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Alyssa Healy, Annabel Sutherland lead clinical Australia to another series win
Alyssa Healey hammered a 38-ball 55 in her 150th T20I appearance to seal Australia’s come-from-behind 2-1 series win against India. Her initial assault put Australia well ahead at the ten-over mark, while fellow opener Beth Mooney hit her first fifty of the tour to finish the job. Australia chased 148 with seven wickets and eight balls to spare, thus completing the white-ball double on this tour after losing the one-off Test.
India’s 147 for 6 was the highest first-innings total of the three-match T20I series, but with the dew factor seemingly significant in the second innings, they needed more runs.Shafali Verma’s 26 off 17 balls at the top and Richa Ghosh’s 34 off 28 at the death provided the batting boost. However, figures of 2 for 12 from Annabel Sutherland and 2 from 24 from Georgia Warenham in their quotas of four overs apiece proved to be highly influential in the end.
Shafali had given India a strong start after they were put in by Australia, showing intent right from the first over when she flicked Megan Schutt for four. Kim Garth then bowled three full-length balls to her in the fourth over and Shafali deposited them all for boundaries too. Shafali added a sixth four to her tally by sending Schutt back over her head in the next over but was out the following ball, caught behind while chasing an outswinger.
Shafali’s early hits allowed Smriti Mandhana the margin to start slow – she scored only 8 off her first 11 deliveries – but she took on the aggressor’s role after her partner’s dismissal. She hammered Ashleigh Gardner for six and four to close out the powerplay on 51 for 1.
That would become 60 for 1, but then India’s three senior batters fell in quick succession. Jemimah Rodrigues chose to pull Sutherland in the eighth over and was caught in the deep for 2. Mandhana then took the gamble of slog-sweeping Wareham despite two outfielders on the leg side, and was gone for 29. Harmanpreet Kaur’s poor run with the bat continued when, on 3, she chopped on while driving at Sutherland’s well-disguised slower ball.
Wareham and Sutherland then squeezed India, with Deepti Sharma and Ghosh looking to lead a rebuild from 66 for 4 in ten overs. Relying on the occasional boundary and quick running, the pair added 33 in 4.5 overs. They were separated when Deepti looked to hit Wareham for a six over long-on only to find the fielder.
That, though, did not slow Ghosh down. She clubbed Schutt for six and four in the 16th over and hit a massive six off Wareham in the 17th that damaged the ball beyond use. It was eventually Gardner who, in the final over, dismissed Ghosh for 34 off 28 balls. By then, India were on target for their highest total of the series and Pooja Vastrakar’s last-ball six gave them 147 to defend to close out their first T20I series victory over Australia since 2016.
The foundation stone for India’s win in the opening match of the series was early wickets but they didn’t come on this occasion. Healy quickly changed gears after a watchful start to pummel Titas Sadhu in the fourth over for three fours in three legal balls. She topped that up by smacking Renuka Singh for six, four and four in the fifth over and by the end of the powerplay Australia were 54 for no loss.
Harmanpreet then went to Vastrakar for a breakthrough and appeared to get it straightaway when Healy smacked a full ball to Rodrigues at point. But the TV umpire determined there was no conclusive evidence to deem that a clean catch. Healy carried on and muscled a pull through the leg side in the ninth over to reach her 16th T20I fifty, but she fell not long after – she was out lbw on review while attempting a reverse sweep off Deepti.
Tablia McGrath didn’t let Australia’s momentum flag, hitting four fours in her first ten balls. Even though Vastrakar sent McGrath and Ellyse Perry back off successive deliveries in the 16th over, the presence of the set Mooney at one end always kept Australia ahead. In the company of Phoebe Litchfield, who stayed unbeaten on 17, Mooney drilled two back-to-back fours in the 19th over to reach her half-century and seal the game. India last won a T20I-series decider in 2011, and the wait continues.
Brief scores:
Australia Women 149 for 3 in 18.4 overs (Alyssa Healy 55, Beth Mooney 52*, Tahlia McGarth 20; Pooja Vastrakar 2-26) beat India Women 147 for 6 in 20 overs (Richa Ghosh 34, Shafali Verma 26, Smriti Mandhana 29; Annabel Sutherland 2-12, Georgia Wareham 2-24) by seven wickets
(Cricinfo)
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
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]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
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