All posts by n8rngtd.top

Chris Gayle is 25 short of 10,000 T20 runs ahead of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s meeting with Kings XI Punjab in Indore

The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy09-Apr-2017

Match facts

Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Indore, April 10, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)2:45

Can Gayle hit top gear?

Form guide

RCB: beat Daredevils by 15 runs, lost to Sunrisers by 35 runs
Kings XI: beat Rising Pune by six wickets

Head to head

Last season: Royal Challengers won both matches, by a whopping 82 runs (D/L method) in a rain-shortened game in Bengaluru, and by one run in a nailbiter in Mohali.Overall: The teams have met in 18 matches, of which Kings XI have won ten and lost eight.

In the news

Most times, the use of the word “history” while talking about Twenty20 can be dismissed as hyperbole. On Monday, though, the Holkar Stadium could see a genuinely historic moment – if he scores 25, Chris Gayle will become the first batsman to reach 10,000 runs in T20s.Will he play, though? Royal Challengers were without both Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in their first two matches, and while it might take a while longer for Kohli to return from his shoulder injury, de Villiers indicated he is “very close to 100%” fitness. If de Villiers does return, Royal Challengers might have to debate leaving out Gayle.Kings XI don’t have too many selection headaches after positive displays from most of their players in a six-wicket win against Rising Pune Supergiant. They might, however, ponder the inclusion of new recruit Eoin Morgan, who is perhaps a more natural T20 fit than Hashim Amla, though that swap will necessitate a shuffle in the opening positions.

The likely XIs

Kings XI Punjab: 1 Hashim Amla/Eoin Morgan, 2 Manan Vohra, 3 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 4 Glenn Maxwell (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Swapnil Singh, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 T Natarajan.Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shane Watson (capt), 3 AB de Villiers/Travis Head/Billy Stanlake, 4 Mandeep Singh, 5 Kedar Jadhav, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Vishnu Vinod (wk), 8 Pawan Negi/S Aravind, 9 Iqbal Abdulla, 10 Tymal Mills, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Stats that matter

• Royal Challengers (8.82) and Kings XI (8.56) ended up with the worst economy rates among all teams in the 2016 season.
• Of all the Indian venues that have hosted the IPL, Holkar Stadium in Indore has been among the lowest-scoring, with teams managing an average first-innings run rate of 6.94 in three matches. The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai has been the only lower-scoring venue, with a first-innings run rate of 6.89 in 17 matches.
• It would be fitting if Chris Gayle brought up his 10,000th T20 run in a match against Kings XI Punjab. He has scored 797 runs against them, the most by any batsman against a single IPL opponent, has scored two of his five IPL hundreds against them. He has a better strike rate against them – 175.55 – than against any other IPL team.
• Gayle, though, doesn’t have a great record against two of Kings XI’s bowlers. Sandeep Sharma is one of only five IPL bowlers to dismiss him three times or more, and has limited him to 55 runs off 46 balls. Mohit Sharma, meanwhile, has never dismissed Gayle, but has only conceded 18 runs off 21 balls.
• Overall, Sandeep has 12 wickets against Royal Challengers at 17.91. He hasn’t taken more than nine wickets against any other IPL opponent.
• Yuzvendra Chahal, meanwhile, has 12 wickets against Kings XI at an average of 12.50, while conceding 7.62 per over. He doesn’t have more than eight wickets against any other IPL team.
• Last season, Kings XI had the worst middle overs (7-15) in the IPL, with the poorest batting run rate (7.46) and bowling economy rate (8.35) among all teams.
• Axar Patel has dismissed Shane Watson every time the two have faced off. In three innings, Axar has conceded 22 runs off 20 balls to Watson.
• Of all the bowlers who have bowled 100 or more balls in the last four overs of IPL matches since the start of the 2015 season, Watson has the worst economy rate – 11.49.
• Iqbal Abdulla has taken 14 wickets in the Powerplay overs of the IPL – only R Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh have more, among spinners – while conceding 6.28 runs per over.

The season’s best opening pair versus the tournament’s fastest team in the Powerplay. It’s boom or bust in the Eliminator

The Preview by Nikhil Kalro16-May-2017

Match facts

Eliminator, Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders
Bengaluru, May 17, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Head-to-head

This season: Sunrisers and KKR split their games in the group stages. KKR defended 172 at Eden Gardens in the first meeting. David Warner’s response was a sensational 59-ball 126 in Hyderabad.Overall: Sunrisers have won just four of 11 games against KKR. They won the Eliminator last season at the Feroz Shah Kotla, though.

Form guide

• Sunrisers Hyderabad: beat Lions by eight wickets, beat Mumbai by seven wickets, lost to Rising Pune by 12 runs

• Kolkata Knight Riders: lost to Mumbai by 9 runs, lost to Kings XI by 14 runs, beat RCB by six wickets

Big picture

Peaking early and losing momentum are results of various factors: fatigue, unavailability of key personnel, morale and even losing tosses. Going into the playoffs, those issues can hinder confidence, one of the most influential traits in professional sport. Sunrisers won six of their first 10 games. KKR won seven in the same period. In eight games since, both teams won three in total.Sunrisers have managed change effectively. Having had to alter their combination and personnel, Sunrisers had reserves – Kane Williamson, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Siraj, Vijay Shankar and Bipul Sharma – who made telling contributions. They may be called on again – Ashish Nehra will play no further part this season with a hamstring injury and Yuvraj Singh will undergo a fitness test on Tuesday evening. Nabi, with a finger injury, is also doubtful.KKR, on the other hand, have not found the right combination for their top order. Opening with Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn has cut Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan’s roles to cameos. The uncontrollables – Chris Woakes and Shakib Al Hasan’s departure for national duty, and Suryakumar Yadav and Nathan Coulter-Nile’s injuries – damaged their balance.Still, plenty has gone right for both teams. Either, or both, of David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan have performed for Sunrisers. Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been potent weapons at any stage of an innings. For KKR, their opening combination has put them ahead of games, leaving their finishers to execute their new roles. Bowlers from both sides have stepped up and delivered too.In T20s, any player can break a game open, but under the pressure of a knockout, who will?

The likely XIs

Sunrisers Hyderabad 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Moises Henriques, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Naman Ojha (wk), 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Mohammad Siraj, 11 Siddarth KaulKolkata Knight Riders 1 Sunil Narine, 2 Chris Lynn, 3 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 4 Robin Uthappa (wk), 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Ankit Rajpoot

Strategy punt

Start with a spin-pace combination against Narine and Lynn. Narine has struggled against short-pitched bowling this season. He has scored 214 runs in 120 balls, but just 18 off 18 short-pitched deliveries and has been dismissed four times. That length may not work against Lynn though; he has scored 77 runs off 28 short balls, a strike rate of 275.Although Lynn hasn’t been terrible against spin, slower bowling could be used to stall him. He has scored 178 runs off 85 balls against pace, but 107 runs off 68 balls against spin. Rashid or Nabi are plausible options against Lynn’s pyrotechnics.

Stats that matter

• Warner and Dhawan have scored 50.07% of Sunrisers’ runs (1072 of 2141). In the previous season, they contributed 53% of the team’s runs. No other team has had two players who contributed even 40%.
• Narine is the only batsman to have been dismissed four times to short balls this season.
• Sunrisers’ top-three batsmen have averaged 45.06, the best for any team. KKR have the next-best average with 36.83.
• KKR’s bowlers have all made significant contributions. Their top two wicket-takers – Chris Woakes (17) and Umesh Yadav (14) – have taken 38.75% of their wickets, the lowest contributions from the top-two bowlers for any team.
• Kuldeep Yadav has taken seven wickets in the last five overs of an innings – the joint most for a spinner.
• KKR’s batting power is at the top of their innings. They have scored the most runs in the Powerplay, with an average of 58.74 per game. They have the highest run-rate in the middle overs too – 1079 runs at 8.57 runs per over. They fade away towards the end overs though, scoring just 427 runs at 8.45 runs per over, the least among all teams.

Another global cricketing event, another chance for a strong South African unit to snatch that elusive title

Firdose Moonda01-Jun-2017

Overview

Here they go again. South Africa. In search of a major trophy. It’s a script so well known, it must be close to being a classic. And South Africa still hope to be able to write a different ending.The prelude has been much the same as in competitions past: South Africa have enjoyed a solid build-up, so much so that they are considered one of the teams to beat, and have a constellation of star players in their squad. On the way to the event, they’ve won series against two of the opposition they will meet in the pool stage – India and Sri Lanka – and, as the only non sub-continent team in the group, have come to terms with the amount of spin they will have to deal with.So what will it take this time? Chances are that the answer is as simple as a little bit of luck, the one thing that has eluded South Africa over the years. It’s not something they can train or plan for, only something they can hope finally finds it’s way to them.Several South African seniors – AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir and Morne Morkel – have spoken of the 2019 World Cup as their swansong. So desperate are they to win that trophy that they may forgive themselves if this event becomes little more than a practice round.But they have a strong incentive not to regard the Champions Trophy so casually. Coach Russell Domingo’s contract expires at the end of this tour and although he is free to reapply for his job, has given no indication of his future plans. This may be his last chance to have success at a limited-overs’ competition and if that is the case, the squad, who have been vocal in their support of him, will want to send him off on a high.

Champions Trophy history

1998 – Champions
2000 – Semi-finalists
2002 – Semi-finalists
2004 – First round
2006 – Semi-finalists
2009 – First round
2013 – Semi-finalists

Form guide

Before their trip to the UK, where South Africa lost the three-match rubber against England, they had won their last seven bilateral ODI series. Among those was a first-ever 5-0 whitewash over Australia, a clean sweep over Sri Lanka and victories in what were effectively finals in India, New Zealand and against England at home. In that time, South Africa equalled their longest winning streak of 12 matches, which was last achieved in 2005, and rose to No.1 on the ODI rankings to arrive at the Champions Trophy as among the favourites.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Strength

With four of the world’s top-10 ODI batsmen (de Villiers sits at No. 1) and the world’s top-two ODI bowlers in Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir, the quality of individuals in South Africa’s squad is a standout strength. In Amla, Quinton de Kock, de Villiers, du Plessis, David Miller and Duminy, South Africa have players who can combine a well-paced innings with power-hitting and totals over 350 are not unfamiliar to them. In the bowling department, Tahir is the world’s top-ranked limited-overs’ spinner while Rabada is ODI cricket’s newest No. 1, having overtaken Tahir on the rankings after the England series.A mix of seam and spin talent, and experience and youth, give South Africa no less than eight bowling options. Among those is everything from a left-arm paceman – Wayne Parnell – to a death-bowling specialist in Andile Phehlukwayo and two specialist spinners.

Weakness

In an attempt to give themselves as many options as possible, South Africa have packed their side with allrounders but getting the right balance in the XI may prove tricky. Chris Morris, Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius and Phehlukwayo are all bowling allrounders capable of hitting the ball a fair distance but South Africa are likely to only have room for two of the four in most XIs and they don’t seem too sure which two.South Africa have yet to decide on a new-ball pair – though Rabada and Morkel would seem an obvious choice – which has left them uncertain about the balance of the side. Add to that de Villiers’ problems with managing his over rate and that the best captain, Faf du Plessis, does not lead the side in this format, and South Africa can sometimes seem comical in the field. But only sometimes.

Key stats

• South Africa have lost half of the matches in the Champions Trophy in which they have batted second – six out of 12. Only Bangladesh have a worse record chasing. By contrast, South Africa have the best win-loss ratio when batting first, wining five out of eight games.
• Wayne Parnell has taken 11 of the 19 Champions Trophy wickets that South Africa’s current squad have all together. Apart from Parnell, Duminy and Morris (who each have four wickets) and Morne Morkel are the only four bowlers with Champions Trophy experience.
• None of the batsmen in the current South African squad have scored a Champions Trophy hundred.
• South Africa have lost all three matches they have played against India in Champions Trophy history – twice in the semi-finals and once in the round-robin stage.

Hemantha Devapriya said that competing with the top countries was an invaluable experience even though Sri Lanka came home with only one win in seven matches

Sa'adi Thawfeeq22-Jul-2017Sri Lanka may have won only one match out of seven in the Women’s World Cup, but coach Hemantha Devapriya believes the experience of playing against the top seven countries was an invaluable learning curve.”The tournament enabled our players to really see the standards of the other teams,” he said. “It’s a big demand for them to work hard and get into that level within a very short time. They have been talking to players from other teams and they know the areas they have to work on and they are ready to learn.”Sri Lanka beat Pakistan in their final league match before returning home, and Devapriya contended that they could well have beaten West Indies and India too if not for a couple of issues. “Overall I am happy with their performance but we could have done a little better if our middle-order batting and fielding came up to their capabilities.”We were struggling to put 200-plus runs on the board and only two players had strike-rates of over 50 – Chamari Atapattu and Eshani Lokusuriyage,” he said. “However, if you see during the tournament, we crossed the 200-run mark on four occasions and the girls have shown improvement in their strike-rates. Some batters’ strike-rates have gone up to 85-90 and that is a good indication.”Where, in the past, Sri Lanka have struggled to the match power-hitting in modern cricket, at the World Cup, they had one of their key players, Atapattu, slam an unbeaten 178, with 22 fours and six sixes, against a full-strength Australian attack. Devapriya noted this as an improvement, but highlighted that there were other aspects of batting that needed work.Chamari Atapattu’s breathtaking knock against Australia has won praise from the Sri Lanka women’s coach•Getty Images/ICC

“We did practice a range of shots and I can see that they are now capable of using those shots,” he said. “We worked a lot on playing off the back foot and how to use the pace of the ball especially the flat bat shot and the sweep shot and inside out shots. The players are now taking calculated risks and playing those shots little by little.”We are concentrating now on taking more singles because the confidence is not there. We have given them a lot of singles targets, which quietly they are improving but still we are not up to international standards. Placing the ball and working with soft hands those are the areas we are working on.”Another lesson learnt was the importance of facing up against quality sides and battling it out. “We noticed that against sides like Australia, England, India and New Zealand very hardly do you get a loose ball,” Devapriya said. “They are accurate and they are well ahead in the practical and mental game. Our players aren’t powerful strikers of the ball. We have to put the players through special exercises to get more power into their shots and bowling. Fielding is coupled with fitness. The players now have a better understanding of what is required of them to become better cricketers.”As much as improvements need to be made to the current squad of players, Devapriya was conscious of highlighting the need to build the necessary infrastructure that will feed new players into the system.”If you notice our present side has aging players,” he said. “India has several players who played in the last World Cup because they introduced them as youngsters. Now they have a lot of experience behind them and their mental and tactical game is streets ahead of us. India has developed fast. They were a little ahead of us when we played them in the last World Cup, but now for us to get there it’s going to take some time.”The first steps towards that goal have been taken. “Sri Lanka Cricket, in the recent past, has introduced an under-23 tournament,” Devapriya said. “There was no tournament like that before. The selectors picked 60 players from the tournament called the development squad and after further trials pruned it down to 30. Of that we are hoping to get at least another 5-6 players from the emerging squad. We’ll have to work closely with them and see how they can fit into the national squad.”What is encouraging is leading girls’ schools have now taken up to cricket. At the moment we have about 2500 girls playing and Sri Lanka Cricket is working hard to promote the game. If all goes well we might see some good players coming through the schools.”Sri Lanka are next scheduled to tour the Caribbean for a series of five ODIs in October. The tour, however, is yet to be finalized by the two cricket boards.

Faf du Plessis wants Kagiso Rabada to stay fierce and fiery and thinks cricket is poorer following his sanction. Rabada will miss the second Test at Trent Bridge after earning the suspension

Firdose Moonda10-Jul-2017Despite earning a sanction for a shove and a vociferous send-off, Kagiso Rabada does not need to tone down his aggression. That’s the message from Test captain Faf du Plessis, who is on three demerit points himself after shining the ball with saliva that had also come into contact with a mint during the series against Australia last year, and who has taken a grim view of the ICC’s code-of-conduct protocols in the past.Not only would du Plessis like to see a clearer definition for the artificial substances that are not allowed to come into contact with the ball but he also wants Rabada to stay fierce and fiery and thinks cricket is poorer following his sanction. Rabada will miss the second Test at Trent Bridge after earning the suspension.”I would never say to KG change the way that you are. It’s important that he plays the way that he plays the game. Every guy within cricket needs your natural instinct and personality to come out because that creates the best you,” du Plessis said, after South Africa were defeated in his absence at Lord’s.Stand-in captain Dean Elgar revealed that Rabada had said sorry to senior management and felt he had let the team down with his behaviour but du Plessis said he did not expect Rabada to do any more. “I would never expect him to apologise to the team. For me that’s showing what you’re made of. He is showing that he wants to do desperately well for his country,” du Plessis saidHe also does not expect Rabada to change the way he approaches the game, saying the isolated incident in which he swore at Ben Stokes was simply a moment of frustration for a bowler who did not have things going his way and was not a personal attack on the batsman involved. In fact, du Plessis believes Stokes is capable of dishing out much of the same medicine and has even given him a nickname to reflect his on-field anger.Kagiso Rabada earned a fourth demerit point for giving Ben Stokes a send-off•Getty Images

“I don’t think it was anything to do with Ben. I think it was a little bit of frustration from KG. He didn’t have the rhythm that he wanted to and it was just frustration coming through,” du Plessis said. “I played with Ben and I can tell you he is just as fiery and that’s what makes him so competitive and so skillful. I called him ‘The Dragon’ in the IPL because he breathes fire when he gets angry. That’s important, when you have characters to come through like that. That’s what I say about KG. Not for one second must he lose that.”South Africa have lost Rabada for the second Test though and du Plessis, like Elgar, thinks both the team and the fans will miss out. “It’s a big disappointment for us not having him. It’s a shame. He is a real big part of this team. In big Test series like this you want to see your big Test players compete against each other,” he said.Rabada should be back for the third match at The Kia Oval and du Plessis hopes Rabada will pick up where he left off at Lord’s, but perhaps be a little more mindful of saying things a safe distance away from the stump mic.”When you play Test cricket you are fighting for your country and you are doing everything you can to win a game of cricket. Controlled emotion is really important. For me, it’s the most important thing as long as it doesn’t take you away from your skill. KG doesn’t do that, that was just frustration,” du Plessis said. “I know his personality. He is a very relaxed and quiet guy. He hardly ever swears at the batsmen in the times we’ve played together. That was purely just frustration.”

Sethi, the only member in the Board of Governors to file nomination papers, was voted in unopposed

Umar Farooq09-Aug-2017The PCB’s new Board of Governors (BoG) has picked the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s direct nominee Najam Sethi as board chairman for the next three years. Sethi was unanimously elected from within the 10-member BoG as no other member of the BoG filed nomination papers for the post.Sethi’s chances of taking over as chairman were very high after he was named on the PCB’s BoG on July 8 by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif – who was later disqualified by the country’s Supreme Court – as one of two direct nominees along with Ariff Ejaz, a prominent corporate figure. According to the PCB constitution, the chairman has to be elected from among those persons on the BoG.

Members present at the BoG meeting where Sethi was elected

Najam Sethi, Ariff Ejaz, Muzamil Hussain (WAPDA), Nauman Dar (HBL), Miftah Ismail (Sui Southern Gas), Mansoor Masood Khan (UBL), Murad Ismail (Quetta), Muhammad Numan Butt (Sialkot), Nadeem Ahmed (Lahore), Amjad Ali Khan (IPC, non-voting member). The FATA representative was not present at the meeting.

The previous three-year tenure ended when chairman Shaharyar Khan resigned, aged 83, citing personal and health reasons. Ejaz will be his replacement on the BoG, with representatives from the Lahore regions, Quetta, Sialkot, FATA, Peshawar, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Among the other four members, Water and Power Development Authority and United Bank Limited will retain their seats while Habib Bank Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited have replaced Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and National Bank of Pakistan.”I want to thank the new board of governors who have elected me unanimously today,” Sethi said, after being elected. “It’s a big responsibility on me and with their cooperation we will move forward. Secondly, I want to thank Shaharyar Khan also. It was a very good journey along with him. Lots of people thought there will be a gulf between us, but it never happened and he was a gracious and wonderful man to work with.”There are challenges but the main target is to make domestic cricket much stronger and keep tapping into the talent. The other major issue is that our all hard work will go in vain if we are not able to bring international cricket back to the country. Moreover, I am disappointed with [Pakistan’s progress in] women’s cricket. There are few good ideas and we will look to implement some reforms. We have done a lot of work and doing much more to make this possible .. lots of people are disappointed and I request them to show some patience. There are security issues. One day we decide that a team will come and then something happens. Over the next 2-3 months you will hear some good announcements.”This is Sethi’s second term in charge after the long battle over the leadership of the PCB between Zaka Ashraf and Sethi, which ended in May 2014; there had been multiple leadership changes in the PCB, after Ashraf became the first elected PCB chairman in May 2013.The Islamabad High Court termed those elections “dubious”, and Sethi was put in charge by the government. Ashraf and Sethi were then alternately reappointed and sacked from the post several times, before Sethi eventually filed a written statement before the court that he will not contest elections for the chairman’s post.Sethi, however, remained on the PCB’s BoG and head of the Executive Committee (ExCo) to control cricket affairs in Pakistan. In that period, Sethi was involved in the day-to-day functioning of the PCB and became an influential board member with signing authority. Although the PCB did not reveal the ExCo’s functions, it is understood that the committee holds significant influence in the board.Apart from the ExCo, five other committees – cricket, domestic, HR, Audit, Game Development – were formed with the previous BoG members dissolved with immediate effect. The new committees will be formed with newly inducted members on the Board in due course though Sethi confirmed that the ExCo would disband once and for all during his term as chairman.The entire national coaching staff will remain in charge, he said, with physiotherapist Shaun Hayes the only member whose contract will not be renewed. He will be released with the PCB paying him his salary for the remaining three months of his current contract. The national selection committee led by Inzamam ul Haq will stay in place along with National Cricket Academy director Mudassar Nazar.Sethi, 69, a former caretaker chief minister of Punjab, comes from a journalism background. He has also been a driving force behind the Pakistan Super League.

Two players expected to join Nottinghamshire and the end of a five-match unbeaten run have all added up to a miserable few days in the north-east

ECB Reporters Network22-Sep-2017Sussex wrapped their seventh Specsavers County Championship win of the season when they beat Durham by 132 runs at Chester-le-Street.It completed a bad week for Durham who have lost Paul Coughlin to Nottinghamshire with the likelihood that Keaton Jennings will head the same way assuming their promotion is confirmed.Five defeats had cost Sussex a chance of promotion so they fielded a young side for this match and there were three wickets each today for 20-year-old George Garton and Stuart Whittingham.Jordan also deservedly picked up three, his two early ones coming as Durham crumbled to 61 for 7 before James Weighell put bat to ball in contributing 38 to a stand of 50 with Brydon Carse.Whittingham took two in three balls after lunch when he swung one through left-hander Weighell’s airy drive to take out the middle stump, then Chris Rushworth played on.That brought in Onions and he and Carse survived for 20 balls before the rain arrived.Durham were all out for 131, ending their seven-match unbeaten run, after resuming on five without loss in pursuit of 264 on a glorious morning.They got through the day’s first eight overs without mishap. But Tom Latham’s exit for four with the total on 19 sparked a dispirited procession. With Ollie Robinson restricted by a sore side to bowling his off breaks, Whittingham opened up and had Latham lbw when propping forward.Jennings’ misery continued when he played back to a ball from Jordan which went pretty much straight on to hit the top of off stump.When Garton replaced Whittingham his fourth ball was slanted across Cameron Steel, who edged it to Michael Burgess.Then Jordan gained an lbw verdict with what was probably not his best shout and his victim, Graham Clark, clearly thought it had nipped back far enough to be missing leg.Paul Collingwood appeared to be Durham’s last hope, but he committed suicide when he called for a second run to third man, and despite his despairing dive he couldn’t beat Garton’s throw.Another ball slanted across a right-hander had Michael Richardson caught at second slip by Harry Finch and Garton had his third wicket when Ryan Pringle pushed half forward and was lbw.Carse again showed his batting prowess as he followed his unbeaten 61 in the first innings by making 23 not out.Durham were 131 for 9 when play was halted just before 2pm. But on the resumption at 4.15 it was all over in six balls as Graham Onions drove Chris Jordan straight to mid-off.

The 23-year old has made strong strides towards becoming a rounded bowler and has lately proven to be proficient at picking wickets with length deliveries

Arun Venugopal in Ranchi06-Oct-2017A standout feature of Jasprit Bumrah’s young career thus far has been his willingness and ability to learn and evolve. While “learning” rolls off many cricketers’ tongues as a stock cliché, Bumrah means it. Last year, when he said he had learnt something new in each of his first three seasons in the IPL, it wasn’t tall talk. In 2013, Bumrah was schooled in the art of pre-game preparation and managing different situations. When he became one of Mumbai Indians’ lead bowlers next year, he absorbed the lessons of carrying good form and sustaining it over a length of time. Even his injury was an opportunity to learn: ahead of the 2015 edition, he sought out senior bowlers to understand how to prepare for a comeback.At 23, Bumrah has already made strong strides towards becoming a more rounded bowler. From someone who relied heavily on an amalgam of a whippety, awkward action, inch-perfect yorkers and slower deliveries, he has now proven to be adept at taking wickets with length deliveries. During India’s 5-0 ODI thumping of Sri Lanka recently, Bumrah emerged as the leading wicket-taker on either side with 15 scalps at an economy-rate of less than four and was named Man of the Series. Nine of those wickets came via deliveries that were pitched either on good length or on the shorter side of it. The yorkers made an appearance only on eight occasions, thus retaining their shock value. He also straddled the twin roles of opening the bowling and operating at the death.Bumrah’s rapid growth wasn’t lost on his captain Virat Kohli, who called him India’s “most effective short-format bowler” in the last year and a half. “He has really worked on his bowling a lot – especially his length ball, which has picked up more pace,” Kohli said at the end of the series. “It’s not only about yorkers and slower balls anymore. He can bowl a good length ball and nick you off as well, which I think is the biggest improvement in his bowling. Credit to him for shaping his game in that way.”By his own admission, Bumrah has had many mentors right from Sachin Tendulkar to Ricky Ponting and Lasith Malinga to Shane Bond. He feels much of his improvement is down to relentlessly picking another bowler’s brain – be it a peer or a senior. “We just want to improve all the time,” Bumrah said on the eve of the first T20I against Australia in Ranchi. “We keep asking questions to each other and we keep learning from the senior players – what else we can do, how to improve ourselves, how to adapt to different conditions and different wickets. So, our main focus is that. We don’t focus on the results. We just want to focus on the training and we want to get better and better after each and every game.”With Ashish Nehra’s return, Bumrah will also have another familiar mentor to lean on for advice. Earlier this year, Bumrah and Nehra combined to throttle England by five runs in Nagpur. Despite an age difference of 15 years, Bumrah enjoys a great comfort level with his senior partner. “He is a very experienced player and I have played some cricket with him during the T20 World Cup,” Bumrah said. “It’s always great fun playing alongside him. He has got plenty of experience to share and is very helpful. As a youngster, I keep asking him questions and seek his advice. The team atmosphere also becomes very good with his presence, so it’s very nice to see him back.”With rain thwarting India’s training session on Friday, some of the players, including MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, tried their hand at foot-volley in the dressing room balcony. Bumrah appeared to stand in a corner and watch them in action. Don’t be surprised if he learns a few tricks there and masters those, too.

The pair add 252 to keep Bengal at bay; Chhattisgarh shoot Himachal out for 175 while Services dig in against Goa

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2017Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal (142) and Sanjay Ramaswamy (117*) put on the highest opening stand in the team’s history, powering the side to 285 for 1 at stumps against Bengal in Kalyani. Sent in to bat, Fazal and Ramaswamy put on 259 for the opening wicket before Ashok Dinda had Fazal lbw in the 73rd over. Before that, Fazal brought up his 14th first-class hundred, his third in as many games, in a 232-ball effort that included 22 fours. Ramaswamy, meanwhile, continued his impressive sequence of scores – he has thus far made 161, 7, 55 and 42 this season – and completed his third first-class century which included 14 fours. Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary employed six bowlers on what was a long day for his team.Chhattisgarh‘s bowlers restricted Himachal Pradesh to 175 after electing to bowl first in Dharamsala. In reply, Chhattisgarh were steady on 91 for 1, with opener Rishabh Tiwari (46*) and Ashutosh Singh (40*) raising an unbroken 79-run stand after the early loss of Siddharth Chandrakar. In the morning, Himachal lost early wickets slumping to 25 for 2, 60 for 3 and then 92 for 6. Seamers Pankaj Rao (3-52) and Shahnawaz Hussain (2-60) did the bulk of the damage. There were handy contributions from Nikhil Gangta (26), Rishi Dhawan (35) and Pankaj Jaiswal (25), but those were ultimately not enough to push Himachal past 200. Left-arm spinner Sumit Ruikar cleaned up the lower order with a three-wicket haul.Debutant seamer Heramb Parab’s three-wicket spell meant Goa kept Services down to 228 for 8 at the Palam ground in Delhi. After being put into bat, Services lost opener Vikash Mohan in the third ball off the match as Parab had him caught behind by Keenan Vaz. At the other end, Felix Alemao bowled Ravi Chauhan for a duck and Services were reeling on 1 for 2. Services slipped to 18 for 3 after offspinner Amogh Desai had Shamsher Yadav edging behind. Captain Nakul Verma (64) then restored calm with a 77-run stand in the company of Navneet Singh (27).However, the Parab-Vaz combine struck again to remove the latter. Parab was then on a hat-trick after he trapped G Rahul Singh in front with his next delivery. With Verma also being dismissed, Services turned to Vikas Yadav (61*) and Nitin Tanwar (43). Yadav first put on 67 runs with Tanwar for the seventh wicket before adding 38 runs with Diwesh Pathania. Alemao finished with two wickets.

Ajmal, 40, is likely to make an announcement after the ongoing National T20 Cup ends on November 26

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-20170:48

Quick facts: Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal will bring to an end one of the most illustrious modern Pakistan careers at the end of this month, once the National T20 Cup – the Pakistan domestic T20 tournament – ends.Ajmal, 40, is leading Faisalabad and news of his impending end came on a fitting day in which he played a lead role in a win over Lahore Blues. He took 3 for 26 from his four overs, including the wickets of Ahmed Shehzad and Babar Azam, and ran out Mohammad Hafeez in a seven-wicket win. He will hold off from making an official announcement until the end of the tournament.When he does leave, he will do so as one of Pakistan’s most successful spinners. Though he made his international debut late, in the 2008 Asia Cup, it was under Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy, from 2011 onwards, that he became a major all-format force for Pakistan. He ended, ultimately, with 178 wickets from 35 Tests at an average of 28.10; under Misbah, however, he took 141 wickets in just 26 Tests. He played a lead role in a number of Pakistan’s early successes under Misbah, not least his 24 wickets in the 3-0 whitewash of England in 2011-12.He was equally important in the white-ball formats, an important part of successful sides until 2011, and almost a solitary burden-bearer in the less successful sides thereafter. He ended with 184 wickets from 113 ODIs at 22.72 and another 85 wickets from 64 T20Is.But for all the success, there was also the more problematic issue raised by his action. He was reported for an illegal action twice in his international career and it clouded somewhat the sheer potency of his doosra, a delivery he used to devastating effect.He was reported first in 2009, during an ODI series against Australia in the UAE, though he was cleared soon after. But it was when he was reported in August 2014, at the peak of his powers, that his international career was effectively over. Subsequent tests found that his elbow straightened well beyond 15 degrees when delivering both the offspinner and doosra.At the time he was banned, he was the no.1 ODI bowler in the world, and in the top ten of both Test and T20 rankings. At that point, nobody had taken more international wickets than him in the preceding three-year period. It was suggested at the time that Pakistan’s excessive reliance on him – only one bowler had bowled more overs than him in that three-year period – had worn away his action and made it particularly ragged.He was able to remodel his action and return but he was never the force that he had been. He played just two ODIs and a single T20I in 2015 after the World Cup, but he was clearly a different bowler and a much reduced force.He has continued playing domestic cricket, and has been busy with an academy in Faisalabad since then. Until earlier this year, in the run-up to the PSL, he was hoping to use the league to return to international cricket. But he played only four matches for Islamabad United and picked up three expensive wickets. After his retirement, Ajmal will continue with Islamabad United as their spin-bowling coach in the PSL.