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The Sylhet Test will be NZ’s first in eight months and first in Bangladesh in ten years

Mohammad Isam26-Nov-2023Daryl Mitchell is looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet, after the World Cup humdrum, when New Zealand return to Test cricket after eight months in Sylhet. It will also be the first Test for both New Zealand and Bangladesh in the third cycle of the World Test Championship. Mitchell is coming off a strong run in the World Cup where he struck two centuries, both against India.”A bit more patience is required going from white ball to Test cricket,” Mitchell said. “You can breathe and relax a little bit. The surfaces are turning. We will keep adapting. We will see what we get on day one.”It is always special to play in that tournament in front of millions of people. It is also about recognising what an opportunity we have here at the start of the World Test Championship. How much it means to wear that baggy with the silver fern on.”He also said that New Zealand are focussing on short-term goals rather than thinking about the ultimate goal of reaching the WTC final.”We obviously know it is the end goal,” Mitchell said. “That’s what every country taking part in the World Test Championship wants to do. For us, it is about making small goals. Trying to tick off games as we go. First, we have to take on Bangladesh. It is always a tough challenge in Bangladesh.”Conditions are foreign to us as Kiwis so it is about adapting as quickly as we can to these surfaces, and getting stuck to win little moments. It is what we are speaking about. We are not looking too far ahead. At the same time, you want to be part of those big games. That’s why you play Test cricket.”Related

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Sylhet, incidentally, has hosted just one Test previously but while conditions will be alien to both sets of players, New Zealand coach Luke Ronchi said that his side has developed their skills in the sub-continent. This, despite New Zealand having last played a Test in Bangladesh in 2013.”Ten years is a long, long time,” Ronchi said. “That’s when Ish Sodhi made his Test debut. Some of the guys were young so their style of play would have changed a lot. We played a lot of cricket in the sub-continent. We have toured Pakistan as well. The guys have their own tactics to play around the world.”You can see the reverse-sweep coming into it a lot more now. It makes life difficult for bowlers. But that’s how guys want to play. They need to adapt to that surface whichever way they think is the best way for them to score.”Ronchi said that the ODI World Cup in India on slow pitches has prepared them for the Test series on similar tracks in Bangladesh. “It would have been a big change if we came from the green wickets of New Zealand straight to Bangladesh,” he said. “But for the majority of our group here, they have been in the World Cup. They have been practicing on slower and turning surfaces so that it helps us in this Test series.”As for Mitchell, he put the World Cup behind him, though he savoured his presence in the ICC’s team of the tournament. “It is cool to be recognised with [a place in the World Cup team of the tournament]. It means you are contributing to the team and helping to win games,” Mitchell said. “There’s not much time to reflect. We are straight into Test cricket. You want to stay present, and be ready to go for the Test team. But also, a very special eight weeks in India. Those memories will last a lifetime.”

Visitors bowled out for 92 in a session to confirm crushing 399-run defeat

ECB Reporters Network27-Jun-2023James Rew notched his fourth LV= Insurance County Championship century of the season to help Somerset complete a 399-run rout of Nottinghamshire inside three days at Taunton.The 19-year-old wicketkeeper hit a career-best 123 not out as his side ran up 514 for 8 declared in their second innings to set their opponents an unlikely victory target of 492. George Bartlett, unbeaten on 109 overnight, fell for 134, just three short of his career-best score, while Kasey Aldridge weighed in with 50. Lyndon James had the best bowling figures for Notts with 2 for 64 from 18 overs.The visitors then slumped to 92 all out in their second innings, Josh Davey taking 4 for 17, to suffer the heaviest Championship defeat by a margin of runs in their history. They took three points from the game, while their opponents claimed 19.Somerset began the day on 268 for 4, knowing that the second new ball was just an over away. Any hopes Notts had of using it to reestablish their first day advantage soon disappeared.Bartlett and Rew, who set out on 17, batted confidently through the opening hour, taking few risks and eliminating the errors that had cost Somerset dear in their first innings. They had taken their fifth-wicket stand to 89 and the total to 320 when Bartlett, who had begun his innings with his team 43 for 2, was bowled by Dane Paterson, having faced 265 balls and hit 14 fours and a six.Rew has demonstrated a passion for batting long in red-ball cricket since first breaking into Somerset’s side last season. The young left-hander reached a typically unflurried fifty off 105 deliveries and played through the morning session without alarm.By lunch, he had moved to 60 and the lead was 342. Aldridge was on 17 and the afternoon session saw the pair build another substantial stand. Rew unleashed sixes over long-on and midwicket off Matt Carter, whose offspin posed as little threat as the seamers on what was looking a very flat pitch.Aldridge took the lead past 400 with a cover-driven boundary off Brett Hutton before Rew brought up the fifth first-class hundred of his short career off 172 balls, with 10 fours and 2 sixes.Aldridge has grown in confidence with the bat this season. He went to fifty off 88 balls, but was then bowled by James, having hit 5 fours. By then Somerset had posted 447 for 6 and their lead had grown to 424.It was then just a case of when skipper Tom Abell would choose to declare. By the time he did, Craig Overton and Matt Henry had warmed up for their bowling duties with some lusty blows, Henry clearing the ropes twice, while the ever-vigilant Rew had extended his rock solid innings to span 216 balls and just over four-and-three-quarter hours.Tea was taken before Notts began their mammoth task. It became even more mountainous when Haseeb Hammed was run out without scoring, sent back attempting a single to backward point and undone by Bartlett’s direct hit.It was 2 for 2 when Henry, bowling around the wicket, jagged one into left-hander Ben Slater’s pads to pin him lbw and 10 for 3 when Matthew Montgomery edged a defensive shot off Overton to Aldridge at second slip.Notts captain Steven Mullaney found himself walking to the crease at 14 for 4 after Joe Clarke had been snapped up at second slip by Overton to give Henry his eighth wicket of the match.The extra pace of Somerset’s opening bowlers was making the pitch look very different. And when Josh Davey replaced Overton, his first over saw James edge a drive to Tom Lammonby at third slip. Henry, whose bowling on the second morning had changed the course of the game took a rest having taken 2 for 19 from eight overs and his replacement, Aldridge, soon had Mullaney caught behind for 23 to make it 62 for 6.Hutton sportingly walked when inside-edging Davey to wicketkeeper Rew, who claimed another victim when Tom Moores, on 24, nicked a ball from Aldridge. Davey then cleaned up Jake Ball and Dane Paterson to spark joyous celebrations among home supporters.

For New Zealand, Mitchell’s 113 went in vain, even as Naseem bowled a tight spell

Danyal Rasool27-Apr-2023Fakhar Zaman’s ninth ODI hundred and a phenomenally frugal bowling performance by Naseem Shah helped Pakistan ease to a five-wicket win over New Zealand in the first ODI in Rawalpindi. In the process, they brought up their 500th ODI win, the third team to do so; the 949 games they took makes them the second quickest to the landmark after Australia, who managed the feat in 811 matches. Set 289 to win, Pakistan were never in serious danger of falling short after a 124-run opening stand between Fakhar and Imam-ul-Haq. Forty-nine from captain Babar Azam and a cameo lower down the order by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan helped them get over the line in the 49th over and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.Daryl Mitchell’s second ODI hundred had helped New Zealand to 288. A century second-wicket stand with Will Young, whose own knock of 86 came off just 78 balls, had helped set the platform for a score in excess of 300, but accurate death bowling from Pakistan – as well as the visitors’ inability to find boundaries – kept them in check. That was largely thanks to Naseem, who was at his metronomic best at both top and tail of the innings, his figures of 2 for 29 in his allotted ten ensuring New Zealand wouldn’t get past the 300-mark they looked on track for, for the best part of the innings.The chase was a realisation of the template Pakistan have followed on their best days in this format over the past four years. The bulk of the run-scoring was done by Fakhar, Imam and Babar; there is a reason, after all, no other side has relied as much as Pakistan on their top three for runs. While New Zealand’s openers had begun sedately, Pakistan started briskly on a surface that posed little danger to the batters.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Adam Milne and Matt Henry were milked and picked off for the occasional boundary, but once the 100 partnership came up in the 19th over, they displayed more obvious truculence. Fakhar pumped Mitchell for a six back over his head while Imam did the same to Ish Sodhi soon after. Both men had brought up half-centuries by now, and Pakistan appeared on track.Sodhi struck the next ball after finding some grip and trapping Imam in front, but only paved the way for another long partnership, this time between Babar and Fakhar. It looked as if those two would take the game right through to the end. The Pakistan captain looked at home since ball one, while Fakhar was moving inexorably towards yet another ODI hundred. When he did get there with a drive through extra cover he punched the air before the customary .But a loose shot from Babar one away from 50 brought Shan Masood to the crease. He was soon on his way back after a bit of a struggle, lapping the 12th ball to extra cover having added just one run, and New Zealand had the tiniest of openings once more.But Rizwan would shut it down with aplomb, looking to take the jeopardy out of the game by counterattacking. This he did with considerable success, and even as Fakhar fell for 117 at the other end, he ensured there was little reason for the home side to get wobbly. A smear over midwicket in the penultimate over sealed the deal, giving Pakistan the win they looked good value for through much of the game.Earlier, Pakistan had opted to put New Zealand in to bat on a hot day and a flat track. The bowlers started off keeping the openers on a leash, particularly Naseem, who found sideways movement and an extra yard of pace, allowing just 12 runs in his six-over spell. It was a bowling change, though, that brought the wicket, with Haris Rauf drawing the outside edge from Chad Bowes in his first over, capping a powerplay that belonged to the bowlers.Daryl Mitchell and Will Young added 102 for the second wicket but it was in vain•AFP/Getty Images

But as the field spread out, New Zealand began to grow into the innings. Young began to find his feet, especially against the spin. After a 51-ball 50, he swept Shadab for four and Agha Salman’s first delivery for a six. Pakistan continued to plug away with spin to little effect, with Mitchell soon beginning to play a useful support act. Young looked to be heading for a breezy hundred as the partnership crossed three figures and New Zealand sat pretty at 150 for one in a shade over 26 overs.But Shadab struck as Young holed out in pursuit of another boundary, and though Mitchell was only getting more comfortable, New Zealand could never quite assert themselves in the same way again. Tom Latham’s struggle at the crease – he managed 20 off 36 before falling lbw to a juicy full toss – sapped momentum. Mitchell smacked a pair of boundaries off Shadab and another four and six off Nawaz, but he was getting little support.The last 25 overs of the innings produced just three boundaries that Mitchell did not hit, and once Mark Chapman was cleaned up by Rauf, the innings never really went anywhere. Mitchell brought up a well-deserved hundred with a majestic straight drive off Shaheen Afridi, but with the miserly Naseem at the other end, New Zealand’s run-scoring was becoming more and more impecunious.Naseem would get the rewards he deserved so richly in the wickets column right at the death, dismissing Rachin Ravindra and Adam Milne off the final two deliveries of the innings, ensuring New Zealand ended well short of 300. As it turned out, they also fell well of a total to challenge Pakistan’s batters on a surface like this.

The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) and the Tripura Cricket Association (TCA) have become the first two full members of the BCCI to adopt the recommendations of the Lodha Committee, in separate special general meetings held on September 29 and 30

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Sep-2016The Tripura Cricket Association (TCA) and the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) have become the first full members of the BCCI to adopt the recommendations of the Lodha Committee, in separate special general meetings held on September 29 and 30 respectively.This development could affect the BCCI, which has been resolutely opposing the Lodha Committee’s recommendations and had failed to meet the first deadline of September 30. The board could not reach a decision at an emergent special general meeting on Friday and will reconvene again on October 1 to discuss the issue.On Thursday, the TCA had “unanimously” decided to amend its constitution in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee appointed by the Supreme Court.In an email to the Lodha Committee, TCA secretary Sourav Dasgupta said: “The house after discussions passed a resolution unanimously to implement the recommendations made for state association by the Supreme Court committee and a proposed draft of amendment made and passed for further necessary action with Register of Societies, Government of Tripura, under Registration Act, 1860.”Then on Friday, at the VCA’s SGM in Nagpur, 727 out of the 730 members voted in favour of a new constitution in line with the Committee’s recommendations.The VCA, in a media release, had stated that the sole item on the agenda for the SGM was to “consider and approve” the proposed new constitution of the Association as per the recommendations of Lodha Committee. “Total 730 votes were polled out of which 727 voted in favour of the proposed amendments whereas 3 members voted against the amendments,” the release said. “Therefore the proposed amendments to the Constitution of VCA were passed by a thumping majority.”The release stated that members had asked VCA president Prakash Dixit why the new constitution was being adopted when the BCCI and most of the full members had been resisting the move since the Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of the Committee’s recommendations on July 18.”After detailed discussions on the issue it was unanimously decided that the recommendations now having been approved by the Supreme Court the same are binding on us and whether right or wrong, whether we agree or disagree we have to respect the decision of the Honorable Supreme Court and implement the recommendations,” the VCA said.A new executive committee of the Vidarbha association will be elected by November 15, the deadline set by the Lodha Committee, and the new administration will conform to the rules and the eligibility criteria specified by the three-member panel. The new VCA executive will comprise the president, a vice-president (previously two), a secretary, a joint secretary (earlier two), a treasurer, five executive members (earlier seven) with one member elected from the clubs (earlier five).”The criteria for an Office Bearer or the member of the managing committee / Executive committee or to the selection Committee will be as per the recommendations of the Lodha Committee,” the release stated. “Those who have attained the age of 70 years or declared insolvent or of unsound mind, or holds any post in any other sports or athletic association or federation and also those who have completed nine years in office for a cumulative period of 9 years will be ineligible to hold any post in the association. Further a Minister or a government servant will be ineligible to hold any post in the Association.”The executive committee will also include a male and a female cricketer nominated by the players’ association, and a nominee from the state accountant general’s office. The men’s. women’s and junior selection panels will be trimmed from the existing six selectors to three, as recommended by the Committee. The VCA has also decided to hold its annual general meeting during the first weekend in December going forward.

Anupam Sanklecha’s heroics, Delhi’s hard-earned win and Karnataka’s escape highlight the seventh round of Group B matches in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2016Maharashtra picked up the four remaining wickets early on the fourth day to beat Assam by an innings and 52 runs in Chennai. Their second successive win brought them storming back into contention for a berth in the quarter-finals. Assam, resuming on 115 for 6, needed to wipe out a deficit of 171 more. KB Arun Karthik and Swarupam Purkayastha added 83, before left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bacchav sent back Purkayastha for 69. Two overs later, Mohsin Sayyad dismissed Abu Nechim Ahmed for a duck.Anupam Sanklecha, who took eight wickets in the first innings, fittingly picked up the last wicket – his 12th in the match and 26th in two games – as Assam were all out for 234, with Karthik stranded on 87. Earlier in the match, tons from Kedar Jadhav and Chirag Khurana took Maharashtra to 542 before Sanklecha ran through Assam’s batting. His eight wickets in Assam’s first innings, gave them a 286 run lead.Delhi survived a final day collapse before they reached 153 to beat Rajasthan by two wickets in Wayanad. They started the day on 51 for 3, needing 102 runs more to win. But overnight batsman Vikas Tokas was bowled by Pankaj Singh ten runs later, before Shikhar Dhawan, on a comeback trail after recovering from a broken finger, was out on 49.Delhi were at 76 for 5 at this stage, still needing another 77. But Nitish Rana (31), added 24 runs with Milind Kumar and another 37 with Sumit Narwal, before being run out. Narwal then batted with the tail to take Delhi to victory. He remained unbeaten on 27. Rajasthan’s Amitkumar Gautam, playing his second first-class match, was adjudged Player of the Match. He scored 106 in the first innings to notch up his maiden first-class ton.CM Gautam (95) and Shreyas Gopal (77) helped Karnataka stave off defeat and walk away with one point against Odisha in New Delhi. Karnataka were 81 ahead with four wickets in hand when play began. They drove ahead to 393, with he last four wickets contributing 162. K Gowtham, the offspinner, made 46 of those at No. 9. Set a target of 231 in 32 overs, Odisha’s openers batted cautiously to end on 63 without loss and walk away with the first-innings honours. This was the first time this season that Karnataka conceded a lead. However, they continued to top the group.Vidarbha recorded their first win of the season by beating Saurashtra by eight wickets at the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi. Akshay Wakhare and Mohammad Shaikh picked up seven wickets between them as Saurashtra, who conceded a 46-run lead, were bowled out for 189, with opener Snell Patel top scoring with 63. Vidarbha lost Faiz Fazal early in chase of 144, but were driven by half-centuries from Sanjay Ramaswamy and Ganesh Satish as they completed the chase in 35 overs. The loss meant Saurashtra were rooted to the bottom of the group.

The batsman was adjudged not out despite having nicked one off Abhimanyu Mithun, but couldn’t build on the slice of luck too much

Saurabh Somani in Bengaluru25-Jan-2019Umpiring standards and the absence of technology to aid match officials in knockout matches in Indian domestic cricket were back in focus after Cheteshwar Pujara was adjudged not out despite having nicked a seaming away delivery from Abhimanyu Mithun in the Ranji Trophy semi-final between Karnataka and Saurashtra on Friday.The incident took place shortly after the lunch break on the second day, and came during a probing spell of fast bowling from Mithun and Ronit More. Saurashtra were 64 for 2, trailing by 211 runs, when Mithun went wide of the crease on the last ball of the 23rd over. The line and movement of the delivery opened Pujara up, and there was a noise as the ball seemed to have kissed his right thumb on the way to settling into the gloves of wicketkeeper S Sharath.Mithun and the entire Karnataka team leapt and screamed in joyous relief thinking they had got rid of the most dangerous opposition batsman. To their visible shock and dismay, umpire Saiyed Khalid disagreed. Pujara stood his ground marking his guard even as Karnataka captain Manish Pandey pleaded with the umpire.Pujara had made just one run at that stage off 18 deliveries. The Karnataka players carried on remonstrating with the officials, and some of them even seemed to tell Pujara he should walk.More said as frustrating as the incident was, Karnataka pacemen did not lose the focus and stuck to their plan. “Pujara is the main batsman for their team, and they are more dependent on him,” More said after the day’s play. “Mithun and I spoke about it and we were just talking about keeping it on the fourth stump and then seeing what happens from there. There were some close calls but we couldn’t get a wicket at that time. Not disappointed, but that’s how the game works. Sometimes you get wickets, sometimes you don’t. You just have to keep bowling there.”Incidentally, Pujara turned 31 on the day. However, he couldn’t make the unexpected gift count and Mithun had his man eventually. Mithun bowled a half-tracker and Pujara attempted a pull shot. However, the ball did not bounce as much as he expected and Pujara top-edged the ball for Mithun to pouch an easy return catch, sending Pujara back for 45.While the missed caught-behind didn’t cost Karnataka too much in terms of runs, the decision called into question the umpiring in domestic cricket and the lack of technological help for them, especially in crucial games. In the last 15 minutes of the day, there was another questionable decision from the same end, when More’s appeal for a caught behind against Prerak Mankad was upheld. More had bowled it in the channel and Mankad had a poke at it, but there was a clear gap between bat and ball. The batsman stood at the crease in disbelief when the umpire’s finger was raised but had to go on his way eventually. At that stage, Saurashtra were 223 for 6, which would turn into 227 for 7 two overs later at stumps.This has followed from the quarter-final between Karnataka and Rajasthan, where too there were a number of contentious decisions.

Australia’s Test stars make a quiet return while Nathan Ellis doesn’t notice his hat-trick

Andrew McGlashan15-Jan-2023

Slow start for Test players

The much-heralded return of Australia’s Test starts didn’t quite begin with a bang. Marnus Labuschagne top-scored with 46 in Brisbane Heat’s win over Adelaide Strikers where Travis Head and Alex Carey made three runs between them. David Warner couldn’t really get going against Perth Scorchers although there wasn’t much he could have against the yorker from Riley Meredith that cleaned him up in Hobart. Likewise for Usman Khawaja, he got a good delivery from Harry Conway in the game against Strikers. Steven Smith was in good touch against Scorchers at the SCG but Nathan Lyon didn’t have things all his own way as Nick Hobson sent him for a 105-metre six.

Lynn departs

Chris Lynn won’t see out the competition with Strikers after his much-publicised deal which allowed him to leave early to join the ILT20 after there had been a chance of him missing the BBL entirely. But he’s certainly brought value and departs as the tournament’s second-highest run-scorer (he and team-mate Matt Short are way out in front). Early in the tournament Lynn couldn’t quite make the most of his starts, but he turned that around with consecutive scores of 87, 64 and latterly an unbeaten 69 off 37 balls as Strikers piled up 202 against Melbourne Renegades.Related

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However, whether he’ll be back next year remains uncertain. “You can’t say ‘no, I don’t want to come back’ or ‘I’m locked in’ or whatever it may be,” Lynn said. “There’s a lot of conversations to be had and I’m sure the right decision will happen.”

Davies a shining light amid batting woes

Sydney Thunder’s batting is stuttering badly (although not quite 15 all out badly) which is putting their finals prospects at risk. However, Ollie Davies is building himself a very good season. He has now passed 300 runs – one of just five batters to do it so far – with two more impressive innings. He was head and shoulders above the rest of the Thunder batting against Scorchers with a rapid half-century then also top-scored against Hurricanes amid another top-order collapse.

Memories of the derby final

In a re-run of the 2018-19 when Renegades and Stars faced off, it was a question of how did Stars manage to lose that? The Melbourne derby clashes have certainly not been dull this season with the first game lit up by Adam Zampa’s failed attempt at a run out backing up. In the return fixture Renegades again came out on top when Stars somehow failed to complete their chase having needed 21 off 25 balls with seven wickets in hand. Kane Richardson was superb and Will Sutherland held his nerve in the final over with 12 to defend, but it compounded what is becoming a miserable season for Stars. Injuries haven’t helped – Glenn Maxwell has missed the whole tournament and Marcus Stoinis recent games with a hamstring niggle – and it has left their campaign all-but done.

Hurricanes’ relief

Hobart Hurricanes nearly messed up a chase of their own. Needing 132 against Stars, they were seemingly home with ease at 94 for 1 in the 12th over before mayhem set in. Caleb Jewell had made 70 off 44 balls out of those 94 runs when he departed with Hurricanes then almost falling in a heap. Tim David fell over his own bat as he was run out and the rest of the middle order disappeared to a range if indiscreet shots. No. 10 Nathan Ellis, captaining in place of the absent Matthew Wade, walked out with three needed in the 18th over and finally got the job done, although even the winning runs came from a thick inside edge. However, after that alarm, earning back-to-back wins with victory over Thunder made it a good few days for Hurricanes.

Performance of the week

It felt like a good week for the bowlers. Jason Behrendorff was superb against Heat as was Sean Abbott against Scorchers at the SCG as he made it three three-wicket hauls in a row. But Nathan Ellis takes it for his 4 for 27 against Thunder, a career-best T20 haul, which included a hat-trick that he didn’t notice. Having removed Matthew Gilkes with the last ball of the fourth over, Ellis did not bowl again until the 15th when he had Davies superbly caught at cover before spearing one through Nathan McAndrew but the time between overs meant the significance of the moment passed him by.

New Zealand will have to show more skill than they did in Zimbabwe if they are to topple South Africa

Firdose Moonda in Durban18-Aug-2016New Zealand cricket’s core has become so keenly introspective that neither the exclusion of AB de Villiers nor the inclusion of Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander to South Africa’s Test XI will affect their approach to the upcoming series. Or so they say.”It doesn’t change the way we approach this match. We want to focus on how we play our best cricket,” New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said. “Any team that did have AB de Villiers and now doesn’t, it’s not a great thing for them. He’s the best player in the world so for them it’s a bit of a loss but at the same time they’ve got a lot of depth. There’s so much talent in this country. Whatever team they pick will be a good team.”In reality, the personnel New Zealand are up against will very much determine their strategy. They will know that the batting line-up – which includes two senior players in Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy who were both dropped last season – can be broken through more easily without de Villiers. They will also know that it will not give way like Zimbabwe’s did, when all it took was one short-ball barrage in the first Test and a fair amount of persistence in the second.In Zimbabwe, New Zealand had to rely on “more creative bowling to try to manufacture wickets on a surface that was very tough to take wickets on,” as Williamson put it. In South Africa, there will be some assistance but whether it will come in the form of swing through the humid air or turn from an early-season surface is yet to be seen. That means New Zealand will have to showcase more skill than they did in Zimbabwe but it also means South Africa will have to do the same. “We know South Africa have a very good seam attack and are well balanced in the bowling department,” Williamson said.Among South Africa’s six seam-bowling options are swing, seam, and left-arm bowlers who will be far more challenging than the more one-dimensional pack Zimbabwe fielded. New Zealand dealt with mostly medium-pace and part-time bowlers in Bulawayo with respect and only pushed on when they were looking for a second-innings declaration that would give them enough time to win the match. But in so doing, they showed how they plan an attack.South Africa should heed that. For all New Zealand’s downplaying of their higher ranking – Williamson insisted they “don’t pay too much attention,” to the Test charts – their steady improvement as a unit means they are confident enough not to simply follow the opposition’s lead but to set the tone in a Test match. “We know when we play our best cricket, we can beat anyone,” Williamson said.Now that anyone could be South Africa – a team New Zealand have never recorded a series win against – at a place where New Zealand have only won three Tests, one since readmission and none in Durban. If New Zealand are serious about showing how much they have improved as a Test side and how little the reputations of the opposition matter to their own game, this is their chance and Williamson has indicated the want to take it. “I don’t think we regard ourselves as favourites. We know that South Africa are always a strong opposition, regardless of the rankings. You are constantly playing in different conditions and different countries all the time so adapting is part of the international game. For us the focus is on playing our cricket”

He had clattered a 58-ball century against Australia Under-19 in a four-day game less than two months ago

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2024Bihar youngster Vaibhav Suryavanshi, a left-hand top-order batter, has become the youngest player to earn an IPL deal, worth INR 1.10 crore (US$0.13 million approx.), from Rajasthan Royals (RR).Suryavanshi, all of 13 years and 243 days on the day he got his maiden IPL contract, has already played for India Under-19 and scored a century opening the batting against Australia Under-19 in a four-day game in Chennai less than two months ago.Bids for Suryavanshi started at his base price of INR 30 lakh and RR and Delhi Capitals (DC) were soon involved in the bidding battle, which eventually went RR’s way.”He’s been to our high performance center in Nagpur, he had trials there and really impressed our coaching set-up there,” RR CEO Jake Lush McCrum said after the auction ended. “He’s an incredible talent and of course you got to have the confidence so he can step up to the IPL level. So lots of work will go in in the coming months to continue to develop him but hell of a talent and we’re really excited to have him as part of the franchise.”Suryavanshi, who hails from Samastipur, a city about 100 kilometres north-east from Patna, has featured in five Ranji Trophy games since his first-class debut against Mumbai earlier this year and is currently playing T20s in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Bihar. He recently made his T20 debut against Rajasthan, on November 23.The highlight of his career so far is the century against Australia U-19, which came off just 58 balls, before he fell for 104. That knock made Suryavanshi the youngest player – at 13 years and 187 days – to score a century in youth cricket, breaking the previous record of 14 years and 241 days held by Bangladesh’s current captain Najmul Hossain Shanto.Suryavanshi also has a triple-century to his name – an unbeaten 332 – in an U-19 tournament in Bihar, the Randhir Verma Tournament. He idolises Brian Lara and consults former India opener Wasim Jaffer about his game from time to time – they had first met during an U-19 white-ball tournament in Bangladesh in November 2023.His formal coach, though, is his father Sanjeev Suryavanshi. Sanjeev was a cricketer, too, but when he couldn’t make it to the higher levels, he turned to coaching, and began working with Vaibhav once he showed an interest in playing the game seriously.

Bangladesh captain refuses to blame conditions for their tense defeat in a rain-hit game

Sidharth Monga02-Nov-2022Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has refused to complain about resuming the game too early, and instead said that they panicked while chasing the DLS-adjusted target, which he felt most teams would have done.Bangladesh had India rattled in a chase of 185, thanks to a stunning assault from opener Litton Das who had raced away to 59 off 26 when rain interrupted their charge. Their 66 for 0 in seven overs was 17 ahead of the DLS par score. When play resumed, Das slipped twice when running on the first two balls. The second of those cost him his wicket after which Bangladesh fell six short of the required 85 in nine overs.”Nobody in our dressing room talked about fair or unfair,” Shakib said about the resumption of play. “We wanted to play. We wanted to win. Everyone tried their best, but we came short.”Related

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Shakib was asked looking at how the initial conditions were slippery did he wish they had started 10-15 minutes later? “That is the decision umpires make,” Shakib said. “We don’t make that decision. We are there to play cricket. Both teams wanted to play full 20 overs. Unfortunately rain interrupted. I am happy the way both teams played. It was played in the right spirit. Both teams played really well, we were very close like the 2016 World Cup, but not close enough.”So were the conditions slippery when they resumed? “It was a little slippery the amount of rain it had had,” Shakib said. “But normally that suits the batting side rather than the bowling side. We should not make that an excuse.”Shakib even said Das could have shown better awareness after he slipped for the first time, and that he should perhaps have run on the edge of the pitch and not the grass. While taking the second, Das slipped but didn’t fall like the first time when he even injured his wrist. However, the time he lost was enough for a KL Rahul direct hit from the deep to catch him short.Litton Das’ run-out for 60 turned the game in Adelaide•ICC/Getty Images

“It was unfortunate that Litton slipped, but I don’t know if he ran on the pitch or in the grass between the pitches,” Shakib said. “If he had run on the grass, he should have been careful and run on the pitch the next time.”Shakib was asked if it was lack of experience or an emotional response that they played too many shots immediately after resumption. “Combination of both lack of experience and panicking,” Shakib said. “We were pretty relaxed in the dressing room. We knew what was coming our way. When we got the target of 85 runs in nine overs, we [said we] will take that. With wickets in hand. Bhuvi was almost done too [Bhuvneshwar Kumar had bowled three overs by then]. You take that challenge, and chase that down. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do it.”It was down to 52 required off five overs with eight wickets in hand, a walk in park for most teams. “Most teams would have got those 52 runs,” Shakib said. “We should have chased it down. I thought we were capable. It didn’t happen unfortunately. Maybe we panicked in the middle order, playing too many shots. We lost the momentum big time in two-three overs. Nurul [Hasan] and Taskin [Ahmed] almost brought us back into contention later on. T20 matches change every over. If you look at the last two overs, many teams can now get 30 in the last two overs. We couldn’t do it, but we can take a lot of positives from this game.”