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England eyeing to fix grey areas Even though they start as favourites against Afghanistan, England would be aware that their bowlers would have to put up an improved performance
NEW DELHI: Their campaign back on track with a stunning win over South Africa, a resurgent England would be looking to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on an ever-improving Afghanistan in a Super 10 Group 1 match of the ICC World Twenty20. After being bruised and battered by Chris Gayle in the six-wicket defeat to West Indies in their tournament-opener, England, facing a must-win situation, rode on Joe Root’s class act to register a close two-wicket win against South Africa in a high-scoring encounter to keep their hopes alive. Chasing a mammoth 230-run target, Root single-handedly got England over the line with a thundering 83 off 44 balls. If not for Root’s heroics, England would have been virtually out of the tournament after their
bowling department leaked runs for a second consecutive match. And even though they start as favourites against Afghanistan, England would be aware that their bowlers would have to put up an improved performance. The 2010 champions’ under-fire bowlers and fielders will be up against a potent if not marauding Afghanistan batting line-up that gave Australia a scare in their last match. The performance of England’s opening pace duo of David Willey and Reece Topley can be termed horrendous against South Africa the other day as they sprayed the ball on both sides of the wicket to concede huge runs. The likes of Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes too were very expensive. The spin duo of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid looked good even
though they too went for runs and the key for England would be how effectively this pair performs. If England want to alter their pace combination they have Liam Plunkett, a late replacement for the injured Steve Finn, to call upon.England’s batting has been satisfactory so far in the tournament with Root leading from the front. However, they need a collective batting effort from the likes of Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Stokes, Jos Buttler and skipper Eoin Morgan to make themselves a potent force in the tournament. With a win and a loss under their belt, England are currently lying fourth in the five-team group and a win will definitely propel Morgan’s men up in the standings. Minnows Afghanistan, on the other hand, have lost both their matches against Sri Lanka (by six wickets) and South Africa (by 37 runs). But despite the defeats, the Afghans, who advanced to the Super 10 stage for the first time, showed great character in those two matches. They might be virtually out of the semi-final race following two defeats, but the Afghans would be aiming to spoil the party for others and show the world their might in the remaining matches of the tournament. — PTI
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Twenty20 is not only just about aerial shots
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ndia and England have picked themselves up quite brilliantly after their losses in their first game and have given themselves the chance to get through to the semifinals. Of course with two more matches to be played it is not a given that they will qualify and they will need to play at the top of their game once again. England play Afghanistan and though the Afghanistan team is a competitive one they may not have the ammunition to beat England. Yes flair can sometimes overcome lack of experience at this level and the Afghans have certainly displayed great flair so far but they have fallen short when it matters. That is more due to the inexperience of playing against the big teams for when it has come to the tipping point they have lost the
grip on the game. England’s batting has been tremendous but its the bowling on Indian pitches where they have had a bit of a problem and have conceded loads of runs in both their matches so far. Maybe going in with an extra spinner may do the trick for them and if there is one game in which they can try that it is the one against the qualifiers. India which is usually set in its batting will want their top order to fire more than it has so far. T20 is not only about aerial shots as Virat Kohli has so ably
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Al Hail CT to host T20 tournament MUSCAT: Al Hail Cricket Team, under the auspices of Oman Cricket (OC), will organise a Twenty20 tournament from April 8 at their own green ground in Mabellah, according to a statement received from the organisers. After the resounding success of the four editions of its T10 Cricket Tournaments and based on the encouraging feedback received from various participating teams, Al Hail CT have decided to conduct their first ever Twenty20 Cricket Tournament to encourage lower division league teams and young talented players. The tournament will be played on knockout basis and a maximum of 24 entries will be accepted on first-cum-first basis. Interested teams may register their entries on or before March 31.
demonstrated. Those shots come a lot easier after one has had a measure of the pitch. With the pitches helping the spinners it is never easy to go for the big shots as it is on pitches with true bounce like at the Wankhede Stadium. India are loath to make a change unless there is an injury to one of its players so even if the game is against the qualifiers there shouldn’t be any surprises in the playing squad. India are way behind in the net run rate at the moment and so they would want to improve on that but as they know from recent experience Bangladesh are not the pushovers they were earlier and are far more competitive. The priority therefore is to get into a winning position and then think about the run rate. - PMG
This tournament is open for participation to players of all divisions of OC League except Premier, A, B, and C divisions. Any player registered with any team in these divisions will not be allowed to participate. All other league players can participate in this tournament as the OC has kindly given their permission for this tournament. The tournament will run for a total duration of nine days starting from April 8 and continuing on April 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30 and May 6 and will be conducted according to ICC rules and regulations. For further details as well as for registration, contact organisers (Ph: 99623536, 9599 8056 & 92828786) or email at alhailcricketteam@yahoo.com
OC to host knockout tourney from April 15 MUSCAT: Oman Cricket will organise the Khimji Ramdassponsored Knockout tourney for A to J divisions from April 15. According to a press statement issued by Oman Cricket on Tuesday, teams that had participated in the league tournaments during 2015-16 season are eligible to take part in the tournament. However, in the event of a team deciding not to take part, the players from that team will allowed to play in the same group or in a higher group, but not lower group. Interetested teams may register their entries before 6.00 p.m. on April 4. The entry fee is OMR. 50. The draw ceremony and the captains/managers meeting will take place on April 6 at 7.00 p.m. at Al Mirani Hall of Al Falaj Hotel. For further details, contact Iqbal Ariwala or Ajith D’Costa at Oman Cricket office (Ph: 24787085 or 24787087). WORLD T20
Injured Duminy ruled out of Windies game MUMBAI: South Africa will play Friday’s vital World Twenty20 Group 1 match against West Indies without all-rounder JP Duminy who has been ruled out with a hamstring strain. Duminy picked up the injury while fielding in Sunday’s 37run victory over Afghanistan and will be a loss for the side with bat and ball. “The scans which were done yesterday (Monday) confirmed our clinical suspicion of a hamstring strain which means that he will be ruled out of Friday’s game against the West Indies in Nagpur,” team manager Mohammed Moosajee said in a Cricket South Africa statement on Tuesday. “The plan is to try and get him ready for our last round-robin match against Sri Lanka in Delhi on Sunday.” Duminy has scored 83 runs in the competition without being dismissed and took 1-31 in three overs in the two-wicket defeat by England in South Africa’s opening game. - Reuters