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Yasir Shah’s ninth Test five-for hastened West Indies’ second-innings collapse that gave Pakistan a seven-wicket win in Kingston

The Report by Danyal Rasool25-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

West Indies fined for slow over rate

Match referee Chris Broad has fined West Indies for their slow over rate during the Jamaica Test against Pakistan. West Indies were ruled to be one over short of their target when time allowances were taken into consideration.
As per the ICC code of conduct, captain Jason Holder has been fined 20% of his match fee, while the rest of the West Indies players have been fined 10%. Holder will face a suspension if West Indies commits another minor over rate breach in a Test match within 12 months of this offence with Holder as captain.
Holder pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the fine, which meant there was no need for a formal hearing. On-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Richard Kettleborough, third umpire Bruce Oxenford and fourth umpire Gregory Brathwaite levelled the charge.

Pakistan took a giant stride towards winning their first-ever Test series in the Caribbean, after an efficient bowling performance helped ease to seven-wicket win in Kingston. After Yasir Shah’s six-for in the second innings left Pakistan chasing 32, Misbah-ul-Haq, who walked in at the fall of Younis Khan’s wicket with the side needing eight, hit two successive sixes to complete the formalities.Pakistan, emboldened by pushing West Indies to a tight corner last evening, spent the morning session closing in. They picked up six wickets for 59 as West Indies, resuming 93 for 4, were bowled out for 152.Misbah was in no mood to experiment, getting his two best bowlers – Mohammad Amir and Yasir Shah – into the attack straight away. At perhaps no stage of the Test did a wicket look as imminent as it did in the first 10 overs. Amir tormented nightwatchman Devendra Bishoo with an unwavering line outside off stump. Or perhaps it was the other way round, as Bishoo kept missing, somehow managing to keep his outside edge from making contact with the ball.Lesser bowlers – or indeed, Amir with lower levels of confidence – may have been frustrated, but Amir kept plugging away, and was duly rewarded. Vishaul Singh had just cut a rare poor Amir delivery away for four, but the bowler’s comeback was destructive. He went slightly wide of the crease to the left-hander, the ball shaping in sharply from the moment it pitched, destination: top of off. Singh, who had seen Amir move the ball the other way all morning, shouldered arms, and was every bit as much a spectator as everyone else when the off stump cartwheeled.Yasir Shah’s ninth five-for hastened West Indies’ collapse•AFP

Yasir was menacing from the other end, getting sharp turn off what was beginning to look like a standard day-five pitch, but it was Mohamamd Abbas who struck the next damaging blows with two wickets off three balls. Bishoo was the first to go, flashing at a short and wide delivery with Younis Khan pouching it in the slips. Two balls later, Shane Dowrich played across a straight ball that struck his pads in front of middle stump.Wahab, who has had a slightly disappointing Test with the ball, then got into the act, removing Jason Holder, West Indies’ highest scorer in the first innings. Yasir came in to clean up the lower order, just like he had the top order, removing Alzarri Joseph and Shannon Gabriel within four balls of each other to take six wickets this Test match, bolstering his ever-burgeoning credentials as a lethal second-innings bowler. This was the fifth time two Pakistan bowlers had taken six wickets in a Test innings of a Test, and the first since 2002.The chase of 32 was one perhaps not even Pakistan could stuff up, but they can’t be accused of not trying to make things interesting. Ahmed Shehzad tentatively pushed at the Gabriel delivery outside off stump for a simple catch to the wicketkeeper in the third over. Three balls later, Azhar Ali was making the walk back, having made a mess of trying to leave a ball from Joseph, only to somehow end up dragging it onto his stumps.After lunch, Younis fell trying to work Bishoo to the leg side with the side two boundaries away. But Misbah needed just three balls to put West Indies out of their misery. Thirty six for three may not look too clinical, but, as is so often the case, their bowlers had left the batsmen ample room for error.

Afghanistan, who are on a recent upswing, and Sri Lanka, plagued by injuries and loss of form, face off in their tournament opener in Kolkata on Thursday

The Preview by Nikhil Kalro16-Mar-2016

Match facts

Thursday, March 17, 2016
Start time 1930 local (1400 GMT)

Big picture

Currently, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka find themselves on either side of a seesaw; one looks skyward, while the other has won only three of their last 16 completed international games. Yet, such has been Sri Lanka’s prowess in global events that the contest is still tipped in their favour.Afghanistan came through the first round of the World T20 unscathed, overpowering their closest competitors Zimbabwe with an ease that caught the attention of the rest of Group 1. More impressively, Afghanistan have adapted, ditching their gung-ho approach for a calculated assault in conditions that will only increase their potency. The bowling has been solid, and captain Asghar Stanikzai has used his available resources astutely. Mohammad Nabi, the best of their host of spinning allrounders, has stood out with both bat and ball.Another fascinating aspect in the qualifier was Afghanistan’s attitude on the field. Their discernibly animated reactions and yelps of frustration to a fumble, more often than not, added to the pressure rather than being a motivating factor for the fielders. Afghanistan came close to beating Sri Lanka in the 2015 World Cup, and they may never find the opposition more vulnerable.Sri Lanka seem to have, unfortunately for the tournament, carried their Asia Cup form into the World T20 warm-up games. Their last win was against UAE, a closely-fought match in the Asia Cup, but where is the next one coming from?Sri Lanka’s win drought recently is directly proportional to the form of their best players. Post the retirement of Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara, now a selector after a major revamp, many tipped the likes of Angelo Mathews, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga to carry the torch till the next generation of young blood came through. Neither have the youngsters shone through consistently nor has that torch been supported.However, underestimate a Sri Lanka side at an ICC competition at your own peril. They might just be spurred by the reminder of home by Kolkata’s spin-friendly nature.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan: WWWWW
Sri Lanka: LLLWL

Watch out for

Sri Lanka’s opening pair of Dinesh Chandimal and Tillakaratne Dilshan have enough experience between them to understand the value of the Powerplay in slow, low conditions.Mohammad Shahzad‘s passion has been visible on and off the field, clapping and counselling his team-mates through the end overs. However, his primary role is with the bat, and he has found a blend between aggression and caution, with ones and twos becoming an increasingly vital part of his game.

Team news

Despite a fluid batting and bowling order, Afghanistan’s XI is settled. With the pitch expected to play on the slower side, Afghanistan may opt for an extra spinner in place of Hamid Hassan.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2 Noor Ali Zadran, 3 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 4 Mohammad Nabi, 5 Gulbadin Naib, 6 Shafiqullah, 7 Samiullah Shenwari, 8 Najibullah Zadran, 9 Dawlat Zadran, 10 Rashid Khan, 11 Hamid Hassan/Amir HamzaLahiru Thirmanne made a 29-ball 41 and a 37-ball 45 at No. 3 in the warm-ups against New Zealand and Pakistan and is likely to keep his place. Malinga is still doubtful for this clash, and could be excluded as a preventive measure unless he has completely recovered from his “bone bruise”.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Lahiru Thirimanne, 4 Milinda Siriwardana, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Chamara Kapugedera, 7 Thisara Perera/Dasun Shanaka, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Dushmantha Chameera

Pitch and conditions

With the weather set to be fair, the captains and think-tank are likely to look down more than up. The pitch is likely to take plenty of turn, but provide even bounce. With sluggish conditions expected, the captains would look to bat on winning the toss.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have won just two of their last 10 T20Is, while Afghanistan have won nine of their last 10.
• These two teams have never met each other in a T20I.
• Among the current squads, only Mohammad Shahzad (1287) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (1751) have more than 1000 T20I runs

Aakash Chopra on Sri Lanka’s strengths and weaknesses

Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh shared an opening stand of 246 – the second-highest Australian partnership for any wicket in ODIs – in a clinical dissection of Scotland, who were beaten by 200 runs.

The Report by Jonathan Coates 03-Sep-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAaron Finch peppered the boundary with seven sixes and 16 fours•Getty Images

Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh shared an opening stand of 246 – the second-highest Australia partnership for any wicket in ODIs – in a clinical dissection of Scotland, who were beaten by 200 runs.The pair erased Geoff Marsh and David Boon’s Australia record of 212 for an opening partnership, made against India and a record that had stood proudly since 1986. That wasn’t the only record to fall. Australia’s 362 for 3 surpassed the 345 they scored against the same team, made here four years ago, and the 334 for 6 they made against Scotland at the 2007 World Cup.In the field, the hosts were athletic and efficient, but their bowling was blunt. They didn’t concede any boundaries for six overs, after choosing to field first. The score was 12 for no loss at that stage but Scotland simply couldn’t stem the flow of runs that followed.Finch didn’t quite reprise the brutality of his world-record Twenty20 score in Southampton, but played impressively, waiting for the right ball and picking his spot. He may have set Twenty20 records last week but he only had 107 runs from seven ODI innings before the trip to Edinburgh. On 24, he advanced to Majid Haq’s second ball of the day and was beaten. To the bowler’s dismay, the ball also deceived Northamptonshire wicketkeeper David Murphy.At the other end, Marsh did not look comfortable for a long time and struggled to adjust to the lack of pace in the pitch; but the batsman grew in confidence after punching offspinner Haq for two fours in consecutive overs.Few will remember those early difficulties when scrutinising the scoreboard in years to come. It took Marsh 87 balls to get to 50, but 61 deliveries later he had 150. He struck 16 fours, the same as Finch, and five sixes to Finch’s seven in a display of breathtaking acceleration.Gordon Drummond, who combined with Iain Wardlaw to make life difficult for the Australia batsman at the start, was the only bowler other than Haq to manage finish with respectable figures as Scotland tried in vain to build confidence for their final World Cricket League Championship matches in Belfast later this week.Australia’s strategy was simple: build the run rate from five an over to six and seven, keep wickets in hand and then go ballistic. When the Powerplay was called after after 33 overs, Wardlaw came back on with Finch 108 and Marsh 62 and the score at 181 for no loss.It was civilised carnage from then on, at least until the 48th over when Wardlaw had Marsh and Shane Watson caught off successive deliveries by Gordon Goudie in the deep. In those 15 overs, Australia added 166 runs. The first wicket went to Haq, as Finch mishit a big shot, but the batsman’s departure did nothing to slow the scoring.The two young Scotland openers, Freddie Coleman and Hamish Gardiner, came out to bat under a warm sun and dropped anchor in a steep chase, and soon Mitchell Johnson and Clint McKay had a wicket apiece.Matt Machan, who has impressed this season for Sussex, constructed an attractive 39 before holing out and Preston Mommsen, Scotland’s captain in the absence of Kyle Coetzer, was run out attempting a single.Faulkner deceived Berrington with a ball out of the back of his hand and Fawad Ahmed claimed his first ODI wicket as Scotland laboured to 162 all out in 44 overs. Johnson picked up the early wicket of Coleman and then came back to dismiss three tail-end batsmen in successive overs.

Nottinghamshire still have to play the leaders, Warwickshire, twice but defeat against a resurgent Durham is a blow to their championship ambitions

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge18-Aug-2012
ScorecardAlex Hales made a century for Notts but Durham clained a vital win in the penultimate over•Getty Images

Given that they still have to play Warwickshire, the First Division leaders, at home and away, it would be premature to declare that Nottinghamshire’s title prospects can be discounted but their failure to beat Durham has delivered a significant setback.They have three matches left to Warwickshire’s four and the gap between them stands at 18 points, with Sussex now ahead of them as the closest pursuers. Should Warwickshire beat Middlesex at Edgbaston next week, while Nottinghamshire are idle, Chris Read’s side would probably need not only to win both clashes with their Midlands rivals, but get the better of Surrey at The Oval too.It was no wonder, then, that they identified this match with Durham as one they needed to emerge from with a strong clutch of points, and no wonder that they chased the result for all they were worth. They lost by 16 runs in the end in a gripping contest that went down to the penultimate over as the Durham all-rounder, Mark Wood, finished his second Championship appearance with a career-best 5 for 78. Even a draw would have been of limited value to them at this stage of the race.For a while, it looked more likely that Nottinghamshire would win comfortably, even though Paul Collingwood’s declaration, which came after he lost his own wicket in the fourth over of the morning, left them with a stiff challenge, namely to score 366 in 90 overs. Although Nottinghamshire have twice in their history scored more than 400 in the last innings to win a match, they have only three times chased down more than they needed on this occasion.The pitch was markedly easier than it had been earlier in the contest, particularly compared with the second day, when England’s Graham Onions arrived from being stood down at Lord’s, found the ball swinging nicely and bouncing inconsistently and wound up with 9 for 67.This time, Riki Wessels and Alex Hales put on 168 in 42.1 overs with no-one, Onions included, able to trouble either man unduly until Wessels, within two runs of a third Championship century of the season, received a ball from Chris Rushworth that he tried to cut but which he could only steer into the hands of one of two fielders in the gully region.With that platform to build on, Nottinghamshire were favourites to win the match. But long chases, even with the benefit of such a good start, inevitably run into turbulent spells and Nottinghamshire hit one when Michael Lumb to- edged an attempted sweep off Scott Borthwick, the leg spinner, to be caught at short fine leg and then Adam Voges nicked his eighth ball to Phil Mustard as Onions at last found a bit of swing,Hales, whose form has been a little below par since he made 99 for England on this ground in the Twenty20 match against West Indies in June, completed his first century of the season amid some relief but was leg before soon afterwards to a full length ball from Wood. Hales took his time to depart the scene, perhaps feeling he might have hit the ball, but there could be no argument from Read when another very good delivery from Wood bowled him.Nottinghamshire needed precisely 100 from the last 25 overs, with five wickets in hand. On another occasion, they might have begun to think conservatively but there was no point in playing for a draw. The next 90 minutes or so therefore offered a tense spectacle.Durham, for their part, had every interest in pursuing a win for themselves. They have enjoyed some improvement since Mustard handed the captaincy to Paul Collingwood and the goal for them was a third win in a row, which would almost certainly mean that their anxieties over possible relegation could almost be put to bed after a long time spent at the bottom of the table.After a brief pause to regroup, Paul Franks and Graeme White attempted to raise the tempo, but Borthwick accounted for both in quick succession. Nottinghamshire are without the quality of James Taylor and Samit Patel in their batting line-up because of international calls and they felt their absence keenly in this match.Collingwood turned down the chance to take the new ball, preferring to keep on with Borthwick and Wood. It turned out to be the right move. Steven Mullaney kept Nottinghamshire’s hopes alive with a steady unbeaten 60 but ran out of partners.
Ben Phillips took three boundaries in a row off Borthwick, at which point Nottinghamshire still felt they might pull it off, needing 42 off as many balls, but Wood rose to the challenge.A couple of times he tried too hard and was no-balled for over-stepping but after Phillips had pulled him straight to midwicket he proved too good for Luke Fletcher and Andy Carter. He bowled the former twice in three balls — the first disallowed as a no-ball — and then pinned the latter squarely in front, which gave Durham victory with eight balls to spare.”If we could have got to the last over, against Borthwick, needing 10 or even 15, we might have done it,” a disappointed Mullaney said afterwards. “But it wasn’t to be.”I don’t think it is over yet. We have only three games left and Warwickshire have four but if Middlesex can squeeze a draw out of them or even win at Edgbaston next week, we still have to play them twice. Then we will see where we are when we go to Edgbaston. We could still be in a strong position.”It was fighting talk, as you would expect. But the odds against Nottinghamshire are much longer now.

Glamorgan’s bid to keep in touch with the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C was dashed by the rain at Cardiff

17-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Glamorgan’s bid to keep in touch with the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C was dashed by the rain at Cardiff. Put into bat by their opponents the Unicorns, Glamorgan had reached 45 for 2 from 11.1 overs when a third rain interruption proved terminal with the umpires – Mark Benson and Neil Mallender – abandoning the match shortly before 5.30pm. Glamorgan and the Unicorns take a point each from the contest.The home side had an early scare when Gareth Rees was trapped lbw to the second ball of the match from Neil Saker. Glamorgan were in further trouble when Jim Allenby played a rash shot which saw him caught behind off Glen Querl for 16. Two short rain breaks reduced the game to 38 overs per side and then 37. But just as captain Alviro Petersen and Stewart Walters seemed to be launching a recovery the rain arrived for a third time.

Zimbabwe continue to offer the likeliest possibility of international cricket returning to Pakistan, with the board indicating its willingness to help victims of the floods that have ravaged Pakistan

Cricinfo staff24-Aug-2010Zimbabwe continue to offer the likeliest possibility of international cricket returning to Pakistan, with the board indicating its willingness to help victims of the floods that have ravaged Pakistan.After New Zealand cricket embarrased the PCB by denying a claim from officials that they were willing to play in Pakistan to help raise funds for flood victims, Peter Chingoka, chairman Zimbabwe Cricket, said his players were ready and willing to play in a country where no international cricket has taken place since March 2009, following the terror attacks on the touring Sri Lanka side.The PCB revealed two days ago that talks were on with Zimbabwe even before the floods to arrange a series to mark the return of international cricket to Pakistan but the natural disaster now means that matches are likely to be played to raise funds. “At this point in time we just have one thing in mind and that is to help people and minimise their suffering for which we are ready to play in Pakistan,” Chingoka told . “We sent the offer following approval from all the players who also want to play a role in helping millions of people in Pakistan.”Pakistan’s packed schedule, however, means that no dates have yet been set. The side is due to play a full Test and ODI series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in October-November, soon after the end of the current tour to England in late September. Then they travel to New Zealand for the second time in two years – this time for the away series as opposed to 2009’s ‘home’ series arrangement – for a series of two Tests, six ODIs and three T20s. That tour ends on February 5 and the World Cup begins exactly two weeks later.”Both boards are working on a plan to finalise the schedule but so far it is undecided,” Chingoka said. “Both boards are trying to hold a series soon and it may take place before the World Cup 2011.”Meanwhile, the Pakistan board didn’t react to denials from NZC about the alleged offer to play a flood relief game in Pakistan. PCB officials continue to maintain privately that such an offer was hinted at in an email from Justin Vaughan, chief executive NZC, though they are unwilling to take it any further now. There was supposed to be an official PCB response on Monday to Vaughan’s comments, but none came eventually.:The Imran Khan Flood Relief Fund: https://ptiuk.org/flood-appeal/The Zindagi Trust: https://zindagitrust.org/donation-flood-disaster-relief.asp: https://www.chowrangi.com/donation-links-and-relief-resources-for-pakistan-flood-victims.html

The fast bowler returns to action for the first time since a side strain in September, and will spearhead Australia’s T20I attack against Pakistan

Tristan Lavalette12-Nov-2024The return of Xavier Bartlett will be a welcome sight for the national hierarchy hoping to shore up fast bowling depth with a gruelling Border-Gavaskar Trophy set to test the fitness of Australia’s frontline quicks.Bartlett has not been sighted in domestic cricket so far this season after a side strain cut short his white-ball tour of the UK in September. He has recently returned to local cricket in Brisbane and is set to play in the T20I series opener between a shorthanded Australia – missing their Test players – and Pakistan at the Gabba on Thursday.Showcasing immaculate upright seam positioning, enabling him to conjure menacing late swing with the new ball, Bartlett was the leading wicket-taker in last season’s BBL and a key in Brisbane Heat’s stunning title triumph.He subsequently claimed four-wicket hauls in his first two ODIs against West Indies and has taken 6 wickets from four T20Is at an average of 17.66.Bartlett has been on the hierarchy’s radar as they strive to build depth behind the big three quicks of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, who have been resilient over the years but face the tough challenge of five Tests against India within seven weeks.There have been fitness issues with Australia’s fringe quicks. Michael Neser suffered a hamstring injury in the recent Australia A-India A match at the MCG, while WA speedsters Lance Morris and Jhye Richardson have been working their way back through white-ball cricket. Scott Boland is Australia’s reserve quick for the first Test in Perth starting on November 22.Xavier Bartlett topped the bowling charts in the last BBL•Getty Images

“Those main three [Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood] have been amazing for so long, unbelievable,” Bartlett told reporters in Brisbane. “Going forward there will be opportunities. Personally, the goal is always to try and play Test cricket for Australia.”There’s so much cricket and every time you get a chance to play for Australia it’s a childhood dream. Whether it’s [due to] people who are unavailable or available you just have to try to take your opportunity. And this is a great opportunity.”Everything is good [with my fitness]… champing at the bit to get out there.”Bartlett, 25, will be part of a second-string Australia team aiming to salvage some pride after their surprise ODI series defeat to Pakistan, which included successive thrashings in Adelaide and Perth.Australia’s batters had no answer for Pakistan’s four-pronged pace attack who relished favourable fast and bouncy conditions throughout the series. “They have been amazing, the last two games they only used four bowlers,” Bartlett said.”The 140 [kph] from both ends, been exciting to watch. They bowled some really great lengths and were really attacking. Hopefully we can emulate that. We’ve spoken about just trying to take wickets and try to make early inroads.”Bartlett is set to share the new ball with left-arm quick Spencer Johnson in a return in tandem for the pair who so often ignited Heat during their title run. Much like at Optus Stadium, the Gabba surface tends to be fast and bouncy but runs can flow quickly there in white-ball cricket.There has been stormy weather in Brisbane this week with showers forecast on Thursday. “It’s a really good cricket wicket, so it should make for entertaining cricket,” Bartlett said.While some eye-catching performances across the three-match T20I series could see Bartlett move up the pecking order of fringe Test bowlers, his Heat teammate Nathan McSweeney will make his debut in the first Test after being named as Usman Khawaja’s opening partner.”To see his journey from when we were about 11 or 12 [years of age] to where he is now, making his Test debut, it’s unbelievable – I’m absolutely stoked for him,” Bartlett said of McSweeney, who is from Brisbane but captains South Australia in the Sheffield Shield.”He’s worked so hard. I can’t wait to see him go out there and hopefully go well for Australia.”

London Spirit had earlier made 104 for 5 after the game had been reduced to 85 balls per side due to constant drizzle

Valkerie Baynes08-Aug-2023Maia Bouchier’s classy, unbeaten half-century guided Southern Brave to victory in their Women’s Hundred clash with London Spirit, who finally made it onto the park after two washouts.Dank, gloomy conditions hung over Lord’s in the lead-up to the match, but the light – if fairly constant – drizzle cleared in time for the match to go ahead, only slightly reduced to 85 balls per side and hour later than scheduled at 4pm local time before a crowd of 13,081.Heather Knight, the England and Spirit captain batted like player raring to go but also one who had never been away following the Women’s Ashes, with an excellent 44 off 27 balls. But it was Georgia Adams, a player for whom national duty has proved elusive so far but who has been an influential allrounder on the domestic circuit in recent years, who shone with the ball for Brave.Legspinner Sarah Glenn, playing her first match since having emergency surgery to remove her appendix the night after England’s second Ashes ODI in Southampton last month, wrested back control for the hosts, but Bouchier’s innings kept Brave afloat while some clever late hitting by Australian Maitlan Brown put them firmly back on top.The 29-year-old Adams came into the match with six wickets in the competition so far, one ahead of Manchester Originals’ Fi Morris, who took all five of hers in Monday’s win over Birmingham Phoenix. Adams proceeded to extend her lead at the top of the wicket-takers’ charts with four Spirit scalps for 11 runs from her 20 balls to contain the hosts to 104 for 5.Lauren Bell made use of the conditions from the outset, her inswing accounting for Grace Harris on the fifth delivery of the match. Harris had already been struck by a bouncer which ricocheted off her arm into her helmet grille and, three balls later, missed her attempt to drive at one which came in from outside off and crashed into the top of middle stump.Dani Gibson, pulled and cut Bell for back-to-back fours early on and after the powerplay, reduced to 21 balls, Spirit were 30 for 1, closed out by another boundary carved away between point and cover point by Gibson, who played well for her 29 off 20 balls until she dragged an Adams delivery onto leg stump.Knight was in fine touch, her shot-making and placement sublime as she reverse-swept, reverse-lapped and cut her way to the top score for her side who, besides Gibson, were perhaps a little rusty with the bat, Grace Scrivens the only other Spirit player to reach double-figures with 10 not out.Georgia Adams finished with 4 for 11•Getty Images

When Amelia Kerr gave Adams her second wicket, spooning a catch straight to Smriti Mandhana at mid-off for just 6, and then Richa Ghosh holed out to Bouchier at long-on – also off Adams, Knight stepped on the gas. She dispatched Kalea Moore’s high full toss in front of square leg for the first of three fours in Moore’s set of five, following up with another reverse-sweep then a lofted drive over cover.With England’s Under-19 captain Scrivens batting opposite, her senior counterpart Knight picked out Moore just inside the rope at deep square leg to give Adams her fourth.Gibson’s handy contribution continued when, having seen her on-field lbw dismissal of dangerous Brave opener Mandhana overturned when the ball was found to have pitched outside leg, she had Mandhana out for a three-ball duck with her next delivery, well caught by Kerr at backward square leg.Five boundaries shared between Bouchier and Danni Wyatt in the space of seven balls eased the pressure from Brave and by the end of the powerplay, they were level with Spirit at 30 for 1.Glenn broke a 38-run stand between the two with the last ball of her opening set of five when Wyatt mistimed a pull to Tara Norris at mid-on. But Bouchier forged ahead, moving from 23 off 18 balls to 48 off 32 by the time Glenn struck again, twice in three balls to regain some control for Spirit. Glenn had Adams caught by Harris at long-on then Freya Kemp edging to Ghosh behind the stumps and Brave needed 32 off 26 balls.Gibson was back in the action with a strong catch running in from deep midwicket to remove explosive hitter Chloe Tryon off the bowling of Charlie Dean for just 4. But then Bouchier brought up her half-century with a single off Glenn.It was Brown who chewed through the rest of the run chase, sending an inside edge off Kerr through Ghosh’s legs for four and then scooping over the keeper’s head before a third boundary in a row over short fine leg made it three needed off eight balls. Fittingly, Bouchier finished the job, with one run needed of the last five, she cut Gibson’s second ball of the set to the boundary to seal victory.Bouchier said the rain delay hadn’t proved a distraction before play.”We came on the pitch ready to play and that’s what we did,” she said. “We bowled really well and, and kept them down to fairly decent score and to go out there and play the way we did was really good.”They had a, a little disadvantage not being able to play any games but in this cricket you have to be ready and I don’t think they were as ready as we were. It came down to the batting mainly. I think especially with the ball, we’ve bowled really well in our last couple of games and we’ve come back really well. So for them to come out and they were a little bit rusty with the bat, but we took advantage of that and you need to do that to keep them down to that sort of score.”Glenn admitted there was an element of rustiness in Spirit’s first game of the tournament.”It was the first time we were out there, but we did a real good middle practice yesterday to get us used to it so I thought we actually adapted really well and the communication was really good,” she said, adding that her side chose to ignore the rain during the morning.”It was like, ‘no, no, we’re getting on with it’. I think we were in denial a little bit, which I think helped our mindset because we were just so eager to out there, and luckily we did.”

“Maybe Rahul temperamentally is not suited to take the responsibility where he is the man who has got to get the job done,” says former India batter

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-20224:28

Vettori: Coaches need to ‘destigmatise risk’ in KL Rahul’s mind

Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul should bat “quicker rather than longer”, “take the game on”, and have “fun” while batting instead of trying to make his team win on his own, according to ESPNcricinfo’s experts Sanjay Manjrekar and Daniel Vettori.On Wednesday, Rahul scored 79 off 58 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Eliminator of IPL 2022, but failed to take Lucknow Super Giants home in a 208-run chase. Manjrekar said Rahul is “temperamentally not suited” for the responsibility of being the main batter in the side, especially when he is the captain in the IPL.Related

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• Patidar, Rahul and their different high-wire acts

• Patidar's big-match hundred, Super Giants' poor record vs playoff sides

Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s show T20 Time:Out, Manjrekar said: “We’ve seen enough of KL Rahul to now know that when he becomes this player, the captain, the key player of the side… I mean Virat Kohli loves that kind of responsibility. Dhoni loved it. I think Rohit Sharma, barring this season, generally likes that kind of responsibility. Maybe KL Rahul temperamentally is not suited to take this kind of responsibility where he is the man who has got to get the job done. They are just made of different mettle and maybe KL Rahul isn’t.”As a coach, I would drill that into his head to tell him that I’m not expecting you to win the game. You just go and have fun, and funnily enough, you’ll see the results start coming and that’s why I believe he has a much better strike rate at the international level rather than at the IPL level because he’s just one of the many batters. He’s playing alongside Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and the others, so he just goes out there and expresses himself.”Manjrekar called Rahul’s knock a “third-gear innings”. In the last few years at the IPL, Rahul has batted more like an anchor than the aggressor he is when playing for India. His strike rate in the last four IPL seasons has been 134.53 whereas at international level he scores at 142.49 overall.”KL Rahul’s innings is something that we’ve seen before when he was captaining Punjab Kings, for example, [and they] would fall short of a run-chase,” he said. “The scenario would be the same. You’ll have KL Rahul batting right till the very end, they would have lost three or four wickets and people like [Nicholas] Pooran would come in like Evin Lewis came in the last two overs and Krunal [Pandya] in the last, [Marcus] Stoinis in the last three. So [for them], it’s a bit working with the crumbs that are left. You’ve got to come in and try to make up for the lack of pace that the innings had.1:48

KL Rahul: Our fielding let us down really badly in this game

“KL Rahul himself has the ability to do that. You see every time he decided to play the big shot, it came off. He played a couple of terrific shots against [Josh] Hazelwood. He can do it when he wants to but he just has this very deep-rooted belief, or an attitude, or an approach, that he wants to bat longer rather than quicker.”If I was his coach, I would just take that decision out of his hand even if he’s the captain, for we’ve seen a lot of games where the teams would benefit immensely if KL Rahul just batted quicker rather than longer.”This was a strange season for Rahul. When batting first, he scored 425 runs in eight innings at an average of 85.00 and a strike rate of 148.60. But while chasing, those numbers dropped to 191 runs in seven knocks at an average of 27.28 and a strike rate of 113.01.”I did focus on my stats that this season I didn’t score many runs in the second innings,” Rahul said after the match, “but this was a big game and when you come to a big game, you forget whatever you did in the last 14 games. You try to play this game as a fresh game and you try to give your best. I tried the same even today.”Yeah, I didn’t score too many runs in the second innings this season but in other seasons I have really done well, and I enjoy chasing. Sometimes you are not as successful. But it’s a team game and the team really stepped up when we were chasing. We won a few games but generally overall in this season, we didn’t do well while chasing, so it’s something we need to learn from.”1:09

Manjrekar: No point in having depth if one batter bats through

In a match where Rajat Patidar scored 112 not out off just 54 balls, Rahul’s knock was much slower, though both were playing different roles for their respective sides. Vettori, though, was of the opinion that Rahul is good enough to score as quickly without taking as many risks.”If you tell him, ‘You being more aggressive at the top is not risky because you’re such a good player, there’s no reason for you to want to bat this long, there’s no reason for you to want to bat in the style because you’re good enough to bat any way you want.’ And you’re not asking for anything that he can’t do and I think that’s the key to it that.”Like Patidar today took risks. KL Rahul can take half as many risks as Patidar did and still be incredibly successful. So I think it’s just what I said at the start, destigmatising risk. This is not a risky style of play for you. Just take the game on. That will lead to more wins than trying to manage or navigate a way through a chase.”So if you think about this, a couple of more risks through the powerplay and all of a sudden that [becomes] 60 off 42, [which] looks so much better. And it takes so much pressure off the likes of Deepak Hooda because when we got to that back end, it was just like ‘I’ve got to go after every ball.’ That means the bowlers know exactly what you’re doing, whereas early on, the bowlers are still trying to guess your intent, and I think you [Super Giants] let them get away with that at that stage.A lot of times, a weak middle order is cited as the reason behind Rahul’s conservative approach, but Vettori felt Rahul needed to trust his team-mates more.”Quinton de Kock has proved it enough, Deepak Hooda has proved it enough. You’ve got other players that you could give more opportunities to, Stoinis, [Jason] Holder, Evin Lewis. It’s Sanjay’s point around, go out there have some fun. Pretend almost like you’re playing for India and then trust everyone around you. It’s not all on you. Whatever you contribute will be good enough.”

Three T20Is and three ODIs between the two sides were originally scheduled for April

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2021Ireland men’s limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe, originally scheduled for April, has been postponed indefinitely after Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) advised Cricket Ireland against going ahead with the tour.The Irish squad was due to fly to Harare on March 28 and play three T20Is, followed by a three-match ODI series, in April. None of the postponed ODIs were part of the World Cup Super League (WCSL). Ireland are slated to host Zimbabwe for the WCSL fixtures this summer – dates for which haven’t been announced yet – to vie for 30 qualifying points in their bid to book an automatic spot for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.ZC clarified in a statement that the postponement had been due to a squeeze on the schedule, rather than due to any concerns around Covid-19.”Due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic across the world – not in Zimbabwe in particular – ZC, like other boards elsewhere, has been forced to readjust its domestic and international cricket calendar,” the statement said.”With Zimbabwe scheduled to face Afghanistan men away and Pakistan men at home between March and April, accommodating the Ireland series in between the two aforementioned tours as had been proposed was unfortunately not going to be feasible. To confirm, the postponement of the proposed Ireland tour was due to scheduling challenges and had nothing to do with the ‘ongoing Covid-19 situation in the country.'”Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, said the board would be aiming to draw up alternate fixtures to aid the national side’s preparations for the T20 World Cup in India in October-November.”We’re obviously disappointed, but to be honest, it is not an unexpected announcement from our Zimbabwean counterparts,” Holdsworth said. “We appreciate their efforts and willingness to try and make the tour possible, but in the end the health and safety of players and support staff must be of primary consideration.”We’ll now look at whether alternate fixtures can be arranged during that period, which is a crucial window in advance of a busy home season and in a T20 World Cup year.”Ireland recently toured the UAE, where they drew the ODI series against the hosts 1-1 before suffering a 3-0 whitewash in the format against Afghanistan. Aside from the home series against Zimbabwe, they are also due to host South Africa in the summer, in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup. Ireland’s full summer schedule is set to be released in April.Holdsworth also said that the postponement of the home series against Zimbabwe makes the upcoming tour of Bangladesh by Ireland Wolves, the A team, all the more important.”This places even greater importance on the proposed Ireland Wolves tour in February/March given the need to provide many of our players the volume and quality of cricket we need to keep the momentum in player development we have been seeing over the last few years,” Holdsworth said. “We expect to be providing an update on the Wolves situation in coming days.”The Pakistan women’s team is currently touring Zimbabwe for three ODIs, to be played on February 11, 13, and 15, and two T20Is, on February 18 and 20 at the Harare Sports Club. The tour, as per a ZC release, is being conducted in a bio-secure bubble with no spectators allowed at the match venue.This story was updated to include details of ZC’s statement