England may have won eight of 10 chases, but none will have been on a trickier surface than this

Vithushan Ehantharajah03-Feb-20241:59

Manjrekar: ‘Very difficult for England to win from this position’

Many fingers and laptops have been burned writing off this England Test team.An impressive record of 14 wins out of 19 under Ben Stokes, aligned with some engaging cricket, has earned them a great deal of credit behind the bar and in the hearts of supporters. And considering they have won five out of eight matches in which they have given up a first-innings lead, they will believe they are still in this game. It was only last week they turned over a 190-run first-innings deficit to win the first Test in Hyderabad. What’s 143 in Visakhapatnam?Well, it is definitely not nothing. Especially with England batting last on a pitch starting to bounce irregularly. They may have won eight out of 10 chases, but none will have been on a tougher surface than this. “We believe we can chase anything, and we’ve showed that before,” said Zak Crawley.England had started day two well enough, needing just 19 overs to take India’s four remaining first-innings wickets, conceding just 60 in the process. James Anderson put on his usual clinic with the second new ball, taking 2 for 17 in an eight-over spell, accounting for both overnight batters, double centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal and chief rouser Ravichandran Ashwin. Five hours later, the 41-year-old seamer was back out there sporting his bowling boots and a Danny Glover esque grimace, ready to start India’s second innings. By stumps, the hosts had increased that lead to 171 for no loss.Related

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It is not ignoring England’s powers of recovery to say they should not be in this position. Or that they let slip an opportunity to really flex their muscles. Restricting India to 396 in their first innings was a success, and felt broadly like an extension of their graft from the first Test.They had chipped away 32 off India’s 396 inside just six over before lunch, then onto 50 off 51 after the break. Ashwin, who had started the day getting under Anderson’s skin, was whisked out of the attack unceremoniously by Rohit Sharma after his first eight overs went for 40. Even Jasprit Bumrah, who would go on to have the final say as he always seems to do, saw his fourth over taken for four boundaries.That England were in the ascendancy was down to Crawley. The opener looked in supreme touch, characterised by two straight drives in that 16-run Bumrah over – one off a full-pace delivery, the other off a slower off-cutter, which is usually one of the Indian quick’s more potent variations.A defensive push for an eighth boundary off Kuldeep Yadav’s googly was followed two deliveries later by a leisurely six to midwicket, moving to a 15th score of 50 or more from 52 deliveries. It seemed a targeted attack on the wrist spinner after his wicket maiden in the previous over which accounted for Ben Duckett. Nothing was out of Crawley’s control – and by proxy, this game was there to be reshaped by England after India had the best part of four sessions with it.Zak Crawley was dominant, especially against the quicks•Getty ImagesAlas, an innings of clarity and KP-esque chutzpah was finished in disappointing fashion. England were 110 for 1 at the drinks break, going along at five an over, when Axar Patel was introduced for the first time.Crawley was always going to approach this one way, waiting just one ball before stepping down the track and hacking Axar through midwicket. Attempting to assert more dominance the ball after, a skewed hack off a delivery that turned and bounced more than anticipated ended up brilliantly taken by Shreyas Iyer running back from point.It was, unfortunately, the only shot Crawley mistimed. By his own reasoning, it was in line with an approach that has served him well recently. And the numbers bear that out: averaging 51.92 with a strike rate of 91.09 since the start of last summer. Checking himself, he reckons, would have been regressing to the opener who averaged 27.60 from their first 33 caps.”If I start doubting myself in those situations and not backing my instincts, then I revert back to the player I was a couple of years ago, really not scoring many runs for my team.”I wasn’t happy to get out when I did but I’d definitely do the same thing. If that one doesn’t turn and I hit him over his head for six, then suddenly he’s under a lot of pressure, and I can milk him for two hours or whatever. there’s risk and reward there.”Amid the unwavering belief in the process, there was still regret that he could not motor on, or prevent what ended up being a match-tilting spell from Bumrah. Crawley would be the first of six wickets to fall for just 68, as Bumrah, with some help from Kuldeep, ripped out the heart of England’s batting card.”I was disappointed with myself,” said Crawley, “especially when the wickets fell after. But I’ll keep telling myself to back my aggressive game because that’s what got me here.”Shreyas Iyer took a smart running catch to send back Zak Crawley•AFP/Getty ImagesFor all Bumrah’s brilliance and England’s belief in the principles that have held them in good stead throughout Stokes’ tenure, this feels like an opportunity missed. This is likely to be the worst Indian XI they will face in this series. While there remains uncertainty over Virat Kohli’s participation, Mohammed Shami and KL Rahul are likely to play some part in the back three Tests. Both improve the hosts, as would the rested Mohammed Siraj, whose deputy Mukesh Kumar was taken for 44 in his wicket-less seven overs.Crawley’s positivity spilled over into the press conference. And already he was looking forward to the fourth innings, England’s favourite bit: when the scoreboard simply tells you what you need to win.”It’s a quick scoring ground, really small boundaries and a quick outfield,” he said. “Even the guys at the end showed if you put them under pressure you can get on top of them.”With a good couple of partnerships in the second innings we can really put them under some pressure but we’ve got to bowl well first. that’s all that’s on our minds now.”I’m not certain to be honest but I feel like it’s not breaking up like last week. I don’t think it’s going to be like last week, where it’ll turn that much. It will obviously turn more than now; that’s always the case here, but I don’t think it’ll be as tricky as it was in the fourth innings for them last week, so I feel like we can chase a decent score.”There is a long way to go until we get to that point. Keeping that number down will be tough enough. Achieving it might be their longest shot yet.

Stirring stand banishes memory of bruising loss at Lord’s on sweltering day in Nottingham

Alan Gardner19-Jul-20241:16

Kavem Hodge joked with Mark Wood: I have a wife and kids!

This was what West Indies needed. What the Test series needed. A pair of diminutive Dominicans stood tall against England, Kavem Hodge and Alick Athanaze registering career-best scores beneath the glare of the Nottingham sun on the hottest day of the English summer. West Indies are used to feeling the heat as a Test nation but, not for the first time, they found their fire in response, Hodge’s maiden hundred providing the foundation for a fightback.The scream of delight as he pumped Ben Stokes through mid-off to go to three figures told of the effort Hodge had poured into lifting his side out of difficulty alongside Athanaze. He ended up celebrating in the arms of the six-foot-several Jason Holder, a comedic sight that somehow added to the joy of the moment. Hodge, in only his fourth Test, pipped Athanaze, playing his sixth, to the honour of becoming only the second cricketer from Dominica to score a Test century, but both took a share of the credit – “two little pals” worthy of a modern-day calypso.Related

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Hodge tossed his bat in frustration when he eventually fell lbw to Chris Woakes, umpire’s call on review, but his innings – the first hundred by a West Indies batter in Tests since Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul both went big against Zimbabwe in February 2023 – had gone a long way towards helping West Indies achieve first-innings parity, perhaps even a dart at a lead.West Indies had aided and abetted England getting past 400 on day one and arrived on the second morning knowing that they had to make good on ideal batting conditions at Trent Bridge. They were given a solid start by the openers, Brathwaite and Mikyle Louis raising a first half-century opening stand for West Indies in England since 2009 – but three wickets in the second half of the morning session, two of them comparative gifts, hinted at the fragility that saw them dismissed for totals of 121 and 136 at Lord’s.Timely resistance came in the form of Athanaze and Hodge, Windward Islands team-mates, left-hander and right-hander, coming man and seasoned pro, who formed an unbreakable maroon line through the afternoon and into the evening. Their partnership of 175 in 36.4 overs – the biggest of the series on either side – finally gave West Indies something to rally round after being crushed inside three days in the first Test.Kavem Hodge celebrates his maiden Test hundred•Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesWhile Hodge benefited from a bad drop at slip by Joe Root when he had made just 16, Athanaze was unfazed by everything England threw at him until he slashed Stokes to gully. He had just two notable moments of discomfort – when blocking his first ball, a well-directed yorker from Gus Atkinson, and briefly losing his bearings as it trickled away behind him; and when badged by a Mark Wood bouncer, which necessitated a delay to go through concussion protocols. In the following over, Athanaze pulled Atkinson smoothly into the gap for two to bring up a maiden Test fifty.It was a moment to savour for a man who has been feted as the future of West Indies batting but had failed to better the 47 he made on debut a year ago in eight subsequent innings. “I haven’t done as well as I’ve wanted to, definitely in the Test arena,” Athanaze told ESPNcricinfo the day before this game began, openly admitting he would “really love a Test hundred”. He will have to wait but one will surely not be long in coming.It is not hard to see why Brian Lara, among others, has been beguiled by Athanaze’s talent. The quality of his shot-making was apparent immediately after lunch, with West Indies precariously placed on 89 for 3. Another quick wicket would have left them in a hole responding to 416, but Athanaze twice caressed cover drives to the rope off Woakes. When Woakes did find the edge in between, the hands were soft enough that the ball died well in front of first slip.Kavem Hodge and Alick Athanaze batted through the afternoon session in an uplifting display for West Indies•Getty ImagesAt Lord’s, where he made 23 and 22, Athanaze had weathered the initial examination only to be dismissed without having gone on to a more substantial score. In both innings, he scored at a strike rate of below 50; here he cracked along at 82.82, and did the bulk of the scoring early in the partnership, as Hodge found his feet. Shoaib Bashir was hit back down the ground for back-to-back fours and then slog-swept over midwicket, while the first ball Athanaze received from Wood, clocked at 93.1mph, was pinged through the covers.Hodge, too, grew into the contest after a watchful start. The placid conditions had tempted England down the short-ball route during the first session and they tried to target Hodge after lunch. He was intermittently troubled, one top edge off Wood falling short of fine leg and another gloved pull flying wide of Jamie Smith; in between he should have been dismissed when hanging back to a fuller ball from the same bowler. But he scored plenty of runs against the short stuff, too, raising the tempo of his innings as England toiled for a breakthrough.A late dab off Atkinson took him to 50 in Tests for the second time – the first had helped carve out a platform from adversity in West Indies’ memorable triumph at the Gabba back in January. As Hodge bent himself to the task once again, denting Bashir’s figures and taking on Stokes to bring up three figures in ebullient fashion, it increased the possibility that his side can do something similar here.

South Africa’s men’s team had already had their hearts broken by India the night before, and the women, led by a steadfast Luus, were keen to not allow a repeat showing

Sruthi Ravindranath30-Jun-2024Sneh Rana couldn’t stop smiling. She’d just picked up 8 for 77, the third-best figures in an innings. She had taken six of the seven wickets to fall on the morning of the third day. India were 337 runs ahead and had just enforced the follow-on. There were signs of wear and tear in the wicket and Rana had looked unplayable in the first hour. Ominous signs for South Africa, with two more days to go.

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South Africa had stayed up to watch their men’s team lose the T20 World Cup final to India the previous night. On Sunday morning, the women were determined to put on a good show in solidarity with the men, batting coach Baakier Abrahams revealed.But Rana had woven her magic in the first hour. A surprisingly pleasant morning in Chennai had drawn a lot bigger crowd than the previous two days. The fans celebrated each South African wicket to fall in the morning with loud cheers, and were settling in to watch India – this time, the women – break South African hearts again.Related

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Anneke Bosch’s wicket had brought Sune Luus to the middle to join Laura Wolvaardt. Luus had made a gritty 65 in the first innings but had been undone by a sharply spinning Deepti Sharma delivery. Within 24 hours, she had to do it all over again. The same routine of staying in the middle, to block, grind, and wait for the bad balls.If Luus and South Africa needed inspiration, they needed to look no further than their own side. Marizanne Kapp had done it in 2022 against England. Jacques Kallis had done it for the men’s side in 1997, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers had done it several times, but most famously in the drawn Test in Adelaide and in a losing cause in Delhi.South Africa had played a white-ball series against Sri Lanka earlier this year. Luus had a terrible outing, making just 22 runs in the T20Is which South Africa lost 2-1 and 43 runs in the ODIs. She took a two-week break following the series to mentally refresh and work on her physical fitness. She was also part of a camp to work on playing spin ahead of the India tour. But the prep did not pay off in the ODI series preceding this Test.

“I don’t think a lot of criticism coming her way is actually valid if you look at the numbers. What she’s trying to do and the way she fought for these teams shows how much it means and how much it means to play for South Africa”Sune Luus has the full backing of SA batting coach Baakier Abrahams

“I think there was a stat that came up during the ODIs that, in the last two years, she’s the third leading run-scorer for South Africa in white-ball cricket,” Abrahams said. “I don’t think a lot of criticism coming her way is actually valid if you look at the numbers. What she’s trying to do and the way she fought for these teams shows how much it means and how much it means to play for South Africa.”And now, with the red ball, Luus has found her touch once again, in tough batting conditions. She missed out on a big score in the first innings, playing a loose shot after doing the hard work. But she was not going to let another opportunity pass.She was circumspect in the first session on the third day, scoring just 1 run off the first 15 balls she faced, even surviving a close lbw looking to sweep. The ball was turning, keeping low and bouncing. But Luus had a classic answer to India’s spinners: she stood deep in the crease, batted close to the body and played the ball late. With some assistance from the pitch, there were unplayable balls every now and then, but she negotiated it all steadfastly.”I just enjoyed the level of control and confidence she showed,” Abrahams said. “If they got close to her, she was able to hit it over the top. She had the confidence to do that. If they bowled well, then she was strong in defence. That’s the language we’re using – strong in attack and strong in defence. I think from an emotional point of view, it was a lot of hard work.”Sune Luus runs to Laura Wolvaardt to celebrate her maiden Test ton•BCCIIn between all the defence, she also brought out superb strokeplay as she grew in confidence. She used her feet and was unafraid to drive, sweep and flick the ball when the opportunity presented itself, each boundary prompting rapturous applause from the crowd. None of the other South Africa batters had even attempted to play the sweep across both days. She raised her fifty with a big smile and a “rock the cradle” celebration, dedicated to expectant father Zane Webster, the strength and conditioning coach who worked with her during her earlier break.By then, the India bowlers seemed increasingly frustrated. Their smiles had disappeared. Harmanpreet Kaur was ringing in the changes. She bowled herself, brought Shafali Verma on to bowl and even had Rana bowl from the Pattabhiram End, when she’d got all her wickets in the morning bowling from the Pavilion End. They burnt a review in desperation. Rana was giving away loose balls.When Luus punished two of those for back-to-back boundaries to move to 83, Rana could only grimace with her hands on her head. In a matter of few hours, South Africa had made her go from elated to frustrated.Luus soon celebrated her century, letting out a roar and giving Wolvaardt a tight hug, the 7000-odd Chennai crowd giving her a standing ovation. In her 12-year-long playing career, this was just her second century. The last one came in an ODI against Pakistan last year.

Maybe, on the back of Luus’ incredible knock, South Africa will be able to put some smiles back on the faces of cricket fans back home who are nursing a heartbreak.

“One conversation we had was that she got a score in the first innings but it wasn’t a match-defining score,” Abrahams said. “It was always going to be about backing one performance with another and never accepting that ‘I’ve got a score so I can sit back a little bit’. That was the most impressive part of her innings. I think it was a lesson for the rest of the team as well. The moment you get a good performance, make sure you go and back it up with another one. Don’t let the gap get too big and allow complacency to set in.”As a senior player in tough conditions, having to follow on, the mental fortitude she showed was exceptional. What you saw was a culmination of her [work] over a long period of time where she didn’t score as many runs as she would have liked and how she’s trying to right the wrongs of the past in a positive way.”Her 235-minute stay in increasingly humid conditions was a remarkable reflection of her determination to do the job her team needed. South Africa will have to grind it out another day in the hopes of a draw, with a set Wolvaardt and in-form Kapp in the middle. And maybe, on the back of Luus’ incredible knock, South Africa will be able to put some smiles back on the faces of cricket fans back home who are nursing a heartbreak.

All the key numbers as Afghanistan seal their first ODI series win against a top-five ranked nation

Sampath Bandarupalli21-Sep-2024Afghanistan beat South Africa by 177 runs in the second ODI in Sharjah on Friday to take an unassailable 2-0 series lead. Rahmanullah Gurbaz set up the win with a fine century that helped take Afghanistan to 311, before birthday boy Rashid Khan took a five-wicket haul as the visitors folded for 134. Here are all the key stats from the game:1 – This victory against South Africa marked the first bilateral ODI series win for Afghanistan against a team ranked among the top five in the ICC rankings. South Africa are currently ranked third in men’s ODIs.Afghanistan won 13 bilateral ODI series previously, of which five came against Zimbabwe, four against Ireland, two against Scotland and one each against Bangladesh and Netherlands.Related

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177 – Margin of Afghanistan’s win is their biggest in terms of runs in men’s ODIs. Their previous biggest was by 154 runs against Zimbabwe in 2018, also in Sharjah.9 – Afghanistan are now the ninth team to secure a bilateral men’s ODI series win against South Africa. Zimbabwe and Ireland are the only teams without an ODI series win against South Africa among the Full Members.1 – The first instance of South Africa getting all out under 150 in successive men’s ODIs. They were bowled out for 106 in the first ODI and could only make 134 on Friday.9 – Wickets lost by South Africa to Afghanistan spinners on Friday, the joint-most they lost to spin in a men’s ODI. The Indian spinners also shared nine wickets against South Africa in 1999 in Nairobi.Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored his seventh ODI century•Afghanistan Cricket Board1 – Rashid became the first player to bag a five-wicket haul in ODIs on birthday. Two players had a four-wicket haul on their birthdays in ODIs previously – Vernon Philander against Ireland in 2007 on his 22nd birthday and Stuart Broad against Australia in 2010 on his 24th birthday.5 – Five wicket hauls for Rashid in ODIs. Only three spin bowlers have bagged more five-fors in men’s ODIs than him – Muthiah Muralidaran (10), Shahid Afridi (nine) and Saqlain Mushtaq (six).172 – Azmatullah Omarzai’s strike rate during his unbeaten 50-ball 86. It is the highest in an ODI innings for Afghanistan, for a minimum of 50 balls faced, and also the highest by any batter against South Africa.7 – ODI centuries by Gurbaz. Two batters have scored more hundreds before turning 23 in men’s ODIs – eight each for Sachin Tendulkar and Quinton de Kock, while Virat Kohli also had seven.1 – Gurbaz now has the most hundreds for Afghanistan in ODIs, surpassing Mohammad Shahzad’s tally of six. Gurbaz has eight centuries across formats in international cricket, the most for Afghanistan, going ahead of Shahzad’s seven.42 – Innings Gurbaz took for his seven hundreds in ODIs. Only three batters needed fewer innings to score their seventh century in men’s ODIs – Babar Azam (33), Imam-ul-Haq (36) and Hashim Amla (41). Zaheer Abbas also got to his seventh ODI ton in 42 innings.

Under their long-time head coach, Ireland women have been more successful than at any time in their history, but he’d rather the side focus on the process than the results

Nathan Johns06-Sep-2024Three years ago, a request to interview Ed Joyce for the first time was met with a friendly warning from Cricket Ireland’s media staff: Joyce, now head coach of Ireland women, was happy to talk, but was reluctant to speak extensively on his own playing career.For plenty among the Irish cricket fraternity, Joyce will always be primarily regarded as perhaps the best pure, technical batter the country has produced. For those outside that bubble, he represents one of English cricket’s great unknowns. In a three-year period from 2012-14, playing for Sussex, he never dropped outside the top ten run scorers in the County Championship. In 2013, he was the fourth-most prolific run-getter in Division One, Gary Ballance and Sam Robson among those above him. In 2014 he finished second, behind only Adam Lyth. All three featured in England’s Test side, on the conveyor belt of top-order batters trialled after Andrew Strauss’ retirement in 2012.His Sussex team-mate, Matt Prior, asked Joyce if he would be open to playing for England again. The only problem was, prior to the 2011 World Cup, he had already recommitted to Ireland, when his England career petered out after just 17 ODIs following the original switch from green to blue.Related

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Upon retiring in 2018, Joyce became a batting consultant. Predominantly working with male players in Ireland’s development pathway, he started working with the women’s side just as their previous head coach left the job. Already on Cricket Ireland’s payroll, Joyce took over in June 2019.Now, five years into his coaching role with the women’s side, their new successes, most recently their ODI series win over Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka, means a new generation of cricket fans primarily associates him with the women’s game.For the first time since Joyce took over as head coach, Ireland will host England for an ODI and T20I series. “I’ve played so much cricket, I didn’t love playing the game [anymore],” says Joyce, on the eve of England’s visit. “I couldn’t go into county coaching or franchise cricket at that stage, but I really cared about Irish cricket. It’s given me a lot; you want to give back. I happened to be there at the time and Cricket Ireland thought it would be a good fit. Sliding doors…”

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This current Joycean arc of Ireland’s development truly got underway in 2022. That summer, devoid of pandemic disruption, professional contracts were introduced. Given the age profile of the young squad, a fair few took part-time deals as they completed their education. As the years roll on and more players graduate, the list of full-time pros grows.Gaby Lewis (left) and Orla Predergast have emerged as linchpins in Ireland’s women’s side under Joyce’s tenure•Getty ImagesSince that contractual turning point, spearheaded by the likes of Orla Prendergast, Gaby Lewis and Amy Hunter, with more regular vital contributions from elsewhere in the squad, Ireland have beaten South Africa, Pakistan, Australia and now Sri Lanka. “The contact time has made a massive difference, that consistency with training,” says Joyce. “You can see progression from session to session, you can map things out and say ‘this is what we’re working on, this is what we’re doing today.’ You can really only do that with full-time players.”It’s the same thing in the gym with strength and conditioning. I’m touching a lot of wood at the moment, but it’s no coincidence Orla [Prendergast] is fit to bowl for the longest period she’s ever had just after she’s become a full-time professional. She’s become a lot stronger, more robust and able to get the loads in training, which actually allow her to play. Hopefully that stays the same way.”

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Inevitably, making progress with the women meant that when the men’s job became vacant at the end of 2021 Joyce was linked with a move across. He took to social media to deny reports that he was a contender. No outlet said as much, but there was an undertone to some of the public speculation that the men’s job was seen as a better gig.”It is offensive to say that’s a step up, they’re both international teams,” says Joyce. “The men’s team undoubtedly has more eyes on it, but not that many more.”It was a running joke with the girls and the support staff: ‘Are you going to go and do that?’ Even if I’d been asked, I wouldn’t have done it. No job is ever finished but I wasn’t even halfway there. It was a non-runner.”The speculation was undoubtedly linked to how Joyce’s playing career influenced his coaching – there is a nostalgic narrative to the old pro returning to coach the current holders of the jersey he once donned. Such curiosity extends to how Joyce, an international and county veteran, adapted to coaching literal children – the likes of 16-year-old Alice Tector – in Ireland’s young squad.With regular captain Laura Delany out injured, the average age of the women’s squad is only 22. Joyce jokingly takes umbrage at being labelled an old pro, but there is an awareness that, compared to the Ireland dressing rooms he once frequented, often filled with grizzled part-time players battered by the challenges of Associate cricket in the noughties, he is now operating in a different stratosphere.Ireland women beat Sri Lanka this year for the first time in an ODI series•Cricket Ireland”You have to be very understanding of the level of experience the players have,” he acknowledges. “If you look at a 21-year-old boy who’s been in a pathway system, and how many games they have played at the top level… the girls just don’t have that [experience]. You see something that seems pretty obvious is out of place [in technique or game play] and you ask the player, there isn’t that knowledge you’d expect from someone in an international team but that’s just the way it is. There’s a lot of teaching, rather than coaching, that goes on.”Maybe at the start or up until the last few years, if you look at video analysis, the girls wouldn’t have known the stuff we were asking them to look for. That’s improved out of sight as well, to the point where we have really detailed conversations with the bowling, batting, leadership group about what’s coming up in a series, who we’re about to face, being able to adjust as the game goes along.”One of the best things we’ve done is try to get the team to coach and communicate with each other. They’re absolutely brilliant at that.”When scoring 1000 runs in a season for Sussex, Joyce probably didn’t have as strong an awareness of the developmental deficiencies in Irish women’s cricket. When asked about his learning curves, he points towards the crucial skill of player management.”I’m still going to sessions and learning from players and other coaches. Selection, that’s evolved a bit. I would always speak to players who are left out of squads or gameday XIs, I think that’s the right thing for the head coach to do. But you can speak too much.”You want to give the player something to hang their hat on: ‘How am I going to get back into the team?’ Sometimes you don’t know how they’re going to get back into the team. Or, the only way is by doing really well, and they say, ‘Well if I’m not playing how am I going to do really well?’ You can tie yourself in knots if you go into too much detail. Sometimes you’re better off saying it how it is.”It’s the same with contracts. I’m heavily involved with those, giving good and bad news to players. Some really bad news, in terms of losing jobs. Sometimes you can speak too much. You just have to get it done. Say it and move on.”Two years ago, Ireland lost a T20 series at home to South Africa 2-1. Given injuries and exam-enforced absences – again highlighting the youth of this side – any victory was almost inconceivable, but Ireland upset the odds in the series opener. Joyce didn’t speak to the press until the end of the series, after the pair of defeats that followed that historic win. Despite back-to-back losses, the overall tenor of the conversation was positive.In 2022, Gaby Lewis (right) at age 21 led an inexperienced side to victory against South Africa in a T20I – only Ireland’s second win against them•Oisin Keniry/Getty ImagesMinutes after the conversation concluded, the head coach returned. Feeling he had been overly critical of his players, a request was made to redo the interview over the phone the following morning.”I’m very protective of the team, I’ve no problem saying that,” says Joyce, looking back. “It’s that awareness that you’re often coaching very young people. It would be the same if it’s on the men’s side – there’s just more experience on the men’s side.”Trying to make sure your understanding is clear, [that the] girls know what’s expected of them, that’s a big one. A good example would be Alice Tector. Alice is hugely talented, she’s done really well, which is why we’ve picked her, but she’s hugely nervous, she’s 16.”How can we expect someone who’s 16 to do well? It’s bonkers. She did great, but it’s that knowledge – that all you can do is expect the players to do their best. I think that’s what I got wrong in that interview, I was probably a bit critical and then I realised when I went back: ‘Were the girls doing their best? Yes. Did we play that well? Not really, but maybe we played to our potential, we’ve just got to get to a higher skill level.'”Listening back to the tape, Joyce needn’t have worried. The closest he came to genuine criticism was a call for his side to play without the fear that was on display during the final game in that T20 series. South Africa spent much of their fielding innings with mid-off and mid-on inside the ring, so lacking was Ireland’s power game.Any lack of bravery appears to have disappeared two years on. Amidst all the positivity though, one significant blot on Joyce and Ireland’s record is the qualifying defeat to Scotland earlier this year, one which cost them a place at the upcoming T20 World Cup. Ireland’s newfound batting aggression saw them collapse to 21-4 in the powerplay, with their hopes of back-to-back World Cup appearances left in ruin.As with all practitioners of modern batting philosophies, overall trends, rather than individual defeats, no matter how crushing, convince Joyce and co to stay their aggressive course. Since the introduction of the contracts, Ireland’s overall batting strike rate has gone up compared to previous years, balls per boundary has decreased while balls per dismissals has increased. Batting average has also gone up.Joyce has reinforced the importance of aggressive batting and more dynamic fielding in the women’s game, given the shorter boundaries•Ramsey Cardy/Getty Images”Scoring ball percentage is a big one for us,” Joyce adds. “Sri Lanka outscored us quite considerably in terms of boundaries but we beat them considerably in terms of ones and twos. When we beat Pakistan (a T20I series victory in 2022), it was more boundaries than ones or twos, whereas I feel like we can do both things now. All the players as well. That’s really pleasing.”Ireland’s increased power is a key pillar of Joyce’s philosophy. Since starting to coach in 2019, he has identified three areas of emphasis in the women’s game, which differ slightly to his own playing days: the heightened importance of fielding, batting power and, perhaps most intriguingly, how targeting the stumps more was a better bowling ploy than in the men’s game.”The game is definitely changing. Franchises, the skill level of the players, the power, the difference of strength and conditioning, the depth. I always think that fielding will be slightly more… it’s very important in men’s cricket, but if you can field well, be dynamic, powerful in the field… [it’s] more important in the women’s game because the ball just doesn’t go as far. It spends a bit more time on the ground.”In the women’s game, with the smaller boundaries, more powerful players are going to take advantage of that. The strength and conditioning stuff is so important. The bowling straight bit, that’s becoming more nuanced. You see more teams bowl cleverly wide of off stump with an offside field and ask less powerful athletes to hit the ball through there.”England have picked Lauren Filer for this series. I’m interested to see how we go about facing her. In terms of being able to play the short ball, can we deal with that and deal with making sure we’re able to play the balls afterwards, if she does go fuller? The short ball is coming into things a bit more even for us, [even though] we don’t have the quickest attack in the world. It’s definitely more nuanced. The stumps are in play but it’s definitely not the be all and end all it possibly was a few years ago.”Talk of Filer brings us back to England’s upcoming visit for the Women’s Championship and then a T20 series. While protective of his players, Joyce is not afraid to let them know when aspirations have not been met. Does a series win over a side like Sri Lanka, as opposed to the one-off victories of the past, allow changing-room chatter to venture towards beating England?”Performance, that’s what we’re looking for. You cannot go into any game thinking we have to win. I’m just looking for performances.””The team is so young that you can influence things so much. There’s so much growth there. As a coach it’s just a dream”•Seb Daly/Sportsfile/Getty ImagesFor once, Joyce’s answer disappoints. Most of the discussion went without clichés. The modern sports psychology approach of being process-driven may have its merits, but it can take the joy out of sporting ambition, of Ireland longing to beat their nearest neighbour. There must be more to this series than that.”If you’re England coming to Ireland I don’t think you’re talking about performance, you’re talking about winning the series,” explains Joyce. “That’s absolutely fair enough. If we were going to the Netherlands – who are not a bad team, they’re competitive against us – I have said to the team ‘I want to beat them 3-0. I’m putting you under pressure here to do the things we want and win the series 3-0. I want us to be dominant against teams I think we can be dominant against.'”If you look at the Sussex team I joined, it was a brilliant, brilliant one-day team. In 2009-11, we went out going ‘We’re going to win every game’. We knew how to do that, we had probably 14 match-winners there and it was just the XI who went out and played. Maybe at a different point with Middlesex, or later on with Sussex, we just didn’t have those weapons, so you’re going out and talking about getting the performance right to have the best chance of winning.”Despite an understandable reluctance to make things about him, Joyce himself cannot help but see the intrigue in how his own playing exploits inform today’s work. How long that lasts, though, remains undecided. His current contract expires early next year. There will be a 2025 World Cup qualifying event thereafter. At this stage, with just two Women’s Championship series left for Ireland this winter, it seems inconceivable he will not be kept on for the qualifiers. For now, Joyce’s expressed motivation remains focused away from results.”It’s clear the team is growing. They’re so young that you can influence things so much. There’s so much growth there, an opportunity. As a coach it’s just a dream.”That Sri Lanka series…I loved how the players spoke. Whoever was player of the match, there was a normality, it wasn’t [a case of being] absolutely overjoyed, it was ‘job well done.’ I loved that.”Acclimating to success to is a new phenomenon for Ireland. Perhaps it foreshadows that development of a process-driven team into a results-driven force, experienced by their head coach during his county days. Maybe Ireland won’t ever be truly dominant, but in Joyce’s tenure so far, they have grown enough that thoughts of one day looking to beat England, rather than just playing well against them, are no longer absurd.

Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox to debut against Australia as part of white-ball overhaul

Matt Roller10-Sep-20241:51

Ehantharajah: ‘Perfect time’ for Bethell’s England T20I debut

Twice this year, England captains have seen their decision to throw the new ball to a fingerspinner backfire. Their responses to similar gambles which didn’t pay off told a story.In Hyderabad in January, Ben Stokes gave Tom Hartley the second over of India’s first innings of the series. Yashasvi Jaiswal promptly hit his first and fifth balls for six. In Bridgetown, five months later, Jos Buttler gave Will Jacks the second over against Australia. Travis Head and David Warner ruthlessly targeted the short leg-side boundary, and the over cost 22.Stokes stuck with Hartley even as he went the distance, keeping the field up and giving him eight further overs on the first evening of the Test: “I lost no confidence,” he said. In the second innings, he was England’s match-winner, taking 7 for 63. Jacks, by contrast, was immediately whisked out of the attack, not used again with the ball, and was dropped two games later.In part, this contrast reflected the difference between Tests and T20 as formats. The second chance is a fundamental part of Test cricket’s fabric: across four innings and five days, there is always the opportunity to recover from a mistake. In T20, one error – or even one moment of bad luck – is often terminal: the format’s brevity is what makes it so punishing.Related

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Yet the difference in how Hartley and Jacks were handled also revealed the attitudes of their respective teams towards young players. Under Stokes and Brendon McCullum, England have backed youth: eight players have featured for them in Tests this year while aged 25 or younger. In T20Is, under Buttler and Matthew Mott, it is only Jacks and Harry Brook.It has been a reflection of England’s previous success. Buttler has been fiercely loyal to the generation of players with whom he created history, becoming the first men’s team to hold both the 50-over (2019) and T20 (2022) World Cups simultaneously. England have lent towards giving their golden generation of white-ball talent one game too many, rather than one too few.At last year’s 50-over World Cup, England picked a team in which every player was at least 30 years old for their defeats to Sri Lanka, India and Australia; they even left Brook out of their provisional squad, though he eventually replaced Jason Roy. In June, they backed Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow and Chris Jordan to come good in the Caribbean, but with little return.That will change on Wednesday night, in the first of eight white-ball games – three T20Is and five ODIs – against Australia at the Utilita Bowl near Southampton. England will give T20I debuts to two young players in Jacob Bethell (20), Jordan Cox (23), with Jamie Overton (30) also winning his first cap in the format. John Turner, Dan Mousley (both 23) and Josh Hull (20) could come into contention later in the series.Jordan Cox is set to make his T20I debut•PA Photos/Getty ImagesThe old guard are now moving on: at 36, Adil Rashid is five years older than anyone else in this week’s squad, with Moeen Ali recently joining Dawid Malan in announcing his retirement. “I did my job, and it’s time for the next guys to come in,” Moeen said on Sunday. “The team needs to go in that direction… it probably just needs that cycle to start again.”McCullum has already shown as Test coach that he can blood younger players, though will not take over as England’s white-ball coach until January’s tour to India. But Marcus Trescothick, who will deputise as coach in this series and on November’s tour of the Caribbean, has worked with the Test set-up under McCullum and is conscious of helping young players flourish.”We’re looking at the next generation because we have a bit of time to prepare and expose them so that we can see how they react,” Trescothick said on Tuesday. “We know that there’s great talent within the county game. It’s picking and choosing the right ones that we think will succeed at international cricket, because it is a slightly different game.”It is really exciting when you see these youngsters coming through [aged] 19 or 20, fresh-faced and quite innocent when they come into the team, and to know what they could do and what they can achieve. The opportunity we have as coaches – within the Test group, and now in this group – is to harness those players.”There is plenty of excitement around the new generation within English cricket, and Bethell in particular. Trescothick worked with him at Under-19s level, and was immediately impressed: “It was really evident to me that he’s going to be a superstar,” he said. “I think you’re going to enjoy watching him going forward over the next few years.”That Hartley does not feature in England’s Test squad to tour Pakistan next month is evidence that players’ progress is not always linear; so too is Overton, at 30, winning his T20I debut as a specialist batter. But what is clear is that Wednesday’s T20I marks the start of a new era for England’s white-ball teams, one in which youth will no longer be treated with suspicion.

Their win at The Oval is a reminder that conversations about saving the game can begin with recognition that there is a great world out there

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Sep-2024If Test cricket is constantly on the therapist’s couch trying to work through its never-ending existential crises, Sri Lanka are the 11 trishaws outside, incensed that Test cricket’s SUV is blocking half the lane, honking up a storm.This, at least, tends to be the Sri Lanka men’s Test side’s vision of itself, forever outsiders, forever straining against bigger powers than they could ever meaningfully have sway over.They are often justified in feeling this way. Their schedule is largely dictated by when other teams would like to play them. They would like more Test cricket but their board has genuine trouble organising a busy schedule for them. (Their own board doesn’t merely schedule the profitable tours, by the way; Sri Lanka have hosted both Afghanistan and Ireland for Tests in the last 18 months.)Related

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But this is an island of 22 million whose economy has crashed since 2021, and as such has limited financial clout, as far as brodcasters are concerned. It is also a team that fans in the biggest cricket economies – England, Australia, India – do not necessarily believe are particularly serious rivals.And so every big tour becomes a de-facto referendum on their invite-ability. Are they up to adapting to these conditions? If they won’t beat an imperious England, can they at least sufficiently resist them? Will they compete? For the first time ever, Sri Lanka were in England for the fancy part of the English summer – their August/September fixtures. For the first time in almost six years, they were playing a three-Test series.There is the pressure you feel when you go out to bat and the ball is hooping, and the slips are licking their lips. Then there is this pressure: don’t let your team down here, because if you do, no team from Sri Lanka may ever get the chance again.Sri Lanka lost day one at The Oval, their bowlers fruitless in many spells, England easing to 221 for 3 in 44.1 overs by stumps. They closed down England’s innings quickly early on day two, but still were themselves 93 for 5 in response to England’s 325, in serious danger of crashing to a 3-0 defeat.And yet there Sri Lanka are, on so many of these fighting-for-their-lives tours, finding startling comebacks, discovering bright new gems, raging against the mere idea that there should be a dying of the light. On day three, their seam-bowling demolition of England was so spectacular, and so conseqential to the outcome, it gains immediate entry to the highest halls of the nation’s Test-cricket lore. Pathum Nissanka’s ice-cold 127 off 124, bears comparison to some of the greatest Sri Lanka innings in England – particularly those played by Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva in that 1998 Test at the same venue.Asitha Fernando finished as the top wicket-taker of the series•Getty ImagesAnd do Tests really want to sideline, or shunt into a second tier, the likes of Asitha Fernando, who would never get called up to a Test side merely on the basis of his height and his pace – as Josh Hull sort of has for England – and yet has blasted out 17 batters to sit atop the wicket-takers list in an away series?Can it really do without the likes of Kamindu Mendis, who has struck two fiftes and a hundred across five innings in his first series in England, averaging 53.40 and striking at almost 63?How about Nissanka, who began his international career as Sri Lanka’s premiere first-class batting talent, before taking a long detour through white-ball formats to return to Tests as a fearless, and dynamic opener?There is only so much a single Sri Lanka victory can achieve. But with luck, this will be some reminder that what is good about Test cricket isn’t only a conversation about scoring at more than four runs an over. It’s not just about reverse-sweeps, reversing pressure, scooping over the shoulder, bludgeoning the bouncers, never letting the bowlers settle.Perhaps it is a reminder that conversations about saving Test cricket can begin with recognition that there is a great world out there, in which teams concoct all sorts of mad new narratives. That there is a world beyond The Ashes, or the Border-Gavaskar, or England vs India series, that is full of life and vibrance that is worth taking more seriously than cricket currently seems to be.

They endured a poor 2023 World Cup and haven’t qualified for the Champions Trophy, but the last few months have shown clear signs of revival

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Nov-2024Since July Sri Lanka’s men have played eight ODIs and won six, tied one, and lost one. Even before this, Sri Lanka had not been a completely abysmal ODI side; in fact, in the two years before this recent stretch, they’d won 23 ODIs to the 18 they’d lost, maintaining a respectable win/loss ratio of 1.28.But the wider perception, nevertheless, was that this was a nosediving outfit. What other conclusion could you reach, when having stunk up the ODI World Cup last year, Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy? Even in the 1970s and 80s, they’d never missed a major ICC tournament. Since 2016, they’ve also not been especially close to making the knockouts of any of the global limited-overs events.Related

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And so the current stretch, headlined by their first bilateral ODI series win over India in 27 years, and now backed up by series wins over West Indies and New Zealand, feels like a serious resurgence. Sri Lanka has had flash-in-the-pan limited-overs successes over the past few years, most notably the T20 Asia Cup win in 2022. But it has now been several months since Sri Lanka lost a series at home. Could it be? Dare fans hope? Are Sri Lanka building to something?Because there are other signs that, following almost a decade principally defined by dysfunction, the team has come upon a stretch of relative health. This is a team that is led capably, and ambitiously, for a start. Charith Asalanka has been exceptional in the tricky No. 5 spot, averaging 50.41 this year with a strike rate of 97. Often astute with the reviews, frequently clever with his bowling resources (including bowling himself plenty, when the situation demands), he has marshaled a varied attack fruitfully.In fact, there are improvements almost across the board. Each of the top three – Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, and Avishka Fernando – have made vital contributions to victories in the last two months, with Kusal riding an especially hot wave of form at present. They have been so good, in fact, that they are keeping out Nishan Madushka, who had scored 69 and 38 in the two ODIs he played against West Indies.There has been criticism of Sri Lanka being overly dependent on spin-friendly home pitches, but the numbers suggest the conditions haven’t been all that treacherous•AFP/Getty ImagesThe bowling has rarely been the chief concern, even over the past few years, but the likes of Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage have also contributed with the bat, with Theekshana’s 27 not out off 44 on Sunday especially notable for its maturity in a tough match stituation. There is, as Asalanka has repeatedly pointed out, significant bench strength in the squad now, which in turn means players are motivated to make themselves difficult to drop. Avishka is one example. His batting talent has always been clear, but there was a time when his fitness had been an impediment. On Sunday, he claimed three outstanding catches.There are the weaker areas too. Kamindu Mendis has not lit up the international white-ball world yet, though he has long been a force in domestic one-day and T20 cricket. Sadeera Samarawickrama has had an inconsistent run of performances since last year’s World Cup.And there has been this growing criticism: Sri Lanka are too reliant on turning tracks for their victories. The last few months have seen some dustbowls in Dambulla, Pallekele, in Colombo, with some of those even prompting West Indies coach Darren Sammy to claim his team had claimed the moral victory (when they had suffered a non-moral loss) in the T20I series. In Sunday’s game, in which Sri Lanka fielded only one frontline seamer, this felt especially relevant.But crunch the numbers, and it doesn’t seem as if Sri Lanka’s pitches are especially extreme. Batters have averaged 29.49 in Sri Lanka in ODIs since July, and 29.73 since the start of 2022, which puts the country just below the middle of the pack when compared to the home conditions of the eight teams that have qualified for next year’s Champions Trophy*, with batters averaging less in New Zealand, Bangladesh and Australia.The next major ODI trophy Sri Lanka will contest will be the 2027 World Cup. On the T20 front, Sri Lanka are co-hosts of the 2025 tournament, alongside India. There are no pressing reasons as to why better batting tracks must be rolled out; there is time to adjust.For now, a young team appears to be finding its footing under a capable and dynamic captain. Their successes have come at home for now, but perhaps this, for the moment, is enough.*Afghanistan don’t play ODIs at home, and as such do not appear as a cricket destination in this list.

Here’s all you need to know about the tournament in the UAE: key players, new captains, format and more

Ashish Pant09-Jan-2025

When does it begin and where?

The tournament begins on January 11 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The tournament will run till February 9 with a total of 34 games – 30 league games, two qualifiers, one eliminator and a final. This is the same as the last two seasons. Sharjah and Abu Dhabi are the other two venues.

What about the teams?

Six teams will participate – Dubai Capitals, MI Emirates, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Desert Vipers, Gulf Giants and Sharjah Warriors.

What will the format be like?

Each of the six teams will play each other twice in the league stage. The teams that finish in the top two of the table will play the Qualifier 1, with the winner advancing to the final. The teams finishing third and fourth will participate in an Eliminator, a knockout fixture. The winner of the Eliminator will then play the losing team of Qualifier 1 to decide the second finalist.Dubai will host Qualifier 1 and the final, Abu Dhabi the eliminator while Qualifier 2 will take place in Sharjah.Related

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Are MI Emirates favourites again?

It is difficult to look past the defending champions. With Nicholas Pooran as captain and the likes of Kieron Pollard, Romario Shepherd, Alzarri Joseph and Fazalhaq Farooqi in the mix, they have a strong squad. Emirates will be challenged by Vipers, who have Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan, Sherfane Rutherford and Mohammad Amir.

Who are the captains? Any changes from last season?

Yes, a few. Vipers, who were captained by Colin Munro last season, will be led by New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson this time. For Sharjah Warriors, Tim Southee takes over the reins from Tom Kohler-Cadmore. The rest of the captains remain the same. Sunil Narine will captain Knight Riders, and David Warner will lead Capitals. Pooran will head Emirates, and James Vince will captain Giants.

Let’s do a recap of last edition

It was a season dominated by Emirates from start to finish. They topped the points table with six wins and four losses in ten games along with Giants who also had 12 points. But Giants went down in the knockouts, first against Emirates in Qualifier 1 and against Capitals in Qualifier 2.In the final, Emirates racked up 208 for 3 after a solid top-order performance. In reply, Capitals could only muster 163 for 7.Alishan Sharafu was the second-highest run-getter for UAE in 2024•ILT20

Who are the players to watch out for?

Well, there is Pooran, who had a blockbuster 2024 finishing with 2331 runs in 74 T20 innings, the most for any batter that year. He hit 170 sixes, comfortably the highest, with Heinrich Klaasen second on the list with 105.Then there is Rutherford and Rovman Powell, but don’t count out Warner, who might have a point to prove after going unsold in the IPL 2025 auctions. Kohler-Cadmore had a terrific Abu Dhabi T10 last month, where he scored 278 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 198.5. He will look to continue his good form. Afghanistan offspinner AM Ghazanfar could also prove to be a handful on the UAE decks.

What about Associate and local players?

While the likes of Muhammad Waseem and Aayan Afzal Khan are expected to feature regularly for their respective sides, also watch out for youngsters Alishan Sharafu and Ali Naseer. Sharafu was the fourth-highest run-getter in T20Is last year and second most for UAE – Waseem accumulated 909 runs and finished at the top – with 770 runs in 24 matches at a strike rate of 140.76. Naseer, the fast-bowling all-rounder, finished last year as UAE’s second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is.Dipendra Singh Airee became the first Nepal player to feature in the ILT20 last year, and this season, Kushal Malla has joined him. The Italian fast bowler Thomas Draca is also on the MI Emirates roster. He is the first Italian player to get picked in the league.A host of USA players such as Andries Gous, Harmeet Singh, Ali Khan and Nosthush Kenjige are also around. Each side needs to have at least two UAE players in the XI and two Associate overseas players in the squad.

Is the ILT20 clashing with any other T20 league?

It is. The tournament will clash with South Africa’s SA20, which starts on January 9 and will run until February 8. In addition, the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Australia’s BBL and New Zealand’s Super Smash will also run around the same time.

“It doesn’t matter where they bowl, once it’s in that arc, I’m just going to smack it”

Srinidhi Ramanujam23-Feb-2025″When he hits it, it stays hit. So, you know, it’s just, something that I do.”Chinelle Henry looks up to her fellow countryman Andre Russell. Her wild innings of 62 against Delhi Capitals that propelled UP Warriorz to their first win of WPL 2025 did remind many of his power-hitting and the ability to snatch the momentum and turn the team’s fortune around.Henry, though new to WPL, isn’t new to T20 cricket. The West Indies allrounder has been playing international cricket for more than a decade now and is a regular in the WCPL. As a senior player in the Warriorz set-up, Henry has eased into the WPL, thanks to her role clarity which stemmed from conversations she had with the head coach Jon Lewis.”I knew the task, I knew what I had to do,” Henry said after Saturday’s match. She went on to elaborate that it’s “the freedom to go out there and bat” from Lewis that “put her in a better space”. This power of her uncluttered mind was visible in tangible terms, in her performances so far: an unbeaten 33 off 15 and a 23-ball 62, both against Delhi Capitals, in Vadodara and Bengaluru, respectively.Related

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The latest knock had an even better impact with Henry coming in at No.8 when Warriorz were reeling at 89 for 6 in 14.4 overs, and lifting them to a match-winning score of 177 for 9. Until she arrived, the atmosphere at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was somber. Though it was a Saturday evening, the neutral game did not witness a sell-out crowd. A quick look at the stands also revealed there were many people in Capitals jerseys, cheering for the likes of Indian superstars Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma. Yellow and violet jerseys? One could count them.But it took only four deliveries for Henry to make the Chinnaswamy roar in joy and disbelief. She first smashed a slower, short ball from Arundhati Reddy with ferocious power over deep midwicket for an 81-metre six to start the proceedings. Reddy changed her length and bowled full on the stumps, but Henry still deposited this one over the same region. The crowd, which had not seen Henry until then in the flesh, was now well and truly alive with people up on their feet, clapping joyously to each of her sixes.”Obviously, I went to bat with my team in a little bit of trouble,” she said. “I knew the task, I knew what I had to do. You know, before I went to bat, John just said to me, just do what you do and have fun. And, you know, the freedom that I get to just go out there and bat, regardless of the situation the team is in, just put me in a better space to perform. And I think, you know, that’s what happened tonight.”In the next over, she got a life when Marizanne Kapp dropped a chance at deep midwicket, and Henry made sure Kapp would not forget that costly mistake.Though the ball was doing a bit off the seam whenever Capitals bowled slower balls, Henry “didn’t really pay attention to any of that.” Shikha Pandey, bowling the 17th over, was not spared either. Length balls outside off stumps were slashed towards extra cover and short third as if Henry was waiting for it. When Pandey bowled in the slot, Henry launched one six over long-on and another over the bowler’s head. Pandey ended up conceding 24 runs in six balls.Henry was not done yet.Meg Lanning brought in Annabel Sutherland, who is usually effective with her variations, but it didn’t work against the West Indian. A full ball bowled wide of off and a slower back of a length ball on her pads were both sent to boundaries. Henry would later reveal that a lot of “range-hitting at the nets” helped to straightaway swing her bat at the death.”Obviously, most of the time they were bowling to my strengths, and it was just about backing my ability, backing my strengths,” she said. “And tonight it paid off. And that’s just something that I will continue to do throughout the tournament.”When we go to training, you know, the head coach, the first thing he asks is what you want to do, obviously, is what you’re going to do in the game. So make sure you get what you want out of training that you’re going to do in the game. And obviously, when we go in the nets, for me, basically, it’s just about throwdowns. Range hitting, I do that a lot.Chinelle Henry went on a six-hitting rampage at the death•BCCI”Because most of the times when I go into bat, it’s probably like five overs to go. That’s the time that I have to go. So when I’m in the nets training, that’s basically what I do.”Reddy came back for the penultimate over with a bag full of variations and still perished against Henry. A full toss was followed by a slower delivery, and even though Henry was beaten by pace, she somehow managed to put both these deliveries to the fence. Henry then swiveled and pulled a short ball to equal the record for the fastest fifty.”That’s just what I practice in training all day, every day, once I have a T20 cricket,” Henry explained her role as a finisher at Warriorz.”You know, some of the times they would obviously test, the weakness, which is obviously bowling into the pads, because that’s obviously something that I need to work on. But most of the times, it’s just my strengths, which obviously, for the past two games, is what I’ve been doing well.”And it doesn’t matter where they bowl, whatever the ball is doing, once it’s in that arc, I’m going to back my strengths, I’m going to back my ability, and I’m just going to smack it.”On Saturday, she smacked eight sixes and two fours overall.Russell may not be around in India yet but surely, we can get used to Henry trying to emulate her idol with her own explosive and inspiring knocks.