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R Ashwin has stressed that putting pressure on David Warner and Steven Smith right from the first Test will be important in India’s plans for dominance

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-20170:53

Quick Facts – R Ashwin’s stellar numbers in 2016-17

India offspinner R Ashwin believes stifling the attacking instincts of Australia’s captain and vice-captain, Steven Smith and David Warner, will be the key to India’s success in the four-Test series against Australia, which starts in Pune next week.”I had some duels with Warner and the world knows they are great batsmen,” Ashwin told the . “But as I said, the key to this series is how well we start off.”More often than not, it’s about wearing the opposition down and if you can start doing that from the beginning, it gets easier towards the end. I know that Smith and Warner will play in their free-spirited fashion and if we can curb their natural instinct, play to our strengths and make them play to the pace that we want them to play, we will do a fine job.”After the ICC had rated the Nagpur pitch for the India-South Africa Test poor [the game finished inside three days], India’s home Tests over the last year-and-a-half have featured few surfaces that offer excess turn from the start with variable bounce. Ashwin said the nature of pitches was “not a big deal” for him, but felt the well-rolled pitches would help Australia’s batsmen, many of whom have never played a Test in India.”I think they will come prepared for what is in store. I was having a talk with (umpire) Kumar Dharmasena the other day on how differently they prepare pitches in Sri Lanka than they do it in India,” Ashwin said. “He was saying that the Indian curators roll the pitches to an extent that they go completely dead, something that Sri Lankans don’t. I think Sri Lanka produces some of the best wickets around the world while ours are slower in nature. But then, the Aussies will have to come to terms with the slowness of the Indian pitches, something that they are not used to.”Over the last year and a half, Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have become captain Virat Kohli’s go-to strike force. Since the start of the West Indies tour in August 2016, they have accounted for 127 wickets out of a total of 222 wickets in 13 Tests. Ashwin felt Jadeja’s unrelenting accuracy helped him get a little more creative at the other end.R Ashwin has said that Ravindra Jadeja’s accuracy allows him the liberty to experiment when bowling from the other end•Hindustan Times

“Jadeja is one who will not give anything away. That gives me the luxury to extend my imagination a lot more,” he said. “There are pockets of the game when we don’t get wickets and that is the time when I try to make things happen. During the Kanpur Test against New Zealand, Mitchell Santer and Luke Ronchi were going very well. Jadeja was bowling a tight line and I bowled a ball outside the leg-stump of Santner and got him to nick to gully on a slow pitch.”Those are exactly my strengths and when I don’t offer the same things over and over again, they try to do things to get the runs away and makes mistakes. So Jadeja and me, bowling the way we do, create opportunities for each other.”While Australia’s pace attack, led by Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, has been talked up as the biggest threat confronting India, Ashwin felt Nathan Lyon and the rest of Australia’s spinners could not be taken lightly.”Nathan Lyon is a fine bowler. He got a seven-for in New Delhi in the last Test Australia played against India,” he said. “He puts a lot of revs on the ball and we can’t take anything for granted. Then they have Ashton Agar, Steven O’ Keefe and they are no spring chickens and are pretty good bowlers and we have to play out of our skins. And don’t forget, we are always playing that one batsman short all the time.”When Ashwin was asked if he was surprised at not being the vice-captain despite being a direct selection across formats, he said he led without a title by playing key roles in India’s wins. “I have really crossed that stage, where I think I deserved this or being faced with decisions that is not in my hands,” he told . “I lead without a title. I end up playing a crucial part in most matches which India wins.”If there are some parameters cricket adapts, a lot of things will be different around cricket. But unfortunately cricket is not as professional as it should be. I have got to the stage where I have realised, I am not here to change the whole thing, but if it is possible for me to change things, I will. As of now, I am at peace with myself.”To be honest, I am not even sure if I want to be a vice-captain. I do a lot of hard work. So to try and think at what is not coming my way is way too demanding on my mind.”

Aditya Tare and Suryakumar Yadav’s unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 190 extended Mumbai’s lead to 429 with seven wickets in hand at stumps on day three

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2016
ScorecardSuryakumar Yadav hit 18 fours and a six in his unbeaten 97 as Mumbai extended their domination over Madhya Pradesh•Fotocorp

Suryakumar Yadav and Aditya Tare stamped their authority over Madhya Pradesh in Cuttack as Mumbai put one foot in the door of the Ranji Trophy final.Mumbai, who took a 144-run lead early on day three, pressed forward courtesy an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 190 between Suryakumar (97 not out) and Tare (90 not out) to end the day on 285 for 3, thereby opening up a lead of 429.MP’s hopes of eating into a deficit that stood at 174 at the start of the day were hinged on Naman Ojha, but his dismissal on his overnight score of 79 to Abhishek Nayar put paid to those hopes. MP, resuming on 197 for 5, were bowled out for 227, with Balwinder Sandhu, the medium pacer, who picked up three wickets in the morning, finishing with 5 for 43.Mumbai started shakily in their second innings as Akhil Herwadkar fell for a three-ball duck to Ishwar Pandey. But Bhavin Thakkar and Shreyas Iyer built the lead with an 85-run stand; Iyer did the bulk of the scoring in his 46-ball 58 before falling to Puneet Datey.The wicket of Thakkar shortly after, gave MP a lift, but it was all too brief as Mumbai’s current and former captain stamped their authority to put their team within touching distance of a place in the final for the first time in three seasons.

An injury concern to Graeme Swann overshadowed an encouraging performance by the England bowlers and Tim Bresnan’s century

The Report by George Dobell in Chelmsford01-Jul-2013
ScorecardGraeme Swann was struck a painful blow on his right forearm by Tymal Mills•Getty Images

It says much for England’s lacklustre performance in their Ashes warm-up match against Essex that it has, at times, been hard to distinguish which was the Test team tipped to win the Ashes and which the mid-table Division Two team.While England’s top-order struggled for runs and their bowlers struggled for potency, Essex have had the fastest bowler of the match, a legspinner with a five-wicket haul and the only man in the top seven of either side to register a half-century. England also spurned three distinctly catchable chances. Few will recall performances in this match if England go on to retain the Ashes but, on the evidence of this game, they are some way short of their best heading into the series.There are some mitigating factors. England are lacking their two first choice seam bowlers – Stuart Broad and James Anderson – from this game and came into it having played several weeks of white-ball cricket. Much the same could be said for Essex, too.Perhaps more pertinently, England were without Graeme Swann throughout Essex’s first innings on the second day after he sustained a blow to his right forearm while batting. Swann was struck by a delivery from Tymal Mills, by some distance the quickest bowler on either side, and while he batted for another nine overs in recording his highest first-class* score since he made 97 here six years ago, he was then taken to hospital for an X-ray. That showed no fracture, however, and while Swann will continue to receive treatment for bruising, he is expected to play a role with the ball later in the game.That will be a huge relief for England. While James Tredwell, probably the second choice spinner bearing in mind Australia’s preponderance of left-handers, fared pretty well in the Champions Trophy, he has yet to take a first-class wicket this season while Monty Panesar was recently dropped by Sussex and has taken only 16 wickets in eight first-class games at an average of 43.37. Swann may have missed Champions Trophy games due to back and calf injuries, but he remains very much the first-choice option for Tests.Swann was not the only England batsman to sustain a nasty blow from Mills. Tim Bresnan was struck in the same over, failing to duck out of the way of a bouncer and taking the ball on the grill of his helmet, but shrugged off the blow to reach the fourth first-class century of his career and his first since 2007.It was a timely contribution. Not only did his stand of 187 for England’s eighth-wicket with Swann rebuild the innings from a precarious position, but it provided a reminder of his all-round qualities. With a decision yet to be made over who will fill the third seamer’s spot, Bresnan’s lower-order runs might yet prove crucial. He batted very well, too. He brought up his chanceless and increasingly dominant century with a pull for six and England declared immediately.Still, this was an impressive performance from Mills. England requested that both he and Reece Topley play in this match in order to gain practice against left-arm bowling but, with Topley rested after several tough weeks of cricket, it was left to Mills to fill the role.He only took up cricket in his mid-teens and currently cannot generate the in-swing that he will require to sustain a career at this level but, blessed with raw pace and a wonderfully uncomplicated attitude, he could develop into a significant player. He has a reputation, probably a fair reputation, for over-doing the short ball but on this evidence that is not such a fault. Few batsmen could enjoy facing him.”It was the time to let them have a few,” Mills said afterwards. “The bowlers union went out of the window for a while there; you have to do what you have to do to get some wickets. It was a good opportunity for me to impress people at Essex and England. Hopefully this game will have earned me a chance to get back into the Essex side.”Tom Craddock also impressed. The legspinner, who had not claimed a first-class wicket this season before this game, completed the second five-wicket haul of his career in the morning session as Swann, caught at mid-on as he tried to clear the infield, fell six runs short of what would have be his first first-class century since 2002 and Steven Finn missed the next delivery, a standard legbreak. Craddock does not currently have a huge amount of variation but maintained a consistent line and length and, albeit on a helpful surface, turned his legbreak appreciably.In Swann’s absence, Kevin Pietersen and Joe Root were both called upon to bowl offspin. Pietersen was tidy initially but was then hit for three successive boundaries by the impressive Jaik Mickleburgh, while Root claimed career-best figures to underline his improvement as a bowler.Root claimed only one first-class wicket in the 2012 season but here demonstrated his growing control and just enough spin to encourage the occasional mistake. He remains very much a support bowler and would be the first to admit he was somewhat flattered by his figures that included a slogged catch from Saj Mahmood and a cut shot that hit the back of Owais Shah’s bat and looped to the keeper.England’s seamers, in effect competing for one place, enjoyed less happy days. Graham Onions, the pick of them, saw two chances go down off his bowling; one to Pietersen at mid-on offered by Hamish Rutherford on 10 and another when Matt Prior put down an outside edge when Ravi Bopara had 7. Later Pietersen put down another relatively simple chance at gully off the bowling of Finn to reprieve David Masters on 12.Mickleburgh has a career average of just 25.99 and, before this game, had managed only 217 runs in 11 first-class innings this season but looked compact and patient in registering his highest score of the season. He may well have been unlucky with the umpire’s decision that denied him the fifth first-class century of his career.Mickleburgh rated Onions the toughest of the bowlers to face. “He showed great skill levels,” he said. “He was getting the ball to reverse and made me play 95% of the deliveries I faced from him. Finn ran in hard and bowled some good balls in decent areas.”The pitch, slowing all the time, offered little to England’s seamers but Onions and Finn were probably the more impressive of the trio. Bresnan’s only wicket came when Rutherford drove to mid-off, while Finn had Bopara caught behind by a beauty that demanded a stroke and then left the batsman; Tom Westley feeling for one outside off; and Masters, who will not bowl again the game after suffering what may turn out to be an Achilles strain, leg before playing across one.Onions, meanwhile, bowled Mark Pettini with one that reverse swung through the gate leading Bresnan to admit that, while the runs could do his chances no harm, it is bowling form that will define selection.”Lower-order runs could play a big part in winning Test matches so it’s nice to get some time in the middle,” Bresnan said. “But the bowlers will be picked on form. If I’m not bowling well enough, it doesn’t matter how many runs I’ve scored, the batting comes as a bonus. If it’s a straight shoot out it may help may cause but if I’m not bowling well enough it won’t matter at all. We’re backing the batters to get the runs.”*This match had first-class status removed on the third day

Derbyshire put a significant dent in Lancashire’s hopes of qualifying for the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals by claiming a three-wicket win with seven balls to spare at Old Trafford

01-Jul-2012
ScorecardWes Durston’s half-century helped steer Derbyshire home•Getty Images

Derbyshire put a significant dent in Lancashire’s hopes of qualifying for the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals by claiming a three-wicket win with seven balls to spare at Old Trafford. Derbyshire came out on top on a slow pitch to secure victory for only the second time in the North Division, the first of those also being against Lancashire – who may now have to win their last three matches to qualify.Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan led the way with 3 for 20, including two wickets in the penultimate over of the innings, as the hosts could only post 122 for 8.Man of the match Wes Durston then hit three sixes in four balls off Steven Croft in the third over to break the back of their chase. Having earlier taken 2 for 16 from four overs of off-spin, Durston, the former Somerset man, also hit five fours in a score of 56 off 36 balls.Lancashire’s spin duo of Gary Keedy (2 for 20) and Stephen Parry also impressed to make the contest tighter than it could have been before Rana hit the winning run.Invited to bat, Lancashire failed to recover from losing Stephen Moore to the second legitimate ball of the match, stumped by Tom Poynton off Durston. Croft and Tom Smith shared 54 in eight and a half overs for the second wicket but that was as good as it got. Croft top-scored with 48 off 46 balls, including three fours and a six. Lancashire only hit five fours and a six in the innings, all of those coming in the first five overs.When Durston had Croft caught at short fine-leg via a top-edged sweep, the hosts were 78 for 4 in the 14th over. Paul Horton added 27 off 26 balls but even that failed to add any impetus to the innings.Fledgling left-arm spinner Tom Knight impressed with 1 for 13 from three overs and Tim Groenewald picked up two wickets at the death. Rana bowled Smith with a slower ball before getting Yasir Arafat caught at mid-off and Glen Chapple trapped lbw in the 19th over. Durston then capitalised on seeing opening partner Usman Khawaja dropped on 4 by Moore at cover off Croft by taking a liking to the same bowler.He brought up his fifty off just 24 balls, also including five fours, but was stumped by Gareth Cross off Keedy to leave the score at 76 for 1 in the 10th over, in which Keedy also bowled Khawaja (15). Parry conceded only 11 runs from four overs before Croft, Arafat and Chapple all struck consolatory blows, although they were not enough to prevent Derbyshire reaching 124 for 7.

Albie Morkel and Colin Ingram have not been included in the Jacques Rudolph-led South Africa A squad to tour Zimbabwe and Malaysia for personal reasons

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2011Albie Morkel and Colin Ingram have not been included in the Jacques Rudolph-led South Africa A squad to tour Zimbabwe and Malaysia for personal reasons. South Africa A will play in a one-day tri-series against Zimbabwe and Australia A followed by a six-team Twenty20 competition in Kuala Lumpur in June and July this year.”Albie’s wife is expecting their second child and he understandably needs to spend time at home,” Andrew Hudson, convenor of selectors, said. “Colin has been on the road in India for more than four months now.” Ingram was in South Africa’s World Cup squad and stayed on for the IPL, where he was part of the Delhi Daredevils.The A team will be captained by Rudolph, who also led the side against Bangladesh in April at home. Rudolph has committed himself to South African cricket after opting out of his Kolpak deal with Yorkshire last year and looks set for a national recall.The wicket-keeping role – which has come under scrutiny in South African cricket circles as a successor to Mark Boucher has yet to be found – looks set to be shared between Heino Kuhn and Morne van Wyk. That means there is no place for Davy Jacobs, who is recovering from a broken thumb, which he sustained while playing for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.The squad includes regular A team participants, Vernon Philander, Dean Elgar, Loots Bosman, Ryan McLaren, Rusty Theron and Roelof van der Merwe. There are two new additions for the T20 competition in Lions pace bowler Ethan O’Reilly and Cobras opening batsman Richard Levi. Wayne Parnell has also been included in the T20 squad.South Africa also named their emerging squad for the annual competition that is played in Australia and also features the emerging teams from New Zealand and India. Stiaan van Zyl has been named the captain of a squad that features young talent such as batsman Mangaliso Mosehle and left-arm spinner Dale Deeb.South Africa A squad for Zimbabwe triangular: Jacques Rudolph (capt), Craig Alexander, Farhaan Behardien, Loots Bosman, Dean Elgar, Rory Kleinveldt, Heino Kuhn, Ethy Mbhalati, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Vernon Philander, Rusty Theron, Roelof van der Merwe, Jonathan Vandiar, Morne van WykSouth Africa A squad for Kuala Lumpur T20 tournament: Jacques Rudolph (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Loots Bosman, Richard Levi, Ethy Mbhalati, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Ethan O’Reilly, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Philander, Rusty Theron, Roelof van der Merwe, Jonathan Vandiar, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Morne van WykSouth Africa Emerging Players squad: Stiaan van Zyl (capt), Kyle Abbott, Temba Bavuma, Andrew Birch, Dale Deeb, Reeza Hendricks, Richard Levi, Pumelela Matshikwe, Mangaliso Mosehle, Ethan O’Reilly, Dane Piedt, Obus Pienaar, Mthokozisi Shezi, Jon-Jon Smuts, Shaun von Berg

Bermuda endured a nightmarish first day in their Intercontinental Shield match against United Arab Emirates, crumbling for 56 after opting to bat first and then conceding a 136-run lead as UAE closed on 192 for 2

Cricinfo staff06-Jul-2010
Scorecard
Bermuda endured a nightmarish first day in their Intercontinental Shield match against United Arab Emirates, crumbling for 56 after opting to bat first and then conceding a 136-run lead as UAE closed on 192 for 2, opener Arshad Ali unbeaten on 75.Bermuda’s troubles started early, as their opening pair of Chris Foggo and Fiqre Crockwell were parted in the second over. What followed was carnage, the highest partnership of the innings a mere 18 as every batsman apart from Foggo was dismissed for six runs or less.The wickets were shared around by UAE’s bowlers, but left-arm spinners Shadeep Silva and Ahmed Raza proved particularly destructive. Raza found himself on a hat-trick in the 21st over as Foggo, who struck three fours and a six in his 29, and Stefan Kelly departed in consecutive balls.Joshua Gilbert survived the hat-trick ball, and he and Jordan DeSilva survived another 10 overs before Amjad Javed returned to trap DeSilva lbw and Gilbert was run out four balls later.Bermuda deflated further as Abdul Rehman and Arshad put on a steady 94 for the first wicket before Rehman was pinned infront by Rodney Trott for 65. Arshad then added 46 with captain Khurram Khan, registering his seventh first-class fifty and securing UAE’s dominance with an unbeaten 52-run stand in Saqib Ali’s company.

Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel starred with the ball in the rain-hit game

Deivarayan MuthuUpdated on 29-Jul-2024
In Dambulla, Chamari Athapaththu and Harshitha Samarawickrama had countered India’s spinners to lead Sri Lanka to the Women’s Asia Cup title. About 100 kilometres away in Pallakele later in the evening, it was India’s spinners who dominated Sri Lanka in the second men’s T20I. Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel and Riyan Parag returned combined figures of 12-0-86-5 to trigger another Sri Lanka collapse and help India sew up the three-T20I series, with one game to go.Across the first two T20Is, Sri Lanka have lost 16 for 68 in the last six overs. There was so much purchase for spinners that part-time spinner Parag bowled his full allotment of overs and Axar bowled the last over of the first innings in which Sri Lanka could manage only 161 for 9.Sri Lanka’s best bet to defend that sub-par total would have been to unleash their three spinners on India – they had shored up their spin attack by bringing in Ramesh Mendis for fast bowler Dilshan Madushanka – but rain disrupted them. Though Maheesh Theekshana knocked Sanju Samson over for a duck in India’s DLS-adjusted chase of 78 in eight overs, Wanindu Hasaranga conceded 16 in his first over. Suryakumar Yadav then lined up Theekshana for three successive fours to rush India towards victory.Matheesha Pathirana dismissed Suryakumar for 26 off 12 balls, and Yashasvi Jaiswal holed out for 30 off 15 balls in the next over, but Hardik Pandya produced a cameo of his own, ensuring that India’s new era kicked off with a series win.

Nissanka, Perera lay strong base

After being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka dashed out of the blocks, scoring 54 for 1 in the powerplay. With the ball not swinging for Mohammed Siraj or Arshdeep Singh, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis had the license to pump the ball over the top.Mendis had hoisted an on-pace seam-up delivery from Arshdeep for a four over mid-on, but when the left-arm seamer took pace off and bowled a cutter into the pitch, he could only miscue it to the infielder. Nissanka and Kusal Perera, though, kept batting with high intent and kept pinging the boundaries in the powerplay.Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka put on a 54-run stand•AFP/Getty Images

Whenever India’s bowlers strayed into his hips, Perera unleashed Sanath Jayasuriya-esque short-arm jabs and when he raced to a 31-ball half-century, he had Jayasuriya himself applauding warmly from the dugout. Perera had reached the landmark with some help from Rinku Singh, who slipped at the edge of the square-leg boundary and ended up parrying the ball away for six.Rinku had also reprieved Kusal on 32 in the tenth over after wristspinner Bishnoi had drawn a top-edged sweep with a legbreak. By the time, Bishnoi had already pinned Nissanka lbw for 32 off 24 balls with a fizzing wrong’un.

India’s spinners wreck the base

India stuck to four specialist bowlers, including Axar, and backed Hardik and Parag to share the fifth-bowler duties. After impressing with 3 for 5 on Saturday, Parag extracted ripping turn and bounce. At one point, the broadcaster put up a graphic showing the average turn achieved by India’s spinners. Parag had generated 3.7 degrees of turn on an average in comparison to Axar’s 3 degrees and Bishnoi’s 1 degree.Though Parag went wicketless, he once again showed that he could do a job with the ball. He even allowed Suryakumar to hold Hardik back until the 14th over.Bishnoi then returned at the death to bowl both Dasun Shanaka and Hasaranga for ducks. Hardik did his bit by having Perera holing out for 53 off 34 balls, with Rinku holding onto a sharp catch and redeeming himself.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Suryakumar shook things up at the death, much like he had done on Saturday when he handed the ball to Parag during this phase. Bowling the 20th over for only the third time in his T20I career and sixth in his T20 career, Axar gave up just eight runs while taking the wickets of Theekshana and Ramesh on Sunday.From 130 for 2, Sri Lanka subsided to 161 for 9. Game over for them.

Rain, SKY mess with SL’s spinners

After rain had delayed the start of the match by 45 minutes, it returned three balls into India’s chase and left them chasing a revised target of 78 in eight overs.Sri Lanka had a sliver of hope when Theekshana took out Samson with a skidder and then beat Suryakumar’s outside edge with a carrom ball. Hasaranga, however, struggled to grip the wet ball and Jaiswal aced the match-up against the legspinner.With the ball sliding onto the bat after the shower, Suryakumar played a variety of sweeps before he fell to Pathirana. Hardik finished the chase with nine balls to spare and left Hasaranga nursing figures of 2-0-34-1.

“When the time comes I’m sure the Indian cricket team will also back him enough”

Shashank Kishore01-Apr-20232:20

Hardik Pandya: Ruturaj Gaikwad ‘has the game to do wonders for Indian cricket’

Ruturaj Gaikwad “is going to do wonders for Indian cricket” and the team will “back him enough” when his time comes. Hardik Pandya, potentially India’s T20I captain as they build towards next year’s T20 World Cup, couldn’t have been more effusive in his praise for the Chennai Super Kings opener for his incredible 52-ball 90 to kick off IPL 2023 in Ahmedabad in front of 100,000 fans.On Friday, Gaikwad raced to a half-century off just 23 balls in his first competitive outing since January following a wrist injury that had limited his opportunities for India. His opening salvo put Super Kings in a commanding 121 for 4 after 13 overs, with the stage set for a grandstand finish. They eventually only finished with 178, which MS Dhoni felt was “10-15 short.””To be very honest, we all know the kind of player he is, at one point of time it looked like CSK would score 220-230,” Hardik said after Gujarat Titans secured a tight five-wicket win. “We were finding it difficult as to what areas we should bowl because he’s an all-round cricketer, plays cricketing shots.”Related

• Super Kings to wait for Stokes to be '100% ready' before using him as a bowler

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• Hardik feels Impact Player can leave captains with 'too many options'

• Gill and Gaikwad make compelling case to be India's T20I openers

Prior to his injury, Gaikwad had been in scintillating white-ball form, having hit hundreds in each of the knockout games of the Vijay Hazare Trophy where Maharashtra, the team he led, finished runners-up. Gaikwad finished second on the run charts, hitting 660 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 113.59. It was also a tournament where Gaikwad blasted a List-A record when he hit seven sixes in a single over that went for 43.He seemed to have carried the same form over into the IPL. Hardik found out in as early as the second over itself that Gaikwad was batting in a different zone, when the batter picked him for consecutive boundaries.1:28

Moody on Gaikwad: Amazing that India have someone like him in the wings

Hardik would come under his wheel even more, when Gaikwad launched him for consecutive sixes in the seventh over. Every other Titans bowler, barring Rashid Khan, was taken to the cleaners.”I genuinely felt that we can’t err to him at all; some of the shots that he played, they weren’t to bad balls,” Hardik said. “They were actually good balls, that made the big difference and more challenging for us as a bowling unit and captain. Full credit to him, if he continues batting like this, he’s going to do wonders to Indian cricket. I’m sure he has the game, when the time comes I’m sure the Indian cricket team will also back him enough.”Stephen Fleming, the Super Kings coach, has seen Gaikwad from close quarters for four seasons now. He was signed in 2019, but only broke through in 2020 and started getting an extended run following a vacancy at the top with Shane Watson’s retirement.”He’s an outstanding talent, really untapped,” Fleming said. “We rate him so highly, when you see him playing like that, he’s a class player. He’s got power, got touch and only good things will happen to him. Tonight was an exhibition. He was disappointed [to be dismissed for 92], he could’ve picked on a little more to give us an extra 20 runs in the end but the 90 runs he got was a pleasure to watch.”

The allrounder took the Belinda Clark award as Australia’s leading female player

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2022Ashleigh Gardner’s increased maturity has paved the way for her to become the first Indigenous player to claim one of Australian cricket’s top honours.Gardner, 24, was on Saturday named winner of the Belinda Clark Award, crowning her as Australia’s best female player for the past 12 months.The offspinning allrounder was told by Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley of her award on Friday night, admitting she asked him more than once if he had the right person. But Gardner’s growth over the past year means she is a more than deserving recipient.She found consistency in 2021, going from a big hitter to solid performer with 281 runs at 35.10 across all formats in the past year. She scored four half-centuries in that time, highlighted by an unbeaten 73 in a successful T20I chase in New Zealand in March.Related

• Stats – Highest fourth-innings total, and the narrowest draw

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Gardner also produced her maiden Test half-century, against India, before backing it up against England in the Ashes match in Canberra – although the latter match came outside of the award voting period.Adding to Gardner’s improvement, she was in the team’s top-five run-scorers and top-three wicket-takers in each of the three formats.”I’ve certainly grown up both on and off the field,” Gardner said. “I think maturing off the field probably has an impact on my game on the field. I feel really comfortable within this side.”I’ve known what my role has been and I’ve been really clear in the direction that I need to do with either bat or ball in hand.”Gardner’s maturity has also been most evident in her bounce back in recent months. While her international success has been clear, her underwhelming WBBL with Sydney Sixers – which included a run of four consecutive ducks – left her battling mentally and needing time out after months in bubbles.She made the point to see Australia’s sports psychologist, took a few weeks out and then rebounded with a first-innings 56 and 1 for 27 with the ball in the current Test against England.”You can find yourself in some pretty dark places when you aren’t in the best form. And that was certainly me,” Gardner said. “I can openly admit that my mental health probably wasn’t great.”But I think it’s good for people’s careers to go on that slight decline to then actually find the confidence again and find the rhythm back in your batting.”Being able to go back into the [NSW] Breakers set up around a different bunch of girls was really instrumental to actually feel confident again. As soon as I got back into this [Australian] set-up, it was full faith that I would get back to where I wanted to be.”Gardner picked up 54 votes to finish clear of T20 player-of-the-year Beth Mooney (47) and ODI recipient Alyssa Healy (39).

Notts seal place in decider against Surrey

Paul Edwards04-Oct-2020
Given the timings and length of games on what became Finals Half-Day, two teams were bound to be leaving Edgbaston around Sunday evening wondering why they had waited around for a day and a half. In the first semi-final it was Gloucestershire; in the second it was Lancashire after the match between the sides with the most T20 victories in the history of England’s shortest format was ended in the most brutal fashion by Dan Christian, who whacked four consecutive sixes into the Hollies Stand off Liam Livingstone’s eighth over of the innings. The Outlaws skipper thus made good use of the short boundary and capitalised on Dane Vilas’s decision to bowl the off-spinner after a similar choice at Chester-le-Street last summer was the prelude to an onslaught by Ravi Bopara and his Lancashire’s quarter-final defeat to Essex. With four overs to go Notts needed 29 runs. It looked a decent game until then.Croft’s Original SkillsLancashire’s batsmen maintained a steady rate of around eight runs per over throughout their innings. After nine balls they had scored more runs than Gloucestershire had managed in the 20 of their earlier Powerplay and Alex Davies’ two straight-driven boundaries were a declaration of intent by Old Trafford’s batsman of the season in short-form games. But having thus declared, Davies quickly departed, well caught above his head at backward square leg by Steven Mullaney off Samit Patel for 15.Notts Outlaws stuck to their spin attack – four of the first six overs were sent down by twirlers – but Lancashire tucked in when they could and collected singles when they couldn’t.Steven Croft smacked his first ball for four through the covers and his third over long on for six. And after six overs Lightning appeared decently placed on 54 for 1. Livingstone lifted Matt Carter over backward square leg but then perished in the same over and same region, caught by Jake Ball on the boundary for 22.At no point in the first half of the game did Lancashire’s innings lose momentum yet at no point did they really cut loose in the fashion later managed by Notts. Croft’s 22-ball 33 was a noble effort from a loyal cricketer but he perished in the tenth over, caught at deep midwicket by Zak Chappell who was subbing for Chris Nash who had earlier gone off with a leg injury.Imad Wasim was clearly the pick of the Notts attack: he bowled his three overs at a cost of 18 runs while his four colleagues all of whom bowled two overs went for between 16 and 20. Nonetheless, Lancashire’s total of 94 for 4 looked a fair target; they had after all scored 20 runs off the last 17 balls of their innings without hitting a boundary.Christian BrutalityAt no stage of their innings were Nottinghamshire behind the required rate. Ben Duckett’s six over long-on in Tom Hartley’s first over helped and so did Alex Hales’ cut for four off Luke Wood’s second. But the Notts batsmen had hardly started; when Saqib Mahmood came on at the City End Hales upper-cut him into the stands at third man. Duckett departed in the same over, caught by Croft at deep midwicket for 13, but Joe Clarke lifted his second ball from Mahmood for six over long-off and at the end of the Powerplay the Outlaws were 41 for 1. It was a substantial 13-run advantage and it looked even better when they had racked up 49 off four overs.Hales was bowled for 29 by a classic leg-spinner from Matt Parkinson but any impetus or inspiration Lancashire took from that seemed to have been dispelled a few minutes later when Clarke lifted Hartley into the stands. However, Hartley, whose emergence has been one of the successes of Lancashire’s season, responded by having Tom Moores caught at long-on by Vilas for 1 and then by bowling Clarke with a ball of full length for 17. After another tight over from Parkinson, Notts needed 29 runs off 24 balls, at which point Christian eyed the short boundary and saw that an off-spinner was coming on. Parkinson had Christian stumped for his 13-ball 30 only for Imad Wasim to end the game next ball.