A look at England’s selections for the upcoming second test match of the three test match series against the West Indies and a huge photo gallery.
England announced their playing XI for the test match starting on Thursday yesterday afternoon. I have now had time to process my thoughts, which are actually pretty straightforward.
THE PROBLEMS WITH THE XI
The top seven is precisely as expected, and I don’t see many changes there at present. Of the remaining four Atkinson of course had to retain his place after that stellar debut, and the selectors appear to have decided that Bashir is the first choice spinner, so again it makes sense that he retains his slot. However the remaining two places are the cause for concern – Woakes having done precious little at his favourite venue retains the number eight slot, and Mark Wood, in his mid-thirties and injury prone, has been given the slot freed up by the enforced retirement of James Anderson. I do not believe that either of these players should be playing, and I think Matthew Potts and Dillon Pennington, in the squad, and Sam Cook, now recovered from the injury that cost him a place in the squad for the first two tests, are all entitled to feel aggrieved. Anderson’s retirement was enforced allegedly because the selectors wanted to look to the future, and Wood hardly represents the future, and Woakes is also at the veteran stage of his career and has the additional strike against him that he has never had any test success overseas.
I also don’t buy the notion that Woakes provides ballast at number eight for two reasons:
against this opposition England should not require ballast at number eight.
If England are genuinely concerned in this regard then rather than select a veteran who is an unlikely tourist they could drop Bashir and play either Rehan Ahmed or Matthew Critchley at number eight as the spin option, with Atkinson and two out of Cook, Potts and Pennington rounding out the order.
I understand the stated reasons for forcing Anderson’s retirement but I regard naming Wood as his replacement as an act of rankest hypocrisy, out of keeping with looking to the future as it is. I consider this selection as utterly senseless.
A look back at Essex v Surrey in the T20 Blast yesterday and a bumper photo gallery.
Yesterday afternoon there were various fixtures in the T20 Blast competition, and the one that I opted to follow was between Essex and Surrey. This post looks at that match and its wider context within the competition as a whole.
THE SITUATION GOING INTO THIS ROUND
The T20 Blast competition features two groups of nine teams, divided on geographical lines into a North group and a South group. The top four sides from each group progress to the quarter finals, with the top two in each group being rewarded for their extra success by getting to host their quarter final. The semi-finals and final are all played on one day to end the competition. Sussex were not in action this round, though their win in their previous match had put them second in the group. Gloucestershire were in action playing against Glamorgan, and that was the match most likely to impact on this one. Surrey knew that a win of any sort would guarantee them a home qualification, while Essex knew that at least a share of the points would ensure that they qualified. Surrey were not at full strength for various reasons but their line up still looked formidable. Essex did have a full strength side. In spite of the fact that there was other sporting action on the ground at Chelmsford was full.
THE SURREY INNINGS
Surrey batted first. Will Jacks played a superb innings, and was supported by various others along the way. Even so, with three balls to go Surrey had 178 on the board and Essex were reasonably hopeful. Cameron Steel ensured that those last three balls went for 11 runs and Surrey thus had 189 to defend. Jacks had scored 86 off 46 balls, and the best bowler for Essex was leg spinning all rounder Matthew Critchley, whose 4-0-22-2 was especially outstanding given the way the other Essex bowlers were treated. Critchley has been doing well in all formats lately, and if he continues to do so he may be a candidate for the next Ashes tour as English off spinners do not fare well down under, and there aren’t a lot of left arm spinning options.
THE ESSEX INNINGS
Dean Elgar, for many years a South Africa test cricketer, went cheaply, for just 9, but a successful chase looked possible while Adam Rossington and Michael Pepper, the latter fresh off a match winning 120* in Essex’s last outing were together. However, Pepper’s dismissal to the first ball of the tenth over, for 27, triggered something of a collapse, as 87-1 became 104-4 and then 124-5. At 148, with the required run rate getting out of hand, Essex’s last hope vanished when Rossington was caught by Jamie Overton off Sam Curran for 78 (46). That left Essex needing 42 off 15 balls with no front line batters left. They fought bravely, with news coming through that Gloucestershire had trounced Glamorgan, but the ask was just too much, and Surrey ran out winners by 13 runs, ensuring that they will play their quarter-final match at home. Gloucestershire’s big win moved them up to fifth and gives them a better net RR than Essex, which means that if they win their last group game and Essex lose theirs Essex will go out. Sussex and Somerset are fighting over which of them will end up in the top two and secure a home quarter final. In the other group the Birmingham Bears are qualified, but everyone else down to Derbyshire in seventh has some sort of chance of also doing so.
PHOTOGRAPHS
This gallery only contains about half of the new photos that I have ready to share, and there are more still on my camera…
A pill bug (so called because its defence mechanism is to roll itself up presenting that armoured exoskeleton to potential attackers.A heron surveying the scene where the Nar flows into the Great Ouse.While I was there it moved to the other side of the Great Ouse.
A look back at yesterday’s WT20I between England and New Zealand and a photo gallery.
Yesterday evening saw the fourth match of the WT20I series between England and New Zealand. The match was played at The Oval, where appropriately enough a new set of gates named after Surrey and England legend Natalie Sciver-Brunt were in use for the first time, having been unveiled the day before. This post looks back at the match.
THE PRELIMINARIES
Both teams made changes. In England’s case the changes were about preparation for the upcoming WT20I world cup in Bangladesh, in New Zealand’s case they were down to desperation. New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat first.
THE NEW ZEALAND INNINGS
New Zealand began steadily but somewhat slowly, ending the six over Power Play on 33-0. That was to be as good as it got for them. Leg spinner Sarah Glenn came on to bowl the seventh over and struck with her first ball, bowling Georgia Plimmer to break the opening stand. Two balls later the new batter Amelia Kerr hit a long hop straight into the hands of Capsey at short midwicket. A splendid inswinger from Dani Gibson accounted for Sophie Devine with the score on 40, and two runs later Ecclestone extended the sequence of international innings in which she has claimed at least one wicket to 34 by bowling Suzie Bates. The next to go was Brooke Halliday who gave Gibson an easy catch off Ecclestone. That was 52-5 and moved Ecclestone to joint third in the all time WT20I wicket takers list alongside Ellyse Perry of Australia. Ecclestone is 25 years old, Perry 33. Green and Gaze now shared the second best partnership of the New Zealand innings, before Green gave Gibson a catch off Glenn for 24 off 25 balls. Glenn then made it two wickets in an over for the second time of the evening when she hurried one through Jess Kerr to bowl her for 1. At 82-7 the Kiwis were utterly in the toils, and although Lea Tahuhu did her best to support Gaze they were unable to increase the scoring rate. The innings ended with Gaze being run out to give the Kiwis a final score of 103-8. Perhaps the single most damning stat relating to this sorry innings by the Kiwis is that Gaze with 25 off 24 balls was the only one of their batters to have an SR of above 100, which is not the sort of thing that wins many T20s at any level.
THE ENGLAND CHASE
New Zealand needed early wickets to have any hope of defending such a small total, and instead were greeted by a barrage of shots from Danni Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley. The opening stand yielded 54 before Dunkley departed for a 16 ball 26. That brought Capsey to the crease, and there was little slowing of the momentum. Amelia Kerr bowled Capsey with the last ball of the seventh over to make it 73-2, and off the first ball of the eighth Wyatt holed out to Fran Jonas off Eden Carson. That brought Sciver-Brunt and Knight together, and the pair looked comfortable all the way. The match ended when Sciver-Brunt on her home ground hit the second and third balls of the 12th over for fours to give England victory by seven wickets with 8.3 overs to spare. Sarah Glenn’s bowling performance deservedly secured her the Player of the Match award. The final match of this series takes place at Lord’s on Wednesday and it is hard to see any result other than another England win.
A look back at victories by the England men’s and women’s cricket teams, a mention of an upcoming auction and a photo gallery.
Last night saw the third T20I in a five match series between the England and New Zealand teams, while this morning, though it should have been just less than halfway through the match saw the last knockings of the first of three test matches between the England and West Indies men’s teams. This post looks at both games.
VALE ATQUE AVE
The test match at Lord’s was the last appearance at that level of the legendary James Anderson, who made his test debut as long ago as 2003. England have decided to look to the future, and gave Anderson this match so that he could bow out in front of a home crowd. It also saw the arrival on the test scene of Gus Atkinson, the Surrey fast bowler. In terms of the result it was the new comer who had the bigger say (and how!)
In my previous post I mentioned Atkinson’s first innings brilliance (7-45) and the fact that England were going well in response. While I was at work yesterday England continued to progress with the bat – Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook and the other debutant, Jamie Smith, selected as keeper although he is not Surrey’s first choice in that role all made 50s, though none managed to reach 80. Smith’s 70 on debut included a significant increase in scoring pace when he was left with the tail. The West Indies second innings got underway yesterday evening, and the skids were soon under it in no uncertain terms. Stokes took two early wickets, Anderson one and Atkinson one. Late in the day two further scalps fell, a second to Anderson and a second to Atkinson giving the debutant nine for the match to that point. West Indies were 79-6 when that wicket rang down the curtain on day two (although an extra half hour can be claimed if a result is possible that usually only enters the equation if seven or more wickets are down). It also ensured that James Anderson would finish behind Warne in the all time test wicket takers list. Atkinson and Anderson resumed bowling this morning, and it was Anderson who had the first success with a beauty that took the edge of Josh da Silva’s bat and went through to Smith. Thereafter however it was the Atkinson show. First Alzarri Joseph took on a short ball and succeeded only in giving Duckett catching practice, then Atkinson bowled Shamar Joseph to make it 103-9. At that point Atkinson had match figures of 11-86, and if he could take the final wicket and concede 15 or fewer runs in the process he would set a new record for an England debutant, beating the 12-102 taking by Fred ‘Nutty’ Martin way back in 1890 (Jack Ferris took 13 in his first match for England, but he had previously played for Australia, and it would have been news to him that he was playing that match for England since it was on a privately organized tour of South Africa and was only granted test status some years later). A combination of luck and some decent batting by Gudakesh Motie robbed him of that, but when Jayden Seales, the number 11, was caught by Duckett, fielding at long leg, Atkinson had his second five-for of the match, and final figures of 12-106 (7-45, 5-61), the second best ever for England, and a number of wickets beaten by only two test debutants in history, Narendra Hirwani (India, 16-136) and Bob Massie (Australia 16-137). Anderson’s final bowling effort was 3-32 from 16 overs, meaning that he ended with 704 test wickets overall. England’s winning margin was an innings and 114 runs – WI 121, ENG 371, WI 136. Atkinson was, as I said in a tweet shortly after the final wicket fell, the ONLY candidate for Player of the Match and was duly confirmed as such. A scorecard of this match can be seen here.
In theory the question for England is now which of Potts or Pennington comes in for Anderson (Sam Cook is currently injured, so his call up must wait). However, I would boldly select both, leaving out Woakes who contributed little at his favourite ground.
A TALE OF TWO SOPHIES
England won the toss and chose to field. The New Zealand innings was dominated by two players named Sophie. Sophie Devine scored 58 not out off 42 balls to give New Zealand 141 to defend, and the main reason that total wasn’t higher was Sophie Ecclestone, who finished with 4-0-25-4. The first of those four wickets, that of Suzie Bates, kept an astonishing run going – it made it 33 consecutive international bowling innings in which the left armer had claimed at least one wicket. Later in that same opening over she snared Amelia Kerr, and in the later stages of the innings she clean bowled each of Isabella Gaze and Leigh Kasperek. Although England only had four balls to spare when they scored the winning run, they had six wickets standing. The batting star was Alice Capsey whose 67* (60) undergirded the chase. It was Capsey who was named player of the match ahead of Ecclestone. Scorecard here.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Before I get to my usual sign off, I sent out a bulk email about the upcoming railway models auction at work yesterday. I will not include the full thing here, but you can view a full catalogue and/or sign up to bid here or here. The image I used to accompany the email is below.
A look at developments so far on day one of the England v West Indies test match, dominated by an extraordinary debut performance from Gus Atkinson. Also a photo gallery.
Today is day one of the opening test match of the series between England and West Indies, which is happening at Lord’s. This post looks at the action so far.
THE PRELIMINARIES
Both playing XIs were known in advance, England’s on Monday, West Indies’ yesterday. England had gone for batting depth, with Woakes at number eight, while the West Indies had opted for extra bowling strength, and both Holder at number six and da Silva at number seven looked to be a place too high in their order for comfort. England won the toss and elected to field first.
THE MORNING SESSION
James Anderson in his final test match took the new ball in partnership with Woakes. West Indies got through 10 overs without losing a wicket, at which point Gus Atkinson came on for his first bowl in test cricket. Atkinson immediately showed the extra pace that had been the reason for his selection, and struck with his second ball, Kraigg Brathwaite dragging it on to his stumps. West Indies got through the rest of the over, but Atkinson avoided conceding any runs. Atkinson’s second over was also a maiden, and in his third he struck again, having Kirk McKenzie caught by Crawley. By the end of this over his figures were 3-3-0-2. Harry Brook held a sensational catch off Ben Stokes to get debutant opener Mikyle Louis, the first ever test cricketer to hail from St Kitts, although its sister island of Nevis has produced a few, for 27. That was 44-3, and Alick Athenaze and Kavem Hodge saw things through to lunch, with the score 61-3.
POST LUNCH
After the interval this pair advanced the score to 88 before Atkinson’s already impressive debut became a truly great one. He got Athenaze and Holder in successive deliveries, and although da Silva prevented the hat trick he was out second ball to make it three in four for Atkinson and a five-for in test debut. In the next over Kavem Hodge donated his wicket to an umimpressive Woakes, basically giving Pope catching practice, and that was 88-7 with four wickets having gone at the same score. Alzarri Joseph had a bit of fun before trying one aggressive shot too many and holing out to Woakes off Atkinson for the debutant’s sixth scalp. That was 106-8, and it was soon 106-9 as Shamar Joseph played the worst shot of the innings to give Pope his second catch. Atkinson at this point had 7-36 and was on for setting a record for the best bowling figures by an England debutant, but a combination of Gudakesh Motie scoring runs off him with a mix of luck and skill and James Anderson pinning Seales LBW to end the innings at 121 left him with 7-45, second best behind Dominic Cork’s 7-43 in 1995 (also against West Indies). However Cork’s effort had come in West Indies second innings, so Atkinson did have the best ever first innings figures by an England debutant. Ben Duckett has fallen cheaply, playing a loose shot at Seales and edging to keeper da Silva. However Crawley and Pope are going well together at the moment, with the score currently 58-1. While I have been preparing this for publication England have moved on to 71. An appeal for LBW against Pope has just been upheld, but has gone for review. However the replay shows the ball missing the wicket. England 71-1, already within 50 of first innings parity.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
I wasn’t sure about the highlight of this gallery until while I was out walking during the lunch interval I saw this hedgehog near Kettlewell Lane.I got closer, while taking care not to cause stress.
A look at the England XI for the upcoming test match against the West indies, which was annoucned today, two days in advance of the match starting.
The England Men’s Playing XI for the test match against the West Indies that is due to start at Lord’s on Wednesday has been announced. In batting order it is: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, *Ben Stokes, +Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson. This will be Anderson’s last game for England. This post gives my thoughts on the final XI.
THE BATTING
Jamie Smith deserves his elevation to the test ranks, but I would not have made him wicket keeper, a role he does not usually play for his county. I also think that number seven is not an ideal slot for him – he is a regular number four for his county, and I would have preferred to see Stokes put himself at number seven and allow Smith to bat a place higher at number six. Woakes has a fine record in England but is an unlikely tourist, and his selection smacks more than a little of hypocrisy given that Anderson’s retirement has been effectively forced since the selectors want to look to the future.
THE BOWLING
The bowling looks thin and will look even thinner if Stokes’ knee plays up enough ton prevent him from bowling. The only member of the attack capable of producing genuinely quick deliveries is Atkinson, with Anderson for all his advanced (by international cricket standards) years probably still quicker than Woakes, and Stokes if he bowls no longer seriously quick. Bashir did well enough in India, but there is little reason to believe that he will be especially tricky to play on English pitches. Dillon Pennington and Matthew Potts, both in the squad and both left out of the final XI can feel hard done by, as can left arm spinner Jack Leach, now officially confirmed as being below Bashir in the selectors pecking order. I would have placed more reliance on that powerful top seven than has actually been done and had one or other of Potts or Pennington playing in place of Woakes. The West Indies are not among the most formidable of test foes right now, and I would still expect this XI to be good enough against them, but I cannot pretend to be impressed by it.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off (don’t forget – if you want to view pictures at a larger size just click on one)…
No cormorants today, but oystercatchers……and this egret.The gulls did a good job of cleaning out this discarded crab shell!Two dragonflies of different species……this green one……and this mainly dark blue one.
Yesterday, following on from the ODI series that in which England Women comfortably won all three matches the T20I series between the England and New Zealand women’s teams got underway.
THE ENGLAND INNINGS
England found themselves batting first. They were given a strong start by Danni Wyatt and Maia Bouchier, the former being preferred in T20Is to Tammy Beaumont, who was in the commentary box instead. Bouchier’s dismissal brought Natalie Sciver-Brunt to the crease, and she immediately put the Kiwis to the sword, making even Wyatt look somewhat pedestrian by comparison. Wyatt entered the record books when she brought up her 17th T20I 50, moving ahead of Sarah Taylor to the top of the England list of makers of such scores. Sciver-Brunt was already into the 40s by then, but she finally fell just short of 50. The left handed Freya Kemp maintained the momentum. Wyatt’s innings ended for 76. England finished with 197-3 from their 20 overs.
THE NEW ZEALAND RESPONSE
New Zealand started fairly well, although they were always behind the required rate. As had been a regular theme of the ODI series it was the spinners (of whom England had no fewer than four for this match, with a series in Bangladesh coming up in the futures) who applied a chokehold from which the Kiwis could not escape. At 63-1 New Zealand seemed to be faring respectably, especially given that the only one to go, Georgia Plimmer, had been run out, her third such dismissal in four innings. Once the second wicket fell however the floodgates opened, with leg spinner Sarah Glenn claiming three scalps in a single over, and Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone picking up a wicket the score soon read 67-6. Jess Kerr, sister of leg spinning all rounder Amelia Kerr, batted in a manner that should have caused some of the more senior Kiwi batters no little embarrassment, making 38 to give the Kiwis a hint of respectability. Near the end the fourth front line England spinner, Linsey Smith, picked up a wicket. New Zealand finished with 138-9, beaten by 59 runs, which in a T20 is an absolute pummelling. Scorecard here.
PIZZA MAKING
Today there was a Pizza making session for autistic adults at the King’s Lynn branch of Pizza Express. Great fun was had by all, and my Pizza was certainly good.
The base in the tray in which the pizza would be cooked.The base loaded with toppings.The last pre-cook addition – some oregano.Dough laid out for the pizza makers.My particular piece of dough.The base, before removing the flour.
The above show stages in the preparation of the pizza, and below is the final outcome…
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off, in two parts, from yesterday and today…
The 2024 General Election is done and dusted and the votes have been tallied up. This post looks at some of the features of that election. I have deliberately overlooked one party because of the way the official coverage has been gushing over them while ignoring at least equally deserving cases.
THE LEAST CONVINCING “LANDSLIDE” EVER
Keir Starmer is Prime Minister, and has a colossal majority. However, that majority is based on the votes of only about 20% of the electorate (35% of the votes on a very moderate 60% turnout). This is an artefact of the outmoded first past the post (FPTP) system still used in UK elections. FPTP works when and only when basically every vote goes to one of two parties. When, as it in this election, a number of parties figure prominently it throws up some very bizarre outcomes, including Starmer and his version of Labour having a thumping parliamentary majority based on half a million votes FEWER than Corbyn and his version of the Labour party polled five years ago. Having pointed out that this election is not nearly as much of a triumph for Starmer as it might look (it has been a total, unequivocal disaster for the Tories) I am of course pleased that the Tories are gone after 14 years. The moment at which Labour’s confirmed seat count ticked to the magic 326 (half of 650 plus one for an absolute majority) was one to cherish – North East Somerset & Hanham, where the odious Jacob Rees-Mogg was the Tory candidate went to Labour.
OTHER FEATURES
The Liberal Democrats did superbly, overturning some seemingly impregnable Tory majorities (the scale of the disaster for the former governing party can be estimated by the fact that 12 people who had come into this election as cabinet ministers came out of it as ex-MPs), and becoming the third largest party in parliament. The Scottish National Party were all but obliterated.
In Islington, where Jeremy Corbyn, constituency MP for 41 years, had been thrown out of the Labour Party, who then imposed a private healthcare entrepreneur (a role at odds with everything the Labour Party should stand for) named Praful Nargund as the official candidate, was running as an independent. All of the polling companies ended with egg on their faces on this one – every last one of them had Nargund, with the benefit of having the Labour Party machine behind him winning comfortably, but it was Corbyn who won comfortably.
A number of left wing independents got in elsewhere as well, including eliminating Jon Ashworth, set to become a minister in the new government.
The Green Party, without the resources to mount full campaigns in every seat, but with candidates on the ballot paper everywhere, had targetted four seats for serious campaigning: Brighton Pavilion, which they held but had a new candidate as the incumbent had retired, Bristol Central (a new seat, where the Labour candidate who had been incumbent MP for its predecessor seat would have been a minister had she been elected), Waveney Valley (a new seat, where the predecessor seat was Tory held) and North Herefordshire (going into this election as close as one got to a safe Tory seat). All four of these seats now have Green MPs – Carla Denyer in Bristol Central, Adrian Ramsay in Waveney Valley, Sian Berry in Brighton Pavilion and Ellie Chowns in North Herefordshire. In addition a number of Greens came second in other constituencies. Sian Berry polled over twice as many votes as Labour in Brighton Pavilion, Carla Denyer has a majority of over 10,000 in Bristol Central (and Labour poured resources into both seats).
In my part of the world James Wild retained his seat, but his majority plummeted from 20,000 to 5,000, while in one of the last results to be officially confirmed Southwest Norfolk MP and former Prime Minister (for a risible 44 days) Liz Truss lost her seat to Labour’s Terry Jermy. Since both Boris Johnson’s former seat in Uxbridge and David Cameron’s former seat in Witney also changed hands that meant that three former prime minister’s seats fell in a single election.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
This is now my reserve cafetiere……because I spotted this going for 50p in a yard sale.
Today is the final day of a round of County Championship fixtures. The tie of the round has been the top of the table clash between Surrey and Essex. This post looks at goings on there and elsewhere.
SURREY v ESSEX
Surrey scored 262 batting first with Jamie Smith, newly elevated to England’s test ranks (albeit as new keeper, rather than in his best role of specialist batter), scoring exactly 100. Essex were restricted to 180 in reply, Paul Walter top scoring with 64. Jordan Clark took 3-33, Daniel Worrall 3-40, and there were two wickets for James Taylor and one for Tom Lawes. When Essex had Surrey 127-6 in their second innings, 70 of them from Smith, it looked like they were in the contest, but Ryan Patel scored a century, enabling the last four wickets to add 151. The last two wickets added 85 of those, and Taylor at 10 and Worrall at 11 scored 3 and 4 respectively, such was Patel’s dominance and manipulation of the strike at that stage of proceedings. That left Essex needing 361 to win, and by the close of day three they were 21-2. There has been some rain today, but in the cricket that has been possible Surrey have claimed three wickets, Tom Lawes getting Matt Critchley and Tom Westley in successive balls, both caught behind by Foakes, and just recently Worrall claiming the key scalp of former South Africa test opener Dean Elgar for 60. Essex are 121-5 at present, 240 short of an always unlikely looking target, and with only five wickets left.
ELSEWHERE
There are two potential big run chases going on. In division one Somerset are 163-3 in pursuit of a target of 410 to beat Warwickshire. In division two Glamorgan were set a massive 593 by Gloucestershire, and although that still looks highly unlikely the Welsh side are 397-5 as I type, 196 short of their target. Sam Northeast has a ton to his name, a feat already achieved in the innings by Marnus Labuschagne. Supporting Northeast at the moment is all rounder Dan Douthwaite.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
Three dragonflies from two species in a single shot. I have chosen this as the feature image.
Over the weekend I followed the whole of one classic T20 match and the first innings of a very one sided One Day International (I missed the second innings as there was a family get together happening in Wells Next The Sea which I wanted to be part of). This post looks at both games.
THE MENS T20 WORLD CUP FINAL
This match would see history made whoever won it – India and South Africa, the two teams to make the final were both undefeated, and no side had ever gone through a Men’s T20 world cup undefeated. India batted first and their innings had its up and downs. The dominant feature was Virat Kohli’s one and only major innings of the tournament. They ended up with 176 to defend. South Africa batted well in their turn. They seemed to have settled the matter decisively when the 15th over, bowled by Kuldeep Yadav was butchered for 24 runs reducing the requirement from 54 off six overs to 30 off five overs. This virtually forced Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to turn to his best bowler, Jasprit Bumrah. The 16th over was economical, but no wickets fell, so South Africa still looked favourites. The 17th over kept India in contention, and saw them claim the vital wicket of Heinrich Klaasen. For the 18th over Sharma rightly opted to use Bumrah’s last over, hoping to close things out then. Bumrah not only kept it tight as always, but also got rid of Marco Jansen, which meant that with the required rate starting to become genuinely alarming for them the South Africans had only David Miller of their recognized batters left. Arshdeep Singh bowled the crucial 19th over, and by the end of it South Africa needed 16 off the last over, though Miller was at the strikers end. Hardik Pandya bowled the final over, and off the first ball thereof Miller went for a big shot down the ground and Suryakumar Yadav took a brilliant running catch to all but seal the match. Number nine Kagiso Rabada did his best, but another catch by Suryakumar Yadav off the penultimate ball of the match accounted for him, and South Africa needed nine off one ball to win. Nortje scored a single off the final ball and India won by seven runs (176-7 plays 169-8). In spite of South Africa’s reputation in global tournaments it has to be stated that THIS WAS NOT A CHOKE – India bowled superbly in the closing overs, and held a couple of excellent catches. This match was settled by good Indian cricket, not bad South African cricket. Scorecard here.
NEW ZEALAND WOMEN IN A SPIN
This was the second match of a three match ODI series between the England and New Zealand women’s teams, taking place at New Road, Worcester. New Zealand found themselves batting first as they had in the first match in which they were thoroughly hammered. At 114-3 with Amelia Kerr set and Maddy Green looking impressive as well they had a chance of a competitive total, but then the world’s number one and two ranked Women’s ODI bowlers, Sophie Ecclestone (left arm orthodox spin) and Charlie Dean (off spin) made their presences felt. Dean started the rout by pinning Green LBW, then Ecclestone got Brooke Halliday for six and Lauren Down for a duck, both clean bowled. Dean then got the big wicket of Amelia Kerr, caught and bowled for 43. Then a catch by Natalie Sciver-Brunt off Ecclestone accounted for Kiwi keeper Isabella Gaze for a duck, and three balls later Ecclestone clean bowled Molly Penfold for another duck to secure her fifth wicket, and 114-3 had become 124-9. Jess Kerr hit her way to 14, boosting the final total to 141 in company with Fran Jonas, before a second Sciver-Brunt catch, this time off the off spin of Alice Capsey ended the innings. Ecclestone has taken at least one wicket in each of her last 30 bowling innings across formats, a run going back to the start of 2023, and overall in those 30 innings she has taken 68 wickets at 14.75 a piece.
I missed the England run chase, but I do know that it was such an utter formality that Natalie Sciver-Brunt was able to engineer things at the end so that Maia Bouchier scored her first senior century (she has previously reached three figures in a U13s match). Scorecard here.
aspiblog 