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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.

The 37-year old ICC Elite Panel umpire says pressure situations bring the best out of him

Press Trust of India02-Apr-2021Umpire Nitin Menon, who officiated in matches across formats in the recently-concluded India-England series, has said that pressure situations bring the best out of him, and feels form matters for umpires as much as it does for players.The 37-year-old was inducted into the ICC Elite Panel of umpires in June last year but had to wait till this February for his first major assignment. With the pandemic forcing the ICC to appoint local umpires in a bilateral series, Menon officiated in all four Tests besides three of the five T20s and all three ODIs. Menon was lauded for his consistency in his decision-making during the Test series: he had a success rate of 83.87% for on-field decisions, with 26 of 31 reviews against him struck down.”The last two months have been great,” Menon was quoted as saying by PTI. “It gives one great satisfaction when people notice and appreciate your good work. This series was always going to be a very challenging one because of the hype associated with it – a place in the World Test Championship final at stake, both teams coming back from impressive overseas wins, challenging pitches to officiate on.”As for the white-ball series, it was between the two top-ranked teams in the world. Taking all these factors into consideration, I am pleased that we did well as an umpiring team,” he said.In a normal scenario, Menon won’t get to officiate in back-to-back games over two months. So, how did he cope up with high pressure scenarios match after match? “I believe umpiring is all about mental toughness,” he said. “More the pressure better is the focus. If we can give our best performances when we are under pressure, that is the true reflection of how strong we are mentally. It’s not new for me to officiate in back-to-back matches, thanks to the amount of domestic cricket organised in India. On an average, we do eight four-day first-class games on the trot in Ranji Trophy, with travel in between from one venue to another.”Even in the IPL, we do around 14-16 games without a break, so all this experience has really helped me in this series. Like players, umpires also have form. I always feel that when in good form, I should do the maximum number of games without any break.”After two months of non-stop umpiring, Menon got only a couple of days at home before he left for Chennai ahead of the IPL. The bubble life has been tough on the players and Menon said it is equally challenging for the match officials.”It is very challenging. It is tougher on off days because we cannot go out of the hotel. This is where having a good team atmosphere becomes crucial. We are like a family in the bubble. We have to look after each other, make sure our colleagues are in the right frame of mind, help them out, meet as often as possible and spend time together.”

A chase of 186 was made to look very easy by South Africa’s Test batsmen

The Report by Firdose Moonda17-Nov-2019Tshwane Spartans got their first win of this Mzansi Super League (MSL) with only the second successful chase of the tournament so far. After the Nelson Mandela Bay Stars eased to victory chasing 109 against the Jozi Stars on Saturday, the Spartans made a heavier task look easy and hunted down a target of 186 with five balls to spare. Their win has taken them up to third place on the points table and pushed Paarl Rocks into fourth.It’s blowing in the wind While the east coast of the country has been hit by heavy rain, the west has seen strong winds with gusts of up to 50kph over this weekend and it had an effect on the fielders. Six catches were dropped in total, four by the visiting team and two which gave top-scorer James Vince lifelines.Henry Davids was on 14 when he was put down at deep square-leg, and he went on to score 30. Vince did much more damage. He was first put down on 5 when he miscued a shot off Lungi Ngidi to AB de Villiers at long-off. De Villiers had the ball in his hands but was back-pedalling and heading over the rope so he tossed the ball up, but not high enough that he could get back on the field and complete the catch.Three overs later, Vince offered a much simpler chance to by Donovan Ferreira at deep midwicket off Roelof van der Merwe but the ball slipped through the hands. Morne Morkel then dropped a return catch off Dwaine Pretorius when the batsman was on 7. He, however, only added two more to his total.The hosts did not escape the wind either. Isuru Udana had two chances put down – Theunis de Bruyn, who was dropped by Bjorn Fortuin at long-on when on 31, and de Villiers, on 8, put down by Pretorius at backward square-leg. While de Bruyn went on to make 42, de Villiers only scored 19.Faf v Morne Watching former team-mates take each other on is part of the fun of T20 franchise cricket and though today was billed as being about Faf du Plessis v de Villiers, it was actually du Plessis v Morne Morkel. The former Titans and South African team-mates were on opposite sides in Paarl and Morkel claimed major bragging rights. He had du Plessis caught at midwicket for a third-ball duck to put the Rocks in early trouble at 45 for 2.Highest opening partnership of the competition Who said Dean Elgar and Theunis de Bruyn are red-ball cricketers only? Not us! The Test duo put on the highest opening partnership of the competition so far – 104 runs in 12.2 overs, which featured a dynamic array of strokes. De Bruyn cut and pulled well while Elgar was enterprising and aggressive, hitting down the ground and timing and placing the ball well, especially in the air. Elgar was the match’s top-scorer with 88 off 60 balls, including seven fours and two sixes.Captain Klaasen The most-scrutinised leadership skills in this competition are Temba Bavuma’s and Quinton de Kock’s as the succession race for the South African national team hots up, but Heinrich Klaasen showed why he also has something to offer as he led from the front to take his side to victory. Klaasen’s cameo of 31 runs off 13 balls featured a reverse-sweep, a straight drive over Tabraiz Shamsi and back-to-back sixes at the end of the 19th over to ensure the Spartans only needed two runs to win off the last six balls.

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.

Sri Lanka will be without Upul Tharanga, who was banned for a slow over rate, and are waiting on the fitness of Chamara Kapugedera as well

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Jun-2017

Match facts

June 08, 2017
Start time 1030 local (0930 GMT)

Big picture

Truth be told, Sri Lanka have often had the knack of winding up in the “easy group” in world tournaments. In years gone by, this has meant being clubbed with perhaps England and Bangladesh. They used to skip casually through the group stages, and would generally make a strong push in the back end of a tournament as well. Between 2009 and 2014, Sri Lanka made six ICC tournament semi-finals. Between 2007 and 2014, they played in five major finals.They find themselves in what appears to be the easier of the two groups again, but unusually, they are not sauntering past their opponents. This time, they seem to be among the weaker teams, laying down like stepping stones for other sides to trod on. South Africa have already been given their 96-run win. Now come the other heavyweights in the group, India, who in demolishing Pakistan, and eviscerating their two warm-up opponents, barely seemed to be breaking a sweat.Meanwhile, India have settled on an ODI formula that teams have struggled to upset for now. They are unambitious in the opening 10 overs, venturing no more than 49 during the first Powerplay on average, since the last World Cup. Then, typically with Virat Kohli at the crease, comes a sustained middle-overs surge which yields screeds of brisk but risk-free runs, which form the backbone of the innings. Then, with Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya or MS Dhoni marshalling the death overs, the team eclipses 300 and set themselves up in an imposing position.There is quality in India’s attack too, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar gleaning swing with the new ball, and Jasprit Bumrah closing innings out. And whatever the present situation between coach Anil Kumble and captain Kohli, on-field performance does not appear to have been affected yet.Sri Lanka will have to spring a major surprise at The Oval. They need an Angelo Mathews mauling, or a Lasith Malinga charge to derail India, and shake the match from the course most expect it to take.They also must do without Chamara Kapugedara, who injured his knee at training on match eve and was ruled out of the tournament. Sri Lanka will draft in Danushka Gunathilaka, who is in England as a standby player.

Form guide

Sri Lanka LWLLL (completed matches, most recent first)
India WLWWW

In the spotlight

As evidenced in the game against South Africa, Sri Lanka have had trouble rotating the strike during the middle overs, and it appears part of the reason is the scoring rate of Dinesh Chandimal. Though he had an outstanding 2016, hitting six half-centuries in seven innings at one stage, he has otherwise been modest in the format. Among the 20 players to have faced more than 4000 balls since the start of 2010, Chandimal’s strike rate of 74.85 is the second-lowest. More than 48% of the deliveries he faces are not scored from.Few world batsmen relish playing Sri Lanka more than MS Dhoni. Two of his most memorable innings – the World Cup final knock, and the final-over blitz in the 2013 tri-series in the Caribbean – have come against them. His average of 61.35 is also, by a distance, his highest against any opponent in the Champions Trophy. Over 22% of his 9275 runs have also come against Sri Lanka alone. Even if Sri Lanka’s bowlers can be penetrative early on, on Thursday, they cannot relax until they have dismissed perhaps their greatest tormentor of recent years.

Team news

Sri Lanka will likely open with Gunathilaka. There is a chance Thisara Perera may also enter the XI to beef up the batting, though the more aggressive choice – so long as the pitch is expected to take spin – would be to choose Lakshan Sandakan. The frontline pace trio of Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal may remain together.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 2 Danushka Gunathilaka 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Asela Gunaratne, 7 Kusal Perera, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Suranga Lakmal,10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Nuwan PradeepIndia may consider bringing R Ashwin into the attack – in place of Umesh Yadav perhaps – but as the surface has a little grass on it on the eve of the match, they are more than likely to remain unchanged.India (possible) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Kedar Jadhav, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch and conditions

Signs are that the surface might be a little seam-friendly early on, but there are likely to be plenty of runs nonetheless. The weather is forecast to be cloudy but dry, with the temperature hovering around the high teens.

Stats and trivia

• In the last 17 matches between these sides, going back to 2012, India have won 14
• Though Sri Lanka often get a good start in the first Powerplay, their run rate of 5.01 between overs 11 and 40 is the slowest for any team in the tournament
• Runs against Sri Lanka comprise a greater percentage of Kohli’s overall tally than even for Dhoni. Of Kohli’s 7836 career runs, almost 24% has come against Sri Lanka.

Quotes

“They’re a force in world cricket no matter where they play, whether it’s at home or away. Especially in the last couple of years, they’ve been tremendous. It’s very hard to beat them unless we are on top of our game.”
“At the moment we are playing some good cricket, but that doesn’t mean that we play with arrogance as a team. We respect every opposition the same way, and we intend to play the same kind of cricket against everyone. That’s the only way to win a game of cricket. But there are no guarantees. In this sport, anyone can upset anyone on their given day.”

Sri Lanka batsman Kaushal Silva has been airlifted to a Colombo hospital, after being struck on the head during a practice match at Pallekele

Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Apr-2016Sri Lanka batsman Kaushal Silva has been airlifted to a Colombo hospital, after being struck on the head during a practice match at Pallekele. Initial CAT scans suggested Silva was out of danger, but he will continue to be monitored as a precautionary measure.Team management said Silva appeared to have been struck just below the back rim of the helmet – in the padded wings that became part of helmet design following Phillip Hughes’ death. Teammates believe the injury could have been more substantial if he had been wearing a helmet without this added protection.”Kaushal was fielding at short leg when he got hit,” team manager Charith Senanayake said.”[Dinesh Chandimal] swept a ball right onto the back of Kaushal’s head. He did take evasive action, but still the ball hit him.”Senanayake said Silva was left dazed moments after the impact, and that he had exhibited symptoms consistent with concussion. The accident had occurred at about 3:30 pm and Silva was immediately taken to a Kandy hospital, where he underwent the initial CAT scan. The decision was then made to transfer him to Colombo.The two-day practice match had been part of the Sri Lanka team’s preparation for the tour of England, for which the side departs on May 3. Silva had struck a hundred in the first day of this match, and appeared likely to earn a place in Sri Lanka’s squad for the forthcoming Tests. Silva’s last Test came against West Indies in October 2015.