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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.

Martin Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, was farewelled by around 1000 mourners at a funeral service in Auckland that celebrated one of cricket’s greatest talents and fiercest intellects

Daniel Brettig11-Mar-2016Martin Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, was farewelled by around 1000 mourners at a funeral service in Auckland that celebrated one of cricket’s greatest talents and fiercest intellects.The funeral held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell was broadcast live around New Zealand, and also streamed online. It featured tributes from Crowe’s wife Lorraine Downes, his brother Jeff Crowe, his former international team-mate, Ian Smith, and his school friend David Lyle Morris.In an emotional address, Jeff Crowe remembered the outpouring grief and appreciation for his brother last week in Bangladesh, where he had been serving as an ICC match referee: “It never really dawned on me how deep it all went, what a huge splash he made, what an inspiration he was for so many.”He noted with some awe and puzzlement Crowe’s abilities as a writer. “How did he know how to write a truly clever sentence or paragraph,” he asked. “Then I was reminded by our friend Richard Reid, ‘unlike you Jeff, he actually attended class, and read a book or two’.”Smith recalled being asked in June last year by Crowe to write a eulogy, before witnessing him fight on against cancer to live for another nine months. He spoke of how Crowe first emerged as New Zealand’s leading batsman by battling against ill health, heat and an adverse match situation to save a draw against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1984, and then went on to dominant innings against the West Indies and Australia, dual innings of 188 apiece in 1985.”You know Stockley, that was great indeed,” Crowe had told Smith, his roommate in Brisbane, after Richard Hadlee’s 9 for 52 “but if we don’t capitalise on that, it won’t be the same.” At the 1992 World Cup, Smith said Crowe’s innovations sent cricket’s best brains “into a collective tailspin”. Smith also read a heartfelt message from Allan Border, and summed up by saying that one word epitomised Crowe: “Passion.”Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill, two cricketers Crowe had mentored, delivered video tributes ahead of New Zealand’s looming World Twenty20 campaign in India. Guptill’s words included: “He always saw something in my game, even when I couldn’t.” Taylor spoke of how Crowe’s email had inspired him to make 290 against Australia in Perth last year after a bad match in Brisbane had him questioning his future: “Hogan’s words made me truly believe and have faith again.”His wife Lorraine spoke about Crowe’s final days, about her feelings of grief at his loss, and also about his faith. “Many knew him as a cricketing legend, I knew him only as my soulmate,” she said. “He could be passionate, romantic, and fun. And he could be as cheeky as hell. He was everything I ever dreamed for in a partner.”I recently asked him ‘what is the most important lesson you’ve learned’. He said ‘I have learned many lessons, but the most important of these is to only hold onto the truth, removing all that is untrue and false’. I asked Marty how he wanted to be remembered. He said ‘for being authentic, loving and full of prayer’.”A host of notable cricketing names attended, including a sizeable New Zealand Cricket delegation: the chief executive, David White; the president, Stephen Boock; the board directors Sir Richard Hadlee, Martin Snedden and Geoff Allott, and the selector, Gavin Larsen.Greg Chappell was present as a representative of Cricket Australia, and also as a former foe: he had captained Australia against New Zealand in Crowe’s very first Test match, and his upright technique had been a source of considerable inspiration for Crowe’s own methods.There were many small touches, redolent of Crowe’s eye for detail. The service order was orange, a favourite colour, while his casket was adorned with the image of a butterfly. The funeral began with footage of Crowe’s innings of 142 against England at Lord’s in 1994, his most cherished performance, accompanied by the Pink Floyd instrumental The Great Gig In The Sky.Following the service, current Auckland Grammar students formed a guard of honour, and also delivered a ceremonial Haka. Crowe’s pallbearers included the actor Russell Crowe, and longtime friends Hilton Mexted, David Lyle Morris, Grant Fox, Steve Wilkes and his brother Jeff.

Beuran Hendricks’ maiden first-class ten-wicket haul helped South Africa A seal a comfortable 121-run win in the second unofficial Test against India A in Pretoria and square the two match series

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Aug-2013 by 121 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Beuran Hendricks (left) collected his first ten-wicket haul in first-class cricket•Getty Images

Beuran Hendricks’ maiden first-class ten-wicket haul helped South Africa A seal a comfortable 121-run win in the second unofficial Test against India A in Pretoria and square the two-match series. Hendricks ran through India’s top order to leave them in tatters at 18 for 5 by the 10th over. The target of 307 appeared beyond the horizon for India at that stage, though Ajinkya Rahane and Wriddhiman Saha hit half-centuries to give the visitors an outside chance.It was Hendricks’ match all through, however. He had picked up five wickets in the first innings and had removed M Vijay in his first over of the second innings on day three, and there was no let-off for India’s batsmen on the last day. Hendricks struck on his seventh ball of the day to dismiss Shahbaz Nadeem, the nightwatchman, and followed it up with the wicket of Dinesh Karthik two balls later. Ambati Rayudu became Hendricks’ ninth victim when he edged one to the wicketkeeper next over. That India lost their best batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, to a run-out off the first ball of the day meant that the visitors had all but squandered the chase.Rahane and Saha redeemed the situation to some extent for India with a strong sixth-wicket stand of 160. The mammoth partnership was, however, bookended by two collapses, as none of the other batsmen were able to get into double-digit scores. The two batsmen took different approaches when they came together; Rahane did the bulk of the scoring, while Saha held on to his end. He was on 14 off 57 balls when Rahane reached his half-century off 67 deliveries. But Saha soon found relative fluency, driving two deliveries off a Simon Harmer over to the boundary. The partnership was about grind though – they reached the hundred off their partnership off 180 deliveries.It was Hendricks again who got past the defences of Rahane to trigger the second collapse as the last five wickets fell for eight runs. Harmer, who had picked up four wickets in the first innings, added three more to his tally towards the end.

The BCCI has adopted a new digital X-ray based method for the age verification of players

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2012The BCCI has adopted a new digital X-ray based method for the age verification of players. The board believes that this will eliminate the cases of fraud during player selections at various age-group tournaments, the reported. Approximately 900 cricketers below the age of 16 will be tested under the new method, which has been globally accepted as the “most accurate” among various age-determination methods.The new method, knows as the TW3 (Tanner-Whitehouse3) bone maturation process, allows accurate estimation of a player’s age by the analysis of x-rays of the lower end of the forearm of the players.”This is a one-time test and it’ll not be repeated in a player’s entire career. Once he is certified as below 16 years for an under-16 tournament, his age will accordingly be calculated for the higher age-group tournaments like under-19 and under-25,” BCCI consultant and Sport medicine expert Ashok Ahuja said.”The age shown by TW3 method could vary by six months, either more or less. So, for borderline cases, players who are up to four months older than 16 years would be allowed to play in under-16 tournaments, but not older than that.”The TW3 method will replace the currently used Greulich & Pyle (GP) method, which was adopted by the BCCI seven years ago. The GP method age estimations were accurate in the range of two to four years.

The BCCI has denied permission to the 12 Indian cricketers who wanted to participate in the Sri Lanka Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2011The BCCI has denied permission to the 12 Indian cricketers who wanted to participate in the Sri Lanka Premier League. The decision was made after the players had asked the BCCI for No-Objection Certificates to play in the two-week long Twenty20 competition, starting on July 19. The SLPL will be run by a Singapore-based private company, Somerset Entertainment Ventures, which will issue the player contracts, something the Indian board believes could lead to complications for the players should disputes arise.The decision, the BCCI said, was taken to protect the players from finding themselves in a tricky situation. “In the IPL the players are contracted by the BCCI, but the SLPL is offering contracts with the event management company,” a BCCI official, who attended the tours and fixtures committee meeting on Saturday at which the decision was taken, added. “So, if there is any goof-up, Sri Lanka Cricket cannot be held accountable. As a result, the board [BCCI] would not like to take any chances.””We took the decision at an informal meeting of 18-20 members held yesterday that no Indian cricketer will be given permission to take part in the league as it is being organised by a private party based in Singapore,” the BCCI president Shashank Manohar told on Sunday. “The board’s policy is not to allow players to take part in private party-organised tournaments.”Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Manoj Tiwary, Saurabh Tiwary, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Manish Pandey and Paul Valthaty, reportedly, are the 12 Indians who had shown interest in playing the SLPL. The BCCI had earlier stated it had no problems with the proposed league and that Indian players are free to take part, as long as there is no conflict with India’s international or domestic schedule.The BCCI official also said the decision to prevent Indian participation in the league had nothing to do with the pressure applied by the SLC and the Sri Lankan Sports ministry in April and May to recall top Sri Lankan players participating in the IPL, ahead of Sri Lanka’s England tour.Reportedly, the SLC top brass were caught unawares by the Indian board’s decision and called for an emergency committee meeting to discuss it. No SLC official was available for comment.The SLPL will be played between July 19 and August 4 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Several foreign players including Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Shahid Afridi, Daniel Vettori, Kevin O’Brien and Herschelle Gibbs have already been signed for the tournament.

Yorkshire’s run of three consecutive Friends Provident t20 victories was ended by Leicestershire who beat them by six runs at Headingley

Cricinfo staff27-Jun-2010
Scorecard
Yorkshire’s run of three consecutive Friends Provident t20 victories was ended by Leicestershire who beat them by six runs at Headingley. Nathan Buck did most of the damage for the visitors by firing out the first three home batsmen in his first two overs with the new ball.Although Yorkshire never quite recovered from this early setback, the result was in doubt right to the final ball which Richard Pyrah needed to hit for six to tie the match. It was delivered by Leicestershire captain and former Yorkshire and England bowler Matthew Hoggard, and Pyrah lashed it high towards cow corner where it was calmly held by James Benning.Yorkshire ended on 169 for 8 as they chased a target of 176 and the Man of the Match was Leicestershire batsman James Taylor, who got his side out of trouble with a sparkling unbeaten 62 from 28 balls with three fours and four sixes.Buck’s second ball was looped by Adam Lyth to Wayne White at cover and his
sixth dismissed South African Herschelle Gibbs leg before wicket attempting
to sweep. His third victim was Anthony McGrath who was also lbw to one which nipped back, the 19-year-old fast bowler finishing with 3 for 20 in only his third match in the competition.Andrew Gale and Jacques Rudolph put on 53 for the fourth wicket to steady the ship but Rudolph was then lbw to Benning and it became 88 for 5 when Gale was run out, perhaps unfortunately, for 52 from 39 deliveries with five fours and a six. White hit the stumps with a direct hit but replays suggested that the bowler, Claude Henderson, may have first disturbed a bail.An enterprising knock from Jonny Bairstow renewed Yorkshire’s hope, and Ajmal Shahzad, released from the England one-day squad, cracked two consecutive sixes off Josh Cobb. In his solitary over, Cobb had already dismissed Bairstow and he also accounted for Shahzad who holed out to Taylor on the boundary edge.Winning the toss, Leicestershire were given an encouraging start by Brad Hodge and Benning who had added 55 together by the ninth over before Adil Rashid struck with the first of his four wickets which came at a cost of only 20 runs.He owed his first success to the athleticism of Lyth who caught Hodge’s
towering hit on the long-off boundary. Before his momentum took him over the line, Lyth tossed the ball into the air and caught it again when he came back inside the rope.Will Jefferson belted Rashid for six in the legspinner’s next over but then
immediately fell lbw sweeping and the bowler signed off with two wickets in his final over as Benning was bowled for 41 off 31 balls and Paul Nixon trapped in front.Taylor quickly retrieved the situation for Leicestershire and he was particularly effective moving well outside his off stump to hit to leg. He took consecutive boundaries off Tino Best and hooked and cut Shahzad for two sixes in one over before thrashing Steve Patterson for two sixes and a four in an over which cost 21.He was given solid support by White whose contribution to an unbroken 81 stand was 23 from 19 balls with a four and a six.

West Indies suffered a collapse of 6 for 60 and conceded a 154-run lead at the end of a truncated but absorbing day

Firdose Moonda10-Aug-2024A Test that seemed destined for a draw is set for a thrilling final day, weather-permitting, after South Africa grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck on the fourth evening. Despite having only two hours of play on Saturday, South Africa took a 124-run first-innings lead after they bowled West Indies out for 233 and then scored 30 runs in five overs to put themselves in a position to push for a win.Rain has affected every day of this Test so far. It seemed as if play wouldn’t get underway today as more than 50mm of rain in some areas of the island had raised a yellow-level alert. But, after a six hour delay, play did start at Queen’s Park Oval and South Africa took control. They forced a West Indian collapse of 6 for 60 in 16.1 overs to ensure they were batting again by the end of the day.Given the amount of time lost overall, and particularly on the first and fourth days, that this much has happened is impressive enough. Only 15 overs were possible on day one and 30 were scheduled for day four and though the action was truncated, it was absorbing.Rain has affected every day of this Test so far•AFP/Getty Images

Matters resumed with South Africa 13 overs away from the second new ball, and they restarted with spin from both ends, which meant Aiden Markram had to begin the day’s proceedings. Jason Holder immediately took the opportunity to put pressure on South Africa’s white-ball captain by creaming the first ball through the covers for four. He went on to hit Markram over mid-off and toward deep midwicket, but Markram won the mini-battle when he flattened Holder’s off stump in his tenth over. Three balls later, Keshav Maharaj had Joshua da Silva caught at mid-on to claim his fourth wicket of the innings.Maharaj would have had five in his next over when Kemar Roach, on 0, popped a chance up in the direction of David Bedingham at silly point. It needed quick reactions and a bit of luck to stick, but the ball just evaded Bedingham’s outstretched right hand.The new ball was taken as soon as it became available but South Africa stuck with the spinners. Markram went on to bowl an eight-over spell before being replaced by Kagiso Rabada, who took his 292nd Test wicket with this fourth ball. Bedingham made no mistake at first-slip and took the catch to dismiss Kavem Hodge. Rabada’s discipline continued to dismantle West Indies’ lower order. Gudakesh Motie met a full delivery by closing the face of the bat too early and edged to Markram at second slip, and Roach was struck just under the knee-roll on the front pad to be given out lbw. He reviewed only to see three reds from ball-tracking on the replay.Jomel Warrican made an unbeaten 35 off 32 balls•AFP/Getty Images

At the other end, Maharaj kept going and only ran into trouble when Jomel Warrican took him on. Warrican hit Maharaj over his head for six at the start of his 38th over – and he bowled all 38 in succession – and then over long-on for six more two balls later.Jayden Seales also showed some positive intent and ended Maharaj’s 39th over by hitting him over midwicket for four. Maharaj was denied the opportunity to get his tenth Test five-for by Lungi Ngidi, who replaced Rabada and bowled Seales to take his first wicket of the match. Maharaj bowled 40 overs in total, unchanged – from the Media Centre end – across two days.With more rain expected on Sunday, South Africa were in a hurry to score as many runs as possible. So, Markram and de Zorzi went out with intent. They were busy at the crease and quick between the wickets. Markram showed his class with back-to-back cover drives off Roach’s second over. In the last over of the day, de Zorzi hit Seales in the air through point for four. Two balls later, he reached for a wide ball and got a thick outside edge. Hodge, at first slip, hesitated for a millisecond and ended up getting both hands to the ball but dropped it to end a disappointing day for West Indies.

Max Holden century in vain as Middlesex fall short of hefty Spitfires total

ECB Reporters Network16-Jun-2023Kent 228 for 3 (Denly 73*, Bell-Drummond 66) beat Middlesex 215 for 7 (Holden 121*) by 13 runsMax Holden’s magnificent century spearheaded a valiant Middlesex chase in the Vitality Blast, but it was not enough as they fell short of a record Lord’s T20 total by Kent Spitfires.Holden led his side’s assault on an improbable target of 229 with a career-best T20 knock of 121 not out from 59 balls to maintain the Seaxes’ hopes of finally breaking their duck in the tournament.But Kent held on for their second successive South Group win, having posted 228 for 3 thanks to Daniel Bell-Drummond, who struck 66 from 42 before Joe Denly savaged his former side’s ragged bowling attack with an unbeaten 73 from 37.The Spitfires remain in contention but, although Middlesex’s reply equalled their sixth best total in Blast history, they remain without a point after suffering their ninth straight defeat.The home side conceded 24 extras, with neither of their main seamers able to complete a full four overs – Tom Helm withdrawn from the fray for bowling too many above waist height and Blake Cullen limping off injured.Having won the toss and chosen to bat, the Spitfires made steady progress as opening pair Tawanda Muyeye and Bell-Drummond shared a partnership of 88 – their fourth in excess of 50 in the last five Blast games.Bell-Drummond, who called for a change of bat in the third over, immediately confirmed his new selection to be a good one by dispatching his next two deliveries from Cullen for six and four.Muyeye took longer to get into his stride, slicing Martin Andersson over gully for his first boundary, but he followed that up with a straight drive over the rope as Kent powered along at around 10 an over.Having been caught at backward point off a Cullen no-ball, Muyeye failed to capitalise and skied to deep midwicket later in the same over for 38, but his replacement Denly proceeded to find the gaps with expertise.Bell-Drummond thumped Luke Hollman to the fence to bring up his half-century, although he missed the chance to convert that into a ton when Cullen slanted one back into him and Helm took a diving catch at point.It was left to Denly, who reached his first 50 of the campaign from 28 and Sam Billings – rounding off the innings with an enormous six off Ryan Higgins – to steer the Spitfires to their fourth-best total in T20 cricket.The daunting 229 target always looked beyond Middlesex’s reach, compounded when they lost openers Joe Cracknell and Stephen Eskinazi inside the first three overs of their reply, both falling to top edges that were comfortably clasped by Billings.However, Holden displayed defiance, thrashing Fred Klaassen and Kane Richardson for sixes as the latter’s first over disappeared for 20 and he and Higgins – promoted to three – shared a spirited stand of 77 from 35.Michael Hogan seemed to have scuppered any Middlesex hopes of a successful chase, stooping to grab a return catch and dismiss Higgins for 35 from 22 before Richardson returned to pick up two wickets in four balls.But Holden kept going with a combination of timing and power, slamming Hogan for two sixes and then cutting him over slip for a four that took him to his second Blast hundred from 49 deliveries.However, the left-hander’s brave effort was ultimately in vain as Middlesex – needing 24 from the final over – could only manage 10.

Free-flowing innings at odds with approach of home side in looking to avert follow-on

David Hopps09-Apr-2022Warwickshire 293 for 7 (Lamb 106) trail Surrey 428 for 8 dec by 135 runsImmediately after the Grand National delivered yet another heartwarming story, Warwickshire and Surrey trooped back onto the field at Edgbaston after a rain delay. The Championship is far too earnest these days to suggest that the two facts were remotely connected, but in a more easy-going age county cricket has been known to briefly come to a halt to glean the result of the 2.30 from Uttoxeter, never mind the 5.15 from Aintree, so it might be a good thing if they were.When it comes to heartwarming stories, the Championship in early April struggles to deliver, although the enterprise of Matthew Lamb’s second first-class century was something to celebrate. It takes place at this time purely because administrators can’t agree upon a sane fixture list in an era when three formats are still jostling for attention so just take the easy way out. Its default position is cold and drudgery and four-day cricket on ECB-approved flat pitches, without warmth or sunshine, can be like nuts without bolts. It is valued only by coaches, aficionados and those who purport to be. At Aintree it was good to soft, but at Edgbaston it was heavy going.The players are professional, and fulfil their obligations. The best can turn their suffering into England recognition, such as Ben Foakes who made a resolute hundred on the second day here. Old stagers like Stuart Broad nod wisely and say, seven games in seven weeks, in such cold, with an England place to recover, no sorry, that’s not for me? Few really enjoy watching it in April unless the ball hoops around. The members insist upon their quota of four-day cricket, but not many turn up. It is a game staged for statisticians, a game staged to keep up appearances, a game best loved from afar.That made Lamb’s hundred all the more welcome. On a third day that for the most part was a gruelling watch, as Warwickshire responded to Surrey’s 428 for 8 declared by defiantly mapping out what appears to be a successful two-day route to draw points, he blissfully struck 106 from 138 balls. By the time the follow-on was averted, the rest of Warwickshire’s batters had mustered 169 from 463. Or to put it another way, his hundred came at more than twice their scoring rate. It felt less like a century than a blood transfusion.”I was a little bit frenetic for the first ten balls but then settled down,” he said. “I just went out there to be as positive as I can and I know that, in the past, when I have had that mindset I have got into much better positions and that has allowed me to score more freely.”He resisted, as did Sam Hain, a threatening first-hour assault from Kemer Roach and Reece Topley, but Lamb then drove with elan on a surface where others just dug in, adopting an assertive approach with three fours in an over against the young seamer James Taylor, who looks to have filled out a bit and otherwise bowled with great promise.Most fun was had, though, when Roach and Topley returned for second spells with an understandable desire to test him out against the short stuff, move the game on a bit, trade runs for wickets. Lamb had a couple of swishes against slower bouncers, but hooked and pulled Roach to enter the eighties, and did likewise against Topley to bring up the 90s. A fulsome leg-side pick-up against Roach to move from 92 to 98 was wonderfully out of keeping with much of the day and seemed to have been transplanted from a night at the Blast. By now, the adrenalin was flowing, and when he pulled Topley to long leg, he would have run two for his hundred anyway even if the hapless fielder had not chested it over the boundary.The gambit having failed, the old ball seemed to age 20 overs within moments. It required an exceptional piece of fielding to remove him. Lamb mistimed a pull at Topley and Jacks plunged low to his right at deep square leg, 10 metres in from the boundary as Surrey retained an attacking intent, to pull off a spectacular one-handed catch.From 41 for 4, facing a follow-on figure of 279, Warwickshire had been committed to a day of toil. At 198 for 5, they were still 81 short and quick wickets would have put them under pressure but Dan Mousley, whose place is under threat once the South Australian Nathan McAndrew arrives in time for Essex’s visit to Edgbaston in two weeks’ time, joined Hain in a stand of 65 in 36 overs despite a break for rain and ever retreating temperatures.Hain (78 from 228) and Mousley (43 from 128) both responded virtuously. Neither looked in good touch but, in a way, every mistimed stroke made their virtue all the more apparent. Hain got out to a leave-alone – a suitable end – as Jordan Clark nipped one back when the follow-on figure was in sight; Mousley fell at slip, whipping Clark, three balls after it had been averted, his concentration perhaps momentarily released. Their concentration had been more reliable than some of us who watched them – and they could take pride in that.It is a rum thing to consider that avoiding the follow-on remains such a thing even when many captains no longer bother to enforce it. For all that, the dirge was eminently justifiable. In football, lack of entertainment can often indicate a lack of desire – just look at Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United. But in cricket, the situation is often what matters. And, for those who don’t know, it was a helluva finish in the National.

Kohli’s quickfire 40 also proved vital as Australia failed to defend 194 under stand-in captain Matthew Wade

Daniel Brettig06-Dec-2020Hardik Pandya’s heavy hitting delivered India a T20I series victory over Australia and their third consecutive win of the tour to give the captain Virat Kohli something to show for his trip down under in an undulating encounter at the SCG.ALSO WATCH: Match highlights – Natarajan, Hardik seal series for India (India subcontinent only)The Australians were led by Matthew Wade in the absence of Aaron Finch due to injury, and he led from the front with a swift half-century at the top of the order. But the remainder of the Australian innings was spasmodic, and without any of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc, the bowling attack was well and truly below the usual level of expertise.Kohli, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan ensured India would be in the contest until its closing passages, whereupon Pandya lined up his scoring zones with brutal efficiency. Daniel Sams was defending 14 from the final over, but with a pair of towering blows beyond the straight midwicket boundary, India claimed the series with two balls to spare.T Natarajan celebrates a wicket with his captain Virat Kohli•Getty Images

Wade bats where he wantsIn 31 previous T20Is, Wade had opened just four times. Handed the keys to the car on Sunday as stand-in captain, Wade made the most obvious captain’s call available to him – promoting himself to the top of the order and the role in which he had been so dominant for the Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL. There was an international basis for the decision – Wade’s only score beyond 50 had been as an opener against India as far back as 2012, also at the SCG.In Canberra on Friday, Wade had looked somewhat lost in the middle order, an experience not uncommon to his T20I career. But at the top he was able to dictate terms, and the boundaries followed almost as if by clockwork through a more tightly packed new-ball field. Wade’s crisp striking to kick off the innings gave the Australians a supercharged start, and his progress to 58 gave him some truly striking numbers as a T20I opener. How much more often he gets the chance remains to be seen.Wade, followed by fadeIt was a surprise when Wade found a fielder – Kohli no less – when he tried to find or clear the boundary a 12th time, and a still greater surprise when Kohli dropped it. Certainly Wade registered who he had hit the ball towards and then immediately turned on his heels as if already dismissed. This was a mistake, since the direction of the dressing rooms meant Wade took his eye off the ball, and then found himself run out by Kohli’s return.Australia’s loss of early momentum was also down to T Natarajan, who in two games has shown himself to not only be at ease in international company, but a valuable point of difference among so may right-armers. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah’s absence was felt, but nowhere near as keenly as that of their Australian counterpartsThe remainder of the innings was overall a failure to fulfill Wade’s early promise, as Steven Smith could not quite find his timing, Glenn Maxwell did not hang around long enough to do genuine damage, and the late contributions of Moises Henriques and Sams were cameos rather than definitive exclamation points on the innings. All the while, the hosts and the visitors knew that Australia had a severely weakened bowling attack with which to defend their tally.ALSO WATCH: Video highlights – Kohli falls while chasing a wide one (India subcontinent only)Hardik Pandya produced a stunning innings to win India the series•Getty Images

Legspin excelsMitchell Swepson had struggled to drop onto the right length at Manuka Oval, having been called up at short notice, and dragged short of where he wanted to be as a result. He appeared far better adjusted to the T20I format this time around, and in combination with Adam Zampa seemed to have bowled the overs that were going to keep the touring side short of their target. Notable was the appearance of a wrong’un to deceive the otherwise fluent Sanju Samson, on a pitch that offered just enough grip to the slow bowlers.Zampa, too, had his moments, albeit somewhat more expensive. His dismissal of Dhawan arrived through a fraction of extra bounce from an overspun delivery, and Kohli’s respect for Zampa’s offerings was evident throughout their duel. The disappearance of Maxwell for 19 from his first and only over, however, hinted at some of the punishment being meted out elsewhere, to a decisive effect as far as the game was concerned.Pace is vanquishedIf Mitchell Starc had struggled to contain India’s batsmen on a similar SCG surface before the tour caravan moved to Canberra, there was always a question to be asked of how the likes of Sams, Andrew Tye and Sean Abbott – equivalent to a middling BBL pace attack – were going to fare against a line-up lacking only Ravindra Jadeja. Sams and Tye both had their moments, the former offering handy changes of pace including the change-up that found Kohli’s outside edge, and the latter impressing with an extra turn of pace that might easily have won at least one lbw verdict.However, as the chase evolved and India’s batsmen found their range, the bowlers looked increasingly defenceless. Wade elected not to return to Abbott after his first two overs went for 17, a curious call given the fact that the SCG is his home ground, and relied upon Tye and Sams for the final two overs. Defending 25, they gave up the runs from 10 of the 12 balls required. Australia’s depth has been well and truly tested over these two series and, while balanced against the need to prepare for a Test series, been found wanting.