England batter Jason Roy played a crucial knock of 61 runs as his side defeated Bangladesh by eight wickets in their clash here at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Wednesday.

With this win, England went to the top of the table in Group 1 after they consigned Bangladesh to their second loss in the Super 12 stage. England dominated the Asian side in all departments as they chased the modest target of 125 in just 14.1 overs. Chasing 125, England faced no difficulties as the opening pair of Jos Buttler and Jason Roy played a partnership of 39 runs in 4.5 overs. The first success came to Bangladesh in the form of Buttler’s wicket, leaving Englandbat 39/1.

Later, Dawid Malan anchored the innings as he played a knock of 28 runs and took his team over the line against Bangladesh.

Earlier in the match, England’s bowlers produced their second stellar performance of the tournament to restrict Bangladesh to 124/9. Spinners Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone shared four wickets between them, while Chris Woakes, who took the new ball, was economical with 1/12 and Tymal Mills scalped three at the death.

For Bangladesh, Mushfiqur Rahim played an innings of 29 runs and brought his team to a decent total of 124/9.

England will now be facing Australia for their next clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 on October 30 in Dubai while Bangladesh will be going against West Indies on October 29 in Sharjah.

Post match, Engand skipper Eoin Morgan expressed happiness as his side defeated Bangladesh convincingly hailing his side’s fielding.

“The fielding has been good as well and has backed the bowling as well. It is a huge compliment to the way our white-ball cricket has come up,” he said.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 124/9 (Mushfiqur Rahim 29, N Ahmed 19*; T Mills 3-27, L Livingstone 2-15) vs England 126/2 (Jason Roy 61, Davis Malan 28*; N Ahmed 1-26)

The FIH Odisha men’s Hockey Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 scheduled to begin on November 24, will be a telecast-only affair as Hockey India and FIH jointly decided to hold the marquee quadrennial tournament without the presence of spectators as part of precautions against COVID-19.

“With the sheer popularity of the sport in this region and expected crowds in the stadium, the organisers believe it would not be possible to control that number of people and yet follow all the necessary COVID guidelines and protocols laid out by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare , Ministry of Home Affairs , Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, State Government, FIH and Hockey India,” Hockey India said in a statement. According to organisers, social distancing is a priority due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation and the safety of the fans and athletes needs to be prioritised.

Hockey India said for the organisers, it is imperative to hold the tournament in an environment where the health and safety of the participating teams are of paramount importance.

While the stadium will only be open to accredited personnel and the participants of the tournament, the fans can tune in and cheer for their favourite teams and players, across platforms around the world for all games.

The tournament will see 16 teams in the fray. The participating teams include defending champions and hosts India, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands and the United States.

The classification matches will be held from November 30 with the quarter-finals to be played on December 1, semi-finals on December 3 and the title clash will be held on December 5.

Italy’s Matteo Berrettini will make his second ATP Finals appearance after becoming the sixth singles player to qualify for the 2021 season finale, to be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from November 14-21.

The 25-year-old secured his return to the year-end championships for the first time since 2019 when he reached the Erste Bank Open second round on Monday. This year marks the first edition of the ATP Finals in Turin, following a 12-year stint in London. “My words aren’t going to describe the happiness I feel in my heart,” said Berrettini in a release by ATP. “2020 was a tough year for me on and off the court. Here I am about to play my second [Nitto ATP] Finals and I can’t believe it. I always have to remember where I started. I didn’t dream about this, because it was so big, but now it’s happening. I want to do my best,” he added.

Berrettini has notched a 40-10 record this season, including a run to his first major final at Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic). He went on to climb to a career-best Number 7 in the ATP Rankings — making him the highest-ranked Italian since Corrado Barazzutti in 1978.

The Italian also lifted the Serbia Open trophy in Belgrade (d. Karatsev) in April, reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Zverev) in May and clinched the cinch Championships crown in London (d. Norrie) in June.

Berrettini joins Russian Andrey Rublev and four former Nitto ATP Finals champions in the Turin field: World Number 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, US Open champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev of Germany.

New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson has been ruled out of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE with a calf tear.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) in a release stated “Ferguson felt tightness in his right calf following training last night (Tuesday) and a subsequent MRI scan on game-day revealed a grade two tear which would require three to four weeks recovery.” With the Blackcaps set to play five pool games over the next 13 days, coach Gary Stead said they had no option but to rule Ferguson out of the tournament.

“It’s a real shame for Lockie to have this happen on the eve of the tournament and the entire team is really feeling for him right now,” Stead said.

“He’s a massive part of our T20 side and has been in such good form – so to lose him at this time is a blow. However, we are fortunate to have a like for like replacement in the form of Adam who has been with the squad training for the past two weeks.”

Stead indicated Ferguson would be replaced in the 15-player tournament squad by Adam Milne subject to approval by the ICC Technical Committee.

Milne is already in the UAE with the team having been selected in the squad as travelling injury cover.

South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma said the Proteas respect opener Quinton de Kock’s decision to not take a knee in the ongoing T20 World Cup on Tuesday.

De Kock decided not to take the knee ahead of Tuesday’s game against the West Indies and the batter missed the match following his decisions. “I think obviously as a team we’re obviously surprised and taken aback by the news. Obviously, Quinton is a big player for the team, not just with the bat, but the role he plays from a senior point of view and from an experience point of view, and not having that at my disposal as a captain was obviously something I wasn’t looking forward to,” said Bavuma in the post-match press conference as per ICC.

“In saying that, Quinton is an adult. He’s a man in his own shoes. We respect his decision. We respect his convictions. I know that he’ll be standing behind whatever decision that he’s taken.”

“From the team’s point of view, unfortunately, we still have to get the job done. There was still a game of cricket there for our country, and it was important, as much as everything was happening, that we found a way to get into the right mental space and take it home for our country,” he added.

Cricket South Africa said all players had been required, in line with a directive of the Board on Monday evening, to “take the knee” in a united and consistent stance against racism.

“I don’t know how far it’s going to develop. I mean, the decision that he’s taken is only today, so I can only speak about what has happened today. It wouldn’t be my decision whether to replace Quinton or to get a substitute. That would be probably the coach and the selectors,” said Bavuma.

“But as far as we stand, Quinton is still one of the players. He’s still one of the boys, so whatever support that he needs, whatever shoulder that he requires from his teammates, we’ll be there for him.”

“If there’s a need for further conversations to be had, I’m sure those will definitely happen amongst the guys,” he added.

The South Africa skipper said instruction from the country’s cricket board came in the morning and De Kock might have taken his decision of not taking the knee afterwards.

“The instruction from the board came in the morning, this morning. A meeting was convened between a couple of members, and that’s where that message was passed on to us. We then before, I guess, getting on the bus to travel to Dubai, that message was passed on to the players,” said Bavuma.

“I think the trip was about an hour and a half to two hours. In that trip I guess that’s where Quinton made his decision. We found out — I found out as the captain when we got to the changing room,” he added.

South Africa defeated West Indies to open their Super 12s account on Tuesday.

The Proteas limited the West Indies to 143 for eight as Dwaine Pretorious took three wickets late on to put the brakes on an innings that had looked set to reach a far more imposing total after opener Evin Lewis’s blistering 56.

In reply, South Africa rallied well from the early loss of captain Bavuma and never looked in trouble in pursuit of the runs as Aiden Markram’s destructive 51 not out from just 26 balls broke the West Indies’ resolve en route to an eight-wicket win.

SOMETHING THAT WE FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT:

WINDIES

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said that the Caribbean team feels very strongly about taking the knee and they will continue to do it in the ongoing ICC Men’s ICC T20 World Cup.

Pollard added education is sort of key and every individual has their own opinions on taking the knee which is now widely considered as a stance against racism.

“It’s something that we feel strongly about as a team and as a people, as well, and we will continue to do it,” the Windies skipper said in a post-match press conference on Tuesday.

‘INDIVIDUALS SHOULD DECIDE’

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has said an individual should determine if they want to be involved in any movement or not after South Africa’s Quinton de Kock decided not to “take the knee” ahead of Tuesday’s game against the West Indies in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

“Surely it’s down to the individual to decide whether he or she wants to be involved in any movement … A Cricket board should request players to do it but if that individual decides they don’t want too it should not stop them playing the game of Cricket … #T20WorldCup #DeKock,” Vaughan tweeted.

Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen starred as South Africa thrash West Indies by eight wickets in the Group 1 encounter of Super 12s in the ongoing ICC men’s T20 World Cup here at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.

South Africa chased the target of 144 with eight balls to spare as Markram and Van der Dussen played the innings of 51* and 43* respectively. Chasing 144, excellent work in the field by Russell provided exactly the start West Indies had hoped for as Temba Bavuma walked back in the first over. Hendricks and Van der Dussen then forged a 50-run stand for the second wicket as South Africa consolidate their position in the chase.

Hosein then dismissed Hendricks to give a vital breakthrough to WI but the duo of Van der Dussen and Markram stitched another 50-run partnership and held SA’s innings in good shape.

The pair then cruised South Africa to victory and handed defending champions their second successive defeat in the tournament.

Put in to bat first, West Indies started off cautiously off the blocks initially after which Evin Lewis started to free his arms and took the attack against South African bowlers, especially to the part-time spin of Aiden Markram. At the end of the powerplay, their score read 43/0.

Evin Lewis continued his charge against SA bowlers as he brought up his half-century in the 10th over. But in next over, Maharaj removed dangerous-looking Lewis. He walked back after scoring 56 off 35 balls. Nicholas Pooran followed the opener soon.

The other WI opener, Lendl Simmons was dismissed in the 14th over after his 16 off 35 balls. West Indies lost a few wickets in clumps in the end but managed to make 143 runs in their 20 overs for South Africa to chase.

Brief Scores: West Indies 143/8 (Lewis 56, Pollard 26; Pretorius 3-17) vs South Africa 144/2 (Aiden Markram 51*, Rassie van der Dussen 43*; Akeal Hosein 1-27)