ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2015Dhawan was the first to reach three figures, bringing up his fourth century in Test cricket•AFPKohli joined him in the second session to notch up his fourth ton in as many Tests as captain•Associated PressSri Lanka hit back through offspinner Tharindu Kaushal, who dismissed Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane in quick succession as India slipped from 254 for 2 to 257 for 4•AFPIndia looked to be headed to tea without any more casualties when Dhawan, who had put on 37 runs with Wriddhiman Saha, was bowled by Nuwan Pradeep. Two overs later, Pradeep removed R Ashwin, as India were reduced to 304 for 6•AFPWriddhiman Saha batted with the tail to strike his maiden Test fifty and helped India to 375, securing a lead of 192•AFPKohli then threw the ball to R Ashwin and the offspinner took just four deliveries to breach the defence of Dimuth Karunaratne•AFPThings went from bad to worse for the hosts when Kaushal Silva was undone by an Amit Mishra googly, leaving them at 5 for 2 at stumps•AFP

The early stages of Mitchell Marsh’s career have not always been smooth but he now has the chance to establish himself as Australia’s allrounder and his contribution at Lord’s was a template of what he can bring

Daniel Brettig at Lord's18-Jul-2015Among the more celebrated facts of Ashes history is that Ian Botham gained his first wicket against Australia with a long hop that Greg Chappell dragged onto the stumps. It was the first ball of a spell at Trent Bridge, at a time when England needed to interrupt the flow of things. Botham went on to collect five wickets as England won the Test, and has been a source of more or less constant irritation to Australians ever since.On the third day at Lord’s, Australia had a similar need for something to happen. Ben Stokes and Alastair Cook had each set themselves at the crease with something like concrete, determined to foil Australian efforts at dislodging them. The pitch was docile, the ball swinging only gently. Michael Clarke’s front rank of bowlers had failed to create a chance, let alone a wicket.Now it would be presumptuous in the extreme to suggest that Mitchell Marsh is destined for the sort of career Botham went on to enjoy. But in the moments that he persuaded first Stokes and then Cook to drag balls onto their stumps for 87 and 96 respectively, there would doubtless have been a look of recognition pass across the face of the selection chairman Rod Marsh, who was one of Botham’s victims that late July day in 1977.Quite apart from some useful overs to ease the burden on the full-time pacemen, the overs of an allrounder are invariably valued more if they carry the whiff of the unexpected, or the threat of surprise. Something that had gone missing from Shane Watson’s oeuvre in recent times were the regular wickets that broke partnerships or stopped others from forming. By claiming two wickets in his first Ashes innings, Marsh actually matched the total number of wickets Watson has taken against England in England in nine Tests.

‘Hard to see the amount Shane cops back home’

Mitchell Marsh has spoken about the difficulty of competing for the allrounder berth against Shane Watson. The pair have swapped places more than once, first during the World Cup, despite Marsh taking a five-wicket haul against England, and now the Ashes tour.
“It was quite tough to be honest because, for me, I’ve just got so much respect for Shane and he’s someone who I really enjoy working with and watching him do what he does,” he said. “Although sometimes he cops a bad rap he’s been a very good player for Australia over a number of years and to do what he’s done over 60 Test or however many he has played is a fantastic effort.
“He’s always played a part in winning teams for Australia. To be honest it was really hard to see the amount that he cops back home. I just want to do well and hopefully I can keep contributing to this team.
“It was obviously very tough at the time to be left out at that stage of a World Cup. And at end of the day if I’m being honest it was probably the right decision to go with Shane with all his experience in one-day cricket. I got a medal around my neck and that’s all that mattered. I was a part of that 15 just as much as anyone else in that team, or that’s what it felt like. I thought the right decisions were made throughout the World Cup.”

Watson’s bowling had been skilful, swinging and most of all tidy – his economy rate only seldom bled above three an over, and he was adept at bowling maidens to a ring field. But a tally of 13 wickets from his past 18 matches showed that he had become a purveyor of overs that soaked up time more so than batsmen, the trio of five-wicket hauls he took between June 2010 and November 2011 a distant memory.Marsh’s first Australian tour happened to be the same trip to South Africa where Watson claimed his last major haul. He put in a few eye-catching displays during the limited overs portion of the trip, and looked comfortable in international company. Since then he has loomed as the man to ultimately take Watson’s mantle, albeit with a fair few hiccups along the way.Disciplinary problems were never far away from Western Australia during his early years playing for the state, and a reputation for instigating off-field hijinks, while also not taking the best care of himself, followed Marsh around the country. In South Africa in 2012 he was summarily punished for an overlong celebration of his 21st birthday, a verdict with which he disagreed vehemently. During the 2013 Champions Trophy, Marsh was one of the players out with David Warner when the opener took his infamous swing at Joe Root.In many ways, this mischievous streak is out of step with professional sport in the 21st century, and certainly Marsh has fallen afoul of some of the more “high performance-oriented” regimes in place around Australian cricket, whether it be the WA set-up Mickey Arthur left behind or the former Centre of Excellence in Brisbane where he was sent home for turning up to a training intake in a less than fit state.But in a state side managed by Justin Langer and Adam Voges or a national team mentored jovially but also intently by Darren Lehmann, Marsh’s sense for the dramatic or the different has been rather more encouraged. His personality is an outgoing one, far more so than that of his older brother Shaun, and there is a confidence to his bearing that suggests he wants to be the man for key occasions. As one member of the tour party has stated about his tendency towards the outlandish, “He’s a beauty.”As a batsman, Marsh loves nothing more than to give the ball a resounding thump, as seen during a pair of rollicking centuries in warm-up matches against Kent and Essex. In earlier days his ambitions had occasionally outstripped his aptitude, and this is the major reason why his first-class average still hovers somewhere around 30 rather than being higher. He will, in time, be capable of substantial innings for his country, as he showed when compiling a meritorious double hundred for Australia A against India A last winter.At the bowling crease, Marsh has gone through several phases already. A previously mixed action has been made more front-on as a way of avoiding further back injuries, while strength work on his legs has been geared at warding off further soft tissue problems. In his earlier days on the fresher pitches then prepared for the Sheffield Shield, Marsh was a considerable threat. But he has had to learn to prosper on flatter surfaces in Tests – two wicketless outings against Pakistan in Dubai and Abu Dhabi provided some preparation for the Lord’s track.So it was that he came to the fore on the third day, delivering eight overs of tidy seam up at a tick above medium pace and goading both Stokes and Cook into error. As Marsh put it, “I just want to contribute to the team in any way I can, and to get those two wickets it was great for my confidence but at the same time it was a really important time for the team. The attack we’ve got I’m certainly not going to come out and try to blast blokes out, but wherever the skipper needs me I just want to be there for him and bowl whenever.”Botham was watching from the commentary box as Marsh made his breakthroughs, and while he would have winced at the blows these struck against his beloved England, he would have appreciated the allrounder’s knack of chiming in. He would also have laughed heartily at Marsh’s parting words to the press pack after speaking to them as Australia’s player of the day: “Hopefully I’m back in here talking to you blokes tomorrow night!”

From knocking balls around his car park to providing Tamil Nadu with backbone in the Ranji Trophy knockouts, it has been a long journey for Vijay Shankar, and he’s not quite finished yet

Deivarayan Muthu29-Oct-2015Vijay Shankar’s two-story independent house is tucked away in a corner of a lane in Madipakkam, in south suburban Chennai. The first thing that meets the eye is the car-park area, where Vijay began his journey with his father H Shankar and elder brother Ajay, who plays lower-division cricket in Tamil Nadu. As a teenager Vijay crunched balls in that small space kept aside to park cars with his father and brother, often getting hit while fielding.As Vijay rose through age-group cricket, the car-park area just wasn’t enough, and the unruly Chennai traffic meant that travelling to the Chakrathar Rao academy, run by the former Ranji cricketer, ate up at least two hours.Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, H Shankar said, “With the car-park slot being 15 feet in width and around 35 feet only in length, I felt it was very, very small and restricted his strokeplay, and the travelling time was tiring.” What did he do then?The twin terraces of the house were levelled into one and turned into a personal training area with nets, a synthetic astro turf, and a bowling machine. The teenager could cut, drive, pull, or bowl at any time.Vijay’s grandmother flips through TV channels on a television set that is housed in a cabinet filled with many trophies as Vijay, 24, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, seems relaxed.No bulging biceps. No funky hairdos or tattoos. Vijay is almost the archetypal boy next door – he likes spending time with friends, setting off on long drives, and is a fan of Manchester United.On the field, Vijay can grind attacks and shape the innings from the middle order besides pitching in with medium pace. He also showed that he can shift gears during his 86 for India A against Bangladesh A in Bangalore. He sent one clattering onto the glass front of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium media box, which had his personal coach S Balaji saying: “For a vegetarian he can hit the ball a long way.”On the first day of Tamil Nadu’s Ranji opener against Baroda Vijay could only watch from the stands, as he sat with a strapped shoulder, and one could sense that he wanted to be out there in the middle. Later on, he joined the team after the thrilling win.Having recovered from the shoulder injury, Vijay’s return for the fifth round will bolster Tamil Nadu who found themselves at the wrong end of a similar heist against Mumbai.Vijay also suffered injuries at the start of the 2014-15 Ranji season but bounced back strongly, which mirrored Tamil Nadu’s comeback as well. He tallied 577 runs in seven matches, including two centuries and three fifties, as Tamil Nadu advanced to the final only to be beaten by Karnataka. Vijay then scored a fifty on India A debut against an Australia A attack comprising Gurinder Sandhu, Sean Abbott and Steven O’Keefe. He followed it up with a resolute 74 not out in the fourth innings, guiding India A to a draw against South Africa A in Wayanad.Remind Vijay of the Ranji knockouts, where here he piled up scores of 111, 82, 91 and 103 in the quarter-final, semi-final and final, and he flashes a big smile like a kid does while navigating his toy car.Vijay, however, conceded that injuries bring negative thoughts and lauded the strong support system that helped him quell them.”It was not easy. You get negative thoughts when you keep sitting outside and doing nothing,” Vijay said. “My family’s influence has helped me stay calm even in the middle. My father, who has played a bit of cricket, comes to Chepauk to watch every game I play. My brother, Ajay, who plays lower-division games, and I discuss cricket often. My sister-in-law, my mother, grandmother, and the entire family have been the biggest support for me.””I started training hard and did some knocking in the nets, and ensured that I did not give much time for those thoughts. I practised with my friends, my brother, when Apar [Baba Aparajith] and Inder [Baba Indrajith] are here, we practise. Even if there is nobody I go out to the nets and practise pace.”Vijay had started as an offspinner before switching to medium pace to lend more balance to an already spin-heavy Tamil Nadu attack. Vijay had some no-ball issues last season but worked them out with former coach WV Raman and produced timely breakthroughs.”I want to be a genuine allrounder. I want to balance both and can’t sacrifice one for the other,” Vijay said.Vijay has a special bond with the Baba twins, Aparajith and Indrajith, who share the same personal coach: “With Balaji Sir, it has been about 10 years for me. It is very nice to know where we are all now. All three, myself, Aparajith, Indrajith, are doing well at first-class level. This is the best thing we can give back to our coach.”We have been playing together since Under-13 days. We know our games well. In the TNCA league, we have played for Vijay CC, Indian Bank together and then Tamil Nadu of course.”With M Vijay leaving on India duty, the onus is on Vijay Shankar to prove his fitness and act as the binding force for the state side again. While Vijay was wary of the challenges ahead, he believed that Tamil Nadu had it in them to go one step more this season.

The Harare crowd’s songs were the joyous soundtrack to a long-awaited Zimbabwe win, one that shouldn’t be defined by the fiasco of its ending

Liam Brickhill in Harare03-Oct-2015There’s a song they sing at Castle Corner, the rowdy epicentre of home support at Harare Sports Club. Actually, there are lots of songs they sing at Castle Corner, but most of them are too bawdy, or locally esoteric, to be printed. Today, though, one song in particular struck exactly the right note.After Zimbabwe’s early strikes had put a spring in the step of the home side, these well-watered comrades repeatedly chanted the ‘Emmanuel’ war cry: (Emma, they always look down upon us, so let them, leave them like that Emma, Emmanuel, Emma!)”.The etymology of the name Emmanual is biblical, meaning ‘God is with us’, but in a cricketing context it’s not so much a religious invocation as an expression of self worth. The big teams all look down on us, they’re saying, but we believe in ourselves. While the rest of us asked, ‘Who is this team and what have they done with the milksops who offered the first three games of this tour in benefaction to the visitors?’, the Castle Corner faithful simply sang their joy.That joy seemed in danger of disappearing when Zimbabwe’s luck, a rare enough commodity as it is, appeared to evaporate entirely in the midst of Aamer Yamin and Shoaib Malik’s sustained mid-afternoon onslaught. Graeme Cremer’s eye-watering twisted ankle in his second over, after he’d just taken a wicket in his first, was the omen for what followed.Catches were dropped, a stumping missed, and a free hit off a marginal no-ball was fumbled on the ropes to give Pakistan six runs where there should only have been two. Just as Zimbabwe had risen as a team, so they fell as one. The milksops were back.Once again the voices struck up: It took a moment of inspiration to dig a team out of this sort of funk. It took an inspired captain. It also took a slice of luck. Elton Chigumbura probably wouldn’t even have bowled today had it not been for Cremer’s injury. He hadn’t bowled an international over since Zimbabwe’s loss against Pakistan at the Gabba more than seven months ago.When Chigumbura was asked before this series whether he was fit to bowl his answer was a supremely minimalist “yes”. That’s the thing about Chigumbura: he’s a somewhat quiet, equable captain who doesn’t say much. Yet when he had Yamin fortuitously caught down the leg side, you could hear his roar all the way up in the pressbox.You could also hear a new war cry echoing around the ground, the classic: (It’s meat for roasting!)”. But Zimbabwe couldn’t stick a fork in Pakistan, because they weren’t quite done yet. Indeed, this extraordinary game wasn’t quite done with any of us yet.The gathering stormclouds put an electrical charge in the air, and one felt that something special was going to happen. The afternoon had greyed as the ominous-looking clouds built up to the east of the ground, but from beyond the western horizon the sun burst through the gloaming after Chigumbura’s wicket and the ground was bathed in golden light.For a few magical minutes, sun and rain met and mingled over a cricket match being played and watched at fever pitch. They call it a “monkey’s wedding” here, and it was almost too beautiful.The change in mood started as early as this morning, when there was a newly determined air to Zimbabwe’s preparations. Before the toss, Sikandar Raza spent a long time out in the middle shadow batting. He continued to twirl his bat nervously as Zimbabwe met for a team huddle, with coach Dav Whatmore giving a stirring speech to his charges that focused on the need for the team to go into battle for one another. The rousing speech from an embattled coach, his team stuck with their backs against the wall, is something of a sporting cliché. This time, it clearly worked.Cricket is a game that builds its narrative at the intersection of physical exertion, mental fortitude and emotional connection. A myriad of individual battles within a team game, it can be achingly boring, unbearably exciting, intriguing, frustrating. It can also be very, very silly.Yet it would be wrong to let this match be defined by the fiasco of its ending because, despite that snafu, it was absurdly gripping all the way to its perfectly imperfect denouement. In a country that has lived through 79.6 billion percent hyperinflation, where the wide lack of a reliable electricity supply has set off an online flurry of hyper-local memes, and where beer – rather than a glass of tap water – is the healthy choice, this preposterous cricket match fit right in.This was a very Zimbabwean cricket match, and that’s what really resonated about Castle Corner’s choice of war cry. God was with them, and their prayers were answered as the Mashonaland sky was rented by the very first rains of the season.

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2015Zulfiqar Babar did not take long to remove James Taylor…•Getty Images…Yasir Shah then picked up his second wicket with another lbw decision against Jonny Bairstow…•Getty Images…and Samit Patel’s dismissal meant England had lost 4 for 11 inside the first hour, their hopes in tatters•Getty ImagesOnly Alastair Cook resisted as Pakistan closed in•Getty ImagesCook and Adil Rashid put on 49 for the seventh wicket but Rahat Ali parted them before lunch•Getty ImagesAfter Stuart Broad fell to Yasir, Cook was ninth man out for 63…•Getty Images…Ben Stokes was also stumped by Sarfraz Ahmed as Pakistan completed a comfortable 127-run victory•Getty ImagesPakistan needed just 38.3 overs on the final day to extend their excellent record in the UAE•Getty ImagesThe 2-0 margin of victory also meant Misbah-ul-Haq’s team rose to No. 2 in the ICC rankings•Getty Images

At the end of another day in which England went toe-to-toe with Pakistan, Joe Root was shaping as pivotal batsman in this match

Andrew McGlashan in Dubai23-Oct-2015Joe Root was given hefty praise before the second Test began. In the midst of a press conference in the build-up to the match, Moeen Ali casually slipped in his assertion that Root “is probably the best player of spin in the world”.After the second day’s play in Dubai, which finished with Root unbeaten on 76 in which he combated a combination of Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar and Shoaib Malik, Stuart Broad added his own praise: “He’s as good a player of spin as an Englishmen that I’ve played with.”At the end of another day in which England went toe-to-toe with Pakistan – they have not clearly ‘lost’ any of the seven in the series to date – Root was shaping as pivotal man in this encounter and, with it, England’s best chance of heading to Sharjah with the series lead that their efforts so far would warrant.Currently, Root is the No. 2-ranked batsman in Test cricket, having jostled with Steven Smith for the spot during the Ashes. Root claimed it with his hundred at Trent Bridge, but Smith gained it back with his match-winning effort at The Oval where Root failed twice. You would imagine, with Smith’s Test season in Australia having not yet begun and South Africa’s series in India still a couple of weeks away (AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla are ranked three and four), Root will reclaim the spot during this series. He should be vying for it for another decade yet.As in the first Test, Root spent considerable time in this innings batting alongside Alastair Cook. Whatever records Cook leaves behind at the end of his prolific career, Root will be pushing to break them. In Abu Dhabi he comfortably out-scored Cook in their 165-run partnership – 85 runs to Cook’s 54 – and although Cook provided marginally more in today’s 113-run stand there was, as is almost always the case when Root walks in, a sense of urgency.Since his return to the Test side, after briefly being dropped at the end of the 2013-14 Ashes, he has been prolific in the middle order, but alongside the volume of runs he has scored the tempo has been equally important. Since that Ashes series his strike-rate has ballooned from 39.69 to 63.38.Joe Root casts a shadow over Pakistan’s bowlers in Dubai•Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesIt is worth noting, though, that the lower figure included his debut innings in Nagpur, a vital 73 off 229 balls, which helped England secure their historic 2012-13 series win in India. On that tour, Andy Flower had been so impressed with what he saw of Root in practice, he had wanted to play him from the start of the series. But whereas, there, it was defence first, attack second, now his game has switched emphasis.”From a bowler’s point of view you can feel quite relaxed when he’s out there batting, he doesn’t look like he’s panic-sweeping and dancing because he’s not sure what to do,” Broad said. “Last time we were here it was like tossing a coin to see which shot we would play. I think Joe has brought a lot of calmness to the batting unit which the young guys can feed off.”Yet still, among those young guys he remains one of the youngest. “He’s got an old head on young shoulders,” Broad said, as he recalled Flower’s opinion of Root on that India tour: “Just on first viewing, ‘this bloke is that good’.”He has often done it the hard way, too. Earlier this year it became a regular occurrence that Root would walk in with England three-down with 50 or fewer runs on the board: he would invariably respond with a counterattack. Midway through the Ashes, that scenario was taken out of Root’s hands when Gary Ballance was dropped and a batting reshuffle took place, with Ian Bell and Root each moving up to three and four respectively.The use of a nightwatchman in Abu Dhabi last week meant Root returned to the fray at three-down once again, although 285 for 3 represented a position of rare comfort compared to what he was previously used. In Dubai, the scoreline had reverted a little more to type as England wobbled on 14 for 2 against some impressive, hostile new-ball bowling from Imran Khan and Wahab Riaz. One bad innings, and the impressive work from England in the first Test could have been wiped away.It was a demanding start for Root against the fired-up Wahab. He was kept scoreless for 10 deliveries, his first boundary was an instinctive hook of which he was not in control, and he also took a blow to the chest as he dropped his hands on another fierce lifter. But when pace gave way to spin, Root started to ease into his work, picking off any error in line or length with drives, flicks and sweeps.After his first 10 deliveries for nothing he collected 44 off the next 48, but was then tied down for a period, requiring a further 27 balls to reach his fifty. However, there is a maturity as well as an impishness to his batting. His duel with the excitable Yasir was absorbing; his desire to score always kept the legspinner in the game. It was a contest that promised much for the third day. The series could be decided by it.There are enough signs that this will not be a draw – there is already significant spin and more bounce than Abu Dhabi – so England will need a strong lead to avoid chasing much in the fourth innings, and that remains a long way off. With a youthful middle order still unproven against spin, although Jonny Bairstow showed promising signs of development on the second evening, Root – dodgy back and all – is carrying a hefty burden now that Cook was been extracted from the crease.If Root is able to give England the advantage that propels them to a victory he will have certainly lived up to his top billing.

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2016Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli then started to rebuild India’s innings at brisk pace•Getty ImagesBoth batsmen scored fifties as they took their stand past 100•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesSoon after Kohli got to his half-century, he was run out by Kane Richardson whose bullet throw from the fine leg boundary found him almost a foot short•Associated PressRohit, however, carried on to score his second successive century, before also being run out•Getty ImagesAjinkya Rahane’s 89 took India to 8 for 308, even as Australia thwarted India’s innings with late wickets towards the death•AFPAustralia began the 300-plus chase briskly, with Shaun Marsh helping himself to seven fours and a six•Getty ImagesHe received ample support from Aaron Finch, who also compiled a brisk 71•Getty ImagesThe pair’s 145-run opening partnership laid a strong platform for the hosts•Getty ImagesIndia fought back with the wickets of both batsmen in quick succession, with Kohli holding on to a high catch to dismiss Marsh•Getty ImagesSteven Smith then chipped in with 46 before being cleaned up by Umesh Yadav•Getty ImagesIndia searched hard for wickets, but George Bailey’s calculated blast – 76 off 58 balls – ensured Australia once again gunned down a 300-plus total without breaking a sweat•Getty Images

Why many Pakistanis want the tainted fast bowler back

Talha Ahmad16-Dec-2015Somewhere in Pakistan, someone is confused about the Mohammad Amir drama. This someone is a shocked Pakhtun after seeing and hearing different views and opinions about the return of Amir.The Pakhtun wakes up in the morning, offers his prayers, eats his breakfast, wears the cultural Chitrali hat and shawl, and also puts the traditional sandals on. He goes for a walk in the dense winter fog early in the morning and thinks to himself, ‘why do they want Amir back?’The confused man doesn’t find an answer to the question and keeps on walking. Then he asks himself, ‘why don’t they want Amir back? Well, he has brought shame to our country, our beloved homeland. There are enough reasons not to want him back to play for Pakistan and yet the majority wants him,’ he thinks to himself, his bemusement increasing.By this time, the Pakhtun has reached his rice fields, where a spectacular thought comes to his mind. The Pakhtun says to himself, “they want him back because they want to show they have forgiven him and want to give him another chance.”While on his way back to his house, the fog lightened and the sun produced the winter’s warming heat. He thinks to himself, “Isn’t allowing him back to live in Pakistan already a gesture of forgiving him? After all that he has done, allowing him to live in his country is big already that we have done. Then why do they want to forgive him again?”Just as he reaches his home, he sits on the (traditional bed in villages). He continues to wonder why Pakistan wants Amir back. He arrives at a conclusion that Shahid Afridi is going to retire soon. The great Imran Khan was a cricketer that came ages ago and went away from the game by making his country very proud. The days of Waqar and Wasim are long gone and the Inzamams, Saeed Anwars and Mohammad Yousufs were no longer playing for Pakistan. Javed Miandad and Saqlain Mushtaq were also long ago. Younis and Misbah are also only playing Test cricket and are on the verge of retirement. He says to himself, “they don’t want Amir, they need him. Pakistan needs a cricketing hero once again for the coming generation and they all know, inside their hearts, that despite whatever Amir has done, he is the only one who can become their hero.”The Pakhtun takes off the shawl, chitrali hat and the traditional sandals. He drags a towards the area in his house where the sun is shining and just lays there and closes his eyes, “yes, that is the reason they want him back.”They know he is the one who can give them reasons to smile in the coming years.

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2016He added 57 for the opening wicket in the company of Kane Williamson•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty ImagesPakistan, however, clawed their way back with two quick wickets•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty ImagesNew Zealand were dealt another blow when Ross Taylor retired hurt for 6•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty ImagesCorey Anderson, though, launched a counterattack that featured six fours and four sixes•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty ImagesGrant Elliott provided him support in an 80-run stand for the fourth wicket before getting run out in the 18th over•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty ImagesAnderson remained unbeaten on 82 off 42 balls to propel the hosts to 196 for 5•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty ImagesPakistan made the worst possible start to their big chase when Mohammad Hafeez was dismissed in the second over•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty ImagesWickets continued to tumble freely, as the visitors struggled to muster even a single meaningful stand•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty ImagesAnderson followed up his blazing half-century with the key wickets of Ahmed Shehzad and Shoaib Malik, as New Zealand eventually wrapped up the match and series by 95 runs•Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

A look back at how each of the eight teams fared in the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League

Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins28-Jan-20164:25

Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins marvel about some young talents coming through and some old pros holding their own

Sydney Thunder You could glance at the ladder and think it was inevitable that the top side finished as the first Women’s Big Bash League champions. It wasn’t that simple. Sydney Thunder were an unfancied team that overachieved early, nearly fell apart late, then scrambled through two close finals under pressure for what was really an underdog win.While experienced seamer Rene Farrell led the way and the tournament with 26 wickets, her team’s success was built on the very junior bowlers grouped around her. Lauren Cheatle and Belinda Vakarewa were 17 when the tournament began, leg-spinner Maisy Gibson was 19, and the diminutive Nicola Carey was 21.With international off-spinner Erin Osborne largely ineffective, Cheatle took 18 wickets, while Carey bowled 61 of a possible 64 overs in controlling the middle of innings. Gibson made key strikes, especially in the finals.That bowling was sufficiently supported by a short batting line-up, mainly the consistent Alex Blackwell (410 runs), Stafanie Taylor (372) and Rachael Haynes (350). Naomi Stalenberg won national selection with a couple of eye-catching cameos at high strike rates.Whether defending 14 from the last over of the semi-final (just), or stumbling to their target in the final with two nervous tailenders left to bat, Sydney Thunder found a way, creating a good news story hours before Mike Hussey captained the men’s team to a matching title win.Hobart Hurricanes
Before the season, captain Heather Knight indicated that reaching the semi-finals would be good result. Even that looked a big ask. Without a culture of state success, and lacking the superstars of mainland clubs, the Canes looked light on.They confounded expectations, bolting to a 5-0 start, three of those wins by less than five runs. They never dropped out of the top four, even after ceding five of their last six games.Most significantly, they let the Sixers off the hook on the final day of the season. That last-ball heart-stopper ensured Hobart would play the same side, in rampaging form, in the semi-final, finishing up as Knight had predicted.The unobtrusive Veronica Pyke took 22 wickets, second in the league, opening partner Julie Hunter was frugal at top and tail, and Amy Satterthwaite impressed with all-round performances.The captain was a model of consistency with bat, ball, and coin, coupling 363 runs with 17 off-spun wickets and 10 tosses won from 15. Third in the MVP, Knight reinforced her status as England’s captain-in-waiting. But no other Hurricane passed 250 season runs. Caribbean import Hayley Matthews made a blistering 77 early, but didn’t fire another shot.Hobart still finished as one of the good news stories of the WBBL, and everyone’s second team. But no one likes that tag for long. They will return next year with more respect and loftier ambitions.Sydney Sixers

Without doubt the league’s most compelling tale, the Sixers fell just one win short of what would have been one of the most unlikely title wins in any sport.While losing their first six games, Ellyse Perry’s team was a rabble, and the star all-rounder couldn’t take a wicket or make a run. Needing eight wins in a row to make the finals, they knocked off exactly that, then a semi-final, only to fall short of a 10th win that would have made them champions.South African import Marizanne Kapp was hypnotic with the new ball and at the death, regularly taking wickets while churning through her four overs for barely a dozen runs. Ignore Shabnim Ismail’s two-game cameo for the Renegades, and Kapp 4.28 runs per over was the stingiest in the league.Sarah Aley took 19 wickets alongside her, Lisa Sthalekar’s emergence from retirement paid off with wickets and run-outs, and Perry bowled tidily while finishing third in the run-scoring with 430.Sara McGlashan was perhaps the biggest star, her unbeaten 79 from 58 balls winning the last match of the season from a hopeless position, from 4-20 to 8-127 in a last-ball win that fired the Sixers into finals. Even without a title, the team in pink were more than impressive enough.Perth Scorchers
Wile Hurricanes felt a semifinal berth was an achievement, Perth must view their final-four exit as inadequate. A top order stacked with talent should have never been scrapping on the last weekend for the last available spot.Scorchers didn’t win more than twice in a row, lacking any momentum. This was illustrated in their home carnival after Christmas, doing the double over the Stars only to have the same treatment dished out by the travelling Thunder.After a double loss to Adelaide, Scorchers had a fortnight to watch teams overtake them. They returned to Adelaide for two wins against Renegades, their reward another Adelaide Oval date for a knockout game. Their effort was appropriately mediocre, unable to overhaul 118 against Sydney Thunder’s pack-bowling.Captain and Australian opener Nicole Bolton never reached 50, nor did West Indies import Deandra Dottin, the record holder of the fastest T20 international ton. Ellyse Villani notched 326 runs, but her hit-and-miss pattern may have influenced her omission from the national team.Charlotte Edwards ended second in the tournament with 464, while Suzie Bates from New Zealand rattled off 220 runs in eight hits. Opening bowlers Katherine Brunt and Nicky Shaw took 16 wickets apiece. But the pieces rarely came together at once. The best thing the Scorchers can do is put a line under this campaign and start again.Melbourne Stars resembled a one-woman army. Meg Lanning was the sole flagbearer of the team in the inaugural edition•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesMelbourne Stars
From start to finish, it was the same tired story: the team seemed to start and end with Meg Lanning. Any team featuring the world’s best player will be seen as a contender, but the ranks behind the Australian captain looked thin.To begin with, this wasn’t exposed. Of course Lanning set the tone in beating the fancied Brisbane Heat twice on the trot, then went to Sydney to knock off the Sixers. Four and zip, three half tons to our protagonist, one dismissal, and all looked well.From there, they won consecutive games only once as they shuffled from the top of the ladder to fifth. Lanning was player of the match in six of her team’s seven wins. Her 560 runs had her first in the league, but Stars’ next best was Katie Mack in 23rd.England all-rounder Natlaie Sciver took 18 wickets, as did New Zealand seamer Morna Nielsen. Kristen Beams was the tournament’s stand-out spinner before a thumb injury. But with the bat, Stars only proved the importance of depth.Brisbane Heat

A disappointment to rival Perth based on their list, Brisbane featured Australian all-rounders Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince and Grace Harris alongside pacer Holly Ferling and England rep Lauren Winfield. When Harris belted a hundred off 55 balls in an early win, the team looked like a finals lock. By the end of the season they had crashed out of contention.Brisbane’s early ascendancy came from a schedule that packed 10 of their games in barely two weeks. Sure, they won five in a row to sit second, but that disguised their three opening losses. Brisbane stayed in the top four thanks to those wins in the bank, but won only two more games.Like Scorchers, the component parts didn’t fire. Kimmince with 17 and Ferling with 15 led the wickets. Harris made 103 runs in one innings and 186 in her other 11. Only the wicketkeeper and opener Beth Mooney stayed consistent, finishing strongly with 400 runs to sit third in the league before finals. Elevation to the national squad was her reward.Adelaide Strikers

Seventh on the table, first in the Most Frustrating Award. Every team went into the last weekend of the regular season with a chance at progressing. Adelaide could have done so with three big wins on their home ground, but typically couldn’t finish the job.It could all have been so different for a team that turned in some brilliant displays. South Australia had just broken New South Wales’ decade-long hold on the domestic 50-over title, and Strikers were essentially the same squad.Teenage leg-spinner Amanda Wellington bowled stunning spells, with drift and drop and turn. Megan Schutt’s swing bowling was at times unplayable. Star England wicketkeeper-batsman Sarah Taylor played some gems. Sarah Coyte, mostly a bowler, smashed 72 and 52* to win two games, and was the team’s second-best run-scorer with 243. Sophie Devine produced a devastating 47 not out from 15 balls.When charging down 149 against Thunder or 139 against Scorchers, you wondered how Strikers weren’t top of the league. But too often, Taylor lacked batting support, and the bowling lacked penetration. A good spell from Schutt or Wellington could be played out and the runs made up elsewhere. All this translated to six wins for Adelaide, with at least as many opportunities lost.Melbourne Renegades


The cellar-dwellers will look back at their 4-10 record and wonder what could have been. Good enough on television to beat crosstown rivals the Stars and then the table-topping Thunder, the pickings were slim when the cameras weren’t rolling.Simply, they didn’t make enough runs. The highest scorer was Dane van Niekerk with 275 runs , which was 15th in the WBBL. Dannielle Wyatt’s contributions with bat and ball earned a spot in the MVP top ten. But neither was qualified to play the middle-order lynchpin role asked of them.The green shoots came in the form of two young spinners. Molly Strano’s match-winning performances in the televised victories netted her 8-35 in total, propelling her to fourth in the league. Sophie Molineux impressed the selectors enough to make the Governor-General’s XI. There’s nothing positive about finishing last, but if the impressive Ismail can be lured back next year, and some strength added with the bat, an elevation to finals shouldn’t be beyond them.