All posts by n8rngtd.top

Worcestershire bring in Netherlands allrounder Logan van Beek

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Aug-2023Somerset have signed New Zealand bowler Neil Wagner for the final three rounds of the LV= Insurance County Championship.Wagner had been due to play for Yorkshire this summer but suffered a torn hamstring and a bulging disc in his back while playing a Test against Sri Lanka in March. He has previously turned out for Essex, Lancashire and Northamptonshire in county cricket.Somerset had enjoyed the services of Matt Henry and Peter Siddle as overseas players during the first half of the season but both have now finished their spells at the club.”We have been working extremely hard to secure the services of a quality international bowler for the last three red-ball fixtures of the season,” Somerset’s director of cricket, Andy Hurry, said. “Neil is a proven performer at the very highest level and has vast experience as well as a thorough understanding of Championship cricket.”He is a real competitor, and alongside our other highly rated bowlers, we believe we have the capability to consistently take 20 wickets as we enter the final phase of the Championship season.”Somerset are currently fifth in Division One of the Championship, with Wagner set to be available for their trip to Southampton on September 3.Wagner said: “I’m looking forward to joining up with Somerset and hopefully I can help them finish the season strongly. I’ve played English county cricket before and it’s something that I really enjoy. Division One is very competitive again this year and there are no easy games, but I’ll be doing everything that I can to make sure that Somerset finish as close to the top of the table as possible.”Elsewhere, Worcestershire have signed Netherlands allrounder Logan van Beek for the rest of the Metro Bank Cup campaign, as well as two rounds of the Championship.Van Beek, who spent three seasons at Derbyshire between 2019 and 2021, will be involved in five One-Day Cup games, starting with Gloucestershire’s visit to New Road, and Championship fixtures against Glamorgan and Durham before joining up with Netherlands for their World Cup preparations.Worcestershire have also announced that Ethan Brookes, 22, will join them on a two-year contract. The Warwickshire allrounder, brother of Henry, has played three first-class games and 18 List A games after coming through the Edgbaston academy.

He continues to insist there is no end point in sight for his prolific career amid talk of when the team may start to change

Alex Malcolm12-Dec-2023Steven Smith cut a familiar figure at Australia’s optional training session at the WACA ground on Monday.It started at 1.30pm on the dot, and there was Smith, the first and only player out there on the lone centre-wicket net with coach Andrew McDonald and bowling coach Daniel Vettori carrying their trusty side-arms.While the bowlers and Australia’s two World Cup heroes Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh took the full day off, Smith was doing what Smith does. Grinding. Getting into the Test match rhythm. Honing his defence. His leave. Receiving an abnormally high volume of throws compared to his team-mates.Related

• One last chance for Smith and Labuschagne to turn around their lean 2023

• Head named co-vice-captain as Australia look to 'future-proof' leadership stocks

• The four big battles that could define Australia vs Pakistan

• Perth curator expects 'fast, hard, bouncy wicket' for first Australia vs Pakistan Test

• Australia won't rush the search for Warner's successor

“It was a good hit out,” Smith said before training at Perth Stadium on Tuesday. “It was nice to use the centre-wicket out at the WACA. Usually, it’s pretty similar in terms of pace and bounce to what we get out here. I feel like I’m hitting the ball nicely so it’s good prep and I’ll get another hit in today. See how we go. I might come tomorrow if I feel I need it. If not, I’ll put the feet up and get ready for Thursday.”The end is near in Test cricket for David Warner, and there has been speculation about whether Smith will follow suit sooner rather than later. But his love of the grind and his desire to get better show no signs of abating and he’s making no noises about pulling the pin any time soon.”I’m not in any hurry to make any decisions,” Smith said.The start of the Test summer in Australia has been dominated by talk of who will eventually replace Warner, and whether Lance Morris might debut.But whether Smith will return to his otherworldly run-scoring ways is a question lingering in the background. In a year of extraordinary team triumphs, Smith has been below his own exceptionally high standards. It is something he admits.He failed to score a half-century on the Test tour of India. A series return that would have been unthinkable prior to the tour given his outrageous performance in the 2017 series. His magnificent century in the World Test Championship final should not be forgotten or undervalued, but it was overshadowed by Head.That hundred sounded ominous warning signs to England ahead of the Ashes series. Their 2019 PTSD became real again at Lord’s with another flawless away Ashes century. But a wrist injury curtailed him from there although he fought through for two two half-centuries in the final Test at The Oval in a losing cause.The wrist tendon issue impacted his preparation for the ODI World Cup. He was a passenger rather than a leading man in Australia’s remarkable run to the title. His reluctance to buy in to Australia’s ultra-aggressive method caused him to be shifted from No. 3 to No. 4, much to his displeasure.Steven Smith has put in plenty of hours ahead of the first Test of the summer•Getty Images

He also stayed for the T20I series against India to try and make his case to remain in Australia’s plans for next year’s T20 World Cup but did not dispel the doubts about whether he is fit for purpose to be an opener in that tournament.But his value to Australia’s Test side remains as high as ever. Even in a mediocre year, he has contributed three centuries and two half-centuries in 20 innings. A calendar year average of 43.16 is Australia’s fourth-best by some margin behind Usman Khawaja, Head and the small sample size of Marsh. But it’s well below his dizzying career mark. That has dipped from 61.62 this time last year, after the last Perth Test against West Indies where he peeled off an unbeaten double century, to 58.61, his lowest mark since the start of Pakistan’s 2016-17 tour.He knows he’s been below his best and, as ever, one of Test cricket’s great problem-solvers has his eyes on ensuring normal service resumes.”Just score runs,” Smith said. “I don’t have to sort of reinvent the wheel. I think I’ve performed at a high standard for a long period of time. You’re right, I was probably below my standards of what I want. So, for me, it’s not overthinking it, not overplaying too much, not changing too much. Just going out and trusting what I do and doing it for longer periods of time hopefully to get the big runs and hopefully help our team as success.”He was back in the nets Tuesday grinding away again. Facing Australia’s big quicks. Facing McDonald’s throws. Australia’s original ‘Mr Cricket’ Michael Hussey had been called in to help the coaching staff handle the throwing workload at training.Smith’s team-mates were copping blows on the spicy green-tinged surfaces. Middle stumps were knocked back. Outside edges were taken. Smith looked impenetrable despite a blow on the gloves, batting until he was told others needed a turn. He sat and waited until his team-mates got their work in before returning for more throwdowns.His hunger for batting remains insatiable.

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.

He claims 4 for 18 before Critchley steers run-chase with unbeaten half-century

ECB Reporters Network07-Jun-2023Sam Cook took a hat-trick as Essex beat the Kent Spitfires by four wickets in the Vitality Blast at Canterbury.The visitors recovered from an early-innings scare to close on 155 for 6, Matt Critchley hitting an unbeaten 63.Cook had taken 4 for 18 as Kent were held to 150 for 8, which actually represented a recovery. Joe Denly was the top scorer with 39 and Grant Stewart gave the hosts something to bowl at with 37 from 16 balls, but after slumping to 31 for 4, Critchley’s measured innings saw Essex home with 10 balls to spare.Kent’s decision to bat backfired when, having put on 32 for the opening wicket, they were rocked by a spell of four runs for four wickets in eight balls.Daniel Bell-Drummond got away with an ugly shot off Shane Snater that sailed over the boundary, but he hit the next ball almost vertically and was caught by Feroze Khushi for 22.Cook then sent Tawanda Muyeye’s stumps flying before getting Sam Billings caught behind for a golden duck and he claimed his first Blast hat-trick when Jordan Cox was plumb lbw.With under five overs gone the remaining batters had little choice other than to drop anchor and Jack Leaning had made nine from 20 balls when he hit Critchley to Daniel Sams at forward square leg.When Simon Harmer’s 15th over went for just two the old joke about it not being a test match leapt to mind, but the charge finally came in the 17th when George Linde hit Harmer for six, only to edge the next ball straight to Robin Das.When Cook bowled Denly, Stewart was left with the tail, but an eight-ball final over from Sams went for 27, including two sixes from Stewart, who was eventually caught by Das off the fifth legitimate delivery. A misfield allowed Kent to scramble two off the last ball, but the total still looked below par, until Essex started to bat.Fred Klaassen, back after missing the start of the Blast for personal reasons, had Khushi lbw with the second ball of the innings.It was one for two when Dan Lawrence edged Michael Hogan’s first ball down the leg side where he was brilliantly caught by Billings.Hogan then bowled Das’s middle stump for 11, breaking Sky’s stump camera and when Michael Pepper went for 13, skying Kane Richardson to Billings Essex were 31 for four, but Paul Walter and Critchley steadied their nerves.The former made 27 from 15 before he cut Stewart to Leaning and Sams chipped in with 17 before Linde bowled him.Critchley never allowed the run rate to escalate while Will Buttleman survived an lbw shout from Linde and then reverse swept him for four, before hitting Hogan for six into the Old Dover Road gardens.Fittingly Critchley hit the winning runs when he hit Joe Denly for six over cow corner.The win keeps Essex well in contention for Finals Day and a fifth consecutive defeat leaves Kent’s hopes of qualifying looking almost skeletal.

The second day saw 15 wickets fall on a pitch aiding the quicks as Australia’s Test opening debate continued to rage

Alex Malcolm21-Oct-2024Australia’s next Test opener is yet to announce himself after Sam Konstas and Marcus Harris both missed out on an action-packed second day at the MCG where Steven Smith also fell cheaply as Fergus O’Neill and Mitchell Starc ran riot with the ball but Victoria claimed a significant lead over New South Wales.As two of Australia’s selectors, coach Andrew McDonald and Tony Dodemaide, watched from the stands Konstas and Harris failed to elevate their case while Smith also fell for 3 for 29 balls as O’Neill, who is in the Australia A squad, bagged four wickets in a skillful display of seam bowling in friendly conditions. Starc then tore through Victoria’s top order late in the day with a blistering spell that claimed three scalps, including Harris caught down the leg side for the second time in the match.Related

• Australia's selection race: who is in the running to face India?

• Abbott presses his case with four to give NSW an edge

• Live – Sheffield Shield, day two

It came on a day where openers around the country struggled with Matt Renshaw (2) and Cameron Bancroft (8) also falling cheaply.After Victoria were bowled out for 272, all eyes were on the battle between Konstas and Australia’s back-up Test quick Scott Boland in the morning and the latter held sway, albeit with some help from umpire Sam Nogajski. Boland delivered 10 balls at Konstas who scarcely laid bat on him. The 19-year-old was nearly bowled first ball, hit on the inner thigh pad and got a thick inside edge on one that flew in the air past the diving short leg for his only two runs.Boland then nipped one back from a fuller length to hit Konstas below the knee roll and Nogajski adjudged him lbw. Replays suggested it may have been doing too much to hit leg stump.O’Neill and Will Sutherland then tightened the screws with some frugal bowling as the prodigious movement in the MCG surface never abated at any stage throughout the day.O’Neill was a little fortunate to claim Smith, who tickled a glance down the leg side to Sam Harper. But it was reward for outstanding control as Smith scored just three runs from 29 deliveries.Josh Philippe took a brilliant leg-side catch to remove Marcus Harris•Getty Images

Nic Maddinson had earlier nicked one trying to punch Sutherland forcefully off the back foot before O’Neill found the outside edge of Moises Henriques to leave NSW reeling at 28 for 4.Ollie Davies and Josh Philippe shared a steadying partnership and both looked comfortable at various stages driving impressively down the ground whenever a rare overpitched delivery was offered.But Davies got sucked into a short ball plan from Sutherland and holed out hooking to deep square for 37. Sean Abbott fell in exactly the same way two overs later to leave the Blues 83 for 6. Philippe tried to shepherd the tail with an unbeaten 45 and did get a contribution of 17 from Nathan Lyon but O’Neill and Todd Murphy cleaned up the last four to bowl NSW out for 136 and hand the home side a significant 136-run lead.Starc ensured that Victoria did not build on that advantage easily with a sparkling spell of fast bowling. Backing up after some excellent work on day one he tore through Victoria’s top order. The second ball of the innings was a vicious off-cutter that leapt at Ash Chandrasinghe and ricocheted off his back elbow onto the stumps. In the third over he pinned Campbell Kellaway lbw with a delivery that was full and too fast for the left-hander.Peter Handscomb fell edging Jackson Bird to second slip before Starc claimed Harris again in his fifth over of the spell. Just like the first innings, a quick rising delivery at the hip caused Harris to glance without control, it came off glove onto thigh pad and ballooned behind for Philippe to pouch at full stretch in the right glove.It left Harris with scores of 26 and 16 for the match and Victoria struggling at 32 for 4. But Harper and Tom Rogers steadied late in the day to help reclaim control for the home side extend the lead beyond 200.

DC, Giants and MI are in the race to make it to the final directly

Sampath Bandarupalli07-Mar-2025Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) title defence started with a record 202-run chase against Gujarat Giants followed by a comfortable eight-wicket win against Delhi Capitals (DC). But losing all four matches at their home ground in Bengaluru has left them on the brink of crashing out in the league stage.RCB, who have only four points after six matches, can reach a maximum of eight points by winning their last two games against UP Warriorz and Mumbai Indians (MI). Giants and MI are already placed on eight points, while DC are out of RCB’s reach with ten. Despite being well behind, RCB’s fate is still in their own hands. So far, DC have sealed a place in playoffs while UP Warriorz are out of the race.

Must-win scenario for RCB

RCB’s chances in the WPL 2025 playoffs will end as early as Saturday if they go down against Warriorz. But if they win on Saturday, they will closely follow the game between MI and Giants to know whose net run rate (NRR) they must go past to qualify for the playoffs. Giants currently have a better NRR than MI, and an added advantage for RCB is that their last match will be against MI only.Related

• Alana King is sticking to her big guns, come Tests or T20

• The rise and roar of Kashvee Gautam

• Mooney confident Gujarat Giants can challenge for WPL playoffs

• RCB in must-win territory against out-of-contention Warriorz

RCB are nearly 60 runs behind MI’s NRR but will need to beat them by only 20 runs if they can win against UPW by ten runs and MI lose to Giants by the same margin. However, going past Giants will be more challenging for RCB – their collective margin of wins against UPW and MI needs to be around 62 runs if Giants lose to MI by only ten runs.

Are Delhi Capitals through to the final?

DC ended their league phase as the table-toppers with five wins, but their direct qualification to the final for the third straight season will have to wait as both MI and Giants can move ahead of them. MI can finish on the top if they win both matches, while Giants can go past DC if they can beat MI by a decent margin.Giants must win by 17 runs or 12 balls (for a first-innings total of 180) against MI to go ahead of DC’s NRR. On the other hand, MI are about 30 runs behind DC, which means if they lose one of their two matches by ten runs, they should have won the other by around 40 runs.

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

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.

Chauhan also broke the record for most sixes in a men’s T20I, hitting 18 in his 41-ball innings

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jun-20246:06

Highlights: Sahil Chauhan breaks record for fastest T20I ton (Credit: FanCode)

Jan-Nicol Loftie Eaton’s record for the quickest T20I century, off just 33 balls, lasted less than four months as Sahil Chauhan, the Estonia batter, smashed a century off just 27 balls in a T20I against Cyprus on Monday.It was also the fastest century in all T20s, topping Chris Gayle’s 30-ball bash in IPL 2013. Along the way, Chauhan also got to the top of the table for most sixes – 18 – in a men’s T20I innings.Two matches were slotted on Monday’s opening day of the six-match bilateral series in Episkopi, and while Estonia won both, Chauhan’s time with the bat was as mixed as it could be. In the first game, the 32-year-old Chauhan was dismissed for a first-ball duck even as his team chased down Cyprus’ 195 for 7 in the last over.But he came into his own in the second game, which started not long after the first one got over. Batting first again, Cyprus scored 191 for 7. Estonia’s start was terrible, with both openers falling inside eight balls with just nine runs on the board.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Chauhan, however, took off straightaway, hitting 6, 4 and 6 in the first three legal deliveries he faced, from Buddika Mahesh. Stuart Hook, his partner, and Steffan Gooch fell soon after, leaving Estonia at 89 for 4 in the seventh over, but by that time, Chauhan was on 66 from 17 balls, with five fours and three sixes.The mayhem started in the previous over, the sixth of the chase, where Chauhan hit Mangala Gunasekara for four sixes and a four, getting to a 14-ball fifty in the process. This was not a record, though, which instead stands in the name of Dipendra Singh Airee (nine balls). There have also been two other quicker T20I half-centuries, including Yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball show against England in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.Chauhan continued to deal in sixes, hitting four more off Chamal Sadun in the eighth over, and then hit three more in the next, off Neeraj Tiwari, the last one taking him to his century. The big hits continued, till Chauhan finished off the chase with a four off James Chialoufas off the last ball of the 13th over. Chauhan scored his runs at a scarcely believable strike rate of 351.21.For Estonia, Bilal Masud, Chauhan’s partner for the fifth wicket, was the second-highest scorer with an unbeaten 21.The corresponding record for women’s T20Is belongs to Deandra Dottin, the West Indies allrounder, who had got to the mark in just 38 balls in a game against South Africa in 2010.

On his return to competitive cricket after three months, Arshdeep said he “felt really good” with the number of overs he got in despite bagging only one wicket

Ashish Pant30-Aug-2025Arshdeep Singh is learning how to enjoy the “boring times” in red-ball cricket and has spent the last few months working on his “mindset” as he tunes up for the upcoming season.Arshdeep, 26, is currently playing for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy match against East Zone in Bengaluru, his last competitive game before the 2025 Asia Cup, which begins on September 9 in Abu Dhabi.”In Test cricket or red-ball cricket, there is a time when the day gets boring,” Arshdeep said. “In the session after lunch, mostly the ball doesn’t do anything. So, how can you enjoy that?”I spoke to [Mohammed] Siraj and he told me that when nothing is happening, how you enjoy that phase would tell you how successful you could be in red-ball cricket. He gave me this small tip. I really liked it.”Related

• From Lonavala to the limelight – Vicky Ostwal eyes step up across formats

• Mohammed Shami revs it up on red-ball return

• Meet the spinner known as Manishi

• Danish Malewar's bright start and big ambitions

• Auqib Nabi shakes up the Duleep Trophy with four wickets in four balls

Before this, Arshdeep last played competitive cricket at IPL 2025, where he finished as Punjab Kings’ highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets in 17 matches. He earned a maiden Test call-up for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and was in contention to make his debut in the fourth Test, but injured his bowling hand and was ruled out.Having gone close to three months without a game, Arshdeep put in a long shift on the second day, bowling 17 overs, the most by any North Zone bowler. While he only got one wicket, he “felt really good” with the number of overs he got in.”In the last couple of months I was with the team, I trained a lot, bowled a lot and worked a lot with the S&C [strength and conditioning],” Arshdeep said. “I worked on fitness as well and that helped me bowl a decent long spell. After 15-17 overs, my body feels well. It’s [the ball] coming out really well. Not many wickets but yes, they will come as well in the future.”India fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Mohammed Shami share a light moment•PTI

Did it get frustrating at any point in England, having to spend almost two months on the sidelines? How did he keep himself motivated?”When you are not playing, you just try to push your limits. The training is almost the same,” he said. “You just put in more work when you are not playing. More overs, more strength work, more training, so that whenever you get the chance, you are ready and fully fit to go.”I don’t know how many thousands of balls I would have bowled in practice. It’s not like there was a lack of bowling. I was properly managing my workload. The aim is to stay ready whenever you get a chance.”Arshdeep will have to make a quick switch to white-ball cricket, with the Indian team slated to reach Dubai for the Asia Cup preparations on September 4. The fast bowler, however, doesn’t feel the switch to T20 cricket will be tough, and insists it is all about adaptability.”Right from the last Test [at The Oval], I had started practising with a white ball,” Arshdeep said. “I didn’t know that there was a Duleep Trophy match in between. At the end of the day, red ball, white ball or pink ball, you have to play cricket and try and enjoy it.”I have got a chance here [at the Duleep Trophy], will play with a white ball next [at the Asia Cup]. So the aim is to put in a lot of overs under your belt and play any format. The mindset is about how quickly you can adapt. In today’s cricket, a batsman can hit against the red ball and he can play conservatively against a white ball.”So, it’s all about how you can adapt according to the situation, according to the wicket, according to the weather, when you have to put in effort, when you have to conserve yourself.”India’s first game at the Asia Cup is against UAE on September 10. They will play Pakistan on September 14 and Oman on September 19 before the Super Four round gets underway from September 20.