Cricket news round-up – 20 May: England rout Pakistan, Ireland provide Afghanistan a reality check

England beat Pakistan by 54 runs to win the ODI series 4-0, while Ireland beat Afghanistan by 72 runs. West Indies name a 10-member reserve team who will practise with the main squad, Pakistan Women went 2-1 up, and and Phil Simmons is to stand down as Afghanistan coach after the World Cup.

England win – again

For the fourth time in the series did England pile up a huge score, this time 351/9 at Headingley. Nine of the eleven men who batted reached double-figures, and eight of them struck at over 100. There were, however, only two fifties, from Joe Root (84 in 73 balls) and Eoin Morgan (76 in 64). Shaheen Afridi took 4 expensive wickets, for 82 in 10 overs.

Chris Woakes (5/54) then reduced Pakistan to 6/3 in 3 overs. Babar Azam (80 in 83) and Sarfraz Ahmed (97 in 80) added 146, but it was never going to be enough. Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain, however, provided entertainment for the last wicket, adding 47 in 40 balls.

Rude shock for Afghanistan

After losing all matches in the Tri-Series at home, Ireland returned to winning ways with a 72-run win against Afghanistan at Belfast. Asked to bat, they were bowled out for 210, with Aftab Alab taking 3/28 and Dawlat Zadran 3/35. The big partnership came from Paul Stirling (71) and William Porterfield (53), who added 99 for the third wicket.

Afghanistan were then bowled out for 138 in under 36 overs with none of their batsmen reaching 30. Tim Murtagh (2/12) got two early wickets, and Mark Adair (4/19) and Boyd Rankin (3/40). Opening bowling, Andy McBrine finished with 10-4-17-0.

The teams will meet again on May 21.

Pollard, Bravo to join West Indies squad

West Indies have named a 10-man squad to practice with the main team from May 19 to May 23, including a match against Australia on the 22nd. This includes Kieron Pollard and the “retired” Dwayne Bravo.

The squad reads Sunil Ambris, Dwayne Bravo, John Campbell, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Raymon Reifer, and Kieron Pollard.

Pakistan Women take lead, again

Pakistan Women beat South Africa Women by 4 wickets to go 2-1 up in the ODI series. South Africa got to 138/3 mainly due to Tazmin Brits, who batted through the 20 overs for a 61-ball 70. Rameen Shamim had 4-0-20-1, Aliya Riaz 4-0-26-1, and Sana Mir 4-0-25-0.

Shabnim Ismail (4-0-12-2) and Moseline Daniels (4-1-13-3) then reduced Pakistan to 3/3, but Iram Javed (55 in 45) added 77 with Nida Dar (32 in 28) and 44 with Riaz (30 in 24) to help Pakistan recover. They won with 2 balls to spare.

USA Women whitewash Canada

USA Women completed a 3-0 whitewash over Canada in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Americas Region Qualifier. USA scored 116/6 thanks to Sindhu Sriharsha (42* in 33) and Shebani Bhaskar (30 in 19). For Canada, Saniyah Zia had 4-0-20-3, Kamna Mirchandani 4-0-18-0, and Hiba Shamshad 4-0-15-1.

Canada then crawled to 81/6 against Lisa Ramjit (4-0-11-3) and Claudine Beckford (4-0-17-0).

Simmons to resign

Phil Simmons, who has been serving as Afghanistan coach from December 2017, has informed Afghanistan Cricket Board that he will not be extending his contract beyond the World Cup.

During his stint, Afghanistan won the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe last year and played their first two Tests and won their first.