Desi Talk

www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 27 SPORTS July 12, 2024 I n a rain-marred third match of the 2024 Cognizant Major League Cricket at the Church Street Park in Morrisville, Washington Freedom prevailed over MI NewYork by four runs via the DLS Method. The match was a tightly contested one. In the sec- ond innings, Washington Freedom faced an early setback with the dismissal of Travis Head (1). Steve Smith initially took a couple of overs to settle in, but once he found his rhythm and struck his first boundary on his 7th ball, the NewYork bowlers struggled to contain him. The Austra- lian star batter smashed 4 fours and 3 sixes, racing to a strong impressive 46 off 28 balls. With 7.4 overs of theWashington Freedom innings done, the match took a turn for the worse as rain and lighting brought on the covers. However, Steve Smith’s power-hitting in the final over of the powerplay took the ahead on DLS with a score of 55/1. Earlier in the day, the MI NewYork struggled to score freely against a disciplined bowling attack after being put into bat first. Despite Nicholas Pooran’s valiant effort, scoring a 30-ball 44, the team from NewYork faced con- sistent setbacks with regular loss of wickets. Opener Ruben Clinton (28) gave his team a strong platform with a good start, but the introduction of Glenn Maxwell proved lethal as he was bowled while attempting a reverse sweep. With Monank Patel (5) and Shayan Jahangir (6) having lost their wickets, all eyes were on Pooran, who found the regular boundaries. Despite the wickets falling at the other end, Pooran kept the pressure on theWashington Freedom bowlers. Lockie Ferguson was the breakthrough bowler for MI NewYork, as Pooran’s mistimed shot fell to Glenn Max- well. Eventually, Pooran was aided by a crucial cameo from Rashid Khan, who smashed 31 off 15, and some valuable boundaries from Anrich Nortje (14), which pro- pelled them to 154. With the ball forWashington Freedom, Saurabh Ne- travalkar got the crucial scalps of MI NewYork skipper Kieron Pollard (3), as well as the dangerous Rashid and Nortje. Even Justin Dill’s three wickets came in handy, with his wicket of Tim David (9) providing a crucial breakthrough. Brief Score: Washington Freedom 55/1 (Steve Smith 40) beat MI NewYork (Nicholas Pooran 44, Rashid Khan 31, Saurabh Netravalkar 3/24) by four runs via DLS Method. -ANI Major League Cricket 2024: Netravalkar, Smith Star In Match Of Washington Freedom v MI New York A bhishek Sharma thrashed his way to a quick-fire century to set the foundation for a comfortable 100-run victory for India over Zimbabwe in the second of their Twenty20 internationals at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday. Abhishek, in his second T20 interna- tional, lashed 15 boundaries as he scored 100 runs in 47 balls after theWorld Cup winners won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 234-2 in their 20 overs. Zimbabwe, who pulled off a surprise 13-run win over India in Saturday’s open- ing clash of the five-match series, were bowled out for 134 in 18.4 overs in reply as they never came close to reaching the daunting target. After completing his half-century in 33 balls, Abhishek took just 13 more deliver- ies to reach triple figures. The 23-year-old hit 26 runs off the 11th over, bowled by Dion Myers, and brought up his century with three successive sixes in a display of devastating batting, becoming the first batter to score a century for India in only his second T20 international innings. Ruturaj Gaikwad was 77 not out and Rinku Singh scored 48 in other solid con- tributions. Zimbabwe were never in the chase after losing their first wicket after only three balls. Wessly Madhevere top scored for them with 43. -Reuters R estricting test cricket to six or seven teams and using the 20-overs format as the vehicle to spread the game were some of the views aired at a symposium organized by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on Sunday, July 7, 2024. Test cricket’s dwindling appeal outside India, England and Australia has coin- cided with the proliferation of lucrative T20 leagues across the world. Although test cricket at the top level still often produces drama, the brevity and action-packed nature of 20-overs cricket has quickly made it the preferred format for the game’s new fans. Former India player and coach Ravi Shastri said test cricket must remain competitive and the only way to do so was to have only the relatively stronger teams competing in this format. “When you don’t have quality, that is when the ratings drop, there are fewer people in the crowd, its meaningless cricket, which is the last thing sport wants,” Shastri said atWorld Cricket Connects, an event at Lord’s hosted by the MCC. “You have 12 test match teams. Bring it down to six or seven and have promotion and relegation system. “You can have two tiers but let the top six keep playing to sustain the interest in Test cricket. “You can spread the game in other formats, like T20,” added the former India coach. Former Australia batter and coach Justin Langer said while he loved T20 leagues, he wanted international cricket to be protected for the impact in can have on young people. He cited examples includingWest Indies fast bowler Shamar Joseph’s memo- rial debut series in Australia this year. “…it had Australia enthralled and it brought the Caribbean to life,” Langer said. “Last week we saw a million people turn up to see India celebrated for win- ning theWorld Cup. “That is bilateral cricket and interna- tional cricket.” Summing up the themes, MCC Presi- dent Mark Nicholas said the views were not to suggest test cricket was unwar- ranted, and that cricket needed money to sustain itself. “T20 cricket is the behemoth that ev- erybody wants,” he said. “It is where the new market is, where the fans are and where the money is. “In cricket, money is seen as a dirty word but it shouldn’t be because it is the only way to sustain the game.” -Reuters Abhishek Sharma Smashes India To Comfortable Win Over Zimbabwe Shastri Wants Fewer Test Teams, MCC Chief Backs T20 In Changing Landscape Photo: X @MLC Saurabh Netravalkar bowling at Cognizant Major League Cricket game played in Morrisville, CA, July 6. Photo:X @ICC Photo:Action Imagesvia Reuters/Paul Childs/File Photo India defeat Zimbabwe July 6, 2024, at Twenty20 Internationals in Harare. First Test – England v India – Trent Bridge, Nottingham, Britain – August 4, 2021 India head coach Ravi Shastri before the match