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Spinner takes six wickets to help West Indies inflict an innings defeat on Zimbabwe

Abhimanyu Bose14-Feb-2023Gudakesh Motie spun West Indies to a 1-0 series win as they wrapped up the second Test against Zimbabwe by an innings and four runs.Motie, playing his third Test, returned figures of 7 for 37 and 6 for 62 as West Indies won the match convincingly inside three days, despite rain wiping out large durations on the second and third days. His figures of 13 for 99 are also the best in a Test match by a West Indies spinner, as he went past Sonny Ramadhin’s 11 for 152 against England in 1950.Despite good performances by Victor Nyauchi, Innocent Kaia and captain Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe succumbed to a big defeat, with their batting line-up faltering in the absence of Gary Ballance, who missed the game due to a migraine headache.Related

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Play started late on day three due to a wet outfield and once it did, Nyauchi made an instant impact, getting Jason Holder to nick off with the first delivery of the day.Motie, the other overnight batter, soon became Nyauchi’s fifth victim as he found deep midwicket with a pull as West Indies added just two runs to their total, taking a 177-run lead. It was Nyauchi’s first five-wicket haul in Tests.For the second time in the match, Kaia was off the blocks quickly, hitting three fine strokes for boundaries in the first two overs. But Alzarri Joseph gave West Indies the first breakthrough in the third over as Tanunurwa Makoni edged behind, looking to play an expansive drive.Then, the first bowling change brought a wicket, with Chamu Chibhabha chopping on off Holder’s bowling in the seventh over.Kaia, Zimbabwe’s best batter in the first innings, continued to chip away at West Indies’ lead, even hitting Holder for three consecutive boundaries.Ervine held down one end as Kaia scored 30 of the 41 runs that they made for the third wicket.When Motie came out to bowl, Kaia immediately started attacking him with the sweep, but looked less in control than he was against the pacers. Kaia and Ervine saw Zimbabwe reach lunch at 46 for 2. In the third over after lunch, Kaia finally fell to the sweep, as he got a thin top edge that Joshua Da Silva held on to after a small juggling act.Innocent Kaia got off to strong starts but failed to convert them•AP

He fell seven runs short of a half-century, after being dismissed for 38 in the first innings.Ervine then shed his defensive approach to keep the scoreboard ticking, even as Motie castled Milton Shumba and Tafadzwa Tsiga in quick succession to complete his first Test 10-wicket haul.Gabriel further dented Zimbabwe’s ambitions when he got one to sneak under Donald Tiripano’s bat to uproot the off-stump.Ervine then brought up his half-century off 73 deliveries with a reverse-sweep off Motie.Motie soon struck again as Wellington Masakadza gifted a simple catch to forward short leg as he came out of the crease to defend.West Indies would have hoped to wrap things up quickly, but Ervine and Brandon Mavuta held firm to see Zimbabwe reach 158 for 7 at tea, with the deficit whittled down to 19 runs.Zimbabwe then took seven off the first over after tea, bowled by Joseph, to bring the deficit down to 11 runs. But Chase had Mavuta caught at forward short leg with the first ball of the next over to give West Indies another opening.Motie came back into the attack immediately and was quick to wrap the game up.He trapped Ervine lbw for 72 – Zimbabwe’s highest score in the match – as he played back to a length ball that spun in and stayed low before getting the ball to spin past an advancing Nyauchi for Da Silva to complete a simple stumping.

Bangladesh’s spinners did their job, setting up a modest chase, but no batter apart from Nigar Sultana came good

Srinidhi Ramanujam11-Jul-2023Bangladesh lost their last five wickets in the space of eight deliveries to fall eight short of India’s 95, giving India an unbeatable 2-0 series lead in the T20I series being played in Dhaka.Deepti Sharma and Minnu Mani spun a web around Bangladesh, with the two offspinners combining for five wickets, before Shafali Verma bowled an excellent last over with the game still in the balance.India escaped the blushes after posting only 95 for 8, their lowest total in T20Is against Bangladesh.In the chase, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana threatened to take the game away from India, with a responsible 55-ball 38, but was dismissed in the penultimate over with the team needing ten off eight balls.Shafali then picked up three wickets in the final over – which also featured a run-out – to finish the game.Overall, there were 35 overs of spin bowled in the match – the joint-second-highest in a women’s T20I, and 16 wickets fell to spinners.Fahima Khatun was outstanding on the day, returning 2 for 16 from her four overs•Raton Gomes/BCB

India made to toil for runs

When Harmanpreet Kaur decided to bat first, she conceded that the team was looking to post 150 and defend it with spin, with the game being played on the same track as the first T20I. However, from having an opening stand of 33 in just 4.1 overs, India suffered a batting collapse and then huffed and puffed to 95 for 8.Varma started aggressively, hitting three fours in a row off pacer Marufa Akther – the only seamer used by Banglades. Then just when Smriti Mandhana seemed to get going, with a four each in the fourth and fifth overs, she fell to Nahida Akther’s slow left-arm spin, missing the length looking for a slog sweep. One down became three down in the final over of the powerplay when offspinner Sultana Khatun dismissed Shafali and Harmanpreet in two successive balls. She then picked up the wicket of Harleen Deol to end with 3 for 21. Fahima Khatun, meanwhile, returned 2 for 16.India toiled for runs throughout the game – there was not a single boundary from overs six to 13 – with Bangladesh spinners utilising their familiarity of conditions to tie the visitors down. Jemimah Rodrigues and Deol consumed 21 balls each to increase the tempo but couldn’t reach double digits. Amanjot Kaur, at No.8, notched up two boundaries in her 17-ball 14 to somewhat lift India.Bangladesh, on the other hand, were also excellent in the field, evident when Shorna Akther took a low running catch to remove Yastika Bhatia and then when Sobana Mostary back-pedaled to take a stunning catch to send Amanjot back.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Nigar’s resistance and India’s spin show

On a ‘spin to win’ surface, Harmanpreet used five spinners, including part-timers Rodrigues and Shafali to exert pressure. Overall, India bowled 19 overs of spin, with Pooja Vastrakar bowling just the solitary over. Minnu, playing her second international game, bowled four overs on the trot, including a maiden to finish with outstanding figures of 2 for 9. She removed opener Shamima Sultana in the second over of the chase, with a full delivery outside off stump, inducing a top edge to short fine leg. Ritu Moni became her second victim when she trapped her lbw, in the eighth.With the experienced Deepti operating too, India kept a lid on Bangladesh with regular wickets. Deepti scalped two and conceded just eight runs from her first three overs before taking the big wicket of Nigar in her final over.Barring Nigar, Bangladesh struggled to find runs easily. Nigar was calculative in her innings, to just rotate the strike and keep the scorecard ticking. Having lost four early wickets, she stitched a crucial 34-run partnership with Shorna and then put on 22 runs with Nahida for the fifth and sixth wicket, respectively. With 14 needed off 12 and five wickets in hand, Bangladesh were still in the game.But then came Deepti. After getting two lives – a catch was dropped, and a stumping chance was missed – Nigar was stumped by Yastika when she charged down the track and missed. When the equation came down to ten from six, Bangladesh fell like a pack of cards, losing four wickets in the 20th to hand India the series.

Jaydev Unadkat’s all-round performance kept Saurashtra in the fight, but they couldn’t recover from their first-innings collapse

PTI04-Oct-2022Kuldeep Sen picked up the last two Saurashtra wickets in a hurry on the fourth morning, using his pace and the steep bounce on offer to good effect. He ended with 5 for 94 for the innings and a match haul of 8 for 135 as Rest of India won by eight wickets to lift the Irani Cup for the 29th time.Saurashtra gave a much better account of their batting ability in their second innings, after being bowled out for 98 in the first, but they could only set Rest of India a 105-run target with almost two days of play left. The runs were knocked off in a little over a session-and-a-half, with Abhimanyu Easwaran remaining unbeaten on 63 while adding 81 runs for the third wicket with KS Bharat, who scored 27.”We crumbled under the conditions. It wasn’t a typical Rajkot wicket,” Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat said after the game. “We had to be in the game in that session and we couldn’t do it. It was about an extraordinary performance from someone who could have pulled out of that situation, didn’t happen but we fought till the end.”The star of the day, and the Saurashtra second innings, was Sen. He bowled a fast and full delivery to trap Parth Bhut lbw to leave Saurashtra nine down. Unadkat, who played a captain’s knock of 89 to stretch the fight, became Sen’s final victim when he slashed at a short and quick delivery only to edge it to Bharat behind the stumps.Sen’s colleague Mukesh Kumar was named the Player of the Match for his spell on the first morning, when he ran through the Saurashtra top three and later added Sheldon Jackson’s wicket to his tally. “There was some assistance early on and we tried to bowl them out as quickly as possible,” Mukesh said after the game.Abhimanyu played some flowing strokes in the chase, but the innings of the match was Sarfaraz Khan’s 138 off 178 balls in Rest of India’s first innings. Sarfaraz counterattacked after walking in at 18 for 3 and took his team to a match-winning total in collaboration with Hanuma Vihari, who scored 82.”We were in a tough situation [in the first innings] on a wicket which was helping the bowlers, Sarfaraz batted beautifully,” Vihari said. “The 220-run partnership helped us gain the momentum and we took the game away from them. I wanted to get the hundred because I worked hard. I batted long, but at the end the of the day, the contribution helped the team and I am happy.”

Sandeep Sharma’s last-ball yorker made Royals the first team to defend a sub-190 total this season

S Sudarshanan12-Apr-20238:20

Moody: We’ve all questioned CSK, and Dhoni is usually right

It was set up perfectly. The whistles at Chepauk were getting louder with each moment as MS Dhoni took strike with 21 needed off six balls. Two wides later, Sandeep Sharma nailed a yorker, before erring in length and seeing Dhoni wallop back-to-back leg-side sixes.Dhoni was leading Chennai Super Kings for the 200th time in the IPL and he had the chance to script another fairytale, and the perfect finish loomed even after Sandeep went around the wicket and pulled things back, bringing the equation down to five needed off the last ball. This was still Dhoni territory, but Sandeep nailed another perfect yorker from around the stumps and Rajasthan Royals eked out a three-run win to go top of the table after four games.

Samson fined for slow over rate

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has been fined INR 12 lakh (USD 14,000 approx.) for his team’s slow over rate against Chennai Super Kings. It was his team’s first over-rate offence this season, a post-match IPL statement said.
No in-game fielding-restriction penalty was imposed on Royals during the match.

Super Kings needed an improbable 54 off 18 balls with Ravindra Jadeja and Dhoni still new to the crease. Dhoni began the assault with a four and a six in Adam Zampa’s last over before Jadeja took over in a 19-run penultimate over bowled by Jason Holder, hitting him for a four and two sixes.Sandeep, however, just about kept his calm and Royals became the first side to defend a sub-190 total this season.MS Dhoni rolled back the years but Super Kings fell just short in the end•BCCI

Ashwin, Chahal, Zampa storm CSK’s spin fortress

Chasing 176, Super Kings lost the prolific Ruturaj Gaikwad in the third over. But Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane added 68 in 43 balls to keep the chase on track. Rahane, who had scored a blazing half-century against Mumbai Indians in his last outing, was quick off the blocks again, pulling Jason Holder through midwicket and slinking down the track to deposit R Ashwin over the long-off boundary while rushing to a 19-ball 31.In Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Impact Player Adam Zampa, however, Royals had a spin attack made for Chepauk conditions, and they extracted plenty of purchase even with dew starting to kick in. Ashwin’s dismissal of Rahane turned the tide for Royals. From 78 for 1 in the 10th over, Super Kings slumped to 122 for 6 at the end of the 17th.Zampa conceded 14 in the 18th over, when Dhoni went after him, but even including that, Royals’ spinners conceded just 95 in 12 overs while taking five wickets, while their Super Kings counterparts went for 84 in 10 while taking three.

Buttler and Padikkal set the tone

Yashasvi Jaiswal has been in red-hot form for Royals this season, and he threatened to go on another boundary spree in the powerplay when he hit two fours off the left-arm quick Akash Singh in the first over, after Super Kings elected to bowl. But Tushar Deshpande, Super Kings’ go-to bowler in Deepak Chahar’s absence, prised Jaiswal out in the next over. Royals kept the left-right combination going by promoting Devdutt Padikkal, who sat out the match against Delhi Capitals, to No. 3.Padikkal and Jos Buttler went after Maheesh Theekshana – who was playing his first game of the season – hitting him for four fours and a six in his first two overs, both inside the powerplay. That got them into groove for a 77-run second-wicket partnership off just 41 balls, which took Royals to a formidable 88 for 1 in the ninth over.R Ashwin made an impact with bat and ball•Associated Press

Bowlers keep CSK in the game

Jadeja helped Super Kings claw back with the wickets of Padikkal and Sanju Samson in the space of three balls, and Royals responded with the now familiar tactic of promoting Ashwin up the order. The scoring rate dipped for a while, with Royals failing to find the boundary in five successive overs, before Ashwin broke the drought with a slashed four off Theekshana in the 14th. He then swatted Akash for successive sixes in the 15th, before falling later in the over for a 22-ball 30.Buttler, who had been 34 off 17 at the time he lost Padikkal, didn’t hit another boundary, and eventually fell for a 52 off 36 balls. In the process he also crossed 3000 runs in the IPL, becoming the third-quickest to the mark in terms of innings taken.The ostensible intent behind the Ashwin promotion was to delay Shimron Hetmyer’s entry, and he came in at roughly his preferred time, with five overs remaining. He did his bit at the finish, smacking an unbeaten 30 off 18, but there was little support from the other end during his time in the middle, as Royals only managed 40 in their last five overs.Having at one stage seemed on course for 200, they finished on 175 for 8, with Deshpande dismissing Holder and Zampa in the last over .

Impact Player Strategy

Royals brought in Zampa as their Impact Player: he walked out to bat at No. 10 to face the last ball of their innings, replacing Buttler. The finger injury Buttler picked up earlier in the competition could have played a part in his removal. Super Kings, meanwhile, yanked off Sisanda Magala, whose two overs went for 14, after he injured a finger in his right hand while taking the catch to dismiss Ashwin. Super Kings subbed in Ambati Rayudu, who batted at No. 6 and lasted just two balls.

Pandey, Gowtham, Kishan and Deepak Chahar also ruled out of the last two T20Is against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2021Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Yuzvendra Chahal, K Gowtham, and Deepak Chahar are the eight players identified as close contacts of Krunal Pandya, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. Although all eight have tested negative for the virus, they have still been ruled out of the ongoing T20I series against Sri Lanka.The BCCI didn’t announce the names of the eight players in a media release sent out on Wednesday, but their identities became obvious once head coach Rahul Dravid told the host broadcasters that the Indians had been left with only 11 players to pick from in the main squad, and all 11 would be playing the second T20I, which had originally been scheduled to take place on Tuesday but had to be pushed back on account of the disruption caused by the pandemic.”It was felt medically that some of the guys who were his (Krunal’s) close contacts shouldn’t be participating in the series,” Dravid said. “We’ve got 11 to choose from, and all 11 are playing! Brilliant. (laughs)”Dravid, however, emphasised that he didn’t buy the arguments that India caps were being handed out easily, contending that anyone who came on tour with the team was there as potentially a part of the playing XI.”Truly I think when I look at the squad, and look at the 20 guys that have been selected here, each one of them has got here through sheer weight of performances,” he said. “It’s not easy in India, there are a lot of people playing cricket, there are lot of very good performances. People earn the right to come here. It’s not every time you’re going to be able to give every one of them a chance, but it’s really nice to be able to give as many as you can a chance if possible. Due to various reasons we’re probably able to do that this time.”They are earning their India caps. I don’t get that argument… what do you mean by ‘earning’ your India cap? Like I said, if you are selected in a team of 15, obviously with Covid now it’s become 20, you are selected keeping in mind that you may need to play in the XI at any given point of time. Could be because of injury or lack of form to any other player. So you’ve certainly earned the right to get that cap. It’s up to you to take the opportunity and you know, perform. I truly believe everyone who is here has earned it.”The Indian selectors also added the five reserve bowlers who had been taken to Sri Lanka into the main squad, upon request from the team management. The five reserve bowlers are Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, R Sai Kishore and Simarjeet Singh.The XI that took the field for India in the second T20I had six bowlers. Only five batters were available for selection with Bhuvneshwar Kumar slated at No.6. Dravid acknowledged that the balance of the team was compromised, but reiterated his faith in his men.”To be very honest, I don’t think there’s any need to be sorry for us,” Dravid said. “The squad’s great, like I said everyone deserves to be in the XI. Our balance might be a bit compromised this game, but it’s a Twenty20 game and I truly believe we have the quality to really put up a good show.”Question marks over Shaw and Suryakumar’s England trip
The development puts a question mark over whether the pair of Shaw and Suryakumar will be eligible to travel to England to join India’s Test squad. Both batters, who were added to the Test squad as replacements, were scheduled to fly out to the UK after the Sri Lanka series, which ends on Thursday with the third and final T20I. The BCCI stated that the entire Indian squad, out of of Krunal, had returned negative tests on Tuesday, but the eight close contacts of Krunal would “continue to remain in isolation” at the team hotel. How long the isolation period will be remains unclear.Recently Sri Lanka assistant coach Grant Flower and the team analyst who had both tested positive for Covid-19 upon returning from England tour had to isolate for 10 days. Those that had been identified as the pair’s close contacts had to isolate for a week.

Aches perhaps for wannabe Ashes keeper, but pains reserved for Yorkshire as Glamorgan take control

Vithushan Ehantharajah04-May-2023There can’t be much Jonny Bairstow and the Archbishop of Canterbury have in common. But for the next few days at least, their hands are of great interest.Different levels, of course. The duties in Westminister Abbey of popping a crown on the head of King Charles III ranks higher than standing up to the stumps for Ben Coad. But even two days earlier and some 195 miles north of Saturday’s Coronation, a different pair of king-making hands were being scrutinised.Thursday’s opening day to this Division Two bout between Yorkshire and Glamorgan by another name was The Much-Anticipated Return of Bairstow, Even with two teams desperate for a first win of the season, this felt as much about one man’s return as it did about a county looking for light to break through the years of dark cloud. And to arrive at the ground in the morning was to know the bright spots were very much to do with one son’s return. Nine months from suffering multiple fractures in his left leg in a freak accident on a golf course, 2022’s Bazball totem was back.It was, in many ways, the perfect scenario. The buzz around the stands dulled slightly when Yorkshire decided to bowl first after winning the toss. And while it was a shame to have to wait to watch Bairstow bat, more insightful was the 71.5 overs spent keeping wicket. Even after a spectacular last summer – 681 runs, four hundreds and an average of 75.66 – his work behind the stumps between now and Tests against Ireland and Australia will guarantee he reclaims a spot in the XI he feels is rightfully his. Ultimately, by taking it away from Ben Foakes.That Yorkshire followed up their removal of Glamorgan for 245 with 62 for 5 of their own leaves more out there for Bairstow. Originally carded at five, he flexed seniority to call on two nightwatchman – Mickey Edwards and Matt Fisher – before having to walk out at 6:36pm for the final two overs anyway. Presumably sending out a third would have been poor form. Either way, a few hours of vintage on Friday Jonny will echo far beyond this match.Before the two sacrificial lambs were three catches of varying degrees of difficulty across a keeping performance that was surprisingly assured. The aches will no doubt come, but there were no pains evident in real-time.The first dismissal got him up and about, in amongst it a matter of minutes after the team huddled beyond the boundary’s edge. Four balls in, a comically loose drive from visiting skipper David Lloyd gave Bairstow an excuse to test out his side-to-side, shuffling to his right to complete the dismissal.Number two gave us a sense of his athleticism, diving to his left to take a spectacular grab with his left-hand a matter of inches off the turf after George Hill had taken Kiran Carlson’s inside edge. The third was as vital to Yorkshire’s cause as it was to the Ashes narrative: Marnus Labuschagne feathering an edge off Hill for 65.The Australian came to the crease with nothing on the board, and together with Sam Northeast dragged Glamorgan out of the Coad-induced hole of 1 for 2. The pair made 83 between them before Northeast, the aggressor, was sent back by Edwards three deliveries after the lunch break, unable to get his bat (and handle) out of a delivery that exploded off a length. Soon afterwards, Coad left the field – this time the explosion was in his groin.Labuschagne had played possum early doors. He took lunch on 19 from 101 deliveries but soon moved to a second half-century of the season just 32 deliveries later. He had just started looking like Test cricket’s number one ranked batter when Hill got one to hold its line off the seam from the Rugby Stand End.This was the one that drew the most emotion from Bairstow, and not just because of their nationalities. Bairstow had been getting in Labuschagne’s ear since the end of the 21st over when the right-hander, on 10, seemingly edged Edwards behind. Labuschagne’s unperturbed demeanour worked well enough to keep the umpire’s finger down, much to the annoyance of the fielding team and those in the stands.That should have been 42 for three, and who knows what that might have meant for Glamorgan this early on in the piece. Contributions from Timm van der Gugten and Billy Root got them within five of what they considered a par first innings score. To have led by 194 with five Yorkshire wickets already is sure more than they would have expected, considering how the day began.Though even Thursday’s conclusion gives the scoreboard an artificial look. Both of Bairstow’s nightwatchmen fell in the space of two balls, meaning he had to come out at anyway under floodlights and with Labuschagne taking the opportunity to return serve now the shoe was on the other foot. Barring a stifled lbw shout second ball, it was largely without issue. A nudge around the corner off his fourth delivery face brought a first first-class run since 49 against South Africa last August, nine months ago.Nine months or “36 weeks” as Bairstow put it on Instagram on Wednesday night. The content of the post spoke of pain, emotions and unanswerable questions during this long stretch on the sideline. What those closest to him knew was distilled in those 115 words for the rest of us.Privately, the 33-year-old’s angst is as much about the crushing disappointment of losing it all when he finally felt settled as it is about having to watch the last six months from home. The T20 World Cup win, the historic Test series in Pakistan, the rise of Harry Brook from place-holder to wunderkind. There’s FOMO, and then there’s whatever Bairstow went through.There were a few byes, notably one for four which wobbled devilishly past his right after sending him left, but nothing worrisome. At times, he was childlike, at one point running over to an advertising board blown onto the field and lying across it, looking to the stands for laughs like this was panto. It duly came.This is only day one of his return, but to see him with a smile on his face, even as he walked off sheepishly at the end, felt like a positive step forward to all this. Even if it moves us closer to an awkward call for the Ashes, that Bairstow is back is only a boost for English cricket.

“It’s more [about] getting used to the tactical side of it. I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last couple of years”

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Apr-20240:54

Starc: ‘Taken me longer than I would’ve liked to get back into rhythm’

Until Sunday evening, Mitchell Starc had only two wickets across four IPL matches this season, while averaging 77 with an economy rate of 11. That after he became the most expensive player ever in the IPL, in the last auction, with a salary of INR 24.75 crore. But Starc turned his form around with 3 for 28 against Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens, as Kolkata Knight Riders eventually dominated the chase of 162 for an eight-wicket win.”I don’t read anything, so that doesn’t bother me,” he said after the match about the expectations and the noise around him.Starc returned to the IPL this year for the first time since 2015, and since the T20 World Cup in 2022, he had played just two T20s in one-and-a-half years before coming to India for the ongoing tournament. Starc admitted that he was still getting used to the “tactical side” of the shortest format.Related

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“It’s T20 cricket; for the guys who have played a lot of Test cricket, this is definitely a lot easier physically,” he said. “It’s more [about] getting used to the tactical side of it. I haven’t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last couple of years, so it has probably taken me a little bit longer than I would have liked to get back into the rhythm of things and make a better impact. So today was nice in that regard.”Against LSG, Starc bowled three overs in the powerplay, and conceded 23 as he was hit for four fours. But that spell also included eight dots and the wicket of Deepak Hooda. When brought back to bowl the last over, Starc gave away just six runs, and struck twice. On the first ball he had Nicholas Pooran, LSG’s best batter this season, for 45. And on the last ball, he swung one back into Arshad Khan and cleaned him up.The next T20 World Cup begins just six days after the IPL ends on May 26 in Chennai. As every team plays 14 league matches while travelling around the country in the IPL, Starc said games coming in thick and fast is “a feature of T20 cricket”, and he can look after his workload even with the World Cup looming.”I’m 34, so I’m pretty good with my workloads”, he said. “I’ve been doing this [for] a long time. We play again on Tuesday, and I think that’s a feature of T20 cricket. Whether you have a good day or a bad day, games come around so quickly that you can’t really think about what’s been; you quickly focus on the next game.”

Jaiswal had three lives, while Sai Sudharsan, Akash Deep and Nair were all put down

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-20251:44

‘Disappointed, but it is what it is’ – Trescothick on dropped catches

4.5 Atkinson to Jaiswal, FOUR runs
Chance…. bursts through Brook’s hands at second slip. It went high, just above the left shoulder, and at pace. Had to hop across and was beaten by pace. Tipped it over and to the deep-third boundary. 140ks full ball outside off, Jaiswal committed fully to the booming cover drive, got a bona-fide edge13.2 Tongue to Jaiswal, 1 run
Another life for Jaiswal. Dawson doesn’t spot and gets hit in the face! This was hit flat and going right at his throat at deep fine leg. He swayed his head to the right and had his hands right in front. Might’ve come earlier than he thought. Was a shortish ball at waist-height that Jaiswal hooked14.3 Overton to B Sai Sudharsan, 3 runs
That’s another drop! Went quickly to the left of Crawley at third slip, he got on one knee and tried to snap it up with his hands. Reached across, got a big deflection that took it towards the third boundary. Might’ve hit the thumb. Duckett stops it. Was an overpitched ball outside off that Sudharsan looked to drive firmly through cover25.3 Tongue to Akash Deep, no run
edged into the cordon and dropped again! Crawley, diving across from third to second, a comfortable height, and it spans off both palms! Deep was pushing hard to the full length, and that’s two big opportunities gone for England53.4 Overton to Nair, 1 run
another one goes down! England’s fifth drop of the innings! It’s a tough one, but these have got to stick! Right in the gap between Crawley, diving across from third, and Brook, reaching down at second. It’s into Brook’s fingers and out again. The ball looping a touch off the splice as Overton hit his hard length57.4 Overton to Jaiswal, FOUR runs
Chance at leg gully! On a length and angled into Jaiswal, who looks to tuck it leg-side. Comes to Duckett’s left, and he dives to take it low, but it bursts through him. Tough chance, but that’s their 20th drop of the series so far!21.3 Tongue to Jaiswal, FOUR runs
fenced through the cordon! Chancy from Jaiswal! He rode the bounce outside off, but not very effectively, caught in two minds at the point of impact… two slips weren’t enough though, that would have been third’s or gully’s.

Defending champions will start T20 World Cup against Scotland on strip used for Namibia’s low-scoring shoot-out against Oman

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2024England will begin their defence of the T20 World Cup against Scotland on the same Kensington Oval surface which threw up a 218-run shoot-out between Namibia and Oman on Sunday night. They are heavy favourites against their British rivals but were beaten when the teams last met, in a 2018 ODI, and this slow, low surface could make life difficult for their batters.Jos Buttler, England’s captain, said on Monday that he will encourage his players to adapt and judge conditions for themselves and react accordingly, rather than heading into Tuesday’s match with “too many preconceived ideas”. But the evidence from Sunday’s match is that there could be variable bounce on a sticky surface on which wickets fell in clusters.Related

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• Bairstow: 'It doesn't really matter to me where I bat'

Namibia emerged as winners, but needed a Super Over to do so after reaching 109 for 6 in pursuit of 110. Their fingerspinners, Bernard Scholtz and Gerhard Erasmus, both trapped batters lbw with balls which kept low, while Oman seamer Mehran Khan bowled Jan Frylinck in the final over with a grubber which deflected off his pad.David Wiese, Namibia’s match-winner in the Super Over, said the pitch was “a difficult wicket to start on the whole time… once you got wickets, you got wickets in clusters.” Zeeshan Maqsood, Oman’s ex-captain, suggested that Saturday’s rain in Barbados had impacted the pitch: “There was a little bit of stopping and coming, because a little wetness was there.”England and Scotland will use the same surface that Namibia and Oman did on Sunday•Getty Images

Buttler said he saw “bits and pieces” of Sunday’s match, but suggested that England should be accustomed to conditions in Barbados. They played a five-match T20I series held entirely at Kensington Oval in early 2022, and also played an ODI and a T20I there when they toured the Caribbean in December last year.”We’ve played some games here, so we know what conditions can be like,” Buttler said. “But it’s important not to have too many preconceived ideas and assume the pitch will play in a certain way. We’ve got to be prepared. That’s where communication and assessing conditions quickly – with bat or ball – will be key to the game.”He told the BBC: “We are trying not to play the game before the game has been played. It’s good to be here and get a feel for conditions, but on each day, you have to be ready to adapt… it is not in the batters’ favour all of the time in T20 cricket. We need to be able to adapt and communicate well as a team, and work out what will be a winning score.”England have been joined in Barbados by Kieron Pollard, who has been enlisted as a consultant coach for this World Cup and has spoken to the players about the impact that stiff crosswinds can have in the Caribbean. “That’s part of selection discussions and team discussions, being aware of the wind and right-hand/left-hand combinations,” Buttler said.”[Pollard] has fitted in really well. Some of the guys have played with him, or played lots of cricket against him, so have a nice relationship to start from. Obviously, he’s got a wealth of T20 knowledge and everyone should have been tapping into that, sponging up any really good information that he’s got for us.”And obviously, [he knows about] local conditions. He knows everything about the Caribbean, and he’s got that winner’s mindset. I think that’s something that we’re really tapping into. He’s won a lot of competitions around the world… it’s great to have guys like that around the group.”Kieron Pollard will assist Matthew Mott during the T20 World Cup•Gareth Copley/Getty

England come into the World Cup after beating Pakistan 2-0 in a rain-affected series, and Buttler said there is “a really good vibe” around their squad. “We had some good performances there, but we’re fully focused on the game tomorrow. We need to make sure we bring 100% intensity to that, first of all.”He acknowledged that England will be expected to beat Scotland comfortably, but said: “It’s a great game: our first of the World Cup. We’re all excited for that and we expect a tough challenge. They’ve come here to try and win games, and they want to beat us; we want to beat them. It’s pretty straightforward.”Buttler also declined to give any clues as to England’s XI for the opening match, saying: “I think we’ve got lots of really good options, from No. 1 to 15. We picked a squad with a lot of different options, and we’ve got to work out what we feel is the best combination for the first game.”

Watson says the 19-year old’s adaptability to different conditions and India’s plans would be a “good test of his evolution”

Andrew McGlashan02-Jan-20252:11

Clarke: ‘Freakish’ debut for Konstas

Sam Konstas’ mentor Shane Watson has admitted the 19-year-old’s audacious start to Test cricket took even him by surprise, both in terms of the strokeplay and the way he carried himself in the field and with the crowd.Konstas scored 60 off 65 balls on the opening morning at the MCG, regularly scooping Jasprit Bumrah, and had a run-in with Virat Kohli who was fined for a shoulder barge. Later in the game he embraced the crowd when fielding on the boundary and was a vocal presence under the helmet, clearly getting under the skin of Yashasvi Jaiswal during the second innings.”I understood what his game plan was, what plan A was anyway,” Watson said as part of the ICC Champions Trophy tour at the SCG. “So when plan B sort of kicked in quite quickly, within a couple of overs, that was a little surprising. But the one thing that we’ve always talked about is trusting his gut.”Related

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While Watson was aware of the range of strokes Konstas had in his locker, even if showing them so early in Test was unexpected, he admitted the character shown in the field was not something he had seen before.”My experience of dealing and working with Sam has been a very quiet, reserved personality,” he said. “[He’s] a very deep thinker and certainly not an extrovert. But obviously what we saw in the Test match is that he absolutely is a showman. And he certainly rose to the occasion, as in he wasn’t overawed.”I know through my experience of debuting…you just put a lot of pressure on yourself because it’s your dream to be able to represent your country, wear the baggy green. But for Sam, it’s superhuman in a way that he sort of just didn’t have any of that at all. You can see it wasn’t put on. That’s just obviously who he is. And again, I hadn’t seen that side of him. It just shows that he’s built for this stage where most people it takes a bit of time to warm up to sort of get into that. Whereas Sam, he obviously just thrives on that.”Konstas has continued to enjoy the trappings of being a Test cricketer since arriving with the squad in Sydney, having photographs with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon during the annual New Year’s Day gathering at Kirribilli House. He also spent time chatting with Kohli, who his brothers took the opportunity to get a photograph with.Albanese joked about his role in Konstas’ rapid rise to the Test side after the century he scored against the Indians in Canberra. “Of course, he got his break in the Prime Minister’s XI [game],” Albanese said. “I’m claiming some of the credit, which is about my only contribution to national cricket.”Shane Watson on Konstas: ‘He’s certainly got all the gears and all the skills to be able to make adjustments’•Getty Images

On Friday, Konstas will become the youngest Australia men’s player to feature in a Test at his home ground of the SCG followed by the prospect of two Tests in vastly different conditions in Sri Lanka. India had already adjusted their tactics by the second innings in Melbourne where Konstas was kept quiet before being bowled by an inducker from Bumrah.”Look it’s going to be a different challenge for him now,” Watson said. “Because he’s shown what his plan B is. And we already saw in that second innings the field positions certainly changed. It’s going to be a good test of his evolution. To be able to continue to work through how he can take the game on against the best bowlers in the world. But he’s certainly got all the gears and all the skills to be able to make those adjustments quickly.”He is technically very correct and waits for loose balls. But he’s also got the other gears to be able to hit the ball down the ground. But when they do have third man fine and fine leg fine, the ramp shot is probably out. But you know what? I thought the ramp shot wasn’t going to come out in the first couple of overs, and it did. Sam will just trust what he feels and go with it. And that’s something very special that he taps into.”Australia captain Pat Cummins said there had been no instructions given to Konstas about how to go about his innings and believed he would be able to adjust to different scenarios.”Think he showed how adaptable he can be,” Cummins said. “That takes a lot of skill first of all, but we always encourage our players just to read the moment, play it how they see fit. For Sam he sensed the moment was to attack and put pressure back on the bowlers and he did that, it might be different this week; it might be ‘I’m going to play a slow game and kind of score runs that way’. Our message is always just to back yourself, have really clear plans and back your decision making.”