GUWAHATI, India (CMC) – West Indies batting enigma Shimron Hetmyer produced a flashy cameo as Rajasthan Royals won their second game in three outings with a comfortable, 57-run victory over Rovman Powell's Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League here Saturday.
Royals raised 199 for four off 20 overs, England's Jos Buttler slamming 79 from 51 deliveries and 21-year-old Indian left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal getting 60 from 31 balls.
The left-handed Hetmyer, who has not turned out for West Indies in eight months and was controversially missing for their T20 World Cup campaign last November, smashed an unbeaten 39 from 21 deliveries to energise the back-end of the innings.
In reply, Capitals got a top score of 65 off 55 balls from Captain David Warner but thereafter only Lalit Yadav, with 38 from 24 balls, showed any enterprise as the innings meandered to 142 for nine.
Powell managed only two as leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3-27) and left-arm seamer Trent Boult (3-29) sliced through the innings with three-wicket hauls.
Royals top the standings but are one of four teams on four points while Capitals are yet to win in three attempts this season.
At the Liberta Sports Club, Trinidad & Tobago got their second consecutive dominant win with a seven-wicket triumph over the Windward Islands on Thursday.
In a match reduced to 20-overs-per-side due to rain, the Windwards, who comfortably beat the Leewards in their first game, were bowled out for 71 in 18.2 overs.
Only first game centurion Earsinho Fontaine (23) and captain Theo Edward (14) were able to get double figures as the Trinidadian bowling effort was led by Yasir Deen who took 3-9 from four overs and Brendan Boodoo who ended with similar figures.
With the bat, T&T needed just 11.5 overs to reach 75-3 with Zane Maraj and Christian Lall finishing 18* and 7*, respectively. Earlier, Boodoo top scored with 21 while Darrius Batoosingh got 16.
At the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium, Guyana got their first win when they defeated Jamaica by 15 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
FROM the small village of Moruga to the renowned Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), former West Indies women’s cricketer Merissa Aguilleira is the first women’s cricketer from the Caribbean to become an honorary life member of the London-based club. Aguilleira was shocked when she heard the news, admitting she thought it was a prank.
Aguilleira is one of 17 new life members, but the only West Indian. Aguilleira, who retired from international cricket in 2019, is the 29th West Indies cricketer to become a life member. The other former TT and West Indies cricketers inducted previously are Deryck Murray (1990), Larry Gomes (1998), Brian Lara (2013) and Ian Bishop (2019).
“When they first e-mailed me about the award, I thought it was a prank,” Aguilleira laughed, when speaking to Newsday on Wednesday.
She said seeing the other great cricketers on the list made the moment even more special. “This morning when I woke up to that list I was most amazed. I was thankful, I was shocked. God alone knows how I felt within that moment. Actually seeing my name on top of that list and looking at MS Dhoni and the great Mithali Raj and all these inspirational leaders throughout the world (was unbelievable). It is just a blessing and I really thank God for the opportunity.”
Are Rajasthan Royals missing a trick by batting Shimron Hetmyer down the order? In their five-run loss to Punjab Kings on Wednesday, they sent Hetmyer out at No. 7 when they needed a stiff 77 from 36 in a chase of 198.
Hetmyer took them close with his 36 off 18, bringing the equation down to 16 off the last over, but Tom Moody and Sanjay Manjrekar strongly feel Hetmyer should bat much higher up because he is a more “complete” batter, not just a finisher.
“I think he’s a far better player than that,” Moody said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time:Out show after the game.
“He is not a [Kieron] Pollard or Andre Russell type player that’s geared for the last six overs. Both these players are obviously IPL icons so they’ve got specific skillsets. Hetmyer can potentially do that but he is more of a complete batsman than that.
We’ve seen him batting at No. 3 in 50-over cricket for West Indies, he doesn’t play a lot of cricket for them now but when he first started as a young player, [he was] scoring international hundreds for the West Indies…he’s a top-order player.
“Players of that calibre need to be out there following in the wake of Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler.”
In the Royals’ first game this season, batting first against Sunrisers Hyderabad, they had sent out Hetmyer at No. 6, but after their top order of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Buttler and Samson had blasted quickfire fifties, Hetmyer wasn’t required as much as he was in Wednesday’s chase.
Trinidad and Tobago remained perfect in the 19 and Under Tri-Nation Girls’ Cricket 30-over series as they sealed their third consecutive victory over Windward Islands at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva, on Tuesday.
A brilliant opening stand of 112 runs from Shunelle Sawh (72) and Samara Ramnath (38) bolstered the hosts to 190/6 after their 30 overs. Sawh faced 81 balls and hit seven fours.
In their turn at the crease, Windward Islands’ Jenellia Glasgow (84) was the only batter to trouble the TT bowling attack as the visitors were restricted to 155/9.
Doing the damage with the ball for TT was Amelia Khan (2/15), Samaroo (2/19), Djenaba Joseph (2/29) and KDJazz Mitchell (1/44).
This was TT’s third win on the trot against the Windwards in the tournament over the past week. TT now shift focus to three consecutive matches against Barbados, bowling on Friday, Sunday and Monday.
TT coach and former national player Gibran Mohammed was pleased to notch another victory but said the team still has work to do.
