Sports
Rampant India take 1-0 lead
West Indies’ struggles in the 50-over format continued as India registered a relatively comfortable victory in the first ODI in Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday (July 27). Kuldeep Yadav picked up a four-wicket haul while Ravindra Jadeja bagged three as they expedited West Indies’ collapse, with the hosts losing their last seven wickets for the addition of only 26 runs to be bowled out for a paltry 114 in 23 overs. India experimented with their batting order in the chase, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not coming out to bat in their usual positions, making way for the others up the order. They lost half their side in the process, on a pitch aiding the spinners, but Ishan Kishan’s 46-ball 52 guided India in the chase and they eventually got home with 27.1 overs to spare.
A confident pull shot off Dominic Drakes helped Kishan get off the mark with a boundary in the first over. Shubman Gill’s first runs came off a top edge that got him a four off Jayden Seales. The openers were building a steady partnership when Gill got an outside edge off Seales, with Brandon King taking a low catch at second slip. Third umpire Marais Erasmus referred to multiple angles before ruling the batter out. Suryakumar Yadav came in at No.3 and he glanced Drakes for a four to score his first runs after a hat-trick of ducks in his previous ODI outings. Kishan was quick to read the lengths, striking a straight four off a full delivery from Drakes and also played the pull to put away a short ball.
Suryakumar, who struck a cover drive off Seales for his second four, also played his favourite pick-up lap shot for a six over fine-leg. The pair scored at a steady rate, combining their boundary shots with singles as India reached 50 in 10 overs. Suryakumar played a sweep off Gudakesh Motie for a boundary but the spinner hit back by bowling it a lot slower, getting the batter out leg-before, with India also losing a review. Kishan, meanwhile was playing shots all round, playing a one-handed shot over mid-off and a cut off Yannic Cariah for two boundaries. Hardik Pandya was also pushed up the order but he had a short stay, run out at the non-striker’s end after a shot from Kishan deflected off Cariah’s hands onto the stumps.
Kishan then put away a full toss from Cariah for his first six and struck a powerful shot past Motie for another four. He also got a lucky break as he was dropped by Kyle Mayers off Motie when he tried to pull, and he brought up a 44-ball fifty a short while later. But Kishan fell in his attempt to play a heave off Motie and Shardul Thakur also departed soon after, bringing Rohit to the crease. The captain, along with Jadeja, helped their team across the line without further damage as India took a 1-0 lead in the three match series.
Earlier, with the pitch offering extra bounce, Pandya and debutant Mukesh Kumar troubled the West Indies openers with deliveries that took off from a length after skipper Rohit opted to bowl. Mayers tried to force the pace but the bounce got the better of him as he handed a simple catch to Rohit Sharma at mid-on to give Pandya the first wicket. A steady partnership between Alick Athanaze and Brandon King ensued, with the two batters scoring a few boundaries. Athanaze’s first shot of authority was a pick-up shot for a six off Pandya and he added three more fours to his tally before he hit a short and wide ball from Mukesh to Jadeja, who timed his jump well at backward point. King fell soon after, bowled by Thakur as West Indies slipped to 45/3.
Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer, who returned to the West Indies XI after a lengthy gap, tried to rebuild as they extended their stand past 40. Hope struck a couple of fours off short balls from Umran Malik while Hetmyer pulled a Jadeja delivery to fine leg for his first four. But Jadeja, who was a bit wayward to start off, hit his straps and left West Indies in further trouble. Hetmyer’s innings came to an end when an attempted paddle shot resulted in him being bowled. Jadeja had Gill and Virat Kohli to thank for his next two wickets as they held onto fine catches off edges to first and second slip, resulting in Rovman Powell and Romario Shepherd falling in the same over.
West Indies slid further when Kuldeep struck in quick succession. The chinaman bowler trapped Drakes in front with a googly and then got Cariah also with a wrong’un, with India using the DRS successfully. At the other end, Hope watched on helplessly as West Indies lost their direction completely. The West Indies captain tried to farm strike with the tail batting with him, even striking a six off Jadeja to enter the 40s. But an attempted reverse sweep brought about his downfall, giving Kuldeep his third wicket. He picked up his fourth in just three overs when Seales handed a catch to leg slip to become the last to fall, bringing the curtains down on a shoddy batting display from the West Indies who were bowled out for their second lowest total against India.
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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