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Despite Livingstone’s 94 off 48, Kings fall short in their chase of 214

Vishal Dikshit17-May-2023A dazzling display of boundary hitting all around the ground from Rilee Rossouw in his unbeaten 82 off 37, combined with useful contributions from the other Delhi Capitals top-four batters, handed Punjab Kings a 15-run defeat and severely dented their playoff chances.Kings got close to the finish line in the end, thanks to a belligerent 94 off 48 from Liam Livingstone, but he fought a lone battle. The loss kept Kings on the eighth spot with 12 points. They now depend on many other results going their way to stay alive in the playoffs race because they have only one match to go, and three teams are already above 14 points, which is the most Kings can get to.Kings were mostly behind the asking rate right from the start because their only other batter who scored over 25 was Atharva Taide, who struggled for fluency and retired out on 55 off 42 balls. Livingstone’s pursuit of boundaries in the end kept Kings’ slim hopes alive, whether they needed 79 off 24 or 38 off 12. In the last over too, when they needed 23 from the last three balls, they got a lifeline when Ishant Sharma sent down a no-ball which Livingstone sent for six, making it 16 required from three with a free hit coming. But Livingstone failed to connect with the subsequent full toss and holed out to long-off on the last ball.

Warner, Shaw flick the switch on

In the first IPL game in Dharamsala in ten years, David Warner and Prithvi Shaw saw out the first 16 balls for no boundaries before racing away. Warner broke the shackles with consecutive fours off Sam Curran before pulling Kagiso Rabada for two sixes. Shaw too got going when he saw Arshdeep Singh’s short balls didn’t have much pace. He pulled and glanced him for 4, 4 and 6 in a 16-run over. When Warner also put away Nathan Ellis’ slower balls for fours, Capitals ended the powerplay on 61 and soon brought up their highest opening stand of this IPL.Prithvi Shaw and David Warner got going gradually in the powerplay•BCCI

Rossouw’s fifty takes it up a notch

Rahul Chahar wasn’t having a good day. Soon after he was put away for three fours in his first two overs by Shaw, he dropped a tough chance to give Warner a life on 39. Warner continued to attack because Capitals had all ten wickets in hand at the halfway mark. But when he skied one more, Shikhar Dhawan completed a spectacular catch at mid-off to remove him for 46 off 31.Capitals kept the left-right combination by sending out Rossouw at No. 3, and he attacked literally from ball one. That he pulled his first ball for four and drove his third for four more showed how good the pitch was for batting. The range he showed in the 13th over off Rabada epitomised his innings; a length ball hit straight for six, another length ball placed just wide of short third for four, and yet another length ball dispatched over square leg with a lovely pick-up shot for six in a 17-run over. Not long after Rossouw also punished Chahar and Curran for sixes, Shaw holed out for 54 in the 15th over.

Kings trust Brar for death overs

Rossouw had raced away to 45 off 21, and Capitals to 148, with five overs to go when Dhawan bravely brought on Harpreet Brar, who gave away just 14 runs in the 16th and 18th overs combined, before Phil Salt and Rossouw made up for it in the last two. Salt smoked Ellis for two sixes over long-on while also edging one delivery for four.For the final over, Dhawan once again trusted Brar instead of the designated death bowler Arshdeep, who had been expensive in his first two. Rossouw mercilessly muscled Brar, who also gifted two wides, for two sixes and a four on the leg side. A misfield on the last ball from Rabada at fine leg gave Capitals their first 200-plus total of the season.Liam Livingstone fought a lone battle•Associated Press

Kings also start slow

The Capitals quicks hardly gave any freebies early on. Khaleel Ahmed started with a maiden to Prabhsimran Singh, Ishant had Dhawan caught at slip for a duck, and Khaleel nearly bowled another maiden to keep Kings on 10 for 1 after three. Prabhsimran then hit the pedal with three consecutive fours before Taide also collected boundaries to get out of the hole of 1 off eight balls. Prabhsimran and Taide also enjoyed a fair share of luck. Their leading edges fell safe, and Capitals missed a few direct hits. Taide’s edges even fetched him some boundaries. Kings finished the powerplay on 47 for 1, with the asking rate almost 12 an over.

Livingstone stands tall but alone

As soon as Prabhsimran holed out to long-on off Axar Patel, it was all a Livingstone show. It started with Livingstone getting a life on 3 off Kuldeep Yadav when Anrich Nortje put him down at deep midwicket, and Taide too got dropped off Kuldeep in his next over. Taide, however, could not score freely as he struggled to find the gaps or go over the fielders.Livingstone, meanwhile, made use of his big bat swings for plenty of hits in the ‘V’ down the ground when the bowlers missed their lengths even marginally. He hit a boundary nearly every over and was only beaten by Kuldeep a couple of times. In the 15th over, he dispatched two full tosses from Mukesh Kumar for fours but Taide was labouring at the other end and he retired out when Kings needed a stiff 86 from 30 with their hitters Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan and Curran yet to come.Despite the firepower in the dugout, the heavy lifting was left for Livingstone. Jitesh holed out to long leg for a duck in the 16th and Shahrukh found long-on in the 17th. Meanwhile, Livingstone blasted two sixes and a four off Khaleel, and three sixes came off Mukesh in the 18th to make it 38 required from 12. Nortje then rattled Curran’s leg stump with a yorker and when 33 were left from the last six balls, Ishant started with a dot to all but seal it. His no-ball was thwarted for six, but he finished the game with three dots and send Kings’ hopes crashing.

Williamson and de Grandhomme shared in a 91-run stand that set up New Zealand’s pursuit of South Africa’s 241 for 6

The Report by Liam Brickhill19-Jun-2019
As it happenedSouth Africa came well and truly a cropper against Kane Williamson’s cool and Colin de Grandhomme’s muscle, New Zealand all but knocking their opponents out of a World Cup for a third time with a four-wicket win at Edgbaston.Williamson and de Grandhomme shared in a 91-run stand that set up New Zealand’s pursuit of South Africa’s 241 for 6, Williamson pumping a last-over six off Andile Phehlukwayo that brought up a match-winning hundred before his umpteenth dab to third man brought up the win.South Africa spilled several chances in the field – and would have had Williamson caught behind in the 70s had they used their review – wilting under the pressure as New Zealand secured their fifth World Cup victory over them.South Africa’s scarcely believable lapse in gifting Williamson a life came in the midst of a haywire couple of overs when the match was in the balance, panic setting in and Faf du Plessis’ men, unfortunately, were left gagging, coughing, and gasping for breath.When Imran Tahir came on to bowl his final over, New Zealand were five down, needing a further 72 from 12 overs. Something, one felt, was about to give, and with his first ball Tahir very nearly had de Grandhomme caught by David Miller at full stretch close in on the leg side. Two balls later, another uppish whip flew hard to Miller’s left, and he put in a dive that was no less hearty, but equally ineffective as he could only palm the tough chance away.But worse was to come. Tahir’s final delivery – a legbreak – gripped and spun past a Williamson, wrong-footed in a rare moment of uncertainty, flicking the finest of bottom edges on the way into Quinton de Kock’s gloves. Tahir was convinced – as he always is – but de Kock didn’t even appeal. South Africa had a review, and could have used it, but didn’t.Kane Williamson celebrates his century•Getty Images

The chances kept coming, but South Africa’s luck had turned and with every missed opportunity, New Zealand pulled further ahead. They missed Williamson, again, when he had 77 and fended at a short one from Kagiso Rabada, hesitating before setting off on a run even as de Grandhomme sprinted across from the other end. Rabada swooped in his follow-through and shied with Miller in position for the run out, but Miller couldn’t take it cleanly, disturbing the stumps empty-handed as the ball burst past him.Two balls later, de Grandhomme edged Rabada through the vacant slip region to raise the fifty stand, leaving New Zealand needing 52 from 48.While Williamson eventually sealed the deal, and bagged the Player of the Match award, de Grandhomme’s knock was no less crucial in the final analysis. On a day when just one South African batsman was able to strike it at better than a run a ball, when everyone else struggled to come fully to terms with a two-paced track, de Grandhomme middled absolutely everything.Born in Harare and playing for New Zealand at Edgbaston, his home away from home (he plays for Birmingham Bears in the Vitality T20), he swatted and clubbed his way to a 39-ball fifty that shattered South Africa’s resolve.When South Africa dropped short, he pulled powerfully. Full outside off, and he slashed. On his legs, he clubbed. It wasn’t the most cultured knock – and he enjoyed a couple of lucky getaways along the way – but it was the perfect foil to Williamson’s calm accumulation and helped to spark South Africa’s anxiety. As the match slipped from their grasp, so did more chances – Williamson was dropped again (albeit off a high full-toss that was called a no-ball), and South Africa then contrived to turn an opportunity in the outfield off a de Grandhomme slog into four runs, Miller and Rabada both diving past the ball.Williamson, meanwhile, was anything but anxious. New Zealand’s captain is rarely better than when constructing a chase, and he passed 1000 ODI runs in England (at a monstrous average of 74.28 while systematically cobbling together his 19th fifty-plus total, and fifth hundred – in one-day chases.Imran Tahir shows his frustration•Getty Images

There’s no violence to Williamson’s batting, he bats utterly without ego and is clearly mighty effective all the same. While he was pristine on the drive all afternoon, the shot that sticks in the memory is the dab down to third man. No less than 21 of his runs came in that region, with a total of 32 coming behind square on the off side. Fittingly, it was also the shot with which he sealed the result in the final over, one ball after he had brought the scores level by rocketing his first six – and first shot in anger – in an echo of Grant Elliott’s dream-shattering knock during the last World Cup.New Zealand’s World Cup record against South Africa now stands at 6-2, while Williamson completed what was just the sixth century from a captain in a successful World Cup chase.It could all have been very different, had South Africa been able to find inspiration in Chris Morris’ breakthroughs earlier in the innings. Following on from the lucky dismissals of Colin Munro (caught and bowled off an inside edge on to his thigh) and Martin Guptill (hit wicket), Morris burgled a wicket in his fourth over when he strangled Ross Taylor down the leg side with a ball that could easily have been glanced for four.There was nothing lucky about his next wicket, a brutal lifter finding Tom Latham’s outside edge on the way through to de Kock, and at 80 for 4, it was anyone’s game. Morris returned in the 33rd over with the match once again in the balance, snapping a 57-run stand when James Neesham steered one to slip. But then came Williamson and de Grandhomme’s partnership, and whatever luck South Africa had enjoyed evaporated.They might have been able to manufacture a little more of their own good fortune had they not been quite so tentative with the bat earlier in the day. Admittedly, there must have been some trepidation when they lost a rain-delayed toss and were put in this morning, and the early loss of de Kock to Trent Boult (again) won’t have helped.As a result, South Africa were hesitant up front, and equally diffident when the time came to swing the willow at the death. For much of their innings, it seemed like they had turned their back to the future and were stuck in 1990s mode: Hashim Amla ground out the third slowest fifty of his career, sharing in plodding fifty stands with du Plessis and Aiden Markram that essentially bought South Africa time without really taking the innings anywhere, and the top four’s strike rates were all in the 60s.South Africa finally found some momentum when Rassie van der Dussen was joined by Miller, the pair adding 72 for the fifth wicket at close to a run a ball. They took a while warming up the engine, and had hit just one boundary between the two of them by the time the fifty stand came up in the 43rd over, but van der Dussen gave the innings a little flourish at the finish with 15 runs off the final over – and he was the only batsman to finish with a strike rate above 100.He ended with 67 not out, and South Africa reached 241 for 6, but it was not to be. Williamson’s match-winning hundred capped New Zealand’s day, and South Africa’s World Cup dreams are all but extinguished.

Towhid Hridoy, Rejaur Rahman and Tanvir Islam have got their maiden call-ups to Bangladesh’s T20I squad

Mohammad Isam01-Mar-2023Bangladesh have made five changes to their T20I squad for the first two matches against England later this month. Rony Talukdar returns to the set-up after eight years, Shamim Hossain makes comeback after a two-year absence, while Towhid Hridoy, Rejaur Rahman and Tanvir Islam have received their maiden call-ups to Bangladesh’s T20I squad.All five new inclusions did well in this season’s Bangladesh Premier League. Talukdar’s only international was a T20I against South Africa in 2015, but he was the second-highest run-getter in this year’s BPL – 425 at a strike rate of 129.17 – and he helped Rangpur Riders make it to the second qualifier. Towhid, who made the ODI squad after scoring 403 runs at a strike rate of 140 in the BPL, was the tournament’s third-highest run-getter.Shamim made only 175 runs with a strike rate of 135.65, but his 71 for Riders in the BPL eliminator helped him earn a recall. Shamim was long considered a future T20 hitter for Bangladesh and the selectors have shown a little more patience with him this time.Left-arm spinner Tanvir was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the BPL; his 17 wickets at an average of 17.58 helped Comilla Victorians win their fourth BPL title. Rejaur took 13 wickets at 19.84 apiece.Yasir Ali, Ebadot Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Shoriful Islam and Soumya Sarkar, who were all part of the squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia last year, were left out of the T20I squad. Yasir, Mosaddek and Soumya didn’t make major contributions in the BPL, while Ebadot and Shoriful didn’t play enough in the tournament to merit selection.After the ongoing ODI series, Bangladesh play three T20Is against England in Chattogram ( March 9) and Mirpur (March 12 and 14).Bangladesh squad for first two T20Is vs England Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Nasum Ahmed, Nurul Hasan, Shamim Hossain, Rony Talukdar, Towhid Hridoy, Rejaur Rahman, Tanvir Islam

The Bangladesh captain said his side had had a lot to prove after their 2-0 defeat in the West Indies in July

Mohammad Isam02-Dec-2018Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan called his side’s victory over West Indies in the second Test in Mirpur – capped by enforcing the follow-on and winning by an innings for the first time – a special achievement. The win helped the hosts seal a 2-0 series victory.What made it special was how Bangladesh turned their fortunes around after suffering a series defeat by the same margin back in the West Indies only four months ago.Shakib said he had demanded the best from his players, having delivered them a message to not forget how poorly they played against the same team in July. He said he was happy to see them respond strongly.”This is the first time we enforced the follow-on in more than 100 Tests in 18 years, which is definitely something special,” Shakib, who has been involved in ten of Bangladesh’s 38 innings defeats, said. “We haven’t done this against smaller teams, so to do it against a higher-ranked side is an achievement. We obviously had a lot to prove after losing to them in that manner [in July]. I think we have done that at least at home.”I would thank my team-mates and the coaching staff, for believing that it was possible. I was quite demanding of my players in this series. I wanted a lot from them. I think everyone contributed in their own way, but I saw everyone really wanting to contribute to the win.”The series defeat in the West Indies was particularly scathing for Bangladesh as they were bowled out for 43 in the first Test, the lowest Test total since 1974. Bangladesh’s combined batting average of 12.60 was also the lowest in 63 years by any side, and even though they did wage a comeback by winning the ODI and T20I series, Shakib said a stronger riposte was always going to come through a Test series win over the same opponents.”We never expected such a performance in the West Indies,” he said. “We held discussions after the Test series defeat there, and then came back strongly in the ODIs and T20Is.”Since we didn’t do well in the Tests [there], we had this opportunity to do well at home. We wanted people to at least understand that it was a performance in their home conditions, and see that we could do the same in our home conditions.”Shakib also praised his batsmen for making the most of good batting conditions in the first two days of this Test. Mahmudullah struck his third Test hundred, a bloody-minded 136 that spanned over six hours, while debutant Shadman Islam, Liton Das and Shakib himself struck half-centuries.”Our batsmen have done well on good wickets,” Shakib said. “Both sides [Bangladesh and Sri Lanka] made plenty of runs in the Chittagong Test in January. Afterwards, we have played mostly on tough wickets, at home and in the West Indies. Even the opposing side didn’t reach 500. It is not right to blame the batsmen all the time.”In this game, they believed in the plan put in front of them. We no longer prepare flat wickets on which we are expected to score 500 and draw the game. We try to win every game, and this changed mindset has taken us to a better place as cricketers.”

There was also Joel Davies’ run out and Marcus Stoinis flaying the bowling

Andrew McGlashan01-Jan-2023Jordan flies in
Chris Jordan was a late arrival for Sydney Sixers’ but he flew in for the game against Melbourne Renegades – almost literally. His fielding brilliance is a well-known part of his game, adding to his all-round value, and it was soon on display in Geelong as he swooped for a superb catch to remove Shaun Marsh. “When the ball went up it was just a matter of getting on my bike and when I get close I just trust my hands. It managed to stick,” he said. With a wicket in his first over as part of figures of 2 for 25 he took the Player of the Match in his first outing.Related

• How Hobart Hurricanes' Pakistan connection came together

• Adelaide Strikers believe Stoinis should have been timed out

• Nic Maddinson suffers serious knee injury as Melbourne Renegades lose four in a row

• McSweeney and Brown shine as Heat win run-fest

Richardson’s rockets
There is no shortage of depth in Australian fast bowling. Jhye Richardson, who took a five-wicket haul in the Ashes last season, is currently on the outer of the Test set-up but has given a reminder of his skills in the early stages of the BBL. He has touched 150kph and taken regular wickets, forming a key part as to why Perth Scorchers are again so well placed. Against Melbourne Stars he went for 20 in his first nine balls, but the comeback was emphatic: he twice found himself on a hat-trick and conceded just another five runs. “I didn’t have a great run-in to the tournament,” he said. “But once you get the first one out of the way and you have a good performance, you just thrive off that confidence and ride the wave.” Sydney Thunder’s rebound
Sydney Thunder made headlines around the world although for the wrong reasons when they were bundled out for 15 early in the tournament, but their recovery from that embarrassing low – compounded by the season loss of captain Jason Sangha – has been very impressive. They have strung together four wins on the bounce, including back-to-back wins against Brisbane Heat, one by 10 wickets, and a New Year’s Eve mauling of Hobart Hurricanes who were taken for 228. Alex Hales has led the way with the bat while Ollie Davies sparkled against Hurricanes with a 24-ball fifty and Matthew Gilkes has bounced back from early ducks.Joel Davies’ moment
On the subject of Thunder, there was a standout moment in the field against Hurricanes. It involved Davies, but not Ollie. Instead his brother Joel, who had recently signed on as a replacement for Thunder, produced a stunning throw from the deep to run out the dangerous Tim David as he fielded for the first time in the competition. “He wasn’t really expecting to come on, he was second [substitute] fielder,” Ollie told AAP. “It gave him an opportunity to do something special in the field and he took that chance.” Joel recently excelled at the Under-19 national championships where he made 458 runs in six games and took eight wickets. He is part of the Australia Under-19 squad to face England this month. Munro falls short
It came in defeat, but Colin Munro played an outstanding innings to nearly take Brisbane Heat to victory over Thunder. He made 98 off 53 balls before falling in the final over; the only other Heat batter to make double figures was James Bazley with 29. However, the closing stages of the innings highlighted the fine margins of T20. Having got the requirement down to 17 off 7 he missed out on dispatching a full toss. He still had the strike for the start of the last over, but when Nathan McAndrew bowled a waist-high full toss he took a single so was not on strike for the free hit. When he was back on strike 13 were needed off five balls and he picked out deep midwicket where Daniel Sams held an excellent catch.Stoinis’ fireworks display
Marcus Stoinis closed out the year with a bang to emerge from a lean start to the tournament. He had Covid during the opening game and had collected 0, 0, 4 and 10 in his first four innings. He was then rested for the game against Sydney Sixers to allow him to spend Christmas at home in Perth. But he was back to his best in the traditional New Year’s Eve fixture at Adelaide Oval as he hammered Strikers for 74 off 35 balls, including taking Henry Thornton for the most expensive over of the season so far which cost 29. Few hit the ball harder when they get going and some of the striking was phenomenal. There was, though, a hint of controversy with the home side claiming he should have been timed out and the bowler given a few go at the stumps under one the BBL’s funky playing conditions.Performance of the week
It’s hard to go past Josh Brown for his magnificent display of striking at the Gabba last night. In just his second BBL game, having been named in Heat’s squad as a replacement for Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne, he smashed 62 off 23 balls. Some of his strokeplay left the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Adam Gilchrist speechless. He was also using one of his own bats. “Didn’t really know I was any good at cricket until I was 24,” Brown, now 29, told . “Sort of kicked off from there.”

Australia have a trickier ride while New Zealand are hot favourites to top Group 1

S Rajesh29-Oct-20221:40

Fleming: Possibly the strongest squad NZ have ever had

New Zealand
New Zealand have pulled clear of the rest of the teams in the group, both in terms of points, and even more so, in terms of net run rate. One more win in their two remaining matches should seal qualification, given their excellent NRR. However, if they lose both games, then several other results will have to go their way for them to qualify with five points.England
The defeat against Ireland could hurt England badly.Rain is forecast in Brisbane on Tuesday for their game against New Zealand – if points are shared in that game, England will finish on a maximum of six points, not what they want since New Zealand (with a much better NRR) would touch six points too, and Australia can get up to seven if they beat both Ireland and Afghanistan.If England grab four points from their last two games, then it is possible that three teams – New Zealand, England and Australia – finish on seven points, bringing NRR into play.Ireland
Ireland’s fortunes rest in their own hands: if their follow the victory against England with wins in their last two games – against heavyweights Australia and New Zealand – then they will qualify for the semi-finals regardless of other results. The problem for them, though, is that they have a 0-5 T20I record against those two teams.For the defending champs, it is a chance to stay in contention of making the semis at their home World Cup•Associated Press

Australia
Australia’s two remaining games are against the two new Full Members – Ireland and Afghanistan. Victory in both will lift them to seven points, but Australia will also want to undo the damage caused by the 89-run loss in their tournament opener against New Zealand. The margin of that defeat could hurt them if it comes down to NRR.Sri Lanka
If Sri Lanka win their last two games, New Zealand lose their last two, and Australia beat Ireland but lose to Afghanistan, then Sri Lanka will top group 1 with six points. However, both Australia and New Zealand will finish on seven points if the scenario doesn’t play out that way. Sri Lanka’s only option, then, is to win their last two and then hope.They might not even get a chance to get to their maximum of six points if the weather forecast holds true for Brisbane on Tuesday, when they are scheduled to play Afghanistan.Afghanistan
Like Sri Lanka, Afghanistan can also top the group – on six points – if they win both their games and if New Zealand lose both of theirs. For a start, though, they will be hoping to play some cricket after their last two games were abandoned without a ball being bowled. A third such match is on the cards given the forecast in Brisbane for Tuesday. If that game is washed out and other results follow a specific pattern, it is possible for all six teams in the group to finish on exactly five points.

Shakib struck 70 off 44 balls in the tall chase but his was a lone effort

Mohammad Isam12-Oct-2022New Zealand joined Pakistan in the final of the tri-series by beating Bangladesh by 48 runs in Christchurch. After Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips made quickfire sixties, Adam Milne and Michael Bracewell made early inroads to bowl the hosts to a comprehensive victory. Though Bangladesh looked competitive with the bat, they could not sustain the momentum in pursuit of a target of more than 200.Milne’s three wickets broke the chase, with his pace making a difference. Bracewell and stand-in captain Tim Southee finished with two wickets apiece. Shakib Al Hasan struck 70 off 44 balls with eight fours and a six, but there was no support from the middle and lower order.New Zealand, on the other hand, had plenty of strong batting performances after getting sent in to bat.Conway builds on Allen’s start
Finn Allen started from where he left off against Pakistan in the previous game, going after Bangladesh’s bowlers from the first over. He struck Ebadot Hossain for two sixes in three balls in the third over and hit three boundaries to get New Zealand off to a strong start. But Shoriful Islam removed Allen in the fifth over, when Yasir Ali moved to his right at midwicket to catch the skier.Conway then converted his promising start into a big score. The left-hander dominated his 82-run stand with Martin Guptill for the second wicket, hitting five fours and three sixes in his 40-ball 64. Guptill also looked good towards the end of his 27-ball 34.Phillips shows off his big hits
New Zealand’s top three gave Phillips the perfect platform to take aim at Bangladesh in the last five overs. He struck Shakib for two sixes – both slog-swept – in the 16th over. Mohammad Saifuddin removed Conway and Mark Chapman in the space of four balls in the following over, but Phillips carried on, slamming Shoriful Islam and Saifuddin for consecutive sixes to reach a half-century off 19 balls. Phillips’ strike rate of 250 was the third highest by a New Zealand batter who has scored more than 60 runs in a T20I innings.Adam Milne took two wickets•Getty Images

Finally, a fast start
Bangladesh, despite using a third opening pair in as many games, had their best powerplay of the tri-series. After Milne cleaned up Najmul Hossain Shanto in the fourth over, Litton Das and Soumya Sarkar attacked the bowlers. But they couldn’t convert their starts, with Litton holing out in the sixth over and Soumya ramping one to third man in the 10th over. Bangladesh could not keep up with the required run-rate but for the first time on this tour they looked more comfortable as a batting unit.Shakib showed his fluency from the get-go, charging down the wicket on the first ball he faced to loft Bracewell over mid-on for a four. He got an extra life while he was batting on 11 and he made sure to take advantage of that, racing to a half-century off 33 balls. With wickets falling regularly at the other end and the asking rate climbing, there wasn’t much Shakib could do. He brought out the big shots against the quicks too, but he fell with Bangladesh needing 56 off 11 balls.Bracewell continues to impress
Milne bowled well on his comeback from a niggle, while Bracewell continued to impress after his frugal returns in the last two matches. After winning successive Player-of-the-Match awards in the previous matches, Bracewell took two wickets and also completed a difficult catch on the boundary. In the 12th of the Bangladesh innings, he bowled Afif Hossain and conceded just three runs. Later, he took a superb catch on the boundary line to dismiss Yasir Ali.

On a day where he took his maiden international wicket, Afridi also confessed that the conditions in Harare were the coldest he’s ever played in

Liam Brickhill in Harare05-Jul-2018Left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi revelled in his first international wickets for Pakistan, braving winter temperatures that dipped as low as 13°C to take the wickets of Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and D’Arcy Short during his team’s 45-run win over Australia in Harare.”This is by far the coldest day of cricket I’ve ever played,” said Afridi, who found his way into Pakistan’s T20I squad after turning heads with some remarkable performances in the Pakistan Super League, played today in place of the rested Hasan Ali, and now has found his way into the wickets column.With the ball hooping through the air and jagging off the pitch, Afridi found the inside edge of Finch’s bat and then beat Maxwell with one that dipped and curved into his pads. “Since yesterday I’ve been planning on getting these two wickets and trying to work out how to get them out early,” said Afridi.He also added the dismissal of Short, flattening the left-hander’s leg stump as Australia’s chase completely lost its way. With the rest of the attack also chipping in with wickets and the match never out of Pakistan’s control, this was a far improved performance and Afridi said that captain Sarfraz Ahmed – who had some harsh words for his team despite their win yesterday – was much happier with them.”He’s definitely happy with the bowling attack today,” said Afridi. “He’s the captain, and sometimes that happens when he’s unhappy, but today he was much happier with our performance.”Where Australia had gone for the aggressive tactic of banging the ball in short this morning, Pakistan’s attack pitched it up more often than not to utilize the swing and seam on offer. “I think they didn’t take advantage of the pitch,” said Afridi. “The ball was seaming around a lot, and that’s why we pitched it up.”At just 18, Afridi is at the very beginning of his professional sporting career but his performances to date have already drawn comparisons to a young Mitchell Starc from Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur. He took 8 for 39 in his first ever Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match – the best ever by a Pakistani on first-class debut, and then claimed the best ever figures in PSL history with his 5 for 4 against the Multan Sultans earlier this year. During the same tournament, he shrugged off being hit for six by Shahid Afridi (his namesake, but no direct relation) to knock the T20 legend’s stumps down with his very next ball. It is no wonder, then, that he seems to have taken very easily to international cricket.”Shahid Afridi is a very big name, not just in our country but globally,” he said. “He hit me for six first ball in the PSL, but with the next one I got him out. I was very happy about that. After PSL, I don’t think any international match is tough for me. After that, I’m calm playing international cricket.”

Tightness in right quad forces allrounder out; Tom Curran brought into England squad as replacement

George Dobell04-Jun-2018England allrounder Chris Woakes has been ruled out of the Scotland ODI with tightness in his right quad. Surrey’s Tom Curran comes into the squad in his place.Woakes, who left the field towards the end of Pakistan’s second innings at Headingley, will be assessed during the week to judge whether he will be fit for the start of the series against Australia on the June 13.Woakes was recalled to the Test side in Leeds having been left out of the opening Test at Lord’s when England preferred Mark Wood. He claimed 3 for 55 in the first innings and then removed Sarfraz Ahmed in the second before reporting discomfort.Tom Curran, whose brother Sam made his Test debut at Headingley, was already part of the squad for the Australia series. Woakes is the second player to be withdrawn from the Scotland match after Ben Stokes picked up a hamstring strain. Stokes will also be reassessed later in the week in order to ascertain when he may be fit to return. The England management have already confirmed he will miss the first part of the Australia series.

Royal London Cup qualification

The two group winners will immediately qualify for a home draw in semi-finals. The team finishing second in each group will receive a home draw in the play-offs and play against the team finishing third in the opposite group. The play-off winners will play away in the semi-finals. Semi-final ties will be determined by a free draw.

Meanwhile, Joe Root will be among the England players returning to county action later this week as attention turns to the shorter
formats of the game. Root, England’s Test captain, is available for Yorkshire’s home game against Northamptonshire on Thursday; a match that could yet decide which teams qualify for the knock-out stages.Other players from England’s Test squad available for Royal London Cup fixtures this week are Dom Bess (Somerset), Mark Wood (Durham), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Middlesex) and Sam Curran (Surrey). Malan has also been made available to play for Middlesex in their County Championship match against Leicestershire starting on June 20.Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler have been rested ahead of the ODIs, while England are yet to make a decision on the county availability of James Anderson and Stuart Broad ahead of the start of the Test series against India in August. They have, however, confirmed that neither will be available for the next round of County Championship matches which starts on Saturday.But Alastair Cook is available for Essex’s Championship game against Lancashire and Moeen Ali will play for Worcestershire’s final Royal London game before joining up with England’s limited-overs squad.

Arun Dhumal, currently the BCCI treasurer, will take over as the IPL chairman from the outgoing Brijesh Patel

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Oct-2022Roger Binny, the former India allrounder, is set to become the new BCCI president, replacing Sourav Ganguly, who is not expected to have a position in the board any longer. Binny will assume charge on October 18, when the BCCI annual general meeting will be held, in Mumbai.Jay Shah, son of India’s home minister Amit Shah, will continue as BCCI secretary, the most influential position in the board. Rajiv Shukla will also stay on as the board’s vice-president.Along with Binny, there will be two first-timers in the new administration: Ashish Shelar, who served as Mumbai Cricket Association president between 2017 and 2019, will be the treasurer, and Devajit Saikia, currently secretary at Assam Cricket Association, will be the joint secretary.Another key appointment is that of Arun Dhumal, who is set to take over as the new IPL chairman, a post held since 2019 by Brijesh Patel, the former India batter, who will be forced to vacate the seat as he turns 70 soon [on November 24]. That is the maximum permitted age limit for an office bearer or administrator in the BCCI’s constitution.Dhumal, who became a BCCI functionary during the Ganguly administration, is the brother of former board president Anurag Thakur, the current sports and youth affairs minister in India’s central government.As a formality Dhumal will initially need to contest for a position for being a IPL governing council member. Also joining the governing council will be Avishek Dalmiya, son of former BCCI and ICC bigwig Jagmohan Dalimya. Avishek, who is the Cricket Association of Bengal president, will replace Khairul Majumdar, who will be nominated as the BCCI’s general body representative on board’s Apex Council.Binny, 67, has a lot of experience in cricket administration. He has served in different positions at the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) over the years, and has been its president since 2019. Prior to that, Binny also was part of the KSCA administrations led by Patel and Anil Kumble (2010-12).Brijesh Patel will have to give up the IPL chairmanship because of the age-cap of 70 years•AFP

ESPNcricinfo has learned that Binny was the sole candidate for the BCCI president’s post so far with the deadline for filing nominations ending on Wednesday for the five office-bearers’ positions, which were meant to be contested at the board elections on October 18. As things stand, there will be no elections for any position after the top brass of the BCCI, including Ganguly, along with senior past and current administrators from prominent state associations, finalised a shortlist of people that will occupy key positions in the BCCI over a series of meetings in Delhi last week and one on Monday evening in Mumbai.Among those present at these meetings included former BCCI president and ICC chairman N Srinivasan, former BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, former BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry, and Delhi & Districts Association president Rohan JaitleyThe age-cap rule, which has led to end of Patel’s run, will also restrict 1983 World Cup-winner Binny’s tenure to one term of three years.This, despite the Supreme Court recently diluting several RM Lodha Committee recommendations. Including the big one, that any office-bearer who had held any post for two consecutive terms in the BCCI shall not be eligible to contest any further election in the BCCI without completing a cooling-off period of three years. Also, if a person has served two consecutive terms each in a state association and in the BCCI, or vice versa, without any break [12 years in total], such a person shall not be eligible to contest any further election in a state association or in the BCCI, without completing a cooling-off period of three years.That was a modification of its 2018 judgment, where it had ruled that an office-bearer would need to serve a three-year cooling-off period once they had served six years at a state association and/or the BCCI.If that rule had not been amended, the entire set of office-bearers in the Ganguly administration would have become ineligible to carry on in any capacity in the BCCI.However, the likes of Shah can now continue till 2025. He had taken over as BCCI secretary in 2019, when Ganguly was elected president, after board elections were held for the first time since Supreme Court mandated a new constitution, drafted as per the Lodha Committee recommendations, which were meant to overhaul the structure and running of BCCI.