Abdur Razzak to join BCB's selection panel

He will join as a third selector and will join former captains Minhajul Abedin, the panel chief, and Habibul Bashar

Mohammad Isam27-Jan-2021The Bangladesh Cricket Board has named left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak as the third senior selector, to join former captains Minhajul Abedin, the panel chief, and Habibul Bashar. Razzak, who played 200 international matches between 2004 and 2018 and, at 38, continues to be an active cricketer, will have to retire from the game to take up the new job.”My playing experience will certainly be valuable in this regard,” Razzak told ESPNcricinfo. “I used to play cricket, and now I have to help build the national team. I have been captaining in domestic cricket for a long time and I have often helped form teams. It has usually gone well. But the stakes are higher here, and the expectations are more. But still, I believe I can manage it.”I am pretty sure I have to (retire). I haven’t mentioned it yet since I am awaiting the appointment letter but certainly when I join this new job, I have to quit (playing).”Razzak was the first Bangladesh bowler to pick up 200 ODI wickets – he has 207 from 153 outings – and, despite not being a frontline batsman, is the holder of the record for the fastest half-century by a Bangladeshi in ODI cricket – 21 balls, joint with Mohammad Ashraful. He also made a comeback in the Test team against Sri Lanka in 2018 after a four-year break, which turned out to be his last international outing.Over the years, he has been a domestic giant, with 137 first-class appearances. He has taken 634 wickets in them with 41 five-fors. He is also the first Bangladeshi bowler to bag 600 first-class wickets and has won nine domestic first-class titles with Khulna Division and South Zone.

Mohammad Saifuddin, batsmen help Bangladesh sweep series

The inexperienced West Indies line-up managed just 177 in 44.2 and have not collected a single point for the ODI Super League

Vishal Dikshit25-Jan-2021The process was different but the result was similar. Chasing a total for the first time in the series, the inexperienced West Indies line-up came a cropper once again to manage just 177 in 44.2 against Bangladesh to lose the ODI series 3-0 and not collect a single point for the ODI Super League. With the top score again coming from Rovman Powell in the lower order, West Indies were no match for Bangladesh’s competitive 297 scored on the back of attacking half-centuries from Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, and cautious fifties from Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan.Unlike in the first two ODIs, the West Indies batsmen showed more fight against the spinners but the twin strikes from Mustafizur Rahman early on, and then in the middle overs from Mohammad Saifuddin meant the visitors were hardly in the chase. No. 3 Nkrumah Bonner blocked one end for a long period and it was only him and Powell who provided any kind of resistance by facing over 40 balls each for contrasting scores of 31 and 47 respectively.Rahman was the first to strike when he had Kjorn Ottley caught behind for 1 and dismissed Sunil Ambris for the third time in the series. Spin soon came on from both ends and Mehidy Hasan Miraz got one to straighten from around the wicket that caught Kyle Mayers on the back foot for 11. Captain Jason Mohammed and Bonners saw through a boundary-less phase of 15 overs and a wicketless first spell from Shakib, but both batsmen fell in successive overs off Saifuddin, who returned to the XI and finished with 3 for 51. Powell was promoted to No. 6 but the asking rate was already over eight an over. He started with a six off his third ball and scored runs with much more freedom compared to the others yet again, only to delay the inevitable.Batting first for the first time this series, Iqbal’s 64 and Shakib’s 51 set the stage for Rahim and Mahmudullah to launch an attack at the end to collect 100 runs off the last ten overs and post their highest total at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.West Indies’ inexperienced attack couldn’t sustain the accuracy they showed at the start. Mahmudullah collected boundaries in the slog overs even as Alzarri Joseph kept things tight as the hosts targeted the inexperienced bowlers – Mahmudullah stayed unbeaten on 64 off 43 that had three fours and as many sixes, the big hits coming off debutant Keon Harding and Raymon Reifer. Harding’s none for 88 were the most expensive figures by a West Indies bowler on debut, overtaking Oshane Thomas’ 1 for 83 against India in 2018, including the last over of the innings which leaked 22 runs with two sixes and a no ball.The real push in the Bangladesh innings came once Rahim joined Shakib after 28 overs. With two consecutive fours, one a reverse sweep and the other a conventional one off left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, in his first ten balls, Rahim made it clear his plan was to accelerate. While Shakib played as many as 41 dots in his 81-ball stay, Rahim moved around in the crease for regular strike rotation and powered them past 250 when he muscled Reifer for two sixes on the leg side and launched Joseph over the covers for a four in between.Mohammad Saifuddin celebrates a wicket•AFP via Getty Images

Bangladesh were 252 with 22 balls left when Rahim was caught at cover. Mahmudullah finished the 47th over with two well-placed fours before Joseph and Reifer conceded only 13 runs off the next two overs, leaving Harding with the big task of bowling the last over on his international debut. Mahmudullah started it with a six over the covers for his 22nd ODI fifty, Soumya Sarkar was run-out two balls later before Saifuddin struck a four and Mahmudullah finished the innings with a six over long-on. That was not the end, though, as replays showed Harding had overstepped, and Mahmudullah collected two more runs to take the last-over tally to 22.West Indies had bowled much better earlier after opting to field. Joseph trapped Liton Das lbw with an in-ducker for a duck and first-change Mayers did the same for Najmul Hossain Shanto. Shakib and Iqbal played out a long boundary-less phase of 15 overs against the precision of Hosein and Reifer, who bowled stump to stump and just outside off in the absence of much movement on offer.Shakib broke the shackles with a late cut for four to third man and Iqbal followed it with a spectacular six over the covers against Jason in the next over. Joseph briefly gave West Indies a chance of putting the hosts on the back foot when he had Iqbal caught at midwicket with a short-ball plan but the attacking mindset Rahim brought didn’t give the visitors a chance.West Indies will also rue the seven wides Harding sent down and the return catch Mayers put down off the first ball Shakib faced in the ninth over of the innings, right after Shanto’s wicket, although it was a touch chance in the bowler’s follow through.

Australia pull out, Bangladesh and England join Road Safety World Series T20 tournament

The remaining matches of the inaugural edition of the tournament will be played in Raipur in March

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2021The remaining matches of the inaugural season of the Road Safety World Series T20 tournament will be played in Raipur between March 2 and 21 with an extra team in the form of England Legends, while Bangladesh Legends have been roped in to replace Australia Legends, who have pulled out because of Covid-19-related travel restrictions.The first edition of the tournament, started early last year in Mumbai, had to be aborted after just four games on March 11, not long before the whole of India went into lockdown because of the Covid-19 outbreak. The remainder of the matches, with a tweaked schedule because of the additional team, will now be played at the new 65,000-capacity Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium.Related

  • 'KL Rahul's technique and grace is just unbelievable' – Brian Lara

  • Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara wind the clock back

The T20 tournament is an initiative by Road Safety Cell of Maharashtra in association with Professional Management Group – Sunil Gavaskar is the commissioner of the series, while Sachin Tendulkar is its brand ambassador.”It gives me immense pleasure to welcome the England Legends and the Bangladesh Legends to the Unacademy Road Safety World Series,” Ravi Gaikwad, the founder of the competition, said in a press statement. “Their participation will add to the competitive spirit of this exciting series.”The importance of this series has gained further relevance given the fact that the number of deaths due to road accidents haven’t lessened even during the pandemic. We all need to carry on with our efforts to create maximum awareness towards road safety and save as many lives as possible on Indian roads.”

Global T20 Canada set to be held in Malaysia due to Covid-19

The new season starts on June 28 and will have 22 matches played across 18 days at Kinrara Oval

Umar Farooq07-Apr-2021The Global T20 Canada is set to return this year, but due to logistical challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic in North America, the six-team tournament will be held in Malaysia between June 26 and July 11.The inaugural edition of the tournament was held in 2018, but the it’s continuity was disrupted in the 2020 season due to the pandemic.The new season will have 22 matches played across 18 days at Kinrara Oval – the only internationally recognised stadium in the country, having previously hosted the Under-19 World Cup in 2008 and also staged various junior-level cricket tournaments for the Asian Cricket Council as well as the ICC. In 2006, the stadium also hosted a triangular ODI series involving Australia, India and West Indies.The first two editions of the Global T20 included numerous stars such as Chris Gayle, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, David Warner, Steve Smith and Brendon McCullum.As many as 10 international cricketers from Full and Associate Members are allowed into the roster. Two players will be picked as marquees, while six players must be included from the Canada national circuit, including three emerging cricketers as well as one player from Malaysia.”Cricketers and fans of cricket in Canada would be disappointed to know that the third edition of our world-class tournament – GT20 Canada, cannot be held in Canada this year, due to the ongoing pandemic and the Canadian health guidelines,” Rashpal Bajwa, President Cricket Canada, said.”We understand and support our health authorities. We are very positive and look forward to hosting the tournament in Canada once we are past this pandemic.”The league is owned and managed by Bombay Sports Co Limited in partnership with Cricket Canada. The organisers are presently in liaison with Malaysian Cricket to get the relevant approvals from the government agencies and the ICC.”I am not only delighted but given the many setbacks and adversities we faced over the past year, I am truly humbled that Malaysia is the choice venue for the GT20 tournament. However, far more importantly, that we are in a position to step up for Canada Cricket so as to ensure the continuity of the GT20 tournament,” Mahinda Vallipuram, President of Malaysian Cricket Association, said.”Doubtless, this tournament will also give our players exponential growth experience in their game. I must acknowledge the Malaysian government in this instance, for managing the pandemic well, and we at Malaysian Cricket are continually committed to ensuring the safety of the players and officials at all times.”On Wednesday, Malaysia reported 1139 new Covid-19 cases with the total number of confirmed infections in the country rising to 354468, with 339,067 having recovered so far.

Chakravarthy, Warrier test positive for Covid-19; KKR vs RCB rescheduled

“Knight Riders have now moved towards a daily testing routine to identify any other possible cases”

Nagraj Gollapudi03-May-2021Monday’s IPL 2021 match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Royal Challenges Bangalore in Ahmedabad has been rescheduled after the Knight Riders’ spinner Varun Chakravarthy and seam bowler Sandeep Warrier tested positive for Covid-19.This is the first instance of positive Covid-19 cases within an IPL team bubble since the 2021 season started.It is believed that Chakravarthy recently left the IPL’s biosecure bubble through the official green channel to get a scan on an injured shoulder and that is where he might have been exposed. An IPL statement on Monday said the two players had been “found to be positive in the third round of testing in the last four days”. Barring Chakravarthy and Warrier, the rest of the Knight Riders contingent’s latest tests came out clear.The IPL confirmed the developments, saying in a statement that “Knight Riders have now moved towards a daily testing routine to identify any other possible cases,” and that its “medical team is also determining the close and casual contacts of the two positive cases during the 48 hours” prior to testing. The entire Knight Riders’ contingent has been put in a five-day quarantine in their hotel rooms in Ahmedabad, starting yesterday. That will be over on May 6, two days before their next match, on May 8 against the Delhi Capitals.Related

  • Prasidh Krishna tests positive for Covid-19

  • Kolkata Knight Riders CEO: 'Sandeep fine; Varun a little under the weather'

  • Covid-19 effect – Capitals players isolate, Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers skip practice

  • IPL 2021 – Charter flight home for Australians? 'No suggestion at the moment,' says Cricket Australia chief

  • T20 World Cup could move to UAE in 'worst-case scenario'

Under the IPL’s “green channel” protocol, a player requiring treatment – usually scans – is taken in a vehicle (which is in the bubble with a driver), clad in PPE, to the hospital. The testing/treatment is done by medical personnel with PPEs and masks and the player returns in the same bubble vehicle.The latest development came almost a week after Hemang Amin, BCCI’s interim chief executive officer, had reassured all teams that they were “totally safe” in the IPL bubble. The BCCI has also reassured all players and franchises that the 2021 IPL would carry on despite India being caught in the grip of a deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.Amin had added that, “to be extra vigilant”, the IPL had “strengthened” the testing process, increasing its frequency from every five days initially to every two days for the second leg of the tournament, during which the teams shifted from Chennai and Mumbai to Ahmedabad and Delhi (matches began at the last two venues on April 26).The Knight Riders are currently seventh on the points table, having won only two of their first seven matches and go up against the high-flying Capitals next. The Capitals were also their opponents when they last played, on April 29. The Capitals, who played the Punjab Kings on Sunday evening, were tested a day after that Knight Riders contest, with everyone coming out clear.

Bowling resources and allrounder on Melbourne Renegades' BBL shopping list

New head coach David Saker has the task turning around the club after two miserable seasons

Andrew McGlashan03-Jun-2021Strengthening the bowling stocks and finding a top-order allrounder are among new head coach David Saker’s main priorities as he tries to turn around Melbourne Renegades from back-to-back wooden spoons in the BBL.The Renegades already have 14 of their list locked in for the 2021-22 season but Saker and his recruitment team will be looking to do some smart business over the coming months.That may include the first BBL draft for overseas players if that innovation is brought in having been delayed by Covid-19. Saker, though, is not entirely convinced by the model. However, he has a pretty firm idea on the areas he needs to bolster after the side registered just seven wins in 28 matches over the last two seasons.He is expecting to need to cover for the absence of James Pattinson on Australia duty – although it will be hoped that releasing players from squads may be easier next summer if fewer Covid restrictions are in place – and he wants someone in the top order to offer significant overs.”Obviously recruiting a good overseas [player] who will be very important for us,” Saker said. “I’ve got some ideas, but we still don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, [if] there’s going to be a draft system. An allrounder who can bowl a bit and bat in your top five or six [is] pretty handy in T20 cricket, [so] you probably need one of your top six batters to bowl some overs for you.Related

  • Good, bad or too early to tell: how have the new BBL rules worked?

  • Finch desperate for a break after 'absolute shocker' in BBL

  • Bayliss, Saker land BBL head coach roles with Thunder, Renegades

  • Saker calls for Newlands ball-tampering report to be made public

“That’ll probably be high on our priority but we’ve also got some really good around allrounders ourselves with Will Sutherland and Jack Prestwidge. We’re probably looking at our bowling stocks. If we have James Pattinson for the whole series that might be different, but you would assume that he’d be away with the Australian team at different times, and [Kane] Richardson’s obviously a beauty and one of the better white-ball players in the world. So if we can sort of base ourselves around those guys and add a couple of good overseas players, I think we will be a really strong unit.”Although only two players passed 300 runs last season – Sam Harper and Shaun Marsh – and no one averaged more than 28, compounded by Aaron Finch’s lean campaign where he made 179 runs at 13.76, Saker backed the batting to come good.”On paper, when you look at Shaun Marsh, Aaron Finch and Sammy Harper at the top, they’re as good as any [top] three in the competition so you would hope you can base the batting around that,” he said. “We’ve got some really good young talent in place in Jake Fraser-McGurk and MacKenzie Harvey, so that’s the exciting thing.”The Renegades will hope captain Aaron Finch enjoys better returns•Getty Images

Saker acknowledged that the impact of Covid-19 could again add to the challenges of attracting overseas players. Last season the Renegades’ overseas names were Imad Wasim, Noor Ahmad, Rilee Rossouw, and Mohammad Nabi.He is not fully convinced by the prospect of the draft although one of his main concerns is teams losing established names which may be avoided by a right-to-match option. However, if the draft was to follow a model of the bottom team of the previous season having first pick, the Renegades would be able to make an early play for who they wanted.”I don’t actually agree with it but right now obviously it would favour us. The thing that I don’t really want to see is players that have played a long time at one club get put in a draft and then have to be moved.”I’m not sure how the rules [will work], and there’s no doubt you’re going to have first dibs at certain players, but you don’t want an icon player, for example Alex Hales who has been playing for Thunder and looks like he’s enjoying himself there, ending up somewhere else. I just don’t think that’s a great look and it’s not great for the fan base, but we don’t know how it’s going work until it starts.”Saker was, though, supportive of the innovations brought into the BBL last season which included the Power Surge, Bash Boost Point and X-factor player replacement. “The different rules made it excellent to watch and a little bit different. I’m not always a big fan of going away from the format that’s played in the World Cups but it did look like it was a really good product.”Current Renegades squad Cameron Boyce, Zak Evans, Aaron Finch (capt), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Josh Lalor, Shaun Marsh, James Pattinson, Mitch Perry, Jack Prestwidge, Kane Richardson, Will Sutherland

Dawid Malan fills his boots, wellies and slippers with 199 as Yorkshire take command

Home side post first-innings 558 and lead Sussex by 201 heading into last day

Paul Edwards05-Jun-2021
To understand why most of the spectators at Headingley enjoyed today’s cricket in all its gourmet and gourmandising glory you probably need to have paid close attention to Yorkshire’s batting performances this season. They have often been bloody awful. Before this match Steve Patterson’s side had been bowled out for 230 or fewer in five of their seven first innings and the skipper acknowledged that last week’s defeat had been on its way for a while. The fact that it was inflicted by Lancashire merely gave the gladius an extra twist. A side rarely prospers if the average score at which its third wicket falls is 85. Watching roobish like that on the live stream may have prompted a few domestic traumas.Now it is three o’clock on this warm Saturday in early June. It is an afternoon out of J L Carr, an afternoon of long moments and great stillness, an afternoon for which to be newly grateful. And Yorkshire are 465 for 6. This is abundance without recent precedent. Having taken nine batting bonus points from their previous seven games – the lowest in the land – the home side have collected a maximum five from this innings. Their effort has been held together by Dawid Malan, who has filled his boots, wellies and slippers with runs. Ten of his 22 fours have been cut or worked backward of square on the off side.Not since Harry Lime had his clogs popped by Holly Martins in a Vienna sewer has the absence of a third man been so noticeable. The only severe disappointment of the day was suffered ten minutes ago: Malan was bowled by Jack Carson for 199 when his attempted angled deflection merely allowed a fine ball, bowled from over the wicket, to turn past the blade and hit the left-hander’s off stump. He needed that single to become the first batsman to score double hundreds in consecutive innings for Yorkshire.Malan’s innings was a triumph of technique, a near-perfect example of a batsman with discriminating knowledge of his particular game and in perfect command of its wristy cuts and gentle glides. Few people this dream-laden hour will recall that he was dropped on only 27 yesterday afternoon when Travis Head spilled a slip catch off Henry Crocombe.

Dawid Malan – In his own words

  • On being more fearless in first-class cricket since his last Test in 2018:

  • “In international stuff, it was slightly different when you’re playing against good bowlers and your place is under threat all of the time. But I’ve tried to learn from my failures at Test cricket and put that into practice in four-day cricket. Since 2019, I think my record speaks for itself just having that fearless approach in four-day cricket and backing my technique and way of playing.

  • On a possible Test return:

  • “I wouldn’t be here playing four-day cricket if I didn’t want to play Test cricket again. I still feel like I’ve got a hell of a lot to give. Whether I’m good enough, that’s not my decision. I just have to keep scoring runs. Hopefully, if I keep getting big scores like this, I can put pressure on the people who make decisions.”

  • On previous Ashes (2017-18):

  • “I think I played well in that Ashes series. I now know my game better. Being back in the T20s and the odd ODI, I’ve learnt what I need to do to perform at that level. But Test cricket is a different mentality and there’s more scrutiny. In my last five Tests, I probably didn’t handle that as well as I could have. Hopefully I’d be in a better position now.”

Carson deserved his wicket, though. Four overs before his dismissal, Malan had produced his most atypical shot against the spinner, a gorgeous extra-cover drive for six, but the Ulsterman was the pick of Ben Brown’s attack throughout the innings. Very few young spinners have his ability to adjust their length when they see a batsman advancing down the pitch and there have been times in this innings when Carson has been the only bowler Brown could trust to throttle the run rate. His extra bounce accounted for Gary Ballance, who was caught behind for 77 in the fourth over of the day. Malan received a standing ovation, of course. It was the loudest applause heard here since 12.08, when news reached Leeds, probably at lightning speed, that Lancashire had lost at Cardiff. That was more like it.For yes, there is certainly evidence that folk in these parts are getting worried. At the junction of North Lane and Bennett Road, just a couple of good hits from the cricket ground, the simple graffito “Gooch!” is daubed on a white wall. It is not known whether the exclamation mark was added after Yorkshire’s defeat in last week’s Roses Match; whether, in other words, a polite suggestion had turned into a frantic demand that Martyn Moxon signs a 67-year-old former England opener who last played a County Championship match in 1997. But then losing to that lot across the way can do alarming things to people round this way; they fear a run on their building societies.Malan calmed such worries and Harry Duke’s accomplished fifty reinforced his reputation as a fine player. Yorkshire were bowled out for 558 seven overs after tea; it is their highest score since 2016. Having had Harry Brook strangled for 49 in the morning, Jamie Atkins picked up three quick wickets and finished with 5 for 98, the first five-wicket haul of his three-match career. They are nice figures if you can get ’em. Carson caught and bowled Patterson, who was probably disoriented by having to bat when the scoreboard didn’t read something like130 for 7.Related

  • Callum Parkinson crushes Gloucestershire with second five-wicket haul

  • Marnus Labuschagne sees Glamorgan home with unbeaten fifty

  • Oliver Hannon-Dalby bowls Warwickshire to crushing 191-run win over Derbyshire

Rather suddenly, though, there was fresh tension in our cricket as Tom Haines and Ali Orr began Sussex’s task of batting most of eight hours to secure the draw. Yet to the surprise of many at Headingley and to the disappointment of even more, the openers batted so coolly for 23 overs that a wicket did not look like falling. Patterson used his five main bowlers but Orr played as diligently as he had when facing the new ball on Thursday morning. This is his first-class debut and he looks a proper batsman.Haines, of course, is in the season of his life but only because he has grafted fresh responsibility onto the rich talent that gave him a century against Durham at Arundel just three summers and many years ago. Between them the openers seemed to tranquilise the home attack. And though there is still so much to do to deny Yorkshire the win they need, we should recall that seven of this Sussex team are 23 years old or under. They will be learning so much, even from four hard days such as these. This is a glad season for them, too. For us all, mayhap, for us all.

Nottinghamshire make short work of Durham's cunning plan thanks to Joey Evison five-for

Nottinghamshire stride into top flight as young swing bowler stars

David Hopps13-Jul-2021Nottinghamshire 328 (Patterson-White 73, Slater 60, Clarke 48, Rushworth 4-75, Raine 3-63) and 125 for 5 (Hameed 58) lead Durham 165 (Evison 5-21, Broad 3-36) by 288 runsNottinghamshire brushed aside Durham’s attempt to manufacture a place in Division One of the Championship with artificially short boundaries as they took a stranglehold on the match at Emirates Riverside and, in the process, assured themselves of their own qualification for the September culmination to the season.It is quite a transformation for a county that had to wait until early May before ending a 1,043-day run without a victory.Those short boundaries were intended to propel Durham to maximum batting points, only for them to be dismissed for 165, not manage a single batting point, and concede a first-innings lead of 163. Notts extended that to a lead of 288 with five wickets remaining by the close as every ball resisted by Haseeb Hameed , before Scott Borthwick spun one past his defence, for 58, shortly before the close, communicated that he was in no mood to relax even though promotion was assured.Nottinghamshire now join Yorkshire, Lancashire and Somerset as claimants to Division One places in the end-of-season climax. Warwickshire are now strong favourites to join them, with Durham having to hope for an extraordinary victory plus a Warwickshire defeat on Wednesday to pull off a miracle.That leaves Gloucestershire desperately trying to stave off defeat against Hampshire at Cheltenham. A forecast of unbroken sunshine suggests only an overnight Covid alert, and immediate cancellation, can save them. Not that deliberately getting your phone to ‘ping’ would be a particularly moral way to pass the evening.Joey Evison, a 19-year-old medium pacer, England U-19 via Stamford School, destroyed Durham’s first innings with a post-lunch spell of 5 for 21 in eight overs. If Durham could fiddle the boundaries, they could do nothing about the weather and leaden skies hung over Emirates Riverside, as if in meteorological denunciation, until minutes before their innings was complete.Evison, who swings the ball, predominantly away from the right-hander, accepted his opportunity with growing excitement. It was a decent spell of swing bowling, a career-best that he can take pride in, but he will not find many batting line-ups as accommodating in the future.At close of play, he excitedly announced Notts’ qualification before the country’s cricket websites had worked out what was happening. And people fear that we are about to surrender to an automated society.”We’re going into that top conference of the County Championship,” he said. “That’s where we wanted to be looking at our targets for the season. We’re looking to push for that win tomorrow. Getting the five-wicket haul is one of those things I can tick off early in my career. I didn’t know what was going on. Getting four wickets in four overs has not happened to me before. It’s one of those moments that you have to embrace.”Two of his wickets, David Bedingham and Borthwick, required decent deliveries to remove batsmen of proven ability; Bedingham remains on course to be first to 1,000 runs, even if we did once imagine he might pull it off by the end of May, and it’s now July 13. Borthwick’s batting form has been much patchier but he carried a captain’s desire for success in his first season in the role. The other three wickets were gifts, inadequate responses to a high-pressure day.Durham’s openers fell to Stuart Broad – the presence of an England player, limbering up for the India Test series, being quite a bonus in mid-July. Both Cameron Bancroft and Rob Jones fell to big breakbacks. Notts’ loyalists would have watched the replays and judged them stone dead. Durham supporters would have been aghast. Both were probably umpire’s call.Related

  • Sam Robson's century provides the ballast as Middlesex batting finds form

  • James Hildreth sets Somerset's course as R Ashwin is thwarted on Surrey debut

  • Rain dents Gloucestershire's recovery in winner-takes-all match

  • Will Davis keeps Leicestershire in touch as Colin Ackermann lays a platform

  • Timm van der Gugten keeps Northants in check before rain

Even so, at 77 for 2 with the afternoon session an over old, Durham might have imagined that 400 – and maximum batting points – was still possible. Bedingham, who now plays as an overseas player since his ancestry visa became an irrelevance, once again looking a player of understated class, and Borthwick was purposefully scrapping away.Then Evison, the fifth seamer to be used, was thrown the ball for the first over of the afternoon. His fifth ball was one of the best of the day, swinging back from around leg stump and tempting Bedingham to hunt out the legside. That was the first of four wickets to fall for nine runs in 37 balls; the management plotting about the boundaries had taken longer than the time it took to make it a pointless exercise.Evison, whose opportunities last season were limited because of a foot injury, removed Sean Dickson for a 13-ball duck, a horrible sliced pull shot which flew skywards and into the hands of the stand-in wicketkeeper Joe Clarke.The left-handed Borthwick was beaten by outswing twice in the next over. The first fell on the half-volley to the diving Brett Hutton at second slip, but it proved to be a useful warm-up exercise as he held another low catch, this time between his legs, later in the same over. Ned Eckersley fell for a second-ball duck, Evison this time appealing while sat on his bottom after falling over in his delivery stride. It was another marginal leg before decision, but if you stand in front of your stumps, as is the in-vogue method, and you find an umpire in ‘out’ mood then you have brought it upon yourself.By now, the short boundaries had been forgotten []. When Ben Raine tried to clear them, he fell at deep* square (*the word deep is used advisably). Lyndon James, who even then was in from the rope, took a routine catch.Hameed took advantage of clear skies after tea, as did some of the crowd who went into somnolent mode, enjoying the sun on their face and presuming Division Two was now a certainty. The next time they watch Championship cricket, autumn will be creeping nearer.Hameed clipped Rushworth to the boundary to reach his fifth half-century of the season from his 100th delivery. Durham did not give up the ghost, with Matt Salisbury and Matty Potts taking two wickets each, and who knows, if they wrap up Notts’ innings in the first hour tomorrow and then slog for all they are worth, those short boundaries might yet turn out to be a masterstroke. The clever money, though, is elsewhere.

Jack Taylor the hero as Gloucestershire hunt down 336 in thriller

Graham Clark hundred in vain as Scarborough plays host to four-wicket cliffhanger

ECB Reporters Network29-Jul-2021Gloucestershire 336 for 6 (Bracey 90, Charlesworth 87, Taylor 49*) beat Durham 335 for 4 (Clark 140, Lees 85, Worrall 4-58) by four wicketsJack Taylor performed heroics in the final over of Gloucestershire’s Royal London Cup clash against Durham at Scarborough, securing their first win in the competition of the 2021 campaign by four wickets.The visitors required 336 to beat Durham in the contest at North Marine Road after Graham Clark scored a brilliant 140 for the hosts.Two fine innings from Ben Charlesworth and James Bracey had manoevured Gloucestershire into a decent position. However, it looked to be in vain as late wickets appeared to have halted their charge. Taylor took on the mantle and turned the game in the final over, dispatching Chris Rushworth for three straight boundaries to deliver an unlikely victory to get them off the mark in Group A.Durham were inserted by Chris Dent, but made solid progress in the sunshine on the coast. Clark and Lees continued their impressive start to the competition at the top of the order, passing fifty in the 11th over. Clark pushed the accelerator to record his third fifty in a row, scoring three successive boundaries off Jared Warner.Gloucestershire could find no answer in their bid to make a breakthrough amid the controlled aggression of the hosts’. Lees compounded Durham’s position of strength, working his way to his 13th List A half-century from 58 deliveries with a gentle nudge. Clark worked the hosts’ past their next milestone of 150 with a blistering cover drive. The right-hander pressed on and notched his second century in a week, clipping Josh Shaw through mid-wicket to the fence for his 15th boundary.Clark and Lees brought up their second stand worth 200 in the competition, leaving Durham with a great platform to attack in the closing overs. Clark’s outstanding innings ended on 140 as he mistimed an on-drive as Dan Worrall and Taylor combined before the duo struck again to remove Lees for 85, offering Gloucestershire hope of holding Durham in check in the closing overs.However, Sean Dickson ensured that Durham posted a score over 320 with an unbeaten 46, and Ned Eckersley blasted two sixes off the final over to end the innings on 335.Gloucestershire made a bright start to their reply as Charlesworth found his range against Chris Rushworth and Jack Campbell. Chris Dent was given a life after being dropped on 10 by Clark, but Rushworth made the breakthrough to remove the Gloucestershire skipper for 20. Tom Lace and Charlesworth allowed the visitors to maintain their momentum, putting on a stand of 66 for the second wicket before Liam Trevaskis prised out Lace for 38.Charlesworth continued his impressive outing, recording his first List A half-century from 79 balls. Bracey worked his way into form by finding gaps in the field, and the left-hander soon reached fifty from 45 balls. The hosts’ bowlers were suffering from the same issues that plagued the Gloucestershire attack, failing to put the batsmen under pressure at the crease as runs flowed with ease during the middle overs.Bracey and Charlesworth brought up their hundred partnership at a rapid rate to bring the visitors within 100 runs of their target. Charlesworth’s attempt to up the ante resulted in his dismissal for a career-best 87. The wicket sparked a collapse in the order as Graeme van Buuren and the key man Bracey fell in quick succession to Trevaskis and Borthwick respectively.Gloucestershire were given a glimmer of hope courtesy of two George Scott sixes against Paul van Meekeren, but his third heave ended in the gloves of Cameron Bancroft. The visitors required 16 off the final over, and Taylor was up for the challenge. After opting against a run for the first ball he smashed Rushworth over the rope twice along with a boundary to power his team over the line.

Bangla Tigers end Team Abu Dhabi's winning streak

Half-century from Gayle not enough as Udana holds his nerve

Aadam Patel26-Nov-2021It may have taken a week but finally, after five wins out of five, the winning streak of Team Abu Dhabi came to an end courtesy of the Bangla Tigers.That was despite a thrilling knock from none other than Chris Gayle, who – with an unbeaten 52 off 23 – threatened to pull off another remarkable chase for the Abu Dhabi outfit. But he ran out of partners as the Tigers continued their winning run to move to within two points of Team Abu Dhabi.With 18 needed off four and Gayle on strike, no one would have counted out Team Abu Dhabi. Not least after Gayle and Jamie Overton – with two sixes off the last two deliveries – plundered 18 off the final over from Dwayne Bravo on Wednesday evening to seal a stunning victory. This time however, there was no Overton to pull off some last-over heroics and instead Isuru Udana held his nerve to take the Tigers to a fourth consecutive win.Buoyed by a capacity crowd and after losing the toss, the Tigers’ batting order took on the attack from ball one as Johnson Charles dispatched a short delivery from Ahmed Daniyal for four, but he was gone the next ball hitting one straight to Marchant de Lange at long-off.Will Jacks, in fine form, began with two unconvincing scoops to the boundary, before remarakbly getting dropped twice by Muhammad Farooq off the bowling of de Lange in the same over. But there was nothing unconvincing about the way he dispatched Liam Livingstone for consecutive sixes in the next over.Many a batter has struggled with the England international throughout the recent T20 World Cup and at the Abu Dhabi T10, yet Jacks showed what he was all about, first slogging Livingstone over cow-corner and then dancing down the track to loft one back over the bowler’s head.Jacks ended with a blistering 43 off 17, and accompanied by Hazratullah Zazai with 41 off 20, set up the Tigers, before a late flourish from skipper Faf du Plessis with 22 off eight, enabled them to put up 130 for 5 off their ten overs.Team Abu Dhabi opened without the in-form Phil Salt who, coming off the back of two player-of-the match performances, injured himself after taking a hit to the knee in the field. And when James Faulkner removed Paul Stirling and Colin Ingram in successive deliveries, the Tigers were well and truly in the driving seat.Livingstone may have taken a beating with the ball in hand, but he ensured he would have his say with the bat. Luke Wood was smashed for three sixes in a row. The last one the pick of the bunch – majestically lofting a fuller delivery off long-off. Yet, with the following delivery, Wood took a little pace off and deceived the Team Abu Dhabi skipper. Livingstone swung and missed and saw his stumps go flying. Wood, was ecstatic, roaring past Livingstone in a mix of relief and jubilation.Despite losing regular wickets, the league leaders kept themselves in the chase with lusty blows from Gayle and a fighting Salt, who courageously came in at No. 6. Benny Howell was fantastic, bowling two overs for just 13 and dismissing Chris Benjamin and Salt. The latter bowled after looking to scoop.With 37 required from two overs and the self-proclaimed “Universe Boss” still at the crease, anything was possible. Mohammad Amir was clubbed for 18 off the penultimate over as Gayle effortlessly used his pace to send the ball to the boundary and the crowd were treated to yet another last-over finish with Team Abu Dhabi.Crucially, the 42-year-old was not on strike for the beginning of the last over and perhaps the two balls he didn’t get to face off Udana saved the Tigers. Gayle had earlier hit three boundaries in the Sri Lankan’s first over. This time, he could only manage one more maximum, which brought up a quite brilliant half-century in 22 deliveries, but it was ultimately not enough.For Tigers skipper Du Plessis, it was the first time he had reached double figures in the tournament and crucially, his two sixes in the last over proved to be the difference between winning and losing. “It’s a big step in the right direction for us, especially after losing the toss,” he said.Eight years ago to the day, he played one of the great match-saving Test knocks with 110* off 466 deliveries against Australia, at a strike rate of under 30. This time, du Plessis ended unbeaten with a strike rate of 275. If the Tigers are going to use this momentum to the Abu Dhabi T10 title, then they will need one of the most versatile multi-format cricketers of this generation to showcase more of his class with the bat.