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The KKR spinners meanwhile stifled the opposition batters as usual, ensuring the chase was far from demanding

Sreshth Shah14-Apr-20242:10

Rapid Fire: Reasons behind KKR’s improved show this season

Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc made it a Bengali New Year to remember for the Kolkata Knight Riders fans at Eden Gardens, helping the hosts thump Lucknow Super Giants by eight wickets on Sunday. Starc picked up important LSG wickets to finish with 3 for 28, his best figures of the season, while Salt led the charge in the chase with an unbeaten 47-ball 89. KKR now sit second on the points table, having begun a string of five straight home games in fabulous fashion.KKR were also left chasing a comfortable target courtesy their spinners’ efforts in the middle overs; they did not let LSG break away despite having wickets in hand. Sunil Narine took 1 for 17 in four while Varun Chakravarthy claimed 1 for 30. Together, their eight overs went for only 5.88 per over.As for LSG, there were two silver linings, provided by Nicholas Pooran and Mohsin Khan. From No. 6, Pooran struck four sixes and two fours to make a 32-ball 45 to give LSG a competitive total while Mohsin picked up the only two KKR wickets to fall, both in the powerplay.Phil Salt attacked from one end even as KKR lost two early wickets•Associated Press

Salt shakes up LSG

After the game, KL Rahul described the defeat as a “proper hammering”, and the prime reason for that was Salt. Having been dismissed for a duck in Chennai in KKR’s previous game, Salt was very nearly out for a duck again when he clipped debutant Shamar Joseph to short-fine leg. Luckily for Salt, Yash Thakur dropped him and even if he hadn’t, Joseph’s front-foot no-ball would’ve given him a reprieve anyway. After that let-off, Salt finished the first over with a six down the ground, and then continued to go for it through the powerplay.That helped KKR stay on course even as Sunil Narine and Angkrish Raghuvanshi fell cheaply. He clubbed Krunal Pandya for a hat-trick of boundaries in the third over and that set up a 58-run powerplay.On 31, Salt was dropped again at deep-square leg in the seventh over, and it perhaps made him tentative for a couple of overs. But Salt once again found momentum in the tenth over, bowled by Arshad Khan (the bowler paying the price for having dropped him three overs earlier). Salt struck consecutive fours in the tenth to reach his fifty in 26 balls and bring up KKR’s hundred inside ten overs.Salt then began to apply the finishing touches when he struck Thakur for three fours in the 14th over, followed by a massive six over midwicket off Mohsin in the 15th. His pull for four in the 16th over off a half-tracker from Bishnoi summed up both the KKR batting innings and the LSG bowling performance.From the other end, Shreyas Iyer made up for a slow start to finish unbeaten for the second time this season. He did not need to take risks, given Salt’s brisk scoring and the two early wickets.He played aggressive shots only as the target got closer. He struck Ravi Bishnoi and Arshad for boundaries through the middle overs to move from 6 off 12 to finish unbeaten on 38 off 38. He was particularly strong off his hips as the LSG pacers erred by bowling too many times on a leg-stump line. His unbroken partnership of 120 with Salt was the highest third-wicket stand for KKR in the IPL.0:54

Starc: ‘Taken me longer than I would’ve liked to get back into rhythm’

Starc leads KKR’s bowling charge

After Vaibhav Arora struck early to remove Quinton de Kock, Shreyas gave Starc a third powerplay over in the afternoon heat to find another wicket. He did that when an out-of-form Deepak Hooda sliced him to backward point in the fifth over.Rahul and the No. 4 Ayush Badoni then consolidated to take LSG to 72 for 2 in ten overs, however Rahul’s attempt to up his scoring rate resulted in his dismissal. Rahul struck Andre Russell for a six to start off the 11th over but while attempting a repeat next ball, he holed out for 39 at deep midwicket. That brought in Marcus Stoinis, but his stay was short lived when he was deceived by Varun, inside-edging a catch to the off-side which the wicketkeeper Salt smartly collected.At 109 for 4 in 14 overs, LSG were at risk of finishing well under-par. The situation become more dire when Badoni top-edged Narine in the 15th for a laboured 27-ball 29. Narine would concede no boundaries as he finished with 1 for 17.But while Pooran was around, LSG still had hope, and he offered just that with his 32-ball 45. He went after the inexperienced pair of Harshit Rana and Arora in the death overs, helping LSG score 29 runs off the 18th and 19th overs. However, Starc stopped further damage in the 20th over, when he had Pooran nicking behind off the first ball. That ensured LSG would score only 52 runs off the final six overs, with Starc embellishing his returns with a third wicket off the final delivery of the innings.

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.

A Michael Klinger special lifted the hosts to the top of the BBL points table, after completing a six-wicket win against Sydney Sixers

The Report by Daniel Brettig01-Jan-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMichael Klinger’s composure ensured Perth Scorchers broke fresh ground with the highest successful chase in their history, to consign the Sydney Sixers to a fourth consecutive defeat and vault over Adelaide Strikers to the top of the Big Bash League table. The hosts had appeared to be in considerable trouble when they staggered to 2 for 35 after the Powerplay following the Sixers’ total of 167, but Klinger refused to panic, and took the Scorchers home with help from Ashton Turner and a cameo from the debutant Tim David.The Sixers made a decent fist of their innings after being sent in, as the makeshift opener Peter Nevill, Jordan Silk and Sam Billings were particularly effective. But there was grim news for Steve O’Keefe when he suffered a suspected serious leg injury in the field, robbing the captain Johan Botha of one of his most economical options. The Sixers are now on the brink of an early elimination from the tournament.Michael Klinger flicks into the leg side•Getty Images

Accidental openerDaniel Hughes has accompanied Jason Roy to the middle in both the Sixers’ matches so far, but a muscle strain in the warm-ups meant that the left-hander was ruled out and replaced at the top by Peter Nevill. Not a noted power hitter, Nevill instead likes to use the pace on the ball, and another swift WACA surface gave him his chance.Helpful, too, was Jhye Richardson, who offered up some generous width early in his spell, including one no ball that Nevill cut cleanly to the backward point boundary. The subsequent free hit was fuller and sliced through the same region to the boundary. Altogether, Nevill would get five fours in an innings that covered not only for Hughes but also for Roy’s exit to a contentious lbw decision – the ball appeared to have pitched outside leg stump before rapping his front leg.Even contributionsThe Scorchers pride themselves on possessing a mean bowling and fielding unit, one that is very capable of taking wickets through economy, but also through penetration. This night, however, the Sixers were able to gain a foothold in the match by establishing partnerships throughout their innings. Once Nic Maddinson followed Nevill back to the pavilion for another handy score, Silk and Billings were able to pull together a stand of 56 in 39 deliveries, before Silk and Ben Dwarshuis hustled 30 more off the final 13 balls of the innings.A curious subplot of the Scorchers’ approach was the captain Adam Voges’ choice to bowl himself alongside James Muirhead to split the duties of the hosts’ fifth bowler. Muirhead has been on a rocky journey since representing Australia in 2014, and started this season in the St Kilda second-grade team in Melbourne Premier cricket. Muirhead, however, bowled well in his two overs at the WACA Ground but a hamstring strain forced Voges to bowl the remaining two. The Sixers captain conceded 23 off those 12 balls, but Muirhead can expect a full four-over stint next time out.Injury upsets SixersTo say O’Keefe has an benighted record with injury would be to understate his misfortune over the years, never more so than the hamstring strain he suffered midway through the Kandy Test against Sri Lanka in 2016 when he had looked like Australia’s most dangerous bowler. He had bowled three tidy overs for 20 runs in Perth when he slipped at short fine leg, felt a “crack” and immediately sought treatment in the dressing rooms, never to return. A fracture is suspected.The injury gave the Sixers captain Botha a difficult choice in terms of finding the extra over, and his choice of a like-for-like option in the shape of Maddinson’s occasional left-arm spinners was to be punished for 14 runs by Turner and Klinger. Botha himself elected to only bowl one over for the night, as Klinger steadily carried the game away from the visitors.Klinger comes throughIt had been a matter of serious doubt whether Klinger would play any part at all for the Scorchers this season after finding out that his wife, Cindy, had been diagnosed with cancer. But he has so far been available for all fixtures and demonstrated a rare level of composure and skill to guide the Scorchers’ chase of a larger total than what they have commonly needed to.Starting steadily, Klinger rolled into gear with a pair of boundaries through the off side from the bowling of Dwarshuis in the fourth over of the chase, but did not panic as the Scorchers managed only a modest 2 for 35 from the Powerplay. Showcasing the skills built over nearly 20 years in first-class ranks, he scored freely around the ground, and with a hat-trick of boundaries from Sean Abbott in the 18th over, Klinger appeared to have settled the matter.Though Klinger was to be dismissed in the penultimate over – when trying to hoist Daniel Sams into the crowd beyond wide long-on – Klinger was able to watch as Voges and the debutant David eked out the winning runs – none more vital than David’s straight six from Sams’ final delivery when 15 runs were still required from seven. When Abbott started the final over with five wides, the Scorchers were all but home, and the Sixers all but out of contention. Voges then finished it off with a top-edged six over Nevill to move back to first.

Will Porterfield joins Red Rose after spin specialist opts to pursue opportunities on T20 circuit

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2024Carl Crowe, Lancashire’s assistant coach, has left the club by mutual consent on the eve of the 2024 county season, in order to pursue new coaching opportunities. He is replaced on the staff by Will Porterfield, who has joined with immediate effect after leaving Gloucestershire.Crowe, 48, played 83 professional games between 1995 and 2009, and worked as a consultant coach with Lancashire’s spinners for the 2020 and 2021 seasons before taking up the assistant role on a full-time basis in late 2021.Previously he had built his reputation on the T20 franchise circuit, including through his extensive work with Sunil Narine.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Emirates Old Trafford, but I have decided the time is right in my coaching career to now move on and seek some exciting new opportunities,” Crowe said.
.”It was a pleasure to work for the Red Rose and I am sure that there are successful times ahead for this group. I would like to wish Dale [Benkenstein], Keaton [Jennings], the players and our Members and supporters all the very best for the future.”Lancashire’s director of cricket performance, Mark Chilton, added: “Carl has made the decision to pursue new opportunities in his coaching career and we fully respect his decision to do so. I would like to thank him for all his hard work since joining us permanently in 2021 and wish him the best of luck with what is to come.”The club has enjoyed a really strong and productive relationship with Carl during the past few years and we would certainly be open to working together again in the future in some way, should the right opportunity present itself.”The wheels are already in motion to make a new addition to the coaching staff and we will be making an announcement about this in due course.”

Porterfield reunites with Benkenstein at Lancashire

Will Porterfield captained Ireland across all three formats•Getty Images

Porterfield, the former Ireland captain who played for Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, has moved to Old Trafford in order to link up with Benkenstein once again. Porterfield moved into coaching in 2022 after retiring as a player, spending two seasons under Benkenstein on the staff at Bristol.”I’m really pleased that Will has been able to join me at Emirates Old Trafford ahead of the new season and look forward to continuing our working relationship,” Benkenstein said. “Will and I worked together for two years in Bristol and I think that he will add real skill and experience to our coaching staff here at Lancashire, both from his playing days and first steps into coaching.”With Will and Craig White alongside me, I am really pleased to have my coaching team finalised as we head off on pre-season tour this week before the season gets underway in April.”Finally, I would also like to thank Carl Crowe for all of his efforts during our brief time working together here at Lancashire and I wish him all the best with his next steps.”

The England opener has opened up a controversial episode in his career saying it was ‘a really, really tough time’

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2024Ben Duckett has lifted the lid on the incident that saw him sent home from Australia during the 2017-18 Ashes after pouring a drink over James Anderson, revealing Anderson threw a drink over him first before feeling bad and encouraging Duckett to return the favour.Duckett was part of the Lions tour at the time, desperate to add to four Test caps picked up from tours of Bangladesh and India at the end of 2016. The indiscretion ended up setting him back as he was sent home with a fine and suspension from the ECB. He eventually returned to the Lions set-up at the end of 2018.The incident took place before the third Test against Australia, at Perth’s Avenue Bar, with England 2-0 down and subject to intense scrutiny of their off-field behaviour. The venue had already gained notoriety on the tour after Jonny Bairstow “greeted” Cameron Bancroft at the bar by butting heads ahead of the series, a story that emerged with falsely malicious undertones during the culmination of England’s loss at the Gabba in the first Test.Related

• Duckett 'poured drink over' Anderson

• Bairstow 'headbutt' allegations 'blown out of proportion' – Strauss

• Dynamic Duckett gives England a puncher's chance on turning deck

The ECB was already on high alert heading to Australia after Ben Stokes was charged with affray in September of that year, before being found not guilty in 2018. Duckett’s misdemeanour ended up being the final straw, prompting a midnight curfew instilled following the Bairstow-Bancroft episode to be made permanent, though it has been relaxed intermittently since.At the time, head coach Trevor Bayliss could not contain his anger, telling reporters: “It’s a fairly trivial incident but, in the current climate, it’s just not acceptable”. Anderson used his column in the to downplay what he regarded as “a pretty silly incident”.Both Bayliss and managing director Andrew Strauss – who had to insist England players were not “thugs” after losing the first Test in the wake of the Bairstow’s “headbutt” – put their foot down as allegations of a booze culture prevailed. England ended up succumbing to a 4-0 series defeat. By then, Duckett had already returned home as part of the collateral.Seven years on, Duckett is an established international, and with Anderson now retired – though he remains part of the Test set-up as a bowling consultant – he is comfortable clarifying that he was not the instigator on that fateful night in Perth, and that he feared his England career was over.”Jimmy actually threw a drink on me, but no one knows about that,” Duckett told podcast. “And then said, ‘oh, we’re just messing around. You can just lob one on my head. That’s fine.’ Genuinely. So then I just poured one on his head and the security guard saw me from the ECB, who looks after us, and it filtered back.”That was kind of basically the story. We carried on the rest of the night together, getting on well. That’s the story that’s got blown up. Then obviously when things start getting out in the media and everyone’s saying all this stuff, then everyone believes that like that. And as soon as a story or a headline’s out there, ‘well that’s what happened then’.”But then you can’t really come out and say what I’ve just said, because I’m a young lad trying to break into the England team. It’s one of the best ever England players, you know? And people didn’t really want to hear me.The 2017-18 Ashes tour was largely a miserable one for England•Getty Images

“It was actually a really, really tough time. People look back and it’s probably funny and stuff like that. But when you’re in Australia and you’re kind of being told you can’t go to training, you can’t play – it’s a lonely place for a 22-year-old.”And being in Australia, you’re not getting much sympathy from any anyone out there, are you? But yeah, it was one of those things where… it feels like your world’s ending. The time difference, you’re not speaking to family much. The lads around me in that group at the time were amazing.”Duckett’s subsequent emergence as an England regular across has allowed him to put a positive spin on that period of his career. Only Joe Root (2250) has more than Duckett’s 1980 runs since returning to the Test side as an opener at the end of 2022, at a strike rate of 88.55, with four centuries.The left-hander was one of just three batters to average over 50 in the recent 2-1 series defeat to Pakistan. He is also set to be a vital cog in the rejuvenation of the limited overs set-up, led by Test head coach Brendon McCullum who will assume control of England’s white-ball sides in the new year.While Duckett feared for his future after that 2017-18 winter, he believes the resolve it bred has been integral to developing as a mainstay across all three formats.”It’s not that moment that was the issue. It was, you know, for the next 12 months, it was, ‘you’re basically on hold now for a little while’. Which for a 23 [year-old]… that’s kind of a bad time to basically get told you’ve got no chance here.”It does make you grow up a little bit faster and stuff and dealing with what I had to deal with probably made me a little bit more resilient as a person and probably a bit tougher.”All these things now, in a really weird way, I wouldn’t change much of it because, where I am right now, when I play for England, it’s like I don’t want to give that shirt to anyone else.”I’ve probably not made things easy at times. I’m not a saint and an angel, and I probably was an easy target at the time. That would be the only thing I’ll say – whether it was dealt right or wrong, that’s for people to make their own mind up.”

‘Cricket is all about batting, so if you can contribute with the bat, as an individual it’s more pleasing,” says Player of the Match Sunil Narine

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-20241:13

Aaron: KKR have a ton of matchwinners

The price tag of INR 24.75 crore (US$2.98 million approx.) almost ran in with him as Mitchell Starc bowled in his first two IPL 2024 matches, where he went for a combined 0 for 100 in eight overs. It might have on Wednesday in Visakhapatnam too, but with the batters scoring an almost-record IPL score of 272, the pressure was perhaps a little off. And Starc, one of the best in the modern-day game, struck in his second over, getting Mitchell Marsh to slap one to cover point, and then again in his third, when he got David Warner to under-edge an attempted cut on to his stumps.Figures of 2 for 25 look a lot better than 0 for 53 or 0 for 47, and while Starc didn’t quite admit to feeling a bit out of place in the previous matches, he did say that those returns weren’t what he had hoped for.”In a game of T20, we all need a little bit of luck, a few edges go by, a dropped catch or two, that’s T20 cricket,” he said on the host broadcast after the game. “You move on pretty quickly, because the games come thick and fast. Yeah, probably not the start I wanted, but we’ve been winning games, so that’s what it’s about. We’re three-nil. And tonight, with bat and ball, we were pretty good, I think.Related

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• Narine, Raghuvanshi and Arora power demolition of Capitals

• Raghuvanshi second-youngest to score fifty in maiden IPL innings, as KKR smash second-highest total

“It can be brutal at times, particularly on the bowlers [in T20 cricket]. I think we’ve seen on some of the grounds, some of the scores… so yeah, you take a little bit of luck here and there. Yeah, we’re three-nil at the start of the season, and tonight we were pretty clinical with bat and ball. Personal stuff aside, the team’s start has been fantastic.”That’s the bigger picture. The fact that almost every Knight Rider has put in at least one performance of note in taking KKR to three wins on the trot and the top position on the table after all the teams have played at least three games.As for the smaller picture, getting Marsh and Warner must have felt good? “It’s nice to have those ones in the pocket,” Starc said with a laugh.But before Starc got into his act, it was Vaibhav Arora, 26 years and just 34 T20 matches old and not really anywhere near international cricket, who created a flutter, getting rid of Prithvi Shaw in his first over as Delhi Capitals chased a mammoth 273 for victory. Arora did it at his mid-130s pace with a lot of swing into the right-hand batters and the occasional well-directed bouncer, and finished with 3 for 27.”That’s all him, he was fantastic tonight, and I thought he used the short ball really well,” Starc said when asked if he had a role to play in Arora’s success. “For me, it’s probably more conversations around training, around bowling meetings, when we’re taking on Dave and Mitch, who some of these guys haven’t played before. So just talking a bit around that sort of thing. Just see how they go about their business in the nets, and if they ask questions, just little conversations around that. Certainly not me telling them how to bowl and tonight I thought our whole bowling attack was fantastic.”The bowling came later. First, it was the batting. Sunil Narine – 85 in 29 balls. Angkrish Raghuvanshi – 54 in 27 balls. Andre Russell – 41 in 19 balls. Rinku Singh – 26 in eight balls. KKR – 272 for 7. Just five runs behind Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 277 for 3 the other day, which is the highest IPL total ever.”Not at all. To be honest, the way we were at the start, maybe we’d reach around 210-220, but 270 [272 for 7] was icing on the cake,” Shreyas Iyer, the KKR captain, said when asked if topping SRH’s total had crossed his mind. “Sunny’s [Narine’s] job is to go out there and free his arms and see to it that he gets us a great powerplay. Even if he doesn’t, we’ve got other batters who can basically take on the bowlers and see to it that we get a commendable total by the end of the powerplay. So that is the mindset, to keep intent strong and taking on the bowlers.”1:42

Moody: Narine prides himself on his batting

As for Raghuvanshi, playing his first IPL innings and looking like he has always belonged, Iyer said, “He was fearless from ball one. When you see him, his work ethic is phenomenal. He is top notch in analysing situations and he is a smart batsman when it comes to reading the situation. The way he played today, the shots were literally pleasing to the eye.”Starc and Raghuvanshi and Arora played their part, but the man of the moment, and the Player of the Match, not just for all those quick runs but also the 1 for 29, was Narine.’Cricket is all about batting, so if you can contribute with the bat, as an individual it’s more pleasing. But I still enjoy my bowling,” he said when asked which of the two disciplines are more his thing.What Narine’s performance did, of course, was give KKR a huge net run-rate boost. Not only are they top of the table, but their NRR of 2.528 is way ahead of the others’ – second-placed Rajasthan Royals are at 1.249.”On a good wicket like that, trying to keep it as tight as possible, to try and win with a bigger margin so it can help our run rate later on in the tournament,” Narine said on the matter.

England undone by fierce hitting before spinners and Alzarri Joseph close out contest

Andrew Miller14-Dec-2023West Indies 176 for 7 (King 82*, Powell 50, Rashid 2-11) beat England 166 for 7 (Curran 50, Joseph 3-39) by 10 runsBrandon King and Rovman Powell produced the power surge that England’s renowned white-ball hitters couldn’t come close to replicating, as West Indies romped to a 2-0 series lead with a victory in Grenada that was significantly more emphatic than the final 10-run margin would have you believe.Such a result didn’t seem on the cards when a collapse of 4 for 11 in 16 balls left West Indies rocking at 54 for 4 in the ninth over of the match, at which point England’s twin-spin attack of Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed were in complete command of the contest.And yet, West Indies turned the tables in startling fashion, first through a brace of half-centuries from Powell, who belted 30 runs off Sam Curran’s second and final over, and King, whose superb unbeaten 82 from 52 included three sixes and four fours off the last 12 balls of Rehan’s day.And then, with a stiff but attainable 177 to defend, West Indies served up a spin stranglehold of their own, as the left-armers Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie put a lock on the contest for eight consecutive overs from the Pavilion End. They produced the combined figures of 3 for 33, and though Curran showed gumption to top-score with 50 from 32 balls after his chastening bowling display, a requirement of 28 off the final over proved way beyond Rehan and Moeen Ali.

Dot and bash in powerplay

West Indies owed their victory in the opening T20I to a familiar trait, with their pain-train of batters out-thumping England by 14 sixes to six. Today was a similar story – 13 played eight in the final analysis, including Rehan’s penultimate-ball slap over point when the game was already lost.For the first half of their bowling effort, however, England appeared to have mitigated for that threat. Three of West Indies’ sixes duly came in the powerplay, but then, so too did 18 dot-balls, or half of their allocation, as the recalled Moeen burgled a three-run opening over before Chris Woakes’ crafty use of the cutter gave him the final say in an engaging duel with Kyle Mayers.With memories of the record-breaking 46-six ODI on this same ground in 2019, Jos Buttler had had no compunction about bowling first after winning the toss, safe in the knowledge that a hefty chase was on the cards. The fact is, their eventual target wasn’t nearly as stiff as he might have bargained for, yet England were still a distant second-best.Akeal Hosein celebrates another wicket•Associated Press

Rash and Rehan rip the top-order

Master and apprentice, heir apparent and all that… from the moment he bowled England to the Under-19 World Cup final two years ago, there was never much doubt that Rehan would eventually take over the mantle of England’s attack-leading legspinner across formats.What was less obvious, however, was that there would be a period, in Rehan’s international infancy and at the tail-end of Rashid’s magnificent career, that the pair would dovetail as a twin-spin force to be envied. And to judge by their thrilling post-powerplay surge, that time might just be now, notwithstanding the gulf that eventually emerged between their eventual figures.After entering the attack for the seventh over, Rashid was first to strike, just three balls into his spell, as Nicholas Pooran was flummoxed by a diet of loopy googlies and surrendered with a loose hack to long-on. Rehan then went one better – his second delivery burst through the defences of the in-form Shai Hope, dipping and ripping into off stump to dispatch him for 1 from 3.Not to be outdone, Rashid took the baton back in his very next over, confounding Shimron Hetmyer with a wonderful double-whammy – a huge air-ball first-up that plopped on a middle-and-leg line, followed by a flatter flipper outside off next-up that Hetmyer could only prod uneasily to Moeen at slip.By the time their five-over alliance was done, West Indies were listing at 68 for 4 after 11, with King’s forceful thump through the line off Rehan being their only boundary in 31 balls. That, inevitably, was about to change.

King, Powell serve the smackdown

Unwittingly or otherwise, Rehan’s change of ends marked the start of West Indies’ charge. His first ball was too full and got the treatment as King climbed handsomely through the line. A fumble from Woakes at long-on then gave way to a beastly slog-sweep for King’s fourth six, and a 33-ball half-century, whereupon Powell unleashed a muscular thrash off Tymal Mills to bring up the hundred inside the 14th over.Rashid returned to restore some short-term order. His fourth and final over yielded a trio of singles, for the outstanding figures of 2 for 11, but Powell was only just getting started. Curran’s fragile form has been a concern for some months now, and now he found himself fully exposed by the most expensive over of his career.It started, as these things sometimes do, with a hint of misfortune, as Powell’s under-edge eluded both his stumps and Buttler’s dive. But thereafter it was carnage. Twice Curran took the pace off, twice he was butchered high over the ropes. Twice he aimed fuller, and was launched brutally down the ground. In between whiles, he tried to hide the ball and was done for a brace of wides.The fourth of Powell’s sixes brought up his 27-ball fifty, and he might have made it five in the over had Brook at long-on not intercepted with a brilliant full-stretch dive. But his departure didn’t exactly slow West Indies’ onslaught. King was waiting for Rehan’s return, and made it 48 in two overs with three fours and a mighty slog over deep midwicket, as the rookie retreated with 1 for 47, his most bruised figures of the tour so far.At least Mills had the experience to restore a degree of order. He’d been quietly effective across his first two overs and utilised his startling range of pace-on and -off deliveries to limit King and Andre Russell to an exchange of four singles in his third. Russell, inevitably, connected with two sixes before the innings was done, including a remarkable leaping uppercut off long-off, but Mills struck back with a pinpoint slower ball before making two in two to wrap up the 20 overs, as Jason Holder holed out to cow corner.Sam Curran scored his maiden T20I fifty•Getty Images

Spin and pace unpick England

Left-arm round, wide on the crease, angled into the body, cramping the ambitions of a succession of eager right-handers. It was a simple recipe, devastatingly deployed, as Hosein and Motie – only playing due to a knee niggle for Romario Shepherd – dovetailed to perfection.Three overs for Hosein in the powerplay, four overs for nine runs for Motie thereafter, then one final over for Hosein, in which the dangerous Harry Brook became the third and final of their combined victims. The lack of gumption in England’s approach was palpable, not least from the listless Buttler, whose attempt to give Hosein the charge ended with a limp push to short cover – either that or accept he was about to be stumped by a mile.And while that lockdown was being enacted, Alzarri Joseph had licence to crank it up from the far end. His extra pace had been something of a liability in the preceding contests of this tour, but now his pounding of the pitch from just back of a length, with awkward lift into the body and a succession of catchers lined up on the leg-side, was all West Indies needed to turn the screw on their opponents.His methods did for both Phil Salt and Will Jacks inside the first ten overs, both men falling in the mid-20s having struggled to turn their proactive intent into anything telling. And though Joseph’s figures were dented in his third over as Curran – promoted to No. 5 and responding with a 31-ball fifty that was, remarkably, the first of his T20I career – the first ball of his fourth effectively sealed the deal, as Hosein clung onto a skewed drive to point.Up until that point, the only real threat to West Indies’ hegemony had come via an off-day with the ball for Andre Russell. After figures of 3 for 19 on Tuesday, he went wicketless for 66 this time, including a 22-run second over that featured an all-too-rare sighting of Liam Livingstone in power-hitting mode. Before he could turn his 17 from seven into anything substantial, Motie was on hand to saw him off.

In the end, the visitors’ own record – their team total including Jordan Silk’s century – was enough on a run-laden day

AAP08-Oct-2023South Australia’s Jake Fraser-McGurk set a new world record for the fastest century in a one-day match but it was not enough to stop Tasmania winning by 37 runs in the Marsh Cup.After being sent in to bat at Karen Rolton Oval on Sunday, Tasmania broke the competition record for largest total, with captain Jordan Silk contributing 116 runs of their 435 for 9.Tasmania’s effort was 15 runs greater than the 420 South Australia managed against the Cricket Australia XI in 2016.Related

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But a hot start from Fraser-McGurk put South Australia in position to make history themselves. Despite never having scored a century in any form before Sunday, he needed only 29 balls to reach triple figures, two fewer than South African great AB de Villiers in an ODI in 2015.The next-fastest ton by an Australian in a domestic one-day match, scored by Luke Ronchi, was 22 deliveries slower.In total, the 21-year-old smacked 23 boundaries, 13 of which were sixes. Prior to Sunday, he had only hit 18 sixes in the 49 games of his professional career.Jordan Silk struck a century in Tasmania’s record total•Getty Images

Fraser-McGurk’s formidable innings finally came to an end when he hit Beau Webster’s offspin to midwicket and was caught by Jake Weatherald.Without him, South Australia were never able to fully take advantage of the flat Adelaide deck.Allrounder Mitchell Owen was the pick of the bowlers for Tasmania, taking 3 for 46 including Daniel Drew and Jake Lehmann before they could truly kick on.South Australia were all out for 398 in the 47th over, which was still the fifth-highest total in Marsh Cup history and the largest one not to win.Earlier, Silk helped steady Tasmania’s ship after the loss of openers Caleb Jewell and Jake Weatherald in the space of two overs.On a day of carnage, the 31-year-old showed his maturity by moving slowly through the nervous 90s before launching into party mode after passing triple figures.His innings came to a halt in the 45th over, when he attempted to slog McAndrew for a 15th boundary but was caught by Ben Manenti at deep midwicket. Silk’s century was his first in 57 List A matches.The result comes after Tasmania dropped their first two games and sat bottom of the ladder and leaves South Australia chasing their first 50-over win of the summer.

A target of 203 proved beyond Kings XI’s reach despite aggressive knocks from KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran

The Report by Danyal Rasool24-Apr-20192:23

AB de Villiers breaks another IPL record

It was the sort of game that exemplified both why Royal Challengers Bangalore can be so dangerous, and exactly why they find themselves struggling the way they are. A knock of ferocity from AB de Villiers – an unbeaten 82 of 44 – led the side to a 17-run victory over Kings XI Punjab, their fourth win in five matchesto keep their playoff hopes alive. Royal Challengers had been behind the eight ball for most of the first innings, after R Ashwin had put them in to bat, but de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis savaged 64 off the last three overs, and out of nowhere they had surged to 202 and taken charge of a game that had till then been controlled by Kings XI.A middle-overs collapse, three wickets falling for the addition of ten runs, had set Royal Challengers back before de Villiers and Stoinis put on 121 for the fifth wicket, aided by Kings XI losing their discipline as the carnage amplified in intensity.Lost control was a major theme for a disappointed R Ashwin at the end, with Kings XI clinical in their approach to the chase in the first nine overs, only for two quick wickets to send the asking rate surging once more. From that point on, getting to the target always seemed a bridge too far. Nicholas Pooran’s five sixes gave Royal Challengers one last fright, but de Villiers’ brilliance had ensured his side had plenty of runs to play with, and plenty of momentum going into the final three games.AB de Villiers heaves one into the stands•BCCI

Devastating de VilliersThe only weakness of de Villiers’ game is that he showcases his ability so often that it doesn’t quite carry the novelty that it would with a player less divinely endowed. Cherish it now, though, or repent at leisure. Even with the hyperinflation in the currency of T20 run-scoring, it’s likely to be a while before such an audacious, improbably gifted cricketer comes along to treat cricket fans the way this South African has been doing for over a decade. He may have hung up his international gloves but with Royal Challengers, de Villiers has been a rare bright spark in a difficult season. He came in today and watched the Royal Challengers dig themselves into a hole – don’t they often? – before launching a counter-offensive so lethal it made Kings XI forget the basic rules of T20 death bowling.They fed him the ball in the slot, they threw in full-tosses both low and high, and they pitched the ball on a good length. It was meat and drink for de Villiers, with Mohammed Shami and Hardus Viljoen bearing the brunt of the bombardment as the Kings XI leaked an eye-watering 64 runs in the final three overs. In comparison, Kings XI managed a paltry 14 runs in their own final three overs, and in the absence of a freak like de Villiers, that 50-run disparity was simply too large to overcome.The extra bowling optionsYesterday, Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered for want of a sixth bowler, and Royal Challengers demonstrated the value of extra options to turn to. Kings XI had amassed 101 in the first nine overs, and with nine wickets still in the bag appeared odds on to gun down 203. But with his frontline bowlers struggling, Kohli had the luxury of turning to Marcus Stoinis and Moeen Ali. Stoinis struck with the first ball of his second over, getting rid of Mayank Agarwal, who along with Chris Gayle and KL Rahul had been responsible for the flying start Kings XI made.The very next over, Moeen dismissed Rahul with his first ball, bringing two new men to the crease. It coincided with a rising asking rate that would never quite go back down to pre-bowling-change levels, and with seven bowlers in their arsenal, Royal Challengers had enough saved for their frontline bowlers at the business end.R Ashwin’s misfortuneThere were several Kings XI players – mostly batsmen – who ill-deserved to be on the losing side today, but none can be as disappointed as the captain R Ashwin. In a game dominated by the big hitting of de Villiers, Stoinis, Gayle and Pooran, Ashwin kept his figures tighter than the taxman’s purse. Sure, three of the overs he bowled came in the middle as Royal Challengers looked to rebuild following a mini-collapse, but he didn’t go for a single boundary in his entire spell, and got rid of Moeen Ali with a magical arm ball that slammed into middle stump.It exposed the home side’s lower middle order, and Ashwin was brave enough to save himself for a final over towards the end just when de Villiers might be warming up. He returned for the 17th over, giving away just five as RCB’s innings looked to peter out. He might have given away just 15 in his four, but the 64 that came off the following three more than undid all his good work.

Will Somerville and Colin de Grandhomme took a wicket each for New Zealand on a day that saw only 36.3 overs

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu22-Aug-2019
Dimuth Karunaratne led Sri Lanka’s slow but steady progress on a rain-drenched first day at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. The Sri Lanka captain blunted the new ball and grew more fluent against the old one, making an unbeaten 49 off 100 balls, on a truncated day that saw only 36.3 overs. This, just three days after he had broken into the top ten in the Test batting rankings.A persistent drizzle had wiped out the entire morning session before returning to delay the start of the final session of the day. Although it relented, fading light resulted in early stumps on the opening day.ALSO READ: Williamson and Karunaratne, two ends of the control spectrumAfter Sri Lanka had opted to bat, both Tim Southee and Trent Boult found swing and seam movement on a grassy track, but their lengths weren’t full enough. It was offspinner Will Somerville who provided New Zealand with the breakthrough, when he extracted turn and bounce to have Lahiru Thrimanne, the other opener, spooning a catch to short cover for a skittish 2 off 35 balls.Karunaratne, much like Thirimanne, had been uncertain when the ball was pitched up, and threaded the cordon twice when he reached out outside off in the early exchanges. However, when Boult erred short, Karunaratne rose on top of the bounce and crunched him between point and cover for a brace of fours.Karunaratne’s defensive technique was tighter against Somerville and Ajaz Patel although he faced only eight balls of spin. Somerville’s tussle with Thirimanne was more intriguing as the offspinner challenged the edges with fuller lengths. Somerville could have had Thirmanne with his third ball when he drew a bottom edge, but wicketkeeper BJ Watling wasn’t quick enough to close his gloves around the ball.Moments after being dropped, Thirimanne cracked under pressure and loosely drove Somerville to Williamson in the 15th over. Kusal Mendis then played a few lively shots and upset Somerville’s lengths, but he was largely circumspect against the seamers. He contributed 32 to a 50-run second-wicket stand with Karunaratne before Colin de Grandhomme landed the ball on the seam and had him nicking off in the post-tea session.New Zealand had broken up their three-man spin attack and picked seam-bowling allrounder Colin de Grandhomme in place of Mitchell Santner, who not too long ago was their No.1 spinner. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, recalled a fit-again Dilruwan Perera in place of Akila Dananjaya, who risks suspension after being reported for suspect action for a second time in ten months.