Tag Futebol

Andre Russell’s lawyer has disputed the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission’s (JADCO) claim that the West Indies allrounder had missed three dope tests in a 12-month period, resulting in a violation of the whereabouts clause

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jul-2016Andre Russell’s lawyer has disputed the Jamaican Anti-doping Commission’s (JADCO) claim that the West Indies allrounder had missed three dope tests in a 12-month period, resulting in a violation of the whereabouts clause.According to , Russell’s lawyer Patrick Forster claimed at the hearing of an independent panel on July 20 that his client had received correspondence from JADCO for only twice – January to March, 2015 and July to September, 2015 – for allegedly missing the out-of-competition doping tests.Forster requested JADCO’s lawyer to make available the Commission’s third correspondence which notified Russell of his transgression. The tribunal panel chairman Hugh Faulkner then asked JADCO to provide documentary evidence of Russell’s third filing failure, following which it was agreed that JADCO would provide details on Monday.JADCO has until August 10 to serve their files, while the deadline for Russell’s team is September 7. The hearing is set for September 19 and 20.In March this year, JADCO said Russell had reportedly missed three dope tests in a 12-month period, which equated to a failed test under doping laws. Athletes are required make their whereabouts known to local anti-doping agencies to facilitate testing under the WADA code and face a ban of up to two years if found guilty of repeatedly missing them.Russell, 28, has been a leading player in the T20 format in recent times. He played a crucial role in West Indies winning the 2016 World T20 title in March and April, and is a key performer in domestic leagues around the world.Russell was part of winning campaigns for Sydney Thunder in the 2015-16 Big Bash League and for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League in February. He is currently playing for Jamaica Tallawahs in CPL 2016.

India A’s bowlers did not find enough help from a final-day pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, as the first four-day game finished in a draw after they set Australia A 240 to win in 55 overs

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy in Chennai25-Jul-2015
ScorecardTravis Head and Cameron Bancroft added 79 runs for the second wicket of 140 balls•K Sivaraman

India A’s bowlers found less help than they may have expected from a final-day pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, as the first four-day game finished in a draw after they set Australia A 240 to win in 55 overs. A solid start, aided by some ordinary bowling, kept Australia A interested in the target, but a clump of wickets towards the end subdued their ambitions.Cameron Bancroft and Travis Head made half-centuries, and added 79 for the second wicket to leave Australia A needing 125 from the last 20 overs, before falling in the space of six balls. Head nicked Abhimanyu Mithun while going hard at a fullish ball angled across him, and Bancroft pressed forward to Amit Mishra and popped a catch to silly point.Three overs later, Naman Ojha missed a stumping off Pragyan Ojha when he spun one out of the rough and past Nic Maddinson’s inside edge. This was the 39th over, and it was the first time either Ojha or Mishra had bowled from the Pavilion End. Until then, India A’s frontline spinners hadn’t bowled in tandem at all.In the first innings, all nine Australian wickets taken by the bowlers had come from the other end. But the stumping chance suggested they could have bowled a spinner from the Pavilion End earlier, and Ojha gave more evidence of the help now available from there when he spun one sharply, from the line of the stumps rather than the rough, to get Peter Handscomb caught behind in the third mandatory over.Maddinson, who had already struck Mishra and Ojha for sixes over long-on, continued playing his shots, even reverse-sweeping Ojha to the vacant point boundary. But the target was too far beyond Australia A’s reach, and the players shook hands with nine mandatory overs remaining.At tea, Australia A had been 81 for 1 in 23 overs, and 48 of those runs had come in boundaries. They had not needed to do anything outlandish to hit them; all the Indian bowlers had fed them the odd bad ball, particularly short ones, and only one of their 12 fours – Head lofting Ojha against the turn over mid-off – came off a risky stroke. India’s only success had come when Usman Khawaja, looking to sweep Mishra from the rough, top-edged a catch to leg slip.In the morning, India A added 85 runs for the loss of five wickets in the pursuit of runs that didn’t come as quickly as they would have hoped, on a pitch that remained too slow for expansive shots. Against some tight Australian bowling, they only made 64 runs in the first session, at a rate of 2.29. Gurinder Sandhu continued bowling parsimonious offbreaks, using his height to extract a fair amount of bounce, and Marcus Stoinis, who had made 77 in Australia A’s first innings, capped off a satisfying match with two perfect offcutters to bowl Karun Nair and Naman Ojha.

Kumar Sangakkara hoped better communication between administrators and players would in future help avoid the dearth of Test cricket that Sri Lanka face in 2013

Andrew Fernando in Melbourne23-Dec-2012Kumar Sangakkara hoped better communication between administrators and players would in future help avoid the dearth of Test cricket that Sri Lanka face in 2013. When the Sydney Test ends early in the new year Sri Lanka will have played their last Test against top-flight opposition until December. Two-thousand-and-thirteen had shaped to be a busy year for Sri Lanka in the longest format, but the removal of five Tests now means a glut of ODI cricket will now overwhelm their schedule.A two-Test series in the West Indies was the first to be scrapped, as both boards scrambled to make their players available for the duration of the IPL – a significant boon for that tournament, given Sri Lanka and West Indies were finalists in this year’s World Twenty20. In place of the cancelled Tests, the teams will play a budget-friendly ODI tri-series involving India, which can only take place after the Champions’ Trophy, which was the time Sri Lanka had originally been slated to host South Africa at home.That three-Test series was then postponed until 2015, with the Sri Lanka Premier League, which is scheduled for early August, ensuring that South Africa’s visit could not be moved to that month. The culling of Tests from Sri Lanka’s schedule had already become a theme of the present administration, who also did away with one home Test against then world No.1 England in March this year, as well as replacing two Tests against India in July and August with a five-match ODI series.The news of the Test removals were met with personal disappointment among the seniors in the Sri Lanka team, but in November captain Mahela Jayawardene defended the board’s decisions, suggesting the preference of limited-overs cricket over Tests would allow the board to continue to function despite its financial distress. If both of the two Tests scheduled in Zimbabwe materialise, Sri Lanka will play no more than six Tests in the year, with four of those having been against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.”I think each country should play a minimum of 10 to 12 Test matches a year,” Sangakkara said. “Hopefully 12 Test matches a year. We need to make sure that we find time to do that. I think players and administrators and everyone should really be together and talk on these things and understand that Test cricket is important. That’s the only way cricketers are going to improve.”Sri Lanka last played South Africa at home in 2006, when they defeated the visitors 2-0 in a two Test series. At 35, Sangakkara may not be playing Test cricket in 2015, while 35-year-old Mahela Jayawardene and 36-year-olds Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera are also likely to consider retirement before that series.”South Africa coming to Sri Lanka would have been a fantastic opportunity for us to try and beat the number one side in our own conditions. We have done that before. So it’s disappointing. Hopefully, there will be more Test matches played and more thought put into scheduling and having a discussion as to how we fit in ten to 12 Test Matches a year.”Sangakkara also said the detriments of the paucity of Tests would spread beyond the Test specialists in the team, like Samaraweera, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chanaka Welegedara and Suraj Randiv.”It’s not just disappointing for them, even for us. Whatever the form you play, you want to play more Test cricket. So hopefully after next year we can be more proactive in our scheduling and we can talk on which countries are willing to come and play and how are we going to schedule Test cricket so that it is kept as the ultimate form of the game.”

A round-up of Franchise 1-Day Cup matches that took place on November 11

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2011Morne van Wyk’s 136 off 144 balls led Knights to 318 for 5, a total large enough to secure a nine-run victory in a rain-affected game against Lions in Kimberley. van Wyk, who is Knights’ opening batsman, captain and wicketkeeper, anchored his team and provided momentum after choosing to bat, hitting 13 fours and a six in an innings that ended only in the 49th over. He was supported by Dean Elgar, who made 48, while Ryan Bailey provided a strong finish by scoring 47 off 30 balls. Left-arm spinner Jean Symes was Lions’ best bowler, taking 2 for 36 in a ten-over spell. Lions had reached 91 for 2 after 16 overs, when their chase was interrupted for the first time by rain. Three overs were lost. Alviro Petersen and Neil McKenzie kept the innings on course, before Petersen was dismissed for 62 in the 26th over. There was another rain interruption in the next over, with Lions on 154 for 3, and seven overs were lost. The revised target was 269 in 40 overs, which meant Lions needed 115 off 79 balls. While McKenzie was at the crease, Lions had a chance of victory. But he was dismissed for 72 off 58 balls in the 37th over, when 43 were needed. Cliffe Deacon smacked three sixes during his 19 off 7 balls but Lions fell nine short.Chasing 206 in 48 overs against Warriors, Cape Cobras had reached 172 for 7 in 39.5 overs, three runs ahead of the D/L par score, when rain brought an end to the game in Port Elizabeth. JP Duminy remained unbeaten on 43 off 68 balls, steering Cobras’ tricky chase as wickets fell around him. The most vital boundary, however, was the four Rory Kleinveldt hit off Wayne Parnell moments before the players went off the field. That stroke took the Cobras past the D/L target. Duminy’s innings had pulled his team out of trouble after they had slipped from 66 for 1 to 80 for 4 and then 128 for 6. Nicky Boje took 3 for 26 in 10 overs for Warriors. Earlier in the match, Charl Langeveldt’s 4 for 46 had cut through the middle order to limit Warriors to 201 for 9 in 48.3 overs. The spinners Robin Peterson and Duminy picked up two wickets apiece as well. Opening batsman JJ Smuts was Warriors’ top-scorer with 49. Though seven of his team-mates made double figures, no one went past 30.Loots Bosman’s century was at the centre of a strong chase as Dolphins overhauled a target of 316 against Titans in Centurion. Dolphins made a strong start as their captain Imraan Khan scored 60 off 50 balls during an opening partnership of 94 with Bosman, off 12.1 overs. They had a strong second-wicket stand as well, with Bosman and wicketkeeper Daryn Smit adding 166. Bosman scored 112 off 102 balls, with seven fours and four sixes, while Smith contributed 95 off 111 balls. Though both batsmen were dismissed within a short time of each other, they had done enough to ensure victory. Cameron Delport blitzed 20 off 5 balls to achieve the target with five balls to spare and six wickets in hand. Titans’ innings did not have as strong a start as Dolphins’ did. They were 24 for 2 after 6.1 overs before a steadying 89-run stand between Henry Davids and Faf du Plessis, who went on to score 120 off 115 balls. The middle order made useful contributions as well, with David Weise remaining unbeaten on 46 off 24 balls to take his team to 315 for 6 in 50 overs.Points table

Kallis reached a 36th Test hundred in the course of his unbroken 242-run partnership with Hashim Amla, South Africa’s second highest for any wicket against Pakistan, on the fourth day at Dubai

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2010It is almost inevitable that a player who spends more than a decade in international cricket will break the odd record along the way and put together some notable statistics, but even so Jacques Kallis’s list of achievements make particularly impressive reading. Kallis reached a 36th Test hundred in the course of his unbroken 242-run partnership with Hashim Amla, South Africa’s second highest for any wicket against Pakistan, on the fourth day at Dubai.At 35, Kallis is already South Africa’s leading scorer in Test cricket by a margin of several thousand, but he believes he still has a lot more to give. “Hopefully there’s a few more left in the body,” he said. “I’m still enjoying my cricket, hopefully there’s many more runs there.”He is third on the all-time list for most Test hundreds, with Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar the two men ahead of him with 39 and 49 hundreds respectively. Kallis has also been involved in no fewer than 15 double century partnerships in his career, three short of Tendulkar’s record and is one better than the great Sir Donald Bradman.His partnership with Amla was their fourth double century partnership – they shared stands of 220 and 330 against New Zealand in 2007-08 and 340 against India in the innings win at Nagpur earlier this year – a number that has only been exceeded by Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer’s six.”Hashim and myself got us off to a good start,” Kallis said after the day’s play. “Scoring was always going to be tough today, but we were always ahead of the rate. We complemented each other pretty well throughout the partnership. It became a little bit easier than we thought it would be, but it was still tough scoring. Batting and staying out there was a little easier, but scoring was quite tough.”The wicket is pretty slow, the outfield is very slow as well, so you could add on a few runs for that. But we just tried to rotate the strike and put the bad ball away to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Then we could play with a bit more freedom once we got to a total that we were happy with.”Kallis hit his first delivery of the day from Saeed Ajmal for a straight six, and that set the tone for his and Amla’s treatment of Pakistan’s slow bowlers for the rest of the day. It had been thought that Pakistan’s spinners – offspinner Ajmal and left-armer Abdur Rehman – could have a decisive influence of the game but they have been out-bowled by Johan Botha and Paul Harris, their South African counterparts.”I think we played their spinners pretty well,” Kallis explained. “Also, our spinners’ lines are probably slightly different to what their spinners have bowled. And our guys are pretty confident. It’s a lot easier and things seem to go for you when you’re ahead of the game, so hopefully that’ll continue happening for us. It’s a happy changeroom, we’ve got some hard work ahead of us tomorrow but there’s enough in the wicket to keep the bowlers encouraged.”Kallis also paid tribute to Amla, who is now only 6 runs short of his 1 000 Test runs for the calendar year. Amla reached a ninth century of the year in all formats, including four in Tests and five in ODIs, finishing unbeaten on 118.”He’s been unbelievable, he’s certainly been our rock [this year],” Kallis said of Amla. “The way that the guys have batted around him has also helped. He’s very confident, and he’s come a long way from when people said ‘with that backlift, you’ll never be able to play international cricket.’ I think he’s proved a few people wrong.”The wicket is a little flat, nothing special,” said Amla. “Fortunately Jacques and I got a partnership going and that made it a lot easier to score. We have managed to get a few big partnerships together and today was one of them. At certain times when we weren’t scoring Jacques was very level-headed and calm about it. He put a reality spin on certain situations which was great.”Amla added that there was no secret to his current phenomenal run of form, saying: “I wish I had a penny for the amount of times I’ve had that question asked over the last year or so. There has been no secret. I just try to bat the way I can, not try and change too much and keep things simple.”I don’t attribute it to anything special. I just try to gain as much experience in each game and fortunately it is coming through.”

Even though Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were leaders of their groups, it’s the finalists from last season, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh, who will get the easier quarter-final opponents – teams from the Plate League

Sidharth Monga18-Dec-2009

Quarter-final line-up

• Haryana (from Plate league) v Mumbai (defending champions)

• Delhi v Tamil Nadu (Group A toppers)

• Karnataka (Group B toppers) v Punjab

• Assam (from Plate League) v Uttar Pradesh (last season runners-up)

• Relegated teams: Hyderabad, Maharashtra

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu won’t gain any advantage from topping their Ranji groups this season. Even though they are the leaders of their groups by a fair distance, it’s Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh, the finalists from last season, who will get the easier quarter-final opponents – the teams from the Plate League. While Karnataka are not impressed with what seems to be a new rule, Tamil Nadu sort of saw it coming, because that’s how the Ranji Trophy worked in the 1990s, before the Elite League and Plate League – and hence clear-cut semi-finalists – were introduced.Last season, when the system of promoting two Plate teams to the quarterfinals was introduced, the two Super group leaders got to play them, and as expected made it to the semi-finals. This year, Karnataka with a whopping 28 points from six games, and Tamil Nadu with 26 from seven would have also expected easy quarterfinals, but they will be facing Punjab and Delhi respectively. On the other hand, UP and Mumbai, who finished second and third respectively in their groups, get the simpler matches against Assam and Haryana.”It’s quite unfair to give the advantage to them [the finalists from the last season],” Robin Uthappa, Karnataka’s captain, told Cricinfo. “It’s unfair on teams who have done really well this season. We could have finished second or third and could have still played Punjab, who we are playing anyway. That beats the whole purpose, all the hard work that goes in topping a table.”WV Raman, Tamil Nadu’s coach, though, “distinctly remembered the system from earlier years” and was waiting for the confirmation, which – as with most of us – reached his team on the last day of the league stages. “The last year when the format changed, group-toppers got to play Plate teams. But this system was there [in the nineties] that when winners or runner-ups qualified in the next year, even though they didn’t top the group they would automatically become No. 1 and No. 2 [for the purposes of deciding who will play whom in the knockouts].”What Raman alluded to was the time when the league matches were played on a zonal basis. Three teams from each of the five zones qualified to play a Super League in three groups of five. The top two teams from each group would qualify for the next round, but two of those six would get byes and the other four would play quarter-finals to join the top two in the semis. The teams getting the bye were the finalists from the previous year, and if those finalists didn’t make it past the Super League, teams with most points would go straight to semi-finals. For example, in 1999-2000, Karnataka, who finished sixth in terms of points in the Super League, got the bye because they were the defending champions. Madhya Pradesh, who lost the final in 1998-99, didn’t make it to the Super League.Hence Raman and Tamil Nadu were not surprised when they were told they would be playing Delhi and not Assam in the quarter-finals this year.When asked if he, like Uthappa, thought it was unfair to reward teams for previous season’s form and deny the best teams of the on-going season, Raman said, “If that is the rule, what can you do? I wasn’t surprised, but we were just waiting for the information to come.”

Surrey welcome chance to work with giants of IPL, but resolve to keep controlling stake

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2025Surrey have confirmed that they will be retaining their majority stake in Oval Invincibles, as they begin their period of exclusive negotiations with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the owners of Mumbai Indians, in the wake of last month’s Hundred equity sale.RIL secured a 49% stake in Invincibles, the reigning Men’s Hundred champions and the most successful team across genders in the tournament’s four-year history, after valuing the franchise at £123 million at a live auction on January 30.That means they are expected to pay just over £60 million for their equity share when the team ownership transfers from ECB to Surrey County Cricket Club at the end of 2025. This will be undertaken through negotiations with RISE Worldwide, Reliance’s subsidiary, which has been named as the club’s preferred partner from the 2026 season onwards.Mumbai Indians, five-times winners of the IPL, are widely seen as the most powerful IPL franchise, while Surrey are the richest English county club. The Invincibles’ men’s and women’s teams will become the sixth and seventh teams associated with RIL, after Mumbai Indians (in both the IPL and WPL), MI New York (MLC), MI Cape Town (SA20) and MI Emirates (ILT20).Related

• Investors face live auction for in-demand Hundred franchises

• Hundred investors express frustration at ECB's 'pure financial' motives

• Sun Group secures 100% stake in Northern Superchargers

RIL, owned by the Ambani family, had been widely linked with buying a stake in London Spirit, but that franchise was eventually secured by a Silicon Valley tech consortium that valued the Lord’s-based franchise at £295 million.Up to five IPL teams could be involved in team ownership when the sales process is completed later this month. Last week, Sun Group – owners of Sunrisers Hyderabad – secured a 100% stake in Northern Superchargers for £100 million, while Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG Group – owners of Lucknow Super Giants – expected to land a 70% stake in Manchester Originals when their negotiations are complete.Southern Brave is widely expected to be secured by GMR Group, co-owners of Delhi Capitals, who last year bought a groundbreaking majority stake in host county Hampshire, while the owners of Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals are among those who are understood to have shown interest in Nottingham-based Trent Rockets.Surrey, however, have reiterated their desire to keep hold of their controlling stake in Invincibles, while welcoming the chance to work with a franchise that has won 11 league titles across the globe, including at least one in each of the competitions they have competed in.Oli Slipper, Chair of Surrey CCC, said: “We said at the outset that we wanted the best partner to ensure that Surrey continue to lead the way in English cricket and in Mumbai Indians that is what we have got.”They share our passion for cricket, they own the biggest and most successful team in the IPL, the Mumbai Indians, and we believe this partnership will bring continued success to both Surrey CCC and our Hundred team.”Beyond cricket, the huge success of RIL’s global business will help Surrey to thrive off the field too. I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Mrs. Nita Ambani, Akash and his team as our new partners.”Mrs. Nita M Ambani, Owner of Mumbai Indians, said: “Cricket is more than just a sport, it’s a passion that unites people across geographies and cultures. Welcoming Oval Invincibles into our Mumbai Indians family is a proud and special moment.””England, with its rich cricketing culture, has always been special to the game,” Akash Ambani, Owner of Mumbai Indians, added. “To have the iconic Oval, which has witnessed some of cricket’s greatest moments, as our home venue is truly special.”

De Zorzi’s 81 put South Africa on course, but his wicket triggered a collapse from which they couldn’t recover

Sreshth Shah21-Dec-2023
A statement-making maiden ODI century from Sanju Samson, followed by a tidy bowling partnership between Arshdeep Singh and Washington Sundar sealed the three-match ODI series in India’s favour, as the visitors won by 78 runs against South Africa at Boland Park.Samson’s first century in India colours lifted the team to a strong 296 for 8 in the first innings, but the total seemed within reach of South Africa while Tony de Zorzi batted. He crunched 81 in 87 balls to keep the hosts on course, keeping the runs flowing even as South Africa lost Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen early.He smacked six fours and three sixes before Arshdeep’s yorker ended his stay in the 30th over. Arshdeep, who dismissed Hendricks with the new ball and then Keshav Maharaj and Lizaad Williams in his final spell, finished with 4 for 30 after a clinical bowling display. After an initial lack of control with the new ball, he made up for it later by getting the ball to effectively nip across to the right-handers.Washington, playing the final ODI for the rested Kuldeep Yadav, bowled tidily on a surface that assisted spin, and accounted for Wiaan Mulder, but more importantly had Aiden Markram caught behind attempting a reverse sweep for 36. Markram’s wicket in the 26th over, four overs before de Zorzi’s dismissal, effectively started the slide the hosts never managed to shake off.With Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan also picking off David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen respectively soon after, South Africa went from 131 for 3 to 192 for 7 in the space of 12.1 overs. Washington finished with 2 for 38 – even outperforming his senior spin partner Axar Patel (1 for 48) – to compliment Arshdeep’s match-winning spell.Sanju Samson celebrates his maiden ODI hundred•AFP/Getty Images

Earlier in the day, India were inserted by Markram at the toss, and were in a spot of bother when debutant Rajat Patidar, his fellow opener B Sai Sudharsan and the No. 4 KL Rahul all fell for relatively low scores. Patidar had impressed with a spunky 16-ball 22 but was bowled by Nandre Burger trying to attack. Sudharsan was gone lbw by Beuran Hendricks while Rahul was out trying to flick Mulder off a two-paced delivery.It was at 101 for 3 in the 19th over when Samson – promoted to No. 3 for the decider – and Tilak Verma joined hands to anchor the middle overs. Their 116-run stand in 136 balls held the innings together through a difficult period where the slow surface and accurate spin bowling from Maharaj and Markram made run-scoring tough.In the first ten, India had gained the early momentum by hitting 59 in the batting powerplay but appeared to lose it when Tilak, in particular, was strangled by spin. Their scoring-rate dropped significantly between overs 11 and 30, as the pair built a score at a slow pace, adding only 73 runs in that 20-over period.Tilak’s struggles also starved Samson off strike in the initial stage of the partnership, but Samson did not lose patience in his innings building, easing the overall pressure with the occasional boundary to keep India moving.The India players react after a successful review to dismiss Tony de Zorzi•Associated Press

Once Tilak got his first boundary in his 39th ball to move from nine to 13, the floodgates also opened, with the runs coming more frequently. The 71 runs the pair added between the 31st and 40th overs brought India on track with big hitters to follow, but Tilak fell to Maharaj for 52 soon after hitting his maiden ODI fifty.Samson, though, who played relatively risk-free cricket, keep India’s score moving. He brushed past his previous ODI high score of 86 comfortably, and in the 44th over reached his maiden century by driving down the ground for a single. His 110-ball century was followed up with a flex of his muscle.Samson was eventually gone for 108 in the 46th over with a strike-rate of almost 95 in the trying to hit Lizaad Williams out of the ground, but his century meant the stage was set for some late fireworks. That was provided by Rinku Singh, who muscled 38 in 27 balls, with some able assistance from Washington and Arshdeep with the bat too, who together contributed 21 in 11 deliveries. That pushed India to a score of 296 for 8 – including 164 in the last 20 overs – to post a total that appeared above par given the surface on offer.

Tahlia McGrath closes out game after being hit for three successive sixes in dramatic finish

ESPNcricinfo staff ECB Reporters Network02-Sep-2022A stunning flurry of sixes from Nat Sciver couldn’t quite power Trent Rockets over the line in an eliminator thriller at the Ageas Bowl, as Southern Brave booked their place in Saturday’s Lord’s final, thanks to an all-round masterclass from Georgia Adams.Middle-order batter and offspinner Adams carried Brave to a competitive score with an exhilarating 38 off 24 to lift her side to a total of 134 for 6, having looked unlikely to reach three figures at one point.Adams then picked up 2 for 15, including both Bryony Smith and Mignon du Preez as Rockets slipped from 40 for 0 to 45 for 3 in the space of six balls, and the game seemed done and dusted when Tahlia McGrath backed up a haul of 2 for 11 in her first ten balls with a pinpoint penultimate set that went for just four more runs.With 24 runs still needed, Brave captain Anya Shrubsole backed her allrounder to close out the contest, but Sciver – who had stood firm while wickets fell away around her – was now in the zone, and with a two from the first ball and then three consecutive launches for six, she brought the requirement down to four from one. McGrath, however, held her nerve, and Sciver could only drive her final delivery to mid-off for a single.Brave duly won by two runs, and will be out for revenge against Oval Invincibles – Adams’ former team – in the final after being bowled out for 73 last year.Rockets had lost by 10 wickets in the group stage game between the two sides, but enjoyed a much better start as they picked up Danni Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley in the first end, the former for her second duck in succession.Nat Sciver drives down the ground during Trent Rockets’ run-chase•Getty Images

Smriti Mandhana picked up a trio of boundaries but she then edged Sciver to short third. Brave’s big three batters, who had scored about two-thirds of their runs in the competition, all out inside 30 balls having been stuck in.It needed the middle order to fire, and slowly they did. Australian McGrath – who had only scored 19 runs in her four innings thus far – steadied things with 31 off 29 balls, having square driven her first ball to the boundary. She put on 34 with Maia Bouchier before failing to clear mid-off, before Adams joined Bouchier to accelerate with a 43-run stand.Bouchier crashed Katherine Brunt twice through the off side before heaving Georgia Davis through wide long-on to move to 29 and her best score of the tournament.Adams was even more vicious in her ball striking, after Bouchier had departed, bonking a straight six off Alana King and another dropped into the boundary sponge by Brunt to smash 38 off 30 balls – although she was caught off the final ball by Brunt.In reply, Elyse Villani and Bryony Smith ticked off runs at a run-a-ball. Smith survived a drop at midwicket but things seemed much less frenetic than the Brave innings.That all changed with the 38th delivery as Rockets collapsed. First, Adams knocked back Smith’s middle stump with her offspin. Then McGrath picked up Villani paddling to short fine and Mignon du Preez with a reactionary caught and bowled, to her own disbelief, in the same set. The team in yellow slumped from 40 without loss to 45 for 3.Marie Kelly picked out long-on to hand Adams her second wicket, King was castled by fellow Aussie leggie Amanda-Jade Wellington and Molly Strano brilliantly ran out Brunt. But Sciver was the major piece still left in the puzzle.She was dropped at mid-off on 8 and had a stumping missed on 11, but tucked into any poor balls. She clubbed Lauren Bell, Wellington and McGrath for sixes over the long-on boundary. Her fifty came in 29 balls but her best was still to come. Agonisingly for the Rockets, it was too little, too late.

Second ton of the season for opener as Gloucestershire left to rue decision to insert

ECB Reporters' Network29-Apr-2021Sam Evans’ third first-class century helped Leicestershire dominate the opening day against Gloucestershire at Bristol as they made 264 for 4 having been sent in.Evans, 23, born in Leicester and a Loughborough University graduate, followed up his 138 at The Oval in round two with 102 here. He and Lewis Hill, with 77 not out, steered Leicestershire from 129 for 3 into a strong position as Gloucestershire were left to rue their decision at the toss.Bowling first can often be an advantage on pitches at Bristol that get increasingly benign but there was little to encourage the hosts’ seamers as they endured a hard first day in the field for a second week running.Evans was their chief adversary as he further grew his reputation with a century in 251 balls with 13 boundaries to continue to press the case of university cricket. The demise of universities’ first-class status and the uncertain future of the centres of excellence begs the question of whether those like Evans who choose to read for a degree will have a route into professional cricket in the future.He lost his opening partner Hassan Azad to the second ball of the day as Dan Worrall claimed his 200th first-class wicket, but led his side calmly through the morning session to reach 92 for 1 at lunch.He drove Ryan Higgins for four through cover and Worrall straight down the ground. A flick to fine leg brought him within sight of a half-century before he drove keenly at Josh Shaw and edged at catchable height perfectly between the wicketkeeper and first slip who was standing quite wide. James Bracey dived right, Kraigg Brathwaite dived left and the ball whistled to the fence to give Evans fifty in 126 balls.After lunch, he lost Marcus Harris, driving at Worrall and caught behind for 62 – the Australian’s first half-century in county cricket – and Rishi Patel bowled for just 2, shouldering arms at Worrall.The second new ball was taken with Evans 17 shy of a hundred and he inside-edged Higgins past his stumps for four and leaned out to drive the same bowler through cover before a flick to fine leg raised a century to be toasted in common-rooms around the country. But he couldn’t see out the day, lifting Worrall to short square-leg.