Sports
Plucky Sri Lanka leave India on the brink of elimination
Sri Lanka produced a spirited performance with both ball and bat to put one foot into the 2022 Asia Cup Final. Their victory over India, chasing 173, with a ball and six wickets to spare despite a middle-overs stutter that saw them lose 4 for 13 left the holders on the brink of elimination.
A target of 174 could have proved tricky without a good start and Sri Lanka had the pair of Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis to thank for a 97-run opening stand. The duo did well to take their time at the start of the chase with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh getting a hint of swing. Thereafter, on a pitch that had improved from the time Dasun Shanaka opted to bowl, the pair found it in them to hit through the line and over the in-fields.
Arshdeep Singh found that slower balls were no longer stopping on the batters as they had been for parts of the Indian innings and was taken apart for 18 in the fifth over. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled the last over of the PowerPlay and was crashed through the covers by Nissanka and lofted over his head for a six by Mendis. Sri Lanka had 57 in the PowerPlay and after another six each off Chahal and R. Ashwin, they had crept up effortlessly to 89 at the end of 10 overs with Nissanka completing a 33-ball half-century and Mendis on his way to reaching the milestone off the exact same number of deliveries.
From 97/0 at the end of 11 overs and a position of complete control, Sri Lanka lost 4 for 13 as Chahal brought India storming back into the contest. The procession began when Nissanka reverse-swept the legspinner straight to backward point. In the same over, Charith Asalanka miscued a slog-sweep and holed out. Ashwin had Danushka Gunathilaka caught at long off before Chahal trapped Mendis in front of his stumps with a slider.
Mendis’s dismissal left Sri Lanka needing 64 off 35 deliveries and 11 of those were to be bowled by Ashwin and Chahal. Bhanuka Rajapaksa hit two off them for sixes – a slog sweep off Chahal and a step-out-and-swing off Ashwin. Those two hits brought the equation down to a more gettable 42 off 24. India had an over of Hardik Pandya to bowl in the final three and Rohit chose him to bowl the 18th. Shanaka found an outside edge for four and then nailed a pull over fine-leg for six. Bhuvneshwar was once again entrusted to bowl the 19th and couldn’t nail his wide yorkers and his 14-run over left Arshdeep to defend seven. The young left-arm seamer did well to take the game to the penultimate ball, unfurling a slew of yorkers but an overthrow saw Sri Lanka over the line.
Left-arm pace and spin proved to be India’s undoing in the last T20 World Cup on these shores and so it proved again when they were put into bat. Dasun Shanaka used both these varieties to start the innings and offie Maheesh Theekshana struck in the second over when he drifted one into an advancing KL Rahul and hit him full on the boot. DRS upheld the umpire’s call despite inconclusive evidence of a possible bat-on-ball situation.
India were then reduced to 13/2 in the next over when Virat Kohli fell for a four-ball duck. He was setup well by the left-armer Dilshan Madushanka who stationed two slips, left mid-wicket open and bowled one that came in with the angle. Kohli’s attempts at a swipe across the line connected with thin air and his stumps were re-arranged.
India recovered thanks to Rohit Sharma staying true to the batting doctrine he and the management has imposed on the team. A pulled six and a cut four of Asita Fernando in a 14-run fifth over got India going. Another heave past backward square leg off Theekshana gave India a respectable 44/2 after 6 overs.
The excellence of Rohit’s innings was down to how he allowed Suryakumar Yadav to get into his innings without that costing the team runs in the middle. He targeted the inexperienced seamer Asita Fernando, who conceded 28 off his two overs. Rohit also took on Wanindu Hasaranga, who matches up positively against him, and hit him for a pair of sixes and a four in the 12th over.
From 110/3 at the time of Rohit’s dismissal for a 41-ball 72, India lost their way somewhat thanks in large parts to good Sri Lankan bowling. Shanaka filling in for the struggling Asita’s two overs dismissed Suryakumar (34 off 29) with a slower bouncer and then had Hardik Pandya caught in the deep with a whip-flick. Despite scoring 38 from the final four overs, the pair of Madushanka and Chamika Karunaratne kept India to a score that was about 15-20 short of where they were headed. India have a game against Afghanistan but will officially stand eliminated if Pakistan beat Afghanistan tomorrow.
Brief scores:
India 173/8 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 72, Suryakumar Yadav 34; Dilshan Madushanka 3-24, Chamika Karunaratne 2-27) lost to Sri Lanka 174/4 in 19.5 overs (Kusal Mendis 57, Pathum Nissanka 52; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-34) by six 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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