Cricket news round-up – 3 May: Mumbai Indians seal Playoffs spot after Super Over win

Mumbai Indians became the third team in IPL 2019 to seal their place in the Playoffs with a Super Over win against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Elsewhere, Eoin Morgan, the England captain, lambasted Alex Hales for breaking the trust with the team, and Kagiso Rabada added to South Africa’s growing injury list.

Mumbai Indians seal Playoffs spot

It needed a Super Over, but Mumbai Indians managed to see off Sunrisers Hyderabad to become the third team in IPL 2019 to seal their spot in the play-offs.

Mumbai posted 162/5 thanks to Quinton de Kock’s 58-ball 69. They then had Hyderabad in trouble at 109/5 in the chase, but Manish Pandey’s 47-ball 71* and Mohammad Nabi’s 20-ball 31 helped them level the scores.

However, the two couldn’t carry that on in the Super Over. Pandey was run out attempting a second run off the first ball off Jasprit Bumrah. Nabi, having hammered a six, was then cleaned up by Bumrah 3 balls later.

Mumbai needed 9 for victory. They got them off 3 balls from Rashid Khan to seal their place in the knockouts.

India, England end year as top-ranked sides

The ICC released it’s annual team ranking updates on Thursday, and unsurprisingly, India reigned supreme in the Tests, with England leading the charts in the ODIs.

The update also involved the removal 2015-16 series from considerations, with results from 2016-17 and 2017-18 weighted at 50%, and series thereafter weighted at 100%.

‘Lack of regard’ – Morgan bashes Hales

Eoin Morgan, the England captain, revealed senior members of the team were unanimous in wanting Alex Hales removed from the squad, after the opener reportedly failed a recreational drug test for the second time.

Morgan said there was a “complete breakdown of trust” between the team and Hales, and believed the presence of the opener in the squad would disturb the team culture ahead of the World Cup.

“I spoke to the coach [Trevor Bayliss] at depth,” Morgan said. “I spoke to all of our senior players – I actually called the meeting with the senior players to discuss moving forward, how it would affect the team, and the team culture.

“Unfortunately Alex’s actions have shown complete disregard for those values, and there has been a complete breakdown of trust between the team and Alex.”

South Africa sweats over Rabada’s back issue

Kagiso Rabada underwent a scan on his back after he complained about discomfort and was rested for Delhi Capitals’ clash against Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday.

Rabada, the top wicket-taker in IPL 2019, represents a key cog for South Africa at the World Cup. However, his injury adds to a growing list of worries for South Africa – Dale Steyn is currently mending a shoulder issue, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje couldn’t take up their IPL contracts due to a side strain and a shoulder issue respectively, and Tabraiz Shamsi has also been rested for the domestic T20s.

All of which means South Africa’s entire attack – apart from Imran Tahir – are injury doubts ahead of the World Cup.

One-Day Cup round up

Lancashire beat Surrey by 30 runs after posting 239/6 – thanks to Keaton Jennings’ 84  and Jake Lehmann’s 77* – and restricting the Derbyshire to 209/7.

Kent saw off Surrey by a comfortable eight wickets after bundling them out for 127 – Dean Elgar’s 94-ball 62 was the only score of note – before Daniel Bell-Drummond (41), Matt Renshaw (32*) and Heino Kuhn (36*) saw the chase through.

There were three centuries in all as Hampshire and Sussex clashed in a high-scoring encounter. Hamshire came away a nine-run victory, after centuries from Tom Alsop (124) and Aiden Markram (130) helped them to 355/5. David Wiese scored a 126-ball 171, but Sussex fell short after being bowled out for 346.

Ends