Ireland batsman Andy Balbirnie and allrounder Stuart Thompson have been ruled out of the Desert T20 Challenge in the UAE after sustaining injuries while training

Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi15-Jan-2017Ireland batsman Andy Balbirnie and allrounder Stuart Thompson have been ruled out of the Desert T20 Challenge in the UAE after sustaining injuries at Ireland’s final training session on the eve of the tournament.Balbirnie suffered a strained glute muscle and will be out of action for one to two weeks, according to Ireland team manager Chris Siddell, while Thompson strained ligaments in his right ankle when he landed awkwardly on the thick boundary rope at Sheikh Zayed Stadium during a catching and six-saving drill. Thompson was seen on crutches wearing a cast after Ireland’s five-wicket loss to Afghanistan on Saturday and is expected to be out of action for at least a month.”It was just devastating for them for the hard work that they’ve put in to recover from their various illnesses and injuries,” Ireland coach John Bracewell after the Afghanistan loss. Balbirnie had been out for most of 2016 after hip surgery – which contributed to the loss of his Middlesex contract – while Thompson was attempting to make his Ireland return in this tournament after taking indefinite leave in June to get treatment for performance anxiety.Stuart Poynter and Lorcan Tucker are the two replacement players who were drafted into the Ireland squad for this tournament in place of Balbirnie and Thompson. Despite arriving at 2 am, about 17 hours before the first ball was bowled, Poynter was slotted in to open the Ireland batting and made 18 off 20 balls.Ireland captain William Porterfield revealed after the match that Thompson had been set to open the batting with Paul Stirling and the team felt inserting Poynter in that vacated slot was the best option to avoid further disrupting their batting plans. Tucker arrived in the country while the match was in progress, leaving Ireland 13 fit players to choose from against Afghanistan but should be available for their next match against Namibia on Tuesday.

The T20I series to begin Pakistan’s tour of West Indies has been extended from two to four matches, beginning in Barbados on March 26

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2017Pakistan’s tour of West Indies has been extended by two T20Is with a total of four now scheduled between Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago to kick off the start of Pakistan’s seven-week tour of the Caribbean. The additional fixtures have also caused a shift in dates for the first of the originally scheduled pair of T20Is.The tour itinerary originally comprised two T20Is, three ODIs and three Tests starting with a T20I in Trinidad & Tobago on March 31. The tour will now begin in Barbados on March 26 with the first of the now four T20Is. The other additional T20I will then take place on March 30 in Trinidad while the third T20I is pushed back to April 1.The WICB had looked into possibly staging both of the additional T20Is in Lauderhill, Florida on March 25 and 26 and according to an ESPNcricinfo source, a deposit was placed with stadium officials at the Central Broward Regional Park to reserve the facility for those two dates. However, the source indicated that there were concerns over the ability of Pakistan’s squad to get US visas processed on short notice and the decision was made to schedule the additional T20Is inside the Caribbean.This is only the second time a four-match T20I series has been scheduled between Full Members. The first took place between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at Khulna in January 2016.

On a high-scoring, field-first ground, fighting considerable amount of dew, Kolkata Knight Riders nearly won with an under-par 178 but failed to defend 59 in the last 23 balls

The Report by Sidharth Monga09-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
4:40

Agarkar: Lower-middle-order form will gladden Mumbai

On a high-scoring, field-first ground, and fighting considerable dew, Kolkata Knight Riders nearly won with an under-par 178 but failed to defend 59 in the last 23 balls. In the cauldron, with the home crowd burning their ears and a wet ground underfoot, the visiting Knight Riders just froze in the field after taking out almost all the big guns from Mumbai Indians.

Rohit receives reprimand

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has been reprimanded by match referee Sunil Chaturvedi for showing excessive and obvious disappointment with the umpire’s decision when he was adjudged lbw by CK Nandan. Rohit admitted to the Level 1 offence, 2.1.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct.
The incident occurred in the 10th over of Mumbai’s chase when Rohit went onto the back foot to play a flat offbreak delivery from Sunil Narine and got a thick inside edge onto his pad. Narine and his team-mates appealed vociferously for lbw and Nandan gave it out within seconds. Rohit was visibly upset with the decision and stood his ground for a few seconds before walking off slowly. TV cameras also appeared to film Rohit saying a few words towards Nandan as he walked past the umpire.
Replays later showed Rohit had also let out a big scream as soon as he was given out, and subsequently held his bat up in a gesture to indicate he had edged it.

Almost. Because at 119 for 5, Mumbai sent out Hardik Pandya, whose cameo met Nitish Rana’s hitherto solid innings to stage a heist. Rana went from 29 off 23 to 50 off 28, and Hardik hit the winning runs in his 11-ball 29. The night belonged to the brothers after Krunal Pandya dragged Knight Riders back with his left-arm spin of 4-0-24-3. Two of these wickets read c Pandya b Pandya.Looking London, going Tokyo with K PandyaChris Lynn came into this match on the back of an explosive 93, but he goes at only 6.16 against left-arm spin. It was expected, then, that Krunal would bowl early in the innings. Knight Riders had already run away to 44 in four by the time he came on, and Lynn was not on strike first ball. Doesn’t matter, because Krunal took two bonus wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa in that over.Sometimes a wide is better than going for a boundaryThe other thing about Lynn was his wagon wheel in his 93. He scored 52 off those runs in 17 hits to leg, and not one behind square. So Mumbai bowled to him with a long-on and a cow corner, short and into the body, denying him the swing of the arms. The quicks even bowled two wides to him down the leg side. In the end, against Jasprit Bumrah, Lynn went to hit square, to miss that man at cow corner, and moved too far across to be lbw with Knight Riders at 67 for 3 in the eighth over, with a middle-overs slowdown to follow.Pandey to the rescueManish Pandey, who before this match had scored 53 off 53 Harbhajan Singh deliveries, was part of that slowdown when Harbhajan and Krunal turned the screws. Pandey, though, can shift gears dramatically. His overall strike rate in IPL is 111 over the first 30 balls of an innings, and 173 off the next 30. Here he went from 35 off 30 to 81 off 47, taking Mitchell McClenaghan apart in a 23-run final over.Confusion at the topPerhaps Mumbai don’t trust Parthiv Patel to bat anywhere other than against the new ball. Perhaps they want a big batsman in the middle. Perhaps they are not giving it enough thought, but their top four remains a muddle. Knight Riders bowled superbly against Jos Buttler, Parthiv, Rana (promoted ahead of Rohit Sharma) and Rohit to reduce them to 74 for 3 in 10. There was swing for Trent Boult, pace from Ankit Rajpoot, and guile from the two spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine.Pollard gone, game over?This was now becoming Kieron Pollard v Knight Riders. Pollard even blocked out a whole over from Kuldeep to turn 73 off 41 into 71 off 36. Soon it went past two runs a ball and nudged 2.5 a delivery as Pollard struggled against fellow Trinidadian Narine. Pollard was now ripe for the taking, and Chris Woakes did so with a wide bouncer. This was the 17th over, the wheels were about to come off.Own goal after own goalThe ground was pretty wet by now. The pitch was still flat. The boundaries were still small. Mumbai still needed just one man to get on a roll. It all began with a fielding error. Rana set off for a desperate single, the throw from mid-off came in, and Woakes didn’t have the ball in his hands when he removed the bails. Rana should have been out for 28 off 22. And then both of them got on a roll.With Gambhir off the field, Suryakumar Yadav bucked the trend of bowling the best bowler in the 19th, and kept 18th and 20th for Boult. Nineteen came off the 18th over with Boult missing the yorker twice. It is arguable if they should have been bowling yorkers with the wet ball, but at Wankhede, length is not the answer either. Youngster Rajpoot kept going for the yorker in the 19th, conceding two sixes but also taking out Rana with one.With 11 required off the last over, Boult went full for the first two balls. Two leg-byes and a single should have been the result but the ball slipped under stand-in captain Suryakumar’s hands at long-on. Now with Hardik on strike instead of Harbhajan, Boult went for the bouncers. A dot ball and a wicket should have been the result, but substitute Rishi Dhawan slipped under a sitter. What should have been a single became a boundary, what should have been an easy catch became two runs, and Knight Riders weren’t left with anyone else to blame.

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.”

The former New Zealand captain, who has worked alongside Dhoni in the IPL, believes he can extend his career until the 2019 World Cup

Gaurav Kalra31-May-20176:14

Fleming: Dhoni not arrogant enough to assume he will play 2019 World Cup

Stephen Fleming, the former New Zealand captain, believes MS Dhoni can extend his international career until the 2019 World Cup. Fleming, who has worked alongside Dhoni during IPL coaching stints with Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiant, believes the former India captain will relish the competition he faces from players like Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik and Wriddhiman Saha for the spot of India’s first-choice limited-overs wicketkeeper-batsman in the immediate future. Although Dhoni will be 38 by the 2019 World Cup, Fleming is convinced he will continue to make significant contributions to the Indian team.”There are a lot of players who can do that, but there is only one MS Dhoni at the moment,” Fleming said, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “I think his track record deserves the first crack at it. He has balance in his life now so he can get fit and come back fresh. I think he will do it. He is aware that he needs to keep performing and that’s when great players are at their best. If you get too comfortable you are not at your best.”He is not arrogant enough to assume that he will make it through to the 2019 World Cup. He’s made it clear that he wants to play that World Cup but he knows he also to do well to do that. He’s now trying to prove his worth as he did when he was a youngster. That again is a tribute to his approach to the game and his humility towards the game. He’s desperate to keep performing. If he feels he stops performing and starts to lag and becomes a hindrance, then he will give up the game.”Dhoni’s future in the Indian ODI team has been the subject of much speculation in recent years. His numbers since the 2015 World Cup, too, haven’t been as impressive as earlier. In 21 innings since that tournament, Dhoni has made 776 runs at an average of 38.80 and a strike rate of 86.99. Overall, in ODIs, he has scored 9275 runs in 286 matches at an average of nearly 51.Fleming concedes that while the “giddy heights” of four to five years ago will probably be impossible to replicate, Dhoni can still be relied upon to deliver in crunch situations. Fleming is also of the view that Dhoni is best placed to continue as a finisher rather than move up the order, a move that the former India captain himself desires.”If his keeping was deteriorating that might be a sign but it is actually getting better”•AFP

“It [moving up the order] depends on the balance of the side,” Fleming reasoned. “If you have straight-out batsmen, then I wouldn’t. He can do it but what you have to look at is that his strength is finishing the game. People say why don’t you get him in earlier but the whole game changes from the 40th over, or the 16th over if it is a T20 game, when it becomes [the] death [overs]. And that’s where he’s been the best, I think.”So you have to be careful you don’t take that strength; when you apply it earlier, you lose that, maybe he gets out early. Not many can do what he can in the last stanza but many can do that job in the middle. So you don’t want to take away that strength just to give him more time and get him up the order to play a more substantial innings, when his strength is in the last few.”We have such high expectations of what he can do and often that is unfair. There is going to be some slippage, every great player has slipped a little bit as they’ve got older. At key times he is still contributing. Even this IPL it wasn’t there as much as other years but at key times he was there. In the game against Mumbai [Indians], a virtual semi-final, he got 40 off a few balls and played a great hand.”The other thing is to play without fear. Often when you get older, the consequence starts to creep in. So what we’ve talked about is playing that fearless brand of cricket that he’s become known for, and making sure that he doesn’t get too cautious and too worried about getting out and the consequences of that. He’s at his best when he has no fear.”While Dhoni’s batting form appears to have declined in recent years, his glovework has remained of the highest quality. India’s chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad, recently described Dhoni as the best wicketkeeper in the world and from his vantage point in the Rising Pune set-up, Fleming believes Dhoni’s keeping is “almost getting better”.”I can’t say it is through a lot of training,” Fleming said with a laugh. “In fact during my time in the IPL, I have not seen him do any wicket-keeping training, it is all natural and it’s unorthodox but it’s fast and effective. Some of the dismissals and stumpings during the recent IPL were absolutely dynamite. So there’s nothing wrong there and that’s a great sign of reflexes and where he is, because people are questioning his age and his batting and the role he can play. If his keeping was deteriorating that might be a sign but it is actually getting better, which is a real positive for India.””He is a wicketkeeper, he is used to positioning players, but it’s still a challenge to sit back.”•BCCI

Fleming believes one of Dhoni’s greatest challenges in the months ahead will be to adjust to a role as just another player in the team. Dhoni stepped down as ODI and T20I captain at the start of the year, after nearly a decade at the helm.”It is very difficult, I can speak from my own experience,” Fleming said. “Once you get away from that decision-making, people can say it’s very easy, you can focus on your own game and do your own thing, but it is very hard to switch the other things off. You are so used to being the decision-maker, moving players and being part of the tactics, it becomes a key part of how you play the game. It does take some adjustment.”He is a wicketkeeper, he is used to positioning players, but it’s still a challenge to sit back. You want to be part of decision-making, it is a key part of why you play the game. It is one of his challenges going forward. He has coped with it pretty well so far. He needs to be used to add that value and experience he has had over the years and more so for him, to feel like he is contributing rather than the other way round.”

Opening batsman Jeet Raval, allrounder Colin de Grandhomme and batsman Neil Broom have all been added to New Zealand’s list of contracted players for 2017-18

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2017Opening batsman Jeet Raval, allrounder Colin de Grandhomme and batsman Neil Broom have all been added to New Zealand’s list of contracted players for 2017-18.Fast bowler Doug Bracewell was a notable omission, while offspinner Mark Craig also missed out and wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi was a third absentee from last year’s list, having announced his international retirement this week.Ronchi’s departure means there is only one specialist wicketkeeper – BJ Watling – in the 21-man list, with younger candidates such as Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips and Tim Seifert set to press their claims from outside the contract group.The omission of Craig, who played just a single Test in Kanpur during the past 12 months, was no surprise, while Bracewell was left out after a year in which he played two Tests and one ODI, suffered serious injury problems, and was sentenced to 100 hours of community work for a drink-driving offence.”Doug is still viewed very positively by the selectors and has a big year in front of him in terms of bouncing back from his injury and proving his worth,” New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen said. “It’s been a difficult time for him since the knee injury but we’re all hopeful he’ll make a full and sustainable recovery.”There was also no place on the list for veteran offspinner Jeetan Patel, who played five Tests and four ODIs during the past 12 months. Patel had announced his retirement from international cricket hours after Ronchi had done so.”It was agreed the time was right for Jeetan to focus on Warwickshire, so as to allow plenty of opportunity for others to stake their claims ahead of the 2019 ICC World Cup,” Larsen said. “We enjoyed having Jeetan’s experience and skill over recent times but we’re into a new cycle now; it’s two years out from the ICC CWC, and we’re committed to bringing other players through.”Larsen said de Grandhomme, Raval and Broom were all deserving of their contract offers following productive periods in the New Zealand side.”Colin made a breakthrough last summer and is rated well in all three formats; Jeet’s Test numbers speak for themselves, and Neil, as well as averaging 43 in ODI cricket (with a strike-rate of 90) since his recall, is also seen as viable cover for the Test team’s middle-order,” Larsen said.Contracted players for 2017-18: Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Neil Broom, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, James Neesham, Jeet Raval, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson, George Worker.

Michael Klinger’s masterly unbeaten century was to no avail as Hampshire stole a rain-affected win to leapfrog Gloucestershire in South Group

ECB Reporters Network28-Jul-2017Michael Klinger’s unbeaten hundred was in vain•Getty Images

Michael Klinger’s seventh T20 century was not enough to save Gloucestershire from a 24-run NatWest Blast defeat by Hampshire under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern at soggy Bristol.The experienced Australian carried his side’s innings of 174 for 5 in a match reduced to 19 overs per side with a masterly demonstration of clean hitting that saw him finish unbeaten on 101.The next highest score for Gloucestershire was Thisara Perera’s 26 not out. Spinners Mason Crane and Liam Dawson fared best of the Hampshire attack.In reply, the visitors raced to 121 for 3 off 11.4 overs, with openers James Vince (42) and Rilee Rossouw (46 not out) putting together a stand of 85 in eight overs, having needed to be on 97 under DLS when heavy rain put an end to proceedings.The result saw Hampshire leapfrog their opponents in the tightly congested South Group.Klinger needed one moment of good fortune after losing the toss. Having made only a single, he skied a miscued shot to deep cover where the ball fell inches short of the onrushing Michael Carberry.Hampshire’s bowlers did well in the six-over Powerplay, which ended with the hosts 38 for 1. Phil Mustard fell to Reece Topley for three, while Dawson had the distinction of bowling a maiden to Klinger.When Ian Cockbain and Kieran Noema-Barnett departed cheaply in quick succession, the visitors looked to be taking control. But Benny Howell helped Klinger add 54 for the fourth wicket before Crane removed him and Jack Taylor in the 15th over.Klinger, who had gone to his half-century off 37 balls, was by then in full flow. The 18th over, bowled by Chris Wood, saw him clear the ropes twice, including a massive six over midwicket off a no-ball full-toss. Perera added another maximum and the over ended up costing 31.When Klinger reached his ton in the final over with another superb six over extra cover off Gareth Berg, his second fifty had occupied just 21 deliveries. Gloucestershire scored 53 off the last three overs and the complexion of the match changed.Hampshire’s reply looked to have stuttered when Vince was caught by Jack Taylor at deep-square off a short Matt Taylor delivery in the third over. But umpire Billy Taylor was signalling a no-ball for height.That was all the encouragement Vince and Rilee Rossouw needed to get ahead of the required rate on Duckworth-Lewis, with more rain threatening. By the end of the Powerplay the total read 59 without loss, Vince leading the way on 39.Rossouw hit successive sixes over mid-wicket off the usually economical Benny Howell and by the time Vince got an inside edge off Perera to be caught behind, having faced 30 balls, the rain was getting heavy.Carberry, batting with a runner and a pronounced limp, lofted Noema-Barnett over long-on for another maximum and repeated the dose off Tom Smith as Hampshire stayed comfortably ahead of the required rate.Matt Taylor gave Gloucestershire hope by pinning Carberry lbw for 20 and then having George Bailey caught behind down the legs-side in the 11th overBut by the next over the driving rain finally sent the players from the field. Hampshire were well in control, Rossouw, having faced 27 balls and hit 4 fours and 2 sixes.With the public address system playing Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday, drenched spectators headed for the exits.

Rene Farrell claimed only the second five-wicket haul in one-and-a-half seasons of Kia Super League cricket as Surrey Stars beat Lancashire to maintain their winning start

ECB Reporters Network16-Aug-2017Rene Farrell gets a hug from Tammy Beaumont after sealing victory•Getty Images

Australian seamer Rene Farrell claimed only the second five-wicket haul in one-and-a-half seasons of Kia Super League cricket as Surrey Stars beat Lancashire to maintain their winning start to the competition.The Thunder lost four wickets in 13 balls at a crucial stage of their pursuit of 134 as Surrey hit back strongly to win by 33 runs, with Farrell finishing with 5 for 26 from four overs.On an Emirates Old Trafford surface which gripped, the hosts were on course to hit back from Friday’s opening day defeat to Yorkshire at 86 for 3 with debutant Sarah Taylor leading the way. England star Taylor had made 34 but she was the first of the dismissals as the score fell to 91 for 7 in the 16th.Farrell struck twice in two balls in the 14th, getting Taylor caught at short fine-leg as she tried to ramp and Ellie Threlkeld smartly stumped by Tammy Beaumont off a leg-side wide. From then, the innings subsided to 100 all out in 18 overs.Pace off the ball was most effective in both innings. Five of Surrey’s six wickets fell to spin in their 133 for 6, including two apiece for home captain Danielle Hazell and Aussie Jess Jonassen.Surrey slipped from 52 for 1 in the seventh over to 79 for 5 in the 15th before sixth-wicket pair Nat Sciver and Sophia Dunkley-Brown reinvigorated the innings. They shared a crucial 54 in the last 5.5 overs, with Sciver finishing 40 not out off 36 balls and Dunkley-Brown added a breezy 24. Earlier, Beaumont gave the Stars a fine start with 36 off 25.Lancashire lost Emma Lamb early in their chase before Taylor, batting at No. 3, shared partnerships of 33 and 28 for the second and third wickets with Eve Jones and Amy Satterthwaite. Taylor reverse-swept her first boundary and later hit left-arm spinner Alex Hartley for six over long-on.Farrell’s first wicket was that of Satterthwaite, bowled off her pad in the 12th over as the score fell to 75 for 3. She later bowled Kate Cross and had Lea Tahuhu caught and bowled one-handed diving to her right to complete a loss of the last seven wickets in 27 balls.Surrey, who beat Yorkshire on Sunday, face Southern Vipers at Southampton on Sunday, while Lancashire host Loughborough at Blackpool in a must win game.

The fast bowler will return home after the fifth ODI in Nagpur, as Australia eye his workload and preparations for the Sheffield Shield and the subsequent home Ashes

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-20172:18

Tait: Tye, Faulkner good options to replace Cummins

With a few of their key fast bowlers nursing injuries in the run-up to the home summer, Australia have decided to rest Pat Cummins from the T20I series against India with an eye on his workload management in the build-up to the Ashes. The fast bowler is not carrying an injury but will return home after the fifth ODI in Nagpur on October 1 to “refresh, both mentally and physically” before the start of the Sheffield Shield season.”Pat has played a considerable amount of cricket this year after a long period away from the game due to injury,” national selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.”His body has handled the return to international cricket well, but we believe the best plan for him ahead of the Ashes Series is to return home to refresh, both mentally and physically, before he prepares for Sheffield Shield cricket.”Cummins’ main focus will be on preparations for the Sheffield Shield, which gets underway on October 26, but he could play for New South Wales in the later stages of the JLT One Day Cup, if they make it to the finals on October 19 and 21. A replacement for Cummins in Australia’s T20I squad will be named at a later date.Cummins’ fitness struggles since his Test debut in November 2011 had forced Australia’s selectors to take a long-term view regarding his workload in Tests and first-class matches, although he was picked in limited-overs squads subsequently. He made a comeback in December last year – after missing the 2015-16 season due to a stress fracture to the back – and has since played 22 of Australia’s 27 international matches across formats, and also featured in the IPL.In March, he was called up as Mitchell Starc’s replacement for the final two Tests against India – after Starc suffered a stress fracture to his foot – and made a Test comeback after a gap of more than five years in Ranchi. He also led the pace-bowling duties in the Tests in Bangladesh, following Josh Hazlewood’s injury in Dhaka, and ended up bowling 63 overs in the two-match series, the second-most for Australia after offspinner Nathan Lyon.David Saker, Australia’s bowling coach, had last week stated that Cummins’ workload would be assessed on a game-by-game basis.”At this stage we’re planning for him to play all the games,” Saker had said. “We’ll look at [resting him], it’s obviously been brought up between all of us. We know that his workloads are up there, but we know it’s an important series. It’s Australia v India, you don’t get any bigger than that. He’s really determined to play well over here. It’ll be game-by-game basis, we’ll play it by ear.”Hazlewood is still recuperating from a side strain he suffered in Dhaka, while Starc is in the final stages of recovery from the foot injury. There is a likelihood, however, that Starc, and injured quick James Pattinson, could play in the later stages of the JLT One Day Cup, although the hope is they will be fit to take part in the Sheffield Shield matches before the first Ashes Test, which starts from November 23 in Brisbane.

A round-up of the second day of Ranji Trophy games from Group C

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2017R Ashwin, and Tamil Nadu pace-bowlers, Lakshminarayanan Vignesh and Krishnamoorthy Vignesh, took two wickets each to keep Andhra in check on the second day in Chennai. The three bowlers combined to leave Andhra at 64 for 5 in the 26th over before Bodapati Sumanth and Ashwin Hebbar punched their way to a century stand for the sixth wicket, to ensure Andhra took a 55-run lead by close of play.L Vignesh struck in consecutive overs early in the day to remove Prasanth Kumar and Hanuma Vihari. Ashwin then accounted for senior batsmen Y Venugopal Rao and Srikar Bharat in successive overs to boost Tamil Nadu’s hopes of a lead after they were bowled out for 176 on the opening day.Hebbar and Sumanth, however, rallied. The pair added 116 runs for the sixth wicket before Sumanth retired hurt on 44. Hebbar contributed 64, more than half of those runs coming through boundaries – he hit eight fours and a six – and he fell after Andhra had secured the lead. Sumanth, playing his first match since October 2015, returned to bat after Andhra were seven down and stretched the lead past 50. He was unbeaten on 72 off 193 balls with four fours.Shubham Sharma’s career-best 196 and his 197-run sixth-wicket partnership with Ankit Sharma (104 off 200 balls) powered Madhya Pradesh to 551 for 8 declared against Baroda in Indore.Resuming from his overnight score of 88, Shubham raced to his 150 soon after lunch, taking Madhya Pradesh to 400, while Ankit worked his way to a maiden first-class century. Shubham’s 196, his second first-class century, included 23 fours and he was denied the double-hundred by left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh. Swapnil also dismissed Ankit but by that time, MP had already moved past 500.
Puneet Datey (33 off 55 balls) and Ishwar Pandey (24 off 12 balls) chipped in to further stretch the score.Datey and Pandey then dismissed Aditya Waghmode and Dhiren Mistry respectively to leave Baroda at a wobbling 36 for 2 at stumps.The second day of the match between Odisha and Tripura was washed out in Cuttack