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Left-arm spinner Rahil Shah ended with match figures of 9 for 81, helping Tamil Nadu seal a thrilling seven-run win against Baroda in Chennai

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu in Chennai03-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Rahil Shah ended with match figures of 9 for 81•Sivaraman Kitta

With the ball ripping and spitting from a length on a Chennai minefield, any target in the fourth innings was going to be a difficult task. Baroda’s left-arm spinner Bharghav Bhatt’s match haul of 10 wickets had helped his team edge ahead at stumps on the second day, but it was Rahil Shah’s nine wickets which tipped a see-sawing thriller Tamil Nadu’s way. Seconds after the No.11 Sagar Mangalorkar was snaffled by Rahil, the spinner was mobbed by his team-mates in a raucous celebration.

Tamil Nadu captain Abhinav Mukund on…

The rank turner and the last-gasp finish
“It wasn’t an easy wicket to bat. Even though there was a partnership of 10-13 runs, we knew it would be hard for a new batsman. We always knew it was a matter of just one wicket. We got a lucky strike, hitting the gloves of Dinesh and carrying to Bharath [slip]. Pinal Shah – that was an important wicket. The bowlers kept believing.”
The key moment of the match
“Yusuf Pathan’s wicket was the turning point. His 41 in the first innings gave them momentum and he also started rotating the strike, which was more dangerous on wickets like this. There was a big plan. It was important we learned from the mistakes in the first innings. We put our best fielders there [deep midwicket and long-on]. Instinctively, I thought the batsman would predetermine his shot to mid-wicket. I wanted to prevent that as that was his only option. I removed silly point and it worked.”
Playing his 100th first-class game
“Not a memorable [milestone] for me personally as I got a pair, but an excellent one for the team and I’m happy. I thought we bowled brilliantly and fielded really well”

While Rahil punched the early holes and wrapped up the innings, Malolan Rangarajan and DT Chandrasekar took care of the middle order. Baroda had more than a whiff of a chance when Deepak Hooda and Hardik Pandya took the attack to the hosts in a 33-run partnership, but Tamil Nadu held their nerve to open their Ranji campaign with a victory.Rahil opened the bowling and found success in his second over of the day when he dismissed Hitesh Solanki for 7. Two balls later, he roared again after having Aditya Waghmode caught at slip for nought but it was nipped in the bud, with replays showing that Rahil’s foot was on the line. Waghmode added only six before he was snapped up smartly by Baba Aparajith, who gave the Baroda captain a mini send-off.Malolan followed that strike with the wickets of Kedar Devdhar and Yusuf Pathan, as Baroda were reduced to 50 for 4 in 17.2 overs. There were only about 10 people in the stands at the start of the second session, after the first was washed out by a persistent drizzle, but once Malolan zipped away, the crowd started slowly building up.Tamil Nadu’s captain Abhinav Mukund identified Yusuf’s wicket as the crucial one after the match and also admitted that it was a plan to place a fielder at deep midwicket. Yusuf had slugged two sixes off Malolan in the first innings and had consistently targeted the leg-side gaps. In the second dig, Yusuf swiped at a ball that was not full enough, and holed out to deep midwicket for 5.Deepak Hooda, who had walked in with his side still 72 runs away from the target, began positively with back-to-back fours. The fourth ball he faced was laced inside out over the covers but it was the powerful reverse-sweep over backward point that stood out. He continued to be positive with his score at various points reading: 14 off 4, 24 off 9, and 30 off 14.Hardik Pandya then fed off Hooda’s approach and pinged Chandrasekar for a six down the ground. Chandrasekar, however, held one back in the next over and had Pandya nicking behind for a run-a-ball 17. Four overs later, Chandrasekar, wary of Hooda tripping down the wicket, shortened his length and hoodwinked the batsman.With a close finish looming, Tamil Nadu remained calm, but they also enjoyed some good fortune. Pinal Shah, who was sharp behind the stumps, edged one behind, and the ball ricocheted off Dinesh Karthik’s gloves and settled into the hands of Bharath Shankar. Murtuja Vahora was then given out leg before despite signs of an inside snick.The close-in catchers also showed good composure, as Rahil wiped off the tail with four wickets in two overs, which culminated in a seven-run win.

Gritty innings keeps hosts alive in low-scoring dogfight at Hove

ECB Reporters Network18-May-2024Second division championship favourites Yorkshire are within sight of their first win of the season after having marginally the better of the second day of their match against Sussex at Hove.After 17 wickets had fallen on the first day, matters were a little less frenetic in a tightly fought contest but Yorkshire took a grip on the match after tea. They had gained a first-innings lead of 45 in the morning and Sussex struggled to 194 for seven in their second innings, a lead of 149. Their innings was held together by a dogged five-hour unbeaten 77 by Tom Alsop, who was bowled by a no-ball at 39 and dropped at 58.Play started 45 minutes late in damp and murky conditions. Yorkshire resumed on 176 for seven, a lead of 26 runs, and Sussex took just 33 minutes to take the three remaining wickets for the addition of 19 runs.They broke through after 20 minutes play when Jordan Thompson, surprised by the bounce achieved by Ollie Robinson, deflected the ball onto his stumps with his elbow.For the next over Sean Hunt replaced Tom Haines at the sea end and from his fifth delivery he took a straightforward caught and bowled chance to dismiss Ben Coad. And in the over after that Dom Leech shouldered arms and had his off stump plucked out by a delivery angled into him by Robinson. Yorkshire were all out for 195 with Hunt finishing with career-best figures of four for 64. Robinson (3 for 25) has bowled well this season without much luck and this was the first time in four matches that he had taken more than two wickets in an innings.Yorkshire’s slender lead looked significant when they dismissed both Sussex openers inside the first three overs. Haines was out second ball, fluffing his attempted pull against Thompson to cover in the second over. And in the following over Tom Clark, short of runs and confidence this season, drove tamely at Coad and was caught by Matthew Revis at cover.Alsop and Cheteshwar Pujara brought Sussex back into the match with a third wicket stand worth 74 watchful runs in 24 overs. But then Pujara, playing his last innings at Hove this season, failed to get fully forward to one from Leech and was lbw for a 56-ball 33.Alsop and James Coles took Sussex to tea at 123 for three, a lead of 78, with Alsop unbeaten on 52. After the interval the Sussex batsmen battled hard against a disciplined Yorkshire attack. The visitors took the fourth Sussex wicket when Coles, who had added just two runs since the break, miscued his attempted pull off George Hill and was caught at square-leg for 28.John Simpson, struggling for runs in recent innings after his early season double hundred, was missed in the slips before he had scored but failed to make the most of his let-off. When Coad replaced Root at the Cromwell Road end he immediately had the Sussex captain caught at first slip for an uncomfortable six; 140 for five.Fynn Hudson-Prentice looked in the mood to take the attack to the Yorkshire bowlers but he was sixth out at 155, lbw shouldering arms to Thompson, and then Danny Lamb fell lbw for a duck to Coad.Before play got under way Yorkshire announced that they had signed the Sri Lanka left-arm fast bowler Vishwa Fernando for the next three championship matches.

The trio scored half-centuries to give the Indians a shot at an innings victory

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2022
Bangladesh A were left needing another final-day rescue act after India A took a lead of 261 runs in the second unofficial Test in Sylhet. The hosts were 49 for 2 at stumps on the third day after India A declared their first innings on 562 for 9.Bangladesh A had started well though, with Musfik Hasan removing India A captain Abhimanyu Easwaran for 157 in the sixth over of the day. Easwaran struck 14 fours and two sixes in an innings that spanned more than seven hours. Jayant Yadav and Saurabh Kumar then put together 86 for the seventh wicket to push the Indians closer to 500. Saurabh was particularly aggressive, hitting seven fours and two sixes in his 55 off 39 balls. Jayant and No. 10 Navdeep Saini also scored half-centuries to grind Bangladesh A’s attack.Saini stuck around for an hour and 36 minutes to score his maiden first-class fifty. He added an unbroken 68-run partnership for the tenth wicket with Mukesh Kumar before Easwaran called them back.Left-arm spinner Murad and rookie fast bowler Musfik took three wickets each, while Sumon Khan finished with two wickets.Bangladesh A lost their first-match hero Zakir Hasan in the fifth over when Umesh Yadav bowled him for 12. Mahmudul Hasan Joy then fell for 10, ending the two-match series with just 44 runs.Shadman and Mominul Haque, however, saw Bangladesh through to stumps without any further damage. The final day looms as a vital one for Mominul who needs some runs, ahead of the first Test against India next week.

Coach says even if younger players don’t get game-time, tour will be a great learning opportunity

Shashank Kishore27-Jun-20214:55

Rahul Dravid: Away performances catch selectors’ attention

Rahul Dravid, India’s head coach for their limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka, is clear that their main objective is to win the series, and not necessarily just look to help players gain experience and match time, a method he has implemented with great success at the India A and India U-19 levels.”There are a lot of people in the squad who are pushing for places ahead of the T20 World Cup coming up, but the key goal, and we’ve had discussions around it, is to try and win the series,” Dravid said on Sunday, ahead of the team’s departure to Colombo for three ODIs and three T20Is.”That is the primary objective. Hopefully if people can get the opportunity to put in some good performances in the course of us trying to win the series, they will give themselves the best chance of knocking on the doors of the selectors.”Related

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Tour objectives aside, Dravid encouraged the younger players to soak in the experience of being part of an Indian team on an overseas tour, and not treat the tour as a life-and-death situation. The message is: “Good performances will be great, but a few off days won’t mean the end of the world.””There are a lot of young kids, even if they don’t play, it’s a great opportunity to be on a trip with the Indian team and interact with seniors like Shikhar (Dhawan, the captain), Bhuvneshwar (Kumar, the vice-captain), Hardik (Pandya),” Dravid said. “There’s a lot they can learn from that experience. The young boys coming on this trip, they’ll all be keen to do well and set some sort of markers for the selectors.”Whether they get selected for the T20 World Cup or not, that’s a call the selectors will take, but being on a tour like this and playing against an international quality opposition, if you’re able to put a marker and show the ability to do it at this level, the selectors will start to take note. But by no means is it a life and death kind of a situation. It doesn’t mean if you don’t have a good tour, you won’t make it, or if you have a great tour, you’ll be an automatic pick. There’s a lot that goes into it.”Rahul Dravid won’t follow the template used for pathway teams with the Indian side•Getty Images

Much of the team’s plans, Dravid said, will be finalised after he has a set of chats with the Indian team management that is currently in England for a five-Test series. As such, the upcoming three T20Is in Sri Lanka will be India’s only games in the format ahead of the T20 World Cup in October-November. Prior to that, though, most of the players, will feature in the remainder of IPL 2021 in the UAE.”These are the only three games before the T20 World Cup and I am sure the selectors and management would have a fair idea by now on the squad they are looking for. There is going to be an IPL as well in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup,” Dravid said. “This gives a few people an opportunity for the one or two places the team management or the selectors may be looking for, and give them a few more options. That would be the goal for the next three T20s.”There are a couple of selectors travelling with us, so it gives me a chance to interact with them and see what they are thinking, what their ideas are. I’ve had a little bit of contact with the team management in England, but I didn’t want to disturb them during the WTC, but I will touch base over the next couple of weeks and see what their thoughts are, what they are thinking about the T20 World Cup and see if we can implement some of those plans for the next three games.”Asked to explain if such a multi-format arrangement, where India have one set of players competing in a Test series and another playing elsewhere in white-ball cricket, is the way forward, Dravid underlined the importance of being practical in a post-pandemic world.Shikhar Dhawan will lead India in the ODIs and T20Is•BCCI/IPL

“This is a unique situation in terms of quarantines and rules that have led to this situation,” Dravid said. “It’s very hard to predict what will happen even on a month-on-month basis. With quarantines as structured as they are and travel restricted, at least in the short term this plan allows you to complete tours and engagements.”India probably had no option for this tour. I’m not sure if it is a long-term solution though, because there are many more stakeholders involved: other boards, broadcasters, sponsors, media rights. Certainly, in the short term, this could ease pressure because it’s becoming difficult for the same set of players to go through all the restrictions in place to play all formats. So yes, in the short term a good idea but for the long term, it’ll need lot more discussions.”The Dhawan-led squad will land in Colombo early on Monday, following which the team will undergo three days of hard quarantine before beginning training in a controlled manner as per guidelines laid out by Sri Lanka Cricket. The tour begins with the ODI series (July 13, 16 and 18) followed by the T20Is (July 21, 23 and 25). All matches will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

The outgoing captain says ‘there’s one less thing to worry about’ now

Mohammad Isam07-Mar-2020In his last ODI as captain of Bangladesh, Mashrafe Mortaza wanted to make sure he did not slip up even once, being aware that players are “vulnerable” to mistakes when they are ending a stint. Mortaza signed off as captain in style, leading Bangladesh to their 50th win under him in ODIs with a 3-0 whitewash over Zimbabwe in Sylhet. After Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal amassed big hundreds, Mortaza provided the first breakthrough in Bangladesh’s defence of 322 and remained in control of his emotions throughout the game.At one point he even allowed Mustafizur Rahman to keep a slip in the dying stages of the game, resulting in a catch the next ball. His open faith in his players, young and old, was one of the hallmarks of his captaincy.After the game ended, Iqbal picked him up on his shoulders for a lap of honour. The Bangladesh players wore special jerseys with his name and number at the back, and “thank you captain” written in the front. They presented him with a special edition jersey as well as a commemorative plaque. There are also strong rumours that Mortaza’s jersey may be retired by the BCB soon.After all the formalities, Mortaza cut a relaxed figure in the press conference, particularly candid when speaking about his experience as one of the most important figures in Bangladesh, for more than five years.”Now I am feeling relaxed,” he said. “There’s one less thing to worry about. It was a big responsibility. Usually at this time, some feel good some feel bad. I have mixed feelings too. To be honest, I am happy that I could finish well as a captain. I also ended on a win.”Our main focus was winning the game. We planned and thought about the match. We knew that everything would have been spoiled had we lost. We had a big score but I didn’t want to make a mistake today. When a person announces that something has ended, he is vulnerable to making mistakes. He knows there’s no one to answer to afterwards. I was really focused on not making any mistakes. Everyone assumed that this was a straightforward win, but I wanted to finish well.”Mortaza took four wickets in the three ODIs against Zimbabwe, a stark improvement from his last campaign – the 2019 World Cup – when he took just one wicket in 56 overs across eight matches. He said that wickets have obviously given him some confidence, and he wants to keep performing.Raton Gomes/BCB

“I had a really bad World Cup, and the team struggled too,” he said. “I have turned around a bit. It is about time that I regained the confidence. Bowlers get confidence through wickets, notwithstanding how we bowl.”I have to perform. It will be up to the selectors. A player has to play well, and then he becomes the captain, which itself is a huge pressure. But now as a player, I have a lot of time to think about myself which will help me a lot.”Mortaza downplayed his performance as a captain and said that a Bangladesh captain has to deal with a lot more off-the-field issues with players. “I never evaluated myself, I think I am an average captain,” he said. “I have never given it any thought. For a captain in Bangladesh, though, there’s a lot more work off the field with players. Once you are in the field, there isn’t as much to do.”But players are disturbed in many ways: personal problems, being out of form, not going on well with the coach, fitness problems. Everyone has a different struggle. The captain has to be with the player during those times. The captain has to take responsibility of the whole team, regardless of the team’s result.”Mortaza also reiterated that a senior player should be given the ODI captaincy now, as he would have the prerequisite experience to handle high-pressure situations on and off the field.”Captaincy was a big responsibility but whoever comes in next, he has to be three times more sensible and thoughtful. It will be easy when he wins, but when you lose there is a lot of pressure from the media, board and spectators.”I have done it for six years, so I feel relaxed now. Which is why I said that one of the senior cricketers should take over the captaincy. They can face the media, and have played for a long time. They can better handle pressure.”Mortaza was hopeful that Bangladesh will keep improving beyond his stint as the ODI captain. He repeated what he had said at his last press conference in the 2019 World Cup, that with many of the current young players reaching a peak in four years time, Bangladesh could make it to the last four of the next World Cup.”It is hard to say but I believe Bangladesh will do well in the 2023 World Cup. I think I said it in the last press conference in England, after the Pakistan game, that we will play in the semi-final of the next World Cup. Most of the young players will have the peak of their career during that time, so there’s no reason that we cannot reach that far in Asia.”

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.

Haryana secure first-innings lead in Lahli; Parvez Rasool sparkles with bat and ball in Jamshedpur

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2017Priyank Panchal’s 145 – his 14th first-class hundred – helped Gujarat post a robust response to Saurashtra‘s 570, as they went to stumps on 304 for 4 in Rajkot. Gujarat, however, still trail Saurashtra by 266 runs. Resuming on 45 for 0, Gujarat lost captain Parthiv Patel in the third over of the day after he was caught by wicketkeeper Snell Patel off left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat. Panchal then added 54 runs with Bhargav Merai before the latter was dismissed by left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. Three balls later, Dharmendrasinh struck again to remove Manprit Juneja as Gujarat slipped to 109 for 3.Panchal, however, took charge and put on a 179-run stand with Rujul Bhatt (75*). During the course of their partnership, Panchal, who had made half-centuries in his last two games, brought up his hundred before tea. He struck 20 fours before he was cleaned up by Unadkat. Dharmendrasinh and Unadkat finished with two wickets each.Haryana secured the first-innings lead against Rajasthan after bowling out the visitors for 150 in Lahli. Haryana then finished the day on 179 for 5 in their second innings and stretched their lead to 252.In the morning, Rajasthan had done well to eat into the deficit after resuming on 74 for 7. Rajasthan’s recovery was thanks to a 61-run alliance between Tajinder Singh (38) and Deepak Chahar (27). However, after Chahar was removed by Ajit Chahal the innings unravelled quickly. While Chahal finished with three wickets, captain Amit Mishra and seamer Ashish Hooda picked up two apiece.Haryana started shakily in their second innings, losing their first three wickets for 62, with seamer Aniket Choudhary accounting for the openers Guntashveer Singh and Shubham Rohilla. The recovery was helmed by Shivam Chauhan (65) and Rajat Paliwal (35). But, their dismissals left Rohit Sharma and Mishra needing to steer the team towards stumps with no further damage.Jammu & Kashmir secured the first-innings lead against Jharkhand after the latter declared their first innings on 292 for 9 at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur. J&K then extended their lead to 330 runs after they went to stumps on 246 for 7 in their second innings.Resuming on 220 for 5, Jharkhand’s push to secure the first-innings lead suffered an early setback after overnight batsman Ishan Kishan was caught behind by Punit Bisht off Mohammed Mudhasir. Kumar Deobrat (34) and Sunny Gupta (31*) played useful hands, but Jharkhand fell behind. Left-arm spinner Aamir Aziz claimed four wickets while Mudhasir and captain Parvez Rasool picked up two and three wickets respectively. Rasool had a pivotal role to play with the bat in J&K’s second dig, as his 74-ball 70 rescued his team from 110 for 5. Along with Owais Shah (50), whose innings comprised three fours and three sixes, he raised a stand of 119 runs. J&K, however, suffered a late jolt when both Rasool and Shah fell just before stumps.

With the Champions Trophy nine months away, South Africa will see their five-match ODI series against Australia as the start of their preparation for the event

The Preview by Firdose Moonda29-Sep-2016

Match facts

September 30, 2016
Start time 1330 local (1130 GMT)1:21

‘Important to win away from home’ – Smith

Big Picture

It’s not even October and the headline series of South Africa’s summer is already beginning. No disrespect to Sri Lanka, who are the only touring team to visit later this year, but the fans will regard Australia as a bigger draw, and even though they are playing ODIs, the series will generate significant interest.The Champions Trophy is nine months out but this will be the start of South Africa’s planning and, worryingly, it does not include AB de Villiers. The regular captain has been ruled out of the series with an elbow injury which leaves a hole in the leadership, in the batting line-up and in the field. It will be up to Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy to step up as senior players, while David Miller and Farhaan Behardien will need to find form with the bat and light up the fielding effort. South Africa’s squad as a whole must show they can cope in the absence of one of their biggest names. The bowling will be bolstered by the return of Dale Steyn, who was rested for the West Indies tri-series in June. He will have Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo for company.Australia have not packed their pace pack with the same power, leaving several frontliners at home while giving opportunities to a younger crop. They have brought their captain along for the trip, which is certain to provide fodder for some off-field banter – Steven Smith was sent home from Sri Lanka to prepare for the summer and among those critical of the decisions were South Africans. Steyn and Graeme Smith had a few things to say on social media and, given the tension between Steyn and former Australia captain Michael Clarke in the past, this could be episode two.Episode three, of course, will take place in November when what some will consider the real battle begins. South Africa travel to Australia for three Tests. For now, enjoy the opening act.

Form guide

South Africa WLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWL

In the spotlight

De Villiers’ absence for the next two months leaves Faf du Plessis in charge. Du Plessis has not been shy about expressing his desire to captain more and especially to lead from the front. With scrutiny over his scoring rate, this is the format in which he may feel he needs to prove himself. The middle overs are where South Africa don’t want to let the game drift and it will be up to du Plessis to push their cause.Mitchell Marsh struggled for consistency in length on his return to the ODI side against Ireland, after having been rested for the Sri Lanka series last month. None of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner or Nathan Coulter-Nile are in the touring party, so it will be up to Marsh to play his part in filling those roles. He has taken more ODI wickets in 2016 than in any other year but has also been expensive, with an average of 34.13 compared to his 2015 average of 23.35. He will want to tighten up against South Africa.

Teams news

With Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir back in the squad, Andile Phehlukwayo and Aaron Phangiso are likely to be the two casualties from the Ireland victory. In the absence of Chris Morris, both Wayne Parnell and Dwaine Pretorius are likely to keep their places. Hashim Amla was sick and he rested a day before the match, but du Plessis was “99% sure” the opener would be fine on Friday.South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 JP Duminy, 5 David Miller, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Dwaine Pretorius, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Imran TahirAfter Usman Khawaja’s unbeaten 82 in the Ireland match, Australia will be hard-pressed to choose between him and Aaron Finch. They may look to change their bowling attack with Chris Tremain coming into contention.Australia (possible): 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch/Usman Khawaja, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Travis Head, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Mathew Wade (wk), 8 John Hastings, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Chris Tremain/Daniel Worrall, 11 Scott Boland

Pitch and conditions

Unlike Benoni’s tacky and, at times, two-paced pitch, SuperSport Park is expected to produce a pristine surface packed with runs. There should be something in it for the quicks too. Summer has arrived on the Highveld and a warm day is forecast, with temperatures close to 30 degrees. There is also the possibility of an afternoon thunderstorm which may interrupt briefly.

Stats and trivia

• In the last two years, South Africa and Australia have played eight ODIs against each other. Of those, Australia have won five and South Africa two, with one no-result.
• Faf du Plessis has led South Africa in four ODIs, of which they have won three. The only defeat came in his captaincy debut against New Zealand in Kimberley in January 2013.

Quotes

“Pretoria and Wanderers are generally wickets that don’t offer too much spin, but there is always a role for a spinner to contain the game. So I definitely see the role of a spinner, not much attacking, but by doing a holding job. For the first three games, we won’t see too much spin.”
“Both of our top orders play the same pretty much all around the world. Their job is to go out and play the way they play and be nice and positive. You can’t really ask David Warner and Aaron Finch to go block it around. It’s not the way they play and it’s not the way I want them to play either.”

Tom Westley can claim to have played a modest supporting role in England’s Ashes success by scoring a century against the tourists – a fact which did not escape his county team-mate Alastair Cook. An Essex promotion is a tougher ask

Tim Wigmore at Castle Park09-Aug-2015
ScorecardTom Westley’s helped build Essex’s lead•Getty Images

Tom Westley can claim to have played a modest supporting role in England’s Ashes success. At Chelmsford last month, he scored 144 against the touring Australians to provide his occasional Essex teammate Alastair Cook with a reminder of the fallibility of the Australian bowling attack. Cook was appreciative, texting Westley to congratulate him on his century.After the excitement about the Australians coming to Essex, the scene at Castle Park was rather more somnolent, as if players and spectators alike shared the hangovers that some of England’s Ashes winners were no doubt nursing.Westley adapted to the mood. During his century against the Australians, he had bristled with intent against Nathan Lyon, light on his feet in hammering 57 from 37 deliveries against the offspinner.But he was altogether more respectable against Zafar Ansari and Gareth Batty. His late cutting and driving through the covers provided evidence of his finesse and class, but Westley also defended with resolve and great care, decisive in his footwork whether playing forward or back. Having played serenely for 26 before chipping Gareth Batty tamely to midwicket in the first innings, Westley resolved to produce a more substantial innings in the second.”After my shot in the first innings I had a bit of stick so I had to be a bit careful and rein it in a bit, which is unusual for me this year, I’ve been quite positive,” he reflected. “I was trying to score as quickly as I could. I hit a few boundaries and came down the wicket to Ansari, but it’s very difficult for new batters coming in.”Both Ansari and Batty bowled with control and precision, even if they would have hoped to be more incisive on a wicket that, while far from the raging turner seen at outgrounds of yore, has aided spin all match.In fact it was Jade Dernbach who provided Surrey’s greatest threat. Owing to a side strain and then a calf injury, he has not played a first-class match since the fixture at home to Essex in April, and had not taken a first-class wicket since September 17 last season.But with Surrey searching for inspiration, Dernbach produced a spell of sustained hostility with the old ball, jagging a delivery back to uproot James Foster’s offstump and almost doing the same to Mark Pettini first ball. A solitary wicket was scant reward for his endeavour.As they attempted to disturb the tranquillity of Essex’s innings, Surrey resorted to innovation: at one stage Dernbach bowled to a mid-on and two short midwickets – a Southern equivalent of the famed ‘Yorkshire Wall’, perhaps – to try and entice a loose shot from Westley.It did not work, though Surrey did force out four batsmen who looked well set. Ravi Bopara was particularly perturbed when, having played with great care, he was adroitly snaffled by Jason Roy at legspin off Batty. Bopara recently expressed his hope that England would not forget about his talent, but one half-century in 15 Championship innings this season is making it rather easy for them to do just that.Though Surrey bowled parsimoniously, Essex too readily gave the impression of being content to sleepwalk to a draw. Even in the last ten overs of the day, with a lead of over 200, they added just 25 runs. True, their team is a little depleted, so in isolation this was another admirable day’s work from Essex.But the nub is that a draw will do nothing for Essex’s promotion ambitions. “We have to win obviously,” Westley conceded. Had they scored at three-and-a-half an over during their 79 overs, Essex would already be in a position to declare and set Surrey 300 in a day: better to risk defeat, surely, then allow Surrey to stonewall their way to a draw, especially with a brief shower expected on the final day.That said, the sight of several deliveries from Ansari gripping and rearing up in the final session – even if such occasions were too rare to induce much trepidation in Surrey’s batsmen – suggested that Essex could yet force a result.For them to do so, the performance of Panesar, fresh from four first innings wickets, will be critical. “If he bowls as well as he did in the first innings he’ll pick up even more wickets,” Westley said.Panesar has already made an admirable comeback. He will need to make it a match-winning one if Essex are to maintain designs on promotion.

A brief recap of the second round of games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26

Shashank Kishore28-Nov-2025

Mhatre’s maiden ton studs Mumbai win

Ayush Mhatre continued his exciting initiation into top-flight cricket with a 53-ball 110 in Mumbai’s convincing win over Vidarbha as they made it two in two. Mumbai chased down 193 with 13 balls to spare and seven wickets in hand.Named India Under-19 captain for the Asia Cup earlier in the day, this was Mhatre’s maiden T20 century. His knock contained eight fours and eight sixes. Mhatre’s knock paved the foundation, while Suryakumar Yadav (35 off 30) and Shivam Dube (39 off 19) polished off the chase. Mhatre’s century made him the youngest man (18 years, 135 days) to get hundreds in first-class, List-A and T20s, shaving more than a year from Rohit Sharma’s record (19 years, 339 days). He also became the third-youngest to hit a men’s T20 century, after Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Vijay Zol.Dube also continued to be relied on as a handy seam option, picking up 3 for 31 off his four overs. He has now bowled seven overs across two matches for four wickets.

Shaw half-century gives Maharashtra first win

Prithvi Shaw marked his captaincy debut for Maharashtra with a sparkling 36-ball 66 in an eight-wicket win over Hyderabad. It was Maharashtra’s first win in the competition, as they hunted down 192 with eight balls to spare. Arshin Kulkarni anchored the chase superbly, finishing unbeaten on 89 off 54 deliveries to seal victory.

Samson misses out; Kerala lose

Kerala stumbled against Railways, losing by 32 runs after failing to chase down a modest 150 in Lucknow. Sanju Samson, who opened the tournament with a half-century, was out for 19 off 25 balls, while Rohan Kunnummal, his opening partner who made an unbeaten 60-ball 121 in Wednesday’s win over Odisha, managed just 8.

Chahal, Sindhu shine; Haryana clinch Super Over

Haryana edged out Punjab in a tense Super Over finish to claim their first win of the tournament. Punjab’s chase of 208 was driven by Anmolpreet Singh’s 37-ball 81, but Yuzvendra Chahal turned the tide with a vital double-strike, removing Salil Arora and Nehal Wadhera in quick succession.Related

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Punjab’s chase grew increasingly chaotic: Gurnoor Brar was retired out after a scratchy 8 off 10 balls, before Sanvir Singh (30* off 16) and Harpreet Brar (10* off four) somehow stretched the game into a Super Over. There, Punjab mustered only a single run while losing Abhishek Sharma and Sanvir. Haryana needed just one delivery in response, striking a boundary first ball to clinch a dramatic win.Nishant Sindhu top-scored for Haryana in regulation time with a 32-ball 61. He had also played a key role in their opening game, hitting a cameo 33 while also picking up 2 for 28.

All-round Anukul stuns Karnataka

After returning figures of 2 for 13 in three overs to restrict Karnataka to 157 for 9, Anukul Roy, the left-handed allrounder, single-handedly took Jharkhand home in a tense final-over finish.With no other batter scoring more than 15, Jharkhand’s chase came down to how long Anukul could steer the innings, and he did that by scoring an unbeaten 95 in 58 balls. Wickets kept tumbling around No. 5 Anukul, with seven batters returning single-digit scores, but his nine fours and five sixes earned Jharkhand their second win in two games to move atop Group D.

Venkatesh shines; Jitesh, Suryavanshi fall cheaply

Released by KKR after being bought for a hefty INR 23.5 crore last year, Venkatesh Iyer offered a timely reminder of his value in the middle order with an unbeaten 55 off 34 balls in Madhya Pradesh’s 62-run win over Bihar. This was their first win in the competition.Set 175, Bihar collapsed for 112. Fourteen-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, almost certain to feature in the upcoming Under-19 World Cup, has so far made 14 and 13 in his two outings. With one win from two matches, MP will also be lifted by the return of Rajat Patidar for their third game on Sunday.Vaibhav Suryavanshi started SMAT 2025 with a couple of low scores•PTI

Meanwhile, Jitesh Sharma’s stint with his new team Baroda hasn’t started the way he would’ve liked. After making 4 on debut in a defeat against Bengal, he managed just 5 in Friday’s loss against Puducherry. Baroda have now lost both their games. Adil Ayub Tunda, the fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir who has impressed several talent scouts, picked up 4 for 30 for Puducherry.