All posts by h716a5.icu

West Ham United are safe. An inconsistent, erratic, and stressful season has seen the Irons occasionally flirt with the devastating fate of relegation.

However, the Hammers finished relatively comfortably in 14th position and have the Europa Conference final next week.

Whatever the result of that European showdown, the east London outfit will undoubtedly be active in the summer transfer window, especially when considering their £179m outlay prior to this campaign.

For the quality of the squad, their league place was unflattering, and their underwhelming nature in front of goal hindered their progression.

David Moyes’ side netted an uninspiring 42 Premier League goals in 38 outings, drawing blanks in 32% of their domestic fixtures.

Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma were the club’s top scorers, sharing six goals a piece, to underline a mind-boggling lack of potency.

As a result, the Guardian has reported that West Ham are interested in Leicester City’s Harvey Barnes, which would be a huge statement of intent to resurrect their offensive woes.

Why should West Ham sign Harvey Barnes?

The Englishman is deliciously talented and has offered fantastic levels of output in a hideously disjointed Leciester team that suffered relegation back to the Championship after Everton defeated Bournemouth.

The one-cap international scored 13 goals this season, which is more than Phil Foden, Son Hueng-Min, and Roberto Firmino.

From a wider perspective, this is even more impressive as the former West Brom loanee ranks in the top 6% in Europe’s top five leagues among his positional peers for non-penalty goals, which begs the mouthwatering question of what the winger could achieve in a more functional team.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has previously heaped noticeable praise on the £35k-per-week star and said: “Barnes is probably one of the biggest talents, I’m not sure if he is respected or appreciated as much as he should be, he is an unbelievable player to be honest, a proper Leicester product.”

Barnes’ explosive style of play, combined with his ruthless productivity and commendable judgement of when to run in behind is reminiscent of Bowen’s feats last term.

Although not exactly at the race this season, scoring just six league strikes, during the 2021/22 season, the 26-year-old was utterly phenomenal, recording 22 goal involvements in 34 starts, as he was an integral part of a Clarets side that came sixth and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.

For the Irons to produce a more fruitful return in front of goal and reclaim a spot in the top half of the league, then the signing of £35k-per-week Barnes could be a stroke of genius and one that replicates Bowen, just from the opposite flank.

Pakistan completed a 3-0 whitewash of West Indies with a comfortable eight-wicket win in Abu Dhabi that exposed the World T20 champions’ weaknesses in conditions not conducive to big hitting

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Sep-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:43

By the Numbers – 18 of 20 overs by left-arm bowlers

Pakistan completed a 3-0 whitewash of West Indies with a comfortable eight-wicket win in Abu Dhabi that exposed the World T20 champions’ weaknesses in conditions not conducive to big hitting. Sent in to bat, West Indies stuttered to 103 for 5 in their 20 overs, failing to get into gear after losing three top-order wickets to Imad Wasim’s non-turning left-arm spin.Debutant Kesrick Williams on…

West Indies’ performance: Even though we lost the game, our guys are actually getting better. You can see some good performances coming up still. It’s tough, it’s really tough, it’s really hot there and takes a while to get adapted to the conditions but we are tough cricketers and we always look to give our 110%. Probably some played good cricket, kudos to them.
His debut: I just went out there with my mind free, not thinking that we lost the series. I enjoyed playing CPL and that’s what I did here tonight. I didn’t look at it as I was playing against Pakistan, or against Sharjeel Khan or whatever. I look at it like I’m playing cricket at home, don’t try to overthink it and do what I do best.
His wicket celebration: That celebration I formulated in the Caribbean when I got my first wicket. I just threw my hands in the air and I did a little thing, I put a little jig into it, and it was known as the ‘Kesi-Bounce’. So I’m going to stick to that, it’s my thing, my dance, it’s the way I enjoy my cricket and whenever I enjoy my cricket I do well.

Chasing less than six runs an over, Pakistan were never under pressure, especially after Jerome Taylor sprayed the new ball around in his first two overs, conceding four leg-side fours, a leg-side wide, and a set of leg-byes down to the fine leg boundary. Kesrick Williams, the debutant fast bowler, dismissed both openers in the sixth over of the innings, but Pakistan easily shrugged that setback aside as Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik steered them home with an unbroken partnership of 68 for the third wicket. Malik ended the match off the first ball of the 16th over, shovelling Carlos Brathwaite for a six over long-on.When they won the World T20 earlier this year, West Indies only really struggled in two games, a narrow win against South Africa and a defeat to Afghanistan. Both games came in Nagpur, the venue with the largest outfield and most spin-friendly pitch of the tournament. Abu Dhabi’s outfield is even larger, and while its pitch didn’t offer much turn, it didn’t give the batsmen much bounce or pace to work with. This meant West Indies would need to look outside their usual T20 template to find a trustworthy run-scoring method.They didn’t. By the start of the ninth over, three of their batsmen had been bowled by Imad’s stock in-ducker, and only one of them, Chadwick Walton, could claim mitigating circumstances. Having just come to the crease, he was undone by a back-of-a-length ball that crept through him at shin height.The previous ball, knowing fully well the dangers of going across the line to an unfailingly stump-to-stump bowler on a pitch of low bounce, Johnson Charles had attempted a slog-sweep and missed. Then, Dwayne Bravo, having added 14 with Marlon Samuels in 21 balls, was bowled through the gate going for an open-faced sliced drive.In typical T20 conditions, it is almost essential for batting teams to take such risks. In the specific circumstances of Tuesday’s game, West Indies needed a different approach. Perhaps they needed to peek into the Virat Kohli/MS Dhoni playbook, perhaps, and bunt the ball towards deep fielders and push for twos.West Indies didn’t try that approach: they only ran nine twos in their 20 overs. Not coincidentally, Marlon Samuels, never the fleetest or most enthusiastic runner between the wickets, was at the crease for all but 2.3 overs of the innings. From the non-striker’s end, he also played a part in Andre Fletcher getting run out in the fifth over.In the end, Samuels finished unbeaten on 42 off 59 balls, but he was by no means alone in struggling to up the tempo. Conditions are certainly not conducive to big hitting when Kieron Pollard ends up not out on 16 off 17 balls without hitting a boundary or a six.A lot of this was down to Pakistan’s bowling. The spinners hit an awkward, short-of-good-length area and attacked the stumps, the ideal strategy for a pitch with low bounce, denying the batsman the opportunity to get on the front foot while also imperilling the horizontal-bat shots. The three left-arm seamers, including the debutant Rumman Raees, hit the same sort of length while constantly taking pace off the ball.The few boundaries that came were off rare deliveries that offered a bit of swinging room: Samuels played a crisp front-foot cut off Imad, and pulled a too-short slower ball from Sohail Tanvir; Nicholas Pooran slog-swept Mohammad Nawaz into the grass banks, a shot that may have cleared the stadium roof in Sharjah.Two balls later, West Indies were served another reminder of the difficulty of hitting big shots on this ground, as Pooran connected meatily with another big swing only to pick out deep midwicket.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Manchester United are not planning to sign Neymar at the moment despite recent transfer links.

What's the latest on Man United and Neymar?

One of the most exciting rumours to emerge in European football this week as a report in L'Equipe stated that the Paris Saint-Germain star could be coming to the Premier League.

The French media outlet singled out Man United as a possible destination with Brazilian teammate Casemiro supposedly pushing for a deal to be completed.

However, while talking about Neymar recently on his YouTube channel, Romano revealed that there are no current "conversations ongoing" for the player.

He explained: “This is the rumour, ongoing talks between PSG and Man United for Neymar.

"Guys, Manchester United are strongly denying this rumour. Manchester United mention in, of course, a confidential way that their plan is very clear – they are not negotiating for Neymar Jr.

"So there are no current conversations ongoing between Manchester United and PSG for Neymar Jr. This is the Manchester United position."

How much is Neymar paid?

Seeing as Neymar currently is paid around £940k-p/w with his contract running to 2025, it's not hard to see why the Red Devils might not be so keen on getting a deal done.

And at 31 years of age, there are some fears he might be past his peak. For instance, presenter Terry Flewers recently claimed the Brazilian is "always injured" and so fans would "end up just being disappointed with him".

However, the Brazilian is still one of the biggest stars in global football – managing to score 18 goals and provide 17 assists in 29 games in a season hampered by fitness struggles – so it's easy to understand why others may be more excited about a possible move.

And while the current plan at Old Trafford isn't to sign Neymar, this could easily change in the coming months if the Glazers finally sell.

For instance, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani has made a fourth bid for Manchester United, with an improved offer of no more than £5.5bn – which includes the clearance of the £1bn debt – showing that he has the sort of money that could be splashed out on landing a mega-signing such as Neymar to kick-off his new era in charge.

However, there is no guarantee that he takes over and he might not even want the attacker. All in all, then, it does feel as though this deal probably won't happen.

James Sutherland was left mystified after Australia’s Test team performed so poorly in the recent Sri Lanka series despite spending more time in Asia than just about any generation of cricketers before them

Daniel Brettig23-Aug-2016James Sutherland, Cricket Australia CEO, wants to know why Australia’s Test team performed so poorly in the recent Sri Lanka series despite spending more time in Asia than just about any generation of cricketers before them.In a pointer to the lines of enquiry to be pursued following the 3-0 defeat to an unfancied opponent that cost Australia the No. 1 Test ranking, Sutherland said he was somewhat mystified as to why ever more frequent visits to India in particular had not translated into better displays in the region. The loss of the third Test in Colombo meant Australia have now lost nine Tests in Asia in a row over three series.”If you have a look going back in time over recent years, some of our Test cricketers are playing more in India than they’ve ever played before,” Sutherland said in Melbourne. “They’re used to subcontinental conditions through their experiences in the IPL and on other tours representing Australia. These are conditions we are more familiar with perhaps than we have been in decades gone by, and it comes back to the ability to adapt. That’s something I’ll be interested to hear more about.”It’s probably a whole lot of different things. The critical thing is adaptability to conditions and that’s what we ought to understand better. Clearly conditions here are very different to England, which are very different to what we see on the subcontinent, and to be the best team in the world, to be the No. 1 team, you need to be able to win away, and that’s what we’re about.”In reflecting on the conditions faced by the players, Sutherland said little more could be done in terms of pre-tour preparation, and also expressed the view that the pitches encountered at Pallekele, Galle and Colombo were more or less as had been expected. “We’re certainly disappointed with the performances of the team in this Sri Lankan series and the review will tell us more but I don’t think we can complain in terms of the preparation we had over there in Sri Lanka,” he said.”I don’t think there would be any expectation gaps in terms of the facilities and the pitch condition we expected to find over there. I don’t think things are clearly broken, but at the same time we need to get better at adapting to conditions. In different parts of the country there are pitches prepared for different situations, certainly we’ve got hybrid pitches that have been developed at the NCC, they’re things that we’re continuing to progress. But it’s one thing to have those conditions and facilities, another to provide opportunities for players to do that.”Sutherland also said Australian cricket is searching for ways to ensure more of its 1.31 million participants graduate from junior programs to club teams and the levels above even as the latest survey of participation revealed the game had outstripped Australian football as the most popular sport in the country.Another year of steady gains in 2015-16, following a similar increase in 2014-15 and an Ashes-inspired spike the season before now allows Cricket Australia to boast that there are more cricket participants than in any other game, outstripping the 1.25 million registered triers of Australian football reported by the AFL last year.These numbers are driven largely by school-age Milo Into Cricket and Twenty20 Blast programs, with high female participation and increased engagement by diverse Australian communities also factors. However, the number of players actually registered as club or community cricketers lags some way behind at 454,657, albeit a rise of 9.5% on last year’s figures.Sutherland said that the game’s custodians were looking intently for ways to ensure the stream of players running from junior and school programs to clubs and ultimately the higher echelons of the game would increase.”It’s a lot about that experience and about creating a positive learning environment and a fun environment for kids to play the sport,” Sutherland said in Melbourne. “I think that’s where the T20 Blast has allowed kids to bridge between entry level programs and playing what some people might call ‘real cricket’. We’ve seen success but also sustained participation through into the teenage years. Very pleasing in these results to see growth in that area for the first time in a couple of years.”The total number of participants increased by 8.5% when lined up against that of 2015, which had itself been 9% up on 2014. However, the increase three years ago had been a more dramatic 16% following a victorious Ashes summer. Given the fate that had just befallen Australia’s Test side in Sri Lanka, Sutherland did not want to draw too close a link, but acknowledged team performance and grassroots participation could certainly help one another.”I think there were a number of things that kicked in that year, certainly that was one of the formative years in terms of the T20 Blast but also we saw significant growth in those entry level programs with the Milo Into Cricket program,” he said of 2014. “What we’d like to see is those entry level programs be a continuous wave for us into the junior secondary years and see some sort of sustainable participation particularly at club level.”In some ways they certainly do complement each other, but at the same time we’ve now gone down to No. 3 in the world on the Test rankings, we’re still no. 1 in one-day cricket. From that perspective the profile of the game is still high and I think the aspiration of young people to play cricket at the highest level will continue to be there. In time when we come to review the Sri Lanka series we’ll take a very keen interest in what the recommendations coming out of that are.”

Australia will host Sri Lanka in a Twenty20 international at Geelong’s Kardinia Park in February, after the ground was confirmed as the 11th venue in Australia currently accredited to host international cricket

Brydon Coverdale08-Aug-2016Australia will host Sri Lanka in a Twenty20 international at Geelong’s Kardinia Park in February, after the ground was confirmed as the 11th venue in Australia currently accredited to host international cricket.Geelong, Melbourne and Adelaide have been named as the venues for three T20Is between Australia and Sri Lanka, to be held from February 17 to 22. The fixtures will all be played as double-headers, with the men’s games preceded by women’s T20Is between Australia and New Zealand.The decision to take international cricket involving Australia beyond the state and territory capitals is almost unprecedented. Test matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Cairns during the southern winters of 2003 and 2004 are the only other occasions when Australia have played official international matches outside the capital cities.Regional venues were used for some neutral games during the 1992 World Cup, while Launceston, Devonport and Townsville have also hosted official international matches that did not involve Australia. Kardinia Park – known as Simonds Stadium for sponsorship reasons – will be the 21st ground in Australia to host international men’s cricket.Kardinia Park had a taste of elite cricket last summer when the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades played a warm-up match there ahead of the BBL campaign. That game was followed a week later by West Indies playing a two-day practice match there against a Victoria XI ahead of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.In order to meet ICC standards for the size of international venues, the pitch orientation at Kardinia Park has been altered to slightly off the square, for the traditional configuration at the ground meant some boundaries were too short. Cricket Australia’s chief executive officer James Sutherland said given the ground met requirements, he was pleased to take international cricket to Geelong.”We’re committed to taking the game to as many parts of the country as possible and we continue to work with regional areas around Australia on how we can make this happen,” Sutherland said. “Geelong proved its capability to host cricket last summer with a successful BBL exhibition match between the Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades attracting more than 10,000 people.”We’re really looking forward to the people of the Geelong region and beyond packing out the stadium and supporting the women’s and men’s national sides.”Despite the off-field facilities at Kardinia Park being of high quality and the dimensions meeting international standards, the prospects of the venue being used as a second first-class ground for Victoria appear limited. Tony Dodemaide, the Cricket Victoria CEO, said the cost of installing drop-in pitches and preparing the multi-sport ground (home of AFL team the Geelong Cats) for cricket was more feasible for international games.As preparation for the T20I series, Sri Lanka will play the annual Prime Minister’s XI match as a T20 game on February 15 at Manuka Oval in Canberra.Cricket Australia has also announced that an agreement has been reached for Adelaide Oval to host an international cricket fixture on Australia Day every summer for the next five years. For some years the tradition was to hold a match in Adelaide on January 26, but in recent summers such a fixture had not always eventuated.”We’ve been working closely with the South Australian Government and SACA to secure marquee matches in the state long term and we’d like to thank both parties for their support,” Sutherland said. “We’re pleased to be able to announce today that Adelaide Oval will host an International Australia Day cricket fixture for the next five years.”

When Leeds United fans think back to the great players of time gone by, few will cast their minds to the 2012 signing, El Hadji Diouf.

The Senegalese forward was certainly a controversial figure during his time playing in England but his ability on the pitch and the chaos that he could have brought may just have been an excellent wildcard for Sam Allardyce to have in his attempts to keep the Yorkshire outfit in the Premier League this season.

After all, Diouf's best spell in England arguably came under the experienced Englishman at Bolton Wanderers, so he clearly knew how to get the best out of him.

How did Diouf perform at Leeds United?

Leeds would sign the much-discussed forward back in 2012 after a successful trial period under Neil Warnock which was certainly a surprise move at the time, given that the English manager had infamously dubbed him worse than a 'sewer-rat' only 18 months earlier.

Following an incident with QPR's Jamie Mackie, who was stranded with a broken leg, Warnock said:

"I can't abide people like that, I don't know why he wants to take on the world. He's a nasty little person.

"For many years I have thought he was the gutter type – I was going to call him a sewer rat but that might be insulting to sewer rats. He is the lowest of the low."

However, he would make 40 appearances under Warnock at Leeds, notching a respectable six goals and nine assists, which emphasises the quality he had when he was focused on the game.

Diouf would finish his Leeds career with a solid return of seven goals and 11 assists in just 52 appearances, with his spell at Elland Road proving to be his last in England before he retired in 2016.

Could Leeds have used Diouf now?

This season, Leeds have been far too difficult to play through and have arguably rolled over in recent defeats against AFC Bournemouth, Liverpool and Crystal Palace, which certainly wouldn't have been tolerated by either Diouf or Allardyce.

Under the Englishman at Bolton, he would contribute 22 goals and 17 assists in 151 appearances, which was comfortably the most of any manager in his career, emphasising that the current Leeds boss was one of few who could get the very best out of him.

With Patrick Bamford continuing to misfire in the Leeds attack with recent big misses against Leicester, as well as from the penalty spot against Newcastle, but only inexperienced options such as Mateo Joseph and Sonny Perkins available as replacements, Allardyce surely could have used a figure such as Diouf to help inspire Leeds to survival in the final games of the Premier League campaign.

Legspinner Graeme Cremer, who led Zimbabwe in the limited-overs series against India in June, has been named captain for the upcoming two-Test home series against New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2016Zimbabwe squad for NZ Tests

Graeme Cremer (capt), Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva, Brian Chari, Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Hamilton Masakadza, Prince Masvaure, Tino Mawoyo, Peter Moor, Richmond Mutumbami, Taurai Muzarabani, Njabulo Ncube, Donald Tiripano, Sean Williams
In: Graeme Cremer, Prince Masvaure, Tino Mawoyo, Peter Moor, Taurai Muzarabani, Njabulo Ncube, Donald Tiripano, Sean Williams
Out: Brendan Taylor, Elton Chigumbura, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Shingi Masakadza, Wellington Masakadza, Natsai M’shangwe, John Nyumbu, Tinashe Panyangara, Vusi Sibanda, Malcolm Waller

Legspinner Graeme Cremer, who led Zimbabwe in the limited-overs series against India in June, has been named captain for the upcoming two-Test home series against New Zealand. Uncapped batsman Prince Masvaure features in the 16-man squad. Opener Vusi Sibanda has been dropped, while a back injury has ruled out fast bowler Tinashe Panyangara.Masvaure had been in form for Zimbabwe A in the recently concluded unofficial Tests against South Africa A, scoring 277 runs from four innings at 92.33, including a century and a half-century.The squad includes allrounder Chamu Chibhabha, who has played 96 ODIs but is yet to make his Test debut. Two others who have debuted in ODIs but are yet to play Test cricket feature in the squad: opener Peter Moor and fast bowler Taurai Muzarabani.Returning to the squad are batsmen Tino Mawoyo – who last played a Test in 2013, and any international cricket in 2014 – and Sean Williams, and fast bowlers Njabulo Ncube and Donald Tiripano. Either Ncube – who played his only Test so far in November 2011 – or Tiripano is likely to open the bowling with Tendai Chatara.Zimbabwe’s previous Test assignment was 20 months ago, in Bangladesh, when former captain Brendan Taylor was still part of the set-up; Cremer was not part of that squad.Several players miss out from the squad that played in Bangladesh, including long-time limited-overs captain Elton Chigumbura (who had stepped down from the role in January this year) and the two younger Masakadza brothers: Shingi and Wellington. Zimbabwe had lost that series 3-0. Their last Test at home was in August 2014, a one-off game against South Africa, which the visitors won by nine wickets.Zimbabwe’s series against New Zealand begins on July 28, in Bulawayo.

Manchester United's ownership battle has aligned all parties to agree on trying to make sure a deal is completed between prospective bidders and the Glazer family before the transfer window opens to avoid missing out on key deals, according to journalist Ben Jacobs.

What's the latest ownership news involving Manchester United?

As per The Telegraph, it is said that the ownership situation engulfing Manchester United could run into the summer and risks continuing on into the transfer window, which is due to open on June 10th.

The outlet claim that neither Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim or Sir Jim Ratcliffe's respective offers have been ranked in level of preference, while Erik Ten Hag is looking to seek clarity over his potential transfer budget in the off-season.

The Athletic report that an internal disagreement between the Glazer family has delayed the process of a potential sale of the club to any prospective bidders.

BBC Sport explain that Sheikh Jassim wants to buy a 100% controlling stake in the Premier League giants. At the same time, Jim Ratfcliffe and his petrochemical firm INEOS want 69% of the club and are open to leaving the rest on the New York Stock Exchange.

Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist Jacobs has indicated that all parties want to conclude a sale before the transfer window opens.

Jacobs told FFC: "So the existing football infrastructure are planning and we know that clubs like to do their business early and line up players to come in in the first two or three weeks of the window. If you're seeking a player and you've got buy-in from the player and your recruitment team has done their job, but it's unclear when that player is ready to move and with other options, potentially, who actually is going to be fronting the bill? It can cause a delay and that delay might mean that you miss out on a target. So from a transitional point of view, these groups have always said the same thing. Yes, it will take as long as it takes, but they desperately want to be in for when the transfer window opens."

What next for Manchester United?

Ten Hag and his players will know that there is little they can do to influence matters off the field and will only be tuned into what they can make a difference to between now and the end of the season.

Manchester United have a chance to seal top-four qualification by winning their last three Premier League matches against Bournemoutn, Chelsea and Fulham; however, they will know that these sides will present obstacles that they will need to overcome to realise their ambitions.

FA Cup glory is also at stake for the Red Devils, who face off with bitter rivals Manchester City in a powderkeg final at Wembley Stadium in early June as they look to add a second piece of domestic silverware to their trophy cabinet following their Carabao Cup triumph against Newcastle United in February.

It is an exciting time to be a Manchester United fan and Ten Hag will hope he can reward his supporters for their faith in his methods this campaign by securing a Champions League slot and FA Cup triumph.

CBS’ coverage of major nights in the Champions League are always terrific viewing.With Kate Abdo as host, she is traditionally joined by one of the best forwards we’ve ever seen in the shape of Thierry Henry, alongside defensive stalwarts Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards.Together they combine to make golden television with Richards often the one who is poked at with fun. As ever, Henry will ooze class and Carragher will always guarantee an interesting debate.Although their punditry is excellent, it’s often the extra activities they get up to on the show that causes most hilarity.As the panel previewed the Milan derby, a game that Inter won 2-0, football great Paolo Maldini joined the crew pitch side with Peter Schmeichel at the San Siro.

What happened when Maldini joined CBS?

After a round of questions with Schmeichel the Italian got the chance to speak to the three aforementioned pundits in the studio.

The conversation was not only hilarious, but fascinating too as the trio were simply left in awe of the World Cup winner.

Henry began by detailing a story of how “scared” he got when facing the Milan great when France took on Italy in the 90s.

Carragher got the chance to tell a story about how he acquired the former defender’s match-worn shirt after the 2005 Champions League final.

Richards, on the other hand, didn’t have a story to tell but was in shock as he got the chance to speak to Maldini. He greeted him in Italian before telling the 54-year-old that his love has switched allegiances towards him instead of Henry in a funny exchange.

Once the footballing great left the show, Abdo asked why he was so special, with Henry detailing several reasons from being a one club man to the fact that he could pull off any style of clothing.

Barinder Sran’s 4 for 10 sprung the trap on Zimbabwe, Jasprit Bumrah’s 3 for 11 made sure they couldn’t even think about escape and India levelled the series 1-1 with a 10-wicket victory

The Report by Alagappan Muthu20-Jun-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:17

‘We implemented our plans well’ – Mandeep

” [Don’t do anything],” screamed MS Dhoni. Zimbabwe were 57 for 5 at the time and they were gifting their wickets away.Left-arm fast bowler Barinder Sran picked up three in a single over and recorded the second-best figures by a debutant in T20I cricket. His 4 for 10 sprung the trap on Zimbabwe, Jasprit Bumrah’s 3 for 11 made sure they couldn’t even think about escape and India levelled the series 1-1 with their first ten-wicket victory in T20 cricket.If a team was kept to 99 for 9, it would be reasonable to think that conditions had been bowler-friendly. But a 1pm start in Harare with not a cloud in sight reduced the chances of swing. The pitch was being used for a third time on the tour, which gave the team batting first a slight advantage. Zimbabwe gained that advantage when the coin fell in their favour. If they had put up a big enough total, the natural wear and tear of the surface could have made the chase that much more difficult.Instead, Zimbabwe were 35 for 4 after the Powerplay on the same deck they had made 170 on only two days ago.India gave the new ball to two debutants for a second time in as many matches and Sran made sure to extract as much as he could from it. Only one delivery in his first spell of three overs was pitched short.His first wicket was excellently constructed. Zimbabwe could not find a single run off the bat in nine balls. Chamu Chibhabha came on strike. He had found eight of his 10 runs through boundaries. Sran sensed the batsman would go for a release shot and bowled his offcutter. The batsman mistimed his swipe over mid-on and Ambati Rayudu snapped up an excellent catch over his shoulder while running towards the boundary.Hamilton Masakadza got his first run off his seventh ball with a fearsome drive through the covers and moved into double figures with a thump down the ground. To the next ball he faced – an inswinger, pitching on a good length – he heaved across the line and lost his middle stump. Sran welcomed the new batsman Sikandar Raza with a wide slip and he obliged by steering his second ball to that fielder. Tinotenda Mutumbodzi fell for a golden duck, though replays indicated he was incorrectly adjudged lbw by umpire Russell Tiffin. The batsman was struck above the knee roll and Hawk-Eye suggested enough of the ball had pitched outside leg stump.Nevertheless, Sran had three wickets in an over and Zimbabwe were on course for a terribly underwhelming performance. Not even one of their eleven batsmen could reach a strike-rate of 100 – only the fourth time that has happened in 559 T20Is.Peter Moor, brought in for the injured Richmond Mutumbami, top scored with 31 off 32 balls. His presence would have given Zimbabwe hope but Dhoni played a mean trick. Knowing the opposition was in recovery mode – in other words fearful of losing any more wickets – he called on his spinners to rush through the middle overs. Yuzvendra Chahal deceived an advancing Malcolm Waller in the flight, and refused Elton Chigumbura the leverage he so desperately wanted.With the score at 73 for 5 after 14 overs, panic set in for Zimbabwe. India preyed on that by bringing back their premier fast bowler – Bumrah. Moor never saw the slower delivery coming and was caught at point, Chigumbura’s stumps were bulldozed a few minutes later, and with all their specialist batsmen dismissed, the best Zimbabwe could do was play out the 20 overs. Bumrah, now, has 24 wickets in 2016 – the most by any bowler this year.The chase was straightforward. Mandeep Singh cruised to his maiden T20I fifty, but he could have been caught in the fifth over had Malcolm Waller, rushing forward from deep square leg, and Taurai Muzarabani, running back from short fine leg, communicated better. In the end the ball fell between them and trickled for four. The India opener offered another chance on 22 when he pulled straight to Donald Tiripano, the fielder on the square-leg boundary, who parried over the rope for six. It was just that kind of day for Zimbabwe. They struggled with the basics from start to very early finish.