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A round-up from the 12th round of the Logan Cup

Cricinfo staff06-Feb-2010Assured batting from the trio of Keith Dabengwa, Bonaparte Mujuru and Dion Ebrahim, in addition to Chris Mpofu’s match-haul of seven wickets, were the highlights in Matabeleland Tuskers’ seven-wicket win over Mashonaland Eagles at Bulawayo. Asked to bat first by the Eagles, the Tuskers’ top order set up a strong platform to dominate the match. Mujuru and Ebrahim contributed 70s before Dabengwa took centre-stage. His score of 136 included 13 fours and three sixes, and in the company of Charles Coventry, guided his side to an imposing 425 for 8 declared.Despite Prince Masvaure’s 94, the Eagles’ reply was always behind the eight-ball, as a concerted allround effort from the Tuskers’ attack pegged them back. John Nyumbu picked up three wickets, while Mpofu and Ebrahim scalped two apiece to ensure that the Eagles fell just short of avoiding the follow-on. They fared marginally better in the second dig, reaching an even 300 thanks to Ryan Butterworth’s 102, but would be disappointed with the way they collapsed from the strength of 192 for 2. Mpofu was in the thick of action, striking body blows on either side of a promising third-wicket stand between Butterworth and Forster Mutizwa. Mujuru and Ebrahim struck their second fifties of the game to ensure that the victory target of 140 was achieved in the 33rd over.Sean Ervine marked his comeback to the Zimbabwe domestic scene with a grand display that yielded 364 runs as Southern Rocks managed to hold on for a draw against Mid West Rhinos at Masvingo Sports Club, a middle-order wobble late on the fourth day notwithstanding. The Rhinos had their backs against the wall from the outset, as Blessing Mahwire and Tanyaradzwa Munyaradzi reduced them to 56 for 5. Malcolm Waller then put his head down to score a hundred and take his side from dire straits to respectability. A final score of 267 still looked under-par and required a lion-hearted performance from the bowlers. That was exactly what the Rhinos’ attack provided, reducing the Rocks to shambles at 13 for 4. Enter Sean Ervine.In the company of his brother Craig, Sean counterattacked in majestic style. Craig matched Sean shot for shot in the stand of 178 before falling 19 short of a century. There was to be no letting up from Sean though, as he brought up three-figures and then doubled his score in a batting display of rare dominance. After 22 fours and 3 sixes in 274 balls where he had given his side a lead in excess of 100, he was finally run out, the last wicket to fall. The Rhinos had a tough task on hand, and responded in fitting fashion as Innocent Chikunya and Brendan Taylor added 235 for the second wicket to take their side out of the red. Chikunya was the more sedate partner, striking 75 before falling to Tafadzwa Kamungozi, but Taylor was in a zone of his own. Striking at a rate better than a run-a-ball, he carted the bowlers to all corners, his four sixes and 24 fours standing testimony to the havoc he wreaked. He brought up the second 200 of the match, before falling to the man who had scored the first one. The Rhinos declared at 443 for 5, setting a sporting target of 337 for the Rocks.Early wickets fell again – two on this occasion – leaving Sean to do the repair-work for the second time in the match. And he responded in earnest yet again. Steve Marillier helped him add 131 for the third wicket and raise visions of a stunning chase. The Rocks were then set back by the losses of Marillier and Craig in quick succession, but Sean kept them in the hunt with another audacious display. Tendai Chisoro supported him, as he blasted 17 fours and a six to bring up his second three-figure score for the match. Graeme Cremer sparked a late collapse where three wickets fell for nine runs, prompting Sean to adopt a safety-first approach. His dismissal in the dying stages, for 160, put paid to hopes of a result in what had been a game of fluctuating fortunes.

England captain named Player of the Match after putting himself through 24 overs in India’s second innings at Lord’s

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-20252:32

Stokes: I was going to decide when I stop bowling

Ben Stokes, England’s captain, admitted he had taken himself to some “dark places” with his bowling workloads but said “nothing was stopping” him as he embarked on two lengthy spells to help drag his side to a 22-run victory over India on the final day at Lord’s.Stokes was named Player of the Match after taking five wickets across 44 overs – the third-most he has bowled in a Test, and the most since 2019 – to go with innings of 44 and 33 with the bat, as well as the crucial run-out of Rishabh Pant in India’s first innings.On the third evening, he received an instruction from England’s head coach, Brendon McCullum, to call it quits after a seven-over spell, with the team management still wary about protecting Stokes’ fitness after hamstring surgery over the winter.Related

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• Stats – England clinch the narrowest Lord's win

• Six years on from World Cup glory, Stokes and Archer light up Lord's again

• Bashir ruled out of last two England vs India Tests

• Stokes' magic is spread thin by responsibility, and yet it endures

But he again pushed his body to the limit on Monday, resuming his over from the previous evening and bowling a further 9.2 overs during the morning, which included the wicket of India opener KL Rahul. He followed up with a ten-over spell after lunch, eventually dislodging Jasprit Bumrah after a dogged 35-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja for the ninth wicket, as England sought to confirm victory and a 2-1 lead in the series.The Lord’s Test was also the second of back-to-back matches, with just a three-day turnaround from India’s win at Edgbaston, where Stokes bowled 26 overs. In the first Test, at Headingley, he sent down 35 overs and spoke afterwards about how hard it was to recover.”I have taken myself to some pretty dark places before. Today was… but look, bowling to win a Test match, if that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what does,” he said, speaking to Sky Sports at the post-match presentation.”With what today was, what was on the line. Yesterday [Saturday] was a bit different. You know, there was still more cricket to be played. And, you know, pulled myself off there. I mean, to be honest, I was absolutely cooked [on day three] as well. But again, today, you know, game was on the line. Nothing was stopping me [carrying on].”Ben Stokes appeals for KL Rahul’s wicket•Getty Images

Although Stokes hinted at a return to form with the bat, Lord’s extended his run without a Test fifty to ten innings. He is now averaging 29.18 in 20 Tests since his last hundred, at Lord’s during the 2023 Ashes, but said that his ability to impact games with the ball meant he had little time to dwell on his batting returns.”I’m an allrounder. I get four opportunities in a Test match to be able to influence the game. And one of the great things about being an allrounder is that if one thing doesn’t quite click, you’ve got an opportunity with the other. And that’s how I look at it.”Obviously, I would like to be scoring more runs at the moment, but as soon as I’ve got my whites on out there on the field, all my thoughts flip over to bowling. And that’s the great thing about being an allrounder, that you don’t really have a chance to sort of worry about anything. And everyone knows, I’ll always put in as much as I possibly can.”Jofra Archer took two crucial wickets in his opening spell•Getty Images

Stokes offered particular praise for Jofra Archer, playing in his first Test since 2021. Archer claimed match figures of 5 for 105 in a display of sustained hostility that regularly pushed the speed gun above 90mph/145kph. On day five, six years on from his heroics in the ODI World Cup final, he made the first breakthrough with the key wicket of Pant, and Stokes said he had backed Archer to do something special.”Yeah, part of the reason I went with Jof this morning, six years ago now to the day. He played a major role and I had a feeling he’d do something special and crack the game open. A bit of discussion, Brydon [Carse] had an amazing spell [last night], but I had a gut feeling that Jof’s going to do something in his first game back.”Speaking afterwards to Sky, Archer said that the long periods he experienced in rehab due to back and elbow problems between 2021 and 2024 were made all the more worthwhile by the taste of victory at Lord’s.As well as his involvement in the World Cup final, when he bowled the Super Over as England’s men lifted the trophy for the first time, Archer made his Test debut on the ground during the 2019 Ashes. However, he had not played a Test since February 2021 before his comeback against India, enduring a four-year absence from red-ball cricket while road-testing his body in the limited-overs formats.0:55

Manjrekar: Stokes always makes things happen

“I only played one other Test at Lord’s, but you know, the last one was just as special as this one,” Archer said. “A lot of rehab, a lot of training, but it’s moments like this that make everything worth it.”I feel the hardest part is playing cricket for the last year-and-a-half and then still having training, talking about workloads, and ‘bowl today, don’t bowl tomorrow’, stuff like that. That would probably be the hardest part, because some days you think that you’re ready, but you never know if you’re ready or not until you do it. But the safer way is the best way. So I’m not too fussed. This surely, surely is worth it.”On day two, Archer struck with his third ball on returning to the Test side, having India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal caught at second slip, and celebrated by sprinting away to square leg, where he was enveloped by his team-mates.”Guess I was a little bit emotional,” he said. “It was a long journey. I can’t tell you the amount of keyboard warriors that I had to put up with for the last three to four years as well. I told myself that I was going to try my best not to be [emotional] and when [Jaiswal] nicked it, and it went to Brooky [Harry Brook], I think all of that just went through the window. The joy, the whole crowd, the Long Room yesterday, I’ve never seen it like that ever in my life. So it’s just moments like this that made the rehab all so much worth it.”Archer also revealed what was behind his send-off for Pant on the final day, having removed the batter’s off stump from the ground. “It wasn’t a proud moment,” he said. “I just told him to charge that. Honestly, this morning, I was struggling a little bit, the ball just kept coming out full. One of the full ones, he just charged, and it p****d me off a bit. When the [wicket] ball nipped down the slope, honestly I was so grateful for that.”

Iyer’s inclusion comes as a boost for Mumbai, who will be without Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube or Prithvi Shaw

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jan-2024Shreyas Iyer will be part of the Mumbai squad for their second round match of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 against Andhra beginning January 12. It will mark his return to the Mumbai XI for the first time in the Ranji Trophy since the 2018-19 season.The home game at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in BKC is an opportunity for Iyer to hit form prior to the home Tests against England beginning January 25 in Hyderabad. Iyer had a tough South Africa tour, where he managed scores of 31, 6, 0 and 4 not out. Earlier in the week, hewasn’t named in India’s T20I squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan.The two Tests in South Africa were Iyer’s first set of red-ball games in close to nine months since returning from a back injury he picked up during the Border-Gavaskar series at home against Australia last February-March.Related

• Rahul Chahar: 'Red-ball cricket has always been an ambition; if I don't deserve a call-up, that's on me'

• Shreyas Iyer opens up about back injury: I was in excruciating pain

• Kohli and Rohit return to India's T20I squad for Afghanistan series

• Suthar and Narang are India A's lead spinners for first two England Lions games

After missing the subsequent WTC Final and the Caribbean tour, Iyer made a comeback from surgery during the Asia Cup and played a key role in India’s run to the 2023 ODI World Cup final. He struck the third-most runs for India after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the World Cup: 530 in 11 innings at 66.25 comprising two hundreds and three half-centuries. In December, he was named vice-captain for the last two T20Is at home against Australia.Iyer’s inclusion comes as a boost for Mumbai, who will be without Sarfaraz Khan and Shivam Dube. Sarfaraz is part of the India A squad for the two-day tour game against England Lions in Ahmedabad on January 12-13, while Dube has made a comeback to India’s T20I squad for the Afghanistan series.Opener Prithvi Shaw, who hasn’t played any competitive cricket since August 2023, continues to miss out as he rehabs for a knee injury, while Ajinkya Rahane, who sat out of the Ranji opener in Patna due to neck spasms, is believed to have recovered sufficiently. He is expected to lead Mumbai like he did during the previous season. Spin-bowling allrounder Shams Mulani had led the side in Rahane’s absence.Mumbai squad: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Shreyas Iyer, Jay Bista, Bhupen Lalwani, Amogh Bhatkal, Suved Parkar, Prasad Pawar (wk), Hardik Tamore (wk), Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Atharva Ankolekar, Mohit Avasthi, Dhaval Kulkarni, Royston Dias, Sylvester Dsouza.

England are coming off victory in Pakistan while the home side have rested key bowlers

Andrew McGlashan08-Oct-2022

Big picture

Day by day, match by match, we are getting closer to the real thing. Neither Australia nor England have been short on T20Is of late and now they face each other for three more, beginning in Perth before two more back across the country in Canberra.The sides have been doing a fair amount of tinkering with their teams in recent games, but it has been as much to do with workload management as anything. Barring late-injury dramas, it still feels they are close to knowing their World Cup XIs – England perhaps have two spots up for most debate and for Australia, provided Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis can bowl, it still appears just the final batting place to resolve.While there is nothing hugely significant riding on this series – the main thing will be certain players finding form and others avoiding injury – it has the makings of a very good contest. Australia found their groove in the second outing against West Indies while England played some excellent cricket in Pakistan to take the series 4-3 with wins in the last two games.Related

• Jos Buttler: 'Managing risk is a big part of T20 batting'

• Fit-again Stoinis not feeling threatened by Green's emergence

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• Buttler eager to unleash Stokes, but World Cup doubts remain over Livingstone

The short nature of this trip to Perth, which is not an ideal schedule for the home side, and was not the original fixture until this game was moved west after the venue lost its ODI against South Africa, means Australia will field a fresh frontline attack from Friday in Brisbane with only Cameron Green of the five bowlers used with the squad.For Green, provided he is in the XI, this will be his first international on his home ground with Perth having not staged international cricket since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. If Marsh, Stoinis and Ashton Agar play, Western Australia will be well represented. Josh Inglis is also in the squad along with former WA player Tim David.Depending how England manage their fast bowlers, there is the enticing prospect of seeing Mark Wood operate on a Perth pitch after he sent down some thunderbolts in Pakistan.

Recent form

Australia WWLLW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
England WWLLWMitchell Marsh will hope to make an impact on his home ground•Getty Images

In the spotlight

Ben Stokes is now a two-format player having retired from ODIs earlier this year, but he hasn’t played a T20I since March 2021 against India. Rightly or wrongly, his career in the format is still most-remembered for being taken for four sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the final over of the 2016 T20 World Cup final. He has never quite found his perfect role in the England side, with a top score of 47 not out in 28 innings and 19 wickets with an economy of 8.77. There is a squeeze of highly-destructive hitters in England’s middle order, so it’s a rare occasion of the pressure being on Stokes to prove he should be among them.This is a big week for Marcus Stoinis. He has struggled to stay on the park in recent months and his side injuries are frequent enough to be something of a concern. But he had a significant part to play in Australia’s World Cup triumph last season and he is important in balancing the side, although his bowling is not of Green’s quality. He has every right to be in the World Cup XI, but he’ll want to make this series count.

Team news

Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell have all stayed on the east coast and will rejoin the squad in Canberra, so there will be four new bowling options. It would make sense to give Kane Richardson and Agar a game after their recent side issues as they are in the World Cup squad, but it could also be another opportunity for Nathan Ellis to impress. Steven Smith is likely to be forced out of the XI as Australia may continue to tinker with their batting order.Australia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Cameron Green, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Aaron Finch (capt), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Daniel Sams, 9 Ashton Agar, 10 Nathan Ellis, 11 Kane RichardsonLiam Livingstone is not available for selection as he continues to recover from an ankle injury while Chris Jordan may be held back for the Canberra games. Captain Jos Buttler will return at the top of the order, which leaves the major selection call between Alex Hales and Phil Salt to partner himEngland (probable) 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Alex Hales/Phil Salt, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

There hasn’t been much cricket at this ground over the last couple of years – just a handful of BBL and WBBL matches – but it’s normally a good pitch that offers pace for bowlers and batters to work with, although it is still early in the season. The forecast is, by Perth standards, on the milder side with just a very slim chance of a shower.

Stats and trivia

• England featured in the first international at Perth Stadium, an ODI in 2018 which they won by 12 runs
• In the one previous T20I at the venue, Australia cantered home by ten wickets against Pakistan in 2019
• Aaron Finch needs 12 runs to become the first Australia men’s player to reach 3000 T20I runs. Smith needs three runs and Matthew Wade 28 for 1000 in the format.

Quotes

“Adapting to conditions quickly is going to be a key factor for us to get up and running. It’s all about peaking at the right time for this World Cup.”
“Don’t leave any energy in the tank. Give it our best shot. We are here on home soil. We want to entertain and we want to take it deep. We have to start well against New Zealand.”

Derbyshire narrowly fail to avoid follow on and ship six wickets before close

ECB Reporters Network29-May-2021Dillon Pennington produced his career-best performance with the ball as Worcestershire closed in on victory after enforcing the follow-on against Derbyshire on day three of the LV=Insurance County Championship match at New Road.The paceman bowled a series of excellent spells from the New Road End and was rewarded with figures of 4 for 44 from 19.4 overs. Club captain Joe Leach, Ed Barnard and Alzarri Joseph all picked up two wickets as Derbyshire were bowled out for 270 – despite a fine unbeaten 81 from Matt Critchley – in reply to Worcestershire’s first innings total of 421.Leach asked the visitors to bat again 151 runs in arrears half an hour before tea and they ran into trouble with Pennington again shining with three wickets as they closed on 112 for 6.Worcestershire’s bowlers were backed up by some razor-sharp catching.Derbyshire resumed in the morning on 91 for 3 and Pennington’s excellent opening spell brought him the wicket of debutant Ben McDermott. The Australian T20I international drove hard at a delivery which he edged to Daryl Mitchell at second slip.Madsen completed his half-century off 127 balls with seven fours but added only one more run before Barnard ended his innings with Mitchell holding onto his second catch of the day.Fynn Hudson-Prentice gave Critchley good support during a sixth wicket stand of 56 in 14 overs. But Leach ended the resistance of Hudson-Prentice on 25 when he mistimed his drive and was caught by Jack Haynes at third slip.Critchley completed a 67-ball half century soon after the resumption when he pulled Leach for his eighth boundary.Pennington came back into the attack and his first delivery saw Alex Hughes caught behind for 25. Joseph trapped Ben Aitchison lbw via a low full toss and then bowled Sam Conners as he backed away to leg.Pennington wrapped up the innings when Dustin Melton was pouched by Fell at first slip – and he was back amongst the wickets when Derbyshire followed on.Cox pulled off a superb one-handed catch low to his right after Pennington found the edge of Brooke Guest’s bat on 7.Leus du Plooy needed 30 balls to get off the mark before collecting two boundaries in an over from Joseph. But he picked up a key wicket when Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman edged another catch – this one head high – to Mitchell.Spin was introduced via Brett D’Oliveira and he enjoyed a success with Du Plooy using his feet but only succeeding in providing a low return catch.Pennington’s sixth wicket of the match came when McDermott looked to work the ball to leg but went leg before. He was then indebted to a spectacular catch by Fell at first slip to dismiss Critchley.It became 93 for 6 when Hudson-Prentice went back to D’Oliveira and chopped onto his stumps

Maroof criticised the ICC for splitting points for a bilateral series that India failed to obtain government permission for

Danyal Rasool29-Apr-2020Pakistan women’s captain Bismah Maroof was critical of the ICC’s decision to split points between India and Pakistan for a bilateral series that India failed to obtain governemt permission to play.Maroof called the decision “deeply disappointing”, remarking it was “good luck” for India to have effectively been awarded points for nothing. The ICC decision means Pakistan miss out on automatic qualification for the 2021 Women’s World Cup, while India go through directly. Had the ICC decided to award full points to Pakistan, as they did in a similar scenario in 2016, it would have been Pakistan who went through, while India would have had to try to go through the qualifying route.”The decision was very disappointing, because we had been waiting [for] a long time to play against India and the board was working towards it,” Maroof said in a video press conference. “But we weren’t getting any response from India. It’s good luck for India, who got points without agreeing to play any matches. I suppose if we look at it in a positive light, we’ll get a few extra competitive matches having to play the qualifying rounds.”There’s always hype when we’re due to play India and the fans want to see those matches because they’re usually very exciting. Pakistan showed a willingness to play against India, and Pakistan have kept sport away from politics. So it was very disappointing for us not to get these matches, and we were number four, in a position to qualify directly, before the matches were due to go ahead. If we had lost those matches and then had to qualify, that would have been easy to accept. But as things stand, those matches will have been missed by all cricket fans, not just Pakistan fans.”The ICC decision, which came a fortnight ago, has caused significant malcontent at the PCB. The chairman Ehsan Mani went public in expressing his own disappointment with the ICC, while the PCB was swift to get in touch with cricket’s governing body to explore what further steps it could take.The dissatisfaction, however, has not spilled over into any public censure of the ICC; Mani’s statement aside, there has been virtually total silence from within the PCB by way of any further official communication. ESPNcricinfo understands the reason for this is the PCB’s legal team considering bringing litigation to the ICC’s dispute resolution committee. Maroof confirmed that should the legal team believe there were grounds to proceed in this manner, she would get behind it.”The PCB’s legal team is reviewing the decision as things stand. If they think there are grounds for a legal case, we should definitely proceed with one. It was very disappointing, and politics and sport should be kept separate,” she said.The PCB had attempted to engage with their Indian counterparts about the series on the sidelines of the last couple of ICC meetings, a series they viewed as a bilateral issue rather than one that needed ICC engagement. It appears they did not receive a meaningful response from the BCCI, either in writing or verbally.In 2016, the ICC decided to give Pakistan full points when India failed to show up for a series, but there is one difference that looks to have secured a more desirable outcome for the BCCI. On that occasion, the BCCI offered no written explanation for the failure to proceed with the series, and the technical investigation committee found the BCCI had not been able to establish “acceptable reasons” for non-participation in the series.This time around, the BCCI engaged with the ICC early on, making its stand clear about why it could not play Pakistan in the ODI series scheduled in 2019. ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI made extensive submissions as early as 2018, demonstrating that it could not get the relevant permission from the Indian government to play Pakistan. That helped the ICC’s technical committee to invoke the force majeure clause on this occasion.”With respect to the India v Pakistan series, the TC (technical committee) concluded that the series could not be played because of a Force Majeure event after the BCCI demonstrated that it was unable to obtain the necessary government clearances to allow India to participate in the bilateral series against Pakistan, which forms a part of the ICC Women’s Championship,” the ICC said in a media release on April 15.Meanwhile, Maroof paid a glowing tribute to her former teammate and former Pakistan captain Sana Mir, who announced her retirement earlier this week, saying women’s cricket’s reputation and profile in Pakistan owed plenty to Mir.”Sana Mir is a legend of the game and an ambassador of Pakistan cricket. She was one of the great minds we all played under. We all grew under her, and the credit goes to her. The name women’s cricket has here exists in a large part because of Sana’s involvement with it. She has achieved a huge amount for Pakistan cricket, and she deserves all the praise she has received over the last few days. She is a true ambassador for women’s cricket around the world and I wish her good luck in whatever she wants to do next.”

The win kept the Strikers’ slim finals hopes alive, while the Hurricanes lost for the third time batting first this season season

The Report by Alex Malcolm31-Jan-2019
An electrifying century stand from Jake Weatherald and Alex Carey helped Adelaide Strikers break a four-game losing streak in a massive upset over Hobart Hurricanes in Launceston.The win kept the Strikers’ slim finals hopes alive, while the Hurricanes lost for the third time batting first this season season.Chasing 170, Weatherald and Carey scored 84 runs in the Powerplay against a Hurricanes attack that has scythed through opponents all season.The striking was belligerent and brought back memories of last year’s final, when Weatherald’s assault yielded a title-winning century. He fell 18 runs shy of another BBL hundred, but his 82 from 42 balls made light work of the chase. Carey’s 54 from 35 was equally brilliant as the Strikers won with seven wickets and 12 balls to spare.The chase overshadowed another masterclass from Matthew Wade. He made his highest T20 score, 88 off just 54 balls to underpin the Hurricanes’ total of 7 for 169. It was his fifth half-century of the tournament and he was part of a 10th half-century opening stand with D’Arcy Short in the BBL.But both Wade and Short fell to the crafty skills of Ben Laughlin who made the difference with his 3 for 31. He also had Wade dropped twice. But in removing Wade in the 18th over, he cut the chase down significantly as Hobart only managed 27 runs from the last 24 balls of the innings.It’s Groundhog day, againThe Strikers were on the receiving end of an unbroken 158-run stand between Wade and Short at Adelaide Oval earlier in the season and history looked set to repeat in the Powerplay. They cruised to 53 without loss here. The Strikers tried a fresh new-ball option with Cam Valente opening the bowling and delivering three overs upfront. He did a good job not concede a boundary in his first two overs before Wade cleared the fence in his third. Laughlin finally made the breakthrough forcing Short to miscue with a clever slower ball. Wade got a huge slice of luck, dropped at long-off by Michael Neser off Laughlin two overs later. He made the Strikers pay pulverising them, particularly square of the wicket. Half his runs came from boundaries and the rest was through smart placement and excellent running.Alex Carey goes after the ball•Getty Images

Laughlin strikes backWade looked set for first T20 hundred when he was dropped for a second time on 86 by Wes Agar after skying another ball off Laughlin. But he missed a low full toss next ball to be trapped plumb lbw. Two balls earlier Ben McDermott had fallen to Rashid Khan, and the innings lost all the momentum.George Bailey couldn’t continue his form holing out for a three-ball duck. Laughlin and Neser delivered a brilliant mixture of yorkers, slower balls and bouncers to take 4 for 19 in the last three overs. They conceded only one boundary and it came by accident, with Jofra Archer leaving his bat raised while ducking a bouncer only for it fortuitously to fly off the middle of the bat fine of third man.The boys are backIt’s been a lean tournament for Carey and Weatherald by their lofty standards. They had two fifty partnerships earlier in the season but their last four games had been plagued by mix-ups and mis-hits. Sometimes all it takes is one slice of luck. Weatherald edged his first ball wide of second slip and away to the boundary. On another day it would have gone straight to hand. It released any nervous tension.Wade then gambled with 18-year-old offspinner Jarrod Freeman in the second over and it backfired. Weatherald and Carey clubbed 17 from the over and kept going. They struck eight fours and three sixes in 15 balls of extraordinary striking. Weatherald played one of the shots of the tournament when he hit James Faulkner inside out over cover for six. Carey raised him with a monstrous strike over long-on off Archer having already hit three consecutive fours.Both men had some fortune. Weatherald was dropped by Archer at mid-on while Carey gloved a ball short of the keeper. They reached 0 for 84 in the Powerplay, the equal fourth-best in BBL history. Their 116-run partnership was finally broken with Carey falling to a bizarre caught and bowled off Simon Milenko. Weatherald kept rolling, striking 11 boundaries and two sixes during his 82 from 42 balls. He was frustrated not to finish the chase off, holing out at deep midwicket. There was another little hiccup when Jake Lehmann was trapped infront three balls later but Jono Wells and Colin Ingram cruised home from there.

And Madhya Pradesh joined Mumbai in the quarter-finals from Group C, after beating Odisha by seven wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2017Pace-bowler Lukman Meriwala and left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh took four wickets each as Tamil Nadu crumbled to 130 all out and suffered a 102-run defeat against Baroda. The loss meant that Tamil Nadu finished their season without a single win, a possibility Baroda averted with this result.Tamil Nadu’s bowlers had done well on the third day to give their side an advantage, bowling out Baroda for 197 to set up a fourth-innings target of 233. They went into stumps at 2 for no loss, but early into the fourth day the new-ball pair of Atit Sheth and Meriwala cut through the top order, leaving Tamil Nadu reeling at 30 for 5. There was a brief respite, as B Aparajith and Washington Sundar kept Baroda at bay, but Swapnil soon broke through that partnership and went on to sweep up the lower order.Aparajith was the only TN batsman to score more than 25, top-scoring with a battling 60. Meriwala had returns of 4 for 22 in 16 overs, while Swapnil was even more miserly – 4 for 21 in 19.1 overs. The four-for capped off a good season for Swapnil – he ended as Baroda’s highest run-getter with 565 runs at an average of 62.77 and the second-highest wicket-taker behind Sheth, with 20 dismissals at an average of 25.5.Madhya Pradesh qualified into the quarter-finals, where they will face Delhi after finishing on top of Group C with a seven-wicket win over Odisha at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore.The day began with Odisha on 237 for 4, trailing by four runs after being asked to follow on. Overnight batsman Shantanu Mishra was bowled first ball of the day by Puneet Datey (2-48). At the other end Subhranshu Senapati, who began the day on 78, brought up his second century in as many games. He put on
55 for the sixth wicket with Nataraj Behera, and 33 for the seventh wicket with Deepak Behera. But his dismissal for 125 was the start of a collapse that saw them fall from 325 for 6 to 337 all out. Legspinner Mihir Hirwani finished with 5 for 97.Madhya Pradesh fell to 45 for 3 in pursuit of 111 before an unbroken stand between Devendra Bundela (50*) and Harpreet Singh (37*) took them home.

South Africa allrounder Chris Morris has been ruled out of action for two months with a left knee injury

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2016South Africa allrounder Chris Morris has been ruled out of action for two months with a left knee injury. Morris had been carrying the niggle for eight months but it worsened over the last two weeks which led to the CSA medical committee recommending a break for full recovery. The injury rules him out of the ODIs against Ireland and Australia.”Chris has been carrying a chronic left knee patella tendon injury for the last eight months which we have treated and managed up to this point,” South Africa team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee said. “The injury has flared up considerably over the last two weeks leaving us with no option but rest and rehabilitation to allow the knee time to fully recover. He will take no further part in the match against Ireland and the series against Australia and will target a return back to international cricket for the Sunfoil Test series against Sri Lanka in December.”Dwaine Pretorius was added to the squad for the ODIs against Australia which start on September 30 in Centurion.

Surrey made a convincing start to their Royal London Cup campaign with an emphatic 220-run victory against Northamptonshire at the Kia Oval, powered by a thunderous 74-ball hundred from Jason Roy

ECB/PA27-Jul-2015
ScorecardJason Roy reached a hundred off 74 balls•PA Photos

Surrey made a convincing start to their Royal London Cup campaign with an emphatic 220-run victory against Northamptonshire at the Kia Oval, powered by a thunderous 74-ball hundred from Jason Roy.They scored 343 for 5 and then dismissed Northamptonshire for 123 in 24 overs. At one stage the Steelbacks were 61 for 8 – and looking unlikely to surpass Roy’s final score between them – before the last two wickets more than doubled the score.At one point Surrey, who won the toss, looked capable of scoring many more runs than they did. Their best scoring rate was 8.4 an over, when they were 168 without loss after 20.That dipped slightly, but even when they were 195 for 1, at the halfway point of their innings, it seemed certain they would top 400. But their batsmen found life more difficult once Northamptonshire brought on their spinners.The opening partnership of 195 between Roy and Steven Davies, equalled the record for the first wicket against the Steelbacks in List A matches, Adam Lyth and Alex Lees having put on the same score for Yorkshire at Northampton last year.Roy was dropped twice, a difficult chance to Rob Keogh at point off the bowling of David Willey when he was on 23 and, when he had made 87, by Graeme White at deep midwicket, a skier off the bowling of Josh Cobb.But apart from those blemishes it was a fluent and impressive innings, with shots all round the wicket. He hit 15 fours and a majestic six over extra-cover off Mohammad Azharullah.But once he was out, caught at short midwicket, the scoring rate dropped, even though Kumar Sangakkara made a sprightly 37 from 38 deliveries. He was second out at 251 in the 35th over and two over later Davies was dismissed for 99 from 99 balls.Against tight bowling from White, Cobb and Keogh, Surrey’s scoring slowed further while Gary Wilson and Ben Foakes were at the wicket, before a late slog from Zafar Ansari and James Burke.The Steelbacks made an awful start when Richard Levi was bowled first ball by Jade Dernbach, and they did not recover.They were 6 for 2 in the third over, when Cobb was caught behind off the same bowler, and then 11 for three in the sixth when Alex Wakely was also caught at the wicket off Sam Curran.Curran, just 17 and the younger brother of team-mate Tom, made an eye-catching debut in this form of the game, and his left-arm pace brought him 4 for 32 in front of England selector Angus Fraser.Adam Rossington fell to a Curran combination and Northamptonshire’s first four batsmen had scored eight runs between them. Only some late hitting by wicketkeeper Ben Duckett, who hit five fours and two sixes in a 45-ball 56, enabled his team to reach three figures.