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It was Evin Lewis, though, who laid a platform for Dhaka Dynamites’ big win, with 64 off 38 at the top of the order

The Report by Mohammad Isam18-Nov-2017
BCB

Dhaka Dynamites went to the top of the points with a crushing 68-run win over Rajshahi Kings in Mirpur. Evin Lewis was adjudged Player of the Match for setting up their big score but there were also meaningful contributions from Kieron Pollard, Shahid Afridi and Abu Hider.Dhaka racked up 201 for 7 in 20 overs after being put in to bat, the first 200-plus score in the Dhaka-leg of the tournament this year. Rajshahi in reply were bowled out for 133 runs in 18.2 overs, sinking to fifth place following their fourth loss in six outings.Lewis quickly off the blocks
The first wicket partnership lasted just 4.1 overs but Afridi and Lewis added 53 runs in that short time. Afridi made 15 off eight balls and then Jahurul Islam, promoted to No. 3 after his heroics in the previous match, struck a four and a six in his six-ball 13. But it was Lewis who kept up the scoring rate soaring with his 38-ball 65 that had ten fours and a six. He fell in the tenth over and at 99 for 3, Dhaka were set for a big score.Pollard finishes in style
Rajshahi took some wickets in the middle but their fielding let them down. They dropped four catches in total, Nadif Chowdhury and Pollard being the beneficiary twice each. While Nadif didn’t capitalise, Pollard did, big time. Two of his sixes went high over long-on and the third over midwicket, which gave him his 500th six in T20s. He also struck five fours in his 25-ball 52 and shared a crucial 62-run sixth wicket stand with Kumar Sangakkara, who contributed 28 off 22 balls.Afridi and Hider trip up Rajshahi
There was no respite for Rajshahi even when they batted. Left-arm pacer Hider removed Rony Talukdar and Samit Patel early, and while Zakir Hasan and Mominul Haque looked to get the chase back on track, Afridi stepped in; he ended a 49-run third-wicket stand for his first scalp of the afternoon – Mominul. Zakir, who top scored with 36 off 23 balls, was Afridi’s second wicket before he also added Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz to his haul to complete his second four-for in the tournament in three games. Shakib Al Hasan took two wickets and Mohammad Saddam had one before Hider came back to finish off Rajshahi.

Any thoughts this game might end with a victory for either side were extinguished by the strength of both sides’ batting and the understandable conservatism of skippers who were content to take five points for the draw

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford15-Sep-2016
ScorecardSimon Kerrigan derailed Middlesex with six wickets•Getty Images

And so it will not be settled – or anything like settled – for another week. A season in which Middlesex have led, Yorkshire have loomed and Somerset have scarcely been mentioned will end with the three counties covered by ten points. The world’s most famous cricket ground and one of the best in the land will together stage the final dramas of this late, late summer. What have we done to deserve this? Clearly, something good.Any thoughts this game might end with a victory for either side were extinguished by the strength of both sides’ batting and the understandable conservatism of skippers who were content to take five points for the draw. Such a return leaves Middlesex nine points ahead of Yorkshire and ten clear of Somerset.All the points permutations can wait for the back of an envelope and a double espresso. It is enough for the moment to say that if the leaders avoid losing to Yorkshire at Lord’s and Somerset fail to beat Nottinghamshire at Taunton, Middlesex will be champions and worthy ones. Their evisceration of Yorkshire on the last day at Scarborough proclaimed their quality. But the destination of the pennant far from settled.The cricket on this final day of the season at Old Trafford was only briefly exciting but always absorbing. Some shots, some moments will be remembered fondly by spectators watching their final first-class overs of the year. Dawid Malan and John Simpson batted with great certainty throughout the morning and had extended their partnership to 151 when Malan played a half-hearted cut at Simon Kerrigan and was caught by Jos Buttler for 87.That wicket was the prelude to three more in five overs as Middlesex established a lead of 308 before declaring. Simpson was the last of these but he had made a fine 74 before he swayed like a drunk avoiding a bicycle and lost his leg stump to Luke Procter. Kerrigan finished the innings with 6 for 86 – and ten in the match – which is something to encourage him before Lancashire’s final game at Edgbaston next week.Indeed, this was the first morning of autumnal haze at Old Trafford. It was burned off quite quickly, of course, but there was still a September note of gentle closure. And very briefly, we wondered if the finale to the season was to be accompanied with drums and yells as Lancashire responded to the stern challenge of scoring 309 in 44 overs by opening with Buttler.Three fours and a scooped six heightened the frisson of excitement but a leading edge off Steven Finn looped a dolly to Nick Compton at cover and Buttler was gone for 26. Hameed replaced him and Lancashire’s dash for victory was run. Spectators settled into their last cricket of the summer and some of them will have stored images away as one might with sustenance for the winter.The game ended with Hameed tucking Rayner to long leg and scampering two runs. It was only right that he should score the last first-class runs on the ground this season. The match ended with handshakes at half past four in the poignant elegies of departure. There is a week to go but Lancashire are 14 points clear of Hampshire near the bottom of Division One. Should they secure a draw against Warwickshire next week, they have as great a chance of staying up as the new hotel does. Given their recent record and the youth of their side, they will class survival as something of an achievement.For we are at the stage of the season when accomplishment comes in many guises. Middlesex, Yorkshire and Somerset will be happy with only the title; Lancashire Warwickshire and Hampshire must hope to retain their status although Ian Bell’s team will want to preface that subdued success by lifting the Royal London Cup. We have eight days left in the season and some fine hurrahs before the drawing down of blinds.

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.”

A thrilling century by Mitchell Marsh on his return to Western Australia’s side was not enough to prevent Tasmania from completing a 51-run victory at the WACA Ground

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2013
ScorecardA thrilling century by Mitchell Marsh on his return to Western Australia’s side was not enough to prevent Tasmania from completing a 51-run victory at the WACA Ground that left Victoria to host Queensland in the domestic limited overs final.Marsh and the debutant spin bowler Ashton Turner added an audacious 86 after early wickets had all but ruled out WA’s chances of completing their chase of Tasmania’s 6 for 307 inside the 40 overs they required to claim a bonus point and sneak past the Bulls.However Turner’s departure to James Faulkner, who produced an influential allround display, signalled the end of the hosts’ serious resistance, which had been earlier blunted by Ricky Ponting’s chancy but at other times attractive 95.In his first match for WA, the former New South Welshman Burt Cockley nabbed a pair of early Tigers wickets with some disconcerting bounce, but after Ponting had been dropped by turner in the gully the visitors pressed on to a major score, Jordan Silk also playing neatly.

New Zealand’s selectors have dropped the wicketkeeper Reece Young from the side that defeated Australia in Hobart for the one-off Test to be played against Zimbabwe in Napier

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2012New Zealand’s selectors have dropped the wicketkeeper Reece Young from the side that defeated Australia in Hobart for the one-off Test to be played against Zimbabwe in Napier from January 26.Young was jettisoned after failing to make an impression with the bat in Australia, though his glove work was sound under pressure in the visitors’ narrow win over Australia at Bellerive Oval.In his place are BJ Watling and Kruger van Wyk, both batsmen who can keep wicket, with the coach John Wright still to decide which will don the gloves against Zimbabwe. Jesse Ryder is the only other change from the Hobart XI, as he continues his recovery from a calf tear.”There’s a lot of competition for the wicketkeeping spot in the country at the moment,” Wright said. “It’s tough on Reece, his keeping has been good and he knows that if he goes back to domestic cricket and scores runs he will remain in the frame.”BJ will get a chance to prove himself with the gloves in the three-day game and Kruger will open the batting. A decision on who will take the gloves in the Test will be made closer to the start of the match.”A New Zealand XI was also named to play the Zimbabweans in a three-day warm-up match in Gisborne. Both Watling and Van Wyk have been included, alongside the experience of Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori and Chris Martin.”The team for the warm-up match is mix of experienced Test players and bright prospects,” the national selection manager Kim Littlejohn said. “The match will give some of our key players some valuable preparation ahead of the Test match in Napier as well as provide an opportunity for promising players to show what they can do at a different level.”Test squad: Ross Taylor (capt), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Martin Guptill, Chris Martin, Brendon McCullum, Tim Southee, Daniel Vettori, Kruger van Wyk (wk), BJ Watling (wk), Kane Williamson

Bangladesh have reduced their preliminary 30-man squad for the World Cup to 23

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2011Bangladesh have reduced their preliminary 30-man squad for the World Cup to 23. Nazimuddin, Shamsur Rahman, Sahagir Hossain, Mithun Ali, Nasir Hossain, Shuvogoto Chowdhury and Enamul Haque Jr are the players who have been left out. The remaining 23 players will be of a preparatory camp that begins on January 9 at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Mirpur.All 14 teams participating in the tournament have to announce their final fifteen before January 19.Preliminary Squad: Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Ashraful, Imrul Kayes, Junaid Siddique, Roqibul Hassan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Nazmul Hossain, Naeem Islam, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Abdur Razzak, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Shahriar Nafees, Jahirul Islam, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain, Mahbubul Alam, Dolar Mahmud, Shabbir Rahman, Alok Kapali.

Scotland has been selected as the host for the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament in 2013.

Cricinfo staff04-Jan-2010Scotland will host the next ICC Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament in 2013, Cricket Scotland has announced. Its chief executive Roddy Smith confirmed the decision, following a Board meeting in December, where it was formally agreed to accept the ICC’s invitation to stage the event.The ICC is yet to make public this decision.”We are delighted to be invited to host this event, and it is too good an opportunity to miss this chance to compete for a World Cup place in our own familiar environment,” Smith said.”It will certainly provide a focus for the sport in Scotland, and we are fortunate in the Associate cricket world to have so many high-quality facilities available throughout the country for this purpose.”A favourable report from Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s official pitch inspector, led to the recommendation that Scotland host the event that decides which of the Associate member countries will make the cut for the 2015 World Cup.The qualifying tournament is slated for July 2013 and the initial plan is to involve up to 11 venues to stage the warm-up games and the actual matches.The potential venues will be scanned further by Cricket Scotland’s facilities committee, headed by Board director Jim Mcfadyen, to ensure that all necessary work is done to bring them up to the required standards in the coming three years.

Aaron Hardie, Cooper Connolly and Matt Kuhnemann have been drafted into the squad for the three ODIs

Andrew McGlashan14-Aug-2025

Mitchell Owen took a blow from Kagiso Rabada•AFP/Getty Images

Mitchell Owen has been ruled out of the deciding T20I against South Africa and the ODI series which follows due to concussion after being struck on the helmet by Kagiso Rabada in Darwin.Owen passed an on-field assessment after being hit on the grille second ball but then reported delayed symptoms after being dismissed. He will enter a mandatory stand-down period of at least 12 days meaning he will miss the chance of an ODI debut.Fast bowler Lance Morris and allrounder Matt Short will also miss the ODI series which starts next Tuesday with Aaron Hardie, Cooper Connolly and Matt Kuhnemann called into the squad.Related

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Morris reported back soreness as he prepared for the series which would have marked an international return and will be a concerning development for a player with a history of back problems. He has returned to Perth for further assessment and his participation in the four-day leg of the Australia A tour of India may now be in doubt.Short, meanwhile, still has not recovered from the side strain he picked up in West Indies. He was initially ruled out of the first two T20Is against South Africa, but he now won’t be available for any of the matches. It continues a disrupted run to Short’s international career after he suffered a quad injury during the Champions Trophy earlier this year.South Africa leveled the T20I series with a 53-run victory on Tuesday with the decider taking place in Cairns on Saturday. The city then hosts the opening ODI on August 19 with the final two matches in Mackay on August 22 and 24.Hardie, the Western Australia allrounder, had already been drafted into the T20I squad as cover for Short. Left-arm spinner Kuhnemann previously played four ODIs in 2022 and his call-up means Australia could field a twin spin attack alongside Adam Zampa.Connolly, the left-handed batter and left-arm spinner, was called into Australia’s Champions Trophy squad earlier this year and played the semi-final against India.Josh Inglis missed the second T20I with “flu-like” symptoms with Alex Carey called into the squad and playing his first match in the format since 2021.

Updated Australia ODI squad

Mitchell Marsh (capt), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Adam Zampa

The legspinner is set to play his first first-class match since the middle of 2022

AAP09-Mar-2024Tanveer Sangha still wants to become a three-format bowler for Australia, as the spinner prepares to play his first Sheffield Shield match in almost two years.Sangha will turn out for New South Wales against Queensland on Monday, marking his first red-ball game for his state since March 2022.In the time since, the legspinner has played two ODIs and seven T20Is for Australia while missing large parts of Shield action while overseas or injured.Related

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Such is Sangha’s predicament, the 22-year-old has now played more white-ball matches for his country than red-ball matches at first-class level. But despite that, Sangha maintains red-ball cricket can still be a priority as he hopes to one day add a Baggy Green to his limited-overs playing caps.”I definitely think all three formats is definitely up for play,” Sangha said. “There’s plenty of time still. Everyone says I’m young. I’m 22. You’re not going to peak until late 20s.”It’s the most difficult skill in cricket. I’m still learning, trying to pull leggies, wrong’uns, toppies, sliders and executing all these different variations. I’m just trying to think long term rather than short. It’s a long career if I do make it and I do get through all of it.”Sangha does not have to look far to see the impact of white-ball cricket on Test hopefuls. Adam Zampa has long stated his desire to earn a Baggy Green, but Sangha’s NSW and Australian white-ball team-mate has played only two Shield games in the past four seasons.Glenn Maxwell is another player virtually devoid of Shield matches in recent seasons, with only one since 2019.”That’s what I’m learning now while I was away,” Sangha said. “What can I still do while on a white-ball tour to make sure I’m maintaining my red ball-skills, shapes and bowling style?”Is there something I can just do once a week? Where in one training session I just focus on something specific to red ball, just so I can maintain it That’s the balance that now I’m trying to learn to be an all-format player.”For now, though, Sangha can also see his red-ball game benefiting his white-ball cricket as he maintains a goal of this year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.”Red ball there’s so much more repetition. There’s so much more trying to get the batter out because they have so much time,” Sangha said. “But in white-ball cricket, they want to come at you. There’s more opportunity to get them out.”In red ball there’s quite a bit of thought and time that goes into trying to plan to get a better out, rather than just trying to be consistent. That’s where the art of spin bowling is. I’ve seen it with Warnie, [Ravichandran] Ashwin and Gaz [Nathan Lyon]. Each season I’m trying to get better and better, and not just be the same bowler in a few years time.”

After an early prediction of higher chances of rain for India vs Pakistan, the forecast on Saturday evening came down to 70%

Sidharth Monga22-Oct-2022It would appear the fickle Melbourne weather doesn’t want to be seen as the spoilsport. The dismal weather outlook has improved a lot on the day before the big match between India and Pakistan on Sunday. On the eve of the match, Pakistan’s training was interrupted by early-morning rain, but India practised in dry conditions in the afternoon. Pakistan later did fielding practice under the lights at night.After an early prediction of 95% chance of rain and about 20mm precipitation on Sunday evening, the Bureau of Meteorology upgraded the forecast on Saturday evening to 70% chance of rain, and only two to five mm of it. The only concern, though, is that any rain on the day is expected in the evening, which is when the match is scheduled.Related

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“I’ve been hearing about Melbourne weather for a while now, and it keeps changing,” Rohit Sharma said in his pre-match press conference. “In the morning when I woke up, a lot of the buildings, when I opened my hotel curtains, were in clouds, and now we certainly see the sunshine.”You don’t really know what is going to happen tomorrow. The things that are in our control, we’ll try and control that, which is we’ll have a good training session today, go back, relax ourselves and get ready for tomorrow. As simple as that. We need to come here thinking that it’s a 40-over game. We will be ready for that.”If the situation demands that it’s a shorter game, we will be ready for that, as well. A lot of the guys have played such kinds of games before, and they know how to manage themselves in a situation like that where you are getting ready for a 40-over game, and then suddenly it’s a 20-over game, or five overs each.”Luckily, we played one game in India against Australia which was an eight-over game. I think in terms of where the guys stand, I don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference, but we just certainly need to come here very well prepared and thinking that it’s going to be a 40-over game.”Pakistan captain Babar Azam also said they are hoping for a full game on Sunday. “Weather is not in our hands,” he said. “As players, we would love to play and play a full game. A lot of people are waiting for this match. We want it to be a 40-over match, but whatever happens we are prepared for it.”India’s training session was attended by hundreds of fans, with Indian and Pakistani supporters indulging in loud banter. It was just a precursor of what to expect on Sunday evening.