Cricket news round-up – September 21: Masakadza signs out on a high, Archer gets all-format contract, Ireland win Tri-Nation series

Hamilton Masakadza bowed out of international cricket on a high, setting up a win for Zimbabwe against Afghanistan at Chattogram; Ireland beat Scotland in a humdinger at Malahide to win the Tri-Nation T20 series; ECB offered Jofra Archer a contract across formats; and Barbados Tridents thrashed St Lucia Zouks at Gros Islet.

Masakadza signs off in style

Zimbabwe brought Afghanistan’s world record streak of 13 wins in a row with a 7-wicket win at Chattogram. Batting first, Afghanistan got off to an excellent start thanks to Rahmanullah Gulbaz (61 in 47), who took them to 107/2 in 13 overs. But Christopher Mpofu (4-0-30-4) and Tinotenda Mutombodzi (3-0-18-2) struck back to restrict them to 155/8.

Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza then led the charge with a 42-ball 71. They won with 3 balls to spare despite Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s 4-0-28-1.

Masakadza signed off with 2,223 runs from 38 Tests, 5,658 runs from 209 ODIs, and 1,662 runs from 66 T20Is. Against West Indies in 2001 he became the (then) youngest debutant to score a Test hundred. And in 2015-16 he slammed 162 not out against Mashonaland Eagles, (then) the second-highest T20 score of all time.

Ireland pull off heist to win tournament

Ireland needed to beat Scotland in the last league match to win the Tri-Nation T20 series. Asked to bat, they put up 186/9 thanks to Kevin O’Brien’s 45-ball 63 even as Tom Sole had 4-0-26-2.

Scotland lost two quick wickets before Matthew Cross (66* in 55) and Richie Berrington (76 in 43) added 122 in 81 balls. At that stage Scotland needed 29 in 19 balls with 7 wickets, but they lost crucial wickets to lose by a run. Mark Adair had 4-0-30-2 and David Delany 4-0-24-1.

Archer gets all-format contract

Following a spectacular performance throughout the summer, Jofra Archer has earned a central ECB contract across formats. Archer’s summer produced 22 Test wickets at 20.27, 23 ODI wickets at 24.73, and 4-0-29-2 in his only T20I.

Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, and Chris Woakes were the only others to earn all-format contracts. James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, and Sam Curran have Test contracts, while Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Joe Denly, Adil Rashid, and Mark Wood have white-ball contracts.

Tridents thrash Zouks

Barbados Tridents registered their second win of CPL 2019, a 71-run annihilation of St Lucia Zouks at their den. Asked to bat, the Tridents piled up 172/6 thanks to Justin Greaves (57 in 45 balls) and a late slog from Jonathan Carter (30 in 21). Kesrick Williams returned 4-0-44-3 and Obed McCoy 3-0-19-2.

The Zouks then collapsed inside 15 overs against Jason Holder (4-0-24-2) and Joshua Bishop (4-1-33-2). Carter’s fielding – including a stunning catch to dismiss Kavem Hodge – earned him accolades. It was only some late slogging from Hardus Viljoen (31 in 21) that took them to 101.