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The Indian captain has also sounded a warning about not slipping into ‘bad habits’ during the IPL, which could affect players’ World Cup readiness

Varun Shetty in Visakhapatnam23-Feb-20195:54

Stoinis is one player who can make big impact – Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli spoke of the specific challenges to overcome as the team hits the final stretch before the World Cup in May. Among them, he said, was the lack of ODIs India have scheduled.As things stand, India will play their last international series before the World Cup – two T20Is and five ODIs – against Australia over the next few weeks, before the IPL season starts on March 23. While stating that game-time was important and that India would try to use the situations in the T20Is to gain confidence, Kohli said more ODIs would have been logical.

“We stick by what the nation wants to do”

Firstly, all our sincere condolences to the families of all the soldiers who lost their lives. The Indian team and the whole set-up was shocked with what happened and are really sad with what happened. Our stand is simple: we stick by what the nation wants to do and what the BCCI decides to do. That is basically our opinion. Whatever the government and the board decide, we will go by that and we will respect that. That is our stand on the issue.

“Yeah, that [a few more ODIs] would have been ideal. More, I would say logical,” Kohli said on the eve of the first T20I in Visakhapatnam. “But you know that’s the way series are compiled nowadays and we have to more or less play that. Also because we are playing so much T20 cricket in the IPL so probably a couple of more ODIs would have been more beneficial. For both the teams, not just us. But look, we have to utilise what’s in front of us as best as possible. We’re going to look to get into the right kind of frame of mind as a team.”Getting into the right frame will be particularly tricky for India because of the unrelenting amount of T20 games coming their way. All other boards would have finished their respective T20 leagues by the time IPL begins and while the tournament will feature some of the world ‘s top cricketers, most will not have the workloads of India’s cricketers because of the IPL’s rules for team composition. In essence, the Indian players will go into the World Cup having done more effort than most to be prepared – a prospect Kohli spelled out for them.”All the people who are going to be part of the World Cup squad, they have to make sure that their games don’t go too much away from the one-day mould of things. That means we will have to be very wary of the bad habits that might creep in during the IPL. We need 15 people who are confident and mentally happy about where their game is at that particular moment,” Kohli said.”That will take a consistent effort from all the players during the IPL to keep a check on that. The moment we enter the nets and create bad habits, and you lose momentum, you lose batting form, it is very difficult to get it back in a tournament like the World Cup. So from that point of view, everyone will have to protect that mindset and be aligned towards what the team requires of them.”One of the reasons for India’s recent success has been their squad depth, which routinely allows them to rest senior players. Kohli himself last played in a T20I in November 2018, as did Jasprit Bumrah, and India have in the past shown no qualms in dropping a multitude of big names. For instance, in the Nidahas Trophy that was held ahead of the IPL last year, they left out Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, MS Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav. The squads to play Australia, however, are more or less full strength and slightly off brand for a board that is big on workload management. This could potentially mean handing over workload management duties to the players themselves, along with their IPL franchises.”Again, the amount you practice, with the amount of travel during the IPL and the number of games in different conditions, in different temperatures, it is going to be challenging, to be honest. But as a cricketer, you have to map out how many practice sessions you really need. If you are hitting the ball well, there is no need to go to a practice session and tire yourself out for three hours, whereas you can utilise that particular phase to rest and recover even more.”I think those things need to be kept in mind. If your team is in a great position during the tournament, you don’t mind taking 2-3 games off also,” Kohli said. “It all depends on how you feel physically but everyone has to be really honest about it to themselves and accordingly see how they feel and not push themselves to the limit that might hamper the Indian team later on. I think we will all have to take responsibility for that.”With the Indian summer steadily creeping in, and seven matches to come over 17 days, their responsibilities have already begun.

A round-up of the South Zone matches from the first round of the Inter-State T20 tournament on January 29, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2017Vishnu Vinod’s maiden T20 fifty led Kerala to a 21-run victory over Andhra in Chennai. With him lasting as long as the 15th over, making sure both the first and the second wicket partnerships totalled 50 runs or more, Kerala were able to put up 175 for 7 in their 20 overs. Bandaru Ayyappa and KV Sasikanth were Andhra’s most successful bowlers, picking up 2 for 39 and 2 for 29 respectively. Kerala’s bowlers built on their batsmen’s momentum, with Sandeep Warrier (2-28) and Basil Thampi (3-18) handing out ducks to Andhra’s No. 3 Prasanth Kumar and their captain Hanuma Vihari. Although Ricky Bhui found back with 48 off 36 balls, supported by Dwaraka Ravi Teja (33 off 20) and Shoaib Md Khan (20 off 7), they couldn’t make up for the top-order mishaps.File photo – S Badrinath hit 49 off 22 in Hyderabad’s thumping win over Goa•BCCI

Hyderabad crushed Goa by 51 runs, thanks to Tanmay Agarwal’s career-best 91 that helped them post 224 in Chennai. Agarwal put on 111 for the opening wicket with Akshath Reddy (55 off 32) and 97 for the second with S Badrinath (49 off 22) before his 48-ball knock came to an end. With the exception of debutant legspinner Ganeshraj Narvekar (1-28), all of Goa’s bowlers went at more than 9.5 per over. In their response, Goa lost early wickets and were kept tight by medium-pacers M Ravi Kiran and Mohammed Siraj, who took 1 for 53 in the eight overs between them. Sagun Kamat (50 off 44) and Saurabh Bandekar (53* off 25) scored half-centuries, but Goa could muster only 173 for 5 in their 20 overs.Dinesh Karthik steered Tamil Nadu out of choppy waters•Sivaraman Kitta

A 55-run stand for the sixth wicket between Dinesh Karthik (45) and M Ashwin (34) helped Tamil Nadu overcome a middle order wobble to beat Karnataka by four wickets. They chased down Karnataka’s 144 for 9, achieved largely thanks to R Samarth’s 40, with four balls to spare. Karnataka were left to rue a poor fielding effort that resulted in them reprieving Ashwin twice in one over off R Vinay Kumar; Mohammad Taha put down the chances at long-on. Samarth aside, five other Karnataka batsmen made double figures; three of them made 16.

UP Warriorz crashed to 110 all out in the Eliminator

Zenia D'cunha24-Mar-2023A spectacular knock from Nat Sciver-Brunt, the tournament’s first-ever hat-trick from Issy Wong and a return to all-round brilliance powered Mumbai Indians to the Women’s Premier League final with a comprehensive 72-run win over UP Warriorz.Mumbai and Delhi Capitals – the top teams on the points table – will play for the first ever WPL title. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co will take Meg Lanning’s team for the trophy. Only fitting.For most of the WPL, Mumbai were predicted to reach the final directly. They had won five straight matches and looked near invincible… till they lost two on the trot and were suddenly table-toppers no longer.They had to play the Eliminator against Warriorz, the team that had ended their winning streak in the league stage. And in the first knockout game, the Mumbai from the first half of WPL showed up, dominating with bat and ball to reach the final comfortably, if one game late.

Sciver-Brunt stands up and delivers

Nat Sciver-Brunt, the joint-most expensive overseas player at the auction, stood up and delivered at the time Mumbai needed her the most. She had not had the best of games in the last few outings, which had coincided with her team’s downturn in fortune.But in a knockout game, she came good with an unbeaten 72 off 38 balls on a pitch that didn’t look to be the best for batting.Sciver-Brunt was dropped when she was on just 6 by Sophie Ecclestone on the last ball of the Powerplay, and she punished the error heavily. She kept the innings going even as Hayley Matthews and Harmanpreet fell at the other end and then built a 60-run stand with Amelia Kerr in just 37 balls.Sciver-Brunt’s knock was crucial given Mumbai’s under-exposed middle and lower order had struggled to make big runs when the top was dismissed early. The pattern was almost repeated when Harmanpreet fell with just about a 100 on board and the Warriorz spin strength slowly stifling the runs.One moment that stood out was how she took the attack to Parshavi Chopra, who had just dismissed Matthews, after the first boundary-less over of the innings. She slammed the young spinner for 15 runs in the first four balls of the 12th over, an early marker of intent. Her 50 came off just 26 balls, with a cracking boundary and she stayed till the end, with a six even on the last ball of the innings.Shout out to Pooja Vastrakar as well, who slammed 11 off just 4 balls after coming in the final over, including a massive 87-metre six.For Warriorz, the standout bowler was Ecclestone who took two wickets to keep her hold on the Purple Cap. Left-armer Anjali Sarvani got early purchase but Alyssa Healy’s heavy rotation of bowlers didn’t work for her this time around.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Wong on song

In the second innings, it was another English allrounder than starred for Mumbai.The first hat-trick of the WPL came via an out-and-out pace bowler as Wong put the match out of the Warriorz’ reach in the 13th over with the wickets of the well-set Kiran Navgire, Simran Shaikh and Ecclestone.She had already struck with the big wicket, that of birthday girl Healy, to give Mumbai the ideal start. She then sealed the match with the hat-trick.Mumbai dismissed the spine of the Warriorz’ batting line-up – their three Australians – within eight overs. Navgire, who had a string of poor scores after her opening-match fifty, kept the momentum going and landed some big hits, including a huge 89-metre six.But as is her wont, she went for a big one on a full toss and was caught at the boundary. Thus started Wong’s song.Next up was Shaikh, who was castled with a full delivery she completely missed. Then came Ecclestone, who had a bit of history. The last time these two teams met, Ecclestone had smacked Wong for a six in the last over to hand Mumbai their first loss of the season. This time, she was out for a golden duck with her stumps broken. Wong’s last two wickets were the kind to go in a pace bowling highlights reel.There was more to cheer for Mumbai and the 39,000-odd crowd that showed up. Jintimani Kalita got her first wicket and Saika Ishaque got her 15th, keeping the Purple Cap very much in her reach.

Pakistan seamer hits five sixes in half-century then takes two wickets as Notts toil

ECB Reporters Network12-Jun-2023Warwickshire have a firm grip at the halfway stage of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Trent Bridge as they bid to cut Surrey’s lead in the Division One table.As an approaching electrical storm persuaded umpires Peter Hartley and Steve O’Shaughnessy to take the players off just before five o’clock, Nottinghamshire were in deep trouble at 82 for 5 in their first innings, still 489 runs behind after Warwickshire declared at 571 for 0.Pakistan international Hasan Ali had taken two wickets in addition to his quickfire 54 with the bat, with wicketkeeper Michael Burgess grabbing two catches to go with his unbeaten 77 earlier.Nottinghamshire, last season’s Division Two champions, need to score 340 more runs just to avoid being asked to follow on. No further play was possible but eight of the 22.2 overs lost will be added to the schedule for day three.Burgess and Hasan shared an 80-run partnership in a productive morning session for Warwickshire, who added 163 to their overnight 361 for 5 in that time. They lost nightwatchman Danny Briggs, who became a third victim for Jake Ball via a sharp return catch, and allrounder Ed Barnard, who tried to reverse-sweep a Calvin Harrison full toss and was bowled.But eighth-wicket pair Burgess and Hasan plundered runs at 6.5 per over, the Pakistan fast bowler smiting five sixes, starting as he meant to go on after Barnard’s dismissal by lofting Harrison’s legspin over the fence at wide long-on first ball.Michael Burgess attempts something unorthodox•Getty Images

He repeated the feat twice more against Harrison and a couple of times off Steven Mullaney’s medium pace before mistiming one off Harrison in the first over after lunch that Matt Montgomery caught falling backwards at deep midwicket. He had faced only 36 balls in making his highest first-class score for Warwickshire so far.”I try not to tell Hasan what to do: I know he’s going to whack it,” Burgess said. “I was actually struggling getting it away there, and he made it look very easy and put some time back into the game, which was great.”The visitors declared shortly after Chris Rushworth had fallen for 20 off 17 balls, caught at extra cover as Harrison increased his haul to four wickets from a marathon 30-over shift.The declaration left Nottinghamshire to face 22 overs before tea, which they would have hoped to navigate with perhaps one loss, preferably none. In the event, it was three.The first 14 of those overs were largely uneventful, with the quota of plays-and-misses and edges no bigger than is normal with fresh bowlers and a new ball. It all started happening once Hasan entered the fray.The skiddy right-armer, only just recovered from an ankle injury that sidelined him for three weeks at the start of the Vitality Blast, bowled Haseeb Hameed off a bottom edge with this second delivery only to hear the umpire call ‘no-ball’. Two balls later he overstepped again as Hameed clipped him for four. Yet it was the two openers whose equilibrium appeared to be disturbed more than the bowler.Related

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Ben Slater, pushing forward defensively, edged Barnard to first slip before Hameed, driving, was caught behind off a thin edge from the third ball of Hasan’s second over. When Hasan then produced a beauty to bowl a bemused Joe Clarke, Nottinghamshire had gone from 51 without loss to 54 for 3, seemingly in the blink of an eye.The pause for tea was probably welcome, yet things only worsened for the home side soon afterwards as Montgomery, having been patient to that point, went to pull Rushworth but connected poorly, giving Hasan an easy catch at mid-on, leaving Nottinghamshire in dire trouble at 58 for 4, still 513 runs behind.Mullaney did connect as Rushworth began to drop short to him, pulling two meaty sixes back to back, but if this was an attempt to put a little pressure back on the bowlers it did not work. The fifth Nottinghamshire wicket fell two balls later as Lyndon James pushed at one outside off stump from Olly Hannon-Dalby, Burgess snapping up his second catch.

Zimbabwe Cricket has announced that they will host Sri Lanka for two Tests followed by a one-day tri-series that will also involve West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2016Zimbabwe Cricket has announced that they will host Sri Lanka for two Tests followed by a one-day tri-series that will also involve West Indies. The two Tests will be played in Harare, with the first one from October 29 and the second from November 6.The tri-series will begin from November 14 with the first match between the hosts and Sri Lanka at the Harare Sports Club. The three teams will play each other twice, making it a total of six round-robin matches, before the final on November 27. The last four ODIs and the final will all be played in Bulawayo.Sri Lanka’s tour of Zimbabwe was originally scheduled in the FTP with two Tests, three ODIs and a T20I. Later, there were chances of the tour being replaced by the tri-series with West Indies, as the Tests were not being considered as financially viable, but now the Tests and tri-series both will take place. Had that happened, Zimbabwe would have gone without playing a Test for 11 months.There were chances of the Tests being scrapped because of Zimbabwe Cricket’s growing debt and the economic situation of the country as a whole. Recently, the Harare-based players had refused to train in protest over unpaid match fees, which dated back to July last year. The protests ended after being given an assurance by the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Wildfred Mukondiwa.Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka last played a Test in a two-match series in 2004. They have played 15 Tests against each other overall, with Sri Lanka winning 10 of them and five ending in draws.

While the sanction involves Premier Cricket the 22-year-old won’t be available for WA as he serves it

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Mar-2023Sam Fanning, the Western Australia batter, will be ineligible for state selection early next season after being suspended from Premier Cricket for pitch tampering.Fanning, 22, was given a four-game ban after being found guilty following last weekend’s WA Premier Cricket final between Perth CC and Bayswater-Morley CC at Lilac Hill.Footage showed Fanning scraping his spikes on the protected area of the pitch after the first day’s play during which he had scored 123 from 197 balls and was later named Player of the Match.”WA Cricket expects high standards of behaviour from all contracted players, on and off the field. We were disappointed to learn of the incident involving Sam, which did not reflect our values,” WA Cricket’s general manager of high performance Kade Harvey said in a statement.”Alongside the penalty, we will work with Sam and provide an education and development plan in line with living our values and making better decisions moving forward.”Fanning, who previously represented Australia Under-19s, made his Sheffield Shield debut during the 2022-23 season in which Western Australia claimed back-to-back titles. He made 61 against New South Wales at the SCG, the only half-century of the match in what became a low-scoring affair on a turning wicket.He had also scored a half-century against India in a T20 World Cup warm-up match at the WACA.

Former India captain Anil Kumble has applied for the India head-coach position advertised by the BCCI recently, ESPNcricinfo understands

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jun-20162:00

Kalra: Kumble offers compelling package as coach

Former India captain Anil Kumble has applied for the head-coach position advertised by the BCCI, ESPNcricinfo has learned. The deadline for applications closed on June 10, and on Sunday the BCCI announced that a total of 57 applications from both Indian and overseas candidates had been received.After Ravi Shastri and India’s current chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil, Kumble is the third high-profile applicant for the job, which became vacant after the previous coaching staff’s tenures expired at the end of the 2016 World T20. Although Kumble, 45, has no coaching experience, he has been a mentor in the IPL, initially with Royal Challengers Bangalore – where he was captain when the franchise finished runners-up in 2009 – and later with Mumbai Indians.Kumble applying for the job was a surprise to many in the BCCI, considering his lack of coaching experience. Among the various qualifications asked of the applicants, the BCCI had said candidates should have coached at the international or first-class level. It also mentioned that “it is preferred that the candidate should be qualified through a certification/assessment program conducted by any of the Full Member countries, and currently possess such a valid certification.”*Kumble does not fulfil either of those criteria, but his pedigree as a player is peerless. India’s highest Test wicket-taker with 619 scalps, including a best of 10 for 74, he was captain in 14 Test matches with three victories, five defeats and six draws. Among his victories as captain was a win in Perth, which came soon after the controversy of the Sydney Test of 2008, where India faced allegations of racism from Australia.After retiring, in addition to overseeing his company Tenvic, which mentors athletes, Kumble remained connected with cricket. He is currently the chairman of the ICC cricket committee, which recently met in London. He had also served in various roles in Indian cricket: he was the chairman of the National Cricket Academy when Patil was its director, and also headed the BCCI’s technical committee.Off the field, one of his biggest achievements was winning the president’s post at the Karnataka State Cricket Association. Not many players in contemporary cricket had gone so swiftly into administration over the past two decades, but Kumble, along with his former Karnataka and India team-mates Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad proved that players could also be role models as administrators.The list of 57 applicants for the India coach job will be pruned by Ajay Shirke, the BCCI secretary. The shortlisted names are likely to be sent to an advisory panel comprising former players, which will trim it further. The final decision on who the next India coach is will be taken by the BCCI top brass, and it is likely the new coach will be announced at the board’s working committee meeting in Dharamsala on June 25.Last month Anurag Thakur, after taking over as BCCI president, had indicated that a new coach would be appointed by the time India leave for the Caribbean for a fourth-Test tour in July-August.*15.30GMT, June 15: The wording of the required qualification quoted here has been changed to reflect the BCCI’s list of criteria.

Rare overseas feat for seamer sets up victory, as Mitchell delays inevitable with 84

Andrew Miller01-Dec-2024 England 499 (Brook 171, Stokes 80, Pope 77, Henry 4-84) and 104 for 2 (Bethell 50*) beat New Zealand 348 (Williamson 93, Phillips 58*, Carse 4-64, Bashir 4-69) and 254 (Mitchell 84, Carse 6-42) by eight wicketsBrydon Carse claimed his Test-best figures of 6 for 42, in the process becoming the first England seamer to take an overseas ten-wicket haul in 16 years, before Jacob Bethell capped the contest with an unbeaten fifty on debut, as New Zealand were hustled to an emphatic eight-wicket defeat in the first Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.Though Daryl Mitchell had delayed the inevitable with a doughty innings of 84 from 167 balls, 45 of which came in a spirited tenth-wicket stand with the steadfast Will O’Rourke, New Zealand’s eventual target of 104 was demolished in just 12.4 overs. Ben Duckett signalled the charge with an anarchic innings of 27 in 18 balls, while Joe Root capped his 150th Test with a no-less free-flowing 22 not out from 15.The was applied by Bethell in a performance of rare precocity – 50 not out from 37 balls, featuring eight fours and a six – with his maiden half-century coming up with the winning pull shot to deep square leg.New Zealand’s hopes had been slender at the start of the fourth day, as they resumed with a four-run lead and just four wickets left standing, but at least they were greeted by cloudless skies and a 49-over ball: two factors that persuaded Ben Stokes to shoulder the hard yards with the day’s first spell, albeit with unintended consequences.Midway through his fifth over, he pulled up awkwardly with what was later diagnosed with stiffness in his lower back, and immediately handed the rest of the over to Gus Atkinson. He stayed on the field through to the lunch break, and later insisted at the post-match presentations that he’d be fine for next week’s second Test at Wellington, but after the injury issues that clouded his recent tour of Pakistan, it was a worrying subplot in an otherwise uplifting day for his team.Daryl Mitchell’s half-century kept New Zealand fighting•Phil Walter/Getty Images

By the time of that setback, Carse had already ripped the heart out of New Zealand’s resistance. In only his third Test, he has already made an extraordinary case to be England’s go-to third seamer: a man clearly unafraid of the hard yards, and – as he showed on debut in Multan – capable of extracting life from even the most unforgiving of surfaces, through his wholehearted attitude and the raw energy of his action.A case in point was his breakthrough wicket on this fourth day. Nathan Smith had looked steady for his 21 runs, getting solidly into line to the short balls and even picking off back-to-back boundaries when Carse strayed too full in his opening over. However, he had no answer for the first ball of the day that truly misbehaved, as Carse bent his back to jag a sharp seamer back into Smith’s shin, with the ball keeping low to draw a leg-sided lbw verdict.Four balls later, Carse had his second of the morning, and his fifth of the innings, to leave New Zealand deep in the mire at 192 for 8, a lead at that stage of just 41. Matt Henry was also done in by the fuller length, this time by a fast, inswinging delivery that thumped him in front of middle and leg. He took his leave with no thought of a review.Tim Southee, in his final Test series, arrived to a tumultuous ovation, and an expectant one too, for there wasn’t much doubt about how he’d be playing this particular situation. With 93 Test sixes to his name, and a maximum of five innings in which to post his century, he duly connected twice in three balls with two lusty blows over the leg-side off Atkinson. The same bowler, however, had smacked him on the helmet with his second ball, and brought the fun to an end with his 11th, as Root at wide long-on held onto a fine tumbling take.With just the No. 11 O’Rourke for company, Mitchell moved to his half-century from 132 balls, then decided it was time to up the tempo. A full range of T20 blows rained down thereafter, including a lap through fine leg off Chris Woakes and a trademark launch down the ground for six off the spin of Shoaib Bashir.The lead had nudged past 100 as the umpires called for the extra half-hour before lunch, at which point England’s thoughts might have strayed to another memorable tenth-wicket stand at Christchurch, Nathan Astle’s 222 onslaught alongside Chris Cairns in 2002. Carse, however, was not going to be denied. Back he came for yet another spell, and in his second over, he induced the error with another heavy length that Mitchell was unable to launch over Woakes at long-off.Brydon Carse soaks in the applause for his 10-wicket match haul•Joe Allison/Getty Images

Carse left the field with match figures of 10 for 106, the best by any England bowler overseas since Monty Panesar at Mumbai in 2012-13, and a feat unmatched by an England quick since Ryan Sidebottom at Hamilton in 2008. Neither James Anderson nor Stuart Broad, whose legendary partnership began one Test after Sidebottom’s feat, ever managed such a haul away from home.England’s chase began after the delayed lunch break, and for precisely 15 balls, New Zealand put up a fight. Zak Crawley, fresh from a first-innings duck, duly poked a return catch in Henry’s first over to troop off for 1 – the worst return by an England opener since Mike Atherton made a pair at Johannesburg in 1999-2000 – and a continuation of his abject record against New Zealand: 168 runs at 9.88 in 17 innings.Duckett, meanwhile, was briefly given a working-over by Southee, but only because he was treating him with the respect that his legendary career deserves. Midway through his second over, he chose to bin the deference, starting with a scoop over fine leg from way outside off, and culminating in a 16-run third over that included a vast six over fine leg.Ben Duckett launched England’s run chase with a rapid cameo•Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images

Bethell, similarly, had learned his lesson after a torrid baptism during England’s first innings. He was soon dancing down the pitch to hit Henry off his length, then exacted his revenge on Smith, the man who had dismissed him first time around. Four fours in a single over included a slap back past the bowler that had shades of Kevin Pietersen against Glenn McGrath at The Oval in 2005, and by the end of it, England were halfway to their target in a mere 42 balls.Duckett died by the sword, upper-cutting O’Rourke’s first ball to deep third, while Root – fresh from his first-innings duck – got off his pair with a streaky edge for four but then added two more in consecutive balls to ensure there’d be no further mishaps.By the end of it all, New Zealand had been flattened, at a run-rate of 8.21 an over, in a denouement that evoked their fourth-innings torments on the original Bazball series of 2022. Much has changed since then, of course, but hand this team a situation in which they can free their arms, and there are few more startling sights in world cricket.

Fifteen wickets fell on day two at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, where Hyderabad bowled Himachal Pradesh out for 36, the fourth-lowest total in the Ranji Trophy since 2000

Shashank Kishore28-Oct-2016Fifteen wickets fell on day two at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, where Hyderabad bowled Himachal Pradesh out for 36, the fourth-lowest total in the Ranji Trophy since 2000. None of Himachal’s batsmen got into double figures as seamers M Ravi Kiran and Chama Milind cut through the top order before legspinner Akash Bhandari snared four wickets to demolish the tail. Himachal, on 8 for 2 overnight, were bowled out in 25 overs.Hyderabad got into the lead with only a wicket down, thanks to a 38-run second-wicket partnership between Akshath Reddy and B Anirudh, but Rishi Dhawan ensured they didn’t run away with the game. The allrounder grabbed six wickets as Hyderabad ended the day seven down for 99, only 63 ahead. Anirudh was still at the crease at stumps, on 44 off 111 balls, having hit seven fours.Players from both sides agreed that the pitch was difficult to bat on, but suggested the low totals were also down to a lack of application from the batsmen.”This is one of the most-challenging surfaces I’ve played on this season,” said Robin Bist, the Himachal middle-order batsman who was lbw to Ravi Kiran for a duck. “Yes, it was tough, but we’ve played on tougher surfaces in the past, so in that sense this was nowhere near being dangerous.”There was inconsistent bounce. One ball would take off, others would keep low. I think most of the batsmen, including myself, were influenced by that. Maybe that’s why we had as many as nine dismissals [across both innings] either bowled or lbw. There was definite help for the bowlers; all they needed to do was to be accurate.”Paras Dogra, Himachal’s No. 4, called it a “clear case of batsmen from both sides lacking application”.”Run scoring was difficult, but not to the extent scorecard suggests,” he said. “One of their batsmen [Anirudh] showed what patience and application can give you on this wicket. Lot of the shots were cross-batted, which increases the chance of lbw on any surface. One thing is for sure, this is certainly a result-oriented game. It’s the kind of wicket where you can’t switch off. I think the scorecard is just an exaggeration.”Hyderabad captain S Badrinath was out for a two-ball duck, bowled by Dhawan. He agreed with Dogra’s assessment of the conditions.”You just can’t blame the pitch, saying it was a poor wicket,” he said. “[The fall of wickets] was down to a combination of both the pitch being difficult and poor technique from the batsmen. The wicket wasn’t the easiest to bat [on], but there were some poor decisions and choice of shots. It was one wicket where you had to apply yourself. You don’t have to be extremely skilled on this wicket; just have to be patient and play straight.”Unfortunately, no batsman from our side apart from Anirudh applied. He played 111 balls, it’s not about the [44] runs. He showed if you can apply you can definitely bat. Anirudh looked to play straight and he got all his runs when he played straight. He was willing to be patient, and let the ball go. His choice of shots were good. He didn’t go for the big, booming cover drive, and didn’t play outside the line.”

Minutes away from the game ending, Jack Leach took the last wicket in an extraordinary game of cricket

Valkerie Baynes05-Dec-2022A win’s a win, right? Nope. England can understandably be ultra tubthumping in their celebrations of a 74-run victory for the ages on the final evening of a remarkable Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi.On a pitch that yielded 1768 runs for the match, the third-highest aggregate in history, the visitors’ bold declaration at tea on the penultimate day gave them four sessions in which to claim 10 wickets with Pakistan needing 343 to win.It went down to the wire, with five wickets still needed after tea on Monday and a quick-sinking sun making its way ominously towards the horizon.But Ben Stokes and his men grasped the challenge and two wickets in two overs by Player of the Match Ollie Robinson, followed by two wickets in as many balls to James Anderson gave them the stranglehold they needed.Related

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• Nasser Hussain on Ben Stokes: 'I do not think I've seen a better week of captaincy'

Robinson and Anderson took four wickets each in Pakistan’s second innings but it was spinner Jack Leach who clinched the final one – that of Naseem Shah – with what could only have been minutes remaining to seal victory in England’s first Test appearance in Pakistan for 17 years.Centuries to newcomer Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett – returning after six years outside the Tests fold – in England’s record first innings of 657 were brought into context on the flattest of tracks as Pakistan produced three of their own in containing the tourists’ advantage to 78 runs, Will Jacks claiming six wickets on debut. Then came another Brook star turn, his rapid-fire 87 off 65 balls the highlight of England’s second innings, upstaged only by the Stokes’ surprise decision to declare.But it all came down to the last day – and the final 90 minutes of it.Ollie Robinson’s reverse swing was crucial for England•Getty Images

Having finally coaxed an aging ball to reverse after lunch, England were vindicated in their decision not to take the new one which became available three overs after tea.With Agha Salman and Azhar Ali having settled into a half-century stand for the fifth wicket and Pakistan needing another 86 runs for victory in the final session, Robinson trapped Salman without adding to his tea-time score of 30 with an inswinger that pinned him back in his crease and England overturned the initial not-out decision when ball-tracking confirmed he was on target.On the next ball, Robinson was left in disbelief when his inswinger shaved the outside of Naseem Shah’s off stump about a third of the way up but the bails stayed put. It wasn’t long, however, before he had Azhar caught at leg slip by Joe Root trying to flick another inswinger off his hip.Stokes produced a typically gutsy haul with the ball in support of his two main seamers and Anderson capitalised with two quick wickets late in the day. He dismissed Zahid Mahmood to a wonderful diving catch down the leg side by Pope, standing in as wicketkeeper for Ben Foakes, who had failed to recover from the stomach bug that hit the England camp on the eve of the match.Two balls later, Anderson rapped Haris Rauf on the pads with a full inswinger. Rauf, who will miss the next Test in Multan with a quad strain suffered during this match, called for the DRS in vain, his dismissal upheld on umpire’s call.Naseem rode his luck, edging Stokes between Pope and Root at first slip as he and Mohammad Ali staged critical half-an-hour worth of resistance with their final-wicket stand.Saud Shakeel top-scored for Pakistan in the final innings with 76•AFP/Getty Images

Stokes finally took the second new ball with the light fading fast and it was Leach who sealed the win when he pinned Naseem on the front pad, the batter’s hopeful review only adding momentary delay to the tourists unleashing their full-blown jubilation.England claimed just one wicket in the morning session, that of Imam-ul-Haq, who had steadied his side from 25 for 2 on the fourth day but added only five to his overnight 43 before he was strangled down the leg side by Anderson.Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel took to England’s spinners during the morning session as Pakistan added 89 runs to their overnight 80 for 2 after scoring just 13 in the first hour. So Stokes entered the fray in the first over after lunch and managed to find some reverse swing, which Anderson exploited to devastating effect.Anderson removed the dangerous Rizwan on 46 with one that reversed just enough and found an edge that flew through to Pope, ending an 87-run stand with Shakeel.The dismissal brought back Azhar, who had retired hurt the previous evening after copping a nasty blow to the finger from Robinson. It was Robinson who struck again when Shakeel fell after a fine half-century on debut. England had set attacking fields throughout and Robinson snared Shakeel with a fuller ball outside off which hooped to short cover where Keaton Jennings, substitute fielder for the injured Liam Livingstone, took a mid-air stunner leaping to his right.England thought Robinson had another when he struck Salman on the pad lunging forward, but umpire Joel Wilson’s not-out decision was upheld on review with the ball going down the leg side.If they hoped that was the breakthrough they needed, England were convinced when a return to spin saw Salman given out lbw after being struck in the midriff attempting to slog-sweep Leach. But the batter overturned his dismissal when the DRS revealed the ball was going over the stumps. Compounding their woes, Robinson saw Pope drop a tough chance down the leg side off Azhar, on 36, in the over before tea.In the end, no chances or half-chances mattered as England’s patience and new-found faith in themselves under Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum won the day.