All posts by n8rngtd.top

The ICC has shown faith in the Bangladesh Cricket Board by reiterating that next year’s Under-19 World Cup will be hosted by the nation

Mohammad Isam13-Oct-2015The ICC has shown faith in the Bangladesh Cricket Board by reiterating that next year’s Under-19 World Cup will be hosted by the nation, but stressed on the need for a security plan that satisfies both the ICC and the member countries.”The [ICC] board confirmed that the Bangladesh Cricket Board will host next year’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup from 22 January to 14 February,” an ICC statement said. “As part of this decision, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), working in conjunction with its government, will be developing an appropriate security plan that addresses all security risks to the satisfaction of the ICC’s security advisor, working closely with the security advisors for the other Members.”The confirmation should soothe nerves in the BCB as well as among Bangladesh fans, especially after Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa postponed Bangladesh tours scheduled for this month due to safety concerns for foreigners.The Under-19 World Cup is the next tour that raised doubts among many in Bangladesh. But neither the ICC nor any of the participating nations sounded any concerns about the tournament.The BCB was awarded the tournament’s hosting rights a couple of years ago and had already started preparation, particularly in redeveloping venues across the country.

Shane Warne has paid a visit to Pakistan’s training session in Sharjah to have a one-on-one session with legspinner Yasir Shah

Umar Farooq in Sharjah29-Oct-2015Shane Warne has paid a visit to Pakistan’s training session in Sharjah to have a one-on-one session with legspinner Yasir Shah. After their one-and-a-half hour session, Yasir said it had fulfilled a childhood wish to bowl with the legendary Australian.This was the first organised meeting between the two, with Warne in the UAE to promote a golf tournament. Warne was also keen to get some practice before his All Stars T20 matches in the USA. Pakistan’s team management were reluctant to let Warne take part in a team training session but allowed him and Yasir to spend some time on one of the pitches at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.Yasir’s excitement was clear and he said he was happy to meet his hero. “I had a wish from my childhood that I could bowl with him and play with him,” Yasir said. “I was excited to have him here for me. I am very happy to hear the kind of feedback he gave me, and he spoke highly about me.”He didn’t teach me everything but gave me very useful tips about certain things, and didn’t find any problem in my bowling action. He emphasised that Test cricket is played with patience and I don’t need to rush and waste energy, just keep myself calm.”When asked if he could get confused with having too many coaches around him, he said: “I don’t think I can get lost focus as I am working a lot with Mushy . His [Warne] tips are very useful, which I am going to try in the long run, but during the series I won’t make any changes.”Yasir was perhaps a little star struck as Pakistan arrived for their training session at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, with his team-mates calling [look how excited Yasir is today] at the news of Warne coming to nets.Warne had been due to arrive at 10am but eventually turned up just after 11am. The team security manager was overhead saying [he came] as Yasir hurried towards the dressing room, where Pakistan’s team manager, Intikhab Alam, introduced the two legspinners.”Look I have always been a fan of Shah since the first time I saw him a while ago,” Warne said afterward. “He’s probably the best legspinner in the world. The way he bowls and the way the ball comes out of his hand its fantastic. I think he is more of a natural talent than me. If he gets his pace right and doesn’t try to bowl quick and keeps patience… He has got a beautiful leg break.””He is a wonderful bowler now, although he hasn’t played a lot Test – but he has played a lot of first-class cricket. He is a world-class spinner. Test match cricket is what all we love and spinners can excel in this format.”Yasir climbed to No. 2 in the world rankings for Test bowlers after taking eight wickets against England in Dubai. Overall, he has picked up 69 wickets in 11 Test matches at an average of 24.55.Warne was the player Yasir idolised and grew up watching him. The pair met in Adelaide during the World Cup earlier this year but on that occasion only spent a few minutes together, and Warne said he would be happy to share more of his expertise with Yasir in the UAE, given the opportunity.”Probably I am a bit biased for legspinners, but I love seeing spin bowling and I am very passionate about it,” Warne said. “I have always liked to help as many spin bowlers as I possibly can, whether it’s Kaneria, who I have helped little bit, or Graeme Swann, Kumble, Saqlain, Mushy, Dan Vettori – all of the spinners have got a club, so we always try to help each other. We are bit different, think differently than most people. It was a fantastic opportunity to work with Yasir; we worked on a couple of things.”I am not big on working on technical things because you have your natural gift and what is natural to you, so there’s no point working on technical things, especially in the middle of a Test series. Off-season’s when you have time work on that. He is a wonderful bowler, beautiful, so we just worked on who he has having troubles with in the England side, some tactics and plans, how he can be little bit better.”Yasir was mainly assisted by Mushtaq Ahmed, Pakistan’s spin bowling coach, to cover the language barrier. It was Warne who did most of the talking, with Shah was rarely speaking, though he questioned about getting spin and drift.”He wants a bit more drift and bounce, bowling round the wicket and over the wicket,” Warne said. “I hope by the end of the series he will be bowling beautifully and a huge smile on his face. We couldn’t communicate that well but when he was smiling afterwards I knew what he got was pretty good. It was nice hour or so and that was good fun.”

In a series of videos, AB de Villiers demonstrates various aspects of his technique that have made him the powerful batsman that he is today

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2015The power-full drive
AB de Villiers shows us what goes into hitting a “power-full drive”, a shot, he admits, that he does not use too often.0:55

‘I use this shot when I go for a big six’

The box theory
AB de Villiers explains his box theory of batting and stresses on the importance of a compact game1:36

‘Everything I play has to be within the box’ – De Villiers

High backlift for greater power
How does de Villiers pack a punch in his shots? In this video, he demonstrates how a high backlift works for him.2:14

‘I start my backlift pointing towards first slip’

A grip for 360-degree control
De Villiers shows how he grips the bat in a manner which allows him to play shots all across the field.2:34

‘My grip is to play 360 degrees’

A raft of recommendations for the reform of the West Indies Cricket Board have been brusquely rejected by its president Dave Cameron

Daniel Brettig01-Jan-2016A raft of recommendations for the reform of the West Indies Cricket Board have been brusquely rejected by its president Dave Cameron. A CARICOM committee had suggested, among other things, the dissolution of the WICB in its present form and the appointment of independent directors to steer the game in the Caribbean. However in a lengthy missive, Cameron took exception to allegations of unaccountable governance and ineffective leadership and stated the report lacked credibility.”The presidents of the territorial boards expressed concern that neither they, nor members of their respective boards were interviewed or consulted by the panel,” Cameron said. “Additionally, none of the independent directors were interviewed by the panel. This failure to consult with a representative variety of local cricket administrators and operators meant, or had the consequence of denying the panel a full opportunity of ascertaining the key facts.”This has caused or triggered findings and recommendations by the panel which are not supported by the facts. The panel made statements and conclusions related to the structure and governance of the WICB, while ignoring the sweeping structural and governance changes which have taken place at WICB since 2002.”But the real world implications are hard to ignore. West Indies’ poor – albeit improving – displays down under this summer have run parallel to debate over the future of Caribbean cricket governance, and the likely shunting of the team to the fringes of the Australian season in coming years should be flagged.While hesitant to dictate terms to another ICC Full Member, Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told ESPNcricinfo he hoped WICB would think carefully about where the game was headed. “We can’t in any way pretend to understand the challenges in West Indian cricket,” Sutherland said. “We can offer our support and encouragement. In a West Indies Cricket Board sense it’s very much up to them to take our lead. But a series like this for us unfortunately does create question marks about the viability of the West Indies as an entertainment proposition.”There’s no doubt the competitive nature of this series so far is having an impact on our crowds. Australian cricket fans love the West Indies, probably always been their second favourite team and they want the West Indies to do well. But at the same time they want to see a contest and they’d probably right now rather be watching someone else.”I think that is an issue for us, but ultimately it does become an issue for the West Indies Cricket Board and something they in time we’ll have the opportunity to talk to them about and see how we can help. They’ve got their own governance reviews and recommendations they’re considering now, and through our own experiences there I can only encourage them to seriously consider those.”The CARICOM report had also highlighted issues around team performance, but Cameron insisted, “Great focus was placed on connecting WICB governance directly to the on-field performance of the senior team. This team is selected by a selection committee comprising cricket legends.”The team consists of the best players available for selection and consists of men, not boys. The players are well supported, are comparatively well-paid as professionals, and have an obligation to produce their best efforts consistently. It is therefore wrong to blame ‘governance’ of the WICB for the team’s performances on the field.”This missed not only the initiatives put in place by the board. In any event, the WICB was not given the credit when the team won the ICC Champions Trophy 10 years ago, or the T20 World Cup just three years ago. Little, if anything, was said about the significant strides in youth development and other aspects of West Indies cricket, including women’s cricket.”It should be mentioned that the panel made much of the absence of a women’s cricket Test team. But the records show that there has been at least one Test match played by WI Women in 2005. The facts are that Test matches for women are not common internationally.”Also addressing concerns raised about the withdrawal of the West Indies team from the 2014 tour of India due to a pay dispute, and the recent suspension of the coach Phil Simmons from the 2015 tour of Sri Lanka for criticising team selections, Cameron suggested neither matter had been depicted accurately.”The panel relied on the one-year old abandoned Indian tour matter, and the more recent disciplinary action resulting from the inappropriate public comments by the coach, as matters which can justify their wide ranging assumptions and recommendations,” Cameron said. “The board is of the view that the panel got the facts wrong in both matters and therefore arrived at unjustified conclusions.”For example: a) The facts surrounding the cancellation of the tour are now pubic knowledge and it is well known that the Indian tour was not cancelled or acquiesced by the WICB; and b) The matter of the coach concerned his own irregular conduct and his breach of provisions of his contract.”The matter was appropriately, and some believed leniently, dealt with by the management, and supported by members of the Human Resource Committee. This was not a board decision as was assumed by some in the media and the panel. The coach admitted that he had erred and apologised to the CEO and WICB publicly. The panel seems to have ignored the facts in this matter and drew conclusions based mostly on misguided and erroneous media reports.”Sutherland and the former CA chairman Wally Edwards oversaw major governance changes in Australia that included the disbanding of the old 14-man board of state representatives to be replaced with a new model featuring nine independent directors.”It really does from our experience create an environment that allows the flexibility and confidence to focus on the important things that allow the game to grow,” Sutherland said, “without competing interests and at times conflicts of interest that come from your natural constituents.”

Stuart Broad may have risen to No. 1 in the Test rankings but he insists he is neither the best bowler in the world nor even this England side

George Dobell18-Jan-2016Stuart Broad may have risen to No. 1 in the Test rankings but he insists he is neither the best bowler in the world nor even this England side.Broad – the first England bowler to reach No. 1 in the rankings since Steve Harmison in 2004 – believes that Dale Steyn is “the bowler of our generation” and that James Anderson is “the best bowler England have ever had”. Steyn is currently placed at No. 3 in the Test rankings, with Anderson at No. 5.But Broad’s spell in Johannesburg did reiterate the point that, given any help from the conditions, he can be devastating. With his sustained fitness – for which he credits the England support staff – appearing to help him contribute such spells more often, he has formed a potent partnership with Anderson. It bodes well for England that both are in the top five.”I’m not going to walk away from this week thinking I’m a better bowler than Dale Steyn or Jimmy Anderson because that is not the case,” Broad said. “But it is a nice feeling to have reached this mark through my performances.

‘My dad was a fighter’

Stuart Broad feels his father, Chris, would have flourished in the current England environment.
Chris Broad was a good enough player to represent England in 25 Tests, equalling the record of Jack Hobbs and Wally Hammond by scoring centuries in three successive Ashes Tests in 1986-87, averaging 39.54 in all and reaching a high point of No. 10 in the rankings.
But Stuart Broad feels he could have achieved even more in a more benevolent dressing room and with more continuity of selection.
“Reaching No. 10 is not a bad effort considering he only played 25 Tests,” he said. “I look at my dad’s career and think how suited he would have been to this environment where selectors back you and give you time.
“He had the mentality for international cricket. He was a fighter and enjoyed the battle, rising to the occasion of playing in Australia.
“If he’d played now, then he would have been backed probably a little longer and I think he would have succeeded over the long term.”

“It is not something to take for granted and it is a very special thing to have happened. When you consider that only Ian Botham in the 1980s and Harmy in 2004 have been No. 1 as English bowlers, it is a lovely achievement.”The biggest thing is that I’ve stayed fit. You can’t take wickets on the physio bed can you? So a lot of credit has to go to the guys behind the scenes for keeping me fit and I also understand my body a bit more now. I’ve played nearly 40 Tests on the bounce now which is quite rare for a fast bowler.”It might sound odd, but I’m not the best bowler in the world. Dale Steyn is the bowler of our generation. Just have a look at his record: his wickets; his strike rate; his average. He is the best bowler in the world.”My dad always talks about Malcolm Marshall being the bowler of his generation. Well, Dale Steyn is the bowler of our generation.”I’ve been very privileged to play with Jimmy Anderson for a long time and he is certainly the best bowler England have ever had in my view. I didn’t see Fred Trueman and didn’t watch much of Ian Botham live, so you have to judge it on who you’ve seen bowl.”While Broad is flattered by the “very special” achievement, he sees it not as an end in itself but as a marker on England’s road of progress. Whatever happens in Centurion, they will rise no higher than No. 5 in the rankings at the end of this series. The aim, clearly, is to reach No. 1 but with a desperately tough series looming in India at the end of the year, Broad knows that ambition is still some way off fulfilment.”This is not the end goal and it doesn’t feel like the biggest thing right now because there is so much more going on with the team,” he said. “I’m not being aloof or disrespectful, but there is such a determination in the side to get this team to No. 1.”In saying that, when Trevor took over he did say that the only way to get the team to No. 1 is for individual players to start climbing the rankings. And we’ve had Rooty at No. 1 as a batsman, Jimmy and I have consistently been in the top five or six for a while and Stokesy is climbing high in the allrounders.”There is such a goal for this team to become the best, and we know it is still a way off just now, but give this team another year’s experience and then it really becomes an exciting time.”It may well not be a coincidence that Broad has risen through the rankings since he was dropped from England’s white-ball teams. By the end of the 2014 England season, he was rated No. 8 in the world but, after a disappointing World Cup early in 2015, he was dropped from the limited-overs squads and as, as a consequence, has played red-ball cricket almost exclusively. As well as potentially helping with his fitness, that decision has enabled him to concentrate on maintaining the fuller length that has been a key ingredient in his improvement.He retains hopes, however, of winning back his place in both the ODI and T20 sides and has ambitions to play in the 2019 World Cup in England. Indeed, he had thought that, with Steven Finn out of the rest of this tour, it was possible he could return to the limited-overs squad as his replacement; Liam Plunkett was called up instead.”I’m desperate to play white-ball cricket again for England,” he said. “You have a short career and I’m not going to play until I’m 37 or 38, so I want to play as much cricket as I possibly can.”My consistency has got better with the red ball probably through playing more exclusively red-ball cricket. But I don’t think the fitness thing is a direct correlation because I’ve taken the most Test wickets since 2011 and I’ve played white ball cricket through that, but I am as fit as I’ve ever been now.”I’m as fresh as I’ve ever been, the knee surgery was the best decision I’ve ever made, and I’m loving my cricket.”Yes, I do want to play in the ODIs. Absolutely. I haven’t had any conversations about it. I’m happy for the selectors to do their thing, but I’ll probably speak about it at some point.”There is a lot of important white-ball cricket coming England’s way with the World T20, the Champions Trophy and then the 2019 World Cup. I want to be involved.”The dream of mine is to play in that World Cup and win it at home. That would be epic.”It is still a long way away, but playing ODIs in England is important for that. I’m just looking to improve and I know I can make improvements in white-ball cricket, but I can also change games if given the chance.”

On a day when 94 players were sold for a total of Rs 136 crore at the IPL 2016 auction in Bangalore, it was a bunch of Indian uncapped players who drew the most attraction

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-20164:59

Surprise picks highlight bidding

On a day when 94 players were sold for a total of Rs 136 crore* at the IPL 2016 auction in Bangalore, it was a bunch of Indian uncapped players who drew the most attraction and a good chunk of the cash too. Top among them – and one of four men who walked away with a contract worth a million dollars or more – was Pawan Negi, a left-arm spinner who can tonk the ball down the order, who was sold for Rs 8.5 crore to Delhi Daredevils. South African allrounder Chris Morris was the other surprise million-dollar man, fetching Rs 7 crore, also from Daredevils.Australian allrounder Shane Watson bagged the biggest deal of the day, bought for Rs 9.5 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore, while India’s Yuvraj Singh secured his third-straight million-dollar bid at an IPL auction. However the Rs 7 crore Sunrisers Hyderabad bid for Yuvraj was far less than what he fetched at the last two auctions – Rs 16 crore last year, and Rs 14 crore the year before that. He looked like he might actually go unsold this time round after setting his base price at Rs 2 crore, but at the last moment he got a bid from Mumbai Indians, followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore, before being snapped up by Sunrisers.Morris’ value exploded to seven times that of his base price of Rs 50 lakh in a three-way fight. Rising Pune Supergiants were involved in the opening rounds of bidding for him, before Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders went neck and neck. As bidding halted just one bid away from the million-dollar mark, Daredevils entered the fray, and no one challenged them.For Negi, the auction capped a great two days in which he was also named in India’s squad for the World T20.Another big surprise was seam-bowling West Indies allrounder Carlos Brathwaite, who had impressed with quickfire fifties down the order and his enthusiasm on the recent Test series in Australia. He got a winning bid of 4.2 crore from Delhi Daredevils, 14 times his base price of Rs 30 lakh.There were big surprises among the unsold players too: the in-form New Zealand and Australia batsmen Martin Guptill and Usman Khawaja. Two big Test names, Cheteshwar Pujara and Hashim Amla, also went unsold too, but a bit more surprisingly, there were no bids for Mahela Jayawardene or Michael Hussey either. West Indies allrounder Darren Sammy did not attract a bid either.Australia opener Aaron Finch went unsold in the first round of bidding, but was bought by Gujarat Lions (the Rajkot franchise) for Rs 1 crore towards the end of the day, in a second round of bidding organised for players who were unsold the first time.Karnataka batsman Karun Nair was expected to be one of the big buys among the uncapped players, and so it was soon after the lunch break with Daredevils, Supergiants and Lions all bidding for him and bumping his price up to Rs 4 crore from a base price of Rs 10 lakh. Baroda allrounder Deepak Hooda’s price went up from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 4.2 crore, secured by Sunrisers after a long round of bidding. Rajasthan fast bowler Nathu Singh also earned big, getting Rs 3.2 crore from Mumbai Indians, from a base price of Rs 10 lakh. Mumbai Indians had made the winning bid after a long back-and-forth between Daredevils and Royal Challengers.Tamil Nadu legspinner M Ashwin was the most sought after slow bowler on a day when spinners were generally ignored by the franchises; he sold for Rs 4.5 crore to Supergiants from an opening bid of Rs 10 lakh – a whopping 45 times his base price, the day’s biggest multiple from the base price. Ashwin had done well in the recently concluded domestic T20 competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he bagged 10 wickets in six games at 12.70 apiece, with an economy rate of 5.52.Seventeen-year-old India Under-19 captain Ishan Kishan was picked up by Lions for Rs 35 lakh. His U-19 team-mate Rishabh Pant was fought for by Supergiants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers and Daredevils, bumping his base price up from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1.9 crore before Daredevils snapped him up. A wicketkeeper-batsman, Pant is in fine form in the ongoing U-19 World Cup. The very last player to be bought at the auction, and also the youngest, was 16-year-old spin allrounder Mahipal Lomror, who went to Daredevils for Rs 10 lakh.Kerala’s Sanju Samson was the first wicketkeeper to go under the hammer and he looked like he might not get a bid but a late call from Daredevils – the franchise’s first of the day – triggered a fight between them and Lions. Daredevils won, picking Samson up for Rs 4.2 crore – his base price was Rs 2 crore.The bidding for England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler was much-anticipated, and he went to Mumbai Indians for Rs 3.8 crore after setting his price at Rs 1.5 crore.Knight Riders were quite active when it came to the fast bowlers, winning Australia’s John Hastings for Rs 1.3 crore, before engaging in a tug-of-war with Lions for Praveen Kumar. Lions won this bid though, paying Rs 3.5 crore for him, seven times his base price of Rs 50 lakh.Knight Riders were at it again when Mohit Sharma came up for bidding, but Kings XI Punjab – who had as yet not secured a single player on the day – aggressively outbid them. Sunrisers tried a late swoop, but Kings XI would have none of it, picking him up for Rs 6.5 crore (base price 1.5 crore). He was the 45th player to be auctioned, and their first buy.All 11 spinners lined up in the morning round of bidding went unsold, including India’s Pragyan Ojha and Rahul Sharma, the in-form Australian Nathan Lyon and Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis. West Indies legspinner Samuel Badree was bought the second time his name came up, by Royal Challengers, for Rs 50 lakh.None of the Sri Lankans who came up in the morning rounds were bought: Mendis, Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thisara Perera and Sachchitra Senanayake. It took till the final hour of the auction for a Sri Lankan to get a bid, and it went to Thisara, who was bought at his base price of Rs 1 crore by Supergiants when his name was called up a second time.The first and only Bangladesh buy of the day happened with Mustafizur Rahman (base price Rs 50 lakh) going to Sunrisers for Rs 1.4 crore.Another big gainer among the uncapped players was Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper Eklavya Dwivedi, who went to Lions for Rs 1 crore (base price Rs 20 lakh). Mumbai wicketkeeper-batsman Aditya Tare’s base price also multiplied several times over, as he went for Rs 1.2 crore to Sunrisers after setting a base price of Rs 20 lakh. Legspinner Pravin Tambe became the first specialist spinner to be bought on the day, for Rs 20 lakh to Lions. Royal Challengers picked up ambidextrous Vidarbha spinner Akshay Karnewar for his base price of Rs 10 lakh.Allrounder Krunal Pandya – brother of Hardik Pandya who had debuted for India in the just-concluded T20s against Australia and was retained by Mumbai Indians before the auction – was bought by Mumbai Indians after a bidding war with Daredevils that bumped his price up to Rs 2 crore (base price Rs 10 lakh).Among the least known players to be bought on the day were allrounder Kishore Kamath (Rs 1.4 crore, by Mumbai Indians) and 20-year-old left-arm spinner Shivil Kaushik (Rs 10 lakh, by Lions) – the highest level of cricket these two have played till date is the Karnataka Premier League, both for Hubli Tigers.For a full list of players who were sold and unsold, click here.

Ninety-four players were sold in a day of surprises. Here's a quick glance at what the players were bought for

Posted by ESPNcricinfo onFriday, February 5, 2016

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final matches that began on February 3, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2016
Scorecard1:11

Mumbai, Saurashtra dominate Day 1

A five-wicket haul from Jaydev Unadkat gave Saurashtra the early impetus in their quarter-final in Vizianagaram, as they bowled Vidarbha out for 151. Saurashtra made a strong start to their reply as well, ending the day 70 for 1 with Cheteshwar Pujara batting on 45 off 71 balls (9×4) and sharing an unbroken 60-run stand with Sagar Jogiyani after the early loss of Avi Barot to Umesh Yadav.Saurashtra sent Vidarbha in after winning the toss and Unadkat, the left-arm seamer, made an almost instantaneous impact, dismissing Jitesh Sharma with the second ball of the match. Hardik Rathod picked up the next two wickets as Vidarbha slumped to 30 for 3, and there was little respite thereafter, with a 33-run fourth-wicket stand between S Badrinath and Wasim Jaffer finishing as the highest of the innings. Jaffer top-scored with 41, facing 86 balls and hitting seven fours. The seamers picked up all ten Vidarbha wickets, with Rathod and Chirag Jani bagging two each and Unadkat finishing with figures of 5 for 70.
ScorecardPacers Siddarth Kaul and Barinder Sran cut through Assam’s batting line-up, but Syed Mohammad unbeaten 50 pushed his side past 200 in the second quarter-final in Valsad.Coming in at No.7, Syed Mohammad rallied with the lower order, bringing up his second fifty of the season. It had come after forties from opener Pallav Kumar Das and No.4 Amit Verma, but the rest of the middle order did not have answers to Kaul and Sran who had combined figures of 47-8-148-6.Dhiraj Goswami was dismissed just before stumps, as Assam made slow progress to 223. Captain Harbhajan Singh managed only one wicket, but gave away only 11 runs in as many overs. Left-arm pacer Deepak Bansal, playing his third first-class match, took the other wicket to fall.
ScorecardAkhil Herwadkar’s century and Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century led Mumbai to 303 for 6 at stumps on the first day of their quarter-final clash against Jharkhand in Mysore.Having opted to bat, Mumbai lost opener Jay Bista early, but Herwadkar, joined by Shreyas Iyer, who scored a brisk 45, put on a 70-run partnership to lift Mumbai. Iyer fell with the score at 91, but Herwadkar found good company from Suryakumar as Mumbai pushed past 200. Suryakumar struck nine fours and two sixes during his 70-ball 75. Herwadkar’s effort, on the other hand, was built on patience. He took 217 balls for his 107, during which he hit 12 fours.Jharkhand made late incisions, reducing Mumbai from 227 for 2 to 303 for 6. Pacer Jaskaran Singh and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem picked up two wickets each for Jharkhand.

A calmly compiled 56-ball 83 from Tillakaratne Dilshan steered Sri Lanka to a heart-rate-steadying six-wicket win in their opening match of the World T20, but not before Afghanistan reminded them and the rest of Group 1 that they belonged in the Super 10s

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy in Kolkata17-Mar-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:01

Chappell: Afghanistan made SL fight all the way

A calmly compiled 56-ball 83 from Tillakaratne Dilshan steered Sri Lanka to a heart-rate-steadying six-wicket win in their opening match of the World T20, but not before Afghanistan reminded them and the rest of Group 1 that they belonged in the Super 10s.With the bat, Afghanistan recovered brilliantly from a poor start, scoring 106 runs in their last ten overs to set a challenging target of 154. They bowled with skill and intelligence to claw back into the match after Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal had given Sri Lanka a bright start: 41 for 0 in five overs.In the end, it was only Afghanistan’s fielding that proved to be of less-than-elite standard, with three basic errors in the deep giving a jittery Sri Lankan batting unit valuable breathing room.First, in the 14th over, Karim Sadiq failed to get his body behind a regulation stop at deep midwicket. Then, in the 16th, Dawlat Zadran made the same mistake at deep backward square leg. The third misfield came from the substitute fielder Gulbadin Naib, who dived to his left at third man, got a meaty hand to the ball, and only ended up pushing it past the rope. Sri Lanka should have only got three runs from those three balls; they ended up getting 12.Sri Lanka would have appreciated the help, for barring Dilshan, their top order showed itself to be decidedly wobbly.Mohammad Nabi’s introduction in the sixth over exposed the wobbliness. Sri Lanka were going along comfortably when Chandimal stepped out and aimed a heave over the leg side. The ball turned a little further than expected and popped off the inside half of his bat straight to midwicket. Lahiru Thirimanne, back in Sri Lanka’s T20 side for the first time since May 2014, showed why he may have been out of the side for so long, playing only three scoring shots in 12 balls before inside-edging an attempted cover drive off the legspinner Rashid Khan onto his stumps.At the other end, like Mahela Jayawardene did during the two sides’ 50-over World Cup meeting last year, Dilshan provided the experienced head that guided Sri Lanka through this troubled period. He had started in his usual manner, hitting consecutive sixes off Dawlat Zadran – the second with a trademark scoop over his own head – and swatting Hamid Hassan for successive fours over midwicket, but did not take too many chances against the spinners. But he still scored freely against them, taking the singles on offer, putting away the bad ball, and running faster than every other 39-year-old on the planet to pick up a couple of twos to the leg-side gaps.There were a couple more nervy moments, courtesy the run-outs of Thisara Perera and Chamara Kapugedera, but the cool heads of Dilshan and Angelo Mathews, helped along by Afghanistan’s sloppy fielding, took Sri Lanka home with seven balls remaining.Having only faced Scotland, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe so far, it took Afghanistan a while to come to terms with the quality of Sri Lanka’s attack. Mohammad Shahzad, unusually subdued early on, tried to break free of the shackles in the third over and clouted Angelo Mathews to the straight boundary before top-edging a pull to mid-on the next ball. Apart from a couple of sweetly-timed leg-side flicks, Noor Ali Zadran struggled for tempo, and was bowled around his legs by Rangana Herath after adding 32 off 32 balls with Asghar Stanikzai.Herath settled into a beautiful rhythm, mixing his pace and trajectory cleverly, and the run rate plummeted as Sadiq and Nabi soon followed Noor to the pavilion.Stanikzai had moved to 18 off 23 balls when he made an abrupt change of gear against Milinda Siriwardana’s left-arm spin, launching him for successive sixes in the 13th over, before slog-sweeping Herath for another six in the 15th over, with a helping hand from a butter-fingered Thirimanne in the deep. At the other end, Samiullah Shenwari hit two fours and a six – including a reverse-swat off Perera that left the batsman on his backside – in successive overs before holing out to long-off.Stanikzai and Shenwari, the heroes of Afghanistan’s ODI win over Bangladesh in 2014, had put on 61 in 33 balls. It clearly rattled Sri Lanka, and Mathews dropped Stanikzai at cover immediately after Shenwari’s dismissal. It was a sitter, and Stanikzai, at 44 at that point, struck two more fours and a six to move to his highest T20I score before falling at the end of the 19th over.Afghanistan were by no means done. Najibullah Zadran, a specialist batsman, had only batted once in the tournament so far, and was slotted to come in at No, 8, but found his namesake Dawlat promoted above him instead. When Najibullah finally did come out, there were only three balls left in Afghanistan’s innings. No problem. Swinging freely through the line like a young Yuvraj Singh, Najibullah lofted Nuwan Kulasekara for a six over extra cover first ball, and then flat-batted him in the same direction for a four next ball.

A round-up of all the DPL matches played on April 28, 2016

Mohammad Isam28-Apr-2016Brothers Union sealed their first win in the Dhaka Premier League by beating Kalabagan Cricket Academy by six wickets in Mirpur. Half-centuries from Tushar Imran and Zimbabwe recruit Sean Williams set up the chase of 214. While Williams was stumped by Bishawnath Halder for 70 off 81 balls, Imran stayed unbeaten on 67 off 89 balls.The 125-run partnership between Williams and Imran boosted Brothers Union, after they were weakened to 72 for 3 in the 18th over. Both openers – Shahriar Nafees and Nafees Iqbal – were run out.Earlier, each of KCA’s top six had a start with only their captain Mahmudul Hasan converting it to a fifty. He made 54 off 62 balls, including two fours, before falling to Shahid b Nur Alam. Irfan Sukkur made the second-best score – 42 off 68 balls. Seamer Mohammad Shahid and offspinner Sanjit Saha, who was playing his first competitive match since being reported for a suspect action during the Under-19 World Cup, restricted KCA with two wickets each.Alauddin Babu and Asif Ahmed steered Legends of Rupganj to a three-wicket win over Gazi Group Cricketers in Fatullah. They added an unbroken for 47 for the eighth wicket in 5.5 overs, after Rupganj had slumped to 209 for 7 by the 44th over.Having made 255 on the back of half-centuries from Shamsur Rahman and Saeed Anwar jnr, Gazi Group strengthened their advantage by reducing Rupganj to 11 for 3 by the fourth over. Mohammad Mithun and Ashar Zaidi then managed to rebuild the chase without losing track of the asking rate, courtesy a 91-run partnership for the fourth wicket. The stand ended when Alok Kapali had Zaidi caught by Saeed Anwar in the 21st over. Mithun pushed on to make his 12th List A fifty before he was bowled by Anwar.
Asif, however, stepped up with 54 off 76 balls, including three fours. He was assisted by Nahidul Islam(25) and Alauddin, who struck three sixes and a four during his 34 off 22 balls.Earlier, Gazi Group got off to a steady start with Shamsur Rahman and Anamul Haque adding 66 runs in 18.1 overs. Anamul was caught behind off Taijul Islam for 42 off 66 balls before Mahedi, who made a debut List-A hundred in the last game, fell for 2. Shamsur then hit his second fifty in a row, and added 68 runs for the third wicket with Saeed Anwar jnr, who top-scored with a 74-ball 70 that had five fours and two sixes.Mosharraf Hossain, Zaidi and Soumya took two wickets each while Abu Hider and Taijul picked up one each.Victoria Sporting Club captain Nadif Chowdhury held his nerve and guided his team to a tense two-wicket win over Mohammedan Sporting Club in BKSP-3. His eighth List A fifty – 51 not out off 47 balls – controlled the chase even as Victoria lost five wickets for 32 runs in the slog overs. Nadif added 29 for the ninth wicket with Dolar Mahmud(4*) and overhauled Mohammedan’s 247 for 9 with a six and a four in the penultimate over.Victoria had a shaky start with Fazle Mahmud falling in the fourth over for 2 off 7 balls. Abdul Mazid then combined with Mominul Haque and put on 114 for the second wicket to lift their side. Mominul was the aggressor with seven fours and one six during his 67 of 69 balls while Mazid was sedate during his 55. Both batsmen fell to off-spinning allrounder Naeem Islam in quick succession before Al-Amin, who had struck a century in his previous match, added a crucial 61 runs for the fourth wicket in Chaturanga de Silva. Nadif then took charge of the chase.Having opted to bat, Mohammedan ran into early trouble when they lost their top three by the 12th over. They soon slipped to 62 for 4 when Naeem Islam became slow left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo’s third victim in the 18th over.Mushfiqur Rahim, though, revived the innings with an 101-run partnership with veteran Faisal Hossain. The stand ended when Shuvo had Faisal caught by Dolar. Mushfiqur went on to make 104 off 108 balls before he fell to Chaturanga with the score at 188 for 6, but Ariful Haque and Nazmul Hossain Milon made cameos to provide the final flourish.

Worcestershire broke the only unbeaten record in this season’s NatWest T20 Blast and moved clear at the top of the North Group

ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2016
ScorecardBen Cox sealed Worcestershire’s victory in the final over•Getty Images

Worcestershire broke the only unbeaten record in this season’s NatWest T20 Blast and moved clear at the top of the North Group when beating Northamptonshire by Worcestershire by three wickets at New Road.Wicketkeeper Ben Cox followed up three catches in Northamptonshire’s 169 for 7 by taking the nine runs wanted from the last over in three balls from Mohammad Azharullah – a reverse paddle for four, a pull for four and a single into the covers.Cox finished unbeaten with 42 from 24 balls, having turned the match in his team’s favour after going in at 102 for 5, but it seemed that Worcestershire had lost their best chance when Tom Kohler-Cadmore was dismissed for 60 by Rob Keogh’s juggling act on the deep extra cover boundary.Keogh, who previously held a one-handed catch at mid-off from Brett D’Oliveira, knocked the ball up before completing the catch.Both sides were handicapped by constant drizzle and poor light in Worcestershire’s innings and at first the game was tilting towards Northants when Azharullah took two wickets in an over to leave the home side teetering on 20 for 3.Earlier, Ben Duckett’s first half-century of the season in the competition was crucial to setting up a challenging total for Northants, but the left hander benefited from two lapses in Worcestershire’s normally reliable fielding.This was rough luck on George Rhodes as the son of the county’s director of cricket made his home debut following an impressive start in the Royal London Cup against Yorkshire earlier in the week.The 22-year-old spinner was in his first over when Duckett, on 6, was dropped by Jack Shantry at short third man and returned later to see the batsman’s second life, on 28, when D’Oliveira fumbled a stringing drive to extra cover. Rhodes had figures of 1 for 11 from his two overs, his wicket coming when Alexei Kervezee at deep square leg held a well-judged catch from Steven Crook.Duckett went on to reach his 50 from 34 balls after hitting three sixes and four fours but without addition to his score he was seventh out at 140, bowled by Joe Leach as Worcestershire’s acting captain finished with 3 for 26.Leach was called on to lead the side when Daryl Mitchell suffered a side strain in the nets, a major blow to Worcestershire, who were already without paceman Matt Henry, but Northamptonshire were even more depleted with Richard Levi, Rory Kleinveldt and Olly Stone on their lengthening casualty list.Wickets fell on a regular basis on a sluggish surface, although Alex Wakely, Josh Cobb and Keogh all had time to deal in some heavy blows.Keogh was brilliantly caught overhead at mid-off as Shantry atoned for his earlier miss but the when he came on to bowl the penultimate over, Graeme White smashed three consecutive sixes.