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2nd Test: Pakistan in driver’s seat

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Pakistan look poised to level the series by winning the second Test against hosts West Indies.

The day saw the Windies’ top order fall like a pack of cards against Pakistan’s pace cartel on Day 4.

Shaheen Shah Afridi has led the attack from the front in the first innings, taking out both openers before the day’s play as WI finished at 39/3.

He caught Kieran Powell on the pads and later uprooted WI captain Kraigg Brathwaite’s stump with an inswinger.

Faheem Ashraf dismissed Roston Chase with a gem of a delivery.

With the best batters of the Windies’ line-up back in the hut, all eyes are on Pakistani bowlers now.

Trailing by 263 runs with two days in hand, Babar Azam’s men have the opportunity to enforce follow-on by wrapping up the hosts early on Day 4.

Fawad Alam conquers the Caribbean

Fawad Alam has been on a remarkable run ever since his comeback. He came to bat at 2/3 with captain Babar Azam and went unbeaten on 124* when Pakistan declared the innings at 302/9.

The lefty registered his fifth Test ton playing in only his 13th game.

Alam has become the sixth Pakistani to score a ton at Sabina Park.

The 35-year-old has beaten the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Sourav Ganguly and Sunil Gavaskar to become the fastest Asian to make five centuries.

It took Alam only 22 innings to achieve the milestone.

At the end of the day’s play, the Pakistani batsman reflected on the tricky Carribean conditions that forced him to declare his batting on Day 3.

“It was challenging. The conditions weren’t easy on Day 1, the heat, it was humid and hot. And we were 2 for 3 so we needed to come back, had to build partnerships,” he said.

“That’s what I and Babar did on the first day. I am very happy right now. Whenever you score a century for your country, you feel proud and that’s exactly what I’m feeling right now. I make things very simple.

“My dad always motivated me and told me to just perform and my time will come one day. I just waited for my time and kept focusing on performing.”

Even former WI captain Jason Holder was all praise for Alam’s determination and patience.

“Fawad showed us how to play, very patient. That partnership between him and Babar was very crucial,” Holder said.

Seales continues to impress

Jayden Seales is only 19, but his bowling makes him look like a veteran pacer.

The teenager has carried on his good form in the second Test as well.

He was declared Man of the Match in the first Test for his eight wickets and to help WI cross the line.

His crucial stay at the crease with Kemar Roach won Windies the game by a wicket.

Seales shared three wickets apiece in the second Test with Roach.

The right-arm pacer dismissed opener Imran Butt, Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Afridi.

Holder talks ground conditions

The day’s play came to a halt soon after both teams entered the day, primarily because there was a huge damp patch in way of bowlers’ run-up.

“Start of play, it was quite wet still. The surface was quite unstable. When I walked through I could feel the ground shifting, and running through was very hard. As I ran wider, it was easier on the foot. The surface wasn’t as loose,” the former WI captain said.

“Generally I was pretty happy with the way I bowled, consistent as usual. Would have liked a few more wickets upfront, but didn’t happen.”

Pakistan 302 for 9 dec & 176 for 6 declared lead West Indies 150 (Bonner 37, Blackwood 33, Afridi 6-51, Abbas 3-44) by 328 runs

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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024

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Smriti Mandhana and Alyssa Healy (Source - X)

RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.

It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain

Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.

It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.

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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window

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Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.

It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.

Watch the viral video here –

Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.

RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief

As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.

On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.

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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy

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Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.

Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.

The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).

‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar

“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.

Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.

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