Latest News
Vanuatu stun Zimbabwe to kick off T20 World Cup Qualifier
Vanuatu, ranked 30th, stunned Zimbabwe (12th) on the opening day of the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier by beating them by six wickets after bowling them out for their lowest T20I score of 61. The result will rank among the biggest sporting success stories of Vanuatu, a small island nation with a population of little more than 300,000, who are appearing at a World Cup – men’s or women’s – Qualifier for the first time.
This was also the first time Vanuatu had played a match against a team outside of the East-Asia Pacific (EAP) region and they looked entirely at home in Abu Dhabi. Their spinners, Vanessa Vira and Nasimana Navaika shared seven wickets between them against a Zimbabwean line-up that understandably appeared to be deer in the headlights. With floodlights only installed at Harare Sports Club last July, they have scant experience of playing day-night cricket, and struggled to negotiate Vanuatu’s slower bowlers.
Offspinner Vira made the first incision when she had Modester Mupachikwa caught behind in the second over but Zimbabwe’s problems really began three overs later. Medium-pacer Rachel Andrew bowled Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano and captain Mary-Anne Musonda with successive deliveries. Sharne Mayers looked good for her 12-ball 16 but fell in the last over of the powerplay, which Zimbabwe finished on 38 for 4.
Legspinner Navaika then took four wickets in 10 balls to register career-best figures of 4 for 13 and leave Zimbabwe in tatters at 55 for 8 after 11 overs. They dragged themselves over 60 but only just and were bowled out in the 14th over.
In response, Vanuatu lost their opening batters, Andrew and Valenta Langiatu, who was dropped at slip the ball before being caught, in the powerplay, which ended on a cautious 25 for 3. They almost lost their captain Selina Solman to what seemed a hamstring niggle in the ninth over but she batted on and shared in a 19-run stand with Navaika before top-edging Audrey Mazvishaya, who did not concede a run for her first 12 balls. Her third over cost seven runs and left Vanuatu on the brink of victory. But they did not get there without Mazvishaya having one more say on the game. She bowled Navaika at the start of the 16th over with Vanuatu four runs away. They got there in the 17th over with 21 balls to spare and earned a historic victory that blows open Group B of the qualifier and continues the rise and rise of Vanuatu.
In the last seven months, Vanuatu have earned morale-boosting victories over teams much stronger than them on paper. In September, they beat regional rivals Papua New Guinea who are ranked 11th, for the first time on their way to winning the EAP Qualifier to earn their place in Abu Dhabi.
They were due to travel with borrowed or donated gear but a successful crowd funding campaign launched by their operations manager Jamal Vira and marketing manager Hermione Vira raised the equivalent of USD 6,317 to ensure each squad member had their own, new kit for the tournament.
Other results: Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland start with wins
Earlier in the day, favourites Sri Lanka successfully defended 122 against Thailand who they bowled out for their third lowest T20I total – 55. Sri Lanka were hamstrung by two run-outs in an innings where no one scored more than 29. But left-arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani and offspinner Inoshi Priyadarshani shared five wickets between them to earn Sri Lanka a comfortable win.
In Group B, Ireland opened their campaign with a six wicket win over UAE who they kept to 105 for 9. Contributions from Ireland top three meant that even when they lost three wickets for seven runs, they were always in charge of the chase. Orla Prendergast in her 49th T20I, saw them home in the 17th over.
The evening’s other match saw Scotland dominate Uganda after half-centuries from Sasika Horley and Ailsa Lister took them to an imposing total of 161 for 3. Uganda had no answers against the left-arm seam of Rachel Slater (5 for 17) and went from 10 for 3 to 35 for 7 and 52 all out to suffer a 109-run loss.
(Cricinfo)
From their last completed game against Australia, Zimbabwe ought to bring Richard Ngarava back into the XI, with the left-arm seamer rested for that outing as a precautionary measure. Leggie Graeme Cremer could miss out, although the possibility of resting Blessing Muzarabani cannot be ruled out either, should Zimbabwe want an additional spinner.
[Cricbuzz]
Regular skipper Wayne Madsen has missed the last two games due to an injury in the opening fixture and remains a doubtful starter for their last group game as well.
[Cricbuzz]
Sahibzada Farhan settled his side’s nerves with a blazing unbeaten hundred, as Namibia were outgunned by 102 runs in Colombo to end any doubts about Pakistan’s progression to the T20 World Cup Super Eight. With 11 fours and four sixes, Farhan produced a perfect burst of acceleration against a toiling attack. His second fifty of his 57-ball century came from just 20 balls. And his eventual 100 not out from 58 balls would be more runs than Namibia managed (97) before being bowled out.
Needing a victory (or, at the very least, a washout) to keep the hopefuls of USA at bay, Pakistan produced the most comprehensive win of their campaign. It was sealed by their four-man spin cohort. Mohammad Nawaz led a mid-innings squeeze with 1 for 22 in his four overs, before Shadab Khan and Usman Tariq dovetailed for each of Namibia’s last seven wickets.
Shadab was the main character of their victory surge. He had earlier been pushed up to No. 5, ahead of Babar Azam, to help Farhan thrash 78 runs from the final six overs of their innings. He then followed up with 3 for 19, the last of them coming via a superb diving catch at square leg from Saim Ayub, off Zane Green, which spoke of Pakistan’s mounting confidence.
Shadab himself was also in the act with a smart catch at midwicket, to claim the first breakthrough of Tariq’s late entrance. Though he didn’t bowl until the 12th over, Tariq’s extraordinary repertoire of carrom balls and delayed-release leggies proved unfathomable to Namibia’s lower-order. Ruben Trumpelmann and Bernard Scholtz were both bowled through the gate by perfect googlies, before Willem Myburgh snicked off to a legbreak, to cap Tariq’s career-best figures of 4 for 16.
It wasn’t the perfect performance from Pakistan. In particular, their batting powerplay was a microcosm of their campaign: rarely convincing, yet still doing the needful in spite of some ugly moments. Ayub’s 14 from 12 balls comprised two leading edges and a flying nick for four past the keeper; Farhan’s first boundary came via a misfield in the covers, and his second to a similarly wild hack through deep third off Jack Brassell, moments after he had flung his bat through square leg while mistiming a cut through point.
But, by degrees, Pakistan settled into their work, emboldened by every over in which their under-performing middle-order was spared early exposure. Namibia rang in the changes, rotating through six options in their first eight overs. But it was their two bowlers serving up back-to-back overs who inadvertently released the mounting pressure.
Farhan found his range with back-to-back fours off Ruben Trumpelmann, including an unrepentant slog through midwicket, then took his new-found poise out on Willem Myburgh. The legspinner’s first over had gone for just five; his second realized three vast sixes, with Farhan contributing back-to-back slog-sweeps. Though he ended the same over in a heap, after jarring his knee during a drive, the shackles were officially off.
Farhan nudged the first ball of the 12th over through midwicket to bring up a 37-ball half-century. Twenty balls later, he did likewise to Gerhard Erasmus, to cavort through to his maiden T20I hundred. His was also the third of this year’s tournament, a new record.
In between whiles, his acceleration was violent and unrelenting, though it did not begin in earnest until the 15th over, when Trumpelmann’s slower balls were collared for back-to-back fours down the ground. That sounded the bugle charge. JJ Smit’s left-arm spin was then smoked for 17 runs, including two more fours and a baseball slug for six; and Brassell’s last was sent for 20, with Farhan marching into the 90s as he hoisted a slower ball over fine leg for his fourth six.
Salman Agha played a vital part in Pakistan’s uptick. His 38 from 23 balls included three fours and two sixes, as he helped propel his team to 107 for 1 after 12. He was livid with himself when he holed out to mid-off with his job far from done, and Khawaja Nafay’s five-ball stay meant Pakistan were soon in familiar danger at 118 for 3 in the 14th. But in came Shadab, with licence to swing his bat. He was only too eager to deliver.
Namibia needed ten an over from the outset, and they did give it a go in the powerplay. Faheem Ashraf was an unlikely candidate bowling the first over, with Shaheen Afridi paying the price for some leaky displays so far in the tournament – and consequently dropped. Ashraf’s introduction looked doubly sketchy when Louren Steenkamp picked his third-ball slower ball to pump him over the sightscreen.
Pakistan’s frailties were all too apparent in the same over. Nawaz dropped a sitter at deep midwicket off Jan Frylinck. Soon, at 32 for 0 after four, Namibia were putting up a decent challenge.Salman Mirza, however, switched ends to bowl Frylinck through the gate for 9, and when Jan Loftie-Eaton ruined his strong start by attempting a non-existent run to Agha at mid-off, the downturn was swift and decisive. Nawaz made amends for his catching by luring Steenkamp into a top-edged swipe for 23, and four balls later, Shadab snicked off the captain, Erasmus, with a big legbreak in his first over. The end would follow swiftly.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 199 for 3 in 20 overs (Sahibzadz Farhan 100*, Saim Ayub 14, Salman Agha 38, Shadab Khan 36*; Gerhard Erasmus 1-25, Jack Brassell 2-38) beat Namibia 97 in 17.3 overs (Louren Steenkamp 23, Alexander Busing Volschenk 20; Salman Mirza 1-11,Mohammad Nawaz 1-22, Usman Tariq 4-16, Shadab Khan 3-19) by 102 runs
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe seek momentum sustenance ahead of stiffer challenges
West Indies aim to keep up rhythm as Italy look to end on a high
Pakistan into Super Eight after Farhan ton sinks Namibia
Muscular South Africa stroll into Super Eight with all-win record
Pakistan bat first, drop Shaheen Afridi in must-win encounter against Namibia
New Bangladesh sports minister wants to fast track cases against Shakib and Mortaza
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Life style4 days agoMarriot new GM Suranga
-
Business3 days agoMinistry of Brands to launch Sri Lanka’s first off-price retail destination
-
Features4 days agoMonks’ march, in America and Sri Lanka
-
Opinion7 days agoWill computers ever be intelligent?
-
Features4 days agoThe Rise of Takaichi
-
Features4 days agoWetlands of Sri Lanka:
-
News4 days agoThailand to recruit 10,000 Lankans under new labour pact
-
News4 days agoMassive Sangha confab to address alleged injustices against monks