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The board is set to hire a consultant to look into the feasibility of the idea

Umar Farooq24-Mar-2022The PCB’s plan to bring drop-in pitches from Australia has been delayed. The board is now likely to hire a consultant who will first advise it on whether it is feasible to have the Australian-made pitches in Pakistan. Instead, ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB is likely to get soil in from Australia and seed it at multiple venues as part of a trial.The original plan was to have two readymade pitches as a short-term solution to help Pakistan prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which is to be held in Australia in October-November. It was also part of a broader plan to overhaul the standard of pitches across the country – a key plank in the chairmanship of Ramiz Raja.Related

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The company given the contract to import the drop-in pitches has been asked to hold the purchase, which, in any case, would have been a fairly lengthy process, potentially taking up to 10 months. The PCB had signed an MoU with the investment company Arif Habib Group, which was to bear the PKR 37 crore (USD 2 million approx) procurement cost. That money is still likely to be used in the development of pitches.Since he took over as PCB chairman, Ramiz has been vocal about various issues that he sees afflicting Pakistan cricket. Pitches have become his most urgent priority. “Until pitches are fixed, we aren’t going anywhere as it’s the heartbeat of cricket,” he had told ESPNcricinfo last year in December.”It is Ramiz’s vision and mission to improve the quality of the pitches at all international and domestic cricket venues,” a PCB spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “In this regard, we’ve hired an Australian expert on drop-in pitches as a consultant, who will tour Pakistan in April and visit all potential venues for a complete assessment and evaluation before suggesting next steps.”As we don’t have experts on drop-in pitches, we need to have a feasibility about everything around it. There are several critical elements to the success of this initiative, including weather conditions, usage of the venues, soil requirements and overall design and outlook of the venue.”The MCG, like a number of Australian venues, features a drop-in pitch•Getty Images

Drop-in pitches are prominent in Australia and New Zealand, where a number of stadiums host multiple sports. A portable turf pitch is installed whenever a cricket match is to take place. In Pakistan, however, the PCB either leases out cricket stadiums or owns them directly, and cricket is the only sport played at these venues. The PCB maintains all stadiums through the year, employing their own curators for each venue.Pitches have been in the spotlight during Pakistan’s ongoing Test series against Australia, in general for their flat, docile nature. In particular, the surface in Rawalpindi came in for heavy criticism after just 14 wickets fell over five days of a drawn first Test, and it ultimately earned a “below average” rating from the ICC.Soon after, Ramiz conceded that the pitch had been prepared, in part, to nullify Australia’s strengths and account for injury-enforced absences in the Pakistan side. The nature of that pitch was in contrast to Rawalpindi’s reputation as the most seam-friendly of Pakistan’s main venues.In fact, Pakistan’s pitches since the return of Test cricket to the country in late 2019 and until this series had been widely viewed as sporting surfaces with something in them for batters, fast bowlers and spinners.But the surfaces for the first two Tests against Australia in Rawalpindi and Karachi pushed the PCB to hire Australian curator Toby Lumsden to assist the local curator while preparing the pitch for the ongoing third Test in Lahore, in a bid to produce a more helpful track for spinners. But the Test match has been dominated by the fast bowlers, who took 17 of the 20 wickets to fall on the first three days.

Linsey Smith, Holly Armitage ensure Finals Day race heads into final round of fixtures

ECB Reporters Network01-Jun-2022Northern Diamonds kept their Charlotte Edwards Cup hopes on course by holding their nerve to defeat Lightning by five runs at Seat Unique Riverside.The home side set an imposing total of 146 after Bess Heath led the way with a great knock of 60, sharing a partnership of 93 with Sterre Kalis. Kalis and skipper Hollie Armitage scored 39 and 30 respectively to lay down a challenge for Lightning.Ella Claridge and Bethany Harmer gave Lightning real hope of chasing down the target, but the Diamonds’ bowlers held their composure under pressure led by Armitage with figures of 4 for 27. Linsey Smith and Emma Marlow also impressed to seal a narrow victory, taking the race for Finals Day into the final game.After winning the toss, Heath and Kalis were in great touch at the top of the innings to put the visitors on the back foot in the power play. Heath made the most of a life after Kathryn Bryce failed to run her out for 1, while Kalis was also afforded a second chance when Teresa Graves put her down on 14 at square leg.Related

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Lightning were to rue those missed opportunities as Kalis and Heath poured on the runs for the home side. The two batters cruised past the 50 partnership for the opening stand in only 40 balls, and surpassed the highest stand for the first wicket for the Diamonds in the 2022 campaign.Heath brought out her reverse-sweep to perfection to bring up her fifty, dispatching Marie Kelly for two boundaries in the 12th over to reach the milestone. The opening stand was only ended when Kalis mistimed her drive off Lucy Higham to Claridge.Heath and Armitage kept the pressure on the visitors and pressed over the 100-run mark. Piepa Cleary prised out Heath for a fine innings of 60, stumped by Sarah Bryce while overbalancing.Late wickets from the visitors prevented the Diamonds surpassing 150, but the hosts were well placed after posting 145 for 5 from their 20 overs.Marlow made an instant breakthrough for the Diamonds to remove Kelly to put Lightning on the back foot in the first over but they responded through Harmer and Claridge, who raced to their 50 partnership from 40 balls, matching the earlier effort from Kalis and Heath.Armitage brought herself into the attack and secured a vital breakthrough to dismiss Harmer lbw for 35, ending the partnership for the second wicket for 74.Sophie Munro ensured the game would have a tense finish with a quick-fire 16 from 10 balls but Armitage held her composure when it mattered the most to dismiss Munro, Graves and Cleary.Sarah Bryce still kept Lightning in the game, leaving them needing 10 runs from the final over. But, the Diamonds held their nerve under pressure as Smith bowled Higham and had Ballinger caught by Phoebe Turner to guide her side over the line.

Welsh Fire humbled for 87 in front of home crowd on Jonny Bairstow’s return

ECB Reporters Network12-Aug-2023Southern Brave romped to a comfortable nine-wicket win over Welsh Fire, the bowlers setting the tone with Tymal Mills taking only the second hat-trick in the Men’s Hundred.That came off the final three balls of the Welsh Fire innings as they fell to 87 all out, the pattern started with returning England star Jonny Bairstow falling early for a four-ball duck.Craig Overton took two early wickets for Brave, including Bairstow, while George Garton took 3 for 8 off 15 balls through the middle of the innings to block any momentum for the home side, Mills finishing with four wickets in all.Stephen Eskinazi’s 38 was the only bright spot in a total easily chased down by Southern Brave. Finn Allen scored a quick 31 before Devon Conway, 35 not out, and Leus du Plooy, 17 not out, saw them through to victory with 41 balls spare.Welsh Fire could not have got off to a much worse start, losing Ashes hero Bairstow cheaply in his first game for them since 2021. He tried to hit Overton over mid-off, but was caught off the mistimed shot without scoring, with Overton getting bounce and movement to also dismiss captain Tom Abell, caught behind by Devon Conway.Joe Clarke also went for a duck, caught Conway off the bowling of Garton, and when Mills dismissed Glenn Phillips with his first ball, giving Conway a third catch, Welsh Fire were in deep trouble at 34 for 4 after 41 balls.David Willey’s cameo of 16 was also ended by Overton, this time with a sliding catch in the deep off the bowling of Garton.While everyone else was losing their wicket, the player keeping his at the other end was opener Stephen Eskinazi who plotted his way to 38 off 34 balls. However, when he was also out skying the ball off Garton, Welsh Fire were running out of options.In the first game between these two sides, Brave had been in even deeper trouble before Chris Jordan played a match-winning innings, but Fire had no equivalent as the lower order slipped away. It fell to Mills to take a hat-trick with the last three balls of the innings as Fire were dismissed for 87 – the lowest total in a completed 100-ball innings – and left needing their bowlers to produce something remarkable to save the game.The player with the best chance of doing that was Pakistan opening bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi and he delivered an effective first set that did everything other than pick up a wicket for Fire. Willey’s first two balls then went for 10 as Brave opener Finn Allen started to find his range before he was caught on the long-on boundary by Willey off the bowling of David Payne for 31.Welsh Fire tried seven bowlers, but there was little pressure on Conway and du Plooy as they knocked off the winning runs with great ease.

“It will be a challenging series but we have the extra confidence from the Pakistan series”

Mohammad Isam15-Sep-2024Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto says his side is confident going into the first Test against India in Chennai, after their 2-0 win against Pakistan earlier this month. The two-match Test series against India starts on Thursday, followed by three T20Is.”It will be a challenging series but we have the extra confidence from the Pakistan series,” Shanto said in the pre-departure press conference in Dhaka. “I guess the whole country has that confidence now. Every series is an opportunity. We want to win both Tests, but we have to stick to our process. If we do our job, we can get a good result.”They are well ahead of us in the rankings. But we did play well recently. We want to play well for five days, that’s our goal. We want to get the result in the last session of the Test match. At that time, the match can go in any direction. It is an opportunity [to get our first win in India]. We will play with a win in mind. But we don’t want to think too far ahead. We want to do well for five days, and play to our strength. That’s most important.”Related

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Bangladesh played an inspired brand of cricket in Pakistan where their batters and bowlers combined to beat the home side by ten wickets in the first Test and by six wickets in the second. Much of the focus was on their fast bowlers who combined to take all ten wickets in the Pakistan second innings in the second Test, a first for the country.Shanto knows Bangladesh’s pace attack is not as experienced as India’s, but the recent success will keep them in a positive frame of mind. At the same time, he feels Bangladesh’s spinners – Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz – are much closer to India’s.”We are in a good place with our bowling attack, both spin and pace,” he said. “Perhaps our pacers are behind them in terms of experience but our spin attack is close to theirs. They can bowl in any conditions. All I can say is that our pacers, spinners and batters will give 100%.”I think we can make a difference only if we play as a team. It is not just the spinners but the pacers and the batters also. The whole team has to play together.”Shakib Al Hasan, here with Alec Stewart, picked up nine wickets in the match for Surrey•Getty Images

Bangladesh’s batters also made an overall recovery of their form. They had an ordinary time in the last 12 months, particularly against Sri Lanka earlier this year when the team crossed 300 only once during the home series. But they batted splendidly in the first Test in Rawalpindi, with Mushfiqur Rahim getting 191 and three other batters crossing fifties. In the second Test, too, they fought hard despite a top-order collapse. Litton Das struck his fourth Test century, and Mehidy his second fifty in the series.Shanto and Shakib, though, could not get a half-century in Pakistan. Shanto hasn’t emulated his 2023 form when he scored 1650 runs across formats, with five centuries. He has scored only one century so far this year. Shakib has scored just one half-century in 16 innings. But he has continued his strong bowling form, and took nine wickets for Surrey against Somerset recently. He will join the team in India directly from London.”My personal goal would be for the team to win,” Shanto said. “I want to contribute as a batter, for which I have prepared to the best of my ability. I am hopeful [Shakib] will do well. The expectations are always the same with him. He is in good form with the ball. He didn’t get runs [for Surrey], but he had a good outing with the ball.”Before the Pakistan series, the new BCB president, Faruque Ahmed, had said that he did not want Chandika Hathurusinghe to continue as head coach, but he has reportedly toned down that rhetoric. On Sunday, he also said that the team would donate a portion of their bonus for winning the Pakistan series.”The captain [Shanto] has said that they will contribute a portion of their bonus to the flood-affected people and those who were affected in the student-led people’s movement,” Ahmed said. “The amount is BDT 3.2 crore [approx. US$270,000] for winning two Tests and the series. Some different bonuses have added up also. A portion of the amount will go to the chief advisor’s relief fund for the flood-affected people.”

Injuries have forced Brandon Glover and Timm van der Gugten to miss out too

Matt Roller13-May-2024Netherlands will be without the experienced pair of Colin Ackermann and Roelof van der Merwe at the T20 World Cup 2024. The two of them made themselves unavailable for selection, choosing to fulfil their county commitments instead.Netherlands have called up Daniel Doram, the Leeward Islands left-arm spinner, to a full T20I squad for the first time.The T20 World Cup clashes with the start of the Vitality Blast, England’s county T20 competition, which has forced Associate players to choose between their primary employers and their national teams.Bas de Leede (Durham) and Fred Klaassen (Kent) will be released by their counties for the T20 World Cup, but ESPNcricinfo understands that Ackermann and van der Merwe have committed to Durham and Somerset respectively. Neither was named in the Netherlands’ provisional squad on Monday.Brandon Glover, meanwhile, wasn’t considered as he continued his comeback after an injury, while Timm van der Gugten is out of action with a calf injury.In van der Merwe’s absence, Doram has been named as one of two left-arm spinners in the squad along with Tim Pringle. He is a Dutch passport-holder from Saint Maarten, a constituent state of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and played first-class and List A cricket for Netherlands as a teenager.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Doram, who is 6′ 7″ tall, has been playing for Leeward Islands in the West Indies Championship and picked up 29 wickets at 20.27 this season. He has never played a professional T20 match but was on standby when Netherlands toured Nepal earlier this year.”We have been able to select a well-balanced team, which we are confident will be able to perform in the conditions against the opposition we face in the US and West Indies,” Ryan Cook, the Netherlands head coach, said in a release. “All of the players have been training well and have been involved in the recent ProSeries with some exciting performances showing the growing depth and quality in Netherlands cricket.”We have managed to perform admirably in the last two World Cups we have participated in and will be determined to rise to the challenges we face ahead to reach the next round of the tournament.”Scott Edwards will to captain the side, as he did at the 2022 T20 World Cup, and there are several changes to the squad that finished fourth in their Super 12s group in that tournament. Shariz Ahmad, Tom Cooper, Stephen Myburgh, Ackermann, van der Merwe, Glover and van der Gugten are out; Wesley Barresi, Aryan Dutt, Michael Levitt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Vivian Kingma and Doram have come in.Netherlands will prepare for the tournament with a tri-series against Scotland and Ireland, which starts on Saturday. They have been drawn in Group D of the T20 World Cup alongside Bangladesh, Nepal, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Netherlands provisional squad for the T20 World Cup:

Aryan Dutt, Bas de Leede, Daniel Doram, Fred Klaassen, Logan van Beek, Max O’Dowd, Michael Levitt, Paul van Meekeren, Scott Edwards (capt/wk), Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Tim Pringle, Vikramjit Singh, Vivian Kingma, Wesley Barresi

Tony Brian calls for government enquiry into process that found Scottish cricket to be institutionally racist

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2023The former chair of Cricket Scotland has issued a scathing criticism of last year’s investigation into racism in the sport, calling the report “fatally and irredeemably flawed” and urging the Scottish government to commission an independent enquiry into how it was put together.Tony Brian, who was Cricket Scotland chair between 2015 and 2022, has submitted a document entitled “complaints and whistleblowing disclosures” to SportScotland, the body that oversaw publication of the Changing the Boundaries report in July 2022. His findings have also been copied to Scotland’s first minister and Audit Scotland.Brian claims shortcomings in the report mean that the charge of institutional racism against Cricket Scotland, which led to the board resigning en masse, was not supportable. He has also asked that the governing body be removed from special measures.”We now know that SportScotland’s so-called ‘independent’ report was flawed from its inception and a gross waste of large amounts of public money,” Brian said. “The results of Freedom of Information requests and in-depth analysis of the report and its methodology now show clearly that it was a deeply flawed report with a pre-determined outcome conducted by ill-resourced and conflicted reviewers who failed to undertake proper forensic investigation or even to speak to many relevant individuals.”Related

• Scotland racism investigators deny 'exonerations' were within their remit

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• Cricket Scotland revealed to be institutionally racist in damning independent report

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Scottish cricket continues to deal with fallout from the Changing the Boundaries report, which identified 448 examples of alleged institutional racism and found Cricket Scotland had failed 29 of the 31 tests used to measure the scale of the problem.In March, Brian’s successor as chair, Anjan Luthra, resigned after just six months in the role, citing disagreements with the way SportScotland was looking to run the game. Cricket Scotland has yet to replace Luthra and is currently being run by an interim chief executive appointed last month.Brian’s dossier argues that as well as “up to £1m” in wasted public expenditure on the investigation, Cricket Scotland has missed out on “tens of millions of pounds of potential investment” through the ICC, with the report’s publication halting an application for Scotland to become a Full Member nation, thereby unlocking further funding.Central to Brian’s criticism of the report is the role of Plan4Sport, which was commissioned by SportScotland to carry out the review into Scottish cricket. Plan4Sport is described in the dossier as “a small three-person consultancy operating out of a residential address in Staffordshire”, which had previously worked for SportScotland – and therefore was not fully independent.Ten months on, the 448 instances of discrimination and 31 indicators of institutional racism have not been published. After a Freedom of Information request, SportScotland revealed that it “did not validate or oversee the methodology or findings”.Brian claims that key witnesses were not called for interview, and that evidence of “positive experiences of inclusion” was not given any weight. It is also suggested that Plan4Sport had previously worked with Cricket Scotland on its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion framework, and did not raise any concerns about discrimination.In response, SportScotland issued the following statement: “That people still refuse to accept the findings of Changing The Boundaries is a cause for concern. The denial of racism is a barrier to racial equity and is doing further damage to the sport that so many people in communities across the country love.”The findings of the Changing The Boundaries report were accepted in full by the previous Cricket Scotland Board who apologised multiple times for the racism and discrimination problems within the sport. The governing body is now fully committed to implementing all recommendations contained in the report and we will continue to support them through the rebuilding process.”We have full confidence in how the Changing The Boundaries review was carried out and will not be conducting any further reviews.”

The allrounder is still recovering from the ACL injury sustained last year leaving the club needing a new captain

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2023Melbourne Renegades’ captain Sophie Molineux has been ruled out of the entire WBBL as she continues her recovery from the ACL injury suffered last season.Molineux, the left-arm spin-bowling allrounder, picked up the injury against Melbourne Stars in November and is now hoping to return to domestic cricket in the second half of this campaign following the WBBL.It was announced on Thursday that Molineux had signed a new two-year deal with Renegades.”I’m really disappointed that my ongoing recovery from an ACL reconstruction means that I won’t be fit and available in time for this season,” she said. “But I’m very much appreciative of the support the club has shown me during the process and I’m very keen to repay their support by helping the team in any way possible over the coming months.”Molineux’s absence means Renegades will need a new captain for the upcoming season, and it could be they look to one of their overseas signings having secured Harmanpreet Kaur and Hayley Matthews at the draft. Another option would be Australia allrounder Georgia Wareham.”While we’d love to have her on the field this year, it’s important Sophie returns to full fitness and her leadership around the group off the field will be just as important,” Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said.Renegades will also be without fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck for the whole WBBL after she underwent shoulder surgery following the Australia A tour of England earlier this year.

The allrounder picked up a hamstring strain in the final T20I against Pakistan

Andrew McGlashan20-Nov-20241:07

Finch: Shield cricket not a factor for Maxwell’s Test hopes

Glenn Maxwell’s hopes of making a return to first-class cricket before Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka have been scuppered by the hamstring injury he picked up against Pakistan in Hobart. Maxwell faces up to a month on the sidelines, which would rule him out of either of Victoria’s next two Sheffield Shield matches and leave a tight timeframe to be fit for the start of the BBL with Melbourne Stars.Maxwell limped off during Pakistan’s innings on Monday evening and has been diagnosed with a grade two hamstring injury. He had also been in the frame for the Prime Minister’s XI for the two-day pink-ball match against India in Canberra between the first and second Tests alongside potentially a Shield outing in one of Victoria’s two upcoming matches against Queensland.Related

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• Maxwell sets up Australia win in seven-over thrash

Although missing those matches is not terminal to Maxwell’s hopes of returning to Test cricket in Sri Lanka they had been viewed as an opportunity to further prove he can withstand the rigours of four-day cricket following his badly broken leg in 2022. Last month he played his first red-ball game in over a year when he featured for Victoria’s Second XI against Queensland and was encouraged by a long stint in the field.Maxwell was left bitterly disappointed when he narrowly missed playing against Sri Lanka on the 2022 tour and adding to his seven caps remains a major ambition before his career finishes after he last featured in 2017.”I think if I gave up on that Test dream now, I don’t think I’d be doing justice to that younger Glenn Maxwell who was dying to put on the baggy green when he was a kid,” Maxwell told ESPNcricinfo last month. “And I think while there’s still a glimmer of hope, I’ll keep going for it.”Glenn Maxwell is unlikely to play again before the BBL•Getty Images

Former Australia captain Aaron Finch does not believe the latest injury will change whether Maxwell is selected for Sri Lanka or not.”Don’t think it makes any difference,” Finch told ESPN’s . “The very little red-ball cricket Maxi’s played over the last probably five years, if they want to pick him, they’ll pick him regardless, and it’s not about if he goes and gets runs in Shield cricket. I don’t think that comes into it at all because it’s the skillset he has got – he’s very good against spin, he’s very versatile, [and] his offspin is better than part-time.”Chair of selectors George Bailey has previously said they will make specialist picks for Sri Lanka, and that performances in Shield cricket would not be the overriding factor given the vast differences in the conditions, while head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed Maxwell was firmly in the mix.”The ability to play on that horizontal plane sweeping and reverse sweeping, I think will be a critical skill if the conditions are extreme,” McDonald said. “Does he [Maxwell] fit that profile? 100 percent he fits that profile.”The big challenge for Maxi is clearly body and whether he can get through Test cricket, and what that may look like on the back of BBL. With Maxi, it’s he plays, see how he pulls up and then make the next decision on the back of that injury that he had.”The first Test in Sri Lanka starts on January 29 with Australia expected to have a 10-day lead up meaning those selected for the tour will miss the BBL finals and potentially the late regular-season games.Melbourne Stars’ first BBL match is the opening game of the tournament against Perth Scorchers on December 15.

India captain questions the decision to make qualification for final a percentage-based system

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Nov-20202:24

Australia can be a very intimidating place if you aren’t up for it – Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli has questioned the ICC for altering the points system of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC), saying the change is “confusing” and the governing body has a lot to explain.India slipped to the second in the WTC standings after the ICC decided last week to rank teams “in order of percentage of points earned” from the contested matches.Australia (296 points from 3 series) toppled India (360 points from 4 series) in the standings after the revision with a percentage of 82.22 compared to the latter’s 75 percent.Speaking during a virtual media briefing from Sydney on Thursday, a day before India start the white-ball leg of their tour of Australia, Kohli admitted he was trying to wrap his head around the ICC’s decision.ALSO READ: Kohli: ‘Lot of uncertainty’ about Rohit injury“It is definitely surprising because we were told points are the matter of contention for the top two teams qualifying in the World Test Championship and now suddenly it has become percentage out of nowhere,” Kohli said. “So it’s very confusing, very difficult to understand why.”Kohli is the first Test captain to react to the decision, which was ratified recently by the ICC’s chief executives committee. A self-admitted fan of Test cricket, Kohli had previously suggested that a better way to find more balance in the WTC could be by teams alternating between home and away series.According to Kohli, it would have been better for the ICC to give some advance notice to teams on the new methodology devised in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic to determine the WTC finalists. “If these things were explained to us from day one then it would have been easier for us to understand the reasons why such a change has happened. But it has happened out of nowhere. I think further questions about this should be asked to the ICC and understand why this has been done and what are the reasons behind it.”ALSO READ: Kohli: Younger players will feature a lot in Australia tourUntil recently, Kohli’s team were favorites to make the WTC final. With 360 points, India were atop the points table, comfortably ahead of England (296) and Australia (292) their two closest competitors. However, after the WTC got disrupted by pandemic, which caused massive imbalance between the nine teams in terms of the series played (each was meant to originally player six), the ICC recently approved modifications to the process to determine the two finalists. Instead of overall points, the ICC approved the recommendation of its Cricket Committee which said that the two finalists will be determined by the highest percentage of points earned from the matches they contested.Consequently, as explained here by ESPNcricinfo, India will need to ensure they win most of the eight Tests in their remaining two series – in Australia, followed by at home, against England – to book their place in the final scheduled for next June.

West Indies broke a 13-match losing streak and topped Group B to set up a semi-final against New Zealand

Firdose Moonda15-Oct-2024West Indies pulled off the biggest heist of this T20 World Cup and qualified for the semi-finals, against all expectation, and knocked one of the favourites, England.Having last beaten England in 2018, West Indies broke a 13-match losing streak and topped Group B to set up a semi-final against New Zealand in Sharjah. That year was also the last time West Indies played in a semi-final of the T20 World Cup.This is only the second time England have missed out on the knockouts of a T20 World Cup after being eliminated in the group stage in 2010. After wins in their first three matches, they were confident of making the final four this time. Instead, it is South Africa who join West Indies, with England’s net run-rate leaving them third in the group.West Indies win was made all the more remarkable because they were without former captain and veteran batter Stafanie Taylor, who is struggling with a knee injury. In her absence, Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph, found form and wiped away the bulk of the 142-run target. Matthews, playing in her 100th T20I, scored her 14th half-century in the format while Joseph, who had a career-best of 34 before this game, scored a 38-run 52. The pair shared an opening stand of 102 inside 13 overs and West Indies were on their way. This is the sixth time West Indies have successfully chased a total of 140-plus, and the second time since their record chase of 213 against Australia last December.England may have thought they had enough after Nat Sciver-Brunt’s half-century but lacked contributions from the rest of the order. To add to their worries, Heather Knight retired with a calf-injury on 21, with the score on 80 for 3, which halted the momentum England regained after they slipped to 34 for 3 in the seventh over. Afy Fletcher and Deandra Dottin, bowling for the first time in the tournament, took four wickets between them and conceded 37 runs in seven overs, which gave West Indies an advantage they carried through the game.

West Indies’ whirlwind start

West Indies’ youngsters Zaida James and Ashmini Munisar spoke to ESPNcricinfo a few days ago about their commitment to building a new legacy for West Indies cricket and almost combined to start that today. James, recovered from a blow to the chin, tossed her second ball up to Maia Bouchier, who tossed it up to Munisar at cover point but she shelled a straightforward chance. Bouchier went on to hit the first boundary of the innings and England were up and away until Matthews brought herself on to bowl. Danni Wyatt-Hodge hit her behind point for four but when she tried that a second time, Dottin lunged forward to take a low catch and West Indies had a breakthrough. In the next over, Alice Capsey was run out for one, chancing Dottin’s arm at her peril, and immediately after the powerplay, Bouchier skied Afy Fletcher to Qiana Joseph at extra cover. England were 34 for 3 in the seventh over and stunned.Nat Sciver-Brunt’s fifty was in vain for England•ICC/Getty Images

Knight and Nat: steady then surge

Sciver-Brunt survived an lbw review when she was on 2 when Fletcher pitched it outside leg, and went on to open her boundary count with lap over Shemaime Campbelle and that got England going. Knight bisected the extra cover and mid-off fielder for two overs in succession to take England to fifty and beyond. The pair then brought out the sweeps and England were running away with it at 79 for 3 after 12 overs when injury struck. Knight had treatment during that over but then left the field with a calf concern. At the time, the partnership was worth 46 off 36 balls, which was the only stand of more than 30 in the innings. Sciver-Brunt watched Amy Jones hand Dotting a catch at backward point and Charlie Dean pick out Matthews at mid-off as the 17th over started. She played an almost lone hand in scoring 14 runs off the 18th over and 13 off the 20th to register her 14th T20I half-century and taking England over 140.

Most runs in an over and the highest powerplay score

It took until the final group stage match to see some proper aggression upfront and it came from the team with the reputation to hit big, but not always the results. Matthews, who has registered scores of 10, 8 and 34 in the tournament so far and has not been as much of a presence with the bat, hit Lauren Bell over long leg for six off the second ball. She went on to score fours through fine leg and mid-off and the first over cost Bell – the most expensive of the tournament so far. Matthew owned opening over and her and Joseph rode their luck to take charge of the rest of the powerplay but not without some nerves.Joseph got off the mark with a thick outside edge between backward point and short third that went for four, then hit Sciver-Brunt to deep mid-wicket, where the ball went through Sophia Dunkley’s hands for four more. She settled in the next over and hit Charlie Dean for six before taking on England’s trump card Sophie Ecclestone for back to back boundaries. West Indies were 67 without loss in the powerplay, the highest of the tournament so far.

England’s drops add up

Dunkley’s drop was the start of one of England’s worst fielding performances recently as they put down five catches. In the fifth over, Joseph was on 31 when she skied Sciver-Brunt into the night sky and though Alice Capsey settled herself underneath it at point, she tried to catch it reverse-cup and dropped it. Then, on 35 in the eighth over, Joseph hit Sarah Glenn to mid-wicket, where Bouchier ran to her left but let it slip through her fingers. The ball followed Bouchier for a little while after that, and she did not collect cleanly at mid-wicket when Campbelle called Dottin through for a run. Bouchier berated herself and England were falling apart. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, there have been 75 dropped catches in the group stage of the tournament, and England have been responsible for nine, the third most of any side.