Glenn Maxwell pulls out of Pakistan tour; set to miss few IPL games

IND vs WI | 1st T20I: As focus shifts to T20Is, India look to finalise core for World Cup

After completing a whitewash 3-0 win in the ODI series against West Indies, India now shift focus on the T20Is scheduled to begin on Wednesday (February 16, 2022) in Kolkata. The side looks pretty steady despite facing some injury issues before the start of the T20Is. All-rounders Washington Sundar and Axar Patel and newly-appointed limited-overs vice-captain KL Rahul were ruled out of the fixtures. "Washington Sundar suffered a left hamstring muscle strain during fielding in the third ODI," said a statement from BCCI. Sundar was replaced by Kuldeep Yadav in the team. Patel on the other side is resuming the final stage of his rehabilitation after recently recovering from Covid-19 while Rahul had sustained an upper left hamstring strain during the ODI series against West Indies. The visitors, on the other hand, would look to turn fortunes for themselves in the T20Is. Match Details:- Match: India vs West Indies – 1st T20I Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Date & Time: 16th February 2022 at 7 PM (IST) Where to Watch Live: Star Sports Network & Disney+Hotstar. Pitch Report The track at Eden Gardens might have something on offer for the bowling unit in the early stage of the game while can assist the batsmen in the later phase. The dew can also be a factor at the venue. So, if you win the toss, bowl first. Team News India: While KL Rahul has been ruled out of the T20I series against the Caribbean side, Rishabh Pant has been named the vice-captain of the side. West Indies: West Indies would be keeping the T20 World Cup in mind that is scheduled to take place later this year. The visitors suffered a thumping defeat in the ODIs and would now fancy their chances in what certainly is their forte. Probable XI India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Deepak Hooda, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohd. Siraj West Indies: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Kieron Pollard, Fabian Allen, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Akeal Hosein, Sheldon Cottrell Fantasy XI Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (VC), Brandon King, Jason Holder (C), Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Sheldon Cottrell, Akeal Hosein

NZW vs INDW | Off form India lose two in a row ahead of World Cup

India lost back to back games against New Zealand women in their preparatory tour for the 2022 ODI World Cup on Tuesday, 15 February. Down by 0-2 in the 5-match series India will now have to go hammer and tongs against a NZ team that are looking absolutely set at the moment. Despite India putting up a big total against the White Ferns in the first innings, the hosts managed to chase it down with three wickets and one over remaining. India tried their absolute best in this see-saw game and put as much pressure as they could. Not only did India manage to secure three wickets inside the first 10 overs, they removed the big fishes in Suzie Bates and Amy Satterthwaite. However, an off day for part-timer Harmanpreet Kaur and the lack of Jhulan Goswami in the pace department costing them and allowed Amelia Kerr to score a superb hundred to see NZ through. A patient innings that saw seven boundaries saw her hold the innings together from the fifth over till the rest of the innings. Barring Kerr, Maddy Green played a brilliant innings of 52 off 61 balls and secured a partnership of 128 runs off 148 balls to put NZ in a comfortable position. Earlier in the day, the Indian openers started scoring at an excellent rate early in the innings, but two quick strikes of Yastika Bhatiya and opener Sabbhineni Meghana dented their flow of runs. The two players got out close to each other between 21st and 22nd over when India had put on 110 runs after getting a blazing start in the first 10. Their wickets dented the flow of runs and India were stuck between the 21st and the 30th over. Very few runs came owing to Mithali Raj’s inability to shift gears and India were staring at a below par total of 250 runs at that stage. However, the introduction of Richa Ghosh turned fortunes for India and her shot making paved the way for Mithali to get on a counter attack. Both players stitched a partnership of 108 off 107 balls and left the White Ferns clueless. Raj stayed on till the final ball scoring 66 off 81 while Richa was dismissed after a whirlwind innings of 65 off 64 balls. India managed to post 270, but at the end it was not enough. Amelia Kerr was announced the player of the match for her superb century.

Watch | Mitchell Starc bowls the ‘Mother of All Wild Balls’

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc bowled on the wildest deliveries seen in recent memory against Sri Lanka in the third T20I game against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, 15 February. Bowling his final over - the 18th over of the first innings, Starc’s fifth delivery slipped out of his hands and went metres over the batsman’s head beating keeper Matthew Wade in the process. It was an attempted slower ball that did not stick in his hand and ended up lobbing up as a beamer. Commentators in the game speculated if they have ever seen a ball go that wide in world cricket and comparisons were drawn to Steve Harmison’s Ashes delivery as well. You can watch the video for reference below. Thankfully the delivery did not do a lot of damage to Australia’s position in the game, as they had cramped up Sri Lanka fairly well throughout the first innings. They managed to choke out the opposition for just 121 runs in the first innings and then returned to chase it down with more than three overs remaining. With the win, Australia have extended themselves to an unassailable lead of 3-0 in the series and are continuing their domination in the shortest format of the game in the run up to the 2022 T20 World Cup.

AUS vs SL | Australia attain unassailable 3-0 lead against hapless Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka batting line-up failed to turn up on Tuesday, 15 February at Canberra, ensuring that the series win was out of the bounds for the visitors. Australia won the game by a comprehensive margin of 6 wickets chasing down a modest target of 122 runs in 16.5 overs. A sporting pitch at Canberra meant that captain Aaron Finch showed no hesitation in bowling first and threw a Josh Hazlewood challenge at the Lankans. The right hander’s exceptional control on the off stump line led to a lot of issues for the Lankans. Although he was hit for a boundary in his first over, he did very well in the remaining 5 deliveries taking the ball slightly away from the right hander. Finch mixed up his attack in the powerplay, bowling Mitchell Starc, Hazlewood and Kane Richardson in the first three overs. Richardson’s ability to get the ball move away from the left hander rewarded him with the wicket of Charith Asalanka and a soft dismissal of Danushka Gunathilaka meant that the visitors were pushed to the backfoot straight away. Runs were not easy to come by for Lanka batters as the spinners mixed up their pace throughout and the pacers bowled clever slower balls. Barring Mitchell Starc’s wayward final over, Australia looked in full control over the order as SL crumbled slowly to just put 121 runs in their 20 overs. Kane Richardson was the pick among the bowlers picking up three wickets from his four overs giving away just 21 runs. Coming into bat, Australia were never going to be troubled at their own backyard with just a small total, but the Lankan bowlers were not going to give up without a fight. Mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana started the proceedings with a first ball wicket of Ben McDermott edging him back to the slip fielder. He put the Canberra drift to good use picking up two wickets in the powerplay for 17 runs, out of which 12 came in the last over of the powerplay. Despite sending McDermott and promoted Ashton Agar back into the hut early, Lanka’s progress was cut short by a certain Glenn Maxwell who was in the mood to put on a show. A 26-ball 39 innings studded with 3 boundaries and 2 huge sixes took Sri Lanka out of the equation fairly quickly, while Aaron Finch played a slow innings of 36-ball 35 alongside him. At the time of getting out, Maxwell had set up Australia for a big win needing 45 runs off the last 9 overs. The rest of the work was done by Jos Inglis and Marcus Stoinis in the back end as they put together a partnership of 22 runs from 16 balls, wrapping the game up well in advance. Australia now will go into the final two matches with a lot of scope for experiment with Sri Lanka not having the services of Wanindu Hasaranga for the rest of the games. The last two games are scheduled for 18 and 20 February in Melbourne.