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Ashwin registers record figures to star in innings win
India began their WTC 2023-25 campaign in style, registering a victory by an innings and 141 runs against the West Indies in the first Test in Dominica. Having posted a sizeable 415/5 declared, which gave them a 271-run lead, India bowled West Indies out for 130 in their second innings on Friday (July 14) to wrap things up inside three days. The victory was also India’s biggest by an innings margin in a Test match outside Asia.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the star of the show, pocketing 7 for 71 in the second innings as he bagged his eighth 10-wicket haul to equal Anil Kumble. Ashwin’s figures in the second essay was also his best performance in an overseas Test, as was his match haul of 12 for 131.
After only four overs of pace, India opted to bowl the spin twins in tandem and they found help from the pitch straightaway, with deliveries breezing past the edges constantly. Tagenarine Chanderpaul managed to execute a cover drive for a four to a ball from Ashwin that was too full. Ravindra Jadeja, at the other end, got Brathwaite to edge to Ishan Kishan, who could not hold on to the ball. Jadeja, though, got the wicket of Chanderpaul soon after, trapping him leg-before, and a review failed to come to the aid of the batter as it was umpire’s call.
Raymon Reifer, who pulled an Ashwin delivery for a four, was nearly caught at silly point. Brathwaite, though, had to depart as Ashwin changed the angle and came around the wicket, getting the West Indies captain to edge to Ajinkya Rahane at first slip. Jermaine Blackwood edged a Jadeja delivery but the ball landed short of third slip. Reifer and Blackwood were unbeaten at the end of the second session but they fell in quick succession at the start of the final session, leaving West Indies in deep trouble. A sharp delivery that turned into Blackwood trapped him in front and he also cost West Indies a review. Reifer too took a review with him after missing a flick off Jadeja to be out lbw.
India also lost a review for a caught-behind decision against Joshua Da Silva in a Jadeja over. Meanwhile, Alick Athanaze was oozing class with his shot-making, scoring boundaries off Ashwin having earlier been dropped by Yashavi Jaiswal at short leg. Rohit Sharma decided to bring Mohammed Siraj back into the attack and he struck immediately, trapping Da Silva plumb in front. Athanaze cut and pulled with confidence for two boundaries off Siraj and then swept Ashwin fine for a boundary. But the offspinner hit back by ending a promising innings, getting Athanaze caught at short leg off an inside edge.
Alzarri Joseph and Jason Holder decided to counterattack, scoring a six apiece off Ashwin, as they took West Indies past the 100 mark. But Joseph fell in his attempt to clear the fence again, giving Ashwin his fourth wicket. Ashwin bagged his second fifer in the game when he had Rahkeem Cornwall caught at short leg and followed it with by having Kemar Roach bowled. The match got into extra time with just a wicket remaining in the West Indian innings and Jomel Warrican decided to have some fun as he struck a few boundaries to frustrate India. He was eventually out to Ashwin attempting a reverse sweep as India completed the mauling.
Earlier, an innings that lasted across three days and 387 deliveries finally came to an end in the morning session as Jaiswal departed for a well-made 171. But India’s superiority in the game continued as they extended the lead thanks to Kohli’s patient half-century. Jaiswal played some confident shots as he became the youngest Indian debutant to reach 150, and even struck a Jomel Warrican delivery down the ground for the first six of his career. But his fine knock came to an end when he edged to the ‘keeper attempting to punch an Joseph delivery through cover.
Rahane had a short stay as he was caught at cover off Roach. While the wickets fell around him, Kohli got to a 147-ball fifty and continued to keep the Windies bowlers at bay. Jadeja, who came out to bat at No.6, pulled a short ball from Athanaze for a six. Kohli then struck a boundary apiece off Athanaze and Brathwaite the the West Indian debutant was also hit for a four by Jadeja who put away a short delivery. Kohli played his trademark cover drive off Reifer to get his fifth four as India went into Lunch with their lead reaching 250.
The second session started with Roach finding the outside edge of Kohli’s bat in the first over and the ball was headed straight to Cornwall at first slip. However, ‘keeper Da Silva intercepted it but his diving attempt only resulted in the catch being put down. This was the second reprieve for Kohli, who in the first session had been put down at short cover by Brathwaite off Warrican. But Cornwall, who was allowed to resume bowling from the second session (having been off the field for the majority of Day 2 due to a chest infection), had Kohli caught at leg slip with a delivery that had extra bounce.
With debutant Kishan taking a while to get off the mark, Jadeja struck a couple of boundaries to stretch the lead. Kishan finally got his first Test run, off the 20th ball he faced, when he took a single off Joseph. India declared their innings immediately after that, and didn’t take long to skittle West Indies out for a second time.
India took early ascendancy in the Test, with Ashwin’s fifer and Jadeja’s three bowling the hosts out for 150 on Day 1. A record knock from Jaiswal followed, with Rohit Sharma and Kohli also getting amongst the runs. Barring Athanaze, who top-scored for the hosts in both innings, West Indies lacked application and skills to counter the Indian spinners as they suffered a heavy defeat.
Brief scores:
West Indies 150 (Alick Athanaze 47; R Ashwin 5-60, Ravindra Jadeja 3-26) & 130 (Alick Athanaze 28; R Ashwin 7-71, Ravindra Jadeja 2-38) lost to India 421/5 decl. (Yashavi Jaiswal 171, Rohit Sharma 103, Virat Kohli 76; Rahkeem Cornwall 1-32) by an innings & 141 runs.
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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