Sports
Rahul, Jadeja guide India home in jittery chase
A rearguard century partnership between KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja helped India come out on top in a jittery run chase against Australia in the opening ODI in Mumbai on Friday (March 17). Rahul and Jadeja joined forces at a crucial stage with India losing five wickets in the low-scoring contest but the duo showcased excellent temperament to guide the hosts home with 61 balls to spare.
India were put under a lot of pressure very early in the chase. Defending just 188, Australia needed early wickets and the move to hand Marcus Stoinis the new ball worked. Ishan Kishan failed to negotiate the movement and was trapped lbw and the left-hander also wasted a review on his way back. Starc then bowled a testing spell in the powerplay that saw him silence the home crowd.
The left-arm seamer bowled two identical deliveries that swung back into the right hander to account for Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav off successive deliveries. While Rahul drove the hat-trick ball for a beautiful boundary, the Australian seamers continued to pose questions by consistently moving the ball. Starc was given an extra over with the new ball and the decision worked wonders for the visitors as Shubman Gill failed to keep a drive down, to get caught at point. At 39/4, India were under extreme pressure before Hardik Pandya and Rahul resurrected the chase.
Pandya hammered his first ball for a boundary and Rahul at the other end started to find the boundary as well. The stand-in captain then took on the short ball from Cameron Green to upper cut him for a six but when he attempted a pull against Stoinis, he got out by finding the fielder near the boundary. That brought out Jadeja to the middle as the two batters took their time to eat into the target. As the last recognised pair, both Jadeja and Rahul took on the responsibility and were content with just the odd boundary given the required run rate was well within control.
The returning Glenn Maxwell, brought on to trouble Jadeja, did find some grip on the surface but both the batters managed to negate the threat. When Stoinis offered width to Jadeja, the allrounder broke the shackles by powering it to the boundary. Rahul eventually brought up his fifty as India now slowly took control of the contest. The 30-year-old then stamped his authority by fetching three boundaries in the space of five deliveries including a huge six off Adam Zampa over wide long on. That eventually forced Australia to throw the towel as the duo guided India home quite comfortably in the end.
Earlier in the day, Australia were stunned by India’s spectacular turnaround with the ball as they went from a strong 129/2 to get bowled out for just 188. Australia lost Travis Head early in the game but Mitchell Marsh, opening in place of David Warner, gave them a very good start by constantly finding the boundary in the powerplay. Marsh also showcased his power game and cleared the ropes a few times including a stunning straight six off Shardul Thakur as Australia raced to 59/1 by the end of the powerplay.
While Steve Smith edged behind to the ‘keeper, Marsh continued his onslaught after bringing up his fifty. From 50 off 51 balls, Marsh went to 81 off 64 in no time as India were put under the pump. However, Jadeja came to India’s rescue as he got one to grip a little off the surface forcing Marsh to mistime and get caught at short third man. Jadeja himself then took a stunning catch from the same position to get rid of Marnus Labuschagne. Those two wickets triggered a collapse.
Mohammad Shami came back into the attack to rip through the middle order. Green missed a delivery aimed at off stump to get bowled and Stoinis edged one behind to get caught by Gill, who had dropped him on nought first ball earlier. Josh Inglis, who looked good initially in his short stay, inside-edged one onto his stumps as the slide continued. While their final hope Maxwell chipped one to Hardik in tame fashion, Mohammed Siraj came back to wrap things up as Australia’s innings came to a screeching halt, that eventually played a role in them conceding an early lead in the series.
Brief scores:
Australia 188 in 35.4 overs (Mitchell Marsh 81; Mohammed Shami 3/17, Mohammed Siraj 3/29) lost to India 191/5 in 39.5 overs (KL Rahul 75*, Ravindra Jadeja 45*; Mitchell Starc 3/49, Marcus Stoinis 2/27) by 5 wickets.
(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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