Category: Games

Dubai, November 07, 2021 (PPI-OT):Adam Milne hailed New Zealand’s ruthless attack after his side convincingly beat Afghanistan to seal their semi-final spot at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Milne took one for 17 from four excellent overs and joined fellow seamers Trent Boult (3/17) and Tim Southee (2/24) in making life difficult for the Afghanistan batters in Abu Dhabi.

Having restricted their opponents to 124 for eight, New Zealand were guided home by an unbroken 68-run stand between Kane Williamson and Devon Conway which secured their Group 2 qualification.

Milne is relishing being part of his side’s feared attack and believes their versatility will stand them in good stead in the last four, where they will play either England or Australia.

“It was pleasing to have a good performance for the whole bowling unit,” he said.

“The way Timmy and Trent started us off really brought a great intensity to the start of the bowling spell and then I was able to continue on that, which was good.

“[The attack] gives Kane [Williamson] a lot of options. We’ve also got Jimmy Neesham, who bowled really well today.

“We’ve got Daryl Mitchell we can bowl and Glenn Phillips who can bowl. There are lot of guys on the team that can offer something when required.

“To have those five specialists has been good for us. Kane has a key bowler he likes to go to and it’s been nice to be part of that five.

“When you’ve got Tim and Trent leading the way with the experience they have. It’s easy to sort of learn and listen off them and they’re able to show you the right way to go about things.”

Milne was not part of New Zealand’s original 15-man squad for the tournament but has seized the opportunity given by Lockie Ferguson’s injury.

And having missed the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup semi-finals and final due to an injury of his own, the paceman is hoping to play a key role this time around as New Zealand look to add T20 glory to the ICC World Test Championship they won earlier this year.

“Obviously to come from the reserves and be part of the World Cup now is pretty special, and to qualify for the semi-finals, it’s a great moment,” he said.

“Looking forward to the semi-final, we can put on a performance and make it into the final.

“In T20 cricket, it’s important to put a full team performance in. Obviously the bowling group has been doing well as a group.

“But in T20 cricket, any one day a few guys can have their day. It’s important as a group we bowl well, restrict and try to be aggressive and then obviously with the bat we’ve been pretty clinical so far. So hopefully that can continue.

“The game changes in T20 if you’re able to take wickets at a start like we were today. If we can continue to do that, that will put us in good positions to be able to control the innings.

“Whatever team we were playing the semi-final is going to be a really good team and likely very aggressive.

“We just need to make sure we go and bat with some aggression and use our skills as well.”

Afghanistan came into their final Group 2 match with slim qualification hopes of their own but quickly slipped to 19 for three having opted to bat at the toss.

Najibullah Zadran’s excellent 73 gave them hope but Afghanistan’s total was ultimately around 30 runs light, leaving them with four points from their five games.

Gulbadin Naib is taking the positives from his side’s overall performances in the UAE, however, and said: “First of all, you look at the start of the tournament, we beat West Indies in the warm-up game, and also we beat Scotland in a one-sided game.

“And then if you look at the Pakistan side and India side, it’s not easy. They’re big teams and they didn’t give a single chance.

“We have a lot of work [to do] on our team and before this World Cup we didn’t have much time to prepare our team.

“We came out here three days before the tournament. Our team and our boys deliver very quickly and we did a lot of good things here.

“Also a good thing for us is we qualified for the next World Cup. We’re in the top eight. But it’s a lot of work now and we’re going to work harder and harder.”

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 07, 2021 (PPI-OT):You never know which Pakistan team will turn up at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 – the good one or the great one.

Babar Azam’s side are consigning to ridicule one of the international game’s most hackneyed cliches – they are no longer unpredictable, but playing great cricket, game in, game out.

Top spot in Group 2 is just reward for a perfect record of five wins from five in the Super 12 stage, wrapped up thanks to a 72-run victory over Scotland.

This makes them favourites on paper to lift the trophy in Dubai next Sunday as the only unbeaten team in the tournament.

Standing in their way in the semi-finals will be Australia – who they have beaten in 12 of their 23 T20I meetings – and their plans to spring a surprise and reach their second-ever final.

There will be intriguing match-ups all over the field on Thursday.

Shaheen Shah Afridi and Imad Wasim give Pakistan the left-arm angle to challenge Aaron Finch in the powerplay, while the return to form of David Warner may be more of a concern.

The key to the game lies in whether Australia can separate Babar and Mohammad Rizwan, the most prolific partnership in the competition, early on.

If either Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc can snaffle an opener in the first six overs, Justin Langer’s men can expose the poor form of Pakistan number three Fakhar Zaman.

Fakhar opened the batting with some success from 2017 to 2020, striking at 140 in that period. In nine matches at number three, his strike rate is a good deal lower at 120.

In Oman and the UAE, his return from five innings is 54 runs and he looked woefully out of nick against Scotland, groping at a Chris Greaves delivery and picking out cow corner, departing for eight.

Fakhar, who burst onto the scene as an opener at the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, desperately needs time in the middle. The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup semi-finals is not the place to get it.

Mohammad Hafeez’s brand of pure hitting and know-how helped stitch the innings together against Scotland, lifting it to 189 for four, and prevented any loss of momentum when the top order fell.

Then in Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali they have two of the game’s most devastating finishers, helping them access totals in excess of 180 which, logic suggests, will be beyond Australia in a chase.

At 39 years old, Malik is one of the marvels of world cricket. He made his Pakistan debut in 1999, the year that the first of the ‘new’ Star Wars movies was released, Bill Gates predicted a future with smart phones and before two of his teammates at this tournament – Haider Ali and Mohammad Wasim – were even born.

The veteran batter flayed Scotland for 54 from 18 balls, Pakistan’s fastest-ever T20I fifty and the eighth quickest of all time.

Central to his six-hitting ability – he crossed the rope six times in Dubai – is using the depth of his crease to maximise his options straight down the ground and neutralise the yorker length.

He hit Greaves for three back-foot maximums in the final over and sent Safyaan Sharif soaring through the wide long-on and midwicket channels a few balls earlier.

His prowess against leg-spin could pose problems for Australia given how important Adam Zampa is to their wicket-taking intentions in the middle overs.

Pakistan’s bowling attack is also in fine fettle. It’s hard to imagine Shaheen Shah Afridi’s form not in some way deciding the outcome of knockout cricket in the next week.

Hasan Ali’s form is a cause for concern. He did get rid of the labouring Kyle Coetzer in the last over of the powerplay with a wicked, cutting slower ball to clean bowl the opener.

But he was given the treatment by Richie Berrington, who ended with an excellent unbeaten 54, and was by some distance the most expensive Pakistani bowler.

Consistency in selection has been the order of the day for head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, who was part of the team who lifted the trophy in England in 2009.

Pakistan have used the same 11 players in all five games and with no other frontline bowler sitting on the sidelines, Hasan’s struggles could cause ongoing headaches.

Still, if you want to win the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, the likelihood is you’ll have to beat Pakistan. This time, you know what you’re going to get.

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 06, 2021 (PPI-OT):England topped Group 1 and knocked opponents South Africa out of the tournament despite 94 from Rassie van der Dussen and a Kagiso Rabada hat-trick seeing South Africa to a 10-run win.

The Proteas had set England a chase of 190 to win the game with Van der Dussen hitting his highest T20I score off just 60 balls.

Although England failed in their chase, they made at least 131 which was all that was needed to confirm theirs and Australia’s places in the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.

Reeza Hendricks never got going opening the batting with the potent Quinton de Kock, as he misjudged the flight of a Moeen Ali delivery and was bowled for two from eight balls.

With South Africa at 26 for one after five overs, they were in need of some boundaries and Van der Dussen got the memo, smashing Chris Woakes for back-to-back boundaries as the Proteas ended the powerplay with 40 for one.

By the halfway mark, De Kock and Van der Dussen were building a nice partnership together, putting on 58 as South Africa reached 73 for one with ten overs to go.

Mark Wood was then brought on for his first spell of the tournament but his express pace did not stop Van der Dussen who scooped him for six.

Instead, it would be Adil Rashid’s spin that disrupted the partnership, De Kock holing out to Jason Roy at long-on, and the right-hander was left staring in disbelief at the good start he had thrown away, having to depart for 34 off 26 balls.

Having brought up his own fifty off 38 balls at the beginning of Wood’s next over, Van der Dussen ended it by smacking a six to move South Africa past 100.

England matched boundary-less overs with bountiful ones as Chris Jordan conceded just four off the 15th over before Woakes was sent for back-to-back sixes from Van der Dussen, with Aiden Markram getting one for himself as South Africa raced ahead to 139 for two.

Another glorious shot saw Markram bringing up his fifty off just 24 balls, as South Africa set a mammoth chase of 190 to win.

There were a number of permutations as Jason Roy and Jos Buttler got England’s innings underway, first to reach 87 to ensure England’s qualification, then to 106 to top the group and anything past 132 would see South Africa knocked out and Australia join them in the semi-finals.

Having only taken two off the first over, Roy and Buttler teed off reaching 37 for no wicket after four overs before Roy pulled up in distress with a serious-looking calf injury and was helped off the pitch having made 20 off 15 balls.

But it was South Africa that seemed unsettled as Keshav Maharaj bowled a wide and a no-ball, with Anrich Nortje dropping the free hit to see England take 13 off the over.

And then for the first time in three innings, Buttler was out, sending a low catch to Temba Bavuma to fall two runs short of a double century across the three games.

Jonny Bairstow was not in the middle for long going for a single of Tabraiz Shamsi’s second ball as spin twins Shamsi and Markram restricted England.

Kagiso Rabada then released that pressure going for 11 as England reached 81 for two at the halfway point before a single for Moeen in Shamsi’s third over confirmed his side’s place in the semi-finals.

Just eight balls later and a six out the ground saw England secure top of the group, but that was Moeen’s last act caught in the deep by David Miller as Shamsi got revenge.

England then stuttered before Liam Livingstone walloped the biggest six of the tournament sending it out of the ground and 112m and then sent another one, a crushing blow to South Africa as they were knocked out of the tournament.

Dawid Malan was out having misjudged a slog as Eoin Morgan combined with Livingstone to pull England back into the game.

However, needing 25 off 12 balls, Livingstone was caught in the deep but Woakes continued where he left off until Rabada got him with the first ball of the final over, to leave England needing 14 off five balls.

Morgan went the next ball and then Jordan was out the ball after that as Rabada earned his hat-trick and snuffed out any chance of an England win as they eventually ten runs short on 179.

South Africa beat England at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah by ten runs

South Africa 189/2 in 20 overs (Rassie van der Dussen 94 not out; Aiden Markram 52 not out; Moeen Ali 1/27, Adil Rashid 1/32)

England 179/8 in 20 overs (Moeen Ali 37, David Malan 33; Kagiso Rabada 3/48, Tabraiz Shamsi 2/24)

Player of the Match: Rassie van der Dussen (South Africa)

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 06, 2021 (PPI-OT):David Warner and Mitchell Marsh guided Australia to a routine victory over the West Indies to leave them on the verge of reaching the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 semi-finals.

Warner and Marsh’s terrific partnership of 123 took the game away from the West Indies with the Australian opener hitting form at a crucial time with his second half-century of the tournament, making an unbeaten 89 from only 56 balls.

Marsh departed with only one more needed to win for a splendid 53 but, barring a huge win for South Africa over England later, Australia will compete in the last four.

Earlier, Josh Hazlewood took four wickets as the West Indies posted 157 for seven thanks to Kieron Pollard’s 44 and Andre Russell’s late maximums but it proved to not be enough with Warner firmly in the mood.

After being put in to bat, the West Indies openers Evin Lewis and Chris Gayle went berserk in the second over, taking Hazlewood for 20 runs.

Gayle’s entertaining cameo of 15 from nine balls, including two sixes, was ended when he chopped on against Mitchell Starc, the 42-year-old raised his bat on his way off the ground suggesting it may have been his last innings for the West Indies.

Hazlewood swung the momentum firmly back Australia’s way in the fourth over, taking two wickets in three balls.

The dangerous Nicholas Pooran was caught at cover for four and then Roston Chase’s stumps were rearranged by a nip-backer before he had troubled the scorers.

Shimron Hetmyer, fresh from his unbeaten 81 in a losing cause against Sri Lanka, joined Lewis and together they brought up the West Indies’ half-century by the end of the powerplay.

The pair’s promising partnership of 35 was ended by leg-spinner Adam Zampa as Steve Smith held on to a steepler to send Lewis back to the hutch for 29 off 26 balls as the West Indies made it to 74 for four.

Captain Kieron Pollard was given a reprieve on three when Zampa could not cling on to a caught and bowled chance.

But Hetmyer was not so lucky, gloving a rising Hazlewood delivery behind to Matthew Wade, having to depart for a patient 27 off 28 balls to leave West Indies struggling at 91 for five.

The West Indies brought up their 100 from the first ball of the 16th over before Dwayne Bravo, in his last T20I innings, smoked a six over extra cover to try and inject some much-needed impetus.

Skipper Pollard then came to the party, blasting 13 runs off Pat Cummins to leave his side on 123 for five with three to go.

Hazlewood’s remarkable recovery from his expensive first over continued when Bravo became his fourth victim, but Pollard was undeterred, finding the boundary twice more.

He eventually went for 44 off 31 balls when he skied one to Glenn Maxwell in Mitchell Starc’s final over.

But Andre Russell had the last say, blasting two sixes off the last two balls to leave Australia needing 158 to win.

Captain Aaron Finch and Warner got the chase off to a perfect start, putting on 33 in 21 balls.

Finch went for nine when he was bowled by Akeal Hosein but Warner was the aggressor and did not relent when joined by Mitchell Marsh, Australia finishing the powerplay on 53 for one.

Warner grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck with some belligerent hitting and brought up a terrific half-century off just 29 balls to put Australia firmly in the driving seat.

The West Indies struggled to bowl a consistent line and were picked off easily by Warner and Marsh, Hosein let one through his legs for four off Russell which just about summed things up for Pollard’s men.

At 98 for one at the halfway mark, Australia were cruising needing exactly a run a ball to finish the job and put them on the cusp of the semi-finals.

West Indies tried to halt Australia’s serene progress with a barrage of slower balls, but they could not stop Marsh from bringing up a fantastic first World Cup fifty off only 28 balls and with it the pair’s century stand.

Warner unceremoniously ushered Bravo into retirement with some sublime shot-making, an audacious reverse sweep for four followed by a huge six over square leg coming from the West Indian’s final over.

The game ended in strange fashion with Gayle brought on to bowl his part-time off-spin in a cap, seemingly confirming he would also be retiring after the game.

Gayle almost had a perfect send-off but wicket-keeper Pooran missed a stumping chance off Warner

However, the veteran was not to be denied a wicket as Marsh, 53 from 32 balls, tamely chipped one straight to Jason Holder at mid-off with the scores level.

That ended a sensational match-winning partnership, but Warner got the job done with a boundary as Australia won with 22 balls to spare before forming a guard of honour for the retiring West Indies legends.

Australia beat West Indies at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by eight wickets

West Indies 157/7 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 44, Evin Lewis 29; Josh Hazlewood 4/39, Adam Zampa 1/20)

Australia 161/2 in 16.2 overs (David Warner 89 not out, Mitchell Marsh 53; Chris Gayle 1/7, Akeal Hosein 1/29)

Player of the Match: David Warner (Australia)

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 06, 2021 (PPI-OT):New Zealand bowler Ish Sodhi reckons his side need to do the basics right to beat Afghanistan and secure a spot in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 semi-finals.

The Blackcaps know that victory in their final Super 12s Group 2 clash will see them progress alongside Pakistan into the last four.

Afghanistan need to win to stand a chance of qualifying on net run-rate but a victory is more likely to send India through via the same means if they beat Namibia later on Sunday.

Sodhi said: “I think if we keep it as simple as trying to adapt to the conditions best as we can, and being aware of the threats that Afghanistan pose and also taking into consideration the things we’ve done really well.

“If we can do them really well, I think then we can put on a good performance and all that other stuff takes care of itself.

“It’s quite simple for us to keep focusing on what we’ve been doing well. If we put on a good performance and we come away with a win that means we go to the semis, and that will be great.

“If we get the basics right for a long enough period of time, keep doing the things we’ve been doing well, I think we’ll give ourselves a good chance.”

New Zealand come into the all-important game full of confidence after Martin Guptill’s 93 helped them to victory over Scotland last time out, but Sodhi knows his side will have to be wary of Afghanistan’s dangerous spin attack.

He added: “I think, although regardless of the equations, we’re really aware of the strengths that Afghanistan bring both with the bat and the ball, especially in the spin bowling attack. Being a day game, I’m not too sure if dew is going to play much of a factor.

“They are spearheaded by Rashid Khan, obviously Mujeeb Ur Rahman is phenomenal as well.

“But Mohammad Nabi is a very cagey off-spinner and bowls well through the powerplay too. That’s definitely where their threat lies with their bowling attack and I’m sure all the batsmen during the scouting meeting have taken it into consideration.”

Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Shahidi called on his side’s batters to deliver against the big teams to back up their spinners as they look to squeeze into the last four with a win at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

He said: “Our spinners are really good, especially in these conditions. We have played a lot of cricket here and we have the benefits.

“But against the big teams we should bat better and the batsmen should take responsibility to play well against them.”

“We only focus on ourselves, our team. Our main focus is how we qualify for semi-finals and we’ll do our best to qualify.”

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