Tag: T20 World Cup 2024

GUYANA: West Indies have won the toss and chose to bat first against Uganda in the 18th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Providence Stadium on Saturday.

PLAYING XIs

West Indies: Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Roston Chase, Rovman Powell (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie

Uganda: Roger Mukasa, Simon Ssesazi (wk), Robinson Obuya, Riazat Ali Shah, Alpesh Ramjani, Dinesh Nakrani, Juma Miyagi, Kenneth Waiswa, Brian Masaba (c), Cosmas Kyewuta, Frank Nsubuga

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BARBADOS: A combined batting and bowling effort led Australia to a thumping 36-run victory over England in the 17th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Kensington Oval on Saturday.

Set to chase 202, England could only manage 165/6 in the allotted 20 overs despite a strong start.

England had a flying start to the run chase as openers Jos Buttler and Phil Salt dominated the Australian bowlers in the early phase of the innings.

The opening pair took England to 73 in seven overs but Adam Zampa dismissed Salt on the first delivery of the eighth over to provide Australia a much-needed breakthrough.

Salt scored 37 off 23 deliveries with the help of four fours and two sixes.

Buttler then put on a brief partnership with Will Jacks (10) before both perished in quick succession, bringing the total down to 96/3 in 10.5 overs.

Jos Buttler remained the top-scorer for England with 28-ball 42 which included five fours and two sixes.

The back-to-back dismissals halted the flow of runs for the defending champions as the fourth-wicket partnership between Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali yielded just 28 runs in 20 deliveries.

Bairstow scored seven off 13 deliveries while Moeen scored a 15-ball 25 before falling victim to Pat Cummins in the 16th over.

With England requiring 74 off 26 deliveries, Liam Livingstone (12) joined Harry Brook in the middle and the duo could add 24 runs amid their sixth-wicket partnership which lasted with the former’s dismissal in the penultimate over.

England then needed 50 off the final over which Marcus Stoinis comfortably defended to guide Australia to a thumping victory.

For Australia, Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa claimed two wickets each while Stoinis and Josh Hazlewood made one scalp each.

Put into bat first, the former champions registered a formidable total on the board, courtesy of a flying start provided by their openers Travis Head and David Warner.

Head and Warner smashed the England bowlers from the word go and went on to record a blistering 70-run partnership, which ended on the last delivery of the fifth over when Moeen Ali cleaned up the latter.

Warner struck two fours and four sixes on his way to a 16-ball 39 and top-scored for Australia.

His opening partner Head soon followed him as he fell victim to Jofra Archer in the next over. He scored a quickfire 34 off 18 balls, laced up with two fours and three sixes.

Skipper Mitchell Marsh then partnered with Glenn Maxwell and carried on the momentum.

The pair added 65 runs for the third wicket at a brisk rate before both perished in quick succession, bringing Australia’s total down to 141/4 in 14.2 overs.

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Marsh scored a 25-ball 35 with the help of four boundaries including two sixes while Maxwell scored an anchoring 28 off 25.

In-form Marcus Stonis then took the reigns of Australia’s batting charge and stitched brief partnerships with Tim David (11) and Matthew Wade before walking back to the dugout in the final over.

Stoinis made a vital contribution with a quick 30 off 17 balls, hitting two fours and as many sixes.

Wicketkeeper batter Matthew Wade, however, carried his bat all the way through and returned unbeaten on 17 off 10 deliveries.

Chris Jordan was the pick of the bowlers for England, picking up two wickets, while Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Moeen and Archer struck out a batter apiece.

For the unversed, Australia are second in Group B of the T20 World Cup 2024 with two points after one game while defending champions England are placed fourth with one point, owing to a wash-out against Scotland.

READ: Imad Wasim fit and available for India clash: Pakistan head coach Kirsten

NEW YORK: Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten shared that all-rounder Imad Wasim is fit and available for the team’s blockbuster T20 World Cup 2024 clash against arch-rivals India, scheduled on June 9.

Kirsten addressed the pre-match conference on the eve of the highly-anticipated fixture between arch-rivals Pakistan and India and confirmed Imad Wasim’s availability for the big game. He also expressed his hope for a turnaround for the Green Shirts in the tournament.

“Imad Wasim will be available for the match against India,” Kirsten confirmed.

“We will make a comeback in tomorrow’s match hopefully. I don’t like to dwell on the past, we will forget the previous loss [against the USA] and focus on the match [against India] and play excellent cricket,” he added.

Kirsten then discussed the nature of the T20s and emphasized the need to improve decision-making to excel in the format.

Just like Indian captain Rohit Sharma, Gary Kirsten asserted that playing a couple of games at a venue would not benefit a team.

“Things change quickly in T20s, we have to move the decision-making,” Kirsten said. “Nobody gets an advantage if a team plays two or four more games here.”

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Kirsten then went on to share that Pakistan’s Playing XI has not been finalized as of yet as the management is analyzing a few players’ fitness.

“We are looking at the fitness of a couple of players so the playing XI has not been decided yet. The players know about [the game of] one another, we will have to play our best game according to the conditions.”

For the unversed, Pakistan and India will lock horns for the eighth time in a T20 World Cup when they square off at the newly-built Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 9.

Out of seven matches played thus far between the arch-rivals, India emerged victorious six times while Pakistan tasted triumph only once.

The two teams boast contrasting momentums as India eased past Ireland by eight wickets in the campaign opener while Pakistan succumbed to a humiliating defeat against the USA.

Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup 2024

Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub.

India squad for T20 World Cup 2024

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya (vc), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

READ: Rohit Sharma wary of Pakistan’s potential to bounce back

NEW YORK: India’s captain Rohit Sharma was unfazed by Pakistan’s upset defeat against the United States of America (USA) ahead of the blockbuster T20 World Cup 2024 clash between arch-rivals, scheduled on June 9.

Rohit while speaking at the pre-match press conference here on Saturday, expressed his belief that Pakistan can make a turnaround in the ongoing tournament, stating that the Green Shirts played the final of the previous edition despite losing to Zimbabwe.

“This is the special nature of T20 cricket – anything can happen. Even in the last T20 World Cup, Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe, but it was eventually Pakistan in the final as well,” stated Rohit.

“If the opposition lost the last match, that doesn’t mean they will lose again or play badly. will surely have analysed their mistakes,” he added.

The Indian captain then denied the claims of having an advantage of knowing the conditions better than their opposition, considering the fact that India have played two matches – a warm-up against Bangladesh and their campaign opener against Ireland – at the newly-built Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.

“In New York, the conditions and opportunities will be the same for both teams. We have been here for just six or seven days; this is not our home ground,” Rohit said.

“The team that plays well will win; it doesn’t matter who arrived in New York first. We don’t know what the wicket will be like,” he added.

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Rohit Sharma further reiterated the need for the players to play to their full potential.

“No matter the pitch or the opponent, we have to play our best cricket. We have discussed the game plan for the match against Pakistan and we will play according to the situation.

“The team is full of experienced players, and we expect the best from them. We cannot rely on just one or two players; all eleven have to play their part.”

For the unversed, Pakistan and India will lock horns for the eighth time in a T20 World Cup.

Out of seven matches played thus far between the arch-rivals, India emerged victorious six times while Pakistan tasted triumph only once.

The two teams boast contrasting momentums as India eased past Ireland by eight wickets in the campaign opener while Pakistan succumbed to a humiliating defeat against the USA.

Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup 2024

Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Azam Khan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub.

India squad for T20 World Cup 2024

Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya (vc), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

READ: Babar Azam highlights shortcomings after USA upset Pakistan

BARBADOS: Defending champions England have won the toss and chose to bat first against arch-rivals Australia in the 17th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Saturday.

PLAYING XIs

Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

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Matches 23, England 11, Australia 10, No Result 2

READ: Paul Stirling believes Ireland can beat Pakistan and USA

NEW YORK: David Miller scored an unbeaten half-century to spearhead South Africa to a hard-fought four-wicket victory over spirited Netherlands in the 16th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Saturday.

Despite chasing a modest 104-run target, South Africa had to make hard yards to achieve the total. The Proteas lost six wickets in the process and completed the pursuit with just seven balls to spare.

South Africa had a disappointing start to the run chase as they were four down for just 12 in 4.3 overs.

Following the debacle, David Miller joined Tristan Stubbs in the middle and the duo launched an astounding recovery.

Stubbs and Miller batted sensibly under pressure and pulled South Africa out of trouble with a gritty 65-run partnership which lasted with the former’s dismissal in the 17th over.

Tristan Stubbs scored a crucial 33 off 37 deliveries, peppered with one four and a six.

South Africa sustained another blow to their expedition as Marco Jansen (3) perished in the next over, needing a further 16 runs.

David Miller then switched gears and smashed Bas de Leede for two sixes and a four in the penultimate over and steered South Africa to victory.

He remained the top-scorer for South Africa with an unbeaten 59 off 51 deliveries, featuring three fours and four sixes.

Vivian Kingma and Logan van Beek led the Netherlands’ bowling attack with two wickets each while Bas de Leede chipped in with a wicket.

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Put into bat first, the Netherlands batting unit struggled against a pace-heavy South African bowling attack and thus registered a meagre total on the board.

The Dutch had a disastrous start to their innings as they lost their opener Michael Levitt on just the third delivery of the innings.

Levitt’s dismissal halted the flow of runs for the European side and they began to lose wickets at an alarming. The Netherlands, as a result, slipped to 48/6 in 11.5 overs.

Meanwhile, Sybrand Engelbrecht, who came out to bat at No.4, finally found subtle support at the other end in the form of Bas de Leede.

The duo took on the fight against a ruthless South Africa bowling attack and added valuable runs to the Netherlands’ total with a 54-run partnership that lasted with Engelbrecht’s dismissal in the final over, bowled Ottneil Baartman.

Sybrand Engelbrecht remained the top-scorer for the Netherlands with a gutsy 40 off 45 deliveries with the help of two fours and a six.

The Dutch then lost two more wickets in a sensational final over as Tim Pringle and van Beek also fell victim to Baartman.

Logan van Beek remained a notable run-getter for the Netherlands with a 22-ball 23 which featured three boundaries.

Ottneil Baartman led the bowling charge for South Africa with 4/11 in his four overs, followed by Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen, who bagged two wickets each.

It is worth mentioning here that both South Africa and the Netherlands won their opening games of the T20 World Cup 2024 but the African side lead the Group D standings due to a superior net run-rate.

READ: Bangladesh edge past Sri Lanka in a thrilling T20 World Cup clash

Ireland captain Paul Stirling on Friday, asserted that his team can beat Pakistan and the United States of America (USA) in the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 fixtures.

Ireland are on the verge of an early exit from the 20-team tournament after losing back-to-back matches against India and Canada.

Meanwhile, the Irish captain Stirling, while speaking at the post-match press conference after his side’s 12-run defeat against Canada, claimed that his side can win its remaining group-stage fixtures.

“We’ve got two huge games,” he said. “Still massive every time you put on the shirt you want to go and win, but no reason why we can’t go and beat USA and Pakistan. We need to play a hell of a lot better if we’re going to want to do that. But different conditions, we know them slightly better and will certainly be given it as best a crack as we can.

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Stirling also acknowledged that Ireland did not play to their full potential in their first two matches of the T20 World Cup, stating if they do not play their best, they are bound to lose.

“I think we just want to play as good cricket as we possibly can. I’ve sort of hammered for at least the last year that if we don’t play our best cricket, we will not win games of cricket. So, we need to get back to our best for next week,” said Stirling.

Paul Stirling then went on to laud the inexperienced Canada for playing better while commenting on his side’s shock loss.

“They played better cricket than us for three hours and they won the game, simple as that. That doesn’t really, for me, matter what their tagline is, associate or full member or what, they just played smarter cricket, better cricket all day than us and they won,” Stirling concluded.

READ: “Babar Azam has not improved as captain in four years,” Shoaib Malik

NEW YORK: South Africa have won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Netherlands in the 16th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Saturday.

PLAYING XIs

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman.

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READ: Babar Azam has not improved as captain in four years: Shoaib Malik

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has criticized the national team’s white-ball captain Babar Azam for his performance as captain after a shocking loss against the United States (USA) in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Pakistan endured a five-run defeat against the co-hosts in the Super Over as they failed to chase down the 19-run target.

Senior pacer Mohammad Amir bowled the Super Over for Pakistan and conceded 18 runs. In response, the Green Shirts only managed 13/1.

After the match, Malik, who also played under Azam, stated that the right-handed batter has not evolved as a captain and makes predecided decisions on the field rather than improvising according to the situation.

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“This captaincy talk, I would like to go into its depth. You [Babar Azam] have set a blockage in your mind, that is the problem. If you have decided that Shadab [Khan] has to bat at a certain number, and Azam [Khan] and Iftikhar [Ahmed] have to bat in the last overs, and you do that exactly, these are the blockages,” said Malik while talking on a local channel.

“The most important thing which needs to be fixed is Babar’s captaincy from four years ago and now, I cannot see any difference.

“If someone is improving then you give them time because the results will be seen in the long run but in Babar’s case, as a leader, he is still where he was four years ago.”

The Green Shirts will face arch-rivals India in the most anticipated match of the T20 World Cup 2024 on 9 June in New York.

READ: Bangladesh edge past Sri Lanka in a thrilling T20 World Cup clash