T20 World Cup | Semi-Final | Mohammad Rizwan dazzles in semis, hits a composed fifty

T20 World Cup | AUS vs PAK | Semi-final: Babar, Rizwan continue to provide Pakistan steady start

Pakistan were off to a brilliant start against Australia in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup on Thursday in Dubai. Openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam had put 47 runs on the board for the first wicket in the power play overs. While Rizwan was unbeaten at 21 off 18 deliveries, Babar scored 24 off 18 in the first six overs. Rizwan though had a couple of hiccups after he was dropped twice, first by David Warner in the third over off Glenn Maxwell and then on the final delivery of the power play by Adam Zampa. Warner had to cover some ground to run back as he was stationed in the cover while Zampa who was placed at deep fine leg put in a great effort as dived forward but couldn’t grab the catch. Pakistan have come into the semi-final on the back of an unbeaten run in the competition after they comprehensively won all their group stage matches while Australia on the other side won four out of the five matches that they played.

PAK W vs WI W | 2nd ODI: West Indies ride on exceptional bowling from Hayley Matthews to take unassailable lead

West Indies women team took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against Pakistan side in Karachi on Thursday. The Caribbean team rode on some exceptional bowling from the unit to bundle out the hosts at 116 runs while chasing 154 to win the match by 37 runs. Pakistan started off in a decent manner after openers Muneeba Ali and Sidra Ameen put 27 runs on the board for the first wicket but Ali’s departure suddenly saw wickets starting to fall at regular intervals and the home side was reduced to 80/5 to eventually get bowled out. Hayley Matthews returned with some brilliant bowling performance as she picked up four wickets at the cost of 26 runs in 9 overs where she also bowled a couple of maidens. Apart from her, Shamilia Connell scalped a three-wicket haul while Shakera Selman and Anisa Mohammed also bagged a wicket each. Earlier, in the day, West Indies too struggled to put runs on the board as they lost wickets regularly. Dottin top-scored for the side with 34 off 50 balls while Hayley Matthews chipped in with a 47-ball 26. Kycia Knight was retired hurt while she was batting at 19 off 21. For Pakistan, Omaima Sohail, Anam Amin and Fatima Sana picked up a couple of wickets each as West Indies were all out for 153 in the 46th over. The visitors also won the first encounter while the third and final match will be played on Sunday in Karachi.

Pieter Malan appointed captain as South Africa announce A squad for home series against India A

South Africa have announced their 14-man squad under the leadership of Pieter Malan to face India A in the three-match long four-day series scheduled to start towards the end of this month. The series has been seen as one of the opportunities for the players across both sides to claim spots for themselves in their respective national sides when they clash in December later on. “The senior South Africa and India teams will be clashing this summer here at home, so this is an ideal opportunity for players with Proteas ambitions to put their hands up and make a case for themselves,” CSA convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang said. “Test cricket remains one of CSA’s key focus areas, along with ensuring that the format continues to thrive and hold relevance in our country. It is therefore vital that a steady stream of talent continues to emerge from our high-performance programme.” Earlier this week, India also announced their squad for the same series under the leadership of Priyank Panchal that also includes the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini, who have already played Test cricket. The series is scheduled to start on November 23 and conclude on December 9 while the Test series between senior India and South Africa men will commence on December 18. South Africa A squad Pieter Malan (C), Sarel Erwee, Dominic Hendricks, Raynard van Tonder, Sinethemba Qeshile, Senuran Muthusammy, Marco Jansen, Migael Pretorius, Beuran Hendricks, Lutho Sipamla, Glenton Stuurman, George Linde, Jason Smith, Tony de Zorzi India A squad Priyank Panchal (C), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Baba Aparajith, Upendra Yadav (wicket-keeper), K Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Ishan Porel, Arzan Nagwaswalla

Watch: USA, Umpire and Canada’s hurriedness to celebrate rob it of a famous win

In a bizarre turn of events, the United States of America beat arch-rivals Canada in a Super Over in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Qualifier-Americas, taking place in Antigua and Barbuda. The match ended in a controversial way when the USA needed three to win from the last ball and the batter Ali Khan was unable to connect the ball to bat, he ran for a single, but Canadian wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq removed the bails, rolled the ball over to the umpire, which he did not collect. In an ideal condition, it should have been the end of the match with the USA losing by one run. But not in this case. Rusty Theron, the former South Africa international who was at the other end when Ali Khan was on strike, kept running and ran the second one, even as the entire Canadian team celebrated. The umpire did not object to it and rather declared it two legal runs as by the time that Canadians realised what was happening, the two batters were about to cross over for a third, which was averted by a sharp throw. In a game, if the bails are removed by the fiddler himself (not by throwing the ball onto the wicket), the ball is declared dead after it in most cases, but here it could either be called the experience of Theron, the hurriedness of Canada or simply a mistake by the umpire that all this was allowed to happen and Canada, who looked like a deserving winner, were forced to go to the Super Over. In the Super Over, Matharu, who had brought back Canada from dead to almost a win, was once again given the responsibility with the ball. But this time around the Americans were up to the task as first Steven Taylor hit two sixes and then Marshal finished with two fours to end the total at 22 at the end of the one over with two wides contributing as well. It was always going to be tough to chase 23 and as much as skipper Navneet Dhaliwal and Dillon Heyliger tried, Ian Holland was too accurate to be hit easily and the Canadians finished at 14-0 in the Super over, losing the game by 8 runs. Before the last ball drama, Jatinderpal Matharu, the Canadian pacer was to defend 12 off the last six balls against a settled Jaskarana Malhotra, who had recently achieved the feat of hitting six sixes in an over against PNG. On the first two balls, only one run was conceded and a settled Malhotra was also run out. Then on the next three balls drama transpired and after scoring eight runs, Karima Gore was adjudged LBW with the USA needing three of the last ball. Rest is now part of history. The match shouldn’t have come this close in the first place when the USA were reduced to 44-5 in the first 10 overs. A partnership of 42 runs was developed between Nisarg Patel and Malhotra. Then Malhotra partnered Gore for a 22 ball 45 runs and brought his team back in the game instantly. Earlier in the day, Canada scored 142 batting first after skipper Dhaliwal and Ravinderpal Singh remained unbeaten on 44 each to ride through the early breaks.