All posts by csb10.top

Western Australia continued their home dominance at the pace-friendly WACA with an innings-and-28-run thrashing of South Australia in the Sheffield Shield on Monday. The defending Sheffield Shield champions returned to the top of the ladder after their third straight win at their favoured ground to start the season.Unlike WA’s previous matches at the WACA, against New South Wales and Queensland, this went into a fourth day but only just, as the Redbacks’ struggling batting line-up offered little resistance. Quicks Matthew Kelly and Lance Morris combined for 16 wickets in the match as they stepped up in the absence of Jhye Richardson and Joel Paris impressively.”Really enjoying the extra responsibility I’m getting,” Morris, whose hostile burst late on day three tore through South Australia’s middle-order, said. “It’s known as a bowler-friendly wicket but if you stick to your basics for long enough, it definitely pays off.”South Australia, who are winless from four matches, rued a horror second day when they suffered a lower-order collapse before WA openers Sam Whiteman and Cameron Bancroft took a stranglehold of the contest with a 308-run partnership.”The collapse absolutely killed us,” South Australia coach Jason Gillespie said. “There was nothing wrong with the surface. We were just completely outplayed and bullied out there.”We need to be better. It was an unacceptable loss.”Sam Whiteman was the Player of the Match for his 193•Getty Images

Gillespie confirmed that quick Jordan Buckingham had suffered a non-displaced fracture to his little finger on his bowling hand after a fielding mishap on day three. He was unable to bat in the second innings.”We don’t expect him to be out for very long. It’s probably the best case scenario for the injury,” Gillespie said.Staring down the barrel at a forlorn 6 for 66 in the second innings, South Australia’s slim hopes of avoiding defeat rested on captain Henry Hunt, who watched the carnage unfold from the other end late on day three.Opener Hunt was once again a bystander as Wes Agar fell on the third ball of the day, edging a length delivery from Kelly. Hunt, who top-scored in South Australia’s first innings with 71, has been tipped as a future Test opener and appeared a class above his team-mates as he prolonged an inevitable defeat.He decided to switch gears and go down swinging, counter-attacking Morris by slashing hard at wide deliveries. But Hunt’s cavalier approach didn’t last long, as he fell to the impressive Kelly as South Australia were still short of triple figures.Several lusty blows from Ben Manenti ensured they at least were spared of that ignominy, but their fate was sealed well before lunch as their players braced for an expected dressing down from an angry Gillespie.

The perennial runners-up of the Lanka Premier League, Galle Gladiators, have had an indifferent start to this season’s LPL, but under new leadership they look to be steadily building up a head of steam that they hope will take them over the final hurdle this time around.They have two wins and three losses this season. Aside from a one-sided five-wicket loss to Kandy Falcons, the Gladiators gave Jaffna Kings an early tournament scare and then were pipped at the post in a high-scoring encounter against Colombo Stars.In the first, it was the batting that let them down and in the second their bowlers failed to defend a target of 194. But one consistent feature across each of their games has been their high intensity in the field. For captain Kusal Mendis, it is this which has been a non-negotiable under his captaincy.”Aside from batting and bowling, one thing I emphasise is ensuring 100% is given in the field,” he said during an online media briefing. “Because with the former two it’s hard to ensure things go your way, but with fielding it’s something you’re completely in control of. Fielding well means you’re about 70% of the way towards winning a game.”In other aspects however, Mendis takes a more laidback attitude to leadership, choosing to trust in his team-mates to deliver on their roles. A role he seems to have adopted from Gladiators’ head coach and former Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan.”As a coach he doesn’t get too involved during the games; when it comes to bowling or fielding changes, he doesn’t get very involved. It’s only during a timeout that he’ll give his input. As a captain I’m happy to work with him as he tends to be positive in his feedback, while any suggestions are merely suggestions as opposed to outright demands. I’m very happy with him and how he handles the team.”Both Mendis’ and Khan’s approach seemed to reap rich dividends in Gladiators’ last match against Stars, when Mendis batted through the innings, stitching together partnerships with potential future Sri Lankan stars Thanuka Dabare and Lahiru Udara, as they piled up 193 runs.”I just told them to play their normal game, to not let it get into their heads, and just play like it’s a club game. For me it takes a lot of the pressure off when you have batters who play like that. In the last two games, it’s just been a matter of supporting them. Yesterday I was only able to get to 50 because Dabare took on the scoring burden early on. My goal is usually to bat out as many overs as possible and play the anchor.”Gladiators would ultimately lose that game, but Mendis isn’t reading too much into it, putting much of his side’s inability to keep things tight down the heavy dew which had descended on Pallekele. Jaffna captain Thisara Perera had earlier commented on how the dew had been akin to hosing down the ball with water, a sentiment Mendis concurred with.”We were looking at winning the toss and bowling first, but we couldn’t do that. Fortunately I and the rest of the batters were able to put a good total – 193 is a very good score in T20s. With the dew it’s not easy to bowl with the slower bowlers. There was considerably more dew than you would expect usually. I think we even changed the ball it was so bad. That was probably the reason why our bowlers missed their lengths some time.”Dew however will likely be less of a concern going forward, as from Saturday onwards the action moves to Colombo, where Mendis and Co. will be hoping to iron out the kinks and finally get their hands on a trophy that has narrowly eluded them so far.

Romario Shepherd’s unbeaten 44 off 22 balls, and his ninth-wicket partnership of 59 off 26 balls with Alzarri Joseph, who went on to take his first T20I five-for, secured a series win for West Indies to end an entertaining series.Shepherd and Joseph gave West Indies the third-highest score at the Wanderers and the highest total without an individual fifty since Australia’s 221 for 5 against England in 2007. They were able to defend it in challenging conditions, with plenty of dew greasing up the ball, and against a determined South African line-up.Reeza Hendricks notched up a career-best 83 and put on 80 with Rilee Rossouw for the second wicket but the required run-rate ballooned on South Africa and their batting line-up appeared a little light.The result means West Indies have now won a second successive T20I series win in South Africa, eight years after taking the trophy in 2015. Sheldon Cottrell and Jason Holder are the only members of the current squad who played in that series.Ngidi’s nightmare start After last playing a T20I when South Africa lost to Netherlands at the World Cup in November, Ngidi may have thought things could only get better but they didn’t for him. He bowled a decent delivery first up but then erred down the leg-side to the powerful Brandon King who helped the ball on its way over long leg. Ngidi adjusted to outside off stump with his next ball but King launched it onto the roof over deep mid-wicket and forced Ngidi to think of something else. He tried pace off with this fourth ball but King spotted it and sent it over mid-wicket for four. In frustration, Ngidi overstepped for his next ball and had to bowl it again. His extra delivery was a low full-toss that Kyle Mayers hit over extra cover for four to complete a 22-run over.But the rest of the bowlers do the early work Kagiso Rabada was given the ball immediately after Ngidi and made amends. He bowled Mayers with a full, fast delivery that knocked the West Indian opener off his feet as it found the stumps and then brought the centurion from SuperSport Park, Johnson Charles, down to earth with a first-ball duck. Charles didn’t move his feet to a ball that nipped back into him and inside-edged onto his stumps as South Africa roared back. Anrich Nortje returned in the ninth over and saw Mayers walk across his stumps so pitched it on leg stump and took it out. Aiden Markram joined in the fun when Rovman Powell opened his stance and missed a slog and he became the fourth West Indian to be bowled. West Indies were 108 for 4 at the halfway stage, after which Ngidi redeemed himself when he had Nicholas Pooran caught behind. Shepherding the tailWest Indies needed a strong finish after they lost 3 for 21 between the 13th and 16th over with not much batting to come. Shepherd and Joseph put on the highest ninth-wicket partnership at the Wanderers, and took 52 runs off the last three overs to ensure West Indies topped 200. Shepherd survived two chances in that time – he edged Wayne Parnell but Quinton de Kock could not hold on and then he skied a chance off Rabada but Heinrich Klaasen lost it in the lights at fine leg. Shepherd finished the innings with a massive six over long on, a pull through mid-wicket for four and an aerial drive over Rabada’s head in an over that cost 26 runs. Shepherd finished unbeaten on 44 off 22 balls. All square in the Powerplay South Africa started in fairly circumspect style, with only seven runs off the first two overs of their reply, before Quinton de Kock picked up the pace. He steered Cottrell past third man to open his boundary count and then took three fours off Roston Chase’s second over to signal South Africa’s intent. De Kock was profiting off the slower bowling but misread when Joseph put the brakes on and cut to Chase at third. As he left the field, de Kock told Rossouw the ball was sticking in the pitch a bit but that seemed to mean nothing to the No.3. He hit the first ball he faced over extra cover for four, and then sent Joseph over point for six and through the covers for another four. Rossouw scored 19 runs off the first six balls he faced and South Africa finished the Powerplay on exactly the same score as West Indies: 61, but had lost one fewer wicket.Six of the best Unlike de Kock or Rossouw, Hendricks finds his runs with finesse over fury, and he has found a lot of them that way. He brought up his sixth T20I half century in his last eight innings with a six. Hendricks pulled a Shepherd slower ball over deep mid-wicket, showing off his strong use of the wrists and the power he finds through placement, and then decided it was time to show off his big-hitting. He threw his bat at the next ball and sent it swirling to deep extra cover, where it slipped through Brandon King’s hands. South Africa needed 92 off 46 balls at that stage. Hendricks’ lifeline emboldened him and he went aerial in the next over too, but the ball fell short of mid-wicket and Hendricks survived again. He went on to a career best 83 and was at the crease until the penultimate over. South Africa needed 35 runs off 12 balls and Hendricks tried to muscle them there by going over long-on but hit Joseph to Powell on the fence.Joseph gets another five-forHe removed de Kock in his first over, and Miller in his third but Joseph’s biggest task came in his final six balls, with South Africa’s big-hitters at the ready to get big runs. Hendricks was out off his first ball and then Klaasen walked across his stumps and hit him for six. Joseph could have been overawed but he wasn’t. He pulled back the pace and presented Klaasen with a full slower ball that he sliced skyward. Cottrell took a good running catch to send South Africa’s last recognised batter back. Then Joseph got the gas back and sent a full, fast ball to Wayne Parnell, who swung and missed, to record his first T20I five-for.

England trio Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone and Emma Lamb impressed with the ball and the latter with the bat as well to help Thunder secure a commanding Charlotte Edwards Cup victory over Sunrisers at Emirates Old Trafford – the region’s first success of 2023.All three are in contention to play in this summer’s home Ashes from next month and shared five wickets to limit Sunrisers to 116 for 8 having elected to bat, laying the platform for a seven-wicket win with 21 balls remaining.They were miserly with either seam or spin, with Cross’s 2 for 20 from four overs of seam the most encouraging having battled against a tropical disease in recent weeks. Ecclestone struck once with her left-arm spin and Lamb twice with her offspin.After her 2 for 24, Lamb then added 31 in Thunder’s aggressive chase. But it was her opening partner Liberty Heap who shone with a career best 46 off 49 balls. It was also the 19-year-old’s highest score in senior regional cricket.This was Thunder’s first victory in eight 50-over and T20 matches in 2023, including back-to-back defeats at the start of the Charlotte Edwards Cup. For Sunrisers, they have now played three and lost three in this competition.Cross, who recently revealed that she had to go through nine courses of antibiotics to treat an illness picked up abroad in pre-season, set the tone with the second ball of only her fifth match of the season.She uprooted the off stump of former South Africa international Dane van Niekerk for nought, a peach of an away-swinger leaving Sunrisers at 0 for 1.Cordelia Griffith came in and played positively for 36 off 35 balls, including two boundaries in as many balls against the offspin of Fi Morris – the first lofted over mid-off and the second seared through cover. But she was the second wicket for Cross when she miscued high to mid-off, leaving the score at 64 for 3 in the 12th over.Crucially, only one other batter, Flo Miller from No. 7, reached 20. She was bowled by former team-mate Naomi Dattani in the final over an innings which saw Thunder captain Ellie Threlkeld chop and change through seven different bowlers to deny Sunrisers any rhythm on the same pitch used for Thursday’s T20 double-header day.While Lamb returned 2 for 24 from her four overs, Ecclestone was the most economical bowler on show with 21for 14 from her four.Her wicket of Amara Carr caught at mid-off following a miscue was sandwiched in between the two Lamb strikes as Sunrisers slumped to 81 for 6 in the 15th over. Lamb had Grace Scrivens caught at cover and bowled Jo Gardner.Lamb later gave Thunder the ideal start to what proved a serene chase, clipping a boundary through midwicket as 10 came from Kate Coppack’s first over.Both openers played their shots, and Heap made the most of being dropped on 16. Thunder reached 50 without loss after seven overs, by which time the game was only going one way.Heap maintained pace with her more experienced partner and overtook her after Lamb had been trapped lbw sweeping at captain Kelly Castle’s offspin – leaving Thunder 64 for 1 in the 10th over.Morris flicked the offspin of Mady Villiers to short fine leg shortly afterwards, leaving the score at 74 for 2 in the 11th, but Heap gained support from West Indian overseas Deandra Dottin to get their side over the line.Unbeaten Dottin crashed two big straight sixes in 26 off 15 balls, while Heap was bowled by Eva Gray just shy of 50 with only 10 to win.

Some centuries mean a bit more than others. But a few of Usman Khawaja’s since his triumphant return to the Test side have had added significance.Firstly, there was the comeback itself at Sydney in the last Ashes, an opportunity he thought may never come around. Then, having long carried a tag of being unable to play spin, which should really have been shed when he saved the game in Abu Dhabi in 2018, he dominated in Pakistan on a hugely significant homecoming tour. Then he followed that with a century against India in Ahmedabad a few months ago.And now Edgbaston in 2023, ten years on from his first Test tour of the country which had brought his only other fifty. Despite a prolific return to the side, his average in England – 17.78 before this match after two low scores in the World Test Championship final last week – had not gone unnoticed.When he late cut Ben Stokes down to deep third to bring up a 15th Test hundred the celebration showed what it meant. Never mind the dab or the LeBron James inspired dance, this was something more guttural as he let out a roar and hurled his bat in the air, leaving him standing with arms aloft holding his helmet.”I honestly don’t know,” Khawaja, with daughter Aisha on his knee at the press conference, said of what prompted the celebration. “Think it was a combination of three Ashes tours in England, being dropped in two of them. I don’t read the media, genuinely I don’t, but I’m getting sprayed by the crowd as I’m walking out there today and as I’m going to the nets that I can’t score runs in England, so guess it was more emotional than normal.Related

• Khawaja: 'My favourite match ever in my life'

• Khawaja learns from past Ashes failures ahead of 'toughest' challenge

• Stuart Broad vs David Warner: 17 and counting

• Usman Khawaja's day as he and Alex Carey lead Australia fightback

• Stuart Broad runs and runs even deeper into Ashes folklore

“Feel like I’m saying this all the time, same thing happened in India. Not that I have a point to prove, but it’s nice to go out and score runs for Australia just to show everyone that the last 10 years haven’t been a fluke.”The theme from Khawaja over the last few years has been how comfortable he now is being himself. “It’s just what you see is what you get, this is Usman,” he said. “I don’t try to hide it. I’m not perfect, I make mistakes, but I’m happy to be out there and show everyone the real me. Don’t know why the bat throw happened, but it happened. That was me.”As Khawaja said, his previous Ashes history in England had not been a happy one. A top score of 54 in the first of six previous meetings in 2013. He was dropped for the final match of that series at The Oval. He did not make the 2015 tour during a near two-year absence from the Test side, then in 2019 he was the fall guy to accommodate Marnus Labuschagne on Steven Smith’s return from concussion at Old Trafford. This time he had come prepared.”England is, in my opinion, the toughest place in the world to bat for top-three batsmen,” Khawaja said before the tour. “If I’ve learned anything, it is work hard, train hard and [when] going to England, go with low expectations. You are going to fail as a batsman, but when you do score you try to cash in as much as you can.”Usman Khawaja celebrates reaching his ton•PA Images via Getty Images

Cash in he did. And how Australia needed him. Khawaja had watched from the other end as David Warner dragged on against his arch nemesis Stuart Broad. He watched as Labuschagne edged behind for the first golden duck of his Test career. He watched as Smith was given lbw to Stokes to leave Australia three down before lunch.With some help from Travis Head, Cameron Green and latterly Alex Carey, he has been the key difference between Australia having a chance to stay level with England on first innings and conceding a likely match-defining lead.The century was in a mould of the previous six he had made on his return to Test cricket, with an almost zen-like calmness. Led by Broad, England were very good with the new ball early in the day. Khawaja was beaten on occasions but never ruffled although there was not the amount of seam or swing that has previously troubled him.While runs have flowed at home, he has equally left his mark overseas. Since January 2022, Khawaja has scored more than 1000 runs outside Australia. No batter has scored more runs in away Tests with the next most prolific batter in away Tests in this period being Joe Root, who has 802 runs in an equal 19 innings.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It appeared that the second new ball had finally done for him on 112 when Broad, from around the wicket, a line that has not troubled Khawaja the same as it has Warner, brought a terrific delivery back into off stump only for his foot to have been inches over the line.His play against Moeen Ali brought back memories of how he had dominated Pakistan’s spinners last year on some docile surfaces. Watchfully respecting the good balls, but quick to apply some pressure (not that Stokes sees his bowlers being hit for boundaries that way) with sweet, crisp footwork. He rarely misjudges length against the spin.”England, to their credit, they stuck to their guns, kept the field up and eventually got the wicket of Heady by just keeping the guys up,” Khawaja said. “It was good cat and mouse.”The comparison between Khawaja and his opening partner is hard to ignore. While Warner battles to get the ending he wants in Sydney early next year, Khawaja is mapping out the most glorious final coming to an international career littered with ups and downs. And though this is likely a final tour of England – “unless I pull a James Anderson,” he said – that finishing point may be some time off yet.

On just the second day of the World Cup Qualifier, Oman brought about the first upset of the tournament by chasing down 282 against much-fancied Ireland with five wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare in Bulawayo.Kashyap Prajapati, Aqib Ilyas and captain Zeeshan Maqsood all scored crucial fifties as Oman went about the chase with utmost professionalism. At no point did they look hurried, they stitched partnerships at every corner and registered a historic maiden ODI win against a Full Member nation to spark off delirious scenes in the dugout .That Ireland reached 281 was down to George Dockrell’s career-best 89-ball 91 after Oman’s spinners had the Ireland batters on a leash in the middle overs.Sent in to bat, the new opening pair of Andy McBrine and Paul Stirling hit their straps immediately, adding 51 runs in nine overs. With the 9am start, there was a lot of movement on offer for the fast bowlers, but the Oman quicks Fayyaz Butt and Bilal Khan failed to capitalise and gave away too many freebies.Kashyap Prajapati scored a free-flowing 72•ICC/Getty Images

However, almost against the run of play, Ireland lost both openers off consecutive balls. Having just nailed a pull the previous ball off Bilal, Stirling went for the same shot to a similar ball. The difference being a fielder had just moved to deep backward square leg and Stirling toe-ended his pull straight down his throat. The very next ball, McBrine picked out mid-off to an innocuous short ball outside off.Things got worse for Ireland, with captain Andrew Balbirnie falling for a 19-ball 7 as they lost 3 for 18 in seven overs. It was a trial by spin for Ireland, with the trio of Maqsood, Ayaan Khan and Jay Odedra tying them up.Lorcan Tucker was cleaned up by Ayaan, but Dockrell and Harry Tector added 79 runs for the fifth wicket. Tector fell after his fifty, but Dockrell took the innings deep. He helped Ireland slam 86 runs off the final ten overs. But the fact that they faced 157 dot balls in their innings was always going to haunt them.At no stage did Oman look out of depth in the chase. The bright sunshine did make things easier for batters, but the nervelessness with which Oman got about the chase was a sight to behold.Mark Adair got the ball to hoop around up top, and had Jatinder Singh edging to second slip. Prajapati and Ilyas, however, made sure the required run rate never got out of hand. They kept the good balls out and capitalised on the loose ones. Ilyas targeted Graham Hume by slamming him for three successive fours in the seventh over. The duo added 94 runs off 88 balls for the second wicket before Ilyas top-edged Dockrell to short fine leg.Maqsood came in at No. 4 and added a 63-run stand with Prajapati and then a 56-run partnership with Mohammad Nadeem. At no point did the required rate go above six an over as the Oman batters got the boundaries regularly and rotated the strike brilliantly.Maqsood reached his fifty off 58 balls and while he fell soon after, there were no flutters in the Oman camp. Nadeem (46 not out), Ayaan (21) and Shoaib Khan (19) all played their part as Oman cantered home.

Just five days after announcing his retirement from all forms of cricket on social media, Manoj Tiwary has reversed his decision, saying that the original decision had been an “emotional” one, and that he will “come out of retirement and play for Bengal for one more year”.Seated with Cricket Association of Bengal president Snehasish Ganguly at a press meet at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, Tiwary said, “Raj [Ganguly] convinced me to continue playing [in the Ranji Trophy] for one more year and I should leave while on the field. So I thought about it. I spoke to my wife, and she convinced me too.”She reminded me that I was the captain when Bengal reached the Ranji Trophy final last year. And then Raj spoke to me, I thought about it and decided to come back. A lot of fans also wrote to me and asked me to reconsider my decision.”There was no proper reason for the retirement announcement, Tiwary said, adding that it had been made when he “had gone blank”.