WBBL 2021 | Shafali Verma’s fifty in vain as Tahlia McGrath-led Strikers notch up back to back wins

India’s dynamic opener, who has been forced to play in the middle order in her Women’s Big Bash League franchise Sydney Sixers Women, finally found form as she struck her second fifty of the season. This fifty came after a bad run of five innings. But her fifty went in vain as Sixers lost the game by eight wickets against Adelaide Strikers Women.

Chasing a modest total of 143, Katie Mack, a youngster from Adelaide came to the party even as the Strikers lost the wicket of experienced Dane van Niekerk for a first-ball duck to Maitlan Brown. However, Laura Wolvaardt and then skipper Tahlia McGrath played patiently to see their team to its second consecutive win at home.

Earlier in the day, after big guns Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner failed at the top despite Sixers choosing to bat first after winning the toss, Verma and veteran Nicole Bolton tried to rescue the innings. They put up 84 runs for the fifth wicket in 75 balls. While Verma remained unbeaten on 53 off 43 balls, Boltin was removed by Amanda Jade Wellington for 34 off 38 balls.

In another game, Perth Scorchers Women stabilised their position in the top half of the table after they thrashed Melbourne Stars Women by 10 wickets. After reducing Stars for only 97-9 in their 20 overs, Scorchers skipper Sophie Devie and her partner Beth Mooney took only 65 balls to chase down the total.

While Mooney struck her second fifty to go with her one hundred this season already, Devine, who had taken two wickets in the match already, made 35 off 27 balls.

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T20 World Cup | Semi-Final: Sam Billings replaces Jason Roy in playing XI, Blackcaps remain unchanged

New Zealand won the toss in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup and decided to field first. In the post toss chat with Nasser Hussain, New Zealand skipper Kane Willaimson said that his team remains unchanged. On the other hand, England skipper Eoin Morgan was forced to make a change with his star opener Jason Roy picking up a calf injury in the last game against South Africa. To replace Roy, Sam Billings, a gun T20 batter and fielder has been called in by the team. He has been slated to play in the middle order and Jonny Bairstow will open in the innings with in-form Jos Buttler. Speaking to Hussain, Morgan said, “We would have done the same (fielding first) as it has been the trend here in UAE. But having said that, we will try and make a good total and try and defend it.” While New Zealand have entered the semi-finals winning four back to back games, England lost their only game to South Africa, which was also their last game in the Super 12 stage.

BBL 11 | Mohammad Nabi signs for Melbourne Renegades for fifth consecutive time

Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi has re-signed with the Big Bash League side Melbourne Renegades and this will be his fifth consecutive year with the team. The right-hander expressed delight and said that it feels great to join the Renegades again. “It's great to be linking up with the Renegades once again. Going into my fifth Big Bash campaign, I feel like part of their family," Nabi said. "I hope we can win another title and give our fans something to smile about after such a difficult time for everyone." Renegades coach David Saker said that Nabi has been an integral part of the middle-order and can play crucial roles with both bat and ball. "It's great to have a player of Mohammad Nabi's quality locked in for BBL 11," said. "Nabi has been an important part of our middle order and has the ability to change games quickly. He has the flexibility with both bat and ball to play various roles for our team. We're looking forward to what he can bring this year," added Saker. Nabi has a huge experience of playing T20 cricket and has featured in more than 300 games in the format, scoring 4815 runs and has scalped more than 290 wickets so far. The BBL is slated to begin on December 5 with Sydney Sixers taking on Melbourne Stars in the opening match in Sydney.

IND vs NZ | Half vaccinated citizens allowed in by Rajasthan govt for Jaipur T20I

The Rajasthan Cricket Association announced that half vaccinated citizens, meaning that those who have got at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccination, will be allowed to enter the stadium for the first India vs New Zealand T20I to be played at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on November 17. RCA Secretary Mahendra Sharma, while speaking to the media said, “Guidance was sought from the Home Department of the state government on entry of spectators in the match while also complying with Covid-19 protocols. We have got permission in this regard by the department for the entry of spectators in the match.” "According to guidelines issued by the state government, spectators should follow Covid appropriate behaviour like mandatory use of masks, sanitisation, thermal screening, proper ventilation and vaccination with at least one dose of covid vaccine by all spectators, staff and players," he added. However, there was a catch for those who are vaccinated only once and it was that they have to bring a Covid-19 negative RT-PCR report while coming to the stadium. Those RT-PCR reports are not to be older than 48 hours. While Jaipur will be hosting its first-ever international match in eight years, the other two T20Is will be played on November 19 in Ranchi and November 21 in Kolkata respectively. The Kiwis will also play two Tests as part of the World Test Championship 2021-23 and they will be played in Kanpur (November 25-29) and Mumbai (December 3-7) respectively.

A player can’t be one dimensional: Venkatesh Iyer hopes to deliver with both bat & ball in India outing

All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer played a crucial role in Kolkata Knight Riders’ turnaround during the second leg of the Indian Premier League and he has now received the call for the T20I series against New Zealand at home scheduled to begin on November 17. Talking about his game, Iyer insisted that being an all-rounder he maintains focus on both bowling and batting. “My workload management has been good so far. I am an all-rounder, so I have to be equally focussed on both aspects of the game. That's what I have been doing right from my age-group state level days. It's so far not been a very big issue," Iyer told PTI in an interview. He further added that he has worked pretty hard on red-ball cricket and admitted that to play for India, a player can’t just be one dimensional. "I have always worked hard on my red ball game and it has been my conscious effort not be one dimensional.” "If you have to play for India, you have to be consistent across formats and that's why I have put in a lot of work in both departments of the game. As much as I have worked on my batting, I have also worked on my bowling," said Iyer. The Indian team is slated to play a three-match T20I series against New Zealand and the side will now be led by Rohit Sharma who has been handed over the T20I captaincy after Virat Kohli had decided to step down from the position with the conclusion of the T20 World Cup. Apart from Iyer, Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel have also been rewarded for their brilliant show in the recent past.