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Mumbai Indians ended the league stage of the IPL with a table-topping 20 points after they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs at the Eden Gardens

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy13-May-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:04

Hogg: Game lost for KKR with Yusuf’s reckless dismissal

Mumbai Indians ended the league stage of the IPL with a table-topping 20 points after they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs at the Eden Gardens. The defeat meant Knight Riders, with 16 points, would not finish in the top two. Sunrisers Hyderabad, who had beaten Gujarat Lions in Saturday’s afternoon game, had ended the league stage on 17.Having made as many as six changes to their line-up in an effort to test their bench strength ahead of the playoffs, Mumbai posted 173 on the back of half-centuries from Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu. Knight Riders were in control of the required rate from the start, but kept losing wickets far too frequently.As many as five Knight Riders batsmen got to 20, and yet their top-scorer only made 33. This proved decisive, in the end, as they fell short of their target by 10 runs. It was Knight Riders’ first home defeat while chasing since 2013.Rayudu fires to lift sluggish MumbaiLendl Simmons came into this game with an ordinary T20 record against left-arm pace – 503 runs off 492 balls, 20 dismissals – and he duly fell to a left-arm quick, flat-batting Trent Boult to mid-off in the third over of Mumbai’s innings. Rohit Sharma, pulling and slog-sweeping crisply, then scored 27 off 20 before Ankit Rajpoot had him lbw with an offcutter. That left Mumbai at a healthy 69 for 2 in 8.2 overs.From there, though, they slowed down. Tiwary and Rayudu were Mumbai’s most productive pair in the 2010 season, and now, seven years on, they added 61 in 7.4 overs. Tiwary struggled to find the boundary once the Powerplay restrictions disappeared, scoring only 18 off 21 from the start of the seventh over before muscling Sunil Narine for successive fours in the 15th over to bring up his half-century. A comical mix-up – he stood unmoved at the non-striker’s end when Rayudu called for a fairly regulation single – ended his innings at 52 off 43 – it was the second-slowest 50-plus score of the season.The four other fifties in that top five (Mandeep Singh, Virat Kohli, Chris Morris and Manoj Tiwary) had all ended up in losing causes.Rayudu, though, ensured Mumbai would post a challenging if not entirely massive total. He began fairly sedately, hitting only one boundary in his first 20 runs, but upped the pace by peppering the leg-side boundaries, the highlight of his innings a pick-up shot over the deep backward square-leg boundary off Boult to bring up his half-century. Despite Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya only scoring 14 off 14 between them, Rayudu’s 63 off 37 ensured Knight Riders wouldn’t run away with the game.Slog on, regardlessGiven that a team has ten wickets to exhaust over 20 overs, the “ideal” T20 innings would consist of batsmen going for big hits right through, with no pause for the rebuilding phases characteristic of 50-over cricket. That approach, however, requires a side that bats deep, with power hitters all the way down to Nos. 9, 10 and even 11.Here, Knight Riders – in a chase of 174, where such an approach may not have been strictly necessary – seemed to be aiming for the platonic ideal of a T20 innings without having the line-up for it. Given that Chris Woakes was ruled out with an ankle injury, and that his replacement Boult is a classic No. 11, Knight Riders’ serious batting only extended up to Colin de Grandhomme at No. 7.Still, they kept going hard; they kept finding the boundaries, but they also kept losing wickets. By the end of the ninth over, they had hit seven fours and six sixes and lost five wickets. Chris Lynn, Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan fell in the 20s, and it felt as if one of them could have attempted to anchor Knight Riders and give them some stability to go with their scoring rate. Instead, all three were out going for big shots.When Yusuf holed out against Vinay Kumar, Knight Riders needed 87 from 66 balls; a perfectly straightforward ask, but they already had their last recognised pair at the crease.Pandey, de Grandhomme steady chaseManish Pandey and de Grandhomme gave Knight Riders the partnership they needed, putting on 41 in 31 balls. De Grandhomme maintained Knight Riders’ momentum, employing deftness rather than brawn to pick up his boundaries. He used Vinay Kumar’s pace to steer him either side of short third man for three fours in the 11th over, before clubbing Hardik Pandya over the midwicket boundary in more characteristic fashion.Umpire S Ravi missed an inside-edge from Pandey to wicketkeeper Rayudu in the 14th over, but Mumbai didn’t have to wait too much longer for a breakthrough, Hardik nipping one back off the seam to bowl de Grandhomme at the start of the 15th. At that point, Knight Riders needed 46 from 35.Knight Riders run out of batsmenPandey’s run of luck continued – substitute fielder J Suchith put him down at deep midwicket when he pulled Tim Southee uppishly in the 17th over. The rest of that over continued to frustrate Mumbai. Kuldeep Yadav guided the next ball past short third man for four, and then escaped being run out while taking a non-existent single when Karn Sharma missed the stumps at the bowler’s end. Then Southee was no-balled for bowling with only three fielders inside the circle. At the end of that over, Knight Riders only needed 25 off 18.But they still only had one real batsman left, Pandey, and he pulled Hardik straight to deep midwicket off the first ball of the 18th over. Having now lost seven wickets, Knight Riders simply had no batsmen left with the skill to score 25 off 17 balls, particularly when umpire A Nanda Kishore gave Kuldeep caught-behind in the penultimate over when the ball missed his outside edge.

Mark Stoneman scored a chanceless unbeaten 181 to continue his impressive form for new county Surrey as they took the first-day honours against Essex at Guildford

ECB Reporters Network09-Jun-2017
Scorecard1:00

County Championship Round-up: Stoneman goes big for Surrey

Mark Stoneman scored a chanceless unbeaten 181 to continue his impressive form for new county Surrey as they took the first-day honours against Essex at Guildford.The 29-year-old left-hander’s third century since he moved to the club from Durham last winter helped them reach 353 for 5 after they had been put in by Essex in the battle between two sides looking to put pressure on Division One leaders Hampshire.Stoneman still has ambitions to play for England and is certainly the in-form opener in the country at the moment. Former England captain Alastair Cook, who had the best view in the house at first slip, would have been impressed with the quality of Stoneman’s ball-striking, particularly square of the wicket and through the off side.He did not offer a chance against an Essex attack depleted by the absence of seamer Matt Quinn for much of a rain-shortened day after he went off with back spasms.Stoneman watched three partners depart at the other end before sharing a stand of 186 in 41 overs with Dominic Sibley, whose 69 was his third Championship half-century of the season, to alter the course of the day.Jamie Porter had claimed two wickets with the new ball, including Kumar Sangakkara for just four, to help reduce Surrey to 89 for 3 after morning rain had delayed the start until 1.10pm.Porter claimed his 150th first-class wicket when Rory Burns swished outside off stump before picking up Sangakkara, who came into the game with 876 first-class runs already this season but aimed an expansive drive at Porter and fell for just four. With Neil Wagner drawing Scott Borthwick forward and finding the edge Essex would have been pleased with their early work.But Stoneman was soon into his stride. He collected leg-side sixes off Porter and off-spinner Simon Harmer, who bowled 17 overs either side of tea, and 15 boundaries in a 118-ball hundred which he reached shortly after tea.Mark Stoneman struck his third hundred of the summer•Getty Images

His next 50 came off 55 deliveries and he passed his previous best for Surrey, 165 against Warwickshire in the opening game of the season, when he drove a ball from Ravi Bopara back past the bowler to the boundary.Sibley was starting to plck up the pace, having reached 50 off 99 balls, when Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate dragged Surrey back with two wickets in successive overs.Sibley, who hit nine fours and two sixes, was caught behind off ten Doeschate’s sixth ball and in his next over he trapped former Essex team-mate Ben Foakes leg before as he played across the line.But Sam Curran gave Stoneman excellent support and reached a 54-ball half-century with his tenth boundary in the last over of the day. The pair have added 73 for the sixth wicket so far, Stoneman having so far faced 221 balls with 21 fours and two sixes.

England are in the unusual position of entering an ODI match against Australia as favourites. But their upsurge owes much to a common adversary

Melinda Farrell at Edgbaston09-Jun-2017So far, Australia’s Champions Trophy campaign has run about as smoothly as a three-wheeled cart on gravel.The players are in the middle of a fractious employment dispute with Cricket Australia, with David Warner going so far as to question CA’s desire for a successful campaign, and they could effectively be unemployed in three weeks’ time. To top it off, they haven’t played a single full match in this tournament.And now they find themselves in the position where they must beat England; tournament favourites, already secure of a semi-final berth, playing at home and on a ground that has brought success and joyful memories.It has clearly been a frustrating tournament for Australia, providing a challenge for Steven Smith to keep his players focussed on the elements they can control. But while he is adamant the MoU discussions haven’t clouded the team’s preparations, it can’t be helpful to have the topic raised at every media appearance and dominate their social media landscape. Nor can it be easy to forget the more literal clouds that have doused their first two matches.But Smith hopes the tribulations and the knockout pressure of this match will bring out the best in his players and see them emerge as cornered kangaroos, if you will.”Obviously, a must-win match for us,” said Smith, speaking at Edgbaston. “Yeah, it usually does bring out the best of the Australia cricket team in big tournaments. So let’s hope this is the case tomorrow.”It’s not ideal we haven’t got through a full fixture yet, but we can’t control the weather. We can only control what we’re doing, and we’ve prepared really well in the nets.”The guys are looking forward to tomorrow. It’s essentially a quarter-final for us, so we’re ready to come up against a good England outfit.”Steven Smith and his team have spent much of the tournament watching from the sidelines•Getty Images

While Australia’s batsmen have struggled to find either time or many runs in the middle, Smith can at least take encouragement from the improvement shown by Mitchell Starc. After a wicketless innings in his first match back from a foot injury, Starc was menacing at The Oval, taking 4 for 29 as he tore through the Bangladesh tail.A new pitch has been prepared at Edgbaston and, while there has been much anticipation to see Australia’s four quickest bowlers in the same side for the first time, John Hastings has strong claims for inclusion. He was in the team selected for the eventual washout against New Zealand at Edgbaston, in which he took two wickets.”I’m sure he’ll be talked about, particularly as there’s a new wicket,” said Smith. “He’s a guy that bowls that little bit slower and can hit the seam and generate, or get, whatever’s in the wicket.”Being a fresh wicket, there could be a little bit there, and he’ll certainly come into contention, I’m sure.”It must almost be a relief for Smith to ponder selections and contemplate how the pitch might play. It the midst of the nagging MoU uncertainty, those thoughts provide a slice of cricket normality and, once they walk onto the Edgbaston field, it will become clear whether the obstacles have been a distraction or a means of galvanizing the players.”I think the players have been really united through everything that’s going on with the MoU back home,” said Smith. “So the guys are in a good place. There hasn’t been that much talk about it as a team.””I said at the start before we got here, this is an ICC tournament. It only comes around every four years, the Champions Trophy, and it’s the second-biggest tournament after the World Cup.”So we’ve got to be focused on that. It’s a very sort of cut-throat tournament with only three pool matches. So you’ve got to be switched on for each and every one of those, albeit we’re only going to be getting through one potentially.”I made sure that coming over here, that we’re completely focused on this tournament and getting the job done at hand.”

It indicated that recommendations such as the one-state-one-vote policy would be part of the discussions at the next hearing on August 18

Nagraj Gollapudi24-Jul-2017A year after approving the Lodha Committee recommendations and directing the BCCI to implement the same, the Supreme Court has warmed up to the idea of reconsidering a few of the proposals. Although the court did not spell out the specific ones it would re-open for debate, it did indicate that recommendations such as the one-state-one-vote policy, and the reduction in the size of the selection panel – which has already taken place – would be part of the discussions at the next hearing on August 18.In the interim, the court directed the BCCI and state associations to approve as many recommendations “as far as practicable”. “All concerned (BCCI and state associations) shall implement the recommendations of the Justice Lodha Committee Report as far as practicable, barring the issues which have been raised pertaining to membership, number of members of the selection committee, concept of associate membership, etc,” the court said in its order today.”The purpose is to implement the report as far as practicable and, thereafter, it shall be debated as to how the scheme of things can be considered so that the cricket, the ‘gentleman’s game’, remains nearly perfect.”The court’s order represents a softening of sorts on the verdict delivered on July 18 last year, when a two-judge bench led by former Chief Justice of India TS Thakur delivered a withering judgement, ordering the BCCI to implement the proposals within six months.Thakur has since retired, however, and the hearing has taken place in front of a three-judge bench comprising Justices Deepak Misra, AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.The BCCI has scheduled a special general meeting (SGM) on July 26 to discuss and approve the adoption of the new constitution as per the Lodha Committee recommendations. The BCCI was originally scheduled to ratify the constitution at the July 11 SGM, but that was postponed after five state associations raised objections.On Monday, the court was responding to petitions filed by a number of state associations, as well as the by the BCCI itself, and also looking at the status report filed by the Committee of Administrators (CoA).The CoA, charged with overseeing the implementation of the proposals, had complained in their status report that disqualified office bearers with “vested interests” were stalling the process. Specifically, the CoA named the veteran pair of N Srinvasan and Niranjan Shah as “impediments”.Srinivasan and Shah filed individual affidavits, explaining their stance against proposals. Both men fail the eligibility criteria prescribed by the Lodha Committee on various counts, having been office bearers at their respective state association for more than nine years and having also exceeded the age cap of 70.Yet despite their ineligibility, Srinivasan and Shah have been attending BCCI meetings as representatives of their state associations. Other senior administrators, including Rajeev Shukla (IPL chairman and representative of Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association) and Jyotiraditya Scindia (representative of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association), have also violated court orders.The court today did not issue a final decision on the issue, but in response to the CoA report, did say that no ineligible office bearer, both at the BCCI and the state association, can attend the July 26 SGM. In theory, that means Srinivasan, Shah, Shukla and Scindia cannot attend Wednesday’s meeting.

Corey Anderson propelled Somerset to a 32-run victory over Sussex on the DLS method in a rain-affected NatWest T20 Blast South Group contest at Taunton

ECB Reporters Network30-Jul-2017Corey Anderson’s power helped Somerset to the points in a rain-affected encounter•Getty Images

Corey Anderson propelled Somerset to a 32-run victory over Sussex on the DLS method in a rain-affected NatWest T20 Blast South Group contest at Taunton.Put into bat in a match reduced to eight overs a side, Somerset posted a competitive 102 for 3, courtesy of Anderson’s forthright innings of 41 not out from 17 balls. Required to chase down a revised target of 104 to win, Sussex failed to recover from the loss of early wickets and came up short at 71 for 4, despite a gutsy unbeaten 42 from Stiaan van Zyl.Burly New Zealand international Anderson arrived in the middle with Somerset on 27 for 1 in the third over and immediately took England paceman Chris Jordan to task, hoisting his first delivery back over his head for a massive six. When Jordan returned at the other end to send down the seventh over, Anderson greeted him with another huge straight six, much to the delight of a near-full-house audience.He dominated stands of 36 and 35 with Steve Davies and Roelof van der Merve for the second and third wickets respectively, accruing a quartet of fours and three sixes into the bargain.George Garton did his utmost to keep the scoring in check, the Sharks seamer inducing opener Lewis Gregory and van der Merve to hole out to deep midwicket. But Anderson remained at large to ensure the home side realised three figures, with van der Merve contributing a valuable 16 from 11 balls.Somerset struck an early blow when Chris Nash hoisted a length ball from Craig Overton to Gregory at deep backward point with the score on 9. Van Zyl and Laurie Evans did their best to keep up with the rate in pouring rain, only for the hosts to turn the screw.Sussex needed a further 79 off five overs at 15.8 an over when leg spinner Max Waller entered the attack and changed the complexion of the game. Electing to bowl medium pace in slippery conditions, Waller had Evans stumped by Davies for 5 off his first delivery and then pinned Sharks skipper Ross Taylor for 1 later in the same over as the visitors lurched to 27 for 3.Van der Merve kept things tight at the other end to ramp up the pressure on David Wiese and Van Zyl, who struggled to get the ball off the square as conditions worsened.Waller continued to cause problems for the batsmen, deploying clever variations of pace to keep a lid on things and leave Sussex requiring a notional 60 off 12 balls to win. Having returned impressive figures of 2 for 13 from two overs, Waller then held a catch at long-on as Wiesse perished at the hands of Overton.Van Zyl summoned defiance aplenty in an innings of 42 not out from 22 balls, but he lacked the support needed to make a game of it. He helped himself to three fours and three sixes in a losing cause.A third successive home win moved Somerset, who now have 10 points from nine games, into a share of second place in the South Group, two points behind leaders Glamorgan.

The last time these two sides met in a T20, Carlos Brathwaite wrote himself a place in West Indies cricket history

Preview by Andrew McGlashan15-Sep-2017

Big Picture

“Remember the name,” was the immortal line from Ian Bishop when these two sides last met in a T20 as Carlos Brathwaite smoked four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes to steal the World T20 crown from under England’s noses. It’s doubtful they have forgotten.England have been reunited with Brathwaite since then – in the one-day series earlier this year – but this is the format that gave him a place in West Indies cricket history. Sadly, the controversial decision to rest Stokes for his home ground game has robbed the match of its strongest themes; a chance to take on Brathwaite and the latest chapter against Marlon Samuels.Samuels is one of the senior players back in the mix following the thawing of tensions between the players and the board. He, Chris Gayle and Jerome Taylor played against India earlier this year and the potential power in West Indies’ batting line-up is eye-watering when Kieron Pollard and Evin Lewis are also considered. None of the 13-man squad for the one-off T20 were involved in the Test series.Tom Curran and Dawid Malan were England’s biggest gains from their 2-1 series win over South Africa earlier this season. Malan made 78 off 44 balls on his debut, an innings that played a key part in his move to the Test side even though the formats are polar opposite, but whether he retains his spot will depend on how the batting is shuffled with Joe Root available again.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWLL
West Indies WWWWL

In the spotlight

Adil Rashid has been overtaken in England’s Test legspin pecking order by Mason Crane (despite Crane still being uncapped) but returns to the T20 line-up having missed the South Africa series where Crane made his international debut. He had an impressive T20 Blast campaign with 15 wickets in 12 matches and an economy rate of 7.10, but will need to show a strong nerve if any of West Indies’ hitters get going.Chris Gayle’s previous two T20 innings against England have been from opposite ends of the spectrum. At the start of the World T20 in Mumbai he smashed an unbeaten 100 off 48 balls, then in the final in Kolkata he fell second ball for 4 against Joe Root. His international comeback innings was a relatively sedate 18 off 20 balls against India but he is entering this tour on the back of being the third-highest-scorer in the CPL with 376 runs at a strike-rate of 127.02.

Teams news

England will need to decide how many spin options they require for a mid-September evening match. Curran made a good impression against South Africa so could retain his place. Jake Ball and David Willey are also in the squad.England 1 Alex Hales, 2 Jason Roy, 3 Joe Root, 4 Dawid Malan, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Liam Dawson, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Tom Curran, 10 Chris Jordan, 11 Liam PlunkettAshley Nurse was recalled to the T20 squad after a gap of more than two years and could take Samuel Badree’s place in the side as a second spinner. Alternatively, Ronsford Beaton could earn his first cap if an extra pace option is preferred.West Indies 1 Chris Gayle 2 Evan Lewis, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Chadwick Walton (wk), 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 8 Ashley Nurse, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Jerome Taylor, 10 Keswick Williams

Pitch and conditions

Scores in the T20 Blast were less daunting at Chester-le-Street than at most venues during a high-scoring tournament. Late in the season, there could be some assistance for the seamers especially with it being an evening game. The start time also means that spectators may want to take an extra layer with them. The forecast says the odd shower is possible but the game should get through.

Stats and trivia

• Three players have scored two hundreds in T20Is and two of them will be playing in this match: Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. The other is Brendon McCullum
• Jos Buttler needs 16 runs for 1000 in T20Is – he would be the fourth England batsman to that mark behind Kevin Pietersen, Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan

Quotes

“We’re a very young side and we have a long way to go in T20 cricket. Our consistency levels have been up and down so it’s all to play for tomorrow.”
“It isn’t something that will be forgotten for a little while but I know it probably will never happen again so it’s about me being as consistent as I can now.”

South Africa’s new-look bowling attack have had a slightly gentle easing-in against Bangladesh and as their leader Kagiso Rabada is aware of both the potential they have and the challenges they will face in the future

Firdose Moonda in Bloemfontein07-Oct-2017Given the complete lack of a contest in this clash between South Africa and Bangladesh, there is very little that can be read into the result. It tells us only what we already know, that South Africa are a stronger team than Bangladesh, but maybe, it also tells us something more.This South African side has just about a full-strength batting line-up (AB de Villiers is the only notable absentee) but an almost entirely new-look attack. Kagiso Rabada, with 22 caps, is the most experienced member of the pack in the current XI and is now properly establishing himself as its leader. Wayne Parnell is making his umpteenth comeback, having never become a regular. Duanne Olivier and Andile Phehlukwayo are trying to make cases for more permanent places.

Bavuma has a knack of never giving up – Rabada

Temba Bavuma was the only batsman in South Africa’s top five who did not cash in on a good surface against a toothless attack but he made up for it in a milli-second in the field.
Bavuma was at gully when Mushfiqur Rahim prodded at a back-of-a-length delivery from Duanne Olivier that flew off the face and forced Bavuma into immediate action. He dived one-handed to his right and pouched the ball when it was nearly past him to dismiss the Bangladesh captain and create another moment of fielding magic, which his team-mates more than appreciated.
“It wasn’t a nice situation for Temba – you get out at times. He is the only one who didn’t score a hundred. It happens to the best. But every time when he doesn’t score with the bat, he does something in the field,” Rabada said. “He’s got that knack of never giving up. He always contributes to the team. They depend on Mushfiqur so it was an important moment in the game

Without disrespecting Bangladesh, Rabada indicated that all of them have been given a gentle easing-in, and South Africa have been allowed a glimpse into what lies ahead without much to block their view. “We were sitting down and I was speaking to Quinny saying that all the guys we played with and against at school are all in the team now and are coming up. South Africa is in good hands in the future,” Rabada, who become Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker in 2017, said. “It gets much tougher than Bangladesh, of course. You can play them in their conditions and it’s a different story. It gets harder from here. This is not it.”That South African cricket is in safe hands is a bold statement to make, not least because there are many arguments against it. The most obvious is the domestic system, which has been ravaged by Kolpaks and has not thrown up any stand-out names to compete with the current crop.Aiden Markram was the most recent one and though he has made the step-up seamlessly, there are not too many candidates who look like they will be able to do the same. In seasons to come that may change, but for now, the pressure is on the incumbents to do the job, none more so than Rabada.When South Africans think of their next “it” cricketer, they think of him. Though he went through a quiet period in England, the signs from him this summer suggest he is in good rhythm. He didn’t go as far as to confirm that, but hinted he is maturing enough to have learnt to work through setbacks.”There is expectation and there will be pressure. No-one is a Rambo, we are all human beings. You have to find ways to cope with it,” Rabada said. “The best players and the guys who have been in the longest have found ways to cope with it. Sometimes it can get bigger and you have to find a new way to deal with it. You grow as a person when things are not going your way.”Having a new coach will help. Not because the previous one – Russell Domingo, who Rabada was a supporter of – did anything wrong but because his replacement, Ottis Gibson brings fresh ideas. “He is a very stern character but at the same time he is lenient. He doesn’t beat around the bush. He cracks jokes with the guys,” the also-stern Rabada said. “He brings in his own dynamic, something as South Africans we are not particularly used to, but the guys are enjoying what he brings to the table. When we do the warm-ups, we do things in a different style and the guys enjoy it.”Like the team, Gibson’s performance also cannot be properly assessed on this series but the early signs are good. Gibson has managed to impress on his men that this assignment should be taken seriously and apart from some dropped catches in Potchefstroom, South Africa have been clinical.They’ve even been hard on themselves when it hasn’t quite gone according to plan, like when Liton Das enjoyed a period of run-scoring in the afternoon. Rabada would not like to see that repeated.”Liton Das came in at a time where the ball got a bit soft and it wasn’t doing much. He is a good player and I thought he was nice and patient and aggressive. I thought we missed our mark with him at times, giving him freebies so that’s something we have to talk about and execute tomorrow so it doesn’t happen again,” he said.Ultimately, South Africa know that if “we just stuck to our plans and at the end of the day the batsmen got themselves out”. Bangladesh’s capitulation means interest in this series will sink even lower and discussions around the standard of Test cricket between top-tier and lower-tier countries may be sparked again.For Rabada, it’s not about the gap but how South Africa have filled it. “I don’t think you can compare a first-class game to an international game, but it feels like one because there isn’t a crowd. It’s very peaceful. We didn’t take them lightly. We prepared very well and we executed our plans well. They’ve got some good players so we made sure we didn’t give them any space.”

Stephen Murdoch waltzed to his 13th first-class ton while Hamish Bennett bagged a match haul of seven wickets as Wellington prevailed by an innings and 43 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2017A century from Stephen Murdoch, coupled with Hamish Bennett’s seven-wicket match haul, propelled Wellington to an innings-and-43-run win over Otago inside three days of the Plunket Shield game at Basin Reserve. Wellington’s win amounted to Otago’s second consecutive loss this year, having finished at the bottom of the table last season.Wellington’s offensive with the ball helped them snipe out 15 wickets on the second day, bowling the opposition out for 184. A formidable lead of 185 meant Wellington could enforce follow-on and have an early shot at bringing up their second victory in as many games. The Otago line-up’s first-innings struggle – in which six of their batsman got starts but none could notch up a half-century – aggravated further in the second as only two players – captain Rob Nicol and Jimmy Neesham – went past the 30-run mark. Having been reduced to 107 for 6 at stumps on day two, it was only a matter of time before the remaining four batsmen were undone for only 142 runs inside the 20.3 overs bowled on the third day.Leading the charge for the Wellington attack in both innings was right-arm pacer Bennett who bettered his first-innings three-for with figures of 4 for 30 in the second. Bennett, who took his Shield tally to 12 scalps from two games, found ample support in fellow seamers Ian McPeake and Logan van Beek, who finished with a five-wicket match haul of his own.Wellington’s dominance in the match was, however, established early via Murdoch who waltzed to his 13thfirst-class century after his side lost the toss. The No. 3 batsman countered the loss of the two openers which had Wellington tottering at 33 for 2 in the 11th over. Murdoch put on 113 runs for the third wicket with captain Michael Bracewell, who struck an 83-ball 43. After Bracewell’s dismissal, Murdoch added another 66 runs with wicketkeeper Tom Blundell, before holing out to Jacob Duffy off Anaru Kitchen in the 66th over. Two fifty-plus partnerships – anchored by Jeetan Patel’s 64 – for the seventh and the eighth wickets subsequently took Wellington to 369, before being bowled by Neil Wagner, allowing him to complete his four-for. Kitchen and Michael Rae finished with three wickets each.

Mayank Agarwal’s maiden triple-century drove Karnataka to 628 for 5 and a first-innings lead of 383 on the third day against Maharashtra at the MCA Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2017Mayank Agarwal’s maiden triple-century drove Karnataka to 628 for 5 and a first-innings lead of 383 against Maharashtra at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Agarwal, who came into this match on the back of a pair, notched up an unbeaten 304 off 494 balls that included 28 fours and four sixes. Agarwal had put on 259 for the opening wicket with R Samarth (129) on the second day and resumed on 219. He stretched his third-wicket partnership with Karun Nair to 279. Nair, who was not out on 56 overnight, struck a century of his own, finishing with 116. Karnataka declared shortly after the pair was broken up. Thereafter, medium-pacer Abhimanyu Mithun took Karnataka closer to an innings win by dismissing Maharashtra’s openers cheaply and leaving them at 135 for 4 at stumps.T Ravi Teja continued to have a memorable debut, following his 63-ball 70, with 5 for 49 that helped Hyderabad limit Railways to 246 and enforce the follow on in Delhi. Railways’ openers survived three overs in their second innings and went to stumps unscathed.Resuming their first innings on 35 for 1, Railways began the day well with opener Shivkant Shukla and Nitin Bhille stretching their overnight stand to 78 before legspinner Akash Bhandari pinned Bhille in front for 43. Ravi Teja then had Shukla lbw and went onto slice through the middle order. From 93 for 1, Railways tumbled to 135 for 7. Anureet Singh (60) and Manish Rao (33) then put on 85 for the eighth wicket to haul the score beyond 200. Left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan pitched in with two wickets as Hyderabad claimed a 228-run first-innings lead. Anureet’s maiden first-class fifty contained nine fours.