Cricket news round-up – 26 June: Australia reach semi-final; Mahmudullah injured

Australia won comfortably against England to become the first team to qualify for the knock out stage of World Cup 2019. Zimbabwe won the second T20I against the Netherlands in a super over. Brian Lara was taken to hospital following chest pain. Mahmudullah suffered from an injury in the match against Afghanistan.

Australia enter semi-final

Australia maintained their dominance over England in the World Cup. Their win at Lord’s made them the first team enter the knock out stage. For England, the run became more difficult.  

England sent Australia to bat first and the mighty Aussies used the opportunity well. David Warner scored a 53 and became the first batsman in this World Cup to cross 500 runs. Aaron Finch registered his second century of this tournament with 100 off 116. Post Finch’s dismissal Australia added 100 runs in 14.3 overs. Although they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, Alex Carey contributed with 38 off 27.

In reply, the top order of England looked naive. Only Jonny Bairstow added 27 runs. Ben Stokes walked in with the score on 26/3 and tried to carry the innings singlehandedly. He scored 115-ball 89 and took Australia to 177. A handful of runs from Jos Buttler (25), Chris Woakes (26), and some quick runs from Adil Rashid (25) at the end finally ended Australian innings on 221. While Mitchell Strac continued with his good form to scalp four, Jason Behrendorff had a 5-wicket haul.

Zimbabwe win a super over thriller

Max O’Dowd’s 56 off 40, with some contribution from the tail, helped Netherlands to put a competitive score of 152/8 in second T20I against Zimbabwe. Sean Williams and Chris Mpofu took two wickets each

The chase wasn’t smooth for Zimbabwe as they lost wickets in bulk. Brendon Taylor’s 40 and lower order contribution from Elton Chigumbura took them to the last over. That required 13 runs for Zimbabwe to win. Despite a couple of sixes in first two balls, Roelof van der Merwe made a strong comeback. A dot ball was followed by three wickets including a run out in last three balls to finish the match on tie.

Zimbabwe won the super over easily as the Netherlands only scored 9/1 against the 18 runs scored by Taylor and Chigumbura.

Brian Lara hospitalised

Brian Lara was taken to a hospital in Mumbai following chest pain. He is India currently as an analyst for the official broadcasters of the ongoing World Cup. According to the reports, there is nothing to worry about.

Lara sent a message via West Indies Cricket on Twitter and said, “I am fine. I am recovering and I will be back in my hotel room tomorrow”.

Injury concern for Bangladesh

Mahmudullah is suffering from a Grade 1 tear on his right calf muscle. He was injured during the clash against Afghanistan on Monday. He had gone for a scan after the match as the technical director of Bangladesh Khaled Mahmud revealed the status a day after. He is expected to feature in the next two games against India and Pakistan scheduled on July 2 and July 5.

Captain Mashrafe Mortaza said, When the physio prescribed seven to 10 days’ rest after seeing scan reports, Riyad said he will play against India no matter what his condition is. I hope he will recover a lot in seven days.”

County Championship updates

Essex completed their win over Somerset and kept their hope of winning the championship alive. Chasing 269 for a win Somerset had a terrible start and collapsed to 117. Jamie Porter finished with 4 wickets whereas Aaron Beard took 3.

The Surrey versus Warwickshire match is poised tantalisingly with Warwickshire needing 142 runs with 7 wickets on the last day. They are now on 148/3 with Dominic Sibley unbeaten with 52.

No play was possible at Northampton due to a bad weather in the match between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire.

The Gloucestershire and Glamorgan match was also delayed due to rain and began only after lunch. Glamorgan ended their first innings on 287, conceding a lead of 26. By the stumps Gloucestershire reached 41/2 but their captain and first innings centurion Chris Dent went for two.

The match between Durham and Sussex at Hove moved interestingly. For Durham, the overnight pair of Cameron Bancroft and Ned Eckersley took their partnership from 169 to 282. Eckersley got his century and was the first to go with the score on 372.

This gave a window of opportunity to Sussex bowlers and Durham were all out for 382. Bancroft scored 158 as Chris Jordan took 4/58. At one stage Sussex were 2/3 but some lower order recovery from David Wiese and unbeaten Delray Rawlins took them to 231/9, still more than 150 runs behind.