Seekkuge Prasanna has been picked in place of Jeffrey Vandersay, while fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera has also been omitted

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Jan-20170:46

Who is Thikshila de Silva?

Uncapped batting allrounder Thikshila de Silva has been named in Sri Lanka’s squad for the T20 series against South Africa, which starts from January 20. Thikshila is yet to play international cricket in any format; the other new member of the T20 squad is the left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who has played three Tests and an ODI.Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who impressed in the World T20 last year, has been left out in favour of Seekkuge Prasanna, who also offers hitting power. Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera has been omitted as well, while seamers Isuru Udana and Nuwan Kulasekara have earned recalls. The other major omissions are wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera, and allrounders Thisara Perera (who is currently playing in the Big Bash League) and Dasun Shanaka.

Sri Lanka’s T20 squad

Angelo Mathews (capt), Dinesh Chandimal, Danushka Gunathilaka, Seekkuge Prasanna, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Asela Gunaratne, Sachith Pathirana, Lakshan Sandakan, Thikshila de Silva, Nuwan Kulasekara

Thikshila, 23, has largely been picked on potential and on his reputation as a clean striker of the ball for Chilaw Marians. In 15 domestic T20 innings so far, he has hit 15 sixes and as many fours, collecting his 218 runs at a strike rate of 144. A left-handed batsman, Thikshila also bowls right-arm seam, and has six T20 wickets and an economy rate of 8.38. Though there has been no domestic T20 cricket in Sri Lanka since last February, he hit a run-a-ball 92 against SSC in the most recent round of the Premier League Tournament, which began on January 6.Though largely considered a long-format bowler, it is perhaps Sandakan’s ability to turn the ball away from the left-handed batsmen that has earned him his selection, with Prasanna already in the squad, along with left-arm spinning allrounder Sachith Pathirana. Sandakan made a promising start to his Test career last year, but only has 16 domestic T20 wickets and an economy rate of 8.74 across 15 appearances.Lakshan Sandakan made a promising start to his Test career last year but has only 16 wickets in 15 domestic T20 games•Associated Press

Kulasekara’s return to the T20 squad was expected, after he had appeared to reclaim some of his old rhythm and inswing in the recent ODI tri-series against Zimbabwe. He had had a long, ineffective run in 2015, and had been dropped from both limited-overs sides. Udana – a T20 specialist with a number of slower balls – Suranga Lakmal, and Nuwan Pradeep make up the remaining frontline seam options.Save for Kusal Perera’s omission, there were no major surprises on the batting front. Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Asela Gunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella are be among those who will be considered for top-order spots, with captain Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal likely to feature in the XI.Kusal Perera’s omission appears to be largely due to lack of form. In four ODI innings during the Zimbabwe tri-series, he had scores of 21, 4, 7 and 14. He also collected single-figure scores in the first Test against South Africa, and was subsequently dropped from the Test XI.A bout of dengue before Christmas slowed Lasith Malinga’s efforts to regain match fitness, leaving him unavailable for the T20Is and ODIs in South Africa. He will now only attempt to return in time for the three-match T20 series against Australia, scheduled to begin on February 17The first of the three T20s against South Africa is set to be played on January 20 in Centurion.

Mushfiqur Rahim will remain under observation for another 48 hours after no fracture was found in the x-ray he had before play on the third day of the first Test in Wellington

Mohammad Isam14-Jan-2017Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim will remain under observation for another 48 hours after no fracture was found in the x-ray he had before play on the third day of the first Test in Wellington.Mushfiqur was taken to hospital after he hurt his right thumb and left index finger while batting on the second day, when he made 159. According to BCB media manager Rabeed Imam, the team physio Dean Conway had said Mushfiqur did not have any “obvious” fracture, but because he still was in pain his movement would remain restricted.”He will bat in the second innings if the need arises,” said Rabeed, who did not confirm whether Mushfiqur would keep wickets. In Mushfiqur’s absence, Imrul Kayes has taken over the gloves and took two catches on the second day.The hand injury is Mushfiqur’s second injury on the tour of New Zealand. He had suffered a hamstring injury during the first ODI in Christchurch and missed two ODIs and three T20Is that followed.

Quetta Gladiators dominated Karachi Kings to win by six wickets in what was arguably the most lopsided match of PSL 2017

The Report by Danyal Rasool23-Feb-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn a nutshellIt was a game between the top side and the bottom, and boy did it show. Quetta Gladiators thrashed Karachi by six wickets in what was the most one-sided match in the PSL so far, making Sarfraz Ahmed’s squad the first to qualify for the knockout stages.The game was won on the back of a splendid bowling display by the Gladiators as they squeezed the opposition in the middle overs, the pace bowlers flummoxing the batsmen with controlled pace variations and teasing slower bouncers. Karachi had got off to a fast start, reaching 46 for 0 in five overs through their new opening pair of Kumar Sangakkara and Babar Azam.But in the middle 10-over stretch from the sixth through the 15th, Karachi managed a mere 52 runs. Chris Gayle’s ongoing struggles were a feature of the Karachi innings. He scratched around and attempted to dispatch the odd ball out of Dubai in a laboured 34-ball 29 that took all the air out of his side’s innings.Quetta, in contrast, were assured right from the start of their chase, with Ahmed Shehzad and Asad Shafiq scoring a solid 49 from the Powerplay. After that, Shehzad ripped into the bowling, taking the young Usama Mir to task in his first over. Shehzad smashed him for two fours and two sixes in a costly 22-run eighth over and the hundred partnership eventually came up in 11 overs.An enraged Mickey Arthur called for a strategic timeout after the tenth over, chastising his side in full public view. It had a short-term effect as Quetta stuttered to lose three wickets in the 13th over but the damage had been done early and, in truth, the win was a comfortable one.Where the match was wonAfter the first five overs of the Karachi innings, with Sangakkara looking in fine touch and his side at 46 for 0, a solid platform appeared to have been set. But the middle overs saw Quetta’s bowlers strangle the opposition.The spinners bowled a tight line and the fast bowlers dipped into their bag of tricks to leave the opposition – Gayle in particular – flapping at thin air. Anwar Ali and Tymal Mills deceived Kieron Pollard and Gayle a number of times with slower short balls, depriving the West Indian power hitters of the pace they can so lethally use to their own advantage. The stand between the pair, on paper arguably the most menacing duo in T20 cricket, turned out to be a frankly benign one.The men that won itQuetta’s innings had a touch of the clinical right from the start. Shehzad and Shafiq preferred to hit along the ground early on, knowing they did not have to take too many risks in a chase of 155. Shafiq, not often celebrated for his strike rate, was the more destructive of the pair during the Powerplay, scoring 29 off 19. Their 105-run stand meant Quetta even had the luxury to bear a brief collapse, including a diamond duck from Kevin Pietersen, yet still seal a comfortable two points.The easiest of dropsThat stand might not have been so lethal had Pollard, almost as famous for his spectacular boundary catches as he is for monstrous ball striking, taken an easy catch that Shafiq had spooned up to short extra cover in the sixth over. Mohammad Amir had forced a leading edge, but Pollard was slow to react. Even so, he overran the ball when he dove forward in an attempt to catch it, the ball hitting the top of his palms before slipping out. To the Kings’ massive frustration, Shafiq then hit the next two balls for four, twisting the knife into an already wounded Karachi.The moment of the matchOne might have wondered how Karachi coach Arthur would have felt watching his side at the end of a hammering like the one they were experiencing in this match, with inconsistent bowling, poor fielding and a sensational opening stand by Quetta combining to humiliate them. Well, one only needed wait till the end of the tenth over to find out.Arthur called for the timeout and demonstrably tore into his side with the cameras rolling as Sohail Khan appeared to bear the brunt of the South African’s rant. Sir Alex Ferguson would have been proud of that hairdryer. It worked, too, with three wickets coming off Sohail’s subsequent over, including a direct hit from backward point by Imad Wasim to run out Pietersen before he had faced a ball. However, Karachi’s rude awakening had come far too late.Where they standThe result reinforces the status quo, with Karachi extending their lead at the top of the table to three points. Karachi remain last on four points, and now need to win both remaining games to have a chance of qualifying.

Queensland wicketkeeper Chris Hartley will miss his first Sheffield Shield match in nearly 10 years after breaking a finger while batting in club cricket at the weekend

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2017Queensland wicketkeeper Chris Hartley will miss his first Sheffield Shield match in nearly 10 years after breaking a finger while batting in club cricket at the weekend. Hartley is expected to be sidelined for at least three weeks by the injury, which will allow gloveman Jimmy Peirson to play his first Sheffield Shield game, against South Australia at Adelaide Oval starting on Saturday.Opening batsman Joe Burns will captain Queensland for the first time in the absence of state captain Usman Khawaja and Hartley, the regular stand-in. Hartley’s injury – a fracture to the middle finger of his left hand – comes at a time when he was displaying strong batting form: in his past three Shield innings he had made 102*, 15* and 86*, and has 460 runs at 92.00 this Shield season.Hartley recently went past Darren Berry as the owner of the most wicketkeeping dismissals in Shield history, and in his most recent match completed the rare feat of 100 consecutive Shield games. Last time Hartley missed a Shield match was October 2007, when Murray Bragg replaced him behind the stumps against Tasmania at the Gabba in what became the only first-class match of Bragg’s career.Although Hartley is expected to miss at least two matches, he could yet return for the final regular-season match against Victoria, starting at the Gabba on March 16. He will be joined on the sidelines for this week’s match by fast bowler Michael Neser, who injured his ankle while playing club cricket at the weekend and will be replaced in the squad by Luke Feldman, who has recovered from a side strain.Meanwhile, wicketkeeper Seb Gotch is set to make his first-class debut in Victoria’s game against Western Australia in Perth, also starting on Saturday. Gotch has been called in to replace Sam Harper, who suffered concussion during the previous game when he was struck in the head by Jake Lehmann’s bat.Harper is still being monitored in hospital, but Cricket Victoria said his condition was improving and there was a chance he would be released from hospital later this week.Queensland squad Joe Burns (capt), Peter Forrest, Marnus Labuschagne, Sam Heazlett, Sam Truloff, Jack Wildermuth, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Jason Floros, Mark Steketee, Peter George, Cameron Gannon, Luke Feldman.Victoria squad Marcus Harris, Travis Dean, Marcus Stoinis, Rob Quiney, Aaron Finch, Cameron White (capt), Daniel Christian, Seb Gotch (wk), James Pattinson, Chris Tremain, Scott Boland, Jon Holland.

Guyana, Leeward Islands and Barbados completed thumping wins in the seventh round of the WICB Regional 4-day tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2017Veerasammy Permaul’s 7 for 48 in the second innings, his 21st five-wicket haul, helped Guyana defeat Trinidad & Tobago by ten wickets and climb to the top of the table at Queen’s Park Oval. Guyana’s win was set up by their bowlers, who first negated T&T’s winning the toss and electing to bat, by bowling them out for 202, and then fifties from no. 7 Raymon Reifer and no. 10 Romario Shepherd helped them take a 128-run lead. That translated to an eventual target of 56, which Guyana bashed through in 13 overs on the fourth morning.Only three T&T batsmen managed to get past 30, as they collapsed from 172 for 4 in the first innings. Reifer took 3 for 48, while Permaul, Shepherd and Devendra Bishoo chipped in with two wickets each.Guyana’s response also saw a collapse. A third-wicket stand of 89 between nightwatchman Bishoo(39) and Assad Fudadin (57) had taken them to 136 for 2 before Marlon Richards (4-57) and Bryan Charles (4-91) struck regularly to reduce them to 201 for 7. But Reifer made 55 as he took them into the lead along with Permaul (24), before Shepherd (53) made his first half-century and guided a 57-run stand for the final wicket with debutant Keemo Paul (27*) to take them to 330.T&T’s second innings began with captain Kyle Hope’s dismissal for a second-ball duck, and barely took off after. A 48-run stand for the second wicket was the only substantial partnership. Once it was broken by Bishoo (2-68) in the 13th over, Permaul started chipping away, taking seven of the remaining eight wickets and pinning the hosts for 183. Isaiah Rajah, who made 41 in the first innings, was once again T&T’s top-scorer with 40 in the second.After a washed out first day, 25 wickets fell on the second and 15 on the third before Leeward Islands completed a 34-run win over Jamaica at Sabina Park. Leeward Islands dismissed Jamaica for 56 after themselves being bowled out for 71, and finished the second day at 31 for 5. They were bowled out for 133 by Jamaica on the third day but only after Jahmar Hamilton struck a crucial 45, assisted by Jeremiah Louis (23). Setting Jamaica a target of 149, Alzarri Joseph took 5 for 43 while Louis took four wickets to bundle the home side out for 114 to take the win.The match started on the second day, and Leeward Islands were skittled out for 71 after Jerome Taylor’s five wickets lit up the morning session. The joy for Jamaica was short lived, though, as four wickets each for Gavin Tonge and Louis saw the hosts dismissed for an even smaller total, giving the visitors a slender 15-run lead. By the time the second day ended, Leeward Islands were five wickets down as the game saw a wicket fall nearly every 4 overs. But Jamaica’s chase started as poorly as their first innings, and the home side fell to 15 for 3, and were soon 67 for 7 before they were all out 62.1 overs into the third day.Roston Chase produced career-best figures of 7 for 22 to help Barbados register a resounding nine-wicket win against Windward Islands at the Kensington Oval. The result meant Barbados overtook Guyana at the top of the points table.After Barbados secured a 31-run first-innings lead, Chase ripped through Windward Islands to bowl them out for just 71 in 25.1 overs. Fast bowler Miguel Cummins claimed the other three wickets to fall. Shane Shillingford, batting at No. 9, top-scored with 16 as only three batsmen reached double figures. Barbados required just four overs to chase down their target of 41.The only session in which Windward Islands dominated was the period before lunch on the first morning. Openers Devon Smith and Tyrone Theophile added a 121-run stand. Kemar Roach dismissed Theophile for 44 in the 35th over and had Taryck Gabriel caught behind off the next ball. Keddy Lesporis (59) and Smith staved off the Barbados bowlers, but a clump of wickets in the final session of the first day meant Windward Islands were bowled out for 293, despite Smith’s 103. Roach and left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican picked up four wickets each.Although only one batsman struck a half-century for Barbados – Kevin Stoute with 61 – plenty of contributions pushed Barbados past Windward Islands’ first-innings score. Barbados were bowled out for 324 as Shillingford and Sherman Lewis picked three wickets apiece.

Rising Pune Supergiant batsman Manoj Tiwary has taken “complete blame” for not finishing the game for his team against Delhi Daredevils on Friday night, which means they can still miss out on a playoff spot

ESPNcricinfo staff13-May-20171:49

I was not able to connect for boundaries – Tiwary

Rising Pune Supergiant batsman Manoj Tiwary has taken “complete blame” for not finishing the game for his team against Delhi Daredevils on Friday night, which means they can still miss out on a playoff spot. Supergiant were chasing 169 at the Feroz Shah Kotla and a win would have sealed a playoff berth, along with table-toppers Mumbai Indians. They needed 43 runs from 24 balls with Tiwary and MS Dhoni in a fifth-wicket stand but Dhoni was run out for 5 and the visitors were unable to strike a single boundary for 22 balls until the last over started.”I want to take the complete blame for that because I was the batsman who was set over there,” Tiwary said after the match. “And prior to the last over we couldn’t get any boundaries at that point of time and I was the man who was on strike and was not able to connect. But obviously, the match was in our hands at one point of time and that’s the way it happens at times.”We tried our best but we have to go back now and see what went wrong and how the batsmen could have scored more runs, find out what kind of strokes we could have played at that situation and come back harder in the next game. It’s going to be a pressure game because both the teams (Rising Pune and Kings XI Punjab) want to win and let’s see who comes best in that game.”Tiwary, who finished on 60 off 45 balls, said Dhoni “was not aware where the ball went” which led to his run-out in the 18th over, making the equation tougher for Rising Pune. Dhoni had top-edged a slower ball from Cummins towards short fine leg and had looked back immediately but only strolled for the first few steps. It was only when Dhoni realised Mohammed Shami had swooped in quickly, did he start sprinting down but a sharp direct-hit caught him a few inches short.”He (Dhoni) mentioned that he couldn’t see the ball where it went and that is the reason he couldn’t make it because [the] ball went behind [square] so he wasn’t aware where the ball went,” Tiwary explained. “But it happens, even the quickest of persons gets run-out and today was an example. It’s very rare, but yes, when things don’t go your way, things like these happen. But you must give credit to Shami as well because he took that risk of throwing and taking that chance because if that ball wouldn’t have hit the stumps [then] it would have been one more extra run.””It was a great effort by Shami to get him out,” Karun Nair said•BCCI

Shami later said he wanted to give it a try even if Dhoni is known for his quick running between the wickets. “You can say it was a game changer,” Shami said at the press conference. “Even though Mahi runs very well between the wickets I just tried that if, 50-50, it hits, then we can turn the match.”Daredevils’ Karun Nair, who top-scored with 64 off 45 and set up their score of 168 for 8, lauded Shami’s “great effort”, knowing what a threat Dhoni could be towards the end of the chase.”That was one of the turning points of the game because to get Mahi out at that time was one of the biggest moments,” Nair told . “Because if he’s there till the end he’ll finish off the game most of the time. It was a great effort by Shami to get him out.”Dhoni has struggled to get going this season and has managed only 240 runs from 13 innings so far, at a strike rate of 113.74, his worst in the 10 IPL seasons. His average of 24 so far is also his lowest in an IPL season. Tiwary defended Dhoni’s performances saying it was difficult for him to score a lot of runs since he came down the order, and still had a “lot of game left in him.””Dhoni still has a lot of time left,” Tiwary said. “And, more importantly, if he is doing so well in the present then why overthink. Obviously, in terms of runs, we should consider that he comes to bat down the order. In T20 cricket we only want the strike rate to be, say, over 120. But Mahi has done so well in the past and set such high standards that we feel that he should still be batting with the same strike rate of 130-160. But it is practically not possible.”You need to look at the circumstances too. He struck a good partnership with Ben Stokes in a game where Stokes hit a hundred. That game, if you see, what we needed most was a partnership and we got that partnership from the experienced player.”Mahi had that experience and he built that partnership. His strike rate might not have been that good but won us the game, so that is a match-winning innings, right? I always feel performances should be judged taking into account the situation of the game and then see what he is contributing to the game. That is more important, rather than the strike rate of the player. Obviously, the format is so fast that everybody wants to see sixes and fours and strike rates of 150 but it is not possible all the time. I feel he still has a lot of game left in him.”

Stephen Fleming was proud of the planning and execution by Pune this IPL season, and the one-run loss in the final did not change that he said

Arun Venugopal in Hyderabad22-May-2017The one run that separated Mumbai Indians from Rising Pune Supergiant is an accurate representation of the way the IPL 2017 final played out. Both teams scrapped hard on a sluggish surface and made mistakes in turns. However, when it came to the final act, Pune, as their coach Stephen Fleming put it, couldn’t “kill the game”.”It was a game of inches and metres,” Fleming said after the match. “Steve Smith came very close to winning it in the last over and it could have been a much different story. But that was the nature of the game. It was very ebb and flow on what was quite a tough wicket to score on. We knew that it was going to be tough. We knew their bowling attack was top class. We fell behind a couple of times. We lost wickets at key times. They just hung in and created enough pressure to get across the line but it was just a great final. It was full of pressure, full of mistakes and it was full of great performances. It was a grand finish to a good competition”.After Rohit Sharma had opted to bat, Pune’s bowlers largely neutered whatever advantage Mumbai may have hoped to gain from winning the toss with tight spells at the top. While the fielding – right from Jaydev Unadkat’s return catch to send back Lendl Simmons to Smith’s direct hit that caught Ambati Rayudu short – was first-rate, there was no shortage of tactical smarts as well.Against Kieron Pollard, Pune replicated the field they had for him during the league game at the Wankhede Stadium and almost immediately found success. Manoj Tiwary was stationed on the boundary right behind the bowler, and Pollard holed out to him with unerring accuracy off the third ball he faced.”We were happy. The way we bowled and went about our work was very good. One-hundred and twenty-nine, if you asked us that as a score in a final to chase down, you would take it every time,” Fleming said. “We were calculated in the field. Some of the outs were very pleasing in terms of field positioning and tactics we used. Batting wise, it was always going to be a grind.”We were a batter short with Ben Stokes not being here. We were playing an extra bowler and we were a little mindful of that. The best way was a couple of partnerships and gain momentum. We saw Smith and [Ajinkya] Rahane come close to that. We just lost wickets at key times and it kept them just in the game, and then they came home with a real rush.”While Pune had a decent start in the Powerplay to score 38 for 1, they could make only incremental advances as they scored 27 runs in the next five overs. Fleming, however, maintained there was no other way they could have approached the chase.”If you lose three for 20, then it’s game on. It was always going to take us a partnership to get close but we just could not get the one or two overs when we were close to putting the game away,” he said. “We lost wickets, or they bowled a good over. It was never going to be a wicket where they could blast your way through. When we played against [Sunrisers] Hyderabad, we found that as well. Just batting deep was the best opportunity and we could not get over the line [tonight].”The wicket was two paced. Both teams struggled to play aggressively on it. The number of boundaries that were limited and the mis-hits that came along suggested inconsistent bounce and reverse swing. It was a tough track to score on, but the bowling on both sides was outstanding. We have some good bowlers who have performed well in that type of conditions for most of the tournament and we were at it again today. They have some good pace bowlers who did a great job, especially in the last four or five overs.”Fleming, said the result wouldn’t gloss over the advances made by Pune in IPL 2017 after finishing second from bottom on the points table last year. What pleased him most was the contribution made by relatively low-key players like Jaydev Unadkat, Rahul Tripathi and Manoj Tiwary.Stephen Fleming: ‘Steve was the captain this year and MS Dhoni slotted in to the role of a senior player very easily’•AFP

“I don’t think we are the most skilled side in the IPL. What we have had is players stand up from nowhere. We take real pride in that,” he said. “We have created an environment where some players have been able to excel. Jaydev has been extraordinary again today, so has been Rahul Tripathi and Tiwary. Big stars have stepped up at key times as well. Ben Stokes was fantastic for us.”Steve was the captain this year and MS Dhoni slotted in to the role of a senior player very easily. He is a proud man but he is humble man. We saw the interaction between the two and other leaders, Faf du Plessis as well. So leadership was never going to be a weakness for us. It was a case of making sure all our leaders were contributing in the right areas.”I am very proud of the combination we put together and the campaign we ran. We would have loved to have sat here and had the icing on the cake but it does not change the feelings about the work that we put in during the year to get to this point.”As part of the two-year agreement, Pune have possibly played their last game as an IPL franchise as Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals are set to return in IPL 2018. What does the future hold for Fleming and the team?”We concentrated on getting this game through and finishing as well as we could and then whatever happens after this, I am not sure anybody knows about it to be honest,” he said. “We didn’t spend a lot of time on working out what-ifs. It was purely what we could control and that was getting into the final. Secondly, we lost some players on the way to the final so that was a big goal to get here [to the top two] and then hopefully play two good games. And we came pretty close”.

Essex’s coach, Chris Silverwood, says that Essex might not win the title, but they are out to make their presence felt

Paul Edwards at Chelmsford27-Jun-2017
ScorecardEssex’s season has slipped down a treat for Chris Silverwood•Getty Images

There are days when cricket slams a door in the face of its most devoted admirers and there are days when that same door is kept ajar, tantalising folk with the possibility of play. And so they gathered in the Felsted School and Tom Pearce stands this Tuesday afternoon and evening, teased by the breaks in the weather and whiling away summer with their friends. In its way, the latter diversion was as important as the possibility of cricket.Play was due to start at two o’clock and then again at 4.25. On each occasion the rain set in a few minutes before the umpires were due to go out and the small crowd lapsed back into the Janus-faced allure of prospects and memories. Flasked and tupperwared, they waited. Even some of the oldsters read their mobile phones. Timings were juggled as people tried to work out when play might be abandoned on a day when cricket could continue until a scheduled latest close of 9.30. The floodlights were turned off around six o’clock and we waited for Messrs Hartley and Millns to decide that hope could be turned off, too.By 6.50 the umpires had had enough and everybody began to think about the shape of a three-day game. Come Wednesday afternoon Essex will resume on 106 for 0 and with a freshly pressing need to get a wriggle on and build the sort of lead which will allow them to pressurise Middlesex on the final day. For Chris Silverwood, Essex’s quietly-spoken and impressive head coach, the dynamics of the game have changed.”I still think the game’s in a good position but we have to bat well tomorrow and we have to get a full day’s cricket in,” he said. “If we can bat once and bat long then who knows, so the first order of the day is to score as many runs as we can, pick up as many bonus points as possible and see where the game goes from there. We’re sitting at the top of the league and it’s for other people to catch us. If we can press the button, we will but Middlesex might bowl well and make life very difficult for us and we have to accept that.”Yet even on this grey June evening as the commuters hurried home down New London Road towards Ingatestone and Margaretting, Silverwood’s thoughts could be turned back towards the development of a side capable of winning promotion in 2016 and then “making their presence felt” this summer.”We’re always watching what other teams are doing but we will continue to approach our cricket in exactly the same way,” he said. “There’s a lot that can happen and I told the team this morning that there is no room for complacency. We have to follow the same process.”That process began for Silverwood and his coaches a year last November when the players reported back for pre-season training and plans for Essex’s resurgence were put into place.”What we’ve done has got us in a great position and it will continue to do so,” he said. “I’m not right fussed who our rivals are. It’s about what we do and how we conduct us selves. There are no bad teams in Division One, even though some are having harder times than others. You have to treat everybody like your rival.”We’ve not changed what we’ve done from last year. We’ve just got better at it. The players believe in the process and believe in themselves. At the start of last year we started playing the type of cricket that we want to play now. We’re not going to say we’re going to win it but we’re here to make our presence felt. And if we do that, who knows?”

Normal service resumed in the West Indies as the hosts’ batsmen failed again – this time on a much better batting surface – and India chased 206 down with relative ease to seal the series 3-1

The Report by Sidharth Monga06-Jul-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
1:24

Kohli king of the chase as India win series

Normal service resumed in the West Indies as the hosts’ batsmen failed again – this time on a much better batting surface – and India chased 206 down with relative ease to seal the series 3-1. Just like India seem wired to score around 300 no matter the situation or conditions, the number seems to be 200 for them. They got away with 189 in the last match, but on a pitch that the ball came on to the bat, their inability to score freely off the spinners – 76 runs in 24 overs – consigned them to defeat.In the chase, Virat Kohli overcame his recent short-ball trouble by choosing to tide over the barrage as opposed to hooking everything. He now has more hundreds in ODI chases than anybody else – 18.The unsung heroes for India, though, were their spinners even though the scoreboard shows just one under the wickets column for them, that too for part-timer Kedar Jadhav. The fast bowlers, who took eight wickets between them, will, however, argue that they cleaned up after themselves after a profligate start. Umesh Yadav in particular struggled with the new ball, bowling either short and wide or full on the pads. Kyle Hope cashed in as he and Evin Lewis added 39 for the first wicket in 8.2 overs. Then he joined brother Shai to add a further 37.At 3-0-22-0, Umesh was taken out of the attack, and was brought back soon after the fielding restrictions were taken off. He bowled two overs for four runs, then Kyle Hope attacked him with two boundaries and fell while going for a third. The ball was short enough, but the batsman failed to clear short midwicket. Umesh swooped in on that break with a full and straight delivery to send Roston Chase back first ball.The stage was now for spinners to cut off the oxygen supply. Ravindra Jadeja found turn, Kuldeep Yadav remained difficult to negotiate, and Jadhav’s low, round-arm, non-turning, slow offbreaks sent back a frustrated Jason Mohammed.Walking in at 115 for 4 in the 31st over, Jason Holder used his long reach to put the spinners off their rhythm. He hit four fours, and a six off Hardik Pandya, but when he went to hit Shami straight down the ground he found an agile Shikhar Dhawan at long-on. The going was tough for West Indies after that.And before that. There had been an 11-over spell without boundaries before Holder, and after Holder they managed only three boundaries, which incredibly were the first ones they had hit past the 40th over all series. Two of those were sixes in the last two overs from Rovman Powell that pushed West Indies past 200. Still they knew they needed lightning to strike twice if they were to defend this.For a moment it seemed lightning might indeed strike twice when Dhawan went back in the first over of the chase, again driving on the up and failing to keep the ball down. In the fourth over, it should have become two down but Devendra Bishoo dropped Ajinkya Rahane at point. Rahane didn’t go on to take his streak of 50 or more to five, but he added 79 with Kohli to set India on their way.More importantly, Rahane’s urgency and early boundaries meant Kohli could take his time dealing with the short ball. In the previous matches, his eagerness to score, a dominating batsman’s ego if you will, had got the better of him, but here Kohli was prepared to wait it out. He kept ducking, weaving and leaving bouncers before he finally hooked in the ninth over, at least the eighth bouncer bowled at him. This was smoked clean in front of square for four with the wrists managing to keep it down.The bouncers now came down to the occasional ones. Rahane reached his slowdown period now with the ball getting older, but slowly – and a little gingerly – Kohli began to dominate. It helped that there were quite a few loose balls on offer, especially from West Indies’ legspinning talisman Bishoo.As Kohli got more and more comfortable at the wicket, he began to put away even the good balls, as he did with a late cut off an Ashley Nurse length ball to move to 68 off 80. He moved to hundred in another 28 balls, unleashing an emotional celebration. Dinesh Karthik, playing only his second ODI in three years, provided Kohli good support, scoring a fifty of his own.

Tony Dodemaide has announced that he will step down as the CEO of Cricket Victoria after the coming summer

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2017Tony Dodemaide has announced that he will step down as the CEO of Cricket Victoria after the coming summer.Dodemaide, the former Test fast bowler who took 281 Sheffield Shield wickets for Victoria during the 1980s and 90s, will leave Cricket Victoria at the end of April 2018 after a decade as CEO.In a statement, Cricket Victoria said that the timing of Dodemaide’s departure would allow him to oversee the 2017-18 season and the completion of the new Victorian Cricket and Community Centre project at the Junction Oval.”Tony has been a wonderful servant for Victorian cricket, making an outstanding contribution as CEO on top of his decorated playing career for Footscray, Victoria and Australia,” Cricket Victoria chairman Russell Thomas said. “He has led the transformation of Cricket Victoria from a traditional state association to a multi-faceted organisation with high energy and enthusiasm.”As an administrator, he has overseen a decade of impressive on- and off-field achievements. These notably include the long-desired new home for Victorian cricket, arguably the most successful on-field period for the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers in Victorian cricket history and strong Victorian representation in Australian teams.”Dodemaide said: “It has been a privilege and honour to be at the helm of Victorian cricket for over a decade. I am pleased to have contributed to both the successes and solving the many challenges that have arisen in the changing local and national cricket scenes during that time.””Of course there will always be new challenges on the horizon, but for me the completion of, and transition to the new home of Victorian cricket at the Junction Oval – a facility that will set up the sport in this state for the next 50 years – is an obvious and appropriate time to pass on the baton for a new phase of leadership.”However, Dodemaide has also faced the ire of some club delegates over plans to introduce a fully independent Cricket Victoria board, and a plan to restructure the state’s turf cricket associations has also drawn considerable opposition.