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Rana’s 57 not enough as Knight Riders suffer their fifth straight loss of the season

Sidharth Monga28-Apr-20224:37

Bishop on Russell: ‘He’ll reflect on this night and look to do things differently next time’

Part of Kolkata Knight Riders, Kuldeep Yadav didn’t get a single game last IPL. The reason perhaps is that in the two preceding IPLs, he picked just five wickets in 45 overs. In seven overs this year against the franchise that let him go, Kuldeep has taken eight wickets, consigning them to their second defeat against Delhi Capitals. However, it could still be argued that he is still looking for a captain who makes optimum use of him: he bowled just the three overs despite taking four wickets because two left-hand batters were at the wicket.The part-time offspinner used instead gave Nitish Rana the launching pad for a 30-ball fifty that took Knight Riders to 146 but it proved inadequate against a power-filled Capitals batting line-up. David Warner led the response with a 26-ball 42 but they kept losing wickets as they looked to dominate the chase. Rovman Powell and Axar Patel, though, saw them home in the end with one over to spare.Early swingBoth Mustafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya – in for the injured Khaleel Ahmed – swung the new ball, not letting Knight Riders find any momentum. Venkatesh Iyer, back at the top of the order, continued to struggle. The other new opener, Aaron Finch, tried to dominate Sakariya, but the inswing flattened his wicket. When Venkatesh finally connected a paddle sweep, he found the man at short fine leg. Knight Riders 22 for 2 in 4.3 overs.Kuldeep magicKuldeep came on to bowl at 35 for 2 in seven overs, which meant the batters were already under pressure to get a move on. Debutant B Indrajith tried just that when he faced Kuldeep first, but got too close to the ball and couldn’t get the elevation required to clear long-on. Still needing to accelerate, Knight Riders promoted Sunil Narine, but Kuldeep trapped him in front with the perfect wrong’un. Rana played a forward-defensive to avoid the hat-trick.Only three boundaries came off the first 11 overs, all fours. Just as Knight Riders built some momentum in the next two overs, Capitals went back to Kuldeep. Pant might have made a questionable call of bowling Lalit Yadav in the 13th over, but his keeping was sensational in the 14th. Shreyas Iyer went to cut Kuldeep, but the wrong’un turned and stayed low to take a thick bottom edge, which went down almost vertically. However, Pant managed to somehow catch it by his shoe laces, showing a great eye, athleticism and fitness.Three balls later, Andre Russell left his crease against character, and Kuldeep again slipped in the wrong’un. Even though Pant fluffed the take now, the rebound broke the wicket legally. It was now 83 for 6 in the 14th over.Nitish Rana upped the ante after early wickets•BCCI

Rana gives Knight Riders somethingThis is when Pant chose to go funky. There have been 26 instances of a spinner getting three or more wickets in the first three overs in the first innings, but only two of them have not gone on to bowl out. Kuldeep became that second as Pant chose to bowl Lalit Yadav to the two left-hand batters in the middle. Rana took the toll of his part-time offspin in the 17th over, not least because he enjoys a good match-up against offspin. Shardul Thakur went for 16 in the 19th as both Rana and Rinku Singh got stuck in. At 144 for 6 now, Knight Riders could think of 160, having been through a period when they would have taken 140., though, bowled a superb final over, taking three wickets and conceding just one off the bat. There was a back-of-the-hand slower ball, hard lengths and two perfect yorkers.Warner keeps chugging alongCapitals were always going to try to take a big chunk off the chase early, especially with their batters. However, Knight Riders managed to pick wickets in the first two overs. The first ball swung a touch to take a leading edge that Umesh Yadav took in his follow-through. In the second over, Mitchell Marsh tried to take down the debutant Harshit Rana, but picked out long leg.David Warner, though, continued to show why he is among the IPL greats. The quickest batter in the powerplay this year, he kept finding boundaries efficiently without taking risks even though Lalit at the other end found himself stuck. He even managed to paddle Sunil Narine for a four, and when he took down the part-time spin of Nitish Rana, they needed just 67 in the last 11 overs.Umesh, Narine bring Knight Riders backKnight Riders had no choice now but to go on an all-out attack. In the 10th over, Umesh bowled the perfect bouncer – head high, cramping Warner – for a catch at fine leg. In the 11th, Narine bowled the small offbreak perfectly to get Lalit lbw. Shreyas stuck with Umesh, who managed to find the outside edge of Pant. It was a different game now at 84 for 5.Axar, Powell take Capitals homeThe asking rate, though, was still not high, and Shreyas had to juggle the fifth bowler’s quota between Russell and other part-timers. When Axar pulled and upper-cut the first two Russell deliveries for four and six, Knight Riders had massive problems. A run-out off the last ball of the over still left the door open.Powell and Shardul Thakur watchfully played out Narine’s last over, but by now Harshit had walked off with an injury. So Shreyas had to bowl Venkatesh, and he did so in the 17th instead of keeping that over till the end. Powell hit him for a six and a four to bring it under a run a ball, and it took a six each off Tim Southee and Shreyas to end the game.

“They set attacking fields which really helps me to score runs, so I take advantage of that”

Varun Shetty01-Dec-2020Shreyas Iyer sees Australia’s short-ball strategy against him as an opportunity to score runs. In the first two ODIs, Iyer has walked in against fast bowlers who have, on both occasions, bowled to him with a short leg and leg gully catching and a clear plan to bowl rising deliveries at his body. Both times, he has been dismissed – one off a steep bouncer and the second a slower one. But Iyer said this plan plays into his attack, even suggesting it was a bit of an honour that Australia were plotting against him.Shreyas Iyer is on his first consistent run with the Indian side after debuting in 2017•BCCI

“I definitely know that they’ve planned against me,” he said, “so I’m really happy. At least they’re coming up with a plan against me to get me out. I feel very overwhelmed and take it as a challenge because, you see, I thrive under pressure. And also, it really motivates to go against them. They set attacking fields which really helps me to score runs, so I take advantage of that and I see to it that I make the best use of it.”Iyer made 38 at just over run-a-ball in the second ODI, having come in during the ninth over with a plan that seemed to be centred on getting inside the line of the short bowling and hitting through the off side. Without being too convincing, he did get deeper into the innings and take on spinners Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell in the middle overs. This hadn’t been the case during the first ODI, when Iyer was caught awkwardly between two or three options off the second ball of his innings.”I knew the short ball was going to come so I was in two minds,” Iyer said of that dismissal. “I was thinking of pulling and at the same time I have the upper cut. I got stuck in between two shots and I couldn’t play the shot. So maybe that’s the reason I got stuck in one place; and the ball came and hit the middle of the bat even that time.”In the second match, I was just like – look at the ball and react. It’s very easy to do that, rather than think what the bowler is bowling. You can actually predict, once you are set, what the bowler is going to bowl, so I usually give myself time at the start and that’s what I applied in the second match and it really worked out well.”Iyer is on his first consistent run with the Indian side after debuting in 2017, and has impressed in the No. 4 role that was given to him after last year’s World Cup. Including his scores this series, Iyer has got a 50-plus score every two innings in his 20 ODIs so far, only nine of which have been played at home. As such, he said, this test of his technique was not something that would compel him to make too many tweaks mid-tour.”I feel that it’s just the mindset which you need to adjust,” he said. “[I’ve] been playing for so many years… obviously it’s my first time playing in Australia and on these wickets. We all know that the wickets are bouncy and the bowlers are only going to bowl to you in the body area and the short balls are going to come to you.ALSO READ: India’s one-dimensional batsmen hurting their five-bowler strategy“Rather than bending down too much, it’s really important that you stand upright and play the ball, so that it’s easy to pick the short ones as well. I’ve set my patterns right from the start. Every time I play, I give myself a bit of time, get set, and then take on the bowlers. And if they come up with that field, it’s really important that I get aggressive as well because with that [field set], it’s really easy to manipulate the field.”A more immediate factor contributing to the rustiness, Iyer said, were the conditions. Acclimatising to Australia, having come from the UAE, and then practicing on pitches that he called “completely different” from the ones in the two games so far, have all contributed to the challenge for batsmen. And for the bowlers too.”If you see the amount of workload they’ve gone through in the IPL – playing 14 games – and after that they’ve come here and stayed in quarantine – definitely it plays on your mind. And it plays with every individual in the team, it’s not just the bowlers,” he said. “We’re working on some routines and processes which haven’t gone well for us in the last few games. And I’m sure it’s just the transition phase from T20 to one-dayers – it’s really difficult, especially for the bowlers coming in and bowling ten overs on the trot.”And also fielding for 50 overs. So it’s not at all easy from their point of view. There are many more matches coming ahead and I’m sure they’ll come back really strong and with a positive frame of mind.”

Domingo will join fellow South Africans Neil McKenzie, Charl Langeveldt and Ryan Cook, who are already part of the coaching support staff

Mohammad Isam17-Aug-2019Bangladesh will have a strong South African presence in their backroom after Russell Domingo was named head coach for a two-year period on Friday. The 44-year-old pipped Mike Hesson and Mickey Arthur in the race to succeed Steve Rhodes, who had taken charge last year and parted ways with the BCB after the team finished eighth at the 2019 World Cup.BCB president Nazmul Hassan said Domingo’s long-term planning and full-time availability played a big part in their decision. Domingo had been the only candidate to have traveled to Dhaka for his interview, impressing Hassan and some of the directors last week.”Domingo wants to integrate the national team with the A team, High Performance team and Under-19s, so that our strong pipeline becomes useful,” Hassan said. “He has showed his commitment. He said that he will be here all the time, and we have been looking for someone just like him. A coach who can be with the player all the time.”The board president further added that Domingo understood the senior team’s requirement of winning more in foreign conditions.”He said that Bangladesh are unstoppable at home but they also have a hard time when they play in places like South Africa, England and Australia. This is the reality, and it was good to find out that he exactly knew what is required here.”.The BCB have already renewed the contracts of batting coach Neil McKenzie and bowling coach Charl Langeveldt, both of whom were part of the support staff under interim coach Khaled Mahmud for the ODI series in Sri Lanka last month.Both McKenzie and Langeveldt were part of South Africa’s support staff during Domingo’s tenure as head coach of South Africa from 2013 to 2017. Along with fielding coach Ryan Cook, Domingo will be the fourth South African in Bangladesh’s coaching set up. Domingo will take over formally on August 21, ahead of Bangladesh’s one-off Test against Afghanistan in Chattogram.”It is a massive honour to be appointed the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team,”Domingo said in a statement. “I have followed Bangladesh’s progress with keen interest and I am extremely excited to assist the team in reaching the goals that they are capable of. I look forward to continuing the ongoing development of current players whilst also looking towards the future and developing some new bright stars from within the talent pool of Bangladesh 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.

Bengal’s openers both struck centuries and Pragyan Ojha took 5 for 71 as Bengal defended 329 in a 41-run victory in the second semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2017
Scorecard
File photo – Pragyan Ojha’s third five-wicket haul in List A cricket put Bengal into their first final since 2012•PTI

Bengal openers Shreevats Goswami and Abhimanyu Easwaran struck centuries to help them post 329 for 4, before Pragyan Ojha took five of Jharkhand’s last six wickets – including that of MS Dhoni – to bowl them out for 288 to win by 41 runs at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla. They will play Tamil Nadu in the final on Monday.Goswami and Easwaran added 198 for the first wicket after Dhoni elected to field. Goswami, who was named Player of the Match, was the more aggressive of the two, hitting 11 fours and a six in his 99-ball 101 before he fell to medium-pacer Monu Kumar in the 35th over. Easwaran also made 101, his second century of the tournament, and like 127 against Mumbai, this innings too consisted of more running than it did boundaries.After his dismissal in the 40th over, Bengal scored 100 runs off 62 balls, fueled by their captain Manoj Tiwary. His unbeaten 75 off 49 balls, took Bengal past 320 while Varun Aaron took the most wickets for Jharkhand, but was also their most expensive bowler, going for 89 runs.Jharkhand started slowly, but their partnerships progressively increased till the fifth wicket fell. The two most substantial of those were 54 for the fourth wicket between Dhoni and Saurabh Tiwary (48) and 97 for the fifth between Dhoni and Ishank Jaggi. But their chase fizzled out when Dhoni fell to Ojha for for a 62-ball 70 at the end of the 43rd over. Jaggi (59) was dismissed by Sayan Ghosh (2-52) shortly after and the last four batsmen fell to Ojha in a collapse that eventually read 6 for 38.

A surface that quite green in the lead up to the Test, combined with the knowledge that the track generally flattens out, meant Brendon McCullum had no hesitation in saying: “Both teams will want to bowl if they win the toss”

Brydon Coverdale11-Feb-20161:54

‘Must adapt to conditions better’ – Smith

Fifteen wickets fell on the first day of the most recent Basin Reserve Test. The time before that it was 12. This time, who knows? But a surface that was more pitch-tinged green than green-tinged pitch, combined with the knowledge that the track generally flattens out and becomes easier for batting, meant New Zealand’s captain Brendon McCullum had no hesitation in speaking on behalf of both teams on match eve.”It’s fair to say both teams will want to bowl if they win the toss,” McCullum said.By comparison, Steven Smith was sitting on the Basin’s quaint picket fence when he declared that he would wait and see how the surface looked on Friday morning. “Traditionally the wickets here don’t play quite as bad as they look,” Smith said.For that knowledge he has had to trust secondary sources, for no Australians in this current squad have played a Test in New Zealand; McCullum is about to play his 17th at the Basin Reserve alone. It is a venue with some fine recent memories for McCullum, who made 302 there in the second innings against India two years ago. There will be some finer memories if he helps New Zealand to a Trans-Tasman win there now.And if indeed there is some swing on the first morning, and if indeed McCullum does win the toss and inserts Australia, it will be fascinating to see if Smith’s men have learnt from their failures in England during last year’s Ashes campaign. There, they were swung out for 136 at Edgbaston and 60 at Trent Bridge. Here there is no Stuart Broad or James Anderson to face, but there is a Trent Boult and a Tim Southee.”The way they played in those seamer-friendly conditions is certainly something we can look at,” McCullum said. “We’ve got a very good bowling line-up who will swing the ball and if the conditions do favour us, I’m confident we’ll ask some tough questions.”Our batting line-up is pretty similar to England; we’ve got some stroke-makers and some graft players. If you bat first, it’s a matter of getting through those tough times and hanging in the game because it can change so late.”On match eve, Smith was the first to admit that his team had something to prove in swinging and seaming conditions; their mountains of runs during the home summer all came on flat pitches with little assistance for the bowlers. The Australians like to dominate when batting and use attack as a form of defence, but Smith acknowledged that sometimes defence was the best form of defence.”You’ve got to play the ball under your eyes, you can’t really push out in front of yourself,” Smith said. “I think that’s one of the most important things. Making sure you’re leaving really well, being patient, and then if someone bowls a loose ball you’ve got to climb into it… Hopefully we’ve learnt from the way we played in England and we can adapt to whatever we’re faced with out there.”I think you do have to rein it back in at times. If someone is bowling well, whether it be on a flat wicket or a wicket that’s doing a bit, you have to adapt to what’s going on out there and rein it back in and wait for those loose balls. That’s what Test cricket is all about. Batting time is key, and hopefully some of our batters can bat some long periods out here and get us some big scores like we had back home in the summer.”One man the Australians will almost certainly go after is the offspinner Mark Craig, who finished the recent Test series in Australia with the unflattering figures of 8 for 513, most of his wickets coming late in innings where Australia already had huge totals.”I thought the boys played him really well back in Australia,” Smith said. “I think the conditions are a little bit different here. The wicket has a little bit of grass on it, so it could potentially take a little bit of spin, I’m not too sure yet. I think if the wicket is nipping around a bit when the spinner comes on, I think he is certainly someone we can look to go after. But we’ll just have to sum that up as the game goes on.”The lure for New Zealand in this series is the chance to lift the Trans-Tasman Trophy for the first time since 1993; Australia have not only the desire to keep their tight grip on the trophy, but also the added incentive of the No. 1 Test ranking. If they win the series they will jump to No. 1 for the first time since 2014.”We want to be No. 1 in all formats of the game,” Smith said. “That’s our goal as a side. I guess you sort of have to put it in the back of your mind and focus on each game as it comes. I’m sure if we play well we’ll have a lot of success on this tour. Obviously New Zealand are a very good side in these conditions so we’re going to have to be at our best if we’re going to beat them. But yeah, of course we’d love to be No. 1 at the end of this series.”

Unmukt Chand’s half-century complemented Sandeep Warrier’s three for 32 to take India Under-23 to victory over Pakistan Under-23 by three wickets in the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUnmukt Chand’s 103-ball 61 helped secure a three-wicket win for India•ACC/Mithilesh Mishra

Opener Unmukt Chand’s 103-ball 61 helped India Under-23s beat Pakistan Under-23s by three-wickets in a close match at the ACC Emerging Teams Cup.Put in to bat, Pakistan were unable to cope with an early spell from the pacers Sandeep Warrier and Sandeep Sharma, who dismissed top-order batsmen Babar Azam, Azeem Ghumman and Bilawal Bhatti within 10 overs to leave Pakistan struggling at 22 for 3.An 85-run fourth-wicket partnership between Usman Salahuddin and Umar Waheed stabilised Pakistan’s innings. However, Waheed gave his wicket away in the 36th over, his mistimed drive against left-arm spinner Akshar Patel reaching only as far as mid-on.Following the breakthrough, India seized the advantage by dismissing Mohammad Nawaz and Hammad Azam in quick succession. Salahuddin made a unhurried 61, but was eventually caught at cover by Baba Aparajith off Warrier, who was named the Man of the Match for his figures of three for 32. Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan struck a 21-ball 25 to push Pakistan to the cusp of 200.Set 192 to chase, India began slowly, but comfortably, with the openers Chand and Lokesh Rahul involved in an 84-run stand to put India in a very healthy position.However, Rahul’s wicket in the 26th over got Pakistan back in the game, as left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, who had returned to competitive cricket in March after suffering a serious injury to his spine in December, took two wickets, including that of Chand’s in the 38th over. Bhatti chimed in with a wicket and Nawaz took his second to leave India at 150 for 5, and needing 42 off 49.Ashok Menaria calmed the nerves by smashing two sixes and a four during his 9-ball 18, before becoming Hasan’s third victim in the 48th over. But with just one run to win, Aparajith took India home.

Mark Boucher, former South Africa wicketkeeper, has said that it is “unlikely” he will play professional cricket in the near future as the healing process to his left eye continues

Firdose Moonda08-Aug-2012Mark Boucher, former South Africa wicketkeeper, has said that it is “unlikely” he will play professional cricket in the near future as the healing process to his left eye continues. Boucher’s eyeball was lacerated last month on the first day of South Africa’s tour to England, when a bail ricocheted off the stumps and hit him during the tour match against Somerset in Taunton.He was forced to move his intended retirement, which he had planned after the Lord’s Test, forward and returned home to South Africa to begin treatment. Boucher underwent one operation in England followed up by five more procedures in Cape Town.Although it was initially reported that he could pick up movement and detect light with the injured eye and he was hopeful of making a return at franchise or amateur level, Boucher’s cricket playing days seem over, for the foreseeable future at least.”I have lost the lens, iris and pupil in my left eye. There was severe damage to my retina. I have had two major operations and four blood draining operations in the past three weeks and physically, at times, I have been in a lot of pain,” Boucher said at his first press conference since the incident, at Newlands, where he also revealed how much his life had changed in recent weeks.”It does get uncomfortable at times and being a sportsman, I want to be active and outdoors but, without a pupil, I find any amount of sunlight very harsh and have thus been restricted to the confines of my home. It is unlikely that I will play any professional cricket again in the near future, which is very unfortunate as I was looking forward to contributing as a player for the Cobras. The risk of additional damage to my left eye or even damage to the other eye, doesn’t warrant it.”Having already considered the end of his career before the tour to England, Boucher had future projects in the works some of which have now been fast-forwarded. He has invested in his “passion for wildlife” with South African Breweries and launched the SAB Boucher Non-Profit Company, which aims to help fund the fight against rhino poaching in Africa.Boucher has been vocal in his support for saving the rhino, which has come under severe threat in recent years. More than 900 rhinos have been killed across Africa in the last three years and the species is facing extinction in some areas. Boucher and team-mates past and present, such as Paul Harris, Dale Steyn and Justin Kemp, took part in a conservation event at the end of June to raise awareness for the rhino and Boucher’s involvement will continue through his new foundation.He has also started a wine-label with long-time friend Jacques Kallis. The wine, called the Innings, went on shelves in South African stores last weekend and reported good sales. Kallis also had the label stuck on his bat and pointed to it in celebration, along with gesturing to his eye, after his century at the Oval.Boucher’s role in the Test XI has been taken up by AB de Villiers in the interim which has allowed South Africa to play the extra batsmen in JP Duminy. Wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile is expected to eventually take over as Boucher’s permanent replacement.Boucher has been monitoring the on-going series between South Africa and England and tweeting his thoughts. He has also been in contact with the squad and captain Graeme Smith hinted that they would seek Boucher’s advice on occasions, given the experience he gained over the years and the fighting way he approached the game.That fight lives on in Boucher and his parting words to the media were ones of hope, despite his current circumstances.”I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. Injuries happen and this could have happened earlier on in my career. I am incredibly grateful for the length of career that I have had and the amazing things I have experienced and people I have met during that time. This is just another challenge in my life and something that I will be working to overcome.”

Holland were denied the opportunity to push for a second win in as many days in the Clydesdale Bank 40 when their clash with Worcestershire in Rotterdam was washed out

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2011
ScorecardHolland were denied the opportunity to push for a second win in as many days in the Clydesdale Bank 40 when their clash with Worcestershire in Rotterdam was washed out.Heavy rain in Hazelaarweg meant the Group A game was called off shortly after midday, meaning both teams pick up a point apiece. The Dutch will be disappointed to have not been able to take the field after their 40-run victory over Kent on home soil on Sunday.Peter Borren’s side have won three of their eight fixtures, while Worcestershire prop up the rest in the standings having won just once in six outings in the competition this season.

A round-up of the second round of matches of the Sri Lanka Under 23 Youth Tournament Division 1

Sa'adi Thawfeeq19-Jul-2010

Group A

Nondescripts CC was extremely unlucky to miss out on victory by a mere one run in their Under-23 Youth Division I tournament match against Navy SC at Welisara. Set a target of 110 for victory off 14 overs, NCC ended up on 109 for 6 and thus had to be content with only first-innings points.The offspin of Umesh Udayanga (5-63) and the slow left-arm orthodox bowling of Roshan Wijenayake (5-33) left NCC with a small target to chase in the fourth innings. However luck was not on their side. For NCC, former Sri Lanka U-19 cricketer Rishan Kavinda’s century and Angelo Perera’s stroke-filled knock of 85 enabled them to gain a useful first-innings lead of 94.None of the other matches came anywhere close to achieving a winning result, with all of them ending in draws.The 18-year-old cricketer from the South, Shehan Jayasuriya of Prince of Wales, gave Moors SC a convincing lead on the first innings against Burgher RC at Braybrooke Place. Jayasuriya scored a brilliant century as Moors declared at 387 for 9 in reply to BRC’s 179.The offspin of Maduka Liyanapathiranage helped Chilaw Marians to a close 37-run first-innings advantage over Bloomfield at Reid Avenue. Bloomfield were well placed at 156 for 5 overnight and set to overhaul Chilaw Marians’ first innings score of 259, but thanks to Liyanapathiranage’s probing offspin, they managed only 222. The only consolation for Bloomfield was Amal Atapattu who took eight wickets in the match with his left-arm spin.

Group B

Eighteen-year-old former St Sebastian’s slow left-arm bowler Anuk de Alwis (6-74) bowled Moratuwa SC to first-innings points over Seeduwa Raddoluwa CC. In another match Ragama CC got the better of Colombo Colts CC also on the first innings.