All posts by n8rngtd.top

Dravid to Iyer, Ishan: 'Score runs, force selectors to pick you'

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Head coach doesn’t rule out the possibility of both players returning soon to the national team

Shashank Kishore09-Mar-2024Play domestic cricket, score runs and force the selectors to pick you again. This is India head coach Rahul Dravid’s simple message to Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, on whom there has been much spotlight over the past two months for their decision to skip domestic cricket.Both Kishan and Iyer were not considered for the BCCI’s annual retainers in this round of recommendations for 2023-24. A board release at the time of announcement late last month reiterated its recent stance that “all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team”.Kishan hasn’t featured in any form of cricket under the BCCI’s ambit since opting out of the two-Test series in South Africa. He had, instead, been training at a private facility for some time in Baroda with Hardik Pandya, his IPL captain.Related

  • Shreyas Iyer makes headlines for the right reasons

  • 'We've always found people to step up' – Dravid looks back at a famous series win

  • Women's red-ball cricket to return to India's domestic calendar

  • Why Kishan and Iyer missed out on BCCI contracts

Iyer, who was left out after the second Test against England, missed the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals citing back spasms, even though he was medically passed fit by the board’s doctors. Iyer has since returned to play for Mumbai in the semi-finals and is due to play in the final starting Sunday.”They’re always in the mix,” Dravid said after India’s 4-1 series win over England in Dharmsala on Saturday. “Everyone who’s playing domestic cricket is in the mix. Firstly, I don’t decide contracts, right? Contracts are decided by the selectors and the board. I don’t even know what the criteria are. I’m involved in – people ask me my opinion on the 15, and me and Rohit select the XI. That’s how it works.”We’ve never discussed whether somebody has a contract or not, whether he’s going to be selected in the 15. There are enough examples of people playing different formats of the game, whether they have contracts or not.”I don’t even know sometimes what the list of the contracted players is, when we take these decisions, discussions on the 15 or the playing 11 for that matter. No one’s out of the picture, no one’s out of the mix, it’s just a question of hopefully them getting back and fit, playing cricket, and forcing the selectors to pick them again.”Minutes after India’s win, BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced a Test Cricket Incentive Scheme that will increase match fees of players by 300% should they feature in over 75% of the Tests played in a season.Dravid emphasised on the need to look at this step as a “reward” for hard work and not necessarily just think of it as a financial gain for being available to play Tests.”I really hope money is not going to be the incentive to play Test cricket,” he said. “It’s just nice the hard work and how tough Test cricket can be is being recognised. So, I wouldn’t see it as an incentive to make people play Test cricket, I hope not. I hope it never really comes to that. But I think it is just probably a recognition that this is a tough format, and it is a hard format.”And it takes a special person to do what [R] Ashwin has done, to play 100 Test matches. You go through a lot, and rightly so. You guys [media] celebrated Ashwin today, and Jonny Bairstow, you’ve celebrated Stokes a few games ago. Because I think all of you recognise how challenging the format is and what it takes to be able to have consistency and to be able to survive the test of time in this format.”We don’t celebrate 100 T20s in the same way, do we? But yeah, it is nice that the BCCI is recognizing it… I think it is a reward, not an incentive. Looking at the guys who came in and played in this series, I think everyone wants to play Test cricket. It’s just a recognition of what you need to be able to do to survive and play in Test cricket.”It’s only when you get here that you realise that sometimes it’s quite tough and it is not easy, but it is extremely satisfying. In especially a series like this and Test matches we’ve seen in the last 4-5 months, if they are well supported and well documented by people like you, I am sure that there will be a lot of people still wanting to play Test cricket.”

South Africa, Zimbabwe's matches at Africa Games not given T20I status

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

South Africa and Zimbabwe did not send full strength sides to the Africa Games and did not want their matches to have full international status

Firdose Moonda25-Mar-2024An oversight in communication has resulted in some matches at the recently concluded Africa Games being given T20I status while others were not.The ICC confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that fixtures involving South Africa’s men’s and women’s teams as well as Zimbabwe’s men’s team were not considered T20Is but games between the other six men’s teams and seven women’s teams were regarded as T20Is.Clarity over the official standing of the matches was required after Cricket South Africa wrote to the ICC over confusion around whether all the matches at the tournament were classified as internationals. In 2022, an ICC document titled “Classification of Official Cricket” recognised all T20 matches that are “played in accordance with the ICC Standard Men’s and Women’s Twenty20 International Playing Conditions and other ICC regulations pertaining to Twenty20 International Matches,” as internationals apart from matches involving A teams or age-group sides.With that in mind, South Africa opted to send an emerging women’s team and a university men’s team to the Africa Games, as they were unable to field full-strength sides due to player commitments elsewhere including at the IPL. Zimbabwe selected an under-25 men’s side but sent a first-choice women’s squad. They won gold in both events.The other participating countries, who are all Associate nations, sent their strongest available sides and understood themselves to be playing internationals, creating the confusion. It is not clear whether the onus lay with the African Games, the Africa Cricket Association (the continental body which successfully lobbied for cricket to be played at the Africa Games) or individual board to check on the status of the games or where the miscommunication occurred.However, when the uncertainty came to the attention of South Africa and Zimbabwe, who are both Full Members, they had queries over whether the results would impact their T20I rankings. South Africa also had a particular issue over one of their players: 16-year old wicketkeeper Karabo Meso, who played at the Africa Games and was then named in their senior squad to play Sri Lanka in a home series starting this week. CSA wanted to ensure that Meso, if capped, would get her debut with the full-strength national women’s team and not with an emerging side at the Africa Games which they did not consider a full international team.ESPNcricinfo understands that had the games been full internationals, South Africa would not have participated in the event.A separate concern was also raised about the infrastructure in Accra, especially for cricket. CSA was worried about the suitability of the venues and on the intervention of the Africa Cricket Association, a ground consultant from Zimbabwe traveled to Ghana to assist with readying the pitch and outfield.The cricket facilities were not the only ones which had questions over their readiness. The Africa Games were initially due to be held in August last year but postponed for seven months because not all facilities were completed in time. The event usually takes place every four years, in the year preceding an Olympic Games, and this was its 13th edition. This is the first time cricket has been played at the tournament.The Africa Games organisers were contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of writing.

Ben Stokes open to white-ball comeback as McCullum begins new England era

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Test captain awaits scan on hamstring as he works his way back to full fitness for Pakistan tour

Andrew Miller24-Sep-20243:18

Matt Roller on the big challenges ahead for England coach Brendon McCullum

Ben Stokes says “it’s definitely going to be a yes” if Brendon McCullum asks him to come back to play for England’s rebooted white-ball teams, but insists that no such conversations have happened yet, as he focusses first on regaining full fitness in time to lead next month’s Test tour to Pakistan.Stokes, 33, famously played matchwinning innings in each of England’s World Cup final victories across formats, at Lord’s in 2019 and at Melbourne in 2022, but he has not featured in a white-ball international since the ODI team’s ignominious title defence in India in November last year. However, with the next major ICC event, the Champions Trophy, fast approaching in February, Luke Wright, England’s selector, recently admitted that both Stokes and Joe Root remained in consideration.Stokes had previously retired from ODI cricket in 2022, citing the risk of burn-out in an increasingly crowded international schedule, while he withdrew his availability from the most recent T20 World Cup in June, in order to focus on regaining full fitness following an operation on his long-standing knee issue.Now, however, with Stokes’ bond with McCullum well established by their captain-coach partnership in the Test team, he says he is open to a cross-format comeback, but only if it is in the best interests of the white-ball squad that has begun to pivot to a new generation, among them this month’s new cap Jacob Bethell, whom Stokes believes is going to be a “superstar”.”It’s an amazing opportunity for the white-ball team to experience what Baz has brought to the Test team,” Stokes told Sky Sports during the third ODI at Chester-le-Street. “He’s an incredible coach who speaks with utter commitment, and it’s nice to have all three teams now with the same messaging and the same philosophies towards playing cricket.Stokes tore his hamstring while batting during the Hundred•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

“If I get the call and [Baz] says, ‘do you want to come and play?’ Then obviously, it’s definitely going to be a yes, but I’m not going to be too disappointed if I don’t, because I can just sit back and watch everyone else go out and smack it.”I’ve played a lot of white-ball cricket for England, and I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved in that form of the game,” he added. “But to be honest, we’ve not even spoken about anything like that whatsoever. I think he’s just letting me concentrate on what I need to concentrate on, especially around the Test team.”The next challenge for Stokes’ Test team is fast approaching next week, when they embark on another three-Test tour of Pakistan – a venue where they famously won 3-0 in December 2022, in one of the most notable triumphs of the Stokes-McCullum regime to date.After some weeks of uncertainty, Multan has now been confirmed as the venue for the first Test, beginning October 7. And while Stokes expects to be fit enough to lead his team in that match, having missed the Sri Lanka series following a hamstring tear in August, he says he will be cautious about fulfilling his bowling duties after a lengthy period on the sidelines.Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum celebrate England’s series win on their last tour of Pakistan in 2022•Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

Speaking ahead of a six-and-a-half week scan, which confirmed on Wednesday that his recovery is on track, Stokes said that he was feeling optimistic about the prognosis. “It was a hamstring tear that just sneaked into my tendon, so that’s why it’s taken a week or two longer, but my rehab has gone really well, so hopefully tomorrow everything gets the all-clear, and we can start pushing it a bit more.”There’s a lot more than just my hamstrings that I need to get back firing again, in terms of bowling, because you use everything,” he added. “So I need to get that all right to make sure that I don’t do any more damage to any other parts of my body.”Although England’s experience from the 2022 tour will stand them in good stead on this visit, Stokes admits that there are plenty of unknowns about the conditions they will face in Pakistan, and not simply because it has taken so long for the venues to be confirmed.”It’s probably not until we get out there that we’ll have a real understanding of it,” he said. “I know that Shan Masood [Pakistan’s captain] has been asking for quicker, more lively wickets for their fast bowlers. Obviously, last time we were there, they were slow, dry and spun a bit. So, we’ve got to go there with an open mind about what we’re going to get.”This story was updated at 5.53pm BST on Wednesday, September 25, following the results of Stokes’ scan

Kohli breaks Tendulkar's record, is now the fastest to 14,000 ODI runs

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

India batter gets to the milestone in the Champions Trophy match against Pakistan in Dubai, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2025

Virat Kohli flicks one away in the innings that got him past 14,000•AFP/Getty Images

Virat Kohli has become the fastest batter to reach the milestone of 14,000 ODI runs, getting there in his 287th innings in the Champions Trophy match against Pakistan in Dubai.Kohli began the game against Pakistan 15 runs short of 14,000, and passed the milestone during India’s successful chase of 242, leading his team to victory with an unbeaten hundred, his 51st in the format. He reached his century by hitting the winning runs, a cover-driven boundary off part-time spinner Khushdil Shah.”The difference that I saw, at least from his innings against Bangladesh to this… of course, the pitch was slightly better, but even when he sort of blocked against Bangladesh a couple of dot balls, he was sort of shadowing that again after that, but today we didn’t see any of that,” Anil Kumble said on ESPNcricinfo MatchDay. “He was just back to the way he bats and that says that the mind space was at ease and, of course, the challenge of playing Pakistan and the crowd, I’m sure sort of helps him lift his game and today we saw him in sublime form.”Kohli is only the third batter to score 14,000 runs in ODIs after Sachin Tendulkar, who reached the landmark in 350 innings, and Kumar Sangakkara, who took 378 innings. Kohli got to 14,000 in 63 fewer innings than Tendulkar.

He is currently averaging over 57 in the format, while Tendulkar (44.19) and Sangakkara (41.73) were averaging in the early 40s when they got to 14,000 runs. He is also the fastest to 14,000 runs in terms of balls faced, needing 14,984, much quicker than both Tendulkar and Sangakkara, who needed 16,292 and 17,789, respectively. Tendulkar and Sangakkara also marked their milestones with hundreds, although both came in defeats unlike with Kohli.Kohli has been the fastest to every such 1000-run milestone since he went past 8000 ODI runs in 175 innings in June 2017. Overall, he is third on the list of highest run-scorers in ODIs, poised to overtake Sangakkara (14,234) in second place. Tendulkar tops the list with 18,426. Kohli also holds the record for most hundreds in ODIs; he surpassed Tendulkar’s tally of 49 during the 2023 ODI World Cup.

“Every time Virat goes there, the expectations are really high, not just for himself, but from the team’s perspective as well, that he’s going to get those runs for India, whether India bats first or chases down a target. And the fans’ expectations, you know, it’s massive,” Kumble said. “He’s a massive player, so obviously everything is sort of focused around Virat.”When that happens consistently, it starts to get to you and then you’re trying too hard to get out of that and try to be your normal batting self, and today I thought we saw that in Virat. The way he constructed that hundred was… we’ve seen that many, many times in his 51 hundreds in ODI cricket.”Earlier in the match against Pakistan, Kohli had broken the record for the most catches as a fielder for India in ODIs, moving to 158.

Smriti Mandhana: 'I'll be thinking about pulling out of WBBL'

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

India vice-captain, who has been on the road since the start of 2022, is looking for a break so she can be fit and ready for her national team

Vishal Dikshit12-Sep-2022India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana is considering pulling out of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) to manage her workload and to keep herself fit for international commitments.For Mandhana, 2022 started with an ODI tour of New Zealand in February in the lead up to the ODI World Cup in the same country in March. That was followed by domestic white-ball tournaments in India in April and May before the Indian team played ODIs and T20Is in Sri Lanka in Jun-July. Later in July and August, India played five T20Is in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where they finished with a silver medal, and Mandhana has been in the UK ever since, first for the Women’s Hundred to represent Southern Brave who finished runners-up, and then for the international white-ball games against England, which started with a T20I series on September 10.”I think more than the mental part, it’s about managing a little bit of physical part,” Mandhana said in a press conference from Derby. “Definitely I’ll be thinking about pulling out of WBBL because I don’t want to miss out on playing for India or having any niggles when I play for India because I want to give my 100% when I play international cricket. So definitely I’ll be thinking about playing or pulling out of Big Bash.”Mandhana took pains to add that she wasn’t really complaining about the volume of cricket she’s had to play because this is the kind of schedule women cricketers have wanted for years.”I have been on the road for a while now,” she said. “Post the one-day World Cup, I have been on the road with the domestic and the tournaments you mentioned [the Sri Lanka tour, the Commonwealth Games, the Women’s Hundred]. I just try to tell myself that because of Covid we haven’t really played a lot of cricket and we really hoped that we came back and start playing cricket.”And now I can’t be complaining that we have a lot of cricket on the platter. As a woman player we always wanted this sort of schedule for us. I’m really happy to be playing so much cricket and I’ve had my family over, like my mom is over here and she was here for the Hundred as well. So that also helps to be in a good mindset and the team-mates have been just amazing. It feels like we’re a family together.”India have a pretty packed schedule coming up. As per the new Future Tours Programme – a first of its kind for women’s cricket – India wrap up their series against England on September 24 and immediately fly out to Bangladesh for the Asia Cup which runs from October 1 to 16.The WBBL would have started by then – Mackay hosts the opening game on October 13 – and will go on till the end of November. India will host Australia for five T20Is in December following which they fly out to South Africa in January 2023 for a T20I tri-series involving the hosts and West Indies. February marks the start of the women’s T20 World Cup.There is no respite even after that. The women’s domestic season in India has been brought forward in 2023 to ensure the month of March remains completely free. That’s when the BCCI plans to hold the inaugural women’s IPL. It will be a standalone tournament, leading into the men’s edition.India women may get a break in April-May before they go on the road again, touring Bangladesh in June-July for three ODIs and as many T20Is. Then, they’ll welcome South Africa in September for three ODIs and three T20Is, New Zealand in October for the same number of games, England in December for a Test and three T20Is, and Australia in December-January for a Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is. It’s all part of a bumper home season for India in 2023-24.It is in light of such a busy calendar that Mandhana feels as her captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s does: India need a sports psychologist travelling with them.”Harman rightly pointed out…we had a psychologist Mugdha ma’am with us during the World Cup and she helped a lot of girls,” Mandhana said. “The way the cricket schedule is right now, many girls will benefit from such a mentor or psychologist in the team. I agree with Harman that such a move will help a lot of girls in the team.”Mandhana pulling out of the WBBL won’t be the first instance of a high-profile player taking a break in the women’s game. Katherine Brunt was rested for the ongoing series against India “with a view to maximising her mental and physical recovery off the back of what has been an intense year so far” and her wife Nat Sciver also withdrew saying, “I am very emotionally fatigued.”

ZC suspends Madhevere, Mavuta for breaching anti-doping rules

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

They tested positive for a banned recreational drug, and will appear for a disciplinary hearing soon

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2023Allrounders Wessly Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta have been suspended with immediate effect by Zimbabwe Cricket for “allegedly breaching anti-doping rules”. They have been suspended from all cricket activities, pending a hearing, after they tested positive for a banned recreational drug in an out-of-competition case during a in-house dope test recently.They have been charged under the ZC Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials, and will appear for a disciplinary hearing soon, which will likely decide the length of their suspension.Both Madhevere and Mavuta were part of the Zimbabwe side that faced Ireland in a home series until last week. Madhevere played all three T20Is while Mavuta played just the third T20I and the three ODIs after that.Mavuta made his international debut in 2018, and has so far played four Tests, 12 ODIs and 10 T20Is, while Madhevere, who first represented Zimbabwe in 2020, has featured in two Tests, 36 ODIs and 60 T20Is.While Mavuta didn’t play any competitive cricket after the Ireland series, Madhevere featured for Mashonaland Eagles in the ongoing Logan Cup, Zimbabwe’s first-class competition, to score 4 and bag 2 for 34.Madhevere’s and Mavuta’s suspensions come a day after Zimbabwe’s head coach Dave Houghton resigned from his post, as they failed to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup after also missing out on the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Hasan Ali makes his mark as Warwickshire take control

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

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

  • Ollie Robinson, David Bedingham tons put Durham in front

  • Haider Ali, Leus du Plooy stun Yorkshire with breathless counter-attack

  • Notts feel the heat from Hain again

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.

Brave begin post-Edwards era with convincing win

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Lauren Bell, Mady Villiers restrict Originals to 95 for 8 before Laura Wolvaardt sees visitors home

ECB Reporters Network06-Aug-2025Southern Brave started life after Charlotte Edwards with a convincing win over Manchester Originals at Emirates Old Trafford.The damage was all done with the ball, as Lauren Bell took 3 for 28 and Mady Villiers 2 for 19 to limit the hosts to just 95 for 8 from their 100 balls.
Seren Smale fought a lone hand for Originals on a wicket that none of her team-mates ever looked at home on, making 40 from 34 balls to give her side the faintest hope at the halfway mark but no side has ever defended fewer than 109 in the Hundred women’s competition and their total never looked like enough.And while Brave were rarely fluent, they were always comfortable – easing to a six-wicket win with 11 balls to spare. Former Originals batter Laura Wolvaardt, a direct signing for Southern Brave this season, showed her old team what they were missing with an assured and unbeaten 42.She was supported by Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who made 32, as Brave’s batting line-up eased over the line in first gear. Having endured a surprising eighth-placed finish last summer, with just one win, Brave – and their new head coach Luke Williams in particular – will have been pleased to start the campaign with a victory.For Originals it was a disappointing start to the season and, Smale’s innings aside, a day of few positives – they’ll hope to demonstrate it was mere blip next time out at the Kia Oval on Saturday.Meerkat Match Hero Bell said: “It’s great to get our first win on the board. In tournament cricket it’s really important to get a good start, and it was a good team performance.”The girls stuck in. The wicket was a bit tricky but we’ve got a great line-up and the batters did the job. We’ve had a lot of really good chats about being really confident, backing our strengths, and having fun out there.”

Danni Wyatt guides chase as Vipers give Sparks the slip in the wet

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Home side fall away between showers despite promising platform

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2022Southern Vipers 75 for 3 (Wyatt 36*) beat Central Sparks 163 for 7 (E Jones 39, Scholfield 2-20) by seven wickets (DLS method)Southern Vipers defeated Central Sparks by seven wickets on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern in a heavily rain-affected Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy opener at Portland Road. After frequent interruptions by the weather, Vipers chased down a revised DLS target of 70 in ten overs as they reached 75 for 3 with just two balls to spare.On a relentlessly damp afternoon in Birmingham, calculators were to the fore as both innings were truncated by heavy showers.Sparks batted first and closed on 163 for 7 from 36 overs – an innings of two halves after they reached 103 for 3 from 24 before a two-hour rain break. They resumed with 12 more overs to have a thrash but added just 60 more against disciplined bowling led by Georgia Elwiss (8-0-29-1).Chasing an initial target of 176 from 36, Vipers were 24 for 1 when rain returned. That trimmed the target to 70 from ten and Danni Wyatt paced the chase to perfection with an unbeaten 36 from 24 balls.Put in, Sparks, depleted by the absence of Emily Arlott, still recovering from Covid, and recent England debutant Issy Wong, were given a solid platform by openers Eve Jones and Davina Perrin who added 65 in 17 overs. Fifteen-year-old Perrin, a Staffordshire product, impressed for 22 from 48 balls before lifting Charlotte Taylor to mid-on.Paige Schofield soon had Thea Brookes caught behind before Jones’s promising innings of 39 ended in wasteful fashion when Ami Campbell called for a second run and Jones’ desperate dive for home narrowly failed. Three balls later the rain arrived and, after the resumption, Vipers bowled accurately to deny Sparks the boundaries they needed to beef up their total. #Vipers’ reply suffered an early blow when Georgia Adams was trapped lbw by the third ball of the innings, from Grace Potts. Wyatt was quickly into her stride, striking three boundaries despite the wet outfield before rain returned at 24 for 1 after three.The final chapter of a complex plot saw Vipers resume at 5.20pm needing another 46 from seven overs. Wyatt and Maia Boucher added a measured 62 from 47 balls and though Boucher fell lbw to Sarah Glenn in the penultimate over, Vipers needed just five from the last, from Hannah Baker.A handsome straight four from 17-year-old Freya Kemp from the second ball relieved the pressure. Kemp was bowled by the next but Elwiss settled the match by lifting her first ball for a huge six.

Du Plessis, bowlers seal see-saw win for Royal Challengers Bengaluru

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

RCB lost six wickets for only 25 runs in the chase after a strong start, but Karthik and Swapnil counterpunched to complete the win

Sreshth Shah04-May-20242:46

Rapid Fire – What made RCB’s quicks so effective in Bengaluru?

Four overs of craziness aside, Royal Challengers Bengaluru played the near-perfect game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to roll Gujarat Titans over for the second time in a week.Riding on the back of their seam-bowling success and a blistering opening stand between Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, RCB dominated for the first 26 overs of the game. But a middle-order collapse – where GT picked up six wickets for only 25 runs – briefly put them on the back foot. However, Dinesh Karthik (21*) and Swapnil Singh (15*) counterpunched to complete a four-wicket win.RCB’s victory with 38 balls to spare also takes them from tenth to seventh on the points table. They are on eighth points, as are ninth-placed GT, with both sides holding slim chances to make the playoffs.

RCB make use of conditions

Pitch number eight was the same surface on which Sunrisers Hyderabad pumped 287. But Saturday’s version of the pitch was different, courtesy the few hours of rain on Friday that made the pitch sweat overnight.Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal utilised that little assistance to move the ball in both directions in the powerplay, and found success with balls from behind a good length. Siraj dismissed Wriddhiman Saha for the fourth time in six innings and then had Shubman Gill playing away from his body for a catch at deep point. Sai Sudharsan also failed to get going, and GT could post only 23 for 3 in the powerplay, their lowest score of all time in that phase.M Shahrukh Khan, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia then scored in the thirties to keep the GT innings moving. Despite the occasional boundaries, the RCB seamers did not let them get away.Vijaykumar Vyshak pushed them back with short balls, as did Cameron Green, and helped by an electrifying fielding effort, the bowlers’ combined pressure soon brought about a lower-order collapse. GT slid from 131 for 5 to 147 all out, and their innings had two run-outs including a Kohli direct-hit dismissal of Shahrukh.

Du Plessis, Kohli dazzle

After surviving a close run-out chance on the first ball of the chase, Kohli brushed off all jitters by hitting Mohit Sharma for a six over cover and one more over midwicket in the opening over. Du Plessis then took Josh Little for 20 runs in the next over and RCB were off.1:46

Was that the best du Plessis knock of IPL 2024?

Du Plessis also took on IPL debutant Manav Suthar and Mohit, and the team fifty was brought up in just 3.1 overs. Kohli then pounced on Suthar for consecutive sixes over long-on. The onslaught continued as du Plessis then reached his fifty off 18 balls as RCB went past their previous-best powerplay score of 88. By the time he was dismissed in the sixth over by Little, RCB had already razed 92 off the target.

Karthik, Swapnil douse fire

From then on, however, wickets started to fall. RCB were probably looking to finish the game quickly to give their slim playoff qualification chances an NRR boost, but their batters fell trying to go after GT’s bowlers.Will Jacks fell to Noor Ahmad’s spin while Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell and Green were all dismissed by Little’s short balls. When Noor’s googly had Kohli edging behind for 42 in the 11th over, RCB had stuttered to 117 for 6.With four overs of Rashid left – he didn’t bowl earlier due to a blow to his shoulder while batting – GT searched for a seventh wicket to put in the ultimate squeeze, but Dinesh Karthik did not let the spinner settle by clubbing three fours in his opening over to give the Chinnaswamy crowd their voice again. When Rashid returned for his second over, Swapnil gave him the same treatment, hitting a six over the bowler’s head to secure the two points.

Game
Register
Service
Bonus