Sports
Kohli 186, Axar 79 give India a chance to push for a win
Virat Kohli’s Test century drought has been broken and the floodgates could open on Australia as they face a battle to save the game on the final day after India’s lengthy batting line-up piled up 571 for 9 on the fourth day in Ahmedabad.
Kohli made a magnificent 186 from 364 balls while Axar Patel blasted five fours and four sixes in a blazing 79 to hand India a first-innings lead of 91 after posting 50-plus partnerships for each of the first six wickets of the innings. It could have been more but Shreyas Iyer was unable to bat or take the field on day four due to lower back pain. He left the venue early in the day to have scans.
Australia suffered an injury of their own on a day where their bowlers’ figures were badly bruised as they failed to make inroads, or even create chances, on an unhelpful surface. Usman Khawaja hurt his left leg while attempting to take a catch on the rope just after drinks in the middle session. He landed awkwardly and limped from the field shortly after with Australia’s team physio. Details of his injury were not confirmed but he did not return and did not bat late in the day with Matt Kuhnemann opening as a nightwatcher. Khawaja has suffered a torn ACL and torn meniscus in his left knee in the past having had surgery to repair both tears.
Kuhnemann and Travis Head survived six overs for three runs as Australia remains 88 runs behind with three sessions of cricket remaining to either salvage a draw or somehow manufacture a result to level the series 2-2.Kohli, and it seems most of India, had been waiting the agonizing 1205 days for his 28th Test century. But he was willing to wait as long as was necessary to reach three figures against some disciplined Australian bowling in the first two hours of the day.
He was near faultless in reaching his 75th international century just after lunch. It was the second slowest of his Test career, off 241 deliveries, and featured just five boundaries in his first 100 runs and none in the first session of the morning.
The discipline and patience he showed was rewarded handsomely thereafter, as the burden of the three-year wait washed away and the dominant Kohli of old returned. He tore into Australia’s two fast men Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc during attempted hostile spells with the reversing ball. He also became ever more expansive and extravagant against the two offspinners Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy, who he treated with the utmost respect in the first session.
He got wonderful support all the way through the day. His 168-run partnership with Axar was the fruit of his morning labour. The pair scored with incredible freedom compared to the grind pre-lunch. Australia’s bowlers flagged in the afternoon sun. Kohli struck 10 classy boundaries in the afternoon unfurling some sublime drives on the up and some supreme pull shots off Lyon in particular, trusting the Ahmedabad bounce with cross-bat shots having fallen foul to them previously in the series on less trustful surfaces.
While Kohli got into line and prospered mostly through the leg side, Axar gave room to carve through the off. But he did mix in four brutal slog sweeps, three that landed in the stands and one that bounced into the fence at warp speed. Axar did have some luck against Lyon, edging him to slip where Smith couldn’t hang onto an incredibly difficult one-handed chance high to his right. There were some other nervous moments defending Lyon but otherwise, it was smooth sailing.
The pair looked nailed on for a double-century stand and twin milestones with Kohli’s 200 and Axar’s maiden Test century in sight. But Axar fell by the sword, chopping Mitchell Starc onto the stumps trying to flay him on the up through cover.
Kohli ran out of partners as R Ashwin holed out in the deep and Umesh Yadav was run out by a brilliant direct hit from the deep from Peter Handscomb for a diamond duck trying to keep Kohli on strike.Kohli was dropped himself by Handscomb in the deep off Lyon on 185, a difficult chance diving low at long-on. It only cost one run as he holed out swinging for the fence next over.
Earlier, Kohli also shared half-century stands with Ravindra Jadeja and KS Bharat in the morning but India only managed 73 runs in the first session. Lyon and Murphy bowled superbly to keep a lid on the scoring, with Kohli really battling to break free from very disciplined lines and lengths although he was never threatened in defence. Jadeja eventually did smacking Murphy down the ground, but he holed out meekly to mid-on not long after.
Bharat slog-swept his second ball for six over wide long-on but battled to 25 from 70 at lunch. However, he hit the accelerator after lunch when Cameron Green tried to pepper him with short balls under instruction from his captain Steven Smith with a heavy legside field. After ducking a full over of short balls, he unfurled two pulls for a six and a cut for four in the following over.
Lyon knocked him over shortly after with turn and bounce. It was one of only three wickets he took for the innings across a marathon 65 overs. It is the most he has ever bowled in a Test innings and he deserved better reward than he got. Murphy also took three wickets from 45.5. They were Australia’s best two bowlers by far as indicated by their workloads. Smith did not have as much faith in the other three with the two quicks lathered to all parts while Kuhnemann was nowhere near as effective on this surface as he had been in Indore. (cricinfo)
Scores:
Australia 480 all out and 3 for no loss
India 571 all out (Virat Kohli 186, Axar Patel 79, Shubman Gill 128; Nathan Lyon 3/151, Todd Murphy 3/113)
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]
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
