Cricket news roundup – 23rd February 2019: Lakmal, Dhananjaya turn Port Elizabeth Test on the head

South Africa secured a 68-run lead in a low-scoring Test at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth, but Suranga Lakmal (4/39) and Dhananjaya de Silva (3/36) turned things around, restricting Sri Lanka’s target to 197. Sri Lanka are 60/2 at stumps on Day Two.

At Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, Shimron Hetmyer’s hundred and Sheldon Cottrell’s five-wicket haul helped West Indies level the series – though West Indies’s cause was aided by a lower-order English collapse.

In the two Women’s ODIs, India crushed world champions England by 66 runs at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, while Australia clinched a cliffhanger against New Zealand, at WACA, Perth.

And at Sharjah, AB de Villiers helped Lahore Qalandars pull off the second-highest chase in PSL history, while Islamabad United captain Mohammad Sami took a hat-trick to help beat Peshawar Zalmi.

Sri Lanka chase history

Sri Lanka are 137 runs away from becoming the first Asian side to win a Test series in South Africa. They had won the first Test, at Kingsmead, Durban, by 1 wicket thanks to Kusal Perera’s outstanding 153 not out. And here, at Port Elizabeth, they are 60/2 in pursuit of 197.

After securing a 68-run lead, South Africa were placed comfortably at 90/3 in the second innings. Then Lakmal and de Silva ran through the rest, and the hosts lost their last 7 wickets for 38 runs, leaving the Test wide open.

England go 2-0 up

Chris Gayle smashed four sixes in the second ODI in his 50, but none of the top four West Indies batsmen struck at above 80. They needed someone to bolster the run rate, and Shimron Hetmyer stepped up to fit the bill.

Hetmyer’s unbeaten 104 took only 83 balls, but an even telling statistic was the fact that only 52 of these came in boundaries. West Indies reached 289/6.

Playing his first ODI in seven months, Sheldon Cottrell trapped Jonny Bairstow leg-before and had Jason Roy chopping on to the stumps with his first 7 balls.

Joe Root provided stubborn resistance before Eoin Morgan (70) and Ben Stokes (79), with some assistance from Jos Buttler, and at one stage England needed only 62 in 61 balls with 6 wickets in hand.

At this stage both Buttler and Morgan fell in quick succession, and England collapsed to 263. Tom Curran got a terrible leg-before decision off Jason Holder, but England had no review left at that point. Cottrell finished with 5/46.

Bisht smothers England

India Women comfortably beat world champions England in the first ODI of the three-match series, at Mumbai. India lost their way after Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana added 69 for the opening stand. Captain Mithali Raj then anchored the innings, while Jhulan Goswami hit out towards the end to take India to 202.

England, in response, reached the comfort of 111/3 despite Shikha Pandey’s double blow. Then they lost their last 7 wickets for 25 runs in 10.2 overs. Ekta Bisht led the rout with 4/25.

White Ferns crumble against Jonassen

At Perth, Australia were reduced to 125/5 despite Rachel Haynes’s 67. However, cameos from Ashleigh Gardner and Jess Jonassen pushed them to 241.

New Zealand began well. At one stage they needed 54 in 52 balls with 6 wickets in hand. Captain Amy Satterthwaite (92) and Katie Perkins (48) were at the crease. But Jonassen (4/43) dismissed both batters and added two more to her tally, and New Zealand lost by 5 runs.

Qalandars, United triumph at Sharjah

Multan Sultans must have felt comfortable after posting 200/6 in the first PSL match of the day. The total was set up by openers James Vince (84 in 41 balls) and Umar Siddiq (53 in 38), who added added 135 in 71 balls. The middle-order lost momentum, and the Sultans probably finished about 20 runs short.

Fakhar Zaman (63 in 35) kept the Qalandars in the hunt, but they still needed 95 in 45 balls when David Wiese joined AB de Villiers. The target reached 40 from 16 balls when de Villiers hit 3 sixes in 5 balls and Wiese followed with another. With 3 to get off the final ball, Wiese hit Dan Christian for a six.

Ian Bell’s 54 helped Islamabad United put up 158/9 in the second match of the night, against Peshawar Zalmi. Then Muhammad Musa struck twice with the new ball, and a flurry of wickets saw Zalmi reeling at 65/6 after 13 overs.

But Kieron Pollard (51 in 22 balls) threatened to run away with the match. He added 55 in just 4 overs with captain Darren Sammy before holing out in the deep. Sammy did not last, and though Wahab Riaz hit a couple of sixes, United captain Mohammad Sami sealed things with a hat-trick.