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Pakistan A romp to eight-wicket win after Umaid Asif takes five

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The home team’s pace trio shared nine wickets between them to knock New Zealand A over for 65

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2018Umaid Asif picked four wickets in two overs•PSL

Pace trio Waqas Maqsood, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Umaid Asif took nine wickets between them to skittle New Zealand A for 65, before the batsmen shrugged off the paltry target with more than seven overs to spare, as Pakistan A romped to an eight-wicket win in the first unofficial T20I in Dubai.New Zealand lost three early wickets to the opening combination of Maqsood and Afridi, finding themselves at 11 for 3, with the latter on a hat-trick at one stage. First-change Asif then tightened the noose, snaffling five in quick time to finish as the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 20, his best T20 figures. Only captain Corey Anderson and wicketkeeper Tim Seifert offered a modicum of resistance. But once they were separated by Asif, with a slower ball that Anderson dragged on to his stumps, the innings went into a steep nosedive again. Despite Seifert’s 26, which included five fours, the visitors folded up inside 13 overs.In response Pakistan lost their openers early, Sahibzada Farhan run out for 1 and Umar Amir hit wicket for 20 off Kyle Jamieson. But there were no hiccups thereafter as the third-wicket pair of Iftikhar Ahmed and Hussain Tallat stitched together a partnership of 44 off 51 balls to see the hosts home.

Iyer, Shankar power India A to series title

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A quickfire unbeaten 140 from Shreyas Iyer and a 72 from Vijay Shankar steered India A to a seven-wicket win against South Africa A to seal the tri-series final in Pretoria

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2017File photo: Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten century handed India a the series title•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

A quickfire unbeaten century from Shreyas Iyer and a half-century from Vijay Shankar steered India A to a seven-wicket win against South Africa A to seal the tri-series final in Pretoria. Iyer and Shankar put on 141 for the third wicket to eclipse Farhaan Behardien’s century earlier in the day, when five wickets between Shardul Thakur and Siddarth Kaul had restricted the hosts to 267 for 7 in 50 overs.India A were jolted early when Junior Dala removed openers Sanju Samson and Karun Nair in the first six overs, leaving them in trouble at 20 for 2. But Iyer, who had not scored a fifty earlier in the series, and Shankar, who had scored a duck in his previous match, joined forces to deny South Africa another wicket for more than 28 overs, while lifting India’s run rate towards five an over. Shankar fell for 72 off 86 after striking nine fours, before Manish Pandey joined Iyer, who went on to register his highest List A score of 140 off 131 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes. The fourth-wicket pair put on an unbroken 109 in only 12.3 overs to seal the win with 19 balls to spare. Pandey, with scores of 55, 41*, 86*, 93* and 32*, was named Man of the Series.India A had capitalised on their decision to bowl when Kaul and Thakur cut through the top order and left South Africa A 32 for 3 in the ninth over. Khaya Zondo and Behardien steered them past 100 before No. 7 Dwaine Pretorius scored a quick 58 off 61 balls, which featured five fours and two sixes, to help them past 200. Behardien remained unbeaten on 101, having helped set India A a challenging target, but it wouldn’t prove enough against their middle order. Thakur ended with 3 for 52 and Kaul with 2 for 55.

Roy, Morgan believe England batting can soar higher

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Jason Roy fell narrowly short of breaking Robin Smith’s 23-year-old record for the highest ODI score by an England batsman but he is confident that one of the new generation will eclipse it before long

Alan Gardner at The Oval29-Jun-2016Jason Roy fell narrowly short of breaking Robin Smith’s 23-year-old record for the highest ODI score by an England batsman but he is confident that one of the new generation will eclipse it before long.Roy’s innings of 162 followed another record-breaking performance at Edgbaston last week – in which he and Alex Hales knocked off 256 without loss – as England sealed the series against Sri Lanka with a game to spare. However, he was dismissed with 27 still needed for victory on his home ground, and six to pass Smith’s 167 not out at Edgbaston in 1993.”Yeah, 100% someone could break that,” Roy said. “We’ve seen it at Edgbaston, seen it here today – that was obviously a great pitch, tough to defend. Credit to the Sri Lankans, they did bat well, it was just a remarkable evening.”Eoin Morgan, England’s captain, backed up that view after Roy led the way in a chase of 308 in 42 overs – only the fifth time England have overhauled a 300-plus target in ODIs, and the third inside 12 months.”Not to take anything from Jason’s innings today but certainly within our batting line-up I think we’ve guys who have enough talent and ability to push past that,” he said. “Certainly the other day, if we had batted first at Edgbaston and got off to a similar start, you’d think that one of them would go past it.”Jos Buttler probably doesn’t need as many balls as anybody else to go past it. Against New Zealand last year, we got 400, Rooty got a 72-ball hundred and could have kicked on past it. The way to look at it, with the ability and power in the side, we have a lot of match-winners, which is something to be proud of.”England were handicapped on this occasion by the loss of Hales to a back problem and saw his replacement at opener, Moeen Ali, dismissed early in the innings. But Roy, who made an unbeaten 112 in the second ODI, ensured Sri Lanka would remain winless despite posting their highest total of the series in a match disrupted by rain.”Part and parcel of being a successful international player is making form count and Jason epitomised that today,” Morgan said. “He showed the experience of a player way beyond his years, a lot of guys might have got 80-90 or even a hundred and then got out. To go on and get 162 and make a substantial match-winning contribution was outstanding.”The manner in which Jason and our batting unit plays is we do take risks but we’re minimising risk by training very hard and bridging the gap between taking a risk and failing. We have enough firepower to do that and the innings by Jason reinforces the confidence within the batting unit to do that.”Superlative England performances have started to come along with increasing regularity and Roy described the atmosphere in the dressing room as “incredible” as the team continue to embrace a no-fear style of play.”To back up the performance in Edgbaston was extremely special. Not many words to describe how I’m feeling now, I’m just excited to get back in the dressing room and see the boys and celebrate a series win,” he said.”It’s my home ground, I’ve got a few people in to watch, which was hugely special. Credit to the boys, they allow me to go out there and enjoy myself and play the way I want to play. I’ve got no worries about getting out in the first over because I know the guys are backing me. It’s an incredible dressing room to be part of at the moment.”Morgan said that a decision on whether Hales would be fit to play in the final match of the series, at Cardiff on Saturday, was “too early to call” and he would be assessed on Thursday afternoon.

Coles' five-wicket surge leaves Derbyshire staggering

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Matt Coles claimed five wickets in his opening spell as 17 wickets fell on the first day at Canterbury an followed another impressive display from Mark Fottitt

Tim Wigmore at Canterbury07-Jun-2015
ScorecardMatt Coles demolished Derbyshire’s top order with five wickets in his opening spell•Getty Images

Draped in sunshine, this was a day that showed off Canterbury at its picturesque best: a time for suntan lotion, ice cream and fun on the bouncy castle. When Kent chose to bat after winning the toss, their bowlers would have envisaged a lazy Sunday afternoon enjoying their batsmen’s attractive strokeplay.No one, anywhere, was talking about Wirksworth 1874. That game, 141 years ago, was the scene of Derbyshire’s lowest score – a paltry 36 – against Kent. It was a record that seemed briefly threatened as Matt Coles decimated Derbyshire’s top order. His new ball burst of 5 for 8 rendered Derbyshire’s commendable efforts with the ball rather futile.Coles has just turned 25 yet the mantle of attack leader sits easily on his broad shoulders, as the broad grim he wore leading Kent off in the evening sunshine was testament to. Recent weeks have confirmed him as a cricketer of rare talent: the sight of Kumar Sangakkara being beaten for pace, as Coles managed at Beckenham, is rarely spotted in the shires.After Kent’s disappointing total of 205, Coles took it upon himself the challenge of wrestling Kent back into the game. Pitching the ball up and moving it late at pace, Coles removed Ben Slater’s middle stump and then snared Chesney Hughes lbw before the opening over was out. Tillakaratne Dilshan survived a vociferous lbw appeal off his first ball; it looked like he had been saved by an inside edge.It mattered not. Dilshan drove aerially at a delivery that moved away in Coles’ next over, and Derbyshire were 0 for 3. Ten minutes from Coles had undone the hard-earned gains Derbyshire’s bowlers had won over five excellent hours.Worse was to follow. Twenty-seven balls of toil for Billy Godleman, Derbyshire’s skipper here in lieu of Wayne Madsen, ended when he was neatly snaffled by Sam Northeast in the slips. Scott Elstone followed in Coles’ next over, trapped lbw on the crease for a duck.Coles had been cheered on by a boisterous bunch on the bank who, as Derbyshire slumped to 23 for 5, took delight in mocking them with a few renditions of ‘Can we play you every week?’ Darren Stevens ensured they had no reason to stop as two batsmen perished lbw to his nagging wicket-to-wicket bowling; when Wes Durston was dismissed, he had scored 35 of Derbyshire’s 37 runs.As they closed amid the wreckage of a scorecard that read 67 for 7, how removed Derbyshire’s mood must have been from a few hours earlier. In ordinary circumstances, limiting Kent to 205 batting first at Canterbury would have been cause for celebration.In an international summer that will largely be defined by how well England play left-arm pace – they didn’t begin well against Trent Boult and now Australia’s two Mitchells lie in wait – Mark Footitt is tantalising some with the prospect that England might be able to retaliate in kind.
Not that you would suspect as much from his run-up. Footitt begins rather diffidently, only accelerating onto the crease with his last few paces. Even then there seems to be something missing; Footitt has a lazy right-arm that falls away in his delivery stride.It is an apparent chink that some coaches have tried to rectify. They shouldn’t have bothered. Under Graeme Welch’s astute guidance, Footitt has embraced his flawed action to produce startling results. Following a back operation after the 2012 season, Footitt took 42 first-class wickets in 2013 – then a career best – and doubled his tally in 2014.Here, he took his ninth first-class five-wicket haul since the start of 2014. Showing the timeless value of a left-armer who can jag the ball back to the right-hander from over the wicket, Footitt trapped Daniel Bell-Drummond and Rob Key lbw in the day’s very first over. As one would expect, and hope, of a bowler who can touch 90mph, Footitt has a venomous short ball, delivered with no discernible change in his action. But he deployed it as a weapon of shock rather than stock, and all five of his wickets came with deliveries pitched up.Unlike Footitt, Tony Palladino has no such England aspirations, yet he is scarcely less valuable to Derbyshire. Armed with a sweatband on his left wrist, Palladino’s action is immaculately grooved. While he normally shapes the ball away from the right-hander, Palladino can get deliveries to nip back, as Fabian Cowdrey found out when a ball that he left alone removed his off bail. It was testament to Palladino’s parsimony that he did not concede a boundary until his 104th delivery; only at the end of his 18th and final over did his economy rate nudge above one.Yet Kent had significant spells when they seemed unperturbed. Northeast’s straight drives had the locals purring during a stand of third-wicket stand of 96, at over four runs an over, with Joe Denly. When Calum Haggett and Adam Riley later added an untroubled 53 for the ninth-wicket, there was no hint of the bedlam that was to come in the final two hours of the day.As three wickets fell with the total on 146, a Kent supporter captured the mood by grumbling: “Dilshan’s looking at it thinking this is a bloody good wicket.” But on this barmy, utterly intoxicating day, the Sri Lankan would be one of eight batsmen to be dismissed for a duck.

Debutant du Plessis stars in thrilling draw

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The debutant Faf du Plessis helped South Africa hang on for a thrilling draw on the final day in Adelaide

The Report by Brydon Coverdale26-Nov-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Faf du Plessis became the fourth South African to score a century on Test debut•Getty Images

Faf du Plessis would not have been playing in this Test were it not for JP Duminy hurting his Achilles tendon at the Gabba. And just as Duminy did on debut in Perth four years ago, du Plessis has grabbed his first chance at Test cricket to provide a remarkable result for the South Africans. At the WACA it was a near-record chase of 414 for victory; this time South Africa’s challenge was to bat for four and a half sessions on a wearing Adelaide Oval pitch to salvage a draw.Thanks to du Plessis, they did so. Thanks to du Plessis, the scoreline remains at 0-0 heading into the decider in Perth, despite Australia having had the best of the first two Tests. And thanks to du Plessis, Australia’s bowlers will have only four days to recover from some serious exhaustion, especially Peter Siddle, who sent down 63.5 overs for the match and was so debilitated by the time he bowled the final over of the match that he could barely stand up.Of course, it wasn’t all down to du Plessis. Early in the day, AB de Villiers played against type to score 33 from 220 balls without a boundary. Jacques Kallis again fought off his hamstring strain to provide important support in a 110-ball innings of 46. And Dale Steyn, Rory Kleinveldt and Morne Morkel did just enough to ensure that the No.11, Imran Tahir, would not be required. For South Africa, who will lose the No.1 Test ranking if Australia take the series, it was a draw that felt like a win.For Michael Clarke and his men, it was an opportunity missed. There wasn’t a lot more the Australians could have done, especially with James Pattinson’s injury leaving them a bowler short throughout the fourth innings. But there were some half-chances that they were unable to take, the kind of tiny openings that on a day like this must not be wasted. An Australian victory was still possible until the final over of the last hour of the match.By that stage, Siddle looked as if he’d just run a marathon. Somehow, he kept running in and his pace barely dropped, but Morkel was good enough to block out the over, which left South Africa on 8 for 248 when stumps was called. The score was irrelevant to the South Africans, who had given up on the chase of 430 on the fourth afternoon. Wickets were all that mattered. And a couple of breakthroughs in the final 40 minutes kept the contest alive.Steyn fell for a 28-ball duck when he chipped an inswinging full toss from Siddle to midwicket, where Rob Quiney snapped up a sharp catch. And Kleinveldt survived for 17 deliveries before he missed a yorker and was bowled by Siddle for 3. In the end, Siddle finished with 4 for 65 from 33 overes, but his herculean effort was more than matched by du Plessis, who ended up unbeaten on 110 from 376 balls. For any batsman, it would have been a magnificent innings; for a debutant, it was preposterously good.Most notable was the fact that du Plessis did not become overawed by the situation. He spent an eternity in the nineties but was not flustered, the team goal of survival overshadowing his own ambitions. When he eventually pushed two runs through cover off Ben Hilfenhaus and became the fourth South African to score a century on Test debut, after Andrew Hudson, Jacques Rudolph and Alviro Petersen, he acknowledged the applause and then settled straight back down to continue his job.The milestone took him 310 deliveries, but he was far from stagnant. He played his shots when the opportunity arose and finished with 14 boundaries. He was as calm as Duminy had been back in 2008; in fact, his effort was much more impressive because the conditions were tougher and nobody else in the line-up managed so much as a half-century. The Australians thought they had du Plessis twice in the first session, only to be denied on review.Both came off the bowling of Clarke, who drew positive lbw calls from Billy Bowden when du Plessis had 33 and again on 37. The first time, the batsman’s review showed the ball had pitched a fraction outside leg stump; the second time it revealed that the two noises Bowden had heard were bat on ball and bat on ground – the ball had not even struck du Plessis on the foot or pad.The Australians also used up their final review shortly before lunch when du Plessis, on 49, offered no shot to a Nathan Lyon delivery that pitched and struck him outside the line of off stump but was turning enough to interest Clarke. However, Eagle Eye suggested the ball would have bounced over the top of the stumps, and Clarke was left to consider how he would find six wickets in two sessions with no further reviews available.In the last over before tea, they had a chance when du Plessis edged Hilfenhaus and Matthew Wade, standing up to the stumps, couldn’t grasp the catch. Ed Cowan also put down a tough chance at short leg in the final session when Steyn clipped Siddle off his pads and the ball flew low to the ground, and they were the kind of opportunities the Australians couldn’t afford to miss.Cowan did complete a much easier catch in close when Lyon, who bowled 50 overs in the innings and 94 for the match, drew an inside edge onto pad from Kallis that popped up to short leg. Kallis had made 46 and given his injury, his effort was just as critical as that of du Plessis. De Villiers also played a key role until he was bowled by Siddle for a laborious 33 from 220 deliveries, an innings that did not include a boundary and was second only to Chris Tavare’s effort at Madras in 1982 in terms of the lowest strike-rate for an innings of at least 30 runs in Test history.De Villiers was happy defending and that was all South Africa really needed. They also required someone to stick around for the whole day, and du Plessis obliged. For the first time since 1921, Australia and South Africa had played out two consecutive draws. And for the second time this series, Australia saw a potential victory evade them. It all comes down to Perth.

Back to the drawing board – Flower

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Andy Flower, the England team director, has said England will have to go “back to the drawing board” to figure out how to play one-day cricket in the subcontinent after they slumped to a 0-5 series defeat in India

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2011Andy Flower, the England team director, has said England will have to go “back to the drawing board” to figure out how to play one-day cricket in the subcontinent after they slumped to a 0-5 series defeat in India. Flower said he thought England were better prepared for this series than they were when they were beaten by the same scoreline in 2008 but had been proved wrong by the results.”This is a bad setback for us and we have to go back to the drawing board in terms of playing one-day international cricket in the sub-continent,” he said. “We need time to reflect. I thought we’d learnt lessons from three years ago and put in place training drills which would equip our batsmen to deal better with the conditions out here, but I’m obviously wrong in that regard.”England ended the series in dismal fashion, losing their whole side for 47 in a dramatic collapse, after they were 129 for 0 chasing 272 at Eden Gardens. Alastair Cook, the England captain, said good starts and poor finishes had been a common theme of England’s performances through the series.”We set up the game beautifully to go on and win, but they bowled well and we played a couple of poor shots. It was a bit of a disappointing end and a bit of a common theme,” Cook said after the match in Kolkata. “We were in with a shout at 120-odd for nought and just got blown away at the end. It was very disappointing. We know you can lose wickets in clusters and we seem to have lost 10 there in a cluster.”While India’s spinners sparked England’s collapse, the victory had been set up by a fierce late onslaught from India’s captain MS Dhoni, who finished on 75 not out off 69 balls. Dhoni scored 212 runs in the series without being dismissed. He said he always focused on staying unbeaten till the end of an innings because then you could sum up which bowlers to go after.”I always want to stay to the end and whatever is in my area I look to hit it over the boundary,” he said. “It’s important to see which bowlers are left and who you can target. After that it’s about who can bear the pressure well.””It was an ugly looking wicket and any ball could swing or keep low,” Dhoni said of the Eden Gardens pitch. “It was very difficult to score on so we were fortunate to score 270 when 240 or 245 was in our minds. Then we just had to wait for the wicket to spin.”Cook praised Dhoni’s innings but said he thought India’s total was gettable. “Credit to MS; at the end he hits it very well, he’s a very hard person to bowl at and he single-handedly got them up to 270, which was probably gettable the way we started. But when you lose 10 for 50 you’re not going to win anything,” he said.Both Cook and Flower, though, insisted there were positives to take out of the series despite the emphatic scoreline. “Only four of us have played one-day series out here and it’s great for the youngsters to get the experience,” Cook said. “It will show where they need to improve and we all need to improve as a side. We got thoroughly beaten out here but there are quite a few positives; I thought Steven Finn [who took eight wickets over the five games] throughout the series has been excellent.”Flower said the bowling department had shown promise but unfortunately the batsmen had not been able to handle playing spin and had left the bowlers with too much to do. “Our skills weren’t good enough and our handling of the pressure wasn’t good enough,” he said. “We obviously haven’t got the players into a good enough state to deal with the challenges of playing spin, judging length and moving feet.”I think our bowling side has shown glimpses of skill and if there’d been reasonable totals on the board they would have been better at defending them. But unfortunately the bowlers have had to bowl to very attacking fields all the time because that was the only way to win because of our under-par totals.”

Ed Joyce and Hamish Marshall named in Ireland touring party

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Former internationals Hamish Marshall and Ed Joyce have been named in Ireland’s 17-man squad for their upcoming tour to India

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2010Former internationals Hamish Marshall and Ed Joyce have been named in Ireland’s 17-man squad for their upcoming tour to India. Marshall, the former New Zealand batsman, is included for the first time, while Ed Joyce is back in an Ireland squad after trying his hand with England. Joyce last played for Ireland in the ICC Trophy final against Scotland in July 2005.Both players don’t become eligible to play for Ireland in official ODIs until April next year, but Ireland have asked the ICC for a special dispensation to allow both to take part in the World Cup which starts next February – a decision on their participation is expected from the ICC soon.Alex Cusack returns after his recent operation, which ruled him out of Ireland’s tour to Zimbabwe. The remainder of the squad contains few surprises, with Boyd Rankin and Regan West still out recuperating from their injuries.The squad will be based at the Pune Sports Club from November 1 to 22, and will play four matches against invitational sides made up of first-class cricketers. The tour is a key part of Ireland’s preparation for the World Cup, which will be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh next year.Ireland coach Phil Simmons feels the tour will not only give his team a chance to bond but also crucial experience of the conditions they will confront at the World Cup. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for the squad to acclimatise and bond together during the three weeks in India. I’ve put together a demanding programme covering physical, technical and tactical elements. We’ll also be playing four games against quality opposition, so the players will get a chance to impress in subcontinental conditions.”Although Joyce and Marshall aren’t officially available yet, Simmons said the tour was a great opportunity for them to get to know the other players and vice-versa, as well as providing depth to the squad. He also emphasised the need to do well in the World Cup, as the 2015 event has been reduced to 10 teams.”It’s vital we stay high in the world rankings, and continue to compete and indeed defeat full member countries. We’ve reached the quarter final stage of two of the last three major tournaments, and that could well have been three in a row bar the rain intervening in our game with England in Guyana.”Ireland squad: William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Allan Eastwood, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, Hamish Marshall, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien (wk), Andrew Poynter, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.

Smith unfazed by long Test hiatus

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The South Africans will have to remind themselves what game they are playing on Wednesday. White clothes, red balls and attacking fields … that would be Test cricket, then

Andrew McGlashan at Centurion15-Dec-2009The South Africans will have to remind themselves what game they are playing on Wednesday. White clothes, red balls and attacking fields … that would be Test cricket, then. It is nine months since they beat Australia, at Cape Town, in their most recent five-day contest. Since then they have lived on a diet of one-day and Twenty20 action.Five of South Africa’s squad, including the captain Graeme Smith, haven’t even played first-class cricket since March, and the team as a whole prepared with a training camp in Potchefstroom rather than turning out for their franchises in a round of Supersport four-day matches. Despite the concerns about coming into the series short of meaningful practice, the coach Mickey Arthur felt the greater importance was to get his Test squad back together after such a long time apart, and for his part, Smith doesn’t believe the team will be caught cold.”I wouldn’t say under-cooked is the right word,” he said. “We’ve played enough cricket, had enough training and enough match time. It is more the long haul of a Test match, being able to handle pressure for long periods and sustain performances for long periods. I know it’s been a lengthy period since our last Test match, but our squad is a very mature one. It’s had a lot of success, and each guy knows what he needs to do to be successful. We’ve prepared really well – and it’s been a good, calm focus with intensity around our training sessions.”It’s always difficult to say where you are if you haven’t played a Test match for a long time. But I think we’re ready for tomorrow. It’s up to us to come out and make that first day count.”A situation that Smith will definitely have to confront is not having his usual five-man bowling attack. Although Jacques Kallis has been passed fit for batting duties after his fractured rib, he won’t be available with the ball which puts an added burden on the frontline bowlers, including Dale Steyn who has had recent hamstring trouble.”It’s obviously a luxury to have the five bowlers available,” said Smith. “I hope the four picked can do the job well and take the pressure off me. We have some quality bowlers who can produce the results, but we’re not going to have the luxury of Jacques [with the ball] so the responsibility shifts to all other places. Players know they’re going to have to take on a little bit more.”One bowler Smith knows will run in all day for him whatever the conditions is Makhaya Ntini, who will be celebrating his 100th cap. “It’s been a pleasure to be a part of his career and see the success he’s had – where he’s come from to where he is today,” Smith said. “He’s had his ups and downs but has always met them with 100% commitment. He’s a vibrant personality, even to the point sometimes where we have to put a muzzle on him. We wish him all the success in the next game and a lot more to come. He’s going to play a prominent role in the future, not only in this team but in South Africa.”Being greeted by a green pitch on the eve of the game may have given Smith cause to considering bolstering the pace attack in Kallis’s absence, but he said there was “a 99% chance” they would play the left-arm spinner Paul Harris. “That’s the way we’ve played our Test cricket over the last period of time, and I think we’ll stick to it,” he added. “The weather’s going to be a lot better tomorrow, and there’s still a lot of work to be done on the wicket this afternoon. I think it will change quite a bit, so we’ll assess it in the morning.”Smith is a far more mature captain than the one England first faced in 2003 when his attitude didn’t endear him to many of his opponents. Back in his younger days he would go down the route of making strong and provocative statements, but the older, wiser version instead opts for more subtle views about his rivals.”They’ve got a few challenges like the loss of an allrounder,” he said referring to Andrew Flintoff’s absence, and he has also suggested that England’s attack doesn’t look overly threatening with Steve Harmison left back home in Ashington.”And it wouldn’t be the build-up to a South Africa-England contest without mention of Kevin Pietersen. “We’d like to make it a major test for him,” Smith said. “That is our challenge as a team. We want to put all England batters under pressure, and he’s a key figure in that line-up. We’ve worked on a few interesting gameplans to him. Since his injury, he’s searching for a bit of confidence – and we hope we can keep him under that pressure he’s had on the tour so far.”

Bumrah vs Konstas continues to enliven Border-Gavaskar Trophy

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An exchange of words late on day one has added more spark to one of the series’ most compelling duels

Andrew McGlashan03-Jan-2025Sam Konstas was at the centre of a fiery exchange with India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah amid a dramatic finish to the opening day of the final Test at the SCG, which has set up another compelling duel when play resumes on Saturday.Australia’s reply started with just 15 minutes of the day remaining, and first ball Konstas walked down the crease at Bumrah and whipped him through midwicket. Konstas then exchanged words with Bumrah before what became the penultimate ball of the day after Usman Khawaja had pulled away from the strike, seemingly to try and eat up time to ensure there wouldn’t be another over.Related

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  • Great Scott Boland, the supersub calling the shots for Australia

Konstas turned to Bumrah and appeared to say something, which prompted umpire Sharfuddoula to step in. The next delivery passed through outside off stump. Then, with the final ball of the day, Bumrah had Khawaja edging to second slip, and immediately turned and locked eyes with Konstas at the non-striker’s end and took a couple of steps towards him, before being joined by several team-mates, including Virat Kohli, in exuberant celebration.”I feel they had a little chit-chat,” Rishabh Pant said of the exchange. “They wanted to waste some time. I feel that’s the reason he had a conversation with Jassi [Bumrah]. He [Konstas] said something, I didn’t hear it, but I feel that’s the only thing which he wanted to do to just waste some time so we don’t bowl one more over.”The India players were animated as they left the field, having a few minutes earlier been bowled out for 185, while Konstas walked off a few metres behind Khawaja, with Australia 9 for 1.”It was an interesting one,” Beau Webster said of how Australia’s innings started. “I was sitting next to Heady [Travis Head] in the rooms watching on the TV and the first ball he [Konstas] ran down and clipped him over midwicket. There almost wasn’t surprise anymore, it was like there he is, he’s away.”Sammy’s a very confident young man, it’s what they do these days, those youngsters, they get after it and put themselves out there. He’s got all the skills and all the talent to back it up so hopefully he has a really good day tomorrow and puts a few runs on the board.”Usman Khawaja walks back after being done in by Jasprit Bumrah•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Konstas’ selection in the latter part of the series has had a dramatic impact. He struck 60 off 65 balls in his debut innings at the MCG, where he scooped Bumrah on a regular basis, and in the process of his stay was shoulder-barged by Kohli between overs. Bumrah struck back against Konstas in the second innings by removing him for 8.In the field, Konstas was heavily engaged with the packed MCG crowd and in the final innings, as Australia pushed for victory, was a vocal presence around the bat.”He’s playing with a lot of flair,” Scott Boland told . “He’s definitely under their skin. You can see that in the last few moments there.”Speaking ahead of the SCG Test, Konstas’ mentor Shane Watson said he had been surprised by how outgoing the 19-year-old had been.”My experience of dealing and working with Sam has been a very quiet, reserved personality,” he said. “[He’s] a very deep thinker and certainly not an extrovert. But obviously what we saw in the Test match is that he absolutely is a showman.”Bumrah’s late strike will raise India’s hopes that he has one more huge performance in him to cap an outstanding series with the visitors needing to win to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”Think there’s definitely a method to go about batting on this wicket, but Jasprit is a world-class bowler and no doubt he’s going to challenge our whole batting group,” Webster said. “He’s phenomenal with his lengths and lines, it is going to be tough on a wicket that will offer a fair bit for him.”Pant acknowledged India would have liked a few more runs but was confident in India being able to stay competitive in the match.”I think I wouldn’t say it’s a par score, I think anything over 220 to 250 would be a par score,” he said. “But still a very competitive score because the way ball is moving now I think there’s a lot of help for the bowler and hopefully we can capitalise on that.”

Rizwan 131*, Shafique 113 complete record World Cup chase

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Pakistan gunned down 345 to win back-to-back games while Sri Lanka suffered their second successive defeat

Madushka Balasuriya10-Oct-20231:28

Urooj Mumtaz: Entertainment part and parcel of Mohammad Rizwan’s game

Sri Lanka were served a harsh lesson in the realities of modern ODI cricket, as Pakistan hunted down a target of 345 – the highest-ever chase in a World Cup – with six wickets to spare. Leading their charge were tons from Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan, which trumped a pair of centuries by Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama, to make it two wins from two for Pakistan.Rizwan, who suffered from at times seemingly debilitating cramps – the physio came and looked at him twice – for the last 15 overs or so of the chase, remained unbeaten in the end on a 121-ball 131. Together with Shafique – who himself recorded the highest score by a Pakistan debutant at a World Cup with his 113 off 103 – he had put together a third-wicket stand worth 176 off just 156 deliveries.It was a stand that would break the spine of the chase, though even then it might not have been enough had Rizwan himself not valiantly stuck around till the end. He would put on a further 95 off 68 with Saud Shakeel, and then 37 off 23 with Iftikhar Ahmed, as Pakistan eventually cantered home to a win that will provide them an immense confidence boost ahead of Saturday’s massive clash against India.As for Sri Lanka, it’s two defeats in as many games, and after conceding over 750 runs across two matches there will be growing concerns over their bowlers’ abilities in handling such batter-friendly tracks.Despite having Maheesh Theekshana back in the side, Sri Lanka looked bereft of ideas on how to pick up wickets through the middle overs, or even indeed how to stifle the scoring. Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage and Dilshan Madushanka, who were the most economical of the lot, went for 59, 62 and 60 each, while Matheesha Pathirana once more proved expensive being taken for 90 in nine overs.Pakistan were also clever in ensuring they capitalised on Sri Lanka’s need to fulfil their fifth bowler quota. While Dasun Shanaka went for just 28 in his five overs, Dhananjaya de Silva was taken for 36 in four and Charith Asalanka 10 in his solitary over.Pakistan though will be pleased at the manner in which the chase was accomplished. They were circumspect in the first 10 overs, with Sri Lanka having picked up two wickets, and kept the score to just 48. However, with the knowledge they had power hitters such as Shadab Khan, Iftikhar and Mohammed Nawaz lower down the order, both Shafique and Rizwan were content to play themselves in.Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Rizwan put on a big stand for the third wicket•AP

Even so, between overs 10-20 the pair took 62 runs, before really upping the ante through the middle period. From the overs 20-30 they would score a further 72 runs and then would plunder 99 from the 30th to the 40th, leaving a very gettable 74 off the last 60 deliveries.Shafique’s control percentage of 91% told a story, as he rarely gave the Sri Lankan bowlers a sniff, pouncing on anything short and unafraid to use his feet when necessary. It would take an absolute scorcher at backward point by substitute Dushan Hemantha, in for Kusal Mendis who was off the field with severe cramps, to get rid of him.Fortunately for Pakistan though, they had a warrior in Rizwan at the other end to ensure the chase would be completed without hiccups.Sri Lanka though will rue a missed opportunity to put the game to bed with the bat, with Shanaka admitting after the game that they were probably 30 runs short. Indeed, having won the toss and elected to bat first, for much of the Sri Lankan innings this seemed like the batting performance that Sri Lanka had long threatened to put together.Against both Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the warm-ups they had thrown away promising starts, while against South Africa they had provided glimpses of what their batting line-up was capable of. The next step though was putting it altogether, and for large parts of their innings, it looked Sri Lanka would finally do just that.While Sri Lanka’s struggles at the death and even through the middle are well documented – they’ve only struck 12 scores above 300 since the end of the 2019 World Cup – but in Hyderabad they batted like a side that had done this a hundred times before.Across their 50 overs, scarcely did the scoring rate drop below seven an over – for periods even touching 7.5. Much of that was down to Mendis, who carried on from where he had left off against South Africa – well not exactly, he struck at only 158.44 this time out – as he almost single-handedly swamped an unusually blunt Pakistan attack.Kusal Mendis scored a hundred off 65 balls•ICC via Getty Images

With both Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali bowling consistently in the low 130s or lower, any early swing – something Mendis has been found wanting against in the past – was negotiated with relative ease.Across his time at the crease, scarcely an over went by without a boundary. In fact, from the point he arrived midway through the second over, and until his dismissal in the 29th, only six overs went without at least a boundary being scored.Of the bowlers, only Iftikhar Ahmed managed any kind of success against Mendis, going for six runs in eight deliveries, but Mendis struck at above 140 against all five of the other bowlers utilised.Alongside him, Samarawickrama was carrying along like he has for much of the year since breaking into the Sri Lankan side. He nudged around ones and twos, used his feet to the spinners – an inside-out drive off Nawaz for six, particularly standing out in the memory – and worked the gaps expertly to find boundaries when needed.Samarawickrama and Mendis together put up 111 off just 69 deliveries, the second consecutive century stand of the innings following Mendis’ 102 with Pathum Nissanka. When Mendis fell, with the score on 218 with just 29 overs bowled, Sri Lanka would have been eyeing 350 at the very least, but once more those plans would go awry.Charith Asalanka, who had kept Sri Lanka in the game against South Africa, nicked one through just eight balls later. This was then followed by a five-over period in which just 18 runs were scored which stifled their momentum; overs 30-40 would bring 54 runs in total.But where Pakistan would do the real damage was in the final 10, where Sri Lanka managed just 61 runs, including the last three overs which went for just 13.It’s a credit to the efficiency at which Samarawickrama and Mendis had batted throughout those middle overs that they still got to 344 – their highest against a Full Member nation since 2020 – but those are the margins at play here, something Sri Lanka will have to address swiftly if they are to keep their already slim semi-final hopes alive.