Yasir Ali’s unbeaten 47 helped Bangladesh A overcome Andy McBrine’s four-four and register a five-wicket win over Ireland A on the final day of their four-day fixture in Sylhet

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2017
ScorecardRaton Gomes/BCB

Yasir Ali’s unbeaten 47 guided Bangladesh A to a five-wicket win over Ireland A on the final day of their four-day fixture in Sylhet. Set 132 to win in the fourth innings, Bangladesh A reached the target shortly after lunch.It wasn’t before offspinner Andrew McBrine put them in some trouble in the morning, however, when he removed both the overnight batsmen Shadman Islam and Al-Amin. McBrine’s strikes reduced Bangladesh A to 60 for 4, McBrine having picked up all the wickets. Yasir and Nurul Hasan then shut the doors on Ireland by putting on a brisk 71-run stand for the fifth wicket.They couldn’t finish the job, however, as Nathan Smith dismissed Hasan when the scores were level. Yasir then completed the chase three balls later to end up unbeaten on 47. Hasan made 31 off 41 balls with the help of three fours and a six.The match had begun with Ireland A putting up 255 in their first innings, after electing to bat, powered by Simi Singh’s maiden first-class hundred. Islam led the home team’s reply with a century of his own as Bangladesh A made 337 to pick up a first-innings lead of 82 runs. Left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam then returned a five-wicket haul to send Ireland packing for 213 in the second innings and set up their successful chase.

A round-up of the games played in third week of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge, in which Cape Cobras got on to the points table, while Dolphins were hampered by the weather again

Firdose Moonda27-Nov-2017Results Summary Cape Cobras got their first points when they beat Lions in a nail-biter in Paarl, though they may not have fancied their chances when they posted only 145 for 7. JP Duminy scored his second half-century in three matches to anchor the innings and the only other score of substance came from Hashim Amla, who made 42 off 35 balls. Kagiso Rabada was Lions’ best bowler, with 2 for 20 in his four overs. Despite a 51 from Lions’ opener Rassie van der Dussen, they were always behind the required run rate and needed 50 runs from the final five overs. Rory Kleinveldt took two wickets in three balls in the penultimate over and Lions could not muster the runs to crawl over the line.Lions’ weekend on the West Coast got worse when they also lost to Warriors at Newlands on Sunday, giving the Eastern-Cape side their first win of the campaign with a record chase. Lions posted 182 for 3, with Reeza Hendricks continuing to lead the line-up. After his century last week, Hendricks smashed 81 off 63 balls, and Lions may have considered themselves safe. However, Colin Ingram’s 89 off 48 balls, after being dropped on 13 by Rabada, meant that Warriors recovered from 13 for 2 to dominate Lions’ bowling. Beuran Hendricks and Wiaan Mulder conceded 89 runs between them in seven overs and Warriors won with six balls to spare to complete the highest successful chase in South Africa’s franchise twenty-over competition history.Later on Sunday, local team Cobras ended off a solid Sunday with a three-wicket win over Knights, thanks to strong performances from their veterans. Kleinveldt took 3 for 19 to stall Knights and remove their two internationals. Kleinveldt had Theunis de Bruyn caught behind, close to the halfway stage of Knights’ innings, after he scored 40 off 22 balls. They were 71 for 3 before David Miller plundered 50 off 37 balls but was dismissed in the penultimate over. Cobras’ chase started shakily. They were 54 for 3, with Richard Levi, Temba Bavuma and Amla all out.
Duminy’s 67 off 44 balls, however, ensured that even a mid-innings wobble meant Cobras won with an over to spare.After a wash-out against Knights in Durban, rain prevented Dolphins from playing against Warriors at home on Wednesday. Their fortunes did not change when they moved upcountry. On Friday night, in Benoni, their match against the Titans was abandoned without even the toss, leaving them with only two completed games in the first half of the competition.International IncidentsAfter struggling for form through the year, being dropped and then retiring from Tests, Duminy appears to have found his rhythm. He struck a third half-century in the competition and is second on the top run-getters’ list, which can only bode well for South Africa’s limited-overs engagements later in the summer.Rabada picked up 3 for 25 against Warriors to leapfrog Lungi Ngidi on the wicket-charts. Rabada’s economy of 6.70 runs is only a fraction above Eddie Leie’s 6.68 among the top-ten wicket-takers in the competition so far and, impressively, the work Rabada is doing on his cutters seems to be paying off.Meanwhile, Bavuma appears to have hit a lean patch. He has three single-figure scores and nothing over 30 in his five matches so far.Domestic DreamersThough Lions did not have much to celebrate, Hendricks added another impressive score and has broken clear at the top of the batting charts, with more than 100 runs between him and his nearest competitor, Duminy. Hendricks has scored 319 runs from five matches and averages 106.33 with a strike-rate of 137.50 and is making a strong case to be considered as Ottis Gibson trials World Cup hopefuls.Beyond the BoundaryAn update from the Titans’ camp around the availability of their internationals grabbed headlines. Dale Steyn was rested and returned to Cape Town to continue with his rehabilitation, with a focus on bowling Test match spells, while there is good news from both Chris Morris and Morne Morkel. Morris’ return from a back injury is imminent while Morkel is said to be bowling at 80% after suffering a side strain against Bangladesh.

Usman Khawaja’s maiden Ashes ton was backed up by the Marsh brothers – with Shaun going to the close on 98 not out – as Australia built a commanding 133-run lead

The Report by Brydon Coverdale06-Jan-20180:53

Khawaja and Shaun Marsh keep Australia in control

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIf the new year is about fresh starts, then Usman Khawaja has nailed the brief. Having failed to score a Test century in 2017, Khawaja used his first innings of 2018 not only to raise his sixth Test hundred, but to bat, and bat, and bat some more, spending 381 balls at the crease in the longest innings of his decade-long first-class career. Khawaja’s 171 was the centrepiece of a day of Australian dominance at the SCG, where Shaun Marsh was also approaching triple-figures by stumps, and Australia, hoping not to have to bat again in the match, had built a 133-run lead.For England, it was a long, hot, demoralising six hours in the field. They managed only two wickets all day, and the best that could be said of their results was that they prevented Steven Smith from making yet another century. And frustrating? Was it ever frustrating for England. Mason Crane missed a maiden Test wicket due to a no-ball, and both Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell, were given out only to be reprieved on review. Both were still there at stumps, Shaun on 98 and Mitchell on 63, with Australia’s total on 4 for 479.

Stats highlights

• 171 Usman Khawaja’s second highest score and sixth century in Tests. During his 171, Khawaja also crossed 2000 Test runs. This was his first century against England in 15 innings. Khawaja now has one century in each of the five major grounds in Australia. The 381 balls faced in the innings was also his longest knock in terms of balls faced, surpassing the 301-ball effort against South Africa at Adelaide.

• 73.88 Partnership average for Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja – the highest for any pair with a minimum of 15 innings. Since April 2014, the two have added six century stands – the most for Australia. In 18 innings, the two have added 12 fifty-plus stands. Five of the six century stands have come at home.

• 1993 The only other instance for Australia in which the third, fourth and fifth wicket added 100 runs or more each in an innings, against England at Leeds in the fourth Test of the 1993 Ashes.

• 5 Instances of batsmen No. 2 to No. 6 each scoring half-centuries for Australia. The previous instance was also at Sydney in 2015 against India. All the five occasions have been at home.

Crane’s bowling was one of the stories of the day. He turned some big legbreaks, and googlies, and induced the odd false stroke, but made even more false starts himself. The sight of Crane walking to his crease, entering his delivery stride, and then holding on to the ball became about as ubiquitous on day three at the SCG as pink clothing. Perhaps he was worried about no-balling, for he often landed close to or over the crease, and had missed out on the wicket of Khawaja in the final over before lunch due to a no-ball.Coming around the wicket, Crane turned a big legbreak in to Khawaja, who thrust his pad out without playing the ball, and England asked for a review of the not-out lbw decision. Replays showed that, by a small margin, Crane had failed to land his foot behind the crease. Ball-tracking went on to show that Khawaja would have otherwise been out. An exasperated Crane appeared to argue the point, pointlessly, with umpire Kumar Dharmasena. Quite how a spinner can so consistently be close to no-balling is a matter for Crane to rectify.At length, he did manage his maiden Test wicket, and it was Khawaja. But by the time Crane beat the advancing Khawaja and had him stumped by Jonny Bairstow, the batsman had 171 runs, and had been at the crease for nearly nine hours. It was a patient innings from Khawaja, who brought up his hundred – his first in Ashes cricket, and his first at the SCG – from his 222nd delivery, and his 150 from his 334th. Until this Test, the best Khawaja had to show for this Ashes was a pair of fifties; this innings alone buys him a lengthy stay in the side.His dismissal, shortly after tea, was the last breakthrough England would make all day. The Marsh brothers made it three consecutive century partnerships for Australia in this innings – Khawaja and Smith had put on 188, Khawaja and Shaun Marsh 101, and by stumps Shaun and Mitchell Marsh had compiled an unbeaten 104.England thought they had Mitchell Marsh late in the day when he was given out lbw off the bowling of Tom Curran, and asked for a review. The third umpire, S Ravi, overturned the decision on the basis of Marsh having nicked the ball, though the Hot Spot and Snicko evidence appeared far from conclusive. At least the ball was shown to be missing the stumps in any case, so Marsh would have been let off even without the supposed edge.Usman Khawaja celebrates his first Ashes century•Getty Images

On 22, Shaun Marsh had been given out caught behind off the part-time offspin of Joe Root, and after consulting with Khawaja, he called for a review. It was hard to work out why Marsh had not reviewed immediately, for the replays showed between bat and ball a gap big enough that Cameron Bancroft could almost have been bowled through it. Marsh went on to register his fifty from 121 balls, and by stumps was eyeing off a sixth Test century.He had come to the crease after the dismissal of Smith in the penultimate over before lunch. Smith appeared destined for his fourth hundred of the series when on 83 he chipped a return catch to Moeen Ali, who was bowling around the wicket. It was Moeen’s fourth wicket of the series, and the first time he had dismissed a right-hander in this campaign. And given Smith’s recent dominance, England could have hoped that wicket turned the tide. One wicket and 205 runs later, it was clearly anything but the case.

The left-handed opener made 51 off 24 balls after taking three middle-order wickets to help Northern Districts chase a target of 100 with more than 11 overs to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2018
ScorecardNorthern Districts players celebrate their Super Smash title•Getty Images

Opening batsman Anton Devcich got the better of Central Districts, with both bat and ball, to hand Northern Districts their second Super Smash title in a nine-wicket win at Seddon Park. Devcich’s left-arm spin earned him three wickets in the middle overs, restricting Central Districts to a score of under 100, after which his unbeaten 24-ball 51 sealed victory for Northern Districts with more than 11 overs to spare.In their small chase, Devcich and Northern Districts captain Dean Brownlie (24*) hit 11 fours in the space of 12 balls, during overs 5 and 6, making 44 runs off those two overs in the process. Overall, the Northern Districts batsmen made 84 of their runs in boundaries, with 18 fours and two sixes.The match, however, was set up by their bowlers. After Central Districts chose to bat, they lost opener Jesse Ryder and captain Will Young for scores of 0 and 5 inside the first two overs to Brent Arnel and Scott Kuggeleijn. Tom Bruce fell to Kuggeleijn, and thereafter the spinners, Ish Sodhi and Devcich, strangled the Central Districts batsmen. They returned combined figures of 5 for 31 in their eight overs, including the wicket of opener George Worker for 37 in the 11th over. Worker hit four fours in his 33-ball stay, and Central Districts hit only one other boundary all innings. That four came off No. 8 Bevan Small’s bat, who made 21 in an unbeaten 30-run ninth-wicket partnership with Ajaz Patel (11). Together, they took Central Districts to 99 for 8 from a position of 69 for 8 after 15 overs.In their chase of 100, each of Northern Districts’ first three overs went for 10 runs each. Tom Seifert fell off the last ball of the third over. After that, however, it all went Northern Districts’ way. Devcich and Brownlie made 73 off the next 29 balls to end finish the game in the ninth over.

He says the upcoming T20Is against South Africa will be a vital series for him and also talks about failing the yo-yo test which he cleared recently to make a comeback

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2018Suresh Raina, the middle-order batsman selected in India’s squad for the T20Is against South Africa, believes the upcoming matches will be a vital series for him as he makes an international comeback after over a year. For the long run, Raina also set his eyes on the 50-over World Cup next year, saying regular performances across the next few months could help him come back into India’s ODI team.In an interview with , Raina was asked if the T20s against South Africa would be a “do-or-die series” for him and he said: “Definitely. It feels like I’ve been selected to the Indian team for the first time. I have worked hard for the past two years, so when I saw my India jersey I felt a bit emotional that I got the jersey after quite a while. Like you said, the three games will be quite important. I have done well in whatever opportunities I have got [recently].”These T20 matches are important, then Bangladesh [T20 tri-series] and then IPL. Fifty-overs does need experience – it makes a lot of difference. Because this position is such, that you’ll come to bat when the team is in trouble.”Raina also specified that his preferred position in the team would be Nos. 4 or 5, slots which, Raina felt, will allow India’s left-hand right-hand combination to thrive.”If given a choice, I can do best at No. 4 or No. 5,” he stated. “There are five fielders inside these days, so a left-hand, right-hand combination is very useful these days. If I do well in these three games, then I’m certain I can make an ODI return too.”Raina, who made his ODI and T20I debuts in 2005 and 2006, was a consistent member of India’s limited-overs teams until he was dropped for the Australia tour in December 2015 following a string of low scores. He was kept out of India’s tour of the USA in 2016 – for matches against West Indies – before making a brief return next year. In January 2017, he scored 34, 7 and 63 in three home T20Is against England but then missed subsequent matches in the same format in the West Indies and Sri Lanka, and at home against Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Raina said that his morale was “down” when he was dropped, but he picked himself up soon after in a bid to return to the international squad.”I was quite down because I wasn’t playing,” Raina said. “Plus, I wasn’t sure why I wasn’t playing. I had made a fifty [53] against South Africa, but after that nothing happened. I thought to myself, ‘I’m not giving up, [I] want to play for the country, and [I] want to play with all my heart.”Raina put down his failing of a yo-yo test – during New Zealand’s tour of India – to too much game time at that point.”See, in the middle I was playing a lot,” Raina explained on why he failed the test back then. “Virat [Kohli] had set some parameters, and when I did the yo-yo test at the NCA 10 days ago, my speed was among the top five or six. I’ve always been fit, and I am fit now, but sometimes one needs time to recover.”Over the past domestic season, Raina finished as the sixth-highest run-scorer at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – India’s domestic T20 tournament – with 314 runs in nine matches at a strike-rate of 146, including knocks of 126*, 61 and 56 against Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Baroda.Raina was also keen to position himself as a player who could play multiple roles by bowling a few overs, something he did consistently in ODIs from 2011 to 2015. “I am also prepared to bowl three-four overs,” he said. “My shoulder is solid too. You see, you need to chip in, bowl well, field well, so that the captain feels ‘yeah, this fellow is a utility player at No. 4-5′”.Raina also suggested MS Dhoni should take the No. 4 slot to help the inexperienced middle order, a problem they have been struggling with in ODIs.”You see Dhoni batting below, he should come up and bat more so that he gets more time to settle,” Raina said. “Now that Yuvraj [Singh] and I aren’t there, he should come and play above, so that those playing below him will also get experienced. If MS is batting on top, then he’ll keep the run rate high. If Mahi bats at No. 4, then all those below him will gain priceless experience.”Earlier, Yuvraj would hit fours and sixes at No. 4, then I’d come at No. 5, and Mahi would finish at No. 6 – so our roles were settled thanks to [former coach] Gary Kirsten.”

Eden Park was transformed into a T20 batting paradise as Australia pulled off a world-record run chase in Auckland, reducing Martin Guptill’s 49-ball hundred to a footnote

The Report by Alan Gardner16-Feb-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEden Park was transformed into a T20 batting paradise as Australia pulled off a world-record run chase in Auckland, reducing Martin Guptill’s 49-ball hundred – and a host of other records – to a footnote. D’Arcy Short and David Warner hammered aggressive fifties to set the tone of the reply and Australia’s middle order kept the pedal to the metal at a stage where New Zealand had stuttered to seal victory with more than an over to spare.The stands were peppered for 32 sixes – equalling the T20I record – as the odd-shaped boundaries at Eden Park produced a lop-sided match in which batsman were able to swing with impunity and bowling became an exercise in damage limitation. No team had successfully chased as many in all T20 cricket.Aaron Finch and Alex Carey celebrate Australia’s record-breaking win•AFP

New Zealand were left to rue a passage at the back end of their innings when they didn’t score a boundary for 18 balls, but the point at which the game tipped decisively came in the 17th over of the chase. Australia needed 42 from 24 but Ben Wheeler, in the side after an injury to Mitchell Santner, delivered a no-ball that Aaron Finch struck for six, followed by a four and another high full toss.Wheeler was removed from the attack, the equation had become 29 from 23, and although his replacement, Trent Boult, had Short caught behind top-edging a pull, another four and a six from Finch left Australia needing less than a run a ball. Finch’s unbeaten 36 off 14 at No. 5 provided a muscular contrast with the way New Zealand had faltered and it was probably apt that he finished things off with the final six of a gluttonous encounter.Australia had ransacked their way to victory, leaving Guptill in the shade despite several personal milestones. Their fourth win from four in the tri-series left the home fans muttering quietly to themselves but would have been cheered down in Hamilton, as it helped keep England in with a chance of pipping a shell-shocked New Zealand to a place in the final.Guptill became the leading run-scorer in all T20 internationals, surpassing Brendon McCullum, while also striking the fastest hundred by a New Zealander (one delivery quicker than McCullum) and moving up above his former team-mate to second on the all-time six-hitting list, too. But from Guptill’s dismissal in the 17th over, New Zealand stumbled. Kane Richardson picked up two wickets as New Zealand lost 4 for 12 and it required a couple more sixes from Ross Taylor – one of which was adroitly held by a fan in the crowd wearing a sponsor’s shirt – to ensure the innings didn’t dribble to a conclusion.Guptill became the leading run getter in T20Is•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

This was a night to make bowlers question their life choices. AJ Tye conceded 64 from his four overs, soothed a modicum by two wickets, but he could probably spare some sympathy for New Zealand’s Wheeler, who was left with 0 for 64 from just 3.1. Perversely, the most economical bowler on either side – Ashton Agar – did not deliver his full quota.Having been on the receiving end of untrammelled aggression from Guptill and Colin Munro, who struck six sixes of his own in making 76, Australia’s openers took the Spinal Tap route and turned the amps up to 11. Short’s first three boundaries all came off the edge of the bat – the first flying all the way over the rope at third man – and he might have been caught on 18 gloving a pull at Tim Southee, but Tim Seifert could not hold on one-handed down the leg side.Warner, whose run of poor form in white-ball cricket had extended 10 innings without a fifty, had 12 off seven balls when he twice latched on to Wheeler for leg-side sixes. Five wides over the keeper (among 20 extras down by the New Zealand attack) turned the fifth into a 22-run over, and Warner cleared the ropes two more times in the next as Australia equalled the Powerplay record of 91 in T20 internationals.A 20-ball fifty from Warner had clearly shaken New Zealand’s resolve, though he fell shortly after missing an attempted pull at Ish Sodhi’s googly. Chris Lynn struck one towering blow before being caught by Guptill – who had dropped him two overs before – but Short crashed two sixes and a four from his next four legitimate balls to keep Australia on track.Australia raised their 150 in the 12th over, just as New Zealand had. Short had not looked as imperious as Guptill but he was striking the ball ever-more cleanly; Glenn Maxwell, meanwhile, continued the theme of the night by hitting his second ball for six over long-on as New Zealand’s late-innings lull began to look ever-more costly. Something had to give and it turned out to be Wheeler.Having chosen to bat, and knowing that victory would make their final game against England an irrelevance, New Zealand set about the Australia attack with calculated fury. In the first match of the tri-series, New Zealand had limped to 117 for 9 at the SCG; back on home soil, they crossed that mark in the 11th over.Guptill flicked his first delivery for four and cleared the ropes for the first time in the second over, smoking Billy Stanlake down the ground. Munro took a little longer to find the boundary – two balls – and then, from a steady start, began to stage an exhibition of six-upmanship with his opening partner.Only one over in the Powerplay went for less than 10, as New Zealand piled up 67 without loss. Munro climbed into Agar with sixes in the seventh and ninth overs, bringing him up to parity with Guptill. It was the latter who reached his half-century first, from 30 balls, when he munched Short’s left-arm wrist spin – making its first appearance at international level – over long-on; Munro then got there in identical fashion, three balls faster, later in the same over.The 12th threatened to become a Tye-breaker when Munro hit the first three balls for six, but the bowler held his nerve to instead break the stand via a mistimed blow to long-on. Guptill maintained the tempo, clearing the ropes for the ninth time to bring up his hundred with 28 balls still remaining in the innings, but he was also removed by Tye as New Zealand lost power at a crucial juncture. Australia in with a chance? You’d better Adam and Eve it.

It has taken five attempts over two series but the North finally beat the South in the pre-season challenge match in Barbados

Dan Norcross22-Mar-2018The North finally tasted victory against the South at the fifth attempt, winning another hugely entertaining contest by 46 runs, tying the three match series at one apiece, bagged a cheque for £10000 and in so doing achieved something that has been beyond successive UK governments for the better part of 40 years in redistributing money from South to North.On a blustery day at the Kensington Oval, the North set up what would have been the highest run chase at this venue and in posting 335, ensured that the top two list A totals achieved here have been set by the two different halves of England (and Wales of course, though Glamorgan have no players in the South squad) following the South’s record breaking 347 on Sunday.Runs have come aplenty for both sides in both games in the opening power plays, and despite two tight maidens from Sam Curran, Joe Clarke and Alex Davies plundered a spectacular 92 from the first ten overs. It took Clarke 15 balls to get off the mark but he more than made up for it with 71 from his next 44.Nonetheless, assistant coach of the South side Andy Flower, guesting on BBC’s commentary, was hugely frustrated when he slapped a Dominic Bess long-hop into the gleeful hands of Curran, diving smartly to his right at midwicket. Clarke is a man the England management are monitoring closely. He is very near the front of the cab rank, and Flower’s reaction told you how much they want him to succeed.There was a big hundred there for the taking and after doing pretty much everything right it was an infuriating way to go. She’s a cruel mistress is cricket. As Peter Cook’s Alan Latchley so sagely said (though about football), “she can bring tears to your eyes and blood to your shoulders”.Clarke’s wicket left the North perilously perched on 132 for 4 in the 20th over and in danger of squandering their splendid start, but a mature partnership of 108 between the skipper Steven Mullaney and Brett D’Oliveira, who top scored with 79, got the innings back on track and provided the perfect platform for a hell-raising 64 from Derbyshire’s Matt Critchley.Many of us have been under the misguided impression that Critchley was a leg-spinner who could bat. Well, it turns out he’s a batsman who can bowl leg-spin. It may be a bit early to file him under “the next Steve Smith”, apart from anything else Smith has rarely struck four fours and four sixes in 37 balls, but he demonstrated again the value to the selectors of this fixture as a means of identifying the next generation of one-day talent. And the value of bringing a massive box of replacement balls as the roof of the Greenidge and Haynes stand came in for a regular buffeting.It took a startling catch in the deep by Delray Rawlins to dismiss him. Amidst the carnage, the South’s two left-arm seam bowlers, Paul Walter (a man who can’t help but evoke memories of Alan Mullaly, albeit that he’s around four inches taller) and Sam Curran shared five wickets between them but it was Dom Bess who again proved the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 47 from his ten overs.What the visiting Joel Garner made of another slow, tacky pitch is anyone’s guess (he didn’t hang around long), but it is the way of things in Barbados these days.The South’s reply was barely any less frenetic with Nick Gubbins picking up where he left off on Sunday. He stroked his second hundred of the series off a mere 85 balls. Opening partner to Alastair Cook since Andrew Strauss retired has been a role more cursed than 16th Century Pope, first century AD Roman Emperor or Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. Mark Stoneman is the man currently in possession of the poisoned chalice, but it’s Nick Gubbins who is peering over his shoulder.He found fine support in a century partnership from Laurie Evans who channelled his inner Jason Roy in an increasingly fluent innings of 64, but the reintroduction of Richard Gleeson turned the match. First a fabulous, perfectly pitched yorker that the by now departed “Big Bird” would have appreciated castled Gubbins for 109, and a repeat dose two balls later did for Rawlins.Evans and Curran threw away their wickets trying to get after Matthew Parkinson who finished with 3 for 47 from 9 overs, the former smashing a short ball out to deep cover, the latter charging past a deliciously dipping leg break. Davies completed the stumping with Curran roughly three quarters of the way through an inelegant pirouette with his head pointing skywards. Surrey’s Ollie Pope tried to shepherd the rapidly vanishing tail but eventually was last out for a busy 42 from 35 balls, Saqib Mahmood hitting the stumps for the sixth time in two matches.A pop concert is scheduled for the weekend at the Kensington Oval so the third and final match will be played at the Three W’s Stadium down the road with £30000 going to the winners.

Having already been knocked out, the hosts now gear up to face Chennai Super Kings who have their sights set on a top-two finish

The Preview by Annesha Ghosh17-May-20183:47

Agarkar: Ngidi better suited to Delhi conditions than Willey

Big Picture

Diesel prices have hit an all-time high in Delhi, and the city’s IPL team is stuck in yet another low. Reeling from a hat-trick of defeats, including last week’s knockout punch, Delhi Daredevils can only battle for pride in their penultimate game on home turf.Amid thunderstorms of both the literal and figurative kind, Delhi gears up to host Chennai Super Kings, who have already qualified for the playoffs. CSK’s most recent win, against leaders Sunrisers Hyderabad, saw quick bowler Deepak Chahar mark his return from injury with a stingy opening spell. Subsequently, Ambati Rayudu smashed an unbeaten maiden IPL hundred and sealed the win in his captain MS Dhoni’s company.

Form guide

• Delhi Daredevils: lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by nine wickets, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets

• Chennai Super Kings: beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets, lost to Rajasthan Royals by four wickets, beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets

As for Daredevils, the saving grace in their surrender to AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli last week came through a Rishabh Pant fifty and the debuts of two youngsters. Sandeep Lamichhane’s opening spell made him the toast of the evening on Twitter, while Under-19 World Cup winner Abhishek Sharma wowed with an unbeaten 46.But if Daredevils are to muster a fight against Dhoni’s men, they will need their bowlers to check the run flow in the Powerplay. The most expensive attack in the first six and the middle overs, Daredevils have conceded over 40 runs per wicket during the two phases. Daredevils have conceded 50-plus Powerplay scores 11 times in 12 games this season, a vulnerability waiting to be feasted on by CSK, whose openers have scored the second-most runs of any team this season.

Previous meeting

En route to their sixth straight loss, Daredevils ran into an unforgiving Shane Watson and Dhoni who smashed fifties in their combined tally of 129 off 62 balls in Pune. Rayudu’s brisk 41 hauled CSK past 200, before debutants Lungi Nigidi and KM Asif shared three top-order wickets and commemorated their IPL initiation with a 13-run victory.

Qualification scenario

Daredevils, of course, are out of contention for the playoffs. CSK are aiming to seal a top-two place, and plenty will have to go wrong for them not to achieve it. Kolkata Knight Riders are the only team below CSK who can hope to leapfrog them, by finishing level with them on 16 points and pipping them on net run rate. For that to happen, CSK will have to lose both their remaining games, and KKR will have to win their last match, and all three result margins will have to be big. For example, if CSK lose both games by 30 runs each, and KKR win theirs by 53 (assuming totals of 180 in each case for the team batting first), then KKR will sneak ahead.It’s safe to say, therefore, that CSK have all but sealed a top-two position.

Likely XIs

Delhi Daredevils: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Jason Roy/Colin Munro, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Abhishek Sharma, 6 Vijay Shankar, 7 Liam Plunkett/ Junior Dala, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Sandeep Lamichhane, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Shahbaz NadeemChennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Ambati Rayudu, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Sam Billings, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Karn Sharma, 10 Deepak Chahar/ Shardul Thakur, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Strategy punt

Daredevils should be alive to Dhoni’s lack of fluency against legspinners this season. In 12 innings, he has managed only 87 runs off 68 balls against them while being dismissed three times. Ravindra Jadeja, meanwhile, has been dismissed twice in four innings by legspinners. Lamichhane and Amit Mishra, therefore, are good options to bowl the bulk of the middle overs, particularly when one of these two is at the crease. Additionally, Mishra’s economy rate of 6.9 during the period – the best among Daredevils’ bowlers in any single phase – should hold him in good stead.

Stats that matter

• Dhoni needs 10 runs to reach 6000 T20 runs, and another 16 runs would take him to 4000 runs in the IPL
• Daredevils have tried seven different opening combinations so far, and their openers collectively boast the lowest average (21.9) of all teams this season.
• Pant’s tournament tally of 582 is the highest by a Daredevils batsman in an IPL season across all editions. Former captain Gautam Gambhir held the record for ten years having amassed 534 runs in the 2008 season.

Fantasy pick

Want compelling reasons to pick Deepak Chahar? Here you go. CSK’s pace contingent has been more effective (economy of 8.99 and average of 30.48) with Chahar in the mix than in the four games he has missed (economy of 9.48 and average of 44.10). His inclusion has also enabled CSK’s pace bowlers to take a wicket every 20.4 balls as opposed to one every 27.9 balls in his absence.

Sri Lanka lost their first three wickets to Keshav Maharaj, but remain in a position to push for victory over the next three days, after taking a first innings lead of 161

The Report by Firdose Moonda13-Jul-2018
Keshav Maharaj gets a breakthrough for the visitors•AFP

Sri Lanka took control of the first Test on a 13-wicket day in Galle, where spinners dominated. After South Africa were shot out for 126 – their lowest total in Sri Lanka – with seven wickets falling to the spin trio of Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan, Sri Lanka lost their first three wickets to Keshav Maharaj, but remain in a position to push for victory over the next three days, after taking a first innings lead of 161 runs.On a surface that is taking substantial, but not unplayable turn, anything over 300 would be daunting. For a South African side who woke the ghosts of India 2015, the lead is perhaps already too much.In South Africa’s last eight innings in the subcontinent, they have only managed to score more than 200 runs once and the last time they scored over 300 in Asia was in the Galle Test four years ago. While there are elements of technique that are wanting – the left-handers playing across the line is an example – their confidence is the bigger concern. Collapses of 6 for 51 and 4 for 11, which sandwiched the 64-run seventh-wicket stand between Faf du Plessis and Vernon Philander, would have done nothing to boost their belief.Herath made the first incision into South Africa at the end of the opening day when he removed Aiden Markram, and he did the same on the second morning when he beat nightwatchman Maharaj with an arm-ball. And then the wickets tumbled.Dean Elgar played across a Dilruwan Perera delivery that took the outside edge to offer first slip a catch, Hashim Amla was given out caught at short leg on review off Dilruwan, Temba Bavuma dragged a Sandakan ball onto his stumps as he swept, a shot he had employed with success earlier in his short innings and Quinton de Kock was bowled by Dilruwan, also playing across the line. Shortly after the first drinks, South Africa were 51 for 6, and left du Plessis with the tail.Philander showed the patience the top order lacked and defended solidly, while du Plessis tried to play a more positive role in also searching for runs. The pair ushered South Africa past their lowest total since readmission, 79, and over the 100 mark. Philander was fortunate when Sri Lanka missed a chance to review a Herath delivery that would have gone on to hit middle stump – the last of three opportunities they did not take – and reviewed successfully when he was given out two overs later. He faced 86 balls, only two fewer than du Plessis, before he was out for 18.Du Plessis, celebrating his 34th birthday, played with as much intent as he could and compiled 49. But when Philander went, he followed within three balls. After several inside-edges, du Plessis missed a Suranga Lakmal ball that nipped in and was bowled. Lakmal had not used himself before the 37th over but enjoyed the last bits of reward when he also bowled Rabada and had Steyn caught at first slip.Already low on morale, South Africa’s situation only worsened when Danuskha Gunathilaka and Dimuth Karunaratne put on 51 for the opening stand, denied Dale Steyn the two wickets he needs to overtake Shaun Pollock as South Africa’s leading Test wicket-taker but offered three other chances.Maharaj appealed for lbw against Gunathilaka, but the opener had shuffled far enough across enough to get umpire’s call on impact. Then, Gunathilaka lap-swept Maharaj in front of backward square but Bavuma could not hold on to the catch. Later, Gunathilaka reverse-swept Maharaj between the wicket-keeper and first slip. And this time, Maharaj got his man, and two others, when Gunathilaka picked out deep mid-wicket, Dhananjaya de Silva, who was bowled and Kusal Mendis given out lbw.As he had done in the first innings, Karunaratne anchored Sri Lanka and became only the second batsman after Kumar Sangakkara to score a century and a half-century against South Africa in a Test. He took on the spinners with success, used his feet well and his placement was impressive but he was eventually undone with Kagiso Rabada having him caught at slip.There was no further damage done to Sri Lanka before the close, which gives them the resources to add to their total on the third day.

An unbeaten half-century from 20-year-old Pant helped guide India A to victory in the tri-series final

Alan Gardner at The Oval02-Jul-20183:03

Centurion Hain ‘frustrated’ by final loss

ScorecardThe shape of the English summer is set to be defined over the next ten weeks by Virat Kohli’s India. A day out from that tour beginning in earnest, India lifted their first silverware, thanks to the A team’s five-wicket victory over England Lions at The Oval. An unbeaten half-century from 20-year-old Rishabh Pant guided them to the tri-series title, though it was an accomplished collective performance from a team bristling with IPL talent.Having been put into bat, the Lions were indebted to the series’ leading run-scorer, Sam Hain, maintaining his prolific white-ball form, as well as a colourful 83 from Liam Livingstone, who showed power and finesse to score swiftly on a slowish surface. The next-highest contribution was Steven Mullaney’s 17, as the India A bowlers bided their time and struck at opportune moments: twice during the initial Powerplay, as the Lions reached 41 for 2, and repeatedly at the back end of the innings.Deepak Chahar, two days after being called into India’s full squad for the T20 series beginning on Tuesday, picked up three wickets, while slow left-armer Axar Patel – also now in the ODI squad – was their most economical bowler as well as also claiming a trio of catches, two of them exceptional efforts.Rishabh Pant puts away a square drive•Getty Images

The Lions would rue a chance that wasn’t held, off Pant on 35, when Reece Topley failed to get his hands under the ball running in from long-on. With India A having just lost Hanuma Vihari to a needless run-out, the Lions needed to seize the moment; instead, Pant and Krunal Pandya added an unbroken 71 to seal the chase.There were perhaps a couple of hundred spectators in south London’s grand old ground, though the Indian tricolours were visible as Pant brought up his fifty moments after lashing Matt Parkinson – the bowler who might have had him caught – twice down the ground for six and four. A congregation had mustered near the changing rooms for the chance of a selfie with Rahul Dravid, the India A coach, and the visitors seemed to enjoy the conditions brought about by the UK’s recent heatwave, as the Lions sweated in the sunshine.Although Prithvi Shaw fell to the first ball of the seventh over, India A already had 39 runs on the board. A double-strike from Liam Dawson – who drew level with Sajid Mahmood as the leading List A wicket-taker for the Lions, or England A/B, with 33 – checked the innings at 83 for 3 in the 16th over, but further inroads were delayed by a fourth-wicket stand of 67 in good time.India A’s captain, Shreyas Iyer, cracked the first six of the innings – possibly the biggest of the day – off the bowling of Parkinson, though Iyer appeared unhappy to be given out caught behind down the leg side off Mullaney; wicketkeeper Ben Foakes also whipped off the bails, for good measure. Mullaney then dropped a return catch off Vihari on 25, though Topley’s miss of Pant was to prove more costly.Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, and Ed Smith, the national selector, were both in attendance and although the Lions came up short, there were several positive contributions in a hard-fought contest – most notably from Hain.Sam Hain drives during his century•Getty Images

Trying to force a way into England’s white-ball sides at the moment is a bit like getting hold of tickets, or looking for a quick route to MCC membership. Be prepared for a wait, basically.Nevertheless, Hain is making a compelling case. Following his second hundred of the series, he averages 68.81 in List A cricket; that rises to 115.00 from eight innings for the Lions and he has already joined James Taylor (who made four) and Dawid Malan as the only players to score three one-day hundreds for England’s second XI. Both of those went on to play for the senior teams although Malan, somewhat curiously, has been capped in T20 and Tests but not – thus far – ODIs.Hain has been likened to Jonathan Trott, with his extended routine for taking guard and penchant for leg-side nudges, and he certainly seems a tad more circumspect than some of England’s new generation of dashers. That approach was well-attuned to the conditions at The Oval, however, where India A won a useful toss and made life difficult for the Lions throughout.Only during a partnership of 152 in 26 overs between Hain and Livingstone did India A appear under pressure in the field. Livingstone hooked the first of his five sixes off Khaleel Ahmed in the 17th over, having taken some time to find his feet, and he became increasingly fluent as the innings progressed. Having reached his first fifty of the series, from 63 balls, Livingstone began to cruise up through the gears, but fell one over after hitting Chahar for consecutives sixes when Axar took an excellent diving catch running in off the boundary.Hain’s innings was a more nuggety affair, although he did deposit Krunal into the seats at deep midwicket. His hundred came from 113 deliveries, but he was unable to carry on right to the end, edging Chahar behind as the Lions lost 6 for 79 over the course of their last 16.2 overs.