Women’s Ashes | Australia win ODI series with Ellyse Perry masterclass

Australia Women took an unassailable lead in the multi-format series after winning the 2nd ODI of the Ashes series. While thoroughly not dominating in nature, Australia did enough to make them comfortable with strong phases of play throughout the game.

Ellyse Perry was star of the show with three wickets giving away just 12 runs and scoring a crucial 40 runs to win the game. The game ended her poor patch with both bat and ball in the shortest format of the game after the star all rounder was kept fairly quiet in the T20I series.

After choosing to bowl first, Meg Lanning’s women rewarded their captain’s call with quick four wickets in the first 20 overs. If it were not for Sophie Ecclestone’s 32 runs, England would have been in a much worse position. They managed to put up 129 runs with Ecclestone’s and Amy Jones’ help but could not make enough of their batting line up. Tahlia McGrath bowled exceptionally well alongside Perry and scalped three wickets for just 4 runs in her 3.2 overs.

Coming into bat, it was not easy going for Australia as they lost their first two wickets under 20 runs. Alyssa Healy held on from one end for a while but was dismissed in the 15th over of the game with the score reading 49 runs. However, useful contributions from Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner made sure that Australia did not collapse and they won the game by 5 wickets and just a little less than 15 overs remaining.

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U19 World Cup 2022 | We would have been in the hunt if we had scored around 230, says Tom Prest

England U19 had a terrible start to the proceedings against India U19 in the final of the World Cup in Antigua. The English team suffered a bating collapse and were left tottering at 91/7 before James Rew and James Sales tried to steady the ship with a 93-run partnership for the 8th wicket. Rew missed out on a hundred by just five runs while Sales remained unbeaten at 34. Talking about the batting collapse, captain Tom Prest admitted that the side needed just one more stand and a total of somewhere around 230 to make a game out of it. "The way James Rew and James Sales came in, I think they put on close to a hundred or maybe even just over [93]," he said. "All it would have taken was one more partnership, really, earlier on in our innings, and if we had got to 230 it would have been really interesting." Prest lauded the bowlers for their efforts. "I think we actually did really well, restricting the run rate," he said. "It felt like they were almost digging themselves a hole, really, that first partnership [between Harnoor Singh and Shaik Rasheed for the second wicket]. They chewed up quite a lot of balls - we felt, just a couple of wickets and we were well in the game," he added.

WI vs IND | Holder-Allen resistance goes in vain as visitors get bowled out for 176

West Indies were bundled out for 176 against India in the first ODI of the series in Ahmedabad. After being put in to bat by Rohit Sharma, the Caribbean side didn't really have a great start to the proceedings as they lost wickets at regular intervals and were left tottering at 79/7 with the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard back in the hut. But Jason Holder and Fabian Allen then came in for the rescue and provided some resistance to the visitors as they both stitched a partnership of 78 runs for the 8th wicket. While Holder went on to score 57 off 71 which included four maximums, Allen chipped in with 29 off 43. But the latter's departure broke the shackles once again as West Indies lost the remaining wickets in quick intervals. For India, it was Yuzvendra Chahal's spin web that thoroughly dominated the visiting side as he bagged a four-wicket haul for 49 runs in 9.5 overs. Chahal got exceptional purchase off the Ahmedabad pitch, which turned a fair bit even though it was just the very first innings of the three ODIs that is scheduled to be played here. Apart from him, Washington Sundar also picked up three wickets for 30 runs in 9 overs and consistently troubled the left-handed batters in the Windies line-up. Prasidh Krishna was among the wickets as well and had a couple of scalps to his name for 29 runs in his 10 overs. The only bowler to not get a wicket today was Shardul Thakur who bowled 7 overs and gave away 38 runs.

Gutless: Mitchell Johnson launches scathing criticism against Pat Cummins after Langer resignation

Australian fast bowlers are historically known to enjoy each other’s company. But that does not seem to be the case anymore in the fast bowler’s cartel. Former Australian national Mitchell Johnson has come out in arms against the Test captain, blaming him for the ouster of coach Justin Langer. “Cummins might have delivered with the ball during the Ashes series, but he has failed his first big test as captain pretty miserably. He had plenty of public opportunities to endorse an extension for Langer. So when he let it through to the keeper every time, it became pretty obvious he didn’t want it to happen.” Justin Langer and Pat Cummins' feud has been teased in the Australian media circles for a while, but things became more prominent during Australia’s horrific run of form during the white ball series in West Indies and Bangladesh. Langer was allegedly a taskmaster - a style that did not suit several senior players who wanted a more sensitive environment. “His recent interviews have been gutless by not respecting his coach when he could have been upfront from the start," Johnson wrote in a column with the West Australian newspaper.

I am going out on a high: Justin Langer pens emotional resignation letter

The Justin Langer saga came to an end on Saturday, 6 February. After much speculation since the middle of last year, Langer chose to step down and not see through his entire term that was scheduled to come to an end in June this year. The outgoing Australian head coach Langer penned an emotional resignation letter to Cricket Australia and the copy of it was later published in the Australian newspaper on Sunday. Writing that he did not want to continue till the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, Langer stated that he is moving away since several members of the Australian cricket team and the board did not want him in charge. While he did not point out any players, he specifically named CEO Nick Hockley about how the head of the board wanted to drive the team away in a different direction. If media reports are correct, several senior players and a couple of support staff don't support me moving forward, and it is now apparent the CA board, and you Nick, are also keen to see the team move in another direction. I respect that decision." "My life has been built on values of honesty, respect, trust, truth, and performance and if that comes across as 'too intense' at times, I apologise." Langer argued that he had put the team in a better place since the time he took over during the turbulent Sandpaper Gate. "Whilst it is not up to me to judge, I hope Australians respect what has been achieved over the last four years in Australian cricket. From day one I believed it was possible to both win and play the game in the spirit that is now expected from our supporters. Langer would be leaving the position on a high after winning the T20 World Cup and the coveted Ashes Down Under. Langer was also inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame recently.