July 4, 2018 issue
Cricket
the other scored a hundred.
Kuldeep Yadav took 5-24, including three wickets in one over, as England's middle order collapsed.
Jos Buttler made 69 and David Willey's late hitting took them to 159-8. But it proved far too little as India cruised home with 10 balls to spare.
India take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, with the second T20 in Cardiff at 17:30 BST on Friday.
After following up a 5-0 whitewash in the ODI series against Australia with a comfortable win in the one-off T20, England were found wanting against vastly superior white-ball opponents in India. That supremacy was epitomised by Rahul, who showed tremendous touch and timing when driving through the off side, complemented by brutal power to hit five sixes in his second T20 international century.
He was dropped on 17 by Jason Roy at backward point, while he also survived on 37 when Chris Jordan spilled a much tougher chance at long-on, but England created little else.
India were so comfortable that when Rohit Sharma fell for 32, picking out Eoin Morgan at cover off Rashid, Rahul and Kohli could just knock around singles in a sedate conclusion.
England's spinners tor-mented Australia so the hosts will be concerned by the ease with which India's middle order largely played them - although Rashid finished with respectable figures of 1-25, Moeen Ali conceded 37 off just 14 balls.
On a flat surface, perhaps more Mumbai than Manchester after being baked by the recent hot weather, England will hope this does not set a precedent for the tourists feeling very much at home over the next three months.
Kuldeep sent England a further warning for the rest of the summer with a prodigious spell of left-arm wrist-spin.
The 23-year-old bowled a superb length, not afraid to slow his pace and give the ball plenty of flight, doing most of his damage with a well-disguised googly.
England were 106-2 after 13 overs and on track for a challenging total before Morgan skied the young spinner to Kohli. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root then both fell first ball, each stumped by MS Dhoni as they failed to pick Kuldeep's googly.
Buttler played another superb knock, taking just 29 balls to hit a seventh half-century in his past eight T20 innings at all levels.
But having watched the chaos unfold, he was dismissed trying to blast England to a par score, also miscuing a Kuldeep googly and caught by Kohli, two balls after he was dropped by Rahul.
Willey resisted with an unbeaten 29 off 15 balls, including two towering sixes, but England always looked 30 runs short and will now need to make plans for playing Kuldeep in potentially all three formats.
Man of the match Kuldeep Yadav, who took 5-24: "It feels like home conditions. The wicket was dry. When I bowled the first over, I felt it was going to turn."
June 28, Toronto Nationals v Vancouver Knights
Vancouver Knights 227/4; Toronto Nationals 231/4 (19.2/20 ov)
Nationals won by 6 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)
June 29, Winnipeg Hawks v Montreal Tigers
Winnipeg Hawks 203/4; Montreal Tigers 157 (18.5/20 ov)
Hawks won by 46 runs
June 30, Toronto Nationals v Edmonton Royals
Toronto Nationals 169/7; Edmonton Royals 173/2 (15/20 ov)
Royals won by 8 wickets (with 30 balls remaining)
June 30, Montreal Tigers v West Indies B
Montreal Tigers 184/9; West Indies B 187/8 (19.1/20 ov)
West Indies B won by 2 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)
July 1, Winnipeg Hawks v Vancouver Knights
Winnipeg Hawks 156/9; Vancouver Knights 162/4 (17.4/20 ov)
Vancouver Knights won by 6 wickets (with 14 balls remaining)
July 1, Edmonton Royals v West Indies B
Edmonton Royals 155; West Indies B 159/7 (18/20 ov)
West Indies B won by 3 wickets (with 12 balls remaining)
July 2, Winnipeg Hawks v Toronto Nationals
Winnipeg Hawks 164/6; Toronto Nationals 108 17.2/20
Winnipeg Hawks won by 56 runs
July 2, Montreal Tigers v Vancouver Knights
Vancouver Knights 166/6; Montreal Tigers 148/9 (19.4/20)
Vancouver Knights won by 18 runs
July 4, Montreal Tigers v Edmonton Royals
July 5, Winnipeg Hawks v West Indies B
July 6, Vancouver Knights v Edmonton Royals
July 7, Toronto Nationals v West Indies B
July 7, Winnipeg Hawks v Edmonton Royals
July 8, Vancouver Knights v West Indies B
July 8, Toronto Nationals v Montreal Tigers
July 10, Round 2 , 1st match - TBA v TBA
July 10, Round 2 , 2nd match - TBA v TBA
July 11, Round 2 , 3rd match - TBA v TBA
July 12, Qualifier 1 - TBA v TBA
July 12, Eliminator - TBA v TBA
July 14, Qualifier 2 - TBA v TBA
July 15, Final - TBA v TBA
As at July 3, 2018
As at July 3, 2018 - After 8 matches
TOP RUN GETTERS
Rassie Van Der Dussen, Vancouver Knights – 147
Anton Devcich, Toronto Nationals – 139
Evin Lewis, Vancouver Knights – 121
Lendl Simmons, Winnipeg Hawks – 104
Ben Mcdermott, Winnipeg Hawks – 101
HIGHEST SCORING RATE (MINIMUM 25 RUNS)
Kevin O Brien, Edmonton Royals – 288.24
Andre Russell, Vancouver Knights – 244.44
Fabian Allen, Windies B Team – 231.58
Luke Ronchi, Edmonton Royals – 200.00
Anton Devcich, Toronto Nationals – 187.84
LEADING WICKET TAKERS
Obed McCoy, Windies B – 7
Lasith Malinga, Montreal Tigers – 7
Dwayne Bravo, Winnipeg Hawks – 6
Ali Khan, Winnipeg Hawks – 5
Fawad Ahmed, Vancouver Knights – 5
BEST ECONOMY (MINIMUM 4 OVERS)
Fidel Edwards, Winnipeg Hawks - 2.00
Kavem Hodge, Windies B Team - 4.50
Khary Pierre, Windies B Team – 5.13
Mohammed Irfan, Edmonton Royals – 5.25
Ali Khan, Winnipeg Hawks – 6.00
Pakistan cruised to a 74-run win on Sunday over their hosts in the opening match of the Zimbabwe T20 Tri-Series.
A career best 61 from opening batsman Fakhar Zaman, and a late flurry of boundaries from Asif Ali and veteran batsman Shoaib Malik set up Pakistan's imposing 182 for 4.
In reply, Zimbabwe mustered just 108 all out, with the wickets shared around by Pakistan's bowling attack. Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Khan, Mohammad Hafeez and Hasan Ali picked up two apiece.
Zaman's efforts were vital to Pakistan's total. He kept Pakistan steady through the first half of their innings while Zimbabwe, having opted to bowl first, chipped away at the other end with regular strikes.
With Mohammad Hafeez, Hussain Talat, and captain Sarfraz Ahmed all falling cheapy, Pakistan were helped by Zaman's fluent scoring at the other end, and he brought up his second T20I half century from 33 deliveries with a flick through square leg in the 13th over.
Zaman appeared settled at the crease, but two overs later he missed a heave at Chisoro and had his leg stump pegged back.
By then, however, Pakistan were 121 for 4, and with just over five overs still to be bowled, had set a considerable platform.
Ali and Malik combined to plunder 61 from the last five, including five sixes, as Zimbabwe's bowlers struggled to contain them.
The hosts were further hampered by the loss of senior seamer Kyle Jarvis, who injured his right hand attempting to take a catch in the 13th over, and immediately left the field with a suspected dislocation and fracture to his right thumb.
Zimbabwe's response with the bat never got going.
Opener Solomon Mire fired in fits and starts to record a 29-ball 27, while Tarisai Musakanda cracked a busy 43 in his debut Twenty20 International innings. But there was little support from the rest of the top order, with Elton Chigumbura the only other batsman to reach double figures.
The Zimbabwean tail collapsed completely, the last four wickets falling for the addition of just six runs, with Hafeez taking 2 for 3 in his first over in international cricket since his bowling action was cleared as legal last month.
Thanks to Aaron Finch's 68 runs off just 33 balls, the Aussies cruised to victory in the game in just under 11 overs. D'Arcy Short (15) was the only batsman out for the team in the 117-run chase.
Earlier, all-rounders Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf again proved their underrated prowess with the bat as their cameos helped Pakistan put together 116 runs against Australia after the team's top order had endured a horrific collapse.
After the top five batsmen were out for just 47 runs on the board, middle-order batsman Asif Ali staged a late resurgence with 22 runs off 20 deliveries.
Shoaib Malik, who became the first male player to complete a century of T20Is, was run out for 13. Faheem (21) and Shadab (29) then helped Pakistan reach 116 in their second match of the tri-series being played in Zimbabwe.
Aussie pacer Billy Stanlake, who took four wickets for his team while giving away only eight runs in his four-over quota, was declared the player of the match.
Dravid, Ponting, Claire Taylor
The three players were chosen by former inductees and members of the media.
Dravid scored 13,288 runs in 164 tests with 36 centuries and 10,889 runs in 344 ODIs with 12 centuries.
Speaking on the occasion, Dravid said: “To find your name in a list of all-time greats across generations is something one only dreams of while setting out on a cricket career.”
Ponting, who scored more than 13,000 runs in both tests and one-day internationals, said: “I loved every moment of my journey as a player and am so very proud of the team and personal achievements along the way.”
Taylor scored 1,030 runs in 15 tests, 4,101 runs in 126 ODIs and 615 runs in 21 Twenty20 internationals.
Although they were two one-sided games, after scoring over 200 in both, the India captain says they were ideal preparation for the three Twenty20 Internationals against Englnd.
“We wanted to go into the [England] series with all the guys having a hit and all the bowlers making a contribution so, I’m happy with the batting performances in both innings,” said Kohli. “Everyone is batting so well, but it’s a good problem to have. Anyone who has been given a chance has grabbed it with both hands and that’s something that’s good for any side and our bench strength is shown in these type of games.
“It’s a great phase that India cricket is going through and I’m happy to see all these young guys taking their chances.”
Siddarth Kaul, who took 21 wickets in the IPL this year, was given his debut on Friday and took a wicket in his second over although once again it was the spin twins Kuldeep Yadav and player of the series Yuzvendra Chahal who ripped through the Ireland line-up, sharing six wickets as Ireland were bowled out in just 12.3 overs for 70.
K.L. Rahul, who sat out the first match, scored 70 off 36 balls and with Suresh Raina hitting 69 off 45 as India totalled 213-4.
Looking ahead to facing England, Kohli was bullish in that anything England do, India will do better.
“The opposition doesn’t matter,” he said. “If we play at the best possible intensity, it’s going to be an exciting and competitive series and one we’re looking forward to. England are a quality side but we have belief in our quality and back the positives when we go on the field.”
Ireland captain Gary Wilson, who top scored with 15, admitted his batsmen rolled over too easily, but they will learn from the games which, to the delight of Cricket Ireland, were played in front of two capacity crowds of almost 10,000.
Finch plundered 10 sixes and 16 boundaries, and powered Australia to 229-2. He also featured in a record-breaking 223-run first-wicket stand with D'Arcy Short, who made 46 as they raised the first double-century stand in a T20I.
Zimbabwe was overwhelmed for the second straight match and restricted to 129-9 in 20 overs. Andrew Tye took 3-12 and Ashton Agar picked up 2-16.
Australia sits on top of the table with two victories from two matches after it also defeated Pakistan by nine wickets on Monday.
Finch held the previous record of highest individual knock when he made 156 against England at Southampton in 2013.
“This innings is right up there. They don't happen very often, so very pleased with it,” Finch said after receiving his man-of-the-match award. “It was nice to get a few in the middle and break the record.”
Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza won another toss, but his bowlers couldn't find the right lengths against the fluent stroke-making of Finch.
“We thought it couldn't get tougher than the first match, but here it got tougher,” Masakadza said.
“Credit to Finch, he struck it from first ball. Think we can bowl a bit better. We've conceded few too many in the powerplay.”
Fast bowler Chris Mpofu, who replaced injured Kyle Jarvis in the playing XI, was hammered for 53 runs without any success and offspinner John Nyumbu, who took the new ball, gave away 44 runs off his three overs. Remarkably, left-armer Tendai Chisoro conceded only 19 off his four overs.
Finch broke his previous record when he hoisted Mpofu for a six over extra cover in the 19th over.
He and Short perished in the last over. Short sliced a catch to wicket-keeper Peter Moor, and Finch tried to cut but was overbalanced and hit the stumps with his bat to be out hit wicket, three balls from the end.
Zimbabwe, which went into the series without its top five players due to differences between the players and their country's cricket board, never looked to come close to Australia's big total.
Top scorer Solomon Mire (28) struck three fours and a six in Billy Stanlake's first over before falling in the tall fast bowler's next over.
Left-arm spinner Agar and Tye then pinned down the batsmen in the middle overs with Agar taking the key wickets of Masakadza (12) and Tarisai Musakanda (10).
Zimbabwe needs to beat Pakistan in its next match on Wednesday to have any chance of qualifying for Sunday's final.