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Australia were on track while David Warner and Marcus Stoinis were together, while there was nearly a controversial finish

Tristan Lavalette09-Oct-2022Alex Hales made a statement with a rapid 84, while quicks Mark Wood and Sam Curran thwarted Australia’s bold chase as England stepped up their T20 World Cup preparations with a tight eight-run victory in the series opener in Perth.

Finch gets demerit point for inappropriate language

Australia captain Aaron Finch was reprimanded and handed one demerit point after the first T20I for breaching Article 2.3 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which relates to “use of an audible obscenity”. An ICC statement said the incident occurred during the ninth over of England’s innings, with the stump mic picking up what Finch had said.
Finch accepted the sanction handed out by match referee David Boon, so there was no formal hearing.
Four demerit points within a 24-month period equates to a suspension. This is the only demerit point on Finch’s record at present, and it will stay on his record for the next 24 months.

In a record 132-run opening partnership for England against Australia, Hales and the returning Jos Buttler flattened a weakened attack to power the tourists to a huge total.An aggressive Australia, who had dropped Steven Smith, were on pace with David Warner making his second consecutive half-century but England held their nerve through quality death bowling from Wood and Curran.It was a return of international cricket in Perth since the women’s T20 World Cup in February 2020 after an easing of strict Covid-19 measures. The final two games of the series will be played in Canberra starting on Wednesday.Buttler returns with bang, Hales puts hand upAgainst a second-string Australia attack on a fast Optus Stadium pitch, a golden opportunity loomed for Buttler and Hales, who had been given the nod ahead of Phil Salt.Buttler demonstrated his fitness from a nagging calf injury with a blistering assault in the opening over, smashing four boundaries off Cameron Green whose first international match on his home ground started disastrously.In all-out attack mode, Buttler was at his brilliant best with a slew of destructive shots all around the wicket, including consecutive outrageous scoops in the fifth over against exasperated quick Kane Richardson.Hales started slowly, by comparison, before finding his range as the pair smashed 58 runs in the powerplay. There was no lull immediately after with Buttler launching legspinner Mitchell Swepson for consecutive sixes. They notched a century stand within nine overs before Buttler finally fell in the 12th over to Nathan Ellis.Hales then took over in similar fashion to his dominance in the BBL to almost surely cement a spot in England’s T20 World Cup line-up.Ellis fuels late Australia fightbackResting their frontline attack for the sole match of the series in Perth, Australia were perhaps on a hiding to nothing.Captain Aaron Finch had hoped to take advantage of the overcast conditions and smattering of grass, but his inexperienced attack mostly copped a flogging. Green particularly struggled with a slew of half volleys and his confidence spiralled when he bowled a beamer in the 13th over.Australia were staring down the barrel before a late fightback helped limit the damage just a little. An accurate Ellis emerged relatively unscathed earlier in the innings before bowling a superb 19th over to claim Curran and Moeen Ali.Hitting the pitch hard, bowling a clever mix of slower deliveries, the 28-year-old was the clear standout with 3 for 20 from four overs while his fellow bowlers each conceded more than 9.75 runs per over.It further emphasised Ellis’ unlucky omission from Australia’s T20 World Cup squad having performed reliably when called upon.Aaron Finch was run out by a superb throw from Sam Curran•Getty Images

Warner, Stoinis keep Australia on trackFinch was listed to return as opener, but contentiously Green, who is not in Australia’s World Cup squad, remained at the top. The gamble backfired with Green’s horror match continuing when he fell for 1 to Reece Topley in the second over.Finch entered at No. 4 but he had a short stay at the crease after being run out on 12 through brilliant fielding from Curran.Warner continued where he left off against West Indies to keep Australia on track and he was joined by Marcus Stoinis, who returned after a side strain. Pressure had built on Stoinis after a lean period and the emergence of Green but he was in powerful form with a trio of sixes as Australia suddenly were in the box seat.Wood, Curran thwart Australia at the deathBowling with rapid pace, peaking at 154kph/96mph, Wood swung the match in the 15th over with the wickets of Stoinis and Tim David, who failed to score in his first international in his home town.There was drama in the 17th over when Matthew Wade appeared to have impeded Wood in his attempt for a return catch after top-edging into his helmet. England didn’t appeal and Wade then threatened to once again be the hero at the finish.Needing 16 runs off the final over, Wade started with a boundary to inch Australia closer but holed out two balls later as Curran bowled calmly in the clutch to seal victory for England.

Individual bests abound as little-known young players take chances

ECB Reporters Network19-Aug-2022Taylor Cornall came within three runs of his maiden List A century to lead Worcestershire Rapids to a second win in 48 hours as they overcame Essex Eagles by seven wickets in a Royal London Cup encounter at New Road.Cornall, a left-handed batter in his first season with Worcestershire, followed his 61 in the victory over Northamptonshire with another excellent contribution as the Rapids chased down a 280 target with eight balls to spare.He shared in a decisive second wicket stand of 158 in 28 overs with Gareth Roderick who hit his maiden List A half century for Worcestershire.Cornall was eventually lbw to Luc Benkenstein on 97 but Jake Libby and Ed Barnard saw the Rapids, who had lost their opening five games, over the finishing line during an unbroken stand of 57.Seventeen-year-old Robin Das, and Benkenstein, aged 20, had also achieved their highest scores in competition with 63 and 55 respectively.
Worcestershire captain, Jake Libby, opted to bat and Ben Gibbon made the first breakthrough when Josh Rymell drove at the left armer and edged to Ed Pollock at first slip.Essex captain Tom Westley went into the game as his leading run-scorer in the competition with 335 but he went lbw first ball against Dillon Pennington in the next over.Related

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Grant Roelofsen and Feroze Khushi, Essex’s other in-form batters, scored freely in adding 55 in nine overs. But Tongue came into the attack and was rewarded when Roelofsen on 31 went across his stumps and was caught down keeper Ben Cox down the legside.There was more joy for Tongue when Khushi (43) went to pull a delivery that came onto him quicker than expected and Cox running back held onto another legside chance.Worcestershire were firmly in the ascendancy when Nick Browne was run out by Barnard’s direct hit at the non-striker’s after he had turned Pennington to point and set off for a single.Essex were then 132 for 5 and Benkenstein on three had a let off when he inside edged Tongue on his return to the attack and Cox was unable to hold onto the chance.It was a rare error by Cox whose two catches today lifted his dismissals in all cricket to the 600 mark.Tongue’s permitted quota of eight over for his comeback match resulted in encouraging figures of 8-0-41-2.Benkenstein also survived a sharp chance to Barnard at midwicket off Libby and he and Das brought about an Essex recovery during a stand of 83 in 13 overs. It took a good catch by Pollock running around to deep midwicket to break the stand after Das aimed a big blow at Barnard. His List A best 63 off 64 balls contained nine boundaries.Gibbon struck for the second time as Aron Nijjar picked out Tongue at mid on and then Pennington took a good at midwicket to dismiss Benkenstein off his own bowling after he attempted a hook. His 55 was also his best score in List A cricket and came from 59 deliveries with seven boundaries.
It became two wickets in two balls for Pennington as Jamal Richards was bowled after playing an expansive drive before some late blows by Shane Snater lifted the final total to 279 for 9.Pollock, recalled in place of the injured Azhar Ali, got the Rapids innings off to a flying start and hit Snater over midwicket for six. He made 34 from 25 balls out of 50 before he pushed forward to Jamal Richards and was bowled.Cornall was joined by Gareth Roderick and the pair batted with great authority and kept the score moving along at the required rate throughout. Cornall raced to a 59 ball half century with Roderick needed only six more deliveries to reach his maiden List A fifty. Seamers and spinners alike were not allowed to settle although Cornall had a life on 67 when he was dropped at midwicket off Toole.Roderick was full of improvisation, twice reverse sweeping Westley for boundaries, but the same stroke eventually brought about his downfall on 76 from 85 balls. He picked out Jamal Richards at point off Benkenstein to end a partnership of 158 in 28 overs with Cornall.All eyes were now on Cornall to see if he could reach three figures but he fell agonisingly short when lbw to Benkenstein and left the field to a standing ovation.

Rescheduled ODI series will take place immediately after conclusion of IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2022West Indies’ postponed ODI series in the Netherlands will start “immediately after the IPL” on May 31, according to a joint press release by CWI and the KNCB.The tour will see West Indies play a full international match on Dutch soil for the first time – following two 55-over friendly matches in 1991 – and will be the sides’ first meeting in international cricket since the 2011 World Cup.The three ODI Super League fixtures will take place at the VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen on May 31, June 2 and June 4, with tickets due to go on sale this weekend.Johnny Grave, CWI’s chief executive, said: “We have been working closely with our colleagues at KNCB to put together this series immediately after the IPL and we are happy to now be able to announce the match schedule.”It’s going to be exciting to tour the Netherlands for the first time. It is a short tour, but we expect great entertainment during what promises to be a wonderful week of quality cricket for the fans in the Netherlands.”The BCCI is yet to announce exact dates for this year’s IPL but ESPNcricinfo understands that the tournament will start in late March and run until the last week of May.Seventeen West Indies players are due to play in this season’s IPL – the most from any country other than India – and CWI confirmed on Sunday that they would be “fully available” for the full season, as per a guarantee to players in their retainer contracts.Roland Lefebvre, the KNCB’s high performance manager, said: “The KNCB is very excited to welcome the West Indies cricket team back to the Netherlands. The last time the team visited our country was in 1991, for two 55-over friendly matches, with the likes of [Viv] Richards, [Desmond] Haynes, [Curtley] Ambrose and [Malcolm] Marshall present.”These matches will be the second Cricket World Cup Super League home series for the Dutch team and we look forward to a great Caribbean-style contest”.The series was initially due to take place in June 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Netherlands’ home schedule for 2022 also includes visits from England for three ODIs in June, and New Zealand for two T20Is at the end of July.Fixtures:
1st ODI – May 31
2nd ODI – June 2
3rd ODI – June 4 (all matches at VRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen)

It will take a lot of rain to stop England from scoring 35 runs or India from taking four wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-20253:37

Root: ‘Amazing spectacle to look forward to’ on fifth day

After the climax of The Oval Test spilled over into the final day because of poor light and rain in what has been a thrilling five-Test series, it’s fair to wonder what the weather on the 25th and last day of the series will be like.There is rain around, but there’s no reason to believe there won’t be time to get a result.Both England and India currently have a clear shot at victory, which keeps the possibilities of 2-2 or 3-1 still open. While England are just 35 runs away from lifting the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, India need another four wickets, including that of Chris Woakes, who is ready to bat one-handed if needed despite a suspected dislocated shoulder, which is in a sling.The weather forecast for Monday in London says it will mostly be cloudy and breezy with a couple of showers in the afternoon, expected around 2pm local time (6.30pm IST). If the first session is clear, with an 11am local time (3.30pm IST) start, the Test shouldn’t go into the afternoon. According to BBC Weather, there is some chance of rain even around 1pm local time, which, again, might not affect the outcome.The weather has been a feature of this Test – it has rained on three of the four days so far. In the dying moments of the final session of the fourth day, it was bad light that forced the players off the field at around 5.30pm local time, when at least half-an-hour’s play was still left, apart from the extended half-hour which allows action to go on till 6.30pm. It started to rain soon after the players went off and stumps were finally called at 6.01pm.

Authorities await ICC accreditation for the venue ahead of IPL 2021 and T20 World Cup

Shamya Dasgupta05-Jul-2021Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium has been busier than usual since the resumption of cricket after the Covid-19 hiatus around the middle of last year. It has hosted 81 ICC-approved games in the last 11 months, including franchise T10s and T20s, and there is a lot more lined up.It’s a lot of pressure on one cricket facility. As a result, Abu Dhabi Cricket (ADC) has had to expand, and has thrown open Tolerance Oval, a floodlit, broadcast-ready stadium, with five playing surfaces. The ICC accreditation isn’t there yet, but the authorities expect everything to be in place soon, in time for some of the 31 remaining matches of IPL 2021 in September-October, and then matches of the men’s T20 World Cup between October 17 and November 14.Related

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“If you speak to the best groundsmen in the world, they wouldn’t want more than five international matches on each of their surfaces. Our main stadium is now broadcast-ready for seven strips, and the Tolerance Oval is broadcast-ready as well with five strips. So we have 12 broadcast-ready strips, that’s 60 games,” Matt Boucher, ADC chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo. “Tolerance Oval is another international venue in the Emirates. It’s not a 20-25,000 capacity ground. We have modelled it on the English county grounds and the Hagley Oval [in Christchurch]; we have grass banks around the perimeter, so 12,000 people at the most.”At the moment, the UAE has the three main international venues, including the Dubai and Sharjah stadia. That aside, there is the ICC Academy ground, which, however, is not a night-playing alternative. Which makes Tolerance Oval, if approved by the ICC, the fourth night- and broadcast-ready ground in the region.”I can’t speak on behalf of the ICC, but from our perspective, we wanted to increase our infrastructure. Our business was very different two years ago. We were hosting a lot of junior sport, junior football and junior rugby, in our outer ovals. We made a dedicated decision at the beginning of this year that we wanted all our cricket facilities to return to cricket and be fully focussed on cricket,” Boucher said. “So we have overhauled everything, and it should be ready by the end of August.”It’s not with an event in mind, but for Abu Dhabi to offer a higher class of playing surfaces and dedicated cricket surfaces for the domestic community here and the international community too.”As such, Abu Dhabi has played its part well. No one venue has hosted more ICC-approved games than it has since June 2020 – though Dhaka’s Shere Bangla National Stadium has been marginally busier, having also been the primary venue for Bangladesh’s domestic matches.Sheikh Zayed Stadium has hosted 81 ICC-approved matches in the last 11 months•BCCI

“It has been an incredibly busy season since August last year. It’s all moved pretty smoothly, approvals have come in quickly, the ground has been in great shape, and yeah, it’s gone pretty well for us,” Boucher said. “Hopefully some more big months coming up with the remainder of the IPL and then the men’s T20 World Cup and then the Abu Dhabi T10 again. It’s been an exciting period.”Obviously, without the pandemic, we wouldn’t be hosting many of the events we just discussed. Around 18 months ago, we were generating our own events and conceptualising products with public and private stakeholders, because we were not reliant on the international events coming in. That sort of flipped on its head because of the pandemic, and all the international events we have hosted, in the most stringent and secure atmosphere we possibly can.”It will be interesting to see next year, how the bilateral season works at the end of the men’s T20 World Cup, there are a lot of countries, even a lot of Associate countries, who need to catch up on their cricket, who are behind on their FTP.”Tolerance Oval is not new to cricket. It has hosted a variety of cricket, and cricketers, but mainly as a training facility, for the UAE national team, English counties on their pre-season travels, as well as ‘A’ matches featuring Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia, etc. It’s got a facelift now, but that doesn’t count as guarantee for anything when it comes to the ICC. It might continue to be a training facility for the teams playing in the IPL or the T20 World Cup, in terms of the immediate future, while games of the Abu Dhabi T10 league could well be played there.”We will wait for the lights to go in, probably some lights’ testing, probably some dimensions’ testing… and hopefully in six weeks’ time we will have the accreditation for that oval, and then it’s over to the decision-makers if they want to use it for any upcoming tournaments or whether we use it for practice,” Boucher said. “Either way, it’s a brilliant new facility. And just to have it for IPL practice and T20 World Cup practice alleviates some space on our other surfaces.”

Super Kings lose their way after 54-run opening stand to leave their playoffs hopes hanging by a thread

Matt Roller04-May-2022Royal Challengers Bangalore halted a run of three consecutive defeats to boost their play-offs hope thanks to a scrappy win against Chennai Super Kings in Pune, iced by a death-bowling masterclass from Josh Hazlewood and Harshal Patel.Super Kings needed 56 runs off 30 balls with six wickets in hand when the final strategic timeout was taken in their run chase but then lost their way, losing three wickets for 25 runs across the next five overs. Harshal was hit for two sixes in the final over to close the margin of defeat but in dismissing Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja, he had already won the game for them.Royal Challengers had scrapped their way to 173 for 8 after being asked to bat first, as five batters passed 20 but Mahipal Lomror top-scored with 42 off 27 balls. They had started brightly, with their highest opening stand and highest powerplay total of the season, but floundered against spin in the middle overs.Lomror’s 44-run stand with Rajat Patidar kept them ticking before Maheesh Theekshana struck three times in the 19th over, but Dinesh Karthik took 16 runs from the final over to take them to a defendable total.Super Kings are mathematically still in contention for the play-offs but will need a miracle after seven defeats in their first ten games, while this result sees Royal Challengers return to the play-off positions for the time being – though with a poor net run-rate and having played a game more than their nearest contenders, they will need to finish the group stages strongly.Royal Challengers lose their wayFaf du Plessis and Virat Kohli made a nervy start, both picking up streaky boundaries via the edge of the bat as MS Dhoni used his seamers with the new ball, but then pushed on: Kohli launched Simarjeet Singh for six over the covers, while du Plessis cashed in against Mukesh Choudhary, taking 18 runs from his third over.But as has often been the case this season, they struggled against spin with the fingerspinners finding some grip from a good length: du Plessis holed out to deep midwicket off Moeen, while Kohli’s own struggles with the bat continued.After calling Glenn Maxwell through for a single that was never there and seeing him run out by Robin Uthappa, he was bowled through the gate by a sharply-spun offbreak from Moeen for a scratchy 30 off 33 balls. From 51 for 0 after five overs, Royal Challengers had stuttered to 79 for 3 after 10.Lomror, Karthik lead rebuildLomror was promoted to No. 4 after a cameo finishing the innings at No. 7 against Gujarat Titans and started brightly, hitting Moeen back over his head for four and slog-sweeping Theekshana for six after knocking the ball around alongside Patidar. Choudhary’s brilliant catch at deep square leg brought in Karthik with 4.5 overs remaining, but Dhoni had planned accordingly.Clearly conscious of Karthik’s strength against pace and relative weakness against spin – as well as his seamers’ inexperience at the death – Dhoni held Theekshana’s final two overs back for the 17th and 19th. He conceded only eight runs – six of them scored by Karthik, off seven balls – and struck three times in his final over, removing Lomror, Wanindu Hasaranga and Shahbaz Ahmed.But Lomror had hit Pretorius for four and six – and been dropped by Jadeja – in the 18th to keep the scoreboard moving and after surviving an incredibly tight review for lbw off the first ball of the final over, Karthik whacked him over deep midwicket twice to take Royal Challengers to 173.Devon Conway raises his bat to celebrate his half-century against RCB•BCCI

Conway’s cruiseDropped one innings into his IPL career, Devon Conway marked his return to the side with 85 not out against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday and made it back-to-back half-centuries on Wednesday night with a fluent 56. He started brightly, reverse-sweeping then sweeping Shahbaz for fours in the first over of the chase, and put on 51 for the first wicket alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad.As Royal Challengers had done, Super Kings lost their way through the middle overs against spin, and Maxwell in particular who bowled four tight overs and removed both Uthappa and Ambati Rayudu, cramping them for room from around the wicket. But with Conway there and the required rate intact, Super Kings were always in the game.Hazlewood, Harshal finish the jobdu Plessis held Harshal back until the 13th over, then ensured he would bowl three of the last five by throwing the ball to Hasaranga for the 15th. He had been expensive, hit for three sixes in his first two overs, but du Plessis’ gamble paid off: Hasaranga went full, but Conway could not clear Shahbaz at deep backward square leg.Moeen looked as though he had found his rhythm when he lofted Hasaranga’s final ball down the ground for six, but Super Kings capitulated after the time-out. Bowling his variations from around the wicket, Harshal had Jadeja well caught by Kohli off a skier and Moeen pouched at extra cover, the ball after swiping him for six over the leg side.When Hazlewood had Dhoni caught at deep midwicket with the first ball of the 19th over, the game was effectively over and his four overs had been crucial: he went for only 19 runs, bowling his hard lengths in the powerplay and at the death; Pretorius’ top-edged pull off his penultimate ball was the only boundary he conceded.

Sinclair also marked his return with a four-for as West Indies overcame a mini collapse to seal a nervy win

Deivarayan Muthu09-Jun-2023
Alick Athanaze announced himself with the joint-fastest half-century on ODI debut and Kevin Sinclair marked his return with a four-wicket haul as West Indies swept UAE 3-0 in Sharjah. Athanaze, who idolises Brian Lara, unleashed some audacious pulls that would’ve done Lara proud, while Sinclair found sharp grip and turn to trigger an UAE collapse of 8 for 42. Though West Indies themselves suffered a mini-collapse later in the evening, they overhauled their target of 185 with four wickets and nearly 15 overs to spare.Both Athanaze and Sinclair are not part of West Indies’ squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, but they provided a peek into West Indies’ future. When Athanze zoomed to a 26-ball half-century, Carlos Brathwaite, who was on TV commentary at the time, even called 24-year-old Athanaze the “future of West Indies cricket”. Athanaze had been earmarked for the big time ever since he topped the run charts in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.On Friday, Athanaze got cracking immediately, smoking left-arm fingerspinner Aayan Afzal Khan for a brace of sixes. He then took seamer Junaid Siddique for a triptych of fours, racing to 30 off 11 balls. He then equalled Krunal Pandya’s record for the joint-fastest fifty on ODI debut with a drilled four off Rohan Mustafa. Athanaze looked good for a century on debut, but Aayan cut his innings short on 65 off 45 balls.Aayan and wristspinner Karthik Meiyappan, whose stock ball is the wrong’un, then made West Indies’ middle order toil for the win. In the absence of regular captain Shai Hope and vice-captain Brandon King, who were rested among a number of changes, West Indies went 81 balls without a boundary. Stand-in captain Roston Chase, however, closed out the chase along with Keemo Paul without any further drama.Alick Athanaze celebrates his half-century•AFP/Getty Images

As for UAE, they will be buoyed by the performances of their spinners. Aayan fronted up to bowl with the new ball and varied his angles and pace well with the old one. Karthik, who had leaked 55 runs in 4.2 overs in the series opener, bounced back so strongly that he was on the verge of a hat-trick at one point. Reifer averted the hat-trick, but Karthik continued to pose a threat with his wrong’un.But it was Sinclair who was the best spinner on the day. He had started his career as a popgun firing darts but has gained more control over his offbreak in recent years. UAE’s top-scorer and vice-captain Vriitya Aravind (70) was done in by that offbreak, as were Aayan and Rameez Shahzad. Sinclair dovetailed beautifully with legspinner Yannic Cariah who returned 2 for 34. Chase didn’t get a wicket, but was the most economical bowler for West Indies, conceding only 3.87 an over.The start had been more promising for UAE after they opted to take the first strike. Aravind and captain Muhammad Waseem forged a 96-run partnership for the second wicket off just 55 balls. Both batters regularly hit over the top, messing with the lengths and lines of West Indies’ seamers.It was Reifer who snapped the stand when he went around the wicket and hit the top of Waseem’s off stump in the 12th over. Aravind went on to bring up a 42-ball fifty, but Sinclair kept striking as UAE’s innings spiralled out of control. Sinclair’s celebratory somersaults were as eye-catching as his offbreaks and sliders.From 142 for 2, UAE eventually folded for 184, leaving almost 14 overs unused in their innings. There would be no way back for them, despite good spells from Aayan and Karthik.

Rishabh Pant is set to play in front of his home crowd for the first time since his return to action

Abhimanyu Bose19-Apr-20241:49

Kuldeep vs Klaasen – A match-up to savour?

Match details

Delhi Capitals (P7 W3 L4 6th) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (P6 W4 L2 4th)
New Delhi, 7.30pm IST (2pm GMT)

Big picture – Delhi Capitals’ homecoming

After setting up base in Visakhapatnam for the first half of the season, Delhi Capitals are back in the national capital for their first game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium this season. Capitals played two games in Vizag this year, winning one and losing the other.For Capitals captain Rishabh Pant, it will be his first appearance in front of the Delhi home crowd after his return to competitive cricket since his horror car crash in December 2022. Pant, after a slow start to the season, has found his rhythm, scoring 210 from seven games with two fifties. His strike rate of 156.72 is also his best in an IPL season since 2019. He has been excellent behind the stumps as well, and was named Player of the Match in Capitals’ last game primarily for his wicketkeeping.Related

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But Capitals’ homecoming could easily end up not being a happy one as they go up against a rampaging Sunrisers Hyderabad side that has not once, but twice broken the record for the highest total in the history of the IPL.How Khaleel Ahmed and Ishant Sharma go in the powerplay against Sunrisers’ explosive left-handed opening duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma could be the deciding factor in how the match shapes up.

Form guide

DC WWLLW (Most recent match first)
SRH WWWLW

Team news and Impact Player strategy

Delhi Capitals
Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting was optimistic about opener David Warner returning from a finger injury. Ponting said Warner was “85-90%” fit on the day of their last match in Ahmedabad, but a final call on his availability for Saturday will be taken after he trains on the eve of the match against Sunrisers. If Warner returns, he could slot in directly for Sumit Kumar, as Capitals played their last match with just three overseas players. But one of Shai Hope or Jake Fraser-McGurk could also make way, if they don’t want to mess with their batting order too much.Probable XII: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 David Warner, 3 Jake Fraser-McGurk/Shai Hope, 4 , 5 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Sumit Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Mukesh Kumar, 12 .Pat Cummins has a terrific record against left-hand batters, so watch out, David Warner and Rishabh Pant•BCCI

Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers have a fully fit squad and will likely field the same side they did in their last match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. While Travis Head has been the player subbed out when they have batted first and subbed in while chasing, they will likely start with, or bring in, Mayank Markande depending on the toss. However, if they are batting first and are facing a collapse, Rahul Tripathi is an option as well.Probable XII: 1 , 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 5 Abdul Samad, 6 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 7 Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 T Natarajan, 12 .

In the spotlight – Kuldeep Yadav and Heinrich Klaasen

With Sunrisers boasting of two powerful spin-hitters in Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen, Kuldeep Yadav with his left-arm wristspin could be key for Capitals. An injury earlier in the season meant he has only played four games so far in IPL 2024, picking up six wickets, but he has been difficult to get away. He has achieved an economy rate of 6.06, and has only gone for more than a run a ball once, against Rajasthan Royals.With Kuldeep and Axar Patel in Capitals’ ranks, Heinrich Klaasen‘s ability to take down spin will be of great importance to Sunrisers. Among batters with more than 200 runs, only Dinesh Karthik has a better strike rate this season than Klaasen’s 199.21. He is also the most prolific six-hitter not only in this year’s IPL but in all T20s in 2024.

Pitch and conditions

It’s the first game in Delhi this season, and Ponting said the pitch looked good with more grass cover on the square than last year, and he expects it to play better than it did in 2023, when Capitals lost five of their seven home games.

Stats that matter

• Sunrisers have the two fastest scorers in the powerplay this season in Head and Abhishek, who have struck at 207 and 206 respectively in the first six overs in IPL 2024.
• Pat Cummins has a superb record against left-hand batters this season: five wickets at an average of 14.00, and an economy rate of just 6.56. He could come up against three Capitals’ left-handers on Saturday in David Warner, Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel.
• Capitals have won four of their last five matches against Sunrisers. The one defeat came at the Arun Jaitley Stadium last year.

Quotes

“I think our batsmen are going great. We don’t mind having a shootout tomorrow. If it’s a high-scoring game against Sunrisers, so be it. We know and expect that they’re gonna play the way that they played so far in the tournament, which has been, you know, going really hard at the top of the order with the bat and trying to post a big first-innings total. So we’re happy to try and match them in that. We think we’ve got as good a batting line-up if not a better batting line-up than theirs, so we’ll see how things work out tomorrow.”

Coach Langer said “it’ll be probably difficult” for Mayank to play in the playoffs

Neeraj Pandey04-May-2024Mayank Yadav, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) quick, is set to miss the remainder of IPL 2024, although there may be a small chance that he could still feature in the playoffs if LSG make it.When asked if Mayank was completely out of the tournament, head coach Justin Langer said: “No, we’ll be praying that he can play, hopefully, in the playoffs, but I’m a realist as well. It’ll be probably difficult for him to get up for the back-end of the tournament.”He’s had a scan. He’s got a small tear in a similar area to where his last one was. So it’s very unfortunate. We saw the impact he had when he came back into the game. But we can all sleep.”There will always be a lot of discussion about fast bowlers, and I know he spoke to [Jasprit] Bumrah after the game and he reassured him that if he’s going to be a fast bowler, part of his journey as a young fast bowler, he’s going to get injuries.”So in my experience, every young fast bowler, probably until they get to 25 or 26, is going to experience different injuries. And it’s the most unfortunate. He’s got huge potential. But his rehabilitation was excellent. He went into the game [against MI], had a couple of bowls before the game. He was completely pain free. So it’s very sad for him and it’s disappointing for LSG as well that he might [not] play the rest of the tournament.”Related

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Mayank, 21, set the tournament alight when he made his debut for LSG on March 30. He was blowing teams away with pace. Generating speeds of 155kph – and consistently at that – he became the first man in IPL history to win the Player-of-the-Match award in his first two matches. But then, after combined figures of 6 for 41 against Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he hit a setback. Mayank bowled only one over in his third game of the season, and sat out the next five that followed as a result of pain in his abdomen.Mayank made his comeback earlier this week, in the win against Mumbai Indians, but had to leave prematurely again. “Looks like he is sore in the same spot,” Langer said at the time.Later, at the post-match presentation, KL Rahul, the LSG captain, said, “He was out in the last game because of a slight pain in his side, not a side strain, but slight pain is there. After the first ball [of his fourth over vs MI], he said the same thing: ‘ [it’s hurting a bit]’. So I said [he] might as well go out and not risk the next five balls. He is still young and precious to us, so we need to look after him.”Rahul had been keen to get Mayank back in the playing XI as quickly as possible. At the toss for the MI game, he said, “[Mayank] has bowled really well in the couple of games that he has played and has a huge impact for us. As a captain, I am always tempted to bring him in the team as quickly as possible,” Rahul said. “So I have been pushing the physios and the medical team to get him ready as quickly as possible. Even if he is about 95[% fit], I keep pushing them to give him the confidence to play the game. But obviously, they know better than I do. I will make emotional decisions, and so will Mayank.”That raised questions about whether Mayank was fielded before he was ready, but that day Langer said, “His rehab has been perfect, he bowled pain-free in the last week and looked in great condition.”Against MI, Mayank had bowled his first three overs – cranking up his pace as he went – for 31 runs before he was given the 19th over. His first ball crashed into Mohammad Nabi’s stumps but Mayank then went off the field, and his over was completed by Naveen-ul-Haq. Mayank did not look in visible discomfort when he went off and was later subbed out as the Impact Player for Arshin Kulkarni.Mayank had started his day in dramatic fashion when he came on after the powerplay and his first delivery, at 144.1kph, struck Nehal Wadhera in the helmet. He also went past the 150kph mark later in the over but largely bowled in the 140-147kph range and pitched most of his deliveries in the short or short-of-good-length area.LSG are currently placed third on the table with six wins from 10 games and will play their next one at home against KKR on Sunday before hitting the road for three away games – against SRH, DC and MI – which will end their league stage on May 17.

“It’s a complex situation with what’s going on but the biggest positive can be that group of women being talked about,” the England captain said

Valkerie Baynes11-Jan-2025Heather Knight has urged the cricket community to lend its voice to the Afghanistan women’s team amid concerns that the group had been largely “forgotten” until a row broke out last week over the England men’s team playing Afghanistan at the Champions Trophy.England are due to play Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26 in their second match of the tournament and the ECB has faced calls from UK politicians to consider boycotting the match. UK prime minister Keir Starmer and ECB chief executive Richard Gould have called upon the ICC to show leadership on the issue.Women’s cricket in Afghanistan has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Further restrictions have included banning the sound of women’s voices from being heard in public.Related

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Some 22 women contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board before the Taliban took control fled to Australia and are now based in Melbourne and Canberra. A number of them will play for an Afghanistan Women’s XI against a Cricket Without Borders XI in a T20 match at Melbourne’s Junction Oval on January 30, the same day England and Australia begin their Women’s Ashes day-night Test at the MCG.Knight, England Women’s captain, plans to meet a number of exiled players, who are now based in Melbourne, when they attend the second Ashes ODI at Junction Oval on Tuesday.”I think it’s a really good thing that people are talking about it and it’s been in the news again because honestly, I think it’s been forgotten a lot which is a really bad thing,” Knight said. “Obviously, it’s a really complex situation with what’s going on but I think the biggest positive can be that group of women being talked about.”They’re playing a game at Junction the first day of our Test match so I’d love to see that broadcast far and wide. Let’s get that voice out there that those women are playing cricket, which is a really cool thing. I think that could be a really positive message from a pretty heartbreaking situation going on in their home country.”