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KL Rahul’s fourth ODI century goes in vain as New Zealand romp home by five wickets

The Report by Sidharth Monga11-Feb-2020
New Zealand consigned India to their first bilateral ODI whitewash in more than 22 years*, riding on the efforts of a second-string attack missing Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry. Hamish Bennett’s four-for and some tight bowling around him made sure India managed only 296 despite their biggest gain of the series: a middle-order core of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.The New Zealand players pose with the trophy•Getty Images

New Zealand made the chase seem more difficult than it should have been after a 106-run opening stand between Henry Nicholls and Martin Guptill. Regular wickets, though, brought back memories of the T20I series debacle, but Tom Latham and a charmed Colin de Grandhomme saw them through from 220 for 5.India might have lost the ODI series, but in Rahul they have solidified a No. 5 to fill the hole left by Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. Rahul had already shown he could hit hard, hit from ball one and hit for a long time, but on Tuesday, he rescued India from 62 for 3 to score his fourth ODI century. And he did so without eating up balls at the start of his 113-ball 112. Rahul stayed at the wicket for 34.3 overs during which time India scored 207 for 2. Around that stay, though, New Zealand – not great in the field, mind you – managed to cause enough damage to restrict India to 296 for 7 despite the score reading 269 for 4 in the 47th over.If the similarities were not enough already, Rahul joined Rahul Dravid as the only India wicketkeeper with an ODI century outside Asia. Both were naturalised wicketkeepers who batted below their preferred position to suit the team’s needs. Incidentally, the last time an India batsman scored a hundred from No. 5 or lower was when Dhoni and Yuvraj were batting together, in January 2017 against England. That Cuttack ODI was also the last time India had crossed 290 with the top three’s contribution being under 20%. Not just Rahul, Nos. 4 and 6 around him played their role: Iyer scored a near-run-a-ball 62, and Manish Pandey made sure the runs kept coming with his 42 off 48 from 162 for 4.The day, though belonged to the New Zealand bowlers. Kyle Jamieson continued his impressive beginning by bowling Mayank Agarwal early, beating the outside edge after having gone past the inside one in the previous game. Virat Kohli played an uncharacteristic innings, getting beaten by wide deliveries early before hitting out to only the seventh ball he faced. This was the earliest he had hit a six in India’s innings. Kohli’s innings didn’t continue for long, though, as he cut Bennett straight to third man. Prithvi Shaw, looking in great touch once again, gave it away by running himself out, bringing in Rahul to join Iyer.During their last partnership, in the first ODI of this series, Rahul had sort of carried Iyer, but here Iyer was in better touch. He still kept hitting the ball in the air but never fell too far behind the 100 strike rate. Rahul looked imperious from the time he walked in, square-driving the second ball he faced for four. New Zealand turned to de Grandhomme and James Neesham soon after the early exchanges just like they had done in the first ODI. Runs kept trickling with a Neesham short delivery stopped at Iyer, who could only pop up a catch to short midwicket. The two added 100 in 110 deliveries.Mitchell Santner missed a run-out of Rahul on 64, and Pandey on 35 but did a good job of keeping a lid on the scoring. From the 39th to the 46th over, India hit only one boundary. There was a slightly strange element of risk aversion for a side only four down.When Rahul took the risk in the 47th over, Jamieson dropped him at long-off. Bennett, though, got his due reward with a similar chance next ball, with Jamieson hanging on this time. Pandey chose the next ball to try to hit a six, and even he could go only as far as long-on. Bennett’s mix of wide lines, hard lengths and knuckle balls worked well and only 86 came in the last 12 overs.It took New Zealand a little over 12 overs at the start to score those 86. Guptill took apart Navdeep Saini and also took a ten-run over off Jasprit Bumrah, who went wicketless in the series. It was eventually the legspin of Yuzvednra Chahal that dragged India back into the contest. Guptill fell to a ripper, but Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor chipped up soft catches to give India a look-in. Nicholls, consistently impressive as a naturalised opener, failed to convert yet again and fell 20 short of a hundred. Neesham took a fair go at a half-volley from Chahal but found Kohli at midwicket. Against the run of play, it was 77 runs required with the last recognised pair in.With Latham rock solid at one end, de Grandhomme chanced his arm as soon as he came in. A mis-hit fell short of a deep fielder, two less-than-ideal hits just about cleared the fence, and New Zealand were off again. Latham remained unbeaten on a soothing 32 off 34.

Spinner Dean Cosker claimed four wickets and opener Gareth Rees struck his third-consecutive half-century as Glamorgan beat Gloucestershire by four wickets

15-May-2011
ScorecardSpinner Dean Cosker claimed four wickets and opener Gareth Rees struck his third-consecutive half-century as Glamorgan Dragons beat Gloucestershire Gladiators by four wickets in their Clydesdale Bank 40 Group C clash at the Swalec Stadium.Glamorgan restricted the Gladiators to 154 for 8 in their 40 overs on a slow wicket and the home side knocked off the runs required with 10 balls to spare to record their second win in the competition.Rees was the mainstay of the innings, striking his 50 from 84 balls with just three fours. He lost partners at regular intervals including skipper Alviro Petersen, who had his off stump pegged back by David Payne, and Jim Allenby, who was adjudged leg before reverse sweeping off spinner Jack Taylor.Glamorgan then lost Stewart Walters (4) and Ben Wright (9) as they were both caught at midwicket. But an attacking innings from Graham Wagg, who scored 22 from 23 balls, helped Glamorgan towards their target before being the victim of a brilliant catch by Kevin O’Brien. Rees, meanwhile, ended unbeaten on 59 from 100 balls.Despite winning the toss and opting to bat the Gladiators found themselves on the back foot as they were reduced to 20 for two earlier in the day.They got off to a poor start when opener Ian Cockbain was run out from the final ball of the first over at the bowler’s end by a brilliant throw from Rees with the total still on nought.Rees was in the action again when he caught Ed Young, who miscued an attempted drive off James Harris to mid-on, and Will Owen then trapped Alex Gidman leg before with a well-disguised slower ball.From 44 for 3 the Gladiators slipped to 63 for 4 when Cosker claimed his first victim in the 20th over by bowling Kane Williamson. Much then depended on new signing O’Brien, who scored the fastest-ever World Cup century against England in March, but the Irishman lasted only four balls before he too was bowled by Cosker.Cosker’s purple patch continued when Chris Taylor holed out to Walters to leave the Gladiators on 84 for 6.Gloucestershire were finding runs hard to come by and they only reached the 100-mark at the end of the 33rd over, and the first boundary for 26 overs came when Jon Batty swept Cosker for four.But the spinner had his revenge in his next over by trapping Batty lbw leg to finish with four for 30 from his eight overs. Harris then got rid of Richard Dawson late on in the Gloucestershire innings and their total never looked like being enough.

Tamim Iqbal says that his achievement of being named one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year is all the more special for the fact that he is the first Bangladeshi to secure the honour

Andrew Miller12-Apr-2011Tamim Iqbal has said being named one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year is all the more special for the fact that he is the first Bangladeshi to secure the honour. However, he added, nothing he’s experienced to date compares to the thrill of competing on home soil in the recent World Cup.Tamim, who produced a pair of captivating centuries at Lord’s and Old Trafford during Bangladesh’s tour of England in May and June last year, was one of four players selected for the 2011 Almanack, alongside Eoin Morgan, Jonathan Trott and Chris Read.”It really means a lot to me,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo’s Switch Hit podcast. “It was always a dream to receive an international award, and an award like Wisden is special so I couldn’t ask for more. But the best thing is that Tamim Iqbal the individual doesn’t matter, Tamim Iqbal from Bangladesh is the biggest thing. For someone from Bangladesh to be in Wisden, that’s the biggest thing that can happen.”Tamim showed the ferocity of his talents during England’s tour of Bangladesh in February and March 2010, when he followed a brilliant ton in the opening ODI in Mirpur with a succession of hard-hitting half-centuries in the subsequent Test series, including an innings of 85 from 71 balls in Dhaka that, until he played one stroke too many against James Tredwell, looked set to result in a century before lunch on the first morning of the match.However, his exploits in the return series two months later were even more remarkable. In his first Test in English conditions, he flogged an attack including James Anderson and Graeme Swann for 55 from 62 balls in the first innings, and then followed that with a blistering knock of 103 from 100 to become the first Bangladeshi to have his name up on the Lord’s honours boards. The following week in Manchester he repeated the dose with a 114-ball 108 in the first innings, to take his Test record against England to five fifties in six innings.”Before coming to England, I had no experience of playing in England,” said Tamim. “Playing England in England is a very difficult opponent, everyone knows that, but I was working very hard on it, and when I came to Lord’s for the first time, it was just a dream come true. My father used to tell me about Lord’s when I was really young, so to score a hundred there, I couldn’t ask for more. I was the happiest man in the world, happier than Bill Gates!”Since then, however, Tamim and his team-mates have been on a remarkable journey through the 2011 World Cup – a campaign that encompassed memorable victories over England and Ireland, and a pair of depressing defeats at the hands of West Indies and South Africa, in which they were bowled out for scores of 58 and 78. Their failure to qualify for the quarter-finals sealed the fate of the coach, Jamie Siddons, whose contract has not been renewed by the BCB, but overall Tamim insisted that the team’s memories of the campaign were positive.”I am a Muslim, and in Muslim countries, Eid is the biggest festival you can get,” he said. “But I think the World Cup was bigger than Eid. For guys who didn’t see it up close, it was just unbelievable. It was as if the whole country was on vacation at one time.”Before we started the tournament our aim was to win three matches, one against one of the major teams and the two Associates [Ireland and Netherlands],” added Tamim. “So to be very honest, we achieved both of those aims. But the trouble was the 78 and 58 against West Indies and South Africa. If we could have played a bit better, it would have been a perfect World Cup. Luck wasn’t in our favour either, with West Indies losing to England when they were in total control of the game [in Chennai]. But all in all, except those two games, the World Cup was pretty good, I think.”The unquestionable highlight, however, was the thrilling two-wicket victory over England in Chittagong, in which Tamim’s turbo-charged 38 from 26 balls gave his side a flying start in pursuit of 226, before Shafiul Islam and Mahmudullah hauled them over the line with an over to spare.”That was a very important game,” said Tamim. “We were bowled out for 58 [in the previous game], and we got a lot of shit from a lot of people. We wanted to prove ourselves with a win against England and we managed to do so. We bowled, fielded and batted pretty well, and after that a lot of guys had to shut their mouths, you know?”The reaction to that West Indies defeat was one of the undoubted low points of Bangladesh’s World Cup experience, after a section of the fans outside the Sher-e-Bangla stadium threw rocks at the West Indies bus as it pulled out of the car park. Tamim, however, recognised that such inflamed passions were unavoidable at times, given the weight of expectation attached to the team.”The public are very different from England,” he said. “These things are expected in Asia, because in Bangladesh you need to win everything you are playing. We don’t mind because they still come to watch all our games and support us tremendously. We have no regrets and we are very happy they are still supporting us, and I’m sure they will support us throughout our careers.”There have been more setbacks since Bangladesh’s World Cup elimination. They are currently 2-0 down in their three-match series against Australia, having been mauled in the second game by an extraordinary performance from Shane Watson, who rampaged to 185 not out from 96 balls, with 15 fours and 15 sixes. He was on course to become the second batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to post an ODI double-century when he ran out of runs to chase in the 26th over.When asked what it was like to field against a batsman in such a mood, Tamim was utterly candid. “To be honest, I was not fielding the ball, the crowd was doing the job,” he said. “That type of innings comes once in a lifetime, you can’t play them every time you want. When someone is playing in that manner, there is nothing you can do, whether it’s against Bangladesh or England.”All Tamim could do was sit back and take notes. “There are lessons to be learnt about how cleanly he hit the ball,” he said. “With a very good technique, you don’t need to hit with hardness, but keep your balance and hit big sixes. It was a thing we learnt and it was a great experience – not an enjoyable one because it was against Bangladesh – but in the end it was a fantastic innings, I need to tell you that.”With the World Cup out of the way, and one last game against Australia to come, the end of a long season is nigh for Tamim. But he is already itching for the next campaign. “Every new tournament we play, it’s almost like a festival,” he said. “The people in Bangladesh are crazy about cricket. If we can do something special in our last game, that will be the perfect finish. After that, we have a few months’ break, then we regroup for our tour of Zimbabwe. Sometimes you need some vacation to get your mind right, and hopefully we’ll come back and do something special.”

In a low-scoring match at the Harare Sports Club, Australia A trounced South Africa A by 60 runs, topping the table with 10 points after their second victory in two games

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2011
ScorecardIn a low-scoring match at the Harare Sports Club, Australia A trounced South Africa A by 60 runs, topping the table with 10 points after their second victory in two games.Choosing to bat, Australia got off to a promising start with openers Aaron Finch and David Warner putting on 52. Their stand was followed by solid performances from the middle order, before John Hastings’ 28 off 20 balls in a 45-run eighth-wicket partnership finished things with a flourish. Rory Kleinveldt was the most economical of the wicket-taking bowlers, giving away just 32 runs in 10 overs for his two wickets.Despite a modest target of 215, South Africa never quite settled into a rhythm, losing wickets at regular intervals. Kleinveldt, who came in at No. 9, combined with Ethy Mbhalati for the highest partnership of the innings – 48 for the 10th wicket – but it proved to be too little too late. Hastings removed Kleinveldt in the 34th over – one of his four scalps in a miserly nine-over spell – to end South Africa’s innings on 154.South Africa take on Zimbabwe XI on July 2 at the same venue.

Pakistan made the most of Elton Chigumbura’s generous offer to bat first to secure a seven-wicket victory in a rain-reduced fixture at Pallekele

The Bulletin by Sahil Dutta14-Mar-2011Pakistan 164 for 3 (Shafiq 78*, Hafeez 49, Price 2-21) beat Zimbabwe 151 for 7 (39.4 ov) (Ervine 52, Chigumbura 32*, Gul 3-36) by seven wickets (D/L method)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmar Gul was Man of the Match for his three wickets•Associated Press

Pakistan made the most of Elton Chigumbura’s generous offer to bat first to secure a seven-wicket victory in a rain-reduced fixture at Pallekele and rubber-stamp their quarter-final place. The dank skies delivered two huge downpours that meant Duckworth-Lewis made its first appearance of the tournament in another one-sided Group A fixture.With the damp pitch and heavy cloud cover Pallekele resembled an early-spring Headingley and Pakistan’s bowlers thrived in the helpful conditions. They entered the game on the back of a 110-run hammering on the same ground by New Zealand, but rediscovered their focus to reduce Zimbabwe to 157 for 7 when a second rain delay brought a premature end to the innings. Asad Shafiq then helped himself to an unbeaten 78 in his first World Cup match to steer Pakistan to an easy victory.Shoaib Akhtar was dropped after his shambolic showing in the previous match and, having struggled for new-ball scalps through the tournament, the opening pair of Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq made three inroads in the first six overs which set the tone for the remainder of the day.Razzaq, who was flogged for 49 in four overs against New Zealand, landed the key blow in the first over when he had Brendan Taylor caught behind for 5. Taylor would be forgiven for thinking himself unlucky because it was Pakistan’s calamitous wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal who held chance. Kamran had put down an almost identical one off Ross Taylor last Tuesday but here, to the palpable relief of all his team-mates, he made no mistake.If that was impressive enough, Misbah-ul-Haq’s catch at slip to remove Vusi Sibanda, demonstrated a rare sharpness in the field as he moved swiftly to his right to pluck the sharp chance out the air. With the ball darting around and Gul generating good pace it looked as though Zimbabwe would subside swiftly, but Craig Ervine resisted with a gutsy half-century, finding support from Greg Lamb and later Chigumbura, who made his second-highest score in 19 matches as captain with an unbeaten 32.Ervine was the most assured of the Zimbabwe players but was gifted a life on 13 when Misbah undid his earlier good work by fluffing a simple chance off Razzaq. The dark clouds had threatened all afternoon and finally let rip in the 28th over with a tropical downpour. On most grounds it would have been enough to end proceedings for the day, but a collection of huge covers and an army of groundstaff combined to get the entire outfield protected and play resumed after 90 minutes.The delay freshened up an already sprightly surface and Ervine fell five balls after completing his fifty. It left Chigumbura to try and atone for his earlier decision to bat and he was looking in good order when rain returned to close the innings prematurely, setting a modest target of 162 from 38 overs.Pakistan laboured somewhat early on in a straightforward chase before Shafiq took control. Ahmed Shehzad’s miserable tournament continued when he ran past a flighted Ray Price delivery to fall for 8. He now has a highest score of 13 from five knocks this World Cup which, after starring in Pakistan’s 3-2 series victory in New Zealand that preceded the tournament, is a major disappointment.Instead it was his Mohammad Hafeez who steadied the early innings with 49. After Hafeez fell, Shahid Afridi promoted himself up the order but his search for batting form continued as he landed a couple of sweeps before missing a cut to give an ecstatic Price his second wicketShafiq, in the side head of Umar Akmal, began very quietly and had 5 from 26 deliveries before finding the boundary for the first time. He added 41 from his next 49 balls to bring up a composed half-century and ensure no alarms.After Afridi’s predictable blow-out Younis Khan partnered Shafiq to guide Pakistan over the line and into the quarter-finals with a 54-run stand. It means Group A’s qualifiers are settled and the ICC can only be thankful Group B has been exciting enough to keep the elongated opening phase interesting.

Match Timeline

Surrey youngster delivers on his promise with key role in memorable 3-1 victory in SA

Andrew Miller28-Jan-2020Ollie Pope has said he is ready for the step-up in scrutiny following his breakthrough series in South Africa, and believes that the positive influence of Joe Root and Ben Stokes will help him to translate his impressive form in South Africa on to the slower, spinning decks of Sri Lanka in March.In a series studded with crucial contributions from a variety of England players, established and new, Pope’s haul of 266 runs in three Tests at 88.66 was instrumental in their 3-1 victory.He bounced back from missing the first Test through illness to record a matchwinning maiden Test hundred in the innings win at Port Elizabeth, and confirmed his reputation, at the age of 22, as one of the best young batsman in the world.ALSO READ: Marks out of 10 – Stokes, Wood, Pope shine for England“It’s an amazing feeling,” Pope said, after England had wrapped up the series with a 191-run win at the Wanderers. “I went through all the emotions on that final day. They got a few good partnerships early on but we trusted our bowlers to go on and take the wickets, and it happened pretty quickly at the end.”However, with England’s next Test challenges looming large in Galle and Colombo, Pope knows that he and the squad will not be able to rest on their laurels – but nor will they be allowed to, thanks to the drive for constant improvement that he said has been instilled by the captain and vice-captain.”Looking at the guys around you, you definitely never stand still,” he said. “You’re learning from Rooty and Stokesy – they set a benchmark from a batting point of view. They’re always looking ahead, always thinking about that next series coming up and how they can prepare themselves best for that. That’s definitely what I’ll be learning to do from now on as well.”Pope has already shown he is a fast learner in the course of his brief career. Less than three years have elapsed since he made his first-class debut for Surrey, at the age of 19, while his Test debut followed a year later, against India at Lord’s in August 2018.He finished his first full season of Championship cricket with 986 runs at 70.42, including four hundreds, and even managed to improve on that average in his five appearances for Surrey in 2019 (561 at 80.14), despite missing the bulk of the season after dislocating his shoulder in a fielding accident.And with all that in mind, Pope insisted he will have no qualms about the heightened expectations that come with his efforts in South Africa.Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes added 203 for the fifth wicket•Stu Forster/Getty Images

“I think you go through that whatever level you play at,” he said. “It happens in county cricket. When you’re first starting out, no one knows what you do, they might bowl to your strengths then they realise what your strengths are and bowl differently. But if I just keep working on my technique and my temperament at the crease, and whatever flaws I have got, if I can brush them out of the way then I’ll be ready to cope with whatever comes my way.”Pope’s range of experiences made be limited, but he will at least be travelling to Sri Lanka with some prior knowledge, having been an initial member of the squad that completed a 3-0 whitewash on their last tour of the country in November 2018.On that occasion, he proved surplus to requirements and decamped to join the Lions tour in the UAE, but he saw enough from his team-mates to know what type of approach could succeed, not least from his Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes, who was named Player of the Series after scoring a century on Test debut in Galle.”It’s going to be completely different cricket to what it is out here from a batting point of view,” Pope said. “We play on pretty quick wickets out here and you might not face many overs of spin. In Sri Lanka, they might open with spin.”But from that time out there, I learned that you can go about scoring runs in different ways. I saw how Foakesy went about his innings, he batted time and backed his defence and picked off bad balls. He had a lot of success, then Jos [Buttler] had a lot of success as well. He probably took the more positive option – a lot of sweeping and you look at the scoreboard and he’d be 30 off 20 before you knew it.”There’s two different ways to go about it. I chat to people like Rooty who’ve done very well out there, and I bat in a similar tempo to him, and try to pick his brain a little bit and take that into that first Test if I do get picked out there.”In the latter stages of his Port Elizabeth hundred, however, Pope showed he is not simply a Root clone, with a remarkable array of one-day-influenced strokes, including a ramp over fine leg off an Anrich Nortje bouncer, and a full-blooded reverse-pull off Kagiso Rabada. And when the pair came together in their century partnership at the Wanderers, it was the younger man teaching the old dog some new tricks.ALSO READ: Dobell: Young England embrace old-fashioned virtues“It’s quite funny,” Pope said. “Rooty been one of my favourite players as I’ve been growing up over the last 10 years – watching him play has been awesome. He hit a shot – one of those ramps – and said ‘I learned that one off you!’ That’s a big compliment from one of my favourite players growing up.”But I learn a lot off him and that’s just the way batting works. Sometimes I’ll be bogged down and grafting a bit more and other times it will come a bit easier. That morning for me, I was just moving well and it’s a shame not to go on and make a bigger one [Pope made 56] but I really enjoyed batting with him.”My dream is to play all three formats for England,” he added. “I see myself as a white-ball player as well but our team is pretty established at the moment. They’ve got a great batting line-up, a great middle order, so if I want to get in that white-ball side I’ve got to bide my time, score my runs in county cricket and hopefully keep scoring some Test runs and that’ll look after itself.”Pope wasn’t the only young player to make his mark in South Africa. Dom Sibley also scored his maiden Test hundred in Cape Town, while Zak Crawley seized his chance to impress after Rory Burns’ ankle injury with a series of key innings at the top of the order.”The way this series has gone it’s been nice for Sibbers, Crawley and myself to get some game-time and get some runs as well, which has been really good for all of us going forward,” Pope said. “Obviously we’re still young guys and I think that’s what we needed – a few scores under our belts to give you the confidence to know you can do it at this level. Definitely doing it in a winning cause makes all the difference as well, from a personal point of view.”And after a stuttering start in New Zealand, where England were ground down on slow pitches to succumb to a 1-0 series loss, the confidence in a new-look squad is tangible.”I think it’s massive,” Pope said. “At the start of the New Zealand series we realised we’ve got a young group of players together as a team, and we knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight. Our target was to go and win this series out here.”It’s been an amazing experience to do that. But we also realise, hopefully, it’s just the start. Looking ahead it’s been nice to get some games under our belt, and a series win and now it’s massive taking that into Sri Lanka.”

The two middle-order batsmen went on a six-hitting spree in the final overs, one that Zimbabwe were powerless to stop

The Report by Mohammad Isam14-Sep-2019Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi belted seven sixes in seven balls as Afghanistan demolished Zimbabwe by 28 runs in Mirpur. The win ensured 11 consecutive T20Is without a defeat for Afghanistan – incredibly it’s the second time they’ve hit that number and only Australia have gone better (12).Zimbabwe have now played eight matches against Afghanistan and they have lost all of them. The bowling looked rather listless under fire the batting couldn’t get anywhere close to the target of 198 leaving the team in danger of early elimination.Seven sixes in a rowNajibullah and Nabi added 107 runs in just 6.4 overs, the second-fastest 100-plus partnership in T20Is, as well as the second-highest fifth-wicket stand in the format. Afghanistan also combined to hit 15 sixes, the most at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.Najibullah switched into a higher gear the moment Asghar Afghan got out in the 14th over. He went after debutant Ainsley Ndlovu and Kyle Jarvis before Nabi struck Chatara for four consecutive sixes – twice over deep midwicket, one straight down the ground and the last one biffed over cover.That ended a 26-run over but the carnage continued as Najibullah struck Neville Madziva for three sixes from the other end, making it seven in a row. He went twice over midwicket and once behind square on the off side before swatting Jarvis over extra cover in the 19th over for the last of his six sixes. He finished 69 not out off 30 balls while Nabi, who fell on the last ball of the innings, made an 18-ball 38.Gurbaz’s flying startAfghanistan had already got off to a sound start thanks to debutant Rahmanullah Gurbaz who struck five fours and two sixes in his 24-ball 43. Gurbaz added 57 for the opening stand with Hazratullah Zazai but the pair fell within nine balls of each other. Zimbabwe must have thought they were back in the game when they picked up the wickets of Najeeb Tarakai and Afghan, but then came that flurry of sixes that even now has to be hard to for the team to take.Zimbabwe crash before RashidAfter Hamilton Masakadza’s run-out in the third over of the chase, left-arm quick Fareed Ahmad removed Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams in the space of three balls. It took out the steam from Zimbabwe’s chase before Craig Ervine’s wicket in the seventh over reduced them to 44 for 4.All of this happened before Rashid Khan, on his T20I captaincy debut, brought himself into the attack. He had Tinotenda Mutombodzi caught at midwicket for 20, before removing Ryan Burl, who made a fifty in the previous game against Bangladesh, for a run-a-ball 25.A very late resistanceMadziva and Regis Chakabva tried to push Zimbabwe towards the target with their 45-run seventh-wicket stand after they were reduced to 96 for 6 in the 14th over. Madziva struck two sixes in his 11-ball 15, while Chakabva top-scored with an unbeaten 42 off 22 balls with three fours and two sixes. But it came far too late and only reduced the margin of defeat.

Becomes first Pakistan woman to sign up with an overseas T20 team

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2019Nida Dar has become the first Pakistan woman to sign a deal with an international cricket league, and is on track to take the field for Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League later this year.The 32-year-old Pakistan stalwart has played 96 T20Is and 71 ODIs, most recently in a T20I series against South Africa, where she took five wickets and scored 192 runs in five matches.”It is the very first time a woman from Pakistan has come to play in the WBBL,” she said. “I know people from Pakistan will be very proud. I know the people who have come from Pakistan to settle in Sydney will follow me, and that’s very exciting.””I have dreamt that I would one day play in this amazing league, and now I have the opportunity to play for Sydney Thunder. This is a great thing for me, it is a great achievement to play in the WBBL.”Nida is one of Pakistan’s most experienced players, having made her debut for the national side in a T20I in 2010, and has remained a fixture in the international team for much of the last decade. No Pakistan player has taken more T20I wickets than her 88, and she ranks fourth on the ODI list with 66 wickets – only Sana Mir, Sadia Yousuf and Asmavia Iqbal are ahead of her.Her batting, particularly in T20 cricket, has been potent too, with her strike rate of 96.27 higher than any Pakistan player to have padded up in at least five innings.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who made 561 appearances for Wolves, believes a lot of players aren’t strong enough for the Premier League as they get pushed off the ball too easily.

It is well documented that Wolves have signed a high number of Portuguese players such as Pedro Neto, Fabio Silva and Daniel Podence who are currently at the club with the former losing possession once tackled 57 times from 119 attempted dribbles, the second most at Wolves.

Silva has struggled for goals and form this season as he has struggled to find his feet in the Premier League and come to terms with the physicality in England.

Speaking on why a lot of young players from the continent struggle when they first arrive in the Premier League and who they should look to for inspiration, Bull told FFC:

“I think there are quite a few youngsters these days like Fabio Silva who need to know it’s not all about weight and muscle, you haven’t got to be the biggest person but you have got to have some muscle.

“You’ve got to be able to stand your ground and if anybody comes behind you and tries to rugby tackle you, then you’ve got to be able to stay on your two feet.

“Some of our players seem as though they just fall over and you look at Podence, Jota, Traore and Jimenez they don’t get knocked off the ball, they’re solid. All the players below them have got to take a leaf out of their book, but don’t go massive so you can’t run.”

Wolves have had to adjust the way they approach games without their output and talisman, Raul Jimenez, who has been out injured for the majority of the season with a fractured skull.

Fabio Silva has played 23 games for Wolves in the league despite being just 18-years-old and the £80,000-per-week youngster has only scored twice.

According to a recent report from The Daily Mirror, Tottenham are interested in a move for defender Max Aarons. The 19-year-old currently plays his football at Championship table-toppers Norwich City after making the move to Carrow Road as a youth player back in 2016, with his impressive efforts for the Canaries this season seemingly attracting the interest of Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.

And that’s because a recent report from The Daily Mirror suggests that the Premier League title-chasers are keeping an eye on the 19-year-old’s development at the Norfolk-based outfit, with a move to North London, and thus the chance to work under Pochettino, a move that could turn Aarons into a star.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, former Southampton chief Pochettino has a proven track-record throughout his time in English football of developing and nurturing young talent into world stars, be it Luke Shaw at St Mary’s, or indeed the likes of Dele Alli, Eric Dier, and Harry Kane at Spurs.

In fact, the latter trio are now first team regulars at Tottenham with messrs Alli and Kane arguably indispensable, which itself underlines just what an outstanding coach Pochettino is – after all, Alli had never played in the Championship, let alone the Premier League, prior to his move to Spurs back in 2015.

Yet Argentine Pochettino has given him, as well as Shaw, Kane, Dier, and more recently Harry Winks, the opportunity to play first team football and prove their worth, which they have all done in abundance to suggest that there are few managers out there better equipped at bringing through young, English talent than the Tottenham manager.

And that must be of interest to Norwich defender Aarons, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise this season at Carrow Road to suggest that, with the right guidance, he could be destined for huge things in the game.

The 19-year-old originally began his youth career at Luton Town before moving to Norfolk back in 2016, earning his senior debut for Daniel Farke’s side only back in August of last year in their Carabao Cup victory over Stevenage.

Yet that has since paved the way for 26 further first team appearances for the England Under-19 international, 25 of which have come in the Championship to help the Canaries to top spot in the second tier table, with his two goals and four assists very much playing a part in their rise.

And such is the undoubted talent the right back possesses, he would surely flourish under the guidance of Pochettino at Tottenham – the Argentine’s willingness to give young players an opportunity to perform could well benefit the youngster in his quest to reach his full potential.

Ultimately, Aarons is very much a Championship sensation at present with the talent and potential to go far in the game – and a move to Spurs to work under Pochettino could go some way to turning him into a star.

Tottenham fans… what do you think? Let us know!