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Tilak Varma’s fifty on tricky track went in vain as West Indies overcame a mid-chase slide of 4 for 3 to edge home by two wickets

Himanshu Agrawal06-Aug-20231:20

Jaffer: ‘Hardik not giving Chahal a fourth over shocks me’

West Indies beat India in back-to-back T20Is for the first time since 2016, thus giving themselves every chance of triumphing over India in a T20I series (two games or more) for the first time in seven years. But none of this was without drama. With 27 runs to get off 37 balls and six wickets still in hand in the chase of 153, West Indies lost 4 for 3 in the space of 13 deliveries, their smooth progress hitting serious turbulence.Who would have thought then that they would win with seven balls to spare? Eventually, it took an unbroken ninth-wicket partnership of 26 between Nos. 9 and 10 Akeal Hosein and Alzarri Joseph to get their side home.But before rescuing West Indies with the bat, both Hosein and Joseph grabbed two wickets each – as did Romario Shepherd – to set the base for the win by restricting India to 152. Nicholas Pooran then led the effort with the bat, clobbering 67 off 40 balls with six fours and four sixes to keep India under pressure for most of the chase.

Powell’s calls, bowlers’ execution spot on

Rovman Powell had lost the toss, but his tactics ensured India’s batters hardly ever felt settled on a pitch where the ball was gripping and turning. Throughout India’s innings, there were only two occasions when a West Indies bowler bowled at least two overs in a row. And even that first happened only when Jason Holder bowled the ninth and 11th overs, with the constant rotation of bowlers not allowing India any momentum.Obed McCoy, Holder, Hosein and Joseph executed the plan to perfection, combining to grab 4 for 111 across 16 overs – an economy rate of less than seven an over – across multiple change-ups. There were fast ones zipping and skidding through on the two-paced pitch – from the pace bowlers and the left-arm spinner Hosein alike – as well as slower balls, cutters and turning deliveries, which India’s batters could not get a hold of.West Indies got everything they could have hoped for on Sunday to keep India in check: the slowness of the pitch playing a part in a leading edge from Shubman Gill, a direct-hit to run Suryakumar Yadav out, turn to have Sanju Samson stumped, and pace and accuracy to clean up Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan. Batting was difficult on this track in general too, as India struggling to 53 for 2 off the first nine overs indicated.Ishan Kishan was cleaned up by Romario Shepherd•Associated Press

Tilak’s maturity holds India together

On debut in the previous game, Tilak Varma wasn’t afraid of pulling back-to-back sixes to open his runs tally despite India having not started well in the chase. He hit 39 from 22 balls there, in Tarouba, as India fell just short. Three days later, Tilak was happy to play anchor. He came in at 18 for 2 in the fourth over, with Gill and Suryakumar’s lean returns continuing.Despite hitting two boundaries, Tilak was only on 21 off his first 24 balls. But even then those fours hinted at his confidence: the first was a clean loft over mid-on, the next a bold scoop over short-fine leg. He ultimately upped the tempo and finished with 51 from 41, though he did enjoy some luck.When on 25, his pull shot was anticipated by Shepherd at short fine leg, where he stuck his right hand up only for the ball to brush it and trickle to the rope; on 30, McCoy ran and dived to his left from long-on, but dropped another tough chance. But a reverse-sweep for four and a heave over short fine for six soon after showed Tilak still wasn’t afraid to take his chances.

Pooran shakes India up

Pooran had arrived at the crease with West Indies 2 for 2 after four balls, and managed only a single from his first five deliveries. But he then came to life as if abruptly waking up from deep sleep. Pandya was heaved over long-on for six and slashed through point for four in the third over; Mukesh Kumar was slapped and drilled through cover for fours in the fifth; and Ravi Bishnoi was deposited for 4, 6, 4, 4 to end the powerplay.That gave West Indies 61 runs off the first six overs, and Pooran got to his half-century off 29 balls to start the tenth over. It all looked rosy for West Indies while he was at the crease, before his dismissal triggered that mini-collapse and set nerves jangling in their dressing room. Fortunately for them, a stoic Hosein and Joseph were up to their task.

Haynes completes third century in as many matches as Azhar finishes unbeaten on 202

ECB Reporters Network20-May-2022Worcestershire 456 for 3 (Ali 202*, Haynes 127) lead Leicestershire 148 (Barnard 3-45) by 308 runsAzhar Ali scored a superb double-hundred as he and fellow centurion Jack Haynes rewrote the record books on day two of the LV=Insurance County Championship match with Leicestershire at New Road.Pakistan Test batter Azhar and former England Under-19 batter Haynes put on 281 in 78 overs for the third wicket – a record partnership for any wicket against Leicestershire. It surpassed the 278 by Cyril Walters and HHIH ‘Doc’ Gibbons at New Road in 1934.Their efforts were largely responsible for Worcestershire totalling 456 for three by the close – a lead of 308. Haynes was eventually dismissed for 127 but Azhar went onto bring up his double-ton in the final over of the day with a cover drive for four off Rehan Ahmed.It was completed from 328 balls with one six and 18 fours and he then shared in another century stand with Brett D’Oliveira (52 not out).Azhar arrived at New Road after a successful Test series against Australia which included a marathon 175 spanning 11 hours at Rawalpindi. He initially found it a challenge acclimatising to English conditions and his opening six innings yielded 34 runs.But he has flourished since hitting 92 against a Durham attack including Ben Stokes, and for the majority of the time he has been in partnership with Haynes.The pair had been together for stands of 195 (Durham) and 187 (Derbyshire) before joining forces for this marathon effort.Haynes has been quick to acknowledge the influence on his batting this summer of Azhar as he has converted promising innings into major contributions. His maiden hundred came in the Durham game and this was the Worcester-born batter’s third century in successive matches.He was the first Worcestershire player to achieve that feat since Daryl Mitchell in 2017 when he scored hundreds against Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Sussex.The former England Under-19 player has always looked full of class and on this form may soon be knocking on the door for further international recognition.Azhar and Haynes took full toll of a toiling attack and both benefitted significantly from the cut and pull shots as they provided rich entertainment after a delayed start to proceedings.Play did not get underway to 1.10pm but the third-wicket pair made up for lost time by scoring 148 runs during the afternoon session.Haynes pulled Chris Wright for six and Leicestershire were powerless to stem the flow of boundaries before Azhar took a stride forward and flicked Ed Barnes for a single to fine leg to complete his century from 159 balls with 11 fours.His partner followed him to three figures with a clip to deep mid wicket off Rehan. It took 15 more deliveries than Azhar and contained one six and 14 fours.The second new ball was taken immediately after tea but the record stand was established when Haynes cut Mulder for his 17th and final boundary.Mulder had his revenge soon afterwards when Haynes pushed forward and was lbw for 127. He batted for five hours and faced 230 deliveries.Azhar continued to demonstrate some superb stroke-play after he was joined in the middle by Club Captain, D’Oliveira.Some of his cover drives, cuts and pull shots were a delight to watch as he showed little sign of tiringD’Oliveira, a century-maker against Leicestershire at the Uptonsteel County Ground last month, also played fluently in another century stand with Azhar from just 134 balls.His own half century came from only 86 deliveries.

Rabada and Pretorius are carrying injuries, and were not considered for selection

Firdose Moonda11-Dec-2020Opening batsman Sarel Erwee, wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne and medium-pacer Glenton Stuurman have received maiden call-ups to South Africa’s Test squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka. South Africa will be captained by Quinton de Kock, who has been appointed in temporary capacity of the 2021-21 summer. However, they will be without frontline seamer Kagiso Rabada or allrounder Dwaine Pretorius, who are both injured.Pretorius was ruled out of the recent white-ball series against England with a hamstring concern while Rabada picked up a groin strain during the T20Is. Though a CSA statement said the pair would both be assessed in the coming days to determine if they could be added to the squad, selection convener Victor Mpitsang was less hopeful.”The concern is around workloads. For now, they (Rabada and Pretorius) are not available for the Sri Lanka tour but hopefully they will be ready for the Pakistan series,” Victor Mptisang, convenor of selectors, told ESPNcricinfo.Importantly, Mpitsang would like to see both players feature in domestic red-ball cricket before they join the Test squad. Pretorius is expected to play in a four-day match for the Lions starting on Monday, December 13, while Rabada should be fit for the fixture the week after, which starts on December 20. The South African squad will go into their bios-ecure bubble at the Irene Country Club on December 19, which means Rabada, especially, could be too late to join them for the festive Tests.However, they will not look to add any reinforcements to their spin department, where Keshav Maharaj remains the first-choice. George Linde, who was the second-highest wicket-taker in last season’s four-day competition, and Tabraiz Shamsi, who led the list before he was needed for international duty this summer, will have to wait for January’s tour of Pakistan to get their chance. “Both of them are there and thereabouts but if you look at where we are playing this series, we will struggle to get two spinners into our team in Johannesburg and Centurion,” Mpitsang said. “In our conditions, Keshav will do the job.”On the batting front, Mpitsang confirmed that Aiden Markram will return to the top of the order after missing most of last summer with a hand injury. Markram leads the domestic run-scorers’ list, with three hundreds from his last three innings, and displaces Pieter Malan, who has not been included in the squad at all. Instead, Dolphins’ opener Erwee, who is 47 runs behind Markram, has been included. “Pieter Malan is unlucky to have missed out because of what he had done against England but Aiden Markram missed out against England and we’ve seen the remarkable form he has been in. He just comes back in,” Mpitsang said. “The replacement will be Sarel Erwee who has been very good in the past. It shows that when you do well in the domestic structure you will be rewarded.”Markram will also be closely watched as a potential permanent Test captain, a position that will be filled ahead of the 2021-22 season. “Aiden has always been a guy earmarked as a captain but we will reassess after the season,” Mpitsang said. “There’s a nice leadership group for now, with Rassie and Temba, and it’s about getting them to be stable in the team.”Bavuma only played one Test last season after he was dropped and will need consistent performances to cement his spot. He will bat in the top five, which is bolstered by the experience of Faf du Plessis, who remains available for selection, despite stepping down as captain, and Rassie van der Dussen, with Keegan Petersen likely to be the reserve. Petersen, who is fourth on the domestic run-charts this season, has been preferred over Zubayr Hamza and Theunis de Bruyn. Verreyne, who is also a wicketkeeper is the other batting option, and could find himself making a debut either as a specialist batsman or to relieve de Kock of the gloves.The series will be South Africa’s first since the coronavirus pandemic hit and their third in the World Test Championship. They are placed eighth on the WTC table, with one win and 24 points and though their chances of qualifying for the final are slim, they have seven Tests this summer to work their way to a more respectable position. They will be wary though, knowing that the last time Sri Lanka were on their shores, in the 2018-19 season, they became the first team from the subcontinent to win a series in South Africa.Squad for Sri Lanka Tests: Quinton de Kock (capt & wk), Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Beuran Hendricks, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Sarel Erwee, Anrich Nortje, Glenton Stuurman, Wiaan Mulder, Keegan Petersen, Kyle Verreynne

“But then at certain times you have to assess the strength of the opponent and make your strategy accordingly.”

Umar Farooq05-Sep-2019There is a perception around Misbah-ul-Haq that he is a bit defensive. The man has hit the second-fastest hundred in Test history and led Pakistan’s team to No. 1 in the longest format and yet he was typecast as tuk-tuk. That nickname hasn’t had much occasion to pop up in the last few years but now, in his first press conference since being appointed Pakistan’s new head coach and chief selector, the issue cropped up again as people wondered about the nature of a team under his charge.For his part, Misbah wants his players to play attractive cricket. “I have been saying this forever that there is some confusion in the way we are thinking about being defensive and aggressive,” he said. “I always believed that your strategy is based on the resources you’ve got. Ideally, you obviously try and wish to have resources that you can just dominate and knock out the opposition.”Being a coach, I will try to build a team that plays aggressively and wins easily. But then at certain times you have to assess the strength of the opponent and make your strategy accordingly.”For example, recently during World Cup England was considered un-matchable with players are playing the pure form of modern cricket. But at the same time New Zealand were the other way around playing with conservative approach from 80s. Despite their batsmen not clicking, they formed a strategy according to their resources and they were in the final with England playing the next level of cricket. So it shows that you have to work around your resources and plan accordingly. My priority as coach to have a team that plays an attacking cricket and dominate and that’s the way forward but at certain times you have to re-look your strategy.”Misbah has been given a three-year contract by the PCB, his dual role giving him great power, but also great responsibility.”Everyone asks questions about accountability. Now Misbah will be accountable for selection as well as performance,” Wasim Khan, the CEO of the Pakistan Cricket Board, said. “The concept of head coach-cum-chief selector is innovative. After being introduced to our system, it has also put more responsibility on Misbah’s shoulders as he will now be solely responsible and accountable for the team’s performances. Furthermore, as the new domestic system has also been implemented, head coaches of the provincial teams will give feedback to Misbah about the talent in our domestic cricket.”Misbah was quick to play down the influence he might have as Pakistan’s coach, reiterating that the captain will remain in charge.”You don’t always get what you want then it affects you mentally and tactically you don’t have the resource and it affects the performance,” he said as he tried to explain why he took on both roles.”There has been a practice that final authority on picking the playing XI is with the captain and it will remain the same. The captain who is operating in the field needs to have full confidence in the team. Before reaching a final decision, there will be huge debate and discussion and sometime regardless of the depth in understanding there might be a difference of opinion in 15 or 16 picks or XI but at the end you either get convinced or make other convince and move on.”Along with Misbah, Pakistan have brought on another senior figure to help lead them forward. Waqar Younis was tempted to re-join the Pakistan coaching staff, as bowling coach, even though his last stint with the team ended quite bitterly.”He was a wonderful bowler and we won’t get any better option than him to be our bowling coach,” Misbah said. “In Pakistan, Wasim [Akram] and Waqar are the top most guys [to talk to about bowling] and everyone comes after [them], so I have no doubt about any problem. We have a very good working relationship and we both knows our limits.”We have worked a lot together in Pakistan team and in PSL and we know each other very well. Professionalism is there, he will never interfere in my domain and I won’t interfere in his. He is also very much clear that direction comes from head coach and bowlers will be working with him. He has some plans and we know what to do when bowlers are not delivering and how to drive them to deliver.”

The opener, who is banned for life from captaining any side in Australian cricket, will lead Winnipeg Hawks in the Global T20 Canada, with Dwayne Bravo out injured

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2018David Warner, who has been banned for life from holding any leadership position in Australian cricket, is set to captain his team in the Global T20 Canada.Warner will lead the Winnipeg Hawks with Dwayne Bravo, the designated captain, pulling out of the rest of the tournament. Winnipeg coach Waqar Younis was confident Warner would be the right choice, having seen the opener lead in the IPL.”I’m sure he’s going to be a good leader when it comes to captaincy,” Waqar told . “(Warner) is a leader. He’s a team man. I’ve seen him in IPL and I’ve seen him as a leader. He’s up there, he’s upfront and he likes to give whatever his knowledge is, he’s always there.”Warner led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the IPL title in 2016, and in 12 matches as the Australia captain (three ODIs and nine T20Is) has lost only one game, a rain-affected T20I against India in October 2017.Imad Wasim, the Pakistan allrounder, will replace Bravo in the team.The tournament in Canada is the first one that Warner and Steven Smith have taken part in since the fallout of the ball-tampering scandal that rocked Australian cricket in South Africa earlier this year. Both are serving one-year bans from international and Australian domestic cricket. Warner has played three games for Winnipeg so far, with meagre returns of 1, 4 and 1, and will have at least two more matches in the league phase. With two wins, Winnipeg are currently on top of the points table, ahead of West Indies B and Vancouver Knights on net run-rate.At the start of the competition, Warner had said he was looking to get the rhythm of the game back, and that he would be open to advising his junior team-mates about the game. “For me it’s about getting back into the rhythm of cricket again, making sure I’m putting my best foot forward for this tournament, making sure that I’m putting 100% in all the time, giving advice to the guys who don’t get the opportunity to play on the big stage as well, and just to compete.”

Darren Bravo appears to have rejected the chance of a return to the West Indies side by launching a claim for damages against the WICB

George Dobell21-Apr-2017Darren Bravo appears to have rejected the chance of a return to the West Indies side by launching a claim for damages against the WICB.Bravo, who has not played for West Indies since he was sent home from Zimbabwe in November 2016 following his criticism of board president, Dave Cameron, is claiming lost earnings of around USD120,000 based upon what he could have made from ODIs against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, BPL and PSL contracts, and regional Caribbean competitions.The claim has come as a surprise to officials at WICB who believed they were on the verge of a reconciliation with Bravo. They are also surprised at the suggestion he was prevented from playing in the BPL or PSL as no application for an NOC (no objection certificate) was made ahead of either tournament and, when Bravo did apply for such a certificate ahead of the IPL, it was granted immediately.”It is true that Darren has initiated legal action against us,” WICB chief executive Johnny Grave told ESPNcricinfo. “It has come as a surprise as I was under the impression we had agreed a way back for him. I’m very disappointed and yes, a bit frustrated.”Grave believed he had made significant progress towards resolving the stand-off with Bravo. Having inherited the disagreement when he was appointed at the start of this year, Grave gained agreement from Cameron over a partial apology to Bravo (the president is prepared to acknowledge he was wrong to suggest Bravo had ever received a Grade A contract from WICB). He also thought he had agreed on the wording of an apology from Bravo to the president with Bravo’s legal advisors. Indeed, he was hoping news of Bravo’s reconciliation could be announced during the ODI series against England with a view to him playing in the Test series against Pakistan.As things stand, though, Bravo’s tweet calling the president a “big idiot” has not been deleted and the apology has not been made public by Bravo. The launching of legal proceedings against the board on the eve of West Indies’ series against Pakistan suggest a conflict still exists.”I just want what is best for West Indies cricket,” Grave said. “And having the best players available is part of that. Of course a player of Darren’s experience would be an asset.”I thought everything was agreed with his legal advisors. We didn’t want this to play out publicly but yes, it is true, his attorney is asking for damages and West Indies supporters deserve an explanation as to why he is not in the squad in Jamaica.”There is still a lot of sympathy for Darren. He was frustrated at the time of that tweet and we understand that. We want to move on and we want to move on with him. But that issue does have to be resolved before he can play for West Indies.”We have a talented young side who are working hard and have a great attitude. They may lack a bit of experience right now, but we’re playing a lot of cricket this year and we hope that will help them progress. If Darren wants to be part of that, he is welcome. You’d have to ask him whether he does.”The door remains open for Darren. We would love him to be playing for us and we will continue to work towards that. But I am scratching my head at this point wondering what more we can do.”One of the causes of disagreement between the board and the players in recent times has been the insistence that they should be available to play in domestic cricket in order to be considered eligible for the West Indies sides. While there is yet to be any formal announcement of a change in that policy, both Grave and new director of cricket, Jimmy Adams, have hinted they are in favour of a more flexible approach and it is likely a change will be confirmed in October when the new central contracts are announced. It is also likely WICB will bring in separate red- and white-ball contracts.It is also understood there will be no clash between West Indies’ international schedule and the IPL in 2018 or 2019. That would allow players to sign contracts with the WICB (worth somewhere in the region of USD130,000) and appear in the most lucrative T20 league. Bravo has an IPL contract with Kolkata Knight Riders worth around USD74,000 though he is yet to appear in this year’s tournament.

Mohammad Shahzad believes his side would have come even closer to their first win of the Super 10s had Dale Steyn not been dropped for tactical reasons

Andrew Miller in Mumbai20-Mar-20160:26

‘I’m not happy Steyn didn’t play’ – Shahzad

Mohammad Shahzad, the opening batsman, whose belligerent 19-ball 44 briefly gave Afghanistan hope of a shock victory over South Africa in Mumbai, believes his side would have come even closer to their first win of the Super 10s had Dale Steyn not been dropped for tactical reasons. And Faf du Plessis does not disagree.Shahzad, whose tally of 142 runs from 102 balls in last week’s qualifiers was instrumental in his team’s progression to the main draw, cracked three fours and five sixes in a thrilling onslaught that was reminiscent of Jason Roy’s opening gambit against South Africa on Friday.His innings included 22 runs off Kyle Abbott’s first over of the night, and it wasn’t until Chris Morris entered the attack with a hostile back-of-a-length approach that South Africa were able to regroup. Morris, who gave Shahzad a send-off after having him bowled in his first over, was named Man of the Match after restoring order for South Africa with figures of 4 for 27 in four overs.”Morris bowled very well, with good line and length,” Shahzad said. “I was waiting for the full-length delivery, and I missed, he hit.”However, when asked if he would have liked to have tested his methods against Steyn, arguably the finest fast bowler of his generation, Shahzad was as dismissive of his merits as he had been of South Africa’s opening bowlers.”It doesn’t matter which bowler is playing because the wicket is very good, you see,” he said “I love playing Dale Steyn because Dale Steyn is not dangerous.”Morris is very dangerous because he has height and swings the ball. Dale Steyn [has] only pace, so this wicket is good to face a pacer, the ball is coming onto the bat. So no, I am not happy that Dale Steyn is not playing.”His answer was greeted with incredulity and a smattering of applause in the press room, where one journalist was so taken aback by his answer, he asked him to repeat the punchline.”I said Dale Steyn is not playing and I am not happy,” Shahzad responded. His confidence was especially telling, seeing as Steyn dismissed him for 2 in their only previous match-up at a world event, at Bridgetown during Afghanistan’s World T20 debut in 2010.”I play my own game because I am waiting for the loose delivery, when I find a loose delivery, whether it is the first ball or last ball of the match, a four-day game, Test match game, I don’t care. I just play my own game, like MS Dhoni, you know.””First of all, I’d like somebody’s confidence,” Faf du Plessis, the South Africa captain, said, when Shahzad’s comments were put to him. However, du Plessis did not try to deny that Steyn’s skiddy methods had been deemed unsuitable for the task of beating an Associate nation.”We played here the other night, and the thinking behind the wicket was that for seamers who skid on, especially in the first six overs, there is not much swing. And [Dale] goes down as quite a skiddy bowler. A wicket like this wouldn’t suit him as much.”It’s not the Mumbai wicket where there is a bit of pace and bounce, it just skids through. We wanted to bring in a guy like David Wiese that bowls a bit of variation. The wicket looked a bit brown as well, so we thought pace off the ball would help. Wiese also strengthens our batting unit more. So yeah, it was the right decision for us as a team.”The tactical switch raises questions about Steyn’s suitability to lead the line for the rest of South Africa’s campaign, albeit they next play West Indies and Sri Lanka in Nagpur where the conditions will be fundamentally different.Steyn has endured an injury-plagued six months, including a groin strain that curtailed his Test tour of India and a shoulder injury that limited him to a solitary appearance on England’s tour of South Africa. He returned to action in the recent T20 series against Australia, but was belted out of the attack by Roy on Friday night, conceding 23 runs in his first over as England chased down a tournament-record 230.”He bowled really well in the two games we have had against Australia,” du Plessis said. “In the warm-up games, he bowled well. For us, we are a team that will make selections on the pitches that we play on, so, obviously, we move now away from this and go play on the other wickets that the guys have been playing on.”The thinking will change again. You have to, as a team, be able to adapt to the conditions. Our next game is in Nagpur and that wicket has been turning quite a bit, so we will have to make those decisions after we get there.”There is, however, a general concern over the inability of South Africa’s seamers to stick to their plans in recent matches, and du Plessis expressed his frustration after Afghanistan had been allowed to post 172 in a spirited run-chase.‪”It’s an execution thing,” he said. “If the plan is to go yorker, land a yorker or miss it marginally. But we were missing by quite a big length. You have to get your execution a little bit closer to the mark. We have just missed a little bit on that.”Chris Morris bowled very aggressively, bowled with a great intensity and that’s what we need to take. We are going to a different ground now, where things will be completely different. Yes, we want to get better, but it’s going to be a completely mental and technical shift from our skill sets now, going into the rest of the tournament. So we’ll make those changes.”Shahzad, meanwhile, has turned his sights to Afghanistan’s next opponents – England, whom they face in Delhi on Wednesday.”It is a good wicket for batting, but, unfortunately, we threw the wickets away too much in the first seven overs, that’s why we lost. But we will try to play good cricket again, against England and West Indies. We know if we beat England, insh’allah, we can beat any team.”

Fast bowler Beuran Hendricks triggered a middle-order collapse as India A slumped from 95 for 1 to 145 for 6 at the end of the second day to put South Africa A firmly in control of the second and final unofficial Test in Pretoria

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2013 by 196 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: The dismissal of Cheteshwar Pujara triggered India A’s middle-order collapse•BCCI

Fast bowler Beuran Hendricks triggered a middle-order collapse as India A slumped from 95 for 1 to 145 for 6 towards the end of the second day to put South Africa A firmly in control of the second and final unofficial Test in Pretoria. Cheteshwar Pujara’s half-century had helped India recover from the early loss of M Vijay, but Hendricks struck twice in quick succession to remove Pujara and Dinesh Karthik and Simon Harmer followed up his batting heroics with two middle-order wickets to leave the Indian innings in tatters.After conceding 341 runs in the first innings, 245 of them to the last four wickets, India found themselves in further misery when Hendricks removed Vijay in the second over of the innings. Pujara, with support from Ajinkya Rahane, revived the innings with an 86-run partnership for the second wicket, bringing up his half-century along the way. But Hendricks dismissal of Pujara in the third over of his second spell marked a sudden shift in momentum.Much like South Africa’s riposte late on the first day when their lower order pulled the game out of India’s grasp, this time, it was the bowling. India lost their fifth and the sixth wickets in the last five overs of the day, leaving them 196 runs behind South Africa.”This pitch is deteriorating at a faster pace than in previous games here,” Harmer said. “I think 340 is a good first innings total on this pitch. Totals are going to become lower as the match progresses and you won’t want to be batting last. We have got ourselves into a good position but there is still a lot of work to be done,” he added. “We have ticked the right boxes today so it will be important to do the same on day three.”The match panned out just as South Africa would have wanted it to. Harmer and Wayne Parnell stretched their monumental seventh-wicket stand close to the double-century mark, but Shahbaz Nadeem finally earned India a wicket after 65 overs of toil when he had Harmer trapped in front for 96. Parnell fell short of his century too; he was the ninth wicket to fell when he was out for 91. But India’s struggle with the tail continued as Andrew Birch and Hendricks added 50 for the last wicket. Birch, unbeaten on 44, hit eight boundaries in his innings.”It was good to get some runs,” Harmer said. “My batting hasn’t been up to scratch in the last two seasons and I have been working hard on it; it’s good to reap some rewards from the hard work.”At the start Wayne and I looked to occupy the crease for as long as possible. We knew that they were going to get impatient because they were looking to get into the tail to wrap up the innings, so we knew that the longer we stayed there the more we could capitalise on their mistakes.”

Steffan Piolet and Paul Best swept Warwickshire to the top of Group C of the Clydesdale Bank 40 with an unexpected three-wicket victory

07-Aug-2012
ScorecardRookies Steffan Piolet and Paul Best swept Warwickshire to the top of Group C of the Clydesdale Bank 40 with an unexpected three-wicket victory under the Edgbaston floodlights under the Duckworth-Lewis method that effectively dashed Yorkshire’s already slim semi-final hopes.Piolet, who batted with a runner after he sustained a hamstring injury bowling, and Best added 40 in just three overs to take Warwickshire to a revised target of 238 in 34 overs with four balls to spare.Yorkshire thought they had the match won when Tim Ambrose, who made a bustling 64 from 47 balls, carved Moin Ashraf to short third man. But Piolet turned the match decisively in Warwickshire’s favour when he pulled Steven Patterson and Ashraf for sixes in consecutive overs to finish unbeaten on 23 from nine balls.Best followed up his competition-best bowling of 3 for 43 with a rapid unbeaten 16, also from nine balls, to take Warwickshire above Sussex in the group.Yorkshire will wonder how they contrived to lose their fourth game in the competition this season after captain Andrew Gale and Adam Lyth laid the foundations for a competitive total with aggressive half-centuries.But Yorkshire lost five quick wickets after they returned to face 19 balls after a 65-minute stoppage for rain and Warwickshire’s run chase was sustained by a third-wicket stand of 74 in 10 overs between Ambrose and captain Jim Troughton.Neither could finish the job, as Troughton was bowled for 61 driving at Azeem Rafiq and Ambrose fell when victory was in sight, but Piolet and Best, who have become one-day regulars this season, proved their worth.Defeat was particularly hard on Lyth, who played a superb attacking innings which included four sixes in six balls, three of them off consecutive deliveries from Chris Wright either side of the rain break. The second of those took Lyth to a 49-ball half-century and he added a fourth off Keith Barker before he skied the next ball to midwicket.Warwickshire’s run chase was interrupted by some brilliant fielding by South African David Miller, who held two catches including a superb running effort at deep midwicket to account for William Porterfield, and was also involved in two run-outs.But Yorkshire’s bowling under pressure was not quite so assured, with Warwickshire successfully chasing down 83 from the last 10 overs.

Sri Lanka’s batting coach Marvan Atapattu has blamed a lack of application from the Sri Lanka batsmen for the team’s poor performance in the ongoing ODI series against Australia

Sa'adi Thawfeeq21-Aug-2011Sri Lanka’s batting coach Marvan Atapattu has blamed a lack of application from the Sri Lanka batsmen for the team’s poor performance in the ongoing ODI series against Australia. Australia took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series after they beat the hosts by five wickets in the fourth ODI in Colombo on August 19.”The batting is pretty disappointing, no doubt about it,” Atapattu said. “It’s more to do with application [rather] than anything else. We know the potential that we have, but we have not gone all the way to show what we are made of.”It’s consistency in application that we lack. Apart from one or two batsmen, it has nothing to do with technique or anything like that. It’s more to do with application.”Sri Lanka have failed to bat out their 50 overs in the three games they have lost and were bowled out for just 132 on Sunday, which disappointed Atapattu. “Being ranked No. 2 [Sri Lanka were ranked second in the ICC rankings for ODI teams at the start of the series] we should be doing much more than what we have. It is disappointing to see the personnel in the team and their performances. We look at the team and say this is one of the best batting line-ups in the world; although we are playing against the No. 1 [ODI] team, we as a batting unit believe that we are much more capable than this.”Upul Tharanga, the leading run scorer for Sri Lanka in the series so far, is the only top-order batsman for the hosts to average above 40. Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have all struggled for consistency, with none of them averaging above 37. “The problem we have is that it is only the same two or three batsmen who are always contributing. The pressure on these batsmen is more. What we are trying to do is get the rest of the batsmen to also contribute.”Atapattu said that batsman Dinesh Chandimal, who was dropped from the squad after the first three ODIs, had some technical issues that needed to be resolved. “Chandimal has changed a bit since he got his last fifty in Manchester. There is nothing wrong with his hitting – he is a fantastic hitter of the ball; probably the best in the country today. He needs to fine-tune certain areas before he faces a good bowling attack like Australia’s next time around.”Sri Lanka’s batting line-up has undergone changes in recent times: Thilina Kandamby who was vice-captain on the England tour was dropped for the Australia series, while, along with Chandimal, allrounder Thisara Perera was dropped after the first three games against Australia. Atapattu suggested the changes were not helping but said the batsmen in the side should be delivering.”It is the duty of the captain and me as batting coach to make the best use of the batsmen selected in the squad. There is a lack of consistency in the batting line-ups we have been given; but we don’t have any control over that. The players who are in the squad should make the runs. The reason for not reaching even a total of 200 [in the fourth ODI] is because the batsmen failed to contribute.”My personal opinion is to give as much opportunities to a player and if he doesn’t perform to expectations then we will have to look at another potential player and give him similar opportunities, but we must have patience with them. If we keep on changing players from day to day we will remain in the same position always. We cannot expect to produce an Arjuna [Ranatunga], Aravinda [de Silva], Hashan [Tillakaratne] or Roshan [Mahanama] overnight – it will take some time. Until such time we have to be patient. If we don’t get the expected results from the present crop of players then we will have to adopt that policy [of giving new players opportunities].”The final ODI will be played in Colombo on Monday which will be followed by three Tests in Galle, Pallekele and Colombo.