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Meanwhile, Kedar Jadhav is set to play for Maharashtra for the first time since December 2016, in their match against Baroda in Vadodara

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2018No Ashwin, Vijay for Tamil NaduRain affected Tamil Nadu’s prospects in the first round when they were at full-strength. They’ll have to do without R Ashwin, M Vijay and Vijay Shankar for their second-round match against Hyderabad in Tirunelveli. While both Vijay and Shankar will be travelling with the India A squad to New Zealand, Ashwin will be preparing for the Test series against Australia.K Vignesh, CV Varun and Shahrukh Khan have been named in the squad to replace the missing trio.Saha sets tentative comeback dateWriddhiman Saha, who has been battling injury issues since the start of the year, has set a tentative return date. “I am feeling much better now. I hope to be back in action by mid-December. I am preparing and training accordingly. Hope my body recovers in time and I’m fit to play (Ranji Trophy). I’ve started net sessions but I am yet to get match-fit,” Saha said at an event in Kolkata.While Saha may have missed the bus for the Test series against Australia, he could still play a significant role for Bengal if his return goes as per schedule.Jadhav to turn out for MaharashtraKedar Jadhav will turn out for Maharashtra in their match against Baroda at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. He hasn’t represented Maharashtra since December 2016 due to national commitments and injury issues.It is worth remembering that Jadhav first came into the national reckoning due to a blockbuster Ranji season, when his 1224 runs in 2013-14 took Maharashtra from Group C all the way to the final. The last time he played for his state though, Jadhav was only a batsman. He’s now become someone who can chip in with a few overs of spin too. Playing a four-day match while batting and bowling, and crucially coming through unscathed and without injury, will perhaps be an important step in Jadhav proving his fitness.CM Gautam droppedThe Karnataka side that is taking on defending champions Vidarbha in Nagpur will be without a familiar face. CM Gautam, veteran of 94 first-class matches, is not part of the team. Gautam had a middling 2017-18 season, scoring 285 runs in eight games at 31.66 average. The squad is only for the first game, so there is still a chance for him to come back.Gambhir steps down as Delhi captainNitish Rana has been named Delhi captain for the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy, after Gautam Gambhir, who led them in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, stepped down from the role a week before the start of the season. Rana will begin his captaincy stint on November 12, when Delhi kick off their season against Himachal Pradesh, in a match that will also feature Ishant Sharma, who is returning from rehab for ankle complaints suffered since the Oval Test against England.Gambhir, who led Delhi to the Hazare final last month, made the announcement via Twitter. “Time to pass the captaincy baton to youngsters, hence have requested the DDCA selectors not to consider me for that role,” he wrote. “I will be in the background helping the new leader to win games.”At the start of this season, Gambhir had been asked by the Delhi selectors to lead the team in the limited-overs tournaments in the absence of Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma, who had both led the side in last year’s Ranji Trophy. But when offered the opportunity to continue in the role for this season, Gambhir told the selectors that it would be good to groom a young leader.”Gautam has intimated the state team’s chief selector Amit Bhandari that he would like to opt out of captaincy,” Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) president Rajat Sharma told . “He suggested that someone younger be groomed for the job. Nitish Rana will lead the side and Dhruv Shorey will be his deputy.”Earlier this year, the 37-year-old Gambhir had also stepped down as Delhi Daredevils’ captain during the IPL season, after the franchise managed only one win in their first six games.Rana, the new state team captain, was the second-highest scorer for Delhi, behind Gambhir, in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy, with 613 runs in 12 innings at an average of 55.72. Shorey, Rana’s deputy, also had a productive tournament, scoring 593 runs in 12 innings, including a hundred in the final.Delhi squad: Nitish Rana (capt), Dhruv Shorey (vice-capt), Gautam Gambhir, Hitel Dalal, Himmat Singh, Anuj Rawat, Ishant Sharma, Kulwant Khejroliya, Vikas Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Simarjit Singh, Vaibhav Rawal, Varun Sood, Sarthak Rajan, Shivank Vashisth

Graham Onions broke the Durham record for first-class wicket but he could not dislodge Sam Billings who had missed most of the match with a migraine

ECB Reporters Network08-Sep-20171:35

Highlights from the final day of the Specsavers Championship

Kent’s Sam Billings returned from the migraine which had laid him low for two days to defy Durham, and their record-breaker Graham Onions, in the Specsavers County Championship match at Chester-le-Street.Set a more than challenging target of 371 in 56 overs, there were 28 overs left when Billings went in at 74 for 5. But while four more wickets fell he remained unbeaten on 70.There were six overs left when Onions pinned Adam Milne lbw to break the record of 518 first-class wickets for Durham, held since 2002 by left-arm seamer Simon Brown.That brought in Imran Qayyum, but he was well protected by Billings and faced only two balls before edging the first ball of the penultimate over to Paul Collingwood at first slip off James Weighell.Last man Mitch Claydon, who defied his old teammates when Kent also hung on with nine wickets down at Canterbury, survived the over and Billings then kept out Onions.Kent closed on 184 for 9, leaving Durham to rue their belated declaration and accept their frustrating fate in a match which lost four sessions to the weather.Kent skipper Sam Northeast followed his 110 out of 206 in the first innings by making 67 of the first 112 runs. He was sixth out, inside-edging a drive at Keaton Jennings into his stumps, with 15.2 overs left.Kent coach Matt Walker said: “We were surprised they batted on after lunch. We thought 300 was enough on a pitch which had enough in it for a quality bowling attack. I thought they would have wanted 65 overs, but it nearly worked for them.”With Worcestershire winning we would have liked to have a crack at a target, but 370 was too many.”In terms of the situation and the way he has been feeling for the last two days that’s as well as I’ve seen Sam Billings play in four-day cricket. He didn’t feel right after day one and still wasn’t 100 per cent today, but he showed great character and skill. To see us home was an excellent effort.”Durham coach Jon Lewis said: “We played a lot of good cricket in the match and we’re on a good unbeaten run, so we didn’t want to give them a chance.”When you have a side nine down questions are always asked about the declaration, but the outstanding first spells by Onions and Rushworth probably worked against us. We were hoping Kent would feel under pressure to go for it, but it knocked the stuffing out of them.”Sam Billings staved off Durham with nine down•Getty Images

After passing 1,000 championship runs in the morning, Paul Collingwood batted on for 7.3 overs to add 62 after lunch before declaring on 359 for seven.Following Worcestershire’s win the belief was that Kent would have to go for it to retain any hope of promotion. But it was out of the question once they lost both openers without a run on the board.Onions struck with his first ball, having Sean Dickson caught behind and in the next over Daniel Bell-Drummond went the same way to Chris Rushworth.On ten, Northeast edged Rushworth past Collingwood’s left ear at first slip and had progressed to a 69-ball half-century by the time Billings joined him and played a few shots of his own. The wicketkeeper hit ten fours in his 72-ball half-century.In the morning Tom Latham completed his second century in three games for Durham. He survived a sliced drive to Joe Denly at gully off the luckless Milne on 65 and was becalmed in the 90s, tied down by Claydon, before a back-foot four through the covers took him to his hundred off 221 balls.After resuming on 49, Graham Clark progressed solidly to 86 before skying an attempted pull off Claydon to end a stand of 180 and bring in Collingwood, who got off the mark by driving left-arm spinner Imran Qayyum over long-off for six.On 20 he lifted the same bowler to the mid-wicket boundary to reach the 1,000 target, but was bowled for 35 when he went down the pitch to Qayyum.In the post-lunch thrash Latham departed for 119 when he was caught one-handed above his head by the 6ft 6in Zak Crawley at extra cover. Ryan Pringle hit an unbeaten 30 off 23 balls and the declaration came when Mark Wood was bowled by Denly for 24.When Wood had Crawley caught behind with the second ball after tea he looked a possible match-winner. But in his comeback match after a six-week absence with the latest of many injuries he left the field shortly afterwards.

Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell provided overdue contributions in the middle order to help Steven Smith guide Australia into the triangular series final with a strong victory over the West Indies in Barbados

The Report by Daniel Brettig21-Jun-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:11

Australia beat West Indies by six wickets to secure berth in tri-series final

Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell provided overdue contributions in the middle order to help Steven Smith guide Australia into the triangular series final with a six-wicket win over the West Indies at Bridgetown in Barbados.Interim coach Justin Langer had been eager to see how his team responded under the pressure of possible tournament elimination, and Marlon Samuels’ fine hundred in partnership with Denesh Ramdin ensured Australia’s batsmen had little margin for error at Kensington Oval.However, Smith produced the workmanlike innings of a leader and was able to coax Marsh into one of his best and most complete international innings, albeit on a surface that bore closer resemblance to Australian climes than any other in this series. Maxwell then came in with the game still in the balance – Australia needed 62 off 50 balls – and responded with a starburst of shots that will help his own sense of esteem enormously after a series in which he was dropped for two matches.Even so, the Australians will still want to improve their fielding and bowling, two areas that were found wanting in the afternoon. On the fastest pitch of the tournament so far, three early wickets to the new ball gave Australia a fine start after Smith sent West Indies in. However Samuels found a willing ally in Ramdin and the pair put on 192 together, the best fourth wicket stand in all ODIs between the two teams.After Samuels went on to his first ODI hundred against Australia, late-innings hitting left the visitors to question their choice of bowling first. The selectors again ignored spin, and another indifferent fielding display was emphasised by Matthew Wade dropping Samuels on 65.Early on it appeared that the pace in the pitch would be ideal for Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja to set up Australia’s chase, but both were to be hurried up by deliveries skidding through and out in the teens. Shannon Gabriel, the debutant, generated significant pace from his muscular action, though his impact was offset by the withdrawal of Jason Holder due to injury after two overs.Smith and George Bailey sought to stabilise the innings, conscious there was little in-form batting beneath them. They did well for a time, but Bailey was uncomfortable against the turn and lift gained by Sulieman Benn – amid a selection of loose balls – and skied a catch with 184 still required.The Australians elected to send Marsh in ahead of Maxwell, and the gambit paid off richly. Marsh enjoyed the extra pace in the pitch and grew nicely into his innings in Smith’s company, using some of the cross bat shots he had learned at his home ground at the WACA in Perth. With Smith working the ball around sensibly they kept the target in sight, and were able to generate the odd piece of slipshod West Indian fielding.In the end, the efforts to stretch the fielders cost Smith his wicket as he was comfortably run out when the target was looming within sight. His exit though served a useful purpose by allowing Maxwell to enter the fray. Earlier in the tournament he had looked completely at sea on slow Guyana surfaces, but now got past a nervy first few deliveries to accelerate in thrilling style.Though these closing passages served mainly to change the margin of victory rather than preventing defeat, Maxwell’s fireworks – including one audacious switch-punch six off the spin of Sunil Narine – will make a major difference to his confidence heading into the final and beyond. Marsh, too, will benefit from a fine innings that showed the kind of maturity the selectors have been hoping to see from him for quite some time.On a fine day in Bridgetown, West Indies replaced Jerome Taylor with Gabriel, while Australia named the same XI chosen for the washed-out encounter with South Africa. This meant that the visitors again ignored the spin of Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon, while the hosts went in with the dual spin of Narine and Sulieman Benn.Starc had missed the previous encounter with the West Indies, and he immediately found pace and bounce to his liking. It was too much for Johnson Charles, who edged a fast, full delivery in the very first over, and Andre Fletcher fared little better as he groped at a succession of balls whirring across him.Hazlewood also generated plenty of lift, and it was with one such delivery that ended a promising Darren Bravo innings as Smith held a one-handed as he dived from a wide first slip. Fletcher was being battered verbally as well as technically by Starc, and it wasn’t long before he was taken off the shoulder of the bat at backward point.Three wickets down with the ball still new, West Indies were in a most precarious position when Ramdin joined Samuels. Initially their response was obstinate defence, absorbing the bounce and speed of Starc and Hazlewood, then the early forays of James Faulkner, Scott Boland and Mitchell Marsh.Nearly seven overs passed without a boundary, and it was 64 for 3 in the 20th over when Samuels decided Boland and Marsh had to go. In the space of two overs he clattered 27 runs from the support seamers, tilting momentum back towards the west Indies for the first time all innings.Batting conditions had eased considerably, and Smith had no quality spin-bowling option to change things up. He resorted to the part-timers of Aaron Finch before trying Maxwell, and neither man could procure a wicket. Samuels and Ramdin carried on with increasing authority, setting up the ideal platform for West Indies’ brute force further down the order.Ultimately Ramdin would fall short of a century, bowled having a swing at Starc, but critically Smith had been forced to use up his striker bowler’s overs well before the end of the innings. Pollard arrived in ideal circumstances, but after a Maxwell attempt to catch him off Hazlewood became six when the fielder’s foot slipped onto the midwicket rope, he was unable to repeat the trick against Boland.Australian frustration at the match situation was borne out in numerous verbal stoushes with Pollard and Samuels in particular – on the fringe of elimination, it was the most animated they had been all tournament. The niggle was evidence of a team trying to assert themselves, but also of the heightened stakes in the match. Smith, Marsh and Maxwell would rise suitably to the occasion. West Indies are left needing to beat South Africa to qualify for the decider.

Half-centuries from Jim Allenby and Craig Overton helped Somerset to a total of 312 on the first day at Trent Bridge.

ECB/PA17-May-2015
ScorecardJim Allenby, seen here for Glamorgan last year, made his highest score for his new county Somerset•PA Photos

Half-centuries from Jim Allenby and Craig Overton helped Somerset to a total of 312 on the first day at Trent Bridge. The experienced Allenby, short of runs so far this season, made 64, his highest score since moving from Glamorgan in the winter.His efforts laid the foundation for Overton to replace him at the crease and plunder 55 runs from only 31 balls as Somerset collected three batting points. Nottinghamshire replied with 57 for 2 from the closing 24 overs of the day.Vernon Philander enjoyed his best day with the ball for the home side, returning 4 for 56 against the side that he made a handful of appearances for in 2012. The South African pace bowler seemed to relish the opportunity of playing against former team-mates, under cloudy skies, after Chris Read had won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first.Marcus Trescothick has seldom enjoyed his previous visits to this famous old ground, having failed to register a century in 20 first-class matches. His 33rd innings on the ground was typically brief, castled for 0 by a wonderful swinging delivery from Philander.Somerset also lost Tom Abell during the early exchanges but approached lunch in better order before losing three wickets to the final 11 balls of the opening session. Two of those were taken by Steven Mullaney, including Johannes Myburgh for 49, as the bowler enhanced his reputation as a partnership-breaker.That reputation, real or imaginary, prompted Read to turn to him again in mid-afternoon and again the allrounder delivered, bowling Peter Trego to end a stand of 85 in only 15 overs with Allenby. Overton made the most of some wayward bowling to plunder 11 boundaries in a quickfire 50 before being cleaned up by Harry Gurney.Seven of Somerset’s batsmen were bowled as Luke Wood collected two late scalps. The 19-year-old left-arm quick dumped Lewis Gregory on his backside with a well-directed bouncer before bowling him next ball, then wrapped up the innings by yorking Tim Groenewald.When Nottinghamshire batted they lost the wickets of Mullaney, to Gregory for 19, and Greg Smith, on his county debut, who failed to make the most of his opportunity to step in for the absent Alex Hales by falling lbw to Groenewald for 8. Hales’ weekend dash to join the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League went unrewarded when he was left out of their final qualifying match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.Somerset’s Allenby, who scored 64 was pleased with his side’s performance, saying: “Having got 300-odd, we felt that was over par – especially after we’d had a bit of a wobble in our last few games, so it was nice to get it right today in difficult conditions.”While – on his stand of 85 with Trego – he added: “Peter has been done it for years and I’ve found myself in similar situations so we just used our experience to make sure we kept scoring and we kept trying to capitalise whenever Philander wasn’t bowling because it was a bit tricky out there. We dragged it back and obviously to finish up with Craig Overton getting 60 off just 30 balls finished our innings really well.”While Philander was delighted with his four wickets for the hosts, he said: “It’s obviously started pretty well for me this morning but we’d have liked to roll them out for cheaper than that but bowling them out for 300 on day one, we’d have taken that.”On his swinging delivery to bowl Trescothick out, he added: “It’s always good when you’ve played with guys like that to be able to get them out. Myself and Marcus have a good relationship, so it’s always good to get your mates out.”After lunch we bowled a little bit too short and Treego, Allenby and Overton played nicely but getting full bowling points we’d have taken that. We just need to bat well tomorrow.”

A round-up of the fifth round of Ranji Trophy’s Group A matches on December 8, 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2012
Scorecard
In the previous match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot, Ravindra Jadeja alone had scored 331 but though he top scored again, run-making wasn’t as easy and Saurashtra were bowled out for 209. Much of the damage was done by left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena, whose five-for helped Bengal take the final six wickets for 35 runs. The slide was hastened by the dismissal of Jadeja, who made 70 to take his season’s tally past 700, and there were three ducks in the lower order. Saxena finished with impressive figures of 12.3-5-17-5. Saurashtra had looked set for a larger total after the openers played out more than two hours to put on 64, but they lost wickets in bunches to finish on a small score.
Scorecard
Two of Rajasthan’s talented young batsmen, Robin Bist and Ashok Menaria, continued to struggle to find form, falling cheaply on a day when Gujarat kept the run-rate firmly in check. Bist has only one half-century in 10 innings since his sparkling performance at the Duleep Trophy, while Menaria hasn’t hit a fifty in nine Ranji innings. Forties from debutant opener Saurabh Chouhan and the vastly experienced Hrishikesh Kanitkar lifted Rajasthan, and Rashmi Parida also chipped in with 36.The most successful of the Gujarat bowlers was left-arm-spinner Rakesh Dhurv, who ended with figures of 36-19-47-3.
Scorecard
Madhya Pradesh made patient progress against Railways in Bhubaneshwar, with Rameez Khan’s 82 guiding them to 212 for 5. None of MP’s top four was in any rush after Railways chose to field, with all of them striking at less than 40. Each of the top-order batsmen got set, but only Rameez went on to reach a half-century. Opener Zafar Ali batted for almost an hour and a half before being caught-behind, and his partner Naman Ojha followed suit half an hour later. Rameez anchored the innings, and the arrival of Udit Birla and Jalaj Saxena provided some urgency towards the end of the day.

Junaid Khan, the Pakistan fast bowler, will be out of cricket for six weeks after sustaining a partial tear in his abdominal muscle

Umar Farooq in Abu Dhabi 23-Nov-2011Mohammad Khalil, the Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited left-arm seamer, has been named as Junaid Khan’s replacement in Pakistan’s Test, ODI and Twenty20 squads for the Bangladesh tour. Khalil, who has not played for Pakistan since 2005, got the call-up after Junaid picked up a partial strain in his abdominal muscle during Pakistan’s one-day series against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates.Khalil, 29, is currently the joint-leading wicket-taker in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One, with 43 wickets from seven games. Twenty-one-year-old left-arm quick Sadaf Hussain, who also has 43 wickets in the current season, has been ignored, while Tanvir Ahmed and Wahab Riaz continue to be left out.Mohammad Ilyas, Pakistan’s interim chief selector, said it had been a tough decision and made special mention of Sadaf, saying he would be given an opportunity at some stage. “We had a four-hour deliberation to choose Junaid’s replacement out of four potential bowlers and Khalil’s name was finalised by consensus of the team management and the national selection committee,” Ilyas told ESPNcricinfo.”It was a tough call. They [the four candidates] all have talent but we had to choose one. It is a positive sign that we have such strong bench strength. Those who were not selected should not be discouraged, especially Sadaf. He is a future prospect and definitely will be handed a chance, but at the right time. This time Khalil was the best option. He is in the best form and condition of his career and has taken most of his [domestic] wickets against good teams.”The first time Khalil was picked in a Pakistan squad was for the Test series against Bangladesh in 2003-04. He didn’t get a game then but played three ODIs and a Test on the tour of Australia in 2004-05. He managed five wickets in the ODIs but went wicketless in the Test and again failed to get a wicket when he played the Kolkata Test on Pakistan’s 2005 tour of India. He went back to domestic cricket and finished the 2010-11 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as the third-highest wicket-taker with 61 wickets at an average of 19.24.Junaid is out of cricket for six weeks after he sustained a partial tear in his abdominal muscle while bowling during the fifth ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. He will have to undergo rest and then rehabilitation. Junaid impressed in the Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE, taking 12 wickets over the three Tests. He was left out for the first four ODIs but replaced Cheema for the dead rubber in Abu Dhabi. He bowled just three overs before leaving the field after experiencing pain in his abdomen. He was taken to hospital for an MRI scan and it was discovered he had a partial tear in his right abdominal muscle that will need six-weeks recovery time.Khalil joins Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema and Mohammad Talha in the pace department for the Tests in Bangladesh, while the ODI squad has Sohail Tanvir along with Gul and Cheema.Abdul Razzaq, the experienced allrounder, is also a doubt for the Bangladesh tour after he picked up a right shoulder injury in the third ODI against Sri Lanka. The PCB have not yet named a replacement for him.The tour of Bangladesh begins with a one-off Twenty20 in Mirpur on November 29, after which there will be three ODIs and two Tests.

A round-up of the first day of the third-round matches of Division Two of the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2010Left-arm spinner Yasim Murtaza and left-arm seamer Saad Altaf gave Pakistan Television the upper hand against Karachi Whites at the National Stadium in Karachi. The pair bagged nine wickets between them, Murtaza bagging his second five-for, as Karachi folded for 307. The hosts will be disappointed for going on to score something substantial, as three of their batsmen went past a half-century but none was able to convert it to three-figures. Opener and captain Khalid Latif made 91, Asif Zakar chipped in with 65 and supported Latif in a 122-run second-wicket stand while Asim Kamal, who has represented Pakistan, made 80. Karachi were going strong at 249 for 4 but lost their last six wickets for 58 as Murtaza and Altaf turned the tables. In reply, Pakistan Television were 4 without loss.The first day of the third-round contest between Hyderabad and State Bank of Pakistan at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad harkened back to the days of first-class cricket in the 1980s and 1990s. Only 179 runs were scored by Hyderabad in 84 overs, and just two wickets lost. Opener Azeem Ghumman, who led Pakistan in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, batted out the day for an unbeaten 73. He helped his team recover from an early loss, adding 86 with Aqeel Anjum and a further, unbeaten 79 with Rizwan Ahmed who is going strong with 48.Table-toppers Abbottabad, who have two wins from two games, put themselves in control against Lahore Ravi at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Opener Waqar Orakzai, playing his sixth first-class game, scored his maiden century and remained unbeaten to guide his team to 227 for 1 at stumps. Orazkai, who struck 13 fours, was assisted in an 81-run opening stand by Ghulam Mohammad, and Zia-ul-Haq batted patiently, consuming 193 balls for his unbeaten 48.Half-centuries from Hamza Paracha and Usman Salahuddin ensured the first day at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground went Lahore Shalimar‘s way in their contest against bottom-placed Quetta. Opener Paracha top-scored with 85, supported by handy contributions from everyone else who followed. His opening partner Mohammad Hamza made 31 in a 60-run stand, Rana Adan helped add a further 48 while Salahuddin, who finished the day on 65 not out, took the total to 238 for 3 at stumps.A collective bowling effort from Khan Research Laboratories helped them bowl Peshawar out for 242 at the Sports Complex in Mardan. Nazir grabbed four wickets while each of the other bowlers took at least a wicket to strike at regular intervals. There was resistance from No.3 batsman Mohammad Fayyaz, who made 49, and chiefly from Sajjad Ahmed who top-scored with 65. At 112 for 6, though, it seemed Peshawar would fold for a score less than 200 but Riaz Afridi, with 44, helped them go past that mark. In a first-class game, KRL also bowled 23 wides, part of an extras tally of 36. In response, KRL lost an early wicket, Saeed Anwar jnr trapped in front by Afridi for zero.

A review of the fourth round of games in the 2009-10 Plunket Shield

Cricinfo staff06-Dec-2009Central Districts beat Canterbury with a day to spare to get their first success of the Plunket Shield in Rangiora. Having enforced the follow-on, CD bowled Canterbury out for 180, a lead of 26, and knocked off the runs without fuss. The openers Peter Ingram and Jamie How needed just 3.5 overs to chase down the required 27.The win was put in motion by a first-innings score of 325, aided by How’s 90 and 50 from Mathew Sinclair. Sinclair followed that fine innings by taking a career-best 3 for 29 in Canterbury’s first innings and added another on the final day of the match. Michael Mason wrecked Canterbury in their second innings, taking 5 for 42 to make it seven for the game. Ewen Thompson and Seth Rance took five and four wickets in the match respectively. Canterbury’s failure to notch up significant partnerships in either innings hurt them.Dermot Reeve, CD’s coach, was very pleased after the win. “We did well to get over 300 runs and we took all our catches. It was pleasing to see the fielders backing up the bowlers,” he told NZPA. “Mathew’s under-rated with the ball, he bowls a nagging line and length and hits the seam and on certain pitches he can do a good job with the ball.”Otago surged to their first win of the tournament with a nine-wicket win over Wellington in Queenstown. Wellington took early control of the match by declaring at 391 for 6, thanks largely to Stewart Rhodes’ unbeaten 142 on debut, but centuries from Neil Broom and Sam Wells carried the hosts to 471 for 9. After that dominant batting force, Otago’s bowlers bowled Wellington out for 203 in 62.2 overs. Only the opener Josh Brodie, who followed his first-innings 76 with 70, and Lance Woodcock (47) did much in the second innings. Set a target of 124, Otago eased home by nine wickets. The captain Craig Cumming hit an unbeaten 53 and was partnered to victory by Shaun Haig, who made 52 from 65 balls. With this win, Otago took maximum points and joined Central Districts on 10 points in fourth place.A rain-affected affair at Colin Maiden Park went Northern Districts’ way after they beat hosts Auckland by 55 runs. Two and a half days of play were lost to rain and the two captains, James Marshall and Gareth Hopkins, tried force a result. Resuming their first innings at 82 for 0 on the fourth morning, ND quickly posted 290 for 3 before declaring. Hopkins forfeited Auckland’s first innings and Marshall reciprocated by forfeiting his side’s second innings, leaving Auckland 291 to achieve their first win. It was not to be, with Graeme Aldridge (4 for 67) and Brent Arnel (3 for 52) running through the line-up. Hopkins’ 22nd first-class half-century was snapped when he went lbw to Arnel, and with that went Auckland’s chances at winning.ND’s attempt at racking up quick runs were aided by BJ Watling’s 136 off 169 balls. He and Brad Wilson (47) put on 101 runs for the first wicket, after which Marshall came to the middle and helped add 50 in 51 balls. This was ND’s third of the season and kept them on top of the standings with 26 points, 12 ahead of Wellington in second with six rounds to go.

“We should appreciate the players for throwing themselves in the den without being exposed to these conditions,” Pakistan’s Test captain said

Danyal Rasool27-Jan-2025Pakistan captain Shan Masood said he expected the team to continue their recent experiment of heavily turning tracks at home, and that they would be replicated across domestic cricket as well. After falling to a 120-run defeat at home against West Indies that levelled the series 1-1 and confirmed Pakistan’s position at the bottom of the current World Test Championship cycle, Masood maintained there were “encouraging signs” that Pakistan would seek to build on.”Domestic cricket will be played like this,” he said. “We’ve already talked about this. The more we’ll play the better we’ll get at it. We’ve shown encouraging signs. After the four matches, we’ve won three in these conditions. We dominated the first hour of the first day which could have swung the match in our favour. It’s just about winning those key moments and ensuring we’re consistent with these conditions domestically and internationally.”Since Pakistan lost the first Test against England on a flat wicket in Multan, they have reverted to producing tracks that break up and spin from the first day, rendering fast bowling almost redundant. The last four home Tests have seen Pakistan take 80 wickets, with just one falling to a seam bowler. Fingerspinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali have dominated the bowling attack, taking 70 of the 80 wickets, and frequently opening the bowling attack in each innings. It has turned around Pakistan’s straggling home form, allowing them to beat England 2-1 at home and easing to a victory in the first Test against West Indies. This Test, however, the visiting spinners turned the script around on them, with left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican of West Indies walking away with both the Player-of-the-Match and Series awards.Related

• Shan Masood to continue as Pakistan Test captain for 2025-27 WTC cycle

• Warrican bags five as West Indies win in Pakistan after 34 years

• Warrican dominates a series made for spinners in Multan

• Brathwaite: West Indies had to be 'brave' on pitch where 'you are going to get out'

“It’s a game of all stakeholders. We should appreciate the players for throwing themselves in the den without being exposed to these conditions. We know we haven’t played domestic cricket in these conditions. In some ways, it’s a kind of bravery to expose ourselves to these conditions. We practiced, but this is new for us. But we need to replicate this in domestic cricket, give our batters exposure so we play in these conditions and get runs in them. In the fourth innings, anything over 150 is a competitive score, where spinners will always have the edge.”An unavoidable outcome of such surfaces is the outsized role the toss plays. All four times, the side winning the toss has batted first, walking away with victory three times. While Pakistan were able to flip that script against England in the series-decider, West Indies’ win once more demonstrated the way these pitches can slant a game in favour of the side bowling last.Mohammad Rizwan was bowled by Jomel Warrican, who took the match and series honours•AFP/Getty Images

However, it didn’t appear that way when Pakistan bowled in the first hour, having reduced West Indies to 54 for 8, and letting that situation slip through their fingers frustrated Masood most of all. “We didn’t get the result we wanted. The positive thing was when you field first and you know the fourth innings will be difficult. So you try to restrict the opposition in the first innings. We bowled brilliantly for the first eight wickets. But we’ve talked about the first innings batting and bowling combining to do well, so you have the advantage in the third and fourth innings. If you look at our batting and bowling, and the mistakes we made collectively, that was a crucial time because their last two wickets cost us dear.”Then, with the bat, we went from 119 for 4 to 154 all out. When these collapses happen and the other side puts on partnerships, they can set you back. If we’d got them out early and got a 100-run lead, the Test match would be completely different. With Test matches on these pitches, you can’t wait to make a move, because things are decided on day one, and that is where you can win or lose matches.”This is the end of a cycle, an unhappy one for Pakistan, and for its leader. Pakistan have lost nine of their last 12 matches, all five away from home and four of seven at home. Despite starting off with a crushing away win in Sri Lanka, they have finished bottom of the WTC table, and do not play another Test for nearly nine months.Masood acknowledged Pakistan had fallen short of expectations, but did not believe the side required a complete overhaul, pointing out fine margins made the difference in this Test, and could be worked on.”The tail not getting wickets is an area of concern, and we need to finish off sides quicker,” Masood said, echoing his frustrations in South Africa, where the last two wickets adding too many runs cost them dear in the first Test at Centurion. “Against Australia, who have the best tail in the world, we got them out cheaply, but not here, or against Bangladesh or South Africa.”Batters have been proactive, but we need more contributions. You may not get hundreds here but 30s and 40s contribute to the winning conditions. Kraigg Brathwaite was an ideal example. He took the game on. One batter will need to step up in these conditions especially when the ball is new.”It’s not about holding someone responsible. This isn’t an accountability bureau. This is a team effort. Our mistake as a team was the first two innings. That was what set us back, and gave the opposition a degree of freedom. If we had a 100-run lead, I do not think they’d have been able to play in the way they did. We need to understand the direction of matches will be decided very quickly, as early as day one.”