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A round-up of the Group B matches from the third round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy matches

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2016A bonus-point victory increasingly looked a possibility for Karnataka after they ground Delhi on the second day of their Group B fixture at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Resuming on 131 for 3, Karnataka almost batted the entire day to make 414. When the last wicket fell, in what was to be the final ball of the day, they had opened up a lead of 324.Despite five of their batsmen unable to kick on after crossing fifty, their good performance with the ball on the opening day – Delhi were bowled out for 90 after S Aravind’s four-for – meant Karnataka had made enough ground to push for seven points.Karun Nair, the captain, and Kaunain Abbas, playing in just his second first-class match, put together 89 for the fifth wicket after Ishant Sharma struck in the second over of the day when he had nightwatchman Abhimanyu Mithun poking an away-swinger to the wicketkeeper. For close to a session, Delhi’s spinners were rendered ineffective on a surface that had considerably eased out as both batsmen milked singles quite comfortably.Halfway through the second session, Delhi’s bowlers had respite against the run of play when Nair and Abbas fell. Stuart Binny briefly entertained in his 32, before chipping a simple return catch to Vikas Tokas. Karnataka’s batting depth then surfaced, with Shreyas Gopal (46) and CM Gautam adding 77 for the eighth wicket. Karnataka added 47 for the last two wickets, before Varun Sood, the left-arm spinner, picked up the last wicket to finish with 4 for 80. Gautam remained unbeaten on 63.Shahbaz Nadeem’s first five-for this season helped Jharkhand nudge ahead•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Shahbaz Nadeem’s 7 for 74 helped Jharkhand snatch a two-run lead over Rajasthan in Vadodara. That, after Rajasthan, in reply to Jharkhand’s 209, put together 100 for the first wicket, courtesy fifties from Manender Singh and Vineet Saxena. Nadeem scythed through the middle-order with his left-arm spin as Rajasthan lost their last seven wickets for 61. Jharkhand lost Anand Singh early, but Virat Singh’s 35 and Pratyush Singh’s 33 not out helped extend the lead to 75, with eight wickets in hand when stumps were drawn.Jaydev Shah became the first Saurashtra captain to score a double century as Maharashtra’s bowlers, who nearly conceded a lead despite scoring 600-plus against Delhi last week, were run ragged again. Jaydev (217), who has scores of 193, 64 and 0 so far this season, put on 174 for the sixth wicket with Chirag Jani (100 not out), before Saurashtra declared on 657 for 8.There were contributions from Sheldon Jackson (105) and Cheteshwar Pujara too. Pujara, returing to the domestic circuit in a bid to get match ready ahead of the Test series against England, made 93. He was the first man to be dismissed on the day, in what was to be a rare moment of cheer for Maharashtra. They ended on 18 without loss, trailing by 639.No play was possible between Vidarbha and Assam in Trivandrum because of rain and a wet outfield. Vidarbha, who chose to bat, will resume on 254 for 3, with Ganesh Satish (93) and Ravi Jangid (31) at the crease. Sanjay Ramaswamy, the opener, made 83 and shared a 131-run second-wicket stand with Ganesh to consolidate Vidarbha’s innings on the opening day.

Spinner Sunil Narine’s return to international cricket after a 14-month hiatus could help solve West Indies’ lack of penetration in the middle overs, captain Jason Holder said

Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Oct-2015Spinner Sunil Narine’s return to international cricket after a 14-month hiatus could help solve West Indies’ lack of penetration in the middle overs, captain Jason Holder said. Holder described Narine as the “best bowler in the world” as his team prepares for the first ODI against Sri Lanka, on Sunday.Narine’s international absence was partly due to trouble with his action. He has been reported twice for a suspect action in the past 13 months – first at last year’s Champions League [he was subsequently banned from bowling in the tournament final], and again during this year’s IPL.The bowler had remodeled his action after the first report, even withdrawing from the World Cup squad to focus on remedying the flex in his elbow. Despite that he was found to have returned to his old action when delivering offbreaks, at a biomechanical test in Chennai, in April. The offbreak was subsequently cleared within weeks. Each of these reports and tests had been carried out under the auspices of the BCCI, and not the ICC.Holder said he was “very, very happy” at Narine’s return, as it would elevate his attack’s menace during the middle overs. West Indies had regularly taken wickets with the new ball during the 2015 World Cup, but had then allowed batsmen to flourish after the 20th over, which in turn allowed oppositions to mount huge scores. South Africa had struck 408 against them in Sydney, before Martin Guptill’s 237 not out formed the guts of New Zealand’s 393 in the quarter-final.”Once we get early wickets it makes things a little bit easier in the middle, but in the past we’ve let the game – in a sense – drift from us,” Holder said. “We have Sunil Narine now, which makes me more comfortable. He’s a wicket-taking option whenever he comes into bowl. Hopefully he can take some wickets in the middle and maybe his pressure could create other wickets around for the guys he’s bowling in partnership with.”It’s hurt us in the past where we’ve had two set batsmen. But we have the best bowler in the world in Sunil Narine. Hopefully we can get those wickets at the end and have Narine at the forefront, leading the attack.”The ICC’s new playing conditions for ODIs may also help West Indies stem the flow of runs during the final overs. As West Indies have not played since the World Cup, this will be the first series in which Holder can place five men outside the 30-yard circle during the last 10 overs of an innings.”Having the five fielders outside the circle in the last 10 gives us a bit more leeway,” Holder said. “In the past we’ve really struggled with having four fielders out there. Most captains have struggled with having four fielders out in the last ten. A set batsman is always difficult to contain. We had a warm-up game, but unfortunately the rain came before the match progressed to those last 10 overs. I don’t think it will be a big change. It’s something similar to the T20 format.”Holder’s side had won that practice match against SLC Board President’s XI by 43 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method, after Carlos Brathwaite and Andre Russell had put on a sensational 193-run, eighth-wicket stand. Rain interrupted the match 21 overs into the hosts’ chase however, hampering the preparations of West Indies’ bowlers.”The guys got a chance to spend some time in the middle in the practice match,” Holder said. “Afterwards we came back and had a good blowout in terms of bowling. I would say the guys are well prepared. We also got a good net session under the lights, so the guys got a feel for the backdrop of the Premadasa Stadium. It’s very important that we start the series well because it’s a short series, and we’d like to build some confidence going into the T20 series as well.”

Durham have made a habit of finding their way out of holes, perhaps it’s a mining thing.

Alex Winter at Edgbaston18-Apr-2013
ScorecardBorthwick’s maiden Championship century kept Durham in the game•Getty Images

Durham have made a habit of finding their way out of holes, perhaps it’s a mining thing. Having once again fallen down the shaft, Paul Collingwood and Scott Borthwick dragged them back towards more comfortable air.Collingwood cleared the rubble for fellow Sunderland football fan Borthwick to build on and it was Borthwick who went through to a maiden Championship century from 128 balls. It was an attractive innings with 15 fours and an indication of the talent that was recognised with an international debut in August 2011.Borthwick wanted to play strokes and after the hard work was done following an early tea, played a series of pulls, flicks and drives. He latched onto anything short, pulling with great confidence and, as he grew in stature, allowed himself to attack on the front foot too. His best shot was a straight drive off Keith Barker.Borthwick has done it on the small occasions – a maiden first-class hundred against Sri Lanka A in 2011 and 99 against Durham MCCU in the opening match of the season – but this was his best score in the Championship. A coming-of-age moment, maybe. He turns 23 on day three and can celebrate with his family who have travelled down for the game.Successive cover-driven boundaries off Rikki Clarke took him into the 90s and he brought up the century by pushing Chris Woakes for three through extra cover.”I’ve worked on my batting over the winter,” Borthwick said. “And I’ll try and keep improving this summer so it was nice to get a big score to get us in a good position. When me and Colly got together the plan was just to bat as long as we could. We just tried to keep it simple. Colly is brilliant to bat with, he just takes every ball as it comes.”Borthwick wouldn’t have got his century without his industrious captain. Could there be a better man for a crisis than Collingwood? His leadership transformed Durham in 2012 with five wins from the final seven matches – it only took Warwickshire six victories to win the title – and he who got his head down to lead Durham towards the light again with a three hour innings. It took half of last season for his first half-century of the year but his side were thankful his form showed up earlier in 2013.His 153-run stand with Borthwick – a record for the seventh wicket for Durham against Warwickshire – was made in a marathon evening session of 52 overs. It was the latest middle-order rescue mission. Many were needed last season in a remarkable run to safety where Nos. 4, 5 and 6 in the order filled three of the first four places in Durham’s Championship run-making charts.Collingwood topped the list. Here he was at his gritty best to repel the unrelenting Warwickshire attack and keep Durham in the contest. Two batting points and a first-innings deficit of 61 was an excellent result from 0 for 2 and 5 for 3.At 50 for 6 the Warwickshire juggernaut was back up and running. They welcomed back Barker and Chris Woakes who seemed eager to make up for lost time by taking 3 for 8 in six overs before lunch.Barker was irresistible from the pavilion end. He kept a tight line and found swing, first moving one away just enough to take a feather edge of left-hander Mark Stoneman’s bat and then getting another to hold its line to the right-handed Will Smith who couldn’t get his bat inside the line in time.Woakes added the wickets of Ben Stokes, bowled by one that nipped back from around the wicket, and Phil Mustard, lbw shouldering arms, and returned to break the Sunderland-alliance when Collingwood fended outside off and edged to Rikki Clarke, the safest hands in the country who earlier had shocked the crowd by dropping Borthwick on 40.

Tim Southee has been dropped from New Zealand’s squad for the second Test against South Africa in Hamilton

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton12-Mar-2012 Tim Southee has been dropped from New Zealand’s squad for the second Test against South Africa in Hamilton, starting on Thursday. After a tough first Test in Dunedin, in which he conceded 140 runs and failed to take a wicket, Southee will return to the Plunket Shield to work on technique and form.New Zealand have beefed up their bowling with the addition of Mark Gillespie and the re-inclusion of Brent Arnel, who was part of the squad for the first Test but was not included in the final 12.Gillespie has come off a run of fine form in which he has taken 20 wickets in his last three first-class matches. He is third on the list of wicket-takers, behind the yet-to-be-eligible Neil Wagner and Arnel, with 30 wickets at an average of 27.53.”Tim Southee hasn’t been included He’s a talented young fast bowler and we are confident he will return to the Plunket Shield and continue to put pressure on those in the Test team,” Kim Littlejohn, New Zealand national selection manager said. “Mark Gillespie returns to international cricket after showing good form recently and provides and a strong and reliable bowling option.”

New Zealand Test Squad

Ross Taylor (capt), Brent Arnel, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Andrew Ellis, Mark Gillespie, Martin Guptill, Chris Martin, Brendon McCullum, Tarun Nethula, Rob Nicol, Kruger Van Wyk (wk), Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson

Gillespie has played three Tests for New Zealand, one of them against South Africa in November 2007 at Centurion. Gillespie will have fond memories of that match as it was his Test debut and he took a five-for in South Africa’s only innings, dismissing Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and Mark Boucher.There is the possibility that Arnel and Gillespie won’t feature in the final XI on a pitch that is no longer expected to be seamer-friendly. Although there was initially talk of a green wicket being prepared at Seddon Park, this has been doused by the suggestion that the strip may actually be a little dry.In anticipation of that, New Zealand have also added variety to their attack, with the inclusion of legspinner Tarun Nethula, who has yet to play Test cricket. “We are pleased to be able to offer Tarun an opportunity. He is bowling well and offers a point of difference to the attack,” Littlejohn said.Neither BJ Watling, who is recovering from a hip joint injury, nor Dean Brownlie, who has a fractured finger, were considered for the squad. South African-born wicket-keeper Kruger van Wyk keeps his place along with Rob Nicol, who had a tough debut opening the batting.

Sri Lanka are toying with the idea of throwing in all three of their spinners into the XI for their match against Australia on Saturday

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Colombo04-Mar-2011Sri Lanka are toying with the idea of throwing in all three of their spinners into the XI for their match against Australia on Saturday, which is expected to see a full house of 35,000 spectators at the R Premadasa Stadium.”That’s a possibility that we’re exploring,” Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said. “I think that’s the best way to play Australia. We’ve got three main spinners and some part-time spinners in the squad. So we’ll have to make a decision on that.”Sri Lanka has in their ranks the highest wicket-taker in ODI and Test cricket, the wily Muttiah Muralitharan, as well as unorthodox legspinner Ajantha Mendis and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath. They also have the spin options of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera, who bowl offbreaks, and Chamara Silva, who can chip in with some legbreaks.Attacking Australia with spin is nothing new. In the Champions Trophy semi-final at the Premadasa in 2002, Sri Lanka threw in five spinners: Muralitharan, Kumar Dharmasena, Upul Chandana, Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva, and beat Australia by seven wickets.While Sri Lanka’s attack may be built around spin, Sangakkara is aware Australia will rely on their quicks. “The real strength of Australia is their pace attack. They’ve got four quality pace bowlers who are pretty quick. They probably will come at us very hard, right from ball one.”If we can absorb the pressure and try to be as positive as we can, maybe we can capitalise when spin is introduced. But still, [Jason] Krejza is a very good spinner. He bowls an attacking line.”Kumar Sangakkara says he is not worried about winning the toss at the Premadasa•AFP

While there might be changes in Sri Lanka’s bowling combination, Sangakkara said there would not be any changes in the middle order, which is considered the weak link of their team. “I don’t think we need any drastic changes. When the middle order score runs, I don’t think people will ask the same questions.”Chamara Silva replaced Chamara Kapugedera after Sri Lanka’s first game, against Canada, and got a half-century in the match against Pakistan. Thilan Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews are yet to play a substantial knock in the competition.The Premadasa pitch will be in focus once again for the Sri Lanka-Australia match. It was re-laid before the World Cup, and in three matches in the tournament so far, the ground has seen the team batting first win twice. Prior to being re-laid, the Premdasa had a reputation of being a ground where it was difficult to chase under lights – only three of the last 21 day-night matches there have been won by the team batting second. However, Sangakkara said he would not be too worried about the toss.”The toss is a crucial factor no doubt, but you don’t’ have to worry about that too much. Most sides probably want to bat first and to put up a big total on this wicket. But the Premadasa has changed over the years and I think it’s pretty well balanced, whether you’re chasing or batting first.We lost the game against Pakistan by some 10-odd runs. I think we could have got those 10 runs earlier on in the game. We lost four quick wickets and that was a big drawback. Having looked at the Pakistan game, it goes to show that whether you win or lose the toss, the real important thing is to win the match.”Lasith Malinga, the Sri Lanka fast bowler, missed the first two matches of the campaign, but returned for the third game and took 6 for 38 against Kenya. Sangakkara said he wanted Malinga to play in all the remaining games of the tournament.”We want him to be as fit as he can be and play all our games. If he’s available and ready to play he will play. When you have guys like Malinga, Mathews and Murali you expect them to deliver. You look up to your star bowlers and then the responsibility falls onto the support bowlers to do their bit. We’ll try and focus on how we share that responsibility and give freedom to guys like Lasith to express themselves.”

Steven Smith’s third Sheffield Shield century for the summer put New South Wales in the prime position to take first-innings points against Tasmania

Cricinfo staff04-Mar-2010Tasmania 6 for 173 (Doolan 100, Copeland 4-26) trail New South Wales 6 for 468 (Smith 177, Jaques 88, Forrest 62) by 295 runs

ScorecardSteven Smith’s century put New South Wales in control•Getty Images

Steven Smith’s third Sheffield Shield century for the summer put New South Wales in the prime position to take first-innings points against Tasmania. Alex Doolan brought up his second first-class hundred but was a lone fighter for the Tigers, who closed the day 295 runs behind with only four wickets in hand.The star of the day was Smith, who reached triple-figures with a boundary over midwicket from his 197th ball. Once he had passed the milestone, Smith lifted the tempo and struck his next 77 from 50 deliveries, finishing with five sixes in the 177 that was his best first-class score.When Smith skied a catch to mid-on, the New South Wales captain Stuart Clark called an end to the innings at 6 for 468 and Tasmania’s reply didn’t start well. Trent Copeland had the opener Rhett Lockyear lbw for 1 and he grabbed another three wickets to finish the day with terrific figures of 4 for 26 from 19 overs.Daniel Marsh (29) and Ed Cowan (22) were the only other batsmen besides Doolan to reach double-figures and at stumps James Faulkner was on 1 with Xavier Doherty on 4. Doolan’s 100 ended when he was lbw to Mitchell Starc but it continued a breakthrough season for Tasmania’s No. 3, who has made 612 runs this summer.

Unbeaten half-century sinks Northamptonshire with 23 balls to spare

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay10-Jul-2025Leicestershire Foxes kept themselves in the race for a quarter-final spot in the Vitality Blast after defeating Northamptonshire Steelbacks by six wickets with 23 balls to spare to go fourth in the North Group, moving ahead of their opponents, who remain in contention despite losing five matches in a row.Rehan Ahmed was the Foxes’ match-winner with an unbeaten 52 off 30 balls after Sol Budinger had hit 40 off 22, pace bowler George Scrimshaw taking three for 33 for the Steelbacks.Josh Thomas, a 20-year-old left-arm spinner on a short-term loan from Somerset, took two for 32 on his Blast debut, with two wickets each from Logan Van Beek and Josh Hull as the Steelbacks made 171 for seven, led by Ravi Bopara with 53 from 40 balls.Saif Zaib made 30 off 18 and skipper David Willey 27 off 18, the visitors’ innings swelled by Luke Procter (22 from 17) and Ben Sanderson adding 42 unbroken after a collapse from 106 for two to 129 for seven on what looked a good pitch.The Steelbacks lost Tim Robinson second ball when he miscued Van Beek to mid-off, with Willey dropped on nought in the same over as Sam Wood let the ball through his hands on midwicket rope, Willey picking up six more with a repeat of the shot to go with a couple of fours before mistiming Hull to be caught at short midwicket.Another spilled chance on the boundary, this time sparing Zaib on eight, as Hull palmed one over the rope at fine leg off Tom Scriven, cost 22 runs as Zaib and Bopara added 63 in 40 balls before Zaib hit Wood straight to mid-off.Zaib’s demise prompted a collapse with five wickets falling in as many overs. Thomas, signed as cover for the injured Liam Trevaskis, bowled Justin Broad and had Lewis McManus caught at long on as his first victims in the format.Van Beek bowled George Bartlett and Bopara, whose 50 had come off 36 balls with six fours and a slog-swept six off Louis Kimber, hit Hull straight to extra cover as the Steelbacks stumbled, before Procter and Sanderson drew on their experience in the last five overs to provide something to defend.Willey dismissed Rishi Patel without scoring for the second time this season, taking an easy return catch off a towering top-edge, but Budinger drove Willey and twice pulled Sanderson for maximums, before Shan Masood (25 off 23) fell victim to a leg-side strangle facing Scrimshaw after he and Budinger had added 71.The 6ft 7ins Scrimshaw picked up his second in his next over as Budinger swatted a full toss straight to wide mid-on. Kimber lifted Aussie wrist-spinner Lloyd Pope over long-off for six before both Rehan, on 18, and Kimber, on 12, were dropped by Bopara at extra cover in an eventful next over by Pope, who was also lifted for two sixes by Rehan.Scrimshaw returned to bowl Kimber at 118 for four but after Ben Cox had scooped Willey for an inventive six the Foxes needed 38 from 36 balls, but that came down to 21 off 24 after Rehan cut Zaib for four and drove him down the ground for six, the night continuing to go wrong for the Steelbacks as Cox was missed on the long-on boundary on 14, picking up six more, after which the end came quickly after Willey’s last over went for 18, Rehan completing his half-century off 30 balls with the winning boundary off Sanderson.

A NSW statement said she would aim to return for pre-season training later this year

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2024Australia left-arm seamer Lauren Cheatle has been ruled out of the rest of the domestic season and the WPL after undergoing a medical procedure for skin cancer on her neck.Cheatle underwent the procedure on Wednesday. She had previously undergone treatment for skin cancer in 2021.She had been signed by Gujarat Giants for this season’s WPL which begins on February 23 but will now miss the tournament as well as the rest of the WNCL season for New South Wales. She took 3 for 18 in her last outing against ACT and has taken 11 wickets at 15.45 for the season.In the WBBL for Sydney Sixers she claimed 21 wickets at 17.23″Cheatle is aiming to return to training with NSW following the players’ scheduled off-season break,” a Cricket New South Wales statement said.Cheatle made her Test debut for Australia late last year against India which marked her first international appearance since 2019 following a run of shoulder injuries. She might have been in the frame for the Test against South Africa in Perth this month.

Wiese fought with a valiant half-century but fell in the final over as Namibia fell short

Firdose Moonda20-Oct-2022United Arab Emirates 148 for 3 (Waseem 50, Rizwan 43, Scholtz 1-22) beat Namibia 141 for 8 (Wiese 55, Hameed 2-17, Zahoor 2-20) by seven runs.It has taken UAE six matches in two tournaments, spread over eight years, but finally they have notched up a win at a T20 World Cup. They scored their second-highest tournament total and defended it fiercely, dismissing Namibia for…From 69 for 7, Namibia had no business being in the Super 12s but they have got there, and got there by topping their group and breaking Dutch and Emirati hearts in the process. Namibia’s win means both they and Sri Lanka advance, with Netherlands’ hopes hinging on a UAE win and UAE being denied their first win at a T20 World Cup.Actually, in a match to confound every writer of match reports, it was UAE who triumphed despite David Wiese and Ruben Trumpelmann putting on 80 off 56 balls for the eighth wicket after Namibia were 69 for 7. Namibia needed 14 runs off the final over, bowled by Muhammad Waseem, but Wiese was dismissed off the fourth ball and Namibia did not have enough muscle at the end.The result matters most to Netherlands, who will advance in second place to the Super12s alongside Sri Lanka, with Namibia knocked out despite being the favourites. UAE will also depart the tournament, but with a some points to show for it.Related

• David Wiese: 'As long as Namibia have me, I'll keep coming back for them'

• Agony turns ecstasy as World Cup pendulum swings Netherlands' way

They very nearly dropped their chance of victory when Waseem, who had set up UAE’s total with a half-century and was tasked with bowling the 17th over, dropped Wiese off his own bowling on 33. Wiese slogged and the ball went straight up, giving Waseem time to get there but he could not hold on. He then bowled the final over and had Wiese well-caught by Alishan Sharafu at long-on – the ball was heading for six had Sharafu not timed his jump and held on – to end Namibia’s chances. Incidentally, Waseem had bowled only 22 balls before in 19 T20 games and one of his three victims before Thursday was Wiese.Earlier, on a surface that seemed to get better for batting as the ball got older, UAE’s innings began with a slow burn but finished strongly. They were 58 for 1 in the first 10 overs and only reached 100 in the 16th over. But, they scored 51 runs off the last five overs to push the total close to 150 and notch up their second-highest total in T20 World Cups. Namibia’s effort in the field was mostly disciplined but the left-armers JJ Smit and Jan Frylinck conceded 69 runs in seven overs between them while opening bowler Ben Shikongo only delivered one over, the 15th.In contrast, the UAE’s captain Chundangapoyil Rizwan made some inspired decisions in the field. Basil Hameed became the first bowler to deliver three successive overs in the powerplay in Geelong in this tournament and took two wickets to leave Namibia on 26 for 3 inside five overs. Karthik Meiyappan removed Namibia’s captain Gerhard Erasmus and ran out Smit to open up the middle-order. From 46 for 5, even with David Wiese to come, Namibia could not find a way back and that was underlined when Zahoor Khan was brought back in the 13th over. He took two wickets in his second over to leave Namibia in tatters but Wiese and Trumplemann resurrected their cause only to fall short in the end.Waseem leads the way
UAE’s most accomplished batter anchored their innings with the right mix of energy and aggression to set them up for a competitive score. He found his first boundary when he went down on one knee to sweep Bernard Scholtz over deep backward square and then worked the the ball around through a quiet period before showing off his strong footwork against Jan Frylinck.Waseem advanced down the track to push him over mid-off and then straight back over his head for one of the group’s biggest sixes. His fifty came off 40 balls and despite the slow scoring rate, Waseem maintained a strike rate of over 100 and he did that by running well. He ran 16 singles and six twos and shared partnerships of 39 for the first wicket and 58 for the second to give UAE a base to build on.David Wiese raised hopes of an unlikely Namibian win with his big-hitting•AFP/Getty Images

Finishing strong
The UAE entered the final two overs on 115 for 3 and were still being kept fairly quiet but with 140-plus in their sights, had to hit out. Hameed began the assault when he carefully ran Wiese wide of Zane Green to third for four and then tucked into a short ball and pulled it over deep square for six. Wiese’s final over cost 12 runs but the best for the UAE was still to come. JJ Smits was preferred over Ben Shikongo to deliver the 20th over and immediately missed his yorker.Rizwan sent a waist-high full-toss over fine leg for six. He then ran three to put Hameed back on strike and he finished by whacking a length ball over midwicket and then reverse-scooping another over the wicket-keeper’s head. In between Smit got one in the right place but his final over went for 21. UAE scored 33 in the last two overs.Namibia begin to bottle it
Namibia made a nervy start to their reply as UAE made good use of a short-ball strategy upfront. Stephen Baard faced five of the balls from Junaid Siddique: got one away for a single, mistimed another, swung and missed at a third, sent the fourth to deep third for four and then inside-edged to give Ahmed Raza at short cover catching practice. Michael van Lingen faced three from Hameed, cut the first one for four, defended the second and then tried to hit the third over deep backward square but found Sharafu, who was perfectly positioned for the catch.But the biggest blow came when Rizwan opted to keep Hameed on for a third over in the powerplay and Jan-Nicol Loftie-Eaton missed a sweep. Though it looked like the ball was going down leg, Rizwan was persuaded to review and ball-tracking showed it would go on to hit the stumps. Namibia were 26 for 3 after five overs.Karthik’s over of mania…
Karthik took a hat-trick against Sri Lanka and made the major incisions into the Namibian line-up and will leave this tournament having made a name for himself. He was brought on to bowl the eighth over and foxed Erasmus with a back-of-a-hand delivery outside off that the Namibian captain made room to slice way and was bowled instead. Three balls later, Smit pushed the ball to a vacant mid-wicket region and wanted two runs. But Frylinck turned down the second, so Smit had to head back to the non-striker’s crease. By then, Karthik had chased the ball and fired a throw to the bowler’s end, leaving Smit short of his ground and furious.…and his other over of mania
Namibia entered the final five overs on 85 for 7, needing 64 runs. That may not have seem completely improbable given that UAE scored 51 in their last five, but with only three wickets in hand, it was going to take some doing. Pressure was building on both sides and UAE were first to let it affect them when Siddique misfielded on the sweeper cover boundary to turn what should have been a single to Wiese into four. Wiese kept strike but then gave it up with a single, clearly trusting his partner, Trumpelmann. He got out the slog and scored 12 runs off the next three balls, all with the same shot, including a four and a six. The over cost Meiyappan 18 runs and shifted momentum to Namibia.

Derbyshire lose five wickets in 47 overs’ of play, but arguably fared well in tough conditions

ECB Reporters' Network04-Jul-2021Derbyshire have work to do to post a competitive first-innings total after a rain-affected opening day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.Propping up the Group One table after failing to win any of their first eight matches, Derbyshire made 91 for 5 from the 47 overs that were possible, Matt Critchley making 23 and Luke Fletcher taking two wickets to draw level with Durham’s Chris Rushworth as the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 40 scalps.On a strip so green it needed three stumps at each end to identify it as the one in use, a Derbyshire side badly hit by injuries and failing form would have anticipated a difficult day after Nottinghamshire won the toss and chose to bowl first. In the circumstances, a scoreboard showing 44 for 3 at lunch felt like one that could have been worse.Fletcher soon had Luis Reece pushing at one that found a thin edge, and Brett Hutton trapped Tom Wood in the 12th overs with a full delivery but the home attack bowled too many balls that could be safely left alone in a twice-interrupted opening session and had to wait until the over before lunch to claim another breakthrough.This time Brooke Guest chased a widish ball from Lyndon James, giving a second catch to Ben Duckett, deputising with the gloves for Tom Moores who, in common with Joe Clarke, is self-isolating under Covid protocols.Critchley and Leus du Plooy began to rebuild after lunch before the next band of showers arrived, keeping the players off the field for two hours and 40 minutes. Derbyshire may have wished it had been longer as two more wickets fell in the first 17 balls after the resumption.Captaining in a first-class match for the first time in the absence of Billy Godleman, Critchley had taken three boundaries off Hutton before the stoppage and and was looking to continue in similar positive vein but perished via a sharp low catch at third slip off 19-year-old Joey Evison, in for the rested Jake Ball, whose first spell of the season comprised four maidens.Fletcher then picked up his 40th wicket of the season as Harvey Hosein was leg before to his second ball, leaving Derbyshire 76 for 5, but only 38 more minutes’ play was possible. The visitors will resume with Du Plooy, who was dropped by Duckett on 14, having faced 108 balls for his 21 not out.