Sports
Ashwin fifer scripts innings & 132-run victory for India
Ravichandran Ashwin bagged his 31st Test five-fer as Australia crumbled to a massive defeat by an innings and 132 runs in the first Test of the Border – Gavaskar Trophy.
After India’s lower order had stretched their first innings lead to 223 in the morning session, Australia were rolled over after Lunch as the spinners ruled the roost once again, this time led by their offspinner who hadn’t got a five-fer in ten previous Tests.
In this innings, Ashwin was brought on to open the attack unlike the first where he came on as the fifth bowler. And the move paid dividends early as Ashwin lured Usman Khawaja into a second cover drive in the over and had him caught at slip. Ashwin could have had the other left-handed opener, Warner early as well if only Virat Kohli had held onto a regulation take at slip. But instead he had to wait a little while longer, where Warner drove him for back-to-back boundaries but soon had him trapped LBW with a ball going straight on from around the wicket. Warner’s review went in vain as DRS adjudged it be clipping the leg stump.
In between these scalps, India struck from the other end as well with Ravindra Jadeja trapping Marnus Labuschagne plumb in front with the batter guilty of staying back on a turner. Ashwin, meanwhile, was relentless from one end. He had Matt Renshaw too taking a review in hope, after pinging him on the backfoot while trying to defend, and then had Peter Handscomb LBW on the frontfoot with DRS siding him each time. It worked in his favour again when Alex Carey missed a reverse sweep and was adjudged LBW on the field. That gave him a five-fer and stamped his dominance over the left-handers in the top order cleaning them all up single-handedly.
The only batter to offer some defiance through the carnage was Steve Smith, who managed to hang around with some confidence at one end. But the collapse was rapid at the other end. Jadeja had Pat Cummins caught behind while Axar Patel contributed with the wicket of Todd Murphy.
Jadeja nearly had his third when he beat Smith’s inside edge to bowl him for the second time in the Test. However, Smith got a reprieve with Jadeja overstepping for the fifth time in the Test. But Australia’s joy was short-lived as Shami had Scott Boland LBW in the next over to hand India a massive win.
Their batting show was also a far cry from how India’s lower order had progressed earlier in the day, with the home team digging deep to bat nearly 140 overs. India’s lower order wagged once again on the third morning as they added 78 runs even as Todd Murphy finished with a seven-wicket haul.
The offspinner got an early breakthrough when Ravindra Jadeja was bowled on 70 shouldering arms. With both offspinners getting some purchase early in the day, there was a possibility of an early wrap up to the innings.
Mohammed Shami was then put down by Scott Boland off Nathan Lyon which turned out to be costly. Shami proceeded to dominate a 52-run stand with Axar Patel hitting three sixes and two fours in his 37. This ensured that India’s lead went past 200.
Shami finally fell trying to hit Murphy and instead got a top edge that was snapped up by the keeper.
Mohammad Siraj then managed to hold one end up with tight defence as Axar went a little more adventurous in pursuit of his maiden Test hundred. The last wicket pair added 20 runs before the allrounder was eventually bowled off a slower ball from Pat Cummins with India finishing on an even 400, a score that proved 132 too many for Australia to reach parity.
Brief Scores:
Australia 177 all out (Marnus Labuschagne 49; R Jadeja 5/47) & 91 all out (Steve Smith 25*; Ashwin 5-37) lost to India 400 all out (Rohit Sharma 120, Ravindra Jadeja 70, Axar Patel 84; Todd Murphy 7-124) by an innings and 132 runs
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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