Sports
Nabi, Rashid turn the tables on Ireland to level series for Afghanistan
It was like using a cheat code in EA Sports Cricket. They seemed to be applied on Ireland’s new-ball bowlers Mark Adair and Josh Little, who wrecked Afghanistan despite their decision to bat first. With the score at 14 for 4 in the fourth over, the batters dismissed managed only 3, 5, 0 and 0. Then the user seemed to have pressed autoplay, and the computer helped Mohammad Nabi counterattack.
Nabi added 79 with opening batter Sediqullah Atal, who mostly kept playing and missing and mistiming. The partnership was ended when Atal was run out after struggling to 35 off 32 balls, even as Nabi went to smash 59 from 38. Rashid Khan then provided late fireworks by cracking 25 off 12 deliveries and taking Afghanistan to 152.
In reply, Ireland were 49 without loss after the final over of the powerplay started. But Mangeyalia Kharote broke that stand and struck again later while Rashid pocketed four wickets, as Afghanistan restricted Ireland to 142 and levelled the three-match series with one to play.
Almost every ball bowled by Little and Adair in the first two overs swung considerably, but they were accurate with line and length. However, a lack of luck meant only one Afghanistan wicket had fallen. Little got one to skid through to clean up Rahmanullah Gurbaz after Adair hit Atal’s off stump only for the bail to remain unmoved.
But Adair then struck back-to-back to end the third over. He had Ibrahim Zadran get a leading edge to mid-off before trapping Mohammad Ishaq in front. Replays indicated that the impact might have been outside off, as some luck seemed to even out. Adair also removed Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai in the death overs and finished with 3 for 27. Before that, Little had Azmatullah Omarzai caught behind for what was the batter’s second successive first-ball duck.
Nabi came in at No. 6, and punched his fourth ball for four to get off the mark. One over of the powerplay was still left, and Nabi pulled Little for six to keep going. But the boundaries kept coming even after the field spread. Nabi hacked Ben White, drove Gareth Delany and slashed Curtis Campher for four, leading Afghanistan’s rebuilding. They had pushed their way to 68 for 4 at the halfway stage.
But just after the drinks break, Nabi launched White for a six which went 90 degrees over the umpire’s head, while also calmly ticking over singles off the spinners. Atal was run out in the 14th over, but even that didn’t stop Nabi. He hit Campher for four in the same over, before smashing four and six off consecutive deliveries against White in the 15th. White had him caught two balls later, but by then, Nabi, who ended the day as Afghanistan’s leading run-scorer in T20Is, had laid the platform for Rashid.
Having demoted himself to No. 9, Rashid arrived with 21 balls left and the score at 119. He crashed Adair first ball for four to deep backward point, before attacking Barry McCarthy next over. Both the four and the six stood out in their own ways: the first was a swat wide of long-off after he made room and jumped down the pitch to a shortish ball, while the next was a no-look swipe over fine leg off a full toss, with the ball flying over the Sachin Tendulkar stand. Another four followed in the penultimate over, but more action from Rashid was due.
Ireland were sitting pretty at 68 for 1 halfway into the ninth over, when Rashid struck. He was on a hat-trick for the second game in a row after his return to action, as Lorcan Tucker paddle swept to short fine leg, and Harry Tector was bowled by the wrong ‘un. Rashid returned to bowl the 16th over, by which time Kharote had got rid of both set openers Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie.
The googly also got George Dockrell to start Rashid’s final over, and cleaned Adair up too two balls after. Ireland were seven down, and staring at defeat, which was delayed only by Delany’s late entertainment with the bat.
Scores:
Afghanistan 152 for 9 in 20 overs (Sediqullah Atal 35, Mohammad Nabi 59, Rashid Khan 25; Mark Adair 3-27, Josh Little 2-20, Barry McCarthy 2-33, Ben White 1-32) beat Ireland 142 for 8 in 20 overs (Andy Balbirnie 45, Paul Stirling 24, Gareth Delany 39: Fazalhaq Farooki 1-48, Rashid Khan 4-14, Nangeyalia Kharote 2-23, Mohammad Nabi 1-14) by 10 runs
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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