Hardik Pandya could have been a good investment in captaincy: Childhood coach

It shows we're making strides: Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie on historic win over SA

Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie has hailed his team’s efforts after the win against South Africa in the second ODI in Dublin on Tuesday. Balbirnie who notched up a ton said that the Ireland side has defeated big guns in the past but he would want them to do this consistently. "We've beaten big teams before but we haven't beaten them consistently. We don't have the players these teams have, we don't have the infrastructure or the exposure. A lot of the South African team have played in the IPL. We don't get that," ESPNcricinfo quoted Balbirnie as saying. "So what we do, when we do play these big teams, we get the most of out of these games and we try to put in our best performance. We are thrilled and beating them once off is great but winning a series at the end of the week will be so important, because it shows we're making strides," he added. Balbirnie’s ton helped the hosts post 290/5 in 50 overs on the board and later bundled out the Proteas for 247 to win the match by 43 runs, courtesy some fine piece of bowling from the home side. Apart from the skipper, Harry Tector scored a half-century while Dockrell’s late surge played a vital role in helping Ireland to a good total. The first match between the two sides was called-off due to rain and Ireland now lead the three-match series 1-0 with the final encounter to take place on Friday at the same venue.

BBL11 to begin on December 5; Sydney Sixers play Melbourne Stars in opener

The schedule for the Big Bash league has been announced with the tournament slated to take place between December 5, 2021 to January 28, 2022. Sydney Sixers will lock horns with Melbourne Stars in the opener in Sydney. The venues for the knockout matches and the final are yet to be decided.

ENG vs PAK | 3rd ODI: Incompetent Pakistan get whitewashed by England's makeshift squad

England completed a clean sweep win against Pakistan in the three-match ODI series at Edgbaston on Tuesday after beating the visitors by 3 wickets. Chasing a stiff target of 332, the home side went over the line in 48 overs to hand Pakistan side and their fans another disappointment. The Ben Stokes-led side didn’t have a great start to the chase and lost Dawid Malan early in the innings for a duck. But Philip Salt who took on the Pakistan bowling attack and Zak Crawley who came into bat at number three resisted well and scored 34 runs for the second wicket before Salt departed for 22-ball 37. Crawley was then joined by James Vince who certainly changed the course of the game. The two batsmen stitched a stand of 51 runs for the third wicket. Crawley was eventually cleaned up by Haris Rauf for 39 off 34 but Vince showed his class and continued his form. Captain Stokes joined him in the middle at number five and put up a partnership of 47 runs before departing for a 28-ball 32 after Mohammad Rizwan held on to a brilliant catch behind the stumps off Shadab Khan. Stokes played some aggressive strokes and was also dropped twice, first at deep fine leg and then at long on but was finally sent packing, courtesy some brilliant glove work from Rizwan. The skipper’s scalp was followed by John Simpson’s dismissal in quick succession leaving England in a spot of bother at 165/5. With half of the team back in the hut, Vince and Lewis Gregory took on the onus on themselves and steadied the ship for the team. The two batsmen put 129 runs for the sixth wicket as Vince went on to score his maiden ODI hundred while Gregory struck 77 off 69 that included three maximums. Vince eventually departed for 102 and Gregory followed him soon. The team’s scorecard read 303/7 when Craig Overton was joined by Brydon Carse and the two made sure that there were no further fall of wickets. England eventually went over the line with two overs to spare. For Pakistan, it was Haris Rauf who was the pick of the bowlers after he returned with figures of 4/65 in 9 overs. Earlier, Pakistan rode on Babar Azam’s emphatic ton to post 331/9 in the allotted 50 overs. The visitors lost Fakhar Zaman early in the innings but Babar’s partnerships with Imam-ul-Haq and Rizwan helped them put up a huge total on the board. While Babar went on to hit his career best score (158) in ODIs, both Imam and Rizwan notched up individual half-centuries. For England, Carse bagged a five-wicket haul while Saqib Mahmood who has been in some form in the series with the ball scalped three wickets during the course. Pakistan captain Babar Azam put the onus of the defeat on the bowling and fielding efforts and lauded Vince for his efforts. “We couldn't bowl in the channels consistently at the start and the sloppy fielding didn't help either. England were really good and special credit to James Vince. In international cricket the margins are very small and these kinds of errors cost us the game,” he said. England skipper Ben Stokes credited Morgan, Silverwood and Trevor Bayliss for creating a “culture” that allows the players to play fearless cricket. “ll the efforts from all the guys who turned up last week, I just want to say a massive thanks to the players, support staff and everyone who made this possible. The normal personnel, a huge amount of credit must go to Morgs, Silverwood and Trevor Bayliss to allow the new guys to play the way they play and be really happy. This is a culture that we try to create, allow the guys to go out there and play fearless cricket,” he said. The two teams will now face each other in the three-match T20I series scheduled to begin on Friday (July 16, 2021).

With a chance to draw level in long format series, Harmanpreet’s brigade prepares for one last fight

The Indian women’s team have performed well in chunks on their England tour so far. But whenever all three departments clicked together, it has resulted in a victory, be it the last ODI or the second T20I. With the last game of the tour remaining, the brigade led by Harmanpreet Kaur need to pull up their socks and get ready for one last battle and try their best to win, not just the T20I leg of the long format series, but also draw level on the points table with the hosts, who as of now have eight points, while the Indian side has six. Sneh Rana must be utilised properly Apart from the amazing team effort, another common factor that has been key in all of India’s best performances is Sneh Rana. The all-rounder, having saved the Test with her unbeaten 80 in the second innings in Bristol, came back to partner with skipper Mithali Raj and hit quick runs to see India through in the last ODI. In the second T20I also, it was her cool and calm last over that got India Women the much-needed victory. But in matches, where she wasn’t used properly, it resulted in a thrashing for the Indian team. For instance, in the first T20I, even after bowling just two overs and going for only 14 runs in them, the Railways player was not allowed to bowl her full quota. In that very game, Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav, Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy were all taken for plenty and had higher economy rates than the 27-year-old off-break bowler. Thus, taking a cue from it, neither only should Rana be allowed to bowl her full quota, but should also be promoted to bat up the order, especially in death overs because of her hitting abilities. England would look to avoid silly mistakes The second T20I was England Women’s to lose with just 43 required from 38 balls and eight wickets in hand. But the way they panicked at the end to lose by a big margin of eight runs was not what Heather Knight and her team are known for. They lost six wickets in just 37 runs and their lower batters in Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone and even Sophia Dunkjley on that day wasn’t able to resurrect the innings. Taking a lesson from that defeat, the English team would look to identify a batter who could play till the end as an anchor and other players would contribute with quickfire runs around her. England Women vs India Women: Match Details Match Number- 3rd T20I Date and Time: July 14, 2021, 11:00 pm IST, 06:00 pm GMT, 07:00 pm Local Venue: County Ground, Chelmsford Broadcast and Live Stream: Sony Sports Network, Sony LIV Pitch Report In the Women T20Is played at the County Ground in Chelmsford, five have resulted in a win for the chasing team while four times the team batting first have managed to defend the total. As far as recent T20s go, which are being played as part of the T20 Blast competition, teams chasing have won three out of the last four completed games. The matches haven’t been high scoring this season with the average score hanging at about 140. This gives a clear picture of what to expect in terms of assistance to the bowlers. The pitch offers a low scoring thriller and could hence help India Women in a way that they like to defend or chase low totals. Weather Forecast and Toss The weather at Chelmsford promises to be ideal for a cricket game with temperatures ranging between 21-19 degrees Celsius from 1900 hrs to 2300 hrs, the entire duration of the game. The skies would be clear and humidity wouldn’t be that high either. With the current records in mind, the team winning the toss would go for a field first approach. Team News England Women The England team is highly unlikely to change given that they played the best possible xi on that day. However, if the team would like to go for a change then they can play Anya Shrubsole in place of Freya Davies and since they already have two frontline spinners, Sarah Glenn who didn’t have a good outing with the ball could make way for Tash Ferrant. Probable XI Tammy Beaumont, Danielle Wyatt, Natalie Sciver, Heather Knight(c), Amy Ellen Jones(w), Sophia Dunkley, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Mady Villiers, Anya Shrubsole, Natasha Farrant India Women Having won the previous game with the same team, India Women wouldn’t look fiddle with the winning combination, hence the same team is expected to start. Probable XI Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Richa Ghosh(w), Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav, Arundhati Reddy Dream XI team suggestion Tammy Beaumont, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Natalie Sciver, Amy Ellen Jones(w), Sophia Dunkley, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sophie Ecclestone, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav