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Reduced to 27 for 3 after being sent in, Super Giants recovered to set a target of 170, and Sunrisers stumbled at the end of the chase

Karthik Krishnaswamy04-Apr-2022Deepak Hooda, KL Rahul and Avesh Khan led the way as Lucknow Super Giants came back from behind with bat and ball to complete a 12-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, continuing the reversal of fortunes for teams batting first in IPL 2022.Reduced to 27 for 3 after being sent in, Super Giants recovered to set a target of 170, and Avesh took two powerplay wickets to put them firmly in front. But Sunrisers took the initiative with quickfire knocks from Rahul Tripathi and Nicholas Pooran; at one stage, they needed 27 from 17 balls with six wickets in hand. But Avesh turned it around once again with two wickets in two balls in the 18th over, and two more solid death overs from Andrew Tye and Jason Holder, playing his first game of the season, completed the job.Washington dominates powerplay
Sunrisers didn’t open the bowling with Washington Sundar in their first match against Rajasthan Royals, but they had a clear case to do so against Super Giants. One of their openers, Quinton de Kock, was a left-hander, and the other, KL Rahul, has struggled to score quickly against offspin of late, his strike rate against that style of bowling dropping from 176.66 until the end of 2019.Washington made an even bigger impact than Sunrisers may have hoped for. He dismissed de Kock by denying him room to hit inside-out, and took out another left-hander in Evin Lewis, who fell in the dangerous pursuit of sweeping every ball from a bowler who targets the stumps incessantly. With Rahul and Manish Pandey – another right-hander who starts slowly against spin – taking no chances against him either, Washington ended the powerplay with figures of 3-0-11-2.Romario Shepherd’s hard lengths took out Pandey, meanwhile, after he had conceded a six and a four earlier in the over, and Super Giants finished the powerplay at 32 for 3.A partnership of contrasts
In both 2020 and 2021, Rahul came in for plenty of criticism for his low-risk approach in the powerplay and middle overs, which brought him plenty of runs but also left the feeling that his franchise at the time, Punjab Kings, frequently ended up with lower-than-ideal totals even when they didn’t lose too many wickets. That approach was more understandable in this game, given the situation Super Giants got themselves into.At the other end, Hooda adopted a different approach, after taking 12 balls to get his eye in. The rapid Umran Malik bore the brunt of the punishment, with three fours and a six pinging off Hooda’s bat. It wasn’t that Malik bowled particularly badly: Hooda played some exceptional shots off him, including an open-faced slice to steer a near-yorker past backward point and a whipped six off a short ball angled in to tuck him up for room. There was also a ramped six that the leaping third man fielder – stationed fine for exactly that shot – got a hand to but couldn’t grab hold of.Rahul also hit two fours off Malik, and his second and third overs – the 10th and 14th of Super Giants’ innings – went for a combined 36. Even with Sunrisers’ other bowlers doing decently through this phase, Super Giants’ recovery was firmly on track.Bhuvneshwar and Natarajan nail the yorkers
Malik’s poor night forced Sunrisers into using Washington’s fourth over – which they probably weren’t planning to bowl – in the 17th over. Rahul and Ayush Badoni – who replaced Hooda following his dismissal in the 16th over – took it for 17.Badoni and Holder then took 17 off Shepherd in the 20th over, but in between, Bhuvneshwar and T Natarajan ensured Sunrisers wouldn’t be chasing too steep a target, with expert use of the yorker – if they erred, they sent down low full-tosses rather than half-volleys, and they always followed the batters’ movements with their line, ensuring they seldom got room to free their arms. Super Giants only took a combined 15 runs off the 18th and 19th overs, and lost Rahul and Krunal Pandya in the process.Avesh, part one
Sunrisers began their chase solidly enough, getting to 21 for no loss after three overs, with Kane Williamson picking up an eye-catching six behind the wicket with a scoop over the keeper off Holder in the third over.But just when Williamson’s form was beginning to look ominous – he punched Avesh to the cover point boundary at the start of the fourth over – Avesh got him out, another attempted lap over short fine leg ending up in the hands of the fielder.Abhishek Sharma, the other opener, fell in Avesh’s next over, miscuing an attempted big hit off a slower ball, and Sunrisers ended the powerplay at 40 for 2.KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda put up a half-century stand for the fourth wicket•BCCI

One way, then the other, and back
The middle overs seesawed this way and that. Rahul Tripathi clattered 44 off 30, including taking three fours off the eighth over, delivered by Andrew Tye – the highlight a deft ramp over the keeper off a rising short ball. But Krunal took both him and Aiden Markram out, leaving Sunrisers needing 75 off 41 with six wickets in hand and two new batters at the crease.Pooran began not just slowly but also most unconvincingly, as Ravi Bishnoi beat his outside edge three times in four balls with his wrong’un allied to his across-the-left-hander angle. But he muscled Krunal for a leg-side six in the 14th over and hit Holder for two fours in the 15th, before ending the 16th with a glorious drive to bisect extra-cover and long-off, off Bishnoi, to leave Sunrisers needing 41 off 24. The match was turning once again.Avesh, part two
Tye’s changes of pace and ability to land the ball wide of the left-handers’ hitting arc ensured he only conceded eight runs in the 17th over, with its one boundary coming via a lofted drive from Washington.Then, with Sunrisers needing 33 from 18, Pooran miscued a pull off Avesh only for the ball to carry all the way for six. The luck turned two balls later, as Pooran hit a full-toss straight into long-off’s hands.Then Avesh nicked off Abdul Samad first ball, delivering another blow to Sunrisers’ chances, before closing out the over with two dots and a wide, backing the wide line outside off to Shepherd.Tye delivered another superb over in the 19th, but just when Sunrisers seemed to be slipping out of the contest with 22 required off 8, an attempted yorker turned into a full-toss that Shepherd launched for a straight six.Sixteen of the last over was possible, though difficult. And it proved even more difficult thanks to the new rule regarding batters crossing over. Looking to hit the first ball for six, Washington was caught on the long-on boundary. Where Shepherd may have taken strike next ball in previous seasons, he now had to watch Bhuvneshwar from the other end.Two singles followed, before Bhuvneshwar holed out. Again, Shepherd couldn’t take strike, and with two sixes needed just to tie the game, the match was all but over.

The former India captain “can resume his regular daily activity soon,” hospital says in statement

Press Trust of India25-Oct-2020Kapil Dev, India’s first World Cup-winning captain, was discharged from a city hospital on Sunday, two days after undergoing angioplasty following complaints of chest pain and uneasiness.The Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, where he had been admitted, said in a statement, “He’s doing fine and can resume his regular daily activity soon. He’ll be under regular follow-up consultation with Dr Atul Mathur.”Dr Mathur, director of the cardiology department at the hospital, conducted the procedure – an emergency coronary angioplasty, to open blocked arteries and restore normal blood flow to the heart – on Dev after he had been admitted and evaluated. Dev, who played 131 Tests and 225 ODIs from 1978 to 1994, is widely hailed as one of the finest allrounders to have played the game. With 5248 runs at 31.05 and 434 wickets at 29.64, he remains the only cricketer to have achieved the double of 5000 Test runs and 400 wickets, and one of only two, alongside Ian Botham, to have completed the 5000-300 double.An outswing bowler of great accuracy and skill, Dev broke Richard Hadlee’s record for most Test wickets (431) in 1994, and his mark of 434 stood until 2000, when Courtney Walsh went past it. Muttiah Muralitharan now holds the record for most Test wickets (800) while James Anderson – who currently has 600 – has the most Test wickets by a fast bowler.

John Simpson 91 not out, but Derbyshire still lead by 121

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2019Dawid Malan kept himself in Ashes contention with a batting master-class to blunt Derbyshire’s victory hopes against Middlesex at Derby.The Middlesex skipper played superbly to score an unbeaten 177 to take his side past the 408 follow-on target as the visitors closed day three on 436 for 6, 121 runs behind.John Simpson gave him excellent support with 91 not out as the pair shared an unbroken stand of 186, a seventh-wicket record for Middlesex against Derbyshire.The home side took only three wickets, one of them to Fynn Hudson-Prentice who became only the fifth bowler in Derbyshire’s history to strike with his first ball in first-class cricket for the county.Malan went out to resume his innings knowing a lot rested on him and from the start, he set a tone of defiance with an impressive display of concentration and selectivity.Apart from a couple of false shots, his judgement of when to play and when to leave the ball was exemplary and although Derbyshire switched their bowlers around, they could not force an error.Steve Finn fulfilled his nightwatchman duties by staying with his captain for the first 35 minutes of the day before Logan van Beek knocked out his leg stump and although Max Holden struggled, he hung around for 73 minutes.There was little he could do about the ball that removed him as Hudson-Prentice found late movement to become the first player since John Wright in 1980 to strike with his first ball.Wright was on the ground to see another memorable moment for the 23-year-old who bowled with control and was unlucky to see Simpson missed in the slips on 21.George Scott was not as fortunate when he failed to get over a drive at Ravi Rampaul and saw a thick edge fly low to third slip where Matt Critchley took a brilliant diving catch.At 250 for 6, another 158 runs were needed to avoid the follow-on but Simpson matched Malan’s application to take Middlesex to tea and beyond.Malan completed his third championship century of the season from 200 balls with his 15th four and, Simpson’s escape apart, there was little for the bowlers once the second new ball lost its hardness.Simpson gave another tough chance on 43 when a sliced drive at Reece burst through the hands of Anuj Dal leaping at cover point before he completed a deserved 50 from 138 balls shortly before Malan went to 150 off 302 balls.Leus du Plooy became the eighth bowler used during the day but nothing could part Malan and Simpson who went past Middlesex’s previous best seventh wicket stand of 146 at Lord’s in 1932.

Mason Crane claimed three wickets on his return from injury as Hampshire edged out Surrey in a rain-affected contest

ECB Reporters Network21-May-2018
ScorecardMason Crane and Rilee Rossouw starred as Hampshire continued their 100 percent record in the Royal London One-Day Cup – as they edged out Surrey by four wickets.Legspinner Crane grabbed 3 for 45 on his first appearance at the Ageas Bowl since making his Test debut over the winter, before Rossouw blasted a memorable 90, and Joe Weatherley bundled Hampshire over the line, to condemn Surrey to their second defeat of the tournament.Hampshire were set 227 to win from 34 overs, on DLS method, after Surrey had amassed 262 in 44 rain-affected overs, thanks to Dean Elgar’s 91.Rossouw and Hashim Amla set about the task enthusiastically, with the latter creaming a series of cut shots to the boundary. But the former South Africa Test captain, having helped put on 52 for the first wicket, was leg before to a Rikki Clarke ball that jagged in.Rossouw then went on the attack, plunging Sam Curran and Clarke for sixes on the way to a 34-ball fifty. Vince scored 14 in a 63-run partnership with Rossouw before he was bowled by Gareth Batty while attempting to give himself space to drive.Weatherley joined the swashbuckling Rossouw to add the third half-century stand of the innings but Rossouw fell ten runs short of what would have been a deserved ton as he was bowled by Clarke.Jimmy Adams and Brad Taylor both came and went, skying to Foakes and Meaker respectively, before Gareth Berg, who had received a reprieve as replays showed his edge behind hadn’t carried, was bowled – all three to Clarke.Curran spilled Lewis McManus at third man before the wicketkeeper-batsman, along with Weatherley, 46 not out, edged Hampshire to victory with seven balls to spare.Earlier, Rory Burns won the toss and elected to bat on a good-looking wicket, which was to offer equal assistance for bat and ball, with both sides deciding to pick unchanged XIs from their opening matches.England Under-19s star Will Jacks drove to a diving Jimmy Adams at short cover in the sixth over to bring Burns and Elgar together to add 93 for the second wicket.Elgar produced a scrappy innings, full of swings across the line and dabs into gaps, but while it wouldn’t win any style points it proved effective.The South African reached his half-century from 50 balls before spinners Crane and Brad Taylor started the mid-innings squeeze. Crane struck in three successive overs to have Burns, for a well-made 46, and Ollie Pope lbw before producing a devilish delivery to beat Ben Foakes outside his off-stump, with Lewis McManus completing the stumping.While Crane was making the headline by taking wickets, Taylor was stopping the runs – their combined statistics a miserly 3 for 88 from 18 overs.The fast bowlers returned and Fidel Edwards delivered a rising bouncer which bruised Curran’s glove before being caught behind.
And then Berg had Elgar chopping on for 91, before the rain paused the game after 37.1 overs – eventually play resumed with the match cut to 44 overs a side.From the remaining 6.5 overs, Surrey managed to score 64 runs, with Scott Borthwick and Clarke putting on 56, with the latter lbw to Edwards in the penultimate over but it wasn’t enough to prevent Rossouw’s fireworks.

A round-up of the Vijay Hazare Trophy games in Group A, played on March 3, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Mar-2017Gurkeerat Singh Mann led Punjab to a clinical, five-wicket win with a brisk 91 off 86 balls in their chase of 197 after Haryana had reduced them to 75 for 4. It was Harbhajan Singh’s figures with the ball – 10-0-33-4 – that put Punjab in a position of strength by bowling Haryana out for 196 in the penultimate over. After Siddarth Kaul removed Shubham Rohilla for a 12-ball duck, Nitin Saini and Chaitanya Bishnoi put on 68 for the second wicket in 109 balls, the biggest partnership of the innings. Punjab’s bowlers provided regular breakthroughs thereafter, led by Harbhajan, who had four batsmen lbw. Punjab’s chase got a steady start through U-19 opener Shubman Gill and Mandeep Singh, who added 47 in 81 balls. Legspinner Rahul Tewatia took three wickets and Harshal Patel had Yuvraj Singh bowled to pull Haryana back. Gurkeerat and Nikhil Chaudhary added an unbeaten 71 for the sixth wicket, of which the latter added 14.At the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, Assam aced their chase of 216 against Railways to register a four-wicket win with 12 balls to spare. After being asked to bowl, Assam restricted Railways to 215. An 85-run third-wicket stand between Akash Verma and Pratham Singh – after Railways were reduced to 8 for 2 – was the only phase in the game that Railways dominated. Arup Das took three wickets, while Pritam Das, Amit Verma and Swarupam Purkayastha claimed two scalps each. Handy contributions from Assam’s top order – Pallavkumar Das (44), Arun Karthik (42), Verma (35) and Riyan Parag (32) – ensured there wasn’t much trouble in the chase.Akshay Karnewar, an ambidextrous bowler, led Vidarbha to a comfortable seven-wicket rout of Odisha with figures of 4 for 21 from 10 overs. Odisha chose to bat, and were given a steady start by Govinda Poddar’s 68-ball 58. However, a score of 87 for 2 in the 23rd over quickly turned to 162 all out in the 46th over as the Vidarbha bowlers took control of the game. No other batsman scored more than 30. After a stable base, Vidarbha’s chase was never in doubt. Jitesh Sharma struck a 71-ball 70 before he was lbw off Rajkishan Patel. A patient 30 from Ambati Rayudu took Vidarbha home with 59 balls to spare.

In Canberra, India found a way to lose a game they should have won. They have to find a way to win in Sydney, where their spinners might get more assistance, if they want to avoid a whitewash

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale22-Jan-2016

Match facts

January 23, 2016
Start time 1420 local (0320 GMT)3:44

Agarkar: Difficult for India to motivate themselves

Big Picture

The first three matches in this one-day series were remarkably similar but in Canberra, Australia found a new way to win. Or India found a new way to lose. It wasn’t exactly clear which. Chasing for the first time in the series, India were well on track for their first victory at 1 for 277 in the 38th over, needing 349. A remarkable collapse was required to lose from there. And they got one. Nine wickets for 46 in less than 13 overs. Not since Malcolm Turnbull ousted Tony Abbott last year has the weight of numbers in Canberra changed sides so rapidly.Now the challenge for India is to lift themselves up after such a demoralising defeat. They are 4-0 down and in serious danger of being whitewashed, clean-swept, whatever you want to call it. Their first bilateral one-day series in Australia might end in unilateral disarmament of India’s attack. For that is what has cost them dearest throughout the series, the inability to restrict Australia on good batting surfaces. Five of Australia’s bowlers have economy rates under six in this series; only two of India’s have. Perhaps the SCG will offer more spin – at least that would be a different way to end the series.

Form guide

Australia: WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India: LLLLL

In the spotlight

Nathan Lyon might be Australia’s most successful Test offspinner of all time, but he still hasn’t reached double figures in terms of ODI matches played. Australia’s selectors have traditionally been reluctant to let Lyon work in the short forms, afraid that he might lose the flight and loop that has made him such a valuable Test bowler. But surely at 28 and with little left to prove in terms of his Test worth, Lyon can be trusted enough to jump formats. He even opened the bowling in Canberra, a strong hint that captain Steven Smith has been waiting for a frontline spinner in his ODI side.So long have India’s top-order men batted in this series that MS Dhoni has been reduced largely to cameos. A couple have been of the Quentin Tarantino variety – brief and brutal – but in Canberra it was more an Alfred Hitchcock blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance. His duck precipitated India’s collapse, and he later declared his own wicket the turning point. If in Sydney the runs flow a little less freely for Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, it might be time for more of a Clint Eastwood starring role from Dhoni.

Team news

There seems little reason for Australia to make changes to their winning side, with Shaun Marsh and Scott Boland likely to sit out once again – unless Glenn Maxwell does not recover sufficiently from the soreness in his knee resulting from a knock he suffered while batting in Canberra.*Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9, John Hastings, 10 Kane Richardson, 11 Nathan LyonAjinkya Rahane split the webbing of his right hand while fielding in Canberra and is likely to miss the Sydney game, which could mean a return for Manish Pandey. If the SCG is expected to spin, R Ashwin should come back to replace one of the seamers, perhaps Rishi Dhawan. Axar Patel may also be considered for the first time in the series.India (possible) 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Manish Pandey, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Gurkeerat Singh, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Ishant Sharma

Pitch and conditions

The Sydney pitch should offer a little more turn. The weather forecast is for a shower or two, and a possible storm on Saturday.

Stats and trivia

• India will drop from No. 2 to No. 3 on the ODI rankings if they lose this match
• Virat Kohli has scored at such a consistent tempo through this series that his strike-rate is exactly 100 – he is on top of the series run tally with 373 runs from 373 deliveries
• Aaron Finch and Steven Smith both reached 2000 ODI runs in the Canberra game, Finch the equal third-fastest Australian to the milestone and Smith the equal sixth-fastest
• Australia have now won 18 consecutive ODIs at home, last losing to South Africa in Perth in November 2014

Quotes

“We’ve played some very good one-day cricket so far this VB series. It’ll be a fitting finish to the summer if we can finish 5-0.”
07.30GMT, January 22: The Australia team news was updated after news of Glenn Maxwell’s knee niggle came in

If not, perhaps, quite a perfect day for England, but a day when several pieces of their pre-Ashes jigsaw fell into place with a satisfying click as they proved they have a Plan B to their bowling attack

The Report by George Dobell26-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNick Compton’s failure was the only obvious downside of an otherwise quite perfect day for England•Getty Images

If not, perhaps, quite a perfect day for England, but a day when several pieces of their pre-Ashes jigsaw fell into place with a satisfying click.Most pertinently, this was a day when England proved their bowling attack had a Plan B. While it is routinely suggested that, when the ball does not swing, the England bowling attack looks toothless and one dimensional, here they showed that they have what it takes to damage opposition sides when there is no such help.With James Anderson and Stuart Broad – the destroyers of New Zealand at Lord’s – struggling to gain the same seam or swing movement, it was left to Graeme Swann and Steven Finn to find another way through the tourists’ batting. With Finn generating impressive pace and maintaining a hostile line and length and Swann demonstrating beguiling drift and sharp turn, England ended the day having inked in their first choice bowling attack for the Ashes.Swann cannot have the fondest memories of this ground. He had never previously taken a Test wicket here and, a year ago, was dropped for the second Test against South Africa. But in a spell of three wickets for one run in seven balls he not only dismantled a disappointingly fragile New Zealand middle-order but proved that he was back to his best after elbow surgery had forced him out of the Tests in New Zealand.As so often before, Swann struck in his first over. Gaining a surprising amount of turn, Swann beat Dean Brownlie’s somewhat loose stroke with one that turned through the gate to hit the top of off stump. Next over, having set-up Martin Guptill with some flat deliveries, Swann tossed one up, drew the batsman forward and again turned one through the gate to hit the top of off stump.Two deliveries later, Kane Williamson was out too. Moving across his stumps to negate Swann much in the way demonstrated by Hashim Amla in 2012, Williamson was beaten by turn and struck on the pad. While Marais Erasmus turned down the appeal, England reviewed and were rewarded.It was the first of two decisions overturned from England reviews in the session. While Tim Southee was originally given not out following a leg before appeal from Broad – the umpire quite reasonably unable to say whether ball had hit bat or pad first – reviews showed it had struck the pad first and was going on to hit leg stump.Moments later Swann had Doug Bracewell taken at silly point, prodding forward to one that turned and took bat and pad, before Broad had Brendon McCullum, clearly struggling with a bad back after being forced back into service as wicketkeeper, caught behind as he poked at one that seamed in a little.

Swann ignoring weather forecast

Graeme Swann defended England’s decision not to enforce the follow-on after demolishing New Zealand for the second time in a week.

New Zealand survived only 43.4 overs at Headingley, to be dismissed for 174, only a few days after collapsing to 68 all out at Lord’s.

“It was a pretty unanimous decision,” Swann said. “There is a lot of cricket left in the game. The best way to win that game, we felt, was to put a fatigued New Zealand side back into the field. The bowlers weren’t too happy to go back out bowling and you can’t blame them. We want to build a formidable lead and let the pitch deteriorate and the footholds develop and give us the best chance of bowling them out in the second innings.

The prospect of rain on the final day did not unsettle Swann. “I always ignore British weather forecasts,” he said. “If you start looking at that you are missing the point. If it rains all of Tuesday, it rains all of Tuesday. I can’t remember ever sitting in a professional dressing room where a two-day forecast has been believed. It was supposed to be nagging it down all last week at Lord’s and we played.”

It left Swann with the best figures – 4 for 42 – by an England spinner in a Test in Leeds since John Emburey took 5 for 82 against Australia in 1985 and had New Zealand pondering over the wisdom of going into the game without a specialist spinner and with two left-arm seamers whose foot marks had provided rough for Swann to exploit.But if Swann takes the plaudits, it was Finn who made the initial breakthrough. After New Zealand’s openers had batted with fluency in reaching 55 without loss, Finn claimed the first three wickets in a sustained spell of hostile fast bowling.After prompting an error from Peter Fulton, caught and bowled off the leading edge as he tried to work a ball that bounced more than he expected into the leg side, Finn persuaded Hamish Rutherford to push at one angled across him which resulted in a sliced edge to gully and then forced Ross Taylor to play-on. It was due reward for a wonderfully sustained spell of bowling where Finn had cramped Taylor for room, struck him twice on the body and finally provoked the false stroke.New Zealand’s last pair of Neil Wagner and Trent Boult thrashed 52 runs in 27 balls – Wagner thrashed four fours in an over off Broad before Boult thumped Swann for a four and two successive sixes in the next over – but when Anderson returned to end the innings, New Zealand had conceded a first innings lead of 180.Perhaps surprisingly given the far from promising weather forecast, England decided not to enforce the follow-on – with day one washed out the follow-on target was 150-behind – and opted instead for another bat.Alastair Cook, cutting and driving with freedom, was at his most fluent against an attack lacking Trent Boult, who was absent with a side strain. The England captain raced to his half-century off 63 balls and dominated an opening stand of 72 in 20 overs.But the only obvious downside in the entire day for England was the failure of Nick Compton. He was clearly mindful of the vultures circling around him and laboured for 45 deliveries for his seven runs before falling to a bat-pad catch at short-leg. It is only three Tests since he registered back-to-back Test centuries, but it seems some have short memories.Jonathan Trott found life little easier. Struggling to deal with the rough outside his off stump and some tight seam bowling, he managed only 11 off 69 deliveries, and, though he had helped Cook stretch the lead to 296 by stumps, England hardly forced home their advantage in the final 90 minutes. Still, it is England’s policy – rightly or wrongly – to not allow the possibility of weather disruption to influence their game plan and, with nearly 200 overs left in the game, they remain in an overwhelmingly dominant position.

Pakistan are set to tour Sri Lanka for a full series comprising three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals between May 29 and July 13

Sa'adi Thawfeeq29-Apr-2012Pakistan are set to tour Sri Lanka for a full series comprising three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals between May 29 and July 13, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed.Pakistan are scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on May 29 and will play the first of two Twenty20s in Hambantota on June 1. The one-day series begins in Pallekele on June 7. The first two ODIs will be played in Pallekele and the remaining three at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.The three-Test series commences in Galle on June 22 and the second Test will take place at the SSC in Colombo from June 30. The teams will return to Pallekele for the final Test starting on July 8.Pakistan and Sri Lanka last played a Test series in October 2011 in the UAE, where Pakistan won the three-match series 1-0. They last toured Sri Lanka in 2009, when they lost the three-Test series 2-0.

Ian Blackwell smashed 98 off 64 balls and then took three wickets to lead Durham to a 69-run victory over Leicestershire

02-May-2011
ScorecardIan Blackwell enjoyed a wonderful match as Durham won comfortably•Getty Images

Ian Blackwell smashed 98 off 64 balls and then took three wickets to lead Durham to a 69-run victory over Leicestershire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B clash at Grace Road.Put into bat, Durham totalled 285 for 9, helped by Blackwell’s boundary-laden innings plus six additional runs awarded because of the Foxes’ failure to complete their overs in the allotted time. Blackwell then claimed three of the first four Leicestershire wickets to fall, including that of Josh Cobb, who hit a limited-overs best score of 87.Cobb’s effort, however, was not enough to keep the Foxes in contention and they were dismissed for 216 with 16 balls still remaining to give the Dynamos their second win of the season.Durham did not make the best of starts to their innings, with Kyle Coetzer caught at cover off Alex Wyatt in the third over. But a half-century off 39 balls from 19-year-old Ben Stokes launched the recovery, with Gordon Muchall also chipping in with a useful 32. But the innings only really took off when Blackwell arrived at the wicket. He made his intentions clear with two early sixes off Cobb and Wayne White and, after surviving a difficult chance to wicketkeeper Paul Dixey, reached 50 off 41 balls.The scoring rate then rocketed when the Dynamos took the batting powerplay. Blackwell and Gareth Breese hammered 54 off the four overs, with both batsmen piercing the field with a succession of boundaries, including further sixes. When Breese eventually skied a catch to long-on, the sixth-wicket pair had put on a record stand of 144 in 17 overs. Breese’s share was 44, with three fours and a six.Blackwell looked set for a century but, two runs short of it, popped up a return catch off a slower ball from Wyatt, having hit five sixes and seven fours in his blistering 64-ball innings. It was his best limited-overs score for Durham and his best for six years.Graham Onions claimed a quick wicket when the Foxes replied, but a second-wicket partnership of 97 between Cobb and James Taylor put them back into the game, with Cobb twice pulling Onions for six over square leg. However, Blackwell once again changed the course of the match with the wickets of Taylor, Paul Nixon and then Cobb, who he bowled for 87. Cobb hit two sixes and seven fours in his 78-ball knock.That ended Leicestershire’s hopes and Stokes also completed an excellent all-round performance, claiming three late wickets for six runs as the Foxes collapsed to 216 all out with 2.4 overs remaining.

Jaidev Unadkat launched his first-class career in spectacular style, running through West Indies A with a spell of penetrative fast bowling to finish with figures of 7 for 41 on the second day at Grace Road

Cricinfo staff11-Jun-2010
ScorecardJaidev Unadkat launched his first-class career in spectacular style, running through West Indies A with a spell of penetrative fast bowling to finish with figures of 7 for 41 on the second day at Grace Road. West Indies were shot out for 144 and then India’s batsmen ensured they cashed in on the bowlers’ performance, to finish the day on top, with a lead of 39 and eight wickets intact.After the first day was lost to poor weather, Unadkat’s spell on the second morning seemed intent on making up for lost time. Devon Smith perished in his second over, edging to Manish Pandey for five to begin the procession. Omar Philips and Kraigg Braithwaite followed soon after, leaving West Indies stuttering at 26 for 3. Kirk Edwards pitched tent, contributing one run in fifty minutes of defence, and adding 37 runs with Andre Fletcher, before Unadkat intervened in dramatic fashion. Edwards was caught in front and Chadwick Walton’s castle was breached first ball to complete Unadkat’s five-for. In between the strikes Dhawal Kulkarni got rid of Fletcher and West Indies were staring down the barrel again.David Bernard, Imran Khan and Andre Russel managed to take them past three figures, but 144 still seemed woefully inadequate, and India’s top order ensured the advantage was driven home. Abhinav Mukund and Ajinkya Rahane struck fifties, and the latter was unbeaten at stumps as India surged into the lead. Giving him company was Cheteshwar Pujara who had rushed to 34 off 37 balls with five fours, and the pair look good for more runs on day three.