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Daredevils revive campaign with crushing win

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Delhi Daredevils have not given the Feroz Shah Kotla a lot to crow about in 2015, but in their final home match at this ground in the IPL group stage, they gutted Kings XI Punjab’s top order, then blew past the opposition’s 118 for 8 by nine wickets

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando01-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:49

O’Brien: One of the most insipid performances in a T20 match

Delhi Daredevils have not given the Feroz Shah Kotla a lot to crow about in 2015, but in their final home match at this ground in the IPL group stage, they gutted Kings XI Punjab’s top order, then blew past the opposition’s 118 for 8 by nine wickets. Zaheer Khan claimed a wicket in each of his first two overs to kick Daredevil’s most dominant performance of the season into gear, while JP Duminy and Nathan Coulter-Nile chipped in with scalps of their own. After 3.3 overs, Kings XI were 10 for 4 – their chance of rising above last place already on the rocks.Coulter-Nile returned to terrorise the middle-order later on, finishing with figures of 4 for 20. Daredevils’ openers Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer struck casual half-centuries in the reply, and the hosts raced home inside 14 overs.Zaheer had not played competitive cricket in almost a year, following the strain sustained in his back at last year’s IPL, but his impact at the Kotla was nearly immediate. Virender Sehwag was coming back to the Kings XI side himself, after a one-match layoff, but could find no end to his poor stretch of form against his former India team-mate. Sehwag aimed to push his second ball from Zaheer through the covers, but as the ball seamed away a touch, could only get a thick outside edge to it. Mathews took the catch at a close-in point.Duminy opened the bowling from the other end, and hit Shaun Marsh in front of the stumps with a slider first ball. Manan Vohra tried to blast Kings XI out of the mire, but a Zaheer short ball next over put paid to those ambitions, catching the advancing batsman’s outside edge en route to the keeper. Coulter-Nile bowled sharp outswing in his first spell. His reward was the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha, who drove loosely at one of those balls, and presented another catch to the keeper.David Miller and George Bailey threatened a recovery, before Bailey was out missing a sweep off Amit Mishra in the eighth over, to embed Kings XI in misery at 37 for 5. It wasn’t until Miller and Akshar Patel were joined at the crease that some semblance of a partnership materialised for the visitors. Those two shelved the more aggressive tenets of their game in the 59-run stand that gave Kings XI something to bowl at. Coulter-Nile had them both caught in the deep in the 19th over.From the second over, Delhi’s chase seemed a cakewalk. Shardul Thakur was wayward in his first IPL over, feeding Iyer two short wide balls to be cut over third man off successive deliveries. When he attempted to correct his line, he went too far the other way, first delivering a leg-side wide, then being clipped to the fence off the pads. There were quiet overs, and a tight spell from Sandeep Sharma, but the batsmen were largely untroubled in pursuit of such a meagre score. Iyer slammed the wayward Thisara Perera to the square-leg fence to reach his half-century in 38 balls, but he was caught at deep midwicket next over. Agarwal remained unbeaten with 52 from 40.

Mumbai, Chennai prepare to bow out

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Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were expected to go further than the first round of the Champions League, but they struggled to adjust to the conditions

Firdose Moonda21-Oct-2012The Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings squads were sitting in a hospitality suite in the top tier of the Wanderers Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It is one of the best places to watch cricket in the ground but it may not have been that pleasant for them that day.As they looked down on Lions’ Jean Symes mowing the ball through mid-on for four, both sides knew that no matter what they did, the rest of their time in South Africa would be inconsequential. With that one shot, Symes took Lions into the semi-finals and knocked out three other teams, including both IPL representatives in the group.Without much time for their elimination to sink in, Mumbai and Chennai took the field in what seemed like a daze. Faf du Plessis looked like he had been given a licence to go wild, then Lasith Malinga reined it all in. Chennai retained control though, until Dinesh Kartik began pulling away. He tugged and tugged and eventually the rope snapped and Mumbai were left holding the short end.The contest was one of the best of the tournament. The advantage shifted throughout, audacious shots were played, extraordinary catches taken and a healthy crowd had remained in the ground to see it. But it was difficult to get excited about any of that, as it will be when Chennai play Yorkshire and Mumbai take on the Syndey Sixers in their final acts of the event.Three of the four IPL teams will not participate in the knockouts, a surprise considering how loaded the format was in their favour. Their failure can be put down to an inability to adjust to early season South African pitches, bad weather (Mumbai and Kolkata had a rained-out encounter each) or as, Karthik said, simply being worked out by better opposition.”We should put it down to the fact that we haven’t played good cricket and that other teams have played better than us,” he said. “It’s been hard because we were looking pretty good in terms of batting in the one game [against Yorkshire] and then it was washed out. That’s how this tournament goes. We had a great start against the Lions but it was a game we could have played better.”Karthik denied there was any other explanation for their performances, and he thought there had been enough preparation time. “All the teams were here a week before and we acclimatised,” he said. “These days international cricketers travel around the world and it’s the domestic cricketers who don’t know a place like South Africa. The pitches are a little different to those in India but we even played practice games. They have been good wickets, and good teams could play well on them. One whole IPL was held here.”Ben Hilfenhaus, the Chennai Super Kings fast bowler, shared that sentiment. “With so many good players and so many good competitions around the world, when you get the best teams together, you’ve got to expect some good cricket. It doesn’t matter where those teams come from,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any extra pressure on IPL teams. It is 20-over cricket, and results don’t necessarily go to the favourite team.”As defending champions and the most successful franchise in the IPL, Mumbai and Chennai were two of the fancied bunch. Now, they have nothing but self-respect to salvage, and that kept them motivated when they played each other. “Both teams have a rich tradition. We’ve played each 12 times and it was six wins each, so there’s a bit of history there,” Karthik said. “Both the teams played with a lot of spirit and a lot of energy. We didn’t play thinking that it was okay if somebody loses. Both our teams came hard at it.”Whether they will have that same enthusiasm against non-IPL opposition in their final matches is doubtful. “The feeling was probably a little flat during the warm-ups,” Hilfenhaus admitted after the game against Mumbai, hinting that Chennai may have some feet on the plane already.For Karthik and Mumbai, the hope is that only remaining IPL representatives, Delhi Daredevils, can restore all of their reputations. “They are a team well suited to these conditions, and being an Indian team I would love to see them win,” Karthik, who was once a Delhi Daredevil, said. “If Delhi goes on to qualify, it will be a great thing for the CLT20 because you will definitely get a lot of viewers from India watching them pretty keenly, and I will be one of them. It will be great to see Delhi do well.”

Hughes hundred hurts Sri Lanka's hopes

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Phillip Hughes scored his first Test century in two-and-a -half years to give Australia every chance of playing out a series-winning draw at the SSC

The Report by Brydon Coverdale19-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsPhillip Hughes scored his first Test century since March 2009•AFP

Smart stats

  • Phillip Hughes’ century is his first since his twin centuries in the second Test against South Africa in Durban in 2009. In between, he made only one half-century in ten Tests.

  • Hughes also achieved the feat of scoring a century and a duck in the same match. Michael Hussey was the previous Australia player to do so against England at The Oval in 2009.

  • Angelo Mathews’ 105 is his first century in Tests and his third fifty-plus knock of the series. He has so far scored 274 runs in this series at an average of 91.33.

  • Mathews’ century is the eighth by a Sri Lanka batsman in home Tests against Australia. Five of them have been scored at the SSC.

  • In Tests since 1990, there have been 76 centuries scored at the SSC in 33 Tests. Only Lord’s has witnessed more centuries (84 in 39 matches).

  • Sri Lanka’s lead of 157 at the end of their first innings is the third-highest for them in Tests against Australia.

  • This is the third occasion when there have been three fifty-plus partnerships for the first three wickets for Australia in Tests against Sri Lanka. The previous two occasions were in Hobart in 2007 and Galle in 2004.

Phillip Hughes scored his first Test century in two-and- a-half years to give Australia every chance of playing out a series-winning draw at the SSC. But at the end of a day that began with a Sri Lankan crawl as Angelo Mathews ate up valuable time in reaching his maiden Test hundred, Rangana Herath had troubled Australia’s top order enough to give Sri Lanka some hope of victory.Sri Lanka must win the match to level the series, and their fate hinges on whether they can run through Australia’s middle order early on the final day. At stumps on the fourth afternoon, Australia were 52 runs in front, with seven wickets in hand, and they had a well-set Hughes still at the crease on 122 alongside the captain Michael Clarke on 8.If time does beat Sri Lanka, they will regret their slow march on the fourth morning, when they added 45 runs to their overnight total but took more than an hour and a half to do so. By tea, Australia had all but knocked off the 157-run first-innings deficit and they were in no hurry during the final session, happy to bat as much time out of the match as possible.Not that Hughes had been slow. He brought up his century from his 141st delivery with a push through the off side for two, and his celebration was noticeably muted: there was a small fist pump and raise of the bat but none of the helmet-kissing that has marked Australian milestones in recent years. He knew that the selectors had shown great faith in him by dropping Simon Katich.Hughes hadn’t passed fifty in any of his past ten Test innings, and not since his twin hundreds in Durban in March 2009 had he reached triple figures for his country. He took 22 balls to get through the nineties, which included a nervous moment on 99 when he survived an lbw review after getting in a tangle trying to dab behind gully; the ball had hit the flap of his pad before bat, but outside the line.Earlier, Hughes had been in fine form, and his driving through cover whenever the seamers overpitched was especially strong. He also cleared the midwicket boundary with a slog off Herath and brought up his fifty with another slog-sweep, this time off Tillakaratne Dilshan, from his 67th delivery. Importantly, he had support all the way.His partnerships with Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh and Ricky Ponting were all worth sixty-something. Herath worked hard to remove all three batsmen, the dismissal of Ponting for 28 late in the day a key blow when the ball turned sharply and kissed the batsman’s gloves on the way through to Mahela Jayawardene at slip.Herath had earned the wicket of Watson (21) with a delivery that went straight on, and despite a huge stride forward, Watson was lbw on review after being given not out by the on-field umpire. That review worked for Sri Lanka; another one would have worked against them, if only Marsh had thought to request one when he was out for 18.It was a strange dismissal, as Marsh was given out caught at bat-pad, but replays showed Herath’s delivery had turned so much that it missed the bat and gloves by a significant margin. However, perhaps forgetting the DRS was available or maybe just convinced he had made contact, Marsh failed to ask for the review that would have saved him.But that was hardly the most baffling part of the day’s play. The real mystery was why Sri Lanka batted so slowly during the morning, when what they really needed was quick runs to give themselves adequate time to bowl Australia out and then complete a chase if necessary. Instead, the focus seemed to be solely on Mathews making his hundred, no matter how long it took.He did get there, and remained unbeaten on 105 after he lost three of his final four partners while en-route to triple figures. Australia were happy to consume valuable minutes by setting the field back, knowing Mathews would not take singles early in an over to expose the No.11 Suranga Lakmal, and the path to his century was long and drawn out.Eventually, he got there from his 256th delivery with a drive through cover for four off Peter Siddle, and it was a relief for a man who had twice been out in the nineties. The final wicket fell when Lakmal was bowled by Mitchell Johnson for 13, after Siddle picked up the early breakthroughs.Siddle started the day by bowling Shaminda Eranga for 12 with a fullish ball that caught the inside edge and cannoned on to the leg stump, and he followed up by trapping Herath lbw for 3. Herath had the decision reviewed but to no avail, and a few overs later Chanaka Welegedara was run out in a major mix-up with Mathews.Welegedara pushed to mid-on and took off for a single but ended up at the bowler’s end alongside his partner Mathews, and the ball was relayed to Brad Haddin who whipped the bails off at the other end. It typified a morning when Sri Lanka were simply not on the ball.But by the end of the day, Herath’s strikes had at least given them some chance of victory. If they start the fifth morning as they did the fourth, that hope will quickly disappear.

Collymore leaves Sussex for Middlesex

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Corey Collymore, the former West Indies seamer, is to leave Sussex and move up to Middlesex at the end of the season to be closer to his family

Cricinfo staff13-Sep-2010Corey Collymore, the former West Indies seamer, is set to leave Sussex and move up to Middlesex at the end of the season to be closer to his family.Collymore, 32, joined Sussex as a Kolpak player in 2008 after his international career faded, and has been a pivotal part of their side since then. He has spearheaded Sussex’s drive to the the Division Two championship this summer as the club’s leading leading wicket taker with 57 scalps at 19.87. Despite his success, he wants to support his partner who is looking to complete her accountancy qualification in London.”I’m obviously disappointed to be leaving Sussex but I feel it is the best decision for me and my family,” he said. “I’m fortunate to have played for a very successful club over the last few years. The atmosphere has been great and I have many friends here at Hove. Everything has been tremendous, and I couldn’t have asked for any more from the club.”His arrival at Lord’s is a major boon for Middlesex who have struggled this year with Steven Finn on England duty and overseas signing Iain O’Brien missing large parts of the season through injury. Whether Collymore is supported by O’Brien next year is out of Middlesex’s hands as the club waits for the ECB to decide if he can be classed as a home player rather than an overseas. If not then O’Brien will be looking for a new county because Middlesex have secured the services of Australian opener Chris Rogers.Sussex, who will be in Division One next season, are now in need of another seamer but coach Mark Robinson bared no resentment for Collymore’s decision.”Corey has been an integral part of our attack for the last three years in four-day cricket, and at times he has carried our bowling unit this season and been a constant threat all year,” he said. “It is sad when anyone leaves the club but we respect Corey’s desire to be closer to his family.”

David Bedingham sets new Durham record as Lancashire plundered

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Proteas batter’s 279 sets new first-class record for the county as one-way traffic continues as Chester-le-Street

ECB Reporters Network11-Sep-2024Durham maintained their complete domination of their Vitality County Championship match against Lancashire on a day when David Bedingham became the highest individual scorer in the county’s first-class history.Bedingham’s 279 surpassed Martin Love’s 273 against Hampshire in 2003 and his innings was the bedrock of his team’s 573 for 9 declared. Facing a deficit of 345, Lancashire ended the day poorly placed on 155 for 4 with Matthew Potts having taken three of the wickets. Keaton Jennings’ side therefore need another 190 runs to avoid their fourth innings defeat of the season.And it was a day when other records tumbled at the Riverside. Bedingham and Colin Ackermann’s 424-run fifth-wicket partnership set a new record for any wicket in Durham’s first-class history, easily eclipsing the 334 put on by Stewart Hutton and Michael Roseberry against Oxford University in The Parks in 1996.It is also the eighth-highest fifth-wicket stand in the history of first-class cricket and the second-highest first-class partnership for any wicket against Lancashire.The mammoth stand was eventually broken by the leg-spinner, Luke Wells, who had Ackermann leg before wicket for 186 in the fourth over after lunch. Wells then enjoyed more success when he had Ben Raine caught at backward point by George Bell for 17 and Bas de Leede stumped by Matty Hurst for four.Tom Hartley took his only wicket of the innings when he had Potts leg before wicket for four and the declaration was applied when Bedingham was caught at long-on by Anderson Phillip off Wells. He had batted 489 minutes, faced 359 balls and hit 27 fours and a six.Wells finished with respectable figures of 4 for 69 but was soon out in the middle again when he opened Lancashire’s second innings with Jennings. However, their alliance lasted only nine balls before the Lancashire skipper was caught at second slip by Ackermann off Potts for nought.Josh Bohannon joined Wells and guided Lancashire to 49 for 1 at tea but the visitors lost two wickets in five balls immediately after the resumption. Wells was bowled by Callum Parkinson when attempting to reverse sweep the slow left-armer and George Bell was caught behind by Ollie Robinson off Potts for a two-ball nought.Bohannon and Hurst then added 73 for the fourth wicket in increasingly untroubled fashion before Bohannon groped at a ball from Potts without moving his feet and was caught at first slip by Scott Borthwick. Hurst ended the day on 43 not out and he and George Balderson ensured no more wickets fell before the close of play.However, Lancashire have so far earned just one point from this match and their relegation fears will not have been eased by this third day’s play. By contrast, Durham have eight points with plenty of power to add more tomorrow.

Lauren Filer to make England debut in Women's Ashes Test

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Quick earns call-up ahead of Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt set for maiden Test cap

Valkerie Baynes21-Jun-2023Lauren Filer, the fast bowler described by England Women’s head coach Jon Lewis as bowling “with more pace than probably anyone in the country” will make her international debut in this week’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.At the opposite end of the career spectrum Danni Wyatt, who has played 245 white-ball matches for England, will earn her maiden Test cap against the Australians starting on Thursday.Filer, 22, was one of two uncapped players named in England’s initial squad of 15 for the Test alongside allrounder and Western Storm team-mate Danielle Gibson, who was overlooked for the final XI, as was Filer’s fellow quick Issy Wong, who made her international debut in the Test against South Africa in Taunton a year ago.Upon announcing the initial squad, Lewis also highlighted Filer’s ability to swing the red Dukes ball. Filer went wicketless during England’s three-day, red-ball warm-up match against Australia A on a slow, lifeless pitch in Derby last week, conceding 27 runs from eight overs in the first innings as left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone took 5 for 38 to reduce the opposition to 221 all out in the first innings. Australia A were 361 for 7 in their second innings, with Filer returning figures of 11-1-40-0 as the match ended in a draw.Kate Cross, who has played six Tests during her 73-match England career will spearhead the hosts’ seam attack, which has lost stalwarts Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Anya Shrubsole over the past 18 months, and now includes Lauren Bell, who made her international debut alongside Wong last year.Despite being part of the original Test squad, Wyatt played for England A last week during their warm-up against a senior Australian side and reached 37 off 46 balls before she was trapped lbw by Australia quick Darcie Brown.Alice Capsey and Alice Davidson-Richards were released from the Test squad on Monday to play for England A in their first T20 against Australia A at Loughborough today.England Women Test team: Tammy Beaumont, Emma Lamb, Heather Knight (capt), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophia Dunkley, Danielle Wyatt, Amy Jones (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Kate Cross, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell

Sean Dickson keeps Ben Stokes waiting with third century of the season

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Runs throughout the top-order for Durham as they rack up imposing first-day total

David Hopps05-May-2022Just as people who come to Worcester to watch cricket routinely extol the magnificence of the cathedral, but barely notice the spire of St Andrew’s further along the skyline, so Sean Dickson knew that he would be overshadowed the moment Ben Stokes came to the crease. But Stokes’ first innings since being appointed England captain, and only his third Championship innings for Durham in four years, was put on hold until the second day as Durham piled up 339 for 3 and the plaudits were Dickson’s as he registered his third Championship hundred of the season.Stokes is batting at No.6 here which in many ways sounds a little low but it is eminently logical. It is least disruptive to a very strong Durham top-order – he replaced Ben Raine, who normally comes in around eight – and he will get into the rhythm of batting four-down as he intends to do for England.”He is just nestling in to his England role I think,” Dickson said, “and it is a good opportunity for others to make runs before the man himself comes in. He has such an aura about him. He brings such a great energy into the squad.”It is one of the oddities of cricket that a game can be suspended with a batter on 99 – which is a bit like wandering off for a cup of tea before taking a six-foot putt on the 18th, or attempting to convert a penalty kick. Dickson has been required to do it twice this season and, on both occasions, has survived unscarred.Nobody wants to leave the field, one short of a century, concentration shelved for the next 20 minutes, while the cherished tones of Dave Bradley, on the Worcester PA system, turns attention to the virtues of the Playfair Cricket Annual, on sale now in the club shop, and the array of cakes in the Ladies’ Pavilion.”I think it’s some maturity showing through,” he said. “I think in the past I would have panicked and thought ‘I want to get it before tea’ but there is so much time left in the game. What difference is me going into tea on 99 or 100 in terms of the game? There is no difference. Just go into tea, get my protein shake in, and be more ready for that extra run than I was beforehand.”Back on guard shortly afterwards, the attractions of Playfair presumably overlooked, Joe Leach set him two backward points, offered him an over of balls outside off stump and almost had him caught at cover, the ball falling agonisingly short of Adam Finch. Ed Barnard seemed more accommodating as Dickson lay back to cut him to the boundary in the next over but only for a moment. Barnard then dismissed him for 104, edging a back-of-a-length delivery that left him a shade to first slip.This was Dickson’s third hundred of the season, the previous coming against two of Division Two’s weaker counties, Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street (the scene of his first nervous 99 at tea), and Sussex at Hove. It is fair to say that he will have sterner challenges ahead because this was a benevolent pitch and Worcestershire’s attack has had better days, but he appears to be as settled in this opener’s role as at any time in his red-ball career. The crowd behind the arm gave him out on 57 when they burst into prolonged applause for an imagined catch at the wicket off Leach, but the umpire remained unmoved, and some of them sighed slightly before returning to their conversations.Related

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  • Tom Alsop, Ali Orr give Sussex the edge against Middlesex

  • Rishi Patel, Hassan Azad star for Leicestershire before late Glamorgan fightback

Durham, who expected to be pushing hard for promotion, have had a slow start to the season, but they could be in business here. Two weeks ago, Worcestershire racked up 491 against Sussex and went on to win by an innings. The moisture content of this pitch is reportedly identical, as is the grass cut. And heavy cloud cover is forecast for late on the second afternoon, about the time Worcestershire can expect to be batting. They have had some tough bowling days and will probably feel they are due a bit of swing.Dickson, like St Andrew’s Spire, was worthy of attention. The church itself was demolished in the 1940s, to be replaced by a shopping centre which has become the modern religion, although perhaps not for much longer to judge by the day’s economic forecasts.Dickson’s county career hit an uncertain phase when he joined Durham on loan from Kent (with a full contract promised) and only made one Championship half-century in his first eight matches, but he has always possessed a limited-overs threat and he is embedded in the Championship opening spot this season.His century had been backed up from all parts by the close. Keegan Petersen bagged a stylish half-century before becoming a first victim for the debutant Ben Gibbon, a sturdy left-arm seamer from Cheshire who showed up well, and Scott Borthwick and David Bedingham had forced home Durham’s advantage by the close.Stokes sat, pads on, until the close, but the grand entrance of the man Dickson referred to as “the king” never happened. As gentle evening sunshine flooded upon this most pastoral of setting, and the cathedral changed to an inviting hue of Ecclestical Bronze (a Farrow & Ball colour if ever there was one) he might have felt that this was his final relaxation before the fray begins.

Gill as opener, Pant as keeper – Gavaskar, Border give their views on India's XI

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The former players, after whom the trophy is named, feel Prithvi Shaw is playing ‘too many’ shots at the start

Varun Shetty15-Dec-20203:21

Gavaskar: India could bring in KL Rahul for MCG Test in Kohli, Rohit’s absence

Shubman Gill has got both Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border’s backing to open alongside Mayank Agarwal during India’s Test series against Australia. Previewing the series named after them, the first men to 10,000 Test runs discussed Gill’s and Prithvi Shaw’s prospects of sealing a place in the Indian line-up, with a consensus that Shaw’s aggressive style was currently going against him.”I think Shubman Gill should open with Mayank for the first Test match because he’s shown good form,” Gavaskar said. “Allan Border was there for the games [practice games], [and] was very impressed with what he saw from Shubman Gill. So I would imagine that he should open with Mayank Agarwal for the first Test.”Should Gill be picked, he would be making a Test debut and displacing Shaw, who was the incumbent opener alongside Mayank Agarwal in India’s last Test series in New Zealand. In the two warm-up games, Gill’s scores – 0, 29, 43, 65 – got progressively better while Shaw had a more patchy run with scores of 0, 19, 40, and 3. Shaw has had a torrid run of form coming into this tour including in IPL 2020, with his duck in the first practice game being his fourth in his last seven innings across formats.”I’ve been in Sydney the last couple of days, watching the Indian team against Australia A. Gee, I was impressed with Gill,” said Border. “I really think he’s got something about him, his technique. I know he’s young so he can play a few rash shots here and there, but he looks a seriously good player, this kid. He would be my pick out of the guys I saw.”I know you guys [rate] Shaw but it seems to me like he plays a shot-a-ball. Against the new ball, it looks good on flat tracks, but in Australia, you’ve got to be a little bit more watchful about your shot selection. He just seems a bit loose outside the off stump for me. If I’m the Indian selector, I’m looking very close at young Gill.”ALSO READ: Pick your India XI for first TestShaw has currently played in four Tests since his debut in October 2018, and averages 55.83. He has, however, appeared low on confidence since cricket resumed this year and Gavaskar suggested he needed to work on his defence.”I do agree with AB [Allan Border] on that,” Gavaskar said. “I think he’s got to spend a little more time assessing his batting. Because as an opening batsman, you’ve got to give yourself time to see what the pitch is doing, see what the bowlers are doing. And trying to bat the way he’s batting at the moment is not going to make him a consistent player. Yes, he’s going to make runs once in a while – [but] he’s got to tighten up his defence. I agree with AB that he plays far too many shots at the start of the innings.”As far as India’s other opener is concerned, Agarwal looks set to hold onto his spot, earned on the back of a strong debut during India’s successful last tour of Australia. Agarwal had a stellar IPL season earlier this year, and after a couple of unconverted starts in the ODI series, made a fifty in the last practice match.”My player to watch from India will be Agarwal, because he came to Australia for the last couple of Test matches two years ago and he actually showed the way,” Gavaskar said. “Because till then India had not got a start. But he batted brilliantly, he actually showed how to tackle Nathan Lyon because he was stepping down the pitch, hitting him straight. The freshness of youth, you could say.”Since then, he’s only become better. He’s gone from strength to strength. Look at the season he had last year, where he scored a double hundred against South Africa. He got back-to-back double hundreds if I’m not mistaken [two double-centuries in three matches]. So he’s the guy I really am looking forward to in this series.”On another much vaunted topic – the Indian wicketkeeper debate – Gavaskar said he expected India to pick Rishabh Pant over Wriddhiman Saha through this series. Pant has been India’s preferred option in overseas Tests, even when Saha has previously been available, and Gavaskar said that and a couple of other factors would work in his favour. Not least his blistering hundred against Australia A in the second practice game.”It’s going to be a tough one for the selection committee because Rishabh played in all the four Test matches during India’s [last] tour and he also got a hundred. And he seemed to have got under the skin of some of the Australian players with his chirping behind the stumps,” Gavaskar said. “So I guess the team would probably look to have him. And of course, when you’ve just come off a hundred, a few days earlier, you would be the choice I think.”The popular opinion on who the better wicketkeeper is has long been skewed in Saha’s direction, and the experienced wicketkeeper was brought straight back into the Indian team during when he returned from a long injury lay-off last year. That was, however, during India’s home season, where his skill against spinners is considered vastly superior. When India went to New Zealand, Pant was back in the team.”When you’re playing on pitches where the wicketkeeper has to stand up to the stumps, where the ball turns around a bit, that’s when you tend to take your best wicketkeeper – in which case, Wriddhiman Saha would be the obvious choice,” Gavaskar said. “But here, because India will be having pacers, you can stand behind. You get that much more time, about 15 yards behind the stumps. My feeling is they’ll go for that.”Also, because at the top of the order the Indians are a little bit shaky, they won’t know who to go with. […] So with the uncertainty, they’d like to strengthen their batting and I think Rishabh Pant will play. But I hope he plays at six because then that will allow you to pick five bowlers to get 20 wickets.”

Strikers add Salt to spice up their top order

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Sussex batsman joins coach Jason Gillespie in signing with the Adelaide Strikers for the upcoming BBL season

Alex Malcolm10-Sep-2019Adelaide Strikers have signed Sussex opener Phil Salt for the upcoming BBL season.Salt, 23, joins Rashid Khan as the Strikers’ overseas players after South African Colin Ingram left the team at the end of last season.The right-handed opener has had an outstanding T20 Blast season for Sussex under the guidance of Jason Gillespie, the coach at Sussex and Strikers. He has scored 406 runs in 13 innings, including four half-centuries, at a phenomenal strike rate of 161.11.Salt has been playing alongside Strikers keeper Alex Carey at Sussex this year and has also played with Rashid.The Strikers’ top-order batting struggled big time last season after being the cornerstone of their title win in BBL 07, and Gillespie was delighted to add a dynamic right-hander to compliment the bevy of left-handers in the top order. “We are incredibly excited to have signed Phil who has showed real signs of promise and has performed well for the Sharks in the Blast,” Gillespie said.”He’s beyond excited to get started, obviously we have Carey over here in England and Phil has been chatting to him non-stop about how it’s going to work, when he can come out to Adelaide and meet everyone and get stuck in.”Salt has experience playing premier cricket in Adelaide with Adelaide University in 2017-18. He played nine matches across the summer while doing a stint at the Darren Lehmann Academy.”I had a stint in Adelaide playing for Adelaide University and loved it, I made some really good friends who I’m looking forward to seeing again,” he said. “I love working with Dizz (Gillespie), Rash and Alex, it’s so key when you’re trying to build a great environment to have guys who you know are going to put 100% in at all times and give everything they’ve got to the cause.”I’ve worked really well with Dizz over the course of my career so far and hope that we can be even more successful here at the Strikers.”The Strikers have also signed South Australia wicketkeeper Harry Nielsen to the roster. Nielsen played last season in Carey’s absence and will likely be required again when the Australia ODI side tours India for a week in January midway through the BBL.

Alex Hales turns it around with unbeaten 58 to level series for England

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Hales plays anchor in two crucial partnerships after England’s disciplined bowling performance had kept India to a below-par score

The Report by Varun Shetty06-Jul-2018England swept and swept, first unsuccessfully, then inefficiently, and then decisively enough to outdo India’s spinners and pull the duel their way in a tight finish, where Alex Hales punished Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s lapse in lengths to help them level the series.Hales’ unbeaten 58 was built during two crucial partnerships. The first one in Eoin Morgan’s company, which began at 44 for 3 after England’s top three, much like India’s top order earlier, couldn’t get them going in pursuit of a conservative, if not below-par target. Once again, it was the two Yadavs who had put England in such a position: Umesh was true to his new-found specialisation of getting wickets in the Powerplay, rattling through the opening stand. Jason Roy was out stabbing at a furious indipper, while Jos Buttler, having been reprieved by Kohli at mid-off, handed the same man a catch two balls later.Joe Root came in ahead of Hales, at his customary No. 3 position, but that move to give him time up front to settle down didn’t pay off. Once again, it was a wrong’un that accounted for him; this time, it was Yuzvendra Chahal’s and it spun into him and under his sweep to crash into the stumps.Alex Hales’ unbeaten 58 not out steered England to victory•Getty Images

There was more sweeping, and more sweep-induced lbw calls and at one point, it seemed like England’s Merlyn bowling-machine exercise hadn’t changed a lot for them. Morgan in particular was caught flailing about, trying to sweep it on either side of the wicket. He was fortuitous, though, as was Hales, who survived both an lbw appeal and the ensuing review against Kuldeep.Then, Hales started making contact on the cross-batted hits. Hales found big sixes on either side of long-on with his slog-sweeps as Morgan struggled further, eventually falling to a Hardik Pandya bouncer.This brought Jonny Bairstow, and England’s second and ultimately decisive partnership, with Hales as the anchor. Bairstow made 28 of the 36 they put up in four overs. Crucially, he took Kuldeep for two sixes in his penultimate over, leaving both captain Kohli and the bowler visibly frustrated. Kuldeep’s lengths and paces were largely defensive after that, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar couldn’t defend 12 in the last over. It was hard enough without the six and four off the first two balls from Hales, the Man of the Match half-centurion who had been considered the starting point of England’s meek surrender in the last match.Earlier, Morgan had elected to bat and England’s seamers were disciplined in hitting the deck on the shorter side of a good length, a strategy that – in combination with a good mix of varying natural speeds – took the boundaries almost completely out of the equation for an in-form top-three. With hardly anything to drive, India managed only three boundaries in the Powerplay.Fans stormed into the field after Shikhar Dhawan’s catch to dismiss Eoin Morgan•Getty Images

But the plan to play four seamers at the expense of Moeen Ali was truly vindicated by the fact that they had dismissed the top three inside the Powerplay. Jake Ball, on debut, followed up a miserly first over by trapping Rohit Sharma under a steep short ball. His sliced pull, trying to make room down the leg side, was matched in technique – or the loss of it – by KL Rahul a few overs later. India’s No. 3, looking to slash Liam Plunkett over cover, lost his middle stump.In the middle of these wickets was the strange case of Shikhar Dhawan who, while trying to switch his bat to his right hand halfway through a run while seemingly trying to avoid obstructing a Jason Roy throw from point at the non-striker, ended up losing his grip entirely. A tumbling bat’s first contact with the ground was outside the crease and he was caught short by Morgan who had initially forgotten to appeal as he despaired at a fluffed gather.At 22 for 3, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, batting in almost alien positions for them in this format, were largely kept to running between the wickets too. If the spinner was the release they were waiting for, Adil Rashid proved to be a downer. Rashid floated his deliveries up, rather than pushing them through as he had done in the previous match, and forced both batsmen to manufacture power on a slow track. The result was a 57-run stand that came at under eight an over. Raina was the more fluent batsman, peaking with a hook shot that went several rows behind at deep square leg, and generally scoring at a good strike rate before he was stumped. Kohli top-scored with 47, but his 38-ball knock provided little by way of momentum.That came from MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya, who left it late to pummel Ball’s last over – the only one in which not a single ball was of optimal length – for 22. It wasn’t to be the difference.