Cricket Life

Scorecard & Highlights Ajaz Patel picked up 4 for 16, and Cole McConchie chipped in with 3 for 15, as New Zealand bundled out Bangladesh for 76 to register a thumping 52-run win in the third T20I in Mirpur. With that, they also kept the five-match series alive. After winning the toss, Tom Latham opted to bat on a pitch where his side was skittled out for 60 in the first T20I. On Sunday, they were struggling again, at 62 for 5 in 11 overs and 88 for 5 in 16, before Henry Nicholls and Tom Blundell took 40 from the last four to lift them to 128. At the toss, Mahmudullah had said he expected his bowlers to restrict New Zealand to 130-140. By that estimate, Bangladesh must have fancied their chances. But their batters looked in a hurry against the New Zealand spinners and kept losing their wickets. Ajaz's four strikes left Bangladesh reeling on 44 for 6 at the halfway mark. While Mushfiqur Rahim tried to occupy one end, McConchie sent back Nurul Hasan and Mohammad Sai...

Scorecard & Highlights Toss: West Indies. Test debuts: Wset Indies - P.D.Lashley, C.W.Smith. Quite apart from gaining a niche in cricket history as the first Test to end in a tie this match will always be remembered with enthusiasm because of its excellent cricket. It was played in a most sporting spirit, with the climax coming in a tremendously exciting finish as three wickets fell in the final over. Australia, set to score 233 runs at a rate of 45 an hour for victory, crumbled before the fiery, sustained pace of Hall, and lost five wickets for 57. The sixth fell at 92. Then the drama began to build up as Davidson, the Australian allrounder who enjoyed a magnificent match, was joined by Benaud, in a stand which added 134. They were still together half an hour before time, with 27 neede, when Hall took the new ball - a crucial stage. In the event, however, the West Indies fieldsmen, often at fault during the match, rose to the occasion so that three of the last four batsmen to fall...

Scorecard & Highlights Day 1 India were bowled out cheaply on the first day for the second Test in a row but retained a foothold after taking three England wickets in the late-afternoon sunshine at The Oval. Chris Woakes - playing a first-class game for the first time since August 2020 after missing 11 Tests through isolation, rotation and injury - took four wickets and Ollie Robinson continued his fine summer with three, with England's seamers relentless in reducing India to 127 for 7. Most of India's batters had made starts before being dismissed - Virat Kohli played fluently for 50 before falling to Robinson for the third consecutive Test - but Shardul Thakur's 57 off 36 balls changed the complexion of their innings. He teed off from No. 8 after being recalled to the side, and his half-century - the fastest recorded in a Test in England - gave India something to bowl at. England had chosen to bowl after winning the toss in overcast ...

 Scorecard & Highlights Ten days earlier, India and Pakistan couldn't be separated in Durban. In front of a frenzied crowd at the Wanderers on Monday, they played out perhaps the best final ever seen in a major tournament. Once again, the ice-cool Misbah-ul-Haq threatened to drag Pakistan back from the brink, but the Indians just about held their nerve to clinch a five-run victory and the inaugural ICC World Twenty20. After scrapping hard to get to 157 for 5 in the face of some tigerish bowling and fielding, India were inspired with the ball, and Pakistan appeared to be well out of contention with 54 needed from 24 balls and just three wickets in hand. But when Misbah thumped Harbhajan Singh for three sixes and Sohail Tanvir chipped in with a four-ball 12, the improbable became possible. With Misbah on strike, Pakistan needed 13 from the final over. After a great deal of thought, Mahendra Singh Dhoni gambled on the inexperienced Joginder Sharma. When he started with a wide, Ind...

Scorecard & Highlights Although the Ashes had already been retained by England, there was none the less an air of expectancy among the capacity crowds who basked in the sunshine of the opening days. The previous Test matches had prepared them for drama, but in the event this was more an occasion for the Test match statistician: Wellham's début hundred, Boycott's 21st Test and 124th first-class hundred, Lillee's best-ever analysis, Brearley's 50th catch and unbeaten home record as England's captain, Willis's passing Rhodes's 109 wickets against Australia, Marsh's 3,000th run and Yallop's 2,000th, Botham's 200th wicket and Alderman's 42 wickets in a series against England. Even the match itself was significant: the first sixth Test of a series in England. Brearley gambled on putting Australia in, whereupon Wood and Kent showed handsome appreciation in compiling Australia's first century opening partnership since January 1977. Kent's...

 Scorecard & Highlights A fighting New Zealand side lifted themselves from the pits of 60 all out a couple of days ago to nearly stun Bangladesh. They needed six off the last ball but managed just a single as Bangladesh continued their wonderful run of wins - their sixth in seven games. In pursuit of a stiff 142 on another slow and turning pitch, captain Tom Latham tried seeing his side home with an unbeaten 65 off 49, but with lack of experience at the other end combined with the lack of pace offered by the Bangladesh quicks meant they fell short. New Zealand needed 36 from 18, 20 off the last over and 13 off two balls when Mustafizur Rahman delivered a beamer that Latham edged for four. This brought the equation to eight off two with a free hit to come. Rahman then sent down two deliveries that didn't have any length or room to work with, and all Latham could manage was three runs off them. An unchanged Bangladesh batted first on a track that turned from ball one ag...