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Virat Kohli has said his comments in Dharamsala on his friendships with the Australian players have been blown out of proportion, and that he was referring to only a “couple of individuals”

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Mar-20172:46

Smith disappointed with BCCI, Kohli says ‘friends no more’

Virat Kohli has tweeted a clarification on his post-match comments in Dharamsala, where he had said he wouldn’t be calling the Australian players his friends “ever again”. On Thursday morning he tweeted that he was referring to only a “couple of individuals”, and that his comment had been blown out of proportion.

Before the four-Test series had begun, Kohli had spoken warmly about his friendships with all of the Australian players, saying: “I’m really good friends with all these guys off the field. I know them really well, but I know where to draw the line of friendship. When you step onto the field, I could be playing against my big brother it wouldn’t matter.”When once again asked about his equation with them off the field after the series, Kohli had said: “No, it has changed. I thought that was the case, but it has changed for sure. As I said, in the heat of the battle you want to be competitive but I’ve been proven wrong. The thing I said before the first Test, that has certainly changed and you won’t hear me say that ever again.”The series had featured several high-intensity moments, both on and off the field, the biggest of which came after the second game in Bengaluru. In the post-match press conference there, Kohli had said Australia captain Steven Smith had looked to his dressing room for help in deciding whether to refer his lbw decision, and Australia had been doing the same previously too. That prompted both boards to come out strongly behind their teams, before the ICC said no one would be charged – neither Australia for a DRS protocol breach, nor Kohli for his allegations – and asked the teams to move on; the BCCI filed an official appeal after that, but withdrew it hours later.Smith, who had termed his action in Bengaluru as a brain fade, had said before the third Test that Kohli’s comments on Australia breaching DRS protocols more than once in the series were “completely wrong”. After the series ended, he said he was disappointed with the BCCI for airing on-field exchanges between Ravindra Jadeja and Matthew Wade through a video clip on its website, while also apologising for letting his own “actions falter a little bit throughout this series”.

Rahul Tewatia, who picked 2 for 18 in his first game this season, and Mohit Sharma applied the choke in the last five overs as Kolkata Knight Riders went down by 14 runs

The Report by Shashank Kishore09-May-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:25

Bangar: Tewatia’s introduction turned the match

A sensational display of end-overs bowling from Mohit Sharma and strangulation by legspin from Rahul Tewatia, playing his first game this season, helped apply the choke on Kolkata Knight Riders. By securing one of three wins they needed, Kings XI lived to fight another day.In what was an engaging last five overs off which Knight Riders needed just 50, Mohit brought out all his slower variations – the knuckleball, back-of-the-hand slower deliveries and offcutters – and delivered them with precision to deny Chris Lynn, who wiped out half of Knight Riders’ 168-run target off just 52 balls, and Manish Pandey. The pair’s dismissal off successive deliveries off the 18th over helped close out a tight game, with the Sharmas – Mohit and Sandeep – defending 29 off the 12 deliveries to ensure three playoff spots were still up for grabs.Knight Riders’ productive first sixKings XI made four changes, two of those being forced. One of them – Hashim Amla – had just smashed a 60-ball 104, his second century of the season, in the previous game. Even so, the rest of the batsmen stuttered as they finished with just 189 when they should’ve posted 210. Now, without Amla, who along with David Miller was unavailable because of national duty, Kings XI needed a robust beginning from the openers. Manan Vohra, who had earlier in the tournament shunted up and down the order to accommodate both Shaun Marsh and Martin Guptill, sparkled briefly, but his dismissal brought about a restrained approach. The first six overs fetched just 41 for the loss of the openers. Knight Riders had begun well.Maxwell, Saha keep the innings aliveOn a surface where the ball was deviating just about enough to keep the medium-pacers interested, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme bowled six overs in tandem, conceding just 22 off the first four immediately after the Powerplay. Kings XI limped to 63 for 3 in the first half. They went 17 deliveries without a boundary after Shaun Marsh’s dismissal in the ninth over, before Maxwell cut loose – hitting de Grandhomme for two successive sixes off legitimate deliveries to trigger a surge. Maxwell’s picking of lengths was impressive as he played the pull effectively against the pacers. Wriddhiman Saha, on 10 off 17 at one stage, pinched crucial boundaries to move to a run-a-ball 26. At 115 for 3 with five to play, Kings XI needed big back five overs. But they were denied.Kuldeep Yadav, returning in place of Piyush Chawla, was rewarded for his willingness to flight the ball as he had Maxwell caught at wide long-off in an attempt to hit him for a third successive six. In his next over, he had Saha stumped after being biffed across the line one ball earlier. A cameo from Tewatia lifted them to 167, not underwhelming but not match-winning either.Getty Images

Narine tees off, Lynn consolidatesTwo quiet men, who don’t believe in intimidating opponents with words, let their blades talk. Sunil Narine’s no-frills approach fetched him four fours in a 10-ball 18. Lynn, playing in only his second game after returning from a shoulder injury that kept him out for three weeks, didn’t show signs of “not being a 100 percent” as he revealed during a flash interview. Time and again, he was tested against the short ball, only for the deep midwicket and wide long-on boundaries to be peppered with regularity.The best shot of his knock – a flat-batted swat off Matt Henry which he fetched from outside off – showed how brutally effective he can be even if not at full tilt. Yet, this wasn’t as brutal a knock as the one against Royal Challengers Bangalore. By bringing up a half-century off just 29 deliveries, Lynn ensured Gautam Gambhir’s struggle against spin – he scratched around 17 deliveries for 8 before mistiming a slog to deep midwicket – didn’t deeply disturb the asking rate.Tewatia spins a webOne ball after sending back Gambhir, Rahul Tewatia, playing his first game this season, saw off Robin Uthappa, but to not give any credit to Axar Patel would be doing injustice to his efforts. Running around from straight deep midwicket, he covered quick ground before putting in a dive to catch the dipping slog sweep inches from the ground near deep square leg. Now, the choke was on. Axar followed it up by conceding just three in his next over. The spinners – Tewatia along with Axar and Swapnil Singh – at that stage had combined figures of 2 for 30 off six overs. Knight Riders needed 86 off 54 balls.Maxwell’s punt on Mohit pays offBy leaving two overs of Mohit in the last five, Maxwell gambled. Considering the form Lynn was in, it was a tough proposition. But the pressure applied by the spinners left Knight Riders with a steep task against a bowler, who justified the INR 6.5 crore investment, at a crunch moment when the game was on the line and Kings XI’s chances of staying alive was hanging by a thread. That he bowled just three overs may have been a decision Kings XI could have rued, but on the night, it was his experience that prevailed.

The former Pakistan batsman said the WhatsApp conversations that the PCB intend to use against him in court were baseless

George Dobell and Umar Farooq13-Jun-2017Nasir Jamshed found the evidence of corruption against him so “flimsy” that he laughed out loud when he read about it. The former Pakistan batsman was arrested in the UK in February in connection with an investigation into corruption in the 2017 Pakistan Super League. Through its own investigations, the PCB insists Jamshed is a central figure.Four months later, the only charge the board has laid against him is for obstruction and non-cooperation in the investigations. But the PCB has indicated that further, more serious charges can be laid against him, and is waiting for the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) – which arrested Jamshed – to share more evidence with it.And Jamshed is the subject of two concurrent hearings in front of a tribunal constituted by the PCB in Lahore; the main one, in front of a three-man tribunal looking into the obstruction charges and the second, in front of a one-man disciplinary panel, is one Jamshed initiated arguing for his provisional suspension to be lifted.In the meantime, details of a key element of the board’s evidence against him have been leaked, but are, Jamshed insists, so “ridiculous” that he was “amused” when he read them in the media. Eight WhatsApp voice notes, allegedly exchanged between Jamshed and Khalid Latif – another Pakistan batsman facing charges of corruption – first found their way into the media and have now been uploaded to a standalone website. The exchanges, in Urdu, are ostensibly about one or more bat deals; the PCB’s argument is that they are code for corrupt deals.”They claim they have WhatsApp voice messages that show me talking about spot-fixing in code,” Jamshed told ESPNcricinfo in his first interview since his arrest. “But what they actually have is WhatsApp voice messages that show me talking about selling bats. There’s no code involved at all.”I’ve had an arrangement for years whereby I would sell a few CA bats and take a 10% commission. It’s no secret; I’m allowed to do it. I laughed out loud when I saw details of their evidence against me. I was amused. It’s so flimsy. It’s ridiculous.”The guy they say is a bookie… works in a Honda showroom as far as I know … We spoke about him buying some bats from me, but in the end he didn’t.”If that is as good as they have, they should dismiss the case now. They have no evidence of any financial gain and, after all this time, they have not even charged me with spot-fixing or trying to fix a game. They have no real evidence against me.”Those messages, however, are not the only evidence the PCB claims to have against Jamshed. The board says there are witness statements from several players that appear to implicate him. There is also the potential NCA information, which the PCB believes could have a bearing not only on the ongoing hearings against Sharjeel Khan and Latif, but also Jamshed.In fact, the board feels it has enough to continue with proceedings against Jamshed even if he is cleared by the NCA – the PCB’s anti-corruption code being different to the UK criminal code. It has maintained since it laid charges against Jamshed, that it retains the right to level further corruption charges, and that had the board been able to meet him, it would already have done so.”The original corruption investigation is still pending and we have retained our right to bring additional corruption charges at any time we deem fit,” a PCB official told ESPNcricinfo.Jamshed lives with his British-born wife – who during these interviews often acted as his interpreter – in Birmingham, where he too is waiting for the outcome of the NCA investigation. It is expected to conclude in June, with Jamshed either cleared or informed that he will be prosecuted.”We have every confidence in the National Crime Agency,” Jamshed said. “But we have very little confidence in the PCB.”How can we trust them? They have leaked information to the media, they have made up stories about me moving house to avoid the authorities – I’ve been here in Birmingham since January – and the tribunal they have formed to hear my case is made up of former PCB employees. How can that be independent?”Nasir Jamshed has alleged he is being used as a ‘scapegoat’•AFP

The PCB’s anti-corruption code calls for a tribunal to be independent of the board. In this case, it is made up of a former chairman (Tauqir Zia), a former legal advisor (Asghar Haider) and a former employee (Wasim Bari, a former Pakistan captain who has served in a number of different board roles, including as manager of the side as recently as January 2017). None of them are currently working for the PCB, however. Latif has also challenged the constitution of the tribunal, albeit unsuccessfully so far.”I expect the NCA to clear me,” Jamshed said. “But my worry is that I could be cleared by the NCA and found guilty by the PCB. That would still prevent me from playing cricket again. I’ve asked FICA (the international players’ union) for help, but as Pakistan are not affiliated to them, there is not much they can do.”Jamshed is particularly upset by comments made by PCB chairman, Shaharyar Khan, and lawyers working for the board who say he is refusing to return to Pakistan to face charges.”He said I had changed my address and phone number in an attempt not to have any contact with them,” Jamshed said. “But I’ve been here since January. My passport and phone have both been taken off me so I can’t travel. They know that yet they continue to say I’m refusing to return to Pakistan.”The only reason I have been reluctant to meet the PCB in the UK – and yes, they did suggest a London meeting – until now is that I’m not prepared to settle.”It is this refusal to sit down with PCB investigators, who travelled to the UK in April in the hopes of meeting him, that has led to the charges of non-cooperation and obstruction.Jamshed’s explanation of the WhatsApp messages is backed up by a couple of other sources. Jamie Boyle, the captain at Old Elizabethans CC, where Jamshed played in 2016, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that several members of the club had bought CA bats from him.”Yes, Nasir was selling bats when he was with us,” Boyle said. “There was never any secret in that. I think about four of our team ended up buying one from him.”Naeem Anjum, a first-class cricketer in Pakistan who plays club cricket in England and runs a sports shop, also confirmed he was the one providing bats for Jamshed.”It’s completely legal,” Anjum said. “I obtain a no-objection certificate from the makers and then send bats out depending on the demand. The last time I had an order from Nasir was just before the PSL.”Jamshed alleges that other players have been “coerced” into naming him to save their own careers and that he has been used as a scapegoat by a board keen to be seen as tough on corruption.”The PCB knew I was looking at a future in England,” he said. “I was hoping to play county cricket here. I would still like to after all this has been resolved.”They are so keen to show the world they have cleaned up all the corruption in Pakistan cricket they are looking for a quick resolution to this case. All I can think is that I am seen as expendable.”But some of those other players, such as Khalid Latif, have already raised their concerns about the PCB’s investigation. I’m confident the NCA will clear me and, when they have, I hope the PCB will drop this case.”Jamshed’s main tribunal hearing in which the charges against him will be heard has not begun in earnest; it was due to on May 26, but has been delayed and will resume on June 30.

Faf du Plessis has conceded that JP Duminy’s place in the Test side will come in for scrutiny after a run of poor form

Firdose Moonda10-Jul-20172:05

Moonda: Duminy’s Test career may be over

JP Duminy may not be able to keep his place in South Africa’s Test XI after the returning captain, Faf du Plessis, conceded Duminy was under pressure due to poor form. That observation is vastly different from the support du Plessis had offered in the recent past, often saying Duminy looked at his best in training and it was only a matter of time before he translated that into match-day performances.Now, after eight innings without crossing 40, du Plessis has been forced to admit Duminy is not doing enough. He made 15 and 2 in the first Test at Lord’s, with his dismissal on the stroke of tea on day four particularly culpable as South Africa slipped to a 221-run defeat.”JP will be the first guy to say he knows he needs to score runs for this team and it’s no different for anyone else,” du Plessis said. “He is desperate to do well as anyone in that position. You want to try and score runs every time you go out that. He knows at the end of the day that it’s about runs. He understands that if it has to come to a position where there is someone else that needs to be looked at… he will be the first to acknowledge [that]. He is a crucial part of our senior player group and he will always put the team interests above himself so yes, he will be the first to acknowledge that.”With du Plessis back in the squad after missing the first Test for the birth of his first child, one option would for him to slot straight back into the team in Duminy’s place but the captain said South Africa will consider a few other things. Kagiso Rabada is suspended from the Trent Bridge match for ICC code of conduct violations and South Africa may look at playing both allrounder Chris Morris and reserve quick Duanne Olivier to make up for his absence. In that case, Theunis de Bruyn would have to miss out, with du Plessis coming in for Duminy.”With losing KG – do you look at possibly playing a four-seam attack because you are losing quite a high-quality bowler? That’s means there would be a batsman that will miss out,” du Plessis said. “That’s one option.”Either way, du Plessis seemed to suggest that de Bruyn, who scored 48 in the first innings in what was just his second Test, has moved up the queue and possibly ahead of Duminy for the rest of this series. “You can look at someone like Theunis de Bruyn who has played pretty well this game – standing up at Lord’s and it’s only his second Test match. He was solid in that first innings. He played well,” du Plessis said.JP Duminy was twice dismissed cheaply at Lord’s•Getty Images

The form of the middle order was the only positive South Africa’s batting could take from the Lord’s Test after the top four let them down yet again. Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock and Vernon Philander all scored half-centuries and du Plessis would like to see one of them in particular go on to convert that into something bigger.”Temba has once again been consistent,” du Plessis said. “But now, something Temba needs to work on is making sure he converts those starts. He is playing brilliantly but he knows that fifties don’t win us matches. The difference between the two teams is that one guy scored 190. That changed the outcome of the game.”Bavuma has scored three fifties in his last four Tests but only has one hundred in his short career, against England in January 2016. Having to constantly bail the top order out may be a handbrake for him, however, and du Plessis stressed that the top two must come good. Dean Elgar got a start with a half-century in the first innings at Lord’s and du Plessis was confident Heino Kuhn, who was unconvincing on debut, will show his experience at some stage.”Heino Kuhn is not a young guy anymore but he is new to Test cricket,” du Plessis said. “I don’t think everything is supposed to be a fairytale where you just rock up and score two hundreds in your first game. Ask Dean. He got a pair in his first game. It’s about character and how you stand up to that. This will be good. It will make him stronger.”

Sussex won for only the second time this season by beating Surrey at Hove but they still can;t be discounted as quarter-final contenders

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2017Tymal Mills shook Surrey’s top order•Getty Images

Sussex kept alive their slender chances of progressing in the NatWest T20 Blast with a convincing eight-wicket victory over Surrey at Hove on Thursday.Sussex had gone into the match bottom of the south table with just one victory from eight matches. But they built on a fine bowling display by Tymal Mills to tear into the Surrey attack with such force that, chasing a target of 149, they got home with 6.3 overs to spare.Openers Chris Nash and Stiaan van Zyl brought up the 100 in only the seventh over with Nash racing to his half-century off just 24 balls with seven fours and three sixes.Van Zyl started more slowly but then made up for lost time, hitting eight fours and two sixes in his 21-ball 52. By the time Surrey finally broke through, in the ninth over, the Sussex the opening pair had put on 120 and the match was effectively over.Nash was out in the following over, lbw to Gareth Batty for a 36-ball 64. But by that time Sussex had to score at just over two runs an over. Sam Curran’s two overs went for 31. Stuart Meaker bowled just one, but it was mauled for 22 runs, while Moises Henriques’ solitary effort cost 24.Sussex captain Ross Taylor said: “Nash and van Zyl were fantastic, and they have only been an opening partnership for a short time. They played outstandingly well against one of the leading sides in the competition.”We are also a different side when Tymal Mills is playing. He took three very important wickets. There are only a few players in the world who has the impact that he has.”Coach Mark Davis was just as impressed, saying: “This was the most complete performance I’ve seen our team have for a very long time. We were outstanding with the bat. It was strong hitting, not slogging. With Tymal we live on a day to day to day basis. But he is someone we want to keep fit. Today he showed what he can do when he does play and he really mixed it up very well.”Surrey had been disappointed with their score of 148 for 8, especially after Aaron Finch had crashed three boundaries off the opening over from Danny Briggs.Stiaan van Zyl rushed Sussex to victory•Getty Images

But Finch, beaten for pace, gloved Mills to Nash at slip off the second delivery of the second over. And Mills struck again in his next over when Jason Roy, who had hit his previous, slower delivery straight past him for four, skied to Laurie Evans at point.The best innings was played by Henriques, playing his first match for Surrey since breaking his jaw in three places after an horrific collision with team-mate Rory Burns at Arundel two years ago.Henriques hit seven fours in his 31-ball 41 before skied Will Beer to Nash at deep extra-cover. After that the best knock came from Ollie Pope, who played a perfect scoop shot for four on his way to an inventive 34 from 23 balls. But when he was sixth out at 142 in the 18th over, caught behind off Chris Jordan, Surrey were unable to finish their innings on a high note.Tom Curran was out in the next over and Surrey’s last four overs brought just 19 runs. Mills was the star man in the Sussex attack. Returning to the side after missing the previous two fixtures with injury, he had figures of three for 20 from his four overs.

James Hildreth swept Somerset to an against-the-odds four-wicket win over Surrey in a thrilling NatWest T20 Blast contest at Taunton

ECB Reporters Network06-Aug-2017
James Hildreth guided his side to victory•Getty Images

James Hildreth swept Somerset to an against-the-odds four-wicket win over Surrey in a thrilling NatWest T20 Blast contest at Taunton. Replying to Surrey’s 157 for 6, the home side appeared down and out at 47 for 5 in the ninth over. But the experienced Hildreth top-scored with 45 not out and shared in a restorative stand of 69 with Roelof van der Merwe as Somerset attained their target with 10 balls to spare.A fourth consecutive home win moved the cider county up to second place in the South Group and, with three games remaining, they trail table-topping Glamorgan by two points.Just as they did in defeat against Gloucestershire at Bristol two days earlier, Somerset’s top-order batting imploded, Steve Davies, Johann Myburgh, Jim Allenby and Lewis Gregory each making a mess of the Powerplay. It was left to Hildreth and the hard-hitting van der Merwe to repair the damage, the sixth wicket pair raising a 50 stand inside three overs to put the Londoners on the back foot.Former England paceman Jade Dernbach removed van der Merwe for 36, but Hildreth and Craig Overton staged an unbroken stand of 42 to see Somerset home and materially improve their prospects of qualifying for the knockout stages.Hildreth’s unbeaten 45 came via 33 balls and included a quartet of fours, while Overton raised a quickfire 36 not out from 19 balls with a brace of fours and two maximums. Had Hildreth not been dropped by Jason Roy at backward point when he had scored 9, the outcome might have been different. But then Surrey only had themselves to blame for a shaky performance in the field.Somerset were staring down the proverbial barrel when Surrey openers Roy and Aaron Finch, approaching the Powerplay with destructive intent, blazed their way to 39 inside four overs.Australian Finch was in particularly good touch, finding the boundary rope on five occasions in harvesting 26 from 16 deliveries. No wonder Somerset supporters breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Victorian mistimed an expansive drive and was held by Overton at long-on off the bowling of Tim Groenewald.Roy fell to a horrible shot in the very next over, playing across the line and losing off and middle stumps to a straight one from Overton. He departed for 11, slamming his bat into the ground in a public show of frustration.When Mark Stoneman suffered a momentary loss of judgment and was bowled through the gate by Max Waller’s legspin, Surrey had lost three wickets for the addition of 14 runs from 18 balls. It fell to Moises Henriques and Ollie Pope to rebuild the innings, a task they accepted with alacrity, Surrey’s fourth-wicket pair adding 66 in nine overs in businesslike fashion to redress the balance.Van der Merwe disrupted their smooth progress, luring Pope into front-foot indiscretion and affording Steve Davies an opportunity to perform a smart stumping. Pope’s restorative innings of 46 occupied 31 balls and included five fours. Henriques followed him back to the pavilion in the next over, the Australian pulling Gregory to midwicket for a 32-ball 26 as Somerset reasserted a semblance of control.Charged with the task of accelerating, Sam Curran risked all against Groenewald, and holed out to the ubiquitous Waller at long-off, leaving his brother, Tom, and Rikki Clarke to hit out at the death, the seventh-wicket pair raising an unbroken partnership of 22. Yet their aggression could not quite dispel the sense that Surrey had fallen short.

ECB Reporters Network20-Sep-2017Kyle Abbott ripped through Essex to bowl the Specsavers County Champions out for 76, before Dan Lawrence and Ravi Bopara helped them back into the game, having been made to follow on, with patient half-centuries as the visitors led Hampshire by 30 runs at the end of day two.South African fast bowler Abbott ended with figures of 6 for 20 as Essex collapsed to their lowest score of the season. Essex began the day on 33 for 5 after Abbott and new-ball partner Fidel Edwards had sparked a collapse.Abbott needed just four morning deliveries to add to his two wickets on the previous evening, when he sent Lawrence’s off stump cartwheeling. Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate had reached 26, the highest score in the innings, but became Abbott’s next victim as he was struck on the pads.The former Test quick then celebrated his fourth five-wicket haul since re-joining Hampshire at the beginning of the season as he hit Simon Harmer on his back pad plumb in front of the stumps. The very next ball Neil Wagner was adjudged lbw to a ball pinging back at him, but Jamie Porter unconvincingly blocked the hat-trick ball.Ian Holland wrapped up the innings when James Foster was lbw – Essex scoring below 100 for the first time in three seasons and completing their lowest score since they were bowled out for 20 in 2013.That left them 178 runs behind Hampshire – who were seeking victory to confirm their place in Division One for the 2018 season.After being asked to bat again, Varun Chopra gloved Gareth Berg behind to spark worries of a repeat of the first innings for Essex. But Nick Browne and Tom Westley put on 43 for the second wicket in a watchful manner to begin a turn in fortunes.Browne fell lbw to a sharp Liam Dawson turner, while Westley was attempting to press his case for Ashes selection with a well-judged innings before smashing a caught-and-bowled back to Dawson on 36.At 81 for 3, Essex were still 97 runs behind Hampshire, but Lawrence and Bopara partnered up to bat their side towards safety. Lawrence had got off the mark with a six over midwicket, but attacking shots were at a premium as he scored his half century in 115 balls.After moving into the lead, and a century stand, Bopara collected his 48th first-class fifty from 106 balls. With stumps called early due to bad light, the fourth-wicket stand was unbroken on 127 and Essex had the chance to at least set Hampshire something in the fourth innings.

Spinners Shreyas Gopal and K Gowtham wrapped up Karnataka’s second win of the season while Rinku Singh’s 136-ball 122 not out ended in vain for Uttar Pradesh

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2017Railways secured their second outright win of the season, routing Assam for 55 in their second innings and handing them an innings-and-184-run loss in Guwahati.Resuming on 41 for 7, Assam added only 14 runs to their score before being dismissed in 32.3 overs. Seamer Anureet Singh, who sparked the collapse, ended with 5 for 28 – his 15th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Deepak Bansal and Amit Mishra complemented him with two wickets each. Wicketkeeper Kunal Saikia was the only Assam player to reach double figures in their second innings.Legspinner Shreyas Gopal bagged a match haul of nine wickets, including four in the second innings, to wrap up Karnataka‘s second outright win in two matches, against Hyderabad in Shimoga.Chasing 380, Hyderabad were bowled out for 320 with B Sandeep top scoring with 80. The overnight pair of opener Tanmay Agarwal and captain Ambati Rayudu had extended their stand to 53, before Agarwal was pinned lbw by offspinner K Gowtham. Allrounder Stuart Binny then claimed the key wicket of Rayudu for 31 to pin down the visitors to 117 for 4. Sandeep and Ashish Reddy then propped up the chase with fifties each before the spinners cleaned up the lower order. Gowtham took three wickets, and stretched his match haul to six. Hyderabad were ultimately dismissed in 109.4 overs.Karun Nair, who had struck 134 off 229 balls, was named Man of the Match in his first match of the Ranji Trophy season.Offspinner Chirag Khurana’s second six-wicket haul of the match trumped Rinku Singh’s 136-ball 122 not out – his maiden first-class hundred – and secured Maharashtra‘s 31-run win over Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow.Resuming on 256 for 4, Maharashtra added 26 runs to their overnight score before declaring on 282 for 7, setting Uttar Pradesh a target of 324.The hosts lost Almas Shaukat and Himanshu Asnora early, and when captain Suresh Raina was dismissed for 5 by Khurana, Uttar Pradesh were 105 for 4. Akshdeep Nath and Rinku then put on 112 for the fifth wicket in 21.2 overs. The stand ended when Nath was dismissed for 79 off 123 balls. Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar contributed 23 but his wicket triggered a collapse: Uttar Pradesh lost their last five wickets for 38 runs to be bowled out for 292.

Both openers capitalised on vastly improved batting conditions, both overhead and underfoot, to lead India’s recovery on the fourth day in Kolkata

The Report by Nikhil Kalro19-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:08

Chopra: SL bowlers looked ordinary on day four

Openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan capitalised on vastly improved batting conditions, both overhead and underfoot, to lead India’s recovery on the fourth day in Kolkata. After Rangana Herath’s third Test fifty had bulked up Sri Lanka’s lead to 122, there was only one likely winner in the game. But then after Dhawan struck a 116-ball 94 and Rahul hit an unbeaten 73, there would be none it seemed.Mohammed Shami, on his home ground, rattled through Sri Lanka’s middle order to finish with four wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar added two wickets on the fourth day to return 4 for 88 in bowling Sri Lanka out for 294. With Umesh Yadav also taking two wickets, this was the third time India’s seamers took all ten wickets in a Test innings at home, and the first such instance since 1983-84.Rahul and Dhawan then replied with aggression that has typified their recent Test run. Sunny overhead conditions and a surface that seemed to have settled down helped drastically.On most pitches, a slightly fuller-than-good length is ideal. But Lahiru Gamage bowled on either side of that, dishing out three half-volleys to Rahul in his first over, which were punched for three boundaries through mid-off. He compensated with a shorter length thereafter, erring in Dhawan’s wheelhouse, who cut and pulled gleefully.In Kolkata’s humidity, Dinesh Chandimal was quickly forced to turn his spinners. With no turn, it played nicely into the openers’ hands. Rahul nudged and nurdled, opening and closing the bat face to accumulate runs, while Dhawan was more expansive, often using his feet to loft the ball straight.Herath, more often than not Sri Lanka’s second-innings star, was taken apart. In 29 overs, India had wiped out their deficit, and undone more than three days of diligence from Sri Lanka.BCCI

With Dhawan on 94 and the light fading, he committed the only two mistakes of his innings off the same delivery. He drove loosely at Dasun Shanaka, but an inswinger found his inside edge. He reviewed immediately, and replays showed a sharp spike as ball passed bat. India finished the fourth day at 171 for 1, with a lead of 49. Cheteshwar Pujara, who finished unbeaten on 2, could become the ninth batsman to bat on all five days of a Test.Niroshan Dickwella and Chandimal began the fourth morning under sunny skies by counterattacking India’s seamers. But like Sadeera Samarawickrama found out on the third day, hitting through the line can be fraught with risk against the moving ball because it threatens both edges. Their approach worked for the first half hour, taking Sri Lanka to 200, a handy lead of 28, but just when it seemed like Sri Lanka wrested control, India hit back. Sri Lanka’s middle order tried to make contact with the ball, as opposed to allowing themselves to be beaten by playing the line. It was a ploy to move the Test along, and on a seaming surface like this, it wasn’t a bad one.Dickwella had punched, cut and pulled merrily, but was also beaten repeatedly. Shami got one to seam in from his around-the-wicket angle, then bounce and jag away – enough to find the outside edge, but not exaggerated movement to beat the edge.Bhuvneshwar, in the next over, set up Dasun Shanaka with an outswinger well outside off. He started the next ball on a similar line, but it hooped back prodigiously to hit Shanaka, offering no shot with an intent to leave as many as he could, on the back pad. Only James Anderson is more adept at using this tactic with the swinging ball in Tests currently.Five balls later, Chandimal was caught fishing outside his off stump against Shami. Again, the ball did just enough to find the outside edge. Suddenly, Sri Lanka had slipped to 201 for 7.It got worse for Sri Lanka when Dilruwan Perera was given out lbw off a sharp inducker from Shami that beat his inside edge. Dilruwan, it appeared, accepted the decision and turned around to walk towards the dressing room, but asked for a review moments later. Replays showed the ball hit Dilruwan outside the line of off stump.Herath was particularly effective with cross-batted strokes on either side of the wicket. He would frequently perch on the back foot, and depending on the line, either cut through point or pull past midwicket. Considering deliveries on a good or short length were routinely beating him with a straight bat, it was a rewarding strategy. He had moved to 67 before slicing a catch to deep backward point off Bhuvneshwar.

Fast bowler takes eight-for as Salman Butt’s side fold inside 11 overs on fifth day as SNGPL clinch third title in four years

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Dec-2017
ScorecardPCB

SNGPL beat WAPDA by 103 runs to clinch their third Quaid-e-Azam trophy title in four years.The hard work had been done on Sunday, where the core of WAPDA’s batting line-up was dismantled. This left Mohammad Hafeez’s side needing only three wickets to regain the trophy. They faced a hint of resistance on Monday, but weren’t to be denied in the end.Samiullah Khan, the left-arm fast bowler, took all three remaining wickets to post career-best figures of 8 for 62, as Salman Butt’s side’s title defence came to an end.Any thoughts of a competitive final day had been killed off late on the fourth evening in a spectacular 19-ball collapse that saw WAPDA reduced from 86 for three to 86 for 7, with all their recognised batsmen dismissed.Khushdil Shah fell off the third ball on the final day before dogged partnership between Wahab Riaz and Khalid Usman took the hosts past 150. However, Samiullah returned to dismiss Wahab before taking the final wicket in the 11th over of the day to complete a 11-for.For a man who played two internationals for Pakistan nearly ten years ago, it was a sweet career-high in his twilight years.