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Smriti Mandhana’s half-century took India to 165 but it proved inadequate

Srinidhi Ramanujam28-Jul-2024 • Updated on 29-Jul-20242:58

Sri Lanka show they aren’t solely reliant on Athapaththu

Sri Lanka created history on Sunday, dethroning India to clinch their maiden Women’s T20 Asia Cup. Fighting half-centuries from top order batters Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama, and Kavisha Dilhari’s all-round heroics stood out as Sri Lanka cruised to an eight-wicket victory in front of a packed crowd in Dambulla.Samarawickrama and Dilhari’s valuable contributions in the final once again highlighted a crucial point that Sri Lanka are not just dependent on their captain to deliver. They have now won 14 of the 17 T20Is this year and go into the T20 World Cup slated in October with massive confidence and pride from their performances.Smriti Mandhana’s 60 and quickfire knocks from Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues helped India post a competitive total of 165 for 6 but in the end, it proved inadequate.

Athapaththu vs left-arm spin

Things were quiet until the fifth over. Then, with Sri Lanka on 28 for 1, Athapaththu targeted the inexperienced left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar. After lofting a short ball to deep square leg for six, she punished two full length deliveries for a four and a six to score 16 runs off the over and end the powerplay on 44 for 1. Radha Yadav, another left-arm spinner, bowled the next over and conceded nine runs with six coming off Athapaththu’s bat. With only Deepti Sharma as the specialist offspinner, Harmanpreet had to use Radha and Kanwar against the two left-handers Athapaththu and Samarawickrama. In the end, 29 of the Sri Lanka captain’s 61 runs came against left-arm spinners, at a strike rate of 170.58.

Samarawickrama, Dilhari step up

Samarawickrama has been playing at the international level for six years now and her most important knock came in Dambulla. She had hit only four half-centuries in 61 matches prior and her career strike rate in T20Is is less 100. But on Sunday, Sri Lanka needed her to stay as long as possible and not think about those numbers.When Deepti bowled Athapaththu in the 12th over, the crowd was stunned to silence. Sri Lanka needed 72 runs from 48 balls and there was a chance of an Indian comeback. After getting set, scoring 29 off her first 27 balls, it was on Samarawickrama to take her side through and she did it in style. She brought out her A game with pull shots and slog sweeps to eventually top-score for Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 69. When 25 was required from the last three overs, Radha’s 17-run 18th over – where Samarawickrama smashed two fours and a six – blunted India.Smriti Mandhana’s half-century went in vain for India•ACC

Dilhari, a strong bottom-handed player, chipped in with an unbeaten 30 off 16 and sealed the victory with a six in the penultimate over. The duo shared a match-changing unbeaten 73 off 40 balls for the third wicket. Meanwhile, India endured misfields and two dropped catches and were also tactically tested as the game slipped away. This included a fumble from Harmanpreet when she dropped a simple catch in the 15th over when Samarawickrama was on 45.

Mandhana marches on to another fifty

Mandhana brought all her experience to the fore in the final. Sri Lanka dominated the first five overs of the powerplay, and Mandhana made a run-a-ball 14. But in the final over, she tried to up the ante by shuffling across to manufacture runs against left-arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani. She hit three fours, and India ended the powerplay on 44 for 0. Soon after Shafali Verma and Uma Chetry were dismissed, Mandhana punished anything too short or too full, especially from Athapaththu as she raced to her 26th T20I fifty off 36 deliveries. She was dropped by Samarawickrama at cover on 10 off 10 in the fifth over.Mandhana also got a life when she hit one straight to Athapaththu, the bowler, in the 16th over, but the ball bounced twice before reaching the batter and so was declared a no-ball. However, in the following over, Athapaththu took an excellent running catch off Dilhari’s bowling to dismiss the India opener.

The Dilhari-Ghosh battle

Dilhari has been crucial to Sri Lanka’s recent success. Of her 16 T20Is this year, only thrice has she gone wicketless. She usually doesn’t concede many either. At the end of 17 overs, the legspinner’s had gone for 18 runs and picked up two wickets in her three overs. But her final over, the penultimate of the innings, against Ghosh, was bittersweet. The first ball was a legbreak which Ghosh looked to cut and probably got an edge to the wicketkeeper. There was a huge appeal from the bowler and the keeper, but the umpire was unmoved. Dilhari pleaded and kicked the turf in disappointment, but there was no DRS in this tournament. The next three deliveries saw Ghosh muscling away two fours and a six to take India past 150. Dilhari ended up conceding 18 runs off her final over. Ghosh eventually finished on a 14-ball 30

South Africa’s limited-overs captain says he “would have loved to have AB de Villiers”

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-20200:45

De Kock: We were pushing for AB de Villiers for the T20 World Cup

South Africa T20I captain Quinton de Kock has confirmed that AB de Villiers was in line to make a potential international comeback through this year’s T20 World Cup, which was officially postponed to 2021 earlier this week. de Kock’s admission is in line with discussions in December last year, when then-captain Faf du Plessis and newly-appointed head coach Mark Boucher had said conversations had been ongoing to try and bring de Villiers back into South Africa’s T20I squad.”He was definitely in line. If fit, I would have loved to have AB de Villiers,” de Kock said on the Cricket Connected show on Star Sports. “I think any team would have loved to have AB de Villiers in their team. While we were pushing for him, now we will have to see when the T20 World Cup is going to happen now.”On his part, de Villiers himself had shown a keenness to return and “throw his hat in the ring” for the T20 World Cup without any expectations when he was at the Big Bash League earlier this year.”There’s a lot that needs to happen before that becomes reality, I would love to,” de Villers told reporters after making his BBL debut for Brisbane Heat in January. “I’ve been talking to Bouch, Graeme Smith and Faf back home. We are all keen to make it happen, it’s a long way away still and plenty can happen – there’s the IPL coming, I’ve still got to be in form at that time. I’m thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping everything will work out.ALSO READ: Can Dhoni, Gayle and Malinga go on till the 2021 T20 World Cup?It was the first definitive statement from the batsman, who retired from international cricket in May 2018 and has since been the subject of regular speculation for a comeback, particularly around last year’s ODI World Cup when a last-minute offer to return was turned down by South Africa management.de Villiers has since been vocal about the comfort around the discussions at present, given the sweeping changes in Cricket South Africa which is now run by many of his former team-mates. He captained the winning side in CSA’s experimental 3TC format last week, which was his first match on record since January at the BBL. With the T20 World Cup now scheduled for late 2021, the pathway for a return might have become decidedly longer.

He does not believe the India attack will be able to replicate the short-pitched approach of Neil Wagner last summer

Daniel Brettig24-Nov-20202:12

Smith: Stepped away from my natural game during the IPL

No matter how many “controllables” Cricket Australia have tried to control in the lead-up to a Covid-affected summer, how many biosecurity protocols, meetings with government or compromises with broadcasters, there will always be imponderables of sport that dictate how the season plays out.To the evident delight of Australia’s cricketers and coaches returned from the IPL and currently quarantining in Sydney ahead of the ODI, T20I and Test series against India, perhaps the most important of them all clicked into place over the weekend: hold the front page, because Steven Smith has figured out how to hold his bat again.That he has been able to return to the simplicity of long training sessions in between quiet hotel contemplations already looks to have been a blessing. Away from the relative cacophony of the IPL in the UAE, where he was captain of an unsuccessful Rajasthan Royals campaign, Smith has been able to find the clarity of mind and body he needs to hit a million-odd balls and, in his words, “find my hands”.”I was pretty disappointed actually with my batting throughout the IPL,” Smith said. “I never really got into a good rhythm, but I think the last few days actually I’ve found something. People close to me that know me well, I’ve found my hands the last few days, which I’m extremely excited about.ALSO READ: David Warner says Australia ‘trying not to engage’ in verbal volleys“It’s taken me probably about three and half or fourth months to do it, but found them now, which is pleasing and I actually look forward to going back to the nets again this afternoon to have another hit and just reinforce it and get started again in a few days’ time. Theoretically it is a simple thing, but it’s just getting that feel and the look of the bat behind my toe the right way and the way my hands come up on the bat.”It’s hard to explain but it just hasn’t quite been right until probably two days ago, I found a little something and everything just clicked in. I had a big smile on my face after training the other day, because I walked past [Australia’s senior assistant and also Rajasthan head coach] Andrew McDonald I think it was and said ‘I found ’em again’, I was really excited.”All the way through his career, including Newlands and after, Smith has always retained an almost childlike love of batting and at the same time a sense of mystery to it: Smith knows how good he is but there are times when even he doesn’t know exactly how to find his best, other than to face countless throwdowns and hope that the old rhythm comes back. He is known for a recurring nightmare where he is timed out because he can’t find his bat, and has often spoken about the need to find his hands and all else that flows from that.Steven Smith glances fine•Getty Images

The weeks prior to the 2017-18 Ashes series were another such time. “The first Shield game or two I remember I was struggling with it…I remember I found it in the game against Western Australia at Hurstville Oval, something sort of clicked halfway through that innings I reckon, and then I was good to go,” Smith said.”It’s taken me a lot longer than usual, I don’t know why, whether it was a big [break], I pretty much didn’t bat for about four months during the start of Covid-19, maybe a bit longer, but I’m glad I’ve been able to find something the last few days.”The training time in Sydney has been valuable too for Smith to reflect on how his IPL approach will need to be massaged into something more rounded for the ODI and T20I series that prelude the Tests. “I think for me in white-ball cricket, it’s about playing my game in the way that I do it,” he said. “I think in IPL I got a bit caught up with trying to be a bit too powerful and that’s not quite my game I don’t think.”You know there are those players around the world who can hit sixes at will. I’m probably not one of those. For me it’s about hitting proper cricket shots and hitting the gaps and manipulating the field as much as I can. I probably went away from that a bit throughout the IPL. I know that’s the best way that I play. So keeping my thoughts clear and hitting the ball in my areas where I want to hit them. I still think there’s a need for a player like that in the short form of the game that’s for sure.Smith’s excitement inevitably features at least some element of making up for the summer he lost in 2018-19, when he could do nothing more than watch as the Australian batting order was unable to compile the sorts of tallies required to pressure India often enough. Certainly the Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney Tests look as though they could easily have come to different conclusions with the addition of Smith’s presence at No. 4 for the hosts.”I don’t know if it makes me hungrier. I’m always pretty hungry to go out there and perform well,” Smith said. “I guess it was tough having to watch from the sidelines, particularly with the team not doing as well as they would have liked. And losing that series was difficult to watch knowing that I felt like I could go out and have an impact if I was playing. That was hard but certainly looking forward to this series. Two of the top teams going at it, two quality pace line-ups, two quality batting line-ups, and I think it makes for an interesting and exciting summer.”

However, he believes Pat Cummins’ comments about not moving too many players is significant

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2024Former Australia captain Michael Clarke believes that Steven Smith would become the best opening batter in the world if he was given the task of replacing David Warner, but still sees Cameron Green as the likelier route the selectors will take.The squad for the first Test against West Indies will be named on Wednesday and will mark the start of a new era following Warner’s Test retirement. The narrative around who could replace him has shifted from a specialist opener – one of Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris or Matt Renshaw – to finding a way to accommodate Green.Related

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Smith has been the only incumbent player to say he wants to open, but both captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald sounded reluctant at the conclusion of the Pakistan series.”If he [Smith] wants to open the batting and they give him the chance, he’ll be the No. 1 Test opener within 12 months,” Clarke told ESPN’s show. “He’s that good a player. If you can bat at three you can bat anywhere in the order. Technically he’s good enough, lets the ball go well, he’s got a great eye, got beautiful hands.”Yes, he might nick the occasional one or might get lbw but tell me someone who doesn’t. So if he opens the batting he’ll be the best opener within 12 months. [And] don’t be surprised if he breaks Brian Lara’s 400 record because he’s that good and now he’s got the whole day.”But, following Cummins’ comments about how the batting order is successful in their current positions, Clarke can see Green being parachuted in at the top as the outcome.”It sounds from what Patty says, he wants the least amount of disruptions as possible. Marnus has been brilliant, Smith’s four, Travis Head five, Mitch Marsh six. So that tells me that Cameron Green at this stage is probably the likeliest to come in and opening the batting.”Smith has never opened in Test or first-class cricket, but former Australia batter Callum Ferguson was of little doubt that he could make a success of it”I think he would prepare himself as well as anyone to open the batting if he decided he wanted to do that,” he told the show. “I’ve always been in the camp that you need a specialist opening batter but if it was Steve Smith coming to you and saying I want to open the batting, I think he’s looking for a challenge, that next motivation and inspiration I his career, and honestly if he took to that job I think he’d do it better than anyone else.”Should the selectors opted for Smith or Green there have been questions raised about what it would mean for the Sheffield Shield given that Bancroft has been the leading run-scorer in the last two seasons and could still be overlooked.”I think the selectors have always been really clear with Shield cricket being the ground they want guys to go back and perform in,” Bancroft said on Sunday. “There’s plenty examples of guys who have gone back and done that. I’m sure that’ll be a big part of what they’re looking at when they make that decision at the end of the day.”

Backs England to seize chance to square series, after Bashir’s stellar display

Andrew Miller24-Feb-2024Joe Root is confident that England have taken a firm hold of the fourth Test against India, after a dominant second day in Ranchi in which the final stages of his 31st Test century gave way to a determined bowling display led by the 19-year-old offspinner Shoaib Bashir.By the close, India had reached 219 for 7 in their first innings, still trailing by a sizeable 134 runs with only the wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel remaining of their recognised batters. And on a surface that is already offering significant variable bounce, Root recognises that any lead could be crucial going into the back-end of the contest.”We’ve got ourselves into a nice position at the end of the first innings,” Root said at the close of play. “So we’ll see how things progress throughout the game. Obviously, it looks like it’s going to keep deteriorating and keep getting worse. So if we can get three early wickets tomorrow, hopefully that puts us in a really strong position for the rest of the game.”Related

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Already, however, Root’s unbeaten 122 from 274 balls looks like being the stand-out innings of the game. After rescuing England from a dicey 112 for 5 at lunch on day one, he helped add a further 51 runs for the final three wickets in the morning session, and admitted it had been a cathartic display after his struggles for form in the opening three Tests.”That’s how I try and play every game really,” he said. “Trying to play the conditions, the situation of the game. And it was very, very obvious what was needed in that situation on that surface. And thankfully, it paid off.”It’s been nice to contribute this week,” he added, having managed a top score of 29 in his previous six innings in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Rajkot. “It has been a lean series for me. So I was desperate to try and get some runs for the guys, and it was nice to do that today. And hopefully that can continue that for the rest of the series now.”Root joked that he had been tempted to play a reverse-scoop when nearing his hundred•Associated Press

Root had been the subject of intense scrutiny after England’s 434-run loss in the third Test, after falling to his trademark reverse-scoop early on the third day, a shot that proved the catalyst in his team’s subsequent collapse. And though the stroke didn’t feature at all in the course of his century, he did joke that he had been tempted to unfurl it when in sight of his hundred on the first evening.”I must admit it did briefly cross my mind, but on that wicket it’s not a great option,” Root said. “It was a fleeting and selfish thought that left my mind very quickly. If you look at the previous wicket [in Rajkot], it wasn’t as bad, but it was unfortunate it kept a little bit low. But that’s how it goes sometimes.”When asked afterwards about the criticism of that dismissal, Root added: “Certainly the execution of the shots has weighed on me. Not necessarily the selection but the execution. I’m better than that. Batting is about outscoring the opposition, scoring more runs to give yourselves the best chance of winning. If you get out, you’re out, and it doesn’t matter what it looks like.”Instead, Root delivered a performance of old-school hard graft, as he first found a means to survive a tough morning spell from the debutant Akash Deep, who extracted significant seam movement with the new ball, and then led a critical rebuild as the conditions eased, particularly alongside Ben Foakes on the first afternoon and Ollie Robinson on the second morning.”If it’s your main skill, you want to be delivering and you want to be standing up and performing,” Root said. “It was special, given that in the morning the wicket was doing all sorts against that hard ball. So when you went in, you really had to work hard, in the first half-hour especially. They’re the ones that mean most, when you have to really work hard for it, and you’re trying to dig your team out of a little bit of a situation.”The second day, however, was dominated by Bashir’s outstanding display with the ball. He bowled 32 overs, interrupted only by intervals and a solitary change of ends before the close of play, to return figures of 4 for 84, which are already his best figures in all first-class cricket. With Tom Hartley also impressing with two wickets in his 19 overs, it meant Root – England’s most experienced spinner – was used for just a single over at the end of the day, but he had no complaints about ceding the stage.Shoaib Bashir got Shubman Gill to break a solid stand•Getty Images

“The way the guys have operated today was a brilliant effort,” he said. “I had a great view at first slip, watching them operate. For two young spinners to stand up and perform, it’s really encouraging for English cricket, and for us, for the rest of this series and the rest of this Test match.”Bashir was a virtual unknown when he was drafted into the squad in December, on the strength of only a handful of fixtures for Somerset, including a key spell against Essex in which his high release point was shown to have troubled Alastair Cook, one of England’s greatest players of subcontinent-style spin.”[Bashir’s] brilliant,” Root said. “He’s a great young lad to have in the group. I’ve not seen much of him, and I might not have known much about him before this series, but he’s got a great character. He’s got a great sense of humour. He takes it all out to the field. And he’s clearly, as you can see, got huge amounts of ability and skill and a lot to offer, especially on a surface like this.”It was great to see him keep coming, time and time again today, asking really difficult questions of their order. And again, he should take a lot of confidence for the rest of this game and moving on as well.”As for the match situation, Root reiterated his confidence that England can close out their advantage, and square the series at 2-2 going into the fifth Test in Dharamsala. In particular, he backed his team to make the most of whatever lead they can secure, and bat with sufficient freedom in tough conditions to post India a challenging target.On that pitch, 350 looks like a very good score,” he said. “I think we’re in a good position. Obviously it’d be good to wrap things up quickly tomorrow, but yeah, as a batter you always say, ‘it’s a terrible wicket, I must have played really well’. But no, I think it’s just that odd ball.”It’s just being able to park it mentally, being able to, if it does really misbehave, not let it affect the way you approach the rest of the over, the next ball, and not have any demons about what’s gone before. You’ve just got to react and play and trust your game, and just be really clear about how you want to break things down and score your runs.”It’d be great to get a sizable first-innings lead on there and then to really drive that home. We’ve got to be ruthless. We’ve got to be proactive about how we go and do it, and clear how we want to go and score our runs. But if we can get anything north of 250, it’s going to be a very interesting last couple of days.”

Bancroft, Charlesworth build lead with two days remaining to turn the screw

ECB Reporters Network11-May-2024Marchant de Lange’s 13th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket left Gloucestershire anticipating a first County Championship win since the end of the 2022 season on day two of their Division Two clash with Northamptonshire.The South African paceman, who’d already secured a six-fer against Middlesex this season, produced consistently hostile bowling to return 5 for 42, including wickets with successive balls as the hosts were hustled out for 171, 238 behind Gloucestershire’s first-innings total of 409.De Lange played his part in the visitors reaching that tally too, his unbeaten 36, including two huge sixes, helping Josh Shaw add 71 for the ninth wicket, Shaw equalling his career-best with 44. Siddarth Kaul did at least complete a five-fer on debut for Northamptonshire, finishing with figures of 5 for 76.Gloucestershire, who haven’t won at Wantage Road since 2010 declined to enforce the follow-on. Instead, openers Cameron Bancroft (36 not out) and Ben Charlesworth (41 not out) took the visitors to 77 for 0 and an overall lead of 315.Gloucestershire began on 338 for 8 and Shaw and de Lange quickly dampened any hopes Northamptonshire may have entertained of wrapping up the tail with a ferocious assault on the bowling.De Lange glanced an early Ben Sanderson delivery to fine leg for four to set the tone and he followed that up by clubbing the same bowler back over his head for six.When Sanderson gave way to George Scrimshaw, de Lange deposited a short ball over mid-wicket for another six which looked set to endanger the resident ice-cream van, but fortunately it sailed beyond it onto the concourse.Shaw caught the mood, clubbing Scrimshaw over the ropes, meaning a fourth batting point had been secured by the time Kaul pinned him lbw to end the fun.The Northamptonshire reply opened in extraordinary fashion with Ricardo Vasconcelos hooking a short one from Ajeet Singh Dale over the head of long leg for six.Fellow opener Emilio Gay’s experience was at the opposite end of the spectrum as he was pinned lbw first ball by a swinging delivery from Shaw which trapped him plumb in front.Vasconcelos though forged on, adding six fours to his earlier six, meaning Northamptonshire went to lunch on 56 for 1 with little sign of the afternoon’s carnage to follow.De Lange though changed the mood within three balls of the resumption. Vasconcelos hadn’t got his feet moving when nicking one through to James Bracey to depart for 43 and Karun Nair was beaten for pace first ball to be pinned in front.George Bartlett prevented the hat-trick and for a while at least, he and Luke Procter threatened a rebuild.It was spinner Zafar Gohar who cut the revival off trapping sipper Procter on the crease for 32 and Bartlett soon followed undone by a ball of extra bounce from Tom Price, Bracey taking a fine catch standing up to the stumps.Saif Zaib, restraining his usual aggression, resisted stoically for his 23 from 80 balls only for De Lange to return and find the outside edge for Bracey to claim another victim and Zafar returned to have fellow spinner Liam Patterson-White lbw playing no shot.Recharged by his afternoon cup of tea, de Lange helped wrap things up early in the final session Kaul and Sanderson both falling to catches behind the wicket, the latter to a brute of a ball which flew off the shoulder of the bat to slip.

Rashid is also part of the side but is unlikely to play as he continues to recover from a back surgery

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2024Mujeeb Ur Rahman has been picked in Afghanistan’s squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series in India. The 22-year-old mystery spinner wasn’t part of the national side for the T20I series in the UAE and was instead in action for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL. Mujeeb’s BBL stint, though, was cut short after the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) revoked his No-Objection Certificate (NoC) for the remainder of the BBL.The ACB had announced on December 25 that Mujeeb, along with seamers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq, would be sanctioned after telling the board they did not intend to sign central contracts for 2024. The three players were told they would be considered “non-eligible” for NOCs for the next two years, and that any current NOCs would be revoked.Farooqi and Naveen have since featured for Afghanistan in their most recent T20I series against the UAE after talks with the board in which they “demonstrated a strong desire to represent their country again”, according to the ACB.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The T20Is in India will be Mujeeb’s first since July 2023. Mujeeb is part of a strong spin attack that includes Rashid Khan, Qais Ahmad and Noor Ahmad. Rashid, Afghanistan’s designated T20I captain, has been included in the 19-member squad, but is unlikely to play as he continues to recover from a back surgery that had also put him out of the BBL and the UAE T20I series. It is understood that he will only start bowling again in 10 days. Batter Ibrahim Zadran, who had led Afghanistan to a 2-1 series win over UAE, will captain the side in India as well. Ikram Alikhil is the back-up wicketkeeper to Rahmanullah Gurbaz.Mohammad Ishaq, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli who were all part of the squad for the T20Is in the UAE have been left out for the series in India. Rahmat Shah retains his place in the squad; he is uncapped in T20I cricket and has not played a T20 since July 2022. Gulbadin Naib and Alikhil, who were among the reserves for the UAE series, have now been promoted to the main squad.Related

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• Farooqi, Naveen in Afghanistan squad after 'demonstrating strong desire to represent country'

“We are delighted to be embarking on our maiden tour to India for a three-match series,” Mirwais Ashraf, the ACB chairman, said in a statement. “India is the top-ranked side in the world and it’s very pleasing to witness AfghanAtalan competing in a three-match T20I against them. We believe that AfghanAtalan are no longer underdogs & have excelled well in the recent past and we look forward to a highly competitive series against India.”This will be Afghanistan’s first bilateral T20I series against India. The three-match series will begin in Mohali on January 11 before the teams head to Indore and Bangalore for the last two games on January 14 and January 17 respectively.This will also be the last T20I series for both India and Afghanistan before the T20 World Cup gets underway in the West Indies and the USA in June later this year.

Afghanistan squad

Ibrahim Zadran (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmaullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan.

Durham extend lead between showers as signs of low bounce warn of trials ahead

Paul Edwards30-Apr-2021Boiled cannabis or Viagra?These were the bizarre alternatives that came to mind as one watched Durham strengthen their grip on this match to a point close to invulnerability. It should be pointed out at once that one is not referring to the lunch menu offered to the media at the Riverside; understandably enough in these straitened times, that consists of nothing at all. Rather, one is alluding to two of the apparent stimuli to failure and success in this rich, wonderful and endlessly diverse part of England. For in his quite brilliant book Matthew Engel notes that a man appeared in Hartlepool magistrates court a few years ago accused of ill-treating his greyhounds by feeding them steaming ganja if he wanted them to lose and blue pills if he wanted them to win. The first had the desired effect and the second made them “run like mad”.It need hardly be stated in the strongest terms possible that the cricketers in this match were fuelled in entirely conventional fashion. Nevertheless, sport’s polarities of outcome were illustrated with extreme clarity when Alex Lees and Will Young were sharing an opening partnership of 208, thus setting a new first-wicket record for Durham against Warwickshire and thereby overtaking by six runs the mark set by Graeme Fowler and Wayne Larkins at Darlington in 1993, one of the summers in which the then-peripatetic county played on half-a-dozen grounds.The home side’s advantage was therefore over 100 before Warwickshire enjoyed their first success and it could be argued the portents were even worse for Will Rhodes’ team. The care with which the openers built their stand was quite fitting on a pitch that does not accommodate fast scoring and at least two of the wickets that fell suggested the surface’s eccentricities were becoming more marked. Given that the visitors may have to bat something like five sessions to save this game, signs of low bounce were hardly what they wished to see and one can understand why their celebrations at each success were hardly riotous.All of which makes Young and Lees’ patience in defying Warwickshire’s bowlers particularly praiseworthy. Young played the more attractive strokes and was slightly the more aggressive but the fact that he took exactly five hours to reach three figures perfectly reflects the New Zealander’s diligence in what may well be his final innings for Durham. Lees complemented his opening partner perfectly and batted through a greatly rain-shortened day for his unbeaten 126 with the care of a man who understands the self-denial required of a sheet-anchor. Gritting it out cannot have been easy against an attack which was led in determined fashion by Liam Norwell, who took two wickets, and Oliver Hannon-Dalby, who deserved better than a blank day. The one consolation for all the bowlers was that at least they were able to keep warm when called into the attack. The fielders had no such luck on a cold afternoon.The umpires, Michael Gough and Russell Warren, even wore black gloves, which made their fingers even more deathly when they had to raise them. As it was, Gough’s decision to send Young on his way for 124 was the first of three leg-before verdicts that went in the visitors’ favour during the afternoon. Scott Borthwick was lbw for 21 to a ball that kept low from Craig Miles and David Bedingham was bowled for 2 by an absolute shooter, thus giving Norwell his second success. However, since this reduced Bedingham’s average for the season to a shade over 113 and his team were hardly in dire need of his runs, one doubts he will argue the world is treating him cruelly.Next over Jack Burnham played inside Danny Briggs’ arm ball and the home side had thus lost three wickets for 13 runs in six overs. However, any further action was prevented by a prolonged heavy shower that delayed play for over two hours. The players returned for 9.3 overs late in the evening session and the calmness with which Lees and Ned Eckersley played the Warwickshire seamers boded well for Durham’s hopes of batting once in this gameBut readers may be wondering what happened to the miscreant mentioned at the start of this piece. He was banned for life from keeping greyhounds but a similar stricture was not applied to his ownership of 20 ferrets. One wonders what mood the poor animals were in as dinner-time approached? And what manner of man, unaware of their precise diet, would then follow the Northern custom of ferret-legging and risk putting one of them down his trousers?

Jaiswal is yet to make his India debut in any format but has an outstanding first-class record where he has scored 1845 runs in 15 matches

ESPNcricinfo staff28-May-2023Yashasvi Jaiswal has been included in the India squad for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final as a stand-by player, in place of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is getting married on June 3.The BCCI had added Gaikwad as a stand-by opener for the WTC final against Australia, but ESPNcricinfo understands that the batter informed the board that he would be able to join the team only after June 5. As Jaiswal holds a UK visa, he will be flying to London in the next few days.Jaiswal has been in top form in recent times. He scored 625 runs in 14 innings in IPL 2023 for Rajasthan Royals with five fifties and a century. Jaiswal is yet to make his India debut in any format but has an outstanding first-class record where he has scored 1845 runs in 15 matches, averaging 80.21 with nine hundreds and two fifties.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy, he scored 315 runs in five matches, averaging 45.00, with one fifty and a century.He followed that season up with 213 and 144 in the Irani Trophy for the Rest of India against Madhya Pradesh. His aggregate of 357 runs in the match was the most for a batter in an Irani Trophy game ever.The India team has left for the WTC final in batches. Virat Kohli was part of one of the first few batches to reach London. The final will be played from June 7 to 11 at the Oval. India were WTC finalists in 2021 as well, but lost to New Zealand.

Deccan Gladiators destroy Bangla Tigers with bat and ball

Aadam Patel01-Dec-2021According to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, Wanindu Hasaranga was the MVP of the T20 World Cup. In the Super 12s, the Sri Lankan took ten wickets and conceded at just 5.84 an over.At the Abu Dhabi T10, he is once again the most valuable player and an instrumental part of Deccan Gladiators’ rise to the top of the leaderboard, as the tournament reaches its business end. Time and again, he has bamboozled the opposition with the ball in hand.Hasaranga is the only man with a bowling average that is in single figures. He has 18 wickets thus far at 8.61 and the lowest economy rate at 8.15. Unsurprisingly, he is also the only bowler that has bowled a maiden in the competition. No one else really comes close.On a day where two batters lit up the Zayed Cricket Ground with their ferocious hitting, Hasaranga ensured that this is a format where the bowlers can also shine with a five-wicket haul that destroyed the Bangla Tigers.To pull off a five-wicket haul in any match is an achievement. To do it in two overs is quite frankly ridiculous.In his first over, he dismissed Karim Janat before bowling Johnson Charles with a googly the very next delivery. Isuru Udana survived the hat-trick ball.Hasaranga’s second over was pure magic. Benny Howell attempted a reverse sweep but he found Tymal Mills at backward point. The following ball, James Faulkner played across the line, missing the ball entirely and was bowled.Vishnu Sukumaran came out to face Hasaranga’s fifth hat-trick ball of the tournament. He didn’t last long either. Another three dot balls followed, before Sukumaran pulled one straight to the fielder.Hasaranga had a five-for and the best figures in T10 history. Perhaps, even more impressively, he had a maiden in a T10 game. A triple-wicket maiden to be precise.”I’m very impressed with Hasaranga,” said his Deccan Gladiators coach and one of the greatest spinners of all time, Mushtaq Ahmed. “I’ve been talking with him about how to do his variations. He’s got a good wrong-un, but he has to develop his leggies more. People are waiting for his wrong-un, but he’s bowling more leg breaks and flippers and also he’s developed his off spin against the left-hander.”He’s learning the trade, using the crease, taking the pace off the ball, all the little things we’ve been discussing. He is very open-minded and a really good listener,”That he didn’t get his fifth player of the match award of the competition was due to the explosive Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who played the innings of the tournament so far.Kohler-Cadmore agonisingly fell four short of what would have been the first ever century of the Abu Dhabi T10. In 2019, Chris Lynn ended unbeaten with 91* off deliveries and no one had reached the nineties since. Kohler-Cadmore’s brutal 96 off 39 will take some beating.The 27-year-old went out to bat knowing that another low score could have meant trouble for his position, going into the play-offs. Aside from an unbeaten half-century against the Delhi Bulls earlier in the tournament, his next highest score was 12. He had managed just 46 runs in his last six innings, including a golden duck last time out.After hitting a couple of boundaries off both Mohammad Amir and Luke Wood in the powerplay, Kohler-Cadmore needed a slice off luck when he was dropped on 24 off Faulkner, but he made his good fortune count. With Andre Russell at the other end, Kohler-Cadmore took centre stage with 12 fours and five sixes, before driving a full-toss in the last over to a diving Will Jacks at mid off.Kohler-Cadmore said post-match that he decided to use one grip on his bat, as opposed the two that he had previously been using, and perhaps that was all he needed.”I could have easily been left out today, but it gives you confidence knowing that they back you,” said Kohler-Cadmore. “Getting dropped changed the innings for me – I think today was just my day, with that little bit of luck going my way,, like when I hit it in the air, it’d just go over the fielder.”The Yorkshire batter now has a slice of T10 history, but it was a bittersweet moment falling just short of becoming the first ever centurion.”Obviously, it’s a shame when you get that close to not get it (the hundred), but if you’d have asked me at the start of the game ‘would you take 96’, I’d have said, ‘100%’, I’d take that and I’d have bitten your hand off for it,” said Kohler-Cadmore.Such a stunning knock made Hasaranga’s spell look even more mesmerising. After Kohler-Cadmore made 96 himself, the Tigers were bowled out for just 78.For Hasaranga, Kohler-Cadmore and the Gladiators, that next game will be a straight shoot-out on Friday for a place in the final against either Team Abu Dhabi or Delhi Bulls.In the later game, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, just a few days after turning 20, hit the fastest 50 of the tournament. Gurbaz’s blistering knock took just 14 deliveries, including five fours and six sixes as the Delhi Bulls hammered the Chennai Braves. They raced to a target of 81 in 25 deliveries and ended an abysmal campaign for the Braves.