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Jadeja, Rohit help India lay down early marker

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On a day where Australia managed periods of counterattack, it was not enough to keep India’s relentless attack at bay as they were bowled out for just 177 on the opening day of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy with Ravindra Jadeja bagging 5/47.

India, led by Rohit Sharma’s 56* then further cemented their strong position by the end of the day. The Indian captain made use of a plethora of loose deliveries from his opposite number, Pat Cummins to start the innings with a string of boundaries. It allowed his partner KL Rahul to settle in as well. And the duo managed to keep that going even against the two offspinners. Rohit brought up his 15th Test fifty towards the end of the day, but Australia managed to hit back with Todd Murphy bagging a return catch of KL Rahul on 20, ending a 76-run opening stand.

Rohit, and the nightwatchman R Ashwin, saw off the rest of the deliveries as India finished in a strong position, and making sure Jadeja’s efforts with the ball did not go to waste.

Earlier in the day, an 82-run stand between Marnus Labuschagne (49) and Steve Smith (37) kept India at bay over a large part of the first session before Jadeja stamped his presence on the field in his comeback game.

He first had Lauschagne overbalancing while trying to drive and had him stumped before trapping Matt Renshaw LBW first ball from round the wicket with the batter playing all over a ball turning in. Steve Smith briefly began to counterattack, hitting Axar Patel for three boundaries in an over but soon was swallowed by Jadeja who beat him on the inside edge with a straighter one to get him bowled.

However, the slide was arrested once again by a counter-attacking Alex Carey, alongside a resolute Peter Handscomb. With an assortment of reverse sweeps, sweeps and drives, Carey picked up seven boundaries in his 33-ball 36. However, the shot proved to be the cause of his downfall too as he dragged R Ashwin on to give the offspinner his 450th Test wicket.

Ashwin, who found his stride as the innings progressed, then managed to set Pat Cummins up beautifully to have him caught at slip before Jadeja had debutant Todd Murphy LBW for a duck. The session saw them lose six wickets for 98 runs, a steep fall from how they had set themselves up the first session.

Having opted to bat, Australia lost their openers cheaply to India’s fast bowlers. Mohammad Siraj struck with his first ball when he hit Usman Khawaja on the front pad with a full ball, and had him adjudged LBW on the review. This was closely followed by David Warner’s wicket, where the batter missed a delivery nipping in from Mohammed Shami and lost his offstump.

At 2/2, Australia’s challenge seemed to be teetering off without a ball being bowled by spinners, on the much-hyped dry pitch. The low bounce was the most noticeable factor in the first session, and even as the spinners eventually got some turn as well, Australia’s two best batters were well equipped to handle it.

Labuschagne started his innings in high tempo, managing a couple of early boundaries while Smith was kept quiet for a period of 26 balls on 6. It was in this period that Smith was at his most edgy, being beaten a couple of times and also edging Axar Patel only to be put down by Virat Kohli at slip. He got out of that rut with a chip over midwicket against Ravindra Jadeja for a boundary before the duo proceeded to get more comfortable against spin.

Both batters managed to keep the dangerous straight ones out even while playing predominantly off the backfoot, even as there were a few close shaves off the inside edge. But between all this, the duo managed to keep hitting the odd boundary. Labuschagne managed eight of it in the session to remain unbeaten on 47, even getting an early upper-hand against R Ashwin who he paddled away for a boundary, as Australia fought back before slipping once again.

Brief Scores:

Australia 177 all out (Marnus Labuschagne 49; R Jadeja 5/47) lead India 77/1 (Rohit Sharma 56*) by 100 runs

(Cricbuzz)



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England face Australia in the battle of champions

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Jos Buttler has Jofra Archer back to bolster the England bowling attack [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]

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South Africa up against their bogey team in batter-unfriendly New York

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Paul van Meekeren with Sybrand Engelbrecht after Netherlands' win over South Africa in the 2023 ODI World Cup [ICC]

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]

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Mustafizur, Rishad, Hridoy dazzle in Bangladesh’s tight two-wicket win over Sri Lanka

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Mahmudullah's unbeaten 16 proved crucial as Bangladesh lost late wickets [ICC]

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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