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Solidity against pace during the 181-run opening partnership helped Rajasthan gain the advantage on the opening day of the semi-final, Aakash Chopra, their opener, has said

Siddhartha Talya 03-Jan-2011Solidity against pace during an 181-run opening partnership and positive batting against spin to up the scoring rate helped Rajasthan gain the advantage on the opening day of the semi-final, Aakash Chopra, their opener, has said. Chopra batted determinedly to make an unbeaten 115 in conditions that offered plenty of assistance to the Tamil Nadu bowlers, and was well supported by Vineet Saxena as Rajasthan finished the day on 236 for 1.”We were not surprised when we were put in to bat, but we applied ourselves well,” Chopra told ESPNcricinfo. “We had a huge opening partnership and that really deflates the opposition. Once we got settled in, we tried to just continue for as long as possible.”In overcast conditions at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, with moisture on the pitch, there was swing and movement on offer for Tamil Nadu’s four-pronged pace attack. “L Balaji bowled very well, he bowled in the right areas consistently. So did C Ganapathy to start with. They bowled tightly and in the right areas, and both were quite effective. It’s just that they couldn’t really get a breakthrough and that’s what put us on the front foot. But there wasn’t a dull moment when the fast bowlers were on.”And it wasn’t just the movement. The ball wasn’t really coming on to the bat and it got better once the day progressed.”The good bounce in the pitch as well as the movement on offer meant Chopra had to be very conservative in his shot selection. He left a number of balls bowled in the channel outside off. “When the bounce is good and the ball is carrying to the keeper, you need to be very sure about where your off stump is. That’s what happens when you are batting well.”The seamers shared 59 overs today and conceded runs at just above two an over. The circumspect approach against the seamers had to be compensated with a bit of aggression against the slow bowlers. The Rajasthan openers targeted Suresh Kumar, who went for 81 in 21 overs.”On a track like this, you need to score runs against the spinners. That’s because the fast bowlers are not going to give you anything. There wasn’t much in the track for the spinners today. So that was the reason why we tried to up the ante against their only offspinner, and were successful.”Chopra praised his opening partner Saxena, whose 72 followed up a decisive century against Mumbai in the quarter-final. “He’s batted well throughout this season. He is someone who provides solidity at the top, his batting suits the longer format of the game, he’ll leave the ball, he knows his strengths and he sticks to them.”Rajasthan qualified for the semi-final based on a first-innings lead against Mumbai, and Chopra said batting big was the way to go in the ongoing contest. “We need to be very cautious to start with, the second new ball is only a few overs old. We’ll need to see off the first hour, or hour-and-a-half. We need to bat for as long as possible and put them under pressure.”Rajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar sustained an injury when he was struck on the pads off an inside edge and had to retire hurt, but Chopra was confident he would be able to bat on the second day.

An all-round performance by captain Ashok Menaria ensured India Under-19 sailed through to their second consecutive win in the tri-series at the King Edward VII School Ground in Johannesburg

Cricinfo staff30-Dec-2009
ScorecardAn all-round performance by captain Ashok Menaria ensured India sailed through to their second consecutive win in the Tri-Nation Under-19s Tournament at the King Edward VII School Ground in Johannesburg. Meenaria top scored with 69 to take India to 237 and later chipped in with three late wickets to keep Sri Lanka to 192.After opting to bowl, Sri Lanka’s Kasun Madushanka removed the openers before they could settle in and the Indians soon found themselves at 51 for 3, in need of a solid stand. That came in the form of a 100-run partnership between Meenaria and Harpreet Singh, who made his U-19 debut. The pair batted for nearly 21 overs and managed a respectable run-rate of 4.72 during their stand. They were separated when Menaria was dismissed by offspinner Rumesh Buddika. Harpreet added another 40 with Manan Sharma before he was stumped for 67. The Indians just managed to bat out their 50 overs, losing nine wickets in the process.The Sri Lankans failed to mount that target because they couldn’t stitch together substantial partnerships. The top order made starts but failed to carry on, save for the only half-century stand in the innings – the 51 for the fourth wicket between Kithuruwan Vithanage and Buddika. The Sri Lankans couldn’t recover after they lost half their side at 137 in the 37th over. Meenaria then took three lower-order wickets to top a very satisfying day in the field.

Opening stand worth 114 in 49 balls headlines nine-wicket drubbing

ECB Media09-Aug-2025Oval Invincibles delivered a clinical performance in the Hundred at The Oval, securing a commanding nine-wicket victory over Manchester Originals. The two-time defending champions chased down their target with 43 balls to spare in front of 20,976 fans.Winning the toss for the second time on the day, Invincibles opted to bowl first and immediately justified the decision. Jason Behrendorff (2 for 6) struck twice in his opening spell, removing Matty Hurst for a first-ball duck and Jos Buttler without scoring, reducing the Originals to 18 for 2, 15 balls in. The early wickets forced Originals captain, Phil Salt, to anchor the innings, passing 1,000 runs in The Hundred in the process.Mark Chapman offered brief resistance with a gritty 28, before falling to Rashid Khan (3 for 19), who kept things tight in the middle overs. Salt battled to 41 from 32 but succumbed to mounting pressure, becoming Rashid’s second victim.Sam Curran (2 for 17) returned to dismiss Noor Ahmad first ball, as the Originals limped to 105 for 7. Despite a late push from Scott Currie (21), the visitors could only post 128.Rashid Khan finished with 3 for 19•ECB/Getty Images

Originals’ bowlers were immediately put under pressure by the Invincibles. Will Jacks exploded out of the blocks, sending the ball to all parts of the ground, while Tawanda Muyeye provided him with a composed partner at the other end.The pair raced to 114 without loss, claiming their half-centuries along the way. Jacks, in sublime touch, reached 61 before falling to Lewis Gregory, caught by Currie on the boundary. But the result was never in doubt, with Muyeye reaching 59 as he and Jordan Cox took the side to their second victory of the competition.”I’m feeling good getting the back-to-back Man of the Match awards, but more importantly the win was very special with a good run-rate as well,” Rashid said. “It’s definitely a good feeling, two back to back wins. It’s a great start to the competition, everyone is doing so well in taking the responsibility. Either the batter, bowler or fielding – for us this is a great start and we’re looking forward to [seeing] this continue.”

They trounced Gladiators by 79 runs but both teams still have a shot at winning the PSL title

Associated Press13-Mar-2024Legspinner Usama Mir and fast bowler David Willey shared six wickets and routed Quetta Gladiators for 106 as table-toppers Multan Sultans completed their regular season with a 79-run win in the Pakistan Super League on Tuesday.Sultans led the points table with seven wins and will take on No. 2 Peshawar Zalmi (12 points) in the Qualifier on Thursday with the winner advancing to the final.It was a wake-up call for the revamped Gladiators, who will be playing their first PSL playoffs after four years. They will meet Islamabad United in the Eliminator on Thursday.Half-centuries by captain Mohammad Rizwan (69) and Johnson Charles (53) of West Indies propelled Sultans to 185 for 4 after they were put in to bat.Gladiators’ chase got derailed in the third over when Jason Roy’s run of poor form continued as Willey (3-22) had him trapped leg before wicket and Saud Shakeel (14) got run-out.Willey then knocked back captain Rilee Rossouw’s leg stump with an impeccable yorker inside the powerplay and Laurie Evans spooned a dolly to midwicket.Mir (3-22), the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, then removed the Gladiators’ top-scorer Omair Yousuf (37) before he quickly ran through the tailenders to give Sultans and emphatic victory with more than four overs to spare.Earlier, Rizwan smashed his fourth half-century this season and Charles upped the ante in the death overs with his 29-ball knock before Iftikhar Ahmed provided an ideal finish with a quickfire 20 off eight balls.

Back-to-back no-results keep Afghanistan at the bottom of the Group 1 table, while Ireland rise to No. 2

Himanshu Agrawal28-Oct-2022Afghanistan and Ireland shared the points on offer after persistent rain prevented any action – or even the toss – from taking place in their men’s T20 World Cup match at the MCG on Friday.For Afghanistan, the result came just two days after their game against New Zealand, at the same venue, had also been abandoned.With the point they earned today, Ireland, who had beaten England earlier, climbed up two steps to No. 2 in the group, behind New Zealand, who are on three points from two games.Afghanistan have two points, the same as Sri Lanka, England and Australia. But all those teams have played one game fewer and also have a “W” against their names, unlike Afghanistan, who had lost to England in their first match of the tournament before the successive washouts.It was a frustrating afternoon for all concerned. Although it wasn’t raining an hour before the scheduled start of the match, it started pouring just minutes before the scheduled toss, at 2.30pm local time. The toss was delayed as a result, and at 3pm – the scheduled start of play – the umpires announced an inspection for an hour later, by when losing overs was inevitable.Rain remained on the radar, and while it abated for periods, raising hopes of , another downpour around 3.30pm brought the covers back on. Then, at around 4.15pm, it was decided that an inspection would be conducted only after the rain stopped, but the abandonment was announced just 18 minutes later.A point against Afghanistan might have boosted Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals, but they do have games against Australia and New Zealand lined up. They will back themselves, though, after having pulled off a tight five-run win [DLS method] against England.Australia play England in the evening match at the MCG, with rain set to play a part there too.

A makeshift Surrey side saw their quarter-final hopes take a hit with nine-wicket defeat

ECB Reporters' Network09-Jul-2021Kent Spitfires restricted Surrey to just 128 for 7 before strolling to a nine-wicket victory at the Kia Oval and strengthening their position at the top of the Vitality Blast’s South Group.Daniel Bell-Drummond went on to a 37-ball 53 not out after he and Joe Denly put on 64 in eight overs for the first wicket to set up a comfortable chase that ended with 4.3 overs to spare. Ollie Robinson also struck a breezy unbeaten 45 from 30 balls and Kent have now won eight of their 12 group matches while Surrey look unlikely to qualify for a quarter-final place.Jordan Clark managed an unbeaten 37 from 31 balls, and there were brief flurries from Jamie Overton and Tim David as 86 came from the last ten overs, but otherwise Surrey’s batsmen could not handle an impressive Kent attack on a sluggish surface. Adam Milne, the New Zealand fast bowler, was outstanding both with the new ball and in the final overs to take 2 for 13.Surrey, put in, were in trouble even before the end of thePowerplay, in which they failed to hit a single boundary while staggering to 17 for 3.
Jamie Smith top-edged a pull at Milne to extra cover in the second over, Ben Geddes fell for 8 when pulling Fred Klaassen’s left-arm seam to deep midwicket and Laurie Evans departed for 6, skying Matt Milnes’ first ball to midwicket at the start of the sixth over.After nine overs Surrey had only reached 28 for 3 but then came three successive boundaries – the first of the innings – as Rory Burns first missed with a reverse swipe at Jack Leaning’s offspin, the ball running away for four byes, before connecting with two more reverse sweeps to ironic cheers from a 5000 crowd.Qais Ahmed bowled four overs of legspin for 22, although he was driven straight for six by David, and Surrey slumped further to 59 for 5 in an extraordinary 12th over.David, a big-hitting 25-year-old Australian-raised Singapore international signed for two Blast games in place of injured New Zealand paceman Kyle Jamieson, clubbed Darren Stevens for a big six before being brilliantly held by a diving Jordan Cox at long on for 20 from the next ball.Stevens found himself on a hat-trick when Burns (19) was then magnificently caught left-handed by Klaassen, flinging himself to intercept a sliced cut at short third man, but Overton defended his first ball before swinging Stevens for the first of his three sixes in the veteran allrounder’s second over.Klaassen and Denly were hit for Overton’s other sixes before he mishit a knee-high full toss from Milne to extra cover to go for 23 in the 17th over.

The hosts took a 109-run lead as Bangladesh struggled for discipline

The Report by Shashank Kishore08-Feb-2020Stumps
Tests turn in one ball. For Bangladesh, that came in the third over after lunch. Just prior to the interval, they had dismissed Azhar Ali. Now, there was a gift for the taking from Babar Azam after he’d played the most un-Babar like shot.A miscue after being lulled by Taijul Islam’s loop and flight. Ebadot Hossain wasn’t alert enough at mid-off; a clumsy run backwards to try and catch magnified his error in judgment even more. The catch went down with Babar on 3. Pakistan would’ve been 104 for 3. It wasn’t to be.Babar went on to make 140 more and carried with him the promise of much more on Sunday, maybe even a maiden Test double. Pakistan ended the day 109 ahead; Asad Shafiq serenely batting on 60. His stand with Babar was worth 137, and with three full days still to go, you could sense where this was headed.It wasn’t just Babar and Shafiq who had fun. Shan Masood continued his Test match rejuvenation by bringing up his third Test century, his second on the trot, to further deflate the visitors. Having seen Abid Ali fall early, slashing to the slips, Masood sussed up the conditions and then made merry once the bowlers lost their sting in the first half hour.Masood sat back and punched off the backfoot through cover and point, the weight transfer allowing him to pierce gaps to perfection. For a batsman who appears to not take too many risks, his half-century off 54 balls, courtesy nine boundaries, was deceptively quick.But he didn’t need to carry on batting in that gear right through, because Babar set shop after that early reprieve, batting in the kind of zone where he put not only the bad balls away but even the good ones. Like the on-drives or the whirring flick shots to length deliveries from outside off to bisect midwicket and mid-on.For Bangladesh, Taijul kept toiling, looking to bowl into the rough created at the other end. But the surface was simply too good: little dust, no cracks, true bounce and little movement. Everything batsmen dream of while looking to set up Tests. Masood was perhaps caught in one such dream soon after getting to his century.Having concentrated long and hard, shelving the free-flowing drives that he superbly played early for the hard grind after passing fifty, he was out driving to a harmless delivery that ought to have been put away. He played down the wrong line, nearly yorked himself by getting into a tangle as the ball snuck through the inside edge to hit the stumps. At that stage, Pakistan were 205 for 3, behind by 28 runs.The wicket came literally out of nowhere, because until a few moments prior to his century, Bangladesh were so switched off that they didn’t even appeal for a ball that Masood nicked to Liton Das, the wicketkeeper, on 86 off Rubel Hossain. So the wicket was another opportunity for Bangladesh to try and crack open the middle order. Instead, they came out after tea and immediately allowed the game to drift by giving Shafiq easy singles that got Babar back on strike.By then, Babar gave the impression that he was toying with the bowling, especially Taijul, hitting wherever he pleased. Take for instance a flighted delivery from Taijul. A length ball outside off, to which he stepped out to negate any turn and then, as if he was simply commanding the ball, using his wrists to flick it between midwicket and mid-on. Or the back-to-back flicks to length balls outside off to the midwicket fence of Abu Jayed.This was a batsman every inch confident of what he was upto, far from the unusually ultra-aggressive self who threatened to hit out and get into trouble early in his innings. It took Babar a while to calm himself down after the reprieve, and for the Rawalpindi faithful who turned up on Saturday, it was worth the wait.In the morning session, Bangladesh struck twice, both gifts to loose shots. Fresh off back-to-back tons in his first two Tests, Abid slashed at one early on, while Azhar fell in similar fashion shortly before lunch. But the 91-run partnership established Pakistan’s early advantage where they proved the biggest threat they faced was their own complacency against a toothless attack. The good passages for Bangladesh were eventually too far and few between, leaving the Test cold and quickly veering towards the prospect of there being only one winner in the Test.

He’s been an ever-present in New Zealand’s Test squad, but Southee, Boult and Wagner are set to keep him on the bench a little longer

Andrew Fidel Fernando20-Dec-2018Forever on the brink of gaining a steady run in New Zealand’s Test team, but often just kept out by the three senior seamers, Matt Henry may have to wait until the Bangladesh series in late February and March to play his next Test match.Henry may have hoped that he would have played in at least one of the five Tests scheduled across November and December, but, having carried drinks through the three-Test tour of the UAE as well as in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Wellington, Henry seems likely to miss out again in Christchurch, with coach Gary Stead confident that his three first-choice seamers will be fresh come the Boxing Day Test.”Matt’s an integral part of our squad still, and sometimes opportunities are hard to come by,” Stead said. “But we’ve got a long summer ahead of us still and in terms of the forward planning that we’ve looked at throughout the summer, there are probably chances for people to come out and freshen up with a bigger view to the World Cup down the track. I still think Matt will get a good amount of cricket over the summer.”If Henry does not make the XI of the Boxing Day Test, it willl be despite the fact that the series in the UAE and at home have run so close together that captain Kane Williamson described it as effectively a “five-match series” – the kind of undertaking that would generally require a team to use its seam-bowling depth. There is also the matter of Trent Boult and Tim Southee having bowled 52 overs apiece in the Wellington Test, and Neil Wagner having sent down 43 overs. As there are six days between the two Sri Lanka Tests, though, that trio has a good chance of remaining unchanged.”One of the things that has happened in the UAE is that two of the Test matches were over in four days, and in one of them we only bowled once as well,” Stead said. “Where we thought the number of overs for the fast bowlers would have been really, really big, we’re certainly not at that stage. I take on board though, that both Tim and Trent both bowled 50 or a bit more overs than that in this Test. I guess we will monitor how they are over the next three or four days. I think we have enough time to be able to select who we think our very best team is, because they would have recovered.”If there is an outside chance of Henry playing in Christchurch, it may be because of a mild dip in form for one of the incumbents rather than fatigue. Wagner collected figures of 0 for 100 in the second innings at Wellington, and 2 for 175 from the game in general – numbers that Stead put down to Sri Lanka’s handling of his short-pitched bowling.”Sri Lanka played Neil really well and it was probably some of the best batting I’ve seen against him in a while. I think everyone in world cricket knows the way he’s likely to bowl. I think Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews played him really well. They were gritty as well. They took a few on the body and I haven’t seen too many people do that. I don’t think on the fourth morning Neil was at his best, but in the afternoon sessions he bowled really well but got little reward.”

Sri Lanka A’s lower order, led by Shehan Jayasuriya, rallied from 83 for 5 to chase down 177, despite fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell’s career-best 4 for 44

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2017Sri Lanka A 181 for 8 (Asalanka 33, Cottrell 4-44, Cornwall 2-31) beat West Indies A 176 (Hodge 54, Kumara 3-26, Aponso 3-34) by two wickets
ScorecardAFP

Sri Lanka A’s lower order, led by Shehan Jayasuriya, rallied from 83 for 5 to secure a low-scorer, despite fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell’s career-best 4 for 44. Jayasuriya stayed unbeaten on 31 off 36 balls along with Amila Aponso, who contributed 16 off 13, to help the visitors chase down 177 with two wickets and two overs to spare.Aponso had earlier made a bigger impact with the ball, his 3 for 34 limiting West Indies A to 176. He was complemented by the 20-year old quick Lahiru Kumara, who claimed three wickets of his own.West Indies A began well with Montcin Hodge and John Campbell putting on 67 for the first wicket. Hodge went onto make 54 off 69 balls, including four fours and a six, but wickets kept falling at the other end. From 67 for 0, the hosts slumped to 133 for 7, before Rahkeem Cornwall’s 43-ball 37 hauled the score to 176.In response, Sri Lanka A stumbled to 83 for 5 by the 23rd over with Cottrell leading the way with the new ball. Charith Asalanka, who captained Sri Lanka in the Under-19 World Cup last year, and Chamika Karunaratne then added 35 for the sixth wicket to give the side hope. Both batsmen fell in quick succession to Cottrell, and Kyle Mayers got rid of Malinda Pushpakumara for 11, but Jayasuriya and Aponso held their nerve to put Sri Lanka A 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Ashwell Prince has resigned from South Africa’s selection panel to concentrate his efforts on coaching

Firdose Moonda12-Sep-2016Ashwell Prince has resigned from South Africa’s selection panel to concentrate his efforts on coaching. Prince was one of two former internationals, alongside Errol Stewart, on the four-man committee which also includes convener Linda Zondi and former Gauteng player Hussein Manack. There is no indication of when a replacement for Prince will be announced.”I feel I have more to offer as a coach, so that’s what I want to concentrate on,” Prince told ESPNcricinfo. “Being both a coach and a selector was not an option as it is regarded as a conflict of interest.”Prince, a batsman who played 66 Tests, 52 ODIs and a T20I between 2002 and 2011, signed off as a selector before South Africa A’s tour to Australia, where he travelled as the team’s assistant and batting coach. He is considering opportunities at domestic level for the upcoming season and is close to confirming a position. He is also hopeful of completing coaching qualifications, although he missed out on the Level Three course that started last Monday. The course is only run once a year, so Prince may have to wait until 2017 to further his studies.Prince became a national selector in June 2015, a tough period for South African cricket. In that time, the team played 12 Tests and won just two, played 22 ODIs and won 11 and were victorious in 10 of their 15 T20s. Among the positives from the period was the rise of Kagiso Rabada, Temba Bavuma and Tabraiz Shamsi.