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The allrounder played a match-winning role against Perth Scorchers having expected his professional career to be over

AAP15-Jan-2025Tom Andrews was holding down an office job as a financial planner a month ago, but now he’s planning a fairytale BBL title run with the Sydney Thunder alongside superstars David Warner and Sam Konstas.When Tasmania overlooked Andrews for a new contract after the 2022-23 summer, the Darwin-born allrounder accepted that his nine-year professional career was over.He had played 17 first-class matches in that time and 36 one-dayers – a career that may not have hit the highs of former Shield team-mates Travis Head or Adam Zampa, but one he knew he could be proud of.Related

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“I got nine years on contract, so there wasn’t anything in my mind about, ‘What could have happened if I had’ve done this or I had’ve done that?’,” the 30-year-old told AAP. “That sort of made it easier for me to move on.”Andrews packed his bags and moved back to Adelaide, where he’d finished high school and spent six years playing for South Australia.He began studying to become a financial adviser and picked up a job in client services at McInerney Barratt Financial Solutions in the Adelaide CBD.For the first time since Andrews could remember, cricket took a back seat. He kept sending down his left-arm offies for grade-cricket side Port Adelaide, and agreed to help the Adelaide Strikers’ academy team out when they needed him.University studies and full-time work meant even committing to train with the Strikers was a stretch. But Andrews managed to join his much younger teammates on a trip to Sydney for some friendly matches against Sixers and Thunder.A few days later, in mid-December, Andrews received a phone call from Thunder general manager Trent Copeland that changed everything. The injury-hit Thunder were in dire need of reinforcements.”‘Copes’ just called me and he said ‘Do you want to come along?'” Andrews said. “I had to quickly call my bosses and say, ‘Can I have a bit of time off? It’s probably going to be about a month’. I’m very lucky that they let me do that.”2:03

Clarke: Have to keep the faith with Fraser-McGurk

Andrews hasn’t looked back. He has taken the wickets of Australian white-ball international Aaron Hardie and New Zealand star Colin Munro across his six games so far.On Monday, Andrews was player of the match in a win over Perth Scorchers that booked last season’s wooden spooners a spot in the BBL finals. In at No. 9, Andrews blasted 37 runs from 13 deliveries on a tricky ENGIE Stadium pitch that scuppered Warner and Sam Billings in single digits.”I felt like I’ve come in and played my role, which I was happy for,” Andrews said.He now turns his attention to Friday’s clash with Sixers at the SCG, where Thunder can likely confirm a double chance in the finals with victory. After he gets home from training for that match and the upcoming finals, Andrews will be hitting the books: the final year of his university studies began this week.”I pretty much study the rest of the night, that’s when I don’t have cricket training and games on the weekend,” he said.He knows all about unlikely success stories. His return to the cricket pitch is one. When Friday’s game finishes, he’ll turn his attention to helping write another as Thunder eye a second BBL title”It’d be amazing,” Andrews said. “As much as we’re savouring making finals, we have to put our mind on the next step, to not only make finals but hopefully try to win a couple.”

Former India fast bowler weighs in on the Hardik-Rohit situation from the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-20246:18

T20 WC: How should Dravid handle the Rohit-Hardik situation?

Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan feels that having a celebrity culture at times does not help the Indian cricket team and that he would like to have a “nice balance” instead.”Australia does not have a celebrity culture. Fortunately or unfortunately we have that,” Pathan said in ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Rendezvous show. “Ideally, I would want to have a nice balance between Australian and Indian cultures where we come in between. Sometimes having that kind of culture does not help us. At the same time, we are what we are. We are not Australians, we are Indians. Our emotions are different. Our ethics are different, our mindset is different.”This point came through as Pathan was discussing how the Indian head coach Rahul Dravid should handle the Rohit Sharma-Hardik Pandya situation heading into the T20 World Cup 2024. Hardik replaced Rohit as the Mumbai Indians captain ahead of the IPL this year but had a difficult start being regularly booed by the crowd at various grounds including Mumbai. In his captaincy, the team managed just four wins out of 14 games and finished bottom of the ten-team table.Related

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Hardik’s form also suffered as he could only produce 216 runs in 13 innings, averaging 18.00, along with 11 wickets. Pathan, however, felt that the allrounder is a critical component if India want to go deep into the T20 World Cup and whatever happened in the IPL should not even come into the picture.”I really think, as an allrounder, Hardik Pandya will play a very crucial role, the reason being that how many fast bowlers we have taken – three, only three pure specialist fast bowlers. Then the two other guys, Hardik Pandya who can bowl medium fast bowling and Shivam Dube. So if you can look at the team, apart from the three fast bowlers, you do not have [anyone else],” Pathan said.”And when the time comes, I feel that is a very important factor if you want to win the World Cup. His three or four overs will become so crucial because if he does that regularly, which he has done in the last few games, we can play an extra spinner in West Indies if required because we play day games. Afternoon games will have a bit more purchase for spinners than night games because of dew. It is very simple, it is not rocket science.”This is where he comes into the picture that he needs to feel good, he needs to actually believe that he can make a contribution and this is where the conversation of the IPL should not be even happening, not even once. Forget it, don’t even talk about it.”Pathan also recalled how Greg Chappell’s aggressive style of dealing with personnel backfired and he had to leave the coaching role in acrimonious circumstances back in 2007.”When Greg Chappell came in, his intention was pure, his intention was to take Indian cricket to a high,” Pathan said. “He wanted everyone to be treated equally and he wanted everyone to work in the same way which was for the Indian team, but his way was proper Australian, which did not work in India. His intentions were never a question.”I have huge respect for him. I had told him also on his face, that your intentions are good, but make sure you find a way in the centre to make the best for Indian cricket because you want Indian cricket to grow but this aggression will not work.”

Century stand between Ollie Price and Ben Charlesworth proves decisive before Jack Taylor secures win with unbeaten 50

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay17-Aug-2025Gloucestershire 240 for 4 (Price 66, Taylor 50*, Charlesworth 50) beat Worcestershire 237 for 8 (Kashif 36, Cullen 35, Ahmed 2-21) by six wicketsGloucestershire maintained their 100 percent record in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup with a powerful six-wicket derby victory over Worcestershire at Visit Worcestershire New Road.Jack Taylor’s side ended their opponents’ unbeaten record after restricting them to 237 for 8 with an excellent display with the ball. Josh Shaw set the tone with an opening spell of 6-3-6-0 on his way to 10-3-27-1 as six Rapids batters reached 25 but none made it to 40.As the pitch eased for batting, Gloucestershire advanced comfortably to 240 for 4 with 43 balls to spare. The only century stand of the match, from Oliver Price (66) and Ben Charlesworth (50), proved decisive before skipper Taylor saw his side to victory with an unbeaten 50 off 36 balls, posting his half-century with the winning runs.Gloucestershire chose to bowl and did so impressively with the new ball, led by Shaw’s superb opening spell. On a pitch assisting the seamers, Worcestershire weathered the new ball unscathed but then lost three wickets for 18 runs in 22 balls as they sought to accelerate.Daaryoush Ahmed, on only his second List A appearance, had Isaac Mohammed caught at deep midwicket and trapped the in-form Jake Libby lbw. Brett D’Oliveira struck the first six of the match but edged Craig Miles to wicketkeeper James Bracey in the next over.Kashif Ali (36) and Ethan Brookes (31) added 62 in 13 overs before falling in successive overs. Kashif edged Graeme van Buuren to Bracey and Brookes hoisted Shaw to deep midwicket where Tommy Boorman took a brilliant catch.The pattern of batters getting in then getting out continued. Henry Cullen (35) edged Miles behind, Matthew Waite (28) drilled a low return catch to van Buuren and Tom Taylor (25) was caught right on the deep midwicket boundary off Matt Taylor. It was sharp, strong work in the field from Gloucestershire, though Fateh Singh finished the innings with a flourish when he struck the last two balls, from Miles, for six.Gloucestershire lost Bracey, who edged Khurram Shahzad behind, in the sixth over, and Cameron Bancroft was run out by Libby when he was slow to respond to Price’s call for a single, but Price and Charlesworth produced the day’s most fluent batting. They added 105 in 16 overs before departing in the space of six balls. Price nicked a pull at Shahzad to wicketkeeper Cullen and Charlesworth pulled Waite to deep midwicket.With 80 still needed and two new batters in, the Rapids had a glimmer of hope but those new batters were the vastly experienced Jack Taylor and van Buuren. With the home attack unable to call upon Brookes due to a back niggle, the fifth-wicket pair added an unbroken 82 in 60 balls to take their side to a fifth win out of five and the brink of qualification with three games still to go.

He hopes Bangladesh’s upcoming tour to Pakistan “gives everyone something to cheer about” back home

Mohammad Isam08-Aug-2024Bangladesh’s political and social upheaval has touched its cricketers in several ways. Wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan was directly involved in the protests, even at times chased by the police in Dhaka. Others like Akbar Ali and Kamrul Islam Rabbi have openly supported the students right from the early days of the protests. Anamul Haque, the Bangladesh batter, suffered a more direct loss. His close friend Akram died in the student protest in Dhaka on July 25.Anamul, who will lead Bangladesh A in two four-day games against Pakistan A in Islamabad, spoke to reporters at the Shere Bangla National Stadium ahead of the team’s departure on Friday. He explained how traumatising it was to lose contact with his family during the protests, particularly after his friend died.”I think you have heard that a friend, who was like a brother to me, died in the protests,” Anamul said. “We were very close. I get emotional when I think about him. I wish this tragedy and trauma doesn’t happen to anyone. I was in Chattogram, so I couldn’t reach my family in Dhaka. Everyone was touched by this tragedy in some capacity.”Related

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• Bangladesh in turmoil: how will cricket be impacted?

• Bangladesh turmoil: ICC mulls back-up options to host women's T20 World Cup

• Mushfiqur, Mominul to play for Bangladesh A in Pakistan

Like most others in Dhaka, Anamul also spent sleepless nights after the fall of the Awami League government, as uncertainty and disorder gripped the capital. “I was up from 2am to 5am. I was taking care of my child,” he said. “I went down to see what was going on. I saw many people in the streets, guarding their property. I don’t know what these people want. We don’t want to live like this. We want to live in peace. Everyone deserves their fundamental rights. I think we all work honestly.”He also praised the students for handling Dhaka’s traffic in the absence of the police force, which has gone missing for at least three days. “The students are doing extraordinary work in trying to control the traffic. They are maintaining discipline. This is the country that we have always wanted,” he said.Anti-government protestors display Bangladesh’s national flag after storming prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s residence•AFP/Getty Images

Anamul was diplomatic when asked about the silence from Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza, two of Bangladesh’s biggest icons and Awami League MPs, regarding the protests. One could sense his unease in talking about such a sensitive topic.”I think it is up to the individual, whether they want to talk about it or give a Facebook status. I had a traumatic time. I was concerned about my family, and the family of my friend who died. I spent my time thinking about him,” Anamul said. “I couldn’t meet my family, I couldn’t visit his family. I wrote about him on social media. Someone else probably thought differently. I think they can tell you better. They did what was best for them.”Anamul hopes Bangladesh A’s tour of Pakistan gives the players good preparation ahead of the senior team’s Test series, which gets underway later in the month. He also hopes the cricketers can bring positive news to Bangladesh’s fans in a trying time for many of them.”Cricket is a place of emotion. It unites us,” he said. “This tour will really help us, especially the Test tour that follows in Pakistan. There will be batting-friendly conditions there generally. It gives chance to both sides. We are playing Tests after a long time too. I think we could give everyone something to cheer about.”Bangladesh A will play two four-day and three one-day games against Pakistan A in Islamabad. The senior side will then play a two-Test series which begins on August 21 in Rawalpindi.

Teenage seamer Raphy Weatherall also out for season with back stress fracture

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2024A finger injury sustained playing in a T10 league in the Cayman Islands has ruled Ravi Bopara out of the T20 Blast’s knockout stages.Bopara is the fifth-highest run-scorer in Blast history and won the competition with Essex, his boyhood club, in 2019. He joined Sussex the following season and signed for Northamptonshire earlier this year on a T20-only contract.He made a significant impact with bat and ball in the group stages. He was Northants’ second-highest run-scorer and third-highest wicket-taker as they finished second in the North Group, reaching the knockout stages for only the second time since their 2016 title and securing a home quarter-final.They will face Somerset at Wantage Road on September 5, but Bopara has been ruled out. He has undergone surgery after sustaining a finger injury while playing for Miami Lions in the inaugural Max60 tournament in the Cayman Islands, a privately-owned T10 league which is not affiliated to Cricket West Indies and took place last week.”Bopara ruptured the tendon in a finger on his right hand while attempting a caught-and-bowled,” Northants said in a club statement. “[He] has had surgery but will need three weeks of recovery time.”Raphy Weatherall has been ruled out with a stress fracture•Getty Images

Raphy Weatherall, the 19-year-old seamer who took 11 group-stage wickets in the Blast, has also been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a lower-back stress fracture, a common injury among young fast bowlers.Northants will also be without Sikandar Raza for the quarter-finals and are waiting to hear from Cricket South Africa whether Matthew Breetzke will be made available to play. Ashton Agar, the Australian allrounder, has been cleared to return.

South Australia captain says Sheffield Shield final is the priority but he would be keen to play county cricket if an opportunity arose

Alex Malcolm07-Mar-2025Nathan McSweeney would grab the opportunity to play county cricket if a chance arose as he pushes to try and win back a spot in Australia’s side with one of the opening slots still to be locked in for the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s in June.McSweeney, 25, began the summer debuting as Australia’s Test opener at the the start of the Border-Gavaskar series but was dropped after three Tests for Sam Konstas having run aground against Jasprit Bumrah, scoring just 72 runs in six innings.He was taken on the tour of Sri Lanka but ran the drinks as the spare batter ahead of Konstas who was also left out and sent home to play in the Sheffield Shield with Travis Head moving up to open and Josh Inglis sliding into the middle-order.Related

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• O'Neill, Boland share nine as McSweeney shines in Junction arm wrestle

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Head will move back to No. 5 for the WTC final leaving a vacancy at the top of the order but Cameron Green’s impending return as batter means Australia’s selectors have a challenge in finding room for him while also finding an opener to partner Usman Khawaja.McSweeney made a gritty 60 off 199 balls for South Australia against a Victoria attack featuring Scott Boland, who took four wickets on a green pitch at the Junction Oval on Friday. Speaking at the end of play, McSweeney was asked whether he felt like the opening spot in the WTC final was a way back into the Test team.”I don’t know,” he said. “All I can do is make runs and get back to being a consistent run-scorer which is what got me the opportunity in the first place. So wherever my spot is, if the opportunity comes I’m happy to bat wherever. And I think my game is suited to that. All I can focus on now is trying to punch out some runs. Hopefully that means South Australia in a Shield final,”He will get a second innings in this game before South Australia host Queensland in the final round of the season. That game and a possible final will be his only playing opportunities before the WTC final unless an opportunity in England presented itself.Nathan McSweeney was dropped after three Tests against India•Getty Images

“I’d love to get over and play some county cricket but at this stage I’m just staying in Adelaide,” McSweeney said. “I haven’t looked too much past the next couple of weeks for us. It’s massive for South Australia. So hopefully we can nail the end of this game and the next couple of weeks leading into hopefully a Shield final. But post that I’d love to head overseas and keep working on my game.”McSweeney’s 60 was a welcome return to some run-scoring form. It was just his third first-class innings since being dropped from the Test side in mid-December having scored 20 and 7 in South Australia’s last game against Tasmania. But he had also registered scores of 28, 8 and 7 in South Australia’s final three 50-over games in the Dean Jones Trophy, which they won in emphatic style thanks in part to his role with the ball in the final.”It was nice to spend some time middle,” McSweeney said. “It’s been a little bit of a stop start season for me, I guess, and I haven’t played heaps of cricket. Not the score I would have liked. But it’s nice to spend some time out there and face plenty of balls and hopefully I can get make use of that in the second innings and really come out and hopefully score a bit more freely.”The selectors were pleased with what he showed technically and temperamentally in his first three Test matches but there were concerns over his scoring limitations, which ultimately was the reason why they opted to omit him. His innings at the Junction Oval perfectly incapsulated both the positives and the negatives of his game.He showed outstanding defensive skill and decision-making to withstand Test-quality spells from Boland but struggled to rotate the strike, particularly in the evening session on day one when he was 9 off 52 balls and the morning session on day two. He got busier and more proactive as the innings wore on before nicking a good delivery from Victoria seamer Fergus O’Neill who also probed with unerring accuracy all innings to claim five wickets.McSweeney’s brief taste of Test cricket has shown him that he needs to keep trusting the foundations of his game but add some different scoring options.”A little bit of both,” McSweeney said. “I think I know a method that works in Shield cricket for me, but you’re also trying to keep learning, keep getting better. And from my experiences in Test cricket, there’s definitely some learnings to try and add and scenarios where I can tinker with my game to hopefully be better for it.”I think it’s also important to know what worked for me leading into that and what makes me a good player. So it’s been an enjoyable last couple of months, a challenging one, no doubt, but I definitely like to think I’m better for it.”McSweeney confirmed that in-form wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey would return to South Australia’s line-up for the Shield final if they get there but confirmed that Head would be unavailable due to IPL duties.

New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition will kick off on Boxing Day for 32 days and 64 games in all

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Aug-2025The Hagley Oval in Christchurch is set to host the Super Smash women’s and men’s elimination and grand finals games for the upcoming season. It means the teams that make it to the last stage will get together for these finals games in the last three days of January, just like it was done at the Basin Reserve in Wellington last season.New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition will kick off on Boxing Day for 32 days and 64 games in all, starting with Northern Brave hosting Auckland’s men’s and women’s teams at Seddon Park in Hamilton.While announcing the fixtures for the next season, an NZC release stated the 2024-25 season was a “watershed one for Super Smash with TVNZ broadcasts reaching over one million people, along with a record 7.3 million views across Super Smash content on NZC’s digital channels.”Related

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Tom Bruce, Central Districts captain and Men’s Player of the Year last season in the Super Smash spoke of the competitive nature of the season which forced players to constantly evolve.”You’ve got BLACKCAPS and WHITE FERNS scattered across the teams along with plenty of up and coming stars pushing for their chance at the next level,” he said. “With only six teams in the competition, you have to constantly be thinking about evolving your game as you often play similar squads a few times a season.”You’re forced to progress your game as individuals and as a team, otherwise players will figure you out pretty quickly. It’s also great for players to get used to playing in front of a large crowd and a pretty substantial TV audience too.”If they can get a taste of playing in that context, then once they make the step up to BLACKCAPS or WHITE FERNS, they already have some invaluable experience playing in that sort of environment.”Suzanne Pearce, executive manager of the Canterbury Cricket Trust which owns and operates the Hagley Oval, was confident Christchurch hosting the finals games would inspire more youngsters.”We think we have the best ground in New Zealand and it’s a huge vote of confidence in the venue, the city and the cricket community here in Christchurch, so we’re very pleased,” she said.”Our crowds the past few seasons are testament to how loyal the fans are here. It’s a big win, not only for the city but the wider Canterbury region. It’s a chance for our fans to see the best players in the country play some awesome cricket and for those young players coming through to be inspired.”There is something really special about having a world-class international cricket ground in the middle of our city park. You look one way and see the southern alps and see the city and the port hills at the other end.”New Year’s Day will see last season’s finalists – Canterbury and Central Districts – come face to face again, at the Hagley Oval.Canterbury will be chasing their first T20 title in 20 years after coming agonisingly close as runners-up in the past five seasons.The NZC release also said KFC’s “6’s for Surf” will be back too, with KFC pledging $100 for every six hit, with $38,100 donated to Surf Lifesaving NZ last season.

The injury is probably not serious, but there is no update yet about his return

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Apr-2024Kuldeep Yadav has picked up a groin niggle, which had ruled him out of Delhi Capitals’s previous two matches in IPL 2024. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Kuldeep has been advised rest as a precautionary move, but there is no confirmation yet on when he will be ready to play again.The injury is probably not serious, considering Kuldeep has been travelling with the Capitals squad and is currently in Mumbai where they play their next match – against Mumbai Indians on April 7.Kuldeep played Capital’s opening two matches this season – both away games, against Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals – and picked up three wickets. But he missed their next games in Visakhapatnam, their second home venue: against Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. While the Capitals won against CSK, they sorely missed Kuldeep in their 106-run defeat against KKR, after which their head coach Ricky Ponting said he was “almost embarrassed”.The Indian selectors will be monitoring Kuldeep’s progress closely, given he is a frontrunner to take one of the spin slots in India’s squad for the T20 World Cup, which starts on June 1 in the West Indies and the USA.Kuldeep entered the IPL after a successful five-match Test series against England, where he bowled more than one match-turning spell. Kuldeep played from the second Test onwards and finished with 19 wickets, including a five-for in the final Test in Dharamsala, where he was named the Player of the Match.After Sunday’s game, Capitals’ next match is against Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on April 12.

Home attack thwarted in battle between Division Two’s form sides

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 22-Jun-2025A maiden first-class century from young opener Asa Tribe saw Glamorgan lay the foundations for a substantial first-innings score in the Rothesay County Championship Division Two match between Leicestershire and Glamorgan at the UptonSteel County Ground, Grace Road.The 21-year-old Channel Islander, making only his ninth first-class appearance, demonstrated a maturity beyond his years as having got off to a flying start against a much-changed and initially slightly out-of-sorts Foxes attack, he settled down to reach his century off 158 balls, including 14 fours and one maximum.The Leicestershire bowlers improved as the day went on, regaining some control over the scoreboard, but solid contributions from fellow opener Zain-ul-Hassan, Kiran Carlson and latterly Colin Ingram, who ended the day with an unbeaten half-century, ensured the visitors enjoyed much the best of the first day.Given both sides came into the match on the back of a run of victories – four for Leicestershire, three for Glamorgan – the number of changes made to their previous Championship line-ups came as something of a surprise, though injuries played a part. With Ian Holland and Josh Hull unavailable, and Rehan Ahmed nursing a niggle that meant he could not bowl, Leicestershire chose to leave left out regular wicketkeeper Ben Cox – one of their more prolific run-scorers this season – and with Handscomb taking his place behind the stumps, bring in left-arm spinner Liam Trevaskis and right-arm seamer Sam Wood for their first first-class outings of the season. Veteran seamer Chris Wright also came back into the side.Glamorgan too gave a spinner, Mason Crane, his first Championship appearance of the season, with Ingram, Ben Kellaway and Ned Leonard also returning. All will have been pleased to see skipper Sam Northeast win the toss and opt to bat first on one of the relaid pitches at the UptonSteel Ground, and certainly there was not too much to encourage the Leicestershire seamers during a first hour in which they gave Tribe in particular too many loose deliveries, meaning that even with his partner playing in a rather more restrained manner, the pair were still able to score at five an over before Zain somewhat unluckily became the only wicket to fall in the morning session, glancing a delivery from Wright down the leg side only for Handscomb to take a diving catch.Leicestershire’s attack improved in both accuracy and length after the break, and Tribe was fortunate when on 72 he edged Ben Green behind the wicket only for Handscomb, diving to his right, to drop the catch. He also lost Northeast, the captain looking less than impressed to be given out caught behind when hooking at a bouncer from Wood, but a cleanly hit straight six off Trevaskis took him into the 90s and he showed few nerves in going on to three figures before edging a tired drive at Logan van Beek, giving Handscomb a third victim behind the stumps.Carlson and Ingram put on 60 for the fourth wicket before Carlson used his feet once too often at Trevaskis and yorked himself, the ball squeezing on to his leg stump. Ingram, in company with Kellaway, worked his way towards his fifty, and although he lost Kellaway, trapped in front by van Beek delivery which came back, reached the landmark off 101 deliveries shortly before the close.

“We now have a realistic chance of lifting that trophy and I’m really, really looking forward to it”

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-20241:37

McClenaghan: Shreyas’ role is to go after spin, and he’s doing that

After ten days of no cricket, Kolkata Knight Riders were “raring to go” in the in the first qualifier of IPL 2024 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Venkatesh Iyer said after their thumping eight-wicket win.”The last game KKR played was on the 11th. So we were all desperate to go out there and showcase our talent,” Venkatesh told the host broadcaster after the game.KKR’s previous on-field action came in a win at home against Mumbai Indians on May 11, after which they had two washouts against Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals but still finished No. 1 on the table. Venkatesh had been worried that the break might hamper their performance in the playoffs.Related

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• Cummins: SRH have earned the right to have such days and still win tournaments

“To be honest, in a tournament like this, momentum is extremely important. We’ve seen that with RCB. They’ve won games continuously and it’s the momentum that has taken them forward,” Venkatesh said. “Similarly even we wanted that momentum. Because we were playing really good cricket. So [we wanted] to be able to go out there and just wait for the rain to stop [in the last two games], and we didn’t get enough practice as well.”But the best thing was we were table-toppers, and being table-toppers gives you a lot of confidence heading into the playoffs. Credit to the coaching staff, the entire management and the owners. [Co-owners] SRK [Shah Rukh Khan] sir and Jay [Mehta] sir also came today. They gave us a little pep talk. So the spirits were really, really high and the boys were motivated to go out there and put up a show.”KKR were on top of proceedings right from the word go, despite losing the toss. Mitchell Starc bowled Travis Head in the first over and Abhishek Sharma was caught at cover in the next. SRH lost two more wickets to Starc in the powerplay and could eventually just make 159, a target KKR chased down inside 14 overs. Venkatesh, who made an unbeaten 51 off 28 balls in the chase, credited the bowlers for setting up the victory.”Touch wood, all the bowlers have picked up wickets,” he said. “They want to go out there and pick up wickets. We want to contribute in the field. You saw Rinku [Singh] fielding in the hotspots, taking those amazing catches [to send back Heinrich Klaasen]…”The credit has to go to our bowlers. It was a really, really nice wicket to bat on. To get them all out for 160-odd [159] is something that I never imagined, so credit to the bowlers for giving us the confidence to just go out there and do the formalities.”The result meant KKR are in their fourth IPL final, and Venkatesh described the feeling as “dreamy”. “It’s always special. For players like us, it’s the opportunity to play the IPL final, it’s a dreamy moment for us. That too, coming here first in front of such an amazing crowd [in Ahmedabad] and now going to the Chepauk stadium…”We now have a realistic chance of lifting that trophy and I’m really, really looking forward to it.”Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer added 97 off 44 to seal victory for KKR•Associated Press

Shreyas: ‘KKR bowlers have been mesmerising’

KKR captain Shreyas Iyer highlighted his side’s bowling performance too, praising the bowlers for continuing to take wickets in the middle overs when SRH were threatening to recover from the early blows they suffered.From 39 for 4, Rahul Tripathi and Heinrich Klaasen put on a 62-run stand and both batters were looking dangerous, but KKR prised out three wickets for the next 20 runs.”Brilliant, I think, the way each and every bowler, they stood up on the occasion. When we were going for runs, at one point of time it was almost nine an over, and the way we came in and took wickets, I think those wickets were imperative at that point of time,” Shreyas said. “The attitude and approach of every bowler was to come and see to it that they get the wicket and that’s what they did.”When you have variety in the bowling lineup, and the way they have been bowling throughout, it is just mesmerising. And to be honest, they have been true in terms of their work ethics.”No one is taking their position lightly and the way they have been capitalising on the opportunities provided by the support staff and the management, I think it’s simply amazing. Hopefully we keep continuing with the momentum in the final.”Shreyas was also happy with the batting effort. KKR were without Phil Salt, who’d made himself an indispensable member of the XI this season but had to leave on England duty. Rahmanullah Gurbaz came in in his place for his first game of the season and went on to make a 14-ball 23 to give KKR early momentum in their chase.”The way Gurbaz came in, it was his first game. He gave an impactful start for us. Sunny [Narine] as usual taking the momentum from thereon, I think it’s pretty important in the powerplay,” Shreyas said. “And from there on, the middle-order batters, we have to just come in and see to it that we carry forward the same run rate.”After Gurbaz and Sunil Narine did their bit in the powerplay, Shreyas and Venkatesh put on an unbroken 97-run stand to fire KKR into the final.”Right now, it’s important that we go back and enjoy the moment. We have won an important game,” Shreyas said. “Come the match day, the final, we’ll be in our zone and see to it that we deliver our best.”