West Indies cricketing legend Michael Holding has drawn the ire of Indian fans after he dismissed the Indian Premier League (IPL) and stated that he only commentates on “real cricket”.
Asked about commentating in the lucrative IPL, Holding dismissed the notion and told the Indian Express that he only did commentaries on cricket. Indian fans viewed his comments as a slight on the IPL and took to social media to criticize him. This is not the first time that the fast-bowling great has dismissed the shortest format of the game. Some lauded his comments but most Indians on social media were critical of him.
Other than Holding, many former cricketers who are firm believers in Test cricket, have also debated on the T20 argument. However, with respect to the IPL, the T20 extravaganza has unearthed many Indian internationals such as Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and many other players who have been selected for the Indian Test side.
Player of the match Shamilla Connell took three wickets and two wickets from Aaliyah Alleyne helped West Indies Women to a 10-run victory over Pakistan Women at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Wednesday.
Chasing 137 for victory after the West Indies made 136 for 6 from their 20 overs, Connell and Alleyne combined to restrict Pakistan to 126 for 6 despite an unbeaten 45 from Ayesha Naseem and 24 not out from Fatima Sana.
Together, the pair mounted an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 69 from 45 balls, rescuing Pakistan from a precarious 57-6.
Connell did the early damage bowling both openers, Javeria Rauf and Captain Javeria Khan for 5 and 7, respectively, with only 14 runs on the board. Hayley Matthews made it 23 for 3 when she dismissed Muneeba Ali for 9.
Connell took her third when she bowled Nida Dar for 9.
Alleyne then bowled Aliya Riaz for 8 and Iram Javid for 11 as Pakistan slipped further to 57-6 in the 13th over.
ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC) — A concerned Head Coach Phil Simmons has urged his batting group to increase discipline ahead of today's fourth Twenty20 International (T20I) against Pakistan.
While the home side won last Saturday's opener with a brazen show of batting force, similar approaches in the next two matches led to their demise, even though the victory targets were all virtually the same.
And, even though Captain Kieron Pollard has been adamant, West Indies would not compromise their power-hitting strengths. Simmons said the hosts still needed to let the state of the game dictate their approach.
“The area of concern right now is the thought when batting, the assessment of the situation when batting, because we know once we assess the situation correctly and we play to suit, we're going to win more matches than we lose,” Simmons pointed out.
“What we can do is that we as batsmen can assess the situation a lot better than we have done in the last two games, and then play according to the situation.
The West Indies Women, on Wednesday afternoon, will make a long-awaited return to International cricket, following an eight-month absence. The Stafanie Taylor-led side is set to host Pakistan Women in, first, 3 T20Is, then, 5 ODIs; the latter being preparation for the 2022 ICC Women’s 50-over World Cup, to be hosted in New Zealand from March through to April.
The ladies of the Caribbean, whose last outing was a 5-nil T20I series white-wash away to the English, have not won a T20 International series in over 2 years. However, head coach Courtney Walsh, who will be in charge of his first assignment since his appointment, will be looking to rectify that.
Though without batters Natasha McLean and Shemaine Campbelle, the West Indies will welcome back the services of sisters Kycia and Kyshona Knight.
South Africa moved 2-1 ahead in the five-match Twenty20 series against West Indies on Tuesday, Kagiso Rabada holding his nerve to clinch a one-run win in Grenada.
Quinton de Kock marked his 50th international appearance in the format by smashing 72 from 51 deliveries, helping the Proteas to post 167-8 - their highest total so far.
Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen contributed 23 and 32 respectively, yet South Africa lost a clatter of wickets in the closing stages.
Obed McCoy claimed two in the penultimate over as he finished with career-best figures of 4-22. There was also a run out to follow in the next, the last of five wickets to go down for the addition of just 20 runs across the final 18 deliveries.
Having claimed 1-16 last time out, Tabraiz Shamsi seemingly turned the match in his team's favour by taking 2-13, Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer (17) the batsmen to depart to the left-arm slow bowler.
