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South Africa batter expected to be available for seven red-ball games

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2022Durham have signed Keegan Petersen, the South Africa top-order batter, as one of their overseas players for 2022.Petersen, who made his Test debut last year, is expected to be available for seven County Championship fixtures. He missed South Africa’s current tour of New Zealand after contracting Covid-19, but is likely to be involved in their home series against Bangladesh, with two Tests scheduled for early April.Related

• Covid-19 puts Petersen out of South Africa tour of New Zealand

• Leicestershire announce Hendricks as latest overseas signing

• 'I want to win every game we play' – Arthur on Derbyshire project

He will then join up with Durham ahead of their trip to Leicestershire in the second round of Championship games, with his final appearance set to be against Worcestershire in mid-June.”We’re very pleased to have secured the quality of Keegan Petersen for the first block of county cricket in 2022,” Durham’s director of cricket, Marcus North, said. “Keegan will add further strength to the top our batting line-up and joins the club on the back of a successful period with South Africa.”He is in a great place with his cricket having, last year, broke into the South African Test side; we look forward to welcoming Keegan to Durham in April.”Petersen, 28, debuted in the West Indies last year and went on to play a key role in South Africa’s recent Test win over India, making scores of 62, 72 and 82 in four innings as they came from behind to take the series 2-1. His spell with Durham could prove beneficial ahead of South Africa’s Test series in England later in the summer.Overall, Petersen has scored more than 6000 runs in first-class cricket, at an average of 40.93. He will link up at Durham with compatriot David Bedingham, who was the county’s leading run-scorer in 2021 with 1029 at 60.52.”It’s exciting to join a county like Durham and I look forward to linking up with the squad and having a successful contribution during my time in the north east,” Petersen said.

Odisha denied by umpiring gaffe, Hyderabad and Rajasthan keep all-win records

Shashank Kishore15-Nov-2021A hat-trick, a four-over return without giving up a run, a controversial boundary call that rescued the defending champions and scintillating performances from IPL stars were among the many highlights from the group stages of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s domestic T20 competition.As the caravan moves to New Delhi for the knockouts, amid worsening air quality that has left the local administration contemplating a lockdown, here’s a quick look at those made it and those who missed out.

Group A

Defending champions Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, led by the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad, both made the cut on the back of four wins in five matches. However, Maharashtra have to play the pre-quarterfinal despite finishing with a better net run rate than TN because head-to-head is the first criterion for teams tied on points. When the two sides met, TN comfortably defended 167 despite Gaikwad’s 30-ball half-century.Maharashtra won’t have Gaikwad’s services from here on, as he is part of India’s T20I team for the New Zealand series. TN, who endured a massive slice of luck en route in the group stage, won’t have any such worries, having a full squad to choose from.In what proved to be a turning point, a final-over umpiring gaffe resulted in Odisha being denied a boundary. M Ashwin’s feet were in contact with the rope even as he went beyond the line to push the ball back in – and Odisha lost the match by one run. Punjab were the closest among the other sides to qualification, but eventually lost out after going down to TN.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Group B

Bengal stole the top spot from high-flying Karnataka in the final group game, but both sides made it through to the knockouts without any hiccups. Both sides will be missing key players because of either India A or national duties. Bengal will be without Abhimanyu Easwaran and Wriddhiman Saha, while Karnataka will be without Mayank Agarwal, K. Gowtham, Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna.Shreevats Goswami, controversially left out of the group stages, has an opportunity to make amends as he returns for the knockouts. Goswami was left out due to Saha’s availability, despite being among the top three run-getters in the tournament for the side in three of the last five seasons.Mumbai was the nearly-side from this group, having finished with three wins in five matches. Although captain Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 286 runs in five games at a strike rate of 133, including four half-centuries, they couldn’t capitalise. Prithvi Shaw’s poor form – 107 runs in five innings, 83 of which came in their final game against Baroda after being knocked out – didn’t help matters either.Deepak Hooda’s move to Rajasthan has paid big dividends•BCCI

Group C

Rajasthan were the undisputed leaders, maintaining an all-win record to blaze into the knockouts, even as Himachal staved off competition from Andhra and Jharkhand to squeeze into the knockouts as the second side from the group.Much of Rajasthan’s running was done by their new signing Deepak Hooda, alongside established hand Mahipal Lomror. Hooda, who moved from Baroda after a spat with Krunal Pandya last year, top-scored with 291 runs in five games, including an unbeaten 39-ball 75 after walking into bat at 10 for 2 to help beat Jharkhand. More than the four half-centuries he struck, his strike rate of 175 stood out. Ravi Bishnoi, the legspinner, impressed with the ball, picking up eight wickets in five games.Himachal, meanwhile, were propped up by Rishi Dhawan, who finished the group stages with 14 wickets, third-best. This included his career-best figures of 6 for 23 that helped pip Jammu & Kashmir in a thriller after his 26-ball 45* had set the game up in the first place.

Group D

Gujarat topped the pool with four wins in five games, on the back of clinical batting performances, led by Priyank Panchal. However, their designated captain won’t be available for the knockouts because of India A commitments, along with Arzan Nagwaswalla, the left-arm fast bowler who picked up seven wickets. Piyush Chawla, who featured in just one game at IPL 2021, proved why he isn’t a spent force yet. He picked up five wickets in as many games and was economical, conceding at just 6.42 per over.The Sanju Samson-led Kerala took the second spot, after overcoming stiff competition from Madhya Pradesh. Both sides managed three wins, but Kerala pipped them on head-to-head, in the team’s final league engagement, making light work of a 172-chase courtesy stroke-filled half-centuries from Samson and Sachin Baby. Meanwhile Venkatesh Iyer, who made it to the India’s T20I side on the back of a breakout IPL season, managed just one half-century at the top of the order in five outings for MP.Akshay Karnewar was devastating in the Plate Group•Prakash Parsekar

Group E

They named two captains and two squads prior to departure, the kind of confusion and chaos not new to Hyderabad cricket. But on the field, they managed to turn a corner, winning all five games to make the quarterfinals. Tanmay Agarwal, the captain, is currently the tournament’s highest run-getter with 302 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 150, while left-arm seamer CV Milind leads the wicket charts with 16 scalps, including a best of 5 for 8 that helped defend 147 against Uttar Pradesh.Saurashtra were the second qualifiers from the group, with four wins in five games. While Jaydev Unadkat led the wicket charts, Sheldon Jackson, who returned to his home state after a stint with Puducherry at the end of the 2020-21 season, left his imprint with the bat, top scoring with 221 runs in five matches. Their only loss was in a last-over thriller against Hyderabad, where Unadkat joined Prerak Mankad at 67 for 6 and then put on a near century stand to set up a defence of 173. Hyderabad won by two wickets with three balls to spare. Hanuma Vihari, who returned to home like Jackson, from Andhra, had underwhelming returns, 57 of his 94 runs coming in one innings alone.

Plate Group

Two-time Ranji winners Vidarbha proved no match for the rest of the pack, as they emerged runaway winners from this group. Meghalaya and Tripura fought hard to post four wins in five games, but couldn’t close out games against Vidarbha.Vidarbha’s Akshay Karnewar, the ambidextrous spinner, broke the record for the most economical figures in T20 cricket when he produced a return of 4-4-0-2 against Manipur. He became the first player to bowl four maidens in four overs in men’s T20 cricket, bettering Pakistan pacer Mohammad Irfan’s returns of 4-3-1-2 in CPL 2018. A day later, Karnewar claimed a hat-trick against Sikkim returning figures of 4-1-5-4.

Dissatisfied with the pace of construction work at Cox’s Bazaar and Sylhet, two of the four venues scheduled to host matches during the 2014 World Twenty20, the ICC has issued Bangladesh an alert

Nagraj Gollapudi29-Jun-2013The ICC has given Bangladesh an August deadline to achieve satisfactory standards for its stadiums for next year’s World Twenty20 tournament.Having reviewed the reports by its venue consultant who visited the stadiums in June, the ICC’s International Development (IDI) board has pencilled in another inspection for August following which a final decision will be taken on the venues for the tournament that will be played between March 16 and April 6 next year.The BCB’s president Nazmul Hassan admitted his concern ahead of the ICC annual conference in London that the ICC might lose patience over development at two of the four proposed venues, in Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar.Those concerns have now been expressed by the ICC. “The IDI board reviewed an inspection report by the ICC venue consultant … and expressed its concern regarding the progress of construction and improvements to playing facilities in Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet,” an ICC statement said. “The board noted that a further inspection and report is scheduled for August after which a final decision will be taken.”According to the ICC rules, the venues need to be ready six months ahead of the tournament, including adequately meeting the accommodation requirements for the teams.After two visits this year, the ICC venue inspection team found construction work at both Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar, which is scheduled to host the women’s leg of the World T20, was well behind schedule for different reasons. Also, it was worried by a lack of lodging options in Dhaka.After the first inspection, which took place in May, the ICC team found construction work at Cox’s Bazaar had not begun at all, while work on the pavilion in Sylhet – at the ground which was developed last year – had not started either.In the report the inspectors noted that the stadiums would not be ready before December; the six-month cut off as specified in the rules would be September. The team then returned to do a follow-up inspection on June 10, and the doubts over whether the work would reach its completion at both venues before end of September remained.However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has stated that it remains confident that all the ICC deadlines will be met.”There is absolutely no doubt the work would be completed in due time,” Hassan said. “The government had started work late in Sylhet stadium but now it is in full swing. I have seen the work plan and I am convinced that it would be finished,” he said. “As for Cox’s Bazar, the major issue was the land. Now that we have land we are confident we will meet all the requirements.”Should alternative venues be required, Hassan assured the board members that Bangladesh has enough and there was no need to look outside the country. He listed Fatullah and BKSP (Bangladesh Sports Institute) in Savar, a northwest suburb of Dhaka, as alternatives in case Sylhet and Cox’s Bazar failed to meet the requirements once again in August.”We already have two other venues. For Sylhet we have Fatullah, a full-fledged and world-class stadium which has hosted international matches already. As for Cox’s Bazar, we can host the women’s matches in BKSP where we have prepared two grounds according to ICC guidelines.”ESPNcricinfo learned last week that Sri Lanka and South Africa were open to hosting the tournament if required.However Mustafa Kamal, the ICC vice-president and former BCB president, said the ICC board had not discussed any such plans as yet. He echoed Hassan’s confidence in relation to Bangladesh meeting the hosting requirements:”We have just delivered 2011 World Cup successfully. This is not a bigger event compared to that. We had prepared five grounds for the World Cup. We also had the 2014 World Twenty20. In 2016 we have the Under-19 World Cup followed by the World Cup Qualifiers in 2018. We are going to host so many events because we have the infrastructure.”The doubts over lack of accommodation for all teams in Dhaka came after the Bangladesh government voiced a plan to break down the Sheraton hotel in the capital and rebuild it. But Hassan said the government had now assured the BCB that it would put off the reconstruction till the World T20 was over.”We have the Sheraton, which was supposed to be renovated. The prime minister has assured us that the hotel would be available during the tournament, so we have an additional 200 rooms,” Hassan said. “That solves the lodging problem.”

Preview of the match between Pune Warriors and Chennai Super Kings in Pune

The Preview by Nikita Bastian29-Apr-2013

Match facts

April 30, 2013
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Pune Warriors have already proved to be a stumbling block for Chennai Super Kings this season•BCCI

Big Picture

Pune Warriors are at the bottom of the points table. Chennai Super Kings are at the top after nine games. Warriors have lost their last four matches, Super Kings have five wins in a row. On current form, this is possibly the biggest mismatch in the IPL. But then, the previous time Super Kings lost in this tournament was when they played Warriors. That upset came at Chepauk, and the game wasn’t even close, Warriors winning by 24 runs.Since then, Super Kings have been unstoppable. They have won even when it seemed like they wouldn’t; their strategy of accelerating a chase late has often appeared a folly, only for someone to deliver and take them over the line. At Eden Gardens it was Ravindra Jadeja; against Rajasthan Royals, Dwayne Bravo got a six away with 10 needed off 4; and then there was an MS Dhoni special against Sunrisers Hyderabad.For Warriors, it has been just the opposite. Time and again they’ve looked to be in control of the game, only to end up losing. Chasing 120 against Sunrisers, they went from 101 for 4 to 108 all out; they were not able to defend 185 against Kings XI Punjab, and on Sunday they just could not get the big hits away against Daredevils, finishing 15 short in a chase of 165 despite being only four down. They have four points from nine games, and while the permutations are not firmed up as yet, it seems likely that Warriors will have to win all their remaining seven games and hope for other results to go in their favour to progress to the playoffs.

Form guide

Pune Warriors LLLLW (most recent first)
Chennai Super Kings WWWWW

In the spotlight

For Chennai Super Kings, the fourth overseas player slot has been like a game of musical chairs. Dirk Nannes, Ben Laughlin, Jason Holder and Albie Morkel have all come in, gone out and then, in some cases, come right back in again. It appears Super Kings, in sticking to type, would prefer to play allrounder Ablie but he has been having fitness issues. Which of the overseas quicks will play in Pune? That’s anyone’s guess. Once Faf du Plessis is fit, provided the team doesn’t run into a bad patch of form, they might also be tempted to allow Michael Hussey a bit of a rest and give themselves the extra overseas batting option, should they need it going into the business end of the tournament.Pune Warriors’ death bowling has been the worst among all teams in the tournament. Their economy rate at the death (overs 16 to 20) so far this season is 11.17, almost two runs more expensive than the second team on the list, Kolkata Knight Riders. Death bowling has been something Warriors have been focusing on improving. After the IPL auction in February coach Allan Donald had said they aggressively pursued Australian quick Kane Richardson and paid big bucks for him – he was the third most expensive buy at US$700,000 – specifically because of his “exciting death-bowling skills”. Richardson played his first game against Delhi Daredevils on Sunday and, after conceding 17 runs in three overs, produced length balls in the 19th to be dispatched for three sixes. Might have just been the nerves of an IPL debut, but given Warriors position on the points table are they out of time to find a viable solution?

Stats and Trivia

• Robin Uthappa and Aaron Finch have four half-century opening stands in seven innings this season, the most by any pair
• During his innings against Knight Riders, Suresh Raina became only the second player to tally 100 sixes in the IPL, behind Chris Gayle

Quotes

“The way he has played against different teams has been quite dynamic. I cannot speak more highly of Hussey, on the influence he has and the way he conducts himself. He leads by example, not only the runs he scores but the way he trains and conducts himself.”
“Cricket is a funny game, especially T20, where even a single over can change the game. So we’ve learnt that until it’s over, don’t raise your hopes.”

Belligerent opening stand with Finn Allen turns a taxing chase into a saunter at Edgbaston

George Dobell01-Aug-2021Birmingham Phoenix 145 for 4 (Allen 43, Smeed 36) beat Trent Rockets 144 for 6 (Malan 51, Milne 2-13) by six wicketsAn outstanding spell of bowling from Adam Milne and a blistering innings from Will Smeed helped Birmingham Phoenix inflict a first loss of the competition upon Trent Rockets at Edgbaston.Milne equalled the most economical analysis by any bowler delivering their full contribution of 20 deliveries in the competition to help keep Northern Rockets to a modest total of 144 on what appeared to be a fine batting track.While Dawid Malan made 51, the highest score of the match, he struggled for fluency for much of his innings. At once stage, Moeen Ali was able to bowl 10 successive deliveries for a cost of just 10 runs with Benny Howell again impressing with his control and variations.Only Alex Hales and Samit Patel scored at the rate Trent Rockets would have wanted. But Hales skied ball 44 to mid-off, the victim of a neat piece of bowling from Moeen who floated one a little wide, and without his impetus, the innings failed to ignite.In taking 59 from the first 20 balls of the reply – a record for a Powerplay in this competition even before the final five balls of the period (they only added one more in that next set) Smeed and Finn Allen soon broke the back of the run-chase with Phoenix reaching their target with six wickets and 26 deliveries to spare. Only once in the competition to date, when Manchester Originals defeated Phoenix with 27 balls remaining, has that margin been exceeded.While Trent Rockets, who won their first three matches, stay top, it’s a result that revives Birmingham Phoenix’s campaign. They move into the top four.Mean Milne

Despite bowling two sets in the Powerplay, Milne went for just 13 runs from his 20 deliveries. Bowling at a sharp pace and cramping the batters for room, Milne’s spell included 14 dot balls while he also claimed the wickets of D’Arcy Short, dismissed for a duck in the opening moments of the game, and Rashid Khan. Tom Helm’s first five balls, by contrast, cost 18 runs. It was, in many ways, the defining contribution of the match. But it’s a batter’s game and it was Smeed’s impressive innings which won the Hero of the Match award.Going according to Malan?

In an innings that provided something of a microcosm of his career, Malan top-scored for Trent Rockets. But he did so at such a run-rate that it remains debatable how valuable an innings it was. Certainly there were moments in Malan’s innings – not least when he had scored seven off his first 12 deliveries despite batting in the Powerplay – when his run-rate appeared to put pressure on his partners. Hales’ dismissal, caught at mid-on, could be put down to just such pressure.Moeen Ali had a good day as Phoenix captain•Getty Images

As so often, Malan started to make up for lost time as he innings progressed. From having scored 29 from 29, he finished with 51 from 41. But his run-out – he was the victim of a direct hit from Moeen fielding at wide mid-off – from the 91st delivery of the innings prevented him from fully cashing in on the investment he had made at the start. And when the opposition gallop to victory with more than a quarter of the allotted deliveries unused, there are bound to be questions about how well he paced his innings.The counter argument is that, without Malan, Trent Rockets may not have got anywhere near 144. This was their highest score of the competition to date, after all, and the site of Rashid, flailing like a drowning man at No. 6, and Matt Carter at No. 8, suggested their batting lacks a bit of depth.Either way, Malan’s method is sure to encourage more debate.The need for Smeed

Smeed is fast making a name for himself. Like Jos Buttler and Tom Banton, he was educated at King’s College, Taunton and like both of them, he has impressed as a young player at Somerset. But, having won a call-up in the Hundred as one of many replacement players, he had never previously opened in T20 cricket (the Hundred is officially seen as T20 for statistical purposes) and owed his opportunity to something of a hunch from Phoenix’s coach, Dan Vettori.It worked beautifully. Smeed thrashed 36 from just 13 deliveries to put his side far ahead of the run-rate at the start of their innings. At one stage, the 19-year-old took 20 from four successive balls (two sixes and two fours) from Timm van der Gugten, a man who has played almost 50 international matches. Such was the power with which he pulled and drove that he will have franchise owners around the world sitting up and taking notice. “The coach just told me to go out and have some fun,” Smeed said later. “I just kept it simple and watched the ball.”Van der Gugten, by contrast, later parried a chance from Liam Livingstone over the mid-wicket boundary for six. Sometimes it’s just not your day.Mole-eye

Moeen hadn’t scored from any of his first five deliveries. And while the pace at which Smeed and Allen had started the chase gave Moeen some sort of cushion, there was just a bit of pressure building when he defended his sixth ball only to see Patel ask for a review of a leg-before decision that had been given not out on the pitch.Multiple replays persuaded the TV umpire that ball had, indeed, hit pad before bat, at which stage Moeen’s heart must have been in his mouth. But ball-tracking technology was unavailable due to a technical error meaning the officials were obliged to stick with the on-field umpire’s decision. Moeen went on to make an increasingly fluent 26 to speed his side towards victory. It could have been a crossroads moment.Voting with their feet

Edgbaston might be seen as a potential swing state in the Hundred’s bid for success. While the ground has a good record for international ticket sales, it has never matched the London grounds (or, of late, Emirates Old Trafford) when it comes to domestic T20 sales. Only local derby matches against Worcestershire have come close to selling out in the Vitality Blast.So, to see Edgbaston close to full here felt significant. The club also reported swift sales of merchandise (a report supported by the number of spectators wearing Phoenix orange) and an eight percent increase in the number of female ticket-buyers in the tournament to date when compared to the Blast.As ever with the Hundred, you have to be a little careful with official reports. Several thousand seats were unavailable here due to the placing of the stage and because of Covid protocols. And, with plenty of beer being consumed and even Sweet Caroline making a brief appearance, it wasn’t entirely clear how ‘new’ these spectators really are. But a crowd of 17,479 for a domestic cricket match outside London is impressive and suggests this competition is starting to gain some traction.