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Tournament’s director says two other franchises have been lined up to replace them this season

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Jun-2021Two franchisees have had their contracts terminated ahead of the second edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), but the tournament’s director says two other franchises have been lined up to replace them.*The IPG group, who organises the tournament for SLC, has said it has dropped the Colombo Kings and Dambulla Viiking sides for breach of contract. Ravin Wickramaratne, the SLC vice-president in charge of the LPL, told ESPNcricinfo that this will not change the board’s plans for the tournament, however. It is currently slated to run from July 30 to August 22.Related

• LPL terminates 2020 champion franchise Jaffna Stallions

• LPL to be held from December 4 to 23

• LPL 2021 to go ahead as planned in July-August

In the first edition of the five-team tournament, the Dambulla Viiking, who had made the semi-finals after finishing second on the table in the league stage, were owned by Sachiin Joshi and Viiking Ventures, while the Colombo Kings, also a semi-finalist, were owned by Murfad Mustafa and Faza group.”Those two franchises (Kings and Viiking) have [been] terminated, but I’ve received other potential franchisees, whose details have been sent to the ICC for them to check,” Wickramaratne said. The ICC vets franchise owners as part of their anti-corruption procedure. “I can’t reveal who the owners of those teams are yet, but the other three team owners (of Galle Gladiators, Kandy Tuskers , and Jaffna Stallions) are still there.”Wickramaratne also confirmed that the 2021 edition will have five teams, though there were rumblings of a sixth team entering the fray.As with the first edition, the entire tournament is scheduled to be played at Sooriyawewa (Hambantota) to make a biosecure bubble easier to maintain.*This story originally stated that the teams had pulled out, but the tournament’s organisers say it is they who have let go of the teams.

West Indies Test captain will head straight to the BBL after the Test series against New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2020West Indies Test captain Jason Holder has signed with BBL champions the Sydney Sixers for a three-game stint following the Test series against New Zealand.The travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand allows Holder to enter Australia without having to complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine. Following the two-Test series in New Zealand, he will head straight to Hobart to play in the December 20 clash with the Adelaide Strikers. He will also be available for the December 26 fixture against the Melbourne Stars and the December 29 match with the Melbourne Renegades.Holder, 29, comes in as cover for England bowler Tom Curran who needs to complete the mandatory 14-day quarantine after arriving from England’s limited-overs tour of South Africa. He joins fellow West Indian Carlos Brathwaite and England batsman James Vince as part of the Sixers’ overseas contingent.”I’m really excited to be coming to the BBL and the Sydney Sixers,” Holder said. “I’ve wanted to for a few years now and this year I have the opportunity to come in and make some appearances and hopefully do a bit for the Sixers.”Holder said he was looking forward to reuniting with Sixers skipper Moises Henriques, having played alongside him in the IPL.”BBL cricket is an interest for me and the Sixers have been successful over the past few years. Moises and I played together at Sunrisers and I really enjoyed that. It will be good to do it again.”

Coach Robin Singh also axed; Simon Helmot will be in charge for CPL 2020

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2020St Kitts & Nevis Patriots have revamped their set-up, letting go of Carlos Brathwaite and Robin Singh who were in charge of the team last season. Instead, they’ve handed over the captaincy to the 39-year old Rayad Emrit and recruited Simon Helmot as their head coach for CPL 2020.West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin, who had helped Trinbago Knight Riders to back-to-back title victories in in 2017 and 2018, has now been traded to St Kitts & Nevis. The franchise retained their prominent West Indies internationals Evin Lewis, Sheldon Cottrell, Fabian Allen and Alzarri Joseph. Dominic Drakes, the son of Vasbert Drakes, was also retained.St Kitts & Nevis will be Ramdin’s third franchise in the CPL, having been part of Knight Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors in the past. Emrit has vast T20 experience, having played 136 matches and picking up 149 wickets at an economy rate of 7.70. Helmot, too, brings rich T20 experience, having been part of Sunrisers Hyderabad (IPL), Trinbago Knight Riders (CPL), and Melbourne Renegades’ backroom staff. “I am very excited to be part of the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for a second season,” Emrit said. “I think that the team that is selected this year is going to be a very exciting one. I am very excited to be named as captain. It’s always an honour and a privilege to lead a franchise. Our new coach, Simon Helmot, knows the CPL and he knows how to win titles. He and I are going to work very hard to get the team to the finals.”Apart from letting go of Ramdin, Knight Riders retained the core of their side. Kieron Pollard, the Bravo brothers, spinners Sunil Narine, Khary Pierre and Akeal Hosein will continue to represent Knight Riders. Narine, however, hasn’t played a single competitive game after sustaining a finger injury in CPL 2019.Despite the threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, CPL organisers hope that the tournament can still take place as scheduled in September and avoid a potential clash with the IPL. However, plans are being developed to stage it behind closed doors, without overseas players, or in a “social-distancing stadium” in Barbados if required.

Their best chance could be to target Pakistan’s shaky middle order that is heavily reliant on top-order contributions from Babar and Hafeez

The Preview by Danyal Rasool27-Oct-2018

Big Picture

Australia need to salvage some pride on this UAE tour, and they’ve almost run out of chances. Sunday represents their last chance to do that, and with the visitors guaranteed to return home without any silverware, it is only pride they can fight for. They haven’t really been competitive in the Tests as well as T20Is. The 1-0 defeat in the Tests was , if anything, flattering for Australia, while the apparently narrow margin of the defeat in the second T20I concealed how comfortable Pakistan had been for all but two overs in the entire game. There’s little evidence any of that can change in Dubai on Sunday, but with Pakistan perhaps looking to experiment with their line-up and the pressure off Australia now the series is over, it isn’t unthinkable they could come away with the whitewash avoided.It’s been a slightly strange series for Pakistan, in which they haven’t hit the spectacular heights you’d expect of the No.1 side. The batting has never quite come together, and the two-mid-ranging totals they compiled might have proved significantly harder to defend against a better side than the one they’re playing against now. Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez have been responsible for the bulk of the runs; no other batsman in either T20I scored more than 17 runs. Alternately, it might be a horses-for-courses approach, with Pakistan confident the bowlers can defend any total in excess of 140. This would mean Pakistan haven’t felt the need to take greater risks in search of higher totals.It is unlikely Pakistan will ease up on their intensity, though. There’s barely time between the end of this series and the beginning of the next; Pakistan take on New Zealand in the first T20I three days after this game ends. They will look to maintain the momentum and sustain their winning habits that will be necessary against the tougher challenge New Zealand will likely pose, with a whitewash being the perfect way to go into that leg of the home winter.

Form guide

Australia LLWLW
Pakistan WWWWW

In the spotlight

Pakistan’s middle order may be choc-a-bloc with all-round talent, but at the moment, it looks like a gaping hole as far as the batting order is concerned. The players coming in from No. 4 onwards haven’t provided Pakistan with the reliability a top-class side needs from its batsmen, and so far they have had to rely heavily on Babar and Hafeez Should Australia find a way to snare a couple of quick wickets tomorrow, that misfiring middle order will find itself thrust into a role it hasn’t fulfilled this series so far. It may well be the key battleground in Dubai tomorrow, as well as the best route to victory Australia have.Andrew Tye has been a regular for Australia in this format for the past 18 months or so, missing only one of his side’s 19 T20Is. Highly rated in Australia as a wicket-taker with plenty of variations – like any modern T20 fast bowler – he was perhaps the visitors’ best bowler in the first T20I, conceding just 24 runs while taking three wickets.However, his second T20I , where he went for 40 off four overs, was more representative of his overall international career. With an economy rate of 8.69, Tye is in the top ten for worst economy rates in T20I cricket; only thrice in his 21 matches has he gone for under seven runs per over. It means the batsmen have to chase higher totals, and if there’s one thing we know about this Australian side, the batting lacks confidence. If he can put in a performance closer to the one he enjoyed in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, he will increase Australia’s chances of avoiding a whitewash here.

Team news

Pakistan could experiment, having already sealed the series. But everyone in the squad is more than up to the challenge, and competition for places is fierce. Opener Sahibzada Farhan may be given the chance to add to his solitary international cap, while Waqas Maqsood, included in the squad place of Mohammad Amir, could make his debut.Pakistan (possible): 1 Babar Azam, 2 Fakhar Zaman/Sahibzada Farhan, 3 Mohammad Hafeez , 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Asif Ali, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Shadab Khan, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Shaheen Afridi/Waqas MaqsoodIt’s hard to see Australia making a raft of changes. It is improved performances that will get them results; there’s no X-factor sitting on the bench. Mitchell Starc is unlikely to be risked so soon after injury, given the series is gone. Ashton Agar may come back to the side, with Ben McDermott the likeliest to make way.Australia (possible): 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 D’Arcy Short, 3 Chris Lynn, 4 Mitchell Marsh/, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Ashton Agar, 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 11 Billy Stanlake

Pitch and conditions

Conditions are much they same as they were on Friday. Australia will be keen to give batting first a try, though, after their unsuccessful chasing efforts.

Stats and trivia

• If Pakistan win tomorrow, it will be the first time they have whitewashed Australia in a limited-overs series longer than two games
• For Australians with five or more wickets, no one has a better T20I economy rate than Adam Zampa’s 6.05.
  

Stunning run of T20 form earns batsman another chance in format he still believes is ‘the pinnacle’

George Dobell at Lord's21-May-20181:57

Will Buttler be able to adapt his IPL game for Tests?

Jos Buttler has admitted he was as surprised as anyone by his Test recall and said it feels like “another debut”.Buttler, who has not played a Test since December 2016, was hailed for his “unique gifts” by new national selector, Ed Smith. But, having not played a first-class match this year or made a first-class century since January 2014, it was a selection that took almost everyone – and certainly Buttler – by surprise.But while he concedes a Test recall was not on his “radar” in the short term, Buttler insists he had never given up hope of a return to the format he believes is “still the ultimate” form of the game. And, whatever happens in this latest recall to the side, he has promised he will do things his own way.”It was quite a lot of a surprise,” Buttler said of his recall. “It wasn’t particularly on my radar. But, through a change of selectors, I’ve been afforded an incredible opportunity. So it’s a fantastic surprise and an incredible opportunity. It feels like another debut, really.”I wasn’t resigned to not playing Tests again, but I was very aware that it might never happen. I knew I was going to be available for a lot of championship cricket for Lancashire at the end of the summer, so that was a real focus of mine for targeting red-ball cricket. But you always think that maybe that race is run and it will never happen again.”He comes back into the Test team in a fine vein of form. He struck five half-centuries – including an unbeaten 94 and an unbeaten 95 – in his final six IPL innings and, though he accepts there will be some “differences” in the challenges facing him in Test cricket, he hopes to retain the same positivity and aggression that has served him well in T20 cricket.Buttler has outperformed the rest of his IPL side in May•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Of course there are differences,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I won’t be opening and trying to slog it in the first six overs.”But hopefully I can entertain. From the conversations I’ve had with Joe Root, the captain, and Ed Smith, the selector, they very much want me to play the way that suits me and in the fashion they believe will get the best out of me in that No. 7 role. They want me to play in the way I play in white-ball games.”For me it’s about expressing myself, trusting my instincts and allowing that to flourish rather than fighting it. I’m not just going to go out there and slog, but I am going to try to be positive.”There have been some great cricketers from all generations who have done it their own way. That’s what’s been asked of me: to play in a way that suits me.”Although he admits it was “hard to leave” the IPL early, Buttler is in no doubt as to where his priorities lie.”It was tough to leave the IPL halfway through,” he said. “It’s an incredible tournament and I’ve loved the last three years I’ve been there.”But I’m delighted to leave as well to come and have this opportunity. Test cricket is the ultimate format and I think it always will be for players of my generation. You get that feeling talking to everyone: they still feel Test cricket is best.”And Virat Kohli signing for Surrey to get used to playing in England shows that Test cricket is still at the forefront of players’ minds. It’s still the pinnacle.”

The chasm between the two sides was in full evidence as Pakistan romped to their joint-highest T20 total before they bowled West Indies out for their lowest

The Report by Danyal Rasool01-Apr-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThis might have been billed as the day international cricket came back to Karachi, but take that with a pinch of salt. A whole tablespoon, rather.The team Pakistan played against today – and beat by 143 runs – was in no universe international standard. Thirteen individuals cobbled together whose only unifying characteristic was their willingness to travel to Pakistan, they were never a match for the top-ranked T20I side. Especially not if you consider they had arrived in Pakistan from halfway around the world just 24 hours ago (the squad having only been announced late in the early hours of Friday morning), with barely enough time to shake off their jetlag before they were sped to the National Stadium to face off against Pakistan. In all senses of the phrase, this simply wasn’t cricket.A wretched bowling performance from West Indies – if we must call the touring side that – began with Samuel Badree, Keemo Paul and Riyad Emrit well off their lines and lengths, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam easily finding the gaps to take advantage of the fielding restrictions, and Pakistan speeding to 56 for 1 in the first six overs. You might be forgiven for not noticing the fielding restrictions had been lifted thereafter, as Pakistan continued along their merry way, never encumbered by tricky bowling or intelligent field setting. The quality of fielding from the tourists was amateur, singles on several occasions turning into boundaries as fielders under no pressure whatsoever let balls slip through their fingers.Even when West Indies managed to take wickets, it wasn’t down to the skill of the bowling. Until the 17th over, just three wickets and fallen, two of them to run-outs. Debutant Hussain Talat, who looked excellent as he top-scored with 41, was unfortunate enough to be involved in two mix-ups, the first one putting paid to Fakhar’s bright start, while a collision between Sarfraz Ahmed and Kesrick Williams meant Talat himself was left stranded mid-pitch.After a rare spell around the death overs in which West Indies looked to be reining Pakistan in somewhat, the shackles broke again in the penultimate over. What followed devastated West Indies and was arguably responsible for taking the wind out of their sails, even for the second innings. As Faheem Ashraf and Shoaib Malik freed their arms for a final flourish, Emrit and Williams found themselves helpless to stop the carnage. A whopping 41 runs came off the last ten balls as Pakistan surged to their joint-highest T20I total, setting West Indies a target of 204.AFP

It was like bringing a gun to a knife fight; they needn’t have bothered with such a vertigo-inducing total. The six that Chadwick Walton hit
Mohammad Nawaz for off the first ball was a false dawn as West Indies quickly began to unravel. Other than Walton and Marlon Samuels, no one in the top five scored a single run. Andre Fletcher and Jason Mohammed looked to be giving Hussain Talat catching practice at cover, both falling in Mohammad Amir’s first over. Denesh Ramdin, underwhelming in the PSL, didn’t trouble the scorers either, holing out to midwicket, and when Samuels top-edged a big heave off Nawaz, the visitors had slumped to 33 for 6, and the contest was descending into farce.West Indies would have been thankful to get past 39, the lowest T20I total ever, but there was no denying the innings was headed towards an early finish. Shoaib Malik removed the next two off consecutive deliveries just after West Indies crossed 50, and 79 – their previous lowest T20I score – was looking a long distance away. Particularly since West Indies were one man short; Veerasammy Permaul had injured his foot while bowling and would not bat.And sure enough, with the score at 60, the last wicket fell, condemning West Indies to a slew of unwanted records: their lowest T20I score and the largest margin of defeat between two Full Members among the more ignominious ones.It’s hard to read much into either side’s performance today, given the disparity between them. You could make a case that the touring side
didn’t play as well as they could, but one can’t help feeling an improved performance may only win them respectability. To win cricket matches, they may need a number of players who, for all sorts of reasons, aren’t where West Indies would want them to be – in Karachi.

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.

Plans to include Salman Butt in the Test squad to tour the West Indies were afoot, but the PCB has decided to shelve them for now in the wake of the PSL spot-fixing affair

Umar Farooq20-Mar-20170:47

Quick Facts – Salman Butt

Plans for an international recall for former Pakistan captain Salman Butt have been shelved for now, in light of the continuing fallout from the recent corruption allegations emanating from the PSL.Butt has no connection to the PSL corruption issue, but his role in the spot-fixing scandal in England in 2010, for which he was banned, has forced a selection rethink ahead of Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies. The PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan had publicly cleared Butt’s potential selection earlier this year, but it appears he will have to wait longer for a comeback.ESPNcricinfo understands Butt was even informed by a selector last month that he was being considered for the national side. But last week he was told that those plans had been set aside for now, as the present circumstances were not ideal for his return.Five players – Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Mohammad Irfan, Shahzaib Hasan and Nasir Jamshed – were provisionally suspended for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing during the PSL and face various corruption charges. The PCB was thus keen to avoid criticism by recalling Butt, who has not featured for his country since returning to domestic cricket from a five-year ban for corruption.Butt’s name had cropped up in recent selection meetings – headed by Inzamam-ul-Haq – as a reflection of Pakistan’s continuing struggle with opening batsmen. There was reluctance among some members of the management but the proposition wasn’t rejected outright, and the chairman’s clearance was seen as a green signal.Since his return Butt has impressed on the domestic circuit. He was the second-highest run-scorer in the National One-Day Cup with 536 runs at 107.20 in 2015. He resumed his first-class career in 2016, as captain of the WAPDA side which won the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, and scored 749 runs at 49.40 in the season, including twin hundreds in the final. He was also the second highest run-getter in the National T20 Cup last year.Butt was 26 when he was banned, having played 33 Tests, 78 ODIs and 24 T20Is. Since then, he has attended anti-corruption rehabilitation programmes conducted by the PCB, taken part in social work and publicly apologised, though he had pleaded his innocence until 2013. Butt, who was Pakistan captain at the time, was also sentenced to 30 months in jail for his part in the Lord’s scandal. The two other players punished at the time, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, have also returned to cricket after completing their bans. Amir has been successfully re-integrated into the national set-up, and so forms a precedent of sorts for any more returns.Butt’s selection had also been mooted ahead of Pakistan’s tour to England in 2016, when the captain Misbah-ul-Haq admitted he was impressed by Butt’s form.”We have a settled line up between numbers three and seven but the opening slot is not as consistent as the rest of the order,” Misbah had told ESPNcricinfo last year. “There are issues and we are looking at a couple more options including Shan Masood and Salman Butt. Salman is playing well and overall I didn’t see any such difference since he left [in 2010]. He is a good prospect and he has also scored ample runs after his comeback.”With an average of 30.46 from 33 Tests, Butt was never prolific at Test level, but a dearth of other options has made Pakistan look towards him again. Ahmed Shehzad has not played a Test since being dropped from the side in 2015 and Masood has struggled to cement his spot at the top of the order. Mohammad Hafeez’s inconsistency has made him a less attractive option at the top.Sami Aslam had impressed with twin fifties in his first Test against England last year but faded away, with only one score above 22 in his last nine innings. Sharjeel’s suspension has deprived Pakistan of yet another opening batsman, and the only bright spark has been Azhar since being pushed up as a makeshift opener.

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.

Dawid Malan hit some of the biggest sixes seen at Lord’s this season as his exhilarating 156 not out rushed Middlesex to a crushing eight-wicket victory against Glamorgan in the Royal London One-Day Cup

PA/ECB17-Aug-2015
ScorecardDawid Malan continued his rich vein of form•Getty Images

Dawid Malan hit some of the biggest sixes seen at Lord’s this season as his exhilarating 156 not out rushed Middlesex to a crushing eight-wicket victory against Glamorgan in the Royal London One-Day Cup.One of Malan’s sixes struck the balcony on the top tier of the pavilion, one flew into the top tier of the New Mound Stand and another, over a long boundary on one side of the ground, made it all the way into the Warner Stand.It meant that Colin Ingram’s third hundred in five Royal London One-Day Cup innings this season was all in vain as Glamorgan’s 50-over total of 251 for 9 was chased down by Middlesex with 10.2 overs to spare.Malan, like Ingram a left-hander in superb current form, was joined by Paul Stirling in an opening stand of 139 in 21.2 overs and, in all, the 27-year-old hit four sixes and 18 fours from 128 balls in a one-day career-best knock.Ingram’s 102 from 93 balls included five sixes and four fours was a fine effort, but even it paled by comparison to Malan’s languid hitting. Indeed, Malan – who currently averages more than 100 in championship cricket – is probably the most in-form batsman in the county game at present.Middlesex’s third win in Group B mathematically keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for a quarter-final place, but it is a very slim chance as they have now finished their group matches.Glamorgan, although they have only lost two of their seven games, are already out of contention for a knockout place as they have been docked four penalty points – two for preparing a poor pitch last season and another two for the surface at Cardiff which caused their match against Hampshire on August 2 to be abandoned.After winning the toss, Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph and his opening partner James Kettleborough were initially kept in check by an accurate and typically probing new ball spell by Tim Murtagh.Surprisingly playing his first 50-over game of the summer, Murtagh had Will Bragg caught at the wicket for nought while also conceding only 34 runs while bowling his 10-over stint straight through.Kettleborough, the first to go, was leg before to the equally steady James Harris for 25, in the 14th over, and although Ingram warmed up by hitting Ollie Rayner’s off spin for the first of his five sixes the Glamorgan total had reached only 99 for 2 by the halfway mark in their innings.Rudolph was soon out lbw to Rayner for 58, from 82 balls and with just six fours, leaving Glamorgan on a wobbly 105 for 3, but Chris Cooke hit 25 to help add 50 in 11 overs for the fourth wicket with Ingram.A brilliant diving catch at the second attempt at short mid wicket by Rayner, off Neil Dexter’s medium pace, sent back Cooke while David Lloyd also fell to Dexter for 10.Ingram, however, going to his fifty from 64 balls, then took a six and a four off the disappointing Junaid Khan, Middlesex’s overseas player, in a 43rd over which cost 14 and which brought up Glamorgan’s 200.Though he had bowled well earlier in two spells, also bowling Craig Meschede, asking Rayner to stay on to deliver the 49th over seemed a strange decision by James Franklin, the Middlesex captain, and Ingram duly hit the spinner for two sixes and a four in the space of four balls – the second six taking him to a 91-ball century.Ingram finally fell in the last over, which ended with Harris also bowling Ruaidhri Smith to earn himself figures of 4 for 38, and the former South African one-day international has now scored 405 runs in five Royal London Cup innings at an average of 81.It was nowhere near enough, though, as Malan produced some even more spectacular fireworks of his own and, with the assistance of Stirling and Sam Robson – who scored 22 in a second wicket stand of 76 in 16 overs – it all made Glamorgan’s creditable total look wholly inadequate.Malan’s first six, straight-driven off the suffering Dewi Penrhyn Jones in only his second one-day appearance, scattered spectators in the pavilion and the last blow of the match, a free hit following a no ball from the same bowler, was also a six from Dexter.