WATCH: Jackson Bird rattles New South Wales

Will definitely like to partner Rohit Sharma at the top going into the World T20: Virat Kohli

Indian captain Virat Kohli played a little gamble in the fifth and final T20I against England after coming out to open the batting with Rohit Sharma in Ahmedabad. The experiment worked wonders for the side as Rohit and Kohli notched up an opening stand of 94 runs before Sharma departed 64. Well, India had struggled a bit with the opening combination but the way Rohit and Kohli fared at the Narendra Modi Stadium was quite exceptional. This was only the second time that Kohli opened with Rohit Sharma in T20I's. Now, with the World T20 in mind, captain Kohli has himself shown some interest in opening the innings with Rohit. “I am going to open in IPL as well. I have batted in different positions in the past. But I feel we have a solid middle-order now. So, I will definitely like to partner Rohit at the top going into the T20 World Cup,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. “Two best batsmen in the team, one can play second fiddle if the other gets going. That can inflict a lot of damage to the opposition team. Other guys also feel a lot more confident when one of us is still in and is set.” Talking about his dominating partnership with Rohit, Kohli suggested that the two batsmen felt pretty positive while they were out in the middle. “Today Rohit and me were both positive in our intent. We knew we could trust each other and one of us can play second fiddle if one takes off.” India defeated England by 36 runs in the final T20I to win the series 3-2. While Sharma scored 64, Kohli remained unbeaten at 80 off 52 helping India post 224/2 in 20 overs. The home side then restricted Eoin Morgan’s team to 188/8 to eventually win the game and the series. India and England will now lock horns in the ODI fixtures scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

IND W vs RSA W | Match Report: Annie Bosch’s brilliance overpowers Harleen Deol’s all-round efforts

Anneke Elizabeth Bosch pulled a short ball from Arundhati Reddy past the short square leg for a four to finish off the proceedings of what was another brilliant outing for the South Africa Women on their already dream tour of India. The all-rounder was on top of her game tonight as she has been throughout the tour. The right-hander, who came in as an opening partner to Lizelle Lee was the most detrimental figure with her unbeaten 66 off 48 balls, in South Africa women’s victory in the inaugural T20I of the three-match series at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow. Bosch’s contribution was not only with the bat, but even with the ball she was superb, getting rid of two set Indian batswomen, debutant half centurion Harleen Deol and Jemimah Rodriguez in the same over. Bowling in the death, she gave away only 11 runs in her two overs and took two wickets as well. It was her and Shabnim Ismail with their lethal death bowling that restricted India to only 130 even after being 104/2 at the end of the 15th over. Bosch, 27, was adjudged Woman of the Match for this scintillating performance of her. Chasing a modest target of 131 set by India, Sune Luus’ team didn’t have a good start as even after getting dropped for nought, Lee, the sensation from the recently concluded ODI series, was caught at mid-on, just when she was at four. But that was the only source of joy for a long time for the Indian team as Luus and Bosch built a strong partnership. The South Africans were also helped by some very poor display of fielding from the women in blue. While Lee was stropped early on, even Bosch was given a chance first in the 11th over, the first of Deol, where the keeper Nuzhat Praween couldn’t hold on to a sharp edge. Bosch was at 27 then. In the 15th over, a brilliant fielding from Deepti Sharma of her own bowling created a runout opportunity, but the keeper was too late to dislodge the bails after collecting the throw from the bowler’s end from Deepti. Once again in the sixteenth over, Rajeshwari Gayakwad dropped a sitter of Luus, off the bowling of Deol. Although that did not cost much as Luus was caught by Deol on her own bowling off the very next ball. But not having learnt a lesson, Richa Ghosh committed a school girl’s error at Point in the 18th over just when the run rate pressure was building on the South Africans. All this caused a lot of problems for the Indians as the South Africans won the game with five balls remaining. Earlier in the evening, after losing the toss Smriti Mandhana and her women were sent to bat first. India didn’t have a good start and lost skipper Mandhana early, who was standing in for permanent captain Harmanprret as she suffered from ‘Hip Flexor’ prior to the game. Even after losing Mandhana early, Harleen, first with Shafali Verma and then with Rodriguez created useful partnerships which helped India get to 130. Deol's 52 off 47 was the highest individual score from the Indian side. The second game would be played at the same venue on Sunday 21st March and Indian eves would have one last chance to make sure they stay alive in the series and get a shot at avenging the ODI series loss.

England's challenge falls way short of India's batting might in series decider

India outplayed England completely in the final game of the series to clinch the five-match series 3-2 in Ahmedabad. Chasing a steep target of 225 runs was always going to be a monumental task for the tourists, and they fell short by 36 runs in a high-scoring game. The pair of Jos Buttler and Dawid Malan threatened to take the game away from India on the back of their brilliant stroke-making, but Indian bowlers held on to their nerves and won the crunch moments of the game to seal the deal for the team. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowler as he emerged as the trump card for Virat Kohli by picking up the wicket of a destructive Jos Buttler just at the right moment when the right hander along with Malan was running away with the game. For a long period of time, it appeared as if they will out dominate the belligerence of India’s skipper and vice-captain who batted at the top of the order for India for the first time since 2014. However, first the wicket of Buttler, and then two crucial wickets of Jonny Bairstow and a well-set Malan by Shardul Thakur who is quietly making a reputation of being a man who fits in perfectly with tough situations for India broke the back of England’s chasing effort.

Massive setback for Rajasthan Royals; Jofra Archer likely to opt out of IPL 2021

It seems that the Rajasthan Royals will have to manage their bowling efforts with Jofra Archer in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League, as per a report in The Telegraph. Archer is nursing an elbow injury and has been playing on injections and now the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is not so keen to put his fitness on the line with the Ashes series planned for the end of this year. Archer has to have another injection after the conclusion of the T20I series against India where he has featured in all games, the report added. Notably, Archer is a centrally contracted player and hence the ECB can ask him to pull out of the cash-rich league. However, the director of RR—Kumar Sangakkara had confirmed that all England players including the pacer will be available for the full length of the tournament. Archer had suffered an elbow stress fracture in the Test series against South Africa in late 2019 and left the series after the first Test. The injury resurfaced after the first Test against India earlier in the series and the pacer could play only two Test matches in the four-match long series.