Latest News
Chase seals West Indies’ jittery victory against spirited Papua New Guinea
It was far from the confident start to the tournament that West Indies, co-hosts of the T20 World Cup 2024, would have hoped to make, but in the end they avoided adding to an ignominious list of upsets in a format they once dominated. Papua New Guinea almost took the game to the final over, only for Roston Case’s unbeaten 42 off 27 to prove decisive in salvaging a nervy five-wicket win in Providence, Guyana.
When PNG captain Assad Vala dismissed Sherfane Rutherford at the end of the 16th over, West Indies were five down and needing 40 from the last 24 deliveries. The sight of Andre Russell walking out at No. 7 was a reminder of what the Associate nation, playing in only their second T20 World Cup, were up against, however. Russell, an IPL winner with Kolkata Knight Riders a week ago, duly launched his fourth ball into the crowd to make the requirement 31 from 18.
Chase then kicked up through the gears, having anchored the innings while wickets fell around him. West Indies’ No. 4, preferred in the side to Shimron Hetmyer, took a six and two fours off Vala in the 18th, before picking off Kabua Morea for back-to-back boundaries to bring the victory in sight.
It meant that PNG, with former West Indies World Cup-winning coach Phil Simmons looking on from their bench in his role of consultant, narrowly missed out on a first scalp at this level. Their best prospect had seemingly been to avoid embarrassment, after they reached the halfway point of their innings on 57 for 4; but Sese Bau’s half-century and a fighting lower-order knock from Kiplin Doriga gave them something to bowl at. Had they chosen to review an appeal against Nicholas Pooran, who contributed 27 to the chase, before he had scored, West Indies’ fragility might well have been exposed again.
Anyone who has followed West Indies’ travails in ICC competitions recently – a dismal T20 World Cup defence in 2021, crashing out of a group featuring Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe in 2022, failure to even qualify for last year’s 50-over World Cup – would have felt a familiar sense of trepidation creeping over them at the start of this run chase. Alei Nao struck with his first ball on World Cup debut, pinning Johnson Charles for a golden duck; then, as the rain started to fall, he nipped one fatefully back into the pads of Pooran…
PNG opted not to review umpire Rashid Riaz’s not-out decision and were immediately made fully aware of their mistake as the players left the field for a 20-minute interruption, ball-tracking showing that it would have hit the top of middle stump with enough certainty to be overturned. On the resumption, Nao completed a wicket maiden, and with Pooran struggling for rhythm it was only thanks to Brandon King finding regular boundaries – his first 28 runs came via seven fours – that West Indies were able to make headway.
Pooran, on 5 from 15 balls, then launched Bau’s offspin for 6-4-6 at the start of the sixth over, as West Indies surged to reach the end of the powerplay on 52 for 1, seemingly well placed.
Despite that burst of aggression, Pooran never fully settled and did eventually become the second wicket to fall when he chipped John Kariko to long-on at the start of the ninth. Vala then brought himself on to make it spin from both ends, with King’s attempt to break the shackles ending in the hands of deep midwicket. Vala delivered the second wicket-maiden of the innings, and West Indian nerves began to jangle again as they edged along to 77 for 3 at the end of the 13th, having scored 25 runs from 42 balls outside of the powerplay.
West Indies captain, Rovman Powell, struck a much-needed boundary off Chad Soper but was dismissed in the same over, despite confidently reviewing after being given out caught behind. Chase popped above the parapet to slog-sweep Charles Amini for six – his first boundary coming from his 15th ball – but Vala then had Rutherford caught behind in the following over, Doriga clutching the ball between a combination of legs, gloves and body, to leave West Indies 97 for 5 and fighting to stave off a major upset.
Everything went right initially for the co-hosts, who were starting their campaign to win a third T20 title. Powell won the toss and chose to insert PNG for the morning start in Providence, noting the “inclement weather around and also a fresh wicket”. Akeal Hosein opened the bowling and proceeded to concede just a single off the opening over, during which Tony Ura and Vala struggled to lay bat on ball. The scale of the challenge for PNG was clear.
West Indies duly made inroads, Ura edging behind off Romario Shepherd in the second over before Lega Siaka was undone by his second legitimate delivery, Hosein swinging one back through the gate to hit middle and off. Although Vala found his feet after inching along to 5 off 10, stepping out to loft Chase for an imperious six, then smacking Alzarri Joseph for two fours in three balls, he fell to the last ball of the powerplay – Joseph exacting revenge thanks to Chase’s brilliant diving catch – to leave PNG up against it at 34 for 3.
Bau had struck the first boundary of day, driving Russell back down the ground in the fourth over, and he played assertively to steer his side away from disaster and towards a competitive total. A reverse-sweep off Hosein also found the rope, before he skipped down to loft Chase through long-off. Although Bau lost another partner when Hiri Hiri fell to Gudakesh Motie’s fourth ball, caught at slip reverse-sweeping, the subsequent fifth-wicket stand of 44 with Amini was comfortably the biggest of the PNG innings.
After a few overs of consolidation, Bau cut lose against Motie, hitting the spinner down the ground and over wide long-on for four and six from consecutive deliveries, then adding another boundary through the covers to get PNG’s run rate above a run a ball. A top-edged four off Joseph took him to the brink of a half-century, although he lost his partner before he could get there as Amini nicked behind cutting at Russell.
Bau duly reached a 42-ball fifty at the start of the following over – the second by a PNG batter in T20 World Cups, and the second against a Full Member nation in T20Is – before being defeated by a Joseph slower ball to leave his side 98 for 6 in the 17th over.
That PNG managed to add 38 from the last 21 balls of the innings was largely down to Doriga, as well as a sloppy finish from the West Indies attack. Doriga might have been dismissed for 1 off 6 balls, when a Joseph delivery clipped off stump without disturbing the bails, but the PNG wicketkeeper proceeded to combine hard running with the occasionally hearty thwack to finish unbeaten on 27 from 18. Shepherd, Russell and Joseph all leaked runs at the death, with the latter carved for back-to-back fours at the start of the 20th before overstepping with what should have been the final ball.
Brief scores:
West Indies 137 for 5 in 19 overs (Brandon King 34, Nicholas Pooran 27, Roston Chase 42*, Andre Russel 15*; Alei Nao 1-09, Chad Soper 1-19, John Kariko 1-17, Assad Vala 2-28) beat Papua New Guinea 136 for 8 in 20 overs (Assad Vala 21, Sese Bau 50, Kiplin Doriga 27*; Akeal Hossein 1-09, Romarion Shepherd 1-23, Andre Russell 2-19, Alzarri Joseph 2-34, Gudakesh Motie 1-24) by five 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]
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
