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Miguel Cummins, the West Indies fast bowler, has signed as Worcestershire’s overseas player for the final three rounds of the Championship

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2016Miguel Cummins, the West Indies fast bowler, has signed as Worcestershire’s overseas player for the final three rounds of the Championship. Cummins, who made his Test debut against India last month, replaces South Africa’s Kyle Abbott as Worcestershire aim to maintain their pursuit of the one promotion spot available in Division Two this season.Abbott was called up for South Africa’s Test series with New Zealand and, after two defeats in their last three matches followed by conceding 551 against Northamptonshire, Worcestershire have decided to strengthen their attack by bringing in Cummins.With one day of their ongoing match at New Road to go, Worcestershire sit fourth in the Division Two table, 56 points behind leaders Essex after they secured a three-day win against Leicestershire.Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, said: “We have signed Miguel for the last three games of the season. I am delighted not only to be getting someone who has been playing recently but also someone who has recently been playing international cricket and that says a lot for his quality.”He played in the West Indies-India series and was successful in the penultimate Test of that series. He is a young guy with no experience of county cricket or English conditions but he is hungry to do well, try and impress and make an impact and he has got this opportunity in the last three games and we are looking forward to having him on board.”He is a little bit quicker than any of our bowlers, with a bit of bounce, and he is well thought of by Ottis Gibson. I spoke to him and he gave a very good recommendation for him and when you look to give someone an opportunity, you want someone with a point to prove.”There is a lot of unavailability [of overseas players] towards the end of the season and we are very lucky to get Miguel.”Cummins, who took 6 for 48 in the St Lucia Test against India, has a career record of 125 first-class wickets at 22.44. He was the most successful pace bowler in this year’s WICB Professional Cricket League, with 33 at 20.69. He is expected to arrive at the club on Monday and be available to play Essex at Chelmsford, starting on Wednesday, followed by games against Sussex and Derbyshire.”I am relishing the chance to play county cricket for the first time,” Cummins said. “I am always keen to learn and broaden my cricketing knowledge and experiences and this is an ideal opportunity for me. Several West Indian players have played for the county and I hope I can make a significant impact and help the club towards its goal of trying to achieve promotion.”

Persistent rain forced the match between Namibia and Nepal to be abandoned after only 7.4 overs of play in Bready in the World T20 Qualifier

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsStephan Baard struck a 26-ball 39*•ICC/Sportsfile

Persistent rain forced the match between Namibia and Nepal to be abandoned after only 7.4 overs of play in Bready in the World T20 Qualifier. The start to the game was delayed to the weather and the match was first reduced to 17 overs a side. The weather relented for a brief period as Namibia, who were inserted in to bat before the interruption, kicked into gear immediately.Stephan Baard and Gerrie Synman hit five fours and two sixes together and added 36 runs in 29 balls before Synman was caught off the bowling of Paras Khadka. Baard and Raymond van Schoor took Namibia to 54 for 1 in seven overs as rain forced another break in play. They managed to get on for another four balls, but unrelenting rain finally forced the game to be called off.

Kane Williamson struck a brilliant unbeaten 145 to carry New Zealand to a competitive 279 for 8 in Kimberley

The Report by Alex Winter22-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNathan McCullum was inspired in the field and took the crucial wicket of Colin Ingram•Associated Press

South Africa have so often been the makers of their own downfall and five run outs scuppered their chase in Kimberley as New Zealand secured their first series win in any format in South Africa. One of the lights that can lead them out of this tough period – Kane Williamson – produced a magnificent unbeaten century that deserved to win a series. New Zealand’s tenacity in the field ensured it did.Graeme Smith, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Rory Kleinveldt and Farhaan Behardien were all run out as South Africa’s chase crumbled from a comfortable position of 167 for 1 in the 31st over. It equalled the record for the most run outs in an ODI innings and contributed to a calamitous collapse of 9 for 85.It was unimaginable that the current New Zealand team could be the group to win the country’s first series in South Africa, but after being humiliated in the Test series they have a remarkable achievement to take home.This second win was set up by the best batting performance of the tour: a career-best international score by Williamson. His unbeaten 145 not out was superbly paced. He negotiated a nervous opening having come to the crease in the third over at 0 for 1, then accelerated in a hundred partnership with Grant Elliott, rebuilt after New Zealand had endured a collapse of their own, before providing a final punch that produced a competitive target.But competitive is all the target appeared on a balmy evening with a flat, hard, grassless wicket. South Africa were on course as Graeme Smith and Colin Ingram added 129 in 22 overs.New Zealand craved a breakthrough, wishing for any of the several chances they spurned in the first ODI, and were suddenly gifted a path back into the match. It was James Franklin – who brought New Zealand home in Paarl – that began the feast of run-outs with a slide to save Ingram’s back cut at third man. His return was pint-point over the bails and a sluggish Smith was short diving in for a third run.Faf du Plessis – standing in as captain with AB de Villiers suspended – then defended Franklin into the off side and eagerly considered a single. He was rightly sent back by Ingram and was a little slow to turn, allowing enough time for Nathan McCullum to swoop in from cover and hit direct with a dive.It was part of a fine display in the field from McCullum. He held Robin Peterson with a diving catch at extra cover after he had squeezed the run rate with his off spin, forcing Ingram to try to hit over the top and find mid-off. It was a far cry from his first over which had been taken for 17.Further run outs came as Kleinveldt got his bat stuck in the ground a foot short of the popping crease as Martin Guptill threw down the stumps from midwicket. More lethargic running saw Behardien – on his ODI debut – beaten from the midwicket boundary. A little earlier, David Miller – a dangerous threat even as the required rate surged – was short of his ground backing up.New Zealand had seized their chance in the field and backed up an outstanding innings from Williamson. Quality of timing is paramount for him, a diminutive figure with a limited range of strokes, but he found his touch. He shuffled across his stumps to work length balls on off stump through the leg side, put away almost anything overpitched and played the spinners well – getting deep in his crease to pull boundaries against du Plessis and using his feet well too.Twice he skipped down to lift Peterson wide of long-on, the second occasion taking him to 99; a single backward of point brought up his third ODI hundred and the first against major opposition. He added 127 in 128 balls with Grant Elliott to earn New Zealand’s first century stand of the tour. It was born out of a careful opening as just 19 came off the first ten overs; a cautious attitude understandable given previous premature collapses.But having played watchfully, New Zealand progressed. Williamson was the chief instigator of the 62 runs that were scored in the first 10 overs outside the Powerplay. The innings had been running to plan with a platform in place and Brendon McCullum arriving at No. 5 with a short period to explode. But he only managed to do so three times, the best of which a straight six over Morne Morkel’s head having run down the wicket. But doing so again, McCullum swung and missed and lost his leg stump. It was a waste with 12 overs of the innings left.Colin Munro and Franklin then fell within eight balls and New Zealand looked out of power and likely to fail to take full advantage of their position. But Williamson continued to steer the innings and his efforts were ultimately rewarded.

The Premier Limited Over Tournament Tier A semi-final line-up has been decided with Nondescripts Cricket Club, Sinhalese Sports Club, Chilaw Marians Cricket Club and Colts Cricket Club coming through

Sa'adi Thawfeeq13-Dec-2011The Premier Limited Over Tournament Tier A semi-final line-up has been decided with Nondescripts Cricket Club and Sinhalese Sports Club qualifying from Group A and Chilaw Marians Cricket Club and Colts Cricket Club coming through from Group B. The same sides made the semi-finals of the previous season as well.The previous final was washed out with SSC and Colts being declared joint champions. The two teams could meet again in the final this year as Colts take on NCC and SSC clash with Chilaw Marians in the semi-finals. However, the weather could be a factor as the final weekend of matches produced two no-results and four out of the remaining six games were decided on the Duckworth-Lewis rule.The group matches produced some exciting finishes, none more than the Colts v Bloomfield game where Colts scraped through by one wicket, scoring the winning runs off the last ball. Bloomfield, dismissed for 183, fought back to reduce Colts to 148 for 8. When the ninth wicket fell at 175, the match could have gone either way. But last man Sajeewa Weerakoon used all his 16-year experience as a first-class cricketer to stick around with match-winner Chathuranga Kumara (39 not out) to steer Colts home.Two days earlier, Bloomfield had managed to win another thriller by one wicket against Ragama. Chasing 222 for victory, they were cruising at 199 for 5 in the 36th over, but former Sri Lanka legspinner Malinga Bandara snapped up three wickets in nine balls to reduce Bloomfield to 211 for 9. It was left to the last pair of Suraj Randiv and Tyron Gamage to knock off the required 11 runs, for which they took 31 balls amid high tension.The opening match of the tournament had two brothers battling it out as Badureliya took on Tamil Union at the P Sara Oval. Tillakaratne Sampath, younger brother of Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a fighting century to help Badureliya recover from 89 for 6 to 193. But Dilshan, opening the batting, struck a run-a-ball 61 as Tamil Union won by five wickets with more than 15 overs to spare.In Tier B, Sri Lanka Army take on Sri Lanka Ports Authority (formerly Seeduwa/Raddoluwa) while Sri Lanka Navy meet Saracens in the semi-finals. Army made the semi-finals previous season as well.Sri Lanka Air Force, who recruited the services of former Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya for their final group match, finished second from the bottom in Group B with a solitary victory. Jayasuriya scored 23 off 22 balls in his debut for Air Force against Ports Authority in a match ruined by rain.The 42-year-old Jayasuriya, a Member of Parliament with the ruling party United People’s Freedom Alliance, was given permission by Sri Lanka Cricket’s tournament committee to change clubs midway through the tournament and he joined Air Force from Bloomfield. He will now represent Air Force for the rest of this season.A board official said that a player could represent a team after only seven days of registration especially if he had been out of the country by producing a copy of his passport confirming the date of arrival in Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya was in the UAE recently as part of the Ten Sports commentary team for the series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Tests against Australia have traditionally been the acid test for England batsmen, but Jonathan Trott has so far bucked that trend, with two second-innings centuries in his only two matches

Andrew Miller in Adelaide01-Dec-2010Tests against Australia have traditionally been the acid test for England batsmen, but Jonathan Trott’s brief flirtation with Ashes cricket has so far bucked that trend, with two second-innings centuries in his only two appearances, at The Oval in 2009 and most recently at the Gabba last week.But if any cricketer in the England team knows what it takes to begin again from scratch in Adelaide this week, it is Trott, whose unflappable desire to pile up runs irrespective of circumstance has made him indispensable at first drop in England’s order. His plan for dealing with Australia’s bowlers for the rest of the series is simple: “We don’t want to give them a sniff”.Coming into the first Test, Trott was the only member of England’s batting unit not to have made a half-century in any of the three warm-up fixtures in Perth, Adelaide and Hobart, but having shown promising signs of form during his first-innings 29, he made it count second-time around to bat England to safety with a massive unbeaten 329-run stand with Alastair Cook.”Leading up to the Test match I felt in good nick but I hadn’t been able to kick on and get a big score, so I was very pleased to contribute to an excellent fightback that was set up by Staussy and Cooky,” Trott said. “I’ve been pretty fortunate to do pretty well [against Australia], but individually and as a team things can change pretty quickly.”Trott’s unbeaten 135 has given him a share in two triple-century stands in consecutive Test matches, following his record eighth-wicket 332-run with Stuart Broad against Pakistan at Lord’s back in August. By his own admission the conditions in Brisbane were benign by the final day, having assisted the bowlers on both sides early in the match, but the powers of concentration he displayed during his six-hour stay with Cook were not to be under-estimated.”The wicket flattened out and that’s what Test cricket is about, it’s about hard yards,” said Trott. “Sometimes you get on wickets as a batter that are tricky to bat on, so it evens itself out. At the Gabba it probably wasn’t what you want as an ideal Test wicket, but you get on with what you’re given, and we did that pretty well. To be 200 behind wasn’t ideal in the first Test of the Ashes, but we showed great character in the way we were able to get back in the game.”With unseasonal rain interrupting preparations ahead of the second Test, there is a slim chance that the Adelaide wicket will prove to be more sporting than the one at the Gabba. However, the ground’s new curator, Damian Hough, has promised a “traditional” pitch for his first match in charge, which implies it will be slow and full of runs, with some assistance for spin bowlers late in the game. Much as was the case on England’s last visit four years ago, in fact, when Shane Warne spun them to a standstill on a shocking final day, despite the teams each registering 500-plus totals in the first innings.Trott is the only member of England’s top six who missed that fixture, but he admitted that the memories, although ancient history as far as the current squad is concerned, still serve as a cautionary tale – not least on the final day of the Brisbane Test, when the satisfaction at rescuing the team from a sticky first-innings situation was tempered by the knowledge that their lead going into the fifth day – 88, with nine wickets intact – was actually worse than had been the case in that fateful Adelaide match.”The way we approached batting on the last day [in Brisbane], obviously we were only 90 ahead, and I was speaking to Alastair, and he said they were only half of that ahead in this game [Adelaide],” he said. “So we were making sure that our mindset was to bat for each hour, then reassess. It was normal Test match batting. We don’t get ahead of ourselves, we just do what we do well as a pair, and as a unit. But I don’t think the guys will be worried about four years ago. It was in the past and we’re looking to come to Adelaide and win.”England’s overall approach to the series has been as measured as Trott’s own approach to batting. The desire appears to be to take the series one ball at a time, let alone one Test at a time, and extraneous issues such as the form of Mitchell Johnson or the likely make-up of Australia’s attack, with Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris both competing hard for inclusion, are not being allowed to impact on the team’s overall planning.”When you’re batting as a pair you don’t worry about outside things that are going on,” said Trott. “The fact we could bat for a long length of time is very pleasing, and that’s our job, to get their bowlers into their third and fourth spells, and get ourselves big scores. We don’t want to give them a sniff.”Johnson most certainly wasn’t given a sniff in the first Test. He went wicketless for the first time in his career, with England frustrating him with their disciplined refusal to flirt outside off stump. “I think that’s generally the idea in Test cricket,” said Trott. “You don’t want to be playing where you don’t need to be. There’s no huge urgency on run-rate, and although it’s good to have a positive mindset, you want to be playing in your areas of strength, where you know you can score and are confident.”Trott may have played his part in finishing the first Test on a high, but having being bowled out for 260 on the first day of the match, he’s under no illusions that improvements are required from England’s batting if they are to make good on any psychological ascendancy that may exist. “The one thing we look at in Brisbane is our first innings,” he said. We didn’t get as many as we’d have liked, because if we’d got a big score we’d have put pressure on them. As a batting unit, first-innings runs in Australia are very important. Hopefully it’s in this game.”

Auckland slipped to their second consecutive defeat, against Canterbury at Colin Maiden Park, despite a quickfire half-century from Ravi Bopara

Cricinfo staff04-Jan-2010
Scorecard
Rob Nicol grabbed two wickets and scored a half-century•Getty Images

Auckland slipped to their second consecutive defeat, against Canterbury at Colin Maiden Park, despite a quickfire half-century from Ravi Bopara. The Canterbury bowlers bowled economically, grabbing the first five wickets for 76 as the Auckland batsmen struggled to consolidate on starts. However, Bopara rescued them, adding 64 with Anaru Kitchen, and struck three fours and two sixes on his way to an unbeaten 55 to lift the team to 144. Rob Nicol was the pick of the Canterbury bowlers, taking 2 for 19 in four oversThe effort, though, proved inadequate, as opener Nicol starred with the bat, too, anchoring the Canterbury innings with a 35-ball 52, and Johann Myburgh held his nerve to score a run-a-ball 37 to guide his team to a five-wicket win with just one ball to spare. Canterbury lost their fifth wicket off the first ball of the final over but the pair of Myburgh and Kruger van Wyk, who struck a six in his three-ball nine, sealed Auckland’s fate.

Sachin Baby, who was a symbol of concentration and grit all day to construct 234-ball 98, fell with Kerala 56 away from a first-innings lead

Shashank Kishore28-Feb-2025Stumps A thrilling third day’s play of the Ranji Trophy final took a potentially decisive turn late in the third session, when Sachin Baby, who was a symbol of concentration and grit all day to construct 234-ball 98, fell with Kerala 56 away from a first-innings lead. That opened the floodgates for hosts Vidarbha to barge the door down, by picking up the three remaining wickets quickly to take a 37-run lead by stumps.Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade, the left-arm spin twins, picked up six wickets between them as Kerala saw the lead snatched from under their rug in eerily similar circumstances to what they did to Gujarat only a week earlier. Dubey ended with 3 for 88 across 44 overs, to surpass Ashutosh Aman’s tally for most wickets in a single Ranji season. He’s now on top of the list with 69 wickets.The big moment came 30 minutes into the final session when Rekhade danged a carrot with Baby approaching three figures in his 100th first-class game. With mid-on in, Baby looked to launch him over the infield but ended up dragging it to Karun Nair at the deep midwicket boundary. Baby took an eternity to walk off and couldn’t believe what he’d done. In that moment, it felt as if Kerala’s hopes hinged on a lead that eventually was taken away from them when the lower order was snuffed out.Jalaj Saxena, Kerala’s last hope, soldiered on for 76 deliveries to make 28 before an attempted paddle off Rekhade had him miss the ball as it crashed into the stumps. Kerala still needed 43, but there was a sense that the end was nigh. Saxena’s wicket was massive, for he was looking completely at ease against the turning ball that occasionally spat on the batters with a few spots from the rough areas of both ends making it difficult for the batters.Like it has on many occasions, the prelude to Saxena’s wicket was a lengthy recovery break when Yash Rathod fell flat on the ground with cramps and needed treatment from the physio before play resumed. It was almost as if that break forced a slight lapse in concentration from Saxena as he attempted to paddle one from outside off, having played that stroke a number of times during his innings to deliveries drifting into the pads.Darshan Nalkande finished with 3 for 52 in the first innings•PTI

Once Saxena fell, Kerala folded with 19-year-old Eden Apple Tom, playing in only his third Ranji game and his first in nearly three years, bowled attempting a sweep after he’d blunted the bowling for a better part of the last 45 minutes. The last hour undid all the hard work Baby did in being able to have Kerala dare to dream of a lead, but he’ll know with two full days left and two quality spinners in his ranks, Kerala’s ability to bounce back will depend on how quickly they’re able to lift themselves from the pall of gloom that seemed to have set into the dressing room when their final wicket fell.The nature of Kerala’s collapse in the end was dramatic and won’t tell you how well the batters had done to give them sight of a lead in the first place. Local boy and two-time Ranji winner with Vidarbha, Aditya Sarwate, led the way with 79, and was the first to fall on the third day when he was prised out by Dubey, who quickly changed his approach from trying to bowl full and flat to looping it into the batters and having them jab at deliveries.Once such delivery that jumped at Sarwate lobbed off the bat to Danish Malewar at silly point just a few minutes after he’d reprieved him by putting down a low catch at gully. That wicket forced Vidarbha to go on an attack, as Baby, who overturned an lbw through DRS on 54, opened up to play some wonderful shots – the secret to his runs early on lay in how late he played the ball and how disciplined he was outside off.Mohammed Azharuddeen took much pressure off Baby as he late cut the spinners well to keep picking runs and bring the deficit close to double digits when Vidarbha’s decision to take the second new ball midway through the 93rd over immediately paid dividends. Off the very first ball of the 94th, Azharuddeen was trapped lbw by Darshan Nalkande’s in-ducker that beat his inside edge.Saxena then showed some intent up front by hitting two boundaries off his first five deliveries, before he buckled down in Baby’s company. The pair added 46 when Baby’s hoick – what would best be described a brain fade – changed the complexion of the innings, and possibly the match itself.

There was some spice between the sides last season when Megan Schutt termed Heat a ‘bit arrogant’

Tristan Lavalette30-Nov-2023

Georgia Voll played a big role with the ball in the Challenger final•Getty Images

Allrounder Georgia Voll believed an aggressive Brisbane Heat were the “perfect team” to upend defending champions Adelaide Strikers despite a gruelling run to the WBBL final.Heat stormed into Saturday’s final at the Adelaide Oval after thrashing Sydney Thunder and Perth Scorchers on consecutive days at the WACA. After a late season three-game losing streak cost them a top two finish and a home final, Heat on Sunday night embarked on a five-and-a-half hour flight from Brisbane to Perth.After recovery and a light training session on Monday, Heat then played inspired cricket and relished a bouncy WACA surface to keep alive their bid for a third WBBL title.Related

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They showed no signs of fatigue in their commanding performances, but on Thursday will board a three-hour flight to Adelaide before a quick turnaround for the final.”It won’t bother us. It’s great we’ve actually carried some momentum,” said offspinner Voll, who took WBBL career best figures of 4 for 19 against Scorchers. “I love playing a lot of cricket. We’ve had a bit of ups and downs through the year, but we’re picking up momentum at the right time.”So I think it’s done us really good having to play the two games.”In Perth, Heat played an irresistible brand of cricket with Grace Harris’ fireworks in the powerplay building the foundations for big totals after they batted first. Seamers Nicola Hancock and Courtney Sippel ripped through Thunder before Voll and fellow spinner Jess Jonassen took over against Scorchers.It was an ominous warning to Strikers, who won nine of their last 10 matches of the regular season to lock up the top spot. But their only blemish in that stretch was a four-wicket defeat in Mackay to Heat, who chased down 138 with a ball to spare. Strikers earlier in the season routed Heat for 89 in a 59-run victory at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.”It’s going be a challenge, but I think we’ve got the perfect team to roll them,” Voll said. “Our balance in the batting…we pretty much bat all the way down to 11.”We back our skill to go hard pretty much all the way through. With the bowling we back our two quicks and the spinners to defend or set the tone.”It will be a great final. I think they’ll have a crowded Adelaide Oval, it will be an awesome atmosphere and hopefully we can knock them over one more time.”Heat will be without batter Bess Heath, who will depart for England’s imminent tour of India. “Bess has been a massive part of our team. She’s a big loss but whoever will fill that spot will do a great job,” Voll said.There will be extra spice in the final between teams who have won three of the last five titles after Strikers seamer Megan Schutt last year labelled Heat’s style of play as a “bit arrogant”.”It’s kind of like the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it?” Harris said. “I don’t really read too much into it and it doesn’t bother me too much because you can do all the talking you want…it comes down to how you go out on the field.”Harris looms as a key in the final after emerging from a form slump and igniting Heat in Perth with 99 runs off 55 balls across the two games.”I’m a strike-rate batter…[aim to] strike at 180-200. You will be inconsistent, but happy to own that role. We want to play an aggressive brand of cricket. It’s about scoring shots and not getting worried about getting out. If we’re out for 80 then bugger it, but if we score 197 then that’s our game plan and we have got to stick to that.”If we put in a complete performance [in the final] then we will definitely be competitive.”

Taniya Bhatia and Simran Bahadur are the standby players for the squad of 15

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Sep-2022Fit-again Jemimah Rodrigues has returned to India’s 15-member T20I squad for the Women’s Asia Cup to be held in Bangladesh from October 1-15.Rodrigues missed the ongoing England tour because of a wrist injury that she picked up during her stint at the Women’s Hundred with Northern Superchargers. Since her return, Rodrigues has undergone three weeks of rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.Rodrigues’ inclusion is the only addition to the squad that lost 2-1 in the T20I series against England. Richa Ghosh, who impressed with her lower-order hitting during the series, retains her place as the frontline wicketkeeper.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

That meant Taniya Bhatia, who was the first choice wicketkeeper at the Commonwealth Games and didn’t get a game in the T20Is against England, has been consigned to the standby list along with medium-pacer Simran Bahadur. Hard-hitting top-order bat Kiran Prabhu Navgire, who made her debut during the England series, retains her place in the squad led by Harmanpreet Kaur.Meghna Singh and Renuka Singh are the two frontline seamers, with allrounder Pooja Vastrakar being the third-seam option. India’s spin stocks, meanwhile, are significantly varied. They have two left-arm spinners in Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Radha Yadav, while Sneh Rana and Deepti Sharma, both allrounders, offering right-arm variety.The Women’s Asia Cup is returning after a four-year gap. The seven-team tournament will be played in a round-robin format, with each team playing six matches in the league phase, before the top four advance to the semi-finals.India begin their campaign on the opening day (October 1) against Sri Lanka, before taking on Malaysia and debutants UAE on October 3 and October 4 respectively. They will then play Pakistan and Bangladesh on October 7 and 8 before rounding off their league engagements against Thailand on October 10.All matches will be held in Sylhet, where India last played during the T20 World Cup in 2014. Bangladesh are the current defending champions, having beaten India in a last-ball thriller in 2018 in Kuala Lumpur.India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, S Meghana, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Dayalan Hemalatha, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav, Kiran Navgire. Standby players: Taniya Bhatia, Simran Bahadur

England captain falls short of 32nd first-class hundred, but puts Yorkshire on top at Cardiff

David Hopps15-May-2021Glamorgan 149 (Brook 3-13, Patterson 3-27) and 108 for 3 (Carlson 44*, Lloyd 40*) lead Yorkshire 230 (Root 99, Patterson 47*, Neser 5-39) by 28 runs Joe Root moved inexorably towards his hundred with the precision of a ticking clock. An old-time image for an old-time innings. The world could do much as it pleased, nothing would change his tempo. Then, on 99, the clock stopped.Root has 31 first-class hundreds, but only eight of them have come for Yorkshire. Even as a feted international player, one who bears an onerous responsibility as England’s Test captain, his desire to succeed for his county remains implanted. He would surely yearn for more.Medium-pacer Dan Douthwaite, who seamed the ball back sharply between bat and pad, was the bowler who stopped time. What’s more, Douthwaite revealed, his teammate, Kiran Carlson, predicted it.”It was weird how it happened,” Douthwaite said. “Kiran Carlson stood at mid-off two balls before and said I was going to get him out trying to dab it down to third man and he would chop it on to the stumps and he did. I was telling him at the time to go away and let me focus on my bowling. That is the first time I have had someone predict a wicket and it has actually happened.”If Root didn’t quite manage the century that had seemed inevitable, he looked in good trim ahead of the New Zealand Test series. His superbly controlled innings gave Yorkshire a chance of victory. That’s if you don’t believe in weather forecasts – Sunday’s analysis suggests that these sides will be collecting draw points.England’s IPL contingent have spent much of the past fortnight in quarantine while the likes of Root have benefited from an extensive programme of Championship cricket, albeit played in empty stadiums and in largely cheerless conditions. It has not been a cakewalk. Remove his century against Kent at Canterbury and he had made 114 runs in seven innings. That rediscovered rhythm had been hard-won.That Root’s success has been far from automatic illustrates that bowlers have held sway and also points to the difficulties that even the most driven world-class player encounters when the prestige of a fixture diminishes and the pressure relents. Nevertheless, it also tells that this season’s Conference structure has not been a succession of mismatches that many anticipated. It is a format that is gaining popularity and makes the structure for 2022 a debate still to be won and lost.Related

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Glamorgan, down 81 on first innings, and seeded fifth out of six in Group One, might have capitulated when the Australian, Marnus Labuschagne, was bowled for a duck in an awkward 26-over finish to the day, but David Lloyd and Carlson played with typical freedom in slightly easing conditions in giving them a lead of 27 runs with seven wickets remaining at the close. Carlson’s batting approach does not suffer from modesty and, with his 23rd birthday hours away, he looked to be a player worth keeping an eye on.Not that Root defied Glamorgan single-handedly in giving Yorkshire that 81-run lead. At 111 for 8, they were imperilled, still 39 behind in seamer-friendly conditions. For a top-order batsman, eight-down often demands a rethink. Root observed his captain, Steven Patterson, and recognised a mulishness that demanded respect. Between them, another 118 were added in 33 overs. The match shifted.Root was accomplished, his innings stripped down to basics and all risks against the moving ball kept to a minimum. Patterson existed on defiance and an occasional square cut that he delivered with a flourish. He was far from rhythmic: if he had been a ticking clock, nobody would have had a clue what time it was. He survived a tough chance to backward point before he had scored, took several blows to the body and stubbornly insisted on his right to stick around. But his commitment was exemplary and he also deserved – and missed – his own statistical landmark, a fifth first-class 50, when he was left stranded on 47.Glamorgan’s tactics were strange. The Australian, Michael Neser, who had 3 for 15 overnight, soon had a five-for, including the frisky debutant wicketkeeper, Harry Duke, who was treated to a bouncer first ball, took it on, and spliced a catch to square leg. (First-ball duck or not, we will hear more of Duke). But Neser only bowled eight overs all day and must surely have a niggle.Michael Hogan, the other senior strike bowler, spent the day bowling into the wind. The next bouncer of note to the ninth-wicket pair was delivered by Labuschagne, a part-time legspinner, and it disappeared for four byes. Andrew Salter had a spell of off-spin more out of respect than logic. Like Dom Bess, an England offspinner in Yorkshire’s side, he would have been better rendered idle.Root survived a strong leg-before appeal from Timm van der Gugten on 87, but otherwise picked out singles at will. His late cut to third man – the one where he might be picking his own pocket – would have had Fagin singing with delight. But, with Root on 99, Douthwaite cut Patterson in half with a big break-back that went for four byes. The warning was there. Root did not play the shot, but he might have anticipated it. His stumps were disturbed and Douthwaite gestured in triumph towards Carlson at mid off as if he had known the plan would work all along.