Kusal Perera doubtful starter for limited overs series against India: Reports

Lot of positives to take away despite the defeat: Ramesh Powar

India women’s team suffered a 2-1 defeat in the three-match T20I series against England on Wednesday but head coach Ramesh Powar has said that the side has a lot of positives to take away. "Fielding has improved, bowling has improved and if you compare to South Africa we have come little ahead and there is a lot of work to be done," Powar said while replying to a query from ANI. Power also lauded Sneh Rana who came back after a span of five years. "Sneh Rana coming back after five years and putting on a show is inspirational. There are many positives, scoring 154 against the top side, we want to score high in T20Is and ODIs (score 250),” the coach said. But the former India player also added that the senior players like Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami need assistance from other players to score runs and pick wickets. "We have to have match time, in the fast bowling department there is only Jhulan, there has to be some support to her, then middle overs batting after powerplay in ODIs, that's where strike rotation and little bit conversion from dot balls to runs should be there after you get set," said Powar. "For World Cup in New Zealand we have to have good fast bowlers and the middle overs are where we are trying to get that conversion rate, Mithali is batting very well but she needs support, to get to 250," he added. India lost the final T20I after England chased down a target of 154 runs by 8 wickets and sparing 8 balls to clinch the series. Danielle Wyatt remained unbeaten at 89.

Mustafizur Rahman down with ankle injury, could be doubtful for ODI series against Zimbabwe

Bangladesh might be dealt with a severe blow as left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman suffered an injury scare ahead of the white ball series against Zimbabwe. Mustafizur Rahman was called back from the warm-up game against Zimbabwe Select XI after bowling only five deliveries. The left-arm pacer complained of pain in his right ankle and managed to bowl just five deliveries before the team management decided to not risk him and called him back. Following ice therapy, the physiotherapist gave a report which revealed a strain in his right ankle. The development was confirmed to Cricbuzz by Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief selector Minhajul Abedin. The three-match ODI series involving hosts Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will kick off on 16th July. Coming back to the practice match, Bangladesh managed to score a competitive 296/5 in their allotted 50 overs after electing to bat first. Tamim Iqbal who had to miss the one-off Test owing to an injury scored some important runs. The southpaw scored 66 of 62 deliveries and looked in fine touch. The match eventually ended in no result as bad light forced the players to walk out of the ground after Zimbabwe scored 189/7 in 40.1 overs. All the six limited overs matches will be played at Harare from July 16 to 27.

WI vs Aus | 4th T20I: 'Mr. Consistent' Mitchell Marsh hands Australia first win of the tour

The visiting Australian side finally managed to salvage some lost pride after beating West Indies by 4 runs in the 4th T20I to make the scoreline 3-1 in favour of the home team. It all boiled down to the final over where premier Aussie speedster Mitchell Starc held his nerves and bowled a sensational over restricting the swashbuckling Andre Russell under immense pressure. A target of 190 was always going to be a challenging one for any side. However, with the Windies batters firing all cylinders in the 2nd and the 3rd encounter, they would have backed themselves to chase the total down and it looked all more realistic once openers Lendl Simmons and Evin Lewis blazed away in their respective knocks and shared a 62 runs partnership in less than 5 overs. It was power-hitting of the highest order as both Simmons and Lewis took the Australian bowlers by the scruff of the neck and displayed some exceptional shots. Adam Zampa was entrusted with the job of bowling in the powerplay and he didn’t disappoint. After conceding a boundary, he castled Lewis with a flatter delivery which zipped through his defence and disturbed the timbers. However, Lendl Simmons went on his merry way even in the final powerplay over, taking West Indies to 75 at the end of 6 overs. The foundation was laid and the rest of the batters needed to bat sensibly to see the run chase through. After a blazing knock in the previous encounter, Chris Gayle was dismissed early by the man with the golden arm Mitchell Marsh. It was the dodgy knock of Andre Fletcher which turned the tides in favour of Australia. The hard-hitting right-handed batsman struggled to time the ball and was eventually dismissed by Adam Zampa after scoring just 6 of 14 deliveries. The middle overs proved to be decisive for Australia as they tightened the screws on the Windies batters putting them under the strife. Despite wickets falling at the other end, Simmons looked in complete command and found the boundaries just when the asking rate crept up. Two back to back wickets of Nicholas Pooran and Simmons again tilted the scales in favour of Australia as Mitchell Marsh continued his dream run in the series. With their backs to the wall, Windies needed some fireworks in the last four overs and it was provided by Andre Russell and Fabian Allen. A good 18th over was followed by a massive penultimate over which almost sealed the deal for the home team. Riley Meredith was carted for 25 runs including three consecutive sixes off the blade of Fabian Allen to bring the equation down to 11 required of the final over. With Andre Russell on strike, Windies looked the clear favourites but Mitchell Starc had other ideas. He went around the wicket and kept attacking the pads and Russell never managed to get under any of the first five deliveries. He refused singles on three occasions but with the power and skill set Russell poses, he would have backed himself to finish it off. However, it was a high-class final over which eventually helped Australia win their first game of the series. Early on in the day, it was Australian skipper Aaron Finch who won the toss and opted to bat. After conceding a boundary, fast bowler Oshane Thomas who was playing his first match of the series came back strongly, bagging the wicket of Matthew Wade with some pace and extra bounce. Mitchell Marsh continued his good work at No 3 blazing his way to a stupendous knock of 75 of just 44 deliveries. Along with his skipper Aaron Finch, Marsh shared a mammoth 114 runs stand to lay the foundation for a brisk finish. Marsh in particular carried on his rich vein of form at his new role. He struck some delightful shots, none better than the lofted extra cover drive of a very good delivery of Hayden Walsh Jr. Finch also got back to some run-scoring form and after struggling for a while, he too got hold of a few and went on to score a half-century. Yet again it was leg-spinner Hayden Walsh Jr who left a lasting impression on the Australian batting line-up bagging back to back wickets of Finch and Alex Carey. Fabian Allen and Hayden Walsh Jr applied the brakes on the Aussie middle order, jolting their chances of going beyond the 200 mark. Walsh Jr bowled brilliantly bagging three more wickets to eventually restrict Australia to 189 in their allotted 20 overs. Mitchell Marsh was Australia’s top scorer while the leggie was again the most successful bowler from the home team. The score proved to be just enough as Australia eked out a narrow 4 runs victory. Brief Scores Australia 189/6 in 20 overs (Mitchell Marsh 75, Aaron Finch 52, Hayden Walsh Jr 3/27) West Indies 185/6 in 20 overs (Lendl Simmons 72, Mitchell Marsh 3/24, Adam Zampa 2/20) Australia won by 4 runs West Indies lead series 3-1.

ENGW vs INDW | 3rd T20I: Wyatt's aggressive knock helps England thump India in decider

England women’s team defeated India comprehensively by 8 wickets in the deciding T20I of the three-match series in Chelmsford on Wednesday. Chasing 154 in 20 overs, the hosts rode on an emphatic 112-run partnership for the second wicket between Danielle Wyatt and Natalie Sciver to clinch victory. The hosts lost an early wicket after opener Tammy Beaumont was trapped in front of the stumps by Deepti Sharma for 11 but the stand between Wyatt and Sciver steadied the ship for the side. While Wyatt remained unbeaten at 89, Sciver was eventually cleaned up by Sneh Rana for 42. England didn’t see any further fall of wickets as Wyatt and captain Heather Knight took them over the line in the 19th over. Earlier, India who batted first started the proceedings in a disappointing manner after losing Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol early in the innings. But Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur showed some resistance and the two batters put 68 runs for the third wicket before Kaur departed for 36 off 26. Mandhana continued her form and notched up a fifty before getting out to Brunt for 70 off 50. Wicket-keeper batter was the only third batter to have crossed the double-figure mark apart from Mandhana and Kaur after she chipped in with a 13-ball 20 that included four boundaries. India eventually managed to score 153/6 in 20 overs. For England, it was Ecclestone who returned with a three-for while Brunt scalped a couple of wickets. India captain Kaur expressed disappointment at losing the series. “Firstly, we're thankful to the support we've got in all the games from the crowd. But yes, it was disappointing to not finish with a win. We could have scored a bit more runs with the bat and then dew made it tough in the second innings. Someone had to bat till the very end, it was something we had talked about but didn't happen today. Hopefully it will come off soon,” she said. England skipper Knight was ‘pleased’ with the way her team performed in this bilateral tie. “Really pleased with the girls. After the game at Hove, we wanted to take more responsibility. Happy for Danny, she had worked really hard and it's paid off today. We all know how good she is, probably hasn't scored as many runs as she could in the last 18 months. She put her head down and did what she does well - she loves being aggressive and scoring boundaries,” she said. India had suffered a 2-1 defeat in the ODI series as well earlier and lost the T20Is by the same margin.