Sports
Mohammad Nawaz, Haider Ali’s cameos clinch tri-series with stunning counterattack
An audacious assault from Haider Ali and Mohammad Nawaz blindsided New Zealand and gave Pakistan the tri-series title in Christchurch. Their stand included smashing 33 in eight balls starting from the 15th over to offset a powerplay slowdown and help Pakistan chase down 164. Though Haider and Asif Ali holed out at the death, Nawaz coolly closed out the game for Pakistan for the second day in a row, along with Ifthikar Ahmed.After having hit an unbeaten 45 off 20 balls at No. 4 against Bangladesh on Thursday, Nawaz stepped up with an unbeaten 38 off 22 balls as a pinch-hitting No. 4 once again, offering Pakistan a great deal of flexibility for the T20 World Cup in Australia to immediately follow.
Pakistan were 74 for 3 in the 12th over when Nawaz and Haider got together. Michael Bracewell had completed another misery spell, picking up 2 for 14 in his four overs. Haider, however, launched the first ball he faced from Ish Sodhi for six and then combined with Nawaz to take 25 runs off Sodhi in the 15th over. From thereon, there was only one result possible, and that was Pakistan winning their last T20I before heading for the World Cup.
After New Zealand had been asked to bat, their captain Kane Williamson found form with a 33-ball half-century. However, Haris Rauf, who was featuring in his 50th T20I, handcuffed New Zealand in the end overs with his variations, coming away with 2 for 22 in his four overs. New Zealand managed only 33 for 4 in their last five overs, a passage of play which eventually proved decisive.
Before Friday, Williamson had last scored a T20 fifty in April, when he opened the batting for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. His niggly elbow has also disrupted his rhythm in the recent past. After being rested for the previous match against Bangladesh, Williamson showed signs of his best during an innings of 59 from 38 balls.
He dashed out of the blocks with four fours in his first five balls and continued to show attacking intent against spin. Williamson charged at Nawaz and pumped him into the sightscreen for six, and even attempted a reverse sweep off Shadab Khan. He struck up a 50-run partnership with Glenn Phillips off 37 balls after New Zealand had lost Finn Allen and Devon Conway in the powerplay.
Rauf, who replaced Mohammad Hasnain, got to work in the powerplay by digging one into the pitch and having Conway chopping on for 14 off 17 deliveries. He then splintered the toe of Phillips’ bat by cranking his pace up to 143kph. Rauf not only hustled batters for pace at the death but also dared them to manufacture it for themselves by bowling cutters into the pitch. His last two overs cost Pakistan just seven runs. At the other end, Naseem Shah backed Rauf up with his slower legcutter and on-pace yorkers.
After Tim Southee – playing his 100th T20I – and Trent Boult conceded a combined 19 runs in the first two overs, Williamson threw the new ball to Bracewell. The offspinner drew a top edge from Babar Azam and had him skying a catch to Wiliamson at midwicket. Bracewell then won his match-up against the left-hander Shan Masood, leaving Pakistan at 64 for 2 in the 11th over. He ended the series with eight wickets at an incredible economy rate of 4.94, strengthening his case for a spot in New Zealand’s World Cup XI.
In the next over, Sodhi pinned Rizwan lbw for 34 off 29 balls. Haider and Nawaz, though, changed the mood and tempo of the game with a whirlwind 56-run fourth-wicket stand off only 26 balls.
Nawaz fulfilled his role as the spin-hitter, the same one that Shadab had played for Pakistan in the early exchanges of the tournament. After smoking Sodhi for back-to-back sixes, Nawaz also swatted the inexperienced seamer Blair Tickner into the grassbanks to rush Pakistan home.In the absence of both Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne, New Zealand’s pace attack didn’t have the kind of penetration or depth that Pakistan’s had on Friday.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 168 for 5 (Mohammad Nawaz 38*, Mohammed Rizwan 34, Michael Bracewell 2-14) beat New Zealand 163 for 7 (Kane Williamson 59, Haris Rauf 2-22, Naseem Shah 2-38) by five wickets
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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