Cricket news round-up – 21 July: West Indies A win, England Women struggle, Zimbabwe to miss tri-series

West Indies A won the fourth match against India A by a close margin. England Women are struggling to avoid follow on. Zimbabwe will miss the T20 tri-series in Bangladesh.

West Indies A finally manage a win

The fourth match between India A and West Indies A saw the latter finally managing one close win by five runs in the ongoing five-match unofficial one-day series. Putting into bat first Roston Chase led the middle order with a steady 84 and was supported by Devon Thomas (70) and Jonathon Carter (50). Sunil Ambris was instrumental at the top with 46 runs as well. Then there was a mini collapse when West Indies lost three wickets in just seven balls a late blast of 8-ball 21 took the team total to 298/9. Khaleel Ahmed continued his good form to finish with 4/67  and Avesh Khan also took three wickets in eight overs.

India A lost openers, Anmolpreet Singh and Ruturaj Gaikwad within first 10 overs. Hanuma Vihari and Krunal Pandya could not cope up with the run-rate although tried to recover the innings. Unfortunately regular wickets in the middle order except Pandya’s 45 made a job tougher for India. With 160/6 on board, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar began to rebuild the innings and added 60 runs. Even after Sundar was gone Patel kept his calm and played a brilliant counter attacking innings to give India A some hope. His partnership of 69 runs with Khaleel Ahmed took India close to the finishing line. Khaleel contributed vital 15 runs but his dismissal in the 49th over once again changed the scenario. He was followed by the wicket of Navdeep Saini on the first ball of the 50th which meant Patel required to do a lot in the last over with Avesh Khan, the Number 11 bat. Patel’s unbeaten 81 off 63 balls with eight fours and a six fell short of five runs to win the game.  Keemo Paul and Rovman Powell took two wickets each.

England aim to avoid follow on

Australia Women declared their first innings on 420/8 as Beth Mooney ended with 51 off 90. In reply, England had a shaky start and they lost their first wicket with 1/1 on board. Amy Jones added 64 runs and kept the show on while others from top order couldn’t provide support. Apart from Jones Natalie Sciver was effective with bat as she scored 62 runs. Amidst the regular wicket fall, Natalie remained unbeaten at the end of day three which would hopefully help England to escape the follow on. The young Sophie Molineux ended with 3/29.

World Cup win haunts Morgan

England’s first World Cup win was decided by the number of boundaries which raised controversies. Almost after a week of the fateful event, England captain Eoin Morgan told the Time that it was unfair to have such a result post a balanced and close game. “I don’t think it’s fair to have a result like that when there’s very little between the sides. I don’t think there was one moment that you could say: ‘That actually cost the game there.’ It was quite balanced.”

Morgan who led England to its maiden World Cup title explained how difficult it has been for him to accept that England thoroughly deserved it. “I’m not sure winning it makes it any easier. A little bit [troubled], because there’s no defining moment that you’d say: ‘Yes, we thoroughly deserved it.’ It’s just been crazy.”

Meanwhile, according to the reports, The ICC Cricket Committee, headed by former India captain Anil Kumble, will consider the tie-breaker rule, and check for any better alternatives for similar situations.

Zimbabwe to miss T20 tri-series in Bangladesh

As a result of the suspension of funds by the ICC, Zimbabwe Cricket will not be able to stage domestic tournaments. They have also notified that it will be difficult for them to fulfill the obligations of the Future Tour Programme and hence will miss the T20 tri-series in Bangladesh involving Afghanistan in September 2019. The suspension can also have a long term effect on Zimbabwe’s participation in upcoming ICC events like the men’s and women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers.

Vitality Blast roundup

A late firework from Jordan Thompson kept the match alive for Yorkshire when the top order failed. Jordan scored a 27- ball 50 and took the innings from 77/6 to 143/7. Yorkshire could bat for 20 overs eventually to end with 164/8. Mark Watt took 4/19. Billy Godleman, despite losing partners at regular intervals kept the chase on track with his unbeaten 56-ball 70 and never let Derbyshire lose the control. He concentrated on building small partnerships and finally chased it down with five balls remaining. Dominic Bess took two wickets.

Batting first Kent were 7/2 when Ollie Robinson (53) and Mohammad Nabi(34) took the charge. Although Nabi was quick to go on 68, Robinson took the total to 122. Contributions from lower order finally helped Kent to set 165/9 in 20 overs. Roelof van der Merwe ended with 4-0-19-3. Imran Qayyum ran through Somerset lineup to defend the total. Tom Banton was Somerset’s highest scorer with 28 runs. Kent won the match by 41 runs.