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Number of unsuccessful reviews increased from one to two per innings in the upcoming season

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2022Irrespective of whether the batters have crossed or not at the point of a catch being taken, the incoming batter will be on strike, except if the dismissal is on the last ball of an over, in IPL 2022. That, and the number of unsuccessful reviews going up from one – introduced in 2018 – to two per innings are among key updates to the tournament’s playing conditions, put out ahead of the upcoming season, starting March 26.Covid-19 might be perceived as a lesser threat around India at the moment than it was even a few months ago, but there remains a worry that, like was the case with Melbourne Stars and Brisbane Heat at the recent BBL, teams might have a number of players unavailable for a particular match. In that case, where a team has fewer than 12 players available – 11 on the field, of which at least seven must be Indian, and one substitute – for selection, the BCCI, “at its discretion, will attempt to reschedule the match for later in the season”. If, for whatever reason, this is not possible, the matter will be referred to the technical committee of the IPL, and the decision of the committee will be “final and binding”.Related

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Earlier, the rule was that if rescheduling the match was not possible, the franchise unable to field a team would be deemed to have lost the match, and their opponents would win full points.Also, with the number of teams increasing to ten, and the number of matches – including the playoffs – going up from 60 to 74, the BCCI has confirmed that the prize money for the franchises would be paid “based on the final standings and any increments would be adjusted and calculated based on ten teams rather than eight”.The tweak in the law of the game vis-à-vis batters crossing before a catch was taken and, the new batter going to the non-striker’s end, was changed by the MCC earlier this month, but the law comes into effect for international cricket only later this year, in October. The IPL has, however, decided to enforce it straightaway.The decision to change the law came as a result of it being trialled in the Hundred last year, as a way of further rewarding the bowler for taking a wicket.In terms of disciplinary procedures, the BCCI has said that “in the event post of Ombudsman is vacant then the Commission comprising of the members of the IPL Code of Behaviour Committee will step in to the role of Ombudsman”.

Klaassen, Linde and Stewart claim two wickets each to seal comfortable win

Sam Dalling10-Jun-2022Sick of the sight of him. That’s what Somerset will be when it comes to Jordan Cox. One suspects they won’t be the last county either.Cox broke Somerset hearts in the 2021 Blast Final with an unbeaten 58 from 28 and a candidate for catch of, well, cricket. This time he had a Taunton crowd scuttling for cover with 94 off just 47 balls, a statistician-pleasing strike-rate of 200, and, most importantly, Kent’s title defence belatedly up and running.Kent posted 202 for 7 all in and, in response, Somerset stumbled to 44 for 3 in the powerplay. Will Smeed, Tom Banton and Rilee Rossouw had all been and gone: thereafter they were simply limping and waiting to be put down.As the Group stages near halfway, meaningful glances can be had at the table. Kent fans will wince: this was just their second victory of the season. But this format is all about momentum: if the Spitfires can find it, reaching the quarter-finals is not impossible. Somerset had theirs checked but are still excellently placed.Cox was afforded one lifeline en-route to a career best, Lewis Gregory putting down a chance that ought to have been taken. Cox had 53 then and should have been the latest Ben Green victim.But this was a supreme knock. Kent were looking sub-par relatively late in the innings but Cox was unflustered. The first of his six sixes came in the 12th over. It was a remarkable shot off Craig Overton, released from the England Test squad. Cox danced inside a short ball, swivelled and disturbed the graves t’other side of Gimblett’s Hill.Back into his shell he went, until over 18 which – by the way – started with Kent 148 for 5. From deep in his crease, Josh Davey was struck effortlessly down the ground. A wide later came a charge and a loft over cover. The over cost 26, George Linde also helping himself to a four and a six.Related

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Then came Green’s punishment. Tom Abell deployed more protection for the leg-side perimeter than is seen at many top-flight football matches. It mattered not: three times the ball sailed towards the Fan Zone with 47 off overs 18 and 19.Cox first came to the attention of those outside Canterbury and its surrounds in 2020. A 423-run stand with Jack Leaning saw Cox make an unbeaten 238 from 570 balls (with 50 boundaries). Not out overnight, Cox had spent the morning warm-ups asking each team-mate for details of their respective first-class bests. He also informed them they would be surpassed, and in several cases that came true. Swagger then, but also the goods to back it up.The Cox drop was not the only catch Somerset shelled. It was a rare off night in the field for them. Overton, usually with hats like buckets, found a hole in them and gifted Alex Blake six. When the following delivery was rifled towards the Taunton flyover, Overton avoided Davey’s gaze. Then redemption: Blake smashed in Overton’s direction again. Only fools make the same mistake twice.Kent’s start was stodgy, just 13 taken in the opening trio by Joe Denly and Tawanda Muyeye as both struggled to circumnavigate fielders.Then came Overton and Denly hit him over the top. Next, Muyeye performed an audacious flick over his head for six. Overton’s nostrils flared. But Muyeye immediately drove straight at Abell. Out wandered Grant Stewart and, having miscued one straight up, he was caught by Roelof van der Merwe.Denly and Cox were steady but struggled for fluency. Even so, on a small ground they ticked over nicely enough. They had added 89 for the third wicket when Overton returned. Abell regularly turns to his leading man when a partnership needs breaking and break it he did with Denly on 41 off 36 balls.Overton now has 35 T20 wickets for Somerset since 2019 began and 25 of those have seen off top-three batters. Oddly neither he, nor Gregory completed their spells.Post-interval Smeed took just two off Fred Klaasen’s opener. Unused to being tied down, Smeed eyed up cow corner and was bowled off his back thigh pad by Linde. An over later, Klaassen had his 50th T20 victim for Kent, Banton edging behind having just hit back-to-back boundaries.Then the big one. And it was a gamble from Sam Billings who threw Leaning the ball in over four. Rossouw – who had scored six from his first ball from Linde – swept, missed and was done. A cursory glance back at the stumps only reconfirmed that they had shattered.From there it was a near impossible task. Abell made a typically brisk 43. When he fell, van der Merwe wandered out. Surely, he couldn’t do it twice in a row? An unbeaten 48 from just 15 balls to win Thursday’s west country derby remained fresh in the memory. No. It was not for lack of trying though.There was still time for another Overton moment. Leaning felt he had fairly caught Green on the boundary off Matt Milnes. Umpire Hassan Adnan shot across to his colleague Russell Warren to suggest Leaning had crossed the line. Overton almost did in remonstrating with Billings, before signalling six much to the crowd’s delight. Eventually, Green stayed put and six was indeed added.Billings later thought he had caught Green off Stewart but Green was given not-out and again Overton gesticulated with his bat. Later in the same over, an Overton top-edge went up and up and Billings covered much ground to claim the catch, before shushing the crowd.Green ended with 40 from 28 but the final ten overs were simply going through the motions as Kent claimed an emphatic victory, the wickets shared: Klaassen, Linde and Stewart each with two.

Ben Duckett struck his second ODI hundred but England collapsed in Bristol and couldn’t contain the visitors’ top order

Andrew McGlashan29-Sep-2024A power-packed powerplay by Travis Head and Matthew Short, followed by astute batting by stand-in captain Steven Smith, ensured Australia beat the rain and England in the nick of time to take the one-day series in Bristol on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern. For the second time in the five matches, their spinners engineering a collapse, including a career-best for Head, after Ben Duckett’s second ODI hundred alongside a Harry Brook onslaught had put the home side on track for a huge total.Australia’s chase was never going to be about 310 in 50 overs – the 20-over DLS, which moved with wickets lost, was the vital figure. The visitors clearly knew the sums and after a watchful first three overs, Head and Short cut loose as 62 came off the next four. Being 100 for 1 after 10 overs put them so far ahead they had breathing space for the loss of a couple of wickets.Brydon Carse struck first ball to remove Head and Short edged behind after a 23-ball maiden ODI fifty. But Smith, who successfully reviewed being given lbw to Matthew Potts on 10, and Josh Inglis ensured against further setbacks although England missed reviewing for an edge off Inglis at 122 for 2 in the 15th. However, England needed more than one further breakthrough given Australia’s flying start and the tactics became clear when Brook returned to all pace instead of Adil Rashid on a pitch assisting spin (and Potts suddenly realised he needed a new boot).The rain, which had initially arrived during the interval, then returned four balls after a result had been assured with a DLS of 116 for 2. Australia didn’t entirely defend their way there as the weather closed in a little more slowly than first looked likely: Inglis pulled consecutive sixes off Carse in the 20th over. In normal circumstances, Rashid and England’s other spinners might have turned the game around but Australia were good value for victory given the way they fought back in the field.Ben Duckett capped a strong series with a fine century•AFP

Like at Trent Bridge, it was a game that fell away for England from a very strong batting foundation. A ferocious stand of 132 off 98 balls between Duckett and Brook brought up their 200 in the 25th over but from the moment Brook fell to Zampa the innings fell away with the final collapse being 107 for 8. Smith used 23 consecutive overs of spin and 28 off the last 29 in total.After 2.2 overs Zampa’s figures read 0 for 42 but he became a significant threat on a dry surface that offered increasing help to the spinners. Head winkled out a List A best of 4 for 28, including the key scalp of Duckett for a 91-ball 107, the highlight of which had been how quickly he picked up length against the quicks early on, a trademark of his batting during a productive home summer. Yet such was the change of momentum that England only hit one boundary between the 27th and 43rd overs. The 194 balls of spin was a record for Australia in a men’s ODI.At the end of a tour marked by illness and injury they had again been forced to shuffle their pack after Marsh pulled up sore after Lord’s where he bowled for the first time since early April. Aaron Hardie also replaced Sean Abbott and Cooper Connolly was handed an ODI debut. Speaking on TV before the game, Ricky Ponting said Australia would rate a series win very highly given the challenges within the squad.Phil Salt set the tone in the opening over which included three boundaries off Mitchell Starc and two plays and misses. It meant, at that moment, Starc’s last two overs of the series had cost 40 following his pasting at the hands of Liam Livingstone at Lord’s. Salt continued to alternate between missing and connecting, outside edging a swish over deep third for six against Starc before a brace of far more convincing sixes against Hardie’s first two deliveries which brought up England’s fifty in the seventh over.But Hardie struck back. Firstly, he had Salt well taken at deep point by Marnus Labuschagne, the ball after adjusting the field, then produced a gem of a delivery to clean up Will Jacks for a duck. There were a few overs of consolidation from England before Brook scooped his first boundary off Josh Hazlewood from his ninth delivery then he continued the team’s approach of being aggressive to Zampa by ending his first over with a four and six; a delightful late cut which drew comparisons to Mahela Jayawardene by Eoin Morgan on commentary then a blow to the short, straight boundary.Adam Zampa started poorly but went on to induce a collapse•Getty Images

Much more was to come from Brook when he took three further sixes from Zampa’s second over leaving Smith searching for options. Duckett went to his fifty from 45 balls and Brook raced to the mark from 39 with another six over the leg side against Hardie. Brook took his sixes tally to seven with another back-to-back brace off Zampa when he returned for the start of his second spell and had the attack at his mercy.But then came a break for Australia when Brook miscued Zampa down the ground and found Glenn Maxwell at long-off. Maxwell continued to do an excellent job with the ball, finding significant grip from the surface, and pushed one through Jamie Smith. Zampa then found Livingstone’s top edge with one that turned and bounced and all of a sudden, the lower middle-order was exposed.The onus was on Duckett to try and guide the remainder of the innings as he brought up an outstanding century. Both he and Jacob Bethell held themselves back for a period, but after sending Head’s third ball over long-on Duckett tried a repeat and skewed a catch to long-off which meant Carse was walking in during the 34th over.Head then turned deliveries sharply to have Bethell stumped and Carse lbw, leaving Rashid to nurse the total towards 300, but eyes were already turning to the sky and Australia flicked successfully into T20 mode to earn the spoils.

But the team’s focus, director of cricket Enoch Nkwe says, will be on “hitting the reset button and not dwelling on the past”

Firdose Moonda09-Nov-2022Cricket South Africa will conduct a review into the national men’s team’s performance at the T20 World Cup, which they exited at the group stage following a shock defeat to Netherlands, but will also urge the players to move on quickly from another major disappointment.”It is important that we review what has happened. We are in the process of putting a panel together to ensure the review is very clinical,” Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of cricket (DOC), said after the team’s arrival from Australia. “But the focus is hitting the reset button and not dwelling on the past. It’s important that we close a chapter and look at what lies ahead.”Related

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Nkwe, who started as DOC in July after previously serving as assistant coach to Mark Boucher, has already installed Malibongwe Maketa as an interim coach to take South Africa to a three-Test series in Australia, and will begin the process of recruiting Boucher’s full-time replacement soon. Boucher resigned his post to take up a role with Mumbai Indians in the IPL, with a year left on his contract. All indications are that there will be no knee-jerk changes to South Africa’s set-up, with white-ball captain Temba Bavuma still not ready to make a decision over his future.In the immediate aftermath of South Africa’s defeat on Sunday, Bavuma said he would not be swayed by the emotions of the moment. Three days later he said he was still trying to process things.”The emotions are not as raw, but in terms of the disappointment and the disbelief, that’s still there,” Bavuma said. “It’s going to take me a couple of days.”The entire squad will be given some space over the next few days, even as the opening round of domestic first-class matches begins on Thursday (each team only plays seven games and there are only three rounds before the Tests in Australia), before a decision is taken on when the players will return to action. The bulk of them will be in the Test team, which lies second on the World Test Championship (WTC) points table. Their performance in the Test series in Australia will be crucial in determining whether they will have a shot at the WTC final in June, a time when South Africa could also end up playing in the 50-over World Cup Qualifier, because they are 11th on that table.’The emotions are not as raw, but in terms of the disappointment and the disbelief, that’s still there’ – Temba Bavuma•Associated Press

The ups and downs of South Africa’s last three years – since former CEO Thabang Moroe made the decision to overhaul the coaching system and install a team director who was then swiftly replaced with a coach, Boucher – have been witnessed first-hand by Nkwe. He was the interim team director on a disastrous tour to India in 2019, and then served for almost two years under Boucher before resigning, citing concerns with the team culture. His return in an overseeing role saw him replace Graeme Smith as DOC, which was followed by Boucher’s resignation. If that sounds chaotic, imagine what it must have been like being involved in it, as Nkwe confirmed. “As a system, we have gone through a lot,” he said. “We went through a bit of a turmoil.”Asked whether he thought the sum total of the off-field events (the example above is only a small sample) affected the team, Nkwe said he wouldn’t use it as an excuse. “One thing I have been proud of this team over the last couple of years is that they’ve been able to go on the park and compete and try and win games,” he said. “They’ve been able to close off all the noise and whatever is happening off the field. Somehow we found a way to get to a point where we remain competitive. I believe the team has come through that very well.”Still, he admitted the World Cup exit was “disappointing”, and that the culpability had to fall somewhere, perhaps with CSA. “We will always take full accountability,” Nkwe said. “When the results are poor, there will be fingers pointed at the organisation in terms of what has happened in the past and whether there was enough support. Whether the team loses or wins, we are always going to be supporting the team and asking ourselves questions about what more we can do.”And the last of those is where Nkwe’s focus now lies. He did not want to get into whether he agreed with the decision to leave out in-form players like Reeza Hendricks or persist with out-of-form players like Kagiso Rabada because “I don’t get involved in selection”, but said there will be a “clear strategy going forward.” With an ICC event every year for the next eight years, South Africa’s emphasis is on “How do we prepare better for World Cups coming?”Given that they’ve never won a World Cup, it’s fair to assume no one really has the answers, but Nkwe has made clear that he’s going to try finding them. “There is a culture we are driving internally to make sure we put cricket in a good healthy space,” he said. “There’s a lot of work behind the scenes and what we are all working towards is getting our national teams to reach No.1 and win World Cups. We are now at the point where we can make a difference and that will be our focus. There’s so many opportunities as an organisation to change it all. Hopefully next year we can be in a different position celebrating our team winning a World Cup.”

After Strikers posted BBL’s second-highest total of 251, D’Arcy Short took 4 for 15 to bowl Heat out for 195

Tristan Lavalette11-Jan-2025Captain Matthew Short returned from a toe injury in spectacular fashion with a blistering century against Brisbane Heat as Adelaide Strikers revived their finals hopes after making the second highest total in BBL history.Sent in to bat on a very flat Adelaide Oval surface, Strikers smashed 251 for 5 highlighted by Short’s 109 off 54 balls after he missed the last three matches. He reached his ton in 49 balls to set a new franchise record.Heat never seriously threatened in the chase and were bowled out for 195 after 20 overs.The result has breathed life into Strikers’ season (three wins in eight games) having entered the match in last position and they moved within striking distance of fourth-placed Heat.Short/Lynn rampage before Carey’s brief knock in season debut There was a lot of anticipation over the season debut of Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who was listed at No.3 but made to wait until almost the ninth over after a destructive 121-run opening partnership between Short and Chris Lynn.During Short’s absence, Lynn moved up to open from three and such was his success that he stayed in the position. He dominated the powerplay and thrashed quicks Michael Neser and Xavier Bartlett, normally so reliable with the new ball.Lynn raced to 42 off 13 balls as Strikers motored to 62 for 0 in the most runs hit by a team in the powerplay this season. Short then took over with two sixes off left-arm quick Spencer Johnson as Strikers moved to 81-0 after five overs.Hogging the strike, Short soon sped past Lynn to reach his half-century off 24 balls. In the first seven overs, Short and Lynn smashed seven sixes while they failed to score off just 11 balls.Matt Short and Chris Lynn turn the crowd into umpires•Getty Images

But Lynn did lose his rhythm and was also ailed by a tight hamstring before being knocked over by a quicker delivery from left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann.Carey finally came to the crease, but only lasted eight deliveries after being bowled by another faster ball from Kuhnemann. He did, however, hit arguably the best shot of the innings after a classy check drive sailed prettily over extra cover and into the crowd.Short was unperturbed as he fittingly reached his ton with a boundary. Travis Head had held Strikers’ previous fastest century with his famous 53-ball ton against Sydney Sixers on New Year’s Eve in 2015.It was a brilliant knock from Short, who has recently opened for Australia in white-ball cricket, marked by staying still at the crease and clean ball striking. He ruthlessly targeted the shorter boundaries on the legside before finally holing out to deep midwicket.Alex Ross clubbed 44 not out from 19 balls at the death to ensure Strikers’ momentum continued.Spinners Kuhnemann, Swepson try their best With their star quicks Neser, Bartlett and Johnson having rare off performances, unable to hit their lengths, spinners Kuhnemann and Swepson took five wickets between them in battling efforts.They weren’t spared, with 91 runs hit off their eight overs, but at least ensured Strikers didn’t reel in the BBL record score of 273 for 2 set by Melbourne Stars three years ago.Kuhnemann, in his first match since being selected to the Test tour of Sri Lanka, got some zip off the surface, while Swepson cleverly mixed up his bowling to be the most economical of the five bowlers used.Debutant quicks face tough initiation, D’Arcy Short takes four wickets On a surface that rivalled some of the unforgiven pitches seen in the IPL, Strikers debutant quicks Liam Haskett and Jordan Buckingham faced a difficult initiation.Haskett impressed last season for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield, but had a delayed start to this summer due to a back injury. The tall left-arm quick was unleashed in the second over, but struggled with his lengths initially and whacked over the legside for successive sixes by Neser.D’Arcy Short finished with 4 for 15•Getty Images

Haskett was later pulled for six by Nathan McSweeney and caught, remarkably, by his father in the terraces. He returned later to dismiss Tom Alsop to finish with 2 for 43 from 3 overs.The 24-year-old Buckingham was given a chance in the BBL having impressed in the Shield in recent seasons. Like almost every other bowler in the match, he copped some punishment but claimed the key wicket of Matthew Renshaw in the 14th over.With bowlers sporting bowling figures that were an eyesore, D’Arcy Short’s handy legspin was used to good effect as numerous Heat batters holed out to him. He finished with 4 for 15 off 3 overs.Munro bats well down the order after injuries in the field Heat’s monumental task was made harder with skipper Colin Munro batting well down the order after dislocating a finger in his left hand and suffering a shoulder injury in a torrid time in the field. He came out at No.7 and made a second ball duck.Neser was promoted to open and ordered to go for broke, but it didn’t do the trick. McSweeney played fluently with several gorgeous drives and he made an attractive 43 off 24 balls.But he was run out attempting a second run as Heat’s slim chances effectively ended despite entertaining cameos from Renshaw, in-form Max Bryant and Johnson, who hit 27 from 13 balls at No.11.

‘I’m sure a few New Zealand coaches there have got their eye on him’

Deivarayan Muthu07-Jan-2021Everyone wanted a piece of Kyle Jamieson in New Zealand’s international home summer, with the Bay Oval crowd even standing up to sing ‘Happy birthday’ to him when he turned 26. While he had a dream first year in Test cricket, Jamieson also made his T20I debut this home summer, taking three wickets in four matches at an economy rate of 7.75. So, do the IPL franchises want a piece of Jamieson as well?Gary Stead, who has overseen Jamieson’s progress from his domestic side Canterbury to the national team, reckoned that the presence of New Zealand coaches in the IPL might be “one of the advantages” for him. Brendon McCullum, the Kolkata Knight Riders head coach, and Stephen Fleming, the Chennai Super Kings head coach, have also commentated on the 6ft 8in quick for Spark Sport. Meanwhile, Mike Hesson, the former New Zealand coach, works with the Royal Challengers Bangalore as their team director.Related

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“See, I’m not sure. Maybe they [the franchises] will [come knocking at his door] and maybe they won’t. Sometimes, it’s a bit of the luck of the draw with the IPL and how you get in there,” Stead said of Jamieson’s IPL prospects. “I guess one of the advantages is a few New Zealand coaches that are head coaches there as well that I’m sure have got their eye on Kyle as well as other people in our set-up as well.”Earlier this season, Jamieson’s team-mate Tim Seifert, the wicketkeeper-opener, had also caught the attention of Fleming who told Spark Sport: “There’s a team in yellow [Chennai Super Kings] that might have a look at you as well. Not just Brendon’s [Brendon McCullum’s] team, there are other teams out there!”Even before Jamieson made his T20I debut, Shane Bond, who is part of the Sydney Thunder and the Mumbai Indians backroom, foresaw an IPL opportunity for him.”I’m looking forward to see how he goes in T20, and there’s always opportunities in the T20 game as well,” Bond had said. “With another IPL around the corner, who knows what can happen. Things in this game can change pretty quick, so looking forward to seeing what he can do.”Jamieson’s USP is his towering frame that enables him to bounce out batsmen, but he has shown that he can be just as threatening by pitching the ball up and swinging it both ways. In all T20 cricket, he holds the record for the fifth-best figures, having claimed 6 for 7 for Canterbury Kings against Auckland Aces in January 2019. All up, he has 49 wickets in 33 T20s at an average of 19.81 and economy rate of 7.96.Jamieson said after the Christchurch Test that he had honed his inswinger during the winter, and the day after that game, Stead delivered a glowing appraisal of him, saying “the world could be his oyster”.”I mean it’s just keeping him grounded as well. We all know he’s got some great attributes and some great skills and who knows the world could be oyster his with what’s ahead and what’s coming up,” Stead said. “But, at the end of the day, he’s still a cricketer and he’s one of our boys when he gets together with us and we treat him that way. He’s got everything there in front of him, but hopefully he stays fit and he will be a big part of New Zealand cricket I’m sure.”

The losing team will have to depend on other results going in their favour

S Rajesh10-May-2023

Rajasthan Royals

Kolkata Knight Riders

Both Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders are identically placed with 10 points from 11 games, but in terms of momentum, they are at very different places in their campaigns. Royals have lost five of their last six matches; Knight Riders have won three of their last four.Also, both were involved in last-ball finishes in their most recent game, but while Royals made a mess of a match they should have definitely won against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Knight Riders came through in a tough chase against Punjab Kings.Whichever team loses on Thursday will be up against it, as they can finish only on a maximum of 14 points. That will leave them depending on several other results, for as many as eight teams can finish on 14 or more points, including four on 16 or more. Thus, the team losing this game will be at the mercy of several other results going in their favour.Even with 16 points (wins in each of their three remaining games), qualification isn’t assured for either of these teams, because progress could still come down to net run rates. If it does come down to that, Royals are better placed with a relatively healthy value so far, but for it to be of consequence, they will have to start adding to their points tally as well.Though Royals have the better NRR, Knight Riders have the advantage of two home games in hand, compared to just one for Royals. Neither team has made good use of home conditions, though – Knight Riders have won two of five, and Royals two of six – so Royals might actually be relieved to be playing away from home.For both teams, it is that stage of the tournament when any further slip-up could result in elimination.

The visitors scored 385 runs on day three for just the loss of just three wickets, ending with a lead of 397

Madushka Balasuriya26-Jul-2023Stumps An Abdullah Shafique double-ton and a rapid Agha Salman century were the major highlights in a day in which Pakistan ground down and extinguished any lingering hopes Sri Lanka might have harboured of winning this Test. The visitors’ commanding performance on day three saw 385 runs scored for the loss of just three wickets.By stumps, Pakistan had amassed 563 for 5 and a lead of 397, with the only question remaining being one of when exactly the declaration would be made. While there are still two full days of cricket left to play, it’s unlikely the weather will allow for the full six sessions to play out.At the crease at the close were Salman on a 148-ball 132 with Mohammad Rizwan alongside him on 37 off 61. Rizwan had been drafted in as a concussion sub after Sarfaraz Ahmed had copped an Asitha Fernando bouncer on the back of his helmet; he would bat on following the blow, but would have to retire hurt following a late onset of symptoms.

Asitha receives demerit point for breaching ICC code of conduct

Sri Lanka quick Asitha Fernando has received a demerit point for breaching the ICC code of conduct during the third day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the SSC. This was his first offense in a 24-month period.
Fernando was found to have breached Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.”
The incident occurred in the 81st over of Pakistan’s innings when Asitha celebrated Saud Shakeel’s dismissal in an inappropriate manner. Since Asitha admitted to the offense and accepted the sanction imposed by match referee David Boon, there was no need for a formal hearing.

As for Sri Lanka’s bowlers, they toiled all day for little reward. The three main attacking options – Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis and Asitha Fernando – were all taken for triple digits. And the few wickets that came, only arrived after significant damage had been done, and at an agonisingly slow rate – one per session.A brief glance at the session scoring rates tells its own story, with each progressively expunging any life out the Sri Lankan attack; the morning session saw 95 runs at 2.92 per over, the middle session 124 runs at 4.43 per over, and then in the final session Pakistan plundered 166 runs at 5.03. Pakistan’s list of partnerships, meanwhile, read as follows: 13, 108, 89, 109, 25, 124 and 95.If those numbers weren’t enough, there were records to tack on too. Saud Shakeel, who racked up his sixth Test fifty in seven Tests, in the process became the first batter in the history of Test cricket to score fifty or more in each of their first seven Tests – Shakeel also has two hundreds to his name. Abdullah Shafique became the highest scoring opener at the SSC, to go along with his maiden Test double ton, and there probably might have been some sort of record for collective mental anguish caused to the opposition, had we some sort of device to measure such a thing, as Babar Azam directed his wards to just bat and bat and bat.Related

• Sarfaraz ruled out of second Test with concussion

• The Pakistan Way provides Pakistan's perfect day

But this is not to takeaway from the batting itself, which was far from tedious. In fact, one could argue it’s some of the most effective going around. In hindsight, the pacing of the day’s play seemed tailored to sussing out any potential Sri Lankan ambitions of reeling themselves back into the game.The morning session, as highlighted by the aforementioned scoring rate, was a slow burn. It took 13 balls for the first scoring shot, a pull to the backward square leg boundary, and then the next 18 deliveries saw just two runs scored. Boundaries would litter the session, but in general it was a cautious one by the visitors. Crucially though, they had lost just the wicket of Babar.Agha Salman finished day three unbeaten on 132 off 148•AFP/Getty Images

But as the day progressed and the afternoon sun began to beat down harder, so did Pakistan’s batters. Shafique would prove the constant – defending stoically, lofting majestically and easing pressure like a well-oiled valve. At the other end was where the dynamism was sought. Shakeel was the initial foil, but once he fell business really picked up.Pakistan’s lead at that point was a touch over 150, with quick runs the order of the day. Enter Sarfaraz, who would crack three boundaries in his 22-ball stay before being ruled out of the Test. Salman would follow and he would scarcely slow down. His fifty came off just 50 deliveries, his century off 123; by the end of play he had notched 15 fours and six.Shafique, meanwhile, continued to play like he had done throughout the innings, knocking over the strike with the odd boundary thrown into the mix. Only once he reached his double-century, did he play a shot in anger, slicing one high to mid-off.But like with each wicket that preceded it, this one only brought more pain for the hosts, as concussion sub Rizwan matched Salman’s intensity, and the visitors piled on ever more runs.There was speculation a declaration might have been forthcoming in the final hour before stumps, but now the wait is to see if there will be one made overnight. Sri Lanka might be looking forward to the reprieve, but unless rain intervenes, they still have a substantial grind ahead if they’re to save this Test.

Echoes of the past abound in re-run of 1999 and 2007 semi-finals, with South Africa sweating on Temba Bavuma’s fitness

Andrew Miller15-Nov-20231:55

Cummins: Recent record against SA ‘doesn’t count for too much’

Big picture: Baggage handlers

Can you feel the ghosts in the machine yet? Creeping out of the nooks and crannies of Eden Gardens, the most perfect venue imaginable for a contest that can barely move for historical baggage. It’s Australia versus South Africa in a World Cup semi-final. And if the mere thought of what’s to come hasn’t got your spine tingling in anticipation, then you’re surely dead inside.Forget everything you think you know about form and fortune, and the fallacy that the best team will always win on the day. Embrace instead a scenario in which every twitch of South Africa’s muscle memory (because, let’s face it, this is all about them) will feel as though it is attached to invisible strings, dragging their efforts backwards through space and time … through 2015, through 2007, through 2003. Through 1999 and 1992 … and back into the formless void from whence all of their World Cup agonies first sprung.It’s grotesquely unfair. It is history written as premonition. It’s a thousand “I told you sos” chanting in unison at the inevitable moment when South Africa’s dream of World Cup glory dies another ugly and undignified death. But make no mistake, that’s the baggage that Temba Bavuma’s team will be obliged to drag with them to the middle on Thursday. In this contest, of all contests, they don’t get the luxury of tuning out the doubts and the doubters.Related

• SA desperate to lift the trophy but accept there is 'no dishonour in losing'

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• Business as usual? Contrasting histories prompt different semi-final views for SA, Australia

• Kagiso Rabada: 'We want to win and we'll fight tooth and nail for it'

• Tactics board: Why Starc and Jansen should be in the firing line

For facing them down will be cricket’s most storied champions, Australia, the acid test that every contender seems obliged to pass if they hope to lay claim to the crown. With five titles to their name, and just four knockout losses in 18 such matches since the very first semi-final in 1975, Australia’s presence on these occasions comes almost to them as a birthright.Since 1992, no team has won a World Cup without eliminating them first – and even Pakistan’s group-stage victory that year proved to be a de facto quarter-final. Sri Lanka denied them in the 1996 final, before India and England dethroned them in 2011 and 2019 respectively. Come through this one and, notwithstanding India’s runaway form in the other side of the draw, South Africa will be entitled to believe that their name is on the trophy.That is not to say that South Africa should be considered rank outsiders, far from it. Uniquely among Australia’s opponents across the entire history of ODI cricket, they boast a positive win-loss record (55 to 50), which includes 15 victories in their last 18 meetings and a group-stage thumping in Lucknow, only last month.They won seven of their nine group games here (the same as their opponents) and racked up four totals in excess of 350 – more than any other side, including a market-leading 428 for 5 against Sri Lanka in Delhi, which is also the highest score ever made at a World Cup. And, if they win the toss and bat first, they will be able to lean into a formula for batting dominance that no team – not even India – has yet surpassed.South Africa wait on Temba Bavuma as he attempts to prove his fitness•AFP/Getty Images

They’ve got form, they’ve got confidence … but they’ve also got history, as their opponents will be only too happy to remind them. Even South Africa’s happiest memories of Eden Gardens – from their redemptive tour in November 1991, when Clive Rice released doves into the Calcutta air to mark South Africa’s return from sporting isolation – seem to have been man-marked by Australian one-upmanship. Four years prior to that occasion, and almost to the day, Allan Border had been hoisted onto his team-mates’ shoulders and paraded across the same turf, after laying claim to the first of Australia’s five titles.What South Africa would give for their first … instead, their barren cabinet is feeling all the more sparse right now, in light of the knockout magnificence that took place in Paris only last month. Since their own return to the international stage, South Africa’s rugby team has endured none of the angst that has stalked their cricketers – winning four World Cups in eight since victory at the first attempt in 1995 – and in holding their nerve across three consecutive one-point wins in this year’s quarter, semi and final, they proved with unhelpful clarity just what it takes to show bottle in the clutch moments.As with so many other aspects of this unfeasibly vast occasion, the dream for South Africa is only ever a tick away from becoming a living nightmare. All things being equal, Bavuma, their first black cricket captain, is two matches away from emulating his rugby counterpart Siya Kolisi, and providing the Rainbow Nation with the most joyous photo pairing since Nelson Mandela embraced Francois Pienaar at Ellis Park.But Bavuma, already under scrutiny due to a fallow run of form, is labouring with a hamstring strain that, through no fault of his own, raises agonising echoes of South Africa’s subplot in the 2015 semi-final, when an unfit Vernon Philander was forced into the line-up ahead of the in-form Kyle Abbott. And as if that spectre of past failings wasn’t enough to have weighing on the players’ minds, it might also rain on Thursday … it’s all a bit too spooky if you ask me.Usual suspects: Australia prepare for another semi-final•ICC via Getty Images

At this point, it’s only polite to point out that there will, in fact, be two teams competing for progression to Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad, and such is Australia’s enduring quality on the world stage, it might not be sufficient for South Africa to simply vanquish their internal demons.From a stuttering start, with two losses on the bounce, Australia’s march to seven wins in a row has been ominous in the extreme. David Warner has unfurled his full stage presence as he enters the final weeks of his one-day career, producing a body of work that matches up even to the four-times centurion Quinton de Kock, while Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell’s top notes of destruction have secured Australia each of the two highest individual scores of the tournament, and the fastest century too – trumping the previous marks set by de Kock and Aiden Markram.They carry an air of entitlement into this contest that is surely worth a hundred-run start, not to mention the sure knowledge that, in each of their two previous semi-final clashes, in 1999 and 2007, they marched past their bereft opponents and all the way to glory. As if they didn’t know it already, South Africa need to produce the game of their lives on Thursday, and then some. It may seem cruel, but those are the rules of this particular engagement. And they were written long before many of these players were born.

Form guide

Australia WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

South Africa WLWWW

In the spotlight: Heinrich Klaasen and Adam Zampa

Until it was trumped by the most extraordinary ODI innings of all time, it was hard to imagine how Heinrich Klaasen‘s blistering century against England at the Wankhede could possibly be bettered in this tournament. Much like the Maxwell masterpiece that surpassed it in the wow stakes, Klaasen’s 109 from 67 balls was characterised by riotous hitting in the face of physical debilitation, with the air in Mumbai that day thick enough to “eat” as Joe Root evocatively put it after England’s agenda-setting rout.More important than the runs he scored, however, was the statement that Klaasen’s display made. He had come into the World Cup as the most talked-about batter in ODI cricket, particularly after the smackdown he laid on Australia in Centurion in the weeks leading up to the tournament. His 174 from 83 balls that day included – alongside David Miller – an eye-watering 173 in the final ten overs of the innings. That Mumbai innings, and his follow-up 90 from 49 against Bangladesh, was early evidence that South Africa’s build-steady-charge-hard style would not be cowed on the big stage. If his returns have tailed off a touch since, the threat he poses has not.It’s easy to forget now, amid the stellar returns that have come Adam Zampa‘s way, that the Australia legspinner endured a deeply uncomfortable start to his campaign. After a wicketless opening match against India, he was belted for 70 runs in ten overs during South Africa’s group-stage victory in Lucknow, with the solitary scalp of Rassie van der Dussen coming in his 15th over of the tournament. Since then his returns have gone into overdrive – 21 further wickets in 61 subsequent overs across seven consecutive wins – with his superb control of line, length and variation making any attacking motive fraught with danger. Nevertheless, South Africa had his number once before. They’ll have to believe they can find it again.

Team news: Labuschagne over Stoinis, SA wait on Bavuma

Neither Marnus Labuschagne nor Marcus Stoinis made it to the middle in Australia’s crushing victory over Bangladesh in their final group game, but only one of them will feature in Kolkata, given the inevitable return of the game-changing Maxwell. The explosive success of their batting in recent outings means that Labuschagne’s Test tempo should be trusted to do a job, and offer ballast to the middle order alongside Steve Smith, thereby freeing up the men around them to keep blazing as they’ve seen fit.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Marnus Labuschagne, 6 Josh Inglis (wk), 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodLungi Ngidi will hope to be passed fit•AFP/Getty Images

A decision will be made on Bavuma prior to the toss, as he sweats on a hamstring strain that has quietly overshadowed his team’s entire build-up. Reeza Hendricks is a very capable understudy, of course, and made 85 against England when Bavuma was once again absent, but the optics of the captain’s potential absence from a World Cup semi-final transcend the nitty-gritty of mere sporting matters. The team’s equilibrium is not helped by similar concerns surrounding Lungi Ngidi, who twice failed to complete his overs against India and Afghanistan while struggling with an ankle issue. He has been passed fit, but could yet make way for Gerald Coetzee, with Tabraiz Shamsi seemingly inked in for what is expected to be a turning pitch, alongside Keshav Maharaj, whose ascension to the ICC’s No. 1 ranking is a pre-match vote of confidence. Andile Phehlukwayo is also in contention, potentially in place of Marco Jansen, whose devastating impact when on song has been offset by two notably off-days against Sri Lanka and India, in which he was twice taken for more than 90 runs.South Africa (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Temba Bavuma (capt)/Reeza Hendricks, 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marco Jansen/Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Lungi Ngidi/Gerald Coetzee, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Pitch and conditions

Another black-soil surface at Eden Gardens promises turn for the spinners and sluggish but true bounce for the quicks, if the events of England’s group-stage win over Pakistan are anything to go by. The X-factor on this occasion could be the weather, with rain potentially entering the equation, depending on which app you use for your radar. There is, at least, a reserve day, so South Africa should be spared some of the permutation-based agonies that have chequered their World Cup history. “We’ll turn up expecting to play a 50-over match tomorrow,” Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, said. “If that shifts on us, we can adjust as needed. It feels like it hasn’t really rained here for the last couple of months, so to see the weather looking like that for two days is not ideal.”

Stats and trivia

• Australia and South Africa have played each other on seven previous occasions at World Cups, and their recent is, on the face of it, an even split. Three wins each and one infamous tie, at Edgbaston in 1999.
• However, in their two World Cup knockout encounters, the semi-finals in 1999 and 2007, Australia have come through on each occasion, and gone on to lift the trophy each time.
• In their overall head-to-head in ODIs, South Africa have a slight edge – with 55 wins to Australia’s 50, including their very first meeting at the 1992 World Cup, and 15 wins in their last 18 meetings, dating back to September 2016.
• Maxwell needs 108 runs to reach 4000 in ODIs, while Warner needs 104 to reach 7000.
• With 22 wickets to date, Zampa needs six more in a maximum of two games to set a new record for a single World Cup, beating the 27 that his team-mate Mitchell Starc claimed in 2019.

Quotes

“It’s hard to speak on their behalf, but I do know each World Cup, it does seem to be the story that South Africa haven’t quite achieved, obviously, what they set out to do.”
“There’s a sense of calmness within the team and obviously the normal level of anxiety that you would expect of going into the game tomorrow. But I think we’ll take a lot of confidence with our performances up until this point. But yeah, I don’t think I’ll be going around giving guys hugs.”

England were bundled out for sub-200 scores in both innings and end the series with a lot to ponder

Alex Malcolm01-Feb-2025These will forever be known as Alana King’s Ashes. Australia’s legspinner delivered another spellbinding performance at the MCG to ensure England were whitewashed 16 points to nil for the first time in the multi-format era after an innings and 122 rout inside three days.King took her maiden Test five-wicket haul, nine for the match and 23 for the series at a 11.17 to equal Ash Gardner’s record haul of 23 scalps in the 2023 Ashes and finish as Player of the Series.Gardner took 4 for 39 to cap a wonderful series. The spin duo bowled 47.4 overs together unchanged to claim the last nine wickets of the match and allow England to start their recriminations a day early.It was a day of celebration for Australia with Beth Mooney earlier becoming just the fourth female and the first Australian to score international centuries in all three formats, making 106 as the hosts piled up 440 and a first innings lead of 270, their second-highest such lead in a women’s Test. Annabel Sutherland was Player of the Match for her 163.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Despite taking four wickets in the first innings, and having multiple chances missed, captain Alyssa Healy oddly waited 22 overs in England’s second innings before throwing King the ball. England had shown some resilience with Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight compiling a half-century stand and looking relatively untroubled after Maia Bouchier had her middle stump flattened by Darcie Brown in the first over to end a miserable tour.But when King and Gardner were finally locked in tandem, they created carnage just as they had done throughout the ODI series. With England 79 for 1, Knight bunted a catch to short leg where Phoebe Litchfield held her second sharp close catch of the match.King then bamboozled Nat Sciver-Brunt for the second time in the match and the fourth time in the series. Sciver-Brunt had spoken after her first innings half-century about wanting to play King off the back foot despite twice being bowled playing back, including on day one for 51.She changed tack in the second, instead pushing forward at every opportunity and sweeping anything pitching outside leg. King forced a leading edge that landed just wide of silly mid-off and then fizzed another past the outside edge, but Sciver-Brunt did well to hold the line.With that set-up, she played for turn on the front foot trying to defend and King got one to skid into her front pad and trap her lbw. Sciver-Brunt took a review with her to underscore how deceived she was.Sophia Dunkley was bowled by a ripping Alana King legbreak•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

King then delivered the ball of the series to Sophia Dunkley. She drifted one outside leg at 72.1kph, ala Shane Warne to Mike Gatting, it dipped and pitched and spun sharply past Dunkley’s forward defence and crashed into the top of off. There was an audible gasp from the 11,804 in attendance when the replay came up on the big screens. It meant Dunkley was in no doubt as to what had happened, unlike Gatting.Danni Wyatt-Hodge avoided falling to King for a fourth time as Sciver-Brunt, instead meekly sweeping Gardner straight to short fine.King’s third and fourth scalps were from arguably her two worst balls. Beaumont dragged on from a non-committal jab at a shorter legbreak wide of off for 47.Ryana MacDonald-Gay had been strangely upbeat in the press conference on the second night, but her mood would surely have shifted after hitting a rank full toss from King straight to deep midwicket.In the midst of those two dismissals, Mooney took an excellent catch off Gardner via a thick deflection from Amy Jones’ outside edge.
Sophie Ecclestone’s bizarre Test match concluded when she top-edged a long-hop from Gardner to midwicket.With both spinners on four wickets each, the race to join Peggy Antonio on Australia’s bowling honours board at the MCG was comical as skied balls and edges somehow evaded fielders hands. Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer faced the most balls ever for a 10th wicket pair in women’s Tests before Filer finally chipped one to catching mid-on.Beth Mooney became the fourth woman to score a century in all three forms•Getty Images

Earlier, Mooney joined Sutherland on the MCG honours board as the second century maker in the Australia’s innings.Having spent the night unbeaten on 98, Mooney looked a bundle of nerves through the first five balls of the day. Ecclestone beat her twice and she nearly caused a mix-up trying to invent a non-existent single. But off the last ball of the over she breathed a huge sigh of relief as Ecclestone dropped short to allow her to punch two off the back foot through point and raise her arms aloft.Thereafter, England finally had a decent hour as they held their catches to reward their bowlers. Ecclestone gave Tahlia McGrath nothing to hit before she skipped out to the wrong line and dragged a catch to mid-on.Filer then cranked up the pace despite having delivered 21 overs on day two. She had Kim Garth caught behind for a third-ball duck and could have easily had Mooney lbw from around the wicket in the next over. Mooney was initially given not out and DRS showed it was umpire’s call on impact in line with off but it was crashing into middle.Mooney’s luck continued five balls later when she gloved down the legside but Amy Jones caught it while part of the ball brushed the ground as it entered her gloves. Filer was finally rewarded when she clattered Mooney’s off stump with the left-hander playing down the wrong line.In between, Ecclestone pinned King lbw for 3 which brought Ellyse Perry to the crease at No.10 for the first time in her career. It was odd that Perry was fit to bat but came in behind Garth and King. But the moment she ran her first runs, a two to wide long-off, it was clear she was in a lot of discomfort with her corked left hip. She chipped a return catch back to Ecclestone to end the innings and unjustly dent her extraordinary Test average.Australia had bizarrely lost 5 for 9 despite their extraordinary batting depth and handed Ecclestone her third Test five-wicket haul, albeit her most expensive ahead of the 5 for 129 she took in the last Ashes Test in Nottingham.