Picture Credit: X
After an exciting Super Over win for Gerhard Erasmus-led Namibia earlier on June 3, South Africa put up an all-round show as they defeated Sri Lanka in their tournament opener of T20 World Cup 2024 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Monday. Apart from this, Team India Head Coach Rahul Dravid also confirmed that the ongoing tournament will be his last assignment with the side at the post.
In this article, we’ll look at all the big news that took place on Monday, June 3, but before that, let's check the matches scheduled for the day.
Today's match preview
ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024:
England vs Scotland: England will open their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Scotland in the Group B match at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. The defending champions, England will be looking to start their campaign on a great note against their near neighbours with a win. For Scotland, it is going to be vital for their big players to stand up against a formidable opponent, to give themselves the best chance of causing an upset in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Major cricket events that happened on June 3
Anrich Nortje registers career best figure as he helps South Africa get to a winning start at T20WC 2024
Returning from a back injury, Anrich Nortje scripted South Africa's six-wicket win against Sri Lanka in their 2024 T20 World Cup opener with a career-best 4 for 7 on a tricky New York pitch. Nortje, alongside Keshav Maharaj, ran through the Sri Lankan middle-order, leaving them 40/5 at the halfway mark - their lowest ever in men's T20Is. A brief counterattack ensued but South African pacers shut it out timely to bundle out Sri Lanka for 77, their lowest T20I total. South Africa themselves stuttered in the chase, but got to the mark with 3.4 overs to spare.
Fazalhaq Farooqi’s 5/9 helps Afghanistan decimate Uganda; win by 125 runs
Afghanistan outclassed Uganda to kickstart their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a win on Tuesday, June 4 at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. It was Gurbaz who took the attack early with the bat in powerplay. It gave time for his partner Ibrahim to get going and the duo motored along nicely for a 150+ stand. Uganda picked up wickets towards the end but anything over 150 with Afghanistan's spin and pace quality was always going to be difficult for Uganda. Farooqi's wickets off successive balls in his very first over helped Afghanistan set to tone with Mujeeb getting one in the next over and Naveen-ul-Haq coming for a double-strike. The star, Fazalhaq Farooqi came back to be on a hat-trick once again in the game with skipper Rashid Khan cleaning up the tail.
Police snippers to be deployed for T20 World Cup 2024 games in New York
Security has been tightened at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, including deploying police snipers at secret locations around the ground. The news came just hours prior to the opening match at the ground in the Long Island, which has Sri Lanka lock horns with South Africa. Furthermore, this step has been taken after a pro-ISIS group reportedly threatened to target the high-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan.
Rahul Dravid confirms stepping down as Head Coach after T20 WC 2024
Rahul Dravid confirmed that the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 will be his last tournament with Team India. As per PTI, Dravid stated that the T20 World Cup will be his last assignment as the India coach. Dravid became the Indian men's team coach in November 2021 after successful stints with the U19 and the A team.
ICC announce record-breaking prize pool for T20 World Cup 2024
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 winners will receive the highest amount in the tournament's history. This ninth edition will see 20 teams competing over 28 days across nine venues in the West Indies and the USA. The winners will earn at least $2.45 million runners-up will earn at least $1.28 million.
Kedar Jadhav announces retirement from all forms of cricket
Former CSK batter, Kedar Jadhav, on June 3 announced retirement from all formats of the game. The senior Indian batter re-created MS Dhoni’s retirement post and took to social media to call off curtains to his cricketing career. In his post on X, he wrote, “Thank you all For your love and support throughout my Career from 1500 hrs Consider me as retired from all forms of cricket.”
I am not going to watch T20 World Cup: Riyan Parag
With the T20WC underway in USA and Caribbean, RR all-rounder Riyan Parag dropped a bold statement where he said that he will not watch the World Cup. ".... to be very honest I don't even want to watch the World Cup. I'll just see who is winning it at the end. When I will play the World Cup, I will think about top four," he said.
WATCH : Yuvraj Singh pranks fans with unrecognisable ‘old man look’
Yuvraj Singh played a small prank on his fans as he got into a new look for a commercial advertisement. The former cricketer took the get-up of an old man and went on to play cricket with them. While he played a few dot balls in the beginning, Singh later started to hit the ball, leaving fans in awe of his batting skills.
Nitish Reddy issues clarification after controversial remark surface
The SRH all-rounder, Nitish Kumar Reddy caught eyeballs after he made a bold statement around MS Dhoni, thus bringing in some controversy. However, the 21-year-old was quick to issue a clarification. Taking to his Instagram story, Nitish Reddy clarified, “What I said in my previous interview was taken out of context, with few people cropping out the video. Let’s not spread negativity, without hearing the full story."
Pat Cummins to make MLC debut with San Francisco Unicorns
The SRH and Australian ODI and Test captain is all set to play in the second edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC). Notably, franchise San Francisco Unicorns have roped in the megastar to represent the team. Unicorns are expected to name Cummins as their new leader after the former Australian skipper Aaron Finch retired from cricket.
