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How did a system as rigorous and mechanical as India’s generate such a free spirit?

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Mar-20222:57

Jaffer: Pant’s timing of counterattack was courageous

Early in the first session, while the crowd was still trickling in at Mohali, the ground announcer bellowed out instructions. “What a shot! Come on, say , shout !” This was whenever Rohit Sharma or Mayank Agarwal hit a boundary.Later, after India’s new No. 3 had got out following his important, but staid, 58: “What a beautiful half-century from Hanuma Vihari! Well done.”It is a phenomenon most emphatically seen in the IPL, where the guy on the mic is more drill sergeant than hype artist. Here is when you cheer, these are the chants we want you to scream, now is when you start the Mexican wave, this is the trumpet klaxon to which you give the pre-approved response. Don’t waste your neurons enjoying a whirlwind burst or a fierce spell on your own terms, and in case you feel yourself at risk of developing a personal connection with a performance – producing an original thought – we will be there in real time, in your ear, telling you how to feel about it.Over the past 15 years, as India have built a cricket ecosystem the scale of which has never been seen, assembling vast networks of coaches, trainers, and scouts, generated pathways and zonal academies, and on top of all that, commodified sport with a singular intensity, there are shades of mechanical brutalism to this vision.But then there is Rishabh Pant.Behind-the-stumps quipper. Hummer of spiderman theme song. But most of all, bat in hand, purveyor of pure adrenaline/mayhem/joy.Watch him run at Sri Lanka’s spinners to larrup them waaay over deep midwicket during that 13-ball stretch, in which he blessed us with 42 runs. Go back, check the highlights. At the moment of contact, his legs are skewed away, as if they have been invited to a different dance than the rest of him. The torso is half-keeling over like a party boat on choppy seas. That his is not a shackled, or even particularly methodical, mind is clear to anyone who has ever watched him roll out his fun. But that technique is, and perhaps can only be, homespun.Rishabh Pant is a spell-binding presence on a cricket field•BCCIFor all India’s moves towards mechanisation, this kind of thing they have tended to leave untouched. Oh, this is how you’ve played all your life? In games, on maidans, paper-ball matches in the hallway? Then ok, we will preserve.And it’s not like Pant has been untouched by the more refining influences of India’s vast organisation. It is, of course, the frenzy – the three sixes and four fours – that Mohali will remember. But before that, there had also been a 50 that came off 75, when he had blocked, left, picked his moments, and generally stooped to such prosaic endeavours as rebuilding, and consolidating. (Yuck.)But you don’t really want to read about that. And I definitely don’t want to write about it. The 42 off 13 balls, when there was no need to go on this kind of tear, save the fact Pant got caught up, and in turn, caught the rest of us up in whatever he was caught up, one flood of original thought setting in motion a multitude of others. Let’s revel: there were two hyuuuge hits over cow corner. A run-down and one-handedly deposit the offspinner into the sightscreen type maneuver. Rocking back, blasting through extra. A big mis-hit through the legside, the bat twirling (for joy?) in his gloves.Pant is not the only player in this India side that purveys this kind of visceral joy. There is, as one other example, Jasprit Bumrah. In earlier years, there was also true originals such as Virender Sehwag, and MS Dhoni, but then the India system from which they emerged was not the India that spat out Pant. Plus, even they didn’t do it quite like Pant has started to do it.Anyway, as all this havoc was being wreaked, the ground announcer who’d been on the crowd’s case all day went quiet, perhaps themselves acknowledging that now, they were redundant. In that 20-minute blitz, there was just Rishabh Pant swinging, or getting on one knee to shovel through square leg, gleefully pouring every atom in his body into his shots, looking as if he was having the time of his damn life.And there was us, kinda doing the same.

All the important numbers from the first Test between England and New Zealand

Sampath Bandarupalli05-Jun-2022277 – The target chased by England in the first Test is the third-highest successful chase by any team at Lord’s. West Indies had hunted down 342 against England in 1984, while England successfully chased 282 against New Zealand in 2004.ESPNcricinfo Ltd210 – Runs scored by England after the fall of their fourth wicket. These are the ninth-most runs scored by a team in a successful run chase, after being four down. These are also the second-most runs that England have recorded after losing four wickets in their fourth innings, behind the 232 they scored from 31 for 4 in pursuit of 263 against Australia in 1902.1 – Joe Root became the first player to reach the milestone of 10,000 runs in Test cricket within ten years of making his debut. It took Root nine years and 174 days to reach the 10,000-run mark, since first turning out for England in 2012. He is also the second England player after Alastair Cook (12,472 runs), to reach the milestone.ESPNcricinfo Ltd120* – The stand between Root and Ben Foakes is the second-highest unbroken partnership for the sixth wicket or lower during a successful fourth-innings chase in Test cricket. The highest is a sixth-wicket stand of 189 between Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga, against Zimbabwe in 1998.15 – Test hundreds for Root in England, the joint-most for any batter in the country. Graham Gooch, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen and Alastair Cook also have 15 Test tons in England.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 – Root’s unbeaten 115 at Lord’s is his maiden hundred in the fourth innings of a Test match. His previous highest score in the fourth innings was 87 against Australia, during the 2013 Adelaide Test.3 – Players to score a century in the fourth innings of a successful run-chase at Lord’s. Apart from Root’s 115 in the first Test, the list includes Gordon Greenidge’s 214* against England in 1984, and Nasser Hussain’s 103* against New Zealand in 2004.14.56 – The partnership average for the first four wickets in this Test, the fifth-lowest in a Test match, since 1960 (matches where the first four wickets fell in all four innings). It is also the second-lowest average in the last 20 years, behind 10.56 during the Bridgetown Test between West Indies and Sri Lanka in 2018.

Pre-tournament expectations from the venue have taken a beating after an India-Pakistan clash that was all about pace, bounce and swing

Alex Malcolm25-Oct-2022Shan Masood had never played at the MCG until Sunday night against India. Part of his preparation for the famous ground was reading ESPNcricinfo’s piece on how to play at each of the venues hosting this T20 World Cup.But what he read, which included expert observations from Melbourne Stars coach David Hussey, and what he faced were two entirely different things.”It was completely different to the article I read from Cricinfo on the MCG,” Masood said after the match. “The MCG had the highest economy rate, so I thought yes, we’re in for a belter of a wicket. But there was grass, it was lively, it was fresh and as a batter, you don’t expect that in T20 cricket, but once you’re in the arena, you have to figure a way out.”Welcome to the MCG in October. The numbers Masood referred to were from men’s T20s since the start of 2020. Those numbers said fast bowlers had been more expensive at the MCG than anywhere else in Australia over the last two years and spin had been the handbrake.ESPNcricinfo LtdBut the caveat is that none of the 25 matches played in that timeframe were played in October. None were played in November. Only two were played in December. The rest were played in January and February, the warmest months of the year in Melbourne, and after the Boxing Day Test.Test cricket has been the priority each year for curator Matt Page ever since he took over the job following the MCG pitch’s nadir of 2017-18. The drop-ins have been rebuilt and the preparation has been completely overhauled.Leaving grass on has been his new mantra prior to Boxing Day. But once the Test is over, Page shaves the grass off to produce great run-scoring pitches in the BBL.This time last year Page was preparing a track for Sheffield Shield cricket. It had 12mm of grass on it and five batters were hit in the head on one of the liveliest MCG tracks in recent memory.Now he is trying to prepare world-class T20 tracks in one of the wettest Octobers Melbourne has seen in recent times.Herein lies the challenge for the four sides that will play there for the first time in this tournament on Wednesday. No one quite knows what to expect or how to play on a surface with more grass than normal. If Sunday’s India-Pakistan epic is any guide, swing, seam, pace and bounce will rule the roost while spin and slower balls, normally a staple at the MCG for bowling teams, could be completely neutralised.Afghanistan’s captain Mohammad Nabi has plenty of recent BBL experience at the venue, having played three games in the last three years for Melbourne Renegades. But he has never seen an MCG pitch so green.”Yes, at that time in Big Bash, it was drier,” Nabi said on Tuesday. “The ball swings early on for one or two overs, but after that it will be a little bit slower, [some] help for spinners, and the ball won’t swing that much.”But here the pitch is new and also a little bit green, as well, and also the weather is cold.”It will be a huge challenge for Afghanistan against New Zealand’s high-quality attack, who made a mess of Australia on a good batting track at the SCG last Saturday night. Trent Boult, who will play for Stars this summer in the BBL, is licking his lips having seen what Arshdeep Singh was able to produce against Pakistan.”I believe we’re on a new strip again,” Boult said. “It did look like there was a bit of pace and bounce in the surface which is always exciting as a fast bowler.”Both Afghanistan and New Zealand will have the benefit of watching what unfolds in the game prior to theirs, with Ireland facing England first up in the afternoon.Trent Boult is excited by the prospect of pace and bounce at the MCG during New Zealand’s game against Afghanistan•ICC/Getty ImagesSpare a thought for Ireland. Having handled West Indies with aplomb, they were undone by Sri Lanka’s well-rounded attack on a fresh Hobart pitch. They now have to face the likes of Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Mark Wood on a pitch that could offer as much swing and seam as Bellerive and a lot more pace and bounce. Ireland’s coach Heinrich Malan noted what a huge challenge it would be given their inexperience in the conditions. But they had learned from the Hobart experience and from watching India-Pakistan about how to approach their batting.”I guess if you look at T20 cricket, especially in Australia, the powerplay is important, but the powerplay is not the be-all and end-all,” Malan said. “It’s what happens in that middle block. I guess it’s scoring runs but not getting out in the powerplay, which then allows you to move through that middle block.”England’s captain Jos Buttler revealed that the unknown of the conditions had reinforced the need to be adaptable.”Work out what’s happening really quickly,” Buttler said. “In Perth, it felt like the ball was swinging around. [Fazalhaq] Farooqi was getting it to move both ways, and it felt like you have to change your approach initially and give some respect to those conditions and play accordingly.”On another day, the pitch will feel great, and there won’t be any swing, and then you change your plan.”Ironically, England’s best experience to draw upon this week might be the Boxing Day Test last year where three of England’s T20I top six played and Wood bowled a handful of frightening spells in a match that lasted two-and-a-half days.India’s captain Rohit Sharma explained that the MCG track had played like a Test-match pitch on Sunday.”The first four or five overs was brilliant to watch, honestly,” Rohit said. “For a little while it felt like a Test match because of the way the ball was moving around and the carry in the pitch, as well. It was a good cricketing pitch.”As of 3pm on Tuesday, with the stinging sun shining on a 23-degree Melbourne afternoon with 77% humidity and clouds looming, the full square covers were already on the MCG playing surface.Like everything else in this World Cup so far, Wednesday at the MCG will be another case of expecting the unexpected.

On the eve of a T20 World Cup, England allrounder knows it’s ok to put herself first

Valkerie Baynes10-Feb-2023Success looks a little bit different for Nat Sciver-Brunt these days.If she learned anything from taking time out of the game last year to care for her mental health and wellbeing, it was how to become – selfish is too strong – willing to put herself first.In fact, many lessons came from that time, including how to develop strategies to ensure she doesn’t reach “boiling point” again. But as she prepares to take England into a T20 World Cup campaign as Heather Knight’s deputy and her country’s most influential player of the previous, turbulent year, the consummate team-player knows she has to take care of herself.Sciver-Brunt enjoyed a successful return from her three-month absence to be England’s leading run-scorer on their combined ODI-T20I tour of West Indies and Player of the Series in the 50-over format. After a conversation with Knight following that tour, Sciver-Brunt decided she was ready to resume the vice-captaincy duties she had kept on hold initially when she made her playing comeback. After a half-century as England beat hosts South Africa in an official warm-up game ahead of the World Cup (she didn’t bat or bowl during a five-wicket win against New Zealand on Wednesday), all is going well so far.”Taking myself out, it’s not really a thing that I’ve had to do previously in my career,” Sciver-Brunt told ESPNcricinfo after the second warm-up game at Western Province Cricket Club in Cape Town. “I’d always try and give my everything to the team and for us to win, to the group, so actually taking the time to think am I going to be okay with it? Is it going to affect my performance, that was really what I wanted to try and figure out and I was happy that I was in a place where it wouldn’t.”I didn’t know how it was going to go. Before the tour I didn’t want my expectations to be that I want to make a score in every game or I want to take wickets. It was more about me feeling comfortable on the pitch and able to contribute in that way, not skill-wise or numbers or anything but yeah, was I able to be part of the group and enjoy myself. So success looked a bit different.”Success does look different now. Obviously you want to win and you want to perform for your team and everything like that but being okay for myself was more important.”Related

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Sciver-Brunt admits that the desire to always do her bit for the team had made stepping away for herself very difficult. But in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bio-secure bubble touring that followed – an away Ashes campaign, an ODI World Cup (where she was key to England’s runner-up finish) and a home Commonwealth Games – she felt she had little choice but to stop. Speaking to the England Women’s team doctor, though, gave her reassurance.”It was a weird place,” she reflected. “I’d not really felt like that at all in my life before. Normally I don’t want to miss anything, I don’t want to let anyone down. I don’t want to not be there for everyone. And so realising that allowing myself to leave or take myself out of it was the hardest thing to get over because I’ve never really gotten to that point before or felt like that at all.”Once I did go home, it just felt like it was the right thing. I might have got home and thought, ‘I feel fine, I should go back,’ but taking myself out of it and getting home, then I knew that it was definitely the right thing to do. Allowing myself to take myself out, it was a weird thing because in our team that’s not really happened before and I don’t like to miss things. I want to do absolutely everything that we need to do in order to play, so my mentality is not usually, ‘this isn’t right, I need to step back.'”Someone else who knew things weren’t right was her wife and team-mate, Katherine Sciver-Brunt.”Because I’m such a sort of steady character, Katherine can tell when I’m not right as well,” Sciver-Brunt says. “So she sort of knew that I wasn’t okay. Having that person there who, almost she knows me better than I know myself, was good to have, someone there, like, batting for you, basically.”The couple recently switched to using their married name ‘Sciver-Brunt’•Getty ImagesThe couple recently switched to using their married name while playing and will wear shirts to reflect that for the first time while in South Africa.”Everyone already knows we’re married so it’s not like, ‘oh, hi, it’s obvious now’, but it’s something nice to represent us both on the pitch,” Sciver-Brunt says. “And yeah, having a bit of Brunt in my bowling is definitely a good thing!”Katherine, who turns 38 in July, was rested during India’s tour of England late last summer and she wasn’t part of the ODI squad in the Caribbean, but she returned for the T20I part of that tour and is now primed for what could well be her last World Cup.Katherine was part of the England side which won the T20 crown in 2009 and finished runners-up to Australia in 2012, while Sciver-Brunt has twice played in losing finals against Australia, in 2014 and 2018. Sciver-Brunt also scored a gallant 148 not out as England lost the ODI World Cup final to Australia last year. But one result sticking in England’s craw in the lead-up to this event is their washed-out semi-final at the last T20 World Cup in Australia, where India advanced as group winners instead and lost to the hosts in the decider.So when Sciver-Brunt says through clenched teeth and raised eyebrows, “I don’t want to be runner-up anymore” it doesn’t sound like a predictable, throw-away line uttered by an athlete on the eve of a tournament. It sounds and looks like a pledge. And again, when she says: “I’d like to be in the final.””Especially in T20, we always seem to sort of do well and then get to the end and something happens, rain, or we don’t play as we have been playing,” she says. “There’s a lot of us who have experienced those tournaments who are, ‘right, I just don’t want to it do anymore’. We must go for it!'”As a team, we are in a really good place and I think the way that we want to play, as long as we’re able to put that into practice on the pitch and do it against the best teams, I think we’re in a really good spot to make the knockout stages. We say in tournaments you don’t want to think too far ahead and try and keep the next game in your mind as much as possible so I guess that’s what we’ll do. I think I once the tournament starts, it’ll go so quickly that all you can focus on is the next match. But at the moment, I’d like to be in the final.”

England’s No. 3 on missing out on the World Cup final, and his ambitions to make the 50-over cut

Andrew Miller11-Jan-2023A penny for Dawid Malan’s thoughts, an onlooker from the sidelines at the MCG in November, as a senior England batter marshalled a World Cup-winning run-chase against Pakistan with an unflappable 52 not from 49 balls.The man in question, of course, was Ben Stokes – the Red Adair of England run-chases, air-lifted back into the T20I side after an 18-month absence and proving once again that his big-match temperament is second-to-none.That match situation, however, could have had Malan’s name all over it. A middling target of 138 to aim for, and loss of two early wickets affording the incomer the right and rationale to build cautiously into his work, as would have befitted a man with a proven, former world No.1-ranked, record at No.3 across 44 of his 55 T20I appearances for England.But Malan himself was denied the perfect pay-off. His campaign was curtailed by a groin injury, picked up during England’s tense group-stage win over Sri Lanka, and despite believing he’d done enough to be trusted for a recall in the final against Pakistan, it wasn’t to be.”It was tough,” Malan tells ESPNcricinfo. “Initially we discussed that we were just going to treat the symptoms, but then on the day before the World Cup final, I ended up having a scan which I was not too happy about, because I was felt that I was okay.”I did the fitness test and everything that was required, and I was able to get through everything that was asked of me in a two-and-a-half hour session, with just a bit of throbbing to some extent.”But after the training session, when Jos [Buttler] and Motty [Matthew Mott] called me in, they said ‘look, even though you’ve passed everything, there’s still a risk’.”The issue, Malan adds, came down to the vast dimensions of the MCG, and the dangers of aggravating not only his niggle, but that of Mark Wood too – another key influence whom England opted to do without, despite appearing to overcome a hip flexor problem that had ruled him out of the India semi-final.”If we were playing at a smaller ground like Bangalore, where you are not going to rely on running threes and twos and chasing down balls in the outfield, definitely it would have been worth the risk,” he adds.”But playing the MCG, when every run would have counted in a World Cup final … as a cricketer, you have to put your ego away sometimes, even though you’re gutted at the decision. It’s about winning the World Cup as a team, it isn’t about putting your own personal pride in front of the team. Even though that’s a tough pill to take, it is the right decision. We won the World Cup by not risking two players that were touch-and-go on fitness. The rest is history.”That history now shows that England are the concurrent 50- and 20-over World Cup champions, the first men’s team to achieve such a feat. And while Malan was not involved in the epic 2019 campaign, he has been an integral member of the T20 team in between whiles, including the side that succumbed in the semi-final in the UAE 12 months before the MCG triumph – a campaign that he says came with significantly more expectation than the one just gone.”The disappointment of losing that semi in 2021 was there for everyone to see,” he says, recalling a penultimate-over loss to New Zealand in Abu Dhabi. “With what we had available as a team, we were gutted that we didn’t win the World Cup that year, but I guess expectations probably weren’t as high this time around. We obviously wanted to win, but I didn’t think it would be realistic.”Dawid Malan launches a six over the leg side against South Africa in the summer•Getty ImagesThe reasons for such reticence were myriad. The retirement of Eoin Morgan had bled into a transitional summer in which England failed to win any of their four home white-ball series against India and South Africa, while injuries to key personnel – in particular Jofra Archer and Jonny Bairstow – meant they were far from being the frontrunners that had gone into previous ICC events.”If we played as well as we could, we could definitely win, but after the summer that we had, I didn’t think the pressure was on us as much as a team,” Malan says. “Australia and India were in better form than we were.”But it’s been a long journey, from when Morgs took over in 2015, to where it is now with Jos and Motty as the leaders in the group. I was on the outside initially, watching how they went about their business, but they’ve stuck to their guns for seven years now. Everyone in the country has bought into that, and to win two World Cups in the last couple of years is incredible.”Nevertheless, you get the sense that Malan would have relished a touch more vindication for this own methods in the course of England’s latest trophy-winning campaign. His tally for the tournament finished at 56 runs from 68 balls across three innings, including an ill-paced 35 from 37 that contributed to their rain-affected defeat against Ireland, and a cameo of 3 not out from one ball against New Zealand, after being shunted down to No.8 to make way for the perceived heavier hitters.Despite some eye-popping feats in the course of his England career, including 1000 T20I runs in the space of a record 24 matches, and a 48-ball century against New Zealand in 2019, criticism has been a constant companion for Malan. Specifically, the perception that he tends to be slow out of the blocks.In the course of his T20I career, Malan has made 30 scores of 30 or less, at a strike-rate of less than a run a ball (97.05). Once he’s into his stride, however, few opponents can live with his acceleration – as evidenced by a strike-rate that soars to 165.56 on the 15 occasions that he’s gone past fifty.And it was this point upon which Mike Hussey, England’s batting consultant, chose to dwell when presenting Malan with a cap to mark his 50th appearance during the World Cup. In particular, Hussey zeroed in on his “BASRA”, which is no longer simply a port in Southern Iraq, but now a means of assessing a player by their “batting average [and] strike rate aggregated” – which in Malan’s case is currently a lofty 174.55 (38.84 and 135.71), behind only Kevin Pietersen and Jos Buttler among England players.

“We’re here to win games of cricket, not make the highlights reel. There’s so many people that feel like, ‘oh, you have to hit the ball 130 metres and get on Instagram’. That’s irrelevant.”Dawid Malan

“It was the first time I’d heard of it,” Malan admits. “But when you hear someone like that give you praise like that, it’s an unbelievable feeling and gives you a lot of confidence.”Batting at 3 in T20s is a tricky position,” he adds, “because if you want to be positive and take it on in the first over of the game at 0 for 1, if you get out, you’re 10 for 2, and you’re probably not going to be scoring the 180 that you need to on that specific wicket. Then sometimes you walk in in the last over of the powerplay, or in the eighth over with all the fields out, and there’s a different match-up to what you’re used to.”When you open the batting, you can play the same way every single game, it’s the easiest thing to do, whereas there’s a bit more responsibility when you bat at No. 3. Yes, I found that quite tricky at times, but I’ve had leaders like Morgs and Jos giving me the confidence to just play it as I see it, and that’s massive for me because then I can shut out the criticism.”There’s always criticism, sometimes it’s fair, sometimes it isn’t, but we’re man enough as players to hold our hands up when we get it wrong. Sometimes you feel it’s the same topics over and over, no matter what you do, but all it is, is people looking at stats instead of looking at what’s actually in front of you.”There is, however, one other stat that matters where Malan is concerned. More often than not, he ends up on the winning side – in 33 of his 55 T20I matches, in fact, or 60%, which places him second among England players with 50 or more caps, behind only the Player of the World Cup final (and star pick at the IPL auction), Sam Curran.”We’re here to win games of cricket, not make the highlights reel,” Malan says. “There’s so many people that feel like, ‘oh, you have to hit the ball 130 metres and get on Instagram’. That’s irrelevant. Your team is judged on success. You’re judged on how many games you win as a player, not how many big bombs you hit.”I’d much rather average 20 at a strike rate of 130 and win every game than hit a couple of good sixes at 160, and do nothing else. You don’t win games of cricket like that.”Malan drives through the covers•Getty ImagesHe’ll be getting plenty opportunities to hone his methods in the coming months. Despite a rare period of downtime in December, in which he enjoyed Christmas at home for the first time in five years, Malan is already back on the road. His first stop is a stint at Comilla Victorians in the Bangladesh Premier League, and then – later this week – he embarks on the start of the ILT20 in the UAE, where he will link up with his fellow World Cup winners Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes at Sharjah Warriors, not to mention his Yorkshire team-mate Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Warwickshire’s Chris Benjamin.”We’ve got a group of English guys and a few of the Afghani guys as well, so it’s going to be brilliant,” Malan says. “Any franchise tournament is fantastic. But with so many overseas players allowed in each team, that pushes the standard up so much more.”It’s an exciting time. The IPL investment [in the ILT20] means it’s likely to have the biggest purse for players and attract the biggest names. And I guess that’s ultimately what attracts players to different tournaments, how much they get paid to some extent, not only the brand of cricket and the conditions that you play in. It has the makings of being a fantastic tournament.”It could be another significant year for Malan too, with England’s defence of the 50-over World Cup looming in India in the autumn. And while his ODI career has been restricted to just 12 appearances so far, he would appear to be in the right place at the right time, with Morgan’s retirement and Stokes’ withdrawal from the format creating openings, not just for new players but for experienced ones too. He responded with two centuries in his six matches in 2022, including a Player-of-the-Match performance against Australia in Adelaide, and believes his game is well suited for England’s needs.”It’s a bizarre one,” he says. “You’re good enough to play T20 cricket but not for the 50-over team, but within this group and with players retiring there has been more of an opportunity. Hopefully I’ve taken those opportunities in the last few series, because it’s something I want to be part of, I want to play in that 50-over World Cup, and I’ve had some good chats with Motty and Jos about moving forward.”And while Malan does not seem to harbour similar ambitions to regain his Test place, after the rigours of last winter’s Ashes, he – like many others in the English game – has been a fascinated onlooker as Stokes and Brendon McCullum have set about reviving the team’s fortunes with a heady mix of positive cricket and even more positive reinforcement within the dressing-room.”That’s unbelievable, isn’t it?” he says. “It’s fantastic to see how things have changed around and it just shows you what happens when leaders are confident and back their players to express themselves, instead of worrying about the media and the negative side of it.”I guess that’s what Eoin did in the 50-over cricket. He said ‘these are the players I’ve identified and I back them to the hilt’, and gave them a decent opportunity, whether the press or commentators agreed with it or not. It’s amazing when players feel backed how often they go out and perform.”

From bottom half of the CWC League 2 to stringing together an improbable series of wins under a new coach, it has been a surreal year for the side

Shashank Kishore28-Apr-2023″Each of those 12 matches could be an episode of a Netflix series.”Monty Desai, Nepal’s head coach, is reflecting on his team’s journey from rock bottom to being a step closer to their World Cup dream.When Desai joined Nepal in February, they were second from bottom of the World Cup Super League 2 points table. They needed 11 wins from a possible 12 matches to secure a berth at the 50-over World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe this June.They got them, making for a stirring story of how an underdog team with a history of infighting and administrative challenges rose to conquer new frontiers.Related

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“It’s emotional to even talk about it, there are so many stories,” Desai says. “I don’t know where to begin.”Associate cricket is cut-throat. But it also offers many lessons in character-building and camaraderie, and stories of people who play for the love of the game without knowing if they will be loved back.On a cold spring evening in Kirtipur on March 16, Nepal were, as they soaked in the glory of having achieved the unthinkable, having pipped UAE in a thriller under fading light.The Tribhuvan University ground was teeming with far more people than it could accommodate. Thousands dotted the streets to give the team a victory parade. Nepal’s prime minister hosted a reception for the team.”It was as if we’d won a World Cup,” Desai says. “But I told the boys the journey has just begun.”

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Five nights before their game against Namibia, the first of their 12 remaining fixtures, Desai received a message from their opener Kushal Bhurtel. His mother had suffered severe burns all over her body in a freak accident and had to be brought from their hometown to a hospital in Kathmandu.”The spontaneous call from the entire team to be alongside their colleague in this moment spoke of the camaraderie,” Desai says. I could see they cared for each other.

“For Bhurtel to play the role of a son by giving his mother moral support, and then to come back and be clear on his role in the game was a tremendous achievement. He set the tone for the whole team.”Coach Monty Desai on Kushal Bhurtel’s match-winning knock when his mother was ill

“In fact, it was Bhurtel’s younger sister who insisted he stay focused on chasing his dream and the country’s dream. She is his inspiration.”When Bhurtel returned, he found himself in the cauldron of a high-pressure chase of 286 against Namibia. He remembered Desai’s words: “Walk into the unknown with excitement.” Bhurtel made 115 off 113 balls to set the tone for a stunning chase.”For him to play the role of a son by giving his mother moral support and then to come back, focus and be clear of his role [in the game] was a tremendous achievement. He set the tone for the whole team,” Desai says.After the first match of the UAE tour, where Nepal were scheduled to play three more fixtures in the CWC tri-series against UAE and Papua New Guinea, legspinner Mousom Dhakal injured his shoulder. Nepal needed to seek a replacement, but they needed a detailed report from the physio, Vikram Nyaupane, with accompanying scans that needed to be verified by an ICC committee.Nepal had a small window in which to complete their paperwork, but Nyaupane’s pregnant wife had just gone into labour in America, and he was dealing with the stress of it while being far away.”I wasn’t aware of his personal situation [and that it was happening] the same morning while we had to submit a report with all evidence in place to the ICC committee,” Desai says.”All this happened between 8 and 9am in Dubai. It was only around 11am, when we got together for a team meeting, that it was brought to my notice what he had been going through the whole night, while I was chasing him to write a proper professional email to get the job done.”I thanked him profusely for what he had done. Going back home immediately wasn’t an option for him. Being a proud Nepali, he wanted to be part of this journey; winning or losing was immaterial to him.”Sandeep Lamichhane’s inclusion in the squad for the tri-series sparked protests across Nepal•AFP/Getty ImagesAkash Gupta, Nepal’s side-arm specialist, comes from Gorakhpur, an Indian town in Uttar Pradesh along the Nepal border. Gupta would travel to and from his hometown to Kathmandu three times a week for camps and matches, without complaining of fatigue.Each step of that 12-match journey was dotted with stories like these, of adversity and the strength to overcome it.

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Dhakal’s unfortunate injury paved the way for Sandeep Lamichhane’s inclusion. But it wasn’t straightforward. He had been accused of rape by a minor and had been under trial. His selection at the time sparked anger in the country.”It is extremely disappointing but also worrisome,” noted Nepali activist Hima Bista said at the time. “The institutional protection for him shows an attitude of normalising gender-based violence,” “The narrative is, if you are a celebrity, you can get away with anything… what about the victim?”While Lamichhane was granted bail on furnishing a bond of two million Nepali rupees (US$15,400 approx), he wasn’t permitted to travel outside Nepal. But that changed when the country’s Supreme Court granted him relief.Lamichhane had been instrumental in Nepal going through the CWC tri-series in Nepal, the first four games of their 12-match streak, unbeaten. He took 13 wickets in what was his first set of games since his arrest last October.

“The institutional protection for Lamichhane shows an attitude of normalising gender-based violence. The narrative is if you are a celebrity, you can get away with anything… what about the victim?”Nepali activist Hima Bista

His participation in that series came with its fair share of objections. Scotland and Namibia, Nepal’s opponents, refused to shake hands with him after the initial games, and their respective boards issued statements condemning gender-based violence.Despite the misgivings over his inclusion within Nepal, the Cricket Association of Nepal’s decision to field him underlined the win-at-all-cost mindset that can sometimes engulf Associate teams, given that opportunities for them are few and far between. After all, their ODI status, which Lamichhane had helped them gain in 2018, was in jeopardy again.But long before his inclusion as a replacement, a decision over Lamichhane had been taken internally. Soon after taking over as coach, Desai had sought clarity from all parties concerned upfront, to prevent distractions later on.”Once the court cleared him to play, the selection committee asked what you feel about it,” Desai explains. “I said, allow him to come to the camp for a day or two. I invited him one day with a small group of senior players around. There was Rohit Paudel, our captain, Gyanendra Malla, and a couple of other players.”In our very first meeting, Sandeep said, ‘Coach, if anyone feels uncomfortable, you don’t need to bring me into the squad.’ I asked him, ‘What do you want to do?’ And he said he wants to contribute towards the team. This is where he got his identity from. I asked the captain and senior players what they felt. All of them said, if he’s cleared to play, he should be welcomed. So it was a collective call.”

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Much of Desai’s philosophy on team-building has revolved around having a “happy dressing room”. Having previously worked with Nepal in 2015, he had a ringside view of the hurdles players faced. Infrastructure was among the major considerations; clashes between players and the board weren’t uncommon either.Nepal are one of only three teams, alongside Scotland and Oman, to make it directly to the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe•Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images”The first goal was to create a happy dressing room,” he says. “I didn’t know how it had been earlier, but I was clear that everyone needed to play for one another as a group. You need to have open discussion about issues, not have a senior-junior divide.”Experience-wise, they may be different, but when it comes to their views, they needed to have an open forum. I had to impress upon them these things. Among the first things we spoke about was to create awareness, not just cricket-wise but awareness around how we manage emotions, our choice of words, our body language. We had 12 games to shape the team.”Once I connected with all of them, defined their roles and put plans in place, we were confident of being able to get something out of it. We weren’t quite sure what the end outcome would be. Qualifying for the Qualifier wasn’t even on the horizon then, because you don’t think that far.”But my Under-19 experience with Nepal told me there was potential. So when we started off, we were clear about rewriting our story. What unfolded in those 12 games was magical – one story after another.”Much of the change in culture, Desai says, is down to his rapport and understanding with Paudel, Nepal’s 20-year-old captain. It’s a responsibility Paudel has been able to warm up to without allowing it to get in the way of his batting form. Desai is all praise for Paudel’s clarity and calm handling of potentially tough situations.”In one of the games, I wanted to hold back Rohit, just to have some experience in the middle order, but he was clear he’d bat at his usual number. He had that much conviction.” Desai says. “He walked the talk with a crucial half-century.”I know with him, there’s a captain who will challenge the status quo if needed. That’s the highlight of our partnership.”

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In the final game of this long stretch of matches, Nepal were faced with the challenge of chasing their highest-ever ODI target to win. At stake was a place in the World Cup Qualifiers.

“Among the first things we spoke about was to create awareness, not just cricket-wise but awareness around how we manage emotions, our choice of words, our body language. We had 12 games to shape the team”Monty Desai

UAE’S Asif Khan had bludgeoned a 41-ball century to help set up a target of 311. When Nepal slumped to 37 for 3, some in the crowd started to get unruly. But Bhim Sharki and Bhurtel hit counterattacking half-centuries to lead the rescue.After they were dismissed, Aarif Sheikh and Gulsan Jha played unreal cameos to keep Nepal alive. Amid all the drama, the light was fading, and 44 overs into the chase, the umpires got together and decided play couldn’t continue.”We were just behind DLS when Aarif got out. We were suddenly 15-16 behind. The crowd got emotional. Things were thrown, a few UAE players along the boundary were heckled. Paudel, Malla and a few other players appealed for calm. All this cost time.”We had to stretch to cross the finish line with DLS requirements of 20 runs in the next over or two,” Desai says. “Gulsan played an unreal knock – his first-ever fifty will forever be remembered.”When play was finally suspended, Nepal were nine runs ahead, with Jha having received support from veteran Deependra Singh Airee. Nepal had done the unthinkable.”It was the perfect culmination of us winning those one-ball battles,” Desai explains. We realised UAE will come with aggressive fast bowlers. We had mentally prepared for that. We had sessions where we prepared physically by practising ramps – scoops specifically.”And under pressure, Bhim played two crucial scoops on the leg side, Aarif played a ramp under pressure to a short ball over the keeper’s head. Those are examples of courage shown in one-ball battles that kept us on course.”

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After those heroics, Desai enjoyed a short break at home in Mumbai before joining the squad again for the ACC Premier Cup, a tournament whose winner will qualify to play this year’s 50-over Asia Cup in Pakistan this September. The top three teams from the tournament will also play the ACC Emerging Nations Cup, involving the A sides of the big five – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.Desai on his relationship with Nepal captain Rohit Paudel (standing): “I know with him, there’s a captain who will challenge the status quo if needed”•Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty ImagesDesai’s next challenge is to work with CAN to develop a robust domestic structure.”They play the Prime Minister’s Cup, which is their biggest competition. Apart from that, some private T20 leagues, but they’ve agreed to revamp the domestic structure,” Desai says. “There’s also a focus on improving ground infrastructure.”At our management meeting, there have been some discussions around ensuring windows for A tours, apart from playing some invitational tournaments in India. We will try and reach out to associations like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Vidarbha, who host such tournaments prior to the Indian domestic season. If they can accommodate us, it would be great.”They are developing two more grounds, and now with ODI status being retained, it will unlock some more funding that will open the doors not just for the men’s but also the Under-19 and women’s team.”For now, Desai and Nepal have their sights firmly on the present. They aren’t looking too far ahead and are happy to stick to their philosophy of embracing the unknown with excitement.Five years ago, Desai was part of Afghanistan’s squad as they made a remarkable comeback from nowhere to win the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. He, and the rest of Nepal, will be hoping history will repeat itself.

The key numbers from a remarkable batting display, led by Zak Crawley’s 189

Sampath Bandarupalli21-Jul-20235.49 England’s run-rate in their total of 592, the third highest for any team in a 500-plus total in Test cricket. The top two entries on the list are also by England, who made 657 all out against Pakistan in last year’s Rawalpindi Test at 6.5 runs per over, and 524 for 4 against Ireland at a rate of 6.33 earlier this summer at Lord’s.592 England’s total in their first innings at Old Trafford. It is the first time England crossed the 500-run mark in an Ashes Test at home since the 1985 Edgbaston Test, where they made 595 for 5. England have made 500-plus totals on six occasions in the Ashes in Australia since 1985.7 Batters to remain unbeaten on 99 in Test cricket, including Jonny Bairstow at Old Trafford. Bairstow is the also only the second batter to remain not out on 99 in the Ashes, after Steve Waugh in the 1994-95 Perth Test. Geoffrey Boycott also made 99 not out at Perth in 1979-80, but the Ashes were not at stake in that series.ESPNcricinfo Ltd93 Balls Zak Crawley needed to complete his century. It is the second-fastest by an opening batter in the Ashes, behind the 85-ball hundred by Australia’s Joe Darling at the SCG in 1898. Crawley’s hundred is also the fourth-fastest by an England batter in the Ashes.1 Number of Test centuries at Old Trafford to have come in fewer balls than Crawley’s 93-ball ton. Ian Botham has the fastest Test hundred at the venue, having brought up his three figures in only 86 balls against Australia in the 1981 Ashes.ESPNcricinfo Ltd6.94 Run rate of the 206-run partnership between Crawley and Root, which came from just 29.4 overs. It is the fastest double-century stand in Test cricket by run-rate (where balls faced by a partnership data is available).
The previous highest was 6.91, also by an England pair of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow in the 2016 Cape Town Test against South Africa, where they added 399 from 47.4 overs for the sixth wicket.6 out of England’s top seven batters scored 50-plus runs in their first innings. It is only the third such instance for England in Test cricket, with the previous two coming in 1893 at The Oval and in 1930 at Kingston. England’s first innings in Manchester is only their seventh instance of six or more batters making a fifty-plus score in the same Test innings.1 Chris Woakes is the first England batter dismissed for a duck in this Ashes series. There have been only five ducks across the four matches played in the series until England’s first innings.

A fourth win in as many Tests at this venue has led to calls for the venue to become the first port of call for visiting teams

Alex Malcolm17-Dec-2023Australia might have found its new fortress. The Gabba, colloquially called the Gabbatoir, was once the first bastion for touring teams to breach, and Australia’s gladiators would invite them in like lambs to the slaughter.They would break their opponents’ spirits in the first five days of a tour on a fast, bouncy pitch under a harsh, unforgiving sun and send them on their way around the country for two or four more defeats.But the Gabba has only once hosted the opening Test of an Australian summer since India felled the fortress in the fourth Test of the 2020-21 series.Related

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Perth’s Optus Stadium, with its equally harsh sun, bright light, and its steep and at times unpredictable bounce is fast becoming Australia’s favourite place to play at home after they poleaxed Pakistan inside four days, bowling them out for 89 in the fourth innings to set up a 360-run win and leave the tourists pondering how on earth they can win down under.It has raised thoughts inside the Australian camp about whether Perth should be the starting point for every major home series, with India looming on the horizon next summer. Captain Pat Cummins was diplomatic, but he revealed that there are others within his dressing room who believe that the visiting team’s first port should be at Perth Stadium.”I don’t have a strong opinion on that,” Cummins said after the win. “I know a few other people do. And I think the last few years, most wickets here, Adelaide’s always a great wicket, the Gabba is always pretty good. MCG is good. They’re all, I think, quite Australian fast, bouncy wickets with a bit of sideways movement. So I’m not too fussed wherever it is to be honest.”Australia’s record at Perth’s new venue is imposing. Four Test matches, four victories, the closest margin being 146 runs. It is an upgrade on the old WACA ground, which had a fiery reputation but had mellowed in its old age with Australia beaten there four times this century including once by India.The blueprint has been the same in each match at the new stadium. Bat first and post an above-par score on a surface that has offered plenty of pace and bounce for the quicks if they put it in the right areas. Then Australia’s attack goes to work on a pitch they love bowling on to take 20 wickets against opponents who simply can’t handle the steep bounce and pace of the surface as it continues to get more unpredictable as the game wears on.Australia’s bowlers would roll up this pitch and take it with them wherever they go.”Every week,” Cummins said. “It would be lovely.Pat Cummins says it ‘would be lovely’ to play in Perth ‘every week’•Getty Images”After the first few days, I think there was 12 wickets that fell, but I think they could have easily been 20. I thought it was a really good, even contest. There’s some runs to be scored there but also it felt like as a bowler if you got in the right areas there’s something in it for the whole innings. It probably broke up today in particular a lot more than I thought it would. There were some big cracks and there’s a bit more up and down than I was expecting but overall I thought it was a good wicket.”But the secret to Australia’s success is not just that their bowlers love it, but that their opponents do not know how to bat here as well as Australia’s players do. There is a specific blueprint to batting in Perth. There are plenty of runs to be had if you do your homework and follow the rules. But Pakistan’s players had not done their homework. Shan Masood was one of only two batters to have played on this pitch before in a tour match against Australia A in 2019.But he committed a cardinal sin in Perth in both innings, driving on the up away from his body to nick off twice in the match. Australia’s players simply do not take that risk in Perth due to the extra bounce. David Warner and Mitchell Marsh only drove balls that were genuine half-volleys. They left a lot of good-length balls. They sweated on chest- and shoulder-high short balls and played them with fully committed horizontal-bat shots. Anything higher was ducked under. Usman Khawaja hung back on the back foot and used the pace to deflect during his second innings of 90, rather than trying to force on the up as the pitch became more unpredictable on day four.Pakistan’s batters propped forward time and again to balls climbing from a good length to provide catching practice off the shoulder of the bat or gloves to a cordon standing halfway to the fence.Nathan Lyon, who took his 500th Test wicket on day four, praised the batters for setting up the game.”I don’t think we’re talking enough about the partnership between Usman and Mitch Marsh on a challenging wicket against quality bowlers,” Lyon said. “To have a hundred-run partnership and give Pat the chance to declare and put us in a really strong position in the game, I feel like their batting performance in this game, hats off to them, that’s what as bowlers we love to see.”Just like Australia’s batters and bowlers are challenged when they head to the subcontinent, they have no qualms about inflicting the same pain on opponents on pitches like the one in Perth.”We know from travelling overseas, you go to foreign conditions and if you’re a batter and you don’t score runs, you start questioning things,” Cummins said. “As a bowler, if you haven’t had a huge impact you start looking at your own game perhaps a bit more than you do at home. So we love those conditions. We know those conditions really well. I think that’s what makes playing and winning away from home so difficult.”

Australia’s lower order returns have been a concern but in Wellington they more than play their role

Alex Malcolm01-Mar-2024Cameron Green was sheepish on the evening of day one when he admitted he did not know how to bat with the lower order.”I’m still trying to work out how best to play with a tail,” he said. “It’s still a fine balance between still trying to score runs but then [not] making the guys down the bottom face too many balls.”It took him all of 16 hours to work it out, as he and Josh Hazlewood broke a host of records with a rare and priceless 116-run 10th wicket partnership to completely deflate New Zealand and help post a first innings total of 383 that looked above par on a tricky Basin Reserve pitch. It was the highest tenth-wicket partnership against New Zealand in Test history, and Australia’s fourth-best ever.Related

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Green continued where he left off from the opening day, making a masterful 174 not out while Hazlewood survived 62 balls for 22. It was the third-longest innings Hazlewood had faced in Test cricket in terms of deliveries, and his fifth-highest score, having not passed 11 in his last 28 Test innings across five years.Matt Henry’s fifth wicket finally broke the stand after New Zealand suffered the indignity of having the first session extended by half an hour, having not taken a wicket in the first 120 minutes of play.As good as Green and Hazlewood were, it was an insipid display from New Zealand, except for Henry who deserved to have a fifth much earlier in the morning. They had no obvious plan. There was no real vigour or intensity. They bowled with the assumption that the tenth wicket would fall at some point. But it did not. It was yet another example of New Zealand letting Australia off the hook after having them in a vulnerable position.Tim Southee’s form with the ball has to be a huge worry for the New Zealand hierarchy. One Test shy of 100, the captain went wicketless in the first innings and hardly troubled Australia’s final pair. He bowled just four maidens in 27 overs and built no pressure on any batters. In his last five Tests, he has taken just six wickets at 62.66, striking at 124.5.Green’s actions early in the morning backed up his own words about not quite knowing how to shepherd the tail. There were times it looked like Hazlewood was the senior man talking him through it. There was even one comical moment when Hazlewood almost completed two full runs after some miscommunication with Green who did not run despite an easy two being on offer to retain the strike for the next over.Hazlewood needed to survive 12 balls in the first three overs before Green found his method and started farming the strike. Green opted to play out the first four balls of each over with eight fielders on the rope, before either taking a single, walloping a boundary, or doing both.Highest 10th-wicket stands for Australia in Tests•ESPNcricinfo LtdWhile Henry was still causing him enormous trouble with balls pitched on a good length, the bowlers at the other end decided to bounce him to try and keep him on strike. Green gleefully smashed five pull shots over the legside fence into the crowd with zero fear of holing out to the men stationed in the deep.Hazlewood then got into the groove smoking two cover drives himself. New Zealand’s heads dropped. The partnership climbed up the records charts, past the famous Jason Gillespie-Glenn McGrath laughathon at the Gabba in 2004.It was a redemption of sorts for Hazlewood with the bat. He had cut a forlorn figure in Australia’s last Test against West Indies as he stood still in the middle, holding the pose of an attempted forward defence while his off stump was splayed, and Shamar Joseph charged away in celebration of a famous Test win.Australia’s lower-order batting has been a major problem in recent times, save for the heroics of Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon at Edgbaston in the Ashes. There have been times where Australia have been six-out all out. The diminishing returns of Cummins, Lyon, Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc with the bat has been a source of concern within the camp, although it had been papered over by their outstanding bowling contributions.So often it has been Australia who have been on the receiving end of frustrating last-wicket stands. Headingley 2019 lives long in the memory. But in the last 12 months, Australia has conceded three half-century tenth-wicket stands including two in the recent summer against Pakistan and West Indies. Only South Africa and now New Zealand have conceded one other 50-plus last-wicket stand in that time.There would have been glee in the dugout as Green and Hazlewood kept accumulating with ease. The partnership looked in no trouble at all until Hazlewood chipped one to mid-off trying another expansive drive, having been very disciplined in defence for most of the session.But he should be proud of his efforts. As should Green, whose highest Test score raised his average back up to 37.51, past the career marks of exulted Test allrounders Keith Miller and Ben Stokes.And he now knows how to bat with the tail.

Nothing had gone right for Mumbai Indians before the game against Delhi Capitals, and the win on Sunday could be the start of good things for them

S Sudarshanan07-Apr-20242:25

Quick review: 10/10 for Shepherd’s impactful innings

The – a traditional blowhorn in Maharashtra – that rang out at the Wankhede Stadium an over after Mumbai Indians’ powerplay was symbolic in many ways. It wasn’t quite to announce the arrival of an important figure, as in times past, but a signal of things changing for MI.MI headed into the game against Delhi Capitals on the back of three successive losses with seemingly nothing working for them. The bowlers were leaking runs; the batters were unable to do anything of note; the pre-season captaincy change had turned their large fan-base against them, or at least against new captain Hardik Pandya. With most of the stands filled by 18,000 children from various NGOs across the city, as part of MI’s CSR initiative, the powerplay – where MI blitzed to 75 for 0 – was a sign of things to come. The death-overs assault added to the mood, and by the end of the evening, MI had turned a page and stalled their losing run.What might please them the most is that the win was crafted primarily by Romario Shepherd, who was only playing his first full game for Mumbai, with assistance from Rohit Sharma, Tim David and Jasprit Bumrah. They had, after all, shunned the template they had played with so far by bringing in two overseas allrounders – Mohammad Nabi to go with Shepherd – and relied more on their Indian batters to deliver.Related

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Suryakumar Yadav’s return after a four-month absence allowed MI that luxury.The played just as he walked out to bat at the end of the seventh over. That his return lasted all of two balls did not eventually make a difference to the five-time champions’ fortunes on the day. But something did seem to have changed.Rohit continued to trust his plan of going hard at the start of the innings. His first boundary attempt was also a sign – he scooped Ishant Sharma over short fine-leg on the fourth ball he faced. Jhye Richardson, playing his first game of the season, was greeted with successive sixes. Rohit pumped six fours and three sixes inside the powerplay and narrowly missed out on a half-century.Ishan Kishan complemented Rohit, and kept the attack going. Anything short and angled into him was dispatched over the on side; anything wide was crashed over point. Along with Rohit, he added 80 in just seven overs.Most teams have been targeting the field restrictions in the powerplay to get a headstart this season, and MI did just that. Their 75 was the second-best for them in the powerplay this season – after the 76 for 2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in that 523-run game – and the third-highest by any team batting first in IPL 2024.

“When you’re in the back end and there’s only 18 balls [he walked in with 13 left], you will only face about seven, eight or nine of those. You have to maximise and hit it as well as you can. Whenever you’re in that kind of role, you’re even more dangerous”Romario Shepherd

But some hit-the-deck fast bowling and a couple of thrifty overs from Axar Patel saw Mumbai slip from 80 for 0 to 121 for 4. It didn’t help that Hardik wasn’t at his fluent best despite showing glimpses of his batting mettle.Enter Shepherd. He has been working on his batting with batting coach and former West Indies team-mate Kieron Pollard. The only message to Shepherd from the team management was “hold your shape and hit the ball with a clear mind,” as Shepherd said later. He had only a shade over two overs left, which left little scope for any ambiguity.”When you’re in the back end and there’s only 18 balls [he walked in with 13 left], you will only face about seven, eight or nine of those. You have to maximise and hit it as well as you can,” Shepherd explained. “Whenever you’re in that kind of role, you’re even more dangerous, having to just ‘see-ball-hit-ball’.”Along with David, who finished unbeaten on 45 off 21, Shepherd added 53 off just 13 balls. He blasted 32 off the last over – the second-most expensive last over in IPL history – bowled by Anrich Nortje, hitting two fours and four sixes to finish undefeated on 39 off ten balls. MI got 84 in the last four overs, the most in the 17-to-20-over period in IPL 2024 and the second-highest in the 16-year history of the tournament. The cameo also meant that MI’s bowlers had enough to play with on a flat track where the boundaries on either side were more or less equidistant.3:30

A dream for Romario Shepherd – McClenaghan

That cushion came into play in the chase, thanks to local boy Prithvi Shaw. He attacked both pace and spin, and his 88-run partnership with Abishek Porel kept DC’s hopes – and the cheers from the hospitality box where some of the players’ families sat – alive.But all it took was a couple of blows from Bumrah to dash it all. He speared in a 141.3kph yorker that made a mess of Shaw’s stumps, and then had Porel miscue a 143kph full toss in his next over.While shaking hands after the match, DC captain Rishabh Pant punched Shepherd’s biceps in jest. Pollard enveloped Shepherd in a bear hug. Tristan Stubbs, who hit an exhilarating 25-ball 71 not out in the chase, seemed eager to exchange a few notes with him. Shepherd had walked away with the Player-of-the-Match award, and readily obliged.Just days before , the new year for Maharashtra’s Hindus, MI had announced their fresh start. And one of their new recruits had sounded the .