The ball-tampering issue involving Nicholas Pooran might not be over. Despite being punished by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Pooran must now wait to see what decision will be made by Cricket West Indies (CWI) who are expecting a report from the manager of the West Indies team Raul Lewis before deciding if to close the matter.
According to CWI’s chief executive officer Johnny Grave, the dashing wicketkeeper/batsman will not be sent home from the tour of India but will be allowed to remain with the team to concentrate on “improving his skills and fitness”.
“Nicholas is staying in India to work on his fitness and skills. The team manager Rawl Lewis will submit a report on the ball- tampering issue to the director of cricket Jimmy Adams which will be shared with our board of directors. Until we receive the report we can’t really comment on whether the matter is closed or not,” Grave told Barbados TODAY.
PROVIDENCE, Guyana- The West Indies Women lost the fourth T20 International against India Women by a nail-biting 5 runs in a match that started over an hour late due to rain.
Anisa Mohammed won the toss for the fourth time and the West Indies Women elected to bowl first, a decision that paid dividends in a match reduced to 9-overs a side because of the weather disruption. The West Indies slow bowlers were all over the India Women batters who looked to maximize their scoring in the limited overs available.
First up was Hayley Matthews whose off-spin bamboozled the Indian top order, as she accounted for the wickets of Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Veda Krishnamurthy. Kyshona Knight supported Hayley by taking a spectacular sliding catch to remove Jemimah. Hayley finished her maximum 2 overs with figures of 3/13.
Following a 30-run defeat at the hands of the West Indies in the first T20I, Afghanistan was buried by many—given that it was their fourth loss on this tour. The Rashid Khan-led side, though, rose from the dead to complete a 2-1 series comeback win, taking their streak of bilateral T20I series victories to five. The West Indies, on the other hand, were doomed to their third consecutive T20I series defeat.
Here’s what we learnt from the three-match series:
1. Afghanistan is currently in a better (T20) position than the West Indies;
Prior to the start of this series, with the current assignment for the West Indies being World Cup preparations, (it was known that) every game contested would be ticked off as ‘things learnt’ for the new backroom staff. And an unfavourable result against an Afghanistan side, on the rise, with the number 1 ranked T20 all-rounder and bowler in Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan within their ranks, along with the number 6 ranked batsman in the same format in Hazratullah Zazai in their line-up, does not change that fact.
PROVIDENCE, Guyana- India Women take an unassailable 3-0 lead and clinched the T20 International series against the West Indies Women after they won the third T20 International at the National Stadium in Guyana by seven wickets.
The West Indies Women won the toss and elected to bat first. Once again the top order failed to capitalize on the powerplay overs as two wickets fell. First to go was Hayley Matthews fell for 5, giving Anuja Patil an easy caught and bowl after dispatching her for a beautiful boundary through point. Shemaine Campbelle’s struggle with bat continued she managed a 12-ball 5 runs before she was LBW. Then came Stacy-Ann King’s wicket for 7 in the nineth over. The West Indies Women tottering on 27/3 in ten overs.
Chedean Nation and Natasha McLean then started a slow but steady rebuild of the West Indies Women’s innings. The Indian Women stared their bowling attack with all spin which pegged the rapid scoring that the West Indies Women like from the pace of the fast bowlers.
Former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo has called Nicholas Pooran's attempts at altering the condition of the ball during West Indies' third ODI against Afghanistan a "silly mistake".
"I know Pooran since he was 17 years old and he is not that type of player," Bravo said on Thursday in Abu Dhabi where he will be playing in the T10 tournament as Maratha Arabians' captain. "Yes, that (ball-tampering) happened, the evidence is there. But deep down inside he doesn't mean anything [bad] to cheat or anything."
