Page 11 - Cricket

T20 WC: Dutch register 2nd win, SL back in business with big win over UAE

Netherlands made heavy weather of a small target before eking out a five-wicket win against Namibia in the T20 World Cup here on Tuesday. This is Netherlands' second victory in as many games and keeps them firmly in contention for a place in the next round. Netherlands dished out a fine bowling effort to restrict Namibia to 121 for six before taking the game deep. They completed the task in 19.3 overs in their first round Group A match. Sitting pretty at 92 for one, Netherlands made a harakiri towards the end to allow Namibia to make a comeback. Vikramjit Singh (39 off 31) and Max O'Dowd (35 off 35) got Netherlands' chase off to a blazing start, sharing 59 runs for the opening wicket. However, from 92 for one, Netherlands slumped to 101 for four, thanks to twin blows from left-arm pacer JJ Smit (2/24) in the 16th over. Skipper Scott Edwards did no good and perished in the next over. But Bas de Leede (30 not out off 30) held his nerves, and in the company of Tim Pringle (8 not ou

Ganguly out, Binny in: New BCCI president's task is to steady the ship

Roger Binny's approach to reforms and team selection will be under scrutiny after Ganguly's controversial exit

Make Ganguly Bengal's brand ambassador replacing SRK: Suvendu to Mamata

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari advised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to offer the chair of brand ambassador of the state to former cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly

T20 World Cup: Sikandar Raza leads Zimbabwe to 31-run win over Ireland

Sikandar Raza continued his glorious run with a fantastic 82 off 48 balls while the bowlers, led by Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara and Richard Ngarava led Zimbabwe to a 31-run over Ireland

Shocked that Sourav was deprived of second term as BCCI president: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she was shocked that former India captain Sourav Ganguly was deprived of a second term as BCCI president. Banerjee, while talking to reporters at the Kolkata airport before leaving for a trip to north Bengal, also said she would urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene so that Ganguly is allowed to contest the elections for ICC chief. "Sourav has proved himself to be an able administrator, and I am shocked at his removal from the BCCI president's post. This was injustice meted out to him. I will request the PM to ensure that Ganguly is allowed to contest elections for ICC chief, she said. There should be no politics on this matter, Banerjee added.

India welcomes Mohammed Shami in Australia, BCCI shares video on Twitter

Indian pace star Mohammed Shami joined the practice session of the Indian team in Perth, Australia after being named as a replacement for injured Jasprit Burmah

IPL teams need to submit list of retained players by Nov 15: Official

The 10 IPL franchises have been asked to submit their list of retained players by November 15, a senior official of a franchise said on Sunday. It is understood that BCCI has set the ball rolling for next edition of IPL and the mini-auction will be held in the third week of December in Bengaluru. It is also learnt that even the salary cap is likely to be increased from Rs 90 to Rs 95 crore for the next season. However at the mini-auction, the franchises can bid for players with the balance amount left after what they spent during the last mega auction and also with the amount they get after releasing the players they want to give back to the auction pool. It is expected that most franchises will keep 15 core players and release the rest for them to enter the auction with at least 10 crore, if not more. Punjab Kings and CSK have Rs 3.45 and Rs 2.95 crore left respectively after the last auction while Lucknow Super Giants had exhausted their full purse. Delhi Capitals, Mumbai India

T20 World Cup: Netherlands edge UAE by 3 wickets in low-scoring thriller

Captain Scott Edwards showed calmness and got the crucial winning run to help the Netherlands edge past UAE by three wickets in a low-scoring thriller match of ICC Men's T20 World Cup

T20 World Cup: Minnows Namibia crush Asian champions Sri Lanka by 55 runs

Namibia caused a massive upset on the opening day of the T20 World Cup with a 55-run win over 2014 champions and reigning Asia Cup winners Sri Lanka in a group A match, here on Sunday. Namibia, who had impressed in the previous edition 12 months ago as well, recovered from 93 for six in the 15th over to post a challenging 163 for seven in 20 overs. Jan Frylinck (44 off 28) and JJ Smit (31 not out off 16) did the damage in the death overs, sharing a whirlwind 69-run stand off 33 balls to raise concerns in the Sri Lankan dressing room. Nicol Loftie-Eaton had made a handy 20 off 12 balls after the reigning Asian champions put them in to bat. The Namibian pacers, led by Ben Shikongo, wrecked the Sri Lanka top- order before bowling them out for 108 in 19 overs for a memorable win. Shikongo missed out on a famous hat-trick after removing opener Pathum Nissanka and Danushka Gunathilak off successive balls in the fourth over. The dangerous Bhanuka Rajapaksa (20) and skipper Dasun Shanaka

Been trying to make some technical changes ahead of T20 World Cup: Finch

Out-of-form Australian skipper Aaron Finch says he has been working on making some technical changes ahead of the T20 World Cup. Finch, who stepped down from ODI captaincy recently, has been enduring a rough patch for over a year. In the three T20Is against England at home, he managed just 25 runs. "I think T20 cricket as an opening batter, that comes with some risk and reward at times when you're trying to be aggressive and get the team off to a quick start," Finch said at the captains' press conference. "But it's not always going to go to plan. I'm okay with that. I think when you play T20 for long enough, you understand that you just ride the highs and lows a little bit. "But I feel really good. There's some technical changes and stuff that I've been trying to make over the last little bit. Yeah, I feel ready to go for the World Cup," he added. Australia will begin the defence of their title against Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand on October 22 in Sydney and the skipper feels t

India to clash with Sri Lanka in pursuit of winning 7th Asia Cup title

A ruthless Indian team would look to reassert its supremacy and aim to win an unprecedented seventh Asia Cup title when it clashes with Sri Lanka in the final here on Saturday. The tournament brought to fore India's depth as the younger crop of players has shouldered the burden of taking the team to the final without any tangible contribution from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and her deputy Smriti Mandhana. Such has been the impact of the Indian team, that skipper Harmanpreet played only four games (81 runs) and in total faced a only 72 balls in those matches. Even Mandhana, who led in three games, skipped one game and didn't need to contribute much. The biggest takeaway from a tournament like this is that Indian team's junior members could react to pressure situations in a perfect manner when they were thrown at the deep end of the pool. The most heartening aspect was how three 'seasoned' youngsters -- 18 year-old Shafali Verma (161 runs and 3 wickets), 22-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues

Pakistan beats New Zealand by 5 wickets in the T-20 tri-series final

Mohammad Nawaz struck an unbeaten 38 from 22 balls to lift Pakistan to a five-wicket win over New Zealand with three balls remaining in the final of the New Zealand Twenty20 Tri-Series. After his 45 from 20 balls in Pakistan's seven-wicket win over Bangladesh a day earlier, Nawaz established himself as key member of the Pakistan middle order heading into the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia. The final see-sawed through both innings: New Zealand was on target for a more substantial score before faltering against Pakistan's late bowling and finishing with 163-7. Pakistan made a solid start, then also wavered at times before Nawaz provided the final impetus for the win. He found a dependable partner in Iftikhar Ahmed, who made 25 from 14 balls in an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 36. "I just backed myself yesterday and today on the basis of what I've done in the nets," Nawaz said. "I had belief in myself and I was backing myself to go in with a clear mind. We are looking forward

David Warner injured; unlikely to play third T20I against England: Report

Australia batting stalwart David Warner is an injury concern ahead of the third and final T20 International against England, with Steve Smith likely to replace him at the top of the order

KL Rahul's 74 in vain as India lose 2nd practice match to Western Australia

Opener KL Rahul made 74 off 55 balls, but his efforts went in vain as India lost their second practice match to Western Australia XI by 36 runs at WACA Stadium on Thursday

Women IPL to take place in March with 5 teams, max 5 overseas players in XI

The much-awaited inaugural edition of Women's IPL will have five teams and is set to take place in March 2023 before the start of men's IPL. As per a BCCI note accessed by PTI, the tournament will feature 20 league games with teams to play each other twice. The table toppers will get a direct entry into the final, while the second and third place teams will battle out in the Eliminator. Each team can have no more than five overseas cricketers in the playing eleven. "To have a well balance of domestic & international players and to have competitive teams, it has been tentatively decided to have five teams for WIPL. Each team can comprise maximum of eighteen players where no team can have more than six overseas players. "Further, no more than five overseas players - four from Full Members of the ICC and one from the Associate Members of the ICC can be part of the playing XI of each team," read the BCCI note. The Women's Big Bash League in Australia and The Hundred in UK don't allow

West Indies tour of Pakistan in 2023 likely to be postponed: Report

The proliferating Twenty20 leagues seems to be having an impact on bilateral tours and could lead to the postponement of West Indies' three-match T20 tour of Pakistan early next year

Injured Chahar ruled out; Siraj, Shami, Shardul set to join team for T20 WC

Pacer Deepak Chahar, who was a strong contender to replace Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup, has been ruled of the marquee event due to a back injury, BCCI sources said on Wednesday. While Chahar, a stand-by player for the World Cup, will miss the plane to Australia, the national selectors have asked pacers Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur to join the squad. The trio will fly to Australia on Wednesday night. "Deepak will take some time to get fit. His back issue has flared up again. His ankle is fine and there wasn't any problem there. So BCCI is sending three reinforcements, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur," a BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity. One among the three pacers will replace Bumrah in the squad of 15. Since the team has time till October 15 to announce Bumrah's replacement, the team management has time to check out form and fitness of all three pacers. Chahar had competed in the T20 series agains

What is an Impact Player? All you need to know about BCCI's new rule

The Impact Player rule allows a cricket team to make a tactical substitution in the middle of the game in each match

Suryakumar at No 2 as Conway jumps into top-5 in T20I Batter Rankings

New Zealand star batter Devon Conway has jumped into the top-five in the latest T20I Batter Rankings to join Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan, India's Suryakumar Yadav and Babar Azam

Hasaranga's rise quite similar to Malinga, says Mahela Jayawardene

Sri Lankan batting legend Mahela Jayawardene is mighty impressed with the rise of Wanindu Hasaranga as he sees traits of pace bowling great Lasith Malinga in the 25-year-old spin allrounder. Hasaranga, who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, hogged the limelight in the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE when he topped the charts with 16 wickets -- the most in a tournament. He then played an instrumental role both with the bat and ball in their Asia Cup triumph to rise to world number 4 in the allrounder's rankings. "The way he has blossomed... he's also from down south, quite close to where Lasith was (Galle) and they have similar mannerisms," Jayawardena said in the ICC Review. "The way they both came out, they started their careers quietly -- you know, sat in the corner of the dressing room -- and little by little they grew. The hairstyles changed, the tattoos came out and the whole thing. "It (Hasaranga's development) is quite similar to how Lasith became