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Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell provided overdue contributions in the middle order to help Steven Smith guide Australia into the triangular series final with a strong victory over the West Indies in Barbados

The Report by Daniel Brettig21-Jun-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:11

Australia beat West Indies by six wickets to secure berth in tri-series final

Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell provided overdue contributions in the middle order to help Steven Smith guide Australia into the triangular series final with a six-wicket win over the West Indies at Bridgetown in Barbados.Interim coach Justin Langer had been eager to see how his team responded under the pressure of possible tournament elimination, and Marlon Samuels’ fine hundred in partnership with Denesh Ramdin ensured Australia’s batsmen had little margin for error at Kensington Oval.However, Smith produced the workmanlike innings of a leader and was able to coax Marsh into one of his best and most complete international innings, albeit on a surface that bore closer resemblance to Australian climes than any other in this series. Maxwell then came in with the game still in the balance – Australia needed 62 off 50 balls – and responded with a starburst of shots that will help his own sense of esteem enormously after a series in which he was dropped for two matches.Even so, the Australians will still want to improve their fielding and bowling, two areas that were found wanting in the afternoon. On the fastest pitch of the tournament so far, three early wickets to the new ball gave Australia a fine start after Smith sent West Indies in. However Samuels found a willing ally in Ramdin and the pair put on 192 together, the best fourth wicket stand in all ODIs between the two teams.After Samuels went on to his first ODI hundred against Australia, late-innings hitting left the visitors to question their choice of bowling first. The selectors again ignored spin, and another indifferent fielding display was emphasised by Matthew Wade dropping Samuels on 65.Early on it appeared that the pace in the pitch would be ideal for Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja to set up Australia’s chase, but both were to be hurried up by deliveries skidding through and out in the teens. Shannon Gabriel, the debutant, generated significant pace from his muscular action, though his impact was offset by the withdrawal of Jason Holder due to injury after two overs.Smith and George Bailey sought to stabilise the innings, conscious there was little in-form batting beneath them. They did well for a time, but Bailey was uncomfortable against the turn and lift gained by Sulieman Benn – amid a selection of loose balls – and skied a catch with 184 still required.The Australians elected to send Marsh in ahead of Maxwell, and the gambit paid off richly. Marsh enjoyed the extra pace in the pitch and grew nicely into his innings in Smith’s company, using some of the cross bat shots he had learned at his home ground at the WACA in Perth. With Smith working the ball around sensibly they kept the target in sight, and were able to generate the odd piece of slipshod West Indian fielding.In the end, the efforts to stretch the fielders cost Smith his wicket as he was comfortably run out when the target was looming within sight. His exit though served a useful purpose by allowing Maxwell to enter the fray. Earlier in the tournament he had looked completely at sea on slow Guyana surfaces, but now got past a nervy first few deliveries to accelerate in thrilling style.Though these closing passages served mainly to change the margin of victory rather than preventing defeat, Maxwell’s fireworks – including one audacious switch-punch six off the spin of Sunil Narine – will make a major difference to his confidence heading into the final and beyond. Marsh, too, will benefit from a fine innings that showed the kind of maturity the selectors have been hoping to see from him for quite some time.On a fine day in Bridgetown, West Indies replaced Jerome Taylor with Gabriel, while Australia named the same XI chosen for the washed-out encounter with South Africa. This meant that the visitors again ignored the spin of Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon, while the hosts went in with the dual spin of Narine and Sulieman Benn.Starc had missed the previous encounter with the West Indies, and he immediately found pace and bounce to his liking. It was too much for Johnson Charles, who edged a fast, full delivery in the very first over, and Andre Fletcher fared little better as he groped at a succession of balls whirring across him.Hazlewood also generated plenty of lift, and it was with one such delivery that ended a promising Darren Bravo innings as Smith held a one-handed as he dived from a wide first slip. Fletcher was being battered verbally as well as technically by Starc, and it wasn’t long before he was taken off the shoulder of the bat at backward point.Three wickets down with the ball still new, West Indies were in a most precarious position when Ramdin joined Samuels. Initially their response was obstinate defence, absorbing the bounce and speed of Starc and Hazlewood, then the early forays of James Faulkner, Scott Boland and Mitchell Marsh.Nearly seven overs passed without a boundary, and it was 64 for 3 in the 20th over when Samuels decided Boland and Marsh had to go. In the space of two overs he clattered 27 runs from the support seamers, tilting momentum back towards the west Indies for the first time all innings.Batting conditions had eased considerably, and Smith had no quality spin-bowling option to change things up. He resorted to the part-timers of Aaron Finch before trying Maxwell, and neither man could procure a wicket. Samuels and Ramdin carried on with increasing authority, setting up the ideal platform for West Indies’ brute force further down the order.Ultimately Ramdin would fall short of a century, bowled having a swing at Starc, but critically Smith had been forced to use up his striker bowler’s overs well before the end of the innings. Pollard arrived in ideal circumstances, but after a Maxwell attempt to catch him off Hazlewood became six when the fielder’s foot slipped onto the midwicket rope, he was unable to repeat the trick against Boland.Australian frustration at the match situation was borne out in numerous verbal stoushes with Pollard and Samuels in particular – on the fringe of elimination, it was the most animated they had been all tournament. The niggle was evidence of a team trying to assert themselves, but also of the heightened stakes in the match. Smith, Marsh and Maxwell would rise suitably to the occasion. West Indies are left needing to beat South Africa to qualify for the decider.

The race for the semi-finals got tighter as Dhaka Gladiators became the fourth team to be tied on ten points after Saturday’s opening match in Mirpur.

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2012
ScorecardThe race for the semi-finals got tighter as Dhaka Gladiators became the fourth team to be tied on ten points after Saturday’s opening match in Mirpur. It was a comfortable five-wicket win against Barisal Burners, led by contributions from Imran Nazir, Azhar Mahmood and Kieron Pollard.Barisal had a good platform set by the opener Ahmed Shehzad, who hit 51, off 39 balls. Naved-ul-Hasan bowled economically, taking 2 for 22 off four overs to restrict Barisal to 156. England’s Phil Mustard hit 33 off 23 balls before he was dismissed by the part-timer Mohammad Ashraful.Dhaka were in trouble at 11 for 2, but the Pakistan duo of Nazir and Mahmood put them firmly on course with a stand of 92 for the third wicket. Mahmood made 42 off 30 balls, while Nazir made 65 before he was dismissed by Suhrawadi Shuvo. There was a minor jitter at 112 for 5, but Pollard ensured Dhaka crossed the finish line without any further loss of wickets.The only sore point for Dhaka was that their captain Mashrafe Mortaza was fined BDT 25,000 for a slow over-rate in Friday’s game against Chittagong Kings.

A selection of the leading Associate and Affiliate players will get their chance to compete against the No. 1 Test team in the world next month

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2011A selection of the leading Associate and Affiliate players, led by Ireland captain William Porterfield, will get their chance to compete against England, the No. 1 Test team in the world, next month after it was confirmed they will form part of England’s preparations for the Test series against Pakistan in the UAE.The team, which will be under the banner of an ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate (AM) XI, will face England from January 7-9 at the Global Cricket Academy in Dubai where players from countries below Test level regularly make use of the facilities for training. The team includes three Afghanistan players – pace bowler Hamid Hassan, allrounder Mohammad Nabi and batsman Mohammad Shahzad – while Porterfield is joined by Ireland team-mates Boyd Rankin and George Dockrell.

ICC Combined AM XI

• William Porterfield (captain, Ireland), Saqib Ali (UAE), Kyle Coetzer (Scotland), George Dockrell (Ireland), Majid Haq (Scotland), Hamid Hassan (Afghanistan), Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan), Boyd Rankin (Ireland), Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan), Paul Stirling (Ireland), Christi Viljoen (Namibia) and Craig Williams (Namibia)

Rankin has been part of the England Lions set up, and is currently at a fast-bowling camp in Potchefstroom, while Dockrell, the left-arm spinner who plays for Somerset, is also on the England radar after making an impressive start to his Ireland career. Porterfield, Rankin and Dockrell were all involved in the famous World Cup match in Bangalore when Ireland beat England.”It will be a great honour for me to lead out the Associate and Affiliate team against the No. 1 team in the longer format of the game,” Porterfield said. “If you look through their squad they are full of world-class cricketers and it will be a great test for us against whatever XI they put out.”Another challenge we face is coming together as a group ourselves; we have played against each other a few times but we will have to gel pretty quickly in the few days preparation we have in order to put in a good performance. As this is such a great chance for all the individuals to showcase their talent against the No. 1 Test team in the world, I do not see this being an issue at all.”Staging the series in the UAE, which is Pakistan’s ‘home’ venue while they can’t play in their own country, has created the issue of finding suitable warm-up opposition for England. The second game ahead of the Test series will see England face a Pakistan Board XI from January 11-13.Pakistan, meanwhile, will prepare for the one-day series in February with a one-day international against Afghanistan. England will face their own Lions squad as they did on their previous visit to the UAE in 2010 when they played two Twenty20s against Pakistan. On that occasion the Lions beat the full team and the match saw the emergence of Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter as the opening partnership that played in the World Twenty20 in West Indies.The first of three Tests starts in Dubai on January 17 and the tour also includes four one-day internationals and three Twenty20s.

Junaid Khan, the Pakistan fast bowler, will be out of cricket for six weeks after sustaining a partial tear in his abdominal muscle

Umar Farooq in Abu Dhabi 23-Nov-2011Mohammad Khalil, the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited left-arm seamer, has been named as Junaid Khan’s replacement in Pakistan’s Test, ODI and Twenty20 squads for the Bangladesh tour. Khalil, who has not played for Pakistan since 2005, got the call-up after Junaid picked up a partial strain in his abdominal muscle during Pakistan’s one-day series against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates.Khalil, 29, is currently the joint-leading wicket-taker in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One, with 43 wickets from seven games. Twenty-one-year-old left-arm quick Sadaf Hussain, who also has 43 wickets in the current season, has been ignored, while Tanvir Ahmed and Wahab Riaz continue to be left out.Mohammad Ilyas, Pakistan’s interim chief selector, said it had been a tough decision and made special mention of Sadaf, saying he would be given an opportunity at some stage. “We had a four-hour deliberation to choose Junaid’s replacement out of four potential bowlers and Khalil’s name was finalised by consensus of the team management and the national selection committee,” Ilyas told ESPNcricinfo.”It was a tough call. They [the four candidates] all have talent but we had to choose one. It is a positive sign that we have such strong bench strength. Those who were not selected should not be discouraged, especially Sadaf. He is a future prospect and definitely will be handed a chance, but at the right time. This time Khalil was the best option. He is in the best form and condition of his career and has taken most of his [domestic] wickets against good teams.”The first time Khalil was picked in a Pakistan squad was for the Test series against Bangladesh in 2003-04. He didn’t get a game then but played three ODIs and a Test on the tour of Australia in 2004-05. He managed five wickets in the ODIs but went wicketless in the Test and again failed to get a wicket when he played the Kolkata Test on Pakistan’s 2005 tour of India. He went back to domestic cricket and finished the 2010-11 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as the third-highest wicket-taker with 61 wickets at an average of 19.24.Junaid is out of cricket for six weeks after he sustained a partial tear in his abdominal muscle while bowling during the fifth ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. He will have to undergo rest and then rehabilitation. Junaid impressed in the Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE, taking 12 wickets over the three Tests. He was left out for the first four ODIs but replaced Cheema for the dead rubber in Abu Dhabi. He bowled just three overs before leaving the field after experiencing pain in his abdomen. He was taken to hospital for an MRI scan and it was discovered he had a partial tear in his right abdominal muscle that will need six-weeks recovery time.Khalil joins Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema and Mohammad Talha in the pace department for the Tests in Bangladesh, while the ODI squad has Sohail Tanvir along with Gul and Cheema.Abdul Razzaq, the experienced allrounder, is also a doubt for the Bangladesh tour after he picked up a right shoulder injury in the third ODI against Sri Lanka. The PCB have not yet named a replacement for him.The tour of Bangladesh begins with a one-off Twenty20 in Mirpur on November 29, after which there will be three ODIs and two Tests.

Alan Butcher, the Zimbabwe coach, has said the ODI series triumph over Bangladesh is a major boost to the confidence of a team that experienced tough times in the past

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2011Alan Butcher, the Zimbabwe coach, has said the ODI series triumph over Bangladesh is a major boost to the confidence of a team that experienced tough times in the past, adding that winning 5-0 was the next aim for his side. Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh in the one-off Test prior to this series, marking a victorious return to the five-day format after five years of self-imposed exclusion, and have won three ODIs in a row – their first ODI series win against a Test-playing nation in five years.”It is pretty significant for everybody. From the players’ point of view, they’ve had a tough time, getting better and to win a series, it helps boost your confidence,” Butcher said after his team’s tense five-run win in Harare. “We won a Test and three ODIs but there are areas of improvement. We knew that from the first two games that Bangladesh were capable of playing better than they did. And they showed it. We’d really love to have a 5-0 win.”Zimbabwe were helped by the consistency of Hamilton Masakadza, who made 74 today to follow up on his century in the Test, and Tatenda Taibu, who top-scored with 83. The finds, however, for Zimbabwe this season have been the seamers Kyle Jarvis and Brian Vitori. Jarvis was impressive in the Tests and picked up two wickets today while filling in for Ray Price. Vitori has had a sensational start to his ODI career, picking up five-fors in his first two ODIs.”A year ago we never heard of Brian Vitori. He wasn’t getting any franchise. Kyle was struggling with an injury, we weren’t sure when he’s coming back. Those two have really come forward.”Bangladesh put up a strong fight in the third ODI, falling just five short of Zimbabwe’s 250. Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, praised his bowlers for retaining their calm during the tense finish. “I thought we had done about enough, the ball doesn’t do much in the afternoon, but we had the bowlers, the guys kept their heads together and pulled it off.”I just thought I would keep changing my bowlers around. With no Price to contain the bowlers, Jarvis showed a mature head. [We will have] a bit of celebration tonight.”The final two games will be played in Bulawayo.

England coach Andy Flower believes the IPL experience of his top-order batsmen will serve them well when the World Twenty20 begins in West Indies at the end of the month

Cricinfo staff22-Apr-2010England coach Andy Flower believes the IPL experience of his top-order batsmen will serve them well when the World Twenty20 begins in West Indies at the end of the month. Five of the squad – Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Michael Lumb and Ravi Bopara – have been plying their trade in India with mixed results ahead of England’s attempt to finally win a global one-day tournament.Pietersen, despite being dropped for a period by Bangalore Royal Challengers, has been in impressive form while Collingwood has continued his productive year, but Flower thinks the main beneficiary of the IPL will be Lumb who could make his international debut when England play West Indies on May 3.He is the one uncapped player in the 15-man squad and is being earmarked to open the batting alongside Craig Kieswetter who made his debut in the one-day series against Bangladesh.”I think the experience of the IPL will stand these guys in very good stead,” Flower said. “Michael Lumb will certainly benefit from the fact he was out there exposed to crowds of 30-40-50,000 people and a lot of noise and excitement. When he makes his debut for England it won’t be as much of a shock or surprise as it might have been.”Ravi Bopara started the IPL well and it’s a pity he didn’t play the whole tournament but, again, exposure to international cricketers and some of the talk and conversation that would happen when you’re in the dressing-room watching the game or when you’re having a meal together in the hotel, will all be invaluable. And KP coming into some dominant form is a great thing for English cricket.”Ironically the England player who joined the IPL with the most hype was Morgan following his impressive form in Bangladesh and against Pakistan in Dubai. However, he only played six matches games for Bangalore, making 35 runs in four innings, before being benched as the likes of Pietersen and Cameron White arrived from their international duties.Flower, though, remains incredibly excited by the talent Morgan has shown in his short England career which included a match-winning, unbeaten 110 in the second ODI against Bangladesh to go alongside a 51-ball 67 against Pakistan in the first Twenty20 in February.”He’s an extraordinary cricketer in many ways – he’s not a big bloke but he hits the ball incredibly hard and he times it beautifully,” said Flower, who was promoting the Sky Sports coach education programme. “He can play a variety of roles – he can play the man who hits it out of the ground, but he’s also played a couple of innings for us where he’s knocked it around and played quite a solid role in the middle order.”One of his qualities is the ability to adapt and to play the situation accordingly, and I think that is part of the difference between an international cricketer and an ordinary cricketer,” Flower added. “I wouldn’t want to pigeon-hole him too much. He might become a Test cricketer for all we know.”England depart for Barbados on Sunday having feared for a while that they would face an arduous journey over land and sea to Dubai to catch a charter flight after the air chaos brought by the volcanic ash cloud.

“My role at the moment is to put the icing on the cake and help our guys in the top four”

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2020The disparity between Glenn Maxwell’s record for Australia in T20Is with his performances in the Indian Premier League is stark, but the right-hand batsman put it down to having a “clearer role” with Australia as against the frequent changes in his batting position and roles that the changing landscape of various franchises in the IPL demanded. Maxwell averages 33.52 at a strike rate of 158.36 in 64 matches for Australia. In the IPL, while his strike rate has remained up there at 156.78, his average after 76 matches is 22.38.”I probably would not (compare IPL and Australia career). The way I have played international cricket, it has been more of a clearer role. I know exactly how the guys will bat around me,” he said in a chat with PTI. “My role in IPL changes probably for most games. In IPL, a lot of teams change their sides a lot. In the Australian set-up we have the same eleven for most of the games, we all know our roles really well.”Maxwell came to IPL 2020 on the back of some good form, having hit 77 and 108 in two matches of the three-ODI series in England, where Australia won 2-1. But he has totalled just 58 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 95.08 for Kings XI Punjab so far.ALSO READ: Maxwell ‘shattered’, Stoinis shines, and Warner vs Archer“When you are only together for two months in the year with IPL, there is going to be chopping and changing,” Maxwell said. “You are always looking for that right team balance. The team you pick at the start of the tournament might not have the balance you think as you progress.”We feel we are getting closer to that (team balance). I have had different experiences where I have not quite performed to the level people expect but there has been no lack of trying, (or) putting the effort in training.”Maxwell, who has also turned out for Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians in the past, had his best season in the IPL in 2014, hitting 552 runs (strike rate of 187.75) in a man of the tournament performance that took the Kings XI to the final for the first, and so far only, time in their history.”Despite the fact I did well in 2014, I actually thought my performance in 2017 was my best season,” Maxwell said of the time he made 310 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of 173.18 for the Kings XI, also taking seven wickets at an economy rate of 6.57. “Being captain, Man of the Match multiple times and I bowled a lot more. I thought that was my best season in the IPL. I was able to combine some match-winning knocks with some mature knocks.”The following season, he played for Delhi but didn’t have great success. He did not take part in IPL 2019. Maxwell has only faced 61 balls, though he has been dismissed four times in those.”This year has been a different role and I am trying to get used to it,” Maxwell said. “I would like to think that I have tried to do my role as well as I can. We have got Nicky (Pooran) batting unbelievably well at four. With his power-hitting, my job has been to get him on strike and be there to help finish off games.”I have been not out four times [thrice] in seven games which has probably never happened to me in the history of my career. So, it has been a strange transition for me batting at five and one that I feel, I have started to become more accustomed to.”With the way the team is set up, there is no position there (higher in the order) for me. As I said, my role at the moment is to put the icing on the cake and help our guys in the top four. There have been limited opportunities for me to bat. It has been a learning experience for sure… it is nice to be able to challenge myself with something different. I certainly have not been too hard on myself for my result in this tournament.”The Kings XI started the tournament with a Super Over loss to the Delhi Capitals and then beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore, but have since lost five games in a row.”The wickets have probably surprised me a little bit in terms of the way they have played. I have had a lot of success here in international cricket and even last IPL,” Maxwell said. “The wickets have been a little bit slower. The spin has not been as consistent. It has been probably easier for guys to bat at the top of the order than someone to come out and hit from ball one. It has not been easy and we have seen that consistently through the tournament.”It has been a tough campaign for us as a team. I would say we were ahead in a lot of those close games but unfortunately came short. It is the hardest to score the winning runs in T20 cricket.”

In a chat with Pommie Mbangwa, he also weighed in on Kohli vs Smith and Kohli vs Tendulkar

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2020AB de Villiers has opened up on his friendship with Virat Kohli, who he says is “much deeper than just a cricket player”. Speaking to Pommie Mbangwa, the former Zimbabwe fast bowler who’s now a commentator, de Villiers said his conversations with Kohli – a long-time team-mate at Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL – reach far beyond cricket.”Obviously when it comes to the IPL in India, it’s been more than friendship,” de Villiers said, when asked who his best friends in cricket are. “Virat obviously – not only during the IPL, we chat throughout the year, which means it’s different than just the IPL or cricketing friendship.”From a South Africa point of view, I’ve stayed in touch with Morne Morkel, Faf [du Plessis] and Dale [Steyn]. Dale and I have come a long way together as well, I mean we’ve known each other since we were school kids and in primary school. JP [Duminy] as well. There’s no real best friend when it comes to cricket, you just hang out a bit more with one or two.”De Villiers revealed that he has deep conversations not just with Kohli but with his wife, the Bollywood star Anushka Sharma, as well.”He’s much deeper than just a cricket player […] I think most people realise after a while that there’s more to life than just cricket,” de Villiers said. “I think we all fall into that bubble initially. But Virat’s always been a thinker, he experiments [with] a lot of things, he loves trying new things out – gym wise, what he puts in his mouth. He thinks a lot about life after life – what’s to come, the different religions, we talk about everything.”We go pretty deep and his missus as well, Anushka, we have very deep conversations, which is fantastic. We talk about children and family. We’re waiting for that first little Kohli to come. It’s a good friendship and we always find a way to talk about cricket as well, but 90% of the time we talk about other stuff. It’s refreshing and in the middle of a very intense IPL tournament.”Asked who the better batsman is between Kohli and Steven Smith, de Villiers sidestepped the question smartly, and compared the two to a pair of tennis legends.”It’s a difficult one, but Virat is definitely the more natural ball-striker, there’s no doubt about that,” de Villiers said. “In tennis terms, I’d say he’s more like a [Roger] Federer whereas Smith is like a [Rafael] Nadal. Smith is mentally very strong and figures out a way of scoring runs – he doesn’t look natural, but he ends up writing records and doing amazing things at the crease. I think mentally, Smith is one of the best I have ever seen. Virat has also scored runs all over the world and won games under pressure.”And asked to compare Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, his predecessor as India’s superstar best batsman, de Villiers gave the younger man the edge in one department – chasing targets.”Sachin is a role model for both of us – the way he stood out in his era, the things he achieved and with the grace he did all that is a great example for everyone,” de Villiers said. “And I think Virat will also say that he set the standards for us to follow.”But personally, in a chase, I’d say Virat is the best I’ve seen in my life. Sachin was amazing in all formats and all situations, but Virat comes out on top while chasing.”

Maroof criticised the ICC for splitting points for a bilateral series that India failed to obtain government permission for

Danyal Rasool29-Apr-2020Pakistan women’s captain Bismah Maroof was critical of the ICC’s decision to split points between India and Pakistan for a bilateral series that India failed to obtain governemt permission to play.Maroof called the decision “deeply disappointing”, remarking it was “good luck” for India to have effectively been awarded points for nothing. The ICC decision means Pakistan miss out on automatic qualification for the 2021 Women’s World Cup, while India go through directly. Had the ICC decided to award full points to Pakistan, as they did in a similar scenario in 2016, it would have been Pakistan who went through, while India would have had to try to go through the qualifying route.”The decision was very disappointing, because we had been waiting [for] a long time to play against India and the board was working towards it,” Maroof said in a video press conference. “But we weren’t getting any response from India. It’s good luck for India, who got points without agreeing to play any matches. I suppose if we look at it in a positive light, we’ll get a few extra competitive matches having to play the qualifying rounds.”There’s always hype when we’re due to play India and the fans want to see those matches because they’re usually very exciting. Pakistan showed a willingness to play against India, and Pakistan have kept sport away from politics. So it was very disappointing for us not to get these matches, and we were number four, in a position to qualify directly, before the matches were due to go ahead. If we had lost those matches and then had to qualify, that would have been easy to accept. But as things stand, those matches will have been missed by all cricket fans, not just Pakistan fans.”The ICC decision, which came a fortnight ago, has caused significant malcontent at the PCB. The chairman Ehsan Mani went public in expressing his own disappointment with the ICC, while the PCB was swift to get in touch with cricket’s governing body to explore what further steps it could take.The dissatisfaction, however, has not spilled over into any public censure of the ICC; Mani’s statement aside, there has been virtually total silence from within the PCB by way of any further official communication. ESPNcricinfo understands the reason for this is the PCB’s legal team considering bringing litigation to the ICC’s dispute resolution committee. Maroof confirmed that should the legal team believe there were grounds to proceed in this manner, she would get behind it.”The PCB’s legal team is reviewing the decision as things stand. If they think there are grounds for a legal case, we should definitely proceed with one. It was very disappointing, and politics and sport should be kept separate,” she said.The PCB had attempted to engage with their Indian counterparts about the series on the sidelines of the last couple of ICC meetings, a series they viewed as a bilateral issue rather than one that needed ICC engagement. It appears they did not receive a meaningful response from the BCCI, either in writing or verbally.In 2016, the ICC decided to give Pakistan full points when India failed to show up for a series, but there is one difference that looks to have secured a more desirable outcome for the BCCI. On that occasion, the BCCI offered no written explanation for the failure to proceed with the series, and the technical investigation committee found the BCCI had not been able to establish “acceptable reasons” for non-participation in the series.This time around, the BCCI engaged with the ICC early on, making its stand clear about why it could not play Pakistan in the ODI series scheduled in 2019. ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI made extensive submissions as early as 2018, demonstrating that it could not get the relevant permission from the Indian government to play Pakistan. That helped the ICC’s technical committee to invoke the force majeure clause on this occasion.”With respect to the India v Pakistan series, the TC (technical committee) concluded that the series could not be played because of a Force Majeure event after the BCCI demonstrated that it was unable to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow India to participate in the bilateral series against Pakistan, which forms a part of the ICC Women’s Championship,” the ICC said in a media release on April 15.Meanwhile, Maroof paid a glowing tribute to her former teammate and former Pakistan captain Sana Mir, who announced her retirement earlier this week, saying women’s cricket’s reputation and profile in Pakistan owed plenty to Mir.”Sana Mir is a legend of the game and an ambassador of Pakistan cricket. She was one of the great minds we all played under. We all grew under her, and the credit goes to her. The name women’s cricket has here exists in a large part because of Sana’s involvement with it. She has achieved a huge amount for Pakistan cricket, and she deserves all the praise she has received over the last few days. She is a true ambassador for women’s cricket around the world and I wish her good luck in whatever she wants to do next.”

He struck 11 over-boundaries in a thrilling display, and stopped one blow short of setting a new BBL record

Andrew McGlashan22-Dec-2019Chris Lynn kickstarted the Brisbane Heat’s BBL campaign with a ferocious display of hitting against the Sydney Sixers at the SCG, falling just short of setting a new record for the competition’s fastest century. His 94 off 35 balls, including 11 sixes, set the Heat up for a huge total, which they comfortably defended to get their points tally up and running.After defeats in their opening two matches, there were already mutterings about whether the Heat were too one-dimensional by putting all their eggs in the basket of the power-packed top three and the knowledge that AB de Villiers would be arriving next month. Lynn’s pyrotechnics were supplemented by a measured, mature innings from Matt Renshaw, which meant the platform for a total over 200 wasn’t wasted, although it needed a big final over to ensure the milestone was breached as the Sixers regained some composure after Lynn’s departure.The Sixers’ chase never got the momentum it needed to challenge a steep target of 210 with Zahir Khan proving especially difficult for them to pick. After their opening victory, it has now been two defeats on the bounce for them.Lynn tees offMissing Tom Banton because of illness, the Heat needed someone in the top order to stand up. It had been a bit of a false start to the tournament for Lynn with scores of 9 and 6 in the opening two games, but there were early signs he would put that right on the day. His first boundary was a thunderous straight six off Sean Abbott, and his second, a huge pull, landed in the second tier of the stand over deep square-leg. His partners were mere bystanders – Sam Heazlett contributed 7 to the second-wicket stand of 84 – as he put the Sixers attack to the sword with immense power, the crack of his bat reverberating around the stadium with the Heat making 1 for 73 in the powerplay.His half-century came off 20 balls and he continued to lay waste to the bowlers, taking Lloyd Pope for three sixes and then lifting his tally to 11 – the equal highest in a BBL innings – with consecutive lofted drives off Ben Manenti. However, attempting his third in a row, which would have given him the fastest BBL century, he picked out mid-on to bring the entertainment to an end. It meant that Craig Simmons’ record of a century in 39 balls for Perth Scorchers in 2014 still stood.”Not a bad nock by lynny thought I may have to come out if retirement if that last one cleared the rope,” Simmons tweeted moments after the dismissal.Lynn’s innings was over before the halfway mark, but given he twice came close to a century in the Abu Dhabi T10 last month, perhaps it shouldn’t be much of a surprise. “It would have been nice to get triple figures, but saying that, I’m just happy to get double figures,” Lynn told Channel Seven. “There was an opportunity to go really big.”Renshaw’s undercardAlmost anything after the display from Lynn would have felt like a comedown, and the second half of the Heat innings was workmanlike without being extraordinary. Jimmy Peirson made a slightly curious run-a-ball 25 – in a 56-run stand with Renshaw that took 46 balls – which meant Ben Cutting did not come in until very late. However, Renshaw produced an excellent hand to take the total over 200. He lifted himself from 21 off 21 balls to finish with 60 off 39 – his second T20 fifty – as he took 18 off the last over from Tom Curran, whose 0 for 52 were his second-most expensive T20 figures. Still, the pre-Lynn and post-Lynn innings split was 113 to 96.Sixers stutterChasing over 200, a side needs a lot of things to go their way or there to be one outstanding innings. The Sixers’ run chase could never get a foothold with Renshaw’s good evening continuing when he removed Daniel Hughes second ball, and Josh Philippe struggling to get his innings going. Philippe had 11 off 17 balls – including six dots against the left-arm wristspin of Zahir – at the end of the powerplay, by when the Sixers were 1 for 43 and leaning heavily on James Vince. Zahir went on to win the battle with Philippe comprehensively, having him stumped for 15 off 23 balls, an innings that will have been another learning experience. When Vince fell in the following over, swiping Mitchell Swepson to the deep, it required two new batsmen to get going and the asking rate was only going one way.