Kent stay just out of reach as New Zealand quick defends 18 off final over

ECB Reporters' Network02-Jul-2021Adam Milne took a hat-trick off the final three balls to clinch a thrilling 11-run victory for Kent Spitfires over Surrey at Canterbury, smothering the visitors in the death overs to leave them on 180 for 6, in reply to the Spitfires 191 for 4.Milne took 4 for 38 and defended 18 in the final over, bowling Ollie Pope with the fourth delivery and getting Kyle Jamieson caught on the long-on boundary with the penultimate ball to make the result all but certain. He then had Laurie Evans caught off the last ball of the innings to seal an astonishing recovery.Surrey looked heavy favourites when Will Jacks smashed a T20-best score of 87 from 54 balls, but after putting on 92 for the second wicket with Evans, who made 57, the run rate steadily increased.Kent had posted a challenging 191 for 4, thanks to another hefty partnership between Jordan Cox and Jack Leaning, who hit 61 not out and 50 respectively.After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Kent lost skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond to the second ball of the innings, lbw to Jacks, for nought. Zak Crawley made 24 before he was bowled by Jordan Clark and Joe Denly top-edged Gus Atkinson to Pope for 36. The run rate slowed before, not for the first time this season, Leaning and Cox rescued Kent with a stand of 90 for the fourth wicket.Leaning reached 50 and although he was out next ball, driving Jamie Overton to Clark, Clark’s final over went for 19, Alex Blake hitting 12 not out and Cox ending the innings with a six over cow corner.Surrey made a ferocious start. Fred Klaassen ripped out Jamie Smith’s middle stump for 9, but Evans and Jacks batted through the next 10 overs until Klaassen had the latter lbw.Kent were right back in it when Jamie Overton holed out off Milne, caught by Qais Ahmad for 6, and Surrey needed 34 from the last two overs. The penultimate, bowled by Klaassen went for 16, and Milne’s first three balls cost six runs, but the fourth splayed Pope’s stumps and needing to hit successive sixes, Jamieson perished in the deep.

Henriques praises Mustafizur’s skills in restricting Australians

Sreshth Shah04-Aug-20211:59

‘Great for Australia to be exposed to these conditions’ – Moises Henriques

On a difficult, sticky and turning Mirpur deck, 21-year old Afif Hossain hit an unbeaten 31-ball 37 to drag Bangladesh out of a bit of a mess, helping rescue the hosts from 67 for 5 to winning with eight balls to spare. After the victory, Afif said he knew all along that as long as he was not dismissed, Bangladesh would emerge victorious. However, he said that a useful piece of advice from Mahmudullah, the T20I captain, went a long way in achieving that outcome.”When I went out to bat, Riyad bhai just told me one thing. To take two-three overs to settle in,” the 21-year old said. “And personally, my ambition was to return after finishing the game. First thing I did was to assess the wicket and to understand what needs to be done on this surface.”I was aware that if I stay late, I can finish the match. The plan for both Nurul Hasan and me was to just score without losing a wicket because the run-rate was under check.”Afif Hossain is pumped after taking Bangladesh to victory•AFP/Getty Images

After the match, Mahmudullah said that Afif and Nurul showed “maturity” in their partnership. He said that their half-century stand brought “relief” to a “tensed” camp that was downcast after sliding into a losing position after a terrific bowling show.The T20I captain also praised Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib blitzed his way to a 17-ball 26 to keep Bangladesh ahead of the required run-rate early on after returning 1 for 22 in his four overs. Mahmudullah said that “Shakib once again showed how important a player” he is for the Bangladesh team. Shakib’s momentum-building innings, in a low-total run-chase, allowed Afif and Nurul to play risk-free cricket when the pressure was high.Henriques praises Mustafizur’s skillsThat Afif had to take Bangladesh only past 122, however, was courtesy of the bowling effort in the first innings. Left-arm seamers Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam shared five wickets for 50 runs in their combined eight overs, and Afif said their returns had equal impact on the match result that now sees Bangladesh lead Australia 2-0 in the five-match series.”Our pace bowlers made full use of the home advantage we have,” Afif said. “It was natural that our bowlers would bowl to a plan that is successful on these decks. But it needed backing up from the fielders too, which we received.”Mustafizur – who finished with an economy of 5.75 and the wickets of Josh Philippe, Matthew Wade and Ashton Agar – was also the beneficiary of praise from the opposite camp. Moises Henriques, who has played both with and against Mustafizur in the IPL, said that for Australia to put up better totals, it would be paramount to combat the sort of skill Mustafizur brings to games on slower surfaces.”Today Mustafizur showed how quickly he adapts,” Henriques said after the match. “He bowled 24 slower balls (laughs) and did not bowl anything pace on. He just summed up the conditions really well tonight.”The amount of revolutions he gets on the slower ball even on a good wicket is hard to play anyway, let alone on a surface like that. We need to find a way to combat that, and try and get as many runs as possible. It’s quite clear it’s not a 160 to 200 wicket, but we need to find a way to get to 140 or 150 whatever that might be.”

Roston Chase dismissed Dimuth Karunaratne late in the day, but not before another century opening stand

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Nov-2021Pathum Nissanka breezed his way to a half-century, Dimuth Karunaratne fell eight short of a fifty that would have seen him equal a world record, and on a day in which rain washed out the first two sessions, Sri Lanka gained a significant advantage, moving to 113 for 1 in the 33.4 overs that were possible.Before Roston Chase caught-and-bowled Karunaratne late in the day, Sri Lanka’s openers had put on 106 runs in 31 overs – their second century stand in the series. Kemar Roach, returning for this game after having been left out in favour of Shannon Gabriel, was perhaps the best of West Indies’ bowlers, delivering six overs and conceding just 12. Sri Lanka’s batters were largely untroubled by the others.Nissanka was positive almost from the outset. He drilled a full Jason Holder ball down the ground for four to begin the second over, carved Roach past the slip cordon soon after, and although occasionally beaten by deliveries that jagged past his outside edge, was on a constant hunt for runs, moving to 20 off his first 30 balls. Karunaratne was typically conservative by comparison – defending and leaving the majority of deliveries he faced from the seamers, making just 4 from his first 30 deliveries.Eventually though, Holder and Roach wrapped up their spells, and batting seemed to get easier. Kyle Mayers was hit for three fours – twice through the leg side by Karunaratne – in his first two overs, the only two he bowled on the first day. Nissanka attempted to dominate the left-arm spin of Veerasammy Permaul, who was playing his first Test since 2015, coming down the track in Permaul’s second over to launch him into the sightscreen.Soon, Captain Kraigg Brathwaite had spinners bowling from both ends, and although they prompted the occasional mistake, the batters largely settled into a rhythm against them, with Nissanka scoring primarily through the off side, and Karunaratne favouring the leg side, as he often does. Nissanka got to fifty – his third in Tests, and second in the series – off the 74th ball he faced.Karunaratne’s dismissal came against the run of play. Earlier in that Chase over, he had played a late cut and a flick through midwicket, both of which went for four. But Chase found some rip off the last delivery of that over, and turned a ball more than the batter expected, which produced a return catch off the inside half of the bat as Karunaratne attempted to drive him down the ground.If he had got to fifty, Karunaratne would have made seven Test half-centuries in as many innings, a feat only six batters had accomplished. In any case, his last seven scores read 42, 83, 147, 66, 118, 244 and 75.Oshada Fernando survived ten balls before the players went off for bad light. Nissanka was 61 not out off 109 balls, his scoring rate having slowed as the light faded.

Clearer weather is expected on days three and four, but there is more rain forecast for day five

Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Dec-2021Persistent rain washed out day two at Centurion, with the umpires calling off play at 1.55pm local time. There had been overnight rain in the Centurion area, and intermittent showers through the morning and afternoon ensured there was no possibility of play.The weather relented twice, causing the umpires to announce inspections at 11.30am – with an early lunch taken – and 12.45pm, but rain returned on both occasions to dampen hopes of a resumption.Related

• Covid-19 after-effects, hamstring niggle forced Duanne Olivier to sit out Centurion Test

Clearer weather is expected on days three and four, but there is more rain forecast for day five, meaning there is likely to be further time lost and a diminished chance of a decisive result. Conditions so far have not been conducive to flurries of wickets, with the pitch playing flat apart from the occasional instance of inconsistent bounce.Given the state of the game, the washout has probably caused more frustration in India’s camp than South Africa’s. At stumps on day one, the visitors had laid a strong platform, moving to 272 for 3 with the centurion KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane at the crease, having already put on 73 for the fourth wicket.Rahul was also involved in stands of 117 for the first wicket with Mayank Agarwal, who made 60, and 82 for the third wicket with Virat Kohli. Lungi Ngidi was the only wicket-taker for South Africa, ending day one with figures of 3 for 45.As such, day two’s biggest development came off the field, with CSA confirming that Duanne Olivier had missed out on selection owing to the lingering effects of Covid-19, which he tested positive for a few weeks ago, and a hamstring niggle. The left-arm seamer Marco Jansen, chosen in Olivier’s place, endured a tough start to his Test career, ending day one with figures of 0 for 61 in 17 overs.

The primary reason for the postponement is because “participants are still not vaccinated and as such, are vulnerable” to the virus

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Dec-2021The Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, which was scheduled to begin in January 2022, has been postponed following a fresh surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in India and the growing threat of the Omicron variant. In a letter to the affiliated units of BCCI, which ESPNcricinfo has seen, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said that the primary reason for the postponement is because “participants are still not vaccinated and as such, are vulnerable,” as those below 18 years of age are still not eligible to take the vaccine in the country.”We have been closely monitoring the situation in lndia and across the world, and it is estimated that the caseload will shoot up in the immediate future if the situation is not controlled now,” Shah said in the letter. “After consulting experts and seeking views of the medical teams and operations team, it has been decided that keeping health and safety in mind, the U16 Vijay Merchant Trophy is postponed for this season.”We must exercise caution and not be adventurous and put the health of our talented cricketers at grave risk.”On Thursday, India reported 13,154 new Covid-19 cases, the number of active cases stands at 82,402.The BCCI announced in July that it was confident that all tournaments, including those for various age groups and women, will be played this season.”Ahead of the domestic season, we had said that will endeavor to have a full season across age groups,” the letter further said. “We started off well and are now mid-way into the season having completed 748 matches when we have again encountered a serious issue, The cases across lndia are spiraling and despite being a large number of adults doubly vaccinated, they have still been infected.”The tournament was scheduled to be played between January 9 to 21, in four venues across Agartala and Guwahati.

Chris Lynn passed 3000 BBL runs but his Brisbane Heat future is uncertain

AAP19-Jan-2022Sydney Sixers all but locked in second place on the BBL ladder, consigning the Brisbane Heat to a sixth straight loss.In a potential BBL farewell for Heat cult figure Chris Lynn, Sixers easily defended their 6 for 178 at the Gabba with Heat slumping to 4 for 43 in the ninth over and finishing 27 short.It meant, unless the Sydney Thunder could notch a monster victory against Melbourne Renegades, the Sixers will play table-topping Perth Scorchers on Saturday at Marvel Stadium for a spot in the final on January 28.Lynn passed 3000 BBL runs on his way to making 19 before slapping uppishly to cover against left-armer Hayden Kerr, a familiar scene in a season in which he’s passed 32 just once in 12 innings.The slump is a far cry from the form he was in, despite a host of injury setbacks, when he signed a rich, five-year deal that expires this season. The loyal Heat servant, replaced as captain by Jimmy Peirson this season, could be forced to look elsewhere or retire from the BBL and continue to tour the international T20 circuit.Heat’s loss leaves them in danger of collecting the wooden spoon, Renegades able to overtake them with a win over the Sydney Thunder later on Wednesday.Thunder could still jump the Sixers on run-rate, but Daniel Hughes and Moises Henriques did their best to put them out of reach on a warm afternoon.Marnus Labuschagne’s dismissal of Henriques in his return from Test duties and Michael Neser’s 3 for 39 ensured the hosts kept things respectable.Lynn’s exit after a bright start was followed by Labuschagne’s for just 3, while the returning Nathan Lyon found Sam Heazlett’s edge to make it 4 for 43.Peirson and Max Bryant combined to put some pressure back on Sixers, Bryant notching back-to-back BBL half-centuries for the first time. The jig was up though when the captain holed out to the miserly Steve O’Keefe, leaving them 51 to get off 19 balls before Bryant followed soon after.Kerr took his tournament tally to 22 wickets, one shy of leading wicket-taker Peter Siddle.

Gardner forced to isolate for 10 days and will miss Australia’s first two World Cup matches against England and Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2022Allrounder Ashleigh Gardner has tested positive for Covid and will miss Australia’s opening two World Cup matches against England and Pakistan.Cricket Australia confirmed on Thursday morning that Gardner had returned a Covid positive RAT while in Christchurch and her subsequent PCR test was also positive.Gardner will remain in Christchurch to isolate for 10 days under ICC and New Zealand Government health rules. It means Gardner is unavailable for Australia’s opening World Cup match against England in Hamilton on Saturday, March 5, and Australia’s second match against Pakistan at Mount Maunganui on Tuesday, March 8.The rest of the Australia playing group and support staff have all returned negative RATs and will travel to Hamilton on Thursday night without Gardner. Australia selector and head of performance Shawn Flegler will remain in Christchurch with Gardner.The news of Gardner’s positive test comes after the ICC confirmed that there would be no strict bubble or daily testing for the tournament.

Yorkshire’s director of cricket “can’t wait” to have Root available for his county in coming weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2022Darren Gough was “surprised” by the level of criticism Joe Root faced in his final months as England’s Test captain and “can’t wait” to have him available to play for Yorkshire in the coming weeks.Gough, who became Yorkshire’s director of cricket in December after Martyn Moxon was sacked, was speaking during the club’s first County Championship fixture this season against Gloucestershire in Bristol. He expects Root to play “two or three” games before England’s first Test of the summer against New Zealand and said he had kept in touch with him throughout the winter.”Realistically, with a bit of luck, I’d like to think we’d get him for two or three games before the Test series starts,” Gough said. “Whatever we get Joe Root for is a bonus. He loves playing for Yorkshire.”He’s been on messages and wished everybody luck before this game. That’s the sort of character he is. To get a player of his experience and brilliance – I can’t wait to have him back.Related

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“I’m sure he just wants to get back playing now that he’s got this [his resignation] out of the way. It might have been on his mind for the last month or so since he came back.”Gough said that while Root had “probably done the right thing” in stepping down, he was surprised to see the news break on Friday morning and insisted that he had done “a good job” throughout his five years in the role.”He’s come home, thought about the pluses and negatives and thought, ‘yep, it’s time to go now’. He’s probably thought that now’s the right time to step away, but I was surprised when I was over breakfast this morning and it popped up on the screen.”The problem is that one win in 17 is the one that goes against him, 27 Test victories, though. When you think about it, would you say he’s always had the best players available to him in that last 17 Test matches? I would say not.”I think Joe – and I’ve been in that dressing room environment in New Zealand – is hugely respected by every single player and coaching staff. And he was the perfect man for the job.”Darren Gough, Yorkshire’s interim managing director of cricket, watches players warm up in Bristol•Getty Images

Gough added that Root had fallen victim to English cricket’s blame game, and that he had been “a strong personality” and “a strong leader” who had been hampered by the absence of key players.”He’s had a lot of criticism,” Gough said. “I think what probably hurt him [is that] it’s come from a lot of guys who played the game and captained England as well – some of his closest mates.”I was surprised by the criticism; I think you have to look deeper than that. With everything that has been going on in English cricket, I don’t think you can blame the captain. Unfortunately, we’re always looking for someone to blame.”When you look back in the history of captains, what do we always say? ‘Well, he was a good captain because he won the Ashes or he wasn’t because he didn’t win the Ashes’. But the greatest captain I ever played under was Nasser Hussain, and he didn’t win the Ashes. You have to have the players, and you’re only as good as your players.”Asked if there was a better candidate available than Root, Gough said: “Not at the minute, I don’t think so. Obviously Ben Stokes is a terrific personality, and I would say he’s one of those natural leaders on the field. But unfortunately, he’s had this time out of the game, he’s got these injuries and his workload’s already through the roof. It’s a big decision if he takes it.”And some of the better candidates are not in the England team at this moment in time. They got dropped after the winter. It will be a very difficult choice with who they go for. The natural choice is Stokes – you go with the best player, don’t you? He’s the only one who is secure of a place, so there’s nowhere else to go.”

Mumbai came close with Tim David’s 18-ball 46, but fell short, and are now favourites to finish with the wooden spoon

Sidharth Monga17-May-20224:40

Shastri: Central contract straightaway for Malik

Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their campaign alive, but only just, with a three-run win over Mumbai Indians in a rollercoaster finish. Now joint-sixth with 12 points from 13 matches, Sunrisers are now left needing a win in their last game and a number of other results to go their way. Mumbai, meanwhile, are now the favourites to finish bottom of the table, two points behind Chennai Super Kings with a match each to go.On a five-match losing streak, Sunrisers finally dropped Kane Williamson down the order, which brought immediate dividends with Priyam Garg, his replacement at the top of the order, and Rahul Tripathi bossing the first 16 overs with help from Nicholas Pooran. Despite the sensational pace of Umran Malik, Mumbai’s inexperienced batting line-up stayed alive till the end of the 18th over, which went for four sixes from Tim David. With 19 required off 13, though, David ran himself out and Bhuvneshwar Kumar closed it out with a wicket-maiden in the 19th.A refreshing change at the top

Asked to bat first, Sunrisers came out with a new opening pair. Even though they lost Abhishek Sharma early, Tripathi and Garg counterattacked towards the end of the powerplay. It looked like a dry pitch, but the duo hit hard enough for even slight mis-hits to clear the small Wankhede boundaries. That said, they nailed their hitting almost all the time.It started with Tripathi taking on Jasprit Bumrah in the fifth over, hitting him for six, four and four, before Garg put a short ball from Daniel Sams on to the top tier of the stands at deep square-leg. Often teams maximise the powerplay and slow down as the field spreads, but these two kept going. Garg took the lead against the spinners, hitting a six off left-armer Sanjay Yadav before taking two fours in one Mayank Markande over. When Garg fell for 42 off 26 in the tenth over, he had made sure Sunrisers had their highest ten-over score this IPL: 97.Nicholas Pooran was all intent and big hits from the moment he walked out•BCCI

The wicket didn’t slow down Tripathi at all, and Pooran walked in as if coming from a net and used to the pace of the pitch. The second ball he faced, Pooran glanced Bumrah for four. He then lofted Riley Meredith for a six over long-off and then swept him for another over square leg. Tripathi wasn’t to be left behind, taking three fours off the 16th over, bowled by Sams.Mumbai survive death overs
At 164 in 16 overs, with eight wickets in hand and two set batters looking dangerous, Sunrisers looked set for a massive total. However, in the next two overs, every big shot they tried resulted in a wicket. Sams was too full for a flick from Pooran, and Ramandeep Singh too short for slogs from Tripathi and Aiden Markram. These wickets hurt Sunrisers as only two boundaries and 29 runs came off the last four overs.Rohit, Kishan set the platform

With Suryakumar Yadav out injured, Mumbai’s top order had some heavy lifting to do. They managed to mix aggression and pragmatism in the early exchanges, pouncing on their opportunities without taking wild risks. Rohit Sharma showed more intent, Ishan Kishan was more effective. But from 45 for no loss in five overs, they sort of slowed down to 61 in eight overs.Umran Malik was at it again, this time bouncing out Tilak Varma and Daniel Sams•BCCI

Umran Malik. Pace like fire

When Malik began the ninth over, familiar questions over his control started cropping up. However, even after three extra deliveries and 14 runs in his first over, Malik had clearly unsettled the batters. Rohit was hit flush in the helmet, which went for four leg-byes. Kishan was hit on the bat even before he could get into position to pull, the top-edge going for a six.However, it was Washington Sundar, who brought the first breakthrough. It was a match-up that has worked for Washington in the past. Before this match, he had bowled 19 balls to Rohit for 17 runs and two wickets. So Sunrisers were not shy of bowling him at Rohit. Eventually, he saw Rohit give him the charge, shortened the length, and had him caught at deep midwicket.The door ajar, Malik burst through. He made life difficult for Kishan, Tilak Verma and pinch-hitter Sams. Each of them was late on the ball, unable to come to terms with the pace and the bounce. Malik was now only three wickets behind the table-topper, but more tellingly, had conceded most not-in-control runs this IPL, drawing, on an average, a staggering ten false responses in each four-over spell. Malik’s burst left Mumbai needing 67 off the last five.Tim David hammered a flurry of fours and sixes in the last phase of the Mumbai innings•BCCI

David causes a flutter

In the closing stages of the match, Sunrisers preferred T Natarajan, who is having a nightmare tournament, to the inexperienced Malik. Natarajan frequently missed his yorker, bowling low full tosses that David hit for two fours and four sixes, including a 114-metre monster. Now they needed just 19 off 13. Off the last ball of the 18th over, David wanted a single off a deflection from Natarajan but didn’t see that the ball had hardly gone anywhere. He left himself no chance of making it, and the non-striker Sanjay Yadav was too stunned to hold his ground to keep the near end safe and sacrifice himself once David had made it to that end.The Bhuvneshwar show

Bhuvneshwar has been overshadowed of late by pacier, younger bowlers, but he has hardly missed a step himself. This 19th was a perfect example. He nailed the yorker again and again, mixing it up with a slower short ball that got Sanjay out. The wicket-maiden left Ramandeep too much to do in the final over, which Fazalhaq Farooqi closed out effectively.

Their 671 for 9 declared is the highest score without a batter making a hundred, Kent 45 for 1 in reply

ECB Reporters Network13-May-2022Surrey dominated Kent on day two of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Beckenham, posting 671 for 9 declared before reducing Kent to 45 for 1, a deficit of 626.The Division One leaders broke the world record for the highest first-class total without an individual batter making a hundred, and equalled the first-class record of seven for the number of players making half-centuries without passing three figures. After Ollie Pope and Ryan Patel had made 96 and 76 respectively on day one, Jamie Overton smacked 93 from 92 balls, Ben Foakes made 91, Sam Curran 78, Colin de Grandhomme 66 and Jordan Clark 54 not outThe hosts meanwhile maintained their 100 percent record of conceding at least 500 in every first innings so far this season, with Nathan Gilchrist’s 3 for 121 the least awful bowling figures.Ben Compton and Daniel Bell-Drummond were the not-out batters at stumps on 14 and 7, after Dan Worrall removed England’s Zak Crawley for 17.Kent went into day two clinging to the hope that early wickets might keep them in the contest and they struck early when Foakes edged Matt Quinn behind.Surrey responded with a century partnership between Overton, in as a deluxe night-watchman, and Curran. Overton produced an array of shots and raced past 50 with successive fours off George Linde. When he holed out to Darren Stevens he was dropped near the boundary by Jordan Cox, who seemed to misjudge the flight, and in the same over Curran then passed 50 with a single.Overton subsequently hit Stevens for a six that cleared the stand and smacked Stevens’ next delivery for a maximum over the sightscreen, but he was out in the next over, bowled by Linde, seven runs short of his second first-class century. The dismissal meant Surrey became the first team ever to lose three consecutive batsman in the nineties in first-class cricket, following Pope’s departure late on day one.Surrey were 470 for 6 at lunch and although Curran was stumped on 78 off Linde, de Grandhomme became the sixth Surrey batter to score a half-century when he took two from Gilchrist.Will Jacks was out for 20 when he swiped Gilchrist to square leg, where Cox took a low catch, before de Grandhomme was eventually run out by Quinn, but the last-wicket duo of Clark and Worrall took Surrey past the previous world record for a score without an individual hundred, the 609 posted by Namibia against Uganda in 2010-11.Tea was delayed until 4.34pm at which point, with the lingering grains of hope draining away from the home fans, Surrey declared, leaving Worrall unbeaten on 44.Kent were left with 19 overs to navigate until stumps and were probably relieved they only lost Crawley, who was caught behind at the start of the eleventh over.