Author: Kashish Chadha

The Lankan Lions dominated another of their Group A rivals in the preliminary round of this year’s T20 World Cup, clinching an easy win over the Netherlands in Sharjah on Friday. Mystery spinners Wanindu Hasaranga (3/9) and Maheesh Theekshana (2/3) were the chief destroyers for Sri Lanka as they ran through the Netherlands middle-order, allowing none of their batters any form of respite. On a dry spin-friendly track, the Dutch were always second-favourites to tackle Hasaranga and Theekshana, whose variations are yet to be properly resolved by some of the prominent batters of the world. But few would’ve still anticipated them to be 44…

Namibian national team rewrote the history books, making the Super 12s stage in their maiden T20 World Cup this Friday in Sharjah. The inspirational African associates qualified for the main round of the competition after defeating a Test member Ireland in a high-intense game. It was a great day for Gerhard Erasmus and his men, who had to go through four rounds of qualification tournaments to enter the big league and set up rare clashes with India, Pakistan, New Zealand, among others in, Group 2. On a dry, sluggish track, Namibia first restricted Ireland to just 125/8 in the first half and then chased down the 126-target with eight…

The existing eight franchises will be allowed to make a maximum of four retentions ahead of the next year’s mega auction for an expanded 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League, stated a report in Cricbuzz. With the Premier League set to welcome two new teams and a mega auction due to be held at the beginning of the new cycle, there has been a lot of attention on possible retentions that the existing sides will be allowed to make. The BCCI was never expected to force the current eight sides to release their entire squad and allow the new…

Last month’s controversially postponed fifth and final Test of India’s series in England has been rescheduled and will now be played in Edgbaston next summer in July, the ECB confirmed on Friday. Originally due to be played on September 10-14 in Manchester, the Test couldn’t be held at the time because of India’s withdrawal, borne out of the inability of the tourists to field a team due to fears of a potential COVID-19 outbreak within the camp. But the ECB has announced that the series will now conclude at the start of July 2022 in Edgbaston. This, following an extensive…

With India set to face arch-rivals Pakistan in their first Super 12 encounter of the 2021 T20WC this Sunday, ex-Australia pacer Brett Lee hailed them as one of the “favourites” to reclaim the coveted crown. Though the Men in Blue have a positive win/loss record of 20 wins and 11 losses in the T20 World Cup history, the Asian giants haven’t clinched the title since the tournament’s inaugural edition in 2007. But Lee reckons Virat Kohli and company can finally bag the coveted crown back this winter.  The great cricketer turned commentator also named his top run-scorer and the highest wicket-taker for the competition and…

An excellent bowling performance helped Scotland dismiss Oman for a paltry 122 in their allotted 20 overs, before they chased down the modest 123-run target only two wickets down and with three overs left in the game. The leading European associates conquered their Asian rivals with a fantastic allround display, coming out triumphant by eight wickets. Josh Davey (3/25), Safyaan Sharif (2/25) and Michael Leask (2/13) shared seven wickets between them. Davey was the stand-out performer with the ball for Scotland. Opening batter Aqib Ilyas (37) and skipper Zeeshan Maqsood (34) made impressive thirties, but the rest of the Oman batters – leaving aside maybe Mohammad Nadeem (25) – left a…

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said captain Kane Williamson is expected to recover well from his persisting elbow issue for the start of his team’s T20 World Cup campaign but must continue taking a few precautions. Credit: Getty Images Williamson has been managing an elbow problem since the home summer of 2020-21 earlier this year when had to be rested for the limited-overs series versus Bangladesh. He was then benched for the start of the Indian leg of IPL 2021 and also skipped the second Test of the England tour in Edgbaston. The modern-day batting giant has been going through extensive rehab…

Linda Zondi, the then chief selector of South Africa’s senior men’s national side, has revealed why he turned down the request for inclusion made by the great AB de Villiers prior to the 2019 ODI World Cup in the UK.  Credit: AFP After shockingly taking retirement in early 2018, De Villiers made a u-turn on his decision and conveyed the same indirectly to Zondi via the then South African captain Faf du Plessis. However, the selection chief took a tough call and made no last-minute changes to the World Cup squad. Now as he appeared before the committee of Social Justice and National-Building formed by Cricket South…

As the world took note and nodded in approval of Scotland’s newly-designed jersey for the T20 World Cup 2021 in Oman and the UAE, they were all in for a massive shock when it emerged that the person behind the popular gear is a schoolgirl. Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer and his men are battling it out against the best teams of the world while wearing a design created by a teen named Rebecca Downie. She was is the one who created the new design of the shirts worn by the Scots for their country’s fourth T20 World Cup appearance. Credit: Getty Images Rebecca…

After pulling off a memorable win over Bangladesh in the T20WC opener, Scotland defeated Papua New Guinea in Group B by 17 runs after a decent all-round performance against their Oceanic rivals. PNG did put the Scots under pressure at certain stages but they were largely the second-best side on show. Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Scotland got off to a shaky start, losing both their openers George Munsey (15) and skipper Kyle Coetzer (6) inside the first four overs of the powerplay. Jolted by a couple of quick blows at that stage, they got back on their feet via a…