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Malik wants to bat up the order for Pakistan

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Shoaib Malik, the 31-year old Pakistan allrounder, believes he has another “five or six years” of cricket left in him

Renaldo Matadeen22-Aug-2013Shoaib Malik, the 31-year old Pakistan allrounder, believes he has another “five or six years” of cricket left in him. Malik, who was dropped from the national squad after the Champions Trophy, also wants to bat up the order instead of No 6 or 7, where he’s been used of late.”Representing your country is the biggest thing (and) of course I want to play for my team (Pakistan), I want to do well for my country,” Malik said. “I still think I can play for another five or six years. I am fit but I want to see myself consistent. I do not want to bat at No 6 anymore. I want to bat at No 3 or 4.”Malik averages 39.02 in 51 ODI innings batting at Nos 1 to 3. At positions 4 to 7, his average comes down to 31.16 from 128 innings.Malik last played Test cricket in 2010 but was part of Pakistan’s limited-overs units until the Champions Trophy earlier this year, after which he has been ignored for the tours of West Indies and Zimbabwe. He admitted that injuries and poor form had contributed to his decline, but said he had now regained his strength. “I was struggling with my shoulder and my elbow but I have had surgery for my elbow and I have worked hard in the gym every day (since being dropped). Now I am absolutely fine. I can even bowl 30 overs in one day. I am very happy and I want to play as an all-rounder. That is my priority.”Malik is currently playing in the Caribbean Premier League, where he is the second-leading run-getter in the tournament with 223 runs from seven innings at a strike-rate of 114.94. Malik’s side Barbados Tridents will face Jamaica Tallawahs in the second semi-final in Port-of-Spain on Friday. “It (CPL) is so far, so good (for me). I have played some good innings, (I have been) bowling also. I want my team to be in the final and win this CPL.”He said that Barbados captain Kieron Pollard’s faith in him as an all-rounder, since they spoke at the Champions Trophy, had boosted him. “When someone gives you that confidence it is always good,” Malik said, revealing that Pollard encouraged him to bowl as much as possible and extend his all-rounder aspirations.

SLPL gets top Indian auto-maker as title sponsor

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The SLPL has unveiled Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), one of India’s largest automobile manufacturers, as the title sponsor of the inaugural tournament that begins on Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2012The SLPL has unveiled Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), one of India’s largest automobile manufacturers, as the title sponsor of the inaugural tournament that begins on Saturday. This announcement ends a run of bad news for the league, including the withdrawal of its biggest draw, Chris Gayle, and other top international players in the past few days.The addition of one of India’s prominent business groups as the title sponsor is further evidence of the appeal of Twenty20 cricket to companies wishing to promote their brand and products. S.P. Shukla, the head of Group Strategy at the Mahindra Group said Sri Lanka is a “strategic market for the Mahindra Group”, and that cricket was the best way for the company “to connect and engage with audiences as it is the most followed sport in the sub-continent with a fan base of approximately 1.5 billion fans across India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh alone.”However, the tournament has been hit by the loss of some important names. Gayle has been ruled out due to a serious groin strain. Two other overseas players – Pakistan’s Abdur Rehman and West Indies’ Fidel Edwards – have also withdrawn from the tournament, while Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan was denied permission to play in the tournament by the Bangladesh Cricket Board last week.The Uva Next franchise have replaced Gayle and Rehman with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fawad Alam and Jacob Oram. The Uthura Rudras have drafted in Kyle Mills and Australia batsman Rob Quiney to replace Shakib and Edwards.The seven-team SLPL kicks off on August 11 and will feature a round-robin stage where the teams will play each other once. The top four teams will then go through to the semi-finals. All the games will be split between Colombo and Pallekele. A total of 56 overseas players had initially been signed. But some of those players will only take part if other overseas players became unavailable.

England better than in 2005 – Flintoff

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Andrew Flintoff, the man whose greatest years as a Test cricketer coincided with England’s last sustained run of excellence in five-day cricket, believes the team of 2011 is a better outfit than the 2005 side that won six series in a row

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2011Andrew Flintoff, the man whose greatest years as a Test cricketer coincided with England’s last sustained run of excellence in five-day cricket, believes the team of 2011 is a better outfit than the 2005 side that won six series in a row and regained the Ashes for the first time in 18 years.England’s current run of form has carried them to a 2-0 series lead against the current No. 1 Test team in the world, India, and if they maintain or improve that two-match margin in the remaining two Tests of the series at Edgbaston and The Oval, they will themselves climb to the top of the world rankings.In Flintoff’s estimation, however, that handover has already been achieved. “England are the best team in the world already,” he said. “Not just in ranking, but also in strength. They have got everything. I don’t see why they can’t dominate for a long time. They have strong enough players to do it. Australia and West Indies did it and England should be able to do it for the next few years.”The key difference between 2005 and 2011 is the breadth of the squad that England are able to call upon. Six years ago, England’s first XI was formidable, with players such as Flintoff and Simon Jones peaking at precisely the right moment in their careers. However, they lacked the reserves to maintain their rise towards the top. Jones went lame with one Ashes match remaining and never played again, while the subsequent losses of Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and Flintoff himself for long periods led to a long slide back towards mediocrity.”This is a better side than the one we had in 2005,” said Flintoff. “The strength of it and the depth is incredible. In 2005 we had 11 players who had a memorable few weeks and played at their best for a period, but we never played together again.”In the past 12 months, England have demonstrated a formidable pack mentality, particularly when it comes to their fast bowlers. When Stuart Broad was injured during the Ashes, he was replaced superbly by Chris Tremlett, who had himself risen to become the leader of the attack by the end of the recent Sri Lanka series. Then, when he suffered a back spasm on the eve of the Trent Bridge Test, Tim Bresnan – another Ashes reserve – stepped in to seal the match with a career-best 5 for 48.”This side have a squad and they are so strong in and out of the side,” said Flintoff. “We’ve seen them replace players without blinking and it has made no difference to the performance and that has been happening for a while now.”There are no weak links. They are playing with a confidence and a swagger that goes with being the best. They’ve got every department covered and if someone gets injured then another one comes in and does a job.”

Prior ton puts England in control

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England ended the third day at Trent Bridge in total control of the match and poised to seal a massive win, reducing Pakistan to 15 for 3 after Matt Prior’s third Test hundred allowed the hosts to declare at 262 for 9

The Bulletin by Liam Brickhill31-Jul-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Matt Prior’s third Test century cemented England’s dominant position on the third day at Trent Bridge•Associated Press

England ended the third day at Trent Bridge in total control of the match and poised to seal a massive win, having reduced Pakistan to 15 for 3 in a highly improbable chase of 435. Matt Prior’s third Test hundred allowed the hosts to declare at 262 for 9, setting Pakistan a world-record target that quickly appeared out of reach.Once Prior had passed his milestone, Andrew Strauss immediately called the batsmen from the field, leaving Pakistan’s openers to face a tricky final passage of play with no clear goal in mind other than survival. But even that task proved too challenging, and three top-order batsmen were ripped out in the space of seven deliveries to virtually put paid to Pakistan’s slim hopes of saving this match.Salman Butt started positively with two boundaries behind point in Stuart Broad’s first over, but then slashed awkwardly at the first ball of his second to send a stinging chance to Paul Collingwood at third slip. Azhar Ali lasted all of two balls before he was trapped in front of the stumps by Broad, and Umar Amin soon followed him back as he failed to counter James Anderson’s prodigious swing.Whatever advantage Pakistan had gained in reducing England to 98 for 6 before tea evaporated in the final session, as Prior added 49 with Graeme Swann and 56 for the eighth wicket with Broad before bringing up his first hundred since March 2009 in Steven Finn’s company.Pakistan had battled gamely for much of the first two sessions to stay afloat in the game, Umar Gul crashing three sixes off Finn in a frenetic first four overs to take his side’s score to 182. They avoided the follow-on, before Gul’s 35-run tenth-wicket partnership with Mohammad Asif – towards which Asif made no contribution – was ended by some confused calling and an easy run-out.After Asif and Mohammad Aamer nipped out both openers to have England at 49 for 2 at lunch, Gul then knocked the stuffing out of the middle order with three wickets in four overs. Pakistan have often been guilty of not backing up their intensity with the ball with similar commitment in the field, and once again their fielding effort was a frustrating mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous.Aamer made the initial breakthrough when he found the edge of Andrew Strauss’s bat to send a regulation chance towards Umar Akmal at second slip. Umar could not hold on at the first attempt, snatching at the ball a second time to parry it over first slip, only for none other than Kamran to slide in and take a superb reaction catch.After Alastair Cook’s scratchy knock was ended with an edge down the leg side to Asif’s worst ball of the morning, Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott put together a steady 47 for the third wicket before Pietersen departed thanks to a stunning catch behind the wicket from Kamran. A thick inside edge appeared to be heading for the fine leg boundary but Pakistan’s much-maligned keeper leapt athletically to his left to pluck the ball out of the air one-handed.As Kamran lay on the turf, double-checking that, yes, this one had stuck, he appeared to take a brief moment to himself, visibly relaxing as the relief flooded through him. With four catches safely pouched, it looked like this might be Kamran’s day, but the very next delivery brought back all the frustration that his inconsistent work behind the stumps has wrought.Collingwood aimed a noncommittal waft at his first ball to send a much easier chance than that off the previous delivery, sailing towards first slip, but Kamran dived across and snatched at the ball, which bobbled out of the glove as he came – both literally and metaphorically – crashing back down to earth.Gul made sure the lapse was not too costly by castling Trott with one that kept low and in his next over he pinged Collingwood on the back pad, but with the sun peeping out from behind a thick bank of cloud for the first time in the day, Eoin Morgan and Prior nudged England’s total towards 100, and the lead past 250.After Morgan was run out for 17, Swann kept the runs flowing, although Gul exposed his weakness against the short ball with a sharp, well-directed bouncer that struck a clanging blow on the back of the helmet. Swann had already taken a four and a six off Kaneria to run to an enterprising 28, but he appeared to lose focus after the blow and in the spinner’s next over he was rapped on the pad in front of leg stump. Pakistan thought they had a wicket; Tony Hill disagreed, but judicious use of a referral by the visitors saw the decision overturned and Swann departed.Broad swung merrily on his way to 24 from 29 balls before Malik had him caught at slip but Pakistan’s celebrations were muted by the fact that England’s lead had inflated to 375 by that point, already 60 more than their highest ever successful fourth-innings chase. Anderson managed to avoid a king pair after his first-ball dismissal on Thursday, but top-edged a sweep off the fourth ball he faced to give Malik his second wicket.Prior took England’s lead past 400 with his seventh boundary, a flat-batted pull through square leg off Kaneria, and entered the 90s with two sixes in the arc between long-on and deep midwicket in the spinner’s next over. He slowed down somewhat as he approached the century, creeping to 99 with a series of singles as Finn steadfastly dead-batted almost every delivery he received, but Prior eventually reached what should be a match-winning ton with a cut for three behind point.With conditions still favouring the bowlers despite the late afternoon sunshine, Strauss immediately declared and unleashed Broad and Anderson on Pakistan’s shaky line-up. England finished the day needing seven wickets in six sessions, and they were overwhelming favourites to go 1-0 up in the series on Sunday.

Ravindra wages lone battle with Sri Lanka two wickets away from victory

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New Zealand are still 68 runs away from their target of 275

Madushka Balasuriya22-Sep-2024New Zealand 340 and 207 for 8 (Ravindra 91*, Jayasuriya 3-66, Ramesh Mendis 3-83) need another 68 runs to beat Sri Lanka 305 and 309 (Karunaratne 83, Chandimal 61, Ajaz 6-90)Rachin Ravindra led New Zealand’s charge as they scored 194 runs in the final two sessions of day four in pursuit of their target of 275, but a fast-deteriorating Galle surface and relentless pressure from Sri Lanka’s spinners meant they have only two wickets in hand to notch the remaining 68 runs.At stumps, Ravindra was unbeaten on 91, but he was fast running out of company; Ajaz Patel just about managed to survive through to stumps. New Zealand will, no doubt, fancy their chances of completing this chase, but it will not be easy when the nature of the surface is taken into account.This was a day, therefore, that belonged to the spinners, starting with Ajaz’s five wickets in the morning session – he finished with 6 for 90 – and ending with Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis grabbing three apiece. In all, 14 wickets fell in the day, 13 of them to spin.Related

  • Ajaz 'grateful' for 'world class' Ravindra keeping New Zealand in the contest

But on a day when the pendulum got a solid workout, it was Sri Lanka who found themselves in the ascendancy at the close. That was largely down to a final session in which they grabbed four wickets.However, it had not exactly started that way, as New Zealand came out following the tea interval with renewed intent. Sri Lanka started the session with the pace of Lahiru Kumara from one end, but that was a short-lived ploy after Ravindra and Tom Blundell plundered his shortish lengths for 14 in an over. That ushered in a period of quick runs with Ramesh targeted for a pair of boundaries two overs later.Ramesh Mendis dismissed Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee in quick succession•AFP/Getty Images

Before long, Ravindra and Blundell had added 56. At that point, New Zealand needed only 123 more with six wickets in hand. But on this surface, one was never truly in and so it proved when Blundell opted for a reverse sweep only to be bowled around his legs.Glenn Phillips was the new man in. Given his blistering 49 not out amid a lower-order collapse in the first innings, his wicket was always bound to be crucial. As it turned out, Phillips didn’t bother the scorers all that much, edging to second slip for 4 while attempting a forward defence.Mitchell Santner batted time in order to support Ravindra’s solo offensive at the other end, but he ran out of patience and drove a tossed-up delivery straight into the hands of short cover.Into the tail proper, Sri Lanka needed little time to dismiss Tim Southee, who struggled to come to terms with the spin being extracted outside his off stump by Ramesh. After several close calls, one hit him on the back leg in front of middle and leg. The appeal was huge, but the umpire did not move. But Ramesh was able to convince his skipper to go upstairs, and New Zealand lost their eighth.The game had undergone a similar up-and-down trajectory earlier in the day as well. Play had begun with Sri Lanka losing six wickets for 72 runs as their second innings was wrapped up inside the morning session. Ajaz took five of those in a little over an hour and Will O’Rourke, who bowled a slightly off-colour spell with the second new ball, ended with 3 for 49.Sri Lanka, though, would finish the session with the wicket of Devon Conway, who chopped a sharp in-seamer from Asitha Fernando. But the post-lunch session once again began with the visitors fighting back.Ajaz Patel holds up the ball after his six-for•AFP/Getty Images

While Jayasuriya and Ramesh were consistent with their line and length, Tom Latham and Kane Williamson were keen to sweep and use their feet to ensure the spinners didn’t have it all their own way.Williamson, in particular, was busy throughout, at times sliding deep into the crease and other times stepping out to get to the pitch of the ball. A lofted six over extra cover, with the spin, against Jayasuriya was a session highlight. Just before that, he had hit a sumptuous cover drive.But Jayasuriya had the last laugh, dragging one shorter having seen Williamson step out one time too many, and turning it past a panicked forward defence as Kusal Mendis whipped off the bails. Such was the turn, it left Williamson briefly confused and gesticulating in frustration at the pitch as he walked off.That ended a threatening 45-run stand between two players who had caused considerable damage in the first innings.Before the session was over, Sri Lanka also had the wickets of Latham and the dangerous Daryl Mitchell in the bag, the former done in by Dhananjaya de Silva’s an arm ball and the latter by one that spun back prodigiously from Mendis.But then New Zealand, led by Ravindra and Blundell, fought back once more before the spinners hurt them once again.

Afif, Ebadot back in Bangladesh's T20I squad for Afghanistan series

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There was no place for Jaker Ali who was in the squad for the Ireland series in March

Mohammad Isam18-Jun-2023Bangladesh have brought back Afif Hossain and Ebadot Hossain into their T20I squad for the two-match series against Afghanistan. There was no place for wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali who was in the squad for the Ireland series in March.Afif, who was also named in the ODI squad for the series against Afghanistan, last played T20Is against England in March. In 62 T20Is, he has scored 1020 runs at a strike rate of 120.28.Related

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  • With no Shakib and Tamim, Bangladesh's mammoth win tastes even sweeter

  • Stats – Bangladesh's record win and a new high for their pacers

Ebadot, meanwhile, wasn’t in the T20I side against England or Ireland, and he last played in the T20 World Cup in November last year. Having made his debut in the format during the Asia Cup in 2022, he has seven wickets in four T20Is. He took 4-47 in the one-off Test against Afghanistan earlier this week.Bangladesh’s next scheduled T20Is are against New Zealand in December this year following this series. The T20Is against Afghanistan will be played in Sylhet on July 14 and 16 following the three ODIs. The only other time Bangladesh played T20Is at home in July was against South Africa in 2015.Bangladesh T20I squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Litton Das, Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Afif Hossain

Fleming: Dhoni wanted to give Jadeja a clean captaincy slate

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Super Kings coach admits “it is going to be a bit of a transition period”

Sidharth Monga26-Mar-2022MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming had captaincy talks even last season, the Chennai Super Kings coach has revealed. Dhoni decided to give up the CSK captaincy on the eve of the tournament, evident from how all the promotional advertising still has his face and not new captain Ravindra Jadeja’s. The timing was Dhoni’s sole decision, Fleming said.”We talked about it,” Fleming said. “Something MS and I talked about even last season, during the last season. The timing was MS’ call. He wanted to give Jadeja a clean slate going into the series. It was communicated with Mr Srinivasan, and then to the team.”We 100% respect that. It is going to be a bit of a transition period as we develop a relationship with Jadeja and also have MS there. You just don’t discard a player just because he doesn’t have the captaincy tag. Develop a new captain and you work with the experience you have got, and thankfully we have got quite a bit of that. This is a bit of a change, but we will work through that.”In only his second match not as captain of Chennai Super Kings – first in the IPL – Dhoni demonstrated the conundrum he is as a batter in T20 cricket. Against the mystery spin of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy he practically stalled the innings, getting to 7 off 18 before he hit his first boundary. However, he made up for it in the end by scoring 35 off the last 13 balls he faced.In short, there was nothing new from Dhoni: against quality spin, he refused to take risk, which also perhaps had to do with the conditions and the score of 61 for 5, but when the bowlers erred even slightly with the dew setting in, he was brutal on them. And he did so with little match practice, having retired from all other official cricket.”It [Dhoni scoring runs] was good but it would have been nice if the top order had fired,” Fleming said. “The depth we have got in our batting is a positive. And certainly MS getting runs early in the tournament is a positive. But it was a pretty rusty tournament all up. It was a positive but there is a lot of improvement there.”What we found today is, we started the tournament a little bit nervous. We didn’t assess conditions that well. We were just behind the eight ball really. That happened last year as well, and it was a good catalyst for us to move forward. Conditions were quite tough. It was very wet the second half. Assessing conditions during the first part of the tournament is going to be a key aspect. Winning the toss as well. To make sure we get our decision-making right. So it was a tough day for us.”The toss remains a reality that teams have to live with in T20 cricket, more so in conditions where the pitch starts off spongy and then there is heavy dew in the second innings. Apart from him batting at his best – ideally not batting at all because he is more of a fail-safe these days – Jadeja could do with some of Dhoni’s luck with the toss: since 2018 he won 37 of the 63, the best rate for any IPL side.

Rahul Dravid: 'Data has made players sit up and take notice of it'

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Former India captain says if the sophisticated analysis of today had been there earlier, he would have been a better player

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2020Rahul Dravid, the former India captain and India A coach, believes that data can have a positive impact on players’ performances and “challenge” them to get better. He also explained how modern-day cricketers have embraced data in a chat involving Manoj Bedale, the co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, during the virtual book launch of .”It [data] got more specific and sort of nuanced if you can use that word and I think it made the game a lot better,” Dravid said. “I think it also made the players sit up and take notice as well. I think when data started coming in, people started using data to analyse performances, there might have been a certain amount of resistance from the players at that stage because maybe the data wasn’t that good of a quality as well. But, as data has got better and better, you can see players have bought into it and players are identifying it.”Say for any young player who has played in the IPL, there has obviously been a lot of data and analysis done on his game. So, somebody says you’ve been very good in the powerplay, but once when the spinners come on, your strike rate has dropped by 20 percentage points or the strike rate has come down considerably, I think therein lies an opportunity for the young player to use that data and develop his game to get better. So, the more and more I interact with the younger players, I see that there is a lot more willingness to embrace the data and to understand how it can help them and how they can get better.”Dravid said that he would’ve also been open to improving his T20 game had there been more detailed data analysis during his playing career.”I’d like to believe that I’d have seen it positively as an opportunity to improve and grow. It would have probably made me a better player. I mean I was a good T20 player but I wasn’t good a T20 player. If there had been a lot of data giving me analysis on what I can improve and areas I can improve, I’d have at least looked at it positively and looked to get the best I can get out of myself.”Dravid also reckoned that decision-making would largely revolve around the skill of the player as opposed to instinct while citing the example of T Natarajan who excelled at hitting the blockhole in IPL 2020. The Tamil Nadu and Sunrisers Hyderabad left-arm seamer bowled 71 yorkers in the tournament, according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, more than double that of the next best.”Look at the example of Natarajan, for example, a young bowler from Tamil Nadu. I’m sure that over the last few years, he has seen the value that a yorker brings and he’s seen the importance of a yorker,” Dravid said. “And he has gone away and practised it. He has developed that skill and that skill has got him into the Indian team. So, it’s just phenomenal to see how the data has come along and how people are now beginning to use it.”A lot of decisions that were made on gut instinct or reputation will slowly start getting to be made on your ability to execute those skills for specific balls or specific situations. It’s going to challenge a lot of players because the data is going to show them things that some probably might not want to accept.”

Billy Godleman's 92 enough to beat holders Worcestershire

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Derbyshire skipper leads the way to keep the North Group qualification race wide open

ECB Reporters Network13-Aug-2019Worcestershire missed the chance to close the gap on Vitality Blast North Group leaders Lancashire when they lost by 20 runs away at Derbyshire Falcons, who moved into the top four.Billy Godleman made 92 from 65 balls, his highest T20 score, and Luis Reece 51 as the Falcons posted an imposing 181 for 2.Former Derbyshire batsman Martin Guptill hit 45 from 40 balls but legspinner Matt Critchley celebrated his 23rd birthday by taking 4 for 36 as the Rapids subsided to 161 for 7.It looked promising for the visitors when Dillon Pennington opened with a maiden but that was the calm before the storm as Godleman reeled off a salvo of boundaries in the next two overs.Wayne Parnell’s first ball was launched over the long off boundary and Pennington was driven for three consecutive fours before Reece dispatched Parnell several rows back into the stand at the City End.The Falcons took 57 from the powerplay and the runs continued to flow as the openers rotated the strike with the Rapids rarely threatening to take a wicket.Godleman reached 50 from 29 balls and after his side had reached the halfway point on 87 without loss, the pair scored freely without taking any undue risks.Reece pulled Joe Leach for his sixth four to bring up his 50 from 38 balls and the Rapids had to wait until the 16th over for the breakthrough which came when Reece drilled Daryl Mitchell to cover.They had slowed the scoring rate, though Goldeman passed his previous highest T20 score of 77 by lifting Ed Barnard over wide mid-wicket for his ninth four.Wayne Madsen drove Parnell for six but after Godleman failed to clear the man on the deep cover boundary, Leus du Plooy hit the last two balls from Pat Brown for four.Although the Falcons looked on course for 200, the Rapids faced a tough chase which became harder when the dangerous Riki Wessels failed to respond to Guptill’s call and was run out in the second over.Callum Ferguson cut and drove Fynn Hudson-Prentice for consecutive fours but at 47 for 1 at the end of the powerplay, the Rapids had to live up to their name if they were going to get close.Ferguson powered Boyd Rankin high over midwicket for six and pulled the next ball for four before Guptill drove Reece for six over long-on to leave the Rapids needing 100 from the last 10.But the introduction of Critchley proved decisive as Ferguson drove him to long-on, Guptill was bowled trying to cut, and Parnell, after driving him for six, failed to clear long-off when he tried to repeat the shot.Ben Cox and Barnard both drove him for big sixes but the night belonged to Critchley and the Falcons, as Worcestershire came up well short.The result means that Derbyshire jump from eighth to fourth in the group, and with just three points separating second-placed Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire in eighth, things could hardly be closer.

Hampshire survive wobble to reach knockout stages

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Gareth Berg and Brad Taylor combined in a vital seventh-wicket stand to still Glamorgan’s hopes of a fightback

ECB Reporters Network04-Jun-2018
ScorecardAn unbeaten partnership of 85 between 21 year-old Brad Taylor and Gareth Berg enabled Hampshire to win by four wickets and also secure their place in the knockout stages of the competition.They required 228 to win after Glamorgan had underachieved in their innings. Although Hampshire faltered in mid-innings, the unbroken seventh wicket partnership guided them safely to their target with 6.4 overs to spare.Glamorgan, who were put in on a slow St Helen’s pitch, made a steady start, with Nick Selman and Aneurin Donald putting on 48 in eleven overs before Donald pulled a short ball to mid-wicket in Gareth Berg’s first over.Mason Crane was on in the eleventh over, and took wickets in his fourth and sixth overs. Selman nicked one to the wicketkeeper, then Kiran Carlson was caught at backward point.David Lloyd was also dismissed by Berg and after their promising start, the home team had lost four wickets for 45 runs.Colin Ingram and Graham Wagg then repaired the early damage, with some sensible shot selection, with Ingram reaching his third half-century in this year’s competition.After the sixth wicket pair had put on 56, Ingram was unlucky to be caught on the mid-wicket boundary off a long hop from Crane, who then took his fourth wicket when Andrew Salter – four balls later – tapped a full-toss back to the bowler.Crane ended with 4 for 60 from his 10 overs, but the England spinner was rather fortunate, with his victims guilty of some reckless shot selection.After Wagg was caught on the long-off boundary, the tail wagged as Lukas Carey and Timm van der Gugten put on 30 runs before Glamorgan were all out with eight balls remaining.Needing to score at the relatively modest rate of four and a half an over, Hampshire lost Rilee Rossouw in Timm van der Gugten’s second over, with Donald holding on to a steepler on the mid-wicket boundary.James Vince soon made his intentions clear, by advancing down the pitch to Carey, striking him for two straight boundaries, and when Ruaidhri Smith replaced Carey, he was punished for three fours in his first two overs.Van der Gugten then claimed his second wicket when Tom Alsop struck a short ball to mid-wicket, where Selman held on to a low one-handed catch. Vince continued to attack but after scoring 41 from 38 balls, with six fours, he was leg before attempting to turn Salter’s off-spin to the on-side.After Jimmy Adams chopped on, and Joe Weatherley was caught behind from Wagg’s first ball, Hampshire had stumbled, and when Lewis McManus was also caught by the wicketkeeper, the visitors were in some trouble at 144 for 6.Much depended on the seventh wicket pair and they duly responded by playing watchfully at the start, before accelerating towards the end of the run chase. Taylor top scored with an unbeaten 54 and with Berg also reaching a half-century, the two all-rounders also shared six wickets to produce matchwinning performances.