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Team overcomes Covid outbreak to outclass England in four-wicket victory

Andrew Miller05-Feb-2022VVS Laxman hailed the “resilience and positive attitude” shown by India’s Under-19 World Cup winners, after they overcame a mid-campaign outbreak of Covid-19 to outclass their battling England opponents in the final, winning by four wickets to lift the trophy for the fifth time in the tournament’s history.”In the middle of this tournament, we all know what happened to the boys,” Laxman, the former India great who now heads their National Cricket Academy, told the host broadcaster. “To test positive, but to show that kind of resilience and positive attitude, was exemplary.”Yash Dhull, the captain, was one of six India players to test positive for the virus during the group stages of the tournament, alongside Nishant Sindhu and Shaik Rasheed, both of whom made half-centuries in India’s successful run-chase in the final. That followed an exceptional effort in the field, led by Ravi Kumar and Raj Bawa, in which England were bowled out for 189 despite a fine 95 from James Rew.”It’s a proud moment to achieve something for India,” Dhull said at the post-match presentation. “At first it was difficult to find our combinations in the tournament but then we became like a family. Sir [head coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar] made it a good environment and team strength was good.”After collapsing to 61 for 6 despite winning the toss, England made India work for their victory – first through the efforts of Rew, who found key support from James Sales in an eighth-wicket stand of 93, and then in a spirited defence of their sub-par total. The left-arm seamer Josh Boyden struck in his first over to remove Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 0, and when Sales grabbed two wickets in three balls in the middle overs, India were again vulnerable at 97 for 4.”It was too exciting for my good, but I’m happy with the result,” Kanitkar said afterwards. “But I think we learned a lot from this. [Dhull] led them very well, he has a good head on his shoulders, he read the game situation and what players would want, and I think that really counted today.”Tom Prest, England’s captain, was one of the early wickets to fall as Kumar bowled him for a fourth-ball duck to end a fine campaign with the bat on a low note. But despite his disappointment, he was full of praise for the fight that his team had shown.”Obviously choosing to bat first, we’d have liked a better start, but the way James Rew then batted to get 95 – he deserved a hundred – we got to a score that we felt we were in the game with, and I think we gave that a good crack.”We’ve got a strong bowling attack and taking a wicket in the first over, that got the mood up and got some confidence going. But they obviously batted really well, they had a couple of great partnerships. So credit to them.”Dhull acknowledged that Rew and Sales had made India work for their win, but said his team had remained confident throughout. “Those two batted well and England made a good comeback, but we were cool in the chase,” he said. “It was great for us that VVS sir, Hrishi sir, Sairaj sir, Bali sir, Harsha sir all joined us. Their words will help us all individually.”Despite falling at the final hurdle, Prest was still the first England captain to reach an Under-19 final in 24 years, and he was full of praise for the tournament experience. “It’s been amazing,” he said. “We’ve all really enjoyed it. Not only the cricket, the media exposure that we’ve got, and doing interviews like this. It’s something that we’ll never forget. And we’re very proud of our achievements.”Kanitkar echoed Prest’s sentiments. “I think it’s a fabulous competition,” he said. “Getting this stage to perform at young age. I think for all teams it’s a great opportunity to showcase talent, and also for the academies all over the world. You get a lot of things you can work on now.”Related

• Under-19 World Cup 2022: Wyllie, Dhull, Brevis and Wellalage headline ESPNcricinfo's Team of the Tournament

• There was no pressure, because 'we were prepared for everything' – Yash Dhull

• 'I'm always ready' – Rehan Ahmed is on the move, and has a World Cup trophy in his sights

• Fateh Singh's journey – from seam to spin, now treading the Moeen Ali route

• Messages from Kohli, Root and others lift India and England squads ahead of Under-19 final

Laxman, whose own experience of Under-19 cricket predated the tournament’s reboot in 1998, added that the players should recognise the importance of the achievement, but use it as a learning process first and foremost.”This is just the start of their journey,” he said. “Everyone in this group understands that, because this is all about development as players, as persons, and it’s great to see the way they have developed and the way they’ve evolved over the last couple of months. It’s very exciting time for all of them but it’s just the start of their journeys as cricketers.”Huge congratulations to the selection committee,” he added. “It was a new selection committee and quite challenging to identify this group. The coaching staff, with Rishikesh as the head coach and all the support staff, the way they brought this group together, they worked really hard. They won the Asia Cup and the preparation to this World Cup was fantastic.”Asked what India is doing right at Under-19 level, Laxman said it was all about “structure”.”The BCCI has to be complimented for the number of matches and the number of tournaments,” he added. “Each age-group level gets to play, whether it’s Under-16, Under-19, Under-23. But unfortunately, over the last two years, because of Covid, they didn’t play any tournaments. And that’s why I think this tournament win is very special.”After the result, BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced an INR 40 lakh prize for every player in the winning squad and INR 25 lakh for every support-staff member. BCCI president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly also tweeted: “Absolutely breathtaking and tremendous skills under pressure.”

Puttick, Troughton and Lee also added in support staff reshuffle ahead of the ILT20 auction on September 30

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2025Gulf Giants, the ILT20 franchise, have appointed Jonathan Trott as head coach and Shane Bond as bowling coach for the upcoming season. They replace Andy Flower and Ottis Gibson, respectively.Apart from being Afghanistan’s head coach, Trott was also the head coach of Pretoria Capitals in SA20 and was replaced by Sourav Ganguly there. Bond’s recent stints have been with Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and with Paarl Royals in SA20.”The Gulf Giants have quickly become one of the ILT20’s most successful teams,” Trott said in a statement. “My goal is to empower players to excel and help shape a championship-winning squad through the first-ever ILT20 auction.”Related

• Jonathan Trott to step down as Afghanistan head coach after 2026 T20 World Cup

• Pretoria Capitals name Ganguly head coach, Pollock assistant coach in SA20

The ILT20 auction will be held on September 30 in Dubai for the fourth season which is set to run from December 2, 2025 to January 4, 2026.”The team’s ambition is clear,” Bond said. “I’m excited to sharpen our bowling attack and make a decisive impact this season.”Giants have also added Andrew Puttick as batting coach, Jim Troughton as fielding coach and Nick Lee as fitness coach.Their squad currently includes James Vince, Aayan Khan, Mark Adair, Blessing Muzarabani and Gerhard Erasmus as their retained players. Their new signings are Moeen Ali, Azmatullah Omarzai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Giants had won the inaugural edition of ILT20 in 2023, were eliminated in Qualifier 2 in 2024, and finished second from bottom earlier this year.

Allrounder Bas de Leede says the team has set themselves a high target at their first ODI World Cup since 2011

Shashank Kishore05-Oct-20232:33

Bas de Leede: ‘Us being here is massive for the sport back home’

Netherlands allrounder Bas de Leede is clear about his team’s targets at the World Cup.For starters, they aren’t thinking of themselves as Associates. They want to play as equals with the big boys. For de Leede, there’s no bigger motivation than that.”We want to make the semi-finals,” he announced ahead of their first game against Pakistan in Hyderabad. It may seem a fanciful dream to many, considering Netherlands haven’t played an ODI since the World Cup Qualifiers in June.They arrived in India late September for two warm-up games against Karnataka, and the nature of pitches proved a challenge. In the first game, they slumped to 3 for 8, before making 114 in pursuit of 266. In the second, they made 295 and lost by one wicket.Netherlands had both their World Cup warm-ups against Australia and India washed out; and Mitchell Starc blew away their top order in the little play that was possible. It was a reminder of what they can expect when they face Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.Related

• Can Netherlands bring high-flying New Zealand back down to earth?

• Live Report – Netherlands vs Pakistan, World Cup 2023

• Men in orange: how Netherlands grew a big-team mentality

• Father and son at World Cups: the different journeys of Tim and Bas de Leede

• Pakistan brace for Netherlands challenge amid form, injury and off-field concerns

Several first-choice players had missed Netherlands’ glorious run at the World Cup Qualifiers to honour their English county contracts. De Leede was among those who made it to Zimbabwe thanks to Durham making letting him go play.”We obviously don’t get to play together as a team very often because guys are spread out,” he said. “But I think the learnings we can take from Karnataka was, first of all, it was nice to play together as a team and try and adapt to Indian conditions.”Obviously, it’s one thing training in Indian conditions, but then another thing going out and playing and seeing what it’s like in a game. Then you know lack of game time. It was a shame that the warm-up games got rained off. But I think in the nets, we try and replicate game scenarios and try and be as competitive as we can when bowling to each other, when facing each other.”Does the prospect of playing Full Member teams seem intimidating? Not quite. De Leede spoke of how Netherlands ran Pakistan close over three ODIs in Rotterdam last August.In the first match of that series, Netherlands nearly chased down Pakistan’s 314 but fell 16 short. In the third ODI, having restricted Pakistan to 206, they were 108 for 3 before collapsing to lose by nine runs.Bas de Leede played an important role in Netherlands qualifying for the World Cup•Albert Perez/ICC/Getty Images

“I think the experience of the whole Super League, having played against bigger nations, was fantastic for us,” de Leede said. “And obviously, Pakistan, having played them last year in Rotterdam in three ODIs, it’ll be nice to sort of be familiar with the team and the players and stuff, having played them before.”I think that will help us a little bit. But obviously, you know, they’ve evolved. They’ve gotten better. They’ve got different skills now as well, even with Shaheen [Afridi] coming back, who didn’t play that series.”Twice during the press conference, de Leede was asked to be “realistic” in terms of setting expectations.”We want to make the semi-finals,” he said both times. “If we want to get there, we’ve got to win four or five games. So, we’d have to take down one of the big teams. But that’s (semi-finals) our main target. And if we get there, we play our best cricket. Amazing. But if we play our best cricket and we don’t get there, I reckon we can still be proud of ourselves.”How will they approach their quest to make the final four? Play with a nothing-to-lose approach or set high goals and try to get there?”I think probably a mixture of both,” he said. “I don’t think any of the teams have got anything to lose. They’ve got something to gain, which is winning the World Cup. I think for us, obviously it’s special being back for the first time since 2011, but we’ve set our goal high which is making the semi-final. I don’t think if we don’t make it, we’re a failure or anything like that.”I think if we don’t make it, but we have played our best cricket, we can still be proud of ourselves. But by setting the goal to make the semi-final, I think we can probably do more than what people expect from us.”

Having won the two-match four-day series 1-0, Afghantsain A now lead the five-match one-day series 2-0 after their four-wicket win on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2019The method of Afghanistan A’s dominance of their hosts Bangladesh has surprised selector Habibul Bashar, who said that their brand of cricket has been more patient. Currently, Afghanistan lead the five-match one-day series 2-0 after their four-wicket win in Chattogram on Sunday, having already won the two-match four-day series 1-0.Bashar said that he was impressed by the way they played mostly cricketing shots during their tricky 279-run chase, which was anchored by Ibrahim Zadran’s 127 off 149 before Sharafuddin Ashraf and Fazal Niazai blasted 37 runs in three overs to complete the victory. Bashar also said that Afghanistan played by the book during the four-day matches, the first of which they won by seven wickets.”This Afghanistan side is playing a different brand of cricket, which has surprised me,” Bashar told , a Dhaka-based Bengali daily. “Their main team usually slogs the ball. They start going for big shots, but this team doesn’t play like that. They are playing in the traditional way, which is very different for them. Even when they went for big shots in this game, they didn’t just slog. They played good shots. They took 86 off the last eight overs against experienced bowlers like Shafiul [Islam] and [Abu Jayed] Rahi. This is a group of really committed cricketers.”On the flip side, however, Bashar said that he was worried about the home side’s performance in the series so far. There are thirteen Bangladesh capped players among the 14 who have played in the two one-dayers, including World Cup squad members Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Rahman, Rubel Hossain and Abu Jayed. From this squad, Anamul Haque and later Farhad Reza have been added to the senior side that is touring Sri Lanka currently.Most of these players, according to Bashar, were picked on the back of excellent domestic showings from the last season, but it hasn’t reflected in what is considered a step below international cricket.”I am also wondering where the problem is,” Bashar said. “This team is made up of proven performers at the domestic level. They have scored runs and taken plenty of wickets, but I can’t figure out why they have been unable to perform against Afghanistan A.”It is a matter of prestige, but also worrying, isn’t it? The batsmen who played in the four-day matches all have 150-plus innings under their belt. They are now playing at almost the highest level, just below the senior team. They are in the A team because they have done well in domestic cricket. If they can’t do well at this level, how will they do well at the next step.”Bangladesh A still have a chance to make a comeback in the three remaining one-day matches, to be held on July 24, 27 and 29.

Rohit Sharma’s team are clear favourites, although they will know not to underestimate a World Cup opposition

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Oct-20224:01

Kumble: ‘Not fair’ to leave Ashwin or Axar out against Netherlands

Big Picture

Thursday will be the first instance of India and Netherlands contesting in a T20 international. While India will enter as clear favourites, they will also be the first to point out the danger that Scott Edwards’ team poses. Netherlands are the only Associates in the Super 12s. They have worked hard to earn their place and now their players want to enjoy playing alongside the big boys, a long-cherished dream. India, Pakistan and South Africa are in their group, and the Dutch want to ensure they push themselves to create an upset.Exposure – that has been the catchphrase Associate coaches and players have holding up outside the gates of the ICC and bigger countries. Playing better teams will make them better has been the punch line. And Netherlands have proved that this season: in 2022 they have played ODI series against England, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies and Afghanistan along with the twin T20Is against New Zealand as well as the T20 World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe before arriving in Australia.Related

• Suryakumar Interview: 'I wanted to do things my way'

• Netherlands relishing challenge that 'dreams are made of'

• India not looking to rest players, says bowling coach Mhambrey

Equipped with that experience, Netherlands believed they could beat Bangladesh in their first Super 12 match on Monday and nearly achieved that aim, if not for a couple of unnecessary run-outs, the reason behind the eventual nine-run defeat. Netherlands know India are on a whole other level and on an almighty high after a dramatic win against Pakistan. While their bowlers have executed the plans every match, Netherlands’ batting has been a virtual one-man show named Max O’Dowd. He needs support from Vikramjit Singh, Colin Ackermann, Tom Cooper and Edwards.The Netherlands captain could tell his players, ‘we have nothing to lose so let’s just enjoy’. Such an attitude, Paul van Meerkeren, Netherlands’ strike bowler, said, has the potential to help players raise the performance bar. And given their history of shocking big teams at T20 World Cups – England in 2009 and 2014 – India will want to be on high alert.Bas de Leede has been turning a lot of heads at the T20 World Cup•AFP/Getty Images

Form guide

India WLWWW
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Netherlands LLWWL

In the spotlight

As a captain Rohit Sharma has been loud, clear and fearless. He is one of the best tacticians in the game and is more than capable of thinking on the fly too. But Rohit the batter has been flying low recently: in his last five T20Is, Rohit has scored just 64 runs including two ducks at a strike rate of 103. This dip in form is in contrast to the stroke-filled 46 he hit against Australia in the rain-shortened match in Nagpur which earned him the Player-of-the-Match award. His last fifty came in a losing cause, seven matches ago, against Sri Lanka, in the Asia Cup. Rohit knows he needs to dictate with the bat and show consistency.Multiple World Cup-winner Ricky Ponting likes to keep an eye on young talent and he thinks Netherlands allrounder Bas de Leede has something special about him. Ponting feels de Leede has the tools to grow bigger, and his local BBL team Hobart Hurricanes could be thinking about having him on their roster. Other T20 franchise scouts have also tracked de Leede, who was recently picked up by MI Emirates for the inaugural season of the International League T20, starting in the UAE from January 2023. De Leede, who is 22, was also Player of the Match in Netherlands’ two victories in the first round of this World Cup and their second-highest run-maker in the World Cup Qualifiers that preceded it.

Team news

With just one left-hander in the Netherlands’ top eight, India could be tempted to bring in Yuzvendra Chahal, but their bowling coach Paras Mhambrey pointed out on Wednesday that they prefer the balance R Ashwin brings to their batting and may continue playing with him.India (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 R Ashwin/ Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Arshdeep SinghIndia are coming off a massing emotional high from their last game•ICC via Getty Images

Netherlands, too, are unlikely to tinker but remain concerned by the injury to Roelof van der Merwe. Edwards said a final call on would be taken based on how the left-arm spinner holds up after the training on Wednesday.Netherlands (possible): 1 Max O’Dowd, 2 Vikramjit Singh. 3 Bas de Leede, 4 Colin Ackermann, 5 Tom Cooper, 6 Scott Edwards (capt & wk), 7 Tim Pringle, 8 Timm van der Gugten, 9 Fred Klaassen 10 Paul van Meekeren, 11 Shariz Ahmed/Roelof van der Merwe

Pitch and conditions

New Zealand blasted 200 in the tournament opener at the SCG on Saturday. So it is fair to expect runs to flow once again. There was some threat of rain, but it looks pretty clear on match eve.

Stats and trivia

• Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene is the only batter to have scored 1000-plus runs in T20 World Cups. Jayawardene scored 1016 runs in 31 innings across five World Cups. But that record is set to be surpassed by Kohli, who is 73 runs adrift of the 1000-run mark.
• Kohli, who is playing his fifth T20 World Cup, is currently the third-highest run-maker, but has the highest average 84.3 (min. seven innings played) alongside 11 half-centuries (a tournament record). Oh, and the SCG is his favourite venue when it comes to T20Is as no batter has scored more than his 236 runs which have been cracked at an average of nearly 79 and a strike rate of 146.
• Van Meekeren needs one more wicket to go past Pieter Seelaar to become Netherlands’ leading T20 wicket-taker. Currently, van Meekeren has 58 wickets in 52 innings with an average of 21.5 and economy rate of 6.9

Quotes

“The discussion we always had was every game in a tournament like this is important. Yes, the first game [was against Pakistan and] we knew the hype around it. We knew it’s always going to be a high intensity and big clash, but having such games done and dusted in the first phase itself, it’s good. Had this game been maybe the third or fourth game, it would really sometimes take that effect on the following games, but having this game out of our group, it’s good.”
“Yeah, it’s huge. You always dream of playing World Cups, and the SCG is one of the most famous grounds in the world. And then add in you’re playing against arguably one of the best teams in the world, yes, it’s pretty surreal. The boys are looking forward to it.”
on how keen his team is to face India.

On what could well be his final first-class appearance, Pakistan seamer takes four wickets to evoke memories of his up-and-down red-ball career

Daniel Norcross at Canterbury19-Aug-2019KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Please Don’t Go” may not be everyone’s obvious earworm on an infuriatingly showery day that permitted only 43.2 overs to be bowled at Canterbury, but today was a little different. In all likelihood today was the penultimate chance anyone will get to watch one of the finest left-arm red ball pacemen of this era run through his box of bamboozling tricks.Mohammad Amir has called time on his Test career and is focusing on white-ball cricket from now on. It’s hard to blame him. Pakistan Test cricketers get paid poorly by comparison with their English, Indian and Australian counterparts, and in addition, Test match commitments can make them a less attractive prospect for Big Bash teams, CPL franchises and from next year, The Hundred sides. They are missing out on literally hundreds of thousands of pounds every year.It’s a lot of hard work, for little reward. And if you’re Pakistani, you’re toiling away for half your Test match career on seam-unfriendly pitches in the UAE. You’re not even going through all this to play in front of a home crowd.Amir’s critics will say that he owes Pakistan cricket a debt of gratitude after playing a significant role in its darkest hour; the spot-fixing scandal of 2010. Unlike Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, he has been given a second chance and has thrown it back in the face of people who went out on a limb to rehabilitate him. You can see their point, but you can surely also see his.And if you can see both sides, you will also be feeling a great sadness. Amir has picked up 258 first-class wickets at an average of 22.7. At his best, he slinks to the crease with a graceful and rhythmic action before pinning bewildered batsmen with his deceptive late swing. Here against Kent he plucked four poles from the ground to remove Zak Crawley, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Heino Kuhn (all yesterday) and Ollie Rayner (this morning). He’s not Wasim Akram, but it often feels as if he might have come close to emulating the great man had he not erred so catastrophically as a callow 18-year-old.On his return after a five-year ban there were a lot of people who didn’t want him back, and there are many who will not be sorry to see him go. In truth he has only intermittently touched the heights that he reached as a teenager. His place in Pakistan’s World Cup squad this summer was far from secure, but his performances in that tournament spoke of a man back to near his best.This is the only red-ball match Amir will play for Essex yet his contribution has consolidated Essex’s grip at the top of the table. Kent have played tough, nuggety cricket this season and can rightly be proud of their secure mid-table position. Resistance today came in the form of a 65-run 9th wicket partnership between Harry Podmore, who finished on 54 not out, and Matt Milnes. They may yet get out of this match with a draw, but a first innings total of 226 doesn’t feel enough at this stage against an Essex side with in-form batsmen and the small matter of Simon Harmer eying up a fourth day pitch with relish.They have also been hit by the news that Adam Milne is out for the season. With Mohammad Nabi having rejoined the Afghan squad, Kent are now without an overseas player for the remainder of their T20 and Championship campaigns.Sam Cook’s five-wicket haul may not have been as spectacular as Amir’s stump-busting bursts, but he too continues to impress as Essex have brought together a collection of very fine players who don’t quite attract the attentions of the England selectors.There was just enough time to watch Darren Stevens beat Alastair Cook’s bat four times in an over as Essex scratched their way to 32 for 1. Stevens is 43. He is sixteen years Amir’s senior, a very different joy to watch and he wants to play at least one more year with a red ball in his hand.Sadly for us, and worryingly for the wider cricketing world, Mohammad Amir does not.

Imad-Malik’s epic stand in vain as Kings go down by two runs in big chase

Danyal Rasool14-Feb-2023By the final delivery, Karachi Kings needed nine to win, but you still wouldn’t believe Peshawar Zalmi had triumphed until it was officially over. Not until a heroic Imad Wasim smashed a six over square leg that confirmed his side would finish two runs short despite an unbeaten 80 from their captain could Zalmi really celebrate. For, despite posting 199 and reducing the Karachi Kings to 46 for 4 and seemingly moving out of sight several times, Zalmi kept letting Karachi back in. There were dropped catches, no-balls and free hits, missed run-outs and a slow over rate that deprived Zalmi of a boundary fielder. A 131-run stand between Imad and Shoaib Malik ensured the Kings took it much deeper than expected, but they had left themselves a shade too much to do, and succumbed to an agonising defeat.For three-fourths of the game, it looked to be a hammering rather than a heartbreaker. Zalmi were inserted and began fluidly, but the early dismissal of their young stars Mohammad Haris and Saim Ayub set them back. It would set the stage for the game’s other sensational partnership, one between Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Babar Azam. It saw Zalmi amass 139 in 81 balls, with Kohler-Cadmore taking the role of aggressor-in-chief. At no point was this more evident than the final powerplay over, when the English lofted Imad for three successive sixes in a momentum-shifting over that leaked 23.He blitzed along, but Babar was catching up, too. After a slash against Imad – who conceded 42 in his three overs – brought up Babar’s 50, he took the attack to Andrew Tye, plundering 16 off the 15th over before holding out against Imran Tahir.That this game went so deep was partially down to a resilient fightback with the ball from Kings, who dominated the final five overs with the ball. Zalmi could score just 43 in this period, punctuated by regular wickets, and even Kohler-Cadmore lost his touch slightly. Seemingly nailed on for three figures, he ultimately found the square leg fielder against Ben Cutting in the final over, finishing a breathtaking innings with 92 off 50.Wahab Riaz struck with his second ball, removing Sharjeel Khan for a golden duck, and despite sloppiness early on, the wickets continued to tumble. Jimmy Neesham removed Matthew Wade with his first delivery, with Salman Irshad putting paid to Haider Ali’s brief stay off his first. Qasim Akram also fell to Neesham, and when Malik and Imad linked up, they looked like Kings’ best hope.But what a resistance it was. Early on, they only appeared to inject respectability into the scoreline, but when Shakib Al Hasan was carted for 21 in an over, the chase suddenly felt plausible. What followed at the death wasn’t necessarily high quality, with unforced errors in the field largely keeping Kings alive, but what it lacked in class it made up for in drama. The final three overs each saw a no-ball, two dropped catches and a missed run-out. By now, Malik had fallen and Cutting couldn’t quite find his touch right away, leaving it all down to Imad. He would keep going valiantly until the bitter finish, but in a clash that was as much about Babar vs Imad as it was Zalmi vs Kings, it was the Pakistan captain who tasted the sweet elixir of victory.

Robinson takes seven wickets for the match, Overton six after Lions batsmen set course with strong first innings

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2020Ollie Robinson and Craig Overton bowled England Lions to their maiden victory over Australia A, a nine-wicket win in their four-day match at the MCG.Early rain threatened to derail the Lions’ march to victory, with the hosts trailing England’s first-innings total by 72 overnight with five wickets in hand. Kurtis Patterson and Jack Wildermuth resumed, moving their partnership to 67 before Wildermuth fell to Overton for 37.Patterson batted through with the tail, adding 44 more to the total to ensure the Lions needed to bat again and finishing unbeaten on 94 when the final wicket fell – that of Mitchell Swepson for three – with the Lions needing 20 runs to win.Robinson and Overton finished with four wickets apiece for the innings, giving Robinson seven for the match and Overton six.The English side’s chase wasn’t straightforward. They lost first-innings centurion Dom Sibley to Jackson Bird in the third over for three, but Zak Crawley and Keaton Jennings sealed victory five overs later.Lions Head Coach Richard Dawson was impressed by his side’s competitiveness throughout every session. “Once we got ahead of the game and posted that first-innings total, we held the ascendancy,” Dawson said. “We kept it really basic, breaking things down to keep it simple and the effort within the squad was high class.”The fast bowlers were made to work really hard, having asked the Aussies to follow on, but they’ve put in the work on their fitness to be able to achieve that.”It is the first time an England Lions or England ‘A’ team has beaten Australia A either home or away, with four losses, two draws and an abandonment in the seven previous encounters between the two sides.The Lions will look to finish their tour of Australia unbeaten, with their final four-day match against a New South Wales XI starting on March 2. With Sibley, Crawley, Jennings and Dom Bess departing to join the England team for a two-Test tour of Sri Lanka, the match in Wollongong will give several players in the squad the chance to gain match experience.

Lewis, Pooran flickered briefly for West Indies, but a flurry of wickets in the middle overs derailed their chase

The Report by Hemant Brar11-Aug-20196:19

Ganga: WI batsmen failed to seize the crucial moments

Virat Kohli spoilt Chris Gayle’s 300th ODI celebrations with his 42nd century in the format, helping India win by 59 runs via the DLS method. With this victory, India have taken an unassailable 1-0 lead in the three-match series as the first game was washed out.Kohli, assisted by Shreyas Iyer’s half-century, helped India to 279 for 7. Rain had reduced West Indies’ target to 270 in 46 overs and, at one stage, they needed 91 off 71 balls before slipping from 179 for 4 to 182 for 8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up three of those four wickets – and finishing with figures of 4 for 31 – to effectively seal the game.After failing to convert five 50-plus scores into a hundred at the World Cup, Kohli ended his relative drought with 120 off 125 balls. During his chanceless knock, he surpassed Sourav Ganguly’s tally of 11,363 ODI runs. Among Indians, only Sachin Tendulkar (18,426) now has more ODI runs than Kohli’s 11,406.ALSO READ: Krishnaswamy – Iyer sticks to the nuts and bolts of middle-order ODI battingIyer too made full use of his first innings on the tour with 71 off 68. He played the perfect foil to Kohli, finding singles and boundaries with regular frequency as the duo added 125 in 115 balls for the fourth wicket.West Indies conceded only 67 from the last ten overs but, as it turned out, India had got enough by then.Kohli had opted to bat first on a humid day after winning his fifth successive toss on this tour but India didn’t have a great start. Shikhar Dhawan fell in the first over of the innings to a Sheldon Cottrell delivery that seemed to be swinging away before coming in off the seam to trap the batsman lbw. Rohit Sharma didn’t get off the mark until his 11th delivery but Kohli ensured the scoreboard was always ticking. The second ball Kohli faced, he drove Kemar Roach for four through extra cover. A similar delivery in Roach’s next over was flicked wristily to the deep-midwicket boundary, and when the West Indies pacers bowled straight, Kohli milked them for runs on the leg side.Kohli reached his fifty with a four to third man but Rohit never got going at the other end. In an attempt to break the shackles, he ended up slicing Roston Chase towards cover where Nicholas Pooran completed the catch over his shoulder, running backwards.Continuing at No. 4, Rishabh Pant hit a couple of fours – a whip through midwicket and a cut behind square – but was bowled for 20 off 35 when he failed to connect a pull off Carlos Brathwaite.Virat Kohli pulls one away•Randy Brooks/AFP

With those two wickets, West Indies – and especially Chase – applied brakes on the scoring rate. Chase bowled unchanged for his ten overs and finished with 1 for 37.Kohli though kept collecting his runs: a nudge here for one, a push there for two and putting away anything loose for four. A majestic six off Jason Holder over long-off took him to 89. Four overs later, Kohli brought up his hundred, off 112 balls. However, a tired shot – it was very humid, and draining – in the 42nd over brought an end to his knock; he mistimed a Brathwaite slower ball to Roach at long-off.A light drizzle halted play in the 43rd over for about 25 minutes. Iyer and Kedar Jadhav returned to take the side to 250 in the 45th over but India could never really accelerate from there.Still, the hosts needed to pull off the highest successful chase at this venue in order to register a win.Gayle became the leading ODI run-scorer from the West Indies, going past Brian Lara’s tally of 10,405 runs (those scored for ICC combined teams included) with a four off Khaleel Ahmed but was lbw soon after to Bhuvneshwar. Shai Hope didn’t last long either as he chopped Khaleel onto his stumps.Rain once again made an appearance in the 13th over of the chase and this time forced a reduction of four overs with ten runs taken off the target.Lewis who had struck four fours and a pulled six off Bhuvneshwar before the break resumed with another boundary, a swept four off Kuldeep Yadav. But Shimron Hetmyer ended up skying a quicker one from the wristspinner to Kohli at extra cover.Struggling with a calf injury, Lewis brought up his maiden ODI fifty in the Caribbean but became Kuldeep’s second victim after failing to middle a cut shot. Kohli at extra cover leapt in the air and plucked a one-handed catch.Pooran was severe on both Kuldeep and Jadhav, while Chase kept rotating the strike. The latter also had a slice of luck in the 33rd over when Mohammed Shami failed to latch on to a return catch with the batsman on 10.But Bhuvneshwar, returning for his second spell, removed both batsmen in the same over to peg West Indies back. Pooran ended up top-edging a knuckle ball to Kohli in front of square, while a brilliant one-handed return catch sent Chase back.Brathwaite fell to Ravindra Jadeja in the next over and Roach chopped one on to his stumps to give Bhuvneshwar his fourth wicket. There were some fireworks from Cottrell towards the end but West Indies were all but out of the game by then.

David fireworks come too late as Brave come unstuck on slow deck at Ageas Bowl

Matthew Luddington19-Aug-2023Oval Invincibles 139 for 7 (T Curran 43*, Jordan 3-20) beat Southern Brave 131 for 7 (David 44*, T Curran 3-43) by 8 runs
Tom Curran smashed 43 off just 28 balls and took three wickets as Oval Invincibles beat Southern Brave by eight runs and all but secured top spot and their place in The Hundred final.Chris Jordan took three wickets, all clean bowled, in a devasting spell of bowling to leave the Invincibles 90 for seven before Curran rescued the innings in a vital 49-run partnership off just 22 balls with Nathan Sowter to propel the Invincibles to 139 for seven.Curran then took three wickets himself, and the Invincibles spinners dominated the middle sets to restrict the Brave to 131 for seven. Tim David top-scored with 44 and hit four of the last five balls of the match for six, but the Brave drop to fourth in the table, with a vital last-round clash against Manchester Originals next Wednesday.Sam Billings elected to bat first and Jason Roy edged his first ball from George Garton for four, then had an early life after he ramped Craig Overton straight to Tymal Mills at short fine leg, but Mills lost sight of the ball at the crucial moment.Will Jacks pulled an enormous six off Garton and sliced a wide full toss just over short third man for four, but was trapped lbw by Craig Overton.Roy hit three boundaries with a pull, a flick and a scoop off Overton’s final set of the powerplay as the Invincibles reached 38 for one.Thirteen deliveries without a boundary followed, and the pressure soon told as Roy was bowled advancing down the wicket to an 89mph Chris Jordan delivery, and Rehan Ahmed trapped Tawanda Muyeye plumb in front.Heinrich Klaasen struck three boundaries in four balls, including a glorious shot over extra cover, before Jordan sent his middle stump flying out of the ground with a beauty.Jordan then bowled Sam Billings second-ball for his third dismissal in a devastating spell of bowling.Mills plucked an incredible one-handed return catch out of the air to remove Sam Curran, and when Ross Whiteley was run out Invincibles had slumped to 90 for seven.Tom Curran rescued the innings with 43 off 28 in a partnership of 49 off just 22 balls with Sowter.He struck three consecutive boundaries from Mills, hoisted Jordan for an enormous six over midwicket in the penultimate set, and tonked Mills over long-on for a six in a final set that went for 17 runs to propel the Invincibles to 139 for seven.In response Finn Allen struck Spencer Johnson over mid-on, before ramping him past short fine leg. Devon Conway flicked Johnson for a boundary, before hoisting Sowter for six to long-on, and clubbing a four to mid-wicket.Tom Curran broke the opening stand with a disguised slower ball that Conway nicked behind.Spin duo Adam Zampa and Sowter dominated after the powerplay, bowling four sets in tandem as Brave failed muster a boundary for 26 deliveries.Allen then launched Tom Curran for a four and a six through square leg, but skied his next delivery and Roy charged in from long-on to take a tough catch on the second juggle.Soon after Jacks bowled Leus du Plooy with a jaffa and Zampa dismissed Vince who holed out to long-on.Colin Ackermann clubbed a Sam Curran slower ball straight to deep mid-wicket, before Garton top edged Tom Curran to Billings.David produced some late fireworks with five enormous sixes to cheer up the crowd, but the Brave fell to an eight-run defeat.