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Saturday, 26 March 2016

Australia Beat Ireland in Dehli - Womens T20

Australia beat Ireland by seven wickets in Delhi to move closer towards clinching their place in the semi-finals of the Women's World Twenty20.

Ireland, who were already eliminated after losing their first three group games, could not score quickly enough and slipped from 75-2 to 91-7.

Elyse Villani made 43 to help Australia win with 40 balls to spare.

Australia have yet to clinch their semi-final place but will go through if New Zealand beat South Africa later.

England will look to join them in the last four by beating Pakistan in their last Group B game in Chennai on Monday.

Ireland's openers failed to score from the first 11 deliveries, but Clare Shillington broke the shackles with a six and then hit three successive boundaries before falling for 22.

Cecelia Joyce hit three fours in her 22, but the Irish managed only two boundaries in the last 15 overs.

Kim Garth top-scored with 27, but took 46 balls to do so, and in total there were 65 dot balls in the innings.

Ciara Metcalfe dismissed Australia's Alyssa Healy for six, courtesy of a superb one-handed catch by skipper Isobel Joyce.

Garth saw off Meg Lanning, the top-ranked international women's batter, but Villani stroked six boundaries in her 43 from 35 balls, before being well caught by Lucy O'Reilly off Garth with just seven required.

Ellyse Perry finished unbeaten on 29 as Australia eased home.

Friday, 18 March 2016

New Zealand Beat Australia in Twenty20

New Zealand gained partial revenge for defeat in last year’s World Cup final with an eight-run win over Australia in the World Twenty20.

The Black Caps relied on power hitting at both ends of their innings, from Martin Guptill up front and Grant Elliott in the closing overs, to reach 142 for eight.

It looked below par but tight bowling earned them a second successive win as Mitchell McClenaghan, recalled after missing the opening game when a spin-heavy attack skittled India, took three for 17.

Guptill struck two fours and four sixes in an opening stand of 61 with captain Kane Williamson, which ended when Guptill - who hit 39 from 27 balls - hoisted James Faulkner to deep midwicket.

Glenn Maxwell took the catcher and his off-spin accounted for the next two wickets, first Williamson (24) and then Corey Anderson lofting straight down the ground to Ashton Agar in successive Maxwell overs.

Colin Munro produced an array of shots - at one point pulling out of an intended switch-hit over leg to steer the ball right-handed past keeper Peter Nevill for four - but on 23 a big heave at Mitchell Marsh from his regular left-handed stance picked out Faulkner.

Ross Taylor hit Shane Watson for a huge six but chipped the next ball weakly to Marsh at midwicket, but Elliott provided late impetus with 27 from 20 balls before being run out off the final ball of the 20 overs.

Australia also slipped after a strong start, Usman Khawaja and Watson putting on 44 before Watson drove McClenaghan’s slower ball to Williamson at mid-off and new man Steven Smith was stumped, beaten by huge turn from Mitchell Santner.

Khawaja hit six fours in his 38 from 27 balls, but was run out as Adam Milne’s powerful throw from the deep beat his dive. That left Australia 66 for three at halfway and from the very next ball, David Warner swatted Santner straight to Guptill on the leg-side boundary.

Maxwell and Marsh carried the fight and with five overs remaining Australia were 100 for four - one run better than the Beige Brigade had been at the same stage.

Maxwell holed out for 22, though, Williamson holding a steepling catch off Ish Sodhi’s bowling, and Agar was surprisingly promoted ahead of Faulkner to number seven.

He and Marsh each hit sixes in Santner’s last over, the left-armer finishing with two for 30, but Marsh fell to the returning McClenaghan and the left-arm seamer also had Agar well caught by Taylor in a brilliant 19th over.

Australia needed 19 off the last and when key man Faulkner heaved Anderson (two for 29) to long-on and Guptill took a good catch, the game was up as Australia finished on 134 for nine.

Saturday, 20 February 2016

Kiwi McCullum Hits Record Ton

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Brendon McCullum has smashed the fastest ever Test ton in his final international match. McCullum reached three figures in 54 balls in Christchurch on Saturday, bettering the previous mark of 56 deliveries held by Viv Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq.

Australia had few answers as McCullum marched to the milestone in 79 minutes. He cracked four sixes and 16 fours to post his second Test ton against Australia. The 34-year-old brought up the record with a fourth consecutive boundary, charging down the wicket and slapping a ball from Josh Hazlewood over the covers.

The knock was all the more astonishing given how much the ball was doing on a lively green pitch, with McCullum walking out after a collapse of 11-3. His only chance came on 39, when Mitch Marsh plucked a one-handed catch at gully. Marsh celebrated wildly but umpires wanted to check for a no-ball, with footage revealing James Pattinson clearly overstepped.

McCullum received a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at Hagley Oval and was given a guard of honour by Australia when his innings started. The cheering was more thunderous when McCullum celebrated his ton, hugging teammate Corey Anderson.

The outgoing Black Caps skipper eventually fell for 145 from 79 deliveries, departing in much the same style as he’d employed to captivate the Hagley Oval crowd during his whirlwind stay, smashing a catch to Nathan Lyon in the deep off the bowling of a relieved Pattinson.

Monday, 15 February 2016

Australia Take Lyon Lead in Wellington

Nathan Lyon grabbed four wickets as Australia beat New Zealand by an innings and 52 runs after lunch on the fourth day of the first Test on Monday to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Lyon took two wickets on Monday to finish with 4-91 for Australia, who can take the top Test ranking from India with a series victory. The second game starts in Christchurch on 20 February.

Mark Craig, who top scored in New Zealand’s first innings with 41 not out, was left 33 not out when Trent Boult was bowled by Mitchell Marsh for 12 to wrap up their second innings for 327.

New Zealand were dismissed for 183 in their first innings and faced a deficit of 379 runs after Adam Voges’ second Test double century drove Australia to a mammoth 562.

The visitors captured the last six wickets on Monday without the experienced Peter Siddle, who bowled just eight overs on Sunday before succumbing to a back spasm.

Marsh, Lyon and Jackson Bird all grabbed wickets before lunch to set up the victory push in the middle session.

Hazlewood trapped Doug Bracewell in front for 14 just three deliveries after they returned from the break.

While Tim Southee provided some typical rearguard fireworks with 48 from 23 balls, the result was only a matter of time with him in the mood to swing for the fences.

Southee holed out at long on trying to hit a fourth six off Lyon before Boult was bowled by Marsh just under an hour into the final session.

The only bright spot for New Zealand was debutant Henry Nicholls scoring his first Test half century before he was bowled by Bird for 59.

Hazlewood’s ability to get the older ball to reverse swing should be of concern for New Zealand, whose top-four batsmen made solid starts but failed to push on in what were considered good batting conditions.

The hosts had resumed on Thursday on 178-4, with Nicholls on 31. Anderson joined him after captain Brendon McCullum was trapped lbw in the final over of the third day.

Australia, however, simply chipped away and waited for the batsmen to make errors with Anderson trapped in front by Marsh for a 22-ball duck before wicketkeeper BJ Watling got an inside edge to a Lyon delivery and played on for 10.

Nicholls also played on a delivery from Bird, which gave the tall pace bowler his first wicket of the match.

Tuesday, 9 February 2016

Celebrity Warne Talks Baked Beans

Shane Warne has no time for his former captain Steve Waugh, saying he’s the most “selfish cricketer I’ve played with”. The former leg spinner has used his time on the television show, I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, to tell the nation he dislikes Waugh for a number of reasons, but there is one in particular.

Warne said the manner in which Waugh, his then captain, told him he had been dropped from the Test team during a tour of the West Indies in 1999 is still vivid in his memory.

“There’s a lot of reasons I don’t like Steve Waugh, a lot of reasons, because he is the most selfish cricketer I’ve played with,” Warne says on Tuesday’s episode of the Network Ten reality show.

“One thing that really annoyed me about him was the one Test I got dropped, in the West Indies, was we had to win the last Test match to win the [Frank Worrell] Trophy.

“At that stage, captain, vice-captain [Warne], coach [Geoff Marsh] used to pick the team. We went to selection. I hadn’t bowled well, we had lost – Brian Lara batted unreal – but I was being the scapegoat, because I didn’t bowl well it was my fault.”

When it came to discussing the ins and outs for the next Test, there was no discussion. Warne said Waugh was blunt.

“We got to the selection table and said ‘What’s everyone’s thoughts?’. Steve Waugh said ‘You’re not playing’. I went ‘What? Hang on. What do you think the team should be? Blah blah blah’, and Steve Waugh said ‘Nuh, I’m the captain of this side ... you’re not playing’.

“I was really disappointed with that after 10 years. I’d just had a shoulder op. I thought the situation ... would’ve brought the best out in me too.”

Warne may have opened up an old wound but he cleared the air about a baked beans story that has been doing the rounds for some 18 years. He told the story how the Australian cricket team received 1,900 cans of baked beans while they were on a tour of India in 1998 after a request from their coach Geoff Marsh.

The only problem was they were specifically addressed to Warne and he said he has had to live with the myth that all the baked beans were for him.

“He rang Cricket Australia, Cricket Australia then rang the company and said, ‘hey look the Australian boys needs some baked beans and spaghetti to put on their toast in the mornings’,” he said. “We got three tonnes each ... addressed ‘Shane Warne, India’... so everyone thought I was desperate for baked beans, so it just stuck for the last 20 years.”

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Saturday, 26 March 2016

Australia Beat Ireland in Dehli - Womens T20