All posts by h716a5.icu

Harmanpreet Kaur put together a magnificent century, capped off by stunning late acceleration, in a near-perfect batting display

S Sudarshanan22-Sep-2022The wide-eyed, wry smile perhaps told a tale.Harmanpreet Kaur had just managed a last-minute crouch, enough to connect a pull off a short ball from Lauren Bell that barely rose knee high. So good was the contact that it beat deep square leg to her right. The reaction was telling because she was bowled by a Sarah Glenn delivery that stayed low in the first T20I against England. But on Wednesday, the India captain was set, having already faced 46 balls until that point, and was up to the task.A flurry of cuts, pulls, slog-sweeps and scythes over the off side followed as Harmanpreet lit up Canterbury with some scintillating strokes to finish unbeaten on a monumental 143, thereby taking India to 333 for 5, which eventually proved 88 too many for England. It was India’s second score over 300 in ODIs this year, following the 317 for 8 against West Indies in the World Cup earlier this year.In fact, two of India’s four 300-plus totals in ODIs have come in 2022. And both of them have a common thread – a Harmanpreet century combined with a three-figure fourth-wicket stand.Related

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Harmanpreet walked out to bat after Yastika Bhatia’s dismissal and soon saw a well-set Smriti Mandhana depart, leaving India at 99 for 3 at the start of the 19th over. At the time, it seemed as if yet again, India’s batting would let them down after the toss had gone against them. It had happened more recently in the T20I series decider and also in the World Cup against England.With Harmanpreet though, there’s now a sense of this being team, especially after assuming the captaincy across formats post Mithali Raj’s retirement. She commands more authority – not that she did not earlier – and the players seem to rally behind their fearless leader. And so, in company of Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet set about with the rebuilding task. India could score only 24 runs in the next seven overs as Harmanpreet guided Deol, who was playing just her sixth ODI. The run rate, that was well over five when the pair got together, dipped below 4.75.Deol likes to play the long game – get in early, get set and then accelerate, much like she had showed during the Senior Women’s One Day Challenger earlier in the year. Having crawled to 18 off 36, Deol tried breaking the shackles by stepping down to Kate Cross but only managing to chip one over mid-on, before truly doing so with a dab past backward point for four.She then showed her wares against spin – carting offspinner Charlie Dean inside-out over cover before slinking down and depositing left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone into the sightscreen – then notching up her maiden half-century in ODIs. In the interim, Harmanpreet used the crease well to flick Bell through midwicket before a slog sweep over the same region brought up her second successive fifty-plus score. In the 12 overs leading up to Deol’s dismissal, India had managed to score 76.Highest individual scores for India in women’s ODIs•ESPNcricinfo LtdWhile Harmanpreet’s first fifty came off 64 balls, the next fifty runs took only 36 balls coming. She picked the lengths early and almost made England bowl to her plans by using the crease well. Full and wide outside off, get across and smack it over the bowler; slower length ball outside off, move across and swipe it through square leg; full and fast on off, get down to paddle it to fine leg or nail the cover drive. Debutant Freya Kemp’s back of the hand slower balls were dealt with by making room and slicing over the infield to exploit the arc from extra cover to backward point.It was as if Harmanpreet was finding the boundaries at will. She scored her last 43 runs off just 11 balls with India managing 62 off the last three overs. Her unbeaten 24-ball 71-run stand with Deepti Sharma was the quickest in women’s ODIs where data is available. Kemp’s 11-ball penultimate over went for 26 and Harmanpreet scored 18 off her 19-run last over.”I just wanted to spend some time on the wicket because today’s wicket was not easy to bat on in the first innings,” she said after the match. “I wanted to keep watching the ball and play accordingly. I didn’t try too many shots [early on]. It is important to read the wicket and be there. Being there is more important because I know if I take more balls initially I can easily cover up in the end.”It was the 113-run fourth-wicket partnership between Harmanpreet and Deol that enabled them to score 121 in the last ten overs against England.”After the partnership with Harleen, we got the rhythm we wanted and I just backed myself after that,” she said. “We knew even if we scored 300, it could be chaseable given England’s batting line-up. That’s why we were looking for maximum runs in the last five-six overs.”Whoever was coming in to bat with me, I was giving them the message that if they could find boundaries, fine, otherwise keep rotating the strike. Scoring more than 300 was very important for us.”At the end of it all, Harmanpreet ensured that she – and the entire team – could afford more than just a wry smile as they head to Lord’s for the series finale with an aim to give veteran fast bowler Jhulan Goswami a fitting farewell.

“We knew West Indies possessed some of the best T20 players,” former coach says on how they went about their business ten years ago

Interview by Danyal Rasool16-Oct-2022You took over what is now seen as a golden generation in West Indies’ T20 cricket. Was that obvious to you at the time?
We had to recognise that we had probably the best T20 players in the world, even if they were individuals. Then we had to try to find a way to get them to play together to be successful. And between myself and Daren Sammy [then-captain], we managed to do that.I had started in 2010 with the West Indies, and very early in 2010 we had a [T20] World Cup in the Caribbean where we got to the quarter-finals [Super Eights]. But when you look at what West Indian players were doing in franchise tournaments around the world, we knew West Indies possessed some of the best T20 players in the world. The greatest challenge for West Indies was always whether we could come together and play as a team; and that was our greatest success as well.Can you talk about the tactics for that tournament, especially around spin in the powerplay?
We looked at the players we had, and right from the outset we had this strategy where we decided that when we’re playing against western teams like England, Australia or South Africa, we were going to go spin-heavy. But we felt like the Asian teams would be able to [play] spin very well. Against them, we were going to use the likes of Fidel Edwards’ extra pace.Samuel Badree didn’t start the tournament, but once he got into team and bowled up front even on a bad day, he would go for [only] 28 runs. We knew he bowled very accurately upfront, spun it in, and skidded it into the pads. So we put him to bowl at the top of the order once he got into the team in every situation. So whether he gets a wicket or not, he can take four overs out of a game for under 30 runs at the front part of the game. That was a massive plus for us.Then we also had Sunil Narine, who at the time was probably along with Badree the best spinner in the world. So we had eight overs taken care of which we knew were not going to go for many runs. And then we just fit them around some other guys. Chris Gayle bowled, as did Marlon Samuels. We needed to put those guys in the best position and the best places in the team to be successful.How did you get the best out of Samuels, who hit 78 in the final?
When you look at what Marlon’s done in World Cups, you can understand the personality. He’s been Man of the Match in two [T20] World Cup finals. We lost in the semi-final to Sri Lanka in the 2014 [T20] World Cup when the game was rained out. But Marlon was in at the time when the rain came. We strongly believe Marlon would have found a way to get West Indies over the line because that’s what he thrives on; he thrives on being the man.”If you’re the opposition’s best player, he wants to go toe to toe with you” – Gibson praised Marlon Samuels, who won West Indies T20 World Cup finals in 2012 and 2016•Getty ImagesWhen we played in 2012, we had long conversations and team meetings about Lasith Malinga. Marlon would be the one person who would say, “If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best”. That was always his attitude. The innings he played against Malinga in that game was absolutely outstanding. Just this signifies him as a person.If you’re the opposition’s best player, he wants to go toe to toe with you because he wants to prove that he is also the best player in our team. He’s the sort of character you just have to give free rein [to] because he’s capable of changing the game, and he wants to be a game changer – especially in those big moments.Is he someone who might lack motivation if the stage isn’t big enough for his liking, and more likely to come to the fore for the bigger occasion?
100%. The bigger the opposition, the more he sticks his chest out and walks with confidence. He’s ready to take on that challenge. In the lead up to that tournament, we played some practice games where there’s probably no point playing them and he didn’t really see any value to them. There’s nothing to get his juices flowing, but then you see what he did against England in 2016 [by hitting 85*] on the grandest stage of all. That’s where he thrives.But squad harmony is important in general. We were very flexible with the team, but we were also very upfront and told the guys what the plans were. If you move a guy from No. 6 and put him in at No. 3, then you need to clue the guy at three in so he doesn’t throw his toys out of the pram. For example, if we had the opportunity to move Andre Russell up for a quick injection, then everyone needs to be on the same page.How did West Indies manage to turn around a horror start in that 2012 World Cup final?
We were under massive pressure. We only got 40 runs in the first ten overs, and Marlon was still in. Sri Lanka beat us in the first round [Super Eights] quite easily, but we had got 140 [129] on a good pitch. But the pitch that we played the final on was not the same pitch, and I said to Sammy, “If we can get up to 140 – if we get the same score we got in the first round – we’ll win the game”.And then the bowlers executed their plan beautifully. The way that Ravi Rampaul got [Tillakaratne] Dilshan out, we had spoken about that ball going a little bit wider of the crease and angling in. One of the other key points in the game was that Sri Lanka might have cruised to the victory, but it started to drizzle a little bit and they realised they were behind the required rate. They tried to really go for it, and that’s when the momentum shifted in our favour.We had the likes of Narine, Sammy and Marlon to bowl overs, and once Sri Lanka lost those key guys, it became insurmountable. Once they lost Mahela and Sanga that was massive for us, and that was perhaps the turning point in the game and what helped us to get the victory.”When West Indies play a tournament in India, it would feel like it’s a home game” – Gibson says of their triumph in 2016•AFPWhen you think of West Indies’ T20 game, you think of the big hitters. But West Indies had bowled Australia and Sri Lanka out in the semi-final and final for 131 and 101, respectively. Did the bowling win that World Cup?
Yeah, perhaps. One of the things we really focused on was helping the players to understand it’s not going to be what we call in the Caribbean a one-man show. It’s not going to be one person winning game after game. It’s going to be a whole team or squad effort. Various people performed at various different times.When the game was on the line, somebody stood up – whether it was in the batting with Marlon, or the way Chris and Kieron Pollard took on the Australian bowlers – or how Badree stood up against them with the ball. Different bowlers stood up at different times, and even Russell, who didn’t really do a great lot in that tournament, made some contributions when the time came.When I look back at that tournament, the greatest satisfaction was how the squad came together to really put in performances when they were needed to get the team over the line and win the T20 World Cup for the first time in our history. That was the first World Cup we won since 1979, so that was obviously massive for the whole nation.Having won in both 2012 and 2016, what is it about Asia that made West Indies so successful in T20 World Cups?
You look at the conditions in the Caribbean – especially the wickets – and some of them are very similar to Asian wickets. West Indies were heavily reliant on spin. In that tournament in 2012, we had the two best spinners in the tournament in Narine and Badree. And in 2016 [by which time Phil Simmons was coach], Badree was still playing. West Indies still had quality spinners that could control the game.But the other fundamental thing is that all the West Indies players are world stars in India. Chris and Bravo, everywhere they go in India [where the T20 World Cup was played in 2016], every venue, the crowd is singing their names even though they’re playing against India. That’s the extent of their popularity there.So when West Indies play a tournament in India, it would feel like it’s a home game to a lot of the West Indian players. They are very comfortable in those conditions nowadays. The guys feed off that, and that gives them an advantage when they walk onto cricket fields all over India.West Indies got most of those stars back together for the 2021 World Cup, but it didn’t quite work out. Why do you think that was?
T20 cricket is so fast-moving. You have to decide how you’re going to win games. T20 games are also won in the field. If your squad is ageing, then that will catch up with you. That squad was an ageing squad. And while experience matters, the game changes very quickly, and you have to be able to keep moving your squad along with the game.Gibson backs West Indies in 2022: “In people like Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder, we have world-class players”•IDI via Getty ImagesWest Indies were once dominant in Tests and ODIs, and now that’s no longer the case. They were also dominant in T20Is in the last decade, and now that’s no longer the case. Is there a worry this decline could also be long-term?
No, I don’t think so. I think what they did in recent World Cups can be done again. West Indies needed personnel changes – which have obviously happened – but then perhaps the strategy also needs to change. They need to look at whether they are getting the best out of the players they have, because in people like Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder, we have world-class players.I feel like West Indies is at that stage at the moment where they need to relook the strategy that they’re using with the personnel that they have right now. I still feel like they have fantastic T20 players who can be world-class. And when it comes to T20 World Cups, you can never discount West Indies – I don’t believe so.Shimron Hetmyer was axed from this year’s T20 World Cup squad for indiscipline. So was it challenging for you too to manage West Indies, and how difficult is it to keep international players happy in the age of T20s?
The way things are now in T20 cricket around the world right now is tricky. Not just for West Indies, but most sports where if a guy is playing in all the T20 tournaments around the world, he’s making far more money than your home board can pay him. You have to manage that very carefully. You have to see the person’s value to you and how that person can help you win.So you have to be able to be flexible to let that person go and play certain tournaments, to make their money, and to give them the comfort of providing for their family. Hopefully that person then understands that when they come back to you, they’re committed to what you’re trying to do. That’s always been the balance before for West Indies to strike.It’s always been said in the West Indies that people are not committed, but people have to provide for their families. We have to give and take in that situation so that we can get the best for each other. And ultimately when the person walks on to the field for West Indies and their mind is in the right place, they will give their all for West Indies. That’s the balancing act you have to have not just in the West Indies, but all over the world.According to you, what sort of shape are West Indies in for this World Cup?
They’ve got world-class players. Hopefully they can find a way to come together as a group and understand how each person needs to play their part. I feel like they’ve got a great chance. Like I said, you can you can never discount West Indies.

By making a difference on the cricket field this allrounder has already ticked off a dream, but her journey is only just starting

S Sudarshanan20-Jan-2023India were 69 for 5 in the 12th over. Four out of the top five batters had fallen for single-digit scores. On a sluggish surface, in hot and humid conditions, runs were hard to come by. And in walked allrounder Amanjot Kaur, on debut, joining the seasoned Deepti Sharma in the middle.Amanjot takes fondly to challenges. Having started playing domestic cricket for Punjab in 2017-18, she switched to Chandigarh for a couple of seasons from 2019-20 in search of more game time. In each of her two seasons there, she was among the runs even while captaining Chandigarh and chipping in with the ball. She was assured of a spot in the XI and was showing off her wares.Related

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But she wanted more. And so, in a bid to play more competitive cricket, she switched back to Punjab in 2022-23 where she picked the brains of India wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia. She scored 192 runs in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, the most for Punjab, at a strike rate in excess of 100 and then picked up eight wickets – only behind Harleen Deol’s nine – for North Zone in the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20 competition.A young seam-bowling allrounder, performing consistently, is hard to ignore in the Indian circuit and Amanjot received a maiden India call-up for this tri-series in South Africa ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup. It was significant given Pooja Vastrakar, India’s preferred allrounder, was still returning to full fitness following an injury that kept her out of the home series against Australia last month.And so, in her first international game, Amanjot was tasked with preventing India from getting bowled out cheaply. Understandably, she took her time to get the measure of it all and was on 7 off 13 balls at one stage. She had missed taking toll on a free hit, but she seemed unfazed. She bided her time, and then cashed in.Seamer Ayabonga Khaka was greeted in her third over with two marvelously timed cover drives. On both occasions, Khaka fed Amanjot full balls in her favoured area – outside off – for her to find the gap through the ring there. She then chipped one over fast bowler Marizanne Kapp’s head and such was the timing that it raced down the ground. She gave Khaka more special treatment in the penultimate over of the innings, hitting her for three fours.In all, Amanjot scored 22 off the ten balls she faced off Khaka and took ten of five off Kapp. She finished unbeaten on 41 off 30 balls, the second highest score in women’s cricket for India by a T20I debutant.Interacting with keeper Taniya Bhatia in the Punjab set-up helped Amanjot Kaur’s development•Getty Images”[Moving to Chandigarh] was a turning point as I gained knowledge and maturity as a batter and got the limelight,” Amanjot said after becoming only the third India women’s player to win a Player of the Match award on T20I debut. “Then I moved back to Punjab again and I wanted to take that step because I wanted to play more competitive cricket, play under seniors. There was Taniya and from her I learnt about how it is to be at the higher level and how the competition at the highest level is.”Amanjot added 76 runs for the sixth wicket with Deepti – the fourth-best in women’s T20Is – and helped India amass 44 off the last four overs. That meant India inched close to 150 and that was beyond South Africa on a surface that aided spin.”[Deepti] said I should not try to hit the ball too hard,” Amanjot said. “[The conversation was about] first to try for singles and then the boundaries will keep coming once we are set. She asked me to rein in my excitement since it was my debut and told me to stay calm and build a partnership so that the team can reach a respectable position.”Amanjot started training as a 17-year-old under coach Nagesh Gupta, primarily as a bowler. Her father enrolled her in the academy but thought her craze for cricket would fizzle out. She was set on doing something noteworthy for India in cricket though, and, seeing her dedication, her father, who was a woodwork contractor and carpenter, made some changes of his own to help her along. He quit his woodwork job and stuck to carpentry work in locations near their home so that he could drop Amanjot at training and pick her up again.”The travelling [between home and academy] was three and a half to four hours and he played a big role in managing that in 2016-17 when I had started,” Amanjot explained. “Earlier he used to undertake longer work, and used to stay at the [client’s] place and be away from home sometimes. But to pick and drop me from the academy, he left that.”Having made a stellar first impression in India’s blue, Amanjot knows her journey has only just started. But, as always, she’s up for the challenge.

It ought to have been a clash of equals, but the unavailability of key players for India could hobble them

Ian Chappell21-May-2023Two staunch rivals in India and Australia will compete in the prestigious World Test championship final at The Oval next month.As it should be, this is a hard match to predict. That’s mainly because of injury concerns and neither team having played a Test since completing a hard-fought series earlier this year. To make matters even more difficult, many of the players involved have only competed in the IPL in the lead-up to the one-off Test.While this may not seem to be the ideal preparation, it’s worth recalling the opinion of former England batter Ravi Bopara. In 2009, Bopara went from the fledgling IPL into a Test series against West Indies and reckoned he was ideally prepared because T20 got his feet moving and put him in a positive frame of mind.Related

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Heft was given to that view because Bopara reeled off successive Test centuries. The modern cricketer regularly has to adapt, going from one format to another, so Bopara’s theory should be even more applicable.Therefore expect the players, especially the batters, to be ready for the Test. It’s up to the bowlers to prepare specifically for the longer spells required in the five-day format.If Australia’s classy pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are available, that makes them slight favourites. They are good bowlers any time, but England in early June should be right up their alley. Nevertheless, an Indian pace attack containing Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav is also strong and only just behind the Australian trio in wicket-taking capability.Mental strength will play a huge part in this Test. The team that displays the most resilience is likely to win as long as the contest is not unduly affected by bad weather. Being able to maintain a decent line and length under attack is now mandatory in the tougher series, and a fully fit Australian attack should benefit if the opposition are overzealous.

The injuries to Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant badly affect India. They would be outright favourites with these two playing

Therefore much will depend on how the batters treat the talented opposing pace attacks. Australia rely heavily on Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja’s big scoring ability but the enigmatic David Warner shouldn’t be overlooked. Despite his struggles in England, Warner is a dangerous player because he can score quickly. If he gets a start, India need to be wary because of the danger Warner presents.On the Indian side Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara are a handful because they have enjoyed success in Test cricket. Their job will be tough against a strong Australian attack.The Australian bowlers also need to pay careful attention to Shubman Gill. He tends to play with no fear and has a stroke-making mentality, which will not change even on this momentous occasion. If he is allowed the freedom to score quickly and hit boundaries, Gill will be a headache for Australia.One selection dilemma for India will be Ajinkya Rahane. Judging by the current squad, Rahane is likely to play, which means he will largely be relying on past form against Australia. If he plays, he will help in the slips to the spinners, as he is easily India’s best catcher in that position.India have an advantage in spin bowling because of Ravindra Jadeja’s ability to bat in the top six, which allows them the luxury of including the efficient R Ashwin. While Nathan Lyon is a good bowler, he will be Australia’s sole spinner. However, this shouldn’t be detrimental in England, as allrounder Cameron Green’s genuine pace is well suited to the conditions.The injuries to Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant badly affect India, as they would be outright favourites with these two playing. The somewhat surprising unavailability of allrounder Hardik Pandya also harms India, as he could have provided them with the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle.With the match being played under English conditions, this slightly favours the strong Australian pace attack. However, as Bopara showed, you should never underestimate the value of IPL preparation for batters.

Boland and Murphy struggle for impact, as England stay alive in yet another cliffhanger

Andrew McGlashan09-Jul-2023The margins of this series have been so tight that as Mitchell Starc, who had an outstanding Test at Headingley, ran in to bowl at England’s lower order, it was still possible to envisage him winning the game with three yorkers.Instead, Mark Wood played probably the shot of his career as he drilled a cover drive towards the Western Terrace. England suddenly needed seven to win. That shot was followed by a wide and a two out to deep point. Four to win.Then Wood got a top-edge that flew towards deep third. It looked like Scott Boland’s catch coming off the rope but Alex Carey – who has had an interesting couple of weeks but has been largely faultless with the gloves all series – ran after it, dived and couldn’t quite get there.By the standards that had preceded them, therefore, the countdown for those final three runs was almost sedate, although Woakes’ square-drive for the winning boundary – to the opposite side of the ground from Ben Stokes’ famous cut for four four years ago – sent the crowd into familiar scenes of delirium.Having come out on the right side of close finishes in the first two Tests, this time it went against Australia. As with Edgbaston and Lord’s there were so many moments, and small passages of play, that can be picked out as making the difference, but ultimately two had a huge bearing on Australia not quite having enough runs to play with.They had reduced England 142 for 7 at lunch on the second day but then leaked 95 runs in the next 10 overs. Then, batting under sunshine that evening, Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith managed to hand their wickets to Moeen Ali when Australia’s lead was approaching 100. Conditions were tricky for batters throughout, on what was a top-notch Test surface, but with Usman Khawaja also being extracted in that period, it meant Australia were four-down when play eventually resumed under leaden skies on the third evening.Mitchell Starc trapped Ben Duckett lbw early on day four•AFP/Getty Images”Mitch [Marsh] got us back in the game and Travis [Head],” Pat Cummins said. “Then we lost 6 for 20. The next day their tail put on a good partnership with Stokes. Then [we were] ahead of the game batting on in sunlight on day two and probably missed that opportunity. [We had] various opportunities, but another great Test match.”In the end 251 was something to play with and, at times, it looked like it could be enough, especially when Joe Root and Ben Stokes both fell to leg-side catches and Jonny Bairstow dragged on to a big drive. But this time England did not need their heroic captain to get them over the line.When reviewing Australia’s overall performance, one element that stands out is how much they leant on Starc and Pat Cummins in the attack. England tend not to bat for long, but they bowled 63 of the 102 overs that Australia sent down in the match, taking 14 of the 17 wickets.Mitchell Marsh was handy with the ball on his Test return after his spectacular century on the first day, but Australia’s attack did not have the depth of earlier in the series. They overcame Nathan Lyon’s absence at Lord’s but here it felt very significant on the final day. Todd Murphy was given one over before lunch then another with 30 runs needed; it’s hard to believe that Lyon would not have had a more central role, even in conditions favouring the quicks.Murphy is a fine young spin bowler who should have a long career, but when Lyon’s calf went on the second after at Lord’s it felt like a major moment in the series. It could still be.”[It was] mainly just conditions-based,” Cummins said of Murphy’s lack of overs. “Didn’t quite spin as much as we thought it would. And [we] probably didn’t bowl as many overs as we thought we would as well. We bowled under 60 both innings. I would have liked to get Toddy into the game a bit more. But I’m sure next week in Manchester will be a bit more spin-friendly.”Related

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Allied to that was Scott Boland’s wicketless match, with England’s batters once again scoring relatively freely from him, albeit not at the rate of Edgbaston where he went at nearly six-an-over. He has often bowled better than his figures suggest but being able to largely nullify Boland – except for the evening session under clouds at Edgbaston – has been one of England’s successes. His series now reads 2 for 231 from 47 overs, a far cry from his 18 wickets at 9.55 in the 2021-22 Ashes.Josh Hazlewood was rotated out for this match and he would likely have been a handful on this surface. As the runs required dipped into the 40s, Cummins gave Marsh another brief spell after he’d been effective after a ball-change earlier in the innings while Murphy’s one-over return cost seven. Once again, it was all on Cummins and Starc.The pair combined for Harry Brook’s wicket although there was almost a collision in the covers as both converged on the big top-edge. At that point 21 runs were still needed as Wood walked out to join Woakes. Two balls into the next over, Murphy pulled off a spectacular save at deep square leg, palming the back inside the field to Labuschagne while mid-air. Four runs conceded became one.Given the way this series has played out, it was the sort of moment that, even then, might have made the difference. But off the next ball Wood hooked Cummins for six. This time it was England who had enough.As in 2019, Australia came to Headingley knowing a win would retain the Ashes. This time it would also have given them a first series win in England since 2001. They have two more chances. For now history remains on their side, but they will hope they don’t look back on this as their missed opportunity.

The next two weeks could define the Sri Lanka captain’s growth trajectory in a role he has no option but to grow into

Shashank Kishore25-Oct-20232:42

Maharoof: ‘Hope Mendis the captain remains the same batter’

The earliest memory Kusal Mendis has of watching cricket is the 2003 men’s World Cup. As an eight-year-old, he had heard tales of the magic Aravinda de Silva weaved with the bat. Aravinda was well past his prime by then, but he had done enough to fuel Kusal’s burning desire to emulate him.A few months short of his 18th birthday, Kusal won the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award. The recognition that came along with it helped him meet his boyhood hero, who is believed to have told him he should aspire to be the captain one day.When Kusal burst onto the scene at the Under-19 World Cup in 2014, he was earmarked for big things including captaincy. It has taken nearly a decade for Kusal to get that job, but it has come under circumstances he wouldn’t have envisaged.Related

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As such, international cricket can be a hard place to learn on the fly and Kusal perhaps had valid reasons for not wanting the job in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup. Far from a sustainer of good form, he had only slowly been emerging from that frustrating ‘one step forward, two steps back’ pattern that has been a constant in his seven-year international career.But amid an ordinary start to a campaign many were cautiously optimistic about, largely because of the conditions, Kusal has been thrust into the role. Dasun Shanaka, an admirable leader who had backers for his style of rallying a team in doldrums together, had been ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a quadriceps injury.As such, Shanaka’s batting had tailed off so alarmingly that even a late surge against South Africa in chase of 429 merely seemed to limit damage than offer hope of him returning to his ferocious ball-striking ways. That he was a reluctant bowler didn’t help.Kusal Mendis has the captaincy added to his batting and wicketkeeping duties•ICC via Getty ImagesSo, two losses in – the one against Pakistan deflating them, one where they failed to defend 345 – there were rumblings of a potential change. As it turned out, Shanaka’s injury may have saved the selectors from a tough call. It’s under this backdrop that Kusal led Sri Lanka for the first time last week, against Australia in Lucknow.It is an understatement to say he has had to hit the ground running. It is not quite a dreamy scenario. These are difficult circumstances that will need Kusal to not just manage his own form and expectations around his batting, but also figure out plans and work around all the other external challenges that come with the captaincy.His spontaneous response at his first press conference after captaincy on what he expects from the team was a giveaway of how quickly things have unfurled. “I hope the bowlers know their roles,” Kusal had said when asked about formulating specific plans. He wasn’t feigning ignorance. He had barely had a few days to settle into the job, forget about easing into a role or building a team with the players he’d seen or backed.It has been a week since that game. Sri Lanka have since gone on to scrap a win against Netherlands and find themselves in a logjam for points in the middle. On Thursday, they play England, who are equally desperate for two points. It is only bound to get tougher and Kusal knows there’s only so much wriggle room. If he wants, Kusal has plenty of sounding boards in the dressing room, like Dimuth Karunaratne or Angelo Mathews. But in the heat of the battle, he will have to be his own man.On Tuesday during Sri Lanka’s first training session in Bengaluru under lights, Kusal was largely by himself, focused on his own idiosyncrasies – like his shadow swing, playing an imaginative forward defence, ducking and weaving bouncers, playing a straight drive. In his own little bubble, or the ‘zone’ as they say, until he was tapped by the team manager.Then he walked across to observe proceedings from a little close, joining head coach Chris Silverwood to watch Mathews go through the motions. Mathews, of course, was Sri Lanka’s captain when Kusal debuted as a precociously talented batter in 2015. How the wheels had turned now. Here he was assessing Mathews from the eyes of a leader, not the boy-wonder who could barely mumble a few words to him.

“We all get into that cycle and then we come in, we go out and then the next generation comes in. So, playing under Kusal, where he started when I was the captain, it gives me pleasure because he’s come a long way and I’ve seen him grow as a person and also as a batsman over the years.”Angelo Mathews on playing under Kusal Mendis’ captaincy

That small moment encapsulated Kusal’s challenges. Of someone keen to work on himself in bringing out his best to now having to look beyond just his own goals for the team’s sake. There are five league games left, and each one a must-win for Sri Lanka. There are bowlers to manage, plans to formulate with coaches, senior players to hand-hold, handling media and the scrutiny that comes with the job.It helps that there’s warmth and mutual admiration among the leaders within the group. For someone as senior as Mathews to swallow his ego, and be part of the group as traveling reserve tells you of his keenness to contribute. For him to sit with Kusal and ease him into a role he is still getting used to – he’s captained at the Lanka Premier League, but not at any other level of senior cricket prior to this – must help.”He has evolved so much over the last five-six years,” Mathews said when asked about his assessment of Sri Lanka’s current captain. “And now he’s showing his maturity playing fearless cricket and leading from the front. And yes, I mean, playing under him, I’ve played under so many different captains and they’ve also played under me, so, it’s a cycle.”We all get into that cycle and then we come in, we go out and then the next generation comes in. So, playing under Kusal, where he started when I was the captain, it gives me pleasure because he’s come a long way and I’ve seen him grow as a person and also as a batsman over the years which is very fantastic to see.”There is striking simplicity to Kusal’s see-ball-hit-ball approach as a batter. Captaincy may not be so simple. But the key for Kusal will be in how he manages to channel his batting without allowing the rigours of the job to affect him. It’s easier to do so perhaps in a bilateral series. But with the stakes high, the next two weeks could define his growth trajectory in a role he has no option but to grow into on the toughest stage.

After falling while trying to get out of the line of a short ball at the MCG, Rizwan went after the Australian bowlers in Sydney

Danyal Rasool03-Jan-2024Mohammad Rizwan had got out of the way, and he was furious. He pointed to his arm, gesturing towards a white spot further up the limb the ball definitely hadn’t hit, in an attempt to deflect from the soft, incriminating kiss it had given the wristband of his glove. He went to the Australian fielders to tell them he wasn’t out; given they had opted to send it up to the TV umpire Richard Illingworth, it’s safe to assume they begged to differ. When he was given his marching orders, he seethed some more, animatedly gesturing to the umpire before walking off the MCG in a huff. It wasn’t like Rizwan at all.He had been cramped for room (as he almost famously said in Hyderabad), and now he was acting out.But perhaps what angered him wasn’t the TV umpire’s decision – the evidence was fairly conclusive – but his reaction to Pat Cummins’ body serve of a delivery: he’d got out of the way. And that, if you know much about him, is even less like Rizwan.For the most part, Rizwan’s body is always on the line; he wears blows like badges of honour. It’s possible the mystery mark on his arm was just one of many such bruises decorating his flesh. He throws himself to the ground, diving to complete runs he could have dawdled and still completed, and invariably bruises an arm or a leg, or knocks his helmet grill back into his head keeping the concussion doctor on his toes. He cramps up and yes, he acts. But for a man of faith like Rizwan, getting out of the way must be as close as sport comes to sacrilege.Related

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And having sinned once, Rizwan was ready to repent in Sydney. At 56 for 4, Josh Hazlewood bowled a similar ball to him, arrowing into his body off a slightly short length, but one that would have made ducking tricky. Instead of stepping away, Rizwan moved his body further into the line and got down low, making himself even more vulnerable. Fine leg was stationed on the edge of the boundary, meaning an aggressive shot here would be as much a professional as a personal risk, but Rizwan didn’t care. And then, in a motion that was more a crack of a whip than a swing of a bat, one liquid motion that almost saw him use his ribs as a pivot, he clobbered one over fine leg’s head for six.Hazlewood pitched the next one on a length; it was nothing like the previous ball, nothing, even, like the Cummins ball. But with the zeal of a convert, Rizwan went after this one too, his head falling away well before he was through his shot, and his body following soon after. Either of those two balls could have got him out, but to note that was to miss the point. For Rizwan, there are certain things that bother him, but getting out isn’t intrinsically one of them.Rizwan went off for lunch, but his appetite was nowhere near sated yet. This time, he was facing Cummins himself, the man who had caused him to sin last week, snapping his side out of the heavenly dreams of victory and casting them back into this mortal realm. He bowled two balls wide of off stump, each of which Rizwan tried to attack, but it was when he sent one the third one in short that Rizwan delivered retribution. He rose to his toes, extending himself to his full height and carved him away for a boundary; it was now that Rizwan was tucking in.Mohammad Rizwan was unhappy with his dismissal during Pakistan’s chase at the MCG•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaWhen Mitchell Marsh came on, Rizwan didn’t need so much as a second look. He cut the first ball over the slips, flashing hard over gully to pick up four, before nearly chopping on against Cummins the following over attempting another high-risk shot. It was that battle against Cummins which Rizwan was, for better or worse, never going to back down from. He attacked just under 20% of all deliveries he faced from the Australian captain, a higher percentage than any other bowler. And of the 61 runs Cummins conceded in 18 overs, 19 of them came off just 21 deliveries he bowled to Rizwan.Masood had fallen by now, but Rizwan was busy constructing a salvage job with Salman Ali Agha. An over before drinks, where he drove Nathan Lyon against the turn and swept him with it set the tone, and fittingly it was a boundary off a short Hazlewood delivery that took him to his second half-century in Australia.Rizwan’s commitment to this brand was so total it appeared to have a proselytising effect on Agha. Like a faithful disciple, he followed Rizwan in planting the front foot and sweeping Lyon, before charging down the wicket the following delivery and walloping him back over his head. Rizwan himself went one better, of course, dancing down and fetching six more off the spinner. Four days after Pakistan had dropped into the abyss following the breaking of a partnership between these two man, here they were, digging them out of it.Cummins ran through his options, bringing Mitchell Starc back on. Starc is perhaps the man who can land the most painful of body blows, but Rizwan flashed two short deliveries square for four as he hurtled towards a record he set the first time he batted in Australia four years ago. No Pakistan wicketkeeper has ever scored a century in Australia; Rizwan’s 95 in Brisbane in 2019 is the closest anyone has ever come. He could put that right in a few minutes. But Rizwan wasn’t looking to make amends from last tour, more from last week.With a weary sense of inevitability, Cummins brought himself back on, and sent down the same delivery that had accounted for Rizwan at the MCG. Rizwan swiftly got himself in line but the ball continued to rise, and the batter’s slash flew up to the square leg it had sailed over two hours earlier. Hazlewood completed the catch with ease, and Rizwan fell a dozen short of that history-making hundred. It was a bad time to get out, and if you watched it in isolation, inoculated from what happened at the MCG and of the way Rizwan thinks about cricket, a naïve way to depart.From Rizwan himself though, there was no remonstration this time. He put his bat underneath his arm and walked briskly off. Rizwan’s body was back on the line, and his team back in the contest. If Pakistan can turn disaster into anything resembling triumph, the origins of it might have been conceived a thousand kilometres away, with an uncharacteristically angry man pointing to a phantom mark on his forearm in late December sunshine.

The 701 runs scored by Hyderabad and Arunachal Pradesh are the second-most in a single day in first-class cricket

Sampath Bandarupalli26-Jan-2024147 Balls needed for Tanmay to complete his triple century. It is the fastest-recorded triple ton in the history of first-class cricket by balls taken, breaking the record held by Marco Marais off 191 balls for Border against Eastern Province in 2017.Tanmay’s milestone was reached in 183 minutes, making it the second quickest by time taken – behind only Denis Compton’s triple ton in 181 minutes (261 balls) for MCC against North Eastern Transvaal in 1948.