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Sri Lanka, Pakistan maintain unbeaten streak

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Defending a low total of 133, Sri Lanka still emerged victorious by 77 runs against Namibia

Pakistan vs Nepal

In East London, Pakistan beat Nepal by five wickets. Nepal chose to bat first and Bipin Rawal (39) led them to a steady start but Ahmed Hussain’s double strike helped Pakistan regain control. Despite a middle-order collapse which saw them lose three wickets for 16 runs, Nepal’s lower middle-order came to the rescue. Deepak Dumre (26) and Subash Bhandari (26) helped them reach a respectable total of 197 as Arafat Minhas returned three wickets.

Pakistan, in response, had a solid opening stand of 80 runs between Shamyl Hussain and Shahzaib Khan. However, Aakash Chand’s bowling made significant inroads, taking crucial wickets and putting Pakistan in a precarious position at 104/4. Azam Awais (63*) and Hassan then stabilized the innings with a 54-run partnership and set Pakistan on course to victory. Awais remained unbeaten on 63*, guiding his team to the win with 2.2 overs to spare.

Pakistan will face New Zealand in their final game, both having advanced to the Super Six stage whereas Nepal, with two losses, now need a win against Afghanistan to stay in contention.

Sri Lanka vs Namibia

In Kimberley, Sri Lanka beat Namibia by 77 runs in a low-scoring match. Sent in to bat first, Sri Lanka were rolled over for 133 in 37.5 overs. After a run-out sent back opener Pulindu Perera in the seventh over, Namibia had the opening they wanted and Zacheo van Vuuren capitalized on it by taking four wickets for 23 runs while Johannes de Villiers picked three. A resilient half-century from Supun Waduge could only do so much for Sri Lanka but it got them past triple figures which proved enough on the day.

Namibia’s response faced an early setback when they were reduced to 25/8 in the 20th over Vishwa Lahiru and Ruvishan Perera picked three wickets apiece and played key roles in Sri Lanka’s strong bowling performance. Namibia were eventually bowled out for 56 in 27 overs.

With two consecutive losses, Namibia’s are on the cusp of elimination and they next face Zimbabwe who need two wins by massive margins to stand a chance. Sri Lanka with two wins in two games are almost through to the next around due to their superior net run rate.

West Indies vs Scotland

In Potchefstroom, West Indies got the better of Scotland by five wickets. After being put into bat by West Indies, Scotland were off to a solid start, with openers Jamie Dunk and Adi Hegde adding 89 runs. However, Nathan Sealy and Isai Thorne shared a flurry of wickets in reply to keep Scotland to 205/9 in 50 overs.

In the run-chase, Scotland struck three times in the PowerPlay and reduced WI to 45/3. Jordan Johnson and Mavendra Dindyal then added a counterattacking 45 runs for the fourth wicket before Jewel Andrew’s excellent half-century guided West Indies to an easy victory with 14.5 overs to spare.

With a win and a loss in two games, West Indies will face England next. Scotland, with two losses, need to beat South Africa in their final game and boost their net run rate to have a chance of progressing to the Super Six stage.

(Cricbuzz)



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Mohammad Wasim and Fakhar Zaman help Pakistan complete whitewash

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Mohammad Wasim picked up three wickets (Cricinfo)

Pakistan eased to a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka to seal a 3-0 series whitewash. Three wickets from Mohammad Wasim and contributions from others bowled Sri Lanka out for 211, before a half-century by Fakhar Zaman took much of the jeopardy out of the chase. Sri Lanka fought hard through the middle, getting rid of Babar Azam and Salman Agha in quick succession, and though it succeeded in slowing Pakistan down, the visitors ultimately had too few runs to play with as Pakistan cantered to the win with 5.2 overs to spare.

When Sri Lanka began their innings, they appeared to have designs on a total above 300. Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara were timing the ball particularly sweetly, racing along to a 50-run partnership inside the first eight overs. Shaheen Shah Afridi, in particular, was punished early by Mishara, who exploited the gaps as an opposition side racked up a 50-run opening partnership against Pakistan for the sixth ODI in succession.

But as has been so often the case for the visitors, wickets derailed their progress significantly. Mishara had chopped a few early on and survived, but Nissanka’s first inside edge clattered into the stumps, and from there Pakistan started to squeeze. Wasim found a bit of extra bounce to draw Mishara’s outside edge, and the free-flowing runs were suddenly no longer coming.

Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama rebuilt, but not nearly at the speed Sri Lanka needed on a wicket that looked like it would only continue to get better. Left-arm wristspinner Faisal Akram, replacing Abrar Ahmed in the side, enjoyed an excellent first spell, deploying his variations to great effect and keeping the batters honest. He had Samarawickrama trapped in front in single digits, but the batter got the decision reversed on review because the ball was turning too much.

But the pressure was invariably building up. It had taken 75 balls to score just 43 runs, and by the time Wasim returned to the attack, the urgency to score quickly had been amplified. He knocked them off course with a yorker that cleaned up the stand-in captain Kusal Mendis before a double blow from Akram blew the innings wide open. It included a splendid delivery that sliced through Samarawickrama’s defences two runs shy of a half-century, as well as a soft return catch that did for Kamindu Mendis.

Sri Lanka have set much store in 23-year-old batting talent Pavan Rathnayake, even if he was batting a tad too deep for their liking. The debutant showed impressive temperament as he shepherded the tail, and arguably played the shot of the day with a back-foot punch that flew over cover for a six. But he got limited support from the tail as Pakistan chipped away at the other end, and with nine wickets down, his desperation to get back on strike cost him his wicket. He had put up a spirited 32, but the 211 Sri Lanka ended up with never looked near enough.

Zaman drove that point further home as he started off in a hurry. It was almost as if he was making up for lost time after Haseebullah Khan’s brief tortured stay at the crease resulted in a 12-ball duck, the young wicketkeeper-batter getting more desperate with each ball before ultimately smearing one straight to mid-on. Babar Azam’s arrival lifted the crowd’s spirits while Zaman took care of the run-scoring, freeing his arms and finding the gaps either side of the wicket with regularity in the powerplay. Babar, meanwhile, looked like a man with rediscovered confidence, timing the ball beautifully as Pakistan cruised through the first 15 overs.

Zaman took on Jeffrey Vandersay, who was playing his first game this series, but the legspinner dragged his side back into the contest. After smacking him for his second boundary, Zaman went after Vandersay again, only for Kamindu Mendis to take a spectacular catch diving forward in the deep. Shortly after, he did for Babar with a googly that beat the batter all ends up, sneaking through the gate and making a mess of his stumps.

With their tails up, it was the first time since the opening powerplay in the game that Sri Lanka placed any kind of pressure on Pakistan. Vandersay beat Agha with a lovely legbreak that drifted in and then ripped away to trap him in front, and suddenly, the 97 runs Pakistan still needed seemed very far away.

But Rizwan and Hussain Talat hunkered down. For a while, run-scoring seemed a secondary thought; the next ten overs produced just 32 runs. But most importantly, Sri Lanka were being kept out of the wickets column, and with the asking rate far too modest to have any impact on the game, Pakistan, bit by bit, dragged themselves towards the finish line.

It left the last hour of the game in a holding pattern where the outcome was all but certain, but Talat and Rizwan were in no hurry to put Sri Lanka out of their misery. Rizwan coasted towards his half-century while Talat saw an opportunity to amass a few more runs in what has been a successful series for him. In the 43rd over, Maheesh Theekshana had Talat lbw but the batter got the decision overturned as the ball-tracking showed the ball bouncing over the stumps. It just about summed up Sri Lanka’s stuttering series in the Rawalpindi cold before the hosts finally limped over the finish line.

Brief scores:
Pakistan 215 for 4 in 44.4 overs  (Mohammed Rizwan 61*, Fakhar Zaman 55, Babar Azam 34; Jeffrey Vandersay 3-42) beat Sri Lanka 211 in 45.2 overs (Sadeera Samarawickrama 48, Kusal Mendis 34, Pavan Rathnayake 32; Haris Rauf 2-38, Mohammad  Wasim 3-47, Faisal Akram2-42) by six wickets
(Cricinfo)

 

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Pakistan opt to field in 3rd ODI, Asalanka out with illness

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Shaheen Afridi and Kusal Mendis at the toss [Cricinfo]

Pakistan have won the toss and elected to field first. The game is played on the same wicket the first ODI was played on, with a high-scoring affair expected.

With the series already wrapped up, the home side have rung the changes in Rawalpindi, with four men who played the second game sitting out. Haseebullah Khan makes his ODI debut at the top as Saim Ayub sits out, while Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah and Abrar Ahmed all drop to the bench. Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Wasim and Faisal Akram all come in as well.

Sri Lanka, too, have made four changes, with captain Charith Asalanka sitting out because of illness. Middle-order batter Pravan Ratnayake, fast bowler Eshan Malinga and spinner Jeffrey Vandersay play their first games this series.

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman,  Haseebullah Khan (wk),  Babar Azam,  Mohammad Rizwan,  Salman Agha,  Hussain Talat,  Faheem Ashraf,  Mohammad Wasim Jr,  Shaheen Afridi (capt),  Haris Rauf,  Faisal Akram

Sri Lanka:  Pathum Nissanka,  Kamil Mishara,  Kusal Mendis (wk, capt),  Sadeera Samarawickrama,  Pavan Rathnayake,  Janith Liyanage,  Kamindu Mendis,  Maheesh Theekshana,  Pramod Madushan,  Eshan Malinga,  Jeffrey Vandersay

[Cricinfo]

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Bavuma, Harmer and Jansen script sensational South Africa win at treacherous Eden Gardens

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That's the Test - Keshav Maharaj leads the celebrations [Cricinfo]

South Africa started the day staring at defeat, only 63 ahead with three wickets in hand, but registered a stunning win, their first in India in 15 years and the second-smallest successful defence in Asia. The whooping and cheering among the South Africa players echoed amid a shocked Sunday crowd at Eden Gardens as the visitors bowled India out for 93 in the absence of their injured captain Shubman Gill.

Temba Bavuma was ever present, scoring the only half-century of the match and taking South Africa to a formidable lead of 123 on a pitch with extravagant sideways movement and variance in bounce. He was helped a little by some ordinary spin bowling on the third morning, but he had earned the errors after defending resolutely on the second evening.

The target of 124 was always going to be tricky with Simon Harmer outbowling India’s spinners in the country where he had a forgettable tour in 2015-16. The uneven bounce made Marco Jansen a handful, causing the double jeopardy you need to defend small totals.

Brief scores:
South Africa 159 in 55 overs (Aiden Markram 31; Jasprit Bumrah 5-27, Mohammed Siraj 2-47, Kuldeep Yadav 2-36)   and 153 in 54 overs  (Temba Bavuma 55*, Corbin Bosch 25;  Ravindra Jadeja 4-50, Mohammed  Siraj 2-2, Kuldeep Yadav   2-30) beat India 189 in 62.2 overs (KL Rahul 39: Marco Jansen 3-35, Simon Harmer 4-30) and 93 in 35 overs (Washington Sundar 31, Axar Patel 26;  Simon Harmer 4-21, Marco Jansen 2-15, Keshav Maharaj 2-37) by 30 runs

[Cricinfo]

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