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Gets to the landmark in the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Khettarama

Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Aug-2024Ranjan Madugalle has become the first match referee to officiate 400 ODIs, with his taking charge of the third ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Khettarama.Madugalle has been a match referee since 1993 and in that time has also officiated more than 200 Tests, also a record. He had, in addition, served as the ICC’s chief match referee until that position was removed.Simon Taufel, former elite-panel umpire and the former umpires performance and training manager for the ICC, paid tribute to Madugalle.”Ranjan’s longevity is remarkable,” Taufel said. “He was there at the beginning of my international umpiring career and the end. He has served Sri Lanka, the ICC and game of cricket with distinction and integrity. This milestone highlights his commitment and dedication to the sport he loves.”Madugalle, in a statement put out by the ICC, said getting to this landmark was “dreamlike”. “It has been a great honour and privilege to have officiated in international cricket for so many years and it’s almost dreamlike to be reaching this milestone.”I was pleased when I got the opportunity to be associated with the game after my time as a cricketer but never thought that it would stretch to over three decades!”During this period, I have had the chance to officiate all over the world and in several World Cups, relishing every moment.”I would like to take this opportunity to thank the ICC, Sri Lanka Cricket and my colleagues with whom I have worked over the years for their support and friendship, as well as my family and friends, without whose support it would not have been possible to have come this far.”Before turning his attentions towards officiating games, Madugalle had played 21 Tests and 63 ODIs for Sri Lanka as a batter.

The visitors put in a woeful batting effort at Adelaide Oval as Australia secured the T20I series 3-0 to leave a whitewash on the cards

Valkerie Baynes25-Jan-2025Beth Mooney stood a class above with the bat before Australia’s bowlers ground a hapless England line-up further into the dust with a thumping 72-run win in the third and final T20I for a 12-0 lead in the Women’s Ashes.Mooney’s unbeaten 94 carried Australia to 162 for 5 on a slow Adelaide Oval pitch where Australia’s second-best score was fellow opener Georgia Voll’s 23. Then the home side’s bowlers, led by legspinner Georgia Wareham’s career-best 3 for 11, demolished the tourists for 90 inside 18 overs, their second-lowest total in T20Is with only two England batters reaching double figures.Related

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Yet again, England were complicit in their undoing with a host of poor shots punished by a merciless Australian fielding outfit before a crowd of 10,291. The result brought the possibility of a 16-0 series sweep tantalisingly close for the home side heading into next week’s day-night Test at the MCG.England made four changes looking to get some points on the board, albeit belatedly and with the Ashes already lost. Maia Bouchier made way for Alice Capsey and an unwell Lauren Bell was replaced by fellow quick Lauren Filer while legspinner Sarah Glenn was replaced by left-arm spinner Linsey Smith. And while the spinners did well to contain Australia – Mooney’s performance aside – defending a modest total proved far too easy for a side which has completely dominated their opposition all series.

England spinners keep Australia honest

After a bright enough start from openers Voll and Mooney, who had struck three boundaries off Freya Kemp in the second over of the match, England’s spinners kept a lid on the Australians, who became mired in a rare 33-ball stretch without a boundary. Capsey entered the attack in the eighth over and struck with her fifth ball as Voll holed out to Danni Wyatt-Hodge at deep midwicket.Then Mooney unleashed two boundaries in four deliveries from Filer to break the shackles. Phoebe Litchfield followed up with four down the ground off the first ball of the next over, from Capsey, and when Litchfield top-edged a reverse sweep over wicketkeeper Amy Jones’ head, it dropped dead between her and two other fielders. Then Litchfield was bowled attempting to sweep one that stayed straight and low from Sophie Ecclestone and Australia were 83 for 2.Georgia Voll took a superb catch to remove Sophie Ecclestone•Getty Images

Mooney magic

Ecclestone hoped she had Mooney lbw two balls later, only for the DRS to show the ball had pitched just outside leg stump. Mooney raised her fifty in 41 balls and from there loosened up, turning a Capsey full toss through fine leg then clearing point for two fours in three deliveries.When Ellyse Perry chipped Charlie Dean straight to cover, Grace Harris entered and thumped Ecclestone down the ground for the first six of the match. Two balls later, Mooney drilled a four through square leg. Wickets fell around her late, but Mooney kept adding to her tally. She ran brilliantly between the wickets in the final over with Tahlia McGrath, Mooney twice having to stretch to make her ground coming back for a second run and, despite an England review for lbw on the final ball, she kept her innings intact.It was the third time Mooney had reached fifty in her last four innings this Ashes and left her with 303 runs across both white-ball legs of the series, well clear of the next best, Heather Knight, on 172.

Everywhere England look

Australia’s stand-in wicketkeeper for most of the summer due to Alyssa Healy’s injury woes, Mooney took an excellent catch off Capsey’s faint edge, so faint it took a review to secure the wicket, the second to fall in as many overs after Darcie Brown – who came into the side for Kim Garth – had struck with her first ball to remove Dunkley, skying the ball to cover. Now England were 12 for 2, and Annabel Sutherland made it 23 for 3 inside three overs with a beauty that pinged the top of Sciver-Brunt’s off stump.Everywhere England looked, there was an Australian there to make life difficult, as has been the case all tour, and it was Wareham next with two wickets in three balls in the seventh over to send them lurching to 39 for 5 with Wyatt-Hodge holing out to long-off and Amy Jones pinned on the pad attempting a scoop.Freya Kemp gifted her wicket to mid-off for Brown’s second and Wareham claimed her third when Charlie Dean’s top-edge sailed to Alana King at square leg. The only blemish for Australia in the field came when Wareham put down a sitter at deep midwicket off Ecclestone, on 1 at the time.But then Voll took an excellent diving catch to remove Ecclestone and more clinical fielding from Perry to Mooney ran out Smith. Mooney stayed in the action to the last, whipping off the bails as Knight advanced to Tahlia McGrath, her score of 40 England’s best on a sorry looking scorecard.

Also backs the retired Imad Wasim to make Pakistan comeback ahead of T20 World Cup following his stirring run in the PSL playoffs

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2024If Shadab Khan came across as slightly unsure about receiving the Player of the Tournament award after the PSL final on Monday night, he certainly didn’t feel undeserving. Quite the opposite in fact.” (Nothing like that, I deserve it),” he quipped after leading Islamabad United to their third PSL title.It’s difficult to argue. Captain of the title-winning team, joint fifth-highest wicket-taker with 14, ninth-highest run-getter with 305 runs at a strike rate of 142.52 (neck and neck with Babar Azam’s strike rate), eight catches and a couple of run-outs.Related

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Shadab was instrumental in the thrilling final-ball win over Multan Sultans in Karachi in the PSL final, picking up 3 for 32 including the wicket of his Multan counterpart, Mohammad Rizwan. It made Islamabad the most successful PSL franchise, with a third title, and Shadab’s second after the 2018 win. There was little doubt which triumph was more memorable.”This title is the really big one,” Shadab said. “In 2018, it was only my second season. I had had success very quickly in my career. This one has been a lot of hard work, and built on the belief of a lot of people, including our owners, Rehan ul Haq (the team manager) and the other management. Our belief as a team is such that we never let any doubt in. That is how you recognise a good team, because it doesn’t let in any doubt. So very satisfied that we’ve won.”It wasn’t a straightforward campaign for Islamabad by any means. They stuttered early on with three consecutive losses after a season-opening win. That included an almighty collapse against Peshawar Zalmi when they fell from 181 for 3 to 191 for 9, also losing four wickets in an over.But belief in their ways and methods remained firm and some old hands came good, not least Faheem Ashraf and the player of the final – and the playoffs – Imad Wasim.”The way we started, then lost three consecutive games, our belief remained the same. The matches we lost were close ones, last-over games, or we controlled games and then lost. Cricket doesn’t let you relax,” Shadab said.”From the Karachi [Kings] game, it had become knockout matches for us, and we took it one game at a time. We’ve always had the belief in our group that we have players who can win us games from anywhere.”Imad Wasim was Islamabad’s main man in the PSL playoffs•Pakistan Super League

Imad’s return to form was especially critical, a series of match-winning performances starting from the must-win group game against Multan. After a torrid start to the tournament, Imad won the Player of the Match award in every game in the playoffs, taking wickets and finishing games with the bat.The run has been accompanied by increasing chatter to get him back into Pakistan colours, Imad having retired last November from international cricket, not entirely content. Shadab was unequivocal in his support.”He must have had some issues to take such a big decision [when he announced his retirement],” Shadab said. “It’s his own decision if he wants to take it back. If someone talks to him about it, I think he might return. It is a World Cup season. Our best players, and those in the best form should play. That’s my wish that he plays. What his own thinking is, that’s different.”Indirectly, part of the reason for the clamour for Imad has been Shadab’s own form for Pakistan. After a disappointing Asia Cup and ODI World Cup at the end of last year, he was not picked for Pakistan’s T20I series in New Zealand at the start of the year. As such, his performances and form in this PSL have served as an audition for a return, even if he hasn’t seen it as such.”Whatever team I play for, I want to help them win,” he said. “Even this tournament, I wasn’t playing so that it would get me back in the Pakistan side. My effort was just to improve and do the things I can do. Playing for Pakistan is not in your hands. Your discipline and process is in your hands. Sometimes you’ll perform, sometimes you won’t, sometimes you’ll be in the team, sometimes out of it. But if the process is consistent you will improve. Everybody wants to play for Pakistan and in a World Cup, that is my wish too. But it’s not in my control.”I understand criticism on performances, but when it becomes personal then it is difficult. We are a one-sport nation, so everyone wants the team to win, or players to perform. That pressure is there every day you have to perform.”I believe in the process, if that is good, then results will come. When you don’t do well, you have to accept it. You can’t deny that. If your attitude is 100%, that’s it, you can’t control beyond that. If there is too much focus on results, then that process suffers.”

Dravid feels the lack of hype going into the final could work in India’s favour

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Jun-20232:38

Pitchside: Rahane asked to keep long-term prospects in mind

“The hype not being there might be a good thing.”With that, India head coach Rahul Dravid ended his media conference on Monday.Rohit Sharma’s India have been in England for close to a week. They slipped in quietly, in batches, to the train in the quieter, and picturesque, environs in Arundel. Both teams arrived in London over the weekend, but the buzz was mostly about the FA Cup final, the train strikes, and a bit about England Bazballing Ireland at Lord’s.Related

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The media interactions with the Australian contingent over the past few days have been dominated by Ashes talk, and you wouldn’t be far off the mark if you felt the WTC final was more of a warm-up for the marquee series of the English summer.The Ashes has been a storied cricketing rivalry and the excitement is palpable, and understandable.But Australia vs India has grown into one of the best cricketing contests in the last two decades. Australia captain Pat Cummins acknowledged that at an ICC event on Sunday, saying the one team that had “really troubled” Australia were India, who have now won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on successive away tours.Still, with warm temperatures forecast for the match, the longer boundaries at The Oval, which also has true bounce, has made pundits like Ricky Ponting and Wasim Akram believe Cummins’ team has a slight edge.India, though, are not worried.”Look, whatever will happen will happen in those five days,” Dravid said. “Anything that happens before or after doesn’t really make a difference. Who is the favourite, who isn’t, when two good teams with good players play, whichever team performs well over the five days will win. I have full hope that if we play good cricket – and we have the ability – we have the players that we can pick 20 wickets, we can score runs, I have full hope that we can win this.”Dravid also said India were not going into the match with the baggage of having not won a world title since MS Dhoni’s team lifted the 2013 Champions Trophy, which was also in England. Since Rohit and Dravid took charge, India have featured in just the one men’s T20 World Cup, in the 2022 edition in Australia, where they reached the semi-final.”No, not at all,” Dravid said when asked if India were feeling the pressure. “I mean, we don’t feel any pressure in terms of trying to win an ICC trophy. Of course, it would be nice to do it. It’s certainly nice to be able to win an ICC tournament. But also in the context of things, you look at this and you see this is the culmination of two years of work, it’s a culmination of a lot of success that gets you here. So there’s a lot of positives to take from that to see where you stand on the table, winning series in Australia, drawing series here, being very competitive everywhere that this team has played in the world over the last five or six years.Dravid: “Being competitive everywhere over the last six years, those are things that will never change just because you have or you don’t have an ICC trophy”•ICC via Getty Images

“Those are things that will never change just because you have or you don’t have an ICC trophy. That’s really the bigger picture. But, of course, it’s nice to be able to lift any game of cricket you want to win. This happens to be a World Test Championship final and it would be nice to get on the right side of the result.”Dravid felt it would be stretching the point by attaching the significance of an Indian win in the WTC final to the long-term health of Test cricket, just like India’s ODI World Cup wins in 1983 and 2007 had done for the exponential growth of the white-ball game.”I don’t think you can compare the two. That was a long time ago and they [ODIs and T20Is] still are the new formats of the game. Test cricket has been around a really long time and I’m not sure one match is going to transform things or change things drastically, irrespective of whichever way it goes,” Dravid said. “Test cricket faces unique challenges; it’s a fantastic game which faces some challenges, which is not necessarily going to change [by] the result of one game.”

Wolvaardt is expected to be unveiled ahead of South Africa’s assignment against Bangladesh at home next month

Firdose Moonda11-Nov-2023Laura Wolvaardt is set to be confirmed as South Africa’s permanent captain after taking on the job in a temporary capacity for the series against Pakistan and New Zealand earlier this year.At the time of accepting the job on an interim basis, Wolvaardt had said she wanted to assess whether the leadership would impact her batting, but ESPNcricinfo understands that after topping the run-chart in the T20 series against Pakistan and finishing second on the list for in the ODIs against New Zealand, she has decided she wants the job full-time.Wolvaardt is expected to be unveiled in the role ahead of South Africa’s next assignment, against Bangladesh at home in December. That series will also be the final one for the current coaching staff, led by Hilton Moreeng, who has been in charge of the side since 2012 and oversaw their progression to the T20 World Cup final earlier in this year. Moreeng’s contract ended at the conclusion of that tournament but CSA dragged its heels in advertising for the post and, in August, his tenure was extended to the end of 2023 despite player grievances.Moreeng’s post has since been advertised and interviewed for and a new coach is set to be announced before South Africa tour Australia earlier next year.”We had interviews last week and we are still finalising a couple of things. As soon as we are done with the post-interview process, we will be able to make an announcement,” Enoch Nkwe, CSA’s director of cricket, said in Ahmedabad, where he is attending the men’s ODI World Cup. “The current coaching team will carry on until the end of December, but we want to give clarity as soon as possible because it will impact the Australian tour.”CSA is also set to put in place a head of women’s cricket, who will report to Nkwe. Applications for that post closed on July 14 but Nkwe indicated that the appointee is yet to be decided on.”The head of women’s cricket [role] has taken a while [to finalise]. We want to make sure the person that is going to take that position is not short-term,” Nkwe said. “We’ve just professionalised the domestic structure and there are plans within the high performance to get a South Africa A women’s side over the next 12 months, so we have the same structure as the men’s. The women’s structure is really growing nicely and we are really excited about it.”As part of the legacy of hosting the T20 World Cup, South Africa have taken significant steps to professionalise the women’s game. Their top-six domestic teams can now contract up to 11 players each and the national women’s players now get equal match fees as the men.

Titans looked on track in the chase at a point but then lost eight wickets for just 48 runs

Alan Gardner07-Apr-20242:21

Why Stoinis came in to bat before Pooran

Lucknow Super Giants claimed their third win in a row, and first over Gujarat Titans in five attempts, with a fighting defence of 163 in Lucknow. Marcus Stoinis’ first half-century of the season provided the ballast after the home side had chosen to bat first and, although Titans started well in their run chase, Yash Thakur claimed a maiden five-for to help demolish the innings.The LSG batting effort was rarely fluent, captain KL Rahul and Stoinis opting for accumulation after Umesh Yadav had struck twice with the new ball. Both fell when looking to up the ante and it needed flashes of power from Nicholas Pooran plus a cameo from Ayush Badoni to get them up to a respectable score.Related

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In their favour was the fact LSG had never been beaten defending a target of 160-plus. Titans looked set to threaten that record after racing to 54 without loss inside the powerplay, only for a stunning collapse of 8 for 48 to make it 13 from 13 for LSG. After Yash skidded one through Shubman Gill, Ravi Bishnoi’s spectacular caught-and-bowled dismissal of Kane Williamson provided the spark, while Krunal Pandya raced through his four-over allocation for figures of 3 for 11 as Titans imploded.That they managed such a comfortable defence was even more remarkable given LSG lost the services of their new pace sensation, Mayank Yadav, after just a single over due to a side strain – the one sour note as Rahul’s team moved to six points and third in the table.Titans start strong then stumble
Chasing what seemed a middling target, Titans eased out of the blocks with a fifty opening stand inside the powerplay. Sai Sudharsan was all poise and wrists, hitting four early boundaries – including two off Mayank in his only over, during which the LSG fast man barely breached 140kph – while Shubman Gill looked to play himself in. With Mayank having to leave the field and M Siddharth struggling with front-foot no-balls, Titans looked to be cruising.Krunal Pandya finished with three wickets•BCCI

However, the dismissal of Gill from the final ball of the sixth over sparked an extraordinary collapse. Krunal whizzed through a tidy over, before Ravi Bishnoi struck with his second ball, leaping to hold a brilliant one-handed return catch off Kane Williamson, Titans’ impact sub. Sudharsan then holed out to deep square leg from the first ball of Krunal’s second over, which was followed by BR Sharath top-edging a sweep to deep backward square. Titans had shipped four wickets for seven runs in the space of 18 balls and suddenly had it all to do.Yash we can!Titans’ chase never recovered. Krunal claimed a third wicket as the asking rate rose towards 12 an over, with the canny Yash returning to dismiss Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan in the space of four balls to leave the score 93 for 7. Rahul Tewatia presented the only danger of an upset, twice clearing the ropes in 30 off 25 balls, but he picked out deep square leg before Yash wrapped up the innings for career-best T20 figures.Rahul’s slow-and-steady rebuild
LSG were after a fast start against the new ball, with Quinton de Kock marking his 100th IPL appearance by clattering Umesh Yadav into the stands second ball. He didn’t survive the over, however, an attempted repeat resulting in a big top edge to deep third. With Devdutt Padikkal notching a fourth single-figure score in a row for his new franchise, Lucknow were 18 for 2 in the third over and looking vulnerable.Marcus Stoinis and KL Rahul rebuilt after two early blows•AFP/Getty Images

Rahul is the perfect man for a rebuild, though, and he helped resurrect the innings in the company of Stoinis. After taking three boundaries off Spencer Johnson’s second over, the pair batted watchfully through the middle of the innings, until what almost appeared to be Rahul’s first shot in anger, in the 13th over, as the LSG captain attempted to hit Darshan Nalkande over long-on only to hole out. The partnership was worth 73 from 62 balls but ended just when LSG were hoping to push on.Spinners squeeze but Pooran finishes
Stonis should have been dismissed in the following over, mishitting Noor Ahmed straight up only for Rashid to grass the chance running in from long-off. Noor bowled his four overs off the reel for just 22 runs – conceding a single boundary – and although Stoinis broke the shackles to pump Nalkande twice over long-on for a 40-ball half-century, he fell trying to target the same bowler, top-edging a skier to the keeper.With two new batters at the crease going into the death overs, and Rashid still with two up his sleeve, LSG were facing an uphill struggle. Rashid conceded five singles off the 17th, but Pooran and Ayush Badoni released some pressure by taking Mohit Shah for three boundaries in the next. Although Badoni holed out looking to take on Rashid, Pooran carted the legspinner over midwicket for the only boundary of his allocation, with another six in the final over – in which Johnson conceded just eight – taking LSG beyond the magic 160-mark.

They will join the Ajinkya Rahane-led squad for the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone in Coimbatore

Shashank Kishore20-Sep-2022Priyank Panchal, Shreyas Iyer and Sarfaraz Khan have been drafted into the Ajinkya Rahane-led West Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone in Coimbatore starting Wednesday.Panchal and Sarfaraz are joining the camp from Bengaluru, where they were part of the India A squad that beat New Zealand A 1-0 in a series of three unofficial Tests. Their addition comes on the back of Prithvi Shaw and Rahul Tripathi being called up to join the A team for the white-ball leg of the same tour in Chennai starting Thursday.Iyer, meanwhile, is returning from a short break. He missed the semi-final against Central Zone as he was at the National Cricket Academy for a regular fitness assessment, prior to being named as one of the stand-by players in India’s T20 World Cup squad. He also missed the quarter-final against Northeast as he was with India’s Asia Cup contingent in UAE, also as a reserve player.Panchal, India A’s red-ball captain, finished the series with two half-centuries and 201 runs overall in four innings. Sarfaraz, the 2021-22 Ranji season’s highest run-getter, had a slightly milder series, returning 99 runs in three innings.Meanwhile, the upcoming red-ball season could be crucial for Iyer, as he looks to turnaround his career that appears to have hit a rough patch. While he remains an incumbent in the Test team, his apparent struggles with the short ball have come under increased scrutiny. He has also, over the past three months, fallen behind in the pecking order as far as India’s first XI goes in white-ball cricket.Iyer’s most-recent appearance for India was in the Caribbean in July-August, where he hit three half-centuries in as many ODIs, and one half-century in three T20I knocks. After the Duleep final, he is likely to link up with India’s World Cup bound squad. Unlike at the Asia Cup, where only one of the three reserves were on tour, all reserve players will be part of the Australia-bound contingent.