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The 2012 IPL will be the longest edition of the tournament yet and will clash with a number of international tours, most notably Australia’s tour of West Indies in April and West Indies tour of England in May

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2011The 2012 IPL will be the longest edition of the tournament yet and will clash with a number of international tours, most notably Australia’s tour of West Indies in April and West Indies tour of England in May. Pakistan are also scheduled to play international cricket during the event, which will be played from April 4 to May 27, but their players have not been part of the IPL since the inaugural tournament in 2008.The BCCI approved the dates of the tournament on Friday and West Indies, with their traditional home season falling in March and April, will once again have to find a way of coping without players who want to play in the lucrative Twenty20 league. According to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, West Indies host Australia for three Tests and five ODIs in March and April, before heading to England to play three Tests, three ODIs and a T20I in May and June.Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle, who starred for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2011 IPL, and allrounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo were given No Objection Certificates by the West Indies Cricket Board to play in the tournament this year. Pollard missed the ODI series against Pakistan while Bravo missed the Tests to turn out for their IPL franchises Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. The Gayle situation is further exacerbated because he is involved in a standoff with the board over his decisions to play domestic T20 events around the globe, and has not played for West Indies since the World Cup.The Australia players who have IPL deals will be free to join the league mid-way, as they did this year after their ODI series against Bangladesh. However, England’s players will once again find themselves at odds with the IPL, since the West Indies series starts on May 1. That could discourage franchises from bidding for players from England, should they be part of a player auction next year.Pakistan are scheduled to welcome Bangladesh in April and May for two Tests and three ODIs, after which they are due to tour Sri Lanka for three Tests, five one-dayers and two T20Is. Pakistan’s visit would require Sri Lanka’s international players to leave the IPL early, something that became a contentious issue in 2011 for Sri Lanka’s tour of England.

A round-up of the action from the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge where West Indies, South Africa and Pakistan all recorded victories

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2010

ScorecardStafanie Taylor’s century set up a crushing win•International Cricket Council

Former captain Stafanie Taylor blasted West Indies to a 148-run win over Netherlands on the opening day of the the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge in Potchefstroom.Opening the innings after Netherlands captain Helmien Rambaldo won the toss and put West Indies in, Taylor thrashed 147 from 141 balls to launch West Indies to an imposing 283. In contrast the Netherlands chase never got going as they were restricted to 135 for 8 from 50 overs.Taylor received able support from Stacy-Ann King who made 22 in an 80-run stand for the fourth wicket but it was the following 113-run stand with Deandra Dottin that carried West Indies out of sight.Dottin shot to prominence when she became the first woman in history to score a Twenty20 international hundred – which she made off 38 balls – against South Africa in the World Twenty20 earlier this year and she was in typically aggressive form in this game, reaching 59 from 58 balls. The standout innings, however, came from Taylor who smashed 15 fours and a six before falling in the penultimate over.The total was always going to be beyond Netherlands but their approach seemed more concerned with survival than at giving themselves a chance of victory. Esther Lanser top-scored with 39 at the top of the order, but her innings, which came off 92 balls set the tone.Rambaldo’s 27 was the only other score of note as the rest of the line up struggled to get to grips with the West Indies attack. Dottin made her good day even better by picking up 2 for 15 from her seven overs of medium pace as Netherlands crept to 135 for 8 to finish well short.

ScorecardSouth Africa thrashed their Sri Lankan counterparts by 153 runs – rolling them out for 75 after battling to 228 on the North-West University No2 Ground.The spin pair of Dane van Niekerk and Sunette Loubser were the chief destroyers, taking four wickets each to help inspire a collapse from 50 for 2 to 75 all out in 10.5 overs. Just three players reached double-figures, Chamari Polgampola top-scoring with 25 at the top of the order. The 4 for 13 that 17-year-old legspinner van Niekerk finished with was her best figures and she now has 15 wickets from seven ODIs.What was barely a contest in Sri Lanka’s chase was more of a tussle in the South Africa innings. Captain Cri-zelda Brits anchored the innings with 78 from 108 balls. At 131 for 3 it looked as though a big total would be built but Polgampola struck back with three wickets to help reduce South Africa to 189 for 7 by the time Brits fell.Yet Loubser and Shabnim Ismail rallied to take the score to 228. It meant that Brits’ knock, which featured six fours, was not wasted and allowed enough for the bowlers to surge to victory.

ScorecardPakistan gave their country’s cricket fans some much-needed cheer by thrashing Ireland in their opening match of the ICC Women’s Cricket Challenge in Potchefstroom.Opting to field they made light work of the Ireland line-up, bundling them out for 116 in 31.5 overs. Only three players made reached double- figures as Asmavia Iqbal took an impressive 3 for 17 from nine overs. She was ably backed up by Kanwal Naz who took 3 for 18 with her left-arm spin.Jill Whelan top-scored for Ireland, striking three boundaries in her 18 before being run-out. All around her the Ireland line-up came and went in a procession leaving a simple chase for Pakistan.Whelan followed up her relative success with the bat by taking the first wicket in the second over of Pakistan’s chase but that only brought Nain Abidi to the crease. She laid a sound platform alongside Javeria Khan in a 50-run second-wicket stand and despite two more wickets falling, Abidi held firm to reach an unbeaten fifty and seal the victory.

The England allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas will replace Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga for Tasmania’s Twenty20 campaign this season

Cricinfo staff16-Nov-2009The England allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas will replace Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga for Tasmania’s Twenty20 campaign this season. The Tigers announced in July that they had signed Malinga but Sri Lanka’s international commitments in January have forced the state to change their plans.”When Malinga was first signed we knew this was a possibility,” David Boon, Cricket Tasmania’s cricket operations general manager, said. “Although it is disappointing, we have a suitable back-up player in Dimitri Mascarenhas who will arrive in Hobart during December.”Mascarenhas, 32, was raised in Australia and has played club cricket in Melbourne and Perth, but this will be his first taste of state cricket in Australia. A regular member of England’s Twenty20 international side, Mascarenhas will offer Tasmania powerful striking and medium-pace bowling.Malinga is not the first Sri Lankan star to sign for the Big Bash only to later become unavailable – South Australia have already gained and then lost Ajantha Mendis, who was replaced by Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi. Victoria are yet to make an announcement on Muttiah Muralitharan, who had agreed to play for the Bushrangers.Each state is allowed to sign two international players for the Big Bash, which runs from late December to January. Chris Gayle has signed with Western Australia, Dwayne Bravo with Victoria, while Kieron Pollard and Afridi will play for South Australia.

In-form Georgia Voll is likely to be kept out of the XI while England wait on the fitness of Kate Cross

Valkerie Baynes11-Jan-20252:25

Charlie Dean: We don’t have as many Ashes scars in this team

Alyssa Healy will resume wicketkeeping duties for Australia in the Ashes series opener, Sunday’s first ODI against England in Sydney.But Healy, Australia’s captain who has been nursing a knee injury since mid-November, admitted that a tight schedule of seven matches – including a four-day Test – in the space of 22 days might mean some rotation of personnel through the series, which starts with three ODIs followed by three T20s.”Yeah, good to go,” a beaming Healy told reporters of her ability to keep after a practice session at North Sydney Oval, less than 24 hours before the series start at the same venue.Related

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“Probably I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t any doubt, in particular off the back of a rough couple of months, but everything’s progressed probably just as well as we would have hoped. I’m feeling really good.”More importantly, I’m feeling really confident on it to be able to get out there and do that job. I wouldn’t be doing it if I felt like I was going to let the team down. I’m really excited to get back out there tomorrow.”Healy has endured a tough run with injury since October, when she ruptured the plantar fascia in her in her right foot while running between the wickets during Australia’s group game against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup.She then suffered a knee problem while playing for the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL, ruling her out of Australia’s home one-dayers against India and she played as a batter only on the subsequent ODI tour of New Zealand with Beth Mooney standing in behind the stumps for both series.On Saturday, Healy trained with the gloves alongside Mooney at slip with Georgia Voll, the 21-year-old opening batter who impressed on international debut against India in her place, feeding balls off the bat.Voll has 173 runs at 86.50 and a strike rate of 108.80 from her three ODIs, including a century in just her second game against India. But Healy’s recovery leaves Australia with just one selection choice to make between quick Darcie Brown and Georgia Wareham as an extra spinner.Having proved herself such a valuable option at the top of the order, including fifty opening alongside Healy in the washed-out Ashes warm-up between England and a Governor General’s XI, Voll could slot in at any time Healy needs to rest though.Alyssa Healy will be back behind the stumps at the start of the Ashes•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

“It’s a valid question, and I don’t know the answer to that just yet,” Healy said when asked if she had recovered enough to play all Ashes fixtures. “I think it’s just going to depend on how I pull up after each and every opportunity.”But obviously we know we’ve got a pretty handy back-up that’s ready to do the job, and I know that I can run around in the field quite confidently as well, so we’ll just play it by ear. From my perspective, I’d love to be out there keeping every game, but we’ll just have to see how the body goes.”England have one key decision to make over their bowling line-up depending on how dependable seamer Kate Cross pulls up from their match-eve training session after battling a back injury. Cross broke down with back spasms during last month’s tour of South Africa and scans subsequently revealed a slightly bulging disc that required an epidural over the Christmas period.”Obviously Crossy’s struggling a little bit with a back issue, she’s going to have a little bowl today and we’ll make a final decision once we’ve had a look at the wicket and seen where everyone’s at post-training,” Heather Knight, England’s captain, said on Saturday.England have a number of seam options including Lauren Bell who returned from South Africa with 12 wickets, eight of those in the Test, and Lauren Filer, whom Knight backed to provide an added dimension with her speed despite struggling with her footing on a soggy North Sydney pitch during the warm-up game, which Knight put down purely to the conditions.”The bounce that she gets and the speed that she bowls at is really tricky,” Knight said of Filer, who surprised the Australians with her speed on her international debut in the 2023 Ashes Test, where she took two wickets in each innings. “Facing her in the nets is not a particularly pleasant experience, I’ll tell you that, and I think since that 2023 series she’s really grown.”She’s improved her consistency, she’s added a few skills to her game as well. She was really raw in that series and really made an impact so she’s one of a number of bowlers that are going to contribute throughout this series.”She’s certainly someone that bowls wicket-taking balls and that’s what we want her to do. Accepting sometimes she’s going to go for runs, that’s completely fine, that’s not her job. Her job is to come in and take poles and try and ruffle a few feathers so I’m excited to watch her bowl for sure.”England XI (possible): Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight (capt), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones (wk), Alice Capsey/Sophia Dunkley, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Bell, Lauren Filer/Kate CrossAustralia XI (possible): Alyssa Healy (capt, wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown/Georgia Wareham

He replaces Gavin Larsen, who had stepped down in March after almost eight years in the role

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2023Former Otago allrounder Sam Wells has been appointed New Zealand’s selection manager, taking over from Gavin Larsen ahead of the start of the upcoming domestic season. Wells, who has also been a selector for Otago, will work alongside head coach Gary Stead, who is also New Zealand’s chief selector.Wells, 39, played 61 first-class and 43 List-A games for Otago as well as two first-class matches for New Zealand A, in a career that started in 2007-08 and ended in 2016-17. He was even called up to the Test squad in January 2012, though he didn’t get the chance to make his international debut. After his playing career ended, Wells was a selector for Otago A, before taking over as convenor of selectors for Otago during the 2022-23 domestic season – all this while continuing to practice law in Dunedin.”Sam’s playing and selecting experience, combined with his communication and legal skills presented a compelling case,” NZC GM High Performance Bryan Stronach said. “He’s well-versed in running robust processes, where a variety of information and opinions are brought to the table to be considered – and that’s ultimately the role of the national selection manager.”While Gary will ultimately make the final decisions as the chief selector, we want Sam preparing him with as much intel as possible, and then challenging his thinking and decisions.”Larsen, who Wells succeeds as selection manager, had stepped down from the post this March, after almost eight years in charge.Wells’ role with the senior New Zealand side will be full-time in the summer but with reduced hours in the winter, with him starting officially on October 16.”I’m hugely passionate about cricket in this country, and to be given the opportunity to contribute at the highest level is an honour and a privilege” Wells said. “As a player, I always appreciated direct and honest communication from selectors, and that’s what I will endeavour to bring to this role.”

Australia have two matches remaining before heading to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games

Andrew McGlashan19-Jul-2022Ashleigh Gardner is working on a new role with the ball ahead of the Commonwealth Games which could see her take on greater responsibility within the powerplay.While not uncharted territory for offspinner Gardner – she did it with some success against India last season including removing Shafali Verma twice in three matches – it may now become a more regular task in Australia’s T20I side to operate inside the fielding restrictions.Gardner had a taste of it in the washed-out opening tri-series match against Pakistan in Bready where she bounced back from seeing her first two deliveries taken for four by Iram Javed to claim two wickets, the left-handed pair of Bismah Maroof and Muneeba Ali.Related

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“It’s nice to be playing a different role,” she said. “I generally don’t bowl those powerplay overs and it’s something that’s been spoken about and something I’m really excited to do. It’s an awesome challenge. Only bowling with two [fielders] out is quite difficult at times.”They [the coaching staff] alluded to it at the start of the series and even through my role clarity meetings that it was something I should wrap my head around. There’s always plenty of left-handers at the top of the order as well, so that being a genuine match-up.”[It’s] just being aware of that and comfortable doing it because it is a different role, people are going harder at the top of the order and you only have the two out for protection so it’s about being really clear on where you want to get hit.”In the second game against Ireland, against a top order compiled of right-handers, Gardner returned to operating in the middle of the innings, delivering three overs between the 10th and 16th, but can expect another chance in the powerplay before the series finishes.Across the first two matches of the series, Australia’s standout bowler has been legspinner Alana King who has bagged the remarkable figures of 5-0-17-6 and was player of the match against Ireland with opposition batters struggling to read her.”She’s one of those legspinners who bowls quite quick and quite flat, but does turn the ball as well, so she’s a handful when facing her,” Gardner said. “We’ve played quite a lot against her so we know the cues, but in saying that because she does bowl that little bit quicker you don’t have those cues all the time. When you get caught up is when you probably try and play it off the wicket. You really do need to hone in on her hand. It’s more the slider that’s her biggest weapon and the one she does try to rip is also really effective.”Australia have two matches of the tri-series remaining before they travel across to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games and so far, due to the rained-out game and a nine-wicket win, only three batters have had time in the middle but Gardner is relaxed if she does get a hit in the coming days.”If we keep our batting order the same to what we usually use I think that will be most beneficial to get those people plenty of time in the middle and then really utilise training to get the other batters a hit,” she said. “We have to face all our bowlers in the nets, so think that is a challenge in itself. If we do get a hit over these next two games, great, but if not we’ve got some really good facilities and great bowlers and coaches.”

India captain gained 47 rating points and moved up one slot following scores of 73 and 77

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2021India’s captain Virat Kohli has moved back into the top five of the ICC’s T20I rankings for batsmen, while England’s Jos Buttler jumped into the top 20 as a result of performances in the ongoing five-match series in Ahmedabad.Kohli, who has led the T20I rankings before and currently tops the ODI table, gained 47 rating points and moved up one slot after making unbeaten scores of 73 and 77 in the last two matches. Buttler meanwhile advanced five places to 19th after his match-winning 83 had fired England to a 2-1 lead on Tuesday.Jonny Bairstow, who shared a 77-run partnership with Buttler in the third T20I, jumped two places to 14th, while Jason Roy was rewarded for scores of 49 and 46 in the first two matches by moving up to 24th. In the bowlers’ rankings, Jofra Archer (34th), Mark Wood (39th) and Sam Curran (74th) all made gains.For India, Shreyas Iyer (31st) and Rishabh Pant (80th) made up ground in the batting list, while Washington Sundar (11th), Shardul Thakur (27th) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (45th) all advanced in the bowlers’ rankings.Related

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In the ODI rankings for batsmen, West Indies’ Shai Hope shot up to joint-seventh, after he had been named the Player of the Series against Sri Lanka for his recent scores of 110, 84 and 64. Following West Indies’ 3-0 series win, Nicholas Pooran (32nd), Evin Lewis (44th) and Darren Bravo (99th) also climbed up the rankings, while seamer Alzari Joseph advanced seven places to a career-best 27th in the bowlers’ list.Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Shahidi was the biggest mover in the Test rankings for batsmen, leaping 47 spots to 90th, after becoming the first person from his country to score a double-century, against Zimbabwe. The team’s captain Asghar Afghan, who scored 164 and shared a fourth-wicket stand of 307 with Shahidi, moved up to a career-best 65th on the list. Rashid Khan, who bowled almost 100 overs in the second Test, vaulted nine places to 32nd in the bowlers rankings.Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams, who had kept Afghanistan waiting with his defiant 151 after following on, moved to a career-high 24th on the batting list with 621 rating points, the most by any player from the country since Brendan Taylor in 2014.

Time to move past “all this crap that’s been happening behind the scenes” says captain

Firdose Moonda08-Dec-2019Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s captain, has called on South Africa’s administrators to shift their focus away from the current crises and onto the national team as they prepare for a home series against England.Speaking after his team, Paarl Rocks, secured a home final at the Mzansi Super League (MSL), two days after CSA CEO Thabang Moroe was suspended and less than 24 hours after it was all but confirmed that former captain Graeme Smith will take over as director of cricket, du Plessis asked for plans to be put in place speedily to ensure the team is ready for their next on-field challenge.ALSO READ: Crisis in South African cricket – full coverage“Obviously a lot has happened but now it’s a new start,” du Plessis said. “There’s not much time before the English series so now it’s about putting our focus back on to the team, making sure that the Test team gets all the things that are required for us to be successful.”It’s been a little bit on pause the last two or three weeks which is already too late, so we need to make sure in the next week things will start unfolding to make sure the Test team gets the most attention. The last two weeks there hasn’t been much attention on that so that is what we will try and drive over the next week.”The most immediate concerns are appointment of a selection panel to pick the squad that will face England, who named their touring party on Saturday, and the naming of support staff to assist interim team director Enoch Nkwe, who looks set to stay in his role. South Africa will also name two invitation teams to play against England in warm-up games, which may inform their final selection, as well as keep an eye on a round of first-class matches that begins on December 19 and assess injuries. Opening batsmen Aiden Markram, who broke his wrist in India, is the biggest doubt but has begun training with the Rocks in a bid to be ready for the Boxing Day Test.Very little attention has been paid to his, or anyone else’s readiness, as CSA attempted to put out fires on multiple fronts over the last two weeks, ranging from disputes with the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA), the suspension of seven members of staff, the resignations of three independent board members and the loss of a major sponsor. After a special meeting of the board on Saturday, CSA resolved to repair its relationship with SACA and hold independent disciplinary proceedings for those staff who have been sanctioned.However, CSA did not disband the board or remove president Chris Nenzani, something which remains a concern for several stakeholders including SACA, whose outgoing CEO Tony Irish was “appalled” at developments. Irish tweeted that the board and president had taken “no responsibility for cricket’s biggest crisis” and are “now clinging to power”.Rather than get drawn into the matter, du Plessis said he just wants to see cricket take centre stage again. “Now it’s about moving forward. I am a firm believer that it’s time for us to look ahead from all this crap that’s been happening behind the scenes. It’s about making sure that the players are focused on the cricket side of things,” he said.Du Plessis also offered to be a buffer between the players and administrators as long as it allowed plans for England to proceed swiftly. “The players have got absolutely nothing to do with what’s happening behind the scenes. It’s important to separate that from a player point of view and if it needs me to be dealing with some of these things, then that’s OK. It’s about getting focus on what’s really important now which is a Test series against England. As I said before, it’s already a little bit 99 [last-minute] and things haven’t happened as they should have but now we can start getting things on the right track.”As part of that effort, CSA also announced Dr Jacques Faul as interim CEO on Saturday. Du Plessis, who has worked under Faul during his first stint as acting CEO in 2012 and at the Titans franchise, believes he is the right man for the job. “Jacques is obviously a very experienced CEO, a doctor, so I am sure he is pretty clever,” du Plessis said. “It’s about experience; getting people in that can take this great game of ours on the right track again.”And so, despite the many issues South African cricket faces, du Plessis is hopeful South African cricket can get back on track. “There’s too much negative stuff that’s happened over the last four or five weeks and our cricket is too strong to have so many issues all the time. We are too proud a cricketing nation to be talking about this stuff all the time. The attention needs to be on the cricket and making sure we will build ourselves as a team and ourselves as an organisation to be great again.”

Fifties from Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez had helped Pakistan put up 166 before the spinners derailed New Zealand’s chase

The Report by Danyal Rasool04-Nov-2018
Pakistan celebrate Glenn Phillips’ wicket•AFP

For all of ten glorious overs – and it was glorious, no matter who one supported – it seemed like Kane Williamson would single-handedly snap Pakistan’s T20I winning streak. With Colin Munro and Colin de Grandhomme dismissed early in a chase of 167, and the Powerplay almost over, this looked like a stroll for Pakistan. It ended up being every bit the stroll it appeared at that point, with Pakistan winning by 47 runs, but Williamson gave them an almighty scare in the middle. He smashed – caressed, really – 60 runs off 38 balls in a manner so classical you’d feel blessed to see it in a Test match. It wrested the advantage back in New Zealand’s favour, but once he holed out to long-on off Shadab Khan, the tourists went back to being the side they had looked before their captain had sprinkled his class over the contest. They lost their last eight wickets for 23 runs, and Pakistan had yet another well-deserved clean sweep to their name.This was not to be the close contest the first two games had been, even though New Zealand made an excellent start. Seth Rance found the sort of prodigious swing no bowler had managed all season, and Fakhar Zaman was particularly discomfited. Pakistan manged just 33 runs in the first six, with Zaman dismissed following an ugly hoick to the offside, ensuring the left-hander’s poor run in Asia continued.It was Babar Azam, inevitably, who got his side back on course. Needing 48 runs to overtake Virat Kohli to become the fastest to 1000 T20I runs, he began to take control of the overs immediately following the Powerplay, picking up the run rate alongside the in-form Mohammad Hafeez. Just as this pair had done for much of the T20I series against Australia, the pair was responsible for the bulk of the runs scored in the Pakistan innings, the partnership adding 96 off 64 deliveries. For the first time in six games, Pakistan knocked themselves out of the magnetic field that seems to hold them within the 145-160 range, a late flourish ensuring they set the tourists 167 to chase.Hafeez was the man they had to thank for that flourish, with the 38-year old seamlessly taking over once Babar was dismissed for 79. That is usually the point at which Pakistan innings have stuttered of late, but four boundaries in the following seven balls that New Zealand bowled to Hafeez and Shoaib Malik went for four. The momentum thus remained unequivocally with Pakistan, who carried it right throughout the innings.They held onto it at the change of innings, and struck New Zealand a hammer blow with the wicket of Colin Munro in the second over. Faheem Ashraf, who had borne the brunt of his belligerence in the previous match, knocked back his middle stump as Munro cleared his front leg, and the flying start he had provided to New Zealand in the first two games would have to be made up for elsewhere.With Glenn Phillips still struggling, and Colin de Grandhomme carelessly run out Williamson took up the responsibility. Never a big hitter, he was relentlessly inventive in the way he found his boundaries, from lapping the fast bowler over fine leg to delicate touches that beat third man. Even when he danced – and it really did look that graceful – down the wicket to loft the ball out of the ground, they looked more like drives than slogs. The only thing about him that looked like a modern T20 player was his strike rate.But with no support coming from the other end, it would require a one-man effort if New Zealand were to deny Pakistan a clean sweep. Once he was dismissed, Pakistan immediately reverted to being the side that beats the opposition into the ground, and they did that with devastating efficiency. Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim and debutant Waqas Maqsood each took two wickets in an over as they scorched their way through the middle and lower order, and within 25 balls of Williamson’s departure, the innings was over.That is what Pakistan have reduced oppositions to at the moment. Passages of ascendancy. The prospect of a team extending that passage to the point it becomes a match-winning one continues to remain elusive, as the home side cap another hugely successful year in the format; they have lost just two T20Is in 2018.What seems most predictable at the moment is arguably cricket’s most unpredictable side winning in the sport’s most unpredictable format. Who would have predicted that?

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.