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Rizwan, who scored 90 not out, was the lone spark for Pakistan in another disappointing game for their batters

Ashish Pant19-Jan-2024Unbeaten half-centuries from Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell backing up frugal two-wicket hauls each from Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson gave New Zealand a comfortable seven-wicket victory in the fourth T20I against Pakistan and a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.Sent into bat, Mohammad Rizwan was the lone spark for Pakistan in another disappointing game for their batters, in Christchurch. He scored an unbeaten 90 off 63 balls, while the rest of the batters managed only 61 off 55 and Pakistan reached 158 for 5 in their 20 overs.In reply, Shaheen Shah Afridi struck three times in his first two overs to have New Zealand under pressure for the first time in the series. But Mitchell and Phillips took their time in settling in before opening up their shoulders big time to help New Zealand coast to victory in 18.1 overs. Phillips remained unbeaten on a 52-ball 70 while Mitchell scored 72 not out off 44 with the duo adding an unbeaten 139 off 93 balls for the third wicket.

Rizwan, Babar light up powerplay

Pakistan were batting first for the first time in this series. But Henry put an early spanner in their works when he had Saim Ayub edging to first slip, where Mitchell took a straightforward catch on the second attempt.Rizwan, however, wasn’t going to get bogged down. Adam Milne, playing his 50th T20I, was taken for two successive fours, while Tim Southee also was given a similar treatment. Rizwan then dispatched Ferguson miles over deep midwicket, with Babar Azam also joining in on the fun as Pakistan raced to 51 for 1 in six overs.

Rizwan goes big, but middle order disappoints

Rizwan continued his merry ways, finding the gaps at regular intervals. But as has been the case with Pakistan’s batting this series, they failed to stitch partnerships. Babar fell to a 149.5kph Milne bumper that he could only mistime to Phillips at deep midwicket. Fakhar Zaman came in and sucked the momentum out of the innings, labouring to 9 off 15 before Ferguson put him out of his misery. Sahibzada Farhan, who replaced Azam Khan, lasted two balls as Pakistan slipped to 86 for 4 after 13 overs.Mohammad Rizwan stayed unbeaten on 90 but it wasn’t enough•AFP/Getty Images

However, Rizwan continued to play the lone ranger. He took 38 balls to reach fifty but with wickets falling at the other end, he focused on rotating the strike more than taking risks. That Pakistan got past 150 was down to Mohammad Nawaz hammering Milne for three successive sixes in the 19th over that went for 21.However, on a two-paced surface, 158 seemed a touch under par.

Afridi rocks New Zealand early

The skip in the step was back and so was the famous celebration. Finn Allen struck Afridi for two fours on the bounce, but on the fourth ball of the first over, he closed the face of the bat too soon on a full-length ball on leg stump to be caught at point. Two balls later, Tim Seifert’s feeble chip landed straight into the hands of Babar at mid-off. Afridi was not done yet. He then got a short-of-length ball going at Will Young, who struck a powerful pull but Nawaz at short midwicket flung to his right and plucked out a good catch. New Zealand suddenly found themselves in unfamiliar territory at 20 for 3 after 2.4 overs.

Phillips, Mitchell ace the chase

It was like a perfect template on how to set up a chase when the team has lost a few wickets early. Phillps was his usual busy self, collecting boundaries and sprinting like a gazelle between wickets. Mitchell was patient, initially, even when the required run rate breached the nine-run mark.New Zealand managed only 38 runs in the powerplay and reached 70 after ten. But importantly, they did not lose a wicket. Not that they did not give chances. A big moment in the game came in the tenth over when Mitchell mis-hit a sweep off Nawaz to deep backward square leg where Mohammad Wasim misjudged the catch with the ball falling almost at his feet. In the 13th over then, it was Farhan who dropped a dolly at long-on.Mitchell made sure he cashed in. With the required rated climbing, he got into overdrive finding gaps regularly. From scoring 14 off his first 16, he raced to his fifty off 34 balls with a six off Afridi. Phillips also got his half-century in 41 balls with both batters switching to carnage mode. The Pakistan bowlers looked clueless and the target was eventually achieved with 11 balls to spare.

Captain thanks team for following his lead, calls on media to recognise entertainment focus

Andrew Miller12-Sep-2022Ben Stokes said that he felt “blessed” to be able to call upon the enduring class and experience of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, while thanking his entire team for their collective buy-in to his new proactive approach to Test cricket – one that has culminated in a remarkable run of six Test wins out of seven this summer, including Monday’s nine-wicket victory against South Africa at the Kia Oval.Stokes himself was named as Player of the Series against South Africa, after a haul of 149 runs at 37.25, including a match-defining hundred at Old Trafford, and ten wickets at 15.70, more often than not key breakthroughs such as the two in three balls either side of tea on the second full day of the Oval Test that ended South Africa’s hopes of a defendable total.More than anything, the award was a testament to the manner in which Stokes has led from the front since taking over from Joe Root at the start of the season, at which stage England had won just one of their previous 17 Tests in the space of 18 months. However, speaking to Sky Sports’ Mark Butcher during the post-match presentations, Stokes made it clear that the manner in which his team had followed his example was the defining aspect of their summer-long success.”It’s been a great series for us as a team,” Stokes said. “We’ve had no real individual standout performances, but different people throughout the whole series have put their hand up in crucial periods for us and, in a team sport, that’s what you want. You want to be able to turn to different people at different times and hope that they can break the game open for you with the ball and bat, and that’s definitely what we’ve managed to do this whole series.”Ollie Robinson – whom Stokes promoted to a new-ball role for his return to the side at Old Trafford – was named as the Player of the Match at The Oval following his five-wicket haul on the opening morning. But Stokes reserved his most fulsome praise for the old guard of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who picked up 27 and 29 wickets respectively across the summer to reaffirm their pre-eminence, following the controversial decision to omit both men from the preceding tour of the Caribbean.”They are just phenomenal,” Stokes said. “To have two of the great seam bowlers of world cricket in your team … I feel very blessed to be in the dressing room with them. We’re very lucky as a nation to have two sporting greats still going out and doing what they’re doing. I mean, I’ve been called old at 31, I’m not quite sure what you can call Jimmy at the moment being 40, but they just keep turning up day in and day out.Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad and James Anderson – pictured during the first-day wash-out – ensured three days was ample for victory•PA Images via Getty Images

“They leave everything out there,” he added. “They are just phenomenal. They’re a huge credit to themselves. They’re a huge credit to this game. And I’m sure a lot of young cricketers around the world who want to be fast bowlers will look up to them.”Stokes’ management of his bowlers has been a defining aspect of the summer’s success – not simply with his willingness to back them up at all times with packed slip cordons and innovating attacking field placings, but his determination to save their strengths for the critical passages of play, particularly the new ball. To that end, his own bowling role has been about producing impact moments, often when the ball has been at its oldest, but he insisted that the balance he had hit upon was the right one.”When you’ve got the bowlers like Jimmy, Broady and Robbo, with the skill they possess, it’s trying to manage them at the start of an innings when the ball’s doing the most,” he said. “You don’t want to [take] too much out of them at the start, so we try to have a short spell from one of the opening bowlers, and then bring them back again with one of the opening bowlers bowling a longer spell.”Then it’s about bringing myself into the game at an appropriate time really, when the big lads have had a few good spells. It’s about understanding when I need to get the most overs out of the three big lads, and they’ve managed to do that in the whole series. They’ve been absolutely phenomenal.”If there has been a criticism of England’s ultra-aggressive approach, then it has arguably centred around Stokes’ own batting, with Butcher questioning whether he was “selling himself short” with his desire to dominate from the outset – a policy that backfired in his only innings at The Oval – rather than batting with the sort of patience that set up his Old Trafford hundred.Stokes, however, was unrepentant about his desire to take the attack to the opposition bowlers, adding that the team success was of far greater consequence than his own numbers.”It’s fine, you can keep criticising me if we’re going to win six out of seven games,” he said. “For me, it’s about the clarity of messaging. Me and Brendon [McCullum] are the guys who were sending this message to this group of players, and I said to the lads in the dressing-room the other day that the person who’s delivering the message can only do so much.”I thank all my team, my backroom staff, coaches, that they’ve really bought into this,” Stokes added. “There’s a reason why we’ve been able to perform with confidence with each other. And that’s something that’s very rare.”Stokes’ own bowling has been limited to key passages of play•AFP/Getty Images

Stokes said he was particularly grateful to his friend and predecessor, Root, in that regard – one of the key influences with the bat, as shown by his three centuries in four Tests against New Zealand and India, but also as a senior man in the dressing-room who bought into the new approach with visible enthusiasm – even saying after the victory over India at Edgbaston that he had channelled his inner “rock-star”.”Joe’s got to take a lot of credit as well. After captaining the side for six years in a way that he did, to then buy into something completely different to how Joe wanted to operate in the team,” Stokes said.”When I’m not England captain, someone else is going to come in and they’re going to want to operate in a different way. But everyone’s really bought into it. And honestly I’ve just been very thankful and grateful that I’ve had a group of lads who have who have bought into that and really understood the bigger picture of what me and Baz are trying to achieve.”This game was shortened, and our main goal was to make sure that it ended in a result,” Stokes said of the three-day window for the Oval Test, following a first-day washout and the subsequent day of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.Related

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“We felt we owed it to ourselves, we owed it to the nation who have shown the support throughout this whole summer towards us, and we will always continue to play in a way that we feel is going to entertain people. And always try and look at the positive side of cricket.”Speaking later in the post-match press conference, Stokes went further about the need for collective buy-in, arguing that the media also had a duty to convey the team’s new message, and temper the criticism when the approach goes wrong – such as it did in the first Test at Lord’s – for the sake of encouraging the next generation to see the exciting, entertaining merits of Test cricket.”I feel there’s also an added responsibility on the people who comment on the way we play as well,” he said, “because we’re in the day and age now where social media is so accessible to people that, if we’re playing in a certain way and we’re saying this is what we want to do and we believe in it, to be criticised for that, what type of message is that sending to the next generation of people?”We have a responsibility to go out there and perform in the way that we want to perform, and I feel that people who write about the game or talk about the way in which we play, they should understand as well that they’ve got a huge influence on the next generation of cricketers.”Because people do listen to what they say about the game, which sometimes contradicts what we’ve got to say, and at the end of the day, the important thing is what is said, and what is spoken about in the dressing-room. Sometimes you feel what we’ve done can get overlooked, because it gets criticised every now and again when things don’t go well, but when it does go well it’s great.”

Gavaskar to Raj: “Body language is very important – look at Virat Kohli, he stares at opposition and the rest of the team does that”

PTI24-Apr-2021India Women’s ODI captain Mithali Raj wants the 2022 50-over World Cup in New Zealand to be her “swansong”, bringing the curtain down on a career spanning over two decades.”It’s been 21 years of international cricket and I know 2022 is my swansong, the World Cup,” Raj said during a virtual book launch on Saturday. “The last year was equal to the 20 years of my international cricket.”I know we are in difficult times but it takes a lot out of me to keep working on my fitness. I am not getting any younger and I know the importance of fitness. It is important to be in a good emotional and mental set-up, knowing that there will be very few tours before the World Cup.”Related

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India Women are set to play at least two bilateral series – away in England and Australia – before the World Cup.”Every tour (from now on) is important for me as a batter to know how I am going to get the team to regroup and build a side for the World Cup,” Raj said. “Yeah, I am optimistic, looking at the manner in which the girls have been working with whatever facilities they have in these times and the enthusiasm they have been showing for an upcoming series.”Raj admitted that fast bowling was one area the team needed to improve, especially because mainstay Jhulan Goswami has also hit the final lap of her career. “We definitely need to look at a few players and prepare them for New Zealand,” Raj said.Sunil Gavaskar, a co-panelist at the discussion, felt that Raj and her players could take a leaf out of Virat Kohli’s playbook of looking at an opponent’s eyes and giving it back without getting intimidated.”I was with my wife at the Lord’s watching the 2017 Women’s ODI World Cup final. What I saw was that, English girls came hard at your lower order and intimidated them with their attitude,” Gavaskar said. “I would want our girls to glare back at the opposition instead of looking down. I feel body language is a very important aspect. Look at Virat Kohli, he stares at opposition and the rest of the team does that.”

England’s comprehensive series win in South Africa was made possible by a variety of big performances

Firdose Moonda28-Jan-2020After a rousing start to their campaign with a memorable win at Centurion, South Africa’s lack of batting depth and bowling penetration was ruthlessly exposed in a trio of defeats at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and the Wanderers. One man, however, showed fight with ball and bat to hint at a more promising future. Here are their marks out of ten.9Anrich Nortje

South Africa’s find of the series ended as the highest wicket-taker overall, ahead of his own team’s spearhead Kagiso Rabada and England’s Stuart Broad. Nortje bowled at a consistently high pace in the upper 140s throughout the four Tests, used the short ball to good effect and showed an ability to deliver long, pressure-building spells which bodes well for the future of South Africa’s attack. He collected his first five-wicket haul at the Wanderers and also put in two lengthy vigils as nightwatchman, one of which gave him his highest Test score of 40 and formed part of a match-winning partnership at SuperSport Park.7.5 Quinton de Kock

A class above the rest of South Africa’s batsmen, de Kock finished as the leading run-scorer among both teams, 56 runs ahead of Dom Sibley, and scored a half-century in every Test. De Kock seemed to be operating on different surfaces to the rest, took the attack to the opposition bowlers and scored quickly. What he needs now is to develop the nous to switch gears and play the long game by batting time, which will help him convert his fifties into hundreds at a better rate. His work behind the stumps was tidy, apart from the occasions when he dived in front of first slip and catchable chances went a-begging. As South Africa’s new ODI captain and Test-captain-in-waiting, de Kock has shown he has the form to take on more responsibility.6.5 Rassie van der Dussen

Van der Dussen enjoyed a satisfying debut series where he demonstrated composure and maturity in a batting line-up sorely lacking in experience. He scored fifties in three of the four Tests, including sharing in a match-winning partnership in Centurion and falling two runs short of a maiden century at the Wanderers. Most impressively, he coped well with being moved from No.5, where he played the first three Tests, to No.3 in the finale, where he made a career-best 98. His versatility has given South Africa’s top order options for the future. Though he dropped three catches, he took eight and proved himself a competent slip fielder.6 Keshav Maharaj

Tasked with the often thankless job of holding up an end, Maharaj bowled more overs than anyone else despite being benched for the final match, and was mostly successful in his containing role. At Newlands, in particular, he allowed South Africa’s quicks to rotate while keeping runs down, but in all three matches, he struggled against Ben Stokes. After playing some rash shorts early in the series, Maharaj bedded in when it was too late in Port Elizabeth and scored a free-spirited second Test half-century to again show that he has something to offer with the bat.5.5 Kagiso Rabada

A fourth demerit point in a 24-month period meant that Rabada’s series was blighted by his ban from the finale at the Wanderers and highlighted his continued disciplinary issues, which have seen him miss a second Test in less than three years. Still, Rabada remains South Africa’s poster-boy and was their leading wicket-taker until his suspension. He showed glimpses of his best at SuperSport Park, where he took seven wickets in the match. His dismissal of Joe Root in Port Elizabeth, where his celebration breached the ICC Code of Conduct, revealed both how much he values big wickets and how big the burden on him has been in an attack that lacks the bite of old.Beuran Hendricks

South Africa’s search for variation, particularly now that Vernon Philander has retired, may have found an answer in left-armer Hendricks. On his home ground, the Wanderers, he was fairly impressive on debut, especially in the second innings where he took 5 for 64. Hendricks has enough domestic experience to have gained a good understanding of his game, and how to vary his lengths, and could be a handy bowler for South Africa to keep around.Quinton de Kock and Vernon Philander leave the field after the 3rd day of the 3rd Test•AFP / Getty Images

5Dwaine Pretorius


A dependable allrounder, who offers consistency with the ball and stoicism with the bat, Pretorius had a decent first series without offering anything exceptional. His economy rate of 3.15 speaks to the containing role that South Africa were looking to fill with a fourth seamer, and he played a part in some important lower-order partnerships. Whether Pretorius has all the skills to succeed Philander is doubtful, but South Africa deemed him important enough to stop him from signing a Kolpak deal on the eve of the series, so we can expect to see more of him in the future.Pieter Malan

A resolute start on his debut, where Malan scored 84 in the second innings at Newlands, gave way to a forgettable final two Tests. Malan was out twice to spinners in Port Elizabeth, got a good ball from Mark Wood first-up at the Wanderers and then played a nothing shot off Chris Woakes in the second innings. All-in-all, it would appear Malan has wasted the opportunity to have a long run in the Test team, especially with South Africa desperate to find a permanent partner for Dean Elgar. On the evidence of this series, Malan is not it.Dean Elgar

Elgar has escaped a certain degree of scrutiny because the other end of the opening partnership has been so problematic but it won’t be long before the spotlight turns to him. Although he scored 88 in Cape Town, the shot he played to be dismissed (a mow to mid-off against Dom Bess which Elgar described as a “brainfart”) was a microcosm for a serious flaw in his game. Elgar’s shot selections were not those of a senior player – from his playing across the line in Port Elizabeth to him flashing a short, wide ball straight to point and then pulling like a No.8 in Johannesburg – and underline what has become a problematic period in his career. South Africa needs players of Elgar’s ilk to do better and overall, he had a disappointing series.4.5 Vernon Philander

Philander bowed out with South Africa at an all-time low but at the right time for himself. Though his 4 for 16 at SuperSport Park made it seem as though he still had years left in him, a disappointing performance in Port Elizabeth, where he went wicketless and only bowled 16 overs, made it clear that his time was up. He finished 10th on the overall wicket-takers’ list in the series. In his final outing, Philander took two wickets in the first innings and then send down nine deliveries in the second before tearing his hamstring. He was also fined 15 percent of his match fee for giving Jos Buttler a send-off and a further 60 percent as part of South Africa’s slow-over-rate penalty. Philander again showed with the bat that he had what it took to contribute more to the line-up, and he may look back on that as potential unfulfilled.3.5 Dane Paterson

His new-ball performance in Port Elizabeth can best be described as flat, which did not give Paterson the best start to his Test career. An honest trier, Paterson does not appear quick enough to merit a place in the attack long-term, unless he can bring in some of his other much-talked about skills to the table. At domestic level, Paterson is known to move the ball off the seam and is vaunted for his accuracy, some of which we saw in the second ininngs at the Wanderers.Faf du Plessis

In what could prove to be his last series, du Plessis was under immense pressure and it showed. His poor form from the India series bled into this one and he top-scored with 36, making it a year and 11 innings since he last scored a half-century. Usually, du Plessis has been to hide poor form behind strong leadership but even that let him down. His captaincy in the first innings in Port Elizabeth and during the tenth-wicket partnership in the first innings at Wanderers left him looking strategically wanting and has only increased questions over his future. Du Plessis’ usually pleasant media mannerisms became visibly tetchy as the matches wore on, and he notched up a third successive series defeat.Zubayr Hamza

An eye-catching 39 at SuperSport Park suggested Hamza has the technique to develop into a strong No.3 for South Africa but perhaps not quite yet. He appeared tentative against teasing lengths in Cape Town and visibly afraid of the short ball in Port Elizabeth, where Mark Wood had his number. Hamza was left out of the Johannesburg Test and will need to find form domestically before he can be reconsidered.3 Temba Bavuma (33 runs at 16.50)

The most-talked about man in the series, especially when he was not there, Bavuma was unable to repeat the heroics of four years ago, when he scored his only Test hundred to date against England. But he dominated the conversation nonetheless. He was injured for the first match and dropped for the next two, but made a career-best 180 to force his way back in for the finale. He was out for 6 in the first innings but struck a positive 27 off 29 balls in the second before receiving a snorter from Stuart Broad. Curiously, Bavuma’s social media throughout the last four weeks has suggested he feels hard done by and has a point to prove. Now we have to wait for him to do that.2Aiden Markram (22 runs at 11)

After recovering from a broken hand (the result of punching something in the change-room during the India tour), Markram was strangled down the leg-side for 20 at Centurion, then struck on the pads for 2 before fracturing a finger and being ruled out for the rest of the series. The injury is not his fault but his lack of form is cause for concern. Markram has not scored fifty in seven innings and last scored a century almost two years ago. South Africa have big plans for him but they can’t be fulfilled if his trajectory continues like this.

The India captain’s comments come with the Australian team facing an uproar over their on-field behaviour in the aftermath of the ball-tampering scandal

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-20184:02

‘We believe we have the quality to win in Australia’ – Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli has made it clear that he, and his side, will be drawing their own “line” about behaviour on their tour of Australia, and will not stand for conduct that goes against their “self-respect”.”Aggression depends on the situation on the field. If the opposition is aggressive towards you, then you counter it,” Kohli said on the eve of the first T20I in Brisbane. “We have never been a team that started something, but we always draw a line at our self-respect. If we feel that someone is crossing that line, then we stand against it.”But aggression can also mean how much effort you are putting in for each wicket as a team. Aggression is shown through your body language on the field, or for bowlers how long they can keep bowling in the same area. For batsmen, aggression can definitely be there in your body language, without saying a word or doing anything. For me, aggression is a passion for winning, and an obsession that I have to win every ball for my team. People have different meanings for aggression, but as far as I’m concerned, for me it is winning the match come what may, and giving 120% for my team every ball. Whether I’m on the field, or sitting outside and clapping for someone else, or batting, whatever it is.”Kohli’s comments come, with the Australian team facing an uproar over their on-field behaviour, in the aftermath of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal that resulted in bans for Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. In that series in South Africa where the scandal exploded, the first two Tests had been marked by heated exchanges between players even before the ball-tampering incident happened. At the time, the Australians had talked about the ‘line’ and how they always pushed it but never crossed it.Kohli’s words could ignite the debate again, with the India captain firm that his team would have its own code.Aaron Finch, the Australia captain, said that his team would focus more on being intense with their actions rather than words, echoing Kohli’s comments on aggression. “Going hard doesn’t mean being verbal or in people’s faces,” Finch said. “It can be about your body language, your presence at the crease, when you’ve got the ball in your hand. How you move around the field as a team, diving in the circle and cutting off ones. That’s presence and fierceness and that’s tough cricket. The verbal stuff’s the easy stuff, and that gets lost sometimes.”We’re still as intense and desperate to win no doubt. It’s about going about that the right way and playing hard is part of the Australian way of doing it. For different people that means different things, it might be the intensity you go about it, it might be your body language. It’s not all about verbal and things like that, which people tend to get confused with sometimes. They talk about being tough and aggressive and that means verbal, but I don’t see it that way. It’s about your presence on the ground.”On Monday, fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile had said that he hadn’t been sledged by India on the field, and that he, personally, wasn’t one to indulge in chatter on the field. “I’ve never been sledged by them,” he said. ” [In] T20 it’s a little bit hard to sledge, you don’t have that time in the field to really get angry, so I don’t think you’ll see too much of it during the T20s. I don’t talk to any of the batters personally, in T20s I don’t think people have too much to say. If they get an opportunity, I don’t think that’ll happen, it’ll just be talk with the ball, talk with the bat.”

The second Test was delicately poised after a oscillating day with West Indies taking a lead of 169 before Mark Stoneman and Joe Root led England’s reply

The Report by Andrew McGlashan27-Aug-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWest Indies remained in a position to push for their first Test victory in England since 2000, in no small measure due to the all-round efforts of their captain Jason Holder, but Joe Root carried his team’s hopes of being able to set a testing chase having been reprieved by West Indies’ fielding for the second time in the match. England closed on 171 for 3, a lead of two, on a surface offering some assistance for the spinners and the occasional sight of uneven bounce.Mark Stoneman’s maiden Test fifty, completed after he suffered a dislocated little finger on 35, was an encouraging innings but, when he was dismissed, England were 94 for 3 and still 75 behind. It could have been better for West Indies had they spotted a thin edge from Dawid Malan when he had 4 and, more importantly, not dropped Root on 10 – this time by Kyle Hope at gully – with the fourth-wicket pair having added 77 by the close.It had taken Root 21 balls to get off the mark against some excellent pace bowling, and it was a rare jittery innings from the captain, but he started to find more fluency after the life. Holder thought he had cut him off on 35 when he was given lbw, but the DRS saved Root – as it did Kraigg Brathwaite twice yesterday – with the ball shown to be missing leg stump. While Holder was excellent with bat and ball, it was odd captaincy that he only gave legspinner Devendra Bishoo two overs on a dry surface, the second of them five minutes before the close.

West Indies’ unbeatable lead

• 133 – Highest first innings lead for West Indies after which they lost a Test, coming against England at Lord’s in 2000. They earned a lead of 169 in this Test. They have gained a first innings lead of 150 or more 117 times and never lost.

• 2009 – The last time England overturned a lead in excess of 150 to win a Test – 179 versus New Zealand at Old Trafford.

• 3 – Five-wicket hauls for James Anderson in the last two Tests at Headingley. He had taken 5-fors in both innings against Sri Lanka last year and took another 5 for 76 in the first innings of this match. In his first seven Tests at Headingley he had picked up only 19 wickets at 41.36 with not even a single four-for. He’s now three short of 500 Test wickets.

• 2014 – Last instance of West Indies scoring a 400-plus total, which came against Bangladesh in Kingstown. Their last away from home was in Dunedin in 2013-14 when following-on.

West Indies’ lead was swelled by a crucial stand of 75 between Holder and Jermaine Blackwood after James Anderson had struck with the first two deliveries of the day to give England hope of swiftly beginning their second innings. However, the stand could have been broken with just four added but Moeen Ali spilled a simple chance at mid-on when Blackwood had 21. They could yet be vital runs.Stoneman and Alastair Cook began solidly after the lunch break, bringing up just England’s second fifty opening stand of the season, before two wickets for Holder in an impressive 12-over spell either side of tea shored up West Indies’ position. Holder found increasing movement during his burst and beat Cook twice in three balls from round the wicket before finding the edge when the former England captain was threatening one of his long-term stays in the middle.Tom Westley’s immediate Test future was then plunged into further doubt when he played a horrid, wild drive at a wide delivery and sent a thin edge to Shane Dowrich. It came the over after there had been a horrendous mix-up between him and Stoneman, which should have left Westley run out. However, there was a poor return from the deep and Bishoo couldn’t complete the opportunity. The shot that followed was of a slightly frazzled mind.The debates around Westley will continue to swirl ahead of the final Test at Lord’s, but Stoneman will be causing the selectors fewer headaches – for a short while, at least – after an accomplished 124-ball stay. He got his innings underway with three boundaries in four balls off Kemar Roach and kept his composure after taking the blow on his left little finger in the first over after tea which required the physio to pop his digit back into place. Given the problems trying to find an opening batsman, the selectors could have felt the position was cursed had they lost their latest candidate to an injury.Stoneman’s half-century came from 107 deliveries but, for the second time in three innings, he was on the receiving end of a gem of a delivery. After Roach took his off stump at Edgbaston, Gabriel did the same here with a wonderful ball which straightened from round the wicket – although Gabriel was mighty close to overstepping on a day where he delivered five no-balls (with others not called). Millimetres, at most, saved him.From there, England held firm to end the day positively – as they had started it. Shai Hope had resumed on 147 but didn’t make it past the first delivery of the morning when he nibbled at one outside off from Anderson and feathered an edge to the keeper. One ball later, England thought they had hauled themselves back into the match when Dowrich edged to second slip, giving Anderson his third five-wicket haul in as many innings at Headingley, where he had previously taken none in seven outings.However, Moeen’s drop knocked the stuffing out of England. Blackwood was always going to play positively, but having reached 10 off 20 deliveries Holder also cut loose with three consecutive boundaries off an agitated Broad with increasing style: a swivel-pull behind square, a back-foot drive through the covers and then the best of the lot – a glorious cover drive which any batsman in the world would be happy to claim.Blackwood didn’t find scoring as easy and found a variety of ways to add to his boundary count. There was a leading edge over Ben Stokes at gully (after his demerit point last night, Stokes needed to keep his thoughts to himself) and then another four to third man when he ducked a bouncer, but left his bat in the air, the ball flying off the toe end.The lead was quickly approaching 150 – the mark that Anderson said last night would make the game very difficult to turn around for England – when both batsmen fell in the 40s. Holder tried to take the aerial route down the ground, a shot he had played well previously, but was well held by Moeen running back from mid-off to give Chris Woakes his first wicket. Blackwood was then run out one short of fifty by a strong throw from Stokes and a good gather at the stumps by Bairstow.

At half-past five, midway through an evening session blessed by gentle, unexpected warmth Essex’s Dan Lawrence reached the third century of his career with a pushed single off Kieran Noema-Barnett

Paul Edwards at Cheltenham14-Jul-2016
ScorecardDan Lawrence sparkled with his strokeplay to help Essex build a useful lead•Getty Images

At half-past five, midway through an evening session blessed by gentle, unexpected warmth Essex’s Dan Lawrence reached the third century of his career with a pushed single off Kieran Noema-Barnett. The Cheltenham crowd gave him a generous ovation for they can spot a fine young cricketer in these parts. Lawrence only celebrated his 19th birthday two days ago and he could still play age-group cricket. But what would be the point in that now?As if liberated, Lawrence took 27 runs off his next 14 balls, repeating the straight- and cover- drives that had already elicited ripples of approval. When he lashed Noema-Barnett straight to Craig Miles at midwicket, he received yet more applause as he returned to the pavilion and the ex-players attending their annual get-together at the College Lawn End joined in appreciatively. Essex were all out 11 balls before the scheduled close but their 78-run lead has left them well placed in this game.And Lawrence, of course, is only the most recent of a long line of young players to have received laurels in this sacred space…To the right of Cheltenham College’s pavilion and at the Chapel End of the ground are rows of trees, cracked willows and American limes, mostly. In front of almost every tree is a plaque marking a Cheltonian’s notable performance in an important school match. For example: Duleep Sinjhi, 1921, 7 for 35 v Marlborough; E M Wellings, 1927, 7 for 113 v Marlborough; P B C Moore 1939, 197 v Malvern.In addition to being a record of achievement, the list is something of a litany, petitioning whatever power there may be for more games like this, more days on cricket’s fields of praise. In many cases the request received a brutal answer; Cheltenham also has a war memorial.And at lunchtime on the second day of this game, as Josh Shaw, Gloucestershire’s loanee from Yorkshire, took refreshment in the middle of an eight-over spell in which he took three prime wickets, another tree was planted. It is a poplar and it commemorates the centenary of the death of Percy Jeeves, who died on the Somme on July 22, 1916. As many now know, thanks to Brian Halford’s outstanding biography, Jeeves was playing for Warwickshire at Cheltenham in August 1913 when his style was spotted by P G Wodehouse, who wanted a name for a “gentleman’s personal gentleman” in a forthcoming short story. “I remember admiring his action very much,” said Wodehouse.Yet as one watched the tree being planted and the speeches made, one thought not only of Wodehouse and Jeeves but also of the other trees on the ground and, perhaps, of Edward Thomas, who might have made an elegiac poem out of such events. Thomas died at Pas-de-Calais in 1917.Shaw, meanwhile, whose West Riding birthplace is just six miles away from that of Jeeves, was doing his best to prevent Essex establishing a winning position in this game. After Nick Browne had edged a good ball from David Payne to Chris Dent at slip in the fifth over of the Essex innings, Shaw, another 20-year-old with all before him, had brought one back a little to have Tom Westley lbw for 24. The young seamer appealed with all the certainty of a barrister who has sweetened the jury.At the beginning of his next over Shaw inflicted a first-ball duck on Ravi Bopara, Dent again taking the catch, and when Jaik Mickleburgh, who was ailing with a strain, slapped a half volley straight to Jack Taylor at midwicket, Essex were 80 for 4, still trailing Gloucestershire on first innings by 175.The visitors’ recovery to 333 at the close was led by Lawrence, who treated the former players in the corporate hospitality marquee to a fine exhibition of elegant batsmanship. He adapted well to a wicket on which bowlers are dangerous if they hit an exact length but fodder if they over-pitch even a fraction. Lawrence took four boundaries off what became the last over of Shaw’s first spell and added 102 with Ryan ten Doeschate, getting to his fifty in the over before the Essex skipper brought up the same landmark with a whack over midwicket off Graeme van Buuren’s anaemic slow left-arm.But ten Doeschate perished more or less as Westley had to the first ball of Shaw’s next over and it was eventually left to Lawrence and James Foster to give Essex the lead with a seventh-wicket stand of 83 in 14 overs. Gloucestershire’s seamers were now tiring, the ball was old and the support bowlers had to buy their wickets. Yet Lawrence’s 14th four, a majestic off drive to a ball from Payne which took him to 97, was still the shot of the day and he got to three figures 11 balls later.Once Lawrence was out, Foster bolstered Essex’s position by scoring 29 more runs very rapidly but this was something of a vaudeville act after a command performance. The crowd meandered away in a thoughtful mood and a Housmanish haze lingered on the distant slopes. On Cleeve Hill, stretching away towards Charlton Abbots, were all the trees of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.

Derbyshire recorded their second highest score in the T20 competition when they thrashed local rivals Nottinghamshire by 34 runs to leave one of the pre-season favourites facing likely elimination at the group stage

ECB/PA26-Jun-2015
ScorecardChesney Hughes played a leading role in Derbyshire’s second highest T20 score•Getty Images

Derbyshire recorded their second highest score in the T20 competition when they thrashed local rivals Nottinghamshire by 34 runs in the NatWest Blast game at the 3aaa County Ground to leave one of the pre-season favourites facing increasingly likely elimination at the group stages.Add their position at the foot of the Championship and Nottinghamshire are fast descending into their biggest crisis for years.Chesney Hughes led the way with 52, including three sixes from 29 balls and although Ben Hilfenhaus took 3 for 29 from his four overs, the Falcons racked up an imposing 201 for 7.England batsman Alex Hales was bowled first ball by Nathan Rimmington who took 3 for 24 and although Riki Wessels smashed 66 from 33 balls, the Outlaws lost seven wickets in 29 balls to be bowled out for 167.The start was delayed by 30 minutes but Hamish Rutherford wasted no time in launching the third ball from Harry Gurney over the sightscreen for six and driving the fifth straight for four.

Insights

It is not unusual for teams as resplendent with star-quality as Nottinghamshire to struggle in T20. While T20 is the format of the game most likely to be shaped by one individual performance it is also the format in which individual form is most contagious. While longer forms offer players, particularly batsmen, opportunities to consolidate weak positions and rebuild, T20 is less forgiving: if one or two players are struggling in key roles it unsettles the role of another key player, forcing them to play out of position. Often in such teams individuals seek moments of brilliance to solve problems when in reality more foundational, coordinated team improvement is more likely to bring consistent success.

Rutherford took two fours off the first over from Hilfenhaus but Wes Durston top edged a pull at the Australian and was caught by Fletcher running back from leg slip.Hillfenhaus struck again in the last over of the powerplay when Rutherford mistimed a pull to mid-wicket but Derbyshire had taken 59 from the first six and Hughes maintained the tempo by twice driving Samit Patel over the long on ropes.Hughes pulled Steven Mullaney for a third six to bring up the 100 and at the halfway stage, The Falcons were soaring at 110 for 2 with Hughes reaching his 50 from 27 balls.The Outlaws needed wickets and they got two in five balls when Wayne Madsen top-edged a return catch to Mullaney to end a stand of 64 from 35 balls and Hughes was caught behind cutting at Daniel Christian.Hilfenhaus returned to bowl Scott Elstone and both Shiv Thakor and Alex Hughes picked out deep mid-wicket but Tom Poynton swung Christian over long on to make sure Derbyshire passed 200.Michael Lumb started the chase by driving Wayne White high over long on for six but Nottinghamshire were rocked when Hales was bowled first ball by Rimmington.Wessels responded by pulling and driving White for sixes as 22 came from his second over and the Outlaws were well on course at the end of their powerplay on 72 for 1.Alex Hughes and Durston conceded only eight from the next two overs with the Falcons skipper having Lumb caught at long on and Patel should have been run out on one but Hughes fumbled the return.Wessels pulled Durston for six but then failed to clear deep mid-wicket and Nottinghamshire had a lot to do going into the last 10 overs with 104 needed.Hughes had cranked up the pressure by not conceding a boundary in his four over spell and although James Taylor pulled White for six, Patel drove Thakor into the hands of extra cover.With 64 needed from 30 balls, Derbyshire only had to keep their discipline to close the game out and they moved closer to victory when Christian was stranded by Chesney Hughes’s throw from cover.Greg Smith was run out going for a second and the end came quickly after Taylor swung Thakor into the hands of deep mid-wicket.

A round-up of the fifth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group B matches on December 8, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2012
Scorecard
Baroda left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt took six wickets to run through Odisha’s middle order on the first day in Vadodara. Odisha’s Govind Podder made a battling 82 but he had very little support from the rest of the batsmen, with five of the top seven making single-digit scores. Around lunch time, Odisha were at a reasonably comfortable 82 for 2, before a Bhatt double-strike, including the wicket of the in-form Biplab Samantary, pulled them back. Bhatt struck twice in an over soon after leaving Odisha at 105 for 6, and it took a brisk unbeaten 37 from the No. 9 Saurabh Sehgal to take the score to 181. Baroda lost the wicket of opener Saurabh Wakaskar as they reached 34 for 1 by stumps.
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Suresh Raina fluffed another chance to press for a place in the Test middle order by falling for 8, but Uttar Pradesh still finished the day on a solid 248 for 4 thanks to a long partnership between Mohammad Kaif and opener Mukul Dagar. Vidarbha removed Tanmay Srivastava in the third over, before Kaif and Dagar put on 195 patient runs for the second wicket. Dagar went on to complete his third century in five matches, while for the third time this Ranji season Kaif failed to reach his hundred despite crossing 80. Vidarbha got some respite towards the end of the day as Sandeep Singh removed both Kaif and Raina, before Shrikant Wagh had Dagar bowled for 116.
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Haryana’s batting has been notoriously fragile this season, and they seemed headed for another low total after slipping to 63 for 4 against Maharashtra, but substantial contributions from the lower-middle order lifted them to a middling score. Opener Rahul Dewan was the only one in the top order to resist as Maharashtra’s quicks struck several times early. Yatharth Tomar, playing only his second first-class match and his first since 2010, hit 48 to steady the innings before Amit Mishra, who made a crucial half-century in their win over Delhi earlier this week, chipped in with 35. The top scorer of the innings was Jayant Yadav, with 63, his second first-class half-century.
Scorecard
On a pitch that resembled a lawn, with the only patches of white near the rough on either side, Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar chose to give his batsmen first use of the pitch, despite their batting struggles all season. While it might be perceived as a brave decision, it backfired on the hosts. Karnataka were still searching for their first outright win, and they were presented with what looked like a result-oriented wicket. Delhi weren’t complaining though. Their seamers, led by Parvinder Awana, bundled out the hosts for 192 and ended the day in front despite losing two wickets as the shadows lengthened in Bangalore. A full match report is here.

Reflecting on his team’s disappointing showing in the one-off Twenty20, Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has said that they were missing Tamim Iqbal at the top of the order

Mohammad Isam29-Nov-2011Reflecting on his team’s disappointing showing in the one-off Twenty20, Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has said that they were missing Tamim Iqbal at the top of the order. Tamim had to pull out due to a knee injury and that led to Naeem Islam’s promotion as the makeshift opener. The reshuffle impacted the team’s performance in their chase of 136.”Obviously we missed Tamim. When you see one of your best players are not playing before the match, you have to reshuffle your batting order,” Mushfiqur said. “The player who usually bats at No.5 has to open so that becomes difficult. So that was a negative for us that Tamim did not play.”A victory margin of 50 runs in a Twenty20 game indicates that the bowling unit had a stranglehold over the batsmen in the second innings. In front of a large crowd and a wide-eyed media, after a bowling performance that aroused hope, not many escape, especially in Bangladesh.The meek surrender – 85 for 9 in 20 overs – wasn’t Bangladesh’s lowest total in Twenty20s. It was disappointing to see a batting line-up time and again play in two-gears: if they don’t find boundaries, they go into a shell. Today, they suffered the ignominy of treating a capacity crowd to just four boundary hits, and one that came off the hip.”I think the batsmen should have taken more responsibility but they (Pakistan) bowled really well. We lost four wickets early which I wouldn’t say were necessarily to poor shots. So after that we couldn’t really go after the bowling,” Mushfiqur said.”Had we done so, we might have lost more wickets and been all out for 50-odd. They are one of the best sides in the world currently and they utilized the conditions here better than we did.”Alok Kapali bowled an economical spell but Pakistan’s total proved too much for the hosts•AFP

The start provided by Naeem and Imrul Kayes gave very little confidence to those who watched the game. Soon after Naeem exited for 3, Alok Kapali joined him in the dugout. What also hurt Bangladesh were the two run-outs. Imrul Kayes probably forgot to drag his bat into the crease as Mohammad Hafeez’s throw came in from the inner ring. later, Mushfiqur was stranded mid-pitch after Nasir Hossain refused his single to short third-man.Despite the poor outing, Mushfiqur was positive that a turnaround was possible, if the batsmen are ready to be patient.”They had three of their batsmen scoring around 20. So it goes to show that if you go out there and stay at the crease and apply yourself then things could have been different for us,” Mushfiqur said.”We can definitely compete with them in the series. Even after batting so poorly we managed 80 (sic. 85) so if we had a top-order partnership then probably we would have needed 50 or 60 runs in the last seven or eight overs which wouldn’t have been impossible.”It is back to basics for Bangladesh, for they will find boundaries hard to come by over the next three weeks in all formats.