Hopes predicts tough England test

James Hopes expects a more aggressive England to turn out in the one-day series starting on Tuesday than the one that was swept aside last year

Cricinfo staff18-Jun-2010James Hopes expects a more aggressive England to turn out in the one-day series starting on Tuesday than the one that was swept aside last year. Australia, who relied on Hopes to escape defeat against Ireland on Thursday, breezed to a 6-1 victory in 2009, but lost the World Twenty20 final to England in the Caribbean in May.The allrounder Hopes said England’s new-look team would be a threat in home conditions, starting with the opening game at the Rose Bowl. “I’m sure they’re backing themselves to beat us,” Hopes said after the 39-run win in Dublin.”If you add Kevin Pietersen back into their team – he wasn’t there last year – I think they are going to be naturally more aggressive. We’re going to have to get better because if we bowl like we did at the start and the English team get into a position like the Irish team did, they probably would have put us away.”Ireland’s openers raced to 80 in 11 overs in their chase of 232 before Hopes stepped in to take 5 for 14 off nine to secure a victory that prevented an embarrassing result. Everyone but Hopes was rusty after a layoff and the side now heads to Lord’s to play Middlesex in their final warm-up before the England series.”It was good to play the Irish because they are a pretty good team,” Hopes said. “We have another practice match on Saturday and we know a five-match series against England is going to be different to the seven-match series we played last year when we beat them 6-1.”The performance of the Ireland team impressed Hopes and he expects more improvement if they can get regular games against the world’s best sides. “Every time they play a Full Member country, they’re not disgracing themselves,” he said. “They’re putting on a good show and giving teams a good run.”

Pant and Sarfaraz's thrilling double-act hands India B advantage

The duo helped India B finish the day on 150 for 6, leading India A by 240 runs

Shashank Kishore07-Sep-2024Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant, batters who bring daredevilry to the crease, brought a small but festive Saturday crowd to life after tea on the third day in Bengaluru.The trigger for this thrilling counter was an instinctive response to India A’s Akash Deep and Khaleel Ahmed striking early. Although India B had a 90-run first-innings lead, they were in choppy waters at 22 for 3. A contest was brewing until Pant and Sarfaraz decided to take the counterattacking route.Sarfaraz kickstarted the party by employing a method typical of him, and far different to his brother, Musheer Khan, who had just been strangled down leg for a duck to go with his epic 181 in the first innings. Musheer’s dismissal was down to Dhruv Jurel’s glove work as he dived to his left to grab a one-handed stunner.Related

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Sarfaraz got his first life on zero when he drilled a half-volley that burst through substitute Tilak Varma’s hands at extra cover. It would be the start of a mini contest between Khaleel, Avesh Khan and Sarfaraz, all India Under-19 batch-mates from 2016.The fast-bowling duo were riling him up with words and friendly jibes even as Pant, also from the same batch, chuckled, perhaps knowing fully well this was probably a contest worth viewing from the other end. The friendly banter certainly seemed to get Sarfaraz’s competitive juices flowing.He would very quickly switch his focus back by hitting Akash for five fours in a row. Out came a booming drive, a rasping cut, a delicate steer, a neat tickle down leg and a wristy whip as he peppered every region of the ground from cover to point to deep third to fine leg and deep square.By this time, it felt silly to assume Pant would buckle down and enjoy the Sarfaraz show. He didn’t and, in the process, lived dangerously to begin with. A reverse scoop off Akash, reminiscent of the audacious reverse to James Anderson, flew between Jurel and KL Rahul at first slip, neither having any time to react.Then a wild heave across the line, as if he was unleashed by a free hit in a T20, went a mile high. Jurel hared all the way back towards fine leg, while yelling and gesturing to Kuldeep Yadav to get out of the way, only for the ball to just elude him. Jurel had miscalculated; the ball would have been straight down Kuldeep’s lap at fine leg.Sarfaraz Khan’s innings was studded with a number of audacious strokes•PTI

Then Pant decided to take on Khaleel’s short ball. This induced more hair-tearing frustration for the bowlers. Pant was so early into the hook shot that the ball ballooned off the gloves over the slip cordon. It left Khaleel incensed so much that you wondered what reprieving Sarfaraz off his own bowling, on 28, would elicit. There was, of course, disbelief and more frustration. Khaleel animatedly exchanged a friendly stare, followed by words and a smile.This, however, wasn’t the last of this thrill-a-minute ride. In the same over, Sarfaraz looked to whack the leather of a ball not full enough to be a half-volley or short enough to be good length. It flew off the bat, over point, for a flat six. There wasn’t much else left to say now for Khaleel.Sarfaraz was eyeing a half-century, perhaps more. In trying to keep at it, he slashed one to Jurel. Avesh, who had bantered with him earlier, leapt past Sarfaraz in celebration and gave him a send-off. Sarfaraz made 46 off 36; he had put on 72 off 55 with Pant; India B’s lead had swelled to 184. The partnership was over, but the party wasn’t.Pant went bonkers, tonking Kuldeep for a sequence of 4, 0, 6, 0, 1 to bring up a 34-ball half-century. The purity of the big hits, the conviction in taking the attack to the bowlers and simply playing without any inhibitions, like he always does, lit up a leaden afternoon. A top edge to a tame sweep off Tanush Kotian got him for 61, but he walked off knowing he had done his job.Rishabh Pant’s half-century took only 34 balls•PTI

The stunning post-tea double-act from Pant and Sarfaraz made one forget all the discussion around India’s imminent Test selection for the Bangladesh series.In any case, six Test regulars: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj aren’t playing the Duleep Trophy. Two others, Rahul and Pant, are expected to make the cut. As is Sarfaraz, most probably as a reserve batter.Until this thrilling ride, the exhibition of outstanding seam and swing bowling from all of India’s prospects who will be looked at later in the year, for India A and the Test tour to Australia, made for compelling viewing.This included those who have already played Test cricket, such as Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini and Akash, and those who haven’t – Yash Dayal and Khaleel – but are in the conversation because of their ability and the left-arm variety that India have missed.Saini and Mukesh picked up three wickets each to help India B take a lead. Khaleel and Akash struck early, and then, Pant and Sarfaraz happened.

Lynn, Zaib put crisis-hit Leicestershire to the sword

Northamptonshire piled up a huge total and only Rehan Ahmed responded with the bat

ECB Reporters Network23-Jun-2023A traumatic couple of days for Leicestershire predictably ended on another low note as the Foxes concluded their home fixtures in the Vitality Blast with a crushing 92-run defeat at the hands of neighbours Northamptonshire Steelbacks.Chris Lynn, who has hit Blast centuries against Foxes in each of the last two seasons, continued his assault with 62 from 35 balls, Saif Zaib hitting 55 off 25 as the two piled on 114 off 50 balls for the third wicket in a total of 210 for seven from their 20 overs. Mike Finan took two for 30 as the best of some modest bowling figures.Rehan Ahmed made a spirited 49 off 32 balls but the Foxes were bowled out for 118 in 16.4 overs in reply, Ben Sanderson taking three for 20, with two wickets each for David Willey, Andrew Tye and Justin Broad, with wicketkeeper Lewis McManus involved in a county record five dismissals.Related

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With Leicestershire’s head coach Paul Nixon placed “on leave” by the club on Thursday, bowling coach Alfonso Thomas and batting consultant James Taylor were in charge of the Foxes.The circumstances behind the decision to relieve Nixon of his duties after six years in the job remain shrouded in mystery. The club’s website belatedly carried a statement from chairman John Thorpe essentially explaining that he could say nothing for legal reasons.Chief executive Sean Jarvis was a little more forthcoming in an interview with BBC Radio Leicester, speaking of “comments” and “allegations” as he alluded to events over a period of months, suggesting Nixon’s departure was unrelated to the announcement – also made on Thursday – that senior players Colin Ackermann, Callum Parkinson and Chris Wright would be leaving at the end of the season.Ackermann and Parkinson were both selected to face the Steelbacks, although Ackermann handed captaincy duties to overseas player Peter Handscomb.The Australian won his first toss in the role, asking Northamptonshire to bat first. Steelbacks openers Ricardo Vasconcelos and Emilio Gay needed a couple of overs to get the measure of a slow pitch but still managed to rack up 49 runs in the powerplay.Checked by a tight over by Rehan, they were parted in an excellent over by Callum Parkinson, the eighth of the innings, when a top-edged pull by Vasconcelos dropped safely into the hands of Mike Finan behind square. Aussie Lynn signalled his intent with three boundaries from his first six balls but Gay (30 from 27 balls) holed out to long-on as the Steelbacks reached halfway at 77 for 2.The remainder of the innings was one of increasing carnage for the home bowlers, Lynn and Zaib taking the total to 129 for 2 after 15 overs, Lynn getting lucky on 37 when he was caught off a Finan no-ball, before the final five overs piled on another 81.The third-wicket pair took turns to clear the ropes as Tom Scriven and Matt Salisbury took the brunt of their assault, the former conceding 22 in one Salisbury’s worst over costing 23, including back-to-back sixes by Zaib, who followed his partner in being caught off a no-ball, on 54.After they were parted two balls into the 19th over as Lynn picked out long-on, four more wickets followed, Finan dismissing Tye with his next ball, before Zaib was caught on the boundary. Willey was run out and Broad found the fielder on the cover point boundary to give Scriven some consolation in the 20th, although Broad’s 10 off four balls had taken the total past 200.The Foxes had twice chased more than 211 to win in the Blast, including 219 against the Steelbacks in 2018, but on this season’s form it looked a tall order, more so after Handscomb was comprehensively bowled by Willey for three in the opening over.By the end of the powerplay, the home side were 30 for 4, Rishi Patel caught behind attempting to ramp Sanderson, who then bowled Ackermann first ball and had Wiaan Mulder edging behind. They might have been five down had a Sanderson direct hit been reviewed after Rehan, on six, was judged to have made his ground by the on-field umpire.Rehan, sent in to open the innings with Handscomb, made the most of his reprieve, clubbing Freddie Heldreich for three sixes in an over, but with Nick Welch also caught behind, at the halfway stage in the chase the Foxes at 74 for 5 were scoring at barely half the required rate of 13.4 runs per over.The young England allrounder – about to joins up with Ben Stokes’s squad ahead of the second Ashes Test – looked set to celebrate with a half-century only for his luck to run out on 49 as he miscued Broad to cover, the South Africa-born German international following up by bowling Scriven in the same over.Swindells, who had helped Rehan add 66 for the sixth wicket as the sole highlight in the Foxes innings, perished on 20 when he helped one into the gloves of McManus. Finan belted Heldreich for six but was stumped next ball as the ninth wicket fell in the 16th over before Salisbury was caught at midwicket to put the home crowd out of their misery in the 17th.

Amy Jones blitzes 80 to maintain Central Sparks' perfect start

England legspinner Sarah Glenn takes 2 for 14 to strangle Sunrisers in chase

ECB Reporters Network21-May-2022England’s Amy Jones left several dents in Edgbaston after her effortless 80 off 49 balls set up Central Sparks’ 24-run victory against Sunrisers in the Charlotte Edwards Cup.Sparks’ performance in the field extinguished any sign of life from Sunrisers. Impressive spells from England legspinner Sarah Glenn, who took 2 for 14 from her four overs, and youngsters Hannah Baker and Grace Potts meant that Sparks chipped away with regular wickets in the chase, defending their 153 with relative ease.Sunrisers, who came in as underdogs, proved to be tougher opponents than Sparks, the early leaders of the group, might have expected.Related

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With no wins under their belt, Sunrisers limited Sparks to an uncharacteristically slow powerplay, largely thanks to Naomi Dattani who clean bowled pinch-hitter Issy Wong in the second over.With the wealth of experience provided by England wicketkeeper Jones, this angst was only temporary. Jones racked up 80 off 49, keeping the Edgbaston crowd on their toes with six sixes, all through the leg side. Aided by some dropped catches from the Sunrisers, the pair charged ahead as Abbey Freeborn’s entrance injected some much-needed energy into the innings.”It’s great to get the win,” Jones said. “That’s the most important thing. Batting wise, it was quite a tricky start actually. Their bowlers bowled really well, it was quite hard to get them away. Abbey Freeborn came in and just injected a bit of energy. I bounced off that a bit and then just freed up and we did well finding the boundaries towards the back the middle and back end.”

Sparks finished on 153 for 5 – a healthy total, but not an insurmountable one for a Sunrisers side who posted had 160 against Western Storm on Wednesday.Whilst openers Cordialla Griffith and Grace Scrivens showed fighting spirit in the powerplay, Sparks reinforced their dominance in Group A. The promising 18-year-old Scrivens scored quickly from the outset she fell to Emily Arlott off the final ball of the powerplay and Glenn bowled Griffith with the first of the seventh over.Sunrisers failed to inject pace into their innings and their hopes disappeared as wickets fell consistently. A gutsy half-century from Dattani kept Sparks on edge and teased a repeat of Wednesday’s dramatic final-ball finish, but ultimately it was not enough to rescue Sunrisers.

Kyle Jamieson handed fine, demerit point after wayward throw at Faheem Ashraf

The incident occurred during Pakistan’s first innings at Mount Maunganui

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2020Kyle Jamieson will part with 25% of his match fee and has been docked one demerit point after he threw the ball towards Faheem Ashraf on the third day of New Zealand’s first Test against Pakistan. The act fell foul of Article 2.9 of the ICC’s code of conduct, which deals with the inappropriate or dangerous throwing of the ball at or near other players.In the 75th over of the second innings, Ashraf drove a ball back to Jamieson, who collected it and threw it back at the batsman. Ashraf was well away from the stumps when Jamieson disposed off the ball, and had displayed no intention of taking a run.The on-field umpires and the third umpire levelled the charges, with Jamieson accepting the offence and the sanction proposed by match referee Jeff Crowe. This is his first offence in a 24-month period. If a player accumulates four demerit points in that time, they are converted into suspension points, which lead to a ban.Jamieson has had a promising start to his international career, quickly becoming a vital part of New Zealand’s pace bowling attack. He was primarily responsible for Pakistan’s go-slow in that first innings with his nagging, consistent line; before tea, he had conceded just nine runs in 17 overs. A partnership between Ashraf and Mohammad Rizwan frustrated New Zealand in the third session, with Jamieson’s offence coming two balls after Rizwan cut him away for four as his line began to drift. Ashraf helped Pakistan avoid the follow-on, top-scoring for his side with 91.New Zealand entered the final day needing seven wickets to take a 1-0 lead, with Pakistan requiring an improbable 302 more runs for victory.

Pat Cummins seeks perspective amid Leeds chaos

The calamity of Cape Town 18 months ago has helped Australia accept that the Headingley loss was simply a game of cricket they can learn from

Daniel Brettig27-Aug-2019The last time an Australian Test tour took on the trajectory of the current Ashes series, starting with a victory before beginning to fall away, the response of a tiring and weakening team desperate for victory was to resort to the infamous, obvious cheating of Newlands.With pressure compounding fatigue, a performance culture wearing away at weary minds and bodies, and anger at how circumstances and failings had conspired against them, that Australian team lost its way in the most awful and spectacular manner, while the rest of the world took the opportunity to raise a host of accumulated grievances.Australia’s current captain Tim Paine and vice-captain Pat Cummins were both part of that group, and in the deep anguish and frustration of Headingley, Ben Stokes’ heroics and all, there was acknowledgement that this time around, a different and better path must be taken. And that, for all of the difficulties of the past 18 months, there are now far more members of the team able to step away from events in the middle and remind everyone that this is, after all, a game.”Someone like Matt Wade, he’s been out of the side for two years and one of the first things he said this morning [before the final day] was, ‘if we win or if we lose, you turn up on the building site and no one knows’,” Cummins said. “So I think it’s a good reminder that it’s not the be all and end all. One lesson we learnt from Lord’s probably on that night where we were really close to ripping the game open, we got really emotional and almost just wanted it too much, so I was really proud how everyone stayed quite level this game.”When we bowled them out for 67 or they got a partnership we were quite even. I think it’s the sign of a pretty confident squad. Painey’s been brilliant. He walked straight into the change room and said it’s one-all, it’s all good, two more matches to go. Bowlers, him as a captain, everyone makes decisions and you reflect after the game and think, what could I have done differently?”When you look at it – a couple of catches, maybe a run out, but when a batsman comes out and scores a hundred like that, hitting sixes from an offspinner out of the rough so cleanly, you’ve just got to say well done. Someone’s had a day out, we’ll be right.”Marshalling the bowlers, Cummins agreed that there were a few moments to ponder. Not least some profligate bowling with the second new ball, having imposed enormous pressure on England for over after over leading up to it. “That was one thing we spoke about was with the new ball,” he said. “Obviously you feel like you’re more in the game with wickets but that wicket almost felt like a one-day wicket or an Indian wicket where with the new ball it’s a double-edged sword.”If you’re not absolutely perfect you can go for runs and I think if we reflect on that half-an-hour, they might have got 30 or 40 runs pretty quickly. But other than that I thought we were brilliant. We’ll have a look at that but the second new ball sometimes is a different ball game to the first new ball.”I think the most pleasing thing for us, one, we bowled really well, but as you said I feel like we’ve got really good plans and processes to all of them. Ben Stokes obviously had a day out today and was probably playing more like one-day cricket towards the end there but we saw yesterday they batted for 70 overs and kept them to two runs an over and always felt like we were in the game. All three games we’ve been in a match-winning position so we know how to do 99 per cent of it. Hopefully we can get over the line in the next one.”Ben Stokes survives an lbw appeal•Getty Images

The approach taken by Paine to spread the field for Stokes all the way through his match-winning 76-run stand with the last man Jack Leach (contribution: one run) has been a source of some consternation in the wake of defeat. Paine has admitted that he should at least have spoken more with the bowlers about maintaining attacking lines and lengths with that field, rather than taking it as a sign to effectively put the cue in the rack against Stokes and only try to dismiss Leach. Cummins admitted that such fields tended to put any bowler into white-ball mode.”Unfortunately yeah it is [like one-day cricket],” he said. “When the wicket’s like that and the ball’s still hard, it didn’t feel like it was going to swing or seam so as a bowler your options are you’re hopefully going to still snick him off so you’ve got the slips out there but other than that just trying to limit the damage. He’s faced almost 200 balls and when he started going he’s at the top of his game so it’s certainly hard work but we still had our chances. Obvious thing is the wicket got better and better the longer the game went on. I would have liked to score a few more runs myself.”Runs will more than likely be available from a welcome avenue at Old Trafford, via the return to fitness and selection of Steven Smith. Cummins said that Smith had remained very much involved in the game since he was ruled out through concussion, making his impending recall all the more welcome. “I know last week at Lord’s he said he was screaming at the TV from his hotel room watching the final hour,” Cummins said.”This game we were right on top and we’ve got the world’s best batter coming in for the next one so it’s great. I think from all reports he’s going to play the tour match next week. What has he got? 100-odd, 100-odd and 90-odd so it’s going to be great to be back.”Cummins had one more crucial involvement, firing in the return to Nathan Lyon that, had he held it, would have seen Leach run out with Australia triumphant by a single run. Here, once again, was a reminder why the refreshed Australian approach, forged out of the infamy of Newlands, should serve the tourists well at the pointy end of this Ashes series. “I probably didn’t help him out with the throw there, it could have been a bit better,” Cummins said. “But yeah, like everyone, you just want to win so desperately and the emotion gets to everyone slightly differently.”Gaz obviously wears his heart on his shoulder so we’ve got to get around him. But I think the next ball he bowled after that was three reds [for lbw] so on another day he’s the match-winner. It’s that fine line, if you lived and died by a win and a loss you’d be out of this business pretty quickly.”

Isobel Joyce clinches final-ball thriller to deny Bangladesh clean sweep

Ireland broke their sixteen-game rut in limited-overs cricket, spanning nearly two years, with a six-wicket win over Bangladesh in their last match ahead of the Women’s World T20 Qualifier

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2018Ireland captain Isobel Joyce talks to the media•AFP/Getty Images

Sixteen straight losses across limited-overs cricket over the past two years. Heavy defeats against New Zealand in ODIs and T20Is. An unassailable 2-0 lead to Bangladesh in the T20 series. All of this gloom headlined Ireland’s home summer.If the tenth-ranked hosts needed a performance to break their long-drawn-out rut ahead of the Women’s World T20 Qualifier next week in the Netherlands, it couldn’t have come in more thrilling a form than their final-ball, six-wicket victory over ninth-ranked Bangladesh in the third and final T20 in Dublin. The match was also to be the last appearance on home soil for Ireland’s 37-year-old batsman Clare Shillington and 38-year-old legspinner Ciara Metcalfe.With 11 required off the last over and seven wickets in hand, Ireland would have fancied themselves to avoid a clean sweep. But in their path to the 152-run target lay a final over from Jahanara Alam, who memorably sealed Bangladesh’s maiden Asia Cup title with the bat, and then dominated Bangladesh’s last two T20I wins with her all-round exploits.Ireland captain Laura Delany (46 off 38) and veteran allrounder Isobel Joyce (22 not out off 14), however, ensured four singles, one four, and a two were enough – despite Delany’s run-out off a wide three balls into the over – to seal Ireland’s 11th win in their 48 games in the format and third over Bangladesh in seven overall T20I encounters. While Joyce struck the winning single after leveling the scores with a boundary on the penultimate ball, Alam took away the Player-of-the-Tournament award.The major swell of impetus to Ireland’s victory came much earlier through 17-year-old Gaby Lewis’s 31-ball 50. Her seven fours and a six complemented the seven combined fours from Delany and Joyce. A 93-run third-wicket stand between Delany and Lewis took Ireland to 123 for 2 in 16.2 overs before both were run out three overs apart.Earlier, Bangladesh collected 151 for 4, after being sent in. No. 3 batsman Fargana Hoque’s unbeaten 66 and an opening partnership of 47 between Shamima Sultana (30 off 27) and Ayasha Rahman (27 off 26) set the tone of Bangladesh’s innings. Fargana then partnered Sanjida Islam to smash 38 off three overs at the death before Delany removed Islam at the start of the final over. Hoque’s highest T20I score took Bangladesh past 150 on the back of six fours and two sixes.

Gayle blitz, Chahal guile reinvigorate RCB

Royal Challengers Bangalore revived a stalled campaign with a morale-boosting 21-run win, their second in six matches

The Report by Shashank Kishore18-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:16

Hogg: Would be very surprised if Lions or RCB make the top four

Chris Gayle hadn’t made a half-century in 17 T20 innings. His strike rate among openers who had faced a minimum of 50 deliveries prior to this game was the slowest. On Tuesday, a spot opened up after AB de Villiers’ late pull-out because of an injury. It meant IPL’s most successful opening partnership of Virat Kohli and Gayle were reunited again. With the side desperately needing fresh energy to revive a stalled campaign, Gayle, who became the first batsman to score 10,000 T20 runs, unleashed mayhem – striking 77 off 38 balls – as Royal Challengers posted 213 for 2, the season’s highest total, on a slow Rajkot deck.Then Brendon McCullum came up with an astonishing display of six-hitting in a 44-ball 72 that should have been enough to give Lions victory on most nights. But conceding 35 off the last two overs with the ball – a majority of those plundered by Kedar Jadhav in his unbeaten 16-ball 38 – proved to be the difference as Royal Challengers won by 21 runs and arrested a three-match losing streak to lift themselves off the bottom of the points table.RCB start steadily


As early as the fifth over, midwicket was in business at least twice, trying to dive forward to try and catch a mistimed flick. On both occasions, the ball skewed off the top part of Kohli’s bat. These were early indications that the ball was gripping, which Dhawal Kulkarni, Basil Thampi and Andrew Tye exploited well early on. Lions conceded just 36 in the first five overs, with Gayle and Kohli far from set.Gayle storm unleashed

The template was set: bowl slower through the air and get the batsmen to force the pace. Royal Challengers had two left-handers in the top six. Gayle is a slow starter against spin and on a slow surface where shot-making wasn’t as easy as he later made it out to be, he had to content with Ravindra Jadeja as early as the sixth over.Jadeja started off by conceding just nine, but deviated from the template in his next over by bowling full, fast and straight. It was the fodder Gayle needed to swing through cleanly: he muscled two fours and two sixes in a 21-run over. One of those sixes could’ve been out had Brendon McCullum’s hat not been in contact with the rope as he flung himself across to take a catch at wide long-off. Gayle raced to a 23-ball 50 courtesy three fours and five monstrous sixes to turn a steady start into a spectacular one.Kohli, the accumulator

Kohli’s timing seemed off initially. This was no surface to punch through the line, so he tried to charge down the pitch and was beaten in trying to hit out. But the three successive boundaries he hit off Dhawal Kulkarni in the third over – to full deliveries – got him going.Having watched Gayle return to form, Kohli took over after Thampi ended a 122-run opening stand in the 13th over. Signs of recovery from a shoulder injury were evident as he swiveled and pulled without discomfort to bring up a half-century. It helped that Travis Head, replacing Samuel Badree, didn’t take long to settle in and finished with a 16-ball 30 not out. Kohli eventually fell to a slower delivery for 64, attempting a heave on the leg side.Jadhav thrives in finishers’ role

Kedar Jadhav showed how much his T20 game has improved since the 2016 season, where he played just four games. His anticipation, particularly to Tye’s slower deliveries and Jadeja’s darts, were particularly impressive. He hit two sixes and four fours in the last two overs, in which Royal Challengers smashed 35. The final over that went for 17 resulted in Jadeja finishing with 4-0-57-0, his most-expensive T20 figures.Negi’s flight, McCullum’s fury

Royal Challengers started with spin and had Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina out early inside four overs. Left with no choice but to play just one way, McCullum found his hitting range against in Pawan Negi’s second over. He raced to a 30-ball 50, but the pressure brought on by dot balls resulted in the wickets of Aaron Finch and Dinesh Karthik in the space of eight deliveries to set Lions back. Negi continued to trust his weapon – flight – and deceived Finch as Jadhav effected a smart stumping. He followed that up by conceding just one in his next over – to leave Lions needing 107 off eight overs. Under the circumstances, Negi’s figures of 4-0-21-1 were gold.Chahal’s guile seals it
With McCullum repeatedly favouring the leg side, Chahal threw the ball up outside off and induced a slog sweep that was pouched at deep square leg in his last over. The timing of that wicket – with Lions needing 77 off 32 balls – was significant given Shane Watson and Adam Milne’s five overs had cost 63. With Negi bowled out, Kohli had to turn to one of them or S Aravind in the end-overs. McCullum’s wicket, however, took the fizz out of the chase. By making 39 off just 16 balls, Ishan Kishan made his case to be promoted, perhaps even as opener in place of Dwayne Smith, once Dwayne Bravo returns from injury.

Heino Kuhn wins big at Titans' awards

Titans’ opening batsman Heino Kuhn swept his franchise’s awards ceremony as he claimed the franchise’s player of the year, first-class player of the year and players’ player titles

Firdose Moonda06-Apr-2016Titans’ opening batsman Heino Kuhn swept his franchise’s awards ceremony as he claimed the franchise’s player of the year, first-class player of the year and players’ player titles.Kuhn, who has played for the team for a decade, is currently top of the season’s first-class run charts with 999 and a match to play. Barring a pair in the final fixture in Paarl, he will become the sixth South Africa to rack up more than 1,000 runs in a season, joining Barry Richards, Zander de Bruyn, Rilee Rossouw, Dean Elgar and Stephen Cook on an elite list.At 32, Kuhn still harbours hope his numbers will earn him a national call-up, especially on the evidence of this summer. Cook, who is a year older than Kuhn, was rewarded with a Test debut after seasons of run-scoring on the domestic circuit.”Heino is one of the most decorated players for the Titans because he has won so many Man-of-the-Match-awards, and even received national accolades. His longevity is a hallmark of his career,” Titans’ CEO Jacques Faul said. “His attitude throughout the seasons, even when he was on the substitute bench, encapsulates the Titans family spirit. He doesn’t let you down, and he gives 110%.”The other big winner on the night was Titans’ limited-overs’ captain Albie Morkel, who was named T20 player of the year. Morkel led from the front in the franchise’s successful campaign with 10 wickets at 13.30 and 198 runs at 39.60. Titans won eight matches in succession in the league phase to qualify directly for the final, which they won. Morkel edged South African opener Quinton de Kock, who was the top-scorer in the T20 competition with 437 runs at 39.72.”Albie, like Heino, has been one of our long-serving stewards and he set standards of leadership and all-rounder’s excellence which has made us all proud. This season’s T20 campaign was a vindication of his exemplary style of captaincy,” Faul said. “We trust we can call on Albie for another season in which he will showcase his three-in-one blue-chip qualities as leader, fast bowler and hard-hitting middle-order champion.”

Hales secures Notts home semi

Alex Hales hit a match-winning 74 as Nottinghamshire beat Kent by five wickets at Canterbury to top Group A and earn themselves a Yorkshire Bank 40 home semi-final

26-Aug-2013
ScorecardAlex Hales ensured Nottinghamshire’s chase was always on course•Getty Images

Alex Hales hit a match-winning 74 as Nottinghamshire beat Kent by five wickets at Canterbury to top Group A and earn themselves a Yorkshire Bank 40 home semi-final.Hales and Samit Patel, who scored 59, put together the decisive partnership of 107 in 22 overs as the visitors overhauled Kent’s 40-over total of 195 for 6 with 10 balls to spare.Michael Lumb also helped to give the Nottinghamshire reply a confident start with 28 from 23 balls before being stumped off a legside wide from Mark Davies in the seventh over, with the total on 42.James Taylor could make only 6 in a scratchy 18-ball stay before being caught at the wicket off the accurate Davies, who bowled his eight new-ball overs straight through for figures of 2 for 33.But Hales and Patel, who came together at 57 for 2, were more than equal to the task of guiding Nottinghamshire to the victory which gives them the chance of silverware at the end of an often frustrating season.Hales included only three fours in a 55-ball half-century but kept the scoreboard ticking despite a sluggish surface which made expansive strokeplay difficult, and Patel also worked the ball around expertly to reach his own fifty from 60 balls to negate the efforts of a Kent attack in which James Tredwell did his best in a losing cause with an eight-over stint of one for 31.Patel fell in the 33rd over, clubbing Tredwell to long on after a 70-ball innings which included four fours and a driven six off Adam Riley, while a fine throw from deep square leg by Adam Ball finally sent back Hales in the 36th over, the England Twenty20 batsman run out after facing 90 balls and hitting four fours.Riki Wessels lofted Darren Stevens to deep mid-wicket on nine but David Hussey finished the match in style by straight-driving Ball for six to end on 19 not out.Sam Northeast, driving loosely on two, edged Harry Gurney to second slip in the second over of Kent’s innings but the home side, who won the toss, were steadied by Rob Key and Brendan Nash in a partnership of 76 in 18 overs.Key’s 62-ball 41 ended when he was beaten by a ball from part-time offspinner Hussey that moved the other way up the Canterbury slope to take the edge of his defensive bat on its way into wicketkeeper Chris Read’s gloves.Nash made 47 off 66 balls before skying an attempted pull at Jake Ball to mid-on and Stevens’ bright 27 from 32 balls came to a disappointing end for the predominantly Kent-supporting 4,500 crowd when he holed out to Steven Mullaney at long-off trying to hit Patel’s left-arm spin for six.Kent stumbled to 135 for 5 when Geraint Jones was hit on the boot by a full delivery from Patel and leg-before for one, and with Mullaney conceding just 25 runs from his eight overs, but youngsters Fabian Cowdrey and Ball hit out defiantly in a stand of 39 in five overs to boost the home total.Ball had just reached 22 with successive fours off Ajmal Shahzad, over extra cover and swung to mid-wicket, when he skied to wide mid-off, but Cowdrey produced some more inventive strokes to finish on an unbeaten 39 off 48 balls.

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