West Indies settle for tame high-scoring draw in practice game

VVS Laxman’s five names who could be groomed to solve sixth bowler problem

Former India batsman VVS Laxman, commenting on the need to have a sixth bowling option for Team India, suggested five names who could be groomed to fill in that much-required place. "An old bugbear continued to haunt India. Their make-up has been such that they have only pure batsmen or pure bowlers, with the exception of Ravindra Jadeja. That means Virat's hands are severely tied,” Laxman, 48, wrote in his column in The Times of India. India indeed missed the sixth bowler and in both the games, although in the second game, an underfit Hardik Pandya bowled four overs to pick up one wicket and bowl an economical spell, considering the way other bowlers were butchered. “Going forward, India must have a sixth bowling option, even if at the expense of a specialist batsman,” suggested the former wristy batsman. He further said that the best sides in the world always have 1-2 additional bowling resources apart from four or five main bowlers. He then names those cricketers who could be groomed for that role. “I can think of five names that can slot in as the extra all-rounder, given Hardik isn't bowling these days. There is the spin trio of Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, and Krunal Pandya, as well as the medium-paced duo of Vijay Shankar and Shivam Dube,” said the Sunrisers Hyderabad mentor. Adding that these players need to be included in the squad as soon as possible, Laxman said, “Get anyone or two of them into the squad, give them game-time, and groom them for the battles ahead.” In the second game too, Indian bowlers were taken to the cleaners and the team was set a total of 390 to chase. The top-order disappointed once again as apart from Kohli nobody really showed the application to play the long haul. At the time of writing the news, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya were batting at the crease with India still needing 146 runs in 71 balls.

Twitter Reactions: Bizzare hitting from Maxwell overshadows Smith’s hundred

There are days when the bowlers are made to look like mere spectators and today was that for the Indian bowlers when the Australian batters led by former captain Steve Smith and the Big Show Glenn Maxwell went on a carnage as they feasted on the hapless bowling from Jasprit Bumrah and Co. Smith and Marnus Labuschgane were left at the crease by the two openers at a time when Indian could have tightened the noose as two of the set batsmen in captain Aaron Finch and David Warner had been dislodged and two new men were in. The Sydney man though, instead of taking the pressure, counter-attacked as he and Labuschagne added 136 for the third wicket in just 89 balls. On the way, Smith, a centurion from the last match completed yet another hundred, this one coming off once again of just 62 balls. His inning was laced with those signature lofted cover drives which go for six. But added to that this time was the slog sweeps, the cheeky shorts on the third man and fine leg, and of course the square cuts. In short, he was a treat to watch. The Twitteratis agreed to it. But another failure from the IPL, Glenn Maxwell too had decided that he isn’t going to be a spectator either as he started from where he had left in the last game and this time around, went one step ahead to complete his fifty, that too in just 25 balls. In the end, he went not out for 63 in just 23 balls. The innings of course was always filled with his bizarre shots which he mostly plays off the middle stump, combined along with his usual slog hits. In all this madness, one must not forget the calm composed innings of the prodigy Labuschagne who once again showed what is he actually made, of silently weaving his way to fifty and only got out trying to accelerate at the end. Apart from these three the openers Warner and Finch too were instrumental in taking Aussies to 389 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Glenn Phillips, Devon Conway power New Zealand to series win over West Indies

New Zealand won the second T20 of the series and have secured an unassailable lead of the touring West Indies side in Mount Maunganui. Chasing a mountainous target of 239 runs, West Indies batsman failed to go big and none of them could produce individual brilliant performances that could have won them the game as the Kieron Pollard -led side fell well short of the target. The win by 66 runs was achieved on the back of some outrageous hitting of the cricket ball, especially by the young duo of Devo Conway and Glenn Phillips who stitched a marathon partnership of 184 runs that powered New Zealand to a score the Windies needed some magic to chase. Earlier in the day, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and asked New Zealand to bat first. The Opening pair of Martin Guptill and Tim Seifert provided Kiwis a strong start before they were separated in the last over of the power play. Seifert was the first one to go and was quickly followed by Guptill in the very next over that brought the pair of Conway and Phillips together at the crease. None of the Windies bowlers could leave any positive impact on the match as all of them conceded runs in excess of 9 runs per over as the Kiwis took them to cleaners. In their effort to chase down 239, Windies were off to a horrible start as Kyle Jamieson nipped one through to beat Brendon Kings to shatter his stumps. The matter turned bad to worse as Shimron Hetmyer was caught short of the crease by Glenn Phillips who could do no wrong on the day when he notched the fastest T20 century by a New Zealander in the International T20S. Kiwi bowlers kept chipping away with the wickets and when Nicholas Pooran and the captain Kieron Pollard were dismissed in the 1oth and 13th over, it was curtains for the tourist in Mount Maunganui. New Zealand captain Tim Southee spoke highly of Glen Phillips and said that he has always been a player with X-factor and has done well in the Caribbean Premier League against many of the players in the West Indies lineup. Southee will now not take part in theT20 series and will prepare for the Test series that will follow while Mitchell Santner will take the mettle of leadership from him in the final T20 of the series. New Zealand won the second T20 of the series and have secured an unassailable lead of the touring West Indies side in Mount Maunganui. Chasing a mountainous target of 239 runs, West Indies batsman failed to go big and none of them could produce individual brilliant performances that could have won them the game as the Kieron Pollard -led side fell well short of the target. The win by 66 runs was achieved on the back of some outrageous hitting of the cricket ball, especially by the young duo of Devo Conway and Glenn Phillips who stitched a marathon partnership of 184 runs that powered New Zealand to a score the Windies needed some magic to chase. Earlier in the day, West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and asked New Zealand to bat first. The Opening pair of Martin Guptill and Tim Seifert provided Kiwis a strong start before they were separated in the last over of the power play. Seifert was the first one to go and was quickly followed by Guptill in the very next over that brought the pair of Conway and Phillips together at the crease. None of the Windies bowlers could leave any positive impact on the match as all of them conceded runs in excess of 9 runs per over as the Kiwis took them to cleaners. In their effort to chase down 239, Windies were off to a horrible start as Kyle Jamieson nipped one through to beat Brendon Kings to shatter his stumps. The matter turned bad to worse as Shimron Hetmyer was caught short of the crease by Glenn Phillips who could do no wrong on the day when he notched the fastest T20 century by a New Zealander in the International T20S. Kiwi bowlers kept chipping away with the wickets and when Nicholas Pooran and the captain Kieron Pollard were dismissed in the 1oth and 13th over, it was curtains for the tourist in Mount Maunganui. New Zealand captain Tim Southee spoke highly of Glen Phillips and said that he has always been a player with X-factor and has done well in the Caribbean Premier League against many of the players in the West Indies lineup. Southee will now not take part in theT20 series and will prepare for the Test series that will follow while Mitchell Santner will take the mettle of leadership from him in the final T20 of the series.

NZ vs WI: Glenn Phillips smashes fastest T20I century for New Zealand

Glenn Phillips smashed the record of fastest T20 hundred by a New Zealander by achieving the feat in only 45 balls. He came to bat at the number four position in the second T20I between New Zealand and West Indies and blasted a 51-ball-108 as his debut century and bettered the previous record of the fastest century by Colin Munro against the same opposition two years back. Another rookie, Devon Conway was at the top of the game as the duo put on a show of blistering strokes and an extended period onslaught that powered the Kiwis to a mammoth total of 238/3 at the end of 20 overs. Phillips had walked out to bat just after the completion of the mandatory power play after the fall of Martin Guptill and was dismissed after taking the life out of the West Indies bowling attack on the penultimate ball of the New Zealand innings. In the end, the West Indies could not match the firepower of the New Zealand team and were defeated by a big margin of 72 runs. Windies could manage only 166 runs at the end of their innings and none of their batsmen could make a big score to even come closer to the target set by the Kiwis. With this win, the hosts have won the 3-match long T20 series with a match remaining to be played on November 30 at the same venue in Mount Maunganui.