Cricket news round-up – 23 July: India A win 4-1, Mire retires

Solomon Mire announced his retirement from international cricket; India A beat West Indies A by 8 wickets to clinch the “ODI” series 4-1; England Under-19s suffered their second consecutive defeat in the Triangular Tournament; and Malaysia and Singapore won their respective opening matches in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Region Final 2019.

Mire calls it quits

Solomon Mire announced his retirement from international cricket via an Instagram post. Mire was the first “casualty” of ICC’s decision to suspend Zimbabwe from all international contests.

In an international career spanning almost five years, Mire had played 2 Tests (78 runs), 47 ODIs (955 runs, 12 wickets), and 9 T20Is (253 runs). His most famous performance during the 5-ODI series in Sri Lanka in 2017, where he scored 211 runs at 42 and a strike rate of 115. Zimbabwe won the series 3-2.

In last year’s T20 Tri-Series at home, too, Mire had slammed 94 in 63 balls against Pakistan and 63 in 52 against Australia.

India A make it 4-1

India A completed a 4-1 rout of West Indies A with an 8-wicket win against West Indies A, at Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua.

Batting first, West Indies A were bowled out for 236 in 47.4 overs after Sunil Ambris (61 in 52 balls) got them off to a breezy start. Ambris added 77 for the opening stand with Kjorn Ottley, following which a mini-collapse left them reeling at 124/7.

Sherfane Rutherford (65 in 70) helped them recover somewhat, chiefly thanks to a 52-run ninth-wicket stand with Khary Pierre (35 in 34). The wickets were shared mostly by Navdeep Saini (2/31), Deepak Chahar (2/39), and Rahul Chahar (2/53).

Ruturaj Gaikwad (99 in 89) and Shubman Gill (69 in 40) then effectively sealed the match with a 110-run stand in just 70 balls. Shreyas Iyer (61* in 64) joined in the fun, and while Gaikwad fell agonisingly short of a hundred, India A were home with 17 overs to spare.

England Under-19s lose two in two

After losing to India Under-19s, England A now lost to Bangladesh Under-19s, by 6 wickets at New Road. From 49 for no loss, England A suddenly found themselves in disarray at 87/6 against Tanzim Hasan Sakib (4/49). Lewis Goldsworthy (69*) and Kasey Aldridge (58) then helped them recover to 200/7.

They probably had a fighting chance after reducing Bangladesh to 72/3, but Towhid Hridoy (70*) and Shahadat Hossain (57) added 114 to seal things. Bangladesh A won in the 39th over even as Aldridge took 2/30.

Singapore, Malaysia win

Singapore and Malaysia won their respective opening matches in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Region Final 2019, at Indian Association Ground, Singapore.

In the first match, Sunderan Chandramohan (47 in 39 balls) took Singapore to 186/7 despite Iqbal Hussain’s 4-0-33-4. Janak Prakash (4-1-15-3) and Amjad Mahboob (4-0-38-3) then restricted Qatar to 153/9.

Malaysia were bowled out for 162 later in the day, Shafiq Sharif top-scoring with a 27-ball 38. They hit back, bowling out Kuwait for 118 despite Muhammad Kashif’s 46-ball 51. Muhammad Syahadat (4-0-33-3), Fitri Sham (3-0-14-2), and Pavandeep Singh (4-0-19-2) were the wreckers-in-chief.

County Championship roundup

Ross Whiteley (88) and Brett D’Oliveira (66*) added 146 at Cheltenham to lift Worcestershire from 68/5 to 232/6 by stumps on Day Two. Earlier in the day, Joe Leach (6/79) had bowled out Gloucestershire for 354 after Tom Smith (83) and Jack Higgins (76 in 59) added 128 for the fifth wicket.