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Bell twice on a hat-trick as she and England team-mate claim seven wickets between them

ECB Reporters Network29-Apr-2023Lauren Bell took 4 for 37 as the Southern Vipers routed the South East Stars by 158 runs in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Beckenham.Bell was twice on a hat-trick as she wiped out the Stars’ top order, before Charlie Dean then took 3 for 18 to bowl the hosts out for 129.Earlier Ella McCaughan hit 67 and Maia Bouchier 59 in an opening stand of 117, before Georgia Elwiss came in and made 59 to set a stiff-looking 287 for 6.Alice Davidson-Richards had the best figures of the Stars’ nine bowlers with 2 for 30, but it was a chastening afternoon for the home side after last week’s emphatic 131-run win at the Thunder.The Stars had lost all six of their previous 50-over games with the Vipers, including last September’s Eliminator at Beckenham, but any hopes their opponents might still be reeling from last Saturday’s shock defeat to the Sunrisers were ephemeral.The Vipers chose to bat and took full advantage of both a benign wicket and a sub-optimal display by the Stars with the ball, which included 27 wides. They offered few chances and when they did the hosts couldn’t take them.Bouchier was on 42 when she pulled Alexa Stonehouse to mid-wicket and was dropped, while McCaughan survived a difficult stumping chance off Bryony Smith when on 34.Paige Scholfield finally broke the partnership when she bowled Bouchier, who played on and Scholfield then caught McCaughan off Ryana MacDonald-Gay in the covers.Davidson-Richards was the ninth bowler the Stars used, but she struck in her first over when she had Danni Wyatt caught at backward point by MacDonald-Gay for 22.At that point the Vipers were 170 for 3, which was the closest they came to a wobble. Elwiss and Adams responded with a stand of 76, the latter bringing up the 50 partnership with a six off Tash Farrant.Farrant subsequently had Adams lbw for 31 and Dean made four when she chipped Freya Davies to Phoebe Franklin, before Elwiss hit the penultimate ball of the innings, from Davidson-Richards to Smith on the mid-on boundary.The Stars made a bright start to the chase, racing to 26 without loss, only for Bell to strike twice in as many balls. She hit the top off Alice Capsey’s off stump to bowl her for 18 before getting MacDonald-Gay lbw for a golden duck.Smith flicked the hat-trick ball to square leg for two but was out in Bell’s next over, the victim of a brilliant tumbling catch by Dean at extra-cover for 7.Bell found herself on a hat-trick for the second time in the match when Davidson-Richards edged her to Bouchier in the slips but Kira Chatli blocked her next delivery. It was a short-lived reprieve for Chatli, who was caught by Linsey Smith for 20 off Alice Monaghan.Scholfield and Farrant hung around for a while but the former was bowled by Adams 31 and Dean then began to mop up the tail.The end was nigh when she beat Farrant in the flight for 21, beating her in the flight and bowling her leg stump. She then had Alexa Stonehouse caught by Adams for a duck and Franklin snared by McCaughan for nine and the victory was sealed when Freya Davies holed out to Monaghan and was caught by a diving Adams at long off.

An unbeaten 61 from Australia’s No. 8 left India two wickets from going 2-1 up in the series

The Report by Varun Shetty28-Dec-2018For the fourth day in a row, Pat Cummins stood as the only considerable obstacle in India’s push for a 2-1 lead before the Sydney Test. Australia showed more fight in their second innings, but India’s bowling was too much to handle. No team has chased more than 332 at the MCG, and in the absence of any of the forecast rain, the 399 India set was too steep for Australia to do more than delay what still looks a grim defeat. They need 141 to win as India look to take an unassailable lead and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Australia’s middle order resisted longer than they had in the first innings, but it was yet another day of getting in only to get out. It was symptomatic of a year in which Australia have made only four individual hundreds, three of which came in the first match of the year. On Saturday, they needed hundreds – from batsmen and from partnerships – but they only managed one half-century stand.Getty Images

The opening stand didn’t last beyond the second over. Aaron Finch survived an lbw shout off Jasprit Bumrah’s first ball, only to waft at the next incoming delivery and edge it to Virat Kohli at second slip. Marcus Harris was gutsy without being so for long yet again, having survived a menacing spell against pace only to offer hard hands to be caught at short leg off Ravindra Jadeja.Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh had ideas to counter Jadeja, using their feet often to hit him into the leg side, with the occasional reverse sweep from Khawaja to trim the deficit before lunch. But India found a way. The plan after lunch had been to attack the stumps with Jadeja and the outside edge with Mohammed Shami bowling around the wicket. Khawaja, in particular, had settled in and was largely staying leg side of the ball and defending close to his body, if he had to play at all. That was until Kohli moved from slip into leg gully at the start of a Shami over, allowing him to bowl straighter. He was rewarded instantly, getting one to straighten from middle to catch Khawaja’s back leg in front of off stump.A similar change in line from Bumrah accounted for Shaun Marsh, his lbw decision much closer than Khawaja’s. But ball-tracking indicated the ball would have clipped leg stump and the on-field decision stood. Batting became progressively easier from there in the middle session, with the conditions not aiding reverse-swing as much as they had in the first innings, and so the wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head would have particularly stung Australia. The former, having biffed Jadeja over long-on, found Kohli at extra cover with an aerial drive. Head – impressive with his feet once again, particularly while hitting through the off side – played another one onto his stumps when he swished away from the body against Ishant Sharma.Tim Paine and Cummins have both shown the ability to stay organised under pressure, and they did so for a bit, before Jadeja changed his angle to left-arm over and had Paine attempt a cut to be caught behind. Cummins, in contrast, was stubborn throughout his innings in offering the straight bat, barely chasing at deliveries outside off. He waited 41 balls before his first boundary stroke, a sweetly-timed loft over long-off against Jadeja that had most on-air broadcasters convinced he should be in Australia’s top six in the fourth Test. He delivered further on those exaltations with more picturesque drives through the off side against the seamers, saving his best until the new ball was taken late in the day. The first, an expansive crash through extra-cover against Bumrah, brought him his fifty. Then, a classy, high-elbow punch wide of mid-off against Ishant.But neither of those quite drew applause from the MCG crowd like his straight drive against Ishant two balls later. An imperious shot on the up past the bowler, the kind neither team has played since this pitch began opening up on the third day. It was the final stamp of his dominance, and a mild jibe at his mates in the top order, as he took Australia to stumps with Nathan Lyon, who currently has the highest average – 41 – for an Australian batsman in this series.Earlier, India had begun the day on 5 for 54. Overnight batsmen Mayank Agarwal and Rishabh Pant came out to attack the bowling, but strokemaking wasn’t any easier against pace than it had been on Friday. So Agarwal went after Lyon, stepping out and lofting him over his head for two sixes in the same over. But Cummins was on call once again for Australia, pegging him back into the crease until he got one to keep low and had him playing on to off stump. That gave Cummins his fifth, and soon he had Jadeja fending at a bouncer to give him career-best figures. All six of his wickets came with the batsmen on the back foot. Josh Hazlewood, the only other bowler with wickets in the innings, got Pant with a short one in the next over, which prompted India to declare.The wicket had come after Pant had drilled him over long-on off the previous delivery. It was one of the wicketkeeper’s few highlights, as he put down Head twice off consecutive deliveries from Jadeja later in the day. He went on to make amends later, by holding onto Paine, after adding a comedic episode to their banter series.

“It always takes an individual to do something special to get the team back on track,” Australia coach says of Nathan Lyon’s eight-for in Indore

Andrew McGlashan04-Mar-20232:19

Chappell: Getting India out cheaply in the first innings was key

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald believes the team’s success in the Indore Test shows there is a core group of players who are learning what it takes to win in the subcontinent and can set the side up for greater success in the future.”One hour of chaos” in Delhi, as McDonald termed it, cost Australia the chance of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but having taken the opportunity to refresh and regroup during the long break before the third Test, they secured one of their finest overseas victories as they beat India at their own game on a pitch rated “poor” by the ICC.As a result, Australia have secured their place in the World Test Championship final, during a cycle that has also included Test wins in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and they now have the chance of levelling the series in Ahmedabad.Related

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They don’t head back to India for another Test series until 2027 and a number of a senior players are unlikely to return, but they will visit Sri Lanka in 2025 and the likes of Travis Head, Cameron Green, Marnus Labuschagne and Todd Murphy have many subcontinent tours ahead of them.”Usman Khawaja’s performances here are probably tied back to his first experience in the subcontinent, Steve Smith as well,” McDonald said. “Everyone’s journey starts at some point in time on the subcontinent, and I think there’s a core group of players that will come back here more experienced and, in theory, better equipped for the challenges. We’re talking about a series here where we’ve had certain conditions that probably aren’t relatable to any other subcontinent tour over time, so it’s always a different challenge when you do arrive here.”

Australia keep calm after another collapse

Australia did suffer another batting collapse in Indore, losing 6 for 11 on the second day to miss the chance to build an overwhelming lead. But they retained their composure and, led by Nathan Lyon’s eight wickets, kept the pressure on India before making a target of 76 appear simpler than appeared likely.”You have almost got to be near perfect against India in India. I think this game besides that 6 for 11 was near perfect,” McDonald said. “We had a little bit of luck. Marnus getting bowled off a no-ball, how critical was that at that point in time, [and] that allowed a partnership to flourish. We took our opportunities as well. Usman’s flying catch and then Smudge [Smith] winding back the clock with that one at leg slip. You compare that to the Delhi game where Smudge dropped one at first slip and then we dropped one at leg slip in Matthew Renshaw, and they were critical.”We had one hour of chaos there and that cost us that Test match when we’d played pretty good cricket. We came here and doubled down on what we’d set out to achieve at the start of the tour.”So on the back of Delhi, it was ‘how clear are we going to be in what we need to do next’. Is this team good enough? Yes. What do we need to do next? We’d lost 6 for 11, nothing we can do about that. We go out there and Nathan Lyon as the experienced spinner delivers one of his best performances. It always takes an individual to do something special to get the team back on track, no doubt about that.”Alex Carey whips the bails off to send Rohit Sharma back in the first innings•BCCI

Praise for Alex Carey’s wicketkeeping

Amid the headline-grabbing performances of Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann, Khawaja and Head, McDonald picked out Alex Carey for special praise after his display of wicketkeeping on the devilish surface. He only conceded three byes for the match where some deliveries leapt while others scuttled and McDonald viewed his stumping of Rohit Sharma, the first wicket of the Test, as a vital moment.”One part that hasn’t been spoken about enough is Alex Carey’s keeping,” he said. “I think that on day one, that ball to Sharma, that high take, that stumping, if he doesn’t execute that Sharma gets a look at the wicket, he plays differently and the game rolls in a different direction.”I think sometimes we are quick to criticise wicketkeepers. In this instance, I thought that day one was an absolute clinic and gave us control of the game. We saw [KS] Bharat miss a couple of half-chances, or get his leg in the way of balls that could have gone to first slip. So I thought that was a key moment in the game.””I think the more extreme the conditions, the less the toss is relevant”•Getty Images

Pitches make the toss irrelevant

McDonald remained diplomatic about the pitch in Indore, saying that all the players could do was perform on whatever surface they were given, but did say conditions had been “extreme”. However, as in Pune in 2017, it likely helped narrow the gap between the teams.”I think you can see that in the fact that all three games have been won against the toss, teams batting first have lost, and that’s rare,” he said. “It’s usually pretty hard to win against the toss but here we’ve seen three matches go that way. I think the more extreme the conditions, the less the toss is relevant.”Before the third Test, Rohit had floated the notion of India asking for a green pitch in Ahmedabad if they had secured their place in the WTC final. Now they still require a victory to be assured of meeting Australia at The Oval, although if Sri Lanka don’t win against New Zealand in the Test that runs concurrently in Christchurch, the result won’t matter. Regardless, McDonald felt the pressure in the series has now been switched.”I don’t think we know what we’re going to get in Ahmedabad, I don’t think anyone does,” he said with a hint of a smile. “But we’ve definitely put some pressure into that change room. Full credit to the guys. [It’s] great reward for a group that over the past couple of weeks have had their challenges.”

South African-born allrounder was isolated 30 overs into one-dayer in Chattogram

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2021Ruhan Pretorius has revealed he was in “a bit of a weird space” after his positive Covid test result led Ireland Wolves’ first one-day game in Bangladesh to be abandoned after 30 overs, only for him to discover a day later that the result was a false positive.Pretorius, 30, was born and raised in South Africa but has played club cricket in Ireland since 2015, and after relocating permanently, he will qualify for international selection through residency in 2022.Related

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He was not picked for the first-class game against a Bangladesh Emerging Team, meaning that the first 50-over game was his first appearance for an Irish representative team. He had taken one wicket in his first four-over spell as a first-change bowler, but was told to leave the field after 30 overs, with the match abandoned soon after.”It’s been the most bizarre few days, to be honest,” Pretorius said in an interview with Cricket Ireland. “We started the first game all testing negative for Covid – we had to be negative in order to get on the field according to the protocols. Then halfway through the first innings I was pulled off the field and the game was stopped. To then be told I was potentially Covid-positive was a shock.”I was isolated immediately from the team and was told to wear an orange suit – kind of like a sweat suit, but this one was for isolation. I then was taken in an ambulance to the team hotel, where I was immediately sent to the isolation room and spent the evening there.”To be fair, the team management were brilliant in managing the whole situation. I underwent two tests – an emergency test and another along with the rest of the team. Luckily both came back negative, and the medical staff advised that the original test was a false positive, so I was able to resume the tour.”I was in a bit of a weird space after trying to get used to being in isolation, and thinking worst case that I might be there for 14 days if I was positive. To deal with it mentally was challenging – I was preparing myself for the worst. However, after getting the two negative results, I just tried to re-focus and get back in my normal routine.”Pretorius returned to the side to top-score with 90, opening the batting, and then took 1 for 40 in his nine overs as the Wolves fell to a four-wicket loss with two balls to spare. The series continues with the third 50-over fixture on Tuesday.

With a tough away series in India to follow, it is crucial for Australia to maximise their points in their home series this summer

Alex Malcolm29-Nov-20221:16

Usman Khawaja focused on West Indies first

When Australia won the T20 World Cup in 2021, there was feeling that they had finally secured that one global trophy that had long eluded them. But the reality is there is another trophy, albeit newly created, that quite literally slipped through their fingers in 2021.Australia missed the 2021 World Test Championship final because they were docked points for slow over-rates. Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, admitted on the eve of the first home Test of a new summer – and the first of nine Test matches leading into the 2023 WTC final – that his side didn’t realise what they had missed out on at the time.”I think being new, it probably didn’t hit us until the game was actually played and you saw over there New Zealand did well and you wish you were there,” Cummins said on Tuesday in Perth. “So it feels like second time around it’s got a little bit more on it. It felt like a big missed opportunity that first one. So it certainly gives a bit more context to every series now, something big to play for.”While there is a general malaise about Australian men’s cricket right now for a variety of reasons, with fears the Perth public are unlikely to turn out in droves to watch the first Test played in this city since 2019, every Test match has meaning now for this Australian team.Related

• Race to the WTC final: Australia in pole position; India and Pakistan bank on home advantage

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“The big series, say Ashes or India series where you play four or five Test matches are obviously big battles, whereas the more common series where you play two or three in a series, it gives them a bit more global context and something a bit extra to play for,” Cummins said.The Australian public may not fully realise it, still yearning for a clash with the West Indies of old, but this two-Test series has a lot riding on it. Australia currently leads the World Test Championship table and are in pole position to make the final in England next year.For the first time too, Cummins and a few of his teammates have begun talking about the significance of the next eight months of Test cricket for a group of players that are closing in on the end of their Test careers.It could be the last shot at Test Championship glory for this group of seniors•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

David Warner, Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood are all in their 30s, with Warner, Khawaja and Lyon on the other side of 35, having formed the backbone of the Australian Test side over the past 10 years. Alex Carey and Marcus Harris, who are also in the squad, are also 30 plus, while Cummins will be 30 in May next year.Warner has already hinted this could be his final 12 months in Test cricket, although he walked those quotes back in the lead-up to the Test in Perth, while Khawaja admitted the team would head into a transition phase sooner rather than later, something Cummins hoped would be later but confirmed was on the horizon.”In the next six or seven months we have got 15 Test matches, hopefully, there won’t be any turnover before that but of course, it is coming,” Cummins said. “To be honest it is the most stable team I have played in ever. You could probably have picked the side 12 months ago. I feel like we are in a good spot.”An eight-month stretch of Test cricket, featuring 15 Tests against West Indies and South Africa at home, India and England away, and the WTC final if they get there, is a golden opportunity for a group that hasn’t collected as many major Test trophies as perhaps their collective talent warrants, despite being ranked No.1 in the world at present. There is a sense that those 15 Tests could cement a legacy as a great Australian team.”I think it is such an exciting opportunity for our group, to play four of the biggest series you are ever going to play as an Aussie Test cricketer within six or seven months, that is a once a career opportunity,” Cummins said. “That’s all ahead of us, that’s exciting. Obviously, a home summer is always big, with a World Test Championship, that’s something big to play for. We get a few wins here it pretty much guarantees our spot in London. We have all come here fresh. We know it’s a big block of cricket and we are excited for it.”But they cannot afford any slip-ups as they did in 2021. They have already let moments slip in Test cricket this year that could have put them in an even stronger position on the WTC table. They failed to close out the fourth Ashes Test in Sydney in January, as England survived nine-down, and did likewise in Karachi in March when they dropped a number of catches as Pakistan survived 171.4 overs in the fourth innings. They also lost by an innings in Galle, having been 204 for 2 on day one against Sri Lanka after winning the toss.Anything short of winning all five Tests at home this summer against West Indies and South Africa could leave them vulnerable to missing the WTC final again, given they have a tough four-Test tour of India to negotiate in February and March, having won only one Test there in 14 since the 2004 series triumph.Neither opponent at home will be easy to navigate, with West Indies undefeated in Test cricket in 2022 while South Africa sits second on the WTC table despite losing their last two Tests in England midyear.Australia are acutely aware of the opportunity that presents itself. They now must take it with both hands.

England were in a position from which to dominate India, but then gifted the ascendancy back to an alert and hungry visiting side

The Report by Sidharth Monga01-Aug-2018On Yorkshire Day, two Yorkshire batsmen put England in a position from which to dominate India, but then gifted the ascendancy back to an alert and hungry visiting side. The moment of inspiration came from India’s captain Virat Kohli who ran out Joe Root – once again between 50 and 100 – with a direct hit from deep midwicket, after which this side’s biggest match-winner R Ashwin, took out the dangerous duo of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. He ended the day needing one wicket to become the first India spinner to take a five-for in England since 2002. England ended the day at 285 for 9, having at one stage been 216 for 3.What will worry England is that they lost wickets to soft dismissals on a slow and low pitch that looked as though it ought to have assisted India more: seven of the nine wickets to fall were either bowled or lbw, which is India’s speciality. But what will infuriate England is that Root and Jonny Bairstow had the attack at their mercy, going at more than six an over in the final session until Root responded to Bairstow’s call for a second run that didn’t exist. It all went downhill for them thereafter.Kohli is ruthless. He doesn’t think twice before accepting such gifts, having all too often been part of the side on the receiving end of such lapses. The moment arose after Bairstow pushed Ashwin towards deep midwicket where Kohli, to judge by his leisurely initial response, didn’t appear to have considered the possibility of the batsmen attempting a second run. But then he heard the call, and all those hours of strength training kicked in. He went from leisure to business in no time, and Root would have struggled even without a stutter. The exclamation point was how Ashwin judged that the shy was going to hit the stumps, and let the ball go through MS Dhoni-style.Kohli seized the moment to remind Root, and all of England, of his bat-drop celebration after he had finished off the Headingley ODI. He blew kisses. He pressed his finger to his lips. And then he uttered the words that might just be the most enduring ones for this series: “Mic drop?” followed by two words that lip-readers will tell you were of four and three letters, the second of which is “off”. There has been so much talk of Kohli’s batting and his record in England, but here Kohli the fielder had opened the door for India to barge through.Joe Root’s dive couldn’t save him from being run out•Getty Images

Even before this brilliance in the field, Kohli had had a lively start to his day. He dropped Cheteshwar Pujara from India’s starting XI, picked only one spinner, and announced to the world that he wouldn’t look back and regret it if things went wrong. We make a decision and try to make the best of it, he has always said. And after losing the toss, his new-ball bowlers were losing their discipline when he surprised everybody by bringing Ashwin on in the seventh over of the Test.Ashwin had two left-hand batsmen in his sights, a damp pitch that can often offer turn, and a new ball prone to natural variation when it lands on the seam. Out of India’s limited-overs sides, under pressure every time a wristspinner does well with the white ball, and always reminded of his record in these parts of the world, Ashwin showed none of that anxiety. In only his second over, Ashwin set Alastair Cook up beautifully: a quick arm ball to push him back, a slow offbreak to lure him forward, another arm ball, another offbreak, and then the killer offbreak that pitched on middle, much straighter than the rest. The bat face closed ever so slightly, and the slow ball, given every chance to turn by the revs and the seam position towards short third man, spun past the defensive prod.As the early moisture dried out, England’s batsmen – Root and Keaton Jennings, the latter dropped on 9 by Ajinkya Rahane at slip – the turn went out and the batsmen became more comfortable. Ishant Sharma was too short, Umesh Yadav too straight, and it was left to Mohammed Shami, returning from personal problems and a failed fitness test, to keep India in the game. He did so with the wickets of Jennings and Malan in the middle session, but an urgent Bairstow had begin to take the momentum away from India in the second hour of the middle session.India looked ragged at the start of the final session. Shami was down on pace. Ashwin was attacked. Root and Bairstow were scoring at will. Even defensive fields were not working. It looked like Root had gone past those concentration breaks that had resulted in his last 10 half-centuries not getting translated into hundreds. And then they took the ill-advised second. Moments later, Bairstow dragged Umesh onto his own stumps.Ashwin is often criticised for using too many variations. A lazy bit of advice that every expert gives to him is to concentrate only on the offbreak. Here he showed he didn’t need that advice. He used his variations, a lot of them, but he also showed he is a bowler at peace with, and in total control of, his game. The arm ball with the upright seam swerved beautifully away from the right-handers. He even bowled a front-of-the-hand legbreak that swung back in. And then natural variation did the trick. He bowled an offbreak that turned enough to beat Buttler’s inside edge but not enough to miss the leg stump. Stokes played hesitantly at a long hop, offering a return catch. Not long before, it had seemed India were in for a long leather hunt on day two, but with England suddenly in freefall, it seemed the India openers might have to take guard on day one itself.Allrounder Sam Curran kept that from happening, but Ishant and Ashwin inflicted one final blow each before stumps to make the day India’s beyond any reasonable doubt.

Taylor is playing his penultimate red-ball game for the county and guided Notts into a dominant position with a 208-ball 146

ECB Reporters Network20-Jun-2018
ScorecardRoss Taylor collected his first Specsavers County Championship century for Nottinghamshire as champions Essex toiled in the humid conditions at batsman-friendly Chelmsford.Taylor, who has joined for the first half of the summer, and is playing his penultimate red-ball game for the county, guided Notts into a dominant position with a 208-ball 146 on day one between the sides currently in third and fourth positions.The 25th first-class century of the 34-year-old Taylor’s career – only the eighth away from the Test arena – took four and three-quarter hours and included 23 fours.It had looked a good toss for stand-in captain Chris Nash to win at the start of the day, and an even better one by the end of it when they had 311 for 6 on the board. Essex’s bowlers, who had steered them to three victories in their opening six fixtures, had a particularly unproductive day, bar the occasional ball that turned from Simon Harmer and a nagging spell early on from Matt Coles.Taylor dominated a fourth-wicket partnership of 122 in 36 overs with Billy Root, who contributed just 32 of the stand from the 112 balls he faced.Taylor was quicksilver in comparison. He went off like a train, going to lunch with 32 from 33 balls. He slowed down appreciably for a time afterwards and needed another 40 balls to add the 18 required to reach his fifth Championship fifty of the season. But it took him just 51 more balls to make it to his second half-century. He had already hit 18 fours by that stage.Taylor, who had also registered three ducks in an otherwise inconsistent summer, had earlier shared a third-wicket partnership of 53 in a dozen overs with his skipper.Nash almost went to the third ball of the day when he got a faint snick to Jamie Porter. Varun Chopra went late to his left at first slip, getting fingertips to the ball but unable to stop it racing away to the boundary.It was not an auspicious start for the home side, and Nash reached his half-century straight after lunch to the 83rd ball faced when he clipped Wagner through midwicket for three. But he departed to his next ball, the first of Matt Quinn’s second spell, walking across his stumps, missing the ball and falling lbw for 51.Quinn had earlier marked his long-delayed return to the Essex attack by taking his first wicket since the end of May 2017. The New Zealand seamer had not bowled in the Championship for 374 days after back problems that required a succession of operations.Opening from the River End, Quinn found movement away from the batsmen off the seam. But it was a straight one to Jake Libby, to which the opener shouldered arms and was bowled, that gave Essex the breakthrough in the 10th over.Samit Patel, having made 20, followed 10 overs later when he was plumb lbw to Coles, who slipped into a nagging line and length from the start. Coles, making his Championship debut for Essex after moving from Kent, was the pick of the bowlers on an easy-paced wicket that favoured the batsmen.Nash’s exit early in the afternoon brought in Root, and with some judicious batting the fourth-wicket pair had Essex toiling in the field and paying for every wayward ball. Root even had the audacity to come down the pitch and lift Harmer straight for six. Later he pulled Coles for the boundary that took Notts to their first batting point.Taylor reached three-figures when he swiped fellow Kiwi Wagner through midwicket for his 18th boundary from the 124th ball he had faced. The boundary also brought up the hundred stand in 29 overs with Root, younger brother of the England Test captain.Root’s role as sleeping partner to Taylor’s rapier was ended when Chopra took a routine slip catch to a forward prod to give Harmer his first wicket of the match. The offspinner then got one to turn to account for Riki Wessels, who went back and was pinned lbw.Taylor finally departed three overs from stumps when he attempted to cut Porter, but only succeeded in touching the ball through to wicketkeeper Adam Wheater.

New Zealand’s middle-order staged a fightback but they fell short in the end

Andrew McGlashan11-Sep-20221:05

Finch: My body, and form, wouldn’t have made it till the 2023 World Cup

There was no fairytale finish with the bat for Aaron Finch but he was able to sign off his ODI career with hard-earned 25-run victory as Steven Smith, who will be a contender to be the new 50-over captain, compiled a superb hundred and Australia’s bowlers did enough to repel a spirited effort from New Zealand’s middle order.At 112 for 5 chasing 268, after another difficult innings for Kane Williamson, Australia were comfortable favourites but the recalled Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham and Mitchell Santner revived hopes. However, with the target coming within sight, Phillips was caught centimeters from the fine-leg rope by Sean Abbott, who with ball in hand then had Santner caught at long-off.Smith produced the standout performance with a perfect example of how to overcome tricky new-ball conditions then move through the gears. His 12th ODI century came from 127 deliveries, the slowest of his career, but his second fifty took just 46 balls. It was the first century made in this run of six ODIs against Zimbabwe and New Zealand. In total, the last 20 overs of Australia’s innings brought 161 runs.Shortly before play started there was a minute’s silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II and the players wore black armbands.Finch announced his ODI retirement yesterday and his final innings came early in the game after Australia were asked to bat. He was given a guard of honour to the middle by New Zealand, and offered a warm handshake by Williamson, then his off-the-mark single was greeted by applause from the weekend crowd. But there would not be a grand sign-off, as he was worked over by some classy swing bowling from Tim Southee who brought one back through the gate to seal a not unfamiliar dismissal.By then, Australia were already two down with Josh Inglis, recalled to replace the rested David Warner, edging a half-hearted drive against Trent Boult whose outstanding series continued with an opening spell of 6-3-7-1. Smith and Marnus Labuschagne focused purely on survival for a significant period: after 10 overs Australia were 19 for 2 – there were three consecutive maidens from overs seven to nine – and after 15 overs it was 29 for 2.Steven Smith brought up his 12th ODI century•Getty Images

Steadily, though, the pair started to build. Smith pierced the off side with a cover drive off Lockie Ferguson for his first boundary then consecutive fours followed against Neesham. Labuschagne did not find the boundary until his 62nd delivery. Australia’s century came up in the 30th over and also marked a clear shift in tempo, especially from Smith. He launched Southee down the ground to reach fifty and Labuschagne brought up his half-century from 75 balls but could not go much further when he spliced a slower ball from Ferguson to mid-on to end a stand of 118.Smith and Alex Carey added 69 in 10 overs, with the former dominant. Smith showed his game awareness when he swung Neesham over the leg side for six but noticed New Zealand had too many fielders outside the ring and was signalling the free hit the moment the ball left his bat. His innings ended when he gave himself room against Santner and was bowled. Glenn Maxwell’s stay was brief and Carey could not quite cut loose, but Green helped add the finishing touches with two sixes in his 12-ball 25.Given how the first two games went, it looked a steep chase. A positive opening stand of 49 was broken when Devon Conway drove to backward point where Smith took a low catch. Conway stood his ground but the third umpire ruled the fingers were under the ball. Finn Allen sent Adam Zampa into the sightscreen before his encouraging innings ended when he chipped to mid-on.The stumps are splattered by Alex Carey, as a dive back can’t save Tom Latham•Getty Images

The innings then started to seize up in a fashion similar to the second game with Abbott again stringing together maidens. Tom Latham was stumped as the ball deflected off his pads back to Carey and Daryl Mitchell top-edged into the off side. Williamson soaked up 56 balls for his 27, finding the boundary just once, before an awful mix-up with Phillips left a frustrated captain walking off.However, Phillips and Neesham played sensibly in the face of a climbing asking rate. Phillips produced some stunning strokes over the off side, headlined by a back-foot drive for six against Starc, and though Neesham picked out long-on – Green producing a clever change of pace – Santner kept the target in sight.It got to 46 needed off 30 which, if not quite in New Zealand’s favour due to the loss of wickets, was a very close game. But the visitors could not get it done. Phillips was inches from clearing deep square, where Abbott tip-toed inside the rope, and in the end the game finished with a lot of fruitless swinging from the fast bowlers. New Zealand did not make a half-century in the series.The victory gave Australia the Chappell-Hadlee series 3-0, although when the trophy is played for again remains uncertain. The two sides are not due to meet in an ODI series under the next FTP running till 2027. New Zealand will now hope they can end their wait for a win against Australia on their soil, dating back to 2011, when they contest the T20 World Cup meeting on October 22.

Mumbai are still ahead by 251 runs but MP’s strong start hangs final in the balance

Shashank Kishore23-Jun-2022Madhya Pradesh slowly chipped away at the runs and have built a base camp from which they will look to scale Mumbai’s first innings score of 374 as the Ranji Trophy final is delicately poised going into the third day in Bengaluru.Having taken a wicket off the second ball to have Mumbai 248 for 6, they saw Sarfaraz Khan rally with the lower order to make his fourth century of the season. However, MP hung in there and made a solid beginning to their own innings, finishing on 123 for 1 at stumps, trailing Mumbai by 251.Yash Dubey, out to two somewhat debatable calls in the semi-finals, was unbeaten on 44. He was overshadowed by Shubham Sharma, who battled a lot more positively to keep the scoreboard moving along, thereby giving Prithvi Shaw and co something to think about as an all-out attacking field slowly spread out as the final session progressed. Towards the end, Dubey managed to even overtake Shubham as their partnership was worth 76.All said, Mumbai still have the runs to play with but MP won’t be too disappointed either, given they are also playing an extra batter in debutant Parth Sahani. Their stonewaller Himanshu Mantri would be disappointed, though, missing out on a start as he fell for 31 in the first over after tea as he played all around a full Tushar Deshpande delivery to be trapped lbw. It broke a stubborn 47-run opening stand to lift Mumbai after the fast bowlers probed away without much luck prior to the tea interval.After tea, Dubey and Shubham raised a half-century stand off 89 deliveries. Just as they were beginning to look increasingly at ease, a change of ball in the final session seemed to make a difference as Deshpande and Mohit Avasthi forced the batters to shut shop by delivering a probing spell of reverse swing bowling as stumps loomed.Reverse swing aside, Avasthi, the first-change bowler, impressed in short bursts, occasionally getting the ball to rear up to make Dubey uncomfortable, but he couldn’t sustain it for long enough. As spin came on, both batters kept milking runs. Shams Mulani, easily Mumbai’s best bowler so far this season with 37 scalps at an average of 15.64, was particularly picked off with ease. He conceded 46 runs in 11 wicketless overs. More than the runs, that he couldn’t even cause a flutter would worry the team management.The morning entirely belonged to Mumbai as Sarfaraz bailed the team out with the lower order. He found some staunch resistance from Dhawal Kulkarni as he got to a well-constructed eighth first-class century. It took him 152 balls to get to a half-century, and only 38 more for him to complete the hundred. He was particularly severe on the spinners as he used the full-blooded sweep to good effect.The first eight overs produced just 10, but Sarfaraz was happy to play himself in and temper his game to give bowlers the first hour. He reined in his shots, resisted temptation to try and pick off cheeky boundaries like he usually does, focused fully on playing orthodox cricket.After Mulani was out second ball, Tanush Kotian barely survived, pushing, and prodding against the fast bowlers before an unplayable delivery got him when Gaurav Yadav bowled him with a superb away-swinger to flatten his off stump. Yadav, who wheeled away without any luck on the opening day, had four wickets to show for his efforts by the end.Kulkarni’s stonewall for a better part of an hour allowed Sarfaraz to play big shots. He got to a century with a lofted hit down the ground off Kumar Kartikeya’s left-arm spin. His animated celebration thereafter had the sparse crowd, national selectors and his team-mates give him a standing ovation. He added 34 runs more but eventually fell playing one big shot too many. By then, Mumbai were in an excellent position, leaving MP to do all the running to try and remain in the game, which they have.

Leicestershire have made a double Pakistan pace bowler signing for the 2018 season, with Paul Nixon beginning his tenure as head coach by bringing in Mohammad Abbas and Sohail Khan to share overseas player duties

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2018Leicestershire have made a double Pakistan pace bowler signing for the 2018 season, with Paul Nixon beginning his tenure as head coach by bringing in Mohammad Abbas and Sohail Khan to share overseas player duties.Abbas, 27, has made a good impression since his Test debut last year, taking 23 wickets at 21.34 in five matches. He will be available for Leicestershire’s first Championship match, starting on April 20, and then again from mid-June – given his likely involvement with Pakistan’s tour of England and Ireland during the first half of the season.Sohail, an experienced seamer who has played all three formats for Pakistan and claimed Test five-fors at Edgbaston and The Oval in 2016, will deputise while Abbas is away. He could feature in four Championship games, as well as Leicestershire’s Royal London Cup campaign.”We have been looking for a quality fast bowler as our overseas professional and Mohammad Abbas ticks all of the boxes,” Nixon said. “His Test match record is different class, he is the new kid on the block, and I am delighted to secure his signature.”But we expect to be without Mohammad for the first part of the season and it was vital that we secured high-class cover. Sohail Khan has a superb record both in red- and white-ball cricket, he has good experience on English conditions, and really stood out on the last tour when Pakistan played here. Sohail’s bowling will be ideally suited to early season conditions here.”Leicestershire finished bottom of the Championship in 2017, for the fourth time in five seasons, and replaced coach Pierre de Bruyn after less than a year in charge. Clint McKay, who had spent three seasons as Leicestershire’s overseas player, was also not asked to return.Nixon, the former England international and long-serving former player at Leicestershire, was appointed to try and build on the work started by chief executive Wasim Khan. In 2015, Leicestershire won their first Championship fixture in almost three years, while the following season they improved enough to finish seventh in Division Two – although they have still faced criticism for their recruitment policies.Abbas follows in the footsteps of recent Pakistan internationals to sign for Leicestershire, such as Umar Akmal and Abdul Razzaq. His first-class record is impressive, with 304 wickets at 21.05, and he is also expected to play in the T20 Blast, filling one of the two overseas slots.”I am really pleased to be joining Leicestershire County Cricket Club for the 2018 season,” he said. “It has been a dream of mine to play in county cricket and I am looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and working with head coach Paul Nixon and the staff.”