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Aus vs Zim, 2022 - Wessly Madhevere hopes for a run at No. 3 after successful last-minute call-up

Wessly Madhevere is eager to establish himself as Zimbabwe's No. 3 in ODIs after making the most of an unexpected opportunity in the opening match against Australia in Townsville.

Madhevere only found out shortly before the game started that he was in the team when Sean Williams was ruled out having taken a blow on the elbow at training on Saturday. An indication of how late the change was made came from the hasty scribbles on the team sheet.

"To be honest I didn't know I was going to play," Madhevere said. "Was told [on Saturday] I wasn't going to play but found out that Sean wasn't doing too well with the elbow and that's when the coach told me that I was playing.

"I normally get nervous the day before, especially when I know I'll be playing, but today I was kind of relaxed."

Madhevere went on to make his fourth ODI fifty and a new career-best of 72 to give Zimbabwe a platform from where they could have accelerated at the death, but after he gave a return catch to Adam Zampa's final delivery they lost 6 for 15 to be bowled out for 200 with 15 balls unused.

However, Madhevere wants to take on the No. 3 role in a more permanent capacity having made 5 and 2 in the position on the previous occasions he had batted there, in the recent series against India.

"I see myself batting there, it's one of the crucial positions when you want to be exposed to the pressure, so that's one of the key areas and I quite like that challenge," he said. "It also helps me grow as a cricketer if I get exposed to it right now, then it will be easier for me in the future."

He built steadily against seam and spin, reaching his fifty from 67 balls, and said he found the Townsville surface similar to those he had played on while at school in South Africa.

"I quite enjoyed it," he said. "Got exposed to those kind of conditions while I was at school so I knew what was happening."

Madhevere added that he felt 250-260 would have been a competitive total and Zimbabwe are hopeful that spin will be become more of a factor in the remaining two games. Sikandar Raza caused a few problems with his offspin while legspinner Ryan Burl collected three wickets as the Australians played aggressively against him.

The second ODI takes place on Wednesday.

#Aus #Zim #Wessly #Madhevere #hopes #run #successful #lastminute #callup https://www.globalcourant.com/aus-vs-zim-2022-wessly-madhevere-hopes-for-a-run-at-no-3-after-successful-last-minute-call-up/?feed_id=17666&_unique_id=630d9e8cb64b3

Zim in Aus - Marnus Labuschagne wants to continue to get better at No.5 after disappointing tour of Sri Lanka

Marnus Labuschagne is a self-confessed tinkerer when it comes to his batting, sometimes changing things mid-innings, and he is focused on using the upcoming six ODIs against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in northern Australia to continue to adapt his middle-order game with little more than a year to go until the World Cup.

Labuschagne now has 21 ODIs under his belt since making his debut shortly before Covid disrupted the game - the opening ODI against Zimbabwe in Townsville on August 28 will be Australia's first on home soil since November 2020. He scored a century in his fifth innings, an emotional performance against South Africa in the country of his birth, and has also made a couple of sparkling half-centuries either side of Australia's 13-month absence from the format.

However, he was left frustrated by his returns on the recent tour of Sri Lanka, even knowing there were some tough conditions as the series progressed, having fallen between 18 and 31 in all five innings.

"Looking back on it, I certainly wish I'd played a slightly different way," he told ESPNcricinfo. "I almost started a little too defensively so I'm just reviewing my theories there and wished I'd applied my Test method a little bit more in those conditions; sweeping the ball, using my feet a little more. It was a bit disappointing from my end, that I didn't really do that until the Test series came. For me, it's a learning experience."

Part of that learning is to adjust to what could be the No. 5 position on a more regular basis. He twice batted there in Sri Lanka, with Josh Inglis and Travis Head in the slot above, and though neither of those players is part of the current squad, Mitchell Marsh and Steven Smith could both go in ahead of Labuschagne.

"I enjoy the different challenges, that's for sure," he said. "I always like batting in the top order, I've spent my whole life there, but understanding the team make-up, batting at No. 5, I need to continue to get better at that role and through the middle overs understanding when to attack and defend. It's about really trusting myself. That's the great thing with the coaching staff, they have full trust in us as players, to take the game on and put pressure back on the opposition.

"To be really positive out of the blocks is key for me. Understanding what the situation is. If we are going well it's about making sure that I'm getting the other batter on strike if he's really got momentum and starting to build the partnership. Putting the bowler under pressure from ball one and if I can do that it certainly changes the dynamic."

There has been some discussion about whether there is room for both Labuschagne and Smith in the ODI middle order with them having career strike rates of 85.80 and 88.43 respectively, but unsurprisingly, Labuschagne is not having a bar of that. Back in November 2020, the pair produced a stand of 136 in 16 overs against India at the SCG which gave a glimpse of how they could work together.

"I don't really see us as similar players, I think we attack the game very differently," Labuschagne said. "[Steve] goes a lot more straight down the wicket, especially against spin, whereas I attack it quite square with sweeps. Obviously, I think there's room for both of us. Steve got 100 off 60 balls against India in back-to-back games and feel like we complement each other depending on what the situation is. If it's a tough wicket, we can control the middle overs, but on the other side, we can put pressure on the opposition at a lower risk and be able to score quickly. The challenge is we've just got to continue to push that run rate, especially when we are batting first, and we both understand that."

On the broader theme of the ODI format's standing in the game at a time of unprecedented schedule crunch, Labuschagne is equally enthusiastic and hopes to add another chapter to Australia's World Cup legacy next year in India.

"I love 50-over cricket, it's a good mix, you need to show some really good tactical nous, understanding your opposition, getting wickets through the middle overs and trying to score at seven or eight runs an over at low risk, that's a different challenge in itself. I really enjoy the format, there's space for all three, it's just about how we schedule it.

"The history that comes with one-day cricket makes it such an amazing format. There's been so many great World Cup wins over so many years, so to be a part of a World Cup would be an amazing experience and one that I look forward to. Still think it's the pinnacle of international white-ball events."

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/zim-in-aus-marnus-labuschagne-wants-to-continue-to-get-better-at-no-5-after-disappointing-tour-of-sri-lanka/?feed_id=14866&_unique_id=6305275d42253

Recent Match Report - AUS Women vs IND Women Final 2022

Australia 161 for 8 (Mooney 61, Lanning 36, Gardner 25, Renuka 2-25, Rana 2-38) beat India 152 (Harmanpreet 65, Rodrigues 33, Gardner 3-16, Schutt 2-27) by nine runs

Australia gave yet another lesson in closing out games under pressure and crushed India's dreams to clinch gold at the Commonwealth Games 2022. With India needing 44 off 30 with seven wickets in hand, Ashleigh Gardner produced an incredible plot twist by dismissing Pooja Vastrakar and the half-centurion Harmanpreet Kaur off successive deliveries.

With a foot in the door, Australia barged it open by choking the lower middle order to clinch victory by nine runs as India lost their last eight wickets for just 34 runs. A crestfallen Harmanpreet, whose 43-ball 65 had lifted India into a match-winning position, sat motionless in the dugout, as did the rest of the team, who had to settle for the silver medal.

Meanwhile, Australia, holders of the 50-overs and T20 World Cups, added the only accolade they lacked - a gold medal at a multi-sports event - to reaffirm their status as the best team in the world.

Renuka delivers key breakthrough
India gave Alyssa Healy an early let-off two years ago in the T20 World Cup final, and saw her pummel a match-winning 39-ball 75. They may have briefly wondered if Healy would make them pay here too, when a thick edge off Renuka Singh flew just wide of where a regulation slip would be in the first over of the match.

Fortunately for them, Renuka sent Healy back in her next over, aided by an excellent DRS call from Harmanpreet. Ball-tracking suggested that Renuka's nip-backer, which Healy played all around, would have crashed into middle and leg stumps. It wasn't until the final over of the powerplay that Australia began to shift gears as Meg Lanning muscled Renuka down the ground for six in a 13-run over that took Australia to 43 for 1.

Lanning and Mooney push on
Despite the early loss and a few quiet overs, Lanning and Beth Mooney exuded a sense of calm, knowing the kind of damage they could inflict once set. Both batters targeted the short straight boundary effectively off the spinners, and raised their half-century stand off just 37 balls. Australia picked off six boundaries in the ninth and tenth overs, including four in a single Harmanpreet over, to set themselves up superbly at 83 for 1 at the halfway stage.

Radha changes the mood
After a tight first over in which she conceded just three tuns, Radha Yadav left her mark on the game in the 11th over when she showed terrific game-smarts to run Lanning out at the non-striker's end. Having stopped a straight hit from Mooney, she quickly reverse-flicked the ball between her legs and onto the stumps with Lanning's bat in the air when the stumps were disturbed. In the next over, her prowling presence at point resulted in a stunning catch as she threw herself full-stretch to dismiss Tahlia McGrath, who played the game despite testing positive for Covid-19.

Australia's lower order goes big
Gardner offset any pressure Australia may have felt with some typically aggressive hits to pocket a quick 25 before she was stumped off Sneh Rana. Despite wickets falling around her, Mooney carried on, raising a half-century off just 36 deliveries. Australia didn't allow the succession of wickets to stall their momentum, even as India's fielders kept pulling off stunners, including a one-handed back-pedaling catch from Deepti Sharma to dismiss Mooney, and Meghna Singh's catch running back from mid-on to remove the dangerous Grace Harris. Rachael Haynes muscled an unbeaten 10-ball 18 to push Australia past 160.

India make nervy start
India lost both openers inside the first three overs. Smriti Mandhana was bowled behind her legs while looking to swing one into the leg side, ending an innings that had begun promisingly with scorching off-side strokes, while Shafali Verma slogged and holed out two balls after she was reprieved at cover by Megan Schutt.

Harmanpreet and Rodrigues keep India in the hunt
Five years after her knock for the ages in the 50-overs World Cup semi-final against Australia, Harmanpreet threatened to produce the T20 version of that epic 171* against the same opponents.

Coming in with India 23 for 2 in the fourth over, Harmanpreet revived their innings with her drives and lofted hits, including a foray down the pitch for a six over wide long-on off Jess Jonassen in the tenth over. She began employing the sweep frequently too, as Australia's spinners tried a leg-stump line against her. At the other end, the bat-slapping and fist-pumping Jemimah Rodrigues overcame a slow start - she was 1 off 7 at one point - to take some pressure off Harmanpreet by picking up regular boundaries in a run-a-ball 33. Their 96-run partnership had brought the equation down to a gettable 44 off 34 when Rodrigues was bowled looking to heave Schutt across the line.

Gardner applies the choke
Australia's relief turned into full-blown ecstasy when Gardner delivered a stunning second over, in which she removed the promoted Vastrakar and Harmanpreet off consecutive deliveries. While Vastrakar mistimed a hoick to deep midwicket, Harmanpreet fell attempting a paddle, the ball lobbing off her helmet to be caught behind by Healy. At that stage, Gardner's figures were a magical 2-0-5-3.

As India lost wickets, the pressure caught up on them as batter after batter committed hara-kiri. Rana and Radha were run out, and Deepti, seemingly India's last hope with them needing 13 off 10, was out lbw to Schutt.

It boiled down to India needing 11 off the final over, with Yastika Bhatia, who had come on as a concussion substitute for wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia, on strike to Jonassen. After turning down a single first ball, she ran an improbable second run off the second, in order to keep the strike, resulting in Meghna's run-out at the danger end. With India now needing 10 off four balls, Yastika was out lbw attempting a reverse sweep.

And just like that, just like 2017, India had fallen agonisingly short in a global final.

Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/recent-match-report-aus-women-vs-ind-women-final-2022/?feed_id=8067&_unique_id=62f09f4b82c3a

Match Preview - IND Women vs AUS Women, Commonwealth Games Women's Cricket Competition 2022, Final

Big picture

Two years after they played the T20I World Cup final in front of 88,000 fans at a packed MCG, Australia and India will square off in the gold-medal match at the Commonwealth Games 2022.

The setting is perhaps a little less intimidating, but Edgbaston will likely be sold out to its 25,000 capacity. This is a rivalry that is fast gaining ground as the second biggest in women's cricket after England vs Australia.

Having laid their hands on every trophy of significance in the game, Australia are overwhelming favourites. For India, it's another shot at trying to win a major global crown, five years after they came closest to winning one, at Lord's at the 50-over World Cup final against England.

The core of both squads remains the same as it was in 2020. Australia may have aged a bit, but their never-say-die spirit, as was evident in their jailbreak in the tournament opener, makes them a formidable force in any conditions.

India have backed their strengths of batting first and putting opponents under scoreboard pressure. Australia nearly wilted in the first game but found a saviour in Grace Harris, who played a match-turning knock in her first game in six years.

The 171* she made in the 2017 semi-final was pathbreaking in every way. Another impact performance to deliver a win here could spur a revolution. Purely given the novelty and the fascination India attaches to gold medalists, a win on Sunday could be as big, if not bigger, than a World Cup win.

Form guide

India WWWLW (last five matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWW

Players to watch

India are blessed to have three quality allrounders in Deepti, Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana. Deepti has lent much needed batting depth and has been Harmanpreet's go-to bowler to restrict run-flow, while Rana has been the banker. Vastrakar's inclusion has given the team the balance they missed when they played Australia in the opener. She is a useful medium-pacer and can wield the long handle down the order. This is firmly a team that is carving out an identity that isn't always superstar centric.

Alyssa Healy knows a thing or two about turning up and slaying nerves in crunch games. But since that T20 World Cup final in 2020, where she blew India away with a stunning assault, her form hasn't quite been the same. She has passed 25 just once in 16 innings and averages a shade over 10. Sunday is as good an opportunity as any to once again remind the world of her prowess.

Team news

The only question dilemma India may have is between picking a makeshift wicketkeeper who offers batting depth in Yastika Bhatia or an out-and-out wicketkeeper in Taniya Bhatia. The spate of run outs under pressure on Saturday made it amply clear it helps to have a proper wicketkeeper in crunch moments.

India (possible): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Deepti Sharma, 6 Taniya Bhatia (wk), 7 Sneh Rana, 8 Pooja Vastrakar, 9 Radha Yadav, 10 Meghna Singh, 11 Renuka Singh

She has bowled plenty in the nets lately, but game time remains elusive for superstar allrounder Ellyse Perry. Barring an injury or a late change owing to short turnaround time, it's likely she may have to settle for watching Australia's entire CWG campaign from the bench. Moreover, Meg Lanning has gone in with the same XI in all of their four games in the tournament.

Australia (possible): 1 Alyssa Healy (wk), 2 Beth Mooney, 3 Meg Lanning (capt), 4 Tahlia McGrath, 5 Rachael Haynes, 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Grace Harris, 8 Jess Jonassen, 9 Alana King, 10 Megan Schutt, 11 Darcie Brown

Pitch and conditions

Forty overs of cricket would have already been played on the surface by the time the final comes around, with the bronze medal playoff between New Zealand and England having finished. On Saturday, the adjacent surface, prepared similarly with an even grass cover that aids consistent bounce, remained good for batting right through. Expect more of the same on Super Sunday.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/match-preview-ind-women-vs-aus-women-commonwealth-games-womens-cricket-competition-2022-final/?feed_id=7668&_unique_id=62ef4c509d08a

Recent Match Report - IND Women vs AUS Women 1st Match, Group A 2022

Australia Women 157 for 7 (Gardner 52*, Harris 37, Renuka 4-18) beat India Women 154 for 8 (Harmanpreet 52, Shafali 48, Jonassen 4-22) by three wickets

Women's cricket got off to a spectacular start in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, with Australia giving India a reminder that you can never write them off, even in near-impossible situations. Chasing 155, Australia were reduced to 49 for 5 after an incisive burst of 4 for 18 from seamer Renuka Singh, but Ashleigh Gardner and Grace Harris pulled off an incredible rescue act to win with an over to spare.

A skyrocketing asking-rate that had Australia needing 89 off the last 10 overs eventually turned into a cruise. Harris, who was batting in a T20I for the first time since 2016, smashed 37 off 20 balls, while Gardner stayed unbeaten on 52 off 35 to give Australia a winning start in pursuit of their maiden gold medal.

India's spinners prove ineffective

Apart from Deepti Sharma, every other India spinner was extremely expensive. Left-armer Radha Yadav, in particular, struggled on a pitch that did not offer the kind of bite that she thrives on. When she pitched short, Harris targeted the square boundaries on both sides of the wicket, and when she went full, Harris stepped out and powered the ball straight down the ground. The other left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad also suffered, going for 24 runs in two overs. Thriving against spin, Harris and Gardner raised their 50-run partnership off 31 balls and put the pressure right back on India.

Australia just keep coming
India broke that damaging partnership off the last ball of the 13th over, when Harmanpreet Kaur ran sideways to catch Harris, leaving Australia with 55 to get off 42 balls with only four wickets in hand. The moment should have galvanised India; instead it spurred Australia on. The No. 8 Alana King demonstrated their batting depth, smacking three boundaries in her unbeaten 18 off 16 balls. When Gardner brought up her half-century, Australia were just three away from victory, and King clattered the winning boundary through midwicket off the final ball of the 19th over.

Renuka's dream spell
Renuka doesn't have much pace; she relies on accuracy, swing and subtle variations off the pitch. With her second ball, she had the formidable Alyssa Healy poking to slip. Renuka then had Meg Lanning caught at point for 8; the batter's indecision between playing a full-blooded cut or a gentle push proving to be her undoing. After Beth Mooney chopped on for 10 and Tahlia McGrath lost her leg stump to one that cut back in, Renuka had taken four wickets in her first 13 balls. At that stage, India were favourites to win, despite not scoring as much as they should have.

Smriti shines, briefly
India had made a promising start before their innings unravelled. Let off in the second over by Haynes, Smriti Mandhana stepped out of her crease repeatedly to negate any swing at Edgbaston. She drove through the covers, lofted the spinners, and pulled in front of square to race to 24 off 16 balls, but eventually nicked Darcie Brown to the wicketkeeper in the fourth over.

Lucky Shafali tees off
After a small role-reversal, in which she played second fiddle to Mandhana, Shafali Verma displayed her destructive powers by lofting Megan Schutt down the ground, and showed she has a delicate game too by glancing the legspin of King to the boundary. Australia let Shafali off three times - once when Healy broke the stumps with her empty right hand while the ball was in her left glove. The India opener went on to score 48 off 33 balls before she was out to a leg-side strangle against left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen, who finished with figures of 4 for 22.

Harmanpreet's leg-side range
Harmanpreet's love for the leg side is no secret, but that doesn't make it easy to stop her. Australia placed multiple fielders on the leg-side boundary, but Harmanpreet still found the gaps to top score for India with 52 off 34 balls. But her momentum was stalled by Jonassen cutting through the middle order at the other end, and India could only score 39 runs in the last five overs of their innings.