PSL 2021 | MS vs PSZ: Shahnawaz Dhani, skipper Rizwan punish Peshawar

ENG W vs IND W | One-off Test: Timeline of India Women’s Test cricket history

The Indian women’s cricket team will be playing their first-ever Test in seven years. In that same period, some of the men’s players must have played more than 50 games. But such is the system that even this basic need of playing Test cricket being fulfilled was touted as an achievement by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, when it's Secretary tweeted on March 8, Women’s Day, “On the occasion of #InternationalWomensDay, I’m pleased to announce that #TeamIndia @BCCIWomen will play a one-off Test match against @ECB_cricket later this year.” It’s not that only India Women are not playing Test cricket. Barring Australia and England Women, almost no team has played a Test match in recent years. For teams like New Zealand and West Indies, the last Test match dates way back to 2004. Sri Lanka Women have not played a Test in this century. It is understandable for these countries to be not playing Test cricket as the boards don’t have as many resources as India, Australia and England. But even the richer boards not giving their women’s teams even at least 1-2 Test matches every year is alarming. Having said that, it is great news that after this Test against England, which begins on June 16 at Bristol, the Indian eves would have another opportunity in the longer format when they play their first-ever pink ball Test Down Under in September this year. The one-off Test on their tour to Australia will be held at the iconic WACA Ground in Perth. “It's very important to have that idea of what Tests mean to the players, to the team, and the importance of former cricketers who've laid the path for so many years, keeping the sport alive for the current generations and to inspire the future generations,” these were the words of Mithali Raj, the India Women’s captain after the new entrants into the Indian team were given their Test jersey. Test cricket and its legacy is indeed important to inspire more women to join the game. Till now, in their 45 years of Test cricket history, Indian Women have played 37 Tests, winning five, losing six and drawing 26 of them. In their last four completed matches though, spread across 15 years, the Indian team have won three and lost none. On that note, let’s look at the timeline of the India Women’s Test cricket history. 1976-77: The beginning of the journey Indian Women’s team’s journey in Test cricket began with the West Indies Women tour of India in 1976-77. The tour included six Tests which to date remains the most number of Tests played in one series for both India and West Indies women. In that series, Indian Women won the fourth game by 5 wickets but lost the final Test by an innings and 24 runs. The rest of the four matches ended in a draw. In that series, Shanta Rangaswamy was the leading run-scorer with 381 runs at an average of 42.33 and with four fifties to her kitty. Among the wicket-takers, leading the chart was India’s Shubhangi Kulkarni with 23 wickets to her name. In the same season, the Indian Women toured New Zealand and Australia playing one Test in each of those nations. While they drew in the Kiwi nation, Australian women were too good to be overpowered. The Indian women lost that match by 147 runs. 1983-86: Effect of the Indian Men winning the ODI World Cup After playing eight Tests in one season, the Indian Women’s had to wait for six years to get their next batch of Test assignments. When Indian Men’s team won the 1983 ODI World Cup, it was after that the Indian Women’s team played against Australia in 1984. The matches were spread across four cities of Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Lucknow, but all of them resulted in a draw. In that series, Sandhya Agarwal was the find for India. She hit two fifties and a hundred in the first three innings that she played in her career. In the series, she averaged 96 with 288 runs in her three innings. After Australia, New Zealand Women toured India in 1985 and the results were similar, albeit with one game less than the previous series. All the matches ended in a draw. Sandhya was once again the highest run-getter. She also equalled the world record for two consecutive hundreds in Test cricket which stands to date. After scoring a hundred in her last game against Australia, she scored a hundred in the first match against New Zealand. After the New Zealand series, it was India’s turn to tour and they went on their first-ever tour of England for Test matches. Through matches in Worcester, Blackpool and Weatherby in 1986, India Women showed their strength as they saved every game and drew the three-match series. Snadhya Agarwal was once again the talk of the town with her immensely supreme batting skills. She scored 359 runs in six innings at an average of more than 71 with 190 being her best. 1990-99: The 90s that changed perception After the series against England in 1986, the Indian Women’s team had to once again wait for five years before they toured Australia for a three-match Test series in 1991. They lost two of the games in Melbourne and Adelaide, having drawn the first game in Sydney. It was a forgettable series of sorts as none of the Indian batter or bowlers could make a mark. After the rather unsuccessful series in Australia in 1991, the next time that India Women played Tests was in 1995. On their tour to New Zealand, they played and drew one game before coming back home to play an iconic three-match series against England. It was in that series against England that the famous two-run defeat against England was registered in the Jamshedpur Test. Winning the toss, England Women decided to bat first at the Keenan Stadium. Courtesy of some brilliant bowling by Sangita Dabir, they were bundled out for 196 in the first innings. India Women were brilliant with the bat too as they scored 263 runs, taking a lead of 67. Dabir was once again the beacon of light with her 60 runs. In the third innings, the England Women fought back scoring 194 runs and setting a target of 128 for India. It was in the fourth innings that the match took a 360-degree turn. While the English last wicket built a 23-run partnership, India lost their last two wickets within one run, including that of a set Dabir. Only four runs were required to win when Dabir got out. Dabir was the find of this series with 10 wickets and 194 runs at an average of 48. A win against England Women in Test cricket could have been achieved as early as 1995, but it took 11 years to be finally achieved. Post that series it took four more years before the India Women team played a Test. It was in 1999 in England. That game ended in a draw with India needing to chase 252 and ending up with 223-8. 2002-06: When Test cricket was still trading commodity Gone were the times of three or more Test matches series. Now it was two matches or just one. But still, they were played once a year. In 2002, England toured India and Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, currently, the two pillars of the Indian Women’s cricket, made their Test debuts. Only two innings were possible in that game and neither Jhulan nor Mithali had a moment to remember. While Jhulan went wicketless in her 19 overs, Mithali was bowled for a duck. In that very year, The India Women toured South Africa and registered their first-ever Test series win. It was in the one-off Test at Paarl. While Mithali scored a fifty in the first innings and was there to see India home in the second, Jhuland too picked up four wickets in the two innings combined. The year 2002 was good in the sense that India toured England in that very same year, making it three series in one year for the first time ever since 1976-77. The series was drawn as the second match was washed out after the first one ended in a draw. In 2003, India played only a single Test against touring New Zealand that ended in a draw. In 2005, England toured Sri Lanka and India and played a test in Delhi and that too ended in a draw. In 2006, India made two tours, one to Australia and one to England. While the Australia tour was forgettable with the team getting bundled out twice under 250, it was the tour of England that created all the buzz. India Women registered a historic victory against the hosts, their first against England and only the third overall. Mithali’s side defeated the Charlotte Edwards led-team by five wickets in Taunton. Jhulan took two five wickets hauls in both the innings, registering her best match figures of 10-78. Mithali also scored a fifty in that game. In the second Test, India managed to draw the game with ending the fourth day’s play at 187-8 chasing 271 for victory. Thus winning their first-ever series against a high ranked team. From then till now: The never-ending lull The historic win in England must have pushed Test cricket right? Well, it did exactly the opposite to that. Not only did India not play even a single game for the next eight years. But even when they did play two Tests in 2014 and won both of them, including one against England in England, the Indian Women had to wait another eight years to find their next Test assignment. In the 2014 series against England, eight India Women players including the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Punam Raut, Ekta Bisht and Shikha Pandey, who are travelling for the 2021 Test in Bristol, made their Test debuts. In fact, Shikha batted 34.3 overs alongside skipper Mithali in a 68-run partnership. The fast bowling all-rounder played 106 of the 207 balls in the partnership. At the end of 2014, South Africa toured India and in that game in Guwahati, three more Indian players made their debuts, two of whom, leggie Poonam Yadav and wicket-keeper batter Sushma Verma are touring with the team currently as well. India beat the Proteas Women in that game by an innings and 34 runs. Thirush Kamini and Punam Raut scored centuries in that game, Kamini missing out on a double ton by just eight runs. Come June 16 and India would play their 37th Test at Bristol with more new faces like Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodriguez, Shafali Verma, Indrani Roy and Pooja Vatsrakar most probably making their debuts. How would things fold out is yet to be seen. But you stay with OneCricket as we would bring the ball by ball update of that game to you on your cell phones, tablets and laptop screens from June 16 onwards.

PSL 2021 | ISU vs LHQ: Shadab Khan and Co. stage impressive comeback as Qalandars make a meal of an easy chase

If there is to be made a case for a comeback in the Pakistan Super League, the comeback by Islamabad united in game 20 of the PSL 2021 will always be among the top contender for number one. It wasn’t just one comeback in one inning, but a huge comeback in both the innings of the game and from a position, which wasn’t suitable for a comeback at all. The Lahore Qalandars deserve some mention for making a mess of all the opportunities they got in the game to lose it in the end by 28 runs. Chasing a modest target of 153 on a Shiekh Zayed wicket that didn’t support swing as much as in the last few games, the Qalandars had a desirable start with a 55 run partnership for the opening wicket. Both Fkahar Zaman and skipper Sohail Akhtar looked in great touch before the latter was removed by Fawad Ahmed on the last ball of the first powerplay. Youngster Zeeshan Ashraf was run out very soon too. However, Mohammad Hafeez joined Zaman and the Qalandars were cruising to victory under their partnership at 86-2 in 10 overs. But as they say, it’s not over till it’s over, young fast bowler Muhammad Musa made sure that the saying was held true to its course as he removed both Hafeez and Zaman in his two overs. In between them he also sent back Ben Dunk to the pavilion for a duck. Qalandars were suddenly 93-5 and in a spot of bother with their saviours from the last two games, Tim David and Rashid Khan at the crease. Shadab Khan, the United skipper had other ideas in mind as he removed both David and Rashid in the same over to break any hopes that might have been building in the Qalandars dugout. From there on, it was a matter of formality as Sheen Afridi and James Faulkner were dismissed by Ahmed in the 15th over itself. The grandeur of the comeback of United can be gauged from the fact that they took seven wickets in a span of just 14 runs and 30 balls. In the end, Haris Rauf entertained the audiences with some high flying shots but it was never going to be enough as one shot too many and a brilliant catch at the long leg boundary by Iftikhar meant that the Qalandars innings came to an end at 124. The loss did not settle well with the Qalandars skipper Sohail. Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, he said, “Our middle-order didn't take responsibility. We need to work on our death bowling. We gave away 10-15 runs more. We got a good opening partnership but lost our way in the middle.” Earlier in the evening, it was the story of the vintage Asif Ali doing what he has been known for, taking the United out of precarious situations. The middle-order batsman, who had been going through a rough patch recently, making only 99 runs in his last nine innings at a lowly average of 11.00 and losing his place in the XI in the national side, was pushed to number seven in the United lineup too. But today was the day of his redemption. At 20/5 at the end of the powerplay, Islamabad were looking down at another humbling by Lahore in the PSL but for Asif and Iftikhar’s partnership. The two veterans of the game got together and added a record 123 runs for the sixth wicket, the highest in PSL’s six years history. Asif in particular was ruthless from the very beginning, even as Iftikhar took his time to settle down. The 29-year-old completed his fifty in just 28 balls and went on to make 74, his highest score in PSL off just 43 balls at a strike rate of 174. He hit six fours and five sixes. As Asif didn’t seem like getting out to any bowler, he was hit wicket as his pads flaked the stumps while he was turning after trying to pull a ball from deep in his crease. The Faisalabad born was also adjudged Man of the match for his herculean effort. The 30-year-old partner of his missed out on his fifty, getting out for 49 in an attempt to hit some more boundaries. Faulkner was the pick of the bowlers for Lahore as he removed three players in the powerplay. With this win, United have also got to the top of the table now replacing Qalandars, although both the teams have the same points. Shadab, who was criticised for not fielding first after winning the toss said, “A decision is a final decision and if we had lost the game, I wouldn't have blamed the toss.” “But it was great to come back from difficult situations and win this match,” he added in the post-match presentation ceremony. While Lahore would come back on Tuesday to play against Quetta Gladiators, sitting at the bottom of the PSL points table, Islamabad would be in action tomorrow against last year’s champions Karachi Kings.

Tom Latham cherishes 'fantastic achievement' against England, but focussed on big India challenge

New Zealand stand-in captain Tom Latham, who has registered his name as one of the very few Blackcaps skipper to have won a series in England, said that the achievement was long time coming and hence it is worth all the celebration form the team. He was mindful of the fact that the Blackcaps have had thier last success in England way back in 1999 and that their previous two attempts had failed although they had rich reserves of talents. "It's a fantastic achievement from the group. I think it's important that we celebrate with each other. It hasn't been done since '99. For us to come here as a group, it was about trying to play our brand of cricket and I thought we did that really well over the four days and got our rewards at the end,” Latham said in the post-match press conference. "It was about trying to do what we do really well and I thought we did. [It's] well documented that '99 was the last time we'd won here and we have been here a couple of times in recent years and haven't quite got the rewards. It's certainly an achievement that's worth celebrating." The series against England was always seen from the prism of the World Test Championship final scheduled within a week time from the second Test albeit the Blackcaps tried all they could to downplay the larger goal. Latham said that the side will take a couple of days before switching their minds over to the game against a ‘completely different’ side in India that posses ‘fantastic’ bowlers and ‘quality’ batsmen in their squad. Not only was he ware of New Zealand’ history in England but he was also mindful of India’s solitary win on their last tour of England that came in Southampton—the venue where the final of the Test Championship will be played, and hence he said that the Blackcaps will have to play their best cricket to defeat Virat Kohli-led Indian team. "They've got a fantastic set of bowlers, [and] a lot of quality batsmen that have scored runs in different conditions all round the world. They were over here a few years ago and played really well, so we know we'll have to play well to beat them. "Our focus will shift to them in a couple of days. The preparation has been great but it's important that we do shift our focus and adapt to a completely different side." New Zealand made as many as six changes keeping in mind the tight schedule on the tour and the big game and the big players such as the skipper Kane Williamson, BJ Watling, Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson sat out of the second Test in amove that established Blackcap’s eyes on the bigger goal of the World Test Championship. Latham confirmed both Williamson and Watling, who were not fully fit for the second Test are ‘reasonably well’ on track to walk inot the playing XI for the WTC final but also commenced the six replacements such as Matt Henry, Ajaz Patel, Will Young for cashing in on the opportunities which he conceded has been tought to get over a long period fot time. "It was amazing from a personnel change of six guys. That hasn't happened for a long time in this group and it has been a hard team to crack into. For all those guys to get that opportunity - Will Young, Matt Henry, Ajaz Patel - was fantastic. They performed their roles really well,” Latham said. "[Watling and Williamson] are travelling reasonably well. It was important for them to get a little bit of rest in order to be fully fit heading into next week. Fingers crossed we'll have a fully-fit squad." Latham hit the winning runs against England to seal the series win but he has not been at his best with the bat in three of the four completed innings and New Zealand would rely on him to provide the team a good start against India come June 18.

New Zealand dethrone India from top of ICC Test Rankings

New Zealand displaced India from the top of the ICC Test Rankinsg on the back of a 1-0 series win over the hosts England in a two-match long series concluded today. New Zealand chased down the target with eight wickets in hand and won their first series in England since 1999 and with that went to the top of the pile of the ranking just before they are scheduled to meet India in the World Test Championship final. New Zealand have advanced to the top with 123 rating point which is a two points higher level than 121 points secured by Virat Kohli-led side. In the aftermath of the first loss in a home series since 2014 against Sri Lanka, England slipped to the fourth position with 107 points while their arch-rivals Australia maintained their third position on the table with 108 rating points. For New Zealand, bowlers were the heroes of the victory as they stopped the hosts frpm running away with the game after a good start by the openers on the first day and followed it up another stellar performance to dismantle any chance of their comeback in the second innings with swing and precision of line and length.