Former champions England produced a textbook all-round performance to crush New Zealand by eight wickets in their final Women’s World Cup league game in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.

The win catapulted England to second place in the table with 11 points, just below defending champions Australia. They will meet South Africa in the semi-finals.

With qualification for the last four already assured England used the occasion to fine-tune their arsenal, particularly their spinners, who were on the money from the word go.

The spin quartet of Linsey Smith, Charlie Dean, Alice Capsey and Sophie Ecclestone spun a web around the White Ferns, sharing seven wickets to trigger a collapse.

New Zealand, cruising at 89-1, lost Amelia Kerr and Georgia Plimmer in successive deliveries and from there it was a procession.

The last five wickets tumbled for just 13 runs as the Kiwis were bundled out for 168 in under 39 overs, their lowest total of the tournament.

“We wanted to put in a good performance. Really happy with that effort and we take lot of confidence heading into the semis,” said England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.

The only cloud in England’s otherwise sunny afternoon was Ecclestone’s shoulder injury. The world’s top-ranked bowler claimed the prized wicket of Brooke Halliday before leaving the field after just four deliveries.

England will be sweating on her fitness as the business end of the competition looms.

Her exit gave part timer Sophia Dunkley a rare trundle and with England already boasting an array of finger spinners, her wrist spin added another string to their bow.

England were rarely tested during run chase. Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones put on 75 for the first wicket and Jones then joined hands with skipper Heather Knight in a 83-run stand as England cantered home with 124 balls to spare.

Jones finished unbeaten on 86, her 16th half-century in WODIs, reaching the landmark with a towering six off Suzie Bates and sealing victory with a silken cover drive.

It was an emotional afternoon for New Zealand great Sophie Devine, who bowed out of WODIs after a stellar career.

Though she failed to make a mark with the bat, she leaves as the nation’s third highest run getter (4,279) and second highest wicket taker (111). Both teams formed a guard of honour for the departing legend.

The White Ferns finish a disappointing sixth in the table, with just one win to their name, two of their Colombo fixtures having been washed away by rain.

“Really wanted to go on a high, but today’s performance was disappointing.
I am humbled to have played for my country for 19 long years. We came with lot of hopes but we weren’t good enough,” Devine said.

Source link

Pakistan extended their winning streak to advance to the semi-finals of the boys volleyball event after defeating China in straight sets in the quarter-finals at the Asian Youth Games on Sunday. –

The Green Shirts clinched their victory in a speedy 53-minute game at the Isa Sports City, winning 25-12, 25-13, 25-17.

Pakistan had earlier opened their campaign with a straight-sets victory over Mongolia before defeating hosts Bahrain 3-0 in their Group ‘A’ match. Pakistan then downed Uzebikstan in similar fashion on Thursday in their first Group ‘E’ match of the 1-8 Classification Round.

The team then defeated Saudi Arabia 3-1 to move top of the group, winning with scores of 25-16, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24. Khizar Hayat, Mohammad Yahya and Mohammad Anas were among the standout performers of the day.

Pakistan will now play the semi finals on October 27 (Monday) at 9pm local time (11pm PKT).

Pakistan sent a 53-member contingent for the ongoing games being held from Oct 22 to 31, bagging its first medal with a bronze in the boys kabaddi event.

In a post on social media, the Pakistan Volleyball Federation said the “proud achievement” was made possible by Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Director General Muhammad Yasir Pirzada, “who organised the national training camp for the team’s preparation for this prestigious event.”

Source link

New Zealand overcame a blitz from centurion Harry Brook to beat England by four wickets on Sunday in the opening game of their three-match one-day international series, with Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell scoring half-centuries.

The hosts wobbled chasing 224, losing four quick wickets, including former captain Kane Williamson for a first-ball duck in his first match for the side since March, but Mitchell took them home with an unbeaten 78 after being dropped on 33.

Bracewell also earned a reprieve early on and ran himself out for 51 to open the door for England after the initial burst from Brydon Carse (3-45), but New Zealand got back on track thanks to Mitch Santner’s 27 and prevailed in 36.4 overs.

“There was still a lot in the wicket,” skipper Santner said.

“We lost a couple more than we would have liked in the chase but the intent was great … Daryl and Michael’s partnership was massive for us.”

England recovered from a disastrous start as captain Brook bludgeoned 135 from 101 balls and Jamie Overton made 46 to help their side finish on 223 all out in 35.2 overs for a fighting chance in the contest.

Asked to bat first at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, England were rocked early by New Zealand’s seamers as Zak Foulkes (4-41) and Matt Henry (2-53) reduced the tourists to 56-6 within 12 devastating overs in helpful conditions.

‘Great start’

“Yeah it was tough work in the end, but I think the way we started off, with wickets in the powerplay, it’s always a great start,” Santner said.

“We know Matt can do that and then Zak was outstanding, the way he swung it.

It looks like a nightmare facing him. Obviously long spells, but we knew wickets were massive because even when they’re four or five down they’ve got (batsmen).

“Getting Brook earlier would have been nice but he was outstanding today.”

Brook went into attack mode despite the carnage around him and brought up his fifty in 36 balls with a top-edged six off Nathan Smith, before Overton took his team’s total to three figures with another big hit off Jacob Duffy (3-55).

Overton shrugged off being hit on the helmet by Smith and closed in on his own half-century, but departed four runs short after a fine catch on the second attempt by Mitchell that ended the 87-run seventh-wicket partnership.

Consecutive sixes

Duffy removed Carse with the very next ball to leave England teetering again on 143-8, but Brook took control following Adil Rashid’s fall shortly afterwards, reaching his ton with three consecutive sixes and taking his side past 200 runs.

A belligerent Brook continued to deal in big shots, swelling his tally of sixes to 11, but was snared trying to sweep Santner out of the park as New Zealand stopped the bleeding to stay on top in the series opener.

“I felt I was in good touch,” man of the match Brook said.

“Obviously we didn’t get off to a great start and I tried to take it up on myself to have a counter-punch. Thankfully it came off today.

“I’ve done it a few times actually, it’s a do-or-die moment. I managed to get us a decent score to defend. We started nicely with the ball, but we just struggled to take wickets throughout the middle.”

The second game takes place in Hamilton on Wednesday, with New Zealand seeking another victory after losing the preceding rain-hit Twenty20 series between the teams 1-0.

Source link