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Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, has criticised his batsmen for squandering a bright start to be bowled out for a below-par score and concede the Chappell-Hadlee trophy to Australia.

Cricinfo staff11-Mar-2010Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, has criticised his batsmen for squandering a bright start to be bowled out for a below-par score and concede the Chappell-Hadlee trophy to Australia. New Zealand lost their third consecutive game to surrender the series after winning the opening fixture.”Unfortunately, [we made] the same mistakes as the previous two games,” Vettori said. “We did not put enough runs on the board, lost wickets at crucial times and put ourselves under far too much pressure. When you do that against Australia, you get yourself in trouble and that’s what happened today.”New Zealand, after being put in, blazed away to an attacking start, courtesy Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill, but lost steam in the middle overs to be eventually bowled out for 238 in the 45th over. “If you look at most of the dismissals, they were relatively soft dismissals,” Vettori said. “They just made poor mistakes and whether it is the mental shift from aggressiveness to accumulation, I’m not too sure. But they’re mistakes that shouldn’t have been made constantly and they have been made in the last three games.”The hosts lost six wickets for 57 runs in close to 19 overs after their positive start, and were rescued by Daryl Tuffey’s quickfire 34, which included four sixes, and support from the lower order. But Vettori rued the fact that his team – not for the first time in the series – failed to bat out its entire quota of covers. “That just hurts you,” Vettori said. “We took a gamble again with the Powerplay, with so many wickets down and have a crack. I thought the way Daryl played, we might get 500 but at the end we were pretty poor.”We knew we were under a par score, and we had to be aggressive and take a chance because if we kept going the way we were, we wouldn’t even have had a total to defend. So we took a chance, it looks when it works and bad when it doesn’t.”The rain interruption did provide New Zealand with a lifeline, for Australia were left to chase a revised target of 200 in 34 overs. Vettori had been critical of the Duckworth-Lewis system at the end of the second ODI, where a revised target made New Zealand’s chase more difficult. But, today, he admitted the system had handed his team an opportunity.”It’s a funny system,” Vettori said. “I said at the end of the second game that I didn’t quite understand it, but it gave us an opportunity. I suppose we put some pressure on with the ball, but we couldn’t maintain it from both ends and that hurts against Australia.”New Zealand head to Wellington for the fifth and final ODI and Vettori said Nathan McCullum, the offspinner, was likely to be given a go. “We’ll definitely look at Nathan McCullum coming into it,” he said. “Westpac is a bigger ground and it allows Nathan to come into the mix a little more, but we want to end the series on a high. 3-2 is not a result we wanted but it would be a start on the road to improvement, hopefully.”

American investment fund is first to conclude negotiations as it expands Birmingham sport portfolio

Matt Roller25-Jul-2025The American investment fund Knighthead Capital has completed a £40 million takeover of Birmingham Phoenix, marking the first finalised transaction in the Hundred’s sales process.Knighthead, the New York-based group, acquired a majority stake in Birmingham City FC two years ago and were successful bidders for a 49% interest in Birmingham Phoenix in late January. The sale transaction was completed on July 15, per paperwork filed to Companies House, and the franchise will be run in partnership with host county Warwickshire.Tom Wagner, Knighthead’s co-founder, has been appointed to the Phoenix board as a director along with colleagues Andrew Shannahan and Kyle Kneisly, both of whom are on Birmingham City FC’s board. The legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady has a small interest in Knighthead but will not serve as a director.Knighthead’s purchase forms part of wider plans to create a ‘Sports Quarter’ in Birmingham, which would include a new 62,000-seat football stadium. Wagner has already successfully lobbied for government funding for new transport links and said last month that he saw the Hundred as an opportunity to underline his commitment to the city.Related

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“We really, genuinely want to see Birmingham continue to develop and grow,” Wagner told the BBC. “The Phoenix is a great way to expand the exposure of the city to a broader, more global audience. It’s also a way for us to tie-in to the substantial south Asian community that is here in Birmingham.”Warwickshire and Knighthead will assume operational control of the Phoenix after the 2025 season of the Hundred, which runs from August 5-31. The county will retain four out of seven board seats as majority owners, with Mark McCafferty (chair), Stuart Cain (chief executive), Craig Flindall (strategy director) and Adam Lowe (commercial director) serving as directors.The ECB initially planned for all eight sales transactions to be signed off by early April but negotiations over paperwork have dragged on far longer than first anticipated. “It is about the ‘what ifs’,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould told ESPNcricinfo last month. “I hate to think how many sets of lawyers are in on this, but that’s what they’re paid to do.”ESPNcricinfo has learned that several other transactions are either finalised or close to completion, though it remains to be seen if all eight will be signed off before the 2025 season starts in 10 days’ time. Four of the seven other new investors are owners or co-owners of IPL franchises, while the other three are US-based like Knighthead.

Chameera and Vandersay’s ninth wicket-stand took Sri Lanka home after Ngrava’s five-for

Andrew Fidel Fernando08-Jan-2024Sri Lanka’s ninth-wicket partnership snuck their team home in the Colombo rain, battling off a spirited Zimbabwe bowling and fielding performance led by Richard Ngarava. Defending only 209, Ngarava took early wickets, and finished with 5 for 32 from his 10 overs, as the likes of Sikandar Raza and Blessing Muzarabani produced menacing spells of their own.And together they had repeatedly had Sri Lanka on the ropes in their chase, particularly when No. 9 Dushmantha Chameera and No. 10 Jeffrey Vandersay came together with Sri Lanka needing 37 to win off 45 balls. But the pair batted sensibly. Ngarava had already been bowled out at this stage, and Muzarabani was the last remaining threat – Craig Ervine having used his most-threatening bowlers up early in his quest for wickets.Together Chameera and Vandersay whittled down the requirement, before in the penultimate over, Vandersay scooped Faraz Akram over his shoulder, and then drove him through the covers for four next ball, in what were the final dramatic moments in a match that had swung in either direction repeatedly.That these last blows came in the rain, which had earlier caused a significant delay, only added to the theatre. That this partnership had been forged after the departure of Janith Liyanage, who hit 95 off 127 balls, thus providing the most substance to this innings, made the finish even more riveting.Of all the regrets Zimbabwe will have from this match, however, none will be greater than their collapse from the 37th over onwards. Having been 182 for 4, and headed towards a score of around 250, they lost their last six wickets for 26 runs. Captain Ervine, who had made 82 off 102, was the first to depart in that sequence, having been caught athletically by Sadeera Samarawickrama at backward point.It was Liyanage’s innings that ended up defining the match however, and he who was most responsible for pushing the game deep as the other batters fell around him. (The next-highest score on the Sri Lankan card was 21.) Although he too struggled against Ngarava’s new-ball bowling, he was patient until the hittable balls came, crashing Ngarava to the cover boundary to start the seventh over, before pulling him neatly behind square several balls later, when Ngarava bowled short.Janith Liyanage helped steady Sri Lanka after early losses•AFP/Getty Images

With the surface somewhat tacky, his innings was mostly a slow grind. He’d hit only three boundaries after 82 balls, although he was forced to enter a more aggressive mode when the tail came in. He hit two sixes, both off spin and both on the legside, and forged an important 46-run seventh-wicket stand with Maheesh Theekshana, who contributed 18.Having earlier completed his half-century off the 85th ball he faced, Liyanage seemed headed for a maiden ODI ton in only his second game. But with rain coming down in the 43rd over, and Sri Lanka behind the DLS rate, Liyanage attempted to thump Muzarabani over long off for four, and wound up only miscuing it to the fielder. Zimbabwe smelled victory and employed attacking fields with both Vandersay and Chameera yet to get off the mark. But those two tailenders’ cool heads would defy Zimbabwe.But it had been Ngarava’s tenacity in his first spell that set the tone for what became an intense defence of their modest total. He claimed Avishka Fernando’s wicket fifth ball with a back-of-a-length delivery just outside off stump, which Fernando inside-edged through to the keeper.In Ngarava’s next over – another edge. Sadeera Samarawickrama flashed at a fullish wide ball, and sent it to Ervine at second slip. Zimbabwe would get only these two wickets in the first powerplay, but having been 16 for 2, Sri Lanka were forced to bat with more caution. In his next spell, he also dismissed Kusal Mendis and Charith Asalanka, having built further pressure with more back-of-a-length bowling.And though there were mistakes in the field, and with the ball (Muzarabani bowled Kusal Mendis off a no-ball, for example), it was their nosedive with the bat that prevented Zimbabwe from posting a competitive score. Ervine had driven beautifully through the course of his innings, and had struck up half-century partnerships with Joylord Gumbie, and Ryan Burl.But when he cut a Chameera ball too close to Samarawickrama, who flung himself explosively at the ball to intercept it, Ervine left the lower middle-order exposed, and they succumbed rapidly to the spin of Theekshana and Vandersay. Theekshana picked up 4 for 31 in the innings. Vandersay and Chameera took two wickets apiece.

New Zealand will still be well-placed even if they lose, though they would likely need to beat Ireland to ensure progress to semi-final

Matt Roller31-Oct-20224:28

Does Stokes fit into this England XI? Are New Zealand favourites?

Big picture

England and New Zealand’s last meeting in this format was an instant classic, a slow-burning epic which saw England’s World Cup hopes go up in flames.Just short of a year on, England will be staring elimination in the face once again, unless they can overcome one of the tournament’s two unbeaten sides at the Gabba. They would still be alive mathematically with a defeat on Tuesday night, but will be relying on Afghanistan beating Australia on Friday, before having to overcome Sri Lanka in their final fixture in Sydney. In short, this is a must-win.Net run rate shouldn’t be a major concern for England at this stage, thanks in no small part to Ireland’s Lorcan Tucker. Australia were heading for a convincing win on Monday evening when Ireland were 25 for 5, but Tucker’s unbeaten 71 closed the margin of defeat significantly. As a result, two wins be enough for England to reach the semi-final; and they have the advantage of playing the last game in Group 1.Related

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New Zealand have been hugely impressive in brushing Australia and Sri Lanka aside, and victory in Brisbane would seal for them a semi-final berth for the third successive T20 World Cup. Moreover, given their net run rate, they will be close to locking in the top spot. New Zealand will still be well-placed even if they lose, though they would likely need to beat Ireland in Adelaide on Friday to ensure their progress.Enough about the permutations and onto the game itself, which could be won and lost in the two powerplays. Trent Boult and Tim Southee, New Zealand’s opening bowlers across formats for most of the last decade, have been lethal with the new ball since arriving in Australia, while England’s top order is yet to fire. Jos Buttler has been very successful against Boult in T20s: but can he take his Rajasthan Royals team-mate down in Brisbane when it matters most?England’s seamers were excellent with the new ball against Afghanistan but were wayward against Ireland; they conceded 59 runs in the first six overs, with Chris Woakes coming in for particularly brutal treatment. Finn Allen is the key wicket: New Zealand blitzed 65 for 1 against Australia when he raced out of the blocks but stumbled to 25 for 3 against Sri Lanka after he fell early on.Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone could be shuffled up after limited opportunities so far this tournament•ICC via Getty Images

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In the spotlight

“The one person that you want in your team when the pressure is on is Ben Stokes,” Paul Collingwood, England’s assistant coach, said on Monday. Stokes has managed only 41 runs off 42 balls in his five T20Is since arriving in Australia, and for all his quality as a bowler, fielder and leader, now is the time for him to turn the intangibles into game-defining contributions.England’s batters have targeted Ish Sodhi whenever they have faced him in T20Is: he has nine wickets in as many appearances against them, with an eye-watering economy rate of 10.64 runs per over. Sodhi took the key wicket of Buttler in last year’s semi-final, and will need to be at his best on Tuesday night against a deep batting line-up.

Team news

England’s selection came under scrutiny after their defeat to Ireland but they were due to play an unchanged team against Australia before the game was washed out. As a result, it seems unlikely they will make changes barring a late injury, though Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali could be shuffled up the order after limited opportunities so far in this tournament. Stokes has hardly trained, but has been declared fully fit.England (probable): 1 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Harry Brook, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Adil RashidNew Zealand might consider bringing Michael Bracewell in to counter England’s left-hand batters•AFP/Getty Images

Mitchell Santner bowled a solitary over in last year’s semi-final, with Kane Williamson reluctant to use him against Dawid Malan and Moeen. England have added an extra left-hander to their middle order this year in Ben Stokes, which could block Santner’s use again; as a result, New Zealand might consider bringing Michael Bracewell, the offspinning allrounder, into their side.New Zealand (probable): 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway (wk), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 James Neesham, 7 Michael Bracewell/Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Lockie Ferguson

Pitch and conditions

David Hussey describes the Gabba as “probably the best batting pitch in Australia for white-ball cricket”, and the numbers back that up: the average scoring rate there in men’s T20Is is 7.94 per over, the second-highest of any Australian ground. The pitch was on the slow side in Australia’s win against Ireland on Monday, and the same strip will be used on Tuesday, which could bring spinners into play.Bad weather has followed England around over the last week, and the forecast for the match is not the best either, with rain due to fall throughout Tuesday morning. However, the weather is expected to clear up later in the day, and the Gabba’s renowned underground drainage system could ensure the teams get on to the pitch.

Stats and trivia

• Buttler will become the second player to reach 100 men’s T20Is for England after Eoin Morgan, and will overtake his predecessor as their all-time leading run-scorer in the format if he can makes at least 64.
• Malan has dominated Sodhi during their previous meetings in T20Is, hitting 105 runs off the 58 balls. It is one of only five head-to-head match-ups in T20I history where a batter has scored more than 100 runs off a single bowler, where ball-by-ball data is available.
• Allen has the highest strike rate in T20 history among batters with at least 1000 runs.
• New Zealand have never played a T20I at the Gabba, and have a poor historic record there across formats. They have not won a game in Brisbane in the last 20 years, their most recent victory coming in an ODI against South Africa in January 2002.

Quotes

“It’s frustrating when you’ve got the rain around in Melbourne: it was almost like English conditions there. It’s nice to come up to Brisbane where it’s a lot warmer, and we’re all looking forward to getting a full 40 overs in.”
“Our brand of cricket might not look as aggressive as them, but we need to stick to what we have done well for a period of time, and make sure we throw our own punches in our own way.”

Thrilling contest goes down to wire as Lewis Gregory hold his nerve at Taunton

Matt Roller25-Jun-2021At the highest-scoring T20 ground in the world defending a total of 172 is near-impossible, not least with an in-form Colin de Grandhomme hitting 66 off 34 balls in a run-chase. But an extraordinary fightback and a dramatic collapse meant Somerset did just that to kick their Vitality Blast season into life and leaving Hampshire, once a proud T20 force, facing a fourth successive group-stage exit.Hampshire needed 53 off 36 balls when Lewis Gregory, Somerset’s captain, returned for his third over of the night, and when he conceded 18 off the first five balls with de Grandhomme cutting him away with disdain, it looked as though the game was up. But Gregory went round the wicket to angle one across de Grandhomme, who holed out to deep cover; Hampshire lost their heads, and five for 27 off the last 31 balls. When Chris Wood skewed a catch to cover off the last ball, Gregory roared in celebration: Somerset had a win in front of a home crowd under the Friday-night lights for the first time in two years.This was the second-lowest 20-over total that Somerset had ever defended at Taunton, two runs more than the 170 they had managed against a Gloucestershire side captained by Kane Williamson a decade ago. They were reliant on Tom Banton and Will Smeed’s half-centuries – they were the only two Somerset batters to reach double figures – but it was Marchant de Lange, recalled after missing the win at The Oval on Wednesday night, who was the real match-winner.This was not the flat track that is usually served up here. “There was a lot more grass and the bounce was a bit tennis-bally,” Banton said. “[de Lange] didn’t play the last game and was pretty upset but he showed his class.” He didn’t concede a boundary in his four overs, defending the short leg-side boundary to the right-handers, and started the squeeze in the middle of the innings to keep the game alive.It had looked for all money like it would be de Grandhomme’s night, only half an hour before he was sat in the makeshift away dressing room listening to a long enquiry into Hampshire’s fourth defeat in five completed games. He had taken the wickets of James Hildreth and his New Zealand team-mate Devon Conway, both chipping to mid-on in the second over – “I know how to bowl to him,” de Grandhomme smiled wryly afterwards – and while Banton had dished out some rough treatment in his last two overs, he was in the mood with the bat.Colin de Grandhomme drags himself off•Getty Images

De Grandhomme had driven straight down the A303 this evening from the Ageas Bowl, having taken a recovery day in the on-site hotel following New Zealand’s World Test Championship final win. “I had a good rest yesterday all day,” he said. “We had a good night, but then had a good day yesterday in the pit.” He hit 18 runs off his first four balls, including one six off Craig Overton that cleared both pavilions at midwicket and must rank among the biggest on this ground, and tucked into Gregory’s first two overs.Wearing a shirt bearing only his initials – perhaps Hampshire’s kit supplier charges by the letter – he put on 78 with D’Arcy Short for the second wicket and 44 with Joe Weatherley for the third, but with Liam Dawson absent on England duty, the rest of the middle order was unable to get Hampshire over the line. The decision to leave Sam Northeast out of the matchday squad for the last two weeks looks ill-advised at best, though at least their seven-match stretch of away games has finally come to an end.Related

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The win was set up by Banton, whose 77 was the second-highest score of his T20 career and a welcome return to form after a difficult year for him. He was the aggressor in a 58-run stand with Smeed – three years his junior in a boarding house at King’s College Taunton – and played his full range of shots, tucking into de Grandhomme over the leg side and reverse slog-sweeping Mason Crane for six.”In previous games [this season] I’ve just gone too hard, too early,” he said. “I’m quite emotional talking because that means the world to me to win that game. I’ve come back off a weird 12 months. It’s been hard for me – I’m not going to lie and I’m not going to hide behind that. It’s one of the worst games ever when it’s not going for you.”Smeed, meanwhile, found scoring much harder early on, eking out 26 off his first 30 balls before finally kicking on towards the end of his innings, dragging Somerset towards something defendable and marshalling the tail – no mean feat for a 19-year-old. Scott Currie, who took 4 for 31, was the pick of the Hampshire attack, hanging the ball wide outside off stump and taking the pace off; less than two hours later, he was trudging off in defeat after two hopeful swings from No. 9.

Saha opens up on how Pujara, Shami and he tracked the Ranji Trophy from New Zealand

Shashank Kishore in Rajkot09-Mar-2020Wriddhiman Saha hasn’t played a competitive game in close to a month. His request to play for Bengal ahead of the New Zealand tour was shot down by the BCCI. Then, he played one fixture for India A and didn’t feature in the two Tests that followed. Upon return, he immediately made himself available for the final.There was, however, the possibility of his wife giving birth to their second child around the same time. Saha reached Kolkata on Wednesday and celebrated the arrival of his son on Thursday. He took the day off on Friday and got to Rajkot from Kolkata via Ahmedabad on Saturday night.”I’m feeling good,” Saha told reporters after training at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. “My wife told me straightaway: ‘go after a day’. But I had to have at least one day’s training before the match. This is a great chance for us, why will I miss out on the opportunity? Wife chance (I didn’t get to hear about it from my wife, but I am sure she will remind me later).”With such a short turnaround, Saha has had to shrug off jetlag, do daddy duty for a night and then travel ten hours, including a four-hour drive, to get to the grandest stage of them all as far as his state team is concerned: the Ranji Trophy final.”I’m lucky to get a chance to play in a Ranji final, it doesn’t come often in a career,” Saha said. “As a kid, you dream of playing here. Manoj Tiwary has played in two, this will be his third. For me, it’s the first, so I’m very excited. I treat every game with the same intensity. Not just Ranji, every game, even a club game, is important to me.”Saha revealed there was good-natured banter between him and Cheteshwar Pujara as they followed the journey of their teams into the Ranji final while on tour with the Indian Test team. “Not just me, but Mohammed Shami also,” Saha laughed. “I was following scores and videos every day. Even Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri, and others kept asking us about who is doing well, who is scoring runs.”Saha also offered his perspective on what made this Bengal side different from the ones he had been a part of in the past. For starters, he said there was a lot of ” (laughter and fun)”. He also felt having a competent bowling attack helped make matters easy. For the record, no team has managed to score 250 or more against Bengal this season.”Initially I felt the team was hinged on one or two people,” he said. “Ashok Dinda was the only fast bowler picking wickets. At the other end, we didn’t have someone to do that consistently. Now, it’s different. Also, our lower-order batting has improved, bowlers have become better batsmen. Someone is raising their hand up every game.”Saha will be 36 by the time India’s next Test tour to Australia comes around. He was asked about the future, and what he thought of where he stood in the grand scheme of things. Instead, he offered a peek into his mindset. “For me, the future is now. Tomorrow. This Ranji final,” he said. “It’s simple. As a keeper, you follow the ball. It’s the same with batting. Just watch the ball. The basics are what I focus on.”

Sussex fast bowler promoted from rookie list as ECB announce contracts for 21 players

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2019England Women have awarded fast bowler Freya Davies her first full central contract ahead of their upcoming tour of India.Davies, 23, was part of the Western Storm side that won the 2017 Kia Super League and finished runners-up last season, having made her first senior appearance for Sussex aged just 14 in a T20 against Middlesex. She has been promoted to a full contract for 2019 from a rookie contract.”I’m absolutely thrilled to receive my first full contract,” Davies said. “It’s always been my aim to represent England and this is an exciting step in the right direction. I’m looking forward to continuing the hard work, and the challenge now of getting myself picked.”England Women face India in three ODIs in Mumbai starting on February 22 and three IT20s in Guwahati in March.Davies is among 21 players centrally contracted to ECB for 2019, with four of those on rookie deals, including Surrey’s Bryony Smith, who received her first call-up to the senior team for last year’s tri-series against India and Australia. Smith is joined on the rookie list by Linsey Smith, Alice Davidson-Richards and Katie George.Tash Farrant and Beth Langston have been released, while Dani Hazell announced her retirement from the international game last month. Langston was part of the squad that won the ICC Women’s World Cup while Farrant’s most recent tour was as part of England’s runners-up finish in the ICC Women’s World T20.England Women contracted players Tammy Beaumont (Kent), Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire), Kate Cross (Lancashire), Freya Davies (Sussex), Sophie Ecclestone (Lancashire), Georgia Elwiss (Sussex), Jenny Gunn (Warwickshire), Alex Hartley (Lancashire), Amy Jones (Warwickshire), Heather Knight (Berkshire), Laura Marsh (Kent), Nat Sciver (Surrey), Anya Shrubsole (Somerset), Sarah Taylor (Sussex), Fran Wilson (Kent), Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire), Danni Wyatt (Sussex). Rookies: Alice Davidson-Richards (Kent), Katie George (Hampshire), Bryony Smith (Surrey), Linsey Smith (Sussex).

Jake Weatherald led South Australia’s response with a stunning 152, off just 160 balls, to cut their deficit to under 200 by stumps on the second day

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2017
ScorecardGetty Images

Cameron Bancroft’s chances of Ashes selection strengthened after finishing the first day against South Australia unbeaten on 161. He improved his chances further, showing an ability to bat long, en route to his highest first-class score (228*) on the second day.His 351-ball innings, which included 22 fours and three sixes, carried Western Australia to 514 for 7 before captain Mitchell Marsh declared the innings.Jake Weatherald, 23, began South Australia’s response with a stunning 152, off just 160 balls, also his highest first-class score. He struck 27 fours and a six to cut South Australia’s deficit by half before he was caught off David Moody. South Australia finished the second day at 322 for 6, a further 192 runs behind Western Australia.Tom Cooper (34) and Callum Ferguson (33) chipped in with cameos, before Alex Carey (26*) and Joe Mennie (21*) carried South Australia to stumps. Moody finished with figures of 3 for 84.

Babar Azam became the third Pakistan player – and eighth overall – to score three consecutive ODI centuries as he top-scored with a 106-ball 117 in Pakistan’s commanding 136-run victory over West Indies in Abu Dhabi

The Report by Sirish Raghavan05-Oct-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:59

By the Numbers: Pakistan repeat whitewash against WI

Babar Azam became the third Pakistan player – and eighth overall – to score three consecutive ODI centuries as he top-scored with a 106-ball 117 in Pakistan’s commanding 136-run victory over West Indies in Abu Dhabi. The win completed Pakistan’s 3-0 sweep of the ODI series and enabled them to displace West Indies at No. 8 in the ODI rankings.Azam put on a run-a-ball 147 for the second wicket with captain Azhar Ali, who scored a century of his own to become the only Pakistan player to score three hundreds as ODI captain. The top-order hundreds formed the backbone of Pakistan’s total of 308 for 6, a score that looked beyond West Indies almost from the start of their scratchy, plodding reply.

We still have to improve finishing an innings – Azhar

Having climbed to No. 8 on the ICC ODI rankings, Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has asked his team to brace for a more challenging period as they try to secure a qualification for the 2019 World Cup. Pakistan need to be among the top eight sides by September 30, 2017 to gain automatic qualification into the World Cup. If they fail to make the cut, they will have to play a Qualifier in April 2018.
“Our last seven-eight limited-overs games have been fantastic and our confidence has increased, specially of the younger players in the side,” he said. “You can see the hunger in them to perform and this will help us move forward in the format. There is still a year for the World Cup qualification. There will be a lot of challenges. Our job isn’t done yet because to qualify for the World Cup we will have to win more series and matches.”
Azhar said the team had begun showing improvements and potential during the ODI series in England, which they lost by 4-1. He said the biggest area where Pakistan’s batting needed to improve was finishing an innings and scoring well in the slog overs.
“One aspect we want to improve upon is finishing the innings,” he said. “Finishing an innings well is very important, regardless of how you have started an innings. I think if we can improve that then we can score bigger totals and consistently score more than 300.”

The margin of victory could have been even bigger had Pakistan’s middle- and lower-order batsmen fully capitalised on the strong launchpad provided by Azam and Azhar. Pakistan had moved to 232 for 2 by the time their partnership had been broken in the 39th over; they added just 76 runs thereafter, as successive batsmen struggled to find their timing on a slowing wicket and against an older ball. The last ten overs of Pakistan’s innings yielded only two boundaries, one of which was possible only thanks to a lazy misfield by Evin Lewis at deep backward square.But if the end of Pakistan’s innings appeared anti-climactic, it was still lively compared to the dreary run-chase that followed. Showing an inability to rotate the strike, against pace and spin alike, West Indies’ batsmen got stuck and never approached the run rate required to mount a genuine challenge. By the end of the 30th over, West Indies had soaked up 112 dot balls – as many as Pakistan had faced in their entire innings – and were wallowing in the gloom of impending defeat with the score 119 for 5. Their limp effort continued thereafter as the match drifted towards its inevitable conclusion.On a flat pitch that became slower and more sluggish over time, the best time for batting was at the very start. Having won the toss, Pakistan batted first – for the third time in a row – and made the most of the good conditions early on, racing along to 36 off the first four overs. Opening bowlers Azarri Joseph and Shannon Gabriel clocked up speeds in excess of 140 kph – Gabriel hit the late 140s several times – but could not quite find the control to match. Sharjeel Khan was characteristically strong square of the wicket, while Azhar showed nice touch, flicking through midwicket, driving down the ground and playing a commanding cut past backward square.The introduction of Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder slowed the tempo of Pakistan’s innings somewhat, before Sunil Narine and Sulieman Benn helped West Indies regain a greater measure of control, stifling the batsmen with their lack of pace and disciplined lines. Benn was rewarded in his second over when Sharjeel lost patience and hit a well-flighted delivery straight to Joseph at long-on.Babar Azam and Azhar Ali added 147 for the second wicket•Getty Images

With the spinners continuing to exert the squeeze, Azhar and Azam meandered along, bringing up the team’s 100 in the 20th over. But as the partnership got going, the runs began to flow again. Once Azam was set, he found the gaps with increasing ease. Azhar used the sweep and slog-sweep with great effectiveness against Benn. Pakistan’s second 100 runs came off just 83 balls.It was Holder who ended their partnership when Azhar, batting on 101, played a tired heave across the line of a slower ball that clipped the top of off stump. Shoaib Malik was dismissed by Narine next over as West Indies began to pull things back for the second time in the innings, just when Pakistan would have wanted to push on. Azam picked up ones and twos as he approached his century, but, with only three wickets down, Pakistan would have wanted rather more than that.Azam departed off the last ball of the 46th over, looking to paddle-sweep a yorker-length ball from Kieron Pollard, only to find his leg stump disturbed. Pakistan were 280 for 4 with four overs remaining. They added another 28, but the late charge towards which they had been building never actually materialised.It didn’t need to. West Indies’ openers, Lewis and Kraigg Brathwaite, started steadily, putting on 45 off 56 balls before Lewis, on ODI debut, was bowled around his legs by Sohail Khan. That partnership turned out to be the biggest of West Indies’ innings, as wickets fell regularly thereafter. A 42-run sixth-wicket partnership between Holder and Denesh Ramdin was the only other stand of substance, but it came after the match was all but lost. Once Imad Wasim broke that stand, the end came quickly, with the last five wickets falling for the addition of just 13 runs.

The National Cricket Academy could soon be shifted out of Bangalore, with Pune, Dharamsala and Mohali shortlisted as possible alternatives

Amol Karhadkar13-Aug-2015The National Cricket Academy’s restructured Centre of Excellence is likely to be shifted out of Bangalore. The NCA board, during its meeting in Delhi on Thursday, decided to move the premier training academy to a permanent facility with world class infrastructure and short-listed Pune, Dharamsala and Mohali as possible alternatives.Bangalore has been home to the NCA since it was founded in 2000. During a meeting on April 30, the NCA board, headed by MP Pandove, had held preliminary discussions over the possibility of moving it out due to impending issues over the 49-acre plot on the outskirts of the city. The BCCI had in 2013 decided to move the NCA from the Chinnaswamy Stadium premises to a new facility at Kurki, near the Bangalore airport, but the plan couldn’t take off since the plot that was bought was embroiled in a legal tangle.Pune may lose out to the two northern cities. Despite having perhaps the most modern cricket stadium in the country, the Maharashtra Cricket Association still does not have a residential academy. Mohali and Dharamsala, on the other hand, have residential academies run by the Punjab Cricket Association and the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, respectively.Besides, some NCA board members, during Thursday’s meeting, were of the opinion that stationing the NCA in a city at a higher altitude may help cricketers increase their stamina. Dharamsala is situated roughly 1500m above sea level.The BCCI is likely to take the final call during its Annual General Meeting next month.