In the Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup, India defeated England by seven wickets in their first warm-up match in Dubai last night.
Put into bat first, England posted the big score of 188 for five wickets in stipulated 20 overs riding on Jonny Bairstow’s 49 off 36 and Moeen Ali’s not out 43 off 20 balls. For India, Mohammed Shami picked up three wickets.
In reply, India overhauled the target for three with six-balls to spare riding on Ishan Kishan’s 70 and KL Rahul’s 51 runs.
India’s second practice match will be against Australia tomorrow at the same venue at 3:30 pm Indian time.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka thrashed Namibia by seven wickets in the Group A Match at Abu Dhabi last night.
Put into bat first, Namibia were bowled out at 96 runs in 19.3 overs. For Sri Lanka, Maheesh Theekshana took three wickets while Lahiru Kumara and Wanindu Hasaranga took two wickets each. Theekshana was declared the Man of the Match.
In reply, Sri Lanka chased down the victory target in just 13.3 overs with the help of Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s unbeaten 42 runs.
Earlier in another qualifier match at the same venue, Ireland defeated the Netherlands by seven wickets in the 3rd Match of First Round Group A yesterday. Ireland overhauled target of 107 runs in 15.1 overs.
The Men’s T20 World Cup was earlier scheduled to be held in India but was shifted to the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) remains the hosts of the event.
The top four teams from the qualifiers will join India, West Indies, Australia, South Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, England and New Zealand for Super 12 stage which will begin from the 23rd of this month. All India Radio will broadcast ball-by-ball commentary of the World Cup from the 23rd of this month.
