They went in with only one spinner. Their quicks couldn’t put enough pressure. And some of the captaincy was questionable

Alex Malcolm04-Mar-2022A presidential security detail, a golf simulator in the hotel, and a flat Rawalpindi pitch.Welcome back to the subcontinent, Australia. The world has been waiting, and it seems not much has changed since you last played somewhere other than Australia or England in 2018.Pat Cummins’ side got conned and they shouldn’t really be surprised. The lack of tour matches, some grass on the practice pitches that didn’t turn, some rain the day before the opening Test and limited data suggesting the fast bowlers would enjoy Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium more than the spinners, all caused selection doubt in the lead-in.The playing strip looked nothing like some of the fast, green monsters Australia had served up and dominated on throughout the Ashes at home. Yet they still went with their tried and trusted trio of Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc with Nathan Lyon as the lone spinner, and Cameron Green as the allrounder.Lyon, who wasn’t required to bowl in Australia’s last Test match, was on in the eighth over of the day and the image of England’s batting line-up folding like a cheap suit was a distant memory as Imam-ul-Haq made a brilliant, maiden Test century and shared century stands with Azhar Ali and Abdullah Shafique as only one wicket fell for the entire day.Coach Andrew McDonald said there were no surprises from Australia’s standpoint.”I think we knew what we were in for,” he said. “Maybe the wicket offered a little less bounce and a little less pace than we would have thought at Rawalpindi. But generally speaking, we were well versed in what we were going to get.”The armchair selectors will lament, in hindsight, about not selecting a second spinner in Mitchell Swepson or Ashton Agar, after Lyon extracted spin with the new ball on a fresh pitch. But Lyon bowled 31 overs for one wicket and the spin decreased as the pitch dried out.Australia did pick their second-best spinner in Jon Holland to partner Lyon on their last tour against Pakistan in the UAE in 2018. And the opening day of that series went to nearly the same script as this one. Today’s century opening stand in Rawalpindi was the first time any team had done so against Australia since that day in Dubai. Imam was part of both, with Pakistan posting 3 for 255 on that occasion on the back of a century from Mohammad Hafeez.Pat Cummins gets his field right•AFP/Getty ImagesA lot will be made about Australia’s selection. But it fits into a grander question about their method away from home. Australia didn’t bowl badly on day one. The pitch was beautiful for batting and it was a bad toss to lose, something Australia didn’t experience during the Ashes. McDonald acknowledged as much in the aftermath.”Obviously a difficult day,” he said. “It was always going to be in terms of who won the toss is probably going to get (the game) on their terms for day one.”Really impressed with the way that we controlled the tempo of the game. That was one thing that we knew that we had to do so the game didn’t run away from us on day one. In terms of selection, it’s like any other selection, I’d like to think that we can judge it over five days and not in isolation over one day.”While Australia didn’t let Pakistan’s run-rate get out of hand, they failed to really pressure them via long periods of very slow scoring. They had the opportunity to. Imam was 7 off 41 balls at one stage and 11 off 44 when Cummins made the jaw-dropping decision to bring on Travis Head in the 17th over. Not only did Head bowl 28 overs prior to Green, but he bowled 39 overs before Marnus Labuschagne, who averages 17 runs per wicket fewer in first-class cricket and whose legspin could have provided a better contrast to Lyon’s offspin.Imam smacked four boundaries in five overs, including three off Head, to get his innings going and Pakistan were away.Australia only bowled back-to-back maidens twice in the day. In the Ashes, on the flattest surface in Sydney, Australia bowled 70 consecutive dot balls at one stage. The architects of that dry spell in Sydney were Green and Scott Boland.Green bowled just five overs on the opening day, despite hurrying both Imam and Azhar at stages, while Boland ran the drinks, having made a living in Victoria bowling on pitches at the MCG and the Junction Oval that are the closest to this Rawalpindi strip as any in Australia.It is here that Australia could consider a change in method on the subcontinent. The lure of Starc’s reverse swing as a weapon is hard to resist but he averages 54.84 and strikes at 99.99 in eight Tests now across India, Pakistan, and the UAE. There was a hint of reverse swing late in the day but not enough to trouble Imam or Azhar.Australia also bowled 192 full deliveries today according to ESPNCricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, when good length deliveries have accounted for 69 wickets in the 10 innings played in Rawalpindi since 2019.McDonald was full of praise for the way Imam and Azhar batted and noted his side needed to copy that batting blueprint when their turn comes. But ultimately, Australia has to find a method of taking wickets on the subcontinent if they are to add to the measly three Test victories in Asia in the last 15 years.

With Dinesh Karthik strengthening the middle order, can Pant’s weakness jeopardise his spot in India’s T20I XI?

Hemant Brar18-Jun-2022The way an ecstatic Keshav Maharaj ran towards Temba Bavuma after dismissing Rishabh Pant in the fourth T20I in Rajkot, you knew it was a planned dismissal. In the 13th over of the innings, Maharaj bowled one fuller outside off. Pant, who was on 17 off 22 at that stage, threw his bat at it only to top-edge it to short third man.But in case you followed Pant’s previous dismissals in the series, you already knew this was coming. In the second T20I, Maharaj had dismissed Pant with a similar wide delivery. It was the first ball of Maharaj’s spell. Pant had skipped down the track in a premeditated manner. Had he left it, he would have been stumped. So he reached out and was caught at deep point.Related

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In the first T20I, too, Pant had fallen to a wide delivery, against Anrich Nortje. Even if you cut him some slack there, as that was the final over of the innings where he had to throw caution to the wind, the pattern persists. In 19 T20 innings this year, Pant has fallen to wide deliveries ten times.Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who was commentating during the fourth T20I, said it was “not a good sign” that Pant was repeatedly falling into the same trap.”He hasn’t learned,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports. “He hasn’t learned from his previous three dismissals. They throw wide, and he keeps going for it. He has got to stop looking to go aerial that far outside the off stump. There is no way he’s going to get enough on it.”Ten times he has been dismissed wide outside off stump. Some of them would have been called wide if he hadn’t made contact with it. Because he is so far away, he has to reach out for it. He will never get enough power on it.”At the post-match presentation, Pant was asked about the pattern of his dismissals. He said he could “look to improve in certain areas” but was “not thinking too much about it”.But bowlers, both fast and spin, seem to have done their homework. Pant’s most productive boundary shots are the slog and the pull, but bowlers have learned not to feed him there. They are now bowling fewer balls at the stumps and more wide outside off, away from his hitting arc.”Why do they keep bowling so wide to me?”•PTI In 2020 and 2021, they bowled 32.6% of the balls at the stumps. This year, the figure has so far come down to 29.6%. The corresponding figures for the wide-outside-off-stump line, meanwhile, have gone up from 9.7% to 14.3%.Despite meagre returns in this series – 57 runs at an average of 14.25 and a strike rate of 105.55 – Pant’s overall numbers this year are not too bad. He has scored 457 runs at an average of 28.56 and a strike rate of 145.54.However, Dinesh Karthik’s resurgence has started the debate that Karthik, and not Pant, should be India’s first-choice wicketkeeper in T20Is. Before the start of the South Africa series, the assumption was that if Karthik were to find a place in the playing XI, it would have to be as a pure batter. But now it could very well be Pant in that situation.While Pant’s overall numbers are decent, his middle-overs strike rate (136.09) in T20s this year is lower than that of most of the batters vying for a middle-order spot. In overs seven to 16, Rahul Tripathi has struck at 160.00, Sanju Samson at 144.34, Deepak Hooda at 139.24 and Shreyas Iyer at 137.12. A bit surprisingly, Suryakumar Yadav has struck at only 131.63 in that phase but all told, he averages 45.55 at a strike rate of 155.89 in 11 outings in 2022.But Pant is a maverick. Apart from that, he has one more thing going for him: he is the only top-six contender, apart from Ishan Kishan, who bats left-handed. If India leave Pant out, the opposition could use a legspinner or a left-arm orthodox spinner to strangle a line-up comprising mainly right-hand batters.India, though, need to evaluate how much they will benefit from Pant being a left-hand batter as compared to having a right-hand batter who otherwise might have better numbers.But then, at the start of the series, Pant himself had said, “The kind of batting line-up we have, leftie-rightie is not a big deal for us because we play spinners day in and day out.”

“My strength is to turn the ball, to get it to dip. I strayed from that itself [in the last game],” says the legspinner

Hemant Brar15-Jun-20224:18

Jaffer: Wristspinners need to be brave and Chahal was

It’s often said that if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you cannot expect different results. But if you want the same results, you should perhaps keep repeating the same thing. That’s what Yuzvendra Chahal found out in the third T20I against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.Chahal came into the series as India’s lead spinner. He had an excellent IPL 2022, where he topped the wickets chart with 27 scalps in 17 outings. But the returns of none for 26 from 2.1 overs and 1 for 49 from four in the first two games in the ongoing series left a lot to be desired.Related

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In the second match, especially, Chahal consistently pushed the ball through instead of looking to turn it. That allowed the South Africa batters to hit him through the line with little worry.After the game, Chahal sat with the coaching staff to figure out what he could do differently. The answer was he should revert to what had previously worked for him.So on Tuesday, Chahal was back to his tried and tested method – bowling more legbreaks and varying the pace. The desired results were back too as he picked up 3 for 20 and helped India register their first win in the series.Chasing 180, South Africa lost their openers, Temba Bavuma and Reeza Hendricks, inside the powerplay. But for India, it was their middle order that had been a thorn in the flesh – Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller in the first match and Heinrich Klaasen in the second.Chahal, though, ensured there was no repeat. Perhaps expecting dew later on, which didn’t prove to be the case, Rishabh Pant introduced Chahal into the attack as early as the fifth over.Yuzvendra Chahal claimed 3 for 20 in his four overs•BCCIChahal gave away only two runs in his first over. In his next, he got Rassie van der Dussen caught behind as the batter went for a cut. Dwaine Pretorius too fell in the same manner, trying to cut a fast legbreak only to edge it to Pant.That left South Africa on 57 for 4 after the ninth over but Klaasen was still in the middle.Before Tuesday, Klaasen had ransacked 74 runs off 28 balls against Chahal, at a strike rate of 264.28. In the second T20I, he smashing 30 off 13 balls against Chahal was a big point of difference after Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s three early wickets had put South Africa on the back foot.But here, Chahal kept Klaasen guessing by varying his line. When he returned in the 15th over, he tossed one up wide outside off. By then the asking rate had touched 15 and Klaasen had no other option than to go after it. He ended up miscuing and Axar Patel, backpedalling from extra-cover, held onto the catch. The match went on till the 19th over but the contest was over with Klaasen’s wicket.”In the last game, I was bowling a lot of sliders, and I was also bowling a bit faster,” Chahal said at the post-match presentation. “So even when I was bowling good balls, I wasn’t getting any turn. It was going like a flipper.”My strength is to turn the ball, to get it to dip. I strayed from that itself. So it became very easy for batsmen as the ball was just going straight.”Tonight I changed the seam position and bowled fast legbreaks in order to get some help [from the pitch]. I tried to vary my line too so that the batsmen cannot predict.”The plan was to just bowl to my strength. I was anyway going for runs, but if I bowl to my strength and still go for 40-45 runs, I would pick up at least three wickets too, which didn’t happen in the last game. And when you dismiss two batsmen in the middle order, the pressure shifts on the batting side.”If India are to secure the series, they must win the remaining two games as well. Chahal could play a big part in that, perhaps by doing more of the same.

With new-found hitting muscle to go with his guile as a spinner, he’s turned himself into a compelling package

Deivarayan Muthu31-Jul-2022When left-arm fingerspinner Akeal Hosein was stifling India’s top order with the new ball in the T20I series opener in Tarouba, it reminded Daren Sammy, who was on commentary at the time, of the control Samuel Badree provided him when he was West Indies’ captain. Hosein’s accuracy and courage to bowl the tough overs at the CPL earned him a T20I debut, against South Africa, in July 2021. He has since translated his CPL success to T20Is, establishing himself as one of the thriftiest spinners going around.Since his T20I debut last July, only Mahedi Hasan (5.70), Shakib Al Hasan (6.30), Adam Zampa (6.56) and Simi Singh (6.93) have a better economy rate than Hosein’s 6.98 among spinners who have bowled in at least 20 innings. And on Friday, he stood out amid West Indies’ rubble with outstanding figures of 1 for 14 – his most economical four-over spell in T20I cricket.Related

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Although Hosein has a deceptive, swinging arm ball and carrom ball in his repertoire, he largely relies on his stock ball and subtle variations in speed and length to trick batters. Hosein could have had Suryakumar Yadav out first ball on Friday, but Kyle Mayers dropped the catch at extra-cover. Hosein then slowed down his pace and found just enough grip and turn to have Suryakumar skewing a leading edge to short third.Then, when Rohit tried to manufacture a scoop, Hosein smartly shortened his length and darted in an arm ball to hit his inside edge. Hosein held his own against India’s IPL superstars even as the rest of the West Indian attack was taken to the cleaners.Khary Pierre, who is also an accurate left-arm spinner, isn’t surprised by Hosein’s international success. They go back a long way: from studying at the same school at Success Laventille in Port-of-Spain, to sharing dressing rooms at the Queen’s Park Cricket Club and winning CPL championships at Trinbago Knight Riders. According to Pierre, Hosein’s smarts have helped him stay ahead of the batters in the age of quick wristspin and mystery spin.”I think his [Hosein’s] accuracy and his variations [have been crucial to his rise],” Pierre tells ESPNcricinfo. “It’s a big part of fingerspin not only for him but for all fingerspinners. Only you have that control, you can stay ahead of the batsman. Akeal is a guy who thinks batsmen out. He watches plenty of videos and is a very smart cricketer. He is a student of the game, I’d say. He tends to watch batsmen and see what they’re doing or what they want to do.”Hosein and Pierre have often had to compete for the same spot at various levels but that hasn’t affected their friendship and has instead promoted a healthy exchange of ideas.”Club cricket at Queen’s Park, then TKR at CPL… we’re always willing to help each other,” Pierre says. “Sometimes, we [are] maybe competing for the same position but that has never hampered our friendship, no matter what. If he sees something in my game that needs fixing or maybe if I see something in his game that needs a fix, I’ll tell him and that’s how our friendship has always been. It was never about cricket only – we’re best friends off the field as well.”ESPNcricinfo LtdHosein had started the last T20 World Cup in the UAE as a net bowler and was then roped into the main squad after an injury to Fabian Allen. In this T20 World Cup year, he has grown leaps and bounds to become a frontline spin option for West Indies – with or without Sunil Narine. He has also dominated the ODI Super League, with a chart-topping 35 strikes in 20 games at an average of 23.37 and economy rate of 4.46. Ian Bishop has been so impressed that he felt Hosein had the tools to succeed in Test cricket as well.”From a very young age, Akeal has had that determination and that mindset [to succeed],” Pierre says. “No matter what the opposition he comes up against, he’s always determined to back himself and be the guy for the team. So, I think he has taken it upon himself to be one of the best players in the world and he’s a hard worker also.”Hosein has an electric presence in the field and can seamlessly slot into any position there. Of late, he has added power to his batting in his quest to establish himself as an international allrounder. In the Bridgetown T20I earlier this year, Hosein flexed his muscles with an unbeaten 16-ball 44 from No. 11, giving England an almighty scare along with Romario Shepherd. More recently in the Multan ODI in June, he clattered a 37-ball 60 from No. 7.Pierre believes that Hosein has the game to add to the wealth of all-round options for West Indies.”Akeal is a genuine allrounder. I think he has been one from since we were kids. Growing up probably the bowling took over at some point, but he is always an allrounder. He has worked really hard on his batting.”His all-round abilities will only get better. The more cricket he plays at the international level, the more you would see him batting and bowling and being a genuine allrounder for West Indies and by extension the rest of the world.”

The seam-bowling allrounder’s match-winning spell of 4 for 12 derailed Trailblazers’ chase

Annesha Ghosh24-May-2022On the eve of the 2022 Women’s T20 Challenge opener, Supernovas and India T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur named Pooja Vastrakar, among others, as one of the success stories of the tournament that has struggled to find its meaning and purpose.Beyond her miserly 2-0-9-0 in the inaugural one-game edition in 2018, Vastrakar’s performance in three outings across the two editions she played in didn’t have much to write home about, though.Related

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A little over 24 hours on from Harmanpreet’s assertion, however, Vastrakar returned her best T20 bowling figures – 4 for 12 – in Supernovas’ 49-run victory at the MCA Stadium. In what was the biggest win by the run margin yet across the tournament’s four seasons, the 22-year-old from Madhya Pradesh added a new chapter to a spectacular comeback story that began unfolding last June.In the past one year, Vastrakar has proved time and again she is the X-factor that can decidedly tip the scales in India’s favour, no matter the format or match situation. A top-shelf bowling allrounder and swift mover in the field, Vastrakar lent credence to the claim with her performances on the 2021 tours of England and Australia, and then in the bilateral series against New Zealand earlier this year before the ODI World Cup.In the only T20I India have played since – a standalone fixture on their New Zealand tour – Vastrakar opened the bowling and gave away just two runs in her first two-over spell while sneaking in a maiden too. She finished with 2 for 16, picking up the wickets of Amelia Kerr and Lea Tahuhu to cut short two budding partnerships.A similar efficacy with the ball was on view in the ODI World Cup in March-April, too, the seamer drawing on her ability to hit the deck hard, hurry the batters on, mix her variations up and alter her lengths.Her four-for against Trailblazers on Monday wasn’t much different in terms of execution, even in the face of the offensive the opposition unleashed early in their chase of 164.”I was focused on pitching the ball in my areas and getting the team a breakthrough as early as I could,” Vastrakar, the Player of the Match, said after the game. “I had a lot of fun bowling on this surface because when we were training here, I realised hard lengths could have a big role to play.”Trailblazers had hammered 34 in the first four overs before Harmanpreet brought Vastrakar on. Before heading to her run-up mark, Vastrakar had a long chat with Harmanpreet about the field setting. The conversation gave the impression that an elaborate ploy, hatched over the last week, was about to unfold.

“I had a lot of fun bowling on this surface because when we were training here, I realised hard lengths could have a big role to play”Pooja Vastrakar

A tight first five balls, worth only five runs, followed. And on came another raft of field changes: long-on pushed back, short third man pulled in. The invitation had been sent to Matthews to launch Vastrakar over cover. And the West Indian import tried doing just that. She charged down the ground, shuffling to the leg side marginally, and attempted to flat-bat Vastrakar inside-out. But in vain.The shortened length and the bounce Vastrakar would consistently extract – more pronounced than any other Supernovas quick – on the night had Matthews chip an edge to the keeper. After snapping the breezy 39-run stand, Vastrakar removed Smriti Mandhana and Sophia Dunkley in her next over, thanks to almost carbon-copy, low catches by Priya Punia.In the 12th over, Vastrakar rounded out her night with the wicket of Salma Khatun, who chipped one straight to Sophie Ecclestone at cover.”It was quite windy throughout, so we had a chat during the innings break that we must try to limit them in the powerplay,” Vastrakar said. “After that, our focus was to be on cutting down the boundaries and staying consistent with our wicket-to-wicket lines.”Harmanpreet singled out Vastrakar for swinging the momentum towards Supernovas with three strikes up front.”Pooja did a great job for us,” Harmanpreet said. “That’s what we were expecting from her. I think bowling in these conditions helped her. I am really happy with the way she bowled.”And it wasn’t with the ball alone she left her imprint on Supernovas’ win. Vastrakar scored 14 off 12 balls and added 27 off just 19 balls with Harmanpreet for the sixth wicket, bringing in some of the form she showed in the recently concluded Senior Women’s T20 League where she tallied 183 at an average of 36.50 and strike rate of 118.83.”She’s a phenomenal athlete,” Vastrakar’s Australian team-mate Alana King said. “It’s great to have her on my team and be training alongside her. She runs in and bowls hard and fast every bowl.”And she gives it a good whack [with the bat] as well. It was awesome to see her clean up. She bowled exceptionally well today and really got us back into the game when things were drifting away.”

Celebrating Kohli’s finest moments as a T20I batter, from the mayhem in Mohali to the party at the Wankhede

Sruthi Ravindranath28-Aug-2022Mayhem in Mohali
82* vs Australia, 2016 T20 World CupLet’s get this out of the way: 2016 was Kohli’s year, period. Within that, some innings stood out. In the group match against Australia at the T20 World Cup that year, for example, he handled a tricky chase expertly, with a place in the semi-final at stake. He started off in characteristic manner, seemingly in cruise control, and then shifted gears. A chase of 161 was looking tough on the slow pitch in Mohali and India’s top two had fallen within the powerplay. Adding to the worry was Yuvraj Singh’s twisted ankle, which made taking twos hard. While it seemed like the match was slipping out of India’s hands, MS Dhoni joined Kohli at the crease, and the two started picking up runs with some helter skelter. It was in the 18th over – when the required rate had touched 13 – that Kohli finally unleashed mayhem, starting with a superbly-timed pull off James Faulkner’s slow short ball. The yorker next ball missed its mark, and Kohli guided it for four through point, followed by a six over long-off. Nathan Coulter-Nile was then taken for four boundaries in the 19th over. Game over. And Kohli stood in the middle, soaking in the adulation.What they said: “He likes a fight, he likes a scrap as well, and he loves playing against Australia” – Nasser Hussain on commentaryWhat Kohli said: “It [the innings] certainly has to be in the top three. Probably the top right now, because I’m a bit emotional, so I would like to put this on top.”That familiar, old cry of delight!•ICCThe ‘gift’ of Dhoni
72* vs South Africa, 2014 T20 World Cup semi-final, DhakaThe match is perhaps best remembered for Dhoni’s gesture of defending the final ball of the penultimate over so that Kohli could hit the winning runs. But what came before was a masterclass. From Kohli. As he constructed a match-winning innings under pressure to take India to the final of the World Cup. And he was not feeling “too good” before the game.Kohli came out when India were in need of a lift – India were 77 for 2 in nine-and-a-half overs chasing 173 for victory – and calculated the chase perfectly. He followed his usual template of scoring most of his runs upfront in ones and twos, stroking the ball into the gaps and putting the bad balls away. His first shot in anger came only off the 18th ball he faced, coming down the pitch to swing a JP Duminy delivery to the long-on boundary. He started taking his chances after that, with the pressure easing, celebrating almost every shot – his or his partner’s – with trademark animation. Kohli finished off the match with a flick to the midwicket boundary after Dhoni gave him the strike in the 20th over and celebrated with a vein-popping roar.What they said: “The least I could offer Virat was the winning shot so I played out the last ball of the 19th over without a run.” – Dhoni at the post-match presentation ceremonyWhat Kohli said: “I have struck the ball better in T20s in other games. I have also timed the ball better than I did today and have managed to score five or six boundaries very fast. Today it was difficult as I had to work hard for the knock. But as per the importance of the game, this knock tops it.”‘That’s how I do it in my notebook’ – Virat Kohli to Kesrick Williams•BCCIIt’s payback time, Kesrick!
94* vs West Indies, 1st T20I, 2019 in HyderabadKesrick Williams had dismissed Kohli in 2017 and sent him off with his notebook celebration. A couple of years later, Kohli decided it would be payback time. But the knock didn’t come easy. It was not a typical Kohli innings – at least at the beginning – as he could hardly time the ball. Kohli lost his cool – at himself, at the umpires, at Williams – as he struggled his way to 20 off 20 balls in a chase of 208. The asking rate was climbing and Kohli was struggling, and showing it, but the Hyderabad crowd never dialled it down. And Kohli seemed to feed off the crowd as he turned it around in the 15th over. He brought up his half-century with a lofted shot into the stands and followed it up with a slash to the deep-third boundary. The 14-run over brought the equation down to 54 off 30 and Kohli cranked it up further in the next over, hitting a four and a six off Williams. He didn’t hold back on the theatrics, mocking Williams’ signature celebration as he sent the crowd into frenzy. Off the last 25 balls he faced, Kohli scored 68 runs. He finished the match with eight balls remaining with a magnificent drive for six over long-off off Williams, cracking his career-best T20I score in the process.What Kohli said: “To young batsmen watching, don’t follow the first half of my innings. I was batting poorly that time. Luckily got that one over from [Jason] Holder [the 15th, which went for 15], and then I began to analyse why I’m going wrong. Realised I’m not a slogger but a timer instead, and then changed my playing style.”All that bottom-hand power, and the damage is done•Associated PressHaving fun at the Wankhede
70* vs West Indies, 3rd T20I in 2019, MumbaiOn a belter at Wankhede in the series decider, India turned up looking very West Indian, with openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul putting up a blistering 145-run stand. Kohli joined the fun after back-to-back wickets and seemed keen to bring back the momentum that had been slipping away. He came in at No. 4 in the 13th over after Rishabh Pant’s dismissal and sent the fifth ball he faced for a wristy slog over long-on. He took no time to settle in, as he usually does, bringing up his fastest T20I fifty, off 21 balls. He seemed to be continuing from where he left off in the first T20I: cutting loose against Holder and pointing to Williams at short fine-leg on reaching his fifty. He smashed 24 runs off Kieron Pollard in the 19th over, and pulled out one big hit after the other as he went along. He finished with a strike rate of 241.37, which is his highest in T20s (min 25 balls faced), taking India to a match-winning total of 240.What Kohli said: “It was about going out on the field and executing. I had the opportunity to do something different, which I don’t usually do.”Pakistan, Eden Gardens, Kohli.•Associated PressClassy Kohli does it again
55* vs Pakistan, T20 World Cup 2016, KolkataOn a testing pitch at Eden Gardens, a cool-headed Kohli showed impeccable judgment and masterminded yet another chase. India had allowed Pakistan to score more than they would have liked in the 18-overs-a-side rain-affected game – 118 for 5 – and were reduced to 12 for 3 in the chase. While every other batter struggled to time the ball, or even connect with it, Kohli was in full control on a pitch that offered sharp turn. He resisted any temptation to cut loose – until the ninth over, he had only struck one boundary – as he focused on rotating the strike. But when he got his chance, he showed his class: be it the slog-sweep for six off Shoaib Malik in the 11th over, or his back-to-back boundaries through extra cover off Shahid Afridi, or the punch to the sweeper-cover boundary off Mohammad Amir. He eventually brought down the asking rate. The fifty came up, off 34 balls, and he bowed to Sachin Tendulkar, who was in the stands, in celebration. The win was sealed with 13 balls to spare.What they said: “He [Kohli] takes everything as a challenge. He wants to improve, he wants to contribute in each and every game. And that’s what it’s all about, because he wants to contribute, he wants to score runs, he prepares well, he takes care of his fitness.” – Dhoni at the post-match presentation ceremonyWhat Kohli said: “I was confident that I needed to play with a straight bat so that the strike keeps rotating. Luckily my heart rate was low when we lost three wickets, it could have shot up as it was a big game and a full stadium at Eden Gardens. I am just grateful I was able to do it.”The Adelaide love story
90* vs Australia, 1st T20I in 2016, Adelaide A blistering Kohli knock in a high-octane clash [with a dash of drama, of course]. Familiar, right? It happened yet again, this time at one of his favourite venues, in the first T20I against Australia in 2016. Kohli was coming off an incredible run in the format and was all charged up on the day. In Suresh Raina’s company, he took over the mantle of chief aggressor and picked runs off offspinner Cameron Boyce as easily as he did off the quicks. He was electric, running aggressively between the wickets and sticking to playing good cricket shots. He hardly slogged, used his feet well, and identified areas he wanted to target. The timing was spot on as usual. He spared no-one as he got into his zone and amped up the scoring rate to take India’s total to 190: the top strokes included a back-foot drive over cover for four off Kane Richardson and the wristy flick off Shane Watson placed between long-on and cow corner, as he scored a 55-ball 90.What they said: “By the time he ends his career, quite a few Australian grounds will have his stand.” – DhoniWhat Kohli said: “I could take this stadium with me wherever I bat. This stadium is right up there with anywhere in the world.”

An evening to forget for Hasaranga too

Sampath Bandarupalli25-Oct-202217 balls Marcus Stoinis needed for his fifty against Sri Lanka, the fastest for Australia in men’s T20Is. The previous quickest was off 18 balls, jointly shared by David Warner (vs WI in 2010) and Glenn Maxwell (vs PAK in 2014 and vs SL in 2016). Stoinis’ fifty is also the second fastest in men’s T20Is against Sri Lanka, behind Colin Munro’s fifty off 14 balls in 2016.1 Number of fifties in the men’s T20 World Cup, faster than the Stoinis’ 17-ball effort. Yuvraj Singh’s fifty against England in the 2007 edition came in only 12 balls, which is the fastest in T20Is. Dutch batter Stephen Myburgh also has a 17-ball fifty in T20 World Cups, which he scored against Ireland in 2014.ESPNcricinfo Ltd73.8 Aaron Finch’s strike rate during his unbeaten 31 off 42 balls. It is the slowest innings by any batter in the men’s T20 World Cup for a minimum of 30 runs. The previous slowest was by Paul Stirling, whose 30* against Netherlands in 2021 had a strike-rate of 76.92.254 Difference in the strike rates between Stoinis and Finch, the highest between two batters to have faced 15-plus in a T20I innings. The previous highest was 246.3, between the Serbian opening pair of Wintley Burton and Robin Vitas against Bulgaria in June this year.ESPNcricinfo Ltd17.66 Wanindu Hasaranga’s economy rate for his three overs, where he conceded 53 runs. It is the second-worst economy rate in an innings at the men’s T20 World Cup for a minimum of three overs bowled. Izatullah Dawlatzai had an economy of 18.66 against England in 2012, where he conceded 56 runs in three overs. Hasaranga’s economy is also the second-worst for a Sri Lanka bowler in a men’s T20I.Related

Aaron Finch acing verbal volleys but needs his bat to do the talking

As it happened – Australia vs Sri Lanka in Perth

Stoinis' 18-ball 59* gives Australia NRR-lifting win over Sri Lanka

2.5 Overs in which Hasaranga conceded fifty runs with the ball against Australia. Only one bowler from a full-member nation conceded 50 runs in fewer overs in a men’s T20I – 2.3 overs by Hamish Bennett against West Indies in 2020 (where ball-by-ball data is available). This game was also the first instance of Hasaranga conceding 50-plus runs in a T20.