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Batsman Mominul Haque has been picked in Bangladesh’s Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka

Mohammad Isam24-Feb-2013Left-arm spinner Enamul Haque jnr has returned to the Bangladesh Test squad after more than three years following his selection in the 15-man squad to tour Sri Lanka next month. Seamer Robiul Islam and batsman Jahurul Islam have also been recalled, while Mominul Haque has made it to the Test squad for the first time.The major name that is missing is Shakib Al Hasan, out injured and about to undergo surgery to correct a shin injury. Elias Sunny was not included while Junaid Siddique and Nazimuddin were not in the 25-man preliminary squad, which was announced on February 18.Enamul and Mominul have been taken to replace Shakib, according to chief selector Akram Khan who opted for prior international experience when replacing the allrounder.Enamul has taken 105 first-class wickets in the last two seasons, the highest in the National Cricket League this season. His last Test appearance was in a Bangladesh win, and where he took six wickets. But he made way for a three-man pace attack against India thereafter, though he was in the Test squad, and indifferent ODI form had him excluded for the next three years. This time he was picked ahead of Mosharraf Hossain and Saqlain Sajib, left-arm spinners who have also done well this season.In the case of Mominul, it was his recent ODI experience against West Indies which won him a place for a possible middle-order spot. He pushed aside Marshall Ayub, the season’s most prolific batsman in first-class cricket, Akram saying it was a “50-50 call”.”This was a tough selection, because we had to pick two players to replace Shakib,” Akram said. “Enamul won the left-arm spinner’s position ahead of Mosharraf Hossain and Saqlain Sajib. He is in form and has Test experience. Mominul was also a tough call but we need a left-hander in the middle order, so Marshall Ayub, despite his two double-hundreds, misses out.””I have spoken to Marshall on the phone, told him why he wasn’t taken this time. But the door is still open for him, he should continue to perform as he has been. It is unfortunate that we had to leave him out.”Jahurul returns to the squad after playing three Tests in 2010, but he has played ODI cricket recently. Both he and Robiul have been kept as additional options, although the former has a good chance for a place in the top order, said Akram. “He [Jahurul] could be one of the top three with Tamim [Iqbal] and [Shahriar] Nafees.”Robiul has trained in the National Cricket Academy during the BPL and he has played in the BCL. But we are not sure about Shafiul Islam, and in general we are facing a challenge to form a pace attack,” he said.The two-Test series in Sri Lanka will be Mushfiqur Rahim’s first away Tests as captain after he took over in October, 2011. He will lead the middle order, which will include Naeem Islam, Mahmudullah and Nasir Hossain while it is now likely that Anamul and Jahurul will battle for the position of the other opener with Tamim Iqbal. Shahriar Nafees’ BPL performance saved him a place in the squad after an indifferent showing in the Tests against West Indies.Offspinner Sohag Gazi is also going to be a part of the first overseas Test series, and will be an automatic choice after an impressive start to his career late last year, but the pace attack will have to be assembled in Sri Lanka as only Rubel Hossain looks like a first-choice.Bangladesh will begin the series with a three-day match against Sri Lanka Development Emerging Team at Matara from March 3 to 5, before the Test series, which begins in Galle on March 8. The second Test will be played in Colombo from March 16.Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Mahmudullah (vice-capt), Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Anamul Haque, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Sohag Gazi, Abul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Enamul Haque, Jahurul Islam, Mominul Haque, Shahadat Hossain, Robiul Islam.

Northamptonshire have concluded their search for a left-arm spinner by bringing in Con de Lange, a 31-year-old South African who qualifies as a UK resident from his time living in Scotland

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2012Northamptonshire have concluded their search for a left-arm spinner by bringing in Con de Lange, a 31-year-old South African who qualifies as a UK resident from his time living in Scotland. de Lange’s signing has been made possible due to the assistance of “external benefactors”, chief executive David Smith said.Northants have been without a left-arm slow bowler for the last two years and recently stated that they were looking to fill that gap before the start of the season. de Lange, who has played all of his cricket in South Africa, has 175 first-class wickets to his name and is a capable lower-order batsman.”I’m very excited to be joining the Northants squad, having noticed how well the team has played over recent seasons,” de Lange said. “I want to be part of a successful squad and help the club gain promotion to Division One of the County Championship. I’m a fighter and I’m determined to always give my best for the team.”The arrival of de Lange will provide competition for offspinner James Middlebrook as the county looks to go one better on last season’s third-place finish in Division Two.David Capel, Northamptonshire’s head coach, said: “We have considered many candidates throughout the past 12 months and I am pleased that we a signed a player of Con’s quality, who will further strengthen the spin bowling department. I’m sure he will prove to be a great addition to the team.”Smith added: “The club has been very fortunate to have had some external benefactors in Northamptonshire assisting us in making this signing possible. At 31 years of age, Con will bring valuable experience to our squad and help us to be competitive in all forms of the game.”

Kenya’s tour of India, designed to prepare the squad for the forthcoming World Cup, has only served to expose the deficiencies in a side who, barring a major turnaround, seem set for a wretched tournament

Martin Williamson19-Jan-2011Kenya’s tour of India, designed to prepare the squad for the forthcoming World Cup, has only served to expose the deficiencies in a side who, barring a major turnaround, seem set for a wretched tournament.All five matches against youthful Gujarat and Baroda sides were lost, echoing results when the Indian state teams played in Nairobi last year. In only one match did Kenya come remotely close to winning, and even then they were unable to defend a total of 293 for 6, losing to Gujarat by six wickets with more than three overs remaining.The batsmen have coped fairly well with alien conditions. Seren Waters scored the only hundred of the tour, but almost all the other front-line batsmen did enough to suggest they will cope come the World Cup, although doing more than that may be beyond them. However, Alex Obanda and Thomas Odoyo were really out of touch, and more worryingly Steve Tikolo failed to dominate in any game. For so long the lynchpin of the side, there have to be worries that a lack of high-class cricket and age are both taking a toll on his game.Collins Obuya made one good score, but in four other innings managed only 47 runs. If Tikolo is unable to hold together the innings, much will depend on him, and his form is another big concern.The real headache for coach Eldine Baptiste is with the bowling. Peter Ongondo, who has been so vital with the new ball, only played twice but leaked runs, while too many others lacked enough control to really put pressure on what were little more than inexperienced, if talented, young state batsmen. While some of the figures may not appear too bad, they have to be read in the knowledge that Baroda and Gujarat’s batsmen were rarely under pressure to score quick runs and so did not need to be overly attacking.After back-to-back wins, Gurajat completed a 3-0 clean sweep in the final match between the sides. Kenya’s batsmen finally posted a good score, a second-wicket stand of 178 between Waters (103) and Obuya (92) helping them to 293 for 6, but Gujarat’s well-paced reply enabled them to ease home with 19 balls to spare.Kenya then headed to Vadodara for two matches against Baroda. Both followed a similar pattern. In the first, Kenya were put in, most of their batsmen got starts without building a big innings, and their eventual score of 217 was not remotely enough as Baroda ambled to a five-wicket win with 20 balls in hand. In the second, Kenya again batted and scored 182, with Tanmay Mishra’s 63 saving them from a much lower score. Early wickets gave the Kenyans brief hope but Baroda knuckled down and again meandered to a well-paced six-wicket win.Kenya now head to Dubai for conditioning, while Baptiste will be left scratching his head and trying to work out how to avoid the World Cup becoming a nightmare for his side.

Jhulan Goswami, the India captain, has taken the top spot in the ICC Women’s ODI bowling rankings after a successful series against England at home

Cricinfo staff02-Mar-2010Jhulan Goswami, the India captain, has taken the top spot in the ICC Women’s ODI bowling rankings after a successful series against England at home. In India’s 3-2 series win, Goswami bagged 11 wickets at 11.72 and overtook Australia’s Shelly Nitschke and Lisa Sthakelar, who are now placed second and third respectively.England’s pace bowler Katherine Brunt, who finished with 10 wickets at 16, including a five-for, has moved up to fourth place while Rumeli Dhar, India’s medium pacer, climbed to the fifth spot after a series-haul of nine wickets.India batsman and former captain Mithali Raj widened the gap between herself and the rest in the ODI batting rankings after an impressive series where she made 287 runs including four half-centuries. Raj, at No.1, is now 150 points ahead of England batsman Claire Taylor, who didn’t participate in the Indian tour.

Playing South Africa for the first time, and playing at the new Namibia Cricket Ground for the first time, the hosts won a last-ball thriller

Firdose Moonda11-Oct-2025Namibia made history in more ways than one in the one-off T20I as they inaugurated the new Namibia Cricket ground, played their neighbours South Africa for the first time in any international format, and then beat them in a thriller for good measure.The upset came against a patchwork South Africa side, with most of the first-choice T20I players currently in Pakistan, where they will play a Test starting tomorrow. But Namibia won’t care what kind of South Africa team they earned their first win against. They celebrated in front of a 4000-capacity crowd at the NCG (you read that right), complete with a lap of honour. South Africa are the fourth Full Member to be defeated by Namibia, after Zimbabwe, Ireland and Sri Lanka.On a slow surface and sluggish outfield, batting was tricky for both sides and Namibia had South Africa in trouble at 82 for 6 in the 13th over thanks largely to good catching. South Africa left it late to string partnerships together and their most profitable stand was 37 off 35 balls for the seventh wicket between Jason Smith and Bjorn Fortuin. Smith was the highest scorer with 31.Similarly, Namibia’s innings started badly and they were 84 for 5 in the 13th over. In what was close to an exact mirroring of South Africa’s batting, their seventh-wicket pair put on 37 but off just 21 balls. Zane Green’s unbeaten 30 off 23 balls on his birthday sealed the win.

De Kock’s short-lived comeback

The stage was set for one of the most highly anticipated returns in the global game when Donovan Ferreira won the toss and chose to bat with Quinton de Kock carded at No. 1. But his return was short lived. Namibia’s captain Gerhard Erasmus opened the bowling and de Kock brought out the pull first up. He got a single to midwicket, then missed one that went down leg, and then tried to smash it over square leg but miscued to Ruben Trumpelmann, who took a simple catch to end de Kock’s stay at the crease in the opening over. De Kock also returned behind the stumps and took the only chance he had, but it was off a no-ball in the first over of the Namibian chase.Jason Smith top-scored for South Africa with 31•Cricket Namibia

Namibia hold on to everything… until they don’t

Trumpelmann’s catch didn’t require much more than being in the right place, but he created more difficult opportunities that his team-mates took. In his first over, Reeza Hendricks tried to hit him over deep square but Malan Kruger sprinted in from the rope to take a tumbling catch and remove Hendricks for 7. By his second over, Rubin Hermann, who looked in good touch for his 23, was rushed by extra bounce as he tried to hit Trumpelmann over deep midwicket. Ben Shikongo claimed a good low catch to give Trumpelmann a second.Debutant Max Heingo had Lhuan-dre Pretorius caught behind off the glove and Ferreira at midwicket before Shikongo was rewarded by smart bowling and smarter hands. He followed Andile Simelane as he backed away to clear mid-off and sent the ball high. Erasmus got the skates on again and took a stunning catch to his left to leave South Africa 82 for 6.Smith and Fortuin steadied things but with only one boundary in 30 balls between the 13th and 18th overs, had to try and force things. Smith tried to hit Heingo over long-on and should have been caught by Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton but he put it down. In the next over, Smith tried to clear him at long-off but again, didn’t have the distance, and JJ Smit took a simple catch.Later in the over, Fortuin offered Smit a similar chance but he shelled it. Namibia finished things off with another catch as Gerald Coetzee tried to go big but found Louren Steenkamp at deep third.

Coetzee’s nightmare over ends in injury

Coetzee was brought on first change and made an early impact. He started off too straight and was flicked for four but quickly adjusted his length to Lourens Steenkamp and even surprised him with a bouncer before bowling him. Namibia were 28 for 2 after three overs.But then things started to go wrong for Coetzee. He started his second over with a wide down leg, then got hit for four by Erasmus, and then bowled three more wides. He had his hands on his hips in frustration and the next ball whizzed past Erasmus but avoided the edge.Whatever extra effort Coetzee put into that ball seemed to do some damage and he left the field with three balls remaining in the over. Ferreira completed it and in the end it cost 12 runs. A CSA update said the injury was likely of the pectoral muscle.

A fitting finale

Namibia stayed in the hunt with contributions from Erasmus (a run-a-ball 21) and Kruger (18 off 21 balls) but South Africa’s attack didn’t let any of them get too far away to set up the perfect finish.Namibia needed 32 runs off the last three overs with four wickets in hand. They took nine runs off the 18th over, with Trumpelmann getting four off an inside edge, and 12 runs off the 19th, as Green started with a lofted cover drive and then ran hard with three twos in the over.That left 11 to get off the final over and Simelane was tasked with defending it. His first ball was short, Green got underneath it and sent it over fine leg for six and then took a single. Trumpelmann ran hard for two and then drew scores level. Green sent the last ball – a low full toss – over midwicket for four to complete the win.

“He’s the heartbeat of this franchise and having him back is going to make this team a lot stronger,” says Ponting

Nagraj Gollapudi22-Mar-2024Four-hundred-and-fifty-three days since he last played a competitive match, India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is “jittery” to resume playing cricket on Saturday afternoon when he will lead Delhi Capitals in their IPL opener against hosts Punjab Kings. The hiatus was forced on Pant after a life-threatening car crash on December 30, 2022, from which he successfully recovered after extensive rehab.”Jittery, nervous, excited – all of it,” Pant described his emotional state on the eve of his first IPL match in two years, having sat out the 2023 season. “But at the same time, just happy being able to come back to professional cricket. I’m just looking forward to playing my first game tomorrow.”As soon as the BCCI’s medical team had declared Pant fit, both as a wicketkeeper and batter, Pant flew to join the franchise’s preparatory camp in Visakhapatnam, where Capitals will play home matches in the schedule announced so far. Like a kid who had been kept away from doing his favourite thing, Pant batted obsessively in the nets, according to Capitals’ head coach Ricky Ponting.Related

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Pant felt he did that because he wanted to practise as much as possible and give himself “the best chance to become a better cricketer”.Ponting described Pant as the “heartbeat” of the team. “There’s no doubt last year we missed our captain, we missed one of the best players in the world,” he said. “Just his attitude, his smile, the way he goes about his cricket, he’s a winner. He wants to win games.”He wants to do the best he can for the team all the time. And when you have that attitude coming back into a team, that’s infectious. Everyone wants to be like Rishabh and play the way that he plays his cricket. He’s our leader. He’s the heartbeat of this franchise and having him back is going to make this team a lot better and a lot stronger.”Ponting the coach is usually a positive and smiling person, but Pant’s return has got him super excited for the new season as Capitals attempt to win the IPL for the first time. “The fact that he is back smiling puts a smile on my face as well. Knowing that I’ve got my captain back, knowing that I’ve got one of the best players in the world in all three formats back in my team, I’m smiling, his team-mates are all smiling.”

Governing body also announces measures to promote change in wake of damning racism report

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2022Cricket Scotland has announced that it will offer paid contracts to players in its international women’s team for the first time.Scotland sit 14th in the ICC’s T20I rankings and missed out on qualification for February’s T20 World Cup in South Africa but will move towards professionalism as part of the board’s bid to make cricket a “fully inclusive” sport in the country.”This builds on the move to pay equal match fees to the men’s and women’s players introduced in 2021 and will enable a number of players to devote more time to training and practice and is a start to putting the women’s game onto a fully professional footing,” Cricket Scotland said in a statement.Scottish cricket was plunged into crisis earlier this year after the publication of a damning report into institutional racism within the sport, and revealed a number of measures on Thursday which the board hopes “will underpin long-term success for the international teams and deliver a more sustainable governing body in the years ahead”.Cricket Scotland will recruit a new head of communications, an EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) manager and a conduct in sport manager, and will not renew contracts of seven staff within the strength and conditioning, physiotherapy and support services provision.”The changes are required to refocus the governing body’s priorities and to establish a strong financial base from which to launch an ambitious new strategy for the sport in the coming months,” the statement said.Gordon Arthur, the board’s interim chief executive, will stay in post until November 2023 on a fixed-term contract “to ensure stability and continuity during this period of substantial restructuring”.Arthur said: “We need to reset and rebuild to ensure that we are in the strongest possible position to deliver real and meaningful change across Scottish cricket. This won’t be without challenges but we have a great opportunity to take the sport confidently forward in the years ahead.”Anjan Luthra, who was appointed as chair last month, said: “This a watershed moment for the sport of cricket in Scotland. The investment announced today into the women’s game is an important building block in our desire to make cricket in Scotland a fully inclusive sport where there is no place for racism, discrimination or inequalities.”We have an opportunity to create a bold new vision for our Scottish cricket and we are committed to doing so by driving positive change at every level within our sport.”At the same time, we are rebuilding capacity within the governing body and addressing the weaknesses and failings identified through the Changing the Boundaries report so that we build a first-class governing body for Scottish cricket.”

“Nida is an icon and inspiration to millions of young girls who are passionate about cricket and follow the game”

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2021Nida Dar has become the first Pakistan player – male or female – to 100 T20I wickets. The 34-year old reached the milestone when she had West Indies opener Deandra Dottin caught by Diana Baig in the T20I series opener in North Sound. She picked up one more wicket on Wednesday – that of Stafanie Taylor – to push her tally to 101. Only Anisa Mohammed, Ellyse Perry, Shabnim Ismail and Anya Shrubsole have taken more wickets than Dar in women’s T20Is.”Definitely there was a lot of hard work behind this milestone,” Dar said after the game, which Pakistan lost by 10 runs. “I always had this in mind to complete 100 wickets as quickly as possible. I had a chance in the previous series but unfortunately couldn’t do. But this time made sure I will try my best in this series against West Indies and I am feeling great by getting this in the very first game. Sadly, the game didn’t finish in our favour and it could have been a lot better if we won the game. Anyway, next time I will try to win the game from my performance.”Among all Pakistan players, Shahid Afridi is the second-highest wicket-taker in T20I cricket, with 97 strikes. Among Pakistan Women, Sana Mir (89) is the second-highest wicket-taker, behind Dar, with Sadia Yousuf (57) at third. Dar’s career-best haul of 5 for 21 came against Malaysia in the Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 2018. The PCB hailed Dar’s latest achievement, calling her an “inspiration” for the next-gen women players.Related

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“This is no mean achievement and is a testimony of the hard work and dedication Nida has put in over the years,” Wasim Khan, the PCB CEO, said. “Over the last decade, Nida has prospered into an integral part of the national women’s team and has become an inspiration for the next generation of women cricketers.”It is a great moment not only for her but the whole nation as she is also the first Asian woman bowler to record this landmark. Nida is an icon and inspiration to millions of young girls who are passionate about cricket and follow the game. In a day and age when women’s cricket is flourishing and its fan base is increasing day-by-day, role models like her would do well in taking the women’s game to the corners of the earth.”Dar was also at it in the first T20I, returning 2 for 15, which helped Pakistan Women restrict West Indies Women to 136 for 6 after the hosts were 65 for 0. However, the Pakistan batters couldn’t overhaul the target, despite a late assault from Ayesha Naseem and Fatima Sana.”The conditions were windy and the rain also intervened, but the pitch was supportive overall,” Dar said. “It had everything for bowlers and batters, so whoever comes strongly can score runs and can pick up wickets. We as a bowling unit gave a good start and bowled well in bits and pieces. I think 136 was a chaseable target and batters need to show more responsibility and that’s the key. We had a good outing with the ball and also took good catches in the field.”

Earl Eddings says CA has presented different options to the ICC Board

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Jun-2020Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings believes it is “unlikely” and “unrealistic” that the Men’s T20 World Cup will take place in Australia as scheduled this year. The fate of the tournament, scheduled between October 18 and November 15, is being deliberated fiercely by the ICC Board which last week deferred to take the final call.The ICC has continued to remain optimistic despite the growing likelihood of the tournament being postponed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. After the ICC Board meeting convened to discuss contingency planning last week , ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney had said that there was only “one chance” to make the decision and it needed to be the “right one” which he said would be arrived at after consulting all stakeholders, from the broadcaster to the players.Eddings, who sits on the ICC Board, though, felt time was running out. He pointed out that with many of the 16 participating countries still under the grip of the pandemic it was “very, very difficult” to stage the tournament and said that CA had presented different options to the ICC Board for the tournament to be moved.”I sit on the ICC and we’re having meetings as we speak,” Eddings said on Tuesday. “It’s a bit of a moving feast at the moment. I’d say it’s unlikely, while it hasn’t been formally called off this year or postponed, trying to get 16 countries into Australia in the current world where most countries are still going through Covid-19 spiking, I think it’s unrealistic or would be very, very difficult. We’ve put forward a number of different options to the ICC we’re working through at the moment.”This is the second time in the last month Eddings has asked the ICC to consider postponing the T20 World Cup. Last month, he addressed an email to the ICC’s Finance & Commercial Affairs Committee, proposing Australia and India swap hosting the tournament over the next two years. Contents of Eddings’ correspondence to the ICC were reported by the recently.Eddings suggested that Australia host the event in October-November 2021 and India stage the tournament a year later in 2022. Doing that, Eddings said, would financially help all the member countries. If not, Eddings said it would be “detrimental to cricket” in case the “cancellation” of the World Cup in Australia this year was “replaced by award of” the tournament in October-November 2022.Last month Kevin Roberts, who was sacked by CA as chief executive on Monday, had pointed out that there was a “very high risk” of the T20 World Cup taking place in October-November. Roberts, though, had indicated the “implications” of postponing the tournament were not straightforward and the ICC was “juggling a lot of balls” as it was “looking at the windows that are possible over the coming year.”One of those windows, as ESPNcricinfo reported could be moving the Men’s T20 World Cup at the back of the Women’s ODI World Cup which is scheduled in New Zealand for February-March 2021. In case that happens, the women’s tournament would need to be advanced to January in order to fit in the men’s edition. Doing that would help the ICC and CA retain the local organising committee for the Men’s T20 World Cup to continue and smoothen the logistics and costs.Nick Hockley, CEO of the T20 World Cup local organising committee, and appointed as Roberts’ temporary replacement, said CA would be ready for any eventuality including the tournament being postponed. “There’s a huge amount of work going on around [T20 World Cup] contingency planning,” Hockley said on Tuesday. “I think there’s meetings coming up next month at ICC level where some decisions will be made and we’ve got a fantastic local organising committee who are busy preparing for every eventuality and the decision that will come forth.”

Melbourne Renegades completed a defence of 152 to defeat the Sydney Thunder – one of their nearest rivals on the competition table – by 12 runs in Sydney

The Report by Daniel Brettig22-Jan-2019Melbourne Renegades solidified their place in the Big Bash League top four with a stout defence of 152 to defeat the Sydney Thunder – one of their nearest rivals on the competition table – by 12 runs in a defensive affair at the Sydney Showground Stadium.The visiting captain, Aaron Finch, made a vital half-century, not only for the Renegades but his own peace of mind after a difficult summer, and with assistance from Cameron White was able to lift the Melbourne side to a defensible total on a somewhat sluggish pitch.In the chase, Callum Ferguson appeared to have given the Thunder a strong chance to chase down their target, but his dismissal amid an admirably tight spell by Cameron Boyce – who had been unsuccessfully promoted to open with Finch – left the young batsman Jason Sangha unable to summon the big hits required to finish off the job.Finch begins finding himselfOver a summer in which he graduated into, then flunked out of, the Australian Test team, Finch has seemed to get increasingly frazzled by the array of formats and tasks confronting him, to the point that his role as the national limited-overs captain in a World Cup year has become in danger of being affected. At the conclusion of the ODI series against India, the Australian coach Justin Langer expressed hope that Finch would regain some equilibrium via the BBL.A halting stay worth only 14 in the Melbourne Derby was not exactly promising, but against the Thunder Finch was able to get himself going in the sort of manner he will hope to make a habit of over the next six months or more. Though the Renegades started off with the experimental presence of Cameron Boyce at the top of the order alongside Finch, the captain was able to build into an innings of confidence and some heavy hitting that reaped four sixes while not giving a chance until he fell to Sandhu. It’s a long way from the World Cup final, but it’s a start.Sams, Sandhu keep Renegades in checkAt 3 for 116 in the 16th over, the Renegades had successfully absorbed the loss of early wickets and also a parsimonious spell by Fawad Ahmed to appear set for a late ransacking of runs. However, Sandhu’s fooling of Finch with a slower ball was to set the scene for a twist in the innings, as Sandhu and Sams put the clamps on by claiming regular wickets.White’s innings of 40, featuring 14 cuffed from one over from Chris Jordan, ensured the Renegades did not lose all momentum, but three wickets apiece for Sandhu and Sams had the Thunder looking confident at the innings break.Ferguson sets things upDuring a long career that might have featured more international cricket but for a terribly timed knee injury in 2009, Ferguson has proven himself to be an expert at the sorts of modulated, balanced innings critical to white-ball success. Coming in at the fall of Anton Devcich in the very first over, pouched at third man, Ferguson shrugged off the loss of the powerful Shane Watson shortly after to appear to set up the Thunder for a fruitful chase.His stand with Jason Sangha relied upon Ferguson finding the boundary with some regularity, and when Sangha advanced to dispatch Boyce inside-out over cover in the 13th over, the partnership appeared set to enter another gear. That, though, was to reckon without Boyce.Boyce holds the Renegades centreDiscarded by Tasmania and unwanted by Queensland after the Bulls chose to move on to the younger Mitchell Swepson, Boyce has proven an excellent acquisition by the Renegades as a willing wristspinner who has found an artful balance between defence and attack. His spell to the Thunder rather summed this up, as he conceded only a single boundary in four overs.At the same time he was able to coax Ferguson into a blow that fell fractionally short of the long-on boundary and into the hands of a jumping Dan Christian, leaving Sangha to fight an ultimately losing battle with his own timing and boundary-scoring as the Renegades squeaked their way to victory.