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The latest action from the WBBL with a triple-header at North Sydney Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-2020An excellent display in the field, highlighted by one of the most extraordinary rebound catches, earned the Strikers victory as the Heat wasted a solid platform in their chase. Georgia Redmayne, with a WBBL career-best, and Maddy Green added 79 in 10 overs for the first wicket but from there they could not form another substantial partnership and the asking rate got out of control. Darcie Brown was superb with ball, removing the dangerous Jess Jonassen, and produced a superb return from the deep to run out Nadine de Klerk. However, nothing could outshine the catch by Tahlia McGrath who ran around from mid-on and dived full length to grab the ball after Madeline Penna had parried the chance from Amelia Kerr above her head at midwicket. With the bat the Strikers fell short of what they should have got after Katie Mack and the in-form Laura Wolvaardt added 75 in 10 overs. Mack departed the ball after reaching her fifty and Wolvaardt’s dismissal in the 17th over saw the Strikers lose 5 for 10 before a couple of crucial late boundaries by Sarah Coyte. The Renegades ignited their season as they held on to secure a narrow victory against top-of-the-table Thunder but they had to survive a scare in the final over. Rosemary Mair, who had earlier claimed two wickets in the Powerplay, had 19 to defend but the first three balls were struck for four by Lauren Smith to make it 7 needed off three. However, Mair managed to recover and with five needed off the last ball Smith couldn’t find the fence. It was a game where the batters struggled throughout except for some early power by Lizelle Lee. The Renegades fell from 1 for 67 to lose their last nine wickets for 43 but early inroads kept them in the game. Sophie Molineux made key inroads, getting Phoebe Litchfield, who had been promoted to open, then had the in-form Heather Knight caught and bowled. Between those wickets a brilliant piece of work in the deep by Georgia Wareham ran out Thunder captain Rachael Haynes as she came back for a second.Ash Gardner showed her power•Getty Images

The Sixers were pushed hard by the Hurricanes but in the end their class and depth came to the fore. As Hayley Matthews clubbed three sixes in a 29-ball 20 and Nicola Carey then kept the innings ticking the Sixers were not safe. Captain Corinne Hall and Sasha Mooney got the requirement down to 17 off 8 balls when Hall was run out by a superb throw from Erin Burns as she attempted a second. Marizanne Kapp completed the 19th over by conceding just four leaving Ashleigh Gardner 16 to defend off the last over. It had been Gardner who powered the Sixers’ innings with a thumping half-century, which included consecutive sixes off Belinda Vakarewa, the first a huge blow over the leg side. Alyssa Healy also started strongly while Ellyse Perry eased to 35 before falling lbw. At 2 for 123 in the 16th with Gardner going strongly a total around 170 was on the cards, but 15-year-old Amy Smith showed impressive composure to strike twice in an over. Hall later conceded she should probably have given Smith her fourth over.Meg Lanning and Nat Sciver combined to see of Perth Scorchers•Getty Images

Nat Sciver put in a fine all-round performance and Meg Lanning eased to an unbeaten half-century as the Stars kept up their momentum since they have stopped dodging the rain. An almost complete performance in the field meant the Scorchers never got away; they had lost Sophie Devine and Beth Mooney, the latter to Sciver, by the end of the Powerplay. They were in a heap at 5 for 52 before Megan Banting and Heather Graham nudged them towards three figures, but it was always unlikely to challenge the Stars who closed out with three sharp run outs. Lanning had no run rate pressure on her and moved along at ease, the innings including a sweetly-timed clip for six over deep midwicket, while Sciver followed her two wickets with a crisp 33.

Pakistan fight back through Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf before falling well short

Alagappan Muthu18-Dec-2020Bounce, baby! Bounce! There was a fast-bowling feast at Eden Park. And the batsmen were just not welcome.A rash of mis-hits, screams of annoyance and a flood of wickets suggested Pakistan could not cope with the conditions, where hitting back of a length not only made balls rear up at them, they did so at varying speeds.

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Babar Azam, who was at the ground, would have given a firm (broken) thumbs down as he watched his team struggle without him, slipping to 39 for 5. That couldn’t have been the score stand-in captain Shadab Khan was looking for when he won the toss. But things did improve in the back end of the innings, to such an extent that Pakistan made 102 runs in the last nine overs. That gave their bowlers a total of 153 and they made it look pretty big at the start of the New Zealand chase.Tim Seifert, though, rode the pressure put on him and the rest of his team by a quality attack that was pumped all the way up and produced a half-century that was just about enough to clinch a very tight T20I game.The debutant’s ball
Jacob Duffy had to wait eight years to make it to international cricket and when he did on Friday night, he picked up a wicket with his second ball. That was the first sign that this wasn’t an Eden Park belter. It stopped on the batsman. It kicked up off the surface. It hit high on his bat. And a flick shot, intended to go along the ground through midwicket, ended up a catch at mid-on.Duffy finished with 4 for 33, the best figures by a Black Cap on debut, and the Player-of-the-Match award, which was all a lovely bonus considering all he wanted was “not to get knocked out of the park too often”.Related

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His night could have been even more spectacular but for a stray little finger. In the tenth over, while fielding at deep third man, he ran full tilt to his right and leapt up to intervene with an upper cut from Khan that looked destined for six. The ball stuck in his outstretched right hand, but as he came down, protecting it from touching the ground, just a tiny bit of his other hand – his left hand – brushed against the advertising triangles and ruined what might have been one of the great boundary catches of all time.The captain’s knock
Khan was 9 off 13 at that point. He too was hopping around thanks to the extra bounce on offer, but his shot selection was considerably better than those that had come and gone before him.On a pitch where occasionally the ball didn’t come on to the bat, the flick shot is loaded with danger. Abdullah Shafique and Haider Ali found that out in the worst way. Cross-bat shots are much more useful, but for that, you have to stay in long enough to adjust to the bounce on offer. Mohammad Hafeez didn’t and fell so tamely.But from the ruins of 39 for 5, Khan (42 off 32) and later Faheem Ashraf (31 off 18) counterpunched their way to a total that looked rather unimaginable just a few overs previously. A total that they could defend.Tim Seifert hooks during the course of his half-century•Getty Images

Pure passion
Khan took centre stage again when he produced a ripping catch to dismiss Martin Guptill early and send his bowlers into a state of wicket lust.Haris Rauf was stricken with it. He had a pitch he could turn into his own personal playground. And anyone who entered it, had to deal with nearly 150kph rockets that – once again – were bouncing awkwardly. He took a wicket with his second ball. Devon Conway gone. He then came back to break the most threatening partnership of the New Zealand chase. Glenn Phillips gone. And in the slog, after watching Ashraf put down a simple catch with the equation reading 35 off 27, he knocked over the batsman that benefited from that piece of poor fielding. Mark Chapman gone.Seifert’s greatest trick
New Zealand’s wicketkeeper has so many funky shots that sometimes he feels obliged to play them. Sometimes they go for four. Other times it’s he who goes back to the pavilion.At Eden Park, he concentrated on playing within himself. So much so he produced two of the shots of the game: a straight drive that was nothing more than an extension of defence, and an extra cover drive that kept gaining speed as it travelled to the boundary. Restraint is often the key to success and Seifert found that out just in time to save his team.His dismissal with 44 runs needed off 32 balls put the game back in the balance, but New Zealand have worked on their chasing. Gary Stead has been very particular about it; demanding his players not succumb to pressure and instead, break the runs down into blocks and tick them off. Chapman took that advice to heart. So did Jimmy Neesham and the captain Mitchell Santner as well, who finished the game off with an emphatic six.As good as that must feel, the Pakistan side they beat was a rusty one. Khan even admitted that at the presentation. But they got better as the game went on and given the way they fought, this is going to be one great series.

New panel will meet on Tuesday to pick a squad for the first two Tests of the home series

Nagraj Gollapudi18-Jan-2021Even before the ink on India’s glorious and eventful tour of Australia dries, the selection committee is set to pick a squad for the first two Tests of the home series against England. Comprising four matches, this series will be played in February, in a bio-secure environment, without spectators, with back-to-back Tests scheduled in both Chennai and Ahmedabad.This selection meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, will be the first of a brand new panel led by Chetan Sharma (chairman) and made up of Sunil Joshi, Abey Kuruvilla, Debashish Mohanty and Harvinder Singh.The England series will mark the return of Virat Kohli to the fold after he left the Australia tour to attend the birth of his first child. With all the games being played in a bubble it is likely that an enlarged squad will be picked – at least 25 players, including net bowlers. The success of several young players over the past several weeks will embolden Kohli and the selectors, but they will will need to figure some key questions.Will it be a five-pronged fast bowling attack?A strong series result for India is a must for them to keep their chances of making the World Test Championship final alive. Consequently, India are likely to favour spin-friendly pitches to assist R Ashwin and co. Still the selectors are likely to pick five frontline fast bowlers in the primary squad. It is understood that Jasprit Bumrah, who was forced to sit out of the Gabba Test, will be fit to play his first home Test series.Related

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It is understood Ishant Sharma, who missed out on travelling to Australia since he was completing his rehab from an injury picked during the IPL, will bolster the pace attack. Ishant is currently three matches short of becoming only the second Indian fast bowler to play 100 Test matches after Kapil Dev. As on Monday, he had featured in four T20s for Delhi in which he picked up five wickets at an economy of 7.76.Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and T Natarajan are likely to be the remaining three fast bowlers.As for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is also playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s for Uttar Pradesh, it is learned that the selectors want him to get used to bowling a lot of overs before opening him up to the rigours of Test cricket. Kumar was injured during the early part of the IPL and has not played any fist-class cricket for a while. The pair of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav are likely to be considered for the final two Tests, provided they recover completely from the injuries picked during the Australia tour.Three spinners or more?It is likely to be three spinners in the first squad with Ashwin leading the spin attack. In the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, who could return for the final two Tests, the selectors are likely to pick the left-arm pair of Kuldeep Yadav and Shahbaz Nadeem. Yadav last played for India in January 2019, in the final Test of the last Australian tour, taking a five-for.Despite Ashwin being unavailable for the Brisbane Test, the Indian team management picked a rookie in Washington Sundar over Yadav, who missed out on playing in any of the four Tests on this Australian tour. Sundar, who travelled to Australia originally as part of the white-ball squads, went on to make a fine Test debut but is only likely to be part of the net bowlers for the England series.Three openers or four?It is understood that the selectors are likely to include at least three openers, while also looking at options who can double up as a middle-order batsman. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will be persisted as the opening pair along with Mayank Agarwal as the back-up. The selectors could also include one of the uncapped Priyank Panchal or Abhimanyu Easwaran as fourth opener with the aim of getting them to spend time with the first team. Both Panchal and Easwaran have been leading run-makers in first-class cricket as well as for India A and the selectors want them to get a higher level of exposure.Prithvi Shaw, who made a century on Test debut in 2018, is is likely to dropped from the squad to allow him the time to strengthen his technique. Shaw was dropped after an uneventful outing in the day-night Test in Adelaide where his technical frailties were highlighted by experts including Sunil Gavaskar and Ricky Ponting. KL Rahul, who sprained his wrist in Melbourne, will be assessed in February before the selectors consider whether to include him for the final two Tests against England.

“I told myself all this talent is fine but it’s of no use if I don’t work hard.”

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2021Prithvi Shaw has amassed 754 runs for Mumbai in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy – including four centuries in seven innings – at an average of 188.50. His runs, which have come at the staggering strike rate of 134.88, include innings of 227*, 185* and 165. On the way, Shaw set a new record for most runs in a Vijay Hazare season, passing Mayank Agarwal’s mark of 723 runs in 2017-18.These highs have followed the bitterest of lows for Shaw, who was dropped from India’s Test XI after making 0 and 4 in the first Test of their tour of Australia, getting dismissed in similar manner in both innings, bowled through the gap between bat and pad.Speaking to the , Shaw recalled his experience in Australia, and his frame of mind after getting dropped, which swung between despair at his own situation and happiness at the success of his team-mates, who went on to pull off a 2-1 series win.”I was in complete tension when I was dropped after the first Test,” Shaw said. “I got a feeling like I was worthless though I was happy that the team was doing well. I said to myself, ‘I need to pull up my socks’. There is a saying, ‘hard work beats talent’. I told myself all this talent is fine but it’s of no use if I don’t work hard.”It was the saddest day of my life (when he was dropped). I went to my room and broke down. I felt like something wrong was happening. I needed answers quickly.”Related

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A lot of experts pointed to Shaw’s high, wide backlift as the reason for his problem with the incoming ball, but this backlift had been part of his technique all through his career, even when he was scoring heavily. The problem, he realised when he worked with India coach Ravi Shastri and batting coach Vikram Rathour, lay elsewhere.”Ravi sir and Vikram sir made me realise where I was going wrong,” Shaw said. “I had to find a solution. Just go back to the nets and fix it. There were small mistakes that I was making. Those two innings made me look bad. My backlift was the same but my bat was coming down slightly away from my body. There was an issue with the initial movement. I was in a fixed position. I needed to keep my bat closer to my body, which I wasn’t doing.”Prithvi Shaw has had a record-breaking Vijay Hazare Trophy•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

When he returned to India, Sachin Tendulkar identified the same issue with his game. Shaw reckons that the issue may have crept in because he went straight from the IPL in the UAE to the Test series in Australia.”My mind was messed up,” Shaw said. “My bat was coming down from the gully area, but that’s how I have scored runs all my life,” he said.
“I met Sachin sir after I came back. He said don’t make too many changes and to just play as close to the body as I could. I was late on the ball. So during the entire Australia tour, I worked on that part. Maybe it was because I had gone to Australia after playing in Dubai (IPL).”While Shaw worked on his game at the nets, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma settled in nicely at the top of the order – they have been India’s opening combination for their last six Test matches, including all four Tests of the home series against England.Shaw wasn’t picked for the England series, and he approached the Vijay Hazare Trophy with a single-minded desire for runs. Lots of them.”I wanted to get big-daddy runs,” he said. “The other day I had back pain during the quarterfinals and our physio and team management asked me to return to the dressing room, I said ‘no’. They gave me a medicine and I continued batting. My focus was to remain unbeaten. I’m trying to handle situations better when I am batting.”As reassuring as his current run of form might be, Shaw says he won’t be satisfied until he’s back in India colours.”Even now I feel everything is not fine till I am back in the Indian team,” he said. “Whenever I get a chance, I want to grab it. I knew that I wouldn’t be getting a chance against England and I took it in my stride. It is me who has to be blamed.”

Uttar Pradesh go down by six wickets, with 51 balls left in the game, despite putting up 312

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Mar-2021Mumbai coasted to a fourth Vijay Hazare Trophy title, beating Uttar Pradesh in the final in Delhi on Sunday by six wickets, getting to their not-meagre target of 313 with 51 balls in hand thanks to a 39-ball 73 from Prithvi Shaw, Aditya Tare’s first List A century and partnerships of note right through their 41.3-over innings. UP’s batting innings, led by opener Madhav Kaushik’s 156-ball 158, would have given them hopes of a first title win, but Shaw hammered them out of the contest early in the chase, making it easy for the batsmen to follow to complete the job and give Mumbai their fourth Vijay Hazare Trophy win. As for Shaw, he ended the tournament with 827 runs, the most by an individual in one season of the competition.A short passage in the 28th over of the Mumbai chase summed things up from UP’s point of view. Shivam Mavi, bowling his sixth over, went around the wicket and sent it down the leg side to the left-handed Shams Mulani. Wide. And the wicketkeeper, Upendra Yadav, got behind the ball, but looked casual in getting his gloves behind the ball, and it went through his legs for four additional runs. The next ball was a wide too – by that stage, UP had lost the plot, and Mumbai were in total control. It didn’t change.Related

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It’s difficult to blame the UP players, though. They had bowled most of their opponents out during the course of the tournament, but came up against a rampaging Shaw upfront after scoring a competitive 312 for 4 courtesy Kaushik’s century and half-centuries from Samarth Singh and Akshdeep Nath. But Shaw, who had missed a small chunk of the Mumbai bowling innings after copping a blow to the shin while fielding in the slips, kept up his blistering form at the top of the chase.It wasn’t one of the many daddy centuries he has hit in the tournament, but Shaw’s knock was exactly the sort of innings that makes big chases look easy and demoralises opponents to the point of them giving up well before the end. The little Mumbai opener sent the ball flying to all parts of the ground, and the UP players were reduced to jogging across, fetching the ball from beyond the rope 14 times – ten fours and four sixes – as their shoulders sagged, Delhi seemed hotter than it is, and helpless expressions gave the story away.While Shaw has had a stellar tournament, Yashasvi Jaiswal hasn’t, and the 30-ball 29 might have stood out more had it not come during Shaw’s fireworks. Shaw fell first, in the tenth over, and Jaiswal went in the 15th, to bring some smiles on the faces of the UP players, but if they had an opening there, they let go of the opportunity, not attacking the Tare-Mulani pair with their best bowlers at the start and letting them settle down. That third-wicket stand went up to 88 runs in just over 15 overs, took Mumbai to 215 in just over 30 overs, and finished the game off for all practical purposes. It wasn’t done, though, with the target still close to 100 runs away, and that’s where Tare assumed the role of the senior pro he is. Tare had scored 12 List A half-centuries prior to this game but had never got to three figures. Today was the day for that, and he did it in great style. There were only a couple of balls that didn’t quite hit the middle of his bat – be it spin or pace, whether playing pulls or drives or cuts or sweeps, or even the odd ramp, Tare seemed in complete control. The speed of Shaw’s runs made a big difference, yes, and Tare capitalised, getting to his first List A century and taking Mumbai to the target at a good clip, while also doing his own reputation no harm. Shivam Dube did his big-hitting reputation no harm either, taking medium pace on his way to a 28-ball 42.Earlier, Kaushik’s century and the late surge orchestrated by Nath, where UP scored 111 runs in the last ten overs, put them in a good position for a first outright title win – they were joint winners with Tamil Nadu after a tied final in the 2004-05 season. Kaushik batted through the UP innings after they opted to bat upon winning the toss, hitting 15 fours and four sixes in his innings. His first-wicket stand with Singh, who hit 55 in 73 balls with four fours and three sixes, was worth 122 runs and lay the platform for a big total.Singh, however, fell to Prashant Solanki in the 26th over, and captain Karan Sharma was dismissed for a duck by Tanush Kotian in the very next over, and Kotian’s offspin accounted for Priyam Garg not long after, leaving UP at 161 for 3 at the start of the 35th over. That’s where the momentum was lost for UP, and the massive late surge just about got them up to par, not enough with Shaw being in the kind of form he has been in, or with the way Tare lifted his game on the day.The win, fittingly, came from Tare’s bat, an over-pitched Yash Dayal delivery guided to the point boundary for four.

Fast bowler suffered cut to hand in January that will now require an operation

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2021Jofra Archer is set to undergo a surgical procedure on his right hand next week, having also received another injection in his elbow after being ruled out of England’s ongoing ODI series in India.The news means Archer’s participation in the upcoming IPL hangs in the balance, although it is understood that Rajasthan Royals, the franchise he represents, have decided to wait until next week before deciding their next step. The Royals were already braced to be without their star fast bowler for the first half of the tournament after he returned home early from England’s tour of India.In a statement the ECB said that Archer had suffered a cut to his hand in January, which had been managed on tour, but specialist advice had now recommended surgery.Archer missed two of England’s four Tests in India due to an elbow problem and although he subsequently played all five of the T20Is, he was sent home to rest after the injury was deemed to have “deteriorated” further.Related

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Having returned to the UK earlier this week, Archer underwent a scan and a consultant review on his hand.”Jofra suffered a cut to his hand while cleaning at his home in January shortly before flying to India to prepare for the Test series,” the ECB statement said. “The injury was managed by the ECB’s medical team through the tour and it did not impact on his availability.”Further investigation and a specialist opinion was sought upon his return to the UK and, in conjunction with the ECB medical panel, it has been decided that surgery is the best option to manage his injury in the longer term.”Archer previously suffered a stress fracture of his right elbow in early 2020, ruling him out of the Sri Lanka tour that was subsequently called off due to Covid-19. His fitness is set to be carefully monitored by the ECB, with Archer central to the twin goals of a T20 World Cup and the Ashes in Australia later this year.

Henry ripped through top order while Wagner exposed England’s fragile middle order

Valkerie Baynes12-Jun-2021A devastating opening spell from Matt Henry backed up by Neil Wagner and later Ajaz Patel snuffed out England’s hopes on the third day of the second Test at Edgbaston.England were left reeling at 3 for 30 as Henry tore through their top order either side of tea and by the close, they were nine down and just 37 runs ahead. Their fragile middle order was exposed once more and New Zealand were on the cusp of victory – although not enough to take the extra half-hour at the end of the day to try and finish it off.Having resumed on 229 for 3, still 74 runs behind, New Zealand lost their remaining seven wickets for 96 runs, but that wasn’t quickly enough for England, who collapsed to 76 for 7 still nine runs adrift, only clawing their way ahead via an eighth-wicket partnership between Mark Wood and Olly Stone.Bearing in mind that New Zealand were resting spearheads Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson ahead of next week’s WTC final, a theme that had developed surrounding the tourists’ incredible depth became outright dominance as England had no answers.Ross Taylor batted with greater fluency than on the previous day, pushing his overnight score on from 46 via a series of boundaries, including a deft sweep off Dan Lawrence to bring up his fifty. He then hit back-to-back fours off James Anderson through the point region, with the second looking more intentional than the first.Taylor was dropped on 68 hooking to long leg, where Sam Billings grassed the chance but he was eventually out nicking Stone through to wicketkeeper James Bracey for 80, the third New Zealand batter and fifth overall this match to be dismissed in the 80s.Bracey, the England wicketkeeper playing his second Test, had a moment to forget a short time later when he dropped Tom Blundell off Stone with the batter yet to score.Wood was bowling with sharp pace for reward as Blundell and Henry Nicholls withstood the pressure. But that was only until Nicholls was struck on the helmet attempting to pull a rapid bumper. No sooner had he been given the all-clear to continue, Nicholls gloved Wood’s next delivery down the leg side and Bracey held on.Anderson had toiled for 24.2 overs before taking his first wicket of the match, bowling Wagner for a duck and, when Wood had Henry out lbw, New Zealand’s lead was just 50 with only two wickets in hand.Ross Taylor batted with great fluency•AFP/Getty Images

Stuart Broad mopped those up, including the wicket of Blundell, caught by Joe Root, who let out an almighty shout directly at the ball after he held on at slip, having dropped one the previous day off Stone that would have dismissed top-scorer Will Young on seven. Broad remained the pick of England’s bowlers with 4 for 48 from 23.1 overs.But the lead was 85 by that point and, when Henry had Rory Burns out for a second-ball duck, attempting to drive and edging to Tom Latham at second slip, the danger signs were there. Burns had been England’s in-form batter this series and it would fall to someone else this time. As it turned out, not even Root could come to the rescue.Henry had Dom Sibley caught by Daryl Mitchell at third slip shortly before tea and, after the break, Zak Crawley’s lean run continued when he fell lbw to Henry for 17 Ollie Pope rattled along to 23 off just 20 balls but he was struck on the knee roll by a Wagner inswinger and sent on his way with England still 27 behind.Lawrence, who has impressed among the relative newcomers to this England side with a fifty on debut in Sri Lanka in January, scores of 46 and 50 against India in Ahmedabad and an unbeaten 81 in the first innings of this Test, was Wagner’s second scalp, caught behind without scoring.Bracey, out for a duck on debut at Lord’s and again in the first innings here, managed a wry smile as the Edgbaston crowd roared when he got off the mark and they were equally enthusiastic when he pulled Trent Boult through midwicket for four.His relief was brief, though, when Patel was re-introduced into the attack and struck with his third ball when Bracey moved across his stumps and ended up pressing the ball into middle with his glove.Where there was Root there was hope, even if he had faced 54 balls to reach double figures. But his attempted cut off Patel produced only a top-edge through to Blundell.What remained for home fans was another entertaining knock from Wood, who had put on a show on the second morning to reach 41 with some big hitting. This evening he took England into a five-run lead with a slog-sweep off Patel for six over deep midwicket. Two fours off as many balls in Patel’s next over brought up England’s hundred but they were seven wickets down and only 15 ahead.Wood’s partnership with Stone was worth 44 before Wood skied a Wagner short ball almost directly above his own head and Blundell had aeons to set himself beneath it, gloves at the ready.Boult rearranged Broad’s stumps in the last over of the evening, but Anderson survived the remaining four balls to ensure the match would see a fourth day.

Marsh’s all-round brilliance, Hazlewood’s thrifty spell in vain for visitors in St Lucia

Andrew McGlashan09-Jul-2021West Indies fought back to secure an extraordinary victory in the opening match against Australia having been behind the game for large periods. The visitors contrived to lose their last six wickets for 19 runs against Obed McCoy and Hayden Walsh Jr having needed less than five over in the second half of the chase.McCoy, who was impressive in the recent series against South Africa, confounded Australia’s lower order with his slower-ball variations while Walsh Jr marked his recalled with the key wicket of top-scorer Mitchell Marsh who looked to have put Australia on track with a maiden T20I fifty.In the end it was another maiden T20I half-century, from Andre Russell, which finished on the winning side as his 51 off 28 balls transformed the West Indies innings after they had laboured against an inspired opening burst from Josh Hazlewood who conceded just three runs in his first three overs.Australia surged out of the blocks in the chase with 70 on the board at the end of the powerplay and the loss of three wickets in the same period seemed a reasonable price to pay to be so far ahead of the required run rate. The decisive collapse began when Ben McDermott missed a booming drive against Walsh Jr’s googly and the rest of Australia’s innings did not make much sense. A small crowd of fully vaccinated supporters were left jumping for joy.Hazlewood’s powerplay perfection
There was one spot up for grabs among Australia’s four specialist bowlers and it went to Hazlewood for just the 10th T20I in a career that started in 2013. He could not have put in a better display to advance his claims for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad. With his second ball he had Evin Lewis taken at mid-on and then he tied down Chris Gayle with a maiden in his second over. That pressure told when Gayle got a top edge to point in Hazlewood’s third over, by the end of which he had the astonishing figures of 3-1-3-2 – including 17 dot balls – as West Indies limped along in the fielding restrictions with Lendl Simmons 19 off 23 balls in the first six overs. Hazlewood would return for the final over of the innings where he adjusted his length to end the thunderous display of Russell and, if it hadn’t been for Dwayne Bravo sending the last ball for six, he could have finished with Australia’s most economical four-over display.