Preview of the Group B Champions Trophy match between between India and West Indies

The Preview by Sidharth Monga10-Jun-2013

Match facts

Tuesday, June 11, 2013, The Oval

Start time 1030 (0930GMT)Can West Indies wipe that smile off?•ICC/Christopher Lee

Big Picture

It is a little surprising that these two sides, hugely popular among the expatriate population in England, haven’t faced each other in an ODI in England in the last 30 years. When India last played West Indies in an ODI in England, ODI cricket and West Indies were the kings. India upset West Indies that afternoon, became the new kings of ODI cricket, and paved the way for a whole new commercial explosion in the format. Thirty years later, as they face off in England again, India are the world champions and the No. 1 ODI side, but the format itself is fighting for relevance, at least in popular discourse.West Indies, knocked off their proud perch long ago, will like to believe they have begun the resurgence through Twenty20, the format that is supposed to be the premier limited-overs format. This Champions Trophy provides them a big opportunity to carry that resurgence into the ODIs. And if they can beat India, the only way to keep West Indies out of the semi-finals will be net run rate. If India win, they are through to the semi-finals as only one out of West Indies and South Africa would then be able to secure two wins*.These are teams built around batting might. The new regulations might have made India sacrifice one of the seven batsmen they loved to play, but they still rely on their batsmen, who racked up 331 against South Africa. West Indies’ win might have come in a low-scoring game, but they played with just three specialist bowlers, with captain Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle left to share 20 overs between them. West Indies might add one bowler to the line-up, but it still remains a contest between the mighty batting units.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
India WLWWW
West Indies WWWWL

In the Spotlight

Before Shikhar Dhawan stunned the world with his back-to-back centuries in international cricket, he was discarded because he had failed against West Indies in the West Indies. Going through a phase of supreme form and high confidence, Dhawan now has a chance to set that record straight. Or do West Indies know how to bowl to him better than others do?India’s policy has been clear: play out the initial overs, and the batsmen coming in later can make up for the run rate if there are wickets in hand. Kemar Roach is a man who can put spanners in those works. He did so against Pakistan too, with 3 for 28.

Team news

India had to make two choices going into the Champions Trophy, and both have come off. Rohit Sharma succeeded as opener, and Ravindra Jadeja as allrounder. Don’t expect any changes thereIndia (probable) 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Dinesh Karthik, 5 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh YadavDenesh Ramdin will not be available for selection after he was suspended for two ODIs by the ICC. Johnson Charles is likely to keep wicket, and either Darren Sammy or Tino Best will play. Charles had good wicketkeeping practice at The Oval on the eve of the game, first standing to Sunil Narine and then having more drills from the fielding coach.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt.), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Darren Sammy/Tino Best, 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Kemar Roach

Pitch and conditions

Conditions have been quite unpredictable. On the same Cardiff pitch that India scored 331, New Zealand and Sri Lanka lost 19 wickets for 277 runs. West Indies might have played a low-scoring thriller against Pakistan at The Oval, but you can’t surely say this game, too, will be difficult for the batsmen. A cool day with a 10% chance of rain is expected.

Stats and Trivia

• In 23 matches against West Indies, Suresh Raina has scored just one fifty and averages 19.72 with a strike rate of 77.
• Chris Gayle, with 734 at 56.46, has scored the most runs in Champions Trophy.

Quotes

“The Gayle factor will always be there. These are sort of individuals who have a big impact on the game. So it is good to get them out early. Our fast bowlers will have fair chance in the sense they have two new balls and with overcast conditions they will get a bit of help, too.”
*07.50GMT, June 11: The preview has been updated after the Pakistan-South Africa game

David Hussey’s return to Trent Bride attracted a crowd of 8,000 but Notts’ unbeaten record was ended by Sussex

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2013
ScorecardDavid Hussey has switched from the clamour of IPL to a crowd of 8,000 at Trent Bridge celebrating his return•BCCI

Sussex ended Nottinghamshire’s unbeaten start to the Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign
when they toppled the Group A leaders by 50 runs at Trent Bridge in front of a crowd of 8,000 attracted by discounted admission prices.After being tasked with scoring 224 to maintain their 100 per cent record, Notts’ much-vaunted top order failed to deliver for the first time this season.James Taylor top-scored for the home side with 48 and Samit Patel made 45 as Notts were bowled out for only 173 with the last seven wickets falling for 47 in only 10 overs.Nottinghamshire remain favourites to win the group but will need to lick their wounds and recuperate after their winning streak ended at seven consecutive victories.Earlier, after electing to bat first, Sussex reached 223 for 9 with Matt Machan making 68, hopes of a bigger total stunted by the performance of Harry Gurney who took 5 for 48.Gurney removed both Luke Wright and Rory Hamilton-Brown in his opening burst before returning to claim three more wickets, including Machan, who had shared in a stand of 90 with Ed Joyce for the fourth wicket.Many in the highest YB40 crowd of the season had come to hail the return of David Hussey to the Nottinghamshire ranks.The Australian, returning as the county’s overseas player, took an early catch but then blotted his copybook by spilling Joyce on 20. The Sussex skipper went on to make 58.Machan’s own 50 had come from 55 balls faced and included three fours and two maximums. Left with the lower order after Joe Gatting and Ben Brown had fallen cheaply, he tried to bolster the total by attempting some unorthodox deflections and ramp shots before his luck finally ran out and he was bowled.Matthew Hobden, a 20-year old seamer from Eastbourne, began his debut in style for Sussex by bowling Michael Lumb in the fourth over.The out-of-form Alex Hales failed again, making only seven before driving Andrew Miller to point where Hamilton-Brown took the first of his four catches.Patel skied Chris Liddle, who took three for 21, to mid-off and Hussey only made 14 before the innings collapsed in dramatic fashion with 4.1 overs unbowled.

Virat Kohli hit his 15th ODI century as India easily hunted down 229 to defeat Zimbabwe in the opening encounter

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran24-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVirat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu ensured a hassle-free victory for India•AFP

Usually, Indian cricketers ply their trade in packed and raucous concrete bowls and have to deal with a large media contingent. The Harare Sports Club, in contrast, features vast grass banks, rudimentary stands and is ringed by trees. Only a couple of Indian journalists have made the trip to Zimbabwe to cover the series.If that wasn’t enough to ease the pressure on an Indian squad filled with understudies, the cool weather on a sunny day, the toothless Zimbabwe bowling and a benign pitch made them feel all the more comfortable. With the schooldkids dancing in the stands and plenty of fans having a leisurely lunch near the pavilion, the match seemed more like a casual afternoon game in the park, rather than an international encounter.The intensity of the contest particularly dimmed once Virat Kohli took charge of yet another chase. Over the past three years, Kohli has developed into one of the leading batsmen in one-dayers, a reputation forged on the back of several big centuries when hunting down targets, but today’s hundred – his 15th in ODIs, drawing him level with Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Yousuf – could well have been his easiest in international cricket.The chase revolved around a 159-run stand for the third wicket between debutant Ambati Rayudu and Kohli. Rayudu first came to national attention a decade ago, when picked as a 17-year-old for an A tour of the Caribbean and was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. However, a tussle with his state association and a dalliance with the unofficial Indian Cricket League combined to keep him out of the India team for years. The friendly conditions were the perfect setting for Rayudu to make his debut, and he helped himself to an unbeaten half-century.Rayudu and Kohli came together after India’s opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma departed fairly early – Dhawan after failing to control a hook, and Rohit after nicking a wide, amiable delivery to the keeper. Kohli was fluent right from the start, highlighted by a controlled drive through extra cover and a superbly timed flick to the midwicket boundary. With the asking-rate well in hand, Rayudu took his time early on to settle any nerves, mainly dealing in singles – he hit just two fours till he reached his half-century.With the pitch having dried out, and Zimbabwe’s spinners not getting much purchase, Prosper Utseya’s late double-strike wasn’t much more than an opportunity for the crowd to cheer.The gulf between the two sides was clearly in evidence, though it was widened considerably by India winning the toss. The only time the pitch encouraged the bowlers was soon after the 9am start, and India’s new-ball bowlers, Vinay Kumar and Shami Ahmed, had the ball swerving around though they couldn’t separate the dogged Zimbabwe opening pair of Sikandar Raza and Vusi Sibanda. The openers, well aware of the early danger, concentrated on keeping wickets in hand, not bothering about the scoring rate which remained below three in the first hour.Raza, the Sialkot-born batsman, shrugged off an indifferent start to his international career with a watchful 82 that held the innings together. The camera frequently panned to a man wearing a ‘Team Raza’ t-shirt, and Raza didn’t disappoint his fans. The run-rate may have been wanting, and it wasn’t until the 32nd over that he reached his half-century, but he then showcased his repertoire of strokes, highlighted by two sixes in the Powerplay – one a stunning straight hit over Vinay’s head and the other a muscular swat over midwicket for six more.India’s spinners kept the pressure on Zimbabwe’s top order. Jadeja continued to be in top form, with his steady spin fetching him 10-3-33-0 while legspinner Amit Mishra, playing his first ODI in more than two years, got three wickets. His googly was going to be a big weapon against a team that hasn’t faced him too often, and it provided India the first breakthrough, as Sibanda was lbw in the 22nd over.The disciplined bowling meant that Zimbabwe struggled to lift the scoring rate. It was only around the batting Powerplay, when Raza and Brendan Taylor – Zimbabwe’s best batsman, who walked out as late as the 34th over – piled on 43 runs in five overs, that the home side finally got a move on. After Taylor departed, Raza followed, falling for 82 as he missed a short ball from Mishra. He walked off dejected, and though Elton Chigumbura reeled off a series of boundaries in an unbeaten 43 off 34 balls to lift the target to 229, it didn’t prove much of a challenge for India.

Steffan Piolet has joined Sussex on loan until the end of the 2013 season

George Dobell20-Aug-2013Steffan Piolet has joined Sussex on loan until the end of the 2013 season. Piolet, 25, who joined Warwickshire from Sussex before the 2009 season, has become a regular in limited-overs cricket at Edgbaston but has been frustrated in his pursuit of a place in the Championship side.Despite claiming match figures of 10 for 43 against Durham UCCE on his Warwickshire first-class debut, he has played only two more first-class games for the county and only once appeared in the Championship team.Originally signed as a batsman, he has instead developed into an accurate medium-pace bowler and something of a limited-overs specialist. He is out of contract with Warwickshire at the end of this season and now has a chance to forge a career with Sussex.He joins Sussex with immediate effect and will be available for the county’s last Yorkshire Bank 40 match, versus Worcestershire, and three remaining County Championship fixtures, against Durham (home and away) and Yorkshire. He will not, however, be available for the Championship game against Warwickshire.Dougie Brown, Warwickshire’s director of cricket, said: “This is a great opportunity for Steff to play first-class cricket against strong opposition. Opportunities for him to break into the County Championship squad at Edgbaston have been limited, despite being a regular in our Yorkshire Bank 40 and Friends Life t20 teams. We wish him well for the remaining fixtures with Sussex.”

A thrilling final day at the Racecourse ended with Derbyshire securing a second successive win of the season to take them out of the relegation zone

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Derby23-Aug-2013
ScorecardMark Footitt claimed four second-innings wickets•Getty Images

A thrilling final day at the Racecourse ended with Derbyshire securing a second successive win of the season to take them out of the relegation zone and dent the hopes of yet another title challenger. After excelling at Hove, an unchanged XI followed three days of disciplined cricket with a dogged fourth to bowl out Middlesex for 240, as fans left wide-eyed wondering if they were now Championship contenders by proxy.A combination of relentlessly tight bowling and some smart field-placing from Derbyshire skipper Wayne Madsen saw them overcome any jitters to give them a fighting chance of survival. Few expected them to be in control of their destiny, but head coach Karl Krikken, cock-a-hoop at the finale, could not have looked prouder, as he shook hands with supporters, celebratory beer in hand.He spent the start of the day patrolling the boundary, resembling a football manager, pacing around their technical area. He even had the lingo – describing the upcoming encounters with fellow relegation candidates Somerset and Surrey as “48-pointers”.At one point he even stepped onto the field to pass on a message to Matt Higginbottom at fine leg, while seemingly gesticulating for a 90th minute penalty. “I’m just really pushing and prodding from the side,” he said, smiling. .”We’ve got a very good captain and a good young side so it’s just about trying to get your ideas on the field. You just walk round and say, ‘Why are you bowling with one slip and two drive-men when most of the catches have been dropped at second slip?’ I can’t just sit and watch, I need to get out there and get my hands dirty.”A combination of early season sheepishness and five lost tosses in seamer-friendly conditions resulted in four defeats, most notably when these teams met earlier in the season at Lord’s; Krikken noting that some of the players seemed overawed by the surroundings, particularly those who had never played there before.But a return to the core values that got them promoted has helped them regain their identity and thrive under their underdogs tag. In isolation, their victories against Sussex and Middlesex were about as perfect as first-class wins go. Their application on the field today spoke volumes.Tim Groenewald showed no signs of the ankle complaint that saw him leave the field last night, returning to the attack at the City End, for the fifth over of the day. And it was he, Derbyshire’s leading wicket-taker, who began the morning procession with a ball that seamed in to hit Sam Robson’s off stump.Eoin Morgan looked horribly out of touch and, following a trio of uppish shots just out of the reach of fielders, played on for just 9 when Mark Footitt tempted him with a wide one. A darling of the England side, his run of only three half centuries in 52 innings is embarrassing for a man of his talents. Middlesex fans have voiced concerns over his priorities, and this failure when they needed him most will only rile them further.Two balls later, Neil Dexter was following him back as Footitt speared a full, swinging delivery into middle and off stump to leave the visiting captain powerless.Peter Burgoyne then put the gloss on a fantastic session for Derbyshire with the important wickets of Adam Voges – caught brilliantly by a diving Chesney Hughes at slip – and John Simpson, who failed to stop himself going through with a square shot through the off-side – ball stopping in the pitch, meaning he could only guide it to the grateful hands of Madsen at short cover. The dismissal signalled the end of the morning session, with Simpson unmoved, rueful and shell-shocked.Gareth Berg and Ollie Rayner put their top order to shame – Adam Voges aside – with an eighth-wicket stand of 85 off 113 balls that made Derbyshire fret for the first time in this match.Berg’s season’s best of 71 contained some lovely wrist-work, as he guided balls outside of off stump expertly through the mid-on and midwicket for boundaries. Rayner’s scoring areas were more orthodox, but just as valuable, as they reduced the arrears to double figures. But when Berg failed to get enough bat on a ball he wanted to guide to third man, instead finding the cupped hands of Hughes at a wide third slip, relief swept around the ground.Toby Roland-Jones was adjudged strangled down the leg side – a harsh call agreed the Derbyshire players after the game – to give Footitt his fourth wicket of the match, before Burgoyne brought Tim Murtagh forward and turned the ball into his outside edge to give Hughes his third catch of the innings to seal a momentous victory.For Middlesex, defeat is compounded by an ominously easy Yorkshire win over Nottinghamshire inside three days. Even taking into account Yorkshire’s 10-wicket triumph at Lord’s earlier this summer, the gulf between the two has never seemed wider. Even if Middlesex managed to stay within touching distance of their title rivals in the next three games, they will need to find something special – something they’ve not shown so far – to triumph at Headingley in their last game of the season.Chris Rogers is set to return against Somerset next week – almost certainly retaking the four-day captaincy from Dexter – with overseas stand-in Adam Voges finishing his stint with the county on 383 runs at 54.71.But that’s just replacing one form batsman with another – one who will be fatigued by the rigours of five Ashes Tests. Both Rogers and Sam Robson carried Middlesex at the beginning of the season, and now it’s time for others to share the burden. If not, they may find their title challenge has run its course.

The dream of an England recall in his home Ashes Test might have been denied to Graham Onions but he may look back and decide that bowling Durham to the title was reasonably adequate consolation.

Jon Culley at Derby14-Sep-2013
ScorecardGraham Onions hasn’t been able to pull the England shirt back on in a Test this year but may have bowled Durham to another Championship•Getty Images

The dream of an England recall in his home Ashes Test might have been denied to Graham Onions in a summer of frustrations in his international career but he may look back and decide that bowling Durham to the title was reasonably adequate consolation.He is on the brink of that now after taking 5 for 23 at the Racecourse, where Derbyshire, against all probability, were comprehensively blitzed, bowled out for 63, leaving Durham needing to score only 37 runs to complete a victory that leaves them just one more win away from winning the Championship for a third time in six years.After Yorkshire’s bid to chase down a contrived target at Hove was foiled by the weather, Durham lead Division One by 27 and a half points and will look to finish the job against Nottinghamshire at Chester-le-Street, starting on Tuesday.Their final match is against Sussex at Hove, while Yorkshire’s remaining games are against Middlesex at Headingley and Surrey at The Oval.Onions took 45 Championship wickets in seven matches as Durham won their second title in 2009. This year he has 60 wickets in 10 appearances, five times taking five wickets or more in an innings. Nine of those came in this match, the last five in the space of 41 balls with four runs conceded during a 15-over unbroken spell.Paul Collingwood, whose captaincy record now stands at 13 wins from 20 Championship games in charge, praised Onions for his resilience in the face of the repeated disappointments he has been dealt by the England selectors since winning his last Test cap in June last year, a comment to which Onions responded by saying he had learned how to put setbacks of that nature to one side.”I learned a lot about myself when I was injured for such a long time,” Onions said. “I learned about mental preparation and getting yourself ready for the tough games you have to expect every time you play.”You have to push those disappointments to one side and forget about it. If you perform well against good opposition you get recognised. It’s trying to force my way into the side and trying to win things that keeps me going and we are close to winning things.”A place on the plane to Australia this winter would fulfil his own goal but Onions agreed that a title would bring just as much satisfaction.”It would be incredible,” he said. “It is hard to put it into words what it would mean. There are a lot of very good teams that don’t win championships and the character that the lads keep showing to put in performances and win us games is unbelievable, although we have to remember that we have not won it yet.”Nonetheless, it is difficult to imagine them being overhauled now, given that the unpredictable September weather is more than likely to play a part in denying Yorkshire points.For Derbyshire, the two weeks ahead are beginning to look bleak again after three wins in four had raised the prospect of an unlikely act of defiance from the season’s short-priced relegation favourites.Having begun the fourth day 41 runs in front, with the first innings still incomplete, no outcome but a draw could be envisaged. Durham, who had found scoring runs on a slow pitch no easier than their hosts, increased their tempo enough to claw a third batting point but that seemed sure to be the extent of their gains once they were all out for 325, giving them a lead of 27 and Tony Palladino 6 for 90 after taking four on the day, his dismissal of Collingwood, caught off a top-edged attempted pull, sparking a Durham collapse in which their last six wickets fell for 42.Yet even that did not really hint at the possibility of a win, even though Derbyshire were one down in the second over when Chris Rushworth thumped one into Ben Slater’s pads.But once Paul Borrington had been caught off the glove at short leg in the 10th over, Derbyshire’s inexperienced side folded alarmingly, only just scraping past the season-low 60 for which they had been dismissed at Lord’s in April.Then again, Onions was in supreme form, in the face of which few batsmen would have come out on top. Even Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with his weight of experience, had no answer, set up by a couple of short balls and then pinned in his crease, trapped leg before by a ball that almost knocked him off his feet.”He is a class act,” Derbyshire’s head coach, Karl Krikken, admitted afterwards, with admiration in his voice. “If you look at the video, the ball is basically on a string and swinging all over the place.”Derbyshire’s last nine wickets fell for 37 runs in the space of 20 overs, with Rushworth and the rookie Usman Arshad good value too for their successes. It took Durham fewer than eight overs to score the same number of runs to win, for the loss of Mark Stoneman, whose disappointment at being dismissed for seven came with the consolation of passing 1,000 first-class runs for the season, the fourth Durham-born player to pass that milestone, and the second in two days.

Timil Patel and Fahad Babar continued their exceptional tournament runs with bat and ball respectively, as USA recorded a comfortable eight-wicket win against Suriname in Indianapolis’ World Sports Park

Peter Della Penna in Indianapolis08-May-2015
ScorecardHammad Shahid takes a diving catch at deep square leg, one of four grabs he made during the game•Peter Della Penna

Fahad Babar and Timil Patel continued their exceptional tournament runs with bat and ball respectively, as USA recorded a comfortable eight-wicket win against Suriname in Indianapolis’ World Sports Park. The victory clinched them a top-two spot and a ticket to Ireland and Scotland for this summer’s World T20 Qualifier.USA won the toss and sent Suriname in hoping for a quick result, but Suriname hung tough to bat out all 20 overs ending on 106. Thanks to contributions from Muneshwar Patandin (10), Wasim Akram (21) and Gavin Singh (18), Suriname reached 71 for 2 in the 12th over before the wheels started to unravel thanks to the intervention of Timil, who took 4 for 13 and now has a tournament-leading 12 wickets from five games.The collapse was initially sparked by Karan Ganesh, who tempted Gavin Singh into a mistimed flick toward Adil Bhatti at deep midwicket on the final ball of the 12th for the third Suriname wicket. With a 35-run stand between Singh and Boodram now broken, captain Muhammad Ghous brought Timil on for the start of the 13th and he struck with his third ball as Boodram charged down the pitch and was beaten in flight to be bowled for 20. In Timil’s next over, Shazam Ramjohn mistimed a pull and a top edge was taken by Steven Taylor 15 yards behind the stumps to make it 82 for 5.While Timil eventually claimed Man-of-the-Match honors, the play of the day came in the 16th over courtesy of fast bowler Hammad Shahid. Sauid Drepaul tried to slog sweep left-arm spinner Danial Ahmed over the leg side but produced a swirling top edge. Shahid ran 30 yards from long leg to pull off a diving one-handed catch at deep square leg.”When the ball went up in the air, the wind was blowing pretty hard,” Shahid told ESPNcricinfo after the game. “I was trying to get under the ball but the ball kept pulling away from me because the wind was going against me so I had to put in the dive at the end because I don’t think I would’ve made it if I didn’t put in the dive. It just clicked and came in my hands. I was kind of surprised I got there because it’s pretty far for me. I haven’t taken a good catch like that in a while so it felt good and to take it at a big level for USA was amazing.”Shahid, who earlier claimed a catch at midwicket in the fourth over of the day to give Ghous a wicket, then claimed two far simpler catches at long-on off Timil’s bowling in the 19th over. Adil Bhatti bowled the final over of the innings and was responsible for the last Suriname wicket when he chased down the final delivery in his follow through before underhanding the ball into the stumps from five yards away.Babar and Taylor opened the chase with a 61-run stand before Taylor was out for 33 to start the 12th, getting dismissed in near identical fashion to Thursday’s match against Bermuda as he checked a drive straight back to seamer Muneshwar Patandin. Mrunal Patel added another 32 with Babar before he was out for 14 inside edging a flick through his pads with the ball just trickling into the stumps. Nicholas Standford joined Babar for the final 14 needed to win and finished 10 not out.Though USA only reached the target with 10 balls to spare, they took a relaxed approach to the chase and were never in danger of falling short. Babar hit two of the five fours in USA’s innings, including a booming sweep off Gavin Singh in the fourth over to spur him onto an unbeaten 43. Babar remains the tournament’s leading scorer with 209 runs and has only been dismissed once in Indianapolis.

At 6pm on Monday, with less than 10 overs of a compelling Test match remaining, Trent Boult upper cut Stuart Broad towards third man where Moeen Ali took a superbly judged running catch

The Report by Andrew McGlashan 25-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBen Stokes proved England’s talisman on the final afternoon•Getty Images

Shortly before lunch on Saturday, New Zealand were 404 for 3, building a lead, and England’s new era was heading for a difficult start. At 6pm on Monday, with less than 10 overs of a compelling Test match remaining, Trent Boult upper cut Stuart Broad towards third man where Moeen Ali, stationed there by Alastair Cook but not right on the boundary edge, took a superbly judged running catch to earn England a 124-run victory and complete a remarkable turnaround.Less than a year after falling one wicket short of beating Sri Lanka on this ground England were just beginning to get twitchy as Boult and Matt Henry negotiated eight overs with the ball starting to fall short or wide of fielders. But Broad, from round the wicket, dug the ball in and Boult, who had blocked unconventionally, could not resist playing. That it was taken at a position that needed some astute captaincy was the perfect finish for Cook, who had been so central to England’s fightback with his 162.It was a combined effort to bowl New Zealand out for a second time; James Anderson and Stuart Broad firstly reducing them to 12 for 3 before lunch, but it was Ben Stokes who really lit up Lord’s for the second afternoon running in with an electrifying over in which he removed two of New Zealand’s lynchpins, Kane Williamson and Brendon McCullum, in consecutive balls to leave them 61 for 5.

Plunkett in Headingley squad

Liam Plunkett has been added to England’s squad for the second Test, at Headingley, which begins on Friday. Back-to-back Tests means a heavy workload for the fast bowlers and England have chosen to bring in Plunkett, who last played a Test last summer, as another option alongside the 12 selected for Lord’s. Chris Jordan, who is currently playing in a Championship match for Sussex, was the player to miss out in the first Test as Mark Wood made his debut.
England squad: Alastair Cook (capt), Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Jordan, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett

Corey Anderson and BJ Watling made contrasting half-centuries in a free-wheeling 107-run partnership but, with 26 overs remaining, Mark Wood produced a wicked delivery to brush Watling’s glove and three overs later Joe Root trapped Anderson lbw. Stokes was not finished, either, and returned to removed Mark Craig then next ball Moeen took an excellent return catch off Southee. Moeen’s next catch would be even better.There have only been nine higher totals than New Zealand’s 523 in defeat and England had only ever won three times having conceded more. The change in fortunes centred around England’s second-innings 478, anchored by Cook’s marathon innings and ended 11 overs into the final morning to leave New Zealand 345 to win 77 overs.Anderson and Broad gave England the ideal start with the ball as both openers departed for ducks – Martin Guptill edging to slip to become Anderson’s 399th Test wicket and Tom Latham lbw to Broad’s first delivery – then Ross Taylor also fell in single figures, before Williamson and Watling, who was tactically promoted to No. 5, brought a little stability.But life was never easy and then Stokes, from the Nursery End, made his latest indelible mark on the match. After twice beating Williamson with deliveries that nipped away to beat the outside edge he lured him into pushing at a slightly wider ball and Root took a low catch in the gully. Next ball he bent one back into McCullum and the New Zealand captain deflected it down into his stumps.Lord’s, populated by people who had queued around the ground for final-morning tickets on a Bank Holiday, roared its approval of a cricketer who, if he doesn’t already, will soon have hero status. The hat-trick ball to Anderson was greeted by six slips, a short leg, leg gully and short cover. Stokes continued to challenge the batsmen and his duel with fellow allrounder Anderson was absorbing as the New Zealander took a similarly aggressive route to Stokes, which included two crunching fours and a mighty pulled six into the Mound Stand.Anderson also attacked Moeen, who struggled to settle into his spell, and quickly overtook Watling who had a 17-run head start on him. Continuing to play his strokes as tea approached, three consecutive boundaries off Moeen took him to a 44-ball half-century – 46 of the 51 runs coming in boundaries.Watling, who did not kept wicket since lunch on the first day due to a knee injury, has performed some monumental match-saving efforts for New Zealand, and the partnership took the visitors to tea with 36 overs remaining in the day.Runs continued to flow freely at the start of the evening session – although Anderson, for a moment, though he had his 400th wicket when Watling was given caught down the leg side but S Ravi’s decision was quickly overturned – before Wood, who impressed hugely in his debut Test, found a delivery to bounce from short of a length and England had their opening into the lower order. Moeen’s struggles meant Cook turned to Root and his Midas touch continued when he won an lbw verdict that the DRS upheld, with the ball just shaving leg stump.Craig was beaten by a full delivery from Stokes and Southee, certainly more a basher than a blocker, chipped one low to Moeen’s left and the bowler plucked it out. The floodlights came on as the evening became gloomy and the final hour was beginning to advance when the final wicket was extracted.Boult, whose day started much more brightly when he secured a place on the honours board with 5 for 85 as he claimed the final four England wickets, stood forlornly at the striker’s end before being joined by Matt Henry. New Zealand will know a fantastic opportunity escaped them, but they were part of a wonderful match.

Craig Kieswetter has described the England team he played in as divided by cliques and changed by success

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-20154:52

Cliques within the England dressing room?

Craig Kieswetter has described the England team he played in as divided by cliques and changed by success. In an exclusive interview with ESPNcricinfo, Kieswetter also explained his decision to retire following an eye injury and his frustration with his own England career.But it is his views on the England dressing room that will gain most attention. While Kieswetter stopped short of repeating Kevin Pietersen’s claims of bullying in the England environment, he does not paint a flattering picture.Though he says he came into a united dressing room in early 2010, he believes that winning the World T20 and then the Ashes in Australia “changed people”.”It wasn’t just us competing against the opposition,” Kieswetter said. “There was a sense that some of us were competing against one another. By the time we were No. 1 in the world, it was a very different dressing room. Success changed people. Cliques developed. There were jokes made in the dressing room if you had a South African background. When we warmed up in training, we were split into sides: South Africans v English.”There was lots of talk about it in the media and here we were making it worse. It created an unnecessary divide. A sense of them and us.”It grew worse. The Test players were together so much that, when the limited-overs players turned up, it felt like you were on the outside. The Test guys hung out with each other; the limited-overs guys hung out. The spirit I experienced in those first few weeks was never there again.”Craig Kieswetter’s England career peaked at the World T20•Getty Images

Those “first few weeks” saw Kieswetter become the second youngest England player, after David Gower, to make an ODI century and win the Man-of-the-Match award in the 2010 World T20 final. But while he started out playing with rare freedom, he feels that prolonged exposure to the England environment left him feeling “caged” as a batsman.”Of all the England teams I played in over five years, that was the one that had the best spirit,” he said. “To be honest, I don’t remember it that clearly: we played golf, we went to the beach and we drank rum. Training tended to be optional. KP was at his best. So were Broad and Swann. But we were a proper team and everyone got on brilliantly.”I started out playing with freedom; I ended up caged. I guess if I was in the current set-up I would thrive, but I had a good record as an opener and they asked me to bat at No. 6. It’s tough, but I’m disappointed with the way I responded to it.”Kieswetter also explained his decision to retire from cricket following a blow to the eye sustained while batting against David Willey. “I know I can’t play at the level I want to,” Kieswetter explains. “I liked being a swashbuckling player. And I felt I had the talent to play for England. I don’t feel that way any more. I’m not the same player. I’m not as good as I want to be and I never can be.”I can still play. I can still be okay. But when I came back at the end of last season, there was a lot of bravado and adrenalin involved. In the end I just thought, there are too many mediocre players in county cricket – and good luck to them – but I don’t want to be another one.”Read the full interview here

Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake has said that 23-year-old Dushmantha Chameera is the most exciting fast bowling ‘find’ he has come across since Lasith Malinga

Sa'adi Thawfeeq04-Jul-2015Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling coach Champaka Ramanayake has said that 23-year-old Dushmantha Chameera is the most exciting fast-bowling find he had come across since Lasith Malinga.Ramanayake, a former Sri Lanka seamer with 18 Test caps, was responsible for the emergence of Malinga, and he believes Chameera has the same raw material in him.”Chameera is the equivalent of Malinga at the start of his career, pace wise, but not skill wise which he has to develop,” Ramanayake said. “Malinga bowled with a lot of confidence and had raw pace and he had an unusual bowling action.”Chameera has got pace which was lacking in our bowling line-up. It is good to have a bowler who can hit speeds of nearly 150 kmph consistently in your team. He has to work on his skill levels and he needs strengthening for sustainability.”Chameera went off the field for treatment in his second over during Pakistan’s second innings in Colombo, but returned afterwards to bowl with a lot of pace and picked up three wickets. He unsettled the Pakistani batsmen and broke the wrist of Wahab Riaz, who was subsequently ruled out of the Test series.”I am very proud of his attitude that even with a side strain he continued to bowl. Pain is something every fast bowler has to carry with them throughout their careers,” Ramanayake said.Ramanayake said that he got to know Chameera better when he was working with the Sri Lanka A team during the home series against Pakistan A.”Working with the A team, there is a lot of time to condition the bowlers better. Chameera along with the other fast bowlers underwent similar training as the seniors. It was enjoyable working with the youngsters.”Ramanayake said the arrival of Michael Main, the new trainer from England, was helping the bowlers get fitter and stronger. “Conditioning is very important. We are doing a special program on fitness and strengthening for all our fast bowlers, it’s a six-month course,” Ramanayake said. “With the climate and weather we have here it’s tough on the fast bowlers, you can’t bowl them in long spells. Sri Lanka must be the toughest place in the world for fast bowlers. Unlike in countries like England, New Zealand and Australia where the conditions and pitches are suitable for fast bowling, it’s a challenge in Asian countries.”Dhammika Prasad, who was named Man of the Match for his seven wickets in Sri Lanka’s win against Pakistan in the second Test, has overcome fitness and injury problems which had held back his progress in the past.Ramanayake said that Prasad’s role in the senior team was to give confidence to the bowlers and work on their mental side. “Dhammika had a bowling fitness issue and when he was in the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team last year we treated him as a special case. We conditioned him and he was asked to bowl spells for a day as in a match situation. It’s a mental thing as well. Bowlers can have a bad spell or a bad day but unlike batsmen they can always come back.”