Paul van Meekeren of the Netherlands walks off the field after his dismissal LBW during an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match against Sri Lanka at Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, Sunday, June 16, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Sri Lanka finally found their mojo as they clinically disposed off the Netherlands by a whopping 83 runs in an inconsequential final group D league game of the T20 World Cup here.

With Bangladesh beating Nepal by 21 runs in the other group league game, the faint outside chance that the Netherlands had despite a way inferior net run-rate was up in smoke as they were bowled out for 118 in pursuit of an improbable target of 202 set by Wanindu Hasaranga’s men.

The Sri Lankans left it too late while bringing their A game to the fore as all three units fired in unison but the horse has already bolted as they were out of reckoning for the Super Eights.

The Sri Lankan middle order were brilliant with veteran Angelo Mathews (30 off 15 balls) and skipper Hasaranga (20 off 10 balls) shored up the scoring rate but it was left-hander Charith Asalanka’s 21-ball-46 that was the real difference in their innings. Asalanka smashed five sixes as Sri Lanka crossed the 200-run mark.

Asalanka, smoked the Netherlands bowlers with minimal footwork and maximum power, keeping a stable base that allowed him to go for the jugular.

“These are far better conditions than the USA, and we enjoyed those conditions. It can be tough to come in at No. 5. We just played the conditions,” said Asalanka, who was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’.

“I know I have to be a little more consistent. In general we are a little disappointed about the results in the first two games. But in the end we had a good game here,” the southpaw said.

During the chase, the Netherlands openers Michael Levitt (31) and Max O’Dowd (11) added 45 in just 4.2 overs but once Maheesh Theekshana got the former stumped, there was virtually no resistance from the other batters.

Slinger Nuwan Thushara (3/24) was the pick of the Lankan bowlers while Chennai Super Kings star Matheesha Pathirana (2/12) also remained accurate during his overs hitting the blockhole consistently.

From being 45 for no loss in the first five overs, the Netherlands lost half of the side by the time they reached the halfway stage. Any remote chances of an impressive win ended then and there.

It was one of the best tracks across both USA and the Caribbean islands and there was very little room for error on a track where ball came onto the bat nicely. Kusal Mendis, a seasoned campaigner, started the onslaught with 46 off 29 balls with a flurry of boundaries in the Powerplay to set the tone.

That allowed Asalanka, Mathews and Hasaranga to go hammer and tongs towards the back-end.

“After the bad first two games this win is very healthy for us. The wicket was really good we just wanted to put a 160-170 score on this wicket. With our attack anything over 160 we can defend. In the first two games we lost two or three wickets in the first six overs. Today we didn’t. I think that was the difference,” Hasaranga said at post-match presentation ceremony.

For Netherlands, the performance was a bit underwhelming in this format after impressing one and all during their 50-over global campaign in India last year. Even their Australia-born skipper Scott Edwards, who scored 31 on the day, admitted that his team was found wanting against better quality sides.

“We had good patches throughout the tournament where we gave our chances to win at least three of those games. But something was slightly off and against good quality sides you can’t afford that.

“In the batting, we needed someone to have a big innings, and we weren’t able to do that. Backing our boys to come back firing.”

Google CEO Sundar Pichai expressed his enthusiasm for the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup, highlighting the increased participation of teams this year.

In a post on X, Mr. Pichai shared his excitement for the global growth of his favourite sport, which is being celebrated with a dedicated Google Doodle.

“More teams than ever will participate in the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup this year. Exciting to see my favorite sport growing globally – and celebrated in today’s #Doodle. First toss is in a few hours – good luck to all the teams!” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 kickstarted on June 2 in the USA and West Indies.

This tournament is the ninth edition since it started in 2009. The United States is the host nation this year, and a record 20 teams from around the world will compete on the big stage. The teams are divided into four groups of five for the group stage, and face off against every other country in their group once.

The ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup gives the best men’s cricketers in the world the opportunity to show off their skills and represent their nation. The ICC T20 World Cup will be played in the West Indies and the USA from June 1 to 29.

The USA and Canada will lock horns against each other in the tournament’s opener at the Grand Prairie Stadium on Sunday.

In the tournament, India will be aiming to end their ICC trophy drought, having last won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.Since then, India has reached the 50-over World Cup final in 2023, semifinal in 2015 and 2019, the title clash of the ICC World Test Championship in 2021 and 2023, T20 WC final in 2014, semifinals in 2016 and 2022 but failed to secure a big ICC trophy.

India will be aiming to win their first T20 WC title since they won the inaugural edition of the tournament back in 2007 in South Africa. In the last edition held in Australia in 2022, India lost to England by 10 wickets in the semifinals.

India T20 WC Squad:

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

India were on May 5 placed in Group A alongside defending champions Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan in the Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be held in Bangladesh from October 3-20 this year.

With all their group matches scheduled to be played at Sylhet, India will open their campaign against New Zealand on October 4 and face off against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 6 as the ICC announced the schedule for the ninth edition of the Women’s T20 WC.

India’s next assignment will be against yet-to-be-identified Qualifier 1 team on October 9 while their clash against six-time world champions Australia will be on October 13.

“Each side will play four group matches at the tournament, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the cut-throat semi-finals on 17 and 18 October ahead of the Final in Dhaka on 20 October,” the ICC posted on its website.

“In total, there will be 23 matches played across 19 days in Dhaka and Sylhet, with reserve days in place for both semi-finals and the final should they be required,” the ICC added.

Hosts Bangladesh are placed in Group B along with South Africa, England, West Indies and Qualifier 2.

The two teams will enter the main tournament after the Qualifying event identifies the two finalists later today.

Ireland, UAE, Sri Lanka and Scotland are in the fray.

Ireland will take on Scotland in the first semifinal while UAE will face Sri Lanka in the second. Both the games will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi today.

Australia’s Mitch Marsh.
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

Mitch Marsh will captain Australia at the Twenty20 World Cup next month, leading a national cricket squad that is missing ex-skipper Steve Smith and up-and-coming batter Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Marsh, who is recovering from an injured hamstring, was confirmed as T20 captain on Wednesday after sharing the duties on an interim basis since the retirement last year of Aaron Finch.

Smith’s omission for the tournament starting June 1 in the United States and Caribbean means it’ll be the first time since 2012 he’s missed a World Cup in the limited-overs formats.

The 34-year-old Smith has signed for the Washington Freedom for the second season of Major League Cricket in the United States which starts July 4, four days after the T20 World Cup concludes.

Fraser-McGurk surged into selection calculations on the back of his 233.33 strike rate in the Indian Premier League, but it wasn’t enough to replace Travis Head or the veteran David Warner at the global tournament.

Allrounder Marsh will likely bat at No. 3 and Glenn Maxwell at No. 4 in the lineup, with Tim David likely to fill the finisher role further down the order.

“The batting options available allow a tailored approach to each venue and opponent,” Australia’s chief selector George Bailey said. “Steve Smith, Matt Short, Jason Behrendorff, Aaron Hardie, Spencer Johnson and Xavier Bartlett were all part of long conversations, along with several others, including Jake Fraser-McGurk who is yet to play T20 International cricket but continues to impress and is developing rapidly.”

Bailey said Fraser-McGurk’s form had been “great of late.”

“But the way we’re functioning at the top of the order with the three guys we’ve had there has been really strong as well,” he said. “Ultimately, in that squad of 15, we’re looking to get that balance we want in for each game with different opponents, different venues and different surfaces.”

Matt Wade and Josh Inglis were picked as wicketkeepers and Ashton Agar returns to the squad as a second spinning option to Adam Zampa.

The regular pace bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will have support from Nathan Ellis as well as allrounders Cameron Green, Marsh and Marcus Stoinis.

Australia, the 2021 T20 World Cup champions, will open against Oman at Barbados on June 5. The Australians are the defending champions in the ICC’s World Test Championship and in the 50-over World Cup.

Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matt Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Gujarat Titans Rashid Khan trying to catch a ball during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty-20 cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Eight players featuring in the ongoing Indian Premier League have been named in the 15-member Afghanistan T20 World Cup squad to be led by star all-rounder Rashid Khan.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, who captained Afghanistan at the 2023 ODI World Cup, has been left out of the squad named by the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

Left-handed opener Hazratullah Zazai, Sediqullah Atal and Mohammad Saleem Safi have been named as travelling reserves for the marquee event to be played in the USA and the Caribbean from June 2.

Rashid, Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen Ul Haq, Mohammad Nabi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Gulbadin Naib are the Afghan players currently playing in the IPL.

The squad has only four batters in wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran and back-up keeper Mohammad Ishaq. But, six all-rounders have been named to make up for the lesser number of specialist batters.

Apart from Rashid, the other all-rounders are Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat and Nangeyalia Kharote.

Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Noor are the other spinners along with Rashid, Nabi, Kharote.

Right-arm fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq, left-armers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad will man the pace department, along with the all-rounders.

Janat, Ishaq and Noor have been after missing the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Afghanistan are in Group C in the 20-team tournament, along with New Zealand, co-hosts West Indies, Uganda and Papua New Guinea. They play their first match against Uganda on June 3 at Providence.

The squad: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.

Reserves: Sediqullah Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Saleem Safi.