Latest News
Salt’s second ton leads England to series-levelling victory
Whoever said “don’t answer back” had never been overlooked for a big pay cheque, or found the belligerence of Phil Salt. Responding to his IPL auction snub and resuming where his unbeaten century in the third match had kept England alive in this series, Salt thrashed a 57-ball 119 to set West Indies an eye-watering target of 268 if they wanted to end it now. They couldn’t, falling to a 75-run defeat in Taruouba as England drew level at 2-2, setting up a decider at the same ground on Thursday.
After losing the toss and admitting he would have liked to chase too, England captain Buttler combined with Salt for a second century opening stand in a row to set England off towards 267 for 3, the second highest score by a Full Member nation in T20Is. Salt reached his century off just 48 balls en route to England’s highest individual T20I score. He found willing partners after Buttler fell for 55 in Will Jacks and Liam Livingstone, who reached an unbeaten half-century.
In an entertaining match yielding 33 sixes, the third most in men’s T20Is, Andre Russel scored five of them and Nicholas Pooran four but even combined they couldn’t better Salt’s 10. Their side was bowled out inside 16 overs, with Reece Topley taking three wickets and Sam Curran and Rehan Ahmed two apiece.
England milked 12 runs off T20I debutante Mathew Forde in the first over. All but one of them went to Salt, who cleared the rope at long-on and followed that immediately with a drive through mid-off for four. Buttler joined in with a superb reverse-swept six off Akeal Hosein then a sweep for four next ball before Forde conceded 22 runs off the fifth over so that by the end of the powerplay England were flying at 68 without loss.
It compounded West Indies’ bowling woes in the powerplay. They have taken only one wicket inside the first six overs of England’s innings so far this series, with Salt and Buttler racking up opening stands of 77, 9, 115 and 117. Salt brought up his fifty off just 23 balls with back-to-back fours off Russell. Of all England’s power hitting during their union, Buttler’s effortless 83-metre six over extra cover off Gudakesh Motie looked like being the shot of the day until it was followed straight away by another maximum, dispatched even deeper into the stands at long-on to bring up his half-century off 26 deliveries. Buttler perished a short time later when he picked out Rovman Powell at long-on off the bowling of Jason Holder but he had helped put his side in an excellent position after 9.5 overs.
Salt picked up where he left off with an unbeaten 109 off 56 balls in the previous game. After Buttler went, Salt simply carried on, launching three sixes in a row off the start of Sherfane Rutherford’s solitary over. Jacks kept tempo with his partner, taking England past the 150-mark with a reverse sweep for four and nonchalant six over backward square leg off Hosein as he and Salt muscled their stand to 55 off just 19 balls. It ended on 56 just three balls later when Jacks was pinned lbw by Hosein after a nine-ball 24. When Salt brought up his century he tore off his helmet and launched a scream skywards, becoming only the second man from a Full Member nation – and third in all – to register back-to-back hundreds in T20Is.
As if West Indies’ early bowling troubles weren’t enough, their death bowling has also been a problem and, as Livingstone met Forde with a triumvirate of sixes in the 18th over, that hadn’t changed. It took Russell nailing his yorker with a hint of reverse swing to remove Salt, bowled through his legs as he tried to slog-sweep, but not before he had taken England past their previous best total in the format of 241 for 3, scored against New Zealand in 2019. Livingstone pounced on a Holder full toss to reach what was only his second 50-plus score in 37 T20Is with a swept four through square leg and he rubbed it in when Holder’s yorker flew off his outside edge through third man for one more boundary.
Brandon King was reportedly taken for X-rays after being struck on the knee by the ball while fielding early in England’s innings, but he reappeared to open the batting only to fall first ball to an understandably attacking mindset. Looking to cut a Moeen Ali delivery, he managed only a top edge which found the hands of a leaping Topley at short third. Pooran proceeded to smash 20 off the last four balls of the over, culminating in a mammoth 93m six over deep midwicket. Topley conceded 12 runs off the next over before he had Kyle Mayers held second grab at midwicket by Chris Woakes, who had woken to the news that he’d been picked up by Punjab Kings in the IPL auction. Woakes was then smashed for 16 runs off three balls at the end of his first over, Pooran dishing out some Jacks-style hitting at No. 3 as West Indies raced to 58 for 2 after just four overs. But Pooran fell for an impressive 39 off 15 when Harry Brook took a wonderful catch, running in from long-on and diving forwards to hold on to one struck high in the air off Curran.
Salt and Buttler teamed up in more ways than one, with the former taking the wicketkeeping gloves to give his captain “a different perspective from the field”, Buttler later told broadcasters. Salt stayed in the action with a simple catch to remove Shai Hope off Woakes. By the end of the powerplay, West Indies were 87 for 4 with Rutherford looking set to let loose. He did with three consecutive fours in Rehan’s first over to take West Indies to the 100-mark in the seventh.
Adil Rashid entered the attack in the eighth over and his fifth ball accounted for Powell, a peach that deceived the West Indies skipper and crashed into off stump. Rehan saw two balls in three sent over the fence at deep midwicket, first by Russell, then Rutherford. But Rehan responded with two wickets in as many deliveries, Rutherford lbw and Holder caught by Jacks at deep midwicket for a first-ball duck. By the halfway point of the innings, West Indies were seven down.
England returned to seam with Curran removing Hosein and Buttler, fielding at cover, taking a simple catch off the bowling of Topley to dismiss Forde, who had made his international debut when West Indies sealed a 2-1 victory in the ODI leg of England’s visit. Russell maintained his defiance, smashing a 108-metre six off Topley to move within one boundary of his fifty and passing the mark when Brook misfielded just inside the rope at long-off but when he holed out to Brook next ball, it was all over.
Brief scores:
England 267 for 3 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 119, Jos Buttler 55, Will Jacks 24, Liam Livingstone 54*) beat West Indies 192 in 15.3 overs (Andre Russell 51, Nicholas Pooran 39, Sherfane Rutherford 36; Reece Topley 3-37, Sam Curran 2-25, Rehan Ahmed 2-42) by 75 runs
(Cricinfo)
The aid group Doctors Without Borders has reported recovering 11 bodies and rescuing dozens of people off the coast of Libya as it criticised the migration policies of the North African country and European countries.
In a statement on Friday, the group, known by its French initials MSF, said its Geo Barents rescue vessel managed to recover the bodies following a search operation lasting more than nine hours after being alerted by German nongovernmental organisation Sea-Watch, which also rescues refugees and migrants.
“As we cannot determine the reason behind this tragedy, we know that people will continue to take dangerous routes in a desperate attempt to reach safety, and Europe must find safe and legal pathways for them,” MSF said in a post on X. “This catastrophe must end!”
Sea-Watch said it is unclear whether the bodies were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck, adding that they tried to contact Libya’s coastguard to go and retrieve the dead, but received no reply.
“The so-called Libyan coastguard – financed by the EU – ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” the group said.
Thousands of people trying to head from Africa to Europe use Libya as a departing point, with the Italian island of Lampedusa the nearest European destination as they undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war, poverty and persecution.
Italy, which wants to put a stop to the migration stream, has said Libya and neighbouring Tunisia must do more to stop people from going to sea. It has also clamped down on the operation of the rescue ships, arguing that they encourage people to head to Europe, a charge that is denied by the charities.
Emphasising its policy on the rescue ships, Italy said on Friday that it forced the MSF rescue vessel to take the 165 people that it had saved from boats in the Mediterranean operation to the northern port of Genoa. The port was more than 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from their position and much farther than the more convenient ports in nearby Sicily, significantly delaying assistance to the rescued.
The route in the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migrant crossing in the world, with the United Nations registering more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the area since 2014.
More than 3,000 refugees and migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to use the route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, the number of arrivals in the country has dropped in 2024 to fewer than 21,800 people since the beginning of the year, compared with close to 53,300 in the same period last year.
[Aljazeera]
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]
Afghanistan boosted their Super Eight chances with yet another dominating win, this time thumping New Zealand by 84 runs in Providence. Having beaten Uganda by 125 runs in their opening match, they are now at the top of Group C with a net run rate of 5.225.
After being sent in, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a start of 103 in 14.3 overs. It came off the back of the 154 the pair added against Uganda, thus making them the first opening pair to register two successive century stands in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s was an innings of two halves. They scored 55 for no loss in the first ten overs and 104 for 6 in the last ten, with Gurbaz contributing 80 off 56 balls. New Zealand, who had decided not to play any warm-up games, looked every bit rusty as their fielders dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities.
With the pitch assisting both seamers and spinners, chasing 160 was not going to be easy. But few would have expected New Zealand to collapse in the manner they did.
Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up three wickets in the powerplay and Rashid Khan three just after it. Eventually, both ended with identical figures of 4 for 17 as New Zealand were bowled out for 75 in the 15.2 overs. Glenn Phillips and Matt Henry were the only New Zealand batters to reach the double digits.
Trent Boult found some swing in the opening over but Gurbaz and Ibrahim showed their intent by picking up three fours off Henry from the other end. Both batters had luck on their side, too. Gurbaz got a second life when he skipped down the track to Santner and missed the ball, which went on to brush the leg stump but the bails did not budge. In the following over, Finn Allen dropped Ibrahim off Henry at the deep-square-leg boundary.
That was not all. Gurbaz got another reprieve after being involved in a miscommunication with Ibrahim. Having taken off for a single, Gurbaz had to retrace his steps and would have been run out had Conway not fumbled the throw.
Two balls later, New Zealand finally seemed to have found success when Santner pinged Ibrahim’s pads and umpire Kumar Dharmasena ruled it lbw. But the batter got the decision overturned on review as the ball was heading down the leg side. Immediately after that, Ibrahim hit Santner for an inside-out four as Afghanistan ended the powerplay on 44 for no loss.
New Zealand went against the prevailing wisdom of not bowling an offspinner when two right-hand batters at the crease, and Michael Bracewell repaid that faith by conceding only six off his first two overs.
Lockie Ferguson was even more frugal, going for five in his first two. He could have had Ibrahim off a slower full toss but a leaping Kane Williamson failed to pull off a one-handed stunner at mid-off. That meant while Afghanistan remained unscathed, they had only 55 on the board after ten overs.
Afghanistan had not hit a single six in the first ten overs, but there were five in the next three, including three in one Bracewell over as Gurbaz and Bracewell stepped on the accelerator. The pair took the side past 100 in the 14th over. New Zealand finally broke through when Ibrahim bottom-edged a short ball from Henry onto his stumps, after having been hit on the grille on the previous delivery.
Promoted to No. 3, Azmatullah Omarzai played his part with 22 off 13, which included two sixes in three balls off Henry. Mohammad Nabi fell for a first-ball duck but Gurbaz kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. However, a three-wicket, three-run final over by Boult kept Afghanistan to 159.
Farooqi gave Afghanistan a dream start with the ball. With the very first delivery of the innings, he uprooted Finn Allen’s leg stump as the ball moved in late. In the seamer’s next over, Conway pushed at one that seemed to come slower off the surface and was caught at extra cover.
The decision to give Farooqi a third over in the powerplay brought further rewards. This time, bowling around the wicket to Daryl Mitchell, he got a length delivery to just straighten and take the outside edge. Gurbaz took a regulation catch to complete the dismissal and leave New Zealand 28 for 3.
It could have been worse for New Zealand. In between, Naveen-ul-Haq had rapped Kane Williamson’s front pad after the batter had moved across to play a delivery. Afghanistan sent it upstairs for an lbw review but the umpire’s call saved the New Zealand captain.
Afghanistan did not have to wait too long for Williamson’s wicket. Rashid brought himself on after the powerplay and struck straightaway as Williamson guided one to first slip. But Rashid was just warming up. In his next over, he dismissed Mark Chapman and Bracewell off successive deliveries to leave New Zealand on 43 for 6. Chapman went for a pull and got bowled; Bracewell was late to bring his bat down and was lbw.
Phillips was New Zealand’s last hope. He did hit a couple of boundaries but was soon caught at long-on when he tried to take on Nabi. That ended any hopes of revival New Zealand might have had.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 159 for 6 in 20 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim Zadran 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 22; Trent Boult 2-22, Matt Henry 2-37, Lockie Fergusoan 1-28) beat New Zealand 75 in 15.2 overs (Glenn Phillips 18; Rashid Khan 4 for 17, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4 for 17, Mohammad Nabi 2-16) by 84 runs
[Cricinfo]
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
