A new kind of pressure

Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan admitted that his side suffered a comprehensive failure in the batting department but did mention the wind playing a part in the Tigers' dismissals on Day 3 of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram on Monday.  

The Tigers dished out another abysmal effort with the bat as they were bundled out for 178 in reply to Sri Lanka's 531-run first-innings total. The hosts started the third day at 55 for the loss of one and lost nine wickets while adding just 123 runs as they were skittled out in the post-Lunch session. 

"We totally failed with the bat. We couldn't bat to our potential or perform our roles. We couldn't play as we were supposed to play," Zakir said after the day's play. 

"We couldn't even execute our first plan. Other plans come later. We couldn't do our basic job. We have to execute our first plan as a batting unit.

"I think the wind played a part in our wickets falling today. Everything else was okay, especially in terms of the wicket. We should have batted much better."

Zakir's knock was the only highlight in Bangladesh's sorry scorecard as the left-handed batter put away eight fours for a 54-run knock -- his fourth fifty in the format – but fell prey to yet another angled in delivery from left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando. Zakir was left bemused at how much the delivery decked in to castle him but his lack of foot movement in trying to negate such deliveries caught the eyes again.

It has been a consistent weakness for Zakir as he was dismissed in similar fashion when he was trapped lbw by Fernando in the first innings of the previous Test in Sylhet. He got stuck in the crease and could do little to fend off a ball which tailed in on the stumps. In the second innings, it was Lahiru Kumara who exposed Zakir's limited foot movement to dismiss him. 

Zakir, however, put the blame on his shot selection. The 26-year-old has scored a century and all of his four fifties in the second innings of those particular matches and would hope to better his knock as the Tigers, owing to Sri Lanka's already 455-run lead, will have to chase down a record total to win the match.   

"I can't speak for others. Maybe a coaching staff can tell you. In my case, I think I should be more careful with my shot selection. I am not giving an excuse. One has to be prepared coming into a Test match. I think we should grow this mentality on our side," he told reporters. 

"All departments have to fire to win a Test match. I think batting is the most important of all. We can't defend a total if we can't put anything on the scoreboard. We need to have a decent score when we want to take 20 wickets. We haven't been able to do it. We are discussing how to get better, but we are somehow failing altogether," he added.

The first semi-final of the World Cup will have to wait one more day as play was suspended due to excessive rain.

The covers have gone on and off a few times but the match was eventually called off. New Zealand were 211-5 off 46.1 overs when persistent rain worsened sufficiently for the umpires to halt play with 23 balls left in the innings. Ross Taylor was 67 not out and Tom Latham three not out. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson had earlier made 67 after winning the toss, with Jasprit Bumrah (1-25 off eight overs) leading a disciplined India bowling attack. After more than four hours without play, the covers started to be removed but no sooner had an inspection been announced then fresh rain fell on the Manchester ground. 

The play will continue tomorrow from where it left off today. 

The covers at Old Trafford in Manchester are coming on. Drizzle starts and although it does not seem heavy, the umpires halted the proceedings. 

Click here to see what happens if the first semifinal is not concluded today.

 

New Zealand lose wickets in quick successions

New Zealand lost Jimmy Neesham and Coolin De Grandhomme in quick successions as the Kiwis reach the 200-run mark.

Neesham never looked comfortable on the field as he was sent back by Hardik Pandya after he scored 12 off 18 balls. However, De Grandhomme on the other hand scored a quickfire 16 off ten balls before being caught behind the stumps by Dhoni as Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a slower. Ross Taylor still on the crease having scored 60 runs off 81 balls after 45 overs.

Williamson departs trying to up the tempo

After a 64-run third wicket stand between New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, the former fell prey to Chahal in the 36th over. A tossed up delivery from Chahal that got the outside edge of Williamson's bat who was already into the shot. A simple catch to Ravindra Jadeja who was standing at point. This could be a massive moment in the game where the Kiwis have been struggling with their scoring rate.

New Zealand's Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls take a single during their semifinal against India at Old Trafford. Photo: Reuters

Williamson, Taylor hold firm against India in World Cup semi-final

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson again helped his side recover from the loss of an early wicket as the Black Caps reached 122-2 after 33 overs in the World Cup semi-final against India at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Williamson, who won the toss, remains 58 not out and Ross Taylor 22 not out, with hopes of a competitive Black Caps total once more resting on the shoulders of the two senior batsmen. The duo have strung together an ongoing 53-run stand for the third wicket.

New Zealand lost opener Martin Guptill with just one run on the board and crawled to 27-1 off the first 10 overs.

All five previous matches in the tournament at Old Trafford had been won by the side batting first, so Williamson's decision at the toss was understandable.

But, Williamson apart, the Black Caps' top order has struggled at the World Cup and the overcast conditions in Manchester on Tuesday allied to a fresh pitch offering some seam movement promised to assist India's impressive pace attack.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar appealed for lbw against Guptill off the first ball of the match and an India review of the original not out decision proved unsuccessful, with replays indicating the ball would have gone down the legside.

It took New Zealand 17 balls to score the first run of the match and India did not have long to wait for Guptill's wicket in any event.

The right-hander was the leading run-scorer of the tournament when New Zealand finished runners-up at the 2015 World Cup.

But he had made just one when he fended carelessly outside off-stump against a rising Jasprit Bumrah delivery and was well caught, head-high, by India captain Virat Kohli at second slip.

Guptill's fifth single-figure score of the tournament left New Zealand 1-1 in the fourth over.

His exit brought in Williamson, who prior to Tuesday's match had scored over 28 percent of New Zealand's runs this tournament -- a remarkably high percentage for one batsman.

Left-hander Henry Nicholls eventually struck the opening boundary of the match when he cover-drove Bumrah for four in the eighth over to reach his first double-figure score of the tournament.

Bumrah's opening spell still yielded fine figures of one wicket for 10 runs in four overs.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja ended a second-wicket stand worth 68 when he turned one between bat and pad to bowl Nicholls for 28. (AFP, Manchester)

New Zealand batsmen Ross Taylor and skipper Kane Williamson were not allowed to score freely as Indian bowlers bowled excellently.

Indian spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja kept the Kiwis in check, leaving the batsmen scratching their heads on how to score runs. The fielding has been excellent such that the Kiwis were not able to reach the hundred mark after 25 overs. Henry Nicholls was sent back as a good length ball broke back in and bounced, as the batsman aimed to defend off the front foot, but, he did not expect it to spin so much. Ravindra Jadeja breached Nicholl's defence. The middle stump was knocked back just as New Zealand looked to build a partnership.

 

Skipper Kane Williamson and opener Henry Nicholls steadied the ship and consolidated after New Zealand lost Martin Guptill for 1 following a very nervy and slow start by the Kiwis. Williamson was unbeaten on 26 with Nicholls not out on 23 as the Kiwis reached 52 for the loss of one wicket after 14 overs.

3.3 overs Jusprit Bumrah removes an out-of-form Martin Guptill with a peach outside off-stump. The ball rose sharply as Guptill hesitantly poked at it, only finding the safe hands of Virat Kohli at second slip. 1 run for Guptill off 14 deliveries and 1 run on the board for Kiwis for one wicket.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bat first in the first semifinal of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup at Old Trafford in Manchester today.

The kiwis made one change to their side. Fit-again speedster Lockie Ferguson comes in for Tim Southee. India, too, made one change, with Yuzvendra Chahal replacing Kuldeep Yadav.

Playing XIs:

India: Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni(w), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham(w), James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Trent Boult

"We would've batted first. Fresh wicket, nice and hard, and not moist. A bit of rain around as well, the ball will get wet as the game goes on. It could remain decent throughout the game," India captain Virat Kohli said after losing the toss.

The prolific batsman feels their experience of playing two matches on this ground would help them negate the impact of losing the toss. "It's going to remain similar throughout the course of the game - we have done well in Manchester. We have had two good games in Manchester, and it's about focussing on the basics. We need to remember why we are in the semis."

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said, "It looks like a good surface. We have played a number of games here. A toss-up with the overheads, but it'll be around all day, so we need to get the job done first up. We are used to the routine, but we have to start afresh after the round robin we have a great opportunity to put up a good performance against a side like India."

More than 8 million people in Britain tuned in to watch England win the Cricket World Cup on Sunday following the decision by Sky decision to allow the final to be shown on a free-to-air channel.

After criticism that England's earlier matches had only been watched by under a million viewers on Sky's subscription-based channels, the broadcaster made Sunday's finale against New Zealand available on Channel 4.

"I’m thrilled that a total peak audience of 8.3m watched England win the Cricket World Cup. It's wonderful that the whole nation can come together to share these momentous British sporting events," said Alex Mahon, chief executive at Channel 4.

More than 50 percent of those who watched the dramatic match, which England won on boundary count after a tied Super Over, did so on Channel 4.

However, despite being available to more people, the cricket failed to top numbers who watched the BBC's coverage of the thrilling Wimbledon tennis Men' Singles Final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, which took place at the same time and peaked at 9.6 million viewers.

The lack of free-to-air coverage of England's progress through the competition was blamed for the failure to generate the excitement of other major sporting competitions.

More than 11 million viewers in Britain tuned watched the England women's soccer team in the semi-final of the World Cup in France for free on the BBC, making it the country's most widely viewed broadcast of 2019.

The 2005 Ashes series against Australia attracted an audience of some 8.4 million, but the number of viewers dwindled after the decision was made to screen all England games on subscription channels.

Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said the World Cup victory would live forever in British sporting history and cricket chiefs are hopeful the game will inspire more young people to play the game.

"It's also exciting to think just how many children will be inspired by this victory to pick up a bat for the first time and hopefully become the great cricketers and World Cup winners of tomorrow," May's spokesman said