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West Indies batter smacks joint-fastest half-century on ODI debut to help whitewash UAE

Deivarayan Muthu10-Jun-2023Alick Athanaze has admitted to being nervous before making his international debut, but he shook it off quickly and went onto make it a memorable one by slamming the joint-fastest half-century on ODI debut. Athanaze’s 65 off 45 balls, including 51 which came in the powerplay alone, set the tone for West Indies’ successful chase of 185.”I was a bit nervous actually, but the nerves went away when I got my first runs and it was good,” Athanaze told CWI media after West Indies swept UAE 3-0 in Sharjah. “It was a really good experience [on debut]. [I] haven’t batted much in the night, so it was a first for me actually. But normally that’s how I play in the powerplay – I always look to get the team off to a good start.”Athanaze grew up idolising Brian Lara and more recently when he was with West Indies’ Test side in South Africa, he worked with Lara, who was on tour as the team’s performance mentor. Athanaze said that the conversations with Lara have had a positive influence on his batting approach.”For me, it has been really good,” Athanaze said. “Basically, what we spoke about was judging lengths and trying to get ahead of the bowler. It worked really nicely, and I got myself into some good positions and it was really good to bat out there tonight.”Athanaze put left-arm fingerspinner Aayan Afzal Khan out of the attack in the powerplay with a brace of sixes. Then when UAE’s seamers bowled into the Sharjah pitch, Athanaze countered them with a variety of pulls, including the short-arm jab.Related

• India to begin next WTC cycle with two-match series in Caribbean

• Athanaze's joint-fastest fifty on debut helps West Indies sweep UAE 3-0

Athanaze was the top run-getter in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, ahead of Shubman Gill, but it has taken him five years to make the step-up to international cricket. Athanaze isn’t part of West Indies’ ODI squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup Qualifier but could get a run in the following home series against India. Spinner Kevin Sinclair, who had been part of the Under-19 and West Indies A set-ups with Athanaze, was impressed with Athanaze’s fearless strokeplay on debut.”For me, I’ve always known Alick since Under-19 [cricket],” Sinclair said. “He’s a good player and a good batsman. To watch himself express himself tonight at a higher level is something really good to see from the sidelines. I always knew he could bat and he did bring form from Bangladesh and he did very well.”Athanaze also spoke of how the new team management, under the leadership of Daren Sammy and Shai Hope, has encouraged the youngsters to play with confidence and freedom.”The team did really, really well,” Athanaze said. “One thing the captain stresses about is always improving and as you saw right throughout the series, we improved – not just on the batting but fielding as well and bowling. As a young player, it’s always good to be in a winning team and it gives you the confidence to go out and express yourself.”Kevin Sinclair brought out his signature celebration during his four-wicket haul•AFP/Getty Images

Sinclair dedicates Player-of-the-Match award to his grandfather

Friday’s match was a special one for Sinclair, too, who marked his international return with figures of 4 for 24. Carlos Brathwaite, who was on TV commentary, noted that Sinclair is now getting his offbreak to grip and turn more than he did in the past. This has in turn made his slider more effective and put him in West Indies or West Indies A contention across formats.”We were in a bit of a bother, so my thing was just to keep it simple and keep it as tight as possible,” Sinclair said. “Hence, getting a breakthrough as well, and that was really good for myself.”Sinclair credited former Guyana allrounder and coach Esuan Crandon for his recent progress. During the Headley-Weekes tri-series, Sinclair also benefitted from working with Nikita Miller.”As I mentioned I couple of weeks ago, Esuan Crandon,” Sinclair said. “The support he has given me and every time I step out [onto the field], I try and do what I can do with the bat, ball and in the field as well.”It’s all about consistency and I just want to take that moving forward and try to be consistent in what I do.”After winning the Player-of-the-Match award, Sinclair dedicated it to his grandfather Carlton, who was employed as a security guard. Carlton has doubled up as Sinclair’s mentor over the years.”Just want to mention that two days ago was my grandfather’s birthday,” Sinclair said. “It was his 75th birthday. He has been behind me since my tender age of seven, so I want to say this performance is for him.”

Thanks to Samson and Buttler, the Royals have been dismantling slow bowlers this season

Karthik Krishnaswamy17-Apr-20222:14

Should Venkatesh Iyer bat lower? Who should be Royals’ death bowlers?

Big picture

Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders. Two teams with six points each, two teams looking to bounce back from defeats in their most recent games, and two teams with certain broad similarities this season.Take death bowling, for instance: both teams have struggled at this aspect of the game. They have averaged just one wicket per innings in this phase, and their economy rates are near-identical, with KKR (12.97) faring marginally worse than Royals (12.78).On Monday, these attacks will come up against two of the most formidable death-overs ball-strikers in the competition: Shimron Hetmyer (262.00) has the best strike rate of any batter who has faced at least 20 balls in this phase this season, while Andre Russell (196.55) isn’t too far behind.These two teams also, perhaps, boast the best spin attacks in the competition. Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin have both enjoyed superb starts to the season. Sunil Narine has been at his miserly best – his economy rate of 5.00 is the best of any bowler to have sent down at least five overs this season. But Varun Chakravarthy has been quite a way off, meaning KKR’s middle-overs bowling has lacked its usual air of double-barreled suffocation.KKR will hope Chakravarthy can return to something like his best form on Monday, given that Royals (average of 73.66, scoring rate of 9.20) have collectively been the best batting team against spin this season. Two of the biggest reasons for that are Sanju Samson, who has the best strike rate against spin (223.33) of any batter (min 20 balls) this season, and Jos Buttler, who has also gone at a healthy 152.00 against that style of bowling.Opposition teams are always well-advised to dismiss these two as early as possible; for KKR, it might be doubly important to do so.1:18

Kohli’s cover drive or Rohit’s pull? We asked Shreyas Iyer to pick just one

In the news

A niggle kept Trent Boult out of Royals’ last match against Gujarat Titans, and while there is no official word on the left-arm quick, he was seen bowling in a team challenge video – bowl the ball through a tire and hit the stumps – put up on the franchise’s official Twitter account. Whether that means he is fit to play against KKR is yet to be seen.Sam Billings missed KKR’s last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad with an illness. He should have recovered by now, but the team management will face a difficult decision over whether to pick him or Aaron Finch, who has only played the one game so far for his new franchise.

Likely XIs

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Rassie van der Dussen, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 James Neesham/Trent Boult, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Prasidh Krishna, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Kuldeep Sen.Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sheldon Jackson (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Aman Khan, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.8:32

IPL so far: Young Indian players >> retained names?

Strategy punt

Ashwin loves bowling to left-hand batters, but this isn’t always the case when he comes up against KKR. Narine (SR 225.71) and Nitish Rana (163.57) are two of the three quickest-scoring left-hand batters against offspin in IPL history and both have superb records against Ashwin.Narine has scored 60 runs off 22 balls (SR 272.72) against him while being dismissed once, while Rana has clattered 74 off 35 (211.42), without being dismissed.Expect KKR to promote Narine if the stage of the game allows it. Royals could also combat these match-ups by giving Ashwin the new ball and getting one or two of his overs out of the way early. This will also allow Ashwin to attack Venkatesh Iyer, who has a far more typical left-hander’s record against him: 14 runs off 15 balls, no dismissals. Ashwin also has a terrific record against Aaron Finch (22 runs conceded in 27 balls, no wickets).

Stats that matter

The Brabourne Stadium has been the quickest-scoring venue of IPL 2022, with seven matches at the ground producing an overall run rate of 9.43.Narine is KKR’s most-capped player. If he is picked on Sunday, he will be playing his 150th match for the team.Chakravarthy boasts a significantly better IPL record in the UAE (average 20.89, economy rate 6.35) than he does in India (37.08, 8.24)Samson is 49 runs away from the 5000 mark in T20 cricket.

Mumbai, four-time winners, have won all their three games against Capitals, who are in their first final

Karthik Krishnaswamy09-Nov-20203:55

Aakash Chopra: Ashwin in the powerplay will be key to Capitals’ success

Big picture

You could twist that famous Gary Lineker quote and make it about the IPL. Eight teams play 60 games of 40 overs each and, at the end, the Mumbai Indians win – unless it’s an even-number year.The Mumbai Indians have won every IPL that’s taken place in an odd-number year since 2013, but they have failed to make the final in each in-between season. Until now.It was bound to happen at some point, given the ruthless, relentless T20 machine they have turned themselves into, and IPL 2020 will conclude with the Mumbai Indians looking to win their fifth title, and become the second team – after the Chennai Super Kings in 2010 and 2011 – to win back-to-back titles. They have been the best team in the competition this year by pretty much any metric you can think of, but it’s both the charm and the flaw of a league-cum-playoff competition that the best team won’t necessarily get their hands on the trophy.It’s a year of bubbles, and the Delhi Capitals have floated on one that’s come close to bursting on a few occasions, but they have evaded the jagged outcrops and reached the final for the first time. They might have lost five of their last seven games, and each of their three meetings with the Mumbai Indians, but all they need now is 40 good overs.If you looked at the two line-ups at the start of the season, you wouldn’t have thought one was significantly better than the other. But where most of the Mumbai Indians’ players have been touched by the gods of form, some of the Capitals’ key performers, who have had outstanding seasons in the not-too-distant past, have struggled, and it’s caused their line-up to look unbalanced and disjointed.The Mumbai Indians have the form, and a formidable amount of title-winning experience. Rohit Sharma has won five IPL titles, Kieron Pollard four, Hardik Pandya three, and Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav two each. But the Capitals aren’t short of match-winners, and the likes of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer remain the same players they were at the start of the season even if they have not always looked it. And they will know that past IPL finals have been won by players who have had indifferent seasons.The rest of the tournament is over. Both teams begin anew, knowing they only need 40 good overs. And maybe a Super Over or two.Kagiso Rabada poses after reclaiming the Purple Cap•BCCI

In the news

Trent Boult only bowled two overs during Qualifier 1 against the Capitals, and had to go off with a groin strain. Boult bowled in the nets on the eve of the final, and his captain sounded hopeful about his chances of playing the final. “Trent looks pretty good,” Rohit said. “He’s going to have a session today with all of us and we’ll see how he goes. He pulled up pretty well in the last few days so fingers crossed, hopefully he plays.”

Previous meetings

The Mumbai Indians did the double over the Capitals in the league phase, winning by five wickets in Abu Dhabi courtesy quick fifties from Quinton de Kock and Yadav in a chase of 166, and by a comprehensive nine wickets in Dubai following incisive spells from Boult with the new ball and Bumrah through the middle overs, which kept the Capitals to 110 for 9.It became 3-0 following Qualifier 1, also in Dubai, where they piled on 200 after being sent in, with vital contributions from de Kock, Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Hardik. The Capitals then floundered against Boult and Bumrah once again, slipping to 0 for 3 before a face-saving 65 from Marcus Stoinis narrowed their margin of defeat to 57 runs

Likely XIs

Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Ishan Kishan, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Trent Boult/James Pattinson, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.Delhi Capitals: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Marcus Stoinis, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Praveen Dubey/Harshal Patel, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 R Ashwin, 11 Anrich Nortje.Ishan Kishan pounces on a short ball•BCCI

Strategy punt

• With Hardik not bowling at all this season, the Mumbai Indians’ one real weak link has been the lack of a genuine sixth bowling option. This means they haven’t always been able to shield Krunal’s left-arm spin from the opposition’s left-hand batsmen, and the Capitals have a wealth of those to use against Krunal and the legspinner Rahul Chahar. It’s imperative that these left-handers – Shikhar Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer, Pant and Axar Patel, who could be used as a pinch-hitter – go hard against Krunal and Chahar, and maximise their returns from their overs.
• To be able to do this, however, the Capitals would need to minimise the damage they suffer in the powerplay. Boult has more powerplay wickets this season than anyone else, and five of his 14 wickets in that phase have come against the Capitals. Bumrah also has two powerplay wickets against the Capitals. It might be worthwhile for them, therefore, to bat slightly within themselves in this phase – unless they are chasing a big target, of course – and go hard against the spinners when they come on.
• There is a case for the Mumbai Indians to bowl their spinners early, to minimise their exposure to the left-handers in the Capitals middle order, and also to target Stoinis, whose IPL record against spin (average 26.08, strike rate 123.71) is significantly worse than his record against pace (32.00, 147.55).
• How the Capitals use R Ashwin could be one of the key tactical questions of the final. Ashwin has excellent IPL numbers against Sharma (79 runs off 95 balls, two dismissals), de Kock (68 off 56, four dismissals) and Kishan (27 off 31, no dismissals), and while Pollard has scored 51 runs off the 34 balls he has faced from the offspinner, he’s also been dismissed four times. The Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, would like to have Yadav at the crease when Ashwin is on. That head-to-head has brought 72 off 51 balls, and no dismissals in eight meetings.

Stats that matter

• Mumbai are the most successful IPL franchise and the Capitals have only just made their first final, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell that from their head-to-head record, which was 12-12 at the start of the season. Mumbai have pulled away since then with three wins on the bounce.
• One finalist has had a 3-0 record against the other in each of the three previous IPL seasons. The Mumbai Indians overcame their losing streak against the Rising Pune Supergiant to win the 2017 final, while the Chennai Super Kings made it 4-0 over the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018 and the Mumbai Indians made it 4-0 over the Super Kings last year.
• Kagiso Rabada currently wears the Purple Cap with 29 wickets, but Bumrah is close on his heels with 27.
• If he scores 68, Dhawan will overtake KL Rahul’s tally of 670 runs and end the season with the Orange Cap.
• Four Mumbai Indians batsmen – Kishan (29), Hardik (25), Pollard (22) and de Kock (21) – have hit at least 20 sixes in IPL 2020. No Capitals player has reached that mark, with Stoinis (15) their most frequent boundary-clearer.)
• Stoinis has scored 352 runs and taken 12 wickets this season. He’s one of only 12 allrounders to complete the 350-10 double in an IPL season. Hardik and Andre Russell did it last year, and Sunil Narine in 2018.

The 24-year old batsman says it was ‘difficult’ to miss out on World Cup selection, but is confident he ‘will play for sure in the future’

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2019Shreyas Iyer has an opportunity to end India’s search for a reliable ODI No. 4 as they head to the Caribbean, where he has had recent success with the India A side. But he wants to have some sort of continuity in the side, because “getting in and out of the team doesn’t create a good pattern.””If you are really a good talent, then you need a certain amount of chances to prove yourself and get acclimatised to the conditions,” quoted Iyer as saying. “If you keep coming in and going out [of the team], it doesn’t really set a good pattern for one’s self and you start disbelieving yourself. If you are a great talent, then you need some time.”Iyer, who at 24 is among India’s most consistent domestic performers, made 187 runs at 62.33, including two half-centuries in four innings, for India A during their 4-1 unofficial ODI series win in the Caribbean earlier this month. In April and May, Iyer played a key role in steering Delhi Capitals to their first IPL play-off spot since 2012, impressing not just with his run-making but also his leadership under head coach Ricky Ponting.In December 2018, Iyer admitted to being “emotionless” after being overlooked repeatedly despite consistent scores. He was part of India’s T20I squad against Australia in March, but couldn’t break into the XI. Iyer admits it’s only natural to lose patience, but wants to try and put past frustrations behind him.”Yes, you tend to lose patience but selection is not in your hands,” he said. “All you can do is perform, perform and perform and that is what I enjoy doing. You have to keep performing and keep showing people that you are capable of playing at the higher league. Once you get that sniff, you never look back.”Iyer also said “it was difficult to not get selected” for the World Cup, but wants to build towards the next edition through his consistency.”It was my dream to play the World Cup for my country. I know there are a few opportunities that I got but unfortunately the team combination was such that it didn’t demand me to be there.”There was a lot of buzz about me before the World Cup selection because I was consistent and aware about the hard work and smart work that I had put in. It will definitely reap benefits and help me in future when I play for India. I just kept myself positive and always in high spirits. It didn’t disturb me from inside at all. It was a dream to play the World Cup and I will play for sure in the future.”Iyer’s strength is his back-foot game, and he is quite a good puller of the short ball, an area he admits to have worked on with Ponting. For now, as he gears up for a second wind of sorts, he believes the familiarity of having played in the West Indies will help him.”The A tour has always given me an opportunity to prove myself in the higher league as this is the stepping stone,” he said. “I was in West Indies for the List A series and I had an idea of how the pitches play and also it’s so hot out there that you need to keep yourself hydrated. These are little things that you learn as you start playing.”You have to always work on your batting as you are never perfect. I am working on my batting every day and trying to perfect a few shots that will help me score all around the world. Pull and sweep are two shots that can help me score runs outside India. These are two shots that can immediately put pressure back on bowlers.”

The Derbyshire captain made his second ton of the competition as part of an impressive all-round display

ECB Reporters Network01-Jun-2018
ScorecardBilly Godleman’s second hundred in this year’s Royal London Cup led Derbyshire to a 51-run win at Northamptonshire to keep them firmly in the hunt for a place in the knockout stage.It was an impressive all-round display from Derbyshire, led by Godleman, who made a career-best 137 in the opening game of the competition at Edgbaston and followed up with an unbeaten 125 from 142 balls to steer his side carefully to 265 for 2 on a slow wicket.The score was easily defended with all six bowlers taking wickets as Northants subsided for 214 to leave their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage hanging by a thread.Godleman steered Derbyshire, having won the toss, with typically nugetty effort with few memorable strokes but a most-determined innings. He got going with a flashing cover drive off Ben Sanderson, struck another boundary past mid-off and a fierce pull backward of square as Derbyshire finished the Powerplay on 37 without loss.Boundaries were at a premium but he swung Josh Cobb over midwicket before bursting the hands of short-fine leg for his ninth four to move to 98 and then raising his third List A century in 127 balls.His opening partnership of 182 with Ben Slater was the record first-wicket stand in this fixture.Slater, fresh from his century against Yorkshire on Wednesday, began his innings with two firm pulls but otherwise was content to run the bowling around and build the partnership. He swept Graeme White for four and pulled Cobb over midwicket.A leg-side flick off Nathan Buck raised his sixth List A fifty in 78 balls with five fours. He then switch-hit Rob Keogh to the backward-point fence but completely missed a full toss from the same bowler and was clean bowled for 94.Northants’ chase, as was the case in the previous match against Durham, was in early trouble. Rob Newton chipped Wayne Madsen to midwicket for just 2 and Josh Cobb clipped Ravi Rampaul to mid-on for 6 before Alex Wakely, after a stand of 51 for the third wicket, tried to reverse-sweep Matt Critchley and was plumb lbw for 19.Ben Duckett has endured a miserable season so far but here, got set by driving Wayne Madsen – who bowled a seven-over opening spell for just 21 runs – over extra-cover before reverse-sweeping Critchley’s legspin three times for boundaries in going to just a first half-century of the summer in 59 balls.Duckett and Adam Rossington shared a partnership of 53 for the fourth wicket before Duckett lifted Alex Hughes into the hands of long-on to fall for 57 and Rossington, having reached a fortuitous 40, swung at Duanne Olivier and lost his leg stump.Northants needed 107 from 11 overs but despite Rory Kleinvedlt striking two leg-side sixes they fell well short.

Canterbury clinched their third Plunket Shield title in four years despite suffering a seven-wicket loss to Wellington in Christchurch. The winners were decided after defending champions Auckland conceded a three-wicket defeat to Central Districts in Napi

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2017The winners of the Plunket Shield were decided in the last hour of the last round of matches as Auckland, who needed a win to lift the trophy, went down to Central Districts by three wickets and Canterbury clinched their third title in four years. Canterbury were leading the table with 101 points before the last round, followed by Auckland with 93 points. While Canterbury went down to Wellington by seven wickets, taking four points to finish on 105, Auckland’s loss meant they finished third with 98 points after being overtaken by Northern Districts, who beat Otago by three wickets.Auckland had a sniff of victory and the title by reducing Central Districts to 281 for 7 in the chase of 301 before an unbeaten 43 from Tom Bruce steered Central Districts home, in Napier. The chase was led by George Worker’s 130 off 144, his sixth first-class hundred, but they stuttered from 192 for 2 to 213 for 5, and soon 281 for 7, before Bruce’s rescue act earned them 16 points. Earlier, Auckland were restricted to 200 for 9, thanks to a five-for from Navin Patel, after a rain-affected first day. But they fought back by dismissing Central Districts for 181 as Colin Munro (3 for 22) and Tarun Nethula (4 for 49) disturbed the opposition’s top and middle order. With a slender lead, Auckland had a shot at victory by declaring on 281 for 7 after fifites from Michael Guptill-Bounce (52), Munro (56) and Mark Chapman (55) but Central Districts overhauled the 301 target in under 70 overs by scoring at 4.37 runs per over.In Christchurch, Canterbury began the final day leading Wellington by 59 runs with only four wickets in hand. Troubled by the Wellington quicks, none of Canterbury’s top five could score in excess of 15 in the second innings. Captain Andrew Ellis, however, stretched his overnight score of 34 to 110 – his ninth first-class century – while No. 9 Logan van Beek added an unbeaten 54 to his first-innings score of 66, pushing the lead past 200, prompting Canterbury to declare on 293 for 8.Chasing 227, Wellington secured the victory for the loss of only three wickets, piloted by an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 170 between Hamish Marshall (105* off 94) and Tom Blundell (63*). It was the second win in ten matches for Wellington, whose tally of 86 points earned them a fourth-place finish.Blundell had earlier anchored Wellington’s reply to Canterbury’s first-innings tally of 197 with a 113. He added 184 runs for the sixth wicket with Peter Younghusband, who fell three short of a maiden first-class century. The duo helped their side take a 67-run lead, before Canterbury medium-pacer Will Williams rolled them over over with a career best 4 for 37.Northern Districts, meanwhile, stole a three-wicket win against Otago, with heroic centuries from Daryl Mitchell (106) and Tim Seifert (151) in the fourth innings in Dunedin. Like Central Districts, Northern Districts were set a stiff target – of 347 – but the twin centuries meant three wickets from each of Michael Rae and Rhys Phillips went in vain.Northern Districts’ fourth win of the tournament was set up by 11 wickets from Ish Sodhi. Otago had earlier secured a first-innings lead of 157 after a double-century from Anaru Kitchen (207) helped them score 432 for 8. Northern Distrcits were bowled out for 275 in reply, only Dean Brownlie scoring a half-century, with Nathan Smith and Rae striking thrice each. However, Sodhi’s 7 for 59 in the third innings meant Otago declared at 189 for 8, despite strong contributions from the top order, and Northern Districts aced the daunting chase by losing no more than seven wickets.

On pitches where Australia are playing no specialist spinners, and where the India spinners have been moderately effective, captain MS Dhoni feels the only way Rishi can play is if a specialist batsman is dropped

Sidharth Monga15-Jan-20164:56

Always believed Rahane is a good opener – Dhoni

The Himachal Pradesh allrounder Rishi Dhawan is likely to accumulate a lot of frequent flyer points and bowl a lot in the nets, but the India cap looks as far as it did before he was selected for the Australia tour. On pitches where Australia are playing no specialist spinners, and where the India spinners have been moderately effective, captain MS Dhoni feels the only way Rishi can play is if a specialist batsman is dropped, and if that happens, Dhoni said, India will be playing with “six bowlers”.Despite going for 239 in 37 overs for three wickets to outfield catches, spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are being considered better on hopelessly unhelpful tracks than Rishi on tracks with good bounce. This should come as a strong message to the selectors.Dhoni was asked if he had given a thought to going horses for courses as opposed to playing his best bowlers on paper. He responded: “If you see what is important is to see that we played the first game with our best bowling attack. In this game, too, Ishant [Sharma] was fit and we thought he will get good bounce. We feel it is important to play with a proper bowling set-up. And at the same time you cannot neglect the batting.”When it comes to whether we can play the extra seamer, if your frontline three seamers are going for runs, it is slightly difficult for somebody like a Rishi to come in. He may bowl well, but I am saying it will be slightly difficult for him to be successful with the fielding restrictions. He is not someone who bowls very quick. At the same time in the middle overs you need to bowl a lot of dot balls. That’s where you have to decide whether you are better off playing with the two spinners.”The only option you have is, you will have to sit out Ashwin because Jadeja gives you that cushion of batting. It is a difficult one. I still feel 3-2 (seamer-spinner) is the best combination. If somebody was there who could bowl a bit of seam-up, that obviously helps. As of now we don’t really have [one]. We can’t really look at Rishi because to play him we will have to get rid of a proper batsman. Then we will have to play six bowlers. Six bowlers is a bit of luxury to have in cricket nowadays.”Australia, on the other hand, have handed out debuts to two fast bowlers and have stuck with them. They have rotated two other quicks, but have been blessed with the presence of a proper allrounder in James Faulkner and a batsman who can bowl in Glenn Maxwell. The only “allrounder” in the Indian squad is not being considered much of a bowler. In the absence of any evidence against proper batsmen, Dhoni’s assessment of Rishi is the only considered one we have even though it goes against the view of the selectors.At any rate Dhoni seems to have stopped asking for better from his bowlers. After India lost defending 309 in Perth, there was a clear change in the way they batted in the middle over in Brisbane. They had now set themselves up for 340, but lost their way in the end, and the bowlers gave up the defence of 308 just as easily in Brisbane as they did in Perth. Now Dhoni says there are only two choices left: either score in excess of 330 or just choose to chase. And he said that while answering a question about the extras – 11 wides and a no-ball.”In both the games we have given a fair amount of extras,” Dhoni said. “That takes that number of runs off the total. On good wickets it does matter. As far as Ishant is concerned, I think the breeze was flowing in circular motions. I felt that made it slightly difficult for him. I feel even if we cut down the extras we will have to score more runs. There are two options: either put pressure on [our] batsmen and score 330 or chase down the score, give them the batting first. These are the only two options we have got. We will have a look and decide what suits us the best.”If India are to score those extra 30 runs a quick start from Shikhar Dhawan can go a long way, but he has thrown his wicket away twice. Even if Dhoni wanted to drop him, he wouldn’t be able to because the selectors have given him only five established specialist batsmen. The only way for that to happen would be for Ajinkya Rahane to open, the idea of which Dhoni likes; he is not entirely convinced with the idea of Rahane the middle-order batsman.”Jinx has improved a lot in his batting,” Dhoni said. “But also the wickets are good here. What is important is to see him when the wickets slow down and he is pushed to play the big shots. When ball comes on he loves it, and plays very good strokes. I feel he has improved a lot. We will wait and watch and see what the best position for him is. I have personally believed he is very good opener because he plays proper cricketing shots. He cuts and pulls, but he plays proper shots. He can accelerate whenever he wants to. Also once he starts with the new ball, he is quite good by the time the middle overs start. So far it is good he has done well in both the positions. We will see how it goes.”For now, though, Shikhar has the captain’s confidence. “Shikhar is someone who loves to play his shots,” Dhoni said. “If somebody plays shots from the very start, there will be periods when he won’t score runs. You can say it was a rash shot, but that’s the time you are supposed to back your stroke-players.”

MS Dhoni struck 16 runs off the last three balls of the match with No. 11 for company to give India the title

The Report by Sidharth Monga11-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Moments before mayhem: This ball was headed for the stands•AFP

Leave it to me, he says. I want to take this to the last over. Me against one man. One on one. I know I am better than the last man the other team can put up against me. Once again, MS Dhoni reduced a lost match into a one-on-one contest with an opposition bowler, and knocked off the 15 required in just three hits. You could see the bowler – Shaminda Eranga, 9-2-34-2 until then, wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli to his name – was intimidated the moment he saw the first one fly into the top of the top tier.Bear in mind that this was a treacherous pitch with seam, spin and uneven bounce. Dhoni was injured, and had come back only for this match. He wasn’t running as hard as he does, and wickets were falling at the other end. When Dhoni came in, the asking-rate was 3.35, but with falling wickets and turned-down singles, it hit the improbable towards the end. Dhoni, though, kept refusing singles, kept admonishing the last man Ishant Sharma for taking off for panic-stricken singles.Ishant couldn’t be blamed. The game had unravelled fast for India. They were cruising when Rohit Sharma had braved for yet another fifty despite another painful blow to his body (which makes it atleast four in two innings against Sri Lanka), despite many balls that seamed past his edge, despite the slow start. When India were 139 for 3 in the 32nd over, though, Rangana Herath delivered a grubber, and it squeezed under Rohit’s bat. Things were about to change.The pitch was still difficult to bat on as Suresh Raina soon found out. He thought he had a half-volley from Suranga Lakmal when he went for the drive, but even after pitching that full the ball seamed away appreciably and took his edge. The accurate and wily Herath saw an opening now. And burst through it. In the 38th over, his last, Herath trapped Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin – whose combined figures had been 17.5-1-65-6 – in successive deliveries. India 152 for 7.The drama had begun. Only a few minutes earlier, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara had gone on and on – for overs it seemed – about an obstructing-the-field appeal against Dhoni. He had taken two steps down the wicket, and then realised he would have hit the other batsman if he ran straight. So he ran, nay hared on a bad hamstring, at an angle, but didn’t change his direction for the remaining 20 yards. The throw hit him, and the two senior Sri Lankans would not leave the umpire’s side. They knew they needed this man out as soon as possible.For the next half hour, though, Sri Lanka would have thought they didn’t need to get Dhoni out. Dhoni tried to intimidate Lakmal once during the Powerplay, but after that he began playing the percentage game. Sri Lanka knew Dhoni couldn’t manipulate the strike with that hamstring, and controlled the game well. Lasith Malinga – seven overs for 54 runs until then – finally got his radar right, and got Bhuvneshwar Kumar toe before wicket with his dipping slower yorker. In the tense overs that followed, R Vinay Kumar lost his cool, and slogged and got out. India 182 for 9 after 46.2 overs.With any other batsman than Dhoni, you would expect panic. Dhoni, though, wanted to corner just one man. He wanted to bring it down to that one man. He was also daring Sri Lanka to keep back Malinga, who had one over left, for the last. Sri Lanka didn’t. Malinga bowled the 48th. Dhoni faced the whole over, looking unhurried, for just a scrambled couple.The only man hurried was Ishant, who tried a suicidal single off the last ball of Malinga’s over to keep Dhoni on strike. The ball, though, had gone straight to the fielder, and Dhoni was miffed Ishant tried such desperation. It was not becoming of someone batting with the coolest and the best batsman in ODI cricket. Ishant would do that again off the first ball of the next over. Twice Dhoni let Ishant know what he did was not right. Ishant faced another dot. Then another dot. Seventeen off nine. Dhoni was cool at the other end. He had marked out his man. He knew it wouldn’t be an experienced bowler in the last over.Two runs came off the last three balls of the 49th over, but Ishant was made to feel under no pressure. He had been told to leave it to the man who knew his way around these lanes. Then began the great show. As soon as Ishant left alone – yes, left alone – the last ball of the 49th over, Dhoni signalled to the dressing room for a new, heavier bat.As Angelo Mathews psyched Shaminda Eranga up for the last over, Dhoni practised a few swings with two bats held together. Calculatedly he picked out one. Eranga went to his mark. This match should not have been on, but in Dhoni’s book this was even odds. Eranga bowled a nervous first ball: a wide length ball, which Dhoni swung hard at. That was a nervous ball, and would have been out of the ground had Dhoni connected. Dhoni didn’t.The second ball, though, was closer to Dhoni – swing, and met that hunk on the up. And up it went. And far. And kept going. Over the top of the stands. You could see it in Eranga’s eyes now. It was now going to be nigh impossible for Eranga to execute his skill. In one hit, Dhoni had brought it down to just luck for Sri Lanka. The luck was not with them. Eranga bowled length again, Dhoni went hard again, and the ball flew off the outside half of the bat, and over point.It was over already. Eranga just ran up for the formalities, delivered another length ball, and was dispatched over extra cover. The iceman had done it again, but he hadn’t had a great first half of the day as a keeper and a captain. Apart from not having been at his best with the gloves, Dhoni had also let Sri Lanka off the hook with his choice of part-time bowlers ahead of the specialist spinners, who would eventually go on to cut Sri Lanka’s effort short.Bhuvneshwar had given India his customary breakthroughs in the first spell, the scoring was difficult, but Virat Kohli and Raina provided Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne relief with their odd long hop or big wides. Their partnership took Sri Lanka to 171 for 2, but then Thirimanne made a mistake, and almost every batsman that followed. In over-aiming during that Powerplay, Sri Lanka had lost their last eight wickets for 30 runs, letting Dhoni off the hook now.You will be justified to think of Dhoni’s choice of bowlers as odd. As you would have been with his persistence against all logic with Ishant in the Champions Trophy final. Just that the results were drastically different.

Alastair Cook described the five-match ODI series against Australia as the ideal preparation for the Champions Trophy and 2015 World Cup

George Dobell28-Jun-2012Whatever the hype and hysteria over the next couple of weeks, there be will no World Cups or Ashes urns won as England and Australia resume hostilities in the NatWest ODI series. Instead, these five games represent not a destination, but a step on the journey for both teams.That does not render this series worthless. It will act as a barometer of each side’s true position and provide an idea of how they must improve. It might also provide a vague guide to next year’s ICC Champions Trophy. The fact that Lord’s is expecting a capacity crowd of 30,000 underlines not only the draw that encounters between these two sides still has, but the draw of a wonderful, well-run ground. To regularly fill a stadium of this size in the current economic climate is a fine effort.That England go into this series with an outside chance of becoming the No. 1-ranked ODI side – they will need to win 5-0 to do so – speaks volumes not just for their progress in recent times, but also for some anomalies within the ranking system. A team that has lost so comprehensively in both India (5-0 at the end of 2011) and Australia (6-1 after the 2010-11 Ashes series) will surely have to win a major global trophy to convince that they are more than a very good side in their own conditions.That remains a key aim of this England side. Indeed, this series has been scheduled very much with a view to the World Cup, to be played in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, and the Champions Trophy, to be played in England next year. In return for this five-match series, England will have the chance to acclimatise with a five-match ODI series in Australia ahead of the World Cup, while these games should help both sides prepare for the Champions Trophy.It was a point made by England captain, Alastair Cook, as he looked forward to the games. “The reason this series is in is because of the 2015 World Cup,” Cook said. “We really want to have some warm-ups in Australia to get used to those conditions just before that World Cup. That makes sense for our preparation then, so obviously as a reciprocal thing they have to come here. As players we don’t mind. It’s going to be a brilliant, hopefully, ten days.”We haven’t won an ICC [one-day] trophy and we have a good chance next summer in our home conditions. That would suit us well. Clearly in a four year cycle you build to the World Cup but on the way you have to win as many games as you can. The Champions Trophy next year is half way to the World Cup and a good stepping stone.”England have a dismal record in the last five World Cups and, despite the recent success in the UAE, they also have a modest ODI record away from home. But, in their own conditions, they are dangerous and recent performances suggest they are heading in the right direction.No other side is playing ODI cricket with the same methodology as England. While all other major sides have at least one explosive batsman at the top of the batting order, England have opted for batsmen of more solid, traditional style and a line-up that increasingly resembles their Test side. One of the few concessions they have made to ‘specialist’ limited-overs players comes with the selection of Craig Kieswetter as wicketkeeper. And it is his place that is, arguably, most at risk.But just because no-one else is doing it does not make England’s method wrong. Indeed, against two new white balls and a No. 1-rated ODI side boasting at least two high-quality fast bowlers, England may well be grateful for batsmen of the class of Ian Bell, Cook and Jonathan Trott at the top of the order.It is worth remembering that England, too, would be playing quite differently had Kevin Pietersen not departed. But, just as Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss only came to form the captain/coach partnership that revived England’s fortunes through the successful calamity that was the sacking of Pietersen and Peter Moores, so we may come to reflect in time that Pietersen’s retirement proved to be a blessing in disguise. Bell, in particular, has been given a fresh chance to fulfil his undoubted potential in this format.Cook said he was not surprised how quickly England had moved on from Pietersen. “It’s a great sign of strength,” he said. “It’s an encouraging sign as a captain that we have a good squad of players, that if someone is no longer here we have got people who can come in and perform straight away.”We are very much a developing one-day side and we’re desperate to keep going up the rankings,” Cook said. “I think we are progressing as a team. People are starting to feel comfortable in their roles in the set-up, but that doesn’t count for anything when you walk out on the pitch.”We’ve got a really good test of ourselves now. They’ve proven they are going to be a really tough and dangerous one-day side and a tough side to beat. We’re got to have to be at our absolute best.”Each international side has a couple of guys who can get it up to 90mph and these guys are now in a similar position to us in that they have eight or nine guys who can play in their fast bowling slots. They’re in a position of strength just like we are.”

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has been signed by Pune Warriors as a replacement for Ashish Nehra

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2011Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has been signed by Pune Warriors as a replacement for Ashish Nehra, who was ruled out for the remainder of the 2011 season with a finger injury. Ganguly’s contract is for a period of one year and is an IPL lifeline to the batsman after he went unsold at the player auction in January, where his base price was $400,000.Ganguly will be vice-captain to Yuvraj Singh and is likely to join the Pune squad ahead of their match against Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium on May 4.”We were waiting for Ashish Nehra’s fitness report and ultimately the report came yesterday,” Abhijit Sarkar, Pune’s team director, told PTI. “I was already in talks with Ganguly and we decided that the amount of experience that Sourav has in cricket will no doubt help the team. So we finalised Ganguly last night.”He is playing in IPL not for money but to prove a point. Our team think-tank felt that Sourav Ganguly is the best possible option available so we went for him. He has been a fighter and a master of comebacks. We are very much confident that he will prove his worth.”Ganguly played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the first three seasons of the IPL and led the team in two of them, while Brendon McCullum was captain for the other. Kolkata fared poorly in those years and are the only franchise not to make the semi-finals. Kolkata did not bid for Ganguly in January despite his name coming up for sale twice, as they revamped their squad entirely, and the batsman later refused a mentoring role with the franchise.Pune Warriors are bottom of the ten-team league at present, having lost six consecutive matches after winning their first two. Ganguly has an average IPL record – 1031 runs at an average of 28 and strike-rate of 110 – and could strengthen an under-performing and short batting order.