Rahul Dravid hails 'incredible and fantastic' fightback after Deepak Chahar's magical batting

WI vs AUS | 1st ODI: Starc, Hazlewood rattle Windies to give Australia a dominating start

Australia had a perfect start to the ODI series against West Indies in Barbados after they defeated the hosts by 133 runs in a rain-curtailed match. In a match that was reduced to 49 overs per side, West Indies were asked to chase 257 according to the DLS method but Mitchell Starc ripped apart the batting line up and scalped a five-wicket haul. The hosts had a terrible start to the chase after they were reduced to 27/6 before captain Kieron Pollard and Alzarri Joseph tried to steady the ship for the team but their efforts eventually went in vain. The two batsmen put 68 runs for the seventh wicket before Joseph departed for 17 off 33. Pollard on the other side went on to score a half-century but no other batsman looked in the groove and West Indies were bundled out for 123 in the 27th over. While Starc picked up a fifer, Josh Hazlewood also returned with a three-for. Earlier, Australia were without their regular skipper Aaron Finch after he had sustained a knee injury in the fifth T20I against the Caribbean side while batting. Wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey had donned the captain’s hat in Finch’s absence. The Aussie team batted first and started the proceedings well with openers Philippe and Ben McDermott stitching a stand of 51 runs for the first wicket but then lost some wickets at regular intervals before Carey and Turner chipped in with a 104-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Carey struck 67 off 87 while Turner missed out on a fifty by just one run. For West Indies, it was Hayden Walsh who was the pick of the bowlers after he picked up a five-for during the course. Carey, who was the stand-in captain for Australia in this match said that it was a”special” moment for him. “Yeah it was (special). Not only for me but the three other guys on debut. Obviously the two quicks up front were pretty special as well,” he said. Pollard admitted that the failure with the bat led them to defeat against Australia. ”I think we did pretty well with the ball. Par score here is 260-270 and being able to restrict them to 250 was a fantastic effort. It is what it is (how does he assess the batting effort?). My biggest thing is I want the guys to fight. We have practiced long and hard enough. Most disappointing factor is we didn't show fight,” he said. The two sides will now take on each other in the second clash at the same venue on Friday.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar heaps praise on all-round brilliant Deepak Chahar

When Bhuvneshwar Kumar joined Deepak Chahar in the middle, India were 83 runs away from the target with 90 less than 90 balls remaining. The situation was tense and there could have been the pressure of scoring runs at a fair clip to avoid falling short of the target. However, both Chahar and Bhuvneshwar showed composure and batted with immense patience. They gambled on Sri Lankan bowlers to provide scoring opportunities while they were determined to “play till the last ball”. Chahar did hit some crisp shots but only when the spinners gave the ball too much air or bowled too full or pacers provided him width around the off stump, and it helped them in managing the required run rate to a manageable level. Bhuvneshwar kumar said that the duo decided to not take any chance and did not let their guard down even at the touching distance of the target. “Our aim was to play till the last ball, last over, so we wanted to take it as deep as possible, so we can score runs. The only plan was to play till the last, and the way Deepak batted was amazing. The only chat and plan was to play till the end. We never said to each other that from here on, we can win. Even when we needed 1 run (3 runs), we were taking one ball at a time. Deepak never let the run rate go above six,” Bhuvneshwar said in the post-match press conference. “He almost played risk-free shots, where he got few boundaries and brought the required rate to under six. At no stage did we think that we are going to win or lose. We were playing according to the situation and taking it ball by ball.” Chahar was promoted to the number eight position and Bhuvneshwar Kumar said that the call of his promotion over himself was taken by Rahul Dravid as he has been witness to Chahar’s batting abilities while they were with the India A side. He said that it was not a tough call to send Chahar one level up the order but commenced Chahar for putting his hands up with a match-winning performance that proved Dravid’s assessment right at the end of the day “Look, he has played under coach Rahul Dravid before in India A or some series and he had scored there as well. So, Dravid knew that he can bat and he can hit a few balls, so that was Dravid’s call. And the way he batted, Chahar proved it right. We all know that he can bat, he has batted in Ranji Trophy many times, so it wasn’t a tough call but it is good to see the way he scored the runs,” Bhuvneshwar said of his partner. Earlier in the day, both Bhuvneshwar and Chahar had struggled to pick up wickets with the new balls. however, they came back strongly and used their subtle variations to peg Sri Lanka back in the middle phase of the game. Both of them have a very wily knuckle ball and it was on display in the second ODI and Bhuvneshwar commended his bowling partner for executing the delivery well to fox batsmen. He also downplayed his own drying wicket column with the new ball as both of the pacers have not taken wickets in the initial phase of the game. He said that the conditions have been stacked in the favour of batsmen and hence he is “satisfied” with his performance so far in the series. “Deepak has always been bowling knuckle balls. He has always had that and he is executing that well. And as far as my bowling is concerned, in both the matches, it has been batting-friendly conditions and extremely hot. It becomes difficult for bowlers. I’m satisfied with the way I’ve bowled,” Bhuvneshwar provided an assessment of himself and his bowling partner. The Indian bowling attack has not been at their best, especially at the start and at the end of the game. They have not taken wickets with the new balls while have also conceded a lot of runs (80 and 76) in the death overs against an inexperienced batting lineup. The surge in the end overs have inflated Sri Lanka’s scores in both the ODIs of the series, but Bhuvneshwar refused to call it a “concern” and rather was “happy” over the performances so far. “Definitely, as a strategic part, you always look to bowl spinners, a few overs, after 40. Because there are five fielders outside the circle. I don’t think that’s a concern that we have conceded 80 runs or 76 runs in the last 10 overs, because team always looks to score. As a bowling unit, we all are happy with the way we have bowled in the last two matches,” Bhuvneshwar said. India have sealed the series 2-0 with one game more to go and most likely they will field a changed playing XI in the next game.

ENG vs PAK | 3rd T20I: Babar Azam and co. fumble once again as Rashid, Jason Roy win England series

England continued their form in the T20I series against Pakistan and etched a 2-1 win in the three-match series after beating the visitors by 3 wickets in the third clash in Manchester on Tuesday. Chasing 155 in 20 overs, England started the proceedings well after openers Jason Roy and Jos Buttler put 67 on the board for the first wicket before Buttler departed for 21 off 22. But Roy continued with his aggressive hitting and the right-hander notched up a half-century before he was undone by Usman Qadir for 64 off 36. Roy’s knock included 12 boundaries and a maximum during the course. But the right-handed opener’s departure saw a quick fall of wickets for England the home side was soon reduced to 112/4. Captain Eoin Morgan who came in at number five to bat took the onus on himself and scored a quick 12-ball 21 to provide resistance to his side. England eventually chased down the target in the last over with two balls to spare. For Pakistan, it was Mohammad Hafeez who was the pick of the bowlers after he returned with a three-wicket haul while Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Qadir and Shadab Khan picked up one wicket apiece. Earlier, Pakistan too had a decent start to the innings after Mohammad Rizwan took on the English bowlers and hammered them all around the park. The wicket-keeper batsman stitched a 42-run stand with skipper Babar Azam for the first wicket in 5.2 overs. Babar though was sent packing by Adil Rashid after getting stumped out for 11 off 13. Pakistan were then in a spot of bother after losing a couple of more wickets quickly but Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman steadied the ship for the visitors as the two built a partnership of 45 runs for the fourth wicket. England pulled things back in their favour as they scalped some wickets and left Pakistan tottering at 129/6 in the 18th over. But Rizwan held the innings from one end and remained unbeaten 57-ball 76 to take the visitors to 154/6 in 20 overs. Adil Rashid bagged a four-fer for England while Moeen Ali picked up one wicket. Morgan hailed the efforts of his side and lauded the way the batsmen fared at the start. “It means a huge amount. The way we play, this is the worst possible conditions for us. But we have been pushing our boundaries. But even I think the ball won't turn anywhere near as much as it did today even in the UAE as I played in the IPL last season. The guys at the top of the order set up the chase despite Jos not having a good day. Two three fantastic performances have come up despite limited chances,” he said. Babar Azam admitted that the side was 10-15 runs short but the bowlers did put up a fight which eventually went in vain. “We were 10-15 runs short. We wanted to fight and we did. Unfortunately, we couldn't win. We could have scored few runs more at the top of the order. We played a few bad shots. We generally play the spinners well. There will be good days and bad days. The support here will be missed,” he said. Pakistan had won the first encounter of the series but England made a fine return to win the second and third match respectively.

Deepak Chahar recalls Rahul Dravid's belief on him after match-winning knock

Deepak Chahar, who plays in the Indian side primarily for his bowling abilities, won India the second game and with that the series against Sri Lanka with an impressive performance with the bat. After playing the match-winning innings, Chahar recalled the words of appreciation and belief he had from Rahul Dravid, who is there in Sri Lanka as coach of the side. Chahar recalled his days while for India A that under the watchful eyes of Dravid and said that he always backed him to bat at number seven position. “Rahul sir told me to play all the balls. I've played a few innings with India A and I think he has belief in me. He told me he thinks I'm good enough to be a No. 7. He has belief in me. Hopefully, in the coming matches, I don't have to bat. When we came under 50 is when I believed we can win. Before that, it was ball by ball. I took some risks after,” Chahar said in the post-match presentation ceremony. Chahar walked out to bat when India needed more than 100 runs and stitched valuable partnerships with Krunal Pandya, and then Bhuvneshwar Kumar to win India a series-clinching win.