Category Uncategorized

David Willey took a match haul of 10 wickets as Northamptonshire thrashed Gloucestershire by nine wickets

14-Sep-2011
Scorecard
David Willey took a match haul of 10 wickets as Northamptonshire thrashed Gloucestershire by nine wickets on the third day of their County Championship Division Two match at Wantage Road.Promotion-chasers Northamptonshire bowled Gloucestershire out for 185 in the morning with Willey claiming two more victims to take figures of 5 for 46 and a magnificent 10 for 75 for the match.The hosts were set a paltry target of 26 and, despite losing Rob Newton, they reached it within four overs to record their first home win since May. But even the emphatic result will probably not be enough to secure them promotion Surrey beating Derbyshire and Middlesex on well placed against Leicestershire.Gloucestershire started the day on 84 for 5 in their second innings, following on after being bowled out for 183 yesterday, with captain Alex Gidman resuming on 6 and Hamish Marshall beginning his innings.Alex Gidman was to move on to 27 before Willey broke through in the ninth over of the day when he forced him to edge to his Northamptonshire counterpart Andrew Hall at first slip. A four through backward point off James Middlebrook by Ian Cockbain ensured that the hosts would have to bat again but former New Zealand international Marshall was to perish on 42.Striding down the pitch after a Middlebrook delivery, he was sharply stumped by Niall O’Brien. Chaminda Vaas then accounted for Cockbain, who made a brisk 23, in the next over when he was edged to Hall at first slip.Willey then secured his maiden 10-wicket match haul and his fifth dismissal of the innings when he trapped Will Gidman lbw for five as soon as he was brought back on in the 51st over. With the next ball, Gloucestershire’s innings was brought to an end and with it the final one for Jon Lewis after 16 years with the club before his move to Surrey next season.Lewis had clubbed eight off two balls but he was on the receiving end of a brilliant piece of fielding by Newton at point, who threw a direct hit at the stumps.Chasing 26, Northamptonshire were to lose Newton cheaply for four in the second over when he smashed Ian Saxelby straight to Marshall at backward point. But victory was secured two overs later when Kyle Coetzer, eight not out, struck four behind square leg off Saxelby with O’Brien unbeaten on 14.

India’s captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has been named as captain of the ICC’s Test Team of the Year, an honour he also claimed in 2009, in a line-up that also includes two other players, Sachin Tendulkar and Dale Steyn, from last year’s selection

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2010India’s captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has been named as captain of the ICC’s Test Team of the Year, an honour he also claimed in 2009, in a line-up that also includes two other players, Sachin Tendulkar and Dale Steyn, from last year’s selection.Five countries are represented in the 11-man line-up, which includes three Indians in Tendulkar, Dhoni and Virender Sehwag, two Englishmen in Graeme Swann and James Anderson, three South Africans in Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn, two Australians in Simon Katich and Doug Bollinger, and one Sri Lankan in Kumar Sangakkara. Steyn is the only player to have featured in three consecutive years, having first been picked in 2008.Clive Lloyd, the chairman of the awards selection panel, said: “This year’s Test team has an extremely strong batting line-up that I think would set a suitable challenge to the world’s best bowlers and coupling with the superb batting skills, I feel we have selected a bowling attack which could dismiss its own batting line-up.”Lloyd was joined on the panel by former Australia batsman Matthew Hayden, former England bowler Angus Fraser, former Zimbabwe player and England coach Duncan Fletcher and former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri. Statistics were available as a guide but were not necessarily the overwhelming factor in the choices made.ICC Test Team of the Year 1 Virender Sehwag (Ind), 2 Simon Katich (Aus), 3 Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), 4 Hashim Amla (SA), 5 Kumar Sangakkara (SL), 6 Jacques Kallis (SA), 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind, capt & wk), 8 Graeme Swann (Eng), 9 James Anderson (Eng), 10 Dale Steyn (SA), 11 Doug Bollinger (Aus).

The incident occurred in the 47th over when Inglis whipped off the bails when the batter ventured out of the crease before the ball was dead

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Feb-2025Australia captain Steven Smith withdrew an appeal against Noor Ahmad in the 47th over of Afghanistan’s innings, after wicketkeeper Josh Inglis whipped off the bails at the striker’s end to catch Noor out of his ground before the over was called.Noor had not been attempting a run – he had drifted out of his crease to meet batting partner Azmatullah Omarzai mid-pitch, mistakenly believing that the ball was dead. The ball is live until the umpire calls “over”, however, and umpire Alex Wharf had not yet called.Replays showed Noor to be well out of his ground, but Smith was quick to signal to the umpires that the appeal should not be considered, despite some enthusiasm from Inglis. Noor had just completed a single after Omarzai struck Nathan Ellis through midwicket and called Noor – the No. 10 batter – through, in order to keep strike for the next over.Although Afghanistan were not attempting to gain an advantage, the rules of cricket are clear. Run-outs are a viable dismissal until the ball is dead. If Smith had not withdrawn the appeal, Noor would have been ruled out, likely by third umpire Chris Gaffaney.

Noor had been on three off three balls at the time, and went to make six off eight. But of more consequence was the fact that Afghanistan would have been 248 for 9 after 47 overs had Smith not withdrawn the appeal. They were less likely to have hit the further 25 runs they managed if they had only had one wicket in hand. Noor was eventually dismissed off the last ball of the innings.Australia have in the past upheld appeals against batters ambling out of their crease, even if they were not looking to take a run. Most famously, this occurred in a Test at Lord’s against England in 2023, when Alex Carey underarmed the ball into the stumps after Jonny Bairstow had wandered down the pitch before the ball was deemed dead.Muthiah Muralidaran had also been dismissed in similar circumstances in a Test in Christchurch in 2006, when he had wandered out of the crease to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara on completing a century before the ball was dead (though that had not been at the end of an over). Brendon McCullum broke the stumps on that occasion, and captain Stephen Fleming upheld the appeal.In the 2011 Trent Bridge Test, India recalled Ian Bell to the crease after he had been run-out in similar circumstances at the stroke of tea on day three, when he ran a three and proceeded to walk down the pitch and towards the dressing rooms, before the fielder Praveen Kumar had had a chance to throw the ball in from the boundary. India captain MS Dhoni agreed to recall Bell after England captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower approached him during the tea interval with this request.

Bumrah took three wickets as India successfully defended 229 against England

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2023Having to set a total for the first time in this World Cup, India found themselves in trouble with wickets falling regularly, and scraped to 229 for 9, largely thanks to Rohit Sharma’s 87 on a challenging pitch. But eventually, India pulled off a comfortable win over England, and Jasprit Bumrah feels it was a good challenge for the table-toppers.”It was really good for us because we’ve been fielding first and we’ve been doing that for a while now. Because [India chased] in the previous series as well, which I played,” Bumrah told after picking up 3 for 32 to help enginner India’s 100-run demolition of England.”It was good challenge for us that we were put under pressure,” Bumrah said. “We lost a little bit of early wickets. We had to squeeze in and in the field as well, we had to put in a lot of effort. So yeah, very happy with the result.”Related

• Rohit Sharma uses his experience to 'do what was necessary for the team'

• The unsung heroes behind India's spectacular stadium atmosphere

• Shami and Bumrah demolish England to make it six out of six for India

England, hunting their second win in the tournament, started well in their chase, with openers Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow taking them to 30 inside the first five overs. But Bumrah opened England up in the fifth over, getting Malan to chop on and trapping Joe Root lbw off consecutive deliveries.Mohammed Shami followed up with quick strikes of his own before Kuldeep Yadav’s corker to Jos Buttler put England in too deep a hole to climb out of.Bumrah said his plan was to try and find some swing with the new ball, but with nothing on offer moved to harder lengths to look for movement off the pitch.”Usually when you bowl with the new ball, you first search for swing if there is some swing. Otherwise you just try and hit a hard length and make it as difficult as possible,” Bumrah said. “So there was a little bit of swing, but not too much from my end.”Then I tried to seam the ball a lot more and which was helping a little bit. So then I changed to seam bowling.”While Bumrah took three wickets, Shami stole the show with a four-wicket haul that included the wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali.Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took seven wickets between them•Associated Press

“He [Shami] is outstanding. He’s, you know, one of the legends of the game,” Bumrah said. “I feel he has always been quite calm. He doesn’t come out to be flamboyant, but he way he was bowling as if he was playing a Test match and [it] was really, really wonderful to see.”Usually we’ve had a lot of partnerships in Test-match cricket and I really enjoy bowling with him. So yeah, I’m really happy with the way he’s going on.”Bumrah made his return from injury in August after spending more than a year out with a stress reaction in his back. He admitted that he had heard questions asked whether fitness worries would cut his career short, but said he was unbothered by all the speculation.”My wife [the TV sports presenter Sanjana Ganesan] also works in the sports-media department. So yeah, I heard a lot of question marks on my career that I will never come back and all of that, but it doesn’t really matter,” Bumrah said. “I’m very happy. I came back and I realised how much I love playing the game. I was not chasing anything.”Great headspace was there when I came back from the injury. So yeah, eventually I’m looking at the positives and trying to enjoy as much as you can.”

Sri Lanka recently hosted Australia, and Pakistan have recently arrived in the island nation for a Test series

Andrew Fidel Fernando14-Jul-2022Sri Lanka remain “very confident” of hosting the Asia Cup, scheduled to start from late August, despite the island nation descending into a crisis following weeks of widespread political unrest. A final decision on whether Sri Lanka would be retained as the venue for the six-nation Asia Cup will be taken by the Asian Cricket Council on Friday.Having recently hosted Australia successfully, Mohan de Silva, secretary at Sri Lanka Cricket, told ESPNcricinfo that cricket has remained immune from the civil unrest that has escalated by the day over the last month, with protestors demanding the resignation of both the acting Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and prime minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe. The Australians arrived in June for a complete tour comprising both white-ball formats and two Tests, which finished with Sri Lanka levelling the series 1-all in Galle in surreal circumstances as protestors stormed the nearby Galle fort as cricket was played in the backdrop.Related

• LPL 2022 postponed due to economic situation in Sri Lanka

• Asia Cup 2022 likely to be moved from Sri Lanka to UAE

• Crafty Yasir returns to Sri Lanka hoping to rediscover the glory days

• When Sri Lanka came to the cricket to fight for the country's future

• Asia Cup to be held in Sri Lanka in August-September 2022

Another reason de Silva remained optimistic about the Asia Cup was the Pakistan contingent arriving recently to play a two-match Test series. The Pakistanis have already played a warm-up match and the PCB has confirmed the visitors had not been affected by the political strife outside.”As far as we are concerned, we are still very confident of hosting the tournament in Sri Lanka,” de Silva said on Thursday. “We have just hosted the Australian tour with two Tests in Galle, and Pakistan are in the country as well.” When asked if there has been any pressure to move from the ACC, he said “not really”.The 2022 edition of the Asia Cup is scheduled to be a T20I tournament, with the main event running from August 27 to September 11, following a Qualifier that is also scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka, from August 20 to 26. Hong Kong, Kuwait, Singapore and UAE are set to contest the Qualifier, from which the top team will join the five Full-Member Asian teams – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – in the main draw.

India’s captain on the Chennai pitch, the toss factor, learning from his mistakes, and more

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-20211:34

Have India ticked all boxes with this win?

There was sharp turn, there was uneven bounce, and there were explosions of soil when the ball landed on its surface. As difficult as it was to bat on, though, Virat Kohli believes the pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for the second Test was a fair one in terms of competitive balance between the teams. With plenty of help for the spinners right from day one, he felt the toss didn’t influence the result to the extent that it did in the first Test, for which the pitch began as a flat one and started crumbling from around the third day onwards. Here are excerpts from his interview at the post-match presentation after India wrapped up a series-levelling 317-run victory.Related

• Stats – Axar's glorious debut, and Kohli equals Dhoni

• Joe Root: Chennai Test 'a bit of an education' for England

• Shubman Gill taken for scans after blow to left forearm

• Axar Patel five-for seals crushing India win to level series

On the toss factor
I don’t think on this pitch it would have mattered so much, to be very honest with you, because if you looked at our second innings, on day three, we still applied ourselves, almost got 300 runs again. We believed that we could get runs on that pitch, and it wasn’t unfair if the toss went either way.Both teams had to apply themselves, and that’s what you want in Test cricket, whether you’re playing on spinning tracks or on seaming tracks which have a lot of grass on it, both teams should be in the game from the first session onwards, and that was exactly the case on this pitch.On India’s batting display
I think our application with the bat was outstanding in this game. The conditions were challenging for both sides, but we showed more application and grit and determination to battle it out, we didn’t panic out there, looking at the amount of turn and bounce on that pitch. We trusted our defence, and we got into the game, and we scored 600 [615] runs total in two innings combined, so if you put up that kind of a batting performance, and you string up those important partnerships, then we know that our bowlers are going to do the job in our home conditions, so yeah, it was the perfect game for us.Virat Kohli – “I’ve been rigid. But now, if I make an error I make sure in the very next innings I iron it out”•BCCI

On his second-innings approach after being dismissed for a duck in the first innings while driving against the turn
I’ve taken a lot of pride in improving myself very quickly, correcting mistakes, which probably I haven’t done in the past on a few occasions, I’ve been rigid. But now, if I make an error I make sure in the very next innings I iron it out, because I understand that I need to be batting out there as much as possible in the middle, and that partnership with [R] Ashwin was very important for us, almost 100 [96] runs, I think he batted outstandingly well. I just decided in the second [innings] that I’m not going to go after the runs too much, not get ahead of the game. I’m going to trust my defence, I can bat four sessions on this pitch, no problem at all, and I’m going to trust my defence to get me out of trouble.On Rishabh Pant’s improved wicketkeepingHe’s really worked hard in Australia. With a super-skilled batsman like him, you won’t really see the difference in batting, but when he moves with the gloves you can see that difference in his reactions and reflexes. He’s worked physically on himself a lot in Australia, he’s shed a lot of weight, and he’s become quicker on his feet, and it’s showing. The way he kept on this pitch with so much turn and bounce was a credit to him for working so hard, and we want him to keep improving as a keeper, get stronger and stronger with his skillsets, because we understand how much value he brings to the team.On Axar Patel’s performance on debut, which included a second-innings five-for
It’s a special, special moment for him. Actually, he would have played the first game as well if he didn’t have that niggle, but yeah, he was very keen to step onto the field, and as a left-arm spinner, when you get that kind of a pitch where it’s turning square and he bowls so fast, he was just all smiles, he couldn’t wait to get the ball in his hands. Very very happy for him, hope he builds it up from here on, and has a very strong couple of games going forward, so he’s always in the mix to play Test cricket for India.”I think the crowd makes a massive difference, when the fans are behind you, obviously you push more as a team”•BCCI

On the support of the Chennai crowd after the first Test was played behind closed doorsIt was a bit strange in the first game, to be honest, playing at home without the crowd in the stands. Things were a little flat in the first couple of days, to be very honest – myself included, just didn’t pick up the energy in the field, and I think second innings onwards in the first game, we picked up our game, and we were on the money in terms of our body language and what we wanted to do on the field. But this game, I think the crowd makes a massive difference, when the fans are behind you, obviously you push more as a team, and this game was an example of that grit and determination we’ve shown as a side, and we continue to do that, and the fan support is a big, big part of that.Chennai crowd, everyone knows they’re a very very intelligent crowd. They understand their cricket really well, so for me it’s sometimes [important to gee the crowd up], in moments of the game where a 15-20-minute period of the game which is important, where the bowler needs that support from the crowd, it’s my responsibility as a captain to involve everyone, bring everyone in, because if I’m running in to bowl in this heat, I want people to motivate me, and that motivation pushes you further to do special things.

Hosts level series at 1-1 after ragged England slip to defeat

The Report by Andrew Miller03-Nov-2019New Zealand 176 for 8 (Neesham 42, Guptill 41, Jordan 3-23) beat England 155 (Malan 39, Santner 3-25) by 21 runs
On a day when sporting smiles were just beginning to flicker back across Kiwi faces, thanks to the schadenfreude being dished out by the Springboks in the Rugby World Cup final in Yokohama, New Zealand’s cricketers added their own pinch of salt to English wounds by squaring the T20I series at Wellington with a comprehensive 21-run win.The echoing confines of the Cake Tin told their own story about the lack of real jeopardy in this contest – for the average New Zealander, this result could barely atone for a bad journey to work, let alone the insults doled out in recent months by English sporting teams in their two national sports. But a win is a win is a win. And New Zealand won. And England didn’t. So there.Mitchell Santner starred with the ball for New Zealand, claiming three wickets with his left-arm spin on a day when his side held onto their chances in the deep, and England emphatically did not. And despite battling hard with the ball to keep their opponents to a taxing but not insurmountable 177 for victory, the loss of three wickets in the Powerplay left them with too much to do as they ran out of time and wickets.England won the toss and chose to bowl first, just as they had done in their emphatic win in Christchurch on Friday. But they encountered a New Zealand line-up in a more forceful mood than they had been in the first match, not least Martin Guptill, who greeted the debutant Saqib Mahmood with a monstrous second-ball wipe for six over long-on, before Colin Munro repeated the dose over square leg in the same over.To put it kindly, it was an uneven performance from England in the field. Two players excelled – namely Sam Curran, who was a waspish threat with the new ball before applying a tourniquet in the middle overs for figures of 1 for 22 in his four overs, and Chris Jordan, who would at one stage have claimed three wickets for two runs in nine perfectly mixed-up death-over deliveries, had Dawid Malan at deep midwicket not dropped England’s fourth and most clear-cut opportunity of a ropey catching display.Aside from those two, however, England struggled for control on an even-paced wicket that offered value for strokes and no place to hide for any bowler who missed his mark. Pat Brown, impressive on debut in Christchurch, was cannon-fodder on Wellington’s shorter square boundaries, as New Zealand’s batsmen feasted on his variations – his first over was dispatched for 17, including back-to-back fours for Guptill, a mown six for Tim Seifert and one of three dropped catches for the hapless James Vince. Brown returned for another foray in the ninth over, but this time Colin de Grandhomme sent him off to pasture for the remainder of the innings with consecutive hoicks for six over the leg side.And yet, in spite of England’s leakiness, they kept themselves in the contest, thanks in part to a series of New Zealand contributions that never quite developed from cameo status. Guptill, in particular, could be heard groaning audibly after top-edging an Adil Rashid long-hop to deep square leg just when it seemed he was rediscovering his long-lost mojo – even so, his 41 from 28 balls was still his best innings for New Zealand in 12 attempts dating back to the first week of the World Cup.De Grandhomme, likewise, had something more formidable in mind than his eventual 28 from 17, though he was undone by the ball of the innings from Christchurch’s forgotten debutant. Lewis Gregory had neither batted nor bowled on his actual England debut on Friday, but with Brown out of sorts, his zippy seamers were called upon for the first time in international cricket – and one delivery was all he needed to make his mark, a perfect wicket-to-wicket ball pegging back de Grandhomme’s off stump via a thin deflection off the pad. It was the 17th time that a player had claimed a wicket with his first ball in T20Is, and only the second Englishman … after Joe Denly, remarkably, in his first England incarnation in 2009.From a halfway scoreline of 96 for 3, New Zealand had designs on a total nearer to 200 than 180, but in the end they were indebted to a fine cameo of 42 from 22 balls from Jimmy Neesham, a man with unfinished business against England, after the agony of his near-heroic role in the World Cup Super Over, but who was playing his first T20I since 2017 after coming into the side in place of Scott Kuggeleijn.Neesham needed a stroke of early luck on 4 – though given the state of England’s outfielding, to call another Vince drop, this time at deep midwicket, unlucky would be a misrepresention. But, having found his range, Neesham started to find the boundary at will, four soaring sixes keeping the innings pumping in spite of Jordan’s best spoiling efforts.Chasing 177, England were rattled from the outset as Jonny Bairstow chipped Tim Southee’s first ball of the innings straight to mid-on for a golden duck, before James Vince – Friday’s batting star – flogged Lockie Ferguson’s second ball to deep point for 1. A scoreline of 3 for 2 after eight balls wasn’t quite the launchpad they had envisaged.True to their recent white-ball reputation, England refused to take a backward step in adversity – but despite a spray of aggression in his 17-ball 32, Eoin Morgan’s dismissal to a wild wipe down the ground against Mitchell Santner was a sign of things to come. Sam Billings, once again struggling to convert his talent into output, fell in identikit fashion off Ish Sodhi four overs later, before Santner again did for Sam Curran in the 11th over – de Grandhomme circling beneath the ball on each and every occasion.Dawid Malan briefly threatened to keep England’s fires burning with a brace of sixes in his 39 from 29 balls, but Sodhi’s slider induced a flat slash to Guptill at long-off, and with 83 needed from 48 balls and just four wickets in hand, the end was very much nigh.Chris Jordan hadn’t quite given up the ghost – a 24-run over off Sodhi, including three consecutive wipes for six – kept England just about in touch with that mounting run-rate. But another tossed-up delivery led to another catch down the ground, as Santner avenged his spin twin with Guptill once more the safe pair of hands.At 134 for 7, the game was now officially up. Lewis Gregory had time to smack his maiden international six, in the manner so beloved by the Taunton faithful, before holing out one ball later, and it looked for a time as though England could become the first T20 team to lose all ten of their wickets to catches before Adil Rashid had a hack at Daryl Mitchell to leave his stumps splattered with one ball of the innings unused.

Gloucestershire endured a poor day with the bat with only their lower order hauling them into three figures

ECB Reporters Network18-Sep-2018
ScorecardBrett Hutton played a starring role as Northamptonshire dominated Gloucestershire on the opening day at Bristol.He claimed 4 for 65 as the hosts were shot out for 125 inside 55 overs on a day in which 35 overs were lost to bad light or rain.Fellow new ball bowler Ben Sanderson weighed in with 2 for 16, while Nathan Buck took 3 for 32 to fully justify Alex Wakely’s decision to field on a green-tinged pitch beneath heavy cloud cover.Eight of those dismissed were caught behind the wicket on a wretched day for batting as tail-enders David Payne and Craig Miles emerged as Gloucestershire’s highest scorers.Pressed into service as a nightwatchman, Hutton fell lbw to Payne as Northants, required to negotiate two overs at the end of the day, reached the close on 4 for 1.A model of consistency since joining Northants from Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire-born Hutton made the most of bowler-friendly conditions, extracting movement off the pitch to rip the heart out of Gloucestershire’s top and middle-order batting.His initial intervention came in the second over of the day, left-handed opener Miles Hammond pushing tentatively at a ball outside off stump and edging behind to Adam Rossington without scoring to set the tone for what was to follow.Hutton returned to the attack from the Ashley Down Road End after lunch, taking three wickets in 22 balls in a devastating burst which further reduced the hosts to 68 for 8. Having negotiated best part of two hours and 78 balls, obdurate Chris Dent finally surrendered his wicket for 15, edging a length ball from Hutton to third slip.He then accounted for Ben Charlesworth and Ryan Higgins in rapid succession, having both caught behind, the latter via a top edge, to confirm East Midlands supremacy.Fellow Yorkshireman Sanderson was also rewarded for bowling a consistent line and length, the 29-year-old taking two wickets to further erode the top order. James Bracey was squared up in offering a catch behind, while Benny Howell could only edge a late in-swinger to Richard Levi at third slip.Ian Cockbain’s first Championship innings of the summer lasted just five balls, pinned lbw in the crease for a duck by Buck, while Levi again demonstrated safe hands when Ben Cotton located Jack Taylor’s outside edge as Gloucestershire limped to 57 for 5 at lunch.Ball continued to beat bat with alarming regularity and Miles decided attack was the best form of defence, the Warwickshire-bound bowler helping himself to five boundaries in staging a valuable stand of 33 for the ninth wicket with Payne.Buck wrapped up the innings, bowling Miles for 23 and then having last man Matt Taylor caught in the slips for nine, leaving Payne unbeaten on 23.

India captain Mithali Raj pointed to Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana’s inputs on Australia players, courtesy their WBBL stints, as being key to plotting Australia’s downfall in the semi-final in Derby

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-20174:04

‘Team has learned how to make a comeback’ – Raj

Mithali Raj hailed Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten 171 as the “greatest knock by an India women player” and underlined her example as the “big performance” that was needed to oust a “champion side like Australia.” She pointed to Harmanpreet’s knowledge of Australia’s bowlers, courtesy her stint at the Women’s Big Bash League, for helping them plan for the semi-final.”I think the transformation [has come] after she played in the WBBL,” she said after India’s 36-run win in Derby. “That exposure she and Smriti (Mandhana) got by interacting with other players has been massive. As I mentioned in the last press meet, against Australia it was they who were giving us more inputs about these players.””If more players are a part of these leagues, where they exchange ideas and follow the routine of other players, being part of the meetings, it will only help improve the standard of women’s cricket, as well as it’s very beneficial for youngsters and players from Indian team.”Harmanpreet’s knock covered up for a sluggish start. Not for the first time in the tournament did the openers struggle. Mandhana, who opened the tournament with 90 and 106 not out, recorded her sixth straight failure. Even in victory, the holes India needed to plug ahead of the grand finale wasn’t lost on Raj.”Ideally, I would have wanted the openers to have more runs,” she said. “But I think it is okay as long as the team looks very confident, inspired by the performances in the last two games because I personally feel that this team has changed the momentum of coming back into games.”As I have said earlier, it is important to know how to comeback to beat good sides, which we have done here. Today, I can proudly say as a captain that this team has really made a comeback. We posted a total that we haven’t done in 50-over cricket. All of them – batsmen and fast bowlers – looked in sync.”Raj attributed Harmanpreet’s turnaround to her 90-ball 60 – her first half-century of the tournament – that was key in the middle overs against New Zealand in a must-win game. For a long time, it looked like India would huff and puff to 220 there, until Veda Krishnamurthy’s blitzkrieg – an unbeaten 45-ball 70 – lifted India to 265. Her partnership with Harmanpreet gave them the momentum.”The game against New Zealand, she had runs as well as Veda had runs. They backed themselves to make fifty and those runs gave them confidence,” Raj said. “Had they not scored those runs, it would have been a different picture today. All said and done, everything happens for a reason and good. It was needed, and this knock will give her confidence tomorrow when she is in a position to take more responsibility as a batter. She will be in better shape and experience to take along.”She was equally effusive in her praise for Jhulan Goswami, who, she felt, had improved steadily after a slow start to the campaign. On Thursday, she sent back Meg Lanning with a peach that left her late to hit top of off. She finished with 2 for 35. “Well she has definitely worked on her bowling. From the first game to the Sri Lanka game and New Zealand game she was getting better in the nets,” Raj said. “It was just a matter of time. You get a couple of good spells and you get the confidence.”Raj said the win against Australia also helped break barriers on how the team would approach finals going forward. “As a team we are very excited to be a part of the World Cup final,” she said. “We knew that this tournament will not be easy but again the way the girls have turned up at every situation when the team needed, whether it be batters or bowlers, has been brilliant.”In fact the fielding, in patches, has been exceptionally good. This win has definitely changed the scenario in terms of how the girls will look at World Cup finals. It won’t be easy [to beat England] but beating Australia has given the girls a high.”Today has been our day but England have also peaked after being beaten by us in the first game. They have performed well throughout the tournament in the run-up to the finals. Playing the hosts is going to be a challenge but, having said that, this unit is up for it.”Raj equated the team’s qualification to the final as a completion of a full circle that started in 2005, when the side last had a shot at cricket’s ultimate prize. Raj and Goswami are the only two members of the current squad who were part of the side that lost to Australia in the final in 2005.”I am speechless because for me and Jhulan it is very special because we are two players from 2005 who have been with the team,” she said. “It seems like it’s going back to 2005, and I am just too happy that the girls have given us an opportunity to be a part of World Cup finals again.”

Gloucestershire’s enterprising approach was rewarded on the final afternoon as century-makers Michael Klinger and Jack Taylor powered them to a five wicket win over Worcestershire in the Specsavers County Championship clash at New Road

ECB Reporters Network01-Jun-2016
ScorecardJack Taylor smashed a 71-ball hundred to help Gloucestershire to victory (file photo)•PA Photos

Gloucestershire’s enterprising approach was rewarded on the final afternoon as century-makers Michael Klinger and Jack Taylor powered them to a five-wicket win over Worcestershire in the County Championship clash at New Road.The Gloucestershire captain Gareth Roderick had thrown open a game heading towards stalemate on the third day by declaring his side’s first innings 75 runs in arrears. Gloucestershire then proceeded to bowl out Worcestershire for 239 and were left a target of 315 in 70 overs which they reached with more than 10 overs to spare.With the pitch playing true and a short off-side boundary for the right-handers to target, a see-saw game finally tipped in Gloucestershire’s favour as they climbed to third spot in the Division Two table.Klinger, a former Worcestershire player, and Taylor came together in the first over after tea at 141 for 5 and proceeded to flay the home attack.Taylor reached a brilliant hundred off 71 balls with five sixes and 11 fours and finished unbeaten on 107. Klinger completed his ton with the match-winning six off Brett D’Oliveira; he faced 141 balls and hit two sixes and 11 fours. Their stand was worth an unbroken 179 in just 24 overs.Klinger and Taylor’s main concern was the light and play was halted briefly but the players returned and the sixth-wicket pair completed their task.Gloucestershire set out in pursuit of their target immediately after lunch and Worcestershire vice-captain Joe Leach had made the first breakthrough when Chris Dent edged to first slip. Fellow opener Roderick fell to a superb full-length catch by Alexei Kervezee at mid-off off Ed Barnard after he had ran back 20 yards from extra cover.First innings century-maker Graeme van Buuren again looked in good touch before he was undone by a ball of extra bounce from Charlie Morris and was caught behind for 42. Then in the final over before tea, Hamish Marshall took on occasional spinner Kervezee and was caught at mid-on to leave Gloucestershire on 139 for 4 at the interval.Worcestershire’s victory hopes increased in the first over after tea when George Hankins aimed a heave across the line at Leach and was lbw. But Taylor decided counterattacking was the best option and he reached his half century off 38 balls with four sixes and five fours. He also dominated a century stand with Klinger, which came up in just 17 overs.Heavy morning rain delayed the start but play was able to get underway at 11.30am with only the loss of eight overs. Worcestershire resumed on 151 for 5 in their second innings – a lead of 226 – and Ross Whiteley scored a typically robust 53-ball half-century but wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end to Liam Norwell and Craig Miles.Ben Cox was caught behind off Norwell and then Leach perished at deep midwicket off Miles. Miles struck twice in an over as Ed Barnard was caught at cover before a superb leg-side catch by keeper Roderick accounted for first-innings centurion Jack Shantry.Whiteley was last out for 71 from 88 balls with four sixes and seven fours. Miles finished with 5 for 54 – his 10th five wicket haul in first class cricket – and Norwell 4 for 70.