Sports
India in driver’s seat after Ashwin, Umesh share eight wickets
Umesh Yadav and R Ashwin picked up four wickets each to put India on top despite Mominul Haque’s 84 on return. Batting first in the second Test in Mirpur, Bangladesh were 213 for 5 at one stage after tea but lost their last five wickets inside the next 14 runs to be all out for 227.Each of Bangladesh’s top seven batters reached 15 but apart from Mominul, no one could cross 26. Whenever a partnership seemed to be brewing, they lost a wicket. Five of the first six wickets featured a stand of 39 or more but the highest of them was only 48.
India were left with 14 overs to face. The play went into the extra half hour but bad light allowed only eight of those to be bowled. In that short passage, KL Rahul looked circumspect against Taskin Ahmed and Shakib Al Hasan, and finished the day on 3 not out off 30 balls. Shubman Gill was keeping him company, his unbeaten 14 off 20 comprising a six and a four.In the morning, India went in with three seamers and two spinners on a grassy pitch, replacing Kuldeep Yadav, the Player of the Match in the last game, with Jaydev Unadkat. This was Unadkat’s first Test in 12 years and only his second overall. Between his two appearances India played 118 Tests, the second-most missed games for any Test cricketer.
Umesh and Mohammed Siraj found movement with the new ball but neither really pitched it up to fully exploit the grassy pitch. That resulted in a lot of plays-and-misses but the Bangladesh openers, Zakir Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto, survived their spells.Bowling first change, Unadkat, the slowest of the Indian seamers, didn’t find as much movement but his higher release point fetched him extra bounce. Soon, he was bowling with four slips, a gully and a short leg, and hitting batters on the gloves regularly.
With Bangladesh on 39, Zakir decided to cut a short-of-length delivery from Unadkat, only to be done in by the extra bounce. The ball hit him on the glove and lobbed to fourth slip, giving Unadkat his maiden wicket in Test cricket.In the next over, Ashwin trapped Shanto lbw. The batter, playing for the turn, shouldered arms to a length ball that went with the arm from around the wicket and struck him on the pad. He was given out lbw on the field, and a review returned an umpire’s call verdict with ball-tracking showing the ball tickling off stump.
Coming in at No. 4, Shakib took the aerial route against Ashwin even before he had reached double digits. He first hit Ashwin inside-out over extra cover before dancing down the track later in the work to deposit him beyond deep-midwicket boundary.
Mominul and Shakib enjoyed slices of luck too. Mominul’s cut against Ashwin flew between the wicketkeeper and slip, and then in the last over before lunch, Rishabh Pant missed a difficult leg-side stumping when Shakib charged at Ashwin and the ball sneaked through his legs.
The reprieve, though, didn’t prove costly as Umesh sent Shakib back on the first ball after the break. The Bangladesh captain tried to loft him over mid-off but didn’t get the timing right and ended up offering the simplest of chances.
Mominul and Mushfiqur, starting slowly before hitting six fours in the space of ten balls, stitched together 48 for the fourth wicket before Unadkat broke the stand. Bowling around the wicket, he once again found the extra bounce, the ball taking the outside edge of Mushfiqur’s bat before settling into Pant’s gloves.
Litton Das started positively, punching Siraj for four and following it with a pulled six on the next ball. He quickly moved to 25 but failed to keep a flick off Ashwin down and was taken at short midwicket.Mominul, meanwhile, kept pressing on and ramped two more fours off Unadkat to bring up his half-century. He and Mehidy Hasan Miraz ensured Bangladesh didn’t lose another wicket before tea despite some close calls.
The pair added 41 for the sixth wicket but post tea, Mehidy felt unwell. The physio came out to check in on him, and the batter decided to continue. Umesh, though, removed him soon after, Mehidy trying to cut a ball that was too close to him and nicking it behind.
Mehidy’s wicket triggered the collapse. In his next over, Umesh got one to reverse in to trap Nurul Hasan lbw. The on-field umpire deemed it not out but India got the decision changed on review. Taskin didn’t last long either, slicing one to Siraj at point who held onto the chance after a bit of juggling. Earlier, Siraj had put down Shanto off Umesh on the first ball of the second over of the day.
All this while, Mominul was firm at one end. But he found himself in two minds against an Ashwin carrom ball. He looked to drive at it first before shouldering arms. It was too late as the ball brushed his gloves and Pant latched onto it. Ashwin wrapped up the innings two balls later when Khaled Ahmed hit a full toss straight to Unadkat at deep midwicket.
Brief scores:
India 19/0 (Shubman Gill 14*) trail Bangladesh 227 (Mominul Haque 84; Umesh Yadav 4-25, R Ashwin 4-71) by 208 runs
(Cricinfo)
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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