Sports
New Zealand strike twice after Williamson double ton
Kane Williamson got his fifth double ton in Test cricket, and shared a 159-run stand with Ish Sodhi that ground out Pakistan on the fourth day. It earned them a 174-run lead before New Zealand’s spinners struck twice later in the day, to drive home the advantage. For the first half of the fourth day, it was the Williamson-Sodhi show as they batted for more than a session and a half to frustrate Pakistan. The duo added only 79 runs in the first session but set the tone that allowed New Zealand to get ahead steadily and take a healthy lead.
Both Sodhi and Williamson were largely comfortable on a pitch offering only slow turn, with the rough patches still wide off the stumps. As Nauman Ali wheeled away trying to hit those patches to create some doubt, it did little to deter the duo, who were able to work the runs away comfortably.
Ali came close to picking a wicket when he struck Williamson, on 116, on the pad and got his way with the on-field umpire. But a review revealed that the ball had pitched outside the leg stump. Pakistan’s luck with the review remained bad, for this came soon after they wasted one against Sodhi. Mohammad Wasim Jr aimed to shape the old ball in and hit Sodhi with a full ball, but replays confirmed that it wasn’t worth a review for there had been a big inside edge.
With the old ball not offering enough bite, Pakistan also availed the third new ball when it became available. But while it came on quicker to the bat, New Zealand’s batters were not troubled too much. It offered more chances though. Twice Sodhi edged through the vacant slip cordon, and once against Mir Hamza, just minutes before the lunch break, he got a feather on it but none of the players on the field picked it up. An appeal never came and it allowed Sodhi to march on and bring up a fifty in the second session.
Williamson punctuated his steady knock with lofts down the ground every now and then to keep the spinners guessing. He brought about more shots in the second session with the reverse sweep also turning out to be productive even though it was being played off the rough.
But New Zealand suffered a blip at the other end. Sodhi got a leading edge trying to loft a legbreak from Abrar and was caught at mid off, Tim Southee fell for a duck in similar fashion against Nauman Ali while Neil Wagner gloved a sweep to give Abrar his fifth. Three wickets in as many overs for just two runs threatened to leave Williamson stranded without a double ton.
But as Ajaz Patel kept out eight balls, Williamson managed a lofted six and a four over cover to bring up the milestone, taking him past Brendon McCullum in the all-time list for New Zealand. It was also his second double ton against Pakistan, and that proved to be enough for Southee to declare at the stroke of Tea.
Armed with a first innings lead, New Zealand were on the attack right through, and it was met with positivity from Pakistan’s openers. Abdullah Shafique and Imam ul Haq added 47 before the former chipped an attempted loft of Michael Bracwell to mid on. While Imam continued to be positive, unafraid to drive the spinners off the rough, there was a stutter at the other end. Shan Masood remained comfortable in his short 26-ball stay before he was caught LBW on the backfoot against Sodhi late in the day. It capped off a fine day out for New Zealand, led by their former skipper, and left Pakistan in a precarious position heading into the final day.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 438 (Babar Azam 161, Agha Salman 103; Tim Southee 3-69) & 77/2 (Imam ul Haq 45*) trail New Zealand 612/9 d (Kane Williamson 200*, Tom Latham 113, Devon Conway 92, Ish Sodhi 65; Abrar Ahmed 5-205) by 97 runs.
(Cricbuzz)
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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