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Anthony Ireland claimed five wickets as promotion-chasing Gloucestershire bowled out Middlesex for 236 on the opening day of the County Championship Division Two match in Bristol

28-Jun-2010

ScorecardAnthony Ireland prospered on a good day for Gloucestershire’s bowlers•PA Photos

Anthony Ireland claimed five wickets as promotion-chasing Gloucestershire bowled out Middlesex for 236 on the opening day of the County Championship Division Two match in Bristol.But 19-year-old Josh Davey ensured Middlesex gained one batting point with a fine 61 on his Championship debut. Davey received good support from fellow debutant Toby Roland-Jones, who contributed 19 to a ninth-wicket partnership of 53, which was broken when Roland-Jones miscued a pull to give Ireland his fifth wicket.Ireland finished with 5 for 25 from 11 overs, while there was good support from Gloucestershire’s four other seam bowlers. Gemaal Hussain took 2 for 70 and there were also two wickets for Jon Lewis. Gloucestershire reached the close on 81 for 2 with Chris Dent unbeaten on 13 and Hamish Marshall not out 21.After Gloucestershire captain Alex Gidman won the toss, his decision to insert Middlesex looked like it might backfire as Sam Robson and Scott Newman put together an opening stand of 63. Robson was reprieved before a run had been scored when James Franklin dropped a difficult chance at gully off Lewis.Steve Kirby had both batsmen playing and missing during an impressive spell from the Pavilion End, but Robson and Newman otherwise remained largely untroubled. The game changed dramatically in the 50 minutes before lunch, as Gloucestershire took five wickets for 34 runs in 11 overs.Newman was the first to go when he edged Hussain to Gidman, who took an excellent low catch at first slip. Gidman took another sharp catch to dismiss Owais Shah off Lewis, and two wickets fell in the next over as Ireland had Robson lbw for 39 and Neil Dexter caught down the legside by wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty.Gloucestershire had more to celebrate from the last ball before lunch when John Simpson edged Ireland to Hamish Marshall at second slip. Dawid Malan and Davey hinted at a Middlesex revival with a partnership of 37 for the sixth wicket, but Malan departed for 29 when he was caught at cover by Chris Taylor off Franklin.Ireland claimed his fourth wicket when Tom Smith fended a delivery into the hands of Kadeer Ali at short leg, and it became 181 for 8 when Tim Murtagh snicked a drive off Hussain into the gloves of Batty. Davey and Roland-Jones responded well and Davey reached his half-century with a hook off Kirby for three runs. His maiden fifty came from 102 balls and contained eight fours.The pair guided Middlesex to 224 for 8 at tea, but both were dismissed within three overs of the resumption. Roland-Jones top-edged a pull to Kirby and Davey then thick-edged a drive off Lewis to Franklin at gully.Gloucestershire’s reply got off to a good start as Ali and Batty took the score to 28 without loss off nine overs before light rain forced the players from the field. But when they returned Pedro Collins struck twice, bowling Ali with a ball which kept low and then trapping Batty lbw for 20.

Australia raced to a seven-wicket victory with more than 10 overs to spare

Andrew McGlashan04-Sep-2024Travis Head produced a brutal display of hitting, scoring the most individual runs in a powerplay and hitting a record-equalling 17-ball fifty, as Australia raced to a seven-wicket victory with more than 10 overs to spare in the first T20I in Edinburgh after the bowlers had pulled back a bright start from Scotland.The home side came out of the blocks with good intent, led by George Munsey, and were promisingly placed despite shipping wickets in their attempt to keep up a high early run rate. However, from 101 for 3 in the 12th over they lost 6 for 44 with the changes of pace from Australia’s quicks proving effective on a slightly two-paced surface alongside two wickets from Adam Zampa.Any notion that 154 may be close to competitive was put to bed in an extraordinary display of powerplay hitting by Head and Mitchell Marsh after Jake Fraser-McGurk had fallen for a duck on his T20I debut. At one stage 14 consecutive deliveries were boundaries as Australia finished with the second-highest powerplay total in T20Is of 113 for 1 of which Head had 73 himself, beating Paul Stirling’s 67 runs against West Indies in 2020.

Head’s onslaught (and some Marsh)

Given how much he has been spoken about this year, it was easy to forget that Fraser-McGurk was making his T20I debut. But he couldn’t leave a mark on his first innings as he faced up to the somewhat unexpected sight of Brandon McMullen’s medium pace with the new ball. Looking to pull his third delivery, he miscued into midwicket where Charlie Cassell took a superbly judged catch.But any thoughts of a wobble for Australia vanished in a cavalcade of boundaries. Head, who was player of the tournament in the MLC in July, took three fours of Brad Wheal’s first over and giving McMullen a second over didn’t pay off as it cost 20. But the real carnage was saved for Jack Jarvis in the fifth as he was taken for 30 with three sixes by Marsh. Scotland’s bowlers had no response with multiple deliveries going into the trees.Off the first ball of the sixth over, Head went to a 17-ball fifty to equal Marcus Stoinis’ record as the fastest for Australia in T20Is during the run of 14 consecutive deliveries being either a four or six.

Munsey’s powerplay promise

The early peppering of the boundary had come from Scotland opener George Munsey as he produced repeated whip-pulls over the leg side to ensure Australia were under some pressure with the ball in the powerplay as McMullen also played his part.In the fifth over Munsey sent consecutive deliveries from Riley Meredith, playing his first T20I since 2021, for six and followed that with another boundary as 18 came off it. Munsey brought up Scotland’s fifty in the next over, but then fell to an excellent catch by Josh Inglis who dived to his left to collect a thick outside edge.Adam Zampa picked up a couple of wickets•AFP/Getty Images

Scotland’s fade

Scotland’s progress was further dented when McMullen was taken at deep cover shortly after the fielding restrictions ended. There were signs of captain Richie Berrington starting to get settled but his dismissal, caught at long-off against Zampa, proved a turning point in the innings. From there Scotland struggled to regain any momentum. Consecutive overs from Stoinis and Cameron Green went for just four apiece as the combined four overs from the two allrounders cost only 22 runs.Meredith, Xavier Bartlett and Sean Abbott closed out the innings strongly with only a brace of handsome sixes by Jack Jarvis and Mark Watt offering much in response.

Watt’s long ball

While most attention in the chase had been on Head, Marsh helped himself to 39 off 11 balls before falling to Watt’s first delivery with the left-arm spinner held back to outside the fielding restrictions when perhaps he could have been used earlier.By that stage the result was inevitable, but there were a couple of interesting moments as Australia knocked off the remaining runs with Watt’s long ball – delivered from well back from the bowling crease – twice seeing batters pull away very late. The first occasion was Inglis’ opening delivery and the ball took the leg bail then it happened again when Stoinis was on strike. By the wording of the Law (20.4.2.5) the umpire was correct both times, but it could well provide a talking point in the next two matches when Scotland will hope to be more competitive.

According to the revised playing conditions, the on-field umpire will simply consult with the TV umpire to rule on contentious catches

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2023On-field umpires will no longer be required to give a “soft signal” while referring contentious catches to the TV umpire, according to the revised ICC playing conditions that will come into effect from June 1, 2023.The on-field umpires will now simply consult with the TV umpire before a final decision regarding a referred catch is made, without any soft signal having been made. The change was recommended by the ICC’s Men’s Cricket Committee, endorsed by the Women’s Cricket Committee, and ratified by the ICC’s Chief Executives Committee.While the soft signal was scrapped by the IPL in 2021, it continued to be used in international cricket, and the TV umpire had to find conclusive evidence of a catch being clean or not to overturn the soft signal, irrespective of whether the on-field umpires had a clear line of sight to the catch while making the soft signal.”The committee deliberated this at length and concluded that soft signals were unnecessary and at times confusing since referrals of catches may seem inconclusive in replays,” Sourav Ganguly, the head of the Men’s Cricket Committee, said.There was brief confusion about the Free Hit rule with the ICC saying a “minor addition” had been made to it. That tweak deemed that runs scored off a free hit when the batter is bowled would count as runs towards the batter, as opposed to byes. The most high-profile recent incident was in the last over of India’s epic win against Pakistan at the MCG in the T20 World Cup last year. Kohli was bowled by Mohammad Nawaz off the free hit, but as the ball went to deep third, the batters picked up three runs.Soon after the release, however, the governing body clarified that was not the case and that the rule, when a batter is bowled, remains the same: runs scored after a batter is bowled off a free hit will continue to be categorised as extras and will not be credited to the batter.In the revised playing conditions, the ICC also made it mandatory for players in “high-risk” positions to wear helmets. This includes batters facing fast bowlers, wicketkeepers standing up to the stumps, and fielders standing close to batters in front of the wicket.

Defending champions lose three in three after South Africa allrounder returns five-for and then hits 42-ball 32

Firdose Moonda14-Mar-2022Marizanne Kapp starred with the ball and then had to do it with the bat, too, to give South Africa their first win over England at a World Cup in more than two decades – and only the second in the history of the tournament – to leave the defending champions winless and staring at an early exit after three matches.Kapp took her first ODI five-for to keep England to under 240 on a slow Bay Oval surface, and then scored 32 off 42 balls to leave South Africa at the doorstep of victory in a tense chase.After choosing to bowl first and restricting England to 235, South Africa were well-placed on 147 for 2 in the 35th over before losing three wickets for 22 runs. They then needed 57 runs off the last ten overs, 31 off the last five, and ten off the last ten balls after Kapp was dismissed lbw by Anya Shrubsole. Trisha Chetty and Shabnim Ismail, who only bowled half her overs after injuring her left big toe, completed the chase with four balls to spare.Undefeated South Africa have moved up to second on the points table with the result. England, on the other hand, have become the first defending champions to lose their first three matches. It is also their second major tournament defeat to South Africa, after losing in the T20 World Cup in February 2020.The match was a mini-summation of both teams’ journey through the tournament so far. While South Africa showcased their ability to handle pressure in the dying stages of a match, England’s fielding woes continued. They dropped three catches and missed a stumping chance, all off South Africa’s top-scorer Laura Wolvaardt, to take their tournament tally of missed opportunities to a dozen.Wolvaardt was put down on 4, 23, 50 and 62, became South Africa’s highest run-scorer at World Cups, and bettered her best score at a World Cup with 77, which set up South Africa’s chase. She shared in a 56-run second-wicket stand with Tazmin Brits, who notched up her highest score of the tournament so far, and a 73-run third-wicket partnership with captain Sune Luus at a run rate that hovered around four an over. Wolvaardt and Luus took South Africa to the 35th over with 89 runs needed off 96 balls and eight wickets in hand. On paper, a cruise home. But England had other ideas.Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont gave England a great platform with a century stand•Getty Images

After Amy Jones missed a stumping chance off Wolvaardt, she pulled one off when Charlie Dean drew Luus forward into a drive, and Jones dislodged the bails as Luus’ foot was in the air. Ten balls later, Wolvaardt attempted one big shot too many and pulled Kate Cross to midwicket, where Nat Sciver collected. And three overs later, Mignon du Preez’s lean patch continued. She got a thick outside edge as she tried to cut Sophie Ecclestone away and was caught behind to leave her without a score of over 20 in seven ODI innings this year.The pressure was transferred to the lower order where Kapp and Chloe Tryon had to see off Ecclestone, England’s best bowler on the day, and try to accelerate to the end. They put on 30 in 29 balls before Tryon became the fourth batter in the tournament to be run-out backing up too far at the non-striker’s end. It was up to Kapp, who hit the only six of the match when she flicked a low full toss from Katherine Brunt behind square on the leg-side to reduce the target to 23 off 27 balls. She didn’t see it to the end, though, as she was out lbw in the penultimate over, but the experience of Chetty and Ismail took South Africa home.In the end, they may reflect that they made heavy weather of a below-par total, with Heather Knight admitting England were 20-30 runs short in their first innings. They were rocked by a Kapp double-strike upfront before Tammy Beaumont and Jones shared a 107-run third-wicket stand. Both brought up half-centuries to give England a platform to build on, but Kapp prevented that from happening. She fired in the throw that ran Jones out and then returned for a strangling death-overs spell, in which she took three wickets in nine balls.On a pitch that was expected to have something in it for spinners – England even left out opening batter Laura Winfield-Hill to make room for offspinner Dean – Kapp adjusted perfectly. She bowled a consistent line outside the off stump and took pace off the ball, which made her difficult to get away and dangerous to attack, and was backed by a disciplined effort from the rest of the attack.South Africa were without Ismail from the 20th over but Masabata Klaas conceded at under three an over and the spinners squeezed England, complemented by sharp fielding. After two ordinary efforts in their first two games, South Africa did not drop any catches or miss any run-out chances, a stark contrast to England.

Mumbai will look to confirm a top-two spot in the points table

Sruthi Ravindranath30-Oct-20206:59

Should Delhi Capitals bring back Shaw?

Big picture

About a couple of weeks into the tournament, these were the two sides that were among the favourites to make the top four. It was all going according to plan for the Delhi Capitals until the game against Kings XI Punjab about 10 days ago. A loss in that game was followed by two more defeats, in the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. As a result, they had to give up their top position to the Mumbai Indians, who are sitting pretty with 16 points having earned their playoff qualification.The Capitals had a major meltdown in their last match against the Sunrisers. A brilliant Rashid Khan made sure their batting never took off and their go-to wicket-taker Kagiso Rabada had a bad day. He went wicketless for the first time in 25 IPL games and was the most expensive bowler on the day. Another thing ailing the Capitals is their batting, especially the top order. Ajinkya Rahane was brought in place of Prithvi Shaw but that has not effected a substantial turnaround. Shikhar Dhawan’s brilliance won them a couple of games but the rest of the batsmen haven’t been able to get going. A win in this match would give them a spot in the playoffs. But a loss here and in their final group match could possibly eliminate them if other teams in fray finish on 14 points with a better net run rate.Meanwhile, a Rohit Sharma-less Mumbai are doing alright. They arguably have the best batting unit in the tournament: Ishan Kishan is enjoying his best IPL season yet, Quinton de Kock has been ably supported by his partners at the top of the order, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard have helped with superb cameos and Suryakumar Yadav has been consistently brilliant. Plus, if the batting order has a rare day off, they’ve got Jasprit Bumrah, their ultimate weapon of choice, who has been lethal especially in the death overs, where he got 12 of his 20 wickets this season.Mumbai have an excellent net run rate, and after their win against Royal Challengers Bangalore, they’ve also all but sealed a top-two finish. All the pressure is definitely on the demoralised Capitals in this encounter.

Likely XIs

Mumbai Indians: 1 Ishan Kishan, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Saurabh Tiwary, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard (capt), 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 James Pattinson, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.Delhi Capitals: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Prithvi Shaw/Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Harshal Patel/Tushar Deshpande, 8 Axar Patel, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Anrich Nortje

Previous meeting

Fifties from Suryakumar Yadav and Quinton de Kock, and a 15-ball 28 from Ishan Kishan, helped Mumbai chase down 162 with two balls remaining.

Strategy Punt

• The Capitals have been using Shimron Hetmyer as a floater this season and he has been quite impressive in his role, striking at nearly 150 and also providing the finishing touches. Given how the Capitals’ batting order has struggled in the last few games, Hetmyer can probably be given the No. 4 spot, which is usually reserved for Rishabh Pant, and use the latter as a floater instead. Hetmyer has done well in the middle overs in T20s this year, averaging 68.8 and striking at 140 in overs 7 to 15 in addition to tackling spinners well.
• The Royal Challengers might have missed a trick in their previous match Mumbai by not bowling Washington Sundar to the left-handed opening pair of Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan. The Capitals can take a cue from this and get R Ashwin to bowl from one end and share the new ball duty with Rabada. Ashwin has dismissed Quinton de Kock thrice in four meetings.

Stats that matter

• Ishan Kishan is one among the five players to have a strike rate of 140-plus against pacers and spinners in IPL 2020
• Rishabh Pant needs 11 runs to reach 2000 runs in IPL
• Kieron Pollard needs 27 runs to reach 3000 runs in IPL

Callum Ferguson’s maiden Championship century is in vain as visitors bounce back

ECB Reporters Network10-Jul-2019Derbyshire secured their third Championship victory of the campaign to strengthen their promotion challenge despite a splendid century from Worcestershire batsman Callum Ferguson at Kidderminster.The visitors bounced back in style after being bowled out for 108 on the opening day to claim 19 points and triumph by 82 runs.Ferguson hit his maiden Championship hundred as Worcestershire showed plenty of resilience in recovering from the depths of 48 for 5 mid-way through the third day.Ravi Rampaul finished with four wickets but Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Tony Palladino gave him staunch support with three victims apiece.Worcestershire have now gone six games without a win since defeating Leicestershire and Durham in their opening two fixtures. They have paid the price for their batting frailties, with the exception of Ferguson, in the top order, where there has been a lack of consistency.Worcestershire resumed on 156 for 5 with Ferguson unbeaten on 71 and Cox 44 not out with the second new ball due in 13 overs.Runs flowed at a fast pace against the opening attack of Hudson-Prentice and Anuj Dal. Ferguson collected successive boundaries via a cut and a back-foot square drive at Hudson-Prentice’s expense.But, after playing so well, he had a slice of good fortune on his side as he raced towards three figures. Ferguson edged Fynn-Prentice and Dal for boundaries and a single off the former took him to his century off 205 balls with 17 fours.Cox went to his half-century in the next over from Dal from 140 deliveries with eight boundaries.The 150 partnership came up in 49 overs before the new ball was taken immediately at 206 for 5 off 80 overs.Rampaul made the breakthrough for Derbyshire in his first over of the day. Cox, on 62, tried to get his bat out of the way of a sharpish Rampaul delivery but only succeeded in deflecting it onto his stumps.Ferguson was joined by Brett D’Oliveira, a century maker in last week’s game at Cardiff, and he cut Rampaul for four after the West Indies paceman changed ends.Worcestershire reached 245 for 6 by lunch with Ferguson unbeaten on 126 but he added only one more after the resumption. Hudson-Prentice ended his fine knock by trapping him lbw. Ferguson’s six-hour innings contained 20 boundaries and came off 267 balls.D’Oliveira made an accomplished 30 before he was lbw to Palladino and the innings was quickly cleaned up thereafter. Dillon Pennington fell lbw to Rampaul for a duck and Joe Leach holed out to mid on off Palladino.

The opening batsman struck a career-best double hundred as East Zone took a 165-run lead after conceding 546

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2018A high-scoring draw in Rajshahi, between Central Zone and East Zone, closed out this season’s Bangladesh Cricket League. Liton Das and Abdul Mazid struck double centuries while Shadman Islam, Afif Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin made hundreds.Batting first, Central Zone posted 546 with Mazid making 205 off 246 balls with 22 fours and eight sixes. Shadman’s 112 off 157 balls contained 11 fours and three sixes. Sohag Gazi took 5 for 188.Liton then scripted 274 off 293 balls, hitting 35 fours and two sixes. He added 148 runs for the third wicket with Tasamul Haque and a 298-run fourth-wicket stand with Afif who made 142 off 227 runs with 15 fours and five sixes.From 546 for 6, East Zone took the lead and then extended it to 165 thanks to Saifuddin, who made his maiden first-class hundred. Central Zone made 196 for 5 in 38 overs before play was called off. Marshall Ayub and Shuvagata Hom struck fifties while Abu Jayed took three wickets.

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