All posts by n8rngtd.top

Velocity fell short of Supernovas 142 by 12 runs, but the result ensured both sides had a better net run rate than Trailblazers

The Report by Ankur Dhawan09-May-2019A picture perfect 48-ball 77 not out from Jemimah Rodrigues took Supernovas to 142 for 3 and consigned Velocity to a 12-run defeat, setting up a rematch between the two sides in the final. Though all three teams finished with a win each, Trailblazers, who had come to the stadium to watch proceedings, were knocked out due to a poorer net run-rate.

Jemimah Rodrigues on her unbeaten 77:

“This was one of my best knocks and one of the memorable ones because today the wicket actually wasn’t easy to bat on. But, as I said, [WV] Raman sir [the India women head coach] just told me, “With the class of batting you have, don’t try to hit the ball too hard, just hit it through the line and focus on impact of the ball.” And that’s what I was focussing on, and kept things simple actually.
I just reacted to the ball. And yeah, obviously, the [7,000 strong] crowd over here [at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, in Jaipur] was really amazing. You get really pumped – even if you hit one boundary you get pumped by the cheering. I really loved playing in Jaipur and the crowd has been very supportive.”

Chasing 143, Velocity knew that getting to 117 would ensure that they got through along with Supernovas, even if they ended up losing this game. They briefly threatened going for the win, with Danielle Wyatt going great guns, but after Poonam Yadav ended her cameo on 43, they shut shop and crawled past the qualification target of 117 in the 19th over, with Mithali Raj finding the extra cover boundary off her counterpart Harmanpreet Kaur. Raj remained unbeaten on 40 off 42, and steered her team to safety in the company of Veda Krishnamurthy, who was unbeaten on a 29-ball 30.The star of the match, however, was Rodrigues. She came in when opener Priya Punia fell in the fifth over and batted through to the end. She was ably supported by Chamari Atapattu, who struggled for timing and rode her luck, but hung around to forge a 55-run second wicket stand at seven runs per over. That partnership set the foundation for a respectable total, which was put beyond Velocity’s reach by legspinner Poonam’s middle overs squeeze.Jemimah Rodrigues’ masterclassFirst ball at the crease, she leaned into it and caressed it through extra cover. You would have thought that’d be the shot of the match. But she accumulated an assortment of boundaries, each seemingly better than the last, through the course of her knock. Her second boundary, for instance, was the perfect illustration of a straight drive. At other times, particularly against spin, Rodrigues toyed with the bowling. She came down the wicket and went inside out or over the bowler’s head, and when the bowlers shorted their length, she used the depth of the crease and the late cut to great effect. And even when the ball was fired into the pads, she wasn’t to be tied down, as she swept, both to the short fine-leg’s right and left. Finding back to back boundaries was another feature of her innings; she did that thrice, in the sixth, 14th and 15th overs.Shoddy fielding costs VelocityPoor fielding reared it’s ugly head in Jaipur again as Velocity dropped as many as five chances, arguably costing them the match. Atapattu was the first beneficiary, put down by Wyatt diving to her right at midwicket. A sharp chance, but not impossible by any stretch. The left-hander was on four at the time but she was offered another life on 10, this time by Raj, who circled around a steepler at mid-off, before grassing it. Rodrigues was largely flawless in her strokeplay but there was a period of play when she seemed to lose her concentration. She miscued a slog sweep off Amelia Kerr, which was put down at deep square leg, and the next ball, deceived in the flight, she was coaxed out of her crease but wicketkeeper Sushma Verma failed to collect it cleanly due to the extra bounce. Rodrigues was on 52 at the time and added another 25 runs. Sophie Devine was also given a life at long-off but that didn’t prove as costly.Poonam Yadav’s middle overs squeezeWhen she was brought into the attack, Velocity were undoubtedly going for the win, with Wyatt finding the boundary with great regularity and Raj rotating the strike nicely. The required run-rate was under seven when she came on in the 10th over. She bowled a tight first over which went for just one. On the third ball of her second over, after a misfield brought Wyatt back on strike, she tossed one up on middle stump and went through Wyatt, who had swung way too early. Poonam conceded just 13 in her four overs, choked the scoring with 12 dot balls, and by the time she finished her spell, the required run-rate had shot up to 15.50.

A good start with the bat was wasted as Pakistan could only put up 147, which was chased down with 80 balls remaining

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2019A clinical bowling effort, headlined by Masabata Klaas’ 39th-over hat-trick, was followed by Laura Wolvaardt’s 14th 50-plus score in ODIs as South Africa trumped Pakistan by eight wickets to level their three-match Women’s Championship series at 1-1.The first game of the series was all about Sana Mir, the veteran offspinner taking 4 for 11 to shoot the home side out for 63 in 22.5 overs before the chase was wrapped up in 14.4 overs. Pakistan started this game well too, Nahida Khan and Sidra Ameen giving them a first-wicket stand of 50. But it slipped from their grasp after that, and they were bundled for 147. With Wolvaardt in charge, South Africa pulled off the chase in 36.4 overs.
Lizelle Lee and Wolvaardt had both been sent back inside two overs in the first game, but this time they made amends in style. Lee was the more aggressive of the two, as she usually is, scoring 40 in 43 balls, but she was also the first to fall, caught at the long-off boundary by Mir off Umaima Sohail.Andrie Steyn couldn’t hang around for too long, Nashra Sandhu catching her off Mir for 9, but Wolvaardt and captain Sune Luus kept things steady after that, the opener hitting an unbeaten 74 in 104 balls, and Luus ending on a 46-ball 21 not out.Batting first after losing the toss, Pakistan got a good start courtesy Nahida and Sidra. But Nahida, who was scoring at upwards of a run a ball, was sent back by Tumi Sekhukhune for 37, with the scoreboard reading 50 in the 12th over, and the slowdown began.Sidra (25 in 59 balls), Javeria Khan (20 in 35) and captain Bismah Maroof (32 in 49) all got starts, but couldn’t really provide the innings with the thrust it needed. Sekhukhune sent back Sidra to finish with 2 for 20, and while Luus and Marizanne Kapp also picked up two wickets apiece, Klaas grabbed the limelight with three in three, accounting for Aliya Riaz, Umaima and Sidra Nawaz.It was only the tenth hat-trick in women’s ODI history and the second by a South African after Dane van Niekerk achieved it against West Indies in Basseterre in 2013.

No replacement named, BCCI says the opening batsman will stay with the team and be under observation for the time being

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Jun-20191:43

Hussey: Dhawan injury destabilises India’s top order

Shikhar Dhawan is likely to miss India’s next two matches, against New Zealand and Pakistan, after picking up a hairline fracture on his left thumb. ESPNcricinfo understands that Dhawan – who scored a century in the last match, against Australia – had travelled to Leeds to undergo scans and returned to Nottingham, where the team is stationed, later in the day. In a late afternoon update, a BCCI spokesperson said that Dhawan would stay on in the UK under observation, “and his progress will be monitored”.It is understood that the BCCI wants to wait for an update on Dhawan’s likely recovery time before they take a decision on whether to retain him or ask for a replacement. At least three Indian selectors – MSK Prasad (chairman) along with Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi – are travelling with the Indian squad. If a replacement is named, Dhawan can only come back to the squad if another player is injured and the tournament technical committee is satisfied with that replacement.Dhawan was hit on the left thumb by a Pat Cummins delivery early in his innings of 117 on Sunday. For a while after being hit, he kept taking his bottom hand off the bat when striking the ball, indicating that he was in pain. As the innings progressed, he seemed to have settled down, and played his shots without apparent discomfort. However, he didn’t come out to field during Australia’s innings and was seen with an ice pack on his left hand in the dressing room.In Dhawan’s absence, India are expected to push KL Rahul up the order to partner Rohit Sharma, and a middle-order batsman – one of Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar, most likely – to slot in lower down.Whatever happens, Dhawan’s loss is a significant blow to India, given his prolific form, particularly in ICC tournaments. In 20 matches across the World Cup and the Champions Trophy, he has 1238 runs with six hundreds and four fifties, averaging 65.15 with a strike rate of 98.25.In ten World Cup matches, he has scored 537 runs at an average of 53.70 and a strike rate of 94.21. In India’s two matches so far in this World Cup, he has made 8 and 117.Dhawan’s absence will also mean India have to go without his very successful partnership with Rohit at the top. The two have put on 4681 runs together in 103 innings, averaging 45.89, the fourth highest by an opening pair in ODI history.

Durham’s Australian skipper reaches 109, Alex Lees unbeaten on 70 as visitors lead by 96 runs

ECB Reporters Network08-Jul-2019Cameron Bancroft led the way with a century as Durham turned their County Championship match against Leicestershire on its head at the Fischer County Ground.Bancroft’s ton, his second of the season in the Championship, came as part of an impressive opening partnership of 187 with Alex Lees, and came after the visitors had bowled Leicestershire out for 212, conceding a first-innings deficit of 95.Bancroft hit 13 fours in going to his hundred off 134 deliveries before being eventually dismissed by Will Davis, losing his middle stump to a delivery which seamed back and stayed a touch low. Even so, Durham finished the day leading by 96, with nine second-innings wickets in hand.Resuming on their overnight score of 124 for 4, and looking to extend their first-innings lead into three figures, Leicestershire quickly lost Harry Dearden, who had added just four to his overnight score when he edged Chris Rushworth to Bancroft at second slip.Lewis Hill had made only eight when he was leg before to a delivery from Ben Raine which both seamed back in and kept a little low, and there was a first first-class wicket for debutant left-arm seamer Jack Campbell when Gavin Griffiths edged a delivery pushed across him low to Bancroft, again at second slip.Colin Ackermann, playing with unaccustomed deliberation, pulled Campbell to the midwicket boundary to reach his 50, but Rushworth quickly cleaned up the long Foxes’ tail, pinning Chris Wright leg before, getting Davis caught behind and then bowling Mohammad Abbas to leave Ackermann unbeaten on 62. Rushworth finished with 5-55 and Raine 4-49.

Lisa Keightley handed women’s role as plans for 2020 competition gather pace

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2019Shane Warne has been named as the head coach of the Lord’s-based Hundred franchise, with Lisa Keightley taking the equivalent role for the women’s team, ahead of the first year of the ECB’s new 100-ball competition in 2020.Warne, 49, is the third men’s coach to be confirmed for the tournament, following the unveiling of his fellow Australians Simon Katich, at Manchester, and Andrew McDonald in Birmingham.The Lord’s team will count Middlesex, Essex, Northamptonshire and MCC as stakeholders, and will be one of eight city-based clubs from Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, Southampton and a second London team based at The Oval.Warne was famously captain-coach of Rajasthan Royals when they won the first-ever Indian Premier League title in 2008, and hopes that history can repeat itself next summer.”I’m very proud and very honoured to be asked to be the head coach of The Hundred team based at Lord’s,” said Warne. “The opportunity to coach in a brand-new tournament and work with modern-day players is something that I will really enjoy and I am looking forward to the challenge.”This tournament will unearth some heroes and hopefully some future World Cup stars for England and other countries.”I always want to be ahead of the curve because cricket benefits from innovation and that was the case in 2008 with the IPL, when I was captain-coach of the Rajasthan Royals,” he said.”I love the concept of The Hundred and it has grabbed my attention in the same way the IPL did. We built a team from scratch with a diverse range of players from different backgrounds and ages and I can’t wait to build the same mix of players to entertain the fans who come down to Lord’s for The Hundred.”Keightley, the former Australia Women’s coach, becomes the first female coach appointed for The Hundred. She secured her place in cricketing folklore in 1998 when she became the first female player to score a century at Lord’s while playing for Australia, in a one-day international against England.She has since served as England Women’s Academy head coach before returning home to coach Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers in the Women’s Big Bash League.”It is an honour to be appointed as the first female coach for The Hundred and to be a part of a tournament that is set to showcase the best women’s players from around the world,” she said.”I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a coach in England and the prestige and opportunity of this role made it an easy decision for me to come back.”

While conceding it was tough to keep a “world class” bowler like Ashwin out, the Indian coach pointed to Jadeja’s all-round utility and specific skill-set as the reasons for his selection

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Aug-2019India head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed why India have picked Ravindra Jadeja, rather than R Ashwin, as their lone spinner in the two Tests against West Indies. Shastri admitted it was difficult to leave a “world-class” bowler like Ashwin on the bench, but pointed to various attributes that gave Jadeja the edge.Chiefly, he said India’s team management had felt Jadeja’s pace through the air would have made him difficult to face on a damp Antigua pitch in case India needed to bowl first.”Jaddu’s record is fabulous,” Shastri said, speaking to the former England offspinner Graeme Swann, who is part of the commentary team. “You have to see what he brings to the table. He’s arguably the best fielder in the world now. He’s improved his batting like hell. And if you see these tracks, I don’t think there will be much on offer for the spinner, so you would need control.”The reason why we picked Jadeja in the first Test was, in case we fielded and the track was damp, with his pace he would have made life a little awkward for the batsmen. He could have been used even on day one in the first session of play.”But it’s tough – to keep a world-class guy like Ash out, and then there’s Kuldeep [Yadav] in the wings. Never easy. For that matter, in the batting line-up, to keep someone like Rohit Sharma on the sidelines, especially on the back of five hundreds in the World Cup and some very good form that he’s carrying, it’s tough.”As it happened, West Indies chose to bowl first in Antigua. Jadeja played a key role with the bat, coming in at 189 for 6 in the first innings and scoring 58 to help haul India to a competitive total of 297. That innings continued a rich vein of batting form in Test cricket, where he has averaged 41.80, with a century and ten fifties, since the start of 2016.Jadeja wasn’t required to put in too much of a shift with the ball in Antigua, as the fast bowlers led the way in bowling India to a 318-run victory. The fast-bowling combination of Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami has been a vital part of India’s recent successes, and Shastri said having bowlers capable of taking 20 wickets in any conditions narrowed the gap between home and away Tests.”[India bowling coach] Bharat Arun has seen a lot of these guys from a very young age,” Shastri said. “Our endeavour was to get a really good bowling attack in place that could take us 20 wickets anywhere. Once you have a good bowling attack that can take 20 wickets anywhere, then no game is an away game. Every game is a home game. It doesn’t matter what the pitch is, you have the ammunition.”These three fast bowlers complement each other beautifully. One’s tall (Ishant), Bumrah has the most awkward action yet gets the ball to swing both ways, and Shami is someone who presents the seam better than [most]. The only other guy I know who presents the seam in that fashion is Jimmy Anderson. You’ve got variety there, plus you’ve got spin – you’ve got Kuldeep, Ash, Jadeja, and there are two or three more in the ranks, which is good.”

His new role will include monitoring and developing men’s, women’s and disability cricket, along with the talent pathways

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-2019Andrew Strauss, England’s former director of cricket, is set for a new role with the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] following his appointment as the chair of the board’s cricket committee.His new role will involve “monitoring and developing the delivery” of men’s and women’s professional cricket, as well as disability cricket, national counties, clubs and universities cricket and the talent pathway, the ECB said in a release.Strauss, who recently received a knighthood, had been England’s director of cricket between 2015 and 2018, his appointment to that role coming soon after England’s exit from the 2015 World Cup. Under his watch, England made significant strides in white-ball cricket, reaching the final of the 2016 World T20 and winning their first ODI World Cup earlier this year. The team’s Test fortunes, however, did not see as sharp an upturn as the limited-overs results.In October 2018, Strauss stepped down from the role in order to spend more time with his family as his wife, Ruth, underwent treatment for cancer. After her death in December, Strauss launched a foundation to help raise funds to research rare forms of lung cancer and to provide emotional and psychological support to patients and their families.”It is a real pleasure to return to ECB in this new capacity. ECB and the whole cricket family have been a vital source of support over an extremely difficult year and it’s really great to be back at Lord’s, a place that has become a second home to me,” Strauss said in a statement. “I’m extremely passionate about developing and growing cricket in England and Wales and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Cricket Committee to continually drive all aspects of the professional game, including women’s, men’s and disability cricket.”I’ve seen first-hand how this summer of cricket has inspired more people to fall in love with the sport and I can’t wait to help build on its success and support the roll-out of ECB’s strategy to grow the game, Inspiring Generations.”

What the players will be looking for from the tour game in Vizianagaram

Karthik Krishnaswamy25-Sep-2019Rohit Sharma, the openerContrary to widespread belief, Rohit Sharma has done a pretty good job when he’s got the opportunity to play Test cricket. Since the start of 2016, he averages 53.00 in 11 Test matches. It’s a sign of the depth of India’s batting resources that he can’t command a consistent spot in the middle order.

Watch cricket on ESPN+

India v South Africa is available in the US on Hotstar and ESPN+. Subscribe to ESPN+ and tune in to the three Tests.

Thanks to KL Rahul’s long run of poor form and Prithvi Shaw’s doping ban, however, he now has an opportunity to try and turn himself into a long-format opener. Moving to the top of the order transformed Rohit’s ODI career. Can he make a similar move up the order work in Test cricket too?Rohit doesn’t have much previous as a red-ball opener. In 137 innings in first-class cricket, he has opened just three times, the last of those occasions – when Mumbai attempted to chase an improbable target of 155 in 11 overs – coming in December 2012.Apart from the Test-match combination of Rohit and Mayank Agarwal, the Board President’s XI squad also includes two other openers, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyank Panchal. Those two will probably have to accept a move down the order for now.Can South Africa’s batsmen crack the Asia code?Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis. Only one member of that world-class middle order remains standing now.This isn’t to say South Africa have an inexperienced batting line-up, per se. Dean Elgar (56 Tests) has only played two fewer Tests than du Plessis, while Temba Bavuma (36) and Quinton de Kock (40) have been around Test cricket for a while, and Aiden Markram (17) is well settled at the top of the order.But all of them have poor records in Asia.