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“People wrote us off before we even came here, we just had to keep backing ourselves,” Delissa Kimmince says

Andrew McGlashan25-Nov-2020That was Grace Harris on November 8, just a few minutes after finishing unbeaten on 81 against the Melbourne Stars but unable to get the Brisbane Heat across the line. It left the defending champions with one win in seven matches. The quest for a hat-trick of titles looked a long way away.Fast forward to November 25, the eve of the second WBBL semi-final, and Harris’ words have been played out with stunning accuracy: seven wins in a row and the Heat finished second in the table, earning a knockout clash with the Sydney Thunder. They still need two victories to secure the title – one that would surely be their best – but it would be a brave person to bet against them despite the calibre of the other three sides. Knowing to win can prove crucial.The build-up to the season had been dominated by talk of how they would replace Beth Mooney’s runs and Sammy-Jo Johnson’s wickets. As they lurched to the mid-point of the group stage it was looking like too great of a task. However, in the subsequent weeks the team has come together.”People have focused a lot on the players we’ve lost and not the people we’ve had in our side,” Delissa Kimmince said. “Everyone has gone out and done their job. That’s the most pleasing part, we aren’t relying on just one or two people to win us games.”We are here as a whole squad, including the staff and the work they do behind the scenes. People wrote us off before we even came here, worrying about the players we’ve lost, and if we could come out and show them we aren’t about two players that would be a great statement.”A look at particularly the Heat’s batting returns illustrates Kimmince’s point. Georgia Redmayne, in many ways filling Mooney’s enormous shoes at the top of the order, is their top-scorer with 332 runs but that leaves her 11th on the overall list at the end of the group stage – all the other semi-finalists have somebody above that. However, in the latter half of the tournament players have delivered when it has mattered, none more so than Laura Kimmince who has smashed 123 runs off 49 balls in her last four innings. It’s the type of X-factor that can win tournaments.”The most pleasing thing is that she’s usually doing that to us in the nets, so to see her do it in a game, you can see that it’s so hard for bowlers to know where to bowl when you don’t know where she’s hitting it,” Delissa said. “She’s reversing spinners, she’s reversing pace bowlers then she also has the power to go over the top of the fielders. We get to see it day in, day out at training so really nice to see her come out in those games and fire.”The wicket-taking has been fairly evenly spaced with Amelia Kerr and Jess Jonassen claiming 16 apiece in one of the tournament’s most formidable spin duos, while Grace Harris has bagged 13 at just 9.07 and Nicola Hancock’s nippy pace bowling has brought 10 scalps.The turnaround was sparked, in a large part, by a belief that the early table was not a reflection on how they were playing. It was not a time for ripping up the playbook.”We knew we were still playing pretty good cricket, we just weren’t winning the one or two overs within the game that in T20 can win you those games,” Delissa said. “We knew our plans were right, we just had to keep backing ourselves. We’ve fought hard the last seven games but really tried to enjoy our cricket at the same time.”We haven’t panicked in those moments when things could have hit the fan, we are really trying to hunt as a pack. That’s what’s been so pleasing.”If winning a tournament is about peaking at the right time, the Heat may have judged it perfectly.

The pace bowler has been ruled out of Melbourne Stars’ campaign for up to six weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Dec-2020Pakistan fast bowler Dilbar Hussain has been ruled out of the Melbourne Stars’ BBL campaign for four-to-six weeks with a moderate hamstring strain, leaving him unavailable until late January.Hussain suffered the injury while bowling his second over in the Stars’ comfortable win over the Sydney Thunder in Canberra on Saturday.He winced in pain after his delivery stride and grabbed at his left hamstring before limping off the ground with Hilton Cartwright required to complete the over.Hussain had taken 2 for 25 in the opening match of the tournament against the Brisbane Heat.The injury further stretches the Stars’ list. They have re-signed Pakistan quick Haris Rauf but he is unavailable until after Pakistan’s Test series against New Zealand, with the second and final Test finishing on January 7.West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran is set to be available for the Stars shortly after playing for West Indies A in a two-match series against New Zealand A in New Zealand.

Phil Simmons and Jason Mohammed will hope for promise to turn into fight in the second ODI

Mohammad Isam21-Jan-2021

Big picture

Bangladesh played to their favourites tag in the opening ODI in Dhaka, predictably outplaying the inexperienced West Indies line-up in a six-wicket win. It wasn’t exciting cricket but the home side will take the ten points for the ICC ODI Super League, which helps their approach towards automatic qualification to the 2023 World Cup.Tamim Iqbal’s ODI captaincy reign started with the win, as did Shakib Al Hasan’s come back with a player-of-the-match performance. Shakib took three wickets in his mean first spell of seven overs, with a slip fielder constant and often employing a silly mid-off and a short-leg. Andre McCarthy, Jason Mohammed and Nkrumah Bonner had no answer to the returning giant, who seems to have added a number of strings to his bow.But there were other dangers for West Indies too. Mustafizur Rahman got Bangladesh their first two breakthroughs, while Rubel Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz held strong; and debutant Hasan Mahmud took three wickets in the space of nine balls later.After West Indies were bowled out for 122 runs, Bangladesh took their own sweet time to reach the target, but still had 16.1 overs in hand. It was a justified approach given the long break they’ve had since playing an international match. They didn’t want to get it wrong, neither did they have it easy.It may not have been awe-inspiring batting, but it should be expected the way the pitch played out. Later both captains Tamim Iqbal and Mohammed said that they had to be patient with the bat; Mohammed acknowledged they needed to bat with more patience during the middle overs.There’s some promise in the way West Indies batted. Sunil Ambris started positively, debutant Kyle Mayers looked like a free-flowing batsman while captain Mohammed tried to survive through the spin test. If the top six can bat for at least 35 overs, it can free up Rovman Powell to bat his way in the slog overs. But one persisting problem for them would be the really long tail, which Bangladesh exploited quite well in the first game.

Form guide

Bangladesh (last five completed matches, most recent first): WWWWLWest Indies: LLLLW

In the spotlight

The most threatening aspect of Shakib Al Hasan‘s four-wicket haul was his economy and how he kept the West Indies batsmen tied to the crease for long periods. The visitors are going to have a hard time keeping him away for the next three weeks.Akeal Hosein was West Indies’ glimmer of hope, with his impressive 3-26 on debut. Hosein’s wicket of Liton Das was the way any left-arm spinner would like to start their careers, but the way he carried on for the rest of his 10-over spell, was the most encouraging part.

Team news

Seven squad members are warming Bangladesh’s benches but with ODI Super League points up for grabs, it is unlikely that they would make any changes. Mohammad Saifuddin’s fitness update would however keep the team management interested.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Liton Das, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Soumya Sarkar, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Rubel Hossain, 10 Hasan Mahmud, 11 Mustafizur RahmanIt might be too son for Phil Simmons to press the panic button and go for changes, mainly because he doesn’t have a lot of options in the ODI bench.West Indies (possible): 1 Joshua da Silva (wk), 2 Sunil Ambris, 3 Andre McCarthy, 4 Jason Mohammed (capt), 5 Kyle Mayers, 6 Nkrumah Bonner, 7 Rovman Powell, 8 Raymon Reifer, 9 Chemar Holder, 10, Akeal Hosein, 11 Alzarri Joseph

Pitch and conditions

Both captains said that it was a difficult pitch to bat on, during the first ODI. But with a slightly warmer forecast for Friday, batsmen on both sides can expect a bit of heat to take out the moisture from the surface.

Stats and trivia

• Shakib’s 4-8 was the most economical four-wicket haul for Bangladesh in ODIs
• Hasan Mahmud’s 3-28 is the best bowling figures on ODI debut for Bangladesh since Mustafizur Rahman’s 5-50 in 2015

Quotes

“When he was playing (before his one-year ban), he was the best allrounder in the world. He is one of the best spinners going around. He had a very good spell. We can see that with his figures.””You cannot judge anyone after one match. He did well. You can ask this question after one year.”

The allrounder was unbeaten on 182 at the close, his third century in his last four innings for Western Australia

Andrew McGlashan06-Mar-2021Cameron Green’s spectacular form continued with his seventh first-class century, and third in the Sheffield Shield this season, to put Western Australia in a dominant position on the opening against Queensland.For the second time this season he was within touching distance of a maiden first-class double-century having fallen for 197 against New South Wales in the first part of the summer. For a while it appeared he would have time to reach it within the first day but was content to see through to the close.The innings also gives Green a currently tally in the Sheffield Shield at the Gabba of 382 runs without being dismissed having made unbeaten scores of 87 and 121 early last season – a game where he batted No. 8 in the first innings and No. 9 in the second, the century earning Western Australia a draw.Green’s latest hundred came after an unbeaten 168 against South Australia in the previous round which he followed with a maiden one-day hundred, the small matter of 144, against the same opposition. He had entered the return of the domestic season on the back of a double century in grade cricket.”His technique allows him to bat for long periods but his mental capacity and desire to bat, and bat for longer periods, is unparalleled for a 21-year-old and think that’s what makes him so good,” Western Australia coach Adam Voges said. “He just wants to keep batting and he’s doing it brilliantly well at the moment.”He had come to the crease after an impressive new-ball spell from Jack Wildermuth removed both Western Australia’s openers inside 10 overs, following Queensland’s decision to bowl under overcast skies, and dominated the scoring after getting through to lunch. The third-wicket stand with Shaun Marsh was worth 226 and when Green brought up his century off 138 balls – having gone from fifty to his hundred in 43 balls – Marsh had 37 from 137 deliveries.Shortly after reaching three figures he danced down the pitch to the left-arm spin of Matt Kuhnemann and deposited his second six of the day something he repeated a while later with a monstrous blow over long-on. Throughout his innings the drive – through the off side, straight and through mid-on – was pristine.Marsh’s bid for another century ended when he fended a catch to slip of Mark Steketee but Hilton Cartwright, who battled a back injury last week to help force a draw against South Australia, accompanied Green until the close in a stand worth 83. The toil for the Queensland attack was summed up when Marnus Labuschagne bowled two overs of medium pace late in the day.

The two premier spinners in Australia will go head-to-head during the Sheffield Shield final in what could be a key contest

Daniel Brettig13-Apr-2021Among the many things Covid-19 did to Australian cricket was finally provide an answer to questions about how state teams might perform if asked to depart from the formulas they have honed over generations of playing games on extremely familiar home ground pitches.For some, it was not so well: deprived of Bellerive Oval’s seaming surface, for instance, Tasmania failed to win any of their four games in the Adelaide hub, and were twice defeated outright. But for Queensland, the move away from similarly helpful pitches for pace was revelatory, both in terms of the burgeoning talents of the wristspinner Mitchell Swepson and the way the Bulls figured out how to use him.Put simply, Swepson has been the most dominant bowling force of the Sheffield Shield this season, despite playing just four matches. In two of those, against Tasmania and South Australia, he was the reason Queensland were able to emerge with victory on the final day on slow but deteriorating surfaces. In the other two, he took the Bulls to within a wicket of beating New South Wales, also in Adelaide, and last week after returning from a neck injury he was shaping as the Blues’ major threat on the final day before rain intervened.Related

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Swepson’s tally of 29 victims at an average of 22.44, an economy rate of 2.51 runs an over and a strike rate of 53.5 balls per wicket would be excellent going for a paceman; for a wristspinner in Australia, it is close to miraculous.It also represents a similar sort of quantum leap in performance, given the opportunity to hone his craft away from the pace-friendly Gabba, to the one famously made by Marnus Labuschagne when he went to Glamorgan in the first half of 2019. Prior to this season, Swepson had only been able to bowl 20 overs or more in a fourth innings three times in his life. This summer he has more than doubled his experience of such scenarios, and the results are telling.Just ask Jimmy Peirson, Swepson’s wicketkeeper and sometimes captain. “People ask me what the difference is and honestly I just think it’s his control,” Peirson told ESPNcricinfo. “He’s been able to land all six balls in a row where he wants them for long periods of time. I think about Shane Warne when he was bowling at his best, and it’s a massive call, but he was bowling with such great control there and I think Sweppo is bowling with equally as much control.It looked as though a neck injury had ended Mitchell Swepson’s season•Getty Images

“He’s certainly putting us in situations where we’re winning games on day four, where in the past our bowlers couldn’t get the breakthrough because of flat conditions or whatever it is. But he’s just providing a fantastic attacking option. He’ll bowl at the Gabba next year, he obviously hasn’t got much of an opportunity there because we weren’t there that much, but I think no matter what conditions he’s bowling in, he’s getting the job done for us. I’m so pleased for him. I think it’s a matter of time to when he gets his baggy green cap.”The Warne call is, as Peirson puts it, a massive one, but the fact is that Swepson is actually doing better at Shield level than Warne was ever asked to before playing for Australia. Part of this is the fact that Nathan Lyon has been such a longstanding fixture in the Australia team, but also the hope that Swepson would, in time, evolve into a genuinely match-winning spin bowler who also had the control to keep a cap on the scoring of opponents when required. Though he had shown signs in 2019-20, Peirson is adamant that Adelaide was the Rubicon.”It was this season in Adelaide. He bowled us to victory over Tasmania out at Park 25, and that was certainly the day I thought ‘oh okay, it’s starting to work for him, he’s starting to get it and it’s all coming together’,” Peirson said. “It was a perfect storm in terms of now tactically he’s switched on and knows what he’s trying to do. Skill-wise he’s bowling his best ball every time with control, and you could just see the intensity in his work and what he was doing. It was a coming of age for him and continued all the way through.”He bowled beautifully against New South Wales in that game in Adelaide where we didn’t quite get the win but he almost got us to victory, then he bowled us to victory against South Australia at Glenelg on a deteriorating wicket. So that trip was where we felt ‘he’s starting to really get this’ and then he had his injury, he’s got through that and in Wollongong where it was a draw but he was well on the way to bowling us to victory there again. He’s not far away from cracking into the Australian team.”Peirson has witnessed this transformation and at the same time evolved himself as a gloveman. He no longer frets over a few byes here and there when he knows that Swepson, by spinning the ball vast distances with the help of footmarks and ageing pitches, is giving Queensland the chance to win games that in years gone by would have petered out into high scoring stalemates.”I can remember thinking last game in Wollongong, Sweppo was bowling into the footmarks to the left-handers and bowled a couple of absolute peaches, I let one go that I couldn’t do anything about and thinking ‘that’s the way it is’, and I was able to get a couple of great catches up to the stumps to Sweppo and really enjoyed the challenge,” he said. “Not many keepers get the opportunity to have a gun legspinner in their team who’s bowling with such control and spinning the ball so much.”When someone comes to you and says ‘look, I want the ball, I want to do this job’, that as a captain makes you go ‘righto, you’re the man for it’. Sweppo’s at that point now where he’s really asserting his dominance on the game he’s playing in and I think it’s fantastic. Having more guys like that in the side is only going to breed a winning culture, and I think we’re starting to get that here in Queensland and we’re seeing that through the guys who are performing and it’s so exciting for us. It’s fantastic to be part of.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

That mentality, actively wanting to be the bowler at the centre of things in the fourth innings of a game, is easier to talk about than to live. Even Warne, with all his prodigious gifts, had struggles with the concept, and Lyon’s are exceedingly well chronicled. Something for the Australian selectors to consider, at the end of a season in which India twice thwarted the hosts in the fourth innings of Test matches on surfaces offering spin but not much else, is whether Swepson’s wristspin would have posed a greater threat than Lyon’s off-breaks.Certainly the numbers offer some clue as to the fact that Swepson is now deserving of a chance to be tried, not just as a second spinner overseas, but as the first-choice tweaker on fifth-day surfaces at home. One of Lyon’s strongest qualities – both a strength and a weakness – is consistency across a game. Essentially he poses almost as much of a threat in the first innings (105 Test wickets at 32.61) as the fourth (85 at 30.4) despite changing conditions.Should Mitchell Swepson be considered instead of Nathan Lyon?•Getty Images

By contrast, albeit at a lower level, Swepson is developing into a genuine strike bowler at the back ends of matches. The anecdotal evidence of huge turning deliveries like the ones he sliced through Daniel Hughes and Lachlan Hearne in Wollongong last week are backed up by the fact that over the last two seasons his bowling average across a game drops from around 46 (strike rate of 94.5) in the first innings to 20 (52.4) in the fourth. Swepson may offer something more to opponents early in a game, but as the hour of decision arrives, he is increasingly deadly.What should also give pause to all those pondering Australia’s spin bowling options is how Swepson’s trend across a game follows that of R Ashwin, arguably the world’s pre-eminent spin bowler in the same era Lyon has occupied. Ashwin averages 28.90 and strikes every 62.4 balls in the first innings of a game, but by the fourth innings he becomes something far more dangerous, nailing an opponent every 45.3 balls at a cost of 19.13 runs apiece.Australia, blessed with the extreme consistency of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in particular, should be able to afford thinking about a spin bowling option who can grow into a game when the seam and bounce the fast men thrive upon is starting to wane. All this is to say that when Swepson and Lyon face each other once more in this week’s Sheffield Shield final at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, there should be consideration of what there is to be gained from wristspin, now that it is clear the selectors have one of the requisite quality to be tried.But a bit like how Covid forced the early rounds of the Shield to Adelaide and Swepson into the strike bowler’s role, it will take either some selection courage, or a drastic change of circumstances, to find out.

Sri Lanka lost five wickets in 42.1 overs possible on day three

Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Mar-2021Stumps Day 3 West Indies made substantial headway in the 42.1 overs that were possible on a rain-hit day three, claiming five Sri Lanka wickets as they conceded just 114 runs. When a final, play-ending squall arrived part-way through the third session, Sri Lanka were still 104 runs behind West Indies’ 354, with just two wickets in hand.The only real spot of brightness for the visitors was the batting of Pathum Nissanka, who followed up his debut century from the first Test by compiling a cautious 49 not out off 119. He struck only four boundaries, but seemed Sri Lanka’s most-assured batsman on day three while wickets fell around him, showing encouraging powers of concentration through a stop-start innings thanks to the rain breaks. He had Lasith Embuldeniya for company when stumps was eventually called.West Indies’ bowlers were themselves disciplined and meticulous for most of day three, and they essentially outlasted several Sri Lanka batsmen. Of the five to fall, Jason Holder took two wickets, while Shannon Gabriel, Alzarri Joseph and Jermaine Blackwood’s part-time offspin claimed one apiece.Dinesh Chandimal was the first Sri Lanka wicket to fall, having been worn down by the short ball from Gabriel. He had been dropped – also off Gabriel – on 35 several overs earlier and his eventual dismissal on 44 was the result of a mistimed hook which settled comfortably in the hands of the deep square leg fielder, substitute Hayden Walsh Jr., who ran in to take the catch. On a track that did not offer steepling bounce, this short ball was the first that really leapt up to chest height and followed Chandimal. His wicket ended Sri Lanka’s most productive partnership, having put on 75 off 186 balls together with Dhananjaya de Silva.The dismissal of de Silva for 39 shortly before rain arrived for the first time to cut the first session slightly short will perhaps be the one Sri Lanka rue the most. Not only did de Silva seem assured – if reticent – against West Indies’ bowling, he also should not have been given lbw against Blackwood. He was batting on 39 off 139 balls when Blackwood spun one into his front pad. Although he was hit in front of middle stump, the ball always seemed to be turning sharply. He didn’t even consider a review, but ball-tracking projections showed that the ball would be turning past leg stump.After lunch, less than 21 overs were played, and yet Sri Lanka still lost three wickets in that time. Niroshan Dickwella was the first to fall against the second new ball, inside-edging Holder to the wicketkeeper as the ball also grazed thigh pad on the way through. Unlike most of his compatriots, Dickwella was busy at the crease and scored at close to a run-a-ball, but managed only 20 before being dismissed. Suranga Lakmal didn’t hang around long, flicking Joseph aerially to short mid-on several overs later. Dushmantha Chameera battled gamely for 26 deliveries while Nissanka progressed at the other end, but edged Holder behind in the little period of play that was possible in the third session.Sri Lanka will be particularly disappointed that so many of their batsmen got starts, only Dimuth Karunaratne failed to reach 15, but that only Lahiru Thirimanne – who made 55 – has so far completed a half-century. They are left relying on Nissanka, their most junior batsman, to close the large gap between themselves and the opposition when play resumes on day four.

Doncaster-born batter appealed to ECB after losing England-qualified status

ESPNcricinfo staff05-May-2021Glamorgan have confirmed the termination of Charlie Hemphrey’s contract “by mutual consent” after he failed to overturn his classification as a non-qualified player by the ECB.Hemphrey, a 31-year-old batter, was heading into the final year of his contract, but agreed to terminate it early after his plea for the ECB to “show some compassion” and allow him to play as an England-qualified player fell on deaf ears.Hemphrey was born in Doncaster, but his cricketing breakthrough came in Australia. He had moved to Brisbane and taken a job as a baggage handler but earned an opportunity to play for Queensland after consistent run-scoring in grade cricket and became a regular in their Sheffield Shield team.Related

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However, after gaining residency in Australia and failing to immediately register as an overseas player for Queensland, he lost his status as an England-qualified player, despite later playing as such during the 2018-19 domestic season.Glamorgan offered Hemphrey a contract in early 2019 and he spent two seasons at the club, but fielding him alongside their two official overseas players – Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser – this summer would have cost them ECB incentive payments for selecting England-qualified players, which they were unwilling to forego.Labuschagne, who became close friends with Hemphrey while playing for the county in early 2019, said: “It’s disappointing for him personally. His situation is a unique one. It’s really tough. Unfortunately there’s nothing I can do but it would have been nice to have him over here.”ESPNcricinfo revealed in January that both the Professional Cricketers’ Association and Glamorgan had made representations on Hemphrey’s behalf. “They were perfectly happy to change the rules when they wanted Jofra Archer to win them a World Cup,” Hemphrey said. “I know I’m no world-beater, but it seems pretty tough to end my career like this.””The ECB applies the criteria for England Qualification with fairness and consistency across all elite domestic teams and their players,” a spokesperson said at the time.Mark Wallace, Glamorgan’s director of cricket, said: “The incentives for fielding home-qualified cricketers are now greater than ever and as a result we were open and honest with Charlie in telling him that it would have to be a consideration in selection moving forward.”We’ve had some long conversations with Charlie to work out the best solution for everyone and finally agreed that we would shake hands on the rest of his contract with the club. Charlie was a very popular member of the squad and has been a hugely positive influence at the club since joining.”Hemphrey lost his Queensland contract ahead of the 2020-21 season, and struggled with the bat in the Bob Willis Trophy last summer amid the off-field distraction of trying to get his family back to Australia, with a top score of 20 in six innings. His professional career appears to be over.”I’d like to thank Glamorgan for giving me the opportunity to play county cricket,” he said. “I loved playing for the club, living in Wales and I couldn’t have asked for better teammates.”When the new regulations came in place, this was always the likely outcome, but I’d like to thank the club for their support at a difficult time. I’ll be supporting the club from Brisbane and will always be a lifelong Glamorgan fan.”

Maia Bouchier seals effortless chase to leave Western Storm winless

ECB Reporters Network12-Jun-2021Southern Vipers 178 for 2 (Adams 77, Bouchier 57*) beat Western Storm 177 (Dean 3-27, Bell 3-40) by eight wicketsTalismanic captain Georgia Adams inspired Southern Vipers to a comprehensive eight-wicket triumph over arch rivals Western Storm in a one-sided Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy contest at Taunton.Adams posted an authoritative 77 and Maia Bouchier made 57 not out as the defending champions chased down a victory target of 178 with 15.1 overs to spare to return to winning ways in the 50-over competition.Charlie Dean and Lauren Bell took 3 for 27 and 3 for 40 respectively to spearhead an impressive Vipers display in the field as the home side were dismissed for an inadequate 177 in 49.3 overs, Katie George top-scoring with 37 from 60 balls.Beaten for the first time since 2019 by Central Sparks in their last outing, Vipers summoned the perfect response and remain on course to retain the title they won last season. But Storm, weakened by the absence of England stalwarts Heather Knight and Anya Shrubsole, have now lost three matches in succession, their chances of progressing all but over.Storm won the toss and elected to bat on a sound track, but the innings failed to achieve lift-off in the face of accurate bowling and intense fielding. Off spinner Dean undermined the top order, inducing openers Lauren Parfitt and Fi Morris to hit to mid-on for 10 and 32 respectively, and luring Sophie Luff into a front-foot indiscretion to claim three wickets in 19 balls. Alice Monaghan then removed Georgia Hennessy, who was brilliantly held by Adams at mid-on, as the hosts lurched to 95 for 4 in the 29th over.George and Nat Wraith launched a recovery of sorts, adding 42 for the fifth wicket, but Bell comprehensively bowled the latter for 21 to initiate a collapse which saw Storm surrender their last six wickets for just 41 in 11 overs.Bell produced another in-swinger to clean bowl George for 37 and had Danielle Gibson caught behind in the act of cutting for 16, while Charlotte Taylor pinned Nicole Harvey without scoring. Adams accounted for Emma Corney and Mollie Robbins was run out in the final over as the tail drooped. Tara Norris conceded just 32 from 10 overs, helping restrict Storm to 11 boundaries in an innings starved of meaningful momentum.Related

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Storm’s total was afforded perspective when Wyatt and Adams staged an opening stand of 57 in 10.3 overs to give the reply impetus. Wyatt hit Morris straight to mid-on for a 30-ball 28, but Adams found another willing ally in Bouchier, the South African playing second fiddle in an alliance of 97 in 20 overs before going to a 64-ball 50 with her seventh boundary.Adams had her sights set on three figures when she was brilliantly caught at slip by Hennessy off the bowling of Lauren Filer, having plundered 10 fours in a high-octane knock spanning 101 balls. Thereafter, Bouchier eased to victory in company with Ella McCaughan.

Glamorgan’s quarter-final hopes hit with Selman, Labuschagne, Neser left out of squad for Middlesex game

Matt Roller27-Jun-2021Glamorgan’s hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast have been hit by news that Nick Selman has tested positive for Covid-19 and that Marnus Labuschagne is a potential close contact.Selman, the top-order batter, is the club’s second-highest run-scorer in the Blast this year with 130 runs in six innings, and will spend 10 days in self-isolation after returning a positive result from a PCR test, ruling him out of four T20 fixtures.Perhaps the bigger blow is the loss of Labuschagne, who, along with his compatriot Michael Neser, has been identified as a “potential close contact”, leading the club to withdraw them from the squad to play Middlesex at Radlett on Sunday.Labuschagne is Glamorgan’s highest run-scorer and seventh in the competition’s run charts overall, and has also taken seven wickets while conceding only 7.43 runs an over with his legbreaks. With Colin Ingram also playing as an overseas player, Neser has not yet been required in the Blast.Related

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The club confirmed that Sunday’s fixture against Middlesex would go ahead as planned after the rest of the club’s playing and coaching staff all returned negative Covid tests. Billy Root and Sam Pearce – Wales’ captain in National Counties cricket – have been added to the squad as cover.Glamorgan are seventh in the South Group, three points behind fourth-placed Sussex having played a game more, and are running out of time to put a string of wins together and propel them into the knockout stages for the first time since 2017.Several counties have been affected by positive Covid tests and enforced periods of self-isolation over the last two seasons. This year, Durham, Surrey, Nottinghamshire and Middlesex have all had players miss games due to positive tests or track-and-trace requirements, while Hampshire, Yorkshire and Northamptonshire were affected last season.

After Knight’s 88, West Indies Women collapse from 171 for 2 to 210 all out

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2021
Fatima Sana and Nashra Sandhu’s four-wicket hauls guided Pakistan Women to victory against the West Indies Women in the fourth ODI in North Sound on Friday. The visitors chased down the target of 211 with four wickets in hand and nine balls to spare, with Omaima Sohail top-scoring with an 89-ball 61. West Indies Women, though, had already sealed the series and lead 3-1.Asked to bat first after a delayed start, the hosts rode on Kyshona Knight’s 88 off 140 balls and captain Stafaine Taylor’s 77-ball 49 before the team suffered a collapse. Medium-pacer Sana struck early to dismiss both openers Hayles Matthews and Deandra Dottin inside eight overs, but Knight and Taylor put on 142 runs together to stabilise the innings. It was also the highest partnership for the third wicket in ODIs for the West Indies Women.Taylor’s dismissal in the 40th over triggered a collapse as the West Indies went from 171 for 2 to eventually be bowled out for 210 in 49.4 overs. Sana was the pick of the Pakistan bowlers, claiming 4 for 30 – including two maidens – in her eight overs. Left-arm spinner Sandhu took 4 for 49 in 9.4 overs.Despite losing top-order batters Muneeba Ali and captain Javeria Khan early in the chase, Sidra Ameen and Sohail ensured Pakistan crossed the finish line. Shakira Selman and Mathews picked up two wickets apiece for the West Indies. However, it wasn’t enough to threaten the visitors.”I think we fell short by about 15 to 20 runs,” Anisa Mohammed, West Indies Women’s vice-captain, told after the loss.”At the beginning of the series, we kept saying we wanted to score over 225 that would give them some competition, and we just fell short today. The pitch was a bit damp at the start, so our batters found it a bit hard to score but having Kyshona batting really well and seeing us through, I think just in the middle, coming down to the end we lost too many wickets at crucial times. As bowlers, we weren’t as consistent as we should have been.”