Sports
Bowlers, Hope help Windies draw level
A disciplined bowling effort led by three-fers from Romario Shepherd and Gudakesh Motie, backed by some excellent catching, and a patient Shai Hope half-century helped West Indies draw level in the three-match ODI series with a convincing six-wicket win in rainy Barbados on Saturday (July 29). This was West Indies first ODI win against India in last ten attempts.
Inserting India in, who had rested Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the hosts made a stunning comeback with the ball to roll them out for 181 inside 41 despite a solid 90-run opening stand driven by Ishan Kishan’s second successive half-century of the series. On a slow surface that offered both turn and extra bounce, West Indies overhauled the sub-par target with more than 13 overs to spare, on the back of a steady 91* stand between Hope (63*) and Keacy Carty (48*) and a contrasting opening partnership worth 53.
Kyle Mayers was off the blocks quickly, driving and flicking India’s new-ball pair of Hardik Pandya and Mukesh Kumar. He even dispatched the Indian stand-in captain into the stands before Brandon King joined in, going past 1000 ODI runs with consecutive boundaries off Umran Malik. Mayers then welcomed Shardul Thakur into the attack with a stylish flick for six over fine leg to bring up the fifty partnership on the first ball of the ninth over, but fell attempting a repeat of the same one ball later. In the same over, Thakur trapped King LBW to reduce West Indies to 54/2.
Hope’s brisk start – including a six to get off the mark – was the only reason West Indies had managed to move on quickly but Thakur struck again. A well-directed bouncer took Alick Athanaze completely by surprise, and Kishan had plenty of time to settle under the top-edge.
The captain however ensured West Indies didn’t waste a perfect start like the tourists. Even though he lost Shimron Hetmyer to a Kuldeep Yadav googly soon after, Hope kept the scoreboard ticking just enough to keep them ahead of the DLS par score given the overcast conditions. And once Carty got his eye in, the pair did well to rotate strike effectively and inch closer to the target.
Hope brought up his fifty in 70 balls, also taking his team past the 150-run mark in the process. Despite not exactly dealing in boundaries until the very end, the pair took control of the chase and made sure West Indies scaled the target comfortably, with no further hiccups.
India had decided for more experimentation ahead of the home World Cup, but it didn’t really click barring the efforts of the new-look opening pair. The humid, overcast conditions from the onset offered early swing and Kishan took his time settling in. Shubman Gill (34) meanwhile kept the scoreboard ticking early on, displaying his full range of shots to collect some early boundaries.
The southpaw survived a couple of close calls in early 20s, but went on to outrace Gill to a 51-ball half-century – his second in as many games. However, just as the pair inched closer to the century stand, Motie broke through for the hosts. Gill, in his attempt to take on the spinner, danced down the track to loft a flighted delivery and holed out to the tall Joseph in the deep, triggering a dramatic collapse of 5 for 23 that India never really recovered from.
Kishan became the first of Shepherd’s twin strikes, re-attempting the cut that had fetched him a four earlier in the over – only this time for Alick Athanaze to pouch a stunning take at backward point. Axar Patel, who got a batting promotion at no. 4, was in and out in a jiffy – gloving a short ball to the keeper.
Pandya and Sanju Samson managed to stall West Indies’ march but not for long as Jayden Seales returned to send Pandya packing cheaply off another short one. On the very next ball, Yannic Cariah got Samson outside-edging to the ‘keeper, leaving India reeling at 113/5 as rain arrived to halt the proceedings for the next 45 minutes.
That, however, failed to rob West Indies of the momentum as the wicket procession continued on the other side. Shepherd struck with yet another bouncer, and this time Jadeja top-edged his pull to give a comfortable catch to the right of deep backward square. Three balls later, Athanaze took another sharp catch at backward point to end Suryakumar’s cameo after a run-a-ball 24.
Thakur’s fight took India past the 150-run mark but his stay was short-lived. Joseph struck twice in three balls – separated by a 15-rain break – to open his account late in the day, and Motie wrapped up the proceedings with one ball to spare in the 41st over. Incidentally, this was the 29th time India had been bowled out for under 200 by West Indies – the most by an opponent, surpassing 28 by Pakistan.
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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