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David Willey will miss England’s three-match ODI series against West Indies in the Caribbean next month

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2017David Willey will miss England’s three-match one-day international series against West Indies in the Caribbean next month.The Yorkshire allrounder had surgery on his left shoulder on Friday to further assess the injury he sustained while bowling in the third ODI against India last month. He has suffered a partial tear of a tendon and will be out of action until April.Willey will be replaced in the England squad by Middlesex seamer Steven Finn, who is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League in the UAE.England fly to the Caribbean next Wednesday, where they play two warm-up matches and three ODIs against West Indies.Willey, lightly used throughout the one-day series against India – bowling over 13 overs in three matches – was only able to manage two overs in the final ODI in Kolkata before leaving the field.He has only completed a full 10-over spell in seven of his 25 ODIs, with his captain, Eoin Morgan, seemingly reluctant to use him beyond his threat swinging the new ball.He remained behind in Kolkata for scans when the rest of the squad travelled to Kanpur for a three-match T20 series, with England Cricket tweeting that “a scan didn’t show up significant damage to his left shoulder”.That initial diagnosis proved to be overly optimistic and he returned home for an operation, the extent of which has now been revealed.Willey’s latest injury also threatens to disrupt his involvement at the start of Yorkshire’s season and will not help him claim a place in the Championship side for a county where Ryan Sidebottom, a fellow left-armer, shows few signs of deterioration at 39 and, at the other end of the age scale, Matt Fisher, if he can shake off the injury worries that have curtailed his involvement in the England Under-19 tour of India, is ambitious to prove himself England’s brightest fast bowling prospect.

The decision to use a stand-in coach for the India ODI tour is a mirror of Australia’s plans in 2013, when Lehmann remained in Australia ahead of the home Ashes series

Daniel Brettig10-Mar-2017Australia’s assistant coach David Saker will stand in for Darren Lehmann on the ODI tour of India that takes place later this year, but admits the fact that he has not played international cricket will count against him in calculations to replace Lehmann after the head coach’s contract expires in 2019.Lehmann has previously indicated that the conclusion of his current deal, following the double of the World Cup and an Ashes tour both in England, is highly likely to be the end of his tenure as coach of the national team. Saker returned to Australia from England and coached Victoria to the Sheffield Shield in his first season before being named as Lehmann’s assistant last year.While not shying away from saying that he would be more than capable of being Australia’s head coach, Saker conceded that a first-class career as a swing bowler for Victoria that did not feature any international cricket would likely count against him in Cricket Australia’s calculations.The Western Australia coach Justin Langer and the Adelaide Strikers coach Jason Gillespie – both of whom stood in to mentor the Australian Twenty20 team last month alongside Ricky Ponting – are commonly considered the most likely successors to Lehmann.”It’s a huge honour to be even considered to be a coach of an Australian team and to be given the opportunity is fantastic. I’m going to look forward to it a lot,” Saker said. “My ambition is to coach Australia but I know not playing cricket for Australia makes it a little bit harder. But I think I’ve been involved in Test cricket, one day cricket and Twenty20 cricket a lot. I’ve seen a lot of cricket so I think I could do the job without a doubt.”Saker’s frank assessment of international cricket being a factor in his chances is not mere opinion. Lehmann and by extension CA have emphasised the importance of international playing experience in the coaching staff over the past four years, to the point that playing the game at the top level as a player is believed to be a factor in areas such as coach’s contract length and level of remuneration.The decision to use a stand-in coach for the India ODI tour is a mirror of Australia’s plans in 2013, when Lehmann remained at home ahead of the home Ashes series alongside several members of the Test team including David Warner, Michael Clarke and Steven Smith. The touring team were instead led by George Bailey as captain and Steve Rixon as coach, and gave a good account of themselves until an in-form Mitchell Johnson was sent home ahead of the series deciding final game.India went on to win the last match to take a high-scoring series, but the result was to be little remembered in the aftermath of Australia’s subsequent 5-0 sweep of England on home shores. Saker was then a part of England’s support staff – he will be hoping this time to aid the hosts in regaining the urn, both by his guidance in India and in the Ashes Tests that follow.

Rashid Khan took a career-best 6 for 43 as he ripped through Ireland’s middle order yet again after Paul Stirling’s 6 for 55 and 95 had kept them in the game in the second ODI

The report by Varun Shetty17-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Rashid Khan ran through Ireland’s middle order, yet again•Associated Press

A match lit up by stellar individual performances for most parts ended on a tame note as Ireland suffered two mini-collapses on either side of a sixth-wicket stand that kept them interested briefly in a chase of 339. They fell 34 short of Afghanistan’s 338, once again failing to negotiate 18-year-old Rashid Khan who now has 18 wickets in his last four matches across formats against them. The legspinner finished with a career-best 6 for 43.The first of his six wickets was Paul Stirling, who was having arguably the best match of his career till he was given out. Having taken 6 for 55 earlier after spontaneously switching to legspin halfway through his spell, the offspin-bowling opener had powered along to 95 off 79 when he was struck in front of leg stump by a googly. He was five runs away from equalling Paul Colingwood’s returns of a six-for and century in the same match. His disappointment was telling as he let out cathartic screams after umpire Ahmed Shah Durrani had raised his finger. To his credit, however, he didn’t make much of it after picking up the Man-of-the-Match award.”We were told that the umpires are always right. Fairplay to them, [we] respect the umpires. That’s the way we have been taught to play the game,” Stirling said.Ireland were 173 for 2 at that point, also fuelled by Ed Joyce who scored 55 in an opening stand of 113. Rashid’s googly then made Niall O’Brien second-guess a legspinner as he was trapped plumb, and William Porterfield’s 46-ball 45 ended when he closed the face to get a leading edge off a googly to extra cover. Ireland had fallen to 228 for 5. Stuart Thompson struck a 25-ball 37 but Asghar Stanikzai’s strategic use of pacer Dawlat Zadran helped Afghanistan keep Ireland in check.Stanikzai had a great day himself, electing to bat and coming in at 94 for 2 after Mohammad Shahzad had walloped a 63 off 43 on a flat pitch. He put on 96 for the third wicket with Rahmat Shah, whose 68 was his third consecutive fifty in ODIs, before launching into attack mode. He targeted Tim Murtagh and Peter Chase in particular, taking the pacers for a combined 51 off 19, and made 71 off 35 from the 37th over onwards to reach his maiden ton off 88 balls. He fell for 101 two balls later and was one of six wickets that Afghanistan lost in the last five overs. Three of them fell to Stirling in the last over, including Shafiqullah, whose 17-ball 35 put the finishing touches on Afghanistan’s total.

New skipper Joe Leach inspired a Worcestershire fightback as 16 tumbled on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship match with in-form Northamptonshire at New Road

ECB Reporters Network21-Apr-2017
ScorecardJoe Leach responded stoutly for Worcestershire [file picture]•Getty Images

New skipper Joe Leach inspired a Worcestershire fightback as 16 tumbled on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship match with in-form Northamptonshire at New Road.New Northants signing, paceman Andy Carter, enjoyed an inspired debut with a deadly three wicket burst including Worcestershire top-scorer Moeen Ali, who made 50 as the home side were bowled out for 188.It was the ideal start to Northamptonshire’s bid to win the opening three Championship matches in a season for the first time in their history.But Leach, in his first home match at the helm since replacing Daryl Mitchell as captain, produced a deadly new ball spell which yielded four wickets.It was reminiscent of the form which brought him 65 Championship wickets last summer – the most by any bowler in Division Two.When bad light intervened with 25 overs remaining, Northants had been reduced to 102 for 6 with only Ben Duckett (45 not out) offering serious resistance.Former Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire player Carter was signed up after injuries to pace duo Ben Sanderson and Rory Kleinveldt.The visitors were also without skipper Alex Wakely for family reasons and Josh Cobb led the side in his absence.Moeen, playing his first Championship match for almost a year, and Daryl Mitchell dug in against the Northants seamers in adding 62 for the second wicket after the early departure of Brett D’Oliveira.Steven Crook trapped Mitchell lbw for 30 and Tom Fell departed in the same manner to Mohammad Azharullah.Moeen had greeted Carter’s introduction into the attack by planting his first delivery over midwicket for six and the England all-rounder went to his half century off 87 balls.But then Carter changed the complexion of the game when he returned after lunch for his second spell. Moeen went for a drive and was bowled and four balls later Tom Kohler-Cadmore, still to get off the mark, shouldered arms and suffered the same fate.It became three wickets in 11 balls for Carter as Ben Cox nicked a ball of extra bounce through to keeper Adam Rossington.Joe Clarke produced some flowing drives but Nathan Buck ensured Northants polished off the innings in efficient fashion.He disposed of Ed Barnard, Leach and Josh Tongue in the space of five overs while Clarke’s knock ended at 33 when he fell lbw to Crook.The wickets continued to tumble when Northants launched their reply with Leach settling into a lengthy opening spell which brought him four wickets.After Rob Newton went lbw in Leach’s first over, Duckett decided attack was the best form of defence in an over from Worcestershire overseas player John Hastings which cost 22 runs.He was aided by Max Holden in a stand of 53 but it was only a brief respite before the bowlers dominance returned.Holden drove Barnard to point before Leach took centre stage. Rob Keogh edged to second slip and Rossington rashly slashed the next delivery to point.Richard Levi survived the hat-trick ball and a spilled chance by Josh Tongue off Leach but it did not prove costly.He went lbw for 24 in Leach’s next over and his replacement Barnard disposed of Cobb in the same manner.

Mumbai Indians clinched their third IPL title in a pulsating last-ball finish, defending 129 to beat Rising Pune Supergiant by one run

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy21-May-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:49

Agarkar: Pune’s over-cautious approach cost them the IPL

This was, barring a WWE-style rebirth, Rising Pune Supergiant’s last ever IPL game. They made sure it went the distance, all the way to the last ball, despite keeping Mumbai Indians down to the lowest first-innings total in an IPL final.Somehow, Pune managed to drag a chase of 130 to the last ball.The first ever IPL final had come down to the last ball too. Then, nine years ago, Sohail Tanvir pulled L Balaji for a single to win it for Rajasthan Royals.Now, Mitchell Johnson bowled to Daniel Christian with Pune needing four to win. Bowling from around the wicket, Johnson went full and straight. Christian whipped it away to the left of deep square leg. J Suchith, the substitute fielder, fumbled at the boundary, allowing a second run. That wouldn’t do for Pune. They needed four to win, and three to tie.The batsmen chased a desperate third with Suchith’s throw almost already in Parthiv Patel’s gloves. Once Parthiv collected it safely, only one result was possible. Mumbai Indians, playing their fourth final, wrapped up their third title, winning by one run.Krunal Pandya was Mumbai’s hero with the bat, his 38-ball 47 dragging them from 79 for 7 to an eventual 129 for 8, a total that would enable their bowlers to scrap all the way. Then, helped along by Pune’s ODI-style top-order approach, those scrapping bowlers managed to make the required rate creep steadily upwards – with five overs to go, Pune were only two down but needed 47 from 30.Given Mumbai’s death bowling, this was definitely not over. Jasprit Bumrah took out MS Dhoni in the 17th over. Then Lasith Malinga and Bumrah again ensured Pune would only get two boundaries across the 18th and 19th. That left Steven Smith, batting on 51, and Manoj Tiwary 11 to get from the last over.Despite taking a boundary off his first ball, they couldn’t quite do it against Johnson.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Mumbai bat, Mumbai falterSix of the nine previous IPL finals had been won by the team batting first. Perhaps that and how it was difficult to chase in Hyderabad was why Rohit Sharma went against his team’s record this season of eight wins in 11 games while chasing. That too when they only had a 3-2 record while batting first.Perhaps it had something to do with Mumbai’s record against Pune: they had met three times this season, and Pune had won all three times, twice while batting first.It seemed, right through Mumbai’s innings, that they had some mental scars from all those defeats to Pune. A first-ball leave from Lendl Simmons set the tone for a cautious start on a slower-than-usual Hyderabad surface, with only seven coming off the first two overs, against Jaydev Unadkat’s back-of-a-length cutters and Washington Sundar’s flat, stump-to-stump offspin.Then Unadkat dismissed both openers in the third over – a short ball cramping Parthiv Patel’s attempt to pull, a slower ball clipping Simmons’ leading edge and popping back for a diving return catch.Mumbai never really recovered from there, despite Rohit Sharma smacking Lockie Ferguson for four fours in the sixth over. Adam Zampa removed Rohit and Kieron Pollard in the 11th over, and Mumbai were 65 for 5.Krunal gives Mumbai a chanceChristian trapped Hardik Pandya lbw in the 14th, playing across the line, and Karn Sharma was run out in the next over, in most comical manner. Dropped by Christian diving to his left at slip, he ran out of his crease in a panic anyway. It seemed to sum up Mumbai’s state of mind.Krunal, though, seemed to be achieving some clarity of thought. For now, he was simply thinking of extending the innings as far as he could. It took until the 19th over for him to hit his first six, straight back over Unadkat’s head. Then he swiped and slogged Christian for a four and a six in the last over, off which Pune scored 14. Still, their total was 14 short of the previous-lowest first-innings total in an IPL final.That had come in 2009, when Deccan Chargers defended 143.Mitchell Johnson dismissed Steven Smith in the last over to turn the match again•BCCI

Rahane, Smith keep Mumbai in the gameNo team had defended a total of 129 or below since the 2013 season. Mumbai, though, had the bowling to do it. Pune, meanwhile, adopted a keep-wickets-in-hand approach. With Rahul Tripathi lbw in the third over to Bumrah, Smith joined Ajinkya Rahane at the crease. Rahane could have fallen for 14, foxed by a Malinga slower ball, but Krunal failed to hold on to a fairly straightforward chance at short cover.By the time he holed out to long-on in the 12th over, he had made 44 of 38, batting as he would in the longer forms of the game. Smith, playing in the same manner, was batting on 18 off 25 at that point. Given the slowness of the surface and the difficulty new batsmen would face in getting going straightaway, this seemed a questionable approach.As it happened, Dhoni struggled initially, scoring only four off his first nine balls. With Karn Sharma and Krunal getting the ball to grip, and Malinga varying his pace, Pune batted out three boundary-free overs. With 30 balls remaining, they now needed 47.End-overs experts squeeze out PuneA half-controlled square-cut from Dhoni sped between backward point and short third man, and two balls later Smith reverse-swiped Krunal for six. Fourteen came off that over, and Rising Pune seemed to be back on track.Bumrah and Malinga, though, still had three overs to bowl. Bumrah got Dhoni caught behind, denying him width for the cut, and closed out that over, the 17th, with two lbw appeals against Manoj Tiwary, the batsman unable to read his changes of pace and angle, coupled with a hint of reverse.Smith managed to flick Malinga for four in the 18th, in between a string of unhittable yorkers, and launched Bumrah over long-off in the 19th, off the one ball in the over that was pitched short of the blockhole. When Tiwary shuffled across and whipped the first ball of the 20th over to the vacant square-leg boundary – Johnson had just lost an argument with Rohit to station a fielder there – the equation came down to 7 off 5.Surely, that would do it. Johnson, though, hadn’t had his say yet. Looking to hit him over extra-cover, Tiwary was undone by the slower ball, only managing to drag it round to long-on. Then Smith, having crossed over, timed an inside-out slice perfectly, but straight to sweeper cover.With three balls left, Pune needed seven, with two new batsmen at the crease. Washington Sundar brought Christian on strike off the fourth ball, failing to make contact with a wide-ish yorker but managing to scamper a bye. Then Christian, slogging at another full slower one, was dropped by Hardik running forward from deep midwicket – he sprinted a second, and Pune needed four from the last ball.The last ball of Rising Pune Supergiant’s two years in the IPL. It wouldn’t be the last ball they wanted.

Kent and Northamptonshire played out a dull, high-scoring draw at Beckenham after Josh Cobb and the Northants lower order comfortably made the 24 more runs they required to avoid the follow-on early on the final day

ECB Reporters Network06-Jul-2017
ScorecardKent and Northamptonshire played out a dull, high-scoring draw at Beckenham after Josh Cobb and the Northants lower order comfortably made the 24 more runs they required to avoid the follow-on early on the final day.Northants, resuming on 528 for 7 in reply to Kent’s mammoth 701 for 7 declared, were eventually bowled out for 568. Kent then replied with 184 for 3 in sizzling temperatures, and in front of a sparse crowd, and they took 11 points from this Specsavers County Championship Division Two match and Northants 9.Daniel Bell-Drummond played on to Ben Sanderson on 5, but Sean Dickson made 60 in a second wicket stand of 101 with Joe Denly, who went on to 78 not out before hands were shaken at 4.50pm. Denly, who made 182 in Kent’s first innings, now has more than 900 championship runs this season, at an average above 60, with three hundreds and four more scores above fifty.Dickson, the first innings triple-centurion, skied Max Holden’s off spin to cover after totalling 378 runs in the match, while Denly took his match run aggregate to 260 as Kent captain Sam Northeast kept him leisurely company against an assortment of Northants’ slow bowling – which included the offerings of wicketkeeper Adam Rossington, with skipper Alex Wakely deputising behind the stumps.As the game meandered to its conclusion, indeed, it was a moot point as to whether what was on show could be deemed first-class cricket. Perhaps the championship regulations should allow the umpires to call matches off early, but to their credit Kent’s batsmen did not try to smash the gentle bowling to all parts – merely walking singles into the deep field amid the odd boundary.Northeast, in fact, gifted Ben Duckett his maiden first-class wicket when he skied an attempted big hit at a full toss to cover, on 27. Adam Rouse finished 8 not out.At the start of the day Northants did not lose another wicket until the follow on target of 552 had been passed, with Cobb off driving Pakistan leg spinner Yasir Shah for four to take his side beyond that score.Graeme White, on 11, then skied Shah to mid on before both Nathan Buck and No 11 Sanderson fell cheaply to leave Cobb 34 not out. Buck was leg-before to Shah, as he shaped to play to leg off the back foot, and Sanderson slogged James Tredwell’s off spin to mid on to go for a duck.Northants’ 568 was a record total in first-class cricket against Kent, beating the previous best of 561 for 8 declared at Canterbury in 1995.

Tom Curran kept his head in the final over to carry Surrey to a sensational two-run victory in the opening NatWest T20 Blast game of the season at Chelmsford

ECB reporters Network07-Jul-2017
ScorecardFile photo: Tom Curran delivered a matchwinning final over•Getty Images

Tom Curran kept his head in the final over to carry Surrey to a sensational two-run victory in the opening NatWest T20 Blast game of the season at Chelmsford.With Essex requiring 10 off the last six balls, and six wickets in hand, Curran claimed the key wickets of Ravi Bopara and Ashar Zaidi to claim a memorable victory.Bopara’s dismissal off the second ball of the over ended a 46-ball 75, with five sixes, that looked to have put Essex in the driving seat.Earlier Dominic Sibley thumped four sixes in a swashbuckling 61 that enabled Surrey to post a challenging total of 188 after being put in to bat.However, it had looked as though sixes from successive deliveries bowled by Jade Dernbach in the penultimate over by Bopara – one straight, the other over long leg – meant Essex needed less than two runs a ball from the final over.The first ball went for two, but Tom Curran found the extra pace to beat Bopara from the next. With five required off two balls, Curran added the scalp of Ashar Zaidi, bowled to a full-length ball. The boundary required from the final ball as beyond James Foster.Essex had reached 25 in the third over when Varun Chopra left alone a delivery from Tom Curran that pitched outside off-stump and hit middle and leg.

‘Sibley unbelievable’ – Curran

Tom Curran, Surrey: “That knock from Dom was unbelievable. He’s come in not having played a lot of T20 cricket and he’s made a great stake for a permanent place in the T20 side. I thought he batted beautifully.”

Dan Lawrence, who had hit Sam Curran straight for six, followed soon after when he swished inelegantly at the younger Curran and was caught behind for 13.Tom Westley and Ravi Bopara put on 45 for the third wicket in six overs. But Westley was undone by Scott Borthwick’s first ball, which spun in and bowled him for 23. He had earlier edged Ravi Rampaul for six backward of square and then carted Dominic Sibley over cow corner for a second.Bopara hit Jade Dernbach for a straight six, pulled Rampaul for a second and hooked Borthwick for No3 as Essex accelerated. Rampaul went for 16 from one over, Borthwick for 14 the next as Bopara and ten Doeschate made hay.Bopara scrambled a single into the offside to reach a 43-ball fifty, but the partnership was broken by Sam Curran who trapped ten Doeschate lbw on the front foot. Essex still needed 52 from 26 balls, and 25 from the last two overs.Surrey lost Jason Roy to the fourth ball of the game, lbw to one from Mohammad Amir that swung late, and wickets followed in quick succession throughout, bar a sixth-wicket stand of 55 between Dominic Sibley and Sam Curran.Replacing Amir, two of Paul Walter’s first four deliveries were wayward and signalled as wides, but his third legitimate ball arrowed past Mark Stoneman’s bat and took out middle and leg stumps.Finch had already laid into Jamie Porter with a four through midwicket and a six over long leg off successive balls, and was similarly severe on Ashar Zaidi with a four chipped to deep extra cover followed by another six into the second tier of the stand at long leg.But Zaidi had the last word in his first over, tempting Rory Burns into a reverse sweep and bowling him.Finch reached his fifty from 23 balls with his third six, slogged-pulling Zaidi high over midwicket. But four balls later, in trying to work Bopara down to third man, the Australian top-edged behind for 56.Bopara had a second wicket in his third over when Ollie Pope pulled him to the midwicket boundary where Amir leapt to catch. Surrey had lost half their batting for 86 inside 11 overs.The fifty partnership for the sixth wicket came off 28 balls, before Curran on 25 gave himself room against Walter and lost his leg stump. Sibley lost the other Curran, Tom, to an inswinger from ten Doeschate’s first ball.Sibley reached a valiant half-century from 35 balls with his fourth six, but departed for 61 when he was run out off the last ball. Borthwick had his stumps shattered from a free-hit off Walter, but James Foster had a stump out of the ground before Sibley made his ground.

Glamorgan had to survive Tom Curran’s 51 off 27 balls to secure victory which strengthened their position at the top of the South Group

ECB Reporters Network04-Aug-2017Tom Curran almost stole victory for Surrey•Getty Images

Aneurin Donald’s brilliant 76 off 40 balls shone out under the Kia Oval floodlights as Glamorgan strengthened their position at the top of the NatWest T20 Blast’s South Group table by squeezing past Surrey by six runs in front of a crowd of 21,256.But Tom Curran almost stole the match for Surrey at the death, his remarkable 51 not out from 27 balls making a mockery of 48 runs being required from the last three overs to overhaul Glamorgan’s 181 for 6. In the end, having hit the second ball of Michael Hogan’s final over for six to bring the equation down to nine from four balls, Curran was foxed by two slower balls from the veteran Australian seamer which he swung at and missed.A scampered two from the penultimate ball left Curran, who hit three sixes and three fours, needing seven from the last ball. He hit it into the offside, opted not to run but still walked off to an ovation for a courageous attempt to achieve the seemingly impossible with Surrey finishing on 175 for 7.Donald, still only 20, hit two sixes and 11 fours in his T20-best as he and the prolific Colin Ingram, who scored 42 from 31 balls with three sixes, swept Glamorgan towards their eventual total by adding 95 in just 8.3 overs for the second wicket after they had opted to bat first.It was Glamorgan’s fifth win of the group stage and took them to 14 points while Surrey, who have now lost four of their ten games, remain on 10 points.Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph praised Donald’s batting plus Michael Hogan’s nerve in the thrilling final over.”Tom Curran did incredibly well to get them so close, and there is so much noise out there in front of a crowd of that size that it’s difficult to communicate,” he said. “But Michael kept his cool after the second ball six and showed his experience to switch to around the wicket and bowl two vital dot balls. It was a brave decision.”Aneurin batted brilliantly up front and it was a pretty solid batting performance although we might have got 20 runs more after the start we got.”Surrey’s chase did not start well, with Jason Roy nicking the first ball of the innings, from Lukas Carey, to the keeper but Mark Stoneman joined Aaron Finch in a stand of 64 in six overs before carving to deep midwicket in Graham Wagg’s first over to go for a useful 21-ball 34.Finch, who had got off the mark by swinging Michael Hogan for six from his first ball, and who also hit Marchant de Lange for six, reached 33 from 22 balls before mishitting Ingram’s occasional legspin straight to long on in the eighth over, and Surrey’s decline continued as Moises Henriques and Sam Curran were both held in the deep.Aneurin Donald helped keep Glamorgan top of South Group•Getty Images

From 84 for 3 after ten overs, Surrey slid to 101 for 6 as Rikki Clarke could only score 6 on his Surrey return before becoming one of de Lange’s three victims.Ollie Pope, caught at midwicket off de Lange, scored a sparkling 26 and Surrey’s hopes rose further when Tom Curran swung Hogan for six in an 18th over costing 16 runs and also containing fours by both Curran and Stuart Meaker.That left 32 needed from the last two overs, and Curran immediately swatted Graham Wagg’s left arm seam over wide midwicket for six. Riding his luck, with an inside-edged four to fine leg, Curran ensured that 15 came from the over – setting up the superb finish.When Glamorgan batted, Donald was quickly into his stride, pulling for six the fourth ball of the innings from Jade Dernbach – and the second ball he faced – before taking three fours from Sam Curran’s opening over with a lovely straight drive, a paddle-pull to wide long leg and then a crashing drive through extra cover.Another flipped four, off Dernbach, followed before the wicket of Jacques Rudolph slowed Glamorgan for a while. From 30 for no wicket after three overs, they could only score 46 for 1 from the initial six-over Powerplay after Roy leapt to take a brilliant catch at backward point to send back Rudolph for 4.The bowler was Clarke, who has rejoined his first county Surrey, for whom he played from 2002 to 2007. Initially, the move is on loan from Warwickshire ahead of a permanent move from next season, with Dom Sibley already going the other way in a reciprocal deal, and 35-year-old allrounder Clarke struck with his fifth ball in the fourth over. His first two overs cost only eight runs and he finished with 1 for 23.Ingram, however, still managed to hit his first ball, from Clarke, for four and he was soon pulling Tom Curran for four and launching Gareth Batty’s offspin for six in the eighth over. Another six arrived when Ingram pulled the younger Curran out of the ground beyond the Peter May Stand as the Welsh county reached the halfway mark at 87 for 1.Batty was then plundered for 22 in an over by Donald, with three leg-side fours and a smeared six being followed by a delicate lap for four by the youngster from the last ball of the 11th over.A four and straight six by Ingram off Henriques’s medium pace quickly followed but the rollicking second wicket stand ended in the 13th over when Donald skied paceman Meaker to midwicket.Ingram went six balls later, cutting Henriques to point, and three more wickets fell in the final overs as Glamorgan’s middle-order sought to add as many as they could. David Miller’s 24 from 19 balls included a last over six off a Tom Curran full toss the ball before he fell attempting to clear long-on, while Wagg also swung Clarke for six.

Bangladesh batted for most of the third day and threatened South Africa at times, but the home side fought back with a clean-up job of the visiting team’s tail and furthered their lead to 230 runs

The Report by Mohammad Isam30-Sep-20171:24

Moonda: Bangladesh will be disappointed with soft dismissals

Smart stats

• 1 – This was the first time Bangladesh’s third, fourth, fifth and sixth wickets all added 50 or more runs in a Test innings.

• 1 – Number of bigger totals for Bangladesh against South Africa than the 320 they scored in this match. Their highest is 326, which came in Chittagong in 2015. These are the only two 300-plus totals for them in 19 innings against South Africa. Bangladesh’s previous-highest total in South Africa was 252 in East London in 2002.

• 28 – Runs for which Bangladesh lost their last five wickets in nine overs. They collapsed from 292 for 5 to 320 all out.

Bangladesh batted for most of the third day and threatened South Africa at times. But the home side fought back with a clean-up job of the visiting team’s tail and furthered their lead to 230 runs. When play was called off due to bad light at Senwes Park, they were 54 for 2.Hashim Amla and Temba Bavuma batted out the last 4.5 overs with some ease after Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram were snuffed out early in South Africa’s second innings. Elgar was first to go, after using up a review when Shafiul Islam trapped him in front of middle and leg with one that curved in from back of a length. Aiden Markram chased a Mustafizur Rahman cutter that broke away from him and edged behind. Unlike Elgar, he didn’t challenge the decision, and replays showed his bat had bumped into the ground at the same moment the ball took his outside edge.Bangladesh could possibly have been looking at a much smaller deficit but for a lower-order meltdown that resulted in them losing their last five wickets for 28 runs. Keshav Maharaj bowled well for South Africa despite being attacked at times and finished with three wickets.Bangladesh had done well to move close to the follow-on mark when Sabbir Rahman chopped on a short ball from Duanne Olivier after finding the bounce too disconcerting. But with Mahmudullah well-set on 59, it had at least seemed like Bangladesh would comfortably pass their highest Test score against South Africa, of 326.South Africa decided to take the second new ball halfway into the 84th over and immediately struck, Morkel getting Mahmudullah to chase a length ball and chop it on. A moment’s brilliance from Temba Bavuma at backward point caught Taskin Ahmed short of his crease, and by the time tea was taken, Bangladesh had lost three wickets in six overs.South Africa needed just 19 more balls after the break to take out the last two batsmen. With the ball hard and new, out came the short stuff. Rabada bounced out Mehidy Hasan second ball after the break. Maharaj then found Shafiul Islam’s outside edge with one that straightened from middle and off, Amla pouching an excellent catch at first slip.It was far from how the day had begun for Bangladesh. Morkel and Rabada bowled well at the start of the first two sessions but were wicketless in those periods. As a result, Bangladesh added 91 runs in the first session for the loss of just Tamim Iqbal.Tamim was at times lucky during his stay and survived a blazing opening spell from Rabada. Eventually, he fell to a diving, one-handed catch from Quinton de Kock, who anticipated early and moved to his right, giving Andile Phehlukwayo his maiden Test wicket.Thereafter, Mominul Haque and Mahmudullah buckled down. Mominul, who had looked solid on the second evening, fought through a tough initial spell in the morning, collecting his first runs of the day after 30 testing deliveries.That moment also marked Bangladesh finally opening up, as they took 17 runs off one Rabada over. Fed plenty of deliveries that were angled into his body, Mominul collected eight boundaries through the leg side, five of them between mid-on and midwicket.Mahmudullah took a bit of time to settle down, but once he did, the on-the-up drives, cuts and slog sweeps came out, one of which helped Bangladesh avoid the follow-on and bring up the 300. Mahmudullah adjusted well when Faf du Plessis placed two short covers, placing his shots through the empty third-man region.Their stand of 69 was broken in the fourth over after lunch when Mominul fell for 77. He had gone seven innings without a half-century since his 64 in Wellington in January.Mahmudullah and Sabbir then added 65 for the sixth wicket before both batsmen dragged deliveries on to their stumps. They should have pushed on to bigger scores, but their break in concentration was the theme of Bangladesh’s reply.

The Australia fast bowler will miss the opening round of Sheffield Shield matches later this month, as he continues to recover from a side strain

Daniel Brettig18-Oct-2017Josh Hazlewood, part of Australia’s pace trio with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, is behind his preferred fitness schedule and will miss the opening round of Sheffield Shield matches ahead of the home Ashes series, as he continues his recovery from a side strain suffered in Bangladesh.There are three Shield rounds scheduled before the first Test against England at the Gabba on November 23, but Hazlewood will be missing when an otherwise full-strength New South Wales meet South Australia under lights at Adelaide Oval from October 27.Hazlewood’s absence will put him a match behind Cummins and Starc in their Ashes preparations, and potentially open a conundrum for selectors in terms of how much he will bowl in the second and third Shield rounds. NSW are scheduled to play their third match in Brisbane against Queensland, the better to allow the majority of the likely Test squad to move smoothly into their training for the Gabba.”You’d much rather play one or two (games), I guess, then freshen up in that third week,” Hazlewood said in Sydney. “But you can always just bowl a little bit less at training in those days leading into the Test. There’s still a decent enough gap there.””The side is really good. I’ve been off the full run the last three or four sessions, so getting back to 100%. I’m probably about 85-90%. The timing was a bit unfortunate but it’s given me a chance to freshen up and get some good work in the gym and on the running track. I’m feeling nice and fit. It’ll be good to put everything together in club cricket – bowl 10-12 overs; field for a couple of hours.”While Starc has resumed bowling for NSW with a trio of improving displays in the domestic limited-overs tournament and Cummins has remained fit despite his heavy workload in Bangladesh and India, Hazlewood is now running out of time to be in the best possible condition for the start of the Ashes.Australia ran into trouble last summer when choosing to rush back both Starc and Peter Siddle from injuries to face South Africa. Starc did well to maintain his fitness when playing only a matter of weeks after suffering a serious leg gash in training, but Siddle suffered a recurrence of a back stress fracture, which ruled him out of all cricket for the summer.Adding to the complications for Australia is that the selectors appear to be leaning towards picking the best six batsmen irrespective of whether or not they have adequate all-round cover for a fifth bowler – a role played by Shane Watson in 2013-14. Hazlewood said the balance of the Australian bowling attack was vital to success against England.”It wasn’t just all about Mitch [Johnson]. He obviously got the rewards but, on any other day, Ryno [Harris] could have got the 30-odd wickets,” Hazlewood said. “Gaz [Nathan Lyon] is obviously going to be key in that talk as well. Hopefully, we can mirror that … keep that pressure building.”