Cricket news round-up – February 12: New Zealand claim ODI series 3-0 against India

New Zealand won the ODI series 3-0 against India. Ben Foakes and Keaton Jennings were recalled for England’s upcoming Sri Lanka tour. Front foot no-ball technology will be used in ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

3-0 ODI series win by Kiwis

New Zealand took sweet revenge of their 0-5 drubbing in the T20 International series by handing India a rare whitewash in ODI. New Zealand completed a 3-0 series victory by winning the final match of the series at Mount Maunganui by five wickets.

Elected to bowl first the Kiwis got three early successes as both openers and captain Virat Kohli were dismissed early. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul continued their good tour as the duo added 100 runs for the 4th wicket before Iyer was dismissed for 62. Rahul added 107 runs as he reached his 4th ODI hundred. India finished on 296/7 as Hamish Bennett finished with 4 for 64.

New Zealand again had a good start as the openers added 106 runs in better than run a ball. Martin Guptil (66) set the pace and Henry Nicholls (80) continued the brisk scoring rate post Guptil’s dismissal. Indian spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (3/47) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/45) put good control on New Zealand middle order and at one stage it looked like India had a strong chance. However, Colin de Grandhomme’s rapid 28-ball 58 ensured that the Kiwis complete the whitewash comfortably.

Foakes and Jennings recalled in England squad

England Test squad for the Sri Lanka tour has been announced as keeper-batsman Ben Foakes and Opener Keaton Jennings get a recall. James Anderson is still in rest due to the rib injury he suffered in the Cape Town Test.

Foakes had a good outing in the Test series versus Sri Lanka in 2018-19, where he scored close to 300 runs. But then he had a poor show against West Indies followed by a similar County season for Surrey. He and Jos Buttler are the two wicketkeepers in the set-up, with Jonny Bairstow being rested. Jennings did well in the Test series in Sri Lanka in 2018-19 which included a century. Moeen Ali remains unavailable for the selection. A fit Jack leach returns to the squad whereas Dom Bess and Matthew Parkinson will be responsible for the spin-department.

Ed Smith said, “The South Africa tour marked the emergence of a very exciting group of young players, creating a nice balance with an experienced core of senior players. That squad is mostly retained, with some tweaks to the squad relevant to injury, rest and the challenges of playing in sub-continent conditions.”

Sqaud: Joe Root (C), Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Ben Foakes, Keaton Jennings, Jack Leach, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Dominic Sibley, Ben Stokes (VC), Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Front foot no-ball technology to be used in Women’s T20 World Cup

Thee front foot no-ball technology will be used for the first time in the upcoming ICC Women’s t20 World Cup in Australia scheduled to be held at the end of this month.  This means that the third umpire will now monitor the front foot landing position for each delivery in the tournament.

The on-field umpires will not focus on the front foot no-ball henceforth and it will be done by the third umpire mainly. He has to communicate immediately if a no-ball is spotted. This technology was tried in December 2019 in a series between India and West Indies. The ICC claims that it has been tested across 12 games in which 4717 balls were bowled.

Geoff Allardice, ICC General Manager Cricket said, “No balls are difficult for umpires to call accurately, and even though the percentage of deliveries that are no balls is low, it is important to call them correctly. Since we first trialled this concept in the ODI series between England and Pakistan in 2016 the technology has improved significantly, enabling us to introduce it cost-effectively, and with minimum impact on the flow of the game.”