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Lea Tahuhu also returns to the club and Erin Fazackerley’s signing completes the 15-player squad

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2020Amy Satterthwaite will resume the captaincy of the Melbourne Renegades in the WBBL after missing last season while pregnant with her first child with wife Lea Tahuhu who has also been retained by the club.The Renegades have locked in their full 15-player squad for the new season which includes the signing of Erin Fazackerley from the Hobart Hurricanes.Satterthwaite was recently overlooked for the New Zealand captaincy when Sophie Devine took the role full-time having stepped in for Satterthwaite during her time away. She has been back training in recent weeks with the New Zealand players at their winter camps.”It’ll be great to rejoin the team in a playing capacity this season after Jess Duffin did such a fantastic job leading the group last year,” Satterthwaite said. “I’ve enjoyed getting back into training in recent months and I’ve embraced the challenge of working on my game after a few sleepless nights, but it’s all good fun.”I’m looking forward to working alongside our new coach Lachie Stevens and seeing what the team can achieve.”Tahuhu, one of the fastest bowlers in the world, will spearhead what should be a strong attack that also includes Australia spinners Sophie Molineux, Molly Strano and Georgia Wareham. The Renegades reached the semi-finals of last year’s tournament.”Amy and Lea bring so much leadership and skill to the group and we’re excited about seeing what Erin can do this season,” Stevens said. “There’s obviously some continued uncertainty about how the season will unfold but we’ll just focus on preparing as best we can and tackle the challenges that confront us along the way.”The WBBL is due to begin on October 17 and run to November 29. There are expected to be changes to the original schedule due to the travel restrictions currently in place around the country with the likelihood of more hubs being used.Melbourne Renegades WBBL squad Makinley Blows, Maitlan Brown, Josie Dooley, Jess Duffin, Erin Fazackerley, Ella Hayward, Lizelle Lee (SA), Carly Leeson, Sophie Molineux, Courtney Neale, Amy Satterthwaite (captain, NZ), Molly Strano, Lea Tahuhu (NZ), Georgia Wareham, Courtney Webb

The suspended Australia batsman underwent shoulder surgery earlier this year, leading to questions on his match readiness

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2019Steven Smith is targeting a return to action in Rajasthan Royals’ opening IPL 2019 match. It would mark his full return to the game following an elbow surgery he underwent in January this year, which had left question marks over his fitness and preparedness in the lead up to the World Cup.The Royals’ first game of the season is against Kings XI Punjab, at their home base in Jaipur on March 25, and around a week before the fixture, Smith said that he had been hitting the ball well enough in the nets and “getting myself into a good rhythm”.Smith has a set plan for getting to his best before the team’s season-opener, in the process putting out a timeline for his return to on-field action for the first time since his surgery.ALSO READ: What Smith, Warner reintegration really means“Hitting as many balls as I can, really, over the next week, getting myself into a good rhythm. Started batting a couple of weeks ago back home, feel like I’m hitting the ball really well, so yeah, just try and get my rhythm right,” he said in a Royals’ social media chat.”(I’ll try to) make sure over the next week to get a lot of work in, so that I can probably taper off towards the back-end of the week so I can freshen up and be ready to go on the 25th and hopefully start off the Royals season with a win.”
Smith and David Warner complete their year-long bans for ball-tampering on March 29. The decision on the part of the Cricket Australia management is that the two of them should have an extended stint in the IPL before returning to Australia in early May for a training camp in Brisbane ahead of the World Cup. It was confirmed earlier that Warner, who also underwent should surgery earlier this year, would be fit and available for selection in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s first game of the IPL season, on March 24.For Smith, it’s a homecoming of sorts to the Royals set-up, which he was a part of in 2014 and 2015 before the franchise was suspended for two years along with Chennai Super Kings for a corruption-related issue. Smith shifted to Rising Pune Supergiant for those two seasons before he, and Warner, were suspended from the IPL last year for the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.At Royals, one of Smith’s team-mates is Jos Buttler, the explosive English wicketkeeper-batsman who had a fantastic run in the IPL last year, his performances even leading to a call-up from the England Test team.”Yeah, it’ll be great (playing with Buttler). Makes things easier for me batting with Jos for sure. He’s an exciting player, one of the most destructive batters around the world. I’m really excited to be playing with him and hopefully learn something off him as well,” Smith said.After the IPL comes the World Cup, and then the Ashes. There is no certainty about Smith’s participation in either competition, but the former captain is looking forward to being a part of both: “They are both terrific tournaments. They are both, I guess, the pinnacle of one-day cricket and Test cricket, for an Australian player. I’d love to be involved in both for sure.”

Cricket South Africa has issued an apology to Cricket Australia after two CSA officials were photographed posing with fans, who were wearing Sonny Bill Williams masks at St George’s Park

Firdose Moonda10-Mar-20180:49

Start of Warner-de Kock clash revealed

Cricket South Africa has issued an apology to Cricket Australia after two CSA officials were photographed posing with fans, who were wearing Sonny Bill Williams masks at St George’s Park.Clive Eksteen, a former left-arm spinner and CSA’s head of commercial, and Altaaf Kazi, CSA’s head of media and communication, posed for a picture with three fans wearing masks on the first day of the Test. The photo was shared on social media and then picked up by the , who wrote that the Australian team were “outraged.” CSA said it would follow its “normal internal processes,” with regards to Eksteen and Kazi, which will likely begin with an internal investigation. They have been asked to return to Johannesburg, where CSA’s head office is located.”On behalf of CSA I extend my sincere apologies to the Board of Cricket Australia, its officials, team management, players and their families,” CSA president, Chris Nenzani said.”Cricket Australia spoke to Cricket South Africa officials yesterday to express disappointment with this matter and events that unfolded off-field Friday at St George’s Park,” a CA spokesman said. “CA appreciates the swift response, including the sincere apology from CSA, and the seriousness with which the matter is being treated.”The Williams’ masks were brought into the ground as an attempt to ridicule David Warner, who was involved in a stairwell spat with Quinton de Kock during the first Test in Durban. Warner was fined 75% of his match fee and earned three demerit points for the incident, later claiming de Kock had made a “vile and disgusting comment,” about his wife Candice. De Kock admitted to saying something in a hearing that took place on Wednesday and was fined 25% of his match fee with one demerit point added to his record.Candice had an encounter with Williams 11 years ago, before she had met Warner and South African fans hoped to use that to antagonise the opening batsman. The day before the Port Elizabeth Test, social media posts, including one by a reporter (who is not working on this game) with the host broadcaster shared photographs of fans making Williams’ masks and of a songbook with lyrics containing vulgar and derogatory language. While the songs were not heard at St George’s Park, the masks were seen but only after CSA officials had to intervene to allow mask-wearing fans into the stadium.Initially, stadium security had refused to allow them in because of what Kazi called a “misunderstanding,” though it is not clear on whose instructions the security were initially acting. Kazi and Eksteen were then contacted by the fans and met them at the gates, where it was decided that they would be allowed in. According to Kazi, the group of fans then asked for a photo with him and Eksteen and the pair obliged.”We found out because (the spectators) contacted us and we then went to security and got them in. They said ‘let’s take a photo with you guys,” Kazi told .Speaking to ESPNcricinfo shortly after the story broke last night, Kazi admitted it was “one of the worst judgment calls I have made,” and expressed regret over his actions.Meanwhile, CSA had reiterated that freedom of expression will be respected, within the limits of their own guidelines for spectator behaviour, which does not tolerate any racism, sexism or derogatory comments. A statement read: “While CSA respects the rights of its fans to represent their own points of view, CSA does not associate itself with these actions and urges all Protea supporters from refraining from being involved in distasteful or unwelcome actions that may impact the image of the sport and its supporters.”

Nic Maddinson has the chance to get off the mark in Test cricket in the first match against Pakistan, after failing to do so in the third against South Africa

Brydon Coverdale11-Dec-20161:49

‘I’ve tried to be more selective with my shots’ – Maddinson

Nic Maddinson is in fine company. Prior to Maddinson, only a dozen Australian top-six batsmen had fallen for a duck in their first Test innings on debut. Victor Trumper was one of them, also Joe Darling, Syd Gregory and Harry Trott, among Australia’s best early cricketers. In the more modern era there was Matthew Elliott, Phillip Hughes and Andrew Symonds – all of whom went on to score Test centuries.But there are some not-so-elites in the group, too. Roy Park is best remembered for the story, apocryphal or not, of how his wife bent down to pick up her knitting and missed his entire Test career: he was bowled first ball in his only Test innings. Others such as Ken Meuleman and Roland Pope, like Park, never played another Test.Whatever happens at the Gabba this week, at least Maddinson won’t fall into the latter camp. He will get another chance in the baggy green, a second opportunity to get off the mark in Test cricket after his 12-ball duck against South Africa at Adelaide Oval. It will be a chance to show that he has the game to bat in the longest form; by his own admission he, at times, has played too aggressively in first-class cricket.”It’s all about me finding a consistent mental state where I can start my innings,” Maddinson said in Brisbane on Sunday. “Have a game plan where it can work, not just when I’m batting on a good day on a flat wicket, but something I can implement on days where the ball is moving and I’m not feeling like it’s all going together.”I think that’s an important part of how I can improve as a player. And that’s… where the inconsistencies lie at the moment. At times I’ve been a bit too aggressive when the situation didn’t suit, but I feel like I’m more comfortable with my batting at the moment which comes with making enough mistakes and being around long enough to work it out.”In Adelaide, Maddinson came in under lights, facing the swinging pink ball, and was a little tentative before being bowled by a fine delivery from Kagiso Rabada. It meant he was the only one of Australia’s three debutants to leave Adelaide empty-handed – Peter Handscomb scored a first-innings fifty and then struck the winning runs, and Matt Renshaw occupied the crease for 183 balls.But having wiped out nearly half the side in moving from Hobart to Adelaide, the selectors opted for a steady hand in the wake of Australia’s consolation victory and named the same 12 for the first Test against Pakistan. Maddinson hopes that after a nervy debut, he will be better placed for Test cricket come his second opportunity.”It helps when the team wins… it’s easier to keep it together and let guys develop a little bit if they have missed out,” Maddinson said. “Although it was a good ball, there’s always something you can do differently. Whether it’s a mindset or just sharpen up a little bit. I’ve had time to watch it and there’s definitely some things I’ll be taking in when I start my innings this week.”One positive for Maddinson is that, unlike on Test debut, he now has a decent pink-ball score under his belt. Prior to the Adelaide day-night Test, Maddinson’s pink-ball day-night first-class career consisted of scores of 1, 18, 17, 1 and 46. But against South Australia in Adelaide last week, Maddinson scored 80 in the first innings of a day-night Sheffield Shield game to give him some confidence.”Regardless of what ball it was, it was an important innings for me,” Maddinson said. “The game before that in Shield cricket I probably didn’t get the runs I would have liked when I sort of felt in at times as well.”So to be able to get 80 last week – I was still extremely disappointed to get out when and how I did in that innings, and to miss out in the second innings. But that’s cricket, I’ve moved on and I think the experiences that I’ve gained from failing in pink-ball games has probably helped me I think in what I can prepare for this week.”

Richmond Mutumbami played the anchor role in Zimbabwe’s six-wicket win, with a career-best 74, against Afghanistan in the third ODI to give his team a 2-1 lead

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2015Richmond Mutumbami played the anchor role in Zimbabwe’s six-wicket win, with a career-best 74, against Afghanistan in the third ODI for a 2-1 lead. The fifty and the win didn’t come easy for Zimbabwe. Mutumbami was dropped twice – on 36 and 68 – and the hosts’ middle order stuttered fleetingly before captain Elton Chigumbura steered them home in the last over.”Maybe they can say it was my day, it was my lucky day,” Mutumbami said cheerfully about the drops. “I just kept telling myself that I should keep going on and see where I get to. Every win is important for the team, I actually feel great about it.”

Our aim was to score 250 – Noor Ali

Afghanistan opener Noor Ali Zadran, who top-scored with 56 and gave his team a steady start, rued the loss of quick wickets in the middler order and said they were looking to score much more than their score of 223 for 8.
“[Our] target was to score 250 on this wicket and get them out,” he said. “[In] our first session we were 124 for 1, after second wicket fell we lost five wickets for only 17 runs (25 runs). We didn’t achieve the target [we wanted to set].
However, Noor Ali was not completely disheartened about trailing 2-1 in the series and said they were known to bounce back.
“We are very good in bouncing back because first match we lost, after that we bounced back. we will bounce back and win the series 3-2.”

Mutumbami came back to the Zimbabwe squad only recently, in place of Regis Chakabva, after he was dropped for the home series against New Zealand in August. A poor run of scores from Chakabva helped him back into the side, and Mutumbami started the series with scores of 30 and 35, before bringing up his third ODI fifty today.When asked if one could expect more match-winning performances from him, Mutumbami said: “Yes, I’m sure they are coming. I’m sure more such performances are on their way.”We had to bounce back and today the guys showed good character and I thought we played good cricket. The guys were calm out there and they executed their skills better than the last game, so hopefully we can do the same thing on Thursday. There’s one or two things that we can improve as well like in any game there’s always one or two mistakes that you do.”When Mutumbami was dismissed in the 29th over, Zimbabwe were still 107 runs away from their target. Chigumbura took them over the line with an unbeaten 49, and he was not unhappy about not reaching a fifty.”Obviously the team comes first,” Chigumbura said. “It’s good to have a win under our belt, at the end of the day that’s what you’d be looking for. Obviously, personal achievements can come after [that].”The way the foundation was set by Richmond and Sean [Williams] out there, it was good. Hopefully we can carry on with the good things that were done today and do the same thing on Thursday.”Chigumbura has not won a toss even once in the series and said he would rather focus on the things he can control, such as his team’s performance on the field.”I’m not really worried about the toss, it’s about how we go out there and execute our skills,” he said. “Obviously it’s one game at a time, it’s going to be important to win the series on Thursday and obviously finish well.”

The Champions League T20 2013 will be held in India from September 17 to October 6 and there will be no team from England in the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2013The Champions League T20 2013 will be held in India from September 17 to October 6 and there will be no team from England in the tournament. The West Indian champions, who had to play Qualifiers in the last two editions, will feature in the main draw.The schedule, announced on Friday, has ten teams split in two groups, with the top two in each group making the semi-finals. Eight teams have been seeded directly into the main competition and will be joined by two of the four qualifiers.One of those qualifiers is the Pakistan side Faisalabad Wolves, who recently won the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup; their participation in the tournament will be interesting given the fragile diplomatic and sporting ties between India and Pakistan.Trinidad & Tobago find a place in the main draw, after sustained public pressure following strong performances in previous seasons. They had finished runners-up in the inaugural edition in 2009, but had to play the qualifying round in 2011 and 2012.The ECB’s announcement that no teams from England will take part in this year’s competition has opened up slots for other domestic teams.Group A:
IPL 1st ranked team (India),
Highveld Lions (South Africa),
Perth Scorchers (Australia),
IPL 3rd ranked team (India),
Q1 (Qualifier)Group B:
IPL 2nd ranked team (India),
Titans (South Africa),
Brisbane Heat (Australia),
Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies),
Q2 (Qualifier)Qualifier:
IPL 4th ranked team (India),
Otago Volts (New Zealand),
Sri Lanka qualifier,
Faisalabad Wolves (Pakistan)

Australia’s desire to preserve Ryan Harris’ battered body for as long as possible was sharply illustrated by his resting from the Trinidad match following a man of the match display in Bridgetown

Daniel Brettig at Queen's Park Oval16-Apr-2012Australia’s desire to preserve Ryan Harris’ battered body for as long as possible was sharply illustrated by his resting from the Trinidad match following a Man-of-the-Match display in Bridgetown. Harris ended the first match of the West Indies series stating his desire to play all three Tests, but the selectors on tour decided otherwise in leaving him out for a fresher James Pattinson on a Port-of-Spain pitch likely to play lower and lower as the second Test develops.Having performed heroically at Kensington Oval with bat and ball to give Australia a 1-0 series lead, Harris was sore but not under any particular injury cloud in Trinidad. He was left out with an eye to his chequered injury history in the hope that he will be fresh by the time the third Test of the series is played in Dominica. His omission was a significant moment in the development of a squad mentality for Australia’s fast bowlers, for there could be no doubt about Harris’ performance meriting his retention.Yet instead of playing, Harris found himself taking part in lunch-time training with other non-playing members of the Test squad, in contrast to the injured Peter Siddle who also missed selection for Queen’s Park Oval. Their absence created room for the left-arm spinner Michael Beer to play his first Test since he debuted in the fifth match of the 2010-11 Ashes series.”There was no doubt with the history for Ryan but also the amount that he batted and bowled throughout that game the selectors must have thought it was good to bring a fresh James Pattinson in,” the vice-captain Shane Watson said. “To make sure that Ryan is absolutely fresh and ready to go for the third Test is going to be very important. There is no doubt Ryan had an absolutely brilliant game in the last Test match so I’ve got no doubt it would have been a very tough decision for the selectors either way.”I think it’s the way our group is continuing to go. It’s just managing individuals as well as the term can possibly manage them. It continues to be a big step forward to make sure that we get the best out of every individual. And some guys pull up differently from big bowling workloads and obviously I’ve been a part of that at times throughout my career. So I think personally it’s a really big step forward in managing players’ workloads when we are playing so much and playing back-to-back Tests consistently as well.”It also works out well that playing two spinners in these conditions is going to be very important. This wicket is quite similar in many ways to some Indian wickets that I have batted on so it’s only going to get worse. The footmarks are only going to dust up and get worse so it was a perfect opportunity to play two spinners and see how they are able to handle it.”Watson revealed that Siddle had complained of developing back soreness during the first Test, and scans had confirmed inflammation that ruled him out of the second match. Siddle now has only a narrow window of time in which to prove his fitness ahead of the final match of the series, having been kept out of limited-overs series both at home and in the West Indies in order to be at his peak for the Tests.”In the end his back had started to get sore through the last Test match and he ended up getting a few scans to be able to find out what that back pain was,” Watson said. “At the moment it’s shown it’s a little bit sore and there’s a little bit of swelling there. Through experience I know when your back gets sore it’s never a great thing.”Hopefully in Peter’s case they’ve been able to get it early enough that even if it’s just a few days rest from bowling it settles down in a quick period of time. The one thing you don’t want to do is continue to push through it … sometimes as a bowler if you do that it can put you back a fair way with stress fractures. Fingers crossed that won’t be the case and a few days’ rest will mean that he’s able to be right for the third Test.”

Warren Deutrom, the Cricket Ireland chief executive, has slammed the ICC’s decision to trim the next World Cup to just the 10 Full Members nations as “nothing short of outrageous”.

Andrew McGlashan04-Apr-2011Warren Deutrom, the Cricket Ireland chief executive, has slammed the ICC’s decision to trim the next World Cup to just the ten Full Members nations, describing it as “nothing short of outrageous”.The 2015 event in Australia and New Zealand will only include the ten Test-playing nations after the ICC decided against a qualification system for the tournament, which means no chance for the likes of Ireland or Netherlands to earn a place. For 2019 there is the prospect of Associates and Affiliates finding a way back in through qualification, but today’s decision has effectively frozen them out of the game’s showpiece event for eight years.The decision, while tough on all the Associate nations, is particularly hard on Ireland, who proved themselves to have been a cut above the rest of the second-tier teams during the 2011 event, with a memorable victory over England in Bangalore to add to their scalping of Pakistan on their World Cup debut in 2007. Though they still finished sixth in Group B, they were more consistently competitive than either Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, the two main beneficiaries of today’s ICC’s decision.”The conclusion can only be reached that the decisions made today were based purely on the protection of the existing membership entitlements for Full Members and the commercial imperative that a ten-team event delivers nine guaranteed matches for India and England,” Deutrom told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s nothing short of outrageous. All of the principles by which a decision should have been made in the first instance – which is what’s best for the sport and what’s acting in the best interests of all 105 members – have clearly been abandoned today.

Irish reactions on twitter

• Gary Wilson: What is going on? Excuse the French but that is a sh*t decision! Not a world cup now, just a trophy with 10 teams. Heads up their own a***s

• Paul Stirling: @gwilson14 Didn’t think u cud get a worse decision than ure lbw gainst the windies… I stand corrected ha!

• Trent Johnston: The ICC have certainly made my decision to retire after the 2012 T/20 World Cup very easy, thanks for the memories… #cricket #icc.

• Boyd Rankin: Thanks ICC!! What does Irish cricket got to do?? Shambles!!

• William Porterfield: Trying to compensate it with 16 teams in the T20, is that cuz they make more dollars by having a few more teams in this format by any chance!!#icc

• Niall O’Brien: mate just got of the field and I’m gutted with this news! This could halt the progress of irish cricket beyond repair. So sad now

• Barry Chambers (media manager): ICC – no morals – no sense of fair play or natural justice. They are a disgrace and unfit to govern

“And after such a terrific event, and the wonderful occasion of the final, where the sport was incredible and regarded in such glowing terms around the world, I’m afraid this is an absolute black day for the sport. It’s a genuinely awful decision that has been reached.”Scarcely three weeks have elapsed since Ireland were the toast of world cricket, with their successful run-chase against England, led by Kevin O’Brien’s record-breaking hundred, destined to remain as one of the abiding memories in World Cup history. Boyd Rankin, one of the players who featured in that game, posted his thoughts on Twitter. “Thanks ICC!! What does Irish cricket got to do?? Shambles!!”Ireland also fought hard against West Indies and Bangladesh, and Deutrom believed his team had done enough at least to force the ICC into some sort of dialogue. “It’s a betrayal of the principles of sport and the principles of meritocracy and a level playing field,” he said.”Surely the principle of sport is that if you are good enough you should have the chance to be involved. You have an Associate member who has been out-ranking a Full Member [Zimbabwe] for most of the last four years, who has got through to the Super Eights of the 2007 World Cup, and who has been genuinely been recognised as having performed even better at this one, yet on the back of those performances it has been seen fit to reduced the number of participants at the World Cup.”Although ICC have offered an expanded World Twenty20 in place of 2015 World Cup places, Deutrom has serious concerns about the impact on the sport below Test level. Part of Ireland’s success comes from the generous support of sponsors and sports funding, but without the major prize of a World Cup to aim for, the product could be less valuable.”It’s difficult to expect sponsors to remain on board and the government to continue to offer support when the question they could quite legitimately ask is ‘why should we support you when your own sport won’t?,” he said. “High Performance countries would regard themselves as proper cricket countries who play three forms of the game. The decision here, effectively, is saying the other 95 members out of 105 should go away and concentrate on 20-over cricket.”

Delhi start as the favourites but perhaps the fact that they can afford to lose while Kolkata Knight Riders are desperate for a win can make things interesting

The Preview by Sriram Veera06-Apr-2010

Match facts

Wednesday, April 7
Start time 2000 (1430GMT)Amit Mishra has been the pick of the spinners in the tournament•Indian Premier League

Big Picture

It’s a no-brainer. Delhi Daredevils start as the favourites but perhaps the fact that they can afford to lose while Kolkata Knight Riders are desperate for a win can make things interesting. However, it’s highly unlikely that Delhi will relax when they are still two wins away from making it into the final four.Delhi have come back after a mini-blip and have been combining well as a team. Amit Mishra has sparkled with the ball and the bowling looks more potent with the arrival of Daniel Vettori. Delhi’s strengths are known: Strong openers who are both capable of winning matches on their own, a good middle order in Gautam Gambhir and Paul Collingwood, and one of the better lower middle-order batsman of the tournament in Dinesh Karthik. That AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan are still warming the bench is an indicator how well things are going for Delhi.Whenever Kolkata have been in dire straits and looked to have completely lost the plot, they have bounced back with a win. Saurav Ganguly came good a couple of matches ago and Chris Gayle played a fiery knock in the last game. Both have to come good if Kolkata are to push Delhi. They will play four of their remaining six games at home, on a slow surface, though Delhi are more than comfortable playing on sluggish surfaces. Kolkata’s bowlers couldn’t defend a strong 201 in the last game against Punjab and if they don’t turn up with their A game, Delhi can give them a hammering.

Team talk

Brendon McCullum is likely to replace David Hussey. It allows Kolkata, who couldn’t defend a a big total against Punjab in the last game, to bring in an extra bowler instead of Wriddhiman Saha. Delhi are unlikely to make many changes, though their combination will change if Dirk Nannes is fit again.

Head to head

Delhi 3 Kolkata 1
Kolkata won the opening encounter between the teams, with Shoaib Akhtar grabbing 4 for 11; the return fixture was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Delhi had the better of both games in South Africa, winning by nine wickets in Durban and seven wickets in Johannesburg. In the first game this year, David Warner smashed a hundred to help Delhi beat Kolkata by 40 runs.

In the spotlight

Amit Mishra: It’s as if he is out to prove that the wrong leggie has been picked for the World Twenty20. He has been mixing his leg breaks and googlies superbly with his front-of-the-hand sliders and has troubled most batsmen. Even with the presence of Vettori in the side, it will be Mishra who will be the main spinner.David Warner: It’s a simple technique that he deploys. He clears the front foot and either swings through the line to the on side or cuts over the off-side field if its slightly shorter and pushed across him.

Prime Numbers

• David Warner holds the record for the most number of catches in the tournament: Seven catches. He also holds the record for most number of catches in a game: four.
• Paul Collingwood has hit more sixes than fours: Ten sixes to eight fours.

Abhishek Nayar says the KKR captain has been positive despite all the challenges and disappointments he’s faced in recent months

S Sudarshanan02-May-2024Shreyas Iyer has been on a rollercoaster side. He scored two hundreds and three half-centuries in India’s run to the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup in November, then suffered a recurrence his back troubles, had his commitment to red-ball cricket questioned, lost his BCCI contract, and was not even talked about among the contenders for selection to India’s 2024 T20 World Cup squad.He also came into this IPL season having missed the last one with injury and took back the captaincy of a team that finished seventh in 2022 and 2023. After nine games, he’s led Kolkata Knight Riders to second place in the points table with six wins, ahead of their contest against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on Friday.KKR assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, who knows Iyer from the domestic circuit in Mumbai, said he had dealt with his setbacks with a positive attitude.”He is one of the strongest people, mentally, I have ever known, just in terms of how he has accepted certain things that have happened with him,” Nayar said on Thursday. “I would have seen a lot of people cribbing and talking about it, but I haven’t heard him whine about it or complain about it at all. The way he has approached life is in a positive manner – what is in front of you, you try and accept it.”Related

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Iyer missed IPL 2023 after undergoing a back surgery. He made a comeback in the Asia Cup but suffered back spasms before the match against Pakistan. He made a comeback to play the ODI World Cup, where he scored 530 runs at a strike rate of 113.25 batting at No. 4.After scores of 31, 6, 0 and 4 not out in the Test series in South Africa, Iyer warmed up for the home series against England with a 48-run knock in the Ranji Trophy match against Andhra. But following returns of 35, 13, 27 and 29, he was dropped for the last three Tests against England. He then missed the Ranji Trophy quarter-final, despite BCCI’s directive against skipping it, due to a back spasm but returned for the semi-final. After scoring 95 in the first innings of the final against Tamil Nadu, Iyer complained of back pain and missed the rest of the game. He then linked up with the KKR squad and has played game so far.”Certain things are not in under his control but his fitness is in his control, and he is feeling a lot better now,” Nayar said. “He is great on the field, he is batting longer hours, he has trained really hard. Our S&Cs (strength and conditioning) and physios have worked hard with him.”Mentally, to have a mindset like that after being rejected or not getting his due, he has taken it very positively. Even when he talks about it, he is not negative, he understands he needs to go back and do well.”Iyer has not had a terrific time with the bat in IPL 2024, but he hasn’t been poor either: he has 251 runs -third most for KKR – at a strike rate of 137.15. He has largely batted at Nos. 4 and 5 and has had the luxury of coming in after one of the most explosive opening combinations this season – Phil Salt and Sunil Narine – has done its thing.”His mindset is to score runs, whether he plays the IPL, the Ranji Trophy or for India,” Nayar said. “He looks to score runs, it has affected him but the way he has handled it, kudos to him because I can imagine a lot of people reacting very differently than he has.”The floodlights had taken full effect at the Wankhede when Iyer geared up for a final stint in the nets on Thursday. He focused on power-hitting with Andre Russell slanting the ball full and wide outside off stump from around the wicket. Iyer took a moment to reflect after facing every delivery from Russell as well as the other bowlers, before joining MI captain Hardik Pandya, KKR bowling coach Bharath Arun, and KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit – all standing right behind the nets Iyer was batting in – for a chat.Iyer may not be part of India’s T20 World Cup squad, or the reserves, but his immediate challenge is to try and lead KKR to victory at a venue where success has eluded them for 12 years.