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Mair finished with four and Tahuhu with three as New Zealand ended their losing streak in T20Is

Srinidhi Ramanujam04-Oct-2024 • Updated on 05-Oct-20244:54

Takeaways: Does India’s batting need better balance?

New Zealand opened their women’s T20 World Cup with a resounding 58-run win over pre-tournament favourites India and ended their ten-match losing streak in T20Is in the process.Sophie Devine’s unbeaten 57 off 36 after a flying start from openers Georgia Plimmer and Suzie Bates helped New Zealand post 160 for 4, which proved way too much for India.India’s batters couldn’t handle the New Zealand pace attack, as Rosemary Mair starred with four wickets and Lea Tahuhu picked up three. But it was all set up by legspinner Eden Carson, who struck a double-blow early, removing openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. With Harmanpreet Kaur – at No. 3 for the first time in 18 months – falling for a 14-ball 15 inside the powerplay, the chase got tricky for India, who were a batter short, and lost six wickets for 60 runs to be bowled out for 102 in 19 overs.

The Devine show

After conceding 55 runs in the powerplay, India fought their way back into the game in the middle overs but they couldn’t keep Devine quiet. Between the last World Cup and this one, she had batted mostly at No. 4 barring two games – this was after playing at the top of the order from 2017 to early 2023 – to bring more power to the middle order. But Devine had not found a lot of success this year, averaging 21.25 in nine innings with just two half-centuries. The New Zealand captain had also come into the tournament with scores of 5, 12, 4, 5. But it didn’t matter on Friday as Devine once again proved her credentials as a big-match player to lift New Zealand.After seven boundary-less overs, she punished S Asha for back-to-back fours, dancing down the track to smash one through mid-off and pulling one away to deep square-leg off the back foot. She kept the scorecard ticking and didn’t spare the pace of Renuka Singh either, hitting consecutive fours in the 15th over. She found the extra-cover boundary to bring up her 21st T20I fifty. Along the way, Devine shared a 46-run stand off 26 balls with Brooke Halliday for the fourth wicket and gave New Zealand a strong finish.

Plimmer and Bates give New Zealand flying start

New Zealand showed their intent from the word go with Suzie Bates pulling the first ball of the innings to deep square-leg for four, and she stepped down the track as early as third ball for a drive past mid-off for her second four, all off Pooja Vastrakar. Plimmer – who is fresh off her first maiden T20I fifty, against Australia – also unsettled Deepti Sharma in the third over. This included a six when she came down the track and lofted one over long-on. They also benefited from India’s sloppy fielding – Richa Ghosh dropped Bates, who got a top edge to the keeper, in the final over of the powerplay. The duo brought up the team 50 in 34 balls, hitting five fours and a six, to end the powerplay strongly at 55 without losing a wicket and set the platform for a competitive total.Lea Tahuhu celebrates with her team-mates•Getty Images

Asha and Reddy apply the brakes

Both Arundhati Reddy and Asha have been in and out of India’s XI this year but when they got an opportunity on a big stage on Friday, they delivered. Bowling the final over of the powerplay, Reddy had leaked 12 runs. Asha was then introduced into the attack and she started with a six-run boundary-less over. Coming back for her second, Reddy removed Bates with a slower one for 27 and provided India the breakthrough they craved. In the following over, Asha tossed one up and forced the well-set Plimmer to step out and heave one into the hands of Smriti Mandhana at long-on, bringing out footballer Leandro Trossard’s goggles celebration to mark the moment. Bowling in tandem after the powerplay, the pair conceded just 20 runs off 30 balls from the seventh to the 11th to slow down New Zealand.

The drama around the run-out-that-wasn’t

The game wasn’t without its share of drama.India thought they had run out Amelia Kerr in the 14th over and the batter also thought she was gone, and headed for the dugout before being stopped by the fourth umpire. The umpires had decided the ball was dead when the dismissal was effected.Kerr and Devine were trying to sneak a second off the last ball of the over when the ball was in Harmanpreet’s hands, and it seemed the ball was dead. They ran, Harmanpreet threw, Ghosh broke the stumps, and Kerr was well short of getting back to the striker’s end.Meanwhile, after the first run, Deepti, the bowler, had asked the umpire to hand her cap back and had also collected it.Play was paused for a few minutes with India coach Amol Muzumdar having a conversation with the fourth umpire. But it was decided the ball was dead, and the run-out dismissal would not be counted as the ball was not “in play”.

India change approach but falter

India had three fast bowlers in the XI for the first time in a T20I this year, with Vastrakar, Renuka and Reddy all included. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, India’s second-best bowler this year in terms of wickets taken, was left out to accommodate an extra seamer. The six-bowler strategy meant Harmanpreet was promoted to No. 3 with Jemimah Rodrigues and Ghosh at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. But playing with one batter fewer did not help India on a day their batting unit underperformed.Chasing a competitive 161, India lost their top three inside the powerplay and the middle order faltered against the hard lengths of Tahuhu before Mair’s swing troubled the lower order. Ghosh consumed 19 balls to make 12 and Deepti made 13 off 18. Harmanpreet’s 15 remained the top score.

Duo share unbroken sixth-wicket stand worth 91 after wobbly start for tourists on day two

Matt Roller17-Jun-2023Usman Khawaja walked up the dressing-room stairs unbeaten for the second straight evening at Edgbaston, 122 runs better off than he had been the night before. England hoped four overs would be enough to dislodge Khawaja on Friday, declaring in time for a crack at him with the new ball; 24 hours later, he had proved himself immovable.Khawaja was the nearly man of Australian cricket for much of his career, playing 93 times for his country before his 34th birthday without ever feeling like a permanent fixture in the side. His technique and temperament were called into question, and after three years out of international cricket, it seemed he had served his time.But in the Birmingham sunshine, Khawaja cut Ben Stokes for four and raced down the pitch to celebrate his seventh Test hundred since his recall 18 months ago. Since the start of 2023, he has scored hundreds in Australia, India and now, for the first time in his career, England.On a slow, dry pitch, Khawaja and Australia scored at a different tempo to the one England had set on the first day. They scored at barely two-thirds of the rate of England’s first innings, yet with Khawaja’s innings – littered with crisp pulls and handsome drives – ensured that they trailed by only 82 at stumps.It took Australia 24 balls to add to their overnight 14 for 0, absorbing more maidens in the first three overs of the day than England had done in their entire first innings. Khawaja pulled and flicked Stuart Broad and James Anderson for boundaries – he pulled and flicked his way through the day – but it was Broad who brought the morning to life.The first ball of his sixth over was a wide inswinger dangled outside off stump, but David Warner took the bait. He threw his hands at the ball, then his head back: his back leg collapsed as he shaped to thump Broad through the covers, and a thick inside edge deflected the ball into the top of his leg stump.It was the 15th time that Broad had dismissed Warner, but he celebrated as though it was the first, racing away towards the Hollies Stand with his fists clenched so hard that the veins in his neck throbbed. As Marnus Labuschagne asked a policeman to move from his perch next to the sightscreen, Broad sensed something was brewing.Raising his hand and whirling his finger, he geed up the crowd at the top of his mark. Coming from wide on the crease, he angled an outswinger into him, and Labuschagne could not resist driving away from his body. Jonny Bairstow tumbled low to his right, taking the catch one-handed, and Australia were 29 for 2.The hat-trick ball flew harmlessly past Steven Smith’s thigh pad as he shouldered arms with a flourish, and Smith dug in resolutely against whatever Ben Stokes threw at him – including an over of gentle medium pace from Harry Brook inside the first hour. And so, Stokes took matters into his own hands, bringing himself on for only his second over in a match since mid-February, and his first since early April.His first delivery was a front-foot no-ball, perhaps striving to prove his fitness despite a chronic knee issue, but the last ball of his second over skidded into Smith’s pad. Marais Erasmus eventually gave Smith out after Stokes pleaded for the decision, and the DRS could not save him: ball-tracking predicted the ball would have hit the top of the stumps.Travis Head joined Khawaja and counter-punched either side of lunch in characteristic manner. He survived a short-ball barrage after the interval and both left-handers took on Moeen Ali, who bowled as well as could be hoped for a man who came out of Test retirement last week. Moeen started to leak runs, but Stokes stubbornly refused to take him off, or to push the field back.Khawaja took 106 balls to reach his half-century, while Head got there in 60, cutting an out-of-sorts Ollie Robinson away behind square. He didn’t score another run, skipping down the pitch and miscuing Moeen to short midwicket; Moeen pointed to Stokes at mid-off as he turned away in celebration.Moeen should have had two wickets in three balls, beating Cameron Green as he charged out of his crease. Instead, an unsighted Bairstow missed the stumping chance and Green added 72 with Khawaja for the fifth wicket in a stand that spanned the tea interval.The best ball of the day accounted for Green on 38, as Moeen flighted an offbreak wide outside off. It drifted away a touch, then spun back sharply from a good length to beat Green – lunging forwards as though stepping on an insect – on the inside edge and peg back his leg stump.Yet England failed to take another wicket, Khawaja and Alex Carey adding an unbroken 91 for the sixth wicket. Carey had a life on 26, prodding forwards to Joe Root only for Bairstow to put the chance down, an edge past Root at slip off Moeen brought him to 50. Khawaja, too, enjoyed a reprieve. Broad took the second new ball and found some nip off the seam to knock off stump back.But the third umpire noticed that Broad had overstepped, and he survived until the close once again. The crowd had started to filter out by the time he walked off with a beaming smile, at the end of a day that will be remembered as Usman Khawaja’s.

Newcomers Brits and Mlaba are among the 15 to get a deal for the 2022-23 season

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2022Mignon du Preez was left out of the 15 women who were awarded central contracts for the 2022-23 season by Cricket South Africa on Monday. The 32-year old former captain played a crucial role in taking her team to the semi-finals of the 2022 Women’s World Cup, but has since retired from Test-match and ODI cricket and remains available only for T20s. Also missing is Nadine de Klerk, who was part of the contracted 15 in 2021-22.The space they left behind was filled up by top-order batter Tazmin Brits and left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba. Pholetsi Moseki, CSA’s chief executive officer, heaped praise on the two newcomers for their “dedication and work on and off the field” over the last 12 months.”After a remarkable year for the Momentum Proteas that saw the team climb to and maintain second spot in the ODI world rankings, it is with immense pleasure to announce next season’s squad of contracted players as they embark on their next challenge in world cricket.”Just like the previous 12 months, the next year brings forth a hugely-anticipated calendar of international cricket for the Proteas Women and we strongly believe in the set-up in place at the top of our women’s game to continue breaking boundaries and make their mark in the game,” he said.”On behalf of CSA, congratulations to Tazmin Brits and Nonkululeko Mlaba on their newly-awarded contracts. Their dedication and work on and off the field has not gone unnoticed and these contracts are a reward for their contributions.The upcoming season will begin with South Africa Women touring Ireland for three T20Is and three ODIs from June 3 before a multi-format tour of England between June 25 and July 27. Then there are the Commonwealth Games T20s in August followed by the T20 World Cup in February 2023, with South Africa hosting the global event for the first time. CSA will play host to the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup next year too.Women’s contracts: Tazmin Brits, Trisha Chetty, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Lizelle Lee, Suné Luus, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloé Tryon, Dané van Niekerk, Laura Wolvaardt.

Team will not take a knee but has decided to demonstrate commitment to inclusion

Firdose Moonda26-Nov-2020The South Africa men’s team will make a statement of anti-racism when they take on England in the white-ball series starting Friday. Their action, which will not be the taking of a knee, has been unanimously agreed on by all members of the squad and will demonstrate their commitment to inclusion.A source close to the team told ESPNcricinfo that the decision was made in the last few days, upon reflection, after their stance on not taking a knee was made public and widely criticised. They will also be wearing black armbands in support of the fight against gender-based violence and to mourn the lives lost to coronavirus.ALSO READ: Mixed BLM messages epitomise South Africa’s moral mazeSouth Africa’s revised position comes after coach Mark Boucher initially indicated that the team would not make any gestures in support of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement because they felt it was “not something that we have to continue to show, it’s something you have to live.” That was followed by Kagiso Rabada confirming he was “100%” in support of BLM but that the team had collectively made a decision not to take a knee. Rassie van der Dussen was then prevented from answering a question on the subject by CSA.By Wednesday, former national fast bowler Makhaya Ntini, who took a knee alongside current director of cricket Graeme Smith at the 3TC match in July, told he felt Smith should instruct the taking of a knee again as the international season begins. That afternoon the players sent out a statement reiterating their commitment to dismantling racism but saying that they regarded it as a “process, not an event”.The statement did not rule out the making of any gestures, but the rhetoric earlier in the week had appeared to. However, the team have since sought to find other ways to show their support for racial equality and will demonstrate them on Friday.Insiders confirmed that several members within the team were against taking a knee for religious reasons, as it thought that kneeling is an act to be done only before God, but that a new solution has been found.England’s players, who took a knee during their home series against West Indies and Ireland, but not for the visits of Pakistan and Australia, are likely to support South Africa in whatever gesture they perform. ESPNcricinfo understands they will also be wearing black armbands in solidarity with CSA on GBV and Covid-19.”As a team, as a squad, across all three formats, we’ve spoken about how we can create meaningful change over a period of time that is extremely authentic to every player and staff member within our group,” Eoin Morgan, England’s captain, said. “When we put our weight and our voice behind something, we feel that’s extremely powerful.”

Jackson Bird thrives as seamers make hay on unconventional Ageas Bowl surface

Daniel Brettig at the Ageas Bowl23-Jul-2019Batsman and bowlers alike were left puzzled by a Southampton surface that seamed like a green top but dried out rapidly over day one of Australia’s lone Ashes warm-up while also providing variable bounce.A ledger of 201 for 17 across the day hardly depicted a batting paradise, but nor was it exactly the sort of slow, seaming surface that the tourists can be expected to face against England over five Tests at Edgbaston, Lord’s, Headingley, Old Trafford and The Oval over the next two months. Marnus Labuschagne, the only batsman to pass 30 all day, and Jackson Bird, one of four pacemen to take three wickets or more, were united in their puzzlement.”We were umming and ahhing this morning about what to do if we were going to bowl or bat,” Labuschagne said after making 41 out of 105 for his side. “I actually called Sam Northeast up in the change room and he was saying that on this wicket they tend to bat first because of the deterioration during the game. It’s really hard to tell – the conditions with the ball as well, there was plenty of swing and seam for pretty much the whole day, so I don’t really think it made too much of a difference batting first or second.”The heavy roller probably did, over here it flattens it out a little bit for probably 30-40 minutes but towards the back end it was still pretty lively and going. It was just the dryness of the wicket, with the bowlers we had who did bowl a heavier ball into the wicket I think they got considerably more up and down out of the wicket than you would potentially in a championship game with the bowlers bowling a bit slower and a bit more sideways movement. But everyone you’ll see will adapt and hopefully get some runs in the second innings.”Bird, who has played county cricket for Hampshire and Nottinghamshire in the past, said it was not like any pitch he had seen before in these parts. “It was a funny sort of wicket, you don’t really see this sort of wicket in England,” Bird said. “There was lots of live grass on it but the surface was really dry, so there was a bit of inconsistent bounce from the top end, and it nipped around a little bit as well with that inconsistent bounce, which made it hard. The wicket got a little bit better as the day went on, but the bowling all day was reasonably good.”Where this all leaves Australia’s Ashes preparations is anyone’s guess, but suffice to say there were more than a few batsmen who would have preferred greater time in the middle, particularly given its dual status as a preparatory fixture and also a selection trial.”This game is a very serious game and it’s one where we’re all looking to perform,” Labuschagne said. “As a whole squad everyone wants to score runs, take wickets and I think we’re getting the best out of each other by playing this hard cricket and its the best preparation for the upcoming tour.”Facing the majority of the people out there bowling 130-140kph plus, facing the extra pace on a wicket that is going a little bit up and down, you need to make sure your ducks are in a row and your plans are in order. You wish as a batter it counted as 141 but no, 41 is still 41. In a low-scoring game those scores do help the team but from a personal view, it’s frustrating when someone does get in and doesn’t go on with it.”As Labuschagne’s opponents, Bird complimented the Queensland No. 3 on his diligent planning for the surface. “He had a plan especially facing up to me, he came down the wicket and across to off stump and tried to take away getting bowled and lbw,” Bird said. “The wicket could nip and stay a little bit low so he took that mode of dismissal out and it seemed to work for him. Although he nicked one in the end but that happens sometimes. It was good to see him have a plan, he’s had a really strong start to the county championship season this year.”Regarding the selection trial, with the final Ashes squad to be named at the end of the match, Bird admitted to more than a few unusual emotions. “It’s a weird situation that we haven’t been in before,” Bird said, “but everyone’s really embraced it the last week and it’s been really good to get in both teams in separate groups and I guess try to get the team camaraderie as much as you can in a weird situation.”Our batters are world class as well, so anytime you get to come up against those guys it’s good for your confidence and good for honing your skills I guess. It was a poor day out for the batters but the bowlers took a lot out of it. I’m expecting the batting group to bounce back in the next three days.”

Other major stars in the Supernovas and Trailblazers XIs include Ellyse Perry, Suzie Bates, Alyssa Healy, Danielle Wyatt and Megan Schutt

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2018Australia captain Meg Lanning, superstar allrounder Ellyse Perry and India ODI captain Mithali Raj are set to be part of the IPL Supernovas team in the Women’s T20 exhibition match in Mumbai. They will face an IPL Trailblazers side that includes Jhulan Goswami, the highest wicket-taker in women’s ODIs, the prolific New Zealand opener Suzie Bates and the England offspinner Danielle Hazell among other big names.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In all, the two squads of 13 announced by the BCCI on Thursday include five Australia players, three from New Zealand and two from England, apart from 16 major Indian stars including Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, who will captain the Supernovas and Trailblazers respectively.The match will be played ahead of the first IPL Qualifier on May 22 at the Wankhede Stadium. The match will begin at 2pm IST and will be telecast across the world, unlike India women’s most-recent assignment – the ODI series against England – which was limited to a livestream on the BCCI website.

Rising Pune Supergiant have acquired seamer Shardul Thakur from Kings XI Punjab for the tenth season of the IPL, which starts on April 5

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2017Mumbai and Kings XI Punjab seamer Shardul Thakur has been acquired by the Rising Pune Supergiant for the tenth season of the IPL, which starts on April 5. This is Supergiant’s second trade of the season, having signed opener Mayank Agarwal from Delhi Daredevils ahead of the auction in January.Thakur’s addition bolsters Supergiant’s Indian seam bowling group, which includes Ashok Dinda, Deepak Chahar, Ishwar Pandey, Jaskaran Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Rajat Bhatia and Rahul Tripathi.Thakur was bought by Kings XI in 2014 for INR 20 lakhs. He played a solitary match for them in 2015, conceding 38 runs for a wicket in three overs against Delhi Daredevils in May 2015. In all, Thakur has played 18 T20s for 21 wickets at an economy rate of 7.81.Supergiant will begin their campaign against Mumbai Indians in Pune on April 6.Rising Pune Supergiant squad: Adam Zampa, Ajinkya Rahane, Ankit Sharma, Ankush Bains, Ashok Dinda, B Aparajith, Ben Stokes, Daniel Christian, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Ishwar Pandey, Jaskaran Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Lockie Ferguson, Manoj Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal, Milind Tandon, Mitchell Marsh, MS Dhoni, Rahul Tripathi, Rahul Chahar, Rajat Bhatia, R Ashwin, Saurabh Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Steven Smith (capt.), Usman Khawaja.

A couple of months after announcing his retirement, Virender Sehwag has said he was “hurt” by the manner in which he was dropped from the Indian team in 2013

Gaurav Kalra30-Dec-20155:56

Hurt by the way I was dropped – Sehwag

A couple of months after announcing his retirement, Virender Sehwag has said he was “hurt” by the manner in which he was dropped from the Indian team in 2013. Speaking exclusively to ESPNcricinfo in Delhi, Sehwag revealed he learnt of his axe from the newspapers and the decision wasn’t communicated to him by the selectors, team management or BCCI.”I hadn’t scored runs in two Tests against Australia,” Sehwag said. “So, I was thinking I would get a couple of more opportunities to perform well in the last two Tests [of the series] and then get dropped if I didn’t perform. If the selectors would have given me that option to play two more Tests and then retire.”Sehwag was left out after the second Test against Australia in Hyderabad in March 2013 after failing to post a half-century in eight innings. He returned to domestic cricket but failed to make a case compelling enough for a national recall. In 20 Ranji trophy matches for Delhi and Haryana since his last Test, Sehwag scored 1269 runs at an average just under 40 with three centuries. Sehwag admitted that it took him a while to adjust to playing on the domestic circuit after having had a long international career.”When I got dropped, I was thinking that I’m a good player and can get back into the Indian team but I was still living in the mindset that I am an aggressive opener and can score runs but I did not realise that domestic cricket is totally different to international cricket and I was still playing in the same way,” he said. “I did not score runs that [2013-14] season and my highest was 50-odd [56] and I was struggling to cope up with [conditions in] Delhi.”I then changed my thinking next year and batting style by giving myself a little more time and I scored 500 plus runs, but I needed to score that in the previous season and maybe I would have gotten back into the team. It was too late but I was playing because I wanted to play the game.”Sehwag is widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen of the modern era, but he was quite candid about his desire to play in the middle order towards the end of his career. Despite the retirements of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, Sehwag was never offered that option.”I told the management [about wanting to bat lower down] but they felt that I was still good enough to play as an opener and they didn’t want to take chances with the opening pair. I tried my best but could not get an opportunity in the middle order,” he said. “When I played my last series, Tendulkar was still there, Kohli and Dhoni were there. Pujara was playing as the No. 3 batsman. Tendulkar was playing at 4, Kohli at 5 and it meant that I had to bat at No. 6 after Tendulkar as you could not ask him to bat at No. 3 or 5. So, there was no chance for me to bat in the middle order.”While Sehwag retired with an impressive Test record, his performances outside the subcontinent were inconsistent. Some knocks like the 195 at MCG in 2003 are considered modern day classics, but overall Sehwag averaged just 35.84 in 36 Tests and made just 5 of his 23 Test centuries outside Asia. He conceded that as an area he struggled to match his peers in.”You don’t think of these things when you play,” he said. “When you retire, you look back and see that my Test average outside Asia is 40 and it is 49 overall. If I can change something, I’d like to change that average outside Asia. I tried as hard as I could outside Asia but I couldn’t do that. I gave my best but didn’t score as much as I can. Dravid, Tendulkar, Sourav and Laxman did it and scored hundreds as well.”

Ireland will attempt to secure qualification for their third consecutive World Cup by beating Netherlands in two ICC WCL Championship fixtures

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2013Ireland will attempt to secure qualification for their third consecutive World Cup by beating Netherlands in two ICC WCL Championship fixtures over the next three days and their captain, William Porterfield, has emphasised how important the achievement would be in the continuing development of Irish cricket.The top two teams in the WCL Championship will qualify automatically for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Ireland currently head the table, two points ahead of Scotland with two games in hand and three clear of Netherlands, who are themselves eyeing a direct route to the tournament.The two fixtures will take place in Amstelveen, with Ireland unbeaten in their last six ODIs against Netherlands. Both matches will be streamed live on the ICC website.”These matches mean everything for both sides as both of us must win,” Porterfield said. “The Dutch have got to win to keep things in their hands while we know that two wins will get us to Australia and New Zealand.”Cricket Ireland has set out a strategic plan to be playing Test cricket by 2020 and that involves a lot of hard yards. One of the boxes we have got to tick is winning events like this. Doing that is very important for Irish cricket as it will give us the profile to help bring more people to the game and that will hopefully bring in funding that will keep the game growing.”Ed Joyce spoke to ESPNcricinfo earlier in the week about the difficulties Ireland continue to face in securing matches against the Full Member nations. Exposure during global ICC tournaments – they have been at the last four, including World Twenty20s – has been vital, with memorable victories over Pakistan and England at the last two World Cups.Cricket Ireland has been very transparent in its aims to develop the game, setting out a blueprint to achieve Test status by 2020. For Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, it is all about “being first through the gate” and he said that failure to win the WCL Championship would be “a backward step”. Qualification would help Ireland’s forward planning in the next 18 months, as well as bring a $1 million preparation grant from the ICC.Should Ireland lose either or both of the two games against Netherlands, they will have to beat Scotland when the two teams meet in the final round of matches in September. The six countries who do not warrant automatic World Cup spots will take part in a qualifying event in New Zealand next year for two remaining places.”It would be an advantage to go through now, or even in September rather than through the Qualifier because it gives [coach] Phil Simmons a chance to identify his squad as far out from 2015 as possible,” Deutrom said. “We can set up Full Member opponents and get planning in place from 18 months out rather than 12 months out and it is all part of the way we are thinking.”We do not just want to qualify though. We do not just want to do that and think ‘we’ve qualified, now let’s sit back and rest on our laurels’. We want to do it as winners of the World Cricket League Championship, as to do that would be matching our expectations and those of our government backers, our sponsors and our fans.”Everyone has invested in us and continues to do so, and so, for us, it is all about being first through the gate and cementing our place as the top Associate, something we have been for the last four or five years. Anything less would be regarded as a disappointment and a backward step.”Netherlands have competed in four World Cups, including the last three, and will be aiming to record their first victory over Ireland in 50-over cricket since 2006. Their captain, Peter Borren, played in that game and knows that another victory would take them above Scotland and substantially improve their chances of finishing in the top two.”We have got four games left, two of them against Ireland and two against Canada, and if we win three of them then that should be enough,” he said.”For any country, the World Cup is the ultimate stage and for Associate teams like us it is our chance to get exposure and to compete with the big boys. For Dutch cricket it is huge because in order to expand the game we have got to be on the global stage as often as possible.”

Gloucestershire gave their CB40 campaign a boost after an impressive performance with bat and ball by Will Gidman helped them record a crushing 109-run victory over Worcestershire at New Road.

10-Jun-2012
ScorecardGloucestershire gave their CB40 campaign a boost after an impressive performance with bat and ball by Will Gidman helped them record a crushing 109-run victory over Worcestershire at New Road.Gidman, the 27-year-old all-rounder, made his first limited-overs half-century in Gloucestershire’s total of 238 for 6 and then took 2 for 10 as the Royals limped to 129 all out after losing half their side for just 25.Worcestershire’s lowest 40-over score of 86 was looking some way off until left handers James Cameron (35) and Gareth Andrew (23) mustered a face-saving partnership of 46 with the help of a couple of fielding lapses by Gloucestershire.The failure of the front-line batsman was due to good, accurate seam bowling and a sluggish pitch which consistently shackled the stroke-makers. When Vikram Solanki drove to mid-on in Gidman’s third over, he set the pattern for a dramatic collapse.Moeen Ali edged a flashing drive off James Fuller and Phil Hughes, after successive CB40 centuries against county opposition, was one of two victims in a lively spell by left-arm seamer David Payne.Cameron was the only specialist batsman to survive for any length of time but he was brilliantly caught by Kane Williamson, back-pedalling towards long on for off-spinner Jack Taylor’s first success in a spell of 2 for 21.Earlier, it was the Gidman brothers, with fifties of contrasting styles, who underpinned a Gloucestershire innings that came to life when the last seven overs produced 64 runs. Left-hander Will continued his adjustment to a new role as a one-day opener with only three fours in making 76 from 98 balls and Alex launched the late surge with a 6-4-4-6 sequence off successive deliveries from Andrew.Those were the first boundaries in 16 overs as Gloucestershire finally tired of picking off singles on the stodgy surface.Hamish Marshall’s early rush was quickly halted when he scooped a straightforward catch to deep square leg and Benny Howell was barely under way when Hughes held a more difficult chance at point.Both wickets fell to the emerging left-arm seamer Jack Shantry, and at the end of the innings he took his CB40 tally to 14 wickets in six games this season after yorking Alex Gidman for 59. Shantry also bowled Ian Cockbain for a full return of 4 for 37 but Worcestershire’s support bowlers had limited success.Daryl Mitchell had Williamson (29) caught at deep midwicket from his third ball and Moeen was on target when Will Gidman heaved across the line after a stand of 97 with his brother.The victory was Gloucestershire’s third from five Group A matches this season, with Worcestershire slumping to their third defeat from six games.