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Warner, Marsh, Zampa steer Australia to vital win
David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Adam Zampa steered Australia to a vital win over Pakistan in Bengaluru on Friday (October 20). The result saw the fortunes for the two teams change completely as Australia bounced back in style after suffering defeats in their opening two games to now win two in a row whereas Pakistan suffered the exact opposite fate. In pursuit of a massive target following centuries from Warner and Marsh, Pakistan remained in the hunt for the major part of their innings after Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq laid a solid platform before Zampa’s key strikes hurt them towards the end.
Australia’s intentions were very clear as early as in the first over of the day when Marsh smashed a six straight over Shaheen Afridi’s head. The two openers targeted the pace of Haris Rauf as Warner clipped him for a stunning six over fine leg, which was then followed by Marsh fetching a hat-trick of boundaries in the same over. Quite astonishingly, Rauf conceded 47 runs in his first three overs.
While Warner’s strike rate comfortably hovered over 100, Marsh stepped on the accelerator after going past his half-century as the openers kept Pakistan at bay. Things could have turned out differently had Usama Mir, the World Cup debutant, held onto a simple chance to get rid of Warner early in his innings the veteran made the Asian side pay dearly. By the halfway mark, Pakistan had 172 on the board and the carnage continued with both openers reaching three figures off successive deliveries in the same over.
Even though no wickets fell for the first 33.4 overs of the contest, the next two balls produced wickets in a much-needed relief for Pakistan. Marsh was dismissed for 121 and Glenn Maxwell’s promotion didn’t work. Warner however managed to cut loose and managed to go past 150 for the seventh time in his career as Australia set themselves up for a big finish. At 297/3 after 40 overs. Australia were primed to touch 400. But there was a twist left in the tale as Pakistan staged an impressive comeback at the death once Warner fell for 163. Rauf and Shaheen kept pegging Australia back with regular wickets with the left-arm pacer managing to finish with a five-fer.
Chasing a daunting 368, Pakistan stuck to their template of not taking too many risks in the powerplay. Shafique targeted an erratic Mitchell Starc for a couple of boundaries in an over and Imam repeated the feat off Josh Hazlewood in the following over to give Pakistan a good start. After knocking off 59 runs in the powerplay, the openers stepped it up a bit with Shafique also finding a slice of luck when Sean Abbott dropped him near the boundary.
For the first time in World Cup history, all four batters managed to go past fifty as Pakistan slowly gained upper hand after a 15-run over from Maxwell. While the front line bowlers struggled to give Australia the opening breakthrough, the golden arm of Marcus Stoinis dented Pakistan as Shafique miscued one to depart for 64. Another short ball from the allrounder saw the back of Imam as well and with both the set batters back in the pavilion, Australia seized control.
Zampa bagged the crucial wicket of Babar Azam as Pat Cummins took an excellent catch to get rid of his Pakistan counterpart. After 30 overs, Pakistan still had hopes, having already scored 200 but needed a partnership to steady the ship. Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel provided just that to keep Pakistan in the hunt. At one point, Pakistan appeared to be having momentum on their side with both Rizwan and Shakeel finding the boundary at regular intervals.
Even the wicket of Shakeel didn’t deter the men in green as Iftikhar Ahmed came out and hammered three sixes in the space of five deliveries to stun Australia. At that point, Pakistan needed 103 from 72 deliveries and were firmly in the contest before Zampa crushed their hopes. Both Iftikhar and Rizwan were trapped leg-before-wicket in successive overs by the legspinner and as a result the chase fizzled out. He finished his quota with another wicket off the last ball before Pakistan eventually fell short by 62 runs.
Brief scores:
Australia 367/9 in 50 overs (David Warner 163, Mitchell Marsh 121; Shaheen Afridi 5/54) beat Pakistan 305 in 45.3 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 70, Abdullah Shafique 64; Adam Zampa 4/53) by 62 runs
A captain’s innings of 127 off 126 balls by Charith Aslanka and a four wicket haul by Maheesh Theekshana helped Sri Lanka to defeat Australia in the first ODI played at the Ranasinghe Premadasa Stadium in Colombo today.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 214 in 46 overs [Charith Aslanka 127, Dunith Wellalage 30, Kusal Mendis 19; Spencer Johnson 2-44, Aaron Hardie 2-13, Sean Abott 3-61, Nathan Ellis 2-23] beat Australia 165 in 33.5 overs [Alex Careyb 41, Aaron Hardie 32, Sean Abott 20; Asitha Fernando 2-23, Maheesh Theekshana 4-40, Dunith Wellalage 2-33] by 49 runs
When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington and meets President Donald Trump later this week, there will be some warm hugs and shared laughs. But that will not be all.
Trump and Modi have developed a strong personal rapport over the years, marked by high-profile meetings and joint appearances.
Since their first meeting in Washington in 2017, their bond has grown through other events, including joint appearances at massive rallies in Houston and Ahmedabad. Their chemistry stems from shared worldviews and politics and a mutual strategic focus on countering China, a concern that has also strengthened the broader US-India partnership.
Not surprisingly, Trump has often criticised India, but he has never criticised Modi.
And so, during Modi’s visit, the two leaders will probably spend time mapping out next steps in the US-India strategic partnership, which is already in a good place.
Modi will reportedly meet several members of Trump’s cabinet, as well as US business leaders and members of the Indian-American community.
He may also meet SpaceX and Tesla chief Elon Musk. Modi, keen to scale up India’s burgeoning electric vehicles sector, would be happy if Musk opened a Tesla factory in India.
And yet the Trump-Modi conviviality and heady talk of strategic partnership may mask a sobering reality: during Modi’s visit, the relationship’s transactional side will come into sharp relief with each leader, especially Trump, armed with an array of demands.
Delhi knows Trump well. Many of Modi’s current cabinet ministers also served during his previous term, which overlapped with part of the first Trump administration. That familiarity has been on display since Trump’s inauguration last month: Delhi has publicly signaled its willingness to lower tariffs, take back undocumented Indian immigrants and buy American oil.
It has already lowered some tariffs and taken back 104 undocumented Indians, with the first plane arriving in India last week. These pre-emptive steps are meant to prevent Trump from making specific demands of India and to reduce the likelihood of tensions with the new Trump administration.
Still, Trump may ask Modi to make additional tariff reductions, to further chip away at a US goods and services trade deficit with India that has approached $46bn (£37.10bn) in recent years. But an obstacle could become an opportunity: Modi may call on Trump to enter into bilateral talks on an economic partnership accord meant to reduce tariffs on both sides.
In recent years, Delhi has shown a growing willingness to pursue trade deals. The Trump administration may prove to be a more willing interlocutor than the Biden administration, which imposed heavy environmental and labour-related conditions on new trade agreements.
[BBC]
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first in the first ODI against Australia
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (c), Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando
Australia: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cooper Connolly, Steve Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (wk), Aaron Hardie, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson
Asalanka’s ton and Theekshana’s four, down Australia
Trade, tariffs and visas to dominate Trump-Modi talks
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