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ESPNcricinfo previews the Super Eights game between New Zealand and West Indies in Pallekele

The Preview by Sidharth Monga30-Sep-2012

Match facts

October 1, 2012
Start time 1530 (1000 GMT)Only one out of Ross Taylor and Darren Sammy will be smiling on Monday evening, and there’s a good chance that smile might be wiped off by the end of the night•West Indies Cricket

Big Picture

New Zealand players may have had a gastro problem or three, but surely they and West Indies have received the best of Sri Lankan hospitality? For, on Monday, they’ll hope like hell that the hosts beat England.New Zealand have no points so far, and their only entry point is if they beat West Indies and England lose too, to force a three-way tie at two points. If that happens, New Zealand will stand a good chance of making it to the semi-finals: their net run-rate of -0.268 is already better than West Indies’ -0.621, and not too worse than England’s -0.115. If it all goes to plan for New Zealand, their own net run-rate will improve, and England’s will take a beating, bridging that gap.Theoretically West Indies can be a part of a three-way tie even if they lose, but their poor net run-rate after the thrashing from Sri Lanka means it does them no good. In theory, West Indies too will have two avenues if they beat New Zealand: an England defeat later will give them a clear passage, while it will be a three-way tie with England and Sri Lanka should England win. Again, though, West Indies’ net run-rate is likely to keep them third-best should the hosts lose.So, for both the sides, the endeavour will be to win without worrying too much about the net run-rate and hope Sri Lanka keep up their good form later in the day. However, if only the second match is rained out, it will be bad news for New Zealand and good for West Indies. Neither of them can afford a whole washed-out day. If only the first game is washed out, New Zealand go out, and West Indies will again hope for a Sri Lanka win.

Form guide

New Zealand LLLWW (completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies LWLWW

Watch out for

Ross Taylor finds himself under pressure not just for his lack of runs, but also his tinkering of the batting order. Monday will provide him one last chance of not only redeeming himself in this tournament, but to get a measure of retribution after a highly disappointing tour of the Caribbean earlier this year.Darren Sammy hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the West Indies fans with his selections either. At the heart of West Indies’ problems has been a glut of bits-and-pieces allrounders, and not enough specialist bowlers. That was one of the reasons they lost after making 191 against Australia. It didn’t help that even those three specialist bowlers against Sri Lanka didn’t include Samuel Badree, who helped set up the win against England with four overs for just 20 runs. Sammy’s captaincy, and his place in the side, are under scrutiny at best of times. Only a qualification to the semi-finals will be able to silence those voices, that too temporarily.

Team news

New Zealand will be hoping for a return to wellness for Jacob Oram, in whose absence Doug Bracewell played against England, and played little part in the match while the contest was alive. Oram spent whole of Saturday unwell and throwing up throughout the day, and New Zealand are hoping it’s a “24-hour thing”. It’s unlikely New Zealand will look at any other changes.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Rob Nicol, 3 Brendon McCullum (wk), 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 James Franklin, 6 Kane Williamson, 7 Jacob Oram/Doug Bracewell, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Kyle Mills.For West Indies, Badree should come back, not least because New Zealand are not the best players of spin. The question is, will he replace a specialist bowler or one of the many allrounders?West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Darren Sammy (capt), 7 Andre Russell/Fidel Edwards, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Samuel Badree.

Pitch and conditions

On Saturday, Pallekele finally showed signs of assistance to spin, with a drier track. The rain has stayed away so far, and hopefully it will for one more day.

Stats and trivia

• When Chris Gayle fell for 2 against Sri Lanka, he had scored fewer than 50 for the first time in five efforts. That is a record he shares with Brendon McCullum.
• Kieron Pollard has never won been Man of the Match in his 28 T20Is.
  

  Quotes

  “I’d rather see Brendon McCullum at the top. I don’t think he is quite assured of how he wants to play the game coming in at No. 3, because if New Zealand lose a wicket, he has to play a slightly different game. Perhaps get Ross Taylor in at No. 3, and give him more time to bat.”
  “It’s a must-win for us now. The good thing for us is that we are playing New Zealand. We just played them in the Caribbean, we have a pretty good idea of what this side is made up of.”

It has been a disappointing season for both these sides, who began as co-favourites for the Championship but will be happy enough now to steer clear of relegation

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge14-Jul-2011
Scorecard
It has been a disappointing season for both these sides, who began as co-favourites for the Championship but will be happy enough now to steer clear of relegation. The safety of mid-table seems an attractive proposition, which may explain why a match that had notable highlights in the shape of three high-quality centuries ended in a very tame draw.There could have been an interesting finish. When Somerset’s lead, 91 overnight, reached 250, there were around 50 overs left in the match and Marcus Trescothick might have pulled out and invited Nottinghamshire to have a go. But if temptation did show itself, it was only to be passed up. He invited the home side instead to bowl his team out.Thanks largely to Andre Adams and Samit Patel, whose left-arm spin took four wickets, Notts took up the invitation successfully. But by the time they did so only 34 overs remained and the target of 321 was purely academic. There was little reluctance to shake hands and go home when five o’clock arrived.Appropriately enough, the significant innings of a forgettable day was a forgettable hundred from Nick Compton, whose growing penchant is for solid, dependable displays unadorned with flights of fancy, which is forgivable given that he still struggles to recapture the productive form of his early Middlesex days.It would not have been his grandfather’s idea of fun but it is getting the job done. This season, bolstered considerably by his epic nine-hour unbeaten 254 against Durham at The Riverside, threatens to be his best since 2003, when his first full season at Middlesex yielded 1315 first-class runs, including six centuries.He ground out 115 here over six and a half hours before a splendid diving catch by Riki Wessels at short extra cover gave Steven Mullaney his wicket. He struck 14 boundaries but probably turned down as many, preferring not to take the risk.There was good support for him, first from Chris Jones, a 20-year-old Devonian who has played first-class matches for Durham University but was batting for the first time in the Championship. He appeared against Lancashire last season as a nominated replacement for Craig Kieswetter but did not bat or bowl.He earned his call-up for this match after hitting 149 for Somerset 2nds last week and showed sound technique in a tidy 55 and had just despatched Patel through the covers for his 10th boundary when the left-armer found a little extra bounce to have him caught at slip.James Hildreth, whose first-innings 137 had been one of the highlights, hit 39 in rapid time before slicing Luke Fletcher to backward point. Kieswetter, who had shared a 290-run partnership with Hildreth in scoring 164 in the first innings, fell for 21 this time, one of two leg-before victims in the space of three overs for Adams, whose dismissal of Peter Trego at 361 for 6 might have prompted the declaration had Trescothick been interested.Instead, the Somerset skipper allowed the tailenders to swing the bat, which the seam bowler Adam Dibble did with some success on his first-class debut, crashing 39 not out off only 35 balls, including a four and two sixes in the same over off Mullaney. The others were picked off by Patel, who finished with 4 for 70.Stuart Broad’s bowling was again a mixed bag as he sought to regain his form ahead of the opening Test against India. He found a couple of snorters for Kieswetter but nine overs on the day yielded no wickets, although they did take his contribution to the two innings to 53.4 overs, which is the largest number he has sent down in a single match, curiously enough. Given that he has been bowling with his left heel padded and his right ankle strapped, this might seem an odd preparation.Notts faced 15 overs in the end, during which Wessels was caught behind and Alex Hales followed his brilliant 184 with a rather more ordinary 18 before giving a return catch to Arul Suppiah.But it was all fairly meaningless and Mick Newell, the Notts director of cricket, signalled his satisfaction with the outcome by declining the chance to criticise Trescothick’s caution. His side, after all, had lost four times in a row before this match.”We will take 11 points for the draw,” he said. “It was important that we stopped losing and got some batting points on the board.”

Greg Chappell could go back to the future after being given an interview for the newly-created job on Australia’s national selection panel

Peter English16-Aug-2010Greg Chappell could go back to the future after being given an interview for the newly-created job on Australia’s national selection panel. Chappell, a former Test captain, was one of the men who installed Allan Border as leader in 1984, but he stood down in 1987-88 after becoming upset with the game’s administration structure.He is currently the head coach at the Centre of Excellence and his place on Cricket Australia’s list has been confirmed to Cricinfo. While the new full-time role comes with a spot on the selection panel, it also includes being a national talent manager and working with the states. Chappell does part of that already in his post at the Academy and as the Australia A coach.Andrew Hilditch, David Boon, Merv Hughes and Jamie Cox are the incumbents on the panel that will undergo a mild restructure. Over the past two years the Test team has dropped from first to fourth on the rankings, and could go to fifth if England, who currently lead 2-0, cleansweep Pakistan in their four-match series.The selection quartet works on a part-time basis, but Hilditch is not applying for the vacant job and said the redesign would not change his duties as chairman. “I look forward to having a full-time selector in the sense there are a lot of issues with workload management and our roster system and making sure we’re covering all the cricket,” Hilditch said earlier this month.”[The new appointment] will have a role on the panel like any other selector, but a very important role in talent management and managing the state talent managers. It’s a pretty big role straight away – a massive role. I think it’s a big development for Australian cricket and I’m very excited.”Chappell, 62, is due to be interviewed this week. He was appointed at the Centre of Excellence in 2008, a year after he finished an eventful term as India’s coach.

All six teams will play one game each but none of the current Australia Test XI are likely to be available for the matches in November which coincide with the first Test

Alex Malcolm10-Oct-2024Cricket Australia has announced that three Sheffield Shield matches will be played under lights this season to give domestic Australian players exposure to day-night conditions given there will be at least one home pink-ball Test per summer moving forward.The matches have been strategically scheduled at Adelaide Oval, the Gabba and Bellerive Oval, with Adelaide and the Gabba the chosen pink-ball Test venues in recent summers.However, the timing of the matches means that none of Australia’s current Test team will get pink-ball practice before the Test summer despite most of the team playing at least one Shield match in the build-up.CA announced that South Australia and Western Australia will play a day-night pink-ball match at Adelaide Oval on November 23, just two weeks before the day-night Test between Australia and India at the same venue. However, there won’t be any current Australian Test players involved as the match clashes with the first Test in Perth.Queensland will face Victoria at the Gabba on November 24. That game could feature one or both of Michael Neser and Scott Boland who have played pink-ball Test cricket and could be in the frame to play for Australia this summer depending on the fitness of Australia’s incumbent quicks.Tasmania toss about a pink ball•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Tasmania and New South Wales will play a late-season pink-ball day-night match at Bellerive in Hobart starting on March 15. Australia’s ODI players will have just returned from the Champions Trophy and are unlikely to be available but Nathan Lyon could be available for that game depending on how he has recovered from five Tests against India and a two-Test tour to Sri Lanka.”We are always exploring opportunities to further enhance the experience for domestic players and best-prepare them for the challenges of international cricket,” CA’s head of national teams Ben Oliver said.”Playing first-class matches at Test venues is important, and so too is exposure to day-night conditions which have become a feature of the Australian Test summer over the past decade.”With that in mind, we felt it was the right time to re-introduce day-night Sheffield Shield matches for our next group of international cricketers.”CA scheduled day-night Shield rounds consistently between 2013-14 and 2017-18, having first trialled day-night first-class cricket back in the 1990s when yellow and orange balls were used.Pink-ball games have since been reserved for Australia A, Prime Minister’s XI or CA XI matches against touring teams.

Kent No. 3 scores first century in two years to hold up title-chasing hosts

ECB Reporters Network21-Jul-2023 Kent 207 and 265 for 7 (Finch 114, Evison 56*, Harmer 3-64) lead Essex 458 for 8 dec by 14 runsHarry Finch batted for five hours in recording a valiant century for Kent that defied Essex from claiming a LV= Insurance County Championship victory inside three days. The 28-year-old’s 114 at a strike rate of exactly 50 was his first sortie into three-figures since he compiled one two years ago against his former county Sussex, and the fifth of a mercurial first-class career.Essex, looking for a fourth successive win to put pressure on Championship leaders Surrey, endured a frustrating day in the field as Finch led the way in partnerships of 93 and 72 with Ben Compton and Joey Evison for the second and sixth wickets. Simon Harmer whirled away for 38 overs, taking three wickets for a parsimonious 64 runs, but it was not enough to prevent Kent taking the match into a fourth day and ensuring Essex will have to bat again.Essex had taken a wicket with the last ball of day two but had to wait until the 14th ball of the afternoon session on day three for the second. It needed a spectacular one-handed diving catch at leg gully by Harmer to end Ben Compton’s barnacle-like 122-ball innings after the Kent second wicket ate into Essex’s 251-run advantage on first innings.Until that breakthrough moment, it looked as if Compton and Finch had bedded in for the long haul, scoring just a solitary leg-bye during one 19-ball sequence of dot balls. Compton regularly thrust out a long left leg to repel Harmer to the extent that the offspinner conceded just 16 runs from his first 11 overs of the day before briefly relinquishing his occupancy at the River End.Finch, playing only his second Championship game of the season, was by far the more aggressive player in that second-wicket stand and reached his half-century from 105 balls. His second fifty was quicker, taking just 78 balls before raising his helmet to acknowledge the milestone.Jack Leaning adopted the Compton mantle, batting for 42 balls before one kept low from Harmer and trapped him lbw for six from a 35-run stand. The injured Jordan Cox emerged with Tawanda Muyeye as his runner. However, the helper was not required to move on Cox’s behalf as the wicketkeeper was scoreless for 16 deliveries and remained motionless on his crease when Sam Cook appealed successfully for lbw.Essex might have broken the stubborn fifth-wicket resistence between Finch and Evison much earlier. Evison, on 10, received a double reprieve in the blink of an eye when dropped by wicketkeeper Adam Rossington, who then missed the potential stumping as Evison overbalanced. It was a miss that was to prove costly.Essex tossed the new ball to Harmer after just three overs and with his third ball he struck as Finch swept loosely to Paul Walter at short midwicket. Joe Denly, batting despite suffering back spasms, felt his side as he on-drove his first ball for four, but only lasted another six deliveries before he turned Harmer into Alastair Cook’s hands at slip.Evison nudged a single to reach a 96-ball fifty before Grant Stewart hit consecutive boundaries to take Kent within a run of making Essex bat again. But he then tried to take them into the black with another boundary, but only picked out long-off to give Matt Critchley a wicket.

A blistering 18-ball 40 from Glenn Maxwell finished the job as RCB sealed an impressive win

Deivarayan Muthu19-May-20222:37

Vettori: Kohli at his best makes RCB a genuine title contender

Virat Kohli finally broke out of the funk, with 73 off 54 balls, his highest score this IPL, to keep Royal Challengers Bangalore’s campaign alive, but only . Royal Challengers still need Delhi Capitals, who now have a superior net run rate than them, to lose their final league fixture to Mumbai Indians, if they are to sneak into the playoffs. Royal Challengers’ victory meant Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad were out of the reckoning for playoffs.Kohli’s second half-century against Gujarat Titans – and only his second overall this season – formed the centerpiece of Royal Challengers’ successful pursuit of 169. Faf du Plessis simply rode in Kohli’s slipstream during a 115-run opening stand before holing out for 44 off 38 balls. Rashid Khan also got rid of Kohli, in his next over, but the game was all but over by then. Glenn Maxwell got the job done with a flurry of boundaries along with Dinesh Karthik.Such a dominant win didn’t seem likely when Royal Challengers’ designated death bowler Harshal Patel bowled just one over and then left the field after splitting the webbing in his bowling hand. Despite late blows from Hardik Pandya (62* off 47 balls) and Rashid (19* off 6 balls), Harshal-less RCB managed to limit Titans to 168 for 5 on a slow Wankhede pitch.Maxwell in the thick of the action
Maxwell’s first contribution of the evening was a spectacular one-handed grab at wide slip to send back Shubman Gill for 1. Maxwell then bowled two overs in the powerplay, which brought the wicket of Matthew Wade and cost Royal Challengers just two runs. Wade was visibly peeved at being given out lbw when he had thought he had bottom-edged a sweep onto his pad. He called for a review immediately, but UltraEdge didn’t detect a spike although some side-on replays suggested a deflection off the bat. So there wasn’t enough evidence for TV umpire Navdeep Singh to overturn the on-field out call.Maxwell could’ve also had Pandya on 14 had Suyash Prabhudessai not misjudged a catch at the long-on boundary.Miller and Pandya do the repair job
When du Plessis nailed a direct hit to run-out Wriddhiman Saha in the ninth over, Titans were 62 for 3. Pandya and David Miller then got together, forging a 61-run fourth-wicket stand. Pandya, in particular, struggled to time the ball on a pitch that offered grip to the slower bowlers. He swung so hard at Maxwell that he not only lost his shape but also his grip, with the bat flying over the square-leg region in the tenth over.As for Miller, he was more fluent against spin, taking fingerspinners Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed for 23 off 11 balls. However, Wanindu Hasaranga, the wristspinner, cut short Miller’s innings at 34 off 25 balls by pulling off a terrific return catch.Despite the unavailability of Harshal, Royal Challengers made Pandya work hard for the large part of his innings. He needed 42 balls to get to a half-century. Rashid and Pandya then plundered 34 off the last two overs, bowled by Siddharth Kaul and Josh Hazlewood, but they still couldn’t reach 170. The Kohli show
Kohli gave Royal Challengers’ chase a jumpstart, claiming 34 runs of the 55 they hit in the powerplay.His innings was pure theatre, with the Wankhede crowd right behind him. He pumped Mohammed Shami over his head for four in the third over and regularly hit over the top, a departure from his usual cagey approach in the powerplay.Fortune was also on his side on Thursday. When Shami found some seam movement, the ball did not shave the outside edge. And when Hardik Pandya nipped the ball into him and cramped him, the inside edge missed the stumps. Kohli also got a reprieve on 16 when Rashid, standing a few yards in from the square-leg boundary, dropped a catch.Kohli’s early assault prompted Titans to rush Rashid into the attack as early as the fifth over, but Kohli attacked him as well. He lofted him over his head for four and then rattled up 33-ball fifty in grand style, with his first-ever six off Rashid.Kohli, however, judiciously played out R Sai Kishore who varied his pace smartly and got more purchase from the pitch. When he drifted one into Kohli and got it to turn away sharply, it veered away from the outside edge. There were enough signs that this was Kohli’s night. Kohli was so pumped up that he even celebrated du Plessis’ boundaries with gusto.Rashid then returned to the attack to give Royal Challengers some late jitters. He snagged du Plessis and Kohli in successive overs and almost added Maxwell to his scalps. He hit the top of Maxwell’s leg stump, but the bails didn’t get dislodged. Maxwell was on zero at that point. He walloped an unbeaten 40 off 18 balls to close out the game that he had set up beautifully.

Jack Leach, Dom Bess share eight wickets before England chase down 164 for victory

Valkerie Baynes25-Jan-2021England took what they needed from those who had to give it most as they secured victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test in Galle.On an enthralling day when 15 wickets fell, England’s frontline spinners came to the fore and opener Dom Sibley scored an unbeaten half-century to help defeat Sri Lanka by six wickets with a day to spare and win the series 2-0.Lasith Embuldeniya followed his 7 for 137 in the first innings with 3 for 73 to take 10 for the match – not to mention top-scoring in Sri Lanka’s second innings – but it was not enough as Sibley, in need of runs, played exactly the innings that was required of him: patient, productive and at times fortunate.Going into the final session on day four, the tourists still needed 118 runs and they got there via an unbroken 75-run partnership between Sibley and Jos Buttler, who followed his 55 in the first innings, where he played a fine supporting role as Joe Root scored his wonderful 186, with 46 not out. Sibley hit the winning run to end unbeaten on 56.Related

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Earlier, England extracted the performance they required from spinners Dom Bess and Jack Leach – just about – although it fell to Root to plug the gap, his part-time spin breaking stubborn resistance from Sri Lanka’s tail to contain the hosts’ lead to 163.Sri Lanka held a 37-run first-innings advantage after claiming England’s last wicket with the 11th ball of the morning. But they collapsed to 78 for 8 at the hands of Bess and Leach, who took four wickets each, in a display that rivalled their 135 all out in the first innings of the first Test for impotence.An excellent rearguard by Embuldeniya and Suranga Lakmal posed some danger on a pitch where Embuldeniya had already proved effective in England’s first innings, prompting Root to bring himself into the attack and he took two in two balls to finish Sri Lanka off.By tea, Embuldeniya had claimed an eighth wicket for the match when he dismissed Zak Crawley for the fourth time this series, caught at gully for 13. It was the first time Crawley had reached double figures in the two Tests.Fellow opener Sibley survived three reviews for lbw on umpire’s call, first off Embuldeniya – who had him out three times up to that point – and then off Dilruwan Perera and Ramesh Mendis. Coming off scores of 4, 2 and 0 in the series, Sibley capitalised on his reprieves and found a way to hold the innings together after Embuldeniya dismissed Jonny Bairstow and Dan Lawrence to leave England on a nervy 89 for 4.Root was back at the crease seemingly moments after his brilliant display in England’s first innings, but he was denied the chance to see his side home when, perhaps still feeling the effects of the exertion which saw him cramping severely on the third evening, he was bowled round his legs by Mendis for 11.From there, Sibley and Buttler got the job done, Buttler surviving on 18 when he sent a sharp return catch to Mendis, who couldn’t hold on diving left on his follow-through.Wicketless in Sri Lanka’s first innings when England’s seamers – namely James Anderson – dominated, Leach and Bess found their range and plenty of turn to reduce the home side to 67 for 6 at lunch.Leach entered in the sixth over, immediately after Bess, and struck with his second ball, coming round the wicket to Kusal Perera, who dropped to one knee shaping to slog-sweep and was struck in line with middle stump. A review found the ball to be clipping the bails, umpire’s call.Dom Bess was in the wickets in Sri Lanka’s second innings•Sri Lanka Cricket

Crawley claimed three catches at short leg as the Sri Lanka batsmen appeared spooked by the way England’s spinners were now making the most of the deteriorating Galle pitch. Bess removed the threat of Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka’s first-innings centurion, for just 5 with a full ball that spun sharply and clattered into off stump as Mathews attempted to sweep.It was an excellent running catch by Anderson that accounted for Dinesh Chandimal, who attacked Leach and sent a top edge in the direction of mid-on where Anderson had to move deeper at speed while turning more than once to follow the flight of the ball, which seemed to take an eternity to drop over his shoulder and into his hands.In a reversal of fortunes that made Buttler’s freak dismissal on the third day look less bizarre, he and Leach combined to remove debutant allrounder Mendis in similar fashion when Mendis, attempting to sweep, bottom-edged the ball onto his boot and was caught behind.With Root off the field it fell to Buttler, England’s vice-captain and wicketkeeper, to decide whether to use their remaining review when Mendis was initially adjudged not out. Buttler took the chance, confident of a dismissal which was a near copy of his own the previous day when he was caught at short leg off Mendis, and he was proved right.But Embuldeniya, so damaging with the ball, countered on the way to his highest first-class score. He helped himself to a six off Leach over long-off and slog-swept Bess for four to frustrate England’s efforts.Root brought himself on in a bid to break his union with Lakmal and almost did when Embuldeniya, on 39, edged to slip where Bairstow grasped at a fast-moving chance but couldn’t hold it. Bairstow made no mistake in Root’s next over, however, as Embuldeniya poked a fuller delivery straight into his hands.Root then had Asitha Fernando out with his next ball, a wider delivery that the batsman managed to drag back on to his stumps.England next head to India, where they will likely face sterner opposition from the side who recently toppled Australia, but they will do so with more than one player beginning to click with the conditions.

Rabada picks all three wickets to fall as India strengthen base with Kohli, Pujara chipping in with half-centuries

The Report by Sidharth Monga10-Oct-20199:23

Agarkar: Agarwal showed how to capitalise on start

Day 1, stumps Mayank Agarwal came back to the site of his first-class resurgence to score a second successive Test hundred that sent India into a position of strength once again. Cheteshwar Pujara supported him with his second successive half-century, and Virat Kohli loomed large with an unbeaten 63 of his own.South Africa will be disappointed they took just the three wickets on surface that didn’t completely eliminate their fast bowlers. It was a pitch on which Kagiso Rabada managed to take three wickets with a mode of attack straight out of South Africa: bowling in a channel outside off, getting outside edges that carried.

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Remember the wry smile of resignation when Faf du Plessis lost the toss in Visakhapatnam? This time Virat Kohli smiled in slight embarrassment after he had won yet another toss. This time du Plessis wasn’t as deflated because there was some moisture in the surface from the rains in the lead-up to the Test. Pune is also a pitch known for its bounce, so South Africa had something to work with.Associated Press

Agarwal went through that tough period, not without some fortune but nothing that might count as undue luck for an opening batsman. He and Pujara added 138 for the second wicket after the early fall of Rohit Sharma before Kohli took over with a winters’ afternoon stroll of a half-century.The first hour was full of frustration for South Africa with edges eluding fielders, mistimed hooks falling short of fielders, an umpire’s call going Agarwal’s way on an lbw shout, and quite a few plays and misses. India were in control of fewer than 75% of the deliveries they faced in the first 15 overs. A touring side can’t ask for more help in away conditions in this age of cricket. And yet, they had only Rohit’s wicket – off a length ball that held its line – to show.Apart from some ordinary luck, South Africa’s lengths were either too full or too short. A ball after debutant Anrich Nortje, playing ahead of the extra spinner, clocked him on the head, Agarwal was good enough to cover-drive a full ball for four. As Nortje went fuller searching for assistance, Agarwal drove him for three fours in another over.Pujara didn’t even provide South Africa a look-in despite taking 13 balls to get off the mark. He kept skipping down to spin, and kept finding the gaps. His stumbling block in the last Test was his failure to cover the seam movement away from him in both the innings. So it was natural South Africa attacked his stumps trying to take the ball away. It wasn’t clear if his front foot strode further but he did seem to cover the movement better. A delivery that looked like an action replay – again from Vernon Philnader – of his second-innings lbw was comfortable worked away for a single to leg.Agarwal’s bursts of scoring continued as the lone specialist spinner Keshav Maharaj kept providing India the loose balls. Two fours off Maharaj in the 28th over took him into the 40s, another square cut brought up a fifty. This was during a period that he had to face a short-ball barrage from Nortje, which momentarily brought the run rate under three but couldn’t cause further damage.It was instructive that Rabada was now able to achieve the rarest of feats: get Pujara out nicking after he had brought up a fifty on a home pitch. Not only did the pitch have the movement to allow him to do so, it also had the bounce to make sure it carried to Faf du Plessis at slip.And yet, South Africa failed to capitalise on yet another dismissal. Agarwal and Kohli were kept honest but Agarwal broke the shackles with two sixes in one over off Maharaj. The second of those took him into the 90s, and in the next over he got a thick outside edge, fine of the only catcher behind the wicket, a gully.Pune is the ground where he was on the verge of being dropped from the Ranji side, but he scored a triple given that extra chance. That was the beginning of his 1000-runs month, which sent him to Australia, after which he has made the opening slot his own.Rabada again drew an outside edge with a 61-over-old ball, which tells you what a missed opportunity it was for South Africa. In India, where the home side has been beaten only once in the last seven years, you don’t get many windows once you lose the toss. That is just the sheer quality of their Test team. Here they had that window, but sometimes they lacked the quality and sometimes it was the depth.Kohli cashed in on a lack of depth. Maharaj seemed to be in his best rhythm when Kohli just walked out. He turned a couple past his outside edge. Nortje bowled a seriously quick spell. Kohli began watchfully, respecting Nortje’s pace and playing Maharaj watchfully. He was fortunate that an attempted pull brushed the glove and flew wide of Quinton de Kock. Ajinkya Rahane at the other end seemed less comfortable. So, in fading light, Kohli batted with utmost care. Until South Africa went to Dean Elgar and Senuram Muthusamy as they waited for the second new ball.You wouldn’t even have noticed but after scoring 27 off the first 73 balls he faced, Kohli plundered 26 in the next 19 balls without one shot in anger. Then he has back to respecting the second new ball when the umpires called the play off early because of bad light.

Alex Davies led the recovery for Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford as he finished the second day of their crucial Specsavers County Championship match against Hampshire unbeaten on 78

ECB Reporters Network26-Jun-20181:34

Surrey hit with five-run penalty

ScorecardAlex Davies led the recovery for Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford as he finished the second day of their crucial Specsavers County Championship match against Hampshire unbeaten on 78.Replying to Hampshire’s first-innings 451, Lancashire closed on 140 for 3 as Davies posted his highest score of the Division One season so far, surpassing a previous best of 71. However, Hampshire, boosted by a Rilee Rossouw century, will still be the happier at the halfway stage of a clash between two struggling teams. A couple of early wickets during the third morning will really see them in the driving seat.With club captain Liam Livingstone on England Lions duty and veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul missing for compassionate reasons, Lancashire’s batting order has suffered a huge dent. Hampshire, meanwhile, are without South African pace bowler Dale Steyn as they have decided to rest him prior to their Royal London Cup final against Kent at Lord’s on Saturday.The Lancashire innings got off to a familiar start as they lost an early wicket. England opener Keaton Jennings gloved Gareth Berg behind for 4 to leave his side 7 for 1 before tea.Haseeb Hameed’s off-stump was sent cartwheeling by Fidel Edwards as he departed for 13 early in the evening. Hameed’s poor run of form continues having now been out three times in a row offering no shot, and he averages just 7.00 in his seventh appearance this summer.Rob Jones followed for just a single, as he too had his off stump uprooted by Kyle Abbott as the score slipped to 70 for 3 in the 25th over.Despite the loss of wickets, wicketkeeper-batsman Davies remained positive by playing some crunching shots all around the ground. The 23-year-old reached a mature fifty off 87 balls with 10 fours. Dane Vilas – the stand-in captain for Livingstone – supported Davies and will aim to continue their unbroken 70-run alliance deep into the third morning.Earlier, Rossouw crafted his 19th first-class class century as he finished the Hampshire first innings unbeaten on 120 off 189 balls.They resumed the second day on 302 for 6, with Rossouw and Ollie Rayner unbeaten. But Rayner failed to trouble the scorers as Graham Onions had him trapped in front for a 24-ball duck.That gave Onions his second five-wicket haul of the season after taking 6 for 55 at Trent Bridge against Nottinghamshire in mid-May. However, the hosts couldn’t capitalise on the early wicket as they toiled in heightened Manchester temperatures.A 67-ball 49 from Berg ensured Lancashire’s bowlers felt the burn as the lead grew. Abbott and Edwards hung around with Rossouw, adding 61 for the last two wickets.

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.