The biggest loss by runs in PSL history also eliminated the Quetta Gladiators from the playoffs race

Debayan Sen16-Jun-2021A fluent half-century from Shan Masood, who hit 73, and a fantastic bowling and fielding display spearheaded by Imran Tahir, who grabbed 3 for 7, took the Multan Sultans to a thumping 110-run victory, knocking the Quetta Gladiators out of contention for the PSL playoffs. This is also the biggest margin of victory by runs in the league’s history; in fact, the Sultans overwrote the previous record by 39 runs.Put into bat by Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Sultans’ innings owed their early impetus to Masood, as he helped bring up 50 off six overs. There weren’t a lot of dot balls, with Mohammad Rizwan happy to work the ball around, as Masood found the boundaries with ridiculous ease. Standing tall, he peppered the arc between midwicket and covers at will, with the pick of the shots a firm on drive to a length ball from Usman Shinwari. Masood looked even more dangerous after the powerplay, smacking Mohammad Nawaz for six over midwicket before going straight down the ground for another maximum off the very next ball, en route to 50 off 26 deliveries.An all-too-brief fightback by the Gladiators
The introduction of Khurram Shahzad brought the Gladiators some hope, with Rizwan chopping him on to his off stump to start the ninth over, thus ending a 72-run association for the first wicket. Zahir Khan gave his team another lift by getting Sohaib Maqsood to miss one that turned into him to tickle the top of off, leaving the Sultans at 88 for 2 at the halfway mark.Johnson Charles started briskly, using the pace of Shinwari to guide him past third man for four early on, and this gave some breathing space to a tiring Masood. However, before holing out to long-on in the 14th over delivered by Hassan Khan, Masood would repeat the loft over long-off and smash over midwicket for six on the way to posting his highest PSL score in the process.The Sultans were left with an opening to surge on to a massive score, but Rilee Rossouw then skipped down the wicket to Hassan and top-edged an intended lofted drive towards square leg, where Usman Khan came running in from the deep to take a diving catch. Zahir then spun a web around Khushdil Shah, zipping googlies and conventional legspinners across him, while also inducing an edge for a sharp chance that Ahmed failed to latch on to in a 16th over that fetched the Sultans just one run off the bat.The final push and a sign of things to come
The Sultans ended up pillaging 49 off the last four overs, which really should have been contained had Hassan held on to a Charles flick off Shahzad that went through his fingers and hit the midwicket boundary skirting on the full when he was on 23. Charles eventually fell to Shahzad for 47, but by then having clubbed Mohammad Hasnain for four down the ground and whipping him over midwicket for six. Post that, some hefty blows from Khushdil Shah saw the Sultans through to 183.Ahmed had inserted the opposition hoping for some dew, but there didn’t appear any when the Gladiators began their chase. Jake Weatherald struck some meaty blows early on, picking up two slower balls from Sohail Tanvir, depositing the first over wide long-on before swinging the next down to fine leg for four. He welcomed Imran Khan with a gorgeous lofted extra cover drive for six, but at 27 without loss one ball into the fourth over, that was about as good as the evening could get for the Gladiators.Crash! Boom! Bang!
Imran got a sharp length ball to take Weatherald’s edge through to Rizwan, and two balls later, Cameron Delport skipped down the wicket and popped a slower ball to mid-off. Usman was run-out in comic fashion, having overrun a quick single after Ahmed tapped a ball to point, and thus not responding to his captain’s call for an overthrow in good time. At the end of the powerplay, the Gladiators were going at a run a ball, but had consumed 21 dot deliveries and three precious wickets in the process.Azam Khan then fell to a lazy waft off Blessing Muzarabani to leave the Gladiators at 46 for 4. They then lost four more wickets for just 13 runs, with Rizwan afforded the luxury of bringing on Tahir after nine overs. His first ball produced the wicket of Nawaz, who had batted competently for 10, run-out through a Tahir deflection at the non-striker’s end. Tahir then mesmerised the lower order, pinging Shinwari and Shahzad leg before after having induced a false shot from Hassan.Fittingly, the last wicket fell to Shahnawaz Dhani, who joined Wahab Riaz at the top of the wickets tally with 14. While the Gladiators are on their way out, Wednesday’s result might also have severely dented the hopes of the Karachi Kings following the significant boost to the Sultans’ net run rate.

The left-arm quick, who recently turned 35, says he still has ‘plenty left in the tank’ as a Test cricketer

Deivarayan Muthu26-Jun-20213:02

‘In your head… Kohli, Kohli’ – Neil Wagner sings Zombie cover

As a red-ball specialist who hasn’t played any white-ball cricket for New Zealand, Neil Wagner had never dreamed of being part of a world final. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo in the lead-up to the inaugural World Test Championship final, the left-arm quick had likened the match to a World Cup final. During a virtual media interaction on Saturday afternoon, Wagner said winning the WTC was the “pinnacle of the game” for him and that the team was overwhelmed by the support and reception from their supporters.”Never [dreamed of it],” Wagner said. “No, that (playing white-ball cricket for New Zealand) was sort of a dream and a ship that had sailed to be fair – thinking about the white-ball World Cup in some sort of a way. So, when the Test Championship came around and it was sort of explained to us a couple of years ago what it’s going to be like, I got quite excited by the idea. I thought it was quite special and I thought it was something that’s going to make Test cricket the way it is right now and make it quite exciting and add a bit more perspective to it.Related

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“So, finally, I guess, getting to an ICC event and with something as big as that… how hard Test cricket is and to be able to do that for a period of two years; every Test match is extremely hard to try and put a performance in and win it. There’s a lot of things that’s got to go your way and lot of hard work you got to do over five days.”To then get into a final, which was obviously rain-affected and still play our brand of cricket and be positive and to get there, personally for me, I can’t speak for everyone, this is the ultimate for me to win a Test Championship final though it’s the first one and probably hard to compare with others, it’s definitely the pinnacle of the game for me. And to win it against a quality team like India and the way we did and then to see what it has meant to everyone… The support back home and support that was around there – the text messages keep flowing in, phone keeps buzzing and to see what it has meant for Kiwi supporters and family and friends, it means a lot to us too. So, it’s definitely right up there.” Everyone wants a piece of the WTC mace that has now been nicknamed Michael Mason – including the customs officials who greeted the New Zealand players after they touched down in Auckland on Saturday morning.”I don’t think I have ever walked into customs and got greeted the way we did,” Wagner said. “Everyone was like straightaway: ‘Congratulations!’ Pretty happy, [they] grabbed our passports and all they wanted to ask was ‘Where’s the mace? Where’s the mace?’ Obviously, when they saw it, the smiles on their faces and what it brought to them, it sort of hit home pretty hard… What it meant to people back home and obviously getting across the line, winning a Test Championship final, and bringing that trophy back like that.”I remember watching as a kid a lot of other teams lifting that [mace] up after finishing a Test cycle being No.1 in the world and what it meant to them. So, to be able to win it in a one-off Test match like that is a pretty special feeling and we could see what it meant to other people once you got home.”Seeing even police officers stopping and wanting to have a photo from a distance with it. Like I said, it’s a pity that it’s Covid times and you can’t hug around these guys and pose for a photo and you know, obviously, give something back to them, too, but it was nice to see the smile on everyone’s faces and how jubilant they were to receive us and getting on the bus… There were cameras outside and people waving and yeah obviously just being very happy about what we were able to achieve. I think it definitely hit the boys hard what it has meant to everyone and around.”Neil Wagner has said he still feels ‘pretty young and the body feels really good’ and that he has ‘plenty left in the tank’ as a Test cricketer•Getty Images

Wagner recently turned 35 and is the oldest member of the New Zealand pace quartet, but he brushed aside talk of a potential retirement, stressing that he was still fit and motivated to deliver for the team. Returning from toe injuries, Wagner swung the Dukes ball in England in addition to unleashing his patented short-ball barrage over lengthy spells.’I’ve got plenty left in the tank,” Wagner said. “Age is just a number for me personally and I feel potentially I haven’t got the five-wicket bags or performances behind my name that I wanted to, but still feel I’m contributing and playing a role, doing what I’m doing and that is just my role. It’s not always going to have the glory numbers or the wickets or whatever it is, but I’ve got a role I can fulfill for the team and as long as I’m needed or called upon, or I guess asked to do a job, 100% I’ll be there to contribute.”I still feel pretty young and the body feels really good. I played those three Test matches [in England] and got through this pretty easily and felt really good that I could play even more. So that’s a good sign for me personally. As long as that motivation and desire is there to keep going to do the hard work at training and do the hard yards of going to the gym and do the tough running sessions and keep the body fresh and improving your game – as long as that’s still there, the rest is easy. Mentally, [I] still feel fresh.”If anything this [WTC title] has just urged me on to work harder and my game personally, but also on a fitness level and all those sort of things to keep playing and performing and doing my role to the best of my ability as much as I can and contribute to the team.”‘I remember when I started my career, it took about 11 Test matches before I got even a Test win. Kyle has played eight – he hasn’t lost one or drawn one yet’ – Wagner•Getty Images

Wagner also hailed Kyle Jamieson, who has emerged as a potent point of the difference in New Zealand’s attack with his ability to swing the ball both ways in addition to the bounce he generates from his 6’8” frame. After scorching the 2019-20 and 2020-21 home summers, Jamieson was front and centre of New Zealand’s victory over India in the WTC final, scooping up a match haul of seven wickets and the Player-of-the-Match award.”Just the way he has fit into the group and come in and play the way he’s done – to just do what he’s been doing in domestic cricket and do even better,” Wagner said of Jamieson. “Every game he’s getting better and better, his willingness to learn, how he’s been bowling with the team and the performances he has put in have put him a long way ahead of the cricketer he’s still yet to be and become. He’s been instrumental to us; yes it’s been amazing to do it with Tim [Southee] and Trent [Boult] as well with myself.”We keep building as a unit, we keep building in partnerships, we said from the start that we know one day might one person’s day and the other day might not be someone else’s day, but you still contribute and bowl for the guy at the other end and someone might reap the rewards for us. I remember when I started my career, it took about 11 Test matches before I got even a Test win. Kyle has played eight – he hasn’t lost one or drawn one yet [laughs]. That’s pretty amazing and he’s played a massive part in that [success] too. Good on him and hopefully he can continue and as a bowling unit, hopefully we can continue to learn and get better and obviously put more performances like this for New Zealand cricket.”

Shakib Al Hasan’s five-for against Zimbabwe, meanwhile, moved him to eighth in the ODI bowling rankings

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2021Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan and England’s Liam Livingstone have made the most significant gains in ICC’s latest rankings update for T20I batters. Rizwan, who was the top scorer during the T20I series between the two sides with 176 runs in three innings attained a career-best seventh position while Livingstone’s 147 runs in three innings – including a maiden T20I ton – propelled him up 144 places to 27th, having played only eight matches in his career so far.The latest rankings update, which includes the final two T20Is between Australia and West Indies and the series-opener between Ireland and South Africa, also sees Evin Lewis move from tenth to eighth on the batting charts after scores of 31 and 79. Dawid Malan, Babar Azam and Aaron Finch maintained their rankings as the world’s top three T20I batters.

Full rankings tables

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In the T20I bowlers’ rankings, four wickets each for Shadab Khan and Mohammad Hasnain have moved them to 36th and 41st, while Sheldon Cottrell’s three-for in the final match against Australia helped him gain six positions to reach 16th. Wristspinners Tabraiz Shamsi, Rashid Khan and Wanindu Hasaranga remain the top three T20I bowlers.In ODIs, South Africa’s Quinton de Kock moved into 10th among batters after smashing a 91-ball 120 against Ireland in the final ODI in Malahide. Shikhar Dhawan’s 86 in his first ODI as India’s stand-in captain against Sri Lanka lifted him to 16th. Azam, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma continue to hold the top three batting positions in ODIs.Shakib Al Hasan was the most significant gainer among ODI bowlers on the back of his five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe in Harare. He moved up nine places to break into the top 10 once again, and into eighth position. He remains first on the ODI allrounders’ list.

Adelaide Strikers will back their impressive bowling attack to make their mark again

AAP26-Nov-2021Perth Scorchers import Sophie Devine is ready to carry Beth Mooney off the ground if her fellow star opener can put in one more heroic display in Saturday’s WBBL final against the Adelaide Strikers.Devine and Mooney have formed the best opening partnership in the WBBL, with the duo both named in the team of the season.National team mainstay Mooney has plundered a league-leading 528 runs at an average of 52.80 and a strike rate of 132 for the Scorchers this season, while New Zealander Devine has scored 407 runs at an average of 33.92.The duo loom as key figures against a powerful Strikers’ bowling attack that has strangled the Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Renegades in back-to-back elimination final wins.Related

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A top of 36 degrees is forecast for Perth on Saturday, but Devine is confident Mooney will be able to handle both the heat and the Strikers’ attack.”She’s an absolute machine,” Devine said. “It probably doesn’t look like it at times in the past. I think I was watching replays of her in the Heat colours – she was crawling pretty much in between overs.”But she’s an absolute champion. She’s done this time and time again – not just in Australian colours, but for the Scorchers and for the Heat as well. I’ve got no doubt about her preparation. She’s the ultimate professional, she knows what she needs to do.”Fingers crossed she has a big one out there. If I have to carry her off, so be it, I’ll take that.”Strikers captain Tahlia McGrath was straight to the point when asked about the key to beating the Scorchers.”For us it’s about breaking the partnership of Soph and Moons really early. That’s going to be a crucial decider in the game,” she said.While the Scorchers earned direct passage into the final after finishing on top of the table, the fourth-placed Strikers had to win two elimination games in the space of two days to get there.Adelaide thrashed the Heat on Wednesday and destroyed the Renegades on Thursday before making the flight to Perth on Friday. McGrath is adamant her team won’t enter the decider weary.”Everyone was full of energy at the airport this morning,” McGrath said. “There’s a lot of belief, there’s a lot of fight in the group. It’s a dream group to captain when everyone knows their role and performs. We’ve definitely got one more left in us.”The Scorchers are hopeful of attracting a crowd in excess of 42,000 for the match at Optus Stadium.

The third Test in Melbourne continued despite cases in the wider England squad

AAP27-Dec-2021The New South Wales Government has declared they will do all they can to ensure the SCG’s Ashes Test goes ahead, guaranteeing players won’t be sidelined for a week as close contacts.Cricket Australia were able to breathe a sigh of relief on Tuesday, when all players from Australia and England returned negative PCR tests to COVID-19.That has at least in the short-term put pay to fears of a large outbreak in the England camp, after four non-playing members of their touring party tested positive to the virus.But bigger questions still await Cricket Australia. There had been fears that NSW’s close contact rules would force players into a week of isolation if they were near an infected person in a state that is averaging more than 6000 cases a day.That, in effect, had the potential to immediately kill off the Test if several players were close contacts and asked to isolate for a week under previous rules.However NSW Health’s claims on Tuesday mean that players would be treated the same as they were in Melbourne, and able to play on if they were close contacts.Likewise, NSW health minister Brad Hazzard promised that the Test would be able to go on with minimal issues if a player or further support staff contracted the virus.”The SCG Test is sacred, an important date at the start of the third year of our life with Covid-19,” Hazzard said. “I want to assure the cricket loving public, under our rules any players with exposure to a known case of Covid-19 would be asked to test and isolate only until a negative result was received.”If there are any cases within the teams, their support staff, or families, we will work with the people involved to ensure they are safe, and there is as little disruption to others as possible.”Cricket Australia are also confident they will be able to work with the Tasmanian government to ensure the fifth Test in Hobart goes ahead.Tasmania has had minimal cases of the virus and the threat of players and broadcasters becoming close contacts in Sydney could be an issue.However Tasmania’s willingness to host their first Ashes Test is key, after the state government helped fund a big-money bid to secure the match.Meanwhile the incubation period of Covid-19 means officials still have a nervous wait ahead in coming days to ensure the virus doesn’t spread further in England’s camp.No players had reported any symptoms before their PCR tests on Monday night, and play was able to start uninterrupted on day three in Melbourne.”Players from the Australian and England teams all had PCR Covid-19 Tests after play yesterday and all results have come back negative,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.”The families of both sets of players also had PCR tests yesterday and all returned a negative test. The England team’s support staff and their family members who tested positive after PCR tests yesterday are in isolation.”Australia have so far managed to get almost all matches played on home soil since the start of Covid-19 through its protocols.Only one Test has been postponed – against Afghanistan last summer. A one-day series against New Zealand was also called off when the pandemic first surfaced mid-series.Otherwise the BBL, WBBL and women’s internationals have got through unscathed, with crowds able to attend all major events bar the first closed-door sports event in Australia with an ODI against New Zealand in March 2020.”We’ve seen through the last 18 months [we can get games on],” CA boss Nick Hockley said. “I have to say I am so proud of the work of everybody involved, in particular thank the players but also the governments and health departments across the country. We’re having to learn to live with this.”

“In many ways, I had already retired as a cricketer, but hadn’t been able to make a formal announcement”

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2021Harbhajan Singh has announced his retirement from all formats of the game. In a video message on Twitter, the former India offspinner said that “in many ways, I had already retired”, but because of his commitments with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, he was forced to delay the announcement.”There comes a time in your life when you must take some tough decisions and move ahead. I have been meaning to make this announcement for the last few years, but I was waiting for the right moment to share it with all of you: today, I am retiring from all formats of cricket,” he said. “In many ways, I had already retired as a cricketer, but hadn’t been able to make a formal announcement.”I haven’t been an active cricketer for a while. But I had a commitment to Kolkata Knight Riders, and wanted to spend the (2021) IPL season with them. But during the season itself, I had made up my mind to retire.”Harbhajan last turned out for India in March 2016, in a T20I against UAE in Dhaka in that year’s Asia Cup. Harbhajan, now 41, made his international debut back in March 1998, in a Test match against Australia in Bengaluru, picking up two wickets in an eight-wicket defeat. He went on to play 103 Tests, for a haul of 417 wickets – still the fourth-highest for India – at an average of 32.46, with an innings best of 8 for 84 and a match best of 15 for 217, both recorded in India’s two-wicket win over Australia in the Chennai Test of 2001, which gave them a 2-1 win in an iconic series. In the previous Test in Kolkata, made famous due to VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid’s batting all day while following-on – Harbhajan had played a major role too in India’s stunning come-from-behind win, bagging 13 wickets in the match.Harbhajan also turned out in 236 ODIs from 1998 to 2015, taking 269 wickets at 33.35 and an economy rate of 4.31. He played 28 T20Is, taking 25 wickets at an average of 25.32 and an economy rate of 6.20. His overall tally of 707 international wickets is the second-highest for India, behind Anil Kumble’s 953.Harbhajan has had great success in the IPL too, taking 150 wickets in 163 matches, fifth on the all-time list. Harbhajan also took 20 wickets in 22 Champions League T20 matches, leading Mumbai Indians to victory in the competition in 2011. Harbhajan’s longest association with a franchise was with Mumbai Indians, who bought him in the 2008 auction and retained him ahead of the mega auctions in 2011 and 2014. Released ahead of the 2018 mega auction, Harbhajan had two years with Chennai Super Kings before finishing up with Knight Riders.”It has been a beautiful journey over 25 years, right from the of Jalandhar to becoming the Turbanator of India,” he said in the statement. “Nothing has been more motivating for me than stepping out on the field while wearing the India jersey.”Like every [Indian] cricketer, even I wished to bid goodbye in an India jersey, but fate had something else in store for me. Irrespective of the side I represented, I have always given my 100% commitment to ensure my team finishes on top – whether it was India, Punjab, Mumbai Indians, CSK [Chennai Super Kings], KKR or the county teams of Surrey and Essex.””My first real happiness was the hat-trick I took in Kolkata”•Hamish Blair/ALLSPORT

Harbhajan had plenty of success across formats, including being part of two World Cup winning teams with India – in 2011 and in 2007 for the inaugural T20 World Cup. His greatest achievement, arguably, remains the performance in the series against Australia in 2001, where he bagged 32 wickets in three Tests, where no other Indian bowler took more than three wickets. Harbhajan’s feat included taking a hat-trick in Kolkata.”If you ask me about my cricket career, my first real happiness was the hat-trick I took in Kolkata, becoming the first Indian bowler to do so in a Test match. I also got 32 wickets in the three Tests in that series, which is still a record,” he said. “Following this, the T20 World Cup win 2007 and the [ODI] World Cup win in 2011 were most important for me. Those were moments that I can neither forget nor express in words as to how big that happiness was for me.”As for the future, Harbhajan said that he has “no idea” what he would do, but indicated that it would be connected to the game.”Cricket was, is and will always be an important part of my life. I have served Indian cricket for years, and will continue to strive to serve them in the future,” he said. “I have no idea about the future, but whatever I am today is because of cricket. I will be immensely happy if I can be of help to Indian cricket in any role in the future.”Now I begin a new chapter in my life, which starts with its own challenges. Believe me, your Turbanator is ready for the examination! Just keep showering your love on me.”

Akeal Hosein takes four wickets as England are derailed in series decider

Andrew Miller30-Jan-2022 West Indies 179 for 4 (Pollard 41) beat England 162 (Vince 55, Holder 5-25, Hosein 4-30) by 17 runs Jason Holder claimed four wickets in four balls in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Barbados, to put a very personal seal on an outstanding series win for West Indies. In a pulsating finale at Bridgetown, Holder built on a career-best haul of 4 for 30 from the left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, to outlast an England team that was once again left to rue its own shortcomings at the death, as they succumbed by 17 runs to lose the series 3-2.England were set 180 for victory, after a two-paced batting display from West Indies, in which Kieron Pollard and Rovman Powell cracked 66 runs from the final four overs to re-ignite an innings that had gone flat during a masterful display of legspin from Adil Rashid.In reply, James Vince set the early tempo with 55 from 35 balls, and Sam Billings applied some precious late impetus with 41 from 28. But after Hosein had undermined England with a wicket in each of his four overs, it was left to the veteran Holder to defend 20 runs in the final over – and despite a first-ball no-ball to ramp up the jeopardy, there was never any doubt once he found his range.First to go was Chris Jordan, who picked up a low full toss with a heave across the line, but picked out the substitute Hayden Walsh Jr on the midwicket rope. Billings, who got himself back on strike as the batters crossed, then launched a similar stroke in a similar direction, as Holder trusted the full length, before Adil Rashid slapped another fifth-stump delivery high into the leg-side, where Odean Smith settled beneath the hat-trick delivery.That was already game, set and series – but even more glory was to come Holder’s way before the celebrations could begin in earnest, as Saqib Mahmood attempted to dig out a full straight ball, and inside-edged on to his leg stump, a deflection so imperceptible that it wasn’t until Nicholas Pooran started pointing in glee at the dislodged bail that Holder realised what he had achieved. As if his haul of 4 for 7 in the first match wasn’t glorious enough, this was quite the way to finish.On the front foot from the outsetAfter winning the toss for the fourth time in the series, Pollard chose to bat for the first time – his logic being that the “virtual final” nature of the contest made runs on the board all the more valuable. And, with the contest taking place on the same pitch where Powell had mown a 51-ball century on Wednesday, it was a chance to show faith in his troops as well.Mahmood was back in England’s team for similar reasons – in the wake of his maltreatment at the death in game two, this was a chance for him to prove his mettle in a high-stakes contest. The initial signs, however, were ominous. Latching on to his residual doubts, Brandon King launched Mahmood’s first ball clean over long-on for a premeditated six, and by the time Kyle Mayers had swivelled into a brace of exquisite pulls, his last two overs in international cricket had gone for an eye-watering 47 runs.And thus the early tone of West Indies’ innings was set. Reece Topley continued his impressive re-entry by conceding 11 runs from two overs, but Mayers – quite the upgrade from the off-colour Shai Hope – laid into Jordan with another brace of Lara-esque pulls through the leg-side, before King dumped a Moeen Ali length ball over long-on for the fourth six of the powerplay, one over after Billings spilled a leg-side stumping catch as he tweaked one through the gate.Rashid causes mid-innings panicSpin is one thing… but legspin is West Indies’ kryptonite. And Rashid has proven to be a particularly debilitating rival down the years. This was his 13th T20I against West Indies – more than he has played against any other nation. He now has 22 wickets against them at an average of 10.95, an economy rate of 5.69, and a strike-rate of 11.5 (more than one every two overs) – and each of those are figures that he hasn’t bettered against anyone else.At the end of the powerplay, West Indies were cooking on 58 for 0. Four balls later, there was panic in the air, as Mayers took on the long boundary with a ragged pull into the wind, and found Jason Roy back-pedalling on the rope for another routinely sensational relay catch – Phil Salt was the beneficiary as he pocketed the lob back into play while jogging round from long-on.Kieron Pollard landed some thumping blows•Getty Images

Romario Shepherd, once again pushed up the order with a licence for carnage, duly obliged by greeting a Liam Livingstone full-toss with a slam over long-on. But before the over was out, he’d been utterly undone by the ball turning out of his arc – beaten on the slog one ball, then skewing a fat outside edge to point the next, and West Indies had slipped to 67 for 2.Pooran attempted to take Rashid down with an airy first-ball flog over long-on, but having failed to connect properly, he then retreated into his shell – as if mindful of not exposing his team-mates to the threat. At the other end, King’s previously sparky innings came to a tame end as Livingstone made it three wickets out of three for the leggies, and it would be seven full overs before West Indies would break the shackles with another boundary. By then, Rashid had signed off for the night by bowling Pooran with a googly for 21 – his figures of 2 for 17 from four overs had applied the emergency break.Powell, Pollard pick up the paceFor that period of West Indies’ mid-innings reticence, their Manhattan chart began to resemble a stumble down a flight of cellar stairs. But as soon as the death overs began, England’s increasingly infamous frailties surged to the fore. Topley, so excellent for so much of this series, was collared on the pull by Powell, whose arrival in the 15th over was eyebrow-raisingly late given his form.Pollard, a sheet-anchor for his first 12 balls, then picked off a full toss in the same over to kick-start his innings, and when Topley’s best ball of the over, a pinpoint leg-stump yorker, was deflected fine through third man for four more, England’s dismal record between overs 16-20 – it’s now more than 11 runs per over since the start of 2021, worse than any other ODI team – was sounding like a stuck record.Jordan has been especially culpable in that regard of late – not least in that pivotal over in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand – and when he missed his mark four times in the space of six balls, Powell and Pollard were primed to cash in (although one of Powell’s sixes in particular, a flat smash through midwicket off an otherwise faultless yorker, was really just a heady confluence of skill and confidence). Another 66 runs had flooded from England’s final four overs, to go with the 67 they had conceded in their second match. After five taxing matches, that’s an issue that they seem no closer to resolving.Akeal is England’s Achilles HeelRoy on strike? How about some left-arm spin? It’s become a pretty transparent ploy from teams the world over, but with good reason, given that Roy was talking in the lead-up to the World Cup about having to banish some “darker thoughts” when faced with that ominous mode of attack.For two balls, it seemed that West Indies had out-thought themselves, as Roy responded with a brace of feisty boundaries – a slotted drive through long-off, and a short-arm thump through the covers. Before the over was out, however, Roy was traipsing off, shaking his head in dismay, after under-edging a slog-sweep into his pad and into Pooran’s gloves as he ran round from behind the stumps.That was the end of his work for the first half of the innings – it was the startling pace of the recalled Smith that dominated the rest of the powerplay, as Tom Banton paid the price for nailing one pull for six by splicing another to Pollard on the edge of the rope, before Moeen was dropped first ball as he steered a snorter to Holder at slip.Holder would eventually atone for that error by ending an unusually laboured stay from Moeen – there was never any danger of a repeat of his four consecutive sixes from game four as he flicked his first ball after drinks into the covers to trudge off for a boundary-less 14 from 19. But given his reputation for taking down spinners, Moeen’s departure was the cue for Hosein to return, and he did so with a devastating triple-whammy.Livingstone was the first of his mid-innings victims – caught at point as his campaign ended with a miscued slap – and though Vince carved consecutive fours to rattle past a 30-ball half-century, his attempted slog-sweep in Hosein’s next over plopped tamely into the hands of deep midwicket. Phil Salt didn’t get past the slog aspect of his dismissal – a rowdy gallop led to him being stumped by a distance for 3 – and as Hosein finished his spell of 4 for 30, England took a sickly scoreline of 124 for 6 into their own death-overs effort.

Cross, Ecclestone play stellar roles with the ball to restrict the hosts

S Sudarshanan19-Mar-2022 England Women 204 for 9 (Sciver 61, Knight 42, Mackay 4-34) beat New Zealand Women 203 (Green 52*, Devine 41, Cross 3-35, Ecclestone 3-41) by one wicket It is a World Cup of thrillers. And England took the tough route to get home to all but knock the hosts out.Nat Sciver and her partnership with Sophia Dunkley had almost done it for England. They had added 70 for the fifth wicket and England were just 28 away. But Frances Mackay, with a wet ball thanks to constant drizzle, picked three wickets for just eight runs after the 40th over to trigger a collapse that saw England lose five wickets for 20 to go from a comfortable 176 for 4 to a nervy 196 for 9.Mackay first got one to spin in sharply past the outside edge of Dunkley’s bat to bowl her. An over later, she had Sophie Ecclestone inside-edging one on to the stumps, before having Kate Cross lbw to a ball she should have been forward to. Then Katherine Brunt ran herself out going for a non-existent second run to add to the chaos. It was panic stations in the England dressing room.In the interim, Sciver, on 61, missed a cut off Jess Kerr to be bowled. But Anya Shrubsole and Charlie Dean saw England home eventually to help them notch up their second win in the competition to keep their title defence alive.On a day of intermittent drizzle, it was the trio of Cross, Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone who combined to dismiss New Zealand for 203 after they had gotten off to a quick start in Auckland. Maddy Green’s half-century helped the hosts past the 200-run mark, something that looked to be at a distance after a late collapse.After a 15-minute toss delay where Knight inserted New Zealand in, Devine and Suzie Bates cashed in on some wayward bowling. Brunt struggled to adjust to the wind and didn’t get her lines and lengths right, much like Ellyse Perry in the India-Australia match on Saturday, and the ‘Smash Sisters’ took full toll.Shrubsole wasn’t spared either as New Zealand raced to 44 for 0 in seven overs. That prompted England to get Cross and Sciver on early, but Devine and Bates brought up their first fifty partnership in the competition.Cross then gave England an opening when she got Bates to miscue one high for mid-off. Soon, Devine had to retire hurt on 37 after going down with a sore back and barely managing to get up and walk off.While Cross and Sciver kept the lid on the scoring, Dean’s introduction further slowed things down as Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite struggled to rotate strike. The offspinner, who had returned career-best of 4 for 23 against India, got Amelia Kerr to top-edge a sweep, the shot that she had employed successfully throughout the series against India.Green then took on Ecclestone after a watchful start, while Satterthwaite, too, began to accelerate with a slight drizzle making an appearance. However, Dean trapped Satterthwaite to start the slide for New Zealand. They lost five wickets for just 27 runs from there, including that of Devine, who walked back in after the sixth wicket. It was Green’s innings coupled with a last-wicket cameo by Jess Kerr, where she scored 14 off just 13 balls, that saw the home side cross 200.New Zealand began the 204-run defence well, dismissing Danni Wyatt early after she had gotten off to a quick start. It took the long, outstretched arms of Hannah Rowe running backwards from mid-off to get the breakthrough. Tammy Beaumont, on the other hand, was busy and hit three fours in the space of six balls against Rowe and Jess Kerr. She had gotten the measure of the surface that seemed to hold up a bit in the second innings, pulling Lea Tahuhu for four before the bowler undid her with pace to knock her over.New Zealand were disciplined without being incisive enough, and Sciver was happy to bide her time. In fact, it was Sciver’s slowest fifty in ODIs. It was set up by Heather Knight earlier, who scored 42 off 53 balls, unlucky to miss out on a half-century of her own.Knight and Sciver, as they had done against India, prevented the slide and at the same time kept England on course. The England captain waited for spinners to err before reverse-sweeping Mackay through backward point and using the leg glance to collect a boundary off Amelia Kerr.Mackay, though, extracted revenge when she trapped Knight in front of the stumps in an attempted reverse sweep, the DRS not coming to Knight’s aid. Brooke Halliday, who was called in to fill Tahuhu’s quota, had England in a brief discomfort that resulted in Amy Jones’ wicket.It was then than Sciver and Dunkley got together to effectively seal the chase. Sciver showed restraint in attacking Amelia Kerr and was happy to wait for the bad balls, which was one of the characteristics of her knock. She pulled Rowe through backward point to get to her half-century off 97 balls. But with England in pole position, needing 31 off the last ten overs, they committed hara-kiri.Somehow, they managed to squeeze home in the end, by the barest of margins.

WA captain ‘shed a few tears’ after winning the Sheffield Shield for the first time in his 21-year career

Alex Malcolm04-Apr-2022The tears said it all. Shaun Marsh has had countless triumphs over a 21-year professional career. He’s made 13 international centuries for Australia, won Ashes series, Border-Gavaskar trophies, been the leading runscorer in an IPL, won multiple BBL and Australia domestic 50-over titles.But raising the Sheffield Shield aloft as Western Australia captain, something his father Geoff Marsh had done, something no WA captain had done in 23 years, could be his greatest achievement as a cricketer.”It’s pretty emotional to be honest,” Marsh said. “I’ve shed a few tears.”It’s definitely up there. Dad always spoke about his Shield wins as being the highlight of his career and this feeling that I’ve got inside my body now it’s definitely up there and I’m just so happy for the playing group.”Related

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It might be the perfect way to finish for Marsh. He began his Shield career as a 17-year-old with Western Australia in 2001, three years before his current team-mate Teague Wyllie was even born. But the 38-year-old, who has a year to run on his state contract with WA and has signed a two-year contract extension with Melbourne Renegades in the BBL, has not decided on his future just yet.”I’m not too sure,” Marsh said. “I’m not going to worry about it for a few days. I’m really going to enjoy this moment and enjoy it with the boys. We’ve really earned this moment. It’s been a few years in the making this and I’ll sit down with [coach Adam Voges] at some stage and we’ll see what next year looks like but at the moment I’m not even going to think about it. I’m going to celebrate with the boys and really cherish this moment.”WA were made to earn the title by an unrelenting Victoria outfit. They narrowly claimed the bonus point lead in the first innings thanks a superb 141 from Cameron Bancroft. Victoria coach Chris Rogers said it was the best he had ever seen Bancroft bat.Shaun Marsh lifts the Sheffield Shield•Getty Images

Then Aaron Hardie and Joel Paris orchestrated a Victoria collapse taking three wickets each after the visitors looked poised to snatch the bonus point lead and give themselves the opportunity to take the title with a drawn game. It gave WA a first-innings lead of 80.But there was one more twist in the tail on day four. Two quick wickets saw WA slump to 5 for 110, with a lead of just 190, and over five sessions left in the match. However, Sam Whiteman and Hardie both made centuries to put the game to bed and ease Marsh’s nerves.”I battled through day four,” Marsh said. “It was probably the best and worst day of my life to be honest. The emotions were going through my body and I couldn’t be more proud of Sammy and Hards in that partnership.”The game was in the balance and the way those two came out and batted it was just incredible and really put us into a commanding position. That partnership [is] up there with the best I’ve seen in 21 years.”Hardie finished with 174 not out, his highest first-class score, while Whiteman made 123 to go with his 85 in the first innings and faced over 500 balls in the match to be named player of the final.It was a special result for Whiteman, who played alongside Marsh, Bancroft and Voges in WA’s only other Shield finals during their 23-year title drought. Both were losing draws against New South Wales in 2013-14 and Victoria in 2014-15.Sam Whiteman and Aaron Hardie both made centuries•Getty Images

“It’s very special,” Whiteman said. “It means a lot to everyone in the group, and it varies from person to person. But you think of Shaun who’s played for 20-odd years. A lot of the group has played for 10 years now and we probably messed up a few chances along the way. You start doubting whether it’s going to come but it feels amazing.”Whiteman’s performance is made all the more extraordinary given he has reinvented himself as an opening batter, after playing as a specialist wicketkeeper in WA’s previous two finals before a finger injury forced him to give away the gloves.”Before the game my wife said to me, who would have thought you know, seven or eight years after your last Shield final that you’d be playing as an opening batter,” Whiteman said. “And yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed it, going from the keeper to opening. It’s special to be part of the team, play my small role, and, yeah, just pumped for WA cricket.”Victoria captain Peter Handscomb was left to ponder several decisions he and his side made throughout the five days including sending WA in after winning the toss and failing to chase the bonus point lead harder in the first innings.”I’m still okay with the toss,” Handscomb said. “I think hindsight is an interesting one. Looking back, we probably could have gone harder at the bonus point and then we get to try and control the game and try and get the draw that way. But at the time, we thought the wicket would deteriorate a little bit more than it did. We thought we’d be able to force a result somehow whether it be a win or a loss.”We didn’t really expect the pitch to kind of play like that. To see no cracks on a WACA wicket day four or five is a little bit interesting.”Handscomb had no qualms with WA batting Victoria out of the game noting his side would have done the same had they been in the same position. As disappointed as he was with the result, he was delighted for Marsh, who he played alongside for several years with Australia.”Bloody happy for Sos,” Handscomb said. “He’s a good mate of mine. It’s good that he’s been able to do that.”

No back-to-back Blast games for Middlesex as Morgan targets T20 World Cup in Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2022Eoin Morgan, England’s white-ball captain, says he will need to take it “week by week” if he hopes to lead his side out for this winter’s T20 World Cup in Australia, but is prepared to own up to feeling “cooked” at any stage in this year’s busy itinerary.Morgan, 36, has not played any competitive cricket since missing the final three matches of England’s T20I tour of the Caribbean in January with a quadriceps strain. He is due to play in Middlesex’s opening fixture of the Vitality Blast on Thursday, against Gloucestershire at Radlett, but will sit out the following day’s fixture against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl, having passed the team captaincy over to Stevie Eskinazi.”There’s nothing specific [injury-wise],” Morgan told London’s Evening Standard. “I’m just old, I think! It takes longer to recover. I did play the two back-to-back games in Barbados, then I got injured. You shouldn’t get injured warming up as a batsman, but I pulled my quad warming up, which means my body just didn’t recover at all.”This surfeit of caution means that England will be obliged to have “contingency plans”, as Morgan put it, when their international season gets underway. Assuming they are fit and available, Jos Buttler or Moeen Ali are the likely captaincy stand-ins for England’s three ODIs in the Netherlands next month, including two in three days on June 17 and 19.From there, England take on India and South Africa in 12 matches across two formats in July, before Morgan’s second season of the Hundred with London Spirit gets underway in August. His winter schedule is scarcely less busy, with England now due to play seven T20Is in a fortnight in Pakistan before heading to Australia to prepare for the World Cup in mid-October.”There are back-to-back games in the international fixtures, so just getting to them and seeing how I am, will be a decision made then,” Morgan added. “There is more solace looking towards the World Cup, because there aren’t fixtures within a few days. Everywhere else we play, they see time and just want to have games.”England are set to embark on a new era across formats, following the appointment of Brendon McCullum and Matthew Mott as the new red- and white-ball head coaches, and despite expressing his excitement at working with the two new arrivals, Morgan is realistic enough to recognise that his own involvement could yet end abruptly.Related

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“Particularly with getting injured recently on the West Indies tour, I need to be as honest as I can with Keysy [England managing director Rob Key] and everyone else to make sure we are in the right position come Australia in October,” he said. “I have always said that if I am on the way to a ground and feel done or cooked, or lacking the drive for it as a leader, I will communicate ASAP to Rob.”But I think it’s important that I play it week by week to start with, and aim for the T20 World Cup.”With England’s initial focus on the revival of their Test fortunes, starting at Lord’s against New Zealand next week, Morgan said that he did not expect to see many of England’s multi-format players – most particularly Ben Stokes but Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root too – until the Pakistan tour gets underway in October.This means that England’s tour party for the Netherlands in particular could have an experimental feel – and potentially a controversial selection too, with Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke among those likely to feature in the selection debate, three years after his involvement in a sexist WhatsApp group that ultimately led to the rape conviction of his former Worcestershire team-mate Alex Hepburn.Key recently opened the door to a Clarke call-up by remarking that “you can’t penalise people forever”, and in an interview with The Telegraph this week, Clarke – who was sanctioned by the ECB but was not charged or accused of any crime – admitted his enduring sense of “embarrassment and shame” at his actions.”This is not about playing for England. This is about owning what I did, that I made a mistake and what I did was wrong,” Clarke said. “If there is a message in there for the victim, and if she were to read this, she will see that I know I let her down. Hopefully she will read that and she would not feel anything towards me in a bad way.”