The Sri Lankan opener carried his bat to score 158 as Kagiso Rabada caused trouble at the other end

The report by Firdose Moonda12-Jul-2018Dimuth Karunaratne raises his bat after reaching a century•AFP

An unbeaten century from Dimuth Karunaratne neutralised the South African threat on the opening day of the Test series in Galle, after the visiting attack burrowed their way through Sri Lanka’s middle order. Playing in his 50th Test, Karunaratne was the only Sri Lankan batsman to score more than 26 runs and featured in five partnerships of over 40 – the last stand of 63 with Lakshan Sandakan – to ensure that even though Sri Lanka lost six wickets for 61 at one point, they ended the day on top.Kagiso Rabada emerged as a the spearhead of the South African pack, with 4 for 50 on a surface that offered scant assistance. He outbowled both his seniors – Vernon Philander, who only delivered eight overs, and Dale Steyn, who took one step closer to breaking Shaun Pollock’s record as South Africa’s leading Test wicket-taker. For Steyn, two more remain. Tabraiz Shamsi, the left-arm wristspinner who was included alongside Keshav Maharaj, was the other threat, which only suggests it will become tougher for batting as the match progresses.That places even more value on the runs Sri Lanka’s lower order provided. Their last two pairings put on 111 runs to push their total towards 300. At 176 for 8, even 200 seemed distant, and South Africa will rue their inability to finish off the tail, especially as they had an early chance to do so.Three balls after the eighth wicket fell, Shamsi appealed for lbw against Suranga Lakmal, after pitching one on off stump that struck the stand-in captain in front of middle, but umpire Paul Reiffel gave it not out. South Africa had a review in hand but did not use it and replays showed the ball would have gone on to hit the inside of leg stump.South Africa also failed to review one in the first over, when Danushka Gunathilaka flicked Vernon Philander down leg and there was an audible sound. Reiffel gave it not out but replays showed a spike on Ultra Edge. But, that missed chance did not prove too costly. After Gunathilaka and Karunaratne achieved Sri Lanka’s best opening stand in their last 16 innings, Rabada removed Gunathilaka when he found his outside edge with some extra bounce.Still, Karunaratne ensured Sri Lanka had a productive morning and took advantage of any width and the short ball. He provided the only six of the innings, albeit almost by accident, when he hooked Steyn over the gap between long leg and deep-backward square leg.Sri Lanka were initially circumspect against spin, and Dhananjaya de Silva was hesitant to get his front foot across to Keshav Maharaj, but that cost him his wicket when Shamsi came on. De Silva tried to drive Shamsi through the covers but left a bat-pad gap and was bowled for 11. Shamsi continued bowling from that end for the entire second session but more success only came after the major damage had been done.Steyn returned after lunch to an aggressive Karunaratne, who went after the short ball again and with more control, but got a wicket unexpectedly when the new-to-the-2,000-Test-run-club-member Kusal Mendis chipped him to mid-on. Rabada received the catch and four overs later, replaced Steyn and rocked Sri Lanka. Angelo Mathews and Roshen Silva were dismissed in three balls to leave Sri Lanka teetering on 119 for 5.And Rabada continued to threaten. In his next over, he had Niroshan Dickwella given out lbw but the batsman reviewed and the ball was found to be pitching outside leg. With the next ball, Rabada hit Dickwella on the helmet. South Africa sensed they may be able to rip through Sri Lanka when Quinton de Kock thought he had Dickwlla caught behind in the next over off Shamsi, and reviewed after Reiffel disagreed, but the on-field umpire was proved correct. Shamsi had the last laugh when Dickwella edged him to first slip – reward for a spell in which he demonstrated consistency of length.A rain break delayed the third session but it began with Shamsi thinking he had another wicket when Dilruwan Perera was given out lbw. He reviewed and ball-tracking showed the ball – which pitched outside off – would have turned past leg stump, perhaps explaining South Africa’s reluctance to review against Lakmal later on. Philander got rid of Dilruwan in the next over, returning to the action in the 48th over, after bowling four of the first eight overs, and provided the throw that ran Rangana Herath out but from there, it was the Karunaratne show.He brought up his century off 159 balls with a straight drive off Shamsi, whose consistency waned as the afternoon wore on. Steyn provided a few more short balls for the Sri Lankan to tuck into before 150 came up off 215 balls (his third fifty taking just 56 balls), also off Shamsi. Karunaratne eventually ran out of partners but his job was complete.And just as South Africa’s openers would both have wanted to emulate Karunaratne, only one was able to. Dean Elgar, also playing in his 50th Test, survived the four overs but Aiden Markram, on his first tour of the subcontinent, did not. He was caught at slip off Herath, who opened the bowling, to hand Sri Lanka the advantage.

The MCC Cricket Committee were “reassured” the new tournament would be a “recognisable form of cricket”

Melinda Farrell07-Aug-20180:56

T20 probably hasn’t reached the level in England as it has elsewhere – Ponting

The ECB has confirmed to the MCC Cricket Committee that they are likely to ditch six-ball overs in The Hundred tournament with bowlers instead sending down 20 deliveries, probably in sets of five balls.The ECB’s chief commercial officer, Sanjay Patel, who is also the managing director of the new competition, made a presentation to the MCC Cricket Committee at Lord’s this week and, while the rules of the proposed tournament remain sketchy, the committee was reassured that the new competition would still be a recognisable form of cricket.”Basically, they’re still developing the concept,” said John Stephenson, the MCC Head of Cricket. “As custodians of the Laws of the game, what we’re concerned about is if you modify the game of cricket too much it ceases to look like cricket.

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“What we heard this morning from Sanjay was quite reassuring … they’re still developing how the final format will be.”The current thinking is 20 five-ball overs, but I think today was part of their consultation. So they wanted to know what we felt about that.”We threw a few questions back about that about whatever modifications there might be.”The idea of a final ten-ball over to possibly be bowled by two bowlers has been one of the more controversial ideas mooted by the ECB. And in recent weeks there have been reports that the ECB is considering having teams of twelve or fifteen players in The Hundred.”I think at the maximum, they’re looking at having a substitute fielder,” Stephenson said. “But I think what that’s about is performance – having the best fielders out there at the right time to field.”But at the moment, as far as I can make out, they’ll have 11 batsmen, they won’t have ‘overs’ per se but 100 balls, 20 balls per bowler.”Apart from that, it’ll look like a normal game of cricket.

Graham Onions and Tom Bailey continued their prolific seasons in a relegation clash Lancashire have to win

Paul Edwards10-Sep-20181:48

Surrey struggle as wickets tumble around the Championship

ScorecardAbout half an hour before the start of this Roses match between relegation candidates, Graham Onions was capped by Lancashire. Two years ago it must have seemed inconceivable to this most skilful of fast-medium bowlers that he would ever wear any county badge on the field but Durham’s.Then came the ECB’s great “saving” of that county, an exercise so benevolent and far-sighted that it resulted in many players leaving the Riverside. When offered a one-year deal by Durham last September, Onions opted for the longer contract offered by Lancashire and he marked his fresh honour by taking 4 for 76 as Yorkshire were dismissed for 209 on an afternoon when anxieties at the Kirkstall Lane End deepened like a coastal shelf.But Onions did not have things all his own way on the opening day of this game. He was denied for long periods and was hit for several fine boundaries by Tom Kohler-Cadmore, another cricketer who is walking the road less travelled. A couple of summers ago Kohler-Cadmore seemed a fixture at Worcestershire, a county which prizes the loyalty of its Academy graduates. However, he had played his junior cricket in Yorkshire and moved back to Headingley midway through last season, a decision for which home supporters had every reason to be grateful when Kohler-Cadmore’s cover-drive off Onions took him to his second century in successive innings.But Yorkshire’s recovery was a qualified affair and the next couple of days may establish its inadequacy. The home side’s modest total was put into perspective during a 35-over evening session when Alex Davies and Karl Brown put on an unbroken 105 for Lancashire’s first wicket. Davies gave a chance to Adam Lyth at second slip when he had made 36 but otherwise he and his partner enjoyed calm seas and gentle, following breezes.Such conditions were probably particularly welcome to Brown whose batting often reminds one of the style of football played by West Ham United in the mid-1970s; it is attractive but ineffectual. Indeed, a month ago Brown can hardly have envisaged he would be getting this opportunity but faced by a Yorkshire attack which lacked incision he got his head down and was undefeated on 43. Davies was 57 not out and it had been Lancashire’s day to a degree which even David from Blackpool, their most optimistic fan, can scarcely have imagined.But Lancashire’s prosperity in a game they surely need to win was built on the excellence of their three seamers. After Onions had plucked out Jeet Raval’s off stump in the tenth over of the day Tom Bailey took three wickets with the new ball when the floodlights were on and this Headingley pitch was at its liveliest.During that first hour or so Yorkshire’s batting was marked by vulnerability and doubt. Harry Brook gave up without a fight; his waft outside the off stump was not consonant with the demands of the game. Lyth battled away for an hour but eventually edged a catch to Dane Vilas and departed shaking his head in disappointment at Rob Bailey’s decision. Finally, Gary Ballance was leg before to a full length ball he was trying to work on the on side.Kohler-Cadmore was joined by Jonny Tattersall and the pair repaired the innings with a 105-run stand for the fifth wicket, Tattersall contributing an admirably resolute 33. But the loss of those four early wickets for 33 runs in 16.5 overs was a grievous blow and Yorkshire could not full recover from it. Onions saw to that in the afternoon session by taking three wickets in 13 balls, the most significant of them that of Tattersall, who was leg before wicket when looking to play to leg.Tim Bresnan and Matthew Waite followed for ducks in scarcely the time a man takes between sips of a pint of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Yorkshire were 144 for 7. Steve Patterson and Ben Coad then played useful short innings and Kohler-Cadmore reached his fine century off 121 balls during a last wicket stand of 22 with Coad. But Richard Gleeson marked a fine debut after his move from Northamptonshire by bowling his outswingers at an attacking length and if that brought him some punishment it also brought him the last three wickets.As for Onions, he walked off the Headingley outfield after taking his total of Championship wickets this summer to 55. It has been yet another fine season for him. All the same, he may on just the odd occasion, have looked around him and wondered why he was not bowling at the Finchale End and where Rushy and Colly had disappeared to all of a sudden.

Imrul, Liton add 148 to make light work of the chase as Bangladesh take unassailable 2-0 lead

The Report by Mohammad Isam24-Oct-2018Getty Images

After the fast bowlers significantly slowed Zimbabwe down to a middling 246 for 7 – they looked set to double their score of 147 for 2 in the 30th over – openers Liton Das and Imrul Kayes struck aggressive half-centuries to give Bangladesh a series win. The pair added 148 to ensure Bangladesh’s passage was a smooth one, victory coming in the 45th over when Mohammad Mithun pulled a long hop for six to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.Mohammad Saifuddin, playing in only his fifth ODI, left a mark with a three-wicket haul that bottled up pressure towards the end overs. Mustafizur Rahman and Mashrafe Mortaza were clinical, not allowing the batsmen a final flourish; Zimbabwe managed just 19 off the last five overs.Then heavy dew made the ball greasy, thereby hampering Zimbabwe’s bowling plans. This played into the hands of the Bangladesh openers who shellacked their way towards the target, wiping off half the runs inside the first 25 overs, before Liton fell looking to hit inside-out. Beaten by turn and dip, he sliced a flighted delivery to point to fall for a 77-ball 83.However, Liton nearly didn’t give himself time to settle in. Given out lbw off the fourth ball of the chase to Kyle Jarvis, Imrul coaxed Liton to review Rod Tucker’s decision. HawkEye showed the ball would have missed leg. This proved to be the trigger for Liton’s onslaught as he treated the crowd to an array of dazzling strokes, hitting five fours in the first five overs.As Liton sped away, Imrul consolidated and was the recipient of a reprieve in the 24th over on 58 when Brendan Taylor put down a tough chance off Sikandar Raza. But soon after Liton fell in the same over, Raza removed Fazle Mahmud for his second successive duck – he became the fourth Bangladeshi to earn this unwanted feat in his first two ODIs – to briefly excite the visitors. Having fluffed the opportunity on the first grab, Taylor somehow managed to complete the stumping.Bangladesh recovered from that little spell quickly as Zimbabwe gifted Imrul another life on 70 when Brandon Mavuta dropped him at midwicket off Doland Tiripano. Mushfiqur Rahim and Imrul milked the bowling to add a further 59 for the third wicket before the latter holed out to long-off to give Raza a third wicket, in the 38th over. Mushfiqur and Mithun then scored the remaining 36 without much fuss to extend Zimbabwe’s poor 2018.But it could have been so different had one of Zimbabwe’s batsmen gone on to make three-figures. After the openers departed, Taylor started aggressively, picking off runs without playing a shot in anger. He was particularly swift with his footwork, unafraid of walking across to throw the bowlers off by sweeping against the spinners. In the 23rd over, he reached his first half-century since the World Cup Qualifiers in March, celebrating the landmark with a chip off left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam. Once the landmark was out of the way, he seemed like a man unleashed, hitting straight over mid-off off Mustafizur.Then he lofted Mahmudullah through the line to the deep-extra-cover fence. It seemed he was set, but all the build-up came crashing down when he played an inopportune reverse sweep to be dismissed for 75.All along, Sean Williams was just pottering along, giving Taylor company before he realised the need to step up. He consolidated and was three short of a half-century when he bottom-edged a cut to the wicketkeeper to end a 41-run stand with Raza. This somewhat denied Zimbabwe a late flourish, even though Raza and Peter Moor stuck in and took the innings deep before a clutch of wickets threw them back.

The PSL franchises fill up their rosters ahead of the 2019 season

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2018

Decision made to have trio in “best physical condition” before Australia tour; Siddarth Kaul brought in for Chennai T20I

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2018Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav have been rested from the third and final T20I of India’s series against West Indies. The decision was taken by the team management on Friday with a view to having the trio “in the best physical condition” ahead of India’s tour of Australia.The selectors added fast bowler Siddarth Kaul to the squad for the third T20I, which will take place in Chennai on Sunday.India have already sealed the series, having won the first two T20Is, after having won the Tests 2-0 and the ODIs 3-1.Bumrah had been rested for the first two ODIs against West Indies too, but played in the last three games of that series. In the two T20Is, he took three wickets and conceded only 47 runs in his eight overs. Umesh played only the first T20I, taking 1 for 36 in four overs, and was part of the XI for the first two ODIs.Kuldeep was rested for the first ODI but played in the next four, as well as both T20Is. He has had rich returns against West Indies, taking nine wickets in the ODIs at an average of 19.88 and an economy rate of 5.37. He took five wickets in the two T20Is while having an economy rate of just 5.62, including a Man-of-the-Match performance in the first game in Kolkata.Kaul has been part of various Indian limited-overs squads, though his international appearances have been limited to three ODIs and two T20Is. He last played for India in the Asia Cup in September, featuring in the match against Afghanistan.Kaul joined Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed as the fast bowlers that Rohit Sharma can choose from for the third T20I. Yuzvendra Chahal, Krunal Pandya, Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar are the spinners in the squad.India’s squad for third T20IRohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddarth Kaul.

Thomson struck a courageous 71 not out, and in the company of du Plessis, whose purple patch extended into a third fifty in four games, steered a tricky chase with three balls to spare

The Report by Akshay Gopalakrishnan09-Dec-2018Having totaled 17 runs in three games until Sunday, Grant Thomson left behind his mark in the 2018-19 Mzansi Super League with a courageous 71 not out to keep Paarl Rocks alive in the competition, after a tight chase against Jozi Stars at the New Wanderers Stadium. Barring a reprieve owing to a missed stumping on the ball before he hit the winning runs – which arrived via a crunching extra cover drive – Thomson played a mature, and largely composed innings, giving the Rocks, facing a must-win, victory with three balls to spare.Contributing in equal measure to the win was Faf du Plessis, who continued to dominate bowling attacks with his third half-century in four matches. While Thomson crucially stayed until the end, it was du Plessis who provided Rocks with the impetus to their chase, launching a barrage of boundaries in a domineering display that gave them the security against a brief death-overs stutter and come out unscathed.As if the pressure of a must-win and a chase of 171 wasn’t enough, Rocks had lost two wickets halfway through the third over when the two joined hands. Duanne Olivier hit Rocks with wickets off successive deliveries in his first over, first getting Cameron Delport to top-edge a pull by generating extra bounce, and then harrying Aiden Markram with pace to draw an inside edge onto the stumps.Kagiso Rabada was even quicker in the next over, hitting upwards of 145-kmph consistently and beating the bat outside off. The downside of that sort of pace, however, is the ball flying off the bat even if the timing and connection are a little off, and once Thomson punched Rabada for a four through extra cover off the last ball of that over, Rocks quickly moved into the ascendancy.Olivier undid his good work in his previous over by losing his lengths against du Plessis, who cracked him for a brace of fours. Thomson and du Plessis then closed out the Powerplay by pillaging 19 runs off Dan Christian.Du Plessis was the aggressor through most of this passage. Pulling, driving and punching pristinely, he collected his first 20 runs at a strike rate of nearly 300. It meant Thomson could settle into neatly nudging the ball around into the gaps and turn the strike over, forming the ideal complement in such a situation.Thomson shifted gears in the second half of the chase, starting with a six over deep midwicket off Pongolo that took him into the 40s. Du Plessis survived a close lbw call that same over, and then again in the first ball of the next over, when Rabada believed he had found his outside edge, as Stars were left frustrated.With Thomson unfurling his own range of strokes, he eventually beat du Plessis to the fifty, getting there off 38 balls. The 100 of the stand came up off 64 balls in the next over, and in the over after that, du Plessis had his fifty, with a booming extra cover drive, as Rocks progressed clinically.It was only when du Plessis fell to Christian in the 16th over, attempting a paddle to a ball that wasn’t full enough and arrowed in straight to ping him in front of leg stump, that Stars found a way back in.Dwayne Bravo came out swinging big from ball one but wasn’t necessarily rewarded for it, as Stars tightened the screws, conceding just 12 runs between overs 16 and 18. The only blemish on Stars during that passage was Dane Vilas spilling a tough chance off Bravo’s outside edge in the 17th over. Bravo took toll of the reprieve, swinging Dwayne Pretorious for a pair of sixes in a 17-run 19th over to take out the last semblance of parity from the contest.Rocks also hit the right notes after electing to field, taking out the Stars openers inside the first four overs, Hendricks chopping one onto the stumps and Gayle falling to a blinder out of thin air from David Wiese at cover.That left Rassie van der Dussen to do the rebuilding, and he did a fine job of it, starting with a 73-run stand with Dane Vilas. Van der Dussen crawled to 4 off 13 balls before breaking the shackles by thumping Mungroo over mid-off for four.Van der Dussen manipulated the bowler’s lines and lengths by using his crease well, and by the end of the seventh over, the recovery was fully on, with 41 runs having come in four overs. Van der Dussen’s sequence of six, four and four off Bravo in the 11th over put Stars in sight of a big total. But unlike in the chase, he had no substantial support at the other end – barring a 17-ball 28 from Pretorius at No. 7 – and the difference was telling.

Selectors hand maiden call-ups to Gurrey and Mair for the three T20Is against India

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2019Frances Mackay returns to the New Zealand women’s T20I squad five years after she last featured in an international. The selectors have also included uncapped Caitlin Gurrey and Rosemary Mair in their 13-member squad for the three-match series against India starting February 6.Mackay and Gurrey were selected following their chart-topping show at the 2018-19 Super Smash. Allrounder Mackay struck two centuries and a 97 for Canterbury women recently, while Gurrey has impressed with scores of 102, 79 and 55 since December. Mair, the Central Districts’ 20-year-old medium pacer, has taken a wicket in each of her last ten games, with a best of 3 for 28 in the warm-up game against India. For head coach Haidie Tiffen, this is an opportunity for the team to regroup after a disappointing group-stage exit from the 2018 Women’s World T20. It has meant that Maddy Green, Lauren Down, Katie Perkins, Holly Huddleston and Anna Peterson miss out.”We’ve had to draw a line in the sand after our performance at the T20 World Cup,” Tiffen said. “We need to reward and give opportunities to players in form, while building depth and competition for places within the environment. Frankie, Katie and Rosemary can all be proud of how they have performed in their respective Super Smash campaigns. We are rewarding players who are in form and we feel these three deserve a chance at the highest level.”The squad also features the return of Katey Martin, who was unavailable for the ODIs against India due to personal reasons.New Zealand women T20I squad: Amy Satterthwaite (capt), Suzie Bates, Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Sophie Devine, Caitlin Gurrey, Hayley Jensen, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Frances Mackay, Katey Martin, Rosemary Mair, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu