Sports
King, bowlers set up clinical win in decider
An unbeaten 85 from Brandon King and his century stand with Nicholas Pooran followed up a disciplined bowling effort from their bowlers as West Indies convincingly beat India by eight wickets in the fifth T20I at Lauderhill on Sunday (August 13). The hosts did well to restrict India with a series of late strikes after the visitors had threatened to get to a 180-plus score at one point and then the chase was smoothly completed with two overs to spare. The win was West Indies’ first-ever win in a five-match T20I series over India.
Unlike the previous game where Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill made merry, the openers couldn’t replicate their feat this time around. Both fell to the left-arm spin of Akeal Hosain who bowled a tricky opening spell. Jaiswal’s was a soft dismissal as he chipped a gentle return catch to the bowler while Gill was given out LBW after missing the sweep. Ironically, a review would have saved the latter but he chose not to take it.
Through this series, it’s been evident that Tilak has no nerves on the big stage and loves to attack irrespective of the situation. Even as Suryakumar Yadav was doing his thing in the Power Play, it was Tilak who shifted the momentum drastically by taking Alzarri Joseph apart in the sixth over. West Indies’ premier pacer conceded 19 off his first over including three fours and a six. It needed something special to derail the left-hander and Roston Chase did exactly that. Firstly, he enticed Tilak to drive uppishly and then dived full-stretch to his right off his followthrough to pluck a blinder. It was the breather West Indies needed as the partnership had been threatening to go big.
A few rain delays did hamper India’s momentum but Suryakumar was unstoppable as he went along his merry ways. However, he didn’t quite get the support from the other end. Sanju Samson started promisingly but as has been his nature, gifted his wicket away at a crucial stage.
The Indian captain gave able support to Suryakumar as the pair went about batting deep into the innings. The visitors were starting to wrestle back the momentum with the slog overs incoming before Hardik holed out in a bid to up the ante. He had been sedate till that over, opting to give more of the strike to his well-set partner and after having hit Romario Shepherd for a six, perished the next ball.
Romario Shepherd and Jason Holder used their bowling smarts to ensure that India never got their finishing kick. The 20th over of the innings did go for 16 thanks to a lusty blow from Axar Patel and a wicket-keeping error from Pooran but largely, it was an excellent death bowling performance from West Indies as they kept India to a below-par total.
Kyle Mayers made his intentions known by attacking Hardik off the very first over of the innings and that over went for 11. However, the left-hander’s stay was short-lived as Arshdeep Singh removed him in the pacer’s first over. It was just the tonic India needed in defending a clearly under-par score.
Little did India know that their joy of getting Mayers early would be their only moment of happiness for a long, long time. King was in full flow, be it against pace or spin and his nimble footwork made a mess of the bowler’s lengths. Pooran was his usual self, showing intent from ball one as India’s bowlers had no respite whatsoever. 61 came off the PowerPlay as the duo broke the back of the chase, also keeping their team comfortably ahead of the DLS par score with rain around. Hardik tried everything, including the introduction of his wrist spinners inside the first six overs but to no avail.
India finally managed to break the partnership after one of the numerous weather interruptions with the part-time spin of Tilak doing the trick. However, it came clearly too late for the tourists who had very few runs to play with thereafter. King along with Shai Hope put the finishing touches to the chase to ensure that the task was done without any hiccups.
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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