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Kerr, Halliday deliver World Cup glory on dream day for New Zealad cricket
October 20 can be written in big, bold letters, as one of New Zealand cricket’s unforgettable dates. Hours after men’s team recorded a famous Test win, their first in India in 36 years, the women’s team delivered the country’s maiden T20I World Cup in style in Dubai.
As a nation of four million clocked in to work on Monday morning, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates – “grandmas of the team” as Bates laughed in jest – had just about finished theirs, getting their hands on the Women’s T20 World Cup trophy, the cup that had agonisingly got away from them 14 years ago at Kensington Oval.
It was fitting that the two legends, who have carried the country’s cricket ecosystem for so long, through issues with depth and limited financial resources, could enjoy the night of their lives in the twilight of their storied careers.
Amelia Kerr who had hoped to dedicate the win to the golden oldies, couldn’t have stepped up with a more impactful effort – top scoring with 43, while also picking up three wickets, all with a slight limp due to cramps.
For added context, New Zealand had come into the tournament on a streak of 10 T20I losses, the longest losing streak any team has turned around to win a cricket World Cup. On this night, all of that didn’t matter though.
New Zealand came out punching knowing 134 and 141 by Australia and England respectively had been razed at this venue over the past few days. They lost Georgia Plimmer – who’d struck a couple of fours – in the second over, but Bates quickly took over. She had been striking at 90.77 in five innings coming into the final; here she showed intent right from the get go, getting a boundary – walloped over midwicket – off her second ball. But from 17 off 13, she slowed down as the introduction of spin made stroke-making a challenge.
By then, the pressure of a final had by then begun to gnaw at both teams. Marizanne Kapp missed a potential run-out opportunity against Bates in the fifth over when she couldn’t cleanly pick up a nudge at square leg. Sinalo Jafta missed a stumping opportunity in the sixth, failing to collect the ball as Bates was dragged out. It cost South Africa just 12 more though, as Bates fell for a 31-ball 32 attempting a ramp off Nonkululeko Mlaba in the eighth over.
The dismissals of Bates and Sophie Devine – due to the slowness of the surface – left New Zealand needing a massive effort from their middle order.
They went through 48 deliveries without a boundary in the middle overs. Kerr struggled, and didn’t find her hitting range until the last few deliveries of her 38-ball vigil that brought 43. It wasn’t until the arrival of Brooke Halliday the left-hander, did New Zealand break out of a rut.
Halliday brought out a slog sweep in the 14th off Sune Luus to break the boundary drought, and once the shackles were broken, New Zealand had another boundary off the very next ball. By jumping around the crease and opening scoring areas behind square on the leg side through sweeps and slogs, Halliday’s presence breathed life into an innings that had been struggling to get out of second gear.
Halliday’s enterprise helped raise a half-century stand off just 37 balls with Kerr playing a support role. Halliday’s highest in T20Is, in 32 previous innings, had been 33 while striking at 82. Here, under the pressure of a final, Halliday’s career-best 38 had come of 28.
A cameo from Maddy Green provided New Zealand a late lift: 48 off the last five, as they finished with 158, two less than the score they comfortably defended against India in their tournament opener.
New Zealand took a cue from their batting innings and introduced spin in the second over with Eden Carson and Fran Jonas trying to apply the squeeze. For the first three overs, South Africa managed just two boundaries, but kept hitting the ball into gaps to keep up with the asking rate.
In last year’s final, Laura Wolvaardt held the chase together, trying to get into a position from where she could tee off amid a collapse. Here, she decided to punch away as the enforcer, picking lengths early and pummelling with her strong forearms, showing a side of her game that is in stark opposition to her artistry.
With Tazmin Brits solid, it was the first time in the tournament that New Zealand failed to pick up a wicket in the powerplay. At 47 for 0, South Africa were on course.
Jonas broke through to dismiss Brits in the seventh, but it was Wolvaardt’s dismissal, attempting to hit Kerr inside-out only to find Bates at extra cover, that had a deflating effect on South Africa. That was Bates’ first of three catches in the innings. Five balls later, Kerr had her second when Anneke Bosch, who had knocked Australia out two nights ago with a sensational 74, tickled an attempted sweep to Izzy Gaze. Originally unsure if there was an edge, Kerr convinced Devine to review and was proven correct.
Carson then dealt the blow that arguably ended South Africa’s hopes when she had Kapp mistiming a slog to deep midwicket in the 12th over. Kapp’s agonising walk back and Kerr’s ecstasy provided two contrasting emotions in one frame. A telling picture of who would have their hands on the trophy before the night was out.
Brief scores:
New Zealand Women 158 for 5 in 20 overs (Amelia Kerr 43, Brooke Halliday 38, Suzie Bates 32; Ayabonga Khaka 1-44, Chloe Tryon 1-22, Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-31, Nadine Klerk 1-17) beat South Africa Women 126 for 9 in 20 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 33; Rosemary Mair 3-25, Amelia Kerr 3-24, Eden Carson 1-22, Fran Jonas 1-28, Brooke Halliday 1-04) by 32 runs
[Cricinfo]
A Sri Lankan innings that never really got going eventually parked itself at middling total of 219, as they were bowled out in 49.3 overs in the second ODI in Colombo. It’s a total England will fancy themselves to chase down as they look to level this three-match series.
Sri Lanka’s innings was headlined by Charith Asalanka’s 45 off 64 and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 40 off 59, but at strike rates of 67.79 and 70.31 it tells you all you need to know about how well England kept a lid on the innings.
For the visitors the wickets were spread out, with Adil Rashid, Jamie Overton and Joe Root picking up two apiece, the latter with the final two balls of the innings. There were also wickets for Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed and the returning Will Jacks.
And much like in the first ODI, England’s varied attack – no less than eight options were used across the innings – sought to give little away. “Keeping the stumps in play,” was Harry Brook’s refrain, speaking after losing the toss, and on an uber-dry surface with boundaries square and behind mostly protected, the onus was on the Lankan batters to use their feet in order to access the boundaries at extra cover and deep midwicket.
That sort of strokeplay however proved detrimental to the Lankan cause with four of their top five falling in their attempts to access the boundaries in front of square. Kamil Mishara sought to bring some impetus to the innings after a miserly early burst from the England seamers, but his attempted lashing cover drive could not clear Ben Duckett in the circle, who held on at the second attempt.
Pathum Nissanka, who had patiently waded through the opening powerplay when the scoring rate sat below four an over, then sought to capitalise on his added time in the middle, but only managed to loft an inside-out drive to long-off.
Later on in the innings Dhananjaya whacked one low to Root at midwicket, before the set Asalanka found deep midwicket with a slog sweep.
And arguably Sri Lanka’s best batter at accessing those regions, Kusal Mendis, ran himself out for a ground-out 26, when he cut one straight to point and absentmindedly set off for the single. The throw from the fit-again Jacks was pinpoint and found Mendis easily short as he sought in vain to fling himself back to safety.
There were promising stands between, notably a 42-run effort between Nissanka and Mendis and 66 between Dhananjaya and Asalanka, but none of the batters involved were able to push on and up the rate of scoring over any concerted period of time.
Pavan Rathnayake’s 29 off 34 had also shown promise, but he fell foul looking to clear the straight boundary as he sliced one to long-off, and in the process silenced an energetic Khettarama crowd.
The frustrating nature of Sri Lanka’s innings was illustrated by the fact that five batters scored at least 25 and faced at least 30 deliveries, but the highest score remained Asalanka’s 45.
England, to their credit, stuck to and executed their plans well. The use of eight bowlers – six of them spinners – meant Sri Lanka’s batters were ever really able to get a measure of any one bowler. And while the lengths were consistent, the pace of the deliveries was varied. It meant that even when a set batter such as Nissanka sought to take on the attack, Rashid was able to successfully deceive him in the flight.
Dunith Wellalage once more looked enterprising during a late cameo, but despite finding two boundaries in his brief stay, his 20 off 19 was far less damaging to England’s cause than had been in the first ODI.
England bowled 40.3 overs of spin across their innings, breaking their previous record of 36. That came in Sharjah in 1984-85, when Norman Gifford captained England at the age of 44, and took four wickets. The team wore black armbands during the first ODI after his death last week.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 219 in 49.3 overs (Charith Asalanka 45, Dhananjaya De Silva 40; Joe Root 2-12, Jamie Overton 2-21, Adil Rashid 2-34) vs England
(Cricinfo)
(Cricbuzz)
At least seven people have died and more than 80 others are missing after a landslide hit Indonesia’s West Java province, officials said.
The landslide occurred in the West Bandung region, south-east of the capital Jakarta, following days of intense rainfall.
More than thirty homes were destroyed after “landslide material buried residential areas, causing fatalities and affecting local residents”, Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said in a statement.
Flooding, landslide and extreme weather alerts have also been issued for the broader region.
The landslide hit the village of Pasirlangu around 02:30AM on Saturday [24] (19:30 GMT).
Two dozen people were evacuated safely from the affected region, according to Abdul Muhari, communication chief of the National Search Agency.
Images shared by local news outlets showed homes buried under mud and debris.
[BBC]
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