2nd T20I: Kohli's fighting fifty, late surge from Pant, Iyer help India put 186/5

BPL Final | Fortune Barishal pull game back under control

Team of the tournament Fortune Barishal pulled the final game of the Bangladesh Premier League back under their control after getting smashed around in the first six overs by Comilla Victorians. The Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka saw an emphatic comeback from the Shakib Al Hasan-led team after they were smashed all around the park by Sunil Narine. Down by 73/2 after the first 5 overs, Barishal struck back with Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Faf du Plessis and Imrul Kayes in a space of four overs. This effectively wiped off Comilla’s middle order and forced them into retreat despite a tremendous opening few overs. Abu Hider and Moeen Ali stabilised the fall of wickets, by patiently ticking off bowlers without taking any sort of risks against the spirited spell of bowling. Both batsmen took the Comilla innings past the 15-over mark, which at a point did not look possible. They left it late to start counter hitting Barishal back and the opportunity presented itself in the 18th over of the game. Mehedi Hasan in his final over was hit for two sixes, leaking out 15 runs in the death overs. Comilla would have loved for it to continue, but the very next over from Dwayne Bravo once again put a lid on the runrate. However, Comilla knew that inexperienced Shafiqul Islam would be bowling the last over and they could get at least 15 from that one. But alas, it was not to be. A run out in the first ball and two wickets off short balls did the trick for Barishal and they managed to keep Barishal restricted to just 151 runs.

WATCH | Harmanpreet Kaur’s brain-fade moment vs New Zealand

Mackay was quick to respond to the situation and threw the ball to the wicket-keeper Katey Martin as Harmanpreet was still far away from the batting crease. She put on the drive at the last moment but even that could not save her as Katey removed the bails in a flash.

PSL 2022 | Multan Sultans rattle Quetta Gladiators, courtesy all round show

Multan Sultans' all-round show against Quetta Gladiators in the PSL 2022 match handed them a thumping win by 117 runs in Lahore. Chasing a mammoth 246 in 20 overs, the Gladiators were bowled out for 128 in less than 16 overs. The Quetta lost a couple of early wickets and were 23/2 when Umar Akmal got into the act and began to take on the Multan bowlers. But he couldn't really get much support from the other side as the Gladiators lost wickets at regular intervals. Akmal though chipped in with a brisk 50 off 23 which included six sixes and a couple of fours but his efforts weren't really enough to help his side. Apart from him Jason Roy also made a contribution with a 19-ball 38. Asif Afridi, David Willey, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Khushdil Shah scalped a couple of wickets each while Imran Tahir picked up one. Earlier, the Sultans rode on an exceptional batting performance to post 245/3 in 20 overs. First, Masood and Rizwan stitched a partnership of 119 runs for the first wicket in 12 overs before Masood was out for 57 off 38. Rizwan was then joined by Rossouw in the middle and he thoroughly dominated the bowlers to score 71 in just 26 deliveries. Rizwan on the other side remained unbeaten at 83 in 54 deliveries.

NZW vs INDW | Lauren Down steps up as hosts seal ODI series with two games to spare

India scored their highest ODI total in New Zealand during the third game but faced yet another defeat as Lauren Down's quickfire 52-ball 64* allowed them to recover from a middle-overs struggle and record their second-highest successful chase in ODI history. New Zealand, on the other hand, also clinched the five-match ODI series with two games in hand. Team India looked controlled when New Zealand was at 171 for 6 in the 35th over. However, Down had some other plans when she came to bat. Along with the keeper-batter Katey Martin, she stitched 76 runs off just 69 balls to keep the hosts in the game as well. Martin (35) fell to India spinner Deepti Sharma with a little more than four overs to spare and the equation came down to 18 from 12. But 12 runs conceded in the penultimate over from Jhulan Goswami somehow sealed the game for New Zealand before Down hit Deepti for a straight six to finish off the chase. On the other hand, it was the veteran Goswami who had initially provided India with the breakthroughs. She dismissed Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates in her opening spell where the former was trapped LBW and the latter got bowled as well. Meanwhile, Goswami should have removed Amy Satterthwaite out for a duck but Deepti failed to grab a catch at gully. Later, Satterthwaite and Amelia Kerr steadied the ship by adding 103 runs. Them, Mithali Raj was forced to bring back her spearhead bowler Goswami into the attack, a move that paid off when she dismissed Satterthwaite for 59. From there on, Sneh Rana removed Kerr for 69 before Lea Tahuhu hit a couple of big shots. But, she too couldn’t contribute much and it left the hosts struggling before Down, took the charge. She and Martin started taking on the spin trio of Deepti, Sneh Rana and Ekta Bisht before taking the team to the finish line. Earlier in the game, having been put in to bat, the opening pair of Sabbhineni Meghana and Shafali Varma posted 86 from the first 10 overs, the former smashing a 33-ball half-century. Meghana came in place for Smriti Mandhana, fell for 61 with a total score of 100. Shafali later added a few runs with Yastika Bhatia but failed to contribute much after a 50 as well. India's middle-order once again struggled with the new batters – Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur and the visitors lost the momentum eventually. Soon, Kaur got run-out before Mithali edged a swinger from Hannah Rowe and India slipped to 187 for 5. Deepti, however, tried her best to keep the scoreboard ticking with a knock of 69* and helped to put up a total of 279 as well which proved less as they eventually lost the game. Brief scores: India 279 in 49.3 overs (Deepti 69*, S Meghana 61; Mair 2-43) lost to New Zealand 280/7 in 49.1 overs (Kerr 67, Down 64*, Goswami 3-47) by three wickets.