Motie helps WI down England at T20 WC as Oz rout Ireland, SA win

Sherfane Rutherford struck a belligerent half-century and Gudakesh Motie produced a brilliant display of spin bowling as West Indies thumped England by 30 runs in Twenty20 World Cup Group C on Wednesday.

Rutherford smacked seven sixes in his unbeaten 76 off 42 deliveries to provide the bedrock of his team’s imposing total of 196-6.

Twice champions West Indies returned to choke their opponents with spin and bundled out England for 166 in 19 overs to top the group with their second successive victory.

England slipped to third place, behind Scotland, after their first defeat in the tournament.

“Disappointing. It’s never nice to lose a ⁠game, but West Indies played outstanding,” England captain Harry Brook said.

“We thought it was a chaseable total for sure but it didn’t dew up as much as we expected and didn’t skid onto the bat.”

Put into bat, West Indies lost both openers in the first seven deliveries of their innings.

Shimron Hetmyer (23) and Roston Chase (34) steadied the ship before Rutherford walked in to light up the Wankhede Stadium.

He shared a 61-run stand with Jason Holder, who struck four sixes in his 33 off 17 balls, to take West Indies close to 200.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid excelled for England, ⁠conceding only 16 runs in his four overs and claiming the wickets of Chase and Rovman Powell.

England made a flying start before losing Phil Salt (30) in the fourth over.

Chase removed Jos Buttler for 21 and left-arm spinner Motie produced a double strike to turn the heat on England, who slumped to 93-4 at the halfway stage of their innings.

The situation demanded caution and Brook duly curbed his normal aggression but the West Indian spinners would not be denied.

Motie (3-33) caught Brook off his own bowling and Chase ⁠trapped Will Jacks lbw to further turn the screw.

Sam Curran made a valiant 43 not out down the order but lacked support.

Australia begin campaign with Ireland romp

Australia launched their tournament campaign with a commanding 67-run victory over Ireland in Colombo, powered by four-wicket hauls from Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa.

Australia shrugged off the last-minute pullout of captain Mitchell Marsh to post 182-6 in 20 overs, after stand-in skipper Travis Head won the toss and elected to bat first on a slow and spin-friendly wicket at the R Premadasa Stadium.

Ireland’s chase got off to the worst possible start when captain Paul Stirling pulled up injured after darting for a run off the first ball, his premature retirement leaving them a man down in Colombo.

Harry Tector perished for a duck in the second over, bowled by Matthew Kuhnemann, before Ross Adair failed to make the most of his reprieve following a drop by Matt Renshaw and was bowled out by Ellis for 12 to leave Ireland in deeper trouble.

The writing looked to be on the wall when Ellis had Curtis Campher caught at mid-wicket for four, before he had Ben Calitz bowled for his third wicket inside the powerplay to leave Ireland reeling at 27-4.

Zampa (4-23) then made his mark as he picked up the next four wickets, including middle-order batter George Dockrell, who gave Ireland hope with a quick-fire 41 off 29 before he was stumped off a wide delivery when he ⁠gave the spinner the charge.

Barry McCarthy was caught at deep mid-wicket to give Ellis (4-12) his fourth wicket and with Stirling unable to bat again, Ireland were all out for 115.

SA pip Afghanistan in double super over T20 thriller

South Africa survived their pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada’s final-over meltdown before edging out Afghanistan via a second Super Over in a heart-stopping Group D match of the tournament.

Having matched South Africa’s score of 187-6 before losing all their wickets, Afghanistan milked 17 runs from the first Super Over sent down by Lungi Ngidi.

This time, South Africa tied the score with Tristan Stubbs hitting the final delivery from Azmatullah Omarzai for a six.

In the second Super Over, Afghanistan scored 19 before, losing both the wickets in reply to South Africa’s 23.

Earlier, defending 13 runs in the final over with Afghanistan nine down, Rabada buckled under pressure and bowled two no-balls and a wide before managing to ⁠run out Fazalhaq Farooqi with the scores level.

Agencies