NEW YORK: Canada’s inexperienced batters crumbled against pace for yet another low score at the Twenty20 World Cup as Pakistan finally registered their first win Tuesday.
The four-pronged Pakistan pace attack, led by Mohammad Amir’s impeccable figures of 2-13, clipped Canada for 106-7 with only opening batter Aaron Johnson showing aggression in his 44-ball knock of 52.
Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten half-century (53 not out) anchored Pakistan, which lost to rival India on Sunday, to 107-3 in 17.3 overs for a commanding seven-wicket win.
“Good for us, we needed this win,” Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said. “We started well with the bowling, in the first six overs (and) we know we had to be up to the mark.”
Johnson sent early tremors in Pakistan’s camp with his back-to-back boundaries off Shaheen Shah Afridi’s first two balls of the match after Babar won the toss and elected to field.
But Amir, who came out of retirement for the World Cup, hit the right areas straight away and buckled the batters as wickets continued to fall around Johnson.
Johnson, who was dropped on 44 by Fakhar Zaman at mid-wicket, hit four boundaries and brought up his half-century with his fourth six before he too was finally undone by Naseem Shah in the 14th over.
Fast bowler Haris Rauf became the third quickest bowler to complete 100 wickets in T20 internationals when he had Shreyas Movva (2) caught behind and then found the outside edge of Ravinderpal Singh’s bat in the same over to finish with 2-26.
“Definitely, it was a bit disappointing,” Pakistan-born Canada skipper Saad Bin Zafar said. “We wanted to play a positive brand of cricket and I think the wicket was not very helpful. It was difficult to bat early on and not a good toss to lose. We were about 25 to 30 runs short.”
Pakistan’s experiment with Saim Ayub as an opener in the World Cup for the first time didn’t work out as the left-hander struggled to score 6 off 12 balls before he edged Dillon Heyliger (2-18) to wicketkeeper inside the batting power play.
Rizwan and Babar (33) then had a 63-run stand before the Pakistan skipper banged his bat on the wicket in anger when he tried to guide Heyliger to third man but couldn’t beat the wicketkeeper as Rizwan’s run-a-ball half-century saw Pakistan over the line.
Pakistan, the 2022 runner-up, needs to beat Ireland in their last game and also hope co-host US lose both their remaining games against India and Ireland to have a chance of advancing on superior net run-rate.
The United States made a history by beating Pakistan in the Super Over in Dallas after they had defeated Canada in a high-scoring opening game of the tournament they are jointly co-hosting with the West Indies.
Pakistan finally get first win at T20 World Cup, beat Canada by 7 wickets
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Pakistan finally get first win at T20 World Cup, beat Canada by 7 wickets
- “Good for us, we needed this win,” Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said
- Amir, who came out of retirement for the World Cup, hit the right areas straight away and buckled the batters as wickets continued to fall around Johnson
Siraj’s 4-17 helps Gujarat to hat-trick of IPL wins
- Hyderabad-born Siraj kept up his bowling form in the T20 tournament this season with nine wickets in four matches and kept down hosts Hyderabad to 152-8
HYDERABAD, India: Pace bowler Mohammed Siraj returned figures of 4-17 to set up a third straight IPL win for Gujarat Titans as they hammered Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets on Sunday.
Hyderabad-born Siraj kept up his bowling form in the T20 tournament this season with nine wickets in four matches and kept down hosts Hyderabad to 152-8.
Skipper Shubman Gill hit an unbeaten 61 as Gujarat, champions in their debut season in 2022, overhauled the total with 20 balls to spare for their third victory in four matches.
Hyderabad, who lost the IPL final to Kolkata Knight Riders last year, remain at the bottom of the 10-team table with four successive defeats from five outings.
Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins struck early to dent Gujarat’s chase when he had Jos Buttler out for a duck after fellow quick Mohammed Shami had removed opener Sai Sudharsan.
Gill and number four Washington Sundar, a left-hand batter who smashed 49 off 29 balls, put the chase on track in their stand of 90 after Gujarat slipped to 16-2.
Shami denied Sundar his fifty with Aniket Verma taking a good catch in the deep, a decision that left the batsman and the Gujarat camp disappointed.
Impact substitute Sherfane Rutherford, a West Indian left-hander, kept up the charge with a flurry of boundaries including four in a row off Abhishek’s left-arm spin to ease into the chase.
Rutherford smashed 35 off 16 balls laced with six fours and one six. Gill anchored the chase in his 43-ball knock and hit the winning run.
Siraj remained hero as he removed openers Travis Head, for eight in the first over, and then another left-hander Abhishek Sharma, for 18, to hurt Hyderabad.
Prasidh Krishna took down left-hander Ishan Kishan for 17 before Sai Kishore took charge with his left-arm spin to rattle the opposition middle-order.
Kishore sent back Heinrich Klaasen, for 27, and Nitish Reddy, for 31, as Hyderabad wobbled and Siraj came back with two wickets with the old ball in his final over.
Cummins smashed 22 off nine balls in a late blitz that got his team 17 runs from the 20th over off veteran pace bowler Ishant Sharma, who leaked 53 of his four.
Comeback man Siraj’s 4-17 helps Gujarat to hat-trick of IPL wins
- Hyderabad-born Siraj kept up his bowling form in the T20 tournament this season with nine wickets in four matches
HYDERABAD: Pace bowler Mohammed Siraj on Sunday said his omission from the Indian team made him ready for IPL as his 4-17 helped Gujarat Titans hammer Sunrisers Hyderabad for a third straight win.
Hyderabad-born Siraj kept up his bowling form in the T20 tournament this season with nine wickets in four matches and kept down hosts Hyderabad to 152-8.
Skipper Shubman Gill hit an unbeaten 61 as Gujarat, champions in their debut season in 2022, overhauled the total with 20 balls and seven wickets to spare for their third victory in four matches.
It was Siraj’s second successive match-winning show after he returned 3-19 against his former team Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Siraj, who was dropped from the ODI Champions Trophy that India won last month, said the break made him work on his bowling.
“At the start (of the break), I could not digest,” Siraj said after being named player of the match.
“But then I explained to myself that I have so many things planned. It (selection for Champions Trophy) was not to be, but I concentrated on my mindset, my fitness. Enjoying my bowling now.”
The 31-year-old Siraj added: “When you are not selected (for India), doubts do creep in, but I wanted to be ready for the IPL.”
Gill praised his champion bowler, saying, “The energy he brings is tremendous. When playing against him, you want him in your team. His energy is infectious.”
Bengaluru released Siraj after last season and the India fast bowler was bought by Gujarat for $1.4 million in the November auction.
Hyderabad, who lost the IPL final to Kolkata Knight Riders last year, remain at the bottom of the 10-team table with four successive defeats from five outings.
Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins struck early to dent Gujarat’s chase when he had Jos Buttler out for a duck after fellow quick Mohammed Shami had removed opener Sai Sudharsan.
Gill and number four Washington Sundar, a left-hand batter who smashed 49 off 29 balls, put the chase on track in their stand of 90 after Gujarat slipped to 16-2.
Shami denied Sundar his fifty with Aniket Verma taking a good catch in the deep, a decision that left the batsman and the Gujarat camp disappointed.
Impact substitute Sherfane Rutherford, a West Indian left-hander, kept up the charge with a flurry of boundaries including four in a row off Abhishek’s left-arm spin to ease into the chase.
Rutherford smashed 35 off 16 balls laced with six fours and one six. Gill anchored the chase in his 43-ball knock and hit the winning run.
Siraj remained hero as he removed openers Travis Head, for eight in the first over, and then another left-hander Abhishek Sharma, for 18, to hurt Hyderabad.
Prasidh Krishna took down left-hander Ishan Kishan for 17 before Sai Kishore took charge with his left-arm spin to rattle the opposition middle-order.
Kishore sent back Heinrich Klaasen, for 27, and Nitish Reddy, for 31, as Hyderabad wobbled and Siraj came back with two wickets with the old ball in his final over.
Cummins smashed 22 off nine balls in a late blitz that got his team 17 runs from the 20th over off veteran pace bowler Ishant Sharma, who leaked 53 of his four.
Chennai coach Fleming struggles to find the balance after third straight loss
- Chennai’s top order collapsed as they lost three wickets in the first six overs after Delhi Capitals had posted 183-6 on Saturday
Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming said they have yet to get the balance right at the top of the order after they slipped to a third straight loss in the Indian Premier League while chasing after poor starts in the powerplay.
Chennai’s top order collapsed as they lost three wickets in the first six overs after Delhi Capitals had posted 183-6 on Saturday.
An unbeaten 84-run partnership between Vijay Shankar (69 off 54) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30 off 26) for the sixth wicket was not enough to get the hosts over the line as Delhi won by 25 runs.
The defeat mirrored Chennai’s previous two matches, where they also scored less than eight runs per over in the powerplay.
Fleming told reporters that finding the balance was a “conundrum.”
“To get more solidity at the top we have to remove, obviously, an overseas player, so we’re grappling just with the combination that we need,” Fleming said.
IPL rules allow only four overseas players in the playing 11.
Chennai openers Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway are both overseas players, while overseas bowlers Noor Ahmad and Matheesha Pathirana are among their top-three wicket-takers this season, leaving Fleming with a difficult choice.
Fleming also said Chennai had to improve during powerplays.
“We felt that our batting in the powerplays has been below par and going too hard was probably not the way, particularly on our wicket, which is a little bit tricky,” he said.
“So we’re looking just to settle that with guys that have been in good form and have done it before, so that’s the theory behind that and that’s what we’ll possibly continue with.”
Delhi Capitals down Chennai Super Kings to extend winning run in IPL
- Delhi’s third straight win to start off this season — only the second time they have achieved this feat in IPL history
CHENNAI: Lokesh Rahul led the way with 77 off 51 balls as Delhi Capitals beat Chennai Super Kings by 25 runs on Saturday to continue their winning start in the Indian Premier League.
Rahul hit a maiden half-century for his new franchise, including six fours and three sixes, as Delhi notched up 183-6 in 20 overs. Abishek Porel contributed 33 off 20 balls.
In reply, Chennai were restricted to 158-5 (20 overs), with their top-order lacking the firepower needed for such a chase.
It was Delhi’s third straight win to start off this season — only the second time they have achieved this feat in IPL history, the last such occasion was in 2009.
The Capitals thus climbed atop the points’ table with six points. For Chennai, it was a third straight loss in four games overall.
Opting to bat, Delhi lost attacking opener Jake Fraser-McGurk for a five-ball duck. Khaleel Ahmed was Chennai’s best bowler with 2-25 in four overs, including the opener’s wicket.
Rahul and Porel then added 54 off 36 balls for the second wicket, with the latter hitting four fours and a six before he was out caught off Ravindra Jadeja.
Skipper Axar Patel put in a cameo — 21 off 14 balls — helping Delhi get to 90-3 just past the halfway stage.
Rahul reached 50 off 33 deliveries and helped strike middle-order partnerships with Sameer Rizvi (20) and Tristan Stubbs (24 not out off 12 balls).
The hosts suffered from a lack of firepower in their batting.
Rachin Ravindra was out for three, while Devon Conway was caught for 13. Mitchell Starc removed skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad for five runs and the game was all but over at 41-3 in 5.3 overs.
Impact substitute Shivam Dube struggled to get going — he scored 18 off 15 balls — while Jadeja was out lbw for two.
Vijay Shankar held fort at one end and scored 69 not out off 54 balls, including five fours and a six. It wasn’t enough to turn the tide however.
Shankar put on 84 off 57 balls with MS Dhoni, who scored 30 not out off 26 balls. But it was never really a realistic chasing effort from the duo.
Punjab Kings hosts Rajasthan Royals at Chandigarh in the second game on Saturday.
Pakistan claim Afghan spectators verbally abused their players in New Zealand
- “Foreign spectators hurled inappropriate remarks at (Pakistan) cricketers,” the PCB said
- Khushdil Shah stepped in when anti-Pakistan slogans emerged from the stands
NEW ZEALAND: The Pakistan Cricket Board condemned the verbal abuse of its players allegedly by Afghan spectators during Pakistan’s third one-day international at New Zealand on Saturday.
“During the match today, foreign spectators hurled inappropriate remarks at (Pakistan) cricketers present on the field,” the PCB said in a statement after the 43-run loss to New Zealand at Mount Maunganui.
Khushdil Shah stepped in when anti-Pakistan slogans emerged from the stands, the PCB said.
“Afghan spectators escalated the situation by using further inappropriate language in Pashto,” the PCB said.
Stadium officials intervened and ejected the “two disruptive spectators,” the governing board added.
New Zealand swept the three-match series 3-0. The tourists lost the five-match T20 series 4-1.
Opening batter Imam-ul-Haq was retired hurt after sustaining mild facial injury, caused by an accidental throw from a New Zealand fielder in the third over of Pakistan’s run-chase.
Imam underwent a CT scan Tauranga Hospital and it “reported as normal.”
He was diagnosed with a mild concussion, the PCB said. He was declared fit to fly back home with the team.
