The Indian cricket team scripted history by becoming the first T20I side to register 150 wins in the shortest format of the sport following the 23-run triumph over Zimbabwe on Wednesday. Skipper Shubman Gill slammed a brilliant half-century while Washington Sundar excelled with the ball as India beat Zimbabwe in the third T20I encounter to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. It was the 150th T20I win for India – the most by any team in the format. Pakistan are second in the list with 142 victories while New Zealand are third with 111 followed by Australia (105) and South Africa (104).

Meanwhile, India captain Shubman Gill hailed their “remarkable” team effort on a two-paced wicket as they defeated Zimbabwe by 23 runs in third T20I to take a 2-1 lead the five-match series.

The elegant Indian opener returned to form with a 49-ball 66 to power them to 182 for four before the bowlers restricted the hosts to 159 for six.

This was India’s second successive win as they bounced back from the first match reversal to snatch the lead. “It was a crucial match for us and the way we started with batting and bowling, it was remarkable,” Gill said during the post-match presentation.

India made a resounding comeback in the second T20I where they posted a mammoth 234 for 2.

Asked if he was a little disappointed that the team couldn’t reach 200 in the third T20, Gill said: “…the wicket was a bit double paced, the odd ball was gripping and it was not easy to hit the length ball.

“We just wanted to keep hitting the length with the ball as well. We know if there is something in the wicket, it will be there for the bowlers. Everyone has contributed, right from openers, to bowlers.” Washington Sundar, who was adjudged the Player of the Match, was happy with his execution of plan as he returned with a figures of three for 15 in four overs.

“Feels amazing, honestly. Every time I play for the country, it seems amazing. It was a better wicket. There was something more for the bowlers in the first two games.

“The way Zimbabwe batters played, did put pressure on us. They (Myers and Madande) did put a lot of pressure on us. We wanted to execute everything in our plans. We want to finish the series on Saturday.” Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza rued the fielding lapses.

“I think it’s the fielding again, we are proud of our fielding but the wheels came off today, we gave away 20 extra runs and we lost by 23 runs,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)

File image of Sunil Gavaskar.© X (Twitter)

Wellington, New Zealand:

A New Zealand judge on Wednesday sentenced a woman to 18 years imprisonment for murdering her three young daughters in 2021.

Lauren Dickason will begin her sentence at a mental health hospital in the custody of the state, a court official at Christchurch High Court told AFP, for the triple killings.

In a statement to local media after her sentencing, Dickason said she had “failed” her children and her husband, who has since moved back to South Africa.

“I take responsibility for taking our three beautiful girls from this world,” she said.

“I would like to take this opportunity to convey the deepest and most sincere remorse for the extreme pain and hurt caused to my children and my family by my actions.”

Justice Cameron Mander did not impose a minimum non-parole period in sentencing Dickason, who escaped life imprisonment which is the usual penalty for murder in New Zealand.

Dickason was found guilty last August on three counts of murder having smothered her two-year-old twins Maya and Karla and first daughter Liane, six.

The killings took place in September 2021 at their home in Timaru while her husband was out to dinner with colleagues. He found the bodies of his children when he returned home.

The family had moved to New Zealand from South Africa just weeks before.

During last year’s trial, Dickason admitted killing the girls but had argued a defence of insanity and infanticide, triggered by the stress of the move.

Under New Zealand law, infanticide is a defence for a mother who causes the death of her child when, “at the time of the offence, the balance of her mind was disturbed”.

Dickason’s lawyer had argued that a mental health unit was the most appropriate place for her, according to local media reports.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kane Williamson said the intention to play in next year’s SA20 was the catalyst behind him declining the New Zealand central contract, but reaffirmed his commitment to play for his country in all three formats outside of the T20 league. The SA20 is scheduled between January 9 and February 8, 2025, which clashes with the dates of the Super Smash in New Zealand. As per NZ rules, a player has to play in Super Smash if they are not on an international assignment to be eligible for a central contract.

“I want to play as long as I can. There’s a number of great competitions during that time, but SA20 looks really exciting. Unfortunately, it meant turning down a central contract,” Williamson told reporters upon his arrival in New Zealand from the T20 World Cup, where his side failed to enter the Super Eight stage.

Consequently, Williamson had also stepped down from the Kiwis’ captaincy in white-ball formats but the elegant right-hander insisted that his international career was far from over.

“My priority still is, absolutely, playing for New Zealand. Think I might miss maybe a handful of games over a three-week period,” he added.

It meant that Williamson would miss the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka in January next year.

But he will be available for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in September, besides the WTC matches against India and Sri Lanka away and the three-match series against England at home.

“It’s simply the contract, the rules that currently exist meant I wasn’t able to have one but in terms of playing for New Zealand I’m not missing almost any cricket really, so that was important to me,” he said.

Williamson said he was eagerly waiting to see how the leadership role of New Zealand evolves in white ball formats.

“I’ve really, really enjoyed my time captaining and it’s been a privilege and an honour to do that for a number of years.

“I’m excited with what’s next for the team in terms of the leadership as well and looking forward to being part of that,” he added.

The 33-year-old also did not attach any time-frame to his career, saying he was taking it one year at a time.

“In terms of a timeframe, it’s difficult to say. I want to keep being fit, doing as well as I can, keep trying to improve. All major events and key series are things that whet the appetite and are an exciting prospect.

“But being part of this team is so dear to me and I want to remain in that community as long as I can, and as long as I’m offering value,” he said.

Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan rarely minces his words, and it was no different as he suggested that New Zealand stalwart Kane Williamson will never be a player who can bat at an explosive strike rate. The critique comes after New Zealand bowed out of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the group stage. Williamson scored just 28 runs in the tournament, at a strike rate of 87.50, and gave up captaincy following New Zealand’s exit. Michael Vaughan has now advised Williamson to take inspiration from one of his contemporaries, Virat Kohli, on how to remodel his T20 game.

“Look at Virat Kohli in IPL 2024. He went from the Virat in previous years to the modern 2024 player by going for it, being expansive, particularly against spin. It was tremendous to see,” said Vaughan, speaking on Cricbuzz.

“Kane Williamson will never be a batter who strikes at 200. If he can up his strike rate by 15-20 per cent, and get to a strike rate of 140-150, he would be the glue for New Zealand and whatever franchise he plays for,” said Vaughan.

Kohli, at the age of 35, piled up 741 runs at a strike rate of 154 in IPL 2024, winning his second Orange Cap in the process.

Williamson is no stranger to the Orange Cap either, having won it in 2018, when he smashed 735 runs at a strike rate of 142. However, six years on, Williamson’s offensive game seems to be on the decline.

However, Williamson’s New Zealand future in T20Is is up in the air. The 33-year-old quit captaincy and declined a central contract, hinting at overseas priorities and wanting to spend more time with his family.

Failure to qualify for the Super 8 means that New Zealand is also not guaranteed direct qualification to the 2024 T20 World Cup.

New Zealand batter Kane Williamson declined the central contract for the 2024-25 year but emphasised his long-term commitment to the Blackcaps. New Zealand Cricket on Wednesday released a statement to confirm that the veteran batter opted out of the central contract for the 2024-25 season. Speculations were building around Williamson’s future after New Zealand suffered a heartbreak following an early exit in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

With 358 appearances for the Kiwis in his decorated career, the 33-year-old opted out of the contract list and white-ball captaincy in a bid to extend his international career.

“Helping push the team forward across the formats is something I’m very passionate about and something I want to keep contributing towards. However, pursuing an overseas opportunity during the New Zealand summer means I’m unable to accept a central contract offer,” Williamson said as quoted from a statement by New Zealand Cricket.

New Zealand’s schedule for the 2024-25 season won’t be hectic as the Kiwis have minimal bilateral series commitments till the January window.

But Williamson will remain available for the eight World Test Championship matches that New Zealand will engage in in a bid to once again play in the final, which will be played next year at the Lord’s in June.

In November end, New Zealand will play the first Test of the three-match series against England on home soil.

But before they embark on their WTC journey, Williamson is pleased to find a way to balance his personal and professional life as he continues to strive to play for his nation.

“Playing for New Zealand is something I treasure, and my desire to give back to the team remains undiminished. My life outside cricket has changed however – spending more time with my family and enjoying experiences with them at home or abroad is something that’s even more important to me,” he added.

NZC CEO Scott Weenink acknowledged Williamson’s contributions and feels that their experienced star had earned the right to take some time off to pursue other goals, which included family-oriented priorities.

“This is a good way to help keep Kane in the international game so that he continues to play a major role for the BLACKCAPS – both now and in the years to come. We have very little international cricket in New Zealand through January, and outside that period he’s still available for the BLACKCAPS,” Weenink said.

“NZC has a strong preference to select centrally contracted players for the BLACKCAPS, however, we’re happy to make an exception for our greatest-ever batter – especially as he remains so committed to the team. I know it sounds a bit counterintuitive, but I’m very encouraged by this development,” he added.

New Zealand concluded their T20 World Cup campaign with a convincing 7-wicket win over Papua New Guinea.

New Zealand bowler Lockie Ferguson praised the bowling conditions at Brian Lara Stadium after his historic spell of 4-4-0-3 against Papua New Guinea in the T20 World Cup amidst the disappointment of an early exit from the T20 World Cup. Ferguson’s performance was nothing short of magical as he registered the most economical bowling figures in the history of the ICC T20 World Cup, and became only the second bowler in T20Is to bowl 24 dot balls without conceding a run.

His sensational spell was instrumental in restricting PNG to a mere 78 runs, with every New Zealand bowler chipping in to take wickets.

Reflecting on the match, Ferguson appreciated the challenging nature of the wicket. “Yeah, no, no runs today. But yeah, look, obviously a tough wicket to bat on. Coming from the IPL, where there were a lot of runs being scored, it’s nice to have a wicket like that for a change,” he said in a video posted by the ICC on their social media.

The bowler acknowledged that such days are rare and cherished the opportunity to exploit the conditions. “It was just one of those days. You could see when our boys went on it as well. So I guess from a bowling point of view, nice to be able to bowl on wickets like that. But I can’t see it happening too many times.”

Despite his personal success, Ferguson was candid about the team’s premature exit from the tournament. He expressed his disappointment while also praising his teammate Trent Boult, who played his final T20 World Cup match.

“Look, I love playing for New Zealand. I’m just really disappointed we got knocked out the way we did. But at the same time, really enjoyed playing with this group of guys. Obviously, Boulty (Trent Boult) with his last game today. It’s going to be sad not having him with the group, but it’s been an incredible career and certainly been nice to sort of follow him in every game. So, I wish him all the best,” he said.

Ferguson’s sentiments reflected a bittersweet moment for the team as they bid farewell to Boult, a stalwart of New Zealand cricket. “It’s a tough one. Now we’re sort of going apart as a team for a few months. So, naturally, you’re gonna miss your good mates and look forward to touching base later in the year,” he said.

New Zealand chased down the modest target set by PNG with ease, reaching 79-3 within 13 overs.

Following New Zealand’s unexpected group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup, captain Kane Williamson expressed the need for his team to regroup and recover, but he remained non-committal about the 2026 edition of the T20 showpiece. Williamson has been a pivotal figure in New Zealand cricket for over a decade, leading his side through numerous successful campaigns. However, pacer Trent Boult having already announced his retirement from T20 World Cups, Williamson hinted at a possible changing of the guard within the team.

“Oh, I don’t know. There’s a bit of time between now and then, so it’s about regrouping as a side. We’ve got red-ball cricket over the next year basically, so it’s back into some other international formats, and we’ll see where things land,” said Williamson in the post-match press conference.

Since his debut, Williamson has been instrumental in New Zealand reaching the semifinals in seven out of the ten World Cups he has played across both 20- and 50-over formats since 2011.

This remarkable journey included three final appearances, with standout personal performances such as being named Player of the Tournament in the 2019 World Cup in England and scoring an impressive 85 from 48 balls in the 2021 T20 World Cup final against Australia.

Reflecting on New Zealand’s recent campaign, Williamson admitted that his team had been slow to adapt to the challenging conditions in the Caribbean, where they faced strong performances from Afghanistan and the West Indies in a tough Group C.

“It took a long time to start and then, in a matter of days, we were not in contention, which was frustrating,” he said. “We played against a couple of very strong sides who are very well equipped in these conditions and unfortunately that was the difference in our first two games.”

Despite the disappointment, Williamson remained optimistic about the future. “All in all it’s frustrating, but there’ll be learnings for the players that come back to this part of the world. These conditions have been somewhat challenging, so they are some good experiences to have going forward.”

Lockie Ferguson (3/0) bowled the most economical spell in T20I history as New Zealand shot out Papua New Guinea for a mere 78 in their inconsequential Group C World Cup match on Monday. Ferguson joined Canada skipper Saad Bin Zafar as only the second bowler in T20I history to have sent down each of the allotted four overs as maiden, returning figures of 4-4-0-3 after the latter recorded 4-4-0-2.

The Kiwis were successful in keeping the PNG batters quiet and pinned to their respective ends for the majority of their innings which folded in 19.4 overs, with the first half witnessing the ball racing to the ropes for boundaries only on four occasions.

Lockie needs to hesitate

He’s got zero chill. Literally ‘ZERO’ https://t.co/jTVxi5H2xD pic.twitter.com/5P6dXydZW3

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) June 17, 2024

Trent Boult (2/14), playing in his last T20 World Cup match, began with a two-run first over but it was Tim Southee (2/11) who drew the first blood, getting PNG opener Tony Ura caught at deep backward point.

While there was no success for Boult in terms of wickets with the new ball, Ferguson struck on his very first ball to have PNG skipper Assad Vala caught at widish first slip for six.

Ferguson continued to trouble the opposition batters to such an extent that PNG could not score a run off his first three overs.

The right-arm pacer had further success when he pinned Charles Amini (17) in front of the wickets successfully for the third wicket.

Mitchell Santner (1/17) cut short the progress of Sese Bay (12), getting him caught by Finn Allen at long on after luring the batter to dance down the track and hit him but the connection was improper.

Having not conceded a run yet, Ferguson found an inside edge off Chad Soper’s (1) bat crashing into the wickets after he recklessly dangled his bat which came down awkwardly away from his pads.

Ferguson finished his spell without having conceded a run and thus joined Zafar, who was the first to have bowled all four maidens in November 2021 against Panama in T20 World Cup Americas Region Qualifier.

Boult came back into the attack for his first wicket of the contest to clean up Hiri Hiri (7) while Southee bagged another in the next to remove wicketkeeper-batter Kiplin Doriga (5) out of the equation.

Having toiled for success in his first three overs, Ish Sodhi (2/29) grabbed a couple of wickets to wrap up the PNG innings in the last over. 

New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea, T20 World Cup 2024 LIVE Updates© BCCI/IPL