Even as runs were not easy to come by, the pair kept grinding through, before switching gears and accelerating

Hemant Brar11-Mar-2024Their shirts covered in dust, Ajinkya Rahane and Musheer Khan appeared to be in the middle of an advertisement for a detergent.At different points on the second day of the Ranji Trophy final, both batters had to dive to make their ground. In the process, they ended up staining their shirts, which told the story of their struggle.For the first half of their 107-run partnership, the runs were not easy to come by and they had to rely on quick singles and doubles. In fact, the first 22 overs of their stand produced only 40 runs and one boundary. But they kept grinding it out and, by stumps, had all but batted Vidarbha out of the contest.Earlier in the day, Mumbai had bundled out Vidarbha for 105, thus taking a lead of 119. But Vidarbha would not have been in the final had they not staged comebacks from such situations.Related

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In the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha had conceded a first-innings lead of 82. But they bounced back in the second innings to register a comfortable victory. A similar turnaround in the final was not impossible, especially when Mumbai lost their openers with 34 runs on the board.That brought in the middle two batters at opposite ends of their careers: Rahane, a veteran of 85 Tests but no longer in the national selectors’ plans, and Musheer, fresh from an Under-19 World Cup and playing only his sixth first-class game.Their forms were equally contrasting. Coming into the final, Rahane had scored only 134 runs at an average of 13.40 this season. A strong performance might have kept him on the periphery of India’s Test squad, but those hopes evaporated more and more with every passing game.Musheer, meanwhile, was the second-highest run-getter at the World Cup, with 360 runs at an average of 60.00 and a strike rate of 98.09. He carried that form into the Ranji Trophy as well. Landing straight into the quarter-final, he scored 203 not out and 33 against Baroda. He followed it up with a 55 on a treacherous pitch in the semi-final. After just three innings, his run tally (291) was more than double of Rahane’s.But neither Rahane nor Musheer had an easy start on Monday. Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey was weaving a web with the new ball. He got one to pitch on leg stump and turn square to beat Musheer’s outside edge. When the batter tried to use his feet, Dubey shortened the length to make him look silly.Rahane was on 1 when he survived an lbw appeal against Umesh. The on-field call of not-out saved him when the Hawk-Eye showed the ball just clipping the top of middle stump.Both batters had their outside edge beaten multiple times by Umesh and Aditya Thakare, but they managed to survive. They also benefitted from left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate, Vidarbha’s leading wicket-taker for the season, unable to bowl because of back spasms.Musheer Khan has brought his form from the Under-19 World Cup into the Ranji Trophy•PTI At tea, Musheer was on 13 off 55 and Rahane 9 off 39. Something changed after tea. Or perhaps just before it, and the effect was seen only after the break. In the penultimate over before the break, the ball had to be changed as its seam had come off.Or it could simply be that the two batters had spent sufficient time in the middle by then, and were primed to accelerate against an older ball.When play resumed, Thakare pitched one full around off and Rahane unleashed a gorgeous on-drive for the first boundary of the partnership.Sarwate finally came on to bowl in the 28th over but did not look 100% fit. Nor did he get the purchase Dubey was getting. When he overpitched one to Rahane, the batter used his wrists to hit against the turn and thread the gap between short midwicket and mid-on.In the following over, Rahane brought up the fifty of the partnership with a pulled four off Yash Thakur. It took the pair 140 balls but the next fifty would take only 76.Musheer stepped up by jumping out of his crease and smashing Sarwate down the ground. When the spinner shortened his length for the next delivery, Musheer was quick to go back and punch it through covers for four more.In his next over, Sarwate dropped one short and Rahane duly pulled it over midwicket for a six. And just like that, the biggest threat was taken for 35 runs in seven overs. That too on a day where no other frontline Vidarbha bowler conceded more than 2.7 per over.The acceleration meant that Rahane reached his fifty in just 88 balls. It was an emotional celebration. He kept his head down and held the bat high for a while, with Musheer giving him a hug and a pat on the back.When Musheer brought up his half-century, in the last over of the day, his dad gestured to him from the stands to stay there and carry on. Musheer gestured back in acknowledgement.At stumps, Rahane and Musheer walked off to a standing ovation from the sparse crowd, which included Sunil Gavaskar and Diana Edulji. They must be saying what a effort, or, perhaps, [Stains are good].

Afghanistan could pose the toughest challenge yet in spin-friendly St Vincent, although there will be memories of Mumbai for both sides

Andrew McGlashan22-Jun-20242:40

Moody: Warner showed why Australia picked him in World Cup

Pat Cummins took a hat trick, Mitchell Starc set a new record, Adam Zampa was again outstanding and David Warner’s farewell lap continued with more runs. At nearly every turn against Bangladesh, Australia’s World Cup credentials oozed from their performance.The fact the opposition sat back and barely landed a blow in return aided a comfortable outing for Australia, but on the flip side their well-oiled game barely gave Bangladesh the opportunity to do so. The one blip so far has been an indifferent fielding display against Scotland – in a game that had no consequence for Australia – and that was alleviated when Travis Head and Marcus Stoinis put on a show.The problems, or concerns, also do not seem insurmountable. Captain Mitchell Marsh remains low on runs – although he was a little unfortunate with a stump-grazing lbw against Bangladesh – but is leading the side impressively in his first major assignment. Glenn Maxwell’s form remains in the spotlight, stemming back to the IPL where he averaged 5.77, but even in a very small sample size of six balls in Antigua, there was a glimpse that perhaps he is finding his groove.Related

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“I think tonight I just went in with a really clear mindset to sort of be a little bit more proactive and a bit more trusting I suppose in my foundations and what I do really well,” Maxwell said of his brief innings against Bangladesh. “I know I reverse well; I know I play spin well when I’m busy on my feet and moving forward and back and when I’m just looking at gaps in the field and adapting to what comes in front of me, I can get into my innings relatively comfortably.Pat Cummins became the seventh man and second Australian to take a hat-trick in men’s T20 World Cup•ICC/Getty Images”Even just thinking back, I feel like I might have even got sucked into a little bit of the pace of play during the IPL where you’re sort of set up as a power-hitter. And that’s [where] all your sort of focus goes towards and you’re thinking more about hitting boundaries every ball instead of still playing your strengths and tonight sort of went back to I suppose what I do really well is start my innings with good cricketing shots, back my ability to manipulate fields and try and stick to that.”Australia’s next outing, however, has the potential to be the trickiest yet. Even though Afghanistan were turned over by India, conditions in St Vincent should suit them if the pitch turns anything like it has done so far. Not that Australia are without options in that area – Exhibit One: Zampa – but in Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed and Mohammad Nabi, Afghanistan have a spin attack to cause problems. If there is uneven bounce, don’t ignore the quicks either, with Fazalhaq Farooqi leading the tournament wicket-taking.”It feels like every ground has its different little idiosyncrasies,” Maxwell said. “This [Antigua] is a slow outfield with a howling breeze to a short boundary. Barbados can be fifty-fifty on the wicket, can be slow. As we’ve seen, St. Vincent is going to be spinny and might be a slightly quicker outfield. So, there’s so many different changes.”It feels like you’re going to a completely different part of the world every ground that you go to, and you’ve got to adapt and change. I think that’s just the way our team’s gone. It feels like we’ve been the quickest ones to adapt to the conditions throughout the tournament. I’m sure that’s going to probably hold true for the last few games. The team that adapts the quickest will come out victorious.”Will the events of Mumbai have an effect on either side?•AFP/Getty Images”We’ve kind of ticked off everything we have we could possibly do so far,” Cummins succinctly put it after the Bangladesh outing, adding it felt like Warner is “always up there” in the run charts at World Cups and that Starc, who is now the leading wicket-taker across both the 50- and 20-over events, has “stood up when we needed [him] to in big moments.”Speaking before the Bangladesh game, Ricky Ponting touched on Australia’s tournament mentality. “I think other teams feel that Australia are going to lift for the bigger games, so they try harder and do things differently,” he said. “I think India in the [ODI] World Cup final is a great example of that – they got away from what they’d done right the way through, tried too hard and it cost them. Australia know what they need to do – they stay in control of things and turn up ready to play every game.”Australia know how to win World Cups. Afghanistan pose a significant threat, but memories of what happened in Mumbai last year won’t be far away for either side. Even in the high-jeopardy world of T20, it will take a very good performance to stop them doing it again.

Second-placed Mohammedan are assured of their best season in 11 years

Mohammad Isam30-Apr-2024Key takeaways
After thirteen consecutive wins, Abahani Limited were finally pushed in a Dhaka Premier League game this season. Still, they beat Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by four wickets with a ball to spare in their Super League clash at the BKSP-4 ground. Before Tuesday’s win, they had an average of 144 balls remaining when they won chasing, and by 123 runs on average when batting first. Abahani defended their DPL title having won it last year, to take their tally to 22 trophies in this competition.Abahani were bereft of most of their main players as ten of them are in Chattogram with the Bangladesh squad, for the T20I series against Zimbabwe. BCB’s cricket operations released Tanzim Hasan, Tanvir Islam and Afif Hossain for Abahain’s April 30 game, after their coach Khaled Mahmud claimed that he was struggling to form a playing XI due to the ten absentees and injuries to Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Khaled Ahmed.Abahani’s long-standing arch-rivals Mohammedan Sporting Club had their best season since 2013 after they completed their tenth win. They beat Prime Bank and Shinepukur Cricket Club in the Super League phase so far.Best batters
Saif Hassan’s century and fifty in the Super League phase has helped him climb close to Parvez Hossain Emon, who at 623 runs, remains the league’s leading run-scorer. But Saif reduced the gap by eleven runs while Mahidul Islam became the third batter to reach 600 runs this season.Mohammedan’s Rony Talukdar struck 141 against Prime Bank, his first big knock in this season’s DPL. It probably came a little too late for the veteran opener as he seems to be out of the picture from Bangladesh’s T20I World Cup plans despite being a regular face last year.Najmul Hossain Shanto was among those who got centuries in the Super League. He would take confidence from his 101 off 84 balls against Gazi Group Cricketers. Meanwhile, Shamsur Rahman’s 101 helped Rupganj Tigers stave off relegation.Best bowlers
Abu Hider overtook fellow left-arm quick Ruyel Miah as the leading wicket-taker with a four-wicket haul against Shinepukur. Hider now has 28 wickets at 18.43 bowling average, while Ruyel has 27 scalps at 18.74.Legspinner Rishad Hossain is the leader among spinners with his 23 wickets at 12.74. He took his third four-wicket haul in this season’s DPL, against Gazi Group during the Super League. Left-arm spinners Nazmul Hossain, Nasum Ahmed and Tanvir Islam are trailing Rishad with each taking at least 20 wickets.Best match
Sheikh Jamal knew that Abahani were not at full strength in their Super League clash on April 30, but still they couldn’t take full advantage. They slipped to 15 for three, before Shakib Al Hasan helped them recover somewhat in the middle overs. Still at 152 for seven, it looked like yet another Abahani cakewalk.No 9 Ziaur Rahman smacked eight sixes and six fours in his 58-ball 85, helping Sheikh Jamal to 267-9 in 50 overs. Anamul Haque Bijoy and Afif Hossain struck fifties to keep Abahani afloat after they lost two wickets within 16 overs. They added 103 runs for the third wicket, before captain Mosaddek Hossain guided the chase till the 50th over.Points to ponder
At the other end of the DPL points table was the relegation battle. With all three teams in four points, one of them needed to win both games in the playoffs. Rupganj Tigers did that, beating City Club and Gazi Tyres Cricket Academy, who are now relegated to the Dhaka First Division Cricket League this season.Players to watch
Only Parvez Hossain Emon got a Bangladesh call-up for the Zimbabwe T20Is among the DPL’s top five scorers. Rishad among the top five wicket-takers is in the squad too, but he was there before this season’s DPL. The best the rest can hope for is Bangladesh A places in the upcoming matches against Pakistan A and New Zealand A. U19 players Jishan Alam, Ashiqur Rahman Shibli and Maruf Mridha could also be in consideration for High Performance or Bangladesh A teams this season.

In IPL 2024, the Chennai Super Kings fast bowlers have taken 40 wickets at Chepauk. The spinners just five.

Alagappan Muthu12-May-20242:14

What worked for Simarjeet against Royals?

It was straight out of a scene from every romcom movie ever made. M Vijay and Suresh Raina’s eyes met, except, instead of a crowded room, they had a wide open field between them. There was a little run. A big hug. A little jig. And big smiles. The old vibes were in full flow at Chepauk.Out in the middle, there was a pitch that they would remember from way back when. Brown. Cracked. Dry. Short of blowing kisses to the spinners, it was doing everything it could to attract them.A low-scorer was destined and a low-scorer it was, with the opposition struggling to make any headway on the run rate. But this was CSK remixed a little bit because their main wicket-taking threat came from a fast bowler. It’s been like that all season.ESPNcricinfo LtdSimarjeet Singh hasn’t played any T20 cricket since IPL 2022. In fact, he’s hadn’t played anything outside of a couple of Ranji Trophy matches in 16 months. Then he arrived in Chennai for CSK’s training camp in the first week of March and began to impress all the important people. “I don’t know what he is doing but in the pre-season we had, he was bowling at around 150[kph],” Ruturaj Gaikwad said at the end of CSK’s previous victory, over Punjab Kings in Dharamsala.Related

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Sometimes, injuries can be good. They lead to treatment and training that helps the body get stronger. Simarjeet, this season, looks like he’s bulked up. On Sunday, in the kind of heat that made some sections of the crowd give up the seats that they paid good money for and stand underneath any shade they could find, he kept running in hard and hitting the pitch harder. Ten of his first 12 deliveries were either short or short of a good length. Nine of them became dots, singles or wickets.”It was a bit difficult,” Simarjeet said about the heat when speaking to the host broadcaster. “But we knew about the conditions, we knew how difficult it would be. But we had to make an effort. Looking at the pitch, it seemed like it was gripping, stopping a bit, so I tried to bowl in my half of the pitch and not the half of the batsman.”Simarjeet’s first wicket – Yashasvi Jaiswal, out caught when he lost control of a flat-batted shot that had previously earned him a four straight down the ground because of the extra bounce (that’s why you bend that back, kids) – brought Rajasthan Royals’ (RR’s) projected score down from 183 to 171. It also brought two right-hand batters together, which meant Ravindra Jadeja could come on and hustle through his overs. Four on the trot with only one boundary. If RR had still had their left-hand batter out there, this period of play would not have been possible. Simarjeet was responsible for giving CSK that edge. And he did it again, and again, dismissing Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson. His 3 for 26 left RR at 94 for 3 at the end of 15 overs and 141 at the end of 20.Simarjeet Singh got rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson•Associated PressIn 2023, CSK’s home record was 4-3. This year, it’s 5-2. In large parts, that’s been because opposition teams have been able to come to Chepauk and put up big runs because the ball has been coming into the bat. CSK, who walk into every auction with a singular mind to build teams that can control games with spin, have had to figure out a different way to keep their home dominance. Batting depth and the freedom it offered. They trained people like Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu and Shivam Dube to put a very low price on their wicket so that the totals they got gave their bowlers a bigger margin of error.This season, owing to some uncharacteristic use of the talent on offer – Ravindra Jadeja batting up the order, which increased his exposure to spin; Daryl Mitchell, batting down the order, which didn’t give him any chance of getting his eye in – as well as Conway’s injury and Rahane’s poor form, CSK’s firepower has never really found its way out into the real world.The fact that they are still in the running for the playoffs is because their fast bowlers have spent the whole season bailing them out. The league stage is over and yet their spinners have taken only five wickets in 240 balls at home. The quicks have 40. Up is down. Left is right. Spin is sin. Seam for the win.

Yes there was a lot of rain in Florida this past week, but at the ground, over two days of washouts, there was hardly more than 30 minutes of serious rain. Could the organisers have done better?

Sidharth Monga15-Jun-2024On a macro level, the T20 World Cup 2024 is a grand success. After a long time, a World Cup seems like a World Cup. Twenty teams have taken part in it to start with. The event has been brought to a new country, the capital of capitalism. Afghanistan and co-hosts USA have made it through to the Super Eight. One of the qualifiers from Group D will not be from the top two seeds, and England are on a knife’s edge in Group B. There have been ties and many a close match. There is representation, there is unpredictability, matches have been tight if not high-scoring, and there are conditions creating jeopardy for the more established teams.On a micro level, though, some of what has happened has bordered on the embarrassing. Since 8.30am on Friday, the day Florida was starting to host three back-to-back matches, there has been only about 30 minutes of serious showers – we can’t confirm there wasn’t the odd light drizzle outside of this, but we’re talking proper rain here – at the Central Broward Regional Park Turf Ground. And yet, we have had no play either on Friday or Saturday. Sunday looks dicey too, because one particular part of the outfield is still soft underfoot.It is difficult to explain no play despite no rain to hardcore cricket fans, leave alone to America, or even the diaspora here who have so many other options. That one side of the ground has drained means the drainage in one part of the ground is good, but not so good in the other. This is hurricane season in Florida and, despite the unprecedented amount of rain received here in the last week, to not repair the drainage before a World Cup should be unacceptable.

Quite often, when drainage is not great, cricket stadiums cover the whole playing surface, but here they don’t have any more covers than the ones covering the square and the bowlers’ run-ups. That, for a World Cup, is not a good look.

Quite often, when drainage is not great, cricket stadiums cover the whole playing surface, but here they don’t have any more covers than the ones covering the square and the bowlers’ run-ups. That, for a World Cup, is not a good look. You wonder how the ICC’s commercial partners feel about this.This is not to make light of the record rainfall the area has received in the days leading up the matches. There have been flash floods in and around southern Florida, leading to serious losses. Cricket is nothing in comparison. The groundstaff have tried their best on the day, but there was no way the umpires, who are in charge of player safety, could okay play.Again it is not about the effort but the equipment. Not that it would have had any impact on the games, but the Super Sopper ran out of fuel on Friday afternoon (insert irony jokes about the USA running out of fuel) and then broke down, only repaired later in the evening. That the Broward County, in charge of the stadium, doesn’t have more covers should not come as news to the ICC. That should be part of preparations.All this left the teams mildly frustrated. For Pakistan, the No. 2 seeds in Group A, it was imperative that the games on Friday and Sunday go ahead if they were to have any chance to progress to the Super Eight. For India, who played all their matches in the treacherous batting conditions of New York, it was a chance to get used to better conditions before the more crucial matches. For Canada, USA and Ireland, it was yet another day in the bright lights before they are forgotten for two more years.The Super Sopper at work in Lauderhill on Saturday – on Friday, it had issues•ICC/Getty Images”As a team we wanted to play,” India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour said. “You are right, when you are in a tournament like the World Cup, you want to carry on playing cricket, so as a team you don’t want to lose the momentum that you’ve gained. But again, conditions, I don’t know whether it rained here or not. The place we were staying at, it didn’t really rain yesterday. So again, not for me to say how and what happened, but yeah, it’s disappointing that we can’t get it going.”We were really looking forward to play a game and we were expecting better batting conditions than what we got in New York. So as a team I think it was important for us to get a game but, again, something that we can’t control, we don’t control. So, it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get a game here.”India will now go from a week of no cricket to playing three Super Eight matches in five days in three different Caribbean islands. Rathour could just shrug and say it is not ideal.

“I think the next time ICC will review this, that the ground should be completely covered, so as soon as the rain stops, we can play the match.”Pakistan’s Imad Wasim

Pakistan of course don’t want to be seen using this an excuse, and they shouldn’t have left themselves in such a situation, but their allrounder Imad Wasim did say the ICC needed to review the situation. “This depends on ICC, how they will review this,” Imad said when asked about the ground not being fully covered. “I think, if the wicket and square is dry… I’ll give you one reason, when we play in Sri Lanka or any other place, they cover the entire ground. And the venue where the game is being played, there are around 20-30-35 people to take care of this. I think the next time ICC will review this, that the ground should be completely covered, so as soon as the rain stops, we can play the match.”It is not like established cricket centres are always fully prepared to ensure viewers get as much cricket as they can. As an extreme example, as recently as 2016, a Test match in Port-of-Spain couldn’t be played despite no rain on the days of the match because of poor drainage, but the venue received due criticism and poor ratings, which have consequences in the future.There was some informal talk among people at the ICC about possibly swapping the 2030 T20 World Cup in England with this one, but it was a non-starter because England’s summer is planned seemingly decades in advance. And there is never going to be the “perfect time” to break new ground so the ICC can’t be blamed for pushing for this even if it did so with less-than-perfect conditions to play in.The stadium in Dallas, run by Major League Cricket (MLC), showed it was well prepared – it had play and in great conditions despite unprecedented rains leading up to, and even on the afternoon of, the first matchday. The same can’t be said of the facility in Lauderhill, run by the Broward County. Despite its best intentions, the ICC has left itself vulnerable to criticism by not taking over ground preparation more actively.It would be too harsh to evoke Oscar Wilde’s quote about best intentions and worst outcomes, but surely the ICC can’t be happy with what has happened over the weekend in Florida?

Stats highlights from Hyderabad where India racked up their highest ever T20I total

Sampath Bandarupalli12-Oct-2024297 for 6 India’s total against Bangladesh in Hyderabad is now the second-highest by any team in all men’s T20s. The highest also came in a T20I – 314 for 3 by Nepal against Mongolia in the Asian Games last year in Hangzhou. India’s previous highest total was 260 for 5 against Sri Lanka in 2017.232 Runs scored through boundaries by India in Hyderabad, the most by any team in a men’s T20. The previous highest was 216 runs by Punjab against Andhra last year, while the previous highest in a T20I was 212 by Nepal against Mongolia.47 Boundaries by India against Bangladesh – 25 fours and 22 sixes, the most by any team in a men’s T20. The previous highest was 43 boundaries by the Czech Republic against Turkey in 2019 and Punjab against Andhra in 2023.ESPNcricinfo Ltd18 Number of overs in Indian innings that fetched 10-plus runs, the most in a men’s T20 innings, where ball-by-ball data is available. Only seven runs came in the first over and nine in the ninth, both bowled by Mahedi Hasan.1 Sanju Samson is now the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a hundred in a men’s T20I. Ishan Kishan’s 89 against Sri Lanka in 2022 was the previous highest score by an Indian keeper. Samson’s 111 ranks sixth in the list of highest individual scores by a wicketkeeper in men’s T20Is.40 Balls Samson needed for his hundred. It is the second-fastest century for India in men’s T20Is, behind Rohit Sharma’s 35-ball effort against Sri Lanka in 2017.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2 Number of ten-over totals in men’s T20Is, higher than India’s 152 for 1 on Saturday (where ball-by-ball data is available). Australia scored 156 for 3 against Scotland in 9.4 overs earlier this year, while Estonia got to 154 for 4 at the end of their tenth over against Cyprus in 2024. India’s previous highest total at the end of the tenth over was 117 for 0 against Sri Lanka in 2017.152 for 2 India’s total in the middle overs (7-16) in Hyderabad. Only one team has scored more runs in middle overs in a men’s T20I, where BBB data is available – 163 for 1 by Nepal against Mongolia in 2023.13.6 Overs needed for India to reach the 200-run mark, the second-fastest any team got there in men’s T20Is, where BBB data is available. The fastest is off 13.5 overs by South Africa against West Indies last year.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 India achieved their fastest team 100 in men’s T20Is on Saturday, in only 7.1 overs. Their previous fastest was off 7.6 overs against West Indies in 2019 at the Wankhede.The 82 for 1 they made in the powerplay is also the joint-highest in the format, alongside the 82 for 2 against Scotland in the 2021 T20 World Cup game.22 Sixes by India against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, the most by them in a men’s T20I, surpassing the 21 they hit against Sri Lanka in 2017. The 22 sixes by Indian batters are also the joint third-most by any team in a men’s T20I.37 Number of 200-plus totals for India in T20Is are the most by any team in the format. These are also the most by any team in men’s T20s, going past the 36 by Somerset.Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav clobbered the bowlers to all parts•AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.15.04 Run rate of the partnership between Samson and Suryakumar Yadav, the second-highest for a stand of 150-plus runs in men’s T20Is. The highest is 17.81 by Kushal Malla and Rohit Paudel, who put on 193 off 65 balls for Nepal against Mongolia.5 Sixes hit by Samson in the tenth over against Rishad Hossain. He is only the second batter to hit five or more sixes in an over for India, after Yuvraj Singh, who hit six sixes off Stuart Broadin the 2007 T20 World Cup.133 India’s win margin in Hyderabad is their third biggest by runs in men’s T20Is and the biggest for any team against Bangladesh.It is the sixth instance of India winning by a margin of 100-plus runs. Japan (8), Canada (7) and Malaysia (6) are the other teams with six or more wins by 100-plus run wins in men’s T20Is.

His Old Trafford hundred is just the biggest announcement of his all-round talent

Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Aug-2024If spin bowling had a party, Sri Lanka would be the dude turning up in neon shades, sequined shirt unbuttoned halfway, and technicolour sneakers. Sri Lanka spinners have only really been good in the last 30 years, but right through those three decades, they have peacocked like no spinners have peacocked before.Carrom balls? Check the fridge, it’s crammed with ’em. Seam-up arm balls? Over there, crack one open. Two-finger googlies? Of course. Sliders with underspin? Sure. Huge-turning offbreaks? We’re offended you’re even asking. Doosras? Uhhh, we don’t talk about that so much anymore, but I heard there was a line in one of the rooms.The first big story about Kamindu Mendis, way back in 2018, was that he bowled fingerspin with either arm, so your initial thought was, “Here we go – another one of these guys.” Diamond stud in one ear. A clutch of gold chains. Probably doing shots with Muthiah Muralidaran, Ajantha Mendis, Akila Dananjaya and Maheesh Theekshana, right? He sounds fun. Let’s keep the buzz rolling.In the T20 age, when turning the ball away from the batter is so prized, when teams switch up batting orders to maintain left-right combinations, when captains often adhere almost slavishly to match-up dogma, here was serious potential.In a tour match in October that year, when Kamindu spun it in the approved direction both to left-hander Eoin Morgan and right-hander Joe Root and returned tidy figures, he had his first taste of international exposure. Many overseas publications foregrounded the novelty of his ambidextrous talent.Related

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He’d always been a better batter than a bowler, of course, but just 20 at the time, he could have easily gone in this flashy direction and become an ultra-modern product of the big-data age – a T20 bowling disruptor.Hone that accuracy with both arms, pick up a few variations of the slider, learn to swing it in the powerplay. He’d always been electric in the field, and could obviously bang boundaries to boot. There exists a timeline in which Kamindu is a white-hot T20 asset, flitting between continents by the month, dripping Lankan spin swag around the planet.Six years later, what he has become instead is a batter who has made the brightest start to a Test career for his country in decades. In his seven Test innings so far – with only one at home – he has two half-centuries, three hundreds, a top score of 164, and an average in the 90s. All of this batting at No. 6 or lower.Scores of 102, 164, and 92 not out in Bangladesh were impressive, but the conditions were typically Asian, and the attack – missing Shakib Al Hasan in the match in which Kamindu hit twin hundreds – was off-colour.But now he’s hit a hundred at Old Trafford in testing conditions. There was style to this innings – his cuts were elegant, his pulls were controlled, and he has an extra-cover drive you’d be happy to introduce to your parents. But there was also the old-school self-denial that you need in this format. If you have ever watched one of his limited-overs innings, you’d know he drives like a dream. Here in Manchester, he hit only one of his 16 boundaries in the V – choosing to defend or leave most balls pitched right up to him, this being his first Test outing against the Dukes ball in English conditions.Batting at No. 7 at Old Trafford, Kamindu showed off a range of strokes against England’s fast bowlers and spinners•Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty ImagesThere is spectacular talent here, but in this era of Sri Lankan cricket, developing the raw materials often proves most challenging. But Kamindu is a disruptor, perhaps even of dysfunction. He’s a top-order option in T20Is, having been outstanding in the Lanka Premier League in July. Earlier this month he hit a vital 40 off 44, then a sparkling 23 not out off 19 in ODI wins against India.And he is as reliable in the slips as he is dynamic in the covers as he is proactive in the outfield. You see an aerial shot heading in his direction and you suspect he will do more than most to turn it into a wicket. He will then celebrate with a grin, and little more, as he did after scoring his best hundred on Saturday.You sense, most of all, that he has this inner drive to never be out of the game. Top-order hitter? Yeah, he’ll do it. Middle-order stabiliser? Cool, he has the game to accumulate. Lower-order thorn in the opposition’s side? He’s all over it. There are two left-hand batters in? He’ll learn how to bowl with his non-dominant arm, so no captain can ever seriously sideline him.Test cricket right now is not always a party, particularly if you’re from a nation not named England, India, or Australia. It does not always feel fun. But Kamindu has strapped on his best shoes for every possible occasion, And right now, this is the joint he’s dancing at.

Their qualification to the final is a testament to the resourcefulness of South Africa’s system that has consistently found the Mr Right Nows

Firdose Moonda29-Dec-2024Progress not perfection, is a modern mantra that prioritises the journey and not the destination and sums up South Africa’s World Test Championship (WTC) campaign. As one of the least-favoured teams and despite a schedule that excluded England and Australia entirely and only had them playing India at home, they’ve qualified with a game to spare in a testament to the resourcefulness of a system that may not always have a full XI of Mr Rights but has consistently found the Mr Right Nows.At SuperSport Park, the first of those was Dane Paterson. After Kagiso Rabada produced one of the best wicketless spells by a seamer in recent memory, which clearly marinated in the Pakistan batters minds, Paterson took over as braai master, so to speak. He picked up a second successive career five-for on the back of believing that the stand-in role he played in New Zealand would be his last international appearance. At the other end Corbin Bosch benefitted from some brainless shot selection and on debut, scooped a four-for. Then it was over to Aiden Markram. Under siege for T20 form that has resulted in only one score over 30 in 18 matches this year, his first innings 89 was crucial to South Africa taking a lead.Even though their bowlers burned through it so quickly that their coach Shukri Conrad called it “the worst bowling performance for the first 40 minutes that I’ve seen for this side”, it provided enough cushioning for Marco Jansen to exploit later on. A target of 148 should have been reached without the rollercoaster of losing four wickets for three runs but when that happened, South Africa’s tail took them home. In an ideal, and some would say boring, world, that should not have happened but things in South African sport (and life) are rarely flawless which only makes them more interesting.Related

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“If you look at our campaign, as much as we’re in a position where we’re in the (WTC) final, we haven’t been super dominant in our performances,” Temba Bavuma said afterwards. “We definitely haven’t been clinical or ruthless when the opportunity or the situation is called upon. But I think what we’ve done is that we’ve found ways to make sure that the result is on our side.”And that, folks, is the South African way. Make a plan. Find a way. Call up 30 players across 11 Tests – the most by any team in this WTC cycle. Effectively forfeit a series to prioritise your money-making T20 league, like they did against New Zealand in February. Understand that you only have to beat West Indies and Bangladesh away and Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home. Ignore everything else. Believe. Even when half the cricketing world doesn’t and the other half is too preoccupied with everything else going on (read: BGT, Bazball and other Big Three stuff).Be honest: Did you really think South Africa, the team that has been through a complete administrative overhaul, near bankruptcy and a brutal reckoning with injustices past, could reach the WTC final?Be honest: Did you really, really think South Africa, in the post Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn era, could reach the WTC final?Be honest, because not even Conrad or Bavuma were sure. “I think it only got real when we came back after Bangladesh,” Conrad said.There, South Africa won a first series in the subcontinent in a decade and seemed to find some semblance of batting rhythm. After no centuries on their tour of West Indies, and only three in the cycle (Dean Elgar – Boxing Day 2023, Markram – Cape Town 2024 and David Bedingham – New Zealand 2024), they scored four and there were firsts. Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Wiaan Mulder all scored hundreds in Bangladesh to suggest a corner had been turned. Still, with every match a must-win, South Africa kept their expectations realistic and understood it would take more something special to get to the WTC final. “I didn’t think it was possible, but with a little bit of luck, I thought we’ve got it in us to scare some people.”

“We definitely haven’t been clinical or ruthless when the opportunity or the situation is called upon. But I think what we’ve done is that we’ve found ways to make sure that the result is on our side.”Temba Bavuma after the victory

Conrad acknowledges “people abroad will be shouting, ‘easy draw'” and said he is “certainly not going to sit here and apologise for that” while Bavuma recognised the lack of superstars. “If I look at our batting group, we don’t have batters that are averaging 45-plus. All of us are mid-30s, late-30s, which shows that at some point guys are going to make some contribution to the team,” Bavuma said. “Our bowling line-up has pretty much changed almost every series. And guys have come in and have done the business.”How and why is a question that could be answered with the cold, hard logic of numbers and match situations and who did what, when and there are months between now and the WTC final when we can do that. For now, the answer lies in something far more abstract, alchemical even. It’s best summed up by what Rabada told Conrad on that mindset-changing Bangladesh tour.”KG and I were sitting outside somewhere, and he said to me something that will stick with me for a long time, He said ‘Shuks, coach, I played in some great South African sides with legends like Dale and Vernon [Philander] and Morne [Morkel] and Graeme and Faf [du Plessis] but I’m playing with my mates now’. And that for me, like, rings so true because that’s what they are.”They’re a bunch of mates together that want to have a hell lot of fun and win. And they’re going to be some hiccups along the way, but I think they’ve got each other’s backs. There’s a really strong bond that’s in that change room and that’s probably the biggest thing that we’ve got right there. Everybody pulls in the same direction, and we just get on with things.”That may sound “windgat” (the Afrikaans word for arrogant) as Conrad sometimes says but it isn’t. It just explains how well South Africa have stayed the moment when it mattered most; when they needed 32 runs with two wickets post lunch at SuperSport Park and when Rabada and Jansen took them home. The players did a lap of honour around the field then, which felt a little strange considering the series is alive and the final has not been won, but which told the story of a side that has progressed in search of their perfection.

The Australians know what they are in for at the MCG, but India may be a little shocked by what they see compared to what they remember

Alex Malcolm24-Dec-2024Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald must have had flashbacks to their club cricket days as they walked to the middle of the MCG on Monday.With the exception of the MCG’s head curator Matt Page, there were no ground staff around, and the Test pitch was fully covered after some morning rain. Cummins and McDonald had to peel the covers back themselves to take a look at the strip. Their eyebrows might have gone up at seeing how green it looked, but they would not have been surprised.”It looks pretty similar to the previous few years,” McDonald said on Tuesday. “It’s going to be a big decision, though, come the day of the game. I think traditionally it’s been bowl-first, but with the heat around and it looks similar but probably a little bit better than what it has in previous years. So a decision for the captains to make at the toss, I think.”Related

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While the Australians know what they are in for at the MCG, India may be shocked by what they see compared to what they remember.The MCG has been a home away from home for them in each of the last two Test tours. The Gabba will always hold a special place in Indian hearts, but the MCG has been the lifeblood of both series triumphs.In 2018-19, they came here having been rocked by a pace barrage in Perth. They batted first on a slightly less turgid surface than the one Alistair Cook made 244 on the previous year. But Cheteshwar Pujara batted for 11 hours as India racked up 443 for 7 in 169.4 overs before Jasprit Bumrah put on a masterclass of fast bowling as the surface began to go up and down.The blueprint was pretty similar two summers later. Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja thrived in slower conditions more akin to home than Australia. And after being bowled out for 36 in Adelaide, Ajinkya Rahane ground out a famous match-winning century.But the MCG has undergone a complete transformation since then under Page’s watch. The nadir of 2017 sparked a five-year plan to revitalise a drop-in square that had become one of the worst in Australia. The complete transformation of that plan did not take effect until 2021, when the last four of the new drop-in pitch trays were installed after India’s most recent visit.”We sat down seven years ago, after 2017, and discussed where we wanted to go as an organisation and what we wanted to be renowned for and that’s producing Test matches that are going to provide a thrilling contest,” Page said. “It gives the bowlers an opportunity at various points in the game, but it also gives the batters a chance if you play well. We then tried and played around with our grass lengths, our compaction levels, moisture levels, and that probably took us three years to where we wanted to get to, and then I would say the last two or three years, we’ve been quite consistent in what we’ve rolled out. We leave a bit more grass on them now than what we used to but it’s provided thrilling contests, and that’s what we want to do.”Since 2018-19, the MCG has had the lowest bowling average of the major venues in Australia at 26.57. Pace has dominated, averaging 24.50. But spin has averaged 35.24, the second lowest of all venues behind Perth, remarkably.For the 2021 Boxing Day Ashes Test, Page left 10mm of grass on the surface, having experimented with 12mm in a Sheffield Shield game earlier in the summer. Australia won inside seven sessions, with Scott Boland famously taking 6 for 7 and England losing by an innings despite Australia only scoring 267.

“I think both teams have got similar challenges at the moment – how do you find runs? Both bowling attacks have been on top, and I think this wicket potentially might offer the batters a little bit more in terms of the surface as the game draws on”Andrew McDonald

The following year, when South Africa arrived, Page trimmed it back to 6mm and produced a Test pitch where Cameron Green took 5 for 27 on the first day, David Warner made 200 on a 40-degree second day, Alex Carey plundered 111 on the third, and Nathan Lyon took three wickets on the fourth.Page rolled out a similar surface last year when Pakistan toured. The highest innings total in the match was 318, the lowest was 237. Cummins took ten for the match and Lyon bagged four in Pakistan’s first innings. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mir Hamza took six wickets each across two innings and had Australia 16 for 4 in their second innings before Mitchell Marsh made 96. Pakistan reached 219 for 5 chasing just 317 to win in the fourth innings before collapsing to an extraordinary spell from Cummins.Some of India’s players have already seen the new MCG pitch. The Australia A vs India A game in early November was a rollicking affair where the seam bowlers held sway, much like they do in Shield matches at this venue. But it is arguable that KL Rahul’s two brief innings in that game and Nitish Kumar Reddy’s performance with bat and ball prepared both of them well for the Test series that has unfolded. Australia’s debutant Sam Konstas made 73 not out in that game and India are pondering whether to bring in Prasidh Krishna, who also took six wickets for India A.”It looks pretty similar to the previous few years,” Andrew McDonald said after he and Pat Cummins looked at the MCG pitch•AFP/Getty ImagesBut any fears that the Test pitch will be as lively as that are unfounded, according to Page, who does trim the grass according to the quality of bowling on show.”It probably won’t be as much seam in this as probably the Shield games,” Page said. “As you go to that next level, bowlers get a bit more out of it than in the Shield. So we tend to pull it back just that fraction for Test match cricket, because the quality of players goes up. But in terms of pace, bounce and the excitement, then we’re looking for exactly the same in all our long-format pitches.”What does that mean for this Boxing Day? Can India renew their love affair with the MCG pitch despite it being nothing like the flame they fell for the last two trips they had here?”I think both teams have got similar challenges at the moment,” McDonald said. “How do you find runs? Both bowling attacks have been on top, and I think this wicket potentially might offer the batters a little bit more in terms of the surface as the game draws on.”But I’m not a big believer in history repeating itself, so it starts afresh. Different groups, different challenges. We’ll go in with an open mind to what it looks like.”

Other talking points from Australia’s contracts list included Mitchell Marsh’s future, the overlooked white-ball players and the fast-bowling depth

Andrew McGlashan and Alex Malcolm01-Apr-2025Sam Konstas may have to wait beyond June’s World Test Championship final to earn back his spot in the Australia side with selectors prepared to pick a team very specific to winning the one-off match against South Africa in relatively early-season English conditions.Konstas was handed a first central contract on Tuesday after making his debut against India late last year where he shot to prominence with his 60 off 65 balls at the MCG. He did not feature in the following series against Sri Lanka, with selectors using Travis Head as a horses-for-courses opening option, and there is no certainty he will return at the top of the order against South Africa at Lord’s although the contract indicates selectors view him as someone likely to feature prominently over the next 12 months.Related

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There will be a selection squeeze on positions with Cameron Green likely to be available as a batter, Josh Inglis having made a century on debut in Sri Lanka and Beau Webster, who was also handed his first contract, having slotted in well a No. 6.Head is expected to return to No. 5 in England, so if it isn’t Konstas, there will be a vacancy at the top of the order.”The way we’ve sort of viewed the World Test Championships we’ve been involved in is that they are one-off games,” chair of selectors George Bailey said. “They’re quite specific to that, obviously in England in those conditions. So, the way we frame that and potentially look at how we structure up that team may be different to the West Indies tour.”We’ve got Cam Green returning and hopefully that continues to track well. Along with Sam we’ve also seen Beau Webster, Josh Inglis perform really well when they’ve had opportunities as well. So, we’ll work through that over the coming months.”After making headlines for a wild innings against Victoria at the SCG on his return from Sri Lanka, where he fell sweeping Scott Boland in the third over, Konstas made two half-centuries to finish the Sheffield Shield season.

Marsh given Test lifeline but bowling future in doubt

Mitchell Marsh faces a big period as Australia’s T20I captain•AFP/Getty ImagesMitchell Marsh has been offered hope that his Test career isn’t over after he lost his place in January although there are doubts about how much bowling he will do across formats in the future.Marsh was dropped after making 73 runs in seven innings against India and then missed the Champions Trophy with a back injury. He has returned in the IPL, making 72 and 52 for Lucknow Super Giants, where the impact sub rule has meant he hasn’t yet needed to field. He remains Australia’s T20I captain ahead of next year’s World Cup in India and Sri Lanka with 19 bilateral T20 games on the schedule before that.”It’s an ongoing conversation as to where bowling may or may not fit into his international cricket going forward,” Bailey said. “I still think he can play an incredibly important role in setting that [T20] team up and hopefully leading that team to some success in the T20 World Cup.”I think he’s got plenty of one-day cricket left in him as well. I don’t necessarily think that his red-ball career is over as well. I still think there’s an incredibly exciting skill set there with the bat, the way he can rip a game open. If you look ahead to a team like England and the way they play their cricket and the way they seem to be framing up their team, I think he’s got a skill set there that could be helpful as well.”

White-ball opportunities loom for those who missed out

The likes of Spencer Johnson could earn upgrades given the volume of T20 cricket•Cricket Australia via Getty ImagesThere were only a handful of true white-ball specialists in the contract list despite the heavy T20 presence in the next 12 months as well as up-to nine ODI matches as they build towards the 2027 World Cup, with a clear priority placed on Test cricket even though Australia only has two series in the contract period.Bailey said the likes of Sean Abbott, Aaron Hardie and Cooper Connolly were unlucky to miss out and would likely get opportunities to play during the year. Jake Fraser-McGurk, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David and Spencer Johnson all qualified for contract upgrades last year through playing more than six limited-overs internationals each while Ben Dwarshuis fell one game shy.All those players could well earn upgrades again before the end of this calendar year given Australia play five T20Is in the Caribbean on the back of four Tests, with several of the three-format players who are also playing in the IPL almost certain be rested. There is also a five-match T20I series against India in early November just prior to the Ashes where those same Test players may be rested even though there is a bigger gap on the schedule next season.”I think anytime we’ve had a T20 World Cup, and those big years of bunches of games, we’ve used a broad range of players,” Bailey said. “I envisage it’ll probably be similar this year.”Just depending where a few guys are in terms of their prep for Test cricket there’s every reason to think that there will be opportunities for plenty of players who may be just outside this contract list.”

Morris and Richardson remain long-term investments

Lance Morris showed encouraging form this season as he was carefully managed•Getty ImagesThere were eyebrows raised when Lance Morris and Jhye Richardson were centrally contracted last year after injury woes. They have been contracted again despite Morris playing just one ODI for the year and Richardson having just one first-class match for the summer in which he injured his shoulder while high-fiving a team-mate.Morris finished the season by resting from the last Shield game, amid a strong run of form, as he continued to be carefully managed. Richardson will spend the winter rehabbing from a third surgery on his troubled shoulder.But Bailey said the pair remain in Australia’s long-term Test plans and a central contract means they can be carefully managed by CA’s high-performance staff.”It’s no secret that the Test bowling group will undergo a little bit of transition, I think, over the next period,” Bailey said. “When we’ve seen them at their best and getting an extended run at red-ball cricket they have pretty exciting skill sets.”But they’ve both had very different setbacks and some challenges along the way. I think getting your body right to be robust enough to be a consistent candidate for Test cricket is a challenge.”But we’re invested in that journey. When they are up and going, we like what they can provide. That journey is ongoing, and hopefully both of them can be in the mix for Test positions come this summer.”