Babar Azam, Wanindu Hasaranga take top spot in ICC Rankings

T20 World Cup | NZ vs SCO: Martin Guptill's responsible knock helps Kiwis put 172 on the board

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill unveiled a fine piece of batting against Scotland on Wednesday in Dubai after the right-hander scored 93 off 56 deliveries. Guptill’s knock comprised seven maximums and six boundaries. After being put into bat, the Blackcaps started off the proceedings in a decent manner as Daryl Mitchell and Guptill compiled 35 runs for the first wicket. But Mitchell’s departure for 13 runs broke the shackles as the Kiwis lost wickets at quick intervals and were reduced to 52/3 with the likes of Kane Williamson and Devon Conway also back in the hut. Guptill was then joined by Glenn Phillips in the middle and the two batters steadied the ship for the side. Both of them began cautiously and it was after the 10th over when Guptill started to cut loose. The two batsmen stitched a partnership of 105 runs for the fourth wicket before Bradley Wheal finally removed Phillips and Guptill on the consecutive deliveries. The right-handed opener dominated the Scotland bowling unit completely and certainly used every stroke in his armour. New Zealand eventually ended up scoring 172/5 in 20 overs.

ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2021 | Pakistan vs Bangladesh to begin search for three 2022 World Cup teams

The International Cricket Council on Tuesday, November 02nd announced that the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier 2021 will begin from November 21 as previously scheduled in Zimbabwe. All 29 matches will be played across four venues namely, Harare Sports Club, Old Hararians, Takashinga Cricket Club and Sunrise Cricket Club in Harare from November 21 to December 05. Pakistan and Bangladesh Women teams will start off the 10-team tournament at Old Hararians Club on 21 November. But before the tournament begins, all the teams would be involved in one set of warm-up matches to be played on November 19. On the very same day as the Pakistan-Bangladesh clash, three other matches would be played concurrently where West Indies will play against Papua New Guinea (Sunrise Cricket Club), Thailand will be up against hosts Zimbabwe (Harare Sports Club) and Ireland will be up against Netherlands (Takashinga Cricket Club). The 10 teams have been divided into two groups of five each with Group A having West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Papua New Guinea and the Netherlands while Group B comprises Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the United States. Post group stage, three teams from each group will collide against each other in Super Six and at the end of it, the top three teams in the standing will move on to grab three spots in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 to be held in New Zealand from 4 March to 3 April. Five teams in Australia, England, India, South Africa and hosts New Zealand have already qualified via their top-five standing in the ICC Women’s Championship (IWC). The remaining two teams in the top five of the Qualifier will also get a chance to participate in the next ICC Women’s Championship which will now have 10 teams from the upcoming edition.

T20 World Cup | New Zealand loose three wickets in powerplay; Guptill reaches 3000 runs in T20Is

Scotland, after being bashed all around the ground by the New Zealand openers Daryl Mitchell and Martin Guptill in the first four overs, made a great comeback and got three quick wickets in a span of 12 balls to get the Kiwis down from 35-0 to 52-3 in their Super 12 clash going on at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The first wicket to fall down was Mitchell who was trapped in front of the stumps by Safyaan Sharif on the first ball of the fifth over. In that same over, New Zealand skipper Kane Willaimson edged a very wide delivery that was going down the leg and Scottish wicketkeeper Matt Cross made no mistake hanging on to it. Williamson went out even without opening his account. The fifth over could have been a double-wicket maiden if not for a wide bowled by the bowler. In the next over, Guptill, who is still at the crease hit 14 runs and with two wides combined, got 16 runs from the last powerplay over. In the very next over, Devon Conway, who was facing only his third ball of the innings, tried to be cheeky on the very first ball of Mark Watt’s spell and paid the price. Trying to reverse sweep, he edged one to Cross. Since the three wickets and the end of the powerplay, the Kiwi scoring rate has slowed down and they were 70-3 at the end of the 10th over mark, with Guptill and Glenn Phillips at the crease. Guptill, who is currently batting at 39 off 30 balls, also crossed the landmark of three thousand T20I runs, becoming the first New Zealander and second person in the world after Indian skipper Virat Kohli to achieve the feat. The 35-year-old has an average of 32 and a strike rate of 136 in his 105 matches so far.

Paki is not a banter: Britain Health Secretary Sajid Javid wants ECB to act swiftly on Azeem Rafiq case

The issue of Yorkshire County Cricket Club trivialising an issue as large as racial abuse as mere friendly banter has not sat well with the people in power, especially those related to the representation of minority communities in the British Government. Sajid Javid, Member of Parliament for Bromsgrove & Secretary of State for Health and Social Care demanded that the England and Wales Cricket Board, the highest governing body of the sport in the country, take swift action in the matter saying that ‘Paki’ is not a friendly banter at all. Apart from Javid, Culture Secretary of State for UK Government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Nadine Dorries also called Yorkshire for dismissing a racial slur as friendly banter. "Azeem Rafiq's treatment after the racism he faced was disgusting, and the investigation that followed only makes it even worse. The @ECB_cricket investigation must be swift and fully transparent. Racism must be confronted, and NEVER written off as just 'banter',” she Tweeted. After complaining about racism in a full-blown campaign in 2020, Azeem Rafiq, who even captained England U-19 and Yorkshire cricket teams was offered an investigation into the matter by the Club through an independent committee. The committee took more than a year to come out with the report and even as it did, Yorkshire in August apologised to Rafiq for all that he faced at the club. However, in October the club said that nobody could be held responsible for what Rafiq went through and hence nobody could be punished as such. ESPNCricinfo then published an article quoting a part of the report that has not yet been made public, that mentioned the word ‘Paki’ being used for Raqfiq by many players in the team. After the article, sparks turned into a full-blown fire that might just engulf the entire Yorkshire management in it in times to come.