The longest gaps between Test centuries by a player (since World War 2)

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-20163660 days Hamilton Masakadza (Zimbabwe)
July 2001 to August 2011 (Zimbabwe didn’t play Tests between Sep 2005 and Aug 2011)•AFP3639 days Bob Simpson (Australia)
December 1967 to December 1977 (Simpson returned from almost a decade-long retirement to lead a Packer-weakened Australia in 1977)•John Dawson/PA Photos3367 days Bert Sutcliffe (New Zealand)
November 1955 to March 1965•Huw John/ESPNcricinfo Ltd3234 days Mushtaq Mohammad (Pakistan)
July 1962 to June 1971•Getty Images

Last week at the Women’s Big Bash League: the Melbourne Renegades end their winless streak with a little help from the elements, and Sophie Devine lights up Adelaide with a ton

Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins02-Jan-20172:46

‘Devine destroys Hurricanes’

Dottin’s head injury rules her out of the seasonSometimes, things are as bad as they look. When players go down on the field, you always hope for a Mohammad Amir knee story at the Gabba: apparent pain and danger dissolving before the next new ball. But, when two Brisbane Heat outfielders crashed into each other on the boundary, and support staff swarmed out of the gates to surround their prone bodies, there was little chance of a best-case scenario.The collision was full-tilt between two powerful players. Laura Harris, the sister of Australia hitter Grace, was belting across from long-on, while West Indies superstar Deandra Dottin arrived from deep midwicket, both leaning forward and thinking about diving for the ball. As a result, rather than their bodies taking the impact and knocking them back in the direction they had come, the contact was almost entirely between their heads, at such force that each player spun away and fell in the direction that she had been running. Both covered a few more metres in the fall, Harris crashing into the picket fence and Dottin into a kit bag next to it.The Australian stayed with team-mates and slowly recovered, albeit with a rainbow lump across her forehead that looked less like an injury than a mythical dragon’s egg. Dottin, though, was stretchered off, and has since had titanium enhancements to her skeletal structure after fracturing a cheekbone. She won’t take the field again this season. Given her 60 off 44 balls that won Heat their opening game of the season, and the fact that she still has the fastest T20I century in women’s or men’s cricket, the loss for Brisbane and the competition is clear.Red-hot Lanning’s team left red in the face by green mistakesDottin’s injury had a curious effect on Melbourne Stars: the opening partnership of Meg Lanning and Emma Inglis was flourishing at 88 in pursuit of Brisbane Heat’s 129. But after the injury delay, Melbourne’s canter ended in a choke. That undid their superb start to the round on Boxing Day, where Lanning’s dominant 97 not out extinguished any hope for the Heat.By New Year’s Day, the tournament was halfway there, and Melbourne Renegades were living on a prayer. Coming into their televised blockbuster derby at the MCG, Red Melbourne had one win from their seven fixtures. The Thunder had pulled off a double over them in Sydney that week, before the Scorchers smashed them in the roof-closed clambake at Docklands Stadium.In the derby, Lanning led Green Melbourne in a WBBL-record opening stand of 94, and the situation was again dire for the women in red. But they put in a mighty second shift with the ball. Young quick Maitland Brown was frugal at the death, and Lanning prevented from truly exploding. Then the twist: a fast start and a rain delay left the Gades with 52 to win, and New Zealand batsman Rachel Priest did the rest.Lanning fumed at the umpires, assuming the target should have increased when her side took a wicket after the delay. That earned her a trip to the match referee’s office for a please-explain and a stern lesson in Duckworth-Lewis. Naturally, the Stars captain was frustrated, her team having lost from a commanding position for the second successive time.A tale of two SydneysSydney is known for end-of-year fireworks, and that was the case for the Sixers with the bat after they had collapsed badly the previous weekend. Taking down the Thunder in a replay of last year’s final, they tallied 3 for 164.Ellyse Perry made a run-a-ball 42, while Alyssa Healy struck 55 from 38, her knock defined by inside-out drives over cover. Then, the tournament’s big improver Ashleigh Gardner smashed 52 not out, following up from her rescue-effort knocks of 38 and 43 in the previous round.Deandra Dottin’s collision with Laura Harris ended with her being stretchered out and suffering a fractured cheekbone•Getty ImagesThat made it advantage Sixers for the last few games, given the Thunder had twice kept the Renegades to paltry totals and chased them easily, while the Sixers had done the same to Hobart Hurricanes, including Sarah Aley’s catch-of-the-tournament contender off her own bowling.On January 2, the pink half of Sydney made 3 for 161, which was way beyond the Adelaide Strikers, with runs yet again for Perry, Healy and Gardner, while the green side of town made 132 and just held off Heat for 129. The colours may be wildly divergent, but the two Sydney teams remain neck and neck.Sophie’s choice – she’s really choiceIt was bound to happen. Sophie Devine’s season had been like a sitcom – featuring a string of glamorous 40-somethings with a plot twist every five minutes. But you felt sure that a feature-length spinoff was coming. When it got greenlit, it was spectacular.Chasing Hobart Hurricanes’ substantial 143 on Boxing Day, the New Zealand international entered with her side reeling at 2 for 5. She walked off an hour later with 103 to her name, the second ton in WBBL history. She matched Grace’s score from the previous season, although she got there in 48 balls – four fewer than Grace.Devine cleared the ropes eight times, and more often than not, sent the ball into the crowd: over midwicket with raw power, dead-straight with hockey slaps, and down on one knee with the class of a tuxedo-clad proposal. She scored 88 runs in boundaries, and appropriately, brought up the century and winning runs with a blistering straight drive.The rematch the following day was lost to rain – Adelaide’s second abandonment in as many weekends – but their New Year’s Eve hopes at the Adelaide Oval were washed out by the home team itself. When Devine failed against a formidable Scorchers bowling line-up, her team-mates put up a stinker. England superstar Katherine Brunt got Adelaide’s talisman for a duck. With Brunt’s countrywoman Anya Shrubsole going at three per over, Adelaide limped to 82 for 9 amid a panicky cascade of dot balls and run-outs. The South Australian side needs an alternative path to victory, fast.Switch on a suburban circuitPlenty of action in the outskirts to start off 2017, with Blacktown in Western Sydney hosting the brace of games between the Thunder and the Heat. The leafy inner-Melbourne suburbs of Camberwell and Toorak will see the Scorchers take on the Renegades and the Stars respectively. The Strikers stay central to host the Sixers at Adelaide Oval, while the Thunder travel to Launceston to take on the Hurricanes, who are in desperate need of a win after losing twice between Christmas and the New Year.

And as we all know, you can try argue with stats, but you can’t win

Andy Zaltzman23-Nov-2016England have skilfully manoeuvred themselves into exactly the position they wanted to be in at this stage of the series – one down with three to play, the launchpad from which they rocketed to victory in 2014 in England and four years ago in India.David Gower’s 1984-85 tourists managed to beat India after being one down with four to play, but cricket was different then, and the absolutely critical key for England when playing India in the modern, 21st-century, contemporary, up-to-date era of today is to be one down with three to play.The proof is in the numbers. Over the last one third of a century, England have won 100% of their series against India in which they have trailed by a Test with a trio of matches remaining; and a mere 50% of the rubbers which they have led with three Tests to play.Admittedly, each of those samples only contains two series (England drew 1-1 after leading in 2002, and won 4-0 in 2011), and the other eight series between the two countries since 1986 were only three (or, in 2008-09, two) Tests long, but DO NOT ARGUE WITH THE STATS. I repeat: DO NOT ARGUE WITH THE STATS. Stats know all things. England have this series in the bag.Nevertheless, despite the mathematical certainty of eventual victory, there will be some concerns in the England camp as the series moves to Mohali, after a slightly odd performance in Visakhapatnam. They played with resilience and determination, while at the same time managing to cram three collapses into a two-innings match. They fought hard, but abandoned most, if not all, hope as soon as the coin fell on day one. “It looks like a crucial toss to win – we have now nothing to lose,” said Alastair Cook after being sentenced to field first, exuding the positivity of a mechanic looking under a car bonnet to see a tired-looking goat where the engine should have been. “Oooooh,” his face said. “That’s going to need some work.”The “nothing to lose” approach in the second innings consisted of obdurate defence in the face of a required run rate of 2.7 per over. It appears that victory did not enter much into England’s thoughts, but by aiming only for wicket preservation, all pressure was removed from the Indian bowlers, when even a run rate of, say, 2.3 per over could have established a platform to challenge for victory, forced some of the close catchers back, and engendered some doubts in Indian minds.England would almost certainly still have lost. They would probably have lost more quickly, and by approximately the same margin. India’s bowlers, more skilled and confident than in 2012-13, applied an unremitting stranglehold in favourable conditions, and the difficulty that a world-class technician such as Joe Root had on the fifth morning suggests that England were essentially choosing between two different paths to defeat, between whether to fire up the engines of the or shut them down. The iceberg had already won.The model for England’s attempted escape was South Africa’s epic one-run-per-over 143-over constipatogrind in Delhi last year, when India could only take five wickets in the first 138 overs, before a rapid denouement. There were similarities in the two scenarios, and perhaps if Cook had survived the final over on day four, England would have come closer to achieving their goal.

Such controversies as the latest ball-tampering row could be easily avoided if an independent nurse were on hand to swab all the fielding teams’ gobs at the end of each over, and force any player with an above-regulation level of slobber to eat a packet of extremely dry biscuits

But there were significant differences too – the South Africans had been dismantled over four Tests, bowled out for 214 or less in six consecutive innings, crushed, defeated and confused. England were level in the series, after a strong first Test, and had been outplayed but competitive for most of this match. A year ago, India had declared in a position of near complete invulnerability, setting a target of 481; England had taken that decision out of Kohli’s hands, impressively bowling India out to keep the target within the range of the massively-unlikely-but-precedented.Will they regret not taking a bolder strategy, even if it would have resulted in the same defeat? Will they regret not taking more of a chance in their second innings in Rajkot? In all likelihood, they would still be one-nil down with three to play – perhaps they had indeed studied the numbers.The advent of in-mouth salivometers cannot come soon enough for cricket, after the financial naughty-stepping of Faf du Plessis for allegedly sugaring the pill in the Hobart Test. Without him using confectionery-enhanced flobble, of course, Australia would have scored 680 for 4 and won by an innings or two. Until the spitologists invent the technology to measure and regulate cricketers’ mouthic expectorances, such controversies could be easily avoided if an independent nurse were on hand to swab all the fielding teams’ gobs at the end of each over, and force any player with an above-regulation level of slobber to eat a packet of extremely dry biscuits. The ICC must act fast before teams start tattooing their players’ inner eyelids with pictures of succulent roast meats and amply loaded dessert trolleys to enable them to spontaneously slaver on demand. The very future of the sport is at steak. Sorry, at stake.Ball-tampering, of course, is nothing new. Back in the old days, of course, before the intrusion of the prying lens of the camera, players would take the field with a bar of soap in their mouth, or in trousers slathered with beef dripping, or wearing sunhats made of beehives, giving a ready supply of honey to apply to one side of the ball.Rumour has it that one 1920s England player was selected purely because he had unusually baggy cheeks, and could keep a pint of engine oil secreted in his floppy jowls for an entire session of cricket, while, in the county game, decades before Dennis Lillee’s metal bat, a team was found to have tampered with the balls for their home matches by inserting a powerful magnet under the leather. That season, Albert “Metalgloves” Frockinghurst took a record 163 catches and 73 stumpings, while conceding zero byes.In the early days of professional cricket, the great Frantshire spinner Carslake Stroughtmorden famously gelled his hair with wet cement every morning, then ran his fingers through his flowing locks before each ball so that the drying construction material would form an adhesive coating on his fingers, enabling him to spin the ball by anything up to eight yards off the straight. He could regularly be seen chipping the now-hardened substance off his hands at the end of play. Those were more innocent days, of course, when such things were unscrutinised by the media.Jayant Yadav’s debut may not leap off the scorecard in years to come, but he had an influential match in all three disciplines, with 62 runs, four wickets and a major role in the important run-out of Haseeb Hameed. The last Indian to score 50 or more runs and take three or more wickets on Test debut was Sourav Ganguly in 1996 (who took three wickets in each of his first two Tests, but only twice more in his last 111); before him, Venkatapathy Raju, the left-arm spinner who made 31 and 21 on debut, then only passed 20 once more in 27 Tests of certifiable rabbitery.”Are you sure you ought to be wetting your mouth more, in the circumstances?”•Getty ImagesCranking the stat-threshold up slightly, Yadav is only the 14th player to score 60 or more runs and take four or more wickets on Test debut; the first since Tim Southee in March 2008, and only the second Indian after Syed Abid Ali, the allrounder who took 6 for 55 and 1 for 61, and scored a pair of 33s, against Australia in Adelaide in December 1967.● Hameed’s run-out was only the ninth suffered by a top-five England batsman in Tests this decade, out of 725 dismissals, making England by far the team least likely to lose a top-five player to a run-out this decade (other than Zimbabwe, who have played the fewest Tests since 2010, and whose top five are yet to register a run-out but have proved adept at many other forms of dismissal).Only one in every 80 dismissals of a top-five England player has been a run-out since 2010; leading the way in likeliest top-order run-out candidates are Australia – 24 out of 658, or one every 27 top-five innings. (Behind them: Pakistan 32; South Africa 33; India 34; New Zealand 34; Bangladesh 44; Sri Lanka 48; West Indies 54.)English top-order batsmen have a long-established tradition of not running between the wickets as incompetently as their peers. In the 2000s, only West Indies (once every 46 innings) were less likely to suffer a top-five run-out than England (45). Perennial risk-runners Australia (24) were second only to Zimbabwe (22) in top orders most likely to be run out.From 1980 to 1999 – not, it may fairly be said, an era of untrammelled batting success for England – not losing top-order wickets to idiotic top-order run-outs was the one area in which England led the cricketing universe – again, only one every 45 innings, well ahead of second-placed Pakistan (33.5), with all the other teams in the 25-30 range.England lost all ten wickets for under 90 runs for the second time in three Tests, having only done so four times in 241 Tests since being skittled for 77 by Glenn McGrath at Lord’s in 1997. Unsurprisingly, five of these six ten-wicket flumps have been in Asia (two in Sri Lanka, one in the UAE against Pakistan, and the two this winter), with the other being the 51-all-out cataclysm of batsmanship against Jerome Taylor and Sulieman Benn in Jamaica in February 2009.● Stokes, Bairstow and Rashid became the first visiting Nos. 6, 7 and 8 to score 30 or more each in the same Test innings in India since AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel for South Africa in March 2008, 42 Indian Tests ago. It was only the sixth time in 352 away Tests since 1935 that England’s 6, 7 and 8 all scored 30 in an away Test innings, the most recent of which was in the fifth Test in South Africa in 2004-05, since when they have accomplished the feat in home Tests on seven occasions, including three times last summer.

ESPNcricinfo’s best XI of the 2016-17 BBL includes the league’s biggest draw, a mellowed yet effective fast bowler, and a captain who had fans flocking to the Gabba

Will Macpherson27-Jan-20172:14

The best XI of BBL 2016-17

1. Aaron Finch – 354 runs @ 44.25, Strike rate 160.9
Finch was the man who did it all in the 2016-17 Big Bash League. He was the Melbourne Renegades’ captain and lynchpin, he scored a stack of runs, kept wicket twice and even became an unlikely end-overs bowler, serving up the final over against the Perth Scorchers (which went pretty well, until the last ball). Finch was smart and intuitive as captain – he made excellent use of Tom Cooper’s part-timers in the Powerplay – and also did well as a batsman with four fifties, the most in this edition. He finished the tournament at the top of BBL’s all-time run-charts.2. Brendon McCullum (capt, overseas player) – 323 runs @ 46.14, Strike rate 170.8
The Brisbane Heat fell at the penultimate hurdle but were a team transformed under McCullum, on and off the field. The Gabba had never sold out a single BBL match before this season, and then had sell-out crowds for all five games. McCullum’s swashbuckling team were a major reason for this, and he got the best out of junior and senior players alike. McCullum led from the front, too, with a series of typically dashing innings at the top of the order, including an 18-ball fifty against the Renegades.3. Ben Dunk (wk) – 364 @ 52, Strike rate 163.9
After a badly mismatched trade with the Hobart Hurricanes for Hamish Kingston, Dunk hit the ground running for the Adelaide Strikers, and was the highest run-scorer in the 2016-17 edition. Batting mainly as an opener but occasionally as first drop, he passed at least 30 in seven out of eight innings, going on to score three half-centuries. He kept wicket in five of the side’s eight matches and also took his first-ever BBL wicket with peculiar part-time offspin.Once he showed his form with a five-for against the Adelaide Strikers, the Hobart Hurricanes used Daniel Christian’s wily medium-pace at different stages of the innings•Getty Images4. Chris Lynn – 309 runs @ 154.5, Strike rate 177.5
Lynn is now the BBL’s biggest draw. He played only five games but, going into the final, had still hit seven more sixes than any other batsman, He also hit nine more sixes than fours. His three scores of more than 30 became huge, unbeaten innings, and his 98 not out at the WACA – his final contribution of the season, against the BBL’s best attack at its toughest venue – was the innings of the tournament, just pipping Ben McDermott’s breakout ton against the Renegades.5. Brad Hodge – 286 runs @ 40.85, Strike Rate 131
It seems remarkable that Hodge – who wants to play on – does not expect to be retained by the Strikers. Sure, the team he captained struggled, with only Hodge and Dunk making 150 runs, but he was a model of consistency. Batting anywhere from opener to No. 5 (the Strikers looked a better team the higher he went in), Hodge tended to start slowly but grew into his innings, and his lowest score was 17.6. Daniel Christian – 87 runs @ 14.5, Strike rate 126, 9 wickets @ 14.88, Economy 7.4
Christian had a funny tournament. In a struggling Hurricanes order, he misfired with the bat and, for the first three games, his wily medium-pacers went unused by Tim Paine. But when he finally got a bowl, he was a revelation, taking 5 for 14 (at that stage the tournament’s second-best bowling figures ever) to set up a win against the Strikers. He was a consistent contributor thereon, and was used everywhere – in the Powerplay, the middle overs, and slog overs, taking a wicket every 12 balls.7. Sean Abbott – 20 wickets @ 14.5, Economy 8.52
Abbott is perhaps the tournament’s most improved player. In 2015-16, he was remembered for being the bowler at the receiving end of Travis Head’s New Year’s Eve assault in Adelaide. This season, his bowling was a box of tricks, with an arsenal of slow balls – both off and leg-cutters – yorkers and bouncers, plus a deceptive faster one, too. He bowled the toughest overs for the Sixers and was Moises Henriques’ go-to man, taking 5 for 16 against the Strikers to banish last season’s demons, and also holding his nerve in the semi-final Super Over. Abbott took at least one wicket in eight consecutive matches and will finish as the season’s top wicket-taker. He also hit the winning runs in a last-over chase against the Heat, and scored 33 off 17 to beat the Stars and make the semi-finals. He also took seven catches, second only to Ashton Turner.Mitchell Johnson wasn’t quite as scary as his old self but there were no doubts over his mastery of the new ball•Getty Images8. Sunil Narine (overseas) 13 wickets @ 19.23, Economy 7.81Narine was briefly promoted to pinch hit, and got the Renegades’ derby victory over the Stars off to a flyer. Expectedly, it was with the ball that he had the greatest impact. He went wicketless in only match (in that derby, actually), and was always tricky to get away, only once conceding 10 runs an over. In the run-fest that was the Renegades-Hurricanes match, he kept his head to take 3 for 27 (including the wickets of the set McDermott and George Bailey) in his four overs, an economy rate of 6.75 in a match that saw 445 runs at a rate of more than 11 per over.9. Mitchell Johnson – 12 wickets @ 15.66, Economy of 6.26
Mitchell Mk2 (or is that Mk3 or Mk4?), all relaxed and friendly, has been a revelation. He produced the season’s best bowling performance in one of its biggest matches, with returns of 4-2-3-3 in the semi-final against the Stars, but the most striking aspect, perhaps, is how tough he was to score off, especially in the Powerplay. He opened the season with 3 for 33 against the Strikers, bowling outside the Powerplay, but has been at his best since taking the new ball. He was key in helping the Scorchers secure a home final. While he isn’t as scary as the Johnson of old, he has proved that mellow Mitch is not necessarily a bad thing.10. Mitchell Swepson – 12 wickets @ 21.25, Economy 7.5
Wrist-spin has been important for teams this season, and this was a fiercely contested spot that could have gone to Fawad Ahmed, Adam Zampa, Samuel Badree or even Ish Sodhi, who was outstanding in his three games for the Strikers. But Swepson allied consistency across the tournament with the neat variations that made him a constant wicket-taking threat in the middle overs. He took eight wickets in four games for the Heat in the middle part of the tournament, and showed impressive chutzpah to recover from a mauling from Henriques in the semi-final.11. Andrew Tye – 10 wickets @ 24.9, Economy 7.25
Tye beat Mark Steketee and Scott Boland to the final spot on the basis of his importance to the way the Scorchers play. It says plenty about the standards Tye has set for himself in the tournament that this would probably not rank as one of his best seasons, but he did retain an exceptional economy with his change-ups and took 10 wickets, including 4 for 22 in the vital away win over the Heat. He batted only once and made 42.

Hat-tricks in cricket are the bastion of specialist bowlers and usually come in match-winning causes, but the IPL has thrown up outliers on both counts

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2017Ajit Chandila, Rajasthan Royals v Pune Warriors, IPL 2012Batsmen dismissed – Jesse Ryder, Sourav Ganguly, Robin UthappaAt the toss for this game, Royals captain Rahul Dravid struggled to recall the “mystery spinner” who had replaced seamer Pankaj Singh, for what was a critical game to keep his side’s qualification hopes alive. After Shane Watson and Ajinkya Rahane guided them to 170 batting first, it was the said mystery spinner Dravid turned to for the first over of Warriors’ chase. Chandila duly snapped up Ryder and Ganguly off the last two balls, before coming back to get Uthappa off the first ball of his second over. His 4-0-13-4 spell delivered a comfortable, 45-run win for his side.Sunil Narine, Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2013Batsmen dismissed – David Hussey, Azhar Mahmood, Gurkeerat SinghNarine’s is the one of two hat-tricks on this list to end up in a losing cause, which was largely due to Manpreet Gony’s all-round performance for Kings XI. Narine’s bag of tricks, including a carrom ball, had Kings XI sliding from 96 for 3 to 99 for 6 in the 15th over. However, Gony smacked Narine in the bowler’s 23-run final over, before coming back with a match-winning spell to take Kings XI to a four-run win.Amit Mishra has three IPL hat-tricks, the most by any bowler in the tournament’s history•BCCIAmit Mishra, Sunrisers Hyderabad v Pune Warriors, IPL 2013Batsmen dismissed – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Ashok DindaMishra has made a habit of delivering knock-out punches at the death in the IPL, picking up hat-tricks to sink chases that were coasting along comfortably. His third hat-trick in the tournament came in a four-wicket over which left Manish Pandey stranded at one end, as wickets tumbled at the other. From needing 14 runs off 12 balls with four wickets in hand, Warriors ended up losing the game by 11 runs by the end of an eventful penultimate over.Yuvraj Singh, Kings XI v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2009Batsmen dismissed – Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Robin UthappaJust as the Royal Challengers innings appeared to be gaining momentum, Yuvraj brought himself on as his side’s sixth bowler and ran through the middle order with fast armballs. Despite following it up with a typically attacking 50 opening the batting, his Man-of-the-Match performance was not enough to prevent an eight-run defeat for Kings XI.Praveen Kumar, Royal Challengers v Royals, IPL 2010Batsmen dismissed– Damien Martyn, Sumit Narwal, Paras DograPraveen Kumar’s hat-trick arguably inflicted the most lethal damage on Royals in this match, triggering a free fall from which they never recovered from. A score of 85 for 4 became 92 all out, after which the Royal Challengers opening pair chased it down with barely a fuss, in a ten-wicket victory.Rohit Sharma, Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2009Batsmen dismissed – Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, JP DuminyThe 2009 season saw part-timers picking up incredible hat-tricks against the run of play, sending the opposition on a tail spin at critical points in run-chases. As Mumbai were on course to chase down Chargers’ 145, Gilchrist’s last roll of the dice was to bring Rohit on for the 16th over. His loopy offspin, with a few flatter ones thrown in for good measure, induced a string of mistakes from the batsmen and his final figures read 2-0-6-4, leaving the Mumbai tail to get 34 off 12 balls. What looked like a straightforward chase ended up as a 19-run defeat for Mumbai.Yuvraj Singh, Kings XI v Chargers, IPL 2009Batsmen dismissed – Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, Venugopal RaoYuvraj’s second IPL hat-trick had him joking that he should “start bowling rather than batting”. Unlike his previous one in the season, this hat-trick came in a match-winning cause, as his spell of 4-0-13-3 scuppered the Chargers chase midway. Rohit Sharma nearly played spoilsport with a late surge, but Kings XI eventually won by a single run.Pravin Tambe exults after dismissing Ryan ten Doeschate for his hat-trick•BCCIPravin Tambe, Royals v Knight Riders, IPL 2014Batsmen dismissed – Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten DoeschateWith Knight Riders needing 49 runs off the last five overs, Pravin Tambe fired one down the leg side to have an advancing Manish Pandey stumped. He followed it up with two classic leg-spinning ones – being on the fortunate side of an lbw decision against Ryan ten Doeschate – to derail a tight chase in favour of Royals.L Balaji, Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI, IPL 2008Batsmen dismissed – Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, VRV SinghBalaji’s hat-trick was the first in the IPL, and came after the game was all but won for Super Kings. With 27 needed from the final over of their chase, the Kings XI lower order had no clue against his slower variations, going for almighty heaves that sank them to a 19-run defeat.Amit Mishra, Delhi Daredevils v Chargers, IPL 2008Batsmen dismissed – Ravi Teja, Pragyan Ojha, RP SinghAfter 19 overs of a tight chase, with 15 runs needed off six balls, Virender Sehwag tossed the ball to Mishra. The Haryana legspinner closed out the game in the first three balls, ending up with a five-wicket haul to clinch a tense 12-run victory for Daredevils.

While their bowling attack is well-rounded, Sunrisers Hyderabad will be out to prove there’s more to their batting than just David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan

Varun Shetty03-Apr-2017

Likely first-choice XI

David Warner (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha (wk), Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Mustafizur Rahman, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra

Reserves

Batsmen – Kane Williamson, Eklavya Dwivedi, Ricky Bhui, Tanmay Agarwal
Bowlers – Ben Laughlin, Pravin Tambe, Mohammed Siraj, Abhimanyu Mithun, Siddarth Kaul, Barinder Sran
Allrounders – Ben Cutting, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Nabi, Bipul Sharma

Strengths

Of the 88 wickets they took in 2016, 75 were shared across their regular choice of five strike bowlers. Sunrisers also had the best economy rates in the Powerplays and slog overs – 6.83 in the former, 8.73 in the latter. This is a straightforward indicator of what won them the title last year. It’s not surprising then that they have made sure to keep that area strong.The core of the pace attack is made up of Mustafizur Rahman – who should be a shoo in when he’s available – Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra. They will be backed up by the newly-acquired Chris Jordan, Ben Laughlin, Barinder Sran and Mohammed Siraj. Moises Henriques and Ben Cutting give them depth and bring to the fore slower variations along with their seam-ups.While they’ve put together a formidable pace bowling group, they haven’t ignored their spin stocks. Their two frontline spinners last season – Bipul Sharma and Karn Sharma – took a combined three wickets and went at 8.64 and 10.46 respectively. This season, they’ve added the experienced Pravin Tambe and Afghanistan’s pair of Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, who have overall economy rates of 7.04, 6.98 and 5.99, respectively, in this format.This makes Sunrisers, arguably, the strongest bowling attack in the IPL. Mustafizur and Rashid, in particular, will make them a difficult side to bat against, particularly in the small window when they’ll both be available together.

Weaknesses

In contrast to the bowling, Sunrisers’ batting last year was a monopoly at the top. Just over 50% of the runs they scored came from David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan. This meant a dependency on Warner at the top, and on Mustafizur at the end. That is a potential weakness, given Warner’s shaky month in the lead-up to the IPL, and Mustafizur’s limited availability.Those dependencies also put pressure on a fragile middle order which will consist of Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha, and possibly Vijay Shankar, coming in after Yuvraj Singh at No. 4. The back-up is not particularly menacing to think about either for opposition – Kane Williamson, Ricky Bhui and Tanmay Agarwal.

Where they finished in 2016, and what’s different this year?

Sunrisers won their maiden title last year, beating Royal Challengers in the finals.From that squad, they have released Eoin Morgan and Trent Boult, alongside four others. The telling difference this year is the signing of three spinners, two of them Associate players, Rashid and Nabi. While stereotypes may dictate that these players will be backup options, the structure of the team this year allows the possibility of them being frontline options.

What have their players been up to?

• David Warner is coming off a Test series against India in which he made only one fifty in eight innings. Warner also came under fire for what many deemed a lack of ability outside home conditions. This is a different format, and these are conditions he scored 848 runs in last season, but Warner might be a different sort of man confidence-wise.
• Rashid Khan has been playing in India since the start of March – three T20Is, five ODIs and a four-day game for Afghanistan against Ireland. In this period, he has taken 33 wickets in nine innings across formats.
• Yuvraj Singh turned up for North Zone in four domestic T20s, and four Punjab in four domestic 50-over matches. His best return with the bat was 66 against Railways in a 50-over game. It was his only half-century in those eight matches,
• Ben Cutting and Moises Henriques faced off in the second semi-final of the Big Bash earlier this year. It involved Henriques scoring 64 in a chase, Cutting pulling things back and conceding five runs off the last over when six were required, and a super-over in which Henriques smashed 18 off his bowling. They’ve had their share of pressure situations as they head into this season.

Overseas-player availability

Mustafizur will be available from April 8, for about a month, after which he will head out on May 7 to play for Bangladesh in a tri-series involving New Zealand and Ireland. Williamson, the New Zealand captain, is also expected to leave then.

Home and away record in 2016

Sunrisers won four out of seven matches at home at Uppal in Hyderabad. They won seven out of ten away, of which they had a 100% record in the two matches played closer to home in Vizag.

Poll

Test your Sunrisers Hyderabad knowledge

Pick your two spinners for our all-time IPL XI and help put together the team with our panel of experts

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Apr-2017After picking the nominees for the openers, batsmen and allrounders’ spots in ESPNcricinfo’s all-time IPL XI, it is now time to pick the spinners. After more than 16,000 votes, three West Indians – Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard – made it to the shortlist of six allrounders. The other three spots were filled by Shakib Al Hasan, Shane Watson and Ravindra Jadeja, while Yuvraj Singh narrowly missed out.There are 12 spinners on our long list, from which you can vote for one or two, depending on what you want the balance of your side to be. Your votes will then be used to create a shortlist from which our jury, which includes four former Test players (Sanjay Bangar, Aakash Chopra, Brad Hogg and Ajit Agarkar) and members of our staff, will pick the final XI. In keeping with the IPL’s rules, the number of overseas players in the XI will be restricted to four. The best comments will be part of discussions on the all-time XI during our live shows and video analysis. Keep visiting our all-time IPL XI page for updates on the team selection.*Voting on this poll closed at 20:10 IST, May 2, 2017.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
All the player stats are as of 15:30 IST, April 22, 2017.

Shikhar Dhawan talks about what he has learnt from spending time out of the Indian team

Interview by Arun Venugopal01-Apr-2017How important are these knocks – a century and a fifty in the Deodhar Trophy – in the context of your comeback plans?
These knocks were very important because I haven’t been making a lot of runs for quite some time, but my process has always been the same. I was working hard and never let my work ethic go down. This tournament is one of the more important ones ahead of the Champions Trophy. I knew that I had to do well to find a place in the Indian team once again. Luckily the right things happened at the right time, so I am very thankful to God that things have fallen in place.You must have felt something was going wrong when you had a string of low scores in Tests and ODIs, which eventually led to your omission from both sides?
Look, there are always a few innings over which these things happen. When I was playing the ODI series against England, I knew that it was an important series. In the first game, I got out cutting one uppishly to third man, and in the second, I got an inside edge onto the stumps after attempting a drive. I feel I was doing the right things but it’s just that they weren’t going my way.

“This time [away from the India side] has taught me to accept things, and I can say it has made me a more relaxed person”

Of course, when you are not performing, you think a lot, because you want to do well. You know how important a place in the side is. What should I do and what should I avoid doing?I made 15-20 and sometimes even a half-century before getting out. Even against West Indies, I made a half-century [in Antigua], but I was getting dismissed after being set.I didn’t feel that technically I had to do something dramatically different. Of course, wherever I thought I could improve, I definitely worked on those areas and analysed them. Then I wondered why I wasn’t able to score runs. I feel there comes a time in every player’s career where runs elude you despite doing the right things. There are also times when you don’t do the right things but everything still goes in your favour.What are the technical adjustments you made? Did you decide to cut out a few strokes at the start?
There are a few changes I made, but I don’t want to discuss them. That [cutting out strokes] is more a mental aspect than a technical one. You apply your mind and work out which shot leaves you at a greater risk of getting out. Such things are always a part of your planning as a batsman -which shot is on or not on a certain pitch. I am more of an instinctive player who likes to play on the merit of the ball rather than think about which shots I have to shelve. I enjoy playing shots and that gives me confidence.How did your form impact you mentally? You have had a pretty good ODI record, including an average of 57.40 from five games in Australia last year. But did your poor run in Test cricket impact your ODI game as well?
If you look at ODIs, I was among the runs when we last played in Australia. Even in the T20s I made runs. I played only two ODIs after the Australia series [against England this January], and then I was dropped from the XI. Of course, when you aren’t in good form, there is always pressure on you to make runs in international cricket, regardless of the format. I feel that the flow – like, when I was doing well, I was playing all the three formats – naturally got affected when I wasn’t scoring runs [in Test matches]. The impact of my poor run in Test matches was felt in ODIs and T20s as well. It wasn’t as if my ODI record suffered because of those two matches – my records are still very strong – but the flow will obviously be affected.”I enjoy laughing and I like making people laugh. I just want to be in a happy space and make sure people around me are happy”•AFPYou were getting out after making starts. What do you think was behind that? Was it a concentration issue or just a lengthy bad patch?
I talk to [VVS] Laxman ). Training includes gym sessions thrice a week, when there are no matches. Then there are running sessions and two-three net sessions and throwdowns in between. Then I work on improving a particular shot. This is generally the process I have followed.

“I don’t read anything on social media. If I am going to do well, they will write good things about me. If I am going to play badly, they will write bad things about me”

Do you miss being a part of a successful India dressing room, especially after being there in the first half of the season?
It makes me happy to see that the boys are doing well. There is also a bit of sadness that I am not a part of it. But then, wherever I am, I am happy. I enjoy laughing – that is one of my strengths – and I like making people laugh. Whether it is the Delhi team or the India team, it really doesn’t matter to me. I just want to be in a happy space and make sure people around me are happy. For me to have to go back to the Indian team and play, I have to stay positive and happy. That’s the only way I can climb the ladder again. Of course, I am happy for those who are doing well for India, but I want to return to the team because I know I have the ability to play international cricket for a long time.Do the guys in the national side stay in touch with you?
Everybody is busy with his own life, so it [talking to each other] doesn’t happen often. But when we meet, it is always a fun reunion.The chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad, watched you in the Deodhar Trophy. Have you spoken with him or any other member of the selection committee about what you need to do to return to the side?
When I know that myself, what can I ask him ()? If I do well and score runs, I will come back to the team. I will say that the selectors have been very supportive and they always communicate nicely and tell you what their plans are and where we stand.Before you got injured in Kolkata, you were obviously going through a lean trot. At that point, did you wish you’d rather be dropped than be put through the misery of another failure?
I never wished to be dropped. In fact, I was putting all my efforts into getting back to form. I felt very proud for continuing to bat with a fractured hand against New Zealand. I stood there for my team. Playing with a broken hand when I was not among the runs was a very satisfying moment for me. I cherish it.When you go through a rough patch, you will be out of the team, and those who do well will be picked. The selection committee and team management gave me a fair chance, but I didn’t perform.After a string of low scores in domestic cricket, Dhawan finally returned to form with a hundred and a fifty in the Deodhar Trophy•ESPNcricinfo LtdOver the last year or so, you have been relentlessly trolled on social media. Does that affect you?
I don’t read anything on social media (laughs). If I am going to do well, they will write good things about me. If I am going to play badly, they will write bad things about me. There are people who may make fun of or criticise others. Such people are necessary because they drive you to do better and act as motivating factors. I want to thank everybody, including my critics, because if they don’t say what they say, I won’t be pushed into doing what I am doing.It’s up to how a person sees such things. You can channel the energy and just do your work. I don’t want to direct my energy elsewhere. I am so much in love with my work that people can abuse me for a lifetime, but they cannot stop me from working or holding a bat. They are not in my shoes, so they will never understand what a cricketer may be going through. When you go through tough times, you actually end up growing more than during the good times. I have always enjoyed the game. It always has made me strong.Has the support of your family helped?
Their support has been very significant. I am always thankful to my wife, kids and parents. They know how hard I work. My wife likes to talk about how I went through the day, about my emotions, and can tell me how I can handle those things. These are small things but are special. The main thing is, I like living life without tension.It depends on your outlook: you can keep cribbing about what you have lost, but you can also look at how many things you have gained. So many wonderful players have gone by without playing for India, but I have been lucky enough to represent my country. There are two sides to everything, and it is up to you to decide what you want to look at. I don’t find it worth fretting over everything, because I have a beautiful family and beautiful parents. I have a beautiful life, so I should appreciate those things rather than just being obsessed with the ups and downs in cricket. Cricket is very close to my heart and I want to make it big here, but that doesn’t take happiness away from my life.When you see the competition around you, what do you think you need to do to stand out from the crowd?
Firstly, fitness is very important. You always have to maintain high standards of fitness. And then there is performance, of course – if your form is good, then there is no worry. Thirdly, if you see, someone like [KL] Rahul or Rohit [Sharma] are doing well… When Rahul came, he took my place just like I replaced someone else when I came into the side. That’s how I see it. If they can replace me, I can replace them again. What’s the big deal in it?How important is this year’s IPL going to be for you?
It’s very important, but every tournament is important for me, regardless of whether I am playing for Delhi or India. Every match is important because I create a habit out of it. I will never play a match with less intensity. If I am playing in the Deodhar Trophy, I am playing with the same intensity as I would for India. That is a big process for me. I want to keep performing well in the IPL as well and try to win another title for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Stats highlights from the second ODI at Eden Gardens between India and Australia

Bharath Seervi21-Sep-20173 – India bowlers to claim hat-tricks in ODIs. The first to achieve this was Chetan Sharma against New Zealand in Nagpur in the 1987 World Cup. The second and third have both come at the Eden Gardens – Kapil Dev against Sri Lanka in 1991 and Kuldeep Yadav against Australia. Overall, Kuldeep registered the 44th hat-trick in ODIs.2 – Wristspinners to achieve the hat-trick in ODIs. Both have come this year within 15 matches – Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga against Zimbabwe in Galle in July and Kuldeep. No wristspinner achieved it in first 45 years of ODI cricket in 3898 games.1 – Kuldeep is the first player to take hat-trick in Under-19 youth ODIs as well as ODIs. Kuldeep took a hat-trick against Scotland in the Under-19 World Cup in 2014 in Dubai.7 – Hat-tricks against Australia in ODIs, including Kuldeep’s. The others to do so are: Jalal-ud-din in 1982 (the first hat-trick in ODI history), Wasim Akram in 1990, Jerome Taylor in 2006, Shane Bond in 2007, Lasith Malinga in 2011 and Steven Finn in 2015. 5 – India players to take a hat-trick in International cricket. Apart from Chetan, Kapil and Kuldeep in ODIs, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan have done it in Tests. Three of those have come at Eden Gardens: Kapil, Harbhajan and Kuldeep.

The outrage against Sri Lanka’s struggles on the field on Sunday seemed to ignore the fact that being more used to high levels of pollution should not be a matter of pride

Sidharth Monga in Delhi03-Dec-20171:15

How smog led to a stop-start day in Delhi

Sri Lanka are an unsporting cricketing nation. In fact they can put village cricketers to shame. There is no low they won’t stoop to just to deny the opposition a hard-earned milestone. You know Suraj Randiv, of course. He bowled that no-ball to deny Virender Sehwag an ODI century. They have even forced the ICC to outlaw sudden captaincy changes by executing a captaincy switch to save their real captain from an accumulated over-rate penalty that could result in a match ban. Why, even as recently as Kolkata, as Sri Lanka played for a draw, Niroshan Dickwella hypnotised Mohammed Shami and Virat Kohli into wasting their own time by going after him verbally.Coming to Delhi, however, Sri Lanka knew they would need something truly diabolical to prevent India from racking up more records. Well they were assured a record-free hour every day – 40 minutes of lunch and 20 minutes of tea – but what about the rest? Things were pretty grim when a few of the leadership group went out for dinner after the first day’s play when a Virat Kohli quadruple-hundred and a fitting reply to their 952 couldn’t be ruled out.What these gents saw on the way to their dinner was nothing short of an epiphany. They saw a young man wearing a pollution mask being derided for not being man enough to face the Delhi pollution unmasked. The guys doing the deriding drove a Mahindra Thar, an inscription on which said: “Real men die without airbags.”Over that dinner this Machiavellian plan was discussed in thorough detail. The mask and the macho bravado were the things they were going to play on. They were apprised of the pollution situation in Delhi. They learnt all about the rampant deforestation and unplanned urbanization, so a majority of their work was done. They were also told by their spies about possible triggers that could send the “very poor” air to “severe” levels. They decided they couldn’t cause dust storms in gulf countries – not yet anyway – but they immediately sent men with heavy bribes to make sure farmers burnt their crop stubble in Punjab and Haryana, and that there were fireworks at wedding parties in Delhi. Models were arranged to teach the players how to vomit on demand.Like all shrewd plans, this relied on the deep knowledge of the psyche of the opponent. They knew a majority of India would work itself into a lather seeing such a cowardly bunch of cricketers. The “loser” chants and the boos were par for the course. They knew India cricketers will forget that a recent India cricketer, Ashish Nehra, had moved out of Delhi because of the pollution. They knew India will not think that these cricketers come from a country where the Air Quality Index (AQI) hovers around 50, and that they will outrage at their inability to play when it is “only” 300 or so.Having failed at everything else, this was their final plan to get Kohli out, just by breaking his rhythm and frustrating him. In fact this plan sounded so good that a young star even berated Kumar Sangakkara for not coming up with similar trickery when Chris Gayle scored 333 against them. It was decided, however, to give it one more session before executing this plan. Kohli left them no option as he moved effortlessly to 225 by lunch. Twenty minutes after lunch, Lahiru Gamage kick-started the proceedings by doubling over and pretending to breathe uneasily. The play was stopped for 17 minutes, which meant Sri Lanka knew India would want to score in one ball all the runs that should have been scored in those 17 minutes. R Ashwin played at a wide ball, and gully took the resultant catch.BCCIThe details that the discussion went to are incriminating. It was decided nobody would carry a purpose-built mask to filter the Delhi air; instead they chose to look helpless and pitiable in those surgical masks that would be available with the medical staff at the ground.The plan worked like a charm. Kohli was blinded in rage and missed the kind of deliveries he had been clipping away for four blindfolded for two days. The final piece of the plan was to offer the Indian slips a copious amount of catches, which they were sure they would drop even in Switzerland, thus proving that the pollution did play a part in the day’s proceedings. As we speak, the scheming bastards are enjoying a celebratory drink on the rooftop of their hotel. Without a mask.The crowd at Feroz Shah Kotla, themselves a victim of this horrible situation in Delhi, chanted “losers, losers” and booed them. The BCCI president was quoted as having questioned Sri Lanka’s motives by saying the crowd didn’t have an issue with the pollution so why did the bowlers who had performed a highly demanding job for only four sessions complain? B Arun, India’s bowling coach who was Hyderabad coach when their match in Delhi was called off last year, albeit in much worse conditions, called the stoppages unnecessary because pollution is everywhere in India. Hindi commentators joked on air that the players were using masks to only hide their faces after having taken the beating of their lives. Prominent people on Twitter lauded Indian cricket team’s nationalism as they sacrificed their health to entertain the crowd that had turned up.In unison, the country took pride in being more used to “very poor” levels of pollution than players from an island known for its cleanliness. For once the joke is not on cricket.