Windies claimed Day 1 honours in the Antigua Test by bowling out England for 187 in their first innings before playing out the 21 overs without any damage. The openers dogged batting meant the hosts ended the opening day of the second Test 157 runs behind with all ten wickets intact.
Having wrapped up the visitors' first innings for a paltry score, Windies had 21 overs to survive in an extended post-Tea session on a rather lively green-top. Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell did exactly that, the latter particularly overcoming a nervy start to finish the day with 16 against his name off 71 deliveries he faced.
With immense aid off the pitch, England's new-ball pair of Stuart Broad and James Anderson seemed menacing - the former in particular, bowling seven overs on the trot in his opening spell and thoroughly testing Campbell - but eventually returned wicket-less, as did England at the end of the day. The visitors were in with a chance late into the session, though, when an lbw appeal against Brathwaite was turned down. However, England lost their review when replays found Sam Curran to have overstepped.
While the Windies openers successfully saw off the new ball, England went back knowing they hadn't done much wrong since their batting capitulation earlier in the day.
England's resistance with the bat lasted just 61 overs and runs came courtesy Jonny Bairstow and an under-fire Moeen Ali's half-centuries. Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel were the wreckers-in-chief, sharing seven spoils between them. The top-order crumbled around Bairstow, who hit a brisk 52, while Moeen combined with Ben Foakes for a vital 85-run stand that helped England avoid total catastrophe.
CWI Media Release: Fifteen years after their last visit to Pakistan, the WINDIES Women returned with a convincing 71-run victory over Pakistan Women in the 1st T20 International in Karachi. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Windies women recovered from 59 for 2 to post a demanding total of 160 for the same 2. Thanks to a destructive 109-run partnership between Deandra Dottin and Chedean Nation, who scored 90*(60) and 50*(35) respectively.
The visiting team got off to a flyer before they lost opener Kycia Knight midway through the 4th over with the score on 34. In the next 5 overs, Pakistan slowed the scoring rate only giving up 17 runs and taking the wicket of Shemaine Campbelle via the run-out route. However, Nation then joined Dottin and the two put on an unbeaten partnership of 109 runs off a little more than 11 overs. The two were especially ruthless in the last five overs scoring a quick-fire 62 runs with Nation smashing two huge sixes much to the delight of her teammates.
Dottin indicated she didn’t open the innings with the intentions of going hard from early on. However, the pitch set the deliveries right in “sweet zone” and she punished the Pakistan bowlers, smashing the ball around the Southend club. Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof rotated her bowlers to try and curb the WINDIES free-scoring, but they all felt the wrath from the WINDIES Women’s bats.
The biggest surprise unleashed by the WINDIES Women came via Chedean Nation. The veteran batter took a few deliveries to settle in, but then unfurled 4-fours and 2 mammoth sixes on her way to a maiden T20I half-century. When Dottin’s scoring slowed, Nation took the charge in taking the WINDIES score well past the par-score on the ground. She matched Dottin’s pace between the wickets, as they pair picked up the singles and doubles when boundaries were hard to come by.
Maroof brought herself on with the hope of breaking the partnership, but she was punished with 10 runs from her only over. Nashra Sandhu was the only Pakistan bowler to take a wicket when she had Knight caught for 8. Campbelle was runout for 4. The WINDIES Women finished their innings on 160/2, Dottin on 90 not out and Nation on 50 not out. Sandhu finished with figures of 1/23.
Pakistan innings never got the foundation nor stability they needed to go after the 161-run target. Only captain Bismah Maroof and Javeria Khan reached double figures. Shamilia Connell opened with a spell of beautiful seam-bowling, which had both openers Sidra Ameen and Javeria Khan caught behind by Merissa Aguilleira for 2 and 19 respectively. Kycia Knight took a brilliant catch, covering a few yards to her left to dismiss Umaima Sohail, handing Connell her third wicket. Then Shakera Selman stunned Nida Dar with a lightning fast return to run her out for 2.
Anisa Mohammed playing in her 100th T20 International, showed just why she’s the leading wicket-take (male or female) in T20 International T20 cricket. She used the grip of the surface along with leg-spinner Afy Fletcher to peg back the Pakistan batters. Mohammed’s 4-overs and Fletcher’s 4-overs totaled 32 runs for 3 wickets. Deandra Dottin added a wicket to her 90 not out with that of Sidra Nawaz for 0.
Shakera Selman who bowled her first 2 overs for 5 runs, returned to bowl the 18th over and was rewarded for her accuracy and consistency. She removed Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof caught and bowled for a valiant 38, then took the last Pakistan wicket of Aiman Anwer LBW for 4. Pakistan 89 all out in 18 overs.
CWI Media Release: – The return of international fast bowler Ravi Rampaul will be one of the highlights when the West Indies Championship resumes from a recess with the sixth round of matches beginning tomorrow.
Though interests will be divided, due to the crucial second Test between WINDIES and England, also starting tomorrow at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground here, the return of the 34-year-old Rampaul to Trinidad & Tobago Red Force line-up for the first time in almost six years will capture some of the attention.
Rampaul has been playing in the English County Championship for the last three seasons and he has been brought back in a bid for the Red Force to slow down front-runners and four-time defending champions Guyana Jaguars in their match at Queen’s Park Oval.
At the same time – Leeward Islands Hurricanes will be hoping to keep in step with the Jaguars, when they meet Jamaica Scorpions at Warner Park.
And, Barbados Pride host a Windward Islands Volcanoes side led by their former captain Kirk Edwards at Kensington Oval.
After handing Root and company England’s biggest loss in the Caribbean (by runs), the West Indies now turn their attention to withstanding the inevitable fightback when Test number two bowls off in Antigua at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Thursday, 10 a.m. local time. With the official inclusion of Oshane Thomas as a member of the squad — making him available for selection — it is clear that while the visitors are shoring up to give a fight, the hosts are not prepared to give up their 1-0 lead without a combat of their own.
Reinforcements
The inclusion of Thomas might very well be to add to England’s headache. Now, along with the multiple decisions Root and Bayliss must take to rectify their mistakes — the Windies XI for this Test does not seem as predictable. It might be safe to say that Jimmy Anderson will be welcoming back his old partner in crime — an English legend himself — Stuart Broad. While England might have erred in playing two spinners in the first Test, it is important that Joe Root steps away from the table in assessing whether this pitch will actually require two spinners. Along with the inclusion of Jack Leach, the Poms’ captain does have the choice of taking on the additional responsibility of being the second spin option himself. As Jonny Bairstow was seen practicing glove work yesterday in Antigua, it is possible that England might well do away with one of their wicket-keeper batsmen. Not least, the very possible reality that Keaton Jennings might yet lose his place at the top of the order.
An opportunity for Windies top-order
As we know, a win brings fewer questions than a defeat, but we must not forget that the win in the first Test is just another of the steps that Holder and his team have been taking over the past two years; steps of progression that, if we have been paying attention, have also been taken in defeats. Caribbean fans, while enjoying the win and giving due to our players for a complete performance must not adopt the style of the English fans and their media overreaction. So, let us remind ourselves that our top-order is still striving for consistency. To that point, an “under pressure” Shane Dowrich made his maiden Test ton down in Zimbabwe in October 2017 and in the first Test (against England) went on to grab his third—equaling the number of centuries made by the Windies top-order during this period. Going to Antigua one-up, there is no pressure on the top-order; one can even argue that they have been given a launching pad in the search of that elusive stability.
Last time in Antigua
The hosts will have good memories of Antigua from last summer when — that man again — Kemar Roach routed Bangladesh for a mere 43 runs. Kraigg Brathwaite might remember that Test for his 7th Test century and the West Indies should remember that all twenty wickets were shared amongst their four seamers. Based on the first innings bowling performance in the first Test, the entire Caribbean will be hoping for a similar wicket to the one from last summer. Therefore, it should be as you were for the curators in Antigua.
However, one could not be faulted for replaying the events of the last Test and wondering: Did the West Indies “sweeten” England?
The pitch the English would have seen the night before, and which influenced their decision in playing two spinners and leaving out their quickest bowler, would have been in much better condition on the first morning of the Test. The only hope Joe Root would have had when he saw the stark difference in the wicket that morning disappeared when the coin fell on the wrong side. Hope was renewed when England held the upper hand after they dismissed the hosts for 289 runs in the first session on Day 2, on what seemed a batting wicket. England were again in for a surprise when they realised they were set to bat during the period the pitch would be at its quickest (after drying out). And when the English kept playing for turn when Roston Chase literally got only a single ball to spin during his spell of 8/60, there was then need to revisit the event (the condition of the pitch the night before Day 1) that meant England had loss the game as soon as that team was selected. Well played, Barbados.
Having said that, since 2018 Windies bowlers have taken 116 of a possible 120 wickets at home in six Test matches. Come on, Antigua, give us a West Indian wicket.
Defending champions West Indies will open the defence of their title against New Zealand in the highly anticipated edition of next year’s men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
In the fixtures released yesterday by the International Cricket Council, the Caribbean side was installed in tough Group 1 alongside the likes of World number-one side Pakistan, powerhouses Australia, and two yet-to-be-determined qualifying teams.
Group 2 is headed by powerful India and includes England, South Africa, and Phil Simmons’s Afghanistan, along with two other teams from the qualifiers.
Twelve teams will contest the Super 12 first round, with the eight automatic qualifiers joined by four teams from the qualifiers, which will be contested from October 18-23 in Group A and B.
The tournament proper will run from October 24 to November 15, 2020, in eight cities and 13 venues, with the Sydney Cricket Ground hosting the opener between Australia and Pakistan on October 24 and the Melbourne Cricket Ground staging the grand final.
