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 senior batsman has been given a detailed training programme for his 14 days of quarantine in Sydney

Varun Shetty12-Dec-2020Rohit Sharma has been declared “clinically fit” by the medical team at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru after his three-week rehabilitation stint for a hamstring injury.On Saturday, the BCCI issued a statement clarifying that Sharma had been assessed for his batting, fielding, and running between the wickets, and that the NCA medical staff had found his physical fitness “satisfactory”.As reported by ESPNcricinfo on Friday, Sharma has cleared the NCA’s assessment and is expected to fly to Sydney from Mumbai via Dubai on Sunday to begin a 14-day hard quarantine outside of India’s current bio-secure bubble. The statement also said that Sharma would have to, nonetheless, continue to work on his endurance during his hard quarantine in Sydney – his participation in the final two Tests will depend on the assessment of his “fitness status” by the Indian team’s medical staff.Related

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Sharma has also been given a detailed training programme for the period of quarantine.If all goes well, Sharma will be available for India’s last two Tests – of the four-match series – in Australia in January.While there is the question on whether Sharma will come out match ready after the 14-day quarantine, the eight-day gap between the second and third Tests – which begins on January 7 – is understood to have encouraged the management to have the senior batsman in the mix.This official communication from the BCCI potentially ends a weeks-long saga about Sharma’s fitness and availability for the Australia tour, a subject that had left even India captain Virat Kohli confused last month.Sharma had initially been left out of the tour because of the hamstring injury he picked up during the IPL, with the BCCI saying he would be “monitored”. Sharma sat out four matches for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL at the time, but returned – after being left out of the squads for the Australia tour – to lead his team to the title. At the time, on November 9, the BCCI had sad that the selectors had decided to “rest” Sharma from the white-ball leg in Australia in order for him to get more focused rehabilitation at the NCA and be in contention for the Tests. He was subsequently named in the squad for the last two Tests, subject to how his rehabilitation went.Sharma was the incumbent opener before missing India’s last Test series, in New Zealand earlier this year, also because of injury. India currently have a number of opening options with the squad as they prepare for the start of the Tests, but Sharma is expected to bolster the line-up, particularly after Kohli goes on paternity leave after the first Test in Adelaide.

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.

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.

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

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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.”

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.

“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

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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.

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

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“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

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

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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 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