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Australia may be strong favourites to retain the Ashes, but Graeme Swann believes there is little to fear from them

George Dobell21-Jun-2015Australia may be strong favourites to retain the Ashes, but Graeme Swann believes there is little to fear from them.Swann, the highest wicket-taker when England won in 2013, suggested that Mitchell Johnson, who played such a key role in the whitewash of 2013-14, was unlikely to retain his place in the side, and suggested Steven Smith, the No. 1 rated batsman in Test cricket, could struggle against the swinging ball. But he does fear the influence of Mitchell Starc who, he believes, could define the series.”I don’t think Mitchell Johnson will play in the team,” Swann said at a Chance to Shine school in Nottingham where he helped launch a new card game for the charity. “He’s not the Mitchell to worry about. Mitchell Starc is above and beyond the best match-winning player they’ve got at the minute.”Forget about the batsmen. If Mitchell Starc bowls well, I don’t think England have got any hope of winning the Ashes. If they nullify him in some way, then they’ve got a chance.”While Swann described Smith’s form over the last 18-months as “incredible”, he remains unconvinced by his technique and suggested flaws would emerge as his career continues.”I didn’t think he was a great player,” Swann said. “I still don’t think he’s got a great technique. He bats five. I don’t think he would score runs at three if it’s swinging.”He’s a very good player of the short ball. He picks it up extremely quickly for his pull shot. He pulls the length that most people just fend at and nick. And he’s been incredible over the last 18 months. He must have surprised himself, as well as everyone else, with his output. The trick for him is to try to keep that going. Whether he can, time will tell.”In Australia, when we were going through them, he still hung around a lot. Normal balls that get normal batsmen out don’t get him out because of his weird technique.”But a bit like Jonathan Trott, how he was stellar at the start of his career, the more people study, the more they find weaknesses. Weakness will emerge with Steve Smith. He’s not like a Steve Waugh, where there’s no obvious ways of getting him out. He doesn’t strike fear in you like the Aussies used to, with Matt Hayden or Adam Gilchrist.”Chance to Shine Schools and Yorkshire Tea are giving young people the opportunity to play and learn through cricket. Download Switch Hits for free at bit.ly/switchhits

Offspinner Harbhajan Singh and batsman Ajinkya Rahane will join their respective Ranji Trophy teams for the next group game that begins on Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2012Offspinner Harbhajan Singh and batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who have been part of India’s squad for all three Tests against England, will join their respective Ranji Trophy teams for the next group game that begins on Saturday. The third Test of the four-match India-England series is currently underway in Kolkata, but neither player is part of the Indian XI.This decision is in line with the policy adopted by the India team management over the past four seasons, by which as many players as possible are released from the national squad for Ranji games during home series’. This is done with a view to help the reserves remain match-fit.Harbhajan and Rahane will fly from Kolkata to Mumbai on Thursday, to join Punjab and Mumbai – these teams will play each other at the Wankhede Stadium in the next round of Ranji games. The pair, along with most of the other India regulars, featured in the season-opening round of the Ranji Trophy matches from November 2. While Harbhajan could make little impact with the ball as the Punjab captain against Hyderabad, Rahane scored 129 and 84 for Mumbai against Railways.The players’ availability will be a major boost for both teams, in particular Mumbai; Punjab, with young batsman Mandeep Singh at the helm, have already assured themselves of a place in the knockouts with four victories in five matches, but Mumbai are yet to win this season.Harbhajan, having recovered from a viral infection, featured in India’s humiliating ten-wicket defeat against England at the Wankhede Stadium. Rahane is yet to play in the Test series. The final game of the four-Test series will begin in Nagpur on December 13.

Chris Martin, the New Zealand fast bowler, has become the first recipient of the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal, an honour given to the country’s best player of the year

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2011

New Zealand Cricket Awards winners

• Chris Martin – Sir Richard Hadlee Medal, player of the year

• Brendon McCullum – Test Player of the Year (527 runs at 58.55)

• Ross Taylor – ODI Player of the Year, (798 runs at 39.90)

• Tim Southee – Twenty20 Player of the Year, (eight wickets at 12.12)

• Sara McGlashan – Women’s Player of the Year

• Sophie Devine – Women’s domestic Player of the year (Four fifties, 24 wickets)

• Rob Nicol – Domestic Player of the year (top scorer in Twenty20 and one-day competitions)

• Peter Ingram – Redpath Cup, best first-class batting (965 runs at 50.47)

• Chris Martin – Winsor Cup, best first-class bowling (60 wickets at 25.60)

• Neil Wagner – Fans’ Choice for outstanding individual performance (Taking five wickets in an over)

• Simon Hickey – Young player of the year

• Ces Renwick – Bert Sutcliffe Medal, for outstanding services to cricket

• Nick Craig – Sir Jack Newman Award, outstanding junior cricket administrator

Chris Martin, the New Zealand fast bowler, has become the first recipient of the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal, an honour given to the country’s best player of the year. There was another gong for him at the New Zealand Cricket Awards in Auckland, winning the Winsor Cup for first-class bowling.Martin, 36, was also a finalist for the Test player of the year and a nominee for Fans’ Choice award for his devastating spell in Ahmedabad when he had India pinned at 15 for 5. He took 60 first-class wickets in the 2010-11 season, including 18 in Tests and 31 for Auckland.”Chris works very hard and has strongly led the BLACKCAPS and Aces bowling attack for this past season and the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal is well deserved,” NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan said.”There were a number of individuals who put their hand up for the supreme award but no one can deny that in the past 12 months Chris has been a stand-out performer in international and domestic First-Class cricket.”The other major winners in the revamped NZC awards were: Brendon McCullum as Test Player of the year, in a season where he took the gamble of becoming a specialist batsman in Tests, and moved up the order; new captain Ross Taylor as ODI Player of the year, in a season where he was the highest run-getter for New Zealand with 798; Tim Southee as outstanding player in Twenty20s, in a year where he took a five-for including a hat-trick against Pakistan which won him the ICC award for Best Twenty20 performance; Sara McGlashan as women’s Player of the Year.

Prasanna Jayawardene has rued not being able to avoid the follow-on but said his team could finish on a positive note after the encouraging start provided by openers in the second innings

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Galle18-Nov-2010Prasanna Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka wicketkeeper, has rued not being able to avoid the follow-on against West Indies in Galle but said his team could finish on a positive note after the encouraging start provided by openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana in the second innings. Prasanna, who was the last batsman to fall in the first innings, battled his way to 58 but holed out, top-edging a sweep, to Kemar Roach off the bowling of offspinner Shane Shillingford with the hosts just three runs short of avoiding the follow-on target of 381. But Sri Lanka finished the day on 89 without loss in the second innings, still 113 behind.”We wanted to save the follow-on but unfortunately it didn’t happen. Our openers have done well. If we can bat like this tomorrow in the first session we have a great chance to end up well,” Prasanna said. “Against the offspinner we were trying to sweep because I thought if I defended, there was a chance of a bat-pad catch. So I kept on sweeping. I wanted to sweep and get a four. If there was a single I wasn’t going to run. I was in too minds and as I swept the bat turned a bit and I got an edge.”I know that (Thilan) Thushara (the No.11 batsman) can bat, but the issue was that the offspinner bowled the best. You have to handle the pressure and I thought against the spinner I had to take strike.”Prasanna admitted the batsmen initially found it difficult to deal with Shillingford, who picked up four wickets. “When others bowl the offbreak they flight, but Shane darts the ball sending it down. There is a change in the way he bowls,” Prasanna said. “He was troubling us at the beginning, but as he got tired he failed to bowl a good line. Our openers had to issues tackling him in the second innings.”Sri Lanka had been struggling at 295 for 7 when Prasanna was joined by fast bowler Dammika Prasad, who supported him in a stand of 72 with a quickfire 47. “Dammika batted really well. There’s no point in blocking thinking of the follow-on. You have to be attacking. I thought both of us could avoid the follow-on but once Dammika got out we got into trouble.”The key to winning the series, Prasanna said, was to dismiss Chris Gayle, who smashed 333 in the first innings, early. “The lower order is not batting well and if we get Gayle I think we have a very good chance in the rest of the series.”Prasanna also acknowledged he was under pressure to perform, though he has represented Sri Lanka in 34 Tests so far in a staggered 10-year Test career. He scored a century during the tour of India last year in Ahmedabad, made 29 in the first Test against India in Galle this year and failed in the final Test of that drawn series at the P Sara Oval. “I didn’t get a chance to bat at SSC and in the third Test, I failed in both innings. Overall if you take my performances I have failed in those two innings only, but there’s always pressure for me to perform ahead of a Test,” he said.”It doesn’t affect me. I take it match by match and I try to give my best. My average is around 30 and if you can’t handle pressure you can’t play cricket. I started playing for the country in 2000 and I have always performed. It doesn’t bother me. I am used to pressure and I try to do well at every opportunity I get.”

USACA has organised a training camp for December 18-21 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in which two coaches will be arriving from New Zealand to assist USA’s coaches

Peter Della Penna17-Dec-2009In the first positive gains from USA Cricket Association’s (USACA) partnership with New Zealand Cricket (NZC), USACA has organised a training camp for December 18-21 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in which two coaches will be arriving from New Zealand to assist USA’s coaches and help them with enhanced training methods.”Dipak Patel, the former New Zealand offspinner, who has coached our Under-19 team as well as some of the New Zealand first class guys will be going along with Hamish Barton who played first-class cricket in New Zealand, and who is the head of the New Zealand cricket coach education team and our coach education programme,” said Justin Vaughan, the NZC chief executive.”Hamish was previously not only a first-class cricketer but also spent some time in South America, was the national coach of Argentina, and has a good knowledge of a number of the United States players.”Barton, 33, played 17 first-class matches for Auckland and Canterbury before going on to be player-coach for Argentina. He also played against USA at the 2008 ICC Americas Division One tournament.”As well as his coaching expertise, he can bring a background of what you do in cricket and what an overall coach education programme looks like,” said Vaughan. “So we are not just talking about a situation where Hamish works with the Under-19s or with the national team, but instead he can start to add value to the overall structures of US cricket, in terms of their coach education programmes and trying to give some advice or sharing the knowledge that we have in terms of training our coaches. We can do that for the United States as well and that’s obviously one of the benefits that USACA can gain out of a partnership with a full member of the ICC.”Barton and Patel will be making their way to the US to help the Under-19 squad prepare for January’s Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand and helping the men prepare for their first assignment in February, the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE.The 15-man Under-19 squad along with five reserves will take part in the camp alongside 23 senior players who are in contention for a 14-man squad that will be picked in January to travel to the UAE and then on to Nepal for the WCL Division Five tournament. The Under-19 squad will also have some assistance from NZC when they arrive before the World Cup. Teams must be in Christchurch by January 9, but USACA is looking to send the team a week early so they can get acclimatised and receive additional training.”I believe they’re arriving on the second or third of January,” said Vaughan. “They’ll have an additional week and will train at the New Zealand Cricket High Performance Centre. I imagine Dipak and Hamish will be working with the team during that preparation phase. They will have already established relationships in the camp that will be held later this week, but they will be working with them in January as well. We’ll get them competitive games, whether they’re against New Zealand teams or against our Under-19 side who are in New Zealand preparing prior to the World Cup, so that they’re as well prepared as they can be.”The High Performance Centre, located at Lincoln University in Christchurch, will offer the USA Under-19 team the chance to utilise facilities that are virtually unavailable in America.”It won’t be an easy tournament for the United States,” said Vaughan. “We’re obviously getting involved now. It’s certainly late in the picture but this is a start of what we feel is a long term partnership so we’ll be doing what we can to optimise USA’s chances of a good performance in the tournament.”

Sam Konstas fell cheaply as NSW lost three wickets late in the day in a game that will have a huge bearing on the Shield final

Tristan Lavalette06-Mar-2025Sam Konstas started cautiously on a tricky surface before falling late on day one as another low-scoring Sheffield Shield match at the WACA appeared to be in the works.After Western Australia was bowled out for 196 in their first innings, New South Wales slumped to 17 for 3 in the pivotal fixture.Less than a month since WA crashed to South Australia in the shortest outright result in Shield history, the green-tinged pitch was again difficult to bat on with significant seam movement on offer.Related

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There was much intrigue over how Konstas would approach the situation having to come out to bat an hour before stumps. He started in orthodox fashion, playing straight and hitting a couple of elegant drives. There was no sign of anything fancy in his first 15 balls but he fell in tame fashion on the next delivery when he chipped left-arm quick Joel Paris to mid-off.Nic Maddinson and nightwatchman Ryan Hadley were dismissed by quick Lance Morris just before stumps to leave the match in the balance.Veteran Jackson Bird and captain Jack Edwards were standouts with five wickets between them. No WA batter reached fifty, but in an encouraging sign opener Cameron Bancroft was resolute with 22 off 66 balls in his return to the field after a horrific head-on collision in the outfield during a BBL game on January 3.Just 0.24 points separates second-placed NSW and WA with a victory for either team putting them into pole position to reach the final.With the remarkable events of the ground’s last Shield match still fresh, Edwards had no hesitation in bowling first despite the hot conditions. The calendar might have flipped into autumn, but March is essentially an extension of summer in Perth and the pitch was baking with temperatures already in the mid-30s Celsius by the time the first ball was bowled.All eyes were on Bancroft in his long-awaited return and he was intent on showcasing his trademark steely defence against accurate new ball bowling from Bird and Edwards. WA only scored two runs off the first six overs with Edwards starting off with three consecutive maidens.The ball wasn’t quite zipping off the surface like the South Australia match, but Edwards did occasionally produce sharp bounce and he had captain Sam Whiteman fending agonisingly short of leg gully.Whiteman had a torrid time, hit on the helmet by Hadley after attempting a pull shot before edging over the slips for a fortuitous boundary. But after battling through early trouble, Whiteman and Bancroft blunted the bowling in a sedate period through the middle part of the first session.The hardnosed openers have a knack of leaving bowlers flustered and they appeared set to bat through the first session as NSW’s quicks started to lose patience. But Liam Hatcher provided a spark 30 minutes before lunch when he nicked off Bancroft before having a huge appeal for caught down the legside off Jayden Goodwin turned down.Goodwin made it through to the long break, but Whiteman didn’t after he chopped on to a back of a length delivery from Edwards. WA reached lunch at 62 for 2 in a total that was eerily similar to the same stage of the South Australia match. On that occasion WA fell apart after the interval and there was a sense of déjà vu when they lost 3 for 27.Edwards was in the midst of a terrific spell and had Goodwin nicking off before Hadley clean bowled Hilton Cartwright, who had an error of judgement when he didn’t play a shot.Ashton Turner was unperturbed and decided to back his attacking instincts as runs flowed quickly for the first time in the day. He drove powerfully, but was fortunate on 21 when he was dropped by Bird in his follow through with the ball almost parrying to mid-off.But Turner couldn’t regain his rhythm after tea and he nicked off to Bird although he was unhappy with the decision. After dismissing Paris on the next delivery, Bird came within inches of completing his hat-trick when Cameron Gannon almost chopped onto his stumps.There was mock applause from several hard-bitten fans in the terraces when WA reached 150. But their mood brightened when wicketkeeper-batter Joel Curtis flourished after a sluggish start to lift the home side to what appears a competitive total.

He was charged by the ICC in 2021 and was found guilty in August 2023 following a hearing by an independent tribunal

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2023Former West Indies batter Marlon Samuels has been banned from all cricket for six years by the ICC after he was found guilty of corrupt behaviour during the Abu Dhabi T10 in 2019, where he was part of the Karnataka Tuskers but did not play.An independent tribunal found Samuels guilty on four counts, including accepting favours that brought himself and the game into disrepute and concealing information from the investigating authorities. He had been punished for a similar offence 15 years ago.”Samuels played international cricket for close to two decades, during which he participated in numerous anti-corruption sessions and knew exactly what his obligations were under the Anti-Corruption Codes,” Alex Marshall, the head of ICC’s HR and Integrity Unit, said. “Though he is retired now, Mr Samuels was a participant when the offences were committed. The ban of six years will act as a strong deterrent to any participant who intends to break the rules.”Related

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The Abu Dhabi T10 is an Emirates Cricket Board run tournament as such it is their anti-corruption code that is in operation. By their rules, the ICC conducts all investigations into breaches made and they found Samuels had made four of them.

• Article 2.4.2 (by a majority decision) – Failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official, the receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or other benefit that was made or given in circumstances that could bring the Participant or the sport of cricket into disrepute.
• Article 2.4.3 (unanimous decision)- Failing to disclose to the Designated Anti-Corruption Official receipt of hospitality with a value of US $750 or more.
• Article 2.4.6 (unanimous decision) – Failing to cooperate with the Designated Anti-Corruption Official’s investigation.
• Article 2.4.7 (unanimous decision) – Obstructing or delaying the Designated Anti-Corruption Official’s investigation by concealing information that may have been relevant to the investigation.

Samuels’ ban takes effect from November 11, 2023. He was initially charged by the ICC in September 2021 before he was found guilty of the offences in August this year.Samuels, who top-scored for West Indies in the final of both the 2012 and 2016 T20 World Cup, last played international cricket in 2018 and announced his retirement in November 2020 with over 11,000 international runs across formats. He was no stranger to controversy during his career, the lowest point of which was his two-year ban after being found guilty, in May 2008, of “receiving money, or benefit or other reward that could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute”.

South Africa are hoping to have their premier quick back for the three-Test series against England

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2022Kagiso Rabada, South Africa’s pace frontman, has been ruled out of the two-T20I series against Ireland, to be played in Bristol in August, “following a review of his left medial ankle injury by the Proteas medical team”.”He [Rabada] will continue medical management and rehabilitation and his progress will be closely monitored in preparation for the upcoming three-match Test series against England later this month,” a CSA media statement said.Related

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Rabada was rested for the three-match ODI series in England recently as part of his workload management but took part in the T20I series. He played the first two T20Is in which he picked up just one wicket. He was replaced by Anrich Nortje for the final outing in Southampton owing to a niggle. South Africa drew the ODI series 1-1, with the last fixture washed out, before clinching the T20I series 2-1.The two T20Is against Ireland will be played on August 3 and 5 in Bristol. South Africa will then take on England in a three-Test series that begins on August 17 at Lord’s – these matches are part of the World Test Championship. South Africa are currently leading the championship table, while England are placed seventh.With Temba Bavuma nursing an elbow injury, David Miller will continue leading South Africa in the shortest format.

The players have undergone another round of testing, the results of which will be available later on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-2021Five members of the touring South Africa Emerging Women’s side have tested positive for Covid-19 in Sylhet late on Monday before they left for Dhaka.The players have undergone another round of testing, the results of which will be available later on Tuesday. If the members return positive, they might have to stay in isolation for 14 days in Dhaka or until they are tested negative for Covid-19. The rest of the contingent, including the support staff, who have tested negative on Monday, flew out of Dhaka early on Tuesday.The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh had announced on Sunday that international flights will be suspended for a week from April 14 with the commencement of the hard lockdown in the country. As a result, the visitors had to depart early, cancelling their last game in the five-match one-day series scheduled for Tuesday. South Africa had reached Dhaka on Monday afternoon from Sylhet after playing four one-day matches against the Bangladesh Emerging Women’s team.The series, which began on April 4, was held behind closed doors in bio-secure environment due to an upsurge in Covid-19 cases. The visiting team had arrived in Bangladesh on March 29.

A see-sawing game went overtime as the young England allrounder raised his game to another level

Tristan Lavalette28-Dec-2019
Sixers won the Super Over by 1 runA starring all-round performance from Tom Curran propelled the Sydney Sixers to a thrilling victory over crosstown rivals Sydney Thunder in the first Super Over decider this BBL season.Moises Henriques scored 14 of the Sixers’ 16 runs in the Super Over, which proved just enough as the Thunder fell one run short in reply with Curran holding his nerve with the ball.Tom Curran has a knack for thriving in pressure situations•Getty Images

In the Sixers’ nerve-jangling chase of 150, Thunder held sway throughout before a late flurry from Curran (35 from 17 balls) almost single-handedly forced extra time of the Sydney Smash.The Sixers (3-2) won their second straight game, while the Thunder lost for the first time this season.Hales explodes before Thunder slideMuch of the Thunder batting is built around the opening partnership of the explosive Alex Hales and elegant Usman Khawaja, who was mainly a spectator with the Englishman providing the early pyrotechnics.Hales smashed 27 inside the opening three overs, including five boundaries and an audacious swivelled six off a stunned Ben Dwarshuis. Khawaja joined the party with a smoked six over the small midwicket boundary off Jackson Bird, who was having a tougher time than his brilliant season debut on Boxing Day.The Sixers desperately needed a breakthrough and Sean Abbott came through with his first legal delivery, as Khawaja fell for 16. Abbott caused problems by cleverly changing his pace and was unlucky not to have removed Hales on several occasions.With his earlier momentum halted, a frustrated Hales holed out to Curran immediately after the Powerplay as the Sixers impressively clawed back into the contest.The Thunder’s slide continued when spinner Lloyd Pope’s wrong ‘un lured a struggling Matthew Gilkes out of his crease to be stumped. Having lost 3 for 6, Callum Ferguson and Alex Ross needed to consolidate in the middle overs.Callum Ferguson raises his bat•Getty Images

Ferguson plays lone hand as Pope shinesThe Thunder scored only 24 runs between overs five and 11 as Lloyd Pope, with his crop of red hair standing out, took charge with a menacing concoction of loop and wrong ‘uns.Finally managing to get hold of Pope, Ross showcased beautiful foot work and hit the legspinner over cover for six. Other than that, the batsmen mainly worked the ball around in a bid to leave wickets intact at the end.The partnership ticked past fifty before Ross decided to change gears in the 15th over as he targeted Curran. It worked a treat initially when he smashed a six over long-on before holing out two balls later to a superb diving catch to Abbott.Pope finished a mesmerising spell (3-23) by bowling Chris Green with another precise wrong ‘un. Having initially stymied the Thunder, Curran fittingly provided the finishing touches (2-23) as the Thunder fell short of their desired total despite a fifty from Ferguson. Having won the toss and decided to bat, he wouldn’t have been pleased his side could only get 37 runs in the last five overs and finish on 8 for 149.Thunder chip away at SixersWith James Vince missing due to a mishap before play, the Sixers’ rejigged batting opened with Hayden Kerr alongside Josh Philippe. The Thunder needed early wickets and Ferguson backed his spin-heavy attack with Jonathan Cook clean bowling Kerr in the first over.Philippe was uncharacteristically subdued, but Daniel Hughes showcased sublime touch to race to 27 off 16 balls inside the Powerplay. Philippe just couldn’t get going and was trapped lbw by Chris Morris after falling across his stumps.Is that going for six? Oh wow, it is!•Getty Images

Henriques was the key wicket but he continued his hot form, highlighted by clubbing Green into the second tier. Green had better success against Hughes though, knocking over his leg stump.The wicket out of seemingly nowhere left the contest evenly poised, but then tilted towards the Thunder when Jordan Silk was brilliantly run-out by a direct hit from Green at long-on. The Sixers were 4 for 72 with half the innings still left to play.Curran’s heroics ensures tieKnowing the chase likely rested on his shoulders, Henriques nudged the ball around to ensure the run-rate didn’t spiral out of control. Jack Edwards provided some valuable support in a stabilising 38-run partnership until holing out in the 17th over.It meant the Sixers needed a difficult 40 off the final 21 balls. Curran, who batted brilliantly in the death against the Perth Scorchers, hit boundaries off his first three deliveries to change the momentum.The game flipped again when Henriques fell in the 18th over, deceived by a slower Daniel Sams delivery. Needing 16 off the final over, Curran smashed a six off Chris Tremain’s first delivery and then hit a boundary off the penultimate one to inch the Sixers within two runs. In a dramatic finish, Curran was caught short of his ground after attempting the second match-winning run.Henriques stars in the Super OverCurran couldn’t replicate his batting heroics in the Super Over as he fell first ball to Morris. Henriques recovered the situation with two extraordinary scooped shots – the second going over the third man boundary – to score 14 of the Sixers’ 16 runs.Khawaja and Hales could only muster five runs off Curran’s first four balls before the right-hander smashed a six to ensure the match came down to the last ball. Hales hit a boundary but the Thunder fell agonisingly short.