Sports
Shreyas Iyer stars again as India complete clean sweep
India completed yet another convincing win over Sri Lanka, beating them by six wickets in the third T20I in Dharamsala and wrapping the series clean at 3-0. It was India’s 12th successive T20I win, the joint-longest winning streak for a full member, and their seventh series win on the trot at home in this format.
Shreyas Iyer was among the runs again and remained unbeaten in the series, ably filling in for Virat Kohli at one-down. Picking the threads from last night, Iyer starred with 73* off 45 as India sealed yet another comfortable run-chase, scurrying past Sri Lanka’s total of 146/5 with 3.1 overs to spare.
Openers fail, Iyer doesn’t
It was Rohit Sharma and Sanju Samson opening the batting in the absence of Ishan Kishan, who was earlier today ruled out after being hit on the helmet in the last game. Rohit fell once again to Dushmantha Chameera, for the sixth time in T20Is, when he failed to get on top of a short ball while Samson edged Chamika Karunaratne behind for a 12-ball 18. Iyer, as a result, was at the crease as early as the second over, but there was no gauging the pitch and the pace this time around. He hit his stride with three boundaries in Lahiru Kumara’s first over and there was no looking back from there. The half-century came off only 29 balls.
India squad players get a hit out
Samson opening the batting wasn’t the only gambit from India who were looking to give all the players in the squad some game time in the middle. So resisting the temptation to give Mayank Agarwal a T20I debut in the absence of Ishan Kishan, who was ruled out after being hit on the helmet yesterday, India went in with only three specialist batters with a flurry of all-rounders to follow.
Furthermore, it was Deepak Hooda who batted at No.4, and Venkatesh Iyer who batted at No.5 instead of Ravindra Jadeja who only last night had taken India to victory. Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were all rested, and Jadeja didn’t bowl, which allowed Mohammed Siraj, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav to turn their arm over.
Earlier, Sri Lanka were slow and steady…
Well, this wasn’t the kind that wins races, not in T20 cricket at least. Opting to bat first (and you could see why Sri Lanka did that, wanting to test themselves on a pitch with good pace and bounce, a la Australia), the visitors went nowhere with the opportunity, totalling only 43 runs in the first 10 overs. They didn’t have Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar to contend with, but Siraj and Avesh made no less impact, reducing Sri Lanka to 11/3 inside four overs. Danushka Gunathilaka was the first one to go, dragging a ball from Siraj onto his stumps in the opening over. Avesh followed up in the next over, getting Pathum Nissanka caught at mid-off to get his first international wicket and soon also had Charith Asalanka with the extra bounce. Siraj and Avesh bowled three overs each in the powerplay, letting Sri Lanka score only 18 runs in that period.
The struggle against spin continued
There was no Chahal either today but Bishnoi and Kuldeep stepped up in the middle overs, bowling their 8 overs for 57 runs. Bishnoi, a touch more expensive than Kuldeep, struck in his first over, getting Lanith Liyanage with his googly. Overall, Sri Lankan batters struggled to read the spinners off the hand and had a difficult time hitting boundaries in the middle overs.
Shanaka to the rescue again
It was the Sri Lankan captain who once again lifted Sri Lanka to 146, a total unimaginable when the visitors were reeling at 78/5 after 15 overs. He once again picked a few runs off Harshal Patel at the back end, but it was Avesh against whom he helped pick 19 runs in the 19th over. Avesh finished with figures of 2 for 23 despite a costly final over.
68 runs came in the last five overs, thanks to an unbeaten 86-run stand with Chamika Karunaratne. But all that aside, the total still proved far short of par for a powerful Indian batting on the charge. (cricbuzz)
Scores:
Sri Lanka 146 for 5 wkts in 20 Overs (Dasun Shanaka 74 n.o., Dinesh Chandimal 22, Chamika Karunaratne 12 n.o.; Avesh Khan 2-23)
India
148 for 4 wkts in 16.5 Overs (Shreyas Iyer 73 n.o., Ravindra Jadeja 22 n.o.; Lahiru Kumara 2-39)
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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