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They need to win both their remaining games to retain a chance of qualifying, while RCB need a miracle

The Preview by Ankur Dhawan29-Apr-20195:32

Kartik: Oshane Thomas has been a good enough replacement for Archer

Big picture

There’s a sense of deja vu as Royal Challengers meet Rajasthan Royals, although the roles have reversed from last year. For one, this is a home game for Royal Challengers. As things stand, it could be they who snap the thread by which the visitors’ playoff hopes hang. Not that Royal Challengers don’t stand a mathematical chance of qualifying themselves, but it’d require the kind of miracle that’s more suitable for fantasy fiction.Royals are coming off back-to-back wins, the first time they have been able to do so all tournament, and encouragingly, they have achieved this without Jos Buttler (both games), Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer (both didn’t feature in the second win). The loss of Steven Smith’s leadership is nigh, but not just yet. Their power and touch players alike should enjoy the true surface in Bengaluru, quick bowlers Oshane Thomas and Varun Aaron may not detest it either, and Shreyas Gopal should feel at home. However, they can’t afford leaking runs through sloppy fielding as they did against Sunrisers at home, and despite a player-of-the-match performance last match, Jaydev Unadkat’s dependence on cutters could be tested here.What Royals need is two straight wins; over a team that’s virtually out of contention and perhaps as a result with less to play for, and then over Delhi Capitals, who might have their guard down having already qualified for the playoffs. They shouldn’t expect any favours from either team, and will also need to keep an eye on their net run rate, should they end up tied on 14 points with other contenders.Of course, Royals’ best-case scenario would be to win both matches, and to hope that Sunrisers, Kings XI and Knight Riders all finish on 12 points each, rendering net run-rates irrelevant.

Form guide

Royal Challengers Bangalore: lost to Delhi Capitals by 16 runs, beat Kings XI by 17 runs, beat Super Kings by 1 run
Rajasthan Royals: beat Sunrisers by seven wickets, beat Knight Riders by three wickets, lost to Capitals by six wickets

Previous meeting

Both teams came into the contest winless and it was Royals who had points on the table at the end of it, as Shreyas Gopal spun a web around the Royal Challengers batting line-up. With healthy contributions from their top four, Royals, chasing 159, got over the line with one ball to spare.

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 AB de Villiers, 4 Heinrich Klaasen/Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Gurkeerat Singh, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Yurzvendra Chahal, 11 Navdeep SainiRajasthan Royals: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Liam Livingstone, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Sanju Samson (wk), 5 Ashton Turner, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 Stuart Binny, 8 Shreyas Gopal, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Varun Aaron, 11 Oshane ThomasSanju Samson flicks•BCCI

Strategy punt

• Marcus Stoinis’ demotion to No. 7 in the match against Delhi Capitals was surprising and arguably impacted the eventual outcome. He averages 71 and has a strike rate of 154 at No. 4 this year, his best in any position. He also finds the boundary once every four balls in this position. Royal Challengers would do well to elevate him.
• Since IPL 2017, Sanju Samson has scored at his slowest against offspin and legspin with a strike-rate of 117. The frequency with which he finds the boundary against these two types of bowling is also his lowest at 12.1 and 9.8 respectively. This suggests that Royal Challengers could have the combination of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar bowling to him in tandem.

Stats that matter

• This will be Steven Smith’s 50th match as captain in all T20s.
• Yuzvendra Chahal needs two wickets to get to 100 in the IPL.
• Virat Kohli needs one win to bring up 50 wins in the IPL as captain.
• Ajinkya Rahane needs 14 runs for 5000 runs in T20s

Devon Conway’s unbeaten 92 and MS Dhoni’s late sixes took CSK to 200 but it didn’t prove enough

Vishal Dikshit30-Apr-20232:12

Moody reckons Conway among the IPL’s best overseas buys of all time

Punjab Kings 201 for 6 (Prabhsimran 42, Livingstone 40, Deshpande 3-49, Jadeja 2-32) beat Chennai Super Kings 200 for 4 (Conway 92*, Gaikwad 37) by four wicketsA last-ball thriller that ended with Sikandar Raza pulling Matheesha Pathirana for three quick runs stunned a Chepauk crowd that may have expected their team to return home with a win and get closer to the top of the table. Chennai Super Kings had almost everything going for them; Devon Conway walloped an unbeaten 92, MS Dhoni stretched their total to 200 with two sixes to end the innings, and they strangled Kings’ chase through the middle overs, but lost despite largely being ahead through the final over thanks to Pathirana’s accuracy.With nine to win off the last over, Raza and Shahrukh Khan couldn’t hit a single boundary against Pathirana’s dipping deliveries. After a single, a leg bye, a dot ball and two twos off Pathirana’s yorkers and slower balls, Kings needed three off the last ball. Raza shuffled across and pulled a short-of-length slower ball over square leg, landing it right in between deep fine leg and deep midwicket to secure three and seal victory with his arms aloft.The two points took Kings to 10 points alongside three other teams, and to fifth place on the table, just behind Super Kings on net run rate.Sikandar Raza celebrates after taking Kings to a tense win•BCCI

Livingstone turns tables at the right time

Super Kings were favourites when Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran struggled to score freely off Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana. With 72 to win off 30, Livingstone got to face Tushar Deshpande and belted three sixes in four balls with four leg byes in between. Even though he fell off the fifth ball of the over, Kings still had Jitesh Sharma and Shahrukh to come, and the 24-run over brought their equation down to 48 off 24.Curran and Jitesh slammed straight sixes off Ravindra Jadeja in the 17th, but Pathirana was going to bowl two of the last three overs. He removed Curran’s off stump with a stunning, full delivery that swerved past his outside edge, and with 22 needed off 12, Kings went after Deshpande in the 19th to try and ensure they didn’t leave too much for the last over. Jitesh lofted the first ball over cover for four and got out to a contentious decision two balls later when substitute fielder Shaik Rasheed caught him at the wide long-on boundary while almost touching the boundary cushions with his foot. With 15 required off eight, Raza edged his first ball for four to make it a 13-run over.Even though Pathirana sent down an excellent last over, Raza manipulated the field perfectly to pick ones and twos and sealed the match with a hard-run three.

Boundaries rain in Kings’ powerplay, but not beyond

Kings came out all guns blazing in a steep chase. Shikhar Dhawan danced down off the second ball and went on to smash 21 off nine balls in Akash Singh’s first two overs. Prabhsimran Singh took on Theekshana’s carrom ball at the other end in a 12-run fourth over, and Kings raced to 46 for no loss in four overs.Dhawan sliced Deshpande to short third in the fifth over to fall for 28, but Prabhsimran kept his foot on the pedal with at least one boundary an over before being stumped off a 100kph Jadeja delivery in the ninth. It was then that Kings went through a slowdown, with Atharva Taide managing just 13 off 16 before falling to Jadeja in a three-run 11th over. Livingstone and Curran struggled to score freely off the Sri Lankan duo, scoring just 22 runs in overs 12 to 14, which pushed the asking rate beyond 12. But Livingstone soon broke the shackles against Deshpande, and Kings were back on track.Devon Conway made 92 not out, his fifth half-century in his last six innings•BCCI

CSK make quick start on a slow pitch

The Kings bowlers had to bowl in the unforgiving Chennai heat, and they were made to sweat further by Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway. Gaikwad showed excellent timing whereas Conway took the aerial route more often, such as when he hit Curran for back-to-back boundaries down the ground in the sixth over, which went for 16. Super Kings, who have lost the fewest wickets in the powerplay this IPL, finished the phase on 57 for 0.

Conway smashes fifty, Dube promoted to take on spinners

Spinners were always going to be in focus at Chepauk. Rahul Chahar, Kings’ lead spinner, was introduced in the powerplay and the openers hit a six each off him down the ground to push the run rate towards nine. Conway also reeled off consecutive fours off Raza’s flat offbreaks before the bowler unleashed a legbreak to have Gaikwad stumped for 37.Super Kings promoted Dube to counter the spinners, and he also pulled Kagiso Rabada for six soon after Conway reverse-swept Raza to raise a 30-ball fifty.

Conway bosses the middle overs

At 121 for 1 after 13, Kings brought back Arshdeep Singh, who struck when Dube holed out to long-on while attempting his third six. Super Kings kept sending out left-hand batters – Moeen Ali came in next – and they kept attacking the spinners. Conway and Moeen lapped up Livingstone for a 16-run 15th over, and Conway hit two more fours with sweeps off Chahar, before Arshdeep and Rabada slowed things a little with 11 boundary-free balls in the 18th and 19th overs.

The Dhoni show

Once looking set for 200, Super Kings were 185 with an over to go. Two hundred looked even more distant when Jadeja fell off the first ball of the 20th and Dhoni managed just one off his first two balls. But once Dhoni got the strike back, he smoked two sixes to end the innings, an uppercut and a leg-side whack off a low full-toss from Curran. Conway stayed unbeaten on 92 off 52 with 16 fours and a six.

After taking a five-for in the morning, No. 11 Seales hung around for his partner Roach to hit the winning runs

Danyal Rasool15-Aug-2021Antigua 2000, Dominica 2017 and now Jamaica 2021. West Indies and Pakistan added another chapter to the list of enthralling, nail-biting Tests between these two sides as the hosts eked out a stunning one-wicket win with Nos. 9 and 11 holding on.As Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales kept batting, the nerves kept building. Finally, it all came down to a fateful Hasan Ali over, as a nick evaded a valiant dive from Mohammad Rizwan to race away for a boundary before Roach pushed two through the off side to guarantee a 1-0 series lead.Pakistan had their chances, but the story, for now, is thoroughly West Indian. The hosts looked like they had been edged out of this match so often towards the death, and yet refused to acknowledge it was game over. But it did look like that when Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers fell in quick succession, when Jason Holder was cleaned up by Hasan and when Joshua Da Silva – the last recognized batter – fell with 26 still to go. However, West Indies kept knocking down the runs, and the scoreboard pressure shifted entirely to Pakistan. The visitors might have been firm favourites after the hosts had been reduced to nine down, but as Pakistan lost their nerve, Roach and the teenager Seales held theirs.For Pakistan, there was historical precedence in perhaps their most famous Test of all. In 1954, a Fazal Mahmood inspired side defended 167 – exactly what they had on the board today – against England at the Oval: the origin story of Pakistan cricket. It might even have been comfortable when Shaheen Afridi blew apart the top order, and when a middle-order West Indian collapse saw Pakistan burrow deep into their tail. But the catching, so sensational up until the final session, let them down in crucial moments.Roach was put down by Rizwan as a partnership with Da Silva flowered, before Hasan dropped him as well in the deep with 19 runs still to get. In the final session, Da Silva was once again dropped by Abbas. Rizwan’s 45-yard sprint to seal Jomel Warrican’s fate looked also to have done it for West Indies, but there was perhaps an opportunity to pluck a diving one-handed catch off the Roach edge that ended up going to the boundary in that final over.It may seem ages ago now, but a dramatic morning session saw more drama than many entire days, spanning eight wickets across two innings. Seales led the charge in the mission to remove the lower order cheaply, and within an hour-and-a-half, Pakistan’s last five had fallen for 35. Of those 35 runs, 28 were added by an enterprising Hasan in just 26 balls with two fours and two sixes. That pushed the lead above 150 for Pakistan, each extra run giving himself and his fellow bowlers precious breathing room.Moreover, Babar Azam’s presence at the crease was always going to be vital, but a Mayers delivery seared up off a crack and looped up to Holder at second slip early in the day. Azam had departed for a valiant 55, and while it brought Pakistan agonizingly close, his side ended up needing just a bit more from him.From there on, it was down to the raw pace of Seales against Pakistan’s lower order. Yasir Shah and Afridi were sent back with little bother, but Hasan rode his luck as Pakistan brought up 200. Seales, though, would not be denied a maiden five-for in just his second Test, and got there when Hasan’s hook went straight to Roach at fine leg. In the process, he became the youngest West Indies bowler to earn a Test five-for as the hosts were set 168 to win.Jayden Seales became the youngest West Indies bowler to a Test five-for•AFP/Getty Images

The Afridi show began in a somewhat surreal over that had three reviews for leg before wicket by Pakistan against Kieran Powell, the third finally resulting in success. Kraigg Brathwaite didn’t last long in the face of a hostile spell from Afridi, his poke at one that jagged away leading to his downfall, but only after a review. Nkrumah Bonner dragged on in Afridi’s following over, and suddenly, the pre-lunch session turned into a damage-limitation exercise for West Indies.After the mad rush of the first session came the relative slow burn of the second. No less absorbing for its slightly slower pace, it carried with it the sensation of a building crescendo. West Indies made the early running as Chase and Jermaine Blackwood, West Indies’ top scorer with 55, threatened to take it away for the hosts with a 68-run fourth wicket partnership.They came out after lunch a much more confident pair, Blackwood continuing to put anything too wide or too full away. Hasan in particular came in for punishment off successive overs as he struggled with his lines; and with a small target to defend, there wasn’t much room for error, every boundary tilting the scales the batters’ way.Chase, Pakistan’s pet peeve in 2017, was looking just as untroubled without quite having as much of an impact on the scoreboard. But all West Indies needed was a partnership, and as long as the pair continued remained at the crease, the danger signs flashed for Pakistan.Faheem Ashraf, Pakistan’s impact allrounder of late, was the man to break the partnership, constantly threatening Chase’s outside edge in a probing over. When the edge came, Imran Butt was never going to drop a low catch; and in Ashraf’s next over, the same combination got rid of Kyle Mayers for a pair.But the moment of the session came in late, when a few Holder boundaries had brought the required runs down under 60. Blackwood hung his bat out at Hasan once too often, sending it straight to first slip; except Butt at second decided only he could be trusted behind the stumps, diving sensationally to his left to hold on to a stunner. On the stroke of tea, Holder found his off peg knocked back with a beauty.It looked like a bridge too far when Da Silva and Roach came out after tea still needing 54, but as in Antigua and Dominica, the West Indies lower order refused to give in. They began to knock off the runs gradually, and suddenly, with the pair looking relatively untroubled, West Indies had less than 30 left to go. Pakistan, to their alarm, found they were still in a game, and with West Indies refusing to roll over, it became a game of shredded nerves as much as exquisite skill.There was the glory of Rizwan’s catch that spanned the length of the ground, the errors like Hasan’s drop at deep square leg, the guts of Roach going for his shots with the ultimate consequence on the line and the heart of Seales seeing off some searing pace bowling from Afridi. Pakistan broke West Indian hearts four years ago, but in a classic that contained shades of Antigua, West Indies have exacted exceptionally sweet revenge in Jamaica.

Anamul was the best batter of the week while Al-Amin Hossain and Mukidul Islam impressed with the ball, picking up five-fors

Mohammad Isam05-Apr-2023

Key takeaways – Abahani maintain clean slate

Abahani remained the only team with a 100% win record after they won two matches this week. Defending champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club lost to Mohammedan Sporting Club while Legends of Rupganj, who had won their first five games, dropped points against Rupganj Tigers Cricket Club. Prime Bank Cricket Club, who lost to Abahani by 141 runs, fell well back in the race.

Best batter – Anamul Haque

Anamul struck centuries against Dhaka Leopards and Prime Bank, making 107 and 153 in the two games respectively. He has already scored three centuries in the season, equalling his personal record from the 2019 and 2022 seasons. He has now scored 14 hundreds in the List-A era of the league.

Best bowlers – Al-Amin Hossain and Mukidul Islam

Al-Amin Hossain and Mukidul Islam took five-wicket hauls this week, leading Legends of Rupganj and Rupganj Tigers, respectively, to victories. Among those who took four-wicket hauls this week, Parvez Rasool added some runs to help his side Dhanmondi Club to a win, too.

Best match – Brothers Union vs City Club

City Club’s Nos. 10 and 11, Ifran Hossain and Asif Hasan, struck the winning runs with one ball remaining to help their team to a one-wicket win against Brothers Union. Brothers Union took regular wickets but Towfiq Khan and Rafsan Al Mahmud made important runs to get City Club towards the 220-run target, which they pulled off right at the close.

Points to ponder

City Club have won their last three games after losing the first four. Mohammedan Sporting Club, one of the most successful teams in the tournament’s history, are languishing in eighth place with five points. Dhaka Leopards remain the only winless team after seven rounds.

Players to watch – Anamul Haque and Robiul Haque

Anamul should re-enter the national selectors’ radar with his big scores, particularly the 153 against Prime Bank. Among the bowlers, Robiul Haque and Mukidul have shown match-winning abilities quite consistently.

The hosts, however, still trail by 295 runs going into the third day

Sreshth Shah03-Jan-2023Stumps A confident 74 from Imam-ul-Haq and a slow, yet solid 13 from Saud Shakeel ensured Pakistan made a steady resurgence in their innings after they briefly appeared to fall apart. The pair’s unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 55 lifted Pakistan to 154 for 3, still 295 behind New Zealand’s first-innings total of 449.Pakistan had made a steady start in their response to 449, but the dismissals of Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood, and then the run-out of Babar Azam made it appear like day two would completely belong to New Zealand. But that wasn’t to be, with Imam and Shakeel ensuring Pakistan pulled things back, even though the visitors remained slightly ahead in the contest after two days of cricket.All eyes in the final session were on Imam, who had turned down a third run to cause a mix-up with Babar and effect a third dismissal, but he continued his batting fluency from the first Test to hit nine fours and a six in his 125-ball innings. He struck four fours through the covers, using his feet to good effect against the ball turning away from Michael Bracewell, and also played in the region in front of square on the leg side, collecting 23 runs in that area.Shakeel, at the other end, anchored himself for the most part, taking 42 balls to score his first run off the bat. Initially, he poked at the deliveries turning away from Bracewell in what appeared to be a tricky initiation into the innings, missing a few early on. His resistance came via his dead-batting ploy to see off the day, which he successfully did, playing 75 deliveries to make 13 in an innings that saw only one boundary in it.Related

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Before that, Both Shafique and Masood were out trying to play aggressively. Shafique, the right-hand opener, had struck four early boundaries to move to 19, but then tried pulling a rising short ball from Matt Henry while taking his eyes off the delivery. He ended up hitting the shot high, and to the only outfielder in the deep on the leg side.Masood then produced a fluent beginning, hitting four fours in his first ten deliveries to race to 20. In fact, he had crunched three boundaries in a single Ajaz Patel over before trying to search for a fourth when he sliced a half-tracker to the fielder at point.That had left Imam and Babar looking to start a Pakistan recovery after tea, but that partnership could never blossom, with the captain run out, on 24, for the sixth time in his Test career.Imam-ul-Haq was unbeaten on 74 at stumps•AFP/Getty Images

Earlier in the day, both Henry (68) and Ajaz (35) put on their highest individual Test scores while also becoming only the fourth pair in Test history to post a 100-plus partnership between a No. 10 and a No. 11. That lifted New Zealand from potentially folding for under 350 to eventually finishing at a run less than 450.The two came together when New Zealand lost their ninth wicket with the score reading 345. However, Henry took on Abrar early with a four through midwicket before hammering Hasan Ali for four, four and six in consecutive deliveries. The umpires called for an extra thirty minutes of play in the first session with New Zealand nine down, but Henry and Ajaz batted right through that. Ajaz was more circumspect, freeing his arms on rare occasions in his 78-ball stay. He hit three fours and looked quite comfortable on the whole, especially against the short-pitched bowling that Pakistan tested him – unsuccessfully – with.Henry reached his fifty before lunch, and the duo added a further 16 in the second session before they eventually folded for 449. The innings ended when Ajaz attempted to sweep an Abrar googly, only to get a top-edge for slip to gobble up.Before their entertaining final-wicket stand, it was Tom Blundell who started off strongly for New Zealand after they resumed day two on 309 for 6. After Ish Sodhi fell for 11 early, Blundell, in Tim Southee’s company, reached his ninth Test fifty. But Abrar dismissed Blundell for 51 and Southee for nine in quick succession before the Henry-Ajaz stand.Naseem Shah was the most impressive of the bowlers from the first innings, finishing with 3 for 71 while having an economy of 2.95. While Abrar took a four-for, he conceded 149 and Salman, who barely bowled in the first Test, took 3 for 75.

The absence of India’s captain will give Pakistan the edge in the Asia Cup, the fast bowler has said

Umar Farooq06-Sep-20181:57

Kohli’s absence gives Pakistan the edge – Hasan Ali

In just under two weeks’ time, Pakistan will face India for the first time since last year’s Champions Trophy final. Hasan Ali picked up three wickets in Pakistan’s 180-run win in that match, but he didn’t get to bowl to Virat Kohli, who fell early to Mohammad Amir. Hasan won’t get to bowl to Kohli during the Asia Cup either, with India resting their regular captain for the tournament. Hasan is a little disappointed that Kohli won’t be lining up against him on September 19.”Virat Kohli is a very good player. Everybody knows that he is a match-winner,” Hasan said, speaking to the media during Pakistan’s pre-tournament camp at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. “Despite his absence from the squad, India still have a very good team. They have many more players. The advantage to us is that the way Virat Kohli can handle the pressure, someone else who comes in his place might not be able to.”As a youngster, everybody wants to take Virat Kohli’s wicket but unfortunately he isn’t coming. The next time we compete, I will definitely try to take his wicket.”Like Kohli, Hasan is growing a reputation for his fitness standards. His recent fitness test made headlines back home, when he achieved a score of 19.8 in the yo-yo test, well above the benchmark of 17.4 that Pakistan’s team management has set for players to be eligible for selection.Getty Images

Hasan said he was working hard on his fitness with a view to performing consistently in all three formats.”As a youngster, you want to keep yourself fit and look after yourself,” he said. “I have played all three formats and playing all three formats is a burden on the body. On top of that, you need to perform as well.”Looking at all three formats, you need to increase the level of your fitness which is why I have focused more on my fitness. There is no need for comparison with Virat Kohli. He is my senior. He is a legend. He himself is fit. I focus on my fitness because that brings me consistency.”Pakistan will face India at least twice in the Asia Cup, and three times if both reach the final. Hasan believes India will be under more pressure because of their defeat in the Champions Trophy final, and that playing in the UAE will give Pakistan ‘home’ advantage. He also said he wanted “all ten wickets” to give his fans the pleasure of watching his trademark celebration multiple times.”We are on top right now. They [India] are under pressure from the previous defeat,” Hassan said. “In UAE, these are our conditions, we have the home advantage as we have been playing here for long, and are aware of how to use the conditions. India are a good side and I wish to take all ten wickets rather than a five-for, and make my fans across the world happy with my celebration style. There is definitely pressure but I feel good when pressure mounts on me because that is where I try to perform and help my side win.”

Renuka Singh took three wickets to help restrict India A to 144 for 5 and set up victory

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2022Yastika Bhatia, Jasia Akhter and Renuka Singh starred for India D as they beat India A by seven wickets in Raipur to lift the Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy.Put into bat, India A didn’t have a great start, with Renuka trapping Shivali Shinde lbw in the first over. Soon after, she dismissed Disha Kasat too, making it 25 for 2 in the fifth over. Wicketkeeper-opener Nuzhat Parween and Harleen Deol stabilised the innings, taking the side to 52 for 2 by the halfway stage of the innings.The next five overs produced 46 runs as both batters opened up. Deol reached her fifty in 40 balls, with Parween following her in 42. The two added 105 for the third wicket, in 13.1 overs, before Renuka broke the stand with Parween’s wicket. Deol fell in the last over of the innings to Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who also had Sajeevan Sajana stumped three balls later.Chasing 145, Bhatia and Akhter set the platform with their 70-run opening partnership in 11 overs. Akhter was the aggressor, hitting three fours and as many sixes in her 38-ball 47.Jemimah Rodrigues and D Hemalatha fell for single-digit scores but by then Bhatia had assumed control. At one point, she was on 21 off 27 balls. Off the next 14, she smashed 31 to bring up her half-century in 41 balls.India D needed 38 runs in the last five overs, which Bhatia and Sushma Verma knocked off with an over to spare.

A crucial 71-run stand helped Loughborough Lightning begin their Kia Super League title mount with back-to-back wins

ECB Reporters Network 25-Jul-2018Loughborough Lightning 109 for 4 (Jones 35, Villani 35) beat Southern Vipers 105 (Beaumont 37) by six wickets
ScorecardAmy Jones and Elyse Villani carefully claimed a crucial 71-run stand helped Loughborough Lightning begin their Kia Super League title mount with back-to-back wins.The third-wicket stand saw both Jones and Villani score 35 as the Lightning beat last year’s runners-up Southern Vipers by six wickets.Sophie Devine skippered in place of Georgia Elwiss, who wasn’t available for selection for personal reasons, and won the toss – and decided to bowl on a sun-drenched dry wicket.Devine justified her own selection straight away as she won the battle of the New Zealand openers when she had Suzie Bates lbw, attempting to play through the leg side.Bates’ opening partner Danni Wyatt departed three overs later when she creamed a drive straight to former Vipers teammate Georgia Adams at cover.Despite the wickets, Tammy Beaumont was looking assure as she continued her form – having begun the campaign with an unbeaten 62.The England star got off the mark with a streaky inside-edge for four but started to ooze quality with a 36-ball 37 and wagon-wheel full of boundaries.Meanwhile, the slow nature of the pitch forced frustrated shots out of Mignon du Preez, caught splicing to point, Beaumont snaffled at cover and Sara McGlashan lbw.That left the Vipers 73 for five after 14 overs, with hopes of a recovery slim due to accurate bowling – especially from Sarah Glenn, who boasted impeccable figures of one for 14.Arran Brindle attempted to steady the ship with a calming 19, but Amelia Kerr was well caught at cover, before Brindle was run out and Paige Scholfield was snared on the long-on boundary.The collapse concluded with Carla Rudd bowled attempting a scoop to hand Devine a analysis of three for 21, and then Fi Morris was stumped as the Lightning bowled the Vipers out with four balls to spare.Chasing 105, Devine crashed the game’s first six with a massive flick over the square-leg ropes.Rachael Haynes also got off to a flier with a pair of boundaries, but she and Devine both fell in back-to-back balls.Haynes was caught by Wyatt at cover as she skewed leg-spinner Kerr, before Devine was leg before to Natasha Farrant.Scoring then resumed to its slow rate, mainly due to Kerr’s miserly bowling which only saw six runs come off her four overs, as Jones and Villani re-built.The pair methodically went about completing the chase, with Jones getting dropped on 20 by Brindle the only blemish in a 71-run stand.But with 11 runs required Villani was stumped off Morris, and Jones was run out in the space of three deliveries.But Jenny Gunn and Adams overcame the stumble and saw their side home with seven balls to spare to keep up their 100 per cent record.

New Zealand’s world record lasts for a matter of hours on extraordinary day at Taunton

Andrew Miller20-Jun-20181:48

‘I just felt like it was my day’ – Beaumont

England 250 for 3 (Beaumont 116, Wyatt 56) beat South Africa 129 for 6 (van Niekerk 72) by 121 runs

ScorecardIt’s been a week of scarcely credible run-scoring feats – starting with New Zealand women’s twin demolition of Ireland (491 team runs in one innings, 232 individual runs for Amelia Kerr in another) and continuing on Tuesday with England’s men’s ODI-record total of 481 for 6 against Australia at Trent Bridge.But on a ludicrous day of run-feasting at Taunton, England’s women might just have taken the biscuit. A matter of hours after watching New Zealand add the highest T20 innings total to their records-chest, with a Suzie Bates-inspired total of 216 for 1, Tammy Beaumont and her team-mates marched out to the middle to obliterate that mark from the annals.Twenty overs after winning the toss against the same hapless South African opposition, England had amassed an extraordinary 250 for 3. Their effort was powered by a 47-ball century from Beaumont – her third for England in as many innings after her ODI-series-sealing knocks last week. With five overs still to come, she had the individual record at her mercy as well, when she miscued a return catch to Stacy Lackay to depart for 116 from 52.At the top of Beaumont’s innings, Danni Wyatt had offered a high-octane supporting role with 56 from 36 balls in an opening stand of 147 in 13.1 overs, whereupon Nat Sciver, with 33 from 15 and Katherine Brunt, 42 not out from 16, applied the finishing touches with a murderous series of blows.It was brutal, compelling, and – for South Africa – utterly soul-destroying, as they limped away from the field having conceded 466 runs in the space of 40 overs across two (non)-contests. Even Beaumont, whose 116 from 52 balls had contained four of England’s nine sixes and 18 of their 33 fours, later admitted some sympathy for a side who had drawn the short straw in having to play twice in one day in this fledgling round-robin competition.”We saw the Kiwi girls broke [the record] this morning,” Beaumont told Sky Sports. “Robbo [Mark Robinson] told us in the pre-match chat not to try and break it, but I think a few of the girls got a bit of a challenge on. It’s an incredible wicket, and we feel a bit sorry for the South Africa girls having to go two in two, but that’s the way it goes in this T20 series and we’ve all got one of those.”On this evidence, England will be itching not only for the rematch against South Africa – on this same ground on Saturday – but for their first encounter with the New Zealand big guns later that same day.Doubtless encouraged by the ruthlessness shown by Bates and Sophie Devine in their morning stand of 182, England’s ball-striking was clean and awesome from the get-go – and to think they had been suffering from power failure only a couple of years ago.Wyatt’s cover drive was purring from the very outset of her innings, while Beaumont’s ferocity in the arc from square leg to long-on was a sight to behold. There was finesse at times too, but it was scarcely required as the innings progressed and South Africa’s morale deserted them.Their captain, Dane van Niekerk, had given her team a ferocious talking-to in the break between matches, but it proved fruitless as England rattled along to their first hundred in just 53 balls – New Zealand, by contrast, had taken 66 earlier in the day.South Africa’s woes had been summed up by two polarised moments in the field – a missed stumping from Lizelle Lee which cannoned off her knee for byes, and a brilliant catch in the deep from Sune Luus to intercept another Beaumont smear over long-on, which she was forced to relinquish as her momentum dragged her over the rope.England, in reply, had one or two moments to forget in the field – not least Jenny Gunn, who dropped a sitter off Laura Wolvaardt in Brunt’s first over (she made amends moments later), then clung onto a one-handed screamer at long-on off van Niekerk, only to spill the simplest of relay lobs as she too was forced to take a second bite of the cherry with the boundary rope looming.The match was over as a contest almost before the second innings began, but for the second match running, van Niekerk provided her team with some cheer, as she clubbed her second defiant fifty of the day, this time off 40 balls with seven fours and a six. She finished on 72 from 51, as Anya Shrubsole pulled off a blinder, diving to her right at mid-off to intercept a flat drive.That catch, however, was arguably less impressive than Shrubsole’s final bowling figures. On a pitch on which every other bowler had come across as cannon fodder, not least Mackay and Masabata Klaas, both of whom conceded a record 59 runs in their spells, Shrubsole wheeled through her four overs for a cost of just eight runs.

First red-ball appearance since early 2019 brings game-changing 85-ball ton

David Hopps14-Sep-2022Northamptonshire 339 and 209 for 5 (Procter 55, Vasconcelos 51*) lead Surrey 421 (Amla 133, Curran 115) by 127 runsTom Curran had begun to feel like a cricketer who might become a limited-overs specialist more by circumstance than design. Injuries have plagued him in recent years and he had not played a Championship game for Surrey since before Covid-19 announced its baleful presence on the world. A hundred before lunch in his first four-day match for 41 months was quite a way to put that right.Since an early-season match against Essex in 2019, he has played 84 T20 and 17 List A matches for seven different teams. An itinerant cricketer, much in demand, but with an England career that has recently lost impetus and a Championship career that felt as if it belonged to different times.Such misgivings were banished, hopefully for many years to come, by a remarkable return: a maiden first-class hundred in 85 balls which became more audacious which each passing over and which energised Surrey’s Championship challenge.With each shot, he appeared to be pouring out his frustration on a period where he has suffered prolonged absences, firstly from a side strain and then from a stress fracture of his back which caused him to leave Sydney Sixers early last December midway through the Big Bash. He has sat in England bubbles, but not played international cricket in over a year.Curran came to the crease at 244 for 6 after four overs of the third morning. Surrey still trailed by 95 and Hashim Amla had just completed a dedicated hundred which appeared to be all that stood between Northamptonshire and a useful first-innings lead. Shortly before lunch, the Wantage Road crowd rose as one to give Curran a heartfelt standing ovation for a century of great gusto that changed the complexion of the game and may have changed the destination of the Championship. Somewhere, a dog barked in excitement; his Championship dog days were over.”I haven’t played a lot of Championship cricket in the past few years and I wanted to come in and be more positive,” Curran said. “The red ball tends to do a little bit more than I’ve been facing in the past few weeks, but there is not much in the wicket for the bowlers and I knew if I put some pressure back on them it would make it tough. It’s no secret that Northampton means a lot to me so it was extra special to get my first hundred here.”Northampton is a special place for the Curran family. Tom’s father, Kevin, was a great servant of the county, and Tom is the only one of the three brothers not to have been born in the town. But his hundred perhaps dispelled some sadness, too, because this week Ben Curran, the brother who never quite managed a Championship hundred, was released by Northants and may have to accept that his county career is over at 26.Surrey would be under considerable pressure from Hampshire if they fail to win here. They are level on points going into the final day, and will stretch that lead to eight points if they draw, 16 if they win, with two matches remaining. With Northamptonshire holding a precarious lead of 127, with five wickets remaining, Surrey probably need wickets before a second new ball that is still 15 overs away.The career of the two most celebrated Curran brothers advanced in harmony once more. In late June, Sam had also made his maiden Championship hundred, against Kent at Kia Oval, a run-strewn match in which four Surrey batters passed 100 in the same innings. Tom joined him by flat-batting the offspinner Rob Keogh through mid-on at a time when he felt he could do no wrong. His last 30 runs had come in a torrent, including a hold-the-pose straight drive against James Sales to bring up the hundred stand, Amla by then a virtual spectator, and a six against Keogh that flew wide of the coffee shack at long-on, purveyor of the best coffee on the ground.There were times during his withering assault when Northants did not bowl well at him, particularly the South African quick, Lizaad Williams, the only player with international experience. Spin made but a brief appearance. He had a couple of fortunate top-edged pulls that flew over the keeper’s head, one of which took him to his half-century. But for a player whose previous first-class best was only 60, he dismissed the ball with abandon.Amla fell eight balls after Curran reached his century, lbw as he tried to work Keogh to leg. Keogh took three of the last four wickets to return 4 for 41, and bowled well enough to deserve some late adornment of his figures. One more bold shot over mid-off from Curran would have beaten his father’s career-best score, but this time Williams had his measure and Luke Procter held an excellent running catch.Intriguingly, the two not out batters who will lead Northants’ resistance on the final morning are Ricardo Vasconcelos and Saif Zaib, two players who have dropped down the order in search of form. Vasconcelos, 51 not out, at the close, passed 50 for only the third time in a season where he was burdened with the captaincy unexpectedly at the start and has never recovered.Surrey’s quicks began aggressively against the new ball, and removed both openers by tea. But Northants will particularly regret losing two wickets in the final session to full tosses – Josh Cobb diverting one from legspinner Cameron Steel to short midwicket and Procter’s half-century ending when he missed a full ball from Gus Atkinson.