Captain Gerhard Erasmus says the experience of the last T20 World Cup gave them an idea of the skills required at this level

Firdose Moonda16-Oct-20223:07

Craig Williams: ‘Don’t be surprised if Namibia start winning big games’

Two days short of a year ago, Sri Lanka bowled Namibia out for 96 in their T20 World Cup opener and won by seven wickets. Not even 365 days have passed, but, as Gerhard Erasmus put it, “the tables have been turned”. His team has just beaten Sri Lanka by 55 runs to start the 2022 T20 World Cup.The difference between those two events? 12 months, of course, but not just any 12 months – 12 months of immense growth for the Namibian side.”There was more hype and childish belief last year,” Erasmus said. “This year was more something of [knowing] we can relate to that level. Mentally, we can relate to that level. We can also now physically and skilfully relate to that level.”Related

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After that heavy defeat in 2021, Namibia recovered to have a fairy-tale run through the group stages and qualified for the Super 12s. There, they beat fellow Associates Scotland but were blown away by bigger teams. They lost to Afghanistan, Pakistan and New Zealand by margins of 45 runs or more and to India by nine wickets, and lessons were learned.”We’ve played India, Pakistan, all these teams before,” Erasmus said. “We’ve seen it, we’ve tasted it and we’ve sort of closed that gap by becoming one step closer to them and getting the physical feel of what it’s like. That gave us the belief this time around.”If at any point Namibia were flirting with a false sense of grandeur, they were brought right back down to earth when they saw, what Erasmus called, “the tabloids”, which gave them “about an 11% chance” of beating Sri Lanka.”As soon as we knew that, it gave us that underdog feeling again. Having that with a bit of real belief, not the childish, behind-the-scenes belief that you’ve played at that level – that’s what happened today. We just went onto the field on an equal footing to the Sri Lankan side.”

“The experiences we had from last year’s World Cup really gave us a good idea of what type of skill we need to have to be able to compete at this high level. The speed of the ball is more, the quality of the skills and the percentage of execution that guys are playing at is higher”Gerhard Erasmus

It didn’t always look that way though.Namibia were 35 for 3 inside five overs and 93 for 6 in the 15th before showing some of the progress they have made. Jan Frylinck and JJ Smit took advantage of a Sri Lankan attack that went with slow, short deliveries at the death and gave Namibia what Erasmus thought was an above-par total.”The experiences we had from last year’s World Cup really gave us a good idea of what type of skill we need to have to be able to compete at this high level. The speed of the ball is more, the quality of the skills and the percentage of execution that guys are playing at is higher. We got some powerplay boundaries today which were scored behind square. We were much more comfortable playing mystery spin [Maheesh Theekshana] and [Wanindu] Hasaranga towards the middle and towards the latter end, bludgeoning the ball a bit harder. Those types of skills, we’ve had to put together over the last 12 months.”In this time, Namibia have had several opportunities to test themselves. They went toe-to-toe with Uganda and Zimbabwe. Playing as the Richelieu Eagles, they were also part of a domestic T20 tri-series that included the Lahore Qalandars and Lions from South Africa. Erasmus emerged from that competition as its third-highest run-scorer.Over the last 12 months, Namibia focused on how to play the short ball, which is what they expected to be their biggest threat at this World Cup.The Namibia players get together in a huddle after their win•Getty Images”We worked on synthetic wickets – AstroTurf and cement wickets – at home and we trained for the short ball since we know the bounce is a bit more in Australia,” their batter Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton saidApart from attempting to mimic Australia as much as possible, they also roped in, as bowling consultant, an adopted Australian: Morne Morkel, the brother of their assistant coach Albie and someone who knows more about the short ball than most. While Zane Green described Morne as the yang to Albie’s yin – “the fun guy that brings the energy to training and matches” – Erasmus said just having someone different has helped. “Being a team where there are not many fresh players coming in because of our small player base, it’s always brilliant to have someone new on the coaching staff.”While facing Morkel in the nets would have helped improve the batters’ skills, his primary job was to help the bowlers and the results are already showing. The Namibian quicks stuck to a hard length and an off-stump line to force a Sri Lankan collapse that will be talked about for ages.Last year losing to Sri Lanka was the catalyst that pushed Namibia to up their game and reach the Super 12s; this year, beating them has to do the same job. It’s only the first match of three and Namibia can ill afford to take their victory for granted, even though they are going to celebrate it for everything it is worth.”Everyone is very glad at beating a Test nation for the first time ever [Namibia have previously beaten Ireland and Zimbabwe], and on a world stage, in the opening game,” Erasmus said. “It’s a massive event in our lives and it should be celebrated. But it’s going to take a massive mental reset from our point of view because we can get carried away with celebrations and historic events like this. The recovery periods between these games are so quick. It’s only the start of the tournament and we really need to have our eye on qualifying for the Super 12s, which is the main goal for me.”

Hampshire batsman at peace with podcasting rather than playing during England tours

Matt Roller01-Apr-2021This time last year, the prevailing emotion among county cricketers was boredom. The UK’s first lockdown caused a delay to the season that would last four months and left them unable to train, while the vast majority were furloughed by their clubs, meaning strict regulations regarding official contact with coaches and team-mates.Sam Northeast was no different. Returning from Australia following an England Lions tour, Northeast had hoped to drive Hampshire’s bid for the County Championship title from their middle order, but instead found himself doomscrolling and binge-watching his way through the ennui.A few weeks in, he came up with an idea: alongside a handful of other cricketers, he would start a podcast. He knew that Vithushan Ehantharajah of the used to co-host one alongside the ‘s Will Macpherson, so gave him a call to discuss the logistics.Northeast picks up the story. “I thought I might as well use the time to do something practical, and I’m someone who enjoys listening to podcasts anyway. So I rang Vish up and it all happened from there. There was no chat about actually doing something together as the three of us, but Vish had a discussion with Will and said they’d be quite keen to start something up again.”Twelve months on, there have been 18 full-length episodes of the self-descriptive ‘Two Hacks, One Pro’ with a stellar cast of guests, as well as close-of-play shows throughout England’s Test series in India (Northeast missed the majority of those due to pre-season training). There have been moments of candour, including Northeast’s reaction to missing out on England’s 55-man training squad last May and Darren Stevens’ account of his imbroglio in an anti-corruption trial in Bangladesh, but much of it has been “like you’re in the pub – but someone’s recording it too”, in Northeast’s words.”When you’re playing, you probably can’t go into some things that you think, but that’s why the balance is quite nice with two journalists and then a player who sees things a bit differently,” he says. “Yes, there is a bit of chat about selection or whatever it might be, but we’re generally trying to keep it as light-hearted and fun to listen to as possible.”I think we’ve probably gelled better as it’s gone on. The guests have been really good but when it’s just been the three of us, at times I’ve enjoyed that as much as anything. I thought the one we did with Jimmy Adams, reminiscing on our Kent days, was quite good value – I’ve always enjoyed just talking cricket and listening to different perspectives on the game.”There are a few guys in the Hampshire changing room who don’t like to admit they listen to it, but they’ll slip it in and I’ll think to myself ‘that’s another secret listener’. Mason [Crane] might say ‘oh, good episode’ to Will or Vish – it’s nice to hear that a few people are engaging with it, even though they wouldn’t tell me to my face.”

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Root’s side look increasingly accomplished, bringing much-needed cheer for supporters locked down at home

George Dobell18-Jan-2021England supporters have never had it so good.Yes, the lockdown is rubbish. And yes, as the pandemic continues to ravage the UK, you can almost imagine plague-ridden Londoners of the 1660s looking on and sighing: ‘those millennials are having it tough’. There’s no disputing that life in general is pretty grim right now.But on the cricket pitch, at least, this England team is achieving things which their predecessors could scarcely imagine.Victory in Galle means England have won four successive away Tests for the first time in more than 60 years. To put that in perspective, when the first of those previous four victories was achieved (against New Zealand, in March 1955), Winston Churchill was Prime Minister. By the time of the last (in January 1957), the country was in the middle of the Suez Crisis.If this sounds like a modest achievement by comparison with some other sides, it should never be forgotten how awful England have been for really quite sustained periods in their cricketing history. Even recently, from October 2016 to November 2018, England went 13 Tests in a row without an away Test victory.Across the 1980s and 90s, they won 16 of the 96 away Tests they played. At least three of those came in dead rubbers, with four more against a post-Hadlee New Zealand side in transition and one against a Sri Lanka team still finding its feet. Between December 1986 and February 1990, they didn’t win away at all.Ahead of one Ashes tour, England said their aim was simply to “compete.” Which is one up from saying the aim was to turn up on time in the right clothes. And even that proved too much to ask at times. You’d need Wes Craven to direct a documentary that really conveys how awful it was following England in the 90s.So yes, Sri Lanka (who have now lost five times in a row to England at home) were remarkably poor in their first innings in Galle. And yes, South Africa are not the side they once were. But these are significant, historic victories from an England perspective. It would be churlish to explain them away entirely.At the centre of all this is Joe Root. With a double-century – his record-equalling second as captain – he went a long way towards defining the course of this game. In the course of doing so, he passed 8,000 Test runs in fewer innings than any England player except Kevin Pietersen and with a higher average than any of those above him on the overall list.Almost as impressively, he marshalled an attack which included two obviously rusty spinners – Dom Bess and Jack Leach – sufficiently well that both claimed five-wicket hauls – the first time a pair of England spinners have done this in the same Test since 1982 – and grew in confidence as the Test wore on.Root was rewarded for his faith in Buttler, Bess and Leach•SLCHe was also rewarded by keeping faith with Jos Buttler, who put in perhaps the most accomplished performance of his Test career with the gloves. This was England’s first away victory when batting second since 2016 and Root’s first as captain without his key allrounder, Ben Stokes. For one reason or another, he was without Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, James Anderson, Rory Burns, Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes, too. Whichever way you look at it, that’s a good effort.Root has now led England to victory in 24 Tests. Only Michael Vaughan, who led the side to 26 wins, has more victories as captain for England, while only Mike Brearley has a higher win percentage out of regular captains than his 53.33%.Of course, there are far fewer draws in Root’s era, meaning his loss percentage is higher too. But Brearley never captained against West Indies, the outstanding side of the age, and his Ashes results were skewed by Australia’s World Series absentees. And crucially, his batting average as captain (22.88) was less than half of Root’s (48.80).Regrettably, England’s Test captains are still judged disproportionately on their success in Ashes series, particularly away from home. As a result, Root’s legacy will be determined by events over the next 12 months, and it would take something approaching a miracle for England to win in both India and Australia.But with his boyish face and soft voice, Root can easily be underestimated. He doesn’t have the obvious authority – or World Cup-winning CV boost – of Eoin Morgan. He doesn’t have the gravitas bestowed on Brearley by his academic background, or the free-to-air platform of Vaughan. And, most of all, he doesn’t have the complete lack of expectation that accompanied previous England captains on tour.Related

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But he’s a decent man, an indecently talented batsman and hugely respected by a team that see him as their natural leader and unifier. He has not only improved his team’s results, but improved their standing in the eyes of the public. In Galle, he actually raised his bat to the one England spectator on the fort when he reached his 200 and then took the time to phone him afterwards.He’s embraced the requirement to pose for every selfie, accept every interview request and ensure a team which was in a state of something approaching civil war at the start of 2014 has developed into something entertaining, likeable and generally pretty successful. And he’s accepted the sacrifice in his own returns – he averages 44.33 as captain and 52.80 when not – without complaint.Perhaps there is a lesson here. Root could doubtless have done with more preparation time coming into this game, but it is also relevant that he was fresh. Having missed out on selection for England’s T20I squad in South Africa, he came into this Test without playing competitively since September.His work ethic is admirable: at the end of the summer, he played for Yorkshire in the Blast the day after his release from the England bubble. His love for the game is charming: “I love playing cricket” is his typical answer when asked about his T20 future. But as someone already juggling the demands of fatherhood, captaincy and the pressures of being his side’s best batsman, he is a man of whom a huge amount is required.If England want to continue to get the best out of Root, he does need to be treated with the same care as Archer and Stokes seem to be. It may well make sense to officially lay his T20I career to rest and tell him he will not be required for ODI cricket again until at least the other side of the Ashes.Joe Root thrived on the sweep shot during his double-century•SLC”With the time off, the thing that’s really benefited me is having a period of time to work on my game,” he said after the Galle Test. “To have time to think about things and take stock and look where I can improve. That’s where I think I’ve benefited the most.”There will be occasions where I might have to miss out here and there. I’m desperate to play as much as I can. I love playing cricket, love playing for England and feel very privileged to get the opportunity. I suppose getting the balance right is very important. But the way I thought about things in that period of time off, I will look to replicate.”I don’t think you can ever be a finished article as a captain. I certainly don’t feel it’s the case with me. I will always look to improve and get better; I feel I am getting a better handle on things.”Captains of a previous vintage will look at the job now and wish they had central contracts in their day. And it’s true, they are a major asset. But Root has not been dealt a handful of aces by a set-up that renders it difficult to produce red-ball players and demands its best international players adhere to a schedule a Victorian factory owner might feel excessive.Don’t forget that England are likely to play 17 Tests this year, alongside a T20 World Cup and what amounts to a goodwill tour of Pakistan. Like several other sides, they have spent a large part of the last eight months in bio-bubbles that vastly inhibit the freedoms we used to take for granted. In doing so, they’ve ensured the English game – including the counties, women’s cricket and the disability sides – has been able to keep its head above water despite the storm that threatened to wash it away. There has barely been a squeak of complaint from any of them.Whatever happens over the next year, Root’s England side have provided some much-needed cheer for a land going through its bleakest period since World War 2. For that, he deserves rather more respect, rather more appreciation and, crucially, rather more nurturing than he sometimes receives.

Babar Azam will be leading Zalmi after switching over from Kings, who have Shoaib Malik back

Danyal Rasool10-Feb-2023Karachi KingsCaptain: Imad Wasim
Coach: Johan Botha
Batting Coach: Ravi Bopara
Assistant Coach: Michael Smith
Full squad: Imad Wasim, Haider Ali, Andrew Tye, Mohammad Amir, Imran Tahir, Matthew Wade, Shoaib Malik, Aamer Yamin, James Fuller, James Vince, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Akhlaq, Irfan Khan Niazi, Qasim Akram, Mohammad Umar, Sharjeel Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Ben Cutting, Musa Khan, Faisal AkramLast season: sixth
Just because a calamity can be foretold doesn’t mean it can be prevented. Kings’ 2022 squad looked unbalanced and disjointed from the outset, and that is exactly the way it played out across the season. Mohammad Amir was injured early, there were few good spin options, and almost no batting firepower to speak of. All that combined for the worst win-loss record in the history of the PSL, as Kings won just one match and lost nine.Related

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What has changed this season?Where do you start? Well, only one place, really. Babar Azam is no longer part of Kings, having moved to Zalmi during the trading window last November. He is the highest run-scorer in PSL history – aside from being the biggest name in Pakistan cricket at present – but that doesn’t necessarily mean his absence will spell disaster for Kings. One of their most enduring problems last season was the inability to get off to quick starts, and while Babar may be prolific, he is not as pacy up top as most T20 sides would want.But it is Kings’ inability to adequately bolster their batting firepower that remains their biggest concern. James Vince will likely take Babar’s place as opener, though his partial availability means Sharjeel Khan might need to provide most of the powerplay fireworks. In the middle order, Haider Ali and Ben Cutting, both of whom have PSL pedigree but have since fallen out of form, will need to come good.Shoaib Malik has returned to Kings from Peshawar Zalmi•PSLThe partial unavailability of Tabraiz Shamsi, another key player, spells trouble for Kings, who are, once more, short of high-class spin options. Joe Clarke has been replaced by Matthew Wade, who Kings showed enough faith in to pick in the Platinum Category. Shoaib Malik, too, has returned to Kings from Zalmi, with Imran Tahir and Andrew Tye the other high-profile signings.Player to Watch
Middle-order bat Tayyab Tahir was named Player of the Match in Pakistan’s One Day Cup – their premier 50-over domestic competition – final last month for hitting 71 in a win for Central Punjab, for whom he cracked 573 runs – the most by any batter – in the tournament. Those efforts earned him a maiden call-up to the national side, as he was also the third-highest run-scorer in the National T20 Cup last year, striking at just under 139. In a Kings side with limited power in the middle order, his contributions could be vital.Overall, by some distance, Kings’ is the oldest squad in the league; there are five players aged 35 and over. The timeless Imran Tahir, now 43, will need to shoulder much of the spin-bowling responsibility, and whether or not this season is a bridge too far for him might well determine how Kings go this season.Key stat
There are only two men over the age of 40 playing the PSL this year. Both – Imran Tahir and Malik – belong to Kings. No other side has a player over the age of 38 in their squad.Babar Azam has moved over to Zalmi from Kings•Pakistan Super LeaguePeshawar ZalmiCaptain: Babar Azam
Coach: Daren Sammy
Batting Consultant: Kamran Akmal
Full squad: Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Aamer Jamal, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Haseebullah Khan, Khurram Shahzad, Richard Gleeson, Peter Hatzoglou Sufyan Muqeem, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Usman Qadir, Jimmy Neesham, Haris SohailLast season: Eliminator
Zalmi faced an uphill struggle to guarantee playoff qualification given how the first half of their campaign went. They sat fifth after their first six games, having won just two matches until then and needing four successive wins to guarantee qualification. But a late-season surge thanks to a number of individual performances in key games ensured they achieved just that, ultimately finishing in third place. In the playoffs, though, that run came to an end in the first Eliminator, as Islamabad United pipped them in a thriller.What has changed this season?
Babar arrives and immediately takes over the captaincy, and how Zalmi and Babar work together would be fascinating. After seven seasons at Kings, a franchise that has been inconsistent throughout its history, he arrives at one which has sustained success; Zalmi are the only PSL side never to miss out on the playoffs.However, Zalmi have lost out on a number of power hitters that shone at crucial stages in 2022. Hazratullah Zazai, Haider Ali and Liam Livingstone have all left, as has Malik. It places significant responsibility on two young local batters in Mohammad Haris and Saim Ayub, each of whom enjoyed breakout seasons in the last 12 months.Veteran Wahab Riaz, 37, will still be around for Zalmi•AFP/Getty ImagesBut in the West Indies duo of Sherfane Rutherford and Rovman Powell – the latter only partly available – as well as big-hitters Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Jimmy Neesham, they might just have replaced them adequately enough.The bigger concern might lie in the absence of premium fast bowlers, with the possible exception of Wahab Riaz, the 37-year old Zalmi veteran. Offspinner Mujeeb ur Rehman will only be partly available too, while Richard Gleeson will come in to cover while Powell is absent. Salman Irshad, Arshad Iqbal and Usman Qadir will have to ensure Zalmi’s bowling isn’t a pushover, while 18-year old left-arm spinner Sufiyan Muqeem might also get a chance.Player to watch
Saim Ayub made his PSL debut aged 18 in 2021 at a time when the big stage perhaps came too quickly for him; he scored 114 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of only 108.57. But in the National T20 Cup last year, he was the second-highest run-scorer with 416 runs at a much-improved strike rate of 155.12. He followed it up with 461 at 107.20 in the Pakistan Cup, and won a contract at the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on the back of his form. Still just 20, Zalmi’s roster offers him a glistening opportunity to light up the PSL this time around.Key stat
Zalmi now have the highest wicket-taker in PSL history in Riaz (103), as well as the most prolific run-scorer in Babar (2413).

How India’s historic win at The Oval reaffirmed the joy of Test cricket for this fan

Amit Bordia07-Sep-2021Choice of game
We now live at a stone’s throw from The Oval, so I wasn’t going to miss this game. With the series delicately in balance, an Indian team that must have been equally buzzing and hurting after Lord’s and Leeds, I was looking forward to a great time at the ground, and the prospects of enjoying the lunch break with aloo parathas at home.My commute regularly takes me to the road outside The Oval and for the last full year, I have seen it become a construction site, with a new stand being built. There was almost no cricket there in all of 2020. Often, I was left wondering how the feel of the ground would change. It was nice to be in the same stand, having seen them built slab by slab. They have been a great addition to the facilities and provide a modern touch to the gasholders in the backdrop.The build-up
Here we were – 4th Test, day five – with all the four results possible. I left for the stadium early and even then the streets from Vauxhall station were packed. The stands were full well before Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja started the proceedings. Schools and offices in the UK are now fully open – and one could sense that there were more than a few bunked classes, a few sick leaves and work-from-home requests that would have enabled those in the stands to be there.Related

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It was absolutely buzzing. By the end of day four, England had provided hope by their staunch resistance. While I knew that such a score has never been chased at The Oval, one of my earliest cricket memories was reading about India at the venue in 1979, and how Gavaskar’s 221 took India to 420 odd, just a few runs short of the target. Then there always was Headingley 2019 in the back of the mind! And of course, India did not have R Ashwin.The crowd
Whoever said Test cricket is on a decline needed to be at The Oval. Most of the fans were in their seats before the start of play. Not just the usual faithful but also young kids and families were all around. The stands were packed to the rafters all five days.The Indians get into a huddle as Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed walk out•Getty Images for Surrey CCCBetween shouts of support, it was normal to hear someone explaining to their kids how the ball could reverse. The more passionate Indian fans were still arguing about the inclusion of Ajinkya Rahane (a banner saying “oh Rahane- no more (excuses)” was a crowd favourite) and the exclusion of Ashwin – who was seen practice bowling in almost every break.I had been to a few games at the Hundred this summer and the buzz in the crowd in the last five days matched the best of those – and that speaks volumes of the love of Test cricket in these parts.The resistance from the England openers carried on through the first hour of the day. But just when the Indian supporters were starting to feel a bit down, the first couple of wickets fell. All hell broke loose.The Indian supporters were in full swing. Dhols (Indian drums), turbans, flags, and people dressed in all shades of blue – the dark-blue retro jerseys from the 1992 World Cup, the light blue ones from 1996 to 2007, and then the slightly darker versions that the World Cup champions wore in 2011 – were all there.An ode to The Oval
To a cricket fan, The Oval does not have the history and reverence that Lord’s enjoys, but it does almost always assure an incredible atmosphere and a buzz – slightly rebellious and much less formal than the “Home of Cricket”.It is also one ground where the dressing room is very accessible to the viewing public – and a seat at the Bedser Stand is one of my favorite spots in the world to watch cricket. For it not only provides a great behind-the-bowlers-arm view of the game, it allows a rare glimpse of the body language of those walking up and down on their way to battle, and those in the dressing rooms.My Bedser Stand favourites have included a near ring-side view as Inzamam-ul-Haq called his team from the field in 2006, as Kevin Pietersen waited to bat, sitting in a very contemplative mood, against South Africa in 2012, and as Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid made their way to the middle after following-on in 2011.Fans arrive at The Oval•Getty Images for Surrey CCCThe wow performance
By far, the best cricketing performance of the day belonged to the smiling assassin, Bumrah. He has such an energy about him – the way he bowls, and then turns almost hurrying to his mark and smiling all the way back – it is hard not to love him. In many ways, he is very similar to how Neil Wagner, another much-loved character, goes about his business.The six-over spell that Bumrah bowled was my defining cricketing memory of the day. Old ball, dead pitch, strong home support, good batting line-up, tired body – none of these seemed to have mattered to him.Fifty years on…
The last time India won at The Oval was when Bangladesh had just become a nation, Sunil Gavaskar had made his debut a few months back, India still played three-four spinners overseas, and my parents weren’t even married – and I am not young by any standards! By all measures, this was a historic win. But more importantly, it reaffirmed the joy of Test cricket – for how it unfolds over many sessions and days, and how a day (or two) at the cricket beats almost everything else. The Oval might not be the Home of Cricket, but for the last five days, for me and for many others – it was the “Heart of Cricket”!
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India also register their highest ever powerplay score in the format

Sampath Bandarupalli05-Nov-202182 for 2 – India’s total in the first six overs against Scotland, their highest powerplay total in men’s T20I cricket. Their previous highest total in the powerplay was 78 for 2 against South Africa in 2018 in Johannesburg. It is also the fifth-highest powerplay total for any team at Men’s T20 World Cups.

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3.5 – Overs needed for India to bring up their fifty, which is the fastest team fifty for India in men’s T20Is. India’s previous quickest team fifty was in 4.1 overs on three occasions – against New Zealand in 2007, against Australia in 2016 and against West Indies in 2019.81 – Balls remaining in the chase when India reached the target, the first instance of India winning a T20I with ten or more overs to spare. Their previous biggest victory in balls to spare was by 59 balls against UAE in the 2016 Asia Cup. India’s win is also the third-biggest by balls for any team at Men’s T20 World Cups.ESPNcricinfo Ltd18 – Balls needed for KL Rahul to get to fifty, the second-fastest for India in men’s T20Is. The fastest is in 12 balls by Yuvraj Singh against England in 2007. Rahul’s fifty is also the joint-third fastest in Men’s T20 World Cups behind Yuvraj’s 12-ball effort and Stephan Myburgh’s 17-ball fifty against Ireland in 2014. Glenn Maxwell also scored fifty off 18 balls against Pakistan in 2014.2 – The number of fifties completed for India inside the powerplay in men’s T20Is, including Rahul’s knock here. Rohit Sharma also scored exactly 50 runs in the first six overs against New Zealand in 2020 in Hamilton. Rahul is also only the second player to complete a fifty inside a powerplay at Men’s T20 World Cups, after Myburgh’s effort against Ireland.ESPNcricinfo Ltd64 – Wickets for Jasprit Bumrah in T20Is, the most by a bowler for India in this format. With the two wickets Bumrah picked up against Scotland, he became India’s leading wicket-taker in men’s T20Is, surpassing Yuzvendra Chahal’s tally of 63.Related

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3 for 15 – Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling figures in this match are his best in T20Is. Only once before has Jadeja taken three or more wickets in a T20I – against West Indies in 2014. Jadeja was the Player of the Match for his bowling against Scotland, his second such award in T20Is. His first was back in 2012 against Australia in Melbourne.