Manchester United owners show keen interest in owning an Indian Premier League franchise: Report

CSA Provincial T20 | Dolphins thrash Warriors, North West get better of Boland to enter semi-finals

The Dolphins defeated the Warriors in the third quarter-final and the North West defeated the Boland in the fourth quarter-final to reach the semi-final of the CSA Provincial T20 cup. Now, Dolphins will come up against Titans in the first semi-final while North West will challenge the Knights in the second semi-final of the tournament both of which are scheduled for today. In the third quarter-final of the competition, the Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first. They were not up to the mark with the bat and were rocked early by Daryn Dupavillon, who picked the top three in his first spell. Diego Rosier provided some stability with a 41-ball 51 but he was the lone man standing for Warriors and they could muster only 127 runs in their quota of 20 overs. In pursuit of a modest total of 128 runs, Dolphins too suffered an early setback in the form of Sarel Erwee, who got back to the pavilion on the very first ball of the innings. However, the Warriors’ dreams were crushed by Keegan Petersen and Dolphins skipper Marques Ackerman, who batted without aggression but made sure they did not suffer a collapse like the Warriors. Jason Smith unleashed a 41-ball 60 including three sixes on the Warriors and sealed the game and a semi-final birth for the Dolphins. Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter-final of the tournament, North West won the toss and elected to bat first. Their batsmen did not find it easy to get going but found ample support from the trio of Eben Botha, Lesego Senokwane, Duan Jansen to reach a respectable total beyond the 150-run mark. From the Boland’s side, the duo of Siyabonga Mahima and Imran Manack was the pick of the bowlers as they never let the North West batsmen get off the hook. The duo of Hardus Viljoen and Ferisco Adams were amongst the wickets but they could not stop the flow of runs and hence North West were able to get over to a defendable total of 156 runs. Chasing 157 runs, Boland started on a dominating note with the opening pair of Janneman Malan and the skipper Pieter Malan forging a 108-run partnership in 13 overs. Janneman Malan was the more aggressive of the two and he hit three sixes in his 56-ball 74. However, as soon as Peter fell in the 13th over, there was a flurry of wickets in the middle phase of the game and middle-order squandered the brisk start by the openers. Janneman Malan was left stranded at the crease while North West kept chipping away with the wickets and knocked Boland out of the competition with a narrow win of three runs.

World T20 2021 | Creating genuine chances, Namibia, Ireland seek another step towards Super 12s

With a win and a defeat under their belt, it’s the NRR which is presently keeping Ireland a place above Namibia in Group A. But the two sides will now have a genuine opportunity to take another step towards the Super 12 stage. Well, Namibia would be riding high on confidence at the moment, courtesy David Wiese who played a blinder against Netherlands and helped his side etch their first World Cup win. Wiese along with captain Gerhard Erasmus helped Namibia come out of a tricky situation and eventually led them over the line. Ireland on the other side, just lost their way in the middle against Sri Lanka despite picking up early wickets. After reducing the Asian side to 8/3, the Irish bowlers were hammered around the park as Sri Lanka posted 171/7 in 20 overs. The misery just didn’t end here for Ireland as they never really got into the groove and were bundled out for 101 in the 19th over losing the match by a huge 70-run margin. So, now the equation is such that Namibia will be coming into this game on the back of a scintillating win while Ireland will be under some pressure not because they suffered a defeat against Sri Lanka but the way they lost it. The beginning of the clash was pretty fascinating for the Irish fans but as the game progressed, the graph just went down. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, both the sides have a genuine chance of giving themselves an opportunity and eye a Super 12 berth. Match Details Match: NAM vs IRE, 11th Match, Group A, ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2021 Date: Friday, October 22, 2021 Time: 3:30 PM Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah Telecast: Star Sports Network Pitch Report The pitch in Sharjah might have some aid for the batsmen and with the kind of batting line ups that the two sides possess, high-voltage drama can be expected. So, if you win the toss, elect to bat first and try to post a big total on the board. Davie Wiese- An asset David Wiese probably put in all his experience at a time when it was most needed for Namibia. The right-hander just played a blinder of an innings and anchored the side to what wasn’t just their first World Cup win but probably the most important one till date. The team management would just want Wiese to continue what he did against Netherlands on Wednesday. But there are certain areas that the team needs to focus on. For starters, the bowling unit needs to pick wickets at regular intervals and prevent the opposition from cutting loose. Second, Namibia can’t just back upon Wiese or for that matter Erasmus with the bat. The other batters too need to chip in with some more runs and build partnerships so that the opposition isn’t able to dominate them at any given stage of the match. Ireland’s inconsistency with the bat There have already been two occasions when the Irish batting unit showed signs of concern. During the chase against Netherlands, they started off in a decent manner but lost a couple of wickets in quick succession only to get much-needed resistance from Paul Stirling and Gareth Delany who eventually helped the side chase down a target of 107 runs. But the issues were soon exposed when Ireland were once again chasing a target. This time they were up against a relatively better bowling attack and were after a much bigger target as well and as a result the batting order just witnessed a huge collapse. The Irish team never really made a return after losing early wickets and were comprehensively defeated in the end. The amount of cricket that some of the Ireland players have played, they now need to take the onus on themselves and hold the fort. Another important aspect is taking advantage of scalping early wickets. The Ireland bowlers did pick up wickets quite early in the innings but let the match slip away from their hands. Probable XI Namibia: Stephan Baard, Zane Green (wk), Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Michael van Lingen, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz Ireland: Paul Stirling, Kevin O Brien, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher, Harry Tector, Neil Rock (wk), Simi Singh, Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Craig Young CE Fantasy XI Neil Rock, Kevin O Brien (VC), Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Striling, Gareth Delany, Gerhard Erasmus, David Wiese (C), JJ Smit, Joshua Little, Mark Adair, Bernard Scholtz

World T20 201 | Sri Lanka continue unbeaten run owing to all-round performance from Hasaranga

Sri Lanka have just about ensured their place in the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup after a clinical 70-run victory over Ireland at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, 20 October. The Islanders rode on half centuries from Wanindu Hasaranga and Pathum Nissanka to post a decent total of 171 runs and then returned to clinically defend it with a decent bowling performance. The quality of the Lankan bowling unit was too good for Ireland to match and they fell behind from the beginning of the chase. The Irish lost their first three wickets for just 32 runs inside the powerplay and from there Sri Lanka just kept piling on pressure one over at a time. Mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana was once again the pick among the bowlers and grabbed three wickets for just 17 runs off his four overs. He could have done better on the night if he wouldn’t have strayed to the middle and leg stump for most of the play. On a wicket that did not offer much bounce to the slower bowlers, Hasaranga returned with clinical figures of 1/12 from his 4 overs. The wily all rounder would have gotten at least one more, if Sri Lanka did better in the catching department tonight. Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka once again suffered a top order derailment losing their first three wickets under 10 runs. The proceedings began in the first over itself with Kusal Perera departing for a golden duck, chipping the ball to the cover fielder. Once Perera went back to the hut, Joshua Little in a spirited first over, first removed Dinesh Chandimal and then cleaned up in-form Avishka Fernando with an absolute ripper. Down at 8-3, Wanindu Hasaranga and Pathum Nissanka shouldered the batting unit and saw SL through a tough powerplay. Both batsmen started teeing off from the fifth over bowled by Mark Adair and then took the attack to the opposition in the final over of the powerplay. Simi Singh was at the unfortunate end of things and got slapped for 17 runs in his first over. Hasaranga and Nissanka added 123 runs in just 82 balls, before Hasaranga tired out in the heat and sliced Adair’s slower yorker to backward point in the second ball of the 16th over. He made a career best 71 off 47 balls. The win tonight meant that Sri Lanka have just about assured that move to the Super 12 stage and enter the group of death (Group A) that houses defending World Champions West Indies, last edition finalists England, Australia and South Africa. Sri Lanka will hope that they can fix their top order in the break, a unit that is increasingly becoming insufferable to watch for the fans. Barring that, surely the think-tank will sit down to have a discussion about the fielding department that has spilled several catches in the two matches that they have played. Their bowling has been the feature of the team so far and Dasun Shanaka and co. will hope that they can encash on that asset as the move to face tougher oppositions as the tournament progresses. With one more game to play Netherlands in their next game on 22 October Friday.

My mother wanted me to become a doctor: Rashid Khan

There have been instances where sports persons have gone against the will of their family and chased their dreams and then there have been instances where situations have given birth to legends. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan shares his story about how he never had plans of playing cricket and aspired to be a doctor instead. “I grew up in Afghanistan and Pakistan. When things were not good in Afghanistan, my family shifted to Pakistan. I mostly played cricket at home with my brothers,” he said while talking to ESPNCricinfo. “I never dreamed that I would be a cricketer. Yes, I was good at cricket at home, but I never had that in my mind - to be a cricketer, playing for Afghanistan, playing all around the world. I always had in my mind to be a doctor, which was the family's expectation as well, especially my mom’s,” he added. The right-handed cricketer first revealed how he was introduced to the game and what made him realise that he wanted to pursue it. One of my friends took me to a game on a Sunday. I didn't let my family know - I went without their permission. I scored 65 runs and I was like: "Oh, I love this game." That was the first time [I played] with a hard ball,” Rashid revealed. Rashid is now considered to be one of the finest cricketers of the modern era. In 284 T20 matches that he has played, Rashid has scalped more than 390 wickets during the course at an economy rate of a little over 6. He will now represent Afghanistan in the World T20. The Afghan team will play their first match against the number one ranked team of qualifying Group B in Sharjah on Monday.