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The umpires took the players off in the 40th over after the batsmen had taken a series of blows to the body

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2019The Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia at the MCG which was suspended on Saturday due to a dangerous pitch has now been abandoned.After the umpires, Phillip Gillespie and Geoff Joshua, halted the match in the 40th over of the opening day the decision was taken to give groundstaff time to roll the surface with the hope of resuming on Sunday morning, but the concerns around the pitch remained due to the damaged caused yesterday and the game was called off after a further inspection.The incident comes less than three weeks before the Boxing Day Test between Australia and New Zealand although this match was not using the Test wicket.ALSO READ: Inside the MCG’s pitch rebootUnder Cricket Australia playing conditions there will be an attempt reschedule the match and if that isn’t possible the points for the match will be split three each along with the average bonus points scored in the other two games taking place.Western Australia were 3 for 89 when played was suspeneded after a ball from Andrew Fekete leapt to strike Marcus Stoinis, which was the latest in a series of deliveries to jump alarmingly from a length. It was a unanimous view among both sets of players that the conditions weren’t fit to continue.The umpires and match referee gave the groundstaff, led by head groundsman Matt Page, time to roll the pitch and for it to dry under the sun. The major concern centered on the pitch being too soft, with the ball creating divots which led to the dangerously uneven bounce. Stoinis and captain Shaun Marsh both underwent concussion on the opening day which they passed. “We’re very disappointed at today’s play being abandoned in the Marsh Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia,” Peter Roach, Cricket Australia’s head of cricket operations, said after the initial suspension on Saturday. “But we also acknowledge that there have been two previous Shield matches at the MCG this season without incident.”Matt Page and the MCG groundstaff have more than two weeks to ensure the Test surface, which is a different pitch strip to the one being used in this match, is of international standard. We will seek to better understand the issues that resulted in variable bounce at the MCG on Saturday. We will also work closely with MCG groundstaff in the lead up to the Test match.”The MCG pitch has been the focus of much debate in recent years with a lifeless surface for the 2017-18 Ashes Test earning the ground a “poor” rating from the ICC, which put them on notice of formal sanctions. Last year’s pitch against India was again slow, and got an “average” rating, but the visiting attack managed to take 20 wickets to comfortably beat Australia.There have been extensive attempts to bring more pace and bounce back to the pitch, as well as natural wear as the game progresses, and the surface for the Shield match against Queensland earlier this season earned positive reviews for being a good contest.

India’s captain and their vice-captain Rohit Sharma look back on the year 2019

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2019 Star Sports.Kohli: Well, it’s been one of the best years for Indian cricket, to be honest, apart from playing the cricket that we played for half an hour in the World Cup. I think apart from that it’s been a beautiful year for us. We’ll keep chasing that ICC trophy, it’s something that this team deserves, it’s something that I feel should be accumulation of all the hard work we’ve done in the last few years, and we’ll keep chasing it. We’ll have that vision in place, but I think apart from that, the way we’ve played, the brand of cricket, it’s been wonderful to be a part of it.Kohli: Yeah, indeed. Having a bunch of fast bowlers like this, who can just bowl out any opposition anywhere, is a brilliant thing to have in Indian cricket. [It’s] something that we haven’t quite relied on in the past, but I think them taking the attention away from the spinners in India is a huge statement, so I think that’s what makes us feel that when we travel now, we have it in us to win a series, and not just one-odd Test match here and there. So I think it’s been hard work, persistence, learning the game, thinking about the game that’s got them to where they are and they deserve it fully. Mohammed Shami continued to strengthen his case to be a white-ball regular•BCCI

Rohit: I should be grateful of the year I’ve had. A World Cup victory there would’ve been nice. But as a team, we played some good cricket throughout the year whether in red-ball cricket or white ball cricket. The team kept together very well and every individual stepped up and put their hand up and got the team through. Personally, yes, I’ve enjoyed batting but there’s no way I’m going to stop here. An exciting year coming forward as well so I quite look forward to that as well.I understand my batting really well and I want to play within my limits, whatever limitations I’ve got. Knowing the gameplan that you want to execute on the field is very very important and more often than not I went out there trying to do that. Even in the red-ball format, playing against South Africa, I knew it was going to be challenging. Although in India, we never saw the ball swing, it swung quite a bit in that series and it was a big challenge facing the new ball. We know the challenge will be bigger when we start travelling and we want to win games there. It’s more important than individual performances because we want to make sure we stay on top of the table. Kohli: Look, we are in the process, every series, of trying out people, see how they react under pressure, because whether people want to accept it or not, after few years we have to go through a transition again where the youngsters will have to step up, keep Indian cricket at the standard that has been set now. It’s just about identifying those people every now and then. Once those people have been settled, then you feel like you’ve contributed to Indian cricket, you’ve left the team as strong, if not stronger than what it was when you were playing, and that is something that we’ll keep striving for.

“We’ve come to win this World Cup and take it back from Australia”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2020West Indies won the Women’s T20 World Cup title in 2016, beating Australia in the final, but ended on the wrong side of the result in 2018 as Australia beat them in the semi-final, that too on home soil. Anisa Mohammed hasn’t forgotten that, and wants to “spoil the party” and “return the favour” when the next chapter begins in Australia in less than a week.”We’ve come to win this World Cup and take it back from Australia,” Mohammed, whose 118 wickets make her the most successful bowler – man or woman – in T20Is, told ICC. “It would be nice to spoil the party. They spoiled ours, so it would be nice to return the favour.”Australia have been doing really well. They recently played in the tri-series [against England and India] and came out on top, but we’ve been working hard ourselves.”The final in 2016 was a really special day. That was probably the biggest highlight of my career – winning a World Cup is something I’d love to do again. As a team, we know what it’s like to win and what it’s like to lose. Winning is definitely better, so we want to win this time.”Australia are known as the top team in the world. All teams will be gunning to beat them.”Back in 2016, West Indies beat Australia, the favourites, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in the final, with Hayley Matthews’ career-defining 45-ball 66 and Stafanie Taylor’s 57-ball 59 taking them to the target of 149 in the last over of the chase. In 2018, Australia’s bowlers were at the top of their game, finishing West Indies off for 71 for a 71-run win in North Sound. More recently, the two sides met in a bilateral series in the Caribbean in September 2019, where Australia blanked the home side 3-0 in the T20Is – they won the ODIs by the same margin.”We have some history with Australia,” quick bowler Shakera Selman said. “Since the last series, I’ve noticed a lot of the girls have built some sort of friendship and some sort of camaraderie.”They’ve beaten us a few times. They were hurting after we beat them in 2016 and they came back to beat us two years later. It would be a big game if we faced them in the semi-finals but we’ve got to take each one as it comes.”At the 2020 edition, four-time champions and favourites Australia are in Group A, while West Indies are in Group B, along with England, Pakistan, South Africa and Thailand. The tournament begins on February 21 with the opening clash between hosts Australia and India in Sydney, followed by West Indies v Thailand on February 22.

Before the pandemic struck, the team had had a packed international calendar to look forward to, for once

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2020They don’t play anywhere near as frequently as most of their Full Member counterparts do, but 2020 was supposed to be different for Zimbabwe. They began the year with a home Test series against Sri Lanka, followed that with a full tour of Bangladesh, and were set for a lot more cricket – they were due to be playing Ireland this month, and fixtures against Afghanistan, Australia, India and Netherlands were to come later this year – only for the Covid-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic to put all of it on hold.While the pandemic has affected the sport all over the world, it will hit Zimbabwe particularly hard, according to their premier batsman Brendan Taylor.”Personally, this break is not doing us any favours,” Taylor told the Zimbabwean weekly . “I feel we are a team that needs to be playing more often; we’ve always been starved of cricket. This year we had a full schedule of international cricket, but that’s now been jeopardised by this pandemic. So it’s extremely frustrating and hurtful times.”But there are people out there losing their lives and their loved ones to this terrible virus, so at the end of the cricket is not so important anymore, is it?”ALSO READ – Downtime Diaries: ‘I wash my hands about 20 times a day now’The sporadic nature of their international assignments, Taylor felt, had hurt Zimbabwe in the past, and he suggested that the busy schedule planned for this year could have helped the team build momentum.”We’d have obviously wanted to be playing, I’m sure everyone would have wanted that because in the past we gained momentum when we were playing regularly and unfortunately we’ve always been hampered by the fact that we play a series and then we don’t play for three or four months.”[But] there’s a bigger picture here and cricket will come back eventually and when that time comes everyone will be chomping [sic] at the bit to get going.”As hard as their situation is right now, Taylor felt Zimbabwe’s players were in a position where they could help less privileged sections of society get through the pandemic.”I think it’s a time where as players we can be a little more proactive, setting up GoFundMe pages trying to help the old, the homeless, and that’s a big issue in our country,” he said. “When this virus comes to an end it will be nice to support local business, restaurants and other areas that are in desperate need and that’s where as players we are very lucky to be in a position to give back.”

An epic clash between two of world cricket’s bitterest rivals gave new life to the World Cup and knocked out the defending champions

The Retroreport by Andrew Miller05-Apr-2020 #RetroLive
Pakistan’s reign as World Champions has come to an end at the hands of their bitterest rivals, after the most richly anticipated clash of the 1996 World Cup served up a seething, bare-knuckle confrontation under the Chinnaswamy floodlights.The margin, 39 runs, looked substantial by the time the last rites of the contest had been played out, in front of a deliriously satisfied crowd of 35,000 partisan fans who – with whistles, hoots and bonfires in the stands – belied Bangalore’s previously staid reputation in an atmosphere that teetered at times towards anarchy.But the agonies that those fans endured in the course of the contest were real – as were those of countless millions from Karachi to Calcutta as the subcontinent came to a standstill for one pulsating evening. And never was the fate of the protagonists more on a knife-edge than during a thrilling opening stand of 84 in ten overs between Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar, one that appeared to have placed a daunting target of 288 well within Pakistan’s grasp.And yet, in the final analysis, India found the right men for the key moments, as they turned the tables in the middle overs and held their nerve at the death. Their basic team discipline was allied to top-notes of adrenalin-fuelled inspiration – not least a ballistic late onslaught from Ajay Jadeja – as they found the means to outlast a worthy opponent. Fittingly, and poignantly, it was Javed Miandad, 38 years old, and playing in his sixth World Cup after nearly three years of self-declared exile, who was on deck as Pakistan’s hopes faded to black. He bulwarked the closing overs before being run out for 38 from 64 balls, as the mounting asking-rate enveloped his dreams of one final glory.Pakistan will rue their fate in this contest for many years to come – rarely can they have had a contest more at their mercy. But rushes of blood littered their strokeplay as the game slipped from their grasp, not least the wild hack that Aamer, standing in as captain after the grievous pre-toss loss of Wasim Akram to a side strain, aimed at a pumped-up Venkatesh Prasad to eject himself from the contest at precisely the moment when consolidation was Pakistan’s watchword.Prasad’s send-off to Aamer was as feisty and uncomplicated as his subsequent command of the legcutter proved cool and calculating, and Pakistan’s middle order struggled to hit the ground running. Ijaz Ahmed opted to counter his threat with muscle but hoisted a leading edge to cover; Inzamam-ul-Haq attempted finesse, but steered a flat-footed poke to Nayan Mongia behind the stumps. And at 132 for 4, what embers remained of Pakistan’s fight were duly doused by the spinners, Anil Kumble and Venkatapathy Raju, who throttled the contest with four wickets between them, and ensured that India’s lack of a fifth specialist bowler would not prove costly.It has been a slow burn of a World Cup, with mismatches and cancellations dominating an over-long group stage, in which the only real jeopardy for the senior Test nations has been the identity and venue of these knock-outs. And after squandering their chance of a home tie in Karachi with last week’s untimely loss to South Africa, Pakistan’s plans took a further hit in the build-up, with Wasim’s absence compounded by the loss of an important toss which left them the unenviable task of chasing in Bangalore’s floodlit debut.That prospect perhaps informed the tempo of the game’s opening exchanges, as Pakistan shelved their habitual aggression with the new ball and veered very early towards containment. Navjot Sidhu responded with a maturely compiled 93 from 115 balls, an innings in which he outscored his more illustrious partner Sachin Tendulkar by almost 2 to 1 in an opening stand of 90. But at 237 for 6 after 47 overs, India’s innings was in danger of drifting towards mediocrity.Until, that is, an astonishing late onslaught from Jadeja, whose natural attributes of strength and timing surged to the fore to eviscerate Pakistan’s death bowlers. No-one suffered more gruesomely than Waqar Younis, whose first eight overs had yielded 27 runs, but whose final two were smashed for 22 and 18 respectively – or dis-respectfully, you might say.Up until that moment, Pakistan seemed to have been earning their rewards for perseverance. At 168 for 2, Mushtaq Ahmed – a key player in the 1992 triumph – dislodged Sidhu with the flipper when a century was there for the taking, then followed up with a masterfully disguised googly to bowl Vinod Kambli on the charge for 24. Mohammad Azharuddin had already gone by then, supremely snaffled by Rashid Latif to give Waqar the wicket that his endeavours had earned, and when Mongia was run out for 3, a total of 250 seemed the upper limit of their ambitions and the Chinnaswamy was taut with apprehension.And yet, Jadeja’s part in that run-out seemed to click him into instant overdrive. Having survived a screechingly close lbw appeal from his first ball against Waqar, he decided thereafter not to let his legs be a target as he carved repeatedly and violently through the line and across the ropes.From consecutive Waqar deliveries Jadeja creamed four, six, four, six – the best of the lot an insolent slog over wide long-off as he seized on a fractional erring in line with disdain, and when Aaqib Javed banged one in short in between whiles, he slapped a further four off his eyebrows to send the whole of his country into raptures.By the time he holed out to long-on to end Waqar’s torment, Jadeja had racked up 45 from 25 balls, and with Kumble chiming in as well, India helped themselves to 50 runs in three overs that seemed, surely, to have put the game beyond reach.But Pakistan weren’t to be beaten quite that easily, and in scenes as eerily silent as a Hitchcock thriller, Aamer and Anwar made it their business to tear chunks out of the target in an opening salvo so calm and calculating it seemed to pan out in slow motion.Javagal Srinath was bunted over midwicket by Aamer in his first over, before Anwar opened his night’s work with back-to-back boundaries off Prasad, including a cover drive so pre-meditated, he might as well have started playing it on the flight over the border.The hits just kept on coming, so much so that Azharuddin turned to Kumble as early as the fifth over, but even he found himself soaring into the stands at long-on as Anwar kept his foot to the floor. And when Srinath was plucked off the toes high over midwicket for Anwar’s second six of the night, there seemed no earthly means of pulling India’s bowling effort out of its nose-dive.But then Pakistan blinked fatefully, and their reign as World Champions began to unravel. RetroLive

What happens if someone tests positive within the bubble, created at great expense, he asks

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2020Rahul Dravid believes sport across the globe will need a controlled lifting of restrictions if it is to thrive again, and playing in a bio-secure bubble will not always be a viable solution even as governing bodies grapple with the prospect of resuming behind closed doors in the Covid-19 era.”A lot of these things are going to be dictated by the situation and how it evolves,” Dravid said on a webinar organised by YUVA, a non-profit organisation for underprivileged sportspersons in India. “In case of the bio-bubble, you do all the testing and quarantine and then on day two of the Test match, what if one player, for example, tests positive? What happens then?”The rules, as they stand now, will see the Public Health Department coming in and putting everyone in quarantine, that ends the Test, that series, even though they may have incurred a lot of expense to create that [secure] environment.”So we have to work with the health authorities and governments to work out ways in which, if someone tests positive, you don’t cancel the full tournament. If we are talking of the environment of sport, given the rules that exist now, it will be difficult for sport to resume.”Dravid also felt quarantining players for a set period before and after the event in a crowded cricket calendar may not be entirely practical. He was responding to a question on the possibility of West Indies playing in England in a “bio-secure” environment, with lengthy preparation times.As things stand, West Indies are prepared to travel to England a month in advance to acclimatise and complete their quarantine before playing a three-Test series. That could mean the England players, as per reports, may need to be away from their families for up to nine weeks, until the end of the three-Test series against Pakistan in August.”A lot of these rules will have to keep changing. It is a bit unrealistic to have things at the level the ECB is talking about for every series [14-day quarantine period before and after every series],” Dravid said. “Obviously, the ECB is very keen to conduct these couple of series because they have had no other cricket and it is right in the middle of the season, and they’re keen to do this so they are potentially creating the bubble and managing it that way.”It’s going to be unrealistic for everyone to be able to do that all the time. With the kind of calendar that we have, the kind of travelling involved for the players, it’s virtually going to be impossible to do that. We’re hoping things will evolve and we will find a better way.”Football leagues in Germany and Korea have resumed behind closed doors. There have been talks within the BCCI of the IPL adopting a similar route, too. Dravid felt such a possibility could only benefit richer boards or leagues.”The Bundesliga, Korean League or specific leagues where players live and train in one city, that can be managed at an elite level where there is money and infrastructure isn’t a problem,” Dravid explained. “As you go down where sports don’t have the kind of money some of these football leagues or other leagues have, it’s going to be difficult to do that. You have to find a balance to this situation. If we want to stick by the rules we’re talking about now, it’s unrealistic to start sport. There has to be easing of certain restrictions, even when people test positive, for sport to fully resume.Dravid also underlined how crowds were integral to the sporting experience and equated elite sportspeople to “performers” who thrived on the big stage. While he didn’t think player performance would be directly affected by playing behind closed doors, he said athletes wouldn’t have the “stage to perform”.”Elite sportspeople will adjust at a professional level,” he said. “They will find a way to not let it affect performances to a large extent. They all take pride in their performances, so they will find a way to deal with it. I don’t think there will be a dip in performance because of this but, as a whole, the experience won’t be the same.”Players are like performers, they like to play in front of big crowds. They’re used to engaging with the fans. That adds an incredible complexity to the game. The interactions between fans and players will be missed, like the experience of playing in front of a packed house in Kolkata or anywhere in the world. As players, you want to perform. There’s a sense of wanting to perform as an artiste or actor or performer, and the players would miss that.”

BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit head says shifting IPL 2020 away from India won’t hamper intelligence gathering

PTI26-Jul-2020Taking the IPL to the UAE would be quite a task logistically for the tournament organisers, but for BCCI Anti-Corruption Unit head Ajit Singh, the move will make monitoring the event “slightly easier” as it would be restricted to just three venues.IPL 2020 is set to start in the UAE on September 19 and the final will be held on November 8 or November 10, with three venues – Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi hosting the 60 games over 51 days.ALSO READ: IPL 2020: UAE board waits for India government nod to ‘ink the final deal’ with BCCI“In the UAE, it will be slightly easier doing [monitoring ACU activity] as there are only three grounds compared to eight venues in India,” Singh told .”That’s not an issue at all. Once the schedule comes, we will decide the workforce.”In 2014, the UAE hosted a part of the IPL because of general elections in India.Singh said currently there are “eight ACU officers who are on BCCI payrolls”.So, will that be enough for managing the work through 60 matches as well as keeping a tab on hotels? “It’s too early to comment on measures as we need to first check what kind of bio-security measures will be created,” Singh said. “We first need to see how things are taking shape there and we will deploy our men accordingly. In case, we need men, we will hire them.”With the ICC headquartered in Dubai, the BCCI, if need be, can take help of the global body, which has a huge team of ACU officials, according to senior a BCCI official.”If it is a private league that approaches ICC for hiring ACU officers and they agree to cover the event, then the league organisers bear the costs,” the official said.ALSO READ: IPL 2020 to start on September 19, final on November 8 or 10The BCCI might need extra workforce considering that each team will have one dedicated Integrity Officer as per rules.”It is the BCCI that will designate one Integrity Officer per team during the course of the IPL,” a senior franchise official said.” Now whether they will be a part of the bio-bubble (if created), we don’t know, but the Integrity Officer is completely their domain.”Matches held in the UAE have previously been vulnerable to the impact of bookies and fixers, but the ACU head is quite confident that they can prevent wrongdoing.”Whoever is involved (bookies/fixers) they are all inter-connected,” he said. “If we have our sources here, they also know how these bookies operate. If they get an information of this place, they will get an information of that place also. It’s not so much of an issue.”

Andrew McDonald to skip Australia’s tour of England to link up with Rajasthan Royals

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-20201:06

‘Steven Smith looking forward to the challenge of captaining Rajasthan Royals’

Twelve of the 21 players – including captain Aaron Finch (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and vice-captain Pat Cummins (Kolkata Knight Riders) – who have been named in Australia’s squad for the three T20Is and three ODIs in England, are set to miss the start of IPL 2020 because of the IPL’s Covid-19 testing protocols.But Andrew McDonald, Australia’s senior assistant coach, will not join the touring party to England as he has been allowed by Cricket Australia to head to the UAE to link up with Rajasthan Royals, where he is the head coach.ALSO READ: 2020 IPL will be ‘more secure’ from corruption due to bubbleApart from Finch and Cummins, David Warner (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Steven Smith (Royals), Glenn Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab), Mitchell Marsh (Sunrisers), Josh Phillipe and Kane Richardson (Royal Challengers), Alex Carey and Marcus Stoinis (both Delhi Capitals), Josh Hazlewood (Chennai Super Kings) and Andrew Tye (Royals), are among those in the England tour group with IPL contracts.Australia’s limited-overs tour of England kicks off on September 4 and will end on September 16, three days before the start of the IPL in the UAE.According to the IPL’s SOPs, once the squads land in the UAE, all members will undergo a test at the airport before heading to the team hotels. From this point, the IPL testing protocol kicks in: every squad will undergo a mandatory seven-day quarantine in their hotel, and every squad member will be tested three times during the week – on the first, third and sixth day. If all three results come back negative, the squad can start training. After that, all the players would be tested again on the fifth day of every week throughout the tournament.Andrew McDonald will skip Australia’s white-ball tour of England•Getty Images

The franchises had recently requested the IPL to relax the quarantine period for the group of players travelling to the UAE after the England v Australia series, but they got an unofficial thumbs down even as they wait for a final set of SOPs, which also need to be approved by the UAE governmentDefending IPL champions Mumbai Indians are the only franchise that will remain unaffected in terms of player unavailability, as Nathan Coulter-Nile and Chris Lynn, the two Australians in their squad, weren’t selected for the tour. Lynn is instead preparing to turn out for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League, which will kick off on August 18.It is understood that Royals will be among the first teams to land in the UAE, most likely on August 20 and should have their head coach, the former Australia allrounder McDonald, in their ranks. McDonald was appointed Royals’ head coach for a period of three years from IPL 2020.”When Andrew came on board that was part of our agreement with him that he would be able to continue as head coach of the Rajasthan Royals – and we’re really comfortable with that,” Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia head of national teams, said. “We believe that’s a beneficial outcome for Andrew’s development as a coach, but also for our players. Having someone who has had that experience and bring it back into our environment, particularly with three white-ball World Cups coming up in the next three years; two of them in India. It’s [a] really valuable experience for Andrew and our team.”McDonald’s availability for Royals comes as a significant boost for the team after their fielding coach Dishant Yagnik tested positive for Covid-19. After his 14-day quarantine, Yagnik will undergo two more tests as per the BCCI’s protocols. If he tests negative in both, he can leave for the UAE where he will have to self-isolate for six days before undergoing three more tests. Only after clearing those would he be allowed to join the team.

Jofra Archer and Sam Curran also instrumental in scripting improbable fightback

Andrew Miller13-Sep-2020Chris Woakes says that England’s only option was “attack, attack, attack” as they turned the second ODI on its head in a thrilling fightback late in Australia’s innings.Woakes claimed figures of 3 for 32, including both of Australia’s well-set batsmen, Marnus Labuschagne and Aaron Finch, as well as the dangerous Glenn Maxwell for 1, as Australia slumped from a seemingly impregnable 144 for 2 to 207 all out, and defeat by 24 runs.He was one of three England seamers to pick up three in the innings, alongside Jofra Archer – who claimed the Player of the Match award after ripping out two early wickets in a fierce new-ball spell, and Sam Curran, who rose to the occasion after his senior team-mates had bowled out with 3 for 35 in nine.And speaking to Sky Sports after the win, which has levelled the series at 1-1 with Wednesday’s decider to come, Woakes was delighted that England both came up with a plan and then stuck to it, to script an improbable turnaround.”If you held your length well, it was always going to be difficult for the batsman to score freely,” he said. “We certainly found that with the bat, and then pressure builds and that’s when you pick up wickets.”The chances come when you’re building dots regularly, so you’re constantly trying to bash a good length, and make sure the batsman is going to play your best ball as many times as possible.”England had looked dead and buried once already in the contest, after slumping to 149 for 8 in their own innings, before the tail – led by Tom Curran and Adil Rashid – rallied to post a competitive 231 for 9.And yet, on a used wicket that had already proven tricky for England’s strokemakers, England still believed even when Australia seemed to be coasting to their target on 121 for 2 after 25 overs. It was at that point that Eoin Morgan turned back to his new-ball pairing, Woakes and Archer, with devastating effect.ALSO READ: England level series after sparking dramatic Australia collapseNeither man struck immediately, but after drying up the runs for five overs in a row, Woakes then pinned Labuschagne lbw for 48. And with Morgan now intent on bowling out his strike pairing, Archer was primed to barrel through the defences of Mitchell Marsh, bowling him for 1 in his next over to send panic coursing through Australia’s ranks.”At that point, we were just thinking ‘attack, attack, attack’,” said Woakes, who bowled Finch for 73 four balls later and Maxwell with first ball of his subsequent over. “Try and get as many wickets as possible. We used cross-seam quite a bit to get that ball to go reverse and thankfully we got a bit of that.”It was moving off the straight, and we always felt that if we could pick up a cluster of wickets in the middle, it was going to be difficult for the new guys coming in. Eoin bowled me and Jof out, and we sensed that was the moment we had to make the most of the ball going sideways.”After a difficult time in the Test series against West Indies and Pakistan, when Archer’s game plan never quite seemed fully attuned to the format, there was no doubting his readiness for the challenge of transforming this particular contest.”We were quite versatile,” Archer said during the post-match presentation. “We went seam-up for the first two or three overs, and then Morgs said ‘give it a go and see what happens’ and it worked.”This is a second-day wicket as well, so you don’t have to do too much,” he added. “If you keep banging it in, it’s hard enough to bat as it is, so you don’t have to get too funky with the variations.”Even so, England’s work was not done by the time Woakes and Archer had finished their spells. Australia were rocking on 155 for 6 after 36 overs, but that left the back-end of the innings in the hands of Sam Curran, a relative novice when it comes to the dark arts of death bowling.”It was unbelievable really,” Woakes said. “Him going into the last 12 overs with six to bowl, that’s a tough gig. So credit to him, he held his nerve.”He kept saying ‘ I’m worried about bowling length’ and I said, ‘well, mate, it’s what’s working on this surface, just keep sticking to it’.”If you stick to the process, Morgs is always happy for you to do that, but it showed great character for him to pick up three great wickets as well.”Finch, Australia’s captain, also paid credit to England’s resolve in overturning the odds.”We knew it was always going to be tough for a new batter to start on a wicket like that,” he said. “England squeezed, they bowled really straight, a really good length, it was hard to take them on down the ground and it was hard to hit boundaries in that middle period. They bowled well but, yeah, we’re still very disappointed.”

The presence of a number of Karnataka players and Kumble in the Kings XI camp spices up this contest

Karthik Krishnaswamy23-Sep-20207:55

Moody: Mujeeb would add a lot to Kings XI’s attack

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On the eve of the IPL’s opening match, the Royal Challengers Bangalore released a new anthem, which triggered a social-media backlash from fans who were angry that most of its lyrics were in Hindi rather than Kannada, the official language of Karnataka, the state the team is based in.Apart from a handful of exceptions over the years, IPL teams have represented their local geographies in only the most tenuous of ways, and it’s made little difference, by and large, to the fans who support them. The irony of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad containing only two Karnataka players usually goes unnoticed and unmentioned. But over recent seasons, one match-up has heightened the irony enough to make it a talking point.KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, K Gowtham and J Suchith all play for Karnataka and for Kings XI Punjab, whose coach, Anil Kumble, is arguably Karnataka’s greatest-ever cricketer. Apart from all the cricketing subplots of Thursday’s game, therefore, there’s also Royal Challengers versus Karnataka to keep in mind.To the teams themselves, only the cricketing subplots will matter. Two of them could be of particular importance. Do the Royal Challengers have enough lower-order firepower to remove the inhibitions of their top order, and if so, do the top-order batsmen trust that lower order enough? Do Kings XI have a death-bowling problem, and do they have solutions for it within their squad?

In the news

Chris Morris didn’t feature in the Royal Challengers’ opening game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and their director of cricket operations Mike Hesson has clarified that the South African allrounder was nursing a side strain. He hoped Morris would be fit to play “in a game or two”, so it remains to be seen if he features against Kings XI.

Likely XIs

Kings XI Punjab: 1 KL Rahul (capt & wk), 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Sarfaraz Khan, 7 K Gowtham, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Sheldon Cottrell.Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Devdutt Padikkal, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Josh Philippe (wk)/Moeen Ali, 6 Shivam Dube/Gurkeerat Singh Mann, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Dale Steyn. 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Navdeep Saini, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, two of the many Karnataka boys in the Kings XI Punjab team•BCCI

Strategy punt

The Royal Challengers’ use of Yuzvendra Chahal could revolve around where Glenn Maxwell bats. In all T20 cricket, Chahal has dismissed Maxwell five times in eight innings, while conceding 80 runs off 52 balls.ALSO SEE: Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore live score 24 September 2020Ravi Bishnoi made an impressive IPL debut against the Capitals, tying down Rishabh Pant with his wrong’uns delivered from over the wicket and veering away from the left-hander’s hitting arc. The same weapon could come in handy against a right-hand batsman in Thursday’s game. In all T20 games since the start of 2018, Kohli has been dismissed by the googly three times in 32 balls, while only scoring 40 runs off them. Kohli’s strike rate against the legbreak (130.2) isn’t too worrying either if Kings XI want to deploy Bishnoi against him.

Stats that matter

Since the start of the 2019 season, the Royal Challengers (11.4) and Kings XI (10.5) have boasted two of the three worst death-overs (16-20) economy rates in the IPL, sandwiching the Kolkata Knight Riders (10.8). It clearly remains an issue for Kings XI – whose last three overs against the Delhi Capitals went for 57 runs – while the Royal Challengers didn’t have that facet of their game tested in their opening game thanks to the Sunrisers’ spectacular collapse.Kings XI’s death-overs issues could come into even sharper focus against the Royal Challengers, three of whose batsmen – Virat Kohli (216.42), AB de Villiers (215.67) and Moeen Ali (215.09) – are among the top five batsmen overall since the start of 2019 (minimum 200 runs) in terms of T20 strike rates in that phase.Two of those three batsmen, however, have lately been scoring slowly in the overs leading up to the slog. Since the start of the 2019 season, de Villiers (129.14) and Kohli (120.14) have low strike rates in the middle overs (7-15) of IPL matches. In that phase, Kohli has only hit boundaries once every 12.2 balls. Moeen (158.20), however, has a healthy middle-overs strike rate, and this could prompt the Royal Challengers to pick him ahead of Josh Philippe.Among all batsmen with at least 200 runs in the middle overs since 2019, Mayank Agarwal (151.74) has the second-best strike rate in that phase behind Jonny Bairstow (157.04). KL Rahul is fifth at 138.69.Rahul needs two runs to complete 2000 in the IPL. If he gets there in Thursday’s game, he will have done so in his 60th innings, becoming the third-quickest to the mark behind Chris Gayle (48) and Shaun Marsh (52) and the quickest Indian ahead of Sachin Tendulkar (63).Dale Steyn is three wickets away from 100 in the IPL.Kings XI is Yuzvendra Chahal’s favourite opponent in the IPL when it comes to wicket-taking. He’s taken 19 against them at an average of 16.0 and a strike rate of 12.4, though his economy rate of 7.8 is worse than it is against the Rajasthan Royals (5.7) and the Chennai Super Kings (6.9).