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Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 64 and Sulieman Benn’s three-wicket haul were the highlights of West Indies’ 18-run victory in the second Twenty20 international at the Sabina Park

Cricinfo staff18-Apr-2010Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s fluent 64 took West Indies to a match-winning score of 171•Getty Images

Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 64 and Sulieman Benn’s three-wicket haul were the highlights of West Indies’ 18-run victory in the second Twenty20 at the Sabina Park. The win gives the hosts a 2-0 lead with one match to play.Asked to bat by the visitors, West Indies motored along to 171 for 7, on the back of a 72-run stand off 49 balls between Chanderpaul and Wavell Hinds. Chanderpaul’s 64 came off 47 deliveries with eight fours and two sixes while Hinds struck three fours and two sixes in his 29-ball blitz.West Indies were set for a strong finish by the two left-handers, but the middle order could not drive home the advantage. Alex Cusack grabbed 3 for 19 in three overs as five wickets fell for 26 runs.Ireland’s chase got off to a frenetic start thanks to Paul Stirling who stroked 33 from 19 balls with four fours and a six, and captain William Porterfield who made 17. Niall O’Brien who came in next kept up the scoring rate with a 44-ball 62, inclusive of six fours and two sixes. Ireland looked set for a possible upset, when Chanderpaul ran out Stirling to set the visitors back.Benn then intervened to ensure there would be no surprise, with a stifling spell of 3 for 32. Cusack crawled to 15 off 22 boundary-less balls as the chase lost momentum and eventually floundered. Benn was supported well by his spinning colleagues Nikita Miller and Narsingh Deonarine, who turned in 1 for 37 in seven overs between them.With 24 required of the final over, the game was close to over when Benn almost grabbed a hat-trick, but it was not to be. The third Twenty20 fixture is on Sunday.

Babar’s fifty and Iftikhar’s 38* off 15 balls took Pakistan to 182, but Ireland chased it down with a ball to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2024Ireland and Pakistan were playing each other in a T20I for the first time in 15 years, and Andy Balbirnie’s 77 helped the hosts beat the visitors. It was Ireland’s first win over Pakistan in the format, with the only time the teams having met earlier coming at the World T20 in 2009.Harry Tector, who added 77 with Balbirnie for the third wicket, set the platform in the 183-run chase, before cameos from George Dockrell and Curtis Campher took Ireland over the line.The chase came down to a tense finish, with Ireland needing 40 in the last four overs even as Pakistan had an over each from Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi, along with two from Abbas Afridi, in the bank. Abbas started the 17th over with the wicket of Dockrell and conceded just three off the first four balls. But then began the recurring theme of a bowler starting the over well before conceding a late boundary and bringing down the asking rate.Next over, with Ireland requiring another 28 from 17 balls, Shadab Khan couldn’t hold on to a tough chance, and handed Balbirnie a life. Naseem nailed a couple of yorkers to bring the game back in the balance. But Delany made room and crunched a low full toss through cover to make it 11 off the over.Shaheen was closer to his best in the penultimate over, which started with Ireland requiring another 19. He delivered around-the-wicket yorkers, and knocked over Balbirnie with a swerving, low full toss. But an audacious reverse ramp first ball from Campher over the keeper left Abbas with 11 to defend off the final over.Campher was taken aback by the first ball by Abbas rising off a shortish length, but managed to guide it off the under-edge between the wicketkeeper and short third for four. He capitalised on a missed yorker to level the scores before sneaking a leg bye to seal victory.Babar Azam scored 57•Sportsfile/Getty Images

Balbirnie, Tector set up the chase

Ireland’s aggressive start to the chase saw Naseem dismiss Paul Stirling cheaply. Shaheen was off boil in his two opening overs but Abbas, his replacement, struck first ball after being given to bowl in the powerplay.But coming in at 27 for 2 did not stop Tector from looking for early boundaries. It allowed Balbirnie to consolidate at the other end, as the pair lifted Ireland from 43 for 2 in the powerplay to 84 for 2 after ten overs. They targeted Shadab Khan after Imad Wasim tightened his length to stay afloat.Tector fell to Imad but Dockrell joined Balbirnie to take Shadab down for 23 in the match-turning 14th over. The last ball was skied towards Iftikhar Ahmed at long-on, but he stepped on the boundary cushion to give Dockrell a life, along with six runs. Balbirnie and Dockrell kept the run rate around nine an over to set up the successful finish.

Babar fifty, Iftikhar cameo lift Pakistan

Earlier in the day, Ireland had put Pakistan in to bat. Babar Azam joined Saim Ayub in the second over after Tector, placed at mid-off, ran Mohammed Rizwan out, as the latter was called for a single by Ayub, before being sent back.Babar and Ayub found mixed success while trying to muscle the ball in the powerplay, as they hit six fours and a six, but were also often beaten by Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy’s tight lengths.After the powerplay, the two batters took on Ben White and Curtis Campher, as they accelerated and added 53 off the next five overs. They punished at anything too full or too short, but Ayub holed out to a wide drag down from Delany, who ended the 85-run stand off 57 balls.Babar brought up a 39-ball fifty in the 13th over, but the scoring kept fluctuating as he continued to hit and miss, even as Fakhar Zaman was unable to get off the blocks.Young’s return in the 13th over pegged Pakistan back as Babar miscued a shortish ball to long-on to finish with a 43-ball 57, while Azam Khan, trying to go over deep square leg, fell for a two-ball duck.Pakistan went on to lose 3 for 7 in six legal balls midway from the 15th over onwards. Fakhar then fell in the 18th over for 20 off 18 balls, but Iftikhar was unfazed. He took a liking to Adair, smacking him for three sixes and two fours across eight legal balls.Iftikhar, who finished on 38* from 15 balls, was aided by Shaheen’s two sixes off McCarthy in the 19th over, as Pakistan smashed 44 off the last three to reach 182, which Ireland chased down with a ball to spare.

Captain Meg Lanning said “we all support Ash and her feelings around the day”

AAP23-Jan-2023Meg Lanning has declared the Australian women’s team are united in support of indigenous star Ashleigh Gardner and her criticism of the side playing on January 26.Gardner made her views clear on the subject on Sunday, when she said the day was a “day of hurt and a day of mourning” for indigenous Australians.The reigning Belinda Clark Award holder will line up in the T20 against Pakistan but has said playing on that date did not sit well with her.The second T20 against Pakistan was initially scheduled for January 27 in Canberra but was moved to the 26th in Hobart when South Africa abandoned their men’s ODI series, which had included a scheduled game in the southern city.In a move driven by players, Australia will wear an indigenous jersey, wristbands and socks with indigenous colours for the match in Hobart.The issue is understood to have been first raised months ago by players, who were keen to lead an education space on the issue once being told they would be scheduled to play on January 26.”It’s something that we can’t control in terms of the scheduling and playing on that day,” Lanning said. “But something we would like to do is acknowledge the sadness and grief that day brings for First Nations people.”We’re going to try to use the opportunity we have to educate ourselves and try to create a better understanding of what it means and their culture. It’s a really united front in the group and we all support Ash and her feelings around the day.”Lanning said Gardner was doing “pretty well” after receiving online abuse following her statement, and labelled the allrounder’s action as brave. Gardner was with the Australian team at training on Monday, amid a throng of media focusing on the issue.The subject of January 26 has been a constant challenge for Cricket Australia in recent years, and a subject about which the governing body takes regular input from its indigenous advisory committee.The organisation dropped the term “Australia Day” from all marketing two years ago, which was met with criticism by then Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Indigenous elements will also become part of all Big Bash League uniforms from next season, with the women’s team to wear a First Nations jersey throughout next month’s T20 World Cup.”It’s something that we’ve been working on as a group for a number years,” Lanning said. “We’ve been trying to use every opportunity that we get to educate ourselves and try to celebrate the culture of First Nations people as well and try to make a point of that.”We’re doing a cultural tour the day before [January 26)] to learn a little bit more. It’s something as a group that we’ve spoken about for the past few years, it hasn’t just come up now. We’ll continue to do that because we think it’s important.”The advisory committee’s co-chairman and former CEO of Reconciliation Australia Justin Mohamed told AAP he understood a busy schedule meant games would be played on January 26, and stressed his personal view was that the tone of the event was crucial.”I can only reflect on Anzac Day and the [AFL] fixture with Collingwood and Essendon. The respect they show to Anzac Day only enhances and educates,” Mohamed said.”People who go to that game know this is a significant time, and there have been losses. [January 26] is a day of mourning, but also there is a day of survival. Where Aboriginal culture and language and history have survived all this.”The 26th will always be the 26th. Even if we change the date to celebrate Australia Day on, the 26th is a date all Australians should know and shouldn’t be lost.”Mohamed said the team had been proactive in their response to the scheduling.”Straight away they said, ‘This day has a strong significance for First Nations people, we need to learn more about this’,” he said.

Tourists yet to make a call on whether Stokes will play first Test

Valkerie Baynes28-Nov-2021England’s cricketers are hopeful that the discovery of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Australia won’t impact the Ashes Tests – or their families’ travel plans, Ashley Giles says.But Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, admitted the touring party were at the mercy of the Australian authorities ahead of talks on the issue on Sunday.”We’re obviously hoping it won’t affect anything,” Giles told reporters via Zoom from Brisbane. “There are going to be changes to those border controls in terms of our families being able to travel and we clearly hope that’s not going to affect us. But we are in the hands of national and local governments.”Related

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England’s players had expressed concerns before leaving for Australia over beginning the tour with 14 days’ quarantine in Queensland and the effects on them and their families. Different states have now introduced new travel restrictions in response to the latest variant and Western Australia Cricket Association chief executive Christina Matthews has described the chances of the fifth Test going ahead in Perth as “50-50″ given the state’s stringent rules on travel.”We always knew things could change,” Giles said. “I guess we hoped things would change positively as we went through the series but as we’ve been aware over the last two years with variants, things can also change negatively.”Can we prepare for everything? It’s not really possible actually because of the big moving parts even around quarantine times and rules around different states. We will do everything we can to make sure the families are accommodated and of course that the players are happy.”The England squad plan to play a four-day warm-up match against England Lions on Tuesday, with the Test players who were involved in the T20 World Cup due to travel to Brisbane from their quarantine base on the Gold Coast on the morning of the match, along with head coach Chris Silverwood.Rain ruined England’s first, three-day, warm-up against the Lions, with further thunderstorms forecast for Brisbane this week.”It’s not perfect preparation and it’s been extremely strange having some of our group so close but yet so far away,” Giles said. “They’ve been in bubbles now for a long period with the World Cup and then coming here for 14 days. They’ve been very well looked after here but it is still a bubble and it’s still quarantine down there for them.”I’m certainly looking forward to getting the head coach here. Chris particularly must feel a real strange detachment being so close but so far away from a squad that’s preparing for an Ashes. [It’s] not ideal but the Australians are in the same boat and we’ve just got to try and do it better than them.”Ben Stokes looks on during an England Ashes Squad nets session at The Gabba•Getty Images

Giles said England were yet to make a call on whether Ben Stokes would play in the first Test, starting on December 8, after nearly five months out of the game to prioritise his mental health, during which time he was also nursing a serious finger injury.”Ben seems to be going well and it’s just great having him around,” Giles said. “We’ve still got to be steady with him, he hasn’t played a lot of cricket lately and, going back to that prep period, it’s not ideal for anyone, but particularly the guys who haven’t had a lot of cricket under their belt. We’ll just keep building him up and see where we are at the end of this four-day game.”I’m hopeful and I would always like to be confident. We’ve just got to treat Ben carefully, as we would with anyone else who has been in that position of not having a lot of cricket under their belts. He will be a difficult man to hold back if he is ready to go.”

The trio will stay overseas from this week to early November

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2020New Zealand allrounder Mitchell Santner is all set to stay away from home for as many as four months in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic as he flies off to play in the CPL first and then the IPL. A party of ten will fly out from New Zealand this week for the CPL after obtaining no-objection certificates from NZC, of which Santner, Ish Sodhi and Brendon McCullum will then head over to the UAE in September to be a part of the IPL.Santner is the only one who will play in both leagues, for Barbados Tridents first and then Chennai Super Kings, as Sodhi will be playing for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the CPL but working as spin consultant for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, while McCullum will be head coach of the two Knight Riders franchises – Trinbago and Kolkata.Ross Taylor, Colin Munro, Tim Seifert, Glenn Phillips, Corey Anderson, Scott Kuggeleijn and Nick Kelly are the other New Zealand players set to feature only in the CPL, while Lockie Ferguson Jimmy Neesham, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan and Kane Williamson should make the trip across for the IPL.Santner admitted there were risks involved in flying through different continents and staying in hotels, even though there are going to be all sorts of safety apparatus in place. “It’s an interesting one. I’m going through America and I’ll park up in the [airport] lounge in the corner somewhere. It’s one of the risks we’ve got to think about,” Santner told stuff.co.nz. “They’ve put an extensive booklet together about what happens in each circumstance which has been good, and a bit of clarity around where we’re staying. It seems like they’ve got it under control.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Santner, Sodhi and McCullum have a slim window to travel between the two leagues as the CPL ends on September 10 in Trinidad and the IPL begins only nine days later, with the quarantine rules for entering biosecure bubbles in the IPL not defined yet. With IPL scheduled to end on November 8 or 10, the trio will then be expected to quarantine for two weeks once they get back to New Zealand.”At this stage we’ll just fly straight across [from the Caribbean],” Santner said of getting to the IPL. “I’m not sure what quarantine looks like yet [before the IPL], but there’s some other big dogs like Dwayne Bravo and Brendon McCullum I can tag along with.”Santner will have another group to fly with after the CPL as the likes of Rashid Khan, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard are also expected to be at the IPL.Santner was part of the last international match that took place before the Covid-19 crisis hit the world, when New Zealand took on Australia behind closed doors in Sydney in March. More recently, the New Zealand players – men and women – have attended camps in Lincoln and Mount Maunganui to train for the cricket scheduled ahead.”It’ll be exciting to play some cricket again,” Santner said. “It’s been a slow winter but good to be at home for a bit and train and do all the fitness work. Chris (Donaldson, New Zealand strength and conditioning coach) put us through the wringer the last six weeks so it’s nice to go away and not see him for a few months.”

The arrival of the Australians – Stoinis and Coulter-Nile for Royal Challengers and Turner for Royals – should give both the sides extra options

The Preview by Sreshth Shah01-Apr-2019

Big picture

For Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, the only way is up. Now, with both sides having lost three in three, the IPL faces the prospect of having one side winless well into the second week.Royals have been in winning positions in each of their three games, but have lost the plot when they have looked like seizing the advantage.Take their first match when, for the most part, Royals were behind the eight-ball against Kings XI Punjab. Then, when the game seemed to be in Royals’ grasp, a batting collapse led to Kings XI stealing a win. In Hyderabad, not many gave Royals a chance against the fiery Sunrisers bowling attack. But they posted nearly 200 on a difficult batting track, only to lose the match with an over to spare.

Form guide (most recent match first)

Royals: Lost to Super Kings by eight runs, lost to Sunrisers by five wickets, lost to Kings XI by 14 runs
RCB: Lost to Sunrisers by 118 runs, lost to Mumbai by six runs, lost to Super Kings by seven wickets

On Sunday, the Royals’ template was pretty much the same. Chennai Super Kings entered the match as favourites, but were promptly reduced to 28 for 3. It looked like Royals would keep Super Kings down to a manageable total, but then MS Dhoni blew them away. Then, later in the chase, Ben Stokes’ dismissal turned the game against them with Royals needing only a dozen off the final over.On the other side, Royal Challengers have been beaten soundly in two of their three games. As always, relying heavily on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers has not paid off, and the side’s been all out twice already. Their pace-bowling unit, and bits-and-pieces allrounders, have not instilled fear in any side. This is where the arrival of a few Australians from the UAE will help.Both captains have faced the heat. Kohli has been criticised for not being able to get the campaign on the road and missing the mark with his XIs, and Ajinkya Rahane for under-bowling spin in sluggish Chennai.

In the news

There are no injury concerns for either side, and both teams will be boosted by the arrival of the Australian contingent from the UAE. Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter-Nile will link up with Royal Challengers, while Royals now have Ashton Turner available.

Likely XIs

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Rahul Tripathi, 5 Steven Smith, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 K Gowtham, 8 Shreyas Gopal, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Varun AaronRoyal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Marcus Stoinis, 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Colin de Grandhomme, 7 Prayas Ray Burman, 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Mohammad Siraj, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Strategy punt

• Royal Challengers should look to slot in Coulter-Nile straightaway. In IPL 2017, his bowling average of 15.20 was behind only those of Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Moreover, he could solve RCB’s death-over woes, as he has an average of 14.40 in this period, with a ball-per-wicket ratio of 11.30.
• There’s also a case to open the batting with Stoinis. In BBL 2018-19, Stoinis crunched four half-centuries from the opener’s spot, averaging 62.40 in ten games. Since 2018, Stoinis has averaged nearly 50 as an opener, compared to averages of 5.30 as No. 3, 21.10 as No. 4 and 23.40 as No. 5. Stoinis’ addition will also bolster their bowling, adding a sixth option to an attack that does need some variety.
• Royals should bowl K Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal to Kohli and de Villiers. Since IPL 2018, de Villiers falls to offbreak once every five deliveries and is dismissed by a legspinner’s googly once every 6.50 balls. For Kohli, too, both bowlers could pose problems. Since IPL 2018, his strike rate to the googly is only 85.7, and his strike rate against offspin (75.0) is even poorer.

Stats that matter

The team management made a specific request to get Dhananjai back in order to travel with the “best support staff and technology support possible” as the next year features tough tours of South Africa, England and Australia

Sidharth Monga26-Dec-2017India have made a last-minute change to their support staff in the lead-up to the tour of South Africa with analyst CKM Dhananjai coming back to the fold to replace Ashish Tulli. ESPNcricinfo understands the team management made a specific request to get Dhananjai back in order to travel with the “best support staff and technology support possible” as the next year features tough tours of South Africa, England and Australia.Dhananjai was the team analyst when India won the World T20 in 2007, the World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. He was also part of the support staff when India reached the No. 1 Test ranking in 2009. He has also been the analyst of the defending IPL champions Mumbai Indians, a role he will now have to give up as part of BCCI regulations to avoid conflict of interest.Dhananjai is a vice president of SportsMechanics, a technology and analytics company set up by S Ramakrishnan, the first analyst India had. SportsMechanics provides analytics support to many sports team, including Mumbai Indians.Tulli, formerly with Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, was brought in when Anurag Thakur was the BCCI president. Until then, a SportsMechanics representative used to travel with the national team. Despite Tulli coming in, India retained the back-end support of SportsMechanics. In 2016, though, India cut ties with Sports Mechanics and moved to Agaram InfoTech Pvt. Ltd., who were technology partners of Chennai Super Kings among other teams.Now, though, on insistence of the team management, India have re-established their ties with with Dhananjai and SportsMechanics.

JP Duminy and Dean Elgar batted through almost two sessions on day three, scoring centuries as they ground Australia down in the Perth heat

The Report by Brydon Coverdale05-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:15