Jake Weatherald, Alex Carey topple Hobart Hurricanes

The win kept the Strikers’ slim finals hopes alive, while the Hurricanes lost for the third time batting first this season season

The Report by Alex Malcolm31-Jan-2019
An electrifying century stand from Jake Weatherald and Alex Carey helped Adelaide Strikers break a four-game losing streak in a massive upset over Hobart Hurricanes in Launceston.The win kept the Strikers’ slim finals hopes alive, while the Hurricanes lost for the third time batting first this season season.Chasing 170, Weatherald and Carey scored 84 runs in the Powerplay against a Hurricanes attack that has scythed through opponents all season.The striking was belligerent and brought back memories of last year’s final, when Weatherald’s assault yielded a title-winning century. He fell 18 runs shy of another BBL hundred, but his 82 from 42 balls made light work of the chase. Carey’s 54 from 35 was equally brilliant as the Strikers won with seven wickets and 12 balls to spare.The chase overshadowed another masterclass from Matthew Wade. He made his highest T20 score, 88 off just 54 balls to underpin the Hurricanes’ total of 7 for 169. It was his fifth half-century of the tournament and he was part of a 10th half-century opening stand with D’Arcy Short in the BBL.But both Wade and Short fell to the crafty skills of Ben Laughlin who made the difference with his 3 for 31. He also had Wade dropped twice. But in removing Wade in the 18th over, he cut the chase down significantly as Hobart only managed 27 runs from the last 24 balls of the innings.It’s Groundhog day, againThe Strikers were on the receiving end of an unbroken 158-run stand between Wade and Short at Adelaide Oval earlier in the season and history looked set to repeat in the Powerplay. They cruised to 53 without loss here. The Strikers tried a fresh new-ball option with Cam Valente opening the bowling and delivering three overs upfront. He did a good job not concede a boundary in his first two overs before Wade cleared the fence in his third. Laughlin finally made the breakthrough forcing Short to miscue with a clever slower ball. Wade got a huge slice of luck, dropped at long-off by Michael Neser off Laughlin two overs later. He made the Strikers pay pulverising them, particularly square of the wicket. Half his runs came from boundaries and the rest was through smart placement and excellent running.Alex Carey goes after the ball•Getty Images

Laughlin strikes backWade looked set for first T20 hundred when he was dropped for a second time on 86 by Wes Agar after skying another ball off Laughlin. But he missed a low full toss next ball to be trapped plumb lbw. Two balls earlier Ben McDermott had fallen to Rashid Khan, and the innings lost all the momentum.George Bailey couldn’t continue his form holing out for a three-ball duck. Laughlin and Neser delivered a brilliant mixture of yorkers, slower balls and bouncers to take 4 for 19 in the last three overs. They conceded only one boundary and it came by accident, with Jofra Archer leaving his bat raised while ducking a bouncer only for it fortuitously to fly off the middle of the bat fine of third man.The boys are backIt’s been a lean tournament for Carey and Weatherald by their lofty standards. They had two fifty partnerships earlier in the season but their last four games had been plagued by mix-ups and mis-hits. Sometimes all it takes is one slice of luck. Weatherald edged his first ball wide of second slip and away to the boundary. On another day it would have gone straight to hand. It released any nervous tension.Wade then gambled with 18-year-old offspinner Jarrod Freeman in the second over and it backfired. Weatherald and Carey clubbed 17 from the over and kept going. They struck eight fours and three sixes in 15 balls of extraordinary striking. Weatherald played one of the shots of the tournament when he hit James Faulkner inside out over cover for six. Carey raised him with a monstrous strike over long-on off Archer having already hit three consecutive fours.Both men had some fortune. Weatherald was dropped by Archer at mid-on while Carey gloved a ball short of the keeper. They reached 0 for 84 in the Powerplay, the equal fourth-best in BBL history. Their 116-run partnership was finally broken with Carey falling to a bizarre caught and bowled off Simon Milenko. Weatherald kept rolling, striking 11 boundaries and two sixes during his 82 from 42 balls. He was frustrated not to finish the chase off, holing out at deep midwicket. There was another little hiccup when Jake Lehmann was trapped infront three balls later but Jono Wells and Colin Ingram cruised home from there.

TN collapse helps Baroda end season with win

And Madhya Pradesh joined Mumbai in the quarter-finals from Group C, after beating Odisha by seven wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2017Pace-bowler Lukman Meriwala and left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh took four wickets each as Tamil Nadu crumbled to 130 all out and suffered a 102-run defeat against Baroda. The loss meant that Tamil Nadu finished their season without a single win, a possibility Baroda averted with this result.Tamil Nadu’s bowlers had done well on the third day to give their side an advantage, bowling out Baroda for 197 to set up a fourth-innings target of 233. They went into stumps at 2 for no loss, but early into the fourth day the new-ball pair of Atit Sheth and Meriwala cut through the top order, leaving Tamil Nadu reeling at 30 for 5. There was a brief respite, as B Aparajith and Washington Sundar kept Baroda at bay, but Swapnil soon broke through that partnership and went on to sweep up the lower order.Aparajith was the only TN batsman to score more than 25, top-scoring with a battling 60. Meriwala had returns of 4 for 22 in 16 overs, while Swapnil was even more miserly – 4 for 21 in 19.1 overs. The four-for capped off a good season for Swapnil – he ended as Baroda’s highest run-getter with 565 runs at an average of 62.77 and the second-highest wicket-taker behind Sheth, with 20 dismissals at an average of 25.5.Madhya Pradesh qualified into the quarter-finals, where they will face Delhi after finishing on top of Group C with a seven-wicket win over Odisha at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore.The day began with Odisha on 237 for 4, trailing by four runs after being asked to follow on. Overnight batsman Shantanu Mishra was bowled first ball of the day by Puneet Datey (2-48). At the other end Subhranshu Senapati, who began the day on 78, brought up his second century in as many games. He put on
55 for the sixth wicket with Nataraj Behera, and 33 for the seventh wicket with Deepak Behera. But his dismissal for 125 was the start of a collapse that saw them fall from 325 for 6 to 337 all out. Legspinner Mihir Hirwani finished with 5 for 97.Madhya Pradesh fell to 45 for 3 in pursuit of 111 before an unbroken stand between Devendra Bundela (50*) and Harpreet Singh (37*) took them home.

Knee injury sidelines Morris for two months

South Africa allrounder Chris Morris has been ruled out of action for two months with a left knee injury

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2016South Africa allrounder Chris Morris has been ruled out of action for two months with a left knee injury. Morris had been carrying the niggle for eight months but it worsened over the last two weeks which led to the CSA medical committee recommending a break for full recovery. The injury rules him out of the ODIs against Ireland and Australia.”Chris has been carrying a chronic left knee patella tendon injury for the last eight months which we have treated and managed up to this point,” South Africa team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee said. “The injury has flared up considerably over the last two weeks leaving us with no option but rest and rehabilitation to allow the knee time to fully recover. He will take no further part in the match against Ireland and the series against Australia and will target a return back to international cricket for the Sunfoil Test series against Sri Lanka in December.”Dwaine Pretorius was added to the squad for the ODIs against Australia which start on September 30 in Centurion.

Malan 156* continues destructive run

Dawid Malan hit some of the biggest sixes seen at Lord’s this season as his exhilarating 156 not out rushed Middlesex to a crushing eight-wicket victory against Glamorgan in the Royal London One-Day Cup

PA/ECB17-Aug-2015
ScorecardDawid Malan continued his rich vein of form•Getty Images

Dawid Malan hit some of the biggest sixes seen at Lord’s this season as his exhilarating 156 not out rushed Middlesex to a crushing eight-wicket victory against Glamorgan in the Royal London One-Day Cup.One of Malan’s sixes struck the balcony on the top tier of the pavilion, one flew into the top tier of the New Mound Stand and another, over a long boundary on one side of the ground, made it all the way into the Warner Stand.It meant that Colin Ingram’s third hundred in five Royal London One-Day Cup innings this season was all in vain as Glamorgan’s 50-over total of 251 for 9 was chased down by Middlesex with 10.2 overs to spare.Malan, like Ingram a left-hander in superb current form, was joined by Paul Stirling in an opening stand of 139 in 21.2 overs and, in all, the 27-year-old hit four sixes and 18 fours from 128 balls in a one-day career-best knock.Ingram’s 102 from 93 balls included five sixes and four fours was a fine effort, but even it paled by comparison to Malan’s languid hitting. Indeed, Malan – who currently averages more than 100 in championship cricket – is probably the most in-form batsman in the county game at present.Middlesex’s third win in Group B mathematically keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for a quarter-final place, but it is a very slim chance as they have now finished their group matches.Glamorgan, although they have only lost two of their seven games, are already out of contention for a knockout place as they have been docked four penalty points – two for preparing a poor pitch last season and another two for the surface at Cardiff which caused their match against Hampshire on August 2 to be abandoned.After winning the toss, Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph and his opening partner James Kettleborough were initially kept in check by an accurate and typically probing new ball spell by Tim Murtagh.Surprisingly playing his first 50-over game of the summer, Murtagh had Will Bragg caught at the wicket for nought while also conceding only 34 runs while bowling his 10-over stint straight through.Kettleborough, the first to go, was leg before to the equally steady James Harris for 25, in the 14th over, and although Ingram warmed up by hitting Ollie Rayner’s off spin for the first of his five sixes the Glamorgan total had reached only 99 for 2 by the halfway mark in their innings.Rudolph was soon out lbw to Rayner for 58, from 82 balls and with just six fours, leaving Glamorgan on a wobbly 105 for 3, but Chris Cooke hit 25 to help add 50 in 11 overs for the fourth wicket with Ingram.A brilliant diving catch at the second attempt at short mid wicket by Rayner, off Neil Dexter’s medium pace, sent back Cooke while David Lloyd also fell to Dexter for 10.Ingram, however, going to his fifty from 64 balls, then took a six and a four off the disappointing Junaid Khan, Middlesex’s overseas player, in a 43rd over which cost 14 and which brought up Glamorgan’s 200.Though he had bowled well earlier in two spells, also bowling Craig Meschede, asking Rayner to stay on to deliver the 49th over seemed a strange decision by James Franklin, the Middlesex captain, and Ingram duly hit the spinner for two sixes and a four in the space of four balls – the second six taking him to a 91-ball century.Ingram finally fell in the last over, which ended with Harris also bowling Ruaidhri Smith to earn himself figures of 4 for 38, and the former South African one-day international has now scored 405 runs in five Royal London Cup innings at an average of 81.It was nowhere near enough, though, as Malan produced some even more spectacular fireworks of his own and, with the assistance of Stirling and Sam Robson – who scored 22 in a second wicket stand of 76 in 16 overs – it all made Glamorgan’s creditable total look wholly inadequate.Malan’s first six, straight-driven off the suffering Dewi Penrhyn Jones in only his second one-day appearance, scattered spectators in the pavilion and the last blow of the match, a free hit following a no ball from the same bowler, was also a six from Dexter.

Lumb fifty gives Sixers a lifeline

An unbeaten 61 from Michael Lumb on the back of a polished bowling display has given Sydney Sixers a sliver of hope of defending their title

The Report by Alex Malcolm07-Jan-2013
ScorecardSteve O’Keefe took 3 for 21•Getty Images

An unbeaten 61 from Michael Lumb on the back of a polished bowling display has given Sydney Sixers a sliver of hope of defending their title.Brisbane Heat entered the match as the only side with anything to play for. A win would have catapulted them into the top four with one round remaining but they instead, they produced their worst performance of the tournament after winning the toss and electing to bat.James Hopes set his side back early, playing out a maiden from the Sri Lankan offspinner Sachithra Senanayake. Senanayake, with only nine international caps to his name, proved a weapon in his first match for the Sixers. Although he went wicketless, his four overs cost just 19 and his maiden piled enormous pressure on Hopes, who holed out to Steve O’Keefe the following over.Joe Burns joined Luke Pomersbach and although the pair put together 48, the 43 balls it took put pressure on Heat.Josh Hazlewood made an impressive return from injury to remove Burns in his second over. It was the first of three scalps for Hazlewood, who remains firmly in the gaze of the national selectors. It also triggered a collapse from the home side. Heat lost four wickets in 19 balls, all to strokes aimed at clearing the rope to lift the sinking run-rate.Five wickets become six when the promoted Ben Cutting gifted Brad Haddin a simple stumping and O’Keefe his third victim, and the total was still shy of three figures with just three overs remaining. Cameos from Peter Forrest and Nathan Hauritz ensured that the Sixers needed in excess of a run-a-ball for victory.Lumb and Brad Haddin resumed their opening combination that proved so successful in the Champions League to get the Sydney side off to a brisk start. Haddin looked in ominous touch with two sweetly struck boundaries and a six before chopping on to Alistair McDermott.Lumb then had to drop anchor as he watched both Nic Maddinson and Moises Henriques waste promising starts. Lumb had some luck too when he skied a ball from Hopes over short third man. Kemar Roach made exceptional ground and looked to have pouched it, only to stumble and propel the ball away to the rope for four.Steve Smith top-edged a bizarre overhead smash to mid-on next ball to leave the Sixers needing 29 runs from 29 deliveries. Daniel Hughes was also bounced out to make the equation a nervy 17 from 14. But Lumb stood tall and cracked Dan Christian over the midwicket fence to both ease the tension and raise his half-century.He would strike the winning runs powerfully through midwicket the following over to see his side home with six balls to spare.

Porterfield leads ICC side against England

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.

Misbah, Younis give Pakistan slender lead

Misbah-ul-Haq quelled a threatening spell of reverse swing early on the third morning, before dictating terms against New Zealand’s seamers who wasted the second new ball, to drive Pakistan to a 20-run lead as the winds subsided for the first time at the

The Bulletin by Nitin Sundar17-Jan-2011
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsYounis Khan was in fine touch before being undone by a poor umpiring call•Getty Images

Misbah-ul-Haq quelled a threatening spell of reverse swing early on the third morning, before dictating terms against New Zealand’s seamers, to drive Pakistan to a 20-run lead as the wind subsided for the first time at the Basin Reserve. Pakistan’s progress was based on Misbah’s 142-run stand with Younis Khan, during which New Zealand’s attack seemed to have run out of ideas. Younis’ exit for 73 – the seventh umpiring error in the match, without counting missed no-balls – sparked a resurgence from the home side. After tea, they attacked with Daniel Vettori’s turn and Chris Martin’s bounce to skittle out Pakistan’s lower half for the addition of just 52, including Misbah on 99. New Zealand’s openers played out the last five overs of the day without damage to leave the game even at stumps.Before their inspired burst in the final session, New Zealand were surprisingly subdued through the day, barring a lively opening burst from Martin. He began with a swerving bouncer that started well outside off before darting in viciously towards Azhar Ali who had to weave away and drop his wrists. Martin followed that up with a series of reverse-swingers before outwitting Azhar with another sharp lifter that was fended into the slips. Younis and Misbah also began edgily against the movement before easing into business with a series of sparkling drives as the sun came out and Martin began to lose his sting.The ball, deemed to be out of shape, was replaced at the stroke of the first hour and reverse swing immediately became conspicuous by its absence. With the pitch not taking much turn, Misbah handled Vettori’s drift by lunging forward instead of across and defending from inside the line. New Zealand’s main variations had been nullified, and thereafter they were asking to be dominated.Younis cashed in against a flagging attack, punching a short delivery from Tim Southee square and driving one that was too straight through wide long-on for boundaries. Misbah attacked his opposite number in the lead-up to lunch, pulling out a slog sweep and a lofted on-drive as Pakistan moved past 200.Soon after the break, Brent Arnel opened with the second new ball, running in for a friendly over that underlined New Zealand’s lack of intent: it began with a wayward loosener outside off, and included a misdirected bouncer down the leg side. In his second over, Misbah guided Arnel twice through the cordon for boundaries. Martin replaced Arnel and got his inswingers going, but the horse had bolted by then. Younis punched Martin twice down the ground, the first bringing up his half-century and the second, the 100-run stand.Southee put in a solid effort from the other end, and got the odd legcutter to nip away from the right-handers. Despite being beaten on a couple of occasions, Misbah had the presence of mind to play with soft hands, and his obduracy frustrated Southee who got into a verbal duel with him. Misbah responded with two calmly stroked boundaries through the covers to bring up his fifth successive half-century, and his fifth in six innings since taking over as captain.Vettori was running out of ideas, and brought James Franklin on, seemingly with the intention of creating a rough to work with. Franklin promptly got a warning for running on the pitch, but Vettori began to pose some riddles from the other end. He eventually got past Younis, thanks to drift and a poor call from umpire Rod Tucker, caught close-in on the leg side straight off the pad.Younis’ exit prompted Vettori to finally go on the attack, and he looped them into the rough with extra fielders crouching close in. Asad Shafiq edged his fifth ball as it ripped away from middle and leg, taking the outside edge on its way into the slips. Vettori also had Adnan Akmal in strife with well-disguised arm-balls before getting him to top-edge a sweep.Martin stepped up to support his captain, and bullied Abdur Rehman into submission with bounce, with Pakistan still 22 behind. While Umar Gul biffed Pakistan into the lead with a series of middled pulls and slog-sweeps, Misbah chugged along towards a hundred that seemed almost inevitable.He negated Martin’s bounce by staying in the crease, and capitalised when there was width to pick up boundaries through the off side. With Misbah a run away from his third Test ton, Martin landed a couple of balls well outside off before cleverly slanting one back in, to rap him on the move as he shuffled across with an eye on the leg side. The innings ended soon after, Vettori finishing a wicket shy of becoming only the second New Zealander to make a century and pick a five-for in the same match. Both captains had had a say in setting up the game for a virtual second-innings shoot-out with two days left.

Thompson six flattens Canterbury

A round-up of the action from round seven of the 2009-10 New Zealand Cricket one-day competition

Cricinfo staff03-Feb-2010Newly-crowned Twenty20 champions Central Districts crushed Canterbury by eight wickets in New Plymouth. Canterbury were dismissed for 77 in just 32.4 overs as CD’s fast bowlers Michael Mason and Ewen Thompson used the overcast conditions to their advantage. CD then overhauled the target in the 15th over to collect the bonus point. Canterbury struggled to cope with Thompson as he picked up 6 for 20. His first victim was opener Michael Papps, who fell without scoring off the fifth ball of the innings. Thompson went on to claim two middle-order wickets and then cleaned up the tail, going past 100 one-day wickets on the way. Rob Nicol, Johann Myburgh and Shannan Stewart were the only Canterbury batsmen to reach double figures. Jamie How scored a near run-a-ball 46, including nine boundaries, to steer CD home despite the early loss of George Worker for a duck.Kane Williamson scored an unbeaten century as Northern Districts cruised to a seven-wicket win against Wellington at the Basin Reserve. Wellington, who were invited to bat, managed 216 with half-centuries from wicketkeeper Chris Nevin and allrounder Luke Woodcock. ND overhauled the target in 33 overs. They lost their first wicket when Anton Devcich departed for a duck in the second over as Mark Gillespie celebrated his return to provincial action from a 13-month injury break. But BJ Watling and Williamson revelled in perfect batting conditions to deny Wellington any further inroads with a 145-run partnership for the second wicket. Watling was bowled by Harry Boam for 50 and Gillespie snapped up Michael Parlane an over later to have the visitors at 147 for 3. However, Daniel Flynn then held firm with 45 not out and together with Williamson (108 not out) saw them through.Tim McIntosh smashed his maiden one-day hundred to help Auckland to a convincing 84-run win over Otago in Oamaru. McIntosh’s fluent 138 laid the platform for Auckland’s huge 362 for 5, a total which proved too steep for Otago despite an unbeaten 110 from Yasir Arafat. Otago finished on 278 in the 47th over after Arafat and Greg Todd resurrected their hopes from 79 for 6. Arafat’s defiant hand left him unbeaten on 110 off only 81 deliveries, including 13 fours and three sixes. Once Auckland chose to bat, McIntosh struck 16 fours and three sixes during his 127-ball stay, and shared a second wicket stand of 194 with Reece Young (94), before Scott Styris upped the tempo with a blistering 55 off 23 balls.

Magical Mitchell turns lost cause into a win for Texas Super Kings

MI New York fell three runs short in an MLC 2025 contest of major twists and turns

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2025If Finn Allen’s record-breaking 51-ball 151 made the opening game of MLC 2025 memorable, the second of the season matched it for excitement, with two teams – whose better-known siblings have waged many battles at the IPL – playing out a thriller that had as many twists and turns as a 40-over contest can possibly have.Chasing 186 for victory against Texas Super Kings, MI New York looked out of the contest, then roared right back, then lost their way, found it again, but then stopped three runs short as Daryl Mitchell, who had triggered the previous turning point in the game, bowled a last over of yorkers and slower deliveries to concede just five to the ninth-wicket pair of Tajinder Singh and Naveen-ul-Haq.It was a special comeback from TSK, as they turned the result their way despite MINY needing 27 from 20 balls with six wickets in hand.Monank Patel made a 33-ball fifty•Sportzpics for MLC

The chase had started direly for MINY with the with the scoreboard reading 32 for 3 after the powerplay. It wasn’t a huge chase, but you wouldn’t want to lose Quinton de Kock and Nicholas Pooran, as well as Agni Chopra, that soon. But that is what happened thanks to Adam Milne and Noor Ahmad. The innings needed rebuilding, so Monank Patel, the No. 3, and Michael Bracewell, possibly MINY’s best bowler earlier, took it upon themselves to do that.They needed to steady the ship first, which they did, only one four – hit by Bracewell – came between Pooran’s dismissal and the end of the seventh over. But then a little impetus was needed, which came as they scored 11, 16, 15, 14 and 17 in the next five overs. And suddenly it was even stevens – 76 needed from 48.Monank had gotten to his half-century, off 33 balls, by then, and Bracewell looked good to join him at the mark, but Milne’s reintroduction provided the next twist in the tale, though it really was Faf du Plessis’ wicket more than anyone else’s. Milne bowled short outside off, Bracewell gave it a thwack, du Plessis leapt and plucked the ball out of the air one-handed at wide mid-off.

If that had a whiff of a turning point, the real one came a few overs later. Kieron Pollard, 38 and replaced as team captain by Pooran, went 4, 6, 4 and 4 against the gentle medium pace of Mitchell to make it 27 needed from 20. Till Mitchell’s sprint to midwicket, pick-up-turn-and-throw-the-stumps-down play sent both Pollard and Monank back off successive deliveries.That was the proper turning point. Only three fours came in the last three overs, two more wickets fell, and Mitchell’s last over, where just one big hit could have finished off the game, had just three runs off the bat, plus a bye and a leg-bye.Devon Conway scored a steady half-century•Sportzpics for MLC

Earlier, till the halfway stage of the Super Kings innings, it didn’t look like they would get anywhere near a strong total. Sure, Devon Conway was around, on 36, but he had taken 26 balls to get there. And three wickets had fallen at the other end.That became five by the end of the 12th over, and Conway was still only on 38 from 28.Which is when things started to change. Calvin Savage, the one-time South Africa Under-19 man and now a USA player, joined Conway and showed his skills with the bat. The 13th over began with a four from Savage off Bracewell, who had picked up two of the five wickets to fall at that stage, and Conway struck the fourth six of his innings two balls later. It wasn’t frenetic, but by the end of the 16th, Super Kings had 140 on the board.Sixes seemed easier to come by than fours as Conway and Savage helped themselves to quite a few, and the partnership reached 79 before Conway, who got his half-century off 35 balls, was run-out for a 44-ball 66. Savage got to his fifty before time ran out, too, ending unbeaten on a 34-ball 53. Between them, the two hit nine sixes. Super Kings scored 110 runs in boundaries. MINY scored 114. Both innings had a dot-ball percentage of 33. Almost nothing to separate them but holding your nerve and winning the key moments.

Rana, Gayakwad spin Australia out as India record historic win

This was India Women’s first Test win against Australia in 11 games since 1977

Srinidhi Ramanujam24-Dec-2023A drama-filled first 75 minutes on the fourth morning ended with Sneh Rana and Rajeshwari Gayakwad spinning Australia out of the only Test as India completed a historic win at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. It was India Women’s first triumph against Australia in Tests, in 11 attempts since 1977.Most of the hard work done by the likes of Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy on the third day to take Australia to 233 for 5 – with an overnight lead of 46 runs – was undone by India’s bowlers who picked up five wickets for just 28 runs in the first session on the final day. On a pitch offering turn and low bounce, Rana’s two wickets in two balls to dismiss well-set Annabel Sutherland and Alana King left Australia reeling. Gayakwad’s two unplayable deliveries then wrapped Australia up for 261, setting India a target of just 75, which they chased in under 19 overs.Rana ended the match with overall figures of 7 for 119, the best for an Indian spinner against Australia, which also earned her the Player-of-the-Match title.Related

  • Healy 'comfortable with Australia's progression' with new-look outfit still finding their feet

  • Stats – India Women's first-ever Test win against Australia

The day began with Pooja Vastrakar, fresh off her four-wicket haul in the first innings, providing the early breakthrough by trapping Ashleigh Gardner lbw with a little help from the DRS. The start of the collapse also saw India becoming desperate as they had two unsuccessful reviews after Gardner’s dismissal.Amidst that, India’s spinners exploited the pitch better to move ahead. Sutherland, who seemed set to grind, fell to Rana for 27 playing the sweep shot when she gloved one behind, and India used a review to get the decision changed. The next delivery saw King getting an inside edge onto the stumps. At 251 for 8, the game was all but over for Australia with Rana scalping 4 for 63 in the third innings.Sneh Rana finished the match with figures 7 for 119•BCCI

Gayakwad then completed the formalities, first flummoxing Kim Garth with an excellent delivery that spun sharply past the outside edge to hit top of off stump. In her next over, she tossed the ball up outside off stump and got it to deviate into the batter sharply. Jess Jonassen, this time trying to hold the fort for Australia with the bat, missed an expansive drive and got cleaned up. Having been a bit unlucky on the third day when she bowled wicket-taking deliveries across her 27 overs that didn’t fetch her one, Gayakwad came back well to bowl out Australia on the final day.Chasing a small target, India lost Shafali Varma caught behind to Garth on the fourth ball of the innings and went to lunch at 29 for 1. Debutant Richa Ghosh threw her wicket away with 20 runs needed when she went for a wild heave across the line to hand Gardner her fifth wicket of the match.However, a steady Smriti Mandhana negated the spin threat with her unbeaten 38 and sealed victory ten overs after lunch with a lofted straight hit after charging down the pitch.The hosts, thus, completed back-to-back Test victories at home against two quality opponents in England and Australia, with clinical all-round dominance.

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