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Pakistan’s ODI captain Azhar Ali and allrounder Mohammad Hafeez have agreed to ‘unconditionally’ return to the ongoing conditioning camp in Lahore, two days after they chose to stay away due to Mohammad Amir’s presence at the camp

Umar Farooq26-Dec-2015Pakistan’s ODI captain Azhar Ali and allrounder Mohammad Hafeez have agreed to ‘unconditionally’ return to the ongoing training camp in Lahore, two days after they chose to stay away due to Mohammad Amir’s presence at the camp.Amir, who is in the selection mix after serving a five-year ban for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal, was one of the 26 probables named for the pre-season conditioning camp in the build-up to the New Zealand tour. On Thursday, both Azhar and Hafeez were scheduled to join the camp after completing their domestic matches, but they did not do so. Azhar went on to state that he would not attend the camp “as long as Amir is there.”The players, however, decided to join the training camp after meeting with PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan.”They both met and decided to join the training camp,” Khan said, after a final meeting with the players. “I do respect their concerns but some of them, I told them, are not acceptable. So they understood and confirmed that they are on the same page with us and now we are looking forward to the success of the team.”Amir had been allowed to return to cricket ahead of schedule by the ICC in January this year and has impressed in Pakistan’s domestic first-class competition and in the Bangladesh Premier League. He was also signed up by the Karachi Kings franchise for the upcoming Pakistan Super League. Khan urged both players to respect Amir and extend their full support to the bowler who has completed his punishment. Apart from the five-year suspension, Amir was given a six-month jail sentence and he served half of it at the Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset.”We have also conveyed that for a while we have only selected Amir in the training session and he has not been selected in the national team so far,” Khan said. “But if so [Amir is selected] then they both have to stand with him and should not see him with suspicion or behave badly with him. It is now their responsibility – Azhar as captain and him [Hafeez] as a senior player – to take him like a family. We, at the same time, will ensure that Amir stays on course and does not commit any mistake in future.”Hafeez was happy that Khan had agreed to listen to his reservations and said he will continue to oppose corruption on principle.”My stance has been simple all the way, that anyone who damages the pride and integrity of the country should not be given a chance again,” he told the media, after agreeing to return to the camp. “It was my principle stance and will remain the same throughout my life.”I am happy that the PCB chairman heard my reservations and agreed to safeguard our concerns for the sake of Pakistan cricket. Playing cricket is my passion and I don’t need to convince people about my talent. I know I am an average player but I won an honour to represent Pakistan and I vow to contribute to the success of Pakistan. I will, in my humble capacity, continue to support every player.” ‘In November, Hafeez had reportedly turned down an offer in the Bangladesh Premier League from the Chittagong Vikings franchise, which had enlisted Amir. Hafeez told ESPNcricinfo that he could not play “with any player who has tarnished and brought a bad name to the country”.On Saturday, Hafeez stressed his stance was not directed at a particular individual.
“I also want to clarify that my stance wasn’t against any one individual but it was for all who have committed [corruption],” Hafeez said. “I have forgiven all who have damaged the integrity of the Pakistan cricket through corruption but I, in principle, am against corruption and will keep holding this stance forever. I hope people will understand and support me.”

Mooney, Lanning, Gardner, Brown, Jonassen put in crucial contributions as India fall just short

Firdose Moonda23-Feb-2023Australia have reached a seventh successive T20 World Cup final but not without an almighty fight from India, who came five runs short in a thrilling semi-final in Cape Town. The margin of defeat is four runs smaller than it was at the Commonwealth Games final last year, but that will be little consolation for India, who came agonisingly close while chasing 173.They were clumsy in the field, conceded at least 15 runs through overthrows and misfields and dropped two crucial catches – of Meg Lanning on 1 and Beth Mooney on 32 – and were equally nervy between the wickets. Two crucial run-outs dented their chase including that of Harmanpreet Kaur, which led to India’s slide.The India captain was ill on the eve of the match and briefly hospitalised with a fever but fronted up to lead her side and almost took them home. After a poor start which left India on 28 for 3 in the fourth over, Harmanpreet shared in a 69-run fourth-wicket stand with Jemimah Rodrigues and then brought up her first fifty of the tournament. She had barely celebrated it when her bat got stuck in the ground while sliding it for a second run and Alyssa Healy was quick to break the stumps, leaving India’s middle and lower order to get 40 runs off the last 32 balls.

Shafali Verma fumbles, then flounders, then finally holds on

Shafali Verma was responsible for the first misfield on a messy day for India, when she dived over the top of a Healy drive to allow what should have been a single turn into two in the first over. India let at least two more ones get doubled up on before they got their first wicket when Healy charged against Radha Yadav and was stumped to give them some joy.Radha should have had another in her next over when Mooney lofted a drive to Shafali at long-on. The ball came to her at waist height and should have been easily taken but she let it slip through her hands and bounce over the boundary. Mooney went on to hit three more fours before trying to cut a Shikha Pandey ball that was too close to her body and found Shafali again. She was stationed at point and made no mistake this time for the simple catch. She was clearly relieved and celebrated by banging the ball into the turf. Mooney was dismissed on 54, which meant Shafali’s miss cost India 22 runs.

Ashleigh Gardner’s late attack

After Healy and Mooney’s opening stand of 52, and Mooney and Lanning’s 36-run stand off 27 balls, Ashleigh Gardner arrived to put the finishing touches on an innings that was well set up. She found her first boundary with a clip off Sneh Rana in an over that cost 14 runs and then upped the ante for high-octane entry into the last five overs. Gardner slog swept Radha over midwicket, then lofted her between long-off and cover and then took back-to-back boundaries off Renuka Singh. She had plundered 28 runs off her first 14 balls and put Australia in a position to push for a total above 170. She was bowled by a Deepti Sharma yorker in the 18th over, and Australia still managed 30 runs in the last two overs to reach 172.Ashleigh Gardner’s cameo pushed Australia forward•ICC/Getty Images

Mayhem in the middle

India’s chase started in the worst possible way when Shafali was given out lbw as she missed a flick off Megan Schutt. She was hit above the knee roll and reviewed, with both height and the prospect of the ball missing leg stump on the cards, but was confirmed out on umpire’s call. Five balls later, a Gardner arm ball trapped Smriti Mandhana in her crease as she tried to defend and Australia reviewed on suspicion of pad first. They were right and India had lost their openers.But the worst came in the over after that when Yastika Bhatia, included in the side after last playing in India’s tournament opener, flicked Darcie Brown to Grace Harris at short midwicket and set off for a run even though Rodrigues didn’t move. By the time Bhatia turned to get back, Harris’ throw had already reached Healy, who had the time to run in and break the stumps. India were 28 for 3 in the fourth over.Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur took India close•AFP/Getty Images

Rodrigues rides the wave and Harmanpreet falls short

Rodrigues and Harmanpreet were not rattled by the early wickets and took charge of the innings for the next 6.4 overs. Harmanpreet showed few signs of being under the weather and Rodrigues displayed the confidence she showed against Pakistan. Harmanpreet struck India’s first six with a strong swing over long-on and Rodrigues turned it on with two gorgeous lofted off drives off Georgia Wareham. India were 93 for 3 after 10 overs, with the required run rate at eight an over and the pair were going smoothly.Rodrigues started the second half of the innings with another classic drive and then tried to get cute against a Brown short ball. She shaped up to ramp it over Healy’s head but got a thin edge and was caught behind to leave her captain to complete the chase. Harmanpreet got to her fifty off 32 balls and took India to within 40 runs of victory before she was run-out for the first time in nearly five years in T20Is, and India’s lower order couldn’t take them over the line.

After India Women’s spinners squeezed Sri Lanka Women to 89 for 9, the top order cruised to an easy win, completing a 3-0 series sweep

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Ekta Bisht led a solid bowling performance for India•West Indies Cricket Board

India Women’s spinners stifled the Sri Lanka Women batting, squeezing them to 89 for 9 in their 20 overs, before the top three knocked off the target in 13.5 overs to complete a nine-wicket thumping in the third T20I in Ranchi. The win secured a 3-0 series sweep for India.Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht was the standout bowler for India, claiming 3 for 17 in her four overs, while offspinners Anuja Patil and Deepti Sharma took 3 for 30 in eight overs between them. In a good team effort, all of India’s bowlers except Poonam Yadav kept their economy rates below 5.After opting to bat, Sri Lanka got off to a poor start, losing Oshadi Ranasinghe fourth ball, before captain Shashikala Siriwardene was run out four balls later. A 33-run partnership between Nipuni Hansika and Chamari Atapattu provided Sri Lanka respite, but it was brief – when Bisht had Hansika stumped off the first ball of the tenth over, it opened a passage of play in which five wickets fell for 11 runs in 5.3 overs.An eighth-wicket partnership of 39 off 29 balls between Eshani Lokusuriyage and Ama Kanchana then steered the tourists to their final total of 89 for 9.India made light work of the chase, as openers Vellaswamy Vanitha and Smriti Mandhana put on 64 in 8.4 overs. Vanitha’s dismissal was Sri Lanka’s only success with the ball; Veda Krishnamurthy joined Mandhana to knock off the remaining 26 runs with 37 balls to spare.

Pakistan were circling a wounded opponent as the fourth day in Sharjah drew to a close with England two wickets down in pursuit of a seemingly distant target of 284

The Report by Alan Gardner04-Nov-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPakistan were circling a wounded opponent as the fourth day in Sharjah drew to a close with England two wickets down in pursuit of a seemingly distant target of 284. A century from Mohammad Hafeez had underpinned Pakistan’s fightback after conceding a first-innings deficit and only the presence of Alastair Cook and Joe Root, England’s two best batsman, at the crease gave the tourists slender reason to hope for an historic victory.Hafeez’s outstanding 151 laid the sturdiest of foundations and left England facing a battle to avoid a 2-0 defeat in the series. Although the scores have gone up in each innings so far in this match, the chase was much steeper than anything England had previously achieved in Asia and Pakistan’s spinners looked far more adept than their English counterparts at taking advantage of a wearing pitch.The injury suffered by Ben Stokes on the first day, effectively reducing England to 10 fit men and a bloody-minded No. 11 with a strapped-up shoulder, has added to the challenge. Even getting close would represent one of England’s greatest achievements in the UAE, where they have yet to win a Test in five attempts and counting.Pakistan are the masters of their domain, for all that England have run them hard throughout the series. Endeavour can only get you so far, however, and a skills deficit in certain areas – spin bowling, most notably – has allowed Pakistan to exert themselves at key moments. Several missed chances in the field on the fourth day, most damagingly a stumping before Hafeez had added to his overnight score, also served to undermine what was an admirably wholehearted effort.England began their chase with a degree of elan. Moeen Ali overcame what looked a nasty blow to the back of a the helmet when ducking into a Wahab Riaz bouncer to help take 23 off the opening four overs from Pakistan’s quicks. But the battle was only really joined when Misbah-ul-Haq turned to his spinners. This was where the Test would be won and lost.Zulfiqar Babar’s second ball snaked menacingly past Cook’s off stump, the low bounce amplifying the sense of danger, and the cries of the men around the bat, led by the ever-excitable Sarfraz Ahmed, began to echo louder and louder around the Sharjah Cricket Stadium as England’s momentum dissipated. It took 18 overs of spin for England to double their score.For the second time in the match, Moeen fell to the offspin of Shoaib Malik, a review failing to save him after being caught on the crease by one that would have skidded on to hit leg stump. Malik, on his farewell Test appearance after announcing his retirement at the close of the third day, then breached Ian Bell’s defences in his next over.Mohammad Hafeez’s century was the backbone of Pakistan’s innings•Getty Images

In between, Cook narrowly avoided being dismissed by Yasir Shah for the fourth innings in succession, when hit on the pads trying to sweep; Pakistan reviewed, with the on-field decision upheld via umpire’s call. They resorted to the DRS again, searching for another lbw decision against Root off Babar, with the same result. Given the amount of chances created, the loss of both reviews did not look like being a major hindrance.For England, it was a day of might-have-beens. Hafeez was nearly dismissed twice in the first over but he escaped to record his ninth Test hundred and strengthen Pakistan’s grip on the Test. Although England steadily worked through the line-up, taking the last four wickets for 43 after Hafeez was sixth man out, the chase had already ballooned beyond manageable proportions. A fifth-wicket stand of 93 between Hafeez and Misbah was pivotal.Only three batsmen have managed to pass 50 in three completed innings but Hafeez rode several moments of fortune to post by far the most significant individual contribution of the match so far, almost double the next best score. This was his fourth hundred in the last 12 months and made him the fifth Pakistani to record a three-figure score in the series; England still only have one, Cook’s monument to concentration in Abu Dhabi.England needed a steady trickle of wickets, if not an outright torrent, but although the nightwatchman, Rahat Ali, was sent back in the second over, their hopes evaporated during the morning along with a succession of half-chances. In a session that seemed crucial to the direction of the match, England’s luck was of the desert variety.It has supposedly been cooler in Sharjah but the breeze was blowing Pakistan’s way. Hafeez had survived a review for lbw from the first ball of the morning and that seemed to trigger a rare bout of nerves, perhaps recalling his dismissal for 98 on the first day of the series in Abu Dhabi. Adil Rashid’s opening delivery trapped Hafeez in front but Hawk-Eye adjudged it to have pitched outside leg stump; his third was a well-disguised googly that beat the batsman’s charge, turned past leg and left Jonny Bairstow grasping at thin air with Hafeez yards from safety.Finally, having faced 16 deliveries and lost his partner, Hafeez was able to sweep the single required to bring up his first Test hundred against England. He gave another clear chance when on 109 but Stuart Broad was unable to grasp a reflex caught-and-bowled low to his left off a leading edge.While Hafeez forged on, Misbah erected a wearyingly familiar roadblock at the other end and it was a surprise when he fell to the second new ball for 38, failing to post a half-century for the first time in five innings. Broad set him up for the short ball with a cluster of leg-side fielders before trapping him in front of the stumps with a full, straight delivery.Asad Shafiq marshalled Pakistan’s tail to set England a daunting 284•Getty Images

England might – that word again – have dismissed him without scoring, had they posted a short leg during James Anderson’s opening spell. When Misbah strode out, Anderson having speared another precision inswinger through Rahat’s defences, Pakistan’s lead was 80 and England could sense their opportunity. But Misbah was able to fend away a pesky bouncer and settle into his rhythm, clobbering Rashid over long-on for his 12th six of the series.England removed both batsmen within four overs, Hafeez chipping Moeen somewhat lackadaisically to long-on, but there was more in the tank, as Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz added a scurrying 55 in short order. That took the target beyond England’s highest successful pursuit in Asian conditions, 209 to beat Bangladesh in Dhaka five years ago.Cook’s spinners could not offer any control and the dismissal of Sarfraz by Samit Patel with a sharply turning delivery during an over that also leaked three boundaries summed up their problems as well as the challenge to come.Patel should also have removed Shafiq for 29 but Anderson, normally one of England’s most reliable catchers, unsuccessfully juggled a straightforward chance at mid-on. The dismissal of Yasir finally gave Rashid a wicket on the stroke of tea and Broad then castled Shafiq shortly after the resumption before a run-out in the following over brought England’s toil to an end.

Sydney Thunder’s batting struggled again to leave them winless from three matches

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2022Hobart Hurricanes posted their second win of the campaign with a 49-run belting of the Sydney Thunder at Blacktown.Opener Lizelle Lee top scored with 41 off 29 balls as the Hurricanes scored 7 for 141 from their 20 overs. It was the highest total in the first group of games at the venue it what has proved a tough batting surface.Tammy Beaumont again fell cheaply at the start of Thunder’s chase. Australian hopeful Phoebe Litchfield made 28 before Molly Strano bowled the opener in the eighth over and that proved their top score.Hayley Jensen, Heather Graham and Maisy Gibson took two wickets apiece, the latter claiming the key scalp of Rachael Haynes, as Thunder were bowled out for 95 in 18.1 overs and they are winless from three games as they head on the road for the first time this season. Things are unlikely to get easier, though, as they meant defending champions Perth Scorchers next on their turf.

The wicketkeeper-batter played 74 Tests, 139 ODIs and 71 T20Is, and hopes to continue being a part of T20 leagues around the world

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2022Former West Indies captain, the wicketkeeper-batter Denesh Ramdin, has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.”It is with great pleasure that I announce my retirement from international cricket,” Ramdin, who last played for West Indies in a T20I in December 2019, said on Instagram. “The past 14 years have been a dream come true. I fulfilled my childhood dreams by playing cricket for Trinidad and Tobago, and the West Indies.”My career afforded me the opportunity to see the world, make friends from different cultures and still be able to appreciate where I came from.”He will, however, continue to play franchise cricket, Ramdin said. He hasn’t found a team at the upcoming edition of the CPL, though, despite having represented Guyana Amazon Warriors, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Trinbago Knight Riders from 2013 to 2021. He has also played for Multan Sultans at the PSL, in 2017 and 2018.Ramdin, who played 74 Tests, 139 ODIs and 71 T20Is, started out in Test cricket, making his debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo in July 2005. His ODI debut, against India, followed later on the tour in a tri-series involving the three teams.He played a part in West Indies’ T20 World Cup triumphs in 2012 and 2016. In the first, he hardly got a chance to bat in seven matches, but effected six dismissals behind the stumps. In the second, he was unimpressive in front of the wickets, with 36 runs in four innings – in six games – at a strike rate 69.23, and had three dismissals behind the stumps.More recently, Ramdin fell off the radar of the national selectors. His last Test and ODI appearances were back in 2016.”Yea Viv Talk Nah!”•Getty Images

A competent batter usually, Ramdin hit four Test centuries across his career, three of which came away from home. His second Test hundred – against England at Edgbaston in 2012 – caused controversy when he took out a note from his pocket on achieving the milestone, stating “Yea Viv talk nah”. This was in response to Viv Richards having questioned Ramdin’s poor form in the first two Tests of that tour, where he managed only 51 runs, and wasn’t consistent with his wicketkeeping either.As a result of his antics, Ramdin was fined 20% of his match fee by the ICC.He was in trouble with the ICC again only a year later, when playing against Pakistan, he claimed a grounded catch off Misbah-ul-Haq in the Champions Trophy. Ramdin had fumbled while trying to take the ball falling forward, but still went up in celebration. On that occasion, Ramdin was suspended for two ODIs, and docked his entire match fee.Ramdin was named West Indies’ Test captain in 2014, taking over from Daren Sammy, who had retired from the format. Overall, Ramdin led his country in 17 matches – 13 Tests, three T20Is and an ODI – before being removed in September 2015, when Jason Holder replaced him at the helm.The results were mixed. West Indies won four of those 13 Tests, all at home against New Zealand, Bangladesh [two] and England, but lost seven, including five at home. West Indies won the only ODI he led in, while it was one win and two losses in T20Is.Later, in mid-2016, Ramdin tweeted about his exclusion from the Test side against India before the West Indies squad was made official, triggering some chatter. He had played all three Tests in Australia in 2015-16, scoring half-centuries in Melbourne and Sydney, but never played a Test again.

Colin Ingram’s superb 96 and an excellent last over from Wayne Parnell secured Glamorgan a three-run victory against Somerset in a thrilling NatWest T20 Blast game at Taunton

ECB/PA28-Jun-2015
ScorecardColin Ingram could not quite reach three figures but his innings was enough to secure a win for Glamorgan•Getty Images

Colin Ingram’s superb 96 and an excellent last over from Wayne Parnell secured Glamorgan a three-run victory against Somerset in a thrilling NatWest T20 Blast game at Taunton.Ingram ‘s 62-ball innings was the highlight of Glamorgan’s 170 for 4, and no Somerset batsman was able to play the major innings required as the hosts finished on 167 for 8.Tim Groenewald nearly snatched victory for Somerset with an unbeaten 27 from nine balls, which included three sixes. However, with 12 needed off the last over, Parnell kept the hosts to eight runs and bowled Abdur Rehman with the penultimate ball of the match.It was Parnell’s his final appearance for Glamorgan before he joins up with South Africa in Bangladesh.After being put into bat, Glamorgan’s innings was dominated by Ingram, who took advantage of the short boundaries to plunder nine fours and six sixes on his way to his highest score for the Welsh county.Craig Meschede, who is on a season-long loan to Glamorgan from Somerset, departed to the third ball of the innings when he was caught at cover by Tom Cooper off Jim Allenby for a duck.But Ingram, who had a short spell with Somerset last year, was quickly into his stride and took 18 runs off four successive balls from Alfonso Thomas, as he followed a six over extra cover with three fours, one swept behind square and two hit straight down the ground.Ingram reached a 27-ball half-century in the eighth over, but his partnership of 64 with Jacques Rudolph ended when his fellow South African top-edged a pull off Jamie Overton to long leg, where Rehman held an excellent catch on the run.Rehman bowled four tidy overs of spin for 30 and was rewarded with the wicket of Chris Cooke, who pulled a delivery into the hands of Pete Trego on the midwicket boundary to make it 110 for 3 in the 13th over.Graham Wagg helped Ingram add 60 in the final seven overs, but the South African was denied a century when he skied the last ball of the innings from Thomas to Cooper at extra cover. Wagg finished unbeaten on 33 from 25 balls.Somerset’s chase suffered a setback in the first over when former Glamorgan allrounder Allenby was bowled by Parnell for 4. Johann Myburgh departed in the final over the Powerplay, caught by Dean Cosker at backward point off Wagg for 19, and it became 83 for 3 in the 11th over when Trego, having hit 39 from 31 balls, skied a drive off Meschede to Michael Hogan at long-on.Slow left-armer Cosker accounted for James Hildreth, caught at backward point by Rudolph for 23, and the game looked to have taken a decisive turn when New Zealander Luke Ronchi, on his home debut for Somerset, and Cooper departed to successive balls of the 17th over, bowled by Hogan.Ronchi was caught on the midwicket boundary by David Lloyd for seven and Cooper holed out to Ingram at long-on for 26.It was 139 for 7 in the 18th over when Overton was caught just inside the midwicket boundary rope for 10, and 28 were required from the final two overs.Groenewald raised the prospect of a Somerset win with two successive straight sixes off Hogan in the 19th over, but Parnell’s last over, consisting mainly of yorker-length deliveries, sealed Glamorgan’s fifth win and handed a Somerset a fourth defeat.

Joseph, Seales picked up three wickets each while debutant Phillip, Mayers returned two each

Associated Press25-Jun-2022Bangladesh showed progress in making 234 against West Indies after being forced to bat first in the second Test at Daren Sammy Stadium on Friday. It was a marked improvement from their 103 all-out in the first innings of the first Test in Antigua, where they lost with almost two days to spare.West Indies’ class was still on show on Friday when they reached stumps at 67 without loss. Openers John Campbell and Kraigg Brathwaite were unruffled in making 32 and 30 respectively.Anderson Phillip, given his Test debut in place of Gudakesh Motie, earned the first wicket with his second delivery when he bowled Mahmudul Hasan Joy for 10.Tamim Iqbal looked like he had his eye in while hitting nine boundaries for 46, but he was rooted to the crease while poking at Alzarri Joseph and was caught in the covers.Related

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Anamul Haque, who last played a Test eight years ago at the same ground, was developing a good partnership with Najmul Hossain Shanto until they were rapped on the front pads by Phillip and Kyle Mayers respectively, and lost reviews. Anamul made 23 while Shanto scored 26.Captain Shakib Al Hasan soon edged Jayden Seales onto his stumps on 8, and Nurul Hasan was caught behind on 7 after Joseph glanced his glove.Bangladesh were 159-6 at tea with Litton Das settled in, but as soon as he reached his 14th Test fifty, he was dismissed by Joseph on 53.The tourists passed 200 thanks to tailenders Shoriful Islam, who hit five boundaries off Roach for 26, and Ebadot Hossain, who was 21 not out.Seales and Joseph claimed three wickets each with Phillip and Mayers two each.Campbell and Brathwaite showed there were no tricks in the pitch when they scored at more than four an over in 16 overs to reduce the deficit to 167 runs.

Postponement of second WI vs Aus ODI has domino effect on Pakistan series

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2021Complications due to Covid-19 has cut an entire T20I out of Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies. Set to begin a day later than originally scheduled (July 28), also due to the pandemic, the series will now feature only four T20Is, instead of the previously planned five.

The new schedule for WI vs Pakistan

July 28: 1st T20I, Bridgetown

July 31: 2nd T20I, Providence

August 1: 3rd T20I, Providence

August 3: 4th T20I, Providence

August 12: 1st Test, Kingston

August 20: 2nd Test, Kingston

This is the result of one of the non-playing staff in the West Indies set-up testing positive for the virus two days ago. It forced one of their ODIs against Australia to be postponed and that in turn has had a domino effect on the Pakistan series, prompting the PCB and the CWI to strike off one of the T20Is that was part of the original tour calendar.Ricky Skerritt, the Cricket West Indies president, said: “Together with the PCB, CWI have examined various scenarios, and we jointly agreed that the best solution in the present circumstances is to cancel the first T20I and play a four-match T20I series starting on Wednesday and keep the rest of the tour schedule unchanged.”Both Pakistan and West Indies, who are the defending champions, are on the final legs of their preparation for the T20 World Cup to be held in the UAE from October 17.

West Indies captain Jason Holder has conceded that his team’s bowling, including his own, was below par in their match against South Africa in St Kitts on Wednesday, where Hashim Amla’s century set up a hefty win for South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-20162:16

‘I just didn’t think we bowled well, it’s as simple as that’ – Jason Holder

West Indies captain Jason Holder has conceded that his team’s bowling, including his own, was below par in their match in St Kitts on Wednesday, where Hashim Amla’s century set up a hefty win for South Africa.Amla scored 110 out of South Africa’s 343 for 4, and his opening partnership of 182 with Quinton de Kock put South Africa firmly on top throughout the day. Holder bowled six overs and claimed 0 for 51, Jerome Taylor picked up 1 for 72 from eight, and only the spinners Sunil Narine and Sulieman Benn were able to keep the runs to five or less per over.”I just didn’t think we bowled well, it’s as simple as that,” Holder said. “The pitch was better than the last game, but having said that I still don’t think we bowled particularly well, especially in the first Powerplay.”Myself and Jerome – I thought Jerome bowled reasonably well in the first Powerplay but myself, I was totally off the mark. We paid for it. Credit must go to the way Hashim Amla played. I thought he was brilliant. But having said that I don’t think we bowled at our very best.”The strong South African batting came after they were sent in at the toss by Holder, typical of the West Indian preference to chase in limited-overs matches. Holder said he had no regrets about his decision, only about the way he and his men bowled.”If I could do it over I’d probably do the same thing again,” he said. “I just don’t think we bowled well. They got 340-odd. At the beginning of the game, you’d probably take 280 or 300, given the type of pitch and the dimensions of the ground. We just thought they were 40 or 50 runs too many, and we paid for it in the end.”South Africa’s victory meant that after six matches in Guyana and St Kitts, all three teams sit on two wins and two losses. South Africa have gained two bonus points, Australia one and West Indies none, and the teams have two matches each in Barbados to determine which sides will meet in the final at Kensington Oval.”After losing wickets in clusters, we never really got partnerships going to prevent them from getting the bonus point,” Holder said. “But it was in the back of our minds, to prevent them from getting the bonus point. But unfortunately we didn’t.”For all three teams it’s must-win. The points table is still very close. Whoever wins two games in Barbados is guaranteed a spot in the final. If you win one of the two you’ve got to wait and see how you finish on the table.”