David Warner’s Big Bash League return has failed to stop the Sydney Thunder from falling victim to the Showground’s bat-first curse, with the hosts suffering a nine-wicket defeat against Perth.
Warner managed 19 off 20 in his first BBL game in nine years as the Thunder were all out for 111, before the first-placed Scorchers chased down the target in 12.5 overs.
With all eyes on Warner, his former Test teammate Cameron Bancroft hit an unbeaten 55 in the chase as he and Stephen Eskinazi put on 77 for the first wicket.
Bancroft also took a classic catch on the boundary to dismiss Thunder batter, Nathan McAndrew.
Of the four games played on a two-paced Sydney Showground wicket this summer, no team has hit above 140 batting first.
With dew setting in at night making life easier to bat, only the Adelaide Strikers have defended a total when they bowled the Thunder out for 15 early in the season.
“It was one of those wickets that was a bit up and down,” Warner said.
“The curators have to do the best they can, and if that is the best they can then we have to cop it on the chin.
“We have seen low totals here the last couple of games. We were bowled out for 15, 100-odd in the last game against the Sixers. It’s been difficult.”
Warner played second fiddle in his innings, as he farmed the strike in a 67-run partnership with Oliver Davies.
The opener still hooked speedster Lance Morris for one boundary and drove Andrew Tye for another back over the quick’s head before he was caught behind off Matthew Kelly.
“It’s about making sure I bring energy into the team and making sure I am doing my bit and playing my role. Helping out as much as I can,” Warner said.
“I am probably here to educate a bit as well. With my experience and knowledge they can probably learn a bit from me.”
Davies was the one Thunder player to look good on the wicket, as he reached his third half-century of the competition with 52 from 36 balls.
He hit Ashton Agar back over his head for two big sixes, and also monstered Tye over long on for another.
But when he and Warner separated, the Thunder lost 8-41 as Tye took three wickets and Morris, Kelly and David Payne two each.
Bancroft’s 55 not out came off 40 balls in response as Usman Qadir took the most punishment.
Eskinazi was also explosive in his 40 off 26.
The South African-born Englishman struck five boundaries in his innings, as well as a brilliant ramp shot for six off Brendan Doggett.
“In those chases if you can come out and get runs on the board quickly it really hurts the momentum of the opposition,” Bancroft said.
The win moves the Scorchers three points clear of the Sydney Sixers at the top of the BBL ladder with four games to play, while the Thunder are fifth and in the last finals position.
Dejected Zampa to weigh up red-ball future
A dejected Adam Zampa will weigh up his future in red-ball cricket after admitting he had been left flat at being overlooked for the Test tour of India.
Zampa had believed he was a chance of a Test debut on the subcontinent next month, before selectors opted to stick with Mitchell Swepson as their touring legspinner.
A fixture of Australia’s white-ball side, Zampa’s chances in first-class cricket have been limited to one in the past three seasons due to clashes with international cricket.
The 30-year-old said he would speak with coach Andrew McDonald and chief selector George Bailey about his future chances before making any calls.
Working against him is that Australia will not travel to the spinning wickets of Asia again until Sri Lanka in January 2025.
“I don’t know what is in store for me red-ball cricket wise. I will get through this Big Bash and consider,” Zampa said.
(Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
“I don’t know what is next for me now.
“With two years until the next subcontinent tour, I thought with the way I had been going with international cricket in particular that this would be my opportunity.
“That was the messaging I got six weeks ago, I would be very close. But now I am not on it, I am very flat about it.”
Bailey labelled overlooking Zampa one of the toughest selections calls for the tour, but admitted officials had not seen enough of him with the red ball.
In contrast, Swepson has played five Sheffield Shield matches this summer after he made his Test debut in March.
Zampa said he had not given up on Test cricket, but would have to weigh up how he prioritises his time going forward.
He is due to play Shield cricket for NSW at the end of the BBL season, before heading to India for a one-day series.
“Lifestyle is all about balance and I have a family,” he said.
“These white-ball tours are World Cups coming up. I have to try and think about what is best for my body and my family and myself.
“I was really excited to be on this tour. I was really keen to give it a crack.
“The messaging was my style of bowling might have been handy over there. But potentially last minute there was a change of mind.”
Yadav but no Bumrah for India-Aussie Tests
Australia are set for a possible date with the white-ball sensation Suryakumar Yadav in the Test arena after he was selected in India’s 17-man squad for the first two games of the eagerly awaited four-match series next month.
Another limited-overs gun Ishan Kishan has also been brought into the squad but there’s no place for injured pace bowling ace Jasprit Bumrah, who may also not be fit to play in the final two matches of the series either.
The Border-Gavaskar series, which starts on February 9, will also see the return of India’s valuable spinning allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, as long as he’s passed fit again after his own injury woes.
Rohit Sharma will lead a powerful side, with Virat Kohli also a spearhead, though the Indian board has named the squad only for the first half of the series and selectors will doubtless re-evaluate after the opening two matches in Nagpur and Delhi.
The absence of Bumrah is a major blow for the hosts. He had hoped to be back in business after a back problem but has been advised to undergo another month’s rehabilitation before any decision is made over whether to unleash him in the final two Tests in Dharamsala and Ahmedabad in March.
Jadeja hasn’t played any cricket since last August after undergoing knee surgery but looks set, as ever, to be one of the keys to India’s success.
The question remains whether the late-blossoming 32-year-old Suryakumar, despite his eye-catching T20 pyrotechnics, will even make the starting XI, so formidable is a top order that, even without the injured Rishabh Pant, can boast Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Kohli and Shreyas Iyer.
Mohammed Shami will lead India’s attack, backed by Mohammed Siraj, who made his name on the 20220-21 tour to Australia, with evergreen 36-year-old Ravichandran Ashwin the main spinner, aided by Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav.
India squad for the first two Tests:
Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul (vice-capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
Phillips blasts NZ to ODI win in Pakistan
Glenn Phillips has smashed a quickfire half-century to guide New Zealand to a two-wicket victory over Pakistan in a series-clinching third one-day international in Karachi.
Phillips scored an unbeaten 63 off 42 balls, hitting four fours and four sixes, as New Zealand chased down a target of 281, headed by Fakhar Zaman’s hundred, within 11 balls remaining on Friday.
Opener Devon Conway (52) and captain Kane Williamson (53) also made telling contributions as the New Zealanders completed a 2-1 series win, their first ODI series win on the subcontinent in 15 years..
Pakistan opted to bat and scored 9-280, opener Fakhar top-scoring with 101 and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan making 77.
Tim Southee took 3-56 and Lockie Ferguson bagged 2-63 while Michael Bracewell and Ish Sodhi took one wicket each for the visitors.
But big-hitting Phillips upstaged Fakhar’s eighth ODI century to give New Zealand a series victory after they won the second ODI by 79 runs following Pakistan’s opening six-wicket victory.
“We were in the game at the halfway stage but made a few errors,” Williamson said.
“Glenn was just playing how he plays. I don’t think he wanted to run too much; he was a bit under the weather. He just grabbed the game.”
Fakhar and Rizwan had earlier combined in a 154-run third-wicket stand after vice-captain Shan Masood, playing his first game of the series, was out for a duck and captain Babar Azam was stumped for the third time in the series on four.
Fakhar raised his 100 off 120 balls with 10 fours and a six, but New Zealand clawed their way back by claiming seven wickets for 105 runs.
Sodhi broke the threatening stand by having Rizwan clean bowled off a sharp googly, while substitute fielder Henry Nicholls brilliantly ran out Fakhar and Haris Sohail off direct throws.
Williamson, Conway and Daryl Mitchell (31) all made good starts before Pakistan squeezed the Black Caps in the middle overs.
Conway sliced a catch to point off Salman and Mitchell reverse swept the offspinner to short third man. Williamson was run out comfortably while going for a quick single in the 34th over.
New Zealand had slipped to 6-205 by the 39th over but Phillips took the game away from the hosts, hitting four massive sixes and four boundaries in a blistering 64-run stand with Mitchell Santner (15) off just 44 balls.
“When Rizwan and Fakhar played, it looked like we’d touch 300,” Babar said.
“There were lots of soft dismissals and we were 20-30 runs short. There wasn’t much turn for our spinners and we couldn’t quite execute in the last 10 overs with the ball.”
Buoyant New Zealand move on to India to play three ODIs and three Twenty20s from next week.
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