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Offspinner Ashley Nurse has made a comeback into the West Indies T20 squad after more than two years

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2017After more than two years out of the side, offspinner Ashley Nurse has made a comeback into the West Indies T20 squad. The 28-year old last played a T20 international in January 2015, but has been picked for the one-off game against England later this month, in place of legspinner Samuel Badree, who was unavailable due to a prior commitment. West Indies retained the other 12 players that featured in the squad for the home T20I against India in July.

West Indies T20 squad changes

IN: Ashley Nurse
OUT: Samuel Badree
Squad: Carlos Brathwaite (captain), Ronsford Beaton, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Ashley Nurse, Kieron Pollard, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton (wk), Kesrick Williams

Nurse has so far gone wicketless in the four T20 internationals he has played since his debut in April 2011 but has been one of the main bowlers for Barbados in List A matches. He was the leading wicket-taker in their domestic 50-over competition last season. Recently, however, he hasn’t been as impressive, going wicketless for Trinbago Knight Riders in the two CPL matches he has played.”We have a good mix of experience and youth that should adapt to English conditions quickly,” chairman of selectors, Courtney Browne said. “Coming off the series win against India in the Caribbean in July our expectations is to see the team play a highly competitive game and bring that T20 Caribbean atmosphere to England.”The experience Browne talks about includes the likes of Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels and Jerome Taylor. And leading the younger players is opening batsman Evin Lewis, who scored a 53-ball hundred against India less than two months ago.The only T20 between England and West Indies will take place on September 16 in Chester-le-Street, before a five-match ODI series starts on September 19 at Old Trafford.

Dawid Malan and Adam Voges battled through the tough conditions to blossom into an outstanding match-establishing partnership

Will Macpherson at Merchant Taylors' School29-May-2016
ScorecardDawid Malan’s 147 set up Middlesex’s imposing innings•Getty Images

It is, in more ways than one, hard to imagine being sick of the sight of Dawid Malan. Tall, elegant, and left-handed, he has all the tools that come in the purr-inducing starter pack: the late cut, the drives on the up from point to mid-on, the sheer disdain on that tall pull and those dismissive flicks through midwicket. He is the type of leftie for whom the term southpaw actually has meaning; Malan has boxerish poise and balance, and possesses fleet of foot and sleight of hand at the end of powerful limbs.Hampshire, however, could be forgiven for wanting to see the back of him. They arrived at Merchant Taylor’s School having, this month alone, been on the end of an elegant Championship century and a brutal Twenty20 93, at Uxbridge on Friday night. Then, he had dispatched his first five balls for four, and went on to hit five sixes; words, feisty ones, were exchanged with Tino Best. Of course they were; they always are.Yet here Hampshire were again. 147 for Malan this time, in a stand of 279 with his captain Adam Voges, who finished the day unbeaten on 127. All five of Malan’s gears were on display, and no part of the sluggish outfield went unused; he used his quick feet to the spinners and stood deep in the crease to the seamers, Best especially.If Middlesex were not a team who relished one another’s success with such gusto – see the celebration of each of Ollie Rayner’s recent wickets as evidence – you would wonder if Sam Robson and Nick Gubbins, the form men in recent weeks, must have cursed the conditions handed to them first thing – 11 celsius, overcast and a dewy outfield – as the clouds parted and things became increasingly benign for Malan and Voges later in the day. Both openers were caught in the cordon, first Gubbins fending half-forward to James Tomlinson and taken low at third slip, then a battling Robson at second off Best. Both left with the slow, solemn walk of men who believed their team were heading for a tough day.If the scorecard seems at odds with that opening and the openers’ outlook, it is because Middlesex’s dominant position was carved out by exceptional batting rather than a perfect batting surface. It felt, in so many ways, like a morning for bowling. A scoreline of 14 for 2 seemed to support that theory.Yet both Will Smith, in asking for a toss, and Voges, in choosing to bat upon winning it, had looked down, not up. The pitch, while providing limited lateral movement, seemed a little up and down, while the sightscreen at the Benham End – from which, last year, Steven Finn gave Somerset a torrid time and Jamie Overton rapped the grille of a batsman of Nick Compton’s quality – is really rather small. The slope, running down from that end, is pronounced and, while this seems truer than the surface for last year’s rain-ravaged draw, a result – should the weather allow – seems probable.This, though, only serves to highlight the fact that Malan and Voges earned the blue skies they batted under and soft ball they batted against later. Early, it was a slog, a graft, with lbw shouts – each led by Best, each louder than the last – more common than convincing strokes. Singles were the mechanism for survival, and the only boundaries seemed to come to fine leg as the seamers strayed onto their hips. Best was ticking and talking, while Ryan McLaren nagged and probed.Slowly but surely, though, they settled, growing in authority. They moved tit for tat, sharing the strike, sharing the four balls that eventually came from a tiring if gallant attack. This was a pair of experienced pros ticking along together, patiently, steadfastly acccumulating: their running was assured, and the defence forthright. Only when they had 80 and Malan accelerated through to his century, reached moments after tea by slapping a Best full toss through the covers for four, were they separated. From there Malan sprinted, whacking Mason Crane down the ground for a perfect six, and playing a remarkable upper cut over wide third man off Best for six more. The booming drives kept coming until he flashed hard at Liam Dawson and was well caught at slip.From there, Voges took control, and looked a man intent on his side only batting once. He shared a sprightly 49-run stand against the new ball with John Simpson, and moved to his ton with his ease as Crane lost his length. Three consecutive fours: half-tracker, full-bunger, half-tracker did the trick as 91 became 103. The morning’s chirps from Hampshire, by now sick of the sight of Voges as well as Malan, had truly subsided.

An unbeaten hundred from Kraigg Brathwaite was the lodestone of West Indies’ second-innings efforts to defy England in Grenada

The Report by Alan Gardner24-Apr-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:56

Dobell: Brathwaite breathes life into WI Test future

An unbeaten hundred from Kraigg Brathwaite was the lodestone of West Indies’ second-innings efforts to defy England in Grenada. As the National Stadium basked in sunlight, Brathwaite summoned his first significant contribution of the series to bind together a resolute reply, after England had taken a 165-run lead and early impetus in their attempts to force a victory.A second-wicket stand of 142 between Braithwaite and Darren Bravo tempered England’s expectations after they had removed Devon Smith in the third over. Bravo also passed 50, showing greater patience than in the first Test, until England succeeded with a plan to bowl doggedly into the rough outside off stump. James Anderson and Stuart Broad took the wickets but England’s attack otherwise worked hard for little reward.Brathwaite, 22, has made each of his four Test hundreds within the last 12 months and his relish for long innings was again in evidence. Twice he flashed Ben Stokes behind gully, to the allrounder’s noticeable chagrin, and he survived a review for lbw against Chris Jordan thanks to an inside edge. Otherwise, there was little for England to exploit.Eight of Brathwaite’s 11 boundaries whistled away through the area from point round to third man and he was equal to England’s attempts to have him caught at short leg, as in the second innings in Antigua.During the evening session, he spent 26 balls on 69, as well as playing out six maidens against Joe Root. England attempted to delay him through the 90s, as well, but Brathwaite was unperturbed and inched to three figures in the penultimate over of the day, having faced 228 balls. It made him the fourth West Indies centurion in four innings against England.The morning session passed in a blur, as Root made his second-highest Test score and England lost their last four wickets to be dismissed for 464. The wicket of Smith before lunch sharpened England’s ambitions of taking a 1-0 lead in the series but, as Brathwaite and Bravo dug in during the afternoon, the pace of the match reverted to something more in keeping with life in the Caribbean. It was the first time in the series that West Indies had gone through a full session without losing a wicket.England took a considerable first-innings advantage largely thanks to Root, who made an unbeaten 182. He provided the thrust as England added 91 to their overnight total, before Anderson struck in his second over – Smith becoming the latest player to deflect the ball on to his own stumps while attempting to leave.The game was moving on, which increased the pressure on West Indies’ batsmen, who faced the prospect of having to bat another four sessions, as they had done to draw the Antigua Test. Neither Brathwaite nor Bravo contributed significantly to that rearguard but they made England wait 48 overs for the second wicket this time. With the pitch remaining true, West Indies will feel they have already gone a good way to picking a path to safety; by the close, they had a small lead.Kraigg Brathwaite recorded his fourth Test hundred as West Indies replied strongly•Getty Images

England, despite building another dominant position, were hampered by time lost earlier in the match, though once again their attack did not look penetrative enough to break down determined sides in benign conditions.England might have started the day hopeful of a total beyond 500 but that prospect became more remote when Jos Buttler fell early. Root took it upon himself to score the majority of the 77 added for the last three wickets and in the process he extended his innings past 150 – the fourth time he has done so from six Test centuries (and one of the others was an unbeaten 149).Batting in long sleeves having finished the third day wearing a cap, Root was again busy from the outset, sprinkling judicious boundaries among scampered ones and twos. He seems to be a source of renewable energy, the kind governments around the world are devoting technology and finance to discover; clean, too, apart from when he is chirping at the opposition from under a helmet at short leg.When he had made 126, Root reached 2000 runs in Tests, the second-youngest England batsman to do so behind Alastair Cook. With just the No. 11, Anderson, for company, he struck Bishoo for sixes down the ground and over midwicket and was pushing on towards a second career double-hundred when a third run-out finished the innings. Anderson’s absent-minded failure to run his bat in left Root wondering what had occurred and swiping his own bat in frustration. His thirst for runs cannot be slaked.England resumed six down and 74 runs ahead, with the expectation that it would be Buttler to get the scorer’s pencil scratching. He managed one boundary, thumping Devendra Bishoo down the ground, but fell to the legspinner’s next ball, lured out of his crease and this time beaten by a delivery that dipped short of him and spun past the bat for a simple stumping.That meant England had lost 4 for 58 at a time when they would have anticipated the cavalry at Nos. 6, 7 and 8 scattering the opposition bowling to all parts. Jordan looked in more adhesive mood, helping to add 39 for the eighth wicket before being run out by Root’s enthusiasm. Root steered the ball to deep backward point and intimated he wanted a second; Jordan obliged only to be sent back. It was one of the few moments in the day when Root, who also bowled 13 overs and threw himself around in the field, shirked a challenge.

Sunil Narine had a wonderful night. He, along with his fellow spinner, Samuel Badree, bowled eight overs for 38 runs to enable West Indies to defend 139

David Hopps in Pallekele01-Oct-2012Sunil Narine had a wonderful night. He tied up New Zealand late in the innings, just as he had in a one-day series in the Caribbean a few months earlier, and along with his fellow spinner, Samuel Badree, bowled eight overs for 38 runs to enable West Indies – with a little help from a Super Over – to defend 139.Narine’s wickets told of his distinctive talent; his figures of 3 for 20 reflecting his best display of the tournament. Two left-hand batsmen, James Franklin and Jacob Oram, fell to carrom balls: Franklin poked at one to be caught at slip, Oram was fooled by another that came back to trap him lbw. There was a third wicket, too, as Narine held his nerve in the penultimate over to have Nathan McCullum caught on the slog sweep.His captain, Darren Sammy, was delighted with his young spinner. “We played New Zealand at home and the last three games we won when it went down to the wire and Narine played a very important part in the latter overs. That’s why I used him in that manner – overs 17 and 19 – and he got two wickets in that period for very few runs. That was a key moment for us. It was a much better bowling display for us.”All in all it was a good night then, duly recognised with the Man-of-the-Match award, but Narine should also remember one careless moment that almost cost West Indies the match. His inexplicable fumble of a trundler at short fine leg in the final over of New Zealand’s innings not only gifted an extra run but it kept Ross Taylor on strike.New Zealand needed 14, 13 to tie, off Marlon Samuels’ final over and when Narine misfielded, the balance shifted. Neither West Indies spinner fielded well and such largesse cannot easily be survived.Samuels had been charged with bowling that final over after a lengthy consultation involving five West Indies players. He was chosen over Andre Russell, who has not had a good tournament, but Sammy could have bowled Chris Gayle or Kieron Pollard, too. Samuels was to bowl in the Super Over, too, an even greater surprise considering that the entire attack was available. He seems to bowl final overs or not at all, a curious speciality act.Sunil Narine’s tight overs at the death helped West Indies tie the game•AFP

Super Overs are surely designed for West Indies batsmen. Gayle struck a six off the first ball, a wide half-volley that was also a no-ball; Samuels finished it off with another six with one ball unused. Tim Southee’s intentions were sound – not only to bowl yorkers but, to Gayle at least, to bowl them wide of off-stump to escape his preferred hitting arc, but his execution was lacking. It can’t be easy to bowl yorkers in a Super Over with Gayle, muscular and threatening, stood at the other end.Gayle had played with formidable insouciance, as is his style, in the match proper, in making 31 from 14 balls, but at Super Over time, even he looked driven, almost tense, as he jogged up the dressing room steps to pad up. With his piratical bandana, he resembles Captain Jack’s more muscular brother.”Eighteen runs with Chris batting, it is always possible,” Sammy said. “We back Chris to clear the boundary. Six runs off a no ball was just a perfect start. When games get so tight the true West Indies celebrations come out. We can really dance. We have no difficulty doing that.”West Indies’ victory had seemed unlikely when they made only 139, which Sammy conceded was well below the 160 he had regarded as a likely ambition. Their balance again seemed awry. They again omitted three batsmen- Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith and Dwayne Bravo – and this time experimented with Russell at No 3. It was a bit late in the day for experiments and it did not come off, as he picked out short fine leg when he had made only 6.Not for the first time, the belief that if you silence Gayle you silence West Indies was disturbingly close to the truth. Gayle made 30 from 13 balls before he pushed cautiously at one that left him from Tim Southee and was caught at the wicket.Southee had silenced him once, but he was unable to silence him a second time. It was easy to sympathise.

The BCCI elections will be a straightforward affair with none of the positions receiving more than one nomination

Tariq Engineer18-Sep-2011The BCCI elections will be a straightforward affair with none of the positions receiving more than one nomination. Sanjay Jagdale, the current joint-secretary of the board, has been nominated to take over from N Srinivasan as the board’s honorary secretary, according to a statement from the BCCI. Other nominees include Anurag Thakur for the post of joint-secretary and Ajay Shirke for treasurer.Three of the five zonal vice-presidents were re-nominated for the posts. Arun Jaitley will remain North Zone’s representative while Shivlal Yadav and Niranjan Shah will continue to represent the South and West Zones respectively. Chitrak Mitra, an official of the Cricket Association of Bengal, will replace incumbent Arindam Ganguly while Sudhir Dahir, the former president of the Vidharba Cricket Association, will take over from Rajiv Shukla as the Central Zone vice-president. Dahir’s nomination is further indication that Shukla will be unveiled as the new IPL chairman at the BCCI’s annual general meeting on Monday. All those nominated will serve for a period of three years.In addition to the election of office-bearers, the board will make appointments to all its various sub-committees, including the selection committee, for the year 2011-12. Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of the selection committee, is likely to have his term extended for a fourth and final year but Yashpal Sharma’s term is over and Mohinder Amarnath, who is currently one of two former cricketers on the IPL committee, could be his replacement from the North Zone. Other matters on the agenda include the appointment of a full-time administrative manager for the national team and the board’s representative or representatives to ICC meetings.Ranjib Biswal was thought to be the frontrunner for the post of secretary, but he did not enjoy the unanimous support of the East Zone associations, and that is believed to have cost him the nomination. Biswal has also not held a board position and an association source suggested to ESPNcricinfo that Jagdale’s greater experience was a point in his favour.Prior to becoming joint-secretary, Jagdale had served on the national selection committee from 2000 to 2006. Those he spotted while part of the junior selection committee in the 1990s include VVS Laxman, Murali Kartik and Naman Ojha. He was also former India legspinner Narendra Hirwani’s mentor. Jagdale managed India during the 2007 World Cup as well.Thakur, the president of Himachal Pradesh, has turned the first-class ground in Dharamsala into the country’s most scenic cricket venue. Shirke is the president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association and served on the IPL governing council this past year.

The three Pakistan players at the centre of the spot-fixing controversy were questioned by police in London until late Friday evening

Cricinfo staff03-Sep-2010The three Pakistan players at the centre of the spot-fixing controversy were questioned by police in London until late Friday evening, though no charges were laid against them. It is believed that alleged phone interactions between the players and Mazhar Majeed formed part of the quizzing of all three players. The money found in some of the players’ rooms is also understood to have been the subject of the queries.”At no time were they placed under arrest, they were free to leave at any time and
they have answered all of the questions that were put to them and have been
released without charge or conditions,” their local lawyer Elizabeth Robertson said.The day began early for the trio, who have been provisionally suspended by the ICC over their alleged involvement in the controversy that engulfed the fourth Test at Lord’s between England and Pakistan. Mohammad Amir, the 18-year-old fast bowler, was the first player to be questioned at the Kilburn police station in North London by the Metropolitan police officials, arriving at around 9am.He was followed in the afternoon by Mohammad Asif, before Salman Butt, the Pakistan captain, was questioned. The session ended nearly 12 hours later. The PCB’s legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi and Robertson were present through the three sessions. It is believed that the police will now contact the players again only when they need to.”The players have informed the police that the man was their agent, but they had no knowledge about his illegal activities,” Rizvi told private television channels in Pakistan. “They [players] all went to record statements voluntarily to the police station.”The criminal investigation is separate from the one that the ICC and the ACSU are carrying out, though evidence has been shared. The ICC suspended the players on Thursday under Article 2 of their anti-corruption code believing that they had sufficient evidence to do so. The move drew a sharp reaction from the top Pakistan diplomat in London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan.Rizvi said the the three players were issued individual notices by the ICC. “We will just monitor what happens at the appeals, but they have to contest it on their own.”A tough day for Amir got worse with the news that he had been removed from the list of nominees for the ICC’s emerging player of the year award, for which he was a favourite.The allegations against the players revolve around an undercover operation by the , during which a 35-year-old man, Mazhar Majeed, claimed he had paid Asif and Amir to bowl no-balls to order and that Butt was also involved.Rizvi told ESPNcricinfo that the option of legal action against the NOTW by the PCB remains if the players are proven innocent, which is what the Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK had said. He denied reports that the PCB was threatening to sue the ICC over the suspensions.

Pakistan head coach says he will focus on getting batters used to such conditions

Danyal Rasool24-Jan-2025Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed has launched an impassioned defence for the recent spin-friendly pitches for Test matches in the country.Ahead of the second Test against West Indies in Multan, Aaqib said that if the decision to prepare such wickets been taken sooner, Pakistan may have been closer to making the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Speaking publicly for the first time since assuming the role of interim coach of the Test side, he said he remained focused on winning Test matches and dismissed concerns about his side’s strategy.”Why is it that if fast bowlers take wickets, [people say] Test cricket is moving forward, and if spinners take wickets, Test cricket’s going backwards?” Aaqib said on the eve of the game. “I don’t understand this. When you go to Australia and England, they prepare pitches how they like. So, if we prepare turning wickets and spinners take wickets, what is the problem?”Of course, we were right to prepare a spin pitch [in the first Test] against West Indies. Their batters are not as proficient against spin when compared to fast bowling. I also want to address concerns about where our Test cricket is going. If we had taken these decisions earlier, then we would have been in the race for the WTC [final]. The rule of Test cricket is to win at home. If you win at home and you win two to three Tests away, you become a strong candidate for the final.”Related

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Aaqib was speaking after his team wrapped up victory in the shortest completed Test in Pakistan – the first Test against West Indies. He said Pakistan were trying to prepare a similar surface for the second Test too, and the decision to pivot to spinning tracks, masterminded largely by him and selector Aleem Dar when they were appointed to the men’s selection committee in October, was partly necessitated by a drop in the skill levels of Pakistan’s current fast bowlers.”We used to be strong on [bowling] reverse swing, but now that skill level has gone down,” he said. “We have told our fast bowlers if you want to take wickets here, their reverse-swing skill will have to go up. In the past, we had Shoaib [Akhtar, Waqar [Younis], Wasim [Akram], and both spin and pace bowlers took wickets.”In the clearest sign that Pakistan’s latest strategy looks like it might be here to stay, Aaqib acknowledged the toll this was taking on his side’s batters because “even they have never played in these conditions”. He indicated broad changes would follow in the off-season with regards to Pakistan’s domestic pitches as well as the training regimen the batters would be put through to prepare them for these wickets in the future.”Even though foreign players are struggling with spin pitches from abroad, so are our players, because they have never played on these pitches,” Aaqid said. “Moving forward, we have told them their training and practice routines will be geared towards this, and we will change domestic pitches too. Our next Test is not until October, so that gives them time to improve their batting.”All three pitches against England last October were declared satisfactory by the ICC•PA Images via Getty Images

Pakistan’s tactics have come under intense discussion, and at times criticism – both from outside the country and within. While they escaped ICC censure for the surfaces they prepared against England last October – all three were declared satisfactory – a decision on the pitch for the first Test against West Indies has not yet been made.Criticism from abroad has focused on whether Pakistan’s tactics amount to pitch doctoring. Concerns have been raised at home over Pakistan’s future ability to develop fast bowlers and quality batting talent, and if this is likely to further erode Pakistan’s competitiveness in away Test series.”We were in South Africa just now, and we came very close to winning a Test,” Aaqib said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t take those last two wickets in Centurion. No spinner played those Tests for us there. You have to select a team depending on the conditions you get.”It’s about winning Tests; that’s what matters. We think we can prepare these pitches in every center of Pakistan, and it should be as difficult to beat Pakistan here as it is to beat Australia or South Africa away. People should know if they’re going to Pakistan, they will have to do something extraordinary to beat Pakistan.”

Debutant pace bowler Chloe Ainsworth made her mark with a double-wicket opening over

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2023Sophie Devine had an instant impact in her new middle-order role for Perth Scorchers as they secured a crushing opening win over Hobart Hurricanes who were bundled out for 88.Devine, batting at No. 4, hit 87 off 44 balls and dominated stands of 69 with Amy Jones then 65 to Amy Edgar after Scorchers had been 52 for 3 in the eight over.Related

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Having previously opened for Scorchers, Devine will likely have the middle-order role – something she has done this year for New Zealand – at least until Nat Sciver-Brunt arrives with Lauren Winfield-Hill opening the innings.Shabnim Ismail was the standout bowler although she went wicketless, with 14 dot balls in her four overs and 14 of the runs she conceded coming off her last over.In reply, Hurricanes were blown away. Their batting line-up was without the ill Elyse Villani and injured Nicola Carey meaning a change of plans and order.After Milly Illingworth had impressed with her pace at North Sydney Oval on the opening night it was the chance of another debutant quick, Chloe Ainsworth, to make a mark with a spectacular opening over.She produced a searing inswinging yorker to remove Lizelle Lee then followed that by trapping stand-in captain Heather Graham lbw. By the fifth over, Hurricanes were 19 for 4 and the game was as good as over.Stella Campbell, who has moved to Scorchers from Sydney Sixers, claimed two wickets in an over while Alana King helped herself to three which all involved Mooney behind the stumps.

Josh Little’s four-wicket ends up as a footnote in the game as Ireland fail to chase 174

Sreshth Shah18-Jul-2022Lockie Ferguson used his assortment of quick deliveries and change-ups to take a four-wicket haul, and in the process left Ireland 31 runs short of New Zealand’s score of 173, handing the visitors a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.In sunny (and warm) Belfast conditions, Ireland dominated for most of the first innings, leaving New Zealand struggling at 100 for 5, but Glenn Phillips’ late flurry with the bat pushed the visitors to 173 for 8 in 20 overs.After Phillips’ unbeaten 52-ball 69, Ferguson took charge of proceedings, dismissing Gareth Delany and Paul Stirling early. He then returned to remove Ireland’s top scorer Curtis Campher for 29 and took the final wicket of the game, Craig Young caught behind.Ireland had some positives, especially left-arm seamer Josh Little’s four-wicket haul that strangled New Zealand for most of the first innings. But they conceded 61 runs in the last five overs and that proved to be the turning point in the end. Phillips was the man who did most of the damage in this period and because of that he was fittingly named Player of the Match.NZ bowlers rally around FergusonEarly wickets were needed for New Zealand’s fairly inexperienced bowling unit to defend 173, and they came starting with a backpedaling catch from captain Mitchell Santner in the third over. Jacob Duffy, playing for the first time since his appearance against Bangladesh in 2021, forced a miscued inside-out shot from Andy Balbirnie to get that opening wicket. After that, Ferguson picked off Stirling and Delany fairly cheaply.The middle-overs squeeze came from Santner, James Neesham and Ish Sodhi, the trio sharing five wickets in their 11 overs, as Ireland stumbled to 96 for 7 by the 13th. The seventh wicket was that of Campher’s, who appeared to be the only Irish batter willing to muster up a challenge, but he was done in by a Ferguson yorker – plumb lbw – and then the tail wagged but not for long enough.As the pitch got older, run-scoring got tougher, and Santner and Neesham in particular made it even more difficult by changing their speeds and not offering deliveries at the arc of the Irish batters. Santner picked up the wickets of Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker with edges to short third man and the wicketkeeper respectively while Neesham’s two strikes in the 17th over sent Ireland from seven down to nine down in the space of four balls.Ferguson then finished the game off, delivering a bouncer to No. 10 Young, who gloved it to the debutant Dane Cleaver.New Zealand struggle with the batWith key senior players missing from the T20I tour for New Zealand, the onus was on Martin Guptill to provide a rollicking start after they were put in to bat. But while he did race to 24 off 11 balls, three of his five boundaries were off the edge, and he eventually fell searching for a big shot to Mark Adair in the third over. His opening partner Finn Allen smacked a cut off Little straight to cover for 1 off 7 balls and the debutant Cleaver fell early too, gloving a short ball from Little through to the keeper.At 38 for 3, New Zealand’s innings needed resuscitation. Phillips tried to do that by pushing his partner Daryl Mitchell for an extra run whenever he could on a Stormont ground where the square boundaries were quite large. But Mitchell struggled with timing, and Campher’s medium-pace had him walking back to the pavillion after he top-edged a short ball for a 10-ball 5. At 54 for 4, Ireland had the upper hand.Phillips’ rescue actWith only New Zealand’s middle and lower-middle order left, Phillips reined in his shot-making to try and last the whole innings. In Neesham, he found someone who could be the risk-taker, and Neesham’s 16-ball 29 in a partnership of 46 helped New Zealand reach triple-digits by the 14th over. However, Neesham fell next ball to left-arm spinner George Dockrell before the slog-overs explosion could really come about.Joined by No. 7 Michael Bracewell – on T20I debut – Phillips was on 28 in 31 balls with six overs to go. But he thumped Little for two fours in the 15th over to get his strike-rate to over 100, and then, off the same bowler, slashed a four behind point in the 19th over to reach his fifty in 45 balls.Phillips saved his best for the final over. After surviving a lucky toe-ended shot that squirted past the keeper for four, Phillips clattered Adair for four and six to take 19 runs off the 20th to not only finish on a tidy 69 but also hand New Zealand the momentum at the break.

England wrap up a comfortable win in the second T20I to go 2-0 up with one game to go

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2021Opener Tammy Beaumont’s 63 combined with superb bowling efforts from Freya Davies, Nat Sciver and Sarah Glenn helped England Women win the second T20I against New Zealand Women and seal the three-match series with one game to go.After New Zealand were put in to bat, Sophie Ecclestone and Davies did the early damage by removing the openers within the first five overs. Amy Satterthwaite and Amelia Kerr then combined for a 58-run third-wicket stand and pushed the scoring rate up as they stayed together till the 12th over, but a double-strike from legspinner Glenn took care of Kerr and Katey Martin, which pegged New Zealand back.Davies then caused further damage, removing Satterthwaite for 49 in the 15th over, and that put a lid on the scoring in a big way. New Zealand were 98 for 5 at that point, and after that they added just 25 more runs to push their total to 123 for 9. Davies finished with career-best figures of 4 for 23, while Sciver and Glenn picked up two wickets each.England started their chase briskly thanks to Beaumont, who hit seven fours and a six on her way to a 53-ball 63. Rosemary Mair removed Danni Wyatt and Sciver for paltry scores, but Beaumont partnered with captain Heather Knight – who made a run-a-ball 39 – for 83 runs to put England in a winning position. Though both of them were dismissed before the close, England cantered home with 16 balls in hand.The third – and final – T20I will be played in Wellington on Sunday.