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Axar avoided it while making 74 crucial runs for India; Jadeja benefited from Australia’s overuse of it to finish with a match haul of ten wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Feb-20233:43

Chappell on the sweep shots: Australia panicked and did something not natural

Australia’s collapse – precipitated by an overuse of the sweep shot – and India’s subsequent romp to victory in the Delhi Test has raised a lot of questions about shot selection on spin-friendly pitches.Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, India’s two left-arm spin-bowling allrounders, said the sweep was the wrong option on pitches with low bounce and that the better strategy was to play with a straight bat in front of the pad as often as possible.Both men used that philosophy to help India get to within one run of Australia’s first-innings of 263 on the second day’s play. Jadeja scored 26, Axar top-scored with 74, and then when it looked like India were on the back foot at the start of the third day, Jadeja ran through the Australian batting order to finish with career-best bowling figures of 7 for 42.”Sweep and reverse sweep are difficult here, so I didn’t try them (laughs),” Axar – who hit nine fours and three sixes in his innings – told Jadeja in a chat for the BCCI website. “Instead I bring the bat in front of the pad and play the ball on its merit.””The last time I batted with you [Jadeja], you had told me that they were trying to aim at my pads, so I was protecting it. My thought was to hit what’s in the slot and respect the good deliveries. That is what I do. This time there was a left-arm spinner [Matthew Kuhnemann] too. ” Jadeja interjected at that point with a good-natured, “and you robbed him for runs.” Axar just laughed and continued. “No I didn’t rob him, but with a left-arm spinner operating instead of an offspinner, you get to play at a delivery turning into you.”Jadeja’s innings of 26 might not look like much but in partnership with Virat Kohli, who scored 44, they produced some of the best batting of the Test match and it was all based on being prepared for the grubber.Only Anil Kumble is in front of Ravindra Jadeja for most POTM awards in India•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“On this pitch, the mindset [with the bat] was that a good ball can come anytime,” Jadeja said. “However the idea was to believe in the defense and play with the bat in front of the pad. Me and Virat were talking about playing straight as much as possible with less bounce on offer.”Then when he had the ball in hand, and saw Australia trying to sweep everything away, he knew all he had to do was bowl straight at the stumps.”In India, if the wickets are like this, then it feels good that a spinner’s role and responsibility increases. The way they were batting, they preferred the sweep and reverse sweep, so I wanted to bowl stump to stump. That would mean if they missed and the ball stayed low then it would hit the stumps.”Related

• Points to ponder – what Australia need to do to revive a flagging campaign

• It's all in the geometry – how Shami and Siraj put the skids under Australia

• India get the better of Australia, one flick at a time

• Cummins on collapse: Australia batters 'overplayed' their shots

• Stats – Jadeja topples records galore

Jadeja’s seven wickets included five bowleds. Australia collapsed from 65 for 1 to 113 all out. And India cruised to a six-wicket victory before tea on day three.Jadeja, who has returned to the international fold for the first series since his knee injury last August that had needed surgical intervention, said that all three spinners in the XI have been contributing, be it big or small.”I missed a lot of cricket…the World Cup, and many other series, but once I’m back, I want to continue this way in the future, and make team India win with you [Axar] and Ashwin. This is a team game and everyone has contributed in different ways. If this happens, India’s victory march will only continue.”India play the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which they have now retained having gone 2-0 ahead, on March 1. They are also in pole position for a spot in the World Test Championship final later in June.

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.

“He’s been a great asset to the side and adds another variation as well,” Southee says of Kyle Jamieson

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2020At the end of a 15-wicket day in Hamilton, New Zealand are all but sure of taking a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. Tim Southee started the carnage, sending back John Campbell on his way to returns of 4 for 35 in the first West Indies innings, as the visitors went from 53 for no loss to 138 all out, before following on and ending the third day on 196 for 6, still 185 behind. And for Southee, the difference was that New Zealand “knew where we had to be for longer periods of time”.Campbell and Kraigg Brathwaite had taken West Indies to a safe 49 for no loss in reply to New Zealand’s 519 for 7 declared when play ended on the second day, but more swing with the older ball and the westerly breeze at Seddon Park, Southee said, had an effect.

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“It was nice, this is one of the few grounds that favours the outswing. But we assessed through it last night and we weren’t far off,” he said in a press interaction. “We knew where we had to be for longer periods of time, and managed to get a couple early and get the ball rolling.”While Southee has so far picked up five wickets, Neil Wagner (four) and Kyle Jamieson (three) have been among the wickets too, and the towering Jamieson, who also scored an unbeaten 51 earlier, came in for special praise from Southee.”He’s been a great addition at the back end of last summer, and he’s shown again here with both bat and ball,” Southee said of Jamieson, who made his Test debut against India last summer as a replacement for Lockie Ferguson, and has played in all three of New Zealand’s Tests since. “So he’s been a great asset to the side and adds another variation as well. Obviously you’ve got myself and Trent [Boult], left- and right-arm to swing it. Wags [Wagner] does his thing and then you’ve got a tall guy in him [Jamieson], who hits some challenging areas.”The New Zealand players gather around Tim Southee after his early strikes•Getty Images

Southee is currently on 289 Test wickets, and though he is focused on winning the Test, and the series, against West Indies, he said he was aware of the 300-wicket milestone.”[You] probably don’t chase [such milestones],” he said. “It’s something that when you play for long enough, those things happen. But yeah, it’ll be something special if I can get there.”At the moment, it’s about coming back tomorrow and taking the remaining wickets. It’s just nice to contribute… and it’ll be a lot of hard work between now and then.”In what has been a dominant performance by Kane Williamson’s team, a few fielding lapses have hrt them. Both unbeaten batsmen, Jermaine Blackwood and Alzarri Joseph, were dropped one each, and Jason Holder had been reprieved twice, in two balls.”We aren’t disappointed, we would have taken this position going into this morning,” he said. “Anytime you have a side follow on, you know you’ve obviously played pretty well at some stage. So although we weren’t quite at our best in the last hour, you’ve got to give a little bit of credit to Joseph and Blackwood – the way they took an attacking approach to it and had a little bit of luck along the way.”But they played positive cricket and we were a little bit off in that last session as well. So [we need to] restart and have another go tomorrow.”

Jofra Archer, and England, held their nerve in the World Cup’s first Super Over finish to claim the trophy for the first time

The Report by Alan Gardner14-Jul-2019
Super over
As it happenedIt was never going to be easy, was it? Two teams without a World Cup title between them in 44 years of the men’s competition. After 100 overs, the last couple of which contained almost as much drama as a few previous finals in their entirety, nothing could separate England and New Zealand. For the first time in World Cup history, a Super Over was required to determine the winner.Asked to score 16 from six balls, Jimmy Neesham coolly struck Jofra Archer’s second legitimate delivery way back into the Mound Stand, making the equation seven off four. A brace of twos followed, before Archer’s bumper took Neesham off strike. Martin Guptill, at the end of a tournament of personal trial, needing to hit two more otherwise England would take the trophy on boundaries scored. Archer found a yorker, Guptill found deep midwicket and Jason Roy’s throw found Guptill short; Jos Buttler completed the run-out at full stretch to end all those years of hurt and an afternoon of exquisite agony.

What the playing conditions say

– In the event of a Super Over tie, the team that hit more boundaries (combined from the main match and the Super Over) shall be the winner

– If the number of boundaries hit by both teams is equal, the team whose batsmen scored more boundaries during its innings in the main match (ignoring the Super Over) shall be the winner

– If still equal, a count-back from the final ball of the Super Over will be conducted. The team with the higher scoring delivery shall be the winner. If a team loses two wickets during its over, then any unbowled deliveries will be counted as dot balls

England had only got close in their chase thanks to Buttler and Ben Stokes, whose 110-run stand lifted the home nation from peril at 86 for 4. The pair walked out again to scramble 15 from an over of Trent Boult: pressure back on New Zealand. They responded by sending out Neesham, a man who not so long ago was contemplating quitting the game, to face Archer, in his 14th ODI. Only one could finish a hero.That said, there were heroes aplenty on both sides. For the second game in succession, New Zealand put up a score in the region of 240 and defended it with every fibre of their Blackcapped beings. Just when they appeared to have the game won, a man born in Christchurch ripped it from their hands, in a manner at once extraordinary and unbelievable. Stokes finished unbeaten on 84, though like Guptil he too could not manage a two from the final ball of England’s innings to win the game in regulation time.New Zealand had gone into the final over believing that the trophy was in their grasp. England needed 15, Stokes carrying a country’s hopes – not to mention the almost unbearable weight of history – on his shoulders. The first two balls bowled by Boult were dots, before Stokes mowed the third for six into the crowd at midwicket. Then came an intervention that was either cruel or miraculous, depending on your perspective. Stokes, diving for his ground as he attempted to complete a second run, diverted Guptill’s throw off his bat – inadvertantly – past wicketkeeper Tom Latham and away to the rope for four more.Jos Buttler runs out Martin Guptill to crown England champions•Getty Images

Stokes immediately held up his hands in apology, but with no sign that he had changed the course of his run to intercept the throw, it went down as a second consecutive six. That left England needing three from two, though Boult kept his cool to twice run out the non-striker coming back for a second and send the game into a Super Over.The previous over, something almost as extraordinary had occurred: having caught Stokes on the boundary at wide long-on, Boult stepped on the rope before he could relay the ball back in to Guptill. Instead of Stokes departing for 63, with England needing 22 off eight and Nos. 9 and 10 at the crease, he was granted another shot at redemption. Instead of Kolkata Part II, this was to become his finest hour, Stokes ultimately crowned man of the match after leading England to victory in a World Cup final at the fourth time of asking.There is a new name on the cup, then, but they didn’t half keep the engravers waiting. England had built towards this competition for four years, planned for it, yearned for it – and when the moment came, the outburst was rapturous. Staid and stuffy Lord’s had become a cauldron of emotion long before that last passage of play.New Zealand deserved better than to end up the fall guys again. Their captain, Kane Williamson, orchestrated his men in the field to squeeze England’s chase until it became unbearable. First Buttler fell with 46 required from the last 31 balls, Lockie Ferguson delivering what seemed to be the killer blow. Stokes staggered on, even as the tail became expendable. Ultimately, the fact England had scored 24 boundaries in their innings, compared to New Zealand’s 16, was the decisive factor.That one of England’s fours was effectively an overthrow may always rankle, as well as a couple of the umpiring decisions that went the other way. Williamson, who made only 30 but captained with nerves of steel and was named man of the tournament, called the runs via Stokes’ deflection “a shame” but suggested that for New Zealand, beaten finalists for the second World Cup running, it was just not meant to be.The very first delivery of England’s chase gave an indication of how nerve-shredding a contest this would become. Boult produced a curving inswinger to hit Jason Roy squarely on the front pad and 4.8m primarily rugby-loving people went up in unison. Marais Erasmus shook his head and although New Zealand chose to review, it was Roy who benefited from the marginal nature of umpire’s call.Eoin Morgan holds the World Cup aloft•Getty Images

The opening exchanges were a blur of black and blue, with bruises on both sides, when Matt Henry finally located Roy’s outside edge. England’s opening partnership has been totemic and Roy had swaggered into this final, so the importance of his dismissal was twofold in that it both dented English confidence and deprived the chase of a man who might quickly reduce the odds in their favour.With Henry bowling a beautiful spell and Joe Root unable to find his rhythm, New Zealand clawed their way into the ascendency. The tension was enervating, Lord’s subdued. Colin de Grandhomme dropped Bairstow off his own bowling, a reaction chance to his midriff, as New Zealand strung together three maidens in a row. Root then cracked: hit on the pads and then beaten when he gave de Grandhomme the charge, he next threw his bat at a wide outswinger to be caught behind.In stultifying conditions, New Zealand applied a choke hold. Bairstow dragged on against the pace of Ferguson, who then brilliantly caught Eoin Morgan running in from deep point. Meanwhile de Grandhomme, playing the role of a latter-day Madan Lal, bowled ten overs off the reel.Nothing about this contest was straightforward, including the decision at the toss, which had been delayed by 15 minutes due to early morning rain. Williamson chose to bat, in keeping with the dominant trend at this tournament – runs on the board matter. While England bowled well enough, a Powerplay score of 33 for 1 left the teams circling each other warily; New Zealand happy to have only lost Guptill, England eager to send back Williamson, too, as quickly as possible.With Henry Nicholls providing the first half-century by a New Zealand opener since the opening game, they were able to establish a foothold. As in the group match between these two, Nicholls was given out lbw on zero by a Chris Woakes delivery that was going over the stumps; this time, on the biggest stage, he had the wherewithal to use New Zealand’s review.England thought they might have removed Guptill inside the first couple of overs, too, only for Erasmus to correctly adjudge that the ball from Archer had flicked the batsman’s trousers rather than outside edge. Guptill’s response was to try and hit a way out of his rut, ramping Archer for six and smashing another boundary back down the ground. But Woakes brought one back inside an expansive drive to hit the back leg, and Guptill’s wasted review was to have consequences later on.Nicholls and Williamson played sensibly to put on 74 but, whether it was the pitch or the occasion, the innings nevertheless began to enter a gentle tailspin from the moment Williamson was removed by Liam Plunkett – DRS again required to overturn the on-field call. Nicholls chopped on against another Plunkett cross-seamer four overs later, and then New Zealand were left to curse their luck when Ross Taylor was given out lbw, despite ball-tracking showing the ball going over the top of leg stump. It would not end up being the only talking point of the day.

Trinbago Knight Riders’ firm grip on home field advantage appeared to loosen after they lost for the second night in a row

The Report by Peter Della Penna12-Aug-2018Getty Images

Having lost just once at Queen’s Park Oval during their CPL championship run in 2017, Trinbago Knight Riders’ firm grip on home-field advantage appears to have loosened after they lost for the second night in a row at their home ground. St Kitts & Nevis Patriots rode on a half-century from Devon Thomas and a fiery cameo from Carlos Brathwaite to race to a 200-plus total that was more than sufficient to canter to a 42-run win on Saturday night.Ali Khan’s redemptionKnight Riders fast bowler Ali Khan took 3 for 24 a night earlier against Jamaica Tallawahs, and each wicket was followed by an enthusiastic dance routine with his captain Dwayne Bravo. But by the end of the night, Ali was much better remembered for dropping Andre Russell’s first ball to open the door for a whirlwind 40-ball century in a record Tallawahs chase.Ali set that right by taking three wickets on Saturday, although his celebrations were quite toned down, perhaps as a result of the Russell reprieve still nagging at the back of his mind. Evin Lewis mistimed a pull to short midwicket on the second ball of the match, after Dwayne Bravo had sent the Patriots in. Three balls later, the Knight Riders captain pulled off a phenomenal one-handed catch, diving to his left at slip, to leave the Patriots two down before the end of the first over. Ali came back at the death to dismiss Brathwaite, and also completed a calm catch of Chris Gayle running in from long-on, shaking off any lingering effects of his costly drop a night earlier.No doubting ThomasPatriots wicketkeeper Thomas served as the backbone of his side’s innings, with a 28-ball half-century. Four of his nine fours, as well as his lone six, were smacked off Dwayne Bravo, who suffered a thrashing for the second night in a row. Thomas was in command until he chopped Sunil Narine onto his stumps in the 14th over, but there was hardly any respite for Dwayne Bravo and the rest of the Knight Riders attack thereafter.Brathwaite’s blitzThe West Indies T20I captain may have reimagined Ben Stokes running in when Dwayne Bravo had the ball in hand for the 18th over of the innings, with the score on 147 for 6. Coming on strike on the third ball, after Ben Cutting had struck a six and taken a single off the first two balls, Brathwaite smoked three successive sixes to take Dwayne Bravo apart for 25 runs in the over. After receiving a punishment to the tune of 0 for 59 in four overs on Friday, Dwayne Bravo leaked boundaries once more against the Patriots, ending with 1 for 52 in three overs. His lone bright spot was pinning Anton Devcich lbw with a yorker.Brathwaite and Cutting continued their assault on Kevon Cooper, with the former hitting two more sixes in the 19th over, as the pair tacked on 60 runs off just 23 balls for the seventh wicket. Brathwaite eventually fell on the penultimate ball of the innings, skying a slower ball from Ali to extra cover, but by that stage, Patriots had plenty to defend.Super Sandy’s wicket maidenThe Knight Riders chase got off to an ominous start as Narine skied a catch to Devcich at point off Sheldon Cottrell three balls into their reply. But Nepal legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane, coming into the game on the back of a brilliant spell of 2 for 12 in four overs two nights earlier, struck the bigger blow. Arriving in the fourth over with Colin Munro and Chris Lynn in a good rhythm, Lamichhane beat Lynn with a googly to clean-bowl the Australian, before troubling Brendon McCullum off the final two balls of the over to complete a scoreless frame. McCullum fell to Cutting three balls later and the Knight Riders’ chase never got back on track.Lamichhane conceded just three runs in his second over, too, and by the halfway stage of the chase, Knight Riders were 71 for 5 as Munro pulverized a pull off Brathwaite straight to Lewis at deep backward square. Denesh Ramdin then produced a leading edge off Jeremiah Louis to Gayle at cover.Darren Bravo provided mild resistance with 41 off 38, before he was caught on the boundary off Louis to make it 115 for 7 in the 16th over. Cooper made cosmetic improvements to the scorecard with a few lusty blows off Cottrell and Lamichhane in the final two overs, well after the result was more or less decided, ending with 42 not out off 22 balls.

The apex court ruled that the domestic T20 tournament could proceed as scheduled with players registered under the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association alone

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-2018The Tamil Nadu Premier League will progress as scheduled, but without any players from outside the state, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, the day the domestic T20 league will be starting.The has reported that a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Mishra said the tournament could proceed as per the schedule originally drawn up, but players registered to associations other than the TNCA could take part, as per the rules laid down the CoA. While Ranjit Kumar, the advocate for TNCA, argued that players had obtained NoCs from their respective state associations, Parag Tripathi, the CoA’s advocate, held that outstation players weren’t allowed as per the BCCI’s constitution.The TNPL organisers had mooted allowing each of the franchises to have up to two outstation players, which would have made for a total of 16 outstation players at most. The BCCI had held an SGM – which was later ruled invalid by the CoA – in which the members proposed allowing outstation players to take part in domestic T20 leagues with certain restrictions (capped players and those who had taken part in the previous edition of the IPL wouldn’t be allowed, and each player could only take part in two leagues).However, in an advisory sent to all state associations, the CoA nixed the idea. The TNCA then challenged that order, which is how the matter went before the Supreme Court.

A third successive evening game in the Champions League Twenty20 was washed out today, in Durban

The Report by Abhishek Purohit19-Oct-2012
ScorecardRain seems to be following the IPL sides wherever they go. A third successive evening game in the Champions League Twenty20 was washed out today, in Durban. While some play had been possible in the previous no-results, even the toss could not take place at Kingsmead as a persistent, but not heavy, drizzle set in. It was Delhi Daredevils’ turn to be satisfied with two points, after Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians on the previous two evenings.While the rain had knocked Knight Riders out, and left Mumbai Indians hoping for a Yorkshire win against Lions, it did not impact Daredevils’ chances as much. They were still placed second on the points table, behind Titans, and ahead on net run-rate of Auckland Aces, who also pocketed two points.

Maybe it is Warwickshire, not Lancashire, who are the team most likely to foil Durham’s bid to reclaim the County Championship title

Jon Culley at Aigburth01-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Neil Carter had a day to remember with a career-best 6 for 30 against Lancashire•PA Photos

Maybe it is Warwickshire, not Lancashire, who are the team most likely to foil Durham’s bid to reclaim the County Championship title. An argument along those lines could probably be built purely on the basis of three straight wins coming into this match but there are other factors to provide encouragement.Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who flew into Birmingham on Sunday, will give some substance to their batting on the run-in and Neil Carter, who took 51 Championship wickets last season, is at last back in the four-day side and, on this evidence, in fine fettle.Carter, who missed the early part of the season because of a pelvic injury, returned to play Twenty20 matches at the beginning of June and has four 40-over matches under his belt but this was his first taste of first-class cricket in 11 months. As Lancashire were bowled out for 189, it could hardly have gone better for the 36-year-old from Cape Town.Exploiting humid, overcast conditions that encouraged the ball to swing, Carter began with a slightly fortunate wicket with a delivery that was no better than a loosener but ended with a career-best 6 for 30 from 8.5 overs.”It has been frustrating to be out for a long period at this stage of my career and while I had no problems bowling four overs in T20 matches I did not know until I had a second eleven game how I would be bowling longer spells,” he said. “But I pulled up pretty well after that and it is great to be back in the side now.”I wasn’t really in rhythm today. It was a difficult wicket to bowl on because the ground was a bit soft and it was hard to get purchase when you land your front foot. But the ball swung and if that’s what happens on a non-rhythm day I can’t wait for when I am in rhythm.”The ‘lucky’ wicket was Stephen Moore, who had for the most part batted impressively to reach 76 in what had been a struggle for the home side against a moving ball.He had been dropped on 43, Rikki Clarke shelling what should have been a routine take at second slip off Keith Barker, but was making sure-footed progress until he was dismissed, hitting the unfortunate Barker for three fours off the reel to raise his boundary count to 14 after completing his 50 from 66 balls.But as Carter’s first delivery began to drift harmlessly away to leg, Moore was tempted into an attempted glance and paid the price, wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose diving to his left to take the catch.The wicket sparked a Lancashire collapse, all of it brought about by Carter, as they collapsed from 131 for 4. The Moore wicket put Carter on what would have been among the more unusual hat-tricks — it had been his dismissal of Matt Coles that had completed a win over Kent in his last game of 2010.He did not pull it off, but in the same over swooped in his follow-through to take a return catch as Gareth Cross fell without scoring, giving Carter two wickets from his first four balls. Then Will Porterfield held a catch at gully when Glen Chapple drove at an away swinger and Carter was on a hat-trick again after bringing one back to have Saj Mahmood leg before, offering no stroke.Smith survived this hat-trick ball, at the start of his next over, but it was not long before Kyle Hogg nicked another ball slanted across him and Porterfield reacted superbly to take his second catch, at third slip. Smith became victim number six when he skied one to mid-off.Earlier, as Boyd Rankin struggled to get his lines right, conceding 20 runs off the bat in his first two overs, as well as four byes, Lancashire had made a brisk start. But ultimately they came up short against the swinging ball, Paul Horton and Karl Brown both edging Chris Woakes to second slip, Mark Chilton falling to an ankle-height catch at first slip off the same bowler, before Barker had Steven Croft leg before.There was some consolation for Lancashire when Chapple had Varun Chopra, driving, caught at third slip before rain brought an early end to a day, already interrupted by stoppages, that was limited to 58 overs.

This time there was no post-tea demolition job as Sri Lanka kept themselves alive in the series by surviving the final afternoon at Lord’s on 127 for 3

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan07-Jun-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIan Bell struck a brisk fifty but England weren’t aggressive enough on the final day•Getty Images

This time there was no post-tea demolition job as Sri Lanka kept themselves alive in the series by surviving the final afternoon at Lord’s fairly comfortably by reaching 127 for 3. Andrew Strauss’s declaration left a notional target of 343 in 58 overs after Alastair Cook hit his 18th Test hundred, but England could have been more aggressive and they never really looked like hustling through Sri Lanka again.The visitors have shown twice in this series – the second innings in Cardiff and the first innings here – that the batting is prone to collapse. Adding to that on the final day Tillakaratne Dilshan was only prepared to bat in an emergency, having sustained a hairline fracture to his thumb, which meant they had four fit frontline batsman, but Strauss opted to bat Sri Lanka out of the contest and hope for another last-session demise.However, to Sri Lanka’s credit they kept their composure although wickets went down with enough frequency to keep a semblance of interest. Thilan Samaraweera, who was given lbw to Graeme Swann on 4 but successfully used the DRS, secured safety alongside Prasanna Jayawardene when Strauss called the game off with a handshake at the start of the final hour despite Sri Lanka’s weak batting to follow.When Kumar Sangakkara, opening in place of Dilshan, drove loosely to point in Chris Tremlett’s third over England sensed a chance. They could have had a second major scalp before tea when when Mahela Jayawardene went for a single to cover and would have been out with a direct hit from Eoin Morgan. Instead, Jayawardene and Tharanga Paranavitana put together an 18-over stand which took the sting out of England.Stuart Broad provided a lift when Jayawardene edged to fourth slip where Kevin Pietersen held a fine catch, but England didn’t strike in clusters. Jonathan Trott proved a surprise with the ball when he hooped one back into Paranavitana which struck pad first and at 96 for 3 with 25 overs left there was time for a final push.Steven Finn produced a lively spell – and Samaraweera edged between third slip and gully as Strauss didn’t pack the cordon – but when Swann and Pietersen began racing through a few overs it was clear the end would come as early as possible.Throughout the day England seemed to lack a little intensity. Their second innings included plenty of positive signs, not least Pietersen’s 72 and Ian Bell’s brisk 57, yet it wasn’t quite a performance with the verve of a team that aspires to be the best in the world. The first hour was fine as Pietersen led the way but scoring slowed towards the interval and Cook added 26 in the two hours. Overall they made 111 runs from 26 overs in the morning, but it didn’t quite feel ruthless enough.Pietersen dominated the scoring during the morning by reaching his fifty from 85 balls. Although he was still battling his technique at times, far more shots were coming off the middle particularly when he drove two boundaries in an over off both Chanaka Welegedara and Suranga Lakmal.

Smart Stats

• The nine fifty-plus scores in the match is a record for England in Tests. It equals the record in the Test between England and Australia in Manchester in 1934

• England’s 335 is their ninth score 300-plus score in the team second innings in Tests since 1990. None of them have come in the fourth innings

• Alastair Cook’s century made it the sixth instance of him scoring a century and a half-century in the same match. The previous occasion came in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane in 2010

• Ian Bell’s strike rate of 132.55 is the sixth-highest for a fifty-plus score by an England batsman in Tests. Andrew Flintoff’s strike rate of 170.45 in his innings of 75 off 44 balls against New Zealand in 2002 is the highest

• The 127-run stand between Cook and Kevin Pietersen is the fourth-highest for the third wicket for England against Sri Lanka in Tests

Surprisingly, it was half an hour into the day before Rangana Herath was introduced by which time Pietersen had bedded in. However, his scoring rate had slowed when Herath went over the wicket and, after padding one delivery away, watched a ball spin past his outside edge and hit off stump. This time, though, it was just a cracking delivery.Cook didn’t do anything to move out of his comfort zone and towards the latter part of the session England’s run-rate actually dropped when logic suggested it should have been going the other way. Dilhara Fernando bowled a decent spell from the Pavilion End, beating Cook a few times from round the wicket, but both he and Herath – who sent down a 10-over spell for 21 runs – were allowed to bowl without any undue pressure being applied.In that respect Pietersen’s departure wasn’t a bad thing for England. Bell played the perfect innings for the situation although should have been run out on 27 when Billy Doctrove didn’t ask the third umpire. He already had three boundaries in one Fernando over before lunch and barely played a defensive shot after the break. Neither, though, did he resort to slogging but instead relied on timing and placement.Cook, meanwhile, went to his 18th Test century from 223 balls having missed out by four runs in the first innings and then started, uncharacteristically, to manufacture some shots. His dismissal was the first time he’d been stumped in first-class cricket and led to some rather fruitless slogging down the order.However, there was one unfortunate by-product when Matt Prior, after being run out in the search for quick runs, smashed a dressing-room window with a piece of equipment and had to apologise to the MCC members who were showered in glass. Unlike the window, Sri Lanka didn’t crack.

Tamil Nadu waited all day long but could only dislodge Vineet Saxena as Aakash Chopra propelled Rajasthan to a strong position at the end of the opening day

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera03-Jan-2011
Scorecard
Aakash Chopra knew where his off stump was and let the opposition know it, wearing them down with his technique•William West/AFP

Around one hour into the game, after he chose to bowl, the Tamil Nadu captain Dinesh Karthik exhorted his bowlers to show (patience in Tamil). They waited all day long but could only dislodge Vineet Saxena, as Aakash Chopra propelled Rajasthan to a strong position at the end of the opening day. Tamil Nadu threw everything they had at Chopra but he was immovable.It was a day of hard grind. It was a day where the batsmen had to work really hard, especially in the first two sessions, to overcome the conditions. It was damp, it was overcast and Rajasthan were asked to bat. Chopra and Saxena, however, stuck adhesively to the crease to slowly turn the tide against the visitors. The ball seamed around in the first half of the day but the duo showed exemplary patience to keep the bowlers at bay.Chopra, who missed out on a big score in the quarter-final, oozed solidity and sported a big smile as he walked off the park at sun set. It wasn’t his shot making but the way he left the ball outside off that elevated this knock. He knew where his off stump was and let the opposition know it, wearing them down with his technique. He punctuated his leaves with elegant cover drives whenever the bowlers pitched it fuller trying to make him play. He got going with a gorgeous cover drive on a bent knee against L Balaji and repeated the shot off C Ganapathy. Almost immediately, the seamers started to bowl short of a length and Chopra settled down with ease. He covered for the movement and repeatedly nudged and steered them behind the wicket.Post-lunch, the seamers, R Suthesh and S Sam, bowled a stifling line and length but Chopra relied on his technique to break free. The feet movement was precise, the head was over the ball and he played late. Soon, Karthik had to bring in his spinner Suresh Kumar and Chopra used his feet effectively to pile on the runs. Time and again, he skipped down the track for his drives and cut when the length was shortened. The manner in which Chopra brought up his fifty captured his serene approach: He went down the track and realised that he had gone too far down to a full delivery from Suresh but adjusted superbly by crouching on a bent knee and steered it to past gully to the third man boundary. And it was apt that he brought up his hundred with his favourite cover drive.Chopra didn’t have to do all the hard work alone today as he found some great support from Saxena, who hit a big hundred against Mumbai in the quarter-final. Though he wasn’t as assured as Chopra, Saxena buckled down to wear down the attack. He took 17 balls to get off the mark and was in some bother early on to the deliveries in the off-stump corridor. Balaji beat the bat a few times with his variations but Saxena soon settled down. He too left many a ball and unfurled off drives whenever the bowlers over pitched. He took more risks against the spinners: he smashed Suresh over midwicket boundary and lifted him to long-on to bring up his fifty.Saxena’s best shot, though, came against the left-arm seamer Suthesh when he unfurled a delightful, straight-driven boundary. Suresh, who saw Ganapathy fail to hold on to a swirling mis-hit when Saxena was on 47, got his man eventually when he turned one big to beat the attempted cover drive.Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Rajasthan’s captain, added to Tamil Nadu’s woes by hitting a confident 28 with four boundaries. And just when all looked lost for the visitors, he inside-edged an off drive onto his boot and retired hurt. The injury, though, didn’t look too serious and Kanitkar should return to bat tomorrow. Chopra saw through the day with the nightwatchman Vivek Yadav and left Tamil Nadu facing a night of discontent.