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Sophie Munro’s four wickets helped defend a target of 135 for their first victory since 2021

ECB Reporters Network27-May-2024Sunrisers pulled off their first victory in the Charlotte Edwards Cup since the start of the 2021 campaign with a surprise three-run victory over holders Southern Vipers at Arundel.Chasing a modest target of 135, the Vipers were clear favourites to repeat their comfortable win over the same opposition at Chelmsford on Friday. And the result did not appear in serious doubt after Australian opener Charli Knott – who had an outstanding all-round game – struck a 41-ball fifty, with six fours, putting on 73 for the first wicket with Georgia Elwiss in 10.4 overs.But in a performance that belied their miserable record in the competition, Sunrisers bowled tightly and fielded ferociously, and Vipers were unable to meet the modest increase in the run-rate that was required of them, as Sophie Munro took 4 wickets for 27 runs.With 32 required from the last three overs the match was still in the balance after key players, captain Georgia Adams and Freya had fallen cheaply, and Elwiss was out after spending 37 balls scoring 33.When Emily Windsor was stumped off the last ball of the 18th over, Vipers still needed 22 off two. And when Alice Monaghan was stumped at the end of the 19th they wanted an unlikely 12 from the final over.Sunrisers were put in to bat and made a solid start through captain Grace Scrivens and Joanne Gardner, who put on 41 in the six over powerplay. In the tenth over they started to accelerate, with Gardner driving Adams for a straight six as 11 came off the over to put them on 66 without loss at the halfway stage.But it all changed in the next over with the fall of three wickets. Gardner drove Freya Davies to Knott at deep mid-off. Her 39-ball 42 included three fours, and that six. And three balls later Scrivens fell to the same combination, with Knott – whose ground fielding was also very impressive – this time fielding at deep midwicket. Two balls later, it was 67 for 3, with the irrepressible Knott striking again, this time to run out Cordelia Griffith, who had just one, with a direct hit from extra cover.Sunrisers had lost three wickets for one run in the space of half a dozen deliveries. It didn’t get any better for them, with Knott threatening to take over the match. Returning to the attack, she dismissed Alice Macleod, who was well caught by the diving Adams at cover for a duck; 68 for 4 in the 12th. Knott conceded just 18 runs in her four overs.After that, a big score was beyond Sunrisers. But Mady Villiers and Jodi Grewcock brought up the hundred in the 17th over, thanks to a 14-run over from Mary Taylor, and Villiers finished unbeaten on 34.Davies was the most successful Vipers bowler with 3 wickets for 22. It was a bad defeat for Vipers, but a memorable win for Sunrisers.

The Afghanistan legspinner had last week become the top-ranked ODI bowler, alongside India’s Jasprit Bumrah

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2018Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan has risen to the top of the ICC’s rankings for T20I bowlers, to go with his joint No. 1 status in the ODI charts.Rashid claimed top spot in the T20 lists after taking five wickets at an average of 8.40 and economy of 5.25 in two matches against Zimbabwe in Sharjah. New Zealand legspinner Ish Sodhi is in second place, 59 points behind Rashid’s tally of 759.There were changes at the top of the charts for T20I batsmen and allrounders as well. New Zealand’s Colin Munro became the top ranked T20I batsman once again, after scoring 176 runs at a strike rate of nearly 210 in the Trans-Tasman Tri-nation Series against Australia and England. Australia’s Glenn Maxwell became the No. 1 T20I allrounder for the third time after scoring 233 runs and taking three wickets in the same tournament.

Having missed the second half of IPL 2023 with injury, Rahul was happy to start the new season with a half-century

PTI and ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-20242:37

Did RR get their Impact Sub tactic right? Should Rahul have batted faster?

Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul didn’t want to read too much into his team’s 20-run defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals in their opening game of IPL 2024, but has said that none of the teams have been able to crack the powerplay code in the first week of the season so far.The two-bouncer-per-over rule has been introduced in IPL from this season and LSG were bounced out in the first six overs of their chase of 194, falling to 47 for 3. In comparison, Rajasthan Royals had scored 54 for 2 in their first six overs.Both Devdutt Padikkal and Rahul needed to undergo concussion protocols after being hit on the helmet by Trent Boult.Related

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“It is just the first game and I am not going to make too much out of it or over-analyse,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation.”[The] Powerplay is crucial for every team, and I don’t think any team has cracked it yet. Mohsin [Khan] was our powerplay bowler in the first season, but he wasn’t fully fit last season. Good to see him back. Naveen [ul-Haq] has been crucial for us since he has come in.”Rahul felt that 194 was a chaseable target in Jaipur. “I don’t think the target was a lot. It was just 10 over-par,” he said. “We bowled well in patches. Just made a few mistakes.”We will learn from the small mistakes we made. When we are three [down] for nothing, and we gave ourselves a chance of chasing 194 speaks of our line-up. But we need to find ways to win games of cricket. We’ll try to build from here, and see where we can get stronger.”Having missed the better part of the last season with a hamstring injury, Rahul was happy to start the current edition of the IPL with a half-century.”When you get runs, you always feel good,” he said. “But it’s important for us to end up on the winning side. That gives more satisfaction.”Super Giants’ vice-captain Nicholas Pooran felt that the bowlers squandered the early advantage after making inroads in the powerplay. Royals captain Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag, who batted at No.4, forged a 93-run partnership off only 59 balls for the third wicket to propel their side to 193. In response, Super Giants managed 173.”I felt like with the ball we were a bit undisciplined,” Pooran said at his post-match press conference. “We got off to a really nice start in the powerplay, and the game was in the balance there. I felt that from overs seven to 12 we bowled poorly, we gave away some easy boundaries there. I felt they scored 15-20 runs too many on that wicket. But in saying that it’s only the first game of the tournament and obviously we fell short but we got an opportunity to understand what we have to do from a bowling perspective.”

England captain defends leadership in doomed campaign, believes ‘blended’ squad will come good

Andrew Miller22-May-2024Jos Buttler, England’s captain, has backed his players to put the disappointment of their 50-over World Cup defence to one side as they set out to retain the 20-over version they won in Australia two winters ago. However, he insisted that their failures in India before Christmas could not be attributed solely to a “lack of clarity” from the team management.Despite being considered among the favourites for the 2023 World Cup, England lost six of their first seven matches – including a nine-wicket loss to New Zealand in the tournament opener; a historic maiden defeat to Afghanistan, and a record 229-run loss to South Africa. Only a pair of late wins against the Netherlands and Pakistan spared them the humiliation of having to pre-qualify for the 2027 Champions Trophy.Buttler himself endured a poor campaign with the bat, making 138 runs at 15.33 in nine appearances, with some critics suggesting his own struggle for form had impacted his communication within the squad. However, speaking to Sky Sports in the wake of the washed-out first T20I against Pakistan, he defended his leadership, and insisted that England’s problem had been simple: “We just didn’t play well enough”.”The big learning for me is to try not to confuse freedom with maybe a lack of clarity,” he said after the abandonment at Headingley. “Sometimes you’re trying to let players play with freedom and you don’t want to step in too much. But you have to make sure you don’t miss things.”Maybe [there could have been] more communication at times, to make sure people are clear on what is needed from them. But certainly there are times where I look back and say I’d probably make similar decisions in certain instances, and for whatever reason, they just don’t work out.Phil Salt recorded back-to-back T20I hundreds in the Caribbean in December•Associated Press

“Even if there was a lack of clarity, or whatever you want to call it, I’d still expect us to perform better than we did. It’s easy to look at results and say there are certain things you would do differently or say differently. We just didn’t play well enough.”It’s a chapter in the book, it was obviously a really disappointing World Cup and your pride and confidence gets dented a bit, but time moves on, and this a really exciting opportunity now with this World Cup coming up.”In response to his former captain and fellow 2019 World Cup winner, Eoin Morgan, Buttler was bullish when asked whether England would have the wherewithal to bounce back from adversity in their 20-over defence – much as they were forced to do after losing to Ireland in a rain-affected group match at the MCG in the 2022 campaign.”I don’t see why not,” he said. “You guys are sat here talking as if no-one knows what’s going on. I’m pretty sure there’s some experienced players in there who know how cricket works, and know how to play T20 cricket.”I don’t think it’s about trying to reinvent the wheel, or trying to give people messages that they’ve never heard before. It’s about playing good cricket. In tournament cricket, you’ve got to play the crunch moments really well. You’ve got to come back from adversity really well. You have to read the game and play well, and be able to adapt.”There might be games where you need to score in excess of 200, there might be games where you need to scrap and try and defend 140, on a wicket that’s holding up and it’s tough for batting.”England gained a valuable insight into the tournament’s likely conditions when they faced the hosts West Indies in a hard-fought five-match T20I series before Christmas. West Indies won the decider to claim the series 3-2, but only after England had fought back from a 2-0 deficit. Their stand-out performer was Phil Salt, who cemented his status as Buttler’s opening partner with back-to-back centuries, and has since carried that form into an impressive IPL campaign with Kolkata Knight Riders.”We’ve got a really nice blended squad actually,” Buttler said. “We’ve got a lot of experience but some guys who are really on the upward curve, the likes of Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Harry Brook, who is still very early in his international career. Those guys are really trending in the right direction and pushing this team forward.”Related

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Early in his international career, Salt had a tendency to give his innings away after powerful starts. However, a mid-tournament run of three fifties and a 48 in five innings, all scored at strike-rates between 189 and 342, confirmed his new-found ability to align power with endurance.”One of the great things about him is he’s got that insatiable appetite to learn,” Buttler said. “He’s not afraid of asking questions. He’s always wanting feedback. At every training session, he’s clearly trying to work on something to improve.”Personally, I see he’s really improved his off-side game,” he added. “He’s always been very, very strong through the leg-side. But watching him back in the IPL especially, I thought he was so hard to bowl at, because he scored so freely through the off-side and he’s never going to lose that leg side game as well.”One of his things in the past would be those scores of 30 off 15, or 25 off 10, but he’s been able to go on and really extend those innings, which show great maturity. He can be one of the real key players for us.”England’s campaign gets underway against Scotland on June 4 in Bridgetown, the venue where they played the first of their five T20Is in December. England have since enlisted the help of Kieron Pollard as a batting consultant for their campaign, and Buttler is confident the team’s preparations would enable them to give a good account of themselves.”The conditions out there, the wickets can be a little bit slower,” Buttler said. “Spin will play a big part out there, as well as extra pace. I think the wind is a big factor on those island grounds too. But one thing that people will have to react quickly to in that World Cup is a very early start, with some 10 o’clock or 10.30 starts. A lot of the time you’re playing night cricket in T20s, so it’s trying to learn from that.”

There was confusion in the Renegades’ innings when a no-ball was called against Hurricanes’ Jordan for an incorrect field

AAP23-Dec-2023
Matthew Wade blasted 82 as the Hobart Hurricanes overcame the Melbourne Renegades and some fielding-restriction drama to notch a breakthrough Big Bash win.After missing a game with back spasms, Wade’s 50-ball knock on Saturday night at Blundstone Arena got his side past Renegades’ 183 for 5 with an over to spare and six wickets in the sheds. Wade shared a 140-run partnership with Mac Wright, a late inclusion for Ben McDermott who copped a blow at training.Wright played a support role early but finished with five sixes and five fours in his 36-ball 63.He faced all 12 balls of the power surge, which went for 39 runs, before being caught trying to clear the fence in the 13th over. Wade, who muscled nine fours and three sixes, was caught in the deep in the 17th over but by then the damage had been done. The Hurricanes are 1-2 from three games, while the Renegades are without a win from four matches.There was confusion late in the Renegades’ innings when a no-ball was called against Hurricanes’ quick Chris Jordan in the final over for an incorrect field.Under competition rules, teams are limited to four fielders outside the circle if they don’t bowl their overs in the allotted time.Hurricanes’ Tim David told he was under the impression the team had not gone over time.”I dare say if we were told we needed an extra fielder in, we wouldn’t have bowled (with that field),” he said via the on-field mic. “We were told the previous over the time on the scoreboard was wrong and we had until 8.45 (pm).”The scoreboard said 8.43 and we bowled it, and it was a no-ball. Got to respect the umpire’s decision.”Renegades allrounder Will Sutherland hit the ensuing free-hit for a boundary.Earlier, imports Quinton de Kock (38 from 22) and Joe Clarke (38 from 25) got the Renegades off to a quick start after they were sent in to bat.De Kock was in the groove inside the powerplay, hitting 21 runs including two sixes off speedster Riley Meredith’s second over.
Melbourne were flying at 78 for 0 in the eighth over, before losing three wickets in four deliveries.Hurricanes spinner Paddy Dooley (2-32) got rid of de Kock and danger man Jake Fraser-McGurk for a first-ball duck in consecutive balls.Nathan Ellis then clean bowled Clarke off the first ball of the next over.Jono Wells (40 not out from 24) and Aaron Finch (31 from 28) steadied before swinging freely late. Finch didn’t field for the Renegades because of back soreness.

Wicketkeeper-batter also explains how he reacted to the news of his maiden call-up

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2024It’s been just a week since Dhruv Jurel received his maiden India call-up for the first two Tests against England, but he’s already identified what he wants to learn from his experience: how to develop mental strength to deal with pressure and criticism that comes with playing at the highest level.”The most important learning that I’d want to take away from this series is how to develop the mental fortitude that is needed to survive at the highest level,” Jurel told Rajasthan Royals’ official website. “A lot of players get call-ups, but only a few are able to sustain themselves.””Once you’re in the public eye on a much bigger stage, you are constantly judged on your performances. So I really want to know how these players deal with bad days, how they face criticism and pressure,” Jurel said. “I am going to try and absorb it all.”Related

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Jurel played two unofficial Tests in South Africa for India A, registering a duck in the first game before scoring a dogged 69 in the second. He was playing a tour match against England Lions when he got the news of his maiden call-up.”I was shocked. I was with the India A team, we were playing against the England Lions in a two-day match,” Jurel said.”The news broke late in the night and when I found out, I immediately called my father to tell him and his first question was, ‘Which Indian team? Aren’t you already playing for one of them?’. I said, ‘The same one in which Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma play’. He couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it too.”Jurel scored a 38-ball 50 in that tour game, in which KS Bharat, another wicketkeeping option in India’s squads for the first two England Tests, also scored a half-century.Jurel has 15 first-class games in his bag and has racked up a century and five fifties at an average of 46.47 with the bat.He burst onto the scene in the 2020 Under-19 World Cup, and then had a breakthrough campaign as a finisher in IPL 2023, but Jurel says adapting to the longer format was not a quick transition.”As part of India U19, I gained massive exposure playing in foreign conditions and different types of pitches. Then with the Royals, I had a good first IPL season. And that was all white-ball cricket,” he said. “But then came the longer format, and that’s a different ball game altogether. It took me a while to adapt myself to the demands of red-ball cricket.”But with so much practice, training and early experience, I am confident that I can play all three formats equally well.”Now, Jurel will again share the dressing room with Yashasvi Jaiswal, with whom he was team-mates in the Under-19 World Cup as well as for Rajasthan Royals.”Yashasvi and I go a long way back,” Jurel said. “We played together in our U19 days and it has always been a lot of fun. I am looking forward to sharing this experience with him too.”He was one of the first ones to text me and congratulate, saying ‘Well-deserved , very happy for you’.”Jaiswal, though, wasn’t the only Rajasthan Royals team-mate who texted Jurel. He also got a message from a wicketkeeper-batter who has experienced India-England Tests himself.”I also got a text from Jos [Buttler] , he said ‘Good to see you in the Indian team, long way to go’,” Jurel said.

Ash Gardner cracked a rapid half-century as Ireland were overwhelmed despite a strong start to the chase

AAP25-Jul-2023Ellyse Perry suffered a minor knee injury as she helped lead Australia to a convincing 153-run one-day international win over Ireland in Dublin.Perry top-scored for Australia with the bat, hitting 91 from 99 balls in their 321 for 7, before being kept off the field with a left knee issue as the tourists had Ireland all out for 168.Perry was able to move freely after the match, but medical staff will monitor the 32-year-old ahead of Australia’s final match of the tour against Ireland on Friday.It was one of the few sour notes for the tourists, who put in a complete performance in their first game since the drawn Ashes.Perry hit nine fours and three sixes in her innings, combining with Beth Mooney (49 off 62) for a 106-run fourth-wicket stand after Australia fell to 58 for 3 in the 11th over when Georgina Dempsey claimed two wickets in two balls.Ashleigh Gardner also hit 65 off 39 balls for the visitors, in an innings that included seven fours and three sixes. The allrounder took a particular liking to Cara Murray, taking 20 off one over from the legspinner for three sixes over the legside.Australia were slightly better with the ball, after an untidy Ashes series. Spinner Georgia Wareham claimed 3 for 33, while Tahlia McGrath and Jess Jonassen each took two wickets to have Ireland all out in 38.2 overs.After Ireland were 127 for 2 in the chase with some early hitting from Gaby Lewis (37) and Amy Hunter (50), the wickets fell quickly as Australia took 7-41.”It was nice to get out there and just put a good performance out there,” captain Alyssa Healy said. “That’s what we’ve been asking for for the last six weeks. And we haven’t done it consistently.  It was nice to see everyone have a proper crack today and do really well.”Irish-born star Kim Garth was also a stand out, taking 1 for 9 from six overs with the new ball.”She did fantastic,” Healy said of Garth. “She could have bowled 10 on the trot there. It’s great to see her back here, she is smiling so much. To see her enjoy her cricket, it’s some really special to see.”

Fast bowlers hits his straps as Hampshire battle to stay in the contest against Division One leaders

ECB Reporters Network01-Jul-2019Jamie Overton claimed five wickets to help Somerset gain a narrow advantage on the second day of the Specsavers County Championship match with Hampshire at Taunton. Plagued by back problems in recent seasons, the tall pace bowler announced himself back to his best with 5 for 66 from 21 overs as the visitors closed on 329 for 8, led by a century from Sam Northeast.Overton’s figures included a spell of 3 for 10 from six hostile overs at the River End with the second new ball, sending back Keith Barker, James Fuller and Kyle Abbott to tilt the contest Somerset’s way.Earlier, Northeast had hit a chanceless century off 167 balls, with 13 fours and a six, sharing stands of 101 with Ajinkya Rahane and 82 with Rilee Rossouw, who contributed 44.Hampshire began the day on 15 for 1 in reply to 408 and soon lost Joe Weatherley, caught behind down the leg side off Overton for 14. But, with the pitch offering little in terms of seam movement or spin, it was soon clear that Somerset would need to work hard for their wickets.By lunch Northeast and Rahane had comfortably taken the total to 105 for 2. The afternoon session saw both reach half-centuries, Northeast off 91 balls, with seven fours, and Rahane off 103 deliveries, with eight boundaries.Jack Leach broke the partnership with his left-arm spin, Rahane edging a drive to Lewis Gregory at slip. But it did little to check Hampshire’s momentum as the aggressive Rossouw joined an increasingly confident Northeast. The Hampshire captain pulled Overton over fine leg for six before moving to three figures and Rossouw also cleared the rope, lofting Dom Bess back over his head.Somerset’s young offspinner, who enjoyed a meteoric rise to England’s Test team, was making his first Championship appearance of the season for the club, having been on loan at Yorkshire. Bess was understandably delighted when claiming the wicket of Northeast, who drove a catch to short midwicket soon after completing his hundred.It was 220 for 4 and in his next over, with five runs added, Bess struck again, pinning Rossouw lbw on the back foot. Barker and Fuller then batted with assurance to take the total to 288 for 5 when the second new ball was taken for the 81st over.From 306 for 5, Hampshire then plunged to 314 for 8 as wicketkeeper Steve Davies took three catches in quick succession off Overton, one of them down the leg side to dismiss Fuller. All Overton’s victims were caught by Davies, who now boasts the most dismissals by a keeper in Division One of the Championship this season with 34.With his team trailing by 94 runs, Tom Alsop, who injured a hamstring wicketkeeping on the first morning, limped out with Ollie Soames acting as his runner. In glorious sunshine, Alsop and Mason Crane batted out the day against Leach and Bess, who ended with 2 for 57 from 17 overs, to leave the match intriguingly poised after two days of absorbing cricket.Both days drew good crowds, with 3000 on the first and more than 2000 on the second. Somerset supporters will be the happier, with Hampshire due to bat last on a pitch expected to turn more as the match progresses.

Sri Lanka seamer was leading wicket-taker on recent tour of England

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2024Glamorgan have signed Sri Lanka fast bowler Asitha Fernando for the first two months of the season. He is expected to be available for seven County Championship fixtures up until the end of May.Asitha, 27, has taken 72 wickets 26.66 in Tests and impressed on Sri Lanka’s tour of England earlier this year, when he finished as the leading wicket-taker on either side as well as winning a spot on the Lord’s honours board for his first-innings five-for.He has played county cricket previously for Nottinghamshire, and will become the first Sri Lankan to represent Glamorgan.”I would like to thank Glamorgan Cricket so much for this opportunity,” Fernando said. “I am extremely thrilled to be a part of Glamorgan and to return to the county cricket scene this year.Related

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“My last stint helped me to improve my game a lot. I am looking forward to playing with Mason [Crane], Colin [Ingram] and all of the Glamorgan team, and am hoping to do my very best during the upcoming season.”Glamorgan’s director of cricket, Mark Wallace, said: “We’re delighted to be able to welcome a bowler of Asitha’s quality to Sophia Gardens for the start of the 2025 season.”Asitha has good experience of conditions in the UK having played county cricket previously and also while performing very well in Sri Lanka’s series with England here last summer. We look forward to Asitha taking the field for Glamorgan as the first Sri Lankan player to represent the club.”

Thunder’s captain was given a life and made Hobart Hurricanes pay to set up a meeting with Brisbane Heat

AAP27-Nov-2024Phoebe Litchfield steered Sydney Thunder to within one win of the WBBL grand final, helping her side end Hobart Hurricanes’ season with a tense six-wicket victory at Drummoyne Oval.With Thunder chasing 127 for victory in the knockout final, they appeared to be in trouble with 26 runs required from the final three overs.Enter Litchfield and Anika Learoyd, who got the job done for the Thunder with six balls to spare. The pair took 16 runs off the 18th over from Heather Graham, before Litchfield struck Nicola Carey for six off the first ball of the next over.The 21-year-old was eventually bowled trying to scoop Carey and finish the game off, but by the time she walked from the field on 46 the game was effectively over.Litchfield controlled the chase calmly, twice breaking the tension by driving Hurricanes’ bowlers to the rope when the pressure appeared to be building. She hit five fours in her 36-ball knock with Hurricanes left to rue a crucial missed stumping chance when Litchfield was on 23 and Thunder still needed 42 to win.Her runs came as Learoyd played a supporting hand with an unbeaten 23 from 24, while Chamari Athapaththu hit 31 up top after also taking two wickets with the ball.The victory means Thunder will play Brisbane Heat in Friday night’s Challenger, with the winner of that to face the Melbourne Renegades in Sunday’s final at the MCG.Elyse Villani had given Hurricanes a small hope of victory with an unbeaten 49 after the Hurricanes had fallen to 47 for 4 from their opening 10 overs.Athapaththu’s 2 for 24 did the bulk of the damage with the ball, bowling Carey for 1 and then having Heather Graham caught cutting to cover cutting on 10.Litchfield also took two neat catches, while Taneale Peschel got the key wicket of Lizelle Lee for 23.And while Molly Strano’s 1 for 8 from four overs and Amy Smith’s 1 for 17 from three threatened to strangle Thunder, Litchfield was in the end too good after being offered a second life.