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Williamson drives New Zealand as Bashir four-for keeps England competitive

Published

1 year ago

2024/11/28

Priyan

Kane Williamson marked his Test return with a half-century

Kane Williamson blended grit and flourish to make 93 from 197 balls on his return to New Zealand’s ranks, but his rare failure to convert such a promising start proved to be a microcosm of his team’s day, as England overcame a misleadingly placid deck to pick off eight prime wickets in their series opener at Christchurch.

Thanks to Glenn Phillips, who batted through to the close on 41 not out, including an eighth-wicket stand of 46 from 56 balls with Matt Henry, New Zealand finished the day with their innings, and their hopes, very much intact. But on a surface that is renowned for getting better as the match wears on, England will believe – after their recent exploits on a flat deck in Multan – that they can cash in when their own turn comes.

It had looked, from the outset, to be a crucial toss to win, as Ben Stokes called correctly on a green-tinged surface that had been kept fresh by spells of rain in the build-up to the match. But after choosing to bowl first, the anticipated early movement failed to materialise for England’s quicks, and instead it was the spinner Shoaib Bashir, with 4 for 69 in 20 overs, who emerged as their principle source of wickets.

England were indebted, too, to another wholehearted showing from Brydon Carse, whose extraction of a fluent Tom Latham was the key moment of the morning session, as well as another no-nonsense display from their find of the year Gus Atkinson, who picked off the dangerous Devon Conway in his very first over, then returned in the evening to dislodge Williamson with some extra lift outside off, as he fell in the 90s for the first time in 14 innings spanning six years.

Most of all, though, England owed their promising position to New Zealand’s lack of killer instinct, with each of their eight wickets proving complicit, to a greater or lesser extent, in their own downfalls. England were far from passive observers, however, with Carse’s optimistic aggression, backed up by Stokes’ typically proactive fields, epitomising a display that successfully shook off much of the fatalism that set in during their last two Tests in Pakistan.

While Williamson was marshalling New Zealand’s day, however, there were plenty of reasons to question England’s decision to bowl first. Having missed their triumphant tour of India with a groin strain, he was his usual phlegmatic self from the moment he arrived at the end of the second over, following Atkinson’s sharp return catch to dislodge Conway for 2, and though he struggled to assert himself at times – particularly against the energetic Carse, who struck him in the grille on 28 in a torrid early spell, and again on the badge as he moved into the 90s – he found the will to endure, and the gumption to step up his tempo whenever the opportunity arose.

Williamson took 14 balls to register his first run, and 47 for his first boundary until Stokes – struggling, as with all the seamers, to land his front foot in the greasy morning conditions – banged in a half-tracker to be pulled with aplomb through midwicket. The captain’s mood was not improved in his final over of the session, when Rachin Ravindra, on 20, pressed forward to a good length outside off, and got away with a slender edge that was only revealed after the event on Ultra-Edge. Neither bowler nor keeper even appealed.

In the end, that let-off didn’t prove too costly. Bashir was thrown the ball for the 30th over, in the first half-hour after lunch, and duly struck in his second over, as Ravindra looked to give him the charge but could only toe-end a dipping full toss to midwicket. His agonised look to the heavens betrayed the extent to which he’d given his start away, and confirmed the sense that this was a very good track for batting.

Williamson wasn’t about to make the same mistake. He took on the threat of Carse with a calculated double-whammy – a short-arm pull for four then a languid drive down the ground off the anticipated fuller length – and having got his innings moving, he rushed through to his half-century with consecutive pulled fours off Bashir, who looked threatening whenever he hit his length outside off but was all too prone to drifting down the leg-side.

By tea he was within sight of his 33rd Test hundred, and New Zealand – at 193 for 3 – were one good partnership from taking firm control of the contest. Instead, the errors came in a cluster, with their next four wickets falling for just 59 runs.

Daryl Mitchell had been a solid foil in a fourth-wicket stand of 69, but was picked off for 19 just ten balls into the evening session, as Carse returned to the attack with a packed leg-side field and a diet of bumpers, and induced a spliced pull to Harry Brook at deep third.

Williamson’s extraction was the killer blow, however. Atkinson had struggled for rhythm ever since his first-over wicket, with seven no-balls in the course of his 17 overs. However, his ability to hassle well-set batters is becoming one of his most notable traits. The ball that did for Williamson was short and reasonably wide, and apparently ripe to be cut for four. But his skiddy trajectory found some priceless extra bounce, and Zak Crawley at backward point swallowed the offering with glee.

Tom Blundell, out of form but battling hard for his 17 runs, then produced a similar error of judgement to hand Bashir his second wicket, whereupon the debutant Nathan Smith turned a leg-sided offbreak to Joe Root at leg gully to depart for 3. Phillips then responded by dumping Bashir over the ropes for the day’s solitary six, but when Henry tried something similar with the new ball looming, he could only pick out Ben Duckett at long-on, to put a seal on a hard-fought day.

Brief scores:
New Zealand 319 for 8 in 83 overs (KaneWilliamson 93, Tom Latham 47, Glenn Phillips 41* , Rachin Ravindraa 34; Gus Atkinson 2-61, Brydon Carse 2-57, Shoaib Bashir 4-69) vs England

(Cricinfo)

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BCB-ICC impasse continues over Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup venues

Published

21 hours ago

2026/01/18

Priyan

Aminul Islam, the BCB president, was at the latest meeting with the ICC [BCB]

The BCB and the ICC have not yet reached a resolution over Bangladesh’s refusal to play their 2026 T20 World Cup matches in India due to security concerns, despite the tournament starting in three weeks time.

The two parties had a meeting on Saturday after which the BCB issued a statement saying they will “continue engaging in constructive dialogue on this matter”. The 2026 T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is scheduled to begin on February 7.

“During the discussions, the BCB reiterated its formal request to the ICC to relocate Bangladesh’s matches to Sri Lanka,” the board said in a statement. “The Board also shared the Bangladesh government’s views and concerns on safety and security of the team, Bangladeshi fans, media and other stakeholders.

“The discussions were conducted in a constructive, cordial and professional manner, with all parties engaging openly on the relevant issues. Among other points, the possibility of moving Bangladesh to a different group as a means of facilitating the matter with minimum logistical adjustments was discussed.”

Bangladesh are in Group C at the T20 World Cup along with England, Nepal, West Indies and Italy, and are currently scheduled to play their first three matches in Kolkata and their final one in Mumbai.

“The ICC delegation was represented by Gaurav Saxena, General Manager, Events and Corporate Communications, and Andrew Ephgrave, General Manager, Integrity Unit. Gaurav Saxena was unable to attend the meeting in person as his visa was received later than anticipated and therefore joined the discussions virtually. Andrew Ephgrave attended the meeting in person.”

The BCB was represented at the meeting by board president Aminul Islam, vice presidents Shakawath Hossain and Faruque Ahmed, director and chairman of the cricket operations committee Nazmul Abedeen and CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury.

The problem of Bangladesh playing in India arose once the BCCI instructed Ko;kata Knight Riders to remove Mustafizur from its IPL 2026 squad. No reason has been specified for that decision, though relations between the two countries have deteriorated of late.

Following Mustafizur’s removal, the Bangladesh government banned the broadcast of the IPL in the country, and the BCB sent a letter to the ICC refusing to play its T20 World Cup matches in India, a stance it has stuck to during several subsequent meetings with the ICC.

A risk assessment report for the T20 World Cup, compiled by an independent security agency, and accessed by ESPNcricinfo, says the threat to teams playing in India is in the moderate-high band, but there is “no information to indicate a direct threat against participating teams.”

[Cricinfo]

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Mandhana, Voll, bowlers make it four in four for RCB

Published

21 hours ago

2026/01/18

Priyan

Smriti Mandhana fell four short of a century [BCCI]

Smriti Mandhana became the ninth player to enter the 90s in the WPL. For a large part of her knock, she looked set to end the tournament’s century drought: she needed just four and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were 12 away from their 167-run target. She missed out though, falling for 96 off 61, but RCB went onto seal their fourth successive win.

Lucy Hamilton whose cameo with the bat earlier in the evening got Delhi Capitals (DC) to a total of 166, dived to her right at backward point to deny Mandhana and extend the WPL’s wait for its first centurion.

For a third time in this season, RCB’s new-ball bowlers had a big say in the win. Thanks to Lauren Bell and Savali Satghare, they picked up four wickets in the first nine balls after opting to chase. Shafali Verma then resisted with a half-century and aided by a 19-ball 36 by debutant Hamilton at No. 9, DC managed to get to a respectable total.

But it was never going to challenge RCB, especially with Mandhana being in sublime form. Georgia Voll struck an unbeaten half-century as well and ensured RCB got home with eight wickets and ten balls to spare.

RCB ended the Navi Mumbai leg of the WPL with an unblemished record in four games while DC were dealt their third defeat in four matches.

Playing her first WPL season, Bell has been a revelation for RCB with the new ball. She began with a short ball which Lizelle Lee pulled with disdain through backward square leg. But next ball, she speared in a swinging yorker on leg stump. Lee’s weight was on the back foot expecting another short ball and was bowled behind her legs. Two balls later, Bell got through Laura Wolvaardt’s bat-pad gap to castle her for a two-ball duck. Having bowled outswingers till then, Bell got one to nip back in from a length and had Wolvaardt play down the wrong line.

From the other end Satghare, brought in for Arundhati Reddy who was unwell, produced a double-strike of her own. Her Mumbai team-mate Jemimah Rodrigues greeted her by scooping her for four through fine leg first ball. But Satghare shifted the line to outside off and got it to move in a little. Rodrigues went for the dab but chopped it onto the stumps. On the very next ball, Marizanne Kapp could do little about a length ball that held its line and hit top of off. DC were 10 for 4 in the second over.

While the damage was being done at the other end, Shafali watched helplessly, having faced just the one ball – the first of the game. When her turn to take strike came in the third over, she shimmied down the track and missed a length ball. She looked to pull another but only got an under-edge. She mistimed a double towards midwicket before punching one off the middle of the bat to end the over. That got her going.

Shafali then hit two sixes in the next over from Satghare, followed it with two more fours in the fifth over. She had scored 30 of the 41 DC had after five overs, and was well set by the time Shreyanka Patil came on to bowl. She saw Niki Prasad being dropped on Patil’s first ball, and then got an outside edge for four. When her turn to take strike came, she went dot, six, six to help take 19 from the last over of the powerplay.

DC were 60 for 4 after six overs, but Shafali faced only four balls in the next four overs. She soon got to a 27-ball half-century and fell for a 41-ball 62 when she scythed a Bell slower ball to backward point.

Kapp had dismissed Grace Harris five times in 24 innings before Saturday, and that seemed to play on Harris’ mind. She looked tentative against the new ball, a single coming via an inside edge off Kapp. The DC allrounder got the better of Harris when she toe-ended a loft to wide mid-off. That brought Voll, who came in the XI for D Hemalatha, in at No. 3. While she took her time, Mandhana was at her fluent best.

She hit three fours – two pulls and one square drive – in Hamilton’s first over, then a four and a six off Kapp and Nandani Sharma respectively. Despite that RCB could manage only 37 for 1 in six overs. Mandhana then toyed with spinners N Shree Charani and Sneh Rana, getting back-to-back fours against each of them and got to fifty off 31 balls. She relied more on placement than power. Once Mandhana fell, Voll got to her half-century off 41 balls and sealed the win.

Mandhana and Voll added 142 for the second wicket, the third highest partnership for any wicket in the WPL, setting the tone for the Vadodara leg, which starts on January 19.

Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women 169 for 2 in 18.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 96, Georgia Voll 54*; Matizanne Kapp 1-21, Nandani Sharma 1-34) beat Delhi Capitals Women 166 in 20 overs (Shafali Varma 62, Niki Prasad 12, Sneh Rana 22, Lucy Hamilton 36, Shree Charani 11*; Lauren Bell 3-26, Sayali Satghare 3-27, Nadine de Klerk 1-31, Prema Rayat 2-16) by eight wickets

[Cricinfo]

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U – 19 World Cup: Sooryavanshi, Malhotra and Kundu help India come from behind to beat Bangladesh

Published

21 hours ago

2026/01/18

Priyan

Vihan Malhotra took 4 for 14 to help India beat Bangladesh in the U-19 World Cup [Cricinfo]

Vaibhav Sooriyawanshi scored 72 at better than a run a ball, and took an agile catch at the boundary at a crucial stage in a match that featured everything – a stand-in captain just for the toss, some controversy, a batting collapse, rain, DLS drama and a thrilling finish. Bangladesh looked to have everything in hand – 106 for 2 chasing a revised target of 165 in 29 overs – but somehow they fell apart, losing to India by 18 runs.

The game began as a full 50-over contest, and Sooryavanshi dominated it until he fell. When he was dismissed in the 27th over, he walked back with 72 of the 115 runs on the board. The other four batters combined had scored 35 off 93 deliveries. While Sooryavanshi set the foundation, Abhigyan Kundu carried the team the rest of the way. He made a patient 80 in 112 balls to propel India to 238 after the first rain break had trimmed the innings to 49 overs.

Seamer Al Fahad took 5 for 38 for Bangladesh, including the wicket of Kundu, but it wasn’t quite enough. In the 239 chase, Bangladesh were 90 for 2 after 17.2 overs when rain reduced the game to 29 overs. On resumption, they were left with another 75 to get in 70 balls. With dark clouds still around and Bangladesh well ahead on DLS, India tried to delay proceedings prompting umpire Lubabalo Gcuma to intervene.

Twenty overs of play – the minimum requirement to constitute a full game – came and went and with no more showers on the horizon the two sets of players shifted focus to the task at hand. Bangladesh had to switch from protecting their wickets to scoring the remaining runs and in the end the decision to slow down, hoping for rain to halt the game, came back to bite them.

Offspinner Vihaan Malhotra (4-0-14-4), brought on when Bangladesh had let the asking rate rise to 7.37, started the batting collapse. Captain Azizul Hakim, who was too unwell to make it to the toss, was part of this collapse and his wicket for 51 off 72 balls signalled a major shift in momentum. Bangladesh lost eight wickets for 46 runs after being ahead of the game for most of it.

Brief scores:
India Under 19s 238 in 48.4 overs (Abhigyan Kundu 80, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 72; Al Fahad 5-38, Iqbal Hossain Emon 2-45, Azizul Hakim 2-42) beat Bangladesh Under 19s 146 in 28.3 overs (Azizul Hakim 51; Vihaan Malhotra 4-14, Khilan Patel 2-35) by 18 runs (DLS method)