WBBL 2021 | Adelaide Strikers Women blow Hobart Hurricanes Women away

The Adelaide Strikers Women were the more polished side on the field and they hammered a listless Hobart Hurricanes Women by 48 runs to go to the fourth on the points table. Conversely, a struggling Hurricanes slide slipped to seventh on the table with just 7 points from their 12 matches.

Chasing a competitive score of 143 runs, the Hurricanes Women were blown away for a mere 94 runs as Darcie Brown and Megan Schutt ran riot among them. The former was the more successful bowler, picking up both openers Naomi Stalenberg and Rachel Priest to give the Hurricanes Women the worst possible start.

The duo of Mignon du Preez and Nicola Carey tried to steady the ship but once du Preez was gone there was no one to hold the Strikers Women from taking a giant leap and the Hurricanes Women slipped into another mini-collapse.

India’s Richa Ghosh failed with the bat in the middle order and the Hurricanes Women were bowled out with 10 balls remaining.

Earlier, the Hurricanes Women skipper Rachel Priest elected to bowl first after winning the toss and they were ecstatic to send Katie Mack back to the pavilion off the bowling of Tayla Vlaeminck.

However, Dane van Niekerk and Laura Wolvaardt held their ground strong to give the Strikers a solid platform. But, they could not provide acceleration to the batting and neither did the skipper Tahlia McGrath could change the course of the game.

The acceleration came from the bat of Bridget Patterson, who smashed a 17-ball 25 to take the Strikers to a defendable total.

It was the fifth win of the season for the Strikers Women out of the 10 games they played while the Hurricanes Women have been going through a tough season and have won only three games out of the 12 played so far.

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Bangladesh to tour New Zealand for WTC in the new year

New Zealand Cricket confirmed that Bangladesh will be part of its upcoming summer season which will include teams such as South Africa and Australia as well. The Tigers will play two Tests starting on January 1 to kick off the domestic summer cricketing season. After the new year Test at Bay Oval in Tauranga, the teams will play the second Test in Christchurch starting January 9. New Zealand, who are the reigning champions of the inaugural World Test Championship will return home after playing a two-Test series against India, which will mark the start of their defence of the title. Bangladesh on the other hand will be looking to get back in the groove after a very poor showing in the T20 World Cup. Although they play Pakistan at home, their first real test in foreign conditions will be against New Zealand. Fixtures: January 1-5: 1st Test at the Bay Oval, Tauranga January 9-13: 2nd Test at Hagley Oval, Christchurch

Covid-19 vaccine refusal might cost Murali Vijay his domestic career

Murali Vijay, once a household name with his Test batting skills as an opener and his exploits with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League is now languishing at the bottom of his cricketing career. It is reported that he might not even find a place in his state team Tamil Nadu in near future. The main reason for his absence from professional cricket, which he last played in September 2020, is vaccination. Yes, the 37-year-old, who has appeared in 61 Tests for India and has more than 4000 international runs in his kitty has refused to get himself vaccinated. It was the same reason why he was not picked in Tamil Nadu’s title-winning team for last December’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy team. “He is hesitant to take the vaccine. The BCCI SOPs say that a player needs to be inside the bubble for a week before a tournament starts and then as long as he is with the team. But Vijay is not too keen on it. So the Tamil Nadu selectors haven’t considered him for selection,” a source in Tamil Nadu Cricket Association was quoted as saying by TOI. “The selectors have not even discussed him in the selection meeting and he didn’t even make it to the Tamil Nadu list of probables for the domestic season,” added the source. Now, the situation has worsened so much that even if the right-hander agrees to take the vaccine, he would have to prove his form and fitness first before getting into the team.

ICC inducts Mahela Jayawardene, Shaun Pollock in Hall of Fame

Mahela Jayawardene, Shaun Pollock and Janette Brittin were inducted in ICC’s Hall of Fame taking the total tally to 13 for the year. The former Sri Lanka captain expressed delight and said that he is grateful for the recognition. “I am very grateful for the recognition and would like to enjoy and share the moment with all those that have helped me on my journey, including my family, friends, coaches, team-mates and, most importantly, Sri Lanka cricket fans who passionately supported and inspired me during my career," Jayawardene said. The right-handed batsman had been an integral part of the Sri Lankan side. He played 149 Tests and notched up more than 11000 runs in the format while scoring over 12000 runs in 448 ODIs that he featured in. Apart from this, Mahela was capped 55 times in T20Is where he scored 1493 runs and was a part of the Lankan side that won the World T20 in 2014 after beating India in the final. Pollock thanked ICC for the recognition and further added that it was an honour to be included in the Hall of Fame. "I would like to thank the ICC for this recognition of my career," Pollock said. "It's an amazing honour to be included in the Hall of Fame alongside the very illustrious company that has already been inducted. It's a real cherry on the top or maybe even a book end of what has been a thoroughly enjoyable cricketing experience and I'd like to thank my teammates who played such a massive part along the journey." Pollock played 108 Tests where he scored 3781 runs and scalped 421 wickets during the course. The right-hander also played 303 ODIs and notched up over 3500 runs and picked up 393 wickets during the course. In 12 T20Is that Pollock played, he had 15 dismissals to his name. Janette Brittin has been inducted posthumously into the hall of fame. She played 27 Tests and scored 1935 runs while was capped 63 times in ODIs, scoring a total of 2121 runs. Brittin had one of the most stellar careers in women’s cricket and is most famed for her incredible World Cup exploits where she scored 1299 runs at an average of 43.30. She operated between the years 1979-1998. At the time she retired, Brittin had broken all possible batting records in women’s cricket and to date, holds the most runs scored by a woman in Test format.

Bruce Edgar believes Kiwis can avenge 2015 WC Final

It has never been a case that in a New Zealand-Australia clash, the former is considered favourites. But come to the T20 World Cup 2021 Final and the Kiwis are riding the favourites tag, especially after their form in the tournament and their recent ICC tournaments record. Contrary to that is Australia’s form. World beaters and most dominant side at one point, the Aussies are no more the most feared unit across any format of the game. This feeling has resonated way back to the older generation of cricketers as well. Former New Zealand opener Bruce Edgar, who scored 102 not out in the infamous 1981 match, where Trevor Chappell bowled an underarm ball at the instruction of brother Greg with the Kiwis needing six runs to tie from the final delivery. Edgar feels that Australia are not what it used to be and therefore Kiwis have the best possible chance to settle scores. “The Aussies always rated our rugby but never rated our cricket. [Australians would think] ‘We’re better than you guys, simple as that, and we always will be’. Maybe that gap has closed now. The fear factor has gone. It’s a bit like teams playing the All Blacks. It’s equalised a bit more now. It’s time for the Black Caps to settle a score from their experiences in Melbourne in 2015,” Edgar was quoted as saying by Stuff.co.nz. “The Aussie mentality in the 1980s was ‘we’ll beat anyone in front of us’. That was a team ethos and it’s always been like that with [Ricky] Ponting and [Michael] Clarke and [Adam] Gilchrist. There are now [New Zealand] players with experience and mental toughness that there has not always been there,” added the man who has to his credit 3772 international runs including four hundreds and 22 fifties in 132 innings. Edgar, 64, went on to say that the image of New Zealand as the little brother is changing and that they might punch above their weight. “The little brother might be boxing above his weight. We’ve been playing some very good cricket for some time across all formats and the Aussies know that” he said. Talking about the infamous 1981 incident and if that could be avenged, the former selector of the men’s team said, “They’ll bring it up from time to time, but it’s not the focus. I feel we’ve matured as a nation in a way.” However, he concluded by stating that 2015 is recent and might be at the back of the minds of the players. New Zealand play Australia in the final of the T20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday 14 November.