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The Tshwane Spartans coach also looks ahead to catching up with Gary Kirsten as an opponent

Liam Brickhill30-Aug-2019Tshwane Spartans coach Mark Boucher is expecting “great things” from Tom Curran, the England and Surrey allrounder who will join his team as their marquee international signing for the upcoming second edition of the Mzansi Super League.Curran, 24, was part of England’s World Cup winning squad, and has been capped across all three formats. Boucher hopes Curran will bring some of the expertise and energy he gained from being part of England’s campaign, to the MSL.”He’s come from an environment in which England just won a World Cup, so that can only be good,” Boucher said. “He’s been in that side for a while. He’s been a performer at county level and for England, I’m looking forward to great things from him over here. He brings a wealth of experience but he sounds like a nice team-man as well.”Boucher has one former team-mate – AB de Villiers – in his squad and will come up against another when the competition begins in November. Gary Kirsten, who played in 167 international games alongside Boucher and also coached him at international level, has been confirmed as head coach of Durban Heat.”It’s always a pleasure being in Gary’s company, whether as a player with him, whether batting with him or whether he was my coach as was the case at the end of my career,” Boucher said. “It will be nice to have a coffee with him, check how things are going, catch up with his family.”He’ll be excited to get involved in this league and I’m sure we’ll have some nice competitive chats while we play against each other, which is the way it should be. It’s a very good thing for South African cricket that he is involved in this competition.”Boucher admitted that the inaugural edition of the MSL experienced some “teething problems”, but he remains optimistic about the future of the competition in his second season as Spartans’ coach.”There are so many different competitions around the world at the moment. It’s almost that you felt South Africa had to have its own competition as well,” Boucher said.”We had some teething problems last year and hopefully we learned from those and we can move on and make it even bigger and better. There are so many competitions, that have done really well; the IPL, the Big Bash [League], but those have got their problems as well, so we just need to manage things well and hopefully the competition goes from strength to strength.”MSL

Spartans stumbled through the first MSL season last year, finishing fifth out of six teams by winning just four of their 10 matches and missing out on a playoff spot. But there were some successes on the field too, and seamer Lutho Sipamla was one of the finds of the tournament. He burst onto the scene to finish as the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 16 dismissals, and had made his T20I debut for South Africa by the end of the season.”A guy like Lutho comes into the equation, he had a fantastic season with the Warriors and a great season last time for us at the Spartans,” Boucher said. “It’s a reward for guys doing well, but also mixed with a bit of talent that we see, that we can work in this environment that can take their game a step forwards.”Sipamla will likely open the bowling alongside Lungi Ngidi, who was part of the Spartans squad last season but played no part in the competition after injuring his knee in the field while on tour in Australia.”We lost Lungi at the beginning of the competition. He was our first pick – that happens, you have guys who get injured which put us on the back foot straight away. Hopefully this year we keep all our players on the field and we can be more prepared on the field as well.”

Fakhar Zaman and KL Rahul became the new No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, while Babar Azam, Colin Munro and Glenn Maxwell slipped to occupy the spots right below the top three

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2018Australia T20 captain Aaron Finch has jumped three places to vault to the top of ICC T20I rankings for batsmen, while Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman and India’s KL Rahul rose to the No. 2 and No. 3 spots respectively. Finch also became the first player ever to break the 900-point barrier in the T20I rankings but ended the series with a final tally of 891 points.The new top three in the ICC rankings for T20 batsmen•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Babar Azam, Colin Munro and Glenn Maxwell all slipped, occupying the three spots below Finch, Zaman and Rahul.Finch had a prolific run in the tri-series against Pakistan and hosts Zimbabwe, piling on 306 runs in five games at a strike rate of over 200, which included a world record 172 off 76 balls.Zaman moved up 44 places on the table and reached 842 points following his own incredible form in Zimbabwe, which featured a career-best 91 off 46 balls in the final that helped Pakistan seal a record chase against Australia in Harare.Rahul touched a career-high 854 points following the first match of the T20I series in England – which the visitors won 2-1 – where he scored a match-winning 101, but a dip in the next two games saw him finish with 812 points.D’Arcy Short, Finch’s opening partner, entered the top 10 rankings for the first time. He made 165 runs at an average of 41.25 in the tri-series, including a 53-ball 76 in the final. The others who garnered career-best rankings following the two series were Jason Roy (No. 15 with 641 points), Jos Buttler (No. 17 with 614 points) and Zimbabwe’s Solomon Mire, who rose a staggering 202 spots to 25th place on the table.Among the bowlers, legspinners Rashid Khan and Shadab Khan retained the top two positions but there were movements down the table. Andrew Tye rose 41 places to seventh spot and Adil Rashid moved up four places to ninth.

Holders Warwickshire were eliminated from the Royal London Cup as Derbyshire again made runs for fun

ECB Reporters Network10-May-2017
ScorecardBen Slater managed another big Derbyshire total [file picture]•Getty Images

The international experience of Jeevan Mendis took Derbyshire to a four wicket victory that knocked holders Warwickshire out of the Royal London One-Day Cup.The Sri Lankan all-rounder hit six fours and a six in an unbeaten 44 off 23 balls to steer Derbyshire home with two balls to spare to keep alive their hopes of finishing in the top three of the North Group.The visitors’ 292 for 7 was built on Sam Hain’s highest one-day score of 109 and Ian Bell’s 93 but Ben Slater set Derbyshire up with 82 before Mendis carried the home side to 296 for 6.Four times in less than a fortnight Derbyshire have recorded scores that all rank in the top 20 they have ever made in one-day cricket.Warwickshire first team coach Jim Troughton admitted: “We knew we wanted 20 extra runs which would have given us a cushion for a little cameo there from Mendis who played exceptionally well. When you lose by a small margin it’s a tough one for the guys to take.”His side would have expected to go past 300 when Hain and Bell accumulated steadily after Jonathan Trott had played on to Ben Cotton in the eighth over.Although only 43 came from the opening Powerplay, conditions were good for batting under a cloudless sky and runs came more freely as Hain and Bell relied on placement rather than power.Hain’s second 50 came from only 38 balls but when he gave himself room to drive Thakor through the covers, he lost his middle stump which ended Warwickshire’s highest stand for any wicket against Derbyshire in one-day cricket.Bell’s run out four overs later, going for a second on a misfield, meant Warwickshire had two new batsmen in and the innings stalled against tight bowling backed up by sharp fielding.Rikki Clarke went cheaply against the club he used to captain and, although Tim Ambrose dented Ben Cotton’s figures by pulling him for two consecutive sixes, he was lbw hitting across the line at Thakor.When Hardus Viljoen conceded only four off the bat in the final over, Warwickshire had been restricted to 44 from the last seven although Derbyshire still needed to make their highest one-day score against them to win.They were given a solid start by Slater and Billy Godleman who made 46 before he was sent back and run out for 46 in the 18th over as the spinners checked the home side’s progress.Clarke profited when he returned to have Thakor caught at deep mid on for 20 and although Slater pulled Ateeq Javid for six, he was bowled attempting the same shot at Patel two overs later.When Wayne Madsen was lbw to Keith Barker, Derbyshire needed 120 from the last 15 overs but Daryn Smit pulled Mark Adair for four and six to reduce the target to 84 from 10.Alex Hughes helped add 62 in nine overs before Mendis took over, clubbing Clarke for six before he sealed victory with a drive down the ground off Barker.Mendis said: “I wanted to play a good innings for Derbyshire but this was a team effort. The senior players have done well and it gives the younger players a boost to help them in the future.”Every time I go out to bat I get nervous and batting at No 7 is hard because you get few balls to play yourself in so you get little time to get going.”

Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to build momentum when they run into Gujarat Lions on Sunday

The Preview by Arun Venugopal in Rajkot23-Apr-2016

Match facts

Sunday, April 24, 2016
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)

Big picture

Royal Challengers Bangalore have more than one reason to be happy with their 13-run win over Rising Pune Supergiants on Friday. They successfully defended a total for the second time this season and their replacement player – South African chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi – impressed on IPL debut. Shane Watson and Kane Richardson held their own in the end overs even as Thisara Perera caused panic.

Locals outfit attempts to dig up pitch

Four members of a local outfit attempted to dig up the pitch at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Friday to protest against IPL matches being held in Rajkot in view of the water crisis in the region.
“They tried to sabotage the wicket, but our security officials made a timely intervention and handed them over to the police,” Niranjan Shah, president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association, told ESPNcricinfo.
Shah called it “sports terrorism” and said the same group of people had come to organise a demonstration inside the stadium a few days ago. “We have our security in place. After this incident, the security will be more tight,” Shah said.

Royal Challengers’ batting line-up has been in red-hot form, with AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli firing with astonishing regularity. Should they fail, they have enough insurance in the form of Watson, Sarfaraz Khan and Mandeep Singh in the middle order. Having lost in Mumbai and won in Pune, Royal Challengers would look to finish their last match in the western region on a high before heading to Hyderabad.Gujarat Lions, meanwhile, produced polished performances in their first three matches before faltering against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday night. Aaron Finch has led the batting line-up with three fifties and three Man-of-the-Match awards in three successful chases but his only failure coincided with a big Lions defeat.Captain Suresh Raina’s return to form was a silver lining in their 10-wicket loss, and their bowling, save for the Sunrisers game, has been consistently good. Lions, though, will want more runs from their allrounder-heavy middle order. Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja have only managed a combined tally of 60 runs in seven innings.Lions had an intense fielding session on Saturday with funky drills based on relay-throws and backing-up. Lions performance coach Monty Desai said the team used such sessions to build energy. They would want that to rub on to their batting.

Form guide

Gujarat Lions LWWW (most recent matches first)
Royal Challengers Bangalore WLLW

In the spotlight

Dinesh Karthik was expected to be one of the leaders of the Lions batting group. But after his unbeaten 41 against Kings XI Punjab in the opening game, he has managed only 17 runs in two innings. Karthik’s wicketkeeping has also been patchy at times, and at practice, he seemed to place special emphasis on leg-side takes.Tabraiz Shamsi, who came in as replacement for the injured Samuel Badree, had Ajinkya Rahane stumped at a critical period, despite finishing with an economy rate of nine. Shamsi’s ability to spin the ball either way will come in handy on a surface that has traditionally been kind to spinners. Ask Jadeja.

Team news

James Faulkner had a long net with both bat and ball, and he is likely to return to the XI in place of Dale Steyn, who conceded 17 runs in two overs against Sunrisers. The hosts may also toy with the idea of playing an extra spinner in place of Praveen Kumar, who leaked 31 runs in two overs on Thursday.Gujarat Lions (probable) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Brendon McCullum, 3 Suresh Raina (c), 4 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Akshdeep Nath, 8 James Faulkner/Dale Steyn, 9 Praveen Kumar/Sarabjit Ladda/Shadab Jakati, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Pravin TambeChris Gayle, according to a Royal Challengers source, is yet to join the squad, having returned to Jamaica on paternity leave. Also, going by Kohli’s post-match interview on Friday night, Shamsi is likely to get an extended run. Should Royal Challengers need another spinner, they may consider bringing in Yuzvendra Chahal for Harshal Patel, who leaked 25 runs in one over against Supergiants.Royal Challengers (probable) 1 Virat Kohli (c), 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Sarfaraz Khan, 6 Mandeep Singh, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Harshal Patel/Yuzvendra Chahal, 9 Tabraiz Shamsi, 10 Kane Richardson, 11 Iqbal Abdulla

Pitch and conditions

The game will be played on the same pitch that was used for the last two matches. It is learnt that one of the two adjoining surfaces was considered, but with the broadcasters having trouble in re-positioning their equipment, the same track will be used. It is an afternoon game and the temperature is pushing north of 36 degrees. The pitch is likely to have consistent bounce, while assisting batting throughout.

Stats and trivia

• Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have scored 516 of the 773 runs (66.75 %) scored by Royal Challengers in the tournament.
• Dinesh Karthik has gone 21 innings without a T20 fifty.

Quote

“The best thing about him is that he treats everyone equally. The way he treats the likes of Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch, he treats everyone else as well the same way. He might seem calm, but there is a lot of fighting spirit in him. He will look to win the match till the last ball.”

Essex’s failure to secure the bonus points they required to stand any chance of overhauling them means that Northants are assured of promotion to Division One of the County Championship

George Dobell at New Road25-Sep-2013
ScorecardRob Keogh’s half-century secured a batting bonus point as Northants achieved promotion•Getty Images

There may be a day or two left of the campaign, but Northamptonshire are already celebrating what may just be the finest season in the club’s history.Essex’s failure to secure the bonus points they required to stand any chance of overhauling them means that Northants are assured of promotion to Division One of the County Championship whatever happens in the rest of their match with Worcestershire.With the FLt20 already secured – only the fourth trophy in the history of a club that played its inaugural first-class game in 1905 – and the club assured of playing in the top division for the first time since 2004, it is easy to understand why the chief executive, David Smith, declared it “the best year we’ve ever had”. They only missed out on a YB40 semi-final due to run rate, too.Perhaps 1976 was better. That year Northants won the Gillette Cup and were second in the County Championship – long before the days of two divisions or a financial divide between the top and bottom sides – but, whichever way you look at it, 2013 will be remembered as a golden year in the history of a club that has generally been content to live in the shadows.It is the contrast with last year that is so remarkable. Not only did Northants finish second from bottom of Division Two in 2012, they hardly won a match in limited-overs cricket. Across the three competitions, no side won fewer games. Spectators stayed away in their droves.As a result, they changed their captain and their coach. David Ripley, the wicketkeeper when Northants last won a trophy in 1992, actually replaced David Capel midway through the 2012 campaign but it was only this year that he had the opportunity to instil his own values upon the side. Stephen Peters replaced Andrew Hall as captain of the first-class side and Alex Wakely became captain in the limited-overs formats, deputising in the Championship side when Peters was injured.Hall, relieved of the burden of leadership, rediscovered his form as a player and emerged as their “standout four-day performer”, in the words of Ripley. No one in the side has scored more runs than Hall’s 909, while he has also taken 35 Championship wickets.The club also recruited wisely. Steven Crook, arguably the signing of the season, was brought in from Middlesex to add pace with the ball and ballast with the bat, while Azharullah was signed from league cricket and Trent Copeland as overseas player. They have so far claimed 113 Championship wickets between them; only Lancashire have taken more bowling points than Northants in the division.The batting was even stronger. No side in either division can match their 54 batting bonus points and, with 15 men having contributed half-centuries, there were times when a batsman as competent as Copeland, who has scored a first-class century and gone in as high as No. 7 in Australia, went in at No. 11.But there is more to this improvement than strong batting and bowling. Northants have also instilled in their side a unity and spirit that has seen them overcome two defeats against Lancashire – the only side that beat them and the only side they admit were better than them – and the inevitable stresses and strains of a long county season. The split captaincy idea has resulted in all formats benefiting from increased energy and time for planning, and the momentum of success in all forms of the game has proved self-perpetuating.Perhaps most pleasing is the emergence of some young players at the club – the likes of Olly Stone, Rob Newton, Rob Keogh, Ben Duckett, David Murphy and even Wakely – who could go on to form the basis of a strong team for a decade to come.If you really want to pinpoint the change in fortunes of this club, you probably have to go back to January 2012. That was when a new chief executive, David Smith, was appointed and when the ambitions of a club that had seemed content with a supporting role were overhauled. It was Smith who sacked Capel and appointed Ripley and who had the energy and vision to see how the club could regain the relevance it once had in its local community. His job is not complete, but he has made a fine start.Not only have Northants’ on-field performances improved in the last 20 months, the club have bought the ground on which they play, improved their facilities and begun an economic development that will, in time, see their income grow by 30% or more. Only last Sunday, 13,000 people attended a Madness concert at the club, which will have earned Northants around £75,000.Northants have come close to promotion before. In 2009 and 2011 they missed out by a single point and there were times over the first couple of days of this game when they feared history would repeat itself. Alan Richardson, hailed by Ripley as “still the best bowler in this division” produced a characteristically excellent spell of seam bowling in the morning to reduce Northants to 157 for 8 before Keogh and Murphy helped them secure a bonus point. Richardson, whose 14-over spell was a terrific effort for a 38-year-old, fully deserved his fifth five-wicket haul of the season and 23rd of his career.In the end, though, Essex’s shortcomings rendered the outcome of this game irrelevant to the promotion issue. Quite why Essex would invest in high-profile signings like Monty Panesar and Gautam Gambhir in the finals weeks of a season and then not select senior players such as David Masters, Reece Topley, Owais Shah and, though fitness was a factor, even Ravi Bopara for a game that could have earned them promotion, is anyone’s guess. But the achievement means plenty to Northants.”We’re not Manchester United,” Ripley said, “but to the 100 people who clapped us off the pitch and all the others following this game at home, this results mean a lot. I had plenty of doubts that we would get here so it’s just a relief that we have.”We know that it will be tough next year. But we’ve taken heart from the fact that Yorkshire have gone from runners-up in Division Two to runners-up in Division One in a season and the fact that we’ve been good in all formats and near the top of the Championship table since the first game shows we’ve deserved this.”

Wrap-up of World Cricket League Division Four matches in Kuala Lumpur

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2012A solid top-order batting display helped USA to a 70-run victory against Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Chasing 290, Malaysia were pegged back early as they were reduced to 9 for 2 in the third over, and never recovered fas they lost wickets regularly. Right-hand batsman Suharril Fetri provided some resistance with his half-century, and built partnerships worth 63 and 50 runs with SK Alagaratnam and S Navaratnam respectively. But he ran out of partners before losing his wicket in the 47th over to virtually end the contest.The foundation of USA’s innings was laid by a 110-run opening stand and three batsmen – Sushil Nadkarni, Steven Taylor and Timroy Allen – scoring half-centuries. Allen took only 43 deliveries to score an unbeaten 72, with four fours and six sixes.A spell of 4 for 28 by left-arm seamer Amrit Bhattarai and three wickets by Basanta Regmi helped Nepal bowl out Singapore to 111 to set up a five-wicket win. Singapore’s top-order was wrecked by Bhattarai to reduce them to 30 for 4 in the seventh over, and they weren’t allowed to recover from there. At 88 for 9, they were in danger of being bowled out for under 100, but a 23-run stand – the second highest of the innings – pulled them through to 111.Singapore struck early without a run on the board, and left Nepal in some trouble at 29 for 4, courtesy fast bowler Amjad Mahboob. But Shakti Gauchan and Pradeep Airee put on 65 runs for the sixth wicket to seal victory with more than half the innings to spare.Denmark registered an 88-run victory against Tanzania, as their bowlers strangled Tanzania’s scoring to reduce them to 136 for 7 after scoring 224. Both sides scored slowly, but Tanzania lost their way when they were 91 for 6 in the 32nd over, needing another 134 runs in less than 19 overs. Left-arm spinner Lejf Slebsager took 3 for 24.Denmark’s innings revolved around 48 from opener Carsten Pedersen and 43 from middle-order batsman Aftab Ahmed that helped them to reach 224. Offspinner Kassim Nassoro’s spell of 4 for 40 pegged Denmark back, but their total proved to be enough in the end.

Spinners Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari bagged a wicket apiece as Surrey
clinched a tense 21-run win over Kent in a nerve-racking finish to their Championship Division Two match at The Oval

13-Jul-2011
ScorecardSpinners Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari bagged a wicket apiece as Surrey
clinched a tense 21-run win over Kent in a nerve-racking finish to their Championship Division Two match at The Oval.The home victory left visiting skipper Rob Key crestfallen after the former
England batsman almost single-handedly steered his side to the brink of success
with a captain’s innings of 162, only to miss out on the plaudits when his side
finally went down 55 minutes into the final day.Resuming on their overnight position of 270 for 8 and in pursuit of the 52
runs required for a third win of the campaign, Kent made the best of starts as
ninth-wicket partners Key and Robbie Joseph clipped 10 runs off their target
within two overs.Farming the strike intelligently from the first ball of the final day, Key
scampered two leg byes and a single in Tim Linley’s opening over then, after
another tight two off Chris Tremlett, profited with four overthrows after a wild
return from Tom Maynard evaded keeper Steve Davies and flew to the ropes.The bonus boundary also raised Key’s 150 after 329 minutes at the crease.
taking 251 balls with 16 fours. Joseph, who took an hour to get off the mark, also played his part by bravely getting into line against England paceman Tremlett and was forced to duck under
a bouncer from Linley that swung past Davies for four byes.With Kent still 29 runs shy, off-spinner Batty replaced Tremlett at the
Pavilion End, but again Key milked three from the over to claim the strike once
more.Home skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown opted for spin at both ends by introducing
left-armed debutant Ansari who, after sending down a full-toss and leg-side
wide, struck with his seventh ball.As he looked to sweep from the leg-stump rough and steal the strike yet again,
Key was bowled around his legs to go for an epic 162. A total of 25 runs were still needed when last-man Ashley Shaw joined Joseph, who enjoyed a let off when he pushed a sharp chance to Hamilton-Brown at silly point off Ansari before finally getting under way with a quick single.Kent posted their 300 after 50 minutes’ play but, from the very next ball, Shaw
aimed a pre-meditated reverse sweep at Batty only to glove a simple chance to
Jason Roy at short leg to fall without scoring and give Surrey their third win
of the summer and, with it, 23 championship points.

A round-up of the second day’s action of the World Cricket League Division One in Netherlands

Cricinfo staff03-Jul-2010Kenya were no match for Netherlands as the hosts stormed to a 117-run win in Voorburg . A century stand between Alexie Kervezee and Tom Cooper set Netherlands to 229 before a combined effort from the bowlers sunk Kenya to 112 within 30 overs.Kervezee and Cooper came together after Thomas Odoyo struck in the fifth over, and the pair added 123 for the second wicket. Kervezee progressed at more than a run-a-ball, hitting 11 fours and a six before he was trapped in front by a delivery from James Ngoche which turned in sharply. Kervezee, unfortunately, fell eight short of his century. Ngoche struck again soon after when he sent back the captain Peter Borren. Cooper and Wesley Barresi then added 53 to lift the hosts but the lower order failed to put together partnerships as Kenya struck quickly. Jimmy Kamande ran through the lower order to finish with 4 for 36.The chase got off to a rocky start as Kenya lost their top three for 32. The fourth wicket pair of Collins Obuya and Rakep Patel added 48, but that was the best stand Kenya could manage. Obuya’s dismissal in the 20th over, bowled by Cooper, sparked a collapse as Kenya lost their last six wickets for 23 runs. Netherlands recorded their first win after losing narrowly to Scotland on Thursday.Rain in Rotterdam forced the game between Afghanistan and Ireland to be pushed to the reserve day after Ireland completed their 50 overs. Andrew Poynter top scored with 78, supported by useful contributions by Kevin O’Brien and Trent Johnston to push the score to 237 before rain intervened.Afghanistan held the initiative initially as their seamers, Khaliq Dad and Shapoor Zadran, made early inroads to reduce Ireland to 27 for 3. But Ireland recovered via two seventy-plus stands spearheaded by Poynter. Kevin O’Brien departed for 44 before Andrew White joined Poynter to add a quick 73 in 12 overs. Johnston then made a cameo unbeaten 42 off 28 balls to lift the score to 237. Hamid Hassan, who claimed the wicket of Poynter for 78, took 3 for 53.Scotland and rain were the victors in Amstelveen as Canada fell short by 69 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis Method. Chasing 237, the Canada batsmen weren’t quite up to the mark, losing wickets at regular intervals and by the time rain forced a long interruption, they were well behind the par score.The win was set up by half-centuries by Richie Berrington and Neil McCallum, who became Scotland’s most-capped player. Umar Bhatti bowled a tight spell of 2 for 29 in ten overs to keep the top order in check before Berrington and McCallum took the initiative away. The pair added 124 for the third wicket before Rizwan Cheema bowled Berrington for 67. McCallum remained unbeaten on 89, hitting seven fours and four sixes.Early strikes by the Scotland seamers put Canada on the back foot when they began their chase. Rain intervened after ten overs with Canada 49 for 2. They stumbled further on resumption as the seamer Gordon Goudie removed Hiral Patel and Geoff Barnett in one over. When rain intervened for the second time, after 21 overs, Canada were in deep trouble at 79 for 6. They were already 80 behind the par score and Scotland had all but sealed the game. Just when it seemed as if the umpires would call it off and award the victory to Scotland, the rain stopped and the covers were off. The match was reduced to a 26-over contest and the target revised to 196. Canada had just five overs in which to get an improbable 117 and the lower order, led by Calvert Hooper did the best they could to narrow the deficit.On his record, McCallum said: “I don’t play for records and I wasn’t aware of it until I was told after I batted. If you play for any length of time then those things will follow and it’s gratifying. But the main thing is that the team is playing well.”On the match, he added: “We knew Canada would be a difficult game and by deciding to bat first we knew we had to give ourselves a chance by getting a total to defend. Myself and Richie Berrington managed to put a partnership together. In the dressing room we always talk about getting 100-plus stands and it was good that we did just that.”It was a totally different surface from the one we played against the Dutch on Thursday. We knew it wouldn’t be easy up front but we still opted to try and put a total on the board and all the batsmen did well in tough conditions. The top order had to work so hard to take the shine off the ball and keep wickets intact and Richie and I took advantage when the hardness went off the ball.”Scotland take on Ireland on Monday. “We’re very pleased with the way things are going at the moment. We took a lot of confidence from the way we played against India A last week and although the Dutch game on Thursday could have gone either way we’ll take that win, and this performance against Canada sets us up nicely for our match with Ireland,” McCallum said. “It’s a cliche but we’ve not looked beyond this match at this stage. We’ll just take each game as it comes, do the basics well if we can, and if we can do that then the rest should take care of itself.”

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.

Taskin also returned to the ODI side after having missed the Ireland series in Chelmsford last month

Mohammad Isam17-Jun-2023Mohammad Naim and Afif Hossain have been recalled to Bangladesh’s squad for their three-match ODI series against Afghanistan next month. Taskin Ahmed also returned to the side after missing the Ireland ODIs in Chelmsford last month, but there was no room for Yasir Ali, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Rony Talukdar.Taskin, who took four wickets in the second innings of the one-off Test against Afghanistan, has recovered from side strain. As for Naim, he returned to the ODI squad after a gap of two years. He has was the leading run-getter in the Dhaka Premier League, with 932 runs in 16 innings at an average of 71.69 and strike rate of 91.64. It is likely that the selectors as looking at Naim as a back-up opening option for Rony for the World Cup in India later this year.Afif, who was dropped during the home ODI series against Ireland, returned after some impressive showings in the DPL that ended last month. He had also led the Bangladesh A side in two of the three unofficial Tests against West Indies A recently before missing the last game, citing fatigue.Yasir is among three players who have been left out from the ODI squad that played last month. Yasir didn’t get a game in Chelmsford, but played two matches against Ireland in Sylhet in March. Mrittunjoy, who made his ODI debut in Chelmsford, made way for Taskin.Afghanistan will leave Dhaka after the one-off Test that ended on Saturday. They will return to Bangladesh on July 1 to play the three ODIs on July 5, 8 and 11 in Chattogram, and two T20Is on July 12 and 14, in Sylhet.Squad: Tamim Iqbal (capt), Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Afif Hossain, Mohammad NaimIn: Mohammad Naim, Afif Hossain, Taskin AhmedOut: Yasir Ali, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Rony Talukdar