All posts by n8rngtd.top

Cameron Steel, Tom Lawes both take three wickets to take control in Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network20-Apr-2024Dom Sibley hit an unbeaten 87 as Surrey dominated Kent on day two of their Vitality County Championship derby at Canterbury, reaching 185 for one at stumps in reply to Kent’s 244 all out.Cameron Steel and Tom Lawes both took three wickets apiece as Surrey limited Kent to 244 and although night-watcher George Garrett outshone his batting partners with a career-best 48, any hopes that might look competitive vanished as Sibley and Rory Burns put on 147 for the opening wicket.Garrett eventually got Burns for 69, but Sibley and Dan Lawrence batted through to stumps, at which point Surrey were just 59 behind.It was so cold at the Spitfire Ground that even the Nackington Road Grumblers abandoned their usual seats and took refuge in the more sheltered Cowdrey Stand. Garrett’s unexpected resistance aside, there was plenty for them to grumble about.Kent were 111 for three overnight and Kemar Roach had Jack Leaning plumb lbw to the third delivery of the morning, removing him for 30.Garrett pulled Lawes for successive fours as he overtook his previous highest first-class score of 24, but the remaining specialist batters all squandered promising starts.Joe Denly was bowled for 32 when he chased a wide one from Steel and played on and Harry Finch hit two impressive boundaries as he steered Kent to 192 for five at lunch but he was caught for nine in the slips by Sibley off Jordan Clark soon after the resumption.Garrett fell two short of his half-century when he edged Steel behind and Steel then had Matt Parkinson stumped by Ben Foakes for a duck. Kent’s last recognised batter went when Foakes then sprang to his right to catch Joey Evison off Lawes for 30.Jas Singh also made his highest first-class score, but when he was lbw to Lawes for 15 Kent were still six short of a batting point.Surrey’s response rapidly began to look ominous. Kent created few chances and when Sibley nicked Arafat Bhuiyan he was put down by Finch.Burns flicked Matt Parkinson for a single to reach 50 and compared to last season, when he took 578 minutes to make 140 at this venue, Sibley was batting like Virat Kohli, reaching his half-century from 86 balls with a single off Arafat.Burns fell to Garrett when Zak Crawley took a smart slip catch, but it was an isolated moment of hope for the home fans during a protracted evening session.

Sunrisers Hyderabad lost seven out of eight home games last season. Will they start with a win this year?

Abhimanyu Bose26-Mar-2024

Match details

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) vs Mumbai Indians (MI)
Hyderabad, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)

Big picture – Bumrah vs Klaasen

Over the last couple of years, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Heinrich Klaasen has developed into one of the most fearsome hitters in T20 cricket. He was their top-scorer in IPL 2023 – 448 at a strike rate of 177 – and has begun 2024 with a ferocious display at Eden Gardens, where his 63 off 29 balls nearly upstaged Andre Russell. While all of the other SRH batters got starts against Kolkata Knight Riders, Klaasen was the sole reason they stayed in the chase as long as they did.On Wednesday, against Mumbai Indians in Hyderabad, Klaasen could face a brand-new challenge. Well almost. His head-to-head battle with Jasprit Bumrah is only one-ball old, and he scored one run off it. In ODIs, he’s faced 20 deliveries from Bumrah and scored 18 runs for one dismissal. Amid the glut of international and franchise cricket, the prospect of a new match-up between two players on top of their game is a rarity.Given Klaasen’s importance to Sunrisers, Mumbai could well keep the majority of Bumrah’s overs for when he’s in the middle. They will certainly minimise bowling spin to Klaasen – since the start of 2023 he averages 148.5 and has a strike rate of 193 against spin in T20 cricket. But Klaasen’s no mug against pace either. He has a career strike rate of 148.45 against the quicks, and dispatched Mitchell Starc for three sixes in an over on Saturday.Bumrah, though, is usually in a league of his own. After missing IPL 2023 with a back injury, he made his comeback to the league with a spell of 3 for 14 in Mumbai’s season opener against Gujarat Titans despite two of his overs coming at the death. All of which sets up the prospect of a tantalising battle with Klaasen, as both Mumbai and Sunrisers gun for their first points of IPL 2024.The match is especially significant for the Sunrisers, who lost six out of seven home games last season, and would love a winning start in Hyderabad this year.

In the spotlight – Hardik Pandya and Aiden Markram

In his first match as Mumbai Indians captain, Hardik Pandya travelled to the home of the team he first led in the IPL, and found himself booed at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. He was also the subject of much vitriol on social media, especially for asking Rohit Sharma to field on the boundary. Some of Hardik’s other captaincy decisions also came under scrutiny, like opening the bowling himself and bringing on Bumrah only in the fourth over of the Titans innings, and batting at No. 7 below Tim David. Will Hyderabad be kinder to Hardik Pandya?Aiden Markram led the Sunrisers franchise in the SA20 – Eastern Cape – to back to back titles but his stock has dropped in Hyderabad and he was replaced as captain by Pat Cummins ahead of this season. Markram was picked for SRH’s opening game in Kolkata and made 18 off 13 balls. After a poor IPL 2023 – 248 runs at a strike rate of 126 – he needs to find form quickly this year to stay ahead of Travis Head and Glenn Phillips in the overseas pecking order.Hardik Pandya had a tough start as Mumbai Indians captain in Ahmedabad•BCCI

Team news and impact player strategy

Sunrisers HyderabadLegspinner Wanindu Hasaranga is yet to join the Sunrisers squad and is expected to be unavailable for at least another week as he consults doctors overseas about chronic pain in his left heel. The question for Sunrisers is whether to persist with Marco Jansen, who was expensive against KKR, as their overseas bowling option for a while longer.In terms of Impact Player strategy, SRH swapped out fast bowler T Natarajan after bowling at Eden Gardens and brought in opener Abhishek Sharma for the chase.Probable XII: 1 Mayank Agarwal, 2 , 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Marco Jansen/Fazalhaq Farooqi, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Mayank Markande, 12 Mumbai IndiansSuryakumar Yadav continues to be unavailable for Mumbai Indians as he recovers from ankle surgery at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. He is also unlikely to be fit for Mumbai’s first home game on April 1.Mumbai named only three overseas players in their XI when bowling first against Titans, swapping out fast bowler Luke Wood and bringing in middle-order batter Dewald Brevis for the chase.Probable XII: 1 Ishan Kishan (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Naman Dhir, 4 , 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Tim David, 8. Shams Mulani, 9 Gerald Coetzee, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12

Stats that matter

• Mumbai Indians have won four of their last five matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad
• Jasprit Bumrah has 16 wickets in 13 matches against Sunrisers
• Pat Cummins averages 40 with the bat against Mumbai Indians, striking at 181.81 against them

Quotes

“I feel the team is exactly the same. We still have goals and the team environment is really great. Rohit is still an amazing leader and I still learn from him every day, as well as Hardik. I learn from him. I feel the team environment is really in a good place and we are ready for whatever lies ahead for us as a team”

Just days before his Test debut, Australia’s new opener tuned up for the challenge of facing Bumrah and co.

Tristan Lavalette18-Nov-20241:19

Ferguson: McSweeney sets a great example for everyone

After months of intrigue and innuendo, having come up trumps in a bat off to find Usman Khawaja’s opening partner, Nathan McSweeney endured an initiation in the middle of the WACA in his first session as an Australian Test cricketer.Just days before he makes his Test debut, McSweeney started preparing for the major challenge of fronting up to India’s frontline quicks led by talisman Jasprit Bumrah on an expected fast and bouncy Optus Stadium surface.In Australia’s first training session ahead of the series-opener starting on Friday, the focus was firmly on a wide-eyed McSweeney, who has suddenly had to deal with a lot of attention having mostly flown under the radar before this season.As McSweeney walked out to the middle of the WACA amid a warm sunny morning, with quicks Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc raring to go, some of his new team-mates decided to rib him.”Welcome to Test cricket,” they chirped.McSweeney, 25, was put through a thorough examination on the centre wicket as he took turns with Khawaja and Steven Smith in facing Cummins and Starc with the new ball.It was a baptism of fire and McSweeney looked rather uncomfortable as he played and missed repeatedly. But batting was made more difficult on the western side of the square which sloped away from the right-hander.Smith lamented the conditions, while McSweeney had a torrid time particularly against Cummins who consistently angled in and seamed away down the slope. He struggled to lay bat on ball, but there were some encouraging signs.McSweeney did not nick any of the deliveries, earning a nod of approval from his team-mates watching closely, and he didn’t follow the ball. He also did not get squared up, which had been an issue against the India A new ball quicks at the MCG when he opened for the first time in his first-class career.”It was a good challenge. I got through it unscathed,” McSweeney told reporters on Monday. “Didn’t put much pressure on them but they bowled really well and great preparation to face those guys who are quality bowlers.”McSweeney had a better time against offspinner Nathan Lyon, who he played comfortably, before undergoing more batting practice at the WACA nets. He finished his maiden session by bowling to Starc and Cummins. His handy offspin likely to be needed at some point during the Test series.”I think nothing but exceptional in my eyes,” Lyon said of McSweeney’s character. “I saw him up close and personal in that Shield game a couple of weeks ago [South Australia vs New South Wales] and I thought we had to run him out to get him out in the game.”I thought his tempo was nice. His timing of his movements were in sync. I’ve got nothing but praise for Nathan the way he’s gone about it. He’s a great guy, great kid and I only wish him the best.”Nathan McSweeney poses ahead of his Test debut•Getty Images

McSweeney will also play a role in shoring up Australia’s slip cordon after the retirement of David Warner, while Cameron Green’s absence also leaves a sizeable hole at gully.On Monday, McSweeney was stationed at third slip for catching practice with Smith on his left at second, Khawaja at first and Marnus Labuschagne in the gully. He also moved to a second gully for a few catches, standing on Labuschagne’s right in an indication that he might be used as a floater and rotate between third and the extra gully depending on where he’s needed.”Early days of my Shield career was at third and a little bit at gully,” McSweeney said. “Undecided exactly where I’m going to field but comfortable in both. It’s pretty cool standing in the slip cordon next to Steve Smith.”Even though he bats at No. 3 for South Australia, McSweeney’s excellent form to start the Sheffield Shield season on the back of a fine season last year and an unbeaten 88 – batting at No.4 – in the first India A fixture in Mackay lifted him over specialist openers Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Sam Konstas.But as he starts to experience the scrutiny that comes with being a Test cricketer, his selection did receive some backlash with former Test opener Ed Cowan particularly vocal.”I think everyone is going to have their opinion. I try and not read too much into it,” McSweeney said. “I have the guys in my corner. I really trust and value their opinion and I haven’t spent heaps of time with Ed.”I think for me I know what works and I feel very capable to go and do the job and I’m batting the best I ever have, I feel. Hopefully I can go out there and execute that on Friday.”2:20

Malcolm: ‘McSweeney could be a future captain if he finds his feet’

Adding to his set of challenges, McSweeney has never played red-ball cricket at the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium. Isaac McDonald, the ground’s curator, is hoping to replicate the spicy conditions of last year’s Test between Australia and Pakistan where numerous batters copped blows to their bodies.The advice from his senior team-mates? “Try and make sure you spend some time in the nets and get used to the bounce,” McSweeney said. “That’s one thing that’s spoken about a little bit.”The other thing is own your space in terms of what I’ve done for South Australia. Execute the same thing and the same process, same routine.”Ultimately it’s the game of cricket and I know my game.”While he learns to cope with the whirlwind of being a Test cricketer, McSweeney will lean on the support from loved ones descending to Perth in large numbers.”A lot of friends will be there, and mum, dad, my sister, grandad, my partner and a lot of guys I played club cricket with back in Brisbane,” McSweeney said.”Got a great supporter base and great family that’s looked after me and sacrificed a lot. Just looking forward to taking it all in and being able to share the moment with them.”

Cox helped Renegades post 147, but it was comfortably chased in the 19th over

AAP04-Jan-2024Hobart Hurricanes 148 for 4 (Hain 51, Anderson 41*, O’Neill 2-25) beat Melbourne Renegades 147 for 4 (Cox 47, Wells 38, David 1-0) by six wicketsThe Hobart Hurricanes have snapped a 10-match BBL losing streak away from Tasmania with a six-wicket triumph over the Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium.The Hurricanes restricted the under-fire Renegades to 147 for 4 and then cruised to their target with eight balls to spare as Corey Anderson (41 not out) steered them home.Sam Hain (51) was just as critical to the breakthrough victory on the road and played a leading role in an 84-run stand with Anderson as the Hurricanes finished with 148 with eight balls remaining.The Hurricanes had not won on the mainland in almost two years since edging past the Renegades at the same venue in January 2022. They are now two points away from the third spot with a game in hand.However, the Hurricanes will be sweating on the fitness of Hain after the England batter sustained a hamstring issue after being recalled into the XI in place of the injured Matthew Wade.”I’ll be honest, I’ve not gone the way I wanted so far,” Hain told Channel 7 about his BBL season while receiving the player-of-the-match award. “We’ll say it (the hamstring concern) is a cramp, but I’ll have to assess it with a physio to see how it pulls up.”Fergus O’Neill (2 for 25) made an immediate impact in his BBL debut with the wickets of Caleb Jewell (13) and Ben McDermott (25) to boost the Renegades’ hopes in the second innings.McDermott had confused both teams earlier in his innings after lodging a ball in the Marvel Stadium roof with a massive strike. He catapulted a loose delivery from Tom Rogers so high over midwicket that the ball became stuck among the rafters of the closed roof, rather than falling back.

Medium pacer Jaydev Unadkat says the belief that Rising Pune Supergiant team leadership has shown in him by regularly using him at the death has given him the confidence to succeed

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2017When Jaydev Unadkat was picked up by Rising Pune Supergiant for INR 30 lakh at this year’s IPL auction, all he would have likely wanted was more game-time. Unadkat, 25, has turned out for three franchises – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders – and over the last two years he has played only two matches, one each for Daredevils and Knight Riders respectively.Life at Rising Pune, though, has turned out to be pleasantly different for Unadkat. Having been preferred to the misfiring Ashok Dinda in the early stages of the tournament, Unadkat has not only nailed down a first XI slot but has also played a key role in Rising Pune winning seven of their last eight games. With 17 wickets at an economy-rate of 7.71, Unadkat is Rising Pune’s second-highest wicket-taker behind Imran Tahir (18) having played four fewer games.On Saturday, his spell of 5 for 30 against Sunrisers Hyderabad was special on more than one count as he defended 13 runs off the last over. As if bowling a maiden wasn’t jaw-dropping enough, he raised the awesomeness quotient with a hat-trick as Sunrisers fell short chasing 149. Unadkat dismissed Bipul Sharma off the second delivery and then induced a skier from Rashid Khan to complete a caught-and-bowled chance before snaring Bhuvneshwar Kumar. All three deliveries came off slower balls.Two weeks ago, Unadkat was entrusted with the responsibility of bowling the last over against Mumbai Indians. Mumbai needed 17 runs to win, but Unadkat picked up two wickets, including that of Rohit Sharma as Rising Pune scraped through by three runs. The experience of bowling well at the clutch, Unadkat said, prepared him for the Sunrisers challenge.”To have been already through it, having been there, done that, you have the confidence in yourself, your skills,” Unadkat told iplt20.com. “To bowl those cutters is something that has been working for me. I have been hit for some runs in the last game and some other games as well. But, as we talked in the meeting as well, just sticking to those plans and just doing what I am good at, bowling to my strengths has been working well. Really happy we defended that low-scoring total and have gone up in the points table.”If not for Unadkat’s decisive final act, Ben Stokes would have been a unanimous choice for what would have been his fourth Man-of-the-Match award of the tournament. Stokes first smashed a 25-ball 39 to boost Rising Pune’s total and then removed Sunrisers’ top-three batsmen – David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson – to scuttle their chase.After the match, though, Stokes was happy to take turns with Unadkat to play interviewer-interviewee in a light-hearted chat. When Stokes asked if Unadkat reckoned he could secure a hat-trick in the last over, the latter laughed and shook his head in disbelief, not least because he had gone for 21 runs in the 19th over against Knight Riders in Rising Pune’s previous game.”It’s crazy. To go for some 20-21 runs in the last match, and to then come out here and defend 13 runs is something special. Keeping it simple is what has been working well for all of us,” Unadkat said. “All of us have been helping each other; to take those wickets in the Powerplay, middle overs. At times I have taken those wickets, at times you [Stokes] have. Immy bhai [Imran Tahir] has been brilliant for us as well. I think taking those wickets throughout the innings is what has been helping me in the death overs as well.”