Tag: T20I

India Men Flop in Melbourne

A look back at today’s T20I between Australia and India men’s teams at Melbourne and a large photo gallery.

There is no women’s world cup cricket on at the moment – yesterday saw the second semi-final of which I was unable to catch a single ball due to being at work. It must have been a classic game, with India chasing down 339 with nine balls to spare. This morning UK time there was a T20I between the Australia and India men’s teams and this post looks back at that match.

INDIA FAIL IN MULTIPLE WAYS

India were in trouble early, crashing to 32-4, and never really recovered. India also showed a chronic lack of game awareness and tactical nous. The only Indian batter to play with real fluency was Abhishek Sharma, who produced a gem of an innings, but also only had the strike for one-third of the deliveries bowled during his innings (37 balls faced out of 111 bowled). As an indication of how much this cost India he scored 68 off those 37 balls, while the rest of the batters managed 57 from the other 74. The innings lasted one ball after his dismissal – Bumrah wanted a run off the ball in question, Varun Chakravarthy failed to respond, and that kind of mix-up leads to only one result, which duly happened here – J Bumrah run out 0 (1). Thus India had a beggarly 125 to defend, which was never going to be enough on a pitch that offered bounce but could not be described as difficult to bat on.

Although Bumrah took two late wickets to lend the match a veneer of closeness, reducing that side of the margin to a mere four wickets the truth of the scale of the home side’s win is better illustrated by the fact that they took a mere 13.2 overs to chase down the runs, thus doing the job with exactly one-third of their innings to spare. Being English I have to note that if the test pitches in a little while offer a bit of bounce then England, with the phalanx of express bowlers they have named in their party, will be delighted.

PHOTOGRAPHS

This is a large gallery, and reflective of weather that cannot quite seem to make its mind up. Today, though mainly cloudy and with odd spots of rain has been almost absurdly warm for the end of October in England – the outside temperature is still officially 15 Celsius (59 Fahrenheit) at 5PM…

Before today I had only ever seen gulls making use of this discarded tyre, but this old Grey Heron clearly found it a useful vantage point.

More Record Breaking from England

A look back at last night’s carnage at Old Trafford and a photo gallery.

The ODI series between the England and South Africa men’s teams ended with a record breaking win for England. The T20I series between the same two teams started with a narrow win for South Africa in the first match. The second match took place last night…

A REMARKABLE BLITZ

England batted first, and they got off to a flier. Jos Buttler reached 50 off 18 balls, Phil Salt took only one ball longer. The hundred was on the board before the six over Power Play was done. Buttler was first out, for 83 off 30 balls. Salt went on to a century, his fourth in T20 internationals, putting him behind only Rohit Sharma (five) on the all time list. Salt reached that mark off his 39th ball, an England all time record. The runs continued to amass at a ridiculous rate, and in the final over England became the first side ever to take a top tier (i.e. test playing) nation for 300 in a T20I. They ended up with a score of 304-2, pg which Salt’s share was 141 not out from 60 balls. South Africa had swelled the number of balls England actually faced by bowling a number of wides and no-balls. Bjorn Fortuin, a left arm spin bowling all rounder who had replaced Corbin Bosch, a right arm medium pace bowling all rounder, in the XI fared as well as anyone, taking 2-52 from his four overs. Kagiso Rabada, an all time great of the game, was left nursing figures of 4-0-70-0. With that kind of score on the board there could only be one result, and in the end the final margin was 146 runs. Sam Curran had 2-11 from two overs, varying his pace superbly (one of his slower balls was clocked at 47mph, similar to the stock pace in her playing days of world cup winning left arm spinner turned commentator Alex Hartley), and at the end, with the result long since confirmed (at the end of the 16th over South Africa needed 147 from four overs, and were down to tail enders only) Will Jacks picked up 2-2 from a single over of off spin.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Consolation for England Women in Final T20I

A look back at yesterday evening’s T20I between the England and India women’s teams and a large photo gallery.

The test match between the England and India men’s teams is still going on, and it is a battle royal. Last night the women’s teams assembled at Edgbaston for the fifth and final match of a T2oI series. India had already secured the series but it was still a hard fought match.

PRELIMINARIES

With an ODI series to come, and then a world cup in that format, which gave it priority England made a number of changes. Both the Laurens, Bell and Filer, were rested, as was batter/ off spinner Alice Capsey. England won the toss and opted to bowl…

INDIVIDUAL v TEAM

Shafali Verma played a superb innings for India, scoring 75 off 41 balls, before falling to a catch by Maia Bouchier, playing her first international match since her awful tour of Australia off Charlie Dean, one of three wickets for the off spinner who also went for only 23 in her four overs. No one else really fired, with Richa Ghosh’s 24 off 16 the next best contirbution.

Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge led off with a century opening stand for England, and although they fell close together, Tammy Beaumont, acting captain with Sciver-Brunt hors de combat, played a little gem of an innings, sharing important stands with Bouchier and then Amy Jones. Just as it seemed Beaumont and Jones were carrying England to the win both fell, Beaumont bowled by Reddy for 30 (20), and Jones to a spectacular catch by Radha Yadav in the same over. That left five needed off three balls, but Ecclestone played her first ball well, and she and Paige Scholfield ran hard to get through for three runs, making it two needed off two. A single off each ball, neither with any great risk attached did the job and England had won by five wickets. Dean’s bowling got her the Player of the Match award.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Humiliation at Hove

A look at last night’s T20I between the England and West indies women’s teams and a photo gallery.

Last night the England and West Indies women’s teams assembled at Hove for the second match in a three match T20 series. This post tells the story of what happened.

HOW NOT TO HANDLE A T20I INNINGS

England won the toss and chose to bowl first. They named an unchanged XI, while for the West Indies Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle returned to action after injuries. As early as the fourth over it was possible to forecast the final result. With the second ball of that over Em Arlott clean bowled Hayley Matthews, and such is the extent to which West Indies depend on her for runs that that really did feel like it had pretty much settled the match. England bowled well, had moments of brilliance in the field, and West Indies played like a beaten team. The bowling figures for England, who relied entirely on their front five, since at no stage was enough pressure being applied to even suggest that Capsey or the skipper Sciver-Brunt would be needed were reflective of just how little the West Indies batters did. I present them in full below:

Bell 4-0-28-3
Arlott 4-1-14-3
Smith 4-0-15-0
Dean 4-0-12-2
Wong 4-0-10-1

Arlott bowled her four overs straight through at the start of the innings, leaving West Indies in the toils. Smith’s figures are for me the key indicator of where West Indies were lacking. She is an excellent bowler, but it should not be possible for someone who is not taking wickets to go for only 15 in four overs in a T20. If you are going to bat in a T20I you have to be able to keep the scoreboard ticking even if you cannot hit boundaries on a regular basis, and West Indies blocked far too many balls.

A total of 81-9 was never going to challenge England, and even with Danni Wyatt-Hodge falling to first ball of their innings it never looked anything but straightforward. Natalie Sciver-Brunt who had had a quiet first outing as skipper now came to the fore with an unbeaten 55 off 30 balls, while Dunkley played the support role ending with 24 not out from 25 balls. England won by nine wickets and required only 9.2 of a possible 20 overs to reach the target.

Should England win the toss again in the third match I would say they should choose to bat first this time round, as with the series won this is a fine opportunity to get some practice at doing what they don’t want – no side wins every toss after all.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…


The Tale of a Launch

A look at the start of the new era of England Women’s cricket and a photo gallery.

Yesterday the new era of England Women’s cricket with Charlotte Edwards as head coach and Natalie Sciver-Brunt as captain had its first practical test in the form of a T20I against West Indies Women at Canterbury.

A NEW TEAM FOR A NEW ERA

While Heather Knight, who had resigned as skipper in the wake of her team’s disastrous tour of Australia, kept her place as a player there were some new and some returning faces in the England squad. The final line up chosen at the toss was: Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, *Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight, +Amy Jones, Alice Capsey, Em Arlott (her international debut), Issy Wong, Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith and Lauren Bell. With batting all rounders at numbers 3 and 6, a wicket keeping all rounder at 5, a genuine all rounder at 7 and bowling all rounders at 8 and 9 there was depth and variety in both batting and bowling. With Dean and Smith to bowl spin (Dean off spin, Smith left arm orthodox), and Bell, Wong and Arlott to bowl seam/swing plus Capsey (off spin) and Sciver-Brunt (rightarm medium) all bases save leg spin were covered. Ecclestone is returning from a knee injury and was not picked in this squad on the ground of managing her return to full fitness, while leg spinner Sarah Glenn was in the squad but did not make the final XI. Also watching from the side lines were veteran opener Tammy Beaumont and young batting all rounder Paige Scholfield. Sciver-Brunt won the toss and put West Indies in to bat.

The pitch looked good for batting, the conditions were excellent, and there was good batting on show from Hayley Matthews, the West Indies skipper. Sadly none of her team mates were able to offer her decent support. Until wicket keeper Mandy Mangru scored a sparky 17 late in the innings no one save Matthews had managed double figures. Sciver-Brunt showed imagination in her handling of her bowlers, putting Dean on for the second over and Smith for the third, and carefully not introducing Arlott until the Power Play was done. Matthews played a magnificent innings, reaching her hundred off the final ball of the innings. As for her team mates the final West Indies tally of 146-7 sums up their efforts with no need of further comment.

This total was soon put in perspective by England, for whom Wyatt-Hodge and Dunkley led off with a 50 opening stand in quick time. Sciver-Brunt kept the momentum going in partnership with Dunkley, who batted superbly. Knight, playing her first innings back in the ranks after nine years as skipper, played with wonderful freedom, outscoring even Dunkley. England won by eight wickets with 3.3 overs to spare, Dunkley 78 not out from 54 balls, Knight 43 not out from 27 balls. There will be tougher tests ahead than this West Indies side, but it was a defeat in a T20 (their last group fixture of the T20 World Cup) at West Indian hands that set the stage for the disastrous visit to Australia, in which England were whitewashed and deserved that fate. My Canterbury Tale is told and it remains only to provide…

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Rain Alters Schedules

An explanation of the effect that the weather has had on today’s cricket schedules and a quick look back at yesterdays T20I between the England and Pakistan men’s teams.

The second ODI between the England and Pakistan women’s teams should be in full swing at the moment, but the weather has intervened in no uncertain terms and the radio people have delivered their verdict on the likelihood of their being any resumption of play by switching over to the IPL final between Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Kolkata Knight Riders. Yesterday the England and Pakistan men’s sides contested a T20I and I will look back at that. While I have been typing this post and then preparing it for publication news has come through that the match in Taunton has been abandoned.

A COMFORTABLE WIN

For much of their innings England looked set to score over 200 from their 20 overs, but a poor last five overs prevented that. They ended with 183 to defend, an innings built around a blistering 84 from Jos Buttler. Moeen Ali bowled four of the first nine overs of the Pakistan reply, and collected 2-26, a splendid effort, especially given that the second of those wickets was that of Babar Azam, Pakistan’s best batter. Pakistan never got on terms with the target, and the final margin was 23 runs. Jofra Archer returned to action, and was very impressive and indubitably fully fit for action. If there is a problem with this England line up it is that the only front line batter who bats left handed is Moeen Ali, which means that England either have to send six successive right handers to the crease, or promote him up the order to break the sequence.

PHOTOGRAPHS

It has not been the best weather for photography recently, but I do have a gallery to share…

England Women Maintain Winning Start To Home Season

A look at the second T20I of the three match series between England Women and Pakistan Women, and a large photo gallery.

Yesterday night saw the second match of the three match T20I series between the England and Pakistan women’s sides. England had won the opener comfortably.

THE ENGLAND INNINGS

Natalie Sciver-Brunt returned to the England XI after missing the series opener. Diana Baig (the first name came about because her mother was a fan of Princess Diana) returned to the Pakistan XI. In spite of England’s dreadful start with the bat in the first game Heather Knight had no hesitation in opting to bat when she won the toss at Wantage Road. England were not entirely convincing, and for most of the innings it didn’t look like they would get much beyond 130. However 17 runs off the last five balls of the innings (Ecclestone scoring 7* off three balls and Danielle Gibson then hitting the last two balls of the innings for four and six to finish with 18* off 10 balls) pushed the total to 144.

THE PAKISTAN REPLY

Pakistan were soon 9-2, but then Sidra Ameen and Muneeba Ali had a respectable partnership. Ali gave Ecclestone a return catch which made the left armer, at a mere 25 years of age, England’s all time leading wicket taker in the format, surpassing Katherine Sciver-Brunt. All rounder Nida Dar (the overall all time leading wicket taker in the format) then fell LBW to Sarah Glenn for 1 and it was 41-4 and Pakistan were in deep trouble. Sidra Ameen and Aliya Riaz then put on 19 together before Sidra Ameen was run out after a mix-up and it was 60-5. From that point on it was all England. Heather Knight having noted that the spinners were proving more testing than the seamers gave Alice Capsey a bowl (though the skipper’s own off spin was not deployed). Capsey picked up the wickets of Aliya Riaz for 19 and Diana Baig for a duck in her first over, and Pakistan were 71-7, with Capsey looking at figures of 2-1. Sarah Glenn then accounted for Fatima Sana for 8 to make it 72-8. The ninth scraped at seven runs, three of them off Capsey, before Ecclestone got both the last two wickets in the space of three balls as Pakistan ended up 79 all out, beaten by 65 runs, a record margin for a T20I at the ground. Ecclestone finished with 3-11, while Capsey’s all round contribution of 31 and 2-4 won her the Player of the Match award. A full scorecard can be viewed here and amore detailed look at the numbers thrown up by this match can be seen here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This pic and the next two come from a library book I read and enjoyed.
Another library find – one of two I have recently read by DV Bishop, set in 16th century Florence.

England Women’s Unusual Route To Victory

A look at yesterday’s T20I between the England and Pakistan women’s teams, the curtain raiser for the home international summer. Also a vast photo gallery (I have two more ready to go, a third at the pre-editing stage and more pictures on my camera).

The international cricket summer got underway yesterday with a T20 international between the England and Pakistan Women’s teams. This post looks at what happened in that match.

ENGLAND FIGHT BACK FROM ABYSMAL START

I missed the early part of the match due to a West Norfolk Autism Group commitment, so I cannot comment on the nature of the dismissals suffered by England near the start. However, I do know that at low water mark they were 11-4, not a position from which many sides have recovered in a T20I. By the time I was able to tune in Heather Knight and Amy Jones were restoring the situation (Knight made 49, Jones 37), and their good work was continued by Danielle Gibson and Sophie Ecclestone, Gibson in particular playing a superb innings to score 41* off just 21 balls. Ecclestone finished on 18*, also scored very quickly, and in the end England has 163-6 from their 20 overs. Not a mammoth total in a T20I, but more than Pakistan Women had ever successfully chased, and quite remarkable after such a dreadful start.

GLENN THE BOWLING HERO

Pakistan started brightly, but wickets began to fall too early for comfort. The slow decline of the Pakistan innings became a crash when Sarah Glenn came into the attack. Glenn took 4-12 from her four overs, a new career best in the format for her, and Pakistan were almost out of it at 89-9. The crash of wickets included a horror spell of three balls for the Pakistan skipper, in the course of which she ran her batting partner out, and then lost her own wicket to a poor shot. The tenth wicket pair did their best, but with over 70 runs needed and them being already well behind the clock it was always a matter ‘when’ and not ‘if’. They cobbled together a stand of 21, before the last wicket went down, giving England a win by 53 runs. England won comfortably in the end, but Pakistan had given them a scare or two along the way – definitively winning the Power Play overs in the England innings and arguably winning that same period of their own innings. Ultimately Knight, Jones, Gibson and Ecclestone rescued England from an awful start with the bat, and Glenn’s outstanding spell with the ball was the clincher when Pakistan batted.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I have absolutely masses of photographs to share, having been posting about the trip to Pensthorpe for the last week, while gathering many more pictures in this splendid Norfolk spring weather (as I type this I am sat outside in shorts and t-shirt, with the temperature officially 24 degrees, and a light breeze blowing, and temperatures have been hitting the low 20s consistently for some days)…

Two Great Performances in Losing Causes

A look at two remarkable performances that came in losing causes, a brief mention of an innings victory for Sri Lanka and some photographs.

Yesterday saw two remarkable games of cricket, each featuring a notable performance for a member of a badly beaten team.

INTERNATIONAL: SURYAKUMAR YADAV

In the final match of the T20I series England batted first against India. With Dawid Malan leading the way (77 off 39), England posted a massive total. For a time it looked like India might chase them down, and had Suryakumar Yadav had proper support they probably would have done. As it was, the only person to stay with him for any length of time, Shreyas Iyer, did not score quick enough on his own account. Yadav scored 117 off 55 balls, and India went down by 17 runs. Although I understand why Reece Topley got Player of the Match for his three crucial wickets I personally would have given it to Yadav.

DOMESTIC: GEORGE SCRIMSHAW

In the evening the last of the four Vitality Blast quarter finals took place. Somerset were at home to Derbyshire. Somerset were scoring at ten an over at the end of the 11th over, but then went on a spectacular charge which saw the last nine overs yield over 150 runs. This meant a final total of 265-5, an all time tournament record, for Somerset. Leg spinner Matthew McKiernan earned a place in the record books for the wrong reason – his 4-0-82-0 was the most expensive four overs in T20 history. Yet in amongst the dung heap that was the Derbyshire bowling figures one jewel shone out: George Scrimshaw 4-0-16-2. Given that his team mates collectively had 3-249 from 16 overs, for an ER of 15.56 per over his performance prevented a Somerset tally of over 300. The runs his bowling saved unsurprisingly counted for little in the end – a dispirited Derbyshire sank to 74 all out and defeat by 191 runs, yet another record.

SOME NEWS FROM ABROAD

Sri Lanka is a country in turmoil at the moment. Their male cricketers gave them something to enjoy though – around noon UK time they completed a victory over Australia by an innings and 39 runs. Australia managed 364 batting first, Sri Lanka took 190 run lead, piling up 554 with Dinesh Chandimal scoring an unbeaten double hundred. Australia then mustered a meagre 151 all out in their second innings. Chandimal’s innings notwithstanding, the star of this victory was debutant Prabath Jayasuriya, a left arm orthodox spinner who had taken 6-118 in the first dig when conditions were all in the batters favour. Second time around on a surface now offering assistance to spinners he claimed 6-59. Only three players have ever had better match figures on debut than his – Narendra Hirwani took 16-136 for India v West Indies, Bob Massie took 16-137 for Australia v England, and Fred ‘Nutty’ Martin took 12-102 for England against Australia in 1890. None of those three went on to have long or illustrious careers, but Jayasuriya can look at two who took 11 on debut: Clarrie Grimmett went on to claim 216 test wickets, an all comers record at the time, and Alec Bedser took 236 in his career. At 30 years of age Jayasuriya is three years older than Bedser was and three years younger than Grimmett was when he made his debut.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Babar Azam’s Command Performance

A look at two contrasting T20s, one featuring Babar Azam and one featuring Virat Kohli, a mathematical teaser and a lot of photographs.

There was much wailing and gnashing of Indian teeth this morning as the new ODI batting rankings came out with Babar Azam promoted to no1, pushing Virat Kohli down to no2. Both were in T20 action today, Babar for Pakistan against South Africa and Virat for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Sunrisers Hyderabad. This post tells the story of the international match and where we are at so far in the IPL game.

RUNS GALORE AT JO’BURG

Johannesburg is no stranger to high scoring matches (just ask Ricky Ponting, who once failed to defend 434 in an ODI there!) but even so South Africa would have expected a tally of 203 from their 20 overs to be chased down with quite such ridiculous ease. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan opened the batting together and for a long time it looked like they were leading their side to a ten wicket win. Babar Azam took just 49 balls to reach his 100, and Rizwan also topped 50 quite comfortably. So unfortunately for him did Beuran Hendricks with the ball – 4-0-55-0. Eventually Babar Azam fell to the fourth ball iof the 18th over to make it 197-1, his own share 122 off 59 balls. Fakhar Zaman came in to bat and clouted the last two balls of the 18th over for fours to settle the issue with nine wickets and two whole overs unused.

RCB V SRH

Kohli was named to no one’s surprise as captain and opening batter in the Royal Challengers Bangalore XI to face Sunrisers Hyderabad. Such is Kohli’s power in certain circles that an innings of 33 off 29 balls, in reality an awful performance in a T20, was described by at least one commentator as “An excellent cameo.” Only Maxwell, who came close to living up to his moniker of “The Big Show” with 59 not out off 41 balls, did anything significant with the bat and RCB were held to 149-8 from their 20 overs, a total that seems modest. Rashid Khan as so often in any game of which is part was well to the fore with the ball, finishing with 2-18 from his four overs, and outstanding effort in this form of cricket. Although Saha fell for just one in the reply David Warner and Manish Pandey seem to be in little trouble, with SRH now 32-1 off four overs and looking set for a comfortable win.

A MATHEMATICAL TEASER

This is today’s offering from brilliant.org, slightly modified as their setting gave multiple choice options for the answer, which opened up a hack that I availed myself of. Can you solve this in the intended way and work out the answer? My hack, and an authentic solution will appear in my next post. Click here for more.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off, with Warner and Pandey still going nicely, and Bairstow waiting to come in next…

PS as I publish, SRH are 75-1 in the tenth, well on course to chase down the modest target they have been set.