Historic three super overs as Netherlands beat Nepal
An historic T20 saw the Netherlands beat Nepal after an incredible three super overs in Glasgow.It is the first time that any men's professional match - either List A or T20 - has gone to a third super over with Michael Levitt's six eventually giving the Netherlands victory.Having posted 152-7, the Dutch looked set for victory with Nepal needing 16 from the 20th over.However, tailender Nandan Yadav hit two boundaries, including one from the last ball, to level the scores.Kushal Bhurtel proceeded to smash 18 from five balls to take Nepal to 19 in the first super over only for opener Max O'Dowd to hit the fifth and sixth balls of the Netherlands' reply for a six and a four respectively to force a second.This time the Netherlands batted first and posted 17 with a maximum apiece from O'Dowd and skipper Scott Edwards.But again it was not enough and the drama continued as Dipendra Singh Airee hit Kyle Klein's last ball over the ropes to take the match to an unprecedented third one-over shootout.The Netherlands' off-spinning all-rounder Zach Lion-Cachet ensured it would go no further, though, as he finished Nepal's over early with two wickets in four balls, without conceding a run.Just a single was required but Levitt finished a remarkable contest in style as he thumped the first ball of Sandeep Lamichhane's over for six.While the Netherlands have a day to enjoy their most memorable of wins, Nepal are back in action against Scotland on Tuesday as the T20 tri-series continues.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Gill and Rahul dig in to lead India fightback after Stokes hits England ton
As England walked off for lunch on the fourth day at Old Trafford they could have been forgiven for thinking their opponents were beaten. India had endured the kind of morning that usually dictates a couple of paracetamol and the curtains being redrawn, such was the pummelling Ben Stokes delivered with bat in hand. It was not just Stokes, either. After his first Test century for two years drove England to 669 all out – 141 from 198 balls – the tourists were tasked with negotiating 15 minutes before the break – a negotiation that could scarcely have gone worse had a couple of contestants from The Apprentice been handling it. Chris Woakes conjured up two wickets in two balls before India had made a dent in the whopping 311-run deficit. And yet by stumps this fourth Test had taken on a different complexion courtesy of a couple of hugely determined performances from Shubman Gill and KL Rahul. Resisting for two wicketless sessions that forced the Saturday crowd to make their own fun, they steered India to 174 for two from 63 overs. Though still 137 runs behind, there is a chance of rain on Sunday and the draw that seemed so unlikely is now possible. Kudos must first go to the two set batters, not least after 157 overs in the field. Though a decent surface in the main, enough deliveries were shooting low and yet at no point did their focus waver. Both do obduracy in the most elegant ways, with Gill's low-slung hands still caressing the ball and Rahul all technical excellence. Reaching 78 and 87 not out respectively, two of India's senior pros had delivered a message to those lower down. But it also hinted at some of England's shortcomings when Stokes, their standout performer with the ball, is out of action. The supposed cramps that forced him off the field on day three may well be something more sinister going by the sight of him clutching his upper leg a couple of times. After his five-wicket haul in the first innings, all Stokes could do this time was run through the tactical playbook and wait patiently. Woakes was the pick overall and his new-ball burst was something to behold. First went Yashasvi Jaiswal, squared up and edging to slip as Joe Root clung on at the second attempt. Then came a dismissal that Gautam Gambhir could relate to, Sai Sudharsan's attempted leave on his first ball catching the bat and also flying to the cordon. Think back to the India head coach's dismissal at the Oval in 2014, even if he would sooner forget it. But after the hat-trick ball to Gill was survived, the chief threat came from Liam Dawson trying to trap the two right-handers on the back foot with a bit of skid, only for the ball to be met with enough willow each time. And it was Dawson who put down the one genuine chance to materialise during an afternoon that seemed to just disappear. Gill sliced hard to backward point when on 46, only for the ball to burst through the all-rounder's hands. Had it stuck, India would have been 74 for three and Brydon Carse's account in the match would have been opened. Jofra Archer, his fellow quick, got the new ball to talk initially but a couple impassioned appeals for lbw were declined. This five-match epic is asking plenty of both sets of fast bowlers – even those who joined halfway – and India's attack was certainly relieved to get off the park before lunch. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion Stokes had given them the runaround, both through the completion of his 14th Test century and the 125 runs that were trowelled on to a pile already bulging from Root's historic 150. Not since 2014 had India shipped a 600-plus total in a Test match, while Jasprit Bumrah's runs column running into three figures was simply a first. If the return of Stokes as a force with the ball has arguably been the biggest plus for England in this series then this innings was not far behind. Resuming on 77, Stokes opened up with a couple of imperious fours off Mohammed Siraj and then tipped past three figures with a flick down leg. Out came the celebration not seen for a good while – that crooked finger salute and a look to the sky to honour his late father, Ged. This was the first time an England captain has scored a century and claimed a five-wicket haul in the same Test match and soon the afterburners were lit as he and Carse (47 from 54 balls) ransacked 95 runs for the ninth wicket. When Stokes monstered Washington Sundar for a straight six it took him past 7,000 Test runs, something only Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis had previously combined with 200-plus wickets. But unless Stokes is able to resume bowling on day five, or others step up in his absence, India could yet wriggle free and head to the Oval with a chance of squaring the series. Gill, previously kept quiet for three innings, is also ominously back in the groove.
Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Surely India won't leave out Jasprit Bumrah if series is in the balance? Their greatest match-winner with the ball hasn't stopped being a champion bowler overnight, writes NASSER HUSSAIN
India will have a tricky decision to make if they continue to dig in on the final day at Old Trafford and come away with a creditable draw. Because although they keep saying that Jasprit Bumrah will play only three Tests in this five-match series – and this, don't forget, is his third – the series could still be alive when the teams arrive at The Oval next week. Clearly, if India lose and go 3–1 down, they can give Bumrah and probably Mohammed Siraj, who has played all four games so far, a rest for the final game. But if they escape Manchester only 2–1 down, are they really going to leave out their greatest match-winner with the ball? I know people are saying that India have lost the two games Bumrah has played in and won the one he missed, with Siraj and Akash Deep bowling India to victory in the second Test at Edgbaston. But there are a lot of things that go into losing a game of cricket, and I don't think you can honestly say Bumrah's bowling was one of the causes of the tourists' defeats at Headingley and Lord's. Don't forget, he took a first-innings five-for in both those games, and his overall tally in this series of 14 wickets at 26 is better than any of his colleagues. It's possible that someone like Siraj steps up a bit more in Bumrah's absence, because he's the kind of character who likes to be the leader of the attack. We occasionally saw the same dynamic between Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, whose most famous spell of eight for 15 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2015 came when Anderson was out injured. But I honestly think it's a coincidence that India are yet to win a game this summer with Bumrah in their side. So now they may find themselves having to make that big call for the final Test. Ideally, they bring in fresh legs, because it's been a gruelling five-match series, with each of the games so far going to the last day, and the pitches offering the bowlers precious little all the way through. But are you honestly saying you're not going to try to get one final game out of your strike bowler? It's true that in this match, for the first time I can remember, Bumrah didn't make the best use of the new ball, bowling too straight at Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, when a fifth- or sixth-stump line is where you want to aim against these England batters. It looked as if India were trying to get Duckett lbw, which is an unusual dismissal at Old Trafford because of the bounce. How many have fallen leg-before in this game? One: Shubman Gill to Ben Stokes in India's first innings. And, of course, the stat doing the rounds was that Bumrah had conceded 100 in a Test innings for the first time, in what is his 48th Test. But you always have to bear in mind at Old Trafford that, even when you expect the pitch to go up and down a bit, or deteriorate for the spinners, it rarely becomes a minefield. That's why England got 660 on it. And that's why Test cricket is such a magnificent game: you have to work for your success. India looked dead on their feet when they walked off on Friday evening, but Bumrah recovered pretty well on the fourth morning, relocating his length and bowling Liam Dawson.
The Guardian
41 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ben Stokes finds reward from risking fitness with resurgent century for England
An evening's rest didn't change much. Most of India's morning was of the hands-on-hips variety, an homage to a crestfallen Dwight Schrute listening to Everybody Hurts, 135 overs in the field to blame. Jasprit Bumrah found space to detonate the top of Liam Dawson's off-stump but Brydon Carse – half-centurion at Lord's, beefing up England's tail at 10 – remained at ease. This was a welcome situation to end the drought. Ben Stokes had a mixed Friday, sliding into Joe Root's passenger seat, taking his customary blow to the box on 13, then retiring hurt with leg cramp on 66. He returned before the close, finishing unbeaten on 77 to guarantee Old Trafford's attention when play resumed on Saturday. It had been nearly two years since his last century in any game. There was a bit of tension on 99. He found air with an attempted cover drive off Bumrah, faced three dots off Washington Sundar and one off Siraj. But a glance down the leg side for four prompted a look to the skies and an arm round Carse as he waved the bat. With it he became the fourth Englishman to hit a hundred and take a five-wicket haul in the same Test, the kind of stat you would have expected him to already hold, Ian Botham having done it five times. Stokes has had it tough with the bat over the past couple of years, underlined by the absence of a Test hundred since his pyrotechnics in the Ashes. But while he isn't the miracle man anymore, the drop in form has never been severe. Seven matches in Asia, conditions he'd never mastered on previous tours, have contributed to the quiet period, as have his hamstring troubles, ruling him out of four Tests last year. Five innings at home against West Indies last summer returned three half-centuries and there were several starts in this series before Old Trafford (including a peculiar run of three consecutive second-innings 33s). His 141 here was not one of the classics, having come out to bat when his side trailed India by nine runs. Even if there was a touch of magic with a one-two off Sundar – six down the ground was immediately followed by an outrageous reverse sweep to the ropes – it came after England had crossed 600, the first time they had done so at home in 14 years. What the knock did was add to Stokes' story this summer, that of the resurgent player. Much of the past three years has been about his position as captain, how he directs England in the field and instructs the team to play. When he has missed matches, how Ollie Pope goes as the stand-in leader has felt more pressing than the runs and wickets lost in his absence. But Stokes has lived up to his post on X in December after tearing his left hamstring, promising to 'fuck some shit up' when he returned. He is still very much a cricketer, not just a fount of wisdom at mid-off or coach with whites on. He has found nip and danger under the sun, taking more wickets than anyone else in this series. He has the score now, too. But being a 34-year-old fast-bowling all-rounder brings significant risk. The last of Botham's ton-and-five-wicket-haul combos was at the age of 28. On Friday evening Pope acknowledged Stokes' batting retirement as the result of how much he had pushed his body in recent weeks. How he would move in the field after facing 198 deliveries was the next issue. When Chris Woakes took two in two in his opening over, it felt a bit irrelevant, and continued to do so when Jofra Archer found late swing into Shubman Gill after lunch. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion Then came Gill and KL Rahul's resistance, and the question of when Stokes would bowl, this being the perfect situation for his right-arm heat. On came Carse, then Dawson, and Root got it to twirl, too. Stokes stuck to the director's chair, resuming his role of late, his fitness unclear, every walk to the stumps a tease, his cap still on as he discussed tactics with the bowler. 'He's a bit stiff and sore,' revealed Marcus Trescothick, England's batting coach, at the end of play, no certainty offered on whether Stokes will bowl on the final day. 'He's had quite a big workload in the last few weeks. And then batting in the first innings, he was getting quite a bit of cramp. Hoping with another night's rest and a bit more physio work overnight he'll be back in and doing a bit tomorrow. 'You'll probably see Joe Root bowl a little bit more if he's not available, but let's wait and see. Hopefully, fingers crossed, it will be OK by tomorrow.' Stokes has rediscovered his rhythm, but the pain remains.
