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The fast bowler picked up 5 for 100 as Western Australia were bowled out for 251 in their second innings despite Josh Philippe’s maiden century

The Report by Alex Malcolm19-Oct-2018Chris Tremain goes up in appeal•Getty Images

Last season’s leading Sheffield Shield wicket-taker Chris Tremain has picked up where he left off, claiming nine wickets in Victoria’s innings demolition of Western Australia at the WACA ground.Victoria’s march to victory was halted by heavy rain on day three. But despite a sparkling maiden Shield century from Josh Philippe, the game was wrapped up before lunch on day four.Philippe and Cameron Green put on a 78-run partnership for the seventh wicket to frustrate Victoria. Philippe added 17 to his overnight score to reach his century before falling to Scott Boland for 104 from 142 balls.Green watched helplessly from the non-striker’s end as Boland then knocked over Usman Qadir and David Moody for ducks before Tremain trapped Simon Mackin in front for nought to complete his sixth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Green finished on 35 not out.Will Pucovski was named Player of the Match for his stunning 243.

Four years since he made an emphatic statement of intent as a formidable allrounder, James Faulkner looks to India for his reintroduction and regeneration

Daniel Brettig11-Sep-20171:31

Faulkner eager to resume Australia duties

It was in India in 2013 that James Faulkner truly announced himself as an international allrounder of substance. Most specifically, his Mohali heist gave rise to the nom de plume “the Finisher”; Ishant Sharma and Vinay Kumar would still get whiplash from thinking about it. Though Australia lost the series, Faulkner went on to be a vital player in a winning World Cup campaign in 2015.Four years on, Faulkner again looks to India for a series of significance, only this time his goal is that of reintroduction and regeneration. It’s barely been a few months since Faulkner lost his Cricket Australia contract and was then omitted from the Champions Trophy squad.The setbacks, at the very least, had the effect of clearing Faulkner’s mind about what he needed to do. Principally, this was to get his body right again after more than a year of nursing a damaged knee, to restore snap to his bowling and freedom to his movement between the wickets and on the field. Strong as he now feels, the question remains whether Faulkner can bring his unique brand of brio and tactical intelligence to the pointy end of an ODI.”Anytime you miss out on selection, it is tough,” Faulkner said in Chennai. “I have a good chance now. I had four months away from the game. I had bit of pre-season which has been nice, a bit of time in my own bed, and to get strong and fit again. I have been battling – to be honest – probably the last 18 months, so it’s been nice to be home with my team-mates in Tassie and hit the gym hard. Just physically with my knee and the state it has been in. It is as good as it’s been at the moment, so I’m pretty happy.”My training definitely changed. I spent a lot of time on the bike; I haven’t spent any time running other than fielding and while bowling in the nets. Have been doing different exercises in the gym, there are certain exercises I can’t do but there is a lot I still can. It is about being disciplined with them and training and working hard. Also reflecting on aspects you need work on as a player because everyone has to get better.”It was pretty tough. I think if you ask any player when you get left out it is not great fun. After a while you are friends and family with your team-mates as well. At the end of the day it is up to you to be back; I am excited to back in the group. I don’t really want to talk about the past. It’s about this series coming up and a good opportunity against very good opposition in their own country.”In terms of opportunity, Faulkner has the good fortune of knowing that nobody has truly made a spot their own in his absence. Marcus Stoinis played the sort of dominant innings Faulkner would have wished to play at the other end at Eden Park against New Zealand in January this year but has not played since. Moises Henriques was preferred by Steven Smith for the Champions Trophy but did not have the desired impact in a team that was swiftly eliminated. And Mitchell Marsh is currently preparing to captain Western Australia as a batsman only while still recovering from shoulder surgery.For Faulkner, a fruitful stint during the India tour could mean a second chance to be part of a winning Australian team•Associated Press

“I didn’t get too much feedback to be honest [on why he was dropped],” Faulkner said. “It was about… they said the pace has dropped down a little bit maybe. I bowl a lot of variations, so it’s a tough one. I didn’t have too much to be honest. I just reflected myself and wanted to get back in the team. I put that aside and worked as hard as I could.”I suppose for me [my strength] is the variation and the death [overs] as well with both the bat and ball. I don’t know about the X-factor, there are a lot of players with the X-factor in both line-ups and that is international cricket. Do as well as I can and play my part in these conditions, which are obviously different from back in Australia.”Australia’s Test players are already well-adjusted to the south Indian heat given their recent experiences in Bangladesh, but for Faulkner and other limited-overs operators there will be a little more time required to acclimatise. Snow and ice have been evident in Faulkner’s Hobart base in recent weeks, so it was understandable that he had worked up a sweat after training. Another southern stater, the Victorian Aaron Finch, will not play in Australia’s sole warm-up match on Tuesday as he nurses a calf niggle.”We are obviously looking forward to playing a warm-up game before the series starts,” Faulkner said. “It is tough conditions here in Chennai, it is hot – I’m here now and I’m still sweating! The boys are eager to get out there and play some good cricket, it is going to be a good series. Last time we were here, we had some good tough cricket, so we are all excited.”There’s a lot of experience in that changing room playing in the subcontinent. Most of the boys have played enough here with the IPL and other series and the T20 World Cup. [India] have played a lot of one-day cricket of late. They are in really good nick right now. It is going to be a test and we’re excited for it.”For Faulkner, that excitement is about a second chance to be part of a winning Australian team.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between England and Sri Lanka at Edgbaston

The Preview by Andrew Miller23-Jun-2016

Match facts

Friday, June 24
Start time 2pm local (1300 GMT)

Big picture

Eoin Morgan wasn’t buying the euphoria that drenched Trent Bridge on Tuesday night, after Liam Plunkett’s long levers had bludgeoned England to a share of a thrilling contest which, on balance, they deserved to have lost. “We are very lucky to get out of this game with a tie,” he said. “That was as bad as we have performed with the bat over the past year.”Morgan’s honesty was as refreshing as the attitude that had hauled his team back from the brink, both in Tuesday’s contest and, more generally, over the course of the past 18 months. There are genuine and attainable goals in the offing for England’s 50-overs squad in the not-so-distant future, but lapses such as they displayed in their first limited-overs outing since the World T20 final won’t be forgiven by better-drilled opponents.That said, it was no accident that England had the wherewithal to regroup after shedding their top six wickets in the space of 18 ill-disciplined overs. Their astonishing depth of batting is designed for occasions such as these – and you might even argue it is important that players such as Chris Woakes, England’s Man of the Match for his two wickets and 95 match-salvaging runs, are put under pressure to perform rather than allowed to gather dust as luxury tailenders, as has arguably been the case with Moeen Ali in recent months.But then again, it took a crisis to concentrate England’s minds, as if each of the top order had subconsciously been passing the buck to the next man without ever quite assuming responsibility until they really had to. Joe Root, the rock of their renaissance last summer, completed his fourth single-figure score in five innings this summer; Jonny Bairstow, their form man from the Test series, faced six balls all told and should have been out to two of them.Morgan himself fought hard against his troubling recent lack of form but was persistently challenged, and eventually undone, by Sri Lanka’s angle across his bows. But the major exception to England’s ennui was Jos Buttler, whose sojourn with Mumbai Indians perhaps reaped fewer grandstand moments than he had personally hoped for, but certainly sharpened his instinct for rising to an occasion. A brilliant catch on the long-on boundary denied him his fifth ODI hundred (and what would have been his slowest by a distance) but served notice that his team would not be quitting on their task.It was certainly a bitter denouement for Sri Lanka, who had entered the contest with intent following two galvanising triumphs in Ireland and produced, in Seekkuge Prasanna’s thrilling half-century, the most eye-catching performance of the day. The loss, however, of their captain, Angelo Mathews, was probably the difference between victory and the tie. His six overs of wicket-to-wicket wobblers had been just what the surface ordered, but the recurrence of his hamstring injury meant a spell of 2 for 22 was cut off in its prime.In Mathew’s absence, Sri Lanka’s attack closed ranks as best they do – Prasanna’s legspin matched that of the parsimonious Adil Rashid, while Farvez Maharoof, Suranga Lakmal and even the unfortunate Nuwan Pradeep all bowled better than their economy rates would suggest. But in the final analysis England did just enough to overcome their rustiness and salvage a share of the spoils. They will expect better things in Birmingham. The question is, will their opponents?Angelo Mathews underwent a fitness test on his hamstring•Getty Images

Form guide

England: TLLLW (last five matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka: TWWLW

In the spotlight

His captaincy has been a significant and acknowledged factor in England’s upsurge in recent fortunes, but Eoin Morgan‘s batting remains under a significant cloud. At the World T20, he mustered 66 runs in six matches – almost half of those in the opening fixture against West Indies – and so by that rationale, his return of 43 from 49 balls on Tuesday was a step in the right direction. It was, however, a painstaking knock – understandable to a degree, with England floundering at 30 for 4 when Buttler joined him to begin the rebuilding effort. But despite the odd flash of his most fluent self, most notably a handful of straight drives back down the ground, Morgan is still fighting to unleash the inventive instincts that made him such a stand-out performer in his pre-leadership days.There’s no ignoring the joie de vivre that Seekkuge Prasanna brings to his destructive slogging in the middle of Sri Lanka’s innings. Pinch-hitters are thought to be rather old hat these days – why risk swinging through the line when you can contort your stance and ramp a six into no-man’s land at fine leg? But the combination of a sharp eye and a fearless mind will never go entirely out of fashion, and the glee with which Prasanna brought up his fifty from 24 balls was understandable – at Malahide last week, he biffed 95 from 46 balls so he is enjoying a rare appetite for destruction. Whenever Sri Lanka choose to unleash him, brace for fireworks.

Team news

Plunkett’s retention ahead of Steven Finn for the first match came as something of a surprise but was, in hindsight, due reward for his role in the team that reached the World T20 final. His bowling may not have hit the mark consistently, but his six-hitting heroics amply justified his selection. Finn has been released to play for Middlesex in tonight’s T20 Blast contest against Somerset at Lord’s. Jason Roy, meanwhile, has received an injection for a wrist problem, but batted in the nets and is expected to be fit to retain his place in an unchanged XI.England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Adil Rashid.All eyes are on Angelo Mathews as he undergoes a fitness test on the hamstring strain that bugged him during Sri Lanka’s elimination, against England, at the World T20 in Delhi earlier this year, and flared back up during his bowling spell on Tuesday. Sri Lanka are considering dipping into their A-team squad for reinforcements, but the skipper is one man they simply cannot do without. He was rated at 70% on Thursday, pending another test before the match. He’ll surely play on one leg if needs be.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Upul Tharanga, 7 Seekkuge Prasanna, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 9 Farveez Maharoof 10 Nuwan Pradeep, 11 Suranga Lakmal

Pitch and conditions

As in Nottingham, wet weather over recent weeks means the Edgbaston pitch has not seen much sunshine. But the ground has a reputation for good limited-overs surfaces, as demonstrated by the last ODI held there, when England broke 400 for the first time. Friday’s forecast is for a relatively clear afternoon and evening.

Stats and trivia

• Bittersweet memories for England at Edgbaston in their most recent ODI encounters at the venue. This time last year, they announced the start of their post-World Cup rebirth with their highest ODI score, 408 for 9 against New Zealand
• However, they had lost each of previous five completed ODIs at Edgbaston – three against India, including the final of the Champions Trophy in 2013 – and one against Sri Lanka, who sealed a 3-2 series triumph on their last tour of England in 2014 with a six-wicket win in the fifth and deciding match.
• Sri Lanka’s share of the spoils at Trent Bridge means that the inaugural Super Series remains alive … but only just. England now lead 11-3, meaning that Sri Lanka must win each of the last five internationals (four ODIs, one T20I) to sneak a 13-11 win.

Quotes

“We’re not at all concerned about the top order not scoring runs in Nottingham. If anything we should come out and play even more shots. That’s the way we want to play our cricket. We want to put teams under pressure and there’s no reason to change.”
“We were very good with batting and bowling, the only thing is we have to improve is our fielding. If we fielded well [at Trent Bridge] it would have been a different story but we are improving.”

West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo has revealed that his exclusion from the squad for the World Cup did not come as a surprise

Nagraj Gollapudi10-Jun-2015West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo has revealed that his exclusion from the squad for the World Cup did not come as a surprise, and he and Kieron Pollard were expecting the axe – which he called a “big joke” – from the West Indies Cricket Board selection panel, headed by Clive Lloyd. He also said the team management was prepared to lose the World Cup before it started and instead build for the next tournament.In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Bravo said the pair “laughed” when Lloyd sat down the pair in Cape Town in January to explain the reasons he felt they were not fit to be part of the World Cup squad. “We actually laughed when he said it to us. To be honest, we knew it was coming. We know the type of people in charge of our cricket are actually mature enough to make sensible decisions and the right decisions for the benefit of cricket,” Bravo said. “If we had got selected we actually would have been surprised. We expected it. There was nothing that shocked us.”The explanation that they gave us was too many allrounders or they want to try young players, whatever the case might be… Kieron Pollard is 27, I am 31. Also as far as our form was concerned, as I said, the last 12 months I had been West Indies’ best player. So to be left out with those explanations, obviously, all we could have done is laugh. It was a big joke.”Bravo has endured a tough time in the last eight months since he led West Indies’ player boycott on their India tour, during which the team abandoned the series mid-way over a contracts dispute involving the WICB and the players. Subsequently, Bravo was axed as ODI captain and dropped from the World Cup squad despite being one of the top performers in the team in the preceding 12 months before the selection. In January, he announced his Test retirement at the age of 31.Citing West Indies’ poor performance at the World Cup as a shame, Bravo said that the management had gone into the tournament prepared to lose, even as a more senior group had worked for the tournament for three years.”Another World Cup come, finish. They (were) happy with their decision. They were prepared not to win this World Cup,” he said. “It is a shame that before the World Cup even started, they were already prepared to lose and look forward to building for the next World Cup, whereas in the last three years we were building for this World Cup. But it is all water under the bridge now. I am not someone to hold on to anything.”The allrounder finished as the highest wicket-taker in IPL 2015 but said that the performance was not meant to prove a point and he still considers himself “one of the better allrounders in the region”. Bravo welcomed West Indies head coach Phil Simmons’ move to keep the Test team’s doors open for IPL returnees, including Pollard, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons and Andre Russell. Bravo said that he was not currently open to the idea of returning to Test cricket.”No. There is a lot more that needs to be changed in order for me to even think of coming back into Test cricket. At the moment I am happy with my decision and I don’t see it changing anytime soon unless something drastic changes.”

Moments after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra called off a match that produced 1443 runs for the loss of 13 wickets without a single first-innings being completed, the UP coach Venkatesh Prasad waged a scathing attack on the pitch

Amol Karhadkar in Pune12-Nov-2012Moments after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra called off a match that produced 1443 runs for the loss of 13 wickets without a single first-innings being completed, the UP coach Venkatesh Prasad waged a scathing attack on the pitch. The track produced five centuries – including a triple-century – and all five turned out to be personal-best scores in first-class cricket. However, the most talked-about feature of the Group B tie at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune was the pitch.All one had to do was to remind Prasad that he had said two evenings ago that he would be in a better position to comment on the wicket at the end of the match and what followed for the next four minutes was a monologue.”It’s a pathetic wicket for a four-day match. Why I am saying this is because there were close to 1500 runs scored and still nobody could get the first-innings lead,” Prasad said. “The first innings itself didn’t get completed. That shows the unsportiveness of this pitch. I have been hearing that there is a directive from the BCCI to prepare sporting wickets and if this is the case, I don’t know what to say, honestly.”If a similar thing happens in a knockout game, obviously the game will be extended by another day. Why should a player be penalised? As it is, there are a lot of injuries. And playing on such a wicket on the sixth day, especially in the knockouts when the first innings doesn’t get completed, we are unnecessarily penalising a player and on top of that, the injuries are going to increase that much more.”I think the people who should be penalised are the [host] associations. That’s something which they need to bring in. That’s when we can start preparing good tracks, no matter who you favour. This is basically just not cricket. When you are playing on this sort of a pitch, you are killing the game, killing the interest as far as the spectators are concerned, and it gives false confidence to the batsmen. On top of that, the bowlers start doubting their abilities by playing on this sort of a track. So it is not going to help anybody. It’s not going to help the batsmen or the bowlers, and on top of that, the game itself.”Prasad wholeheartedly backed the UP captain Suresh Raina, who had criticised the wicket after the penultimate day’s play. “I completely second what Raina has said as far as the pitch is concerned and this is exactly my point of view. We need to play on wickets like how the Ghaziabad pitch was. We knew that Delhi was playing with a full-strength team and they had the best of the bowlers, but still… the whole thing is about the mindset and that’s where you create a winner. That’s very important. I am extremely unhappy with the way this game has gone as far the pitch is concerned.”Prasad also expressed concern on how the batsmen’s scores on such a track could end up overshadowing others who have scored less in difficult conditions. “By scoring triple-hundreds and stuff like that, they will straightaway claim places in the India A squad, the Duleep Trophy squad, that when the actual thing is that it’s a belter of a track. That doesn’t make any sense. Unnecessarily, scores like 300 here are putting pressure on those batsmen who are scoring 100s or 120s or 150s on really challenging tracks. He is going to lose his chance, that’s the whole point. Just imagine those players who are playing on challenging tracks – whether seaming or a turning track – and gets a 150, this one is going to overshadow that. But nobody knows the exact worth of his knock.”Prasad then criticised Maharashtra’s tactics of batting 35 minutes into the third day before declaring. “I am really unhappy with the unsportiveness of the [Maharashtra] side as well. They took their own sweet time to declare. It is just too difficult for me to understand. And if that is the mindset of the players, then I am sorry to say that they are not going to go anywhere from here.”Maharashtra’s young captain, Rohit Motwani, however, defended his team’s tactics. “Looking at the wicket, we knew we had to score more runs to be on the safer side. We came to bat on the third day to frustrate the opponent for fielding three days in a row. They came back very hard at us in scoring. We had to be patient and get their openers out after they got to a flying start,” Motwani, who scored a career-best 147, said.Motwani, however, agreed that the wicket fell short of acceptable standards. “We hope to get better pitches in the upcoming home games. It is a bit disappointing to score 700-plus runs and get just one point,” he said. “This wicket is one of the flattest in India. Even after getting some early wickets [on the last day], we knew it would not be easy to get wickets at regular intervals. We would definitely want a wicket which is a seven-pointer. We would like to have a result-oriented wicket in our upcoming home matches.”

Salman Butt, the ex-Pakistan Test captain accused of being involved in spot-fixing, said on the tenth day of the trial in London that he “misjudged” his former agent Mazhar Majeed

Richard Sydenham at Southwark Crown Court18-Oct-2011Salman Butt, the ex-Pakistan Test captain accused of being involved in spot-fixing, said on the tenth day of the trial in London that he “misjudged” his former agent Mazhar Majeed, labelled corruption in cricket “terrible” and admitted to “suspicions” about Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif after the no-ball scandal was revealed.”I didn’t realise what kind of man he was,” Butt told the court on his current feelings towards Majeed, as his lawyer Ali Bajwa QC neared the close of his opening defence.”But now with the things that have come out I think I have misjudged somebody completely. I just took his word and trusted him. I knew him for a long time and never thought there would be another side to him that would be this bad.”Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif are facing charges of conspiracy to cheat, and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, following the Lord’s Test in August last year when they allegedly conspired with Majeed, teenage fast bowler Mohammad Amir and other people unknown to bowl pre-planned no-balls. Butt and Asif deny the charges.Butt admitted he was suspicious of his former team-mates honesty in the Lord’s Test when the published their expose. “The suspicion was there but I never wanted to believe it,” was as much as Butt would say.When Bajwa inquired as to Butt’s feelings on what he was accused of, he said: “I would never do that. Cricket is my passion. Look at what I am getting accused of (£2,500 of money found in his room). I’m earning every match nearly four times that. It’s a very bizarre thing.”I have always played my cricket with passion and I try to do well, to win. Players in the sub-continent know what the difference is when we do well and when we don’t do well. If we do well it’s really good and we have all the luxuries available. But if we don’t do well the reaction is not like people in the west know about. “When Bajwa prompted Butt for his thoughts about corruption in cricket generally, he replied: “It’s a terrible thing to do. It’s not very good for the game or for the country. And it speaks of the man’s character himself.”The case continues.

Namibia completed a clean-sweep over Uganda with a 44-run win in the solitary Twenty20 at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-2010
Scorecard
Namibia completed a clean-sweep over Uganda with a 44-run win in the solitary Twenty20 at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek. After Namibia opted to bat first Uganda’s bowlers once again did a decent job of restricting the home side’s batsmen before Louis Klazinga and Tobias Verwey boosted the total to 159 for 6 with an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 42 in under three overs. Klazinga then burst through Uganda’s top order to pick up four quick wickets with his fast-medium seamers, and their chase never recovered.Uganda’s bowling has been competitive more often than not on this tour, and they managed to keep Namibia’s top order in check as four of the top five made starts but were dismissed before reaching 20 after captain Craig Williams won the toss and elected to set a total. Left-arm seamer Charles Waiswa made the first incision when he had opener Ewaid Steenkamp caught behind, and Deusdedit Muhumuza then chipped away with three wickets in four overs of accurate medium pace as Namibia slipped to 58 for 4 in the ninth over.Frank Nsubuga kept a lid on the scoring rate, giving away just 13 runs in four overs of offspin and when Davis Arinaitwe had Gert Lotter caught behind Namibia were 83 for 5 and in danger of setting a sub-par total. Raymond van Schoor and Verwey built some momentum with a 34-run stand in good time before Klazinga joined Verwey and quickly launched a brutal assault at the death. Following on from his match-winning cameo in the second limited-overs match, Klazinga laid into Uganda’s bowlers to plunder 25 runs from just eight balls, with two fours and two sixes, while Verwey cracked five boundaries of his own to finish unbeaten on 33.Uganda’s chase got off to a catastrophic start as Klazinga had Roger Mukasa caught behind off the first ball of the innings. He then struck three times in six balls in his second over to rip the heart out of the visitors’ middle order and reduce them to 11 for 4. Former captain Akbar Baig and Arthur Ziraba fought back with a 52-run partnership for the fifth wicket but the required rate continued to climb and Ziraba’s dismissal to Louis van der Westhuizen’s left-arm spin for 23 effectively ended the chase.Namibia’s spinner kept chipping away at the lower order, and despite a defiant knock from Ronald Ssemanda – who cleared the boundary twice – Uganda were skittled for 115 with nine balls remaining in the innings.

Dhruv Shorey’s run-a-ball hundred in vain for Vidarbha

Shashank Kishore18-Jan-2025
In a high-scoring contest that produced over 650 runs and two superb hundreds from R Smaran and Dhruv Shorey, it was a 42-ball 79 from Abhinav Manohar that made the difference as Karnataka edged Vidarbha in a thriller to clinch the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Vadodara.That it became a thriller was down to Harsh Dubey’s 63 off 30 balls after Karun Nair’s dream run in the tournament ended. Nair was dismissed for only the second time in eight innings in the tournament when Prasidh Krishna knocked him over for 27. Nair finished with a chart-topping 779 runs at an eye-popping average of 389.50.Dubey built on Shorey’s third successive century, by hitting a 25-ball half-century lower down the order, to bring the equation down to 37 off 12 balls. In the end, Dubey ran out of partners and was the last man dismissed when he heaved left-arm seamer Abhilash Shetty to deep midwicket as Karnataka sealed victory to break a five-year trophy drought.The game was fought on an even keel for most parts. Karnataka, who were put in to bat, lost the in-form Devdutt Padikkal in the sixth over, before KV Aneesh and Mayank Agarwal steadied the innings.Seamer Nachiket Bhute then struck twice in two overs to remove both batters; Agarwal fell for 32 to finish the tournament as the second-highest run-getter with 651 runs. At 67 for 3, Karnataka needed a rescue act, and two relatively inexperienced players stepped up.Smaran and KL Shrijith, both of whom are in their first full seasons, put together 160 for the fourth wicket. The pair slowly built a platform before picking up pace. They took 26 off the 27th and 28th overs as Karnataka went on the offensive. Shrijith was superb in his footwork against spin, quickly bringing up a half-cegntury off 54 balls, Smaran followed suit in the same over when he brought his off 47 balls with an exquisite pull in front of square off the nippy Yash Thakur.Shrijith’s dismissal in the 38th over brought Manohar out to the middle, and he enhanced his reputation of being a finisher with some pristine hitting, not once giving the impression that he was slogging. On 24 off 25 at the end of the 44th over, Manohar began the surge by hitting Bhute for a sequence of 4, 4, 6 to begin the 45th.When Bhute bowled length into the pitch, Manohar used the angle to pick a boundary behind point. When Bhute bowled a wide yorker, he scythed it to the deep-cover fence, and when he missed a yorker, Manohar stayed deep inside the crease and shovelled it to clear long-off.Thakur bore the brunt of Manohar’s fury in the following over when he was picked away for two fours in the 46th, and three back-to-back fours in the 48th, as the wheels started to come off Vidarbha’s attack. The last seven overs fetched Karnataka 83 as they got the perfect finish.Vidarbha started the chase briskly but lost the centurion of the previous game, Yash Rathod, for 22 when he got a leading edge to Padikkal at slip. Nair and Shorey were then involved in a half-century stand to lift Vidarbha’s hopes.Nair was particularly sparkling in his short stay, punching and pulling Prasidh Krishna through covers and midwicket, and then going after legspinner Shreyas Gopal at the first sign of spin being introduced. But he fell for 27 off 31 balls when he failed to cover the line of a Prasidh inducker that kept slightly low.Vidarbha then chugged along with Jitesh Sharma giving Shorey company in a half-century stand before holing out to long-on. That wicket not only galvanised Karnataka but also freed up Vidarbha to go for broke, like Dubey did. With some support, he may have yet been able to pull off a heist, but it wasn’t to be.

Dawid Malan says team have “hell of a lot to play for” in remaining group games

Matt Roller31-Oct-2023England have arrived in Ahmedabad knowing that they must win at least one of their next three games – not only to restore pride but to ensure that they are spared the ignominy of missing the cut for the next global men’s 50-over event in 2025. Failing to mount a challenge for the World Cup is one thing; failing to qualify for the Champions Trophy would be quite another.The England set-up were blindsided when the ICC confirmed on Sunday that a change in the qualification process had been ratified – but not announced publicly – in November 2021. Pakistan, the hosts, will be joined by the other seven highest finishers at the World Cup, with England dead last after five defeats in six matches.There has been significant institutional change at the ECB in the two years since, with a new chief executive, chair and managing director in place. But realistically, after a seven-year era of unprecedented white-ball success since 2015, the prospect of finishing outside the top eight would not have registered with England’s management.Related

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• England in battle to secure Champions Trophy participation

• Australia talking points: Starc, middle-order tempo and allrounders

England play Australia on Saturday before fixtures against Netherlands and Pakistan on November 8 and 11 respectively, and the Netherlands game in Pune already looks like a potential qualification decider. The Dutch have a proud history against England, beating them in the 2009 and 2014 World T20s, and will be desperate to turn them over once more.It is not lost on England’s players that they need to finish this World Cup strongly – even if, with 11 out of 15 squad members aged 30-plus, many of them will not be involved in two years’ time. “People’s jobs are being scrutinised and players’ careers are being scrutinised,” Dawid Malan said on Tuesday. “We have a hell of a lot to play for in the last three.”The last thing you want – if the decision gets made to move on from players – is that we haven’t done well enough to give other players the opportunity in future to play in big tournaments. That’s what you play the game for: you want to be in the Champions Trophy and the World Cup, things like that.”Dawid Malan is England’s leading run-scorer at the World Cup•Getty Images

England are not mathematically out of the World Cup, but their players are realistic about their semi-final prospects. “It’s definitely not going to be a situation where we just go through the motions because we’re potentially out of this World Cup,” Malan said. “We have a lot at stake and a lot of pride for England to be in that Champions Trophy in two years’ time.”Malan told the BBC that, at 36, he is “pretty sure I’ll be done” as an England player before the 2025 Champions Trophy. “It feels a long way away,” he said. “Two years feels a long way away. I am playing as well as I’ve played, but whether that decision is mine or someone else’s, we’ll find out.”Criticism of England has grown with every defeat and Malan found himself playing down various perceived issues: he denied that central contracts had been a major distraction, said that it was “fair” for Eoin Morgan to lay into their underperformance, and suggested it was up to the players to take the heat off head coach Matthew Mott.Malan is England’s leading run-scorer at this tournament with 236 at 39.33, 140 of which came in their only win, against Bangladesh in Dharamshala. “I feel like I am playing well, but just finding ways of getting out,” he said. “We just can’t get anything going with the bat and get a score on the board. I can’t put my finger on it.”He also confirmed recent reports that he will not play in the County Championship for Yorkshire next year. “I’ll probably try and play as much white-ball cricket as I can for the rest of my career,” Malan said. “It’s prioritising spending a bit more time at home because my winters are so busy with internationals or franchise tournaments.”

Baker’s half-dozen makes defeat a little easier to digest

ECB Reporters Network10-Aug-2022A sensational Ben Green century when the position seemed hopeless and Sonny Baker’s career-best six-wicket haul failed to save Somerset from a third defeat in as many Royal London Cup group matches as Durham gained a thrilling nine-run victory at Taunton.Durham posted 342 all out after losing the toss, Scott Borthwick making 88 from 67 balls, including 3 sixes and 11 fours, and Graham Clark a more measured 86. Nineteen-year-old seamer Baker claimed a career-best six for 46 from 10 overs as he tried to halt the one-way traffic.Somerset plunged to 195 for eight in reply before Green – with little support – launched an incredible onslaught in the face of well-nigh impossible odds, crashing 12 sixes and 10 fours in an unforgettable inning of 157 off 84 balls.It was only enough to boost the score to 333 all out, but provided rich entertainment for a crowd of 3,000 on one of the hottest days of the year.Green said: “If only we could have found ten more runs out there. I have never struck the ball better and that’s why I went for another six in the final over. I didn’t quite connect right and the bottom line is that we have lost the game.”Earlier, Jonathan Bushnell, making his List A debut, contributed a composed 24 to a Durham opening stand of 60 in 13 overs with Clark before becoming Baker’s first victim, miscuing a catch to fine leg.Borthwick hit the first six of the match off Lewis Goldsworthy before Clark moved to a sold half-century, from 77 balls, with 6 fours.Borthwick’s fluent fifty occupied just 42 deliveries as Durham laid the foundation for a challenging score, reaching 124 for one at the halfway point of their innings.Clark cleared the ropes off Green and Goldsworthy before falling with the total on 191, bowled having a swing at Green. He had faced 101 balls and hit 2 sixes and 10 fours.Nic Maddinson kept the momentum going with 24 off 13 balls before being bowled attempting a big hit off Baker. The Somerset youngster removed Borthwick in the same over, the 36th of the innings, then pinned Sean Dixon lbw for 11.The hosts had given a debut to 19-year-old left-arm seamer Alfie Ogborne, from Yeovil, who bowled four tidy overs for 21 and ran out Paul Coughlin with a throw to the bowler’s end from deep mid-wicket to make it 260 for six.Liam Trevaskis averted any thoughts of a Durham collapse with a rapid 44, including a six and 6 fours, while Tomas Mackintosh weighed in with 28 before driving a catch to long-on to give Baker his fifth wicket.Oliver Gibson was yorked by Baker, whose previous best List A figures had been three for 46, and Durham’s innings was wrapped up by another run out in the final over.
Somerset’s reply had reached 26 in the sixth over when Steve Davies’ was caught behind for nine, chasing a wide delivery from Gibson.Matt Renshaw survived a chance to Coughlin at mid-on off Chris Rushworth, but perished in the same over for 23, driving a catch to mid-off to make it 36 for two.Playing in what may well prove the last competition of his illustrious Somerset career, James Hildreth was soon troubled by a muscle injury and made only 12 before being caught at deep cover off 18-year-old seamer Stanley McAlindon.Goldsworthy (27) and George Bartlett (34) shared a stand of 56. But they fell in quick succession, Bartlett driving Gibson in the air to mid-off and Goldsworthy caught and bowled above his head by Borthwick to make it 120 for five.Green and James Rew added 46 before the latter pulled a catch to deep square off Trevaskis. Kasey Aldridge fell leg before to Rushworth and Jack Brooks followed, but if Durham thought the job was done, Green had other ideas.Having reached a 45-ball fifty, his maiden List A hundred occupied only 14 more deliveries as he blasted four sixes in an over off Borthwick and four more off successive balls from Gibson.They were massive blows from the inspired captain, who continued to put Durham’s bowlers to the sword in a frenetic finale, dominating stands with Ogborne and Baker.Somerset needed 11 off the final over, sent down by Gibson. There was visible relief among the Durham players when the second ball saw Green well caught by Trevaskis diving forward at long-on.