India will miss Yuvraj Singh, who is recovering from viral fever, and Rohit Sharma, who will join the team on match day when they face New Zealand in their first Champions Trophy warm-up match on Sunday

Nagraj Gollapudi27-May-2017Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma will miss India’s first Champions Trophy warm-up match, against New Zealand on Sunday. Yuvraj is down with viral fever, while Rohit will join the squad on Sunday. Both are expected to be ready for India’s second warm-up match, against Bangladesh on May 30.Yuvraj and Rohit were the only two players to miss the two training sessions India have had in the last two days: Friday, at Lord’s, and Saturday, at The Oval.The BCCI sent out a medical update on Yuvraj, stating he was making “steady progress” after he woke up feeling crook on Friday morning. After undergoing tests, Yuvraj was advised rest. “The BCCI Medical Team confirms that Indian allrounder Yuvraj Singh who is presently down with viral fever is making steady progress,” a media release said. “There are no major health concerns and he is recuperating well, to the satisfaction of the medical team.”Rohit had got permission from the team management to attend a family wedding on Saturday. He was booked on a late night flight to join the team the next day.After the two warm-ups, India will travel to Birmingham, where they play Pakistan in their first match on June 4.

Faf du Plessis has said that transformation targets do not stop South Africa from fielding their best teams

Firdose Moonda27-Jul-2017Faf du Plessis is comfortable with the selection process in South African cricket and believes transformation targets are not stopping them from fielding their best teams. The South Africa Test captain was responding to fresh criticism by Graeme Pollock of a system that requires the national side to field a minimum average of six players of colour (including two black Africans) over the course of a season.Speaking at an event in London earlier this month, Pollock said South Africa would become a “middle of the road” Test team in future if the transformation policy remained in place. Du Plessis said he had not heard “the context in which Pollock was speaking” so it would be “unfair” to respond to Pollock personally but said that the team understood the policy.”We as a team understand what we need to do and how we need to take the country forward,” he said. “We get on with our business as usual. We play the best team and we try and win every game we play.”In 2016 the South African government banned four major sports – cricket, rugby, athletics and netball – from bidding for or hosting international events for not having done enough in terms of transformation. Each sport signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the sports ministry, the terms of which remain private. CSA has, however, made public the targets they decided to implement at national level and after exceeding them in the 2016-17 summer the ban was lifted.”The major thing is the problem with the politics and interference with the selection of players,” Pollock had originally said. “It’s affecting the performance of the side – they don’t put the 11 best players on the field. It’s never going to change. As South Africans, we’ve got to accept that South Africa are going to be middle of the road in their future Test cricket.”He took issue with the domestic set-up, where targets are applicable per match and require each franchise and provincial team to field six players of colour including three black Africans. Pollock said this created an inherently weak structure which produced below-par cricketers of all races.”You are going to pick a guy like Heino Kuhn, the opening batsman, who got a couple of hundreds in first-class cricket. He’s not good enough to play Test cricket. The guys are playing in a bad standard of first-class cricket in South Africa because of the politics and interference in selection.”A week after Pollock’s comments were first published, however, his spokesperson Basil O’Hagan issued a statement which claimed the quotes were “totally misconstrued”, issued an apology and said Pollock is in favour of transformation.”Graeme extends his sincerest apologies to CSA Board and the South African cricketing public for the manner in which his comments at recent function in London were totally misconstrued. Graeme fully supports the endeavours of the transformation process,” O’Hagan said.When asked by ESPNcricinfo which part of Pollock’s original statement was misconstrued, O’Hagan said he would not respond to every paragraph of the original article but called it “incorrect” as a whole. O’Hagan also said Pollock “maintains transformation is the way to correct decades of oppression of black South Africans and marginalisation of black cricketers.”The clarification did not prevent strong criticism from former Test player and current Cobras coach Ashwell Prince in the where Prince detailed his own struggles across a two-decade long career.”Pollock’s comments most definitely struck a nerve. Not just with myself, but it seems the overwhelming majority of South Africans. Quite frankly, as a former Protea, one has reached the point where you simply just cannot sit back and allow people with these kind of mindsets to keep feeding the world this kind of rubbish and just let it be,” Prince said.”People who were disadvantaged under the previous political regime simply have to be given opportunities which in the past were reserved for a privileged minority.”South Africa will have five players of colour in their side for the third Test against England at The Oval with Kagiso Rabada’s return following his suspension. They fielded four at Trent Bridge with JP Duminy dropped, but with the targets being assessed over a whole season whether they have been met or not for 2017-18 will not be known until after the home summer against Bangladesh, India and Australia.

The final night in the NatWest Blast group stages leaves just about every county involved in an extraordinary dash to the line

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Aug-2017Fifteen of the 18 counties could still qualify for the quarter-finals of the NatWest Blast ahead of Friday’s final round of matches in the most remarkable climax to the group stages that the tournament has ever known.The last eight games began with only Notts Outlaws, in the North Group, and Glamorgan and Hampshire, in the South, assured of a place in the last eight.North Group leaders Notts can already anticipate a home quarter final at Trent Bridge – their seventh in eight years – whereas Glamorgan, top in the South, need to take a point from their home game against Middlesex to be certain of staving off a potential Surrey challenge for second place.In South Group, if Hampshire beat Somerset at the Ageas Bowl, they will guarantee themselves a home quarter-final. Similarly, the winners of the Kent-Surrey game in Canterbury will qualify – and might even steal a top-two finish and a home tie.But the fact that Kent are playing Surrey opens up the chance for the bottom four sides – Middlesex, Sussex Sharks, Somerset and Essex Eagles – to overtake the losers of that game, and snaffle the fourth qualifying spot.If teams are level, qualification will be decided by Net Run Rate. Significantly, the bottom four all have better rates than both Surrey and Kent, which partly explains why the losers of that game in Canterbury will be eliminated.In the North Group, Yorkshire currently lie second, a position secured by Adam Lyth’s record T20 score in English domestic cricket, made against Northants at Headingley on Thursday.But it was a bitter-sweet victory. Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Lancashire can all overhaul them tonight – although in Lancashire’s case it would take something extra special to get their Net Run Rate ahead of their Pennines rivals.To make matters worse for Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Birmingham and Leicestershire only need a point to pass them – which could be relevant, with an uncertain weather forecast for the Midlands.However, rain would not automatically take Derbyshire, Birmingham and Leicestershire through because the defending champions, Northants, can still hit the top four if they beat Durham at Wantage Road and other results fall in their favour.Even seventh-placed Lancashire could still sneak in, if they beat Birmingham, and two of Northants, Leicestershire and Derbyshire also lose.Spare a thought for Durham, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire – the only three counties who have already abandoned hopes of a place in next week’s quarter-finals. Gloucestershire have played their final game but the other two could still influence the final line up of next week’s quarter-finals.

Outgoing chief executive warns that MCC cannot sustain its role in development without the revenue from two Tests a year

George Dobell21-Sep-2017MCC may not be able to sustain its funding of its cricket development programmes if the ECB goes through with plans to reduce the number of Tests hosted by England each year.Lord’s, which is owned and run by MCC, currently hosts two Tests and an ODI nearly every year. The income from those games enables them to fund the MCCU programme, the MCC Young Cricketers scheme and the MCC teams which travel the world in a bid to spread the popularity of the game. The overall cost of such programmes is understood to exceed £1million a year. They also make a sizeable annual donation to Chance to Shine.But the ECB is currently considering plans to reduce the number of Tests hosted in the British summer from seven to six. And while they hope the shortfall will be partially off-set by income from the new-team T20 competition, it is unlikely to entirely compensate.MCC insist that, even if the number of Tests played by England each summer is reduced to six, they should continue to host two. However, The Oval is also making a strong case for hosting a Test every summer – the ground could, subject to planning permission, soon have the largest capacity of all English cricket venues and has an excellent record of selling tickets. Given that it is just four miles down the road, the ECB may be reluctant to allocate half their home Tests to central London locations. Certainly it would leave the likes of Headingley, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Old Trafford, The Ageas Bowl and The Swalec – most of which also have business plans built upon the regular hosting of international cricket – uneasy.”In every year that there are two touring teams, it is important that we should host each of them,” Derek Brewer, the outgoing MCC chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo. “Even if there are only six Tests a summer, our view is that we should host two and London should host three. We are confident of putting forward a very good case to support that view.”That case is sure to include the MCC’s record of ticket sales. Whether allocated Tests in September or May, Lord’s is almost always a sell-out (the capacity is around 29,000), with the recent match against West Indies a good example. The game only lasted three days, but each of them was a sell-out and more than 22,000 tickets had been sold for the fourth day.While most other clubs could only dream of such figures – or the hospitality income that comes with them – no other clubs have the spending commitments of Lord’s. Not only do the club have continued aspirations to protect and propagate the game, but they have plans for a redevelopment programme that will cost well over £100million.Perhaps most valuable of all these commitments is the MCCU programme. This scheme, which costs the club around £370,000 a year, prevents young people from being forced to choose between further education and a playing career. Around 25% of England-qualified players currently in county cricket came through the scheme, despite the fact that the ECB does not finance it at all. Notable alumni include Andrew Strauss and, more recently, players such as Zafar Ansari, Toby Roland-Jones, Sam Billings, Heather Knight and Tom Westley.The MCC Young Cricketers programme, meanwhile, offers opportunities to late developers or those who may have missed out on county recognition – the likes of Jamie Porter and Dawid Malan are recent graduates – while the MCC teams that play around the world are credited with helping the development of fast emerging cricket nations such as Nepal and Afghanistan. MCC plays more than 500 games a year.”There is so much good work undertaken by the MCC for which we do not gain the credit we deserve,” Brewer continued. “Whether it is our community projects or our efforts to spread the game.”I’m not saying we will chop this or change that. But if our allocation of games is reduced – and consequently, if our income is reduced – we will, of course, have to look at everything we do. And yes, we will have to cut our cloth accordingly. Our cricket expenditure is more than £1million a year.”Our business plan, including the redevelopment, is predicated on us hosting two Tests a year. It is sustainable if we only host one, but we may have to look at alternative funding sources.”At present it appears the model for the new-look season (from 2020 onwards) will see England host six Tests, six ODIs and six T20Is a year. The allocation of major matches for 2020 onwards, and a decision taken over which grounds will host the new-team T20 competition, is due to be announced in the first few months of 2018.The ECB are also party to an on-going review of the MCCU scheme. It is possible they will consider it a valuable part of the ‘player pathway’ and allocate some funding towards it.

Ireland’s first Test match will be against Pakistan in May 2018 after the two countries came to an agreement during the ICC meetings in Auckland this week

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2017Ireland’s first Test match will be against Pakistan in May 2018 after the two countries came to an agreement during the ICC meetings in Auckland this week.Ireland, along with Afghanistan, were elevated to Test status earlier this year.”We are excited to welcome Pakistan to Ireland for our inaugural Test match next year,” CEO Warren Deutrom said. “It has been our wish to make our Test debut in front of our own fans within 12 months of becoming a Test nation, and against a big team, so I’m delighted.”Pakistan’s trip to Ireland will come before their two-Test tour of England which begins in late May. The date and location for the Ireland match will be confirmed in the coming months.”There is a lot of work to do from now to ensure that it will be an occasion to remember but we, and I’m sure our players and fans, can’t wait to rise to it,” Deutrom said.”We would like to thank the Pakistan Cricket Board most sincerely for agreeing to be our first opponent in Test cricket, the Pakistan team has been a regular visitor to our shores in recent years, and their agreement to be our opponent on this important occasion for Irish cricket is further evidence of their terrific support.”Bangladesh were the previous team to join the Test ranks when they played their first match against India in November 2000.”Test cricket is the pinnacle of our sport and I know how much this game will mean to not only the players but all involved with Irish cricket. It’ll be another step on what has been an incredible journey for our sport in a relatively short passage of time,” William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, said.”It’s sure to be an incredible and emotional experience for all involved. I know how much this will mean to all the players and just how much we all will forward to our dream of being Test cricketers realised. I’m certain there will be an incredible atmosphere from both sets of fans who will be keen to witness a piece of history.”

Lanning’s absence from the ongoing Women’s Ashes meant she slipped from first to fourth place. Ellyse Perry and New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite occupy the second and third spots respectively

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2017India’s ODI captain Mithali Raj superseded Meg Lanning to claim the top spot on the ICC rankings for batsmen in women’s ODIs. Lanning missed out on the ODI leg of the ongoing multi-format Women’s Ashes as part of her rehabilitation plan following her shoulder surgery and slipped from first to fourth position.After the conclusion of the World Cup, Raj trailed Lanning by 10 points and led Australia allrounder Ellyse Perry by 12. While India haven’t played international cricket since the final of the tournament on July 23, Lanning’s absence from the three-match ODI series, which is also Australia’s first ODI assignment in the second cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship, meant she dropped three places. Perry and New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite climbed one place each to claim the second and third spots respectively.England wicketkeeper-batsman Sarah Taylor, too, made the move up, climbing two places to the 10th rank on the back of the 129 runs she scored in the series.Among ODI bowlers, Australia medium-pacer Megan Schutt moved 13 places to a career-best fourth position courtesy the 10 wickets – including two four-wicket hauls – she bagged in the series. England seamer Anya Shrubsole, who was adjudged Player of the Match in the World Cup final in July, gained one slot to reach a career-best sixth position.Australia’s 2-1 victory over world champions England helped them regain the top ranking after England had climbed to No. 1 after the annual update earlier in October. New Zealand, who finished fifth in the World Cup, are set to play their first ODI series since the global event, starting October 31 against Pakistan in the UAE. They are currently ranked third with 118 points, leading India by two points.

Ben Stokes has fired his first shots of the Ashes series to increase speculation that he could be getting ready to make a return to action

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2017Ben Stokes has fired his first shots of the Ashes series – and broken his self-imposed Twitter silence in the process – to increase speculation that he could be getting ready to make a return to international duty in the not-too-distant future.Stokes, who was withdrawn from England’s Ashes squad in the wake of his arrest in Bristol on September 25, has kept a low profile ever since footage was circulated by the Sun newspaper, purporting to show him swinging punches at two men in an alley outside a nightclub at 2.30am.However, responding to a Fox Sports article circulating on Twitter, in which the former Australia opener Matthew Hayden denounced the England team as a “rabble”, Stokes wrote: “Hayden says he doesn’t know who half our squad is….only 2 from the squad haven’t played at International level…..he’s a cricket pundit yeah??”
Stokes’ comments follow his publication of an Instagram story on Friday, showing him bowling at full tilt in the nets at his county, Durham, under the legend “Grafting”, as well as putting sponsor’s stickers onto the back of his bats.As yet, there is no official word about Stokes’ status as an England cricketer. He remains under investigation by Avon and Somerset Police following his actions in Bristol, as well as subject to an internal disciplinary hearing by the ECB.However, the official ECB line, as confirmed recently by the chief executive, Tom Harrison, is that the board is in a “holding pattern”. Until the police reveal their intention, or otherwise, to prosecute, there can be no prospect of a recall.Speaking at a business breakfast in London two weeks ago, Harrison confirmed that the ECB was keen to “rehabilitate reputations on the field”, adding that he still considered the England team to be great role models and that the events in Bristol had been an “aberration”.”We have to get that balance between censure and support absolutely right,” Harrison said. “I think cricket’s response to this will show the value of the game in the best light.”I think we will quickly recover to a place where the game is seen as doing its best to rehabilitate reputations on the field, and try to get Ben and Alex [Hales] back to a place where fans are really behind them, trying to do what they do best.”Other than a tribute to the fallen on Armistice Day (November 11), Stokes’ previous activity on social media had come on October 11, when he tweeted a public apology to the model Katie Price.

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.

Razzak’s addition makes it a 16-man squad after the selectors also included left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam and allrounder Tanbir Hayder on Saturday

Mohammad Isam28-Jan-2018The Bangladesh selectors have recalled veteran left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak for the Chittagong Test against Sri Lanka, as further cover for the injured Shakib Al Hasan.Razzak’s addition makes it a 16-man Test squad after the selectors also included left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam and allrounder Tanbir Hayder on Saturday evening, hours after Shakib was ruled out of the Test. Shakib sustained a left hand little finger injury during the tri-series final.Razzak, 35, returns to the side after over three years during which he was overlooked in all formats; even for this Test side, someone as inexperienced as Nayeem Hasan was considered ahead of him.Razzak recently became the first Bangladeshi bowler to take 500 first-class wickets, and has been the standout performer in Bangladesh in the format in the last few years. He leads this season’s wicket-takers’ list with 40 scalps in nine matches, combined in BCL and NCL.But Razzak has a modest Test record, having taken only 23 wickets in 12 Tests across nearly eight years. Since his last Test in February 2014, however, he has taken been the top wicket-taker in Bangladesh domestic first-class cricket, with 244 wickets. The next best during the same period has been Sunzamul who is behind by 94 wickets.During the last three years, the selectors have instead picked the likes of Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan and Jubair Hossain for Tests and Arafat Sunny, Saqlain Sajib, Sunzamul and Tanbir for the shorter formats. The selectors have often cited Razzak’s fitness and fielding for not picking him, with suggestions that picking him would be like taking a step back.Squad for first Test: Mahmudullah (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mosaddek Hossain, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Kamrul Islam, Mehidy Hassan, Rubel Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Sunzamul Islam, Tanbir Hayder, Abdur Razzak.

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.