Cricket news round-up – 17 June: India lead Pakistan 7-0, Bhuvneshwar out for two games

At Old Trafford, India kept their winning streak over Pakistan in World Cups intact despite Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulling a hamstring. And two wins on the same day helped Jersey and Italy climb to the top of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Region Final 2019.

India go 7-0 up

India have now won 7 matches out of 7 against Pakistan in World Cup history. They won their 2019 World Cup match at Old Trafford by 89 runs (DLS Method) to reach third spot on the points table.

Asked to bat, KL Rahul (57 in 78 balls) – promoted in the order after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out – and Rohit Sharma (140 in 113) added 136 in 143 balls, the highest partnership for India against Pakistan.

Rohit never bothered to slow down, and Virat Kohli (77 in 65), upped the tempo once Rohit departed. Hardik Pandya blasted his way to a 19-ball 26, and it took some fantastic death bowling by Mohammad Amir (3/37) to restrict India to 336/5.

Then Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulled a hamstring and left the ground after sending down just 16 balls. Asked to complete the over, Vijay Shankar trapped Imam-ul-Haq with his first ball in World Cup cricket.

Fakhar Zaman (62 in 75) and Babar Azam (48 in 57) added 104 in 115 balls, but the middle order caved in once Kuldeep Yadav (2/32) removed both. Hardik (2/44) got two wickets in consecutive balls, while Shankar (2/22) returned to take a sixth.

Then rain intervened, following which Pakistan were left to chase 136 in 30 balls. Imad Wasim (46* in 39) helped their net run rate improve to some extent.

Super day for Jersey, Italy

In ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Region Final 2019, both Jersey and Italy had to play two matches on the same. Both teams won both matches to reach the top of the points table, though Jersey are ahead in net run rate (+2.345 to +0.84).

At St Peter Port, Baljit Singh (4-0-19-3) restricted Germany to 134/8 despite Harmanjot Singh’s 33-ball 40 not out and Amir Mangal’s 19-ball 33. Then Manpreet Singh (36 in 29) and Rehman Abdul (37* in 31) saw Italy home with an over to spare.

Later in the day, Italy collapsed from 70 without loss to 121 (Joy Perera 47 in 28) against Luke Le Tissier (4-0-17-3) and David Hooper (3.2-0-13-2). But Gayashan Munasinghe (4-1-11-4) helped restrict Guernsey to 110/8. Ben Ferbrache’s 43-ball 55 did not help.

Jersey got to 131/9 at Castel despite Hamid Shah’s 4-0-23-4 before Elliott Miles (3-0-10-3) helped restrict Denmark to 113/8.

Ben Stevens (44 in 41) and Jonty Jenner (35 in 27) took Jersey to 160/5 later in the day. Stevens (4-0-17-3), Julius Sumerauer (4-0-13-2), and Dominic Blampied (4-0-13-2) then bowled out Norway for 80.

Bhuvi out for at least two matches

As mentioned above, Bhuvneshwar could not finish his third over and took no further part in the match. However, he may be out for at least two more matches.

At the post-match presentations, Kohli updated: “He slipped on one of the footmarks. He’s out for two, maybe three games, but he should come back for us at some stage during this tournament.”

India’s back-up seamers include Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav.

County Championship Division 1 roundup

Essex took command in the only Division 1 match of the day, at Chelmsford as Jamie Porter (2/44), Samuel Cook (3/50), and Simon Harmer (5/23) bowled out Hampshire for 118 in 34 overs.

Keith Barker (2/20) took quick wickets to reduce Essex to 64/3 before Dan Lawrence (34*) and Ravi Bopara (50*) took them to 147/3 at stumps.

County Championship Division 2 roundup

Only 51 overs of cricket was possible at Radlett. Sam Robson (85*) batted through the day, guiding Middlesex to 151/3. For Glamorgan, Marchant de Lange, Graham Wagg, and David Lloyd took a wicket apiece.