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Zimbabwe had their moments in the decider but a middle-overs’ slowdown dashed their hopes

Firdose Moonda25-Apr-2021Hasan Ali and Mohammad Hasnain saved Pakistan the blushes and secured them a T20I series win over Zimbabwe, who have gone 24 bilateral rubbers without a T20I trophy now.Zimbabwe had a chance of pulling off a surprise win and completing their third-highest-successful chase after Wesley Madhevere’s second career half-century took them to 78 for 1 at the halfway stage, well on track to reach the target of 166. But they were unable to maintain their scoring rate and it ballooned on them in the next few overs, thanks to pressure from Hasnain and Ali, who forced a collapse. Zimbabwe lost six wickets for 39 runs from midway into the 14th over and finished 24 runs short.Ali picked up a career-best 4 for 18 and reached a landmark 150 T20 wickets as he finished as Pakistan’s best bowler on the day. He received good support from Hasnain, who got 1 for 26, as Pakistan recovered well after their other seamers leaked runs.Scoring was more free-flowing than it has been in the series so far, with Pakistan notching up the highest total on a fresh pitch. Their middle order was not required after a 126-run second-wicket stand between Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan took them to a competitive total. Rizwan capped off fantastic white-ball form on this tour with his fourth half-century in seven T20Is and once again dominated the leg side. He scored 70 of his 91 runs in that region. Alongside him was Azam, who complimented Rizwan with runs all around and a milestone of his own. Pakistan’s captain is now the fastest to 2000 T20I runs.Babar takes off
As much as there will be debate over which names will rotate through the big three (or is it four or five?) batters in international cricket, there could be none over one of them, which must occupy a spot at the moment. Azam added another achievement to his list when he became the fastest player to 2000 T20 runs, leapfrogging Virat Kohli and getting there in four fewer innings.He got there with a beautiful drive through extra cover after dancing down the track to meet Ryan Burl’s legspin. That was the first boundary in his innings, and it came off the 21st ball he faced, and was followed immediately by another off a short ball and a third in Burl’s next over, when he hit a flighted ball over the bowler’s head. He was happy to play a supporting role to Rizwan, though, as he reached his 18th T20I half-century.Hasan Ali picked up a career-best 4 for 18•AFP/Getty Images

Sweet sixes
After 16 overs without a six, Rizwan breached the boundary off a Luke Jongwe waist-high full-toss that he sent over square leg. To make matters worse, Jongwe had to bowl the ball again, and he took the pace off to ensure Rizwan could not inflict similar damage. But the floodgates had opened. Rizwan hit two more sixes, over fine leg, off Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani to propel Pakistan to a total over 150. Rizwan finished on an unbeaten 89, his seventh score of over fifty in his last 11 T20I innings.Jongwe’s jump to the top
Jongwe has become Zimbabwe’s highest wicket-taker against Pakistan in T20Is, and leads the bowling charts by some distance. He claimed nine wickets across the three matches at an average of 8.55 and took 3 for 33 in this one, all big wickets.His first came in his opening over when he attempted a wide yorker, which became an ankle-high full-toss that Sharjeel Khan hit with the toe-end of the bat to Muzarabani. Jongwe bowled two mid-innings overs, one of which went for 14 runs, and was then tasked with the final over where he dismissed Azam and Fakhar Zaman in successive deliveries. Azam fell to a slower ball as he tried to clear long-on and was caught just inside the boundary by Burl. Zaman went exactly the same way and tried to smash a low full-toss over the boundary. Burl had to make some ground to get to the ball, and took it low down. Jongwe conceded just seven runs in that over to ensure Zimbabwe finished strongly.Power in the powerplay
Zimbabwe registered the most productive powerplay of the series and scored 48 runs in their six overs for the loss of just one wicket. The decision to use Madhevere to open the innings paid off handsomely as he set the tone and took 11 runs off the first over, including back-to-back boundaries off Hasnain. He went on to show his ability on both sides with a strong drive off Hasnain and a powerful pull off Faheem Ashraf. Tarisai Musakanda contributed ten off 11 balls before he was hit high on the back leg and given out lbw. Zimbabwe hit seven fours in the powerplay compared to Pakistan’s six. Madhevere went on to score his second T20I half-century, and second against Pakistan, which he brought up with a drive through the covers off the 37th ball he faced.Hasnain and Hasan tighten the noose
Despite a climbing required run-rate, Zimbabwe would have considered themselves on track at the end of the 13th over, on 101 for 1. After two fairly expensive overs, Hasnain was brought back to bowl the 14th. His first was full on off stump but Madhevere was unable to hit it through the covers as planned. The next rushed Madhevere and he got a single. The third ball did the damage as Tadiwanashe Marumani tried to hoick it over midwicket but inside-edged on to his stumps. That ended a 65-run second-wicket partnership and brought Brendan Taylor to the crease. He saw off two dot balls before getting a single, which meant the over only cost two runs and Pakistan were back in it. At the other end, Ashraf conceded five runs in the next over before Ali replaced Hasnain and seized the advantage.Zimbabwe needed to score more than 11 runs an over for the last five and Madhevere knew that. He tried to hook a Hasan slower ball but skied it and Sarfaraz Ahmed took a good catch to the sounds of Ali’s “boom” celebrations. Three balls later, Regis Chakabva paddled a ball to short fine-leg to depart for a first-ball duck. Ali took 2 for 4 in that over and then returned to end the contest in the penultimate over. Zimbabwe needed 34 off the last 12 balls and Sean Williams had to go big. He tried to hit a slower ball over midwicket but with a still-injured left hand, he wasn’t able to find the middle of the bat and holed out to Ashraf in the deep. That wicket gave Ali career-best returns in T20Is.

Batsman set to resume partnership with Tom Banton in next summer’s Vitality Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2020Babar Azam, the Pakistan batsman, has signed a deal that will see him return to Somerset as the club’s overseas player for five weeks next summer.Babar, who scored 578 runs at an average of 52.54 to finish as the leading run-scorer in the Vitality Blast last summer, will be available for 12 T20 group-stage games and County Championship fixtures against Gloucestershire and Kent.He will replace Matthew Wade as the club’s main overseas player, and will depart in time for Pakistan’s tour of the Netherlands, which is followed by two T20Is in Ireland, and three Tests and three T20Is against England.Babar is likely to resume his partnership with Tom Banton at the top of the Somerset order, which saw the pair finish as the competition’s top-two run-scorers last summer, with interest in them so high that the county was forced to upgrade its website as the traffic from Pakistan had caused it to crash.”I really enjoyed my time at Somerset, and I look forward to coming back next year,” said Babar. “Somerset has a very good squad and the supporters made me feel very welcome. Hopefully I can help the Club reach the knock-out stages of the Vitality Blast and contribute to winning matches in the County Championship.”Andy Hurry, the club’s director of cricket, said: “Babar Azam is the best IT20 batsman in the world and his return will be a major boost for us. He played a significant role for us in the Vitality Blast last year and his stats speak for themselves.”He made a number of match-winning contributions and he fitted seamlessly into the dressing room. You can’t ask more from your overseas players than that. His batting is so easy on the eye and he is so hungry to evolve his game. He will add significant value to the team, both with his batting and leadership.””He was extremely popular with our members and supporters but also with our playing squad. He is a truly world-class talent and we look forward to working with him again in 2020 in both the Vitality Blast and the County Championship.”

Soumya Sarkar and 17-year-old offspinner Nayeem Hasan were the other inclusions in the Bangladesh Test squad that was trimmed to 13 players

Mohammad Isam17-Nov-2018
Shakib Al Hasan will lead Bangladesh in the first Test against West Indies, ending speculation about his finger injury. Shakib returned to training earlier this week after a month-long rehabilitation programme, following complications with the injury that he sustained in January this year.

• IN: Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Nayeem Hasan

• OUT: Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Abu Jayed, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Islam

Shakib, Soumya Sarkar and 17-year-old offspinner Nayeem Hasan were the inclusions in the Bangladesh Test squad that was trimmed to 13 players from the 15-man squad that had been named against Zimbabwe. Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Abu Jayed, Shafiul Islam and Nazmul Islam were all dropped.Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that Shakib was fit but needed game time under his belt, while Soumya was picked to resolve Bangladesh’s Test opening conundrum, with Tamim Iqbal still recovering from a side strain.”He has no physical problems currently, but he is short of match fitness. But since he is a senior player, we think that he is ready,” Minhajul said. “Soumya has done well in the NCL. Our openers have failed in Tests, so we want to give him a chance. Soumya plays fast bowling quite well.”Soumya effectively replaces Liton who showed glimpses of form in ODIs but has struggled in Test cricket this year. Shanto, Jayed, Shafiul and Nazmul have all been dropped, according to Minhajul, because the selectors wanted a smaller Test squad. These players will be playing in the Bangladesh Cricket League, the first-class tournament which is scheduled to begin next week.It is, however, particularly chastening for Jayed, who was Bangladesh’s standout bowler July in the West Indies, but is suddenly behind Khaled Ahmed in the selectors’ pecking order.”[Abu Jayed] Rahi is not really dropped. We may go with one seam bowler, so there’s no point keeping him around the squad. The same goes for [Najmul Hossain] Shanto, Shafiul [Islam] and [Nazmul Islam] Apu,” Minhajul said.Nayeem, who was a surprise choice in the Bangladesh Test squad last January, has been picked this time for topping the wicket-takers’ charts in the NCL, the first-class tournament that concluded last week. Soumya meanwhile last played Tests more than a year ago.Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mohammad Mithun, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Ariful Haque, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Naeem Hasan

India’s captain Virat Kohli has equalled the highest ODI rating points (887) by a India batsman, achieved by Sachin Tendulkar in 1998

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-20170:44

WATCH – Eye-popping numbers from the India captain

India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah jumped 27 places to fourth in the rankings for ODI bowlers, after claiming 15 wickets at an average of 11.26 in the side’s 5-0 drubbing of Sri Lanka. India’s captain Virat Kohli, who was the top-scorer in that series with 330 runs in five innings at an average of 110 and strike-rate of 111.86, has equalled the highest ODI rating points (887) by an India batsman, achieved by Sachin Tendulkar in 1998.Bumrah’s haul – including a career-best 5 for 27 in the third ODI in Pallekele – earned him the Player-of-the-Series award and an appraisal from Kohli. Axar Patel, who led the spin attack with six wickets at an economy rate of 3.85, climbed ten places to join Bumrah in the top-ten rankings for ODI bowlers. Wristspinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav made significant jumps as well. Chahal jumped 55 places to 99th and Kuldeep 21 places to 89th.While Kohli consolidated his position at the top of the rankings for the batsmen, Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni moved up to ninth and 10th respectively. Rohit was the second-highest scorer in the ODI series in Sri Lanka with 302 runs, including two hundreds, in five innings at an average of 75.50. MS Dhoni marshalled the middle and lower order with 162 runs in four innings.India secured three points from their 5-0 victory and pushed their tally to 117. Australia are on 117 as well, but stay ahead on decimal points.

James Anderson hopes his vast experience can help him compensate for a drop in pace over the remaining years of his career

George Dobell01-Aug-2016James Anderson hopes his vast experience can help him compensate for a drop in pace over the remaining years of his career.Anderson, who turned 34 over the weekend, returned to the Test team at Old Trafford with a performance that showed his control and skills remain undimmed by age or injury. But it was noticeable that his average bowling speed in the game – about 81mph – was some way down on his peak.While Anderson hopes he was simply “rusty” and that he will be able to generate more pace at Edgbaston, he accepts that he may be at the stage of his career where he has to rely more upon other attributes if he is to continue to flourish.”I didn’t feel like my speeds in Manchester were where they could be,” Anderson said. “I felt a bit like Matthew Hoggard at the end of his career when he slowed down a bit but his control was pretty good.”With the skills I have, I can do a job even if my speeds did drop. With experience you can stay one step ahead in your head. It is like an old defender in football who might not have the pace of a quick striker but he’s two steps ahead of him upstairs.”Anderson has been sidelined by several injuries over the last year or so. After sustaining a side strain during the Edgbaston Ashes Test 12 months ago, he missed the first Test of the series in South Africa due to a calf injury and then the Lord’s Test against Pakistan due to a shoulder injury.But, after a modest tour of South Africa, he was back to something approaching his best at the start of this English summer. He claimed 21 wickets in the three Tests against Sri Lanka at an average of just 10.80 apiece – albeit in helpful conditions at times – and remains the No. 2-rated bowler in the ICC’s rankings for Test cricket. He is just one ranking point behind India’s R Ashwin.He denies that the relative glut of injuries are necessarily a reflection of ageing and suggests that he could emulate Glenn McGrath and play until he is 37 years old.”The way I feel at the moment, mentally, I’ve still got a hunger to play the game and a hunger to take wickets and help my team win matches,” Anderson said. “As long as I’ve got that hunger I’m going to keep working, keep improving and keep working on my fitness and if I get to 37 then great. I just try to concentrate on staying fit for the next game.”I thought I bowled well against Sri Lanka. I’m not sure it’s the best I’ve ever bowled but I felt in really good form and I just wanted to build on it, but the injury meant it wasn’t possible.”Fitness wise I keep working hard. My practice over the years has gone from searching for perfection to just doing as little as possible. The bare minimum. But when I do practise I try to make sure it’s absolute quality rather than going through the motions. If I don’t practise much I make sure what I do do is to the highest quality possible.”The England selectors took a lot of criticism for their decision not to risk Anderson in the first Test of this series at Lord’s. Although he was fit to bowl in the nets ahead of the game and subsequently played in part of Lancashire’s Championship match against Durham, he now admits it was “probably wise” not to rush him back into the Test team before he had gained match fitness after his shoulder injury. He hopes that, having had that Championship game and the Test in Manchester, he should be somewhere near his best at Edgbaston.Chris Woakes gets some advice from James Anderson in the England nets•Getty Images

“Looking back, without having had any game time before that first Test, it was probably wise to get some overs under my belt before I came back into the Test side,” Anderson said. “I think it was probably the right decision.”There was some rustiness in Manchester. I bowled 20-odd overs at Southport after four weeks out of the game, and then at Lord’s with the weather before the game I only bowled six overs outside so there was a bit of rustiness. But now I’ve got that match practice under my belt hopefully I can build on that and my speeds go up rather than down. The age I’m at, four or five weeks without bowling shouldn’t make me lose my form that much.”As Anderson matures, so his role within the squad may start to change. It has been noticeable over recent months that Chris Woakes, in particular, has started to use the wobble-seam delivery demonstrated with such success by Anderson and, at times, started to hide his grip of the ball until the point of delivery so that batsmen cannot anticipate which way it will swing.But Anderson denied that Woakes is the obvious inheritor of his art and insisted that he is learning from England’s younger bowlers as much as the other way around.”Chris has a lot of skills, but I don’t see us as similar bowlers,” Anderson said. “I don’t know why. He’s got more pace, he’s got a lovely action, that’s what he’s got going for him, a nice repetitive action that will help him for the rest of his career. I’m not forcing myself upon him.”As a group of bowlers we are talking to each other all the time. We are trying in the nets to give each other bits of information that are going to be useful whether it’s on the opposition, tactics or specifics in skills and we all learn from each other.”I learn from Chris Woakes, I’ve learnt from Steven Finn and Stuart Broad, we all pass information round to each other, it’s a really open forum and I think that’s how it should be. I think that’s how teams get better.”Poor weather in Birmingham means the Test pitch may lack just a little of the carry that England enjoyed when defeating Australia a year ago. But the surface is still expected to provide some assistance to seamers, especially on the first morning and with the new ball, and little encouragement for spinners. As a result, England look highly likely to go into the game with four seamers and Moeen Ali as their main spinner.

Mark Stoneman’s unbeaten hundred gave Durham hope of an escape after they were made to follow on by Yorkshire

Paul Edwards at Chester-le-Street30-Jun-2015
ScorecardMark Stoneman’s unbeaten hundred gave Durham hope of an escape•Getty Images

Romans, Vikings, Normans. Imperialists from across Europe have recognised Durham’s importance and sought to make the county bend its knee to them. Over the past 125 years Yorkshire has been beyond serious question the most consistently powerful team in English domestic cricket, so perhaps it is just a little apt when the White Rose’s search for yet another outright championship – and this would be their 32nd – takes them to Durham: the old imperialists taking on the side that has won three titles of its own since 2008.There is no doubt about which team has dominated this contest. Jonny Bairstow and Tim Bresnan’s 366-run stand on the first and second days of the game saw to that. That hegemony was maintained on the third morning when Durham were dismissed for 208, thus conceding a huge first-innings lead of 349 and prompting one frivolous rapscallion to enquire whether Yorkshire might invite them to follow-on for a second time should Durham not get to 200 in their second innings.Such impudence received a proper response from the Durham openers Mark Stoneman and Keaton Jennings, whose careful 116-run opening partnership in 33 overs revealed the home side’s determination to bat until deep into Wednesday afternoon in order to save the game. The prize, should Paul Collingwood’s men succeed in their objective, is that Durham would remain at the top of the Division One table, albeit with their lead reduced to five points; if Yorkshire win, however, the champions will go 11 points ahead of their current opponents with a game in hand. It would be an ominous statement of power and intent.By the close of day three the odds were that Yorkshire would return to the top of the table. Jennings, having resisted stoically for 134 minutes in making 41 was caught by Alex Lees at a position between silly point and silly mid-off – silly cover? – off the bowling of legspinner Adil Rashid, who had begun an unbroken 24-over spell from the Lumley End in mid-afternoon. Stoneman was still there, though, undefeated on 116 and the home side’s hopes of achieving a remarkable draw surely rest on the opener’s increasingly assured technique and good judgement.Three more of Stoneman’s colleagues were dismissed in the afternoon and evening sessions, most notably Collingwood himself, who was caught by Bresnan at slip for a mere 20 when attempting a drive at Rashid. Scott Borthwick offered a passable impression of his first-innings foolishness when he tried to drive an unusually wide ball from Steve Patterson but only nicked a catch to Bairstow but Michael Richardson was tougher to dislodge. Durham’s No. 5 batted 54 minutes for his 29 before a good ball from Jack Brooks caught the edge of his bat ten overs from the close.Durham were 213 for 4 when Richardson trooped off the already shadowed outfield but Gordon Muchall survived until the close and it is upon the Novocastrians Stoneman and Muchall that the home supporters will be placing their hopes on the last day.Yet the description of dismissals, two in the afternoon session, two in the evening, does little to convey the intensity of the battle between two of the best sides in England when it was properly joined after lunch on the third day. On the first truly very warm afternoon of the season a large crowd gave its full attention to the struggle as Rashid and the Yorkshire seamers probed away for weaknesses in Stoneman and Jennings’s techniques. The flag of St George fluttered atop Lumley Castle but there was stillness and little breeze in the Riverside as the openers began the enormous task of saving the game. Inside the ground the atmosphere was steamy and some spectators fidgeted a little in the heat. Yorkshire had bossed matters until now but Durham’s batsmen were at least intent on trying to save the game.There was nothing they could do about the morning’s cricket when Ryan Pringle’s career-best 63 not out and Borthwick’s 54 had been the only pleasant features of a session in which Collingwood’s side had lost its last five wickets for 39 runs inside 11 overs, Bresnan and Brooks taking two wickets apiece. There was, though, everything the batsmen could do to repair the situation and scrap for the draw even though their objective must have seemed as distant as the Karakoram.It is distant still but the challenge will not deter Muchall and Stoneman on the fourth morning. After all, the destiny of yet another County Championship may depend in large part upon the outcome of the struggle.

A wrap of the third day of the eighth round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group C

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2012
ScorecardMedium-pacer Sandeep Warrier skittled Jharkhand’s top-order with a six-wicket haul in two matches to help Kerala register an innings win in Mallapuram. Jharkhand, after conceding a 205-run lead in the first innings, made steady progress on the third morning to get to 85 for 2. But Warrier removed Sunny Gupta and Saurabh Tiwary off consecutive balls and later, added two more wickets to leave Jharkhand reeling on 134 for 6. There wasn’t much resistance after that as Chovvakkaran Shahid ran through the tail. No. 3 Ishank Jaggi watched the wickets tumble from the other end and was the last batsman to be out – to Warrier – as Kerala collected seven points for the big win and drew level with Jharkhand on the points table.
ScorecardResilient half-centuries by Parvez Rasool and Ram Dayal turned a dire situation for Jammu and Kashmir at the start of the day into a position of advantage against Himachal Pradesh. J&K were effectively 5 for 3, but Rassool stitched two important partnerships – 73 for the fourth wicket and 61 for the sixth – to push the team ahead. In what has been a low-scoring match till now, the two fifties by Rasool and Dayal were also the highest scores by any batsmen and took J&K to 248, setting Himachal a target of 238. When Himachal came into bat towards the end of the day, Dayal made immediate impact, removing Himachal’s top-scorer from the first innings, Aatish Bhalaik, in his second over. The game is set nicely with Himachal needing another 203 runs to win, and J&K nine wickets away from what would be their third win.
ScorecardAssam took a healthy first-innings lead against Andhra after Tarjinder Singh scored his second century of the season. Assam had started the day 83 runs behind Assam’s total and with eight wickets in hand, they were set to take the lead. However, Assam were given a brief hope when they picked up the two overnight batsmen in the third and fourth over of the morning. It turned out be a mirage as they had to wait 66 overs for their next wicket. By that time, Assam were ahead by 95 runs and they declared after adding another 50. Andhra’s batsmen safely negotiated the remaining eight overs.
ScorecardTripura bagged four Goa wickets towards the end of the day after adding 108 runs to their overnight and set sights on a first-innings lead. Nirupam Sen Chowdhary scored a half-century to take the team total to 278 after Abhijit Dey, unbeaten on 75 at the end of the second day, scored only a run this morning before edging the ball to the wicketkeeper. Chowdhary found support in the lower order and with Bunti Roy, who scored 39, he added 58 runs for the ninth wicket.In response, Goa lost Swapnil Asnodkar and Manvinder Bisla to Manisankar Murasingh with only 12 runs on the board. Their situation was further compounded by the loss of two more wickets by the end of the day, still 214 runs behind.

A round-up of the action from the fifth match-day of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2011South Africa Women have qualified for the Women’s World Cup after thrashing Zimbabwe Women in Fatullah and reaching the semi-finals of the qualifiers. It was a mismatch with South Africa having won all their games before the encounter and Zimbabwe having lost their three games. Zimbabwe managed to bat their 50 overs after being put in but only reached 103, which South Africa chased in just 12 overs without losing a wicket. Only four of Zimbabwe’s batsmen reached double figures in their crawl of an innings and offspinner Sunette Loubser took 5 for 9. Shandre Fritz raced to 69 off 45 balls to take South Africa to a thumping win.

Joining them in the 2013 World Cup in India will be West Indies Women who cemented their place in the semi-finals with an 80-run win against Bangladesh Women in Mirpur. Stafanie Taylor’s tremendous run continued as she hit her third consecutive score of over fifty. Shanel Daley also got a half-century as West Indies reached 217 for 8 after being put in. Daley and Taylor had built the innings carefully and Stacy-Ann King gave it momentum, hitting three sixes in her 24 off 18 balls. Bangladesh’s innings never got going and though they had lost only two wickets by the 26th over they had crawled to 67. The run-rate was slow throughout and Bangladesh were bowled out for 137 in 47.4 overs. Bangladesh though still have a chance to qualify for the semi-finals since they finished third in Group B and will meet the second-placed team from Group A in a play-off.Bangladesh lost to Sri Lanka in two games before the qualifiers began and their coach Mamatha Maben recognised it would be a tough game but said she hoped her side had improved enough to win. “We’ve not performed to our full potential in previous matches against Sri Lanka but we are getting closer each time we play them and hopefully Tuesday’s game will be the game we finally beat them,” she said.”I have always said as a side we’re a good bowling and fielding team who is learning, but we are lacking in the batting department. That lacking was seen today against West Indies who proved to be a tough opposition and showed our batters what they need to be doing.

That team is Sri Lanka Women, who romped to an eight-wicket victory against United States of America Women in Savar. USA chose to bat but only one of their batsmen reached double figures as they slumped to 53 all out. Remarkably, USA played 49.4 overs to reach that low total. Shashikala Siriwardene took 3 for 9 in her 10 overs. Sri Lanka have made a habit of losing wickets in easy chases and did so again, stumbling to 15 for 2. The outcome was never in doubt though and Prasadani Weerakkody scored 22 not out as Sri Lanka got home in the 19th over.

Nida Dar scored 124 off 139 balls as Pakistan Women thrashed Japan Women in Savar. Pakistan got 272 after electing to bat and Japan were then skittled for 26 in 28 overs. Japan have not scored more than 71 all tournament but this was their lowest total. Six batsmen got ducks, only one reached double figures and left-arm spinner Sadia Yousuf took 6 for 2 in Japan’s capitulation. Pakistan’s total was always going to be out of reach but Japan may have hoped to put up a better fight.

An allround performance from Nida Dar propelled Pakistan women to a 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh women in the final of the inaugural women’s cricket tournament in the Asian Games in Guangzhou

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2010An allround performance from Nida Dar propelled Pakistan to a 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the final of the inaugural women’s cricket tournament at the Asian Games in Guangzhou,China. This is Pakistan’s first gold medal in the tournament and has already been welcomed by their supporters at a time when the men’s game is reeling from a succession of controversies and the country is battling the fallout of devastating floods that affected 21 million people this summer.”We are excited and happy,” Sana Mir, the captain said. “Pakistan must be proud of us. The way the women’s team has played and the way they have handled themselves on and off the field is really wonderful for Pakistanis living in Pakistan and abroad. There are lot of good things happening in Pakistan and this is one of them.”Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari hailed the team’s win, describing the performance as “as a gift to the nation riding on a series of crises”.In what turned out to be a one-sided final, Pakistan chose to field and their bowlers, led by Dar’s offspin, ran through the Bangladesh batting line-up. Only Rumana Ahmed (16) and Salma Khatun (24) managed to reach double figures as Bangladesh were bowled out for 92 off their 20 overs. Dar picked up three wickets, conceding just 16 runs in four overs.Pakistan made short work of the chase as the openers, Dar and Javeria Khan, reached the target in just under 16 overs. Dar raced to 51 off 43 deliveries with seven fours while Khan made a more sedate 39 with three boundaries.Dipu Rai Choudhury, the Bangladesh coach, was disappointed with the loss, but was still pleased with the team’s overall performance in the tournament. “If we had won today, we would have been heroes here. But we are still heroes,” he said.The bronze medal was won by Japan, who beat China by seven wickets. China were restricted to 65 for 6 off their 20 overs before Japan reached their target with four balls to spare.Japan captain Ema Kuribayashi, who plays club cricket in New Zealand, top-scored for her side with a steady, unbeaten 24. “We fought with calmness and concentration. We just tried to avoid getting out. We were focusing on doing our jobs,” she said, adding that the win would be a major boost to the sport in Japan.

Mitchell Johnson is crossing his fingers that the WACA pitch will return to its bouncy ways as he plays a rare game on his home ground

Cricinfo staff13-Dec-2009Mitchell Johnson is crossing his fingers that the WACA pitch will return to its bouncy ways as he plays a rare game on his home ground. Johnson moved to Perth from Brisbane a couple of seasons ago but still hasn’t appeared in a match with Western Australia, although he is back each year to play in the Test.Last year he stormed through South Africa with 8 for 61 in the first innings and is chasing more rewards when the third game against West Indies begins on Wednesday. “It’s been a while since I’ve bowled there, but I’m looking forward to it and hopefully it can be a fast, bouncy one for us,” Johnson told AAP. “We’re hoping for a faster, bouncier wicket and that will suit us more than them.”West Indies have Kemar Roach, who is capable of speeds above 150kph, while the hosts have Johnson, Peter Siddle and Doug Bollinger in their line-up. Siddle has been struggling with a hamstring complaint and Clint McKay, the other fast man in the squad, should come in if Siddle is ruled out.Johnson is not like Glenn McGrath, who targeted specific batsmen, but he has developed a list of key wickets. “It’s always nice to get their top guys out like Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan,” he said. “Nash would probably be in there as well being a mate of mine. He’s done exceptionally well for himself and I was glad I got him out before he got his 100 [in Adelaide]. He was a little upset with it, but I’ll be looking to do the same thing.”