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“Some balls hit the gloves, others scooted low at shoe-height from the same spot,” a player who was involved in the game told ESPNcricinfo

Shashank Kishore21-Dec-2022The second day of the Ranji Trophy fixture between Railways and Punjab at Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi had to be suspended after the surface was deemed “dangerous and unfit for play” by the match officials.As many as 24 wickets had fallen in a little under four sessions of play in just 103 overs; 20 of those went to the seamers. Punjab, who had taken a 12-run first-innings lead after posting 162, were tottering on 18 for 4 in their second innings when play was halted.As the first drinks interval neared on Wednesday, on-field umpires K Madanagopal and Rajeev Godara apprised match referee Youraj Singh of the situation, before both captains – Mandeep Singh (Punjab) and Karn Sharma (Railways) – were spoken to. It was eventually decided that the match would start afresh on Thursday on a new surface, adjacent to the one the game had started on. This means the Elite Group D contest has now effectively been reduced to a two-day fixture. A fresh toss will take place with teams permitted to change their XIs.”They could have repaired the surface and resumed on the third day from where the match was stopped, but the match officials decided to play on a fresh surface,” a Railways team official said. “We were in a fantastic position but will possibly lose out on a chance to win because of this decision.”ESPNcricinfo understands that the ground authorities had wanted to prepare a grassy surface, but early-winter chill and heavy dew had hampered preparations in the lead-up to the game.”The pitch was uneven. Some balls hit the gloves, others scooted low at shoe-height from the same spot,” a player told ESPNcricinfo. “It was a green wicket but the match officials decided it was too uneven and inconsistent for play to continue.”The truncated nature of the contest left both Railways and Punjab with the prospect of going two rounds without an outright result, something that didn’t look like a possibility when play started on Wednesday. Punjab were denied by bad light and had to settle for first-innings honours against Chandigarh in the opening round, while Railways were handed a 194-run loss by Vidarbha despite Karn’s career-best 8 for 38.Surfaces at the Karnail Singh Stadium have come under the scanner in the past too. In 2011, BCCI’s technical committee had put the venue on a watchlist for producing poor pitches.In 2012, it was barred from hosting matches for two years, after the committee had found the local curators to have deliberately left the surface underprepared to help Railways try and force outright results in a bid to progress further in the Ranji Trophy. At the time, Railways had temporarily shifted their home base to Bhubaneswar, before their original home venue was reinstated in 2014.

Brisbane Heat will also be missing Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Renshaw for the Challenger final at the SCG

Tristan Lavalette31-Jan-2023Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers have been left pondering the sizeable batting holes of their departed Test players ahead of Thursday’s clash at the SCG with a grand final spot up for grabs.Heat captain Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Renshaw, along with Sixers opener Steven Smith, will be unavailable for the ‘Challenger’ final due to being part of Australia’s Test tour of India.The Heat trio sparked a resurgence with the team winning six of their last seven matches after being mired for much of the season near the bottom of the ladder.They each made important contributions in finals victories on the road against Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Renegades to have Heat positioned for an unlikely tilt at a second BBL title.Related

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But without three of their top four, Heat’s batting depth will be tested as they recalled Nathan McSweeney, Max Bryant and Sam Heazlett to curb an expected fired-up Sixers attack, who were clobbered by Scorchers batters Ashton Turner and Cameron Bancroft in the qualifying final.McSweeney has only played three matches this season, but notably smashed 84 off 51 balls against Sixers in Heat’s 15-run victory at the Gabba in a high-scoring contest on January 1.Once part of a devastating opening partnership with Chris Lynn, big-hitter Bryant failed to fire from seven matches this season and averaged just 15.71.The 27-year-old Heazlett has not played this season, but the bright finals lights shouldn’t faze him having mustered 48 BBL matches over the past seven seasons.”We have lost some of our Australian players but the guys we are bringing in have played the format before so I don’t have a problem with it,” said Heat coach Wade Seccombe. “They have performed when they came in.”Sixers don’t have as many holes to fill, but nonetheless need to replace Smith, who lit up the BBL with ballistic batting marked by consecutive centuries.Nathan McSweeney will return to Brisbane Heat’s line-up•Getty Images

“We’ve played 10 games without Steve and had a few wins along the way so we’re familiar with this group,” said veteran batter Jordan Silk, who re-signed with Sixers on a three-year deal.Sixers appear to have a ready made replacement in stalwart Daniel Hughes, who has been a reliable batter for Sixers over the years but restricted to just three matches this season.”[Hughes] has trained well, he’s been great around the group all year. He’s probably one of the more unlucky players in the competition to not be playing,” Silk said. “He’s been a reliable performer at the Sixers for a number of years.”There are other options with Kurtis Patterson, who starred as an opener during Perth Scorchers’ title-winning run last season, possibly being considered to move up the order having batted at No. 3 since Smith’s return.While allrounder Hayden Kerr could rekindle his elevation from last season’s corresponding match, where he memorably hit an unbeaten 98 as an opener to lift Sixers past Adelaide Strikers in a last-ball thriller.”[Kerr] is a vital piece for us down in that middle to lower order,” Silk said. “Whether we’d see his value at the top in a game like this, I’m not sure what’ll happen there. He’s almost been probably too good at the role he’s played at six to warrant moving him.”As they eye a seventh grand final appearance, Silk said Sixers would target Heat’s new-look batting line-up.”They have some big holes from a batting sense,” Silk said. “Looking back to the game at the Gabba, where they were without those [Test] batters, [Josh] Brown and McSweeney stepped up. Queensland produce very good cricketers. We will do our research so we can stop them.”The winner plays Perth Scorchers on Saturday at Optus Stadium with a crowd of more than 50,000 expected.

Rangpur Riders inflicted three timely run-outs and then batted well to beat Dhaka Dynamites by six wickets

The Report by Mohammad Isam06-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Jahurul Islam steered Rangpur Riders’ chase of 136•Associated Press

Rangpur Riders inflicted three timely run-outs and then batted well to beat Dhaka Dynamites by six wickets. The win meant that Rangpur, Comilla Victorians and Barisal Bulls now have 10 points each on the table, while Dhaka are in fourth place with six points, and still need to strengthen their lead over Chittagong Vikings and Sylhet Super Stars, who have four points each.The fielding was the main difference between the two sides. Dhaka misfielded several times, especially Sohail Khan at the boundary, while Rangpur made sure that their bowling wasn’t going to be the only thing attacking Dhaka as they limited the side to 135 for 7. Jahurul Islam was in charge of the chase for most of the time, ending with an unbeaten 35 off 26 balls with four boundaries.When Rangpur’s chase began, however, there were plenty of plays and misses from the Rangpur openers – Soumya Sarkar and Lendl Simmons – in the first six overs. Soumya hit just the two fours and a magnificent pull off Sohail Khan in the fifth over but in the following over, Abul Hasan had him caught at mid-off as he attempted to bunt the medium-pacer. Simmons was caught at point off the same bowler, after making only 18. Rangpur’s chase received a further jolt when, in the 12th over, Mustafizur Rahman duped Shakib Al Hasan to give a catch to mid-on to make the score 74 for 3.Sammy had a terrible time at the start of his innings, missing deliveries against Mustafizur and Abul, but just as things were getting tougher for Rangpur, Shykat Ali was given a third over with 54 needed off 42 balls. Sammy struck two fours and Jahurul got one past the wicketkeeper to take 16 runs off the over. In the next over, the pair combined to hit Sohail Khan for three fours in a 15-run over. The target came down to 23 off 30 balls.Mohammad Irfan had Sammy drag one on to the stumps after making a 21-ball 23, with 17 needed off the last 24 balls. Jahurul kept his cool and, with Thisara Perera, made sure the win was achieved with 10 balls to spare.When Dhaka decided to bat, the 45-run, fourth-wicket partnership between Nasir Hossain and Kumar Sangakkara was the best part of their batting. That partnership helped the side overcome a sluggish start after they had slipped to 39 for 3 in the seventh over. Shadman Islam was the first to go, run out by Soumya Sarkar’s direct hit in the fourth over. Shamsur Rahman was struck in front against Shakib, before Shykat, impressive while hitting the two fours and the six, holed out at long-off for 18.Sangakkara and Nasir worked on picking the singles and twos, and occasionally found the boundary; the stand-out shot was Sangakkara’s inside-out six over cover off Mohammad Nabi in the 11th over. The partnership had the potential to push the total past the 150-mark, especially after Arafat Sunny dropped Sangakkara on 29 but, off the very next ball, Shakib’s direct hit from short midwicket found the batsman inches short of the crease.Nasir made a 28-ball 30 and, after Sangakkara’s dismissal, tried to push the run-rate. He even struck a six off Sunny but was gone next ball after the bowler turned it and beat Nasir’s charge. Ryan ten Doeschate swept one straight down deep square-leg’s throat in the 18th over before Mosaddek Hossain was run out trying to run a bye after Thisara Perera bowled a wide at the end of the penultimate over.Apart from Sunny’s two-wicket haul and the three run-outs, Sammy and Shakib had one wicket each.

“We’re trying to get closer as a unit, trying to develop something here that could be special eventually”

Deivarayan Muthu23-Jul-2022West Indies came to within touching distance of hunting down what could’ve been the highest successful ODI chase at the Queen’s Park Oval, but with the hosts needing five off the last ball, Mohammed Siraj nailed his yorker and kept them to just a bye. However, West Indies’ fighting effort roused the Port of Spain crowd and captain Nicholas Pooran so much that he felt that the result was “like a win” for his side, especially after their crushing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bangladesh at the Providence earlier this month.”It definitely feels like a win for us,” Pooran told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “Bitter-sweet [one], but yes we keep speaking about batting 50 overs and today we batted 50 overs and made 300-plus. It is difficult to lose but we will take this one.Related

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“Obviously, as a group we are rebuilding and trying to figure out ODI cricket and coming up against the top teams in the world. Today, we did justice to our talent and yeah and just looking forward to the other games. Hopefully, we can go from strength to strength.”After Pooran sent India in, Shubman Gill and stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan ran away to a rapid start, but West Indies’ bowlers varied their pace and lengths on a pitch that slowed down, limiting the visitors to 308 for 7. All up, India managed only 83 for 5 in their last 15 overs as Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales regularly took pace off and bowled into the pitch.The two left-arm fingerspinners Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie did their bit in the middle overs, returning combined figures of 20-0-105-3. They could’ve added another wicket to the tally had Motie not dropped Deepak Hooda in the outfield off Hosein in the 39th over.West Indies’ electric fielding, headlined by Pooran’s direct hit from midwicket to run out Gill for 64 off 35 balls, was also vital to them reining India in.”Yeah, definitely I must give credit to the bowlers,” Pooran said. “Obviously, we didn’t get to the best start in these conditions. We understand it was [a] really good batting track, but we did speak at the second water break and said we want to restrict them to 315 and actually to get them to less was commendable.”[Gudakesh] Motie, Akeal [Hosein] and Alzarri [Joseph] – everyone came and executed their skills today. Really proud of the effort today after coming from the Bangladesh series. We spoke about [ticking] different boxes. We ticked three boxes actually: fielding, batting 50 overs and executing at the death.”A target of 309 looked beyond West Indies’ reach at various points, but fifties from a fit-again Kyle Mayers (75) and Brandon King (54) and cameos from Pooran (25), Hosein (32*) and Romario Shepherd (39*) enabled them to drag the chase down to the last ball. Although West Indies just fell short in the end, Pooran insisted that West Indies always had the belief that they could overhaul the target.”Yes definitely [had the belief], we need to believe in each other and not only in ourselves,” Pooran said. “We’re trying to get closer as a unit, trying to develop something here that could be special eventually. And I keep telling everyone that this is our story and this is our journey and it’s going to have a lot of challenges. But I’m just happy that we’re going forward in the right direction.”When legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal got rid of King and Rovman Powell with wide, loopy legbreaks, India might have felt like they had all but wrapped up the game. However, Hosein, who was primarily a middle-order batter than a bowler during his Under-19 days, and Shepherd, who was only drafted into the squad after Jason Holder tested positive for Covid-19, sprung a surprise on India, with an unbroken 53-run stand for the seventh wicket off 33 balls.”Yes, there were some nerves,” Dhawan said at the post-match presentation. “Yes, we were in quite a good position and nobody expected that the game will turn that way and the [West Indies] batsmen played really well. We kept our cool and we knew what to do and [made] one little change when we put a fine leg back after two-three boundaries went [through that region. We were happy about that.”

With an in-form batting line-up and a varied bowling attack, Afghanistan hold the aces against Zimbabwe in the knockout clash in Nagpur

The Preview by Firdose Moonda11-Mar-2016

Match facts

Saturday, March 12, 2016
Start time 1500 local (0930GMT)

Big Picture

A week hasn’t even passed yet in the World Twenty20, but a final is already in the offing. Well, a final of sorts.Zimbabwe and Afghanistan face each other in a shootout for a place in the main draw, after two wins each. The Full Member, though, isn’t the favourite. Afghanistan are ranked ninth, two places above Zimbabwe, and hold the advantage. Zimbabwe have never beaten Afghanistan in T20 internationals in four attempts. Zimbabwe’s performance has been sloppy this tournament, but they scrambled to wins over Hong Kong and Scotland. Afghanistan’s wins, on the other hand, have been more emphatic.Afghanistan have hit rhythm with a batting line-up in which everybody has contributed, supporting a largely varied attack. Zimbabwe are still searching for theirs. Their most in-form batsman, captain Hamilton Masakadza, has been run-out in both matches and the top order hasn’t provided bright starts for the middle order to build on. Zimbabwe’s bowling is their stronger suit, but they tend to let things drift. Zimbabwe need to step up in all departments if they are to put it across Afghanistan. Neutral fans are likely to back Afghanistan, the darlings of global events in recent years, and a side with the potential to topple Full Members.

Form guide

(last five completed games most recent first)

ZimbabweWWWWL
Afghanistan WWWWL

In the spotlight

Afghanistan’s top three have been aggressive upfront with scores 68 for 0 and 79 for 1 in the first ten overs of their previous two matches, but they will face their biggest challenge in Zimbabwe’s seamers who have the craft to tie down the batsmen in the opening passages. In their two matches, Zimbabwe had reduced the opposition to 48 for 2 and 61 for 5 at the halfway stage. Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran and Asghar Stanikzai will have to be wary of the threat posed by the seamers as well as left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza.

Team news

Zimbabwe have stuck to the same XI for both matches, but they may consider strengthening their batting by adding either wicketkeeper-batsman Peter Moor or allrounder Chamu Chibhabha in the middle order. They may have to leave out Malcolm Waller to do that. Vusi Sibanda, who needed four stitches on his chin, and did not take the field in the chase, after colliding with Hamilton while attempting a quick single on Thursday, has been passed fit to play.Zimbabwe: (probable) 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 4 Sean Williams, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Peter Moor/Chamu Chibhabha/Malcolm Waller, 7 Elton Chigumbura, 8 Donald Tiripano, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Tinashe Panyangara, 11 Tendai ChataraHamid Hassan replaced Amir Hamza in the Afghanistan XI that beat Hong Kong but the side may be tempted to recall the left-arm spinner on these sluggish tracks.Afghanistan: (probable) 1 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2 Noor Ali Zadran, 3 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 4 Mohammad Nabi,5 Gulbaddin Naib, 6 Shafiqullah, 7 Dawlat Zadran, 8 Najibullah Zadran, 9 Samiullah Shemwari, 10 Rashid Khan, 11 Hamid Hassan/Amir Hamza

Pitch and conditions

The Nagpur surface seemed to slow down from Tuesday to Thursday. So if the trend continues, run-scoring will be more difficult on Saturday, although Afghanistan’s batting line-up is in form. Of more interest will be the crowd. Tuesday’s opener had taken place in front of a sparse crowd (182 approximately) and things went bad on Thursday, when some fans were locked out of the stadium because of a ticketing fiasco. Since this is the first match on a weekend, the turnout may increase. Saturday will also be a furnace in Nagpur with temperatures set to hit 40 degrees.

Stats and trivia

• Afghanistan have won 16 of their last 20 T20 matches, dating back to March 2014, including four victories over Zimbabwe.
• Zimbabwe have never beaten Afghanistan in a T20 and have lost eight of the 14 ODIs they have played against them.

Quotes

“They just want to make a mark in world cricket and prove people wrong, and [prove] that they are good enough to play at this level. They have done everything right; they have played aggressively in this format to give themselves the best chance. More often than not, when you are aggressive in this format, you will come up trumps. Not many expected Afghanistan to [beat us] – they are forever underdogs and you are different when you are an underdog.”

It came down to five needed from 2 balls when Maitlan Brown became the hero

AAP13-Oct-2022Ellyse Perry made an early statement in her bid to win back an Australian Twenty20 spot, starring with bat and ball in Sydney Sixers’ tournament-opening WBBL win over Brisbane.Chasing the Heat’s 8 for 141 for victory, Perry hit 55 from 48 balls to help Sixers claimed a thrilling victory with one ball and four wickets to spare in Mackay on Thursday night when Maitlan Brown struck her first delivery for six with five runs needed.It came after Perry had taken 2 for 27 from her four overs with the ball, appearing to bowl with more control than in previous summers on return from a back injury.Related

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Perry has not played a T20 international for Australia since last October, having missed out on selection in the shortest format during last summer’s Ashes and the Commonwealth Games.However the retirement of Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning’s personal leave have opened the door for a possible return, with several players vying for the top-order spots. And Perry laid the first marker.With her scoring rate previously the issue in T20 cricket, Perry struck seven fours in her innings against the Heat and made a point to go after the ball just as she did in the recent Hundred competition.Perry at one point crunched a lovely cover drive for four off Courtney Sippel, before playing her signature cut shot the next ball to find the rope behind point. She brought up her 50 off 42 balls when she pulled Nicola Hancock for 4, before being caught trying to sweep Jess Jonassen.Perry shared a 93-run fourth-wicket stand with Erin Burns, who notched up 50 from 37 balls. Sixers stalled when the pair both fell, before Maitlan Brown saved the Sixers’ night with a first-ball six off Georgia Voll when Sydney required five off the final two balls.”I don’t know what I was thinking,” Brown said. “I was coming down the pitch before she even released it…and it paid off.”Earlier, fellow national team candidate Georgia Redmayne impressed at the top of the order for the Heat.The left-hander got off the mark with a glorious drive from Lauren Cheatle, and worked her way to 49 before hitting Cheatle straight to backward-square leg.Redmayne also backed it up with the gloves, taking a smart stumping standing up to the wickets to quick Jess Kerr to remove Ash Gardner when she overbalanced on 2.Teenage star Voll hit 32 for the Heat, before Brown dented Heat’s late charge with figures of 3 for 20 with the ball.

Chris Read became the first wicketkeeper since Jack Russell in 1997 to reach the landmark of 1,000 first class dismissals as Notts turned ther tables on Durham with a sterling victory

ECB/PA11-Sep-2015
ScorecardChris Read keeps wicket against Durham earlier this month•Getty Images

Chris Read reached an historic milestone on a day of high emotion at Trent Bridge as Nottinghamshire pulled off an astonishing 52-run victory over Durham.The 37-year old became the first wicketkeeper since Jack Russell in 1997 to reach the landmark of 1,000 first class dismissals and his big moment came during a passage of play where Durham threw away their overall dominance in a contest that they had bossed since winning the toss.Set to score 215 to win, thanks to a feisty hundred from Samit Patel, Durham had been well set at 57 for 1 before losing four wickets within the space of just 5.4 overs. One of those to depart was Paul Collingwood, who nicked through to the Nottinghamshire glove man to herald scenes of great jubilation, both on and off the field.”It was an absolutely extraordinary day’s cricket,” Read said. “When I woke up this morning I didn’t think I’d be stood here tonight celebrating a victory. I’d like to think we could havebatted really well in our second innings but in my wildest dreams to see us bowl as well as we have done and get the win is absolutely phenomenal.”It was a big wicket, wasn’t it? Given that Collingwood was the captain and given the run that we were on at the time, it was a big wicket, so I did chuck it a little higher than normal and the reaction of my team-mates was brilliant. They all came and gave me a big hug, which was nice.”Russell urged him to take some more. “”I’d just like to congratulate him on all that he’s achieved and urge him to keep going for as long as he can,” he said.Brett Hutton was the main thorn in the side of the Durham batsmen, completing his second five-wicket haul within the space of 24 hours, in taking five for 29, so completing match figures of 10 for 106.Earlier, after beginning the day 30 runs adrift, Patel and Riki Wessels gave the hosts a life-line with a fifth wicket stand of 153, before Wessels fell just before lunch for 85.Ryan Pringle chipped away at the Nottinghamshire middle order, on his way to figures of three for 93 but Patel held firm, reaching his second century of the summer from 154 balls, having hit 12 fours and a six.His enthusiastic celebrations were understandable but short-lived as he proceeded to help Rushworth’s next delivery into the hands of Onions at long leg.Brett Hutton and Luke Wood, who followed his unbeaten first innings score of 65, with another 35, added a valuable 53 for the eighth wicket to stretch the lead beyond 200.Jack Burnham was bowled for a golden duck in the opening over of the chase, shouldering arms to Jake Ball.
Harry Gurney removed Scott Borthwick and Michael Stoneman in his opening over to arrest Durham’s charge towards the finishing line and Hutton backed him with the wickets of Michael Richardson, Collingwood and Pringle.Ball returned to the attack to remove Jamie Harrison and Gordon Muchall, sufficient wounds for the umpires to accede to Read’s request for an extra half hour. Hutton quickly polished things off, with the scalps of Rushworh and Onions.The victory was Nottinghamshire’s fourth in a row, the first time they have achieved that since 2010. Conversely, this was the seventh match that Durham have gone without a Championship win, six of those games having finished in a defeat.

Majestic 2022 continues for Bangladesh as bowling effort sets up comfortable chase for batting unit

Mohammad Isam23-Mar-2022Bangladesh raced to their maiden ODI series win in South Africa, sealing it 2-1 when they beat the home side by nine wickets on Wednesday. The match ended before sunset in Centurion with Taskin Ahmed’s first five-wicket haul in eight years overpowering South Africa and bowling them out for 154. Captain Tamim Iqbal’s unbeaten 87 then ensured Bangladesh’s biggest overseas win in terms of balls remaining. For the record, it was 141.Before this tour, South Africa had never lost to Bangladesh at home in 20 years. They would rue a lot of their decisions in this game, particularly Temba Bavuma choosing to bat on a SuperSport Park pitch that seemed to be quite tacky. They got off to a strong start, but several of their batters were guilty of looking for boundaries and boundaries alone, which led them into making a considerable amount of mistakes.Still, very few would have expected Bangladesh to bowl out South Africa in their backyard in 37 overs in such an important game. The score of 154 is their lowest total against Bangladesh. The 2-1 series loss also dents South Africa’s progress towards automatic qualification to the 2023 World Cup, given they are down in ninth place on the ODI Super League points table.Bangladesh played like the table-toppers they are. They rode on Taskin’s 5 for 35 to put on their strongest bowling performance against a higher-ranked side in overseas conditions. Mehidy Hasan Miraz set them on their way with Quinton de Kock’s wicket in the seventh over at a time when South Africa was motoring along at seven runs an over.de Kock’s wicket sucked the life out of the home side and Taskin used the opening to get the big wickets. He quickly removed Kyle Verreynne, who made a fifty in the second game. Malan, who eventually top scored with 39, also fell to Taskin’s clever thinking. Seeing Malan advance down the wicket, Taskin bowled a quicker, shorter delivery that Malan could only edge. Mushfiqur Rahim took a smart catch moving to his right.South Africa slid further during Taskin’s third spell with Dwaine Pretorius nicking a wide one and danger man David Miller trapped down the leg side. Both wickets came as a result of a string of dot balls that frustrated the batters into playing low-percentage shots.Kagiso Rabada was Taskin’s fifth wicket but the moment was soured slightly when Mushfiqur, who took the edge, sprained his shoulder by throwing the ball up in celebration. The Bangladesh wicketkeeper had to leave the field but he returned not too long after, sporting a rather sheepish smile. South Africa’s innings ended in shambles when Keshav Maharaj, who made a fighting 28, was run after No. 11 Tabraiz Shamsi refused a single off the last ball of the 37th over.If there was any unease about the SuperSport Park pitch, it evaporated as soon as Tamim and Litton Das started to play their shots. Litton though got an early break. He wasn’t even off the mark when Maharaj dropped him at point.The Bangladesh openers batted conservatively for the first seven overs before Tamim struck a pair of boundaries off Lungi Ngidi. When he struck Rabada for four consecutive fours in the tenth over, the fear that Bangladesh might mess up the chase, especially on March 23 (cue the eye-rolling emoji), just vanished.A streaky boundary in the 18th over brought up the 100-run opening stand – Bangladesh’s seventh in an overseas ODI, and the second one against South Africa. Maharaj finally broke the partnership when Litton popped one to cover in the 21st over. Litton’s 48 included eight boundaries, mostly hit through square on the off side. He allowed Tamim to do the bulk of the scoring in their 127-run stand.Tamim, who hadn’t scored an ODI fifty since his century against Zimbabwe in July last year, batted with intent. He cracked 14 fours in his 82-ball 87, and was particularly severe on South Africa’s quicks. He was relentless against Maharaj and Shamsi too. Tamim’s knock embodied Bangladesh’s mindset before and during this ODI series.

Tony de Zorzi has been named captain of the South Africa team that will look to defend its crown at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in January-February 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2015Tony de Zorzi has been named captain of the South Africa team that will look to defend its crown at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in January-February 2016.The announcement was made during the gala dinner organised by Cricket South Africa in Port Elizabeth. “Well done to all the players selected into the U-19 World Cup squad. This is a formative start to what can turn out to be a memorable tournament as defending champions and ultimately a career as a professional cricketer.” Haroon Lorgat, CSA’s chief executive, said.”It is worth recalling that Kagiso Rabada was the bowling spearhead of our previous campaign and we all know the impressive strides he has made since then to represent the Proteas with distinction. The opportunity is there for you all to begin to live your dreams and to travel in the knowledge that you not only have the CSA Family right behind you but indeed the entire nation.”Lawrence Mahatlane, the former assistant coach of Lions who took over the coaching duties of the Under-19 national team from Ray Jennings last year, was confident that he had the right squad to defend their title.”It has been a very exciting process,” he said. “We have a lot of players that we have tried out and given a lot of international exposure to. I think the fact that majority of the team has been to Bangladesh already can only serve us in good stead. It’s been tough at times, there are a few young men who will be very disappointed that they will not be going to the World Cup, but I believe that we have picked a really good side, a very well-balanced side that will represent our country well.”The squad will assemble in Stellenbosch for a four-day preparatory tournament from January 4, before flying out to Bangladesh later in the month. South Africa are grouped alongside Bangladesh, Scotland and Namibia, and will open their campaign against the hosts in Chittagong on January 27.Squad: Tony de Zorzi (capt), Ziyaad Abrahams, Dean Foxcroft, Dayyaan Galiem, Willie Ludick, Wandile Makwethu, Conner McKerr, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Wiaan Mulder, Luke Philander, Farhaan Sayanvala, Lutho Sipamla, Liam Smith, Kyle Verreynne and Sean Whitehead.

Patience may be a key virtue for Australia’s Test batsmen in Sri Lanka, according to Joe Burns, who hit 72 in the ongoing practice match at the P Sara Oval

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Jul-2016Patience may be a key virtue for Australia’s Test batsmen in Sri Lanka, according to Joe Burns, who hit 72 in the ongoing practice match at the P Sara Oval. Burns’ half-century was one of three in Australia’s solid 431 for 9. The visitors scored at 3.53 runs an over against a modest Sri Lankan XI attack, but Burns suggested Australia should become accustomed to a slow run rate, given the nature of the surfaces they are likely to encounter on tour.”We’ve talked as a batting group about needing to be patient for long periods on the subcontinent,” Burns said. “If they bowl good areas, it’s tough work and slow going. You have to be committed to trying to bat all day. I guess that’s one disappointing thing to come out of the day – all our batsmen spent some time at the crease but no one went on to get a big score.”When bowlers are bowling straight, with straight fields, you hit the fielders a lot. You go long periods where you’re not scoring quickly, and then you might get a few boundaries away in a cluster. That’s generally how scoring goes on low, slow wickets with reverse swing and spin bowling. You just have to ride the waves and wait for the sets to come in.”Burns was tested by both seam and spin during his stay. He and Shaun Marsh made a quick start against the new ball in the third session of the first day, but were more measured as the innings wore on – particularly to left-arm seamer Vimukthi Perera and the spin bowlers. Burns was eventually dismissed by Perera, who angled a ball in through his defences early on day two.”You just have to be prepared to buckle in and try and go with the conditions,” Burns said. “There’s nothing too much you can do about it as a batter. As a batting group we’re prepared for those long battles. Hopefully we can bat for extended periods of time going into the Test series.”The Australian batsmen largely scored their runs square of the pitch with a few venturing slog sweeps to push the spinners off their lengths. Burns suggested this could be a trend through the Test series.”I guess here – with the lower, slower wickets – you hit more balls than perhaps you would in Australia, especially because bowlers bowl straighter as well. I guess you want to be hitting straight, but that seems to be where the fielders are. Generally you probably pick up your runs quite square, even though you’re trying to hit straight. There are also periods when it’s reversing quite a lot, and then it will die down.”The Australians are 202 runs ahead with one wicket in hand, at stumps on day two of the three-day encounter.