All posts by n8rngtd.top

Australia A claimed first points in the tri-angular series against South Africa A and India A in a high-scoring chase

The Report by Firdose Moonda06-Aug-2013
 
ScorecardShaun Marsh struck an unbeaten hundred in Australia A’s strong chase•Getty Images

Australia A claimed first points in the tri-angular series against South Africa A and India A in a high-scoring chase. After conceding heavily on a flat wicket, Australia A may have had some concerns but Shaun Marsh batted through their innings, survived a middle-order wobble and shared a 133-run seventh-wicket stand with Nathan Coulter-Nile to ensure Australia A chased 297 with an over to spare.South Africa A started well. Knights’ team-mates Rilee Rossouw and Reeza Hendricks scored 11 boundaries in the first 10 overs and posted 79 after 15 before the first wicket fell. Rossouw became the first of Moises Henriques’ quartet of scalps. Hendricks was joined by another franchise colleague, Dean Elgar, and the pair put on 47 runs for the second wicket.Hendricks looked set to bring up triple figures but was dismissed on 75, leaving it to the middle order to build on the foundation. Justin Ontong took over from there and put on small stands with all the rest, including 57 with Vaughn van Jaarsveld for fourth wicket, but was prevented from launching by Glenn Maxwell who held up his end well. Ontong was dismissed off the last ball of the innings but South Africa A’s bowlers would still have felt they had enough to defend.Aaron Finch and Marsh had other ideas. They scored at eight runs an over for the first nine and their opening stand was worth 111. Just as South Africa A would have thought it was getting away from them, they struck five times in the next ten overs to swing the advantage their way.Kyle Abbott accounted for Alex Doolan and Nic Maddinson while Beuran Hendricks also struck twice to leave Australia A at 150 for 6 in the 31st over. And that was where South Africa A’s attack would have looked to the clubhouse and wished they could have asked Makhaya Ntini, who was visiting to watch his neighbour Ayabulela Gqamane play, to show them how to nip out a tail.Marsh and Coulter-Nile were unstoppable and by the time the latter was dismissed, Australia A needed 13 runs off 17 balls to win. Heartening for South Africa A will be the return of Rusty Theron from a stress fracture. He went wicketless in his nine overs but went for under six runs an over.

Sri Lanka captain to go with two spinners for the Test as he hopes the team can give the retiring Suranga Lakmal a ‘great farewell’

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Mar-2022It’s a pink-ball Test, which anyway tends not to be high-scoring. On top of which, this appears to be a very dry surface (i.e. spin-friendly pitch) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.Could that mean Sri Lanka are in with more of a chance here, than they had been Mohali? Dimuth Karunaratne hopes so. This is despite both Lahiru Kumara and Dushmantha Chameera being unavailable, and Pathum Nissanka out as well.Related

• Almost invisible Lakmal not a man for the glory spells

• Lakmal signs for Derbyshire after announcing international retirement

• Nissanka out of second Test with back injury

• The anatomy of Virat Kohli's century drought

• Jasprit Bumrah: 'We're still very new' to pink-ball cricket

But here, at least, they know they have to have a stronger spin attack than they did in Mohali, where they played just Lasith Embuldeniya as a frontline spin option, with Dhananjaya de Silva’s part-time offspin, and Charith Asalanka’s even more part-time offspin, in support. Left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama is likely to be in the XI on Saturday.”We’ll have to play two spinners,” Karunaratne said. “In Bangalore you’ve got this black soil, and most likely it will turn a lot. It’s very dry. They’ve cut most of the grass off. Although it’s a pink-ball Test, we’ll probably go with two frontline spinners and Dhananjaya de Silva.”Karunaratne hopes too, that even if India bat first, the pitch will offer enough to the spinners that the kind of huge first-innings score that India put up in Mohali is out of the question here. Sri Lanka were hamstrung in that bowling innings by the injury to Lahiru Kumara, who walked off the field on the first day and did not return to bowl thereafter, nursing a hamstring injury.Because India were able to capitalise and make 574 for 8, they were able to attack relentlessly with the ball, and Sri Lanka were unable to reverse pressure. If they can keep India to less in Bangalore, perhaps that will have consequences for Sri Lanka’s batting innings as well.”In the first match, we saw lots of turn from Ravindra Jadeja but didn’t see a lot of turn from R Ashwin, or Jayant Yadav. Because they had a huge total in the first innings, they put a lot of catching fielders in and attacked us. They didn’t use in-out fields. They wanted us to defend as much as possible. We wanted to try and spread the field by attacking.”This match will be quite different. If we can reverse a little pressure and get an in-out field, we can play some more risk-free cricket and rotate the singles. We tried that in the past game, but because they were so far ahead in the game, it didn’t work.”This match is Suranga Lakmal’s last in Tests. He has been Sri Lanka’s seam-bowling spearhead for the last decade, more-or-less, though this has been a decade in which Sri Lanka’s own pitches have essentially neutered him, because they’ve been so dry. A pink ball, though, could envenom Lakmal. He averages less than 20 in the two day-night Tests Sri Lanka have played so far.”We’re trying very hard to give Suranga a great farewell,” Karunaratne said. “We haven’t come here just to play. We want to win a Test somehow, and do something that hasn’t been done before. We have a big expectation. From day one till the last day we know what we have to do, but we have to put that in motion. We are working very hard and want to give everything for Suranga. He’s someone who gives everything to the team as well.”

Andy Waller, the former Zimbabwe batsman, has been confirmed as the country’s new head coach. He will take up his post after the Bangladesh tour.

ESPNcricinfo staff01-May-2013Andy Waller, the former Zimbabwe batsman, has been confirmed as the country’s new head coach. He will take up his post after the Bangladesh tour.As revealed by ESPNcricinfo Waller will replace current acting national coach Stephen Mangongo with Mangongo becoming Waller’s assistant.Waller, 53, played two Tests – both against England – and 39 ODIs for Zimbabwe between 1987 and 1997. He became coach of Namibia before being appointed Zimbabwe coaches manager in 2009. He then joined Midwest Rhinos as head coach before coming to the UK to work at Eastborne College.”Waller takes over the reins at a time when the demands on our performance are very high,” Zimbabwe Cricket Board chairman, Peter Chingoka, said. “We are confident that the strategy he presented to us and his unique style of coaching will yield positive results.”Waller said he had high expectations: “We have a busy calendar of tours and our performance needs to start reflecting the preparation that goes into these games. My long-term focus is to build a team of the future and I am looking forward to working with the boys.”

Minister Group Dhaka needed nine to win off the last over, with set batter Tamim Iqbal in the middle, but eventually lost by three runs

Mohammad Isam08-Feb-2022How the match played outMrittunjoy Chowdhury brought back Chattogram Challengers out of the dead with a superb final over that helped clinch a three-run win over Minister Group Dhaka. It was the first thriller of the BPL this season, particularly after several one-sided games in the competition in the past week.To defend eight runs in the last over, the left-arm quick Mrittunjoy first removed Qais Ahmed off the first ball. He then bowled two dot balls to Mohammad Naim, before the batter got off strike. Tamim Iqbal, who was the set batter at the other end, could only muster a bye next ball, finishing on an unbeaten 73 and leaving Naim to hit a six off the last ball.Mrittunjoy bowled a high full-toss this time, which Naim hit back to him. But it was a no-ball, which handed Dhaka another chance. But Naim, struggling throughout the tournament, couldn’t do much in the final ball. Mrittunjoy bowled another fast full delivery, which only returned a single down the ground.The win brought Chattogram back in contention for the playoffs spots as they replaced Dhaka in fourth place with eight points. Chattogram, who got into the game with their third captain in Afif Hossain, banked on the 57 runs they added in the last five overs to get them to 148 for 6 in 20 overs.Related

• Mehidy Hasan Miraz captaincy row – 'Both player and franchise admit they acted unreasonably'

Big hitShamim Hossain made his maiden BPL fifty, getting most of his runs on the on-side, including a six over midwicket off Ebadot Hossain. He also struck five fours in his 37-ball knock. He added 58 runs for the sixth wicket with Benny Howell, who struck two sixes in his unbeaten 19-ball 24.The Shamim-Howell combination also accounted for Mahmudullah’s catch in the 15th over of Dhaka’s chase. Mahmudullah slog-swept Mehidy Hasan Miraz, only for Shamim to intercept the ball in the deep-midwicket boundary. Realising that he would lose his balance and fall over the rope, he flicked the ball to Howell who completed the catch.The catch broke the 71-run fourth wicket stand between Tamim and Mahmudullah, after Dhaka had slipped to 21 for 3 in the fifth over. Mahmudullah played the support act as Tamim struck the ball cleanly over the covers, hitting Jacks for a six and Miraz for two fours through the region.Tamim kept the Dhaka chase on track even after Mahmudullah got out, adding 43 runs in 4.1 overs with Shuvagata Hom. Tamim struck his sixth four off the last ball of Shoriful Islam’s 19th over, which left Qais on strike, but with nine to win, Dhaka couldn’t finish the game they way they desired.Mrittunjoy, meanwhile, crossed another milestone in this ever-improving BPL campaign. He started the tournament with a hat-trick against Sylhet Sunrisers before taking a four-wicket haul against Fortune Barishal.Big missA big worry would be Naim’s form throughout this BPL season. This short innings of two runs off five balls may not reflect his overall form but he has truly struggled, resulting in him being sent to bat at No. 8 in this game. He has so far scored just 43 runs at an average of 8.60. It must be a cause of concern for the Bangladesh selectors going into the Afghanistan series later this month.

Kemar Roach flies home to West Indies after Surrey stint cut short by injury

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2022James Anderson and Saqib Mahmood are available for Lancashire’s home County Championship match against Gloucestershire this week.The pair bowled at Lancashire training this morning and, as centrally contracted players, were cleared by the ECB to play in the Division One fixture starting at Emirates Old Trafford on Thursday.The ECB also made Stuart Broad available for selection by Nottinghamshire, with the club due to announce their squad tomorrow to travel to Durham, although the , for whom Broad is a columnist, reported that he would delay his first outing of the domestic season for another week, targeting Notts’ subsequent three fixtures at Trent Bridge and Lord’s. Both grounds are venues for the opening Test series of the English summer, against New Zealand, with Broad hoping to make his return to the England side then.Broad and Anderson were high-profile omissions from England’s ill-fated Test tour of the Caribbean last month, with the visitors losing 1-0 to compound the fallout from their 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia.England’s interim managing director of men’s cricket, Andrew Strauss, had said the West Indies trip represented an opportunity for other seamers to take on leadership roles in the absence of the vastly experienced duo, but two of those players – Mark Wood and Chris Woakes – have been sidelined by injury. Wood underwent elbow surgery after breaking down during the first Test and is out of action until at least May, while, according to the , Woakes is expected to return for Warwickshire next month amid a setback after returning from the Caribbean with knee and shoulder complaints.Related

• Mark Wood undergoes surgery to tackle 'impingement issue' in right elbow

• Rob Key named England's new managing director of men's cricket

• James Anderson on England dropping: 'I've stopped trying to make sense of it'

• Where next for England now that Joe Root has resigned the Test captaincy?

• Saqib Mahmood turned down IPL offer to 'push red-ball credentials' with England

Following England’s performance against West Indies, Joe Root resigned as Test captain last week, and Rob Key was appointed to take over permanently from Strauss, who only intended to fill the role short-term. England are yet to name Root’s replacement, and employ a head coach to replace the sacked Chris Silverwood but, before his resignation, Root stated publicly that Anderson and Broad had a route back into the England team, starting with early-season wickets in the County Championship.Anderson said a week ago that he had had no contact with anyone in the England set-up since his omission, other than the physiotherapist, and Broad wrote in his weekend newspaper column that he had given no thought to suggestions he could take over as Test captain “because firstly I am not currently in possession of a shirt within the England Test team and my focus is very much on changing that by taking wickets for Nottinghamshire over the next few weeks”.”In fact, I would argue we are in a fairly unique position as far as selection for the Test team goes right now in that there are only two players whose names you could write in pen on the scorecard,” Broad added. “One of them is Joe Root, the other is Ben Stokes – and one of them isn’t going to be captain for the first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 2 because he has just given the job away.”Mahmood recently revealed he had turned down an offer to become a replacement overseas player in the IPL to push his Test credentials by playing in the Championship, having made his debut on the Caribbean tour. He was rested for Lancashire’s 10-wicket win at Kent last week.Ollie Robinson, who was part of England’s West Indies touring party but didn’t play because of a back problem, is not available for Sussex in this week’s Division Two game at Worcestershire due to illness, which is not Covid-related.Meanwhile, West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach has flown home after scans confirmed he had suffered a hamstring injury during the second day of Surrey’s innings win over Hampshire on Friday. Roach had been due to play in Surrey’s first five red-ball matches.”I’m gutted that my time at Surrey has come to an end due to a slight injury but I want to thank the whole Surrey family for the love and care they have shown,” Roach said on Twitter.

A battling 74 from Garry Park was not enough to prevent the Unicorns from
slumping to a sixth defeat in seven Yorkshire Bank 40 matches as Chris Cooke’s 98 put Glamorgan out of reach at Southend.

09-Jun-2013
ScorecardChris Cooke fell just short of a century•Getty Images

A battling 74 from Garry Park was not enough to prevent the Unicorns from
slumping to a sixth defeat in seven Yorkshire Bank 40 matches as Chris Cooke’s 98 put Glamorgan out of reach at Southend.Park’s knock was the stand-out effort in the Unicorns’ 215 for 9 but it proved in vain in response to the Welsh county’s 300 for 6.A surprise victory for the hosts never looked likely once an early onslaught
subsided. Needing 7.5 runs per over from the outset, the Unicorns started with purpose
but with Tom Lancefield and Michael O’Shea back in the pavilion with 30 on the
board their momentum stalled.Scott Elstone and Park put on 71 for the third wicket before the former
departed two short of a second half-century of the season.Vishal Tripathi and veteran skipper Keith Parsons failed to make much of an
impression and the game was effectively over when Park was out after a 70-ball
knock which included seven fours and a six. Graham Wagg swept through the tail to finish with figures of 4 for 51.Glamorgan, who moved up to fourth in Group C with the win, received important
contributions from opening pair William Bragg and Mark Wallace while Cooke and
Jim Allenby built on the platform with some lusty hitting.Bragg and Wallace put on 82 in just 69 balls for the opening wicket and
although both were accounted for by Dominic Reed in relatively quick succession,
the Unicorns bowlers were offered no let-up.Former Australia Test batsman Marcus North made just 12 but that allowed Cooke
and Allenby to come together. The pair bludgeoned 162 from 18.2 overs before Cooke was bowled by the excellent Reed as he approached three figures.Allenby also perished to Reed, who finished with 5 for 31, for 85 after an
entertaining knock which saw him hit four fours and six sixes.

Combined Campuses and Colleges’ bowlers ensured their team’s place in the final of the Regional Super50, comfortably defending a modest to beat Trinidad & Tobago by 140 runs in a big upset in Bridgetown

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCombined Campuses and Colleges’ bowlers ensured their team’s place in the final of the Regional Super50, comfortably defending a modest to beat Trinidad & Tobago by 140 runs in a big upset in Bridgetown. CCC batted first, with the openers putting together 45 runs for the first wicket. After Chadwick Walton was dismissed, Anthony Alleyne took over the anchoring role, building a 37-run partnership for the third wicket with captain Kyle Corbin, before putting on an 83-run stand with Nekoli Parris. The T&T bowlers did a good job in restricting the scoring after a belligerent start from the openers. Alleyne ultimately fell in the 48th over, just one run short of a deserved century, after he was given leg before to Yannick Ottley. CCC posted 232 for 7 at the end of their fifty overs, with Ottley picking up best figures of 3 for 37.T&T had a horror start in their reply, being reduced to 19 for 3 by Keswick Williams, before continually losing wickets at regular intervals. Only three batsman were able to get into double digits as the innings was controlled through effective bowling and fielding from CCC. There were a total of three run outs affected in the innings, with Williams picking up fine figures of 3 for 16, and was ably supported by Raymon Reifer (2 for 11) and Akeem Dewar (2 for 14). They were dismissed for 92 in the 32nd over, giving CCC a resounding 140-run victory, and propelling them into the final on Sunday, where they will play the winner between Jamaica and Windward Islands.

A round-up of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge matches played on March 12, 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLions successfully chased Knights’ 143 by four wickets to extend their lead at the top of the table. Knights elected to bat, with the openers starting promisingly with a 44-run stand. Once Loots Bosman was dismissed, Dean Elgar came in to continue building on their efforts, but was also dismissed at the halfway stage with the score on 72. Once Rilee Rossouw was out with an attacking 76 off 47 balls, the innings began to lose momentum, with the final seven wickets falling for the addition of 31 runs. Knights eventually reached a defendable 143 for 8 at the completion of their quota of overs.Lions failed to establish a platform from which to launch as Gulam Bodi and Chris Morris fell cheaply. Opener Quinton de Kock and Alviro Petersen combined for 32 runs for the third wicket, before de Kock was bowled by Elgar. Contributions from Petersen (36), Sohail Tanvir (18), and a decisive 31 off 17 balls from Jean Symes, though,led Lions to a four-wicket victory over the Knights with five balls to spare.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Titans won a nail-biter against Cape Cobras to move up to third place on the table. Titans were put in to bat, and the openers started strongly, posting 40 after 4.2 overs, before Jacques Rudolph fell for 35. Titans lost two further wickets quickly to be 64 for 3, but Henry Davids and Farhaan Behardien put up a 92-run stand that ensured they finished at a competitive 178 for 4 after their 20 overs. Behardien top-scored with an unbeaten 68, with Davids scoring 55. Azhar Mahmood had the best figures of 3 for 34.Cape Cobras suffered an early blow, with Richard Levi being bowled by Roelof van der Merwe with the score on 24. Contributions from Dane Vilas (32) and Azhar Mahmood (27) helped steady the innings, and once both were dismissed, Owais Shah and Justin Ontong took over to navigate the chase. They kept the prospects of victory alive with their attacking innings of 61 and 31 respectively, but fell seven short of the target at the completion of 20.

County responds to allegations from former players, in wake of chairman’s resignation

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2021Essex have become the second county club after Yorkshire to set up an investigation into historic allegations of racism, with the appointment of Katharine Newton QC to oversee proceedings.Newton is described in a statement from the club as “an experienced and highly regarded practitioner who appears regularly in the employment tribunal, High Court and the appellate courts, including the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court”.”Ms Newton has over 20 years’ practice in employment law and notably led the investigation into the allegations of race discrimination and bullying against the manager of the England Women football team in 2017,” the statement continues.”Essex Cricket reiterated that the club has a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and any form of discrimination. The appointment of such an eminent legal figure underscores the club’s determination that all allegations, regardless of when they took place, will be investigated thoroughly and independently.”The club’s move follows the recent resignation of chairman John Faragher, who was accused of using racist language during a board meeting – a charge he denies.Two former players have since spoken out about their treatment at Essex, with the Jamaica-born fast bowler Maurice Chambers telling the Cricketer that he was repeatedly abused by two players and a senior coach, and taunted with bananas.Zoheb Sharif, a former batter, told Sky News he had been nicknamed “the Bomber” after making his debut in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, and told he would never be picked for the first XI.In a statement issued in response to Chambers’ allegation, Essex chief executive John Stephenson said he was “extremely disappointed to hear of further historic racial allegations” which made “distressing reading”. None of the individuals were still involved with the club, he added.In keeping with other clubs in the wake of Azeem Rafiq’s revelations, Essex has set up a reporting channel for anyone who wishes to talk about their experiences with the club.Anyone concerned can contact the club, anonymously if they wish, by emailing [email protected].

The 479 runs scored were the most in a single match in PSL history

Debayan Sen17-Jun-2021There are run fests, there are entertaining T20 games, and then there’s what happened on Thursday evening in Abu Dhabi.The summary: Islamabad United set the highest total in PSL history, powered by an unbeaten 105 by Usman Khawaja, who stood in as captain for the rested Shadab Khan. In response, Peshawar Zalmi came within one good over of overhauling that score, with half-centuries from Shoaib Malik (36-ball 68) and Kamran Akmal (53 off 32), and together the teams contributed to the highest PSL match aggregate ever, with the win guaranteeing United a top-two finish.At the halfway stage of their chase, Zalmi had just lost Akmal and were placed at 93 for 3. What followed was a frenetic five-over spell where Malik and Sherfane Rutherford played a key role in plundering 81, with Rutherford’s first four scoring shots clearing long-on twice, long-off and deep square leg in a Zafar Gohar over that travelled for 30 en route to the most expensive figures in PSL history. However, the last ball of that period saw Rutherford edge a Hasan Ali slower ball to Muhammad Akhlaq, and eight balls later, Malik perished to a Hussain Talat yorker to leave Zalmi at 185 for 6. Wahab Riaz and Umaid Asif still swung their blades with abandon, and put together 47 off 22 balls to highlight the quality of the pitch used, but eventually fell 15 short.Khawaja and Munro set the tone
Khawaja and Colin Munro were watchful in the first three overs, but then picked up 35 off the next three. Munro was the principal aggressor early on, innovating against Sameen Gul with a top edge over third man while attempting a scoop and then scything one through cover-point. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed also bore the brunt of Munro’s unorthodox methods, with a lofted shot back over the head, and a bash over long-on sandwiched between two switch hits that hurried towards the unprotected gap between short third man and point in a seventh over that produced 21 runs.Khawaja joined in the fun, plucking runs around the wicket with wristy flicks to anything around his pads, and pulling the odd short ball from the Zalmi bowlers. Eventually, the breakthrough would come, with Malik throwing in a slower ball after spearing in a few at Munro, and beating an attempted swipe through midwicket to clip the top of off.United responding by sending in Asif Ali, who ensured the momentum would stay with the batting team, plundering 43 off just 14 balls. His brief stay at the crease brought him two fours and five sixes, three of them off four balls in the 13th over, where he took a special liking to Gul, having previously deposited Abrar over midwicket for two maximums. A pull off a Gul short ball was caught at deep square leg, but by then United were already at 145 with over seven overs to be bowled.The final push
What followed started with a tapestry of gorgeous drives and flicks from Khawaja, who also innovated with the fields set by Riaz, dinking the Zalmi captain over short fine leg a few times, and ended in a blitz of big hits from the Australian and Brandon King. Both men were especially severe on Afghan left-arm wristspinner Waqar Salamkheil, playing firmly back over his head when not bashing him around the corner each time he offered width. There was some luck along the way, a couple of difficult chances going down with Rovman Powell dropping King on 20 while trying to track back over his head from mid-off, and the luckless Abrar dropping Khawaja off the last ball. By then, the United captain had already brought up a 53-ball ton, and the pair of Khawaja and King added 102 in just 43 balls. Four batsmen of four different nationalities joining in the fun.Zalmi’s valiant effortHazratullah Zazai fell off the very first ball, top-edging Javed for Hasan to take a skier running from mid-on to midwicket. Imam-ul-Haq perished early too, falling in a similar fashion after misreading the length of a Javed ball that was too short to drive on the up. Two quality overs from Hasan, who had conceded just five in the powerplay, contributed significantly to the pressure, with Akmal failing to pick his variations in speed and length.Akmal and Malik then combined for the first substantial stand, with Akmal playing some trademark lofted drives and inside-out shots, in addition to finding fortuitous boundaries through edges a few times. When Akmal fell to Talat, and Powell perished soon after, it fell to Malik to keep the momentum going. He did that in splendid fashion, skipping down the wicket to Fawad Ahmed to thwack him for six back over his head, before punishing his correction in length with a cut and a swat to midwicket. Indeed, Zalmi looked the likely favourite at one stage, until a slower ball from Hasan Ali undid a Rutherford cameo and eventually gave United the necessary breathing space.