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The visitors are yet to taste defeat on the white-ball leg of their Caribbean tour

The Preview by Hemant Brar13-Aug-20197:52

Ganga: India need not pre-determine their No. 4 batsman

Big Picture

In the second ODI at Queen’s Park Oval, chasing 270 in 46 overs, West Indies needed 91 off 71 at one stage with six wickets in hand and a set batsman in Nicholas Pooran at the crease.Percentage cricket for a few more overs was perhaps the way to go, but Pooran played a shot that was a microcosm of West Indies’ problems in ODI cricket. Skipping down the track in a premeditated manner, he ended up mistiming a pull to Virat Kohli at midwicket.Pooran’s wicket triggered a collapse and the hosts slipped from 179 for 4 to 182 for 8, with the result all but decided.At 23, Pooran is a young man with a bright future and the promise of winning many games for his team but West Indies will be hurting after squandering the opportunity to go 1-0 up in the series.However, it wasn’t all gloom for them. Their bowlers had brought them into the match by conceding just 67 runs in the last ten overs. Come Wednesday, West Indies will have another chance – this time to level the series – as the two teams face each other at the same venue for the final ODI.India, on the other hand, will be aiming to finish the white-ball leg of the tour undefeated. As far as their search for the No. 4 batsman is concerned, it looks like Rishabh Pant has his captain’s backing for now. Though he didn’t quite convince during his 20 off 35 balls in the last match, Pant should once again slot in at No. 4.Shikhar Dhawan is yet to strike form after his return from the hand injury that cut his World Cup short, but it’s far from a worry for the team management at this moment.

Form guide

West Indies LWLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India WLWWL

In the spotlight

From the start of 2018 to the start of the World Cup, Shai Hope scored 1460 runs in 28 ODIs at an average of 66.36. More than half those runs came in just eight innings, while opening the batting. At the World Cup, where he batted mostly at No. 3, Hope had lukewarm returns – 274 runs at 34.25. After being dismissed for 5 in the second ODI, Hope will look forward to getting back among the runs.Bhuvneshwar Kumar clings onto a return catch•Associated Press

Fifteen wickets in five innings. A bowling average of 6.73, a strike rate of 14.0. Only Curtly Ambrose has more wickets than Bhuvneshwar Kumar at Queen’s Park Oval. With the game in the balance, it was his three wickets in seven balls that turned the second ODI in India’s favour. India will be hoping for an encore from the swing bowler.

Team news

Evin Lewis, who struggled with his calf injury during the second ODI, has recovered well after a day’s rest and should be part of the playing XI. Fabian Allen is also fit and most likely will replace Oshane Thomas who went for 32 in his four wicketless overs on Sunday.West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Shai Hope (wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Fabian Allen, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Sheldon CottrellWith the series still not decided, India might once again field an unchanged XI.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Kuldeep Yadav

Pitch and conditions

The weather is expected to be humid once again, with a forecast for showers throughout the day. Although teams batting first have won five of the last six completed ODIs here, the chance of rain might tempt the captains to bat second.The match will be played on the same pitch as the last one.

Stats and trivia

• As an opener in ODIs, Hope has scored 860 runs at an average of 95.55 and a strike rate of 92.47. Batting elsewhere, his 1672 runs have come at an average of 38.00, with a strike rate of 69.00.
• In his last 20 ODIs, Kuldeep Yadav has taken only 29 wickets at an average of 32.62. Prior to that, he had 67 wickets in 33 games at an average of 20.07.
• Currently on 96 wickets from 53 ODIs, Kuldeep has a chance to break Mohammad Shami’s record (55 matches) for the fastest Indian to 100-ODI wickets.

Quotes

“The preparation is good going into the last game. The previous game we cut the preparation short [because of the rain] but today we got a full practice [session] in. The boys are in good spirits and we are looking forward to go out there tomorrow and win the game and draw the series.”

The top two ODI teams in the world will look to this series to sort out any issues ahead of next year’s World Cup

The Preview by Varun Shetty11-Jul-2018

Big Picture

If England’s long-term ODI project needed one last tryout ahead of next year’s World Cup, there can hardly be a better dress rehearsal than facing cricket’s other formidable ODI team at home. There’s a plethora of staggering batting and bowling numbers around both England and India, but the larger picture is that this is a contest between No. 1 and No. 2, with the possibility that those positions could be either one’s by the end of the series.For now, it is England, with their explosive openers and robust middle order who come in as the better-ranked side. They have lost only four of the 21 ODIs they have played in the last 12 months, with the most recent string of those wins coming in the 5-0 thrashing they handed to Australia.Those would be grounds to be favourites against any other team, but as the T20I series – with largely the same players – showed, the competition is likely to be neck to neck and winning will depend on how the teams maneuver crucial short phases, the kind that are expected to belong to match-winners.And there’s no shortage of those on either side. England’s batting depth narrowly edges India, but the visitors have their bowling sorted more than the hosts, as evidenced in their domineering series wins against South Africa in the limited-overs series earlier this year.On flat surfaces, both these teams can be destructive. What will we see when they take on each other on England’s characteristically flat surfaces? One can only predict that whatever it is, it won’t be dull. What’s more? We’re back to Trent Bridge, where England scored a record-breaking 481 less than a month ago.

Form guide

England WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India WWLWW

In the spotlight

Virat Kohli is rarely outside of the spotlight, but there is tremendous significance in this tour for him on a personal front. While his numbers in England are up there – an average of 52.46 in 19 games – he hasn’t done well against England in the country – an average of 32.33 in 10 games. You’d bet on him doing better than that average considering his three centuries in six innings this year, but there is the possibility that India could look to solve their No. 4 dilemma by dropping their captain into that slot like they had during the T20s. In ODIs, he last batted there in October 2015: will Kohli risk that move in his pursuit to win every session of the tour?Jonny Bairstow has made a century against every team he has faced this year, and is currently top of the charts with 864 runs in 16 innings. His opening partner, Jason Roy, has made three ODI hundreds this year and is the only other international batsman to make more than 700 runs in the format. Both of them have been striking at greater than 100, and have struck a combined 174 fours and 45 sixes between them. With Jasprit Bumrah out of the ODI series and Bhuvneshwar Kumar battling a stiff back, how the openers do against India’s inexperienced pace line-up can set the tone for how the middle order tackles the wristspinners.Virat Kohli and Eoin Morgan pose with the trophy•Getty Images

Team news

Ben Stokes is expected to come straight back into the England XI after missing the Australia series. Alex Hales should make way for him, especially given he has injured his side. Dawid Malan was called up as Hales’ cover, and his availability will be reviewed on a game-by-game basis.*England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 David Willey, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood/Jake BallBhuvneshwar Kumar is doubtful for the opening ODI after he was rested for the final T20I in Bristol due to a back injury. He went to the ground on a day of optional training but did not participate in any warm-up exercises or net sessions. Rohit Sharma said that Bhuvneshwar was “fine” but a final decision would only be taken on match day. Siddarth Kaul, who had a hit in the nets, could take Bhuvneshwar’s place and accompany Umesh Yadav in the pace attack.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 KL Rahul, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Dinesh Karthik/Suresh Raina, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Siddarth Kaul, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Umesh Yadav

Pitch conditions

The temperature continues to stay in the early twenties. It’s the middle of a long, dry summer in England and there are no signs that it will end tomorrow. It should suit perfectly for a run-fest on the same ground that produced the highest ODI score last month, even though the same strip is not going be used.

Stats and trivia

• England have a win-loss record of 46-19 since the 2015 World Cup; India are the only team that comes close, with a 39-19 record in the same period
• MS Dhoni is 33 runs away from 10,000 ODI runs

Quotes

“India have been a really strong team in this format for a long time. They won last time they came over here. I know it was a very different side they played against but it is a really good marker to see where we’re at.”
“When you’re playing on pitches like this, you want to bat second. This team likes chasing down targets. I’m sure England would like the same. We’ve noticed the last series they played here, it was high scoring. This very ground was where they scored 480 runs. I’m expecting nothing less than a high-scoring series.”
*

Placed at the centre of the PSL spot-fixing scandal, Nasir Jamshed is threatening to take the PCB to court for maligning his name

Umar Farooq17-May-2017Placed at the centre of the PSL spot-fixing scandal, Nasir Jamshed is threatening to take the PCB to court for maligning his name.In a video message posted on his Twitter account – the second he has posted since being implicated in corruption allegations – Jamshed challenged the PCB’s anti-corruption unit to place whatever evidence they had in public domain. He also alleged that the board was pressurising players to testify against him.The PCB believes Jamshed is a central figure in the corruption allegations stemming from the second edition of the PSL. He was arrested by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) on the same day that he was provisionally suspended by the PCB, though he was later released on bail.”PCB is being unfair with me as they are pressurising players and and asking them to testify against me,” Jamshed said. “Rather than maligning my name, I urge PCB to offer the evidence and I challenge them to bring all the evidence in public. There is something called professionalism and with all this my personal life is being affected. I have already consulted my lawyer and we want to challenge this and are willing to take PCB to court over this.”Earlier on Wednesday, the PCB banned left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz for two months after he admitted to the charge of failing to report a suspect approach. Nawaz was the seventh Pakistan player to come under the PCB’s scanner during the ongoing investigation. Six others are either facing charges of corruption, or have been banned, or were questioned by the PCB. Proceedings against Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Jamshed and Shahzaib Hasan are underway; Mohammad Irfan was suspended for a year; and Zulfiqar Babar was questioned.Days before the day-to-day hearing of the trio – Sharjeel, Khalid and Hasan –  began, audio messages allegedly between Khalid and Jamshed were leaked. The messages, heard by ESPNcricinfo, seem to focus on a bat deal one player is arranging for the other. The PCB believes the conversations are code for corrupt deals.Jamshed, who is based in Birmingham, had previously informed the PCB through his lawyer of his inability to travel to Pakistan because his passport had been confiscated by the NCA. Jamshed said that once the NCA investigation in England was over, he would present himself as and when required by the PCB.

Ailing Northamptomshire want to put the club up for sale and are aiming to raise a minimum of £1m by offering the chance of group equity investment in a new company

George Dobell24-Mar-2016Ailing Northamptonshire are aiming to raise a minimum of £1m by offering the chance of group equity investment to buy the county cricket club.Northants announced losses of £449,127 after tax earlier this month – a deterioration of some £144,000 from the previous year – with gross turnover also down and membership falling.The size of the deficit was a surprise in what was generally a highly successful year for county clubs bouyed by a payout from an Ashes summer and rising T20 attendances.Only a few days ago, the club’s chairman, Gavin Warren, said Northants was in a “strong position”. Such assurances sounded hollow after the club issued a statement on Thursday evening, saying: “While the current cash-flow situation has been stabilised – and the club is embarking on the new season with confidence – it doesn’t provide the long-term financial security that the club requires to prosper and grow.”While it recently emerged that the club had invested in plans for a new ground on the outskirts of town – a claim published by ESPNcricinfo and originally denied by the club management, many of whom have a background in property development – the board insist that they have no intention of moving from Wantage Road and that legal provision will be made to prevent development of the site for any non-cricket purpose.Northamptonshire say they hope to be able to bring in 10 to 15 major investors, most of whom they say already have links to the club as supporters and benefactors, to provide some £50,000 each to allow for a reduction in the short-term debt and give additional working capital.Current directors, some of whom have loaned funds to the county at commercial rates of interest, would be able to transfer those loans into shares.They also intend to offer existing members of the county cricket club the opportunity to buy shares, with a minimum subscription of £250. Under the proposals, members would also elect a director on the new board.”The proposal is to allow 10 to 15 major investors to provide a minimum of £50,000 each,” a statement read.”Existing members will also have the opportunity to buy shares with a minimum subscription of £250.”A new limited company will be formed which would become the owner of Northants, subject to the consent of current members.”It is expected that the current board of directors will remain in place to ensure continuity and a smooth handover.”An emergency general meeting is expected to be convened “within the next few months” with the aim of forming a new limited company to own the club.It remains to be seen if Northants members will accept the proposal and if they will regard the legal protection foir cricket at Wantage Road as strong enough once further details are released.

Former Test umpire SN Hanumantha Rao has died in Bangalore. He was 83 years old

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2013Former Test umpire SN Hanumantha Rao has died in Bangalore. He was 83 years old. Rao stood in nine Tests and two ODIs from 1978 to 1983. He also went on to become a BCCI match referee. He is survived by his wife, two sons and one daughter.”The president, office bearers and the members of the managing committee of the Karnataka State Cricket Association deeply regret the sad and sudden demise of former Test umpire Sri SN Hanumantha Rao. May his soul rest in peace,” KSCA said in a release.Like it is often with umpires and wicketkeepers, it was a mistake of his that became famous. In his case, though, that mistake was corrected by a fellow Kannadiga, and became a glowing example of sportsmanship. In the Golden Jubilee Test, in Bombay in 1979-80, Rao ruled Bob Taylor out caught at the wicket off the bowling of Kapil Dev. Taylor protested, but walked off. India’s captain, Gundappa Viswanath, fielding at slip, was convinced Taylor had not edged the ball, and persuaded Rao to overturn the decision.Rao agreed, and Taylor was called back. It didn’t matter that the incident came around at a crucial juncture of the Test, and could have reduced England to 143 for 6 in reply to India’s 242. By the time that sixth-wicket partnership ended, England had reached 229. England went on to win the Test by 10 wickets.

It is a clash between two professional and well-drilled outfits that contains what could potentially be one of the contests of the tournament

George Binoy in Townsville18-Aug-2012By finishing second in Group A, England have been drawn against South Africa, winners of Group D, in the quarter-finals of the Under-19 World Cup in Townsville. It is a clash between two professional and well-drilled outfits that contains what could potentially be one of the contests of the tournament: England’s new-ball attack against South Africa’s openers.The majority of England’s players had the day off on Friday, after beating Nepal by 127 runs the day before, and spent it recuperating at their service apartments on Palmer Street: playing FIFA, watching bits of the Lord’s Test, staying out of the harsh sun and keeping off their feet as much as possible. Today, they’re back to practicing with sharpened focus. Tim Boon, their coach, said: “We’re as best prepared as we can be.”England have played South Africa before, in a seven-match home series they lost 2-4 in July last year. Only eight of those South Africans, however, are part of the World Cup squad so half of their outfit is not familiar to Adam Ball’s team. Someone they do know well is the opening batsman Quinton de Kock, who top scored with 341 runs in that series. “We felt if we could get him out early and expose that middle order as early as we could, we were right in there,” said Ball, England’s captain. “That will probably one of our main goals this time around and we will see how it goes.”De Kock is a threat once again. He enters the quarter-final as the World Cup’s leading run-scorer, 226 in three innings in Brisbane. His opening partner Chad Bowes is third on the list with 179 and they have been responsible for South Africa’s substantial batting success so far. In Reece Topley and Jamie Overton, however, England have two of the tallest and quickest bowlers in the World Cup, and they’ll be gunning for those South African scalps as early as possible.”Quinton de Kock had a good series against us but we know how he plays, so there won’t be any surprises there,” said Topley. “We’ve got good plans and we’ll attack him. We’ll attack most of the order to be honest.”Since that defeat to South Africa, England’s Under-19 cricketers have had a rigorous training programme at home, and toured Bangladesh and Australia. “I’d like to think so,” said Boon, when asked whether his players were significantly improved now. “Over the last two years quite a number of our guys have been getting international experience, which is what it is all about.”A “bombshell,” was how Boon described what his players were hit with when they entered theEngland Development Programme. “It’s a really tough regime. Just the work rates and the key learnings at 16-17, it’s a very intensive program at that age.”Ball said the focus of the system he’d been through was to produce “mentally tough players”. He said they’d learned the discipline required of a professional cricketer, the sacrifices that were necessary, and how they couldn’t “just go away and do what every other person does in their daily life.””We have had some very stressful times preparing for this,” Ball said. “We have been preparing for about two years now. That involves long periods up to 10 days at Loughborough, our centre of excellence. Very long days – waking up at 6am and leaving thecentre at about 8pm in the evening. So we have been put through the hard yards and now it’s come to the business time.”The business time didn’t begin well. After winning both warm-up games comfortably, England were sent in by Australia on a difficult batting wicket at Tony Ireland Stadium and dismissed for 143 in their first group match. “We learnt a lot of lessons in the game that we lost against Australia. There were some fundamental things that we didn’t do and that was just to occupy the crease and see the tough times out,” said Boon. “The toss made it tricky early doors, and I think we could have coped with that a little better. It provided us with another learning experience. Most of our players now have played and either got runs or had a decent bowl so everyone’s in a pretty good frame of mind.”In their next two games, England did occupy the crease, chasing 113 in 36.3 overs againstIreland with seven wickets in hand, and making 274 against Nepal. Ball saw room for more improvement. “I think making sure that we post big scores on the board for our bowlers to defend and then again, to chase down big scores,” he said. “We have shown signs that we can do it but we just need to keep developing that on a consistent basis.”One of their problems has been at the top of the order. Coming into the World Cup, Daniel Bell-Drummond had been tipped to be one of the batsmen to watch, but he’s managed only 31 runs in three innings. He began with a duck against Australia and finished the group stage with a hard-earned 23 against Nepal. Boon said it was a “question of time” before Bell-Drummond came right.”DBD [Bell-Drummond] is an exceptional player, an exceptional character,” said Boon. “He’s been in a rich vein of form, he’s scored runs [for Kent] against the senior South African team and to me it’s just a question of time before he comes right.”The quarter-final against South Africa could be Bell-Drummond’s last opportunity to show the world what he can do. Topley, however, is confident that it won’t be. He believes this class of England Under-19 has been groomed to successfully deal “with pressure situations such as Sunday”.

Norman Gordon, the lone survivor from the final timeless Test, has become the first Test cricketer to have lived 100 years

Sidharth Monga06-Aug-2011Norman Gordon, the lone survivor from the final timeless Test, has become the first Test cricketer to have lived 100 years. Gordon, a South Africa pace bowler, was renowned for his fitness and athleticism during his playing days. He bowled 92.2 eight-ball overs during that timeless Test. He could play only five Tests because his career coincided with World War II. He lives in Johannesburg.The reception around his 100th birthday has been emotional, according to his son Brian. Exhausted, Gordon was not available to talk. “The reception they had for him at his school was overwhelming,” Brian said. “That brought him to tears.”Jeppe High School for Boys, the school that Gordon went to, felicitated him a day before his 100th birthday. “He has been pretty pleased, and a bit nervous,” Brian said. “The reception they gave him at the school today was unbelievable. Marching bands were there, and three of the previous headmasters were there. Ali [Bacher] was there. And the choir, and the whole assembly, all the boys at the school assembly. And they named a board at the school after him.”The final few months of the 100th year have not been easy. “[His health is] not bad, but he had a fall in April,” Brian said. “He broke his arm and he really battled, and he has aged about three years in the last four months. Otherwise he is okay. He has just slowed down a lot. Yeah. Just very, very tired.”That hasn’t stopped Gordon from going to his favourite Hutton Golf Course “almost every day”. “I bring him here almost every afternoon. If he has nothing else to do, we come and sit at the golf course.” Norman stopped playing golf three years ago, but he loves to spend his time there. Before the fall in April, he used to go there everyday.The birthday itself is hectic too. “He is coming to the golf course because we are having a benefit golf day for him,” Brian said. “Then in the evening we are going to the Wanderers. Ali Bacher and South Africa Breweries have organised a party for him at the Long Room in the evening.”

Lewis Hatchett boosted his hopes of landing a professional contract at Sussex
with the first five-wicket haul of his career on the opening day of the
County Championship match against Leicestershire at Grace Road

29-Jul-2010

ScorecardLewis Hatchett boosted his hopes of landing a professional contract at Sussex
with the first five-wicket haul of his career on the opening day of the
County Championship match against Leicestershire at Grace Road.The 20-year-old left-arm seamer took 5 for 47 as Leicestershire slumped to
204 all out after being put into bat. Only Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald coped with the bowler-friendly conditions, top-scoring with a fluent 63 that included 13 boundaries.By the close Division Two leaders Sussex had reached 128 for 4 in their
reply, with Chris Nash hitting an unbeaten half-century off 67 balls. But the day belonged to Hatchett, playing in only the second Championship game of his career and still looking to earn himself a contract having progressed through the Sussex academy.The overcast conditions and stiff breeze blowing across the ground suited him
perfectly and he claimed the first wicket of the match with a swinging delivery
that trapped Will Jefferson lbw.There was then a lengthy wait before Hatchett struck again, but when he did it
was in spectacular fashion. He finished off the Leicestershire innings by taking
the last four wickets for six runs in 11 balls.Claude Henderson was bowled for 11, Nadeem Malik caught behind off the next
ball while Wayne White and Matthew Hoggard both had their stumps uprooted by two
more excellent deliveries.To complete his performance Hatchett also ran out Tom New with a superb throw
from square leg. McDonald was the only Leicestershire batsman who looked capable of coping with
the swinging ball and a series of powerfully struck drives took him to 50 from
61 balls with 40 of the runs coming in boundaries.Ironically he was the one batsman to fall to spin, trapped lbw by a quicker
delivery from Monty Panesar having scored 63 off 80 balls. Veteran Paul Nixon with 22 was the next highest scorer while 28 extras helped boost Leicestershire’s total.But Hoggard also revelled in the helpful conditions when Sussex batted, picking
up the wickets of Mike Yardy, Ed Joyce and Luke Wright in 10 overs at a cost of
42 runs.Nash held the Sussex innings together, reaching the close on 52 not out, with
the visitors still 76 runs behind.

Teenager adds 130 to earlier scores of 51 and 154 in what is still only seven innings since his debut

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2024Minutes after play in the other key relegation match was abandoned for the day without a ball bowled in Worcester, Nottinghamshire at last resumed their own crucial Vitality County Championship match against Warwickshire at Trent Bridge. A 1pm start meant 110 overs have been lost so far.But, easing home anxiety, the locally-raised, left-handed teenager Freddie McCann compensated with a massively impressive 130 to add to earlier scores of 51 and 154 in what is still only seven innings since his debut.From 55 for 3, Notts recovered to 324 for 6 at the close, Jack Haynes offering a more measured 47 and Kyle Verreynne an increasingly rapid unbeaten 76 in support. On what has settled down into a very benign pitch, Nottinghamshire have already secured two batting points and a draw will now be enough now for both sides to escape the drop.Batting in sunshine with blue sky overhead proved entirely less fraught than the ordeal on a seaming pitch that had seen Notts reach 33 for 2 from the 15.2 overs possible on Thursday. But in a strong crosswind Michael Booth, first change, produced a perfect outswinger for his fifth ball of the day to knock back Joe Clarke’s off stump for 12.The 23-year old Zimbabwean, in just his fourth first-class appearance, proved hit and miss, however, and even Olly Hannon-Dalby lost accuracy as McCann raced to a fifty from 87 balls in a period that brought 99 plundered runs in a dozen overs. The true nature of this pitch had become very clear.Reduced to posting a solitary slip for Craig Miles, Warwickshire still struggled to stem an advance that carried the home side to within 20 minutes of tea before another batter fell. Haynes became an early victim for Danny Briggs’s left-arm spin when beautifully held at slip by Will Rhodes.It ended a 127-run stand at better than a-run-a-ball and the interval, coming after 36.4 of the day’s re-jigged quota of 75.4 overs (the last eight were lost later to bad light), arrived with 211 for 4 on the board and McCann just past his century from 147 balls.Warwickshire tightened up markedly through 55 minutes in the evening but found another partnership beginning to accelerate. Verreyyne, the South Africa wicket-keeper with a Test hundred to his credit, settled into his fourth innings since joining Notts and the first batting point came up what proved an hour from the close.With the fifth wicket having added 98, it was a surprise when, from nowhere it seemed, two men then fell in eight balls, McCann yorked by Miles’s second ball back. Next over, Lyndon James had come and gone for 2, edging to the lone slip as Rhodes, the seventh bowler, reprised his knack of invariably grabbing an early success.But the 300 came up, and a second batting point with it, and if Warwickshire can claim their final bowling point on Saturday and also pass 300 themselves, they would not go down whatever happens in either relegation game.Away from play, eyes remain on a threatening forecast – the weather may yet have the last say. With only two days left for Lancashire at Worcester, where just 26 overs have proved possible, they have many miles to make up and rain is feared both there and in Nottingham on Sunday afternoon. Notts and Warwickshire supporters may be breathing more easily at the half-way point of this final round.

Graham Clark chimes in with 72 as visitors post their record List A total of 427 for 9

ECB Reporters Network04-Aug-2023Memorable hitting from Alex Lees, David Bedingham and Graham Clark propelled Durham to a record List A total of 427 for 9 at Hove, setting up a crushing 132-run win against shell-shocked Sussex Sharks – later bowled out for 295 – in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.A good-sized crowd of more than 2,000 saw Durham captain and former England Test opener Lees score a magnificent career-best 144, from 107 balls and featuring 19 fours.But as impressive as Lees was, the truly spectacular strokeplay came from Bedingham, who struck seven sixes and six fours in a runaway 102 from just 54 balls, and Clark, whose 58-ball 72 included three sixes and seven fours.Bedingham and Lees blitzed 194 for the second wicket in only 19 overs after Clark and Lees had opened up with 135 in the first 17 overs following Durham’s decision to bat.Only Tom Haines, with 65 from 56 balls, put up any sort of challenge to Durham’s massive score as Tom Alsop was bowled in the second over of Sussex’s reply and returning Indian Test star Cheteshwar Pujara disappointingly slapped a return catch to off-spinner George Drissell.James Coles also pulled a long hop from Liam Trevaskis to midwicket to go for 12 and Haines edged Jonathan Bushnell’s medium pace behind to leave the Sharks 113 for 4 in the 19th over. From there it was only a matter of time before Durham completed victory, although Fynn Hudson-Prentice had some lower-order fun with two sixes and eight fours of his own in a 34-ball 65 and Henry Crocombe helped himself to a career-high 47 before being last man out.Lees struck a remarkable six fours in one seven-ball Crocombe over, which included a no ball and cost the young paceman 26 runs, while off-spinner Jack Carson’s first three overs were plundered for 41. To both Sussex bowlers’ credit, they stuck to their thankless tasks on a belting batting pitch to finish with 3 for 81 and 4 for 83 respectively.Bedingham struck left-arm quick Bradley Currie for three sixes in an over, and two straight sixes off successive balls from slow left-armer Coles. His first six, perhaps the biggest hit of the lot, was hoisted off Carson, and he also swung Haines’ medium pace high over the same hospitality boxes.Clark, who took two legside sixes off Hudson-Prentice’s seam-up and a glorious extra cover four besides, began the carnage by flipping Steven Finn over the long leg ropes in the former England fast bowler’s fourth over with the new ball, which also contained three legside wides. Finn later left the field, despite some boundary-edge treatment, and also did not bat.There were 12 sixes and 37 fours in Durham’s imposing total, which comfortably eclipsed their previous List A best of 405 for 4, made against Kent at Beckenham in 2021.At one stage, when the Lees-Bedingham stand was at its height, it looked as if Durham would make 500, let alone top 400. Indeed, at the 35-over mark they were 320 for 1 but Lees fell in the next over to spark a collapse – if it could be called that – of six wickets for 19 runs in 4.3 overs.However, Bushnell and Michael Jones then added a sensibly-paced 65 in eight overs for the eighth wicket, and Durham’s score easily passed 400 in the end.Jones drove Crocombe straight for six in a 29-ball 38 before falling to a catch in the deep off the same bowler in the penultimate over. Drissell managed one neatly cut four in a brief stay and Bushnell remained unbeaten on 37, from 31 balls.Earlier, Crocombe had Clark caught at deep square leg and later added the wickets of Bedingham, taken at long off in the 37th over, while Carson sent back Lees, leg-before sweeping, Migael Pretorius, Ben McKinney and Trevaskis in quick succession.When Hudson-Prentice bowled Paul Coughlin, at the start of the 41st over, Durham were suddenly 348 for seven but the Jones-Bushnell partnership ensured a record-breaking total was reached.