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Pakistan will be wary of Bangladesh’s dominance at home, even though they lost the last five games in the T20 World Cup

Mohammad Isam18-Nov-2021

Big Picture

Bangladesh and Pakistan are two sides very much on the opposite ends of the confidence scale, with a team on a roll taking on a line-up that is in transformation after a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign. The two teams meet in a three-match T20I series starting Friday in Dhaka.The visitors will be wary of Bangladesh’s dominance at home, even though they failed to secure a win in five games in the Super 12s in the UAE.Pakistan, who were semi-finalists in the global tournament, will be looking to carry forward their form. Their batting line-up has adjusted to most conditions and has imposed themselves on several occasions. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have led the team well as openers, while the likes of Fakhar Zaman and Shoaib Malik have contributed at crucial moments. Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz are the spinning allrounders in the lower middle order, although their bowling would be more important on the slow Dhaka pitches.Related

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Shaheen Shah Afridi leads the bowling attack and his first over spectacle will be closely followed in Dhaka. Barring his last over against Australia, he had a great tournament in the UAE, picking up seven wickets in six matches. Pakistan also have extra pace from Haris Rauf, while Hasan Ali, smarting from his dropped catch in the semi-final, will be out to prove a point.Meanwhile, Bangladesh are going in with an inexperienced side. Mushfiqur Rahim, one of the most experienced cricketers in the team, has been dropped with the chief selector Minhajul Abedin insisting that he was rested for the T20I series keeping in mind Bangladesh’s scheduling for the next two months. Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das too have lost their top-order spots.They have brought in Najmul Hossain Shanto, Saif Hassan and Yasir Ali at the top. Shanto and Saif are Test regulars with decent domestic T20 records, while Yasir has been in the Test squad throughout this year. Yasir had a decent DPL season, scoring 266 runs in 12 innings. The selectors have also included legspinner Aminul Islam, pace bowler Shahidul Islam and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali, but they are considered as backup options.The real responsibility is with captain Mahmudullah, one of their experienced cricketers left in the 16-man squad. Due to the lack of experience in the squad, his role might be changed from being a finisher to middle-order anchor. Mohammad Naim will be looking to improve his approach in the powerplay, while Afif Hossain and Nurul Hasan must prove their worth after disappointing returns in the World Cup.The only thing that seems to work for the hosts is the bowling. Taskin Ahmed had a good outing in the UAE – picking up six wickets at an economy of 6.50 in six matches – challenging Mustafizur Rahman as the leader of the pack. Mahedi Hasan and Nasum Ahmed will also be crucial in Shakib Al Hasan’s absence due to a hamstring injury, particularly at home. The spin pair may hold the key for the home side.

Form guide

Bangladesh LLLLL
Pakistan LWWWW
Shadab Khan might be a major threat for Bangladesh, who have found legspin difficult to handle•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight

One of Bangladesh’s biggest problems this year has been catching. They dropped 11 catches during the T20 World Cup, having already been the team to have dropped the second most number of catches this year. It got the fielding coach fired, and training sessions now include more focus on catching. The dropped catches could, however, be linked to general unease within the team throughout this year.Shadab Khan almost got Pakistan to the T20 World Cup final with his four-wicket haul in the semi-final against Australia. He only gave away more than 30 runs in one of the six games in the tournament, an effort that has brought him out of a bad patch from the last two years. He will be a major threat for Bangladesh, who have found legspin difficult to handle.

Team news

Bangladesh may hand debuts to Saif Hassan and Yasir Ali and bring in Najmul Hossain Shanto to rejig the top order. The main concern will be finding four overs from the fifth bowler, given that they are more likely to play seven batters.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Yasir Ali, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Mahedi Hasan, 9 Nasum Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Taskin Ahmed.Pakistan have rested Asif Ali and Imad Wasim to give Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Nawaz a chance. There will be a toss-up between Mohammad Wasim Jr. and Hasan Ali for the third fast bowler’s slot.Pakistan (probable): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Haider Ali, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Khushdil Shah, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pitch and conditions

The Mirpur pitch is the most talked about aspect ahead of the first T20I. The average score batting first has been 119 this year, although it used to be 152 in the previous ten years. There’s hope it will be better for batting after a bit of groundwork was done during the last two months. Weather holds steady, with winter setting in.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh have won the last two T20Is against Pakistan at home, beating them in the one-off game in 2015 and the 2016 Asia Cup, respectively.
• Mahmudullah is 60 runs short of becoming the first Bangladeshi batter to reach 2000 runs in T20Is.
• Mohammad Rizwan’s 391 runs are the most by any batter in powerplays this year.

England face tantalising prospect of setting a tricky target if they can weather Australia’s next barrage

Andrew McGlashan10-Dec-2021The new ball never came into the equation in England’s first innings, but both teams know it shapes as a potentially crucial period on the fourth day at the Gabba after Joe Root and Dawid Malan ate significantly into Australia’s advantage.There will be 10 overs to go in the morning with England 58 behind and the tantalising prospect that if they can weather the next barrage from Australia’s three frontline quicks that they could yet set a tricky final-innings target.When Root won the toss and opted to bat he noted that the pitch was starting slightly soft and he thought it may cause indentations that could become tricky. Malan indicated that was happening – Root himself was hit by a vicious delivery from Pat Cummins that climbed from a length – although the paltry 147 and a deficit of 278 gave them a mountain to climb to exploit it.Related

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“It has hardened up a little and a few more divots,” Malan said. “There’s that big period now and then that second new ball is going to be crucial for them and hopefully we can counter that.”It has got a little more inconsistent… there’s really big divots in the wicket. It’s still coming through really nicely but it’s slightly two-paced and the odd one hits the back of a divot and bounces a bit more. It’s a little bit tougher to judge the bounce.”That first hour will be really important tomorrow then we can start thinking about how well we can play. But we need one more good hundred-run partnership to put a good score on the board, then who knows what can happen.”Dawid Malan ducks under a bouncer•Getty Images

There were eyebrows raised that Josh Hazlewood was only used for eight overs on the third day – particularly given his record against Root who he has dismissed eight times – but the indication from the Australia camp was that it was with an eye on that second new ball even though he was not used beyond the 29th over.”Hoff’s fine. We’re just making sure we’re prepared really well,” Marnus Labuschagne said. “We know that there’s some times at the Gabba where there’s not as many wickets that fall and we’ve just got to hold in that period and make sure we rotate our bowlers well so we’ve got someone fresh.”With home-ground knowledge of the Gabba, Labuschagne remained confident that Australia would be able to break the back of England.”I certainly think there’s enough in the pitch,” he said. “If they keep batting well and putting runs on then we’ll need to go to plan B,C and D but the key for us is building pressure. I’ve played a lot here at the Gabba, we know the format, we know the template to take wickets.”

Cricket Australia is toying with the idea of a hub in Melbourne to complete the BBL season as multiple clubs deal with Covid-19 infections

AAP03-Jan-2022Anxiety is running high across the BBL as multiple Covid-19 outbreaks leave a hub in Melbourne as a serious option to continue the tournament.In an unprecedented crisis for the BBL, Cricket Australia is trying to figure out how to complete the season and also keep players and staff safe. An announcement on the future of this season could be made as soon as Tuesday.Twelve Melbourne Stars players have contracted Covid-19, forcing them to call-up Victorian club cricketers just to field a team for their last two games.Stars allrounder Hilton Cartwright admitted it was tough to forget about the Covid-19 situation and prepare for Monday night’s clash with the Melbourne Renegades.The former Australia Test player had talks with the Stars’ wellbeing staff following opening batters Joe Clarke and Tom Rogers being forced out of the Melbourne derby at the MCG.Gun players such as Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa and Nathan Coulter-Nile were already in isolation due to COVID-19.”I’ve never felt more vulnerable to a virus in my entire life and I never realised how much it was going to affect my mental state,” Cartwright said.”I’ve always had form slumps and this ranks right up there with how I actually feel about going about my business day-to-day.”Myself and my wife have basically been locked up in our room, not sure if we should catch the lift in case someone in there might have caught (Covid-19).”Constantly it’s on your mind and then you’ve got to walk out there and perform one of the biggest pressure stages.”I was really battling that throughout the day but once it got to about 4pm, all I was doing was trying to focus on the game.”But I can’t see things getting worse than what it’s already been because the guys are meant to be coming out of their isolation period in the next couple of days.”Renegades quick Kane Richardson felt sorry for what the Stars have had to endure.”If we were in that position with 12 guys out, I don’t know how we would put a team out on the park, so hats off to them, but it doesn’t quite feel right,” Richardson said.”As players, we’re all a bit unsure at the moment, and we’re trying our best not to get the virus, but if we do, we don’t know what the go is.”It would just be nice to know (if the hub is going to happen), there’s obviously talk of it.”I think everyone would know that’s a good thing if it keeps the competition going.”

The quick bowler has suffered a recurrence of the injury which ended her T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2022Australia fast bowler Tayla Vlaeminck will miss her second consecutive World Cup as well as the remainder of the ongoing Ashes after suffering another stress fracture in her right foot.Vlaeminck played the opening T20I against England in Adelaide where she bowled with good pace but then reported soreness and was seen in a moonboot during the second match that was washed out on Saturday.The injury has again occurred in the navicular bone, which is the same one which ruled her out of 2020 T20 World Cup on the eve of the tournament although that fracture had completely healed, and she will now miss the ODI event in New Zealand.Australia have tried to carefully manage Vlaeminck, one of the quickest bowlers in the world, through the early stages of her career and she has been limited to 24 appearances across three formats since her debut in 2018.Related

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“She’s done a great job getting through to this point,” head coach Matthew Mott told Channel Seven. “We were always going to look to manage her through. But for it to happen so early in this Ashes campaign, it’s absolutely shattering for her and for the whole group. It was a pretty sombre dressing room last night. I spoke to the group about what it would look like for her and we all went through it before, leading into that T20 World Cup.”She knows what it’s about, she’s come back before and that’s what we’ve got to hold out hope for. We’ll put our arm around her and do everything we can to build her back up. She’s a young fast bowler and we see it in the men’s game all the time, if you’re going to run in and bowl as fast as you can it’s a dangerous activity. So we’ll do everything we can to get her back up but it’s a tough couple of days for her, definitely.”Comparisons have been drawn with the journey Pat Cummins went on after his Test debut as a teenager and the subsequent injuries which then saw him not play another Test for more than five years.”I knew Patty as a young fast bowler. It’s very similar,” Mott said. “When you’re going through those flat spots and you’re rehabbing over and over and it seems like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. To see what he’s done off six years basically out of international cricket, to come back a stronger more mature bowler it just goes to show it can be done.”That won’t give her a lot of solace at the moment. She’s going to go through some tough times over the weeks and months to come and it’s our job as an organisation to make sure that we can put enough support around her, get her back to her best and we will see the rewards in a couple of years time.”Australia team doctor Phillipa Inge said: “Tayla has sustained an acute navicular stress fracture. She had a similar injury in early 2020; this fracture completely healed and Tayla made a successful return to play to international cricket in March 2021.”Tayla reported a return in midfoot pain and subsequent images have confirmed a recurrent stress fracture of the navicular.”The Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria medical teams will work collaboratively on the immediate management over the coming days and a subsequent return to play plan.”Australia’s selectors will decide on a replacement for Vlaeminck in the coming days but, if they want a like-for-like, it could open the door for tall quick Stella Campbell who made her debut against India earlier this season. Campbell is currently part of the Australia A squad and took 7 for 25 in the WNCL at the start of January.Vlaeminck adds to a growing list of injuries for Australia as they begin an intensive period of cricket. Legspinner Georgia Wareham is out until next season due to an ACL injury while left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux is unavailable for the Ashes due to a stress fracture of her foot, but it is hoped she will recover for the World Cup.Beth Mooney has missed the start of the Ashes after suffering a fractured jaw at training although has already returned to light training following surgery last week.

Tourists reach close without loss and hoping to force pace on final day

Valkerie Baynes19-Mar-2022The Kensington Oval DJ had tried with a track that was positively thumping while the one in the middle was as flat and lifeless as a piece of blank vinyl. In the end, the man on the decks resorted to the mellow tones of Ben E King’s , as if pleading with those watching to stick around and see out the day.It was, after all, Test cricket they were watching in pure form, not jazzed up or enhanced by anything, not least the pitch that meant “attritional” was the theme of the day.The fact it was the theme for a third day running had other words springing to mind instead but took nothing away from Kraigg Brathwaite sticking around for a marathon 160 compiled over more than 11-and-a-half hours, an innings which dragged West Indies to 411 all out in response to England’s first-innings 507 for 9 declared. A deficit of 96 runs at least offered some potential for an intriguing final day.It took nothing away from Jack Leach either, as he epitomised England’s toil in the field with three wickets for 118 runs in 69.5 overs, by some distance more than twice as many overs as either Ben Stokes or Saqib Mahmood, who claimed two wickets each.By the time bad light ended play two overs before the scheduled close on day four, England had extended their advantage to 136 runs at 40 without loss in their second innings with Zak Crawley unbeaten on 21 and Alex Lees not out 18.With no real sign of the surface breaking up yet and with only 19 wickets falling across four days, it was hard to see England having time to make a competitive declaration and then bowling West Indies out, but stranger things have happened.West Indies thought they’d made something happen when Crawley was struck on the knee roll by Kemar Roach, but Crawley overturned his dismissal when ball-tracking showed the delivery was missing leg stump.Veerasammy Permaul got one to turn emphatically from the rough outside off stump to almost bowl Lees through the gate, and although it missed everything, including the gloves of keeper Joshua Da Silva for a bye, it might prove informative for the final day.Leach finally prised out Brathwaite, who had faced 489 deliveries for his knock, with a gem that belied the fact he had bowled 63.4 overs for just one wicket to that point. As satisfying as his second must have been, Leach’s celebration was understandably muted after equally long hours of hard graft culminated in Brathwaite’s dismissal, pressing forward in defence against the third new ball which pitched on middle and leg, turned and clipped the top of off stump before tea.Having claimed just one wicket in the morning session, England took 3 for 45 in 27 overs during the afternoon in what felt like an action-packed period of play compared to the previous two days.Jason Holder fell on the second ball after lunch without adding to his tally of 12 to give Mahmood his maiden Test wicket. Into his 14th over of the match when he bowled centurion Jermaine Blackwood – on 65 at the time – off a no-ball, Mahmood had to wait overnight and until his 18th over before he had Holder well caught, top-edging high towards Matt Fisher, who had to wheel round at mid-on and run back to snaffle the chance, holding on as he went to ground.Chris Woakes had been used sparingly but he struck after Brathwaite fell to remove Roach lbw, the dismissal upheld on umpire’s call when DRS showed the ball was just kissing leg stump.After the interval, with the hosts eight wickets down, Mahmood claimed his second scalp, trapping Permaul lbw, and then Leach got his third, hard-won wicket when he had Da Silva out lbw for 33 with one that rapped the pad in line with leg stump.Stokes claimed the only wicket of the morning session, removing nightwatchman Alzarri Joseph, who put on 52 runs for the fifth wicket opposite Brathwaite and faced 75 balls for his 19 runs before slashing a shorter, wider delivery towards gully, where Dan Lawrence took the sharpest of catches moving to his left.Lawrence had earlier been on the receiving end of a Joseph six – a highlight of another sedate session, powered over deep square leg – adding to his two fours, one of which came via a glorious cover drive off Lawrence.

Franchise physio Patrick Farhart to determine, after conducting fresh tests, when the quick can return to bowling competitively

Firdose Moonda and Nagraj Gollapudi26-Mar-2022Delhi Capitals’ South African quick Anrich Nortje has been cleared of “any serious injury”. Also, the stress fracture that was understood to be the reason for him being sidelined for the last six months, has been ruled out, clearing the way for him to join Capitals at the IPL.The update has come from CSA chief medical officer Shuaib Manjra, who confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Nortje would now complete his rehab during the IPL. “We did a range of Tests on Anrich and ruled out any serious injury,” Manjra said on Saturday. “We felt safe enough to have Anrich do his rehab in India and his return to play in India. We have ruled out the stress fracture of the back.”Nortje, who last played competitively at the T20 World Cup last November, was retained by the Capitals, and joined the franchise bubble in Mumbai earlier this week after Capitals physiotherapist Patrick Farhart flew to South Africa to conduct his own assessment. Farhart, an experienced and well-respected physio, is understood to have been confident about Nortje’s recovery and him being able to take part in IPL at some stage. Farhart will determine when that would be, once he has conducted fresh fitness tests on Nortje.Related

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The injury itself has intrigued CSA. Initially, it was identified as a “persistent hip injury”, which ruled him out of the home series against India in December-January. Nortje also did not travel to New Zealand for the two-match Test series, and was then ruled out of the ongoing home series against Bangladesh.On March 8, when the South Africa ODI squad for the Bangladesh series was announced, Victor Mpitsang, CSA’s chief selector, had said that it might be “difficult” for Nortje to take part in the IPL, and there was no “time frame” for his recovery. At the time, Manjra had also noted that it was “frustrating” because Nortje was facing discomfort in his loading and the medical team had “identified three different problems between back and hip and we don’t know which is primary”.Why then did CSA allow Nortje to travel to IPL, when his rehab had not concluded? And what about the risk of the injury recurring considering he has not bowled in competitive cricket for six months?Manjra allayed the fears. “Before he left SA he was beginning to bowl. We felt comfortable sending him to India,” he said.Importantly, CSA has the right to recall Nortje if they deem it necessary for his long-term fitness. However, at the moment, they have decided to join hands with Capitals and give Nortje a chance to get back to bowling normally.

Division One leaders wrap up another innings victory inside three days at the Kia Oval

ECB Reporters Network07-May-2022Surrey’s five-man pace attack blew Northamptonshire away for the second time in 24 hours at the Kia Oval, dismissing them for 202 to complete an emphatic LV= Insurance County Championship victory by an innings and five runs inside three days.Dan Worrall picked up 3 for 37, Gus Atkinson 3 for 26 and Jordan Clark 2 for 43 as Surrey, who earlier in the day had finished off the Northamptonshire first innings for 194 with Colin de Grandhomme taking 4 for 39, strengthened their position at the top of Division One with a third win from five games.This was a real show of power by Surrey, who earned 22 points, despite the absence from this match of Ollie Pope with illness and the fact Sam Curran did not bowl in either Northamptonshire innings as he continues to manage his return from a stress fracture of the back. In addition, left-arm paceman Reece Topley was rested.Worrall, though, hugely impressed on his home debut, after being signed last winter from Gloucestershire, and the 30-year-old Australian – now classed as a home player due to his British passport – claimed the vital scalp of Will Young soon after Northamptonshire had been asked to follow on.Worrall produced an absolute beauty to have New Zealand Test opener caught behind for 3 in his fourth over with the new ball, leaving the visitors on 8 for 2 after Ricardo Vasconcelos had also edged to keeper Ben Foakes off Clark in the previous over.Emilio Gay, to his enormous credit, then shrugged off a series of nasty blows to both his right and left elbows to hit a number of lovely strokes in a brave 51 and hold up Surrey’s seam battery for an hour and a half. Gay twice needed on-field treatment to his right elbow in one Clark over just before lunch and soon after his arrival at the crease. Then, on 33, he was struck on his left elbow by a de Grandhomme delivery that spat up at him.But the most painful blow came just after he had reached a 56-ball fifty with a pull off de Grandhomme, his ninth four. The next ball from the New Zealand allrounder again lifted sharply and Gay initially looked as if he could not carry on after a stoppage for yet more treatment to his right elbow.Deciding perhaps unwisely to bat on, Gay was then beaten from de Grandhomme’s next ball and also nicked Jamie Overton just short of Foakes before Atkinson found his edge again and this time it carried to the Surrey and England keeper. Atkinson’s first spell of 5-17-2 had also accounted for Luke Procter, well caught just inside the deep square leg boundary by Curran for 9 when the left-hander slightly mishit a pull at the young allrounder’s second ball.Northamptonshire’s slide continued apace following Gay’s dismissal, with Saif Zaib leg-before for 8 to a searing Overton yorker, Rob Keogh bowled off stump for 15 by another superb Worrall outswinger and Lewis McManus giving Foakes a fourth catch of the innings off Clark.Tom Taylor sparred de Grandhomme to second slip on 18, soon after tea, but Matt Kelly and Simon Kerrigan both enjoyed themselves in a ninth wicket stand of 50 before Worrall returned to have Kerrigan caught at cover for 25 and Atkinson saw Kelly swing high to deep midwicket on 33.Northamptonshire’s first innings, meanwhile, had earlier lasted just another 10.4 overs after they began day three on 154 for 8, with Procter – who had resumed on 61 – remaining 83 not out from 196 balls and fully deserving of the crowd’s warm applause following a determined lone hand. One of Procter’s last defiant blows was a memorable six off Overton that flew out of the ground over the short boundary and into the Harleyford Road.de Grandhomme picked up the remaining two Northamptonshire first innings wickets, pinning Kerrigan leg-before for 12 with a full-pitched swinging delivery and then forcing Ben Sanderson sky to mid-on when the No. 11 miscued an attempted smear.

An inexperienced CSK side chose to bat and limped to 133 despite only losing five wickets

Sreshth Shah15-May-2022At the start of the season, the talk was that they were an inexperienced team without proper squad balance. Their initial wins were put down to beginners’ luck, or plain old luck. But as the league stage of IPL 2022 has chugged along, the Gujarat Titans juggernaut has rolled on, and with their tenth win in 13 games, Hardik Pandya’s side, on Sunday afternoon, became the first team to be assured of a top-two finish.The last time they met Chennai Super Kings, Titans needed David Miller and Rashid Khan to pull off a heist to take them home from a difficult position. This time, Titans bossed an underwhelming Super Kings through the whole game. Titans did not experiment with their XI, while Super Kings gave some new faces a go, and in the end, the team in form proved too hot for MS Dhoni’s inexperienced XI.A stop-start-stop innings
They lost just five wickets, but scored only 133. Dhoni said at the toss that Super Kings would bat first so that they wouldn’t have to field in the heat, but perhaps there was an adverse effect on the batters. Ruturaj Gaikwad made 53, but took 49 deliveries, failing to pull off the big shots after an initial burst in the powerplay. When he was out in the 16th over, he looked exhausted, and in partnerships with Moeen Ali and N Jagadeesan, he often seemed to settle for ones that could have been twos in less oppressive conditions.Well before Gaikwad’s dismissal, though, came a top spell with the new ball from Mohammed Shami, who came around the stumps to Devon Conway and got a ball to hold its line, causing the attempted flick to end up as an edge to the keeper. Shami’s angle from around the stumps to left-handers has been a ploy through the IPL, and brought him four left-hander wickets and an economy rate of 6.07 as against just the one wicket and an economy rate of 9.85 from over the wicket.Moeen came in at No. 3 and hit Rashid Khan for two sixes in the sixth over, but fell for a 17-ball 21 in the ninth over after misreading the pace out of left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore’s hand.Mohammed Shami picked up 2 for 19 from his four overs•BCCI

Jagadeesan faced the best of Rashid and Alzarri Joseph in the middle overs, failing to change the innings’ gears, and after Gaikwad and Shivam Dube fell in quick succession, the Super Kings innings fizzled out.They struck no boundaries in the last five overs, and picked up just 24 runs in that period, among the worst-case scenarios for a batting side with five wickets in the bag. Rashid conceded just 14 off his last three overs, Shami collected a second wicket, and Yash Dayal came back strong after a 15-run opening over.Saha leads the way
Super Kings needed an early wicket, and Mukesh Choudhary – tied with Shami at the start of the innings for the most powerplay wickets (11) – went full to Wriddhiman Saha in search of movement. Saha began with two streaky boundaries off Choudhary, and in the next over was nearly caught out off the same bowler, but survived after Gaikwad dropped him on 21.Saha did not rein in his strokeplay after the reprieve, and soon pulled Simarjeet Singh for the first six of the innings. After five overs, Titans were 45 for no loss and Shubman Gill had only scored 7 off 7.Gill eventually fell on 18 to debutant Matheesha Pathirana’s first ball in the IPL. Pathirana, a Sri Lankan seamer with a slingy action in the mould of Lasith Malinga, fired his first ball full on the stumps, and Gill failed to flick it away.Super Kings needed another quick wicket, but that did not come as Matthew Wade settled in with Saha for a handy 31-run stand. Moeen picked off Wade in the 12th over and Hardik became Pathirana’s second IPL scalp, but with only 37 runs needed in 43 balls, the Titans remained well ahead in the contest.The perfect end for the Titans would be for Saha to carry his bat, and he did just that, knocking the ball around to reach his third fifty of the season, and then hit the winning runs off the first ball of the final over to finish with 67 off 57 balls. Miller scored a sedate 20-ball 15 to chaperone the team home from the other end.

Scott Edwards will take over Netherlands’ captaincy from him

Matt Roller19-Jun-2022Pieter Seelaar, the Netherlands allrounder who has captained the national side for the last four years, has retired from international cricket with immediate effect due to a persistent back injury.Scott Edwards, the wicketkeeper-batter who has made two half-centuries in the ongoing ODI series against England and captained the side in the second match against England, will take over as captain.Related

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“Since 2020, my back problems got worse to such an extent that – much to my regret – I am no longer able to give everything I’ve got,” Seelaar said in a statement released shortly before England completed their run chase.Roland Lefebvre, the KNCB’s high performance manager, said: “Pieter’s input has been priceless, first as a player and later also as captain. His management style is open, honest and transparent, which has always been appreciated by the players.”He can look back upon a wonderful international career which unfortunately comes to an untimely end. We wish him the very best for the future.”Seelaar was appointed captain in 2018 after Peter Borren’s retirement. His biggest achievement was leading the side to victory in the qualifying tournament for the 2021 T20 World Cup, while he has also captained against several major nations in the ODI Super League.He has struggled with a back injury in recent years which he aggravated in his side’s heavy defeat against England in Friday’s first ODI, missing Sunday’s defeat with Edwards leading the side in his absence.Seelaar finishes his career as Netherlands’ most-capped T20I player, their leading T20I wicket-taker, their second-most-capped ODI player and their joint-highest ODI wicket-taker. He has played over 300 games for them in all formats across a 17-year career, and featured in the Associate nation’s two biggest wins – both against England, at the 2009 and 2014 T20 World Cups.Eoin Morgan, England’s captain, paid tribute to Seelaar in the presentation after Sunday’s ODI. “It’s been amazing. His contribution to Dutch cricket has been outstanding,” he said. “On behalf of the England cricket team, we’d like to congratulate him on his retirement and wish him well on his next journey.”

A fourth side, from South Africa, is expected to take part in the tournament, to be held in September

Sreshth Shah23-Jul-2022An Indian team is set to go up against a Pakistan team come September, away in Namibia. Around the time the Asia Cup takes place – most likely in the UAE – Cricket Namibia will host the four-team Global T20 Namibia series, with Bengal [from India], a representative Lahore Qalandars side [from Pakistan], and a South African domestic side.Bengal have confirmed their participation, and Qalandars have agreed in principle, with a South African side likely to be named soon. ESPNcricinfo understands that some logistical niggles need ironing out before the final go-ahead.On Friday, Bengal named a 16-man team for the tournament. Abhimanyu Easwaran will be at the helm, and a number of other regulars – Shahbaz Ahmed, Ishan Porel, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Writtick Chatterjee, among others – are included, with some fresh faces too.The opportunity to play against a team that will be taking part in the 2022 T20 World Cup would be priceless for the Bengal players, Debabrata Das, Cricket Association of Bengal joint secretary, said.”The broadcasters for the tournament came before our president [Avishek Dalmiya] and invited us. We took the opportunity to play six-seven games before the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy [India’s domestic T20 tournament for men], because we can get to play against a World Cup team,” Das told ESPNcricinfo. “The ambition is that there are several young players who are playing in local cricket in Bengal and performing fantastically with respect to T20s. So we are sending mostly those young guys so that we can make our team for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.Namibia are grouped with Sri Lanka, Netherlands and UAE in the first round of the 2022 T20 World Cup•ICC via Getty

“The team we are sending abroad, this is a new team. We want to see how they play, how they tackle this tournament.”For Namibia, it will be a chance to finetune their preparations for the T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia in October-November. At the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, Namibia finished fifth in Group 2 after making it from the preliminary round to the Super 12 stage. Namibia will play an ODI tri-series in Papua New Guinea after this T20 tournament before leaving for Australia, where they are grouped with Sri Lanka, Netherlands and UAE in the first round.There has been very little representative cricket between domestic sides from India and Pakistan in recent years.The last occasion was in the 2014 Champions League T20, when Lahore Lions played against Kolkata Knight Riders, a game that featured Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Umar Akmal, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa and Suryakumar Yadav.Prior to that, between 2006 and 2008, the Nissar Trophy – a four-day first-class competition between the winners of the Ranji Trophy and the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy – was played. But the competition was scrapped after three editions.