West Indies pulled off the biggest heist of this T20 World Cup and qualified for the semi-finals, against all expectation, and knocked out one of the favourites, England.

Having last beaten England in 2018, West Indies broke a 13-match losing streak and topped Group B to set up a semi-final against New Zealand in Sharjah. That year was also the last time West Indies played in a semi-final of the T20 World Cup.

This is only the second time England have missed out on the knockouts of a T20 World Cup after being eliminated in the group stage in 2010. After wins in their first three matches, they were confident of making the final four this time. Instead, it is South Africa who join West Indies, with England’s net run-rate leaving them third in the group.

West Indies win was made all the more remarkable because they were without former captain and veteran batter Stafanie Taylor, who is struggling with a knee injury. In her absence, Hayley Mathew and Qiana Joseph found form and wiped away the bulk of the 142-run target. Matthews, playing in her 100th T20I, scored her 14th half-century in the format while Joseph, who had a career-best of 34 before this game, scored a 38-run 52. The pair shared an opening stand of 102 inside 13 overs and West Indies were on their way. This is the sixth time West Indies have successfully chased a total of 140-plus, and the second time since their record chase of 213 against Australia last December.

England may have thought they had enough after Nat Sciver-Brunt’s half-century but lacked contributions from the rest of the order. To add to their worries, Heather Knight retired with a calf-injury on 21, with the score on 80 for 3, which halted the momentum England regained after they slipped to 34 for 3 in the seventh over.Afy Fletcher and Deandra Dottin,  bowling for the first time in the tournament, took four wickets between them and conceded 37 runs in seven overs, which gave West Indies an advantage they carried through the game.

West Indies’ youngsters Zaida James and Ashmini Munisar spoke to ESPNcricinfo a few days ago about their commitment to building a new legacy for West Indies cricket and almost combined to start that today. James, recovered from a blow to the chin, tossed her second ball up to Maia Bouchier, who tossed it up to Munisar at cover point but she shelled a straightforward chance. Bouchier went on to hit the first boundary of the innings and England were up and away until Matthews brought herself on to bowl. Danni Wyatt-Hodge hit her behind point for four but when she tried that a second time, Dottin lunged forward to take a low catch and West Indies had a breakthrough. In the next over, Alice Capsey was run out for one, chancing Dottin’s arm at her peril, and immediately after the powerplay, Bouchier skied Afy Fletcher to Qiana Joseph at extra cover. England were 34 for 3 in the seventh over and stunned.

Sciver-Brunt survived an lbw review when she was on 2 when Fletcher pitched it outside leg, and went on to open her boundary count with lap over Shemaime Campbelle and that got England going. Knight bisected the extra cover and mid-off fielder for two overs in succession to take England to fifty and beyond. The pair then brought out the sweeps and England were running away with it at 79 for 3 after 12 overs when injury struck. Knight had treatment during that over but then left the field with a calf concern. At the time, the partnership was worth 46 off 36 balls, which was the only stand of more than 30 in the innings. Sciver-Brunt watched Amy Jones hand Dotting a catch at backward point and Charlie Dean pick out Matthews at mid-off as the 17th over started. She played an almost lone hand in scoring 14 runs off the 18th over and 13 off the 20th to register her 14th T20I half-century and taking England over 140.

It took until the final group stage match to see some proper aggression upfront and it came from the team with the reputation to hit big, but not always the results. Matthews, who has registered scores of 10, 8 and 34 in the tournament so far and has not been as much of a presence with the bat, hit Lauren Bell over long leg for six off the second ball. She went on to score fours through fine leg and mid-off and the first over cost Bell – the most expensive of the of the tournament so far. Matthew owned opening over and her and Joseph rode their luck to take charge of the rest of the powerplay but not without some nerves.

Joseph got off the mark with a thick outside edge between backward point and short third that went for four, then hit Sciver-Brunt to deep mid-wicket, where the ball went through Sophia Dunkley’s hands for four more. She settled in the next over and hit Charlie Dean for six before taking on England’s trump card Sophie Ecclestone for back to back boundaries. West Indies were 67 without loss in the powerplay, the highest of the tournament so far.

Dunkley’s drop was the start of one of England’s worst fielding performances recently as they put down five catches. In the fifth over, Joseph was on 31 when she skied Sciver-Brunt into the night sky and though Alice Capsey settled herself underneath it at point, she tried to catch it reverse-cup and dropped it. Then, on 35 in the eighth over, Joseph hit Sarah Glenn to mid-wicket, where Bouchier ran to her left but let it slip through her fingers. The ball followed Bouchier for a little while after that, and she did not collect cleanly at mid-wicket when Campbelle called Dottin through for a run. Bouchier berated herself and England were falling apart. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, there have been 75 dropped catches in the group stage of the tournament, and England have been responsible for nine, the third most of any side.

Brief scores:
West Indies Women  144 for 4 in 18 overs  (Qiana Joseph 52, Hayley Matthews 50, Deandra Dottin 27; Nat SciverBrunt 1-33, Sophie Ecclestone 1-23, Sarah Glenn 1-20) beat  England Women 141 for 7 in 20 overs  (Nat Sciver-Brunt 57*, heather Knight 21;  Afy Fletcher 3-21, Hayley Matthews 2-25, Deandra Dottin 1-16) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka’s spinners ripped through the West Indies batters on a turning Dambulla surface to level the series at one apiece, as they won the second ODI by 73 runs.

Debutant Dunith Wellalage – belatedly making his T20I bow – was the pick of the bowlers, ending with figures of 3 for 9, while Maheesh Theekshana, Wanidu Hasaranga and Charith Asalanka grabbed two each. Matheesha Pathirana was the sole seamer to pick up a wicket in the innings.

With the bat, Pathum Nissanka’s 54 off 49 had helped set the platform as Sri Lanka did well to keep a steady run rate throughout their innings, having won the toss and elected to bat first. There were also runs for Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera and Kamindu Mendis, but this game was all about Sri Lanka’s spinners who showed total dominance in the West Indian chase.

Hasaranga, Sri Lanka’s premier spinner, bowled his first delivery of the game in the 11th over of the chase. And the fact that he picked up a wicket with that delivery was perhaps the least remarkable aspect about it.

What was more astounding was that he was the sixth bowler used by Sri Lanka, and West Indies had still managed to collapse to 39 for 6. But who needs Hasaranga when you have the world-renowned offspin stylings of, um, Charith Asalanka. Yes, with two left-hand batters at the crease, the Sri Lanka captain opted to introduce himself and a right-arm variant of Kamindu Mendis ahead of Hasaranga.

And it worked too. Asalanka’s two overs brought two wickets for just six runs – and those weren’t even the best figures at that stage of the game. No, that honour belonged to Wellalage – though he is by no means new to the international stage – who had grabbed three for himself.

In the lead-up to the game, Asalanka had stated how he had expected more for the spinners in the first T20I, and his wish was granted and then some in the second. Gudakesh Motie turning the ball square in the first innings would have set off West Indies’ alarm bells, but not even that could have prepared them for a 100kph sharp-turning offbreak from Theekshana.

The first T20I had seen the West Indies batters execute their plans to perfection and put Sri Lanka’s bowlers to the sword. Stepping out, moving around in the crease, using the depth, everything came off, with the last over-finish in reality nowhere close as it looked.

Sri Lanka, though, took their learnings and came back stronger – mainly in that they were prepared for what this surface was set to offer, replacing pace-bowling allrounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe with Wellalage.

West Indies, however, seemed to have missed the memo, and had only two spinners in their line-up. And those two – Motie and Roston Chase – did their part, going for just 37 off their collective eight overs. It will not be a surprise if Fabian Allen gets a go in the final game.

West Indies’ batters then seemed at a loss on how to deal with Sri Lanka’s array of spin threats, expertly utilising the conditions along with clever variations in pace, line and length. West Indies will need to come up with plans soon if they are to pose a threat in Thursday’s decider.

On the face of it, Nissanka’s innings seemed to be more detrimental than anything else – and by the standards of modern T20 cricket, it was not too difficult to understand why. This was an innings that saw 42 runs come in boundaries (9 fours and a six) but also included 27 dot balls.

In fact, it was a microcosm of Sri Lanka’s innings as a whole; they played out 58 dots. It meant that in five of the first ten overs less than five runs were scored, and roughly half of their powerplay total of 52 was plundered in one Shamar Joseph over, where a combination of luck and belligerence saw Nissanka plunder 25 runs.

But if that over was meant to signal the start of Sri Lanka’s onslaught, Nissanka and Co seemed to have other ideas. That over ensured that the first three overs, in which Sri Lanka scrounged together eight runs, were quickly in the rearview; by the end of the powerplay Sri Lanka’s run rate was at a healthy 8.66 – but that was the highest it would reach at any point across their innings.

The rest of Nissanka’s time at the crease was spent punctuating periods of dot deliveries and the odd single with an odd boundary. But the time he spent at the crease ensured he was able to do this consistently – and with it keep Sri Lanka’s scoring rate ticking above seven an over.

Anchors are largely considered obsolete in T20s, but on a wicket such as this Nissanka – who was named Player of the Match – proved to be invaluable (even if it did not seem so at the time), as he allowed the likes of Perera to take early risks. And then with wickets in hand for the death overs, the middle and lower order hit out freely. As a result, Sri Lanka struck 85 runs in the last ten overs – just four short of West Indies’ final total.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 162 for 5 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 54, Kusal Mendis 26, Kusal Perera 24, Kamindu Mendis 19; Alzarri Joseph 1-33, Shamar Joseph 1-35, Romairo Shepherd 2-23, Shamar Springer 1-24) beat West Indies 89 in 16.1 overs (Rovman Powell 20; Dunith  Wellalage 3-09, Charith Asalanka 2-06, Maheesh Theekshana 2-07, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-12) by 73 runs

[Cricinfo]

There has been precious little for Pakistan cricket to cheer in recent months, but on the opening day of the second Test in Multan, Kamran Ghulam provided a moment of unbridled joy as he brought up a gutsy century in his maiden Test innings, to carry the fight for his embattled team.

Though he fell late in the day for 118, bowled by Shoaib Bashir as he looked to stay proactive with the close of play looming, Ghulam’s debut efforts helped to lift Pakistan to 259 for 5 – scarcely riches by the standards that England were dishing up on this very same surface last week, but the beginnings of a score nonetheless.

Despite Pakistan’s experience in the first Test, when their first-innings 556 ended up on the wrong side of an innings defeat, Ghulam’s resolute efforts – allied to a career-best 77 from Saim Ayub and an atypically entrenched 37 not out from Mohammad Rizwan – kept Pakistan on course for the sort of 300-plus score that could yet be competitive if their spin-heavy attack can take advantage of a pitch that had been heavily watered and dried with industrial fans in the four-day turnaround between Tests.

The danger for Pakistan, however, may yet come from the weapons that they won’t be able to deploy. Despite two early wickets for Jack Leach,  who has now claimed nine in three innings on this surface to reassert his status as England’s senior spinner, their most pronounced threat came through a mid-afternoon spell of reverse-swing, excellently harnessed by a three-pronged seam attack. Uniquely, all three hail from Durham, among them Ben Stokes, who was back to lead the team for the first time since his hamstring tear in August. In opting to ditch both Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah for this contest, much will be resting on their lone quick, Aamer Jamal, if Pakistan hope to utilise similar skills.

All such considerations can wait for now, thanks to the efforts of Ghulam, who – at the age of 29 – was the second oldest Pakistani to record a debut century. He achieved the feat with a gleeful swing through the leg-side off Joe Root, after an anxious wait in the 90s that had encompassed the evening drinks break. A few more moments of delay could not perturb him, however, after more than a decade of service in Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, in which time he might have assumed that his haul of more than 4500 runs at 49 would forever be overlooked.

His innings had begun at 19 for 2 in the tenth over, after Leach – thrown the ball early after Stokes’ quick assessment of the surface – had become the first England spinner to strike twice so early in a Test match since Johnny Briggs in 1889. His impact threatened another meltdown to match Pakistan’s fourth-evening collapse in the first Test, but Ghulam proved his mettle from the outset, showcasing his familiarity with the arid conditions and his faith in the methods that had finally got him noticed.

His first boundary was a composed launch for six back over Leach’s head, and in easing through to his first half-century from 104 balls, he recorded a milestone that had eluded his more illustrious compatriot, Babar Azam, in the 18 out-of-form innings that had resulted in his omission.

Ghulam had faced just two deliveries of fast bowling in his first 120, however, when Stokes brought himself into the attack midway through the afternoon, and the challenge instantly went up a notch. In his first over, Stokes found a fat edge that flew at a catchable height through the vacant slip cordon, and when a second edge fell short soon afterwards, Root found himself donning a helmet four yards from the bat in a bid to make any further chance count.

The breakthrough, however, arrived at the other end. Ayub’s reputation had suffered in this series, largely as a consequence of his hopelessly misfiring opening partnership with Abdullah Shafique, which at least reached double-figures for the first time in nine innings. It didn’t get much further, however, as Leach bowled Shafique for 7 to reduce Pakistan to 15 for 1, before Shan Masood clipped on the up to Zak Crawley at midwicket for 3.

In isolation, however, Ayub has been a qualified success at the top of Pakistan’s order, and this was his third half-century in four first innings, following his twin fifties against Bangladesh last month. But, with tea approaching, and England beginning to make the ball talk, Matthew Potts threatened his outside edge with a diet of hooping outswingers from over the wicket, before Stokes pouched a firm push through the line at a very straight silly mid-off (168 for 3).

After tea, Brydon Carse, energetic as ever, roughed up Saud Shakeel with an excellent short ball, then found his edge for 4 with an even better 140kph/87mph delivery that fizzed through to Jamie Smith behind the stumps. And England’s position could have been stronger still had Ben Duckett clung on to a loose slap from Ghulam, on 79, as he chose to take the attack to the returning Leach and almost paid the price at mid-on.

The value of Stokes’ economy with his seamers throughout a morning session was brought to bear in the evening, with Carse helping to keep Rizwan under the cosh for 19 deliveries without scoring before Potts took over and so nearly landed an innings-altering blow. His first delivery to Rizwan, on 6 at the time, zipped past the outside edge and into Smith’s gloves, but England declined to use a review – even though replays showed that the ball had grazed the splice of his bat.

England’s endeavours were worthy of another breakthrough before the close, and though he had once again been the weaker link in the attack, Bashir obliged with a critical strike late in the day. Armed with the second new ball, he skidded a good-length delivery past Ghulam’s tired charge, and clipped the top of leg to prise a critical opening that could yet make the difference in Pakistan’s quest for a serviceable first innings.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 259 for 5 in  overs (Kamran Ghulam 118, Saim Ayub 77, Mohammad Rizwan 37; Jack Leach 2-92 ) vs England

[Cricinfo]