T20 World Cup | Semi-final: New Zealand on backfoot as England pick early wickets in powerplay

USA to host Test playing nation for first time

USA Cricket has announced that it will host Ireland for two T20Is and three ODIs in Lauderhill, Florida, in late December. This would be the first time that the US will host a Test playing nation. "USA Cricket is absolutely elated to confirm next month's series with Cricket Ireland that we have been working on over the past few months as we continue to try and expand the playing opportunities for our national teams," USA Cricket chief executive Iain Higgins said in a USA Cricket press release. He further added that hosting an ICC Full member is a historic moment for the game in the country. "To be able to bring an ICC Full Member to the United States to play a series of five international matches is an historic and hugely significant step forward for cricket here in America,” he added. The first T20I will be played on December 22 and the second one on the next following day while the ODIs are scheduled to take place on December 26, 28 and 30 respectively.

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

England all-rounder Moeen Ali batted brilliantly against New Zealand in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and notched up his first fifty of the tournament. The left-handed batsman started off the proceedings in a cautious manner and then went for some aggressive strokes to compile a total of 51* off 37 deliveries which included a couple of maximums and three fours during the course. Earlier in the day, after being put into bat, England were off to a decent start but lost a couple of wickets at regular intervals before Dawid Malan and Moeen took the onus and stitched a steady stand of 63 runs for the third wicket. Malan eventually departed for a 30-ball 42. The Eoin Morgan-led side eventually put 166/4 in 20 overs on the board. For the Blackcaps, it was Tim Southee who returned with good figures of 1/24 in 4 overs while Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi and James Neesham also picked up a wicket apiece.

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.