Nicholas Pooran and Akeal Hosein
CWI Media
Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein and allrounder Jason Holder have achieved career-best rankings in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings after helping the West Indies to a series-deciding 17-run victory in the fifth Betway T20 International against England at Kensington Oval last Sunday.
In the latest weekly update to the men’s rankings, which considers performances in the last three matches of the series, Hosein moved up 15 places to 18th position after a haul of 4-30 that helped him finish with six wickets in three matches.
“It’s not something I pay close attention to. However, when I play or train, it’s always about aiming to become the best,” Hosein said while speaking with CWI Media.
“It’s about having that mindset of wanting to improve and wanting to be at the top, so definitely it is an aspiration of mine to be the number one bowler in the world someday. Therefore, this move means a lot to me. It shows that my hard work is paying off and that I will be rewarded if I perform well. It’s definitely a good feeling.”
Holder was the star performer with the unique feat of grabbing four wickets in four balls in front of his home crowd. He finished with figures of 5-27 – the best in a T20I at the historic venue. This took his tally to nine wickets in those three matches, as he advanced three places to 23rd with a massive gain of 20 rating points. Overall, he took 15 wickets in the five matches, a new record for the most in a bilateral series, and was named the Player-of-the-Series.
Left-arm pacer Sheldon Cottrell (up 10 places to 31st) is another West Indies bowler to move up in Wednesday’s update while England spinner Moeen Ali (up three places to 32nd) and Liam Livingston (up 33 places to 68th) have also advanced.
In the ranking for batters, Nicholas Pooran is up eight places to 18th after scoring 113 runs in the three matches including a knock of 70, while opener Brandon King (up 25 places to 58th) and West Indies captain Kieron Pollard (up 15 places to 60th) have also advanced. King made a stylish 52 not out in the first match as West Indies won easily, while Pollard had a crucial 41 not out off 25 balls in the final match.
“This definitely means a lot to me, because I put a lot of work into my craft. I work day in and day out, so moving up the rankings is important. The ultimate goal is to be the best. I do pay attention to it (the rankings) because it is a good way to track your growth,” Pooran said.
Rovman Powell made the most of his return to the team with a brilliant 107 in the third matchmaking him the third West Indian to record a century in this format. He followed up with 35 not out off 17 balls in the last game.
Speaking at the end of the enthralling series, West Indies assistant coach Roddy Estwick said the improvement shown was extremely pleasing.
“After the last couple of months that we’ve had, it’s really pleasing that we’ve won a series. Improvement for me is actually more important than winning the series because you’ve got to focus on getting to the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and doing a lot better than we did in the last one,” he said.
“The crowds coming back to the stadium is very important. The players were a lot freer this time around. The bubble was still there but a lot more relaxed and you could see the players responding to it so credit to the medical staff of the Cricket West Indies.
“Akeal Hosein was really brilliant for us when the chips were down along with Fabian Allen. They turned the tide, put England under pressure, continued to get wickets and that’s all we can ask, that people put their hands up when they need to and lead and fight and battle.”
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CG United Super50 Cup final between Scorpions, Pride abandoned due to inclement weather
The CG United Super50 final between the Jamaica Scorpions and the Barbados Pride was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to the inclement weather at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Saturday.
Barbados Pride, with six titles plus one shared, were hoping to break a mini drought having last won in 2016-17, while Jamaica, with eight titles plus one shared, had ambitions to get back to the summit as their last title was in the 2022-23 season.
Greaves’ maiden century powers Windies to control on day two as Bangladesh reeling at 40-2
West Indies took firm control of their opening Test match against Bangladesh as Justin Greaves’ maiden century piloted the Caribbean side to a mammoth first innings total of 450-9 declared at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua on Saturday.
The hosts then restricted Bangladesh to 40-2 at the close of day two, leaving the visitors with a steep challenge ahead as they look to recover from a poor start.
Mominul Haque, not out on 7, and Shahadat Hossain, unbeaten on 10, will resume on Sunday with Bangladesh at 40-2, still trailing by 410 runs.
Greaves, who enjoyed sublime form in the Super50 Cup with three consecutive centuries, continued that rich vein of form with an unbeaten 115 that anchored West Indies’ innings and ensured a daunting total on the board.
The 30-year-old’s knock, which lasted just over six hours, had only four boundaries and was crucial in reviving the innings after a mid-session slump.
Scores: West Indies 450-9 dec; Bangladesh 40-2
West Indies resumed the day at 250-5 with Greaves on 11, and Joshua da Silva, 14, looking to consolidate their position. However, early breakthroughs from Bangladesh’s Hasan Mahmud threatened to derail the West Indies’ momentum.
Mahmud struck in the first session, removing da Silva without addition to his overnight score, and Alzarri Joseph (four), who also fell cheaply to leave West Indies at a precarious 261-7.
At that point, the Bangladesh bowlers seemed poised to bowl the Caribbean side down for a score under 300, but Greaves and veteran pacer Kemar Roach had other ideas.
The two Barbadians countered the pressure with patience, building a partnership of 140 runs for the eighth wicket that pushed West Indies past the 400-run mark.
Roach, who had previously struggled with the bat in Tests, made 47—his highest Test score in his 15-year career. He batted for over four hours, frustrating the Bangladesh bowlers with steady defence and timely strokes.
Together, Roach and Greaves weathered the storm, forcing Bangladesh to toil longer and harder than expected. Greaves, in particular, looked in complete control, while Roach’s composed knock provided vital support.
West Indies then made quick inroads in Bangladesh’s reply and reduced the visitors to 2-21, with both openers back in the pavilion cheaply. Alzarri Joseph was the first to strike, removing Mahmudul Hasan Joy for just five runs before Jayden Seales cleaned up Zakir Hasan for 15.
With Bangladesh struggling at 2-21, it seemed as though West Indies were on the brink of another quick domination as they sought to dismiss the Bangladesh top-order cheaply. However, Mominul Haque and Shahadat Hossain managed to negotiate the remainder of the day without further loss.
Australia have 'serious work to do' against India, McSweeney concedes
Nathan McSweeney conceded Australia have "serious work to do" if they are to get back into the first Test against India.
The Baggy Greens trail by 218 runs heading into day three in Perth after an unbroken century partnership of Yashasvi Jaiswal (90) and KL Rahul (62) put the tourists well in control at 172-0 at stumps.
Though they resumed at 67-7, Australia could only add another 37 runs and were bowled out for 104.
McSweeney acknowledged the hosts must improve, and quickly.
"It definitely hasn't gone to plan in the past couple of days," he told ABC. "We've got some serious work to do to get back into this Test. It looks like it is getting easier to bat, so hopefully we get early wickets tomorrow and get batting.
"It is definitely a new-ball wicket. All the damage was done before we could get through to the 35-40-over mark with the bat, so the trick will be nullifying the new ball and having batters in for the 40-80-over mark."
Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann added: "It was a tough day, but hats off to the two Indian batters. They were excellent today and weathered the storm, and they got to the stage where they could take the game on.
"India are well ahead of the game. The wicket has settled down a little bit, but that is more because the Australia bowlers were tired from the first innings and having to bat two hours today."
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