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A round-up of the Ford Trophy matches that ended on January 13, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2016Wellington and Otago, the two teams bringing up the rear of the Ford Trophy points table, played out a tie at Basin Reserve. Set 250 to win, Wellington’s line-up could only accelerate at a run-rate of 3.21. They had made 74 off 23 overs when rain arrived, stayed and put an end to the match. In the end, the two teams had to share two points each.Otago, who had won the toss, but had only one batsman capitalising on it even though six of the top eight got off to starts. Neil Broom made 54 off 57, with eight fours but his wicket paved way for a mini-collapse. Otago slipped from 147 for 2 to 172 for 6 before Mark Craig at No. 8 hit 46 off 41, with three fours and two sixes.They were all out for 249 without batting their full quota of overs, and the main reasons for that were seamer Brent Arnel and offspinner Jeetan Patel. The duo claimed four wickets and gave away only 54 runs in 19 overs, a combined economy rate of 2.84. Their colleagues, however, went at well more than double that rate. Matt McEwan, Anurag Verma and Alecz Day bowled 29.5 overs and leaked 196 runs.Otago’s bowlers, however, were able to put up a miserly display from all sides. Jacob Duffy, the 21-year old seamer, came away with figures of 5-1-8-1 and their most expensive bowler, Craig, still only conceded 25 runs in five overs, one of which was a maiden.Perhaps that was because Wellington were trying to build a solid enough base first, believing they had 50 overs to chase down 250. Captain Michael Papps and Stephen Murdoch were in the middle of a 69-run partnership when bad weather broke out and Wellington had to settle for a tie. At the time, they had nine batsmen left to tackle an equation that read 176 off 27 overs and an asking rate of 6.5.Tom Latham strengthened his bid to claim a permanent place as New Zealand’s one-day opener with a fluent 96 off 111 balls that helped his state side and table-toppers Canterbury to a 98-run victory over Auckland at Hagley Oval.Latham batted through to the 38th over to set a strong foundation, and though his team lost all six remaining wickets and were all out in the 49th over, they had a formidable 265 on the board. Todd Astle, who has been picked to play Pakistan in the upcoming T20s, chipped in with 52 off 67 as well.For Auckland, Colin de Grandhomme picked up 3 for 42 while Michael Bates and Robert O’Donnell claimed two wickets each. But any threat their batsmen could pose was wiped out when they fell to 32 for 5 inside 10 overs and were bowled out for 167. New-ball bowlers Ed Nuttall (4 for 50) and Kyle Jamieson (2 for 24) were the wreckers-in-chief. Auckland’s bottom five added 118 runs, a whopping 70 percent of their runs, but it was nowhere near enough.A century from Dean Brownlie and an unbeaten 99 from Anton Devcich made small work of Northern Districts‘ chase of 225 against Central Districts in Whangarei, for an eight-wicket win. The two put on 198 runs in 32.4 overs to seal the chase in the 43rd over and give Northern Districts four points, taking them to fourth place in the table.Opting to bat, Central Districts were rattled early by James Baker, who reduced them to 29 for 4 in the fifth over with two wickets off consecutive deliveries. Doug Bracewell (80) helped them past 50 with captain Will Young and hauled the score from 91 for 6 to 192 for 7 with Ben Wheeler (53). Two wickets each from spinners Ish Sodhi and Jono Boult then bowled them out for 224 in the 49th over, and Baker finished with 3 for 30 from seven overs.Northern Districts were in a spot of bother early, being 29 for 2 after ten overs. But Brownlie and Devcich scored briskly and put the chase on track with plenty of boundaries. Brownlie struck ten fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 107, while Devcich collected nine fours and a six.

The MCC’s World Cricket Committee has restated its support of the DRS with a “unanimous” opinion of those present at its meeting at Lord’s that the referral system can only improve umpiring decisions.

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Jul-2013The MCC’s World Cricket Committee has restated its support of the DRS with a “unanimous” opinion of those present at its meeting at Lord’s that the referral system can only improve umpiring decisions.The MCC backing comes a day after the ICC issued an unprecedented release stating its support for the umpires and DRS in the wake of the criticism that emerged from the decisions taken during the first Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge last week.The world cricket committee, which included the ICC’s chief executive Dave Riahardson, and eminent former cricket players like Steve Waugh, Geoffrey Boycott, Michael Atherton and Shaun Pollock, discussed the Trent Bridge Test at length and felt that the mistakes that occurred were more of operational nature and DRS could not be blamed.Kumble and Dravid, the two Indians on the cricket committee, did not attend the meeting at which “unanimous” support for DRS was expressed. India has always been the most sceptical country about DRS and the BCCI refuses to sanction its use in bilateral series.The MCC’s world cricket committee has always whole-heartedly supported the DRS in the belief that it improves the quality of decision making.An MCC statement said: “It was a unanimous view of all members of the World Cricket committee present at its meeting that the Decision Review System works, and undoubtedly helps the umpires to bring about more correct decisions on the field.”Incidents at the recent England v. Australia Test Match at Trent Bridge were discussed. The committee was unanimous in its opinion that it was the poor implementation of DRS that led to the controversies, rather than the system itself. Human error will always play a part in the game for both players and umpires but the DRS is successful in limiting this.”On Tuesday, the ICC revealed calculations that in Nottingham last week, the umpiring team of Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena and tv umpire Marais Erasmus made a total of 72 decisions, which was well above the average (49) for a DRS Test match.According to the ICC assessment the trio made seven errors during the match, out of which three were uncorrected decisions and four decisions werecorrected using the DRS. It concluded that correct decision percentage before reviews stood at 90.3% but climbed to 95.8% as a result of the use of the DRS. This represented an increase of 5.5% in correct decisions, which was the average increase from DRS Test matches in 2012-13.Regardless, DRS debate has only gathered more steam. Brad Haddin, the Australian vice-captain, opined that the best way to make use of the DRS was to take it out of the players hands.Mark Nicholas was one prominent analyst and commentator who countered that handing DRS over to the umpires was a “simplistic” solution which would wreck the rhythm of the game by introducing endless stoppages to check decisions.One development proposed by the MCC’s world cricket committee was for the ICC to own the DRS and implement it universally – India included.The statement said: “With the DRS, more correct decisions are being made (generally DRS improves correct decision making by about five percentage points in Test cricket) and so the committee strongly reiterates its desire to see the universal implementation of the system in international cricket matches.”The DRS is not perfect, but it improves decision making and adds to the spectator experience, which is good for the game. A further benefit from universal use would be the ownership of the whole process by ICC rather than by television companies.”The MCC world cricket committee consists of: Mike Brearley (chairman), Jimmy Adams, Mike Atherton, Geoffrey Boycott, Steve Bucknor, Rahul Dravid, Charlotte Edwards, Majid Khan, Anil Kumble, Rod Marsh, Shaun Pollock, Barry Richards, Dave Richardson, Kumar Sangakkara, Michael Vaughan, Steve Waugh.

Sri Lanka threw their wickets away through reckless shots, conceded 17 runs through wides and about 10 through misfields, but still won by 37 runs

The Report by Sidharth Monga01-Jun-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Angelo Mathews stood out with figures of 2 for 8•AFP

Sri Lanka threw their wickets away through reckless shots, conceded 17 runs through wides and about 10 through misfields, but thanks to the Josephian Mafia – a moniker Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews have earned from the school they shared – still won by a whopping 37 runs. It was an unremarkable night of cricket with most of the wickets owing neither to the bowling nor the pitch, but many will argue it’s a trait that can be attributed to Twenty20 cricket in general because of the devaluation of a wicket.Perera and Mathews, though, stood out. Perera first scored a two-a-ball 32 to give Sri Lanka a fighting chance from 89 for 7. Mathews then bowled a testing spell of outswing for eight runs and two wickets. The two came together when Perera flew at third man to catch Shoaib Malik off the bowling of Mathews. Perera and Mathews were the highlight of the night, which featured a lot of inexplicable cricket otherwise.At the top of the innings, having won the toss, three Sri Lankan batsmen used to Twenty20 cricket of late in the IPL, got themselves out in Sohail Tanvir’s first three overs. Jayawardene got a leading edge before judging the pace of the pitch, Dilshan picked out fine leg, and Sangakkara dragged a full and wide delivery on. On another day all three could have gone for boundaries, and the bowler and the pitch would have had just as much to do with it.The remaining batsmen struggled to find balance between rebuilding and keeping the rate up. Both Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews survived run-out chances before slogging and connecting with thin air.Thirty-three-year-old debutant wicketkeeper Shakeel Ansar then missed a chance to stump Lahiru Thirimanne. The batsman proceeded to add 22 to his eight then. Ansar made a comeback, though, when he broke 24-run partnership between Thirimanne and another debutant Kaushal Lokuarachchi with a direct flick. Thirimanne followed it up with a reverse-sweep straight down short-third man’s throat. At 89 for 7 in the 17th over, Sri Lanka threatened to not even bat out their allocation.Perera, though, turned the momentum a little with some clean hitting. Most of it came off the bowling of Umar Gul, whose last two overs went for 30. Still, going into the break, Pakistan were the favourites. Only for two balls. Two inexplicable deliveries when first-time captain Mohammad Hafeez and Ansar indulged in a spot-the-point-fielder contest. Nuwan Kulasekara laughed his way to two wickets with short and wide deliveries. Last checked, Hafeez and Ansar were watching replays and arguing as to who found Dilshan better.The others didn’t find fluency at all as Pakistan confounded all by not sending Umar Akmal in before No. 6. Ahmed Shehzad played a long innings, but his strike-rate of under 100 could have worked if other batsmen had hung around. Mathews got Khalid Latif and Malik, and at 46 for 4 in the 10th over, Akmal felt obliged to hit out. Except it’s not easy when Malinga is bowling. A top edge ended it for Akmal, and it was all over bar Shahid Afridi.That lasted two deliveries as Afridi heaved at offspinner Sachitra Senanayake, and edged him to third man. The formalities were finished soon, with Perera fittingly taking the last wicket.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Kaushal Silva has been appointed captain of the Sri Lanka A squad for the tour of England in July

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jun-2011Kaushal Silva, the Sinhalese SC captain and wicketkeeper-batsman, will lead the Sri Lanka A team on a one month tour of England starting in July. Dinesh Chandimal, another wicketkeeper batsman, will be Silva’s deputy and is one of three players in the 16-member squad who are already touring England with the senior team.Batsmen Lahiru Thirimanne and Dimuth Karunaratne, who are part of the Sri Lanka ODI squad against England, are the other two. The squad also includes batsman Banuka Rajapakse, who dominated the recently concluded school cricket season and excelled for Sri Lanka Under-19 in the World Cup and against England Under-19.Sri Lanka A will play three first-class matches on the tour, including a four-day match against England Lions, and five list A games between July 20 and August 16.Squad: Kaushal Silva (capt), Dinesh Chandimal (vc), Malinda Warnapura, Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Sachithra Serasinghe, Roshen Silva, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Kosala Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Seekkuge Prasanna, Shaminda Eranga, Nilanka Premaratne, Dhammika Prasad, Tharanga Lakshitha, Sajeewa Weerakoon.

Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen is excited by the prospect of Steven Smith being let loose on Test cricket this month in the absence of the injured Nathan Hauritz

Brydon Coverdale02-Jul-2010Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen is excited by the prospect of Steven Smith being let loose on Test cricket this month in the absence of the injured Nathan Hauritz. Smith is almost certain to make his debut at Lord’s against Pakistan and although there is debate over whether his bowling is up to Test standard, he undoubtedly brings an x-factor to the side.Despite his youth Smith, 21, has displayed his self-belief during the one-day series, including when he tried a reverse slog-sweep off Tim Bresnan in the 50th over at The Oval on Wednesday. It didn’t work, but it’s that sort of confidence that confidence in both his batting and his bowling that has impressed Nielsen and reassures him that the allrounder is ready for Test cricket.”He really adds a buzz to our group,” Nielsen said. “It’s going to be really good to see him in the Test match squad and playing Test match cricket in a couple of weeks time.”The big thing with him is his willingness to continually throw the ball up there and get them to drive. If he gets smacked back over his head for six, he’s not frightened to try and land it in the rough again. That’s a skill or a confidence that doesn’t come along easily whether you’re 30 or 20.”That’s the positive thing, that we see all the confidence in him running around in the field and playing reverse sweeps, but the real confidence is that under pressure he’s still willing to do the things that count to have a chance of success. That’s pretty important for us.”The most likely scenario is that Smith will bat at No. 8 in the Tests against Pakistan and act as the leading spinner, although his batting is arguably the stronger part of his game. Phillip Hughes was the last Australian Test debutant to create such a sense of anticipation, and while he started with a bang in South Africa, his form slumped and he was dropped during last year’s Ashes.It’s a scenario the Australians don’t want to repeat with Smith, but they are also mindful that such young men have long futures in the game and any experience at this stage should be a positive. Nielsen said they didn’t want to place too much pressure on Smith and the best strategy would be to let him play his natural game rather than altering it for five-day cricket.”We’ve got to be careful,” Nielsen said. “He’s been around the group for verging on six months now, which is good for us. He’s been to the Test match series in New Zealand, he’s been through an Australian summer, he’s been here now.”The way it’s pointing, he’ll more than likely get a chance to play some cricket in the next couple of weeks with the Test matches. That’s really positive, but we’ve just got to let him learn and let him play and enjoy all the stuff he does.”Smith has collected five wickets at 26.60 during the one-day series and he has played a couple of very useful innings. At first-class level, his batting average of 56.22 is the standout against his bowling mark of 48.84, although he did take 7 for 64 in his most recent first-class appearance.

Wicketkeeper hopes new-look England get distracted as they build towards 2025-26 campaign

Vithushan Ehantharajah16-Jul-2024Joshua Da Silva says he is not irked by England already setting their sights on the 2025-26 Ashes – but is more than happy to accept their generosity if such future planning allows West Indies back into the series.A dominant innings and 114-run win at Lord’s gives England a 1-0 lead in this three-match series heading into the second Test at Trent Bridge which begins on Thursday. The first Test was also James Anderson’s retirement party, coinciding with the start of a new era as Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith excelled on debut, with the former marking the changing of the guard with match figures of 12 for 106.Anderson’s removal from the team, and into a bowling coach role he fulfilled for the first time on Tuesday in Nottingham, was done with a view to regaining the urn in Australia in two winter’s time. The move has been criticised in some quarters, not least for drawing focus away from West Indies.Da Silva, however, does not see the move as a slight and understands England’s motivation to prepare for Australia in advance. Especially if it means underestimating their current opponents.”That’s their biggest fixture of their calendar,” Da Silva said. “So if they’re looking forward, they’re looking to groom some players to make sure they have their team ready for them. I don’t think it’s wrong of them at all.”Nah, it doesn’t hurt us. I don’t study it especially. We still have to play the cricket. If they take us for granted we might get a win, or might win the series. For me, I take that as a favour.”Last week’s dispiriting defeat was followed by an honest discussion among the touring party. The batting efforts of 121 and 136 were the main point of conversation. Although leeway was given for the lack of experience in English conditions, the onus was put on individuals failing to hit their marks.Gudakesh Motie was West Indies’ top-scorer in the match with 31 down at No.9 in the second innings, among a handful of other starts and single-digit scores. On day one they collapsed from a solid 88 for 3 to 121 all out, before they were reduced to 55 for 5 in their second innings the following afternoon.James Anderson dismissed Joshua da Silva for his 704th and final Test wicket•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Da Silva, who pocketed a two-ball duck and nine in his two innings, is optimistic that amends can be made at Trent Bridge.”Obviously in the batting a few of us didn’t stick our hands up,” Da Silva said. “We had a few soft dismissals.”We are pretty disappointed after the first Test. We have put that behind us, we’ve had our discussions, and we are looking forward to the second Test. We are doing everything we can, rebuilding, and going hard forward into the next Test.”It might not look like it, but we’ve taken a few positives. A lot of guys got starts and just didn’t carry on. We talked about soaking up more pressure and how we are going to deal with those situations if we are put in them again. Not losing wickets in clusters.”It’s about reminding ourselves of the process and trusting that process because all of us have a different way of going about it. It’s just about trusting our own game and making sure we get the job done.”West Indies trained on Tuesday morning, pushing through the rain that arrived at the end of their session in the outdoor nets. Shamar Joseph, who suffered from stiffness in his left hamstring during the first Test, was able to bowl despite doubts as to whether he would be able to continue in the XI for the second Test. He could yet be replaced the uncapped Jeremiah Louis, whose brother Mikyle made his debut at Lord’s.”He should be good, yeah,” Da Silva said, on Shamar. “I am not part of the medical team so I can’t really comment. But he bowled a couple in training so I’m sure he will be alright.”Da Silva also insists Anderson’s farewell was not a distraction for the visitors, barring the odd bit of ceremony: “It was the first time I had to walk out, every morning of a Test match, in a line.”The wicketkeeper batter became Anderson’s 704th and final Test victim on Sunday, the veteran signing off with a trademark pearler to take the right-hander’s edge through to Jamie Smith.”I tried my hardest not to be one of those wickets but unfortunately I got a good Jimmy seed,” Da Silva said. “I told him after the game I was trying really hard, and he had a good laugh. What a legend he is, and I’m happy I don’t to have to see him again.”For da Silva, the next few days are as much about improving his own output as helping those around him. With 27 caps, he is the fourth most experienced member of the squad, and he is the only one of three players – along with Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder – to score a century against England.Related

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That came in March 2022, a match-winning effort to secure a 1-0 series win that, ultimately, set England on their way to a new Test captain and coach in Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. It remains da Silva’s only century in the format, though he still sees his experience as something for less seasoned teammates to lean on.”Oddly enough, yes and no,” Da Silva said when asked if he feels like a senior man in the dressing-room. “I’m in the front row of the team picture now so that says a lot!”I like to think that I’ve played enough, have a bit of experience. I don’t know everything and am far from knowing everything about Test cricket so I’m still learning off Kraigg, Jason and Alzarri especially. I hope to see that some of the boys can ask me some questions and just look up to the games that I’ve played.”Da Silva also echoed head coach Andre Coley in calling for a repeat of the resilience the team displayed against Australia at the start of the year when they squared a two-match series at the Gabba after a similarly dismal loss in Adelaide.”It’s something we can look at. It happened the same that time in Australia. We came back and we won the Test. If we can replicate that, all of us will be really happy. It’s not going to be easy again.”

Their six ODIs in the summer will be part of the ICC Women’s Championship

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Mar-2023Ireland Women will tour the Caribbean for three ODIs and as many T20Is in June-July and then host world champions Australia for three ODIs in July. Ireland were originally scheduled to play five T20Is in the West Indies but those have been cut down to three and their board chief executive also said a planned multi-format series against Thailand had to be called off as well because of a schedule clash.Ireland will then head to the Netherlands for three more T20Is in August.Australia will be touring Ireland for the second year in a row, having played a tri-series against the hosts and Pakistan last July. The three ODIs this time will be part of the ICC Women’s Championship and will be played in Clontarf on July 23, 25 and 28. Even though it was in the warm-ups, Ireland had recently stunned Australia with a three-wicket win before the T20 World Cup in February when they had chased down 169.To start their summer, Ireland will leave for the Caribbean in late June for the ODIs – also part of the Women’s Championship – on June 26, 29 and July 2 followed by the T20Is on July 5, 7 and 9. Cricket West Indies (CWI) is yet to announce the venues for these games.It’s the first time Ireland are part of the Women’s Championship cycle, which is now a ten-team tournament with Bangladesh also included.”It can’t be under-estimated how important participation in the ICC Women’s Championship has been for Ireland – both in attracting top sides to Ireland and playing away in some great, but challenging venues,” Warren Deutrom, chief executive of Cricket Ireland, said was quoted as saying in a release. “The experience that our Ireland Women’s squad is gaining is invaluable to their development. Combined with their participation in the recently completed T20 World Cup, 2023 is a big year for the squad and they have already demonstrated their potential over the last six months or more.”We recently showed in the warm-up win over Australia at the past T20 World Cup, and the nail-biting Group Stage match against the West Indies, that we can compete with the best – the two upcoming series’ will obviously be a different challenge, but the squad will be well prepared by [head coach] Ed Joyce.”The three T20Is in Netherlands will be played on August 14, 16 and 17 in Amstelveen.”We are aware, however, that the players will better develop by playing more fixtures – and to this end, it was unfortunate that a planned multi-format series against Thailand scheduled for June have fallen through as a result of a clash with the Asia Cup,” Deutrom further said.

The former Pakistan batter played two Tests, in 1969 and 1975

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2022Aftab Baloch, a domestic giant from the 1970s, maker of Pakistan’s second domestic quadruple ton, and a batter who could have played more than his two Tests for Pakistan, has died. He was 68 years old.Baloch is probably best remembered for the 428 he made as captain of Sindh against Balochistan in Karachi during the 1973-74 Quaid-e-Azam trophy. He added 174 for the fifth wicket in that game with a young Javed Miandad, playing only his eighth first-class game. It remains the only 400-plus score made by a Pakistani in first-class cricket other than Hanif Mohammad’s legendary 499, made 15 years before that.But there was much greater pedigree to Baloch beyond that one innings. His father Shamsher Baloch had played for Gujarat and Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy in pre-partition India. And Aftab’s first-class debut as a 16-year-old was testament to his talent: he scored an unbeaten 77 batting at number nine, and took 12 wickets in an easy win for PwD (Public Works Department) over Hyderabad Blues in August 1969 in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy.Miandad’s presence in the 428 match, however, was significant in that it was testament to the depth in Pakistan’s batting during that decade, a depth that kept Baloch out of the side. Between the 1972-73 season and the 1977-78 season, Baloch was at his peak: he scored 5025 runs in Pakistani first-class cricket, averaging nearly 55 with 14 tons.At the same time, Pakistan had a batting order built around Sadiq Mohammad, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Asif Iqbal and Mushtaq Mohammad – and then, eventually, Miandad himself. It was among the strongest batting line-ups Pakistan has ever had in Tests.In those peak years Baloch enjoyed considerable success as captain of a strong National Bank side. He led them to the Patron’s Trophy title in the 1974-75 season and then a double of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy and the Patron’s Trophy again the very next season. The next season he again led them to the finals of both tournaments, though this time they lost both (on first-innings scores rather than outright defeat). Baloch scored three hundreds across all those finals.In the midst of that run, he did at least get a Test, against the visiting West Indies at Gaddafi Stadium in February 1975. It was his second, after a debut in 1969, and he did well: he hit an unbeaten 60 in the second innings against a pre-great West Indies attack that still included Andy Roberts and Lance Gibbs. It was to be his last Test, in a side that would two years later become a serious force on tours of Australia and West Indies.”I am deeply saddened to hear the passing of Aftab Baloch, who was one the most popular cricketers when I was growing up,” PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said in a statement. “I not only had the privilege of watching him in action, but also played against him in the twilight of his career.”As he was a close friend of my late brother Wasim Hasan Raja, I knew him well outside the field of play and always admired him for his passion, love and understanding of the game. He was gentle, friendly and caring, and had qualities that made him a widely respected and loved person.”

Both teams have lost three out of four games and are desperate for a change in form

Alagappan Muthu03-Oct-20206:53

Gambhir: I would never drop Watson

Big picture

Chennai Super Kings don’t change. Instead, they keep picking their best players, wait for the moment it all clicks and then just keep on winning. But what if the team actually change? Like a wicket-taking spinner, someone opposition batsmen feel they have to respect, someone like Imran Tahir. It will bring down the targets they have to chase, helping fix another of their issues – a woeful opening partnership – but the downside there is the 41-year old leggie offers very little with the bat and not that much in the field. Even so, how long can Super Kings afford a spin bowling line-up with the second-worst economy rate (9.34) and the second-worst average (38.71) in this tournament?Kings XI’s concerns seem clearer. Their batting line-up is filled with match-winners but it is undermined by poor death bowling resources. Chris Jordan could fix that, but he’ll need time. Fixing holes in the XI helps, but to win and keep winning, you have to make fewer mistakes. Super Kings, with both ball and bat, and Kings XI, with ball mostly, haven’t quite got to that level yet.

In the news

• Stephen Fleming backed Shane Watson and Kedar Jadhav to find their form after Super Kings’ last defeat, which means there are unlikely to be personnel changes.
• If Kings XI go with a six-bowler strategy, KL Rahul wants one of them to be an allrounder. Jordan’s good at whacking it. He could be in contention.

KL Rahul is one half of IPL 2020’s best opening partnership•BCCI

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Ambati Rayudu, 4 Kedar Jadhav, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Shardul Thakur, 11 Piyush ChawlaKings XI Punjab: 1 KL Rahul (capt & wk), 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Mandeep Singh, 6 Sarfaraz Khan/ K Gowtham, 7 Chris Jordan/ Mujeeb ur Rahman, 8 M Ashwin/ Ishan Porel, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Mohammed Shami

Strategy punt

• Mayank Agarwal vs fast bowling in IPL 2020 is a revealing study of contrasts. Overall, he has made 81 runs off 62 balls with one dismissal, but filter it and look at his stats against incoming deliveries and a weakness emerges. The hard-hitting, room-loving, off-side dominant batsman has made only 19 runs off 27 incoming balls and lost his wicket to it as well in his last game. Super Kings should match him up against swing bowlers Deepak Chahar and Sam Curran and ask them to focus on attacking this weakness.
• Dwayne Bravo, in addition to his death-bowling ability, has been brought in to hit the big ones. But Kings XI have a way to stop him. Sheldon Cottrell has a superb T20 record against Super Kings’ star allrounder: 27 runs off 30 balls and three dismissals.

Stats that matter

• Super Kings’ biggest problem this season has been their opening partnership, which averages 13 and strikes at 96. They are the cause for the team falling behind so early in chases and forcing the middle order to delay power-hitting for fear of getting bowled out.
• Kings XI have no such issues with KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are averaging 69 as a partnership, while also striking at 157. It’s worst vs best tomorrow.
• Sam Curran has a strike rate of 268 in this IPL, which is the highest for a batsman with at least 50 runs this season. Super Kings will want to find more time for him in the middle. Opener, perhaps? (He has two fifties and strikes at 147 in the position in all T20s)
• Sheldon Cottrell has been brilliant for Kings XI in the powerplay. He has taken four wickets in four games, the most for any bowler in IPL 2020 in the first six overs. He will be instrumental in getting the early wickets against Super Kings – a team that doesn’t start well.

Mohammad Amir opens up on his strategy against Australia that fetched him his maiden career ODI five-wicket haul

Danyal Rasool13-Jun-2019Mohammad Amir’s spell against Australia was one of the few bright moments on a day that, for Pakistan fans, proved grey in more ways than one.Under overcast conditions at Taunton, Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed looked especially pleased to have won the toss and put Australia in; Pakistan had left out their ace spinner Shadab Khan specifically for this eventuality. The joy would soon evaporate, however, as Australia put on 146 for the first wicket in 22 overs, looking well on track for a total above 350 on a pitch where the par score was at least 75 runs below that.That they didn’t manage to get there was thanks almost solely to one man, Amir needing to come up with career-best figures – including a first ever five-wicket haul in ODI cricket – to bowl Australia out for 307 in 49 overs. Given the impregnable position they had been in less than two hours earlier, it was an impressive passage of play for Pakistan, and a reminder of why Sarfaraz had opted to bowl first – this was what Pakistan had hoped would transpire for all 50 overs, not just the second half.That Amir would need to fight something of a lone hand was evident in the first five overs, where despite the left-armer having conceded just three runs in his first three, Australia had raced to 27 in the opening 5. Shaheen Afridi, playing in place of Shadab, hadn’t made the selectors look too bright with an opening two overs where he was much too short, far too predictable, and way too inaccurate to complement his colleague at the other end. Perhaps he, or indeed Hasan Ali who followed him, hadn’t figured out the best strategy for the pitch – something Amir said he had sussed out as early as the first over.”As soon as I bowled the first over, I got the idea it wasn’t swinging, it was seaming,” he told the PCB’s official website. “So I was just floating the ball and making sure I put it in the right area instead of putting too much work onto it at the point of release. And the movement it generated came off the seam. It was just a matter of hitting the right areas on this wicket and I did that effectively.”There’s no doubt Australia batted well, but in the first 10-15 overs, we weren’t able to pitch the ball up as consistently as we needed to. I think that might have been the difference between a score of 250-260, and the 300 plus they ended up getting.”The five-wicket haul means Amir is now the leading wicket-taker at the World Cup (10), a remarkable turnaround in form from just a few weeks ago. In the initial squad, named on April 18, Amir had been left out by Pakistan because his ability to strike at the top of the innings had deserted him. Before the first game of the World Cup, he had managed just five ODI wickets in the two years since the end of the 2017 Champions Trophy, and none in the first Powerplay for 17 months – 12 consecutive ODIs. It was his uncanny ability to keep the runscoring down at all stages of an innings, however, that saw him get the nod at the end. At Taunton, he was impressive by both metrics, conceding just thirty runs in ten overs even as Australia ran up a total of 307.Even so, he acknowledged his personal glee was tempered significantly by the 41-run defeat, which leaves Pakistan precious little margin for error if they are to make it to the semi-finals.”It would have been a lot more satiating if we’d won, of course,” Amir admitted. “We have to win every single game now. We can’t lose even one. We have to go into each match with a positive mindset, because pressure exists for every team, not just Pakistan. If we continue to play the positive cricket we played for parts of the Australia game, I’m sure we can win.”