Tamim Iqbal thanks Mushfiqur Rahim for taking some pressure off him and praises the togetherness of the team

Mohammad Isam02-Mar-2024When the Fortune Barishal team took a lap of honour on Friday night, the Shere Bangla National Stadium was packed to capacity. The crowd greeted the new BPL champions with a wave of sound. It came as a huge surprise.”I am amazed with the amount of supporters that Barishal has,” captain Tamim Iqbal said. “I always thought that Comilla [Victorians] had the biggest support but Barishal this year has overtaken them big time.”And that was just inside the ground. There had been thousands more outside hoping to get tickets to the show, which speaks to just how much the public has appreciated the tournament this year. The BPL has its many flaws but this will feel sweet, the connection it has with the masses.Barishal is far from a thriving cricket hub. There was one cricketer from the region in the BPL team but that doesn’t matter. People from the city have really taken to this team, in particular Tamim. The former Bangladesh captain took a step forward from his injuries and controversies of the last 12 months to have his best BPL season as a batter. This was also Tamim’s second BPL title after winning with Comilla in 2019. But there were many in his team who had never won it before, including a couple of veterans.Related

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“Winning the trophy feels fantastic, particularly for the two senior cricketers [Mahmudullah] Riyad and Mushfiqur [Rahim],” Tamim said. “They have served the country for a long time but they never won this trophy. This title is dedicated to them.”Before the tournament, I asked Mushfiq to look after the ground, like making bowling and fielding changes. I was busy with building team strategy. I had to look after which overseas players to bring. There was a lot of coming and going.”Mushfiq was phenomenal. His leadership took the pressure off me. I could concentrate on my batting. I must thank him. He deserves the trophy more than me. Mushfiq and Mahmudullah are brilliant, professional cricketers. Young cricketers should see them as idols for on-field performances and preparation.”Tamim said that winning the BPL trophy was all about unity, and he was proud to have created an environment that fostered it. Another thing that helped, he said, was the team management letting the team take care of cricketing matters.”I just wanted to create a very good team environment. Everyone contributed towards it. We were extremely lucky to get some good guys among the overseas players too,” Tamim said. “At one stage, we doubted if we could reach the playoffs but we got this far because of the team environment. Our owner [Mizanur Rahman] organised everything very well but he had zero involvement in the cricketing side of things. He relied on me. I hope I have paid him back.”A strong bench also played its part in Barishal’s victory. Mohammad Saifuddin, initially, was touch-and-go in terms of what he could produce, returning to competitive cricket after a long injury layover. But the allrounder was one of the team’s brightest performers. He bowled the 20th over in the final to Andre Russell and kept it to just seven runs. Comilla were restricted to 154 batting first.

“Our long batting line-up allowed me to take the odd chance at the top. We did it in the final. We got one or two big overs, which were important. There was no personal emotion involved on the field. I wanted to do well. I wasn’t at my best shape but I still contributed which was good”Tamim Iqbal

“I think Saifuddin’s inclusion was very important for us,” Tamim said. “We took the gamble. Nobody was sure if he could play. It paid off big time. It was a game-changer for us. You saw him bowling an unbelievable last over in the final.”Kyle Mayers, a late arrival after some of Barishal’s first-choice overseas picks weren’t able to make it and others had to leave before the end of the competition, made an instant impact. He averaged over 40 and struck at nearly 160 across the six matches that he played, and in the final he blasted Russell for 21 runs in an over.”We had Mohammad Amir and Fakhar Zaman in our plans but they didn’t come ultimately,” Tamim said. “It caused chaos in our plans a few days before the tournament. Kyle Mayers’ inclusion was amazing. He contributed with bat and ball. His performance was big for us.”The captain himself finished as the top scorer and won the Player-of-the-Tournament award. It was a refreshing change for Tamim, who played with a lot of freedom. “I think the wickets were good. Our long batting line-up allowed me to take the odd chance at the top. We did it in the final. We got one or two big overs, which were important. There was no personal emotion involved on the field. I wanted to do well. I wasn’t at my best shape but I still contributed which was good.”Comilla and Rangpur Riders were tournament favourites but as Tamim said, Barishal based their success on building a good team around a positive environment. They went under the radar for most of the tournament until winning the eliminator and the second qualifier. It meant that Comilla, who came into the game looking for a hat-trick of titles, had met their match, and on the big day, Barishal came out on top.

New Zealand have won one Test against Australia since 1993, and in ten Tests at home this century, they have lost nine and drawn one

Alex Malcolm26-Feb-20242:20

The importance of Kane Williamson to New Zealand

Eight years is a long time in anyone’s language, let alone between Test tours. Given it is an Olympic Games year, the last time Australia made a Test tour to New Zealand was two Olympiads ago in 2016, when Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps were still competing.New Zealand’s captain for that series, Brendon McCullum, is now England’s coach. Australia’s captain and No. 4 in 2016, Steven Smith, is now the vice-captain and the opener. His current opening partner, Usman Khawaja, was Australia’s No. 3 in 2016, having never opened the batting in Test cricket at that point. He is now statistically one of the most successful openers of all time, having been dropped and recalled by Australia four times in the last eight years.It was so long ago that New Zealand’s then-allrounder Corey Anderson has had time to qualify for the USA, while Australia’s double-centurion in Wellington in 2016, Adam Voges, has just won his seventh domestic trophy as a coach with Western Australia and Perth Scorchers.Related

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Australia have toured India, England, and Sri Lanka twice in the intervening years and have visited South Africa, Bangladesh and Pakistan once each. Despite it being a three-hour flight from Australia’s east coast compared to a nearly 24-hour journey from the UK, England have made three separate Test tours to New Zealand to Australia’s zero.Such is the infrequency of Australia’s Test tours to their closest neighbours, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, who both debuted in 2011 and have played a combined total of 147 matches, have never played a Test match in New Zealand.They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. New Zealand cricket hearts are bursting at the sight of baggy greens on their shores, with Wellington sold out weeks in advance.New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon spoke gushingly of Cummins’ leadership at a reception at Premier House in Wellington on Monday night, saying he had pinched the Australia captain’s mantra of “calm and consistent” and used it with his MPs during his election campaign last year.

New Zealand are the WTC leaders and the 2021 WTC champions, and yet, whenever Big Brother invites them to play, they not only forget to punch above their weight as they consistently do elsewhere, they often forget to throw a punch at all

That anecdote speaks to the relationship New Zealand has with Australian cricket.Beyond just the rare nature of the duel, there is plenty at stake over the next two weeks and, as ever, it is a shame the series will only feature two Tests. These two sides are the most recent and only two Test world champions. New Zealand currently lead the WTC table with Australia sitting third. The huge discrepancy in matches played – New Zealand’s four to Australia’s ten – further illustrates the current global cricket landscape.And while this two-Test series does appear to have been shoehorned into a small two-week window at the end of long home summers and just prior to the IPL, there is much to play for and much to prove for both sides.New Zealand are the WTC leaders and the 2021 WTC champions, and yet whenever Big Brother invites them to play, they not only forget to punch above their weight as they consistently do elsewhere, they often forget to throw a punch at all.New Zealand have won one Test against Australia since 1993, in Hobart in 2011. In ten Tests at home this century, they have lost nine and were saved by rain in the tenth.Pat Cummins has never played Test cricket in New Zealand•Getty ImagesDespite having a generation of great players, led by captain Tim Southee and their greatest ever batter in Kane Williamson, both of whom will celebrate their 100th Tests in Christchurch, Australia have had a stranglehold over the Black Caps.Even in the microcosm of the recent T20I series, New Zealand played some exceptional cricket in patches and had Australia on the ropes several times, only to let them off the hook with dropped catches and poor execution.If the mental stranglehold isn’t a big enough issue, an ill-timed spate of injury concerns has added to the self-doubt. Devon Conway’s thumb is a major problem, with the opener, coach Gary Stead and the team physio meeting on Monday to discuss whether he could hold a bat. Kyle Jamieson is already out of the series, while Rachin Ravindra (quad) and Daryl Mitchell (foot) are carrying niggles, although the latter is confident he will be fine.Mitchell looms as New Zealand’s key man. Having cut his teeth in Western Australian grade cricket as a youngster, he knows that beating Australia is about nothing more than executing in the moment as you would with any other team.”For us, it’s not making that bigger than what it is,” Mitchell said on Monday. “It’s cool to take on the Aussies… it’s going to be pretty special in front of a packed Basin [Reserve] and Aussie are a world-class team.”It’s obviously a special series for everyone but at the same time, it’s just another ball coming down at you and trying to find a way to negate it”•AFP/Getty Images”It’s obviously a special series for everyone but at the same time, it’s just another ball coming down at you and trying to find a way to negate it.”The blueprint is there, and it came in the form of West Indies’ Shamar Joseph at the Gabba. West Indies had an equally poor record against Australia coming into the most recent series, and the debutant showed that the reigning world champions are far from impregnable.Australia come to New Zealand with a settled side. The XI for the first Test is set to be the same as they fielded in the two Tests against West Indies. That team had only one change from the side that beat Pakistan 3-0, with Cameron Green replacing the retiring David Warner in a reshuffled batting order.It was Australia’s batting eight years ago that underpinned their 2-0 victory, making more than 500 in their first innings of both wins. Australia’s current batting group did not pass 500 once in 16 Tests in 2023 and has only passed 400 once in their last eight Test matches. They scored 400 or more in all three Tests against New Zealand in the 2019-20 series sweep in Australia.Eight years was a long time to wait for the Black Caps after failing to seize their chance in McCullum’s farewell. The next wait might be interminable if they fail to do so again.

After losing the ODIs 3-0 and the one-off Test, South Africa are still looking for their first win of the tour

Srinidhi Ramanujam04-Jul-2024South Africa’s long, multi-format tour of India is nearing its end with the T20I leg starting in Chennai on Friday. India have been dominant throughout, winning the ODIs 3-0 and the one-off Test by ten wickets on the final day.Laura Wolvaardt’s team has been good in patches and showed resilience every time India threw a punch but have still not been able to win a game on tour. With Chloe Tryon back in the side and Marizanne Kapp likely to take the ball, South Africa will pose a tough challenge for India in the T20Is. Here are a few talking points ahead of the series opener:The unstoppable Mandhana”She is in the form of her life. It’s a privilege to watch.”Former South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk aptly summed up Smriti Mandhana’s performance in Bengaluru, on air. With scores of 117, 136, 90 and 149, the India vice-captain has been phenomenal across formats in this series and has looked assured like never before. Her game awareness has peaked and her calmness under pressure has helped her convert starts to big scores. If she carries her form into T20Is, paying just INR 150 to watch her at the MA Chidambaram Stadium is a steal.Related

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The Wolvaardt-Kapp threatIndia’s biggest challenge will be to keep Wolvaardt and Kapp quiet. Having missed just one T20I, against Sri Lanka, this year the South Africa captain has notched up 247 runs in five innings, with a hundred and two half-centuries, at a strike rate of 132.08 in 2024. Her control and clarity combined with her ability to take calculated risks were visible in the ODI series as well.While Marizanne Kapp has been good with the bat, she is yet to bowl in the series•Getty ImagesKapp might bowl for the first time on the tour during the T20I series. After playing as a specialist batter in the ODIs and Test due to a minor back injury and workload management, she is likely to threaten Mandhana and Shafali Verma the new ball. Playing at No. 3, she has been aggressive with the bat as well, slamming 208 runs in six T20Is at a strike rate of 136.84 this year. That includes scores of 75, 60 and 44. In Sune Luus’ words, Kapp’s game ” is so sorted at the moment.”Tryon is backTryon has been in and out of action for some time now. The allrounder picked up a groin injury during the WBBL in October 2023 and returned for the tour of Australia in January this year. In the next series at home against Sri Lanka, she played only two T20Is and missed the remaining four white-ball games due to recurring back injury. After missing the ODI and Test leg of this series, she was included in T20Is, a much-needed boost for her side against a strong Indian team at home.An explosive batter in the middle-order who is also effective with her left-arm fingerspin, Tryon has the know-how of the Indian conditions, having played for Harmanpreet Kaur’s Mumbai Indians for two years in the WPL. She is yet to pick up a wicket against India in T20Is and it remains to be seen whether she will make her first strike in Chennai. But importantly, South Africa need her to stay fit when they land in Bangladesh for the World Cup in October.Radha’s road to redemption (and Bangladesh)On the back of an impressive WPL, Radha Yadav returned to the Indian side against Bangladesh in May after last featuring in an international game in February 2023. With Deepti Sharma leading the spin attack, India had to choose between Shreyanka Patil’s offspin, S Asha’s legspin and Radha’s left-arm orthodox. Harmanpreet picked Radha in all of the five games and she repaid the faith with 10 scalps in 19 overs at an economy of 5.05, finishing as the highest-wicket taker in that series. Deepti was the second best for India with five wickets.Radha Yadav starred in the series against Bangladesh•BCBShe might not have found her feet in the ODIs against South Africa, struggling with speed and length, but the shortest format is her forte. She has learnt to harness her aggression and has showcased better control and accuracy of late. Nine of her ten wickets in Bangladesh were of right-hand batters. With South Africa stacking themselves with right-handers in their line-up, Radha could be a threat on a spin-friendly Chepauk surface. A strong performance here and at the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka later in the month will bode well for India before the World Cup.Recent formIndia come into the series on the back of a 5-0 sweep of Bangladesh in Bangladesh. This was after an underwhelming outing against Australia at home, which India lost 2-1 last December. South Africa, however, have struggled to get more wins in this format, losing four of the six T20Is played this year against Australia and Sri Lanka, all while batting first.Pitch and conditionsThe MA Chidambaram Stadium hosted nine IPL matches during peak summer this year with an average score of 170. Surprisingly, only 25 of the 99 wickets were taken by spinners.But in the one-off Test against South Africa, the Indian spinners took 19 of the 20 wickets across four days. South Africa’s spinners took three out of five wickets. That apart, two days before the opening T20I, there was late-night rain with gusts of wind at Chepauk. The city is expected to have thunderstorms in the late evening almost every day till the end of the series.

As a young tyro, he bowled a seismic over to set Pakistan on their way to the T20 World Cup title. Now he’s the elder statesman of their bowling pack

Osman Samiuddin29-May-2024It wasn’t dismissing Kumar Sangakkara twice in his debut Test, though that was pretty good. Or the five-fer at the MCG, though that was also pretty good. Not the swooping outswinger that did for Mitchell Johnson at Headingley, though it’s difficult to better that aesthetically. It wasn’t even the eight-ball spell in which he took four middle-order wickets against England at Lord’s, that euphoric high before the juddering comedown.None of it, not the swing, the pace, the youthfulness, the hair, any of it. No, what now feels most instructive from the early Mohammad Amir canon is the first over of the T20 World Cup final in 2009. You know this story. Lord’s. Firestarter Dilshan. Shahzaib round the corner. Ian Bishop, booming, calling it. Delirium in the stands, all over. Next month, as the ninth T20 World Cup enters its Super Eights, it’ll be 15 years since that over; what turned out to be a window into Amir’s past at that point and a glimpse into his future.Unsurprisingly for how important the over was – and that it’s Amir, a bowling nerd – he remembers it in some detail, the most telling of which is that, aged 17, six games and two weeks into his senior Pakistan career, it was he who hatched the plan.Related

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“I had watched Dilshan bat through the tournament and I figured he was hitting the Dilscoop whenever he was getting stuck in an innings,” Amir says. “You know how a bowler has a stock ball? This was his stock shot. When he gets stuck, he plays that shot. It was his release, his get-out shot. To stop it I thought, why not put him on the back foot?”Amir had first-hand knowledge of the shot, having been Dilscooped in Sri Lanka’s group-stage win over Pakistan earlier, also at Lord’s early on. So the day before the final, he went to the captain, Younis Khan, in the bowlers’ meeting and presented his plan. Bowl bouncers, hit the shorter side of back of a length, give him no room, no space. Younis had watched Amir’s development closely through the preceding domestic season, including being dismissed twice by him, and was happy to let the kid take the lead.Now a short-ball plan is hardly rocket science, least of all in today’s T20s, war-gamed as they often are right down to the last percentage point of intent in a batter’s shot. But to be 17, in your first major assignment, a world event, and this attentive to detail spoke of the preternatural abilities of young Amir; he had game sense in a way cricketers that age usually don’t.In any case, the greatness of the over lies in its near-perfect execution, beginning with a bouncer first ball. Angled across Dilshan, nearly 88mph, whizzing past his right ear and just over his right shoulder. The bouncer can be as difficult to get right first up as the inswinging yorker is. Too short or too much effort – on a bouncy track as Lord’s was that day – and it can sail over for wides. Not quick enough or the wrong line and it becomes a gimme. But if done right, then, without even taking a wicket, it makes an impact.Dilshan’s scoop was a fearsome weapon circa 2009 and Pakistan were almost single-minded in their planning to counter it•Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images”Most batsmen won’t think that in the first over, the first or even second ball he’ll bowl me a bouncer,” Amir says. “If you show that aggression and in a big game, it puts the batsman under some pressure. His plan has to change and you’re now one step ahead.”Shahid Afridi, another big influence in Amir’s first year, hared up to him after that ball. ‘” bowling no fear.” (Get right on top of him.) And the next two balls, Amir did, both sharp, around 88-89mph. But speed wasn’t the thing. Each rose from back of a length to near-about the height of Dilshan’s armpits – – angling across but not enough to afford him any room and no length to drive. In other words the balls played him rather than the other way round; both dots, Dilshan now growing fidgety. Bishop razor-sharp on air: “Another short ball, three short balls in a row, definite plan we’re seeing here.”Then, another bouncer, except, this time, a slower one. Dilshan was about a month early on the shot. “He got through the pull, and it almost went to [Kamran] Akmal off the back of his bat. That was the plan, that when you’re attacking a batter and trying to get him out, you try to puzzle him. You have to get him out. You can’t let him settle on one pace. I had bowled three dots to him. If I bowl him a cutter, Dilshan was the kind of batter who wouldn’t sit back after three dots. His natural game was to dominate. He pulled hard but didn’t connect.”By this stage, four balls in, besides the inherent challenge of a left-arm angle, Dilshan had already dealt with sharp bounce, nearly 90mph pace, subtle variations in length, a 10mph-drop in pace, and before the slower bouncer, a field change in which square leg moved to short fine and deep fine leg to deep square. Puzzled, as Amir says, and now, with the field switch, a temptation dangled: the get-out shot, the Dilscoop is on.The ice-cold precision with which the over had been executed thus far belied the nerves Amir had been feeling before the start. Younis had given him a coping mechanism a couple of weeks earlier when he had started for Pakistan in the pre-tournament warm-up game against India at The Oval. Though it was a warm-up, it was Amir’s first time playing for the senior Pakistan side.Bowl like it’s a domestic game, Younis Khan, Pakistan’s captain, said to Amir during the warm-up against India ahead of the 2009 World Cup. “When the captain tells you something like that, half the tension is gone,” Amir says•Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images”That game felt like it was an international, with a live telecast and the crowds,” he remembers. “I was really nervous, bowling the second or third over, and Younis came to me from mid-off. He said, take three deep, long breaths. Then, imagine you’re playing for National Bank [Amir’s domestic side that season]. Bowl like you did for them, like this is a domestic game. ‘ bowling .’ [Bowl without fear.] When the captain tells you something like that, half the tension is gone.”Deep breaths and then the big exhale. With his fifth ball, Amir went ever so slightly fuller – the ball bouncing to waist-height rather than chest – and across him, outside off again. Instead of trying to slap him through point or extra cover, shots that Dilshan played well, he couldn’t resist the scoop. He was in a situation and he need a get-out. Recognising that neither line nor length were his friends here, he transitioned to an attempted pull but ended up top-edging limply to short fine leg, Shahzaib Hasan’s most vital contribution to Pakistan, a smart catch over his shoulder. The tournament’s leading run-scorer, the player of the tournament, the third-highest strike rate among the top ten scorers, gone for a five-ball duck. It wasn’t the game – Afridi would later become its boss – but it was the first critical blow.Even though he was only a teenager, the cutthroat world of this little battle – take the batter down before they take you down – was one Amir would have been familiar with. His first, informal, trial as a pre-teen, had been to prevent a tape-ball legend from hitting him for more than two boundaries in an over. That one over (he conceded one boundary), bowled in slippers and got him into a big tape-ball tournament that evening, where he was spotted by a scout and whisked away to an academy in Rawalpindi and thus unto the world.And ultimately, after a long and convoluted interregnum he has found a way back to that ruthless world: no longer the bespoke bowler dreamt out of bright blue skies but a mass-produced unit from a sky the shade of concrete. That’s not meant as a slight so much as to assert that there is little romanticism around this Mohammad Amir. He is now a pure T20 bowler, traipsing around the world doing what he was doing the day he was spotted; a pared-back run-denier who has sharpened all the senses and tools he had at his disposal as that child, and simply shed all other baggage.Before his return for the series against New Zealand in April, he had not played for Pakistan in nearly four years, after a tawdry falling out with management. Whether he should be back, ahead of younger options such as Zaman Khan and Mohammad Wasim Jr, is a valid question. To which, of course, there is no definitive answer.Fifteen years ago, Pakistan were crowned T20 champions of the world•Julian Herbert/Getty ImagesAt 32, perhaps no, he shouldn’t be. As the second-highest wicket-taker over the last two seasons in the CPL, ahead of an ICC event in the Caribbean, perhaps he should be. As a bowler with an economy of 6.30 in the powerplay and 9.26 at the death in all T20s since September 2019 – placing him seventh and ninth among all pace bowlers (at least 600 balls and 300 balls bowled respectively in those phases) – there is a case. In a squad with Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, certain starters and expert in those phases, with Haris Rauf’s pace, backed up by the emergent Abbas Afridi, there is less of a case. Another left-arm pace option, on the other hand, is no bad thing.What is clear is how much T20 has changed since he bowled that over. Boundary sizes in that final were short square (60m and 64m) but much bigger in the other directions – ranging from 75m to 85m – than is common today. Pitches and balls, at least according to Amir, were not as unresponsive as they are now. Above all, to fixate on one single shot as Pakistan did on the Dilscoop as a threat is so… naïve. The scoop now, like a solid defensive in long-form batting, is merely the base off which 360-degree batting is built.”Now, from the first ball the batsman is playing scoops,” Amir says. “Your variations have to be so strong now. With the new ball you have to hit that right area and it’s only for an over, no more than that. After that, your basics, especially your variations, have to be strong. The batsman cannot predict what you are bowling. If he does, then 10-12 off an over is easy.”Every single ball you have to be on. Your variations, but especially your executions of it. That is where you have to really work hard as a bowler, to execute these days. You can bowl a slower ball or a yorker, and if you don’t get it right, then even half-hits are gone for six. The execution has to be 100% right.”Perhaps this is what Pakistan want from Amir, this broad sweep of experience and perspective, the pragmatic foil to the dreaminess of Naseem and Shaheen; we’re talking 15 years’ experience as well as winning hands in two ICC titles. Modern Pakistani fast-bowling careers don’t come as robust as this (which is saying something given the interruptions of Amir’s career). Then again, this is Pakistan selection, so it’s probably nothing of the sort. They’ve likely just panicked, lost faith in younger bowlers just when Amir has hit a decent run of form to impress men who he has, after all, played with.Maybe they’re hoping that the kid who was once wise beyond his years, is wiser still after all these years.

He showed his hitting skills at the death once again, scoring an unbeaten 57 off 25 balls to take DC to a winning total

Abhimanyu Bose15-May-20243:13

Moody: Stubbs is a ‘must-keep’ for Delhi Capitals

If you were told at the start of IPL 2024 that a South African batter, who can keep wickets no less, would be the fastest striker at the death this season, you wouldn’t be blamed for guessing Heinrich Klaasen. And you wouldn’t be too far off with that guess, but it’s Tristan Stubbs who has emerged as the premier finisher (minimum 100 runs). Oh, and he is also the first, and so far the only, player to score 200 runs in the last four overs this season.He achieved that distinction with a match-defining 57 not out off 25 balls against Lucknow Super Giants in DC’s last league game.Stubbs finished the season with a death-overs strike rate of 297.33 – the highest in an IPL season ever for a minimum of 100 runs. He faced 75 balls in this phase, of which only two were dots.But the season could have gone very differently for Stubbs if DC had stuck to their Plan A. England batter Harry Brook, who was bought at the auction for INR 4 crore, was the first choice in the middle order.Related

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“If Harry Brook would have been there then Stubbs’ chances [would have been reduced]. Stubbs was actually a back-up,” DC assistant coach Pravin Amre said at the post-match press conference. “But it was important that we picked a good back-up. In SA20, he had done very well, he contributed to the winning team there, and we were very hopeful that he could do [well], because he got a triple-hundred in first-class cricket also.”He is a cricketer who can play well against spinners also and that is the biggest plus we saw. And he also looks like he is very hungry for success, very composed. He always makes his routine very well, and is very focused.”Stubbs came to DC having spent two years as a back-up option at Mumbai Indians. He made just four appearances across those two seasons.But Brook pulled out of the IPL following his grandmother’s death, and that opened up a slot for Stubbs, who cemented it with his exceptional hitting abilities at the death.Stubbs was one of the few positives amid a dreadful start to DC’s season, which saw them win just one of their first five games. It was only fitting that he finished the season with a knock that helped them go past the 200 when at one point it looked like they would finish closer to 180.Coming out to bat in the 12th over on Tuesday, Stubbs started slow, getting to 7 off his first nine balls.”It was quite tough when I walked in,” Stubbs told the host broadcaster between innings. “I didn’t feel like I could get myself any intensity. But we got a bit of flow going and we managed to put some runs on the board.”Tristan Stubbs brings out the reverse scoop•BCCIStubbs got going in the 16th over, pumping an Arshad Khan length ball down the ground for six. With the left-arm seamer angling it across him, Stubbs stood with his back foot outside off stump, and his front foot around middle and leg. This allowed him to access balls going outside off. Two balls later, Arshad again angled it away from him, and Stubbs hit it straight of the long-off fielder for four.His first two boundaries came in the V, but he was about to start expanding his range. The next ball was an attempted yorker outside off and Stubbs was quick to launch a reverse scoop over the wicketkeeper and a very fine short third for another boundary.When Mohsin Khan tried to go full and wide, Stubbs was again able to get close enough to the line due to his stance and loft it for a six over long-off, despite not middling it.Then came the all-important 19th over. Against Naveen-ul-Haq, Stubbs ditched his back-and-across stance. When Naveen dug in a slower one outside off, Stubbs stayed leg side of the ball and flat-batted it wide of long-on for four. Another back-of-length slower ball was hit high onto the second tier of the pavilion over long-on for a 101-metre monster.His most elegant shot was perhaps the one that brought him his half-century, off 22 balls, as he leant into a full delivery and lofted it wide of long-off.”I always feel I can give myself a bit of time and then can catch up later on,” Stubbs said. “Especially if you get one or two away and the bowler feels some pressure, then you’ve got a lot of momentum.””I can see that this is a player for the next five years if we can go there,” Amre said. “And the temperament he has shown. Even after ten balls, he was 6-7 runs. But so many times he has done that. [In] 22 balls he got a fifty. In today’s game, 19th over he got 21 runs. That really mattered for our victory.”Tristan Stubbs is elated after the wicket of Ayush Badoni•BCCITom Moody, speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show, said that Stubbs was playing the finisher’s role like an experienced player.”The way he is finishing games, it’s like he’s been doing it for ten years,” Moody said. “He’s been composed, his shot selection is absolutely bang on and he’s not trying to overhit the ball, but he still hits it for miles. So he’s been a real find for Delhi Capitals.”I think he didn’t get a regular opportunity and he was quite young when he was in the Mumbai squad; he was an evolving player. He was still finding his way. Where he really took off was the SA20, and he had a good season for the championship-winning side. So I think he has gained confidence, he is getting more opportunities. With opportunities, he is repaying that faith.”In SA20 2024, Stubbs made 301 runs for Sunrisers East Cape at a strike rate of 168.15. Only two players who scored more than him scored quicker. In the IPL, he took his finishing game to a different level.Moody, who has plenty of experience coaching in franchise leagues, suggested that Stubbs should be high on DC’s list of players they want to retain ahead of next year’s mega auction.”At the end of the day, when you look at retentions, whether it is overseas or Indian players, you look at the supply and demand, and there are not too many players in world cricket who can finish like that. So it makes him exclusive. So he is a must-keep.”And it’s not just his finishing skills. He is an excellent fielder and can also roll his arm over if needed. On Tuesday, he took just three balls to get Ayush Badoni holing out in the eighth over.He has bowled just two overs of his part-time offspin this season and picked up three wickets for 15 runs, which means he finishes with the best batting and bowling average for DC.Stubbs came into the season not guaranteed opportunities. By the end of it, he became someone DC would hate to have to let go.

A dramatic game came down to the final ball, with South Africa’s captain taking on India’s key death bowler, and there could be only one winner

Srinidhi Ramanujam20-Jun-2024Imagine being in Laura Wolvaardt’s place.Wednesday night. Bengaluru. A young captain, she had been on the field for more than seven hours – first marshalling her troops on a sunny afternoon and then getting all the gear on and batting through the chase of 326.After 99 overs on the field, the job – her job – was not done yet. It looked like it would be, though.South Africa needed 11 runs to pull off the highest successful chase in women’s ODIs and stay alive in the three-match series against India. The memories of the landmark Potchefstroom game, where she made 184 not out and yet ended up losing after a Chamari Athapaththu epic, must have been fresh in the mind. But, in Bengaluru, she was all set to rewrite the record books. She was on the cusp of something special.Related

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It had looked improbable at the halfway stage with South Africa at 120 for 3. But Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp took the game deep, both scoring centuries.Coming into the final over, Wolvaardt was on 134 off 133 balls – after scoring 46 off her first 66 deliveries. Kapp was gone, for a 94-ball 114. They had brought the team here from 67 for 3 in the 15th over. It was 315 for 4 with one over to go. Wolvaardt had to finish the game.And she might have, too…The final over from Pooja Vastrakar, India’s key death bowler, captured the seesawing emotions of one of the most dramatic women’s ODIs.Vastrakar, who had conceded 15 runs in her previous over – the 48th – began with a juicy full toss. Wolvaardt would have and should have put that away for a boundary. All she could do was squeeze it out to deep midwicket for a single to give strike to Nadine de Klerk. At this stage, de Klerk had hit a six and a four in her 20-ball stay. She had done it before, including at the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy last month, where she had blazed an unbeaten 106.Wolvaardt could trust her.Vastrakar bowled another full toss, and de Klerk backed away on the drive, and got a thick edge past the keeper. With short third inside the ring, the ball raced away to the boundary. The crowd was stunned into silence. It was still a thriller, but it wasn’t going the way of their team.South Africa were on top. But Vastrakar took pace off, bowled it full and outside off stump, and de Klerk fell into the trap. She couldn’t get the timing right and ended up dragging it straight down to long-on where Arundhati Reddy completed the catch.Twist in the tale. A dot too.Nondumiso Shangase was out there next. All she had to do was take a single and give the strike back to Wolvaardt for the last two balls. Dab and run. Vastrakar went with a back-of-the-hand slower ball, short and wide, and with no pace to work with, Shangase made contact high on the bat while looking for a cut shot and the ball looped straight to Harmanpreet Kaur at cover point.The previous wicket hadn’t done enough, but this did. Not because it was a wicket, but because it was a dot. The Bengaluru crowd now found its voice.Wolvaardt was still at the non-striker’s end. Stranded. Watching it go up in smoke.Laura Wolvaardt became the fourth batter to score a century in the game, but couldn’t take South Africa over the line•BCCIWolvaardt had to get on strike. She walked up to Meike de Ridder, the new batter, a debutant, and told her what she expected from her.In came another slower delivery. De Ridder was looking for a reverse lap but failed to connect. Wolvaardt had already started running. Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh took a bit of time to collect the ball and throw it at the striker’s end, and Wolvaardt had scrambled home by then.After 437 minutes of riveting battle, it all come down to this, the last ball. Vastrakar. Wolvaardt. Five (or six, really) for a win and four for a tie. Anything less wasn’t enough.Vastrakar ran in for one last time. Wolvaardt waited.Would it be the yorker that she had missed twice earlier in the over? Or one of the short balls Vastrakar bowls at the death? Or another slower one?It was a short-of-a-length slower, wide of off stump. Wolvaardt swung hard. She missed.A moment’s hush, and then the Chinnaswamy crowd and the Indian team erupted.Wolvaardt was distraught – from the moment she knew she had failed.Harmanpreet ran out of India’s huddle to shake her hand. Wolvaardt had now been on the wrong end of a brutal chase twice, first in Potchefstroom and now in Bengaluru.It was one of the greatest ODI games in recent times, with four extraordinary centuries and 646 runs. Smriti Mandhana picked up a wicket off her first over in ODIs. India posted their highest ODI total at home. There were many records. And that last over. And the last ball.But imagine being in Wolvaardt’s place. That would have been an emotional rollercoaster like no other.

Under new captain Latham, the likes of O’Rourke and Ravindra have shown what they can do, and there are others knocking on the door

Deivarayan Muthu27-Oct-20245:09

Latham: Immensely proud moment for this group

At 3.55pm local time in Pune on Saturday, Tom Latham’s New Zealand did the unthinkable by beating India in India in a Test series. Before 2024, New Zealand had visited India for 12 Test series across 69 years without ever winning one. Before 2024, they had two Test wins in India in 36 years. Now, in a space of less than two weeks, New Zealand have doubled that tally and made history.After Tim Southee coolly took the winning catch at the edge of the long-on boundary to dismiss Ravindra Jadeja, Latham sprinted all the way from leg slip to embrace him. Having stepped down as captain ahead of the Test series in India, Southee was no longer a certain starter in spin-friendly Indian conditions. But, as it turned out, he had the first say under cloudy skies in Bengaluru and the final say under cloudless skies in Pune.More than three years ago, when Ross Taylor hit the winning runs for New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India in Southampton, he exchanged hugs and glove-punches with Kane Williamson. This image of the pair walking off the ground together became iconic, with the New Zealand public even suggesting it should be immortalised as a statue at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe bear hug between Latham, Southee and Daryl Mitchell in Pune was perhaps just as iconic, with their screams of joy reverberating around the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, where more than 20,000 Indian spectators were stunned into silence.Southee was the only fast bowler from both teams to have taken a wicket in Pune. Latham was the only batter from both sides to have scored more than 80. The pair is the last link to New Zealand’s golden generation. Kane Williamson, who missed the first two Tests of the ongoing India series with a groin injury, has knocked back his New Zealand central contract, as have Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Martin Guptill and Jimmy Neesham. Meanwhile, Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling and Colin de Grandhomme have all retired from international cricket.Related

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Transitions are always tricky and New Zealand have a limited talent pool, but they have found ways to invest in their next line of players. And it felt like Pune 2024 marked the beginning of a new era, with some old, familiar faces still around to oversee the transition.”I guess in cricket teams you have times where you’re grouped together a long time,” Latham said at his post-match press conference. “I guess around that World Test Championship, the group had been together for a long time and we obviously had guys retire, we’ve had guys move on. We’ve obviously seen a new wave of players come through and I think for them to come in and perform straightaway has been the most pleasing thing. You’ve obviously still got a mix of older guys or more experienced guys and some youth, which is awesome.”I guess the likes of Will O’Rourke and Rachin [Ravindra], those two guys are going to play a lot of cricket for New Zealand. It’s obviously really special for them to come here and be in this position. Certainly really proud of this group and everyone’s proud of each other.”Everybody wants a bit of Mitchell Santner•AFP/Getty ImagesLatham and Mitchell beamed with pride every time they spoke to the Indian reporters about their Canterbury team-mate O’Rourke’s potential.In his first Test in India, O’Rourke, 23, took out Virat Kohli for a duck on his way to match figures of 7 for 114. Kohli’s dismissal had New Zealand’s planning written all over it. They placed their best fielder Glenn Phillips at leg slip and had their tallest bowler bouncing him out in Bengaluru. They were braced for the conditions changing in Pune and once again made a percentage call by bringing in Mitchell Santner and that paid off handsomely too.Everything has to come together perfectly for wins like these and they did, which is having quite an effect back home.

Congratulations to the @BLACKCAPS on a famous and historic test series win in India! Absolutely brilliant!

— Christopher Luxon (@chrisluxonmp) October 26, 2024