Royal Challengers Bangalore’s top order made short work of the 184 target as fifties from Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, after Chris Gayle’s 31-ball 49, gave them a nine-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders

The Report by Vishal Dikshit16-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by ball detailsChris Gayle struck form after eight single-digit scores•BCCI

Thirty-two runs, 43 balls, and less than an hour at the crease while batting in a total of eight innings. Those were Chris Gayle’s numbers during his lean run since his hundred in West Indies’ World T20 opener against England exactly two months ago. On a humid night at Eden Gardens, he struck form against his former franchise to help Royal Challengers Bangalore stay alive in their hunt for a playoff spot, with a nine-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders.Royal Challengers’ top order made light work of the 184-run target as Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers carried their stellar show from Bangalore to Kolkata, after Gayle’s 31-ball 49.

Kohli, Russell pick up injuries

Virat Kohli and Andre Russell picked up injuries during Royal Challengers’ nine-wicket win in Kolkata. In the 17th over of Knight Riders’ innings, Kohli split his webbing on his left hand when he ran in from deep cover to take a catch offered by Russell. He was off the field for an over before returning. “It’s a big split, my hand is starting to pain now, looks like I’ll get seven or eight stitches. I don’t mind even 10 stitches as long as we keep winning,” he said after the match.
Russell’s injury looked more serious and occurred towards the end of the match. Russell was bowling the 19th over when he tumbled for the third time in his follow through and had to be helped off the field after he injured his knee, according to the TV commentators.

Gayle had trudged to 1 off seven balls before unleashing the big hits. He started with a swipe over mid-on for four in the second over, and treated the short balls thereafter with disdain. The upper cut, the inside-out drive and even the fierce sweep off Sunil Narine, something he’s not always known for, followed as he raced to 35 off 21. Amid the carnage, Kohli exhibited one classical inside-out drive for six that showed the Royal Challengers party was on at both ends, and only 11 people at the packed ground were not dancing to the music.Gayle was trapped lbw by Narine after he struck two more sixes, but that brought together Kohli and de Villiers. They were watchful at times but picked up boundaries regularly. While de Villiers targeted Ankit Rajpoot and Shakib Al Hasan, who was repeatedly swept into the stands at deep square leg, Kohli went after Andre Russell and Piyush Chawla.Kohli, on 32, offered a rare chance off Shakib but Gautam Gambhir put it down at backward point in the 11th over, with Royal Challengers needing 90 off 56. But after two boundary-less overs against Shakib and Chawla, Kohli and de Villiers put their seat belts on. Kohli picked the wrong’uns, de Villiers used the crease against the three spinners, and sixes were struck on demand. Soon the equation read 40 from 24. And even though Gambhir changed his bowlers around, the result remained unaffected.Kohli sauntered to his eighth fifty-plus score of the tournament and de Villiers, the more attacking of the two, registered his 28-ball half-century as the duo ran down the target with eight balls to spare. Their unbeaten stand read 115 runs from 11.1 overs at a scoring rate of 10.29. Along the way, Kohli surpassed Chris Gayle and Michael Hussey’s tally of 733 runs to become the highest run-scorer in an IPL season.Unlike the chase, Knight Riders’ journey to 183 had been a bumpy ride, led first by the top order and then the lower order. Iqbal Abdulla, who replaced Varun Aaron in RCB’s XI, took a one-handed catch to dismiss Robin Uthappa in the third over. Gambhir and Manish Pandey didn’t look perturbed though. While the captain relied more on nudges, Pandey’s big swings towards the midwicket region kept the fielders busy, as Knight Riders passed fifty at the end of the Powerplay.Just when Knight Riders had begun hitting harder, Royal Challengers took three wickets in 10 balls. Gambhir and Pandey fell after making fifties to allow Abdulla and Yuzvendra Chahal to slow the scoring further. Yusuf Pathan, who had made an unbeaten 29-ball 60 in a match-winning effort when the sides last met in Bangalore, was deceived in flight and stumped for 6, while Suryakumar Yadav holed out to long-off. Knight Riders stumbled to 125 for 5.The momentum switched sides again when Russell and Shakib got together. Shakib used leg-side swipes and Russell unfurled commanding swings from deep in the crease to collect boundaries. Even though Shakib raced to 12 off his first four deliveries, he later took singles to give the strike to Russell, who targeted the quicks to score 39 off 19.

Hampshire took advantage when their desire to bat first was granted by Durham’s acting captain, Mark Stoneman, in pleasant conditions at Chester-le-Street.

ECB Reporters Network03-Jul-2016
ScorecardJimmy Adams led the way in an improved Hampshire display•Getty Images

Hampshire took advantage when their desire to bat first was granted by Durham’s acting captain, Mark Stoneman, in pleasant conditions at Chester-le-Street.With the top five all passing 40, the visitors built on an opening stand of 160 to reach 319 for 6 at the close of the first day.After Jimmy Adams led the way with 86 greater riches were promised when Michael Carberry and the recalled Adam Wheater were putting on 73 in 15 overs for the fourth wicket.They took 28 off the first five overs with the new ball, only to depart in quick succession.Having played himself in carefully in his new role at No. 4, Carberry moved impressively through the gears to reach 48 before he shaped to pull Graham Onions from outside off and bottom-edged into his stumps.A straight drive by Wheater gave him his seventh four and took him to 44 off 40 balls. But his attacking instincts left him in no position to deal with some skiddy extra pace as Barry McCarthy’s next ball pinned him lbw.McCarthy, who will shortly be on Ireland duty again in the one-day series against Afghanistan, shared the second new ball in the absence of Chris Rushworth.After bowling 16 of the first 40 overs as Durham desperately sought a breakthrough Rushworth was off the field for the rest of the day.He conceded only 30 runs and beat both openers several times, although the greatest scares came in the first four balls.Jimmy Adams, sent back when almost halfway down the pitch after Will Smith played to midwicket, would have been out had the throw throw hit the stumps. Then Smith went perilously close to playing on.Adams drove nicely through the off side and had a couple of leg glances among the eight fours in his 76-ball half-century.Smith needed 121 balls to reach his 50 and continued to leave the many balls wide of off stump before nibbling at one which left him in Keaton Jennings’ second over of gentle medium pace.Smith was caught behind for 67 and Adams drove a head-high catch to Jennings at midwicket off McCarthy.
Tom Alsop played well for 40 before offspinner Ryan Pringle hurried one through to have him lbw to bring in Wheater, who twice reverse-swept Pringle to the boundary.Jennings, deputising at first slip for the injured Paul Collingwood for much of the day, clung on at the second attempt late in the day to remove Ryan McLaren, giving Paul Coughlin a wicket in his first Championship appearance of the season.

BCCI president Anurag Thakur has told reporters in Dharamsala that an announcement on India’s head coach will likely be made by Thursday evening

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-20160:25

Hopefully coach will be named today – Thakur

BCCI president Anurag Thakur has told reporters in Dharamsala that an announcement on India’s head coach will likely be made by Thursday evening.*”The name of the coach will be announced by 5 pm,” Thakur told the news channel , after the captains and coaches meeting in Dharamsala on Thursday. “I will be meeting [Ajay] Shirke and [Sourav] Ganguly now and [will] study their report. By 5pm today, we will name the new coach.” A BCCI press release in the afternoon stated that Thakur and board secretary Shirke would address a press conference at 5pm.The BCCI had earlier indicated that the Indian coach would be announced on Friday, after the three-member advisory committee – comprising Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman – asked for more time.On Tuesday evening, Ganguly had informed the media that they had finished interviewing the shortlisted candidates and would forward their pick to the board’s secretary Ajay Shirke on Wednesday.But Shirke said that the committee wanted to deliberate further on a few “finer points”, and hoped that the new India coach would be announced on Friday in Dharamsala, where the inaugural BCCI conclave concludes with the working committee meeting. The BCCI also issued a press release to this effect on Wednesday.It is learnt that Ganguly has been in favour of an Indian as coach and that he was appreciative of the work put in by the previous group of coaching staff led by Ravi Shastri.Shastri is one of the finalists for the position of India head coach along with former India captain Anil Kumble. The others in contention are Tom Moody, Stuart Law, Lalchand Rajput, Pravin Amre and Andy Moles.Ganguly was confident of selecting the right candidate and was thankful for the support he has received from the rest of the panel, which includes former India batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman and former BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale.”I once had an opportunity to select the coach,” Ganguly told the . “I thought I messed it up in 2005. I am given that opportunity again. To be honest, two-and-a-half years ago, I was thinking myself whether I would want this job. Now today, I am selecting one,” said Ganguly. “Hopefully, we will do it right this time. Luckily, I have got support from Sachin, VVS, the BCCI secretary and the president. Together, we will pick the right person.”There had been speculation in the media that the delay was the result of the committee being unable to contact India’s Test captain Virat Kohli for his inputs. But Shirke said the committee had not been given any instructions to talk to Kohli.* 0608 GMT, June 23. This article was amended to include the statement made by BCCI president Anurag Thakur on Thursday

Former Sri Lanka offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan has become the first player from his country to be voted into the ICC Hall of Fame

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2016Former Sri Lanka offspinner Muttiah Muralitharan has become the first player from his country to be voted into the ICC Hall of Fame. He will be formally inducted into it later this year, along with the late England fast bowler George Lohmann, the late Australia opener Arthur Morris and former Australia Women captain Karen Rolton.Murali is the leading wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, and one of only two players to tally over a 1000 wickets in international cricket, in a career that spanned 19 years, from 1992 to 2011.Lohmann, who played in the 1880s and 1890s, became the fastest bowler to 100 Test wickets when he got to the landmark in March 1896, in his 16th match, and the record has stood for the 120 years since. Morris was part of the “Invincibles” in the Ashes of 1948, where he aggregated 696 runs at 87, outscoring Don Bradman.The highlights of Rolton’s international career, which lasted from 1995 to 2009, included a knock of 209 not out at Headingley in 2001 – then the highest score in Women’s Test cricket – and a century in the World Cup final of 2005. She was named captain in 2006.ICC chief executive David Richardson said he was pleased that the list of latest inductees featured players from such a wide-ranging time span. “We have in the list some very famous names of different eras,” Richardson said. “Muralitharan has been one of the greats of the modern era. Lohmann and Morris were outstanding performers during their times and are part of cricket folklore, while Rolton’s performances have been recent and came during an era when women’s cricket became very competitive.”

Tim Bresnan took a career-best 8-51 in the match as a thumping win at Scarborough reasserted Yorkshire’s title challenge and left Notts staring relegation in the face

Paul Edwards at North Marine Road26-Aug-2016

ScorecardTim Bresnan took a career-best 8 for 51 in the match•Getty Images

No one is mithering about Yorkshire enforcing the follow-on now. The remnants of those discussions were stilled 40 minutes into this final day of the 130th Scarborough Festival when Chris Read, so often the epitome of Nottinghamshire’s resistance, edged his third ball to Jake Lehmann at fourth slip and plodded off North Marine Road with his team six wickets down and needing to bat out another 86 overs for the draw.Recoveries from such positions prompt the writing of slim pamphlets and the composition of raucous songs. For all that Brendan Taylor and Brett Hutton survived for eighty minutes until lunch there was rarely any indication that Read’s cricketers now have it in them to mount such wondrous revivals. The expressions on the faces of the players outside the away changing room after their eventual 305-run defeat said as much.There was angry impotence verging on the emotional emptiness of the truly beaten. Having reduced Yorkshire to 51 for 6 on the first day, Nottinghamshire’s bowlers had facilitated the home side’s recovery and their batsmen had then lost 20 wickets in 94.4 overs. The last four of these had tumbled in 19 balls after lunch, three of them to Jack Brooks. The first, though, had been taken by Ryan Sidebottom, who had Hutton caught by Andy Hodd for 20. Next over Taylor slapped Brooks to Alex Lees at cover and the slow loop of the ball was almost mournful. It was time to pack the picnic away.

Decision vindicated – Gillespie

• Jason Gillespie, Yorkshire coach: “People had a pop at us for not enforcing the follow-on but we stick by what we believe gives us the best opportunity to win a game of cricket. We’ve been vindicated. To go from 51 for six on the first day to win by 300 runs – this team never ceases to amaze me. It’s important how you respond to the positions we find ourselves in at times, but I couldn’t be any more proud of them. There was a real calmness in the dressing room even when we found ourselves in a spot of bother.”

• Mick Newell, Notts director of cricket: “Survival is going to be very difficult. We’ve won one game all season and we haven’t covered ourselves in glory here. We have to go up to Durham, who aren’t playing great either, and see that as an opportunity to win within four days. If we can do that then hopefully we can claw it back. It’s getting tough. Every week you lose it’s getting harder and harder.”

Ten minutes later there were high fives and high jinks in the home dressing room. Yorkshire will return to Headingley for Sunday’s Royal London One-Day Cup semi-final buoyed by the fizz of victory. They will not be weary as Nottinghamshire’s players may be when they go to Chester-le-Street next week. Instead they will travel down to Southampton for their next four-day game a mere five points behind Middlesex and with the prospect of taking on the current leaders in the last match of the season looking ever more delicious.They will feel vindicated, too. Bloody vindicated, probably. “Are you going to ask me about the follow-on?” said their coach, Jason Gillespie, at the opening of his post-match press conference. “People had a pop at us but it was the right call. We stick by what we believe is the best opportunity to win a game of cricket.”And so they should, of course. As will those who believe that Yorkshire had a good opportunity to complete a two-day win at Scarborough. Had they taken that opportunity, there may have been no need for officials to arrange for Headingley’s Blotter to be transported to North Marine Road early on Friday morning and put to work mopping up the drenched outfield. “I think it did bugger all,” said Gillespie.Yet it still seemed faintly miraculous that cricket could be played on the final morning of this game. On Thursday evening thick mist had coiled itself around the town like a cat, hugging each streetlight and soaking every surface. Then, from around ten o’clock until deep into the early hours, rain fell in pitiless rods on deserted streets, as if passing judgement on something.By 11 o’clock in the morning, though, the air was sea-scented and the ground was fit for play. So fit, perhaps, that according to most timekeepers we began three minutes early and Tom Moores suffered the curious indignity of being caught by Adam Lyth off Tim Bresnan a minute before play was due to begin. Bresnan then had Samit Patel caught behind for five, although the batsman cast a couple of glances back at the umpires before dudgeoning off to the pavilion.Bresnan finished the innings with 5 for 36 in the innings and 8 for 51 in the match. Both are career-best performances and they come from a cricketer who is so often at the heart of his team’s most rambunctious triumphs. Bresnan, at least, will be up for the next challenge whereas Nottinghamshire’s players will most probably face some bleak truths in September. Relegation brings financial consequences and it changes lives. Cricket’s poets need to remember that.

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.

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy Group B matches played on October 28, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2016A century stand for the fourth wicket between centurion Gautam Gambhir and Rishabh Pant helped Delhi finish the second day with a 114-run lead over Odisha in Mohali. Delhi resumed on 43 for no loss, with an overnight deficit of 194, and lost Unmukt Chand (19) in the fourth over of the day, dismissed by Suryakant Pradhan. Delhi captain Gambhir put on 71 for the second wicket with Dhruv Shorey (29) and then joined the 19-year-old Pant (80) to put on 114 in only 117 balls to help Delhi go past Odisha’s 237.With the lead only 18, Dhiraj Singh dismissed Pant, and Gambhir fell seven overs later, three runs short of 150, as Delhi lost three wickets for 28 runs. Milind Kumar and Sumit Narwal steered the lead past 100 with a 56-run seventh-wicket stand, out of which Narwal struck 35 off 30 balls. Dhiraj dismissed him with just under 10 overs left for stumps, before Milind (39) and Manan Sharma saw out the day without further losses. Dhiraj ended the day with figures of 3 for 61, while offspinner Govinda Poddar took 2 for 65.Unbeaten centuries from Robin Uthappa and Karun Nair helped Karnataka regain the impetus against Assam in Mumbai.Karnataka began the day by breaking the overnight stand, as Stuart Binny removed Swarupam Purkayastha for 59. Former Karnataka batsman Amit Verma, who had rescued Assam on the first day, scored 41 of the 57 runs Assam added to their total, remaining unbeaten on 166 as they folded for 325. Legspinner Shreyas Gopal took the last three wickets to finish with 3 for 74. S Aravind didn’t add to his five-for from the first day.In response, Karnataka were in early trouble, losing both openers for ducks, before Uthappa and Nair came together to put on an unbroken 219 to take them to 223 for 2 at stumps. Both were batting on 108.Maharashtra stretched their first-innings total to 461 on the back of half-centuries from Rahul Tripathi and Vishant More, against Rajasthan in Hyderabad. In reply, Rajasthan reached 76 for 2, losing their first two wickets with 29 on the board before Manender Singh (31) and Ashok Menaria (19) took them to stumps without further damage.Naushad Shaikh and Tripathi extended their overnight 63-run stand to 122 before Shaikh fell for 143. Tripathi, who began the day on 18, put on 67 with More before falling five short of his fourth first-class century. More (62) then batted with the tail to score his maiden first-class half-century and take Maharashtra to 461. He was the last batsman dismissed, falling to Pankaj Singh who finished with 4 for 87.Ishank Jaggi’s unbeaten 112 helped Jharkhand declare with a 257-run first-innings lead against Vidarbha in Wayanand.Jharkhand began the day 146 for 1, leading by 41. They lost both their overnight batsmen, Anand Singh and Pratyush Singh, with neither converting their half-centuries into hundreds, before Saurabh Tiwary (45) and Jaggi put on 83 for the fourth wicket. Jaggi went on to score his second consecutive first-class century though he found little support from the lower order. Jharkhand slipped from 272 for 3 to 346 for 8, before they declared at 362 for 8. Medium-pacers Shrikant Wagh and Rajneesh Gurbani and the ambidextrous spinner Akshay Karnewar all finished with two wickets each.Sanjay Ramaswamy and Faiz Fazal played out the last 11 overs of the day as Vidarbha went to stumps 48 for no loss in their second innings.

Tamim Iqbal produced a mature and restrained innings of 78 from 179 balls, as Bangladesh set the tempo once again against a curiously passive England attack

The Report by Andrew Miller21-Oct-2016Bangladesh 221 for 5 (Tamim 78, Mushfiqur 48) trail England 293 (Moeen 68, Bairstow 52, Mehedi 6-80) by 72 runs

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTamim Iqbal produced a mature and restrained innings of 78 from 179 balls, as Bangladesh set the tempo once again against a curiously passive England attack to reach the close of the second day at Chittagong in a hugely promising position.By the close, England’s lead had been whittled down to a meagre 72 runs with five wickets still in hand, thanks to a 58-run stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, who continued Tamim’s business-like theme on a wicket that offered turn and bounce but perhaps less venom than might have been anticipated once the hardness of the new ball had been negotiated.The pair had taken their stand to the brink of stumps, when – with the shadows lengthening and England’s heads beginning to drop – Ben Stokes summoned up one last bout of vigour to lure Mushfiqur, on 48, into a fatal snick to the keeper. The catch, in fact, was very nearly spilled by Jonny Bairstow as he tumbled forward to snatch at a rare opportunity, but he somehow clung on to give England late reward for a day’s work full of effort but somewhat lacking in inspiration.In fact, had it not been for Bangladesh’s peculiar aversion to breaks in play, their position could have been all the more promising by the close. In addition to Stokes’ late breakthrough, three of their other four wickets fell in the final over of a session – two in four balls to Moeen Ali before lunch, before a further breakthrough for Adil Rashid on the stroke of tea. Mushfiqur’s departure left a huge onus on the shoulders of Shakib, who reached the close on 31 not out, and who will resume day three knowing that the second new ball will be available within the first half-hour of play.The most prized scalp, however, went to the oldest spinner in town. In the 14th over of his England comeback – at the age of 39 and having missed the small matter of 142 Test matches since his last appearance, also against Bangladesh at Chester-le-Street in 2005 – Gareth Batty slid in a flatter, faster ball to Tamim, who grazed a thin nick through to the keeper.Batty’s pop-eyed roar of triumph did not merely reflect his personal jubilation. It was a fair reaction to a wicket of huge significance, for Tamim had been threatening – as he so often does against England – to seize the game for his own amusement. Remarkably, this was his seventh half-century in nine Test innings against England, dating back to his thrill-a-minute centuries at Lord’s and Old Trafford in 2010. Having laid the groundwork in a mightily restrained effort, he had looked ready to lift the tempo as England toiled in the afternoon sun.After England had been bowled out for 293 in the first hour of the day, Tamim reined in his instincts on a treacherous surface and waited 48 balls for his first boundary – a full toss from Rashid that he rifled through the covers with power and placement. His caution had been vindicated in the final over of the morning, when his more fluent opening partner, Imrul Kayes, was bowled for 21 by a beauty from Moeen that gripped and bounced to clip his off stump, before – three balls later – Mominul Haque spliced another bouncing bomb to gully to depart for a duck and leave Bangladesh anxiously placed on 29 for 2 at the break.But as Tamim’s innings progressed, so too did his fluency, particularly on the drive which, by staying very leg-side to the offspin of Moeen and Batty, he was always threatening to unfurl. Sure enough, he brought up his half-century from 131 balls with a sweetly timed back-foot drill off Moeen, to confirm that Bangladesh’s 14-month absence from Test cricket had not impacted on his penchant for statement innings against his favourite opponents.He had two significant moments of fortune – first on 28 when he carved Moeen on the up through point and just burst through the fingers of Rashid, diving to his left. Then, on 55, he was given out caught at slip off Moeen – a fine sprawling effort by Joe Root – but successfully reviewed the decision, as replays showed it had deflected off his elbow.Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah steadied the innings for Bangladesh•AFP

The unfortunate umpire was Kumar Dharmasena, who had given Moeen out three times in six balls on the first day, only to have each decision overturned, and he had already added to that tally in the morning session, when a Stuart Broad lbw decision was shown to have been missing leg. Arguably those incidents were still playing on his mind late in the afternoon, when Mushfiqur, on 45, was rapped on the pad by Chris Woakes – one of the few genuine opportunities that England’s seamers were able to create. Hawk-Eye confirmed it would have been clipping leg stump, but Dharmasena seemed reluctant to put his finger on the line yet again.Two balls after Tamim’s reprieve, however, his partner was gone instead. Mahmudullah’s innings of 38 from 66 balls had been a solid, busy performance, right from his first delivery, when he had responded to Moeen’s pre-lunch breakthroughs by galloping down the track with confident footwork to smother the spin before it could bite. But, having come within four balls of completing the entire afternoon session without losing a wicket, he succumbed to a big legbreak from Rashid that looped above his eyeline and snicked a thick edge for Root to scoop a sharp low catch at slip.Aside from that breakthrough, Rashid was a disappointment – too profligate with his full tosses and too easy to navigate off the pitch on the occasions when he found significant turn. Moeen, too, failed to live up to the promise of his double-wicket breakthrough, while Batty, who had shared the new ball with Broad in a seam-spin combo, offered plenty of spirit but little significant threat until Tamim’s departure.It was left to England’s seamers to look lively in the closing overs, as Broad responded to Stokes’ extraction of Mushfiqur by ramping up the pressure on Shakib as Bangladesh dug in for stumps. By and large, however, the trio – Woakes included – were economical but negated, and bowled just 23 overs between them.All in all, England were left to reflect on a first-innings performance that they might initially have thought was above-par for the conditions. After resuming on their overnight 258 for 7, they lost Woakes, the most accomplished of their remaining batsmen, to the first ball of the day, caught at short leg off Taijul Islam for 36, and spent the next 50 minutes scraping together another 35 runs.Rashid, with a penchant for the flick through midwicket, and Broad, using his long levers to sweep to good effect, provided the bulk of those runs but also added their names to the ever-lengthening list of DRS-related decisions in this contest.Rashid, astonishingly, had an lbw overturned when replays showed that an apparently dead-straight pad-rapper would have missed leg stump, while Broad also used DRS to escape an lbw before being last man out, adjudged caught behind after a rare successful review from Bangladesh – the 10th of the innings, a world record. The successful bowler was Mehedi Hasan, who completed a fine debut with figures of 6 for 80.

A round-up of the third day’s play from the seventh round of Ranji Trophy games in Group B

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2016Seamer Anupam Sanklecha completed his second successive ten-wicket haul in a match – also bettering his career-best in consecutive games – to bring Maharashtra within four wickets of an innings victory against Assam in Chennai.Assam, 132 for 3 overnight in response to Maharashtra’s 542, lost Kunal Saikia (39) in the second over of the third day. Sanklecha claimed his wicket, before an 85-run stand between Rishav Das (86) and Arun Karthik (47) steadied Assam briefly. However, Arun Karthik fell to the part-time offspin of Chirag Khurana with the score on 219, and Sanklecha removed Rishav in the next over, to initiate a collapse of 6 for 37 that saw Assam fold for 256. Sanklecha ended with figures of 8 for 73.Assam were then asked to follow-on and were quickly reduced to 51 for 4. Left-arm medium-pacer Mohsin Sayyed was primarily responsible for the early damage, removing opener Rishav and Amit Verma off consecutive overs. Karthik was involved in another half-century stand for the fifth wicket, but the wickets of Saikia and Syed Mohammad late in the day pinned Assam down to 107 for 6. Sanklecha took 3 for 37 in the second dig.Delhi restricted Rajasthan to 221 and reached 51 for 3 in their chase of 153 at stumps in Wayanad. Rajasthan began the day on 19 for 1, and lost two more wickets before they wiped out the deficit of 69. They were soon reduced to 99 for 5, before Rajesh Bishnoi’s half-century and his partnerships of 45 and 55 with Salman Khan and Chetan Bist took them close to 200. Bishnoi was the ninth batsman dismissed, on 89, before Rajasthan’s innings folded for 221 in 85.4 overs. Left-armers Manan Sharma and Pradeep Sangwan shared six wickets between them.Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand, Rishabh Pant all managed only single-digit scores, but the fit-again Shikhar Dhawan, who was unbeaten on 35 off 45 balls, including six fours, kept Delhi on track for their second win of the season.Odisha opened up the prospect of an outright win against table-toppers Karnataka, after they inflicted yet another top-order collapse on Vinay Kumar’s men at Palam in Delhi.The day began with Odisha’s last-wicket overnight pair adding 24 and bringing up their fifty partnership, before Basant Mohanty was dismissed with the score on 342, and the lead on 163.Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal then fell for his second single-digit score of the match, before opener R Samarth and Robin Uthappa put on 58 for the second wicket in 10.4 overs. The pair’s second half-century stand of the game was cut short when Uthappa was trapped lbw by Dhiraj Singh in the 17th over. The wicket triggered yet another collapse as Karnataka went from 74 for 1 to 108 for 4 and then 133 for 5.It was left to CM Gautam – who scored 54 in the first innings – to rescue Karnataka again. He joined Vinay to add 98 for the sixth wicket. Vinay fell late in the day for 41 off 108 balls, but Gautam held firm with Shreyas Gopal to remain unbeaten on 68 off 180 balls. Karnataka closed the third day at 244 for 6.Saurashtra offspinner Vandit Jivrajani took his third four-wicket haul in his third game but Vidharba took the first-innings lead at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi.Vidharba began the day on 242 for 3 and had lost just one wicket, that of Shalabh Shrivastava, when they went past Saurasthra’s first-innings total of 301. However, a crucial spell from Jivrajani saw them fall from 303 for 4 to 318 for 7. He took all three wickets and opened up Vidharba’s tail, which managed only four runs between the four batsmen – including three ducks – before they were eventually bowled out for 347.Saurasthra opener Snell Patel’s unbeaten 60, his maiden first-class fifty, took them to 92 for 2, with a lead of 46 runs, at stumps.

USA head coach Pubudu Dassanayake will take over the team – comprising players from USA, Canada and Bermuda – for the Nagico Super50 in Barbados commencing later this month

Peter Della Penna09-Jan-2017USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake has been announced to fulfill the same role for the ICC Americas squad at the WICB Nagico Super50 later this month in Barbados. Dassanayake will be assisted by former Canada fast bowler and current Cricket Canada selector Henry Osinde.Dassanayake took over USA’s coaching duties in September and helped lead the side to a tournament title at the ICC WCL Division Four in Los Angeles this past November. The former Sri Lankan Test wicketkeeper was the most likely candidate to lead the combined ICC Americas side – comprising players from USA, Canada and Bermuda – as his USA coach’s salary is currently being paid for by funding from ICC Americas while the USA Cricket Association remains under suspension for issues regarding its governance.Another factor is that Dassanayake also has a solid familiarity with many of Canada’s players in the ICC Americas squad, having coached Canada from 2007 to 2011 and continues to live with his family in Barrie, Ontario, about an hour north of Toronto. Dassanayake and Osinde take over from Derek Perera and Mike Young, who formed the coaching staff for the ICC Americas squad at last year’s WICB Nagico Super50.ICC Americas staff also announced on Sunday night that USA wicketkeeper-batsman Akeem Dodson has been chosen as the replacement for Steven Taylor in the ICC Americas 15-man squad. Dodson received a call up after Taylor was drafted into Jamaica’s squad for the tournament. The 29-year-old Dodson was a member of last year’s ICC Americas squad at the Nagico Super50, making 16 runs in three innings, but had initially been left out of this year’s 15-man squad when it was first announced in December.”Whilst it will be disappointing to lose a senior player from the Americas squad, it also means another Americas player gets an opportunity at this level,” ICC Americas regional development manager Ben Kavanagh said in a media release announcing the squad change and coaching staff assignments. “Ultimately, the more players who can get an opportunity to play within first-class cricket structures, the stronger the Americas region will be.”The majority of the squad is due to arrive in Barbados on January 21 for four days of training ahead of their first match against Combined Campuses and Colleges on January 26. USA representatives Fahad Babar and Jessy Singh are currently playing first-class cricket in Sri Lanka in a development opportunity arranged by Dassanayake and won’t arrive in Barbados until January 23 in order to allow them to continue playing through the seventh round of the Sri Lanka first-class tournament that ends on January 22.