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He says South Africa “just focusing on the now and not the future” with the race to the WTC final hotting up

Firdose Moonda08-Dec-2024South Africa will “go back to old-fashioned Test cricket” as they look to take five wickets to complete a win on the final day at St George’s Park. This, after they “went searching” in the last 90 minutes of the fourth afternoon.A slightly frustrated Keshav Maharaj, who was the last to strike in the 34th over – before Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva batted out 18.5 overs more – said tighter disciplines will be key with the old ball on a surface that remains relatively good for batting with Sri Lanka 143 runs away from levelling the series.”It requires a lot of patience, especially as the ball gets older and softer. The wicket becomes a little bit more placid but we did go searching a little bit, if I’m honest,” Maharaj said at the post-play press conference. “Hopefully tomorrow we’ll go back to old-fashioned Test cricket like we did in that period where we got those seven wickets in the morning.”Related

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Maharaj was reflecting on the third day’s play where South Africa forced a Sri Lankan collapse of 7 for 67 to take a 30-run first innings lead. Then, Marco Jansen extracted good bounce and Dane Paterson bowled an excellent and accurate spell where he found late movement with the second new ball. This time, South Africa will have to wait 28 overs more before the second new ball is due and they will have to apply their disciplines for longer, especially against batters who are set.The partnership between Kusal and Dhanajaya has grown to 83, with each on 39 not out. While their growing ease at the crease may be causing some concern, South Africa know they are essentially a wicket away from the tail and if they get there, the rest could unravel. “Traditionally, the wickets do happen in clusters. There can be a period where the game goes nowhere and then all of a sudden, it takes one wicket to basically be the catalyst,” Maharaj said. “It’s about staying patient and hopefully reaping the rewards of some hard graft tomorrow morning.”South Africa have already had two lessons in patience – the one when Sri Lanka were 242 for 3 overnight and then finished on 328 all out on day three and the other on the fourth day. Sri Lanka looked comfortable on 117 for 3, with a partnership between Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis that sat at 53, when Maharaj made an important double-strike. He removed Mathews and then Kamindu in successive overs and bowled to a plan that worked.With Mathews, South Africa wanted to “encourage a shot” because they believed they had enough runs on the board for Maharaj gave it extra flight, and Mathews tried to hit him over midwicket and was bowled. “It was a big wicket. It obviously led to the wicket of Kamindu a couple of overs later.”Once Mathews was removed, South Africa tried something different against Kamindu. “It didn’t look like he wanted me to settle in the rough, so [I thought] let me come around the wicket and keep him in the crease,” Maharaj said. “And it just paid off quickly. It paid off with the first ball I tried that.”‘I told you so’ – Keshav Maharaj to his skipper after setting up a trap to knock over Angelo Mathews•AFP/Getty Images

Kamindu edged as he tried to work a delivery that spun into him into the leg side and Kyle Verreynne took an instinctive one-handed catch. Maharaj pointed to Bavuma in celebration, an acknowledgment of how their homework was earning them full marks.At that stage, South Africa had Sri Lanka 122 for 5 and could probably sniff a win. They tried a few things because they felt they had “kind of earned the right a little bit to go searching, but probably not for as long as we did”, as Maharaj put it. Maharaj operated from his end until the last over of the session and continued to experiment with his lengths as he tried to find another breakthrough. At the other end, South Africa rotated through the seamers and though Kagiso Rabada and Paterson both found some movement, Sri Lanka balanced caution with enterprise and saw out the day.In 2019, on this ground, Sri Lanka were 60 for 2 overnight on the second day, chasing 197. They got there without losing another wicket and Kusal Mendis was one of the batters that spearheaded that win. South Africa know the importance of removing him but understand that the best chance of doing that is to make sure their disciplines are strong and they don’t get too far ahead of themselves, knowing that a win would tick another box on their quest to reach the World Test Championship final.”We acknowledge the bigger picture for everything, but it’s about a process. The boys are very comfortable just focusing on the now and not the future,” Maharaj said.South Africa will be guaranteed a place in the final if they win this and their next two matches, and could still get there with fewer than three wins but then they will be dependent on other results.

Rohit and Dravid to be part of the meeting in which the selectors are also likely to pencil in the draft squad for the World Cup

Shashank Kishore19-Aug-20232:15

Who will make the final cut in India’s Asia Cup squad?

Will KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah be on the plane to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup? We will know on Monday, August 21, when the senior men’s selection committee, chaired by Ajit Agarkar, convenes in New Delhi to pick the squad.It is understood that Rohit Sharma, the India captain, will attend the meeting. SS Das will too, but via video conference because he’s the selector on tour in Ireland with a second-rung squad which is currently in the middle of a three-match T20I series. According to PTI, head coach Rahul Dravid will also be present in his official capacity. The coach is generally not part of the selection meetings.Rohit’s participation is significant given the selectors are also likely to pencil in the draft squad for the World Cup. While September 5 is the ICC’s deadline to submit the draft squad, it is understood the selection panel wants to pick the same 15 for both events as far as possible. The picked squad, along with a few stand-by players, will then assemble in Bengaluru for a six-day camp prior to their departure to Colombo.Related

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Rahul and Iyer’s fitness status could be a main discussion point as the BCCI awaits a final nod from the NCA. The duo is currently in Bengaluru, where they have been put through a series of match-simulation exercises and practice matches to test their readiness for 50-over cricket.Iyer is understood to have ticked most boxes in his first practice game earlier this week, where he fielded for the entire 50 overs and batted for 38 without much discomfort. The match was closely monitored by NCA chief VVS Laxman and batting coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Rahul, who didn’t feature in that game, is expected to line up alongside Iyer for a second practice game on Sunday.Rahul’s fitness is key to India solving their wicketkeeper conundrum, especially with Rishabh Pant still recovering from injuries sustained during a serious car crash in December.Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul were recently put through a series of match simulation exercises at NCA•Getty Images

If picked, Rahul is likely to bat at No. 5 and keep wicket. If he isn’t, Ishan Kishan is the frontrunner for the wicketkeeper’s role. Kishan’s selection could also then lead to a bit of a shuffle in the batting order. It’s something several former cricketers, including former head coach Ravi Shastri, feel strongly about.Iyer, meanwhile, solves the crucial No. 4 debate should he be fit. It’s a position that proved to be India’s bugbear at the 2019 World Cup, when the MSK Prasad-led selection committee punted on Vijay Shankar’s all-round skills over Ambati Rayudu, who was the designated No. 4 for much of India’s build-up to the tournament. Eventually, Shankar’s injury paved the way for Pant’s belated inclusion in the squad.In Iyer’s absence, India recently tried out Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson and Axar Patel at No. 4 in the Caribbean. Suryakumar, India’s T20I vice-captain, admitted having not been able to make the best use of his opportunities at that spot, and the team management is believed to be trying him as a finisher.Bumrah, meanwhile, opened India’s Ireland tour with a Player-of-the-Match winning effort in Dublin on Friday. Bumrah took 2 for 24; both his strikes came in his opening over upon a return to international cricket after 11 months. Prasidh Krishna, another key bowler in India’s World Cup plans, also made a promising return and picked up two wickets.India open their Asia Cup campaign against Pakistan on September 2, before playing Nepal on September 4. Both games will be played in Pallekele, with the top two sides of the group progressing through to the Super 4s, where they will play three more games.After the Asia Cup, India will also play three ODIs at home against Australia prior to opening their World Cup campaign, also against Australia, on October 8 in Chennai.

Mehidy picked up four wickets to restrict first-innings lead to 162

Associated Press18-Jun-2022Captain Kraigg Brathwaite scored 94 as West Indies pressed their advantage on day two of the first Test. West Indies were dismissed for 265 after tea at barely two runs an over for a first-innings lead of 162, and reduced Bangladesh to 50 for 2 by stumps. Bangladesh trailed by 112 with eight wickets left.Brathwaite, the opener, led his side with a half-century or better for the fifth time in his last eight test innings dating to November. He was unlucky, after facing 267 balls and closing on an 11th test century after more than 6 1/2 hours, as a Khaled Ahmed delivery stayed low and hit his pad in front of leg stump. Brathwaite didn’t dispute it.By then, he’d long helped his side pass Bangladesh’s total in the morning, and almost double it when he was out at 197 for 4. But rather than inspire West Indies to continue grinding away, Brathwaite’s demise appeared to stiffen Bangladesh’s resolve.West Indies, after losing only Nkrumah Bonner’s wicket in the morning, lost three in the middle session after the new ball was taken, and the last four wickets in the nine overs after tea.Jermaine Blackwood, who joined Brathwaite in the morning, lasted until the third session and was the ninth man out for 63 off 139 balls. He was Khaled’s second wicket, falling to a great diving catch by Mehidy Hasan Miraz at extra cover.Gudakesh Motie, making his West Indies debut, added an unbeaten 23 off 21 balls batting at No. 10.Offspinner Mehidy picked up 4 for 59 for Bangladesh.But the team’s batting came under the scanner again. Opener Tamim Iqbal was gone for 22 in the 10th over, getting a thick edge in Alzarri Joseph’s first over. Joseph’s second over netted planned nightwatchman Mehidy for 2 from an edge to the slips. Joseph had 2 for 14 at stumps.Mahmudul Hasan Joy was left on 18 not out and Najmul Hossain Shanto, who took 14 balls to get off the mark, was 8 not out.

The 75-year old complained of “tiredness and fatigue” on Friday evening and his speech became a “little bit cluttered”

PTI18-Jan-2021Former India legspinner BS Chandrasekhar is recovering in a hospital after suffering a “very, very minutest stroke.””Chandra is recovering very well, and he will be back home on Wednesday or Thursday,” his wife Sandhya Chandrasekhar told PTI.The 75-year old complained of “tiredness and fatigue” on Friday evening and his speech became a “little bit cluttered”, according to her.On the advice of doctors that he needed neurological treatment, Chandrasekhar, was admitted in Aster RV Hospital, where he was kept in the emergency care unit for medical observation.Sandhya said that Chandrasekhar has now been shifted to regular ward and is undergoing physiotherapy.”There is some kind of blockage in the brain. It’s a very, very minutest stroke,” she said. “There is no problem. It’s not a life-threatening thing. Please convey to fans that Chandra is very much stable. He has a very strong willpower.”In his 16-year career, Chandrasekhar played 58 Test matches capturing 242 wickets.

With Delhi in trouble early, Shorey dodges almost all his paradoxes to produce a near masterclass but it wasn’t enough in the end

Hemant Brar in Bengaluru20-Oct-2019Dhruv Shorey’s career has been full of paradoxes. When he plays first-class cricket, his attractive strokeplay makes you think he will be better suited for 50-over cricket. When he bats in one-dayers, you wonder he’s probably going a tad slower. A List-A strike rate of 73 backs that observation.Shorey is supposed to be a mainstay of Delhi’s batting. He has a more than decent first-class record but averages in the low 30s in List A cricket with just one hundred from 42 games.At 27, Shorey’s career is yet to fully take off. Still he finds himself leading Delhi in the 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Trophy, and on Sunday, in the middle with his side at 17 for 2 against a rampant Gujarat in the second quarterfinal. What does Shorey do? He dodges almost all the paradoxes to produce a near masterclass.Chintan Gaja had just dismissed Delhi openers Shikhar Dhawan and Anuj Rawat, while Roosh Kalaria had kept things quiet from the other end. But Shorey not only stabilised the innings – along with Nitish Rana – but also accelerated towards the end to finish with a 109-ball 91.But just like his career, this innings too proved to be a paradox. He played a captain’s knock but failed to take his side to a winning total. In the end, Delhi were all out for 223 in 49 overs, and Gujarat chased the VJD-adjusted target of 225 in 37.5 overs with six wickets in hand.Earlier, Dhawan’s lean run with the bat continued. After failing to open his account in the first six balls, he skipped down the track to Gaja only to chip it towards short extra cover. But the fielder there spilled the straightforward chance, the sort of thing you hope for as an out-of-form batsman. But Dhawan failed to take any advantage of that. He sashayed down once again on the next ball, only to splice it towards mid-off this time. Piyush Chawla made no mistake. Four overs later, Rawat tried to do a similar thing and was taken at cover.With the side in trouble, Shorey and Rana decided to bid their time on a two-paced wicket. The team fifty came in the 14th over, and it took Delhi another 14 overs to reach the hundred-run mark.But Shorey batted with a calm demeanour, hitting mostly along the ground and reached his fifty in 67 balls. At the other end, Rana smashed two fours in one Arzan Nagwaswalla over but mostly found it difficult to get the ball off the square. Despite Rana’s struggles, the two had added 90 for the third wicket in 129 balls.It was once again Gaja who provided his side with a wicket. In an attempt to provide momentum to the innings, Rana ended up flicking one straight to short fine leg and was dismissed for 33 off 61.Shorey had moved to 77 off 98 without much fuss before he decided to take on Axar Patel. Using his feet, he lofted the left-arm spinner over wide long-off. Three balls later, when Axar pitched on short, Shorey got down on one knee to sweep-pull it for another six over fine leg. Suddenly, he was on 90 off 102 balls.With Himmat Singh for company, Shorey took Delhi to 150 in the 37th over, with the last 50 runs coming at almost run a ball. The platform was set, the hundred was there for the taking but then the paradox struck again. Or maybe it was just the nervous nineties. After all, last season he was dismissed thrice in the 90s in first-class cricket.Shorey had looked to play in the ‘V’ until then. But in the 38th over, while trying to steer Nagwaswalla towards third man, he ended up edging one to Parthiv Patel. Another unfulfilled promise as Shorey admitted after the match.”I should have stayed there till the end,” Shorey said. “Initially the wicket was doing a bit but after I got settled, it appeared a very good wicket to bat on. But the way I got out, or Nitish got out, it was a little disappointing. Maybe on this wicket, we could have gone on till the 45th over to pace our innings as anything around 270-280 or 300 would have been a good total.”A brief shower in the 40th over further disrupted Delhi’s momentum and when the teams returned – with the match reduced to 49 overs per side – the lower-order batsmen couldn’t do much against Chawla’s guile.Parthiv and Priyank Panchal then got Gujarat off to a quick start, with the former happily feasting on the buffet of short balls served by the Delhi seamers. Delhi’s fielding didn’t help their cause either. Panchal was on 28 when Rana dropped a sitter at mid-on, while wicketkeeper Rawat failed to grab an inside edge off Parthiv with the batsman on 57.The two added 150 in just 23.1 overs to make light work of the chase. Though Delhi struck back, by then there were not enough runs left to make a match out of it. Only if Shorey had stayed in there for a little longer, but that’s how his career has been so far.

Cricket South Africa’s change of heart has been explained by a recurrence of a finger injury but it follows a disturbing pattern for county sides

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2018Quinton de Kock has withdrawn from his proposed stint with Nottinghamshire at the request of Cricket South Africa.De Kock had been scheduled to appear in four Specsavers County Championship matches at the end of the season.His withdrawal leaves Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket Mick Newell on the hunt for a replacement for a county currently lying third in the table, 43 points behind the leaders Surrey.Cricket South Africa have indicated that de Kock has a reoccurrence of an injury to a right index finger that he sustained during the New Zealand series and that the management has decided to pull him out to allow the injury to heal ahead of a busy season.However, he has been promoted to captain for the last two matches in South Africa’s one-day series against Sri Lanka, even though the series has already been won, suggesting that the injury is not all that serious.De Kock’s withdrawal follows a disturbing pattern for county cricket this summer of national Boards pressing players to withdraw from confirmed deals, often more because of a change of heart than change of circumstance.Yorkshire lost Australian Billy Stanlake at the last moment from their Vitality Blast campaign and the will-he-won’t-he saga of Virat Kohli and Surrey finally ended with him not fulfilling his brief county deal.”We’re disappointed because Quinton is a high-quality player and we would have been stronger with him in the side, but he has a central contract with Cricket South Africa and there is always some risk when you sign a player of his profile,” said Newell.”We would like to strengthen the team for the remaining red ball fixtures and will consider the options that are out there but it’s a particularly tough market at this stage of the season.”If there’s something that can be done then we’ll explore it but there isn’t a long list of available overseas talent.”

Rising Pune are worried about a Mumbai Indians backlash after emerging victorious on each of the three occasions this season

Arun Venugopal in Hyderabad20-May-20171:18

Rohit Sharma hails Mumbai’s teamwork

Mahela Jayawardene, the Mumbai Indians coach, used the phrase ‘wake up call’ thrice, and with good reason, at the pre-final press conference. On the surface, it might have seemed more for effect, as the question to him was about Mumbai Indians’ consistent run in IPL 2017. But, Jayawardene’s iteration was for the three losses they’ve been handed by Rising Pune Supergiant this season.After Rising Pune had nutmegged them off the penultimate ball in their opening fixture, Mumbai went on a six-match winning spree before they were halted again by – no surprises there – Rising Pune. This, too, was a close defeat following which Mumbai went unbeaten in all but two games, but who do they run into in the first Qualifier? Rising Pune.The stakes were higher this time as the winner would get a direct passage to the final. Given how things had panned out, the result wasn’t hard to predict. The consolation for Mumbai, if any, is that they have been comprehensively bested and not handed out a last-over heartbreak. As for Rising Pune, they have now won all their games at the Wankhede. In fact, so absolute has been their dominance over Mumbai that you will have to ferret out a scorecard from last May to look up their only defeat in five games.After a disappointing 2016 season, Jayawardene said Mumbai had made it a point to address their notoriously sluggish starts to IPL campaigns. He also suggested that Rising Pune was the bogey team his team needed to sharpen their competitive edge against. “The first game was against Pune and they gave us a wake-up call,” he said. “We realised that we had to play better cricket than that. We got a little bit of momentum….we won some close matches, made sure we kept going and again they gave us a wake-up call in the middle of the season.”We made sure we regrouped and didn’t slack as a group towards the later part of the tournament. It’s been a good team effort and a lot of boys put their hand up in tough situations and won matches. I think it’s a tough tournament because any team could beat you on the day, home and away conditions are different. But credit to the boys, they have really performed well. And again they gave us a wake-up call in the knockout stages. We had to go to Bangalore, regroup again and play a good game of cricket which is good because it keeps everyone on the toes going into the final.”The Rising Pune question, specifically the defeat in the first Qualifier, was put forth to captain Rohit Sharma as well. Should Mumbai win, this will be their third title – after 2013 and 2015 – with Rohit at the helm. His response to the two questions was a potpourri of processes, results and focus. But eventually, he made the point that Mumbai had never lost a Maharashtra derby, in Hyderabad.”It’s true we haven’t played well against Pune. But now we’re playing them in a neutral venue,” he said. “They have been playing some really good cricket and it’s just that we haven’t been playing too well on those days. Conditions will be different for both teams. The aim is to avoid whatever mistakes we have done in the past against them. Hopefully, we’ve learnt from the mistakes and don’t repeat again tomorrow. We’ve got to make sure we’re better and we play good cricket and focus on what we need to do.”3:37

Tait: Having beaten Mumbai last game, Pune should go in unchanged

Sitting on the other side of the table, Rising Pune coach Stephen Fleming and captain Steven Smith flashed knowing smiles when their counterparts were talking. Fleming said they would continue to stay low-profile in the final like they have all tournament.”We’ve faced a lot of challenges throughout this tournament and we’ve faced them well,” he said. “We’re quietly confident, pretty much like our entire campaign where we have flown under the radar and done things quietly. I don’t think we’ll do anything different when we get up. If we get up because there’ll be a couple of wily foxes [Rohit and Jayawardene] who’ll be trying to stop us. They’re well awake now,” he added for good measure with a laugh.While Rohit conceded there wasn’t much individual brilliance that contributed to Mumbai’s success this year, he saw that as a positive in how the team has collectively pulled its weight. “Whenever they had an opportunity they put their hand up, taken the responsibility and obviously made sure that team crossed that line,” he said. “Guys have come at different points and taken up the responsibility and goes to show that teamwork is so much important whether it’s batting or bowling.”Not everyone can have a good day every day, so it’s important guys coming at different points deliver.[I am] honestly not really worried about the key players not delivering consistently because they have not had opportunities consistently. A lot of the game if you see, the first half was batted by the top three batsmen and the middle order has delivered whenever it had the opportunity.”Rising Pune share a similarity with Mumbai, especially in the way young players have come to the fore. Two of their key youngsters – Rahul Tripathi and Washington Sundar – are playing their first IPL. Washington, in fact, was the thorn in Mumbai’s flesh in the first Qualifier. Smith felt their callowness might actually work in the team’s favour in a high-profile final.”That can play into your favour sometimes because you can just come out and play with freedom,” Smith said. “I thought Washington was absolutely fantastic against Mumbai the other night, for a 17-year old to come out on the big stage against some quality players and to do what he did was outstanding. Those guys, the young guys, have been a real big part of our success throughout this tournament. Hopefully, they can have a bit of success tomorrow night too. “For Fleming, the dynamic between Smith and MS Dhoni, who captained Rising Pune last year, was an integral part of the team’s success. “They’re both fine leaders with their performance. Arguably both are the best in their position. Certainly, MS for a period of time [has been up there with the best wicketkeeper-batsman] and Steve is right up there if not the best batsman in the world at the moment,” he said. “It’s just good communication between the two of them.”Much has been made of their relationship but certainly sitting with them it’s nothing but influential to the younger players and beneficial for the senior players and for me. It has been a great dynamic to be a part of. This is the first time I am working with Steve and I have enjoyed it thoroughly.”As for the coaches, how do they stay insulated from the pressure of producing results on the big night? Fleming felt most of the work was done at the start of the tournament and at the auction, and that this was the time to enjoy the fruits of the labour. “Then you bring the team together and find the right combination. If you’re lucky enough to find that in time, then it pretty much rolls along itself,” he said. “The finals should ideally be a time when you sit back because if you’re in the finals things must’ve gone right at the start. You don’t have to start over-analysing and make changes because it might not be beneficial to the team. Two of the most consistent teams are there and some great players on show. From a coach’s point of view, just a good seat in the house.”Jayawardene concurred with his counterpart’s assessment and said there was plenty of mutual respect between the teams. “You just have to be consistent throughout the tournament. For us as coaches, it’s good that whatever we planned from January onwards, how we wanted to have backups, a lot of boys were leaving, England boys and all that, so to plan all that and to get everything right and for us to be in this position is just brilliant. Right now, it’s just about having a good day tomorrow and letting the boys enjoy themselves.”

MS Dhoni, heartened by the new-found assuredness surrounding India’s death bowling, has said an efficient all-round attack has minimised his longstanding bowling worries

Arun Venugopal08-Mar-20163:37

Preparing myself for those 10-12 ball innings

MS Dhoni, heartened by the new-found assuredness surrounding India’s death bowling, has said an efficient all-round attack has minimised his longstanding bowling worries. Since the start of the Australia T20s early in the year, India’s bowling, especially at the death, has received a boost with the emergence of Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya as well as Ashish Nehra’s second coming.While Bumrah has the most flattering figures among the three with 15 wickets from 11 games conceding only 6.15 runs per over, Nehra (13) and Pandya (10) have also done well to further Dhoni’s plans at different points of the innings. Dhoni has a fondness for bowlers who can deliver the yorker well – Mohammed Shami being a good example – and Bumrah’s ability to send them down at will has made him invaluable to the team.”It’s a relief to have specific death bowlers,” Dhoni said in Kolkata. “What I am definitely feel happy about is, if we are fielding, right from the first over I know who is bowling at the death for me. That’s a big relief. Looking at the team 99% of the time I know who is bowling [at the] death.”Maybe in the last few years, after seeing how everybody is bowling, close to 15th or 16th over mark I had to decide who I will use in the slog overs according to who is bowling well, what the conditions are. But [now] the whole bowling department is doing well, the job becomes much more easy. Definitely I don’t have to put a lot of effort in to thinking who is the best bowler for the death.”Dhoni was also pleased with his batsmen starting to embrace the idea of batting in different positions depending on the match situation. “I felt not everybody can fluctuate according to the needs, and that is something it is important that every player tries to do,” Dhoni said. “If you have that flexibility in batting… more often than not it is the mental flexibility that is really needed. Everybody knows what their roles and responsibilities are.”Let us say, for example, an opposition has two left-arm spinners [and] if you see the Indian team right now we have the right combination of left-hand and right-hand batsmen. Ideally a left-right combination is the best to have but if the opposition doesn’t have any offspinner and the wicket is turning then why not promote somebody who bats maybe at six but who can bat at four and you can have two left-handers at the same time. So this kind of adaptability really needed and I feel slowly each and every one is open to the idea and they have played enough to have that kind of an exposure.”When asked if Virat Kohli was his natural successor to play the finisher’s role, Dhoni said the team should not depend on a top-order batsman to do that job as well. “The finisher is usually me and the lower-order batsman. The entire set-up is for the lower-middle order to finish the game. If your top order is doing it it’s fantastic, but the finishing term is a very specific term and should be used with players batting at Nos. 5, 6 and 7.”If your openers are batting well and if they are continuously winning games for you you may call them finishers but usually I term the finishing job the role of people who bat lower, their job profile is different. As you come down the order you have to think twice before hitting because the number of batsmen there after you keeps going on the lesser side.”Dhoni acknowledged the fact that he might not face too many deliveries, and said he would have to condition himself to play short, impactful innings. “I think 90% of the time I will be playing the same kind of role I played in Asia Cup,” he said. “We will be in a very tough position if I get to play maybe 20 or 25 deliveries, unless I really promote myself. More often than not, I think I will have to prepare my mindset for 10 or 12 ball innings maximum, so that will be my role and responsibility more often than not if everything goes to plan.”On Mohammad Shami’s injury, Dhoni said he’d have to prove his fitness to make the XI. “You’ll be informed [about his injury status]. We will consult with the physios and take proper action.”With India having won 10 of their last 11 T20Is, could they up their momentum any further? Dhoni joked India were already running in “sixth gear” but typically dismissed any notions of complacency. “I think we are running in the sixth gear – I know technology has gone into eight gears,” he said. “Everything is set. I don’t think there are further gears to operate upon.”How we are playing cricket and the stuff we are doing on the field is adequate for any level of game, but we have to keep our intensity up and focus should be there from ball one.”

Gloucestershire finally came good at the conclusion of the Cheltenham Festival to thrash Glamorgan by 10 wickets and keep alive their slender hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Friends Life T20.

21-Jul-2013
ScorecardChris Dent’s half-century saw Gloucestershire cruise home•Getty Images

Gloucestershire finally came good at the conclusion of the Cheltenham Festival to thrash Glamorgan by 10 wickets and keep alive their slender hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Friends Life T20.Beaten by group rivals Warwickshire and Northamptonshire at the College Ground, bottom-of-the-table Gloucestershire produced a much-improved performance to make amends in a low-scoring contest played in front of a 5,000 sell-out crowd.Glamorgan elected to bat but never recovered from the loss of early wickets and were restricted to a wholly inadequate 98 for 9, only three batsmen reaching double figures in an innings that yielded just four boundaries.Returning to action following a seven-week injury lay-off, slow left-armer Ed Young posted figures of 3 for 21 from four overs and was ably backed up by David Payne, who deployed clever variation with the new ball and at the death to claim 3 for 17.Gloucestershire openers Michael Klinger and Chris Dent made quick work of chasing down 99, reaching their target with 7.1 overs to spare.Their quarter-final ambitions already undermined by successive defeats to Somerset and Northants, Glamorgan badly needed to redress the balance against their neighbours. But a third loss was all but confirmed inside six overs as Glamorgan lurched to 31 for 5 on a College Ground pitch that offered assistance to spin.Slow left-armer Tom Smith struck in the very first over to set the tone, Jim Allenby driving high to Dan Christian at cover, while fellow opener Mark Wallace departed six balls later, taking one liberty too many against Payne’s left-arm seam and holing out to mid-on.Making his first appearance since the end of May after recovering from a broken wrist, Young announced himself with the wicket of Chris Cooke, who chipped straight to extra cover as the visitors slumped to 16 for 3 in the fourth over.Veteran campaigner Murray Goodwin also departed to a poor shot, leaning back and cutting a length-ball from Christian to backward point and New Zealand allrounder Nathan McCullum sent a leading edge back to Payne in the act of playing to leg.Charged with the task of rebuilding the innings, the sixth-wicket pair of Marcus North and Nick James applied themselves diligently to add 37 runs in eight overs. But their partnership ended when they tried to force the issue, North attempting to reverse-sweep Young and succeeding only in offering a simple chance to Alex Gidman at short third man.And Young struck again in his next over from the College Lawn end, luring Graeme Wagg into front foot indiscretion as Glamorgan were further reduced to 74 for seven in the 16th over.James hoisted Smith over square leg for the only six of the innings before being bowled by Payne for 27 in the final over, while Michael Hogan was run out as the visitors failed to raise three figures.Promoted to open the batting for the first time, Bristolian Dent continued his rich vein of form at the Festival, dominating an unbroken stand of 99 with Klinger in 12.5 overs to put the outcome beyond reasonable doubt. Demonstrating a better understanding of the conditions than their opponents,
these two accrued 11 fours and three sixes between them to put Glamorgan’s innings in perspective.Glamorgan’s bowlers must be sick of the sight of Dent, who scored a superb match-winning 150 in a Yorkshire Bank 40-over fixture in Cardiff in May. On this occasion, he raised 50 from 37 balls in a chanceless knock that included eight fours and two sixes to equal his previous highest Twenty20 score of 63. Klinger finished unbeaten on 35 from 34 balls with three fours and a six.

England have had an ‘honest’ discussion about their failings during the first Test against South Africa, but Ian Bell insists the team can still lay claim to the No. 1 Test ranking

Andrew McGlashan24-Jul-2012England have had an “honest” discussion about their failings during the first Test against South Africa, but Ian Bell insists the team can still lay claim to the No.1 Test ranking despite the innings margin of defeat and the fact they managed to take just two wickets at The Oval.In the moments after the match finished on Monday Andrew Strauss said each player would be told to take a look at themselves after England suffered one of their most comprehensive losses of all time. That process began in The Oval changing rooms as South Africa headed back to their team hotel to celebrate a famous victory.”We’ve had a chat. That’s the one great thing about this team is we talk and there will be honesty,” Bell said. “We’re not going to say we were outplayed – we’re going to discuss why. Andy Flower will want everyone to scratch their minds and work out how they can improve. That’s why he is such a great coach.”The result meant England have now lost five of their nine Tests in 2012, starting with the whitewash against Pakistan in UAE before losing the opening Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. As is the case now, their No.1 ranking was on the line but they responded with an impressive victory in Colombo. The series win against West Indies was workmanlike rather than emphatic and this most recent outing has brought them crashing back down to earth.A series win for South Africa will see them move to No.1, although a drawn series would allow England to cling to their ranking a little longer. “You don’t just look at the last nine Test matches, you look over the last two or three years,” Bell said. “That’s why we’re ranked No.1. The points are monitored over a long period of time. It’s been a consistent effort over a long period but there’s no doubt when you see how South Africa played we’re going to have a real scrap on our hands.””I wouldn’t say that is a concern,” he added about the Test side’s inconsistent year. “But it proves to us that no matter where you are ranked you have to keep performing, training hard and doing the right things. Opposing teams see us a bit differently now. Maybe they turn up desperately wanting to beat us because we are ranked No.1 and we have to react to that. In a way, this match has forced our hand. In the next two Tests, we have to go out and fight for every single run and wicket and try to hold on to No.1.”There are a number of areas where England were exposed during the opening Test. The most notable from the scorecard was that South Africa compiled an astonishing 637 for 2 in 189 overs which finished with the partnership between Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis unbroken on 377. It was a sobering experience for the England attack, which has remained a consistent part of their game even while the batting has faltered during the year.”Our attack has been so good for so long and, even on flat wickets in the sub-continent, they normally excel and take 20 wickets,” Bell said. “But for some reason it didn’t quite work in this game. Maybe that is credit to South Africa who really made it count when they got in. That’s again something we’ve normally done.”As Bell hinted, England’s batsmen did not come close to matching the South Africans’ longevity at the crease, even with Alastair Cook scoring an opening-day hundred. In both innings they carelessly lost wickets shortly before the second new ball was taken while the sweep shot came back to cost them dear as they tried to save the match.”The ball did a bit on that second morning but we can’t use that as an excuse,” Bell said. “We should have been good enough to get through that period. Despite losing four wickets on the fourth evening, we still believed we could save it. Myself and Matt Prior were very positive at lunch, we’ve done it before and believed we could get to tea. The new ball would go soft again after that, but Dale Steyn led their attack brilliantly and showed why he is No.1 in the world. He put in a spell when it really mattered.”