Cricket news round-up – November 29: Brooks, Cornwall bring West Indies to the brink of victory

Cricket news round-up – November 29: Brooks, Cornwall bring West Indies to the brink of victory

Rahkeem Cornwall West Indies

West Indies are 3 wickets away from winning the Test against Afghanistan; West Indies have announced their squads for the India series; India Under-19s sealed the series against Afghanistan Under-19s; and Australia will fly in a concussion substitute, if needed, for the Adelaide Test.

Brooks, Cornwall nearly seal it for West Indies

West Indies need 3 wickets to win the one-off Test against Afghanistan, at Lucknow. After trailing by 90 in the first innings, Afghanistan finished Day 2 on 109/7, just 19 ahead – all this, after Ibrahim Zadran and Javed Ahmadi added 53 for the first wicket.

Ahmadi was out off the last ball of the day, for 62, caught by Cornwall at slip off Roston Chase, after watching his teammates fall one after another against Cornwall (3/43) and Chase (3/10). Cornwall now has match figures of 10/118 in only his second Test.

Before that, Shamarh Brooks scored his maiden hundred (111) in his maiden innings away from home. Brooks found support in John Campbell (55) and Shane Dowrich (42). West Indies, 150/5 at one point after resuming on 68/2, eventually reached 277 even as Amir Hamza took 5/74 and Rashid Khan 3/114.

India Under-19 take unassailable lead

It has not been a great day for the Afghans at Lucknow. Not too far from the Test venue, India Under-19s took a 3-1 lead in the 5-match Youth ODI series against Afghanistan Under-19s.

Asked to bat, Afghanistan were bowled out for 113 by Manav Suthar (5/19) after being 60/2. Barring Imran Mir (44), only two others reached double figures.

The Indian chase, finished with 5 wickets in hand and almost 22 overs to spare, was set up by a 50-run opening stand between Kumar Kushagra (29) and Divyaansh Saxena (21), while Sourav Dagar (24*) stayed to see India home. Noor Ahmad took 3/34.

West Indies announce squads for India series

West Indies have named their squads for the upcoming 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is against India. Nicholas Pooran, who has missed 3 T20Is as part of his 4-T20I ban, has been retained. Fabian Allen are Denesh Ramdin have recovered from their injuries (knee and hamstring respectively) and are back as well, while Andre Russell has been left out. The squads are:

ODIs: Kieron Pollard (c), Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sunil Ambris, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh Jr.

T20Is: Kieron Pollard (c), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Sherfane Rutherford, Lendl Simmons, Hayden Walsh Jr, Kesrick Williams.

A fly-in concussion substitute!

As is often the norm with them, Australia had announced their playing XI and 12th man before the second Test against Pakistan, at Adelaide. While they retained Michael Neser in the squad, they released James Pattinson and Cameron Bancroft to participate in the Marsh Shield.

However, as per the ICC norms, a concussion substitute has to be picked from the existing squad, which, in Australia’s case, is now down to 12 men. While Neser can step in as a substitute bowler in case a bowler is injured, the same will not hold for an injured batsman.

CA have announced that they will “fly in” Bancroft in such a case, for a substitute can be named within 36 hours of the injury. “Bangers [Bancroft] is a couple of hours away on a plane if something happens. We will be able to get him back pretty quickly,” explained Australian captain Tim Paine to cricket.com.au.

However, it is not clear what they will do if a batsman gets injured at some point in the last two sessions of the Test.