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Suryakumar, Bumrah star in thrilling Mumbai Indians win
Punjab Kings fell on the wrong side of a third straight final-over thriller at their home ground in Mullanpur with Mumbai Indians edging home to a nine-run win for their third victory of the season to keep pace with the other playoffs chasers. The visitors appeared to be cruising to victory for large portions of the game before a sensational knock from Ashutosh Sharma (61 off 28) rocked their boat sidewards. But another impressive bowling performance from Jasprit Bumrah (3 for 21) enabled the visitors to hold their nerves and clinch victory, thereby ensuring Suryakumar Yadav’s excellent 78 off 53 didn’t go in vain.
That this was not a belter of a wicket, especially in the first innings, is ascertained by the fact that out of Suryakumar Yadav’s 17 scores of 75 or more in T20 cricket, this knock was the only one scored at a strike-rate under 160. But he was typically quick off the blocks after MI were put into bat, hitting Kagiso Rabada for two fours after coming out to play in the third over of the game. MI got to 54/1 at the end of the powerplay with Suryakumar reaching 22 off 15 balls.
At the halfway point of the innings, he was one short of a half-century having played three of his signature shots in the process: a whip behind the wicket for six off Rabada, a swept-four off Harpreet Brar that beat short-fine leg and deep square leg and an inside-out six over extra cover off Liam Livingstone. At the other end, after making a fast start, Rohit Sharma was starved off strike and made only 29 off his 20 balls at the 10-over mark.
Sam Curran, continuing to lead in Shikhar Dhawan’s absence, was proactive with his bowling changes and did not allow the MI batters to line up any one member of his attack. The PBKS skipper dismissed Rohit, who faced only 13 balls in the seven overs leading into the 12th, by getting the India captain to hit to point after a 25-ball 36. Curran, Rabada and Hapreet Brar also bowled three boundary-less overs before Tilak Varma ended a 22-ball drought with back-to-back boundaries off Arshdeep Singh. Suryakumar added a four of his own to make it a 15-run over and inject momentum back into the innings.
MI scored 62 runs off the final five overs against an older ball that didn’t always come on at an expected pace off the wicket. Eighteen of those 62 runs came in Rabada’s fourth over – the 16th of the innings – denting the South African’s figures after he had given away just 25 from his first three. In that over, Suryakumar overturned an LBW decision against him and then proceeded to hit the pacer for a four over extra cover before flicking a full-toss over fine-leg for six. Tilak rounded that over with a pulled six over mid-wicket.
Once Curran dismissed Suryakumar in the 17th over, Tilak took over the baton to give the team a finishing kick. He finished unbeaten on an 18-ball 34 while Tim David added 14 off 7 balls including two fours and a six off Curran’s final over. Harshal Patel produced an impressive final over, dismissing David and Romario Shepherd with slower into-the-wicket balls. Only eight runs came from that over and even though MI fell short of the 200-mark, the 192 they got was more than any team had managed at Mullanpur and it showed.
PBKS made the decision to drop the under-performing Jonny Bairstow and bring in big-money recruit Rilee Rossouw into their XI. It was a move that didn’t work as Bumrah quickly set the cat among the pigeons in the second innings. Curran opted to bring himself up to open the order but saw his partner, Prabhsimran Singh, fall attempting a pull off Gerald Coetzee but only managed to glove the ball to the ‘keeper.
That brought Rossouw to the middle and he was a recipient of an inswinging yorker from Bumrah that laid waste to his stumps. Bumrah added another wicket, via DRS, when he had the PBKS skipper tickle a leg-stump ball to the ‘keeper. PBKS lost a fourth wicket in the 13th ball of the innings when Liam Livingstone’s attempted pull to a pacy delivery from Coetzee popped right back to the bowler. At the end of six overs, PBKS were 40/4 and effectively out of the contest.
All hope seemed lost when Ashutosh joined Shashank Singh in the 10th over with the scoreboard reading 77/6. The pair added 34 runs in 3.5 overs but even so, Mumbai Indians seemed one wicket away from sealing the deal. Bumrah, brought back for one of his overs in the middle, struck with a wicked slower ball first up that Shashank was too early into and lofted a simple catch to mid-wicket. Ashuthosh, though, wasn’t done and made his intentions clear with an audacious sweep off an attempted Bumrah yorker for a six.
Ashutosh hit seven sixes in all, five of them in the region between deep square leg and fine-leg, effortlessly maneuvering balls directed towards his body in that quadrant of the field. It forced MI’s bowlers into panic mode as they packed their legside but a full toss still allowed Ashutosh to put the ball away.
With five overs to go, Punjab needed 52 to win and then the 16th over sent down by Akash Madhwal turned the game on its head. His round the wicket angle to Ashutosh didn’t work as the batter made room and lofted a six over long off. That it was a no-ball allowed Ashutosh to take another risk off the ensuing free-hit and this time he pulled out the reverse-scoop over third man for another six. The over ended with Harpreet Brar pumping another six straight down the ground to make it a 24-run over. That brought the equation down to a very gettable 28 off 24.
MI’s chances distilled down to what Bumrah could do in his final over. PBKS didn’t need to take any risks against him and casually got away by taking just three runs off the master bowler. Hardik Pandya, now front-loading his best bowlers, then bowled Coetzee. The South African struck the biggest blow of the night when he had Ashutosh hitting to the deep mid-wicket fielder towards the longer side of the ground. Ashutosh’s dismissal for a 28-ball 61 turned the pendulum once more in MI’s direction as Coetzee’s over produced just two runs. Hardik brought himself on to bowl the 19th over and gave away just four runs from his first four balls and added the wicket off Brar, but then No.11 Kagiso Rabada walked out and pulled the first ball for six to give PBKS 12 to chase off the final over.
Unfortunately for PBKS, Rabada’s attempts to run two at the start of the final over turned fateful as an accurate throw from the deep caught him short and left PBKS on the wrong side of yet another close game.
Punjab Kings will host the Gujarat Titans on Sunday in their last game of the season at Mullanpur. Mumbai Indians have the weekend off before they head to Jaipur and take on the table-toppers Rajasthan Royals on Monday.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 192/7 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 78, Rohit Sharma 36; Harshal Patel 3-31) beat Punjab Kings 183 in 19.1 overs (Ashutosh Kumar 61, Shashank Singh 41; Jasprit Bumrah 3-21, Gerald Coetzee 3-32) by 9 runs.
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]
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