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Warner, Maxwell one-two knocks Netherlands out cold
It was the most brutal of one-twos. First came David Warner with the jab, then Glenn Maxwell with the “lights out” uppercut. A 104 from the opener had the Netherlands weary, but it was Maxwell’s astonishing 106 from just 44 deliveries that administered the most devastating of knock-out blows. Australia posted 399 for 8, standing triumphantly at the halfway stage over floored opponents, who were unable to rise off the canvas, eventually succumbing to a chastening 309-run defeat – the largest in margin in men’s ODI World Cup history.
Just 18 days after Aiden Markram had seized the record for the fastest century in ODI World Cups, against Sri Lanka at this very ground, Maxwell ripped it off him in nine fewer balls, needing just 40 to pass three figures. It was the culmination of an almighty assault on the Dutch bowlers, most notably Bas de Leede The talented allrounder now has the ignominy of the most expensive figures in men’s ODI’s, returning 2 for 115 – 43 of them coming in his last two (including 28 from the last), all courtesy Maxwell.
Beyond saving the blushes of compatriots Mick Lewis and Adam Zampa – previous joint-holders of the most expensive figures in the format – Maxwell’s second World Cup century (and third overall) shifted the complexion of the match against a courageous Netherlands outfit. They had broadly kept Australia in check, even while Warner, coming off the back of 163 against Pakistan in the previous match, marched to a 22nd ODI hundred.
Warner’s main allies were Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, the more dominant partners in stands of 132 and 84 for the second and third wicket, respectively. Had Max O’Dowd not botched a pick-up at midwicket, Warner might have been run-out on 32 when both he and Smith found themselves at the non-striker’s end. Roelof van der Merwe was then adjudged to have grounded a sharp chance at midwicket when Warner had 73, before completing an equally tough grab at backward point to see off Smith for 71.
Labuschagne’s dismissal – de Leede’s first, caught mid-off – was the first of three to fall for just 23 runs, culminating in Warner’s dismissal, paddling Logan van Beek to fine leg, well-taken by Aryan Dutt, two balls after registering a sixth World Cup century off 91. With ten overs to go, Australia were 268 for 5.
Maxwell had come in at the end of the 39th over – the latest an ODI centurion has arrived at the crease – but only faced his first ball midway through the 41st. In retrospect, the back-to-back fours off de Leede to get him off the mark were a sign of things to come.
He was probably culpable for Cameron Green’s run-out, pushing for two only for the allrounder – drafted in for Marcus Stoinis, who had a sore calf – to be found short of his ground with a direct hit. After Teja Nidamanuru failed to get to a difficult chance running back from mid-off when Maxwell was on 24, the carnage began.
From 35 off 21 – already a brisk start – Maxwell got out his reverse sweep for the first time to get Paul van Meekeren away over point, before smashing the follow-up slower ball over square leg for the first of eight sixes. Another reverse over point – this time all the way – brought the fifty up in 27 deliveries, before going over third two balls later, both off de Leede.
A brace of conventional sixes followed in the 48th over, bowled by van Beek, carted over wide mid-on and then sliced over cover point, sandwiching a pull to midwicket by Pat Cummins, possessor of the best seat in the house. Then came de Leede’s chastening final set; bunted down the ground for fours to start, before being launched into the stands at wide mid-on, over square leg and then further behind square after bowling an above-waist full toss as Maxwell stormed through to three figures.
From first six to last, the white-ball phenom struck 66 runs from just 19 deliveries. Maxwell celebrated with a baby-rocking celebration, a nod to his wife and first child, Logan, who was born last month, both of whom arrived in India earlier this week.
The free-hit was uncharacteristically scuffed for a single, de Leede getting out of the over with a dot to Cummins. Though Maxwell was able to begin the final over with a fortuitous boundary off van Beek, his innings ended two balls later courtesy of an excellent catch by Sybrand Engelbrecht at long-off. Mitchell Starc came and went for a golden duck – van Beek’s fourth – leaving Cummins, who had contributed just eight to the seventh-wicket stand of 104, to close out the innings with just his second boundary, smeared through midwicket.
With 400 to get, Netherlands opener Vikramjit was never going to die wondering, racing to 21 from 13 courtesy five fours. And though he would survive a run-out opportunity after O’Dowd left him high and dry with a dodgy call, saved by Josh Hazlewood’s awry throw after fielding in his follow-through, he was less fortunate on 25. A well-timed back-foot punch to mid-off found Maxwell, who had started the chase off the field, and well you know what happened next.
By then, O’Dowd had chopped Starc on to his own stumps. Colin Ackermann then fell lbw to Halzewood, before de Leede’s grim day was compounded with an appeal against Cummins for a similar dismissal that Hawkeye suggested was trimming leg stump. Engelbrecht’s seemingly perfect pull shot off Mitchell Marsh’s second ball nestled into the hands of a leaping Warner just in front of the square-leg sponge, leaving Netherlands 62 for 5 at the first drinks break.
The pause on the wickets lasted just 27 deliveries. Nidamanuru was unfortunate enough to glove Marsh down the leg side, then Zampa snared two-in-two, as van Beek cut to Josh Inglis and van der Merwe was trapped in front by a googly. Dutt survived the hat-trick ball – another googly – with a thick inside edge.
He had no such luck when struck in front while on the back foot in Zampa’s next over. The legspinner then secured a third four-wicket haul in a row when Inglis managed to shovel the ball back on to the stumps after van Meekeren’s back foot had crept in front of the line following an attempted sweep.
With that, Netherlands were 90 all out, their final five batters falling for just six runs. All the while, skipper Scott Edwards cut a forlorn figure at the other end. He will know a defeat of this magnitude will not define his team, though they now occupy an unflattering spot on the wrong side of history.
Brief scores:
Australia 399/8 in 50 overs (Glenn Maxwell 106, David Warner 104, Steven Smith 71, Marnus Labuschagne 62; Logan van Beek 4-74, Bas de Leede 2-115) beat Netherlands 90 in 21 overs (Vikramjit Singh 25; Adam Zampa 4-08, Mitchelle Marsh 2-19) by 309 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]
