West Indies beat South Africa by eight wickets, take 1-0 lead
Evin Lewis’ blistering half-century guided West Indies to an eight-wicket victory over South Africa. They chased down 161 with five overs to spare.
Lewis, who had been going through a rough patch, smashed seven sixes and four fours in his 35-ball 71. Gayle (32* off 24) and Russell (23* off 12) then finished things off quickly.
Earlier, Rassie van der Dussen’s 58 helped South Africa reach 160 in 20 overs. Quinton de Kock chipped in with 24-ball 37, while the skipper Temba Bavuma took 20 balls for his 22 before getting dismissed by Fabian Allen.
England complete 3-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka
Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow added 105 for the opening wicket to help England post 180/6 in 20 overs. In reply, Sri Lanka crumbled for just 91, with only three batters touching the double-digit mark.
Binura Fernando’s 20 was the highest score of the innings. David Willey (4-0-27-3) was the pick of the bowlers. Sam Curran finished with two wickets, while five bowlers picked a wicket each.
Malan made 76 off 48, with five fours and four sixes. Bairstow, meanwhile, struggled to play freely and was bowled by Isuru Udana on 51. Malan was named Player of the Match, while Curran bagged the Player of the Series award.
Raj backs Verma to play with full freedom
Shafali Verma is set to make her ODI debut as India take on England in the first ODI of the three-match series, on Sunday, 27 June. Verma shone in the recently concluded one-off Test in Bristol.
She missed her century by four runs in the first innings and struck 63 in the second dig. Her captain, Mithali Raj, has backed Verma to stick to her natural game, even if it does not come off once or twice: ‘Since she’s getting into playing the ODI format for the first time, I, as a captain encourage her to play the way she enjoys playing is comfortable playing, that’s the style of batting she should do.’
Winning WTC final pinnacle of game: Wagner
Neil Wagner bowled with sustained hostility throughout the World Test Championship final and picked up three wickets in New Zealand’s win.
Thrilled to beat a team like India in the final, he told ESPNCricinfo that this was the pinnacle of the game for him. One of his dreams was to win the ICC ODI World Cup, but he feels that ship has already sailed too far: ‘Even though it’s the first one and probably hard to compare with others, it’s definitely the pinnacle of the game for me.