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Cockbain scores a century and Lace 97 as fourth-wicket stand worth 224 sees hosts home

ECB Reporters' Network02-May-2021Ian Cockbain’s first County Championship century since 2014 and 97 from Tom Lace saw Gloucestershire chase 348 to beat Leicestershire by four wickets at Bristol.Cockbain and Lace arrived just after lunch at 52 for 3 when winning the game was fanciful but they played calmly through to tea to leave 216 to win from 37 overs of the final session.Their intent was immediate and they extended their stand to 224. Lace couldn’t see the chase through and Cockbain fell for 117 so it was left to George Hankins to strike the winning runs.It was the fourth-highest Championship run chase in Gloucestershire’s history, a third victory to take them top of Group 2 and a remarkable turnaround having conceded a first-innings lead of 146.Related

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Leicestershire were denied 22 overs on the third evening through bad light and rain and it denied them the chance to totally close the door on their hosts while giving them enough time to bowl them out again.The Foxes left themselves 82 overs in the fourth innings and when the top three all fell cheaply, a first win of the season was possible.But Lace and Cockbain batted through the afternoon to raise prospects of saving the game before having a dip in the final session.Cockbain flicked Alex Evans to fine leg for four, pulled him over square leg for six and then pulled Chris Wright for four to raise a first first-class half-century since April 2016 – this being just his fifth game since then.He skipped at Callum Parkinson’s left-arm spin to lift him over deep midwicket for six and flat-batted Wright over long-off for another maximum to bring the target down to 100 from 17 overs before pulling Wright for two to raise his century in 166 balls with nine fours and three sixes. He finally fell skying a catch to mid-off but by then the game was effectively won.Lace initially led the resistance after lunch. He straight-drove Wright for four to go to a second fifty of the season and was on the cusp of a maiden century for Gloucestershire before top-edging a pull from Parkinson to midwicket.Leicestershire stumbled over their morning’s work in being bowled out for 201 and, without the injured Dieter Klein, were powerless to stop the Glosters’ evening charge.

Australia’s coach sees no reason why Paine won’t remain Test captain until at least the end of this WTC cycle

Andrew McGlashan at the SCG01-Jan-2020Tim Paine has been backed to captain Australia until at least a possible World Test Championship final appearance in 2021 after leading the team from the fallout of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal to the brink of a clean sweep of this season’s Tests following the retention of the Ashes last year.Paine produced one of his most influence performances in Melbourne, scoring a momentum-seizing 79 in Australia’s first innings and then claiming eight dismissals in a faultless performance with the gloves including a superb stumping to remove Henry Nicholls.The Sydney Test which starts on Friday marks the last in which Steven Smith is not eligible to be Australia captain, with his leadership ban finishing at the end of March, although his has not been the only name associated with taking the armband when it does move on from Paine, with Pat Cummins’ credentials continuing to grow.Australia’s next Test assignment is a two-match series in Bangladesh in June before the 2020-21 season which includes the heavyweight four-match contest against India. Australia and India are currently strongly placed to be in the Test Championship final at Lord’s in mid-2021 with head coach Justin Langer seeing no reason why Paine – who he termed “almost our most important player” – can’t be the man in charge should that come to fruition.”Truthfully, I can’t see one reason why he wouldn’t,” Langer said. “His last game – you judge on his last performance – he was probably pushing to be Man of the Match. He had eight dismissals, 70-odd with the bat, and the way he played his innings was what was most exciting. The way he leads the group. I just literally can’t think of one reason at the moment, he’s so fit, as to why he wouldn’t keep playing for as long as he wants to or needs to.”Retaining the Ashes in England – something Australia had not done since 2001 – was a hugely significant achievement for a team that had been through huge turmoil in the preceding year. However, at the start of the home season, there was a sense of uncertainty about what would happen next year – partly due to Smith’s availability as captain from March 2020 and also a perception that Alex Carey is making a strong case to be part of the Test team – but any questions about the medium-term leadership now appear to have been put to bed.”The truth is there’s been conjecture from outside, there’s never been one millisecond of conjecture from within our team,” Langer said. “I said at the start of the summer, he’s almost our most important player, because he’s a very good leader, his captaincy is excellent, he’s the best wicketkeeper in the world, he’s as fit as anyone in the group and we knew that if he believed he could bat as well as we think we can then you’ll see results like we did in the last Test and at times during the Ashes.”There’s always a bit of conjecture, but certainly not within our camp. I hope he plays for as long as he possibly can because his leadership has been brilliant, working with the leadership group, I love working with him.”Tim Paine plants a kiss on the Ashes urn at The Oval•Getty Images

Langer acknowledged the stark contrast between where the team sits now and a year ago when they entered the Sydney Test against India under huge scrutiny following defeat in Melbourne, and they would go on to be taken for over 600 across the first two days of the Test and be made to follow on before rain forced a draw.”The feeling in the camp is unbelievable but the trick is to maintain it,” Langer said. “The Australian cricket team in the past has been able to do [that], hopefully I can be sitting here in 12 months’ time again with a smile on my face… continue building this great momentum that’s happening in Australian cricket at the moment. It didn’t feel like it 12 months ago.”The immediate aim for Paine and Langer is to secure victory at the SCG, which would give Australia their first sweep of a home summer since 2013-14. The selection decision to be made is whether to find a place for the uncapped legspinner Mitchell Swepson on a surface that is expected to take turn, but two days out the likelier route was for an unchanged team with some additional workload for Marnus Labuschagne.”It’s certainly an option,” Langer said. “That’s how we have to look at it – we’re talking about finding another allrounder in Australian cricket – well it might give us an opportunity to bowl Marnus and Travis Head a few overs, to find those extra overs we’re looking for.”Every time Marnus gets the ball in his hand, it’s pretty exciting. He’s working hard on getting his lines right, so he makes them play a bit more, but he’s an exciting prospect, the way he spins the ball, and the more he can bowl in games that’s important.”It will be hard to make changes, that said I think it’s really important that we wait because we’ve seen it in the Shield games and the groundsman is telling us he’s expecting it to spin, so we have to respect that. We’ll wait and see over the next two days what the wicket looks like.”Josh Hazlewood was back bowling in the nets on Wednesday as he recovers from the hamstring injury he sustained in Perth but is set to return to action through the BBL before the one-day tour of India.

Malan’s rapid fire 57 set the tone for a competitive 175, before the bowlers, led by Steyn, rallied to defend a revised target of 145 after floodlight failure reduced the chase to 16 overs

The Report by Akshay Gopalakrishnan21-Nov-2018Janneman Malan swings during his half-century•MSL

Cape Town Blitz’s bowlers rallied to defend a revised target of 145 against Nelson Mandela Bay Giants to maintain their team’s unbeaten run in the 2018-19 Mzansi Super League. With three wins in as many matches, Blitz are the only undefeated team in the competition, rising to 13 points, eight clear of the second-placed Jozi Stars.Farhaan Behardien, the Blitz captain, had had little hesitation in electing to bat on what he sussed out to be a worn surface. Janneman Malan vindicated that decision, tearing into the Bay Giants attack with a 39-ball 57 that set the base for a competitive 175. In reply, Bay Giants were well behind the mark, at 49 for 2 in 8.4 overs, when floodlight failure resulted in a fifteen-minute break in play. With no provision of extra time to account for stoppages, four overs were slashed from the Bay Giants chase, leaving them with 96 to get in 44 balls.Much of that early struggle by the Bay Giants was down to Dale Steyn, who turned back the clock to produce a fiery spell of fast bowling. Clocking speeds in the range of 85 to 90 miles per hour on a consistent basis, Steyn was incisive, and had the Bay Giants batsmen fretting against his pace. Steyn hit the deck hard, generated substantial bounce, hit razor sharp lines, and managed disconcerting movement off the deck. And the impact was felt immediately.With his second ball, Steyn got Marco Marais into a tangle, and produced a leading edge, with the batsman playing half-heartedly across the line, to Quinton de Kock behind the stumps. That over from Steyn ended up being a wicket maiden. In his next, he foxed JJ Smuts with a slower one that the batsman tamely chipped back, with Steyn getting down sharply on the followthrough to snare it low in front. He then followed up with a short ball, fired in at full tilt, that spat up off the deck, and crashed into the helmet grille of Heino Kuhn. At the end of his second spell, Steyn had figures of 2-1-1-2. A top-edge over the slips in his next over resulted in the first boundary of Steyn’s spell, but by the end of that over, the last of the Powerplay, Bay Giants had played out 19 dots.Kuhn did well to ride the early storm, however, and in the first full over after the resumption, laid into Dane Piedt, cracking three fours and a six, making it the most expensive over of the match. Using quick feet and powerful arms, Kuhn scooped, slogged and reverse-swept Piedt to breathe life into the chase for the first time.Thrown a lifeline when he was shelled at third man off Steyn on 42, Kuhn swatted the next ball through midwicket for four, and brought up his half-century off 32 balls. But an unfortunate run out, in another boundary-heavy 13th over, transferred the pressure back on Bay Giants. In the face of a mounting required rate, Hussain Talat’s double-strike in the next over further tilted the scales in the favour of Blitz, who then made sure to avoid any more surprises.As with the bat, Bay Giants struggled with the ball early on, failing to find the right length. They kept pitching it short to Malan, who was in an unrelenting mood and smashed two fours and a six off the first seven balls he faced. Ryan McLaren managed to hit a different length, but a full toss and a half-volley outside the off stump were hardly the need of the hour and were duly put away for boundaries. So dominant was Malan that de Kock had contributed only 6 to the first-wicket partnership when he stepped down and blindly swung to be stumped.Phehlukwayo matched Malan’s aggression, and the two continued to pinch timely boundaries as they settled into the ideal pace in their partnership of 49 in 37 balls. Having settled down courtesy some generous gifts from the Bay Giants bowlers, Malan collected his fifty with a full toss from Tahir that he chipped straight back over for four.Malan and Phehlukwayo fell in successive overs – Malan trapped plumb in front by the left-arm spin of JJ Smuts and Phehlukwayo to a blinder from Aaron Phangiso at midwicket – but the platform laid by them was such that the brief cameos that followed lower down were sufficient to haul Blitz to a match-winning total.

In a run-laden ODI at Bristol, Liam Plunkett’s figures stood out from the carnage – a career-best haul of 5 for 52 in 8.1 match-sealing overs

Andrew Miller25-Sep-20171:13

‘Happy to be the bad guy if I’m not going out of the park’ – Plunkett

There can’t have been many punters who left the County Ground at Bristol on Sunday night feeling short-changed. With Moeen Ali scorching all before him with his sensational 53-ball hundred, and Chris Gayle responding with ominous intent during his 94 from 78, a grand total of 28 sixes were struck in the course of the two innings – the most ever scored in an international match in England. That’s entertainment, as Gloucestershire’s marketing men would amply agree.And yet, had it not been for a less prominently celebrated performance, England’s eventual 124-run win would have been significantly less comfortable, and perhaps even in doubt altogether. Instead, once the dust had settled on a pulsating afternoon’s strokeplay, there were Liam Plunkett’s figures standing out from the carnage – a career-best haul of 5 for 52 in 8.1 match-sealing overs.It was, as Plunkett readily agreed, something of a killjoy’s performance. This is, after all, a player who has been forging an invaluable niche in England’s one-day plans in recent seasons – that of the mid-innings aggressor, the man whose extra oomph can force a mistake out of even the most well-set batsman, or demand that they shelve some of their intent in a bid to keep their powder dry for the slog overs.And that he did to impressive effect in the course of a run-laden contest. After entering the attack in the tenth over, his first two wickets were classic heavy-ball dismissals, as first Shai Hope and then – controversially – Marlon Samuels were drawn into drives and beaten by extra bounce outside off stump. Then, when he returned in the 34th over, Plunkett’s second-ball bouncer lured Jason Mohammed into a top-edged slap to square leg, before Devendra Bishoo and Jason Holder completed his haul with the contest effectively settled.”Everyone wants to see sixes and fours, so you try to come in in that middle period, and close a team down,” Plunkett said. “That’s why I do like it, because you feel as though you can run the game in that period. I love to be the bad guy for the crowd, it means I’m not getting hit out of the park.”He’s clearly revelling in that villainous role. Plunkett’s Bristol haul propelled him into elite company among England’s one-day cricketers – with two matches remaining of the 2017 season, he has become the joint third-most prolific wicket-taker in a home ODI summer, with 20 scalps – alongside his regular middle-overs partner, Adil Rashid, who himself picked off three wickets to hasten West Indies’ demise in Sunday’s contest.Liam Plunkett struck twice in his first spell•Getty Images

“If we can squeeze them in that middle period, it’s invaluable,” said Plunkett. “That’s what me and Rash have done in the last year or two, because people are getting set and looking to knock it around a bit, and not take as many risks. So if you can get a couple of big wickets there, it gets the tail in earlier and hopefully limits the damage at the back end. So I do relish it, trying to take a few wickets, and [at Bristol] I did that.”Plunkett didn’t have everything his own way during his afternoon’s work. In fact, he suffered the indignity of being pounded for the biggest six of the match: his second ball to Gayle was swiped clean out of the ground over midwicket. But he took stock and adjusted his approach accordingly – aided, he said, by the prep he’d been able to do thanks to dressing-room footage of Gayle’s previous performances.”The two bouncers I bowled to him, he flapped at to get out of the way, but the ball he hit for six was chest high, which obviously isn’t a good delivery,” Plunkett said. “I still backed myself to go at his head or mix the pace up, but you’ve got to stick to your plans. The stuff that’s in the dressing room gives you reminders before you go out, but if you don’t bowl well, it’s still your fault. There’s no-one else to blame but yourself.”After a washout in Nottingham, England have now secured an unassailable 2-0 series lead in the five-match series, and Plunkett has few doubts about his team’s ability to wrap up the rubber in Wednesday’s fourth ODI at The Oval. His side, he believes, are simply better than West Indies, the No.9-ranked ODI side, who must now go through the ICC’s qualification tournament if they want to secure one of the two remaining places at the 2019 World Cup.”We feel as though, if we can get an early wicket, we can get on top of them,” he said. “We feel like we do back ourselves, we’re a good team. Obviously you can never take it for granted, but if you can get one [wicket], you can squeeze them because they’re a team that likes boundaries and play out dot balls. We feel we are a better team because we hit boundaries but also run the ones and twos.”That said, the Gayle factor can never be entirely discounted. After all, who needs ones and twos when you can deal exclusively in fours and sixes?”He played nicely, didn’t he?” said Plunkett. “We know he’s dangerous. You look at the stats he’s got, even his bowling – he’s got 160 wickets or something – so he’s a great cricketer, isn’t he? We’ve got a method though, we have to try and squeeze him, although if you miss, he’ll hit it miles. You need to shut him down and try to get him to run the singles he doesn’t want to run – because a couple of run-outs have saved us as well.”Perhaps coincidentally, the Bristol ODI was England’s last international fixture before the announcement of England’s Ashes squad – and while the days have long since passed of players earning themselves winter-tour places on the strength of an outstanding performance in the season-ending NatWest Trophy final (for instance, Ashley Cowan in 1997), the circumstances of this late-September series are not entirely dissimilar.Thus, in the wake of the stress fracture that has scuppered the hopes of Middlesex’s Toby Roland-Jones, could there yet be a vacancy for a tall deck-hitting seamer with the stamina and experience to give Australia’s batsmen the hurry-up on flat pitches?Plunkett, understandably, is refusing to get his hopes up. After all, he hasn’t played a Test match for England since 2014 while, through a combination of injury and England call-ups, he has played just two first-class matches for Yorkshire this season, albeit that included a hard-earned four-wicket haul against Somerset at Scarborough.”I’ve not played that much so, I guess, there’s nothing to go by,” he said. “I guess they know what they’re going to get with me, I’ve been around for plenty of time, so if I got the go-ahead, happy days. But I can’t see it happening.”Obviously I’d love to go in the Ashes squad, but I know it’s far for me. I’ve done well in white-ball cricket and I’ve been successful in that, so maybe they think me as a white-ball bowler. But I am happy where I’m at and I feel good in the one-day team right now.”

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann highlighted a few areas as key battlegrounds, as the touring team moved out of their initial Colombo base to prepare for the first Test match in Kandy

Daniel Brettig21-Jul-2016Twin spin, batting big and being wary of how a deteriorating pitch can dictate the pace of play. Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann highlighted these areas as key battlegrounds in the series against Sri Lanka, as the touring team moved out of their initial Colombo base to prepare for the first Test match in Kandy.Steve O’Keefe’s 10-wicket haul opposite Nathan Lyon has more than likely vaulted him back into the Test XI after he missed the tour of New Zealand, particularly as Lehmann and the selection chairman Rod Marsh are expecting a sparsely grassed surface when the series begins on July 26. They also expect pitches that will start out flat before deteriorating rapidly at the back end of each match, and can foresee Sri Lanka trying to test the patience of an aggressive batting line-up by blocking the boundaries. To lose patience is to lose the battle.”You play the conditions on each game, so for us it did start to turn a lot [at P Sara Oval], which is pleasing, our spinners exploited that very well, so the conditions they’re learning to bowl in is pretty important as the Test matches wear on here in Sri Lanka,” Lehmann said. “They’re pretty good wickets to start with, and that’s the challenge for us, going big and making big runs.”We know that Sri Lanka will defend a lot once batters are in, so it’s going to take a lot longer to get your runs if that makes sense. We’ve spoken about the need to bat long periods of time is going to be key, which we’ve done pretty well to be fair over the last little while, but the challenge is to do it here.

Australia’s likely XI for first Test

David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (capt), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Steve O’Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

“Knowing the game is going to speed up as the wickets deteriorate, that’s going to be important to be ahead of the game in the Test series, but really happy with where everyone’s at. Our batters have a big role to play and our bowlers were probably a little bit rusty in the first innings but pleased we got through, there’s no injury concerns and away we go.”Lehmann spoke warmly of O’Keefe and also Lyon, who was recovering from illness over the course of the tour match, and is set to play a central role in the same country he made a memorable Test debut back in 2011. Significantly, Lehmann pointed to the use of tandem spin, turning the ball in opposite directions, as something that would be vital not only in Sri Lanka, but also India next year.”He’s been excellent for NSW, had a lot of success in Shield cricket, his 200th first-class wicket today so pleased for him,” Lehmann said of O’Keefe. “He’s worked really hard, he’s a really lively, buzzy character for us and played exactly the role we want him to play over here in this game. Bats really well, fields really well and complements Nathan really well, spinning the other way.”We think that [twin spin] is the way to go. India do it there with Jadeja and Ashwin and most teams have a spinner going both ways, so for us that’s important.”A conclusion drawn by Lehmann and the team performance manager Pat Howard from unsuccessful recent tours to India and the UAE to play Pakistan was that touring sides needed to spend as much time as possible in unfamiliar climes before walking out on day one of the series proper. To that end, the Australians have followed an internal practice fixture with the match in Colombo, and will now have five days in Kandy before Angelo Mathews tosses the coin next week.”We’ve come over here a little bit earlier than we normally would, we think that’s a helpful thing in future, we haven’t done that in the past,” Lehmann said. “So to come a little bit earlier here and go a bit earlier to India to get acclimatised for an extra few days and hopefully an extra game in most places.”Having entered the final week of their preparation, all Lehmann is looking for now is the announcement of Sri Lanka’s tour squad, the better to plan individual opponents. “I wouldn’t mind the side at some stage,” he said. “That’s the challenge, I don’t think anyone knows what squad they’ve got. Once they name their squad we’ll work through that. We know a bit about them. They’ll be a lot better side at home, and that’s going to be a challenge for us, but end of the day we just worry about what we’re doing. Once we get their squad away we go.”The only Australian player under any sort of fitness cloud is David Warner, in the latter stages of recovery from a broken thumb, but Lehmann gave no hint of thinking the vice-captain might be in any doubt to open the innings with Joe Burns: “We’re preparing for him to play.”

Ravi Bopara might well never play for England again. The selectors give the impression that, after 171 international games across all forms of the game, they have moved on. But at The Oval, Bopara was in no mood to make that decision easy.

Tim Wigmore at The Oval05-Jun-2015
ScorecardRavi Bopara delivered with bat and ball at The Oval•Getty Images

Ravi Bopara might well never play for England again. After failing to pass 33 in his last eight ODI innings, his omission from England’s squad to play New Zealand barely merited comment. Bopara has only just turned 30 yet the selectors give the impression that, after 171 international games across all forms of the game, they have moved on.But at The Oval, Bopara was in no mood to make that decision easy. T20 is the format in which Bopara has come closest to having a secure spot and the squad for the one-off T20 against New Zealand has yet to be picked. So a distillation of his short form class was particularly timely.An innings of 57 off 48 balls provided it. If that seems a touch sedate by the Gaylian standards of this year’s NatWest Blast, Bopara’s knock was clinical and perfectly judged.It contained moments of panache. Several deliveries were flicked past the fine leg boundary after Bopara wandered impudently across his stumps. Matt Dunn was lofted over mid-off for four after a shimmy down the wicket, a stroke that showed Bopara at his cocksure best.

Insights

One man’s relief is another’s worry. Essex desperately needed this win, but so too did Surrey and next weekend’s double-header away to Somerset and Sussex takes on enormous significance for them now. Surrey will also soon be without Jason Roy. He is yet to come good this season and will be on England duty.
They will, however, have Kevin Pietersen in their ranks for the second match: his latest farewell. Following that double-header Surrey are given some respite in visiting Glamorgan and hosting Gloucestershire, but by then it could already be too late.

Yet the defining feature of Bopara’s innings was less of his dazzling strokes than his nerveless accumulation, which married precise placement with diligent running between the wickets.In Tom Westley, who scored his third T20 half-century in three games since returning from a broken thumb, Bopara found an ideal ally. At one point during their match-defining stand of 115, they scored off 42 consecutive deliveries, negating the need to attempt anything rash.”The rate never got above 10 which was something we spoke about,” Westley said. “It was brilliant batting with Ravi – he was a very calming influence out there.”So despite hitting four sixes to Surrey’s seven, Essex cruised to a victory that delighted their considerable travelling contingent; “like a second home game” was Westley’s judgement. After he and Bopara fell in quick succession, Ryan ten Doeschate and James Foster unflappably finished Surrey off, Foster whipping his first ball over square leg for six. The England Test captain was barely needed: Alastair Cook made just 8 before pulling Dunn to deep midwicket.As if his batting was not enough, Bopara bowled with characteristic cunning. With his mix of cutters and slower balls delivered wicket-to-wicket, Bopara only conceded 18 runs from his four overs, including three from the final over of the innings. And Westley rather set the tone for Surrey’s meek batting when he bowled Steven Davies in the very first over. Jason Roy, the darling of Friday nights at The Oval last year, made only nine before smiting David Masters to Cook at mid-off. After scoring 677 runs in T20 cricket last year, four innings have brought just 22 runs so far in 2015.The situation called for rebuilding and that is what Kumar Sangakkara, gliding the ball beautifully, provided. He shared a stand of 57 with Moises Henriques, who reinforced the impression that he is one of the summers more astute T20 signings.Zafar Ansari is often associated with funereal batting in the County Championship: his first-class strike rare is 36. But after slipping to 138 for 7 with 13 balls left, he showed his versatility by clubbing 22 off four Napier deliveries, including three huge legside sixes.How Surrey needed it after being subjected to brutal bowling from Shaun Tait, who they had signed four years ago but pulled out with an elbow injury. Even in his 33rd year, he bowled with ferocious intent, and it was a curiosity that he was restricted to three overs.Still than was enough to harass Gary Wilson. His day had begun with Ireland wrapping up victory over the UAE in the Intercontinental Cup just after 11.30am in Malahide; so keen was he to play for Surrey that he made it over the Irish Sea in time. When Tait welcomed him with a couple of snarling bouncers before he lashed a delivery straight to third man to fall for a five-ball duck, Wilson might have regretted making his hasty trip.

A round-up of the first day’s play in the fourth round of Group C matches in the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2012
ScorecardA five-wicket haul by Andhra fast bowler Syed Sahabuddin helped his team take a stranglehold against Jammu and Kashmir in Jammu. After Andhra bowled the hosts out for 153, middle-order batsmen Amol Muzumdar and B Sumanth put on another century partnership, their third in a row, to rescue Andhra when they had been reduced to 8 for 3. They held the upper hand at 118 for 4 on the first day.Sahabuddin destroyed the J&K top order with the help of another seamer, Paidikalva Vijaikumar, who had taken 6 for 80 last week, and finished with figures of 5 for 53. When Andhra batted, Dayal and Sahil Sharma removed the first three batsmen cheaply, before the repair job. Muzumdar, who had scored two centuries in the previous two innings, remained unbeaten on 60.
ScorecardIn Malappuram, Goa ended the first day in a strong position against Kerala after a century from opener Sagun Kamat, his second in 41 matches, and a half-century from wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla. After choosing to bat, Goa had lost two wickets for 55 runs, but Kamat and Bisla added 146 runs at 4.33 per over to lay the foundation for a strong innings. After losing two more wickets before stumps, Goa were 281 for 4. Bisla’s innings of 74 was his third half-century in four innings.
ScorecardThough Himachal Pradesh were effective as a bowling unit in the early half of the day, Jharkhand’s No. 3 Saurabh Tiwary and middle-order batsman Sunny Gupta put up a slow resistance to take their team to 176 for 5 at stumps.The pair added 120 runs for the sixth wicket at a run rate of 1.94 after seamers Rishi Dhawan and Vikramjeet Malik had reduced Jharkhand to 56 for 5 in the 29th over. Tiwary batted 247 deliveries to score an unbeaten 65, and Gupta took 201 deliveries to score an unbeaten 58.
ScorecardServices were in control of the contest against Assam on the first day as seamer Suraj Yadav’s four wickets helped them bowl Assam out for 182. A seventh-wicket partnership of 37 was the highest Assam could muster.After Yadav dismissed the top order cheaply, the lower-order batsmen put up some resistance when Assam were in trouble at 93 for 6. Though Services batted five overs without losing a wicket, opener Pratik Desai retired hurt in the first over.

A round-up of the action from the fourth day of the fifth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2011It took State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) a little over 20 overs on the final day to wrap up an innings and 46-run win over Faisalabad at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha. The only resistance came from Faisalabad’s overnight pair, Asif Hussain and Zeeshan Butt. Resuming on 116 for 3, the pair took their stand beyond the hundred-run mark, before being separated with the score on 141. The final six wickets then fell for just 16 runs. The bowlers shared the wickets around, but legspinner Kashif Siddiq was the best of them, claiming 4 for 22.The game between Karachi Blues and Habib Bank Limited (HBL) at the National Stadium in Karachi was called off without the third innings being completed. HBL went from 80 for no loss to 210 for 4 on the final day, a lead of 192 runs over Karachi, at which point the game was halted. Both openers, Shan Masood and Ahmed Shehzad, went on to complete half-centuries and put on their second century partnership of the game. Shehzad was subsequently banned for one game for dissent.Sialkot managed to hold on for a draw against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. They began the final day on 29 for no loss, following on and trailing by 138 runs. But a strong showing from their top order made sure they secured the match. Five of the top six got into double figures, with Mansoor Amjad top scoring with 99. Amjad was on course for his seventh first-class hundred, but was run out going for his 100th run.

A round-up of the third day of the opening round of matches in Division 2 of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2010Junaid Khan, the left-arm fast bowler who has played for Pakistan A, set up Abbottabad‘s six-wicket victory inside three days, running through the Pakistan Television lower order at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Junaid’s 13th first-class five-wicket haul in 32 games skittled Pakistan Television for 154, after they had begun the day on 133 for 5. Chasing the small target of 86, Abbottabad lost their openers with three runs on the board. However, Fawad Khan guided the chase with an unbeaten 34, and captain Wajid Ali chipped in with 21, as Abbottabad completed the victory. Pakistan Television seamer Zahoor Khan’s 3 for 35 was in vain.Rizwan Ahmed and Kashif Bhatti took eight wickets between them as Hyderabad took the first-innings lead on the third day against Quetta at the Niaz Stadium, despite Bismillah Khan’s career-best 181. Quetta lost seven wickets for 68 runs to be dismissed for 343, 18 short of Hyderabad’s 361. Bismillah and Ata-ur-Rehman had added 62 runs to take the score to 275 for 3, before legspinner Rizwan scythed through the middle order, taking 5 for 87. Bismillah hit 16 fours and three sixes in his 181 before falling to Rizwan, but lacked support from the other batsmen. Hyderabad’s openers raced to 99 at stumps, an overall lead of 117. Sharjeel Khan was in a particularly belligerent mood, hammering 66 off 56 deliveries.State Bank of Pakistan batted themselves into a strong position against Lahore Ravi at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground, ending the third day on 418 for 7, a lead of 150 runs. Mohtashim Ali and Rameez Alam hit patient centuries, and Naved Yasin and Gulraiz Sadaf made contrasting half-centuries as Lahore’s bowlers struggled to make the breakthroughs. Mohtashim (117) and Rameez (107) added 217 runs for the fourth wicket. There were two more century partnerships for State Bank before Yasin and Sadaf were both run out late in the afternoon. While the other batsmen chose to grind the bowling with sedate innings, wicketkeeper Sadaf slammed 61 off 63 deliveries.Unbeaten centuries from Usman Salahuddin and Saad Nasim helped Lahore Shalimar declare on an imposing 457 for 6 on the third day against Peshawar at the Sports Complex in Mardan. Lahore had lost two early wickets in the morning to slump for 264 for 6, before Salahuddin found a willing ally in Nasim. They first took Lahore past Peshawar’s 272, and then went on to complete their centuries as Lahore declared with a lead of 185. Nasim’s 114 was his maiden first-class century while Salahuddin made 161. After being in the field for more than 150 overs, Peshawar lost Mohammad Fayyaz off the first ball of their second innings when he was bowled by Emmad Ali. Peshawar finished on 33 for 1, trailing by 152 runs.

The BCCI has cracked down on suspect bowling actions by instructing domestic umpires to waste no time in reporting bowlers believed to be chucking

Cricinfo staff08-Nov-2009The Indian board (BCCI) has cracked down on suspect bowling actions by instructing domestic umpires to waste no time in reporting bowlers believed to be chucking. Those whose actions are believed to be suspect have been reported and will be no-balled without a warning, the BCCI has stated.A list of 32 bowlers with suspect actions was compiled by an advisory group, which subsequently sent the named players for rehabilitation to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. From the list of 32, the BCCI has reported that 12 bowling actions ranged from between 0-15 degrees as accepted by the ICC, while the other 20 bent their arms at a flexion limit of more than 15 degrees. The list has been sent to match referees, umpires, coaches and affiliated regional boards across India.”During the pre-match meeting the match referee will only convey the warning and the outcome as per action replay if any bowler from the circulated list plays and bowls with suspect action,” Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said. “Since the warning is already conveyed to the captain during the pre-match meetings by match referee, there is no need for an umpire to give any further warning to such bowlers on field of play.”If the bowler with suspect action plays and if in the opinion of the umpires he bowls with suspect action they can immediately call and stop him from bowling as per the law. He should not be allowed to bowl during the match. This action should be clearly communicated by match referees to team officials.”During the first round of action in this season’s Ranji Trophy season, three bowlers have had their actions under scrutiny. Two Baroda bowlers were called for chucking in two days while a day later Kulamani Parida, the veteran Railways spinner, was stopped from bowling during a game. Delhi’s offspinner Yogesh Nagar was also no-balled for a suspect action on Friday.The BCCI released a list of eleven bowlers reported for chucking during the junior and senior Twenty20 competitions, before the Ranji season. They are: Gujarat’s Mohnish Parmar (whose action was subsequently cleared by the BCCI) and Amit Singh, the Under-19 Maharashtra bowler Sagar Sawant, Uttar Pradesh’s Mohammad Norman, Rohan Thapa from Baroda, Delhi’s Nagar, Sayed Zaki of Orissa, Punjab’s Ankur Jund, Vobhor Bisen from Vidarbha, Tripura’s Debabhakt Jamta and Arlen Konwar from Assam.