Western Australia fast bowlers Simon Mackin and David Moody bowled their side to victory in a close encounter with South Australia at Adelaide Oval, where the Redbacks fell eight runs short of their target late on the third day

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Simon Mackin has taken 23 wickets in his past two Sheffield Shield games•Getty Images

Western Australia fast bowlers Simon Mackin and David Moody bowled their side to victory in a close encounter with South Australia at Gliderol Stadium, where the Redbacks fell eight runs short of their target late on the third day. Set 200 to win the low-scoring match, South Australia were dismissed for 192, the match ending when Moody bowled the No.11 David Grant for 4.Moody finished with 4 for 45 but the key man was Mackin, whose 5 for 78 in the second innings left him with match figures of 12 for 159, the best analysis by any bowler in a Sheffield Shield game since November 2012, when South Australia’s Gary Putland took 12 for 92. Even more remarkably, Mackin now has 23 wickets in two games, having taken 11 for 101 in the last Shield match before Christmas.In this game, he ran through the South Australia middle order, dismissing Callum Ferguson, Jake Lehmann and Alex Ross cheaply, and then later picking up the key wicket of Tom Cooper, who had made 55 and given the Redbacks an excellent victory chance. Cooper and Alex Carey (46) had put on 99 for the sixth wicket, but once they both departed the Warriors pounced.The day had started with Western Australia on 7 for 196 in their second innings, needing to add runs to set South Australia a challenging target. Debutant wicketkeeper Josh Inglis did a fine job in compiling 40 before he was caught behind off Kane Richardson, who collected 5 for 69 and, like his colleague Chadd Sayers, finished with nine wickets for the match.

A round-up of the West Zone games from the first round of the Inter-State T20 tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2017Ajinkya Rahane struck 78 off 53 balls, including 11 fours and a six and Aditya Tare bettered him with 79 off 41 balls to amass 211 for 3 for Mumbai and yet they could barely cling on to victory. Baroda were wilting at 84 for 5 in the 10th over when Vishnu Solanki took control, razing an unbeaten 69 off 34 balls at a strike-rate of 202. The game hurtled to a hair-raising finish at Reliance Stadium in Vadodara but, in the end, there were just too many runs to chase down.Much of that was down to Rahane, who lost his place in the Indian T20 side, and the Mumbai captain Tare. They galloped along during their second-wicket partnership, putting on 152 runs in only 84 balls. There was only one bowler who could maintain an economy rate under 9 – Irfan Pathan, on the 11th anniversary of his taking a hat-trick in the very first over of the India-Pakistan Test in Mohali, conceded a mere 27 runs in his four overs. That’s just over six runs an over in a match that threw up 416 runs at 10.4 per over.File photo: Ankit Bawne’s career-best score could not prevent a five-wicket win for Gujarat•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Baroda’s challenge was based on a sound opening stand as Kedar Devdhar and Miten Shah put on 52 in 4.5 overes, but they were hurt badly as soon as they lost their first wicket. Pravin Tambe, the 45-year old legspinner, used that opening to dismiss Deepak Hooda and both Pathan brothers for single-digits to put Mumbai on top. He finished with 3 for 26 in four overs but had to spend much of his time on the field fretting as Solanki kept pushing. He put on 59 for sixth wicket with Swapnil Singh at 10.11 per over and 56 with the seventh with Soaeb Tai at over 16 an over. But eventually, he ran out of time.Gujarat overcame Ankit Bawne’s unbeaten 59-ball 90 to beat Maharashtra by five wickets. That Maharashtra posted 154 for 7 was down to a fifth-wicket partnership of 47 between Bawne and debutant Naushad Shaikh, and an unbroken eight-wicket stand of 45 off 20 balls between Bawne and debutant Jagdish. Offspinner Rujul Bhatt took 3 for 28, while the new-ball pair of Chintan Gaja and Ishwar Chaudhary impressed with figures of 2 for 30 and 1 for 16 in their respective quotas.Gujarat lost two early wickets in the chase, and when Dhruv Raval was taken out for 20, they were 56 for 3. A half-century stand between Bhatt and Chirag Gandhi then kept them on course. Although Bhatt fell for 54 off 34 balls, and Jesal Karia was dismissed for a duck, Rohit Dahiya partnered Gandhi to knock off the remaining runs. Gandhi was unbeaten on 39 off 22 balls, while Dahiya’s struck at 200 for his 32 not out.

Dean Elgar’s 128* and Faf du Plessis’ 52 led South Africa’s fightback on the opening day in Dunedin after the New Zealand quicks jolted the visitors early

The Report by Andrew McGlashan07-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:10

Moonda: All eyes on Bavuma after Elgar

On 22 consecutive occasions, the captain winning the toss in New Zealand had opted to bowl. When South Africa were 22 for 3 on the opening day in Dunedin, Dean Elgar may have pondered if Faf du Plessis had picked the right time to end that run. But Elgar did more than most to make sure it worked out fine in the end as his seventh Test hundred carried South Africa to 229 for 4.The dominant stand of the day came between Elgar, who was dropped by BJ Watling on 36, and du Plessis as they added 126 for the fourth wicket before further consolidation alongside Temba Bavuma in a stand of 81 which survived the entire final session. However, New Zealand ensured the game did not run away from them, for the most part keeping a lid on the scoring, after making the surprise decision of selecting two frontline spinners.Elgar’s seventh Test century, and a third in his last seven outings, came from 197 balls including 20 boundaries which highlighted how focused he was on leaving and defending unless there was something on offer to attack. He has become one of the preeminent opening batsmen in the game, although his returns can fly under the radar. He was named Man of the Series against Sri Lanka in January and this innings took his average above 40 for the first time since his third Test (which was also against New Zealand) as he finished within two runs of a new career-best score.While Elgar’s recent returns mean this performance shouldn’t be unexpected, there was plenty at the start of the day which did confound expectation. Kane Williamson had put considerable faith in his luck with the coin changing after making the crunch decision to leave out vice-captain Tim Southee in favour of Jeetan Patel. But after losing all five tosses in the one-day series the run continued which meant bowling with an attack New Zealand would be more expected to field on the subcontinent than at home: it was the first time they had selected two specialist spinners at University Oval.Patel was bowling by the sixth over and conceded just eight runs in his first 10 overs to help New Zealand build and sustain pressure in the first session. There was certainly some grip for him and Mitchell Santner to suggest the selection call was not out of the realms of fantasy, but there were times when New Zealand felt a quick bowler light.There was nothing strange, however, in the manner of the early wickets. Stephen Cook’s defensive mindset led to him padding up against Trent Boult. Then Neil Wagner, on his home ground, produced a superb over at the start of his second spell. Firstly, he caught Hashim Amla flat-footed, after he had made 1 off 27 balls, with a full delivery which clattered into the stumps and then he switched to Wagner 101 mode with a brute of a short ball to bounce out JP Duminy.When you are a captain who was undecided what to do until moments before the toss, you are probably questioning your decision to bat when walking in at 22 for 3. But alongside Elgar, du Plessis took the sting out of the morning session. A penny for Southee’s thoughts as he saw the ball swinging but a spinner in operation.Neil Wagner’s double-strike in the 19th over sent back Hashim Amla and JP Duminy•AFP

The major moment of the day came off the first delivery of the second over after lunch when Elgar tickled Boult down the leg side but Watling could not gather the low catch. He did not offer another chance. As the fourth-wicket partnership bedded in, Williamson was left with the juggling act of not over-bowling Boult and Wagner. The way in which Elgar and du Plessis bided their time reinforced how they knew they could force Williamson’s hand and their reward was a period before tea which brought seven boundaries in 19 deliveries, although that was a rare period of brisk scoring.Du Plessis reached his fifty with a delightful drive off Santner before handing New Zealand a boost during an action-packed over against James Neesham who had been selected ahead of Colin de Grandhomme but not bowled until the 57th over. Clocking over 140kph, Neesham had du Plessis given lbw only for the decision to be overturned by the DRS due to a very thin edge (du Plessis initially reviewed for height, so thin was the nick). Three balls later there was no doubt, du Plessis pulling to Boult at deep midwicket ten minutes before tea in uncharacteristically careless fashion.It was an opening for New Zealand, especially with Bavuma coming off 21 runs in five innings against Sri Lanka, but while the bowling remained accurate it was difficult with the ageing ball. Elgar moved into the 90s with a neat skip down the pitch to loft Santner down the ground then reached three figures with a crunching pull through midwicket off Neesham.Bavuma took 20 balls to open his account but after a top-edged hook evaded long leg became more secure, surviving Wagner’s attempts to rough him up with the older ball. The new ball was taken and caused a few uneasy moments, but could not conjure the breakthrough New Zealand needed. There was much that went against history on the opening day of this series and though it’s too early to say how history will judge the match, South Africa will have ended highly satisfied with having hauled themselves out of the mire.

The Australia fast bowler also said ‘all the pressure’ was on India to win the series

Daniel Brettig23-Mar-20172:42

‘The pressure is firmly on India’ – Hazlewood

Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood expected a result-oriented pitch for the series-deciding fourth Test against India in Dharamsala, though not necessarily the juicy kind that helped Adam Gilchrist’s team clinch the most recent Australian victory in India, 13 years ago.Dharamsala is the home ground of the deposed former BCCI president Anurag Thakur, and differences between a state association and the Indian board’s leadership were at the heart of the grassy pitch served up in Nagpur in 2004. The disconnect ultimately provided a priceless advantage to the visitors, who at that stage had Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz in their bowling attack alongside Shane Warne.Hazlewood, though, has memories of the sluggish surface the HPCA ground served up at the World T20, when Mitchell McClenaghan’s cutters and Mitchell Santner’s left-arm spin spearheaded a victory for New Zealand. Knowing that India must win the match to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Hazlewood did not think the relatively friendly batting conditions in Ranchi will be replicated.”I think the wicket will determine a result,” he said. “They need to win so the wicket they serve up will bring a result into the game. The pressure is firmly on them. We can draw it but we obviously want to win it, win 2-1 and win a series in India, which rarely happens.”I’d love to see it fast and bouncy. But that’s what they said in Pune as well and we didn’t quite get that. I think the way they saw Pat Cummins bowl the other day, they don’t really want it any faster than Ranchi, I wouldn’t think. We’d love it to be that way, would feel a bit more like home, but I don’t think we’ll get that.””We played New Zealand here in the T20 World Cup nearly 12 months ago. It spun quite a bit that game. They can make it however they want, really. It sometimes has pace and bounce and sometimes has spin. Guess we’ll find out.”‘All the pressure is on them. I think the whole Indian team has [felt pressure], and probably the skipper more so’ – Hazlewood•Associated Press

Equanimity about conditions and match situations has been a hallmark of the Australian approach in this series, and Hazlewood retained his laconic streak when pondering the physical toll of spending more than two complete days in the field in the last game.”You’re probably going to bowl that many overs in a Test match, it’s just the fact we did it one go,” he said. “It was a long time out in the field but that’s what you prepare for and that’s what a Test match brings. Everyone has pulled up well and ready to go again.”I might roll the arm over lightly just to see how it goes. We’ve bowled enough so far this series and we’ve been playing non-stop for a long time now so we know what we’re doing bowling-wise it’s just a matter of recovering and preparing for the next Test as best we can.”The tourists’ due diligence on the fitness of the recalled Cummins included precautionary back scans between Tests. It was a source of relief to medical staff both in India and back home that they came up clear.”It’s great to have him back,” Hazlewood said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with Patty [at New South Wales] and finally got to play a Test with him last week which was great. I think everyone was taken aback by the way he bowled and to get that lift and pace off the wicket like that. He’s a pretty special player and to bring that extra pace is what you need sometimes on those wickets to get those breakthroughs.”He’s going to be great if he can stay on the park and join the [fast bowlers’] cartel and have a good partnership moving forward. You never want to see guys in the sidelines injured, and Pat’s obviously been playing for a majority part of this year in one-day cricket and T20s. But it’s great to see him back in the Test format. He obviously had a great hit-out in that last Test and bowled fast for the whole duration, so it’s amazing what he’s going to do back in Australia and on bouncy wickets in South Africa and places like that.”With the possible exception of the 2015 Ashes, Hazlewood said he has never been part of a Test match more hotly-anticipated than this one. In his mind, the pressure of the occasion will weigh heavily on India’s cricketers, none more so than the captain Virat Kohli. “It’s pretty exciting. We had that win in Pune, feels quite a while ago now, but we’ve competed for every day of Test cricket so far. We’re pretty excited that if we can put a couple of good days together here in Dharamsala against a great opposition that we can come away with a win which is something you’d never forget.”Before we came over, they were expected to win 4-0. The pressure is still firmly on them being 1-1 going into this decider and all the pressure is on them. I think the whole Indian team has [felt pressure], and probably the skipper more so. There’s a little bit more pressure on him. It’s just that they are expected to win in their own backyard, just as we are at home. So the more pressure we can put on the better.”

Bottom-of-the-table Warwickshire turned the Royal London Cup North Group table on its head with a five-wicket win over Yorkshire at Edgbaston

ECB Reporters Network14-May-2017
ScorecardIan Bell’s scoring touch has returned•Getty Images

Bottom-of-the-table Warwickshire turned the Royal London Cup North Group table on its head with a five-wicket win over Yorkshire at Edgbaston.The Bears’ defence of the trophy was already over after six successive defeats while The White Rose went into the match top of the group. Yorkshire will still qualify but have ceded top spot in the group to Worcestershire, who defeated Durham at New Road.They built a meaty total thanks to Joe Root’s stylish 83 and a muscular sixth-wicket stand of 116 in 15.1 overs by Tim Bresnan and Matthew Waite, who struck a a List A-best 71 from 58 balls.Warwickshire’s reply was robustly launched by Jonathan Trott and Sam Hain. And after a wobble induced by spinner Azeem Rafiq, they were steered to victory by a cleanly-hit alliance of 111 in 106 balls between Ian Bell, who made 98 from 85 balls, and Rikki Clarke.Warwickshire spinner Jeetan Patel said: “We have come off a run of a few really bad losses and some that were quite tight but credit to the guys for the way they came out today. Grant Thornton bowled really well which is where we need to get to. We are an ageing teams with a lot of experience but we need to be able to trust the younger guys.”After choosing to bat, Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth to the first ball of the match, from Keith Barker, which he edged to wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose.Jonny Bairstow soon miscued Rikki Clarke to mid-on and Peter Handscomb drove expansively and nicked behind off Barker, who bowled his full stint straight off and was unlucky not to harvest better figures than 10-1-39-2.Root and Gary Ballance added 64 in 14 overs before the latter lifted Grant Thornton to long-leg. Root, looking utterly assured, appeared set for his 11th List A century when he feathered an attempted cut at Clarke to the keeper.That left Yorkshire 149 for 5 but Bresnan and Waite joined forces to exploit a short Hollies Stand-side boundary in a century stand. Considering the shortness of that boundary, for Patel (10-0-32-1) to deliver ten overs without conceding a four or six was a remarkable effort.Still, Bresnan’s ninth one-day half-century and Waite’s first had given Warwickshire a stuff target.Trott and Hain gave the Bears’ reply an excellent base but after Trott sent up a skier off Waite, Rafiq struck three times in quick succession. He bowled Hain and Ambrose in the space of three balls and had Ateeq Javid caught at short fine-leg.But Bell and Clarke halted the clatter and then gradually accelerated, Bell ending the group stage in fine form with scores of 93, 104 and 98.

The 33-year old batsman had played only one of their five ODIs this year, but he could potentially quintuple that count by the end of June

ESPNcricinfo staff26-May-2017Hamilton Masakadza, who has played only one of Zimbabwe’s five ODIs this year, has been selected to go to the Netherlands and Scotland in June and Sri Lanka later. Opener Chamu Chibhabha, who last played 50-over cricket for his country in November 2016, and who has only made two fifties in 23 innings, found a way back into the squad as well.Zimbabwe play two games against Scotland on June 15 and 17 and three more against Netherlands on June 20, 22 and 24 before moving on to Sri Lanka for five ODIs and a Test match, the exact schedule for which is not yet fixed. Legspinner Graeme Cremer will lead the team. The former captain Elton Chigumbura was not part of the squad.Masakadza’s only ODI in 2017 came against Afghanistan and he fell for 5 off 17 balls. However, the 33-year old made a hundred for Zimbabwe A against Canada in Harare a week ago to possibly persuade the selectors. Similarly, Sikandar Raza played only one game of the Afghanistan series – his only ODI in 2017 – but he too was backed to perform. Chigumbura, though picked for that series, did not play in any of the matches and his previous appearance in international 50-over cricket dated back to October 2016.While the elder Masakadza was picked, his 23-year old brother and left-arm spinner Wellington was left out of the squad that lost at home to Afghanistan 3-2. Accompanying him on the bench were seamer Carl Mumba and allrounder Nathan Waller.These 10 matches present a significant opportunity for the team for they can help build momentum going into the qualifying tournament in April 2018 for the next World Cup. Only the top-eight teams on the ICC rankings gain automatic qualification into the showpiece event. Zimbabwe, down at No. 11, will have to finish among the top two to have a chance at playing the 2019 World Cup.Zimbabwe squad: Ryan Burl, Sikandar Raza, Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhabha, Graeme Cremer (capt), Craig Ervine, Hamilton Masakadza, Solomon Mire, Peter Moor, Christopher Mpofu, Tarisai Musakanda, Richard Ngarava, Donald Tiripano, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams

In the wake of a bomb blast in Kabul on Wednesday that killed over 80 people, the ACB has cancelled the friendly T20 matches it had scheduled with Pakistan in July and August

Umar Farooq01-Jun-2017The short-lived détente between the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and the PCB is seemingly over, barely a week after it had begun. In the wake of a bomb blast in Kabul on Wednesday that killed over 80 people, the ACB has cancelled the friendly T20 matches it had scheduled with Pakistan, to be played in July and August in Kabul and Lahore.No official reason has been provided by the ACB but the board tweeted:
The two boards had come to an agreement last week to revive broken ties by playing two friendly matches in each country. As part of the agreement, the PCB was also to provide Afghanistan with venues for training and conditioning camps, and the possibility of reciprocal tours between the youth and senior teams.A similar deal between the boards was also struck in 2013, when Afghanistan cricketers were given access to the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. Eventually, however, the ACB took to using facilities in Greater Noida in India to train players for tournaments.Last Saturday Atif Mashal, the ACB chairman, met his PCB counterpart Shaharyar Khan in Lahore and after the meeting stressed that both boards were eager to renew ties. In it he hinted at the complex geo-political scenario that inevitably has an impact on cricket relations.”We want this relationship and rebuilt this relationship with mutual respect and mutual understanding,” Mashal had said. “Relations with Pakistan doesn’t mean we don’t have relations with India. We’re always thinking of balancing the relations between Pakistan and India.”India is also a strategic partner, a friend, and they also support Afghanistan cricket. Pakistan did a great job in the development of Afghanistan cricket and we value both nations.”We know there is tension in the border but it’s my job to keep this interaction between two cricketing nations going and to help governments start something positive. We are trying our best to keep sports, especially cricket, away from politics as well as looking for our national interests.”The PCB was set to write a letter to the Pakistan government seeking permission to play in Kabul. And a number of Pakistan players – including Umar Akmal, Sohail Tanvir and Kamran Akmal – were part of the auction for the Shpageeza T20 League, Afghanistan’s six-team franchise-based tournament.But ESPNcricinfo understands that Pakistani participation in the T20 league may now be in jeopardy.