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Zimbabwe’s loss on Tuesday and their poor net run rate has knocked them out of contention

S Rajesh04-Jul-2023Zimbabwe’s 31-run defeat to Scotland means they can no longer qualify for the ODI World Cup in India later this year. That’s because their net run rate has fallen to -0.099, largely due to their heavy defeat against Sri Lanka, when they lost with almost 17 overs to spare.Zimbabwe were on six points with two games to spare, but they failed to get those two points which would have ensured qualification. If Netherlands beat Scotland on Thursday, then all three teams – Zimbabwe, Scotland and Netherlands – will finish on six points.Related

• Spotlight on Bulawayo as Netherlands, Scotland battle for World Cup jackpot

• Scotland's Sole-stirring bowling display knocks Zimbabwe out of World Cup

With Netherlands’ net run rate in the negative but already above Zimbabwe’s, any win for them will only improve that further, thus ensuring that Zimbabwe cannot finish in the top two.Thus, the focus now shifts to the Netherlands-Scotland game, and the result margins for those two teams to qualify. A win for Scotland will obviously take them through, but even if they lose, they could qualify if the margin of defeat is relatively small.If Netherlands score 250, Scotland can afford to lose by up to 31 runs to stay ahead on run rate. A win by 32 or more runs for Netherlands will lift their NRR above Scotland’s. If Scotland bat first and score 250, they will stay ahead on NRR if Netherlands chase it down in around 44.1 overs (depending on how they get their winning runs). If they chase it down any sooner, then Netherlands will trump Scotland’s run rate and take the second qualification spot.

The New Zealander will join the team on their ongoing tour of Australia

Umar Farooq10-Jan-2023Mark Coles is back as head coach of the Pakistan women’s team, and will join the squad on their ongoing tour of Australia. The New Zealander takes over the responsibility from interim head coach Saleem Jaffar, who was originally working as the team’s bowling coach with fellow former Pakistan men’s international Taufeeq Umar as batting coach.The PCB, under a new management committee headed by Najam Sethi, has roped Coles in on a one-year contract. He previously served as head coach from 2017 to 2019, when he resigned from the role citing family commitments.Related

• PCB review could limit Babar's all-format influence

• Mark Coles resigns as Pakistan women's head coach

• Diana Baig returns as Pakistan name squads for women's T20 World Cup and Australia tour

“I have worked with Mark and he is a perfect coach for a women’s team – gentle but firm, friendly but strict,” Sethi, told ESPNcricinfo. “He is a well-respected coach and in his previous stint with Pakistan he worked incredibly hard for the team’s progress. Players only had good words to say about him, hence we have decided to bring him back and he will be joining the team in Australia with immediate effect.”The PCB has been functioning under Sethi ever since the government removed ex-chair Ramiz Raja and his board by revoking the 2019 constitution the PCB was operating under and giving the Sethi-led 14-member committee full executive powers to work on reviving the constitution of 2014.Pakistan are presently in Australia for a series of three ODIs starting January 16, which are part of the 2022-25 Women’s Championship. It will be followed by a series of three T20Is, following which the team will travel to South Africa for the Women’s T20 World Cup – where Pakistan are in Group 2 along with England, India, Ireland and West Indies. Pakistan play their opening game against India on February 12 in Cape Town. Pakistan have never gone past the group stage of the T20 World Cup; in the 2020 edition, they won only one game, against West Indies, and lost to England and South Africa; their fixture against Thailand was washed out.Coles was first appointed in 2017, on a trial basis, ahead of a series against New Zealand in the UAE, as part of the PCB’s efforts to revamp women’s cricket and bring in a professional structure. Until then, the PCB had brought in coaches on a series-by-series basis and had even gone into their previous 50-over World Cup, earlier that year, with Sabih Azhar only a few weeks into his job. Coles was offered a long-term contract but Sethi resigned in 2018, and a year later Coles resigned to focus on his family responsibilities.Months later he joined the Japan Cricket Association as a high-performance manager in 2020, and he has since worked with the Vanuatu Cricket Association and been a high-performance manager with the women’s teams of Western Australia and Wellington. He won a domestic T20 title in 2013 with Wellington Blaze. His last coaching job was with the Scotland women’s team, from February 2021 to February 2022.In his term with Pakistan, Coles led the women’s team to seven wins in 16 ODIs, including a first-ever series victory over West Indies in 2019, and 12 wins in 30 T20Is. Between Coles’ resignation and return, the core of the team hasn’t changed drastically, with captain Bismah Maroof set to welcome back her former coach.Pakistan have already named their squads for the Australia tour and the Women World Cup, with fast bowler Diana Baig leading Pakistan’s bowling pack in both ODIs and T20Is. Left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal, who emerged during Coles’ previous term, has developed to become an automatic choice in both formats. Pakistan reached the semi-finals of the T20 Asia Cup in Bangladesh this October, and beat their arch-rivals India in a thriller after they lost to Thailand earlier in the tournament.

Henry’s hamstring injury, which he suffered during the World Cup, was deemed to have not sufficiently healed

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2023Left-arm fast bowler Neil Wagner has replaced the injured Matt Henry in New Zealand’s squad for the two-Test series against Bangladesh.Henry had picked up a hamstring injury during the World Cup game against South Africa on November 1, and was thus ruled out of the rest of the competition. He was expected to get fit in time for the Tests in Bangladesh, but on further scans and assessments, it was deemed that the injury had not sufficiently healed.”It’ll be great to have Neil’s skill and experience on the tour of Bangladesh,” Sam Wells, New Zealand’s selector, said. “His record speaks for itself, and we all know what a great competitor he is. He’s played plenty of cricket in the sub-continent, and I know he’s really excited by the challenge ahead.”Wagner, 37, had missed two rounds of the ongoing Plunkett Shield due to a back injury before returning to action for Northern Districts earlier in the week. The last of his 63 Tests was also New Zealand’s last in the format – against Sri Lanka this March – even as he wasn’t part of the original spin-heavy squad named by New Zealand for the Bangladesh tour.The first Test against Bangladesh will be New Zealand’s first of the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle from 2023-25. Wagner had finished the previous WTC cycle with 18 wickets.The majority of the New Zealand squad, who had also featured in the World Cup in India, are currently recovering in Dubai before they relocate to Sylhet next week. As for the other Bangladesh-bound players, they depart on November 21 ahead of the opening Test from November 28 in Sylhet.Updated squad: Tim Southee (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Neil Wagner

Harshit Rana or Mayank Yadav is likely to make his international debut for India

Mohammad Isam05-Oct-20243:00

Takeaways: A first look at Mayank Yadav

Big picture: T20 world champions return home

A T20I series in the middle of a Test season can be a hard sell but both India and Bangladesh will have their own priorities in the three-match series starting in Gwalior on Sunday. While India have rested their key players – and will additionally be without Shivam Dube who was ruled out with injury on Saturday* – the ones on the fringes will look to establish themselves as back-ups and will also be keen to increase their IPL value.Suryakumar Yadav leads a side that’s less experienced than Bangladesh in T20Is, but his players are more skilled and versatile than Bangladesh’s in the format. Suryakumar, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh are among the experienced players in India’s side, but even the ones with less than ten T20I caps are stars. Newcomers Mayank Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana are the uncapped players, while Abhishek Sharma, who made his debut against Zimbabwe in July, has a chance to add to his five T20I caps.The home side are also without most of their first-choice fast bowlers, which could open up debuts for Mayank Yadav, who hit 150kph for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, and Harshit, who won IPL 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders. Hardik offers them seam-bowling support while Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi and the returning Varun Chakravarthy make up the spin group.Related

• Dube out of Bangladesh T20Is; Tilak named replacement

• Suryakumar: 'Mayank has the X factor, important to manage him well'

• International cricket returns to Gwalior after 14 years, at a brand new venue

• Mayank's fitness, Jadeja's replacement among India's priorities in T20Is

As for Bangladesh, who don’t play enough T20Is, this is a huge opportunity. From developing their game against a strong opposition, to having an outside chance of being picked in the IPL, there will be excitement in the visitors’ camp.The likes of Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman, Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan, all of whom have at least fifty T20Is under their belt, have to put their act together if Bangladesh are to beat India. Even relative newcomers like Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rishad Hossain and Tanzid Hasan have growing reputations. All of this is vital when they know who is no longer in their line-up.Shakib Al Hasan, who is arguably Bangladesh’s greatest cricketer, has announced his retirement from Tests and T20Is.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five T20Is, most recent first)
BangladeshLLLWWRishad Hossain can bowl the legbreak as well as the wrong’un•AFP via Getty Images

In the spotlight: Sanju Samson and Rishad Hossain

With India having picked just one opener in Abhishek, Sanju Samson will be pushed up to the top to partner Abhishek – Suryakumar confirmed as much on match eve. Samson has ducks in his last two T20I knocks, against Sri Lanka, but it will be his IPL form from earlier this year, that will give him and the team management the confidence going into this series. Samson scored 531 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 153.46 in IPL 2024, once again underlining his ability in the format, something that he would like to bring into his international game quickly.Legspinner Rishad Hossain finished the T20 World Cup earlier this year with 14 wickets, level with Rashid Khan, at an average of 13.85 and economy rate of 7.76. He emerged as Bangladesh’s top wicket-taker in the tournament has now comes the second act: impressing IPL scouts in India. It will be tough to back up such a strong performance and even in the past many Bangladesh players have struggled to build on early success. Rishad has played just one competitive game since the 2024 T20 World Cup but has since been training in Dhaka to get up to speed.

Team news: Mayank Yadav or Harshit Rana could be in line for debut

India have a new-look top order and seam attack as a number of regulars are missing from their T20I squad. They have brought in Tilak Varma for the injured Dube, but it’s likely Nitish Kumar Reddy will slot into his place in the XI. Tearaway Mayank didn’t train much in the lead up to the series opener which could mean a debut for Harshit on Sunday.India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Harshit Rana/Mayank Yadav, 11 Arshdeep SinghMehidy Hasan Miraz returns to the Bangladesh T20I side to play as a batting allrounder. Parvez Hossain Emon could be picked ahead of Tanzid Hasan.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Litton Das (wk), 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Tanzid Hasan, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 5 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 6 Towhid Hridoy, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Pitch and conditions: Good weather on Sunday evening

The pitch is bit of an unknown, given this will be the first international at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, where there is extra security measures in place given some calls for a boycott.Teams batting first in night games in the last 12 months in India have averaged in excess of 190 runs, with four out of the eight teams scoring 200-plus batting first.The weather is likely to be slightly cooler than the usual daytime heat on Sunday evening.

Stats and Trivia

• This is the first international match at the Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, which is located 12km to the west of Gwalior city. The last match held in the region was in February 2010 when Sachin Tendulkar struck the first double-hundred in ODIs, at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium.
• Bangladesh (644 caps) have a more experienced T20I squad than India (389 caps) in this series.
• At 37 years and 180 days, Shakib recently became Bangladesh’s oldest Test cricketer. Mahmudullah, part of this T20 squad, is second oldest in all formats for Bangladesh, now playing at the age of 38. Overall, Jahangir Shah is Bangladesh’s oldest international cricketer who played an ODI against New Zealand at the age of 41.
  

  Quote

  “From this series, you will see our players trying to play with a new approach. Everyone will play to win. I think the players that are here [for the series], and four or five others, will be the ones playing the 2026 World Cup. So, I think from this series, our preparations will properly begin.”
  “It’s a good opportunity [for newcomers]. They have good potential; they have made impact for their state, their franchises. If they get a chance, I hope they would perform the same because there is no need to do anything different.”

On ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day show, Agar said Kohli’s ability to rotate strike leaves bowlers with little chance to exert pressure

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2025Bowlers struggle to build pressure on Virat Kohli in ODI cricket, and one key reason for that is his ability to rotate the strike, Ashton Agar said on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day show after the batter’s match-winning 84 in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy in Dubai.Agar also said Kohli’s ability to manage the pressure from one end by finding the gaps makes him among the most difficult batters to bowl to in ODI cricket, and that combined with the other batters’ big shots makes it very difficult for teams to defend totals against India. Terming his innings as a “masterclass”, Agar said bowlers rarely feel like they’re on top of a batter of Kohli’s quality.”That’s the frustrating part about bowling to him,” Agar said in the post-match show on ESPNcricinfo. “It is not the damage that he can do to the fence, it’s just the fact that you cannot build pressure on him. So it’s really hard to get him out in a sense. You never really feel like you’re on top of him unless the ball is really spinning. And you don’t get a lot of pitches in one-day cricket like that.Related

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“He has this fantastic ability to hit your best ball, the top of middle stump, slightly spinning away, he holds the bat’s face slightly longer than other batters do, opens it in the last second, and hits it in the cover point gap. He’s probably the best in the world at doing that and he’s very difficult to build pressure on.”India batted around Virat beautifully. The guys who came in kept pushing the rate and allowed Virat to do his thing, hit the odd boundary and just keep ticking over. I saw a stat that Virat has scored the most singles since the year 2000, which is phenomenal. It was a bit of a masterclass from him and all the batters contributed nicely.”1:55

Kumble: Kohli always in control during chases

Kohli scored 64 of his 84 runs on Tuesday with ones and twos to slowly take the game away from Australia. Although he has been dismissed six times to legspinners since the start of 2024 for an average of only 12, he dominated Tanveer Sangha and Adam Zampa to score 35 in 33 balls against the leg-spinning pair before falling to the latter. Sanjay Manjrekar observed that Kohli was back to playing shots off the back foot.”Now you have five fielders inside the circle, so it’s not easy as it used to be – like during our times – when you had four fielders,” Manjrekar said. “Very rarely has he hit the ball straight to the fielder and hasn’t got a run.”So that one issue against spin that he had where he couldn’t rotate strike, hopefully that’s out of his system now. Because today was an affirmation that he is back to that very nice footwork, off the back foot playing late, finding gaps all the time. He was the best batter to find gaps from both sides [on Tuesday].Anil Kumble said he continued to be impressed by Kohli’s propensity to make tricky targets look easy.”He rarely makes a mistake,” Kumble said. “He’s totally in control. Especially in run chases. In a chase of around 265, he’s in total control except for the one chance to Maxwell. It’s not just this innings but every time he bats in a run chase, there’s hardly any loss in control. He’s always in control of this situation.”Kohli’s latest half-century marked his third 50-plus score in Champions Trophy semi-finals and his fifth in ICC knockout games. He is only one half-century away from Sachin Tendulkar’s record of six fifty-plus scores in ICC knockout games, while India are one more win away from making it two ICC titles in a row.

They have not played a one-dayer on home soil since November 2020

AAP24-Aug-2022Australia’s immediate sights may be on back-to-back ODI series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand but wicketkeeper Alex Carey says this is where their preparation begins for the 2023 World Cup.Australia face Zimbabwe in three ODIs in Townsville from Sunday, before they meet world No.1 New Zealand for three matches in Cairns from September 6.Sunday’s match marks the first time in almost two years Australia has played a home ODI and will be Zimbabwe’s first bilateral series here since the 2003-2004 summer.Carey says with the World Cup just 12 months away and the squad at almost full strength, it’s time to begin preparations.Related

• A brief history of Zimbabwe in Australia: beating England, Streak's day at the SCG and Marillier's near-miss

• Labuschagne wants to 'continue to get better' at No. 5 after disappointing tour of Sri Lanka

• Muzarabani back in Zimbabwe squad for Australia ODIs; Ervine remains injured

“We see it as a great opportunity to continue to evolve our one-day cricket to get some form leading into the next 12 months. So it is a good way to start,” he told reporters in Townsville. “Most players will know their roles coming into the series.”Players have been playing the last couple of weeks as well over in the Hundred in England, so for us it’s preparing the best way we can.”One-day cricket you know how you try to set up, but we’ll obviously sum up the conditions as well and play accordingly.”Zimbabwe named their 15-man squad for the tour on Tuesday after falling 3-0 to India in a series at home. With Craig Ervine still sidelined due to a hamstring injury, Regis Chakabva will captain the side again.Their recent series against India and Bangladesh will provide important footage Carey said, with little known of some of their squad.”In this format, I haven’t played them,” he said. “They’ve had some recent form so they’ll be keen to come over here and play some good cricket. They knocked off Bangladesh recently. So we will do our research if guys haven’t already started.”We’ve got some vision of bowlers, batters and we are up here five days early. So, we’re keen to get around, meet and greet and it get stuck into it.”

Opener says he has officially retired from ODIs to play T20 leagues but will make himself available for 2025 Champions Trophy if needed

Andrew McGlashan01-Jan-2024David Warner has announced his retirement from ODI cricket alongside the end of his Test career although kept the door ajar to play the 2025 Champions Trophy if Australia felt they needed him.”I’m definitely retiring from one-day cricket as well,” he said at the SCG on Monday. “That was something that I had said through the World Cup, get through that, and winning it in India, I think that’s a massive achievement.”So I’ll make that decision today, to retire from those forms, which does allow me to go and play some other leagues around the world and sort of get the one-day team moving forward a little bit. I know there’s a Champions Trophy coming up. If I’m playing decent cricket in two years’ time and I’m around and they need someone, I’m going to be available.”Related

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• Warner: An all-format great who divided opinions all the time

Barring a surprise return in two years’ time it means that the World Cup final against India in Ahmedabad was his final ODI leaving him with a tally of 6932 runs at 45.30 with 22 centuries. He is Australia’s sixth-highest run-scorer in men’s ODIs and second on the hundreds list behind Ricky Ponting who played 205 more ODI innings than Warner.Warner had already been expected to miss next month’s three-match ODI series against West Indies so that he could take up his ILT20 deal with Dubai Capitals. He is also set to miss the T20I matches before then but wants to continue his career in that format until at least June’s World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA. He is one game away from bringing up a century of appearances in every format.After the ODI World Cup in November, Warner had hinted at pushing on until 2027 although he would have been 41 by then and said that the way the team had rebounded in India made it the ideal finishing point.”It was a decision that I was very, very comfortable with,” he said. “To win in India, from where we were, was absolutely amazing.”When we lost two games in a row in India, the bond just got stronger with each other and it’s not by fluke or by chance that we were able to get to where we were. The heroics of Maxi [Glenn Maxwell], the captaincy and the skills and execution of the way that we played against India was phenomenal, and not to dismiss the Kolkata semi-final as well.”

He will return to action after taking a six-week break to recuperate from his injuries

Mohammad Isam07-Jul-2023Tamim Iqbal has withdrawn his retirement a day after announcing it in emotional circumstances in Chattogram, following an intervention by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Their meeting took place on Friday afternoon at her residence in Dhaka. Tamim, accompanied by his wife, met Hasina alongside former captain Mashrafe Mortaza and BCB president Nazmul Hassan.The turnaround ultimately came on Friday afternoon but ESPNcricinfo learned of the meeting as early as Thursday evening. It is understood that Mashrafe, a member of parliament, started the process around that time when he spoke to the prime minister to possibly intervene in this situation. Tamim had, until then, refused to discuss his retirement with Hassan.

An eventful 78 hours

Tuesday, 12pm: In a pre-match press conference, Tamim says he’s not fully fit and wants to test his fitness by playing 1st ODI
Wednesday, 9am: publishes an interview of Nazmul Hassan, where he calls Tamim unprofessional for the statement on his fitness
Wednesday, 10.30pm: Bangladesh lose the first ODI against Afghanistan
Thursday, 1.30am: Tamim informs media he will address a press conference on Thursday afternoon.Thursday, 1.30pm: Tamim announces his retirement from international cricket
Thursday, 8pm: ESPNcricinfo learns a meeting between Tamim and Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is being arranged
Friday, 6pm: Tamim announces he has reversed his decision to retire following the PM’s intervention.

Tamim made the retirement announcement on Thursday afternoon. In a live TV broadcast, he broke down several times while delivering a 13-minute monologue about his decision. It captured the airwaves and social media for the rest of the day.A different Tamim spoke to the media on Friday evening outside the Prime Minister’s residence. He revealed that he had been given a break of six weeks to recuperate from his injuries.”The honourable Prime Minister invited me to her residence this afternoon,” Tamim said. “We had a long discussion after which she instructed me to return to cricket. I am withdrawing my retirement.Related

• Tamim Iqbal announces retirement from international cricket

• Shakib among contenders for Bangladesh's ODI captaincy

• Tamim to travel to Dubai and UK to get back injury checked

• Tamim Iqbal retires three months before World Cup

• Did Nazmul Hassan's comments precipitate Tamim Iqbal's retirement?

“I can say no to anyone but it is impossible to say no to the most important person in the country. Mashrafe called me while Papon [Hassan] was here. They were big factors [in the reversal]. The Prime Minister has also given me a break of a month and a half. I will complete my treatment and return to playing cricket.”BCB chief Hassan said he knew a solution was around the corner, and was relieved to have been able to sit with Tamim and convince him to reverse his decision. “Having seen his press conference [on Thursday], I knew that he was being emotional about his decision,” Hassan said. “I knew that if we could sit face-to-face, I could find a solution.”We sat with him through the Prime Minister, and he just told you that he is withdrawing the retirement letter. He is not retired. He has taken a break of six weeks when he will undergo rehab and get ready physically and mentally. He will return to cricket soon.”Asked if he is relieved, Hassan said: “Of course we are relieved. How can we play without our captain?”Tamim, who made his retirement announcement a day after leading Bangladesh in the first ODI against Afghanistan, will not feature in the rest of the series. Litton Das has been appointed captain for the remaining matches on July 8 and 11.

With two defeats in New York and Dallas, Sri Lanka now arrive in Florida to take on Nepal in a game they cannot afford to lose

Madushka Balasuriya11-Jun-2024Sri Lanka haven’t been great as of late. They know that, and anyone watching them at the T20 World Cup 2024 knows that. But there have also been some mitigating circumstances which become glaringly obvious when you start comparing Sri Lanka’s batting to some of the other sides in their group.South Africa and Bangladesh just played out a low-scoring thriller, which followed South Africa’s low-scoring thriller against Netherlands, which followed Sri Lanka’s low-scoring thriller against Bangladesh, which followed yet another low-scoring affair between Netherlands and Nepal, which itself followed another low scorer between Sri Lanka and South Africa.In fact, in Group D so far, no team has managed to score more than Sri Lanka’s 124 batting first, which isn’t saying much but it does put their performances and results into context.”Now people are realizing how unpredictable the pitches are,” stated Sri Lankan fast bowling coach Aqib Javed ahead of their game against Nepal. “We were the first ones who’d gone through this process. Because I mean, look, as a player, you cannot expect anything like that, which we played the first time in New York on a new pitch. Now the people are realizing what total to place, and what they’re expecting when they’re choosing even a small total.”Even though the Dallas pitch we played was I think one of the best in the country to bat on, still these new conditions are surprising, not just us, but many teams. The batters especially, they’ve gone through a lot. This is not the normal behaviour of the pitches and the conditions. So, I think now the teams will change their strategies, and there will be a little bit of change in the homework as well.”The surprising nature of the wickets has also meant that results have conspired in such a way that despite Sri Lanka’s two defeats to start the tournament, they’re still in with a chance of qualifying for the next stage – provided they win their next two games and Bangladesh and Netherlands both lose at least one of their next two. But Javed is acutely aware that the performance of Sri Lanka’s batters have nevertheless not been up to scratch.”The beauty of this World Cup is that you cannot take easy to anything. We have seen some outstanding results from the associate teams. I think honestly if you look at the pitch, you have to be very careful, especially as a batter. How to adapt, what to leave out, and I think the best plan is to go out there and assess the situation and conditions.”If you ask me, what happened in New York, nobody knew what was going to be the wicket behaviour. [Score of] 77 was never enough. Even in the second game, we could have scored 150 to 160 because if you look at the batting card, we scored like 24 in the last six overs, we didn’t capitalise.”One area Javed doesn’t have any qualms with is in the bowling, with Sri Lanka’s varied attack giving their side a fighting chance in both matches they’ve played so far. Against South Africa, defending a measly 77 they did their best to stifle a strong batting lineup, while against Bangladesh they nearly nipped in at the death to steal it with a late flurry of wickets.”I’m really happy and enjoying the role as a bowling coach because this is one of the bowling sides which can challenge anyone. The ideal combo for any international team. You have the best legspinner in the world, you have a mystery bowler, and you have slingers which is very unique and very effective in T20 cricket.”It’s not easy all the time to defend the low totals, but so far, I think it’s good to see the captain leading from the front and you can see that energy in the field as well. And still, I think we have very good bowling options. I’m really satisfied so far.”

Devine’s fifty, Tahuhu’s three-for in vain; New Zealand to compete with England for bronze

Valkerie Baynes06-Aug-2022Megan Schutt’s three wickets and another steadfast display from their batters saw Australia to victory against New Zealand in the second semi-final of the Commonwealth Games.New Zealand were left to rue several missed chances after taking the contest to the reigning T20I and ODI world champions. But, after Schutt made early inroads, Australia’s batting depth withstood the pressure through a fifty stand from Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath and a signature cool-headed knock from Ashleigh Gardner to win by five wickets.Australia will play India, who defeated England by four runs in Saturday’s earlier semi-final, for the gold and silver-medal places while New Zealand will play for bronze against the host nation.Schutt-ing star(t)Schutt made an immediate impact when she had Suzie Bates, second behind only India’s Smriti Mandhana on the tournament’s run-scoring list, out for a first-ball duck playing onto her stumps.Georgia Plimmer, 18 years of age and making her international debut, came in at No. 3 ahead of Amelia Kerr and managed to overturn an lbw decision off Schutt’s next ball, full and darting in from outside off to rap the front pad, when replays showed it was missing leg stump.Plimmer managed to add 17 runs before Schutt struck again with a brilliant legcutter which enticed her forward then clattered into off stump. At the end of the powerplay, New Zealand were 39 for 2 and, after 10 overs, they had stretched that to 63 for 2. Schutt later had Brooke Halliday caught at deep midwicket by Mooney – who also ran out Maddy Green with a blistering direct hit from mid-off on the last ball of the New Zealand innings – to end with 3 for 20 from her four overs.Simply DevineShortly after the halfway point, Sophie Devine survived an Australia review for lbw on umpire’s call on impact when McGrath beat her attempt to slog. Devine batted well for her 48-ball 53, passing a half-century with back-to-back pulls for four and a thunderous six. Devine’s business-like, brief raising of her bat in acknowledgement of the Edgbaston crowd’s applause suggested there was more work to do.It would have to be done by someone else though after she fell two balls later, attempting a similar shot but, without the same power behind it, Mooney swallowed the catch at deep backward square. Kerr reached 40 from 36 balls before she became the first of McGrath’s two wickets, skying a catch to Darcie Brown at backward point. McGrath also bowled Lea Tahuhu with an excellent yorker to help contain New Zealand to what looked like a below-par 144 for 7.Lea Tahuhu bowled with vigour, returning three wickets•Associated Press

Tahuhu good to leave outAustralia’s run-chase was off to a shaky start when Tahuhu had Alyssa Healy caught down the leg side by young wicketkeeper Isabella Gaze for just 14, continuing a lean run with the bat dating back to her ODI World Cup-winning knock in April. Tahuhu then bowled Meg Lanning with a full, slower ball that ricocheted off the front pad and onto the stumps in the perfect riposte to being clubbed over the deep midwicket rope, not to mention seeing Lanning dropped by Kerr at backward point off the first ball she faced.McGrath and Mooney – the latter dropped on 6 by Gaze off Tahuhu’s bowling – steadied Australia. The pair had lifted their side with an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 141 after a similarly precarious start in their final group game against Pakistan, and this time put on 56 together. McGrath received a second life on 14 when Hannah Rowe put down an easy catch at mid-off from the bowling of Kerr, and when she was run-out by an excellent throw from Kerr at backward point to Gaze, Australia needed 61 off 56 balls.When Mooney holed out to Rowe at deep cover, Tahuhu had her third wicket. Having been left off New Zealand’s central contracts list and only called up to the Commonwealth Games squad after Jess Kerr and Lauren Down pulled for injury and wellbeing reasons respectively, the 31-year-old Tahuhu showed she still has plenty to offer.Tried and trueAustralia’s considerable batting depth came to the fore once more to see them home. With five overs remaining, they needed 34 runs and when Devine had Rachael Haynes brilliantly caught by a diving Bates at long-on it went down to Gardner and Grace Harris to see them home.Gardner, whose only previous knock at the Games had been an unbeaten 52 against India, and Harris, who struck an impressive 37 off 20 from No. 7 in the same match, finished unbeaten on 19 and 8 respectively to reach the target with three balls to spare.