Cricket news round-up – February 2: England Women win in Super Over, Hardik ruled out of Test series

England Women beat Australia Women in the Super Over; Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of India’s Tests in New Zealand; Pakistan announced their squad for the Tests against Bangladesh; and West Indies finished fifth in the Under-19 World Cup.

England Women win despite late scare

After losing to India Women, England beat Australia at Canberra to get off the block. Asked to bat, England were reduced to 39/3 after an excellent new-ball spell by Ellyse Perry (4-0-19-2). Heather Knight (78 in 45 balls) and Fran Wilson (39* in 28) then added 115 in 66 balls to help England reach 156/4.

Beth Mooney (65 in 45) then led then response before Nat Sciver (4-0-23-3) and Sarah Glenn (4-0-28-3) reduced Australia to 114/7. The hosts needed 40 in 3 overs before debutant Annabel Sutherland (22* in 11) and Delissa Kimmince (15* in 6) ensured a tie.

Sophie Ecclestone then conceded just 8 in her Super Over, a score Knight helped surpass in 4 balls.

West Indies Under-19s finish fifth

West Indies beat South Africa by 4 wickets in the 5th Place Playoff of the Under-19 World Cup. Batting first, South Africa were bowled out for 143 as five West Indians shared the wickets. West Indies then chased down the target inside 42 overs.

Elsewhere, Canada bowled out UAE for 174 before winning by 6 wickets and come 13th, while Nigeria bowled out Japan for 115 to win by 8 wickets to finish 15th.

No Hardik for New Zealand Tests

Hardik Pandya is yet to recover fully from the back surgery he underwent in October. As a result India will miss his services during the 2-Test series in New Zealand. India are also likely to miss Ishant Sharma due to an ankle injury.

A BCCI release said: “He travelled to London and was accompanied by NCA Head Physio Ashish Kaushik for a review by spinal surgeon Dr James Allibone. Hardik will be under rehab at the National Cricket Academy until he regains full match fitness.”

Pakistan announce Test squad

Pakistan have announced their squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, at Rawalpindi. They have recalled seam-bowling all-rounder Faheem Ashraf and off-spinner Bilal Asif.

Bilal had taken 5/130 in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy semi-final and 11/149 in the final. He is also likely to come handy against the many left-handed batsmen in the Bangladesh line-up. The squad reads:

Azhar Ali (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Fawad Alam, Yasir Shah, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Bilal Asif, Naseem Shah, Faheem Ashraf.