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Devine’s powerful fifty and Knight’s fighting cameo were not enough for Royal Challengers Bangalore

Zenia D'Cunha08-Mar-20236:13

What’s happening to Mandhana’s RCB?

The expectations from Royal Challengers Bangalore, even before the Women’s Premier League began, were high. They had the most expensive player of the league in captain Smriti Mandhana, and a formidable squad.But within the first week of the WPL, they find themselves at the bottom of the points table as the only team without a win. The expectations are becoming pressure.Related

• Wolvaardt replaces injured Mooney at Giants; Rana named captain

On Wednesday, in a clash between two teams yet to register a win, it was Gujarat Giants who broke their duck at the Brabourne Stadium, beating Royal Challengers by 11 runs, a margin that doesn’t really tell the full story.Powered by Sophia Dunkley’s record 18-ball fifty at the top and held together by Harleen Deol’s 67 off 45, Giants put together 201 for 7 as Royal Challengers’ bowling continued to struggle for the third game on the trot.In their first match of the season, Delhi Capitals carted them for 223 for 2 and in their second, Mumbai Indians chased down 156 with more than five overs to spare, both at the batters paradise that Brabourne has proved to be.The third game was no different. Consider this: Megan Schutt, Australia’s frontline pacer, started with a maiden and an opening spell of 2-1-13-1. Yet she bowled only three overs at an economy of 8.66. It’s indicative of how nothing seems to be going Royal Challengers’ way.The star of the show was undoubtedly Dunkley, who scored the tournament’s fastest fifty so far. The England batter was not the team’s first-choice opener and came in to replace the injured captain Beth Mooney in the previous game. On Wednesday, she ensured she would be hard to drop even after Mooney’s replacement, Laura Wolvaardt, flies in.Sophia Dunkley got off to a blistering start and brought up her half-century in the fifth over•BCCI

Runs kept flowing from Dunkley’s bat on a ground with one boundary behind square as short as 47 metres. She reached her fifty in the fifth over, with 22 of her runs coming off just one over from left-arm spinner Preeti Bose.It could have been much worse for Royal Challengers but for offspin allrounder Shreyanka Patil, the local talent who is turning out to be one of the bright spots of their campaign. She dismissed the dangerous Dunkley after being hit for a massive six and a four; the batter walked back with her bat behind her head knowing she had missed a chance to make a big one.At the other end, Deol put in yet another good shift for Giants after her 46 off 32 against UP Warriorz in a match her side lost in a last-over thriller. On Wednesday, she brought up her fifty off 35 balls and kept exploiting the gaps for boundaries and even clobbering Ellyse Perry for three fours in a row at one point, which is sure to give her a confidence boost.It was Patil again, who got the set batter, returning figures of 2 for 32 from her four overs and earning high praise from Sophie Devine, who said she is sure to be playing for India soon.Mandhana kept rotating her bowlers to not a lot of success, and like against Delhi, it was part-timer Heather Knight who was among the wickets. But nothing could prevent Giants from breaching the 200-run mark.Royal Challengers started their chase fairly well but their innings soon took a familiar turn: a team of proven performers not clicking together.Sophie Devine’s fighting half-century didn’t prove to be enough for Royal Challengers•BCCI

In conditions fairly good for batting, Devine slammed 66 off 45 but didn’t get much support from other batters.The biggest blow perhaps was Mandhana failing to build on a promising start yet again, falling into the trap against an offspinner yet again: her third in three matches this WPL. Ashleigh Gardner has dismissed Mandhana more often than anyone else in international cricket and she got her once again.Devine built a partnership with Perry and then Richa Ghosh, keeping the team alive. But frequent dot balls meant the required rate kept soaring. In the 17th over, a ball after smashing Annabel Sutherland for a six, Devine hit one straight to long-on, ending Royal Challengers’ last remnants of hope.Knight’s 11-ball 30 and Patil’s 11 off 4 at the death only reduced the margin of the defeat.”Our batting unit ebbed and flowed and there was a time where we faced too many dot balls, 10 or 12 and dot balls are really crucial,” Devine said after the match. “I think every team is realising that to bowl on these wickets… they are batters paradise to be fair. There is no seam, there is no swing, quick outfield. It’s a real test as a bowling unit and I don’t think any team has been able to crack it yet. This is an area we improved on but we can get a lot more disciplined in terms of execution.”Three matches in, Royal Challengers are entering a must-win zone now. In a five-team tournament, they need to be in the top three to make the knockouts. They have five matches left to do that, with a star-studded team that can easily ‘win the cup this year’ if they click together.

Yo-Yo tests back as a selection parameter, Dexa scans introduced following BCCI review meeting attended by Dravid, Rohit, Laxman and others

Shashank Kishore01-Jan-2023The workloads of key India players, particularly those with a history of injuries, will be monitored during IPL 2023 by the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy and the IPL franchises “in tandem”. This is in accordance with the BCCI’s new policy for managing workloads of players in the lead-up to the 50-over World Cup this October and November and the World Test Championship final in June, if India qualify for it.The plan to have the NCA work with the IPL franchises during the 2023 edition of the tournament was among a number of recommendations made by the BCCI following a review meeting in Mumbai on Sunday, convened to discuss the roadmap of the senior men’s team for the World Cup.Among other matters discussed were the team’s performance in 2022, which included the Test series loss in South Africa, the fifth Test loss in England (from the incomplete series the previous year), the semi-final exit – with a ten-wicket loss to England – from the T20 World Cup in Australia, and the ODI series loss in Bangladesh most recently.Related

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Head coach Rahul Dravid, regular all-format captain Rohit Sharma, BCCI president Roger Binny, secretary Jay Shah, NCA head VVS Laxman and selection committee chair Chetan Sharma were present at the meeting.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that workload and injury management were discussed at length, especially after several key players missed a significant amount of cricket because of injuries in 2022. It’s something Rohit alluded to after the ODI series loss in Bangladesh, when he expressed displeasure at players pulling up with injuries repeatedly despite being passed fit.”We need to try and get to the bottom of it,” Rohit had said. “I don’t know what exactly it is. Maybe they’re playing too much cricket. We need to try and monitor those guys, because it’s important to understand when they come for India, they need to be a 100%, in fact more than 100%.”The cases of Deepak Chahar, who was injured for much of 2022, Jasprit Bumrah, who is recovering from a stress fracture on his back, and Ravindra Jadeja, who is recovering from an ankle injury, are learnt to have been deliberated upon.2:11

How should India manage Bumrah’s workload going forward?

The NCA’s medical team is understood to have submitted a roadmap on workload and injury management. In accordance with the new plan, a fitness and workload roadmap will be customised for each of the central pool of players, and work has already begun for it.In addition to Yo-Yo tests, the NCA panel also recommended the addition of Dexa scans to add another “scientific layer” – in the words of a BCCI official – of testing before determining if players are fit to play. The Dexa scan is the international standard for measuring body composition and bone health – a ten-minute test that measures total body fat and includes the exact breakdown of bone mass, fat tissue and muscle in the body.One of the other recommendations was that emerging players would “have to play substantial” amount of domestic cricket before becoming eligible for selection to the national team, a BCCI press statement said. The selectors believe this would make the players be available for all formats, and not prioritise one over the others.Another reason for the recommendation is to ensure players are properly conditioned before entering the system. The selectors, in the past, haven’t been averse to picking new players straight after a good IPL season. But with new players – like T Natarajan and Varun Chakravarthy, for example – missing more cricket than they have played in the past couple of years, because of injuries followed by treatment, rehabilitation, etc, have been a cause for concern.

Jess Jonassen claimed her 100th ODI wicket as Australia won their 17th one-dayer in a row

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2019A maiden international century from Rachael Haynes was the standout performance in Australia’s 110-run victory in the second ODI against Sri Lanka that put them 2-0 up in the series.Haynes’ 118 off 132 balls formed the cornerstone of Australia’s 8 for 282 although that was a lower total than appeared likely for large parts of the innings, as Sri Lanka fought back at the death. Haynes and Alyssa Healy added 116 in 19.3 overs for the first wicket after which Haynes put on 103 with Meg Lanning (45) but from 1 for 219 the last ten overs brought 6 for 63.Sri Lanka started the chase better than how they did in the opening game. At 1 for 95 in the 23rd over, they had a glimmer of putting some pressure on Australia, but on a slow pitch where it was difficult to force the pace they couldn’t keep up with the required rate. Jess Jonassen took 4 for 31 which included her 100th wicket in ODIs, the fourth Australian to reach that landmark, as Australia secured a record-equalling 17th ODI win on the bounce to match the mark set by Belinda Clark’s team from 1997 to 1999. This win also gave them an unassailable lead in the Women’s Championship.On a surface being used for the second time in three days, Australia batted first and after some early caution were making strong progress through Healy and Haynes. Healy sprinted to her fifty off 44 balls and appeared set for a big score before falling to Sri Lanka captain Shashikala Siriwardene who again bowled her ten overs tidily for 2 for 41.As the pitch continued to wear out Australia weren’t allowed to completely cut loose and Sri Lanka built some pressure as Haynes approached her hundred, which helped account for Lanning when she edged a drive off Achini Kulasuriya. Haynes brought up her century off 120 balls with a cut for four, surpassing her previous highest international score of 98 which she made on Test debut in 2009.However, the last ten overs only brought three further boundaries – a six from Ashleigh Gardner and two fours by Beth Mooney – with Sri Lanka striking regularly.Jonassen provided Australia with the key early breakthrough when Chamari Atapattu top-edged a sweep which was well-judged at deep square by debutant Heather Graham. Anushka Sanjeewani and Harshitha Madavi brought up a second-wicket stand of 70 but it always felt the required rate was out of reach.Nicola Carey broke through and Australia’s spinners kept control of the middle overs. Georgia Wareham was more accurate than the opening match and claimed 2 for 29 from 10 overs. Jonassen’s 100th wicket came trapping Sugandika Kumari lbw sweeping and there was time for Graham to take her first when Kulasuriya chipped up a leading edge.

Allrounder is increasingly being thought of as a specialist batsman, and someone who can bat higher up the order.

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Pallekele16-Oct-2018With Angelo Mathews axed and Sri Lanka looking to firm up their top order for the World Cup, Dasun Shanaka has gone from being out of the side entirely a few months ago, to being saddled with some substantial and surprising batting responsibilities.Regarded as an allrounder when he first arrived in international cricket, Shanaka has more recently been thought of as a specialist batsman, and someone who can potentially bat higher up the order.Coming in at No. 5 – Mathews’ old haunt – on Saturday, Shanaka said the team had begun to look to him for innings of considerable heft, rather than the cameos he has sometimes provided.”I’ve been sent up to No. 5 because I had been consistent in the domestic T20 and limited-overs tournaments,” Shanaka said. “What the team needs is for me to bat as many overs as possible. The challenge is to get myself in then settle into my natural game. If I do that the runs will come.”Sri Lanka coach Chandika Hathurusingha has publicly expressed faith in Shanaka the batsman, labelling him a “much improved cricketer” over the past year. Part of that faith, perhaps, was built upon the good performances in domestic competitions that Shanaka mentioned. He was the league’s second-highest scorer in the Provincial T20 tournament in August, having hit 312 runs at an average of 78. His last two innings in that tournament had yielded 105 not out off 52 balls, and 60 not out off 29.”The coach spoke to me and gave advice on how to prepare and how to bat for long,” Shanaka said. “Tactics is most important to improve that area of the game – I have been asked to play out the first 15-20 balls and then to go for my shots.”Sri Lanka’s top order has been in some flux over the past three years, with numerous combinations having been trialled, while batsmen have been moved up and down the order. There is expected to be another change on Saturday, with Sadeera Samarawickrama expected to replace Kusal Perera, who has been ruled out of the third match with a quad strain. However, beyond the injury-enforced changes, Sri Lanka would like to keep things as stable as possible, Shanaka said.”If we have a settled batting order it’s good for the team. We have talked a lot about it, and the captain and senior players have decided that from this series we should try and let players get used to their roles.”