Billy Root haunts Yorkshire to book Glamorgan's home semi-final

Andy Gorvin, Ben Kellaway share seven wickets to knock Yorkshire out

ECB Reporters Network14-Aug-2024Glamorgan safely booked a home semi-final slot on Sunday in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup as they made it six wins out of eight to top Group B with a 62-run victory over the Yorkshire Vikings at Sophia Gardens.The champions in 2021, Glamorgan had already booked a play-off spot before the final round of games but now avoid having to play a quarter-final game on Friday.A solid 66 from former Yorkshire player Billy Root against his brother Joe’s county was the centre piece in the Welsh side’s total of 230 for 9 in a game reduced to 47 overs a side after early rain. His 56-run partnership with Timm van der Gugten for the ninth wicket proved crucial in hauling the home side past the 200 run mark.The Yorkshire spin attack of Dom Bess and Dan Moriarty tied down the Glamorgan batters with a spell of 20 overs between them that cost only 94 runs. Moriarty ended up with 3 for 47 from his 10 overs.Van der Gugten ended on an unbeaten 34, which included a six and three fours, and then gave Glamorgan the perfect start with a wicket with the first ball of the Yorkshire reply, trapping Harry Duke lbw. He ended with 2 for 32 from his 10 overs to complete a good all-round day.Yorkshire then lurched to 11 for 3 in seven overs as Noah Kelly and William Luxton were both clean bowled. Skipper Jonny Tattersall provided some much needed stability with his 51, enjoying profitable stands of 46 with Yash Vagadia and 59 with Matt Revis as the Vikings improved to 116 for 5.Then a burst of three wickets in 12 balls by Andy Gorvin in the 27th and 29th overs saw Revis (28), Tattersall (51) and George Hill (2) all depart to turn the game even more in favour of the Welsh county.With the required rate rising to more than six per over, Bess hit out before he was caught by Dan Douthwaite for an enterprising 22. That gave spinner Ben Kellaway his second wicket – one with his left arm and the next with his right.At 152 for 8 the Vikings were still 78 short of their total and needing to score at more than seven an over. Kellaway and Gorvin mopped up the tail as Yorkshire were all out for 168.Tattersall won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Glamorgan to bat on an overcast morning. The start was delayed to 11.30am due to light rain and the match reduced to 47 overs.Will Smale and Asa Tribe got off to a flying start for the home side with Smale taking 10 off Dom Leech’s first over. Tribe then sent Ben Cliff’s first ball crashing to the boundary at the other end.But Cliff got his revenge in the sixth over when he removed both openers with his first and last balls. Smale was caught at mid-on trying to hit him over the top for 16 and then Tribe was trapped lbw for 9.That made it 28 for 2 and in his next over Cliff captured the dangerous Sam Northeast for 7 as he was brilliantly caught one handed at slip by George Hill. That made it 40 for 3 and put the Group B table-toppers under considerable pressure.Skipper Kiran Carlson and Colin Ingram brought up the 50 in the last over of the first powerplay with two off-side boundaries from Ingram. Hill struck in the next over to remove Ingram, caught behind by Tattersall for 18.The partnership between Carlson and Ingram was worth 44 and his departure left Glamorgan on 84 for 4. Carlson was trapped lbw on 31 by Leech just after the 100 came up.

Hughes ton makes light work of Queensland's 282

NSW openers led the charge with a mammoth opening stand after Queensland captain Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne helped their side post 282

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2017
ScorecardDaniel Hughes razed to his second ton of the tournament•Getty Images

A 192-run opening stand between centurion Daniel Hughes and Nic Maddinson set up New South Wales’ six-wicket victory against Queensland, with Hughes scoring his second hundred of the tournament. The result meant that Usman Khawaja’s 138, which anchored Queensland to 7 for 282, was in vain.Hughes and Maddinson, currently leading the tournament run charts, struck 122 and 86 respectively, scoring at a rate of 5.87 in their partnership. While Maddinson fell 14 short of his 12th List A ton, Hughes brought up his fourth successive fifty-plus score in the tournament. He fell in the 44th over, having lifted NSW to 250 and they comfortably crossed the target after that, with seven balls to spare. Of the six bowlers used by Queensland, only Brendan Doggett, Cameron Gannon, Michael Neser managed to scalp a wicket each as their side suffered their third loss of the tournament.Earlier, NSW, who had opted to bowl first, dismissed Matt Renshaw and Joe Burns for 4 each. Burns was out hit wicket, after his bat hit the stumps while he attempted a pull off Mitchell Starc’s bowling. Khawaja, however, weathered the opening burst from Starc (3-48), Nathan Lyon (1-36) and Doug Bollinger, and wrested control along with Marnus Labuschagne. The pair added 217 runs, with Khawaja scoring 138 off 139 balls and Labuschagne contributing 91. Khawaja’s century followed up scores of 85 and 81 in his two previous games, putting him fourth on the tournament run charts.

Australia A vs India A to provide lead-in to Border-Gavaskar Test series

A pair of four-day matches will be take place in Mackay and at the MCG, potentially involving players pushing for a Test berth

ESPNcricinfo staff28-May-2024A two-match Australia A vs India A four-day series will precede the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year to give players on the fringes of both sides a chance to press their claims.The two matches will take place at Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay from October 31-November 3 followed by the MCG from November 7 to 10.The entire Indian squad – comprising both the main tour party and the A team – will then have an internal warm-up fixture at the WACA between November 15 and 17 ahead of the opening Test at Optus Stadium in Perth which begins on November 22.India have a run of five home Tests prior to heading to Australia with two matches against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand on the FTP from late September to early November.From Australia’s perspective, the two A matches will overlap with the ODIs and T20Is against Pakistan so the selectors may need to decide whether there are any players involved in the white-ball teams who could potentially feature for the A side. They will also likely clash with Sheffield Shield fixtures.The T20Is against Pakistan are unlikely to feature any of Australia’s Test players given their proximity to the India series.Although the indications have been that Steven Smith will remain as an opener, the structure of Australia’s batting order could still be a debate ahead of the India series. The A matches could be a chance for the likes of Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw to push their claims.Last season Pakistan faced the Prime Minister’s XI, which was effectively an Australia A team, in Canberra ahead of the Test series.On their previous tour of Australia in 2020-21, there were also two warm-up matches against Australia A prior to the Test series. India won that series 2-1.The India women’s team are also touring Australia for three ODIs in early December which will be played around the second men’s Test in Adelaide.

Cameron Green, the gully great

The allrounder took another stunning catch on the third day at Edgbaston

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2023Virat Kohli, AdelaideNow Cummins has the Kohli wicket I think all the wickets at the other end have unsettled Kohli, and made him decide he has to take on the bowling. Fullish in a wide-ish channel outside off, and Kohli does something he didn’t do at all in the first innings, attempt a cover drive against such a ball. Slices it to gully, where Green seems to have taken a clean catch low to his left, but they’re checking anyway. Soft signal is out. He caught it a few inches above the turf, but the issue is whether it slipped momentarily from his grasp on his way down. There seems to be a bit of a juggle, but it’s hard to tell, given he’s landing in an area of shadow, so it stays with the soft signalRishabh Pant, GabbaTaken, super catch! Green in the gully. Short outside off, Pant leans back and tries to send this over the slips. It went very quickly but Green adds another good grab to his listPathum Nissanka, GalleScreamer in the gully from Green! Starc strikes! Back of a length, rising outside off across Nissanka, he tried to drive off the back foot with a vertical bat away from his body, as he did in the first Test, he got a thick edge which flew high to Green’s left and the 200cm giant with an unrivalled wingspan reached up with two hands and plucked it in his left at full stretch diving away like a goalkeeper. Sensational catch. No other Australian fielder could have caught thatJermaine Blackwood, AdelaideThree in the over for Boland as Green takes a stunner at gully! Green is swarmed by his team-mates after he essentially dove low into the air, picked the ball up low and picked up Usman Khawaja who ran in. Absolute joy in the Australian camp. Blackwood was squared up by the length ball on leg. Tried to nudge it through mid-on or midwicket, was indecisive due to the moving ball. Got a leading edge that went low. Excellent catch duly taken.Sarel Erwee, Brisbane, 1st inningsBrilliant gully catch by the big buckets of Cameron Green! Full again, tempting the drive outside off, it seams away a touch, he drives very hard at it and slices a thick edge low to Green’s left in the gully and he pouches it diving to his left. That flew quickly. He is so good there.Sarel Erwee, Brisbane, 2nd inningsPlucked in the gully by Green! Brilliant catch above his head. Short of a length, Erwee shapes to play, it decks across and climbs, he can’t get the bat out of the way and it flies off a thick edge quickly to Green and he jumps up at full stretch to pluck it with two hands. That would have cleared every other gully fielder in the world just about.Ajinkya Rahane, The OvalThey have dropped easy ones, but Green has now pulled off a ripper at gully. This is short of a length, has some width, the field is up, Rahane has a punch at it, gets a thick edge, and Green dives to his right, sticks the big mitt out, and catches it clean as a whistle. The ball is past the line of his body when he takes it. You beauty. End of a terrific knock, but that century on Test comeback is not to be Shubman Gill, The OvalGreen takes another screamer! Left hand this time! Gill stands his ground. The umpires send it upstairs. The third umpire is checking for a fair catch. This was a good length and it bounced a touch extra, Gill jabbed at it with hard hands. The edge flew low to Green’s left, he flings his huge left hand out and plucks it clean, but then his hand brushes the ground as he falls to the ground. The question for the third umpire is did he have full control over the ball. It looked fine. He had his fingers under it between the ball and turf. Out is the decision.Ben Duckett, EdgbastonGot him, what an incredible gully fielder Cameron Green is! Length ball in the corridor, straightens on Duckett, and he offers a bit of a loose response, hanging his bat out, looking for a lazy off-side push. Thick edge, and Green dives low to his left to grab it. Just as in the case of his second-innings catch of Shubman Gill last week, the umpires send it upstairs, but this time it’s very clear that Green has wrapped his fingers nicely around the ball by the time his hand hits the turf

Ponting slams Showground pitch as Thunder lose low-scoring game to Scorchers

Ashton Agar returned remarkable figures of 2 for 6, while Zak Crawley led the chase for the winners with a 56-ball 58

AAP08-Jan-2024Ricky Ponting has lashed the Sydney Showground pitch after Sydney Thunder’s low-scoring loss to Perth Scorchers on Monday, calling it “substandard” and wondering if Thunder should abandon the stadium for Canberra.Scorchers returned to the BBL’s top two with the seven-wicket win, chasing down Thunder’s 137 for 8 with five balls to spare. The result left Thunder needing results to fall in their favour to reach the finals, sitting in seventh place on the ladder with three games to play.But the major talking point remained the pitch, after Ashton Agar took 2 for 6 from four overs and Cooper Connolly 3 for 25 from his four. Thunder spinner Tanveer Sangha also went for just 14 from his four overs, and Chris Green got 1 for 22 from 3.1.Data from the Seven network showed an average spin of 3.9 degrees in Scorchers’ bowling innings, well in excess of the 2.2-degree average across the BBL.”We shouldn’t be seeing balls react like that in the BBL,” Ponting said in commentary. “That’s unplayable, you can’t hit that.”We shouldn’t be seeing balls react like that in the BBL. As far as I am concerned, this is substandard as far as BBL wickets are concerned.”Scorchers wicketkeeper Sam Whiteman also remarked that it “looked like Chennai”, with Agar’s figures the second-most economical in BBL history.The pitch has become a problem for Cricket Australia, given that the league is viewed as a gateway to the sport for youngsters. In one of the most populated and culturally-diverse regions of Australia, the run rate of 7.76 at the venue throughout the competition’s history is lower than at any other major BBL stadium.Only one score of over 160 has been made in the past two seasons, with spin and off-pace deliveries generally dominating. So slow did things move in the Thunder innings that they scored only 19 runs in a six-over period late in the innings in front of a crowd of 8672.Ponting went on to question if Thunder should move to Canberra permanently given the state of the Showground pitch, with the club already playing two games a season at Manuka Oval.Ashton Agar returned the second-most economical figures in the history of the BBL•Getty Images

“The Sydney Thunder have been a struggling team for the last few years,” Ponting said. “And how are you going to attract young players from around the team or overseas, if they’re going to be batting on a wicket like that?”The Thunder for years have talked about how much they love playing in Canberra, maybe that’s a solution. They have some good young players in this squad, but they might not have them forever if the wicket continues to be this way.”Agar, however, defended the groundstaff after play. “I don’t envy the groundsman, with conditions that were dished up. It poured down rain all day,” he said. “Obviously the Big Bash is an entertaining game, and you want to see high scores and balls flying over the fence. But there’s a lot to be learned from games like that. Things to be learned for guys who go overseas.”Alex Hales played a lone hand with the bat for Thunder, whacking three sixes over the leg side in his 72 from 55 balls. But he was also close to being the villain for Thunder, with three men run out at the other end while he batted.In reply, Zak Crawley hit 58 from 56 balls to help steer Scorchers home in the last over.

Hughes and Davies hundreds give NSW chance to push for victory

A win is vital for the home side if they are to retain hopes of reaching the final

AAP03-Mar-2024Daniel Hughes and Oliver Davies struck fighting centuries to give New South Wales a chance to secure victory in their Sheffield Shield encounter with South Australia in Sydney.NSW went to stumps on day three with an overall lead of 178. Hughes (114 off 180 balls) and Davies (116 off 166 balls) were the standout performers on Sunday.Related

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Given NSW entered the penultimate round in fourth spot, they will fight tooth and nail to secure an outright win on Monday in order to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Shield final.”I think we’ll look to bat on a little bit in the morning, and try to get that lead upwards of 220ish,” Davies said. “I think it’s a 104-over day tomorrow, so [we will try to] give ourselves 90 to 96 overs to try to rock and roll them.”Hughes started Sunday on 71, and brought up his ninth first-class century during the morning session before his knock was brought undone by a sharp diving catch by Jake Lehmann.When NSW slipped to 213 for 4, the Redbacks had a chance to get themselves back into the contest. But the door was slammed firmly shut as Davies, Moises Henriques and Jack Edwards all dug in.Chris Green and Ryan Hadley made it to stumps, and will look to pile on some quick runs on Monday.Nathan McAndrew was the pick of the Redbacks bowlers with 3 for 63 to lift his season tally to 40 wickets, while Ben Manenti snared 2 for 114.”It was a tough day,” Manenti said.  “I thought we toiled pretty hard all day. Credit to Hughesy and Ollie, they batted well and got nice hundreds, and were chanceless. The wicket flattened out, so I think it will be a good wicket to bat on tomorrow.”For 23-year-old Davies, it was his second Shield century of the summer.”To not be picked at the start of the season to scoring my second century, it’s a very good feeling,” Davies said.  “Hopefully I can keep carrying this on.”I felt really good out there. I waited for bad balls, and thought I batted very well. I thought I was a lot more patient than I am in most other innings.”

Australia player reactions: 'I think this is bigger than 2015'

Reactions from the Australian players after winning the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-20231:39

Where does this rank among Australia’s World Cup wins?

Josh Hazlewood: “I think this is bigger [than 2015]. Obviously we had won at home in front of our home fans, but the challenges we’ve been through in the last couple of months – coming here, and playing in those conditions against India, which is a pretty special team. Again, to win on a day like this is amazing. Such a great crowd; the Indian fans are second to none. A couple had started leaving there towards the end, but some crowd! I think that’s just the belief that’s in the squad. The first two games [against India and South Africa] were against probably two of the better teams in the competition, but to sort of be knocking on wood the whole tournament basically, and [we’ve] just been on a run. I think tonight was our perfect game just about. We put it together when it counts.”Marnus Labuschagne: “What we’ve achieved today is unbelievable. It’s the best achievement I’ve ever been part of. Just to come to India… ten from ten with one to play – they’ve been the team of the tournament, they’ve played unbelievably. But you knew if we played our best cricket, we had a chance. Our bowlers were sensational, and then Travis [Head] put on a hell of a display. It’s great to be a part of it. I know you guys know I’m a man of faith, and believe in god. The way everything’s happened is unbelievable to me. It’s just amazing; I’m lost for words. The amount of times I thought I’m done – even last night the team didn’t get named until about 10.10 [pm]. Coaches went to the ground – might be dewy, I might be out. I’m very thankful to them for sticking with me. I don’t have many words to explain. Few months ago, I wasn’t even in South Africa in the one-day team; and to play 19 games straight is truly a miracle. I don’t know how; I give thanks to god for that.”Related

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  • As it happened – India vs Australia, World Cup 2023, final

Travis Head: “Yeah, would’ve been sitting on the couch at home [if he had not recovered from injury in time]. So yeah, very lucky that everything went well. And I was able to get back here… Yeah, I was a little bit nervous. Marnus was quite exceptional. That really soaked up the pressure and yeah, it was just an amazing partnership [of 192 runs for the fourth wicket].”Felt like the way when Mitch Marsh came out and took the game on, albeit didn’t go on with, it sort of set the tone and that was the energy that we wanted, and we knew that the wicket may get tough. It was a great decision to bowl first when we won the toss, and the wicket got better as the day went on.”Probably [Rohit Sharma’s] the unluckiest man in the world. Again, it’s something that I’ve worked on. I couldn’t imagine being 100 but could imagine probably holding on to that one [catch]. Again, nice to hold on to something that’s important… To be able to do that on a big stage in front of the full house and all that pressure is a nice thing.”Travis Head took a truly stunning catch to dismiss Rohit Sharma•Associated Press

Mitchell Starc: “He [Cummins] was phenomenal. I think he’s been phenomenal all tournament. His decision making, his leadership, at times he’s needed to step up with the ball when it’s a bit flat. He’s been phenomenal for us and he’s just capped off an unbelievable eight weeks with this group.”Between Pat, Ron [Andrew McDonald], all that coaching staff, all the players across the formats, it’s been an incredible winter. I don’t think you could write a script to top the winter we’ve had. To win a World Cup in India – it’s been a fantastic eight weeks, bit tough but gee whiz! It’s been bloody successful and bloody enjoyable.”David Warner: “Our bowlers were fantastic, the sort of flow from last game, they set the tone from ball one and the fielding again tonight supported that. To bowl them [India] out for 240 in the final is absolutely exceptional. There was a bit of nervous energy up in the change room [during the chase]. We sat in the dressing-room part, we sat in the lunchroom part, came in at one stage for a look. Fantastic partnership there with Marnus and Heady. What an incredible comeback from Heady, [got] injured in South Africa, come back in and score his hundred in his first game and a hundred here tonight in front of a jam-packed crowd. He was just absolutely phenomenal.”Steven Smith: “It’s incredible, the atmosphere was amazing here today. It was just a great performance. As Davey just said, our bowlers really set the tone, fielding was great this evening. Travis Head, the show he put on was just incredible. [He] took the game on even when we were 3 for 60-odd [47 for 3], just kept going, kept playing to his strengths. I thought Marnus played an unbelievable knock at the other end in a supporting role. It was a great partnership, and yeah, another one [World Cup title].Two-time ODI World Cup winners – Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Steven Smith, Josh Hazlewood, David Warner, and Mitchell Marsh – strike a pose with the trophy•ICC/Getty Images

“Wasn’t the ideal start for us [in the tournament]. Yeah, we had belief that we got a good group of players here, great staff and we had belief that we were going to turn around and, fortunately, we were able to do that and get ourselves into the top four, and then it’s a whole new ball game from there. Australia typically plays pretty well in those moments, and yeah, it’s another dream come true today to win another final. It’s been a pretty big year for us, winning the Test championship and then this, and it’s been great fun.”Glenn Maxwell: “It feels amazing. I think we all pretty much got excited when it got down to 20 [required]. I had sort of resigned to the fact that I wouldn’t have to bat – much like [in] 2015 – but unfortunately Heady got out. But it was nice to be out there with Marnus [at the end], and have the guys come out, and what a win! It’s a bit different when you watch Heady take on [Jasprit] Bumrah; not so often you’re next in… but how good were those two! Marnus soaked the pressure out there – he was absolutely outstanding – and Heady, that ball-striking under pressure in a final was second to none.”Mitchell Marsh: “Pure elation. I said to a few boys just earlier – it’s been hard. We won when Sri Lanka were 0 for 120; that feels like a lifetime ago. But to be here with this group, it’s unbelievable.”

Vintage MS Dhoni turns the tables as Rajasthan Royals fall to third defeat

A vintage MS Dhoni innings – one that ended with a three sixes off the last three balls – and a nerveless last over from Dwayne Bravo helped Chennai Super Kings squeeze a win against Rajasthan Royals

The Report by Varun Shetty31-Mar-20192:09

Only the best players in the world can do what Dhoni does – Stokes

A vintage MS Dhoni innings – one that ended with three sixes off the last three balls – tipped Chennai Super Kings from par score to winning score as they staged a comeback to beat Rajasthan Royals by eight runs in Chennai. A part of Dhoni’s unbeaten 75 off 46, his highest score at home, was built in partnership with Suresh Raina with the pair joining at 27 for 3 after Ajinkya Rahane had put them in. But it was at the end that Dhoni turned it. With Dwayne Bravo, who would later defend 12 off the last over, Dhoni put on 56 in 29 balls as Royals conceded a match-defining 67 off the last four overs.Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, and Jofra Archer played crucial knocks, but Royals’ own collapse at the start of the chase meant they had too much to do at the end.Royals’ dream startSuper Kings got only one of the first two overs. Jofra Archer had hit Ambati Rayudu on the forearm before closing the wicket-maiden off by having him fend one to the keeper. Short of a length fast bowling still seemed the optimal strategy and Shane Watson was cognizant of this, getting boundaries off Dhawal Kulkarni and Ben Stokes on the back foot. His indulgence was short-lived though. Having just pulled Stokes for six, he guided an upper-cut straight to short third man two balls later. Kedar Jadhav also perished in an attacking haze shortly afterwards – two pull shots for fours off Stokes, out third ball throwing his hands at a wide ball from Kulkarni.At 27 for 3, Royals had Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni to bowl at in the last over of the Powerplay, and Super Kings’ senior-most batsmen looked vulnerable. The length of attack remained the same, Archer attacking Raina’s ribs with a leg gully and getting him hopping and fending. When Dhoni took strike, his back foot defence rolled back onto the stumps, only for the bails to remain in place. Then, things got easy.6:23

Hodge: Royals batsmen need to step up around Buttler, Stokes

Royals hand it backRoyals chose to save Kulkarni’s remaining over for the slog, meaning the pressure was immediately relieved with five straight overs of spin. Shreyas Gopal and K Gowtham were reasonably economical to start off, but Raina grew increasingly more confident and took them on. When the bowling change came about, it was Jaydev Unadkat and like most teams have done, Super Kings went after him straight away. Dhoni flat-batted a slower ball for his first boundary and Raina tickled one fine later in the over.But Royals got some openings. In his next over, Unadkat bowled Raina a ball after he’d survived a run-out attempt, and in the next over, Gowtham dropped Dhoni – a difficult chance – at extra cover. The 61-run stand had done enough to put Royals on the defensive and with a well-set Dhoni surviving that chance, Super Kings looked set for a big launch.Dhoni timeKulkarni returned in the 18th over to a completely different life. All the pressure was on him and dew had begun setting in. He bowled two high full tosses, one wide, one a no-ball, and a low one for the free-hit that Dhoni drilled for six over extra cover. The moisture had damaged the ball, prompting a third change on the evening, but to inaugurate it, Kulkarni was taken for ten in two by Bravo. Twenty-four runs came from that over, whereas he’d conceded 13 in his first three.On either side of that over, Archer conceded 15 off 12. An under-confident Unadkat was handed the final over and after being hit for six over his head by Jadeja, he was forced to contend with vintage Dhoni for the last three balls of the innings. Each of those was short, each flat-batted in a different direction. And each one a six. Twenty-eight runs came off that over, making it the third most expensive final over in IPL.MS Dhoni goes over extra cover•BCCI

Chahar delivers againFor the third game in a row, Deepak Chahar bowled out his four overs up front, and for the second time at less than five an over. On Sunday, he strung two wickets to that economy rate – those of Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson. While sticking mostly to his preferred corridor line and moving it either way, he got assistance from the two-paced pitch and had both of them caught off the thick outside edge. Shardul Thakur capitalised on it as well from the other end and with Jos Buttler’s wicket, Royals were 14 for 3 with their top three run-getters all back in the dugout.No comebacks allowed at ChepaukSuper Kings went with two left-arm spinners against a team that had only one left-handed batsman. But the dew made them ineffective – Ravindra Jadeja and debutant Mitchell Santner went for a combined 49 off their four overs. Incredibly, Imran Tahir still managed to extract turn and was his usual menacing presence in the middle overs. His 2-23 in four had cut short a dangerous-looking Rahul Tripathi innings and with Steven Smith’s wicket, the door seemed to have shut on Royals’ chase at 94 for 5.But Ben Stokes, getting only his seventh 30-plus score in 27 IPL innings, kept them alive long enough to wait for the seamers late in the innings. When Archer joined him, there was an immediate surge of aggression: from needing 56 off 23 when he came in, Royals brought the equation down to 12 off the last over, a 19-run 18th over from Dwayne Bravo the main catalyst in that.Archer had hit him for two sixes in that over, but Bravo returned to regular service in the 20th. He got Stokes to chip to extra cover first ball, conceded only a leg-bye off the next two, and kept Archer to a single off the fourth ball. In the end, Archer, Royals’ best player on the day, was unbeaten on 24 off 11.

Yorkshire set Derbyshire loftiest of targets

Matthew Revis ton leads charge as visitors are asked to post 571 for victory

ECB Reporters Network05-Sep-2023Yorkshire set Derbyshire a completely out-of-the-question target of 571 to win the ongoing LV= Insurance County Championship match at Scarborough, which heads into its final day tomorrow.The home side are chasing the season’s double over Leus du Plooy and company and have dominated this Division Two affair from very early during day one.Day three was no different, with Yorkshire – they led by 50 on first innings – advancing their second innings from 179 for 2 overnight to 520 for 9 declared just after tea.Five players went beyond fifty, including all-rounder Matthew Revis as the only centurion. His 106 off 142 balls represented his second first-class century of the season and of his career.Captain Shan Masood also completed a morning 86 against his former county, who closed the day on 65 for 1 from 26 overs of their ‘chase’.After lunch, young Derbyshire batter Mitch Wagstaff, who was bowling leg-spin, claimed two wickets in his first over in first-class cricket. He is the first player in his county’s history to achieve that feat in this format of the game.For certainly the second half of the afternoon session, maybe even longer, Yorkshire’s progress with the bat was nothing more than a training exercise.Realistically, they had enough of a lead at lunch, where they reached at 324 for 5 and 374 ahead. Derbyshire’s record chase in first-class cricket is 371 in a one-wicket win over a touring Australian side including the likes of Warne and Gillespie in 1997.It was understandable that Yorkshire wanted a few more than that. A target of 450 was sufficient. They certainly did not require anything approaching 600, even though this North Marine Road pitch is slower than usual because of recent wet weather.Revis’s progress towards a century was potentially a reason why they batted on until after tea. Another likely reason would have been that they will have been targeting a number of overs to bowl rather than an amount of runs to defend.They have a seam bowling department including a couple of key seam bowling assets with recent injury issues in Ben Coad and England fringe quick Matthew Fisher, and managing their workloads will be a significant consideration. Incidentally, Fisher did not take the field for much of the evening.Derbyshire rattled through their overs in a bid to improve their over-rate, with off-spinner Alex Thomson finishing with five for 190 from 38.5.That including a stunning one-handed return catch low to his right to dismiss Masood before lunch, leaving the hosts at 238 for 4. The Pakistani left-hander had completed a fourth-wicket partnership of 107 with James Wharton (38).After opener Fin Bean made 64 late on day two, four others went beyond 50 today, including Revis and Masood. All-rounders George Hill and Jordan Thompson made 79 and 64 respectively.Wagstaff had Hill caught at slip and Dom Bess, for nought, caught at cover early in the afternoon as Yorkshire fell to 366 for seven after 75 overs.Revis and Thompson then shared 125, a Yorkshire eighth-wicket record in first-class matches between these two counties. While 21-year-old Revis was measured, Thompson slog-swept or heaved four sixes over midwicket or long-on.Revis reached tea on 98 not out. Surely, Yorkshire would not have batted on into the evening had he reached his century late in the afternoon. But they did so for 10 balls afterwards to allow a player they rate incredibly highly to achieve another landmark in a career which promises so much. He fell caught at long-on off Thomson to bring about the declaration.Bess then claimed the only wicket of Derbyshire’s second innings, getting opener Wagstaff lbw to leave the score at 24 for 1 in the 10th over – the former England off-spinner’s first over of the match.But the other opener, Harry Came, led visiting resistance through to close with an unbeaten 33. He will be hoping to make Yorkshire regret batting on too long.

Virat Kohli-Ravindra Jadeja stand puts India back on track

West Indies triggered a mini-slide in the middle session, but either side of that India built solidly towards a significant total

Deivarayan Muthu20-Jul-2023
After having been outplayed in three days in Dominica, West Indies fought back with four wickets on the first afternoon in Port-of-Spain, but it was India’s day once again, thanks to strong bookends. Captain Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal forged a century opening partnership before Virat Kohli grafted for an unbeaten 87 in what was his 500th international game.Kohli had walked into bat when India were 153 for 2 and he watched them slump further to 182 for 4 by tea. But Kohli defended resolutely, ran hard between the wickets, and was prepared to wait for loose deliveries. He took 21 balls to get off the mark and continued to accumulate in slow but steady fashion. Ravindra Jadeja, too, dug in, contributing 36 to an unbroken 106-run stand for the fifth wicket as India closed out the day like they had begun: playing out a wicketless session.The passage of play in the morning session wasn’t as attritional as the following two sessions. Rohit and Jaiswal ensured that India rattled along at nearly five runs an over to begin, scoring 121 together in 26 overs without losing a wicket.Having shown remarkable restraint on debut in Dominica, Jaiswal dashed out of the blocks on a more benign Port-of-Spain track. Rohit, too, kept pulling in the air, from wide lines as well as from his body, despite the presence of two men in the deep on the leg-side boundary. Rohit needed 72 balls to get to his half-century, while Jaiswal got there off just 49 balls. Rohit and Jaiswal became the first Indian opening pair to have struck up back-to-back century stands in Test cricket in this millennium. S Ramesh and Devang Gandhi were the previous Indian opening pair with back-to-back century partnerships, in 1999 against New Zealand.Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal had West Indies chasing leather in a quick century stand•AFP/Getty Images

West Indies then changed the mood and tempo of play by striking four times in the afternoon session. Jason Holder, who kept threatening the outside edge of Jaiswal, made the first incision when he had him caught by debutant Kirk McKenzie at deepish gully for 57 off 74 balls.McKenzie could have cut Jaiswal’s innings short on 4 had he not let a thick outside edge burst through his hands at gully in the sixth over. Jaiswal could have also been dismissed on 52 in the last over before lunch, but Alick Athanaze grassed an easier chance at first slip off Holder.Holder relentlessly probed away outside off though, often with two gully fielders in place, and earned his reward in the second session, with McKenzie confidently holding on to Jaiswal’s catch this time.Kemar Roach is all smiles after getting rid of Shubman Gill cheaply•Associated Press

Kemar Roach and Jomel Warrican then accounted for the wickets of Shubman Gill and Rohit respectively. It was Shannon Gabriel who capped the afternoon session by sending Ajinkya Rahane’s off stump cartwheeling with a rapid inducker. Gabriel, who returned to the playing XI in place of an ill Rahkeem Cornwall, couldn’t pose much of a threat to India’s openers. His morning shift of four overs cost West Indies 24 runs, but he came back to produce a much sharper spell in the afternoon.Warrican got the ball to grip and turn as the day progressed, but Kohli was fully forward to smother it. Kohli refused to take any risks against the left-arm fingerspinner on a slow surface and just looked to wear him down.Alzarri Joseph targeted Kohli’s upper body with short balls from around the wicket, with a long leg and deep square in place, but Kohli blunted him too. Joseph’s extra bounce – or the lack thereof – caused Jadeja to lose his shape more often at the other end before he finally got the pull away in the 70th over.Kraigg Brathwaite then turned to the part-time offspin of Athanaze and himself, but West Indies couldn’t separate Kohli and Jadeja on day one.

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