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Nitish Rana’s 59 and a 12-ball 41 from Andre Russell powered Knight Riders to what proved an eminently match-winning total of 200

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy16-Apr-20186:25

‘KKR seem dependent on Russell’

Is Andre Russell the most valuable T20 player in the world? He has the stats (and the Smart Stats) to back such a claim, and on Monday he added to his vast body of work with a brief and brutal assault that transformed the mood of what had until then been an edgy battle for first-innings points.Russell came in with Kolkata Knight Riders 113 for 4 in the 14th over. He departed 22 balls later, having added 61 to his team’s total in the company of the impressive Nitish Rana. He only faced 12 balls, but he hit six of them for six.Knight Riders finished with exactly 200. This was a difficult target against Knight Riders’ spin attack, on a pitch offering a good amount of turn. Delhi Daredevils needed a strong start; they ended up slipping to 24 for 3. It was all uphill from there, and Daredevils didn’t have the legs for the climb, with none of their batsmen getting into double figures apart from Rishabh Pant and Glenn Maxwell, who threatened briefly to make this a contest with a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket in 33 balls.Daredevils were bowled out for 129, with 5.4 overs still to play.Uthappa and Rana make up for misfiring Narine and LynnChris Lynn likes pace, but doesn’t score as quickly against spin. Sunil Narine likes spin, but isn’t too fond of fast, short bowling (16 off 20 balls against this type of bowling last season, and four dismissals). It’s a hard opening pair to plan against, and Daredevils, having chosen to bowl, went all pace at the start. It worked: Trent Boult started the game with the first maiden of the season, to an off-colour Lynn who struggled for timing, and then sent back Narine with a well-directed bouncer.After that early dose of pace, it was all spin from overs 6-10, presumably in an effort to keep Lynn quiet. Daredevils managed that, as Lynn ended the 10th over batting on 28 off 25, but the batsmen at the other end compensated, with Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana hitting five sixes between them in that phase. Knight Riders ended the first half of their innings at 85 for 2.Russell ruins Shami’s nightIt remained like that for a while: runs coming quickly at one end but not quite at the other. Mohammed Shami, varying his pace constantly, went for only 11 in his first two overs, the 11th and 13th of Knight Riders’ innings, and sent back Lynn with a well-disguised knuckleball. Vijay Shankar and Chris Morris, meanwhile. went for 12 and 15 against Rana and Dinesh Karthik in the 12th and 14th overs.Neither team could really say it was significantly in front at the start of the 15th over, which began with Russell batting on 0 off 0. Twenty-two came off that over, with Russell ramping, lofting and muscling Shami for three massive sixes. In between, he miscued one, only for Jason Roy to drop him, diving forward after running in from long-on.Rana was the dominant partner in the next over, pulling Morris for six and then holding his shape to carve a slower one over point for four, before Russell versus Shami resumed. Three more sixes came off this over, off three very different deliveries – a wide, full slower ball; a length ball; a bouncer – and 20 runs in all.It took a perfectly directed yorker from Boult to send back Russell in the 18th over. Then Rana played a couple of outrageous shots himself – a middle-stump yorker from Boult squeezed past short third man, a scything square-drive off Morris that made deep point redundant – before falling for 59 off 34 in the penultimate over. With Knight Riders’ batting might almost extinguished, Rahul Tewatia took three wickets and only conceded one run off the last over, but the damage had been done.Early wickets seal the dealRoy came into this match fresh off a match-winning, unbeaten 91 in a chase of not dissimilar magnitude against Mumbai Indians. There would be no repeat here. Piyush Chawla bowled the first over, no doubt because of Roy’s dodgy T20 record against legspin, and had him stumped down the leg side when he spotted him charging out of his crease too early. That was Roy’s 12th dismissal to legspin in 27 innings – in that time he has scored 190 runs against them at a strike rate of roughly 126.Russell’s pace and bounce did for Shreyas Iyer, who fended a rising delivery to slip, and when Gautam Gambhir chopped on against Shivam Mavi, Daredevils had lost a wicket in each of their first three overs.With no option but to keep playing their shots, Pant and Maxwell kept the game alive for a little longer, but with such a large chunk of Daredevils’ resources already depleted, it was a matter of time before Knight Riders would reassert their dominance. Both fell to Kuldeep Yadav; Pant smashed him straight to deep midwicket in the ninth over, and Maxwell, having just struck successive sixes off him in the 11th, holed out attempting a third in a row. Morris and Shankar, the last two recognised batsmen, fell in the space of three stump-to-stump balls from Sunil Narine, enabling him to pick up his 100th and 101st IPL wickets.

The Wanderers will look like the Wanderers on Saturday, which is hardly startling news except if you saw it two weeks ago during the second T20 between South Africa and Sri Lanka

Firdose Moonda03-Feb-2017The Wanderers will look like the Wanderers on Saturday, which is hardly startling news except if you saw it two weeks ago during the second T20 between South Africa and Sri Lanka. The surface was dry, cracked and took turn, the hosts criticised it for resembling Colombo, Sri Lanka had them in the spin and levelled the three-match series.There will be none of that again.Even if groundsman Bethuel Buthelezi has not been given any instructions, he would have heard stand-in T20 skipper Farhaan Behardien wonder what happened to the pitch that is reputed for its bounce and carry. “We haven’t quite got to the bottom of it,” Behardien said, when asked if he was given an explanation for the conditions. “But it wasn’t a traditional Wanderers wicket.”For the ODI it should be after captain AB de Villiers stressed the importance of making the most of local conditions. “Everywhere you play around the world teams try and cash in on home ground advantage. It’s important for us to – not make it ridiculous – but to play to our strengths,” he said. “That’s why touring is so difficult, especially to the subcontinent and there’s nothing wrong with that. They make pitches the way that they feel they’ve got the best chance to win. We’ve probably haven’t got it right in that last T20 and one or two of the ODIs but this wicket looks really good.”A Johannesburg ODI is usually a run-fest, especially since South Africa started playing there in pink as part of a breast-cancer awareness project. In the four pink games since 2013, South Africa have averaged 351 and won all of them.Specifically, de Villiers himself has taken to the change of kit. He has scored two centuries, including the fastest hundred in ODIs off 31 balls against West Indies, to average 97.50 and admits there’s something about the occasion that gets him going. “I enjoy big crowds and big moments and there’s a bit of hype and a lot of noise around this game.” he said. “I love playing at the Bullring. Once I get going and I get to 50 or so and the crowd gets a bit louder, it gets me going as well.”A sell-out is expected on Saturday, which means more than 30,000 people will pack into the venue in anticipation of a series win. South Africa could secure the trophy with two games to play, not only to give them the opportunity for a second series whitewash at home but as part of a strategy to learn to string together victories as they would need to do at an ICC event.”If we are going to win big tournaments, you’ve got to win five or six games in a row sometimes. We’ve got to get that habit going of winning series 4-1, 5-0, instead of 3-2 like we’ve done in the past because when you get to a World Cup, 3-2 is not good enough,” de Villiers said.With the Champions Trophy less than five months and only 11 matches away, de Villiers wants South Africa to start getting into good habits now and to maintain them until the 2019 World Cup. As has often been the case, de Villiers is confident South Africa have what it takes to break their trophy drought but knows the proof will only come with a cup. “The culture is stronger than ever. The guys seem to have a lot of direction and a lot of feel for where we are going as a team but our true test will be at the Champions Trophy.”

Sourav Ganguly has come under the ‘conflict of interest’ scanner after Sanjeev Goenka, with whom he co-owns football franchise Atletico de Kolkata, was awarded the bid to own the Pune franchise

Sidharth Monga08-Dec-20155:07

Ganguly faces the conflict question

Sourav Ganguly’s association with one of the new IPL franchise owners has been questioned as a possible case of conflict of interest. Ganguly is a member of the IPL governing council and is also a co-owner of the football franchise Atletico de Kolkata; a fellow co-owner is Sanjiv Goenka, who heads the New Rising consortium that today won the Pune IPL franchise.The matter was raised at the press conference that followed the auction procedure and BCCI officials present denied it was a case of conflict but said it would be for the newly appointed ombudsman to decide. Ganguly, when contacted by ESPNcricinfo, laughed off the suggestion of conflict, saying football and cricket are two different sports.

The Kumble Question

The recent resignation of Anil Kumble, another former India captain, from the Mumbai Indians support staff had raised similar doubts over conflict of interest. Manohar was asked on Tuesday whether he thought Kumble’s case was similar to Ganguly’s, as he was not directly related to the Mumbai Indians franchise, and he replied: “No, he was on the technical committee, and the technical committee makes all rules and regulations with regards to playing of the game.”

Shashank Manohar, BCCI president and a lawyer himself, offered a more nuanced defence. “According to me there is not [a conflict of interest] because this is a transparent bidding concept,” Manohar said. “Basically I get questions everyday [about conflict of interest]. People have not understood the meaning of the word conflict. Conflict means where there could be an obvious bias with regards to the decision-making process. When a person can influence the decision-making, then only there is conflict. You can’t extend it to absurdity levels. I am a lawyer, if there is a client of mine, unless it can be shown I have influence, there is no conflict if he bids for a team.”Manohar, though, said his assessment of the Ganguly situation was his own personal view. “Everybody has a right to disagree with me. I am not going to be the judge. The board has appointed an independent agency.”Manohar’s point was that nobody knew the bid amounts while walking into the meeting. They didn’t even know who all were going to bid. The bidders made walk-in offers, which ruled out any knowledge to anyone as to who was going to bid how much. “It was a closed bid submitted at the bidding time,” Manohar said. “Sourav Ganguly has nothing to do with that. Even if somebody has an objection now, we have appointed an ombudsman to look into these cases.”New Rising made two bids in this reverse-bidding process, both in minus. Both were lower than any other bid, but they could get only one franchise according to IPL rules. Every other bidder made at least one positive bid.Manohar did not, however, address the issue of a situation that could arise going forward, where the IPL’s governing council – of which Ganguly is a member as a “cricketer” – might have to decide on matters directly related to the Pune franchise. Though his role is seen as largely ceremonial, it could be argued that he would have influence over decisions taken.It could also be argued that Ganguly is partner with Goenka in a separate entity, and might not have anything to gain financially from New Rising as a co-owner of Atletico. Such a defence has not been put forward by any of the parties involved, although Ganguly’s cryptic reply to ESPNcricinfo might have hinted at that.

Preview of the match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mohali

The Preview by Nikita Bastian05-May-2013

Match facts

May 6, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)For Kings XI Punjab, a lot will depend on David Miller extending his smashing run•BCCI

Big Picture

Royal Challengers Bangalore finally scored away points, their first in five games on the road in IPL 2013, against Pune Warriors on Thursday. While the winning margin of 17 runs seemed comfortable enough in the end, Royal Challengers must have been worried as Robin Uthappa had a feisty go at the target of 188. To remove all remaining doubts, for themselves, the fans and the experts, they would have to score again in Mohali.Apart from the psychological benefits of consecutive away victories, it’s imperative that they win to allow themselves a bit of a cushion on the points table. Royal Challengers currently sit at No. 2 with 14 points from 11 games. But Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals all have the same numbers too. With five games to go in the group stages, Royal Challengers will want to break away from the pack without much delay.Kings XI Punjab sit just outside of that mid-table cluster, with eight points from 10 games. With nine wins being the number widely agreed upon as the number required to stand a serious chance of making the playoffs, they must win five of their remaining six matches. While Royal Challengers – with the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli all having delivered at different times in this tournament – might seem like a daunting challenge for the relatively low-profile Kings XI, they can take heart from their previous two showings. After almost pulling off a giant-killing in Mumbai, they were spirited in their chase of 187 at Chepauk. Now, back at home in Mohali, they will be hoping to finally close out a game. Time is running out for them, and they can’t afford any more almost-theres.

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bangalore: WLLWW (most recent first)
Kings XI Punjab: LLLWW

Players to watch

Royal Challengers Bangalore bought Saurabh Tiwary for US$1.6 million at the 2011 auction, following his fine IPL 2010 with Mumbai Indians. Till last Thursday, he was yet to score a half-century for Royal Challengers. A few days ago, coach Ray Jennings said it is imperative Tiwary – who had missed the first couple of weeks of the tournament due to injury but has played all five of Royal Challengers’ games since – betters his performance. He responded with 52 against Pune Warriors, but scored at a rate of 115 even as his team got to 187. Royal Challengers will be hoping he can go that mile further against Kings XI.Praveen Kumar might have had an off-day in his previous game, going at 9.50 against Chennai Super Kings, but he has been having a very tidy IPL on the whole. Even after that showing at Chepauk, his economy rate in 10 games is 6.75, the third-best among pace bowlers (35 overs min) in the tournament behind Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But he has missed out on selection for the Champions Trophy in England in June. He last played for India a little over a year ago, before being sidelined by injury. On recovering, he had expressed “frustration” at being ignored by the national selectors. Then, he had discipline issues in domestic cricket. Now, he might be feeling a bit hard done again. He’ll be keen to prove a point.

Stats and Trivia

• Both teams have very even records against each other: they’ve played 10 in all, winning 5 each; they’ve played 4 in Punjab, winning 2 each; they won one apiece last year, both sides winning their away games
• Kings XI’s David Miller leads the tournament’s batting-average charts at the moment, with 251 runs in six games at 83.66
• Beware Chris Gayle the bowler. He has claimed three wickets in the two overs he has sent down in the tournament so far

Lancashire survived a late onslaught from Graham Napier to secure a 28-run win over Essex at Old Trafford.

20-May-2012
ScorecardLancashire survived a late onslaught from Graham Napier to secure a 28-run win over Essex at Old Trafford. The result leaves Essex still looking for their first win in the competition, while Lancashire have now won their opening two matches.Stephen Moore, Steven Croft and Paul Horton all hit half-centuries as Lancashire posted 258 for 9 and Essex looked in trouble on 139 for 6 in the 28th over in reply before Napier smashed 51 in just 25 balls in a quick-fire 68-run partnership with Greg Smith to give them a fighting chance.Once Napier holed out to a brilliant catch from Croft, Smith continued the fightback with 44 from 40 deliveries. But, in the end, Essex fell short as they were bowled out for 230 with 15 balls left, Lightning spinner Gary Keedy claiming three for 49.Moore and Croft gave Lancashire a lightning start after winning the toss. They both brought up their half-centuries at faster than a run-a-ball, with Moore smashing a six off Tymal Mills to bring up their 100 partnership off 77 deliveries. Tom Craddock ended the 111-run stand when Moore was caught at cover by Smith for his 62 which came off just 50 deliveries.David Masters then struck twice in an over. First, Croft was trapped lbw for 53 and then Karl Brown chipped the ball to Mark Pettini for 15 as Lancashire slumped from 130 for 1 to 148 for 4. Horton, however, led the rebuilding with 54 from 53 balls.Lancashire continued to lose wickets regularly, with Masters finishing with 4 for 41 by adding the scalps of Stephen Parry and Horton and Napier seeing off Sajid Mahmood as he claimed 2 for 49.Alviro Petersen and Pettini made a bright start for Essex until Ajmal Shahzad claimed his first wicket at Old Trafford as a Lancashire player by bowling Petersen for 24. Pettini, who was dropped by Horton on nine, added just eight more as Parry took a difficult catch.After Tom Westley was involved in a mix up which saw Adam Wheater run out for a duck, he put on 56 with James Foster to keep Essex in the game before being caught on the boundary by Mahmood for 33.Foster made 41 before being bowled by Keedy, and when Michael Comber was run out for a duck two overs later, the game looked over. But Napier and Smith ensured Lancashire were tested to the end, with Mahmood suffering the brunt of their attack as his eight overs went for 60 runs.

Shane Watson still considers it a miracle that his body no longer falls apart at the merest hint of stress

Daniel Brettig30-Mar-2011Shane Watson still considers it a miracle that his body no longer falls apart at the merest hint of stress. So it is understandable that his ascension to the vice-captaincy of Australia, in all three forms of the game, was a little difficult for him to comprehend. Only a handful of years have passed since Watson was roundly dismissed due to his many injuries, and in 2006 he was lampooned for a phantom heart-attack in India. Now, Watson is a heartbeat away from the Australian captaincy.”It really has been an amazing couple of years, and something I never really thought would be coming my way after my previous part of my career when I really struggled to get on the field,” Watson said in Sydney after he was unveiled alongside new Test and limited overs skipper Michael Clarke. “For things to come together now to mean I’m vice-captain of the Australian cricket team, it’s still hard for me to get my head around. It is hard for me to get my head around that I’ve been able to play for a number of years with the Australian team and be able to contribute the way that I have, it is something I never thought would come about.”I feel like my game’s in a really good place now and my mind’s in a great place to be able to really have the mental space to be able to contribute as much as I possibly can.”The changeable nature of the vice-captaincy is a source of curiosity. Some, such as Clarke or a young Mark Taylor, are chosen with a view towards the future, while others like Ian Healy and Geoff Marsh serve as loyal lieutenants without ever really inching towards the top job. Healy was replaced by Steve Waugh before the 1997 Ashes tour in order to smooth the line of succession if Taylor did not pull out of his form dive.Watson’s role seems likely to marry both, for chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch is aware that Clarke’s Test batting has been decidedly poor for some time. Far more successful with the bat in the past year, Watson, however, is lacking in formal leadership credentials, something Ponting seemed acutely aware of as his reign stuttered towards a sad conclusion.”He hasn’t had a lot of leadership experience,” Hilditch said of Watson. “One of the big reasons we’ve made this appointment now was the reality is that Shane’s such a good player he’s not going to play much domestic cricket. So if he’s going to get his leadership skills up to another level it has to be now and it has to be as vice-captain. So it’ll be a learning curve for Shane but his first role is to support Michael.”Ever honest, Watson baulked at the PR-friendly line that leadership will add vitality to his batting. Instead he reminded all in attendance that his chief task when Australia resumes Test match duty in Sri Lanka later this year will be to turn his promising starts into match-shaping hundreds.”That’s my bigger task, even more than the vice-captaincy is actually turning my 50s into some bigger scores,” he said. “No doubt there’s something I need to continue my development as a player. I think just even over the last year or so being around the group and trying to be a leader in some way or help the younger guys … I feel like it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, to help people out more than anything.”That’s something I’m really excited about, really trying to help the young guys out coming through, because I have been very lucky to come through an era of Australian cricket as great as it really ever has been. I know how lucky I am to have those experiences from a very young age, and I’ll be trying to get the best out of everyone within the team.”

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC CEO, spoke exclusively to Cricinfo about Pakistan’s situation and the ICC taskforce working with the PCB to alleviate the board’s plight

Osman Samiuddin15-Apr-2010After the Lahore attacks last year, a feeling grew in Pakistan and the PCB that they have been isolated from world cricket, both geographically in terms of tournaments being taken away, and otherwise in ways such as their players missing out on the IPL. How does the ICC deal with something like this?First of all it is a very unfortunate feeling because it is devoid of any truth. In fact it is quite the reverse. There is a lot of sympathy, a lot of understanding, a lot of acknowledgement that we need to do something to make sure that we support Pakistan during this difficult phase brought on because of environmental factors and nothing to do with cricket. It is very unfortunate but untrue. It is very difficult for me as the ICC to try and portray anything different other than to say that it is not true.We have put a task team together, we’ve done everything possible, we’ve supported Pakistan through decisions we’ve made. In fact the task team has gone as far as to try and assist in accommodating international fixtures. One thing is very clear in my mind and I think of my own upbringing with South Africa, where there was real isolation and it’s absolutely the inverse here.Just on the IPL issue, Pakistan’s players missed out. The ICC says it is a domestic issue but isn’t that just deflection? Isn’t it a serious concern that the best players of Twenty20 in the world are not playing in the world’s most lucrative cricket league. Should the ICC not take an interest in that and can they really do anything about this?From a regulatory perspective no, but surely when we speak to our friends across all sectors we try to suggest to and influence them to be as transparent and as open-minded about all this, as possible. But in truth those owners decide on who their teams shall or shall not be and we can do no more.Did it disappoint you?There is an emotional response and all of us were disappointed that some of the better players – Pakistan after all had just won the World Twenty20 – had missed out. So there is an emotional disappointment. But if you think about it intellectually, some of the rationale behind it, you have to understand, some owners didn’t want to maybe go through the difficulty and then you can appreciate the reasoning behind it. Intellectually you can begin to understand why they didn’t want to take the risk.Relations between Pakistan and the ICC deteriorated last year after the World Cup hosting issue and there was the threat of a legal battle. How do things stand now?If there is a legal battle ensuing then of course relationships are somewhat different, you are a bit more guarded, a bit more careful. But we are all professional, we know how to handle these things, we worked through it, we managed it very well and here we are. We sorted the matter out. We’ve always said that perhaps Pakistan misunderstood the reasoning behind it, and it wasn’t an attempt to strip them of co-hosting, it was just of location. But I think all of that fell into place and began to make sense. I would say currently people have long got over the issue of taking the locations out of Pakistan. We’ve settled that in August last year, lots has passed since then and people have moved on.What work has the ICC task force done so far in terms of helping Pakistan?The task force was set up before the Lahore attacks and after the Champions Trophy 2008 decision. Pakistan accepted the invitation in January 2009 in Perth to work with the task force. Some of the positives you can see now, the benefits. In that task force there is a support to do something. England in particular has seen the opportunity to host Pakistan Tests there. It is a huge benefit to Pakistan. I’ve always said, I am very clear on one thing, Pakistan must play international cricket. If it cannot play on home soil, that is unfortunate but it should not stop playing international cricket. At best, let’s play on neutral venues until things become a bit different in the home environment and we can revisit that prospect of playing at home.There was talk of a series of world XI games being played against them in Abu Dhabi, Dubai but that hasn’t gone far?It’s going to be very difficult. These are all suggestions that are worked on. You know how packed the calendar is. In fact even Pakistan themselves – which is a good thing, an excellent thing – are so jam-packed. Nothing I suspect will happen this year, in terms of that suggestion but it is one of the possible options.How important is it, with India being such a financial giant, for Pakistan and India to improve ties and be able to play regularly? Is the ICC doing something about that?You explained the economics of how important it is. From the ICC perspective, it is important that all our members have harmonious relationships. They are all members and we want to ensure that every one of them is working on sound relations with the other.The World Cup is less than a year away now. Could there be problems with regards to Pakistan playing in India: the final for example is scheduled for Mumbai and a Pakistan side hasn’t played there for many years.I’m not concerned now because at the central organizing committee level we’ve been very clear in our minds that should Pakistan reach any of the venues they will play at those venues. That includes Mumbai so if they get to the final, they would be very welcome to playing at Wankhede Stadium.What do you see as the roadmap to cricket returning to Pakistan? 2011 was the earliest the ICC said initially, but realistically when do you see it returning?There is absolutely no timeline, and it would be irresponsible to suggest timelines and create expectations. We need to take it a day, a week, a month, a year at a time. It is something we must just monitor. This year Pakistan are sorted out in terms of international fixtures. When next year comes around, we must keep an open mind. As we read reports and get reports, we’ve got security networks in place and we keep monitoring and keep an eye on developments.Has the ICC looked at its own role as far as security is concerned, maybe at least by standardizing security consultants for all series around the world?Yes we have. We established a security task force that really got going after Lahore attacks headed by Lord Condon. That task force had put forward seven recommendations which the board has agreed. One of those is a standardization of required safety and security standards. Another recommendation which the PCB has implemented is for each full member to appoint a full-time security manager including at the ICC. That network of security managers will arrange standard protocol measures. Now those measures are being written so hopefully by June we could have something in place.

“Important that you go on for longer, because the longer you bat, the easier it becomes and it’s important to stay in that plan for as long as possible”

Alan Gardner17-Jul-2024West Indies’ batters will attempt to strike the right balance between defence and attack when they face up to England in the second Test at Trent Bridge, with the captain, Kraigg Brathwaite, saying that they have “to find a way” to put runs on the board.The tourists were bowled out for totals of 121 and 136 to lose by an innings at Lord’s, with no one in the top seven managing more than the 27 by debutant opener Mikyle Louis in the first innings. Brathwaite said that while there had been discussions about what a young batting line-up, four of whom came into the series having played fewer than five Tests, could do differently – such as taking the attack to England’s bowlers – the focus of his message would be on doing the same again, but “for longer”.”It’s pretty simple what we’ve got to do,” he said. “We’ve got to bat a lot better. Obviously we’ve got to find a way, which we’ve had some discussions around different things we can do better as a team. There are still a bit of positives with the bat. With the ball, as I said before, [England scored] 50-60 runs too many but it was a positive to get ten wickets. But with the bat, we’ve just got to put runs on the board. It’s simple.Related

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“A few guys did get in and didn’t go on. It’s just important that you go on for longer, because the longer you bat, the easier it becomes and it’s important to stay in that plan for as long as possible. Obviously you want to put away bad balls, that’s what everybody wants to do. But it’s that hard work that you do for 40 minutes, being able to take that to an hour, two hours. And it is a balance, a mixture of putting away the bad balls, because when you put away the bad balls it gives them confidence. We just got to keep learning. You know, I think a lot of learning would have taken place in the first Test and you’ve just got to believe in our ability and do it and aim to do it for longer periods.”While many of his players are learning on the job, Brathwaite has the experience of 90 Tests to fall back on – and he remains unflustered by a lack of personal form with the bat, which has seen him score one half-century in his last eight Tests going back to February 2023, during which time he has averaged 15.13.”I know what I have to do and it’s obviously important to lead this team and lead the batting, just to build this foundation is obviously what I’m focusing on and obviously that always puts us in a better position to score big runs,” he said. “I enjoy captaining, I enjoy leading. I’ve been opening my whole life, so when I go there to bat, for me, it’s always to see off that new ball, and be there as long as [I] can. That’s always my focus, so I don’t see it as any added pressure. Yes, you know, at times you don’t get runs and it could be a little bit tough but it’s just important to stay mentally tough and keep believing.”On the team’s motivation, he referred to their victory in Brisbane earlier this year, having been beaten heavily by Australia in the first Test, as proof “that we could get it done after a loss”, and said that it was important not to dwell on the lack of preparation time that resulted in such an underwhelming performance at Lord’s.”I think from a belief point of view, it shows that we could get it done after a loss, albeit in different conditions,” Brathwaite said of the Gabba victory, West Indies’ first in Australia since 1997. “It was [a few] months ago. But yes, we could take a bit from that. But the main thing is just having that belief in yourself.”We have a motivation, we got to be better than in the first Test. As you know, the batsmen [have] obviously got to put runs on the board, and that’s our focus. I think once we remain disciplined, session by session, build partnerships that will put us in a good position, you know, and the overall result of the game.”What’s gone is gone. The first defeat is gone. The preparation period is gone. I think the guys are in very good spirits. Mentally it’s really important to believe in yourself. Guys are ready to go.”The two-match series in Australia in January was West Indies’ only Test commitment between July 2023 and the current England series, and Brathwaite reiterated calls by his predecessor, Jason Holder, for administrators to do as much as possible to schedule more games, while also looking forward to home series against South Africa and Bangladesh following the conclusion of their trip to England.”It’s a challenge. I mean, we be longing for more Test cricket. I think the more you play it, the faster you will learn,” he said. “Obviously if it is drawn out over a long period of time, playing two Tests here, two Tests there, you will take longer to learn. The guys are learning, that is the positive, but yes, we need more Tests. It would improve everything about the make-up of playing Test cricket because it’s always going to be tough. You get good periods, you get bad periods, and the more often you play, you pretty much understand it better.”But we have what we have. We have a good period now till December, we have six more Test matches for the year. So we’ve got to make use of that and hopefully, going forward, we can get more because it will benefit the players. The more Test matches you play, the more experience you get. You always learn because I’m pretty much still learning after 90 games. Yeah, we need more Test cricket.”

Solid stand between Billy Root, Eddie Byrom sees hosts to safety after early danger

ECB Reporters Network09-Apr-2023A Graeme van Buuren hundred led a brilliant Gloucestershire comeback in their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Glamorgan in Cardiff to secure a very creditable draw.Having trailed by 239 runs after the first innings, Gloucestershire made 569 for 7 in their second innings to set Glamorgan 331 to win.Three early wickets gave Gloucestershire a slim chance of pulling off the unlikeliest of wins, but a solid stand between Billy Root and Eddie Byrom saw the home side to safety at 110 for 3.The pitch in Cardiff continued to improve for the batters as the match wore on, with all the bowlers struggling to slow the scoring or claim wickets. The draw gives Glamorgan 12 points and Gloucestershire eight from this first-round match.Having started the day at 373 for 5, Gloucestershire still had work to do to make this game safe. Van Buuren resumed on 36 not out and brilliantly held things together on his way to his fifth first-class hundred for his county.With support from Ollie Price, Zafar Gohar, Jack Taylor and Tom Price, van Buuren guided his team well past 500. That took Gloucestershire into a position where the draw was the most likely result and they had a chance, albeit a remote one, of pulling off a remarkable comeback win.The real attacking intent came from Price, who backed up his excellent bowling performance in Glamorgan’s first innings with a 60-ball fifty. Given how this pitch just got better for batting as the match progressed, Gloucestershire were perhaps understandably cautious with their declaration. When it did come, they had set Glamorgan 331 runs to win in 46 overs.With the required rate starting at above seven runs an over it was always going to be a tough ask for Glamorgan to chase this down, but captain David Lloyd certainly showed some intent when he opened their second innings. He had made it to 6 from five balls when he scooped a ball into the leg side off Price that was caught on the deep square leg boundary by Marcus Harris.Looking to attack against the high-class spin of Zafar was more difficult. The Pakistani slow left-armer was once again given the new ball and he rewarded his captain with the wicket of Colin Ingram when he bowled him between bat and pad. That left Glamorgan at 35 for 2 with 38 overs left to be bowled.When Kiran Carlson poked at a ball from Price that was well taken on the second attempt by Jack Taylor at first slip, it left Glamorgan 38 for 3 at the tea break.With Gloucestershire now the team most likely to secure victory, they were impressive in the final session. Zafar was the most consistent threat, but Marchant de Lange was also beating the bat regularly. But the pitch won out in the end, with the two teams shaking hands for the draw with nine overs left unbowled.Glamorgan have a two-week wait until their next match against Durham, with Gloucestershire set to take on Yorkshire in Bristol on Thursday. Both teams will feel they have a lot of positives to take away from this game, especially given how the weather hampered pre-season preparations.

The offspinner ended a 156-run stand at a time when the Australia opener offered no real chances

Danyal Rasool in Rawalpindi06-Mar-2022It’s hard to put any spin on it. Not the ball (though that, too), but the fact this Test won’t rank among Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium’s finest moments. The cricket hasn’t been especially engaging – even if the batters might disagree; 747 runs have been scored, with six wickets falling across three days.On a day when Australia raced away to 271 – hovering around four an over for much of the day – there was limited respite for bowling. The day started brightly enough for Pakistan with Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah comfortably outperforming their Australian counterparts with the new ball. Both Usman Khawaja and David Warner were cagey against the new ball. A few edges flew through the slips, one from Khawaja went straight to Fawad Alam at gully, who put down a bit of a sitter. In a game where wickets have been as scarce as hen’s teeth, it was an unforgivable error. The pressure bubble popped, and Australia’s openers took over.Related

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So it was perhaps understandable, with just two wickets falling until bad light put a halt to play about 20 overs early, that Pakistan offspinner Sajid Khan dedicated much of his brief post-match presser gushing about how he’d set up Warner. With the batter on 68 and having offered no real chances, Warner went back to a full one and saw it sneak through the gate, ending a 156-run stand.”The wicket is slow,” Sajid said. “I’ve used some variations but I try and set the batter up before deploying them. I bowled 27 overs, and the shot Warner played was one of impatience. I set Warner up and he kept playing back foot to full balls. So I went even fuller, and he made one mistake and I got a wicket there. David Warner’s wicket is big, and he’s a very good player.”It’s standard enough, the game of cat and mouse between spinner and batter. But curiously enough, it was the slowness of the wicket that got Sajid that wicket. With the batters having enough time to go back foot to everything, Warner began to push his limits, just as Sajid tested his. By the time he was dismissed, he was playing back to a ball that, had he stepped out of his crease, could almost have been a half-volley, and eventually paid the price.It was perhaps just a small footnote to a Test that would have been a footnote in itself were it not for the historic nature of the occasion. With inclement weather set to have a final say – it began raining heavily shortly after stumps were called, with puddles forming across the ground.The prospect of a result is remote in the extreme, though Sajid insisted Pakistan were still in with a shot. “There are very few overs to the new ball,” he said. “It’ll grip and there are some footmarks. If any of these got out, [Travis] Head and [Alex] Carey come in; both are left-handers so we should find it easier to get them out. We’re in this game because a lot of runs are left. Nauman is turning the ball now, too.”The clue, though, lay perhaps in some of the things he didn’t say, or didn’t mean to say. The Test has been so devoid of incident Sajid briefly got his days confused, believing tomorrow was day three. (If that were the case, the smart money would still be on a draw, for what it’s worth). But Sajid also said, three times in five minutes, that the new ball was due, suggesting perhaps best Pakistan’s hopes lie in a quick, explosive burst from Shaheen and Naseem.”The wicket is such that they played well. The wicket was a bit suitable to spin but it’s good for batting. The new ball is coming, we’re in the game and we’ll try and get a result. It’s a bit more suitable for spinners, and the new ball is coming soon, too. If we get spin on one end and pace on the other, that could work.”It’s hard to lay any blame upon Sajid, who will bowl worse and get more wickets – he arguably bowled no better than he did today in Mirpur, where he walked away with 12 wickets and the Player of the Match award. But on a day that even the most ardent fan would struggle to recall by the time the series is done, Sajid sounds like he’s going home playing the Warner wicket in his mind’s eye on a loop. He’ll get many more such scalps if he can maintain this level. Just don’t expect too many to come in the next couple of days.