Vincy Premier T10 League commences from March 19

ICC Women’s World Cup | Windies pacer Shamilia Connell collapses in the field

West Indies pacer Shamilia Connell fell down on the field while fielding in the 47th over of the chase in a crucial game against Bangladesh in the ICC Women’s World Cup currently being played in New Zealand. The right-arm tearaway fast bowler’s collapse brought a long spell of stoppage at a crucial time in the game, with the match hanging in balance in the 47th over. The medical staff rushed out to the ground and after staying down for a considerable amount of time, Connell stood up and walked into the ambulance. "A bit worrying to see her go down like that. She is a fighter, not sure what is wrong with her but hopefully she is all right." Connell did not take any further part in the game. While an update on the situation is yet to be received from the ICC or the West Indies team, her colleagues felt positive that she will be up and running soon. The break aided West Indies and they were able to seal the game with three balls remaining. The women from the Caribbean shores defended a paltry total of 140 runs by bowling out Bangladesh. Hayley Matthews was adjudged the man of the match after her incredible opening and finishing spells where she took four wickets in total. West Indies are in contention for the top four spots, currently maintaining the third position in the ranking table. They have are right behind Australia and South Africa, who have been the teams to beat this season. However, one of their biggest issues at the moment is that they have a very poor runrate going into the tight phases of the competition and would like to improve on that in their next game against Pakistan - an opponent that has not won a single match in the competition so far.

Glenn Maxwell believes 'stress free' Kohli will be a big threat for opponents

RCB all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has said that Virat Kohli looks “stress free” now and it will be a dangerous sign for the other teams.

IPL 2022 | Lucknow Super Giants' Mark Wood forced to pull out due to elbow injury

Lucknow Super Giants Rs 7.5 crore pace recruit Mark Wood has pulled out of the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League, reported ESPNcricinfo on Friday, 18 March. The English fast bowler was supposed to form a lethal partnership with Indian speedster Avesh Khan something that was already touted to be one of the best fast bowling duo in the league this season. Wood was forced to sit out of the final day in the first Test match against West Indies after experiencing 'acute pain' ahead of the final day of the first Test match. He was then ruled out of the second Test match as well so that the English and Wales Cricket Board could assess him further for injury. In the absence of Wood, it is highly likely that Sri Lankan Dushmantha Chameera could be moved up the order instead of finding a replacement and he could form the attack alongside Jason Holder and Avesh Khan himself. This does put their combination in a little pickle considering they do not have an out and out pacer anymore and there aren't many out there anyway in the world. This would force Lucknow to go back to the table once again to find a new style of attack that could work for them in this IPL.

ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 | WI defeat BAN in another low scoring thriller

The ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 has been a stellar advertisement for the game of women’s cricket. Scores of tight matches and shock results have given renewed push for a full blown women’s calendar and the latest match between Bangladesh and West Indies supported the same. After suffering heavy defeats in the last two encounters, Windies desperately needed to win this game to remain alive in the race for top four and up against them were minnows Bangladesh who were high on confidence after their historic first win against Pakistan in the World Cup. Minnows make trouble again The match was stacked heavily towards the Windies side on paper, but as it has happened several times in this World Cup already, things can go haywire very quickly for the heavyweights on the day of the game. Playing in Mount Maunganui on Friday 18 March, things went sideways in the 9th over for West Indies when star batter Deandra Dottin edged one back to the keeper. From 29/1, after a healthy stroke filled start, a string of loose shots from the Windies women resulted in a landslide and found their team tottering at 70/7 by the 36th over. Goes without saying that the women from the Caribbean shores were to blame themselves for their undoing, choosing wrong balls to hit on wrong occasions. Spinners day out It was quite clear in the first innings that pace was not be that effective in the track as just two wickets were taken by the pacers on the day, and spinners making their presence felt in the very first 20 overs. Wickets would have come even quicker if catches would have either carried or stuck in the slip cordon for Bangladesh women. However, they did not have to rue those like Australia did in the final day against Pakistan in the men’s Test series the day before, as some good fielding on Bangladesh’s part affected two run outs. For Windies, Shemaine Campbelle scored 53 runs off 107 balls, playing a very slow innings to provide at least something on board for their bowlers to defend. Bangladesh rued their chance of getting her out when she was batting at 29 missing out on a stumping chance when she was miles down the line. The ball turned and bounced sharply on keeper Shamima Sultana, that she failed to grab it at all. Bangladesh did not manage to nip the Windies innings but did not give away free runs as well, keeping the team to just 140 runs in their 50 overs. Easy target Coming into bat, there could not have been a better stage for Bangladesh women to make their presence felt in the league table, however, that was not to be. Bangladesh needed a safe start to take this game away from Windies, but they lost the wicket of Shamima Sultana in the very first over. Props to West Indies for starting with offspinner Hayley Matthews and she reaped the rewards very quickly from the track that had a lot of purchase. She affected the second dismissal of the innings, removing Sharmin Akhtar in the 9th over edging her to the slips. Bangladesh were 30 runs up at that point and there was no reason to panic given the score was so less. With Matthews almost done with her overs, it was time for Windies throw the ball to leg spinner Afy Fletcher, but her onset did not bring any issues to Bangladeshi batting. The panic At 60/2 Bangladesh looked well set to chase the remaining 80 runs down from almost 30 overs and there was no reason to believe that Windies could change the course of the game. Afy Fletcher, wicketless for her first 5 overs giving away 17 runs, thought that she was not done with the game yet and produced magnificent nine balls to change the course of the game. In the 22nd over, she clean bowled Fargana Hoque who was looking to slog sweep the ball and missing out on the line completely. Returning in her next over, she produced a lovely flighted leg spinner to clip the edge of experienced Rumana Ahmed and then in the very next ball caught Ritu Moni plumb in front with a googly. From 60/2, Bangladesh were 60/5 in a space of three overs. Returning to bowl in her final spell, Hayley Matthews took two important wickets in the 33rd over dismissing captain Nigar Sultana (25 off 77) and Fahima Khatun (0 off 2) to deal crucial blows to the Bangladesh batters. At 85/7, West Indies believed that they had the game in their pockets and could hope for a win in an unlikely Friday in New Zealand. Understanding the issue, batters Salma Khatun and Nahida Akhtar started accumulating runs one by one and three dropped chances between 33rd to 42nd dented their chances in the game. Bangladesh realised they had built momentum and had found a way to win the game. However, as the old adage goes, you make your own luck, and Bangladesh undid their playing two lose shots and submitting easy catches at short mid on position. With two wickets to go, the tailenders dabbed the balls and took runs to bring the equation down to eight runs in the final six overs, but an inside edge in the third ball of the game marked the end of what was an absolute thriller on the day. The game was an absolute advertisement for the women’s sport which has seen a lot of flak aimed at the respective national administrations for their negligence towards them. With the win, Windies remained in the hunt for the semi final spot in the third place on the points table, while Bangladesh stayed in the bottom two having wasted their chances to move above England.