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Scotland took an unassailable 3-0 series lead over Namibia in the third Twenty20 of their five-match series with a 26-run win in Windhoek

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2011
Scorecard
Scotland took an unassailable 3-0 series lead over Namibia in the third Twenty20 of their five-match series with a 26-run win in Windhoek. A strong team performance set up Scotland’s victory as they reached 156 for 9 despite seamer Christi Viljoen’s 5 for 23, after which every one of the seven Scotland bowlers used picked up a wicket to keep Namibia to 130 for 8.After winning the toss, Scotland’s batting effort was underpinned by opener Calum Macleod’s aggressive 30 and Preston Mommsen’s 39, but there were contributions from most of the top order. The batsmen further down couldn’t quite replicate their efforts as Viljoen returned and struck regularly, finding himself on a hat-trick after dismissing Safyaan Sharif and Gordon Goudie with consecutive deliveries.Namibia lost captain Craig Williams and Sarel Burger inside the first six overs of their chase but kept in touch with the asking rate thanks to Louis van der Westhuizen’s 27-ball 39 and a rapid 30 from Gerrie Snyman.Wickets kept falling, however, and with each dismissal Scotland’s grip on the match tightened. Niel Rossouw struggled to force the pace in his 23-ball 18, and though Louis Klazinga managed a four and a six in his 19, the result was already a foregone conclusion.

Jamie How, the Central Stags captain, has said the Champions League Twenty20 is an opportunity for the youngsters in his side to stake claims for higher honours

Cricinfo staff06-Sep-2010Jamie How, the Central Districts Stags captain, has said the Champions League Twenty20 is an opportunity for the youngsters in his side to stake claims for higher honours.”It gives them the chance to show what they’re made of on the international scene and perhaps if they perform well, they might even have a chance of being picked up for one of the IPL teams,” How said ahead of the tournament that gets underway on September 10. “Both individually and as a team, we have a chance to pit our skills against the world’s best, which is a very exciting prospect.”Central Districts qualified for the event by winning the 2009/10 edition of New Zealand’s domestic HRV Cup. How was wary of the competition his side will encounter in the Champions League which features the top domestic Twenty20 sides from around the world. “Every team here is here on merit. The fact that they’re here means that they are very good teams, winning or finishing near the top of their individual competitions. Each of the teams has its strengths and weaknesses and we just have to be able to deal with those.”The team will miss the services of two of their key players – Ross Taylor, who will turn out for his IPL side Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Jacob Oram who is out with a knee injury. How admitted his side would be hampered by their, and the injured allrounder Graham Napier’s, absence. “Ross is certainly a big loss for us. He’s one of our best players, and along with missing Jacob Oram and Graham, it’s been a big loss, but it also gives someone else an opportunity to step into their big shoes.”How looked forward to the event and felt the youngsters in his side would enjoy playing in South Africa. “It’s a wonderful experience for the younger guys who haven’t been here, because it’s a great country to tour. There are really great cricket facilities and exciting places off the field. And we’re doing quite a bit of travelling – we play in Centurion, Durban and Port Elizabeth – so we’ll see quite a bit of the country.”

The PCB’s stance remains unchanged, stating there is “no chance” of a hybrid model for the tournament

Osman Samiuddin12-Nov-2024The PCB has written to the ICC and asked them to provide a written confirmation from the BCCI that they are unable to play the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, as well as giving a reason for it.The PCB was told last Friday by the ICC that the BCCI has not been given permission by the Indian government for the Indian team to travel to Pakistan for the tournament, scheduled to be played across three venues in Pakistan from February 9. But the PCB wants it in writing from the BCCI that they are unable to attend, as well as the justification for it.That ICC communication came three days before what would’ve been the official launch event for the tournament in Lahore, starting a 100-day countdown. Instead, the event has been postponed, with uncertainty now swirling around the eight-team tournament.Related

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The PCB’s stance at the moment remains unchanged: the entire tournament will be played in Pakistan with a senior PCB official reiterating to ESPNcricinfo there is “no chance” of a hybrid model being considered. Such a model, used once for the Asia Cup in 2023, would allow India to play their games outside of Pakistan. There has been speculation about the UAE being used as a second venue in this instance but the PCB has unequivocally ruled that out. The tournament is scheduled to be played in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi between February 19 and March 9.As well as that stance, there is also a growing realisation that with the Pakistan government now involved, any decisions on hosting and hybrid models may not be driven by the PCB but will be firmly in the government’s hands.One of the reasons the PCB is standing firm at the moment is because they feel aggrieved by events last year. After they were forced to use a hybrid model in hosting the Asia Cup, Pakistan agreed to travel to India for the World Cup. That decision was taken after consultation with the government and permission was ultimately granted – despite considerable opposition – on the hope that it would lead to India reciprocating by visiting for the Champions Trophy.The same government remains in place in Pakistan and Mohsin Naqvi, a senior figure within it as the country’s interior minister, is now the PCB chairman.The PCB has also pointed out that the tournament was awarded to Pakistan three years ago and no objection was raised at the time, or has been raised since. The PCB is believed to have provided a progress report at the ICC’s board meetings in October including the intention to go ahead with the 100-day launch event on November 11, with no concerns raised.The ICC has been approached for comment.

Bottom club keep faint hopes alive despite career-best haul for Warwickshire seamer

ECB Reporters Network11-Sep-2023 by 108 runsNorthamptonshire fought back hard after Oliver Hannon-Dalby’s career-best bowling put Warwickshire on top on the second day of their LV=Insurance County Championship tussle at Edgbaston.Hannon-Dalby’s superb seven for 46 sent the visitors all out for just 250 in a match they must win to preserve any realistic hopes of avoiding relegation.That total looks a little under par but Jack White (three for 37) then led a big-hearted effort from Northamptonshire’s bowlers who made the home batters work very hard to reach 142 for four from 55 overs in reply.The match remains in the balance on a pitch which has assisted the seamers throughout. Hannon-Dalby will be on a hat-trick in the second innings when he will be hunting the three wickets he needs to reach 100 in two seasons – he is now on 44 this year to add to last season’s 53.After resuming on the second morning on 200 for five, Northamptonshire lost two wickets to the new ball as Saif Zaib edged Hannon-Dalby behind and Lewis McManus’ 97-minute resistance for 25 was ended by an outswinger by Chris Rushworth.Hannon-Dalby then polished off the tail. Tom Taylor edged to second slip before Simon Kerrigan fell lbw and White played on next ball. When Northamptonshire bat again, for the third time in 27 days, Hannon-Dalby will start his next bowl on a hat trick.Warwickshire also found run-gathering an arduous business. Kraigg Brathwaite, on his home debut, eked nine from 58 minutes before edging a lifter from White. Rob Yates prised 23 from nearly two hours before slicing Luke Procter to second slip.Will Rhodes (44, 92 balls) produced the most assertive batting of the day before skying White to third man. Sam Hain, on his last county appearance of the season following his England call-up, collected a workmanlike 30 that is unlikely to figure in his memoirs then was trapped in front by the impressive White.Fifth-wicket pair Dan Mousley and Ed Barnard survived intact, albeit while adding to the considerable number of play-and-misses in this match, but a strong first hour tomorrow morning would pour belief into Northamptonshire’s bid for a great escape.

Opener follows Babar Azam and Azhar Ali to Taunton

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2022Somerset have furthered their links with the PCB by signing Imam-ul-Haq as a replacement for Matt Renshaw for the final four games of the County Championship season.Babar Azam and Azhar Ali have been popular overseas signings at Taunton in recent years and Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket, said the club had used their “long-standing relationship” with the PCB to get Imam’s deal over the line, subject to a No-Objection Certificate and visa.”Imam-ul-Haq is an outstanding batter who will bring quality and a wealth of experience to our environment,” Hurry said. “To be able to bring in an established Test match player for the final LV= Insurance County Championship matches of the season is a coup for us with so much international cricket being played during this important period.”We have a long-standing working relationship with the PCB and we are grateful to them for their assistance in helping us to sign a player of this calibre. We are genuinely excited about what he will add to the club both on and off the field.”Related

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Imam is one of Pakistan’s incumbent opening batters alongside Abdullah Shafique, and is part of the squad to play Sri Lanka later this month. He said that he had spoken to his international team-mates about the club and that county cricket is “a challenge that I am relishing”.”I have heard a lot about the quality of Somerset from Babar Azam and Azhar Ali,” he said. “It is a club with a good reputation and great support. I look forward to representing the county and contributing to some good wins in the County Championship.”Somerset have struggled in the Championship this season and are ninth in the 10-team Division One, though have a game in hand on most of the bottom half of the table.Renshaw, the Australian top-order batter, will leave the club at the end of August to begin pre-season training with his state side Queensland ahead of his home summer.

Aaron Finch proud of the way his team adapted to conditions after watching the first innings

Andrew McGlashan05-Mar-2021New Zealand coach Gary Stead has criticised his team’s approach with the bat in the fourth T20I, saying the batsmen did not “fire a shot” at Australia early in the run chase on what was a challenging surface.Stead acknowledged the game swung significantly Australia’s way when Aaron Finch took 26 off the last over from Kyle Jamieson, but felt New Zealand were timid with their response – they were 25 for 1 after the powerplay and then collapsed to 82 for 9 before some late hitting from Jamieson pushed them to three figures.The surface changed considerably from the first match – this was the fourth game on the surface in three days with the women’s series also taking place – which “surprised” Stead but he said the batsmen had been too slow to adjust.”The disappointing thing for me is I’m not sure we fired a shot at them tonight. When Kyle came in and played the way he did, it was too late then, the game was gone, so we need to think how we do that a little earlier,” he said. “In those situations, when it is tough, that was a very good score they had, then you have to try and get ahead of the run rate if you can and that provides a little more opportunity for the middle order to work out the way they need to play it.Related

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“It’s that intent to hit boundaries, get on the front foot, even just running between wickets and things like that and I thought we took a step backwards from where we had been earlier in the series. There are things we can do better.”Spinners were effective throughout the game with Mitchell Santner setting the tone, and Stead said that Kane Williamson had considered using himself or Glenn Phillips but did not feel the match-ups were right with Finch still at the crease.Finch had the advantage of viewing conditions at very close quarters for 20 overs and was quick to hand Ashton Agar the first over of New Zealand’s chase with the left-arm spinner bowling three in the powerplay.”It was one of those days where we got a lot of information out of the way New Zealand bowled and we adapted beautifully,” he said. “Ashton Agar was outstanding and all the bowlers were really good.”Finch was often starved of the strike but made the decision reasonably early that he would try and take the innings as deep as possible. “We always knew two new batters on a surface like that was going to be really challenging, especially towards the back end when you expect guys to blast them, it’s going to be tough on that kind of surface.”After a poor performance in Christchurch and a narrow loss in Dunedin, Australia now have the chance to clinch the series before quickly packing their kit bags and jumping on a chartered flight back across the Tasman on Sunday evening.”The fact we were 2-0 down and back to 2-2, really proud of the way we’ve fought,” Finch said. “It’s not the first time we’ve done it, either. It’s a really good character test at the best of time because the ebbs and flows are so big.”

India captain concedes that his team has also found it tough to adapt to the challenging conditions at home

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Pune09-Oct-20195:49

‘We look for answers, not excuses’ – Kohli

Left to him, Virat Kohli would give teams extra points for away wins in the World Test Championship. On the eve of India’s second Test against South Africa in Pune, Kohli said that the arrival of the championship had encouraged teams to play positive cricket, and given them the incentive to go for wins when they might have earlier settled for draws. But he did hope there would be one change in the points system, perhaps when the next edition of the championship rolls around.

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“The importance of every game has become that much more,” Kohli said in a press conference. “In situations that, in a three-match series, you probably would have played out a draw, teams are going to go for wins and get those extra points, so I think it’s great for Test cricket. The matches are going to be that much more exciting, is what we feel, and we can already experience that.”We have to be absolutely professional in every session that we play, so yeah, I think it’s much more demanding on the players now, which is a good thing because it will keep the standard of Test cricket high. Yeah, these are the only things we have experienced so far and noticed in terms of changes.ALSO READ: The mystery of the Pune pitch“If you’d have asked me to make the points table, I would give double the points for an away Test win. That is something that I would have definitely liked to see. Maybe after the first edition.”Visiting teams in India would certainly appreciate that extra incentive. India have been an incredibly difficult team to beat in their own backyard during Kohli’s time as captain, India winning 16 of their 22 Tests and losing just one. For all that, though, Kohli said conditions in India are often difficult to negotiate even for his team.”Look, it’s not easy for us as a home side as well,” Kohli said. “When conditions are challenging, when the ball’s spinning, we’ve also found it difficult in the past. But we’re a team that looks for answers, not excuses, so maybe that’s the reason we keep improving, and we’ve been able to win so many Test matches.”We don’t take anything for granted for sure, we can very well be losing four-five wickets a session, so we know that well, as a team. We work pretty hard on our game also, even though we play in our own conditions and we’ve grown up playing in these conditions. So I think the mindset is key for us, and that’s to win every game that we play and not focus on what the conditions are on display, we look to find answers rather than excuses.”Over the first three days of the first Test in Visakhapatnam, South Africa pushed India hard to find these answers, particularly with their aggressive batting approach against spin, which helped them claw back from 39 for 3 to finish just 71 short of India’s first-innings total of 502.Kohli wasn’t surprised by the fight South Africa put up.”How they played in the first innings was very good,” he said. “You have to be positive when the wicket’s nice and easy to bat on, you have to try and get as many runs as possible, and that’s exactly what they did.”I would say the first three, maybe even four days of the game, the wicket was hardly doing anything. After three-and-a-half days, it started to turn a little bit, and then on day five we really got into our own. We expected that. We expected teams to come out and try and be positive against us, and we held our own. We held our own in the second innings, and put up 400 runs for them to gun down again.”Look, we are going to be put under pressure, even though we’re playing at home. Its about how we come back into the game and then put double the pressure on the opposition again and then tell them, let’s see if that can be executed again. So that’s basically what Test cricket is. You have to come back in the second innings and do the job again, it doesn’t end in one innings, but the approach was quite expected.”Mohammed Shami celebrates bowling Temba Bavuma•BCCI

On the final day, India’s match-winner was Mohammed Shami, who came into his own on a wearing fifth-day pitch to run through South Africa in their second innings. What sets Shami apart, according to Kohli, is how much help he can coax out of even the flattest surfaces.”I think on the pitches that we play, I haven’t seen anyone get so much seam movement apart from him,” Kohli said. “Yes, internationally, many bowlers do, but I think on flat pitches he has the ability to pick you wickets in situations that feel absolutely dead. And that’s why he’s such an important bowler for us, that’s why we’ve wanted to manage his workload very precisely – all the fast bowlers.”But he’s someone who can change the complexion of the game totally when you don’t see it coming. That’s the kind of skill he possesses, and now he’s taking the responsibility. We don’t need to push Shami anymore. We don’t need to tell him, come on, you’ve got to get up and bowl this spell for us. He wants the ball. He understands the situation. When he’s given the ball, especially in the second innings when situations are difficult, he comes in and does the job every time.”It’s great. People are taking responsibility in different situations in the game, which is amazing to see and his skill is obviously there for everyone to see, it’s not a surprise anymore to all of us that he gets the ball to do that much more than others in conditions that don’t really offer you much. He’s blessed with that skill naturally, but it’s the mindset that’s changed now. According to me he’s in the best space right now.”India’s other hero in Visakhapatnam was Rohit Sharma, who scored centuries in both innings while opening the batting for the first time in Test cricket. That performance, Kohli felt, should end the debate over Rohit’s place in the team.”It’s overflowing. It’s not been filled,” Kohli said, when asked if the opening slots were taken for the foreseeable future. “Come on, give the guy a break now. He’s done well, let him enjoy his batting at the top of the order, let him just have fun, like he does in white-ball cricket, and stop focusing on what’s Rohit going to do in Tests.”He’s in a great space, he’s playing really well, and he looked relaxed in the first game, which is great to see, all the experience he’s accumulated over the years came to the fore, so he’s feeling absolutely at home at the top of the order, and for us as a team it’s a huge bonus, because if you saw the second innings, the way he’s able to take the tempo of the game forward, that allows the bowlers an extra hour and a half or two hours to bowl the opposition out.”So look, if a guy like him at the top of the order plays the way he did in the last game, we’re going to be in situations to go for victories in most of the Test matches. We’re all very happy for him, and I think it’s time to just move ahead from [debating about] his spot at the top of the order and just let him enjoy his batting.”The Pune pitch had a fair grass cover on the eve of the Test match, and a certain amount of early moisture is expected too, given the volume of rain the city has experienced over the past week or so. Despite this, Kohli seemed to suggest that India would probably stick with an attack containing two seamers and two spinners, and not play the extra fast bowler.”Well, I think more or less our team is settled,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to play that big a factor because when the pitch is damp it turns as well, so it’s not like only seamers are predominantly going to be effective on this pitch, all five days. Everyone will have to play their roles.”Unless you have a pitch which has total grass coverage, only then you think of changes in combination for the match. Because you do know that it’s going to dry out at some stage, and you can’t go predominantly one-sided in your attack and then not have the balance.
“We are pretty balanced in our team composition, and if any changes need to be made looking at how the pitch might behave on the first three days, then we’ll do so, but we don’t see any major things to think about, looking at the pitch.”

Michael Holding believes Hardik Pandya is not effective as a batsman and lacks control and consistency with the ball

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Aug-2018Hardik Pandya is not yet ready to take the allrounder’s spot in India’s Test team, according to former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding, because he is not effective as a batsman and lacks control and consistency with the ball.”The [Indian] attack has not been the right balance,” Holding told ESPNcricinfo. “Apparently they are playing Hardik Pandya as an allrounder to help out with the bowling. When he bowls he isn’t as effective as he should be. If he was a good batsman, if he was getting runs – 60s, 70s, not even regular hundreds – at the number at which he bats and then he bowls and gets two or three wickets, happy, hallelujah. Happy with that. But he is not getting the amount of runs that can then allow him to get a wicket or two in the Test match. That doesn’t work.”Pandya made his Test debut last July in Sri Lanka, scoring a fifty in Galle and followed it with his maiden Test century in Pallekelle in his third Test. He has played nine Tests so far and, barring the home series against Sri Lanka for which he was rested late last year, he has been the only constant in the Test XI along with captain Virat Kohli.In his fledgling Test career, Pandya has had more success with bat than ball – 458 runs at an average of 32.71 with a century and three half-centuries, and 10 wickets at an average of 39.30 and a strike rate of 71.50. Overseas, Kohli has used Pandya largely to give the frontline bowlers relief. The Lord’s Test was Pandya’s most hectic in terms of bowling workload in a single innings – he bowled 17.1 overs and performed the role of the third seamer, assisting the new-ball pair of Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.That Pandya had to bowl more was a consequence of Kohli’s decision to field two spinners in wet and overcast conditions. Pandya took three wickets, having gone wicketless in the first Test at Edgbaston. Incidentally, he is the second highest run-scorer for India – after Kohli – this series. But the fact that R Ashwin is five runs behind Pandya, who has scored 90 in the two Tests, only illustrates how horrific the series has been for India’s batsmen.Before the Lord’s Test, Pandya had gone wicketless for four Tests, starting from the second match in South Africa in January. While appraising Pandya’s bowling, Holding said he did not have many skills.BCCI

“I don’t think he does a lot with the ball. That is number one,” Holding said. “He is not consistent. He does not have the control that puts batsmen under pressure constantly. He will bowl a couple of good deliveries, yes, but you need to have the control to put batsmen under pressure consistently. And he doesn’t have that. If you are going to be a frontline bowler anywhere in the world, if you are going to be someone that your captain can rely on, that can throw you the ball and expect you to get wickets and expect you to have control, he is not really the man in my opinion.”Holding said India were shooting themselves in the foot by playing Pandya as the third seamer because he does not have the “firepower” to help them take 20 wickets.When asked to describe his role after the third day’s play at Lord’s, Pandya did not want to classify himself as a batting or a bowling allrounder. “If I’m batting I think as a batsman and if I’m bowling I think as a bowler.” Pandya had said. “I don’t have any one particular role.”Holding said India were trying to make Pandya perform the roles of two players, which he was not yet equipped to do. “Not if I have someone else who is fit,” Holding said, when asked if Pandya should play at Trent Bridge. “If there is no one else, sure you have to play him. If there is someone else that is a specialist batsman or specialist bowler I will certainly prefer that. There must be someone that can bat better if they want a batsman, there must be someone who can bowl better if they want a bowler. But it seems as if they are trying to fill two spots with one person. He (Pandya) is not there yet.”Despite his scathing assessment of Pandya, Holding said he is young and has time to develop as an allrounder.”I am not going to tell anyone that you won’t be there because he is a young man. But he is not there yet. I heard a mention, when I was working in South Africa: ‘he is the next Kapil Dev’. I ain’t going to tell anybody he’s not going to be the next Kapil Dev, but he is nowhere near there yet. And they need to find someone who can contribute a lot more to this team right now.”

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.

A fine cocktail of experience and youth delivered Delhi Daredevils their first victory of the season, against Kings XI Punjab at the Feroz Shah Kotla

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu15-Apr-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAmit Mishra claimed figures of 3-0-11-4 on his 100th IPL match•BCCI

A fine cocktail of experience and youth delivered Delhi Daredevils their first victory of the season. The old boys – legspinner Amit Mishra, featuring in his 100th IPL match, and captain Zaheer Khan – led the way with the ball, smothering Kings XI Punjab to 111 for 9. Then the youngsters took over as Quinton de Kock and Sanju Samson put on a 91-run partnership to seal Daredevils’ first points of the season.While Zaheer gave his team the early spark after choosing to bowl on what he called a “slow surface,” Mishra pierced through Kings XI’s top and middle order with dip, turn, and sometimes, even a lack of turn. Mishra had Shaun Marsh stumped with his first ball, then dismissed David Miller and Glenn Maxwell in his second over to break the opposition’s spine. Three of Kings XI’s heaviest scoring batsmen were dismissed in the space of 16 balls, leaving the score at 52 for 4 in the ninth over.Mishra was supported by Zaheer, who placed a slip, and at times a short leg, to capitalise on the nervous batsmen. Daredevils built on the double-strike and did not concede a boundary between the ninth and 14th overs. It was during this phase that Mishra rattled Manan Vohra’s leg stump with a wrong’ un to claim his fourth wicket in three overs. Kings XI were reeling at 59 for 5 in the 11th, but Zaheer did not call on Mishra to bowl any further.Kings XI’s struggles were not restricted to spin though. Zaheer, who had conceded he had “tried too much” in the first match against Kolkata Knight Riders, found swing right away. His first delivery moved back in and had the extra bounce to rap M Vijay on the thigh pad. That meant the balls that went on with the angle across the right-hander became more effective. Zaheer teased the outside edge regularly in his first spell but he had to wait till his second for a reward. In the 18th over, bowling a mix of slower balls, Zaheer had Mohit Sharma caught at mid-off.Chris Morris did his part as well, bowling yorkers in the slog overs and hustling the opposition with his pace. Offspinner Jayant Yadav strung four quiet overs together, benefitting by the Kings XI lower order not knowing whether to attack or defend.Kings XI made life easier for Daredevils in the chase. De Kock was reprieved twice – Vijay dropped him at deep square leg on 7 before Wriddhiman Saha botched a stumping chance on 22. De Kock, who was rather subdued in the Powerplay, hit rhythm when he cracked three fours off Axar Patel in the eighth over.Samson came out at No. 3, after Shreyas Iyer was adjudged caught behind despite Snicko picking up nothing, and took nine balls to get off the mark, via a risky pick-up shot off seamer Sandeep Sharma. He was 9 off 18 balls when he charged out to Pardeep Sahu’s legspin and launched a full toss over the long-on boundary. Samson then welcomed Maxwell with successive fours, while de Kock raised his half-century off 38 balls. Axar bowled Samson for 33 in the 13th over, but de Kock and Pawan Negi took Daredevils home comfortably.