Day: October 27, 2021

Dubai, October 27, 2021 (PPI-OT):Jason Roy’s brutal 61 helped England stroll to a second successive victory as they thoroughly outplayed Bangladesh, winning by eight wickets to stay top of Group 1.

Roy fittingly marked the occasion of his 50th T20 international by blitzing five fours and three sixes in an entertaining half-century that helped his side easily chase down Bangladesh’s 124 for nine, having beaten the West Indies by six wickets in their opening fixture.

Moeen Ali and Tymal Mills took two wickets in two balls at either end of a Bangladesh innings that never really got going as Liam Livingstone picked up the crucial wickets of Mushfiqur Rahim and captain Mahmudullah in the first ever T20 meeting between the two sides.

Defeat at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi leaves Bangladesh on the verge of being knocked out at the Super 12 stage, with the Tigers needing wins against West Indies, South Africa and Australia to stand a chance of progressing.

Bangladesh chose to bat and Liton Das showed his intent early, twice advancing down the pitch to hit Ali for four as 10 came from the first over.

England captain Eoin Morgan persisted with Ali in the attack and the off-spinner soon had his revenge, taking two wickets in two balls in the third over.

Das’ aggressive approach proved his undoing as he top-edged a catch to Livingstone to depart for nine before Mohammad Naim, five off seven, tamely chipped one to Chris Woakes at mid-on to leave Bangladesh 14 for two.

Things got even better for England in the final over of the powerplay when a sensational grab from Adil Rashid saw the back of experienced No.3 Shakib Al Hasan for just four, as Woakes got one to rise on him.

Rashid came onto bowl after helping to restrict Bangladesh to 27 for three in the powerplay and almost had Rahim spectacularly caught by Mills.

The former Bangladesh captain combined with current skipper Mahmadullah to get their side up to 60 for three at the halfway stage.

But Rahim was trapped lbw on review by Livingstone for 29 off 30 balls which ended a promising stand of 37.

His replacement at the crease, Afif Hossain, did not last long as a comical mix-up with Mahmadullah after Mills’ mis-field allowed the Englishman to recover and combine with Jos Buttler to have him run out for five, with Bangladesh really struggling at 73 for five in the 13th over.

Golden arm Livingstone, bowling a mixture of off-spin and leg-spin, struck again as Mahmadullah’s attempt to up the run rate saw him miscue one to Woakes for 19 with Bangladesh’s hopes of an imposing total departing with him at 83 for six.

Bangladesh fans had to wait until the penultimate over to see a maximum, but Nasum Ahmed slapped two sixes and a four off Rashid on his way to an unbeaten 19 off only nine balls to add some much-needed late impetus.

However, Mills’s excellent last over, taking two wickets off the final two balls and conceding just five runs, left England needing only 125 to continue their perfect start.

On his 50th international T20 appearance, Jason Roy smoked Shakib, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, for four off the very first ball of the chase to set the tone for England.

Roy and Buttler put on 39 in 29 balls until the England wicket-keeper holed out for a run-a-ball 18 off Ahmed to bring Dawid Malan to the middle.

England brought up their 50 with the last ball of the powerplay and, after Roy scored quickly off Mahedi Hasan, were already halfway to victory before the conclusion of the seventh over.

Roy’s assault did not relent and he and Malan brought up their 50 partnership before the Surrey man slogged Ahmed for a straight six to bring up his own half century from just 33 balls, on the day he was presented a cap for reaching the same milestone of appearances.

Having ramped Shoriful Islam for an audcious six, Bangladesh finally saw the back of Roy for 61 off 38 balls when he was caught off the same bowler, but the job was virtually done with England needing just 13 more.

Jonny Bairstow joined Malan, who had put on 73 with Roy, and hit the winning runs with 35 balls to spare.

Scores in Brief

England beat Bangladesh at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by eight wickets

Bangladesh 124/9 in 20 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 29, Mahmudullah 19; Tymal Mills 3/27, Liam Livingstone 2/15)

England 126/2 in 14.1 overs (Jason Roy 61, Dawid Malan 28 not out; Shoriful Islam 1/26, Nasum Ahmed 1/26)

Player of the Match: Jason Roy (England)

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Dubai, October 27, 2021 (PPI-OT):Jason Roy revealed he had to overcome dark thoughts and put his hard work in training into action as his 61 helped England beat Bangladesh by eight wickets.

England had restricted Bangladesh to a considerably below par total of 124 for nine thanks to two wickets in two balls for Moeen Ali and Tymal Mills at either end of a lacklustre innings, while Liam Livingstone also chipped in with the wickets of Mushfiqur Rahim and captain Mahmudullah.

In reply, Roy’s blistering knock came off just 38 balls and fittingly came in his 50th T20 international appearance as he answered critics that had been questioning his ability to play left-arm spin at the top of the order in emphatic fashion, after working hard with teammate Liam Dawson in the nets.

The 31-year-old said: “I [enjoyed that innings] a lot. It’s an area of my game I’ve been working extremely hard on, on slow pitches against left-arm spinners and the angle as such.

“It was a big game for me today to put all my hard work I’ve been doing in the nets into play. Credit to the bowlers, we were chasing a total well below par but we still had to knock it off.

“I think as a batter, as a cricketer, you always have some darker thoughts going into your mind before the game, ‘What if, this can happen, this can happen.’

“But you’ve got to remind yourself that your training has been good, I’ve worked a hell of a lot against Liam Dawson in the nets.

“He’s bowling so much to me and I’ve got to keep reminding myself to do what I do in training and things will be alright.”

Bangladesh struggled in their first ever T20 clash against England, but Roy insisted they were not easy opponents and revealed his side will continue to focus on themselves rather than worrying about what other teams can do.

He added: “I don’t think they are an easy team to beat, they’ve got some matchwinners out there, some extremely good players.

“We came out and kept it very simple and stuck to what we do, we don’t look too much into what a lot of other teams do, we make sure everything in our camp is right and we are doing our roles right.

“Today was another day where we bowled extremely well and were clinical with the bat.”

Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah lamented his side’s inability to get off to a good start with the bat as they slipped to a second straight Super 12s defeat to leave the Tigers needing wins against West Indies, South Africa and Australia to stand a chance of progressing to the semi-finals.

He said: “We were disappointed with the batting, it was a good wicket but we didn’t start well and didn’t have any partnerships in the middle either.

“We’ve been lacking a good start, on these wickets it gets difficult later on. We are more skilled hitters than power hitters, we don’t want to change that because we believe we can post good totals. We need to reassess and come up with a good plan.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Dubai, October 27, 2021 (PPI-OT):Australia wicket-keeper Matthew Wade revealed his side must win the spin battle against Sri Lanka if they want to make it two wins from two in the Super 12s.

Wade and Marcus Stoinis put on 40 in 26 balls to guide Australia to a five-wicket victory over South Africa in their opening game of the ICC Men’s World T20 2021.

And next up for Justin Langer’s men in Group 1 is a Sri Lanka side who chased down 172 to beat Bangladesh and will come armed with several spinners at the Dubai International Stadium in the UAE.

“I think every game in this tournament is going to be hard work,” said Wade, who has had to adjust to operating in the middle order with the bat rather than at the top of the innings as he has done in recent years.

“As we’re seeing throughout the tournament, every team in the competition on their day are going to be hard to beat, so Sri Lanka is certainly no different. They have had a few more games leading in than what we have as well.

“No, they’re a terrific team. They’re going to challenge us with a fair bit of spin, I would’ve thought. There could be up to 12 overs of spin, I reckon, that we’ll probably face tomorrow.

“And it’s going to be hard work. And we’ll have to be at our best to beat any team in this tournament, and Sri Lanka will certainly be no different tomorrow.

“They have some terrific spin options and match winners, especially. We’ll have to be at the top of our game against the spin.

“We’ve got some terrific players of spin ourselves, [Steve] Smith and [Glenn] Maxwell, those guys will be really important for us tomorrow.

“Hopefully they can bat through that middle over period and we can back end it a little bit more than what we did in the first game.

“It’s an exciting challenge. We know if we’re going to go deep into this tournament then we’ll have to play spin really well. And we’re looking forward to the challenge tomorrow.”

Wade revealed Australia are leaving no stone unturned in their preparation and reckons most fans do not appreciate the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes in the shortest form of the game.

He added: “There’s plenty of planning that goes into T20. I’d love a lot of the public and the fans to see actually how much planning goes in. It’s probably the most planned format, I think, over the three.

“The bowlers and Andrew McDonald, the bowling coach, spent a lot of time with the batters. And Kusal Perera is a world-class hitter, and he’ll be looking to go hard against our bowlers. But that’s the great thing about T20 and about World Cups, the best versus the best.

“We’re pretty confident that the guys that open the bowling for us can do a really good job and we can get early wickets and put them under a little bit of pressure. But, yeah, as excited as anyone to see those contests tomorrow.”

Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur insists the key for his side is to keep improving on their journey in the tournament having come through the first round before the Super 12s and is confident they can beat anyone.

He said: “For us, it’s just about us improving all the time. And every time we go out and play, I’ve applauded the players in terms of intensity, in terms of skill, in terms of execution.

“And the players have been outstanding. And we just are improving. For us, it’s about our journey at the moment. It’s not a sprint. Our players are getting better and better.

“So I’m really, really happy. The qualifiers were tough. There was a lot of pressure on us there. Now the pressure is reversed because we come into this space with not much to lose.

“We’re playing good cricket. We’re very dangerous. The players are very clear on what their roles are, and we’re confident we can beat anybody on our day.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com

Dubai, October 27, 2021 (PPI-OT):Forrest Gump famously said that life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get, and the same applies to Liam Livingstone’s bowling.

The England all-rounder mixes between off-spin, leg-spin and variations in between but performed a crucial role for captain Eoin Morgan in the victory over Bangladesh.

Known more for his brutally destructive batting, Livingstone’s handy spin is fast becoming an underrated weapon in Morgan’s armoury.

When skittling the West Indies out for just 55 in their opening Super 12s fixture, it was spinners Moeen Ali, two for 17, and Adil Rashid, four for two, who rightly took the plaudits with Livingstone not required to turn his arm over.

However, against Bangladesh it was the Lancashire star who chimed in with a couple of vital scalps.

Mushfiqur Rahim was the only batter to put together a significant innings, 29 off 30 balls, and it was Livingstone who had him trapped leg before to really put the brakes on any Bangladeshi momentum with the bat.

Mushfiqur had been given not out while attempting a reverse-sweep, but Morgan rightly reviewed and DRS proved Livingstone’s leg-break would have been crashing into middle stump after pitching in line.

That dismissal ended a partnership of 37 for the fourth wicket, the highest of a lacklustre Bangladesh innings characterised by regular dismissals and wayward running.

Livingstone was bowling when Afif Hossain was chaotically run out and then he claimed the prized scalp of opposition captain Mahmudullah for 19, just as the skipper tried to put his foot down against one of England’s supposed secondary bowlers.

Accounting for the two top scorers and finishing with figures of two for 15, Livingstone’s impact should not be underestimated as his three overs helped restrict Bangladesh from setting any sort of challenging total, in the very first T20 meeting between the sides.

Such was England’s dominance for the second successive game, that Livingstone – who was dismissed for one against the West Indies – was not even required with the bat in Abu Dhabi, his main strong suit.

Player of the match Jason Roy, who smoked 61 from 38 balls as England eased to victory, revealed Livingstone has been putting in the hard yards off the pitch and spending time with spin-bowling coach and former New Zealand bowler Jeetan Patel.

He said: “He [Livingstone] has been working extremely hard. It’s great having Mo[een Ali] and Rash [Adil Rashid] in the side as well and he learns a lot from them.

“And Jeetan Patel, our spin coach, has been giving him some words of wisdom. It’s paying off for him, he’s doing extremely well for us and holding up an end which is extremely positive.”

Roy even tipped Livingstone’s job with the ball to take on greater significance in the latter stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, with England currently well-placed as Group 1 leaders to make the semi-finals from the Super 12 stage.

He added: “Especially as the tournament goes on when the pitches might get a little bit harder against spin, who knows, he might have a little bit more of a role to play.”

For more information, contact:
Headquarters,
International Cricket Council (ICC)
Street 69, Dubai Sports City,
Sh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, Dubai, UAE
Phone: +97-143828800
Fax: +97-143828600
E-mail: enquiry@icc-cricket.com
Website: www.icc-cricket.com