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A hundred from captain Devon Smith led West Indies A to a crushing 166-run win against India A in the tri-series opener in Northampton

Cricinfo staff28-Jun-2010
ScorecardA hundred from captain Devon Smith, supported by a half-century from Andre Fletcher and followed by a clinical bowling performance, led West Indies A to a crushing 166-run win against India A in the tri-series opener in Northampton. West Indies A posted a daunting total of 329 for 6 and their bowlers backed that up by skittling India for 163 in the 34th over.Smith and his opening partner Fletcher shared a rousing partnership after India A chose to field, adding 193 in 30.2 overs before they were separated. Smith had made 104 off 98 balls when he was run out, while Fletcher contributed 88 off 93 deliveries. West Indies A slipped after that strong partnership and 193 for 0 quickly became 250 for 5.Any hopes India A might have harboured of limiting the score vanished when Kevin Stoute anchored one end with a fifty, while Andre Russell provided the innings with a blazing finish. He blitzed 42 off 21 balls and ensured India A had a tall target to chase.India A’s openers started briskly but both Abhinav Mukund and Ajinkya Rahane fell in the space of four runs. The chase never recovered from 36 for 2 and at 91 for 6 the contest was over. Jaskaran offered futile resistance with a half-century but he ran out of partners quickly. All six West Indian bowlers used picked up at least a wicket, with Anthony Martin taking 3 for 47 and Lionel Baker 2 for 33.

Ajaz and Phillips combined for nine wickets to defend 146 despite Pant’s 64 off 57

Sidharth Monga03-Nov-20241:40

Is this the greatest Test upset of the 21st century?

New Zealand withstood the sublime genius of Rishabh Pant to enter uncharted territory: a whitewash of India in India in a series of three Tests or more. Ajaz Patel and Glenn Phillips combined for nine wickets to defend 146 despite Pant’s 64 off 57 that took them from 29 for 5 to 106 for 6. Ajaz ended up with an 11-wicket haul, becoming the most successful visiting bowler at a single Indian ground.Apart from poor batting, of course, India were also left looking at a contentious DRS call from the third umpire Paul Reiffel. Pant had all the momentum with India taking six singles and two boundaries in the first two overs after lunch, but New Zealand managed to get a decision overturned in what appeared a desperate review. Pant had padded up to Ajaz after being beaten in the air, was given not-out on a bat-pad catch, the third umpire on first viewing seemed to be ruling that the murmur of UltraEdge came from the bat on the pad. Eventually, though, a possible deflection after the sound signature convinced the third umpire to overrule the on-field call.Related

• Mitchell: 'We're just a bunch of Kiwis taking on the world'

• Rohit: I was not at my best as captain, and with the bat

Take nothing away from Ajaz, though. Born in Mumbai, representing New Zealand, having taken an all-10 on his previous trip, Ajaz was having an ordinary series when he came into the final Test. Even though he found his groove post lunch on day two, taking five wickets in the first innings, even though he had taken three early wickets in the second innings, he was playing a different Test against Pant.At the moment of the Pant wicket, Ajaz had bowled 167 balls to rest of India for 112 runs and nine wickets, but 41 balls to Pant had gone for 75 runs. Pant was in the middle of an audacious effort that defied the treacherous conditions, asked for by the team management and duly delivered to them.The problem with batting on such tracks is the vast margin for errors bowlers have. Even if you bowl a rank long hop, you can protect the boundaries with in-out fields because the ball comes off the pitch at varying pace. Pant’s genius lay in still managing to manipulate shots enough to beat the deep fielders. A swivel almost onto the stumps to hit squarer. A collapse onto the knee to sweep finer. Almost always sweeping himself off his feet to impart that extra bit of power. All this while maintaining an 84% control rate at lunch.When Pant was not on strike, though, Ajaz was unplayable. Ever since lunch on day two, he bowled perfect lengths and carried it into the second innings. He bowled on a good length, drawing forward-defence from the batters without letting them reach the pitch of the ball.Rishabh Pant wasn’t happy with the review that sent him back•BCCI

Shubman Gill left one alone without covering the line of off, leaving himself open to the vagaries of the pitch. The ball didn’t turn, and took the off stump out. Virat Kohli was a sitting duck as he defended and edged into the big mitts of Dary Mitchell at slip. Ravindra Jadeja, who earlier completed his third career 10-wicket match haul and added 42 with Pant, finally got one that turned too much and was caught at bat-pad. Only Sarfaraz Khan’s wicket was a gift because of the gremlins in the minds. His two-ball innings consisted of two premeditated sweeps to what were otherwise boundary balls. One a single, and the other a full toss helped straight into deep midwicket’s welcoming hands.The openers fell to Matt Henry and Phillips. Rohit Sharma seemed like he wanted to get ahead of New Zealand while the roller’s effect was still fresh after New Zealand refused to get the pitch rolled as their last wicket added three runs to the overnight lead of 143. Two boundaries came, but the third attempt was to a ball not short enough, and Phillips caught the top-edged pull at midwicket.Phillips, who has far exceeded expectations as the second spinner of the side, continued the good work by not bowling any bad balls, and was duly rewarded by trapping Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw on the forward-defence.Pant, though, was playing a different game. His first thought was a boundary, then running, and then defence. He opened his account with a flat six back over Ajaz’s head. That forced Ajaz to bowl quicker and shorter to him, getting India a set of two bye boundaries. His reverse-sweeping got rid of short fine leg, and benefitted him when he top-edged a sweep precisely there.After losing Jadeja, he found the boundary two times in the last two overs before lunch to bring up his fifty and leave India hopeful of a miracle. Post lunch, New Zealand sat back. Six singles in the first over. Two fours in the second. Then came the desperate review, which turned it around for New Zealand again.Tom Blundell found something to celebrate with a superb catch off the R Ashwin glove on the reverse-sweep. Phillips found a moment to celebrate all the hard work when he bowled Akash Deep through the gate. Fittingly, Ajaz ended it all as Washington Sundar tried to slog him with not many options left.

On the other hand, Pakistan have been super sharp with their catching and Agha Salman points out they’ve made fielding a priority

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Jul-2023If not for Sri Lanka’s shoddy fielding, made to look even worse by Pakistan’s outstanding catching performance, the hosts might be on top in this match. This is how Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz felt at the end of day four, by which time Pakistan required only 83 more runs to win with seven wickets in hand.Sri Lanka still have an exceedingly slim chance of winning the game, thanks to a surface that seems likely to take significant turn on Thursday morning. But Pakistan’s excellent catching has meant that Sri Lanka have only 130 to defend.”I think fielding is the reason why we’re in this situation in this Test,” Nawaz said. “We dropped too many catches. We would have got them out for 300 in the first innings if we’d held our catches.”In the second innings a couple of half-chances went Pakistan’s way and they held on to it. That also had an impact on us. Fielding’s crucial and has always been crucial. It’s been disappointing, the standard of fielding we’ve displayed.”Related

• Pakistan end 365-day winless streak where they last won

• Dhananjaya and Jayasuriya give Sri Lanka a fighting chance

The most spectacular of Pakistan’s grabs was Abdullah Shafique’s one-handed take at short leg, to dismiss Sadeera Samarawickrama, in the second innings. As the batter had advanced down the track, Shafique also shuffled to his left – towards the bowler. But the chance came quickly off Samarawickrama’s bat, essentially wrong-footing him. Shafique reacted quickly, stayed low to the ground, and reeled in a ball that seemed to have passed him, only the tips of his right fingers making the initial contact.Beyond this, just on day four, Babar Azam took a sharp catch at slip, going quickly to his left to grab an edge off the bat of Angelo Mathews, which was also travelling fast. Later Imam-ul-Haq dived low to his left at short midwicket to get his fingertips under a chance from Dinesh Chandimal – the replays showing he’d plucked it centimetres from the turf.Imam had magicked up a wicket in the first innings as well, Samarawickrama the victim, again caught at short leg. This time the chance had gone high above Imam’s head, but he leapt up to snaffle it in the dying stages of the first day.After play on day four, Agha Salman said Pakistan had recently made fielding a priority.”We had camps before we came here, and our main focus was our fielding,” he said. “We prepared really well for it, and that’s paying off now. Catches win matches is something we’ve heard since I was a child. When you take these kinds of catches, it make a difference in the game.”Sri Lanka, meanwhile, had dropped Saud Shakeel twice during his 208 not out – both pretty straightforward chances. Nishan Madushka had grassed one at leg slip to reprieve Shakeel on 93. When Shakeel top-edged a slog sweep on 139, Mathews made good ground to get to it on the deep-midwicket boundary but shelled that catch as well.There was, in addition, the missed stumping of Naseem Shah in the first innings – Samarawickrama the culprit on that occasion. Shakeel and Shah would add another crucial 26 to their outstanding ninth-wicket stand before he was dismissed.

One win will put Super Giants within touching distance of the playoffs, while a defeat for KKR will all but eliminate them

Hemant Brar06-May-20222:50

Do Lucknow Super Giants have the most balanced XI in IPL 2022?

Big picture

Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders are two teams on opposite ends of the points table. Super Giants are currently second with 14 points from ten games. One more win and they will be within touching distance of the playoffs.Knight Riders are placed eighth with four wins from ten games. If they lose on Saturday, they will be all but out of the race.

Watch live in the USA

You can watch the match on ESPN+ in English and in Hindi.

In Super Giants’ last two games, they replaced a struggling Manish Pandey with a bowler. That gave Deepak Hooda a chance to bat at No. 3, where he notched up scores of 34 off 28 and 52 off 34.But with their middle order still underperforming, playing one batter fewer could also backfire, as it almost did against Punjab Kings before Dushmantha Chameera and Mohsin Khan rescued them with some lusty blows towards the end.Their bowling attack, though, is without any holes. They have the pace of Chameera, the left-arm angle of Mohsin, and the death-bowling skills of Avesh Khan and Jason Holder. When it comes to spin, Ravi Bishnoi’s fast legbreaks, sliders and googlies are there, as is an upgraded version of Krunal Pandya’s left-arm spin. While their batting has largely revolved around KL Rahul, six of their bowlers have picked up eight or more wickets in the tournament.Knight Riders put an end to their five-match losing streak with a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals, but there is no end to their problems. Their openers haven’t fired. Their bowlers, with the exception of Sunil Narine, have had mixed returns. They have even dropped two of their retained players, Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy.However, if their bowlers can dismiss Rahul and Quinton de Kock early, they can surprise Super Giants, as a lot of other match-ups are in their favour.

In the news

Avesh didn’t play Super Giants’ last match as he had just recovered from a “small injury” and the franchise didn’t want him to play back-to-back games. But after a further gap of six days, he should be back in the XI on Saturday. If so, K Gowtham will have to miss out.Deepak Hooda and KL Rahul have given Lucknow Super Giants stability at the top•BCCI

Likely XIs

Lucknow Super Giants: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 KL Rahul (capt), 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Krunal Pandya, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Avesh Khan/K Gowtham, 9 Mohsin Khan, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Ravi BishnoiKolkata Knight Riders: 1 B Indrajith (wk), 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Shivam Mavi

Strategy punts

• Knight Riders can bowl Narine and Andre Russell in tandem against Super Giants’ middle order. Narine has dismissed Hooda twice in 20 balls while giving away only 19 runs. He has also troubled Marcus Stoinis (23 balls, 21 runs, one dismissal) and Pandya (24 balls, 25 runs, two dismissals). All combined, it’s 65 runs off 67 balls for five dismissals against those three batters.The real bogeyman for Stoinis, though, has been Russell. He has got Stoinis out three times in 19 balls while conceding only 12 runs. Jason Holder too has struggled against him, getting out four times in 18 balls for 21 runs. For Hooda, it’s one dismissal in ten balls for just four runs. The only Super Giants middle-order batter with a favourable match-up against Russell is Pandya, who has hit him for 32 runs off 22 balls for one dismissal.
• So far in IPL 2022, Holder has bowled across all three phases of the innings but against Knight Riders, Super Giants should avoid bowling him when Russell is out in the middle, as Russell has taken him for 42 runs off 24 balls for just one dismissal.

Stats that matter

• In each of the ten games in Pune, captains have opted to bowl after winning the toss. However, their teams won only three of those games.
• Among those who have bowled at least ten overs in the middle phase this season, Narine (5.00) has the best economy rate. Pandya is second on that list with 5.95.
• Rahul has taken Narine for 131 runs off 72 balls (strike rate 181.94) for two dismissals.
• So far, Knight Riders have tried five opening pairs, the most by any team in the competition, and their average opening stand of 14.40 is the worst in the tournament.

Still permitted to play, Lynn and Lawrence will need to prepare separately from the rest of the two teams

Daniel Brettig14-Dec-2020Chris Lynn, the Brisbane Heat captain, and Dan Lawrence, one of the club’s overseas signings, will be physically distanced from the rest of the team and opponents in Monday night’s fixture against the Sydney Thunder as Cricket Australia investigates a potential Covid-19 protocol breach by the two players in Canberra on Saturday.Both Lynn and Lawrence have tested negative for Covid-19 since their possible breach was discovered. While still permitted to play, they will need to prepare separately from the rest of the two teams and not take part in any close huddles or celebrations over the course of the game, as they are for the time being considered to be outside the strict biosecure hub all BBL players are meant to be cocooned within for the balance of the tournament.The possible breach relates to Lynn and Lawrence socialising together in public on Saturday night, a circumstance that is not necessarily a breach because players are permitted to dine in public, provided they are sitting outside. It is the first significant instance of CA needing to investigate a possible contravention of hub protocols, after numerous such instances in the winter football codes in Australia earlier this year.There has been tension among some players and coaches and CA’s administrators over the strictness of hub protocols for the BBL, given the low level of Covid-19 infections in the general Australian community at present, something that has also allowed state borders to re-open. However, the decision to allow Lynn and Lawrence to play also reflects how the BBL could ill-afford to lose two of its bigger names as it struggles against perceptions of a weaker than usual roster of talent.”It is important we maintain the integrity of the bio-secure hub to ensure the safety of the public, players, staff and officials and minimise issues associated with travel between state borders during the tournament,” CA’s head of integrity Sean Carroll said. “While we are fortunate to live in a country with a low rate of infection compared with many other parts of the world, we are still in the midst of a global pandemic and, as we’ve seen on a number of occasions in Australia, COVID-19 breakouts and border closures remain a genuine risk.”We are always monitoring the public health situation and attempting to strike the appropriate bio-security balance between keeping everyone safe on both sides of the hub and providing as much freedom as possible for those within it. We appreciate that this has been a challenging year for everyone, but we must insist on our bio-security measures being respected and followed so as not to jeopardise public health and safety or the viability of the tournament.”CA’s chief medical officer, John Orchard, explained that there had already been multiple instances this summer where players have taken part in BBL practice games while not being a part of the biosecure hubs created for the tournament.”We’re confident this will be successfully achieved again tonight at Manuka Oval,” Orchard said. “They must maintain a physical distance on and particularly off the field (indoors) with team-mates, opposing players, staff and match officials. We have protocols in place for all matches for interaction between those inside and outside the hub.”Factors including the outdoor nature of the contest, the generally socially-distanced nature of cricket on-field and the fact Canberra is considered a low-risk city support the conclusion that both can play tonight without posing a meaningful risk.”

Batsman took supersition to the extreme for fear team’s innings would go down the pan

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2019Stories of superstitious cricketers not moving round the dressing room during tense moments are not uncommon, but Joe Denly took the fear of bad juju to extremes when he found himself confined to to the loo during Ben Stokes’ historic knock at Headingley.Denly said while some of his team-mates were enjoying the best seats in the house as Stokes and Jack Leach carried England to the most unlikely of victories, the only throne available to him was of the porcelain variety.”I’m not a very good watcher of cricket when I get out,” Denly told BBC Radio 5 Live. “The first 10-15 minutes is sulking and reliving how I got out. That last hour I was stuck in the urinal – toilet area of the changing room.”There were a few guys out back in the physio room, a few guys in viewing area and we all stayed in our position and patrolled our area for the final hour. I felt every time I sat down and watched a bit of cricket we seemed to lose a wicket. I took myself off to the lovely urinals and paced around there for the last hour.”Denly confirmed he would open the batting in place of Jason Roy, who will drop down to No. 4, as reported by ESPNcricinfo last week.”I got a call from Joe Root after a bit of time off and he said he’d like me to go at the top of the order and try to get us off to a good start,” Denly said.”Obviously Jason is going to bat four and that’s great for English cricket. With Jason Roy in the team we are a better team and with him coming in at four, hopefully with the new ball worn off and myself and Rory Burns doing our job at the top, it allows him to come in and play his way. He’s a great player to have there.”Denly was England’s top-scorer with 12 in their woeful first innings of 67 all out while his 50 in the second innnings was overshadowed by Stokes’ match-winning 135. But Denly didn’t mind.”Obviously it was a proud moment but as any top-order batter you come off after getting out wanting more runs,” Denly said. “Having made 50 it would have been nice to go on and get a bigger score, but thankfully we had ‘King Stokes’ coming in and finishing it for us.”I don’t think it’s going to sink in for a while. It was a remarkable day and one that will be remembered forever, so to be part of it was very special.”

It is suspected the fast bowler may have broken his thumb going for a catch at the long-on boundary

Liam Brickhill01-Jul-2018A depleted Zimbabwe suffered a further blow when Kyle Jarvis, their senior seamer, injured his bowling hand while attempting a catch during Pakistan’s innings in the opening game of the T20I tri-series in Harare.The injury occured in the 14th over of the innings, when Fakhar Zaman hoicked a delivery from Ryan Burl into the leg side. Sprinting around the boundary from wide long-on, Jarvis dived to his right attempting to hold onto a low catch. The difficult chance was spilled, and it was immediately apparent that Jarvis had suffered an injury when he collapsed in pain and signalled to the team physio, who rushed onto the field.Jarvis was taken to hospital and X-rayed for a suspected broken bone in his right thumb. He had taken 1 for 9 from two overs and was one of the only bowlers to escape severe punishment. In his absence, Pakistan plundered 61 from the last five overs of their innings, eventually winning the game.

ESPNcricinfo has learnt that some of the India players are unhappy with the revised pay structure, despite their annual retainer having been doubled

Arun Venugopal30-Mar-2017A week after the BCCI announced new annual contracts, it has emerged that some players are unhappy with the revised pay structure. Despite the annual retainer having been doubled, it is understood that the players’ response has stemmed from the revised contracts not meeting their demands. ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the issue had been a concern for a while and that the players have made a concerted effort to address it in the last few months.”Things have gathered momentum over the last three months or so, through the New Zealand and England series,” an insider aware of the developments said. “Almost every player has been involved in the discussions.” The coach, Anil Kumble, who was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the central contracts system in 2003, is learnt to have pushed for a complete overhaul of the existing structure to ensure contracted players get a bigger slice of the whole revenue pie, and not just a percentage of a whittled-down portion.Earlier this month, Kumble had made a presentation on a revamped compensation structure on behalf of the players and support staff to the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) in Bengaluru. Although one source said the players are likely to meet the CoA in the forthcoming days to revisit the new contracts, a CoA official said no such meeting was on the cards.The CoA, though, believes Kumble’s proposals require an entirely new framework, which will require time to formulate. “Kumble is also aware that it cannot happen overnight,” the CoA official said. “That will be thought through and we will see what we can do on that. That is not something that can be done in 24 hours or 48 hours. It will take a lot of deliberation because it is a complete re-think of how the compensation model is thought through.”Last week, a few days after Kumble’s presentation, 32 players were handed new retainers, in which seven Grade A-contract holders – including Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin – will be paid INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx) each per year. According to the new arrangement, those in Grade B and C will now earn INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx) and INR 50 lakh (USD 75,000) respectively. The match fees were also increased from INR 7 lakh to 15 lakh in Tests, 4 lakh to 6 lakh in ODIs and 2 lakh to 3 lakh in T20Is. This revision in the pay structure was the first since 2010.The assistant coaches – Sanjay Bangar (batting) and R Sridhar (fielding) – were also given a 50% hike in retainership fees; they will now earn 15 lakh each per month, barring the two-month IPL window, for which they are not paid.There were other financial rewards, too, with the BCCI announcing payments – INR 50 lakh per player, 25 lakh for Kumble and 15 lakh for each member of the support staff – for India becoming the No. 1-ranked Test side. The ICC also awarded the team USD 1 million for finishing the year as the top-ranked Test nation.Despite the windfall, some players believe the pay rise isn’t commensurate with the growth in BCCI profits. The BCCI’s total income in 2015-16 stood at INR 1365.35 crore. Out of this, the board paid a total of 56.35 crore to players. An amount of 46.31 crore was paid as “additional payment to players”, as per the board’s annual statement last year.The sticking point, though, is the income from the television rights, which is the board’s biggest revenue stream. The norm has been distribution of about 70% of the income – generated from rights – to the state associations. For perspective, when the contracts were introduced in 2003 by the BCCI, the board paid players – both international and domestic, including the junior categories – 26% of the overall revenues. Of this, half (13%) was assigned to the men’s international players, while 10.3% was distributed among the domestic players. The remaining 2.7% was allotted to a bracket featuring the junior players, although women were added to this category subsequently.What has further irked the players is that their annual retainer is comparatively lower than that of their English and Australian counterparts. Different sources have estimated Joe Root and Steven Smith’s annual retainers at between INR 8 crore and 12 crore. “When the ECB and CA compensate their players handsomely, why does the BCCI, the world’s richest board, not do enough?” the source asked. “In addition, the BCCI’s coffers have seen a huge increase since the introduction of the IPL, but the players don’t get a fair share of such revenues. It is ultimately the state associations that walk away with the lion’s share of the money.”Another source said the BCCI could not use the players’ IPL earnings as a pretext for not substantially increasing the annual retainers. “One player might get a contract worth 12 crore, another may be bought for 30 lakh, and there are players who don’t get any IPL contracts,” the source said. “Why should the board be concerned with the amount of money players make from the IPL? The values of both these properties are different, so why do they connect the two? The BCCI is the richest board and the money is meant to be spent on cricket and cricketers, not stadia.”The other cause of consternation has been the gulf in the pay structures between domestic and international cricketers. A veteran domestic player said there was very little financial incentive for someone to play only first-class cricket. “A player in the Test squad makes 7.5 lakh per game, even if he is not included in the playing XI,” he said. “If I play a whole season of first-class cricket – I get paid 40,000 per four-day game, along with a percentage of the board’s gross revenue – I will probably make a little more in a season than what a player on the bench makes per Test match.”He said that a contract system had to be put in place for domestic cricketers as well. “The absence of any concrete financial benefit is why people in first-class cricket are constantly looking to play only the IPL,” he said. “After all, not everyone can play for India. But, with a system like this, you are not producing people who would want to play Test cricket. The disparity is huge.”

Madhya Pradesh’s batsmen harvested the benefits of a patient approach in the morning and some inconsistent bowling to close out the day as the happier team after Bengal had invited them to bat

The Report by Arun Venugopal at the Brabourne03-Feb-2016
ScorecardNaman Ojha struck ten fours during his knock•PTI

Madhya Pradesh’s batsmen harvested the benefits of a patient approach in the morning and some inconsistent bowling to close out the day as the happier team after Bengal had invited them to bat. Half-centuries from Aditya Shrivastava, Naman Ojha and Harpreet Singh were responsible for Madhya Pradesh setting up a sturdy base for a big score.Madhya Pradesh nearly gave it away in the second session when Naman and Shrivastava fell in quick succession after a 102-run stand for the third wicket. But Harpreet and captain Devendra Bundela (42*), despite their slightly unconvincing beginning, were alert to scoring opportunities after the pitch dried out and became quicker and put on an unbroken stand of 92 runs.Manoj Tiwary had suggested on Tuesday that batting first was a no-brainer on the Brabourne pitch. Whether intended or otherwise it turned out to be a red herring as he eventually opted to bowl on a pitch that had a moderate distribution of grass. His decision received an early endorsement when Veer Pratap Singh removed opener Jalaj Saxena in the third over. While Bengal’s seamers tried to leverage what was on offer – despite the morning freshness there wasn’t any exaggerated movement, but there was decent carry – Madhya Pradesh didn’t hit back with anything flashy.Opener Shrivastava and Rajat Patidar, a pair of 22-year-olds who have begun their careers promisingly, adopted a conservative response, and fully neutralised any assistance the bowlers were getting. Runs weren’t a priority in the morning as they managed a mere eight from overs 10 to 20, playing out five maidens in the process. As it happens at times, Madhya Pradesh found their release through Patidar’s dismissal. Seamer Sayan Mondal, whose action culminates much like that of Shane Watson’s, had him bowled with his third ball, and brought Naman to the crease.Naman’s arrival brought about a slight revision in strategy, and with Shrivastava finding his bearings as well, Madhya Pradesh latched onto scoring opportunities more often. While Tiwary had a cluster of catching men on the off side to Naman – at one point he had a silly mid-off, short cover, extra cover and mid-off apart from two slips – he still coaxed the ball through the gaps. Whenever Tiwary opened up some space on the off side with a sweeper cover in position, Naman and Shrivastava ensured the fielder was made to sprint to either side.Ashok Dinda was locked in an interesting one-on-one tussle with Naman. After his ploy of getting the ball to tail in late was repeatedly met by Ojha with a dead bat or a firmer push down the ground, he resorted to short-pitched stuff. While his bowling was now visibly quicker, the pitch was slow enough for the batsman to either duck under or dead-bat the deliveries. However, just when Madhya Pradesh looked set to convert their incremental gains into something more imposing, Shrivastava fell to an innocuous delivery from Pragyan Ojha, whose length was always a touch too short. Naman went soon after as his lazy waft to Veer Pratap Singh, whose lines were fairly consistent, was snapped up at first slip. Therafter, Bundela and Harpreet made sure Madhya Pradesh built on the morning gains.Bengal coach Sairaj Bahutule defended the decision to bowl first and conceded his bowlers could have done better. According to him, despite some good bowling in patches their lines helped the batsmen get away with leaving the ball frequently in the morning. Shrivastava said Madhya Pradesh would have bowled first as well on what he called a “damp pitch.” He said the ploy of wearing the bowlers down in the first session was necessary because scoring shots were hampered by the movement off the pitch.

Kandurata Maroons will represent Sri Lanka in the Champions League T20 qualifiers next month in India, after they overcame a meandering Basnahira Greens by seven wickets in the Super Fours final

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando17-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Nuwan Kulasekara’s figures of 3 for 19 unsettled the Basnahira top order•AFP

Kandurata Maroons will represent Sri Lanka in the Champions League T20 qualifiers next month in India, after they overcame a meandering Basnahira Greens by seven wickets in the Super Fours final. Kandurata had been the best side of the tournament, having won their first two matches, and in this game accomplished what no other team had done before – win a match batting second.Nuwan Kulasekara’s early wickets formed the bedrock of the victory, as Basnahira failed to muster a counterattack, despite an unbeaten 53 from Angelo Mathews. With only 110 to chase, Kandurata’s batsmen were rarely tested, and cruised to the target with three overs remaining.Mathews arrived in the sixth over after three wickets had already fallen, and with more team-mates deserting him soon after, he launched his lonely restorative effort at a mild pace. Kaushal Lokuarachchi’s spell was treated with particular reverence, with neither Mathews nor his middle-order colleagues venturing a jaunt down the pitch to counter his disciplined legbreaks. Lokuarachchi conceded only 11 runs from his full quota, and Ajantha Mendis commanded similar respect in his first three overs, in which he gave away only 10. Between the fifth and 17th overs, Basnahira struck only one boundary, taking few risks against a tight Kandurata bowling performance, but were so paralysed by their restraint, they failed to hit even poor balls to the fence.Mathews managed two fours off Mendis’ last over, which cost 13, and hit a six in the penultimate over of the innings before completing his fifty in the last, but having dismissed both Basnahira openers in his first spell and taken another wicket in his second, Kulasekara finished strongly to keep Basnahira to 109 for 7. His three wickets cost him 19 from four overs.Kandurata’s openers began swiftly in response. Basnahira had hit only six fours in total, but Upul Tharanga and Thilina Kandamby had already eclipsed that tally in the fourth over, when Tharanga hit three successive boundaries off Isuru Udana. Kandamby departed soon after, but had helped whittle off more than a third of the target when he left, before Kumar Sangakkara continued in a similar vein as his replacement at the crease.Sangakkara was dropped on 17, but was dismissed for 21, one over after Upul Tharanga had also fallen. The double strike came too late for Basnahira, however, who only had 34 more to defend with eight overs remaining. Lokuarachchi and Lahiru Thirimanne took the chase home with a flourish.