Omicron forces CWC League 2 postponement as UAE and Oman leave Namibia in middle of tri-series

The new variant of the Covid-19, Omricon, said to have originated from South Africa has now wreaked havoc on the sporting events in the southern part of Africa with most of the events getting cancelled. The next event to get cancelled is the tri-series involving United Arab Emirates, Oman and hosts Namibia taking place in Windhoek, the capital city of the host nation.

The decision was taken as UAE announced the suspension of inbound flights from Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana or Mozambique. This follows similar restrictions imposed by the UK, the United States and the European Union.

The tri-series, part of the Cricket World Cup League 2, was being held as part of the qualification process of the 2023 ODI World Cup. Among the 10 teams part of League 2, five will get a chance to compete with teams five unqualified teams from the Super League in the main Qualifier event in 2022.

However, the league that started in 2019 was supposed to have 21 series up to 2022, but due to the Covid-19, only 7 series have been completed so far.

Earlier, the Netherlands decided to return back from their tour of South Africa for three ODIs which were part of the CWC Super League. ICC also cancelled the Women’s World Cup Global Qualifier event in Zimbabwe owing to the Omicron.

Now, it is being understood that the Omani and Emirati men’s teams are also returning on the same flight, chartered by the ICC, as the teams returning from the Women's Qualifier in Harare.

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IND vs NZ | 1st Test | Day 5: New Zealand off to cautious start on final day

New Zealand had a good outing in the first session of the final of the first Test against India in Kanpur after there were no fall of wickets during the course. Resuming the day’s proceedings at 4/1, New Zealand batters Tom Latham and William Somerville showed some brilliance with the bat and frustrated the Indian bowlers to conclude the first session of play at 79/1. While Latham went back unbeaten at 35, Somerville had scored 36* with the visitors needing 205 more runs to win. The visitors were in a spot of bother in the final session of the penultimate day after they lost opener Will Young for 2. Earlier, India had handed a target of 284 runs to the Blackcaps, courtesy some fine batting from Shreyas Iyer, R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha and Axar Patel. The home side was reduced to 51/5 at one stage when Iyer and Ashwin came in for the rescue and stitched a partnership of 52 runs for the sixth wicket. While Ashwin departed for 32, Iyer went on to become the first Indian to score a century and a fifty on debut in Test cricket. He was eventually undone for 65. Later, Saha and Axar chipped in with a valuable and unbeaten stand of 67 runs for the 8th wicket. Saha remained unbeaten at 61 while Axar scored 28* before India declared the innings at 234/7.

IND vs NZ | 1st Test | Day 5: Neck stiffness forces Saha to sit out, KS Bharat to keep wickets

India wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha had to sit out on Day 5 of the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur with stiffness in neck. Saha was replaced by KS Bharat. “Wriddhiman Saha felt stiffness in his neck while keeping in the second innings. It was affecting his movement while wicket-keeping. KS Bharat will keep wickets in his absence on Day 5,” said the BCCI in a statement. In the first innings as well, the right-hander didn’t keep wickets due to the same issue and Bharat performed the duties in place of him. Although, he came out to bat on the penultimate day of the Test match and notched up an important half-century during the course to put the hosts in front. India had early hiccups on the fourth day after losing four wickets in the first session but first Shreyas Iyer along with R Ashwin steadied the ship for the side with a 52-run stand for the sixth wicket before the latter departed for 32. Iyer was then joined by Saha and the two batters chipped in with a partnership of 64 runs for the seventh wicket. Iyer was eventually sent back in the hut for 65 while Saha remained unbeaten at 61 as the hosts handed a target of 284 runs to New Zealand.

T10 League 2021-22: Dominic Drakes picks four as Delhi Bulls etch comfortable win over Bangla Tigers

Delhi Bulls’ Dominic Drakes was in some brilliant form with the ball against Bangla Tigers during the Abu Dhabi T10 League fixture. Drakes scalped a four-wicket haul against Bangla Tigers as they were restricted to 88/9 while chasing 101 in 10 overs. The Tigers didn’t really get into the groove and kept losing wickets regularly to get reduced to 54/5 and eventually suffered a defeat. Drakes’ dismissals included the wickets of Faf du Plessis who top scored for his side with a 16-ball 26, James Faulkner, Luke Wood and Vishnu Sukumaran. Drakes returned with figures of 4/9 in two overs. Earlier, in the day, Delhi Bulls rode on an aggressive knock of 35 off 19 from Morgan to put 100/7 on the board. Amir was the pick of the bowlers for his side after he scalped a couple of wickets at the cost of just 13 runs in 2 overs. Both the sides now have five wins and 10 points under their belt but Bangla Tigers are placed ahead in the points table with a better NRR. The Bangla Tigers side will now take on Deccan Gladiators on Wednesday (December 1, 2021) while Delhi Bulls will lock horns with The Chennai Braves on the same day.

BAN vs PAK | Vernon Philander to leave Pakistan team during first Test due to Covid-19

Pakistan bowling consultant, Vernon Philander would be flying out of Chattogram, the venue for the first Test of the two-match series taking place between Bangladesh and Pakistan. He would be doing in the middle of the Test (Day-4) because of the "shutdown of flight operations" in his home country of South Africa. Many countries including Bangladesh had to shut down their flight operations to South Africa due to the development of a new variant of the Coronavirus named Omicron. The operations would be shit down after Monday and hence Philander, who was anyways scheduled to leave for home at the end of the first Test has decided to leave midway. This is not the first event in the cricketing world that has been marred by the new variant. While the Netherlands abandoned its South Africa tour for the Super League after the first match was washed out, the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualification ongoing in Harare, Zimbabwe had to be called off midway as well. It has now been cancelled with teams like Sri Lanka and Thailand left to ruin it as they were not able to progress to the World Cup and Women’s Cricket League respectively even after putting out solid performances. India A team is also currently on tour in South Africa and has not been called back. The senior Indian team is also slated to tour the rainbow nation in the near future and the status f that tour has remained unchanged. It would be interesting to see if changes do take place or not in the coming days as things develop. As fast as the Test match between Bangladesh and Pakistan is concerned, courtesy of Shaheen Afridi’s amazing spell, Pakistan have inched ahead at the end of the third day’s play. Bangladesh, even after taking a lead of 44 runs in the first innings, have managed to add only 39 runs to it and lost its top four players in the cause. They now lead by 83 runs with Mushfiqur Rahim and Yasir Ali at the crease and last innings’ centurion Liton Das and all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz still to come.