Allrounder Nitish Kumar has been tabbed to lead a 15-man ICC Americas squad in the 2017 Nagico Super50 next month in Barbados

Peter Della Penna02-Dec-2016Canada captain and St Lucia Zouks allrounder Nitish Kumar has been named to lead a 15-man ICC Americas squad that will play in the 2017 Nagico Super50 competition in Barbados from January 24 to February 18. Kumar is one of eight holdovers from the ICC Americas squad that went winless in their debut appearance at the Nagico Super50 in Trinidad & Tobago this past January.

2017 ICC Americas squad

Nitish Kumar (capt), Hamza Tariq (wk), Timroy Allen, Alex Amsterdam, Fahad Babar, Nikhil Dutta, Ali Khan, Kamau Leverock, Timil Patel, Cecil Pervez, Jessy Singh, Nicholas Standford, Steven Taylor, Srimantha Wijeyratne, Saad Bin Zafar
In: Fahad Babar, Nikhil Dutta, Kamau Leverock, Cecil Pervez, Jessy Singh, Nicholas Standford, Saad Bin Zafar
Out: Danial Ahmed, Navneet Dhaliwal, Akeem Dodson, Muhammad Ghous, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Hammad Shahid

The 22-year-old Kumar currently attends MCCU Loughborough and is one of six Canada players in the squad. He was the team’s leading wicket-taker with six wickets in five games at the 2016 Nagico Super50 and was also one of four players to finish with at least 100 runs. Srimantha Wijeyratne, who was ICC Americas leading scorer after making 130 runs in four innings, and Trinbago Knight Riders wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq have also been retained.Ruvindu Gunasekera, who captained the ICC Americas squad in 2016, has been left out along with fellow Canada batsman Navneet Dhaliwal and fast bowler Jeremy Gordon. Gunasekera who had made his Canada debut at 16 after migrating there in his youth, stated in a recent interview that he had moved back to his native Sri Lanka to pursue a professional career there. He opened the batting for Moors Sports Club, making 28 and 1, in a loss this week to Colts CC to begin the Sri Lanka first-class season.St Kitts & Nevis Patriots offspinner Nikhil Dutta, who was omitted from the 2016 ICC Americas squad after a lacklustre performance in an open trial held at Indianapolis in September 2015, has been picked along with fast bowler Cecil Pervez, who tied for the team lead in wickets during the 2016 Auty Cup in Los Angeles against USA. Left-arm spinner Saad Bin Zafar is the other new Canada player in the squad.Eight Americans have been picked, down one from the 2016 ICC Americas squad. USA captain Steven Taylor has been named Kumar’s vice-captain while allrounder Timroy Allen, fast bowler Ali Khan, legspinner Timil Patel and batsman Alex Amsterdam have been retained. Fahad Babar, who made two half-centuries against Canada during the Auty Cup, has been picked for the first time along with fast bowler Jessy Singh and batsman Nicholas Standford. Akeem Dodson, Danial Ahmed, Muhammad Ghous and Hammad Shahid are the four players from USA who were part of the squad in 2016 that have been replaced for 2017.Babar and Singh have just arrived in Sri Lanka to spend the next seven weeks with the Kalutara Physical Culture Club in Tier B of the Sri Lanka first-class competition. The opportunity was facilitated for them by USA coach and former Sri Lanka Test cricketer Pubudu Dassanayake. Both players will remain with Kalutara PCC until the end of the competition on January 22.Allrounder Kamau Leverock has been chosen as the only Bermuda player in the 15-man ICC Americas squad. Leverock took 5 for 30 against a Canada Developmental XI on October 23 and then impressed with the bat at WCL Division Four, striking 137 off 111 balls including ten fours and eight sixes in a win over Jersey. Bermuda left-arm spinner Delray Rawlins was also considered but had to withdraw from consideration due to commitments with Sussex and England Young Lions.ICC Americas first match is against Combined Campuses and Colleges on January 26. They are joined in the five-team Group B by Guyana, Jamaica and hosts Barbados Pride. Group A consists of Trinidad & Tobago, Windward Islands, Leeward Islands, West Indies U-19 and English County side Kent.

Trevor Bayliss admitted England had been ‘totally outplayed’ by India on the fourth day in Chennai as they conceded the largest total in their history

George Dobell in Chennai19-Dec-2016The England coach Trevor Bayliss admitted his team had been “totally outplayed” by India on the fourth day in Chennai as they conceded the largest total in their history.And Bayliss, who leaves the tour on Monday night to return to Australia for a hernia operation, conceded such a chastening day might influence Alastair Cook as he reflects on whether he wants to continue as England captain.Criticising England’s bowling and catching, Bayliss, who has supervised the fielding training for the last 18 months in the absence of a specialist fielding coach, also suggested there was a lack of captaincy experience in the squad should Cook decide to step down but agreed that Joe Root was the “leading candidate.””We got totally outplayed today, for sure,” Bayliss said. “We just weren’t in the game today.”You’ve got to give credit to the Indian batters, who played extremely well. But at times we struggled to bowl to the fields that the captain had set. That just makes it very difficult.”Our catching is still below par – I think the last three catches we’ve dropped have only cost us 500 – and that’s disappointing and something we’ve got to keep working on. There’s no short cut to that – we’ve just got to do a lot of it. We’re a team that probably haven’t got a lot of natural athletes. We’ve got some very good cricketers but we haven’t got a lot of slippers. We’ve just got to get better. It’s as simple as that.”Asked whether such a tough day could have a bearing on Cook’s decision, Bayliss said “possibly” but stated that he would not attempt to persuade him either way.”That’s a decision only he will know the answer to,” he said. “He’s done it for so long, whether I say yes or no, it won’t change his mind whether he keeps going or stops. I’m not big on the technology, but I’m sure we’ll speak on the phone at some stage over Christmas.”If he keeps going, fantastic; if he stops, that’s up to him, and I’ve got no problems with that either. I won’t actually sit down to have a chat with him. We’ve got six or seven months till our next Test match, so there’s plenty of time for him to have a think about it.”I don’t think there’s too many of our players who’ve actually captained too many teams, or any of their county teams.”Joe Root has done a few games on tour, when Cookie’s had a bit of time off or when he’s off the ground. Joe is obviously our number one bat, and is highly-respected by the players. He’s one of those guys who leads by example, and I can’t see that being any different when and if he takes over … if he takes over, I suppose, because we haven’t actually made that decision either.”That will come next if Cookie does step down. But he seems like he’s the leading candidate at this stage.”If it seems odd that Bayliss is leaving the tour slightly early – it was unclear why he could not wait the extra day – it is in part because he wishes to return for the limited-overs leg having made a full recovery. He is scheduled to miss the Caribbean tour in February and March.

Cheteshwar Pujara contributed with 83 and broke the record for most runs in an Indian first-class season

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu09-Feb-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:38

‘Kohli ran Bangladesh into the ground’

M Vijay, who was reprieved on 35, and his captain Virat Kohli punished Bangladesh with contrasting centuries, which led India to 356 for 3 on the first day in in Hyderabad. Vijay combined with Cheteshwar Pujara, who was handed a life on 11, in a 178-run partnership, before Kohli seamlessly took charge of the innings.Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim termed his side’s first bilateral international in India as a “great moment”; he might have later felt it was a wild roller-coaster ride. At the end of the day, in which Bangladesh’s fielding went from bad to worse, they were left nauseous and with a teasing thought: what might have been?Pujara and Vijay, India’s most prolific pair in Test cricket in the last decade, extended their dominance on Thursday with another century partnership, their fifth this home season and eighth overall.Kohli looked like he was on autopilot right from the moment he arrived, 30 minutes before tea. He began with two fours off his first three balls, the second of which was punched fiercely to the long-off boundary. He brought up his fifty off 70 balls at the end of the 73rd over, then brought up his next fifty off 60 balls with a signature whiplash to the midwicket boundary. Kohli now has a Test hundred against every opposition he has played against (he has not played against Pakistan and Zimbabwe).Bangladesh, though, had enjoyed the perfect start to their first bilateral international in India with fast bowler Taskin Ahmed removing KL Rahul in the first over. Rahul chased a full, wide ball – wider than a set of stumps outside off – and dragged it back onto the stumps. Taskin and Kamrul Islam Rabbi then found movement in the air and off the seam, and took regular trips past the edges. They also sent down rising short balls, which forced Vijay and Pujara to throw their gloves in front of their faces.At the end of five overs, India had only played four scoring shots. The first boundary arrived in the next over when Pujara uncharacteristically drove away from the body and sent an outside edge flying to his right of gully.Four balls later, Pujara watched a leading edge drop in front of cover. About three overs later, Kamrul drew an outside edge from Pujara, which dropped well in front of Shakib Al Hasan at first slip. Mushfiqur could possibly have caught it had he dived to his right, but he was unmoved. Then, in the 15th over, Mehedi Hasan Miraz produced an outside edge each from Pujara and Vijay, which flew to the right of Shakib at slip.1:09

When big runs were not enough

Vijay’s major reprieve came when he and Pujara found themselves at the same end. Kamrul put in the dive at square leg to create the run-out chance, and lobbed the ball back to Mehedi, the bowler. With the ball travelling slowly to him, Mehedi panicked and failed to collect the throw cleanly.India enjoyed these breaks in the field but the runs began to flow only after lunch. Vijay drove fluently through the covers and launched Shakib straight back over his head. Pujara brought out his staple shots – the bottom-handed drive and late-cut – and looked increasingly confident against the old ball on a slow track.The three spinners bowled 15 consecutive overs between them in the second session and conceded 54 runs. Overall, the second session yielded 120 runs in 31 overs.When Pujara drove Mehedi straight down the ground for four in the 51st over, he broke the record for most runs in an Indian first-class season, surpassing Chandu Borde’s tally of 1604 in 1964-65. The joy, though, was short-lived as he misread the next delivery – a straight ball from Mehedi – and edged behind, Mushfiqur diving to his right this time and pouching it via a ricochet off the pad.Kohli announced himself with authoritative boundaries, while Vijay got to his ninth Test hundred before being bowled around his legs in the sixth over after tea.Ajinkya Rahane, picked over Karun Nair, seemed comfortable while moving to 45 off 60 balls in an unbroken 122-run stand with Kohli. Bangladesh, though, were far from comfortable: the fumbles continued in the field and they even wasted a review.In the 62nd over, Taijul Isam tossed one up on middle and leg, and Kohli his forward defensive. Taijul and the close-in fielders reckoned it was pad first, only for the replays to throw up how embarrassing Bangladesh’s decision to review the on-field not-out call was. The second new ball wasn’t spared either, and Kohli went onto middle everything. He claimed 94 of the 150 runs India scored in the post-tea session.

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.