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Chopra will lead UAE at the ICC CWC League 2 tri-series in Oman in November

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2024Muhammad Waseem has stepped down as UAE men’s ODI captain after 26 matches in charge between 2023 and 2024. Wicketkeeper-batter Rahul Chopra has been named the new captain, and will lead UAE at the next round of ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) League 2 games in Oman against the hosts and Netherlands in early November.”I have decided to step down as captain to concentrate on my batting in the ODI format,” Waseem, who remains part of the ODI squad, said. “My best wishes are with the new captain, I will be giving him my full support.”Chopra, the new captain, has played just seven ODIs to go with six T20Is.Waseem, the 30-year-old top-order batter, took over the ODI captaincy from CP Rizwan during the 2019-23 CWC League 2 for UAE’s match against Nepal in March 2023. Under him, UAE won just seven ODIs and lost 19, with Waseem the standout performer for the team in the matches they won – he averaged 64.28 in those seven games, hitting his only century in the format,119 vs Papua New Guinea, and three half-centuries in those games.In the 19 they lost, Waseem’s average was 21.10, closer to his career number of 25.44.UAE are currently playing the 2024-27 edition of the CWC League 2, where they lost their last game – Waseem’s final game as captain – to Namibia by eight wickets after folding for 190. UAE are bottom of the eight-team table at this stage after playing seven games – of which they have won only one – which might have contributed to Waseem’s decision to step down.Waseem also remains a regular member of UAE’s T20I team, and played his part in the team winning the tri-series in Namibia earlier this month, where USA were the third team. Waseem top-scored in the tournament with 159 runs in four innings as UAE won three games and lost one to finish on top.

Head coach says England will digest lessons after India’s “deserved” victory at The Oval

Vithushan Ehantharajah05-Aug-20251:50

Miller: Bazball’s legacy in danger without wins

Brendon McCullum says he has identified areas where England must improve ahead of the Ashes after a thrilling series against India ended 2-2 courtesy of what the head coach believes was a deserved win for the tourists in the fifth Test at the Kia Oval.India completed their fightback from 2-1 down in a remarkable 56 minutes of play on the 25th and final day of this Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series, securing a six-run win, their narrowest victory by runs.It meant England missed out on a first series win over India since 2018, which was also the last time they triumphed in a five-match series. They have yet to record a series win over India or Australia under McCullum and Ben Stokes’ leadership.Related

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With England next in action in September for white-ball series against South Africa and Ireland, there is time to decompress. McCullum, as over-arching coach since the start of the year, will be across both challenges. But his immediate focus, once the dust has settled, will be to pore over the last seven weeks to see what worked and what did not. Fine-tuning ahead of the first Ashes Test in Perth come November will be his primary aim.”We’ll let this one sit, we’ll digest it,” McCullum said. “We’ll be able to pick out what has gone well then start to work out how we can keep improving so, when we do arrive out in Australia, we give ourselves a huge chance.”We’re in the middle now, halfway through what we knew was going to be an unbelievable 12 months of Test cricket. We know we’ve got some room to improve.”You’re always learning any time you get to see guys having to dig deep and go to places they’ve maybe not been before.”There’s lots to pick out as we give ourselves time for this to digest and work out areas we can look to improve for our next challenge. Ultimately, I’m really proud of the guys and their efforts. It’s been a combative series, it’s taken its toll with injuries, some of the best players have gone home injured.”To sit here at 2-2, yes, you’re disappointed but you’re proud of the efforts.”Brendon McCullum will oversee the England debrief after India fought back for a 2-2 draw•Getty Images

The scoreline mimics the 2023 home Ashes, and though England came from behind two years ago to secure a draw, there were parallels to this summer against India with some of the moments the hosts let slip.Dropped catches cost them in the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford, which ended in a draw, and at the Kia Oval. But perhaps the most painful will be a collapse of 7 for 66 in pursuit of 374 after Joe Root and Harry Brook had taken England to 301 for 3 in the chase.McCullum was reticent to dwell on the missed opportunities, something he chalks up as the cost of playing a high-calibre team who were able to rally after those reprieves. He did concede the catching was particularly below par; England dropped six catches in India’s second innings of 396, which ended up costing them 152 runs.”We didn’t catch very well in this game but have caught really well over the last few years,” he said. “Sometimes dropped catches happen and one leads to another. If we had held our catches maybe we would have been stood on the other side of the result. That’s life, there’s so many little things in the game we could pick out and have huge impacts. We are a good fielding unit and had a bit of an average performance in this Test.”We threw everything at them. It was testament to how stoic they are as a team. We knew when they turned up in England it would be a very stern challenge and we’d have to play excellent cricket to get the result we wanted.”Ultimately I thought it was an absolutely unbelievable series to be part of. It had confrontation, it had stalemates, it had passion and it had some sub-par performances under pressure as well.”The way India were late on in this Test, Mohammed Siraj has the absolute heart of a lion to bowl 90mph in his 30th over of his fifth Test match. It’s quite an incredible effort.”As much as we got ourselves in a winning position this Test match, I feel like they deserved to win. They played better cricket.”

England hit back with ball after morning collapse before bad light brings another early finish

Valkerie Baynes07-Sep-2024Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis rebuilt Sri Lanka on a see-sawing second day that closed early due to bad light yet again, but this time the tourists could claim the better of the contest.After their bowlers had staged a remarkable turnaround to bundle England out for 325 from their overnight 221 for 3, Sri Lanka slumped to 93 for 5 before Dhananjaya and Kamindu staged an unbroken stand worth 118 for the sixth wicket to close the deficit.There was still plenty of work to be done when the players left the field at 5.36pm with the prospect of returning equally as dim as the overhead conditions at The Oval, and stumps were indeed called half an hour later without any further play.Dhananjaya returned from tea on 16 but by the close he had passed Kamindu to be 64 not out. That was after being dropped on 23 by debutant Josh Hull, who let a straightforward catch off the bowling of Shoaib Bashir slip through his hands and into his chest at mid-on.Hull’s desire to disappear was as palpable as his relief upon claiming his maiden Test wicket, the dangerous-looking Pathum Nissanka for a quick-fire 64 via Chris Woakes’ catch at cover.That was part of England’s dismantling of their opponents’ good work during an eventful afternoon session in which Olly Stone snared two wickets and Woakes chimed in with one after Nissanka’s errant call and Stone’s direct hit from short cover had run out Dimuth Karunaratne.In bizarre scenes, Woakes was forced to send down four offspin deliveries when the umpires ruled the light to be too poor for the seamers midway through his fourth over.As the skies brightened in the very next over and Gus Atkinson was allowed to bowl off his full run, so too Woakes returned to his stock in trade, and in his sixth over he had Kusal Mendis taken by Harry Brook at second slip.Stone struck with his fourth delivery, Angelo Mathews caught by Ollie Pope at gully, and after Hull had removed Nissanka, Stone pinned Dinesh Chandimal lbw to leave Sri Lanka in deep trouble.Josh Hull made Pathum Nissanka his first Test wicket•Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Kamindu brought up Sri Lanka’s 100 with the first of three gorgeous drives in one Stone over and by tea he was unbeaten on 34.Due to bad light, England had to bowl spin for the duration of the evening session, 17 overs in which Dhananjaya and Kamindu added 69 runs.Earlier, Sri Lanka’s bowlers responded to fast-bowling coach Aaqib Javed’s call at stumps on the first evening to “rest and come up with something better than this”.England were fallible in a collapse of 6 for 35 in 56 balls, with poor shot-selection and too often falling into the traps Sri Lanka’s bowlers set for them, but it was an undeniably improved performance from the visitors as their bowlers employed greater patience and probing lines while making the ball swing.Pope pushed his dazzling first-day score of 103 not out to 154 but apart from him and Ben Duckett, no England batter reached 20.Brook looked streaky when he resumed on 8, particularly against anything wide of off stump, and he had added just four more runs before skying Milan Rathnayake to deep point, where Asitha Fernando had eons to wait underneath it before inexplicably putting it down.So annoyed was Brook by Sri Lanka’s nagging fifth- and sixth-stump line that at one point he took up his stance a foot outside off stump and gesticulated with outstretched arms that seemed to question their tactic. The answer came soon enough when his frustration appeared to boil over into a slash at Rathnayake’s outswinger and Kamindu made no mistake with the sharpest of catches diving to his right at short cover.Related

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Vishwa Fernando entered the attack after about an hour and had Pope given out lbw on 139, roaring “ah yes!” in celebration. Pope reviewed, somewhat speculatively, and managed to overturn his dismissal when the ball was shown to have pitched so narrowly outside leg stump Pope probably couldn’t believe it himself.With all the luck heading his way, Pope got an inside edge onto the penultimate ball of the over and it was Vishwa who could scarcely comprehend when the ball missed the top of leg stump by a whisker and raced to the boundary.Vishwa had genuine cause to celebrate a short time later though, his first wicket of the match finally coming in the form of Jamie Smith’s flick straight to midwicket.Captain Dhananjaya brought himself on and removed Woakes and Atkinson cheaply with his offspin and while Pope had brought up his 150 in just 151 balls, it was Vishwa who ended his wonderful knock with a short ball hooked to deep square leg.Pope’s dismissal brought Hull to the crease but his stay was short-lived after Asitha had him caught at square leg for just 2 and Bashir was the last man out, spooning Rathnayake to mid-off for 1.

For Hurricanes, who were without usual captain Nathan Ellis, Nikhil Chaudhary was the top scorer, while Chris Jordan led a clinical bowling performance

AAP01-Jan-2025Hobart Hurricanes overcame the late withdrawal of captain Nathan Ellis to hand Sydney Sixers their first BBL loss of the season.Ellis pulled out from Wednesday afternoon’s game at Ninja Stadium with illness, but his bowling team-mates stood up against the table-topping Sixers.Hurricanes posted 161 for 6 and bowled out Sydney for 111 in 19.3 overs to jump to fourth on the ladder with a third win in a row. Chris Jordan picked up 3 for 22, including the big wickets of James Vince early and noted finisher Jordan Silk in the middle overs. He was assisted by fellow import Waqar Salamkheil, who took 2 for 22 with his left-arm wristspin and bowled Kurtis Patterson with one that turned the other way.Allrounder Nikhil Chaudhary was impressive, top-scoring with 42 from 31 deliveries and picking up 1 for 15 with the ball.Sixers, who stay in first place on the ladder, had won four from four prior to the match, while Hurricanes are on the rise after being flogged by Melbourne Renegades in their opening game.Earlier, evergreen Sixers quick Jackson Bird took career-best T20 figures of 4 for 16 on familiar turf in Hobart after his side won the toss and elected to bowl.Jackson Bird returned 4 for 16 but there wasn’t a lot of heroics from the other Sixers bowlers•Getty Images

Bird, the 38-year-old who played for Tasmania for more than a decade, removed big-hitters Matthew Wade, Shai Hope, Ben McDermott and Tim David.Opener Mitchell Owen got Hurricanes off to a brisk start with 33 from 17 balls but couldn’t go on.Returning from a calf injury, Wade was scratchy in a 16-ball 15 and became Bird’s first victim off a nifty caught and bowled. Bird then had West Indian Hope caught behind two balls later as Hurricanes lost three wickets within ten runs.McDermott (34 from 25) came to life in the power surge, hitting 20 off one Hayden Kerr over, but he was undone by Bird, who also returned late to get rid of David via a top edge.Sixers’ chase had a bright spark early when English opener Vince launched a Billy Stanlake delivery over the hill. But they wobbled to 28 for 3 inside the first five overs and couldn’t stem the flow of wickets.Hurricanes spinner Peter Hatzoglou, who replaced Ellis and played his first game of the season, finished with 1 for 15.

The hosts were on track for a bigger total before a late collapse but were still able to come away with victory

Firdose Moonda23-May-2024T20 World Cup co-hosts West Indies got on the front foot in their final preparations for the tournament with a commanding 28-run win over South Africa, their biggest margin of victory over them batting first. Neither side had their first-choice XI available, with some players rested or still at the IPL, but West Indies will be pleased with their dominance at home, especially as this was the first international at Sabina Park in almost two years.Home boy Brandon King, captaining in place of Rovman Powell, set the tone with an aggressive 45-ball 79. He also shared in a 79-run second-wicket partnership with Kyle Mayers, who is not in the T20 World Cup squad. King was the mainstay as West Indies built a healthy platform with scores of 64 for 1 in the Powerplay and 109 for 1 at the halfway stage, but they lost 6 for 40 between the 14th and final over to finish on 175 for 8.Related

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South Africa will have been encouraged with their bowling comeback, especially the early signs from Ottneil Baartman. On T20I debut, Baartman dismissed Johnson Charles early on but then pulled up in his delivery stride after 10 balls, with what looked like a left knee niggle. However, he completed the over and went on to take 3 for 26. Allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo also finished with three wickets in his quota of four overs.South Africa’s much talked-about top order was reduced to 35 for 3 in the fifth over and neither Quinton de Kock nor Ryan Rickelton made it into double figures with the latter struggling to find the boundary. While West Indies hit seven fours and eight sixes in the first 10 overs, South Africa scored eight fours and one six. South Africa needed 99 runs off the last 10 overs and though Reeza Hendricks went on a career-best 87 off 51 balls, his surge came too late. Gudakesh Motie’s 3 for 25 and Obed McCoy’s 2 for 15 meant South Africa were too far behind and eventually dismissed for 147 in the final over.

King Brandon

On his home ground, and in his first match as an international captain, King dominated South Africa upfront and set the tone for West Indies comeback to Sabina Park. He enjoyed the bulk of the strike in the first three overs and capitalised on that. He faced 16 out of 18 balls and scored 28, including three fours and two sixes.By contrast, Charles, only saw two balls and had not scored a run. Charles became Baartman’s first international wicket but King went on to record his fastest T20I fifty off 26 balls and was closing in on his highest score in a display headlined by innovative movement at the crease which included exposing his stumps. Phehlukwayo eventually benefitted from King making room, when he sent down a full, wide ball that King had to reach for, and toe-ended it to van der Dussen, who ran to his right from the covers. King was dismissed at the end of the 11th over for 79, six fewer than his T20I career best.Reeza Hendricks lack support in South Africa’s chase (file photo)•Getty Images

West Indies’ middle order gives way

After King’s start, West Indies should have been eyeing a total above 200 but their middle order was unable to back up their stand-in captain’s start. No-one from Andre Fletcher down was able to get into double figures and Matthew Forde’s 5 was the highest score outside the top four. Fletcher and Fabian Allen were guilty of trying to play Phehlukwayo across the line and were bowled and trapped lbw respectively, while Akeal Hosein and Forde were deceived by Baartman’s variations. Hosein was bowled by a wobble seam delivery and Forde pulled a knuckle ball square of the wicket. Motie’s run-out in the final over meant West Indies lost 6 for 40 in the final third of their innings.

Forde’s first

After figures of 0 for 54 in his first T20I, against England last December, Forde may have wondered if he was due to chase leather again when de Kock hit his first ball for four. It was a remarkably timed shot, with no footwork at all, as de Kock struck Forde straight down the ground. But the young West Indian had the perfect riposte. His next delivery was wide of off stump, de Kock neglected to move his feet again and nicked behind. De Kock’s dismissal for 4 meant that he has only crossed fifty three times in 30 innings, all in T20s, since his ODI retirement last November and has a top score of 12 from his last five trips to the crease.Another Hendricks half-century Hendricks controversially missed out on a spot in South Africa’s starting XI at the 2022 T20 World Cup despite scoring four fifties in succession in the lead-up because he could not displace captain Temba Bavuma. But there should be no reason for him not to start the tournament this time. His 87 was his 10th T20 half-century of 2024 and 49th in his career and was the standout knock in a disappointing South African batting performance. He was the only player to score more than 20. The highlights of his performance were the way he timed the ball early on and then showed off his power hitting towards the end, albeit too late to take South Africa over the line.

The tourists went to tea at Edgbaston on 182 for 3, thanks largely to Jaiswal’s 87

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2025Yashasvi Jaiswal fell 13 short of a sixth Test century – and fourth against England – as Ben Stokes prized out the opener as the only wicket in what was an otherwise solid middle session for India on day one of this second Test.The tourists went to tea at Edgbaston on 182 for 3, thanks largely to Jaiswal’s 87 that kept up the left-hander’s steak of scoring at least 50 in all seven of his Tests against England. But the home skipper was able to cap the damage caused by the opener, who slashed at a wide delivery outside off stump through to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.Related

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Shubman Gill remains unbeaten on 42 at the interval, with plenty on his shoulders already as India made sweeping changes after going 1-0 down in the series. The big news was that Jasprit Bumrah would sit out this Test, with Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar drafted into the XI.Those changes give India a completely different feel from the defeat at Headingley, with Sai Sudharsan and Shadrul Thakur dropped. Explaining the decision to rest Bumrah, Gill revealed the India management felt Lord’s will offer Bumrah more than this track.So far, it has offered more to bat than ball. Jaiswal negotiated what early movement there was, watching Chris Woakes prise out KL Rahul early for a torturous 2 from 26 deliveries in an impressive new ball spell which read 1 for 15 from seven overs, including four maidens on the bounce. Woakes was unlucky not to make more inroads after standing umpire Sharfuddoula turned down two close LBW appeals – the first against Jaiswal on 12, the second against Nair on 5. Both were reviewed only to come back with fractional Umpire’s Call on the predicted path into the stumps.Fellow opening bowler Brydon Carse had to wait until six minutes before lunch to get his reward, when hard length surprised Karun Nair (promoted to No.3) on 31, splicing to Harry Brook at second slip. That ended a productive stand of 80 for the second wicket which Nair had driven initially before Jaiswal took the wheel.Yashasvi Jaiswal missed out on a century•PA Images via Getty Images

He moved to his half-century off 59 deliveries, accelerating into it with the help of some wayward bowling from Josh Tongue. Three boundaries from the Nottinghamshire quick’s third over were followed by three-in-a-row from what turned out to be Tongue’s sixth and final one of his spell, as Stokes ordered his quicks to instigate their usual bumper ploy.A hook took Jaiswal to 49, before he leapt into a vicious cut high over point to pass fifty, followed by a celebratory four – his 11th – carved past third. And he showed patience through the middle session, driving Carse through cover five balls after lunch, and later guiding Tongue past the cordon for the last of 13 boundaries to take him to 81.Perhaps he ran out of patience when going after Stokes. Nonetheless, there is a foundation for a big score, that Gill and Rishabh Pant preserved. The latter in particular seemed watchful, with 14* off 28, showing one moment of malice when he stepped out to Shoaib Bashir and lifted him over wide long on for the first six of the innings.

Gujarat will face the winner of the game between Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir in the semi-final

Shashank Kishore11-Feb-2025Urvil Patel, who had smashed the second-fastest T20 century in November last year, carried his fine form into the red-ball format to hit a maiden first-class hundred in Gujarat’s innings-and-98-run victory over Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match in Rajkot. Gujarat will play the winner of the ongoing fixture between Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir in the semi-final.Urvil top-scored with 140 in Gujarat’s massive total of 511 in the first innings, which gave them a 295-run lead over Saurashtra, who managed only 216 after being sent in. Urvil was supported by Jaymeet Patel (103) and Manan Hingrajia (83) as they wore out a competent Saurashtra attack by batting out 159.1 overs.But Saurashtra were in the game at one stage when Gujarat were reduced to 78 for 3 early on the second day. Then Hingrajia and Jaymeet put together a 144-run stand to set the foundation for a mammoth score.Saurashtra began the fourth day trailing by 262 runs with all ten wickets in hand but were bowled out in under two sessions. Left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla picked up three wickets for Gujarat, while seamer Priyajitsing Jadeja got four – including the big strike of Pujara. Ravi Bishnoi, who had linked up with the squad following his return from national duty, picked up two crucial wickets in the second innings.Saurashtra eventually made just 197 in the second innings, with Harvik Desai top-scoring with 54. Cheteshwar Pujara finished a modest season with scores of 26 and 2. Barring the 234 against Chhattisgarh in the second game and 99 against Assam last week, Pujara’s highest score in the eight other innings was the 26 he made in the first innings against Gujarat.Saurashtra’s exit marked the end of a decorated career of their batter Sheldon Jackson, one of their stalwarts. He finishes his first-class career with 7283 runs in 174 innings at an average of 45.80. Jackson hit 21 hundreds and 39 half-centuries in all, with the high point being the Ranji Trophy win in 2019-20.

Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, is getting misty eyed, dreaming of the days when umpires made their judgments without technology. But Ricky Ponting is a big supporter

Peter English at the Gabba28-Nov-2009The new decision review system is only a week old and already Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, is getting misty eyed, dreaming of the days when umpires made their judgments without technology. But Ricky Ponting is a big supporter, thinks it makes the game better and wants it to stay.Gayle sent both his lbw decisions to the third umpire at the Gabba – Ben Hilfenhaus hit his back leg each time – and they were so hard to argue against that it seemed like a waste of the two unsuccessful challenges a team is given each innings. During the match the ICC’s system achieved its aim of not letting any awful mistakes through, but after his side’s innings-and-65-run defeat Gayle said he would prefer no replays were involved.”I’m not a big fan of it,” he said after play. “I need your help, I hope you can change it for me.”It might be the winners writing the history, but Ponting felt everything worked well and the umpires did a great job. “It’s always going to be good for the game, whether or not every one is right is irrelevant I guess,” he said. “We end up getting more correct decisions made.”In the first innings Gayle was 31 when struck right in front by Hilfenhaus and the captain deliberated before using up the review. On Saturday West Indies were in the third over of their follow-on when Gayle called on it again, this time not playing a shot to an inswinger. It was slightly higher than in the first innings and similar to the height of Shane Watson’s lbw on the opening day. “It doesn’t matter what I think,” Gayle said, “the umpire’s decision still stands.”He would like the system to be unwound, something which is as unlikely as West Indies fighting back to take the series 2-1. “Technology is part of the game, sometimes there are mistakes even with the technology, that’s why I’m not a big fan of it,” Gayle said. “Might as well just go out there with two umpires in the middle, they either get it wrong or right.”Mitchell Johnson’s caught-behind in Australia’s innings appeared not out and Adrian Barath, who scored a brilliant 104 as West Indies were dismissed for 187 to end the game, was given out to an lbw that Hawk-Eye had brushing leg stump. In both instances the third umpire sent the call back to the on-field umpire, as per the conditions, due to no conclusive evidence that the original judgment needed to be overturned.”Without the system, that’s the decision they would have made anyway, so I think that is a good sign,” Ponting said. “You look at one like Mitch’s in our first innings, the decision was made that was out. It was probably inconclusive on the replays if it was out or not out, but you stick with the decision because that’s the way it would have been without the system anyway.”Gayle will still try to get the most out of the challenges in the remaining two games of the series and beyond. “We have to deal with it,” he said. “It’s there, use it. Hopefully it can be in our favour, maybe next time it will be in our favour.”

Kamindu notched up his fourth Test ton and New Zealand fought back with late wickets

Madushka Balasuriya18-Sep-2024Sri Lanka 302 for 7 (Kamindu 114, Kusal 50, O’Rourke 3-54, Phillips 2-52) vs New ZealandKamindu Mendis continued his phenomenal start to Test cricket notching up a fourth Test ton, but a couple of late wickets at the end of play ensured that New Zealand were not completely out of it after an engrossing opening day’s play in Galle.That one of those wickets was that of Kamindu will have brought the visitors particular joy, though the nature of the wicket – with it spitting out of the rough outside the left-handers off stump, to catch his glove – might give New Zealand’s left-hand heavy batting line-up some pause.Kamindu’s 114 off 173 was part of two key partnerships, the first worth 72 with Angelo Mathews and the second for 103 with Kusal Mendis. Around those New Zealand did what they do best. They put their best foot forward, set up solid plans, and threw themselves at everything.It meant Sri Lanka were unable to take complete control of the game having won the toss and elected to bat first on an unusually grass-strewn surface.Will O’Rourke was the pick of the bowlers, grabbing three wickets, including that of both Sri Lanka openers within the first hour of the morning session, while Glenn Phillips was the pick of the spinners with figures of 2 for 52. Mitchell Santner was wicketless, though that was less a reflection of his efforts and more a case of bad luck.Ramesh Mendis was unbeaten on 14 off 42 at stumps, alongside him was the Prabath Jayasuriya, but this was a day that belonged to Kamindu.His best work was done alongside the other Mendis in the lineup, Kusal, whose 50 off 68 provided the ideal foil to Kamindu’s steady hand. While missteps were rare for New Zealand, one in particular – a missed chance off a Kamindu miscue when he was still on 21 – might linger a little longer in the memory. That was also a rare Kamindu misstep, as for the most part, he dealt with whatever the visitors threw at him with consummate ease.William O’Rourke got his third wicket on the stroke of tea•Associated Press

The most striking feature of his innings was the ease with which he used his feat against the spinners, a concerted ploy geared towards not allowing them to settle on their lines and lengths. It meant the use of sweeps was more targeted than prolific, hounding out gaps in the field for a consistent flow of runs.His partnership with Mathews offered a much-needed period of consolidation after Sri Lanka had slumped to 106 for 4. Mathews had looked far from his best during a laboured 36 off 116, and it meant the scoreboard also wasn’t moving as swiftly as the hosts might have hoped.However once Mathews fell, edging behind off the excellent O’Rourke, it also brought up Sri Lanka’s best period of the day.With the ball softening and Kamindu already settled, Kusal’s natural aggression ran a tiring attack ragged. It took a freak dismissal to break the stand, as a hard pull off a Phillip’s long-hop saw the ball loop up off an evasive short leg and balloon to midwicket. Kusal looked on in disbelief, though by then Sri Lanka had already played themselves into a considerable position of strength.New Zealand though had started the day the better of the two sides with O’Rourke lighting up a gloomy morning session with a menacing opening burst full of pace, bounce and lateral movement. Through it he accounted for the wickets of Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka, while he also wrought some pain on Mathews, after one seamed back in sharply to strike his right forefinger. That knock forced Mathews to retire hurt, but he was able to return later on to complete his innings.New Zealand’s persistence continued to pay off after lunch, as they grabbed a further three wickets to bookend the session. Dinesh Chandimal fell right at the start, chipping to midwicket for a sharp catch, while Mathews fell on the stroke of tea. In between, Dhananjaya de Silva had a ripper from Phillips turn right through bat and pad to clip the top of off.On another day, all that might have signalled a successful day for the visitors, but Kamindu ensured that it was the hosts that would take home honours on a hard-fought opening day.

The match against Afghanistan will be their first in a World Cup, be it T20 or ODI

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2024The excitement in the Uganda camp, as well as back home, is understandable. After all, it will be their first World Cup game – T20 or ODI – when they face Afghanistan in Providence on Monday. And according to their captain Brian Masaba, they “carry a whole country’s hopes” on their backs.”Absolutely huge game for us, our first game at a World Cup, first ever for Uganda in our history, so we are very excited to get going,” Masaba said on the eve of the match. “Obviously, there’s a bit of nerves but we’ve got to keep our focus on the game and try to get the result that we need because we need to kick off the tournament in the right way with good results.”There’s obviously a lot of excitement back home. It’s not just a first for us in cricket, but I believe we are the third team in any sporting discipline in the country to qualify for the World Cup. So it’s not a small feat. So it’s not just the cricket community that is supporting us, there’s a lot of the other guys in all the other sports, as well as the government back home. So yeah, the whole country is super proud of what this team has achieved and they’re looking forward to seeing us going out there and representing the country with pride. It’s a huge responsibility for us, it’s not just about the cricket anymore, but we carry a whole country’s hopes on our backs.”Related

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Uganda qualified for the World Cup via the Africa Qualifier, where they beat Zimbabwe by five wickets and finished second on the seven-team points table. The only side they lost to were fellow qualifiers Namibia. At the T20 World Cup, Uganda have West Indies, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea in their group, apart from Afghanistan.”After our qualifier last November, we obviously realised we needed to play a lot of cricket to prepare ourselves for this World Cup; it’s a different level for us,” Masaba said. “And it was very important for us as a team to make sure we come here well prepared having got the right kind of practice. So it was a couple of tours to Sri Lanka, India as well, but a lot of intra-squad games as well.”So we believe we have practised, we have prepared well for this tournament. Yes, it’s a huge challenge for us. It’s a tough group, but we look forward to the challenge. It’s a couple of the top teams in the world, but it’s going to be very important for us how we show up tomorrow and the kind of cricket that we display out there.”Uganda will also take confidence from the way PNG ran West Indies close on Sunday even though they lost in the end.”We were following that game very keenly,” Masaba said. “Obviously, we’re not too familiar with the local conditions, so we needed to pick up what information we could from that game. And the way Papua New Guinea went out there and played, it’s very good signs for us as well. It shows that the gap is not as huge as a lot of people want to believe.”I believe if some of the smaller countries are given the opportunity to play, and the exposure, then they can compete against the top side. So we are very happy with the way that game went and we look to come out tomorrow and just try to emulate that.”When asked about the upcoming talent in the squad, Masaba named the fast-bowling duo Juma Miyagi and Cosmas Kyewuta.”They have done well for us over the last couple of years and being as young as they are, it’s very exciting to see them do what they do. Hopefully, this platform provides a bit more opportunity for them going forward. But you know we’ve got seasoned performers like Riazat Ali Shah as well, super talented lad, allrounder. He has won a couple of crunch games for us. So it’s a very dynamic team. It’s not super reliant on any one person. More often than not it’s a huge team effort that gets us our win, so you know that’s something I look forward to us doing again in this tournament.”