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Moeen Ali, the Worcestershire batsman, has been named as Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) Player of the Year for 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2013Moeen Ali, the Worcestershire batsman, has been named the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) Player of the Year for 2013. Moeen, who is in England’s Performance Programme squad to tour Australia this winter, was the leading Championship run-scorer and also became the first player to tally more than 2000 runs and take 40 wickets in all formats since 2005.Durham’s England allrounder Ben Stokes was the PCA Young Player of the Year, to go with the Cricket Writers’ Club award he won earlier in the week. He scored 615 runs and took 42 wickets in Durham’s Championship victory, as well as claiming a maiden five-wicket haul in ODI cricket for England, helping to win him a spot in the Ashes party.Moeen scored 1375 Championship runs in Division Two, although his county, Worcestershire, fell some way short of mounting a promotion challenge. He beat fellow nominees Michael Hogan, Samit Patel and Graham Onions to the award, which was won last year by Nick Compton. Stokes was up against the 2012 Young Player, Joe Root, Reece Topley and James Vince.In the England player categories, James Anderson was named the team’s MVP, while Graeme Swann won Test Player of the Summer after finishing as the leading wicket-taker during the Ashes. Ravi Bopara won the ODI award, after coming back into the side with impressive results during England’s run to the Champions Trophy final.Onions did pick up the prize for Championship Player of the Year, although England’s successful home season, in which they swept New Zealand in their two Tests and won the Ashes 3-0, meant he was squeezed out of the Team of the Year. Hogan joined Anderson, Swann and Stuart Broad in the attack, while wicketkeeper Phil Mustard was the only other Durham player, alongside Stokes, to make the XI. Gloucestershire’s Australian captain, Michael Klinger, joined Root, Moeen and Ian Bell – whose three centuries played a huge part in England retaining the Ashes – in the top order.Reg Hayter Cup for the NatWest PCA Player of the Year Moeen Ali (Worcestershire)
John Arlott Cup for the NatWest PCA Young Player of the Year Ben Stokes (Durham)
ECB Special Award Jim Cumbes
PCA Special Merit Award, sponsored by Brit Insurance Tony Greig
Friends Life t20 Player of the Year David Willey (Northamptonshire)
Yorkshire Bank 40 Player of the Year Peter Trego (Somerset)
LV= County Championship Player of the Year Graham Onions (Durham)
England FTI MVP of the Summer James Anderson
NatWest ODI Player of the Summer Ravi Bopara
Investec Test Player of the Summer Graeme Swann
Sky Sports Sixes League Winner Ryan ten Doeschate (Essex)
FTI Team of the Year Joe Root (Yorkshire & England), Michael Klinger (Gloucestershire), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire & England), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Ben Stokes (Durham & England), Phil Mustard (Durham), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire & England), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire & England), Michael Hogan (Glamorgan), James Anderson (Lancashire & England)

Gareth Roderick continued his impressive start to the season as Gloucestershire battled to 275 all out after losing the toss in bowler-friendly conditions

Press Association26-Apr-2015
ScorecardMark Footitt led Derbyshire’s challenge on a frustrating day•Getty Images

Gareth Roderick continued his impressive start to the season as Gloucestershire battled to 275 all out after losing the toss in bowler-friendly conditions on the opening day of the LV=County Championship match with Derbyshire at Bristol.The 23-year-old wicketkeeper’s 76 off 155 balls, with 11 fours, was his third half-century in as many Championship innings following an unbeaten ton in the first class match with Cardiff MCCU.Will Tavare contributed 48 and Hamish Marshall 41 on a green pitch offering some assistance to the seamers. Mark Footitt finished with 3 for 72 from 18 overs, narrowly missing out on a hat-trick at the end of the innings.By the close Derbyshire had replied with 24 without loss from six overs and trailed by 251, having edged the day with a productive final session.A cold overcast morning saw Gloucestershire progress to 30 before Chris Dent, on 22, edged a defensive shot off the accurate Tony Palladino to wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein.Tavare responded with seven crisp boundaries and together with Roderick took the total to 98 in the 27th over before cutting loosely at Shiv Thakor and nicking a catch to Wayne Madsen at first slip.It was 104 for 2 at lunch, with Derbyshire having failed to make the most of the conditions. But they struck again with the score on 139 as Tom Taylor beat Peter Handscomb’s defensive shot and bowled him for 17.Roderick brought up his half-century with his sixth boundary, having faced 110 balls without giving a chance. Marshall was then dropped at point on eight during a scratchy start to his innings. Footitt collected his first wicket when Roderick carelessly pulled a short ball to Alex Hughes at mid-wicket.The course of the day changed in the first over after the interval when home skipper Geraint Jones was bowled shouldering arms to Taylor for 14.His departure proved the start of a determined Derbyshire fightback that saw five more wickets tumble for only 48 runs. Marshall had battled away for 132 balls when pinned lbw by Hughes and, as at Northants in their opening game, Gloucestershire’s tail offered little resistance.Hughes (two for 34) had James Fuller leg before and the new ball was taken at 269 for seven. Footitt used it to good effect, removing Kieran Noema-Barnett (21) and Liam Norwell with successive balls before beating Matt Taylor outside off stump with his hat-trick delivery. Palladino claimed the last wicket

Billy Godleman is standing in as captain of Derbyshire, winning cricket matches, scoring runs and enjoying life again

Tim Wigmore at Canterbury09-Jun-2015
ScorecardBilly Godleman, shown here applauded off by Cheteshwar Pujara [file picture]•PA Photos

There was an understated satisfaction to Billy Godleman as, a little sheepishly, he raised his bat leaving the field. Derbyshire’s captain had engineered a remarkable turnaround in the match. Resolute and undefeated until the end, he had underpinned Derbyshire’s successful chase of 232.Just twelve months ago, Godleman’s very future as a professional cricketer was uncertain. He had not scored a first-class century since 2012. In mid-summer he was marooned in Derbyshire’s second team, a precarious existence for a 25-year-old who was out of contract in the winter.When Godleman was recalled for Derbyshire’s final six Championship games, he returned “100% playing for my career,” as he reflects. “There were times when I was very concerned about what would lie ahead in the future and whether it was actually going to be in the professional game.”No one would have envisaged such struggles when, as an 18-year-old opening batsman, Godleman scored 842 runs at 38.27 in 2007; that remains both his highest first-class aggregate and average in a campaign.”I was reasonably successful straight away from a young age. Then when I started not to do very well I didn’t quite know how to deal with that,” he admits. “I also realised that I wasn’t quite as good as I thought I was when I was 18, 19, 20.”Twice he suffered the pain of being released, by Middlesex in 2009 and again by Essex in 2012. Nine matches for Derbyshire in 2013 brought a miserable average of 17.18. When 2014 began equally badly, Godleman faced “accepting I wasn’t at the level that I thought I was. And then working out a method of dealing with disappointment and looking at every experience as an opportunity to learn something.”Of one thing Godleman was certain: he was not ready to abandon the game. With Derbyshire faring miserably, Graeme Welch sounded Godleman out. “You’ve got our full support, go and show us what you can do,” he was told.And then something seemed to click. At The Kia Oval last September, Godleman finally scored a century – and it was a match-winning one to boot. After his recall, Derbyshire won five of their last games. He earned a new one-year contract. After an encouraging start to the season and an injury to Wayne Madsen, Godleman was even entrusted with the captaincy, quite a turn-up for a man with a somewhat chequered past.It has evidently sat easily with him. Last week Godleman saved Derbyshire from defeat with an unbeaten 64 of 228 balls against Gloucestershire. Here, once again, Godleman’s defence was unbreachable in the fourth innings.Adhesiveness is integral to Godleman’s game. He knew that trying to mimic Chesney Hughes or Tillakaratne Dilshan when they were smiting Kent’s attack would be fool’s gold. Yet, as he showed with a series of rasping cuts and neat pushes through mid-on, he has also expanded his repertoire. Five half centuries at an average of 62.14 so far in 2015 are testament to that.”Previously he used to be a survivor, trying just to get through, and now he’s starting to develop the game to actually influence the play and put the bowler under more pressure and look to be more assertive,” says Neil Burns, who has worked extensively with Godleman.When Essex released Godleman, Burns devised a 60-month programme to turn his game around. “He’s had lots of ups and downs but the great thing about Billy is he’s prepared to look inside himself and do the tough learning.”Here Godleman’s assiduousness was rewarded with Derbyshire’s first victory at Canterbury since 1999; quite the reversal after Kent had cruised to 63-1 in their second innings, a lead of 182, before lunch on day two.Even a bumper crowd of school children on the third day would have done little for Kent’s mood. Darren Stevens was immediately whisked away to Maidstone, to play for the second XI, hoping to find some semblance of form after 16 runs in his last six first-class innings. On the evidence of this game, in which Kent hemorrhaged 20 wickets for just 317 runs, perhaps some of his teammates here should join him.

as Gordon Muchall, Paul Coughlin and John Hastings filled their boots on the third day of this match at Arundel, many observers, whether within or without the sylvan bowl, still wondered why Paul Collingwood did not declare.

Paul Edwards at Arundel17-Jun-2015
ScorecardGordon Muchall took his resistance into a century•Getty Images

Winning the County Championship requires ruthlessness in addition to skill, enterprise and a host of other qualities. Sometimes, a team’s chances of victory are increased if they grind their opponents into the dirt and break their spirit. Yet as Gordon Muchall, Paul Coughlin and John Hastings filled their boots on the third day of this match at Arundel, many observers, whether within or without the sylvan bowl, still wondered why Paul Collingwood did not declare.Inside ten overs of the morning session, it had become clear that Sussex would have to score the highest total of the match in order to win it, and this on a pitch of variable bounce where Chris Rushworth had made hay on Tuesday. On that evidence, this was a wicket that the Durham seamers would happily carry around the country with them. What’s more, the Sussex batsmen might help them load it onto the truck.Yet Collingwood did not beckon his batsmen back to the pavilion; he left them to be bowled out for 413. Sussex were therefore presented with a victory target of 514, which is 59 runs more than they have managed in their 151-year history. They had a minimum of 139 overs in which to make set a new mark but even Joe Root might baulk before claiming that all his gun barrels would be blazing in such a situation.The Durham skipper’s decision was perhaps based on the evidence that the pitch was slowing and that a target in excess of 500 would overawe a batting side which had not managed to score more than 266 in any of their last nine innings. Rushworth, Onions & Co. still had more than enough overs in which to take ten wickets and they would have two new balls with which to go to work.By close of play Collingwood’s judgement had been justified. Unlike the first innings, Ed Joyce’s batsman had not been swept away as easily as leaves on a dry autumn pavement. The Sussex openers, Luke Wells and Michael Yardy, added 60 for the first wicket, which is still their county’s highest opening stand of the season, before Yardy played a millionaire’s drive to a ball from Coughlin and nicked a pauper’s catch to Richardson. Thirteen overs later, the keeper had his second victim when Matt Machan was properly beaten by a good ball from Hastings.That was the final wicket to fall on the third day. Luke Wells, batting watchfully and rather astutely within himself, passed fifty for the second time this season and Joyce, who has not made a half-century for nearly two months, remained unbeaten on 5 at the close. There is plenty of labour ahead for Durham’s bowlers on the final day of this match if they are to secure a win in their final four-day contest before their vital meeting with Yorkshire at the Riverside in 11 days’ time. There is still a game on.But whatever awaits the cricketers in the final acts of his curious drama, this week at Arundel will surely be one of the highlights of Muchall’s career. Having made an unbeaten 81 in the first innings, the Durham No. 6 made his first century of the season off 215 balls in the second; he had batted for 282 minutes for 115 runs when he was lbw attempting to cut Wells five overs before lunch. In all, Muchall occupied the crease for over eight hours in a match where five top-six batsmen have not lasted ten minutes. Should Durham win, his 196 runs for once out will have played as significant a role in the victory as anything Rushworth or Onions might do on the last day.Muchall’s innings was epitomised not by a series of memorable shots but by the hundreds of good decisions he made. Sometimes these consisted of nothing more than opting to leave the ball alone but they enabled the Durham batsman to seize on any opportunities to attack. He added 116 for the seventh wicket with Coughlin, who himself contributed a fine 64 before he edged Steve Magoffin to Joyce at slip just after lunch.By then Hastings was fully engaged in taking the game away from Sussex by blasting 91 off 72 balls and playing the sort of bullying thrash which Muchall’s diligence had made possible. Time and again the Australian whacked George Dockrell into the rows of pastel-clothed spectators on the banks at the Park End; and only when it had become almost probable that he would score a maiden first-class century was Hastings bowled, playing an outstandingly ugly heave to a ball from Tim Linley, who added three wickets to his five in the first innings.Hastings was the last man out and his departure left Sussex with all manner of records to set if they were to win or even draw a game in which 14 wickets had fallen on the second day but only six on the third. They need exactly 400 more runs. Even in this place of glories and wonders, that would be something to see.

Teenage leg-spinner Mason Crane took 2 for 35 on his full debut to help Hampshire to a seventh straight home victory against Surrey.

ECB/PA10-Jul-2015
ScorecardAdam Wheater scored his highest T20 score (file photo)•Getty Images

Teenage leg-spinner Mason Crane took 2 for 35 on his full debut to help Hampshire to a seventh straight home victory against Surrey.Crane, who was plucked from taking a five-wicket haul for the second team yesterday to replace the injured Chris Wood in the side, claimed the legendary Kumar Sangakkara as his first professional wicket.Adam Wheater had early struck his highest T20 score of 78, beating his previous best of 36, as Hampshire won by 29 to rekindle their quarter-final hopes.After being put in by Gareth Batty, James Vince brought up the first boundary of the night in the second over by dancing down the wicket and slashing through point, before he followed it up with another four through the same region next ball.Michael Carberry took a liking to James Burke’s short and wayward bowling, dispatching him for four boundaries in a row, before he sliced to Jason Roy at backward point.

Insights

This win has got Hampshire’s season back on track following three consecutive losses. Although debutant Mason Crane played an important role in the win, perhaps the key to Hampshire’s victory lay before a ball had even been bowled – in their team. It would have been easy for Hampshire to have made some sweeping changes in light of three consecutive defeats, to lose patience with a formula that has got them to five consecutive finals days. They didn’t. Only one change was made. Only a couple of counties have named fewer players in their T20 squads than Hampshire this season: familiarity breeds success.

Vince, with Wheater, thwacked a stand of 50 for the second wicket off 23 balls before the skipper edged to Tom Curran at short third man off Zafar Ansari for 31.Wheater kept the score ticking along with his textbook reverse sweeps and straight drives, and he reached a deserved half-century from 29 balls – as he and Owais Shah added 84 for the third wicket.Wicketkeeper Wheater continued his assault of the Surrey bowling and just managed to clear the man on the boundary to hit his only six, but departed soon after for a sweet 78 off 49 balls.Veteran Azhar Mahmood returned the pick of the bowling figures – 2 for 19 – including two in two deliveries in the penultimate over, Shah picking out Roy for 37 before Will Smith came and went.Hampshire ended on 186 for six, and Surrey’s reply started in stuttering style as Jason Roy collected a boundary with typical oomph, but opening partner Curran chipped nervously to Vince at extra cover.Jackson Bird made it two wickets in three Hampshire deliveries to comprehensively bowl England one-day smasher Roy for a subdued nine.Sangakkara and Vikram Solanki, who have a combined age of 76, got the visitors back on track to end the powerplay on 50 for two.Spin sensation Crane excelled in his opening over in first-team cricket with four dots and a tough caught and bowled chance. And the 18-year-old had the moment of his life in his second over when Sri Lankan Test star Sangakkara hit a full toss to a sprawling Joe Gatting.Smith trapped Rory Burns in front in the next over as spin turned the game in Hampshire’s favour. Crane picked up an important second wicket with a guileful leg break which beat the outside of Solanki’s bat before Wheater simply stumped him for 34.Zafar Ansari came and went – smartly snatched behind – as Smith ended with impressive figures of two for 17 – before Danny Briggs got in on the act to see off Ben Foakes.The late wickets of Burke and Mahmood completed the Surrey collapse as Hampshire got their T20 Blast campaign back on track in front of a highest Ageas Bowl crowd for two years.

Glamorgan picked up their second victory in the Royal London Cup as Colin Ingram and Graham Wagg’s heroics with bat and ball earned a 146-run victory against Essex in Cardiff

ECB/PA31-Jul-2015
ScorecardColin Ingram continued his productive recent form•Getty Images

Glamorgan picked up their second victory in the Royal London Cup as Colin Ingram and Graham Wagg’s heroics with bat and ball earned a 146-run victory against Essex in Cardiff.Ingram made 130 from 144 balls, his second century in four days, and Wagg hit five fours and three sixes in a 46-ball cameo of 62 as the hosts posted 288 for 6 from their 50 overs.Essex crumbled in reply, with Ryan ten Doeschate the only one of their batsmen to acquit himself well in making 47 before they were dismissed for 142 in 37.1 overs – with Ingram, Wagg, Craig Meschede and Dean Cosker taking two wickets each.After chasing down 318 to beat Kent on Tuesday night, this was another impressive limited-overs showing from Glamorgan.Put in on an apparently slow pitch, Glamorgan lost Will Bragg in the third over when he nibbled at one from Reece Topley.The left-arm seamer and David Masters combined for an accurate opening spell and Topley claimed his second wicket when Jacques Rudolph drove him to mid-off fielder Ten Doeschate.From 18 for 2, Glamorgan recovered through Ingram – who scored 109 earlier against Kent – and 18-year-old Aneurin Donald. They put on 77 for the third wicket, with Donald hitting sixes off Ravi Bopara and Graham Napier.After Donald was bowled by Bopara, the recovery continued as Chris Cooke – another hero of the win against Kent – joined Ingram and they put on 83 before Cooke was also bowled by Bopara.Much depended on Ingram, and the South African went on to reach a career-best List A score. When Ingram holed out to mid-off, Wagg seized the initiative with some late-innings heaving scoring.Essex needing to score at almost six an over but were soon in disarray and by the end of the eighth over had slumped to 16 for 3. Tom Westley nicked one from Wagg to Mark Wallace and he was quickly followed by Mark Pettini, well caught low down by Rudolph at slip off Michael Hogan’s bowling.In the following over, Wagg took his second wicket when Nick Browne chipped a low catch to short midwicket.Jesse Ryder made his intentions clear by swinging with vigour, but after striking two fours he was caught on the extra cover boundary attempting a third. The Glamorgan seamers gave little away, and after restricting Bopara for a couple of overs, David Lloyd produced a beauty to hit the batsman’s off stump.Kishen Velani was the next to go when he top-edged Ingram’s leg spin to square leg, and although ten Doeschate top-scored with 47, the innings quickly folded after an insipid Essex batting performance.

Kumar Sangakkara, who is set to retire after the second Test against India, believed that being relieved of the gloves in Tests contributed to a boom in his batting

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle11-Aug-20155:35

‘England 2014 was my best overseas tour’ – Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara has said being relieved of the gloves in Tests was the “best thing” that happened to his career.”I didn’t like it when they stopped me keeping,” Sangakkara said. “But the selection committee spoke to me and said: ‘What we’re trying to do is improve your batting and to get you scoring more runs for the team. We are asking you to do this. It will be better for the team and better for you.’ At the time, I thought: ‘That’s not true. I can do both.’ But when I look back on it now, that was the best thing to happen to me. It’s great that they took that decision for me, without letting me take it. That has hugely influenced the runs that I scored, and the centuries I made.”Sangakkara had begun his Test career behind the stumps, as Romesh Kaluwitharana’s replacement. Even though he had some success with the bat in the early years, averaging 46.90 in mid-2006, the Ashantha de Mel-led selection committee believed he would be more valuable to the side as a specialist batsman. Sangakkara had by then become Sri Lanka’s regular No. 3 batsman, raising concerns that he would be too fatigued to excel at both roles.A nine-year boom in his batting output has followed the decision to play him as a batsman only. In 84 Tests as a specialist batsman, Sangakkara has hit 9188 runs at an average of 68.05. That average is only second to Don Bradman’s for non-wicketkeepers who have scored more than 1000 Test runs.Sangakkara admitted he regrets not having won a World Cup after playing in two finals, but took particular pleasure from Sri Lanka’s performances in major tournaments. Sri Lanka’s inability to win Tests in Australia and India had also grated, but the team has generally fared better in England. They drew 1-1 in 2006, then defeated England 1-0 last year.”I remember going to England with the team last year, and beating England 1-0 in that series was the best overseas tour I have been on,” he said. “In that 2006 series when we drew, we also won the one-dayers 5-0.”All the wins we have had, especially away from home, have been special. Beating Australia for the first time in a one-day series in 2010, the World T20 which we won it – all of these have been really standout moments for me. But also, once Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Chaminda Vaas, Aravinda de Silva all of these guys left, I’m happy to have been part of a set-up that produced cricketers like Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Upul Tharanga – and the one guy who has been outstanding and who is never spoken about – Rangana Herath.”Though his batting is often called attractive, Sangakkara said he does not consider himself a stylist. “I used to have these arguments with Thilan Samaraweera in the dressing room about who had had the best looking forward defensive shot in the Sri Lankan side. He always told me that I had the ugliest forward defensive shot he had ever seen in his life and Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Attapattu had the nicest,” Sangakkara said.”They always say the left-handers were extremely graceful. I watched Brian Lara, then Upul Tharanga and Lahiru Thirmanne from the younger lot, and feel they are much more pleasant to look at. Whenever I play the cover drive, with the back knee bent and head back, I just say to myself: ‘How can that be stylish?’ But I’m glad with the amount if runs I’ve scored and how effective I’ve been.”

David Warner, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Coulter-Nile will return to the Australian team fold at a Test team training camp in Hurstville after being absent from the squad for the postponed trip to Bangladesh

Daniel Brettig12-Oct-2015David Warner, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Coulter-Nile will return to the Australian team fold at a Test team training camp in Hurstville, to Sydney’s south, after being absent from the touring party for the postponed trip to Bangladesh.Vice-captain Warner and the trio of fast men will join 15 others for two days of centre-wicket training and a range of other drills, devised to keep players of national interest in decent trim ahead of a looming Test assignment against New Zealand in November. James Faulkner has also been included in the group after he missed the ODIs in England as the penalty for a drink-driving offence incurred while playing for Lancashire during the northern summer.”Spending some time in England with the moving ball over there in foreign conditions, hopefully can hold my game in good shape,” Faulkner said. “I definitely learned a hell of a lot over there in those conditions. It’s probably a bit different over here, there’s not as much swing, or reverse swing, so we’ll see how we go. I’ll prepare like I normally do and try to get runs and wickets like every other player.”Johnson and Hazlewood had been scratched quite early from plans for Bangladesh as the national selectors and fitness staff had decided they needed something like a full pre-season ahead of the home summer, rather than being tided over from the Ashes to take part in Bangladesh.They were joined on the sidelines by Warner and Coulter-Nile when the duo suffered injuries during Australia’s successful ODI series in England that followed defeat in the Ashes.The selectors and the captain Steven Smith have flagged that the selection for the first match against New Zealand at the Gabba – which starts from November 5 – is likely to result in a team some distance removed from the squad chosen for the subcontinent. However all members of the Bangladesh tour party have been included in the training group.”Different conditions, you’re not going to have two spinners at the Gabba,” the selector Mark Waugh said after the tour was postponed. “So, there are some guys who were picked on that tour who are going to be shuffled down the order a little bit, but you can’t do anything about it.”At least their names are there … they got picked on an Australian tour so they can take comfort from the fact that they’re definitely in the reckoning. The real thing is it’s going to be a different eleven for the first Test in Brisbane to what would have been picked in Bangladesh.”These players include Cameron Bancroft and Joe Burns, thought to be vying for the opening spot vacated by the retired Chris Rogers, plus Andrew Fekete, Steve O’Keefe and Usman Khawaja.Red-ball camp squad: Steve Smith, David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Andrew Fekete, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill, Steve O’Keefe, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Adam Voges

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 Group C matches played on November 1, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Paras Dogra’s unbeaten 209 came at a brisk pace•PTI

Paras Dogra’s unbeaten 209 helped Himachal Pradesh declare on an imposing 561 for 5 against Tripura in Dharamsala. The visitors ended the day at 88 for 3 and have to score another 188 runs to avoid an innings defeat.Himachal began strongly, with centuries from their openers and Dogra helping them capitalise on their strong overnight score of 259 for 3. Dogra had support from Robin Bist (58) and Nikhil Gangta (55) with whom he added century stands for the fourth and fifth wickets. Dogra’s 209 came off 242 balls and included 23 fours and six sixes.After Himachal declared, offspinner Ankush Bedi made early inroads into Tripura’s batting, picking up three wickets, including that of captain Kaushal Acharjee.
ScorecardFour wickets each from medium-pacers Rohit Sharma and Zahoor Sofi limited Hyderabad to 280 and allowed Jammu & Kashmir to enforce a follow-on in their match in Uppal. The hosts finished the day at 122 for 2, trailing J&K by 58 runs.Despite fifties from Tanmay Agarwal and B Anirudh, Hyderabad were hurt by wickets falling in clumps, especially after substantial partnerships. While Rohit Sharma and Umar Nazir accounted for the top order, Sofi cleaned up the tail, picking three wickets in the last over of the innings, including the dismissal of Chama Milind who added 43 important runs with Anirudh for the eighth wicket.J&K struck early after enforcing the follow-on but Hanuma Vihari and Danny Prince then rebuilt for the side, sharing an unbroken 109-run stand for the third wicket. Prince was unbeaten on 56 off 108 deliveries, while Vihari went in at stumps four runs short of a half-century.
ScorecardCenturies from Yashpal Singh and Rajat Paliwal helped Services build a 301-run lead by close of play on the third day against Saurashtra in Palam. His knock of 103 was Paliwal’s second of the game, while Yashpal’s 115 not out came in the batsman’s 100th first-class match.The pair also shared a 187-run stand that steadied Services after the top order was dismissed by the 21st over. Paliwal, who made 121 in the first innings, was dismissed for 103 off 189 deliveries and Saurashtra then fought back with quick wickets to leave the hosts at 311 for 6 at close of play. Yashpal was unbeaten, having faced 149 deliveries for his 115, which also included 17 fours and a six.
ScorecardJharkhand legspinner Samar Quadri’s 6 for 97 limited Goa to 302 on the third day of their Group C match in Jamshedpur. Goa, however, clawed back with four wickets, leaving the home side at a shaky 159 for 4 in their battle for first-innings points going into the fourth day.Goa lost overnight batsman Swapnil Asnodkar and Snehal Kauthankar early on the third morning before being revived by a 58-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Rituraj Singh and Darshan Misal.The lower order tried to rally once that partnership was broken but Quadri and left-arm spinner and Jharkhand captain Shahbaz Nadeem ran through the rest of the line-up to bring an end to the innings.In response, Sumit Kumar and Shiv Gautam shared a 64-run partnership for the second wicket after opener Prakash Munda was dismissed for only 2. Shadab Jakati, however, struck with three quick wickets to push Jharkhand from 60 for 1 to 106 for 4. Gautam and Kumar Deobrat then steadied the innings, playing out the day with a 53-run partnership.

Bangladesh’s 58-run win against Zimbabwe in the second ODI defending a total of 241 for 9 gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead and sealed their fifth consecutive bilateral ODI series win.

The Report by Mohammad Isam09-Nov-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsImrul Kayes top-scored with 76 in an otherwise middling innings for the hosts•AFP

The last four series wins have drilled into Bangladesh the way to get out of tight corners. So when they were faced with another, in the second ODI against Zimbabwe in Mirpur on Monday, they stuck to the known paths and ensured a way out. Their 58-run win defending a total of 241 for 9 gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead and sealed their fifth consecutive bilateral ODI series win. They beat their own record of four series wins in a row in 2006-07 and 2009 and the lead means that, in ODIs, Bangladesh will be unbeaten in bilateral series throughout 2015 unless there is another series next month.Bangladesh’s bowling effort was steered smoothly by the captain Mashrafe Mortaza and the line-up hardly missed Shakib Al Hasan, who left Dhaka to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. Mustafizur Rahman was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets for 33 runs, while Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny and Mashrafe himself bowled with control and showed a knack for putting together dot balls.Wickets in clumps always help and Bangladesh got those early in Zimbabwe’s chase, and at a later stage when Elton Chigumbura and Sikandar Raza were starting to look dangerous.The visitors started the 242-run chase by losing both openers Regis Chakabva and Chamu Chibhabha within the first 5.1 overs. Chakabva was trapped leg-before in Arafat Sunny’s first over and four balls later Mashrafe Mortaza had Chibhabha inside-edge one on to the stumps.Sean Williams and Craig Ervine were fidgety, edging many and missing some too. Williams was caught at short midwicket after he misread a Mustafizur off-cutter. Ervine and Chigumbura tried to consolidate for the fourth-wicket stand but the former was run-out after Liton Das threw down the stumps from mid-off to leave the score at 78 for 4 in the 21st over.Chigumbura badly needed Sikandar Raza to stay with him, and the pair added 73 runs for the fifth wicket with minimal effort. Raza hardly played a false short after he blasted Sunny over long-off early in his innings. Chigumbura was looking for a release point and it came in the 32nd over when he went after Mashrafe for a six and two fours off consecutive deliveries.The six was blasted over the bowler’s head before Liton and Nasir Hossain couldn’t chase down a ball near the leg-side boundary. The third boundary came off an outside edge but it seemed Zimbabwe were turning a corner.Al-Amin removed both in the 34th and 36th overs. Raza holed out to mid-on for 33 off 42 balls, which included two fours and a six, while hit an upper-cut to Kayes at third man, who took the catch diving forward. The Zimbabwe captain’s knock could hardly be described as berserk and he hit two fours and a six in 47 off 77 deliveries.Mustafizur took two more wickets, removing Luke Jongwe and Tinashe Panyangara, while Nasir took the wickets of Malcolm Waller and Graeme Cremer, to shut Zimbabwe down for 183 runs in 43.2 overs.Earlier in the afternoon, Bangladesh were presented with a situation similar to the first ODI when they were put into bat and lost two early wickets. This time, however, there were no moderate or big partnerships. Imrul Kayes was the only batsman with some semblance of prolonged authority as he made 76 off 89 balls and batted until the 32nd over.Tamim Iqbal got out to peach of a Panyangara delivery that held its line and took the outside edge in the seventh over. Liton Das’ tough start to his ODI career continued after he got out trying to pull Panyangara, when he could have left the high-bouncing delivery. Mahmudullah’s struggle continued, too – this time he batted for 32 minutes to make 7 and his dismissal made it 79 for 3 in the 18th over.Mushfiqur Rahim, fresh from his fourth ODI hundred in the first match of the series, looked in ominous touch as he started off with a slog-sweep and a loft over cover for boundaries. The fourth-wicket partnership added 48 runs before another attempt at an inside-out shot took the edge and he was caught at short third-man, in the 28th over. Sabbir Rahman also looked to be hitting clean but, like the batsmen above him, he flattered to deceive with his 40-ball 33 that had four boundaries. Just when it looked like he would take the team to a high-scoring finish in the last ten overs, Sabbir fell to a poor slash outside off stump that gave Chakabva his fourth catch behind the stumps.Mashrafe and Nasir, who made 41 off 53 balls, tried to up the ante but Bangladesh ended up with only 53 runs in the last ten overs as Zimbabwe took good catches and bowled tightly to keep the scoring down to 241 for 9 in 50 overs.