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ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2016Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli then started to rebuild India’s innings at brisk pace•Getty ImagesBoth batsmen scored fifties as they took their stand past 100•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesSoon after Kohli got to his half-century, he was run out by Kane Richardson whose bullet throw from the fine leg boundary found him almost a foot short•Associated PressRohit, however, carried on to score his second successive century, before also being run out•Getty ImagesAjinkya Rahane’s 89 took India to 8 for 308, even as Australia thwarted India’s innings with late wickets towards the death•AFPAustralia began the 300-plus chase briskly, with Shaun Marsh helping himself to seven fours and a six•Getty ImagesHe received ample support from Aaron Finch, who also compiled a brisk 71•Getty ImagesThe pair’s 145-run opening partnership laid a strong platform for the hosts•Getty ImagesIndia fought back with the wickets of both batsmen in quick succession, with Kohli holding on to a high catch to dismiss Marsh•Getty ImagesSteven Smith then chipped in with 46 before being cleaned up by Umesh Yadav•Getty ImagesIndia searched hard for wickets, but George Bailey’s calculated blast – 76 off 58 balls – ensured Australia once again gunned down a 300-plus total without breaking a sweat•Getty Images

Virat Kohli’s numbers in run-chases continue to astound, while Australia’s losing streak against India continues

S Rajesh27-Mar-2016122.83 Virat Kohli’s average in successful run-chases in T20Is – he has scored 737 runs with nine not-outs, at a strike rate of 131. In all run-chases he averages 91.80, at a strike rate of 132.65. His unbeaten 82 here is also his highest when batting second.918 Runs for Kohli in run-chases, the second highest among all batsmen in T20I. Only Brendon McCullum has scored more, but his 1006 runs came in 38 innings, compared to Kohli’s 918 in 19. Among batsmen with at least 300 runs in chases, his average is easily the highest.66.83 Kohli’s T20I average against Australia: he has scored 401 runs in nine innings, with three not-outs. In chases against Australia, he averaged 33 in four innings before today; after this game, that average has gone up to 53.50. Kohli’s aggregate of 401 is the second best by any batsman against one team in T20Is, next only to Martin Guptill’s 424 in ten innings against South Africa.6 Consecutive T20Is that India have won against Australia, starting with the Rajkot win in October 2013. It equals the most successive wins by one of the top eight teams against another: England had six in a row against New Zealand between 2008 and 2013.9 Wins for India against Australia in T20Is, the most for them against any opposition. It’s also the most defeats for Australia against any opposition.12.83 James Faulkner’s economy rate against India in the last five overs in T20Is: he has gone for 92 runs in 43 balls, and has taken one wicket (average 92.00). Against all other teams, he has an economy rate of 8.79, and an average of 10.40 (20 wickets for 208 runs in 142 balls).

53 Australia’s total after four overs, their second highest at that stage in a T20I. Their highest is 55, against West Indies in Sydney in 2010. They reached 50 in 3.2 overs in that game, compared to 3.5 today.51 Runs scored by Australia in ten overs from the 5th to the 14th. During this period they played 26 dots, took 31 singles, six twos, and hit only three fours.22 Runs conceded by Ashwin in his first over today. Only once has he gone for more in an over: against Australia in Rajkot, he leaked 24 in an over, including three sixes.39 Innings to get to 1500 T20I runs for Kohli, the fastest among all batsmen. The previous quickest was 44 innings, by Chris Gayle.

Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh gave Australia a template for successful batting in Asia before their platform was wasted. Australia will reflect that it was progress at least to have a position to squander in the first place

Daniel Brettig in Colombo15-Aug-20161:29

‘It was really challenging out there’ – Shaun Marsh

Early in his innings, on the second evening, Steven Smith went back to try to cut Rangana Herath off the line of the stumps. The ball skidded through, Smith was hurried in his shot, and the ball skittered away for no run. Immediately, Smith reeled away in self-recriminating histrionics, angry at himself for taking the same risk that resulted in his dismissal in Galle.Of all his Test hundreds, this was perhaps Smith’s most draining. He has had a difficult tour, his first experience of defeat as captain, and tried several methods to succeed as a batsman in a region where he had never scored a century.There had been extremes of approach in Pallekele; first a harebrained charge down the pitch that precipitated a ruinous first innings, then a highly disciplined second innings wagon wheel; his scoring was restricted almost exclusively to leg side deflections until Rangana Herath found a way through. In Galle, Smith tried something in between with limited success, before, if anything, adding a few more shots to the locker at the SSC.Importantly, he chose to add the inside out drive over cover to his methods of scoring off Herath, a shot the left-arm spinner is known to detest almost as much as the blow to the groin that took him from the field for periods of days two and three. Smith was then able to rejoice in the success of Shaun Marsh, and mark a milestone of his own: a first hundred in Asia and the first signs that Australia might be able to find a workable blueprint to defeat India at home in February-March 2017.There were plenty of cues to be taken from the way Marsh went about his own business: covering his stumps, not being perturbed by balls that spun and capitalising on anything fractionally loose. There was also liberal use of the sweep shot – the result of overnight discussion between Marsh, the coach Darren Lehmann and the team analyst Dene Hills – including for the nibble down leg side that took him to three figures for the fourth time in Tests.”I was just trying to stick to my game plan,” Marsh said. “Trying to play for the straight ball and if it spun past me so be it. I was basically trying to do that over and over again and it was really challenging out there. It was good fun.”Last night night when [Dilruwan Perera] came over the wicket to me, he caused me a few little problems. So I had a good chat with Boof and Dene Hills last night and it was certainly something for me to come out today and play that shot. It worked well. I was very relieved when it was called runs … I thought I got a little bit of glove there…”But even as Smith and Marsh went on to a put together a stand of 246, the highest second wicket stand in Tests between Australia and Sri Lanka, the feeling remained that danger was only ever a ball or two away.Smith and Marsh made a significant stride in Australia’s efforts to find a better way in these conditions, but once they were dismissed, there was soon a reminder of how much more needs to be done by others. Having ascended as high as 267 for 1, the last nine went down for 112.Australia’s batsmen will perhaps look back on day three as one of missed opportunities•AFPThis was not, in fairness, an unprecedented occurrence in these parts. Plenty of Australian teams have fallen in similar heaps after a big stand is broken. In 2001 in India it happened virtually every time Matthew Hayden got out, in 2010 likewise after Ricky Ponting’s exit. The progress made in Colombo was the fact that at least one partnership had been formed, so for once there was actually a platform to squander.Even so, the litany that followed the dismissals of Marsh (to pace) and Smith will be a source of further concern for the coach Darren Lehmann and whoever is chosen to work as his full-time batting assistant after this tour. The inclusion of Moises Henriques as a No. 5 batsman reached a sad, yet foreseeable conclusion; the New South Wales allrounder poking around nervously until drawn out of his crease by Herath. While serious injury and a preponderance of Twenty20 assignments have made it hard for Henriques, the fact remained that the most recent of his four first-class hundreds was as far back as March 2015. Expecting another one here was asking a lot.Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh and Peter Nevill all showed varying signs of improvement, trying to adapt the clam style earlier exhibited by Smith and Shaun Marsh. Voges was perhaps unfortunate to be given out on a marginal lbw call, and Marsh could at least toast his first 50 since his second Test, against Pakistan in the UAE near enough to two years ago. Nevill’s latest low score was a cause for more worries, as the wait for substantial runs from a wicketkeeper with a strong first-class record continues. A dropped catch in Australia’s brief stint in the field was a sign of sapped confidence, and Nevill’s edge on other suitors for the gloves will not last if that continues.In all, this was a day in which Australia found the first few green shoots of genuine progress in Asia, yet still found themselves in a dicey position by the time stumps were drawn. Smith will be frustrated with this of course. At least he now has helped to fashion a working example of how his batsmen should operate in this part of the world.

Stats highlights from a day in Kanpur dominated by India

Bharath Seervi24-Sep-201615.60 Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling average in Tests in Asia – the best by any bowler with 50 or more wickets. There is some distance to the second best on this list: Richie Benaud with 19.32.12.53 Jadeja’s bowling average in first-class matches since start of September last year – best among all 389 bowlers who have taken 20 or more wickets in this period. He has taken 80 wickets in just 12 matches, including 11 five-wicket hauls. No other bowler has taken these many five-fors over this one year.7 Runs for which New Zealand lost their last five wickets – their second-lowest in an away Test. They collapsed from 255 for 5 to 262 all out. They had lost their last five wickets for five runs in Colombo (SSC) in 1992-93.2 Instances when India bowlers dismissed six batsmen lbw in a Test innings, including this Test. The first was in Mohali in 1994-95 against West Indies.86.20 Kane Williamson’s average in Tests as captain. He has made five scores of 50 or more in seven innings when leading his team so far. His average is easily one of the highest as captain.1 Runs made by Ross Taylor in his last three Test innings. He had made 1 & 0 in the Centurion Test before bagging another duck in the first innings of this Test. But in the series against Zimbabwe, just before the South Africa tour, he had accumulated 365 runs in three innings without getting dismissed.3 Instances of three century partnerships for the second wicket in a Test, including this Test. The last such Test was in 1972-73 at the MCG between Australia and Pakistan. The only other was the Ashes Test of 1953 at Lord’s.2008 Last time India’s top-three batsmen made scores of 30 or more in both innings of a Test – against Australia in Mohali. This was the fifth such instance and incidentally the second at Green Park. They had done the same against West Indies here in 1958-59.11.60 Average partnership between KL Rahul and M Vijay in Tests, before this match. They had accumulated only 58 runs in five stands, with a best of 48. In this Test, they have had partnerships of 42 and 52.

Plays of the day from the one-off T20 between England and Pakistan

Melinda Farrell at Old Trafford07-Sep-2016The header
Pakistan’s fielding has been the subject of some derision throughout the tour but no one could accuse Imad Wasim of failing to put his body – or, rather, his head – on the line. After the bowling the first over, Imad was fielding at cover when Alex Hales smashed a short ball from Sohail Tanvir to his left. After committing to the dive, Imad was foiled by an awkward bounce and copped a nasty blow to the side of his head. He soon left the field for treatment but, luckily for Pakistan, he recovered and returned to immediately claim the wicket of Jason Roy.The thunderbolt
He may, at times, be inconsistent but when his dander is up Wahab Riaz is undoubtedly a bowler of great spells. With only 24 deliveries to send down he built up a head of steam and bowled with ferocity and blinding pace. Four times during the 14th over he topped 93mph, but he only needed the first one to produce a vital breakthrough. Jos Buttler did well to just connect with a short and wide delivery that was clocked at a whopping 96.4mph but, in doing so, sliced the ball straight to deep point and into the waiting grasp of substitute fielder, Amad Butt.The carry
In the final over of England’s innings, Moeen Ali attempted to hoick Wahab over cover. In turning to run back for the catch, Babar Azam appeared to twist his ankle and dropped to the ground in obvious pain as the ball plopped down safely. With only two deliveries remaining, Shoaib Malik took matters quite literally into his own hands. In an impressive show of strength, Malik scooped Babar up into his arms and carted him off the field with all the speed and eagerness of a groom ferrying his bride across the threshold, impatient to get the wedding night started. Who says romance is dead?The ringer
T20 specialist Khalid Latif was flown in especially for this match and justified the airfare in the second over, in which he belted Chris Jordan – who, before the match, had said he felt confident opening the bowling – for four boundaries. Maybe Latif had decided to save his legs after the long haul flight but Sharjeel Khan was also keen to avoid any excess running. The pair hammered ten boundaries in the opening four overs and Pakistan’s first 36 runs came without the batsmen leaving their crease, much to the deafening delight of the vuvuzela wielding crowd.

Staring at the prospect of a big fourth innings target, Sri Lanka went through the motions in an uninspiring effort in the field on day three

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Port Elizabeth28-Dec-2016Fielders loiter on the boundary prodding the turf with their boots, and, when the ball comes their way, almost fall over in surprise. Bowlers traipse in with a hodgepodge, hedging-your-bets field, no clear plan about where the ball should go, no visible intent, no zip off the pitch, or movement, or bounce and barely a whimper at the misfields, let alone an angry grunt.The infielders watch balls scorch past, then fail to back up the return throws. Catchers spend hours caressingly shining the ball, then fend it fiercely away when the chance comes.They’ve decided there’s nothing in the pitch. They want their time in the field to end. Welcome to Sri Lanka’s declaration dance.To even call this a dance may be misleading since dances, in general, betoken some form of energy or fun. This from Sri Lanka had none of the greased joy of a baila gyration, or the high-society snobbery of a waltz. This was like watching one of those tortured sloth bears on an animal rescue ad. Day three moved so slowly it may as well have been in chains.It was in the second and third sessions that Sri Lanka were effectively waterboarded for five consecutive hours, but even before then, strategic vexations had set in. Angelo Mathews brought himself on as first change in the morning, as he routinely does outside Asia. However, little in his Test-bowling history suggests he can be effective in that role.Mathews is a prolific beater of edges, not a taker of them. In Tests, he is forever the bowler that looks like he could be handy, without ever actually turning out to be handy. It has been 30 overs now since he has last taken a wicket. The wicket before that had been 53 in the making. All up, that’s 83 Test overs for a single breakthrough, even if he has been the most miserly bowler in most innings. Only 10 of those overs came on the dustier tracks at home.In the evening session, Mathews was seen warming up for another spell when Sri Lanka could have actually used his control to dry up runs, but this time he was the man who looked like he should be bowling without ever actually turning out to be bowling. The lunging and stretching turned out just to be part of the dance. They had a man who conceded only 10 runs from four overs early in the day, but instead Sri Lanka stuck with folks who finished with economy rates of 5.72, 5.69, 4.64, and 3.8. Fifty-seven runs were surrendered in the last 10 overs of the day.Even on toilsome days, when a breakthrough comes, the best teams fence in the next batsman. They put chattering men around the bat, the bowlers lope in with extra pep, the pitch becomes their house and the new man an unwelcome stranger in it. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, were only too glad to treat Faf du Plessis to a spread field and a spread of modest bowling. After about 10 balls du Plessis had raided the fridge for beer, put his feet up on the coffee table, and was scratching his genitals with the TV remote. After 20 balls, he hadn’t struck a boundary but was on 15. After 35, Sri Lanka had effectively vacated the premises and told him he was free to host his own friends, or a rager, or an orgy.And where good teams might, on difficult days, stack the legside and send balls at the ribs, or pack the offside and angle balls right across the batsman, or try something innovative, anything with a little panache, Sri Lanka instead preferred to play without a pulse. Fields were indistinguishable from bowler to bowler. At the end of the day, poor Suranga Lakmal fronted bravely for the media, and suggested Sri Lanka were still trying to win the match.”We actually want to go after the target,” Lakmal said. “We have two full days and we are well prepared. We are determined to chase even 500 runs. Any game can be changed. We need just two batsmen to get set and then even a 500 chase may not be tough.”The pitch, he said, had now started to favour batsmen. Only yesterday Sri Lanka were shot out for 205. At such time as South Africa decide to set Sri Lanka a target, it may turn out that the pitch has become good for bowling again.The thing with the declaration dance is that it rarely fails to be followed by the conga-line collapse.

Plays of the day from the opening T20I between India and England in Kanpur features some good fielding and the ball boy menace

Alagappan Muthu26-Jan-2017Deja vu
There must have been nights when Adil Rashid lay in bed thinking about a catch he dropped on this tour, in Visakhapatnam. It cost 111 runs, and some suggest the Test series turned right there. England, who had begun with a draw Rajkot, lost every match that followed and the reprieved batsman Virat Kohli hasn’t stopped tormenting them yet. He was at long leg when he made that mistake then, and was at long leg again in Kanpur; the sight of the ball coming at him both familiar and butterfly-inducing in the stomach. Nevertheless, Rashid ran forward, slid smoothly on his knees, picked up a catch that was rather more difficult than the one he missed two months earlier and India had lost Yuvraj Singh, one of their power hitters, with 10 overs still left to bat. Not that Rashid could indulge in his relief straight away, the umpires wanted a closer look to make sure it was cleanly taken. England decided that was enough excitement for their premier legspinner and did not have him bowl.The dying dream
The dream for most kids as they shadow practice in the backyard is to smack a fast bowler back over his head for six. The sanctity of that is under serious threat as the age of 360 degree batsmen gains steam. Sam Billings, as early as the second over of the innings, waddled to his right, head perfectly still, eyes firmly on the target, and for his trouble he got the perfect delivery to show off his skills. Jasprit Bumrah pitched it on a length which in the mind of the modern batsmen means it is ripe to be scooped and Billings got so much bat on it that the ball sailed past the boundary behind him.The obstacles in disguise
England are in enemy territory. They have had to worry about India’s spinners. They have had to fret over the size of their totals. The toss. And Kohli. Kedar Jadhav joined the list. Even the dew played against them. Finally, at the tail end of a long series, just as Eoin Morgan’s men thought they had a proper count of all the obstacles they faced, another popped up. The first sighting was in the ODIs, in Cuttack, and Ben Stokes copped a face full of it. In Kanpur, Jason Roy was caught in the firing line. He began courting danger when he decided to chase a lofted Kohli square drive to the boundary and eventually crashed right into it. Poor England. They thought they had planned for everything. But never did they see the ball boys, not the one who hit Stokes on the mouth last week, nor the one who interfered with Roy’s fielding effort tonight.The flashing lights
It was all in the sound. At first, it was thwack, the ball pinging off the middle of Suresh Raina’s bat as a length ball from Ben Stokes disappeared into the night sky and the Green Park faithful erupted for one of their own. But then they were silenced, by a crash, and the sight of flashing red, as the next ball from the angry fast bowler was aimed at the base of leg stump and the batsman had shuffled too far across and was clean bowled by a rip-roaring yorker.

With their playoffs spot on the line, Kings XI Punjab’s decision to take the the high-risk, high-reward path of batting Mumbai out of the game paid off on a true Wankhede surface

Nikhil Kalro in Mumbai12-May-2017When Mumbai Indians opted to bowl first on a favourable chasing ground, Kings XI Punjab were faced with two options in a must-win game: take the safer route of scoring a par total and then depend on their strong bowling attack, or tread the high-risk, high-reward path and bat Mumbai out of the game.Prior to this match, Mumbai had successfully chased four times in five games at the Wankhede Stadium this season. In addition, they had also overhauled Kings XI’s 198 in Mohali inside 16 overs a few games ago. Given the nature of the Wankhede surface as being favourable to even pace and bounce, coupled with the short boundaries and the possibility of dew influencing the game as the night wore on, Kings XI chose the second option.Was it the right choice? Did they give themselves a fail-safe? By attacking from the outset, Kings XI allowed themselves two routes to victory as opposed to one, if they wanted to open the first door.How? Teams batting second prefer to time their chases depending on their target. Low-risk options are used when the field spreads, games drift on with the illusion of control and, as happens in the closing stages of T20s, an event – a wicket, a boundary, even a dot – changes the momentum. So, if Kings XI stumbled to a sub-par score, like they did against Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous game, they could also depend on quality defensive bowling in the second half of a chase. But if their high-risk attacking approach came off, then they would not only negate the disadvantage of losing the toss, but also improve their own chances exponentially.Kings XI promoted Wriddhiman Saha to exploit the fielding restrictions. Martin Guptill didn’t even give himself a sighter. He played two attacking strokes in the first three balls, the second of which flew just over first slip’s hand. It may have been an entirely different narrative if it was caught; so fine are the margins in T20. “In this match, I was told that I have to play hard in the first six overs,” Saha said of Kings XI’s tactics. “With Maxwell, he told me we can’t let the momentum go.”Only Kings XI’s top five were needed to bat. All of them played at least 13 balls each; among them, Axar Patel had the lowest strike rate: 146.15. Kings XI scored 100 runs off the first eight overs and 99 off the final nine. They asked Mumbai to complete the highest successful chase in the history of the tournament to book a spot in the first qualifier.After their bowling effort, captain Rohit Sharma led a spirited talk in a huddle. In an era of big bats, improved batting repertoire and pyrotechnical hitting, Mumbai weren’t out of the game in the face of the mammoth total. England had chased 230 at the Wankhede Stadium in last year’s World T20 in similar conditions. Mumbai even had the advantage of another packed crowd.Mumbai’s openers – Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel – added 99 runs in 52 balls, which meant Mumbai were never going to be completely out of the hunt thereafter. Even though they came pretty close to losing their way when Nitish Rana holed out to deep midwicket, their substantial hitting depth kept the chase alive. Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya even afforded themselves a couple of sighters. That, however, pushed Mumbai’s target to 83 off the last 30 balls. “When a side scores 230, more often than not, you don’t give yourself a chance,” Pollard said after the match.That’s the game gone in previous generations, even previous IPL editions. But it’s cricket in 2017: burly men, massive bats and thinking cricketers. Not much is out of their range. Not even 83 off 30 balls.The next three overs went for 60, with four fours and six sixes; 10 boundaries in 18 balls. Fatigue, possibly the only hindrance to hitting nowadays, was beginning to influence the game, though. On a typically humid May evening in Mumbai, Pollard, having had to scamper twos to retain strike, was tiring out. “Pollard was batting well, but he was tired,” Saha said. “Even when we were batting, when they bowled good yorkers, we weren’t able to hit, even we were tired.””In this match, I was told that I have to play hard in the first six overs,” Wriddhiman Saha said of Kings XI’s tactics•BCCIJust one boundary, a muscular heave over cow corner, came off the final two overs, and Kings XI kept their playoffs chances alive. Mohit Sharma executed five yorkers in the final over, and conceded two runs off those. Mumbai witnessed another slug-fest, another match completely dominated by batsmen, but it was the bowlers that won Kings XI the game.”We call that a bowler’s graveyard,” Pollard said. “We stuck to our guns, these are the kind of games you want going into the playoffs. It proves we are humans, you can’t win every game. We keep improving; we had a dismal performance against Sunrisers but we bounced back pretty well.”We’re playing against professionals in their own right, it’s not every day you’re going to turn up and win. No need to panic. In life, there’s always someone worse off than you. We’ve qualified. First step in every tournament is to qualify, we haven’t taken our foot off the gas.”These are the moments you practice for. Once you’re in the middle, the pressure is not as hard as actually watching it. For me, it was pretty easy because I was in the middle.”

Fans, journalists, cameramen and casual observers – all of them wanted to be amid the players who received a rousing welcome upon arrival in Mumbai

Annesha Ghosh in Mumbai26-Jul-20171:13

India women return home to a grand welcome

The felicitation function of the Indian women’s team on Wednesday served the perfect prelude to the more stately event that beckons in New Delhi on Thursday. At the press conference which Mithali Raj addressed soon after landing, there were at least 60 journalists and cameramen, five times more than the number she addressed while departing for England for the World Cup.The frenzy at the airport on arrival was such that it took Raj and ten others – part of the second batch of players and support staff who arrived from London around 9am – at least an hour to leave the premises and drive to the hotel that was no more than a five-minute drive.Through that one hour, it appeared as though the media had taken upon themselves to expiate for the sins of an entire nation that had conveniently chosen to be oblivious to the existence of nearly four generations of women cricketers. Raj, having endured non-recognition for the larger part of her career, like her peer Jhulan Goswami, however, didn’t fail to acknowledge what the reception meant to the team.”Obviously, it’s quite overwhelming to see such kind of a reception. It’s first of its kind for all of us,” Raj said. “I did face something similar [in terms of our outcome in the final], not exactly similar, but a little lesser in 2005. But then there was no BCCI. At that time, I was wondering had we been under BCCI, what kind of reaction we would have or what kind of feedback we would have got back home. But today I can actually feel it’s such a huge thing. It’s just the beginning of good times for women’s cricket.”When asked if the INR 50 lakh (approx US $77,800) cash reward announced by the BCCI was enough to do justice to the team’s commitment, Raj, with her trademark subtlety, volleyed the question towards her younger team-mates: “If you were to ask me, I’ve been playing since 1999, when there were no monetary benefits. You must ask this to the players who’ve just come into the side.”Among those who giggled at Raj’s response was Smriti Mandhana, who expressed her astonishment at the adulation the team received, not just upon landing, but also on social media in the aftermath of the final. “We, as women cricketers, saw it for the first time,” she said. “If we would have won, it would have been sweeter. But the team has done reasonably well and perhaps, India is acknowledging that – it showed at the airport.”That Deepti Sharma, India’s leading wicket-taker at the tournament, had to be assisted thrice to extricate the wheels of her kit bag, within the matter of 15-odd steps, from underneath the cables dangling around the jostling television cameramen, was only one of the many welcome oddities that played out during the team’s arrival. “I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to get to the bus with my luggage,” laughed Deepti later in the team hotel.Players happily posed with fans and journalists upon arrival in Mumbai•ESPNcricinfo/Annesha GhoshUpon arrival, it didn’t take long for the players to notice that the lobby of the hotel had transformed itself into an unofficial mixed zone. As the bustle around the player interviews gathered strength with each passing minute, out came the fans – some guests, some guests of guests, others possibly uninvited guests. What united them in their purpose, though, was the pride in their eyes as they walked up to the newly christened ‘Harmonster’ and the ‘queen of cool’ for selfies.Among the admirers, was Jyoti Parmar, a former Maharashtra player, who could barely resist getting the perfect snap with Veda Krishnamurthy, who unfailingly complied with every request despite looking haggard in her official travel kit. “It’s like when people are rushing in a very popular temple,” she said. “It was just like that and we were at centre stage.”Allrounder Shikha Pandey, too, echoed a similar sense of disbelief in trying to “make sense” of the atmosphere. “All of us still have the thing lingering on that we could have seen the team over the line. But seeing the reception here, you can’t help but think what would have happened if we had indeed won the World Cup,” she said. “I was wondering how the men cricketers feel like all the time.”That the day promised to have the most incredulous incidents in store had been established early. Ahead of Raj’s arrival, a group of four gathered around the space behind the photographers’ cordon facing the exit gate. As they began unfurling a polythene banner, whispers among the photographers, mostly male, took on the form of a guesswork game: are they part of a fan club?They wondered if it could be one of the newly-formed Madhana or Harmanpreet fan clubs that may have leaped straight out of Twitter and manifested their presence at the airport. Or, as opined by a creaky voice in innocuous jest, they could also be part of some “mahila morcha” (women’s rally) which wanted to drive home a bigger message by their presence. But the other-worldly beings dressed in corporate attire outright ruled out the last possibility.”Being an only-in-spirit kind of sponsor doesn’t cut it. We had to be here in person, for Mithali and her girls,” explained D Pooja Kumar, a leader of marketing with one of Raj’s sponsors, as she frantically helped the company, mount the roll-up standee.Moments after they had accomplished their job at hand, all hell broke loose when the news of Raj’s flight having arrived broke out. Every step Raj took thereafter was conveyed, via WhatsApp, to either one of the MCA officials or the group of the 15 former India and Maharashtra women players tasked with overseeing the felicitation. As information of Raj nearing the exit gate came about, chants of “India, India” and “captain, captain” rang loud. The change in tenor was seamless; the origin of the chorus symbolic.Junior female cricketers of the Mumbai Cricket Association were excited to greet the World Cup team•ESPNcricinfo/Annesha GhoshJust before Raj arrived, her sponsors expressed confidence in their potential plans for including more India players into their contract base. The utterance couldn’t have been timelier. “Until now, we didn’t have many of them [the players], but there’s a reason to sign more of these girls,” Kumar said.The scene that welcomed Raj at little over 9am was similar to how it was when the first batch arrived in the wee hours. Nearly 100 female cricketers – from Mumbai’s senior and Under-19 teams – had travelled from Virar and Shivaji Park, the city’s two vertically distant ends – to welcome the team. Among the young players was Jemimah Rodrigues, captain of the Mumbai Under-19 team.”Our off-season camp is on, but we came here because we wanted to thank the team and Mithali Raj,” she said. “They have set the standards for us in this World Cup, to look up to them and become like them.”While Rodrigues’ decision may have been founded on her cricketing connection, it was difficult to spot any visual clue to ascertain the reason behind Hafim Tamim, a 48-year old trader from Gujarat, lingering around the main exit from 2am along with a dozen other fans.”I had come to receive my younger brother. He’s already here, but I saw the banners [of the women’s team put up by the MCA] and we’ve decided to wait for them to arrive,” he said. “I hadn’t seen them play before this World Cup. I wanted see the India women’s team today. I had little idea girls play cricket.”For Tamim and millions others in the country, ‘seeing’ is now almost synonymous to ‘believing’ – in the trade of the women cricketers and their proficiency in the same. It is the same belief Harmanpreet Kaur, nearly 12 hours later, exuded when asked if the reality of the reception could likely take longer to sink in than her unbeaten 171 against Australia.”That was something. This reaction to our World Cup journey here in India is also something. It feels a little unreal being at the centre of it, but then, isn’t this what we’ve been waiting for so long?”

A round-up of all the key stats from the third – and final – day of the first Test at Edgbaston

Bharath Seervi19-Aug-2017 261/19 – West Indies’ score on the third day of the Test. They began the day with 44 for 1 and lost 19 wickets in the day to be all out for the second time. That was the most wickets they have lost in a Test day.384 – Wickets for Stuart Broad in Tests. He went past Ian Botham’s 383 to become England’s second highest wicket-taker behind his partner James Anderson (492). The last time England’s top-two wicket-takers played together were Fred Trueman and Brian Statham in 1963. Incidentally, Broad’s strike rate is identical to Botham’s, 56.9.556 – Number of balls faced by West Indies in this Test. Only six times they have been all out twice in a Test facing fewer balls and the last such instances was against England at Headingley in 2007 when they could bat only 475 balls. 5 – Number of bigger innings defeats for West Indies than the loss by an innings and 209 runs in this Edgbaston Test. Their top two worst defeats have also come against England, by an innings and 283 runs at Headingley in 2007 and an innings and 237 runs at The Oval in 1957.ESPNcricinfo Ltd 10 – Instances of West Indies not having a single 50-plus run partnership in a Test whenall out in both innings. In this Test, their highest stand was of 45. This is only their second such instance in the last ten years.2014 – Last time England won three or more consecutive Tests, which was against India. With this victory, England have won three Tests in a row including the last two Tests of the last series against South Africa. 7 – Consecutive Tests without a defeat for England at Edgbaston. The last they lost was to South Africa in 2008. Since then, they have won four and drawn two. 2009 – Last time West Indies were all out in fewer overs in their first innings of a Test than the 47 overs in this match, which was also against England, at Lord’s. 7 – Number of times West Indies have been asked to follow-on in the last four years, the most for any team. Sri Lanka have followed-on six times, Bangladesh twice and England once in this period. 40 – Wickets for Anderson at Edgbaston, the most by any bowler. He went past Fred Trueman’s 39 wickets at the venue. Anderson is also the highest wicket-taker at Lord’s and Old Trafford among England’s top venues.