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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.

He smashed seven sixes and four fours in his 38-ball 67

Andrew McGlashan12-Jul-2021So, those questions about Chris Gayle’s form. The opener put on a thunderous display, with his first T20I half-century since 2016, to secure a series victory for West Indies as he pummelled the Australia attack around St Lucia in what became a cakewalk of a chase.Having made 102 runs in nine innings since his recall earlier this year, Gayle launched seven sixes in an innings that took him past 14,000 T20 runs. After he departed, stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran ensured there was no hiccup in the chase he closed it out with more than five overs to spare. It is the first time West Indies have won a bilateral series (or more than one match) against Australia in any format since 1995.Australia had made three changes – two enforced by injury to Ben McDermott and Ashton Agar – and changed tact by opting to bat first when Aaron Finch again won the toss, but it was a laboured effort after some initial momentum in the powerplay. Moises Henriques and the recalled Ashton Turner added 59 but it took almost eight overs.

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West Indies were excellent with the ball despite Obed McCoy being able to bowl only one over. Fabian Allen and Hayden Walsh Jr, who took his series tally to eight wickets, bowled their eight overs for 44. Allen also took a spectacular rebound catch in the deep to remove Finch in a display that further enhanced his fielding credentials.The Wade, Finch contrast
The struggle for the majority of Australia’s innings is highlighted by the fact that they had a useful 41 off the first five overs. That was largely down to Matthew Wade who again struck the ball sweetly as he did in the opening match of the series. However, with some of the issues being faced by other batters, Australia needed him to make the most of those starts and kick on but he departed when he missed a slower ball from McCoy. His opening partner is finding things aren’t quite coming out of the middle at the moment and Finch never got his timing during a run-a-ball stay where he was often losing his shapes on shots. He eventually fell to a worldie of a catch, completed by Allen at deep midwicket who remained magnificently alert when Dwayne Bravo missed the initial chance, and hurled himself low to the ground to grab it.Fabian Allen was brilliantly alert to hold rebound catch•AFP

Walsh does it again
The Finch wicket was Walsh’s second of the innings as he again did a terrific job, this time also bringing notable economy to his four overs. Pooran had held back his spinners – the match was a rare example of all the powerplay play overs being bowled by seamers of various descriptions – and when they were introduced Australia struggled to up the tempo. Allen removed the in-form Mitchell Marsh when he missed a sweep and Walsh claimed his first by ending a lively start from Alex Carey who had reverse-swept his first ball of the series for four. The spinners, which included one over from Gayle, did not concede a single six as Australia only cleared the boundary twice – both hits coming from Henriques.Gayle’s reminder
Gayle arrived for the fourth ball of the chase after Mitchell Starc, who bowled excellently after two expensive outings, had Andre Fletcher taken at midwicket. He saw out the over from Starc but then things got lively. When he got on strike to Josh Hazlewood’s first over he went 6, 4, 4, 4. There was a look in his eye of a batter on a mission. He was measured too but after a brief period of more sedate play, he deposited Adam Zampa for a straight six and followed it up in the 11th over with three consecutive sixes against the legspinner, the third of which took him to a 33-ball half-century. He saved the biggest for a huge leg-side blow off Riley Meredith that was followed by another the next ball before a top edge ended the show. Five of the last seven deliveries he faced cleared the rope. The match and the series were done and dusted.

England’s World Cup XI relives the drama of the Super Over victory over New Zealand

Wisden Almanack08-Apr-2020In an extract from the 2020 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, England’s World Cup XI look back on the thrilling denouement to last summer’s unforgettable final at Lord’s

Joe Root

There wasn’t the normal Lord’s hum, but pockets of pin-drop silence, like a game of snooker. Jofra was unlucky when the first ball was called wide, and he got quite animated. To keep his composure after that was a credit to him. When Neesham hit that six, I thought back to Eden Gardens in 2016 – this surely can’t happen again. Watching the ball sail into the stands was a sinking feeling.But Jof has such strong self-belief. From the penultimate delivery, he fielded off his own bowling, and I screamed: “Hold it!” If he had hit the stumps with a shy, Neesham would have been run out – but if he had missed, it would have handed New Zealand an extra run.When Jos took the bails off next ball, I had a great view from midwicket. Straight behind him, on the balcony, all the support staff and coaches were bouncing around, and to the left were the families. Jofra ran off and did a Klinsmann dive, but everyone hurried after Jos, wheeling away into the bottom corner of the ground.Seeing my parents up above us, with my grandfather, little boy, wife and friends, was really special. Jonny Bairstow picked me up. I punched him in the chest, and screamed in his face: “World Cup! World Cup!” The other squad members were soon on the field too. I have never seen Moeen Ali run so fast. It was pure elation.

When Woody got run out off the last ball of our 50 overs, everyone was so confused about what came next. But the waiting period got us all fired up, especially me. At one point, I didn’t think we were even going to tie the game, so to be given another life meant everyone had that little bit more fight.I wanted to bowl the super over, but didn’t get confirmation until about two minutes before we warmed up. I usually bowl at the death of a 50-over innings, so I thought it was likely to be me, but I wouldn’t have been too upset if it hadn’t: at least I wouldn’t have been responsible if we’d lost.When the umpire signalled a wide on the tramline first ball, I asked Morgs to review it. He said, “You can’t with a wide, Jof, I’m sorry,” and we laughed. Even when I was hit for six, I was not worried. You have to accept you are probably going to go for a boundary. We had the misfield, but kept our heads, and limited them to ones and twos.When Jos completed the run-out, I set off in the opposite direction to the others, and did a chest slide. Then we all joined up, and people started jumping on me. It was the sweetest moment I’ve had on a cricket field. I’ll be honest: it almost brought a tear to my eye. As someone who has always loved the game, it still feels surreal to be a World Cup winner. I can only imagine how special it feels for the others, because they were on that journey for four years. They went through what happened in 2015. In fact, I feel happier for them than I do for myself.What just happened: we’re unlikely to ever see a cricket match as dramatic as the 2019 World Cup final•Getty Images

Like all the others, I enjoyed a minute of utter madness, picking up Mark Wood and tossing him in the air. Then I saw Martin Guptill still lying on the ground. I’ve always felt that the only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner. I’m sure people could understand why we were all running around like headless chickens, but going over to commiserate seemed the right thing to do. It probably helped that we’ve always got on well with the New Zealanders.Jimmy Neesham was there too, and I said: “Hard luck, lads, great game.” I half-tried to pick Guptill off the turf, but he wasn’t budging. Neesham just said: “Nah, we’re all good, mate. Congratulations.” It wasn’t until I saw the photo later of me and Guptill that I thought back to 2005 and the image of Andrew Flintoff with Brett Lee at Edgbaston. I was there that day on the groundstaff. Now, here I was as a player, in a moment I’ll never forget.

Umpire Aleem Dar came into the dressing-room, and Eoin Morgan told him: “Woody’s torn his side.” Even throwing a ball was going to hurt, so Aleem said a substitute fielder was fine. I watched from the bench with the physio and the doctor.Ben was so intense: he had that eye-of-the-tiger look. He headed out the back to gather himself. Jos Buttler is someone who’s normally really calm, yet he was quite animated. At one point, he was on his haunches, hitting the physio bed with his fists, shouting expletives. That’s definitely not like him. But when he and Stokesy went back out, they were both in the zone.I felt sick the whole time but, when Jos hit that last ball for four, it settled me down. I thought 15 was a great score. During their over, I was biting my nails, unable to stand still. Moeen Ali and I were guessing every ball what Jofra was going to do; I’m not sure we got any right.

I was excited to have another chance to affect things. I had got out at a crucial time, and it was tough watching, but suddenly I was back in the game. I started to pad up, because I assumed it would be me – and wanted it to be me. I’d been involved in a few super overs, so I knew what to expect.Trent Boult bowled a good over, and it did feel like we had to scramble hard. Stokesy skewed one over third man, then I hit one to deep cover that the fielder didn’t pick up, so we managed two. After I hit the last ball for four, Stokesy gave me a massive fist-bump: we got 15, which felt like a decent effort, plus we had Jofra to bowl, and no one had got him away in the regular innings.As we walked back out, Rash said we had Allah with us, and Morgs spoke about the luck of the Irish. We had definitely enjoyed some good fortune – when the ball deflected off Stokesy’s bat to the boundary, that must be how it feels to win the lottery.I’ve watched the super over back on TV and, when Neesham hits the six, you think the game is over. But on the field it never felt lost. We knew how good Jofra was. I just thought: do your job, don’t get ahead of yourself. That was the same right down to the run-out.People have often asked whether I thought I might be about to drop the World Cup, but it never entered my mind: there was no time. It was a simple bit of fielding. The ball goes straight to Jason, and when he throws it in, you know the bounce at Lord’s will be true: just catch it, and break the stumps. I knew as soon as Guptill had hit it that I was going to have time, and he was a long way short.Then I remember the biggest and best feeling of pure emotion for 30 seconds or a minute, with everyone running around, and me throwing my gloves in the air. I don’t remember anyone saying anything, just running and hugging…Joe Root takes off on a celebratory run•Getty Images

The only moment I felt rushed all day was when we batted in the super over. The plan before the game, in the unlikely event of one happening, had been to send out Jason with Jos, but because Ben had played so well – and almost everyone else so terribly – we thought he had to go out again. I asked him if that was all right, and he said he’d be fine, even though he could barely breathe.When Boult started bowling yorkers from the Nursery End, I thought that, if a wicket fell, it would be tough for a right-hander to hit him up the hill. So I hurried to get my pads on. It was the biggest panic of the day.After the 2016 World T20 final, you never think you have enough runs, but Jofra is the best, and we felt we could defend 15. Marais Erasmus called us over as we were walking out to field, to tell us about boundary countback: 15’s a win, he said, 16 a defeat. But when Neesham hit that six, New Zealand needed seven off four. It was theirs to lose.I was talking to Jofra every ball. What matters as a captain is that you receive a response which makes sense. If the bowler’s talking gibberish, or his eyes are glazed over, you need to take more time, and ask him what he’s doing. The only time he wasn’t thinking clearly was when he wanted DRS for the first-ball wide! But his presence of mind was extraordinary. From the fifth ball, which was supposed to be a bouncer, he decided not to try to run Neesham out: if he’d missed, it would have been game over.The last delivery to Guptill was superb. We only had three fielders on the off side: short third man, point and cover. So Jofra had to follow him if he tried to create room. I was at the bowler’s end as Jason gathered the ball at deep midwicket, and Guptill was just turning for the second: he had no chance. It was a good throw, not a great one, and Jos did unbelievable work at the stumps.We were all running around, trying to grab each other as fast as we could. It was brilliant. That feeling didn’t stop. Even now, I still think about it.

I remember listening to Petr Cech, the former Chelsea goalkeeper, talking about the penalty shootout in the 2012 Champions League final, and how each one felt as if it was happening in slow motion. That’s how it was for me, like I was in a film. Adil Rashid and I covered the areas behind the wicket – I was at short third man – and we chatted about what we were doing. We just wanted to protect our areas.Even though Jofra got hit for six, I always felt we were going to win. For some reason, I was never worried. I knew how skilful he was: he’d missed one ball, but didn’t usually miss many. When I saw J-Roy get to the last ball quickly, all I could think was: “Get it in Jos’s hands.” The feeling when the bails came off was insane. I met Morgs on my celebratory run, and he jumped on me. It was perfect, after the way we had come through the campaign, that we were all out there on the field together.Tom Curran and Jason Roy celebrate England’s win•Getty Images

Morgs told me and Jos to get our pads on, but then there was a discussion. More thought went into the fact that the shorter boundary from the Nursery End was downhill for a left-hander. Ben had been in a long time, and had the pace of the wicket. He was exhausted, but we were saying to him: “Come on, mate, get a Red Bull down you, and get back out there.”Because I had been a member of the team that lost the World Twenty20 final when Carlos Brathwaite had his day out, at no stage did I think we had won. I knew Jof was going to try to hit the hole, and the ball was likely to come my way at cow corner. The third did, but it took a slight bobble, and I stood up too quickly as I went to collect it. I thought: “How the hell have I done that?” Maybe I was over-keen to laser it in. They pinched two.I thought I had got to the next ball quick enough to throw it to the bowler’s end. They were my nearest stumps, but not the ones I should have been aiming for: that’s what pressure does. My thinking was not as clear as it should have been. Two more.Thankfully, I found a happy medium for the final ball. I visualised it coming to me, and didn’t have the level of anxiety you might expect. I was more on edge watching it back – which I didn’t do until Christmas. For months, I had been saying to myself: “Imagine if I’d fumbled!” It would have been catastrophic – and tough to come back from.At the time, though, I knew I had to do what I had trained for. You can always overthink things: “If I don’t get this ball in, we lose.” I actually took longer to gather it than I had the previous ones – I knew that if Guptill was at that far end as I was picking it up, there was no way he was getting back.Luckily it was somewhere near Jos. I can’t remember the next few seconds very well. I set off running, then stopped, fell to my knees, and thought “Holy shhh…”.

About five minutes before our bowling over started, there were a lot of balls being thrown into mitts, and we were buzzing. Morgs asked: “What have you got for me, Rash? What do you reckon?” I told him: “Don’t worry. Allah’s with us.” “Yes, he is,” he said. Later, Morgs told me he must have been with us, because we’d had the rub of the green – although I wasn’t expecting our conversation to be revealed in the press conference, or to go viral.As we warmed up, I couldn’t stop thinking what our celebrations would be like. There was a lot of talk among the lads. Were we going to hug each other? Which direction were we going to run? Me and Mo said that, if we won, we would run to each other.I was at short fine leg, talking to Puds [Liam Plunkett] and Jos. I sensed excitement, not nerves. We knew we couldn’t let four years of hard work go to waste. At the end, it was an emotional time. Part of that, I’m sure, was because the win had not come easy. We will all cherish it for the rest of our lives.Lethal weapon: Archer bowled much of the World Cup in pain, but finished as England’s leading wicket-taker•Getty Images

Woody turned like the QE2 as he went for what would have been the winning run, and we were all wondering why he was wearing chest and thigh pads, plus an arm-guard; even he chuckled about it afterwards. There was disbelief when the scores were tied. Nobody really knew the rules. When it became clear we were having a super over, the questions started. Which end? New ball or old? Who’s bowling for them, who’s batting for us? All the batters wanted a go, but there was no disappointment: we had to remain calm.When Neesham hit that one, the crowd behind me were shouting that the ball was coming my way. They were not wrong: I watched the six fly straight over my head. The atmosphere was electric. No one could remember Lord’s that loud, ever.For the last ball, I was on the fence at deep square but, by the time Jos had taken off the bails, I had sprinted past the umpire. As soon as Jason’s pick-up was clean, I knew the throw would be fine. Suddenly we were all at the bottom of the hill going crazy. Rooty jumped on me, and started whacking me, and shouting. Joe and I have been through plenty since we first met on the Yorkshire Academy aged 12. It was amazing.

“Whatever happens will not define you as a cricketer.” I thought it was important for Jofra to hear those words from me as we walked out again. If there was anyone who understood the pressure of defending a score in a global final, it was me. After being on the receiving end of Carlos Brathwaite, I knew how things could go wrong.I was angry it had come to this, that I had not been able to finish the job in regulation time. As Mark Wood and I left the field, I kicked my bat in frustration. I told Eoin Morgan I thought Jason Roy and Jos Buttler should bat in the super over, because of the way they had played throughout the tournament. But he said he wanted a left-hand/right-hand combination. “Sweet,” I said, accepting it was a good point.It meant I had to get my game head on again. I went out the back into the toilets to separate myself from all that had gone on, and enter a different place mentally. I wanted to get rid of the feelings that had built up over a crazy couple of hours. I wanted a little bit of me time.When Jos hit the last delivery of our over through midwicket for four, I thought we’d won the World Cup there and then. I jumped in the air, arms aloft. I was going nuts, because I couldn’t see New Zealand getting 16 off Jofra.In normal circumstances, I would have been fielding at deep midwicket. But I was sore and tired, so I asked J-Roy to switch with me. The decisive moment in New Zealand’s over was not the six struck by Neesham, but a stroke of luck from the penultimate ball. Jofra bowled a bumper, and an under-edge crashed into Neesham’s boot. Instead of the ball leaking behind square leg for two, it dribbled for a single.A few seconds later, as Jofra entered his delivery stride for a perfectly executed yorker, I was 15 yards off the boundary, walking in to put pressure on the batsmen. Realising that J-Roy’s throw had beaten Martin Guptill’s dive, I pushed off on a run to join my team-mates, lost my footing and ended up on my backside. Then something weird happened: I started crying. The more I tried to stop the flow, the more the tears leaked. I never thought I would cry on a cricket field. But, on a day like that, I couldn’t have cared less.Interviews by Richard Gibson, Will Macpherson and Lawrence Booth.

Steyn walked off in the first hour of play, clutching the same shoulder he’s had surgery on

Liam Brickhill12-Jan-2019South Africa ended the second day of the Wanderers Test with a 212-run lead, but it wasn’t without its fair share of drama. The hosts were given an injury scare when Dale Steyn left the field inside the first hour clutching his shoulder.Although Duanne Olivier, who did a little extra bowling in Steyn’s absence and was rewarded with 5 for 51, insisted that Steyn was “perfectly fine”, but the sight of him leaving the field will have caused some palpitations in the South African camp.If fully fit, Steyn is a key member of South Africa’s pace arsenal as they look to wrap up a 3-0 win. However, with Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock at the crease and three more days remaining, Olivier suggested South Africa had not yet decided as to how much bowling Steyn might do in Pakistan’s second innings.”I don’t think we’ve thought about it, too far ahead,” said Olivier. “He went off to get a bit of treatment, and he’s perfectly fine.”Steyn, 35, had left the field around 40 minutes after the start of play, having bowled five overs first up. He worked up good rhythm in those overs, topping 146kph, but appeared to show some discomfort in his right shoulder during his fifth over, and left the field immediately after completing it.His frustration was readily apparent as he punched the advertising boards in the Wanderers tunnel as he left the field, but he was back on before lunch, and even bowled two more overs. That would suggest the injury is not too serious, but that it has occurred on the same shoulder that underwent surgery in November 2016, is cause for concern.While Steyn went wicketless in Pakistan’s first innings, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada both struck and Olivier starred with his third five-wicket haul of the series. His latest five-for took his tally for the series to 21, which is a record for South Africa against Pakistan, surpassing the previous record of 20 set by Steyn.”I’d take it any day,” Olivier said of the record. “I just try to enjoy every moment, commit every ball and just have fun. To be leading wicket-taker, I’m very happy about that. It’s awesome to bowl at the Wanderers. Any fast bowler would be happy to bowl here.”Olivier has settled into the ‘enforcer’ role laid out for him by coach Ottis Gibson and captain Faf du Plessis, once again putting his short ball to good use. It was even his go-to delivery after he had removed Babar Azam and Faheem Ashraf with consecutive deliveries to find himself on a hat-trick. The plan didn’t work, but Olivier nevertheless went on to claim his fifth wicket and helped to wrap up the innings. “I was trying to go with a bouncer, but it obviously didn’t go to plan,” he said. “It was too wide. It happens.”I don’t mind it,” Olivier said of the enforcer role. “Every bowler is different. I don’t mind bowling short, and it’s been going well so far. On a different wicket, I wouldn’t bowl like that. At the Wanderers, you don’t really need to bowl that short. There’s enough bounce in this wicket. At Cape Town, you had to go a little shorter, and at SuperSport Park it was a little up and down which made it difficult for the batsmen.”His performance helped South Africa to recover from an uncharacteristically sloppy start in the field, with ive catches, a stumping and two run-out being missed. “It is frustrating from a team point of view, but it happens, it’s cricket,” said Olivier. “We just needed to re-group and move on as quickly as possible, not dwell or think too much about it. The drinks break came, a bit of a break for us, and just tried to do the same as we’ve done before.”

Moeen Ali has admitted England “let themselves down” with the bat in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane

George Dobell at the Gabba26-Nov-20171:03

Moeen refuses to blame glued finger for poor bowling

Moeen Ali has admitted England let themselves down with the bat in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane.On a blameless batting track, England failed to make 200 in their second innings with none of their batsmen scoring more than 51. But while Moeen accepted England weren’t going to win on the final day, with Australia requiring just 56 more runs with all 10 of their second-innings wickets in hand, he took some encouragement from his side’s performance and suggested Australia are “not as good as we sometimes make out”.”We’re very disappointed,” Moeen said. “For the first three days, we played well and were in the game. Today we let ourselves down with the bat.”A few players got in, but nobody made the big score that we needed. We couldn’t get that big hundred. It was a good pitch to bat on but we haven’t made a hundred in the game. When you come to the Gabba, you have to have guys who get hundreds if you’re going to have any chance of winning. We’ll have to score hundreds in the next four games.”Moeen did not spare himself from such criticism. Despite a slightly controversial dismissal in the second innings, Moeen insisted he had nobody to blame but himself after making scores of 38 and 40.In that second innings, he was adjudged out stumped when the TV umpire, Chris Gaffaney, concluded (after multiple replays) that he had dragged his back foot out of a crease that appeared to be slightly unevenly painted. It was a desperately tight decision, certainly, but Moeen had no criticism for the umpire or any of the groundstaff.”If I was bowling I’d want it to be given out,” he said. “I thought I was all right at the time, but the replay looked very tight. It depends at what angle you look at it. You have to respect the umpire’s call.”I’m just disappointed with myself for getting out like that. I was most disappointed in the time I was out. Jonny Bairstow and I were building a good partnership.”They were under a little bit of pressure then. If we could have carried on, we could have set them 220 or even more than that. So to get out then was very disappointing.”Moeen also refused to make excuses for a disappointing personal display with the ball in the second innings. While he said he had struggled with a cut spinning finger in the first innings, he admitted he just bowled poorly in the second when he was removed from the attack after four expensive overs.Moeen Ali was stumped off a ripper from Nathan Lyon•Getty Images

“I ripped my spinning finger after about 15 overs of the first innings” he said. “It’s not been easy since then. I’ve had to have it glued and filed and tried to keep it hard.”But today it felt much better and I just didn’t bowl very well.”Most of all, though, he was frustrated that England had failed to take opportunities against an Australia side that are good, certainly, but not unbeatable.”We feel Australia are a good side,” he said. “But they’re not as good as we sometimes make out. We know we have to compete very well in the next four games.”Steve Smith has probably been the difference. Without him they would have struggled to get anywhere near 300. He played very well.”We scored 300 in our first innings without Alastair Cook or Joe Root scoring many runs. That’s a positive. And the new guys played quite well. We had big partnerships and the run-out of James Vince, in the first innings, was a big moment. Then we had them at 70 for four but we couldn’t take the next wicket.”Inevitably, Moeen was asked about the absence of Ben Stokes and he admitted he had been missed.”In the last couple of years, we’ve been very good at getting a big score despite losing wickets at the top of the order,” Moeen said. “The lower order have contributed a lot.”Here it us cost us in both innings. But it’s more an issue for the top six or seven: we have to be the ones to score big hundreds and put the opposition under pressure.”Obviously Ben is a very good player. He gives us great balance coming in at No. 6, with Bairstow No. 7 and me at No. 8. It means we can get lower-order runs. So he’s always going to be a miss. But we know he’s not here and we have to get on with it.”

A quick recovery after a heavy loss in the first ODI would be New Zealand’s priority in Delhi, but India would want to celebrate the festive season with another win

The Preview by Sidharth Monga19-Oct-2016

Match facts

Thursday, October 20, 2016
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)2:33

Kumble backs Rahane to open

Big picture

In a normal Indian season, this ODI would have been played on Wednesday and not Thursday, but it has been postponed to accommodate the festival of . This is festival season in India; the Kolkata Test was advanced to avoid a clash with Durga Puja and Diwali, one of the biggest pan-Indian festivals, takes place during the ODI series.For India, the festivities seem to have extended to the field – they have beaten New Zealand in all four matches of the tour, the Dharamsala ODI being the latest. But it is easier to recover from a loss in ODIs than it is in Tests, even a comprehensive one.One defeat doesn’t make New Zealand, the World Cup runners-up, an ordinary team, nor will one win make India’s ODI issues go away but there are enough trends to bother one and please the other. Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor haven’t joined the festivities, whereas Virat Kohli’s unbeaten fifty showed he had no trouble putting aside a nine-month gap between ODIs.Excluding Zimbabwe, New Zealand last beat an international side in March in the World T20. These are the kind of things that begin to stack up; never mind the difficult conditions they have played in or the injuries. India will want to stretch that streak to leave New Zealand needing to win every game to win this series.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
New Zealand LWLWWMartin Guptill hasn’t been in form for New Zealand•BCCI

In the spotlight

Ross Taylor‘s miserable tour continued in Dharamsala where he got out first ball, poking at an outswinger. With 89 runs in seven innings, it will take a lot of mental strength from him to turn this tour around.This series is a great opportunity for Ajinkya Rahane to establish himself in the ODI XI beyond all doubt. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan are injured, but when they are back, wasted starts such as the 33 in the first game could hurt Rahane’s prospects.

Team news

Suresh Raina has been ruled out of the second ODI too with viral fever, which should mean another chance for Kedar Jadhav. Hardik Pandya, after three wickets and the Man-of-the-Match award on debut, should get another go with the new ball.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Manish Pandey, 5 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Umesh YadavAfter resting for the first ODI, Matt Henry is ready to return to the XI. If it is a normal ODI pitch, Ish Sodhi should be the one making way for him.New Zealand (probable): 1 Tom Latham, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson (capt.), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Corey Anderson, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk), 7 James Neesham, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Doug Bracewell, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Matt Henry

Pitch and conditions

The Dharamsala pitch, which offered assistance to quicks early on, should be an aberration. With winter setting in, dew can be an issue so expect the side winning the toss to chase.

Stats and trivia

• MS Dhoni is 61 short of becoming the fifth Indian to 9000 ODI runs.
• Luke Ronchi is third on the list of New Zealand wicketkeepers with most dismissals – 90
• Guptill needs another 144 runs to reach 5000 ODI runs. Only four New Zealand batsmen have done it

Quotes

“Everyone’s determined to make amends, and there are areas to we can make adjustments in. We’ll be good and ready to go.”
“I love coming to this ground… It’s a confidence booster. But we’re not banking on our records at Kotla. Numbers are nice to look at, but I think statistics is not how we approach every game, We go out there to win.”

Despite a career overshadowed by Imran Tahir, and the possibility of soon being overtaken by a younger crop of spinners, Aaron Phangiso still has a lot to offer South African cricket, according to his provincial coach

Firdose Moonda09-Sep-2015Despite a career overshadowed by Imran Tahir, and the possibility of soon being overtaken by a younger crop of spinners, Aaron Phangiso still has a lot to offer South African cricket, according to his provincial coach. Monty Jacobs, who was in charge of Phangiso at North West and will reconnect with him this weekend at the Africa Cup, sees the left-arm spinner as a “complete package”, who could play a major role in the upcoming tour of India, if selected, in any or all formats.”People tend to get boxed in easily and Phangi has got this label as a limited-overs bowler but that’s not exactly the case,” Jacobs told ESPNcricinfo. “The season before he got selected for South Africa, he was playing a lot of first-class cricket for me and that is what got him going. He has a lot of skill with the red ball.”Phangiso first played for South Africa in December 2012, in a Twenty20 against New Zealand and has since been a regular limited-overs squad member, although an irregular in the starting XI. In the two summers prior to his debut, Phangiso had his best returns in first-class cricket, taking 15 wickets at 25.13 in 2010-11 and 16 wickets at 28.50 in the 2011-12 season. Those figures were achieved at the provincial, semi-professional level, not franchise cricket where Tahir edged Phangiso out of the Lions side.A slew of spinners, including Eddie Leie, have since kept Phangiso on the fringes of the franchise first-class XI – he last played for them in the format in October last year – but the national selectors knew of Phangiso’s longer-form ability. He was selected in the Test squad which toured Bangladesh in July but did not play either of the two matches. He will be back in contention for the India series and Jacobs said he would not be surprised if Phangiso is picked across all formats, not just the limited-overs’ ones.”Coaches look for consistency and that’s what Phangi offers, especially in the longer format,” Jacobs said. “In one-day cricket, you tend to bowl with a flat trajectory and target the pads but Phangi is skillful enough to get the ball past the bat as well. He is a good fielder and has even done well with the bat. He is actually the complete package.”Phangiso has seven first-class fifties to his name, more than Dane Piedt (5) or Leie (1), but half that of Simon Harmer, who has 14 and a century. All three are likely ahead of Phangiso in the queue – Piedt and Harmer at Test level, and Leie as a T20 option. This could mean that even if Phangiso travels, as he did at the World Cup, he may not play. And that, according to Jacobs, will be South Africa’s loss.”I do feel a bit sorry for him because sometimes he is more of a tourist and deep down there may be that hurt of not playing but when you see him, Phangi is a happy guy,” Jacobs said. “He is a real character and a great guy to have in any team.”

The contrasting moods of the India and Pakistan captains at the end of the seventh place play-off at the Barabati Stadium would have left anyone confused about the result

Amol Karhadkar in Cuttack07-Feb-2013The contrasting moods of the India and Pakistan captains at the end of the seventh place play-off at the Barabati Stadium would have left anyone confused about the result. While the Pakistan captain Sana Mir was all smiles after a “tough tour”, her India counterpart Mithali Raj wore a blank face.It didn’t really matter to Raj that her fourth ODI century had helped India chase 193 against arch rivals Pakistan with ease. It came a little too late since India’s primary objective – that of staying alive for having a shot at the title – had slipped out of their hands even before they arrived in Cuttack. The hosts were eliminated before the second stage of the tournament.”Well, the win has not made us happy because we know that being such a good team, the way we started our first game against West Indies, we thought we had a good chance of making it to the Super Sixes. To exit the tournament here, the girls are very disappointed. Yes it was a must-win game because we didn’t want to lose again and finish last,” Raj said.”We had to literally pull ourselves up this morning for the game but as professional cricketers we know that these things happen. We have to bounce back, so that way the team has coped really well.”Raj has captained India in three of her four World Cup campaigns. While India made a sensational run to the final in 2005 in South Africa, they finished a respectable third in 2009 in Australia. The 2013 edition has been far from ideal, since the team has finished a lowly seventh. Does she see herself taking part in India’s mission four years down the line?”I don’t know about 2017. I plan series by series, in four years a lot of things happen, so I’m not sure about that,” Raj, 30, said. “There will be changes from World Cup to World Cup. There is always a transition in every team. Some of the seniors remain while there will be some youngsters coming in. It is important to see how the youngsters turn into experienced players by the time the next World Cup comes around.”Raj, though, admitted that the young Indian team wilted under the pressure of a big tournament. “The World Cup is a tournament where every player feels the pressure, irrespective of whether she is a debutant or the most experienced player. Yes, as a captain I had a good season in 2005, we finished No. 3 in 2009. We beat Australia in Australia and then this exit. It has been a mixed bag for me as captain,” Raj said.”I think with this team, once we falter, we keep faltering. It is not a team which can make a comeback, like an England side. They lost to Sri Lanka but came back strong and have made an impact. That is lacking. In terms of skill, we have extremely talented youngsters in the side, good medium pacers, but the spinners maybe were off colour. I think this time really has to work, especially when the guard is down. We need to work on our consistency in all games.”Despite stressing the “hurt” India’s unexpected exit has caused to every player, Raj signed off hoping for the players to bounce back from the failure. “Individually, it doesn’t feel great. As a player it feels terrible, but you need to move on and see to it that you don’t repeat it and be positive in the coming series. As a senior player, you need to set an example for the youngsters. Most of them depend on me to give them the positive vibe. It is a very young side, very talented side, we need to be together to keep performing,” Raj said.”Every player is hurt, for us the World Cup is over today, but when we get back home maybe we will be sad for a few days but [then] it will be back to domestic cricket. I am sure they will start training once again and prepare.”

Brendon McCullum will lead New Zealand in the ODI and T20 series against Zimbabwe, in place of Ross Taylor who has been ruled out due to a calf injury

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2012Brendon McCullum will lead New Zealand in the ODI and T20 series against Zimbabwe, in place of Ross Taylor who has been ruled out due to a calf injury he sustained during his century in the only Test in Napier.The hosts have picked four uncapped players – left-arm seamer Michael Bates, legspinner Tarun Nethula, allrounder Andrew Ellis and wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham in the ODI squad. Also in the squad is Dean Brownlie, who played in the Tests in Australia, but BJ Watling, who scored his maiden Test ton in the ongoing Test in Napier, has been left out.Latham, who plays for Canterbury, is the top run-getter in the Ford Trophy, New Zealand’s domestic List A competition, averaging 62 in five matches. Bates, who was part of the Auckland Aces team that won the HRV Cup, the domestic T20 competition, was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Nethula has a good List A record thus far, with 17 wickets in 11 games and Ellis is experienced, having played for Canterbury for 10 years.New Zealand have picked Auckland allrounder Colin de Grandhomme and left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira for the T20 leg of the tour on the back of performances in the HRV Cup. The players missing from the ODI and T20 line-ups are left-arm spinner Luke Woodcock and seamers Andy McKay and Graeme Aldridge, who had toured Zimbabwe last year.There’s no Jesse Ryder either, as he continues his recovery from a calf tear.”The new caps have earned their chance through solid performances at domestic level and we think it’s the right time to take a look at players who will be in the frame for the Twenty20 World Cup later in the year, and looking further ahead to the 2015 ODI World Cup,” New Zealand’s National Selection Manager Kim Littlejohn said.”Tarun Nethula and Ronnie Hira have been the form spinners this season and richly deserve their selection through consistently good performances.”Michael Bates has been one of the best pace bowlers for Auckland over a number of seasons and is a skilful death bowler who also offers us a left-arm option. Colin de Grandhomme and Andrew Ellis also played extremely well in the HRV Cup and their all-round skills with bat and ball are well suited to ODI and T20 cricket.”Tom Latham is an exciting keeper batsman who is very well equipped for short-form cricket and we think he has the potential to make a big impact on the international scene.”New Zealand ODI squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Michael Bates, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Andrew Ellis, Martin Guptill, Jacob Oram, Tom Latham, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tarun Nethula, Rob Nicol, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson.New Zealand T20 squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Michael Bates, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Colin de Grandhomme, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson.

Kenya have announced their 15-man squad for next month’s World Cup and it is a combination of youth and experience under newly-appointed captain Jimmy Kamande

Martin Williamson19-Jan-2011Kenya have announced their 15-man squad for next month’s World Cup and it is a combination of youth and experience under newly-appointed captain Jimmy Kamande. The announcement was more of a rubber-stamping exercise than a surprise, given it is the same group who are currently preparing for the tournament with matches in India.Steve Tikolo, the 41-year-old allrounder who led his country to the semi-finals in 2003, will be taking part in his fifth World Cup as will 32-year-old Thomas Odoyo. At the other end of the spectrum, nine of the squad will be making their World Cup debuts.The warm-up matches in India suggest Kenya will struggle to make any impression in the main competition. Although their batsmen have been scoring well, their bowlers have been ineffective and all five matches against Baroda and Gujarat have been lost.Their preparations will be slight disrupted as Seren Waters, the 20-year-old opening batsman, who has scored the only hundred on the India trip, has to return to his studies for a week at the insistence of Durham University.Kenya squad Jimmy Kamande (capt), Seren Waters, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Collins Obuya, Steve Tikolo, Tamnay Mishra, Rakep Patel, Maurice Ouma, Thomas Odoyo, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Peter Ongondo, Shem Ngoche, James Ngoche.