Tag Futebol

India have been the best and West Indies the worst when it comes to completing their overs on time

Sidharth Monga and Shiva Jayaraman12-Feb-2019There have been 485 of them since 1992; most have been brushed aside with a gentle rap on the knuckles, some have resulted in match bans, a few of them have brought about the threat of lawsuits, and a rare one was responsible for a mid-tournament captaincy switch that has since been outlawed.We are talking about punishments for over-rate offences, for which the ICC invariably gets criticised: “too soft” when overs are lost but allowances are made, “too officious” when a captain gets banned despite allowances. The ICC finds itself in a bind over a breach-related incident again, this time being criticised heavily with West Indies playing their ongoing third Test against England without captain and talisman Jason Holder.ALSO READ: Jason Holder slow-over ban is just ICC killjoys at workThe first thing to know on the subject is that the process is subjective but not arbitrary. In a Test match, you are expected to maintain a rate of 15 overs an hour; in an ODI, you are expected to bowl your 50 overs in three-and-a-half hours or bowl the opposition out before that; a T20I innings should go no longer than 90 minutes. There are allowances made: injury timeouts, DRS reviews, sightscreen problems, longer drinks breaks in hotter weather, any external delay beyond the control of the fielding captain.In April 2003, the ICC took the drastic step of bringing the captain under the ambit of match bans. In the six years leading up to that, starting 1997, international cricket lost 73, 59, 60, 77, 78 and, in 2002, a whopping 120 overs. On the final day of the Port-of-Spain Test of 2002, a fifth-wicket stand of two hours for just 73 runs frustrated India. There was still time for both outright results, but the draw became a real possibility. Now, imagine the situation if West Indies had not been caught short by 18 overs across their two bowling innings.Such were the matches that eventually resulted in ICC getting stricter. Even as the amount of cricket has only increased since, there has never been a year since 2003 in which 60 overs have been lost. The data available – on the ICC website for all to see – is not always complete, but here are a few trends that might reinforce certain views and surprise you too.West Indies are the slowest
This is perhaps no surprise. They bowl a lot of fast bowlers, they haven’t had a great spinner since 1992 to build an attack around, and they have not been the most disciplined side. Since 2003, West Indies have been 88 overs short in a total of 45 over-rate breaches. Pakistan – 32 breaches and 69 overs lost – are a distant second.Data for over breaches and overs short•ESPNcricinfo LtdRicky Ponting, Graeme Smith and Sourav Ganguly are the captains under whose watch a high number of overs were lost. However, while Ponting and Smith captained 287 and 286 matches to be short by 36 and 34 overs respectively, Ganguly captained in only 64 matches since April 2003, but was in charge of a team that was short by 31 overs. Virat Kohli’s side has been short by only one over in 129 matches played under him.Captains with no over-rate violations•ESPNcricinfo LtdIndia’s transformation
India began to transform as they became more and more spin-oriented under MS Dhoni, and then as a disciplined bowling unit on the whole, that still had enough spin, under Kohli. It might surprise you if you have seen a lot of Indian cricket in the 2000s, but India hold the longest streak without an over-rate offence. The last time they were found short was at The Oval back in 2014. Ravindra Jadeja has never been part of a side found short on overs. India’s is a streak of 216 matches, comfortably ahead of Bangladesh’s 190 at second spot. West Indies’ best streak has been 48 matches.Longest streaks without a breach•ESPNcricinfo LtdTeam-wise data for longest streaks without a breach•Getty ImagesIt’s not always pace
As you would expect, most of the breaches happen when a high proportion of overs is bowled by the quicks – when Faf du Plessis was banned recently, he bowled no spin – but there have been a few instances when sides have failed to maintain the acceptable rate even with spinners on. Rahul Dravid once bowled only 16 overs of pace in an ODI innings, and yet fell short by two overs – against Australia in Gwalior in 2003.Captains with the most overs short per match•ESPNcricinfo LtdDo Big Three players get away with it?That is the question always asked because the last few captains to be banned have been from West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies again, Sri Lanka again, Sri Lanka yet again, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Pakistan again. This is a question difficult to answer unless you sit with a stopwatch and note every allowance made for every delay during every match. If you agree, though, with match referees – and that’s their job so there’s little point doubting them without evidence – the penalties sound about right.Since 2003, in all formats put together, West Indies have been short in 6.45% of their matches, Pakistan in 4.38% and South Africa in 3.69%.Sri Lanka are an interesting case study. Their overall rate of breaches since 2003 – 3.24% – is close to India’s and Australia’s, but they have a big variance: excellent when at home, with the vast majority of the bowling done by the spinners, but slow when using quicks.Who goes over most often•ESPNcricinfo LtdDo over-rate penalties in Tests need a rethink?
Now to the biggest gripe among fans with these over-rate penalties. When Holder was banned, his side was short by two overs, in a Test ended in three days. Is the over-rate relevant then? Once the rule is in place, you can’t ask the match referee to be subjective in its implementation based on the number of days there were in the Test. So this has to be a question for the lawmakers. Also, even in a shorter game, if one side is bowling at a prescribed rate and the other not, there is a possibility the offending side’s bowlers are taking extra time to recover between overs and between balls.

Days Taken For Result Over Rate BreachesTwo 1Three 11Four 22Five 28For what it is worth, this is a poser for the lawmakers: in Tests with results, since 2003, there have been 62 over-rate breaches. Only 28 – fewer than half – of those matches went into the fifth day. Shane Warne recently suggested there should probably be no over-rate penalties if a Test ends in fewer than 225 overs, which is under half of the stipulated overs. Should the ICC make some allowance for matches that don’t go the distance or end in fewer than a certain number of overs?

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

The soundtrack to Michael Clarke’s batting has become increasingly scratchy, his captaincy out of tune with the rest of his team

Daniel Brettig at Trent Bridge07-Aug-2015It has been said that happiness is a memory, not a feeling, something remembered more vividly than it is experienced. Watching Michael Clarke bat at Trent Bridge, in what was surely one of his final Test innings, it was possible to wonder how long it has been since he felt happy about batting, or even cricket.Clarke has always stated he is mediocre of memory. He has been forever hurtling forward, often at a speed that others, whether they be team-mates, opponents or the Australian public, have not appreciated. But as he struggled and scraped and ultimately fell here to the moving ball once more, he must have thought back to when his hands and feet moved in sync, his head was clear and his body limber. It was quite some time ago.Just as this innings was a case of Clarke being worn down, his captaincy has also followed a line of depreciating returns. He started as a leader in the pinkest of form, rolling to hundreds as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Clarke made 12 in his first 30 Tests as captain, starting with a last-day century to secure a draw (remember them?) and a series win over Sri Lanka, and ending with a first-innings standard bearer to effectively seal the 2013-14 Ashes series in Adelaide. There were three double hundreds, and one monumental triple at the SCG against India.Before this match, Clarke said he had been watching plenty of footage of those innings. He was doing so to remind himself that he has often been a chancy starter, gambling on attack to place pressure on the bowlers before he is fully set. The 329 against India was the epitome of this, as Clarke’s early minutes were punctuated by dicey play-and-misses against Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma on a surface where his team had slid to 37 for 3.The difference then was that Clarke would emerge from his flighty start to be assured and confident, putting the bowlers off balance while looking beautifully calibrated himself. Now, however, every ball is a struggle, whether with the bowler, the conditions or the doubts he clearly has about his own mobility, regardless of how many scans or consultancies have told him he is fit and fine.It has been a slow decline, not only in terms of batting but also influence over the team. The seeds of his current malaise were arguably sown on the last Ashes tour, when Mickey Arthur was replaced by Darren Lehmann. From that day, Clarke was no longer a selector, while the dominance of Lehmann’s personality and view of the world compelled the captain to take a back seat to many decisions he was previously across.Michael Clarke returns to the pavilion after falling for 13•Getty ImagesThe change worked for a time, culminating in the successes of 2013-14, but as results became more inconsistent and Clarke less physically capable, his more peripheral role dovetailed with his performances. Clarke remains the captain, but he has long since ceased to be the man in charge. Between April 2011 and June 2013 the Australian side was his team, for better or worse. Now it is not, for better or worse.Among the briefest but most telling interludes of Clarke’s innings was his two-ball union with Steven Smith, the man who will replace him. Smith has been emblematic of Australia in this series – brilliant at Lord’s but skittish, troubled and verging on neurotic elsewhere. His trigger movement across the crease is now hopelessly exaggerated, and he batted in a fury both innings here.The Smith and Clarke relationship has never been poor, but the lack of any sense that the two leaders, present and future, could dig in this day was telling. Rewind four years to the 2011 World Cup quarter-final with India, when Clarke played a dreadful shot to get out at a time when he and his predecessor Ricky Ponting had to form a partnership. In the preceding Ashes series they had competed with one another for poorest aggregate, with Ponting narrowly shading it in the end.This time around, Smith contained himself for one delivery in Clarke’s presence, but not another. His sliced drive nestled into the hands of Ben Stokes, positioned precisely for the stroke Smith played – a depressingly dunderheaded piece of batting. Clarke has seldom generated the sense of warmth that engenders others to play for him. In this moment of gravest need, Smith could think of nothing but attack.That left Clarke to potter around in the company of Adam Voges, another man who has struggled mightily this series. There was a time when Voges was not chosen for Australia’s limited-overs middle order partly because he was deemed too similar a player to Clarke, and now they scratched around with similarly low levels of confidence. For 38 runs they tried to endure, scoring through as many edges as meatier blows, until Clarke could contain himself no longer and essayed a push out at the ball a little less hare-brained than the first innings, but no more distinguished.Clarke has spoken that one of the keys to his batting has been his use of songs in his head to switch off between deliveries. The tunes have varied widely, often being sourced from batting partners in the middle. As he walked off Trent Bridge this day, he looked very much like a man who had forgotten the words to one of his favourite tracks. The Turtles’ has long since slipped off his playlist.

Plays of the day from the second T20I between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Chittagong

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong14-Feb-2014The wrong impression
Lasith Malinga dropped Shamsur Rahman off the third ball of the match to a difficult chance over his head at short fine-leg. Tillakaratne Dilshan had bowled a poor delivery which the opener swept, but he could only manage a leading edge. Malinga got a hand to the ball, but was ultimately very cross with himself for dropping it. Still, no one would have known that Sri Lanka would make up for that failed chance with three superb catches.The 20 steps
Nuwan Kulasekara was at mid-on when Shakib Al Hasan picked up Sachitra Senanayake over his head. As the ball sailed high, Kulasekara kept running with his eye on the ball. Sixteen steps into his run, he reached the ball with outstretched arms, and as he caught the ball, he tumbled over, and luckily for him, the ball didn’t pop out. His dive stopped near the rope, making the catch so much better than the three taken in the first Twenty20. Kulasekara would also add the Sabbir Rahman catch, a diving effort from deep cover, to his repertoire of the day.The opposite side
Anamul Haque was given a dose of his own medicine when Kusal Perera caught him at the deep-midwicket boundary. The catch was just as spectacular as Anamul’s had been in the first match. Kusal ran to his right, flung himself and caught the ball mid-air, a foot inside the rope. Anamul, in the previous game, had taken the catch right at the boundary, balancing himself very close to the rope.The uncanny repeat
When Dilshan opened the bowling for Sri Lanka, he was the third spinner to do so against Bangladesh. The last man was Prosper Utseya who had taken the wicket of Shamsur Rahman off the fourth ball of the first over, caught at deep midwicket. This time, Shamsur tried a similar shot, slapping the ball straight towards mid wicket, off the fifth ball of the over.The throwback
Injuries have ravaged Mashrafe Mortaza in the past, but he did not show much signs of wariness on Friday, picking up two wickets in the tenth over. He first removed Angelo Perera to what was a shot to forget and once Angelo Mathews was caught behind by Anamul Haque, Mashrafe duly took off, sticking his tongue out as he went on a celebratory run.

Bowlers have been rather conservative with the use of the yorker in this tournament. They are more obliged to employ the slower, length balls

Sidharth Monga05-Mar-2012It was an exhibition game in England in 1991. Wasim Akram was representing Rest of the World XI against an England XI. He began bowling length balls, and Kim Barnett, an attacking Derbyshire batsman who played five Tests for England, went after Akram at the start. It was just an exhibition game, and Akram wanted to preserve himself, but his pride took a beating. He began bowling yorkers, and Barnett eventually fell to Tony Dodemaide for 26.As the World XI players waited for the new batsman to arrive, Akram told his team-mates, Sanjay Manjrekar one of them, how he didn’t want to bowl those yorkers. When asked to verify that anecdote, Akram says, ” [It takes a lot of effort to bowl yorkers]. It is easy to bowl bouncers. A bouncer is nothing in comparison.”And when Akram talks of yorkers, he means those speared in, swinging bullets landing on the crease. “You have to dig deep for those.” A good, quick yorker takes as much effort as two or three normal deliveries. It was these yorkers that made it desperately difficult to score at more than a run a ball against bowlers the likes of Akram.During the CB Series, even on the big fields of Australia, even two runs a ball hasn’t looked safe for the bowling side in the last ten overs. Sri Lanka needed 18 off the last over in Perth, and Mitchell Starc bowled either length or the bouncer, and just about came out safe. In Adelaide, with 12 to defend in the last over, Clint McKay bowled length at various paces. When even Lasith Malinga hasn’t relied that much on the basic yorker, what of the other bowlers?Is it too harsh to say that the bowlers perhaps don’t want to “dig deep”? Cricket has changed a lot. The schedules are hectic, there is too much to lose if you don’t prolong your career, and it is possible that the bowlers want to preserve themselves. Malinga’s body wears scars of the most difficult delivery bowled at the most difficult trajectory. He can’t even play Test cricket now. How many bowlers want to go all out and bowl a spell full of yorkers?But perhaps it will be a bit too harsh to look at it this way alone. Batting has changed too. Batsmen have found ways of countering yorkers. They go deep into the crease to convert them into half-volleys. They walk down the stumps and scoop them on the full. They make room and squeeze the ball past point. It is true that earlier there were fewer batsmen who did this – the Saleem Maliks, the Javed Miandads for instance.Batsmen definitely play the yorker better than they did 10 years ago, but not so well that a slower length ball can replace the yorker as the most effective delivery at the death. Michael Clarke, a batsman himself, agrees. “Yeah, look I think the basic and simple yorker is still the best delivery at the death,” Clarke says. “We continually look at Malinga, when he hits his yorker, doesn’t matter what technique, theory, you have to score, it’s the hardest ball to score off.”However, Clarke also sees merit in other variations, especially on the bigger fields in Australia. “For starters I think we have got to hit that yorker, but I think Shane Watson showed as well tonight that his change of pace is crucial,” Clarke says. “It’s such a big ground square of the wicket, the Gabba, you have got to be able to change the pace and get the batters hitting to the long parts of the ground.”Mahela Jayawardene, who captains the best bowler of the yorker today, also wants to use the longer boundaries. “Depending on situations, trying to get batsmen to hit into longer boundaries [as Watson did] with the change-ups [is important], which we did as well to a certain extent,” Jayawardene said. “Different venues, different places, you need to come up with those ideas. That’s the beauty of the game. Because we play each other so often, they know your strengths and weaknesses.”

Either through reluctance or deterioration of skill or the lure of the fancy slower balls, an art from – a breathtaking sight of a batsman saving his toe from breaking – is dying.

Australia’s main problem though with death bowling, which has driven Clarke up the wall, has been the absence of a bowler who can bowl eight to 10 yorkers in his last two overs, which will, in the worst case, go for 15-16 runs, and in the best scenario could pick up wickets for under 10 runs.One example of this was when Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan bowled yorker after yorker on a runway in Rajkot in the 414-v-411 game, and defended 31 in the last five overs. Tim Southee did the same when Cameron White was in a hot and crazy pursuit of a 200-plus total in a Twenty20 at the ‘lilliputian’ Jade Stadium in Christchurch. Both were successful. In fact, we have reached a stage where most bowlers feel obliged to bowl a slower ball simply because they haven’t bowled one for four-five deliveries.That we clearly remember two incidents from the last two-three years is a clear indication that the yorker is not employed well or often enough. Either through reluctance or deterioration of skill or the lure of the fancy slower balls, an art from – a breathtaking sight of a batsman saving his toe from breaking – is dying. We need evidence against this notion.Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

The pitches may have been dead and the referrals system may have raised more problems than it solved, but West Indies can congratulate themselves on the progress they have made

Vaneisa Baksh11-Mar-2009The series between West Indies and England sandwiched an enormous amount of dogged, laborious cricket between an astonishing beginning and a palpitating end. The magic dust of the morning of the fourth day of the first Test sprinkled the rest with the promise of more sorcery, and though the days were mainly long, hot and slow going, enough grams of it hung about the grounds to keep spectators going. True, there were more English than West Indian supporters, particularly in Antigua and Barbados, but there was something for everyone, and it wasn’t long before watchers of all persuasions sniffed out a competition they had not expected.A look at the series cannot ignore the tomfoolery that passed for cricket management at the Viv Richards Stadium for the second Test. As much as we would like to put it behind us, the series has ended with nary a word of the consequences that should follow such acts of gross negligence and incompetence.
But the shameful abandonment of the match affected watchers more profoundly, it seemed, than it did the players. Resolutely they gathered at the ARG and the game was on in a salutarily short time, and for many the question was why the ARG was abandoned in the first place, when all it seemed to need was proper maintenance.After the Sabina Park victory, the series became a source of celebrations at many levels. It might be worth the time to consider: what really were West Indians celebrating? It was a lifting of spirits over a series that went on longer in terms of days and matches, and yielded more tension and repetitiveness, than anticipated.What set it all up was Jerome Taylor at Sabina. England at 51 all out never recovered, no matter how doggedly they pursued the task. And they were dogged. Poor Andrew Strauss rose with his bat throughout, but never yielded at the right moment, never took the gambler’s chance, and found his coaches turning back into pumpkins promptly at stumps at the end of each overdrawn match.He was relying on a West Indies history that suggested a will so weakened that it would be daunted into easy capitulation by massive totals. Perhaps he was guilty of underestimating the team in his anxiety to prepare for the Ashes. Certainly West Indies played more resolutely than recent memory would have predicted, but then the pitches were so placid that all batsmen rejoiced.These were high-scoring games on account of the pitches, and without detracting from the honest scoreboard’s recognitions of feats and records, so many centuries were notched that any batsman who missed out simply hadn’t the belly to stick to the task or was undone by the controversial referral system, which has bemused more than clarified cricket decisions.

West Indies have come a long way, if you consider that the last celebration was over the fact that they could last the five days of a match. What we have seen different is that they’ve learned how to survive. They’ve learned some measure of perseverance

Bowling suffered during these games. Fidel Edwards looked pumped up and was putting something of a snort into most deliveries, but often he seemed frustrated by the unresponsive pitches. Taylor shone as promised but then was pulled up short by injury; he too might have lost zeal due to the dull surfaces. Sulieman Benn was curiously dropped for the final match, and one had to wonder if West Indies’ use of eight bowlers in the first innings was not a silent protest by the captain at the limp options on offer.The atmosphere was pallid and listless, and as it seemed in the other matches, the fielding lacked winners’ intensity. Dwayne Bravo was terribly missed, sparkling as he did whenever he was on the field. It didn’t seem that England should have been allowed to repeat the formula that applied throughout this series: two days of batting and a formidable score, then West Indies go in and match it, before the last day petered out in a draw.Yet it was Test cricket of a different sort, at least for West Indies, who have come a long way if you consider that the last celebration was over the fact that they could last the five days of a match. What we have seen different is that they’ve learned how to survive. They’ve learned some measure of perseverance.Two figures behind the scenes who may have contributed to this new capacity to go to the wire are the coach, John Dyson, under whose watch fitness seems to have improved. It was most obvious in the fruition of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who deserved his Man-of-the-Series award. Sarwan was beautiful to watch (as was Kevin Pietersen), and it was as if he had come to the maturity that his potential has promised – for some seemingly long but actually short years. Denesh Ramdin looked as if he had been finally given a shaking and some of his cobwebs were beginning to be shredded. Maybe his fitness has reached the point where his capacity to concentrate has improved.The other figure is the manager, Omar Khan, who has had a very good track record with Trinidad and Tobago, and I believe has contributed significantly to the general approach to the game, as well as to the sense of camaraderie and support.Chris Gayle, people say, inspires his team by being more one of them. It is clear that he is able to keep tension levels down as far as interactions go. Remember how incensed Edwards seemed when Gayle declared and Edwards had to drop his pads and go out and warm up quickly in Barbados? But Gayle got him to cool down and deliver in those high-energy spells he delivered right before the close of play.Taylor made the decisive difference in the only match that wasn’t negated by a dead pitch•AFPPlayers who really shone, for me, would be Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Gayle, Taylor, Edwards, Benn and Brendan Nash. Ramdin improved. Gayle and Chanderpaul were basically the same; the others seemed to stride forward a few important notches.The return of the Wisden Trophy was something to celebrate. Hopefully it will not be lost when England hosts West Indies in a couple of months, but the possibility is that an entirely new set-up will be faced on different surfaces, and injured English players will have returned to the fold.A couple of interesting dilemmas arose again. Should West Indies, as Ian Bishop and Michael Holding keep imploring, set up continuous fast-bowling clinics? Or should they be bowling clinics that equally nurture both spin/slow and fast?Why were the pitches as flat as they were? Should West Indies be investing in developing the pitch quality that seems to survive in Australia? The global complaint has been about dead pitches: batsmen’s havens that have reduced the value of runs and taken away the element of excitement that genuinely good fast bowling injects. Is this widespread trend of flat pitches something to be accepted or railed against?I’d always vote for watching a match that gives something to bowler and batsman. We saw thousands of runs scored in this series, but you have to admit that the thrills were muted on account of the pitches. Poor fielding and bizarre referral results didn’t do anything to add to the games, but all in all it seemed the teams had met their match, and surely, given their positions in the rankings, that must be a comfort to one and a whole heap of worries to the other.

A sensational century by Ben Duckett, at 88 balls the third fastest against India in India, left the hosts shell-shocked after they once again left runs un-scored in their first innings of 445. There was none of the streakiness one might associate with a century scored at this pace. None of Duckett’s 19 fours and one six in his first 102 runs came off an edge. No bowler seemed to have an answer for his stroke-play: Duckett pounced on any width from the quicks, swept and reverse-swept the spinners to distraction, and then cashed in on the consequent shorter deliveries.He scored 133 of the 207 England made for the loss of two wickets in just 35 overs on the second day. India had batted 45 overs in the first half of the day for the addition of just 119 runs to their overnight 326 for 5. The recurring theme of India losing wickets without a build-up or a discernible plan from England’s bowlers continued.Not that plans or build-ups were working as Duckett demonstrated. India tried bowling the channel but Duckett stayed beside the line and crashed the quicks through the off side. Kuldeep Yadav tried his wristspin but Duckett swept and reverse-swept seven fours in his first four overs. R Ashwin, who got to his 500th Test wicket with the scalp of Zak Crawley, was allowed no time to celebrate as Duckett slog-swept a good length ball from the stumps and then followed it up by going back and pulling him.Related

• Ben Duckett demolishes India demons in match-altering onslaught

• R Ashwin – a champion at home and India's biggest match-winner

• Ashwin: '500 done and dusted, now got a game hanging in the balance'

• Why England started their innings in Rajkot with five runs on the board

The only time Duckett looked in any kind of trouble was in the first four overs when he was beaten five times. He had tried to hit a four off each of those balls, and wasn’t dissuaded from doing that the next time he saw width.Ollie Pope, who scored the breathtaking 196 to steal the first Test away from India, and Crawley, who has been England’s best batter this series overall, were reduced to being mere spectators even though they batted with assuredness and comfort. Crawley scored just 15 in the first-wicket stand of 89, and Pope just 39 in the 93 added for the second wicket. However, there was still time enough for Pope to display the reverse Dilscoop that left jaws on the floor in the first Test.It was the partnership with Crawley, though, that once again set India back. This was their fourth association of 50 or more in five innings this series. Between 2018 and 2023, all visiting openers put together had put together four stands of 50 or more. By the time Ashwin came onto bowl, Duckett and Crawley had raced so far ahead he started off with a negative line outside leg to Crawley. That ended up bringing his landmark wicket as the ball bounced from the rough to take the top edge on the sweep.Jasprit Bumrah hugs R Ashwin after his 500th wicket•AFP via Getty Images

Now was the moment for India to try to build to another wicket. Pope is not that good a starter, and Kuldeep started by beating his bat on the outside edge. On 2 off 11, Pope, who might not have picked the earlier wrong’un, decided it wouldn’t matter which way it is turning if he gets to its pitch and biffs it over the infield. It heralded another wave of attack, which included the audacious slog-sweep off Ashwin for his first six.Pope then played used the pace from Ravindra Jadeja to start picking boundaries behind the wicket: a paddle-sweep followed by the outrageous reverse Dilscoop. Then the reverse-sweep. Then the orthodox one from Duckett. The closest India came to getting a wicket during this phase when Bumrah hit Duckett’s toe with a yorker, but he had got the inside half of the cue on it just as the ball landed.A particular cause for desperation for India was that they were playing their best possible attack at home, barring probably Mohammed Shami for Mohammed Siraj. And yet, England were bossing them without any trouble scoreboard pressure be damned.India then decided to slow the game down. They did what England did with Mark Wood. A field for bouncers, and keep bowing them one after the other. Not only did it slow the runs down momentarily it also slowed down the over-rate. And then when Siraj bowled one on a length, it behaved like his wobble-seam ball with the new ball does. It took such a good ball with the old ball, and then a review, for India to get some relief. Pope was trapped on the crease, but England were already 182 for 2 in just 30 overs.Even with stumps around the corner, the wicket failed to bring down Duckett’s disdain. He immediately reversed Jadeja for a flat six over what would have been point had he not switched his stance. In the last over, Ashwin came close to getting Duckett out when he defended for a change, but the offbreak had landed just outside leg.The amount of work India are having to put to get their wickets will be a good reminder to them of how easily they gave their own away. After the run-out on day one, the centurion Jadeja patted a return catch to Joe Root in the early exchanges of the day, reminiscent of how Yashasvi Jaiswal got out in the first over on day two in Hyderabad.Ashwin and debutant Dhruv Jurel then added 77 for the eighth wicket, but Ashwin too hit legspinner Rehan Ahmed straight to mid-on in a manner that left him with his hand on his head in a “what-did-I-just-do” kind of way. It is not like the spinners had built any dot-ball pressure on India as loose balls were readily available.Three stands put together 358 of India’s 445 runs. One – for the last wicket – was responsible for 30 of the remaining 87. That, though, has been the story of the series for India’s inexperienced batting line-up.

Fermin Lopez addressed the speculation linking him to Chelsea and revealed which Barcelona team-mates influenced him to turn down the English giants.

Chelsea were keen to sign FerminSpaniard rejected the Blues' proposalReveals who influenced him to stayFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Barcelona midfielder Fermin has revealed that a group of team-mates influenced his decision to rule out an exit, adding that injured captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen took the initiative of persuading him to reject Chelsea's proposal and continue in Catalunya. Despite speculation suggesting that Fermin could depart, he ultimately chose to stay at Barca and fight for his place.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

In the final week of the transfer window, Chelsea pushed hard to sign Fermin and officially tabled a bid worth €40 million (£34m/$46m) plus add-ons. Barcelona were reportedly unhappy with the proposal and demanded €90m (£78m/$105m) instead. The Catalans would have considered a sale if the 22-year-old forced the issue, but he says leaving his boyhood club was never in question.

WHAT FERMIN LOPEZ SAID

In an interview with , Fermin was asked if his team-mates asked him not to leave. He said: "I've had a few conversations with some of them. But the whole team has been very supportive this week, and everyone wanted me to stay, too. The support from the locker room is appreciated."

When asked if he had one-on-one conversations with senior players, he added: "Quite a few, but I can tell you… Ter Stegen, for example. With him, with Ronald [Araujo], with Pedri… With quite a few players, actually. Raphinha too."

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

WHAT NEXT FOR FERMIN LOPEZ?

It remains to be seen whether Fermin can earn prominence at Barca this season. The youngster will have to fight for minutes with Dani Olmo, Raphinha, Gavi, as well as summer arrival Marcus Rashford. Increased competition seemed to have enticed Fermin to consider a move to the Premier League, but head coach Hansi Flick has always maintained that the midfielder was crucial for him. Although he has a contract until 2029, Fermin didn't rule out a departure before his deal expires. "You never know what the future holds," he said. "There are things you can't control, but yes, yes, I see myself fulfilling my promise and hopefully many years here at Barca."

Fermin has been called up by Luis de la Fuente for Spain's upcoming World Cup qualifiers. As for the Blaugrana, they will play their next game on September 14 against Valencia.

Central Sparks made it three wins from three in the Charlotte Edwards Cup with a three-wicket victory from the final ball over winless Northern Diamonds in a rain-reduced match at Headingley.Despite losing wickets with regularity, Diamonds posted a competitive target of 81 from 11 overs thanks largely to Erin Burns’ impressive 30.And the hosts looked set to clinch their first win but Sparks captain Eve Jones’ nerveless unbeaten 26 saw her side home, with Georgia Davis striking two from the final delivery to clinch the victory.Heavy rain in the morning followed by frequent short showers delayed the start from the scheduled 2.30pm, with play eventually getting under way at 4.45pm and the match reduced to 11 overs-a-side.After winning the toss, Sparks were straight into their stride with the ball, taking wickets in each of the first four overs.Leah Dobson and Lauren Winfield-Hill were caught for a duck and five respectively looking for early momentum before Em Arlott claimed her second wicket by having Hollie Armitage caught behind for nought.Katie George bowled Bess Heath for three to leave Diamonds 23 for four in the fourth over.Erin Burns injected life into the innings with three early boundaries and Sterre Kalis started well to lift Diamonds to 44 for four after six overs.Davis had Kalis stumped for 17 and bowled Emma Marlow for seven but Burns continued to be aggressive in playing a lone hand for Diamonds.Her dismissal on 30, well held by Arlott running in from the deep off the bowling of Grace Potts, was key for Sparks.Grace Hall and Katie Levick came and went quickly but Katherine Fraser delivered late momentum with a four and a six from the final two balls to post 80 for nine. Davis claimed three for 23.Sparks started their chase strongly, easing to 16 without loss after two overs.Levick’s introduction brought the breakthrough as Chloe Brewer was trapped lbw for 14.Rachel Slater then piled the pressure on Sparks with two wickets in the fourth over, bowling Perrin for five and having Abbey Freeborn stumped for six to leave Sparks 26 for three.Courtney Webb’s dismissal by Burns for two in the next over had Diamonds on top and then Dobson claimed a brilliant boundary catch off Hall to remove George for nine, leaving Sparks 44 for five, needing another 37 from four overs.Sparks captain Eve Jones, who was dropped on four by Grace Hall, set about eating into that target as 13 runs came from the ninth over, leaving 15 required from the final two.Burns caught and bowled Charis Pavely for five and Sparks needed five from the final over, bowled by Levick.Arlott fell and new batter Davis needed two from the final ball, which she achieved with a chip down the ground to make it three wins from three for Sparks.

ESPNcricinfo understands that the India batter will also take a call on his international future soon

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Mar-2024

India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is set to play his final IPL season this year when he appears for Royal Challengers Bangalore over the next two months. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Karthik, who turns 39 in June, will also make a final decision soon on his international future.Karthik, who started his IPL career at Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) is part of a select group of seven players to have featured in every season of the IPL since the BCCI launched the tournament in 2008, along with MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha and Manish Pandey. Perhaps more impressively, Karthik has missed just two matches in 16 seasons.The first one was in his maiden season, against Kolkata Knight Riders and second was in 2023 when Karthik sat out the league match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.Related

Dinesh Karthik, the survivor who never stood still

Karthik: 'I'll do everything I can to be on that flight to the T20 World Cup'

IPL 2024: BCCI clears Rishabh Pant to play as wicketkeeper-batter

Dhoni links up with CSK in Chennai ahead of IPL 2024

Pat Cummins named Sunrisers Hyderabad captain

Karthik endured a poor 2023 IPL with the bat, scoring just 140 runs overall with an average of just over 11. It was a total contrast to the stellar season he enjoyed in 2022, the year Royal Challengers bought Karthik at the auction for INR 5.5 crore (US$ 662,000 approx.). Mainly playing the role of the finisher, for which he trained diligently on his power-hitting pre-season, Karthik scored 330 runs in 16 matches at an average of 55 and an explosive strike-rate of 183.33. Karthik was one of the key reasons Royal Challengers reached the play-offs that season, before bowing out in the second qualifier.The scorching IPL form earned Karthik a berth in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. However, he managed just 14 runs in three innings as India lost to eventual champions England in the semi-finals.The current stint with Royal Challengers is Karthik’s second, having played a single season with them before in 2015. Overall, Karthik has represented six IPL teams: starting with Daredevils (2008-14), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings – 2011), Mumbai Indians (2012-13), Gujarat Lions (2016-17), Knight Riders (2018-21) and Royal Challengers (2015, 2022-present). Overall in 240 matches, Karthik has scored 4516 runs at an average of nearly 26, striking at over 132 with 20 half centuries. As a keeper, Karthik is second on list behind Dhoni in overall dismissals (133) as well as stumpings (36).Karthik has overall represented six different teams at the IPL•BCCI

An established captain at Tamil Nadu, Karthik has also led in the IPL – on six occasions as an stand-in skipper at Daredevils, and 37 matches between 2018-20 at Knight Riders before he stepped down. Overall, his captaincy record reads: 21 wins, 21 losses and one tied match.Even as he gets ready to say farewell to cricket as a player, Karthik has already settled into what is deemed to be a second career. In 2021, while he continued playing, Karthik simultaneously got his feet wet in broadcasting, working as a pundit for the inaugural World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand and then at the Hundred. Karthik is now well established as a broadcaster, currently doing commentary in the India-England Test series.Royal Challengers will play the tournament opener against defending champions Chennai Super Kings on March 23 at his home ground in Chepauk.