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Irfan, Arif fifties guide Royals to 225 before Zeeshan, Kharote skittle Sharks for 139

Rvel Zahid22-Oct-2022
Bahawalpur Royals carved their name on the inaugural Pakistan Junior League (PJL) trophy by beating Gwadar Sharks by 86 runs in the final, in Lahore on Friday. Shawaiz Irfan smashed 79 off just 32 deliveries and Tayyab Arif hit a quick fifty to set the platform for an imposing total of 225. In the chase, Sharks were bowled out for 139, thanks to Mohammad Zeeshan and Nangeyalia Kharote’ three wicket-hauls.Sharks won the toss and elected to bowl, but the decision backfired. The damage inflicted by Irfan, Arif, Basit Ali and Kharote was massive for Sharks. While Arif made a 34-ball 56, Kharote remained unbeaten on 47 off 30 balls to help the Imran Tahir-mentored side post the highest total of the season.The Lahore-born Shawaiz, who was promoted up the batting order, was crowned Player of the Match after he thumped the fastest half-century of the tournament. His innings had seven fours and six sixes. His glovework has also been impressive throughout the PJL, drawing praise from Rashid Latif as well.Sharks never got a sniff while bowling as Arif and Afghanistani southpaw Kharote teed off and added 87 runs for the third wicket. Arif scored his first fifty of the PJL and his innings was laced with seven fours and one six, while Kharote hammered two sixes and three fours in his unbeaten knock.Sharks finished the group stage at the top of the table and beat Royals in the Qualifier 1 but on Friday, they were outclassed in all departments. Royals brought their A game in the all-important final and went in with an attacking mindset right from the start.In reply, Sharks did manage a flying start in the powerplay and got to 103 for 4 in the first ten overs, but the innings nosedived after the dismissal of their captain Shamyl Hussain, who notched up 67 off 34 balls. In the end, the team was skittled for 139 in under 16 overs.Their innings was a story of two halves as Sharks were meeting the asking rate in the first ten overs with Hussain leading the charge. But the moment Zeeshan was introduced into the attack, he removed Hussain and the floodgates were opened. Thereon, the wickets fell at regular intervals as the spinners applied the choke and the equation became tougher with each passing over.Sharks’ overseas signing Luc Martin Benkenstein has been in good nick in this competition and even guided his side to the doorstep of victory with a well-crafted 71 in Qualifier 1, but he couldn’t get going in the final and holed out to long-on off Sajjad Ali’s bowling. Another lynchpin of Sharks’ batting line-up Mohammad Zulfikal was snared by Kharote early on. Eventually, Sharks lost their last seven wickets for 43 runs.Sharks will rue the missed opportunities, overthrows and losing their composure when Arif and Shawaiz went berserk with the bat.Basit Ali, who hails from a remote city of Pakistan – Dera Murad Jamali – finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 379 runs at a strike rate of 150.39. He struck one century and two half-centuries in the PJL and a crucial 35 in the final. Zeeshan ended the tournament as highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps at an economy of 7.25 from eight matches.

Peter Nevill’s predecessor Brad Haddin has spoken out against a rising tide of opinion that Australia’s Test wicketkeeper should be promoted to No. 6 in the batting order

Daniel Brettig02-Dec-2015Peter Nevill’s predecessor and friend Brad Haddin has spoken out against a rising tide of opinion that Australia’s Test wicketkeeper should be promoted to No. 6 in the batting order ahead of the fledgling allrounder Mitchell Marsh.In the aftermath of the day-night Test in Adelaide, the coach Darren Lehmann revealed that he and captain Steven Smith had been discussing a possible promotion for Nevill, who has looked an increasingly composed batsman over the course of his seven Tests, and played a pivotal role in a low-scoring final encounter against New Zealand.The selection chairman Rod Marsh added further momentum to the push by blithely suggesting that “we hope that he can make more Test hundreds than any other Australian wicketkeeper”, a tall order given Adam Gilchrist’s current mark of 17 centuries. There is also a feeling among the selectors that Mitchell Marsh’s more powerful batting may be better suited to a position where he is less conflicted between attack and defence.However Haddin, who was replaced by Nevill during the Ashes in England, expressed the view that No. 7 was a specialist batting position suited to a wicketkeeper, and that Mitchell Marsh should be persevered with further up the order in the series against West Indies that begins next week in Hobart.”I think the keeper should bat at seven,” Haddin told . “I actually think it’s a skill to bat at seven and be able to bat with the tail. We’ve invested a lot of time into Mitch Marsh, leave him at six and let him develop and he’ll only get better and better. Nev’s been on fire the whole summer, but I’d leave him at seven.”We’ve seen his [Marsh’s] dismissal in the first innings and he was a bit tentative, but in the second innings he went out and played his natural game and looked to score. He’ll develop, he’s one kid that learns a lot quicker than the others, so I’d like to see him stay at six and keep developing.”The selector Mark Waugh, who was also on the panel, countered. “I think Mitch Marsh, if you bat him at seven, he might just free up a little bit, he won’t have that pressure of justifying his spot as a batsman at No. 6 – in the first innings he didn’t know whether to hit it or not. And I think Nevill is good enough to bat at six, his technique is excellent. I don’t think a keeper has to bat at seven, it’s not a rule is it?”Rod Marsh had spoken glowingly of Nevill’s performance in Adelaide, which he equated with a century due to the difficulty of the conditions. He also made the observation that Nevill sold his wicket dearly, a quality the selectors had noticed through difficult circumstances in the Ashes.”He had a terrific game, a fantastic game,” Rod Marsh said of Nevill. “The way I looked at this Test match was normally on Adelaide Oval, 400 is a half-decent first-innings score. It was 200 both sides, so I just doubled everyone’s score … and looked at it that way. I thought that was a fair way of doing it – so Nevill’s 132 was brilliant.”His Shield record would suggest that he can bat. He took a little while to find his feet at Test level against the moving ball under trying conditions in England, but the thing that we all liked about him was the fact that … the opposition had to get him out. It’s a good trait in a batsman, that.”Nevill’s understated manner behind the stumps is in contrast to the more brash ways of Haddin, but he is admired by team-mates as a steady operator in the middle whether the day is going well or poorly. “I haven’t played with a keeper who has moved so well behind the stumps,” Nevill’s New South Wales team-mate Steve O’Keefe said. “He’s just effortless in what he does. And he’s seamless in what he does. He’s a hard worker, I don’t think that gets noticed.”For him it seems natural but he’s had to work extremely hard at it and you combine with his nature around the team, we used to call him the social conscience of the Blues team because he never seemed to rattle any cages, he got on with the job at hand and he was always a bloke we turned to whenever we were in trouble. Doesn’t surprise me that we see that emanate through his keeping and also through his batting – I don’t think we’ve seen the best of it.”He did a great job for NSW when he was playing in any position. He had to open, bat at the top order, also bat in the middle order so also his best is still to come with the bat.”

Cameron Bancroft led Australia A’s charge at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with a solid ton, to leave Australia A with a formidable lead on the second day of the second unofficial Test against India A

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu in Chennai30-Jul-2015
ScorecardCameron Bancroft’s 150 helped Australia A dominate the hosts on the second day on the unofficial Test•K Sivaraman

Cameron Bancroft led Australia A’s charge at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with a solid ton, and added a brace of century partnerships with Usman Khawaja and Callum Ferguson to leave Australia A with a formidable lead on the second day of the second unofficial Test against India A. His 150 off 267 balls first formed the spine and later the muscle of Australia A’s reply as India A were sent on the run, despite B Aparajith’s maiden five-wicket haul in first class cricket. Australia A capped the second day with a lead of 194.

I was lucky in the beginning – Aparajith

Cameron Bancroft’s century helped Australia A strengthen their grip on the second official Test in Chennai but B Aparajith’s maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket gave the hosts some late spark.
Though Aparajith believed that having Marcus Stoinis stumped for 10 off 32 balls was a lucky break, he was satisfied with the way be bowled in a second spell which yielded three wickets in eight overs for 27 runs.
“I am really happy but I think I was a bit lucky in the beginning. The first wicket, that gave me the confidence,” Aprajith said.
“Before that, it was an okay start for me. After the first wicket, I got confidence. After that, the second spell was a better spell and the last four wickets I took, I was really happy with it. The first spell was not as good as I thought but the second spell was better.”
Aprajith also admitted that he would have been happier had he struck earlier in the day. Each of Aprajith’s five wickets came in the last session.
“Maybe if it was earlier, I would have been more happier. But somethings, we need to be patient. I think in Chennai wicket, you can’t run through a side in one session or 35 or 40 overs.”

Bancroft stood tall and punched through the covers. When the bowlers erred short, he was quick to camp back, unleashing strong cuts and pulls towards the locked I,J,K stands. Bancroft even played a pin-point straight drive off Shreyas Gopal, beating the bowler and mid-on. But the strike, which brought up his hundred was the pick of the lot. He stepped out, manufactured his own length, met the pitch and sent an Aparajith delivery soaring over the sightscreen to ping the roof. Bancroft pumped his fist and hugged Ferguson; the crowd applauding his effort on a typically slow Chennai pitch where the ball often stopped on the batsmen.India A’s bowling veered from disciplined to loose, as Australia A began the day at 43 for 0. Varun Aaron was in his second over when he had Khawaja poking at one that flew between the wicketkeeper and slip. The next ball spat from a length and hit Khawaja on the glove. The batsman then shrugged off the early jitters with a steady diet of sweeps and flicks against Pragyan Ojha, who had largely stuck to a middle-and-leg line in his first spell.There was a great buzz in the crowd when Pragyan’s second burst of the day produced three wickets in 19 minutes, just before lunch. After having to switched from the Pavilion End to Pattabiram End, Pragyan looped the ball further up and got some purchase from the pitch as Australia A were reduced to 123 for 3 in 38 overs.Khawaja was the first to depart when he was pinned lbw by a signature Pragyan slider, which ended a 111-run opening stand. Joe Burns then left his crease and played to mid-on with Abhinav Mukund taking a smart leaping catch. Peter Handscomb nicked to Virat Kohli at slip for a two-ball duck.The buzz faded, however, when Shreyas Iyer dropped Ferguson at short leg on 14. He juggled and aimed to grab it on the rebound, but to no avail. Soon after, Ferguson was reprieved on 25 when Kohli reacted late at slip and fluffed a sharp catch.Ferguson reached 54 off 103 balls before India A finally managed to hold onto a catch. He shaped for a pull only to top-edge a Gopal googly to Karun Nair at deep square leg. However, Bancroft ensured that the lead ticked past 100 before tea.Aaron darted it short and offered room in the second session and so did Gopal as the Australian batsmen settled in. Aparajith and Gopal began bowling from round the wicket but they were tamed by regular sweeps and trips down the track, the hallmark of Australia A’s approach against spin.Marcus Stoinis perished when he jumped out and was out stumped in the eighth over after tea. The breakthrough was a result of brief indecision. The ball was tossed over to Gopal before it was belatedly given to Aparajith, who seemingly got good turn as the day wore on.Matthew Wade found his bearings with a violent slog-sweep and then laid into a cut, socking Mukund on the shin at short leg. He hobbled off the field and did not return but, two balls later, Wade was bowled by Aparajith. In his next over, he had Bancroft lobbing one to leg-slip, bringing an end to the 367-minute knock. Each of Aparajith’s five scalps came in the last session of the day.Gurinder Sandhu added more cushion by clouting two fours and four sixes during his 27-ball 36, and India A were left wilting in the heat, literally and figuratively, for the second day in a row.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad scored his second consecutive half-century, building the first innings platform for Afghanistan in a 22-run win

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Mohammad Shahzad top-scored for Afghanistan with 72•ICC/Donald MacLeod

Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad scored his second consecutive half-century, building the first-innings platform for Afghanistan in a 22-run win. Shahzad, who scored 78 in Afghanistan’s 70-run win on Thursday, top-scored on Saturday over the same opposition with 72 off 94 balls in his side’s total of 226 after being sent in to bat first.Shahzad added 74 runs for the third wicket with Asghar Stanikzai in the best partnership of the innings. Stanikzai’s 36 was Afghanistan’s next best contribution after Shahzad but both men fell within three deliveries of each other with the score on 149 to trigger a middle-order collapse that saw Afghanistan lose four wickets for just two runs, going from 149 for 2 in the 32nd over to 151 for 6 in the 35th.Tendai Chisoro and Tapiwa Mufudza combined to do the damage for the hosts, taking two wickets each in that segment of play. Chisoro eventually finished with 2 for 29 in his 10 overs while Mufudza ended with 3 for 57 in his 10 to lead the Zimbabwe Chairman XI in the field as Afghanistan were bowled out with an over to spare in their innings.Afghanistan came out on fire in the field as a trio of seamers – Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Mirwais Ashraf – and left-arm spinner Amir Hamza took two wickets apiece. The hosts were in danger of being bowled out for under 100 with the score 95 for 9 just past the halfway point of the chase. However, Chisoro and fellow tailender Donald Tiripano produced a remarkable 109-run 10th wicket stand that nearly took the home side to an improbable win with just 23 needed off the final six overs.Mohammad Nabi finally struck on the first ball of the 45th over to clinch the match though, bowling Chisoro for 63. Tiripano finished unbeaten on 44 in the loss.Afghanistan play the Zimbabwe Chairman’s XI in the third 50-over tour match on Monday before the first of five ODIs between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe begins in Bulawayo on October 16.

Rohit Sharma, whose batting position is always a topic of discussion, said that he was ready to bat wherever the team wanted him to besides backing his strokeplay

Sharda Ugra at the SSC31-Aug-20154:09

‘Won’t shy away from playing my shots’ – Rohit

Rohit Sharma’s batting position is a heated topic of discussion in Indian cricket, with the common choices being No. 3, No. 5 and outside the XI. He has been persisted with through the Test series in Sri Lanka, and has ended the series scoring more runs – 202 – than any other Indian batsman barring his captain Virat Kohli. Rohit’s 50 on Monday came alongside two fifty-plus partnerships, with Kohli for the fourth wicket and Stuart Binny for the fifth, after India had been left wobbling at 7 for 3 at the start of their second innings.Rohit said he was ready to bat wherever the team management wanted him to: “See it’s really what captain and management wants from this order. My preference is to bat wherever team asks me to. If you ask anyone, they are not going to say this is my number. Nowhere it is written in the world that No.4 belongs to this person, No. 3 belongs to this person. If you understand well and good.”When pressed further to name his favourite position, he said: “As a batsman you want to bat as up the order as possible to get more opportunities, to face more balls, and score big runs. Again, the management felt I should bat at five and they came and spoke to me and I was okay to do whatever they want me to do. The same thing happened to me in ODIs as well, they felt I should open because of whatever abilities I have. So I agree to do what they want me to do. I cannot have my own preference. It’s a team game and you do what the team wants from you.”Fitting Rohit into the batting order has been tricky issue for the team, particularly given the competition for the middle-order spots. When Rohit was asked about feeling the pressure of this kind of a situation in every innings he played, he said: “The pressure I feel will be on the management and the captain to decide the XI, not on me. I have to play my game when I get an opportunity. That’s how I look at it.”Like he had in his last two innings in Colombo, Rohit was dismissed shortly before an interval. On Monday, he was out pulling Dhammika Prasad to long leg with around 15 minutes left to go to lunch.Rohit, though, stressed he would back himself to play his shots instead of just hanging around when asked what he thought of the public perception that he was far too frequently, ‘throwing his wicket away.'”If you look at the game carefully the first morning I played that same shot with Pradeep bowling from that end, and I played a very similar shot which got me four runs. I am sure all of you sitting here, must have clapped… that’s how it works. I will back myself and whenever I bat I have an intent to score runs, not to just be there and survive. That’s how I want to play my cricket and to stay ahead of the bowlers’ mind. That’s what I try and do always. Sometimes, that ball could have gone a little behind him, it could have fetched me six runs. Went straight into his hands. It’s unfortunate. But that’s my shot. I will keep playing it, it gets me runs also. As I said, I am not going to shy away from playing shots.”Rohit shares a prickly relationship with the media and said once again that he paid no attention to any external opinion about his batting or himself: “I have zero expectations outside. What happens (outside) is irrelevant to me, you know because what happens outside is not going to help my cricket. What is going to help my cricket is me working hard, doing what I have been doing in the nets and getting better as a player everyday. And I will stick to it.”It has happened to me in the past and you know till you play it will keep happening as a sportsman no one goes through a very clean patch. They will have some sort of up and down in their career. I am no different and I can say things have been up and down, but as long as I am enjoying my cricket nothing can stop me. I am really enjoying with the boys, enjoying the victories we are having and yeah I am a very positive person. I look to think ahead what is ahead of me and going into this Test match again I wanted to make a contribution. You will not score a hundred all the time. Any sort of contribution that can help your team is more than enough for me.”

The Australia fast bowler with a finger injury wants to play a part in the ongoing ODI series, but not at the cost of his Test place

AAP17-Jun-2022Australian quick Mitchell Starc is still holding out hope of featuring in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, but only if it doesn’t compromise his chances of playing in the Tests.Starc sliced open his left index finger on his shoe spike during his follow through in the T20I series opener last week. The 32-year-old has been able to bowl full steam at training in recent days, but ICC rules preventing bowlers from using tape on their fingers means Starc hasn’t been able to feature in games.Starc had the stitches removed on Thursday, but just how well his finger recovers from this point on will determine whether he will be fit for game three of the ODI series against Sri Lanka on Sunday. He is hopeful of playing at least some part in the five-match series, but only if it won’t compromise his chances of featuring in the two Tests that follow.”I’m still holding onto hope that I will,” Starc said of his chances of featuring in the ODI series. “There’s still a fair bit of glue still in the wound. That will start to dissolve a bit more in the next couple of days. Once we get to Colombo we’ll have a look at it again and see where it’s at.”I’m still training. It’s just a matter of where the wound is at, and obviously with one eye on the Test series as well and not compromising that.”Starc said it was frustrating to feel super fit and still unable to play.”I feel really good with the ball in hand,” he said. “I’ve had to bowl at training with the tape on, and it’s purely that I can’t do that in the fixture due to the ICC rules which is why I’m not playing.”If it’s game three, four, or five [that I play], I’m not sure yet. We’re just making sure we’re not compromising the Test series [which starts on June 29].”Australia have been riddled by injuries on the tour to Sri Lanka. Marcus Stoinis (side strain), Sean Abbott (finger) and Kane Richardson (hamstring) will play no further part, while Ashton Agar (side strain), Starc and Mitchell Marsh (hamstring) have also been injured. Agar is out of the remainder of the ODI series but hopeful of being fit in time for the second Test.Star batter Steven Smith sent a scare through the camp in Friday’s 26-run ODI loss when he pulled up lame while sprinting for a second run. Although he was able to play on after receiving strapping on his upper left leg, he will be assessed over the coming days.”I don’t know how sore he is or how much of a niggle he might be,” Starc said. “After he got the strapping he played a pretty nice drive through mid-wicket, so I’m sure he’ll be fine to play the next game.”

England’s fixtures for the 2017 home season have today been confirmed, with South Africa and West Indies lined up for full tours in a busy summer that will also feature the ECB’s hosting of the Champions Trophy in early to mid-June

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2016England’s home season in 2017 has been confirmed as the longest in their international history, after the ECB announced a glut of fixtures spanning 148 days and featuring both the earliest start date, May 5, and the latest finish, September 29.South Africa and West Indies are lined up for full tours in an unprecedented summer that will also feature the ECB’s hosting of the Champions Trophy in early to mid-June, and the women’s World Cup between June 26 and July 23..The previous earliest start to an English summer was May 6, when England and West Indies embarked on that summer’s first Test at Lord’s. The latest finish also involved West Indies, when they beat England in the final of the Champions Trophy on September 25, 2004.England men’s summer will be launched by a two-match ODI series against Ireland, at Bristol and Lord’s on May 5 and 7, before the arrival of South Africa’s ODI squad for three matches – at Headingley, Ageas Bowl and Lord’s – on May 24, 27 and 29, which will serve as warm-up fixtures for the Champions Trophy, which opens with England’s match against Bangladesh at the Kia Oval on June 1.

England’s 2017 schedule

• May 5, 1st ODI v Ireland, Bristol
  May 7, 2nd ODI v Ireland, Lord’s
  May 24, 1st ODI v SA, Headingley
  May 27, 2nd ODI v SA, Ageas Bowl
  May 29, 3rd ODI v SA, Lord’s
  Jun 1-18, Champions Trophy
  Jun 21 v SA, 1st T20, Ageas Bowl
  Jun 23 v SA, 2nd T20, Taunton
  Jun 25, 3rd T20 v SA, Cardiff
  Jul 6-10, 1st Test v SA, Lord’s
  Jul 14-18, 2nd Test v SA, Trent Bridge
  Jul 27-31, 3rd Test v SA, The Oval
  Aug 4-8, 4th Test v SA, Old Trafford
  Aug 17-21, 1st Test v WI, Edgbaston
  Aug 25-29, 2nd Test v WI, Headingley
  Sep 7-11, 3rd Test v WI, Lord’s
  Sep 16, Only T20 v WI, Durham
  Sep 19, 1st ODI v WI, Old Trafford
  Sep 21, 2nd ODI v WI, Trent Bridge
  Sep 24, 3rd ODI v WI, Bristol
  Sep 27, 4th ODI v WI, The Oval
  Sep 29, 5th ODI v WI, Ageas Bowl
  

After the tournament, which concludes with a final at The Oval on June 18, England and South Africa play three T20Is – including their first international fixture at Taunton since 1983 – before attention switches to seven Test matches in the space of 67 days.South Africa are lined up for four matches, starting at Lord’s on July 6 then proceeding to Trent Bridge, The Oval and Old Trafford, before West Indies commence a three-Test series on August 17.That opening fixture, at Edgbaston, has been mooted as England’s first home day/night fixture, although the ECB as yet has not clarified its status. Further matches are scheduled for Headingley and Lord’s, before a one-off T20I followed by five ODIs, with the home summer set to finish at the Ageas Bowl on September 29.”With three different international teams coming here next summer and this country playing host to two major ICC global events – the ICC Champions Trophy and the ICC Women’s World Cup – there will be a feast of international cricket to excite us in England and Wales,” said Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive.”Both the international and the domestic schedule will have a different shape to previous years. And the early season block for the Royal London One-Day Cup – with a new mid-season date for its Lord’s final – will support both England’s ICC Champions Trophy preparations and our longer term planning for the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2019. It will also allow players to focus skills on the white ball game and help more people to understand the structure of the season.”It promises to be a memorable summer of cricket for all our international grounds and a particularly special one for Somerset CCC which will host its first England men’s fixture for more than thirty years; a great opportunity for the county to further capitalise on its strong support for England women’s cricket in recent years.”Edgbaston will once again host NatWest T20 Blast Finals day while the Royal London One-Day Cup Final has been brought forward from its traditional mid-September date to a new mid-summer slot in early July.

Two wickets immediately after tea brought Pakistan back on level terms after a century stand between Kaushal Silva and Kumar Sangakkara had steered Sri Lanka into a position of strength

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy18-Jun-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:44

Fernando: Sri Lanka driven mainly by Kaushal Silva

Two wickets immediately after tea brought Pakistan back on level terms after a century stand between Kaushal Silva and Kumar Sangakkara had steered Sri Lanka into a position of strength. Silva batted through till stumps to end the day unbeaten on 80, and he and Angelo Mathews will begin day three looking to extend Sri Lanka’s score as far as they can on a pitch that is already showing lavish signs of turn and uneven bounce.Pakistan created enough chances through the day to justify Misbah-ul-Haq’s decision to bat first – a “situational” one, he said at the toss, to try and make up for the first-day washout – but only had three wickets to show for it. Wahab Riaz had a wicket chalked off for overstepping when he had Dimuth Karunaratne caught at slip in his first over of the morning, and soon after had Silva put down by Yasir Shah at backward point. Azhar Ali dropped Sangakkara off Yasir during the middle session, a difficult chance straight off the face of the bat.Soon after tea, when Sangakkara had tucked Yasir into the leg side to join Silva on a half-century, Pakistan must have wondered when their next chance would come. Their spinners were getting help off the pitch, but it was slow turn for the most part and the batsmen were looking comfortably ensconced.It was Wahab who broke the partnership, with a quite stunning piece of bowling. He had attacked Sangakkara with the short ball – and struck him once on the front shoulder – during a brief skirmish before lunch, but had only sent down four overs in the middle session.Now in the third over of his post-tea session, he produced one that just straightened from back of a length to beat Sangakkara’s defensive prod. It was an excellent delivery, and he bettered it next ball, getting it to deviate in a similar manner from a fuller length and finding the edge through to slip as Sangakkara aimed a drive at it, on the up.It was Wahab who had taken the first wicket as well, off a short ball that hurried through to find the inside edge of Dimuth Karunaratne’s attempted pull. Between the dismissals of Karunaratne and Sangakkara, the second-wicket pair batted for 37 overs.Pakistan only had to wait six overs for their next wicket, and it was a soft one: Lahiru Thirimanne, waltzing down the pitch to Mohammad Hafeez, popping one tamely to mid-on. It wasn’t a wicket earned, technically, but it was reward enough for Pakistan’s tight bowling right through the day.Apart from one lapse – when he slashed too eagerly at Wahab to be put down by Yasir – Silva was equal to it, largely avoiding the drive and capitalising whenever the bowlers dropped short. Six of his 12 fours came from either the cut or the pull. Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir tested him with sharp turn and bounce on a few occasions, but he played close to his body and with soft hands – one edge fell well short of Younis Khan at slip, and the balls that spun especially sharply missed his bat entirely.After getting through the initial short-ball barrage from Wahab, Sangakkara settled into a familiar rhythm, and it seemed through the post-lunch session that only harebrained running could get him out. On one occasion, he scurried unwisely out of his crease on a couple of occasions after pushing Junaid into the covers while on another, he had to dive home and undergo the third umpire’s scrutiny after responding hesitantly to Silva’s call for a single to the leg side.Otherwise he played percentage cricket, keeping his famous cover drive under wraps on a slow pitch and letting the ball come on to work runs through mid-on and midwicket. Out of the ten scoring shots he played through the off side, eight came off Mohammad Hafeez, the only bowler who turned the ball away from him.

Shiv Thakor and Tom Taylor achieved personal milestones to put Derbyshire in a strong position on a rain-shortened second day of the Division Two match with Kent at Derby

ECB Reporters Network23-May-2016
ScorecardShiv Thakor’s century lifted Derbyshire (file photo)•Getty Images

Shiv Thakor and Tom Taylor achieved personal milestones to put Derbyshire in a strong position on a rain-shortened second day of the Division Two match with Kent at Derby.Thakor’s 130 was his first century for Derbyshire and his highest score in the Championship while Taylor made a career-best 80 as the pair added 150 in 31 overs to set a new club record for the seventh wicket against Kent.Matt Coles was the pick of the Kent bowlers, finishing with 5 for 116 from 34.5 overs and, in reply to Derbyshire’s 492, the visitors were 79 for 1 when a downpour wiped out most of the final session.Kent’s hopes of quickly polishing off the Derbyshire innings soon faded as Thakor and Taylor continued to play with freedom on a pitch which offered little encouragement for the bowlers.Thakor survived a confident appeal for a catch behind down the leg-side off Calum Haggett on 92 but there were few alarms as the pair batted through the first 20 overs of the morning. Taylor again looked the part with the bat, cutting Haggett for four to reach his maiden first-class 50 and take Derbyshire to maximum bonus batting points for the first time this season.But all the attention was on Thakor, who this season has started to show the quality that marked him out as such an exciting prospect at Leicestershire, and his celebrations when he square cut Haggett for the four to go to three figures showed just how much it meant to him.It was his second Championship century against Kent and he was only four short of his highest first-class score when he gave James Tredwell the charge and was stumped by Adam Rouse.”It was nice to get that hundred but more importantly a very good first innings total,” Thakor said. “We’ve got 19 wickets to take now and that’s the most important thing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely feeling but it will mean a lot more if we get those wickets over the next two days and get a win.”Taylor had gone five overs earlier, chipping Adam Ball to cover, but their partnership had swung the game in Derbyshire’s favour and left Kent with a lot of batting ahead of them to stay in the game.Although the pitch had flattened out, the new ball was always going to be a test for the Kent openers and Derbyshire were rewarded for sustained accuracy when Ben Cotton removed Daniel Bell-Drummond in the 10th over. He was squared up by a ball that bounced and left him but it still needed brilliant reactions and agility from Tom Poynton who changed direction to take the catch diving across in front of first slip.Another wicket then would have left Kent on the ropes but Sean Dickson and Joe Denly showed sound judgement and application to bat through the rest of the afternoon. Dickson pulled a loose ball from legspinner Matt Critchley for six but Derbyshire’s bowling was disciplined and the second wicket pair scored only 61 in 24 overs and when the rain arrived shortly after tea, Kent were still 412 runs adrift.Tredwell said: “They played really well, perhaps we didn’t bowl as well as we would have liked, and they started pretty well and made it hard for us to score so the morning session becomes crucial tomorrow. If we can get through that first hour and then start to build a good score then we’ll see how the game pans out after that.”

Colin Munro’s 14-ball 50 and Martin Guptill’s 25-ball 63 helped New Zealand gun down Sri Lanka’s 142 for 8 in just 10 overs to win the T20 series 2-0

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Jan-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsColin Munro smashed one four and seven sixes in his unbeaten 14-ball 50•Getty Images

An abject Sri Lanka collapse full of witless batting, a clinical performance by New Zealand’s seamers, and a fast start from Martin Guptill, all featured in Sri Lanka’s final heavy defeat of the tour. Their embarrassment was enhanced a little here for having come in front of an Auckland crowd of over 17,000, and by Colin Munro, who bludgeoned the second-fastest half-century in T20s to close out a match that had never really been in doubt for New Zealand. He was unbeaten on 50 from 14 balls, having hit seven sixes and a four. Sri Lanka’s 142 for 8 on a flat track, and on one of the smallest grounds in the world, was gunned down with nine wickets and ten full overs to spare.Seduced by the short boundaries, Sri Lanka’s batsmen aimed slog after slog at the straight fence, and fell predictably, and in quick succession. New Zealand put zippy balls just short of a length – a clear bowling plan, given the ground’s odd dimensions – and the visitors just failed to adapt. Grant Elliott was the most accurate bowler, and took 4 for 22 from his full quota, but so intent did Sri Lanka’s batsmen seem on holing out, almost anyone could have taken those wickets.Angelo Mathews played a familiar lone hand, sporting a familiar look of frustration at his teammates’ incompetence. His 81 not out from 49 balls comprised well over half of Sri Lanka’s score. He was the only batsman to attempt to build an innings, instead of bash one.It’s not often that a batsman hitting 63 from 25 balls in a modest T20 chase will be outshone, but a rapid Guptill was made to look almost pedestrian by Munro. Having arrived at 89 for 1 in the seventh over, Munro blasted his second ball, off Thisara Perera, into the stands beyond wide long on, then savaged the legspin of Vandersay. Kane Williamson gave Munro the strike in the first ball of the eighth over, and he sent the ball hurtling over the deep midwicket boundary three times in four balls. That over cost 27. Having already been at the end of Guptill’s brutality, Vandersay had earlier bowled an over that conceded 20. His two overs went for 41. None of Sri Lanka’s four bowlers had an economy rate of less than 11.Munro wrapped up the victory with a four and two more sixes in Dushmantha Chameera’s third over. He reached fifty and moved New Zealand to their target with his last six, over deep midwicket. His 14-ball half-century is only slower than Yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball fifty against England, in the 2007 World T20.Sri Lanka’s spectacular nosedive began in the second over. Danushka Gunathilaka had earlier made room to scythe Adam Milne through the offside, but aimed an ungainly heave across the line soon after. The ball passed some distance from the bat and splayed his stumps.At the other end, Dilshan was playing his own ugly innings, mistiming and top-edging slogs, and missing attempted scoops over the shoulder. But he survived longer than two incoming batsmen, which is to say, until the 10th over. Before Dilshan was out reverse-sweeping, for 28 from 26 balls, Dinesh Chandimal and Shehan Jayasuriya had both been caught attempting expansive strokes for 2 and 3 respectively.Milinda Siriwardana – who has usually been an intelligent reprieve from Sri Lanka’s batting madness this tour – could not resist a slog himself as he was out first ball. He was caught just outside the circle at long on. With the score at 66 for 5 in the 11th over, Mathews might have expected a little help for rebuilding from Kithuruwan Vithanage and Thisara. They were both caught at the straight boundary for single figure scores, off Elliott’s bowling.Mathews had moved his innings into gear with two straight sixes off the spin of Mitchell Santner, but largely respected the quicks until the back end of the innings. Even then, he picked the hittable deliveries intelligently. He launched Trent Boult down the ground in the 15th over, then when Boult return to close out the innings, Mathews made room and slapped him through the offside twice. By far the largest partnership of the innings was Mathews’ 39-run stand with no. 10 batsman Vandersay.