Shimron Hetmyer played the perfect partner, allowing UAE no respite once Gayle departed to complete a blistering century of his own

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2018After losing to Afghanistan and surviving a scare against UAE in the warm-ups, West Indies launched their World Cup Qualifiers proper in style, amassing 357 for 4 against UAE in Harare. Chris Gayle led the way with a six-laden assault, finishing with 123 off 91 balls, while Shimron Hetmyer struck a maiden ODI hundred in his third match. Gayle’s innings contained 11 sixes and seven fours.The carnage started when he smashed seamer Mohammed Naveed for three successive boundaries in the seventh over and followed it with two fours off offspinner Rohan Mustafa in the next over. In all, Gayle hit 35 runs off 25 balls from Mustafa, including three sixes. Evin Lewis added 31 in an 88-run opening stand before being pinned lbw by left-arm spinner Ahmed Raza in the 17th over.IDI/Getty Images

Gayle then combined with Hetmyer to wreck UAE’s bowling attack. They plundered 103 runs at a run-rate of just over nine to set their side up for a tall score. After bringing up his first fifty off 47 balls, Gayle vaulted to his second off only 32 balls. He then celebrated the milestone with a hat-trick of sixes against Mustafa.Soon after, legspinner Imran Haider had Gayle holing out, but Hetmyer continued to drive the innings. He hit 14 fours and four sixes before being dismissed in the 48th over. He was assisted by useful contributions from Shai Hope (35, before retiring hurt because of a sore knee) and captain Jason Holder (12 not out). West Indies, however, will be worried about Marlon Samuels’ form: he laboured to 15 off 34 balls. In the warm-up match against the same opposition, he had managed only 15 off 32 balls.Five out of six UAE bowlers conceded more than six runs an over. Naveed gave away 53 runs in nine overs but could not find a wicket.UAE did not go down without a fight in their reply. Rameez Shahzad scored a second ODI century, at over a run a ball, batting through after coming in in the 13th over. Shaiman Anwar hit a quick half-century, and another rapid cameo came down the order from Adnan Mufti. Still they hardly threatened the target, eventually falling 61 short of it. Jason Holder, meanwhile, picked up a second ODI five-for, taking five of the six wickets to fall in the chase.

The opener’s 14-ball half-century led Kings XI Punjab to a six-wicket win in Mohali

The Report by Akshay Gopalakrishnan08-Apr-20182:27

Agarkar: Rahul has the game to adapt to all formats

KL Rahul blasted the IPL’s fastest half-century to give Kings XI Punjab a rousing start to their 2018 IPL campaign. Rahul razed the Daredevils attack in a brutal performance, getting to the landmark inside three overs and off just 14 balls.Incongruously, though, Kings XI ended up huffing and puffing to their target of 167. After Rahul’s dismissal, Kings XI only managed 103 runs in 84 balls. But such had been the damage inflicted by Rahul that they still ended up winning with seven balls to spare.All that after Gautam Gambhir, the Daredevils captain, celebrated his return to his hometown franchise with a fighting half-century. But Kings XI’s spin duo of R Ashwin and the 17-year old debutant Mujeeb Ur Rahman led a strong bowling performance to restrict Daredevils to a total that was just about par.Mujeeb’s instant rewardAt 17 years and 11 days, Mujeeb became the IPL’s youngest-ever player. Mujeeb has all the qualities that underline an effective limited-overs spinner: his variations keep the batsmen guessing, he can be deceptive with his trajectory, and his unusual action makes it difficult to pick him out of the hand.Colin Munro tends to struggle against spin in the Powerplay: he has fallen to them four times in 17 innings during this phase in T20s. After opening with himself, Ashwin introduced Mujeeb in the third over. Munro took zero time to try and suss out the newcomer, getting down for a switch hit to the first ball he faced from him. Mujeeb’s drift from around the stumps got Munro into a tangle, and trapped him plumb in front. Daredevils were 12 for 1 in the third over.1:47

Coach’s Diary: Kings XI need not worry about Yuvraj

Gambhir’s counter-offensiveUntil Sunday, Gambhir had faced 42 balls from Axar Patel in all T20s. His numbers against him: 36 runs at 5.14 an over. And that included just two fours. On Sunday, he doubled the tally off the first two balls he faced from the left-arm spinner, first with a flowing inside-out drive through cover, and then with a crunching sweep. He followed that up with a superbly timed chip over long-off.A typically fluent Gambhir against spin was on display. He made brilliant use of his feet and especially favoured the inside-out shot to counter the drift. In his first match back with his hometown franchise, Gambhir notched up a half-century – the 36th of his IPL career – and kept Daredevils on course for a strong total.Walking the talkAshwin followed up on his pre-season declaration of trying to be as unpredictable as possible, both with his own bowling and the manner in which he rotated his other bowlers. He began by using five different bowlers inside the Powerplay.Kings XI stacked their attack with three spinners, and each of them contributed to pulling the team back. Axar removed Shreyas Iyer to end a 42-run second-wicket stand – the best of Daredevils’ innings. Rishabh Pant’s cameo briefly swung the momentum back, before Mujeeb had him with a googly, thanks to a brilliant catch by Andrew Tye, running backwards from extra cover. Mujeeb then nailed a direct hit to account for Gambhir, run out for the 16th time – an IPL record.Ashwin tantalised with offbreaks, legbreaks, carrom balls and flippers: all of them delivered with superb control. He had Rahul Tewatia lbw on an attempted switch hit, and it looked as though Daredevils would have to settle for a below-par total.But Daredevils still had Chris Morris, a man with a smart strike rate of 241 at the death. Since the 2015 IPL, he has also been striking at 157 in the first 10 balls he faces. His unbeaten 16-ball 27, after coming in at the start of the 16th over, was just what Daredevils needed at the finish.Rampaging Rahul seals the dealThe skiddy nature of this Mohali surface meant the odd ball could keep low, and lbw was always a looming threat. The key was to stick to a fullish length and a stump-to-stump line, and you were in with a chance to pick up quick wickets.Rahul, however, came out swinging, and a wayward Daredevils attack fed him by bowling all over the place. One bowler after the other was left stunned by the ease with which Rahul played off either foot. Bowl it full, and he’d meet them with a solid stride and drive imperiously; drop it short, and he’d shift back with ease and hack them through the leg side. Each delivery was a gift that came tied with a ribbon.After Rahul fell, hometown hero Yuvraj Singh scratched and struggled, Karun Nair struck a fifty that largely went unnoticed despite coming at a strike rate of 151.51, and David Miller and Marcus Stoinis coasted to the target with an unbroken stand of 29.

The in-form Pope made an unbeaten 158 before Yorkshire lost three early wickets

ECB Reporters Network12-May-20181:59

County round-up: Clarke century rattles champions Essex

ScorecardSurrey batsman Ollie Pope hit a career-best 158 not out before rain ruined the second day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Yorkshire at the Kia Oval.The 20-year-old’s third Championship century, in only his tenth first-class game, helped Surrey make 414.They then reduced Yorkshire to 40 for 3 before rain arrived at 12.50pm.With steady drizzle falling all afternoon and no prospect of an improvement in the conditions, umpires Martin Saggers and David Millns abandoned the day’s play at 4.30pm.Pope, 20, added a further 27 runs in the morning with Surrey’s tail as their last three wickets fell in six overs.His eighth-wicket stand of 82 in 14 overs with Conor McKerr, who contributed a career-best 28 was ended when McKerr edged Tim Bresnan’s outswinger to second slip. Adam Lyth parried the ball and Chet Pujara took the catch at first slip.Jade Dernbach went for his shots from the start, lofting Steven Patterson over mid-off for four before bringing up Surrey’s 400 by carving the incredulous Bresnan high over backward point for six.On 14 Dernbach drove a slower ball from Patterson to Joe Root at mid-on and last man Amar Virdi was well taken at third slip by Jack Leaning, diving to his right, for a single. Pope’s innings lasted five and a-quarter-hours and he his 27 fours from 224 balls faced while Bresnan and Patterson finished with three wickets apiece.Yorkshire, who last lost this fixture 18 years ago, were in immediate trouble when they replied.Alex Lees, brought into the side after skipper Gary Ballance pulled out through illness, edged his first ball – the second of the innings – from Dernbach and caught at second slip by Dean Elgar.Lyth was squared up by Sam Curran in the fourth over to make Yorkshire 7 for 2 and Curran picked up his second wicket when Pujara was held low down at second slip by Scott Borthwick for 17. The Indian opener waited for confirmation that the ball had carried before departing.When the players came off Yorkshire captain Joe Root was 14 and Harry Brook 1 not out.

Uncapped seamer Abu Jayed, who made his international debut this year, was picked in the squad while batsman Sabbir Rahman was left out

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2018Fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman has been named among the standbys for the two Tests in the West Indies next month, after he had been sidelined with a toe injury recently. Mustafizur had missed the T20I series against Afghanistan and was expected to take up to three weeks to recover when he was ruled out in the last week of May.

Bangladesh squad

Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt.), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Litton Das, Mominul Haque, Mehidy Hassan, Taijul Islam, Kamrul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Abu Jayed, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Shafiul Islam.
Standbys: Yeasin Arafat, Abu Haider, Naeem Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman.
IN: Shakib Al Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Abu Jayed, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Shafiul Islam
OUT: Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Tanbir Hayder, Abdur Razzak, Sabbir Rahman

Allrounder Mosaddek Hossain, who played the first Test against Sri Lanka at home earlier this year, was also among the standbys. Uncapped seamer Abu Jayed, who made his international debut this year, was picked in the squad while batsman Sabbir Rahman was left out.Sabbir and Mosaddek, however, were named in the Bangladesh A squad that will taken on the visiting Sri Lanka A side in the first of the three four-day matches from June 26 in Cox’s Bazar.Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who was recalled to the Test squad after nearly four years for the Sri Lanka series was also dropped for the Caribbean tour, as were seamer Nayeem Hasan and legspinner Tanbir Hayder. Instead, Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam, who have not played Tests since the South Africa tour in 2017, were picked. Rubel had also played against Afghanistan recently while Shafiul finished among the top 10 wicket-takers in the Dhaka Premier League with a tally of 24 from 13 innings.Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who made three 50-plus scores in his last three first-class matches and two centuries and a half-century in his last three one-day matches, also returned to the squad. He had made his Test debut in Christchurch in January 2017. Nurul Hasan, who had also made his Test debut in the same game, found a place in the squad too. He is the third wicketkeeper behind Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das. However, it was Liton, who had kept wicket in Bangladesh’s last Test in Mirpur in February.Shakib Al Hasan, who had taken a break from the Test series in South Africa and later missed the home Tests against Sri Lanka with injury, was back to lead the side. Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan and Mahmudullah are the other spin-bowling options in the squad.The Caribbean tour will be Steve Rhodes’ first full series as Bangladesh coach. They will play a warm-up match at the end of June before the first Test starts on July 4 in North Sound and the second on July 12 in Kingston. The Tests will be followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is. The last two T20Is will be played in Lauderhill in the USA.

Steven Smith is set to play his second T20 tournament after being axed from Australian cricket for ball-tampering

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2018Steven Smith is set to play his second T20 tournament after being axed from Australian cricket for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal. Smith has now signed with Barbados Tridents for the upcoming CPL season after he played the Global T20 Canada tournament earlier this month. Smith will replace Shakib Al Hasan in the Tridents squad as the Bangladesh allrounder is no longer available for the tournament.”It is a huge blow to lose Shakib for the tournament but in Steve Smith we have a truly world-class replacement who can help to bring power to our batting lineup,” Tridents coach Robin Singh said. “As a man who has played cricket at the highest level all over the world we are very confident that Smith will be a big success with the Tridents.”David Warner, who was also banned for one year from Australian cricket like Smith, is going to represent St Lucia Stars in the CPL.After Smith was banned by Cricket Australia in March, he returned to competitive cricket in June to represent Toronto Nationals in the Global T20 Canada tournament and scored a half-century in his first match. Even though his team finished last overall, Smith played six innings and scored 167 runs with two fifties at an average of 33.40 and strike rate of 119.28. On his return to the field, Smith had spoken about how he had been making “horrible decisions” in the aftermath of last summer’s Ashes series, culminating in the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.Last month, Darren Sammy had asked the media to get off Smith’s back because of the heightened attention he attracted since the ball-tampering fiasco. A day later, Smith’s compatriot Shane Watson stated he wanted Cricket Australia to allow Smith and Warner to play in the Big Bash League if they were participating in other leagues.Tridents had an unimpressive season last year when they finished second-last with four wins from 10 matches. This season, they will be led by Jason Holder, who will take over from Kieron Pollard. The CPL will run from August 8 to September 16 this time, with Tridents’ first match on August 13 against Guyana Amazon Warriors.

Timm van der Gugten claimed four wickets in 12 deliveries with the second new ball as Glamorgan came back strongly in the evening on day one against Northamptonshire

ECB Reporters Network25-Jun-2018
ScorecardTimm van der Gugten claimed four wickets in 12 deliveries with the second new ball as Glamorgan came back strongly in the evening on day one of their Specsavers Championship match against Northamptonshire. Half-centuries from Ricardo Vasconcelos, Alex Wakely and Richard Levi helped Northants to reach 281 before Glamorgan’s openers advanced to 21 without loss in reply.Glamorgan’s bowlers have had a habit in recent games of demolishing the opposing lower order. They took five wickets for five runs against Derbyshire last week, and here claimed the last five for six runs in 29 balls, van der Gugten finishing with 5 for 45.Northants had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss on another glorious day at Sophia Gardens, although they had a scare from the first ball of the game, when Luke Procter survived a huge shout for a catch behind the wicket off van der Gugten.The opening stand was quickly broken, however, when Ben Duckett edged one in Michael Hogan’s second over, and was well caught by Nick Selman one handed at second slip. Procter was then dropped at mid-off, but he fell shortly afterwards for 15 when he nicked Ruaidhri Smith’s second ball to the wicketkeeper.Vasconcelos, Northants’ South African-born batsman, overcame a nervous start to play some handsome strokes through the offside, but also played and missed frequently against the seamers. He was eventually undone by van der Gugten, who got one to lift from a length and Vasconcelos’ nick was well caught by Cooke diving away to his left. There then followed a productive partnership between Wakely and Levi, who played watchfully against an accurate Glamorgan attack.Wakely was the first to pass 50, and he went on to reach his biggest score of the season, before he attempted to cut a ball from Smith, and was well taken at slip by Usman Khawaja. Eight runs later Northants lost their fifth wicket – Smith claiming his third – when Adam Rossington, driving away from his body, was caught in the gully.Steven Crook then joined Levi in a useful partnership of 44 for the sixth wicket, before van der Hugten, armed with the new ball, made further inroads by bowling a double-wicket maiden. Levi went to the first ball of the over, when he was caught at second slip from a intended cut, then two balls later, Sri Lanka allrounder Seekkuge Prasanna skied an ambitious shot to mid-on.Worse was to follow for Northants as Crook shuffled across his stumps and was out lbw to Hogan, with van der Gugten ending the innings quickly by having Ben Hutton brilliantly caught by Khawaja at slip, and bowling Ben Sanderson with his next ball.

Durham’s run of eight wins in nine ended in spectacular fashion as Lancashire homed in on a last eight place

ECB Reporters Network12-Aug-2018
ScorecardTHE brilliant form of opener Alex Davies helped Lancashire into the Vitality Blast quarter-finals, joining a Durham side whose remarkable run ended disastrously.After eight wins in their last nine games, they crashed to 4 for 4 in reply to 143 for six and finally struggled to 78 all out in 15.2 overs. Their previous lowest 20-over total was 93 against Kent at Canterbury in a 2009 quarter-final.Durham need to avoid defeat in their final group game at home to Derbyshire on Friday to be certain of a home tie in the quarter-finals. Lancashire, who finish at Edgbaston on Wednesday, are a point behind them.They also made a troubled start after being put in under heavy skies following rain at Chester-le-Street. But they recovered from 6 for 2 through Davies’s sixth half-century from 12 innings.His 64 from 62 balls contained only six fours, but his bustling style kept the score ticking over while holding things together before he fell to the last ball of the innings.Liam Trevaskis, who took three wickets when Lancashire needed only six runs off the final over against Durham at Old Trafford, was absent ill and Durham relied on seam until leg-spinner Ben Whitehad bowled two tidy overs late in the innings.Only two came off Chris Rushworth’s opening over then Karl Brown drove at Mark Wood’s second ball and lost his off stump. Four balls later a wild heave across the line resulted in Aaron Lilley edging behind and only 14 came from the first four overs.Davies and Dane Vilas cut loose with 27 off the next two, only for Vilas to drive well wide of off stump at Nathan Rimmington’s first ball and edge a second catch to Stuart Poynter.The same combination accounted for Jordan Clark after a 20-minute rain break and at the halfway stage Lancashire were 63 for four.Steven Croft contributed 30 to a stand of 47 before skying Rimmington to short fine leg and the Australian finished with four for 28 when Davies fell in identical fashion to Vilas.James Faulkner followed his unbeaten 18 by swinging one away to have Durham skipper Tom Latham caught behind third ball. Will Smith edged a drive two overs later and Graham Clark went the same way against Toby Lester.Paul Collingwood drove Lester straight to short extra cover, but rather than go for the jugular Lancashire rested Faulkner with figures of 2-1-3-2 and Durham briefly got into the game with 24 off two overs from Danny Lamb.But after the two wicketkeepers, Poynter and Ryan Davies, had put on 40 Matt Parkinson accepted a return catch off his first ball to remove Poynter. Although Davies swept him for six on his way to the top score of 27, the leg-spinner finished with three for 19 and 19-year-old Afghan Zahir Khan wrapped it up with two for eight.

Gary Ballance scored Yorkshire’s first Championship hundred since June to ease hopes of passing the follow-on target at Trent Bridge

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge05-Sep-20181:45

Drama at Taunton as Somerset and Lancashire tie

ScorecardSo much has gone wrong for Yorkshire this summer that to some of their followers, possibly even those in the committee room, could be excused for thinking that their luck is simply out, that relegation from Division One is somehow a preordained fate. The lifeline to which the players may cling is that it is in their hands.A well-worn cliché? Of course – but one that, in this instance, applies perfectly. Next to bottom on 94 points from 10 games going into this match, their last three fixtures are against Lancashire, Hampshire and Worcestershire, all of whom began this round feeling similarly fearful. Win any of those, they will have told themselves in the Yorkshire dressing room, and the points are almost worth double.The news from Taunton and Worcester will have done nothing to ease their anxieties. Points for a draw here could be precious, although they may take some securing. Nottinghamshire, themselves not properly out of the woods, made the most of their opportunity against a makeshift Yorkshire attack on an essentially flat pitch, setting a target of 299 just to avoid the follow-on, a total Yorkshire’s brittle batting line-up has achieved only five times all season.In their favour, Nottinghamshire are likewise without a full complement of bowlers. Jake Ball is out for the remainder of the season and Luke Fletcher, their most successful so far, has been on duty in the radio commentary booth rather than on the field – a sideline in which he shows a lot of promise, incidentally – although his absence is expected only to be temporary.Yorkshire made a dreadful start, nonetheless, when Adam Lyth edged the last ball of Mark Footitt’s opening over to gully, where Luke Wood held a fine catch. Footitt is playing his first match for Nottinghamshire on this ground for 11 years, so it will have felt almost like a debut wicket.At least better was to follow for the visiting team. Jeet Raval, the New Zealander who has taken over from his compatriot Kane Williamson as overseas player, had the misfortune to run into a particularly good ball from the left-arm of Harry Gurney, which took out his middle and off stumps, but Harry Brook played nicely for his 47 before Gary Ballance, whose patchy form this season has been in keeping with most of his team-mates, responded to the crisis with a timely century.Brook was out a little tamely, chipping straight to midwicket soon after Samit Patel had begun a 22-over unbroken stint at the pavilion end, but after their alliance had added 78 for the third wicket, Ballance found another solid and adaptable partner in Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who batted with valuable restraint to be unbeaten at the close.Ballance’s century is the first by any Yorkshire batsman since his own against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl in June, which is a telling statistic. Kohler-Cadmore could not get in the side at the beginning of the season but has an opportunity now, his half-century here following on from 81 against Somerset last week.Although there were a few deliveries early in his innings that unsettled him, Ballance eventually began to look comfortable. He scored 76 of his runs in boundaries, often worked off his legs but with a few punchy drives through the off side too.He fell soon after completing his hundred, when Patel – the man of the day for Nottinghamshire – spun one across him to have him caught bat and pad at short leg. Earlier, Patel and Matt Milnes, who made a career-best 43, batted freely in an eighth-wicket stand of 90 that secured maximum batting points for Nottinghamshire for the first time this season.There is not too much in this pitch now but the first overs of the third day may be pivotal, as they often are. If Yorkshire can score another 41 runs to achieve their first objective, they will have a chance to make their second.

PCB chairman Ehsan Mani has said he will look into the issue of conflict of interest on a ‘case-by-case’ basis

Umar Farooq23-Oct-2018Dual roles held by national-team coaches Mickey Arthur and Azhar Mahmood have come under the spotlight, following recent cases of high-profile names having to give up roles in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Arthur, Pakistan’s head coach, and Azhar, the bowling coach, are both also coaches with Karachi Kings in the PSL, which has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest.Last month, the PCB removed chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq from the PSL player draft committee because of a potential conflict of interest since he was involved with a talent-hunt programme run by one of the tournament’s franchises, Lahore Qalandars. Tauseef Ahmed, who is also part of the national selection committee while also being Islamabad United’s spin coach, was also left out of the PSL draft committee.Ehsan Mani, the PCB’s new chairman, has said he will look into other cases of conflict of interest on a “case-by-case” basis.”That is certainly something I will look at,” Mani told ESPNcricinfo. “I know commitments have already been made and contracts have already been signed so you can’t enter and break them overnight. But if there is a conflict of interest that effects Pakistan cricket, of course I will get into it.”[The PCB removed Inzamam from the PSL draft-selection process because] that created a conflict of interest. If he is there with the franchise then he can’t be choosing the players and that made logical sense. In terms of him [Arthur] and others involved with PSL franchises we will look case by case on merit basis and will raise [the issue] with them and consult with people concerned.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Arthur has no vote in picking Pakistan’s squads, though the selectors take his inputs on board, but he does have a vote in selecting the final playing XI.In 2016, Arthur was already Karachi Kings’ head coach when he took over the Pakistan role shortly after Waqar Younis’ resignation.Arthur, with then PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan, had negotiated a contract to allow both roles, foregoing his monthly PCB retainer during the duration of the PSL. When he renewed his contract as Pakistan coach until the 2019 World Cup, this agreement remained intact. Arthur has coached Karachi Kings in all three seasons of the PSL so far, and is set to do so again in the fourth edition in 2019.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo in 2016, Mani had questioned the decision to allow him to continue in both roles.”I do not believe that the national coach should be involved with any domestic team,” he had said. “This creates a conflict of interest. Unfortunately it is also a reflection of the governance standards of the PCB.”Arthur has brushed away any suggestions that his dual roles could be a problem.”I see absolutely no conflict at all and in fact see it as a massive benefit because it allows me to see all the best young talent available,” Arthur told ESPNcricinfo in 2016. “I certainly am professional enough not to in any way be biased in selections or opinions on any player because at he end of the day I am here to assist Pakistan cricket and make Pakistan cricket the best and I am not going to jeopardize that in any way.”Other than cricket affairs, Mani has also removed Shakeel Sheikh from an advisory post created by the previous chairman Najam Sethi. Sheikh was the powerful former PCB governing board member representing the Islamabad region, and had taken on the role of advisor on domestic cricket and grounds upon the completion of his term last year. The role switch put him in a potential conflict of interest, and he was thought to be allotting a disproportionate number of matches to the Diamond Cricket Club ground in the Islamabad region.Sheikh was considered the most powerful non-cricketer individual running domestic cricket affairs. Mani has dissolved all the committees formed during Sethi’s tenure, citing conflict of interest as a major issue in all of them.

South Africa didn’t find any more answers to their batting woes in the final group game, but they found a relatively big win to close their tournament

The Report by Varun Shetty19-Nov-2018It was the same old story for Bangladesh as their bowlers strangled South Africa and restricted them to 109, but their batting couldn’t stretch the score past 80 for the fourth time this tournament. Thirty runs was a relatively huge win for South Africa, who didn’t leave the tournament with any more answers about their struggles with the bat than they had before the game began.

South Africa’s Dane van Niekerk on…

The atmosphere in St Lucia on Sunday: “I think it was brilliant. And I heard the game [between West Indies and England] was sold out. To get in there and see the atmosphere… 10,000 really excited fans, each and every person has rhythm, it’s quite exciting to see. The women’s game deserves a fan base like that. I hope the whole world saw how much fun the fans had tonight, and all credit to two very good sides that put up a very good show for them.”
On having a standalone Women’s World T20: “I think we need to create our own brand. As women cricketers, we can’t shy behind the men anymore because I think that’s where people make the mistake of comparing women’s cricket to men’s cricket. And our skill is just as good in our own right. So we need to shy away from being labelled, I guess, the same as the men, because I think that’s when people get their expectations all mixed up. I think it’s the way to go and hopefully it will stay.”

South Africa left out Laura Wolvaardt in favour of Sune Luus, which meant Dane van Niekerk was pushed up to a more natural role as opener. She joined Lizelle Lee who had her best outing of the tournament, hitting three fours as the new opening pair struck at more than eight per over. That was until she called for a single at short-third man and was run out sliding the back of the bat into the floor with a dive. This meant that despite having crossed the crease, the curve of the bat meant it wasn’t grounded. It was somewhat unfortunate, but it was yet another run-out for South Africa in a tournament marked by them. This was further emphasised later on with Mignon du Preez’s run-out in the 18th over, which was purely her own doing and cost South Africa runs at the end of the innings.In the middle, they were kept quiet by a very disciplined spin attack that pulled Bangladesh back from a Powerplay in which they had conceded 48. Van Niekerk was forced into a shell, and Marizanne Kapp was stunningly caught at deep midwicket by Fargana Hoque, diving to her left. From there, a series of ordinary shots against straight balls translated into a massive collapse and slowdown. Niekerk, Luus, Chloe Tryon, and Masabata Klaas were all bowled with the ball sneaking between bat and pad. Salma Khatun and Khadija Kubra were often the bowlers inflicting such damage.Dane van Niekerk clobbers one into the leg side•Getty Images

Neither team had incentive as far as progressing in the tournament was concerned, but at the halfway stage, Bangladesh had opened up one prospect – if they had chased 110 down in about 13 overs, they would have finished above South Africa on the table and sealed direct qualification to the next edition of the tournament.But that was never in the plan, it turned out, as they prodded through another unproductive batting Powerplay, making 13 for 1 in the first six overs. The boundary shots, it seemed, was limited to the sweep, which meant they had to wait till the eighth over to pick up their first four. But even with a largely spin-heavy attack through the middle overs, South Africa didn’t face too much by way of aggression. Bangladesh seemed resigned to the fate that they didn’t have sufficient big-hitters in the squad and the required rate had seemed too steep for them before even the halfway mark. Hoque and Rumana Ahmed batted nearly eight overs for their fourth-wicket stand of 27. It was the most significant one of the innings, and the underlying theme of the chase.