Cricket news round-up – 27 July: Amir retires, Malinga signs off in style, and England win and lose

Cricket news round-up – 27 July: Amir retires, Malinga signs off in style, and England win and lose

Lasith Malinga Sri Lanka

Mohammad Amir announced, in a shock to some, that he would no longer play Test cricket – he intends to concentrate on white-ball cricket. Meanwhile, Lasith Malinga signed off from ODIs with 3/38 in a victory over Bangladesh, the England men’s side dominated Ireland, but the women’s side were dominated by Australia, and there was thrilling tie in the latest round for the T20 Blast.

Amir announces shock Test retirement

Mohammad Amir opted to retire from Test cricket at just 27, opting to manage his workload and focus on white-ball cricket. It brought an end to a decade of Test cricket – he made his debut as a 17-year-old in 2009 – although he missed five years serving a ban for the Lord’s fixing scandal.

Amir intends to be in the “best physical shape” for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next year. “It has been an honour to represent Pakistan in the pinnacle and traditional format of the game. I, however, have decided to move away from the longer version so I can concentrate on white-ball cricket,” he said in the statement.

Malinga signs off with vintage display

Lasith Malinga returned 3/38 – included the final wicket of the match – as Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 91 runs in Colombo in his final ODI match.

Malinga’s return helped bowl out Bangladesh for 223 after Kusal Perera hammered a ton to help the home side post 314/8 after opting to bat.

Malinga’s victims comprised Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar, the Bangladesh openers. His dismissal of Tamim, in particular, stood out as it came via a typical late-swinging yorker – the hallmark of a Malinga dismissal.

Malinga urges youngsters to be “match-winners”

After sealing his ODI career with 338 wickets, Malinga revealed he decided to call it quits because the team needed to build for the 2023 World Cup.

He urged the next generation of Sri Lankan paceman to strive to “be a match-winner” and not just survive. “I’ve played the last 15 years for Sri Lanka. Really an honour to play, and really happy to play for these people and for all the crowd that’s been behind me,” he said in the post-match presentation.

“I feel this is the time I have to move on, because we have to build for the 2023 World Cup and that’s why I realised, ‘OK, my time is up, I have to go’.

“My captains expect me to take wickets. I tried my best all through my career. I hope all the young bowlers do this as well. Because just surviving in cricket, I don’t think anyone can go far. You have to be a match-winner.”

England seal win after Ireland collapse

Ireland needed 182 runs in the final innings to seal what would have been a famous victory, but on a treacherous Lord’s pitch and with Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad bowling with fire, the visitors were bundled out for just 38 in 15.1 overs.

It signalled a meek end to what had been a terrific Test till that point. Ireland gave themselves a real chance for history after bowling out England for 85 in the first innings, before scoring 207 in their own outing. However, England fought back in the second, with Jason Roy and Jack Leach scoring half-centuries.

Then, under overcast skies and a poisonous pitch, batting proved too difficult for a side playing just their third Test. Only one batsman – James McCollum – got into double-digits with a score of 11.

Broad ended with 4/19 and Woakes bagged an even more impressive 6/17. Neither did any harm to their prospects of an Ashes place.

Lanning powers Australia to outright Ashes win

Meg Lanning scored a record-breaking 133* – the highest individual score in women’s T20Is – as Australia crushed England by 93 runs in the first T20I. Victory meant Australia moved to 10 points in the series. England can no longer catch up with them.

Lanning’s knock helped Australia to 226/3. England were in turn bundled out for 133/9, with all their top three batters scoring 0s.

It was a thoroughly dominant Australia win, which ensured the home side are still winless in the multi-format series.

Nepal win again

Nepal moved up to No. 2 on the points table after sealing their second win of the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers – Asia Final. They saw off Kuwait by seven wickets in Singapore.

Kuwait posted 141/9, thanks to captain Muhammad Kashif’s 36-ball 49*. However, with Paras Khadka, his counterpart, scoring a 42-ball 68 and Sharad Vesawkar scoring a 30-ball 38*, Nepal coasted to victory with 25 balls to spare.

T20 Blast round-up

Northamptonshire beat Birmingham Bears by 21 runs on the DLS method.

Hampshire saw off Somerset in a hard-fought encounter by three wickets.

Durham eased to victory over Leicestershire in 11.1 overs of their chase after the openers D’Arcy Short and Scott Steel put on 133 in 9.4 overs.

Lancashire won their clash against Worcestershire by 21 runs on the DLS method after reaching 71/1 in chase of 131.

Middlesex were comfortable winners over Glamorgan, easing to an eight-wicket victory thanks to Stevie Eskinazi’s half-century and Dawid Malan’s 45*.

Kent held off Essex for a 22-run victory after posting 175/6, thanks to Heino Kuhn’s 31-ball 55*.

Nottinghamshire posted a huge 198/5 – Alex Hales and Ben Duckett scored half-centuries – and Derbyshire managed just 171/8 in response.

Sussex and Surrey tied a thriller – both teams scored 144/8, with Jofra Archer once again involved for Sussex. The match was tied when Surrey’s Imran Tahir slogged a six off the last ball.