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India A add 205 for last five wickets to open up a sizable lead to give hosts chance of a series-levelling win

The Report by Varun Shetty in Alur10-Sep-2018Andhra Cricket Association

India A batted Australia A into a corner on the third day of the second unofficial Test in Alur. They lead of 159 came on the back of KS Bharat’s 106, and his various partnerships with the lower order that meant India made 205 for the last five wickets, finishing eventually with 505 in reply to Australia’s 346. Bharat’s century was India’s first of the series, and the innings was at its peak during his eight-wicket stand of 113 with Kuldeep Yadav, who batted 112 balls for his 52.The pair were in full control after they’d both been dropped off part-time legspinner Marnus Labuschagne when the lead was slim. Kuldeep then begun dominating the stand, looking calm and assured as Australia switched their bowlers around constantly. While the innings was studded with boundaries, it was an aggressive one in approach, with the footwork sorted the whole way through against pace and spin.It gave Bharat the license to play the boundary strokes at the other end and he picked up 12 fours and a six during his forage. Bharat’s most productive strokes were the hook and the cover drive, both of which were a consequence of Australia’s struggle to hold up a constant strategy. The seamers, particularly Brendan Doggett, were all over the place against Bharat and on a slow pitch, he cashed in on their offerings.Against spin, he was more content playing with a straight bat, often in defence, and rarely got out of the crease to manufacture shots. There wasn’t much need for it in any case, with Australia’s spread out fields offering many easy run-scoring avenues.This was also the case when Shubman Gill had got going in the first session. Gill, the overnight batsman alongside India A captain Shreyas Iyer, had a much easier start to the day than should have been, considering the that the same bowlers – Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Swepson – had troubled them in the last 30 minutes on Sunday. The pair had even come out to overcast, cold conditions, which offered the Australian bowlers more than they had got on a blazing Sunday.But they were barely troubled, with Swepson struggling to land the ball from around the wicket. Many full tosses down leg side were put away, including one that was ramped by Iyer over the long leg boundary, and when he did finally start landing the ball, the umpires deemed that he was bowling a negative line and penalised him. Marsh did end up slanting one in to beat Iyer and hit his stumps, but Australia’s day would be filled with more such peculiar moments.In front of a considerably bigger home crowd than had watched during the weekend, the Australians came apart slowly, with fumbles and extras, and were even penalised for having three fielders behind the popping crease on the leg side at one point.The start of that decline began with Gill’s exquisite wrists that aided his flowing drives, but were especially impressive as he got on the back foot to manipulate the square field on the off side. Australia operated with one slip all day, and Gill used that open side of the field to full effect.But the 19-year-old batsman didn’t capitalise on his fluid start, and was bowled playing inside the line of a Chris Remain delivery with India still 46 behind and a fragile lower order exposed. K Gowtham undid the pressure though – as Bharat endured an anxious start – and his confident batting brought India five runs away from parity. By then, Bharat settled in and shepherded the lower order.Australia were given only three overs of seam bowling to play as they came out to play the last hour, and the relentless intensity of India’s spinners produced wickets off stark variety. Kurtis Patterson got into his shell and was bowled leaving an arm ball from Gowtham. At the other end, Renshaw’s attacking strategy produced a pictureesque straight six against Nadeem, but some sweeps later, he top-edged one to a diving Deepak Chahar at short fine leg.

Captain Shoaib Malik plays the finishers’ role to perfection as defending champions Peshawar left to rue lack of runs in tournament opener

The Report by Danyal Rasool22-Feb-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
In a nutshell
The absence of enough power hitters may have been a concern for Multan Sultans, but they kicked off their campaign with a chase ideally suited to their line-up.The 152-run target was clinically chased down courtesy a typically composed half-century by Kumar Sangakkara and an unbeaten 42 from the captain Shoaib Malik. Defending champions Peshawar Zalmi didn’t bowl badly, but they simply didn’t have enough runs on a greener, faster strip than is not commonly associated with the UAE.Darren Sammy’s men began shakily, thanks to a brilliant opening spell by Sohail Tanvir, who swung the ball in sharply. He was expertly backed up by Mohammad Irfan.Irfan’s extra bounce proved particularly troubling for last year’s leading run-scorer Kamran Akmal, who fell for a duck attempting to pull cross the line. A half-century from Mohammad Hafeez kept the innings together, while supporting roles from Dwayne Smith and Haris Sohail helped Zalmi regroup even though their run rate was always a concern. Sammy’s 29 off 11 balls helped them get past 150, but in the end, it was the early sluggishness that they were left to bemoan.Where the match was won
With Sultans needing 38 off four overs, the game was in the balance. Wahab Riaz had one over left while specialist death bowler Chris Jordan had two. This meant at least one over would be bowled by someone who Sammy ideally didn’t want at the end. The scenario placed even more pressure on Wahab and Jordan to nail their three overs to give the other bowler enough runs to play with. But Jordan’s over went 12, thanks to some sloppy fielding and a fortuitous outside edge off Pollard’s bat. Wahab too ended up conceding 11 in his subsequent over, thanks again to some poor fielding at the boundary. By the time it came to final over, Hammad Azam had just six runs to defend. Malik put paid to any thoughts he might have harboured of being an unlikely hero by smashing the first ball for six to seal the deal.The men that won it
The headlines may go to the batsmen but Sultans’ task had been made significantly easier by their savvy quick bowlers in the first half. Every one of Tanvir, Irfan, Junaid Khan and Hardus Viljoen were in complete control. Barring one big Tanvir over at the death, the batsmen struggled to spot a weak link in this quartet, reduced instead to slogging away at Imran Tahir, never an ideal prospect. They complemented each other’s strengths like a proper bowling unit, Tanvir’s and Junaid’s swing, Irfan’s bounce and Viljoen’s accuracy combining to suffocate the opposition. It was the bowling, not the surface, that was responsible for Zalmi managing only 151, which, as Sultans were later able to demonstrate, was somewhat below par. Sammy suggested at the presentation that they were “about ten runs short”.Acing the reviews
We all saw Sammy take a selfie without a smartphone last year, and it appears his side’s invisible digital skills extend to mastering HawkEye, too. The DRS, new to the PSL this year, was thrust into the spotlight as early as the second over when Tamim Iqbal was given out caught behind. The Bangladesh opener reviewed instantly, with the replays showing the ball had missed the bat by some margin. A few overs later, Dwayne Smith was given lbw off an Imran Tahir wrong ‘un, and though it looked out at full speed, the batsman called for a second eye again. The ball was found to be sailing well over the stumps. The DRS had been given an early workout, and first blood had gone to the players.Where they stand
Sultans are table toppers, understandably, but will need to show the same intensity less than 24 hours later as they come back to play the second game on Friday evening. Zalmi have a day to recover.

Twitter reactions to Kagiso Rabada’s two-Test ban being overturned, allowing him to play in the Cape Town Test

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2018South Africa’s premier fast bowler Kagiso Rabada was suspended for the remaining two Tests of the Australia series, but his ban was overturned on appeal.

Another win for MS Dhoni’s men will take them a step closer to making the knockouts for the ninth time in as many seasons

The Preview by Akshay Gopalakrishnan10-May-20185:23

Hogg: Revamped bowling has worked wonders for CSK

Big Picture

Barring their return from a two-year absence, there are not many similarities between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. CSK have mastered the art of pacing an innings, while Royals have repeatedly stumbled to sub-par scores. CSK are approaching the playoffs, while Royals are fighting to stay relevant in the race for the playoffs. There were questions about CSK’s ageing group of players, but they have held on to catches under pressure, while Royals’ season has been marred by costly drops.The contrasting results are down to critical differences. CSK identified their best combination early, and gave their players well-defined roles. Ambati Rayudu, the floater in the batting line-up, has had his best IPL season, while Shane Watson has provided them firepower at the top and tidy overs with the ball. And MS Dhoni has rolled back the years with his big hitting.Royals’ big players, on the other hand, have not fired like they can. D’Arcy Short has sunk from the highs of the BBL, while Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat continue to search for form. To add to their concerns, captain Ajinkya Rahane has had a mixed season.A win for CSK on Friday will take them closer to the playoffs, and put Royals on the brink of elimination.

Form guide (last three matches, most recent first)

Rajasthan Royals: beat Kings XI Punjab by 15 runs, lost to Kings XI Punjab by six wickets, lost to Delhi Daredevils by four runs
Chennai Super Kings: beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets, lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets, beat Delhi Daredevils by 13 runs

In the news

CSK physiotherapist Tommy Simsek hinted that seamer Deepak Chahar, who was nursing a hamstring injury, could return against Royals.After playing just one match in IPL 2018, England quick Mark Wood has flown back home to prepare for the Test series against Pakistan that begins on May 24.

Previous meeting

Watson smashed the season’s then-fastest century, as CSK racked up 204 and then skittled Royals for 140.

Likely XIs

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Sanju Samson, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Stuart Binny, 6 K Gowtham, 7 Mahipal Lomror, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Anureet SinghChennai Super Kings: 1 Shane Watson, 2 Ambati Rayudu, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Dhruv Shorey, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 David Willey, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Shardul Thakur

Strategy punt

There is a case for CSK to open their bowling with Ravindra Jadeja. Rahane has managed only 40 runs off 36 balls against left-arm spinners this season while losing his wicket twice in six innings.Short, meanwhile, doesn’t fare too well against offspinners. While he strikes at 147.8 against them, he averages 11.3 and has got out to them thrice in four innings.Rayudu is a prolific batsman in the Powerplay. He scores at 9.64 an over during this phase and has been dismissed only once in seven innings, while averaging 172. He has shown the tendency to cut loose after the first six overs. Royals, however, could counter that by bowling offspinner K Gowtham to him. With five wickets, Gowtham has been Royals’ most successful bowler in the Powerplay.

Stats that matter

• CSK have won four out of their last five games against Royals, and a former Royals player has had a decisive hand in each of the wins: Ravindra Jadeja won the Man-of-the-Match award thrice, and Watson once.
• Stokes has an interesting dynamic with Imran Tahir in T20s. While he has scored an average of two runs per ball against the legspinner, he has also lost his wicket twice in three innings to him.
• Dhoni is 63 runs away from completing 6000 runs in T20 cricket. He will become the fifth Indian batsman to the milestone, after Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir. Dhoni is also 79 runs away from completing 4000 runs in the IPL.

Fantasy pick

Buttler has peaked in the second half of the season with three successive half-centuries. Since he moved from the middle order to the top, Royals’ Powerplay run rate has shot up from 7.62 (the worst among all teams) to 10.39 (the best).Dhoni relishes facing this Royals attack. The CSK captain has faced 122 balls from them in all T20s and hit 200 runs while losing his wicket just twice. Overall, he strikes a boundary every 4.7 balls against them.

According to the England allrounder, friendly competition to score the quickest centuries and hit the biggest sixes is driving the team during the World Cup

George Dobell in Headingley20-Jun-20193:04

Swann: England truly believe that 500 is possible

Friendly competition to score the quickest centuries and hit the biggest sixes is driving England’s batsmen during the World Cup, according to Moeen Ali.

Furthest six-hitting distances from England at World Cup

Jason Roy, 97m against Bangladesh
Moeen Ali, 93m against Afghanistan
Eoin Morgan, 92m against Afghanistan
Joe Root, 91m against Afghanistan
Jonny Bairstow, 86m against Pakistan
Jos Buttler, 85m against Bangladesh
Chris Woakes, 84m against Bangladesh
Liam Plunkett, 79m against Bangladesh

Eoin Morgan set a new ODI record by hitting 17 sixes in his innings in Manchester last week. But while he may have hit the most, his team-mates left him in no doubt that theirs were bigger and that his 57-ball century was “a bit slow” by comparison to their own. Three men in England’s top seven – Moeen, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler – have hit quicker ODI centuries.And that competition – combined with plenty of hard work – is rendering England “almost unstoppable” according to Moeen.”We were a bit surprised by the numbers the other day,” Moeen, who once made a 53-ball century against West Indies, said. “We were like ‘that’s a lot of sixes’. But I told him I hit the biggest. The first one off Rashid Khan was the biggest.”When players go past 53 balls then I can always say ‘yeah, it’s a great knock but still a bit slow for my liking.’ I’m always hoping they don’t push me further down the list.Moeen Ali steers one through the off side•Getty Images

“We always talk about stuff like that. Jos came back after scoring 120 and I told him I’d hit the shot of the day. We have a bit of banter about it.”We’re just having a lot of fun and ripping each other all the time. We get stuck into each other about everything: about the football or about Fifa. Anything. It’s all part of team bonding. It’s all very natural.”While the team may good-naturedly compete for such accolades there is, according to Moeen, an acceptance that one man stands out.”Buttler is the biggest hitter,” Moeen says. “With ease. Some guys – like Jonny Bairstow – are brutal. Jason Roy is absolutely about power and Morgan does hit big sixes.”In the nets, Joe Root hits the most sixes. He tries to take us down all the time. I think everyone is capable of hitting big sixes and I think I’m the best of all of them. But Jos is the one guy that everyone knows is out front. Jos is power with timing.”But the serious side is that we work hard on it. You can’t just rock up and start hitting sixes for fun, you have to practice it and work on it.”As a team, once we get going, I’m sure everybody thinks that we’re almost unstoppable. When Jos, Morgs, Jason… we have some many players, almost everybody in the top eight. Who can do it. Once they get going, it’s almost unstoppable. That’s the great thing about the team.”

New Zealand ended 476 runs ahead after day two as Zimbabwe looked tired on a flat surface

Firdose Moonda08-Aug-2025Centuries from Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls and Rachin Ravindra took New Zealand to their highest total against Zimbabwe, and a 476-run first innings lead in the second Test. They have not declared, and have plenty of batting to come. With conditions suited to the filling of boots, and with three days left in the game, New Zealand might be eyeing more on a flat surface against a tired opposition.Already, three of New Zealand’s line-up have given them food for thought ahead of the next World Test Championship cycle. Conway brought up 2000 Test runs and his fifth hundred, two-and-a-half years and 32 innings since his last – against Pakistan in Karachi in January 2023. Nicholls’ century was his tenth in the format and an important one after he was left out of the XI for all of 2024. And Ravindra’s hundred was his third and fastest, off just 104 balls.Zimbabwe had three bowlers bring up unwanted triple-figure scores of their own. Blessing Muzarabani, Trevor Gwandu and Vincent Masekesa all conceded more than a hundred runs. They were also the only bowlers among the seven Zimbabwe used to get themselves among the wickets, though Gwandu’s came on the first day. Zimbabwe have bowled 130 overs in the match so far, including 91 on the second day.New Zealand resumed their innings in cold conditions on 174 for 1 on the second morning, 49 runs ahead of Zimbabwe. If there was anything to be offered from the overheads, Zimbabwe were unable to make much use of it. The first ball was short and wide, and Conway cut it for four in a sign of what was to come. To Tanaka Chivanga’s credit, he managed to hurry nightwatcher Jacob Duffy into two pulls – but the first fell short of mid-on, and the second short of midwicket. Duffy, though, got it right off Muzarabani, and his stand with Conway grew to fifty. Their partnership was worth 62 when Conway drove Muzarabani through mid-off to bring up his century off 143 balls.Brian Bennett did well to catch nightwatcher Jacob Duffy•Zimbabwe Cricket

Duffy batted for 13.2 overs on the second morning, and almost the full first hour, before he pulled Masekesa to short midwicket, where Brian Bennett moved quickly to his right to take a good catch. But Zimbabwe’s joy was short lived as that wicket brought Nicholls to the crease, and they would go 30 overs without another wicket.Nicholls took his time to get himself in, with nine runs off the first 25 balls he faced, before he was gifted a full toss from Masekesa and sent it to the square-leg boundary. That set Nicholls on his way, and he was particularly successful against spin, as Zimbabwe turned to their slower bowlers while waiting for the second new ball. In total, Nicholls scored 96 runs off Zimbabwe’s four spinners.New Zealand went to lunch on 306 for 2, with a lead of 181, and with the second new ball nine overs away. Before it arrived, Nicholls got to fifty and then Conway to 150 off the final delivery with the old ball.Zimbabwe took the second new ball as soon as it became available, and Muzarabani seemed to find some extra bounce. With a zip in his step, Muzarabani thought he had Nicholls lbw with a delivery that angled in and hit him on the pad, but must have been going down leg, and then did get Conway. Bizarrely, Conway shouldered arms to a back-of-a-length ball that he must have thought was going over the stumps but instead hit his body and ricocheted onto off stump. He was dismissed 2.3 overs into the second new ball.Henry Nicholls scored his tenth Test hundred•Zimbabwe Cricket

Conway’s dismissal did little to halt Nicholls’ momentum. He hit Chivanga wide of point for four as Ravindra arrived, also slightly circumspect. Ravindra scored seven runs off the first 13 balls he faced but then raced to 26 off 24 balls after carving Muzarabani up through extra cover, past gully and over the leg side for three fours in the sixth over of his spell. Zimbabwe were soon back to spin, and though Sikandar Raza occasionally beat the bat with flight, there was very little threat from Zimbabwe. By tea, New Zealand were 302 runs ahead.The final session was all New Zealand as Nicholls brought up his century when he flicked Gwandu past mid-on and ran three. Ravindra took back-to-back to back boundaries off the rest of the over to race to 75. The boundaries dried up from there on, and Ravindra had to work hard for his next 25 runs. But he got them in 36 balls, and then hammered Raza through extra cover for four for good measure. With milestones up for both batters and 500 up for New Zealand, they played with freedom and scored 88 runs off the last 11 overs in the day.Nicholls and Ravindra both reached 150, as Conway had done earlier in the day, to make only the third time in Test history that three batters had crossed that landmark in a Test. Neither Nicholls nor Ravindra looks ready to stop just yet – which could mean another long day in the field for a weary Zimbabwe side whose winless streak seems set to continue.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan says Hathurusingha could become candidate for the job after Sri Lanka-Bangladesh series

Mohammad Isam and Madushka Balasuriya24-Jul-2019Chandika Hathurusingha’s return as Bangladesh’s head coach is closer to becoming reality after Nazmul Hassan, the Bangladesh Cricket Board president, said he could become a candidate for the job after the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh ODI series. Khaled Mahmud will be the coach of the team in an interim capacity for the Sri Lanka series, after Bangladesh parted ways with Steve Rhodes at the end of their World Cup campaign.Hathurusingha had been Bangladesh coach between 2014 and 2017, and the only thing that seemingly stands in the way of his return to that position is the manner of his exit from the Sri Lanka set-up, which remains unclear. Hassan, one of Hathurusingha’s biggest supporters during his Bangladesh stint, said the BCB is unable to talk to Hathurusingha and some of their other candidates right now, as they are involved in their current jobs. The BCB president also said the board would prefer a coach with previous experience of working with a subcontinent team.”We have started the process to find a head coach, a fast-bowling coach and a physio,” Hassan said. “Since the ODI series is about to begin, we are not allowed to talk to Hathurusingha. He will become a candidate when there’s a break after this series, if he expresses his wish to come. We want a coach as soon as possible. We are in talks but some of the coaches are still involved in their present jobs.”My first preference is that the coach must have national team coaching experience. We are also looking for someone who has previous experience with subcontinent teams. We are looking for coaches outside those who applied [for the coaching position] too. Top coaches have to be contacted through agents, so we are pretty much using all our avenues.”Hathurusingha still has around 16 months to go in his contract with Sri Lanka Cricket, the early termination of which is understood to come with a hefty severance package. Last week matters came closer to a resolution, when Sri Lanka’s Sports Ministry handed SLC a written directive demanding the resignation of the national team’s coaching staff.SLC CEO Ashley De Silva was tightlipped on the matter, simply stating that the board would have to comply with any directive by the sports ministry, as per Sri Lanka’s sports law.”We have to abide by the sports law, and when the sports minister gives a directive we’re compelled to abide by those directives,” De Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “So this is something we’re looking at, we’ve had discussions about it internally, and our executive committee will need to have a discussion with the minister about how to proceed and take it forward from there.”We know there will be a lot of speculation until then, but since it’s a very sensitive area we don’t want to make a statement until a final decision has been made. We don’t know if Hathurusingha is okay with resigning, we’ll only know after we speak to him. He’s aware of the current situation, but we haven’t had a discussion with him as yet, so we just have to wait and see.”When questioned on the matter earlier this week, Hathurusingha kept his cards close to his chest. “As far as I am concerned, I haven’t heard from anybody relevant to me that there’s going to be a change in the coaching staff,” he stated on Monday. “I have to just wait for what they’re going to tell me and then I will make my decision.”Hathurusingha remains a favourite for the BCB president Hassan, though, who said that he likes coaches who have a win-at-all-cost attitude. “Everyone has a different coaching technique, style and thinking. We also have a thinking. I don’t want to say much but some coaches feel that there’s no point being serious about a game. But we also had coaches who wanted to win at any cost,” said Hassan, who also came down heavily on Rhodes’ tenure.

The PCB said ICC rules prevented the player from being named until the chemical report was confirmed by the government’s anti-doping agency

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2018A prominent Pakistani cricketer has tested positive for a prohibited substance. This was confirmed by the PCB on Twitter when it said ICC rules prevented the player from being named until the chemical report was confirmed by the government’s anti-doping agency.
While the dope test has come back positive, the report from the laboratory that tested the player’s blood sample has yet to be confirmed by Pakistan’s anti-doping department. The PCB is awaiting the results of that test, saying it would be available in the next day or so. The test is understood to have taken place during the recent domestic 50-over tournament in Faisalabad.Depending on the nature of the prohibited substance, the player could face up to a two-year ban. The last Pakistan international to suffer that fate was Raza Hasan, who tested positive for cocaine in 2015, and was banned till 2017. In the last few years, Pakistan spinners Yasir Shah and Abdur Rehman were also banned for minor doping offences, each serving three-month bans.

The visiting quicks made outstanding use of the new ball, which had been the most difficult period to bat in this game

Andrew McGlashan06-Jul-2025Australia made swift work of securing a 133-run victory on the fourth day in Grenada, and with it retained the Frank Worrell Trophy which they have held since 1995, as West Indies’ batting crumbled to 143 all out midway through the afternoon session.Australia’s last three wickets were able to add only 22 runs to the overnight total, but despite positive talk the previous evening, a target of 277 was always going to be a tall order for West Indies. In the end, it barely appeared as a dot on the horizon as they lost four wickets in less than 13 overs before lunch, including another Hall of Fame delivery from Pat Cummins to take Brandon King’s off stump.Related

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Mitchell Starc’s 3 for 24 left him on 395 wickets heading into his 100th Test in Jamaica, and Nathan Lyon ended the match with a superb catch over his shoulder from his own bowling to finish within one of Glenn McGrath’s tally of 563 as the second-most for Australia.The visiting quicks made outstanding use of the new ball, which had been the most difficult period to bat in in this game. Deliveries leapt to take the gloves regularly, while there was always the fear in the back of a batters’ mind that one would scuttle low. Roston Chase and Shai Hope briefly counterattacked after lunch, but it would have needed something extraordinary to turn the game around. In all, 13 wickets fell in 41.3 overs on the fourth day.The pattern had been similar to Barbados: West Indies had stayed with Australia across the first two days but couldn’t sustain the challenge. In this instance, it was the runs of Cameron Green and Steven Smith in the second innings which made a key difference.The Grenada pitch played into Josh Hazlewood’s hands•Associated Press

Josh Hazlewood, who has been outstanding in this series on pitches ideally suited to his hammering of the back-of-a-length, set the tone as Australia set about defending their total, pinning John Campbell lbw with his second delivery.Further wickets never felt far away. Keacy Carty was handed a life on 5 when Beau Webster couldn’t haul in a high chance at second slip – given how brilliant he is in the cordon, he would probably have expected to gather it – and Carty was given a painful working over with numerous blows on the hand and body. At one point, Australia had two short legs.Starc ended Carty’s difficult stay with an outside edge from around the wicket, and former captain Kraigg Brathwaite, in his 100th Test, fell for his fourth single-figure score of the series when he nibbled at one in Webster’s first over.Briefly, King defied the conditions, getting off the mark first ball with a blistering cover drive against Starc before repeating the dose to Hazlewood. He added a straight drive off Cummins to suggest a repeat of the first innings could be possible but, having seen Green drop a very tough chance at third slip low to his left, could do nothing to keep out Cummins.The delivery after the ball was changed – a frequent event in this match as it was in Barbados – Cummins angled one in towards off stump which straightened, skimmed past the edge and smashed off stump. It brought back memories of Joe Root at Old Trafford during the 2019 Ashes.Roston Chase made a counter-attacking 34•Associated Press

With nothing much to lose, Chase and Hope played their shots after the interval with numerous deliveries flying in the air but away from fielders. Chase emphatically sent Webster down the ground for six, too. But it was a high-risk strategy that wouldn’t last long, and Hope fell to a top-edged pull when Hazlewood returned in place of Cummins.Chase produced a magnificent flick for six over midwicket against Starc, which left even the bowler impressed, but was given out lbw four deliveries later to bail-trimmer from around the wicket. In his next over, Starc trapped Justin Greaves with one that shot through at ankle height.Alzarri Joseph had launched his first two deliveries for six against Lyon but was well held by Green running around the midwicket rope when he attempted another. As he had done in Barbados, Shamar Joseph also hit out and collected three sixes before finding long-on after Lyon had changed ends. Lyon was taken for six sixes in less than six overs, but had the final say.The final Test in Jamaica, which will be a day-nighter at Sabina Park, begins on July 12.

England indebted to rookie as Sri Lanka’s bowlers probe away on rain-truncated day

Andrew Miller22-Aug-2024England 259 for 6 (Smith 72*) lead Sri Lanka 236 by 23 runsAsitha Fernando produced a compelling display of all-purpose seam and swing bowling, while Prabath Jayasuriya chipped in with two bewilderingly brilliant deliveries in an otherwise steady display of left-arm spin, as Sri Lanka fought gamely to stay in touch on a gloomy second day of the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford.By the close, England were indebted to their rookie keeper, Jamie Smith, who justified his promotion to No. 6 with a hard-earned 72 not out, his third half-century in five innings since taking over from his Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes at the start of the summer. Harry Brook added another fifty of his own as England recovered from a dicey 125 for 4 to close on 259 for 6, with a slender lead of 23 in the bank.As had been the case throughout the West Indies series earlier in the summer, the impression after two days of action is that England should yet close out this contest with some ease, but the quality and spirit of the visitors’ bowling has forced them to graft with rather more diligence than might have been the case in previous incarnations of the Bazball era. Asitha in particular was superb throughout his 14 overs, spread across three key spells, including an incisive mid-innings bout of reverse-swing that belied the dank conditions.After sweating under the covers for several hour during a rainy morning in Manchester, the Old Trafford pitch was ripe for seam bowling when play finally got underway at 1.15pm, and Asitha was primed to cash in. With his bustling approach and a commitment to a full length, he posed problems from the outset, under still-dense cloud cover and with the floodlights in full beam.His performance went into overdrive from the first ball of his second over, when Dan Lawrence was pinned on the pad and given out lbw by umpire Paul Reiffel. Although that decision was successfully overturned, with the ball shown to be skimming over the bails, the information was stored away and perfectly processed by the bowler.Two balls later, and now with Ben Duckett on strike, Asitha fired the ball in a good two feet fuller, and was this time the successful reviewee, with the ball shown to be both pitching on and hitting leg stump as Duckett was turned inside-out on his attempted flick across the line.And in his very next over, Asitha served up the piece de resistance of his new-ball spell, an exceptional wobble-seam delivery, pitching half a foot fuller than the Lawrence ball, and straightening off the pitch to smash into the top of Ollie Pope’s off stump. England’s captain was gone for 6, and at 40 for 2 in the ninth over, England had a bit of a rebuild to undertake.Root is no stranger to skinny top-order scorelines, of course, and as he bedded in for the long haul, it was Lawrence who initiated England’s counterattack, with a brace of forceful whips through the leg side as Asitha strayed in length. But, having scored just four of his 30 runs through the off side, his vulnerability in the channel was superbly exploited by Vishwa Fernando, who nicked him off after a change of ends, using the breeze from the James Anderson End to push a lifter across his bows from his left-arm angle.Jamie Smith gets on top of a pull•Getty Images

Despite the conditions, Sri Lanka were able to find some appreciable reverse-swing off a typically abrasive Old Trafford pitch, meaning that Root and Brook had to be on their mettle even as their 58-run stand clipped along at more than five an over. Milan Rathnayake, Sri Lanka’s first-day hero, was picked off for three fours in an over as he strained for that swinging full length, but it was Asitha’s return to the attack that would prise the most vital wicket of the day.Root had reached 42 from 56 balls in another understated display of touch and timing when he was undone in expert fashion, climbing into a wider line from Asitha while still playing for the inswing that had been the feature of his over to that point. This ball, however, held its line and skidded straight on, and Dinesh Chandimal scooped up the low edge to leave England wobbling at 125 for 4.Brook, however, kept the foot down in his familiarly forceful manner, driving with heavy timing whenever the ball was over-pitched, and working the gaps well, with Sri Lanka’s field still veering towards the defensive given England’s reputation for boundary-hunting. He duly rattled along to a 59-ball half-century, his 14th in just 25 Test innings, and if it was beginning to feel as though something special would be needed to dislodge him, then Jayasuriya obliged shortly after tea.Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner had been diligent without being threatening for much of his day’s work, when out of the blue, he served up something unplayable: a perfectly pitched ripper that gripped and bounced on middle and leg to clip the top of off. Brook could only blink in astonishment – as, indeed, would Chris Woakes, some 18 overs later, when he fell in near-identical fashion, to almost the only other spinning delivery to deviate from the straight all day.Between those two moments, however, there was Smith, with the third fifty of his fledgling career, and unquestionably the hardest-earned yet. He was forced to graft against the swinging ball early in his innings, although one massive straight six off Jayasuriya signalled his refusal to be cowed, but it was the mid-point of his innings that displayed his savvy – in particular a relative grind through the 40s, after Rathnayake had induced two inside-edges in the space of three deliveries with his probing fourth-stump line outside the rookie’s eyeline.Woakes was the ideal ally for a defensively minded rebuild, as England – a batter light in Ben Stokes’ absence – focused on batting long, rather than rushing into a lead. Sri Lanka’s tactics arguably failed to adapt to the dominance that their bowlers were exerting in this period, although in reducing the pair to a run-rate of less than three an over in their 52-run stand, they succeeded in keeping themselves in the game.And when the light began to fail, only minutes after Woakes’ extraction, there was never any thought of Sri Lanka bowling spin in the gloom for the sake of filling out the overs, as had been England’s approach at the same stage on day one. Dhananjaya de Silva marched his players straight off for the pavilion, with six wickets in the bank, and the prospect of a night’s rest for his quicks before they continue their quest to stay in touch with a quietly engrossing contest.