Cricket news round-up – March 9: Australia win fifth Women’s T20 World Cup in seven attempts

Cricket news round-up – March 9: Australia win fifth Women’s T20 World Cup in seven attempts

Australia 2020 Women's T20 World Cup

Australia thrashed India in the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup to win their fifth title; Afghanistan sealed the T20I series against Ireland; India announced their squads for the upcoming ODI series against South Africa, while the tourists added a 16th member; and Bangladesh have appointed Tamim Iqbal as ODI captain.

86,174 witness Aussie domination

Australia demolished India by an 85-run margin to win their fifth title in the Women’s T20 World Cup. Batting first, Australia got away to an incredible start, with Alyssa Healy (75 in 39 balls) and Beth Mooney (78* in 54) putting together 115 runs for the first wicket, off just 70 balls. Deepti Sharma (4-0-38-2) finally restricted them to 184/4.

Megan Schutt (3.1-0-18-4) and Jess Jonassen (4-0-20-3) then bundled out India for 99. They were 30/5 at one point before Sharma (33 in 35) helped them avoid their biggest defeat.

The turnaround at the Melbourne Cricket Ground – a whopping 86,174 – was the biggest for any women’s cricket event in history by a considerable margin.

Afghanistan go 2-0 up

With a 21-run win in the second T20I, Afghanistan secured an unassailable 2-0 lead against Ireland in the 3-match series. Batting first, they hit 12 sixes in a total of 184/4, the highest score coming from Asghar Afghan (49 in 28). For Ireland, Craig Young returned 4-0-27-1.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman (4-0-38-3) struck twice early when Ireland batted. Andy Balbirnie (46 in 35) and Harry Tector (37 in 29) kept the chase going, but Rashid Khan (4-0-26-1) ensured they could not get away in the middle overs.

Hardik, Bhuvi, Dhawan, Gill recalled, while…

India have included Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Shikhar Dhawan for the 3-match ODI series against South Africa. All three were nursing injuries. Shubhman Gill, too, earned a recall to the ODI squad after almost a year, while Rohit Sharma has still not recovered from his injury. The squad reads:

Virat Kohli (c), Prithvi Shaw (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill.

… South Africa add Janneman Malan

An impressive 129 not out, one that was instrumental in South Africa’s win in the second ODI against Australia, earned Janneman Malan a spot in the South African squad. The squad, which now has 16 members, reads:

Quinton de Kock (c & wk), Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, JJ Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Anrich Nortje, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj.

Tamim takes over from Mortaza

Tamim Iqbal has replaced Mashrafe Mortaza, who stood down as Bangladesh ODI captain after the Zimbabwe series, as the new captain. Tamim’s assignment will begin April 1, with a solitary ODI against Pakistan at Karachi.