Cricket Highlights, 01 Jul: ENG vs SL (2nd ODI), WI vs SA (4th T20I)

The 2nd ODI of the 3-match series between England and Sri Lanka and the 4th T20I of the 5-match series between West Indies and South Africa rolled on the field yesterday and today. Let’s have a glimpse over the article to know about the exciting moments of the matches.

ENG vs SL (2nd ODI)

England won the second ODI by 8 wickets at Kennington Oval in London on Thursday (July 1). The hosts reached the target of 242 with 42 balls to spare. With one match in hand, England secured the title of the ODI series against Sri Lanka.

After losing the toss, the visitors started batting first and fell into the fierceness of English fast bowler Sam Curran. They lost 4 wickets for 21 runs. Curran took 3 among them. Dhananjaya put on 65 runs for the fifth wicket partnership with Wanindu Hasaranga and 78 runs for the sixth wicket partnership with Dasun Shanaka. Hasaranga returned to the dressing room for 26 runs.

After Dhananjaya returned to the Pavilion with 91 off 91 balls with 13 boundaries at the team’s 164 runs, Shanaka took the team past two hundred. He played an innings of 47 runs off 67 balls with 2 fours and 1 six. Then Chamika Karunaratne 21, Binura Fernando’s 17, and Dushmantha Chameera unbeaten 14 helped Sri Lanka to reach 241 for 9 at the end of 50 overs.

Sam Curran was the most successful of the English bowlers on the day. The fast bowler took 5 wickets for 48 runs and it is the best bowling figure of his career. Another fast bowler David Willey took 4 wickets for 64 runs.

Two openers, Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy gave the hosts a stormy start as they came down to chase the run. Bairstow returned to the dressing room with 29 runs. However, after playing a great innings of 60 runs from 52 balls, Roy returned to the pavilion after falling victim to Chamika Karunaratne. Then, two experienced batsmen, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, put on an unbroken 140-run stand in the third wicket. Root played an innings of 68 off 87 balls, and Morgan played an innings of 75 off 83 balls to lead the team to victory.

Scoreboard

Sri Lanka – 241/9 (50.0)

England – 244/2 (43.0)

Result – England won by 8 wickets

Player of the Match – Sam Curran

WI vs SA (4th T20I)

West Indies won the fourth match of the series at the National Cricket Stadium in St. George’s, Grenada by 21 runs thanks to the skills of two experienced all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. The Caribbeans have levelled the series (2-2) with this win.

The Proteas won the toss and elected to field first. Caribbean opener Lendl Simmons took 20 runs in the first over of spinner Aiden Markram. Evin Lewis (7) and Chris Gayle (5) went back to the dressing room cheaply but Lendl Simmons’ devastating batting helped the Caribbeans pick up 57 runs in 6 overs of the power play.

But when Simmons returned to the pavilion for 47 runs, the run wheel of the Caribbean stopped. Only 10 runs came in the next four overs. Shimron Hetmyer (7), Nicholas Pooran (16), and Andre Russell (9) returned to the dressing room one by one in the whirlwind of the Proteas. As a result, at the end of 16 overs, the team scored 101 runs for 6 wickets.

After that, captain Kieron Pollard raised a storm with the bat. He hit 5 sixes and 2 fours and scored 51 off 25 balls, picking up the sixth T20I fifty of his career. At the end of the allotted 20 overs, Pollard brought a fighting capital of 167 runs for 6 wickets for the team. George Linde and Tabraiz Shamsi took the maximum of two wickets each for the Proteas. The two gave away only 29 runs in 8 overs.

Except for wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock, no one was able to show much hope in reply for South Africa. Chris Gayle gave the first breakthrough in the second over of the innings. After that, the Proteas started losing wickets at regular intervals. De Kock picked up the eighth T20I fifty of his career by scoring 60 off 43 balls before being dismissed in the 18th over of the innings. Besides, Aiden Markram’s 20 runs and Kagiso Rabada’s 16 runs took their total to 146 runs for the loss of 9 wickets.

Dwayne Bravo took 4 wickets conceding just 19 runs for the Caribbeans, which is the best bowling performance of his international T20 career. Besides, Andre Russell took 2 wickets. The two teams will meet in a series-determining match on Saturday night.

Scoreboard

West Indies – 167/6 (20.0)

South Africa – 146/9 (20.0)

Result – West Indies won by 21 run

Player of the Match – Kieron Pollard

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