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Chasing 146, Sri Lanka romped home with 20 balls remaining

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2024Harshitha Samarawickrama’s 86 off 45 balls sent Sri Lanka galloping to a 17th-over win in the first T20I of their series against Ireland in Dublin.Ireland had put together what had seemed a competitive 145 for 6 after being sent in, with contributions from opener Gaby Lewis (39 off 33), Oria Prendergast (29 off 27), captain Laura Delany (25 off 21), and Rebecca Stokell (21 not out off 16). Prendergast and Lewis had supplied the innings a foundation with a 59-run second-wicket stand.Related

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But the total was no match for a Sri Lanka side flying high on confidence following their Asia Cup win. Samarawickrama, who top-scored in their chase in that final too, combined with Vishmi Gunaratne (30 off 34) in an opening stand worth 83.Samarawickrama then largely took control of the remainder of the chase, hitting 15 fours and one six in all, as the remainder of the top order produced small innings in support. Sri Lanka will be especially buoyed by pulling off this chase without their best player, Chamari Athapaththu, who is with her Hundred team. Samarawickrama’s 86 not out is the fourth-highest T20I score by a Sri Lanka batter, and the highest by anyone other than Athapaththu.On the bowling front, the left-arm seam of Udeshika Prabhodani and the left-arm spin of Sugandika Kumari were effective at keeping a lid on Ireland’s scoring. Offspinner Inoshi Priyadharshani collected the game’s best figures, however, taking 2 for 35.Freya Sargent, Arlene Kelly and Delany struck for Ireland, but they were unable as a unit to contain Samarawickrama.

The former West Indies captain’s tenure, which began in January 2017, will end when his contract expires at the end of June

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2023Cricket West Indies (CWI) is on the lookout for a new director of cricket, with Jimmy Adams’ tenure set to end when his contract expires at the end of June. Adams, a former West Indies captain who played 54 Tests and 127 ODIs, has held the role for nearly six-and-a-half years, having taken over from Richard Pybus in January 2017.CWI has set June 14 as the deadline for new applicants.Related

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• Business-class flights and single rooms for West Indies women

“We are extremely grateful for the leadership and contribution that Jimmy has made over the past six and half years,” CWI CEO Jonny Grave said. “He has overhauled our High-Performance structure, especially with respect to Coach Education & Development, Sport Science & Medicine and most recently with the launch of our Academy based at the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG) in Antigua. I have no doubt that Jimmy will continue to contribute to the game, particularly West Indies Cricket.”Apart from these achievements, Adams’ tenure also coincided with CWI starting the women’s Caribbean Premier League, appointing separate selection panels for women’s and youth teams, and more recently approving a Women’s Cricket Transformation Committee to work towards achieving equality for women’s players.During Adams’ time as director of cricket, the West Indies men’s team endured a difficult time on the field. They haven’t reached the knockout stages of an ICC tournament since winning the T20 World Cup in 2016, and have finished second from bottom in both the 2019-21 and 2021-23 World Test Championships. Based on the recommendations of an independent review panel instituted after the team’s first-round exit from the 2022 T20 World Cup, CWI appointed format-specific coaches for the senior men’s team: Andre Coley for Test cricket and Daren Sammy for white-ball cricket.”It’s been an honor to have been involved in the ongoing evolution of CWI,” Adams said. “I have had the privilege of working with some amazing people across the organisation and am grateful for all the support they gave me over the past six plus years. I wish everyone all the best going forward, especially in light of the various challenges that exist both regionally and globally.”

Bahrain’s consolation win not enough; Philippines rolled over for 36 by Oman while Canada crumble to 80

Peter Della Penna in Muscat21-Feb-2022A wild day in Oman saw three blowouts and one match go down to the wire to decide the four semi-finalists still in with a shot at reaching the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. Here’s how the final day unfolded.Group A
Bahrain and UAE experienced the full gamut of emotions in a see-saw affair that saw Bahrain prevail by two runs in the biggest upset of the tournament. However, they still failed to advance to the semi-final as UAE stayed fractionally ahead of them on net run rate.Choosing to bat first, Bahrain lost a wicket on the second ball of play as Muhammad Younis cut Basil Hameed’s offspin to backward point for a duck. But they counterattacked through captain Sarfaraz Ali and wicketkeeper Umer Imtiaz, who put on a 50-run stand for the second wicket. Sarfaraz muscled four fours and two sixes, seizing on UAE’s bowling unit going too full, to drive over the in-field on the way to 32 off 22 balls. He finally fell trying to drive over the top one time too many, as legspinner Karthik Meiyappan induced a skied catch to long-off in the seventh over to break the stand.Imtiaz eventually fell for a career-best 42 before Sathaiya Veerapathiran followed five balls later for 2. But former Karnataka player David Mathias, who hit 46* off 35 balls, teamed with Haider Butt, who got 35 from 17, in an extraordinary 76-run stand off the final 34 deliveries. UAE almost paid dearly for choosing to rest their best pace bowler Zahoor Khan, as their replacement options at the death failed to contain Mathias and Butt, who like Sarfaraz continued to seize on full lengths as Bahrain ended up with nine sixes in their innings.On paper, UAE were set a target of 173 to win the match but needed to score at least 158 to stay ahead of Bahrain on net run rate tie-breaker. UAE lost heavy-hitting opener Muhammad Waseem for 2 in the second over to a flat-footed swish, giving an edge behind off Shahid Mahmood’s medium pace. Chirag Suri then fell on the first ball after the powerplay for 26, miscuing a pull to midwicket off Veerapathiran’s medium pace.But Rohan Mustafa joined 19-year-old Vriitya Aravind for a 91-run partnership to get UAE back on course. With the score 65 for 2 after ten, it became clear that UAE’s primary focus was on getting to 158, with the match target of 173 a cherry on top. Bahrain had a chance to heap more pressure on the opposition, but failed to capitalise on a pair of chances offered by Mustafa. The first came on 18 in the 12th over bowled by left-arm spinner Muhammad Waseeq, who induced a skied chance to long-off that Junaid Aziz failed to hold on to running in from the rope.That became the only over of spin bowled in the chase as Sarfaraz took Waseeq straight out of the attack. It meant that Sarfaraz also did not give a single over to Aziz despite the fact that the legspinner had been Bahrain’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament, having turned in a Player-of-the-Match performance of 5 for 5 against Germany before following it up with 2 for 16 in four overs against Ireland.Mustafa could have been run-out on 25 in the 14th over as well following a near collision with Aravind while trying to pinch a leg-bye after the ball plopped dead adjacent to the pitch. But Veerapathiran’s throw upon collecting in his follow-through sailed wide at the non-striker’s end with Mustafa several yards short, and wound up turning into two thanks to an overthrow. Mustafa was not as fortunate in the 18th over though, as a relay from Butt at long-on caught him sleeping while coming back very casually for a second run to end his innings for 41.Kashif Daud was caught next ball heaving to deep midwicket for a golden duck, leaving UAE needing 32 off 16 deliveries to clinch a spot in the semi-final. Aravind had managed to cross with the ball in the air on Daud’s wicket, and swung momentum back UAE’s way with back-to-back sixes, bringing up a 44-ball half-century in the process.Sarfaraz then bowled a magnificent 19th over to build tension further, conceding six runs while taking the wickets of Hameed and Zawar Farid off consecutive deliveries before Muhammad Usman saw off the hat-trick ball by striking a two to end the over. It meant Aravind would have the strike for the final over, needing 12 to see UAE into the semi-final, and 27 to win the match outright and clinch the top spot in the group ahead of Ireland on points.Mahmood was given the ball but misfired on his lengths throughout the over. Aravind drove the first ball back down the ground for four before heaving over midwicket for another boundary. A two on the third delivery was followed by a six driven straight down the ground to clinch UAE’s spot in the semi-final and knock Bahrain out.With 11 needed off the final two balls to win and 10 to force a Super Over, Aravind cleared the boundary with another sizzling straight drive for six off the penultimate delivery before scuffing the final ball for two to long-off. But despite his heroics seeing UAE into the semi-final with an unbeaten 84, the match officials awarded Player-of-the-Match honours to Sarfaraz for leading Bahrain to their first T20I win over an Associate nation with ODI status.File photo: Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie added 67 for the first wicket•Sportsfile via Getty Images

Ireland finished on top of the group after thumping Germany by seven wickets with 41 balls to spare. They started the day behind Bahrain and UAE on net run rate, but leapfrogged them both after sending Germany in and restricting them to 107 before speeding to the target. Faisal Mubashir top-scored with 45* off 40 balls for Germany but found little support elsewhere. Josh Little was named Player of the Match for Ireland after taking 2 for 13 in a brisk spell of left-arm pace.Paul Stirling hit 34 off 27 balls and Andy Balbirnie 32 from 21, having added 67 for the first wicket before both fell in quick succession, followed a short time later by Gareth Delany for 11. But Harry Tector cracked three fours in his unbeaten 24 off 15 deliveries to take Ireland into the semi-final.Kushal Bhurtel and Dipendra Singh Airee completed Nepal’s paltry chase•Peter Della Penna

Group B
On the adjacent oval in Al Amerat, Oman completed their rally from behind the eight-ball after a day-one loss to Nepal by completing a nine-wicket win over Philippines. Following up on another nine-wicket victory – over Canada in which Oman chased a target of 156 with two overs to spare – Oman achieved the same result chasing a far smaller target as they bowled Philippines out for 36.After fielding first in their first two group matches and conceding back-to-back totals in excess of 200, Philippines opted to bat and responded by being bowled out for the fifth-lowest total in men’s T20I history.While the medium pace duo of Kaleemullah, with 2 for 5, and Fayyaz Butt’s 2 for 7 ripped apart the top order, legspinner Khawar Ali whittled through the lower order taking 4 for 11 in a Player-of-the-Match performance. After Kashyap Prajapati fell on the second ball of the chase, Khurram Nawaz dashed any hopes Philippines had of a historic upset by cracking an unbeaten 33 off 12 balls as Oman needed just 17 deliveries to haul down the target.The results mean that Nepal will face UAE in one semi-final, while Ireland will face Oman in the other. Each match is a winner-takes-all shootout, with the victor in each semi-final clinching a spot in the first round of the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and a spot in the final of the qualifier in Oman, while the pair of losing sides fall back into a consolation third-place playoff.

How Old Trafford encounter inspired English club’s foray into Indian market

George Dobell25-Nov-2020It was, Daniel Gidney says now, a day that changed everything.Gidney, the chief executive of Lancashire, had heard plenty about the passion of India v Pakistan matches in the past. But he had witnessed Old Firm derbies in Glasgow, the Derby della Lanterna in Genoa, the most raucous of Twickenham internationals and more than his fair share of T20 Roses encounters. He thought he had seen it all.But then came the World Cup match on June 16, 2019.”It opened my eyes,” he tells ESPNcricinfo. “Our previous chairman, the much-missed David Hodgkiss [who died of Covid-19 in March], had urged me to look east in terms of our future strategy, but I only half got it. After that game, I was all-in.”So, what was it he witnessed that left such an impression?”Well, Manchester airport ran out of space for private jets,” he says. “Some planes had to land in Liverpool instead. That’s not even happened for big games at Manchester United.”Meanwhile, rooms in our hotel [Lancashire run a Hilton which overlooks their ground] were selling for £3,500. And there were a billion people watching on TV. The passion and noise was unbelievable: there was a man on a white horse draped in a Pakistan flag outside the ground. You don’t get that at Lancashire games. I’d not seen anything like it. It became very clear that we had a huge untapped market out there and that India had to be at the core of our future strategy.”ALSO READ: Two additional T20Is, fewer Tests in England’s tour of India – GangulyTo that end, Lancashire invested in their streaming operation during the 2020 season. Their set-up included seven cameras including the recruitment of specialist ‘ball following’ operatives, and arranged for their games to be live-streamed in India on JioTV; a service with more than 350 million subscribers. As a result, “our numbers went bananas” as Gidney puts it. Somewhere around 2.5m unique users (that’s even more than Surrey’s 2020 figures) watched the matches.Alongside that, Lancashire’s top-order batsman, Keaton Jennings, led a networking delegation from the club to India in January. Alongside representatives from Visit Manchester and VisitBritain, he highlighted opportunities ahead of the 2021 Test between England and India at Emirates Old Trafford. Jennings, as a man who had made a Test century in Mumbai, was seen as a suitable person to break the ice in such discussions, with the opportunity also helping him expand his own experiences with a view to life after his playing career. Emirates Old Trafford hosts England’s final Test of the 2021 summer.More will follow in 2021. The Lancashire team will – virus allowing – return to Mumbai for pre-season training (they also went there in February of this year) with the aim of closer links and, perhaps, friendly matches against Mumbai Indians (they did actually play – and narrowly defeat – a Reliance XI containing around half a team of Mumbai Indians players in a pre-season match in February). A commentary team will also be assembled to ensure the streaming coverage is appropriately complemented. In time, it could lead to a return to the days when Lancashire looked to India for its overseas players.”At this stage, we’re just interested in growing our audience,” Gidney continues. “In the longer term, yes, we hope to monetise this interest and we will be looking to secure a sponsor for Lancashire TV. My aim is that, one day, everyone in India will see Lancashire as their second favourite team.”While Lancashire’s off-field performance in recent years has been exceptional – only Surrey can claim to be a bigger club in financial terms these days – the on-field performance has not always matched. But Gidney is keen to assure supporters that the move to embrace the Indian audience, just like the move to invest in a hotel and conferencing business, was driven by a desire to see Lancashire cricket – and cricket in Lancashire – thrive. Previously, the club has pledged to invest profits into reintroducing cricket into state primary schools in the region.”We’re a cricket club,” Gidney says. “We’re doing all this so we can invest more money into cricket. We don’t have to pay dividends to share holders; we’re looking to develop more cricketers and invest in even better facilities.”The Indian market is huge and passionately interested in cricket. We can’t ignore the game’s biggest market. We will continue to build strategic relationships that help the club, and our brand, grow on the subcontinent.”

Hanging in and playing the long game as Rangana Herath did helped him succeed in Galle, the New Zealand spinner said

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle15-Aug-2019Much like the Sri Lanka seam bowler, the New Zealand spinner is a second-class citizen. If you’re not bowling with the seam upright and at at least 120kph, the place is practically designed to make you feel insecure.Early in the summer, pitches can be virtually indistinguishable from the outfield. In the stereotype of New Zealand, cows and sheep in neighbouring paddocks line up at edge of grounds and bleat longingly at the unused grazing opportunity that is the pitch block. A specialist spinner may sometimes not get a game at all, but if he does, he will be subjected to the gross indignity commonly known as the token “over before lunch”. This is the practice wherein a spinner is granted the final over of the session, to get it over with quickly, while all his teammates have switched off and begun thinking about food.Over the last 15 years, there has been an attempt to make New Zealand domestic pitches less seam-friendly, but this has only helped breed properly quick bowlers – Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, etc – instead of the military-medium operators New Zealand used to be infamous for. No Test spinner has made a serious attempt to pick up the retired Daniel Vettori’s slack. Partly as a result, New Zealand’s Test pitches are as lush as ever. If you’ve got Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner in your ranks – i.e. the greatest pace attack New Zealand have ever likely assembled – why prepare anything else?So imagine you’re Ajaz Patel. Yes, you have a good haul of domestic five-fors, but you’re also nursing a first-class bowling average over 31. Which, you know, are the kinds of numbers a Sri Lankan spinner (operating on domestic dustbowls) could put up if he bowled with his off-hand while balancing a kit bag on his head. You’re sent to Asia, given precious little time to acclimatise (the modern international schedule is unforgiving), and expected to essentially lead the attack. But, incredibly, for the second time in two Asian tours, Ajaz is doing it in remarkable style.His performance on debut in Abu Dhabi – the best Test of 2018 – was extraordinary. He had claimed 2 for 64 in the first innings, which is a middling return. But then when faced with defending a low score in the fourth innings, on a track that is taking turn (i.e. exactly the type of situation when the great spinners distinguish themselves from the mediocre ones), Ajaz took 5 for 59 – trapping Imam-ul-Haq in front, having Sarfaraz Ahmed caught behind, before spectacularly clinching victory with Pakistan needing only four to draw level by getting Azhar Ali lbw on 65. He would go on to play a strong role in New Zealand’s second win of that series as well, and finished with 13 wickets for the tour.And then he went home. He took no wickets for 60 on a greentop that turned into a road in Wellington. He bowled only 12 overs on another seaming deck in Christchurch. Then he went unrequired for the rest of the Test season.Now, in Galle, the pitch of a spinner’s dreams laid out before him, Ajaz has made big moves in a Test again. He was too quick through the air to begin with, by his own admission, but quickly discerned the appropriate pace, and soon was gaining wicked turn. Crucially, he wasn’t so enamoured of the rip he was getting off the surface, that he began to chase those magic pitch-on-leg-hit-top-of-off type balls. Instead, bowling those Herathian lengths, slipping in the occasional quicker one in Herathian fashion – though, of course, looking cooler than Herath, shades on, beard in a state of manly fullness – he set Sri Lanka’s dramatic middle-order nosedive in motion, and finished with 5 for 76 for the day.At stumps, he gave the most Herathian summary of his bowling he could possibly have given. “I think with surfaces that offer you something, you’ve got to stay patient and ask good questions of the batsman,” he said. “We know Sri Lankans are good players of spin, so you’ve got to respect that and make sure you put balls in good areas for long periods.”This should come as no surprise to anyone who watched him bowl today, but it turns out he has in fact intentionally taken cues from the great old waddler himself. “Bowling in the UAE there was a lot more bounce. Over here there’s not so much bounce, so you try and keep the stumps in play,” he said. “One of the greats, Rangana, who has got 100 [102] wickets in Galle – if you see the template that he set out when bowling on this wicket, he looked to attack the sticks and keep them in play the whole time, and allow the batters to make decisions around off stump. You’ve got to keep hanging in and play the long game.”Sri Lanka are not bowled out yet, so it is possible they will establish a first-innings lead. A slim one might not help them much, though – the highest successful fourth-innings chase at Galle remains 99. So long as New Zealand bat competently in the second innings, they will feel the more comfortable side. If they win a third successive Test in Asia in four attempts, they might reflect on the period either side of tea on day two as the definitive passage of play. Sri Lanka had a big lead in sight at 143 for 2. Then Ajaz, doing his Herath impression, took three wickets for ten runs. He changed the outlook of the game.

Ollie Pope’s second century of the season deepened the belief that he is a young batsman to reckon with

ECB Reporters Network11-May-2018
ScorecardOllie Pope celebrates his century•Getty Images

Ollie Pope enhanced his reputation as one of the best young batsmen in the country by scoring his second Specsavers County Championship hundred of the season to lead Surrey’s fightback against Yorkshire at the Kia Oval.England captain Joe Root, leading Yorkshire for only the fourth time after Gary Ballance was struck down by illness, saw Surrey slump to 69 for 4 on a well-grassed pitch.But Pope, who is playing only his tenth first-class match, added an unbeaten 131 to his 145 against Hampshire last month as Surrey recovered to 366 for 7 at stumps on day one.The 20-year-old helped Dean Elgar (61) add 68 for the fifth wicket then counter-attacked with Rikki Clarke in a punishing stand of 129 in 28.2 overs for the seventh wicket as batting conditions improved.Pope played some eye-catching shots through the off side and picked off anything aimed at his pads when Yorkshire’s seamers tried a leg-stump line. He left well too and his only moment of alarm came when he took a single into the covers to reach 50 and would have been run out had Harry Brook’s throw at the non-striker’s end hit the stumps.His second 50 came off 67 balls while Clarke offered made the most of a life on 16 when he was put down at slip by Cheteshwar Pujara. His 71 off 91 balls included ten fours and two sixes, both swiped over mid-wicket off Josh Shaw, and he reached 10,000 first-class runs when he was on 26.The stand was broken when Adam Lyth held on at the second attempt at second slip in Jack Brooks’ first over with the second new ball but Pope and Jade Dernbach punished some wayward bowling before stumps, adding 72 in 11 overs. Pope has faced 194 balls and hit 22 fours.Rikki Clarke has reached 10,000 runs•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It was all in sharp contrast to a difficult morning for Surrey as the Yorkshire seamers shared four top-order wickets. England opener Mark Stoneman’s tough start to the domestic season – he has yet to pass 30 so far – continued when he was lbw half-forward to Tim Bresnan. Rory Burns became Brooks’ 400th first-class wicket, Scott Borthwick played a very loose shot outside off stump and Ben Foakes feathered a thin edge off Steve Patterson.Elgar stood firm though as he passed 50 for the first time since joining Surrey and it was a surprise when he lost his leg stump when Root came on after lunch to bowl his off-breaks. It was Root’s first Championship wicket for 13 months.When Patterson angled the ball across Sam Curran to pick up his second wicket Surrey were 162 for 6 but then Pope and Clarke changed the complexion of the day.

Netherlands overcame a maiden century by Hong Kong’s Anshy Rath and a 197-run WCL Championship-record partnership between Rath and Babar Hayat to secure a tense five-run win at Tin Kwong Road

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAnshuman Rath’s maiden List A ton, which included 13 fours and two sixes, was in vain•Panda Man

With victory in sight of what would have been the highest successful chase in WCL Championship history, Hong Kong stumbled in the last six overs as Netherlands pulled off a tense five-run win at Mong Kok to take sole possession of first place on the WCL Championship table.Hong Kong were 285 for 3 at the start of the 45th over chasing a target of 331 with Anshy Rath on 134 and Nizakat Khan on 22 but both men were caught on the boundary off the bowling of left-arm wristspinner Michael Rippon to give Netherlands hope. Rippon was eventually named Man of the Match for his game-changing spell of 4 for 67 after having been out for a duck, shouldering arms to an inswinger to open the match.In spite of the double blow, Ehsan Khan again established control for Hong Kong by striking two fours and a six to bring the equation to 23 off 21 balls. However, momentum swung again when Ehsan was given out leg before to Roelof van der Merwe for the sixth wicket, though replays indicated the ball had come off Ehsan’s glove rather than his pad.Hong Kong still had two recognized batsmen in Waqas Khan and allrounder Aizaz Khan at the crease to begin the 48th over with 20 needed off 18 balls but Paul van Meekeren had both men caught on the boundary in the space of four balls. Waqas top-edged a flick to a ball that would have been called a leg-side wide had it been left alone but he was instead caught at deep square leg, while Aizaz was bounced out pulling to deep midwicket. Hong Kong coach Simon Cook admitted afterwards that his side succumbed due to “very poor thinking under pressure.”Ehsan Nawaz was bowled by Ahsan Malik in the 49th and Hong Kong began the final over needing ten to win with No. 10 Nadeem Ahmed and No. 11 Tanveer Ahmed at the crease. Nadeem curiously turned down singles off the first three legal balls of the over but van Meekeren then bowled two wides to keep Hong Kong afloat. Nadeem finally opted to take a single off the fourth ball and another single by Tanveer put him back on strike, but with a six needed off the final ball to win, all he could do was splice the ball to long-off to end the game.Rath and captain Babar Hayat had put Hong Kong on the path for what seemed to be a record-setting chase with a record-breaking partnership earlier in the innings. The pair came together at 53 for 2 in the ninth after Jamie Atkinson was stumped down the leg side off Rippon. They then proceeded to add 197 for the third wicket, a record List A partnership for Hong Kong and a record partnership for any wicket in the WCL Championship. It broke the previous mark of 191 set by Namibia’s Sarel Burger and Craig Williams against Scotland in 2011. Both men had their share of good fortune with Rath spilled on 3 in the slips off Peter Borren in the third over while Hayat was spilled on 64 at short midwicket off Rippon in the 32nd.Rath’s batting was impressive throughout and he brought up his maiden century for Hong Kong off 93 balls after having fallen agonizingly short of a hundred in both innings of the Intercontinental Cup encounter between the two sides that preceded this match. The stand ended when Hayat was stumped down the leg side by Wesley Barresi standing up to Borren’s medium pace for 83. Crucially, a wide was not signaled for Atkinson’s nor Hayat’s dismissal, something which may have impacted the Hong Kong approach at the end if the two runs had been credited to their total.Netherlands total of 330 for 7 after opting to bat was underpinned by half-centuries from Stephan Myburgh, van der Merwe and Pieter Seelaar. Myburgh overcame the loss of Rippon in the second over to blast 88 from 98 balls, including nine fours and five sixes, before he was caught off Nadeem Ahmed in the 30th over to end a 71-run stand with van der Merwe.At 183 for 4, Borren and van der Merwe then added a rapid 60 for the fifth wicket as Borren fired 40 off 37 balls and van der Merwe 62 off 54 including four sixes. Borren fell in the 38th and van der Merwe in the 44th to disrupt a Netherlands surge. Seelaar ended unbeaten on 50 off 43 balls, having run consecutive twos to end the innings.Hong Kong’s death bowling was brilliant though – they conceded just one six and two fours in their final six overs – to hold Netherlands to what Borren admitted after the match was an under-par total on a ground with short boundaries. Thanks to the late intervention by Rippon and van Meekeren, it wound up being just enough.

Hasan Mohsin starred with bat and ball as Pakistan Under-19s defended 212 to beat Sri Lanka Under-19s by 23 runs and finish top of Group B

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2016Hasan Mohsin starred with bat and ball as Pakistan Under-19s defended 212 to beat Sri Lanka Under-19s by 23 runs and finish top of Group B. Pakistan will take on West Indies in the quarter-finals while Sri Lanka will meet England.Sent in to bat, Pakistan made slow progress at first, and their run rate was still below four an over when Wanidu Hasaranga dismissed Salman Fayyaz (33) in the 41st over to end his 61-run stand with Mohsin. Wickets fell steadily at the other end, with none of bottom five getting into double figures, but Mohsin ensured he dragged Pakistan to a competitive total, and was ninth out for a run-a-ball 86 with eight fours and a six. Pakistan were bowled out for 212 in the 49th over.Opening the bowling with his gentle seam-up, Mohsin then gave Pakistan two early breakthroughs, dismissing both Sri Lankan openers. Sri Lanka slipped to 63 for 4 when the in-form pair of Charith Asalanka and Shammu Ashan got out to soft dismissals against the spinners, but Kamindu Mendis and Vishad Randika got the chase back on track with an 84-run stand for the fifth wicket. Just when Sri Lanka seemed to be cruising home, though, Mendis holed out to long-on for 68 (104b, 5×4), and Hasaranga and Randika (46 off 71) followed him soon after. Damitha Silva kept Sri Lanka in the hunt for a while with an unbeaten 21, but the lower order fell away around him, with legspinner Shadab Khan picking up the last two wickets to finish with figures of 3 for 31.

Adnan Raees’ 42-ball 47 proved to be the difference as State Bank of Pakistan defeated Union Bank Limited by nine runs in a low-scoring match in the Ramadan T20 Cup in Karachi.

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2013
ScorecardAdnan Raees was named the Man-of-the-Match•PCB

Adnan Raees’ 42-ball 47 proved to be the difference as State Bank of Pakistan defeated Union Bank Limited by nine runs in a low-scoring Ramadan T20 Cup match.SBP, who chose to bat first, got off to a bright start, as opener Rameez Raja hit four fours during his 17-ball 23 to take the team to 30 for no loss after three overs.But medium-pacers Akhtar Ayub and Mohammad Irshad swung the momentum in United Bank’s favour, taking five wickets between them and leaving SBP struggling at 50 for 5 after 7.5 overs.Raees, batting at No.5, then stabilised the innings with a knock that included four fours. He shared a crucial eighth-wicket partnership of 34 runs withHasan Mahmood to take SBP to 123 for 9 in their 20 overs.Irshad was the most succesful bowler for United Bank, picking three wickets for 31.United Bank got off to a stuttering start, losing openers Asif Ali and Adnan Baig to successive deliveries off legspinner Kashif Siddiq and fast bowler Mohammad Ali in the third and fourth over.Saad Sukhail and Ali Asad added 38 runs for the fourth wicket, but tight bowling from SBP, particularly from Ali and Rizwan Haider, slowed down United Bank’s run-chase. Mahmood picked up two wickets towards the end of the innings, as United Bank mustered 114 for 5, falling short of the target by nine runs.Raees was named as the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 47Despite the loss, United Bank remain second on the points table with 4 points. State B of P are third due to an inferior net run rate.

Surrey’s last-ball defeat at Essex at least allowed the healing process to begin in their first match since the death of Tom Maynard.

Alan Gardner at Chelmsford22-Jun-2012
ScorecardFor Surrey this match against Essex allowed the healing process to begin. Touched by tragedy once again with the death of Tom Maynard in an accident on the London underground, their young squad put the events of Monday behind them and fought every inch of the way before they lost to the last ball of the game. The result did not matter: at a time of dislocating sadness, the cricket was comfortingly familiar.Surrey’s game against Hampshire on Wednesday had been postponed to allow the club to come to terms with their loss. This was their first outing without the popular Maynard, a player who was expected to follow in his father Matthew’s footsteps, as an England international and as a product of Glamorgan, a reminder of the ECB’s silent W.Chris Adams, Surrey’s cricket manager, had said that his team needed to get back into the routine of playing after the numbing news of Maynard’s death. The 23-year-old batsman was found dead on the tracks near Wimbledon Park tube station on Monday, robbing Surrey of a young star, the Maynard family of a son. Speaking after the match, Adams praised the response of his players on a raw night.”It’s been a desperately difficult week for them,” he said. “I don’t think any of us expected to not be highly emotional today. It was a lovely gesture by Essex to start the day off with the wreath, which meant that the two lads walking out to bat were visibly upset and so were the people in the dugout.”I can be proud of the lads, they have shown amazing character through the week – I think just turning up today was enough for me. They did it and got through it and we nearly won a game. This is a very difficult place to come and win anyway, under any circumstance, but after a week like that to get so close gives me great heart.”We came back in yesterday to The Oval, and we all expected that to be quite difficult. It was the first time back in the changing rooms, first time the lads will have seen Tom’s locker and there were some very, very sombre and quiet moments.”I think the best counselling that they will have in the whole process is tonight, is getting out there, back in the arena and doing what they do best, which is playing cricket. There will be a lot of proud people, supporters, a family back in Wales – I know, as soon as the game was over I had a text from Matthew to say so.”We’ll move on, and our cause for the rest of the season is defined: whatever we do, it will be to make sure that Tom Maynard is looking down, very proud of what he stood for, the team stands for and how we want to play our cricket.”Chris Tremlett, the England fast bowler, making his first appearance of the season for Surrey’s first XI, took 3 for 19 off his four overs but James Franklin’s 63 from 51 balls and some late hitting from Tim Phillips were decisive as Essex secured a dramatic victory. In scoring 26 off the final 11 deliveries Essex triumphed by a fine margin for the third successive evening, in exhilarating fashion. It was, if nothing more, a fleeting, enthralling distraction from real life.A minute’s silence preceded the start, with the teams lined up on the outfield wearing black armbands. Several Surrey players were visibly affected by the emotion of the occasion and Jason Roy, who walked off with a consoling arm around his shoulder, had to immediately don his helmet and return to the middle to open the batting.He hit the first ball he faced straight back down the ground for four, following it up with several further boundaries in a highly charged 36 off 20 balls before holing out to deep midwicket. On being dismissed, he looked to the heavens before dragging himself from the pitch on heavy legs. Twenty20 is often a game of frivolity but Roy’s reaction spoke of weightier matters on his mind.Rory Hamilton-Brown, the Surrey captain and Maynard’s flatmate, had been given compassionate leave – though he was present for the minute’s silence – with Gareth Batty leading the side. There was an added poignancy to the commonplace sight of the players in a huddle on the outfield, missing as it was Surrey’s No. 55, as well as Hamilton-Brown and the England international Jade Dernbach, a close friend of Maynard’s. “It’s been the most difficult week of my career certainly,” Batty said at the toss. “It’s bringing the club together. Our thoughts are with his mother and father down in Wales.”The loss of a team-mate in such circumstances is, mercifully, not something that many players will have to deal with in their careers. Stuart Meaker, the Surrey fast bowler, had tweeted after being called into the England squad for the third ODI against West Indies that he and Dernbach had “been given a chance to play this Friday for the memory of Tommy Maynard. I hope we can do him proud.” Rain at Headingley denied Meaker and Dernbach such an opportunity but Meaker made the 200-mile journey to Chelmsford in time to feature in this fixture.He celebrated with a pump of both arms after bowling James Foster with his third ball and for while, as Essex struggled against the pace of Meaker and Tremlett, slipping from 93 for 3 to 119 for 7 in 28 balls, it looked as if Surrey might secure the win they almost visibly strained for. It wasn’t quite to be. But, on this occasion, there was something more important to play for.