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Preview of the second one-day international between India and England in Kochi

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran14-Jan-2013

Match facts

January 15, 2013
Start time 1200 local (0630 GMT)India need their fast bowlers to bowl yorkers more consistently•BCCI

Big Picture

If the pitches and outfields for the rest of the series are going to be like what was served in Rajkot then the bowlers, especially India’s, better take cover. In 12 balls, England leapfrogged from 287 to 325, and as a result of those two overs at the death, they had made just enough to secure a match-winning total. Though India did well to run them close, falling short by nine runs, the positives were overshadowed by overs 49 and 50 in England’s innings, that hemorrhaged 38 runs.That India’s most experienced bowler, Ishant Sharma, was partly responsible for those runs says a lot. Ironically, his death bowling had been effective in the previous ODI, when India snatched a low-scoring game against Pakistan in Delhi. Take a look at his figures in Rajkot, and it’s easy to miss his two maidens among the ten overs that leaked 86. Ishant wasn’t solely at fault, for all of India’s bowlers haven’t been as consistent as they should be.Death bowling has been a problem for India since Zaheer Khan’s slump in form. In good batting conditions, yorkers are the bowler’s best weapon but India’s attack hasn’t been able to deliver them consistently. Not that England set the best example either. Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach went in excess of six an over in their ten overs, while Tim Bresnan leaked 8.37 in his eight overs, though he picked up two wickets. The captain Alastair Cook defended the trio, saying the conditions left little margin for error. Spin came to England’s rescue in the form of James Tredwell, who not only took four wickets but went for less than five an over. India’s relatively more experienced spin attack wasn’t as effective, picking up just one wicket. Not the first time, after the Tests, an England spinner upstaged India’s spinners.The Rajkot ODI was a change from the trend of low scores in the Pakistan ODIs. While it benefited the likes of Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, who got some runs and confidence, the fast bowlers were battered. More sporting conditions would allow for a better assessment of the side as a whole.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
India LWLLW
England WLWWL

In the spotlight

Twenty-one, 38, 9, 27, 0, 6, 7, 15 – a breakup of Virat Kohli‘s scores across T20s and ODIs since his century in the Nagpur Test against England. Apart from the first four scores, made in the T20s, the remaining four are worrying, considering that he bats in the top order and has more time to build an innings. Kohli was found out by the moving ball against Pakistan and in Rajkot he edged a straight one to the keeper. His place in the lineup may not be in doubt, but India are missing a big contribution from him.Ian Bell has been shifted around the batting order in his one-day career but of late he has found a second wind as an opener. Bell filled in at the top after Kevin Pietersen was dropped last year and in 12 innings he averages 57.63 with a century and five fifties. If there was one positive to emerge from the Pietersen drama, this is it. Bell has given the Indian bowlers a few headaches, with scores of 91 and 108 in the warm-up games and 85 in Rajkot.

Team news

Cook confirmed that England will keep with their top seven, giving Joe Root another chance. Root didn’t get to bat in Rajkot, but bowled nine overs of spin for 51. The only change could be in the pace attack.England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Eoin Morgan, 5 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 6 Joe Root, 7 Samit Patel, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 James Tredwell, 10 Jade Dernbach, 11 Steven FinnIndia could also make a change to their seam line-up. MS Dhoni said after the first ODI that they would like to test Shami Ahmed’s death bowling skills at some stage. India opted for Ashok Dinda in Rajkot as he was more experienced.India (possible) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashok Dinda/Shami Ahmed.

Stats and trivia

• England have played only one ODI in Kochi, losing by four wickets to India in 2006. Pietersen is the only survivor from that game.
• India have won four of their six matches in Kochi.
• Virat Kohli is 86 shy of 4000 ODI runs.

Quotes

“The way we have learned to tackle the spinners is incredible. It’s a big credit for us.”
“Whenever the batsmen don’t do well, bowlers cover up for them and vice-versa. I don’t believe in blaming one area of the game. I think the bowlers are putting in all the hard work, and the way they won the match for us against Pakistan (in Delhi) was commendable.”

Bhushan Chauhan and Jayadev Shah kept the Mumbai bowlers toiling through the bulk of the day, before Saurashtra struck in the lead-up to stumps to assume full control

Nagraj Gollapudi in Rajkot07-Dec-2011
ScorecardZaheer Khan’s return to complete fitness was the most important development of the day, but Saurashtra took control of the game•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Mumbai have themselves to blame for getting distracted in the final half hour of the Saurashtra innings when the hosts’ tenth-wicket pairing of Sandip Maniar and Siddharth Trivedi looted 57 runs from seven overs, which frustrated and exhausted the visitors. Then, in a smart move, Saurashtra captain Jayadev Shah declared the innings, leaving Mumbai a tricky interval of six overs to negotiate before stumps. Mumbai duly lost two wickets in opener Sushant Marathe, and Abhishek Nayar, the best batsman so far this season, in the final over of the day, giving the hosts complete control.Saurashtra had put themselves under pressure after having scored at a run-rate of under three per over on the first day. But today, their batsmen, led by Jaydev, played with a combative spirit, scoring at a four-plus rate consistently. His 135-run alliance for the fourth wicket with Bhushan Chauhan, the overnight unbeaten batsman, ensured Mumbai toiled for a second successive day.Having already crossed the 500-run mark, Saurashtra’s lower order used the long handle fearlessly. Mumbai paid the price for taking the tail lightly as Maniar and Trivedi rubbed the salt openly. Trivedi charged Ramesh Powar confidently, lofting the offspinner for two sixes and three fours in an over. Surprisingly, Powar and Dhawal Kulkarni played into the opponents’ hands, failing to bowl a wicket-to-wicket line. Adding insult to injury were the Mumbai fielders, including senior players like Zaheer Khan, who failed to show the pro-activeness to convert the half chances.If the day ended on a promising note for Saurashtra, it had started in a similar vein for their opponents. Zaheer Khan angled his third delivery of the morning across the bat of a helpless Cheteshwar Pujara. The thin outside edge was snatched nicely by Marathe who did well to move to his right quickly before throwing himself head-on and latch on to the catch with his outstretched fingers. But even if Zaheer had instantly found his lengths and line, and was bowling at his desired pace, the pitch had not changed nature.Still the onus was on Saurashtra to set up a contest considering Mumbai were comfortably perched atop Group A with sixteen points, and were favourites to make the knockout stage. Saurashtra, with just eight points, had to force matters to gain the maximum points from this game.Once Zaheer finished his first spell of four overs, Chauhan and Jaydev understood the dangers had diminished drastically. Chauhan, who already had scored a Ranji century against Mumbai during his record 275-run opening stand with Chirag Pathak in 2008-09 season, scored his third first-class century, which he brought up with a lofted straight drive for four. He flashed his blade all across the empty Khanderi ground, the new base of the Saurashtra Cricket Association.It was the second time the opening pair of Pathak and Chauhan had got hundreds in the same innings against Mumbai. In fact it was the third occasion when two Saurashtra openers achieved that feat in a Ranji Trophy match. Pathak and Sagar Jogiyani had compiled centuries against Bengal last season.At the other end Jaydev, normally an aggressive batsman, was happy to snatch easy doubles and fours as the opposition bowlers failed to keep him in check. With runs ticking fast, Iqbal Abdulla started pitching behind Chauhan’s stumps. He did not mind the wides, considering his sole aim was to make Chauhan impatient. The strategy paid dividends at the stroke of lunch when Chauhan went for the paddle sweep, top-edged, and was caught easily by Suryakumar Yadav at short fine-leg.Six overs into the second session, Zaheer got the ball to reverse just that bit to hit Jaydev’s off stump and pick up his third wicket. That Zaheer was back to complete fitness was the only bit of good news for Mumbai, and a welcome development for the Indian squad and selectors.

Any hopes that Zulqarnain Haider may have of seeking asylum in the United Kingdom would appear to hinge on the nature of the information he is able to divulge into the Pakistan match-fixing scandal, according to an immigration barrister

Andrew Miller09-Nov-2010Any hopes that Zulqarnain Haider may have of seeking asylum in the United Kingdom would appear to hinge on the nature of the information he is able to divulge into the Pakistan match-fixing scandal, because the extraordinary nature of his case would appear to fall outside the usual conditions required of a person seeking refugee status.Article 1 of the 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as “a person who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.”The “fear” in Haider’s case – namely the threat of reprisals from criminal gangs involved in match-fixing – does not appear to fall into the usual categories. Therefore the question is whether that fear is objectively well-founded and, perhaps more to the point in his case, whether the Pakistan state would be able to protect him.”He would need to show that the arms of the state would not be able to protect him, and therefore that the British government needs to step in and offer international protection,” a British immigration barrister told ESPNcricinfo. “Whether people are at risk from criminal gangs is a bit of an open question in asylum law. It would be very much dependant on the fact of what he could prove, both about what had happened to him personally, and more generally with match-fixing in Pakistan.”In coming to the UK, Haider could also be protected under the European Convention of Human Rights which, according to the terms of a court ruling from March 2000, prevents the automatic extradition of unsuccessful asylum applicants, regardless of who is the agent of persecution. But once again, that would depend on him proving he is at risk. Neither UAE nor Pakistan are signatories of the Refugee Convention.

A summary of the first day’s play of the tenth round of games in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

Cricinfo staff09-Dec-2009

Group A

Water and Power Development Authority‘s bowlers made the most of a curtailed day in Islamabad, reducing Pakistan Customs to 120 for 8 in 34.3 overs. The new-ball bowlers, Sarfraz Ahmed and Azharullah, did most of the damage, taking 3 for 28 and 4 for 51 respectively. Tahir Mughal, who was unbeaten on 24, was the only Pakistan Customs batsman to pass 20.Karachi Whites bowlers dismissed National Bank of Pakistan cheaply on the opening day in Karachi, leaving their team well placed to take a first-innings lead. Their new-ball pairing of Zohaib Shera and Tabish Khan took five wickets between and NBP never got a partnership going as they folded for 198. Qaiser Abbas’ 50 was the top score in their innings. Karachi’s openers added 49 before they lost two wickets in the space of five runs. Mohtashim Ali and Fazal Subhan steered the team to 98 for 2 at close.Khan Research Laboratories‘s bowlers made good use of the 33 overs possible on the first day against Sui Southern Gas Corporation, reducing them to 102 for 4 in Rawalpindi. New-ball bowler Yasir Ali took 2 for 27 while Akhtar Ayub and Ali Khan took a wicket each. SSGC opener Imran Abbas also had to retire hurt on 8.It was slow going on the opening day at the Gaddafi Stadium, with Lahore Shalimar scoring 124 in 53 overs and losing four wickets against Pakistan International Airlines. Mohammad Saad top scored with an unbeaten 43 that took 144 balls while Abid Ali made 31.The first day of the match between Sui Northern Gas Pipelines and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited was limited to only 16 overs at the Jinnah Stadium. And during that time, ZTBL’s bowlers claimed three wickets for 65 runs while one of the SNGPL openers, Naeemuddin, had to retire hurt. Mohammad Khalil and Azhar Attari bowled eight overs each and took 2 for 28 and 1 for 32.

Group B

Only 19 overs were possible on the first day in Islamabad but, during that period, Abbottabad’s new-ball attack reduced Rawalpindi to 69 for 5. The openers reached their twenties and added 43 before Junaid Khan dismissed both in quick succession. Junaid also dismissed No. 4 batsman Usman Saeed for a duck while Armaghan Elahi picked up the two other wickets.A brisk century from Mohammad Ayub helped Sialkot end the first day against Hyderabad on 357 for 5 at the Niaz Stadium. Ayub scored 142 off 182 balls, hitting 18 fours and two sixes, and had a 164-run stand with Faisal Khan for the third wicket. Faisal missed his century, falling to Faisal Athar for 90, and Athar also dismissed Aamer Gulzar for a duck. Ayub steadied the innings by adding another 99 runs with Mohammad Saeed before he was bowled by Mir Ali.Karachi Blues opener Shahzaib Hasan scored a century but the rest of the batsmen failed to support him and the team was reduced to 261 for 8 by Quetta at the National Stadium. Hasan scored a rapid 119 off 101 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes, but the only other batsmen to pass 20 were Khalid Latif and Ali Asad. Karachi went from 167 for no loss to 257 for 8, Nazar Hussain and Arun Lal taking three wickets each for Quetta while Arshad Khan took 2 for 61.Peshawar captain Sajjad Ahmed remained unbeaten on 58 as the rest of his top-order batsmen struggled against Lahore Ravi in Lahore. Peshawar had slipped to 70 for 5 before Ahmed steadied the innings with wicketkeeper Kashif Latif who remained unbeaten on 35. Aamer Hayat took 2 for 34 as Peshawar ended the day on 160 for 5.An unbeaten hundred from Naved Yasin, and half-centuries from Gulraiz Sadaf and Mohammad Ali, led Multan to 308 for 7 on the opening day against Islamabad at the Multan Cricket Ground. Multan’s innings had got off to a terrible start when Nasrullah Khan dismissed Abdur Rehman and Rameez Alam with the score on 0. Sadaf and Shahid Abbasi, who made 39, then added 91 for the third wicket before Sadaf had a 110-run association with Yasin. Sadaf was dismissed for 85 but the innings was given another lift by Ali, whose 59 came off 78 balls.

“Don’t care who coaches the team, who captains the team, just want English cricket to get back to where it should be”

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2025Charlotte Edwards has offered to help the ECB during its review into England’s 16-0 Women’s Ashes drubbing at the hands of Australia.Edwards, the former England captain turned decorated coach, has not ruled herself out of taking over the head coach role if it becomes available in the aftermath of the review, saying in an interview this week that she felt better equipped than she was two-and-a-half years ago, just before Jon Lewis replaced Lisa Keightley at the helm. But she was even stronger on lending her support to the ECB’s inquiry.”I’m certainly more prepared because of some of the experiences I’ve had in the last few years,” Edwards told the BBC’s Stumped podcast. “I just want to help at the moment because I feel like this review’s taking place and I think they’ve got to ask people within the game what they think. I’ve got great experience across county level, working in the WBBL, that hopefully someone will pick up the phone and ask what we need to do to get better.”That’s all I care about at the moment. I don’t care who coaches the team, who captains the team. I just want English cricket to get back to where it should be. And I think we’ve got to use people who know what’s going on to help and I feel I’m in a position to help and hopefully support the ECB in that process.”Related

• Jon Lewis leaves role as England Women's head coach

• Jon Lewis: 'I haven't finished the job that I came here to do'

• White-WAshes demands inquest as England are exposed

• England's mental and physical resilience under scanner in Ashes inquest

Edwards would be a leading candidate as England Women’s head coach should the role become vacant given her outstanding success in the world’s top franchise leagues and at domestic level.Having initially said she was interested in taking the England job in September 2022, Edwards decided against applying a couple of weeks later, saying she was enjoying her burgeoning franchise coaching career with Southern Brave in the Women’s Hundred and WBBL side Sydney Sixers, as well as leading Southern Vipers in the domestic women’s competition, which included a T20 competition named in her honour.Edwards has led Southern Vipers to five titles, including two Charlotte Edwards Cup victories – the second as part of a domestic double in 2023 – and Southern Brave to three Women’s Hundred finals, winning the 2023 edition. She also led Sydney Sixers to the WBBL final in her first season in charge in 2022-23.During that time, her franchise coaching portfolio expanded to include Mumbai Indians, who are about to begin their campaign for a second title in three years under her guidance, having won the inaugural WPL trophy. She has also been appointed head coach of Hampshire Women under the new domestic structure in England and Wales beginning this season.Edwards said she watched much of the Women’s Ashes, where England were thumped by more than 50 runs in three white-ball matches and by an innings in the Test, with a sense of “real disappointment”.”Hopefully this will be a moment, a line-in-the-sand moment, for the team and for the ECB to have a look at where we’re going with the women’s game because there’s a lot of good things happening and I think that’s what makes it sad for someone who’s involved in the system,” Edwards said. “There’s a lot of good things happening within the counties and the regional structure and it hasn’t necessarily been portrayed with the England team, so that’s a worry, I guess, and something that needs to be looked at.”Lewis described England’s group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup in October as a “line-in-the-sand moment” and his position has come under increased pressure following that performance, most notably England’s shocking fielding display against West Indies, which knocked them out of the tournament.During the Ashes, there were few signs of improvement in the field, which along with some poor decision-making with the bat and a failure to adapt under pressure from the Australians, saw England unable to pose any real challenge other than in the rain-affected second T20I, which they lost by six runs on the DLS method.Since the T20 World Cup, England’s fitness has also come under scrutiny after commentator and former spinner Alex Hartley said that a handful of players were “letting the team down” with their fitness levels.While Lewis has stood firm in his defence of England’s work in training, even suggesting that Australia’s outdoor lifestyle gave them an advantage in producing athletes, Edwards said there was plenty of ground to be made up to match Australia physically.”I think if you do a comparison, they are more athletic and they are fitter and that’s what we need to now aspire to be like,” Edwards said. “That’s part of our jobs at county level is to now support these players to be fitter, to be more athletic so that we can compete with Australia, so there aren’t those question marks when we play them because that was the hardest thing, wasn’t it? Having that kind of noise in the background when it’s not just all about the cricket.”I think we can turn this around. I don’t think it’s as big a gap as people make out that there is. I know that’s probably quite a stupid thing to say, having been beaten 16-nil, but we are talented, we have a lot of talent in our country, and I think now hopefully this moment we will be a moment we’ll look back on with, I guess, real positivity.”The ECB review is expected to release its recommendations in the coming weeks.

Only Kohli’s 76 offered any resistance during India’s second innings, which lasted a mere 34.1 overs and featured nine single-digit scores

Alagappan Muthu28-Dec-20234:13

What went wrong in India’s bowling?

A fast-forward Test match came to a fast-forward end as South Africa rolled India over inside three days to secure victory by an innings and 32 runs. And boy, did they have fun doing it.Nandre Burger and his team-mates broke into a smile. He had found so much movement that the ball bypassed the wicketkeeper and ended up in the hands of first slip. India had spent 108.4 overs searching for help like that.Wiaan Mulder threw his head into the turf. He thought he had dropped Virat Kohli. But really what happened was the ball had moved so sharply it beat the leading edge as the batter tried to play a flick shot and bounced off his thigh towards first slip.Related

• Avesh to join second Test squad to replace Shami

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Centurion was alive.India, meanwhile, were barely holding on. It is unclear if SammyB on the ESPNcricinfo commentary feedback is South African but he nailed the mood when he said, “The high-pitched horror movie scream at 8.4 was quite something.” That was Shubman Gill, by the way, in pure panic as he tried to convince Kohli not to take a risky single.India’s batting lasted a mere 34.1 overs on Thursday and featured nine single-digit scores. That in a way highlighted just how poorly they had bowled, letting just one man outscore their second-innings total.So how did it happen? Why was there such a gulf? Well, once again, it had a lot to do with the pitch – it never died down, there was always help on offer – and the profile of the two teams’ fast bowlers.Virat Kohli was the only one who offered any resistance during India’s second innings•AFP/Getty Images

Early on, it was the good-length ball that was creating the most problems. Now, after two days of wear and tear and some excellent morning sunshine, it had shifted to back of good length, where cracks and divots were starting to form. Landing the ball there was creating variable bounce.South Africa had an attack better suited to exploit it. Higher release points. Better pace. And perhaps most importantly a lot of rest. Dean Elgar’s 185 and Marco Jansen’s 84 not out had ensured they were extremely fresh when it was their turn to bowl in the evening and they did not disappoint.Kohli did his best to keep them at bay, scoring a 76 off 82 balls, but he was always fighting a rising tide.Kagiso Rabada was transcendent, finishing with match figures of 7 for 91 and at least three of those wickets were the result of unplayable deliveries. One of them set the tone for India’s collapse.Rohit Sharma saw a ball that was angled into him. So he played for that, presenting the full face and doing so quite well. Except it wasn’t enough. Rabada had gone wobble-seam and made it impossible to deal with by hitting the in-between length and a had-to-play line. Rohit had to come forward but had no hope of reaching the pitch of the ball. He also couldn’t account for the way it moved because until it pitched – two or three metres in front of him – it was travelling down a straight line.Marco Jansen and Dean Elgar stretched South Africa’s lead on the third morning•AFP/Getty Images

That’s the thing with seam movement. It’s late and it’s deadly. Rabada generated enough to beat the full face of Rohit’s bat but not so much that it would miss his stumps.Burger, meanwhile, kept hitting that troublesome back-of-good-length consistently and was rewarded with four wickets, two of which were the result of batters unsuccessfully trying to leave the ball because it was bouncing all over the place. There were times when India were bowling that it seemed like the pitch had settled, but that was essentially because they are visitors to this land, they were tired, with too many overs in their legs. It had been five months since they played Test cricket. It was only natural that they wouldn’t be able to acclimatise as well as their hosts did.Case in point was Prasidh Krishna’s performance. He was selected ostensibly to be their hit-the-deck bowler. But a guy making his Test debut in conditions he has never played in with only 12 first-class games to back him up will struggle more often than not. The other debutant fared better because he knows how to bowl here. And that was the difference. Simple home advantage.Also, India were stuck trying to remove a set batter with an older and, therefore, softer and less responsive ball. South Africa had a brand new one and they made it count. It helped that they had a sizeable first-innings lead as well – 163 – built by batters who made sure they took every opportunity to hit boundaries.Even their allrounders were tuned into that plan. Jansen, who has been low on confidence as a bowler, played a glorious innings, the highlight of which were his drives down the ground, which once again is a sign that India were targeting the wrong areas. They strayed too full too often and Jansen punished them every time. He was on course for a maiden first-class century when he started running out of partners. In the end, he was left stranded because Temba Bavuma’s hamstring wouldn’t let him come out and give support. It was perhaps the only thing that disappointed the home crowd over the course of the last three days. They’ve been spoiled.

Veteran makes unbeaten 115 from 105 balls as home side get home by three wickets

Paul Edwards26-Aug-2022
“Anyone fancy a game in Blackpool on Friday?” It is the sort of enquiry one might hear across Lancashire these late summer days. Quite suddenly we are counting the number of matches left in the season, and club cricketers, whose days in the sun end earlier than that of their professional counterparts, are grabbing every chance they can get. But only in England, perhaps, could two sides meet when 72 hours earlier they had no idea they would be doing so or even on which ground they would be playing.And for a while, this hastily-rearranged Royal London Cup quarter-final had the air of a pick-up match. For example, Lancashire’s team had to be changed just before the toss when Rob Jones rolled his ankle very painfully during the warm-ups and had to be replaced by Jack Morley. That made things even trickier for a side already deprived of both Will Williams and Tom Bailey with back problems, and the impact of those absences was clear as Nottinghamshire’s batters rattled up 339 in 50 overs.Those runs, though, were scored on the Turnbull and Asser shirt-front on which Northants had made 370 and lost just a week ago and the reliability of the Stanley Park surface was proved once again as Lancashire chased down their target with nine balls to spare, Steven Croft marking his 600th appearance in all formats for the county with an unbeaten 115 and greeting his winning boundary off Dane Paterson with a spread-eagled pose of triumph that recalled Ben Stokes at Headingley three years and a day ago.For the few hundred Lancashire supporters who reorganised their Fridays and turned up for this game, Croft’s achievement lost nothing by comparison with that of Stokes. And they would not have swapped their tickets at Blackpool for five days in the Emirates Old Trafford hospitality lounge during the current Test match. For those who follow the county, this was one of those days. “At my age you don’t know when your last game is going to be but I’ve got that mindset of just enjoying it,” Croft said. “I’ve got plenty of years’ experience and I’m just going out and enjoying the game. It seems to be working.”Ben Slater set Notts up with a hundred•Getty Images

And it was made the more memorable because Lancashire had been 237 for 6 in the 38th over and comfortably second favourites to beat a Nottinghamshire side whose fielders were clinging on to every catch. But Blackpool is a quick-scoring ground and Croft learned to bat on it when he was nobbut a lad. In company with Danny Lamb, whose 43 contained ramps and scoops aplenty, he put on 94 in ten overs, 20 of them, including two sixes into the Park, coming off six balls from Fateh Singh. There were even five extra runs when the ball hit a helmet and Lamb’s dismissal, caught by Liam Patterson-White off Brett Hutton, was merely the prelude to the game’s joyful and strangely touching denouement. For all that he will be 38 in October, Croft retains a childlike joy in every Lancashire victory. This evening, most people at his home club could share it.And yet the game had begun poorly for Lancashire. Only when George Balderson’s medium pace was used in tandem with Luke Wells’ spinners could they throttle Notts’ glut of runs. Certainly Jack Blatherwick and Liam Hurt’s opening spells hardly approximated to first-class standards and Sol Budinger tucked in as greedily as a holidaymaker getting his tea at Bentley’s Fish and Chip shop. The home seamers were hit down the ground for three sixes and by the time Budinger was caught at square-leg by Wells off Balderson for a 46-ball 56 Notts had 98 runs on the board in the 15th over.At the other end Ben Slater’s batting had been altogether more classical, more orthodox and more refined: a touch of Lytham St Annes to counter Budinger’s Blackpool if you will. His three fours off Blatherwick’s opening over had been taken straight from a 1960s coaching book and Slater continued in this manner, milking Lancashire for a dozen carpeted boundaries before a cover-drive off Danny Lamb took him to a century in 117 balls. Just occasionally, Lancashire’s fielding became ragged and a combination of misfields in late morning leaked another four. “What the bloody ‘ell’s going on?” shouted an irritated gent at the Parched Peas End. “We’ll have less of that, thank you, Mr Gidney,” responded an outraged steward, although I may have misheard the name.For the most part, though, Nottinghamshire’s batters needed no help. The 200 came up in the 36th over and just before he was dismissed Slater had the second-highest List A average in the world, an achievement better appreciated when one realises that in the course of his century he overtook Babar Azam and Virat Kohli in the list. The moment Hurt had him superbly caught by a diving Danny Lamb at mid-off for 104, the Nottinghamshire opener returned to fifth place but it had not been the worst way to celebrate his 31st birthday. Matthew Montgomery’s fine 78 ensured that Haseeb Hameed’s side would have over 300 to defend.For a while Lancashire’s pursuit was marked by useful contributions but nothing that took the game away from the visitors. The first six batters reached double-figures but no one managed a half-century. Dane Vilas, who is usually at his best on these occasions, made 29 but then pulled Montgomery straight to midwicket, where Hameed took a sharp catch. The important breakthrough was greeted in appropriately dramatic tones by Dave Bracegirdle on Radio Nottingham and far away in the Nottinghamshire town of Eastwood, a chap working on his allotment was pleased to hear of it, although also a trifle surprised, given that he didn’t have his radio on.George Lavelle, a hero of the Northants game, made 18 off 10 balls but was sixth out when he drove Montgomery straight to Lyndon James at long-on. Then Lamb came out to join Croft and before they knew it, the home supporters were in David Hughes and Jack Bond land, a treasured territory peopled by monochrome heroes and memories nothing can expunge.Steven Croft’s cricket has already played its part in many of these reveries but this evening he can share his triumph with Blackpool CC, whose volunteers laid on an important List A match with barely a week’s notice. It little mattered that the essential infrastructure was already in place. Outground cricket is one of English cricket finest adornments – Sir Andrew Strauss probably agrees – but it takes a helluva lot of planning. Challenged to get it done in seven days, the boys and girls from Stanley Park passed a formidable test and Lancashire’s four outgrounds are among its most precious assets. Steven Croft is another of them.

“We are starting to click together and performances are coming from every player,” Wolvaardt says

Firdose Moonda21-Mar-2021Captain Sune Luus praised South Africa’s new-found fearless style of play, which she credited with their double success in India. South Africa won the ODIs 4-1 and sealed the T20I rubber with a game to play, to pick up a first-ever T20I series win over India.”Our confidence levels are where we want them to be. The girls are backing themselves and playing fearless cricket and in T20s, that’s what you want,” Luus said at the post-match presentation.Not only did South Africa claim the T20I trophy, but they pulled off their third-highest chase in the second match, which was also among their most nerve-wracking. They needed 19 runs off the last 10 balls, nine off the final over and six off the last two balls, and Laura Wolvaardt was at the crease to ensure they got them all. She faced all but two deliveries in the 20th over, including the no-ball from Arundhati Reddy that she took two runs off on what would have been the penultimate delivery of the match, and said that eased the mounting pressure.Related

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“A couple of balls before that then there was a full toss which was almost a no-ball and I didn’t hit it very well. I thought to myself, ‘did I just not score off a full toss?’,” Wolvaardt said, referring to the third ball of the final over that went for one. “But then when the [second] full toss came, and we had an extra ball, we didn’t need a boundary anymore. For the last ball, we needed one and I said to Nadine (de Klerk) that whatever happens, I am just going to try and get some bat on it. I’m glad it worked out.”South Africa’s victory came with an inside-edge off the last ball, avoiding a Super Over, though Wolvaardt admitted things didn’t need to get that close. “I didn’t start my innings as quickly as I would have liked so I put some pressure on myself, but I knew with a fast outfield, we were in with a chance if we took it deep. I’m glad I was there at the end to do it,” she said.Wolvaardt scored two runs off the first six balls she faced, which included a dropped chance, but with Lizelle Lee on the other end, South Africa were mostly able to keep pace with the required run rate. When Lee and then Mignon du Preez were dismissed, it was up to Wolvaardt and de Klerk to see South Africa home. That they did sends a strong message about the depth in the South African squad.”It’s so good for our future,” Luus said. “We know that if on the day we can’t play Marizanne Kapp, Shabnim Ismail or Lizelle Lee, there are players coming in and we back them, they back themselves.”South Africa won this T20I series without Kapp, who was rested for the past two matches, and without regular captain Dane van Niekerk and allrounder Chloe Tryon, who are recovering from lower-back injuries. They were also without Luus for two of the ODIs, when she picked up an illness, and Wolvaardt took over the captaincy. In doing so, she also experienced the improvement in the quality of players beyond South Africa’s big names.”In the past, that was one of the gaps between us and the big nations – if we had Dane missing the tour, we would do badly,” Wolvaardt said. “Now there is some healthy competition going forward and we are raising the bar for each other. This is also the first time in a long time we are all feeling it (confidence) together. We are starting to click together and performances are coming from every player. If we can ride this wave, that would be awesome.”They have one more opportunity to do that on this strip, with the final match in the series to be played on Tuesday. “There’s a chance for us to make it 3-0 and that will be even bigger than a series win,” Luus said.

Powerful left-hander joins fellow South Africans AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Chris Morris in the BBL

Alex Malcolm21-Nov-2019David Miller has become the latest South African to sign in the Big Bash after joining the Hobart Hurricanes as their second overseas player with Jofra Archer unavailable due to England duties.Miller joins AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, and Chris Morris as the high profile South African to head to Australia for the tournament.Archer had been a star for the Hurricanes in the last two seasons and a key part of their rise to the final in BBL07 and the semi-final in BBL08. But he is unavailable this season due to England’s Test and limited-overs tour of South Africa.Hobart already have Afghanistan legspinner Qais Ahmad returning this season, but opted for the Miller rather than another fast bowler. Miller’s recruitment is partially to cover the likely absence of Matthew Wade who looks set to be unavailable until after the New Year’s Test against New Zealand in Sydney due to Test duties.”It’s very exciting to welcome a player of David’s calibre to the Hurricanes,” Cricket Tasmania CEO Nick Cummins said. “We expect to lose some batting experience throughout the season, so David will provide valuable runs in our drive to our third successive finals campaign.”Miller has form at the Hurricanes’ home ground Bellerive Oval with a century there against Australia in an ODI 12 months ago. He looks set to play all 14 home and away games for the Hurricanes before heading home for South Africa’s limited-overs matches against England which begin in February.

The 32-year old opener picked up the injury while preparing for a first-class game this week and is expected to be out of action for four to six weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2018Martin Guptill had to be withdrawn from New Zealand’s ODI and T20I squads to face Pakistan later this month owing to a left calf strain. The 32-year old opener picked up the injury while preparing for a first-class game with Auckland this week and is expected to be out of action for four to six weeks.New Zealand face Pakistan across three T20Is, three ODIs and three Tests starting from October 31. Guptill was named in both white-ball squads and has long been one of the team’s senior players, providing fast starts at the top of the order. He made a 49-ball hundred against Australia in a T20I at Eden Park in February.”Unfortunately for Martin it will take him some time to get over this injury,” selector Gavin Larsen said. “And, with a long summer ahead, we need to make sure we minimise the risk of him repeating it.”The tour of the UAE will be Gary Stead’s first as head coach of the New Zealand team. They are already missing a first-choice pick in Mitchell Santner, who is still recuperating from a long-term knee injury. Central Stags left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel was brought into the Test side as his replacement, while Ish Sodhi will shoulder the burden during the ODI and T20I leg of the tour.New Zealand’s A team are set to arrive in the UAE in early October to play a few matches and, based on performance, two members from that squad were meant to be drafted into the senior team. Now, with Guptill unavailable, another spot has opened up.”Gary Stead and I will work through the possible replacement options,” Larsen said. “We now have three spots to fill in the T20 and one-day squads.”