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Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan demolish South Africa
India’s pace attack for the Pink Day ODI came in with seven wickets between them, but took only 13 overs to double that tally and then went past it to bowl South Africa out for 116, their lowest total at home. India chased down the total with ease to hand South Africa only their third defeat in Pink Day ODIs.
While Arshdeep Singh took five wickets and Ayesh Khan four, Mukesh Kumar was no less incisive as he started with a first over in which Reeza Hendricks couldn’t lay bat on ball.
Both sides wanted to bat first because the match was being played on the same strip that hosted the final T20I between the same sides three days ago. On that night, India’s spinners enjoyed plenty of assistance, both sideways as well as up and down.
In a day match, though, South Africa turned out to be the unfortunate side to win the toss and have their death wish on a treacherous pitch with both seam and swing readily available to go with uneven bounce.
Still nursing the World Cup heartbreak, the losing finalists and the losing semi-finalists came into the match with their frontline fast bowlers resting and preparing for the Test series. South Africa retained their middle-order core, but India’s line-up looked completely raw. Captain KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav were the only ones who played the World Cup final.
Rahul was in action immediately as Mukesh appealed vehemently first ball. The inswinger seemed to have trapped Hendricks right in front but two sounds misled both umpire and Rahul. It was neither given out nor was the decision reviewed.
Mukesh continued to play around with both his edges in the rest of the over, a repeat of the third T20I three days ago when Hendricks couldn’t touch Mohammed Siraj for a whole first over. Arshdeep didn’t move the ball as much as Mukesh did. Hendricks saw a wide one and had a go, and ended up playing it on for an eight-ball duck. Arshdeep then bowled the perfect inswinger to trap Rassie van der Dussen in front for a golden duck.
Aiden Markram survived the hat-trick ball and went on to add 39 for the third wicket with Tony de Zorzi, who countered the movement by walking at the bowlers and then responded to the consequent short balls by punching and pulling them for two sixes. Visually he looked at odds with Markram, who struggled to come to terms with the uneven bounce from the pitch.
Eventually de Zorzi made a mistake on 28 off 21, pulling a ball not short enough, and the big top edge settled with Rahul. Arshdeep continued the damage with seam movement back in to Heinrich Klaasen, taking his leg bail with the last ball of the tenth over.
Usually in ODI cricket, even if the new ball does a lot, the movement seems to die down pretty quickly. Here, though, after an average swing of 1.4 degrees and average seam of 1.2 degrees in the first ten overs, the ball was still doing plenty for Avesh, the first-change bowler. At the start of the 11th, one nipped back in and had Markram playing on when looking for a regulation single to deep third. The next ball was a peach, seaming away like a legcutter, getting Wiaan Mulder lbw.
Arshdeep bowled two more overs, but couldn’t get the fifth wicket he was after. Avesh, though, kept striking. In his seven-ball stay, David Miller was given two sucker balls. He resisted the first one, but ended up edging the other. Keshav Maharaj soon chipped one to cover as it got big on him.
Mukesh went for a few in his second spell as Andile Phehlukwayo middled a few shots, which gave Arshdeep a second shot at the five-for. In his last over, Arshdeep, who had taken no wickets in his first three ODIs, picked up the fifth, trapping Phehlukwayo lbw on a slog.
Avesh got one more over to try to get his own five-for, but Tabraiz Shamsi enjoyed luck with a couple of slogs. Kuldeep Yadav then wrapped the innings up with a wrong’un.
Arshdeep said they were themselves caught by surprise at how much the ball did for the seamers, and once they realised that, it was all about bowling a disciplined line and length and letting the pitch do the rest.
The conditions weren’t quite as helpful by the time the second innings began at 1pm. It showed in how South Africa pulled their lengths back pretty early. They did manage to get the early wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad, though.
In a short innings, Sai Sudarshan found enough time to make an impressive debut. The first ball he received was a half-volley, which he cover-drove for four. Soon he was reprieved as his bat hitting his boot created two noises to mislead both the umpire and the fielding team, who didn’t review it.
The class was soon apparent, though, as he drove with ease, used his feet against spin, pulled down every chance he got and brought up his half-century off just 41 balls. Perhaps the on-drive against Tabraiz Shamsi’s turn, after having danced down the pitch, stood out.
Iyer, Sudharsan’s partner for 88 runs, contributed to the highlight reel with a lovely cover-drive on the up as Burger looked to tuck him up. He scored 52 off 45 and perished as he looked to end the game in a hurry. India still won with more than 33 overs to spare.
Brief scores:
India 118 for 2 in 16.4 overs (Sai Sudharsan 55*,Shreyas Iyer 52) beat South Africa 116 in 27.3 overs (Toni de Zorzi 28, Andile Phehlukwayo 33; Arshdeep Singh 5-37, Avesh Khan 4-27) by 8 wickets
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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