Sports
Gill, Pujara centuries and Kuldeep five-for put India in firm control
Shubman Gill scored his first Test hundred, and Cheteshwar Pujara his first in 52 innings and the fastest of his career as India declared on 258 for 2, setting Bangladesh a target of 513 in the first Test in Chattogram. More realistically, they gave themselves two days and a bit to pick up ten wickets.In response, Bangladesh openers Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan saw off the 12 overs left in the day’s play.
This was after Kuldeep Yadav, playing his first Test in 22 months and eighth overall, picked up his third five-wicket haul to skittle out the hosts for 150 in the first innings.
Resuming the day on 133 for 8, Bangladesh could add only 17 more as Kuldeep had Ebadot Hossain caught down the leg side in the fifth over of the day to complete his five-for. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the other overnight batter, then tried to farm the strike even more but was stumped off Axar Patel soon after while going for a big hit. That gave India a lead of 254 but they decided against enforcing the follow-on.
In the second innings, Khaled Ahmed and Taijul Islam opened the bowling for Bangladesh as Ebadot didn’t step onto the field. On Thursday too, after dismissing Shreyas Iyer, he was off the field for the rest of India’s first innings. With Shakib Al Hasan also not bowling, probably because of the rib injury he sustained during the ODI series, the hosts were left with just three frontline bowlers.
KL Rahul and Gill, though, started slowly, accumulating only 16 runs in the first eight overs. Gill upped the scoring rate after lunch but Khaled broke their 70-run stand. Using the short-ball play, he first hurried Rahul and then had him pulling one to fine leg for 23.
Khaled also hit Pujara on the body twice, but the plan didn’t work against Gill, who took the short ball on and hit the seamer for a four and a six. Later, as Khaled seemed to be tiring at the end of his seven-over spell, Pujara too pulled him for four.
Against spinners, Gill used the sweep shot to good effect, picking up three boundaries with it. He, though, had a scare on 70 when Yasir Ali pinged him on the pads. The on-field umpire ignored the vociferous appeal, and when Bangladesh opted to review it, they were told the DRS technology was down.
Post tea, Gill and Pujara batted with even more intent. Gill moved to 99 with a reverse-swept four off Mehidy and two balls later hit him over mid-on for a one-bounce four to get to his hundred. He fell for 110 while attempting another big shot, but Pujara took over after that
Having reached his fifty off 87 deliveries, Pujara took only 43 balls more to get to his hundred. On the way, he used his feet against spinners to loft them over mid-off and mid-on, deployed the lap sweep on more than one occasion, and even brought out the reverse sweep as India eyed declaration.
From the other end, Virat Kohli almost exclusively dealt in singles. He and Pujara added 75 off 73 balls in an unbroken stand for the fifth wicket, Kohli’s share in that being 19 off 29 balls.A misfield at mid-on took Pujara to the three-figure mark off 130 balls, and with that, India declared their innings as well.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 150 (Mushfiqur 28, Mehidy 25, Kuldeep 5-40, Siraj 3-20) and 42 for 0 (Shanto 25*, Zakir 17*) need another 471 runs to beat India 404 and 258 for 2 dec (Gill 110, Pujara 102*, Khaled 1-51)
(Cricinfo)
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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