All posts by csb10.top

Makhaya Ntini, Zimbabwe’s interim head coach during the home series against India, has slammed the approach of his batsmen after they collapsed in the second ODI to lose by eight wickets. Zimbabwe were on course for a competitive score when they were 106 for 3 after 25 overs, but lost their last six wickets for only 20 runs, and eventually conceded the series.”We have experienced players with us. The position that we were in was the perfect position to be in with 25 overs left,” Ntini told . “All of a sudden we lost two wickets, within one over. For me it tells straightaway that I think we never respect a good over.”The over Nitni was referring to was legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s fifth over. Despite Chahal conceding 25 runs in his first four overs, MS Dhoni persisted with him in seamer-friendly conditions and the legspinner was soon on a hat-trick by dismissing Sikandar Raza and Elton Chigumbura.”It was a good over where we tried to force matters, that’s where the game changed. They need to learn that if the guy is bowling very well, respect that,” Ntini said. “You have got a lot of time in 50 overs. The players need to have the maturity of being able to read the game and understand the situation. It’s how the Indian team batted. They read the situation, they knew that if there’s a good bowler, they respect that. They waited for the bad ball. We didn’t, we tried to force matters.”While Chigumbura fell lbw to a flighted and accurate delivery, Raza, who scored a scratchy 16 off 41 balls, holed out to long-on after he had struggled to rotate the strike. Zimbabwe rued their approach not only in the 26th over but also in the ones after that. No. 4 Vusi Sibanda was their best batsman on the day and was leading Zimbabwe with his 21st ODI fifty when he saw the two wickets fall. Despite that he heaved against a delivery in Chahal’s next over that pitched well outside off and turned further away and top-edged it for another catch.”It’s a matter of understanding. Have a look at who is bowling very well, try to take singles, frustrate him,” Ntini explained. “But we wanted to hit him for a six where we know that there was a fielder. They put a fielder there. If there’s a fielder, hit it down, get the single. We didn’t do that. We haven’t batted very well, our bowlers are very good but there’s no score that they can defend. Everyone still believes that they can do it. There’s no change in that.”Sibanda also expressed his disappointment at giving his wicket away and admitted he should have taken more responsibility.”It’s obviously disappointing how I threw my wicket away,” Sibanda said. “It was difficult to bat out there in the morning but no excuse. I was in and I should’ve taken more responsibility to take the team through and give our bowlers a decent total to defend. But unfortunately the execution just wasn’t there but it’s part of the game. It’s easy for me to say we’d lost wickets in clusters or other guys who went in didn’t do so well but I think I had the chance to take the team through and I didn’t.”Even though Zimbabwe are playing at home and against a second-string India side, their batsmen have failed to provide any kind of competition so far. The hosts have been bowled out for 168 and 126 in the series with one ODI left and three T20Is to follow.”Yes, this is our own backyard and we should actually do really well in our own backyard,” Sibanda said. “There’s no excuse. The wicket does a bit more in the morning and this is just the matter of us adapting to the conditions on that particular day. If we as batters don’t step up to the plate and do as well as we’d like to do and put up runs on the board, it’s going to be tough for bowlers and defend the total. There’s no excuse, it’s all a disaster. As a senior guy in the team, I shouldn’t be saying that leave it to the other guys.”

ScorecardBrett D’Oliveira continued an excellent run of form (file photo)•Getty Images

Ian Bell, moved aside by England, has found much to sustain him, at 34, as a captain of the county that has been part of his life since childhood. Bell’s influence at Edgbaston is considerable on and off the field but, in front of more than 13,000, he found little solace in the NatWest Blast as Worcestershire took the match that matters above all others – the West Midlands derby – by five wickets with five balls to spare.Bell’s 66, from 57 balls, for Birmingham was old school: an experienced assessment of the character of a slow Edgbaston pitch. He began sparkily, reined himself in in characteristic style when Worcestershire took pace off the ball in mid innings, looked on forlornly when the big-hitters failed to cause havoc around him, and then fell to a miscue in the final slog as Birmingham set a target that demanded a dominant bowling display to see them home.”Twenty runs short,” Bell admitted. “We didn’t cash in during the middle period. We want to play with no fear and we probably didn’t get that right today.”That dominant Birmingham bowling performance did not happen. Instead, Brett D’Oliveira played the most inventive innings of the night, fleet-footed and mentally sharp, to take Worcestershire home with an unbeaten 62 from 38 balls.He escaped a run-out chance when he was stranded in mid-pitch but Jeetan Patel’s shy was off target, and should have fallen to Recordo Gordon two balls from the end when Rob Adair dropped a sitter at backward point, but he deserved his luck.So reprieved, with the scores tied, he settled the match with the serenest of straight sixes against Oliver Hannon-Dalby. The Normal Gifford trophy, named after the left-arm spinner who graced both clubs, had its first winner.

Santner operation ends season

Worcestershire suffered a big pre-match blow with news that Mitchell Santner’s involvement as their overseas player in the NatWest Blast is over.
Santner was one of the stars of Worlds Twenty20 as his left-arm spin was a vital component of New Zealand’s side and brought flattering comparisons with the importance to New Zealand of his mentor, Daniel Vettori.
The finger-fracture Santner sustained against Durham Jets last week has proved complicated and he underwent surgery on Friday morning before returning to New Zealand.

Add an excellent spell of legspin earlier in the evening and D’Oliveira, grandson of Basil, who was so disgracefully maligned in the 1960s by South Africa’s apartheid system, followed up his excellent Championship form, upon being given a chance to open the batting, to pronounce himself one of the finds of the season. He looks as if he has the ability to do his grandad proud.In the field, recognising that he was under pressure, Bell ran a bowlers’ job interview – six of them used within eight overs as Worcestershire reached 60 for 3 – roughly eight an over from that point.But D’Oliveira recognised few limitations, repeatedly backing away to the leg side as he used the crease to good effect. When he plonked the offspin of Jeetan Patel, so often Birmingham’s matchwinner, over long-on for six, it was the first confident signal that it would be Worcestershire’s night. Stands of 53 with Alex Kervezee and 57 with Ross Whiteley saw Worcestershire home. This Worcestershire side has endless dangerous hitters.Birmingham’s T20 side showed half-a-dozen changes from the Warwickshire side (for new readers: same club, very complicated, ask someone in marketing) that conceded the lead in Division One of the Championship with a home defeat against Durham.One of those who survived was Sam Hain, and thereby lies a tale. Hain, one of the most promising batsmen in the country, was protected from T20 until this season. This year, he can’t buy a run in the Championship and his only consolation came in a T20 debut when he made an unbeaten 92 in Birmingham’s opening victory against Nottinghamshire. The poor four-day form came before the Blast began so at least T20 can’t be blamed for it.Hain’s contribution this time was less eye-catching, but solid enough, 24 from 17 balls in an opening stand of 50 in 5.1 overs with Bell, at which point Jack Shantry’s leg-side tactics brought success when Hain slogged and was bowled.Birmingham were well set, but they were slowed in mid-innings by two excellent spells from D’Oliveira, Worcestershire’s most economical bowler in T20 last season, and Ed Barnard – 2 for 32 in eight overs combined. Barnard had Will Porterfield excellently caught at deep midwicket by Alex Kervezee; D’Oliveira’s jaunty leg spin trapped Laurie Evans with one that skidded on.But Barnard was dropping catches, crucial ones, too, Bell put down on 13 at third man, an uppercut against the well-upholstered, bearded seam of Jack Leach; Luke Ronchi escaping before he had scored when an acceptable return catch slipped through his hands.They were not split until 19 balls from the end when Leach had Ronchi, unusually subdued, caught at deep cover with a low full toss. Bell’s cleverest moment was a deft sweep against Leach, from outside off stump, that flew over fine leg for six. He told himself it was enough, but afterwards he admitted he suspected it was not: D’Oliveira, a little lad with a bright future, saw to that.

Queensland 26 for 0 trail Michael Neser continued his hot start to the summer with he and Mitchell Swepson taking four wickets each to bowl South Australia out for 228.Queensland went to stumps on day one of their Sheffield Shield clash at 26 without loss in reply to South Australia, with Usman Khawaja unbeaten on 22 at Adelaide Oval.Related

• Abbott first to be subbed out under new Sheffield Shield injury rule

• Konstas' Test hopes fade with a duck on 13-wicket day

• Haskett makes an impression as Weatherald misses out

Almost the forgotten man in the great pace-bowling debate ahead of the Ashes, Neser ripped the heart out of Tasmania with 4 for 75 in the opening round. And he backed it up again on Wednesday with 4 for 30, after South Australia had done well to build a base of 133 for 2.After taking the top of Nathan McSweeney’s off stump when the right-hander left a ball after lunch, Neser claimed the last three wickets on day one. He first had a pulling Wes Agar caught at slip, edged off a driving Liam Scott for 44 and also had Jordan Buckingham caught behind.While the wickets came late in the innings for Neser, it still won’t have hurt his push to add to his two Tests for Australia.Scott Boland is all but certain to replace Pat Cummins for the first Test if Australia’s captain does not recover from a back injury in time.But Neser could well be the next option if Cummins does not return for later in the series and one of Australia’s quicks needs resting. That situation appears even more serious after fellow-hopeful Sean Abbott split the webbing on his bowling hand while playing for NSW on Wednesday.While Neser’s wickets could have Ashes implications, former Test spinner Swepson was the pick of the bowlers for Queensland on day one.He took four wickets in South Australia’s collapse from 133 for 2 to 188 for 7, including the crucial wicket of Conor McInerney lbw for 60.The legspinner also had Jason Sangha well caught by Khawaja close to the ground at slip, before the in-form Jake Lehmann hit him straight to square leg.Swepson’s fourth scalp came when Nathan McAndrew drove him on the up to cover, capping a fine day for the Queenslander.

R Ashwin is set to become the first capped male India player to play in the BBL with four clubs vying for his services to play in the latter stages of the upcoming season.It is understood that Sydney Thunder, Hobart Hurricanes, Sydney Sixers and Adelaide Strikers are the four teams chasing Ashwin’s signature in what is set to be a major coup for the BBL. Thunder and Hurricanes appear to be the frontrunners for the India great with a deal likely to be finalised later this week.No internationally capped India male player has played in the BBL previously, but Ashwin’s retirement from the IPL earlier this year has opened the door for him to play franchise cricket overseas for the first time.Related

• Ashwin enters ILT20 auction with the highest base price for any player

• R Ashwin brings curtain down on 'my time as an IPL cricketer'

• Afridi, Rizwan and Rauf among top picks at BBL overseas drafts

• All the BBL and WBBL squads for 2025-26 season

• CA exploring BBL investment 'unashamedly' to be second behind IPL

Only retired Indian players are allowed by the BCCI to participate in overseas T20 leagues. Earlier this year, Dinesh Karthik played for Paarl Royals in the SA20. In 2023, Ambati Rayudu turned up to play for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the CPL, and then in January 2024 with MI Emirates in the ILT20. Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan featured for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20. Two years ago, Suresh Raina was part of Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10.Ashwin has already committed to the first-ever ILT20 auction in the UAE, which will take place next Tuesday. If bought, he will play out the ILT20, which has changed dates for the upcoming season and will now run from December 2 until January 4.The BBL begins on December 14, and the home-and-away part of the season runs until January 18. The finals will be held between January 20 and 25. It means Ashwin will be available for three-four games at the end of the season for one of those teams, plus finals should the team he signs with qualify. ESPNcricinfo understands that his deal will also include the BBL for the 2026-27 season.BBL clubs can only play three overseas players in their XI. Each of the clubs has already locked three players in via the league’s pre-signing rules and the June overseas draft. Clubs can sign an additional four overseas replacement players, meaning they can have up to seven on their list, but only three can play at any one time. Also, if any of the teams release an international player for SA20, Ashwin could fit in as a replacement for him.The league rules state that replacement overseas players have to nominate themselves for the draft, which Ashwin did not as he had not retired from IPL cricket at the time. But there is an exemption for overseas players to be allowed to play in the BBL if their circumstances have changed. Former New Zealand batter Martin Guptill was previously signed by Melbourne Renegades in 2022-23 after retiring from international cricket despite missing the inaugural BBL overseas draft. England star Nat Sciver-Brunt was allowed to play for Perth Scorchers in the WBBL after being cleared by the ECB, having initially been ruled out of nominating for the draft due to injury.The club that signs Ashwin will still have to fit his salary inside their overall purse, much of which will already have been allocated for most squads, but there will likely be an additional marketing agreement with Cricket Australia that will not count towards the salary cap for the team that lands him.Teams can also go over the cap by 5% in a particular year with approval from the league’s technical committee, provided that it is offset over a three-year period.

D’Arcy Short, the former Australia batter, has agreed a return to Gloucestershire for next season’s T20 Blast.Short, 35, finished as the leading run-scorer after the group stage of this year’s Blast, with 551 at a strike rate of 136.04, although his form wasn’t enough to propel defending champions Gloucestershire into the quarter-finals, as they finished seventh in the South Group.”It’s so great to see D’Arcy back for the 2026 Blast,” Mark Alleyne, Gloucestershire’s head coach, said. “After a slow start, he proved to be such a brilliant addition to the Glorious, becoming the leading run-scorer across the two groups.”He is much more than that, though, as some of his innings can really put the opponent on the back foot. His bowling, too, can offer an option to complement our attack, so we look forward to his return with huge anticipation.”Short, who made the last of his 31 Australia appearances in 2020, said: “I’m excited to be coming back to Gloucestershire for the Blast again. I loved my time last year. The club makes you feel welcome, and hopefully we can build on last year and have success and make it into finals.”

Spencer Johnson is building some good memories of the SCG. For his second consecutive outing there he walked away as player of the match as a career-best 5 for 26 sealed the T20I series against Pakistan.They were the best figures by an Australia men’s quick in T20Is, moving above James Faulkner’s 5 for 27 also against Pakistan in Mohali in 2016, and it follows his title-winning performance in last season’s BBL final against Sydney Sixers where he claimed 4 for 26. Throw in 3 for 28 also against Sixers in early 2023, and he has 12 wickets at 6.66 in T20s at the ground.Related

• Maxwell sets up Australia win in seven-over thrash

• Johnson five-for headlines nervy win as Australia take series

“That doesn’t really make any sense to be honest,” Johnson said of his figures on Saturday evening. “It’s nice to be back at the SCG. My last time here was the Big Bash final and the conditions were in the bowler’s favour.”Much like that BBL game, where he was struck for three boundaries off his four balls before turning things around, it wasn’t an ideal start in front of a crowd of 31,563 as his first ball went for five wides down the leg side and his third was taken first slip.But Johnson had confidence in himself, and in his second over removed Sahibzada Farhan. Then when he returned in the 10th over he put himself on a hat-trick with the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha before making the decisive blow by removing Usman Khan for 52 when he was threatening to turn the game back Pakistan’s way.”I’ve played enough T20 cricket to know game to game you can have good games and bad games,” Johnson said. “A lot of time it’s through no fault of your own. You can mis-execute. But I knew tonight I had three overs to bounce back. I felt like the first over in that Big Bash final was a bit under pressure, and I was thinking back to that game and that I still had three overs to contribute to the team.”Johnson is among a group of Australian quick bowlers who fight for their opportunities in white-ball cricket when the big three of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are absent as they are for this series. With that trio having spoken of Test cricket being a priority, there could be a chance of some renewal in Australia’s first-choice T20 attack ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup following their Super Eight exit at this year’s tournament although Johnson is not expecting rapid change.”I know the big three will be here for a long time,” Johnson said. “They’re not going anywhere, they are only getting better. To be able to chop in and be part of the squad a lot more will only help me there. They are unbelievably durable and have done it for so long. They are definitely the benchmark.”Johnson, who missed the UK white-ball tour in September with a side strain, admitted that backing up game after game remained the challenge for him. He is expected to play the final T20I in Hobart on Monday which would make it four games in a row having also featured in the deciding ODI in Perth and has his sights set on a Sheffield Shield outing for South Australia before the BBL with Brisbane Heat.”The durability question mark is there for me, and, hopefully, the more I play the more durable I get.” he said. “I feel like the body’s getting there. It’s taken its time.”

Big picture: Pakistan out to keep series alive, last hit-out for several of Australia’s Test stars

After falling short of an incredible heist in game one at the MCG, Pakistan will need to regroup and conjure a rare victory at the picturesque Adelaide Oval on Friday to keep the series alive.Pakistan’s quicks gamely attempted to defend a modest score of 203, with fiery bowling from Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah on a fast and bouncy surface almost leading to a dream start for new ODI captain Mohammad Rizwan.Related

• Starc's early-season form is getting people talking

• Rauf rues 'untidy mistakes' as MCG ghosts continue to haunt Pakistan

• Short: Pakistan may have to change tactics in Adelaide

The short-pitched tactics worked well and rattled Australia’s batters, but Pakistan will likely need to change their approach on a ground with much shorter dimensions square of the wicket compared to the MCG. They will be wise to focus on bowling a disciplined line and length against an explosive Australia batting-order determined to stick with an ultra-aggressive method.To keep the series alive heading into Sunday’s decider in Perth, Pakistan will also need to defy a poor record against Australia having only won twice in the last 14 ODIs between the two sides.Australia weren’t overly convincing in game one, but can wrap up the series in what will be the final hit-out for skipper Pat Cummins, Steven Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Marnus Labuschagne before the first Test against India.Starc has been in sizzling early season form, while Cummins was clutch with ball and bat at the MCG. Smith’s crisp 44 allayed fears over his form but Labuschagne is in the midst of a lean patch and scored just 16 in the first ODI before being hustled by the extra bounce of Rauf.

Form guide

AustraliaWWLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
PakistanLLWWL

In the spotlight: Matt Short and Babar Azam

While the Test ‘bat off’ continues during the second Australia A match at the MCG, Australia also have David Warner’s shoes to fill in ODI cricket. With regular opener Travis Head on paternity leave, Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk are trying to make compelling cases ahead of the Champions Trophy but both fell cheaply in the opening game. Short has been viewed as having the inside running after performing well against England in the UK recently but made just one run in the series-opener after top-edging Shaheen Shah Afridi to third man. He should relish returning to the Adelaide Oval, where he has made a heap of runs in the BBL over the years for Strikers. Short has a golden opportunity in front of him in conditions he knows very well.Babar Azam looked in good touch before being beaten by Adam Zampa in Melbourne•AFP

Pakistan’s batters were exposed in challenging MCG conditions after being sent in. The exception was Babar Azam, who was a class above his team-mates with an elegant 37 off 44. He got through Australia’s quicks until he stumbled trying to accelerate the run rate against legspinner Adam Zampa. Babar’s recent struggles have been well documented and led to his controversial axing during the England Test series. But he seemed well at home back in ODI cricket, his favored format where he averages 56.52 – the fourth highest all-time – and is one century away from equalling Saeed Anwar’s Pakistan record of 20. He’ll have fond memories of playing at the Adelaide Oval having scored an even century against Australia in January 2017 – the last time the teams clashed in an ODI at the ground.

Team news: Hazlewood returns; Naseem expected to be fit

Hazlewood is likely to replace Sean Abbott in the XI and play his sole international match before the first Test. After a month’s break following the UK tour, Hazlewood made his return for New South Wales against Queensland in a Sheffield Shield fixture at Cricket Central that finished earlier in the week. He went wicketless from 24 overs in Queensland’s only innings of the drawn match.Australia (possible): 1 Matt Short, 2 Jake Fraser-McGurk, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodNaseem was forced to leave the field in the first ODI due to cramps but is expected to be available. Pakistan may need to consider playing a frontline spinner in Adelaide.Pakistan (possible): 1 Saim Ayub, 2 Abdullah Shafique, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 5 Kamran Ghulam, 6 Salman Ali Agha, 7 Irfan Khan, 8 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad Hasnain

Pitch and conditions

Despite its reputation as a batting paradise, Adelaide Oval has been tough to bat on as underlined in a low-scoring Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and Victoria that finished earlier in the week although that was designed to assist the home side’s spinners. The surface is usually considerably flatter for white-ball cricket with the short square dimensions leading to rapid scoring. There has been rain in the lead-up to the match and a shower is forecast on Friday morning. But play should be unaffected with sunny conditions expected throughout the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

• Mitchell Starc is six wickets away from becoming the fourth Australian to take 250 ODI wickets. He has the best strike-rate by an Australian in ODI cricket (minimum 50 wickets).
• Glenn Maxwell needs 66 runs to reach 4000 in ODIs.
• Shaheen Shah Afridi (25.99) and Haris Rauf (26.23) sit seventh and eighth respectively for bowling strike-rates in ODI history (minimum 1000 balls).
• Pakistan have beaten Australia just once from eight ODIs at the Adelaide Oval. Their only win was by 12 runs in December 1996.
  

  Quotes

  “The game is changing and we want to take the game on in the first 10 overs. Instead of scrapping to 240-250, which aren’t winnable scores out here, getting towards the high 300 mark is more of a winning total we think.”

Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) have signed local offspinner Bryan Charles as Dwayne Bravo’s replacement for the rest of CPL 2024.Bravo had announced his retirement from all cricket on Thursday after a groin injury cut short his stint in CPL 2024. Bravo had suffered the injury when he attempted to take the catch of Kings’ captain Faf du Plessis in the seventh over in Tarouba.Charles, 29, plays for Trinidad & Tobago in domestic cricket, but is yet to play an official T20. He is better known for his red-ball skills, having recently earned a call-up to West Indies’ Test side for the home Test series against South Africa earlier this year.Related

• Pollard: We need to produce next batches of Bravos, Pollards, Narines

• Dwayne Bravo announces retirement from all cricket

Charles was also the leading wicket-taker for Trinidad & Tobago in the West Indies four-day championship, taking 31 wickets in seven games at an average of 17. The tally included a career-best match haul of 13 wickets against Jamaica in Kingston in April.Charles could potentially act as cover for Sunil Narine, who has missed TKR’s last three games with a quad complaint. In the injury-enforced absence of Narine, Kieron Pollard had Tim David bowling offspin with the dry new ball in TKR’s last home game of the season, against Barbados Royals, on Friday. With three left-handers in Royal’s top six – TKR could potentially meet Royals again in the Eliminator – there’s a possibility of Charles coming into contention for selection if Narine’s still unfit for the playoffs.David has also joined TKR’s injury list, Pollard suggested, after he had seemingly hurt his side and banged his head into the ground while saving a six at the boundary on Friday.”Yes, the injuries are a big, big concern,” Pollard said after the match. “Obviously Tim [David] coming off the field as well, Narine [is] still not fit, Russell with his injury as well. My body is getting down a bit after a long tournament.”But having said that we are going to continue to rally, continue to try hard and continue to rest when needed. The support staff and the physio and doctors – they are all doing a really, really good job to keep the guys on the park.”

Lou Vincent, the former New Zealand international, received a special cap earlier this month to commemorate his 100th ODI, nearly 17 years since the milestone in 2007. Sir Richard Hadlee presented Vincent the cap in Auckland at a small ceremony attended by Vincent’s family and some former team-mates.”It was a lovely way to be acknowledged for my cricketing career, and to be able to use the night as an avenue to say thank you very, very much to people who’ve been by my side through the great times and the tricky times,” Vincent told The Post. “It was a really memorable, special night with some lovely words spoken.”Vincent, who finished with 2413 runs in 102 ODIs, also played 23 Tests and nine T20Is between 2001 and 2007. He then played in the now-defunct Indian Cricket League (ICL) and was on the domestic circuit until 2014, when he was banned for life by the ECB for corrupt activities on the county circuit.In December 2023, the ECB revised the punishment, allowing Vincent to return to working in domestic cricket.Related

• Lou Vincent to address conference in Melbourne with 'powerful message to the next generation'

• Vincent banned for life by ECB

• Lou Vincent's life ban revised, allowing him to return to domestic cricket

“The past is the past,” Vincent said in Auckland. “It was powerful that I had such huge support for the application for the ban to be appealed and there was no opposition from the ECB, they fully respected the work I’d done behind the scenes over the last few years and using my experiences to help educate the next generation of players.”NZC chief executive Scott Weenink said the board had been sitting on Vincent’s commemorative cap “for probably 13 years.””The reality is, you can’t forget what he actually did and he would be the first to admit that, but he’s done his penance and no one has done more to fight match-fixing than he has by being so open and telling everything that he knew,” Weenink said. “When the opportunity came, it was really the least we could do to present him with his cap.”According to Vincent, Hadlee – the former chairman of selectors who had first picked him for New Zealand – was in tears while presenting the cap.”I was able to say to him ‘Richard, you are New Zealand Cricket, you are the best player we’ve ever had, you’ve achieved so much, and for you to take time out and fly to Auckland to want to present this cap to me is so, so humbling and a reflection of the great man you are,” Vincent said. “And he was in tears. Sir Richard Hadlee in tears!”Vincent’s 100th ODI appearance came in Cape Town in December 2007, where he scored 18 and also took his only ODI wicket by dismissing Jacques Kallis. Now 45, and slowly returning to cricket, Vincent recently turned out for Seddon Cricket Club and was involved in a five-day match to raise awareness on men’s mental health.”Life moves on, and my life has moved on now. I’ve been blessed with a little son, and I’ve got two daughters who are teenagers,” Vincent said. “To have the opportunity to start a family again and be settled in the far north and have the beach life – a simple life – this is all I’m focused on now.”

Nepal had played eight games at the Women’s Asia Cup in 2012 and 2016 combined, but couldn’t register a single win. Then they didn’t make the next two editions in 2018 and 2022. They almost missed the bus for the Women’s Asia Cup 2024 too, but a late tweak in rules in March 2024 brought Nepal here, and now they have their first-ever win in the competition.Riding on an unbeaten 72 from opener Samjhana Khadka and a three-wicket haul from captain Indu Barma, Nepal defeated the more-fancied UAE by six wickets in the tournament opener. They got home with 23 balls to spare after restricting UAE to 115 for 8 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.Nepal finished as the semi-finalists in the qualifying tournament, the ACC Women’s Premier Cup in February 2024. But while releasing the schedule in March, the Asian Cricket Council announced that the semi-finalists of that tournament would be eligible to play the tournament, making it the biggest-ever edition. Nepal’s win on the opening day seems to validate that decision of expanding the tournament to more teams.

Khadka magic aided by UAE’s slips

Khadka came into the Asia Cup in good form. She was the leading run-getter in the Lalitpur Mayor Women’s Championship, Nepal’s domestic T20 competition, in May. Her success for the Sudur Paschim Province, the runners-up, was primarily at the top of the order. Though she had never opened the batting in her 16 previous T20Is, Nepal decided to capitalise on her domestic form by bumping her up to the top, and she did not disappoint.Khadka got going with a four by opening the face of the bat to guide Dharnidharka through backward point in the first over of the chase. She then showcased her power back-foot punches through cover in the third over, and Nepal were racing along. One of the characteristics of her knock was running between the wickets, which put pressure on the infielders. UAE crumbled under that pressure as Khadka did not miss out taking runs even on the half-stops.Khadka held her own even when Egodage varied her pace and flight. Egodage, the Colombo-born UAE player who was playing in Sri Lanka for the first time, dismissed Sita Rana Magar and Kabita Kunwar to return figures of 4-1-12-3. None of the other bowlers were able to exert enough pressure.The result? Khadka raced away to 50 off just 35 balls, the first half-century by a Nepal batter in the Women’s Asia Cup. She finished with her career-best T20I score – when she hit the winning runs – a score that was 56 more than the previous best by a Nepal batter in the competition.

Spinners trouble UAE

Nepal had pressed their seamers Kabita Kunwar and Sabnam Rai into action after opting to bowl. Even though they picked up two wickets – Esha Oza was run-out going for a non-existent single in the second over, and then Rinitha Rajith missed a wild hoick to be bowled on the next ball – the four overs they bowled in tandem went for 27. Once spin was introduced, the runs dried up.After a quiet fifth over by Rubina Chhetry, Indu Barma beat Theertha Satish at her own game in the final over of the powerplay. Theertha, the UAE opener, loves driving the ball on the up. She showed that aplenty at the start, even though she found the fielders. The stride forward, the straight bat, the timing – everything was there in the only four she hit in her knock. Barma challenged her to repeat it against her offspin, and she held onto a return catch. UAE were three down inside the powerplay.

Egodage and Khushi stage a mini-recovery

When Barma had Samaira Dharnidharka chip one to cover in the eighth over, UAE were 46 for 4. Khushi Sharma joined Kavisha Egodage at that point and the pair kept the scorecard ticking without taking too many risks. However, they could manage only two fours each and in their attempt to manufacture boundaries, they only found the fielders regularly and the running between the wickets was also marked by confusion.In a bid to take the aerial route against left-arm spinner Kritika Marasini, Egodage sliced one to backward point. Khushi changed gears after that but to little effect. Chhetry, Barma and Kabita Joshi’s offspin, and Sita Rana Magar and Marasini’s left-arm spin never let the momentum slip, as UAE were kept to a below-par total after losing 3 for 6 at the back end.