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Meanwhile, Jemimah Rodrigues said the WPL would be a “blessing in disguise” for the India players following the World Cup semi-final exit

Vishal Dikshit02-Mar-2023India have come agonisingly close to beating world champions Australia in two thrilling knockout games in the last seven months and captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes a tournament like WPL will help bridge the gap between the two teams in the future. India lost out on a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games last year when they fell nine runs short against Australia in the final and recently lost the semi-final of the T20 World Cup against them in close fashion. Harmanpreet was India’s top scorer and took them close with attacking knocks in both games, but the lower order couldn’t close out the chases.Those two losses were, however, much more promising for Indian cricket than the 85-run thrashing India received from the same opponents in the 2020 T20 World Cup final at the MCG.Related

• Opening act: Blue is the warmest colour as Harmanpreet, Mumbai carry WPL torch

• Can the WPL make women's cricket in India mainstream?

• WPL FAQs – How many overseas players per XI? Where are the games? Is there DRS?

• WPL – the start of something unusually usual for women's cricket in India

• Seven lesser-known WPL cricketers who could be gamechangers

“I think this is a great platform for all Indian players because we have been missing this tournament for a long time,” Harmanpreet said of the WPL during a virtual press conference on Thursday. “Definitely for Australia and England the WBBL and Hundred have worked very well and after those tournaments they’ve got so much young talent. After the WPL we are also going to get some good talent and I’m sure the difference you’re talking about [between India and Australia sides] we’d love to cut down. When you see good talent coming up, you’re definitely going to make a good team after the WPL.”While chasing 162 at the CWG final in Birmingham, Harmanpreet led India’s charge with a quick fifty and they needed 44 from 30 balls with seven wickets in hand. But India slipped when Harmanpreet and Pooja Vastrakar got out on consecutive deliveries and couldn’t score 11 from the last over. In the World Cup semi-final last month, Harmanpreet again led India’s chase in counterattacking fashion after they were 28 for 3 in pursuit of 173. India needed to score a more comfortable 41 off 34 this time with six wickets in hand but Harmanpreet’s run-out when her bat got stuck just before the crease while completing a second run derailed India again.Delhi Capitals players Aparna Mondal, Alice Capsey, Meg Lanning, Jemimah Rodrigues and Arundhati Reddy•AFP via Getty Images

Jemimah Rodrigues: World Cup loss still haunting us

Jemimah Rodrigues played second fiddle to her captain in both those losses; her run-a-ball 33 was part of a third-wicket stand of 96 off 71 balls in the CWG final, and a more attacking 43 off 24 was crucial in a partnership of 69 off 41 with the captain in the World Cup semi-final.Soon after being named the Delhi Capitals vice-captain on Thursday afternoon in Mumbai, Rodrigues said the semi-final loss still lingered in her and her team-mates’ minds a week after the game. Rodrigues said having the WPL soon after the World Cup would be a “blessing in disguise” for the India players.”It’s not been easy after losing the semi-finals, a few days were really tough for all of us,” she said. “It took us a while to get out of it, we’ve still not gotten out of it. The WPL is like a blessing in disguise because it’s going to help us get involved and get busy in preparing for this that it’ll help us take our mind off the World Cup. But yes, those thoughts will keep haunting us.”Rodrigues also feels the WPL will help unearth promising Indian players who will make a difference in the future. “We have been pushing the doors for a very long time, we are getting there, we are getting very close. But I am sure the WPL will change a lot for women’s cricket. You will find many superstars coming out from it, many leaders, or many match-winners, I would say.”

There’s no lack of context in what is a World Cup year, but Lanning and Knight aren’t looking too far ahead as they face off in the ODI leg of the women’s Ashes

Andrew McGlashan02-Feb-2022The rest of this Ashes series will do well to match the drama of the Test that played out at Manuka Oval. It was a contest that may yet be pivotal in a sustained revival of the format in the women’s game.That is a longer-term ambition and one that the administrators need to take seriously (highlighted by the fact that there are currently no further Tests on the schedule), but in the immediate future there is an equally important challenge to focus the minds of Australia and England.Related

• Lanning relieved, Sciver 'more sad than happy'

• 'Easily the best Test match of women's cricket history'

• Highest fourth-innings total, and the narrowest draw

Not that these ODIs, which will decide the Ashes, need any further context, but looming on the horizon is the World Cup in New Zealand. England are defending champions, Australia have long spoken of their drive to banish the memories of their semi-final exit in 2017, and their opening World Cup match is between each other on March 5. But Meg Lanning and Heather Knight are not looking further than these three outings.”We don’t want to think too far ahead because as soon as we do that it will come crashing down pretty quick,” Lanning said.”If we try and do the right things it will prepare us for the World Cup” Knight said. “We haven’t got our eye on that [the World Cup] at all, it’s all about that first game and trying to bring the good stuff we’ve done so far and polish a few things.”There was somewhat less raw emotion in Knight’s voice as she spoke on Wednesday compared to her post-Test interview with the BBC on Sunday evening. She knew how close her team had got to putting themselves ahead in the multi-format series and, in truth, knew they should have won.It could have been worse had those last 13 balls not been kept out by Sophie Ecclestone and Kate Cross because an Australia win would have finished the Ashes off there and then, but England now need to win the ODIs 3-0 to wrestle them back for the first time since 2013-14.That is a huge ask against a side that had a 26-match unbeaten run in the format until their most recent outing against India, but amid the agonising near-miss three days ago, Knight felt England had laid down a marker.”Felt like we were in a great position to win it and at the end there it felt a little bit like a loss, but the way we went at that chase was awesome,” she said. “I certainly think they were the most relieved with the draw. It’s shown that when we do go hard at them we can put them under pressure and create a few cracks.”Real character from the girls, to show that we can do that and want to go at the Australians. We’ve talked about it a lot before the series and so pleased that the girls put themselves out there and tried to chase it down.”England have won their three ODI series since cricket resumed in the pandemic – two against New Zealand and one against India – but their last meeting against Australia in the Ashes during the 2019 series was a 3-0 defeat.Those three matches were part of Australia’s winning streak – the third of them featuring Ellyse Perry’s 7 for 22 – and there remains understandable confidence in the one-day game. India pushed them harder than most earlier this season and, having narrowly seen victory slip away in the second match because of a waist-high full-toss, reset Australia’s counter to zero in the next game.There were some questions raised about Lanning’s captaincy when the pressure was on in the closing stages of the Test, although they were eventually able to pull a draw out of the fire with Annabel Sutherland and Alana King impressing in what effectively became one-day death bowling, albeit without wides and fielding restrictions.The Test at Manuka Oval was a contest that may yet be pivotal in a sustained revival of the format in the women’s game•Getty Images

So far the absence of Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham from the spin attack has been well covered, while quick Tayla Vlaeminck has since joined them in missing the World Cup, but it will be interesting to watch how Australia adapt in the 50-over game.Though Amanda-Jade Wellington is part of the World Cup squad as a second legspinner alongside King, Lanning indicated that she would not be drafted in for this series unless there was injury or illness, leaving the road clear for King to continue as first choice.”[The Test] turned into a bit of a one-day game and it does go to show that when you put partnerships together it’s pretty difficult to get wickets. So that’s a bit of a sign for the ODI series,” Lanning said. “From a bowling perspective, we need to be able to take wickets and put them under pressure, and from a batting point of view, when you get in you really need to make sure you are making the most of it.”We are really comfortable with our ODI game at the moment, feel like it’s in a good spot, but we need to make sure we bring our best to beat England.”Lanning confirmed that Megan Schutt would return, having been left out of the Test to manage her workload after Covid-19, while they could have either Ashleigh Gardner or Tahlia McGrath as low as No. 7. Knight said there were no injury concerns and a 12-player squad had already been narrowed down. It’s make or break for England.

Hafeez is out of self-isolation after breach of biosecurity protocols on golf course

Danyal Rasool13-Aug-2020Pakistan’s worries that there may have been a breach of the bubble they are supposed to maintain on tour appear to be over, with Mohammad Hafeez back with the squad, having returned a negative test for Covid-19.Hafeez was placed in self-isolation on Wednesday and underwent testing, but once the results came back negative on Thursday morning, he rejoined the rest of the squad.The Pakistan allrounder breached the regulations around social distancing during a round of golf on Wednesday. It came to light after he posted a picture on social media with a member of the public, a 90-year old woman who was not part of the biosecure bubble. Though the picture showed them maintaining some distance between them, it was evident they were within two metres of each other.The PCB released a statement acknowledging the breach, and announced that Hafeez was being tested and placed in self-isolation until the test results came back. It was termed an “inadvertent mistake”, with no further action to be taken. ESPNcricinfo understands the decision was taken in consultation with the ECB, whom the statement said were “updated of the decision”.The breach has seen the PCB take a significantly less austere approach than in other instances of breaches over the summer.England fast bowler Jofra Archer was stood down for the second Test and entered self-isolation for five days. He was only allowed to rejoin the side upon returning two negative tests.The same was required of West Indies head coach Phil Simmons, who left the team bubble to attend his father-in-law’s funeral.Earlier this week, 19-year old Kent batsman Jordan Cox was dropped for a Bob Willis Trophy fixture after posing for a photograph with young fans.The golf course where Hafeez committed the breach is open to members of the public, though the players have been instructed to maintain social distancing. Hafeez is not part of the Test squad, but will be in consideration for the T20I leg of the tour, beginning on August 28.Malik to join squad on FridayMeanwhile, Shoaib Malik will join the Pakistan squad on Friday, having earlier obtained permission to skip the first four weeks of training on the tour in order to spend time with his family. Fast bowler Mohammad Musa, who was picked as a back-up to the original 29-member Pakistan contingent on the tour, has been released.August 14, GMT 1140 The story was updated with the news of Malik joining the squad.

Virat Kohli said cracking in pressure moments has been the story of his team’s season

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Apr-20190:51

Siraj’s no-ball in the 18th over was the turning point – Negi

Kolkata Knight Riders’ win on Friday was the ninth instance of a team winning an IPL game when more than 90 were needed off the last seven overs. On six of those occasions, Royal Challengers Bangalore were the bowling side. It’s become a painfully familiar tale for Royal Challengers, who possess a batting line-up that seems to constantly carry the team. Captain Virat Kohli said as much after his team recorded a fifth consecutive loss in the season.”If we bowl like that, [and] we don’t show composure in pressure moments, we deserve to be where we are in the table,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. “There’s no rocket science behind it. We haven’t played the kind of cricket we should be playing at the level of the IPL and if you bowl like that, with not enough bravery in the crunch moments, then it’s always going to be difficult when you have power-hitters like [Andre] Russell in the opposition.”I think we needed to be more clinical in the last four overs. That was just one-dimensional in the end and nothing came off. We cracked a little under pressure and that’s been the story of the season.”Russell has been on a streak that is far removed from the type Royal Challengers are having. He’s made scores of 48* off 13, 62 off 28, 48 off 17, and 49* of 19, with a combined 22 sixes in four games. Almost each time, he has single-handedly turned the match for his team, whether they have batted first or second. On Friday, the total being chased – 206 – was the highest Knight Riders have ever chased, and the highest they had been set this season.Kohli reckoned Royal Challengers could have added 20-25 more to the total, but didn’t let hindsight come in the way of the glaring problem at hand.”I wasn’t really happy getting out that moment [in the 18th over],” he said. “[We] could have added 20-25 more had we gone on. And then AB [de Villiers] didn’t get much strike in the end as well. He lost a bit of momentum too. In hindsight they [scores] are never good, but if you can’t defend 75 in four overs then you don’t know how many are enough. You can’t have 100 in the last over to defend. You have to look at things in hindsight but I thought the runs were enough on the board. If you saw the ball, the way it spun and stuck in the wicket, it wasn’t that easy. But we just didn’t have composure.”Royal Challengers have a day to recover, before they host Delhi Capitals on Sunday, which means little time to think about major changes. He suggested the best way to go about such a break was to give the players some space.”We have a bit of a chat about what went wrong and what happened in the game,” he said of the immediate response to the loss. “But apart from that there’s not much to say. You can talk as much as you want but you’ve got to go on the field and actually do the job. [I don’t think] talking enough helps all the time, you just need to give the guys a little bit of space, try to come back stronger in the next game, try to get on a roll on a winning note. It’s been a difficult season for us so far but we’re still optimistic about our chances and we just have to believe that we can turn things around.”

With the equation reading 45 off 52 balls with eight wickets in hand, Lahore Qalandars should have won this game easily; but they didn’t, and Andre Russell’s hitting downed them in the PSL’s first ever Super Over

The Report by Danyal Rasool02-Mar-2018In a nutshellLast night’s billing for the contest between Peshawar and Quetta as the game of the tournament looks horribly premature now. In a T20 contest that had more ebbs and flows than most Test matches, Islamabad United edged out Lahore Qalandars, after dragging them, against all logic, into a Super Over – the first in the PSL’s history. Chasing 16 in the Super Over, Andre Russell smashed 10 off the last two balls off the hapless Mustafizur Rehman, the six to seal it cruelly going over Brendon McCullum’s head at long on to put his side on the brink of elimination.This was a match that highlighted how low Lahore Qalandars’ confidence had dipped after beginning this season with three losses. If ever a game was set up to be a stroll to kick things off, it was this for Lahore, requiring just 45 off 52 balls with eight wickets in hand. But there was a sense of unease to it, as Agha Salman, who scored what then seemed a match-winning 48 – holed out to fine leg. As McCullum hung on, playing an uncharacteristic knock that began as sensible but ended up with him having lost all rhythm, it increasingly began to look like he was the man that stood between Lahore and another implosion. After he was run out in the final over, it looked like Lahore had indeed blown it, before an unlikely six by debutant Salman Irshad took them to a Super Over. Victory, however, was still elusive.Islamabad began poorly, with Lahore’s decision to open the bowling with Fakhar Zaman proving inspired. He struck in the first over, and it wasn’t until Hussain Talat – batting far too low at number eight – came in that the innings picked up any momentum. He smashed an unbeaten 33 off 21 to ensure they crossed 120, with every run worth its weight in gold a couple of hours down the line.Where the match was wonSimply put, in the head. With the Qalandars needing 45 off 52 balls with eight wickets in hand, this game didn’t look like becoming the classic it ended up being. But from the moment Agha Salman was dismissed, jitters began to sweep through the Qalandars. Their lack of batting depth was a concern, exacerbated by everyone that came in after failing to so much as reach double figures. The run rate slowly began to creep up and the pressure on McCullum grew, with Lahore struggling to put the game to bed whenever opportunities arose. Before you knew it, Lahore were eight down with seven required off the final over. It should never have come to this.The men that won itHussain Talat gave Islamabad a total to defend, but from thereon, Mohammad Sami and Andre Russell took over. Sami was superb during his four-over spell, targeting the stumps at pace, not allowing McCullum to free his arms. It was particularly impressive since Sami’s is exactly the kind of bowling that McCullum thrives against. What was more, Sami found his lengths in the Super Over, where, even though he conceded 15, it was a score they could chase down. That was thanks to Russell, who, back from a year out, still remembered how to hold his nerve under pressure to clear long-on and nick the game off the final delivery.The decisionMcCullum may go down as the pioneering captain of the T20 generation, but did he balk at a big decision in the Super Over? Sunil Narine had conceded 10 runs in his four overs while Mustafizur, usually exceptional, had an off day, giving away 39 in his allotment. It appeared straightforward who to hand the ball to for the Super Over, but McCullum, perhaps – just perhaps – didn’t fancy a spinner up against Russell. He gave the ball to Mustafizur, who didn’t quite find his lengths, wasn’t brave enough to attempt the yorker, and bowled a wide off the fourth delivery. Maybe that’s overanalysing it, but Lahore, having lost all four of their games and on a six-run losing streak overall, should expect some of that from the media and their exigent fans.Where they standLahore are firmly at the bottom of the pile, with no wins or points from four games. Islamabad United have 4 points, joint with Peshawar and Quetta. Karachi and Multan occupy the top two slots after their game was washed out today with 7 and 5 points respectively.

A succession of soft dismissals left Sri Lanka in danger of a big defeat in the first Test despite their batsmen, almost without exception, looking comfortable at the crease in their pursuit of 488

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy29-Dec-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsA succession of soft dismissals left Sri Lanka in danger of a big defeat in the first Test despite their batsmen, almost without exception, looking comfortable at the crease in their pursuit of 488. No team has successfully chased more than 418 to win a Test match, but Sri Lanka suggested they were capable of giving South Africa a serious scare only to gift away four of the five wickets they lost on day four. Angelo Mathews, who witnessed two of these gifted wickets from the non-striker’s end, was batting on 58 at stumps, and with him was Dhananjaya de Silva on 9.A mix-up between Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva ended an 87-run stand for the first wicket, while a moment of overconfidence cost Kusal Mendis his wicket after he had added 75 for the fourth wicket with Mathews. Kusal Perera and Dinesh Chandimal frittered away their wickets as well, and at stumps, 248 adrift of their target, Sri Lanka were left counting what-ifs, with an entire day remaining on a pitch that seemed to have flattened out entirely after starting out as a green seamer.South Africa declared 10.5 overs into the morning session, after Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock had completed half-centuries and stretched their overnight partnership to 129. The declaration arrived when Rangana Herath had de Kock lbw for 69, missing a sweep against a ball that was probably too full and too close to off stump to play the shot against safely.

Sri Lanka’s opening stand and Quinton de Kock’s 2016

• 87 Runs added for the opening wicket by Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne. This is the best opening stand for Sri Lanka in Tests in South Africa beating the 70 added by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lahiru Thirimanne in Cape Town. It is also the second-highest opening stand for Sri Lanka against South Africa, after the 193 between Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya in Galle in 2000.

• 196 Number of balls faced by Silva and Karunaratne in their partnership of 87. This is the fourth longest that any opening pair has played in the fourth innings of a Test in South Africa. Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten played 261 balls against Australia at Durban in 2002.

• 7 Number of fifty-plus scores for Quinton de Kock in 2016.This is the most by a South Africa batsman in 2016. Hashim Amla and Stephen Cook have five such scores each. De Kock has had a great year scoring 695 runs at 63.18

Both Sri Lankan openers missed out on half-centuries, but showed they had worked on the weaknesses that had caused their first-innings dismissals. Silva was eventually lbw for the second time in the match when Rabada nipped one into him after tea, but had till then shown improved balance and alignment while dealing with South Africa’s concerted effort to attack his stumps, and had looked particularly good while driving straight. Rabada’s extra pace and bounce had discomfited him a couple of times before that. Before lunch, he had gloved a rising ball, managing to drop his bottom hand and keep the ball down in front of Quinton de Kock diving to his right behind the stumps. Then, in the second session, he had taken a blow to the shoulder while ducking into a bouncer delivered from wide of the crease.Karunaratne, apart from a couple of moments when he lost concentration, was alive to the danger of playing away from his body. The seamers looked to get him nibbling with the angle across him, and then tried to go around the wicket as well, but he handled both lines well, making sure his hands didn’t follow the ball when he was beaten. He was just getting into stride when he was dismissed, having moved from 20 off 90 balls to 43 off 113. He had hit three fours in that period of acceleration, including a sweetly-timed flick off Philander and a reverse-sweep off Maharaj immediately after the left-arm spinner had got one to spit at him out of the rough.The opening stand ended when Silva pushed Maharaj into the covers and set off immediately. Karunaratne responded after a moment’s hesitation, and that little stutter was enough to find him short of his crease when he dived to beat JP Duminy’s throw to the keeper.Then Perera, his place at No. 3 in question after his dismissal to a wild slash in the first innings, fell to another injudicious stroke, top-edging a cut against the turn off Maharaj when he was getting consistent turn and bounce out of the rough.When Mathews walked in, Sri Lanka had lost three wickets for 31 runs either side of tea, but he immediately showed the positive intent of a man with a fourth-innings average of 69.37, rotating the strike comfortably at the start before stepping out to his 17th ball and drilling Keshav Maharaj back past him for four. Rabada fed him a wide long-hop and a full-toss in the next over, and he put both away to the boundary, before a back-foot whip off Maharaj took him to 25 off 27 balls.Then, with Vernon Philander returning to the attack, Mathews made a strategic retreat, scoring only six runs off the next 29 balls he faced. He was perhaps mindful that he needed to be at the crease when the second new ball became available on a pitch where the old ball was doing almost nothing. By then, though, Silva had fallen to the daftest of shots, taking on the returning Rabada’s around-the-wicket attack by making himself room and looking to ramp over the slips. All he managed was an edge to the keeper.Mendis’ innings had always promised that sort of end. His 58 had displayed a vast range of shots – notable among them an off-drive off Philander and a number of sweeps off Maharaj – but also a tinge of impetuosity. In the over before his dismissal, he had run down the track to Maharaj and looked to hit him over mid-on, mistimed his shot horribly, and fortuitously managed to hit the fielder on the bounce.Chandimal didn’t learn from Mendis’ close shave against Maharaj. Having already been dropped once while going after the left-arm spinner – Dean Elgar putting him down at short extra-cover – he tried it again, with the new ball 2.4 overs away, and spooned the ball straight to mid-on.South Africa took the new ball as soon as it was due, and came very close very early. Abbott, starting the 82nd over of Sri Lanka’s innings, caught Dhananjaya de Silva shuffling too far across his stumps, and Bruce Oxenford upheld his lbw appeal immediately. De Silva reviewed – perhaps more in desperation than any real hope of getting the decision overturned – and ball-tracking saved him, suggesting the ball would have carried on to miss leg stump.

A round-up of the Group C games from the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 on November 24, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2015
ScorecardIt was a startling change of narrative in Ranchi – the first day produced over 300 runs and the second, which turned out to be the final day of the match, resulted in 26 wickets and Shahbaz Nadeem took 11 for 90 to lead Jharkhand to an innings-and-71-run victory over Himachal Pradesh.It was deadly symmetry for the HP. They were bowled out for 133 in the first innings and were bundled out for the same total when they were asked to follow on. More fun with numbers: Nadeem, who was the wrecker-in-chief, gave away 45 runs in both innings.Jharkhand were not immune from the wrath of the bowlers either. They crumbled from an overnight 306 for 4 to 337 all out with left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma claiming 6 for 59. But HP’s response with the bat was woeful. Ankit Kalsi made a half-century, but he was the only man to score more than 22. Nadeem bowled only 14.2 overs and yet came away with seven wickets.With a lead of 204 runs, Jharkhand enforced the follow-on and hurtled to victory in 32.1 overs. This time there were no fifties. Prashant Chopra and Nikhil Gangta made 32 and 38. There were six single-digit scores around them. This time Jharkhand rallied around Nadeem. He took four wickets, Kaushal Singh took three Sonu Singh, on first-class debut, took two.
ScorecardFrom conceding a first-innings lead to sitting on the cusp of an outright victory, Saurashtra had a see-saw day to savor thanks to a Jadeja. Dharmendrasinh is a No. 11. He couldn’t have prevented his team being bowled out for 157, but he did ensure Kerala suffered a massive collapse in their second innings. His 6 for 59 was the major reason the hosts fell from 51 for 2 to 105 all out. That left Saurashtra with a target of only 115.Saurashtra resumed on 55 for 6 and received a much needed boost from 19-year old Samarth Vyas making a fine show of himself on first-class debut. He came in at No. 8 and struck 54 off 90 balls with two fours and three sixes. Thanks to him the final three wickets were able to add 87 runs and Saurashtra ended up with 157 runs – an agonizing nine runs away from Kerala’s 166.Spin had been the way to go in the first innings and Jadeja was given the new ball. After all, he had taken five wickets the first time around. The move worked as VA Jagadeesh, who had struck a half-century on the first day, was bowled in the fifth over. But he needed help to make the match-turning impact and that came from 24-year old Vandit Jivrajani (4 for 31), the offspinner who was making his first-class debut. They sank their teeth into the Kerala middle order – Sachin Baby out for 6 and Sanju Samson bagged a duck as the score slipped from 51 for 2 to 57 for 7. Saurashtra gained a firm hold over the match and are now 99 runs away from a win with nine wickets in hand.
ScorecardHanuma Vihari, who began the second day in Hyderabad on 94, kicked on to make his third first-class double-century, propelling his team to 548 for 5. He occupied the crease for 555 minutes, striking 22 fours and two sixes to punish the Tripura attack.B Anirudh added only three runs to his overnight score of 75 before he was pinned lbw by seamer Manisankar Murasingh. Bavanaka Sandeep was more adhesive and kept Vihari good company in a 213-run partnership, the second 150-plus stand of the innings. Vihari was finally dismissed, by offspinner Swapan Das, for 219, but 26 runs each from Himalay Agarwal and Kolla Sumanth took Hyderabad to 548 before the declaration arrived.The hosts amplified their advantage further with former Under-19 pacer Chama Milind removing Tripura opener Virag Awate for 3. The day ended with Tripura facing a deficit of 535 runs.
ScorecardGoa piled on the runs against Jammu and Kashmir, declaring on 552 for 5, before pacers Rituraj Singh and Prasanth Parameshwaran dismissed the J&K openers inside four overs. Pranav Gupta and Ian Dev Singh survived till stumps but stare at a deficit of 509 runs.The day though belonged to Swapnil Asnodkar, who resumed from an overnight 74, stroked 28 fours and three sixes during his marathon innings of 232. The other overnight batsman – Sagun Kamat – scored a century of his own before he became Parvez Rasool’s second victim. Rasool claimed two more wickets but ended up conceding 169 runs.

Wasim Akram has said he will encourage Pakistan’s latest breed of fast bowlers to adopt an aggressive approach in order to be successful

Umar Farooq20-Apr-2013Wasim Akram has said he will encourage Pakistan’s latest breed of fast bowlers to adopt an aggressive approach in order to be successful but he can’t magically bring rewards.Akram, a former captain, has started working with the country’s quicks after coming to a short-term agreement with the PCB. He commenced a 10-day training camp at the National Stadium in Karachi for 18 of Pakistan’s top fast bowlers, including members of the national team and some new, raw talent.The camp was set up ahead of the Champions Trophy in June in England and Akram said that the change to regulations in one-day cricket were tough for bowlers.”You need to be aggressive and learn how to adapt to these rule changes. Pakistani bowlers have a lot of talent but they need to learn and adapt to the demands of international cricket.

Pakistan’s pace pack at Karachi camp

Wahab Riaz (L), Zia-ul-Haq (L), Mohamamd Aftab (L), Rahat Ali (L), Mohamamd Irfan (L), Junaid Khan (L), Sadaf Hussain (L), Hammad Azam (R), Ahmad Jamal (R), Asad Ali (R), Ehsan Adil (R), Mohammad Talha (R), Bilawal Bhatti (R), Imran Khan (R), Tabish Khan (R), Anwar Ali (R), Aziz Ullah (RAF), Atta Ullah (R)

“With the change in ODI cricket, that you can’t keep more than four fielders outside the circle in a 50-over match at any time, and the rising popularity of T20 cricket means pace bowlers now need to be more adaptable.”I will advise these bowlers that to be successful in this scenario, aggression is a must with top grade fitness, pace and the ability to have length variation. T20 cricket has changed the mentality of batsmen. The odds are stacked against the bowlers. First I will tell them how to swing the ball, then reverse swing and how to make use of the yorkers.”I am not a magician able to work wonders in ten days but I will try my level best to help them in phases and hope that the same training camp is staged after a break of three to four months,” he added. “I will be there in the camp and then at the Champions Trophy so will do my best to help them to learn and mature.”Prior to the Champions Trophy, Pakistan will tour Scotland and Ireland to play a two-match ODI series each. After the South Africa tour which ended in March there is feeling prevailing around the country that Pakistan’s pace-bowling resources are declining but Akram is not too concerned about the future.””I don’t think it’s a serious concern. The talent is definitely there but these kids need experience and must learn to adapt to the demands of international cricket where they are found wanting,” he said.”It’s not easy to found someone with 145kph pace, you need to do scouting and hunting for fast bowlers and I am sure there will be talent.”The grounds in South Africa were green but you need a certain strategy to bowl, so until and unless they learn it they will not be able to turn their potential into performances.”

Darren Sammy said the sight of Australia rejoicing would stay with him, until he has the chance to do it himself

Daniel Brettig at Kensington Oval12-Apr-2012Kensington Oval’s dressing rooms are close together, only a clear glass partition separating the viewing areas of the two competing teams. Upon leaving the field in the aftermath of a three-wicket defeat, West Indies captain Darren Sammy had an eyeful of what it means to win a great Test match. On the other side of the glass Australia’s players had dissolved into a huddle of embraces, whoops and back-slaps, while the disconsolate hosts looked on.Sammy’s team is developing slowly, but must learn the hard lessons of how to keep fighting over five days of a Test. And how to resort to more than cynical delaying tactics when the result of a match is in dispute. But Sammy said the sight of Australia rejoicing would stay with him, until he has the chance to do it himself.”We dominated a top side with some good players and the way I heard them celebrating on the balcony means a lot to me,” Sammy said. “We’ll take that to heart and look to come back strong in Trinidad. I told the guys at the end of the Test match to keep their heads up. We did a lot of good things. I can remember in the pre-match interview both captains said one bad hour could turn the game around and that’s exactly what happened in this Test match. We dominated Australia for three and a half days and even today when we bowled, we made them fight for that 190.”Since becoming captain and forming his alliance with the coach Ottis Gibson, Sammy has taken West Indies closer to earning respect as a battling, striving team. However the lessons of past matches, including two keenly fought series against India at home and away in 2011, are as yet not fully learned.However Sammy also pointed to the gains of the first innings, in which Kraigg Brathwaite and Kirk Edwards showed the way before Shivnarine Chanderpaul maintained his command of Caribbean batting. West Indies’ bowling was steadfast, augmented usefully in the second innings by Narsingh Deonarine’s off breaks – though the more mysterious finger spin of Sunil Narine was missed.”We’ve learned a lot of lessons. Remember Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi [where West Indies played last November]. Basically similar things keep happening,” Sammy said. “We keep getting close but we just need to find a way to get over that hurdle. That last hurdle. We’ve just got to come back strong. I think the bowlers stuck to the plan most of the time. The way the batters batted in the first innings, leaving alone a lot of balls and stuff like that and Shiv again, showing his experience, the two young openers – Kraigg and Barath – at the top. We did some good stuff, we just lost it in the second innings there.If Sammy’s tactics lurched towards the defensive for too much of Australia’s chase, he said he had been trying to keep a balance between searching for wickets and trying to tease the visitors out by withholding runs. Australia’s captain Michael Clarke refused to criticise his opposite number for tactics that the tourists would have been unlikely to employ, and offered supportive words for the vanquished.”I think they’re probably in a tough position because they haven’t got a full-strength team, do they? That must be hard for them,” Clarke said. “I want to give West Indies a lot of credit. I thought the way they batted in their first innings was outstanding. I think their bowlers knew the conditions well and they bowled pretty well.”I want to take nothing away from the guys in our change room. I thought a lot of credit needs to go to them to be able to get a win out of 450 [by the opposition] on the board on the first two days and our backs against the wall, but I’ll take nothing away from West Indies. I thought they fought really hard, I think it was a fantastic Test match.
“I know everybody at the ground enjoyed it, and hopefully the people back home and all around the world that watch continue to enjoy Test cricket. For me as captain, it’s very important we continue to make this great game very enjoyable and we want people to come out and support us and watch, and hopefully we get a great crowd in Trinidad as well.”A memorable match will live long in Clarke’s memory. As for Sammy, it will burn deeply into his.

Glamorgan will need 226 runs on the final day of their match against
Leicestershire, with seven wickets remaining, if they are to make a winning
start to the County Championship Division Two season

10-Apr-2011
Scorecard
Glamorgan will need 226 runs on the final day of their match against
Leicestershire, with seven wickets remaining, if they are to make a winning
start to the County Championship Division Two season.Leicestershire set the Grace Road visitors a victory target of 338 after Will
Jefferson had steered them out of trouble with a magnificent century – and
Glamorgan closed day three on 112 for 3.At once stage Leicestershire were 43 for 5 in their second innings – but
Jefferson and Jigar Naik shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 149 to lead the
home side to a total of 245.Jefferson’s 112 was the 15th first class century of his career and his third
for Leicestershire since he joined them from Nottinghamshire at the start of
last season, while Naik weighed in with 67.Starting the third day on 78 for 5, the hosts made good progress – adding
104 runs in 34 overs by lunch without losing any more wickets. Jefferson, 48 overnight, reached his 50 with two early singles and then took successive boundaries off Robert Croft to bring up the 100 partnership.The opener looked in excellent touch, timing the ball well – particularly
through the offside. Two more fours off Dean Cosker took Jefferson to 100 off
180 balls with 12 boundaries. Although it was his third century for Leicestershire, it was the first he had scored at Grace Road.Naik was providing solid support and reached 50 off 128 balls with eight fours,
before the partnership was broken shortly after lunch. Jefferson, looking to drive off the back foot against Adam Shantry, edged a low catch to Michael Powell at slip having made 112 off 213 balls.Naik was out a few overs later, snared at short leg off the bowling of Robert
Croft. But he had done an outstanding job for his side, hitting 10 fours in his
179-ball innings.The last three wickets added another 35 runs before Cosker had captain Matthew
Hoggard leg before wicket, leaving Glamorgan a challenging target of 338 on a
pitch starting to show some variable bounce.Cosker was again Glamorgan’s most successful bowling finishing with 4
for 50, while Graham Wagg claimed 3 for 59.Gareth Rees and Alviro Petersen gave Glamorgan a solid start to the run chase
until both were out in the space of four balls with the score on 43.Petersen was first to go, trapped lbw by a Nadeem Malik yorker, then Rees then
chopped the third delivery of the next over from Claude Henderson back into his
stumps.Bragg and Powell carefully set about rebuilding the innings and looked to have
succeeded with a stand of 64 until, in the penultimate over of the day, Naik had
Will Bragg lbw for 43 to give Leicestershire the edge in what looks like being a
tight finish.