Lendl Simmons’ third half-century and an unbroken 85-run third-wicket partnership with Dwayne Bravo guided the West Indies to an eight-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20 international on Saturday.
Replying to Zimbabwe’s 130-8, the opening batsman smashed six sixes, the last ending the match at the start of the 17th over, in finishing on 63 not out and taking the man-of-the match award.
Bravo (38 not out) benefitted from a missed run-out opportunity at the start of his innings to ensure that the early strikes of medium-fast bowler Chris Mpofu did not result in an upset win for the visitors.
“It was a clinical result because we did just what we wanted to do,” said West Indies captain Darren Sammy, acknowledging that his team wanted to make a statement in their first home Twenty20 match since lifting the world title in October last year.
Mpofu trapped Johnson Charles leg-before after the opener had taken five consecutive fours off fellow opening bowler Kyle Jarvis and then removed Darren Bravo without scoring to a miscued pull off a short ball. Dwayne Bravo should have been run out shortly after, but Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor failed to hold on to a return with the all-rounder short of his ground.
Earlier, Malcolm Waller fell one run short of a maiden Twenty20 half-century and fast bowler Tino Best claimed three wickets to limit Zimbabwe.
Waller and Craig Ervine put on 60 for the fourth wicket, a new Zimbabwe Twenty20 record, after Best had made early inroads, removing the opening pair of Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza. Taylor, who once again called correctly at the toss and chose to take first strike, continued his poor run on the tour with the bat, falling without scoring to a catch at the wicket off Samuel Badree.
“It’s really frustrating that our top three batters aren’t giving us good starts, but despite that, I thought Waller and Ervine played really well,” Taylor said.
Sunil Narine again proved a challenge for the tourists with his spin variations, claiming 2-17, while Dwayne Bravo took two wickets off the final over of the innings, both to catches by Andre Russell.
INDIA V AUSTRALIA
By staff writer
India ended the second day of the second Test against Australia in Chennai on 311-1, with Murali Vijay unbeaten on 129 and Cheteshwar Pujara 162 not out.
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions’ outfielder Chen Chieh-hsien, who fractured his left index finger earlier during the World Baseball Classic (WBC), is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks. The Uni-Lions confirmed in a news statement on Friday that Chen had a distal fracture in his left index finger. The diagnosis followed X-ray and CT scans conducted at the Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital earlier that day. According to the club, the injury would require four to six weeks to heal. During this period, Chen must wear a protective splint but is permitted to engage in light, sport-specific training. The team plans to
RSS