T20 World Cup | Semi-final | Moeen Ali’s fifty provides much-needed boost to England

WBBL 2021 | Shafali Verma’s fifty in vain as Tahlia McGrath-led Strikers notch up back to back wins

India’s dynamic opener, who has been forced to play in the middle order in her Women’s Big Bash League franchise Sydney Sixers Women, finally found form as she struck her second fifty of the season. This fifty came after a bad run of five innings. But her fifty went in vain as Sixers lost the game by eight wickets against Adelaide Strikers Women. Chasing a modest total of 143, Katie Mack, a youngster from Adelaide came to the party even as the Strikers lost the wicket of experienced Dane van Niekerk for a first-ball duck to Maitlan Brown. However, Laura Wolvaardt and then skipper Tahlia McGrath played patiently to see their team to its second consecutive win at home. Earlier in the day, after big guns Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner failed at the top despite Sixers choosing to bat first after winning the toss, Verma and veteran Nicole Bolton tried to rescue the innings. They put up 84 runs for the fifth wicket in 75 balls. While Verma remained unbeaten on 53 off 43 balls, Boltin was removed by Amanda Jade Wellington for 34 off 38 balls. In another game, Perth Scorchers Women stabilised their position in the top half of the table after they thrashed Melbourne Stars Women by 10 wickets. After reducing Stars for only 97-9 in their 20 overs, Scorchers skipper Sophie Devie and her partner Beth Mooney took only 65 balls to chase down the total. While Mooney struck her second fifty to go with her one hundred this season already, Devine, who had taken two wickets in the match already, made 35 off 27 balls.

T20 World Cup | India-Pakistan clash becomes most viewed T20I in history

The India-Pakistan encounters on the field attract a lot of attention and the T20 World Cup clash was no different. In fact, the group stage match between the arch-rivals became the most-viewed T20I as it recorded a reach of 167 million viewers as per the official broadcaster of the event. "With a reach of 167 million, the highly-anticipated India-Pakistan clash on October 24th, an event that saw the arch-rivals meet at an ICC tournament after two years, is now the most viewed T20I match, exceeding the previous high India-West Indies 2016 ICC World T20 semi-finals," the release said. "The India-Pakistan match has created history by clocking a record reach of 167 million viewers, making it the most viewed T20I match till date," a Star India spokesperson was quoted as saying. Pakistan broke the losing streak against India in the World Cup fixtures after the Babar Azam-led side won the match by 10 wickets. Pakistan eventually made it to the semis of the tournament after winning all their group stage matches pretty comprehensively while India who lost the first two games bowed out of the competition. The Men in Blue also suffered a defeat against New Zealand. Babar’s men will now lock horns with Australia in the second semi-final on Thursday in Dubai.

T20 World Cup | Semi-Final: Sam Billings replaces Jason Roy in playing XI, Blackcaps remain unchanged

New Zealand won the toss in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup and decided to field first. In the post toss chat with Nasser Hussain, New Zealand skipper Kane Willaimson said that his team remains unchanged. On the other hand, England skipper Eoin Morgan was forced to make a change with his star opener Jason Roy picking up a calf injury in the last game against South Africa. To replace Roy, Sam Billings, a gun T20 batter and fielder has been called in by the team. He has been slated to play in the middle order and Jonny Bairstow will open in the innings with in-form Jos Buttler. Speaking to Hussain, Morgan said, “We would have done the same (fielding first) as it has been the trend here in UAE. But having said that, we will try and make a good total and try and defend it.” While New Zealand have entered the semi-finals winning four back to back games, England lost their only game to South Africa, which was also their last game in the Super 12 stage.

BBL 11 | Mohammad Nabi signs for Melbourne Renegades for fifth consecutive time

Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi has re-signed with the Big Bash League side Melbourne Renegades and this will be his fifth consecutive year with the team. The right-hander expressed delight and said that it feels great to join the Renegades again. “It's great to be linking up with the Renegades once again. Going into my fifth Big Bash campaign, I feel like part of their family," Nabi said. "I hope we can win another title and give our fans something to smile about after such a difficult time for everyone." Renegades coach David Saker said that Nabi has been an integral part of the middle-order and can play crucial roles with both bat and ball. "It's great to have a player of Mohammad Nabi's quality locked in for BBL 11," said. "Nabi has been an important part of our middle order and has the ability to change games quickly. He has the flexibility with both bat and ball to play various roles for our team. We're looking forward to what he can bring this year," added Saker. Nabi has a huge experience of playing T20 cricket and has featured in more than 300 games in the format, scoring 4815 runs and has scalped more than 290 wickets so far. The BBL is slated to begin on December 5 with Sydney Sixers taking on Melbourne Stars in the opening match in Sydney.