Australia make 245 to beat New Zealand in record-breaking T20 chase

Agencies
February 17, 2018

Feb 17: D`Arcy Short anchored a high-powered Australian batting order to produce the highest successful run chase in Twenty20 international cricket to beat New Zealand by five wickets in their tri-series clash at Eden Park on Friday.

Short, who started his innings with several edges and false shots that went for boundaries at the small ground, scored 76 from 44 balls as the Australians reached 245 for five with seven deliveries remaining.

The run chase eclipsed the 236 for six West Indies achieved in beating South Africa in Johannesburg in 2015.

New Zealand had scored 243 for six in their 20 overs after Martin Guptill (105) and Colin Munro (76) had produced a blistering 132-run opening partnership in 10.4 overs.

Short and captain David Warner (59), however, put on 121 runs in 8.3 overs to give the visitors the ideal start before Glenn Maxwell, who scored 31 from 14 balls, and Aaron Finch (36 not out) ensured they got home.

Having won their previous three matches before Friday, Australia had already qualified for the final of the tri-series, that also includes England, at the same ground on Feb. 21.

New Zealand had been strong favourites to join them in the final at the innings break after Guptill and Munro scored at more than 12 runs an over, exploiting the short boundaries down the ground.

Munro hit Andrew Tye for three successive sixes off the first three balls of the 11th over but was then undone by a cleverly-disguised slower delivery on the next and was caught at wide long on by Maxwell.

Guptill then picked up where Munro had left off, reaching his second Twenty20 international century in 49 deliveries before Tye had him caught by Maxwell at deep midwicket to leave the hosts 212 for three in the 17th over.

Australia then dragged the New Zealand innings back with three wickets for four runs in six deliveries. Ross Taylor hit two sixes in an 18-run final over from Tye to propel New Zealand to their equal-highest T20 score.

New Zealand face England in Hamilton on Sunday, with the hosts holding the advantage having won their game in Wellington on Tuesday by 12 runs.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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Agencies
March 1,2020

New Delhi, Mar 1: Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif on Sunday heaped praise on Ravindra Jadeja after the all-rounder took a spectacular catch on the second day of the Christchurch Test against New Zealand.

Jadeja grabbed a one-handed stunner at deep square leg in the 72nd over to dismiss Neil Wagner, who had to depart after scoring 21 runs.

"Sir Jadeja for a reason! Jadeja Airlines, flying high! Terrific stuff," Kaif tweeted.

In the match, Jadeja also impressed with the ball. The left-handed bowler took two wickets while giving away 22 runs.

On day two, India bundled out New Zealand on 235 runs in the second Test. However, in their second innings, Indian batsmen again struggled to tackle the New Zealand pacers and lost six wickets with a lead of just 97 runs.

India went to stumps at 90/6, with Trent Boult doing the majority of the damage with three wickets.

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News Network
July 2,2020

Jul 2: Cricket Australia has decided to not use the Dukes ball from this summer's Sheffield Shield, having used it alongside Kookaburra for four seasons.

CA has confirmed that the Kookaburra ball will be used for the entire 2020-21 first-class season.

Australia has been using Dukes ball since the 2016-17 season in Shield matches with an aim to help its cricketers prepare for the hostile English conditions.

CA's Head of Cricket Operations, Peter Roach, said the decision to axe the Dukes was the right call. "The introduction of the Dukes ball has been a worthwhile exercise, particularly in the lead up to overseas Ashes series where the Dukes is used so well by our English opponents," Roach said.

"We have been happy with how the ball has performed when used in Australian conditions over the past four seasons. We do, however, feel that reverting to one ball for 2020-21 will provide the consistent examination of our players over a full season that CA and the states are presently seeking. The Kookaburra is the ball used for international cricket in Australia and many parts of the world and we see benefits this season of maximising our use of it," he added.

Roach said the ineffectiveness of spinners in first-class cricket in recent times played a role in CA's decision to do away with the Dukes. "We have noted that spin bowlers in the Sheffield Shield have been playing less of a role in recent seasons, most notably in games when the Dukes ball is in use. We need spinners bowling in first-class cricket and we need our batters facing spin. We hope that the change to one ball will have a positive benefit here," he said.

The CA official, however, didn't rule out the possibility of re-introducing it later.

"We see a definite opportunity to reintroduce the Dukes ball at some stage in the future."

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