One-off Test between India & Eng brilliant advertisement for longer format: Heather Knight

Shafali Verma is very important to Indian batting unit in all formats: Mithali Raj

India batter Shafali Verma began her Test career with some brilliant performance with the bat after she struck fifties in both the innings as the visitors managed to draw the one-off Test against England in Bristol. Hailing the youngster’s efforts, captain Mithali Raj lavished praise on Shafali and said that she is going to be a very important player across all formats for the team. “She will be very, very important to the Indian batting unit in all formats. She beautifully adapted to this format,” Mithali said in a virtual media interaction. Mithali further appreciated the way Verma stitched her innings. “She didn’t go like how she would go bonkers in the T20 format. She played sensibly against the new ball and it’s great to have her,” Mitahli said. “She has great range of shots, and she can be very, very, effective in a format like this if she gets going. In no time, we could see that the score would be somewhere else if she gets going,” she added. Shafali scored 96 in the first innings and was involved in a 167-run partnership for the first wicket with Smriti Mandhana who also notched up 78. But the two batters' departure saw a flurry of wickets and the Indian batting was soon bundled out for 231 and the host enforced a follow-on. Opener Mandhana got out early in the second innings but Verma scored 63 while Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana scored fifties and Punam Raut and Taniya Bhatia chipped in with crucial runs as India ended the last day’s play at 344/8 to end the match in a draw.

PSL 2021 | MS vs ISU: In dress rehearsal before the Qualifier, Islamabad hand Multan its first defeat in Abu Dhabi leg

Islamabad United defeated Multan Sultans by four wickets to end the league stage of the Pakistan Super League 2021. With this win, United ended up with eight wins from 10 games and earned 16 points from the possible 20 to top the points table. Sultans on the other hand suffered their first defeat of the Abu Dhabi leg of the tournament, having won four games in a row to qualify for the Playoffs. The match went up to the last over thanks to some lethargic approach by both the teams. Chasing a modest total of 150 to win the game, United got off to go a start as the new openers Umar Amin and the wicketkeeper-batsman Muhammad Akhlaq added 39 for the first wicket before the latter was removed by Larkana express Shahnawaz Dhani. The highest wicket-taker in the tournament so far, Dhani also picked up the wicket of Amin in his next over. United skipper Shadab Khan finally found some form as he hit 35 off 27 balls to get the team closer to the total. He was removed from Muhammad Umar, who was playing just his second game of the season. Asif Ali and Hussain Talat then got the men in red near the target just before a mini-collapse unfolded to create some drama at the end. When Sultans needed less than run a ball, Brandon King was removed by a ripper of a top spinner by Usman Qadir, who was playing his first game of the Abu Dhabi leg. Before that Qadir had already removed Asif Ali. In the last over, with four to defend, Blessing Muzarabani was called in by Mohammad Rizwan. According to the set plan, Muzarabani bowled bouncer and Talat top-edged to deep fine leg where Dhani pulled a blinder of a catch to set the Sultans dug out on fire and made them stand and applaud his fielding. However, Iftikhar Ahmed completed the three required runs even as a leg before the wicket appeal was made and rejected on the last delivery as Ahmed and Mohammad Wasim Jr. scampered through for the winning run. Reacting to the win, United skipper Shadab praised his rookie bowler Wasim Jr. for a great performance. “It was his (Wasim) effort that has paid dividends. He wanted to prove himself and I just backed him,” he said. Talking about the challenge of facing Multan once again in the Qualifiers, he said, “ They are a tough team, they are in good form and it's about who handles pressure better. We'll try to ensure that we do the simple things right.” Earlier in the evening, Multan Sultans were invited to bat after losing the toss. Both teams, secured of a 1-2 finish at the points table, chose to test their bench strength. Multan, after a steady start by openers Shan Masood and Rizwan, faltered in the later phase of the innings. Even after Masood’s 59, the Sultans could manage only 149 as they got bundled out in 20 overs. Wasim Jr. was at his very best for United, finishing up with 4-31 in his four overs spell and then going on to win the Man of the Match award. Reacting after the loss, Multan skipper Rizwan said, “I am happy with the effort as we kept fighting till the end and that's the kind of quality we expect from the team. Hopefully, we can beat them in the next game.” Courtesy finishing second on the points table, Rizwan and his team would indeed meet United in the very next game, which would be the Qualifier of the tournament and will be played on June 21 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

ENG W vs IND W | One-off Test: Determined Sneh Rana, sturdy Taniya Bhatia pull India out of the jaws of defeat

The fall of Shikha Pandey’s wicket in the 90th over of the India Women innings while following on was thought to be the demolition of the last bridge between draw an English victory. More than 41 overs were to be bowled, India were 240-8 and had a slight lead of just 75 runs with two women in the middle who failed miserably in the first innings. It was more than enough for the fans and even to an extent for players to lose belief. But there was something about the white bandana, hair falling sideways and a Dhoni-like helmet that Sneh Rana was spotting. They were the distractions for people who weren’t able to see the determination in her eyes and the poise on her face, slightly hidden in that occasional nonchalant smile that was on display throughout her innings. Joining her was the wicketkeeper batter in Taniya Bhatia, batting at number 10, probably for the first time in her international career. After getting out for a duck in the first innings, she got the flak from the media and her team, so much so that bowlers like Pooja Vastrakar and Shikha were sent ahead of her. There was a point to prove and she knew very well that the only way she could do it was by saving the game, which looked like a difficult probability by all means. Rana at that point was batting at 27 and she had not had a good game with the bat either, falling for just 2 in her debut Test innings. When they started to settle down, it was taken to be a small halt in English victory till the new ball arrived. Well, the new ball did arrive and Katherine Brunt, Anya Shrubsole, Natalie Sciver and Sophie Ecclestone, all tried their level best, but couldn’t break the partnership between Rana and Bhatia. After the first 25 overs of resistance, when the Indian lead crossed the 100 run mark and the 27-year-old Rana, who dedicated her four-wicket haul in the first innings to her deceased father, notched up her maiden fifty in the debut Test, Bhatia started to open up as well. The two ladies played exquisite drives, mostly punching off the backfoot. Both of them started searching for the individual milestone as, before the amicable end of the play was reached by the two teams mutually, Bhatia was just six runs short of becoming the fourth Indian woman to hit a half-century on Test debut in this game. Prior to her, Rana, Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma achieved the feat. The thumping four by Rana, which she hit by stepping out of her crease and lifting the bowl towards the square leg boundary with a ferocious jab, was in a way, a stamp of authority of her attitude in the entire second innings. With Inda at 344-8, players shook hands as umpires called it a day on the fourth and last day of the only Test of the tour. India managed to draw the game and also find two unlikely heroes in Rana and the 23-year-old Bhatia. The two of them added 104 runs unbeaten for the ninth wicket, which was only three short of being the highest ninth-wicket partnership in Women's Test history. Earlier in the day, the guests started cautiously at their overnight score of 83-1 with Verma and Deepti at the crease. However, having added just 16 runs to the team and nine-run to her individual total, the 17-year-old Verma repeated the same mistake as the one she had committed in the first innings. She hit a juicy full toss over mid-on and Brunt took a brilliant catch running in from long-on to dismiss her of the bowling of Ecclestone. Deepti took charge after Verma and with Punam Raut as her partner, almost saw off the entire first session without any damage but for the fifth ball of the last over before lunch. In a moment of brain fade, instead of negotiating the last two balls to lunch, she went for a mad slog sweep and missed it, which in turn hit the woodwork behind her. She was also removed by Ecclestone, but not before picking up her maiden Test fifty in only her debut Test match. Post lunch, India’s wickets started falling at a regular interval with experienced campaigners like skipper Mitahli Raj and vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur getting out cheaply. Raut followed them as well. It was then that Rana started building small partnerships, first with Pooja Vastrakar, then with Shikha and eventually Bhatia to salvage a draw for her team. Reacting to the win and talking about her brilliant performance, Rana said, “It was important to put up a partnership, that's what happened with Shikha and Taniya. It feels great to contribute to the team.” “An emotional moment for me, being picked for the national team after 5 years, I'm very happy. I have never played here before, this knock will give me plenty of confidence going into the white-ball games,” she added. Shafali Verma, for her brilliant performance with the bat, in which she aggregated 159 runs in the entire game, was adjudged Man of the Match. The two teams would now engage in a three-match ODI series beginning with the first ODI on June 27 at the same ground in Bristol.

PSL 2021 | LHQ vs KRK: Danish Aziz blinder and bowlers send Karachi to Playoffs as Lahore is knocked out

It was a must-win game for Karachi Kings if they were to qualify for the Playoffs. Thanks to their superior net run rate, they needed only a win and no other mathematical apparatus was needed to chalk out how many balls how many runs were to be made. With victory on their mind and the weakest team of the season, Quetta Gladiators as their opposition, Imad Wasim men fancied victory and they eventually managed to get it courtesy of some brilliantly controlled bowling effort and a blinder from Danish Aziz with the bat. This victory by 14 runs meant that Karachi made it to yet another Playoffs of the PSL. Since the start of the league, the team from the financial capital of Pakistan has been able to make it to the Playoffs of every season and are currently the defending champions. Victory to Karachi was going to be an ouster of their arch-rivals Lahore Qalandars and even after earning 10 points, which is equal to the points earned by Karachi and Peshawar, the Sohail Kahtar side, finalists of the last year, failed to qualify to the next round this year. Defending 176, the Kings started on a positive note removing Saim Ayub when Quetta’s score was just 32. Soon after Jake Weatherald was lost by Quetta and it came down to the same old story once again, Sarafarz Ahmed left to do too much with too few resources at bay. He tried building partnerships with many players including Azam Khan, but the run rate pressure kept mounting and the skipper kept losing one partner after the other. In the end, when the men in purple needed 37 from the last two overs and Sarfraz was joined by Jack Wildermuth, Mohammad Amir bowled a brilliant over, conceding just five runs. He even dropped a dolly offered by Wildermuth off his bowling. That almost sealed the game for Karachi. With 32 needed off the last over, All Quetta and their 34-year-old captain could manage was 17 runs, losing the game by 14 runs. Arshad Iqbal and Mohammad Ilyas, the two youngsters were the picks of the bowlers for Karachi as they shared the five wickets among them. Ilyas was expensive as well, ending his four-over spell at 3-39. The only silver lining from the game was Sarfaraz’s fifty, because of the virtue of that, he became the only Quetta player to score a half-century in the Abu Dhabi leg of the tournament. Reacting to the eighth loss among 10 games this season, Sarfaraz said, “We committed the same mistake throughout the tournament, we didn't have match-winning partnerships throughout the season. We will try to rectify this next year by building a solid team.” It is the second time in a row that Quetta have not been able to make it to the Playoffs. Earlier in the day, Karachi, much like their last game, decided to bat first after winning the toss. They had a slow but steady build-up as Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam put in 71 runs in nine overs. However from 71 without loss, they were suddenly 99-4 after 15 overs. Chadwick Walton and Imad Wasim tried to arrest the fall, but it wasn’t until Danish Aziz played his 13 ball blinder, scoring 45 runs and pushing the Karachi total to 176 that the team felt secured enough. Imad felt confident after back to back victories to qualify for the Playoffs. He was also in awe of Aziz who was deservingly announced Man of the Match. Reacting to it, he said, “Without Danish, we wouldn't have posted that score and really happy for the team and Danish,” he said. “Once you get the momentum, you have the belief and confidence. We have some gun players at the top like Babar, Guptill and Sharjeel and hopefully, they will deliver,” the hopeful captain added. Most likely Karachi would face Peshawar Zalmi in the first Eliminator at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on June 21 as the two rems occupy the fourth and third place in the Points table respectively. However, if Multan Sultans lose big time in their last game against Islamabad, then Karachi might face Multan as well. But as of now, they are securely into the Playoffs.