Sports
Sciver-Brunt’s 72 and Wong’s hat-trick power Mumbai Indians into final
Nat Sciver-Brunt’s power-packed batting performance was followed by Issy Wong becoming the first to bag a hat-trick in the WPL as Mumbai Indians registered a comprehensive 72 run win against UP Warriorz to seal a date with Delhi Capitals in the final.
Sciver-Brunt struck nine fours and two sixes in her 38-ball 72 not out which took Mumbai to a formidable 182/4 at the DY Patil Stadium on Friday (March 24). Wong then headlined a clinical bowling performance as she finished with 4 for 15 from her four overs as UPW were bundled out for 110 despite Kiran Navgire’s 27-ball 43.
A sweep for a four off Grace Harris, a slice over the infield off Anjali Sarvani and two more shots over point off Rajeshwari Gayakwad gave Yastika Bhatia four boundaries in the first three overs as she got MI off to a brisk start. With the UPW line-up loaded with spin options, Hayley Matthews was kept quiet initially before the West Indian deposited a Harris delivery over the fence. But Yastika’s outing came to an end in the fifth over when she tried to force a Sarvani delivery over mid-on, finding the fielder instead. Sciver-Brunt didn’t take long to get going, getting her first boundary by flicking a Sarvani delivery to the fence. Matthews hit her first four by cutting a Gayakwad delivery between point and cover while Sciver-Brunt got a lucky break in the same over as she was put down by Sophie Ecclestone at mid off when she was on 6, with MI finishing the power-play at 46/1.
Matthews and Sciver-Brunt built a steady stand to help MI make good progress, and the former also had a reprieve as the third umpire deemed that the ball touched the ground before landing in Sarvani’s hands. But Matthews did not do much damage after that, handing a simple catch at long on trying to hit Parshavi Chopra’s first ball over the fence. The 16-year old legspinner thought she had the big wicket of Harmanpreet Kaur in the same over too but a review from the MI skipper revealed there was an inside edge, forcing the onfield umpire to reverse a leg-before decision. Sciver-Brunt, meanwhile, took on the young spinner by scoring 19 off five balls across two overs, which included three fours and a six. Harmanpreet, though, struggled to pick the wrist spinner and was also slow to get going, eventually falling to Ecclestone for a 15-ball 14. But Sciver-Brunt kept MI going with her quick-fire knock as she took her team to 116/3 after 15 overs.
Sciver-Brunt brought up a 26-ball fifty with a boundary off Ecclestone in the 16th over, followed by two successive fours off Gayakwad. Melie Kerr also struck regular boundaries as she helped raise a half-century stand off 34 balls. Three of Kerr’s five fours came in the 19th over bowled by Ecclestone before she fell to the same bowler. Pooja Vastrakar then struck a four and a six straight down the ground in the final over off Deepti, who was also hit for a maximum over mid wicket by Sciver-Brunt as MI finished with a 180-plus total.
84/4 became 94/8 mainly thanks to Wong’s hat-trick in the 13th over. With the required rate going up, Navgire tried to hit a big one off Wong but she found Sciver-Brunt at deep midwicket. Simran Shaikh missed a yorker to be bowled next ball and Ecclestone completed the hat-trick of victims as she inside-edged onto the stumps. Deepti Sharma, after scoring two fours, fell to Matthews for 16 off 20, with Jintimani Kalita taking a good catch at short fine leg. All UPW could do from thereon was to reduce the margin of defeat, which still happened to be a big one as Kalita and Saika cleaned up the tail.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians women 182/4 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 72*, Melie Kerr 29; Sophie Ecclestone 2-39) beat UP Warriorz women 110 in 17.4 overs (Kiran Navgire 43; Issy Wong 4-15, Saika Ishaque 2-24) by 72 runs.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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