All posts by n8rngtd.top

Allrounder also makes second-fastest List A half-century along the way

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2021Thisara Perera, the allrounder, became the first Sri Lankan to hit six sixes in an over in any form of professional cricket, on Sunday. En route to his unbeaten 13-ball 52, he also smashed the second-fastest half-century in List A cricket, for Army Sports Cricket Club in SLC’s Major Clubs tournament.The record for fastest fifty is held by former Sri Lanka allrounder Kaushalya Weeraratne, who smashed a 12-ball half-century for Ragana Cricket Club against Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club in November 2005. That knock, an 18-ball 66, consisted of two fours and eight sixes, including five off a single over.Perera, leading Sri Lanka Army Sports Club, walked in to bat at No. 5 with 20 balls remaining in their innings that was truncated to 41-overs-a-side. Part-time offspinner and experienced first-class cricketer Dilhan Cooray, playing for Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club, was the bowler at the receiving end of Perera’s onslaught. Cooray went on to concede 73 in four wicketless overs. For the record, the match was abandoned with Bloomfield struggling on 73 for 6 in their chase of 318.Perera is the second cricketer, after West Indies T20I captain Kieron Pollard, to achieve this feat in 2021. Pollard achieved the feat just three weeks prior to Perera’s, when he hit Sri Lanka’s Akila Dhananjaya for six sixes in a T20I in Coolidge. Overall, Perera is part of a small list of nine to have achieved this feat in professional cricket, after Garfield Sobers, Ravi Shastri, Herschelle Gibbs, Yuvraj Singh, Ross Whiteley, Hazratullah Zazai, Leo Carter and Pollard.

Upali Dharmadasa, the incumbent president of the SLC, will be running once again for the post of SLC president

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Mar-2013Incumbent Sri Lanka Cricket president Upali Dharmadasa will contest the post of president once again in the upcoming SLC elections, with Badureliya Sports Club president, Sumith Perera, also joining the race. MP Thilanga Sumathipala had announced his candidacy on Wednesday.Incumbent secretary Nishantha Ranatunga is also running for his position again, as is vice-president Asanga Seneviratne. Ranatunga, who is running as an independent candidate, is believed to be running unopposed for the position. Seneviratne will have to defeat at least one of the two vice-presidential candidates from Sumathipala’s group, Mohan de Silva or Shammi Silva, to regain his post.Dharmadasa had initially not expressed interest in standing for re-election, as his brother Jayantha was rumoured to be contesting the presidency instead. Dharmadasa said he had only decided to stand for re-election in the hours before nominations were due.”I decided to contest it after many clubs and people requested me to do so,” he said. “I thought it was my duty to do that, because there are potential issues with another candidate, especially where the ICC is concerned.”Dharmadasa was referring to Sumathipala, whose possible links to the betting industry may provide obstacles for his running for the presidency. The ICC had given cricket boards two years to become free from government and political interference in 2011, in accordance with the Woolf Report’s recommendations.The people behind the report have since said it would review that particular stance, because some boards depended on government patronage. The ICC code of Ethics also forbids any person with business interests in the betting industry from sitting on its board of directors. Sumathipala is joint managing director of business conglomerate the Sumathi Group, which has a betting business called Sporting Star.”If the ICC refrains from recognising the elected president, it will look bad for Sri Lanka,” Dharmadasa said. “There has also been a lot of correspondence when Mr. Sumathipala was president in the past, back when the SLC and ICC were not on good terms.”Sumathipala was SLC president thrice between 1997 and 2004, while Dharmadasa was president in 1996, before being appointed the interim president in 2010. Dharmadasa and Sumathipala were also candidates in last year’s SLC election, until Sumathipala withdrew from the race, allowing Dharmadasa to be elected unopposed, amid claims of political interference.”During my last term [as president] I’ve overseen a reduction in SLC’s debt, and settled the players’ payments, which was an issue that cost almost 900 million rupees (USD $7 million). We’ve also brought in people like Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas. So I think I have done well.”The elections are due to take place late in March, with the newly elected officials announced at the SLC annual general meeting on March 30.

Varun Chopra and Ian Westwood provided the platform for Warwickshire to pick up a batting bonus in an otherwise frustrating draw

Jon Culley at Edgbaston13-Apr-2013
ScorecardIan Westwood helped Warwickshire put on another century opening stand with Varun Chopra•PA Photos

In five months’ time, this match will almost certainly be nothing but a distant, watery memory, with little bearing on anything that happened in between. Yet Warwickshire were unable to avoid some sense of frustration. Not only were they denied the chance to take full advantage of what may be the weakest opponent they will face in defence of their title, picking up a paltry four bonus points, they had also to swallow the news that Sussex, Durham and Middlesex had picked their way through the gloom and the puddles to register first-round wins.”It is frustrasting,” the Warwickshire captain, Jim Troughton said. “Looking at the state of the game, we knew that their score was under par and that after the start our openers gave us we would back ourselves to bat big and have another go at them. But there is a long season ahead of us and if we keep playing solid cricket the points will take care of themselves.”You’d like to start with a win but you can’t do it if you can’t get on the field. I feel sorry for Gary [Barwell], the groundsman. He had to get the ark out last year and he’s needed a snowplough this time.”At least there was encouragement to draw, not least in the increasing reliability of the opening batsmen, Varun Chopra and Ian Westwood, who compiled their sixth century partnership in their last 12 matches together.”They have become so important,” Troughton said. “Early season it is commonplace to see three or four wickets down before lunch. The ball is going to nibble, as it has done in the other games in this round. So if you’ve got a partnership at the top of the order, with the consistency they have together, and with the batting we have to follow, you have the chance to put big totals on the board.”Chops and Westy know each other’s games really well and they are a left-hand, right-hand combination, which is good. Age-wise they have a lot of growth left in them as a partnership. I still think Westy is improving and Chops seems to go away every winter and come back a better player.”He’s got 1,000 runs two years in a row and if he keeps playing as he is he will be knocking on the door for England. While he is playing for Warwickshire he is challenging himself to keep improving.”Westy and myself were perhaps the two players whose form hit a consistent vein in the second half of last season and it is good for us that he and Chops seem to be continuing where they left off.”Their progress to 139 on the last day here, before Westwood sliced a drive to backward point off Tim Groenewald, served to reinforce Derbyshire’s coach Karl Krikken’s point of view that Division One will be an unforgiving environment for his Division Two title-winners.”In both divisions you aim to make as few mistakes as possible because mistakes get punished,” he said. “Last season we didn’t make many mistakes but in this game we have been a bit lacking in some areas and we just have to up it a little bit next time.”Groenewald’s breakthrough gave him the honour of taking the first Division One wicket by a Derbyshire player since Kevin Dean against Somerset in September 2000. It sparked a Warwickshire collapse of sorts, as the champions sought to up the tempo. William Porterfield drove Wes Durston’s offspin straight to short extra-cover, Chopra edged behind as Chesney Hughes gave his left-arm spin a dusting down, then Troughton, advancing down the wicket, was stumped after reaching for his shot as Durston bowled wide of the stumps. A boundary from Laurie Evans snatched a first batting point just before lunch — then rain intervened for the final time.

Kolkata Knight Riders’ first win of the tournament jeopardised the hitherto undefeated Titans’ chances of making it to the semi-finals

The Report by Sidharth Monga21-Oct-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Manvinder Bisla’s free swinging gave Kolkata Knight Riders a quick start•Getty Images

Kolkata Knight Riders played every bit like the side they were, one with nothing to lose, and in careening to their first win of the tournament, they jeopardised the hitherto undefeated Titans’ chances of making the semi-finals. However, once Kolkata tried to normalise after losing the second wicket at 95 in the ninth over, they began to flounder again. And once Debabrata Das embraced the devil-may-care attitude again, both hits and mis-hits began to clear the ropes, and the resultant total was 67 more than what was enough to produce a thriller on the same pitch hours ago.Titans were always going to struggle chasing 189 on a slightly sticky pitch, and their prospects worsened when they lost their big-hitting opener Henry Davids for 13. They tried to pinch-hit with the promoted Heino Kuhn, but once Kuhn and Martin van Jaarsveld fell to successive L Balaji deliveries in the eighth over, the game was all but over. Arguably, though, their captain van Jaarsveld had made the bigger mistake much earlier.Van Jaarsveld knew he was taking a risk when he asked Knight Riders, who did not have a care in the world today, to bat. His decision at the toss was dictated by the overcast skies and dew expected later in the day. As it turned out, without any target or points to chase, Knight Riders played with the freedom they would have hoped to bring to more meaningful matches. On a pitch that produced a last-over thriller at around a run a ball, their top three basically threw their bats at nearly everything. It came off sensationally for Manvinder Bisla and Brendon McCullum for long enough to score 63 off 34 balls between them, but Gautam Gambhir embraced caution after McCullum’s fall.A period of 18 runs in four overs resulted in rash shots, and Jacques Kallis, Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan fell trying to hit sixes, within four runs of each other, to make it 133 for 5 in the 16th over. Das then did away with niceties and resumed swinging at anything that moved. Top edges flew over the keeper’s head, swats avoided deep fielders, and in between he evened it all out with some brute hitting, including driving CJ de Villiers over long-off for a six.Das and Manoj Tiwary added 55 off the last 27 balls to take Knight Riders to the highest total of the tournament. Batting seemed easy without the fear of consequences, but the result meant Tuesday’s games were laden with consequence: three of the four teams in action will be playing for a semi-final spot.

Mahela Jayawardene’s second fifty as an opener and Travis Head’s beligerence converted a potential tricky chase of 176 into a cruise for the Adelaide Strikers

The report by Will Macpherson08-Jan-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMahela Jayawardene’s second fifty as an opener converted a potential tricky chase of 176 into a cruise for the Adelaide•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Beware the wounded cricketer. At the end of the fourth over of Adelaide Strikers’ chase, Mahela Jayawardene – looking in simply sumptuous form – pushed Josh Lalor to short fine leg, and sprinted through for a single, as fast as his little legs would carry him. In doing so, perhaps with all 38 of his years showing, he overstretched, and felt one of quadriceps sting.This would be a situation relished by Brisbane Heat, on their last legs in BBL 2015-16. But, after five minutes of work treatment by the physio, Jayawardene picked himself up, pulled up his trousers (literally) and drilled James Hopes on the up through the covers for four to move to 31 off 13. By the over’s end, the Sri Lankan had driven Hopes down the ground for a stunning six. Jayawardene was not going to die wondering, and it was the foundation he set up courtesy a 30-ball 53 that helped the Adelaide Strikers move up to the top of the points table as they chased down 176 with eight balls to spare and eight wickets in hand.By the time Jayawardene’s innings had died, in the tenth over, wrongly adjudged leg before attempting to reverse sweep off a Samuel Badree googly, the Heat were on their knees, and the damage had been done. Before his injury, Jayawardene had consecutively top-edged Andrew Fekete for six, cover driven for four, then middled a pull for six; afterwards (despite some near-suicidal running from Tim Ludeman) he was ramping Ben Cutting over the keeper’s head, and skipping towards Badree and firing the ball back past him for four to bring up a second consecutive half-century since moving to the top of the order against Scorchers on Tuesday.A loss here meant Brisbane Heat’s last two games – both away from home – are irrelevant. Heat have been much improved, but they ran into a more efficient unit on Friday. Earlier, for once, Chris Lynn did not top score; Jimmy Peirson notched a fine half-century, standing and delivering, carting the ball down the ground, and targeting the leg-breaks of John Holland, before falling to Travis Head’s part-timers when ready to push on.Lendl Simmons was given leg before to Michael Neser’s second ball, but Chris Lynn appeared to shine briefly to help overcome the early damage. Billy Stanlake’s rangy seamers were dispatched for three fours in an over. Ben Laughlin was consecutively driven for four, past the umpire, then through the covers, but the introduction of Adil Rashid – now the competition’s highest wicket-taker, with 12 scalps – did for Lynn, as he tried to slog sweep against the spin and was caught at deep midwicket.Rashid’s four overs went for just a single boundary, and 17 runs, and his last delivery snared the Heat’s last dangerous hitter, Ben Cutting, bowled by a beautifully disguised googly. When Rashid was done, lusty hitting from Nathan Reardon, and a wonderful finish from Hopes, who took Neser’s final over for 17 with some impressive swiping across the line, carried Heat to 175 for 6.In response, Jayawardene’s early assault had done the damage, but Ludeman and Head picked up where he left off, accepting regular gifts from the Heat. If it was careless to allow a limping Jayawardene to amble between the wickets for ones and twos, it was downright irresponsible to drop Head on 4 (Sam Heazlett at backward point) and 7 (Josh Lalor, running in from backward square); plenty more sloppy fielding followed.As Ludeman anchored, playing conventional strokes, including a glorious cover driven four to move to 49, Head played himself in then freed the arms. They would become the first top three in BBL history to all reach 50 in a single innings, a stat in stark contrast to Peirson’s being the first 50 for the Heat this season not coming from Lynn’s bat.Lalor found a fine 14th over to briefly put Strikers’ brakes on, before Head began batting like it was the last night of 2015 all over again. Andrew Fekete played the role of Sean Abbott, driven over long-off, then twice pulled over square-leg, all for six. When he was caught swinging across the line (a ball after hitting Cutting down the ground for another six to bring up his half-century), Brad Hodge came out to drive down the ground and see them home. As their march toward a home semi-final continues, Strikers will hope the quad injury of their other elder statesman (and new lynchpin) Jayawardene is not too serious.

MS Dhoni’s assurance that Ravindra Jadeja will be provided greater batting opportunities at Chennai Super Kings has led to the allrounder focusing more on his middle-order batting

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2018MS Dhoni’s assurance that Ravindra Jadeja will be provided greater batting opportunities at Chennai Super Kings during the upcoming IPL has led to the India allrounder focusing more on his middle-order batting. The results of such efforts were visible in his second List A hundred, which helped Saurashtra chase down 330 against Jharkhand in a Vijay Hazare Trophy match in Secunderabad on Sunday.”Mahi [Dhoni] told me that I will get batting opportunities in the IPL this year,” Jadeja told . “He said that I have the ability of a proper batsman, and I am not the flash in the pan type of batsman. And I should think like that. It was really encouraging for me. So, I am concentrating more on the batting aspect of my game and trying to get used to playing the anchor role.”I am focusing more on my batting now. I do not want to be a player who is known for hitting those 20-odd runs. I want to play the anchor role, just like I did today. The pain was unbearable some times while playing certain shots. But this was really important for my self confidence. It is morale boosting. To chase the target under the circumstances is really special for me.”Coming into bat at No.4, Jadeja hit an unbeaten 113 off 116 balls, including seven fours and four sixes, to set up Saurashtra’s four-wicket win with 10 balls to spare. While Jadeja hasn’t had a great run in the tournament so far, this innings was “morale boosting” for the manner in which he battled a side strain, which had restricted him to bowling only two overs.Jadeja, 29, last played a limited-overs international in July last year, and has since found himself out of the national side following the emergence of wristspinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. India’s bowling coach B Arun, however, maintained both Jadeja and R Ashwin were not out of contention for the 2019 World Cup.Jadeja, though, has endured a barren run with the ball – his stronger suit. He has gone wicketless in each of the four matches he has bowled in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Jadeja, however, said he was satisfied with his bowling form. “If I am satisfied with the way I have bowled, I do not think much about other things. If I am executing my plans, I am happy,” he said.”If I get wickets owing to mistakes of batsmen, I am not satisfied from the inside. If I think I have done the things I wanted to do, like varying the pace, I am content with that. It [pace variation] is the most important thing. I am trying to do that. I am using different angles to bowl.”

In high-scoring Sharjah, the biggest hitters from both sides might bat further up than usual

Sreshth Shah02-Oct-20208:35

Are KKR under-utilising Kuldeep Yadav?

Big picture

With two wins and one comprehensive defeat each, the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Delhi Capitals have begun their IPL 2020 campaigns well enough to be among the top few teams. With every result causing big changes to the points table, though, only victories can ensure they remain in the top half of the table.Both teams have earned their two victories primarily on the back of their bowling. Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada have hit their straps for the Knight Riders and the Capitals respectively, and both teams have bowling line-ups that more or less cancel each other out: for the Capitals’ Anrich Nortje, there’s the Knight Riders’ Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti. Among the spinners, the combination of Axar Patel and Amit Mishra for the Capitals have made run-scoring as difficult as the Knight Riders pair of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy haveSo, the way these teams will likely be separated is by who bats smarter. They are playing in Sharjah – where all four innings so far have crossed 200 – and both have their share of hard-hitters. Batting spots, therefore, could play an important role.The cardinal sin at Sharjah would be if teams can’t maximise their batting resources across 20 overs, and therefore it will be an interesting sub-plot to see if teams use their biggest hitters further up the order than usual. Even No. 4, where Rishabh Pant bats, and Shimron Hetmyer at No. 5 could be wasted that low at Sharjah for the Capitals, and in what order Narine, Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik bat could seal the deal for the Knight Riders.This season, ten of the first 13 games have been won by teams batting first, but in Sharjah that stat is split down the middle with one win each for the batting and chasing side. It’s also the first time both teams would be playing at this venue. Although the Capitals lost their last game – compared to the Knight Riders, who are seeking their third straight win – Shreyas Iyer’s team enters the contest knowing they have won their last three meetings against Dinesh Karthik’s men.

In the news

On the eve of the match, Capitals’ bowling coach Ryan Harris confirmed that R Ashwin had had a full session at the nets and could be up for selection after recovering from a shoulder injury, sustained in their tournament opener. The final word on Ashwin’s availability, however, remains with the medical team. The Knight Riders are injury-free.Has the experiment of opening with Sunil Narine run its course?•BCCI

Likely XIs

Delhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Anrich Nortje, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Amit MishraKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Dinesh Karthik (capt, wk), 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Pat Cummins, 8 Kamlesh Nagarkoti, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Shivam Mavi, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Strategy punts

• In Sharjah, batsmen are going to try to send even the best bowlers for plenty. Therefore, attacking up front may be the best ploy for the later overs. Teams should try to take as many wickets early and not save their best resources for the death. That means Rabada, for example, who almost always bowls two overs at the top, could be given a third over in the powerplay.
• If the first punt is successful, though, then the Capitals should hold back at least one over from Rabada because Russell has struggled against ultra-fast bowlers, especially if they can execute the yorkers and short balls. Russell would remember that Rabada had floored him before dismissing him in the Super Over in 2019, and teams also know that Russell struggles against particular deliveries. Russell has an average of 22 against the short ball, including six dismissals in his last 28 innings, while his strike rate is just 62.16 against the yorker. However, whoever bowls to him must also be accurate because if the yorker ends up as a full toss, he hits those deliveries at a strike rate of 225.92.
• The Knight Riders may not want to open with Narine, because dot-balls can hurt teams in Sharjah more than elsewhere. Sides have slowly begun to understand that the short ball, on a leg stump line, is the way to keep Narine quiet, and off the 26 deliveries he has faced in IPL 2020, 17 (including leg-byes and dismissals) have been dot balls. It’s a dangerously high number.
• The Knight Riders may opt to leave out left-arm wristspinner Yadav. He has been the least successful of their three spinners, and the Capitals have four left-handers in their top seven, which poses a poor match-up for Yadav. They could play an extra batsman since, currently, their No. 7 is Cummins. There’s no real difference in economies for spinners (10.6) and pacers (11.0) in Sharjah this season, and therefore, more depth in their batting might allow their top order to bat more freely. If they do want some spin overs, Nitish Rana can bowl handy offbreaks, although they may not want to use him at all, since pacers have taken 14 wickets at an average of 39.1 in Sharjah this season, compared to spinners taking six wickets at 52.0.

Stats that matter

• When Narine has taken at least one wicket against the Delhi franchise, the Knight Riders have won 80% of their matches. And among the Capitals’ top seven that played their last game, no batsman has a particularly high strike rate in T20s against him. The strike rates of Dhawan (102), Iyer (100), Stoinis (86), Patel (73) and Hetmyer (64) are especially poor, while no one has topped 129.
• Since IPL 2018, of all his IPL opponents, Russell has scored the most runs (192) and has the second-highest strike rate (211) against the Delhi franchise. In all T20s since 2019, Russell also has the best ball-per-six ratio (6.1) and has struck the most sixes (142) too.
• The Capitals have a win percentage of 87.5% when Shaw scores 25 or more runs for them. The Capitals’ average score boosts up to 184 when he gets at least 25 runs. Compare that to a win percentage of 45% and an average score of 155 when he doesn’t get 25.
• If they play, it will be Mishra’s 150th IPL game and Rana’s 50th in the IPL and 100th overall in T20s. Cummins needs one wicket to 100 T20 strikes.

Magnificently clean hitting and a century stand between the New Zealand duo staged a remarkable comeback against the hosts

Danyal Rasool24-Apr-2023Mark Chapman had been threatening to do this all series, and with the stakes at their highest, he went out and did it. A breathtaking display of magnificently clean hitting against some of the best bowlers in T20 cricket saw the 28-year-old score an unbeaten 57-ball 104, chasing down 194 to mount a comeback for the ages to stun Pakistan. It is the second-highest total ever chased against Pakistan in T20s, and also means New Zealand finish the series level despite trailing 2-0 after two games. It is also New Zealand’s 100th T20I win, one that will take pride of place in New Zealand T20 folklore.Few would have given them hope of achieving this when they rocked up in Pakistan from halfway across the world and had just one practice session under their belt when the series began. The task was made even stiffer by the depleted nature of their side, with eight first-team players missing owing to IPL duty. Even on the day, victory looked particularly improbable when Imad Wasim struck to remove Daryl Mitchell, leaving New Zealand tottering at 73 for 4 at the halfway mark.

Chapman and Neesham turn tables

But Pakistan hadn’t yet accounted for Chapman, and in a series he finished with 290 runs having been dismissed just once, that made the world of difference. He smashed Faheem Ashraf for 14 in the 11th over to fire a shot against Pakistan’s bow, warning them the game – and series – wasn’t done yet. It was a warning they would have done well to heed, but were rendered powerless against Chapman’s onslaught. With James Neesham’s unbeaten 45 off 25 a more-than-able supporting act, Chapman took apart each Pakistan bowler, quick and slow, right-arm and left-arm.The next five overs saw 71 runs scored, and New Zealand had turned the contest on its head. By now, Chapman was nearing his hundred, but continued to attack. There was some luck against Shaheen Shah Afridi; Shadab Khan dropped an easy catch before Afridi dropped him off his own bowling on 98. That sloppiness allowed him to race back for two, and complete the 100 he so richly deserved.By now, it was a run-a-ball equation for the last two overs, and for Chapman in this form, it was a cakewalk. A little nudge into the on side sealed the deal with four balls to go, giving Pakistan a reality check – and a bloody nose – before the five-match ODI series begins later this week.Mark Chapman and James Neesham stunned Pakistan with their century stand•Associated Press

The triple-strike

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan might have got Pakistan off to a great start, but much like New Zealand have done in almost every match this series, the bowlers hit back strongly once more. An off-colour Babar was the first to fall, in the final over of the powerplay, as he miscued an on-side slog. Mohammad Haris came in with two balls left of the powerplay and was eager to make up for lost time, only to misread an offcutter from Blair Tickner and attempt to lap over short fine leg off his first delivery. Ish Sodhi took a comfortable catch before coming on and dispatching of Saim Ayub with a wrong’un for another duck. Pakistan had suddenly lost three wickets for one run in five balls, and a good Pakistani start had been laid to waste.

Rizwan’s 98* – and Pakistan’s weird slowdown

It’s perhaps churlish to nitpick a T20 hundred, but there’s no way to avoid it. Rizwan has been a run machine for Pakistan in T20Is since 2021, as well as one of their most potent matchwinners over the years. Despite a relatively lean run by his high standards, he began with the truculence befitting the format, hurtling along even as Babar struggled and wickets tumbled at the other end. He provided the start, he held the innings through the middle, and arguably merited the century at the end.But T20 centurions are like presidents – if you really want to be one – you probably don’t deserve it. Had Pakistan continued to attack the death overs like any side maximising their run-scoring potential should, Rizwan’s hundred might have come organically. Instead, he opted for relative caution, and the final few balls were almost wholly geared towards getting Rizwan those final few runs rather than giving Pakistan every extra run they could scrape.Imad was run out trying to scrape a bye, even though he was the batter in better striking form, and because that didn’t get Rizwan on strike, Faheem Ashraf took just the single rather than the two that was on off the penultimate ball. Rizwan didn’t get to three figures anyway, but that had more to do with him scoring just one boundary off his final 13 balls.Chapman, by contrast, barely seemed to register what score he was on when batting on 98. Afridi had just one ball left, and could have been milked for a single or seen off. Yet, the batter tried a high-risk jab into the on side only to see the ball fly straight up. The century didn’t matter, and yet Chapman got it – and his side the win – anyway.

Shaheen Afridi’s first over

Ahh, how we’ve missed this. Afridi didn’t have a first-over wicket to his name all series, but on Monday in Rawalpindi, it was as if that most captivating ability had never been away. It began with a first-ball wicket – not quite the inswinger tearing through a right-hand batter’s defences, but one that moved away from left-hand batter Tom Latham, who spliced it tamely to Shadab at point. A few testing inswinging deliveries to Will Young set him for the one that angled away, kissing the outside edge and carrying through to Rizwan. New Zealand were two down in an over, and Afridi was back, but only to see a remarkable comeback from New Zealand’s Nos. 5 and 6.

Australia might just be the happiest as they are hoping for a drawn series or a (not too big) England win

S Rajesh09-Feb-20210:58

Virat Kohli – ‘If rules change when you’re in lockdown, nothing is in your control’

What do India need to do to qualify for the final?The defeat has made the path to the final tricky for India. They need 70 points to go past Australia’s points percentage. This is a four-Test series, so each win is worth 30 points. That means India need at least two wins and a draw (worth ten points) from the remaining three Tests. If they lose any of the next two games, their qualification hopes are gone.Have England’s qualification chances gone up?England’s chances have improved, but they still have work to do. At the start of the series, they needed 87 points, which means at least three wins. While they have made a great start to the series, they will still need to win two of the remaining three Tests to go past Australia. History is against them there – the last time a touring team won three Tests in a series in India was West Indies, in 1983-84.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

So is England’s first Test win a good result for Australia?Yes, this is one of the rare instances when Australia would have been rooting for an England win, because for Australia to go through, they need both India and England to stay below their 69.17. That can only happen if:

• the series is drawn (by any margin), or
• if England win 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1

Now that England have won the first Test, Australia will hope England win no more than one more Test, and also prevent India from winning the series by any margin.Australia are still in it, but they could have avoided all this uncertainty had they not dropped four points because of a slow over-rate against India in the Boxing Day Test. Had that not happened, Australia would have been level with New Zealand on 70, which would then have brought the runs-per-wicket ratio into play (that is the ratio of the runs scored per wicket lost, and the runs conceded per wicket taken). Australia’s ratio is 1.39 while New Zealand’s is 1.28.This means Australia would have stayed ahead of New Zealand if they hadn’t been docked those four points, and would have been certain of qualification. Now, they will need India and England to help them out.Of course, the over-rate lesson is one that both India and England will do well to heed: any points docked due to slow over-rates could affect the qualification hopes of these two teams as well.

Pakistan tour unaffected with both players in quarantine at home

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2020Two Zimbabwe players and two members of support staff have tested positive for Covid-19.Regis Chakabva and Timycen Maruma, the two positive players, were both part of the provisional 25-man squad picked to travel to Pakistan, but were left out of the 20-man party that arrived in the country this week.Chakabva and Maruma were room-mates in Zimbabwe’s biosecure bubble at the Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) Academy in Harare, and both tested positive for the virus. ZC then screened and tested those deemed to have come into close contact with the pair, and two other members of staff “who were providing support services” at the academy also returned positive results.ALSO READ: Chigumbura targets much-needed return to formThe positive tests will not put the series in Pakistan in doubt. The touring squad stayed at a separate facility in a separate hotel in Harare as part of their own bubble, and all tested negative both before departure and upon arrival in Islamabad. Their quarantine period ends on Tuesday, and they will be tested again before then.”Chakabva and Maruma, as well as the other two infected backroom staffers, are currently observing a period of self-isolation in accordance with Covid-19 protocols,” a ZC statement said. “We wish the four a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming them back at work soon.”Apart from providing support to those infected and affected, we will continue to adhere to government and public health guidelines with regards to our facilities and staff, and will be taking further steps to curb the spread of the coronavirus.”