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New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson was on Thursday ruled out of last two T20 Internationals against India due to a calf injury that he sustained during the second game of the five-match series. Matt Fisher has been named his replacement for the remainder of the series that India has already clinched by taking a 3-0 lead. The fourth match is scheduled to be held here on Friday. "Ferguson experienced pain in his right-calf during the second T20 at Hagley Oval and subsequent scans confirmed a low-grade tear, and he is expected to require another week or so of recovery before returning to play," New Zealand Cricket (NZC) in a statement. Pacer Matt Henry, who is also out of the T20 series, was also assessed following pain in his right quadricep during the second game. "...scans have shown he's picked up a low-grade tear requiring one-to-two weeks recovery. Henry, who was set to return to the BLACKCAPS for the upcoming ODI series due to planned workload management, remains on track," said
India vice-captain Tilak Varma says moving down from number three to five in the batting order has led to a slight change in his mindset and he now eyes boundaries from ball one instead of trying to settle in first. Tilak has built a reputation of being a chase master over the last 12 months. Even in the second T20I against New Zealand, he pulled off a tense chase batting alongside Nitish Reddy. India have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. "I already had the power game; I have scored runs at number three as well. Now, batting at number five or six, I think about going for a boundary off the very first ball only if it's there to be hit," he said ahead of the fourth T20I here. "Otherwise, I focus on taking the game deep. I take a bit more time. Initially, I focus on singles and doubles, finding gaps for fours or two runs," he added. While pacing the run chase, Tilak says he likes to play with the psyche of the bowlers, who are under more pressure than batters.
Harmanpreet Kaur was brutal and Deepti Sharma sublime as their twin centuries headlined India's commanding 121-run victory over minnows Zimbabwe in the second women's ODI here on Sunday. India thus took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series having won the first match by a comfortable nine-wicket margin. Having posted a formidable 328 for 6, the home team's spinners, led by left-arm orthodox bowler Vaishnavi Sharma (four wickets), bowled Zimbabwe out for a paltry 207 in 48.5 overs. After scoring her century, Deepti polished off the opposition tail with figures of 3 for 32. Harmanpreet, whose second coming as a pure batter has been nothing short of breathtaking, struck 126 off 121 balls laced with 15 well-timed boundaries. This was Harmanpreet's eighth WODI century after she hit a match-winning 91 in one of the WT20Is played earlier. She had an able companion in Deepti, who remained unbeaten on 106 off 86 balls with 15 hits to the fence. Harmanpreet regaled a sizable cr
Veteran batter Harmanpreet Kaur has come to terms with life beyond captaincy and said she wants to keep enjoying her batting after producing yet another superlative knock in India's 121-run win over Zimbabwe in the second ODI. After scoring a fine 91 in a T20 International against Zimbabwe few days back, Harmanpreet struck her eighth ODI hundred in India's series-clinching victory against same opposition, underlining her enduring value to the team with the bat. "I am someone who likes to live life close to reality. This is the reality now, and I want to accept it," Harmanpreet said at post match presentation ceremony. "Cricket is something that gives me happiness and batting is something I have enjoyed throughout my career. Just want to enjoy batting." Harmanpreet added that captaincy was not on her mind when she was in the middle, as her priority was to take responsibility and bat according to the situation. "When you are batting, you don't think about these things. You are batti
New Zealand have made several changes to their squad for the remaining matches of the T20I series against India, with pacers Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry among those set to miss the third game due to niggles and workload management. Ferguson will travel to Auckland on Sunday and rejoin the squad for the fourth and fifth T20Is at Eden Park and Seddon Park, respectively, while Henry will remain in Christchurch and link up with the ODI squad in Auckland on November 2. Henry had bowled only two overs in the second T20I against India. Ferguson, too, had left the field as a precautionary measure and is likely to return for the final two games of the series. "Those two are being assessed. They'll go for some scans on Tuesday after the public holiday. We'll have some more information as to where things stand. Obviously, like always, we're just hoping for the best. That'll allow for the quickest turnaround," head coach Rob Walter said in a video shared by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) on ...
New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips credited India for their successful chase of 226 in the first T20I but said his side needed to take more wickets in the middle overs and improve its fielding after suffering a four-wicket defeat here on Thursday. India chased down the target after a high-scoring contest, and Phillips acknowledged that while New Zealand had plans to counter India's aggressive batting, execution remained the key. "We've got all our plans on the drawing board, but at the end of the day, you've got to execute them," Phillips said at the post-match press conference. Phillips, who top-scored for New Zealand with an unbeaten 82, also gave credit to India's batting approach and the ability of their players to adapt to the conditions. "The pitches are fantastic as well. The bounce is probably a little more than they're used to, and they adjusted really well today," he said. Phillips felt New Zealand could have put India under greater pressure by taking more wickets an
India opener Sanju Samson on Thursday said the three-time world champions have emphasised "killing games in the powerplay" whenever the opportunity has presented itself. Samson hammered a 33-ball 67, with eight fours and four sixes, to pave the way for India's four-wicket win over New Zealand in the opening match of the five-T20I series here. Samson went berserk at the top as he added 93 runs inside the powerplay in a tall run chase of 226, with India scoring 230/6 in 19.4 overs to record their highest-ever successful run chase in T20 Internationals. "I won't think so we would have played a bit differently, but I think it's a different phases of the game," Samson told reporters when asked if India's approach with the bat in the chase would have been different had they been chasing a smaller target. "You have different approaches when you have had a really good start in the powerplay we actually phrase it very differently, like powerplays is different, middle-overs is different and
India vice-captain Deepti Sharma on Thursday said she was ready to embrace her new responsibility and support skipper Smriti Mandhana as the team looks to build on its success, starting with the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe here from Friday. Mandhana was recently appointed captain of India's women's white-ball teams, while Deepti was named vice-captain of the ODI side for the home series against Zimbabwe following Harmanpreet Kaur's decision to step down as skipper across formats. "When you get a new role, I take it as a challenge. When this news came, I felt good that I could help the other players as much as possible for the team. So, when I got this role, I was very happy," Deepti said on the eve of the series opener. "My mindset is to win as many matches as possible for the team, whether as a player or as vice-captain. In this role, I can help Smriti as much as possible," she added. Deepti predicted a batting-friendly pitch and said India would aim to post a total of
India T20 captain Shreyas Iyer on Wednesday said the team's bowling attack had been lacking experience in recent past and veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar's return would help address this issue. The 36-year-old Bhuvneshwar has returned to the Indian T20I set-up after four years after being named in squad for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, beginning here on Thursday. "Bhuvi brings a lot of experience to the team. And we were lacking that, especially after the IPL. We had a lot of new bowlers," Iyer said at the pre-match press conference. "But in T20, if you see his career graph, he has won the IPL in each of the last two years. So, he has a very good idea of how to dominate this format." In the absence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, India's T20I bowling attack featuring fast bowlers Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, and Gurnoor Brar has faced scrutiny after repeatedly conceding big totals on flat tracks. Bhuvneshwar, known for his ability to generate swing and seam ...