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Glen Chapple opted for safety first against Warwickshire but Steven Croft still enjoyed a day to remember

Paul Edwards at Edgbaston11-Jun-2014
ScorecardSteven Croft scored a hundred then gave Warwickshire a brief scare with the ball•PA PhotosSkippers from another age – one thinks of Stuart Surridge or Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie – tended to regard draws either as a last resort or a personal defeat. In the latter case, their teams may not have lost but their own captaincy skills had been found wanting.Such an attitude is rarely to be found in today’s county cricket, fine as much of it is. This is a deeply pragmatic age, and with five points awarded for a draw, the cautious approach is also the business-like option. Somewhat bizarrely – this is early June, after all – Lancashire reached the halfway point of their County Championship season at the conclusion of this drawn game against Warwickshire and Glen Chapple clearly felt that that the final afternoon was too soon to employ such wanton fripperies as a remotely sporting declaration.Indeed, one felt that the Lancashire captain would rather have taken up a second career as a fan dancer than given Varun Chopra’s men much of a chance of winning this game. When Chapple did finally declare, soon after Steven Croft had reached his first century for over a year, Warwickshire were left needing to score 287 runs at a rate of 7.36 runs per overs. The scoring rates in the previous three innings of the game had been 2.68, 2.60 and 3.92. To quote the Shangri-Las: “You get the picture? (Yes, we see).”Chapple might now be regretting not giving his spinners more time to befuddle the out of form Warwickshire batsmen. After William Porterfield had been run out for 20 in the 12th over when Chopra turned down a second run to midwicket, Croft completed a day he will remember fondly by removing both the Warwickshire captain and Laurie Evans for whom good form must currently seem like a condition other cricketers experience.Moreover, when Sam Hain was lbw for nought, playing no shot to Croft in only his fourth first-class innings, there were still over nine overs to be bowled. Tim Ambrose then strode out like a young P.E. master intent on sorting out shenanigans in the playground. Sadly, he reckoned without the classic slow left-arm delivery from Kerrigan which clipped the top of his off stump, and it was left to Rikki Clarke and the imperturbable Ateeq Javid to secure an unexpectedly nervy draw with 12 minutes remainingChapple’s position on the declaration was still defensible. This game was played a slow wicket – the pitch was more suited to a five-day game, if anything – on which it had seemed difficult to take wickets in clumps, yet on which Croft had managed a century in 114 balls. The nine points Lancashire took from this game moved them two above Durham, whom they meet at the Riverside on Sunday. In eleven days’ time Lancashire host Northamptonshire at Old Trafford. There are still plenty of winning opportunities left in the season. That, at any rate, is the argument.What was certainly more encouraging for Lancashire supporters was the way in which some of their side’s batsmen coped with bowlers of the quality of Boyd Rankin and Jeetan Patel. Although Andrea Agathangelou perished when trying to hit the offspinner over the top in the fourth over of the morning and Ashwell Prince was also stumped when coming down the wicket and trying to defend, those successes were separated by 22 overs. That period included only the dismissal of nightwatchman Kerrigan brilliantly caught one-handed high to his right by second slip Porterfield off Rankin.And while Prince, who possesses forearms like floodlight pylons, was punching Keith Barker down the ground and through the covers to make 36, Croft was employing judicious aggression of his own and settling into an innings which has re-established his place in Lancashire’s middle-order wherever Usman Khawaja bats against Durham. Having reached a 55-ball half-century with a cut off Chris Wright, Croft received the congratulations of his captain in the middle when he got to three figures. The declaration followed soon afterwards.And for all that Jos Buttler had nicked Clarke to Ambrose and Tom Smith had been bowled off the inside edge by Rankin, Lancashire will be justifiably pleased to have reached 300 for only the third time this season. At least they can argue that they toughed this game out in difficult circumstances. Whether toughing it out will be enough to enable them to prosper in Division One is another matter.

Sybrand Engelbrecht led Cape Cobras past a Jonathan Carter century to keep his side’s hopes of a semi-final spot alive in the Champions League, after a narrow Super Over win

The Report by Alagappan Muthu26-Sep-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details. Cape Cobras won the one-over eliminatorJonathan Carter’s power deserted him when he needed it most•BCCIIt was the second time Jonathan Carter was sprawled on his knees in Mohali. He hammered his bat into the turf and flung his head down in agony. The Cape Cobras were lined up beside him, having broken free from their celebratory hugs, to pat his back.Carter had bludgeoned his way to a maiden T20 century, but his team-mates toppled around him. Still Barbados Tridents had managed a total of 174. Their bowlers rallied to enforce a Super Over and it was down to Carter again with four needed of the last ball. A last ball that was a full toss. A full toss bowled by little-known offspinner Sybrand Engelbrecht. But when Carter needed his power the most, it was nowhere to be found as an inside edge dribbled away behind the keeper and Barbados Tridents had lost.While he was swallowed in grief, Cobras’ dressing room erupted. Had they lost this game, they would have been out of the CLT20.There were seven single-figure scores strewn amid Carter’s effort. The Tridents suffered two early jolts and their run-rate was below six by the end of the Powerplay. That lack of foundation meant every bottom-handed bludgeon from Carter was highly necessary. Many times, he looked set to swing himself off his feet, the bat swirling back towards the base of his spine during the follow through. The straight boundary received significant attention, as he razed 58 of his runs in the V, including all five of his sixes. He gave the run-rate a much needed boost. He offset the loss of a few late wickets, and his unbeaten 111 was nearly 64% of the Tridents’ eventual 174 for 8.However, the desperation he showed with the bat took a long while to match. Cape Cobras had the luxury of a Richard Levi blitz as a precursor to a Hashim Amla fifty that was dragging the match away. Tridents needed a stranglehold with the required rate a manageable 8.33 in the final six overs.Jeevan Mendis’ canny leg spin provided just that. Three wickets across eight of his deliveries, followed by a stellar 19th over that cost only five from Ravi Rampaul complicated the chase. Cobras diluted an equation of 13 from six to three from one. Engelbrecht slogged a slower ball to deep square leg and was haring back for an ambitious second. Tridents could have taken the match then, but a less-than accurate throw from Raymon Reifer and a fumble from the wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich pushed it into a Super Over.Rampaul fronted up again and rarely erred in finding the leg-stump yorker. There of them hit their marks, but Levi and Dane Vilas managed to string together 11 runs from the Super Over.The responsibility of defending that fell on Engelbrecht. Cobras had decided pace off the ball was their best chance. But offspinner Dane Piedt was injured and Robin Peterson’s left-arm spin can often be a lottery. So Engelbrecht, who’s acclaim as a fielder outstrips his skills with the ball, was tossed the ball. Carter managed a flat-batted thump to the long-off boundary that had Dilshan Munaweera, who’s 42 was the next best effort in their innings, skipping. Tridents needed seven from four.However, Engelbrecht kept bowling slow. He kept forcing the batsmen to reach outside off and finally stymied Carter on leg stump to steal the game. Something he enjoyed quite a bit considering the way he took off running. It was the first Super Over game he was involved in. It was the first Super Over he has ever bowled. It was a gamble from acting captain Vilas. It worked.

Goal looks at the kits of the teams participating in Euro 2020 this summer, from Germany's classic, updated strip to Spain's unconventional home kit

Euro 2020  (now taking place in 2021) will feature the top international sides from across Europe and they will all be wearing unique attire at the tournament.

Football kits are generally updated every season and, when it comes to international football, almost inevitably before each major competition.

Goal takes a look at what the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Harry Kane and more will be wearing at this summer's European Championship.

GettyAustria – Home kit

Puma is the manufacturer of Austria's kit for Euro 2020 and it has received a number of outings already. Red on the torso with white sleeves and a round collar, the jersey is imbued with a classic Alpine design graphic, which is inspired by the Vienna Secession art nouveau style.

AdvertisementAustriaAustria – Away kit

The Austria away kit was unveiled by Puma in November 2019, featuring a sleek black and teal design with a feather pattern. The OFB crest appears on the left side, with the graphic and colours inspired, like the home kit, by Austria's art nouveau style from the 19th and 20th century.

Adidas/Goal compositeBelgium – Home kit

Belgium's home kit, made by Adidas, features a bold brushstroke graphic that forms the letter "B" on the front. The Belgian flag makes up the red, yellow and black colourway, with yellow hints also across the cuffs and collar.

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AdidasBelgium – Away kit

Belgium's away kit is a grey-white number but with red and black embellishments. Adidas' trademark three stripes (in red) adorn the shoulders.

England batsman Ian Bell has said increased anti-corruption measures could be needed for televised domestic gamees

Andrew McGlashan16-May-2014England batsman Ian Bell has said increased anti-corruption measures could be needed for televised domestic games to prevent further cases of spot-fixing like those revealed by Lou Vincent to the ACSU. The ECB, however, does not believe there is a need for the same level of restrictions on electronic devices players are allowed to use in domestic cricket as there is at international level.The vulnerability of county cricket is back in the headlines after the reports of Vincent’s confessions and details of the breadth of fixing at domestic level around the world. Three county matches are among those under scrutiny, all of which were televised in Asia.For international matches, players and support staff are required to hand over their phones, iPads and other electronic devices to the team manager or security officer and are not allowed them back until the end of the day. In county cricket, there are no such steps taken. Though there is no suggestion that players were directly tapped up in the dressing room, it does leave a potential loophole to be exploited.”From where I can see, I haven’t played one [on TV] for a while for Warwickshire, but it’s just a normal county game,” Bell said. “It’s different internationally where you have to hand your phones in. In county games there is nothing. You could be on your phone all day if you want. Maybe if it is on television then it has to be the same as an international game.”I’ve never seen it [fixing] at domestic level but then you hear what has been going on, not just in England but all around the world … there probably has to be a bit more done domestically as well.”The most recent county match to have emerged from Vincent’s claims is from 2011. That was the year the ECB’s anti-corruption unit was set up under Chris Watts, a former senior detective with the Metropolitan Police, and his team now have an official at every televised match. The ECB does not feel further restrictions are required.”We don’t feel the need to take away players’ mobile phones or laptops at televised county matches. It is a judgement call made by the anti-corruption unit,” an ECB spokesman said. “We are constantly vigilant but don’t believe corruption is endemic in county cricket. We take measures proportional to the level of threat.”The ECB’s anti-corruption unit is very active around televised county matches. Chris Watts set up the unit in 2011 and his team has been strengthened so that there are now seven anti-corruption officers who work on the domestic programme.”They are a physical presence at every televised match and frequently go into dressing-rooms and talk to players. We certainly can’t be complacent. The Mervyn Westfield affair showed that some players – and particularly young players – can be vulnerable.”Westfield was jailed for four months in 2012 for his part in spot-fixing during a televised Pro40 match against Essex in 2009 after being tapped up by former Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria.Bell said he had never been approached at any level or spoken to anyone in English domestic cricket who had concerns over a match being rigged. He was shocked by the extent of the claims emerging from Vincent during his plea-bargain with the ICC.”It’s frustrating to see it cropping again. Lou Vincent is saying that it’s in five different countries that he’s played in. That’s unbelievable. You’d like to think we can get to the bottom of it but whether we will or not is a difficult one to answer.Bell was not involved in the 2010 Test against Pakistan, at Lord’s, which is the highest profile recent case of spot-fixing. It led to jail terms for Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and Bell believes harsh penalties are the way forward.”Seeing people getting the right penalties for a massive wrongdoing in the game, it’s important that we have that. The harsher the penalties, the better. The last thing you want is to look back on games you’ve played in and have to ask ‘was that real or was it not?’ It takes away some of the feelings you have, when you look back and are not quite sure.”Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, is the title sponsor of Test match cricket in England. Visit investec.co.uk/cricket or follow us @InvestecCricket

Minutes after Lalit Modi was declared the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, the BCCI suspended RCA for allowing a banned individual to be a part of its affairs

Nagraj Gollapudi06-May-201411:27

‘I’m going to show them how cricket is run’ – Modi

Minutes after Lalit Modi was declared the president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, the BCCI suspended RCA for allowing a banned individual to be a part of its affairs. At the same time, the BCCI has said cricketers from Rajasthan won’t suffer since an ad-hoc committee will run cricket in the state till the dispute with the RCA is resolved.”Interim president Shivlal Yadav has suspended RCA as per rule 32 (vii) under the BCCI’s constitution. We will very shortly come out with an ad-hoc committee to take care of cricket in Rajasthan,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told ESPNcricinfo. “Modi has already been expelled from the BCCI and he has not challenged that ban. Those are known things. So, for us, Modi is a non-existent person.”BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel: ‘The ad-hoc committee will work out how Rajasthan can play in BCCI tournaments’•Mahesh AcharyaModi called the BCCI move “illegal” and said he would challenge it. “They have no powers to form an ad hoc committee,” he said. “They have illegally suspended RCA. They cannot do that.”Immediately after returning as the RCA president, Modi spelt out his plan to revamp cricket in Rajasthan. However, with the BCCI deciding to suspend RCA, the fierce tussle between the former IPL chairman and the BCCI seems to be far from concluded. Patel was in no mood to resolve any dispute. “Where is a question of resolving anything? We have suspended both Modi and the RCA. Those who want to go with them can go,” he said.”But we will see that cricket is not affected and cricketers are not affected across all age groups. The ad-hoc committee will work out how Rajasthan can play in BCCI tournaments. The boys and cricket should not suffer. That is our primary goal. The players do not need to worry. We will see how to make them comfortable.”Patel said last week’s Supreme Court order, which directed the court-appointed observers to announce the results on May 6, had made it clear that the aggrieved parties can challenge the poll results at an appropriate forum. “In the same order on April 30, the honourable Supreme Court has directed that if it is found by BCCI that any person has acted against any rule/regulation/law which is to be enforced by us, it would be open to us to take action against such person. Here it is the RCA that has gone against our rules and we have taken action now.”Sharad Pawar, the former BCCI and ICC president, said the board’s move to suspend the RCA was shocking. “I was shocked to hear about the decision. I think it is a very harsh decision by the BCCI,” Pawar told PTI. “For the sake of one individual to suspend a whole organisation is really shocking. I hope (BCCI interim president) Shivlal Yadav will show some spirit in the organisation and respect the views of the judiciary.”Modi, who was the founding chairman of the IPL, was suspended by the BCCI on April 26, 2010, following various allegations of misconduct. After Modi left the country citing security reasons, a special enquiry panel appointed to conduct an enquiry into the 11 charges against Modi found him guilty on eight counts. As a result, a special general meeting of the BCCI expelled Modi for life on September 25, 2013. According to the BCCI regulations, Modi’s expulsion cannot be revoked for at least three years from the date of issue of the ban.

Victoria have secured the promising young legspinner James Muirhead for the next four seasons after he signed a long-term deal to stay in his home state

Brydon Coverdale05-Feb-2014Victoria have secured the promising young legspinner James Muirhead for the next four seasons after he signed a long-term deal to stay in his home state. Muirhead, 20, was a left-field selection for Australia’s recent Twenty20 series against England but despite his lack of experience he bowled well in all three games, showing impressive control and gaining significant turn.He made his first-class debut for Victoria last summer but has not played a Sheffield Shield match this season, although he is expected to be given an extended run in the four-day side when the Shield restarts next week. His emergence as an international bowler will leave Fawad Ahmed with an uncertain immediate future less than a year after the Australian selectors were considering him for an Ashes campaign.Ahmed has played five Shield games this season for 14 wickets at 34.07 and he appears to have drifted out of international contention in all formats. The left-armer Jon Holland has also played Shield cricket for Victoria this year and was part of the Australia A side that took on England in Hobart in the lead-up to the Ashes series, but he too may find himself struggling for a place in the side if Muirhead is picked.Muirhead’s success in the T20s against England will make him a strong chance for selection for the World T20 in Bangladesh, where spin is expected to play a key role, and Victoria were understandably keen to lock him into a long-term contract given his age and potential.Last year, South Australia were fined $15,000 for breaching Cricket Australia’s rules on player movements after they were found to have held talks with Muirhead, then on a rookie contract with the Bushrangers, without informing Cricket Victoria. The interest from interstate may well have increased after this summer but Muirhead, who was born and raised in Melbourne, was keen to stay in Victoria.”I feel like Victoria is the best environment for me to develop my cricket,” Muirhead said. “I was born in Melbourne, I live in Melbourne and now I can just focus on playing my cricket in Melbourne. We’ve got a great set-up, with the best coaches … so I’m very happy.”The Victoria coach Greg Shipperd said Muirhead remained a work in progress but the state’s coaches were looking forward to helping him develop his bowling and understanding of the game over the next four seasons.”We seem to be a bit of a factory of spinners at the moment,” Shipperd said. “So to have secured one of Australia’s most promising legspinners – someone who has already shown in the heat of international competition that he’s got the nerve and an exciting skill set – to have him commit to Victoria is a really positive move for our squad.”

Eighteen years into his career, Shahid Afridi conjured another astonishing innings, under immense pressure

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur02-Mar-2014With one stroke in Sharjah, Javed Miandad “was remarked to have cut across the Indian ego like a knife slash…,” wrote Rahul Bhattacharya in .As Shahid Afridi dispatched the ball mightily into the Dhaka sky, the leading edge just about carried over the long-on fielder. It was Pakistan’s first one-wicket win over India since April 18, 1986.When nine was needed off the last four balls, Afridi smashed R Ashwin for a six over extra cover. Afridi didn’t leave it as late as Miandad and Tauseef Ahmed did.As Ashwin slowly moved towards the popping crease, Afridi was the centre of attention. He shuffled, smashed and ran. Not in the direction of the non-striker’s end but towards the general direction of the dressing room and his onrushing team-mates.Afridi knew it was a six even before the ball dropped behind the fielder; the trademark star-man celebration was back, this time wearing pads and gloves with a bat in his hand.Shahid Afridi showed why his nickname is Boom Boom•AFPLater, he told that he was confident of handling Ashwin’s variations. For the earlier six, he said, he had set his mind on the exact spot to target.”I knew that I could hit his carrom ball and I had spotted it. It was pulled back slightly but I connected it really well,” Afridi said. “He had the field set on the on-side, keeping the fielders up on the off-side. I thought that if I could play through extra cover, I can find runs through that region.”Afridi readily admitted that he had let the team down with some ill-advised shots against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, and he had set his mind on getting it right this time. He spoke candidly about how sometimes he gets confused when asked to bat for long.”I had played some stupid shots in the previous games to get out. I know that my batting is very important to my team, so I have to be consistent in my batting. It helps the team a lot. I had to play sensibly. I wanted to bring down the [target].”If I have 15-25 overs to bat, captain tells me to play singles and doubles. I become double-minded. It is not in my nature. The lesser the overs, I feel better and play better. I play single-mindedly. That’s what makes me comfortable.”Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq believes that this win will stop the criticism of Afridi. “I am very happy about Shahid Afridi, who has taken a lot of criticism in the last two matches,” Misbah said. “I think he showed experience and won us a game that almost went out of our control.”We expect innings like that from him. Whenever he [takes his] time in the middle and plays sensibly, he can be very dangerous. He already did it quite a few times, and this was one of his best innings. I think that the game was in our hands in the second-last over but after that it was quite difficult. Still, we knew that if Afridi can get the strike back, we will have a chance. He played very well. The last two sixes were tremendous.”Afridi has plenty of stand-out innings, and this 34 not out will be right up there, as it came against India under intense pressure. The game could have gone either way, and plenty of people had expected him to mess it up.Nobody thought that about Miandad back in 1986. He had been batting on 110 off 113 balls when he hit it like a home-run. In an earlier paragraph in the book, Bhattacharya had called Miandad the “…purveyor of the single most famous stroke in Pakistan’s history, perhaps even India’s history…”Eighteen years into Afridi’s career – one that includes a World Twenty20 trophy, a record for the fastest ODI century that stood for over 17 years, and many sixes and smiles and the star man – he has played another defining knock. One that fans will continue to relive on YouTube years from now.

Travis Head’s ninth first-class fifty lifted South Australia to 4 for 191, after their bowlers had restricted Tasmania to 291 in the morning

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Travis Head struck 16 fours during his 98•Getty ImagesTravis Head’s ninth first-class fifty lifted South Australia to 4 for 191, after their bowlers had restricted Tasmania to 291 in the morning.Head added 75 runs for the third wicket with Tom Cooper, who made 26, as they helped the team recover from a shaky start which saw both their openers dismissed inside 22 overs.Phillip Hughes, who had blasted 204 in the previous game against Western Australia, failed to get going this time, and was caught by Luke Butterworth off Clive Rose in the 12th over. Hughes’ opening partner Michael Klinger, who too had notched a century in Adelaide, lasted slightly longer, hitting two fours as he made his way to 21, but he was trapped lbw by Xavier Doherty, leaving South Australia at 2 for 61.But Head and Cooper counterattacked by smashing a total of 20 fours – 16 of those struck by Head – as the pair batted out 23.3 overs, but Butterworth eventually made the breakthrough and removed Cooper in the 45th over. Head carried on, and looked set to score his maiden first-class ton, but fell two runs short as he was caught behind by Tim Paine, to give Butterworth his second scalp of the day.Callum Ferguson and Johan Botha batted out the remaining 7.5 overs of the day to leave South Australia trailing by 100 runs heading into day three.Tasmania, who were 6 for 226 when the day began, were earlier helped by handy contributions from tailenders Doherty and Rose, who took the team to a respectable total.

Quinton de Kock has been ruled out of the rest of the series against against West Indies with an ankle ligament tear

Firdose Moonda in Centurion20-Dec-2014Quinton de Kock has been ruled out of the rest of the series against against West Indies with an ankle ligament tear. The wicket-keeper will miss the remaining two Tests, and all of the limited-overs matches which includes three T20s and five ODIs, with an eye on making a recovery in time for the World Cup.He requires between six and 12 weeks of rehabilitation but South Africa’s first match of the tournament is in eight weeks’ time, which team manager Mohammed Moosajee said will “hopefully afford a sufficient recovery period.”De Kock rolled over his ankle during the warm-ups on the morning of the third day of the Centurion Test and was unable to keep wickets for the rest of the match. AB de Villiers, who did the job before de Kock debuted in Sri Lanka, was handed the gloves and will keep them for the rest of the series. Cricket South Africa said a player “to act as cover will be announced in due course.”That would likely mean a Test debut for the only reserve batsman in the squad, Temba Bavuma. The Lions No.3 has played 68 first-class matches and an average of 35.95 and would likely bat in de Kock’s position in the lower middle-order. If he plays, he will be the first black African batsman to ever represent South Africa and the first black African player to turn out for the team in almost four years, after Lonwabo Tsostobe was part of the New Year’s Test in 2011.Alternatively, South Africa could search outside the squad but that would against their policy of promoting players who have been non-playing members of the squad before casting the net wider. A batsman who may come into contention would be Farhaan Behardien, who is currently second on the this season’s first-class competition run-charts. Rilee Rossouw, the Knight’s batsman. is injured, while Colin Ingram, who is the third on the run-scorers’ list, has accepted a Kolpak deal at Glamorgan.More worryingly for South Africa will be whether de Kock will return to full fitness before the World Cup. Since November last year, he has been both the first-choice opener and wicketkeeper and has formed a successful partnership with Hashim Amla at the top, while also relieving AB de Villiers of the workload. Although de Villiers could find himself back behind the stumps, if de Kock is not available for the World Cup, South Africa will have to look for another opener. Morne van Wyk, who played at the 2011 World Cup and currently captains the Dolphins, would be one option but South Africa will hope de Kock is fit in time.

Manish Pandey scored his second century of the season and KL Rahul was out in the nineties for the second time in the season as Karnataka took a 193-run lead

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy in Hubli15-Dec-2013
Scorecard
Manish Pandey’s 161 put Karnataka in total control•ESPNcricinfo LtdManish Pandey scored his second century of the season and KL Rahul was out in the nineties for the second time in the season as Karnataka took a 193-run lead with three wickets in hand. By the time Pandey was bowled late in the day by a delivery that stayed low, his 161 had made a Punjab win nearly unthinkable.With two days remaining, Punjab will need a far better effort from their batsmen in the second innings – they were bowled out for 174 in the first – if they are to take any points from the game.For the second day running, the sun beat down through a cloudless sky, and the spectators surveyed a glowing outfield through crinkled eyes. A pitch that had helped the quicker bowlers on the first day was easing into one full of runs.The contrast between the two innings, though, had more to do with the batting approaches of the two sides than with the conditions. None of the Punjab batsmen, for instance, had shown the sort of patience Rahul did late on day one, in going to stumps on 22 from 74 balls. He had left well outside off stump, and played the drive only when the ball was pitched right up, with an elegantly abbreviated follow-through.He played two such drives in the third over of the day, one through cover and one down the ground, off Sandeep Sharma, and the two boundaries seemed to loosen his concentration momentarily, as he hung his bat outside off at the last ball of the over. The edge, however, dropped short of second slip. In the previous over, Gony had appealed unsuccessfully for lbw after getting one to keep low at Pandey.Those were the only two moments when Punjab came close in the morning session, which ended with Karnataka 166 for 2. After Gony’s first spell of five overs, none of the bowlers looked threatening. Rahul took a liking to Taruwar Kohli’s medium-pace, and drove him straight to bring up Karnataka’s 100 and between point and cover to bring up his third half-century of the season.Pandey, who began the day quietly, burst into life by launching Sandeep over the long-off boundary, and repeatedly pulled him off the front foot, with his bat typically pointing skywards. He was watchful against spin, scoring just seven off 35 balls before lunch from debutant left-arm spinner Vinay Choudhary. He didn’t try to change gears even when he was stuck on 49 for 10 balls.This restraint didn’t last too long, though. Pandey threw his hands out at the first ball he faced after lunch, from part-time offspinner Gurkeerat Singh, and edged thickly, but Mandeep Singh failed to cling on at slip. Pandey was on 59.In Gurkeerat’s next over, Rahul missed a sweep, and the ball struck wicketkeeper Gitansh Khera’s shoulder and bounced onto the stumps. The third umpire took his time poring over replays before ruling that Rahul’s foot had slid out of the crease. By this time, his 159-run partnership with Pandey had taken Karnataka past Punjab’s 174.CM Gautam was lbw to VRV Singh soon after, but Pandey continued to swell Karnataka’s lead while dominating partnerships of 52 and 68 with Stuart Binny and debutant Karun Nair. He moved into the nineties with a straight six off Choudhary and whipped the next ball wide of mid-on to go to 97. The next ball he faced, from Gurkeerat, cleared the sightscreen at the press box end. His second 50 had taken him just 70 balls. That run-spurt had come at just the right time, to knock the life out of Punjab’s bowlers just after they had struck two quick blows.