harshal to backward point. There was no finishing kick.
If Shami took a wicket first ball, Khaleel Ahmed took one second ball, reaching eight powerplay wickets this IPL, joint highest along with Mohammed Siraj. Anshul Kamboj, preferred to R Ashwin for this match, then bowled successfully to a difficult plan: a 6-3 off-side field with two mid-offs. He had Travis Head repeatedly playing across the line to straight balls, hitting the pad twice and then the top of off.
Ishan Kishan fought his way past 17 for the first time since the hundred in SRH’s first match, but it was an innings that hovered around a run a ball for a long time. Heinrich Klassen, promoted ahead of Nitish Kumar Reddy who would eventually bat at No. 7, felt obliged to take a risk and got out to Jadeja to make it 54 for 3 in 8.1 overs.
With enough in the pitch for them, the CSK spinners continued to stifle Kishan and Aniket Verma. Just when Kishan looked like he could break free, Curran took a special catch at deep midwicket to send him back for 44 off 34. Verma swung a lot, hit two sixes, but became Noor Ahmad’s second wicket for 19 off 19, leaving 49 required in 6.1 overs.
The two overseas bowlers of CSK, Matheesha Pathirana and Noor, were generous with extras but it was more Kamindu’s assured sweeping that sent signals of calm to the SRH camp. It was actually a credit to the CSK bowling that they took the game so deep because even the changed ball was now wet and flying across the outfield.
Kamindu and Reddy didn’t have to do anything fancy in their unbeaten 49-run stand in under five overs. They didn’t try to hit a single six. Extras helped but they also timed the ball well. They got to their first away win of this season with eight balls to spare.
Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 155 for 5 in 18.4 over (Ishan Kishan 44, Kamindu Mendis 32*, Travis Head 19, Aniket Verma 19, Nitish Kumar Reddy 19*; Khaleel Ahmed 1-21, Anshul Kamboj 1-16, Noor Ahmad 2-42, Ravindra Jadeja 1-22) beat Chennai Super Kings 154 in 19.5 overs (Dewald Brevis 42, Ayush Mhatre 30, Ravindra Jadeja 21,Shivam Dube 12, Deepak Hooda 22; Mohammad Shami 1-28, Harshal Patel 4-28, Pat Cummins 2-21,Jaydev Unadkat 2-21, Kamindu Mendis 1-26) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
Six police officers have been killed in Thailand after their plane crashed into the sea during a test flight for parachute training, police have said.
The small plane was seen crashing into the water at around 08:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Friday in the Cha-am district, a coastal resort area some 130km (80 miles) southwest of Bangkok.
Royal Thai Police said in a statement on Facebook that five of the officers died at the scene, with a sixth later dying in hospital.
Authorities are examining the aircraft’s black box data recorder to determine the cause of the crash.
(BBC)
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