Category: Games

Dubai, November 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):Eoin Morgan has vowed England will approach their final game of the Super 12s like every other at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 so far – with victory the only priority.

With four wins from four, England go into the contest at the summit of Group 1 as the only team with a perfect record and in prime position to take their place in the semi-finals.

South Africa are currently third in the group, trailing Australia on net run rate, and will be keeping a close eye on what happens earlier in the day between Australia and the West Indies in Abu Dhabi.

But Morgan insists England are not concerning themselves with worrying about permutations, with their only focus in Sharjah on completing a clean sweep in the Super 12s.

“We’re going into the game wanting to win,” he said.

“Given some of the situations we’ve been through in the past, we know how difficult it is to win a World Cup game itself without adding different permutations throughout the course of that.

“We’ve watched teams throughout this World Cup not even being in the contest at some stages, so we know how difficult it is to get in that contest and then to try and go and do what your team needs to try and win the game.”

England were given their sternest test to date last time out against Sri Lanka before winning by 26 runs and Morgan said he is proud of his team’s desire to keep getting better.

“I think our win at Sharjah was as tough a win as we’ve ever had as a T20 group, so the satisfaction within that was significant,” added the 35-year-old skipper.

“I take huge pride in leading the team. One of the things that makes me extremely proud is that regardless of how well or how poorly we’ve done, guys have always wanted to get better.

“They’re not really that interested in standing still or spending too much time reflecting on what has been and gone. They want to continue to get better.

“They know that once you lose that drive in trying to achieve things individually and as a team, it has a big repercussion effect on the wider game and throughout our country.”

For South Africa, the match-up with England will be do-or-die and Proteas captain Temba Bavuma expects his players to leave everything out on the field.

“I think first of all, in the context of the event that we’re at, tomorrow is obviously a big game. Some have even called it as almost our quarter-final,” he said.

“So I think from that point of view and looking at our expectations as a team coming to this event, we want to play our best cricket tomorrow.

“We obviously understand with Australia currently No. 2 in our group, with their superior run rate, there’s not much we can do from that point of view.

“I think the first point when we go out would be to win the game. Obviously, the team has gone through a lot over the last while, players, members of management.

“I think we’ve learnt a lot about each other. We’ve grown a lot as a team in finding ways to get through all the tough times that we’ve gone through collectively.

“I think every game we only speak about going out and fighting it out as a team. We don’t leave it to individuals. We don’t rely on individual brilliance to bring it home for the team.

“It’s all about us as a team giving everything that we want. It won’t be any different. We’ll still be showing the same character, the same fight that we’ve shown while in this tournament.”

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, November 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):Virat Kohli could not have asked for a better birthday present in Dubai. After a disappointing start to the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, everything went right for India as they kept their qualification hopes alive with a thumping victory over Scotland.

From the moment Kohli called the toss right – his first correct call of the tournament – it felt like it might be his team’s day and almost to a man, they delivered an emphatic performance.

Even the decision to bring in Varun Chakravarthy in place of Shardul Thakur as a third spinner proved a masterstroke, with the 30-year-old conceding just 15 from his three overs.

He contributed to one of the most complete bowling performances of the tournament so far, with all five of India’s attack combining brilliantly to restrict Scotland to 85 all out.

Jasprit Bumrah signalled India’s intent from his first over, firing a string of yorkers before Varun attempted to befuddle George Munsey and Kyle Coetzer with his mystery spin.

Credit to Munsey and Coetzer, they dealt with the initial barrage well, as the former demonstrated his invention with some excellent boundary-hitting in the early stages of the contest.

But India never look flustered against a team 11 places below them in the ICC MRF Tyres T20 Team Rankings and it was not long before Bumrah made the breakthrough.

Munsey still showed no signs of being daunted by the challenge but his ambition caught up with him in the sixth over, finding Hardik Pandya off the bowling of Mohammed Shami.

At that point, Scotland were still right in the mix but if the tide was beginning to turn in India’s favour, the arrival of Ravindra Jadeja hastened the momentum swing greatly.

Jadeja was in the mood. Matt Cross attempted to make room to smack his first ball of the innings but it proved too good for him to get away and he settled for a single off the next.

Richie Berrington then had no answer to Jadeja, who demonstrated exactly why he can be so dangerous in this format as he sent the Scotland batter packing with a superb delivery.

The 32-year-old often has to take on the role of chief restrictor for Kohli’s men when the ball is not spinning but when it does start to move, Jadeja becomes a whole different prospect.

That was the case in Dubai and after his previous two balls kept going with the angle, Jadeja pitched his third around middle and off and beat Berrington all ends up.

It may not have turned much but it turned enough – and Jadeja soon had his second victim a few balls later as Cross was pinned in front by one that skidded on straight.

Four overs passed without Scotland losing another wicket but it was that man Jadeja who rose to the occasion again, removing Michael Leask with a plumb lbw just as he was gathering steam.

Jadeja finished with three for 15 to achieve his best figures in the T20 format and take Player of the Match honours despite facing stiff competition from the rest of India’s bowling attack.

And he particularly relished his opening wicket in his post-match interview.

“I was enjoying bowling today,” said Jadeja. “The old ball was turning and spinning so I enjoyed today very much. The first one [wicket] was the special one.

“When you get the batter like that on a turning ball it is a special wicket.

“We looked to play a good brand of cricket. We knew we had to win with a big margin so we could improve our net run-rate so we gave 100% and did what we had to.

“If we play like this no one can beat us. We have to play like this in the T20 format.”

Jadeja was far from alone propelling India to a much-needed victory, however, with Shami matching the spinner by also taking a T20 personal best of three for 15.

Bumrah was the most economical of India’s bowlers as he took the first and last wickets while Ravichandran Ashwin also chipped in with a wicket as Scotland fell short of a competitive target.

The chase was never likely to be a problem for India but knowing their net run-rate will be crucial if they are to progress ahead of New Zealand and Afghanistan, they got to work quickly.

KL Rahul (50 off 18 balls) and Rohit Sharma (30 off 16) smashed eight fours and two sixes in the first 24 balls and paved the way for victory to be secured in just 6.3 overs.

That means India’s net run-rate is above both New Zealand and Afghanistan so should the Black Caps slip up against the Afghans on Sunday, the door is suddenly slightly ajar for Kohli’s men when they face Namibia on Monday.

From being down and out following back-to-back defeats in their opening two games, India are right back in the hunt for the final four. As birthdays go, it’s been a good one for Kohli.

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, November 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):Kyle Coetzer believes Scotland need to experience days like their comprehensive defeat to India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to get to where they want to be in the future.

Scotland’s chances of reaching the semi-finals were already over before the game following defeats to Afghanistan, Namibia and New Zealand in their first three Super 12 matches.

And cricket powerhouse India delivered a near-flawless display in Dubai to hand Scotland their fourth defeat in a row, winning with eight wickets and 81 balls to spare.

But while Coetzer was naturally disappointed with the result, he admitted his team – ranked 14th in the ICC MRF Tyres T20 Team Rankings – will learn a lot from the quality of their opposition.

“The experience is everything for our group of players and our organisation,” he said.

“Today’s result didn’t go the way we wanted but we have to go through days like today to see the better days later on, further down the road so it’s important for our guys to experience that.

“It was important for them to see the high class that was on show today from the Indian team. We were certainly not at the races ourselves but I think they forced us to not be at the races.

“That was high class execution from India and I’m absolutely extremely proud of the guys but we’ve got a lot of learning to do and we have to go through days like this to improve.

“If you stack up the number of games some of those players have played in comparison to what we have in T20 cricket as well as these conditions and using the skills on show that they showed today, we were always going to be up against it.

“They showed how to use the surface, how to bowl and execute their yorkers, the spinners had variation, plenty of mystery about some of their balls and when you face something like that for the first time which we did it was always going to be hard.

“Not to say that I don’t back every one of our players because I really do, I think we have a fantastic group of players and will just go from strength to strength from this.”

Scotland face already-qualified Pakistan in their final match on Sunday and having already achieved their best ever T20 World Cup performance, Coetzer wants his side to finish on a high.

“We’re going to go into that game as full of confidence as we possibly can,” he said. “We took a few heavy punches today that’s for sure and the guys will be hurting but we need to pick ourselves up.

“We need to be prepared to put on a show in our last game, it’s our last opportunity for a little while to play a game of cricket together and it’s been a good seven weeks or so as a group.

“We’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved and a few doors left open that we didn’t quite go through but that’s for us to deal with when we go home and be willing to improve.

“We know where the bar is as I keep saying now and that’s where we need to get to so it’s an eye-opener at some stages but I’m proud of this group and where we’ve got to at the moment.”

Scotland’s chief tormentor was Ravindra Jadeja, who took a T20I career best of three for 15 to restrict Coetzer’s men to just 85, and the spinner said the wicket was ideal to bowl on.

“My role was the same, to take wickets in the middle overs and whenever I get an opportunity to try and bowl how I usually do, we can’t change our plans because it’s Scotland,” he said.

“We just looked to bowl in good areas because the ball was gripping, turning and spinning so I think the key was to bowl in the right areas as a spinner and as a fast bowler and let the wicket do the job.”

And Virat Kohli believes India have rediscovered their mojo after seeing his team’s impressive performance on his birthday to keep their semi-final qualification hopes alive.

“A dominant performance. It was something we were striving to do again. I don’t want to say too much about today because we know how we can play,” he said.

“These little things in T20 cricket matter and we’re glad to be back in our mojo. We spoke about 100-120 max but we restricted them to a total that allowed us to leapfrog everyone else.

“If you look at our practice games as well, the guys have been batting like that. Two overs of cricket like that and the momentum of the tournament could have been completely different.

“We basically broke it down to the fact that we couldn’t get away at all in those two games, two overs could have made the difference and put us on the different track.”

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, November 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):New Zealand moved above Afghanistan into second spot in Group 2 following a 52-run win over a spirited Namibia in Sharjah.

Namibia’s tidy start with the ball was undone as Glenn Phillips and Jimmy Neesham bludgeoned 67 in a decisive final four overs, finishing unbeaten on 39 and 35 respectively.

The Black Caps bowlers then kept their discipline to see their side home and leave them well placed to seal the second qualifying spot from Group 2 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.

Put in, New Zealand openers Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell walked out with the aim of building a large total knowing net run rate could be crucial to their qualification hopes.

The pair added 30 before Guptill sent a low catch to Ruben Trumpelmann at mid-off as David Wiese struck with the first ball of the fifth over.

Mitchell followed his partner back to the pavilion just after the powerplay as he misjudged a delivery from Bernard Scholtz and skied to Michael van Lingen at cover.

At the halfway stage of their innings, New Zealand were going at just over a run a ball as the Namibian bowlers kept the Blackcaps to 62 for two.

Kane Williamson’s side were further restricted by World Cup debutant Karl Birkenstock, whose two overs cost just nine, and New Zealand were 81 for three when the Black Caps skipper chopped on against his opposite number Gerhard Erasmus for 28.

Birkenstock and Erasmus then combined to dismiss Devon Conway, Erasmus with a pin-point accurate throw to the non-striker’s end where Birkenstock whipped off the bails in the nick of time.

Erasmus’s good work was then slightly undone as he conceded 14 off his final over, ending with figures of one for 22.

It was the same story for the usually tidy David Wiese, JJ Smit and Trumpelmann as New Zealand accelerated at the death to end on 163 for four, Neesham and Phillips putting on 76 for the fifth wicket.

In reply, Namibia started steadily as openers Stephan Baard and van Lingen went at a run a ball through the powerplay but just as van Lingen looked to be getting settled, Neesham bowled him for 25.

Baard went in the next over, bowled by Mitchell Santner, before Ish Sodhi got the key wicket of Gerhard Erasmus as Namibia fell to 56 for three at the halfway mark.

Crucially, Wiese was now at the middle and before long he saw a powerful drive off Sodhi deflected on to the bowler’s forehead; having been cleared to continue, the spinner saw his third over cost 15 as Wiese and Zane Green showed no mercy by each smashing him for six.

Wiese could do no more damage, however, as Tim Southee trapped him lbw and he had to depart for 16 off 17 balls.

While New Zealand had accelerated in the 17th over, Namibia stuttered as Trent Boult restricted them to just four runs before Southee got another wicket, Boult proving a safe pair of hands to dismiss Green for 23.

Boult then claimed two scalps in his final over as both Nicol Loftie-Eaton and Craig Williams had to depart for second-ball ducks.

Milne conceded just five from the final over as Namibia finished on 111 for seven to see New Zealand move to second and Kane Williamson became the Black Caps most successful T20I captain.

Scores in brief

New Zealand beat Namibia at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah by 52 runs.

New Zealand 163/4 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 39 not out; Jimmy Neesham 35 not out; Bernard Scholtz 1/15, Gerhard Erasmus 1/22)

Namibia 111/7 in 20 overs (Michael van Lingen 25, Zane Green 23; Tim Southee 2/15, Trent Boult 2/20)

Player of the Match: Jimmy Neesham (New Zealand)

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, November 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):India kept their hopes of reaching the semi-finals at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup alive with a comprehensive eight-wicket triumph over Scotland at the Dubai International Stadium.

Knowing they had no margin for error after losing their first two Super 12 games against Pakistan and New Zealand, Virat Kohli’s men produced a superb bowling display to dismiss Scotland for 85.

Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami both finished with figures of three for 15 while Jasprit Bumrah (two for 10) and Ravichandran Ashwin (one for 29) also impressed with the ball.

KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma made easy work of the response, scoring 50 and 30 respectively before Suryakumar Yadav hit the winning runs as India reached their target with eight wickets and 81 balls to spare.

After calling the toss right for the first time in this tournament, birthday boy Kohli put Scotland in to bat knowing that chasing would be better for his side’s net run-rate in their bid to overhaul the Black Caps for second spot.

Scotland enjoyed a bright start to life at the crease though as George Munsey launched Bumrah for a huge six over the square-leg boundary off the final ball of the first over.

Munsey continued to play his shots against the returning Varun Chakravarthy, who came into the India side in place of Shardul Thakur, reverse sweeping the spinner for four in the next over.

Bumrah eventually made the first breakthrough in the third over, bowling Kyle Coetzer as the Scotland skipper looked to drive to leave his side at 13 for one in the early stages.

But Munsey continued to look comfortable at the other end, following up a watchful first few balls from Ashwin to strike a superb four that bisected extra-cover and mid-off.

Two further fours from the last two balls of the over via reverse sweeps took Munsey to 23 from 14 balls and saw Scotland finish their first four overs at the crease on 25 for one.

Varun restricted Scotland to just one run from the next over and with pressure mounting, India got their man in the fifth over as Munsey smashed Shami to Hardik Pandya for 24.

Having finished the powerplay on 27 for two, Scotland suffered another setback in the next over as Richie Berrington was bowled without scoring by Jadeja.

It went from bad to worse in the final ball of Jadeja’s first over, with Matt Cross following Berrington back to the changing room after being struck lbw on his back pad.

Scotland stopped the bleeding in the next over with Calum MacLeod and Michael Leask at the crease but they could only add three runs to take the score to 32 for four.

Leask provided a response in the 11th over, pulling a short ball from Shami for six despite hitting the top edge of the bat before drilling the next ball for four straight down the ground.

But Leask’s resistance was ended in the very next over, becoming Jadeja’s third victim after being hit lbw while attempting to sweep through midwicket as he departed for 21 from 12 balls.

Scotland were now well and truly on the back foot and following just one run off Bumrah in the 13th over, Chris Greaves lost his wicket to Ashwin after skewing the ball to Pandya.

Mark Watt joined MacLeod in the middle and a misfield from Shami allowed him to find the boundary in the 15th over before edging Ashwin for another four in the next.

Shami made up for his error with the ball in hand however, taking two wickets as he sent MacLeod (16) and Alasdair Evans packing either side of Safyaan Sharif being run out.

Bumrah wrapped up the innings in the 18th over, beating the bat of Mark Watt (14) to take his leg stump on the half-volley as Scotland were left stranded on 85 all out.

In response, India did not hang around – knowing they needed to reach their target in 8.5 overs to go past New Zealand’s net run-rate and in 7.1 overs to go past Afghanistan’s.

Sharma and Rahul set about their task intent from the off, with the former hitting Watt for four in the first over before the latter found the boundary three times against Brad Wheal in the next over.

Rahul added another four from the first ball of new bowler Evans before nonchalantly clipping the next ball for six as India reached 39 without loss through three overs.

Sharma took the attack to Sharif with a six and two fours to bring up the fastest team 50 of the tournament to date while Wheal was also punished before taking the wicket of Sharma.

That did little to stem the tide though, with Rahul hitting Watt for six over the long leg boundary before bringing up his half-century from 18 balls.

Rahul was unable to see his side home, losing his wicket to Watt off the final ball of the same over, but Yadav hit Greaves for six to secure victory in style from just 6.3 overs.

Scores in brief

India beat Scotland at the Dubai International Stadium, Dubai by eight wickets

Scotland 85 in 17.4 overs (George Munsey 24, Michael Leask 21; Ravindra Jadeja 3/15, Mohammed Shami 3/15)

India 89/2 in 6.3 overs (KL Rahul 50; Rohit Sharma 30; Mark Watt 1/20, Brad Wheal 1/32)

Player of the Match: Ravindra Jadeja

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, November 05, 2021 (PPI-OT):Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus says his side will learn plenty of lessons from their 52-run defeat against New Zealand in Sharjah.

The Eagles have been making their debut appearance at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup performed brilliantly to reach the Super 12 stage, in which they have recorded a victory over Scotland.

Against New Zealand, Namibia started well having put the Blackcaps into bat before Jimmy Neesham and Glenn Phillips smashed 67 off the final four overs.

New Zealand’s bowlers were then disciplined as they restricted Namibia to 111 for seven in their chase of 164.

“That period of the game there is a big window of opportunity and they were just better in those periods,” Erasmus said.

“They executed their skills on a pretty difficult wicket and we lost wicket after wicket and just couldn’t keep with their run rate.

“At the back end, to score runs off two quality seam bowlers, and some spinners as well, it’s hard to do.

“It’s a learning experience, it’s awesome to see, it’s awesome to be a part of, we can just take it as it comes.”

Erasmus also explained how different the World Cup has been compared to their previous tournament experience.

He said: “I think it gives us the opportunity to express ourselves a little bit more. We are used to playing in qualifiers where every game was almost like a do or die type of game.

“Here the intensity is so different to what we are used to, the discipline is so much better than what we are used to and for us, it’s a great learning experience.”

Neesham and Phillips moved New Zealand to a strong total of 163 as they recovered from 66 for two at the halfway mark, before fine bowling from Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Adam Milne in the final four overs of the game prevented Namibia from doing the same.

The Blackcaps are now in pole position to qualify for the semi-finals although net run rate could still be a deciding factor, something Neesham says they tried to ignore.

“We’re pretty good as a unit at keeping what’s necessary to concentrate on at the front of our minds,” Neesham said.

“It doesn’t bother us too much. It was just about going out in the field and getting done what we had to get done.

“There are a few different permutations around run rate as well after the game. But for us, it was just about winning the game moving on to Afghanistan in a couple of days.”

With New Zealand 87 for four at the end of the 14th over, Neesham was given his first opportunity of the World Cup to show his batting prowess.

He said: “It’s just about being as free as I can be, as clear as I can be in my game plans when I do get out there and the nature of being that number six all-rounder is that you’re going to be tasked with the game when the game is on hand.

“There’s going to be those pressure situations whether it’s today or a semi-final, or a final moving forward, so I’m always ready for that. There are certainly no excuses from a number of balls faced point of view.”

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