All posts by n8rngtd.top

Angela Williamson, who had worked as CA’s government relations officer in Tasmania, was terminated from the job in late June for a series of tweets criticising the Tasmanian government

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2018A former Cricket Australia (CA) employee, sacked over a series of social media posts criticising the Tasmanian government over the availability of abortions in the state, has taken the matter to the Fair Work Commission.Angela Williamson, who had worked as CA’s government relations manager in Tasmania since 2016, was informed via formal letter on June 29 that her employment had been terminated after the Cricket Tasmania Board lost confidence in her ability to do the job due to a succession of tweets about the inaccessibility of abortions, most recently on June 18.In that message, Williamson criticised the state’s health minister Michael Ferguson, describing him as “most irresponsible … gutless and reckless” for helping the government reject a parliamentary motion to return access to abortions in public hospital. In a report published by Fairfax Media, Williamson revealed she had been compelled to fly from Hobart to Melbourne on the mainland to have a surgical abortion in February this year.”We can confirm that Cricket Australia ended its employment arrangement with Ms Williamson in late June,” a CA spokesman said. “The circumstances surrounding that decision are now the subject of legal proceedings and it would be inappropriate for Cricket Australia to publicly comment on Ms. Williamson’s specific circumstances any further.”We will continue to follow and respect the current process. Cricket Australia respects an individua’s right to their opinion. However, it expects that employees will refrain from making offensive comments that contravene the organisation’s social media policy.”Williamson’s lawyer, Kamal Faroque, outlined their concerns about events. “Our client raised an important and personal view about the need to ensure that women in Tasmania have access to appropriate reproductive health services, and that she was disappointed in how the relevant government [official] had dealt with the issue in Parliament,” he told Fairfax Media.”Those views, and her raising them, have nothing to do with Cricket Australia or Cricket Tasmania, they have nothing to do with the work that she was performing and the question needs to be asked about why she has lost her job for this. In our view the actions of Cricket Australia and Cricket Tasmania have gone too far. Political opinion is a protected attribute under the Fair Work Act, but in this instance an employer is seeking to constrain that opinion, with a person losing their job as a result.”

The 21-year old left-hander became the youngest centurion in CPL history and partnered his captain in a 108-run third-wicket stand to consign Tallawahs to their first defeat of the season

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Lauderhill19-Aug-2018Peter Della Penna

Shimron Hetmyer became the youngest centurion in CPL history, and the first to do it on American soil, as Guyana Amazon Warriors rallied to victory by 71 runs to hand Jamaica Tallawahs their first loss of CPL 2018.On paper, the game was listed as a home match for the Tallawahs, but Lauderhill has provided anything but a home-field advantage for Andre Russell’s team, who had just one win in four matches coming into the venue on Saturday night. A heavily partisan Amazon Warriors crowd of about 4,000 provided a hostile reception to the Tallawahs and fueled the visitors to 209 for 7, the highest CPL total made at the venue, eclipsing the 206 made by St Lucia Zouks against the Tallawahs in the very first CPL match played in Lauderhill in 2016.Hetmyer floors the hostsWhen the Amazon Warriors last visited Lauderhill a little over a year ago, Hetmyer sat on the bench during two defeats to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, in matches where the Warriors were only able to muster totals of 123 and 128. The 21-year old Hetmyer nearly outdid that singlehandedly on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd.Hetmyer came to the crease in the second over, after Chadwick Walton had been adjudged lbw to Samuel Badree, and wasted little time in getting his eye in under the Lauderhill lights. The closest shave he had was on his first boundary of the night, in the third over off Imad Wasim, as a slightly aerial drive eluded the fielder in the covers before heading to the rope. The next ball took a less adventurous path through the covers for another four, and Hetmyer was on his way as he struck 11 fours and five sixes in all.Perhaps his most elegant shot of the night came in the ninth over when he drove clean through the line to power Oshane Thomas back over his head for six. When he brought up his century in 47 balls, with a single off the final delivery of the 14th over, the third-wicket stand with Shoaib Malik stood at 108, and Amazon Warriors were 162 for 2. A total of 240 seemed realistic, as did Hetmyer’s chances of blazing past Andre Russell’s CPL record score of 121 not out. But Hetmyer fell two balls later, and Tallawahs somewhat wrested back momentum in the final phase of the innings, conceding just 47 off the final six overs to give themselves a chance.Phill ‘er upTallawahs actually had a better Powerplay than Amazon Warriors, reaching 69 for 1 after six, compared to the visitors’ 60 for 2. Much of that was down to the hot start provided by Glenn Phillips. After Kennar Lewis fell to conclude a 16-run opening over of the chase, Phillips ran roughshod over Devendra Bishoo and Rayad Emrit later in the Powerplay, striking both bowlers for a six and four each in the fourth and sixth overs respectively. The six off Bishoo was especially mighty, sailing over the makeshift VIP tent constructed on the east side boundary.Phillips added 66 with Ross Taylor for the second wicket, before sloppy running proved to be the first domino to fall, leading to the demolition of the Tallawahs chase. Phillips slammed Chris Green’s offspin in the second ball of the eighth over through wide long-on for what seemed a certain four, but Keemo Paul hustled to slap the ball from bouncing over the rope into the hands of Hetmyer for a sharp relay back to the middle. Both batsmen were expecting it to go for four, and instead of a straightforward two, they settled for one. It put Taylor on strike for the next ball instead of keeping Phillips in flow, and the result was a gloved sweep that popped up to Ronchi behind the stumps for a simple catch.TallawoesThe innings began to unravel even faster after the mid-chase drinks break, even though Tallawahs were still very well-placed at 102 for 3. David Miller, playing his first match after joining Tallawahs following the end of South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka, bolted prematurely for a non-existent single. Phillips turned down the run, and Tahir fielding off his own bowling, darted across to the short extra cover region and whipped around to fire a direct hit with one stump to aim at from 10 yards out.Phillips chopped a googly onto his foot, and the stumps, next ball to leave for 43. Only two more Tallawahs players crossed double-figures thereafter. Poor running resulted in two more runouts to put the finishing touches on the Guyana win. It was such a dominant display that Imran Tahir, one never to miss out on giving an over-the-top celebration at the fall of a wicket, calmly brushed off one bail and then immediately stuck it back onto the stumps after receiving a relay from Walton to run out Adam Zampa for the ninth wicket. The Tallawahs lost their last eight wickets for just 36 runs, bowled out in 16.2 overs.

Brett Hutton’s five-for and a Ricardo Vasconcelos fifty put Northamptonshire on top against Derbyshire at Wantage Road

ECB Reporters Network12-Sep-2018
ScorecardBrett Hutton’s five-for and a Ricardo Vasconcelos fifty put Northamptonshire on top against Derbyshire at Wantage Road, although Hardus Viljoen’s four wickets ensured the home side were not out of sight at the end of the day three, with Northants leading by 231 in their second innings.Hutton’s third five-wicket haul of the season helped bowl Derbyshire out for 222, giving Northants a first-innings lead of 33, before Vasconcelos built the advantage. But from 154 for 2, the home side slipped to 192 for 8 to leave the game nicely poised heading into the final day.Initially, progress was slow-going for the home side in their second-innings as they made 49 in 24 overs by tea for the loss of Ben Curran for 11 to a tremendous low return catch by Ravi Rampaul, diving down low to his right. But runs began to flow after tea. Luke Procter, after a difficult 21 in 128 balls, was strangled down the leg side but it brought Richard Levi to the crease and the lead was quickly extended.The South African pulled Alex Hughes for six and drove the same bowler down the ground for four before pulling Viljoen for another six over midwicket and slamming Matt Critchley’s legspin over the sight-screen. But trying to pull his way to fifty, he skied a catch to deep-square to fall for 46.Vasconcelos wasn’t as brutal but still played some attractive strokes – he drove Rampaul on the up through the covers and then pulled the same bowler for four more. Viljoen was uppercut off a top-edge over first slip for the left-hander’s seventh boundary and his eighth – timed perfectly past extra-cover – brought him fifty in 85 balls.But after Levi fell, ending a bright partnership of 75 for the third wicket, Vasconcelos chipped Critchley to midwicket and when Adam Rossington was bowled by Rampaul for 1, Northants had lost 3 for 1 in eight balls. Charlie Thurston, on his first-class debut, made a positive 25 before driving Viljoen to point and the same bowler had Josh Cobb caught behind for 3 and Hutton taken at mid-off for 0 to keep Derbyshire in the game.Earlier in the day, Hutton had helped bowl Northants to a first-innings lead. He bowled Anuj Dal via an inside edge and induced a thin outside edge behind from Viljoen before returning after lunch to have Tony Palladino caught a long-leg after an enterprising 26 that delivered Derbyshire a batting point.That point looked unlikely when Derbyshire slipped to 150 for 7 in the morning session but Harvey Hosein flicked three boundaries off his legs in making 30 before falling lbw to Ben Sanderson in the over after lunch – his 50th wicket of the season.

The 19-year-old medium-pacer registered his best bowling figures as Alex Doolan scored 76 and Matthew Wade his third straight half-century

The Report by Alex Malcolm25-Oct-2018Alex Doolan plays one on the off side•Getty Images

A career-first six-wicket haul from teenage allrounder Cameron Green has given Western Australia an opportunity to set up a first-innings lead against Tasmania at the WACA.Green, 19, trumped the 5 for 24 he took on Sheffield Shield debut, also against Tasmania, in February 2017.Green capitalised on some good early work from team-mates David Moody and Jhye Richardson after Tasmania won the toss and chose to bat on a surface lush with grass. Richardson made the first breakthrough of the day squaring up Jordan Silk as he edged to second slip. Green pinned Beau Webster lbw for his first wicket of the day, but it was Moody who ripped the heart out of the Tasmania middle order.Moody claimed Jake Doran and George Bailey off consecutive deliveries before getting the key scalp of Alex Doolan. The veteran opener backed up his century against Queensland in the opening round with an assured 76 before nicking Moody to second slip.It broke a 52-run partnership between Doolan and Matthew Wade. Simon Milenko picked up the slack and added 60 with Wade before Green obliterated the tail. He removed Milenko, Tom Rogers and Sam Rainbird in the space of four balls to leave the Tigers 8 for 184.Wade sensed a swift ending and raced to 66 not out to push the total to 226 before Green finished off the last two to finish with 6 for 30 in just 11.1 overs. It was Wade’s third half-century in three Shield innings so far this season and he has only been dismissed once.Promising WA batsman Josh Philippe was promoted back up to open after scoring his maiden Shield century at No. 6 last week but fell cheaply to Gabe Bell. Jonathan Wells worked hard for 27 before he was run out. Hilton Cartwright finished 28 not out at stumps and Shaun Marsh was unbeaten on 10.

Legspinner’s haul of 5 for 49 in 13.5 overs tore Sri Lanka’s innings apart in the hour after tea on the second day

Andrew Miller24-Nov-2018Adil Rashid said that he is relishing being part of England’s three-man spin attack, with a clear remit to be the bowler who “makes things happen”, after producing a brilliant five-wicket haul to transform the balance of play in the third Test at Colombo.Rashid’s haul of 5 for 49 in 13.5 overs tore Sri Lanka’s innings apart in the hour after tea on the second day, as they slumped from 173 for 1 to 240 all out, including the loss of their last eight wickets for 53 runs.He was superbly backed up by his team-mates – in particular Keaton Jennings under the helmet at short leg, who claimed four outstanding catches, three of them off Rashid’s bowling – and the indefatigable Ben Stokes, who tore in with the old ball to claim 3 for 30 in a strength-sapping ten-over spell.But Rashid benefitted most of all from knowing his role within England’s multi-faceted attack. While his fellow spinners, Jack Leach and Moeen Ali, can be relied upon to place accuracy and containment at the top of their agendas, Rashid recognises that he has licence to go through his repertoire in search of the sort of magic balls that only wristspinners seem capable of producing.”Definitely that is my role,” Rashid told Sky Sports. “Since I came back, I’ve tried to come in and break partnerships, and make things happen. You’ve got Leachy and Mo who can contain and get wickets, but we have that understanding now that that’s what Rooty [Joe Root] wants from me as a bowler.”Sometimes, if it doesn’t work within five or six overs, I can have a break and come back in again, but at this moment in time it’s going okay.”Asked if this was the best that he had ever bowled in Test cricket, Rashid paused for an eternity before responding “maybe”, which was a telling equivocation. He did, after all, claim a five-wicket haul in the UAE on his Test debut in 2015-16, as well 30 wickets on the tour of Bangladesh and India two winters ago. But on those occasions, because of his relative isolation in a two-man spin attack, it was harder for him to be the bowler that England needed in every situation of a game.Now, however, things are different with three spinners to work the options.”We’re all enjoying it, all three of us, as we all feed off each other,” Rashid said. “We get on well off the pitch and we help each other. We’re all happy having that attack, especially with one spinning in, one spinning away and a wristspinner, so we’ve got quite a lot of variation there and on any given day it could be a different person for every innings. And luckily enough it was me today.”Luck, of course, wasn’t the only factor, for Rashid showcased an excellent range of skills in the course of his spell, landing his googlies and legbreaks accurately while varying his pace effectively as well.”I went out there with a positive mindset, and bowling my variations, sticking to my strength,” he said. “My strength is the variations, and being confident in that. Sometimes I was mixing up my pace too, bowling slower and quicker, and it’s about finding the right pace a lot sooner into the spell, rather than 10-15 overs in.”Rashid’s impact for England has been long recognised in white-ball cricket, in which format he has been instrumental in the team’s rise to the No.1 world ranking. Transferring that mindset back to Test cricket, a version of the sport he had effectively given up earlier this year after signing a white-ball-only contract with Yorkshire, has taken some getting used to.”At times it can be challenging, especially with the red ball,” he said. “You have to do the practice in the nets, find your natural pace, whatever that is, and bowl there, then go quicker, slower … for me it’s about being positive, being attacking with the variations, and sticking to that positive mindset.”The overall positive vibe in England’s squad paid clear dividends on the second afternoon, when Rashid emerged from tea to dislodge the rock of Sri Lanka’s batting, Dimuth Karunaratne, in the first over after the resumption, and ultimately secure a first-innings lead of 96.”It was a great comeback in that last session, they got off to a great start but we always had that belief going into tea, we came back and kept it simple and the rewards came,” said Rashid. “Batsmen are there to make runs, there are always going to be partnerships, that’s part of Test cricket. But the main thing was to have that belief within the team, not to go through the motions and give up. That’s what we did, and the tea break came at a good time.”Maybe there’ve been periods when I felt I’ve bowled better but today it felt good and to get the wickets in that session, with Stokesy at the other end, was a nice feeling. He is a matchwinner, he proved that again for the team, running in, bending his back. We had a set plan and he executed it perfectly so all credit to him.”England resume on the third day with an overall lead of 99, and ten wickets which which to build a platform for their third victory of the tour.”I think we’ve got to look to be positive tomorrow, like we have the whole series,” said Rashid. “We will take the scoreboard out of it and see where it takes us session by session, hour by hour. We’re not looking at a target, just play your game and see where it takes us.”

Maddinson was struck by a short ball from Jhye Richardson and was forced to retire hurt

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2018Victoria’s progress into a strong position against Western Australia was overshadowed by a nasty injury to Nic Maddinson who suffered a fractured arm after being struck by a short ball from Jhye Richardson.An early tea was taken when Maddinson suffered the blow on his right forearm, immediately dropping his bat and reeling away in pain. The physio and doctor were quickly in the middle and Maddinson was soon being taken to a nearby hospital for scans which showed a fractured ulnar – the long bone in the forearm – which is expected to sideline him for four to six weeks.It was a cruel blow for Maddinson who had marked his Sheffield Shield debut for Victoria with a brilliant 162 in the first innings and it also comes less than two weeks before the start of the Big Bash.Either side of Maddinson’s injury, Victoria kept themselves in control as they secured a 128-run first-innings lead which they extended to 240 by the close.Will Pucovski, in his first match back since taking a break from the game, replaced Maddinson after tea and was unbeaten on 51 at the close alongside captain Travis Dean who overcame a lean run of form to reach 50.Ashton Turner provided resistance for Western Australia with 80 as the last four wickets added 111 to remove the threat of the follow-on with Josh Inglis and Richardson providing solid support. Turner was lbw to Jon Holland when in sight of a century as the left-arm spinner, capped for times at Test level, claimed 5 for 65 from 38.3 superbly controlled overs.

The left-arm quick’s 4-28 kept Bangladesh to just 129, and the opener then smashed a fifty off just 16 balls

The Report by Mohammad Isam17-Dec-2018Shai Hope walloped the third-fastest T20I fifty to help West Indies overpower Bangladesh by eight wickets in Sylhet. The hosts were undone by Sheldon Cottrell’s awkward short balls to be bowled out for 129 and then a bumper crowd sat in silence as Hope battered six sixes and three fours to end the contest in a hurry.Hope reached his fifty off 16 balls, behind Yuvraj Singh (12 balls) and Colin Munro (14 balls). The innings had plenty of brutality in it – especially when he played the pull shot or the slog sweep – but it wasn’t wanting in finesse as a ramp to the third man boundary showed. Hope shared an opening stand of 51 runs in 3.2 overs with the returning Evin Lewis, and then put on 47 in 4.2 overs with Nicholas Pooran.The visitors raced to 91 for 1, equalling the highest score in the Powerplay alongside Australia, Ireland and Netherlands, who had also got there in Sylhet, four years ago during the World T20 2014.Keemo Paul did justice to his promotion to No 4, hitting an unbeaten 28 off 14 balls with a four and three sixes, one of which carried 96 metres, as West Indies completed victory in 10.5 overs.Bangladesh had chosen to bat first under gloomy skies, and their performance out the home crowd in a similar mood, with only three batsmen reaching double-figures. Cottrell’s career-best 4 for 28, and wickets from Paul, Oshane Thomas, Carlos Brathwaite and Fabian Allen, kept Bangladesh in check and bowled them out in 19 overs.Shakib Al Hasan was the only batsman who showed smarts for Bangladesh. He preferred the offside when looking for his fours, having nailed Thomas for a rasping cut through point and two cover drives. Both his sixes came through mid-on but luck was also on his side. Three boundaries came off his outside edge and one off the inside edge. He made 61 off 43 balls with eight fours and two sixes.Five batsmen got out trying to pull fast and short deliveries, all of them either top-edging for easy catches or hitting it straight to fielders. Tamim Iqbal was the first to fall in this way, mistiming a pull straight to Brathwaite at mid-on. Liton Das did exactly the same off Thomas, before Soumya Sarkar also mistimed a pull to be caught at midwicket, off Cottrell.Bangladesh’s Powerplay was rounded off with Mushfiqur Rahim caught short of his crease as Rovman Powell threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Shakib then had two short partnerships with Mahmudullah and Ariful Haque that kept Bangladesh afloat for a time. But Cottrell had Mahmudullah caught behind, keeping the ball close to the batsman’s body so that his attempted push resulted in an edge. Ariful later swept a catch down to deep square leg.Shakib became Cottrell’s fourth wicket in the 18th over, again trying to pull the ball but only top-edging it to the short square leg region, where Cottrell himeslf sprinted forward and claimed the catch.

The hosts have won all seven ODIs at the Wanderers since they started wearing pink for this fixture, and will wrap up a series win if they make it eight in a row

The Preview by Liam Brickhill26-Jan-2019

Big Picture

A see-sawing series turns celebratory as Pakistan and South Africa return to Johannesburg for the annual PinkDay ODI event at the Wanderers. This will be the eighth edition of the popular fixture, which has helped to raise nearly R 5 million (USD 370,000 approx) for various breast-cancer-awareness organisations over the past six years.and a crowd of 24,000 is expected with tickets sold out.There’s a special mood at these pink games, and the fixture has created some singular memories over the years, such as when bees (perhaps attracted to the hot pink) stopped play halfway through Sri Lanka’s innings in 2017, with all 13 players, as well as two umpires, lying facedown on the grass. Last year, the PinkDay ODI was the only one out of six in which South Africa managed to beat India, and three years ago Imran Tahir hit the winning runs in a one-wicket win over England. Most notably, of course, the PinkDay was also the occasion of AB de Villiers’ defining innings, when he smashed 16 sixes – and the record for the fastest ODI ton – during his 44-ball 149 against West Indies in 2015.Their misadventures with insect infestations at the Wanderers during this tour notwithstanding, Pakistan have all the ingredients to play their part in what should be another engaging encounter to add to the storied narrative of South Africa’s PinkDay games. The visitors have held their own during the three ODIs so far, even as controversy threatened to derail their tour after the second match.Chasing has been key to success in the series so far, with Pakistan winning the first match by five wickets before South Africa reversed the result to draw level and then pulled ahead at a soggy Centurion. The quick turnaround leaves no time for what-ifs and navel-gazing from Pakistan, but the momentum is with South Africa and given the history of the occasion, the hosts will be very hard to beat.

Form guide

South Africa WWLWL (completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LLWWL

In the spotlight

Sarfraz Ahmed has barely left the spotlight since the second ODI, though the extra attention had more to do with his mouth than his gloves or bat. While there has been no announcement from the ICC about an official sanction for Safraz’ comments to Andile Phehlukwayo, his words have cast a shadow over the tour and on the field Sarfraz has pushed himself down the order as low as no. 8 with middling results. His actions will continue to be scrutinised, as will his returns as captain.The no. 7 position in South Africa’s XI is one of the few places in the side without a settled incumbent. Andile Phehlukwayo staked a bold claim for the position with his career-best performance in Durban, but then leaked 71 runs at Centurion. It’s a position Dwaine Pretorius might also look to fill, and behind him Chris Morris and Wiaan Mulder – both included in South Africa’s T20 squad – will also have designs on it. Another strong all-round showing from Phehlukwayo would go some way towards holding off the competition.Fakhar Zaman swivels into a pull•Getty Images

Team news

Left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks should get another chance on what has become his home ground with the Lions franchise, and if the track looks flat and hard South Africa may look to bolster their seam attack and lower order with allrounder Dwaine Pretorius, who also plays his domestic cricket here. If not, South Africa may look to swap Tabraiz Shamsi for Imran Tahir, who has a decent record at this ground with 7 wickets at 22.57, after Shamsi put in an inconsistent performance at Centurion.South Africa: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Reeza Hendricks, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 Rassie van der Dussen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Beuran Hendricks, 11 Tabraiz Shamsi/Imran TahirSarfraz Ahmed has apologised in person to Andile Phehlukwayo for his racially-charged on-field taunt, but is yet to face any official sanction for the incident from the ICC. That issue aside, Pakistan’s selections, like South Africa’s, will be influenced by conditions. While the top order
is fairly stable, Faheem Ashraf’s seamers could put him ahead of Imad Wasim, though Imad’s handy lower-order runs at Centurion will be hard to ignore. Fakhar Zaman’s poor returns in the series could see him make way to set up Shan Masood’s ODI debut, Masood having looked in decent nick during the Tests.Pakistan: 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman/Shan Masood, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Imad Wasim/Faheem Ashraf, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pitch and conditions

Limited-overs pitches at the Wanderers tend to provide some of the best batting conditions anywhere in the country, and 400 has been breached three times in ODIs here (including twice, famously, in the same game). The last time South Africa and Pakistan met in an ODI here, South Africa racked up 343 for 5 to win by 34 runs and anything other than a belter would be something of a surprise. Don’t be surprised, though, if there’s a little rain around in the afternoon, as there often is at this time of the year on the Highveld.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have never lost a Pink ODI.
• During the course of the third ODI, Imam ul Haq became the second-fastest player to 1000 runs in ODIs.
• Hashim Amla needs to score 89 to reach 500 runs at the Wanderers, entering the top five of the list of ODI runscorers at a ground where he is also just four runs shy of the record for most Test runs.

Quotes

“PinkDay will once again demonstrate the remarkable power of how sport can mobilise support for a cause that affects millions of people around the world.”

Allrounder commits to club until at least 2022 after extending existing contract

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Mar-2019Chris Woakes has committed to Warwickshire until at least the end of the 2022 season, by signing a three-year extension to his existing contract.Woakes, 30, has won all domestic trophies with the club, including the County Championship in 2012, the One-Day Cup in 2010 and 2016 and the T20 Blast with Birmingham Bears in 2014.In between his England commitments, he also made two appearances in Warwickshire’s successful Specsavers County Championship campaign in 2018, in which they sealed promotion and the Division Two title, one year after their relegation.”Representing my home county is always a great honour and I’m thrilled to secure this contract extension and to continue to wear the Bear and Ragged Staff until at least 2022,” said Woakes.”We’ve enjoyed a huge amount of success during my time at Edgbaston and the club prides itself on being able to compete strongly across all three formats.”Having won promotion back to Division One of the County Championship at the first attempt and the introduction of several new players in the last couple of years, it’s a very exciting time to be a Bear and I look forward to being part of our challenges for more silverware in the coming years.”Woakes started his career at Edgbaston at Under 10s age group and went on to make his senior debut in 2006. He has since gone on to win 26 Test, 84 ODI and eight T20I caps to date.”Chris is a true Bear and everyone at the club takes great pride in the fact that he has come through our development programme to become one of the leading all-rounders in the world game,” said Warwickshire First Men’s Team Coach Jim Troughton.”Whilst we expect Chris to play a major role for England in one of the biggest summers in the game, which includes the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Ashes series, his long-term commitment to the club is a huge boost to Warwickshire and Birmingham Bears as we approach the new season.”Woakes has recently returned from England’s Test and ODI series with West Indies in the Caribbean and could play a role for Warwickshire in the early stages of the Royal London One-Day, which begins at home to Yorkshire on 19 April.

The fast bowler bowled at full tilt on the eve of the match in Bengaluru, easing concerns over the left shoulder injury he sustained against Delhi Daredevils

The Preview by Ankur Dhawan27-Mar-20193:31

Hodge: Shimron Hetmyer should bat at No. 3 for Bengaluru

Big Picture

How boringly predictable. Chennai Super Kings are on top, Delhi Capitals have exorcised the ‘Daredevils’ but not the inconsistency, and those two perennial poor starters, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, have played to their reputation by going down in their opening encounters. For Royal Challengers, that familiar feeling of here we go again lingers, and for Mumbai the loss could almost be seen as a good omen, given their history of dramatic comebacks. You may point out – correctly – that it’s too early to write eulogies or prophesy a come-from-behind title win. Perhaps Royal Challengers were done in by a dreadful pitch, and Mumbai by one man’s brilliance. Either way, it’s time to find out if there is more to the teams than first met the eye.In the literal sense of team combinations, that seems unlikely at this stage. There were concerns about Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness after he toppled over his shoulder in the last match and did not come out to bat later, but he bowled at full tilt on the eve of the match in Bengaluru and, according to the team management, has recovered sufficiently. Mumbai will also have the services of Lasith Malinga sooner than expected, with the Sri Lankan quick joining the team tonight, but he is likely to be considered for selection only for the next match. The only concern for Mumbai might be a seemingly ageing side – they fielded five players over the age of 30 last match – but Super Kings have already shown the worth of experience in this format.Royal Challengers, on the other hand, would be chuffed to be back home, at least as far as the pitch is concerned. Virat Kohli recently likened it to the “old”, batting-friendly Bengaluru surface, albeit before going on to lose that high-scoring match against Australia. Ironically, the XI that looked a spinner short in the crushing defeat in Chennai could be the ideal combination on a traditional Chinnaswamy pitch, with a good mix of quicks and spinners, in addition to a strong batting line-up.

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Parthjv Patel (wk), 3 Moeen Ali, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Colin de Grandhomme, 8 Navdeep Saini, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Mohammed SirajMumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Ben Cutting, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Rasikh Salam, 11 Jasprit BumrahA pensive RCB side wait to take the field•BCCI

Strategy punt

• Moeen Ali averages 27.75 and scores at a strike-rate of 148.56 as an opener. Those are his best returns in any batting position in T20s. Royal Chalengers have only tried him in that position once, against Delhi Daredevils last year. A quick swap with Virat Kohli could help Royal Challengers utilise Moeen best, besides giving the middle-order a more solid look, leaving Kohl to negotiate the tougher middle overs along with AB de Villiers.
• Krunal Pandya has had AB de Villiers’ number from the first time he bowled to him in the IPL. On that occasion he had him stumped off a beauty, which dragged de Villiers’ back heel out of the crease and spun away to leave Parthiv Patel to whip the bails off. If anyone thought it was a fluke, Krunal repeated the feat the next three times he bowled to de Villiers, dismissing him on all those occasions as well. Overall, his record against de Villiers is an impressive four dismissals in as many innings, while conceding 33 off 32 balls. Regardless of the situation, don’t be surprised if Krunal is thrown the ball as soon as de Villiers comes out to bat.

Stats that matter

• Before losing the away match against Royal Challengers last year, Mumbai had beaten them in five successive meetings, their second-best winning streak against any opposition in the IPL, after the ongoing eight-match run against Kolkata Knight Riders.
• In completed matches, Royal Challengers are marginally better chasing than batting first at home, having won 19 out of 35 matches when they’ve chased as opposed to losing 24 of the 42 times they have batted first. However, RCB have never beaten Mumbai batting second at home.
• AB de Villiers needs 38 runs to become the 10th player to score 4000-plus runs in the IPL.
• Virat Kohli needs 46 runs to become the second player after Suresh Raina to score 5000-plus runs in the IPL