Cricket news round-up – February 7: Bangladesh reach Under-19 World Cup final

Cricket news round-up – February 7: Bangladesh reach Under-19 World Cup final

ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2020

Bangladesh reached the final of Under-19 World Cup. Jofra Archer was ruled out of IPL 2020 due to injury. The Bushfire relief match was shifted to Melbourne.

Bangladesh reach Under-19 World Cup final

Bangladesh Under 19 team reached their first-ever Under-19 World Cup final by beating New Zealand Under 19 by six wickets. They will now face the defending champion and four-time winners India.

Bangladesh won the toss and sent the Kiwis in who started to lose wickets early and never got the required momentum. For Bangladesh, their opening bowlers Shoriful Islam (3/45) and Shamim Hossain (2/31) shared five wickets. New Zealand Under 19 were struggling even more on 142/6 in the 42nd over and it looked like they will not even reach 200. However, Beckham Wheeler-Greenall’s 75 pushed them beyond 200-mark and they finished with 211/8.

After the early departures of the openers, Mahmudul Hasan Joy anchored the chase with a classy 100 off 127 balls. It was a timely return to form for the number three batsman. He along with Towhid Hridoy (40) added 68 runs followed by another 101 runs partnership between Joy and Shahadat Hossain (40*) which almost took Bangladesh to victory. Finally, the victory came in the 45th over with their captain Akbar Ali in the middle.

Jofra Archer to miss IPL 2020

Jofra Archer will miss England’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka and the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League due to a low-grade stress fracture of the right elbow. Archer picked the injury in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion for which he had to miss the other matches of the series. England will be touring Sri Lanka in early March for two Test matches and then IPL will begin. Archer is an important part of Rajasthan Royals’ IPL campaign who retained him for this season.

An England Cricket Board release confirmed the injury of Archer and informed, “He will now commence an injury rehabilitation programme with the ECB medical team with a view to be ready for the international summer campaign starting in June against West Indies in a three-match Test series.”

Bushfire Bash venue shifted to Melbourne

Due to heavy rain forecast in Sydney they Bushfire relief match will be now played in Melbourne, as informed by Cricket Australia. The venue was changed for the prediction of 50 millimetres of rain on Saturday in Sydney. The relief match was scheduled to be played on the same pitch ahead of the BCCL final. The Australian cricket board now decided to prioritize the league final and move the charity event.

The game will be staged at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on February 9. Shane Warne will be unavailable on the day and so Adam Gilchrist will captain one side as Ricky Ponting will be captaining the other team. On the other hand, Courtney Walsh who was supposed to be one of the coaches will now be involved in a playing capacity and Tim Paine will coach the Gilchrist XI. Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Brisbane Heat player Grace Harris, and NRL legend Brad Fittler will also not be available for the contest due to prior commitments.  

The contest will be a ten overs per side match and will be played just after the women’s T20I between Australia and England. Kevin Roberts, Cricket Australia CEO commented on the venue change, “We have moved the Bushfire Bash from the SCG because we want to provide every opportunity for the BBL09 Final to be played on Saturday night. We have no doubt that the SCG pitch and outfield will be in great condition for The Final.”

Afghanistan squad announced for T20I series against Ireland

Shapoor Zadran got a recall in the national side for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Ireland. Zardan who hasn’t featured in a T20I since June 2018 was seen representing Afghanistan last in a 50-over game against Ireland in March 2019. Qais Ahmed also was included in the squad after his recent BBL stint. The uncapped 19-year-old allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai made his way to the national team after his good showcase in the first-class games.

Afghanistan and Ireland will play three T20Is scheduled on the 6th, 8th and the 10th of March at the Greater Noida Ground in India.

Squad: Asghar Afghan (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Karim Janat, Najib Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Naveen ul Haq, Shapoor Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Qais Ahmad, Azmatullah Omarzai, Samiullah Shinwari, Usman Ghani.