All posts by n8rngtd.top

Smriti Mandhana leads Indian batting effort again, just two days after retiring hurt when she was struck by a Shabnim Ismail bouncer

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2022India beat West Indies in their second warm-up fixture ahead of the Women’s World Cup, and now enter the main tournament on the back of successive warm-up wins after also beating South Africa on Sunday. While half-centuries from Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma set them up for a total of 258, a solid all-round effort with the ball ensured West Indies stopped at 177 for 9.Mandhana and Deepti added 117 for the second wicket after Shafali Verma fell for a second-ball duck, the opener’s relatively dry recent run continuing – she made 0 and 9 in the last two ODIs against New Zealand last week after having hit a 57-ball 51 in the third game, her first score of note in some time.Related

• 'Managed environment' in place for Women's World Cup, no strict bubbles or daily Covid tests

• Lanning: Nine players at World Cup would be 'interesting'

• Knight: England have 'parked' Ashes disappointment

• Raj: Younger players have the ability to play at this level

But India would be relieved with Mandhana’s innings, as she cracked 66 from just 67 balls just two days after being forced to retire hurt when she was hit in the helmet by a Shabnim Ismail bouncer that caused “a mild soft tissue injury to her left earlobe which caused discomfort while batting”.Mithali Raj and Yastika Bhatia also chipped in with decent hands, of 30 and 42 respectively, after Cherry-Ann Fraser dismissed Mandhana and Deepti. Despite the good contributions, it was a worry for India as they slipped from 142 for 2 in the 27th over to 195 for 5 by the 37th. Fraser finished with 2 for 24 from five overs.Karishma Ramharack and Hayley Matthews picked up two wickets apiece too, but West Indies’ batters didn’t quite come to the party during the chase, losing their top four with just 53 on the board.Pooja Vastrakar struck twice up top, while Deepti and Meghna Singh picked up a wicket each. A brief recovery between Matthews and Shemaine Campbelle took West Indies to 122, before Meghna got rid of Matthews for 44 in the 38th over.By then, West Indies’ required rate had shot up, as they needed another 137 from the remaining 73 deliveries. And Vastrakar pretty much sealed it for India after she bowled Campbelle for 63.Sophie Devine smashed 161 not out in just 117 balls•ICC via Getty

New Zealand chased down a steep target of 322 seemingly with ease against Australia, getting to 325 with nine wickets in hand and nearly seven overs to spare. Captain Sophie Devine led the show with an unbeaten 161 off just 117 balls, an innings that featured 23 fours and four sixes. She got great company from fellow opener Suzie Bates, who hit 63 in a stand of 119 for the first wicket.There was no respite for Australia even after Alana King got rid of Bates, as Amelia Kerr continued her excellent form to remain undefeated on 92 from just 75 balls, cracking 13 fours on her way. The New Zealand batters took a special liking for Annabel Sutherland, smashing her for 41 in three overs, and Ashleigh Gardner, who went for 34 in her three.Before that, four half-centuries from Australia’s top six took them to what seemed like a winning total of 321, with captain Meg Lanning leading the way with 87 at just over a run-a-ball. Opener Alyssa Healy hit 64 and Beth Mooney struck a 51-ball 55, but the real impact came from Gardner at No. 6, as she clattered 60 from only 32 balls with six fours and four sixes.But Hannah Rowe, with 4 for 49, cleaned up Australia middle-order to help bowl them out with three balls left.In the end, though, the total wasn’t enough for Australia, who had beaten West Indies in their first warm-up. New Zealand, meanwhile, hit their straps after losing to Pakistan on Sunday. They will play the tournament opener against West Indies on Friday.

New Zealander will play two Championship games with three frontline seamers sidelined

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2022Jacob Duffy, the New Zealand seamer, has signed for Kent on a short-term deal that will see him play two County Championship matches.Duffy, 27, was part of New Zealand’s enlarged squad for their ongoing Test series against England but was trimmed from the initial 20-man group ahead of the first Test at Lord’s, having played in both warm-up games.Kent have struggled with injuries to seamers throughout this season with Darren Stevens, Harry Podmore and Nathan Gilchrist all sidelined as things stand, while Jackson Bird had his early-season spell as an overseas player cut short by a shoulder injury.Matt Henry, Duffy’s compatriot, is due to return to the club after the third Test at Headingley but the club were keen to recruit an additional seamer for their upcoming County Championship fixtures against Gloucestershire and Surrey, which are interspersed with T20 Blast fixtures.Related

• Duffy ready to do Southland proud as debut looms

• Maddinson lines up Durham stint to press Ashes case

• Denly blazes back into form to light blue touchpaper on Kent defence

• Shoulder injury forces early end to Bird's Kent stay

“We’re delighted to be able to secure Jacob’s services for our next two Championship matches,” Paul Downton, Kent’s director of cricket, said. “It’s a very busy part of the season with Championship matches intermingled with the Vitality Blast and Jacob will strengthen our seam attack at this crucial stage of our Championship campaign.”Duffy will be Kent’s second overseas player for the Championship alongside the South African allrounder George Linde, who is available across formats. Qais Ahmad, the Afghan legspinner, is at the club for the T20 Blast but is not expected to play in the Championship.Kent have endured a difficult start to the season and are ninth in the 10-team top division of the Championship, with four draws and two losses from their six games so far. They have also struggled in the Blast despite their status as defending champions, finally picking up their first win in their sixth group game against Middlesex on Sunday.Elsewhere, Durham have announced that Keegan Petersen has returned to South Africa ahead of schedule due to personal reasons. Nic Maddinson, the Australian batter, is expected to replace him after Australia A’s ongoing tour to Sri Lanka.

Somerset fight through Aldridge, Rew and Lammonby but concede sizeable lead

ECB Reporters Network23-Aug-2024Ed Barnard’s five-for lifted Warwickshire into the ascendancy against Somerset on the second day of their Vitality County Championship match at Edgbaston.After Warwickshire, still looking for their first championship win of the season, extended their first innings to 337, Barnard took five for 54 as the visitors were bowled out for 239.Michael Burgess (69, 90 balls), Jake Bethell (64, 143) and some aggressive tail-wagging gave the home side a solid total against an attack led by Josh Davey (four for 80) and Craig Overton (four for 88).Somerset then lurched to nought for two and 65 for five against Barnard and Chris Rushworth (three for 42 in his first first-team bowl since April) before partially recovering through Kasey Aldridge’s elegant 84 (139), supported by James Rew (49, 75) and Tom Lammonby (44, 66).Warwickshire closed on 27 for one second time round and will be hoping the forecast third-day rain stays away to allow them to try to press home their advantage.The second day started with a highly entertaining 45 minutes as Warwickshire, resuming on 277 for six, added 60 for four in ten overs. Burgess and Bethell took their partnership to 122 in 29 balls before both fell in five balls. Burgess edged Overton and was superbly caught by wicketkeeper Rew, standing up. Bethell’s middle stump was knocked out by Davey.At 287 for eight, Warwickshire were in danger of coming in light but the last two wickets clubbed 50 from 40 balls with eight fours and two sixes. Michael Rae struck 28 from 22 before he skied a slog at Overton.After all the fluctuations, Warwickshire appeared to have finished with a total around par, but it appeared dominant when Somerset’s first five wickets fell in 20 overs. Their reply began in bizarre fashion when Tom Kohler-Cadmore charged at the first two balls from Olly Hannon-Dalby, missing the first and edging the second. When Rushworth knocked out Andy Umeed’s off stump, it was nought for two.Lammonby and Tom Abell added 36 but Barnard then struck twice as Abell fell lbw offering no shot and Tom Banton edged to Will Rhodes at first slip. Lammonby rose above the top order wreckage to score a polished 44 out of 65 but perished carelessly when he scooped Rushworth to long leg.Aldridge settled stylishly after a slightly sketchy start to add 87 with Rew and, after the latter edged Rushworth, 49 with Overton before the captain was castled by Hannon-Dalby. When Barnard bowled Davey and had Jack Leach caught at second slip in the space of four balls, Aldridge was 34 runs short of a ton with just last man Jake Ball for company. He acquired 18 of them before chipping a full-toss to extra cover to complete Barnard’s five-for.Warwickshire soon lost Rob Yates, who fatally edged Overton’s fifth ball, in their second innings but closed very strongly placed, 125 ahead with nine wickets intact, after Alex Davies and Will Rhodes survived until bad light lopped off the last 13 overs.

Optus Stadium is starting to feel like a home away from home for Australia’s prolific No. 3

Alex Malcolm30-Nov-20220:42

Green: I’m trying to learn how to leave the ball again

It’s rare for a Queenslander to love Perth as much as Marnus Labuschagne does. But he continued his adoring relationship with Western Australia’s capital and its newest cricket stadium, compiling a masterful 154 not out on day one of the opening Test against West Indies with promises of more to come.Labuschagne has only batted three times at Perth Stadium for scores of 143, 50 against New Zealand and this currently unbeaten hundred, with the venue reminding him of his home in Brisbane.”I love this venue,” Labuschagne said. “I love playing in Perth because the conditions are so similar to Brisbane. And I’ve had some good success in Brisbane so it’s really nice to be able to come to a ground where the characteristics of the wicket are very similar.”Related

• Warner's lack of red-ball prep shows in waning Test returns

• 'We bowled well but luck didn't go our way' – Phil Simmons

• At home, and yet not quite – Green at the centre of unfamiliar homecoming

• Cummins does not want to lose Australia's realistic chance at WTC final (once again)

• Labuschagne's big hundred puts Australia in command

Labuschagne is compiling a staggering Test record at home in general. Of all the Test greats who have played 20 innings or more in Australia, only Sir Donald Bradman averages more than Labuschagne’s 69.28, having scored seven of his eight Test centuries in Australia.Having broken his overseas century duck in Sri Lanka in his last Test match in Galle in July, Labuschagne slipped back into the rhythms of Test cricket in Australia with ease.He negotiated a tricky morning session, leaving the ball well and absorbing pressure as the West Indies quicks tested him on both the front and back foot. Having done the hard yards, he cashed in later in the day as West Indies erred full and wide and he was able to pick them off.Marnus Labuschagne jumps over to get under the ball•Getty Images

“Growing up playing a lot on the Gabba really helps with that because you know there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Labuschagne said. “So you know you’ve got to put in the hard work early. Knowing the conditions, obviously playing in Brisbane with the bouncy conditions, certainly helps.”You just let the ball go. You understand the game, the tempo isn’t as fast as other venues. You’re not hitting as many balls. You’re letting a lot of balls go. So all those things really helped. And then to be able to then come out after lunch and after tea and be able to put the pressure on, they tried to amend their shorter length and they tried to bowl a bit fuller which created a few more scoring options for us.”Labuschagne’s innings wasn’t without luck. He nicked twice through the slips, with Jason Holder failing to lay a hand on one while the other flew wide of the cordon at a catchable height, and also edged Kraigg Brathwaite onto keeper Joshua Da Silva’s knee with the ball ballooning over slip’s head. He could have been caught at deep point late in the day with debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul misjudging the flight in the shadows.Luck aside, Labuschagne was pleased to iron out some of the kinks that plagued him late in last year’s Ashes series at home where England’s Mark Wood caused him some problems fending outside off stump.”I certainly looked at a lot of that stuff from last summer,” Labuschagne said. “It’s feeling alright. I’ve certainly felt better. But it’s nice to be scoring runs when you’re not absolutely feeling 100%. Certainly my stance is probably more closed off I think from where it was last summer.”I’m probably not as rigid as I was last summer. I feel like I’m a little bit more relaxed in my hands. So I think that’s helping me on that short ball and that back-foot punch, so I don’t really get stuck and then start fending the ball away from my face.”Labuschagne is loading up to add more to his tally tomorrow with a second Test double-century within reach.”Whenever you’re not out overnight on 150 the next stop is 200,” he said. “So it’s just going to be for me tomorrow if I’m able to stick to the process for long enough. If I do, I’m sure I’ll get there. But put that out of your mind, you’ve got to take it ball by ball and if the 200 does come that’s great, but more importantly, I’m just trying to get as many runs as we can in this first innings and put the pressure on the West Indies.”

Visitors are clear underdogs against an Indian side that has lost only two of the 17 T20Is since their T20 World Cup triumph

Shashank Kishore27-Jan-20252:01

Tilak’s finishing reminds Manjrekar of Dhoni

Big Picture: Fearless India meet wobbly England

Fifteen wins and two losses in 17 T20Is since winning the T20 World Cup last June has made India almost impenetrable in the format. This despite having to mix and match their players, owing to the cramped cricket calendar. It’s scary to imagine what they can achieve if Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav are back in the mix.Under Suryakumar Yadav, there’s a settled look to the squad that it’s hard to see how Yashasvi Jaiswal, one of their first-choice batters, slots in after the kind of performances Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson have been putting in.There’s fearlessness that stems from the freedom they’re reveling in under their captain. This has given Gautam Gambhir less headaches in at least one format, because India’s transition has been smoth post the retirement Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.Related

• Tilak Varma is India's Swiss Army knife T20 batter

• Carse extends his excellent winter with a do-it-all performance

• Reddy and Rinku injured, Dube and Ramandeep join India's T20I squad

England’s white-ball renaissance – much talked about since their 50-over World Cup win in 2019 and T20 World Cup win in 2022 – has somewhat hit a roadblock. Jos Buttler has endured one reversal after another, including two poor World Cups (ODI in 2023 and T20 in 2024) even as he continues to remain optimistic of a turnaround amid churn.Brendon McCullum’s entry as white-ball coach couldn’t have begun on a more challenging note and a series defeat in India, on the back of the T20 World Cup disappointment, could be yet another major setback.Jofra Archer breathing fire, with his pace, upon his return from a series of back issues, bodes well for England, as does the pace and hostility of Mark Wood. The batting has let them down in the first two games, and they’ll need to do heaps better if they are to prevent another series defeat.

Form guide

India WWWWL
England LLLWWLiam Livingstone was dismissed by Varun and Axar in the first two T20Is•Associated Press

In the spotlight: Suryakumar Yadav and Liam Livingstone

Suryakumar Yadav had a mixed bag in South Africa, but when he conceded his No. 3 spot to Tilak Varma for the third and fourth T20Is, the youngster stood up with back-to-back centuries. Suryakumar managed scores of 21, 4 and 1 in the three innings there, and now has 0 and 12 in two games in this series. The return to Rajkot may elicit happy memories of him hitting his first T20I century in India – in 2023 vs Sri Lanka.Liam Livingstone has come to India with a reputation of playing spin well, but has been out to spinners in both games. In Kolkata, he misread a Varun Chakravarthy wrong’un and was bowled through the gate. In Chennai, he didn’t account for Axar Patel’s lift and was caught pulling. With India likely to persist with their four-pronged spin attack, Livingstone needs to devise a method that allows him to score with the rate that has made him hot property.

Team news: Dube, Jurel or Ramandeep?

India should slot Shivam Dube back into the XI after being called in to replace the injured Nitish Kumar Reddy. This means Dhruv Jurel, who got a game in Chennai because India didn’t have another batter on the bench, will likely make way. Ramandeep Singh has an outside chance too.India (probable XI): 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.England have announced an unchanged XI. Jacob Bethell, who missed the Chennai T20I due to an illness, will therefore be on the sidelines. His replacement, Jamie Smith, struck a breezy 12-ball 22 in his first outing of the series.England XI: Phil Salt (wk), 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jos Buttler (capt), 4 Harry Brook, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jamie Smith, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Adil Rashid.

Pitch and conditions: Highway in Rajkot?

There are only two types of surfaces largely possible in Rajkot because of the geography. A road that many liken to the highway that runs next to the Niranjan Shah Stadium, and a rank turner that Saurashtra – the home team – often tailor, like they did last week, to suit their spin strength. Given this is a T20I, there’s little doubt what will be on offer. So expect a flat track full of runs, and dew that will most-likely make toss very crucial once again.

Stats and trivia

• Since the 2024 T20 World Cup ended, India and England are both neck-and-neck (England 9.35, India 9.34) as far as powerplay run-rate goes. It’s in the middle overs where India have stood out with their new mantra of all-out aggression, scoring at 10.07 compares to England’s 8.90. England’s sample size (eight T20Is) is smaller than India’s (17) though.
• England hit a boundary every 4.9 balls on an average in T20Is since 2024. This is the third-best among all Full Members in T20Is in this period, behind Australia (4.6) and India (4.8).
• India have won four of the five T20Is in Rajkot. This includes wins by 80-plus run margin in their last two outings.
• Tilak Varma has scored 318 runs across four innings since his last dismissal in T20Is and has struck at 182.75 in this period.
• England’s win-loss record in India in T20Is is 9-10. South Africa and Bangladesh are the only other countries where they’ve lost more T20Is than they won.

Quotes

“Him playing or not playing – I’m not the one who can answer. There’s definitely a plan, looking to the coming matches and one-dayers. That’s something Gautam and Surya will take a call, but his fitness is definitely not a problem.” — “I felt a little bit hit and miss — I’ve done a couple of good things, it’s great that my pace has been up there and I feel it’s coming out of my hand well, but the accuracy at times hasn’t been quite where I wanted it. But when I haven’t played since August, it’s pretty much expected — I’ve played two games since then. Hopefully the more I play, the better I get leading into the 50-over stuff and the Champions Trophy.” —

Captain hails team’s ability to overcome adversity after hard-fought 2-0 win

George Dobell25-Jan-2021Joe Root believes England will go into their series against India with “a huge amount of confidence” after completing victory in Sri Lanka.England’s six-wicket win in Galle represented their fifth successive Test victory both overseas and in Asia. And while Root, England’s captain, admitted his side’s preparations for the India series were not ideal, he felt their experiences in Sri Lanka held them in “good stead” as they go into it.India have not lost a Test series at home since England’s victorious campaign in 2012-13 – indeed, they have only lost once at home since the end of 2004 – and, despite a host of absences, recently completed a series victory in Australia. On England’s most recent visit in late 2016, Virat Kohli’s men exacted revenge for that previous loss with a 4-0 victory.But Root feels the character England have shown in adversity and the experience they have gained means they “couldn’t be in a better place” to take on such a challenge.”What we have got is a huge amount of confidence coming out of these two games,” Root said. “We’ve had to manage different situations and all of that will stand us in really good stead.”Now we’ve got four very important games against arguably the best team in the world in their own conditions. We’ll have to play right at the top of our game to win out there. But we couldn’t be in a better place to go and challenge them.”England overcame far-from-ideal preparation – including Moeen Ali’s pre-series Covid diagnosis and subsequent isolation, as well as rain during their intra-squad warm-up game – to prevail in Sri Lanka and Root knows they will have to do show similar “resilience” in India. They will arrive on Wednesday and spend six days in quarantine before they have just three days of training ahead of the first Test.James Anderson’s penetration in tricky seaming conditions was a big plus for England•SLC

“It’s going to be strange,” Root admitted. “We’ve got to be quite realistic: we are going to have seven or eight days with no cricket now with six days in quarantine. Then we will have three very important days of preparation ahead of the series.”We had a lot of things out of our favour [in Sri Lanka]. We lost the toss in both games and we managed to find a way in very difficult conditions with very little build-up to the series. In the past, we’ve been guilty of being slow starters, whether it be home or away. So for us to start as well as that was very pleasing, but also to keep growing as a team and improving throughout the two games is quite impressive.”Although Root himself was England’s stand-out performer with two big hundreds and 426 runs in the series all told, a range of different players produced telling moments with bat and ball – including Stuart Broad and James Anderson with their incisive, economical seam bowling; the spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess who picked up 22 wickets between them despite rarely being at their best, and a pair of junior batsman, Dan Lawrence and Dom Sibley, with a crucial half-century in each Test.Related

• Joe Root's 100th Test: Standing on the shoulders of giants, his best yet to come

• Sri Lanka's batsmen, and the voice of unreason

• Sibley breaks out of slump to help see England home

• Embuldeniya's unsexy virtues put him on the right path

• Arthur bemoans batting after second Test goes 'horribly wrong'

“The most impressive thing this week was that, for a large proportion of the second Test, we were behind the game,” Root said. “For our seamers to be effective as they were on that wicket shows the improvement we have made in taking wickets in these conditions. We’ve struggled with that in the past.”More than anything, it was impressive the way we dealt with pressure on the last day, both in the field and with the bat. For our spinners to restrict them to a total we could chase down was a brilliant effort.”And then for our batters to stay as calm and as poised as they did and that partnership [of 75, between Sibley and Jos Buttler] towards the end was really impressive. It’s probably one of the hardest things to manage in this part of the world.”But Root is realistic that India will be another set-up for his improving team, as they build towards the first Test in Chennai on February 5.”Now the challenge is to replicate that over and over again as a team,” he said. “We have to look at this as a platform and not be happy with what we’ve achieved.”We’ve got so far to go, still. We have a lot of young players who are learning all the time. We have to take as much experience from this series as we can and keep looking to build and improve.”We’re going to need everyone to look to improve. We’re going to have different challenges, different surfaces, different situations to manage in India. So it is about reacting to that and having that same attitude, that same character and desire to go on and win like we have here.”Root’s confidence was exceeded by that of Mickey Arthur. The Sri Lanka coach said England “can go to India with every chance of winning” having been especially impressed with their “wonderful” bowling attack. But he agreed the difference between the sides was player of the series, Root.”I thought England have been really good,” Arthur said. “They’ve been very professional. They’ve some players in good form, their bowling attack is wonderful, their seam-bowling attack is great. We saw good signs for England with Dom Bess and Jack Leach and Root has batted at another level on this tour.”

Davey picks up three before Kohler-Cadmore seals nine-wicket win

ECB Reporters Network02-Jun-2023Somerset 142 for 1 (Kohler-Cadmore 64) beat Middlesex 136 (Green 4-20, Davey 3-34) by nine wicketsRampant Somerset made it five victories from as many Vitality Blast South Group games with a nine-wicket demolition of winless Middlesex at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.On a sunny evening in front of a packed crowd, the visitors were bowled out for a modest 136 in 18.4 overs after losing the toss, Ben Green claiming four for 20 and Josh Davey three for 34. Wicketkeeper Jack Davies top scored with 32.In reply, Somerset breezed to 142 for one off just 13.3 overs, Tom Kohler-Cadmore leading the way with 64, off 31 balls, with seven fours and four sixes, and Tom Banton making 27 before retiring hurt.The victory was as emphatic as the formbook suggested it would be and left Middlesex without a point from their first five group matches.Having been rested for the previous game against Kent, a refreshed Craig Overton steamed in from the River End at the start of the game, bowling four fiery overs for just 15 in a single spell.The accurate Davey profited at the other end, scattering the stumps of Joe Cracknell and Pieter Malan in his first two overs to leave Middlesex 14 for two.Max Holden threatened briefly, hitting a straight six and 2 fours in the sixth over, bowled by Davey, but despite his efforts the power play ended with his side 40 for two.Holden also pulled a six off Peter Siddle, who ended his nine-ball frenzy by bowling him for 22, attempting a big shot through the off side.It was 59 for four when Roelof van der Merwe’s second delivery of left-arm spin saw Stephen Eskinazi, on 18, loft a catch to long-off and 68 for five when Green struck in the following over, the 11th of the innings, Ryan Higgins being caught at long-on for six.Five runs later, Luke Hollman chipped a catch to mid-off to give Lewis Gregory his first wicket. Davies and Martin Andersson then produced the most substantial stand of the innings, adding 43 before Andersson, who had struck a six and two fours in his 25, aimed a reverse pull off Davey and guided the ball straight to Tom Abell at backward point.
Davies hit sweetly-timed sixes off van der Merwe and Siddle, as well as three fours, before departing in the 19th over, caught at deep mid-wicket off Green.Toby Roland-Jones fell to the next delivery and Green wrapped up the innings by dismissing Nathan Fernandez via a boundary catch by Kohler-Cadmore.A target of 137 never looked likely to test a Somerset team brimming with confidence. So it proved, as Banton and Will Smeed set about the task in typically positive fashion.Smeed has struggled for runs in the early group games and the scorer of the first ever century in The Hundred was relieved to survive a loud lbw appeal from Roland-Jones with his score on five.The response was a straight six and pulled four in the same over from the talented 21-year-old, who had another scare in Roland-Jones’ next over when dropped by Hollman, a low chance running in from deep mid-wicket.
Smeed’s luck ran out at the start of the fifth over when bowled by Tom Helm for 26 off 14 balls. By then the scoreboard read 39 for one and he was replaced by Kohler-Cadmore, making his 150th T20 appearance.Another catch went down when Banton, on 18, top-edged a pull shot off Helm and Roland-Jones spilled a skyer. With such a small score to defend, Middlesex could not afford such generosity.At the end of six overs, Somerset were 58 for one and in command. Kohler-Cadmore audaciously uppercut Helm for six and also hit two fours as 17 came off the seventh.At 75 for one, Banton had to hobble off with a suspected side strain, but by then the outcome was almost beyond doubt. Kohler-Cadmore signalled as much with a straight six off Roland-Jones as Somerset reached the halfway stage of their innings needing only a further 31.The former Yorkshire player reached his half-century off 28 balls before ending the game with a huge six off Roland-Jones, Tom Abell (25) providing solid support in an unbroken stand of 67.

Extreme speed backed up by new-found subtlety as Wood makes his home comforts count

Andrew Miller06-Jul-20230:32

Does Mark Wood think he can reach 100mph?

Hindsight is a terrible tease, but where might this series be now had Mark Wood been fit to play the first Test at Edgbaston? To judge by his ferocious pad-thumper to a motionless Pat Cummins in the afternoon session, Australia’s captain probably wouldn’t have been quite so composed in that fraught run-chase, especially against a bowler with a proven ability to transcend the conditions on flat decks – see Wood’s priceless performance on the final day at Multan for recent evidence.But he’s here now, all right, and after claiming his fourth five-wicket haul and his first on home soil, a sensational 5 for 34 in 11.4 overs, Wood was champing at the bit to make up for lost time in England’s hour of Ashes need.”I’m delighted,” Wood told Sky Sports at the close. “Obviously I haven’t played a Test match in a while, but to be able to come back fairly fresh and produce that was pretty special.”However, Wood was also keen to prove that he’s learnt a few new tricks since he was last unleashed in a home Test, against India at Lord’s almost two years ago. For pace may be pace (yaar) when you’re playing on a road in Pakistan, but on one of the most helpful home surfaces that he’s ever been unleashed on, Wood had a mission to ensure that his eye-watering speed was translated into wicket-taking success.”I was really happy that I could show in home conditions that I can bowl as well,” he said. “Movement, that’s what’s deadly I think. If you just bowl fast, these top players are just used to that. They face dog-stick guys [throwing the ball] off 17 yards, so they’re used to facing quick bowling. So I the thing that helped today was the movement really.”For all that his day’s work was done in the blink of an eye (or three-and-a-bit, to be exact – four precisely measured bursts of four, two, three and 2.4 overs, spread evenly across the innings) Wood’s tactics were more carefully calibrated than his raw speed might suggest, as he explained in front of the Sky Sports replay screen at the close.”In general the wicket felt to me like, when you went up there, it came onto the bat, it slid on,” he said, referencing how David Warner had leant on Stuart Broad’s first ball of the match and pinged it for four down the ground.Mark Wood unleashed extreme speed in his first outing of this summer’s Ashes•Getty Images

“So it was about trying to hold the good length to keep [the batter] on the crease and then I thought, ‘right, this is the one I’m going to try and get the wicket’, push it right up there with a bit of swing, and luckily it paid off.”No wicket was more spectacular in that regard than his first, a stunning stump-wrecker to Usman Khawaja that was clocked at 94.6mph – and given Khawaja’s prior record in this series, 300 runs from almost 20 hours of application across the first two Tests, no wicket was more essential to England’s cause, either.”We were discussing it as a bowling group out there,” Wood said. “At Headingley you think, ‘full, full, full’, but then you can get drawn in, so it’s just that balance of when to attack the stumps and when to hold it in. It was more a case of bashing the top of the stumps on that nicking length, and then the odd one full rather than being full all the time.”A still image of Wood’s point of release during that spell emphasised the extraordinary physical toil his bowling puts on his body, but also the remarkable rewards when his action is perfectly aligned, with a braced front knee, and fully loaded torso, compared to a fractionally buckled load-up for his second spell, when his speeds intermittently dipped below 90mph.”When I’m at full biff, it feels like all my body’s going towards the batsman. It looks like an awful position, but it’s almost like a catapult sling that, when you let it go, all the chinks in the chain fizz the ball out.”But it was the subtlety that Wood brought to his performance that pleased him the most – especially knowing that, in the past, he probably wouldn’t have been given first dibs on such a pitch.Related

• Pat Cummins vs Joe Root – a hallmark of greatness

• Ollie Robinson fit to bat but England sweat on back spasms

• England 'wanted to pick Wood' but settle for Tongue in all-seam attack

• Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Moeen Ali return for must-win Headingley Test

• All guns set to blaze as England enter Bazball's last-chance saloon

“I’m usually on the flat ones, to be fair, and my record is much better away from home,” he said, citing a record of 49 wickets at 24.18 overseas, compared to 35 at 40.71 prior to today, both from 13 Tests.”On wickets like today, when the ball moves around, you’re automatically thinking Anderson, Broad, Robinson, Woakes,” he added. “They are your top guys who can trouble people in these conditions.”For me, being able to move the ball today, it’s really helped me, because that’s not something that I’ve always done to be, to be brutally honest. I’ve tried to work hard behind the scenes on the wobble-seam, through speaking to the other guys and the bowling coaches.”It’s something I’m trying to get better at. I’m 33, but I’m still trying to get better and better, even though it’s a slow progress. It doesn’t just happen overnight.”But I like bowling away from home, because it brings in reverse-swing. And the bouncer attack on flat pitches, I feel really that suits me, because they sometimes skid through and it’s hard to play especially with the field.”The short ball at Headingley, however, proved a trickier weapon to get right, particularly when the WACA-born-and-bred Mitchell Marsh was climbing into his sensational run-a-ball counterattack in the afternoon session.”If you bowled it too short, it looped over the keeper, and then if you didn’t get short enough, it’s in that Australian sweet spot, where they play it really well,” Wood said. “It’s about that happy medium you got to find.”Mitch Marsh played fantastically well. He was difficult to bowl at in that period, when the ball went from having that zip off the wicket, and all of a sudden, it looked very different when he was in. But of course, when a new batter came in, it was tough again.”I’ve had a good day. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I’ve got to back it up. This is a must-win game, and we’ve got to back it up in the second innings. But the outfield is rapid and rock hard. We’re gonna score quickly if the lads can get in tomorrow.”

KKR are hoping for a change of fortunes after finishing seventh in both 2022 and 2023

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2023Gautam Gambhir, who was captain when Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL in 2012 and 2014, has linked up with the franchise as the team’s mentor, starting with the upcoming season in 2024 with no fixed period decided on yet.”I am not an emotional person and not many things move me. But this is different,” Gambhir said in a statement. “This is back to where it all started. Today, there is a lump in my throat and fire in my heart as I think about slipping into that purple and gold jersey once again.”Gambhir, a T20 (2007) and ODI (2011) World Cup champion, joined Knight Riders in 2011 and was with the team till 2017. During the period, Knight Riders qualified for the IPL playoffs five times (including the two years they won the tournament) and also reached the final of the now-defunct Champions League T20 in 2014.”Gautam has always been part of the family and this is our captain coming back home in a different avatar as a ‘Mentor’,” team co-owner Shah Rukh Khan noted. “He was sorely missed and now we all look forward to Chandu [Chandrakant Pandit] Sir and Gautam in instilling the never-say-die spirit and of sportsmanship they stand for, in creating magic with Team KKR.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The Knight Riders support staff is led by head coach Chandrakant Pandit, with Abhishek Nayar (assistant coach), James Foster (assistant coach), Bharat Arun (bowling coach) and Ryan ten Doeschate (fielding coach) in the line-up.Knight Riders, one of the few teams to have been a part of every edition of the IPL since its inception in 2008, reached the IPL final, where they lost to Chennai Super Kings, in 2021, but have since finished seventh in both 2022 and 2023.In recent years, apart from being a member of parliament and a TV cricket pundit, Gambhir was a part of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL. He joined Lucknow Super Giants, one of two new teams in the 2022 season of the IPL, and was subsequently elevated to the role of “global mentor”, which made him a part of Durban’s Super Giants in the SA20 league in South Africa as well.

Mohsin Naqvi has announced that the redevelopment is “in its final stages and the last touches are being applied”

Danyal Rasool31-Jan-2025PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has announced that the redevelopment of the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is “in its final stages”. At a press conference held within the ground itself, Naqvi praised everyone involved in the construction of the stadium, saying it had been completed in record time.”The Gaddafi Stadium will be inaugurated on 7 February by the Prime Minister [Shehbaz Sharif],” Naqvi said. “It’s in its final stages and the last touches are being applied to it. It will definitely be completed by 7 February. We had begun demolishing this stadium in September, with the construction beginning in October. We promised it would be ready by the end of January, and you can all see how close it is to completion.”Related

• Gambhir: Kohli and Rohit will have 'massive roles' to play in Champions Trophy

• Gaddafi redevelopment picks up pace as Champions Trophy nears

• Tickets for Champions Trophy final to go on sale only four days before match

• No captains event or photoshoot before Champions Trophy

• Imran Khan stand to stay at Gaddafi Stadium

Naqvi said the National Stadium in Karachi, also undergoing significant renovation ahead of the Champions Trophy, was also on track. It is scheduled to be inaugurated in a ceremony on February 11 by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, on the eve of the first game it is scheduled to host – a tri-series match on February 12.Pakistan are also hosting an opening ceremony on February 16 February in Lahore, though it will not include a captains’ call and photoshoot, which the PCB put down to logistical issues. Naqvi said the PCB had invited ICC chairman Jay Shah to the event, as well as the heads of all cricket boards involved in the event.”We are also holding a ceremony on the 16th of February in Lahore. We’ve invited the heads of all cricket boards of teams who are coming, as well as all ICC officials, including the ICC chairman Jay Shah. We are eager to welcome the board officials and anyone else who is attending.”The PCB has faced extreme scrutiny over the last few months concerning the fitness of its stadiums to host the tournament. With renovation and reconstruction work on the venues left to the last few months, there were concerns about whether the PCB would manage to bring its stadiums to a state of readiness in time for the tournament. The PCB had initially set a January 25 deadline for all development of the Gaddafi Stadium to be completed, before pushing it forward to February 2.Naqvi took aim at those who had raised doubts. “Across the border [a reference to India], there are many people who are trying to find the tiniest flaw in our stadiums and arrangements, and they will get no such opportunity. We will welcome all the arriving teams and their security and welcome arrangements. The whole of the PCB is working day and night to provide a seamless tournament.”Naqvi, who has been unapologetic about the rate of spend at the PCB since he assumed the post, also offered a first glimpse of the potential financial toll the work on the stadiums had taken, announcing the PCB had sold the tickets allocated to it by the ICC back to the governing council to go some way towards making up the costs of developing its grounds.The Champions Trophy, which is set to begin on February 19, is the first ICC tournament Pakistan will host since 1996.