Sports

Spinners, Healy, Mooney take Australia closer to semi-final

Published

3 years ago

2023/02/18

Only in the very early stages of this match could Sri Lanka have held serious hopes. Once Chamari Athapaththu – the only Sri Lanka batter with a history of scoring heavily against Australia – was dismissed for 16, Sri Lanka’s chances nosedived substantially.

Their innings never got going. Australia’s spinners delivered plenty of dot balls on a slow Gqeberha surface, as Harshitha Samarawickrama and Vishmi Gunaratne struggled to make strong contact. But it was the seam bowling of Megan Schutt that was most successful. She took 4 for 24 from her four overs, getting three of those dismissals in the final over of the innings.

Sri Lanka floundered to 112 for 8, and Australia’s outstanding openers made short work of the small target. Alyssa Healy continued her excellent form, hitting 54 not out off 43 balls. And Beth Mooney, who had had a quiet start to the World Cup, made 56 not out off 53. They sauntered to the target with 25 balls to spare.

Australia strike a definitive first blow

A big Athapaththu innings was always going to be Sri Lanka’s best chance of sneaking a win against the defending champions, and very briefly, it seemed as if Athapaththu was warming to her work. In Darcie Brown’s first over, Athapaththu smoked her through the covers, then slashed her in front of point two balls later. Later, she got on one knee to launch Ashleigh Gardner over cow corner for six.

But then in the fifth over, Ellyse Perry had a fullish delivery stick in the pitch for a moment, and Athapaththu’s attempted lofted shot down the ground went high in the air behind the bowler. It would have landed safely in most instances, but Grace Harris tore after the ball from mid-on, and went airborne to close her fingers around the catch while still mid-air.

Spinners tie up Sri Lanka’stop order

Sri Lanka’s second-wicket partnership – between Samarawickrama and Gunaratne – was their biggest, bringing 39 runs. But it also sapped the momentum from the innings, as Australia’s slow bowlers used a sluggish surface to good effect. Both batters attempted to use the pace of the ball, playing paddles and reverse sweeps. But often they failed to make contact, and even when they did, the ball did not carry to the boundary, because the surface was slow.Harris was the standout among the spinners – her offbreaks fetching 2 for 7 from three overs. Legspinner Georgia Wareham took 1 for 20 from her four overs.

Healy and Mooney race to the target

Australia’s openers chased down this total as if it was a birthright. Both batters hit Sugandika Kumari through square leg for four in the first over. In the fourth over, bowled by offspinner Oshadi Ranasinghe, Mooney hit another four square on the leg side, before Healy ran down the track twice to wallop successive boundaries.

They were even more effective after the powerplay ended, bringing the required rate down to 3.7 an over by the halfway stage. It was a cakewalk from there. Healy reached her half-century – her second of the tournament – with a reverse slap square on the off side, off the 38th ball she faced. Mooney got to her fifty at a run-a-ball, with victory in touching distance.

Brief Scores:

Australia 113 for 0 (Beth Mooney 56*, Alyssa Healy 54*) beat Sri Lanka 112 for 8 (Harshitha Samarawickrama 34, Megan Schutt 4-24, Grace Harris 2-7) by ten wickets

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Henry, Santner, Nathan Smith ruled out of rest of West Indies Test series

Published

16 hours ago

2025/12/8

Priyan

Matt Henry is nursing a calf injury [Cricinfo]

New Zealand’s bowling spearhead Matt Henry (calf strain), seam-bowling allrounder Nathan Smith (side strain) and spin-bowling allrounder Mitchell Santner (groin injury) have all been ruled out of the rest of the home Test series against West Indies.

Glenn Phillips, who joined the squad in Christchurch early as a substitute fielder, has officially been added to the Test squad for the remainder of the series, New Zealand Cricket confirmed. This after he proved his match fitness in the Plunket Shield before joining the squad for the first Test, and he could be in contention to be selected in the XI for the second Test.

In another bit of good news for New Zealand, Daryl Mitchell, who put in a long shift as a substitute fielder in the first Test, is set to be available for the second and slot back in as their middle-order mainstay.

Wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell had already been sidelined from the second Test in Wellington after suffering a hamstring injury while batting on day one in Christchurch. Mitchell Hay has been added to the squad and could make his Test debut.

Also, a day after uncapped seamer Michael Rae was called up to the Test squad, Kristan Clarke, a seam-bowling allrounder from Northern Districts, was added to it. With Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke managing “return to play” protocols, New Zealand were left scrambling for last-minute replacements, with the Wellington Test set to begin on November 10.

Both Rae and Clarke were pulled out of the third round of the Plunket Shield. Clarke didn’t bowl for ND in the final innings against Otago in Hamilton, with rookie James Naylor stepping in as his replacement.

Clarke, 24, is uncapped in Test cricket, but was recently part of the ODI series against England as a replacement player after Henry had suffered a separate calf injury. He has now earned his maiden Test call-up as a like-for-like replacement for Smith.

“On the cricket field, I’m a bowling allrounder, you know, and I pride myself on trying to offer as much as I can in the game,” Clarke said in October after breaking into the ODI side. “I just want to be a good person around the group also and just offer as much as I can.”

Clarke has played 27 first-class games so far, taking 77 wickets at an average of 33 and scoring 893 runs at an average of 23.50. He was also part of a New Zealand A tour to Bangladesh during the winter. Though bowling is his primary skill, Kristian is also a capable batter and had notched up his maiden century in senior cricket, against Central Districts in the one-day Ford Trophy, in October.

Clarke hails from Te Awamutu, a small town in the Waikato region and played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup before rising up the ranks in New Zealand cricket. His brother Matti Clarke has also played for Waikato Valley in the Hawke Cup.

“Yeah, so [I was] born and raised in Te Awamutu, [and I] still live in Te Awamutu, still at home,” Clarke said. “I hold Te Amuru very dear to my heart – it’s a cool little town and yeah, quiet little place. Just sort of grew up through the cricket system there and then yeah, sort of just went from there.”

While Blair Tickner, who was the reserve seamer at Hagley Oval, comes into the selection frame for Wellington, there might be a toss-up between Rae and Clarke for a potential Test debut at Basin Reserve.

The first Test was drawn after West Indies, faced with a 530-run deficit in the fourth innings, held on for 163.3 overs to pull off a draw, with Justin Greaves (202 not out) and Shai Hope (140) their main men with the bat

New Zealand squad for second Test vs West Indies :
Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell, Zak Foulkes, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner, Michael Rae, Kristian Clarke

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Van Niekerk cameo, Tunnicliffe fifty give South Africa series win

Published

1 day ago

2025/12/8

Priyan

Dane Van Niekerk’s late blitz on the back of a sedate half-century from Faye Tunnicliffe helped South Africa beat Ireland by 65 runs in the second T20I in Paarl and take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Opting to bat, South Africa racked up 201 for 5 in their 20 overs. In reply, allrounder Orla Prendegast scored an unbeaten 43-ball 51 while Leah Paul hit 40 off 29 balls, but Ireland could only manage 136 for 3, falling well short.

In her comeback series, van Niekerk thrashed a 19-ball 41 in the back half of the first innings, taking South Africa past their second consecutive 200-plus total of the series. She struck three fours and three sixes in her knock. By the time van Niekerk fell to Arlene Kelly, South Africa’s run rate had jumped past ten an over. Chloe Tryon’s unbeaten seven-ball 16 in the final overs took them to 201, as she also broke Lizelle Lee’s record for most sixes by a South Africa batter in women’s T20Is (49).

Van Niekerk’s cameo complemented a slower – but equally crucial – knock by Tunnicliffe at the top of the order. She reached her maiden T20I half-century off 40 balls: the majority of her innings was played alongside fellow opener, Sune Luus, as the two put up a 78-run opening partnership to lay the foundation.

Aimee Maguire dismissed both of them, as well as captain Laura Wolvaardt, returning 3 for 43 in her four overs.

Ireland’s batters were slow in their response, scoring 33 runs in the powerplay despite losing no wickets. Tryon sent back both openers – Amy Hunter and Gaby Lewis – as Ireland were reduced to 35 for 2 in the seventh over.

Their run-rate never picked up, but Prendergast and Paul stayed solid in the middle to share a 76-run partnership for the third wicket. Paul finally fell for 40, but Prendergast stayed around till the end to bring up her half-century in the final over, off 39 balls. By then, the result of the match was a foregone conclusion.

Brief scores:
South Africa Women 201 for 5 in 20 overs (Faye Tunnicliffe 51, Sune Luus 37, Laura Wolvaardt 22, Dane van Niekerk 41, Marizanne Kapp 16, Chloe Tryon 16*; Orla Prendergast 1-29, Arlene Kelly 1-40, Aimee Maguire 3-43) beat Ireland Women 136 for 3 in 20 overs (Amy Hunter 14, Gaby Lewis 19, Orla Prendergast 51*, Leah Paul 40*; Nonkululeko Mlaba 1-25, Chloe Tryon 2-24) by 65 runs

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Nissanka, Vince continue Gulf Giants’ unbeaten start

Published

1 day ago

2025/12/8

Thilina Walpola

Pathum Nissanka (ILT20

Pathum Nissanka continued his good form in the ILT20 with 67 off 31 balls, to give the Gulf Giants their second win in as many games in the competition as they beat the Dubai Capitals. James Vince anchored the innings with a composed 45-ball 50* as the Giants chased down the target of 161 with four wickets to spare.

‎‎With the Capitals having been put in to bat, they began with a boundary in each over but Azmatullah Omarzai got Shayan Jahangir to chop one back onto his stumps. After four quiet overs, David Willey and Sediqullah Atal slammed a six each off the Afghan fast-bowler to bring some oomph into the innings. The duo put on a 61-run stand in seven overs before Atal miscued a pull off Moeen Ali to deep mid-wicket.

‎‎The wicket ensured Moeen and Liam Dawson could fire in a couple of quiet overs before the latter picked up the set David Willey. Ayaan Khan scalped Gulbadin Naib in the next over as the Capitals fell to 93/4 in 14 overs. Jordan Cox slammed two sixes and two fours in a quick 17-ball 31 and found success against fellow Englishman Moeen to get the Capitals’ innings moving. But the brakes were once again applied, when Cox and Rovman Powell fell to Omarzai in the 18th over.

‎‎Looking for a strong finish, Dasun Shanaka pulled Omarzai over fine-leg for four before smashing two sixes on the offside, in an 18-run final over, to take the Capitals to 160 for 6 in their allotted overs.

‎‎In reply, Rahmanullah Gurbaz survived a review in the first over and then slammed David Willey over mid-wicket for six before falling to a stunning catch by Cox. Nissanka, who had scored 81 in his last game, took a liking to Mustafizur Rahman with a boundary down-the-ground and a six over mid-wicket to get his innings moving.

‎‎The Sri Lankan then smashed James Neesham for 22 runs in the fifth over flat-batting two sixes and a four along with a maximum down the ground. Vince hit two boundaries off Mustafizur as they raced to 60 for 1 at the end of the PowerPlay. He was also dropped by Willey as the Capitals began to look poor on the field.

‎‎Nissanka hit consecutive boundaries in the 10th over to bring up his 50 of just 23 balls. He then slammed Waqar Salamkheil for two fours and a six in a 15-run 11th over as the Giants continued to cruise to victory. He was finally dismissed by Mustafizur after failing to hit one over Cox’s head at long-on.

‎‎Towards the end, there was a flurry of wickets but Vince stood firm at the other end bringing up his 11th fifty of the competition and taking his team home.

‎Brief Scores:

‎Dubai Capitals

160/6 in 20 overs (Sediqullah Atal 35, Jordan Cox 31; Azmatullah Omarzai 3-46)

‎Gulf Giants

161/6 in 18.5 overs (Pathum Nissanka 67, James Vince 50*; Dasun Shanaka 2-16) (cricbuzz)

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