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A round-up of the fourth match-day of the Quadrangular Under-19 series in India

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2011India Under-19s continued to dominate in the youth quadrangular series in Visakhapatnam, registering a comprehensive six-wicket win against Australia Under-19s.Batting first, Australia was in trouble straightaway, losing their top three for only three runs to Sandeep Sharma. Ashton Turner and captain Kurtis Patterson essayed a brief recovery, but once offspinner Baba Aparajith broke the stand, none of the lower middle could get going as Australia folded for 173 in 48.5 overs. In reply, India were solid, knocking off the runs with 17.4 overs to spare. The chase was built around a number of 30 and 40 something cameos from the top order – Aparajith top scored with an unbeaten 48. This is India’s fourth win in four games in the series.A team performance helped Sri Lanka Under 19s to a two-wicket win against West Indies Under-19s.Choosing to bat, West Indies slumped to 94 for 5 in 28 overs, before a 152-run stand for the sixth wicket between Kavem Hodge and Justin Greaves carried them to a competitive total. Fast bowler Lahiru Madushanka and left-arm spinner Amila Aponso were the pick of the bowlers, claiming five wickets between them, as West Indies put on 258 for 8 in their 50. Sri Lanka’s top and middle order all contributed in the chase, with each of the top seven scoring between 22 and 47. While West Indies kept pecking away at the wickets, the cameos were enough to carry Sri Lanka home with nine balls in hand. This is Sri Lanka’s third win in four games, while West Indies are yet to register a win in the tournament.

Jadeja and Shami likely to be in India squad for ODI series against South Africa

Hemant Brar04-Mar-2020Cheteshwar Pujara will be back for Saurashtra for the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 final against Bengal, to be held in Rajkot next week, but it’s not clear if Ravindra Jadeja will be available for the hosts as they take part in their fourth final in last eight seasons.”Cheteshwar will be back for sure, Ravindra I am not sure,” Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat said after his side’s semi-final win over Gujarat. “We [Pujara and I] have been constantly in touch, he cares for the team as much as I do. Right now, he is in the flight back from New Zealand and I am sure he will be quite happy once he lands in Mumbai.”Having Cheteshwar back will play on their [Bengal’s] mind as well. Whenever he is around, our batting unit plays differently, they have this confidence that there is someone of his calibre in our team. Plus, he does take some sort of pressure off me when there are situations like this.”Like Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha will be in the mix for Bengal, who have now reached the Ranji final 14 times – winning the tournament twice – but never since the 2006-07 season. Both Pujara and Saha are the Test specialists and won’t be required for India duty for the ODI series against South Africa starting March 12, where Jadeja is expected to play a part.Similarly Mohammed Shami, who took a blow to the shoulder while batting in the last Test in New Zealand, will not be in the fray for the final. “Saha will play but not Shami as the South Africa series is there,” a Bengal support staffer told ESPNcricinfo.

New Zealand Cricket has renewed assistant coach Trent Woodhill’s contract until 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jun-2011New Zealand Cricket has renewed assistant coach Trent Woodhill’s contract until 2012. Woodhill first joined the team for the tri-series in Sri Lanka in August 2010.John Buchanan, New Zealand’s new director of cricket, said in a statement that was he was delighted to have retained the services of Woodhill, in support of coach John Wright. “Trent has forged a strong and successful relationship with John and indeed the entire Blackcaps unit. He has been recognised as a key influence behind the teams remarkable fielding performance at the World Cup. Having his specialist skills to support the Blackcaps is a fantastic step forward for New Zealand Cricket.”Wright was also pleased with the reappointment of Woodhill, saying, “I look forward to working with Trent – he is an important part of our coaching set up.”Woodhill’s next assignment will be with the New Zealand A squad for winter training and the Emerging Players Tournament in Brisbane next month.

Andrew Strauss warmed up for next week’s first Test by taking the early honours at the start of the head-to-head with Zaheer Khan on his guest appearance for Somerset

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan at Taunton15-Jul-2011
Live scorecardArul Suppiah cracked an unbeaten 145 on the first day of India’s tour match against Somerset•Getty Images

Andrew Strauss warmed up for next week’s first Test by taking the early honours at the start of the head-to-head with Zaheer Khan on his guest appearance for Somerset, and Arul Suppiah hit an unbeaten 145 as the Indians were made to toil at Taunton. Strauss and Suppiah added 101 for the first wicket before Suppiah and Nick Compton put on 223 between two stoppages for rain to take the home side to an imposing 329 for 2.Strauss struck 11 boundaries in bringing up his half-century from a sprightly 63 balls. All his shots were in good working order as he drove, pulled, and glanced his way into form ahead of Lord’s next week. He did have a couple of close shaves: firstly on 20 when Zaheer had a big lbw shout turned down by Graham Lloyd, and then on 64 when Wriddhiman Saha, the reserve wicketkeeper playing in place of the rested MS Dhoni, dropped an edge off Amit Mishra. However, the keeper took the next chance when an edge bobbled off the pad and looped in the air as Strauss departed for 78. In the context of the runs that followed, he missed out.The loan deal for Strauss had provoked debate, both about the whether the structure of domestic cricket does all it can to help the England team, and also what Somerset gained from the move. Despite coming off a four-day Championship match, the county fielded several first-team regulars, including England Lions captain James Hildreth, and somebody missed out to let Strauss play. However, he received a warm ovation as he left the field following his innings and, wearing his Somerset kit, appeared to have been adopted at least for the day.”He looked very good, he was moving his feet very well and striking the ball out of the middle,” Suppiah said of Strauss. “It’s just a shame he got out, he probably could have got a hundred but he played really well. He looks hungry for runs, left the ball well and played straight which is the main thing for an opener.”The battle with Zaheer was a gentle precursor of what will follow in the Tests as the bowler eased himself back into action after a lengthy lay-off following the IPL. The initial overs of Zaheer’s first spell were friendly, but he started to generate a touch more pace and find some swing later in an eight-over burst.Zaheer is the only one in this Indians’ attack certain to play at Lord’s next week with Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar rested following their workload in the Caribbean. It meant a chance for Sreesanth and Munaf Patel to stake a claim for the third seamer’s slot, although neither made a compelling case. The attack actually looked toothless – Suresh Raina’s late wicket of Compton came when the batsman reverse-swept to short third man – but India will back themselves to lift for the major challenge.Sreesanth was tight to begin with but Strauss started to take to him with three boundaries in an over as he moved to his half-century. Patel, meanwhile, was steady but didn’t provide much threat. Mishra began with three no-balls in his first three overs and Strauss picked off the legspinner with ease, pulling him over midwicket and driving through the off side, before the bowler struck back.While Strauss’s runs will be welcome, he’ll know that they don’t guarantee a successful start to the Tests. Ahead of the Sri Lanka series he scored two hundreds – one of them against the visitors at Uxbridge – but then struggled to convert that when the internationals began, and ended with 27 runs from four innings.With the focus understandably on Strauss, Suppiah was a quiet partner in every sense at the other end. He didn’t register a boundary until the start of the second hour when he played a lovely straight drive, but a sign of the gentle nature of the surface was that he, too, didn’t have many alarms.Rain brought a lengthy stoppage shortly after lunch but when the skies cleared, Suppiah and Compton made positive progress as the Indians found wickets elusive. Suppiah became increasingly positive on either side of his half-century, but the Indians missed a chance to break the partnership when Compton, on 24, was dropped at square by Sachin Tendulkar, when he pulled Sreesanth.Compton cashed in on his chance with a series of well-timed boundaries, one of which was a stand-and-deliver cover drive off Zaheer, who was the pick of a disappointing seam attack, as he reached a half century from 74 deliveries. Mishra was taken at more than four-an-over and also dropped a tough caught-and-bowled chance off Suppiah, who was on 71. Mishra was forced to leave the field mid-over for treatment on his finger but was said to be fine. The 17 overs shared by the part-time spinners, Raina and Yuvraj Singh, cost 110 runs including 18 off one Yuvraj over.The resumption after tea was delayed by further rain, but the final hour was possible which gave Suppiah the chance to register his sixth first-class hundred from 179 balls, and he is closing in on a new career-best. It’s been a good time for Suppiah: he registered world record Twenty20 figures of 6 for 5 in a Friends Life t20 game against Glamorgan last week. And it won’t have done him any harm to score runs in front of the England captain.

After a ‘weird’ start, youngster is keen for a sense of normality in his international career

Valkerie Baynes31-Dec-2019Ollie Pope knows how suddenly opportunity can come knocking… then turn around and slam the door in your face.So, rather than panic when illness robbed him of a fifth Test appearance for England at Centurion last week, he just rolled with it. Pope has learned a lot over the past 18 months or so, you see.Having played two home Tests against India in 2018, Pope was bumped from England’s tour of Sri Lanka to make way for Ben Foakes, who scored a century on debut in the first Test at Galle. Pope was then overlooked for England’s Caribbean campaign at the start of 2019 and a dislocated shoulder injury then curtailed his English summer before he found himself on Ashes standby and playing a further two Tests in New Zealand. All that and he is still just two days shy of his 22nd birthday.Now, having declared himself “pretty much 100 percent back to normal now” ahead of the second Test against South Africa starting in Cape Town on Friday after succumbing on Christmas Day to the illness doing the rounds of the England camp, Pope can be forgiven for yearning for a touch of normality in his burgeoning international career.”Absolutely,” Pope said. “It’s been a bit of a weird start to my career … I think the weirdest time for me was after I got told I was leaving that Sri Lanka tour, which was completely understandable with Foakesy coming in, scoring that hundred just put me one down. I wasn’t going to play.”Hoping I’d be on that West Indies trip, not being on that, not really hearing much and then doing my shoulder. I had no idea how far away from it all I was. That was a pretty frustrating time and I had a lot of time to think, overthink things.”As soon as I found out I was the next batter in for the Ashes, that concussion replacement, that was a massive boost for me. Then coming back – last week sums it up. I’m very rarely ill as well so that was annoying. If I do get a go at Newlands… I don’t overthink it really. I try to just take it in my stride… If I do get a run – brilliant – then hopefully I can take that and make it my own. “Also read: We ‘won’t be afraid’ to leave out Broad or Anderson – SilverwoodPope made his debut batting in the unfamiliar position of No. 4, scoring 54 runs in three innings against India. Initially included as the spare middle-order batsman in Sri Lanka, Foakes’ performance, combined with the presence of Joe Denly in the squad and Jonny Bairstow making his way back from injury, made him surplus to requirements. In a twist, it was Bairstow’s omission that handed Pope a chance in New Zealand – where he scored 29, 6 and 75 – and it is Bairstow who could make way again in Cape Town if Dom Sibley also recovers from illness in time.How things can turn in an instant.”I was looking at the county scores while I wasn’t playing and I was thinking about all these players that are probably ahead of me, in line, just purely because I wasn’t really sure even how I’d come back from the injury,” said Pope of his recovery from shoulder surgery which culminated in a double-hundred for for Surrey against Hampshire and a call-up as a potential, but ultimately unused, concussion substitute for Jason Roy, who was hit on the helmet in the nets in the lead-up to the third Ashes Test at Headingley.”Next thing you know I’m nearly playing a Test in the Ashes. That week was a good way for me to gain my confidence back and know where I’m at with this England side. And, having put a score under the belt, that was a massive boost for me as well. That was a strange week but that week hopefully set it all up.”Making Pope’s illness setback over this past week more frustrating was the fact he had scored 132 off 145 balls in an innings full of the attractive stroke play that is a distinctive feature of his game during the warm-up against South Africa A. But it has him straining at the leash to taste South African Test conditions for which he feels prepared, having faced down county team-mate Morne Morkel in the nets at Surrey.”Obviously these pitches will be a different challenge to what I’m used to,” Pope said. “But we’ve come across some quick bowlers in the county circuit, we’ve faced a lot of Morne in the nets – someone who is tall and gets a lot of bounce like a lot of their bowlers do.”In the warm-up games, felt good with it, they had some nice pace and in the nets when I get them to ramp it up on the bouncier decks, then same really. I feel confident in my game to deal with their pace and bounce.”I’ve gained the confidence in myself and my game over the last, probably – and it sounds stupid because I was injured for so much – but over this season and the back-end of last season. There’s no need to put myself under any more pressure.”I definitely don’t see it as ‘I definitely have to score runs in this game’ because I understand how cricket works. If you just stay pretty level across it all then I’m sure the good will come with the bad.”

After dismissing Peshawar for 123, the hosts overcame an early wobble to eventually saunter to victory

The Report by Peter Della Penna26-Feb-2020
How the game played out
Shan Masood’s men gave the home fans a night to remember on PSL 2020’s debut evening in Multan as a rip-roaring bowling performance set up a simple chase iced by Rilee Rossouw’s unbeaten 49 in a six-wicket win against Peshawar Zalmi.Mohammad Irfan had Tom Banton dropped at slip by James Vince on the first ball of the match, but it was just about the only misstep on the night by Multan in the field. Banton fell five balls later driving Irfan to Shahid Afridi at extra cover and the Multan pacers continued to rip through the Peshawar line-up, aided by Sohail Tanvir’s four-wicket haul, to eventually bowl out the visitors for just 123 in 18.3 overs.In a deja vu moment, Darren Sammy dropped the first ball of the Multan chase at slip when James Vince edged a drive off Hasan Ali, only for the bowler to have Vince caught at mid-on by the end of the over. Whereas Peshawar were 41 for 4 at one stage, Multan slipped to a near-identical 47 for 4 in the seventh over when Zeeshan Ashraf cut Wahab Riaz to Banton at backward point.But that was where the similarities between the two innings ceased. Rossouw got Multan back on track before he was slowed down with a hip injury after getting pinged by Wahab to end the 12th over. He was then dropped in the 14th on 46 by Livingstone at deep cover off Mohammad Amir Khan, the last sniff Peshawar had of an unlikely fightback.From there, Khushdil Shah helped send the Multan fans home with happy hearts by smashing a no-ball by Amir Khan through mid-off for four before clubbing a slower ball on the free hit 20 yards over the long-on rope for six to end the 14th. Another six yanked flat over square leg off Wahab in the 15th by Khushdil put Multan one stroke away from victory. It was sealed with a single down the ground by Rossouw, clinching a mostly one-sided contest.Turning point
Superficially, the scorecard might point to Peshawar’s top-scorer Haider Ali heaving Tanvir to Vince on 47 for the fifth wicket to break a 44-run stand with Liam Dawson. But in terms of impact and energy on the field, it had to be the double-strike by Mohammad Ilyas in the sixth over after Peshawar had been sent in to bat.At 41 for 2 in five overs, the powerplay honors were about even before Ilyas decimated Peshawar with two wickets in the space of three balls to identical back-of-a length deliveries edged behind. Shoaib Malik played slightly away from his body to the first to fall for 2, and then Liam Livingstone was completely squared up by one angled into the off-stump line and had no choice but to fend at it for a second-ball duck. At 41 for 4, the Powerplay was decisively won by Multan.Star of the day
Tanvir got the big wickets beginning with Kamran Akmal. Coming off a century in his last match, Akmal was looking ominous early once again with three fours. But hubris got the best of Akmal, who charged at Tanvir only to miscue a full ball to Vince at midwicket for 15 in the fourth over.The left-arm quick struck again in the 11th, having Haider caught at deep midwicket. Haider had played an identical stroke hammering Ilyas over the region for six just moments earlier but could not achieve the same against Tanvir. After the spinners worked through the rest of the middle order, Tanvir came back to claim Hasan Ali and No.11 Rahat Ali.The big miss
Rossouw was actually dropped twice. The latter came on 46 at deep cover but a far more costly chance came off Rahat’s bowling in the sixth over when Rossouw was on 15. The South African checked a drive that resulted in a low chance floating back to the tall Rahat at ankle height. He was able to crouch out and get two hands to it but couldn’t clasp on completely. It opened the door for Rossouw to form a 77-run stand with Khushdil to see Multan across the line.Where the teams stand
Multan are now in first place, level with Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators on four points but way ahead of the other two on net run-rate. Peshawar are equal with Karachi Kings on two points but technically in fifth place way behind Kings on net run-rate.

Despite being one of three nations hosting the mega event Sri Lanka find themselves as much as in the same situation as Canada when Kumar Sangakkara goes out to toss with Delhi-born Canadian skipper Ashish Bagai in their opening World Cup match at Hambant

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Hambantota19-Feb-2011Despite being one of three nations hosting the mega event Sri Lanka find themselves as much as in the same situation as Canada when Kumar Sangakkara goes out to toss with Delhi-born Canadian skipper Ashish Bagai in their opening World Cup match at Hambantota.None of the 15 players in the Sri Lanka squad have played at this venue before and they have no first hand information of how the pitch is going to behave and what the conditions are going to be especially under lights. It is in the context of such adversity that Sri Lanka take on Canada.”We trained on the ground and there doesn’t seem to be any issues,” said Sangakkara looking ahead of Sunday’s game. “We need to play well whatever the conditions that we get. It looks a magnificent ground it looks beautiful and the wicket looks fantastic. So conditions will be good for cricket tomorrow.”The guys have been practicing here and they are happy the way conditions are. It’ll be beautiful for cricket and we are all amazed at what a transformation Hambantota has gone through. We will enjoy everything about this ground. Whatever happens with the toss, we need to be strong mentally whether we bowl or bat first we need to do it better than the opposition,” said Sangakkara.”I think our job is to try and win the first game. It’s important to build it up step by step. You have to take it game by game. You can’t change what other people say about us whether they say that we are good enough to win the tournament or whatever,” he said.”We know we are a good team to compete in this tournament and that’s the most important thing rather than worry about anything else. Our focus is on tomorrow’s game. India and Bangladesh are good sides, especially India. They are the best ODI unit in the world and most people expect them to win the tournament.”Not only do Sri Lanka have to overcome the alien conditions that they will confront at Hambantota, but for the team overall it has been a tough four days following the deaths of manager Anura Tennekoon’s father and team member Chamara Silva’s sister. Silva apparently will miss today’s game.”We feel very much for them and at the same time these things bring us closer together,” said Sangakkara. “We just need to concentrate on playing good cricket because they be will wanting us to do well.”Leading his country for the first time in a World Cup, Sangakkara said that it was “a great privilege and an honour not just to captain a World Cup team, but to captain this particular team”. “They are a wonderful bunch of guys and the best we have in Sri Lanka.”Sri Lanka is likely to go in with a two spin, two pace attack with all-rounder Angelo Mathews playing the role of third seamer.The team received a timely morale booster with the arrival of Aravinda de Silva, Sri Lanka’s World Cup hero of their 1996 triumph and present chairman of selectors, at the team’s practice session on Friday.”Aravinda just came to express his confidence in the team. His advice is extremely valuable at all times and he’s a very shrewd thinker on the game and a fantastic cricketer on his own right,” said Sangakkara. “It’s good to have him not just as the chairman of selectors but once in a while just talk to the team. His job has been a tough one especially in the light of decisions he had to make. But he was very forthright in his selections.”Sangakkara was wary of Canada and said that you cannot take them lightly. “If you take the warm-up game they played against England, they lost only by 16 runs. Every team raises their game when the World Cup comes and we need to raise our game and if we do that we can do well.”

Board confident that Bay Oval individual has been identified after inquiry

George Dobell in Hamilton03-Dec-2019New Zealand Cricket has lodged a complaint with Tauranga police over the racial abuse directed at Jofra Archer near the end of the first Test against England at Bay Oval.Information gathered from an inquiry which included studying CCTV footage, listening to audio, interviewing bystanders and obtaining material on social media has been incorporated into the complaint. As ESPNcricinfo reported at the time, the alleged culprit contacted Archer on Instagram in the hours after the incident.While NZC describe the information-gathering exercise as “useful” and are confident they have been able to identify the culprit, they lack the authority to conclusively and publically identify the person responsible and therefore feel “unable to comment on public speculation regarding his personal details”.Despite this, NZC chief executive David White said he believed there was enough material to justify lodging a complaint with the police especially, a press release stated, “if the Bay Oval perpetrator was to reoffend”.”What happened to Jofra was reprehensible and has led to a general upscaling of security around the area of racial abuse at all our international venues,” he said.”Should the person responsible ever reoffend, we believe we have enough information to link him to the Bay Oval incident.”White confirmed that, if a conclusive identification was forthcoming, NZC would seek to ban the offender from all its international venues “for a lengthy period”.

Mumbai proved they are the best team in the tournament and reclaimed their by now customary at the summit of the table by battering Pune at the DY Patil Stadium

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran04-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Sharma were impressive with the ball, but Pune could not capitalise, as they failed with the bat yet again•AFP

Pune Warriors and Mumbai Indians are geographically the two closest IPL franchises but they couldn’t get any further from each other in the points table. Mumbai proved they are the best team in the tournament and reclaimed their position at the summit of the table by battering Pune at the DY Patil Stadium, whose freefall continued with a seventh successive loss that kept them firmly at the bottom.Mumbai gave another demonstration of the depth of their batting talent, as two men who have had little batting time this season, T Suman and Kieron Pollard, fired them to a competitive total. Their brilliance undermined the efforts of the Pune spinners who had initially shackled Mumbai.Yuvraj Singh, who has under-bowled himself in the IPL, removed the rocks at the top of the Mumbai batting, Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu. Then, legspinner Rahul Sharma prised out two important wickets with the most economical spell of the season (4-0-7-2) to leave Mumbai at an insufficient 114 for 5 after 15 overs. Suman and Pollard, however, got stuck into the erratic Alfonso Thomas to lift Mumbai to a competitive score.Mumbai had briskly moved to 56 for 1 after seven overs, before Rahul and Yuvraj pulled them back. Rahul’s combination of quick legbreaks and topspinners proved hard to get away, before Yuvraj made the big breakthrough in the ninth over, getting Tendulkar to hole out to short extra cover. Yuvraj and Rahul choked the innings in a four-over passage of play that yielded only 13 runs. That forced Rayudu to attempt the big hit, but he holed out to long-off.Suman was surprisingly promoted ahead of Andrew Symonds and Pollard for his first proper hit this season, and he provided Mumbai the momentum they desperately needed. In an innings where everyone else had struggled to score at a run-a-ball till then, Suman came out blazing, racing to 19 off seven with a couple of stylish sixes.Rahul returned and removed the struggling Rohit Sharma and Suman in two overs, but in between those strikes Suman showed off his timing with a four and a six to long-off against Thomas. Pollard then provided the final flourish, unleashing his brand of brutal straight-hitting. Thomas bore the brunt as he was whipped for 27 in the penultimate over, and Pollard’s quickfire 30 made sure Pune’s batsmen had a challenge on their hands.Pune’s reply got off to a horror start as Jesse Ryder sliced the first ball to backward point. Graeme Smith has not been in the best touch with the bat for quite a while now, and that spell continued today. Manish Pandey’s timing was completely awry, and the decision to promote Abhishek Jhunjhunwala meant the big guns, Yuvraj and Robin Uthappa, were pushed too low in the order.The most expensive over in the first ten overs of the chase fetched only nine runs, and the asking-rate soared past 11 by the halfway stage. Lasith Malinga then harried Yuvraj with a series of bouncers, the last of which was awkwardly popped towards third man where Munaf Patel took a tumbling catch. It was the knockout blow, and Yuvraj was left on the floor.The big news ahead of the match was that Pune had bought former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. Even if that does prompt a dramatic turnaround, it might be too late for Pune, as even winning all their remaining matches may not be enough to make the semi-finals.