Cricket news round-up – November 7: India Women win ODI series against West Indies

India Women won the final ODI against West Indies Women to seal the series 2-1. West Indies took 1-0 lead against Afghanistan in the ongoing 3-match series.

India Women win ODI series against West Indies

Another strong showing from the bowlers and brilliant 141-run opening partnership between returning Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues gave India an easy win in third ODI. India completed a 2-1 series win and got valuable points in the ICC Women’s Championship and remained in the third position.

Batting first West Indies Women put up 194 in their 50 overs. The captain Stafanie Taylor played another valuable innings of 79 but she did not get much support from others barring Stacy-Ann King who scored 38 and added 96 runs with Taylor for the 6th wicket. But both of them were dismissed in the 48^th and 49^th over which impacted their final total. For India, Jhulan Goswami and Poonam Yadav were the picks of the bowlers with two wickets apiece.

Mandhana and Rodrigues batted without trouble for 25 overs and effectively finished the match. The duo added 141 and Rodrigues was first to go for 69. Mandhana soon followed for 74 but experienced Mithali Raj and Punam Raut added 40 runs to make sure there was no collapse. However, both of them were dismissed with the score on 190 and India required Deepti Sharma to finish the match with a boundary. Hayley Matthews also made a return for West Indies and finished with 3/27.

West Indies take 1-0 lead

West Indies took a 1-0 lead thanks to a comfortable win over Afghanistan in the first ODI of the 3-match series. Kieron Pollard won the toss in his first ODI as captain and decided to bowl. Sheldon Cottrell and Jason Holder provided the early blows by picking up the two openers for 15 runs. Then came the most productive part of the Afghanistan innings as Rahamat Shah and wicketkeeper Ikram Alikhil added 111 runs in the third wicket partnership. Rahamat again proved his pedigree as a top class batsman with his 61 and Ikram contributed 58. Post the duo there was not much contribution except from Asghar Afghan who scored 35. The run-outs of Ikram and Asghar pushed them back and they were eventually all out for 194 in the 46^th over. The debutant Romario Shepherd took two wickets to finish with 2/32. Roston Chase also picked up two wickets for 31 runs.

There were two early wickets for West Indies as well as Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer did not get going but the other opener Shai Hope and Roston Chase added 163 runs for the third wicket to seal the match. Chase hit 11 boundaries in his 94 and was unlucky to miss a well-deserved ton. Hope remained unbeaten on 77 as the chase was completed in the 47^th over. Mujeeb Ur Rahman finished with two wickets for 33 runs.

Lyon joins Hampshire

Nathan Lyon, one of the premier spin bowlers going around in world cricket, will be seen playing for English county Hampshire next season.  One of the key members of Australia’s Test team made 91 Test appearances after making his debut in 2011. With 363 wickets he is ranked third in the all-time list of Australia’s wicket-takers.

After having a brief stint in the English domestic scene with Worcestershire in 2017 now Lyon signed a red-ball contract with Hampshire as the club’s overseas player.

On his appointment Lyon said. “It is a fabulous opportunity to be involved with a leading county who have had a long and successful relationship with Australian cricketers. I love playing cricket in England and no doubt will enjoy the 2020 summer with the Hampshire players, coaches, members and supporters. We will all be focused on winning the County Championship in 2020 – I can’t wait.”

Ahmad, Abbott, Coughlin sign new deals

Qais Ahmad, leg-spinner from Afghanistan signed for Gloucestershire for the upcoming T20 Blast season. He will be featured in all of their T20 Blast matches, along with the final six matches of the County campaign. After his experiences in the BBL, CPL, and the BPL Ahmad was picked in The Hundred draft as well by Welsh Fire.

Sean Abbott bagged a contract from Derbyshire for the first half of the 2020 season. He will play up to 10 County Championship games and also the group stages of the T20 Blast. Abbott already has a good amount of first-class experience which will be beneficial for the team.

On the other hand, Durham re-signed Paul Coughlin. Coughlin who had led Durham’s T20 team in 2017 was busy with Nottinghamshire for a three-year spell from 2018. But a spate of injuries limited his participation. Now he is back to his previous team with the hope of a career revamp.