Seventeen runs in the 17th over took Barisal Bulls home in an otherwise balanced contest, leaving Comilla Victorians winless in the tournament

Mohammad Isam11-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details Samuels’ 48 was the game’s highest score, while Mashrafe’s wicket-less four overs went for 21 runs•Raton Gomes/BCB

Barisal Bulls opened their account in this season’s BPL with a six-wicket win over Comilla Victorians, whose fight fizzled out during a fourth-wicket stand of 49 between Mushfiqur Rahim amd Thisara Perera, which sealed the contest. Comilla, the defending champions, remain winless and would be worried by a brittle batting line-up, though bowling seems to be their strength.Set 130 to win, Barisal opener Dilshan Munaweera struck two pleasing fours before getting caught at mid-off in the fifth over but Dawid Malan quickly restored the pressure with two boundaries in the same over. Mashrafe Mortaza and Nabil Samad then bowled six overs to give away just 26 runs, increasing the required run rate from 6.87 to 8.55. It resulted in Shamsur’s laboured 26-ball 16 ending up in the hands of long-on in the 11th over.Mushfiqur broke the boundary drought with a slog-swept six in the 12th over, before Malan edged his third boundary in the following over from Sharif, though he was immediately caught off the next ball at cover for 26. With Mashrafe finishing his spell (0/21) with Barisal needing 52 off the last six overs, Mushfiqur and Thisara Perera struck boundaries off Sharif and Tanvir. They wrested back control of the game when they struck one six each off Imad, who conceded 17 runs in the 17th over.Their fourth-wicket stand ended when Mushfiqur faintly edged Tanvir to the keeper, but he got them closer to the win with his 23-ball 33. Perera eased Barisal’s nerves with two boundaries in the penultimate over, completing the win with nine balls to spare.Comilla could have slipped further from 73 for 6 in the 14th over, if it wasn’t for the 38-run seventh-wicket partnership between Marlon Samuels and Sohail Tanvir.Samuels – who came to bat after both openers fell within 3.5 overs – was involved in the run-outs of Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Imad Wasim, and saw Liton Das and Nahidul Islam fall meekly. So he had to get Comilla out of trouble. He started off the seventh-wicket stand with two fours off Al-Amin Hossain and nearly blew Thisara Perera away with a straight hit.Tanvir got into the act with a whack over midwicket for his first six. Mahedi Hasan dropped him on 13 in the 18th over, a sitter that ended up hitting him on the face, before hitting the floor. After Samuels departed for a run-a-ball 48, Tanvir struck two sixes over long-on in the last over, his unbeaten 30 off 19 balls giving Comilla the late runs that often make the difference but this time ended in futility.

The Pakistan fast bowlers completed the demolition job they had begun on the first night, dismissing Cricket Australia XI for 114, but their batsmen stumbled once again

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2016
ScorecardRahat Ali finished with three wickets•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

The Pakistan fast bowlers completed the demolition job they had begun on the first night, dismissing Cricket Australia XI for 114, but their batsmen stumbled once again against the pink ball under lights in Cairns. The visitors ended the day on 5 for 124 in their second innings, ahead by 218 runs.CA XI had begun the second day on 4 for 3, and had little respite from a three-pronged pace attack. Mohammad Amir did not add to the three wickets he took on the first day, but Rahat Ali picked up two more to finish with three as well, as did Wahab Riaz who razed the lower order. Left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz bowled only five overs and did not take a wicket. CA XI were shot out in 39.1 overs, having conceded a first-innings lead of 94.In their last competitive innings before the day-night Test against Australia in Brisbane from December 15, Pakistan lost Sami Aslam and Babar Azam cheaply once again. They were out for 12 and 22, falling to fast bowler Mark Steketee. Opener Azhar Ali held one end up with an unbeaten 44 off 153 balls, but Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq made fleeting visits to the crease.Azhar added 45 for the fifth wicket with Shafiq, who was dismissed late in the day.Wahab said at the end of the day that he deemed this pitch was on the slower side. “It’s summer here, which is why I feel the wicket is on the slower side. I had to see how the pitch was behaving [at the start of my spell]. It wasn’t doing much and was on the slower side. There wasn’t much bounce and carry, but I managed to do what I do and bowl fast. But the ball travels well under lights. There’s swing and seam and carry through to the keeper.”He played down questions about Pakistan’s scoring rate by saying that it was a welcome sign that the batsmen were spending time in the middle.”It’s good that the batsmen are taking their time. This is what we’ve lacked in the last two-three Tests. Our batsmen have not been staying in for a long time. They’re getting starts but no one has been converting them to big scores. So I think it’s good that they’re taking time and have confidence before going into the Test series. Run rate doesn’t matter as much as the confidence they’re getting.”

Chris Jordan impressed upon the need to remain calm and have self-belief while bowling in the end-overs, qualities he exhibited to deny MS Dhoni in the first T20 in Kanpur

Vishal Dikshit in Nagpur28-Jan-20172:31

‘Hope to keep momentum on our side’

In the last two overs he bowled in Kanpur, Chris Jordan stuck to his plan of bowling yorkers throughout. He bowled 10 of his last 12 balls to MS Dhoni and conceded 16 runs off them, a strike rate of 160. What those numbers don’t tell you is that Dhoni struggled to hit eight of those 10 balls cleanly. The moral victory was Jordan’s.This attacking and fearless bowling style makes him a vital cog in England’s pace attack in the limited-overs formats. It was a testimony of how Jordan has become Eoin Morgan’s go-to bowler in the slog overs, either to pick wickets or limit runs, or often both. It was reminiscent of how Jordan had bowled a barrage of yorkers to Pakistan’s tail in his final two overs at Headingley in September, and a few months before that had helped England defend 171 in the World T20 semi-final against Sri Lanka in Delhi.His first spell there read 2-0-16-1. He then returned to bowl with Sri Lanka needing 40 off 24 balls. He walked away with a fine second spell that read 2-0-12-3. It showed why he was rated highly as an end-overs bowler. Jordan, who addressed the media on the eve of the second T20I in Nagpur, was asked of what it takes to succeed in the end overs. He impressed upon the need to remain calm and have self-belief.”Although T20 cricket can be a fast-paced game, I believe at the back-end of the innings you have to give yourself time,” he said. “You have to try and take the sting out of the game, try to keep a very clear mindset especially when guys are trying to hit you over the ropes every single ball. That calmness and that whole notion of trying to give yourself time is something I try to use and luckily it works.”Plans can change literally every ball because you’re trying to stay one step ahead of the batsman every time, and at the back-end of the innings it could be a lot of commotion. You have to try and stay clear and think about simple things and executing them, that’s what I try to do.”‘Calmness, self-belief key to bowling in end-overs’ – Jordan•Getty Images

Jordan’s yorkers have been a fundamental aspect of his end-overs bowling and are something he falls back on when summoned. Jordan said developing the wide yorker too was a result of increasing his variations to keep the batsmen guessing.”It is a skill that I have worked on very, very hard whether it’s in the nets or actually in games,” Jordan said. “Most batsmen obviously want the ball in their arc and if you bowl at the stumps a lot, that’s in their arc so you’re backing yourself to execute the skill anyway. But I find that with that wide yorker, bowling the ball outside the batsman’s arc even when you do bowl there still has to be some precision with it. I find bowling that ball more often than not buys you some dots and time, and helps you get ahead of the batsman and also pick a wicket in the innings.”It came from first and foremost using variations. When I look at death bowling I think you can’t be predictable, you have to use different variations and that doesn’t necessarily have to be pace, it can be line or length and that’s how I developed that ball. So instead of maybe bowling my slower one more often, I use the variation in line and bowl a wide yorker, straight yorker, at the back end of the innings.”Despite this expertise and the role he played in England’s march to the World T20 final last year, Jordan was dropped for the ODIs against Bangladesh, India, and more recently the three ODIs against West Indies in March. His last ODI series was against Pakistan at home, where he produced figures of 2 for 42 from nine overs and 0 for 52 from 7.2. When asked to self-assess why he had been dropped, Jordan said it was about consistency.”You are always disappointed when you have ambition and then do not get selected,” he stated. “Disappointment is an emotion that I think is warranted. I would want to get back into the ODI and the Test team as soon as possible and am working very hard to do that. But obviously, we have a very good set of players, very strong depth. It will be quite tough getting back in, but I don’t think it is beyond me.”Possibly consistency wasn’t as I’d like it to be and I do set my standards very high,” Jordan said of his exclusion. “If I look at it I can say that my consistency at that particular moment wasn’t to the level I wanted it to be but that’s not to discourage or dishearten me. I do still have opportunities and I hope to push my case to make it back.”Jordan will hope he displays more such impressive efforts, the way he did in Kanpur, in the remaining two T20s of the series and stakes a claim for the Champions Trophy in June at home. After the West Indies tour, England are scheduled to play two ODIs against Ireland and three against South Africa – all in May at home. Jordan said he was looking at every game he would play from now as a “chance to impress and a chance to stake a claim”.

The Islamabad United captain expressed his disappointment after two of his players were provisionally suspended for alleged breaches of the PCB’s anti-corruption code

Umar Farooq in Sharjah18-Feb-2017Misbah-ul-Haq, who did so much to steer Pakistan away from the 2010 spot-fixing scandal, has spoken of his disappointment at having to face up to another case of corruption in Pakistan cricket. Six years ago, Misbah took over a Test side gutted by the sudden loss of its captain and opener, Salman Butt, as well as its new-ball pair of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. This time, he was already captain of the Islamabad United side from which Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were chargedfor alleged breaches of the PCB’s anti-corruption code.”Nobody wants Pakistan and Pakistani players to be associated with fixing again,” Misbah told ESPNcricinfo. “After six years of hard work such things happening again is a matter of great concern and disappointment. I am really disappointed. But, I think whenever such things happen, you have got to be very strong to face them. Forget about the individuals who are responsible and try to make sure that things are not happening again; move forward, try to perform better, try to be disciplined and improve the reputation around the world.”This latest case, during the ongoing Pakistan Super League, has come as the Lord’s trio stands all but reintegrated into the Pakistan system. Misbah has captained Amir at the international level through the course of 2016, while Butt and Asif are back playing domestic cricket. ESPNcricinfo understands Butt is also in contention to make the national squad for the tour of the West Indies in March. But given what has happened in the PSL, the PCB could be forced to rethink that situation.Frustratingly for the Pakistan board, the latest incident has come after six years of concerted effort to tighten its anti-corruption code and practices. Men’s and women’s teams, at all levels, are given lectures before any tour or series, emphasising the dangers of corruption, as well as the ways in which approaches might occur. Players are given literature in Urdu as well. At the domestic level, apart from the regular programme, Amir, Asif and Butt gave anti-corruption lectures in which they spoke about their experiences.The alleged incidents of corruption in the PSL have come as big blow for the PCB, which had taken great steps to stamp it out of Pakistan cricket•PCB

Both Sharjeel and Latif are Pakistan internationals. Sharjeel, especially, was on the verge of becoming a vital cog in the national side. He has played 25 ODIs and 15 T20Is since his debut in December 2013, and over the last year or so, blossomed into the kind of opener Pakistan needed, especially in limited-overs cricket. He was one of the few bright spots in Pakistan’s chastening tour of Australia recently, from the time he made his Test debut in Sydney to his three fifties in the ODI series. Potentially, under the PCB’s anti-corruption code, he could be facing a life ban.Losing Sharjeel and Latif, along with Andre Russell before the season began for an anti-doping code violation, has hit Islamabad hard as they try to defend their title. At the halfway stage of the PSL, they have two wins and two losses.”It obviously affects you when your match-winners and best players go down, but then, there are other boys on the bench raring to go in, and they are equally good,” Misbah said. “There are tough situations, but it’s about the environment and the winning habit so that it doesn’t matter who comes and goes. The boys take inspiration from every win. They are building up, they are getting the confidence, and with couple of victories, we have a way forward in this PSL. They know their roles, they are always ready to chip in and win us games. Our squad is capable enough to retain the title this year.”Islamabad retained their 17 players this season. The core of their side, however, is an aging one, with several of them over 35 years old. But for Misbah, that is an asset.”Philosophy is just to have players who have better understanding about the game,” he said. “Players who are fit for the game, know their roles, handle pressure very well, and if there are younger players around, then they have good chance in making in our squad as well. It’s not deliberate, but this is actually helping us because we have players from around the world who are mature and experienced in this format. This is actually an advantage for us in many ways as we have players who are mentally strong.”

Sandeep Sharma has said he likes to stick to his plans and does not worry too much about leaking runs in the death overs

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-2017Kings XI Punjab’s Sandeep Sharma has been backing his strength to swing the new ball to achieve success against top batsmen in the IPL. Sandeep, who opens the bowling for Kings XI, said after their eight-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore that his thinking is to stick to his plans and not worry about getting hit.”I am backing my strength which is to swing the ball,” Sandeep told . “I have discussed and worked with Virender Sehwag regarding field placements. He has helped me and talked to me about what the placements should be with the new ball, since only two fielders are allowed outside the circle, and how to use them effectively. I am doing that, and so far it has been working well.”I had spoken about my plans in the team meeting as well as with Viru paaji. The thing is most batsmen struggle against swing; so he told me to back my strength which is swinging the ball.”Sandeep opened the bowling with Axar Patel on Monday and bowled a stifling first spell of 3-0-7-1 during which he dismissed Vishnu Vinod for 7. Once Axar dismissed Shane Watson in the first over, AB de Villiers was the only batsman to collect a boundary in Sandeep’s opening spell in which the medium-pacer bowled 14 dot balls. Sandeep revealed how they had planned for Watson’s wicket and said getting some backing from the team management helped him.”I was to bowl my heart out and not think about getting hit,” he said. “Also, I was told never to think about losing my place in the side or being asked to sit out [if I went for runs]. Viru paaji backs [his players] a lot.”We had our plans. Watson doesn’t play too well against left-arm spinners; so [Glenn] Maxwell thought that we could give the first over to Axar and it was good that he got us the wicket.”Kings XI included four frontline pace-bowling options against Royal Challengers with an additional option of allrounder Marcus Stoinis. Even though they restricted the flow of runs by reducing Royal Challengers to 22 for 3 in the early overs, de Villiers’ return to the side with an unbeaten 89 off 46 balls helped them post 148 for 4. De Villiers struck sixes in each of the last five overs and was particularly harsh against Sandeep in the 19th over, scoring 18 from the five balls he faced.”I am not too worried about the death overs; even today the way I bowled, I was executing what I was thinking and planning,” Sandeep said. “AB de Villiers is one of the best batsmen in the world and he even hit some of my good balls. It’s okay. I am executing what I am thinking about. On a different day, against a different batsman, things might be different.”We had made our plans for him. We tried to execute our plans, but he scored against us. He is one of my favourite batsmen, so I am happy for him also.”Sandeep has taken three wickets so far in two matches, conceding 59 runs in his eight overs at an economy rate of 7.37, the best among the Kings XI pacers who have played both their matches.

Dane Vilas top-scored for Lancashire with 74 while Haseeb Hameed proved his fitness after suffering an injury scare

Alan Gardner at Chelmsford07-Apr-2017
ScorecardThe first day of the season is as good a day as any to be reminded that Championship success is usually hard-won. Both Essex and Lancashire could feel satisfaction come the close at Chelmsford; both will know that further unstinting effort will be required to sway this contest over the coming days.Lancashire may feel they had the best of it, particularly after recovering from 160 for 6 to pass 300, thanks to a 51-run last-wicket stand between James Anderson and Kyle Jarvis, who then took a wicket apiece before the close. Nevertheless, Essex’s new-look attack acquitted themselves well by bowling out Lancashire after being put into the field. All but two Lancashire batsmen made starts but only Dane Vilas managed to pass fifty, as Neil Wagner and Aaron Beard – overseas pro and homegrown tyro – collected six wickets between them.No one faced more balls than Haseeb Hameed, who provided some proof of his fitness after sustaining a hand injury in Lancashire’s university match. Hameed was watched by James Whitaker, the national selector, and Mark Ramprakash, England’s batting coach, as well as his parents during his first significant innings since making a highly regarded Test debut in India over the winter.Hameed’s tour of India was cut short by a fracture to the little finger on his left hand, which required the insertion of a metal plate. He sustained a blow practising his fielding at short leg before play against Cambridge and then had to leave the field while batting; however, a scan detected no further damage and he batted without discomfort for just over two hours here before falling three runs short of fifty.”The finger’s fine, it was a bit of a freak incident, trapping it in the warm-up and then I tried batting and it got quite painful. So I think we made the right decision in getting it checked out and thankfully it was all okay,” he said.”The surgeon suggested, when there’s a bit of time off, it might be worth getting [the plate] out. But I think there’s a six-week recovery period from having that surgery to remove it, so it wouldn’t make sense now. If I’ve got a bit of time in the future, I probably will take it out.”Ryan ten Doeschate, Essex’s captain, suggested before the game that Lancashire’s batting might present a “chink in their armour” and that looked a shrewd assessment as the visitors experienced a middle-order slide of 4 for 42 on a pristine afternoon. However, Vilas, one of three new Kolpak signings on show, provided the grit that Lancashire desperately needed with 74 before a ticklish thrash between Anderson and Jarvis lifted them towards a more competitive total.For all the topics being discussed at the newly anointed Cloudfm County Ground on the first day of the new season – Hameed’s availability, Alastair Cook’s absence (depriving the crowd of a head-to-head with Anderson), the Kolpak issue, Essex’s survival chances (or Lancashire’s for that matter) – perhaps the closest to local hearts was the decision to drop James Foster for the first time in his 17-year Essex career. Adam Wheater, his replacement behind the stumps, has pedigree as a Division One batsman, as well as the advantage of being from the same east London manor (aka Gooch Country) but it will not be an easy gig.It is accepted around Chelmsford that Foster cannot go on forever but there were rueful shakes of the head when Wheater failed to get a hand on a stumping chance provided by Steven Croft in the first over after lunch. Croft and Hameed had quieted a healthy crowd during a third-wicket stand of 68 but there was a notable frisson of disappointment as the opportunity for Simon Harmer’s first Championship wicket zipped by.By then, Hameed had set about reassuring those nervous about the state of his delicate hands during a composed innings that featured several sumptuously timed drives. Barring a skittish swipe at the first ball he received from Wagner – a team-mate last season, back when Hameed was still a precocious talent smarting at missing out on the U-19 World Cup – he seemed to have everything in the right place, a sort of batting feng shui as he lined up the bowling with the precision displayed during his debut Test series in India. That is, until he fractionally misjudged a delivery from Jamie Porter that kept coming back in at him to clip the top of off stump the over after Croft’s reprieve.For a brief while, there was a vision of England’s possible batting future in the middle, as Liam Livingstone joined Hameed. Livingstone, now at first drop and with a chance to impress after batting in the lower-middle order during his debut season, showcased his revolving-door wrists with a second-ball four that rattled away to the deep midwicket rope and he stroked five more boundaries in between ducking Wagner’s head-hunting bouncers.Livingstone’s attacking instincts eventually got the better of him, a wild flash providing Beard with his first wicket – via a goalkeeper save from Tom Westley (second slip) that was collected on the dive by Varun Chopra (first). Beard also removed Vilas, as a leading edge sailed to mid-off, while Harmer did eventually get Croft, taken at short fine leg when sweeping. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, in his 43rd year and only in the country a few days, was run out after a mix-up with Vilas.

There were half-centuries for Sean Dickson, Darren Stevens and Wayne Parnell but Jofra Archer’s 7 for 67 was the star turn as Sussex dismissed Kent for 304 at Hove

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Hove14-Apr-2017
ScorecardDaniel Bell-Drummond lost his middle stump attempting to leave against Jofra Archer•Getty Images

It is just a day into Sussex’s Championship campaign and, if the supporters are to be believed, player of the year, young player of the year and bowling performance of the year have been wrapped up. Jofra Archer, with figures of 7 for 67 – his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket – bowled with the skill beyond his 22 years and seven matches.On a surface that rewarded patience from both sides, he outbowled the world-class Vernon Philander (who went wicketless) and created havoc at will. Last month, he set himself a target of 70 wickets across all three formats in 2017. He’s already a tenth of the way there. “Just 63 more to go,” he said, with all the chutzpah of a man ready to tick them off in good time.His rise has been a remarkable one. But it is a rise that fans of Sussex and cricket should cherish. Because, at the beginning of 2016, aged 20, Archer was close to retiring from the game. Two years after a stress fracture of the back, he was in still experiencing great discomfort. In agony after a handful of overs, he wondered if he could have a career that took more than it gave him. Luckily, for all of us – though maybe not Kent – he kept with it.”It’s been really frustrating, to be honest. In 2014, I played two games in the Sussex twos and I did really well. Then my back just gave out. The most frustrating thing was that CJ [Chris Jordan] kept telling me that if I played five more games, I probably would have gotten a contract.”Over the next two years, his back showed little sign of progress. Then he thought about packing it in. “Honestly, I almost called it quits. It was just too painful. I probably could only bowl one spell in a day. I couldn’t really come back into an attack: my back would stiffen up a lot. Luckily my parents kept pushing me.”A programme of core work in England and Barbados, coupled with regular physiotherapy helped him get stronger and take the strain away from his back. Watching him bowl, you do wonder where the strain comes from. His action is like no other: velvet strides to the crease that shine the grass beneath his feet, before a gather with all the grace of Gene Kelly skipping over a puddle takes him into delivery. Think of the equivalent of the Moonwalk but going forward, and you’re barely halfway there.The first wicket of the day was box office. Daniel Bell-Drummond, confident enough to leave after seeing what Archer had offered him, left a ball that started wide but ended up poleaxing his middle stump. Last season, a similar set-up and finish that saw a Leicestershire batsman lose off middle went viral. This one is likely to do similar numbers. “It’s already all over Twitter at the moment,” he laughed.”It’s my stock ball, really. I try and set batsmen up with the outswinger: it’s not my strongest ball but, I bowl it a couple of times just to let the batsman know that I have it.”It has taken time for him to develop that ball: hard work combined with the need to “trust” his wrist. Jordan, too, overcame similar back and technical issues to get where he is today – an international cricketer currently plying his trade in the IPL – and it is not lazy to wonder if Archer will glide the same path, given how much the former has relied on the latter already.Jordan originally came across Archer around five years ago while he was still spending his winters playing first-class cricket for Barbados. Brisk in the nets and capable if unspectacular with the bat, Archer immediately impressed and Jordan kept tabs on his progression. When he found out that Archer had a British passport through his father, Jordan advised him to seek opportunities in the UK.In 2014, he signed for Middleton Cricket Club as their overseas player, while Jordan managed to wangle him some 2nd XI games. The stress-fracture stopped him bowling but he used the time to bring his batting up to speed, averaging over 50 across 13 club games. It was only in 2015, when he was bowling again, albeit off a short run-up (and still quick), that the county realised just how good he could be.Reluctant to commit to any deal because of the nature of the injury, Sussex encouraged Archer take it easy over the winter to ensure he was fully fit and return to England the following year. Rather than return to Middleton, he emailed Horsham, who have strong ties with Sussex through opening batsman Chris Nash, whose elder brother Mark is involved with the running of the club. Not long after that email was received, Mark fielded a call from former West Indies and Sussex quick Corey Collymore, Archer’s mentor in Barbados, who gave a glowing reference.As it turned out, he only managed a handful of games for Horsham after a four-for in a tour game with Pakistan led to Sussex hogging him for the remainder of 2016. He took 35 wickets in all competitions – 23 in Championship cricket – along with handy runs down the order, including 73 during a 140-run partnership with Jordan against Essex. At the beginning of August, with counties circling for his signature, Sussex gave him an 18-month deal. In December, they reinforced that with a two-year extension.Kent had ambled their way to 152 for 6 in the 58th over – Archer removing Will Gidman and Adam Rouse in consecutive balls – with opener Sean Dickson’s 68 from 179 balls the only score of note. But a dropped catch at first slip off the bowling of Ajmal Shahzad allowed Darren Stevens a life on 6. By the time the new ball came around after 80 overs, Kent had added more than 100, as Stevens and Wayne Parnell freed their arms and liberated the innings. Their partnership was eventually brought to a halt by Shahzad before Archer stepped in to mop up the tail.The loss of Chris Nash under lights – lbw to Matt Coles – perhaps took the edge off for Sussex. Archer, however, is hopeful of a lead. And who are we to disagree?

Both captains stressed on one thing in the lead-up to a virtual knockout game – the importance of composure

Nagraj Gollapudi10-Jun-2017One lesson India would have taken from the defeat against Sri Lanka is to not get overexcited. India captain Virat Kohli had stressed that the 321-run target set against Sri Lanka was good enough and Sri Lanka had done well to chase it down. That might have surprised Kohli.Faced with a do-or-die encounter against South Africa on Sunday, at the same ground, on the same pitch, Kohli said if India have to win they need to be “composed”.”You need to have a good balance of being competitive and being passionate about the game, but at the same time, not getting overexcited,” Kohli said on Saturday. “The team that treats the game as normal as possible is the team that’s in a better position to get the right result.”Kohli doesn’t believe this is the biggest match of his short career as captain. Such matches raise the tempo and the spirit of the team, he said, and it is something he “craves” for. Kohli’s message to his players was to make sure they did not overstress themselves.”A lot of times, teams come in and they want to do something special and end up messing up the game in important situations. The team that can have most composure, I would say, to sum it up, will have a better chance of winning the game tomorrow. That’s what I’ve experienced in the past. You tend to get overexcited, and then you commit errors that can cost the team important runs, or you fail to grab all the chances because you’re overexcited and that can cost the team as well. I think composure will be the biggest word for tomorrow.”One other man at The Oval agreed with Kohli – AB de Villiers, the South Africa captain. That both men think the same should not come across as strange, only because they cannot afford to let their teams get carried away.De Villiers, more than Kohli, understands what works and what doesn’t in knockout contests. No other team has experienced the full range of emotions in do-or-die matches like South Africa has.”It is really important to stay calm,” de Villiers said. “Not get overexcited. The tendency will be there, because we all live for these kinds of moments.”Retaining the focus and the energy at key moments can be the difference between winning and losing, de Villiers said.”I’m expecting the same kind of intensity and hunger out there tomorrow but with a relaxed kind of mindset. I think that’s really important to remember we are playing a game of cricket, something that we love doing, and to get that smile on our faces out there when we’re playing. It’s going to be really important and I’ll try and lead that from the front.”

Jake Ball and Stuart Broad are doubtful for the Royal London Cup final on Saturday and that is also bad news for England with the first Test around a week away

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge27-Jun-2017
ScorecardWith doubts lingering over Stuart Broad’s fitness for Saturday’s Royal London One-Day Cup final at Lord’s, Nottinghamshire face another anxious couple of days assessing the fitness of a second key bowling asset after injury forced Jake Ball to leave the field during the final session here.Despite playing the injury down overnight, Ball was sent for a scan by the ECB on Wednesday morning, and the selectors will be monitoring the results closely as they prepare to meet to select the squad for the first Test against South Africa at Lord’s next week.The England fast bowler, who had already struck an important blow for his team in this match at the start of Kent’s second innings, pulled up in his follow-through after bowling one delivery of his third over, feeling some pain in his right knee.After receiving attention on the field it looked at first as if he would continue but after a couple of attempts to replicate his run-up to the crease under the supervision of his county physio he asked the umpire for his cap and sweater and left the field, leaving Luke Fletcher to complete his over.Nottinghamshire head coach Peter Moores described his withdrawal as “a precaution” and said his prospects of resuming in this match would be assessed in the morning. However, he is being monitored by Notts and England medical teams, and he will not bowl again in the match.Broad, who was forced to miss this match after suffering a heel injury against Leicestershire last week, was still rated as doubtful on Monday but there was better news today. Put through his paces before play, he appeared to be moving well enough, although Nottinghamshire will be wary of risking any further damage with the opening Test against South Africa just over a week away.After playing his part with a flurry of boundaries with the bat in helping Nottinghamshire to a lead of 191 on first innings, Ball had dealt Kent the early blow they least wanted as they began their second innings against the pink ball in the awkward day-to-night phase.After bowling brilliantly with scant reward in the first innings, with only one tailender’s wicket to show for his efforts, Ball found success in his second over this time, producing a full and fast delivery to which Daniel Bell-Drummond, who had so valiantly held Kent together on Monday, had no answer.Yet Ball’s absence hardly made things easier for Kent, who were four wickets down and still 86 behind at the close. To make matters worse, Sam Billings, unbeaten on 39, now leaves this match to play for the Lions at Worcester. The 20-year-old batsman Joe Weatherley takes his place.Despite a career-best 168 from Steven Mullaney, who was 63 not out overnight, and a partnership of 222 between the opener and Alex Hales, Nottinghamshire had not fulfilled their objective of batting Kent out of the game, losing their last wickets for 41.They fell short even of maximum batting points, which felt almost like a formality earlier in the day when Hales and Mullaney, having come through a tough pink ball baptism on the first evening, plundered runs under the pale sky of the second afternoon.Mullaney, one half of the key partnership in the historic win over Essex that booked Nottinghamshire’s place at Lord’s, completed the 12th first-class century of his career, punching the air as he might after a bout of nausea almost forced him to leave the field in the early part of his innings on Monday.Jake Ball limped off – and that will worry England•Getty Images

Once something of a bit-part player among stars at Trent Bridge, Mullaney has become a key figure in all formats. Always an all-round asset in the one-day sides, he has found his niche at the top of the order in the four-day side, and a useful partnership-breaking bowler to boot. Well respected in the dressing room, he led the side in Chris Read’s absence last season and looks a natural choice to take on the captaincy in his own right when Read retires at the end of the season.As a batsman, he may lack the flair and natural timing of Samit Patel, with whom he shared that epic stand at Chelmsford, and he does not dominate in the way Hales sometimes does. Yet he has the temperament to concentrate for long periods and packs a punch when the moment arrives to up the tempo.He and Hales were together for 47.5 overs for the fourth wicket before Hales was caught on the rope attempting a second six straight off Joe Denly’s leg spin, missing out by 15 on what appeared to be a certain hundred.The innings lost some of its impetus after Hales. Riki Wessels was unusually subdued and Mullaney went an hour without scoring a boundary before a couple in quick succession off Adam Milne eased the pressure.He passed his previous best, 166 against Somerset here last year, with a six off Will Gidman and the applause that accompanied his return to the pavilion, caught behind off Matt Coles, was a measure of his popularity. He acknowledged it properly, too, raising his bat to all corners of the ground.Kent’s bowlers have to be commended for the way they maintained their discipline and in denying Nottinghamshire their full complement of points they might consider they scored a minor triumph.Yet, the possibly unwelcome consequence of this was that it was their batsman who were exposed to the day-into-night phase. After Bell-Drummond, Denly edged a fine, swinging ball from Fletcher to be caught behind before Harry Gurney struck twice, Sam Northeast following a ball outside off-stump to be caught behind, Sean Dickson edging to Brendan Taylor at third slip.July 28, 11.36am – This story was updated with news of Ball’s knee scan

The Supreme Court of India has asked former BCCI president Anurag Thakur to tender an “unconditional, unequivocal” and “categorical” apology to get relief from the contempt proceedings initiated against him

PTI08-Jul-2017The Supreme Court of India has asked former BCCI president Anurag Thakur to tender an “unconditional, unequivocal” and “categorical” apology to get relief from the contempt proceedings initiated against him.A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud made it clear that it was not going to consider Thakur’s earlier affidavit of apology and asked him to file a “one-page short affidavit” tendering unconditional apology.”We will grant you one more opportunity,” the bench said. “We suggest that you file a one-page affidavit in categorical language that you tender an unequivocal and unconditional apology for the misinformation or miscommunication that happened.”The court also asked Thakur to be present for its next hearing on July 14 to tender the apology. The bench indicated that it was willing to accept the apology and close the contempt proceedings against him.Senior advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for Thakur, said though his client was willing to tender an unconditional apology, he had a very good case on merit through which it can be proved that he did no wrong.Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae (friend of court) in the matter said if the court is magnanimous in granting pardon to Thakur, then he has nothing to say, but the apology should be unqualified and explicit in terms. The bench, however, said it would not go into the merit of the case.The court had initiated contempt proceedings against Thakur on January 2 this year for filing a false affidavit over writing to the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar, asking for a letter stating whether the appointment of an official from the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office would amount to governmental interference. The ICC does not permit government interference in the functioning of its member boards.”The conduct of the President of BCCI in seeking a letter from the President of ICC in August 2016, after the final judgement and Order of this Court, is nothing but an attempt on the part of the head of BCCI to evade complying with the Order of this Court,” the court had said while issuing a showcause notice to Thakur.Coming down heavily on the defiant BCCI brass, the Supreme Court had removed Thakur and Ajay Shirke as the president and the secretary for “obstructing” and “impeding” its directions for overhauling governance in the board. It had also appointed a Committee of Administrators to oversee BCCI’s functions.Thakur had, on March 6, tendered an “unconditional and unqualified apology” before the Supreme Court and said he had never intended to file any false information. His affidavit explained the circumstances under which the averments made by him led to the initiation of contempt proceedings.