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A ninth-wicket partnership between Keith Barker and Jeetan Patel gave Warwickshire the momentum, which they maintained by reducing Yorkshire to 148 for 7

Jon Culley at Headingley04-Aug-2013
ScorecardChris Woakes took four wickets to take his match tally to seven•Getty Images

Andrew Gale’s disappointment at letting a strong position slip away to hand Warwickshire the chance to claim a third straight win would have been felt more sharply had events elsewhere not favoured Yorkshire. Derbyshire’s surprise win at Hove guarantees his side stay top, while Durham’s defeat at Lord’s leaves the title rival whose results were concerning them most with some ground to make up. Moreover, he left the ground in steady rain, which he will not have minded at all if it is a foretaste of what lies ahead on the final day.Even so, it had been a poor day compared with the opening two, beginning with a sloppy opening session for which Gale could offer no excuse, not least because he was guilty of one of two bad drops that enabled Jeetan Patel to score 63 when he should have been out on 37 or 42. Jack Brooks spilled the first chance, on the square leg boundary, and Gales the second, at short midwicket. Adil Rashid, the legspinner, was the bowler feeling the pain.Those chances came during a stand of 99 between Patel and Keith Barker, who played some fine cricket shots in making 49 and felt he was unlucky to be given run out as he came back for a second to a firm stroke through cover off Rashid retrieved by Brooks. Patel, with less finesse, hit 10 fours and a six over long-on off Ryan Sidebottom that gave Warwickshire an unexpected lead.It was the kind of turnaround that gives one side a fillip and creates uncertainty for the other and it was no surprise in that respect that the eight overs Yorkshire had to negotiate before lunch brought more problems as Chris Woakes removed both their openers. Alex Lees, failing to move his feet, edged to third slip before Adam Lyth, playing across a full length ball, was leg-before.Yorkshire fought back after lunch, Gale seeking to make amends for his drop and Gary Ballance continuing to enjoy his run of form. They added 76 before Gale, trying to adjust to extra bounce, fended a ball from Boyd Rankin that looped to William Porterfield at gully.Yet more wastefulness followed as Rashid, whose early season form with the bat seems to have deserted him, fell to a poor attempted hook and Azeem Rafiq – batting despite a damaged wrist – was caught off bat and pad. When Ballance was bowled by a full-length ball from Woakes off an inside edge, Warwickshire were again firmly in control. Woakes then had Liam Plunkett caught behind – much to the obvious anger of the batsman, who was adamant he had not hit the ball – to finish the day with 4 for 31.When bad light and then rain curtailed play early, Yorkshire’s advantage looked dangerously small at 141, raising the prospect that Warwickshire might need less than half a day to forge a path to victory, should the weather be kind to them. If they pull it off, the gap between themselves and Yorkshire will be 21 points.”We were not at our best this morning, it was uncharacteristic,” Gale said afterwards. “We missed a couple of easy chances, my own included, and we did not bowl well enough, and we probably took a bit of that into our batting.”It would have been nice to be four or five down rather than seven but if we can get anything over 200 I think it will be game on tomorrow. And if there is rain about, results elsewhere have gone for us and it might be one of those days you look back on and think that things have gone our way even though we didn’t play well.”

Cape Cobras had the best bowler – Mthokozisi Shezi with 5 for 34 – and the top scorer of the game – Wayne Parnell with 74 not out – but they still fell 12 short of Warriors in East London

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2015
ScorecardCape Cobras had the best bowler – Mthokozisi Shezi with 5 for 34 – and the top scorer of the game – Wayne Parnell with 74 not out – but they still fell 12 short of Warriors in East London.Warriors cobbled together a total of 153 for 8 after choosing to bat, the innings stuttering as only three batsmen made it past 20. JJ Smuts’ unbeaten 61 off 40 balls was their best score, while Colin Ackerman’s 34 was second highest. Shezi ran through the middle and lower order, striking twice in two different overs to cripple the innings.Cobras opened with Parnell once again and he made 74 off 60 balls, batting through the innings. He got very little support though and there was a steady fall of wickets at the other end. Justin Kemp’s 20 was the next best score for Cobras and a low scoring rate deprived the chase of momentum. Five Warriors bowlers picked up wickets, with Andrew Birch returning best figures of 3 for 28.

Test victories do not come easy for an underdog striving to cause an upset, and Younis Khan capitalised on his reprieves to bury Zimbabwe’s chances with his fourth double-century

The Report by George Binoy06-Sep-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsYounis Khan and Adnan Akmal steered Pakistan out of trouble with a century stand•AFP

Margins of error are miniscule for an underdog striving to cause an upset in a Test, and Younis Khan capitalised on his reprieves to bury Zimbabwe’s chances with his fourth double-century. He set the hosts the challenge of making their highest total in the fourth innings, in a little over three sessions, on a wearing pitch, against an attack led by Saeed Ajmal. Battling for a draw, the more realistic objective, was demanding in itself.Zimbabwe had hope at the start of the day. Pakistan were 90 ahead and four down, and Tendai Chatara bowled Asad Shafiq in the first over. Another wicket in the next few overs would have exposed Pakistan’s tail just around when the second new ball was available. Younis, however, found reliable company in Adnan Akmal, whose career-best 64 was the larger contribution in their 118-run partnership that swung the Test.Zimbabwe had an early opportunity too, but they were left wondering what could have been if only they had taken it. On 83, in the first half-hour, off the first ball of the 76th over bowled by Hamilton Masakadza, Younis slashed and edged. Tino Mawoyo was not low enough at first slip, and the ball scurried between his legs.There were no more chances in the first session. The new ball was given to Chatara and Tinashe Panyangara, and though they were disciplined, the pitch was placid and there were no alarms barring the odd delivery that held its line to beat Akmal’s bat.Younis slowed down against the new ball, and he eventually brought up his century by flicking the last delivery of the 85th over to the boundary. He did not play another rash shot but soon began to score more briskly, while Akmal broke stretches of defence with the occasional boundary, including a reverse sweep.Zimbabwe did not go to pieces but the bite in their bowling was not as sharp and run-scoring was largely risk-free. At the end of the first session, Pakistan were ahead by180 and Zimbabwe had only one wicket to show for their morning’s effort.After the break, Younis and Akmal remained content with blocking. The first ten overs post lunch produced only nine runs and during that time Younis, on 117, slashed at Hamilton Masakadza once again, and once again he was dropped, this time by Malcolm Waller at gully. Pakistan’s lead had not yet got out of hand, but Younis ensured it did.Akmal brought up his third Test half-century and made 64, a personal best. He struck the first boundary of the second session, pulling Hamilton Masakadza, only in the 111th over. Younis, meanwhile, scored only three runs in the first hour but if his slow strike-rate was bothering him, there was no evidence of it. The key player in keeping the scoring down was Panyangara, who finished the innings with 14 maidens in 30 overs.The wicket, when it finally came, was via a run-out. No other mode of dismissal seemed likely and even this error was out of the blue. Both batsmen were guilty of ball-watching after Akmal played to deep point and turned for the second without looking at his partner. The partnership had taken the lead beyond 200.Pakistan had only scored 51 between lunch and tea and so when four wickets fell in a clutch – three to Prosper Utseya – Zimbabwe could have limited their target to around 250. Their bowlers, however, were tiring and Younis, batting with the last man Rahat Ali, began to open up. After passing 150, he began to slog sweep to the boundary and play the reverse of that shot too. And once he realised Rahat was making clean contact, striking several blows to and over the boundary, he didn’t bother with farming strike.The question remained about when Pakistan would declare and the longer they left it the more likely it seemed that Younis would be given the chance to score a double-hundred. Eventually, with ten overs remaining, Misbah-ul-Haq signalled from the dressing room that he had one more over. Three balls later Younis mowed one over the midwicket boundary and left the field with arms raised in triumph. His last-wicket stand of 88 with Rahat had set Zimbabwe a target of 342.The day, which had begun so promisingly, got worse for Zimbabwe. Their openers survived seven of the remaining eight overs unscathed but Saeed Ajmal spun one into Tino Mawoyo’s pads, trapping him plumb in front. Ajmal now has eight wickets in the Test, and has nine more tomorrow from which he can swell his tally.

“I look forward to that challenge and test my body, physically and mentally”

Alex Malcolm24-Jan-2022Keeping wicket and opening the batting in Test cricket has been, arguably, the toughest juggling act in the history of the game, but Alyssa Healy is adamant that she wants to do the job again in the women’s Ashes Test starting on Thursday in Canberra.Healy has opened in her last two Test matches, but her returns across the four innings have given a clear indication of how difficult the task of opening and keeping is in the longest format. She made 58 in her first Test innings as an opener in the 2019 Ashes but it was the first innings of the match, giving her the chance to start fresh. She then kept 107 overs before walking straight back out to bat, and made 13 in the second innings.Related

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In her last Test, against India earlier this summer, Australia fielded first and Healy kept for 145 overs before walking out to bat under lights against the pink ball. She made 29 from 66 deliveries and then made just 6 in the fourth innings after keeping for 37 more overs in the third innings of the match.”There’s obviously ongoing chats about it,” Healy said. “I think the approach we took in that last Test match we played was we’ll see how we go. I mean, if things don’t quite go to plan, we’re out in the field for an extended period of time and I am feeling fatigued then we make that call on the fly and maybe I don’t open the batting. But I’m always going to stick my hand up and say I’m ready to go and ready to contribute whether that be at the top of the order or with the gloves, so I’m sure it will be okay.”Hopefully, we get the full four days in and I’m out there for all four days. I look forward to that challenge and test my body, physically and mentally. The chats are being had but at this point in time, considering it’s such a one-off event for us, I want to be involved as much as I can.”Only five wicketkeepers in the history of women’s Test cricket have averaged more than 30 while opening the batting, with England’s Betty Snowball the only one to average more than 40. Snowball is the only women’s player to make 400 runs in the dual role, averaging 66.57 with one century and three half-centuries.Betty Snowball keeping during England’s tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1934-35•National Library of Australia

Only six wicketkeepers in the history of men’s Test cricket have made more than 400 runs opening the batting with India’s Budhi Kunderan the only one of those to average more than 40 (43.46).Healy has had remarkable success opening the batting in the shorter formats and suggested that it remained, to her mind, the best place to bat in in Test cricket too.”I still think opening the batting is the best time to bat in any format,” Healy said. “It’s going to be a little bit tricky, obviously with the new red ball, but I’m looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge that the England attack are going to throw at us.”Healy was keen for some time in the middle coming off one of her leanest WBBL campaigns. In her last nine matches, including in the WBBL, the WNCL and the first T20I against England, she has only reached double-figures four times and passed 20 once, scoring 51 for NSW against Victoria.But Healy does have a history of coming off lean spells and delivering on the big stage, having starred in the 2020 T20 World Cup after a horror spell in the lead-in.”I’m actually a little bit quietly excited about the opportunities of some slightly longer-format cricket, obviously the Test match and then the one-dayers leading into a World Cup,” Healy said. “I feel like everything’s back where it should be for me at the crease, and whilst it may or may not have looked like it in the first T20, I feel like I’m in a really good place with my batting again.”So I’m really excited for the opportunity to spend a bit of time out in the middle and, hopefully, get my team into a really good position to win whether it be a Test match or a one-dayer.”The identity of Healy’s opening partner remained a mystery, with Beth Mooney pushing to be fit to play despite fracturing her jaw last week. Rachael Haynes has also put her hand up to open, after having missed the Test against India because of a hamstring injury.”Absolutely no idea. We haven’t even had that discussion yet. We were just trying to get through these T20s. I don’t know the chat around Moons, I’m not really sure where they’re at with her, whether or not she’s playing, not going to play, likely to play, so I can’t really answer that question,” Healy said. “But I’ve got no doubt that we’ve got a lot of coverage here and obviously with the Aussie A squad around, someone would come in and do a really good job. Whoever it might be, I’ll just welcome them to the crease like I did Meg [Lanning] the other night.”

The trip is expected to be approved by the CA board on Friday

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2022Australia remain confident a near full-strength squad will tour Pakistan with only a few players still holding security fears.Cricket Australia’s board is expected to approve its first tour to the country in 24 years on Friday, happy with the pre-trip security briefing.There were suggestions as recently as last week there was trepidation from some players over the trip, after a reported recent rise in terror attacks.But captain Pat Cummins on Thursday confirmed most players were comfortable with the tour going ahead, while understanding and accepting a few may not make the trip.Related

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“I think we’ll get close to a full-strength squad,” Cummins said. “There is still a little bit of work to do. We have received a lot of information and it has been great. All the pre-tour security and biosecurity work has been done and it’s been fantastic.”There are a couple of players still keen to get a bit more information but everyone is really pumped and feeling relatively comfortable. If anyone doesn’t make the tour it is absolutely okay, we will back them for sure.”Australia’s players are scheduled to leave the country in a little over three weeks, ahead of the first Test in Karachi from March 3. Matches will follow in Rawalpindi and Lahore provided CA approves of the current schedule.The tour will mark Australia’s first overseas Test since the 2019 and is one three subcontinent tour which form their away series in the current World Test Championship. They are due to tour Sri Lanka in the middle of the year and then India in early 2023.Cummins admitted he was unsure how selectors would squeeze down the Test XI, with Scott Boland making a case to keep his spot in the fast-bowling cartel.Josh Hazlewood is also due back from injury, while Australia have already made the call to rest Jhye Richardson.David Warner and Mitchell Marsh were rested from the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka with a view to the Pakistan tour.Complicating the matter further is uncertainty around the resumption of the Sheffield Shield before the tour, with Western Australia’s closed border threatening to leave them sidelined.Selectors are also unsure whether to pick a squad for traditional spinning subcontinent wickets or greener decks, with Pakistan’s best bowlers since returning home mostly quicks.”I thought about it yesterday for the first time and thought that will be a tough decision,” Cummins said. “They usually have a way of working themselves out.”We’ll have a squad of 15 who did really well in the Ashes. Crystal ball, I have no idea.  I don’t even know what the wickets are going to look like over there.”

The pair added an unbeaten 91 for the third wicket before the entire third session was called off due to bad light

Danyal Rasool04-Dec-2021Stumps Pakistan saw off a tricky period just before lunch to end the first day, curtailed by rain and bad light, on top. Babar Azam and Azhar Ali steadied a ship that had been rocked by Taijul Islam before lunch, batting through either side of a brief rain delay to deny the hosts any further wickets before tea. The Pakistan captain brought up a fluid half-century while Azhar’s innings was more of a battling knock as he shuffled on to 36 in 112 balls. With the light fading, no further play was possible, meaning Pakistan had managed to get up to 161 for the loss of just the openers, and the chance to put together an impregnable first innings score.The morning session was one of two halves as Pakistan made steady progress in the first hour, only for Bangladesh’s spinners to strike back in the second. On an overcast day in Dhaka, where Pakistan opted to bat first, openers Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique eased to their third successive fifty partnership. This time, however, they could not convert it to three figures, thanks to probing spells from Taijul Islam and Shakib Al Hasan. Taijul was the man to take both wickets, knocking back the openers’ stumps as Pakistan, who had been going along at almost four runs per over for much of the first hour, scratched their way to 78 for 2 at lunch.Pakistan had appeared untroubled against the fast bowlers to start off, with the overcast conditions not accompanied by the sideways movement Bangladesh’s pacers might have hoped those weather conditions brought. Unlike in Chattogram, where Abid and Shafique were perhaps guilty of being too passive in terms of the scoring rate, the pair pushed ahead more forcefully, regularly putting away poor deliveries, refusing to let Ebadot Hossain and Khaled Ahmed settle.It was unsurprising to see Taijul introduced after just ten overs, but even with spin operating, Pakistan’s openers refused to be bogged down initially. Shafique pulled Taijul away over square leg off just his fourth delivery, while Abid clipped Shakib through the leg side next over. The shot of the morning was when Shafique skipped down the ground to gracefully deposit Taijul over long-off for a glorious six to bring up the fifty partnership, but around that time, the momentum was subtly beginning to shift.The next 25 balls saw only six runs scored, and off the 26th, Bangladesh had their man. Taijul landed one on a length that lured Shafique into the forward press to play for the spin, but the ball carried on with the arm and pierced through the gap and into the stumps. The first ball to Azhar Ali tested him similarly, even if it didn’t get his wicket, and Bangladesh were suddenly prowling.With the spinners stifling Pakistan and every run a battle, Abid saw his defences breached, too. As with Shafique, he failed to read the arm ball, bringing his bat down on one a shade too late, to find he had chopped it on.The skies remained dark and overcast after lunch, and the second session began with real optimism for the home side. With Azhar Ali struggling to cope with the bounce and turn, and Babar in a relatively indifferent patch of red-ball form by his standards, Bangladesh will have sniffed a chance to expose a suddenly fragile middle order.It wasn’t to be, though. After Azhar and Babar steeled out the best part of an hour, the rains arrived. The 25-minute break appeared to sap momentum from the home side, and Babar’s fluency was on full display thereafter. Khaled Ahmed had the chance to hold on to a difficult chance on the boundary when Babar took the aerial route, but that was spurned and the batter followed up with a more authoritative pull towards midwicket.Azhar Ali swept Mehidy for a boundary next over, and a little clip to fine leg brought Babar Azam his half-century thereafter. Bangladesh continued to probe, Shakib in particular flighting the ball in search of grip, but Pakistan had begun to take over by now.But so had the clouds after tea. The umpires deemed it too dark for play to continue, meaning no further play was possible. The next four days will have early starts, though with rain expected to be a factor over much of the weekend, how much play is possible remains to be seen.

Sir Richard Hadlee says the current group of players was New Zealand’s “best in our history”

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-20213:08

Manjrekar: ‘This team has more world-class players than any NZ team previously’

Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has admitted it was difficult to believe that the team would end their run of near-misses in world events on the final day against India in Southampton while Sir Richard Hadlee lauded the current generation as the country’s greatest ever team.In the end New Zealand reached their target with eight wickets and time to spare deep in the final session of the match, but for most of the day the tension was palpable. For a little while it appeared Tim Southee’s miss at slip against Rishabh Pant could prove costly and then R Ashwin removed both openers in quick succession in the sort of small chase McCullum termed “horrible.”However, after Ross Taylor had been spilled at slip off Jasprit Bumrah with 55 needed, the target was brought into view by increasingly confident batting from him and captain Kane Williamson before Taylor whipped a boundary off his pads to earn New Zealand the mace.Related

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“I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet,” McCullum told SEN radio. “Overnight the game was on a bit of a knife-edge – it almost had that feeling of the previous two World Cups, get close but we won’t quite get across the line. But for them to have been able to manufacture a result against the weather and a very formidable Indian side, to do it on the biggest stage is quite superb.”I’m sure over the coming days, weeks even years we’ll look back at this moment and be so proud of what Kane’s men have been able to achieve and the heights they’ve been able to scale. For a country with pretty limited resources it is pretty amazing really and to do it against the powerhouse of world cricket on the biggest stage is something that makes it more satisfying.”Hadlee, New Zealand’s leading Test wicket-taker, added significant weight to the debate about where Williamson’s team sits in the history of the game.”The whole team has shown a high degree of professionalism. Their skill sets have complimented each other to make them a complete playing unit,” Hadlee said in a statement through NZC. “The management and support staff have also played important roles in preparing players to perform at the highest level.”Over the years NZC have built a significant depth of players, which makes us one of the most competitive teams in world cricket. It’s fair to say that this current group of players is the best in our history.”Job done, New Zealand soak in the victory•ICC/Getty Images

New Zealand’s first task of the final day was to take eight India wickets and they were given the ideal start when Kyle Jamieson, who was later named Player of the Match, removed Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara in quick succession.”I thought the captaincy of Kane Williamson to throw the ball to Kyle Jamieson, against previous routines, at the start of the day’s play was a bit of a masterstroke,” McCullum said. “His height and release point, they measure up so well against the Indian batters. He was able to get the openings and once that happened it really started to sense the belief among the group.”McCullum, who captained New Zealand to the final of the 2015 World Cup, was also delighted that it was Williamson and Taylor at the crease for the winning moment.”Those chases are horrible – 140 seems like a mountain of runs, especially when you know what the carrot is at the end,” he said. “Thought it was really fitting to see New Zealand’s two greats, really, when you talk batting, to see [them] home. There was a bit of luck and good fortune along the way but in this game you are entitled to a little bit if you keep banging the door down.”You could see on the faces of Kane and Ross just how much it meant to them and how satisfying to finally be able to climb that ladder.”

The ninth-wicket stand of 191 between the pair was the second-highest for that wicket in Test history

Mohammad Isam08-Jul-2021 Zimbabwe 114 for 1 (Taylor 37*, Kaitano 33*) trail Bangladesh 468 (Mahmudullah 150*, Das 95, Ahmed 75, Muzarabani 3-72) by 354 runsCareer-best scores from Mahmudullah and Taskin Ahmed, during their 191-run ninth wicket stand, gave Bangladesh a formidable platform of 468 runs on the second day of the one-off Test in Harare. But Zimbabwe made a superb start in their reply, going to stumps on 114 for 1, batting out 41 overs.Openers Milton Shumba and debutant Takudzwanashe Kaitano added 61 for the opening stand before captain Brendan Taylor saw off the remaining overs with the debutant Kaitano. Taylor was unbeaten on 37 off 46 balls, while Kaitano was at the other end, solid on 33 off 117 balls.But the day would be remembered for Mahmudullah and Taskin, who now hold the second-highest ninth-wicket stand in Test history. They broke the Bangladesh record of 184 runs for the ninth wicket between Mahmudullah and Abul Hasan in 2012.Mahmudullah made 150 off 278 with 17 fours and a six. Ahmed’s 75 was a bigger surprise, but he played like one of the proper batters, hitting eleven fours in his 134-ball knock.To their credit, Kaitano and Shumba saw off the new ball threat. They got a couple of boundaries early but when Shumba swept Shakib Al Hasan for two fours in the 13th over, it was the first sign of intent. Kaitano got a four with the sweep too, but he kept himself quiet at the other end. Shumba struck two more fours before one too many sweep attempts brought his end. He fell lbw to Shakib, having made 41 off 83 balls with seven fours.Taylor kicked off things with a chipped straight drive off Shakib and a slog-sweep of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, using all of his 17-year experience to stave off any late pressure from the visitors.Earlier in the day, Bangladesh added 174 runs, in 43 overs, to their overnight score of 294 for 8 in 83 overs. Mahmudullah and Taskin had been batting together since late on the first evening after Donald Tiripano’s two late wickets. Bangladesh would have been happy if they got to 300 runs but by the time the pair were separated on the second day, the visitors were sitting on a dominant total.The turning point was a strange one. Ahmed’s face-to-face tangle with Blessing Muzarabani on the second morning sparked him into steadily bringing down the big fast bowler. Ahmed struck seven fours off Muzarabani, taking him for 39 runs off the 50 balls he faced from him.It was all Mahmudullah needed to bat normally. He latched onto anything short offered by the Zimbabwe bowlers, often dispatching them on the leg-side boundary. With a pair of fours through the covers, Mahmudullah reached his fifth Test century.Ahmed got to his maiden Test fifty shortly afterwards, taking 69 balls, as Zimbabwe looked out of ideas. Captain Taylor rotated his four-pronged pace attack, but when they couldn’t get him the breakthrough, it was harder for the part-timers like Roy Kaia or Milton Shumba.Shumba did ironically break the Mahmudullah-Ahmed partnership, but Muzarabani stood out with his four-wicket haul, while Donald Tiripano and Victor Nyauchi took two each.