Sports
Bracewell denies Ireland again as New Zealand clinch series
Michael Bracewell was the hero once again for the second game running for New Zealand as they picked up another nervy win over Ireland to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. Chasing 217, New Zealand were coasting at one stage before Ireland managed to pull things back. However, Bracewell once again stood tall at a vital juncture as his unbeaten 42 saw the visitors home with three wickets left.
Mark Adair gave Ireland a dream start in the run chase as they hoped to put the disappointment of losing out the first ODI in heartbreaking fashion behind them. Adair castled Martin Guptill first ball with a brilliant delivery in the blockhole and then followed it up with a similar ball to castle Will Young as well. While he missed out on the hat-trick, those two wickets in the very first over gave Ireland a massive lift in their attempt to defend a moderate total.
The pressure was swiftly shifted back to the opposition though as Tom Latham fetched a couple of boundaries in the second over before Finn Allen decided to counter-attack. Even though only 20 runs came off the first seven overs, New Zealand picked up pace as Allen first hit a four and a six off Craig Young before taking on Adair for three fours and a six off four successive deliveries. That assault put the pressure firmly back on the bowling side as Allen went on the attack to bring up his half-century.
Ireland, who looked dead and buried, suddenly found a way to stay alive in the contest by striking regularly in the middle overs. A few overs after Allen’s dismissal, Henry Nicholls walked back following a run out. And with Glenn Phillips getting castled for 16, Ireland sensed an opportunity again. Half-centurion Tom Latham also departed for 55 and that’s when New Zealand had to rely on Bracewell again.
The allrounder took just two deliveries to fetch his first boundary and was busy at the crease. Despite Latham’s dismissal, he drove Andy McBrine over mid off for a boundary and smashed Simi Singh for a six to frustrate the Irish camp again. Mitchell Santner’s dismissal could have ideally helped the home side to add some more pressure but a no-ball from Simi was enough for Bracewell to capitalise on for his second six. The pressure was then firmly released courtesy of a wide delivery that also managed to reach the boundary before Bracwell finished proceedings with his third six of the evening.
Earlier in the day, Ireland struggled with the bat for most parts of their innings before managing to go past the 200-run mark. The delayed start due to rain prompted New Zealand to bowl first and Matt Henry didn’t disappoint his skipper. After castling Paul Stirling in the opening over, Henry also shattered the stumps of Andrew Balbirnie to leave Ireland reeling at 5/2.
Last match’s centurion Harry Tector was struggling to get going and was dismissed for a 25-ball 4 when he tried to break the shackles. The wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals as Ireland were reduced to 85/5 and were in danger of getting shot out for a paltry total. However, George Dockrell fought hard to ensure Ireland did not go down without a fight. He took on a positive approach and was smashing boundaries at will. Dockrell hammered ten fours and a couple of sixes to make 74 off just 61 deliveries.
His vital knock still wasn’t enough to drag Ireland past 200 and the home side had to rely on an entertaining cameo from Adair at the death. Batting with the last man, Adair stunned the visitors by fetching three fours and two sixes to race to 27 off just 15 balls before a run out put an end to the entertainment. A few more lusty blows at that stage would have made the run chase a lot more thrilling than it turned out to be.
Brief scores: Ireland216 in 48 overs (George Dockrell 74, Andy McBrine 28; Michael Bracewell 2/26) lost to New Zealand 219/7 in 38.1 overs (Finn Allen 60, Tom Latham 55; Mark Adair 2/29) by 3 wickets.
(Cricbuzz)
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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