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India captain Virat Kohli described Yuvraj Singh’s 32-ball 53 as a game-changing innings in what eventually became a comfortable 124-run win over Pakistan at the 2017 Champions Trophy

Nagraj Gollapudi at Edgbaston 04-Jun-2017

Yuvraj Singh’s “game-changing” innings is the reason India were able to numb Pakistan with a “clinical” performance. That was the conclusion arrived at by India captain Virat Kohli, who said Yuvraj transformed the match and his team-mates’ mindsets completely with his presence and his skills in a 124-run win over Pakistan in their 2017 Champions Trophy showdown on Sunday.Yuvraj’s 53 off 32 balls was full of eye-catching strokeplay and helped India break free from a sluggish phase towards the back end of their innings. After a stable but steady start provided by the opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, India failed to press the accelerator, partly because of intermittent disruptions caused by the frequent rain at Edgbaston.Yuvraj, however, launched himself as soon as he arrived at the crease – an approach that lifted Kohli’s confidence.”The way Yuvi batted, it was the game-changing innings, to be honest,” Kohli said after the victory. “That gave all of us the confidence to start striking the ball well.”Despite playing an ODI in England for the first time since 2007, Yuvraj showed no signs of struggle. He had missed both the warm-up matches as he was recovering from a bout of viral fever which had laid him low as soon as he arrived from India. Kohli has been a firm backer of Yuvraj, who, he believes has the game suited for big occasions like Sunday.”The way he batted was the way only he can strike the ball,” Kohli said. “Hitting low full-tosses for fours and sixes, and even digging out yorkers for fours, was outstanding.”When Yuvraj joined Kohli in the 37th over, the Indian captain was on 29 off 37 balls having just been involved in the run-out of Rohit Sharma and struggling to find a rhythm. He had started off neatly, but then got stuck – partly as a consequence of a rain delay that stopped play in the 34th over – something not often seen with Kohli, even during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s rough campaign in IPL 2017. Kohli admitted that he was never fluent until he reached the half-century mark and that the rain breaks muddled his thought process.”I think till 40, I was easing into the game, taking my ones and twos like I always do,” Kohli said. “I could not go for the big ones because it was tricky. We went off about four times. And we came back in, and so as a player who likes to play the long innings till the end and usually plays like that for the team, it becomes very difficult to find momentum every time you come back and all you got to do is play yourself in again.”However, Yuvraj, who struck 150 against England on January 19 in the last ODI series India played, imposed himself on Pakistan quickly.”When Yuvi came in, we didn’t go back out again,” Kohli said. “So, he started striking from ball one and, as I said, that took pressure off me, and maybe I should have given him strike.”That really deflated the opposition and that gave me a bit of time to settle in from the other end. When he got out, I took over. But I think his innings was a difference in the game.”Kohli said that Yuvraj’s success always rubs off positively on the rest of the team.”If he plays like that you know the team is always in a good space because you can really rely on him to come in and just play a match-changing innings, more often than not,” Kohli said. “And he will end up doing it three out of five times. That’s why we back him at that spot.”Yuvraj departed 10 deliveries before India’s innings closed. Kohli and Hardik Pandya then stroked 34 runs off the remaining 10 balls to take India to a formidable total. Kohli said that by then he had found his mojo – he scored 36 runs off the last 11 balls of his innings – and Pandya’s big hitting came in handy towards the end.”I decided to stay still and just back the strokes that I have, and a few connected, and that’s what happens in this sport,” Kohli said. “Momentum comes your way, it goes away, but you’ve got to stay patient. And when it comes back, you’ve got to capitalise on it. So I believe in myself, I can get 30 of 10 balls as well in the end. And it was just showing a bit more composure.”

Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, says there will be no curfews imposed on his players in the wake of Ben Stokes’ arrest

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-20171:45

Getting drunk is the best form of team bonding – KP

Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, has confirmed that there will be no curfews imposed on his players during the forthcoming Ashes, but added that “sensible” guidelines have been drawn up in the wake of Ben Stokes’ arrest outside a Bristol nightclub last month.Speaking in Perth during England’s first nets session since arriving in Australia, Bayliss reiterated his long-held belief that personal responsibility is a key aspect of being a professional cricketer, and added that England’s players themselves had decided when is and isn’t acceptable to have a drink and enjoy the experience of being on tour.”Not drinking between matches is just sensible,” Bayliss told the BBC. “There’s been no set curfews. I think they’re just sensible rulings.”To me, they’re what we should be sticking to anyway as a player or someone around a professional set-up. The players have sat down and had a chat and they’re the ones that’ve come up with it.”With Stokes withdrawn from the tour pending further investigation into the incident outside Mbargo nightclub on September 25, and following the disciplining of three other players who had been out that night – Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball and Liam Plunkett -England’s captain, Joe Root, was forced to deny last week that the England team is beset by a drinking culture.But Bayliss believes that instilling a siege mentality in the wake of the Stokes incident would undermine England’s hopes of success in the Ashes.”We certainly don’t want to put too many curfews on them that keep them in their rooms,” he said. “It’s a long tour, you’ve got to get out and experience the country that you’re touring.”His comments echo the views of Kevin Pietersen, a three-times Ashes tourist, who last week told ESPNcricinfo that nights out on long tours were a vital factor in team bonding.”When we had the great tour Down Under in 2010-11, we had the most incredible couple of nights out at the start of that tour, which brought the team so close together,” Pietersen said. “I know that it sounds so stupid, but if you go and get hammered as a team on a night out – as senior and junior players – the bonds you can create there are better than any ridiculous sessions you can do in the forest in Germany.”Bayliss admitted that the aftermath of the Stokes arrest had been a “difficult time” for the team, but that their arrival in Australia had helped to focus their minds on the task at hand.”It’s a month ago now, and certainly the guys here in Australia have gone about their business and there hasn’t really been chat about it all,” he said. “Everyone’s been concentrating on what we need to do to win this series.”He conceded that Stokes’ absence was less than ideal but echoed Joe Root’s pre-departure statement that the team were preparing to be without the allrounder.”It’s something you’d much rather do without,” Bayliss said. “The Australian media will hammer away and try to put the pressure on in other areas as well. We have to try to deal with that and keep it separate from what we are doing on the practice field and in matches.”Root said the other day himself. They are concentrating on playing without him. If we worry too much about whether he is or he isn’t, that takes the focus off what we are doing. If we see that creeping in with the players, we will stop it as soon as we can. They are getting on with it well.”He also gave an indication of England’s thinking about how they would rebalance the side, with Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes set to move up the order in order to accommodate another bowler.”Having to replace Ben and the combination that we come up with requires doing a bit of both,” Bayliss said. “Personally I think we have to play a bowler in his place which makes our batting not quite as long but when you have Chris Woakes at No. 8, that’s probably the combination I’ve been after for a while.”Mooen Ali batting as low as No. 8 for the last couple of years I think that’s a waste. I think it’s something that as the team develops over the coming years, that’s a combination that we will get to. We have had problems at the top of the order so having Mo at eight and Woakes nine suited us. It’s been successful, so no problems there. Eventually Bairstow and Ali at six and seven and Woakes at eight is a combination England will end up with.”

Luke Fletcher ‘feels lucky to be here’ after his blow on the head while bowling in the NatWest Blast and he fears he may not be the last to be injured in this way

George Dobell12-Jul-20172:35

‘I’m lucky to be here’ – Luke Fletcher

Luke Fletcher feels “lucky to be here” after sustaining a ferocious blow to the head during Saturday’s T20 Blast match at Edgbaston.Fletcher, the Nottinghamshire seamer, sustained the injury when his first ball of the match was struck back at him by Birmingham batsman, Sam Hain and hit him on top of the head.While Fletcher didn’t lose consciousness, subsequent scans showed bruising and a small bleed on the brain with a decision taken to rest him for the remainder of the season. He will have a further MRI scan in the coming days to assess his recovery and currently sports a cut held together by eight stitches under the hairline.But while he is naturally disappointed to miss the rest of the season – Nottinghamshire are well-placed to push for promotion and are among the favourites in the Blast – and frustrated at being told he must not drive a car, he accepts his is a story that could have had a far more serious ending.Indeed, he has warned that something similar “will happen again” and said that, at Notts, the bowlers no longer take-part in net sessions with batsmen to avoid such injuries.”I’m really lucky to be here now and speaking to you today,” he said. “The doctors said I pretty much dodged a bullet. A few inches to the left or right and it could have been a completely different story. If it had hit the temple or straight in the face then…. I don’t really want to think about what may have happened.”In a weird way, I suppose I’ve been lucky. It’s hit me on a part of the brain or skull that the surgeon said you don’t use much.”He remembers every moment of the incident. And, having not seen the ball hit back at him – his head was down as he completed his delivery stride – or felt much pain, it was only when he saw the reaction of his teammates and then saw footage of the moment of impact that he started to realise how serious the episode was.”I remember letting go of the ball and I could see that Hain backed away,” he said. “The next thing I remember being hit on the head and thinking ‘I may be in a bit of bother here.’ I didn’t see the ball one bit. I just felt it.”When it hit me I went down and was waiting to go unconscious. When I realised I was all right, I had my hand on my head and the physio, James Pipe was asking ‘How are you?'”I said ‘I don’t feel too bad to be honest.’ And then I lifted my hand off my head. Steven Mullaney ran off – and a few other lads ran off – because of the bleeding. But I got to my feet pretty quickly and never really felt unstable at all and walked off. Which is absolutely amazing having watched it back. You’d probably expect a bit more, really. Having such a big ‘swede’ probably helped me out a bit.”In a weird way, I quite enjoyed watching it back. I quite like stuff like that. As long as I knew I was all right, it was quite good. It was just amazing how far the ball went. I couldn’t believe it. The first time I saw it, I was a bit like ‘off’ and that’s when I realised why everyone was so concerned.”The concern of Fletcher’s teammates was understandable. Not only is he a popular member of their squad, but it is only just over a year since the club was jolted by news of James Taylor’s illness.”Having spoken to a few of my mates – Mullaney and Jake Ball – that’s what was going through their minds,” he said. “And then there was Phil Hughes as well….”But once the lads came off the field and saw I was fine, they got on with the game. James Pipe has been unbelievable throughout; he stayed by my side for the next 48 hours, really. He’s been amazing.”Fletcher is guided from the field at Edgbaston•Getty Images

It doesn’t take long to understand Fletcher’s popularity. He has a good line in self-deprecating wit – “I don’t know how the ball is,” he says at one stage. “Someone had better check up on it; the lads said it was reversing a bit later” and, later “My mum and dad were a bit annoyed as they had paid £30 and they only saw me bowl one ball” – and knows many of his team-mates well having come through the club’s system from his teenage years.He didn’t have things easy, either. When he was initially offered a place on the staff as a 16-year-old, he was obliged to turn it down as it didn’t pay as much as the job he was currently in – he was a grill man at Hooters – so the club arranged for him to have a stint on the gates letting lorries come in and out as the Radcliffe Road Stand was redeveloped. “It was freezing,” he recalls with a smile. “It was much better in the kitchen.”But he has developed into a fine cricketer. While not an especially fast bowler – probably somewhere around 80 mph – he can move the ball in the air and off the pitch, is considered one of the best death bowlers in the county game and was recently run-out just eight short of a maiden first-class century. He is out of contract at the end of the season but the club will look after him: a new contract will be announced shortly.The worrying aspect of this incident is that it could easily have ended much worse. Indeed, Fletcher warns that in training, bowlers are already reluctant to bowl at batsmen practising their T20 skills.”I think it’ll happen again,” he said. “Most bowlers – certainly at Notts – in the nets tend to go away and do target practice on the side in one-day and T20, just because balls are coming back at a speed you can’t react to. You get hit all over your body. I certainly think the chances are it will happen again.”I’m sure after this people will come up with some sort of theories and some sort of technologies or protective equipment. You can’t be running in with a helmet, can you? But maybe something to protect your head?”I’ll certainly bowl again. I’d bowl now if I could.”There are huge questions here for the game. While some level of risk may be considered unavoidable, incidents such as this – coming on top of the incident that caused such devastating damage to club cricketer Alex Tait a few months ago – might be considered warnings. With bats better, batsmen seemingly more powerful and the aggression of the game having undergone a transformation since the introduction of T20, it seems inevitable that, sooner or later, we’re going to see a bowler killed by a return hit. The game, or at least the look of the game, might have to change radically to counteract such a threat.

Shahid Afridi has joined Karachi Kings as “president”, according to the franchise

Umar Farooq07-Apr-2017

Shahid Afridi has joined Karachi Kings as “president”, according to the franchise. He is likely to feature for the team as a player, too, in the third edition of Pakistan Super League in 2018, though this is yet to be confirmed; the PSL’s trading window ahead of the next edition is yet to open. Last month Afridi had announced on Twitter that he had left Peshawar Zalmi after two years with the franchise.ESPNcricinfo understands that Afridi is likely to be traded between Peshawar and Karachi as part of the formalities later this year. For now, Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Afridi had joined his franchise as president.Afridi had tweeted on March 25 that he was “announcing my end of service as president & player of Peshawar Zalmi Team due to my personal reasons”. He said it was “time for another” team. Following his tweets, Peshawar’s owner, Javed Afridi, told ESPNcricinfo that he was “clueless” in the matter. Later, it was learnt that Afridi had parted ways from the franchise over disagreements with the owner.”There are things that I don’t want to bring in media but Javed’s vision has changed with the time,” Afridi said on a TV show on Geo News. “I don’t want to become a hindrance to Javed’s goal and vision, because I have my own foundation and a lot of other things. So I can not fullfil his commitments and want to focus on my things as well. I wanted to announce it after the PSL final, but I had couple of commitments with Zalmi, so I waited for the right time.”Afridi, who is based in Karachi but was born in Khyber Agency, had talked about the importance of Peshawar Zalmi to his local region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a day before his Twitter announcment. “We have not created the Peshawar Zalmi team to play just a month’s cricket in the PSL and then sit at home,” Afridi had said. “Our work goes beyond the cricket field and we want to change the lives of the underprivileged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”Peshawar Zalmi won the PSL title in 2017, defeating Quetta Gladiators in the final held at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Afridi had missed the final with a finger injury that he picked up during the playoffs in the UAE. In all, in ten matches in PSL 2017, he had scored 177 runs at 25.28 with a strike rate of 173.52, and taken two wickets with an economy rate of 6.75. He had captained the franchise in the inaugural edition of the tournament, before handing over to Darren Sammy this year.

تحدث مدرب أتلتيكو مدريد دييجو سيميوني بعد الفوز أمام خيتافي، وقبل مواجهة برشلونة بمنافسات الدوري الإسباني، وإمكانية منافسته على اللقب هذا الموسم.

وفاز أتلتيكو مدريد بهدف نظيف، ويحتل الفريق المركز الثاني بـ 38 نقطة متساويًا مع برشلونة المتصدر والذي يواجه ليجانيس مساء اليوم.

ويلتقي برشلونة وأتلتيكو مدريد في الجولة القادمة للدوري الإسباني وذلك يوم السبت المقبل.

وقال سيميوني في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية: “قبل المباراة كنت أتحدث مع اللاعبين عن الامتنان والاعتراف لأولئك الذين لم يبدأوا المباراة، هناك لاعبون مهمون جدًا يتنافسون بطريقة استثنائية، كما يظهر عندما يشاركون كبدلاء”.

وأضاف: “هذه هي قوتنا، من أجل المنافسة كما نريد، نحتاج أن يكون الجميع مشاركًا كما هم الآن، هذه هي أقوى نقطة لدينا”.

ترتيب الدوري الإسباني بعد هزيمة برشلونة أمام ليجانيس

وأشار لمركزه بالترتيب: “يجب أن نستمر مباراة بمباراة، لا توجد طريقة لرؤية وضعنا الحالي إلا من خلال العمل ومحاولة التحسن دائمًا، دعونا نرتاح قبل مواجهة برشلونة”.

وعن إدارة الفريق، أفاد: “أمثل نفسي بما أشعر به، وليس لدي التزام تجاه أي شخص، وهذا يظهر في كوكا، الذي كان لاعبًا مهمًا جدًا في مسيرتنا ويعرف أنه إذا كنا بحاجة إليه لمدة 20 دقيقة، سيدخل ويقوم بالعمل”.

وبشأن تعزيز الخطة أمام برشلونة في المواجهة القادمة، علّق: “لا أعرف كيف تعتقد أننا سنخطط لذلك، لكن إن كان جيدًا أم لا، فإن ذلك سيعتمد على النتيجة، التي هي ما ستحدد ذلك”.

وعن رؤيته كبطل، استطرد: “أنا مكرر، وممل، ولن أتغير، حتى آخر يوم سيكون مباراة بمباراة، إذا لم ننظر إليها من هذا المنظور، لن يكون هناك ضوء”.

وبشأن التغيير في الالتزام من الموسم الماضي إلى هذا الموسم، أوضح: “سؤال معقد تبحث فيه إذا كان الذين كانوا في السابق لم يقدموا كما يقدمون اليوم، أحيانًا يظهر ذلك وأحيانًا لا، لكن النتائج تظهر الآن”.

وحول الفوز بنتيجة 1-0، أتم: “دائمًا أقول إن أفضل نتيجة هي 1-0 لأنك تعمل جيدًا في الدفاع وتكون حاسمًا في الهجوم، إذا فزت 4-3 فهناك أشياء يجب مراجعتها، بالطبع أنا أحب النتائج الأفضل كما يحبها الجميع”.

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties during the off-season as preparations are made for the 2018 season

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2017

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties during the off-season as preparations are made for the 2018 seasonDerbyshireIN: Ravi Rampaul (Surrey)
OUT: Tom Wood, Greg Cork, Tom Taylor (Leicestershire), Rob Hemmings, Shiv Thakor, Tom Milnes, Ben Cotton
OVERSEAS: Duanne Olivier (SA)DurhamIN: Will Smith (Hampshire), Nathan Rimmington
OUT: Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Graham Onions (Lancashire), Paul Coughlin (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Aiden Markram (SA, April-May), Tom Latham (NZ, May-August), Axar Patel (Ind, Aug-Sep)EssexIN: Matt Coles (Kent), Feroze Kushi
OUT: Kishen Velani
OVERSEAS: Peter Siddle (Aus, April-May), Neil Wagner (NZ, May-July) Adam Zampa (Aus, T20)GlamorganIN:
OUT: Jacques Rudolph (retired), Will Bragg (retired)
OVERSEAS: Shaun Marsh (Aus)GloucestershireIN: Ryan Higgins (Middlesex)
OUT: Patrick Grieshaber, Brendon Gilmour, Phil Mustard
OVERSEAS: Dan Worrall (Aus, April-July)HampshireIN: Sam Northeast (Kent), Chris Sole
OUT: Will Smith (Durham), Michael Carberry (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS: Hashim Amla (SA, April-June), Dale Steyn (SA, part season)KentIN: Heino Kuhn (Kolpak), Harry Podmore (Middlesex), Ollie Robinson
OUT: Sam Northeast (Hampshire), Matt Coles (Essex), Adam Ball, Hugh Bernard, Charlie Hartley
OVERSEAS: Matt Henry (NZ)LancashireIN: Keaton Jennings (Durham), Graham Onions (Durham), Josh Bohannon, Liam Hurt
OUT: Kyle Jarvis (Zimbabwe), Luke Procter (Northants)
OVERSEAS: Joe Mennie (Aus)LeicestershireIN: Michael Carberry (Hampshire), Ateeq Javid (Warwickshire), Tom Taylor (Derbyshire)
OUT: Clint McKay, Will Fazackerley
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Abbas (Pak), Sohail Khan (Pak, April-May), Mohammad Nabi (Afg, T20)MiddlesexIN:
OUT: Ryan Higgins (Gloucestershire), Harry Podmore (Kent)
OVERSEAS: Ashton Agar (Aus, T20)NorthamptonshireIN: Brett Hutton (Notts), Luke Procter (Northants)
OUT: Azharullah, David Murphy (retired)
OVERSEAS: Doug Bracewell (NZ), Seekkuge Prasanna (SL, T20)NottinghamshireIN: Paul Coughlin (Durham), Chris Nash (Sussex)
OUT: Chris Read (retired), Brett Hutton (Northants)
OVERSEAS: Ross Taylor (NZ, April-June), Dan Christian (Aus, T20), Ish Sodhi (NZ, T20)SomersetIN: Fin Trenouth
OUT: Jim Allenby, Ryan Davies, Michael Leask
OVERSEAS: Cameron Bancroft (Aus), Corey Anderson (NZ, T20)SurreyIN: Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson
OUT: Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Kumar Sangakkara (retired), Ravi Rampaul (Derbyshire)
OVERSEAS: Mitchell Marsh (Aus)SussexIN:
OUT: Steve Magoffin (Worcestershire), Chris Nash (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Ishant Sharma (Ind, April-May), Rashid Khan (Afg, T20)WarwickshireIN: Dom Sibley (Surrey), Will Rhodes (Yorkshire)
OUT: Rikki Clarke (Surrey), Ateeq Javid (Leicestershire), William Porterfield
OVERSEAS: Colin De Grandhomme (NZ, T20)WorcestershireIN: Steve Magoffin (Sussex), Alex Milton
OUT:
OVERSEAS: Travis Head (Aus), Callum Ferguson (Aus, T20), Martin Guptill (NZ, T20)YorkshireIN:
OUT: Ryan Sidebottom (retired), Will Rhodes (Warwickshire)
OVERSEAS: Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind), Kane Williamson (NZ), Billy Stanlake (Aus, T20)

CA chief executive James Sutherland said on Monday that the board is confident the tour will take place given the feedback it has received from its government agencies

Mohammad Isam11-May-2017

Cricket Australia will send a security team to Bangladesh next week as part of the process to finalise arrangements for the team’s tour in August-September. Nizamuddin Chowdhury, CEO of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, has said CA will take a call on going ahead with the tour based on the report of the security team.”Teams like Australia, England and India have certain standard pre-tour activities,” Chowdhury said on May 6. “Going by that, Cricket Australia will send a team in the middle of this month. They will check the security arrangements and assess other opportunities. These are standard practices that always take place. Only after this visit can their board officially give them the green signal to come here.”CA chief executive James Sutherland said on Monday that the board is confident the tour will take place given the feedback it has received from its government agencies.”We’re just working through all the details,” Sutherland said. “I’m very pleased to be at a stage of really fine-tuning the detail – there are still some things that we need to work through just to lock down on security.”Once our hosts have locked in dates and the schedule, then from us it’s all systems go, subject to any security concerns we might have. From all the research we’ve done and the work we’ve done with [the Department of] Foreign Affairs and others through government agencies, we’re confident the tour will take place.”Earlier this month, BCB president Nazmul Hassan had said that his CA counterpart David Peever had personally assured him of Australia’s participation in the two-Test series during last month’s ICC meeting in Dubai.Australia are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on August 18. The tour will begin with a practice match in Chittagong from August 22 to 24, followed by the first Test from August 27 to 31, also in Chittagong, and the second Test from September 4 to 9 in Mirpur.

Sylhet Sixers, the newest team in the Bangladesh Premier League, announced their arrival with a nine-wicket thumping of the defending champions Dhaka Dynamites in a packed 18,000-capacity Sylhet International Cricket Stadium

The Report by Mohammad Isam in Sylhet04-Nov-2017
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBoth Upul Tharanga and Andre Fletcher scored fifties•Raton Gomes

Sylhet Sixers, the newest team in the Bangladesh Premier League, announced their arrival with a nine-wicket thumping of the defending champions Dhaka Dynamites in a packed 18,000-capacity Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.Sylhet captain Nasir Hossain backed up his decision to field with a tidy spell of 2 for 21 in four overs that helped restrict Dhaka to 136 for 7. Abul Hasan, the only local presence in Sylhet, effectively changed his pace up to pick up two wickets, and alongside Liam Plunkett (2 for 20), reined in Dhaka in the slog overs. Sylhet’s bowlers held their own against the firepower of Kieron Pollard and Shakib Al Hasan to limit Dhaka’s scoring to 36 runs in the last five overs.Andre Fletcher and Upul Tharanga then flattened Dhaka with a 125-run opening stand that shut the doors on the visiting team. The pair struck ten fours and five sixes between them to lead Sylhet past the finishing line with 19 deliveries to spare.Nasir’s early footholdNasir may have been late for the toss by five minutes, but he had much of the early say. He first removed Mehedi Maruf, in the very first over of the game. Evin Lewis and Kumar Sangakkara then mixed patience with the odd boundary as they offset the early loss, before Nasir broke the 54-run stand. Lewis, who was looking dangerous, having struck three fours and a six, spliced Nasir to long-off, where Abul Hasan completed a straightforward catch.Experience neutralisedFour down and going at under seven an over, any hopes Dhaka may have had of a late surge were severely hit with the departures of Kieron Pollard, the world’s most experienced T20 cricketer, and Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s most experienced, in quick succession. Pollard tried to force Abul Hasan over mid-off but was undone by the local boy’s slower ball, resulting in an easy catch for Nasir at long-off. Eleven deliveries later, Shakib gave Liam Plunkett the charge, but could barely get his stroke over the in-field, hitting it straight into the hands of Sabbir Rahman at mid-off.Yes and noFletcher had just belted the first ball of the sixth over from Abu Hider for a six when he and Upul Tharanga were caught in a big mix-up. Fletcher meandered out of the crease after trying to muscle one through the leg side and getting hit on the thigh instead. With the batsmen having considered a run, Tharanga ran over halfway down the pitch. Hider did the hard work and got to the ball well in time, but couldn’t effect a direct hit that could have made a big difference.Fletcher redeems himselfHaving made just 92 runs in six matches last year and being subsequently let go by Khulna Titans, Fletcher strode out on Saturday with a point to prove. And he proved his worth in emphatic fashion, powering his way to a 38-ball half-century. It was a typically aggressive knock, studded with five fours and three sixes. Fletcher perished after doing all the hardwork, though, holing out with Sylhet requiring 12 more runs. But with Tharanga holding sway with an unbeaten 69 off 48 balls, Sylhet hardly broke a sweat in finishing with two points.What they said”The wicket was good. There was nothing wrong in it. We had a bad day.”
“I think our bowlers were outstanding to keep them under 140, given their team and the size of this ground.”

Uncapped pace bowler Duanne Olivier has been included in South Africa’ squad for the final Test against Sri Lanka following the axing of Kyle Abbott

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2017

South Africa squad

Faf du Plessis (capt), Duanne Oliver, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Stephen Cook, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Wayne Parnell, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada

Uncapped pace bowler Duanne Olivier has been included in South Africa’ squad for the final Test against Sri Lanka following the axing of Kyle Abbott, who quit international cricket in favour of a Kolpak deal with Hampshire.Oliver, 24, is the leading first-class wicket-taker for the season with 28 wickets at 21.60 in the Sunfoil Series. Wayne Parnell has retained his place in the squad, and there is a chance South Africa could consider an all-pace attack at the Wanderers, a venue which is likely to further challenge Sri Lanka’s vulnerabilities against pace and movement, after they conceded the series with a 282-run defeat in Cape Town.Uncapped Theunis de Bruyn also keeps his place as the reserve batsman, although there are unlikely to be any changes in that department unless injuries occur. The match will mark Hashim Amla’s 100th Test.Meanwhile, AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel will play for Northerns next week with a view to them being available for selection for the final T20 against Sri Lanka ahead of the one-day series.De Villiers, who quit the Test captaincy prior to the Sri Lanka series, has not played since the CPL in July due to an elbow injury. Morkel has been recovering from a back injury which has limited him to one first-class outing this season.

Marco Marais earned himself a slice of cricketing history at East London last week, by crashing his way to the fastest first-class triple-century

Firdose Moonda01-Dec-2017

Border batsman Marco Marais earned himself a slice of cricketing history at East London last week, by crashing his way to the fastest first-class triple-century, for Border against Eastern Province.”I don’t think anyone actually thinks they are going to get 300,” Marais told after making an unbeaten 300 off 191 balls. “Before the season started I was targeting over 500 first-class runs and I have already passed that, so now I am going to have to make new goals for myself for the rest of the season.”Not only did Marais achieve a career-first triple-century but he broke a record that has stood for 96 years. Australia’s Charles Macartney’s triple-hundred came off 221 balls against Nottinghamshire in 1921. He went on to finish on 345.Marais may well have surpassed Macartney’s score at Buffalo Park but Border called time on his innings as soon he reached the triple-century. They declared on 512 for 4, bowled their provincial rivals Eastern Province out for 212 and were 66 for 2 in response.Though the match was not won, Marais will claim a personal victory after an innings which featured 35 fours and 13 sixes and featured a record fifth-wicket stand of 428. He hopes the innings can provide a stepping stone to break into the Warriors franchise side.”I really hope someone sits up and takes notice. I think every semi-pro player dreams of playing at the next level, which is franchise cricket, and I would love to play in it,” Marais said.The franchise are currently engaged in the Ram Slam 20-over tournament, where they sit at the bottom of the table with only one win from six matches. Their woes would well call for someone with Marais’ confidence, especially as his approach appears to be based on self-belief.”I was striking the ball so well,” he said. “I decided that I was just going to go hard at them and it came off in the end.”Marais’ coach Frank Plaatjes said he had “never seen anything,” like the innings before and believes there is more to come from the 24-year old. “I have always said Marco is a special player, I knew something was on the cards because he has been playing so well, but we didn’t expect 300 to be honest,” Plaatjes said.Marais is currently in action for Border against Northern Cape in Kimberley, where they are struggling. Border were bowled out for 115 in their first innings and Marais made just 5. He currently sits second on the three-day cup run charts.