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The bowlers shared the wickets around and kept Zimbabwe to 152 for 7, before the opening pair made light work of the target

Shashank Kishore13-Jul-2024
Zimbabwe’s most-assured batting effort wasn’t enough to mount a challenge against India’s young IPL stars. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill made light work of a 153-run target, sauntering home in just 15.2 overs in a sensational exhibition of intent-laden batting of the kind we hadn’t seen in the series so far.Where Zimbabwe hit all of 10 fours in their 20 overs, Jaiswal and Gill smashed as many in their first four overs en route a ten-wicket thumping that delivered an unassailable 3-1 lead for India with one more game to play on on Sunday.

India’s fifth-bowlers shine after Zimbabwe’s solid foundation

Zimbabwe had lost at least two wickets in the powerplay in each of the three T20Is in the series before this game. Today, though, Wessly Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani rode their luck to add 63 in 8.4 overs to give them a platform.A determined Wessly Madhevere did the job in the powerplay•Associated Press

In the third over, Marumani was dropped by Shivam Dube at mid-on while on 3. He also benefited from an overthrow that went to the boundary in the same over, and Marumani appeared to change gears after the reprieve by going after debutant Tushar Deshpande, who conceded 21 off his first two overs. Gill quickly turned to spin inside the powerplay and they managed to rein in the scoring; eventually an effort to up the ante against India’s part-time bowlers, who needed to fill the fifth-bowler’s quota, got Marumani.Off Abhishek Sharma’s fourth ball, he looked to pull and ended up hitting it towards the longest part of the boundary where Rinku Singh was waiting at deep midwicket. This allowed Gill to bring on Dube from the other end in a bid to get the fifth-bowler’s quota out of the way, but he too struck – in his first over, he had the other set batter, Madhevere, pulling a short ball to Rinku at deep square leg.Abhishek could have had a second wicket in T20Is, but for Ruturaj Gaikwad shelving a dolly at extra cover to reprieve Brian Bennett. The missed opportunity didn’t cost India much though.

Raza to Zimbabwe’s rescue

Raza needed to rescue Zimbabwe as they had suddenly lost 4 for 33 after the solid opening. Having been guilty of running out Jonathan Campbell, Raza’s industry kept the runs ticking until he flicked the switch with five overs remaining.Tushar Deshpande claimed Sikandar Raza for his first international wicket•Associated Press

On 21 off 17 at that point, he launched Washington Sundar over deep midwicket for a 90-metre six, and then went after Khaleel Ahmed in his next over, hitting a four and a six. Overs 16 and 17 produced 31 as Zimbabwe charged towards 160. That they fell eight short was thanks to two excellent overs from Deshpande, who dismissed Raza for his maiden international wicket, and Khaleel. Zimbabwe had a competitive, if not match-winning, total.

Jaiswal and Gill make merry

India’s chase was kickstarted with Jaiswal hitting three fours off left-arm seamer Richard Ngavara in the first over. Jaiswal was in no mood to stop there, hitting Tendai Chatara for four more fours off his first over, the third of the innings. The seamers kept giving him width and he kept crashing them away through point, alternating between hitting them along the ground and playing the full-blooded cuts. India raised their fifty in just 3.5 overs with Jaiswal contributing 39.Jaiswal got to his half-century off 29 balls, and then unfurled one of the shots of the day when he sent Raza inside-out over extra cover. Having been beaten in flight, he quickly adjusted to loft him through the line and bisect the tiny gap between deep cover and wide long-off.Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill put on 156 runs for the first wicket to finish the job themselves•Associated Press

Gill then took over, helping himself against Faraz Akram’s gentle seam-ups in a exquisite display of hitting-on-the-up. Gill’s second straight half-century, off 35 balls, was mellow in comparison to Jaiswal but effective nonetheless.As the match raced towards the finish line, the only point of interest was if Jaiswal could get the 17 of the 18 remaining runs needed to get to a hundred. He couldn’t; ended up 93 not out, having displayed his full range in an exhilarating display reflecting the type of intent that won India the T20 World Cup last month after 17 years.

Bell twice on a hat-trick as she and England team-mate claim seven wickets between them

ECB Reporters Network29-Apr-2023Lauren Bell took 4 for 37 as the Southern Vipers routed the South East Stars by 158 runs in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Beckenham.Bell was twice on a hat-trick as she wiped out the Stars’ top order, before Charlie Dean then took 3 for 18 to bowl the hosts out for 129.Earlier Ella McCaughan hit 67 and Maia Bouchier 59 in an opening stand of 117, before Georgia Elwiss came in and made 59 to set a stiff-looking 287 for 6.Alice Davidson-Richards had the best figures of the Stars’ nine bowlers with 2 for 30, but it was a chastening afternoon for the home side after last week’s emphatic 131-run win at the Thunder.The Stars had lost all six of their previous 50-over games with the Vipers, including last September’s Eliminator at Beckenham, but any hopes their opponents might still be reeling from last Saturday’s shock defeat to the Sunrisers were ephemeral.The Vipers chose to bat and took full advantage of both a benign wicket and a sub-optimal display by the Stars with the ball, which included 27 wides. They offered few chances and when they did the hosts couldn’t take them.Bouchier was on 42 when she pulled Alexa Stonehouse to mid-wicket and was dropped, while McCaughan survived a difficult stumping chance off Bryony Smith when on 34.Paige Scholfield finally broke the partnership when she bowled Bouchier, who played on and Scholfield then caught McCaughan off Ryana MacDonald-Gay in the covers.Davidson-Richards was the ninth bowler the Stars used, but she struck in her first over when she had Danni Wyatt caught at backward point by MacDonald-Gay for 22.At that point the Vipers were 170 for 3, which was the closest they came to a wobble. Elwiss and Adams responded with a stand of 76, the latter bringing up the 50 partnership with a six off Tash Farrant.Farrant subsequently had Adams lbw for 31 and Dean made four when she chipped Freya Davies to Phoebe Franklin, before Elwiss hit the penultimate ball of the innings, from Davidson-Richards to Smith on the mid-on boundary.The Stars made a bright start to the chase, racing to 26 without loss, only for Bell to strike twice in as many balls. She hit the top off Alice Capsey’s off stump to bowl her for 18 before getting MacDonald-Gay lbw for a golden duck.Smith flicked the hat-trick ball to square leg for two but was out in Bell’s next over, the victim of a brilliant tumbling catch by Dean at extra-cover for 7.Bell found herself on a hat-trick for the second time in the match when Davidson-Richards edged her to Bouchier in the slips but Kira Chatli blocked her next delivery. It was a short-lived reprieve for Chatli, who was caught by Linsey Smith for 20 off Alice Monaghan.Scholfield and Farrant hung around for a while but the former was bowled by Adams 31 and Dean then began to mop up the tail.The end was nigh when she beat Farrant in the flight for 21, beating her in the flight and bowling her leg stump. She then had Alexa Stonehouse caught by Adams for a duck and Franklin snared by McCaughan for nine and the victory was sealed when Freya Davies holed out to Monaghan and was caught by a diving Adams at long off.

Akeal Hosein takes four wickets as England are derailed in series decider

Andrew Miller30-Jan-2022 West Indies 179 for 4 (Pollard 41) beat England 162 (Vince 55, Holder 5-25, Hosein 4-30) by 17 runs Jason Holder claimed four wickets in four balls in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Barbados, to put a very personal seal on an outstanding series win for West Indies. In a pulsating finale at Bridgetown, Holder built on a career-best haul of 4 for 30 from the left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, to outlast an England team that was once again left to rue its own shortcomings at the death, as they succumbed by 17 runs to lose the series 3-2.England were set 180 for victory, after a two-paced batting display from West Indies, in which Kieron Pollard and Rovman Powell cracked 66 runs from the final four overs to re-ignite an innings that had gone flat during a masterful display of legspin from Adil Rashid.In reply, James Vince set the early tempo with 55 from 35 balls, and Sam Billings applied some precious late impetus with 41 from 28. But after Hosein had undermined England with a wicket in each of his four overs, it was left to the veteran Holder to defend 20 runs in the final over – and despite a first-ball no-ball to ramp up the jeopardy, there was never any doubt once he found his range.First to go was Chris Jordan, who picked up a low full toss with a heave across the line, but picked out the substitute Hayden Walsh Jr on the midwicket rope. Billings, who got himself back on strike as the batters crossed, then launched a similar stroke in a similar direction, as Holder trusted the full length, before Adil Rashid slapped another fifth-stump delivery high into the leg-side, where Odean Smith settled beneath the hat-trick delivery.That was already game, set and series – but even more glory was to come Holder’s way before the celebrations could begin in earnest, as Saqib Mahmood attempted to dig out a full straight ball, and inside-edged on to his leg stump, a deflection so imperceptible that it wasn’t until Nicholas Pooran started pointing in glee at the dislodged bail that Holder realised what he had achieved. As if his haul of 4 for 7 in the first match wasn’t glorious enough, this was quite the way to finish.On the front foot from the outsetAfter winning the toss for the fourth time in the series, Pollard chose to bat for the first time – his logic being that the “virtual final” nature of the contest made runs on the board all the more valuable. And, with the contest taking place on the same pitch where Powell had mown a 51-ball century on Wednesday, it was a chance to show faith in his troops as well.Mahmood was back in England’s team for similar reasons – in the wake of his maltreatment at the death in game two, this was a chance for him to prove his mettle in a high-stakes contest. The initial signs, however, were ominous. Latching on to his residual doubts, Brandon King launched Mahmood’s first ball clean over long-on for a premeditated six, and by the time Kyle Mayers had swivelled into a brace of exquisite pulls, his last two overs in international cricket had gone for an eye-watering 47 runs.And thus the early tone of West Indies’ innings was set. Reece Topley continued his impressive re-entry by conceding 11 runs from two overs, but Mayers – quite the upgrade from the off-colour Shai Hope – laid into Jordan with another brace of Lara-esque pulls through the leg-side, before King dumped a Moeen Ali length ball over long-on for the fourth six of the powerplay, one over after Billings spilled a leg-side stumping catch as he tweaked one through the gate.Rashid causes mid-innings panicSpin is one thing… but legspin is West Indies’ kryptonite. And Rashid has proven to be a particularly debilitating rival down the years. This was his 13th T20I against West Indies – more than he has played against any other nation. He now has 22 wickets against them at an average of 10.95, an economy rate of 5.69, and a strike-rate of 11.5 (more than one every two overs) – and each of those are figures that he hasn’t bettered against anyone else.At the end of the powerplay, West Indies were cooking on 58 for 0. Four balls later, there was panic in the air, as Mayers took on the long boundary with a ragged pull into the wind, and found Jason Roy back-pedalling on the rope for another routinely sensational relay catch – Phil Salt was the beneficiary as he pocketed the lob back into play while jogging round from long-on.Kieron Pollard landed some thumping blows•Getty Images

Romario Shepherd, once again pushed up the order with a licence for carnage, duly obliged by greeting a Liam Livingstone full-toss with a slam over long-on. But before the over was out, he’d been utterly undone by the ball turning out of his arc – beaten on the slog one ball, then skewing a fat outside edge to point the next, and West Indies had slipped to 67 for 2.Pooran attempted to take Rashid down with an airy first-ball flog over long-on, but having failed to connect properly, he then retreated into his shell – as if mindful of not exposing his team-mates to the threat. At the other end, King’s previously sparky innings came to a tame end as Livingstone made it three wickets out of three for the leggies, and it would be seven full overs before West Indies would break the shackles with another boundary. By then, Rashid had signed off for the night by bowling Pooran with a googly for 21 – his figures of 2 for 17 from four overs had applied the emergency break.Powell, Pollard pick up the paceFor that period of West Indies’ mid-innings reticence, their Manhattan chart began to resemble a stumble down a flight of cellar stairs. But as soon as the death overs began, England’s increasingly infamous frailties surged to the fore. Topley, so excellent for so much of this series, was collared on the pull by Powell, whose arrival in the 15th over was eyebrow-raisingly late given his form.Pollard, a sheet-anchor for his first 12 balls, then picked off a full toss in the same over to kick-start his innings, and when Topley’s best ball of the over, a pinpoint leg-stump yorker, was deflected fine through third man for four more, England’s dismal record between overs 16-20 – it’s now more than 11 runs per over since the start of 2021, worse than any other ODI team – was sounding like a stuck record.Jordan has been especially culpable in that regard of late – not least in that pivotal over in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand – and when he missed his mark four times in the space of six balls, Powell and Pollard were primed to cash in (although one of Powell’s sixes in particular, a flat smash through midwicket off an otherwise faultless yorker, was really just a heady confluence of skill and confidence). Another 66 runs had flooded from England’s final four overs, to go with the 67 they had conceded in their second match. After five taxing matches, that’s an issue that they seem no closer to resolving.Akeal is England’s Achilles HeelRoy on strike? How about some left-arm spin? It’s become a pretty transparent ploy from teams the world over, but with good reason, given that Roy was talking in the lead-up to the World Cup about having to banish some “darker thoughts” when faced with that ominous mode of attack.For two balls, it seemed that West Indies had out-thought themselves, as Roy responded with a brace of feisty boundaries – a slotted drive through long-off, and a short-arm thump through the covers. Before the over was out, however, Roy was traipsing off, shaking his head in dismay, after under-edging a slog-sweep into his pad and into Pooran’s gloves as he ran round from behind the stumps.That was the end of his work for the first half of the innings – it was the startling pace of the recalled Smith that dominated the rest of the powerplay, as Tom Banton paid the price for nailing one pull for six by splicing another to Pollard on the edge of the rope, before Moeen was dropped first ball as he steered a snorter to Holder at slip.Holder would eventually atone for that error by ending an unusually laboured stay from Moeen – there was never any danger of a repeat of his four consecutive sixes from game four as he flicked his first ball after drinks into the covers to trudge off for a boundary-less 14 from 19. But given his reputation for taking down spinners, Moeen’s departure was the cue for Hosein to return, and he did so with a devastating triple-whammy.Livingstone was the first of his mid-innings victims – caught at point as his campaign ended with a miscued slap – and though Vince carved consecutive fours to rattle past a 30-ball half-century, his attempted slog-sweep in Hosein’s next over plopped tamely into the hands of deep midwicket. Phil Salt didn’t get past the slog aspect of his dismissal – a rowdy gallop led to him being stumped by a distance for 3 – and as Hosein finished his spell of 4 for 30, England took a sickly scoreline of 124 for 6 into their own death-overs effort.

All the buzz from the IPL game between the Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders in Dubai

Sidharth Monga30-Sep-2020