Sports
Rizwan and Fakhar help Pakistan draw level with Ireland
For a little over half the game, Ireland held on to the hope of sealing a famous series win. But a crushing onslaught from Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman who combined for a 140-run stand off 78 balls for the third wicket, helped Pakistan win the second T20I in Dublin by seven wickets and 19 balls to spare. Fakhar smashed 78 off 40, while Rizwan was unbeaten on 75 off 46, as Azam Khan ended the match with a flurry for sixes to level the series 1-1.
Zaman joined Rizwan after the openers fell cheaply. Saim Ayub’s dry run continued, caught by a diving Curtis Campher third ball, while Babar nicked a harmless medium-pace delivery from Graham Hume in the following over to leave Pakistan 13 for 2 in a chase of 194.
But Rizwan, who has been demoted in Ayub’s favour of late, demonstrated his value in the powerplay by combining dazzling slog sweeps with judicious placement. He bore the bulk of the run-scoring load until Zaman bedded in. Zaman dispatched Craig Young over square leg in the fifth over, and aside from a pair of costly drops, Pakistan were not troubled.
There was a brief slowdown after the seventh over, but in the absence of Ireland’s ability to break through, Pakistan’s position grew stronger. It was the 13th over when the game moved irrevocably out of Ireland’s hands, as Pakistan plundered 21 off Young, plunging the asking rate from 10 to 8.4. There was even time, after Zaman holed out, for a whirlwind Azam cameo of 30 off 10 balls.
The greater concern, after Pakistan failed to defend 183 in the first T20I, was another inconsistent bowling performance. Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Amir were expensive and Pakistan were unable to contain Ireland in the Powerplay. Lorcan Tucker’s 34-ball 51 strung the first half of Ireland’s innings together, while Campher punished Shaheen through the middle overs once more. Each of the hosts’ top seven managed double figures, and all but two achieved strike rates of 150 or more, resulting in a first-innings score Pakistan’s bowlers will feel they are too good to have permitted on this surface.
Shaheen Afridi is famed for being lethal with the new ball, while Amir is prized for his variations at the death. The left-arm pace duo opened the bowling as well as closed it out, and found themselves punished at each stage. Shaheen was among the wickets but that did not spare him from an onslaught as Andy Balbirnie and Paul Stirling went on the attack in the Powerplay. Shaheen got his own back when he dismissed both players in his second over, but didn’t quite learn his lesson from bowling to Campher in the first game.
In the 15th over, Shaheen kept fine leg up while bowling at Campher’s body only to be put away for a four and a six. A belated decision to push the fielder back allowed Campher to predict the fuller delivery, driving him beautifully in front of cover for another six, before hitting a boundary to complete the 21-run over.
Gareth Delany punished Afridi and Amir as Ireland scored 29 in the final two overs to speed past 190. The duo finished with combined figures of 8-0-93-4.
After Ireland scored 68 for 2 in seven overs, Pakistan turned to spin with the field spread. It is where Imad Wasim excels in slowing down the opposition. Harry Tector struggled for rhythm and Lorcan Tucker nudged him around. They showed little ambition against part-timer Ayub as Ireland scored 16 in three overs and Pakistan regained some control.
Hume’s day had begun well enough. He removed Babar in the second over of Ireland’s defence, but then made two costly mistakes just when Rizwan and Zaman were whirring into motion. He dropped Rizwan at deep midwicket off the last delivery of the powerplay, and then five balls later put down a top edge from Zaman at fine leg. Ireland had let slip their shot at sealing a historic series win, and Rizwan and Zaman’s century stand took the series into a decider on Tuesday.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 195 for 3 in 16.5 overs (Fakhar Zaman 78, Mohammad Rizwan 75*, Azam Khan 30*; Mark Adair 1-43, Graham Hume 1-32, Ben White 1-39) beat Ireland 193 for 7 in 20 overs (Lorcan Tucker 51, Harry Tector 32, Curtis Campher 22, Gareth Delany 28*; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-49, Mohammad Amir 1-44, Naseem Shah 1-36, Abbas Afridi 2-33) by seven wickets and 19 balls remaining
(Cricinfo)
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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