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India had a poor outing with the ball, but their batters made up for it in a fantastic display and helped their team come out on top in their first warm-up game against England at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai.
The Indians conceded a score of 188/5 in the first half but managed to achieve the 189-run target with an over to spare. Openers KL Rahul (51) and Ishan Kishan (70 retd) batted magnificently at the top before Rishabh Pant (29*) and Hardik Pandya (12*) helped put an end to the proceedings.
It would worry England that at no stage did they look like keeping India under pressure in the second half. David Willey (1/16) and part-time spin option Liam Livingstone (1/10) were their only bowlers to concede less than 10 runs per over on the night.
Even on a day where India’s bowling was unconvincing for the most part, they ended up performing better than England. Mohammed Shami finished poorly to end with figures of 3/40, but his early strikes were crucial for India. Jasprit Bumrah (1/26) and Ravichandran Ashwin (0/23) were the two most in-control Indian bowlers for the game.
The England innings saw their top-order players getting starts but not going on to make something substantial. Those innings of substance thankfully came from Jonny Bairstow (49), Livingstone (30) and Moeen Ali (43*). But Ashwin and Bumrah’s spells ensured that India kept the opponent within their reach.
Brief scores
ENG 188/5 in 20 overs (Bairstow 49, Ali 43; Shami 3/40) lost to IND 192/3 in 19 overs (Kishan 70 retd, Rahul 51; Willey 1/16) by 7 wickets
Pakistan proved too good for the defending T20 World Cup champions West Indies in their first warm-up game ahead of the main event yesterday in Dubai. The 2009 winners easily conquered their Caribbean rivals at the ICC Academy Ground.
Opting to bat first, West Indies could only manage a total of 130/7 on the board on what happened to be a slightly dry, sluggish surface which got better to bat on as the afternoon progressed. In a disappointing display, only Shimron Hetmyer (28), Chris Gayle (20) and skipper Kieron Pollard (23) among their batters crossed the 20-run mark.
Hasan Ali (2/21) was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan, as was spinner Imad Wasim, who gave away just six runs from his three overs and picked up a wicket. These two were majorly responsible for putting Windies under great pressure.
So much so that even though Shaheen Afridi (2/41) and Haris Rauf (2/32) proved expensive, Pakistan managed to keep the score down to less than 140-150, which would’ve been competitive on that surface. Shabad Khan (0/7) and Mohammad Hafeez (0/13) also gave away only 20 runs from their five overs combined.
Pakistan enjoyed the better of the conditions with the bat as the track played truer to bat on in the run-chase where Babar Azam (50 off 41) anchored the innings nicely while Fakhar Zaman blasted a 24-ball 46* to propel their team to victory with more than four overs to spare and seven wickets intact.
Ravi Rampaul (1/19), Obed McCoy (0/18) sent down tight spells, but the rest of the West Indies bowlers struggled to maintain the kind of leash that their Pakistani counterparts had kept on their batters in the first half.
Brief scores
WI 130/7 in 20 overs (Hetmyer 28, Pollard 23; Ali 2/21) lost to PAK 131/3 in 15.3 overs (Azam 50, Zaman 46; Walsh 2/41) by 7 wickets
Afghanistan made a decent effort with the ball to put the breaks on South African batting for most parts, but their longstanding issues with the bat meant that they still ended up facing a chastening defeat in their first warm-up game at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/24), Mohammad Nabi (1/25) and Naveen-ul-Haq (1/25) shared five wickets between them as the Afghans managed to keep the Proteas down to just 145/5 in the first half. But in their turn to bat, they could respond with just 104/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
Captain Nabi (34*) was the only Afghan batter to cross the 20-run mark in what was a gloomy batting performance from the new Test entrants ahead of the main event where their batting will be tested further by better attacks during the Super 12s stage.
The South Africans, too, had multiple hiccups along the way while they batted. However, an innings of substance from the in-form Aiden Markram (48) and cameos from Heinrich Klaasen (11) and David Miller (20*) helped them cross the 140-mark.
They had a more rounded performance as a bowling unit, with wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi leading the pack and ending with figures of 3/18.
Brief scores
SA 145/5 in 20 overs (Markram 48, Bavuma 31; Ur Rahman 3/24) beat AFG 104/8 in 20 overs (Nabi 34*, Gurbaz 19; Shamsi 3/18) by 41 runs
Trans-Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand came to face to face in the other warm-up game of the day at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi, and it was the Aussies who overcame their neighbours in a battle of attrition.
On a dry surface, the Kiwis made 158/7 batting first, with thirties from Martin Guptill (30), Daryl Mitchell (33), skipper Kane Williamson (37) and James Neesham (31), enabling them a score within close reach of the 160-mark.
Pacer Kane Richardson (3/24) and wristspinner Adam Zampa (2/17) proved to be the stand-out performers with the ball for the Aussies.
The second half saw Australia stutter along the run-chase, but they did eventually cross the finish line. 35 from Steven Smith was the top score for the innings, while skipper Aaron Finch (24), Mitchell Marsh (24), Marcus Stoinis (28) and Ashton Agar (23) made useful twenties. But it required important lower-order knocks from Mitchell Starc (13*) and Josh Inglis (8*) for Australia to win with a ball to spare.
Making the Aussies’ life difficult with the ball were left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (3/22) and left-arm pacer Trent Boult (2/13). But Tim Southee (1/42) and Kyle Jamieson (1/42) were really expensive on the night, and that meant that the Kiwis could never really tighten up the screws enough.
Brief scores
NZ 158/7 in 20 overs (Williamson 37, Mitchell 33; Kane Richardson 3/24) lost to AUS 159/7 in 19.5 overs (Smith 35, Stoinis 28; Santner 3/28) by 3 wickets
