All posts by csb10.top

Akeal Hosein scythed through Uganda in a sublime opening spell, using his swinging seam-up delivery to devastating effect, plundering five wickets for 11 runs.That spell sent West Indies hurtling to a 134-run victory on a slow Providence deck. The seamers backed Hosein’s spell up, delivering some excellent wicket balls of their own. Together they sent Uganda crashing to 39 all out – the joint-lowest total in the T20 World Cup.Earlier, in difficult batting conditions, Johnson Charles struck 44 off 42, and Andre Russell cracked 30 not out off 17, as West Indies willed their way to 173 for 5.Uganda were doughty with the ball and, despite at least two missed chances, generally good in the field. Though several West Indies batters made starts, Uganda’s slow bowlers, in particular, found ways to peg them back.

Hosein wrecks Uganda’s top order

It was a spell of dreams. From the outset, it was clear that when Hosein chose to put revs into the ball, he would get good turn the first ball – a left-arm spinner’s stock ball – ragging past Roger Mukasa’s outside edge.But it was Hosein’s mastery of drift/swing and his impeccable control that gave him the most venom in this game. The next ball to Mukasa was a seam-up ball that curved in and struck the sweeping batter in front of middle and off. Next over, the ball that struck Alpesh Ramjani in front of middle had also moved in the air, late.Riazat Ali Shah, perhaps Uganda’s best batter, was beaten even more emphatically by the swinging seam-up ball, watching it crash into middle stump.Then in his last over – the seventh of the innings – Hosein dismissed Dinesh Nakrani and Kenneth Waiswa, the first bowled and the second another lbw, again using movement in the air before pitching. He left Uganda flailing at 23 for 7, all their batting resources spent, and with little hope of even surpassing the 58 they had made against Afghanistan last week – their previous lowest score.Rovman Powell was off the blocks quickly•Associated Press

Charles steadies West Indies in the early going

It’s not often you would describe a Charles innings as an anchor, but this is effectively what it was in this game. Though he struck some early fours through cover before working himself up to some six-hitting, he still only had 24 off 21 balls at the end of the powerplay.But his presence at the crease allowed other batters to play more aggressively, most in the West Indies top order just waiting for balls in their area to hit sixes off. Rovman Powell struck the biggest one of the day – his 107-metre monster down the ground off Frank Nsubuga’s bowling going over the top of one of the stands.

Russell and Rutherford finish strong

It says something about the nature of this surface, and also the tenacity of Uganda’s bowling, that West Indies did not manage a six after the 14th over. But Russell and Sherfane Rutherford still found ways to provide West Indies with that final burst. Russell did this most effectively in the final over, when he blasted Cosmas Kyewuta for two fours through point, then later found another couple of boundaries off the outside edge.All up, West Indies made 45 off the last four overs.

Sanju Samson fought a lone battle by scoring 73* off 56 balls as Kerala limped to 119 against Andhra in Lucknow. But KS Bharat killed the chase by smashing a rapid 53 off 28 balls, and taking his side to victory with seven wickets and eight overs to spare. Samson, who is likely to open the batting for India against South Africa if Shubman Gill isn’t fit, carried his bat after opening the innings and losing one partner after another.Kerala were 79 for 7 in the 17th over, with the highest partnership until then being 17 for the seventh wicket. But Samson got enough support from No. 9 Biju Narayanan to add an unbeaten 40, as Kerala huffed and puffed to a small total. The next highest score after Samson’s was MD Nidheesh’s 13, and Bharat ensured there was no contest, having smashed his fifty within the first nine overs. Ashwin Hebbar (27) and Pyla Avinash (20) also played their parts to hand Andhra their fifth win in six games.

Vyshak, Padikkal star but Saurashtra win thriller

Vijaykumar Vyshak got 3 for 28, and nearly sealed the game with bat in hand. However, Karnataka lost to Saurashtra by one run in a thrilling finish in Ahmedabad. Chasing 179, Karnataka were reduced to 49 for 3 in the seventh over, before Devdutt Padikkal and Ravichandran Smaran added 54. Ankur Panwar got Padikkal for 66 to break the stand, and Karnataka lost their way again. Vyshak and Shreyas Gopal took it all the way during their tenth-wicket partnership, but couldn’t take their side past the finish line.Earlier, Vyshak broke a 55-run opening stand for Saurashtra. Contributions from Siddhant Rana (42), Vishvaraj Jadeja (40), Harvik Desai (28) and Jay Gohil (27) helped Saurashtra to 178. They were 76 for 1 after seven overs and looked set for a bigger total, slowing down later even though Rana and Gohil added 66 for the fourth wicket. In the end, the total turned out to be just enough.File photo: Shardul Thakur got 3 for 19•BCCI

Shardul, Mhatre and Rahane shine for Mumbai

Shardul Thakur took three of the four wickets to fall in the powerplay as Mumbai eased their way past Chhattisgarh in Lucknow. Mumbai captain’s 3 for 19, alongside two wickets each for Suryansh Shedge, Atharva Ankolekar and Tushar Deshpande, bowled Chhattisgarh out for 121 after Mumbai opted to bowl first.Chhattisgarh were 59 for 7 at the start of the tenth over, having also lost Shashank Singh for 10. Shubham Agarwal and Mayank Yadav added 38 for the eighth wicket, but Shedge struck in back-to-back overs to halt Chhattisgarh’s brief recovery.Ayush Mhatre and Ajinkya Rahane then lay the foundation for the 122 chase by adding 82 for the first wicket. Agarwal got Rahane for 40 in 28 deliveries to break the stand, but by then, Mumbai were well on track for their fifth win in the group stages. Agarwal also dismissed Siddhesh Lad for 5, but Mhatre remained unbeaten on 69 off 49 balls, which included five sixes. Mumbai eventually won with eight wickets and 25 balls remaining.

Jayant trumps Shami as Puducherry thrash Bengal

Bengal suffered a collapse of 9 for 38 to be bowled out for 96 in pursuit of 178 against Puducherry in Hyderabad. Offspinner Jayant Yadav bagged 4 for 28, which included the wicket Karan Lal, who top-scored with 40. The collapse started when Abhimanyu Easwaran was run out for 12, with no Bengal batter from Nos. 4-11 getting into double-figures.The win was set up by Puducherry’s captain Aman Khan, who smashed five fours and seven sixes in his 74 off 40 balls. Aman added 68 for the third wicket with Jashwanth Shreeram, who scored 45 off 34. Their stand was broken by Mohammed Shami, who, after getting Shreeram in the 15th over, also dismissed Aman in the 19th. Shami finished with 3 for 34, following up 4 for 13 in the previous game against Services.

Cameron Green, playing as a specialist batter, fell for a duck but Western Australia team-mate Cameron Bancroft issued a reminder of his indefatigable approach at the top of the order with a determined century at the WACA.Bancroft’s 122 off 255 balls guided WA into a position of strength against South Australia on day two despite the stirring efforts of spearhead Brendan Doggett who finished with 6 for 48 from 21.2 overs.Related

• 'I'll be ready' – Doggett waits on an Ashes call after six wickets on Shield return

• Australia's top order: What are the selectors' options?

• Webster falls cheaply as Perry takes five

• Smith puts England on notice with sparkling Gabba knock

Doggett is pushing to be a fast-bowling reserve for the Ashes having been part of the World Test Championship squad earlier this year and originally due to tour West Indies before injury struck.”There has been a little bit of noise, but trying not to think about it,” Doggett said about his potential Ashes chances. “I just want to keep playing for South Australia and keep putting good performances together. I think that’s all I can control at the moment.”After missing the India ODIs due to side soreness, Green had a starring role in the field on day one as he eyes making a bowling return in WA’s next Shield match against Queensland starting on November 11.But Green, batting at his preferred No. 4, lasted just six deliveries after whacking Doggett straight to mid-off. It was left to Bancroft to anchor the innings and he returned to form with steely defence mixed with classical drives.A slow start to the season has seen him slip outside of the Ashes selection mix on the back of making just 344 runs at 26.46 last season compared to an average of 48.37 across WA’s hat-trick of titles.Cameron Green fell for a duck as he builds towards the Ashes•Getty Images

“I’ve had my time at that level, feel really grateful. If an opportunity came to play for Australia, that’s great, but certainly not feverish about it,” said Bancroft, who played the last of his 10 Tests during the 2019 Ashes.After dominating the opening day, WA resumed on 87 for 0 with Bancroft and skipper Sam Whiteman having to contend with far more disciplined bowling from South Australia’s quicks.In his return from a hamstring injury, Doggett had been sluggish late on the opening day but found his rhythm from the get go amid overcast morning conditions. Doggett had Whiteman edging to second slip to break the 93-run opening stand and immediately caused Hilton Cartwright problems by pitching up and targeting the pads.Cartwright was made to dig in as he shifted up the order from his customary No. 4 spot due to Green’s return. With the surface flattening out after notable sharp bounce and carry on the opening day, Bancroft and Cartwright started to take the game away from South Australia as they built a half-century partnership and batted into the second session.Cameron Bancroft drives during his century•Getty Images

With South Australia needing a spark, it was up to Doggett to bend his back and he did exactly that after lunch with a stirring spell that accounted for Cartwright and Green in consecutive overs.But South Australia’s momentum was halted by Cooper Connolly, playing his first Shield match of the season having recently impressed in the India ODI series. Connolly has already proven he’s a three-format player in his fledgling career and seemed set to add a sixth half-century in eight Shield innings as he scored at a run-a-ball pace.Connolly was particularly aggressive against offspinner Ben Manenti and the approach rubbed off on Bancroft with the pair trading sixes as WA powered past South Australia’s first innings total of 215.But Connolly’s cavalier knock ended on 33 when he whacked Nathan McSweeney to extra cover before rain halted play for an hour. On resumption, McSweeney unexpectedly turned the game briefly with the further scalps of Bancroft and Aaron Hardie, who threw away his wicket after miscuing a reverse sweep.WA did finish with a 92-run first innings lead but were unable to make a breakthrough before stumps were called early due to bad light.

D’Arcy Short, the former Australia batter, has agreed a return to Gloucestershire for next season’s T20 Blast.Short, 35, finished as the leading run-scorer after the group stage of this year’s Blast, with 551 at a strike rate of 136.04, although his form wasn’t enough to propel defending champions Gloucestershire into the quarter-finals, as they finished seventh in the South Group.”It’s so great to see D’Arcy back for the 2026 Blast,” Mark Alleyne, Gloucestershire’s head coach, said. “After a slow start, he proved to be such a brilliant addition to the Glorious, becoming the leading run-scorer across the two groups.”He is much more than that, though, as some of his innings can really put the opponent on the back foot. His bowling, too, can offer an option to complement our attack, so we look forward to his return with huge anticipation.”Short, who made the last of his 31 Australia appearances in 2020, said: “I’m excited to be coming back to Gloucestershire for the Blast again. I loved my time last year. The club makes you feel welcome, and hopefully we can build on last year and have success and make it into finals.”

Abhishek Sharma hit 61 off 31, Tilak Varma struck 49 not out off 34, and India cruised to the highest score of the tournament, posting 202 for 5 without ever looking like they were breaking a serious sweat.Sri Lanka too, made no serious errors. In fact they caught well – Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera taking outstanding catches off their own bowling – while the groundfielding was in good shape. None of their bowlers leaked more than 15 runs in an over, and the frontline bowlers all completed their quota.And yet, India kept finding the boundary, first through Abhishek, before Varma and Sanju Samson set themselves up in the middle overs to hit 66 runs off 42 balls together. Wickets fell too, but such are India’s riches, and so in control were they of this innings, that dismissals did not lead to major hits to the scoring rate.Sri Lanka’s bowlers did pose threats. In fact, five bowlers took wickets. But none took more than one, and not a single bowler of the six used went at less than six an over. Whatever Sri Lanka threw at India, the India batters negotiated with measured aggression.