Afghanistan Cricket Board reappoints Azizullah Fazli as new Chairman

Lord's Test: 'Happy' Moeen Ali brings much-needed balance for England

Moeen Ali was smashing the ball all around the corners for the Birmingham Phoenix when a desperate England recalled him to the Test side for the Lord’s Test against India. He was not included in the primary squad but having been enforced to play with just four bowlers in the first Test, they were eager to bring one all-rounder to balance the playing XI. The much-sought balance was thrown into disarray as soon as Ben Stokes opted out of the series and they needed someone to bring value with both bat and ball. He made a significant difference to the side as he stitched a valuable partnership with Joe Root and then followed it up with two big wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja on the fourth day to put England in a commanding position to win the Lord’s test. Moeen last played Test cricket in March on the tour of India before he headed back home as part of much controversial ‘rotation policy.’ His Test appearance in England goes far back in the 2010 Ashes series where he was proven inefficient with the ball and inadequate with the bat. Having been in and out of the Test side, and now being recalled to the side for the series, Moeen said that his focus was only on enjoying the game and that he was eager to be part of the series against India. He expressed his contentment with the state of his career and not taking things too seriously. "I've really enjoyed myself. That was my aim really, it wasn't the runs or the wickets so much - although they help - it was more about enjoying myself and trying to enjoy the challenge as much as I could. I just wanted to be part of this series and do well, take wickets and a few runs, hopefully get some more runs, I feel all right with the bat so I'm just enjoying my cricket. I'm happy with myself, I'm happy with the way I'm playing. I'm not taking it too seriously anymore; I'm going to enjoy it. I know there will be bad days, plenty of bad days in a series and I know there will be good days,” Moeen said in the press conference after the end of the fourth day’s play at Lord’s India were in a precarious situation late on the fourth day when the Indian batsmen complained of the bad light and the on-field umpires Michael Gough and Richard Illingworth decided to end the day early. Rishabh Pant was seen having an animate discussion with England skipper Root while walking off the ground that suggested that the hosts were not happy with an early close of play. However, Moeen refuted any such discussion in the England camp and said that they were “pretty pleased” to come off considering they had to bowl to Pant, who could have been “dangerous” with some 15-20 runs which he said could prove to be crucial on the final day. "We were pretty pleased to come off in the end as well. Rishabh Pant, a 15 or 20-run over could have been dangerous going into tomorrow. These kinds of things happen, it doesn't worth me too much, personally, it's more of a tactical thing and most teams have the same tactics. There were two parties, one wanted to stay out there, one wasn't so sure. "It's going to be a tight game and these 10, 15 or 20 runs could be crucial. We know what Pant can do, he can be so dangerous. But with the new ball in the morning, Jimmy having it, we're in a good position. Anything over 220-230 is going to be quite difficult, but not impossible. We’re all going to have to play well but, when it goes above 230-240, it gets a bit harder," Moeen told Sky Sports. Moeen’s concerns of “dangerous” Pant must have been calmed down by Ollie Robinson, who dismissed the left-hander inside the first hour on the final day. India. England would not be comfortable chasing anything over 200 and hence the wickets of Rahane, Pant and Jadeja would prove to be match-turning moments and Moeen was the chief tormentor for India for two of those moments.

Sri Lanka's Kusal Perera tests Covid-19 positive

Sri Lanka captain Kusal Perera has tested positive for Covid-19. The player who has been out of action ever since the team’s England tour due to an injury that he picked on the tour, has now tested positive for the Coronavirus confirmed Sri Lanka Cricket in a tweet. The cricketing body further updated that the wicket-keeper batter is undergoing the treatment and laid out protocols. “Wicket Keeper–Batsman Kusal Janith Perera has tested positive for Covid 19. He was found to be positive during a PCR test which was carried out on the players yesterday (15th August). Following the detection, Perera is undergoing due medical protocols pertaining to Covid 19,” read the SLC tweet. All the top Sri Lanka cricketers apart from the three (Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka) suffering one year ban after their breach of protocol and bio-bubble during the England tour, are taking part in the SLC Invitational T20 tournament which is being played between four SLC teams. It was strange to see Perera not being part of it and thus, this confirmation reveals the reason for that absence. Perera also missed the ODI and T20I series against India at home and Dasun Shanaka captained Sri Lanka in his absence.

Kevin Pietersen says Rashid Khan is worried about his family with Taliban takeover of Afghanistan

Afghanistan cricketing superstar Rashid khan is currently playing for Trent Rockets in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, but his mind is back home wondering about the well being of his family in Kabul after the Taliban took over the capital city on Sunday, August 15. Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen, while commentating during Trent Rockets’ game in The Hundred raised the topic of the Afghanistan situation and revealed how in a conversation with Rashid Khan, he came to know how worried the all-rounder was about the situation. "There's a lot of things that are happening at home. We had a long chat here on the boundary talking about it and he's worried: he can't get his family out of Afghanistan and there's a lot of things happening for him," Pietersen said during the Live commentary. Another popular Afghan cricketer Mohammad Nabi, playing for London Spirit in The Hundred, already returned back home last week, leaving the competition midway. As far as the match at Trent Bridge is concerned, Rashid picked up three wickets in his 20 deliveries and gave away only 16 runs against Manchester Originals, in what was a must-win game for his side. Courtesy of his brilliant bowling and great batting by Dawid Malan, the Rockets have now secured a top-three spot in the Points Table having played all their games and are comfortably in the Playoffs.

WI vs PAK | Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales hold nerves to see Windies to thrilling one-wicket win

It’s a rare occasion in Test cricket that aside wins a match by one wicket. But whatever little amount of people that were available in the limited seating capacity of the Sabina Park at Kingston, Jamaica, they will surely remember the one-wicket win of the West Indies over Pakistan for the rest of their lives. Fast bowler Kemar Roach was the most unlikely hero with the bat for the home team, scoring an unbeaten 30 off 52 balls to guide them home in a chase of 168 in the fourth innings. He stitched together an unbeaten 17 run partnership with number 10 Jayden Seales to reach the total and maintain West Indies’ record of successful chases of targets below 200. Chasing 168, after getting Pakistan bundled out for 203 in their second essay thanks to Seales’ historic five-wicket haul, where he became the youngest West Indian t achieve the feat at 19 years of age, Windies didn’t really have a good start. Shaheen Afridi was spitting fire on that Jamiac wicket and removed the top three batters for just 16 runs on the board. Jermaine Blackwood and Roston chase then steadied the ship and got a partnership going to fuel the hopes of Men in Maroon of chasing the total down. The duo added 68 for the fourth wicket before Chase was removed by Faheem Ashraf. Kyle Mayers couldn’t do much either and was forced to register a pair after being caught at the slips for nought of another Ashraf delivery. Just as things started to look bright again with a 19 run stand between Blackwood and Jason Holder with the former picking up his 15th Test fifty, Hasan Ali struck and removed him. Soon, Holder was removed as well and Windies were staring at defeat with 54 runs still to get and new batters in Joshua Da Silva and Roch at the crease. The pair added 28 for the eighth wicket and gave hope to the Windies team. However, Da Silva was removed by Shaheen Afridi and then Mohammad Rizwan took an outstanding catch to send Jomel Warrican back to the pavilion with Windies still requiring 17 and that’s when Seales joined Roach and in legendary commentator, Ian Bishop’s words, “The teacher and his student led the Windies to a famous win”. This is the third occasion in 84 Tests in the last 12 years where a team has won a Test by one wicket and although it can’t be compared with the heroics of Ben Stokes to win the Headingley Test of the Ashes of 2019, this one is surely up there somewhere when it comes to thrilling test wins. Seales was awarded Man of the Match for his eight wickets and crucial stand with Roach at the end. The two teams will now once again be up against each other from August 20 for the second and final Test of the series at the same venue.