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Hafeez’s 24-ball 33 was the closest a Qalandars player came to steering the chase as Kings had their first win in nine games

Danyal Rasool18-Feb-2022It wasn’t quite worth the wait, but if Karachi Kings are to win just one game this season, this one, away to arch-rivals Lahore, is the one they’d likely have opted for. An exquisite bowling spell from Mir Hamza – with wickets both at the top of the order and the death, saw the Kings close out a low-scoring game, beating Lahore Qalandars by 22 runs. It seemed at the halfway mark that 149 wouldn’t nearly be enough against this Qalandars side, but an off-colour home side never quite got into it, and Hamza’s 4 for 27, as well as Chris Jordan’s miserliness at the death, ensured the Kings had their first win in nine games.There appeared a lack of intensity to the Qalandars’ chase right from the outset, with Fakhar Zaman’s dismissal in the first over setting the tone for what would follow. A tepid, conservative innings saw Shaheen Afridi’s men manage just six boundaries and a six in the first 16 overs, as wickets fell at regular intervals to keep sending the asking rate up. Mohammad Hafeez’s 24-ball 33 was the closest a Qalandars player came to steering the chase, but there was little support from the other end and an uncharacteristically disciplined bowling effort from the Kings meant the Qalandars were being constricted out of the contest.Harry Brook and David Wiese put on 55 for the sixth wicket as they tried to pull off a late heist, but they had been left too much to do. It was Hamza who returned to kill the game off, removing both men inside three balls, and a forensically accurate final over from Jordan slammed the door shut in the Qalandars’ faces as they limped to 127.There was little to distinguish the Kings’ innings from several previous games. It was an uninspired, sloth-like effort from the top order that never really threatened to post a total that might normally be considered challenging. Babar Azam held the innings together without doing too much more than that, while Zaman Khan sliced through the top order to put the Qalandars on top. When Rashid Khan ripped through the lower order to leave the Kings tottering at 116 for eight, they looked set to slump to yet another chastening defeat.It was down to a crucial little cameo from Lewis Gregory, whose 16-ball 27 got the Kings to something resembling competitive, though even that could only be said with the benefit of hindsight. At the time, it merely seemed his carefree little knock was delaying the inevitable Qalandars’ win, with the home side dropping their guard, perhaps believing the bowlers had done their job. However, it meant Babar’s team took the momentum with them at the change of innings, and never quite let it go.It might not mean anything in the bigger picture, but Karachi beating Lahore always counts for something.

Rohit Sharma, Mahela Jayawardene admit mental challenges of being in bubble, laud Mumbai Indians arrangements

Shashank Kishore17-Sep-2020Virat Kohli feeds off the energy of crowds and packed stadiums, but despite IPL 2020 set to be played behind closed doors in the UAE, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain foresaw no drop in his playing intensity.”The intensity and passion won’t drop even if there are no crowds,” Kohli said at a media session to launch Royal Challengers covid warriors campaign. “Yes, empty stadiums will give us a strange feeling, and I won’t deny it’ll not be different when we walk out. But the feeling has changed a little after many training sessions and practice matches.”You understand why you started playing – because you love the game. This is a chance for us to play with that feeling with the entire country watching. As long as we’re playing for the right reasons, all external factors become irrelevant. Yes, crowds are an amazing part of the game but this time, that’s not what we’re playing for. This time we’re playing for a bigger reason. To bring smiles back on people’s faces, those who’ve faced tough times due to the pandemic.”Being in the bio bubble has also given Kohli a new perspective and a new appreciation for the sport.”We’ve all become more accepting of the situation around us,” he said. “Acceptance is the biggest change I’ve experienced. Even in this bubble, when we spoke for the first time, we discussed the need to be appreciative of what we have. It’s easy to think of what we can’t do, but all of us have become relaxed. If people aren’t, they’ll be sad or upset. I don’t see any of that. Also there is no desperation of any kind in the ground. The biggest learning has been to become more accepting and appreciative of things around us.”Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Indians captain, also touched upon the challenges of being in a bubble. He admitted being in one was “tough mentally” but having families around – something the Mumbai franchise was happy to facilitate – as well as trying to create a “fun environment” with play stations, golf simulators, F1 simulators, virtual reality games, pool and table tennis, would provide some much-needed downtime.”Mentally it is tough [being in a bubble], but hats off to the MI management and the support staff,” Rohit said. “They have done an excellent job here in our hotel, they’ve created some amazing space for us in the hotel where we can relax and spend time with family and kids, so that mentally you’re fresh and not drained. We’ve been here for three weeks, all of us are in good spirits because of the space we have created here at the hotel. Hats off to the team management, now it’s all about our preparation and getting into game face mode.”Rohit’s words were echoed by Mahela Jayawardene, the Mumbai Indians coach. “A lot of the players will be away from home probably for more than two months, because of other commitments [after the IPL],” Jayawardene said. “It’s god to have this environment within the hotel, where everyone’s looked after.”Most of our players are with families, so that is good. They get to spend quality time with them. The rest of the guys are also trying to keep themselves occupied with different activities. It’s not just cricket-oriented, but we have different activities. Yes it is a challenge, but we’ve looked at all aspects, making sure it’s not just the cricket, but creating a good environment around the players so that they can grow, focus and enjoy the job at hand.”

Alex Wakely out for a duck in first match since quitting Northants captaincy

David Hopps11-Jun-2019When Alex Wakely pondered his resignation as Northants captain, he would have imagined the day when the burden upon him would finally be released and he would walk to the crease, bat in hand, without a care in the world. Once more, the sun would shine, the birds would sing in the trees and the pitches would be bountiful.Five days after relinquishing the job, that glorious moment came. It was 11 degrees Celsius at Chester-le-Street, and if any birdlife could be seen under a heavy blanket of cloud, it was being buffeted by an untamed north-west wind.Against the eighth ball he faced, Wakely decided to live that dream of a better future. He drove fulsomely at Brydon Carse, the ball seamed and clipped the outside edge and he duly lodged his first duck back in the ranks.Instead, the innings of substance fell to Ricardo Vasconcelos, a 21-year-old South African, while Northants’ former captain doubtless mooched around the dressing room and, without a team to run, wondered what to do with himself.The manner in which Vasconcelos reached his hundred, after a stoppage for bad light, and the clock past six, was something for Wakely to aspire to: a dreamily controlled hook for six off Carse which possessed such easy authority that Roy Fredericks might have quivered in his grave with admiration.Vasconcelos tops Northants’ averages with 595 Championship runs at 74.4 and already has a Championship hundred to his credit this season with a career-best 184 against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens on a dead pitch where both sides topped 500. On a surface that demanded good judgement, this was much more meaningful.The cares of captaincy, or of anything much at all, have yet to beset Vasconcelos. And captaincy exhausts everybody in the end. With his 30th birthday now past, and a first-class batting average of 31, Wakely will not find adjustment straightforward, but if the game grants him the same care and consideration that his fellow professionals say he has given them then there will still be satisfying days ahead, just not in Chester-le-Street on a day where the wind moaned through the media stand so loudly that it might have been carrying the souls of every dead Durham member as they bemoaned the sight of their beloved county at the foot of Division Two.Not that Durham lack spirit. From the depths of 81 for 7, they would have been happy with 253, the product of the county’s record stand for the eighth wicket – 154 – from Ben Raine and Carse, eclipsing the 147 put on by Phil Mustard and Liam Plunkett against Yorkshire ten years ago. Both batsmen made their highest first-class scores, Raine perishing on 82 when Brett Hutton won an lbw decision and brought him to his knees and Carse advancing to an unbeaten 77. They will have more entertaining alliances down the order, but few of more value.Northants, second bottom, are an unpredictable batting side. Vasconcelos, a diminutive left-hander, possesses an eager extra cover drive which once he had settled he played with fast hands and exquisite timing. But he was fortunate to survive the 16 overs up to lunch, as was his fellow left-hander Ben Curran. Both struggled at times to locate the ball. It is not known if either are religious men, but clearly Matthew 7:7 was not about to fulfil its promise.When it came to dissatisfaction, nobody could beat Jack Burnham. A cheerless day heaped misery upon him as he dropped three slip catches by lunch. Two came in successive balls, the first a routine affair when Chis Rushworth found Curran’s edge on 18, the second down by his bootstraps at the start of the next over as this time Vasconcelos nicked Raine.By the time Burnham spilled Curran again on 26, with Rushworth once again the unfortunate party, his captain and fellow slip, Cameron Bancroft, was gazing at him intently as if trying to solve a particularly difficult Codeword. Immediately after lunch, Burnham found himself about as far away from the slips as it was possible to be.Carse eventually got Durham motoring with three wickets. Curran was bowled through the gate, perhaps beaten for pace, Wakely followed and, in a later spell and with the third-wicket stand with Vasconcelos having produced 99, Temba Bavuma edged to the wicketkeeper.It is rare on such a day that Rushworth, Durham’s indefatigable seamer, does not gain a mention. Three wickets in eight balls shortly before tea put Durham back in the match. Rob Keogh, lbw for nought to one that rattled back sharply, became is 450th first-class victim. In his next over, Adam Rossington was surprised by one that bounced and Luke Procter fell to a leg-side strangle.With Northants still 79 behind, Durham fancied a first-innings lead, but the redoubtable Vasconcelos found support from Brett Hutton and, as the lead fell instead to Northants, and the players trooped from the field for a second bad light call, with the crowd long since departed, only the souls of the dead were left to lament for a final time a season that has yielded few delights.

Selection questions over Temba Bavuma/Theunis de Bruyn and Lungi Ngidi/Morne Morkel highlight the delicate balancing act for South Africa

Firdose Moonda in Cape Town21-Mar-2018On the face of it, South Africa would seem to have two normal selection debates on their hands ahead of the third Test against Australia. They are deciding between Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma in the No. 6 spot and between Lungi Ngidi and Morne Morkel as the third seamer, and there are decent arguments to be made for all four.De Bruyn has only played five Tests but his first-class numbers show great potential. He has an average of 46.27, has played in six out of the eight franchise matches this season and has scored two daddy hundreds – 195 and 190. But he has only made more than 20 once in four innings in the series against Australia, which has opened the door for Bavuma, who has not played a Test since October and any professional cricket since mid-January after suffering a broken hand, to make a return.Bavuma’s first-class average of 37.40, and Test average of 33.13, belies his nuggety nature. Though he only has one Test century to his name, scored two years ago, he has eight fifties and most of them have dug South Africa out of deep holes. So the choice is between the man who is there and has not yet lived up to his promise and the one who has started well but needs to kick on at international level.At the other end of the spectrum, Ngidi has taken to international cricket like he was born to do it. He has 14 wickets from his three Tests at an average of 16.42, is able to find movement and bowls with accuracy. He is nursing a small toe niggle which may require him to sit out at Newlands but if he is fit, including him ahead of Morkel could be justified, as it was in the second Test. Even though Morkel has played 84 Tests and is three wickets from becoming the fifth South African to 300, Ngidi is a strong competitor to keep him out. In Morkel’s favour is his experience, the fact that he has found some of his best form in the latter part of his career when he has been more prone to pitching the ball up, and the nostalgia of his impending retirement.

SA transformation numbers 2017-18

(Figures correct before Cape Town Test)
Total: 385 caps across all formats
Players of colour: 198 = 51.40%
Black African: 76 = 19.74%
Tests: 132 caps
Players of colour: 59 = 44.69%
Black African 25 = 18.93%
ODIs: 165 caps
Players of colour: 85 = 51.51%
Black African: 33 = 20%
T20Is: 88 caps
Players of colour: 54 = 61.36%
Black African: 18 = 20.45%

So, while South Africa seem to have a complex cricketing choice to make, dig a little deeper and they are also deciding between black and white.The reality of South Africa’s transformation imperatives cannot be ignored and, this season, CSA will miss the ministerial target.South Africa’s transformation numbers are calculated on an annual basis, from April to April, and require a minimum average of six players of colour, of which two must be black African, to be fielded by the national team over a season. That equates to 54.54% players of colour and 18.18% black African players in the XI.For 2017-18, across 12 Tests so far (with two to come), 15 ODIs and 8 T20s, South Africa have fielded 51.40% players of colour and 19.74% black African, thereby missing the first target but exceeding the second. The chief culprit in South Africa’s inability to meet the target is their representation in Tests, where they have only fielded 44.69% of players of colour – largely as a consequence of JP Duminy’s retirement and Bavuma’s injury – and although they have tried to make up for it in shorter formats, they have not been able to.Even if South Africa fielded an entirely non-white team in the remaining two Tests, they would still fall 13 caps short of the players of colour target. The consequences of their failure to meet targets have not been explicitly defined, especially since the sports minister has changed since the last time the audit was done.When South Africa failed to reach the target in the 2015-16 year, then-minister of sport Fikile Mbalula banned CSA from bidding for or hosting major events, which did not affect it because there was no ICC tournament in the calendar. Instead, it forced CSA to implement a national target, which was met in the 2016-17 summer. Tokozile Xasa is now the sports minister, having been appointed in February, and has yet to make any strong policy statements.While the suits wait to see Xasa’s reaction, CSA is likely to continue to impress the importance of taking steps to show an intention to meet the targets, rather than an indifference to missing them, as Faf du Plessis indicated. “As a guy that has a say in selection, I always strive to get that [targets being met],” du Plessis said. “So first priority will be to get those balances and targets right. If there were injuries that played a part then it’s difficult to make – for instance if Kagiso [Rabada] wasn’t available for this game then it’s a different story. But I also believe it’s my responsibility to look and see how we can achieve that.”That means Bavuma and Ngidi could get the nod, and it is important to note that they are both regarded as equally deserving of a spot as the men they would be displacing.As far as Bavuma is concerned, du Plessis said he had “a lot of confidence in Temba”, who he called a “high-quality” player that can slot straight back in despite not having recent game time. “Obviously he hasn’t got a lot of cricket under his belt, but the quality is there,” du Plessis said. “Ideally, you’d like guys to play cricket after an injury to get themselves back into form or time in the middle. It doesn’t always work like that. Temba hasn’t played cricket, but he looks good in the nets for a while and his hand is fully recovered.”But Ngidi’s participation is likely to rest more on his injury status than whether or not du Plessis considers him a better bet than Morkel, who is fully fit.”Lungi bowled really well in the previous game but he’s also got a little bit of a toe problem, which is probably why the consideration is happening. If he is not 100% then it is obviously an easy decision for us,” du Plessis said. “What counts in Morne’s favour is that he is a fit bowler and can bowl long spells. That’s really important going into this Test match, especially if we have three seamers and a spinner. We’ll have our three bowlers that have the biggest tanks when it comes to bowling a lot of overs.”With Morkel’s milestone of 300 Test wickets also looming and only two more opportunities for him to play, South Africa may also want to be mindful of getting Morkel over the line before sending him off. But coach Ottis Gibson expressed little sympathy with Morkel’s position, saying that selection in professional sport is only about trying to pick a team that can win.Gibson’s statement was ironic because in South Africa, that has never been the only consideration. Pre-democracy, there was only white, post-democracy there has been a push towards black and now there are all the shades of grey, when equally competent white and black players are in the mix.

Martin Guptill has been ruled out of the second ODI against Australia in Napier, with Dean Brownlie set to join the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2017New Zealand opening batsman Martin Guptill has been ruled out of the second ODI against Australia in Napier due to a hamstring problem.Dean Brownlie, the Northern Districts batsman who has not featured in a New Zealand team in any format since late 2014, has been called into the squad as cover for Guptill.Guptill picked up the injury during the thrilling opening match of the Chappell-Hadlee series in Auckland, which New Zealand won by six runs.Guptill scored 61 in New Zealand’s innings, and then while fielding suffered what coach Mike Hesson described as a minor hamstring strain.”Martin felt tightness in his left hamstring while fielding yesterday and after being monitored over the last 24 hours it’s become apparent he won’t quite be ready for Napier,” Hesson said.”He’ll remain with the team and we’ll continue to monitor him ahead of the third ODI in Hamilton.”The second ODI in Napier is scheduled for Thursday, and the series concludes in Hamilton on Sunday.

David Warner’s career-best 244 not out crushed New Zealand’s spirits on the first day at the WACA, where Usman Khawaja scored 121

The Report by Brydon Coverdale13-Nov-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:12