Cricket news round-up – February 6: Taylor, Latham put New Zealand 1-0 up

Cricket news round-up – February 6: Taylor, Latham put New Zealand 1-0 up

Ross Taylor India New Zealand

New Zealand won the first ODI against India. Avishek Dalmiya took charge as the youngest CAB president. Tom Banton re-appointed by Brisbane Heat for two more years.

New Zealand register record chase

New Zealand finally changed their luck as they recorded their highest ever ODI chase to win the first match of the series by four wickets.

New Zealand won the toss and asked Indians to bat who had two debutants at the top in Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal. The young duo started steadily and added 50 runs for the first wicket before both of them were dismissed within few balls. Captain Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer steadied the ship with a 102 runs partnership. Once Kohli was dismissed for 51 KL Rahul joined Iyer in the middle and the duo added 136 runs in less than 17 over. Iyer got his maiden ODI hundred but was dismissed in the 46th over. Rahul remained unbeaten on 88 as India posted 347 for 4 in 50 overs.

New Zealand openers Martin Guptil and Henry Nicholls had a good start and added 85 runs for the first wicket. Nicholls scored 78 but the key innings were played by the captain Tom Latham, who scored 69 off 48 balls, and Ross Taylor who took the Kiwis to victory with his unbeaten 84-ball 109. There were few quick wickets at the death but they completed the chase in the 49th over with four wickets in hand

CAB gets youngest president

Avishek Dalmiya took charge as the youngest president of the Cricket Association of Bengal and Snehasish Ganguly as the secretary at the special general meeting on Wednesday. Dalmiya replaced Sourav Ganguly who vacated the chair followed by his appointment as the Board of Control for Cricket in India president. Avishek was appointed for a tenure of 22 months and after that, he would be going for a mandatory cooling-off period in November 2021.

Avishek Dalmiya said, “It is an emotional moment for me. But it will be foolish to compare myself with the big personalities who have been CAB president in the past.” On the other hand, Snehasish Ganguly who was an office-bearer in 2007-08 and returned to CAB as a working committee member, said, “I found the association to be working much more as a team when I returned in 2018.”

Tom Banton re-appointed by Brisbane Heat

Tom Banton rejoined the Brisbane Heat for two more years after a good showcase in his first season. In seven matches the opening batsman scored 223 runs at a strike rate of 176.98 that included one half-century coming off just 16 balls.

The coach Darren Lehman said, “I think anyone who saw Tom during his seven games for the Heat in the BBL would agree that he is a special player and someone we think can play an important role for us over the next two years.” He further added, “We wanted to move quickly and are very pleased that Tom has agreed to terms. He’s a good young lad and we think his cricket will only get better from here. He’s got his first IPL coming up and he’s in the English set-up, so we know how highly he is thought of around the world.”