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Keogh, Miller, Sales extend lead after India spinner rips through Derbyshire

ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2024Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal claimed five wickets as Northamptonshire ran through Derbyshire’s batting line-up on a day dominated by spin at Wantage Road before Northamptonshire’s batters put the hosts in the ascendancy.Chahal, veteran of 152 white-ball internationals, finished with figures of five for 45, only his third career five-wicket haul, as Derbyshire lost their last six wickets for just 15 runs in 10.2 overs.For most of the morning Chahal bowled in tandem with off-spinner Rob Keogh on a pitch offering plenty of turn and bounce with fielders stationed all around the bat. Keogh also took three wickets for 65 as Northamptonshire claimed a handy first inning lead of 54 on day two of this Vitality County Championship encounter.Luis Reece had top scored for Derbyshire with 50 and while Wayne Masden (47) and Aneurin Donald (21) staged a fightback during a 51-run partnership, Chahal removed both batters in a lengthy spell which included a double wicket maiden.In Northamptonshire’s second innings, teenage Derbyshire quick Harry Moore took two early wickets for just six runs, before youngsters Gus Miller (42) and James Sales (40) mounted a stand of 76. Rob Keogh hit a well-paced unbeaten 46 as Northamptonshire closed on 178 for five, leading by 232 when heavy rain and bad light stopped play.Earlier Ben Sanderson made the initial breakthrough for Northamptonshire, knocking back Brooke Guest’s (28) off stump, while Reece’s innings ended when he edged one from Keogh which spun away. Keogh struck again in his next over when David Lloyd was adjudged lbw as he attempted to sweep.Masden refused to be bowled at, coming down the wicket to strike Keogh over midwicket, cutting and sweeping the spinners as he and Donald manoeuvred the ball into the gaps and kept the scoreboard tickingDonald swept Chahal square for six when he tossed one up, but the bowler got his man when Donald swept a half-volley straight to Sales at square leg. Chahal almost had another wicket with his next ball but Sales, now at short leg, could not hold onto a sharp chance offered by Martin Andersson.Masden was undone by one from Chahal that pitched middle and hit the top of off-stump, while Chappell, hero of the One Day Cup fixture here in July, fell two balls later when he chipped to Luke Procter who ran in to take a diving catch at mid-off. Keogh then removed Andersson thanks to an excellent sharp grab by Justin Broad at leg slip.Chahal wrapped up the innings immediately after lunch, Alex Thomson top edging an attempted sweep, Prithvi Shaw running behind the stumps to take the catch. Chahal then bowled Jack Morley next ball to end the innings.Debutant Moore had Shaw adjudged lbw in the second over of Northamptonshire’s innings, while Procter edged him to Masden at second slip, the Derbyshire man’s 250th first-class catch for the county.Miller though started positively, driving Chappell through mid-on for four to get off the mark before Derbyshire turned to their own spin duo of Thomson and Morley who, while they created problems of their own, were inconsistent, failing to apply sustained pressure.Miller cut Morley for four to take Northamptonshire’s lead into three figures, Sales steering the spinner square for four and flicking him through midwicket for another. Miller duly drove Thomson through cover to bring up the 50 partnership.Miller though became the latest batter to perish playing the sweep, trapped lbw by Thomson shortly before tea, while Sales departed to seam shortly after the break, given out caught behind off Andersson.Saif Zaib and Keogh shared a stand of 41 for the fifth wicket to push the Northamptonshire lead towards 200. Zaib picked up where he had left off in his first innings 90, playing some crisp drives against Andersson and reverse sweeping the spinners, but he departed in a rush of blood, bowled as he danced down the track to Morley.Keogh profited from the reverse sweep in particular, deploying the shot to collect three consecutive boundaries off Thomson. He struck eight fours in total and despite the light worsening during the evening session, he helped Northamptonshire towards a daunting lead.

R Ashwin trained with the team on Thursday, but Capitals will wait take a call on his availability

Alagappan Muthu24-Sep-20205:41

Where should Dhoni and Iyer bat for their teams?

Big picture

Even when he wasn’t playing, wasn’t anywhere near the Indian team for major parts of the last 12 months, the focus was forever on MS Dhoni. Why should it change now that he’s back?There is raging debate over the Chennai Super Kings captain pushing himself down the order, and while he isn’t the type to respond to them, here is a stat that is worth remembering. In the IPL, any time Dhoni bats at No. 5 or above, his team has a win percentage of at least 57. When he comes in at No. 6 and below, that figure drops to 37 or worse.The Delhi Capitals may well be happy that all the focus is on their opposition. They have a strong core of young Indian batsmen who are learning all the time and a strike bowler who basically rejects the concept of pressure. Maybe, just maybe, that’s enough to secure what will be only their third victory over the Super Kings since 2013.

In the news

• Ambati Rayudu (hamstring) and Dwayne Bravo (knee) are recovering from injuries and won’t be available for selection.
• Capitals said they wanted to wait and see how R Ashwin and his injured shoulder pull up in training on Thursday before making a call on his playing the game tomorrow.

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Faf du Plessis, 3 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 4 Sam Curran, 5 Kedar Jadhav, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Shardul Thakur/Karn Sharma, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Lungi Ngidi/Imran TahirDelhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin/Amit Mishra, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Norje, 11 Mohit Sharma

Strategy punt

• Since IPL 2018, Rishabh Pant has an average over 40 and a strike rate above 150. Only four other men are in the same bracket and he hits harder (166) than every single one of them. Even AB de Villiers (164). But if Lungi Ngidi keeps his spot and ups his game, the threat can be managed. His head-to-head against Pant in the IPL goes six balls, seven runs and two dismissals.
• Although Shane Watson hasn’t quite come off yet, it can be frightening when he does. Since IPL 2018, he has a strike rate of 185 and hits a boundary every 3.8 balls – and that’s between overs seven and 15, when fielding restrictions are relaxed. So the Capitals will need a plan, which might well revolve around Axar Patel (38 balls, 42 runs, five dismissals) or Amit Mishra (68 balls, 79 runs, six dismissals)

Stats that matter

• Among players with a minimum of 100 runs in the IPL since 2019, Sam Curran’s strike rate of 194 is second-best, only behind Andre Russell.
• The IPL’s greatest ever bowler, Lasith Malinga, picked up at least two wickets for eight matches straight in 2012. No one’s beaten that streak just yet, but Kagiso Rabada has already matched it. He really has been that good in the IPL.
• Dhoni needs two sixes to get his tally up to 300 in T20 cricket.
• The average score in Dubai over the last one-and-a-half years of T20 cricket is 153. Fast bowlers take twice as many wickets as spinners (four per game vs two per game), but spinners have been better at keeping the runs down (6.7 vs 7.7)

ALSO SEE: CSK vs DC live score 25th September, 2020

Central Sparks bowled out for 83 en route to eight-wicket loss

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2021Southern Vipers 85 for 2 (Wyatt 45) beat Central Sparks 83 (Dean 5-19) by eight wicketsA confident Southern Vipers side ignited their Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign with an eight-wicket victory over Central Sparks, who were bowled out for 83 in a double-header at Edgbaston.
Charlotte Dean took five wickets for just 19 runs in an impressive restrictive bowling performance by the Vipers which sealed Sparks’ fate, despite the best efforts of Marie Kelly and Emily Arlott in their 39-run partnership.Vipers chased down the total in 13 overs, with Danni Wyatt stamping her mark on the competition, scoring 45 off 33 balls in an excellent innings to see her side to their first win.The visitors won the toss and chose to bowl and made the most of putting Sparks into bat. It was a tight start by Vipers, as Sparks reached 24 for 3 in the first seven overs. Eve Jones fell in the second over, bowled by Tara Norris, then Thea Brookes was Dean’s first victim, caught for 2 and Gwen Davies was dismissed without scoring by Georgia Elwiss.A crucial partnership between Kelly and Arlott did steady proceedings for Sparks, as they began to open up the attack and find the boundary. Although the partnership came to an end after 39 runs, with Kelly being caught for 36 as Sparks collapsed from 63 for 3 to 83 all out in the space of five overs.Elwiss took two wickets in an over, dismissing Issy Wong and Ria Fackrell, both without scoring, followed by Dean taking four wickets in 10 balls to conclude the Sparks innings. Arlott’s vital innings came to an end, caught for 22, followed by Chloe Hill trapped lbw for 14 as Clare Boycott and Hannah Baker were dismissed quickly to give Dean match winning figures of 5 for 19.Southern Vipers chased down the total of 83 in comfortable fashion, as a 66-run partnership between Wyatt and Maia Bouchier guided them to victory. Sparks looked to be off to the ideal start, as Arlott dismissed Georgia Adams in the first over, but Vipers controlled the chase to emerge victorious.

“Having collapses every now and then is not a good thing, and that’s something we need to analyse and correct”

Saurabh Somani14-Jan-20227:09

Kohli: ‘We did not apply enough pressure on South Africa’

Virat Kohli has admitted that that there is “no running away” from the fact that India’s batting needs to be looked into, after the team lost a closely fought Test series 2-1 to South Africa.India had won the first Test in Centurion, but South Africa ended up chasing 200-plus totals in both Johannesburg and Cape Town to surge to victory, sealing it with a seven-wicket triumph at Newlands on Friday, the fourth day of the third Test.Related

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“It is definitely batting. I don’t think we can pinpoint any other aspect of our game as a team,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation when speaking of what led to the defeat. “Yes, the batting obviously has to be looked into. There’s no running away from that. Having collapses every now and then is not a good thing. And that’s something we need to analyse and correct, moving forward.”All of Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara averaged in the low 20s in the series, having played all three Tests. The tour continued a lean run for Pujara and Rahane, India’s regular No.3 and No.5 for a long time now, but whose form has come under increasing scrutiny in recent times. Since the start of 2020, Pujara has averaged 26.29 from 20 Tests, while Rahane has averaged 24.08 from 19 games.While India have played against top-quality attacks in bowling-friendly conditions in the last two years, Pujara and Rahane’s averages are at the bottom for those who have batted at least ten innings in the top order (from No.1 to No.6).At the press conference after the game, Kohli elaborated specifically on Pujara and Rahane, when asked about their immediate Test futures.”Honestly, I cannot sit here and talk about what’s going to happen in the future,” Kohli said. “That’s not for me to sit here and discuss, you probably have to speak to the selectors, what they have in mind, because this is not my job. As I said before and I will say again, we have continued to back Cheteshwar and Ajinkya because of the kind of players they are, what they have done in Test cricket for India over the years, and playing crucial knocks in the second Test as well.”You saw that important partnership in the second innings [of the second Test], which got us to a total that we could fight for, so these are the kind of performances that we recognise as a team. What the selectors have in mind and what they decide to do, I obviously cannot comment at this moment sitting here.”Kohli continued to back Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane despite their lean run of form•AFP/Getty Images

Both Rahane and Pujara hit one fifty each in the series, during India’s second innings in Johannesburg, where their stand of 111 propped India up. However, both failed in the second innings of the third Test in Cape Town, getting out within the first two overs on day three, taking India from a reasonable position to a wobbly one.Reflecting more broadly on the defeat, Kohli said the team needed to come back better, to try and win a series in a country that no Indian team has so far.”Obviously very disappointed. We know how far we’ve come as a team,” Kohli said. “The fact that we come to South Africa and people expect us to beat the South African team in their own conditions is testimony to what we’ve done in the past. But that doesn’t guarantee you any results. We still have to come out here and play hard cricket, which we failed to do this time around.”I’m not going to stand here and say, ‘Oh but we won in Australia, we won in England’. You have to turn up to every series and try to win that series, and we haven’t done it in South Africa and that’s the reality of the situation. We need to accept it, get better, move forward, and come back better cricketers. You give credit to the opposition when it’s due and definitely this time around, as the case was the last time as well [in 2018 where India also lost 2-1], South Africa were much better than us in their own conditions.”Alongside the bowling – both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami were consistently unrelenting with lines, length and movement – one of the bright spots for India was Rishabh Pant’s swashbuckling century at Newlands. Pant made 100 not out in India’s total of 198 in the second innings, where the next highest score was Kohli’s 29.On the positives to take from this series, Kohli praised the bowlers, and in particularly KL Rahul’s returns as an opener along with Rishabh Pant’s swashbuckling century in the third Test. It came a game after Pant had been pilloried for trying to smash Kagiso Rabada and getting out for a duck. Kohli later said that Pant was someone who would learn from his mistakes, and reiterated that point after the third Test.”Definitely I think it was a high-quality knock given the conditions and the situation and the kind of bowling that was on display, and that’s the talent he possesses,” Kohli said. “Hence I said it’s up to him to keep learning from the mistakes that happen, because we understand what he can do for the team on a regular basis and the quality that he has as a wicketkeeper and a batsman, he can surely keep doing it as a regular occurrence for India and that is only going to help the team to be in match-winning positions, because he’s a special talent and he can do some special things. Tremendous knock, one of the better hundreds that I have seen.”

Duckett, Crawley reach fifties as England close in on Ireland’s modest first-innings total

Valkerie Baynes01-Jun-2023 is a TV quiz show in which contestants must guess the most obscure answer to each question, an answer that’s right but which no member of the public surveyed by the show has thought of. But it was Stuart Broad who provided the most obvious solution of all amid the murmurings that there was little point to this Test – as evidenced by Ireland’s undeniable focus on World Cup qualification and England’s understandable caution with their thinning seam-bowling stocks and eagerness to experiment in that department.It would be impossible to argue to Broad that a third five-wicket haul at Lord’s – his first at this ground in a decade – carries zero meaning, just as it would be to tell England that any kind of rehearsal for their upcoming Ashes campaign is pointless. In the same way, it would be futile to tell Ireland that if they are to boost their Test experience – still only seven matches old – that there’s no point turning up. The international season has to start somewhere, so it might as well be here and now, right?Broad’s 5 for 51 restricted Ireland to 172 after they were sent in to bat under overcast skies by a side that loves to chase. The total fell short of Ireland’s first innings the last time these sides met at Lord’s, four summers ago, when they then bowled England out for 85 in their reply before capitulating for just 38 in the fourth innings and the hosts won by 143 runs.Related

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By stumps on the opening day, after the cloud cover had given way to baking sunshine by lunchtime, England had closed the gap to just 20 runs in assertive fashion with nine wickets in hand. Zak Crawley reached fifty off just 39 balls before he perished to a juggled return catch by Fionn Hand, on debut as Ireland’s third seamer, Crawley’s 11 fours comprising some exquisite cover drives interspersed by some streaky inside edges. Ben Duckett reached his own half-century off 53 balls and remained unbeaten on 60 at the close, joined by Ollie Pope on 29.Broad took a flurry of three wickets in the space of eight balls to leave Ireland floundering at 19 for 3 early in the morning session and claimed two more, shortly after lunch and early in the evening session, as James McCollum, Curtis Campher and Paul Stirling all made it into the 30s but failed to press on. McCollum was patient, Campher spirited and Stirling enterprising but the task was too big, and arguably made even bigger by the well-publicised absence of Josh Little, their best bowler who is resting after the IPL and before next month’s 50-over World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe as well as the European T20 World Cup Qualifier in Scotland a month later.With his usual new-ball partner James Anderson sitting out to manage his return from a groin problem ahead of the Ashes, Broad opened the bowling with Matthew Potts and while the latter probed impressively, it was Broad broke through with the second ball of his third over, a fuller one which pitched a fraction outside off stump then angled back beautifully as PJ Moor walked across his stumps and was struck halfway up his front pad in line with middle and leg.Crawley pulled off an excellent dive from second slip to snaffle Andy Balbirnie’s outside edge as the Ireland captain departed for a five-ball duck and Broad claimed his second. Harry Tector followed two balls later, advancing to Broad and tucking the ball straight to Potts at leg slip.Broad thought he had a fourth wicket immediately, as did umpire Paul Wilson, when he struck Stirling flush on the front pad as he played across the line, but Stirling survived on review when ball-tracking showed it to be missing leg stump by a whisker.Debutant Josh Tongue, the Worcestershire seamer originally drafted as injury cover for Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who is also being kept on ice after hurting his ankle playing for Sussex, replaced Broad from the Pavilion End in the 11th over and tested McCollum immediately, sending down twin maidens to begin with. He conceded 40 runs off 13 wicketless overs but he bowled excellent line and length while finding extra bounce and carry.Stuart Broad leads England off the field•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

McCollum survived an England review for caught behind off a Tongue short ball which beat his inside edge, nipped back sharply and just evaded the bat as it sailed over the stumps, brushing his thigh pad instead. By lunch, he had faced 93 deliveries for his 29 not out, whereas Stirling reached 30 off 35 balls, including back-to-back fours off Tongue among his five boundaries, before he shaped to sweep Jack Leach and the ball looped off his glove to a waiting Jonny Bairstow, back behind the stumps after nine months out of international cricket with a broken leg.Broad struck again in the fifth over after lunch as McCollum edged to Joe Root at slip and he bowled Mark Adair with an excellent inswinger that clipped the top of off stump as Ireland lurched to 169 for 8 shortly after tea.Campher fell advancing on Leach and missing as the ball rattled his stumps to give the England spinner his third and Potts claimed his second wicket, having broken a 38-run stand between Campher and Andy McBrine, when he had Hand caught behind to wrap up the innings.

Yorkshire recover from 11 for 3 before sealing convincing victory with ball

ECB Reporters Network24-Jun-2022Harry Brook’s blistering knock of 67 from 31 balls dug Yorkshire Vikings out of trouble and propelled them into the Vitality Blast North Group qualification places at Northamptonshire Steelbacks’ expense.Brook’s effort, which included four fours and four sixes, underpinned his partnership of 90 from 46 with skipper David Willey as Vikings fought back after a dreadful start to post 190 for 7 at Wantage Road. Yorkshire allrounder Matthew Waite registered a T20 career-best with both bat and ball, following an unbeaten 35 from 20 with figures of 3 for 18 as the home side crumpled to 128 all out in 16.2 overs.It was a third straight defeat for Northamptonshire, who have now dropped out of the top four and face a struggle to make the quarter-finals.Josh Cobb’s decision to send Yorkshire in after winning the toss was swiftly justified as the Steelbacks skipper opened proceedings with two tight overs and the wicket of Finn Allen, caught off a leading edge at short cover.With Adam Lyth and Tom Kohler-Cadmore both holing out to Ben Sanderson, the visitors slumped to a perilous 11 for 3 in the fourth over before Willey and Brook hauled them back into the game. Willey, who rejoins Northamptonshire at the end of the season, was required to play little more than a supporting role while his partner tore into the bowling, lifting Sanderson, Tom Taylor and Jimmy Neesham for a series of majestic leg-side sixes.Aside from a powerful drive straight back at Sanderson, who could only parry the ball, Brook offered no chances as he raced to his half-century from 21 deliveries and looked odds-on to convert that into a ton. However, he became one of three victims in five balls for Graeme White – and the only controversial one of those dismissals, given out caught behind after swinging across at the left-arm spinner.Any prospect of a renewed Yorkshire collapse was averted by Jordan Thompson and Waite, who crashed Sanderson for three boundaries off the final over as the visitors finished with a flourish.Northamptonshire made just as subdued a start to their innings, with Ben Curran chopping on to Willey and Shadab Khan’s tidy legspin provoking Cobb into a wild heave that saw his bat fly towards square leg, while the ball sailed away into the hands of backward point.But it was Waite who collected the prize scalp with his third delivery as big-hitting opener Chris Lynn speared it straight to Willey at mid-on to leave the Steelbacks teetering at 22 for 3.Neesham briefly revived his side’s hopes by hammering 26 from 13 but, having dispatched Shadab over the midwicket fence twice in an over, he picked out the point fielder next ball – and the procession gathered pace. Dom Bess struck twice in as many deliveries and, despite a late flurry of boundaries by Nathan Buck, the outcome was never in doubt.

Fred Klaassen is only county-contracted player involved in three-match series

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2022Teja Nidamanuru, an allrounder who has featured for Auckland in the past, and batter Antonius Staal, who has played 14 T20Is but never an ODI, have been included in Netherlands’ squad for their upcoming home ODI series at home against West Indies.

Schedule

Netherlands vs West Indies: May 31, June 2, June 4 – VRA Stadium, Amstelveen

Also named in the squad after serving a ball-tampering ban was Vivian Kingma, while opening batter Musa Ahmed has also made a comeback after missing Netherlands’ last series, against New Zealand.Veteran Stephan Myburgh, who made a 45-ball-64 in his last outing, against New Zealand in Hamilton, is not part of the squad having announced his ODI retirement after that game. Brandon Glover’s was the other name missing from the squad that played the New Zealand ODIs. The quick bowler had gone wicketless in both the games he featured in on that tour.Fred Klaassen, the Kent left-arm seamer, is the only player with a county contract who has been named in the squad.Related

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The three-ODI series will start on May 31, with all matches played in Amstelveen. The matches will be part of the World Cup Super League, where Netherlands are currently placed 13th. Their summer will also involve Super League games against England and Pakistan, at home, in June and August respectively.Squad: Pieter Seelaar (capt), Scott Edwards (wk), Shariz Ahmad, Logan van Beek, Philippe Boissevain, Aryan Dutt, Clayton Floyd, Fred Klaassen, Vivian Kingma, Ryan Klein, Bas de Leede, Musa Nadeem Ahmed, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd, Vikram Singh, Antonius Staal

Hosts still need a miracle, but battling innings sets the stage for a possible escape

Paul Edwards21-Jul-2022
“We’ll be all right when we get to Cheltenham.” For generations of Gloucestershire cricketers these words have come as a comfort and a reassurance. However grim their season had been, a fortnight in the south Cotswolds would always improve matters. Some of the former players attending the PCA reunion at the College Ground today will have travelled to this élite outground with their confidence battered by defeats, only to leave it with fresh hope.Well, surely not this year, or not this week at any rate. Graeme van Buuren’s team have yet to win a first-class game in 2022 and, barring a miracle that would strain the powers of Ben Stokes, Merlin and the Blessed Virgin combined, they are not going to win this one.But somehow, Cheltenham never quite lets Gloucestershire’s cricketers down, nor indeed the spectators for whom this fortnight includes eight days of obligation. So much was plain just before five past seven when Miles Hammond edged Keith Barker to third man and thus reached his first century in 38 first-class matches, a sequence that stretches back to September 2018.Earlier in that distant summer, the stylish left-hander had made his maiden century on the College Ground, against Sussex, on an afternoon when inevitable comparisons were made with his namesake. Since then, Hammond has batted well at times but never properly realised his rich promise. Today, though, the majority of his 16 fours, especially the cover-drives, were cleanly struck and his two sixes off Dawson were calculated blows.Yet it will require a colossal effort for Gloucestershire to save this game. Earlier in the afternoon they had been bowled out for 201 and there seemed every chance they would suffer an innings defeat when they followed on. This was a little more likely on a day when 109.2 overs were bowled as the umpires sought to compensate for excessive heat on the first day and rain on the second. However, after seeming in danger of losing 18 wickets in three session when they were 111 for four in their second innings, Gloucestershire ended another long evening session just 65 behind and with six wickets in hand. It must seem like riches and when Hampshire’s coach, Giles White gathered his players on the outfield after close of play, he was probably reminding them they were still winning the match. Hammond’s achievement was to make such a meeting necessary.The first hour or so of this extraordinary day had also gone dreamily well for Gloucestershire. Instead of seeing wickets falling in an unseemly clatter, as some had predicted, we watched Hammond hit five boundaries and Ollie Price play a fine supporting role. When Kyle Abbott overpitched, Hammond drove him through the covers three times in two overs. “Shot!” exclaimed someone in The Pig and Pallett who had started early. It should be noted that the P&P is a gazebo’d affair that serves as the Festival’s pub. There are certainly plenty of pallets under the beige canvas but the porcine presence is thankfully less evident.Anyway, Hammond was looking secure, illusorily so, as it turned out. James Vince brought on Dawson from the Chapel End and the left-hander at once whipped him to the midwicket boundary. Three balls later he came down the pitch to repeat the trick and was smartly stumped by Ben Brown for 38. At that point in the day’s cricket, Hammond had made five fifties this season yet his top score was 75 not out. Dismissals when well set had scaffolded his recent summersAlmost at once, things got worse for Gloucestershire. James Bracey completely misread Dawson’s niggardly flight and drove his second ball back to the bowler. Now the home side were 93 for four and some gloomy fears were being realised. So the crowd’s applause for Price’s fifty, which he reached with successive fours off Abbott, might have been thought a little excessive had one not understood the local warmth that always informs this precious Festival.But Hampshire were not to be resisted. They are finding ways to win games and ways to take wickets this summer. Having made a career-best 59, Price looked to work Felix Organ behind square on the leg side. It was a decent option and would have brought him a couple of runs had not Nick Gubbins anticipated the shot and dived to his right to take a brilliant one-handed catch. Twenty-one-year old Price stayed at the crease awhile as if unable to believe how his green world had mistreated him. Ryan Higgins came out and made 11 in 14 balls before losing his off pole on the stroke of lunch when playing a quite horrendous swipe across the line to a good length ball from James Fuller. Van Buuren, the Gloucestershire skipper, watched this dismissal from the other end and one doubts Higgins sat near him during the break in play. Abergavenny might not have been far enough away.Undaunted, though, van Buuren went on to reach his own half-century after the break. His unbeaten 58 was full of the small man’s stock-in-trade: pulls, sweeps, cuts and wristy punches. At the other end, Gloucestershire lost their last four wickets in 11 overs to concede a 256-run deficit. No one fainted when Vince enforced the follow-on. Dawson finished with 4 for 44 but he was merely the best of a very good and varied bunch of bowlers.In their first innings Marcus Harris and Chris Dent had survived 5.4 overs; they managed to face five balls fewer in the second dig. In the third over Harris drove a little far from his body at a ball from Barker and nicked a catch to Brown. Two overs later the same bowler sent Dent’s off stick flipping towards the dressing rooms. 17 for 2 and 14 for 2, the ball still very new in both innings; a side does pretty well if it can cope with starts like that.And by now, of course, the game had rewound to 11.00 this morning when Price and Hammond were reconstructing their side’s first innings. They managed well enough some five hours later, too, adding a stand of 63 to their previous 76 before Price pulled the first ball of a new spell from Barker straight to Vince at midwicket. Bracey then batted uneasily for 45 minutes before edging Abbott to Dawson at second slip but van Buuren offered Hammond reassuringly steadfast company in light that remained remarkably playable. On the adjoining College Lawn, somehow inflated a hot-air balloon with a Glos. Cricket logo on its side. Meanwhile, on the cricket ground, more or less everyone applauded Hammond home. And to think that some of us had doubted Cheltenham.

The 28-year old became the first fast bowler to record a ten-wicket haul in the UAE as Pakistan sealed an emphatic 373-run win

The Report by Danyal Rasool19-Oct-20180:50

Mohammad Abbas, Pakistan’s second-fastest to 50 Test wickets

Abu Dhabi really was nothing like Dubai. Over in the nation’s most global city, Australia batted out 140 overs in blazing sunshine to thwart Pakistan’s hopes of a win. Here in the capital under clouds and a slight drizzle, it took Mohammad Abbas and his teammates barely 50 overs to scythe through an Australian side that looked as feeble as the worst pessimist had feared a fortnight ago.Abbas completed a five-wicket haul, his second in this match and his fourth in a career that yet spans a mere 10 matches. It was his scintillating spell on Friday morning that ripped through Australia’s middle order, condemning them to a 373-run defeat, their fourth-worst in history.Abbas was strewn across every record book in Abu Dhabi. He is the first fast bowler to take a ten-wicket haul in UAE, he’s the joint fastest to 50 wickets, and has the lowest average of any bowler with that tally in the last 122 years. For a bowler who only made his debut 18 months ago, he is fast rising to the status of unofficial world No. 1, a ranking none other than Dale Steyn tipped him to reach. If you watched him bowling in this Test, and indeed these two weeks, you’d be hard pressed to disagree.These are especially worrying times for Justin Langer, the new Australia coach. In the three Tests since the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town, Australia have suffered two defeats that rank as their second and fourth-heaviest of all time.On Friday, the middle order collapsed yet again in an intense morning session where Abbas ripped through them with virtually unplayable accuracy. Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Starc showed fight when it looked like the game might not extend to the second session, but that partnership was broken half an hour before lunch as Yasir Shah finally got his teeth into the game.Travis Head and Aaron Finch began the day solidly enough, but the sheer insurmountability of the task that lay ahead brought its own constricting pressures. Asad Shafiq, captaining in place of Sarfraz Ahmed – the regular captain is being examined for possible concussion – kept Abbas on for an extended spell this morning, and for good reason. Mohammad Rizwan was keeping up to the wicket, and Abbas, with his deadly accurate off-stump line, began to wear the Australian pair down.Head was the first to go, nicking through to the keeper, and that started a masterclass in stump-to-stump bowling. Abbas struck Mitchell Marsh’s bent back knee in his next over, and a review revealed it would have hit the stumps. His next over produced two further wickets, Finch the first victim, before perhaps the best one of the lot. Three balls into his innings, Tim Paine felt he could safely leave one from Abbas that began outside the stumps. The ball seamed in, and the Australia captain could only watch as it clattered into off stump. Australia had lost four wickets for seven runs, and Abbas was suddenly on the cusp of another five-fer.Usman Khawaja wasn’t able to come out to bat because he’d been off the field for a large time nursing an internal injury, so Starc came out instead. It was the best passage of play for Australia. Abbas was finally given a rest and the pair, particularly Labuschagne, looked reasonably comfortable against Yasir. They batted together for over an hour and brought up the 50 partnership, and for Australia to take any sort of momentum into the next session, it was obvious the two would need to see this one out.Yasir ensured that wouldn’t happen. As Starc stepped back to deal with what he saw as a short delivery, it turned sharply and struck him on the pad. That was followed by perhaps the worst DRS review all series; it wouldn’t have been more obviously out had it smashed into his middle peg. Yasir would find another wicket next over, with Peter Siddle trapped in front. Replays showed a review – which Australia did not call for this time – would have saved him, with the ball pitching slightly outside leg stump.The only uncertainty following the lunch interval was whether Abbas would be able to complete his ten-wicket haul. Though come to think of it, there never was going to be any doubt.

A 76-run win helped the Sixers climb out of the bottom of the points table

The Report by Mohammad Isam25-Jan-2019How the game played outSylhet Sixers climbed out of the bottom of the Bangladesh Premier League points table with a 76-run win over Rajshahi Kings in this season’s first match played in Chattogram. Sohail Tanvir and Mohammad Nawaz took three wickets each to headline an excellent Sylhet bowling performance to shoot Rajshahi out for 104 in 18.2 overs.Laurie Evans’ early dismissal rocked Rajshahi, who failed to gain any momentum in their chase of Sylhet’s 180 for 6.Sylhet earlier put up a strong total, mainly because of a 62-run third-wicket stand between Jason Roy and Afif Hossain. Roy, in his first innings for Sylhet, struck four fours and two sixes in his 28-ball 42, while Afif scored 28 in 29 balls. Towards the end, Tanvir slammed four fours in his unbeaten 23 off nine balls.Turning points

• Sylhet added 90 runs in the second half of their innings despite losing a set Roy at the end of the tenth over.
• Zakir Hasan and Fazle Mahmud took up 5.2 overs to add 36 runs, and that didn’t really help Rajshahi to recover from their three early losses.
• Run-rate pressure led to Fazle, Christiaan Jonker and Mehidy Hasan falling in the 15th over to Nawaz.

Star of the dayThe experienced Tanvir wasn’t the captain for this game, but he delivered a very good all-round performance. First, he blasted 23 in quick time before picking up three wickets.The big missSoft dismissals hurt Rajshahi in their pursuit of 181. First, Mominul Haque’s attempted clip off Taskin Ahmed went straight to short fine-leg, and then Ryan ten Doeschate was bowled off a really short delivery from Alok Kapali.Where the teams standRajshahi are stuck in fifth place with three games remaining, while Sylhet have returned to the sixth spot following the win.