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Berrington and Leask launch Scotland to landmark victory
Scotland produced a stunning run chase to beat Namibia by five wickets in the T20 World Cup 2024. Returning to the Kensington Oval after their washout against England, they achieved a target of 156 with nine balls to spare, securing their first T20I victory over Namibia at the fourth attempt.
A 74-run partnership between Richie Berrington and Michael Lesak, ultimately, saw Scotland home. Berrington finished 47 not out after Leask injected impetus into the chase with a 17-ball 35.
Namibia captain Gerhard Eramus had earlier turned matters in his side’s favour with the ball, taking 2 for 29 after his 52 underpinned their 155 for 9 in the first innings.
Erasmus’ decision to win the toss and bat first on what has been an unpredictable Kensington Oval pitch was not immediately vindicated as Namibia found themselves 55 for 4, thanks largely to the excellence of the new ball pair of Brad Wheal and Brad Currie.
But Erasmus put the Namibia innings back with his 11th fifty-plus T20I score, 37 of which came in a rebuilding stand of 51 with Zane Green for the fifth wicket.
Despite losing George Munsey earlier in their chase, Scotland had chipped off 49 midway through the eighth over for the loss of just one. Michael Jones stepped up the gears, scoring 15 of the 18 runs in the final over of the powerplay, but Erasmus returned to the fray with to instigate a collapse.
With his wily offspinners at one end, and Bernard Scholtz’s slow left-arm at the other, the pair pocketed three wickets between them as Scotland fell from 49 for 1 to 73 for 4 after 11 overs.
It was at that point Leask joined forces with Berrington to take Scotland to the brink with a 42-ball partnership that included seven boundaries, including four sixes from Leask. Though he would fall, Berrington finished the match off in style, carting David Wiese into the pavilion at long on as Scotland triumphed to put them top of the group.
How about that for a cameo? In just 17 balls, Leask turned this chase upside down and inside out. He arrived at a time when the boundaries had dried up, with Scotland requiring 80 from 50 deliveries. By the time he was done, that equation was 9 from 13. After playing out a dot ball first, he was never below a run a ball, and would score off all but one of his next 16. He was the ideal foil for Berrington, who, having been out there from the 10th over, was finally getting to grips with the pitch.
Once Berrington had blown the horn on the boundary pursuit with a six and four off consecutive deliveries from Tangeni Lungameni, Leask took the lead. Erasmus was the first to get it, heaved to midwicket for the first of Leask’s four sixes.
Then came the killer: a 17th over that went for 19. David Wiese, the hero of Namibia’s Super Over victory over Oman, was treated with disdain, sent over the sponge at cow corner twice by Leask – strikes which sandwiched a Berrington four in the same region.
Leask’s final six was his biggest of the lot – reading a slower ball from Ruben Trumpelmann and sending it back with interest over to the leg side for all of 101 meters. The scale of the strike was more than its distance as it took Scotland’s ask to under a run a ball for the first time in the innings.
After Michael Jones had blitzed the sixth over, Erasmus decided to take pace off. Together with Scholtz, they set about pinning Scotland’s middle order down.
Erasmus operated exclusively around the wicket, darting his off breaks across the right handers, limiting their scoring by restricting their ability to swing straight. Jones’ half-hearted attempt to do so resulted in a caught behind. An absent-minded Brandon McMullen was then stumped at the second attempt after dancing down the pitch and failing to reclaim his ground with his back foot.
Scholtz was subsisting on a wicket-to-wicket line at the other end, a frugal tactic that saw him go for just one boundary. In a bid to break the shackles, Matthew Cross fell lbw attempting to sweep a ball that was a touch too short to sweep. It spoke of the panic Namibia had concocted at the time. After a Powerplay of 43 for 1, the next six overs had produced 35 for 3.
“It would be better if had come in a win,” bristled Erasmus at the end of the match. He’s right, of course. For the longest time, it looked like it would.
Before his two wickets had tilted the chase Namibia’s way, his 52 from 31 had made the game competitive. The knock was an anomaly in a stodgy batting effort where opener Nikolaas Davin was the only other Namibian top-order batter to strike in excess of 120. Erasmus struck his second ball for six, and his third for four – both coming at the start of the sixth over, as Scotland tried to sneak six balls from Mark Watt in at the end of the powerplay. The point region was peppered throughout, likewise midwicket, for all of his seven boundaries.
Who knows how long he could have gone on had he controlled his aggression instead of trying to blast Leask over his head after slog-sweeping him for six the ball before. The strike saw him pass JJ Smit’s record of 51 T20I sixes for Namibia. Had others stood up, he would have been a worthy Player of the Match.
In a tournament where the out-and-out quicks are already dominating the column inches, Currie put in a display that showed there is glory to be had with mediums.
The 25-year-old has been doing that for a while, both domestically for Sussex and with Scotland, coming into this match with a T20I record of 19 dismissals and an economy rate of 4.94. Those numbers have now moved in different directions after 2 for 16 from his four overs.
Currie had the ball on a string throughout, mixing up cutters and the odd cross-seam delivery amongst his stock deliveries. The left-armer’s first two overs utilised the swing on offer with the new ball, assisted by Cross standing up to the stumps to keep Davin and Jan Frylinck honest.
While Davin was able to impart his own pace on the ball to strike a four through backward point in the fourth over – the only boundary against Currie – Frylinck played on when attempting to do the same two balls earlier.
He returned for the 11th over, before conceding just three runs off the 19th, in which he varied his lengths to prevent the lower order from hitting down the ground. Trumpelmann’s attempt at a six into the wind gave Currie a well-deserved second wicket.
Brief scores:
Scotland 157 for 5 in 18.3 overs ( Michael Jones 26, Richie Berrington 47*, Michael Leask 35; Ruben Trumelmann 1-36, Tangeni Lungameni 1-39, Bernard Schultz 1-20, Gerhard Eramus 1-29) beat Namibia 155 for 9 in 20 overs (Nikolaas Davin 20, Gerhard Erasmus 52, Zane Green 28; Brad Wheal 3-33, Brad Currie 2-16, Chris Sole 1-23, Chris Greaves 1-24, Michael Lesak 1-16) by five wickets
[Cricinfo]
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
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]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
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