Simon Harmer, Sam Cook leave much-fancied Lancashire dancing for rain

Essex need one more wicket on final morning after enforcing follow-on

Paul Edwards21-May-2022
In the opening weeks of this season a few people of good judgement appeared to assume Lancashire were going to win the County Championship. This match has offered a powerful corrective to such weirdly confident views. For whatever the vagaries of Manchester’s weather – and the forecast is for rain – Lancashire have been quite outplayed in this game and had Essex managed to take one more wicket this evening, Emirates Old Trafford would resemble the tomorrow. Instead, it is all aboard for a short voyage on the good ship .None of which should obscure the memory of an Essex team that has brimmed with confidence and dynamism these three days. After enforcing the follow-on – the first time Lancashire have suffered this indignity since 2017 – Tom Westley’s bowlers took seven of their opponents’ second-innings wickets and claimed an extra half-hour in the hope of completing their victory today.Tom Bailey and Hasan Ali obligingly holed out in the deep to leave James Anderson defending stoutly against Simon Harmer in the hope that it will hose it down for hours. “I just love this game and I don’t understand it at all,” a member of Lancashire outstanding live-stream operation said.Related

  • Northants still fighting to avoid follow-on despite Vasconcelos, Procter knocks

  • Notts set up final-day run chase after Derbyshire resistance

  • Roland-Jones sets up Middlesex's final-day victory push

  • Jordan Thompson's new-ball burst prompts Warwickshire shiver of realisation

  • Barker's half-dozen leads Hampshire to victory as Somerset fold

Harmer, on the other hand, understands cricket’s engaging eccentricities all too well. He knows that it can treat you “dreadful crool”, as Eliza Doolittle might say, and that he has probably deserved more than the six wickets he has bagged from the season’s opening five games. Today, an Old Trafford pitch that offered sufficient help was just what he might have ordered to revive his season and he filled his rather large boots with figures of 5 for 85 from 40 overs.One or two Lancashire batters, notably Dane Vilas, took the attack to the South African Test offspinner but no-one played him with certainty. Vilas, who made 62, perished lbw on the back leg in a chaotic last hour that saw five Lancashire wickets go down. Matt Parkinson and Hasan also succumbed to Harmer’s flight and spin but Anderson and Luke Wood stood firm as the home dressing room hummed with the apocalyptic predictions of amateur meteorologists.And yet, if Lancashire survive, it will be a Dreyfus-esque injustice. For most of the morning – indeed, for most of the game – things have proceeded much Westley might have wished. You will recall that Lancashire resumed, hale and hearty, on 32 for 5. Wood then hit a couple of fours before edging a drive to Adam Rossington off Sam Cook, who also had Bailey lbw in his next over. Hasan survived two balls before edging Shane Snater to Harmer at second slip and Lancashire then needed another 11 runs to avoid posting their lowest total against Essex in the 125 years it has taken the sides to play 161 matches.Their minds uncluttered by such minutiae, Phil Salt and Parkinson put on 43 in 14 overs with Salt pulling Snater into the temporary stand for six. But it was a reflection of Essex’s command in Lancashire’s two innings that losing the ball, either in the building site or the seating, was more or less their greatest inconvenience. Otherwise, events unfolded roughly as they willed them.After making 44 in two hours Salt was leg before to a ball from Matt Critchley that seemed hurry on off the pitch in the manner of a topspinner. Next over, Parkinson smeared Harmer to the sub fielder, Aaron Beard at deepish square leg and Westley opted for traditional orthodoxy rather than the left-field funkiness when it came to enforcing the follow-on. Then again, the humiliation inflicted on opponents by asking them to have another go is probably underestimated. It certainly seems so this evening.

Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings patted back four maidens before lunch but it was no sort of omen. In the second over after the resumption Jamie Porter got one to straighten past Jennings’ outside edge and knocked the opener’s off pole out. Jennings looked studiously at the pitch as though he was thinking of writing a learned article about a game he had entered with an average of 174 and was now leaving with it more or less halved to 88.”Oh my God!” exclaimed someone to the left of the press box and one doubts it was an outpouring of evangelical witness prompted by the sight of Josh Bohannon striding bandily way out to the middle. Perhaps it was the more prosaic realisation that this was the first time Lancashire’s No. 3 had batted in the second innings of a match this season.Vilas’ players have had a lot of time in the field over the past six weeks or so but their dominance of matches has led to virtually the entire team needing to bat once in each match. To a degree, this is fine, of course, but it has also led to batters like Bohannon having limited opportunities to face high-quality spin on wearing pitches.Those who advocate reducing the number of first-class matches might reflect on these factors. Even in a freakishly dry spring Bohannon will get to mid-June having played seven red-ball innings; the last of these lasted an hour before he gave a bat and pad catch to Nick Browne at short leg off Harmer, who, it seems, can dismiss Test batters while reading his morning newspaper. Certainly no-one played him with much confidence today. The extravagantly offered front pads, the hurried defensive prods and the edges through the slips all said the same thing.So just as one might expect, the next Lancashire wicket fell to a seam bowler and owed everything to a batter’s error. For after defending solidly for nearly two hours, Wells pulled a short ball from Cook straight to square leg, where Paul Walter took a good tumbling catch near the ground. Wells nearly keeled over, too; no current batter is more aghast at the death of his innings. He held the bat close to his face and then began his funereal trudge home.Croft and Vilas then put on 78 for the fourth wicket but Westley throwing the ball to Harmer and waiting for the error. It came when Croft, having battled away for 39, top-edged a sweep to Cook behind square. Salt made a pleasant 31 on a day when pleasant 31s were nowhere near Lancashire’s requirements. He fell, caught at the wicket, off Critchley and a three-day finish became possible, then probable, then almost certain.But no. Anderson blocked Harmer’s fifth ball and checked his guard. The clock ticked over to seven o’clock. We’re all back tomorrow.

Alex Hales fifty sets Rockets soaring, Tabraiz Shamsi guides them to victory

Despite Cox’s unbeaten 61, Invincibles can’t recover from losing three wickets in first 35 balls

ECB Reporters Network17-Aug-2022Trent Rockets bounced back from Monday’s defeat at Birmingham Phoenix to make it four Hundred wins from five with a 25-run victory over the Oval Invincibles after Alex Hales had set the night up with some characteristic pyrotechnics in front of his home crowd.Hales’s stunning 59 off 29 balls packed four sixes and six fours and a strike rate of 203.44 to give Rockets the platform to post a challenging 181 for 4, backed up by leading run scorer Dawid Malan’s 38 off 29 and consolidated by skipper Lewis Gregory combining with Colin Munro to add 41 off the last 19 balls.Despite Jordan Cox countering with an unbeaten 61 off 33, Invincibles couldn’t recover from losing their first three wickets for 32 in 35 balls with South African left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi finding a notable degree of turn in taking 2 for 21.Tabraiz Shamsi celebrates the wicket of Jason Roy•ECB/Getty Images

After Rockets were put in, Malan had the six counter ticking from ball four but spent the next 40 largely admiring his teammate as Hales delivered an extraordinary display of his clean hitting skills.Hales, who survived an lbw review first ball, took a particular liking to Sam Curran, plundering three of his four maximums off the left-hander, whom he hammered for 20 runs in one set of five. He had gone past 10,000 career short-format runs in the previous set and looked unstoppable. His fourth six – off Sydney Thunder teammate Mohammad Hasnain – sailed over the roof of the Fox Road stand and into the Nottingham night as his fifty came up off just 22 balls.But after he’d gone for 59, picking out the fielder on the midwicket boundary as Hasnain took his revenge, Rockets lost some momentum and it needed Gregory and Munro’s enterprise at the death to set the Invincibles a testing chase.In between, Malan’s 29-ball 38 had ended when Jason Roy grabbed a very low catch in the covers that needed an umpire review to confirm, Tom Kohler-Cadmore miscued to point and Daniel Sams flicked one straight to deep square leg.The test facing the visitors soon became bigger still. Will Jacks was fresh from his brilliant unbeaten 108 not out last time out but Sam Cook had his number on this occasion, denied his wicket on an lbw review in his first set and watching him survive a top-edged pull before bowling him with a perfect yorker.Roy at least avoided another duck but on 20 from 17 ran into a ripper from Shamsi that knocked back his leg stump. Shamsi had Billings leg before with one that fizzed through three balls later.Curran built himself a start but perished for 27, getting away with a steepler that Tom Moores inexplicably spilled only for the wicketkeeper to redeem himself next ball with a stumping that won instant forgiveness from bowler Samit Patel.It wasn’t the best of nights in the field for the Rockets, with Cox shelled at short third on 32 and Sunil Narine on 16 by the ‘keeper – a difficult one this time – in the same Luke Wood over, but with 66 needed from 20 balls despite Narine launching a free hit over the rope at wide long on, the winning line looked too far away for the Invincibles, despite Cox hitting three sixes.

Northants battle back after McKerr's maiden five

Conor McKerr picked up a maiden five-wicket haul in just his second first-class match but his Derbyshire side ended the first day only even against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road

ECB Reporters Network09-Jun-2017
ScorecardRob Newton’s half-century kept Northamptonshire above water•Getty Images

Conor McKerr picked up a maiden five-wicket haul in just his second first-class match but his Derbyshire side ended the first day only even against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.McKerr, the 19-year-old on loan from Surrey, took 5 for 87 as Derbyshire bowled Northamptonshire out for just 218 before Northants produced a marginally better display with the ball and, through Ben Sanderson and Nathan Buck, reduced the visitors to 108 for 6 before Alex Hughes battled away with an unbeaten half-century to seer his side to the close on 153 for 6, trailing by 65.Derbyshire had suffered a worrying early blow when Luis Reece left the field in the morning session complaining of breathlessness. He was taken to hospital and is being kept overnight at Kettering General.Sanderson struck with the first ball of the Derbyshire reply, trapping makeshift opening Jeevan Mendis lbw. His second spell produced an edge from Gary Wilson that was taken at the second attempt by stand-in wicketkeeper Ben Duckett, and one that came back in to fix Daryn Smit lbw for 4, continuing the South African’s poor form.In between there were poor strokes from Billy Godleman driving loosely and presenting an edge to Alex Wakely at second slip off Rory Kleinvelt, and Shiv Thakor, who made a quick 45 including seven boundaries before flashing outside his off stump and getting a thin edge to Duckett.Thakor’s wicket was the first of the game for Buck, who followed up by winning an lbw verdict against Wayne Madsen, another South African out of touch. But a stand of 43 between Alex Hughes – who went past fifty in 83 balls with five fours – and Tom Taylor, who ate up 48 balls for his 7 not out, battled Derbyshire back into the game.Northants had got themselves back on top, despite having little to play with after a batting effort lacking in discipline to occupy the crease on a green-tinged wicket but not one offering excessive seam movement.Derbyshire arrived buoyed by a near-miss at Trent Bridge last week and, with McKerr to add an edge to their attack, hurried Northants away from 134 for 3 when Rob Newton and Duckett were going very well in a stand of 78 for the fourth wicket.Newton played with fluency, driving confidently and pulling Hughes to the midwicket boundary. A well-timed off-side push brought him a fourth Championship fifty of the summer in 83 balls with seven fours. Only later in the day did his 67 realise its true value.Duckett, returning from England Lions duty, also looked full of confidence and struck two perfect straight drives, then took further boundaries with flourishing strokes through extra-cover off Tony Palladino to reach 36.But it was Palladino who found the breakthrough to begin the collapse. Duckett dragged a cover drive into his stumps and Newton followed three overs later to the same bowler, trying to punch off the back foot and edging to wicketkeeper Smit. Palladino also removed Buck who dabbed at a ball just outside off and got an edge into his stumps.Before Buck’s wicket, McKerr – who removed Wakely and Rob Keogh before lunch – returned to have Josh Cobb splendidly held in the gully by Alex Hughes for a six-ball duck, driving far too loosely outside his off stump, and picked up a fourth wicket with Sanderson held in the gully.The most galling dismissal of the innings was that of Chesney Hughes, playing against his former county. Trying to pull a long hop from part-time offspinner Madsen, he got a miserable top-edge to extra-cover.Kleinveldt lifted two sixes over point and a third over midwicket – all to the short boundary – as Northants limped to a first batting point. Kleinveldt was last man out miscuing a pull that was taken by Smit to hand McKerr a first five-wicket haul.

Faheem Ashraf to join Pakistan squad after clearing rapid antigen test

He had tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, but is now clear to play the Karachi Test

Umar Farooq10-Mar-2022Faheem Ashraf has cleared his rapid antigen test for Covid-19, less than 24 hours after he was found positive for the virus. Ashraf, who had tested positive on Wednesday, was initially supposed to undergo a five-day isolation period, but has now been given the go-ahead to join the Pakistan squad ahead of the second Test against Australia in Karachi.Ashraf, an integral part of the Test side, had missed the first match in Rawalpindi due to a hamstring injury he picked up towards the end of his PSL season with Islamabad United. With him back in the fold, Pakistan will have more balance in their XI, as Ashraf can bat at No.7 and provide handy support to their four-man attack.Ashraf’s absence in the Rawalpindi Test was one of the main reasons Pakistan opted to tweak the pitch, as they looked to nullify Australia’s pace attack.Pakistan called up Iftikhar Ahmed and Naseem Shah in the first Test to cover for the absences of Ashraf and Hasan Ali – the latter, a key member of their pace attack. Hasan missed out because of an adductor strain, which he also picked up during the PSL. Both Iftikhar and Naseem played, though the former — likely a direct replacement for Ashraf – only bowled three overs.With Ashraf joining the squad, Pakistan are confident that Hasan will also be fit for the second Test, allowing them to bring back an opening pair that took over 80 Test wickets in 2021 and were the second and third-highest wicket-takers for the year. The rest of Pakistan’s squad returned negative tests, meaning that Haris Rauf is back in contention for selection. Rauf missed the first Test after testing positive for Covid-19.Ashraf has played 13 Tests at an average of 35.11 scoring 4 half-centuries including his 91 against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui and taking 22 wickets at a bowling average of 34.09.

Non-wide in Mumbai's final over stirs Rohit's emotions

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma was left visibly frustrated after a contentious decision to not call a wide off the third ball of the final over in Mumbai’s chase when 11 were needed to win

Arun Venugopal in Mumbai 25-Apr-20173:17

Hogg: It was a great decision by the umpire

Mumbai Indians needed 17 runs off the last over against Rising Pune Supergiant to complete their seventh straight win in IPL 2017, but their pursuit received a jolt on the first ball as Hardik Pandya holed out to deep extra cover. Their captain Rohit Sharma, though, had piloted Mumbai’s chase up to that point and was intent on seeing things through. With one almighty swing at Jaydev Unadkat’s slower ball, he brought the equation down to 11 off four balls.

Malinga opts for rest

After Lasith Malinga missed his second game in a row, against Rising Pune Supergiant, it has emerged he has taken a break to “work something out” with his bowling according to team-mate Harbhajan Singh.
“It was his call. He felt that he needed some break, he needed to work something out for his own bowling, which is fine,” Harbhajan said. “You need to respect him and give him his space. I am sure when he is going to come back, he is going to break a couple of people’s ankles. We can afford to give rest because we are sitting pretty. We don’t want to take things for granted, but we know that when it is required the most Mali will be right up there with what he does best.”
Earlier in the evening, Harbhajan himself had achieved a personal milestone of 200 T20 wickets and said he was happy to be playing for the same IPL franchise for a decade.
“It’s nice to be taking those 200-odd wickets and still going strong and getting younger by the day by training,” he said. “I am very happy to be playing for Mumbai Indians all these years. You need a lot of time to settle into different teams, different environments. Till the time I am playing, I see myself playing for Mumbai Indians.”

Unadkat’s next delivery was going to be another slower one, but having seen Rohit shuffle across the stumps, he pushed it wide. Rohit, on the other hand, realised that the ball was veering away from the guideline for wide deliveries, and left it alone. However, when umpire S Ravi didn’t call it a wide, Rohit shrugged in disbelief, and remonstrated with Ravi even as the square-leg umpire A Nand Kishore intervened. With 11 needed off three balls now, Rohit miscued a slog and was caught-and-bowled for a 39-ball 58, and eventually Mumbai went down by three runs.In the post-match media interaction, Harbhajan Singh and Ajinkya Rahane, representing Mumbai and Rising Pune respectively, had contrasting views on the legality of the contentious delivery. Neither player, however, felt Rohit’s animated conversation with the umpire was a serious transgression.”I think it was the right call,” Rahane said. “Because, as a batsman when you move [across the stumps], that area outside [the off stump] goes to the bowler. Rohit’s behaviour at that point was natural. As a captain, as a player, when the game is so close, it comes automatically; nobody does it deliberately. I don’t think there was anything wrong with his behaviour, but the umpire’s call was right too, for us.”It happens on the field and remains on the field. In this format, in close games, this will happen in the future as well. You should respect the umpire’s decision as well as whatever Rohit did that was completely natural.”Harbhajan also said Rohit was only checking with the umpire what the rule was. “He didn’t shout at the umpire or ask why it wasn’t given a wide,” he said. “He just wanted to know where he should stand for the wide to be called and he was told that the amount he moves is the amount of margin the bowler gets.”While Harbhajan felt the ball was fairly wide off the guideline, he said the umpire’s decision had to be respected. “I don’t really know if it was actually a wide ball or not,” he said. “I feel if both the legs of the batsmen move across the stumps, then the bowler should get the [benefit of the] margin. But, if you see, only one leg of the batsman went across, so I feel it should have been a wide. But, in the end, whatever is the umpire’s decision we have to move on with it.”Harbhajan, though, didn’t agree with the suggestion that the argument over the wide had led to a loss of momentum for Mumbai.”I don’t think momentum was lost, because Rohit was hitting the ball nicely, but [it was] unfortunate that he ended up hitting the [next] ball straight up in the air,” he said. “Cricket is a game where anything is possible. Just before that he hit a big six and a similar sort of ball went up and he got out. At that point all you need to do as a batsman was see the ball and hit the ball, and Rohit was batting on 50-odd.”While Harbhajan admitted that the penultimate over, where Ben Stokes conceded only seven runs, was crucial, Rahane revealed the thinking behind giving Unadkat the ball in the last over. He said Unadkat was preferred to Shardul Thakur because of his relatively slower pace.”I think after the 19th over when [Steven] Smith, Mahi bhai [MS Dhoni] and I were discussing, we talked about bowling Shardul or Jaydev,” Rahane said. “But we opted to bowl Jaydev because Shardul has quite a bit of pace, and we wanted to take the pace off and not give the batsmen any in the last over.”JD’s pace comparatively is slower than Shardul and his slower ball could be more effective as the wicket was slow. We didn’t want to give them any pace because Rohit was already set. One side [of the ground] was very short, so that was the plan for the last over.”The dismissals of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya were also a result of smart thinking and understanding of angles. Rising Pune had three fielders in the V for Pollard – a long-off almost right behind the bowler in addition to a conventional long-off and long-on – and as many fielders on the bigger off-side boundary for Pandya.”We knew Pollard doesn’t play the lap sweep, so we wanted to keep two fielders straight – one right on the sightscreen and one slightly wider,” Rahane said. “That worked for us. For Hardik, he likes to play over covers and the boundaries were bigger too, so that’s why we brought square leg in and had three fielders on the line on the offside.”

Live Report: England v Pakistan

An archive of our rolling Live Report, featuring news, updates, statistics, graphics and insight from our reporters at Headingley for the second Test

The Live Report by Andrew Miller01-Jun-2018Welcome to our new rolling report. This page will keep you up to date throughout the match, with updates from our team at the ground, stats and graphics, end-of-session reports, and more (if you don’t see the blog immediately, please hit refresh). But don’t worry, you can still follow traditional ball-by-ball commentary as well

Woakes and Barker put seal on astonishing Warwickshire win

In a remarkable end to a dramatic match, Warwickshire skittled Middlesex for 136 at Lord’s to claim their first win of the season in the Specsavers County Championship’s Division One by a thumping 190-run margin.

ECB Reporters Network08-Aug-2017
1:06

County Championship round-up: Warwickshire secure first win

In a remarkable end to a dramatic match, Warwickshire skittled Middlesex for 136 at Lord’s to claim their first win of the season in the Specsavers County Championship’s Division One by a thumping 190-run margin.Chris Woakes, completing a successful comeback from a two-month injury lay-off, took 3 for 38 as he and Keith Barker, who snapped up the first three wickets to fall and finished with 3 for 21, left the Middlesex second innings in ruins.And all this, on a humiliating day for the champions, after Barker and Chris Wright had earlier taken their unlikely ninth-wicket partnership to 97 as Warwickshire, who resumed on 293 for 8, reached 361 in their own second innings to set Middlesex 327 to win on a pitch which had seemingly flattened out following the opening-day carnage of 20 wickets.

Gubbins’ England hopes hit by injury

Nick Gubbins’ hopes of an England call-up appear to be over after suffering a hamstring injury during Middlesex’s defeat at Lord’s.
While Gubbins has not enjoyed the best of seasons – he has scored just one Championship century and is averaging 24.91 – he has a reputation as one of the best players of fast bowling on the circuit and is thought to have the game to flourish on the pitches anticipated in Australia.
With Keaton Jennings enduring a grim series against South Africa and Haseeb Hameed struggling for form, Gubbins had been mentioned as a potential replacement in recent days. He played for England Lions over the winter and only just missed out on selection when Jennings was called-up during the India series.
With England’s squad for the first Investec Test against West Indies scheduled to be named on Friday, it seems Gubbins is unlikely to be considered for a call-up. George Dobell

Middlesex, it is true, were hampered by injuries to openers Nick Gubbins and Sam Robson – Gubbins was forced to come in at No 8 after tearing a hamstring in the field – but the way both their batting and bowling fell away in this game will be of great concern to them.Warwickshire, meanwhile, though they may well remain bottom of Division One when this round of matches is done, are now only 31 points behind Middlesex – who began this game in fifth place – with five matches remaining for both counties in this summer’s campaign.Barker ended up on 62 not out from 109 balls, with eight fours, after resuming on 30 and his stand with Wright, who made an 83-ball 41 before being caught behind off Steven Finn, flourished in a morning session in which the Middlesex bowlers huffed and puffed to little effect.Leg spinner Nathan Sowter then earned himself a maiden first-class wicket by bowling last man Ryan Sidebottom for 1, but by then the damage done was not just to Middlesex’s morale. Gubbins, in attempting to take a sprawling catch off a top-edged Barker hook as he ran in from long leg, hurt himself so badly that he had to be helped from the field by Middlesex’s medical staff.Gubbins was unable to open, meaning Nick Compton was promoted to partner Robson, who used Sowter as a runner as he made 19 despite a leg injury before being first out.Middlesex were 20 without loss at lunch but that proved only to be the calm before the storm. The headlong collapse began at the start of the second over after the interval with Robson pinned leg-before by Barker who then, later in the same over, had Stevie Eskinazi taken at second slip for 2.Left-armer Barker struck again in his next over, this time going around the wicket to surprise Compton with a nasty lifter that he touched to keeper Tim Ambrose to go for 3.And 28 for 3 became 28 for 4 when Woakes nipped one off the seam to have John Simpson leg-before for 4. Ryan Higgins, after one extra cover driven four, was also leg-before to Woakes for 5 in the England all-rounder’s next over, and the same bowler soon breached James Franklin’s defences to bowl the Middlesex captain for 1.From 45 for 6 there were a few defiant blows from Sowter, who had been joined by Gubbins and runner on Franklin’s dismissal, before his 37 ended when he turned the first ball of Sidebottom’s second over straight into the hands of short leg.Middlesex’s tail was cleaned up by off spinner Jeetan Patel and right-arm seamer Sidebottom, who added 2 for 41 to his first innings’ 4 for 29 and completed a memorable championship debut by winning an leg-before appeal against Gubbins on 15 to finish the match. Patel had Tom Helm taken at first slip for 15 and bowled Tim Murtagh for 0 to give himself figures of 2 for 19.A last wicket frolic by No 11 Finn and the injured Gubbins, who added a quickfire 48 with Finn playing some superb shots in his unbeaten 31, provided scant consolation for Middlesex, who for much of the first two days were clear favourites to win this game.For Warwickshire, bowled out for just 126 at the start of the match, this was a significant victory – especially as they had lost five of their previous eight games. Bowling out Middlesex for 161 on a helter-skelter opening day kept them in the contest, and then a gritty second innings batting effort on day two took the sting out of Middlesex’s seam attack.When day three dawned, however, with their lead a seemingly middling 258 on an easing pitch, they could not have dreamed of winning so decisively or so quickly. It is a result which could yet have ramifications for the ultimate destiny of both sides this season.

Raj, Rodrigues help India achieve away-series double

The pair added 98 for the second wicket to set up India’s total of 166, which they defended with aplomb courtesy three wickets each from Shikha Pandey, Rumeli Dhar and Rajeshwari Gayakwad

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Feb-2018Jemimah Rodrigues sports a smile after the practice match•ESPNcricinfo/Annesha Ghosh

A 98-run stand between half-centurion Mithali Raj and Jemimah Rodrigues, followed by an inspired effort by their bowling and fielding units, helped India complete a 54-run win in the fifth T20I and seal a first-ever away-series double. Having won the ODI series 2-1, India clinched the T20I series 3-1, bowling South Africa out for 112 in 18 overs in Cape Town.Having put India in, Marizanne Kapp removed Smriti Mandhana inside the Powerplay. Mandhana’s opening partner Raj, however, pressed on to her third half-century – a 50-ball 62 studded with short-arm pulls, sweeps and cuts that brought her eight fours and three sixes. Keeping her company for 11.3 overs was the 17-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues, whose promotion to No. 3 – which has otherwise been the slot earmarked for captain Harmanpreet Kaur in this series – paid off.Having been reprieved on 15 by wicketkeeper Lizelle Lee, Rodrigues waltzed to a 34-ball 44. Raj and Rodrigues then fell in successive overs, to Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka respectively. India were 134 for 4, with 3.1 overs left. Harmanpreet partnered Veda Krishnamurthy in a brisk 32-run stand, reeling off 27 off 17 balls courtesy a four and two massive sixes that sailed into the leg-side stands. Krishnamurthy pinched eight off the six balls she faced, before being run-out off the final ball of the innings as India finished on 166 for 4.India’s momentum, gathered through the closing overs of their innings, was kept going by their quick-bowling troika of Pooja Vastrakar, Shikha Pandey and Rumeli Dhar, who reduced the hosts to 22 for 3 inside six overs. While Vastrakar opened with a maiden over, Dhar accounted for both openers – Dane van Niekerk her first wicket upon returning to international cricket after a six-year hiatus.Pandey subsequently sent back Sune Luus, followed by the wickets of Mignon du Preez and Nadine de Klerk in the space of three balls in the ninth over. Half the South African line-up had been sniped out for 44. Chloe Tryon tried resuscitating the chase, hitting two sixes, but could not go beyond a 17-ball 25 as she holed out off Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Harmanpreet completed a regulation catch at long-off and blew a kiss as a follow-up act.That three of South Africa’s partnerships ended in the twenties, the highest being a seventh-wicket stand of 29 between Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp, underlined their inability to deal with the lack of pace from the Indian attack, aided by some agile fielding. While Harmanpreet and Mandhana prevented at least three fours by throwing themselves around near the rope, Rodrigues pulled off a stunner at the deep-square leg boundary to send back Kapp for a 21-ball 27. Rodriguez’s two-handed back-arch-and-leap act gave Dhar her third wicket before Gayakwad took out the tail; both finished with identical returns of 3 for 26, though Gayakwad bowled one over less.

West Indies to host South Africa ahead of Women's World Cup qualifiers

Antigua to host three T20Is and five ODIs starting August 31

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Aug-2021South Africa Women will tour the Caribbean for three T20Is and five ODIs starting August 31. The tour serves as preparation for both teams, with just seven months to go for the 50-over World Cup in New Zealand.All the matches will be played in Antigua. While the T20Is and the first two ODIs will be hosted by the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, the remaining three ODIs will be played at the Coolidge Cricket Ground.”It’s fantastic to be able to announce our schedule to the West Indies,” head coach Hilton Moreeng said. “A timely coming back for us to competitive cricket after a lengthy period without game time.”Every ODI series for us carries even more weight as we have our sights firmly set on the cricket showpiece that will be taking place next year, and I believe it is just as important for our hosts as they strive towards qualification for the ICC Women’s World Cup.”South Africa last played an international series in India in March, when they won both the limited-overs series in Lucknow. However, a number of top players have had game-time lately. Mignon du Preez, Laura Woolvardt, Shabnim Ismail, Dane van Niekerk, Chloe Tryon and Lizelle Lee are all currently part of The Hundred in England.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In comparison, West Indies are coming off a victorious limited-overs series at home against Pakistan in July. The upcoming series will help them prepare for the World Cup global qualifiers to be held in Zimbabwe this December, after failing to secure a direct entry for the World Cup.West Indies will have their third High Performance training camp, under head coach Courtney Walsh, as part of their preparations for the series. Three of their top players – Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews – are part of The Hundred competition in England, and will likely join the squad ahead of the series.”We are delighted to have more cricket on the horizon as this will be a vital part of our preparations for the ICC World Cup Qualifiers,” Walsh said. “We are at a crucial juncture as we prepare for this big event and again, we want to thank CWI for organising this camp to get the girls up to speed.”We were fantastic against Pakistan last month and we want to bring that winning momentum into this series of matches as well. We are going in the right direction, with the way we want. There is a lot to play for and we will be up for the challenge.”

Maxwell named Kings XI Punjab captain

The Australian allrounder takes over the role from M Vijay, who was appointed captain midway through the last season

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-20170:51

Quick Facts – Maxwell to be Kings XI Punjab’s 10th IPL captain

Glenn Maxwell has been named Kings XI Punjab captain for the tenth season of the IPL, which starts on April 5. The Australian allrounder takes over the role from M Vijay, who was appointed captain midway through the last season. Kings XI had dropped David Miller as captain in favour of Vijay after the side had lost five of their first six games in 2016.The move did not stop Kings XI from finishing last for the second successive season. Maxwell has never captained in the 338 matches he has played across formats and has been picked for the role ahead of Eoin Morgan, who led England to the World T20 final in 2016, and Darren Sammy, who captained West Indies to two T20 World Cup titles.Maxwell has had an underwhelming last two seasons in the IPL, managing 324 runs in 22 matches with only two fifties. In 2014, though, he had played a pivotal role – racking up 552 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 187.75 – in Kings XI’s run to their maiden final.In addition to a new captain, Kings XI will have a new second home this season, with Indore’s Holkar Stadium set to host three matches: on April 8 (v Rising Pune Supergiant), April 10 (v Royal Challengers Bangalore) and April 20 (v Mumbai Indians). The Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali will stage the rest of Kings XI’s home matches.

Game
Register
Service
Bonus