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Glamorgan bed in on cold evening

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Barely 100 hardy souls witnessed the closing overs of the second day of
Kent’s experimental championship clash against Glamorgan

Mark Pennell at Canterbury13-Sep-2011
Scorecard
As 33,820 roared on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in their Champions
League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen, 60-odd miles east in Canterbury
barely 100 hardy souls witnessed the closing overs of the second day of
Kent’s experimental championship clash against Glamorgan.Two rain breaks adding up to 90 minutes ensured a 9.30pm finish under
lights at the St Lawrence ground, by which time the spectators and the
Kent seam attack appeared frozen solid and utterly disinterested.Having mustered only 237 on the opening day of this end-of-season
day/night game, Kent’s weakened pace attack lacked the cutting edge to
worry a Glamorgan top-order seemingly hell-bent on achieving personal
milestones.Resuming on their overnight score of two without loss, Glamorgan will
go into day three looking in fine shape on 258 for 4, representing a
first innings lead of 21.The second day started with confusion over the umpires, after appointed
ECB official Nigel Cowley rang in sick with a throat infection and
virus. He was replaced, temporarily, by Kent League umpire Bob Whale,
who stood at square leg for 20-odd minutes.Whale was then replaced by former Kent offspinner and Championship 2nd
XI umpire, Steve Dale, who ultimately gave way in late afternoon to
former Glamorgan seamer, Alex Wharf, who drove four hours from his home
in Caerphilly to partner Martin Bodenham.Glamorgan’s openers Gareth Rees and Alviro Petersen made light of the
confusion surrounding the officials by reaching 34 before suffering
their first loss. With his score on 21 and with his season’s first-class aggregate
standing on an agonising 999 runs, Glamorgan skipper Alviro Petersen
pulled loosely at a Matt Coles long-hop to be caught at midwicket by
Adam Ball at the second attempt.Will Bragg became Glamorgan’s first player of the season to reach 1,000
runs for the season by lofting an extra cover drive to the ropes off
Darren Stevens to move to 22. Only three runs later the left-hander dragged his foot when attempting a push drive against offspinner Adam Riley, only to see the pink ball cannon onto the stumps having deflected off the gloves, chest and shoulder of keeper Geraint Jones to effect the most fortuitous of stumpings.Gareth Rees inched his way to a patient 126-ball 50 before he gloved a lifting delivery from Adam Ball to Sam Northeast at short midwicket and, soon after a late tea at 7.50pm, Nick James played across a full length ball from Darren Stevens to go leg before.With little discernible swing or seam movement to hinder their
progress, Glamorgan’s fifth wicket pair of Stewart Walters and Mark
Wallace made unfettered progress through to the close in adding 63 in
16 overs.In the process Wallace, upon reaching 37, became the first specialist
wicketkeeper to post 1,000 runs in a summer for Glamorgan. Sadly, by
9.15pm, few supporters remained on the ground to applaud him.

Time for the cynicism to go away

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In these cynical times, cricket can definitely do with a high-quality Test series free of controversy. This one promises to be a contest between two heavy-scoring batting line-ups.

Sidharth Monga in Chandigarh29-Sep-2010Ten seasons ago, with cricket still smarting from the match-fixing blows, India and Australia created magic over three unforgettable Tests. Along with the 2005 Ashes, that series has without doubt been the best Test series in a long, long time. Since then, every arrival of the Australians in India gives Indians an excuse to reminisce about that heady series. It is an indulgence, but the memories of that series alone are enough to create anticipation every time Australia come calling.Ten seasons later, not much has changed. Match-fixing has changed its name to spot-fixing. Hardly any high-profile series goes by without controversy – look no further than the IPL, India in Sri Lanka, Pakistan in England, or even the ICC Test rankings. Cricket can definitely do with a high-quality Test series free of controversy. The controversies have so far stayed away, but the buzz that an India-Australia series should bring is building only slowly. Having been in Chandigarh for the last week or so, it just doesn’t feel like an India-Australia series is around the corner.The reasons are various. Perhaps what has happened in England has disillusioned some. Perhaps the Champions League Twenty20 kept some involved – not least four first-choice players who landed two days before the start of the series. There is, of course, the small matter of the mess masquerading as the Commonwealth Games that is hogging all sorts of headlines in India. The Ashes are an obvious distraction back in Australia.For some, India and Australia are playing each other too often – Australia have been here for some series or other for each of the last three years. The cricketing world is already limited, and these two powerful boards’ manipulation of schedules to exploit the financial opportunities in the two countries doesn’t help much either. More importantly, two Tests hardly a series make. Even earlier this year, the two-Test series against South Africa ended as soon as we had started to smack our lips with India’s rousing comeback after South Africa’s dominant start.Most importantly, perhaps, India loves it when a team comes here looking to complete its world supremacy, a sort of final frontier. The phrase rings a bell, doesn’t it? Australia are no longer that team, team to beat. This is the first time since that 2000-01 tour that they have come here as one of the pack. Nathan Hauritz is almost in awe when he talks of the Indian batting. Michael Clarke is talking up Harbhajan Singh, even his batting. Mitchell Johnson ruins the effect of the short-ball threat when, in the same sentence, he says Virender Sehwag can reach 50 by the time you look up at the scoreboard.Earlier this year, when Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel arrived as arguably the best new-ball pair in the world (well, that was before Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif came together), there was so much anticipation that you wanted India to bat first and get on with the contest between them and Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. That kind of excitement has so far been missing in the build-up to this series.Like India’s recent tour of Sri Lanka, this one promises to be a contest between two heavy-scoring batting line-ups. Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting alone have more than 25,000 Test runs between them, and 87 centuries. Two of India’s main bowlers are coming out of injuries, two of Australia’s main ones have never played a Test in India before. India’s lead spinner has averaged 46 over the last 12 months; Australia’s is not expected to run through sides either. A lot about this series is pointing to a battle of attrition.Perhaps it’s not such a bad thing to let the actual cricket benefit from low expectations. Australia may not be the best Test team in the world, but they are still a really good one. Good enough to challenge any team anywhere. They have the advantage of having gathered here early, and having put in more than a week of training. India arrived disjointedly, and have only now started functioning as a unit. If Australia feel their preparations have been disrupted by the Champions League, India’s captain was in South Africa too.Perhaps once the first Test starts on Friday morning, the cynicism will go away. When Johnson bowls the bouncers to Sehwag. When Harbhajan goes at Ponting again. When Doug Bollinger shouts at his captain from the boundary, asking for another spell. When VVS Laxman comes out to face his favourite opponents. When Gambhir and Shane Watson come face to face again. Who knows a new star might be on the horizon? Even in 2000-01, Harbhajan and Matthew Hayden were largely unknowns. Here’s to the new rivalries, the new Harbhajans and Haydens.

Exiled Afghanistan women players to men's team: 'Please be the voice of the girls'

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Firooza Amiri and Benafsha Hashimi, who fled the country after the Taliban takeover in 2021, speak to ESPNcricinfo about the complexities of Afghanistan’s place in world cricket

Firdose Moonda & Valkerie Baynes22-Jan-20252:01

Amiri: If Afghan women can play sports, they can study as well

Don’t ban the Afghanistan men’s side from playing international cricket but do expect them to do more for the women and girls who don’t have the same rights they do. That’s the opinion of two formerly contracted Afghanistan women’s players living in exile in Australia.Firooza Amiri and Benafsha Hashimi fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021 and have narrated their story of escape to a new life on ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast. Both women continue to play club cricket in Australia, with hopes of representing their country someday even though that will not be possible until the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) put up a women’s team. Under Taliban rule, the ACB cannot do that because of the country’s laws, which forbid women from playing sport, studying and working.Given that Afghanistan are ICC Full Members, and that one of the conditions of that status is to have a women’s side, there has been debate over whether or not to sanction the Afghanistan’s men’s team. Both Australia and England refuse to play bilateral series against them in protest, but continue to play them at ICC events, while the other nine Full Members engage with Afghanistan, sometimes amid growing calls to boycott them. South Africa are the most recent and relevant example, given they were isolated from the 1970s to 1990s for the country’s race-based Apartheid system. While the country’s sports minister, Gayton McKenzie, recently cited gender discrimination as a reason not to play Afghanistan, Cricket South Africa believes punishing the men’s players for a situation beyond their control will not force change. Amiri and Hashimi hold similar views but it is important to know that some of the other players are known to feel differently.Related

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  • Human Rights Watch asks ICC to suspend Afghanistan's membership

  • England-Afghanistan to go ahead despite ECB speaking out over 'gender apartheid'

  • Pressure mounts on ICC amid Afghanistan women's fundraising drive

  • Powerplay: More than just a match for Afghanistan Women's XI

“The Afghanistan men’s team brings a kind of hope. They are role models for us. I don’t want to say I’m not supporting them at all,” Amiri told ESPNcricinfo in May 2024, when we first interviewed her. “But when I cannot play for Afghanistan, what’s more heartbreaking is when you see the men can do something and the women cannot do it – which is absolutely wrong. Everything men can do, women can do as well.”Hashimi, whom ESPNcricinfo spoke to last November, has similar feelings watching the men’s team. “I can say 50-50. I was happy because my team has played very well and Afghanistan got to the semi-finals [of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup] which is quite good for us because we haven’t been there but on the other side I was just hopeless. We have a really great men’s team but we never focus on a women’s team and it is a bit difficult to talk about. So I was happy and I was sad too. It’s a difficult feeling to describe: men having more opportunity than girls.”Australia, where Amiri and Hashimi live, refuse to play Afghanistan in bilateral cricket. This has caused Amiri to wonder whether selective shunning of the men’s team is worthwhile. “If it has an impact on our team, that we can put pressure on the Afghanistan Cricket Board to make a women’s team, then we will be happy, but only if it’s a way we can start playing cricket.”2:52

Mel Jones: Afghan women’s love for the game blew me away

Though she considered the thought of a ban, Amiri recognises that the Afghanistan men’s team has made rapid progress and its success could be more of a statement than a ban. “They are in a good position at the moment in the world and if they start supporting us, they’ll have a big impact on our team. They can be very, very helpful for us and for all the women. If women can start playing sport, women can start studying as well. It can be a pathway.”If they start supporting us, it’s going to be a way for all women. If they can hear my voice from here: Afghanistan, national players, please, please be the voice of the girls at the moment. Please do more for us. Start doing something for women. You are the voice of Afghanistan. They are the most famous people at the moment. They can be the voice of millions and millions of girls.”

Despite her plea, Amiri recognised that the men’s players may be risking their own safety if they speak out. “I know that there were always some challenges for them as well. Some of their families are still in Afghanistan. We don’t want you to be in danger.”We interviewed Amiri in November again, by which time she had also taken in Afghanistan’s semi-final showing at the T20 World Cup in June, and it had been announced that an Afghan Women’s XI will play against a Cricket Without Borders side at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on January 30, the same day as the Women’s Ashes Test starts.”The Afghanistan men’s team went on a very long journey as well. It’s never been easy for all of us. We all came through one journey and obviously because they are men, they had more opportunities than us as we are women, but they’ve come a long way. They are playing really well and they are achieving so much for Afghanistan. This is what we want too. We want to make Afghanistan proud as a men’s and women’s national team, and I could say our goals are the same.”We don’t want to make another problem by stopping them or keep talking about stopping them from playing cricket. Now we have our base, we want to play for the Afghan XI. We want to make a better future for Afghanistan women inside Afghanistan and make a change in cricket.”Firooza Amiri: ‘We want to make Afghanistan proud as a men’s and women’s national team, and I could say our goals are the same’•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In the months since ESPNcricinfo spoke to the two players, things have regressed further in Afghanistan, with the Taliban closing down institutes for women training as nurses and midwives, effectively blocking women’s last remaining avenue to higher education in the country and putting women with medical issues at significant risk – women are not allowed to consult with male medics in Afghanistan without having a male guardian present. This prompted some of the first public reactions from the men’s team, with Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Rahmanullah Gurbaz posting on social media in support of women’s education.ESPNcricinfo also spoke to Mel Jones, who was instrumental in helping the female Afghanistan cricketers leave the country and settle in Australia. Jones agrees that campaigning for a women’s team is not as simple as banning the men’s side, but has asked the cricketing community to play its part in keeping the story of the Afghanistan women’s team alive.”It is one of the most complex pieces I’ve seen,” Jones said. “There’s nothing black and white about this at all… but I do think there’s a question around leadership. People take on positions of leadership to lead, and it’s not to say that you have to make a black and white decision about things but I think you have to stand up and be a voice and lean into some tough situations. And this is a really tough situation.Rashid Khan, in December, put out a social media post supporting women’s education in Afghanistan•ICC via Getty Images

“I think the frustration has been the lack of conversation around it. And so here’s this amazing group of women who are trying to rebuild their lives and still connect to cricket. And they’ve hardly had a conversation with our leaders right across the world. And that’s the most frustrating thing for me. We might still get to the same point and decisions that we are now regardless of those conversations. But give these women their due. Give them space… that’s probably the one piece that I would say we’ve been really bad at over the last three or four years: it’s that people turn their back on that conversation. And I would hope that if we’d learn anything from this, is that if something like this happens again, whether it’s a different country or a different group of people, if it’s a men’s team somewhere or something like that, that we just don’t turn our back on people and hope that silence will make it go away, because it just doesn’t.”Episode 2 of the ESPNcricinfo Powerplay podcast will look at where Amiri and Hashimi find themselves now as well as the practicalities and challenges of the Afghan women in exile playing as a team.

Sodhi: 'Worked really hard on my run-up to bowl a fraction quicker'

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Legspinner reveals he has been working on altering his run-up to ensure he can get the ball to skid while also trying to put his height to good use

Mohammad Isam24-Sep-2023After Ish Sodhi ripped out the Bangladesh batters in his first spell by claiming four wickets, captain Lockie Ferguson took him out of the attack after the 19th over. Once Sodhi returned for his second spell in the 30th over, he completed his maiden ODI five-wicket haul with a peach of a googly to dismiss Mahedi Hasan.It broke Bangladesh’s last recognisable batting pair to leave Mahmudullah to wage a lone battle as the hosts eventually fell short of the target by 86 runs in the second ODI. Sodhi later said that Hasan’s wicket was particularly “satisfying” as it embodied a type of delivery he had been imagining since he had reworked his run-up to bowl more at the stumps.”The most satisfying wicket actually was the fifth wicket,” Sodhi said. “Not necessarily because it was five wickets but I worked really hard on my run-up to bowl a fraction quicker compared to a year or two ago. That was the type of delivery that I was working hard towards. It was really pleasing to see that it got me a wicket.”Related

  • Tamim: 'After the last two months, I had nerves going out to bat'

  • Spotlight follows Sodhi as he spearheads NZ victory

  • Bangladesh recall Sodhi after run-out at non-striker's end

Sodhi revealed that he has been working on altering his run-up to ensure he could get the ball to skid while also trying to put his height to good use.”A lot of the really successful new-age legspinners are a lot shorter than what I am. They get the ball to skid to keep the stumps in play all the time. I thought that the bounce could play against me sometimes. One, they don’t actually hit the stumps.”Sometimes on slow wickets, I can sit in the wickets a little bit more. I was trying to add the skiddy sort of nature to my game by changing my run-up a year ago. Certainly not trying to neglect my height as well. I am trying to use it as much as I can,” he said.Given the lack of spinning tracks in New Zealand, Sodhi had to find ways to prepare and be successful and the changed run-up was one such way. Though he said it took him a bit of time to understand pitches in Bangladesh, he looked at home in Mirpur on Saturday.”In New Zealand, you might get a pitch that spins once every two years. You have to find different ways to be successful. If you can’t find those ways, it is easy to go for a lot of runs. Sit on the bench for a really long time.”So it is important to find other ways to be successful. I naturally find it difficult here. The type of balls that spin (here) don’t necessarily spin in New Zealand. Finding out what the stock ball looks like is really important,” he said.By picking up a match-winning 6 for 39 against Bangladesh, Sodhi joined the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Shane Bond and Scott Styris among New Zealand bowlers to take six-wicket hauls in ODIs. He was also the first bowler to do so in Bangladesh.”I love legspin bowling. I love the fact that a lot of young legspinners are coming through in New Zealand. I think it is a product of all the legspinners in T20 cricket around the world. When I was growing up, I wanted to be like Shane Warne. Guys are exposed to so many different types of media now, you can see a lot of guys. They find something they really enjoy. Rashid Khan is playing a big role.”It is great to be in the company [of bowlers taking six-fors in ODIs]. I can hopefully produce some match-winning performances for New Zealand in the coming years,” he said.Sodhi felt New Zealand made the right decision to bat first to get to 254 – which proved enough at the end – even though they had initially thought of setting up a slightly bigger total.”The wicket definitely got tougher to bat later in the day,” he said. “It was the whole reason we decided to bat first. It definitely deteriorated over time and it turned out we took the right decision.”The batters coming in said that 270-280 might be a good score on this wicket. We lost a couple of wickets in the middle order so we felt 250 was a target. We fortunately got there in the end but you never feel it’s enough with someone like Tamim Iqbal, who can take the game away. Getting him out was an important part of the game.”

Brett D'Oliveira, Jack Haynes help Worcestershire take down Bears in high-scorer

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Moeen Ali oversees 15-run win as Dwayne Bravo makes winning debut for Rapids

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2022Worcestershire Rapids celebrated their first victory of the season in the Vitality Blast after Brett D’Oliveira hit a competition-best 71 in a 15 run success over local rivals Birmingham Bears at New Road.The opener struck three sixes and six fours from just 38 balls as Rapids amassed 217 for 5 – their fifth highest ever T20 total. It surpassed D’Oliveira’s previous best of 69 versus Leicestershire at New Road last summer.D’Oliveira was given superb support by Jack Haynes, with a 22 ball half-century, and Colin Munro after Bears had put the home side into bat.Then a three wicket burst with the new ball by Dillon Pennington had Bears on the back foot as they slumped to a second defeat in 24 hours. Only Sam Hain looked capable of pulling the game out of the fire as Bears closed on 202 for 8.Moeen Ali, fresh from being awarded an OBE, returned to lead Worcestershire for the first time this season after a short break following his spell in the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings. West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo made his Rapids debut after also being part of the CSK side alongside Moeen.D’Oliveira got the Rapids innings off to an explosive start on a hybrid pitch with 20 runs off the first over from Paul Stirling. He hit the first three balls for four and then straight drove the final delivery for a huge six.Ed Pollock was equally destructive as he faced his former county for the first time and the 50 came up in four overs. Craig Miles broke the stand when Pollock went for a pull and feathered a catch through to the keeper.Moeen, in his first Rapids appearance since last June, hammered Danny Briggs for six over long on before being caught behind off Bears skipper Carlos Brathwaite. But D’Oliveira galloped to a 29-ball half-century and achieved his career-best score before he drilled Jake Lintott to cover.Munro and Haynes maintained the momentum for the Rapids with a stand of 56 in 4.5 overs. Munro maintained the form which had brought him two half-centuries in his first three appearances with powerful hitting in making 41 from 21 deliveries.He was eventually caught behind off Brathwaite but Haynes produced some wonderfully clean striking in completing a 22 ball half-century with four sixes and four fours.Stirling seemed determined to make amends for his performance with the ball as he smashed 22 from the first over by Moeen. But Pennington, restored to the side after a two-game absence, swung the game Worcestershire’s way.He had Jacob Bethell and Stirling caught behind and at short third man respectively in his first over and then in his next Alex Davies aimed a blow over midwicket and fell to a fine catch by Haynes running back.Adam Hose and Hain tried to repair the damage during a partnership of 65 in 7.1 overs. But Josh Baker broke the stand in his first over with D’Oliveira holding on to an excellent low catch at deep square leg to dismiss Hose.Baker then had Chris Benjamin caught behind and Brathwaite was run out by Bravo’s throw to the non striker’s end. Hain holed out to deep midwicket off Ed Barnard and Bravo’s debut wicket came when he bowled Brookes.

Abu Dhabi T10 League – Northern Warriors, Delhi Bulls set up final showdown

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Dwayne Bravo and Lendl Simmons played major roles in their respective teams’ wins in the Eliminator games

Barny Read06-Feb-2021Northern Warriors produced a sensational seven-wicket victory over Team Abu Dhabi to book their place in the final of this year’s Abu Dhabi T10, a game in which Lendl Simmons was the eventual hero to set up a showdown with Dwayne Bravo’s Delhi Bulls.Simmons had been given an almighty send-off by the captain as Bravo’s outfit became the first team to seal their spot in the final and he made sure the two would meet again in Saturday’s showpiece at Zayed Cricket Stadium. He made an unbeaten 27-ball 46.In reply to Team Abu Dhabi’s 114 for 1, during which Fabian Allen took 4-13, Simmons had 25 from 20 balls by the eight over, with Warriors needing 34 from their 12 remaining deliveries. He and Rovman Powell (49) took Obed McCoy’s ninth over for 18 before Simmons launched Tom Helm for two sixes in the final over to seal a thrilling win. It was heartbreak for Team Abu Dhabi, but sparked joyous scenes on the Warriors bench, who now have Bravo and co. in their sights.”Mr. Champion! Have some respect!” were the words ringing in Simmons’ ear after good friend Bravo accounted for his wicket in the opening game. His dramatic match-winning performance – after being restored to opening the batting – that closed out the day relieved Warriors captain Nicholas Pooran of a great deal of frustration as his team stared down the barrel of exit.”Simmo had a tough tournament to be honest, batting lower down in the innings and today going back at the top of the order, he’s proven to everyone how good of a player he is,” said Pooran. ” He’s a big match player and tonight he proved that again for us.”I felt like Delhi Bulls and Northern Warriors, we both played fantastic throughout the tournament. I think these are the two best teams in the tournament and we deserve to play the finals. The series is 1-1 right now, so tomorrow is a final and we want to get a win but at the same time we have to do the right things because they are playing well.”The finalists’ meeting in the day’s opening game, found Bravo – who won the last edition with Maratha Arabians and made the switch to the Bulls alongside coach Andy Flower, who’s also a reigning champion – in inspired form.It was Bravo who took 2-14 to reduce the Warriors to 97 for 7 from their 10 overs, a total Bravo’s team chased down with eight balls to spare. Bravo’s celebration of Simmons’ wicket was an animated example of one of T20 cricket’s most decorated players once again turning up and turning it on when it mattered most.”[I had] no nerves,” said Bravo. “I look forward to it because it’s a contest. For me, I challenge myself against these kind of moments and in big games you want big players to turn up. It was my night tonight and tomorrow can be a different story but I always look forward to the contest and competing against the best in the world.”Lendl Simmons is a personal friend of mine, we’ve been playing cricket [together] since we were 15-years-old so it’s always good to get him out. But in a big game like this, to get two key wickets, I’m very happy.”Lendl Simmons made a 27-ball 46•Getty Images

Bravo added that he “made a pledge” to the Delhi Bulls’ ownership that he would lead them to the final and he has emphatically backed that up. He has also donned his self-coined ‘Mr. Champion’ moniker on the back of his shirt this season and the man with 15 T20 winners’ medals on his mantlepiece believes he’s living up to the name once more, concluding: “I guess Mr. Champion is working because I’m in another final!”Team Abu Dhabi had beaten Qalandars to reach the final eliminator of the night courtesy of stunning bowling performances from Naveen-ul-Haq (2-6), McCoy (2-11) and Helm (2-22). Having won each of their first five games, it was a disappointing end to the tournament for Qalandars, who also ran the risk of fielding a visibly injured Shahid Afridi solely as a batsman.Afridi did top score with 24 but his side’s effort of 83-7 was some way short of putting the game beyond Team Abu Dhabi. Following their exit, Qalandars’ Australian wicket-keeper batsman Ben Dunk said any risk playing Afridi was worth it.”It was a must-win game and we needed our best players on the park and he’s one of our best players,” Dunk said. “I think he’s in unbelievable shape for someone that’s played the amount of cricket he has and I’m hoping that the injury isn’t too severe so we see him again in the PSL. To share a dressing room with a living legend of the game is pretty special.”As for Team Abu Dhabi, having come so close and then missed out on a first final on home soil was a bitter end to an otherwise excellent tournament. Luke Wright, Team Abu Dhabi captain, said: “We came so close tonight, it’s hugely disappointing but I’m proud of the lads.”

I owe the Test hat-trick to Kohli – Jasprit Bumrah

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The India fast bowler also said he wasn’t himself sure if his inswinger that fetched him his maiden Test hat-trick had struck West Indies batsman Roston Chase’s pad first

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Sep-2019The conviction in Virat Kohli’s cry, ” [it struck the pad first]” from third slip when there was only a muffled appeal from the bowler Jasprit Bumrah himself stood vindicated as the review fetched Bumrah Roston Chase’s wicket, and a maiden Test hat-trick on Saturday. Bumrah, having become only the third Indian to achieve the distinction, attributed it entirely to Kohli.”Actually I didn’t know. I was not very sure of the appeal,” Bumrah told Kohli in an interview to . “I thought it was bat [first], so I didn’t appeal so much. But it was a good review in the end (laughs), and I think I owe the hat-trick to the captain.” A visibly ebullient Kohli elaborated on the sequence of events that led to the review. “Yeah, we had a discussion,” he said. “I asked him [Bumrah] what he thinks; whether he thought the guy has hit it. So the only question was: is the ball in line. And he said, ‘Everything is in front of the wickets; it’s just that I think it’s bat.’ So we all discussed; Jinx [Ajinkya Rahane] thought he [Chase] is late on the ball, so we went for the review and it happened to be on the right side.”ALSO READ: The marvel that is Jasprit BumrahBumrah’s sensational 6 for 16, including the wickets of Darren Bravo and Shamarh Brooks in that hat-trick, reduced West Indies to 87 for 7 at stumps on the second day, and Kohli underlined how “amazing [it had been] to watch” his fast bowlers when they have been on song. The captain said India’s pace battery – mostly led by Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Bumrah – had been “outstanding” for the team over the last two years.ALSO READ: The boy they call Boom, by Sharda UgraEven in the last Test, Bumrah had taken a blink-and-you-miss-it five-for. Ishant finished with eight wickets in that match and Shami too chipped in with a couple to help India to victory by 318 runs.”There’s a lot of communication that goes on the field as well,” Bumrah said when asked to explain the fast bowlers’ success. “When I’m getting wickets, it’s somebody else’s job to create pressure, and when somebody else is getting wickets, [it’s] my job is to create pressure. There’s a lot of communication [even] when there is no help [from the surface about] what we can do.”Ishant, as you have seen, has played more 90 Test matches, Shami has played a lot of Test matches. So a lot of communication goes [on], ideas come in, we try to help each other out whenever things are not going well, we try to push each other. So there’s a good relation going on and, hopefully, from here we will continue.”As for his own success, whether on pace-friendly tracks – such as at Sabina Park – or those devoid of much assistance, Bumrah put it down to an uncomplicated approach.”Sometimes, when there is so much of help in the wicket… We saw in the previous innings as well [that] there was a lot of bounce [for the West Indians] and they were getting a lot of late movement as well,” he said. “So sometimes, when there is so much of help, you can get greedy for wickets and try to be over-aggressive, that time you have to keep things simple. Just try and bowl good balls, create pressure for the guy at the other end to get wickets. That was the thing that was going on in my head [today].”

'Fake fielding' makes an appearance as Glamorgan cling on in thriller

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AJ Tye hit two sixes in the final over – and three runs were needed off the last ball – before he was bowled trying to secure victory

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2018

ScorecardThere was a pulsating finish at Sophia Gardens, where Gloucestershire, mainly through the efforts of Jack Taylor, got within three runs of beating Glamorgan.AJ Tye, having hit the previous ball for six, missed the last, and Timm van der Gugten, having also dismissed Taylor earlier in the over, was Glamorgan’s hero. Glamorgan gained their fourth win, while the visitors were deposed at the top of the southern Group.Glamorgan scored 201 for 6, with Craig Meschede reaching a career best 77 not out from 47 balls, which included five sixes and four fours, and setting the visitors a testing target which required them to score at ten runs an over.They made a brisk start and were helped by a five-run penalty when a Glamorgan fielder was penalised for “pretending to field the ball” but the home team were soon in control as Gloucestershire lost three wickets in quick succession.Miles Hammond lifted Michael Hogan to long-on, then Michael Klinger and Ian Cockbain were out to successive deliveries. Klinger was well held by Hogan at long-off, then Cockbain nicked one from Rory Smith to the wicketkeeper. Benny Howell struck Smith for two sixes in the seamer’s final over, but when Graham Wagg was brought on, he bowled Howell with his first ball.Wagg was then struck a fierce blow on his head, attempting to get in the way of a drive from Ryan Higgins from the fifth ball of his second over, and although was reluctant to leave the field, common sense prevailed.Gloucestershire needed 75 from the final five overs, and a rapid 57-run stand between Taylor and Higgins gave them a flicker of hope. Higgins perished to Hogan, and Noema-Barnett also fell to the same bowler.But Taylor kept on swinging, and with sixteen runs needed from the final over, van der Gugten held his nerve to bowl Taylor for 52 from 21 balls, but when Tye swung the bowler for six, nine were needed from three balls, and three from the last ball.After they were put into Usman Khawaja, playing his final game for Glamorgan before returning to Australia, and Aneurin Donald opened for the home team with Donald soon into his stride, striking Higgins for six and four in the bowler’s opening over and then driving Tye for another six as the Australian conceded 17.After driving David Payne for a straight six, the bowler got his revenge two balls later when Khawaja player on to a full delivery after sharing an opening partnership of 45 in five overs.Donald was joined by Meschede, who struck Howell for three successive fours as Glamorgan ended the Powerplay on 60 for 1. The second-wicket pair added 37, before Donald, who scored 31 from 27 balls, was caught attempting the ramp shot off Howell.Kiran Carlson, who top scored in Glamorgan’s win against Surrey earlier in the week, struck a six to get off the mark, but after driving Tye to the boundary, was out the next ball when he skied to extra cover.Chris Cooke, leading the Glamorgan team in the absence of Colin Ingram, then settled into productive partnership with Meschede, scoring a brisk 29 in a stand of 50, before he was caught at midwicket.Glamorgan then lost two wickets for one run, as Wagg was leg before to Howell first ball, and Andrew Salter was caught behind, but Meschede kept Glamorgan going with a series of attacking strokes.Tye, one of the best T20 bowlers in the world was struck for 25 in his final over as he ended with 4-0-50-1

Teams split points after rain allows only 31.1 overs

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Tamim Iqbal was not out on 64* and Peter Chase returned figures of 3 for 33 but prolonged rain meant the game was a washout

The Report by Mohammad Isam12-May-2017
Match Abandoned
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShakib Al Hasan stood in as Bangladesh captain in the absence of Mashrafe Mortaza•Getty Images/Sportsfile

Heavy rain in Malahide washed out the tri-series’ opener between Ireland and Bangladesh after the visitors’ innings came to a halt in the 32nd over. Bangladesh were 157 for 4 in 31.1 overs when the weather forced them off, and they did not return. Although the rain relented as the evening progressed, it never entirely stopped. The game was called off at 4.50 pm local time.In what is their first visit to England and Ireland in seven years, the Bangladesh batsmen, barring Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah, struggled on a green pitch.Tamim and Mahmudullah led the visitors’ recovery with an unbroken 87-run fifth-wicket stand – after they were struggling at 70 for 4 – but it was mainly the Ireland bowlers’ inability to take full advantage of pace-friendly conditions that let the visitors off the hook.Peter Chase was the pick of the bowlers with his three wickets, while Tim Murtagh and left-arm spinner George Dockrell kept Bangladesh in check with tight bowling. Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien and Stuart Thompson however failed to find their rhythm.Tamim battled hard for his 88-ball 64, finding the boundary eight times, while Mahmudullah scored 43 off 56 balls, bringing to a halt his string of low scores in ODIs since October.On a pitch that was hard to differentiate from the outfield, Bangladesh started gingerly, losing Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman in the first 3.2 overs. Soumya edged Chase’s short ball, which was moving away from his off stump, while Sabbir was struck on his arm first ball before deciding that an ultra-aggressive shot was needed to break the shackles. The attempted slog over midwicket duly ended up in third man’s grasp and Chase had struck twice in quick succession.Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim then added 38 for the third wicket, but the former drove at and edged a Barry McCarthy good-length delivery to the slip fielder in the 12th over.Shakib Al Hasan, standing in as captain for the suspended Mashrafe Mortaza, also looked uncomfortable tackling such a pitch. Even as he looked to get his timing right, Chase got him on 14 with a wide delivery.Like Tamim, Mahmudullah generally played the ball quite late, making sure he used the depth of the crease. Both batsmen left the ball regularly, whenever a delivery’s line and length made it risky to drive through off.But the Ireland bowlers kept feeding them boundary balls and wide deliveries (they bowled 13 in the first 20 overs), which meant that the pressure on the pair wasn’t absolute. They figured out how to deal with the green top, but the rain arrived just when they had started to dominate the home bowling attack.

Australia turn on the power to chase 179 and seal series

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Hashim Amla’s career-best 97 not out was not enough for South Africa as Australia squeezed with spin and then attacked with the bat to claim a 2-1 series win

The Report by Firdose Moonda09-Mar-2016
Live Scorecard and ball-by-ball details 1:47

‘My goal to have a century in each format’ – De Kock

Hashim Amla’s career-best 97 not out was not enough for South Africa to secure a series victory as Australia squeezed with spin and then attacked the opposition’s slower bowlers to claim a 2-1 win in the T20I decider at Newlands.The result means that the same puzzle that has faced South Africa all summer remains unsolved. Their middle-order is still missing some reliability and they have yet to decide who to anoint as their fifth bowler.Australia, on the other hand, have answered some of their own questions. They found an opening combination that worked, their captain contributed a vital innings, and they were successful against spin on a surface that South Africa had asked to resemble a sub-continent strip as far as possible.While run-scoring had stuttered during the women’s match that preceded this one, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla scotched any notions of sluggish track with fluency from the outset. In AB de Villiers’ absence, both seemed eager to impress for the opening spot in India and took turns taking the initiative.De Kock opened with two finesse-laced flicks off Nathan Coulter-Nile, whose line was initially too straight. Amla responded with impressive footwork to send Shane Watson to opposite ends of the ground. South Africa raced to 47 after four overs and were threatening to run away with it when de Kock threw his bat at a full delivery and John Hastings took a smart catch at third man.That only seemed to spur Amla on even more. He unleashed a powerful pull to Coulter-Nile’s next ball and then got away with a top edge that carried for six to force another bowling change. James Faulkner was the fourth bowler used in the Powerplay and Amla drilled him for back-to-back boundaries to take South Africa to the second highest total in the six-over period at Newlands, 68 for 1.Hashim Amla’s unbeaten 97 wasn’t enough for South Africa•Getty Images

Adam Zampa came on immediately after the fielding restrictions were lifted and bowled the first boundary-free over the innings. That meant Faf du Plessis had not got in on the action at all and, in his haste to join in, he misread a Watson slower ball and spooned a catch to short mid-wicket.While Amla bided his time, Rilee Rossouw was kept quiet by Zampa and Glenn Maxwell – and Zampa should have had him caught on the mid-wicket boundary when he was on three only for Maxwell to spill the catch. Amla reached his fifty off 31 balls and seemed content to rotate the strike during the squeeze.In the five overs that followed the Powerplay, Australia conceded just 25 runs to put the onus back on Amla to get things going. He took on Zampa and Maxwell, finding a boundary in each of their next overs. When Rossouw tried to do the same off Coulter-Nile, he failed, gifting a catch to Steve Smith at long-off.South Africa promoted David Miller above JP Duminy and his quick-fire 30 took the pressure off Amla. It also denied him a century. Amla entered the final over on 84, hit a six off the first ball and then took a single to put Miller on strike. Miller ran two and then sent a full toss to cover but did not run to leave Amla off strike. Amla duly struck the last ball of the innings for six but had to settle for 97 not out.In the end, South Africa had needed a little more than just those three runs. The Sydney team-mates, Usman Khawaja and Shane Watson, got Australia off to a solid start before Steve Smith and David Warner guided them to the finish.Australia’s openers took on the short ball which Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott were all generous in serving up. Although Australia’s Powerplay was not as explosive as South Africa’s – they scored 51 runs in the six overs – it set them up. Australia changed tack when the fielding restrictions were lifted and targeted the spin instead, with good results and a touch of luck.Watson dispatched Imran Tahir’s second ball over mid-wicket but, when he tried to hit him down the ground, Watson should have been caught. David Miller at long-off spilled the chance. Watson was not deterred by that and sent the last ball of that over into the stands.The plan continued into Tahir’s next over, when Watson tried to go straight down the ground again. He should have been caught again off the first ball but, between Miller at long-off du Plessis at cover, they could not decide who should take it. He was caught off the next ball, however, playing the same shot, and Tahir struck again in the same over when Khawaja joined in on the strategy. He tried a sweep but got as far as Amla at deep square-leg.South Africa worked their way back into contention but instead of turn to a strike bowler, du Plessis brought Duminy on. Australia paid him some respect at first – Smith instead turned his attention to Tahir, hitting him for the straightest six of the match, before taking on Duminy as well.Steyn was brought back on to try and break the partnership but Smith and Warner were seeing the ball too well. Warner was particularly severe on Wiese, whose pace off the ball approach did not work, and with 47 needed from the last six overs, the sting was taken out of the contest.Neither Smith nor Warner hung around to finish but they’d done enough. Maxwell whittled the requirements down to 12 off 12 and Mitchell Marsh hit the winning runs with four balls to spare.

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