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Spirited batting closes gap to eighth place with one round of matches to come

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay18-Sep-2025Durham 450 for 6 (Gay 161, Rhodes , Bedingham 58) drew with Worcestershire 591 for 9 dec (Roderick 151, Brookes 100, D’Oliveira 84, Taylor 66*, Edavalath 61)Centuries from Emilio Gay and Will Rhodes helped Durham pick up five crucial batting bonus points as they drew their Rothesay County Championship clash with already relegated Worcestershire.In the morning the Pears picked up a couple of Durham scalps to halt their quest for batting bonus points, but Gay and David Bedingham (58) combined for a partnership worth 122 to help Durham’s cause.Gay then reached three figures, while Rhodes scored his maiden first-class hundred for Durham to get them to 450 for six, securing the maximum number of batting points available ahead of a potential relegation decider against Yorkshire next week.Worcestershire declared overnight on 591 for nine, leaving Durham with the task of getting batting bonus points to boost their chances of staying in Division One.Opener Alex Lees carved a Tom Taylor delivery through the covers to the boundary, but Taylor got Lees next ball as he was caught behind for eight.The Pears were testing Durham in the early stages, but Gay relieved the pressure as he produced a great straight drive off Taylor which went for four.Durham’s pursuit stalled as Ben McKinney then departed for 16 at the hands of Matthew Waite as he edged one to Ben Gibbon at slip.That brought David Bedingham to the crease and the batter managed to find the boundary with ease in the early stages of his innings.Pears skipper Brett D’Oliveira came into the attack, but on his follow through he went over on his right ankle, which prompted concerns from the dressing room given they have the Metro Bank One Day Cup final on Saturday.Gay continued to tick along nicely and got his fifty from 71 balls, while taking his side to 100 before lunch.Bedingham continued to attack the bowlers after the lunch interval as he clipped one on the onside for four and he played another excellent shot, this time carving a Taylor delivery through the covers for four.Gay was almost heading back to the pavilion on 72, as he edged an Allison delivery but Gibbon couldn’t cling on to it with an outstretched hand.Bedingham then brought up his second fifty of the season from 79 balls and smashed a six off the bowling of Waite next ball. However, he went for one hit too many as Waite got him for 58 after he didn’t get enough on a pull shot, which Allison caught on the boundary.Gay continued to motor, now alongside Will Rhodes, and he picked up his fourth century of the season from 127 balls.The opener continued to play fluently after reaching the milestone, picking up three boundaries in a Brookes over, and Durham reached their first batting point in the 53rd over.Gay passed the milestone of 150 for the third time this campaign after tea and Rhodes, who has struggled for First Class runs this season, played nicely and found the boundary with a tidy glance off the legs from a Gibbon ball.Rhodes then reached fifty for the first time in Durham whites from 72 deliveries and he picked up another boundary straight after. Gay then went for an excellent 161, his highest Durham score, as he chopped a Gibbon delivery onto his leg stump.Rhodes continued Durham’s swashbuckling approach as he heaved a Dan Lategan to the boundary, but Ollie Robinson fell soon after for four as he was bowled by the part-time off spin of Jake Libby.Rhodes continued his charge as he smashed Lategan for a six down the ground and then reached three figures for the first time this season, coming from 121 balls.Graham Clark produced a quick 29 to speed things up, but Libby got his second of the day as he got the Durham man caught and bowled.Rhodes then got his 150 and guided his side to 450, the magic number for five batting points, and the two sides shook hands just after 5pm.

Essex close out comfortable victory at Hove to reach last eight

ECB Reporters Network01-Jul-2022A magnificently miserly bowling stint from the Essex Eagles captain Simon Harmer led his side to victory by 28 runs runs in their Vitality Blast match against the Sussex Sharks at Hove, securing a place in the quarter-finals.Harmer conceded just 18 runs from his four overs and also picked up the wickets of danger man Ali Orr, Tom Alsop and George Garton. It was the eighth win of the campaign for Essex, who are assured of a top-four spot, as Sussex disappointed once again before a sell-out crowd.But Orr, the hero of Sussex’s first championship win of the season two days before, threatened more heroics as Sussex chased a challenging 198 for victory.Sussex took just five runs from Aaron Beard’s first over but then Orr plundered 25 runs off the second over, bowled by Daniel Sams, the sequence going six, six, four, four, four and one.After just four overs Sussex were 54 without loss, with Orr flying on 36. Josh Philippe was caught behind for 17 in the fifth over but after seven overs Sussex were better than on target, at 81 for one. But then Orr’s odyssey came to an end as he skied Harmer to midwicket. His 41 had come off just 21 balls, and there were five fours and two sixes.Sussex were ahead of the game at the halfway stage, at 101 for two after ten overs. But then Harrison Ward holed out to the deep midwicket boundary for a 22-ball 31 and a brave 28-ball 47 from Sussex captain and former Essex man Ravi Bopara was not enough.Earlier, Adam Rossington’s 50-ball 95, with ten fours and five sixes, was the stand-out performance in the Essex total of 197 for eight. It was his highest score in the competition. But when Essex were 68 without loss in the seventh over they must have fancied their chances of scoring even more after being invited to bat.Rossington brought up the fifty in the sixth over as he drove Henry Crocombe for a straight four, the bowler’s first three deliveries going for boundaries.But Sussex battled their way back into the match by taking three wickets in the space of ten deliveries. Delray Rawlins bowled Robin Das, Michael Pepper, reverse sweeping, was brilliantly caught by Ali Orr, diving to his right at backward-point, and Dan Lawrence was bowled by Ravi Bopara’s second ball.Rossington moved to 95 with a six over long-off but was stumped next ball and it was Essex’s red ball captain Tom Westley, with a 30-ball 54, who was responsible for ensuring his side reached a challenging total. Westley struck three fours and four sixes, hitting George Garton out of the ground over the hospitality area at cow corner.Rashid Khan was once again the best Sussex bowler with three wickets for 30 runs while Bopara (2-30) and Rawlins (2-34) also bowled well.

The third edition of the five-team tournament will conclude on August 21

Madushka Balasuriya11-Jun-2022The third edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will take place from July 31 to August 21, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed. The registration of international players for the player draft “will commence shortly,” added an SLC media release.Despite speculation that this year’s tournament might see the addition of a sixth team, SLC has confirmed that it will remain a five-team tournament. Like last year, the group stage games will take place at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, while the action will then shift to the MRICS in Hambantota for the Qualifiers, Eliminator and final. The tournament will see a total of 24 games played.”We are extremely happy to announce the 3rd edition of the Lanka Premier League, which has started its journey toward carving a place in the global T20 League competitions, as a formidable tournament,” SLC president Shammi Silva stated in the release.Jaffna have won both editions of the tournament in 2020 and 2021, initially under the Stallions moniker and then a second time after being rebranded the Kings by its new owners. The Galle Gladiators have been the losing finalists on both occasions.The LPL will be part of a packed schedule for Sri Lanka’s cricketers leading up to October’s T20 World Cup in Australia. While the match dates for the tournament are yet to be announced, the July 31 start indicates a short turnaround for those involved in Pakistan’s July tour of Sri Lanka, the exact dates of which are to be finalised. Then in September, Sri Lanka are set to host the Asia Cup before heading off to Australia for the global tournament.

There are three spots to be filled in the five-man committee that currently includes Sunil Joshi and Harvinder Singh

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2020The BCCI’s cricket advisory committee – led by former India fast bowlers Madan Lal and RP Singh and the former women’s cricketer Sulakshana Naik – has initiated the process on Thursday to appoint three new selectors for the men’s selection panel. Among those who have been shortlisted for the position comprise former India players Ajit Agarkar, Chetan Sharma, Maninder Singh, Nayan Mongia and SS Das.According to the , others that have been shortlisted include Abey Kuruvilla, Vijay Dahiya, Ajay Ratra, Nikhil Chopra, Debashish Mohanty and Ranadeb Bose. The shortlisted candidates, who had applied late November, were informed on Wednesday evening that the interviews would be conducted virtually. it is understood the CAC will finalise its choices by end of the day and share with the BCCI. Once the refurbished selection committee is decided, the group’s first task would be to pick squads for the home series against England which comprises four Tests, 5 T20s and three ODIs, starting February 5 next year.The BCCI had invited applications to fill the three vacant spots left after the tenures of Jatin Paranjape, Devang Gandhi and Sarandeep Singh ended in September. The men’s selection committee currently consists of only two members: former India spinner Sunil Joshi, who is the chairman, and Harvinder Singh, the former India and Railways fast bowler. Those two were appointed after the terms of MSK Prasad and Gagan Khoda ended in February after India’s tour of New Zealand.The BCCI had put down a minimum qualification of seven Tests or 30 first-class matches or 10 ODIs and 20 first-class matches for the applicants. They should have also retired “at least five years previously”. The board also listed 60 as the age limit for the applicants.

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.

Half-centuries for Karunaratne, Chandimal and Dhananjaya not enough to prevent heavy Sri Lanka defeat

Alan Gardner01-Sep-2024Gus Atkinson produced his fifth performance worthy of the Lord’s honours boards in his debut summer as an England Test cricketer, adding a second-innings five-for to his maiden hundred as Sri Lanka’s resistance in the second Test was finally broken.The touring side, set an unlikely target of 483 to keep the series alive, put on a gutsy fourth-innings display in a bid to avoid a first Test defeat at Lord’s since 1991. There were valiant half-centuries for Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva, as well as more dogged lower-order resistance from Milan Rathnayake, in only his second Test. But in the end, they were well beaten, going down by 190 runs inside four days.There was only a sparse crowd in at Lord’s to appreciate the contest, but there were ripples of applause for Sri Lanka’s endeavour – followed by the latest ovation of Atkinson’s fledgling Test career, as he raised the ball aloft after removing Rathnayake to leave Sri Lanka nine down. It took his tally to 19 Test wickets at 10.94 in two Test appearances at Lord’s (three entries on the board for five wickets in an innings, one for ten in the match), to go alongside the first century of his professional career.Atkinson’s exploits also put him in select company as an allrounder, becoming only the third England Men’s player to score a hundred and take a five-wicket haul in the same Test.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

England returned on Sunday morning needing eight wickets to seal a 2-0 lead in the series – and their fifth consecutive Test win this summer. They were made to work hard for it, with Chris Woakes, Olly Stone and Shoaib Bashir contributing alongside Atkinson as Sri Lanka’s batters applied themselves to their task.If chasing 483 to win seemed unlikely, they certainly had a chance of taking the game into a fifth day. “Bat simple and bat long,” was the message, according to Dhananjaya, and Karunaratne’s first fifty of the series set the tone during the morning session as Sri Lanka lost just two wickets, one of them the “lightwatcher”, Prabath Jayasuriya.Karunaratne dug in for 129 balls for his 55, before being bounced out by Stone, then Chandimal changed gears to blitz a 43-ball fifty either side of lunch. Dhananjaya was typically cool in putting up the highest partnership of the innings alongside Rathnayake, notching his own fifty after tea; but when he played on against Atkinson with the second new ball, the end for Sri Lanka was nigh.Ollie Pope shuffled his hand regularly, trying out different combinations and tactics – although his success with the DRS did not improve, with three burned reviews taking his record as England’s stand-in captain to eight without managing to overturn a single on-field call.The review system also led to England’s one moment of palpable frustration, when Chandimal had an lbw decision reversed on the strength of the minutest of flickers on UltraEdge – “He’s not hit that,” Woakes could be seen to say on replay. But Chandimal’s skittish innings featuring 11 boundaries eventually came to an end via a bat-pad catch at short leg off Atkinson, who struck again in his next over as Kamindu Mendis flashed a drive to third slip.Dhananjaya and Rathnayake threw up another roadblock, as they had done in the first innings at Old Trafford, to extend the day into a third session. Rathnayake showed his bravery in taking on Stone’s short-ball attack and after being dropped by Joe Root at slip off Atkinson looked set to add a second fifty in as many Tests only to nick a pull behind, before Woakes’ slower ball finished the innings off, Lahiru Kumara chipping to mid-on.Dinesh Chandimal hits on the up in his energetic innings•Getty Images

It was a long way from an eventful start, which saw Karunaratne survive a review for lbw off the second ball of the morning – replays showing Woakes’ delivery had pitched fractionally outside leg stump. The Sri Lanka opener had another life when a slash at Atkinson evaded the diving Root, a tough, one-handed chance at slip; England then lost a second review when thought they had him caught behind off the same bowler.Woakes removed Jayasuriya after an obdurate innings of 4 from 41 balls, a thick-edged drive well held low at second slip by Harry Brook. But the fourth-wicket stand between Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews kept England at bay, with a run-out seemingly their likeliest method of a breakthrough.With just one fifty from 13 previous innings in England, Karunaratne was largely watchful in his approach, although he did take three boundaries off an over from Atkinson: a cover drive followed up with a controlled pull, before a low edge flew between slip and gully. Another steer down to deep third off Matt Potts took him to 49 before a tap to point allowed him to raise his bat for the first time on tour.Mathews looked to take on Bashir, who found some turn but was perhaps not as threatening as England would have hoped, and Pope asked Stone to go short again with lunch approaching. The move worked, Karunaratne dislodged when gloving a lifter through to Smith down the leg side.Chandimal seemed intent on counterattacking and took Woakes for back-to-back fours at the start of his spell after lunch, then hit Bashir for three boundaries in an over. A wild swipe at Woakes that flew over the slips took him to fifty, and he did the bulk of the scoring during a stand of 59 with Mathews.They were separated when Bashir tempted Mathews to try and go over the top, only to drill his shot into the hands of Woakes, going to his left at mid-off. Woakes then thought he had removed Chandimal on 55, hitting the knee roll with one coming back down the slope – only for the third umpire, Chris Gaffaney, to conclude there was bat involved, much to Woakes’ chagrin. The delay was temporary, as England closed in on a clean sweep ahead of the final Test of the summer at The Oval next week.

“This squad deserved to give themselves a better chance and it didn’t happen for us, which is very disappointing,” Boucher says

Firdose Moonda06-Nov-20222:36

Moody: Regardless of captaincy, Bavuma shouldn’t be in this format

No, it wasn’t a dream. Early on Sunday morning, not even eight hours after the world champion Springboks were beaten by Ireland in Dublin, South Africans woke up to the news that their men’s cricket team had been booted out of the T20 World Cup following a defeat to Netherlands. Yes, it is a nightmare.What should have been a stroll into the semi-finals, in what was increasingly looking like South Africa’s tournament to win – the blip against Pakistan notwithstanding – became what outgoing coach Mark Boucher conceded was “up there” (should that be “down there”?) with the worst of their major tournament blowouts. Sure, there will be some if-ing and but-ing about the Zimbabwe washout, but victories over Bangladesh and India set South Africa up nicely. All they had to do was win this match, against a team everyone expected them to beat, to reach the knockouts. It was entirely in their hands and they fumbled and floundered and, eventually, let it slip.Related

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“We’ve got ourselves to blame,” a “gutted” Boucher said.Later, his under-pressure captain Temba Bavuma echoed those thoughts. “Everything was in our hands as a team,” he said. “We had the confidence, we had the belief. We had the form behind us. When it mattered, we just couldn’t do the business.”In situations like these, when a team that has historically disappointed in pressure moments at World Cups to the point that everyone expects some strange coming together of circumstances to conspire against them, it is cruel to ask them to analyse why. It is easier to just let them sit with it and maybe in private, scream about it, but that’s not how professional sport is set up. Spectators want answers, maybe even someone or something to blame, and post-mortems must be written and broadcast. So why, South Africa? What went wrong and when did it start?Not what the South African fans were expecting to see•ICC via Getty

“When we woke up,” Boucher said. “If you look at the way we started the game, our energies were low. Whether that’s because it’s a 10.30am game, and times have been quite difficult…”He tailed off because, really. The morning start did present some different challenges through bounce and there will be some questions over South Africa’s decision to bowl first, but they had a plan. “We went through what this wicket plays like early morning. The history was that the wicket was a little bit cold and we decided to go in with the extra seamer and bowl first,” Boucher said. “We were looking to make a bit of inroads into their top order early doors and we just didn’t bowl well enough.”And that’s where it will really hurt. Because South Africa’s attack, lauded as the best in the tournament thanks to their variety, were “outbowled”, as Boucher put it.Only Anrich Nortje managed to beat the Dutch batters for pace, Wayne Parnell didn’t find swing, Lungi Ngidi’s change-ups were not as effective as they were in other matches, and Kagiso Rabada’s underwhelming tournament ended in an underwhelming performance. Among the frontline bowlers, he finished with the fewest wickets and the highest economy rate.In contrast, Netherlands’ Brandon Glover dismissed Rilee Rossouw with the legcutter, for example, as the Dutch adapted better. “They read the conditions really well and they adapted quicker than we did and they made it tough for us,” Boucher said.Still, a target of 159 was chaseable, even by a South Africa line-up carrying a captain who may have only just found a little bit of form. But South Africa failed to use the short, square boundary to their advantage while Netherlands caught well. Roelof van der Merwe’s running catch to dismiss David Miller was one of the grabs of the tournament and only stings more because van der Merwe is a South African, though it’s highly unlikely he would have been part of this squad.”We didn’t bowl like we should have bowled but we didn’t bat like I thought we should have batted,” Boucher said. “The total that was put on for us was maybe a little more than we expected but one our batting unit could have chased down. We deserved to be better as a squad but it didn’t happen.”That could be what South Africa need to zone in on: they felt they had earned the right to advance before they had gotten to that stage. “If you would have said to us, we’ve got Netherlands to play to get to a semi-final and you’ve got to beat them, we would have taken that,” Boucher admitted.Chances are a lot of teams would have made that mistake if they had already come through the tougher games in their group and could see the knockouts beckoning. But if South Africa have learnt a lesson, it’s too late for this campaign.2:21

How did Netherlands pull off the unimaginable?

For Boucher, who has been in this position as a player and now as a coach, it’s about moving on and accepting that they will return home without a World Cup. It may be easier for him, because he is leaving the team to take up a role with the Mumbai Indians.”It’s not the only upset that’s happened in the tournament,” he said. “In T20 cricket, you can get on to a bit of a roll, one or two batters come off, create a bit of pressure, and this happens. There’s been some very good sides that were beaten by the so-called lesser countries.”For the players, it’s about confronting the fact that another generation has been wounded and working quickly to ensure the scars do not settle too deep. Just this week, Faf du Plessis and Dale Steyn have spoken about how the 2015 semi-final loss took them almost a year to get over. South Africa can’t afford that, with the potential of 50-over World Cup Qualifiers looming in June and another World Cup less than 12 months away.Boucher doesn’t think this group would be too affected even though “the more you don’t do well, it does start playing in your head”. And Bavuma suggested he would work to help the newer players get over it quickly. “It [the chokers’ tag] will always be there, until we find ourselves in a situation where we get to a final. But there’s elements of learning we could take from it, especially the younger guys,” Bavuma said. “For someone like (Tristan) Stubbs or Marco Jansen, it’s for them not to make the same mistakes. Unfortunately, that tag, we are still going to carry that monkey on our backs.”At least, they don’t carry it alone anymore. As the sun rose over South Africa and the social-media apps were opened, it wasn’t anger that came through but a sense of resignation. Maybe it’s the same as the feeling that has come over the changeroom; the feeling that another one has got away and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. “This squad deserved to give themselves a better chance and it didn’t happen for us, which is very disappointing for me and every single guy in our dressing room,” Boucher said. And 60 million South Africans back home, too.

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.

Hurricanes and Stars remain in the bottom half of the points table

Tristan Lavalette02-Nov-2023Hobart Hurricanes overcame a vintage 75 from Meg Lanning, as Nicola Carey and Naomi Stalenberg chased superbly under pressure to thwart Melbourne Stars at Bellerive Oval.Bucking the tournament’s trend, an increasingly confident Hurricanes were nerveless under lights to reach the target of 143 with four balls to spare. Carey and Stalenberg combined for a partnership of 69 unbroken runs after coming together at 74 for 4 following the key wicket of captain Elyse Villani.They played risk-free cricket as Hurricanes comfortably crossed the target having been in trouble earlier in the innings.Villani and Lizelle Lee had started watchfully in the powerplay as they blunted a desperate Stars attack facing an uphill battle to defend a seemingly modest total.But Lee holed out to Sasha Moloney in the sixth over to trigger a collapse as Hurricanes slumped to 47 for 3 when Heather Graham was caught behind off Annabel Sutherland.Much like counterpart Lanning earlier, Villani defied her team’s predicament by batting calmly and hitting attractive shots around the wicket. Stars were feeling the brunt of not only Villani’s bat, but also a pesky bird feeling rather territorial in the outfield.Hurricanes took the power surge in the 11th over, but it did not have the desired effect with Villani on 41 succumbing to a Sutherland slower delivery.Meg Lanning made the Stars innings a one-person show•Getty Images

But Carey and Stalenberg were unruffled as Hurricanes continued to turn around their season after starting with a pair of big defeats against Perth Scorchers.Having only taken one wicket in her first four matches, Shabnim Ismail rattled Stars’ misfiring top order while Molly Strano shackled a succession of batters with her accurate offspin.Hurricanes’ bowlers were aided by reckless batting from Stars. Playing a lone hand with a 50-ball 75, Lanning rescued Stars from peril at 46 for 4 with no other batter reaching 20 runs.It was not the performance envisioned from Stars when Lanning elected to bat on a flat surface. She watched on glumly as opener Sophie Reid holed out in the first over to Strano, who bowled a wicket maiden.A buoyant Hurricanes went on the attack with Ismail bowling short of a length. The plan worked almost immediately with Alice Capsey baited into hitting a rising delivery straight to Carey at third.At 5 for 2, it was left to Lanning and Sutherland to steady the ship but they continued to be confronted by a hostile Ismail armed with an aggressive field.Having emerged from a form rut against Scorchers with 49 off 27 balls, Sutherland briefly showcased her growing repertoire of inventive strokes to become the youngest player to reach 1000 runs in the WBBL. She clubbed Ismail down the ground, but on the next delivery miscued a delivery angled into her body straight to mid-on.Lanning rebuilt the innings by playing cautiously initially and she received support from Sophia Dunkley, who on two survived a missed stumping from Lee off Amy Smith.Lanning decided to put the foot down in the 12th over with three boundaries off Maisy Gibson. She accelerated further after taking the power surge in the 15th over and reached her half-century in style with a clip on the leg side.Not even the return of Ismail slowed down Lanning, who smashed a full toss for six as she eyed a remarkable century.But Lanning’s dismissal in the 18th over put the brakes on as Stars finished with a total that ultimately proved insufficient in the batting-friendly conditions.

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.