Here is the ball-by-ball account, and the pictures, of all ten wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-20214:11

Daniel Vettori: ‘Rare’ Ajaz Patel 10-wicket haul is greatest individual feat in NZ Test cricket

Wicket No. 1: Shubman Gill c Ross Taylor b Ajaz Patel 44•BCCI27.3 to Shubman Gill, he’s caught at slip. One ball after a let-off, Gill goes. Ajaz gets a nice loop going on this one too, Gill tries to push-drive from the crease, gets an edge that settles into Ross Taylor’s extremely safe hands at slip. Important breakthrough for New Zealand with India having looked so comfortable. 80/1Wicket No. 2: Cheteshwar Pujara b Ajaz Patel 0•Associated Press29.2 to Cheteshwar Pujara, he’s got him bowled! One ball after a missed stumping he got Gill. One ball after a failed lbw review, he gets Pujara – who has to go for a duck. Pujara coming down the track – he’s rarely ever even beaten coming down the track to a spinner – but this one is flighted perfectly and dips below his bat, spins viciously away from leg stump to knock back off-stump. Pujara has a slightly stunned look as he walks off. 80/2Wicket No. 3: Virat Kohli lbw b Ajaz Patel 0•BCCI29.6 to Virat Kohli, massive appeal for lbw given and Kohli reviews. What an over this is turning out to be for Ajaz. What a spell. This is really close on whether he’s inside edged it or not. The ball is fitting perfectly between bat and pad as he’s on the front foot to defend. One half of the ball is near the inside edge, the other on the pad. And there’s a spike, but is it due to ball hitting bat first or only with ball hitting pad? There doesn’t seem to be conclusive evidence of bat first, though the seam does wobble a bit when it passes the bat. Third umpire says no conclusive evidence of bat first. Ball tracking has it hitting the stumps flush. And that means Kohli has to go for a duck on his return. He has a word with the umpire for a moment before walking off. This match has turned, and how. 80/3Wicket No. 4: Shreyas Iyer c Tom Blundell b Ajaz Patel 18•Associated Press47.4 to Shreyas Iyer, Ajaz provides NZ with another breakthrough. Full, slides in from left-arm around, as opposed to turning away. Ajaz finds some extra bounce to boot. Iyer has an uncertain prod at it, searching for turn, and ends up inside-edging it onto his thigh pad. The ball lobs up to Blundell who collects it cleanly, having fluffed a stumping earlier in the day 160/4Wicket No. 5 Wriddhiman Saha lbw b Ajaz Patel 27•Associated Press71.4 to Wriddhiman Saha, Ajaz has five. Strikes in the first over of the day. This was plumb enough that Saha opts not to review after a brief discussion with Agarwal. This one went with the arm, Saha misread the length and was moving back to cut, it skids on from a length on off and hits him on the knee roll. Replay show that was umpire’s call on impact but was hitting the stumps 224/5Wicket No. 6: R Ashwin b Ajaz Patel 0•Associated Press71.5 to R Ashwin, what a beauty. That is a peach to get first up and nothing much Ashwin can do about it. Ajaz turning things around for New Zealand within an over, once again. Perfectly geometric arc to the ball, Ashwin is a tall man, stretches forward to defend but the loop is perfect so he cant quite get to the pitch, it lands in front, spins just enough to beat bat, but not too much, so it shaves off-stump. Ashwin didn’t realise he was bowled, it was that fine a margin for the spin. Ajaz got it inch-perfect. Ashwin was actually making the signal to review because he thought he’d been given caught behind. 224/6Wicket No. 7: Mayank Agarwal c Tom Blundell b Ajaz Patel 150•BCCI99.5 to Mayank Agarwal, he’s got him. Ajaz on track for the magic ten. Crucial, crucial strike and a great ball to get it. A bit of a misjudgement in length perhaps from Agarwal after exemplary concentration throughout. Ajaz gets this to dip and drift again like he has all through, Agarwal goes on the back foot, but the grip and turn mean his hands follow the ball a bit, just enough to snaffle a thin edge that is well caught by the keeper standing up. The end of a fantastic knock. 291/7Wicket No. 8: Axar Patel lbw b Ajaz Patel 52•BCCI107.5 to Axar Patel, pads up to one outside off, turning in. Ajaz appeals. No shot offered so he can be given lbw. They take the review. He stretched his front leg out a fair way so that has to turn a bit to threaten the stumps. And it is! three reds on the review. Turning enough to take out off stump full. Stunning review from Ajaz, and he has eight now. He can smell that ten-for, as can everyone else. End of an important innings by Axar. 316/8Wicket No. 9: Jayant Yadav c Rachin Ravindra b Ajaz Patel 12•BCCI109.2 to Jayant Yadav, he’s holed out to long-off and Ajaz has nine! We are one step away from history. Jayant looking for quick runs, dances down the track, gets to the pitch too and was hitting with the turn. Right idea perhaps, but wrong execution. Can’t time it well and the ball goes flat. There’s a fielder right there and he gobbles it up. 321/9Wicket No. 10: Mohammed Siraj c Rachin Ravindra b Ajaz Patel 4•BCCI109.5 to Mohammed Siraj, history! Ajaz becomes the third bowler in Test cricket to take all ten. Ajaz Patel has joined Jim Laker and Anil Kumble. Stunning, stunning feat and even the Indian dressing room is applauding. Ajaz roars out and pumps his fist. A Mumbai-born boy, coming to Wankhede and making history. What a moment. This was tossed up on the stumps and Siraj slogged across the line, got a steepling top edge as he sliced it. Hearts in mouths moment as the ball swirls high, but mid-on calmly takes it. Rachin Ravindra the man. The duo that had denied India victory in Kanpur combines for another historic moment. 325/10

Gazi Tyres and Partex earned promotion into next season’s DPL competition

Mohammad Isam13-May-2023Key takeawaysAbahani Limited clinched the Dhaka Premier League title for the 21st time and the fourth time since the tournament became a List-A competition. They beat defending champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by four wickets in a last-over finish at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in front of a crowd of at least one-thousand, and a full press box. It concluded Bangladesh’s domestic season with its most successful team returning to win the coveted trophy for the first time since the 2018-19 season.Abahani and Shiekh Jamal Club, coincidentally both from the Dhanmondi neighbourhood, went into this game on 26 points each after Abahani dropped crucial points in the penultimate round against Gazi Group Cricketers. If Abahani had beaten them on May 10, this game would have been just a formality. Abahani didn’t fall at the final hurdle, though, winning the title they first won in the 1974-75 season.Prime Bank Cricket Club took third position after their 73-run win against Gazi Group, while Legends of Rupganj finished the season with a four-wicket defeat against Mohammedan Sporting Club.Best battersAbahani’s Mohammad Naim struck two fifties in the last two matches, including a 145-run opening stand with Anamul Haque in the finale against Sheikh Jamal. Naim (932 runs) and Anamul (834 runs) finished as the top two run-getters in the tournament. Anamul’s three centuries were the most in the competition.Afif Hossain was adjudged player-of-the-match for his unbeaten 60 in the last game. He also finished the competition with a bit of a flourish, much needed for a man vying for a World Cup place. Among the young batters, Naim and Saif Hassan stood out with their runs while Amite Hasan and Tanzid Hasan struck hundreds each.Best bowlersSheikh Jamal’s overseas recruit Parvez Rasool was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker. He took 33 wickets with 17.93 average and two four-wicket hauls. Shinepukur Cricket Club’s left-arm spinner Hasan Murad was the highest wicket-taker among the home bowlers, taking 25 wickets at 18.40 average. His 3.97 runs per over was also remarkable. City Club’s Robiul Haque was the local fast bowler with most wickets, taking 23 wickets.Best matchAbahani beating Sheikh Jamal in the tournament finale stood out. Sheikh Jamal recovered from 16 for 3 in the fifth over, to take 79 runs in the last five overs to take their total to 282 for 7 in 50 overs. Nurul Hasan’s unbeaten 89 powered the Sheikh Jamal total, hitting eight fours and three sixes in his 70-ball stay.Abahani’s openers Naim and Anamul added 145 for the opening stand but the middle-order couldn’t immediately take advantage. But Afif added 68 runs for the fifth wicket with Mosaddek Hossain, before completing the win with a 14-run unbroken seventh-wicket stand with Tanzim Hasan Sakib who hit the winning boundary. Points to ponderApart from the six Super League clubs, Rupganj Tigers, Brothers Union, City Club and Shinepukur remained in the Dhaka Premier League for next season. From the league below, Gazi Tyres Cricket Academy and Partex Sporting Club earned promotion for next season’s DPL. Agrani Bank and Dhaka Leopards go down to the Dhaka First Division Cricket League.Players to watchAfif and Parvez Hossai Emon had a 100-plus strike-rate among batters to score more than 500 runs in this season. Mahmudullah’s pursuit for a World Cup spot got a bit of a boost with six fifties for Mohammedan. Afif too will be in the selectors’ mind. Anamul Haque and Naim have done enough to be considered as backup openers in the ODI setup.Among the younger bowlers, Robiul Haque, Tipu Sultan and Sumon Khan were among the wickets. Mrittunjoy Chowdhury did enough to earn an ODI spot, but Tanzim and Rejaur Rahman will also be in the bowling coach’s mind.

Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland, Oman and Papua New Guinea have battled their way through the qualifiers to the tournament proper. What lies ahead of them?

08-Oct-2021

Netherlands

By Hemant BrarPath to the World Cup
Having participated in the 2016 T20 World Cup, Netherlands got a direct entry into the T20 World Cup Qualifier, where they won five out of six league games and then trounced UAE in the playoffs to seal a World Cup spot. They went on to win the Qualifier, beating Papua New Guinea in the final.Peak in cricket (so far)
Beating England at Lord’s in a last-ball thriller at the 2009 T20 World Cup, and then repeating the feat in the 2014 edition with a 45-run victory in Chattogram. Another high was chasing down 190 in 13.5 overs against Ireland in Sylhet, also in the 2014 edition.Players to watch
Ryan ten Doeschate: He was the second-highest run scorer for Netherlands in the Qualifier. A year later, he topped the run charts for Essex at the 2020 Vitality Blast. Although his recent form hasn’t been great, and he no longer bowls in T20, the 41-year-old will be determined to make an impact in what will be his last tournament.Roelof van der Merwe: Another globe-trotting veteran, van der Merwe can change the complexion of a match with both his lower-order hitting and left-arm spin. In this year’s Vitality Blast, he picked up 11 wickets in seven games at an economy of 7.19 in Somerset’s run to the final. This will be his fourth T20 World Cup; the first two came for South Africa.Paul van Meekeren: A tall fast bowler who can touch 140kph, van Meekeren also possesses a handy slower ball. Earlier this year, in his debut CPL season, he picked up eight wickets in as many games at an economy of 7.93 for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, the eventual champions.How far might they go?

Netherlands are paired with Sri Lanka, Ireland and Namibia in Group A, from where the top two teams will qualify for the Super 12s. If they can beat Ireland in their opening game, they should make it to the next round, given they are favourites against Namibia. Anything beyond that will be a miracle.It’s a tough road for Namibia, who will come up against Sri Lanka, Ireland and Netherlands in the early part of the tournament•Peter Della Penna

Namibia

By Peter Della Penna
Path to the World Cup
Namibia went undefeated in the Africa Regional Finals to earn a trip to the T20 World Cup Qualifier. After two defeats to Netherlands and PNG forced their backs to the wall at the start of group play, Namibia rallied for five straight wins to clinch a spot in their maiden T20 World Cup.Peak in cricket (so far)
Qualifying for the 2003 World Cup, where they went winless. More recently, they achieved ODI status by winning the 2019 World Cricket League Division Two on home soil.Players to watch
Gerhard Erasmus: The captain is the spine of the batting order, capable of anchoring the innings or revving up the engine when necessary. In a big win over Singapore in the World Cup Qualifier, he struck four sixes in a 29-run over. He also later showed his class with a half-century against Ireland. Erasmus bowls more than handy offspin and is also Namibia’s best fielder.JJ Smit: The 25-year-old allrounder’s value as batter and bowler is at the death. He does not bowl at express pace but is accurate with his yorkers. He has also turned many middling totals into challenging ones with his belligerent striking, such as in his 59 off 25 balls with five sixes in a win over Oman that clinched their spot at the World Cup.Bernard Scholtz: Namibia’s all-time leading wicket-taker in first-class and T20 cricket, Scholtz is not a big turner of the ball but relentlessly probes away with accuracy to build pressure that results in breakthroughs both for him and anyone bowling in tandem. He was the Player of the Tournament in the 2015 T20 World Cup Qualifier, and had the most wickets among spinners at the 2019 Qualifier.How far might they go?

Namibia have drawn the short straw, getting paired with former world champions Sri Lanka, along with Ireland and Netherlands, both of whom they lost to in the T20 World Cup Qualifier by wide margins. It will be an uphill battle to advance to the Super 12s.Scotland didn’t make it past the first round in the 2016 T20 World Cup•Getty Images

Scotland

By Sruthi RavindranathPath to the World Cup
Scotland were the best team going into the 2019 World Cup Qualifier, ranked 11th in T20Is, but had a lacklustre outing, with three wins and three losses in the group stage, eventually finishing fourth on the Group A table. But they won the third qualifying playoff against hosts UAE and clinched their spot at the T20 World Cup for the second straight time.Peak in cricket (so far)
After failing to qualify for three T20 World Cups in a row, Scotland made it to the 2016 edition after winning the Qualifiers in 2015 (jointly with Netherlands), but exited in the first round after notching up a solitary win, against Hong Kong. They gained their best-ever ranking of No. 11 in T20Is in 2017, and got their first win against England in a one-off ODI in Edinburgh in 2018.Players to watch

George Munsey:The hard-hitting opener was Scotland’s highest run scorer in the Qualifiers in 2019, with 234 runs in eight matches. His T20I career strike rate of 155.01 is fourth best among batters who have faced a minimum of 500 balls. One of his best performances in international cricket came in September 2019 against Netherlands, when he hit 127 not out off 56 balls, the highest score in T20Is by a Scotland player.Safyaan Sharif: Sharif has emerged as the leader of Scotland’s pace attack in recent years. The right-arm quick was the top wicket-taker for Scotland in the 2019 Qualifiers, with 13 wickets in seven matches. He enters the T20 World Cup having just taken his best T20 figures – 4 for 24 against Zimbabwe in September.How far might they go?

They are likely to progress to the Super 12s – they start their first round against Bangladesh (ranked sixth to Scotland’s 15th), but their next two games are against Papua New Guinea and Oman, the teams they beat in the Qualifiers. But keeping in mind their fickle form in that tournament, and that they haven’t had much T20 game time ahead of the main event, they might be surprised by these teams.This will be Papua New Guinea’s first-ever T20 World Cup appearance•International Cricket Council

Papua New Guinea

By Peter Della PennaPath to the World Cup
After a series of close playoff heartbreaks at the 2013 and 2015 T20 World Cup Qualifiers, in 2019, Papua New Guinea progressed from the East Asia-Pacific regional qualifier to top Group B at the global qualifier in the UAE, their 5-1 record clinching them an automatic berth. Their only loss in the group stage came against Scotland. Arguably their most impressive win came by five wickets with an over to spare against Netherlands before to the same opponents in the tournament final.Peak in cricket (so far)
Securing ODI status in 2014 at the 50-over World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand. They had a brief lapse in status from 2018 to 2019 after a poor finish at the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, but regained it a year later at WCL Division Two in Namibia.Players to watch
Assad Vala: Papua New Guinea’s do-everything captain is a towering figure, literally and figuratively, in the national team. The six-foot tall batter’s size translates into muscle at the crease where he is a powerful striker of the ball at No. 3 and consistently PNG’s top scorer. He also regularly bowls a full quota of offspin and is often a handful for left-handers to get away.CJ Amini: The long-time vice-captain is a third-generation national team player. A showstopper in the field at backward point, he has produced some of the most spectacular run-outs and catches in world cricket to not be captured by television cameras. His fielding prowess often overshadows the fact that he is also a quality legspinner and capable of smashing a few quick runs in the death overs.Norman Vanua: The allrounder started off the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifier by taking a hat-trick against Bermuda, and through the tournament proved himself to be PNG’s best death bowler with his accurate yorkers. With the bat, he has shifted roles between being a pinch-hitting opener and an inspirational finisher. Aside from Vala, he’s the most likely to clear the ropes.How far might they go?
PNG’s fortunes are the hardest to predict because of their difference in form between formats. They lost eight straight ODIs in the two months leading into the 2019 Qualifier, before morphing into a T20 juggernaut in the UAE. They are in similarly terrible ODI form going into the T20 World Cup, having lost another eight in a row to stretch their ODI drought to 16 straight losses. But few would discount their chances by conflating their ODI form with that in T20Is.Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood’s first task will be to take his team to a top-two finish against Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh and Scotland•Peter Della Penna

Oman

By Peter Della PennaPath to the World Cup
Oman entered the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE as one of the group favourites and performed like it. Only a last-day slip-up in the group stage to Jersey denied them an automatic berth in the T20 World Cup – that went to Ireland, who finished with the same 4-2 record as Oman but with a superior net run rate. Oman then lost to Namibia in their opening playoff match before finally clinching a spot in the T20 World Cup in a tense second-chance eliminator against Hong Kong.Peak in cricket (so far)
Beating Ireland in their opening match of the 2016 T20 World Cup in Dharamsala. It showed that their qualification journey was no fluke and they used it as a springboard to securing ODI status in 2019.Players to watch
Bilal Khan: Oman’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is, with 51 scalps, Bilal is one of the most devastating fast bowlers at Associate level. The left-armer generally bowls in the 135-140 kph range, but gets prodigious swing with the new ball and is a menace at the death with his yorkers. His new ball spell in the Qualifier reduced Hong Kong to 13 for 4 and then he came back with the old ball to end with figures of 4 for 23.Zeeshan Maqsood: The 33-year-old built his early reputation as a firecracker at the top of the order. In more recent times, he has been far more potent with the ball while leading Oman’s arsenal of left-arm spinners. He can still bring explosiveness with the bat when called upon, and is arguably Oman’s best player of spin, another reason why he shifted himself down to the middle order upon taking over as captain in 2018.Naseem Khushi: The 39-year-old wicketkeeper is Oman’s most explosive death-overs hitter. In that same must-win game against Hong Kong, he deflated the opposition by belting an unbeaten 26 off 9 balls. He is sometimes held back as late as No. 9 in the batting order, but can be promoted higher to suit the very specific requirement of teeing off in the last four overs, something he does better than most at Associate level.How far might they go?
Oman gained the biggest advantage due to the tournament venue reshuffle, which now sees them hosting matches in the opening round. They are a far stronger and deeper team than they were at the same event five years ago. Now that two teams advance from each opening round group instead of one, they have the strongest odds of any of the Associate teams to reach the main draw.

He’s cool and his batting is easy on the eye, but he’s also developing a habit of scoring tough, ugly runs

Andrew Fidel Fernando17-Jul-2023This being an article about Dhananjaya de Silva, one of Test batting’s foremost stylists, it must necessarily begin with an overwrought appreciation. (I don’t make the cricket-writing rules.)Let’s get the imagery out of the way. His batting brings to mind a cool, sweet drink on a scorching day, a dip in a babbling mountain stream, the sound of birdsong on a still morning, silk moving through air… look, you get it. You’ve probably read it before… batters whose movements at the crease are gloriously economical, whose cover drives reduce old men to tears, and whose lap sweeps fill the hearts of orphans.It helps that in de Silva’s case, he commits to the coolguy aesthetic completely. Long sleeves even in the suffocating Sri Lankan heat, plus the signature popped half-collar. These are reminders that while the rest of us collapse into sweaty puddles, de Silva’s got ice in his veins. When he is fielding, there are the shades. If you’ve watched him once, you could look over any field in the world on which he is playing and instantly pick him out.Related

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If this was all de Silva brought to Sri Lanka cricket, it would have been plenty. Sri Lanka doesn’t swoon over graceful batters in the way, say, England does. The island’s tastes have long run towards the M Sathasivam, Duleep Mendis, Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya types – batters better defined by their audacity. But still, there is a separate bloodline, populated by Roy Dias’ flicks, Sidath Wettimuny’s drives, and Mahela Jayawardene’s late cuts. Y’know. The artists.Artists aren’t all fragile cut-your-own-ear-off types, though. And right now, de Silva is trying to prove it. Increasingly, he is making tough runs.In this match, he arrived at the crease with the score on 54 for 4, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah in glorious rhythm. He edged his first ball into his pad, poked nervily down the ground second ball, and clung white-knuckled (light-brown-knuckled?) to his wicket for the first 24 balls, during which he made eight. An artist forced to descend into the trenches. It doesn’t always look natural.

“It’s easy to put a gameplan together when you’ve played in one spot for a while. You figure out how to bat when wickets have fallen, and how to bat when a partnership is under way. These are things that naturally enter your body and your head when you play consistently in one spot”Dhananjaya de Silva

But then the game eases, and de Silva feels the flair come back into his fingers, and the bat is a paintbrush again. Pakistan’s quicks went short at him, on a Galle surface that had more bounce than most. De Silva’s pulls and hooks were imperious. To the spinners, he largely stayed at home, late-cutting often, sweeping sometimes. When he slunk down the track to lift Abrar Ahmed high over long-off, the casual ease had returned to his batting.Several overs later, he did the same to Noman Ali. That’s how he got to fifty, off 89th ball faced. Not long after that, a breezy sweep over cow corner, a slicing late cut off Abrar, then a flick through midwicket when the bowler went too full and straight, overcorrecting. These are the tropes. The Dhananjaya de Silva areas.Meanwhile, having quelled high-quality fast bowling on a pitch that has seen some rain, he was in the midst of a vital 129-run stand that revived his team. When Afridi and Naseem came back with reverse swing, he saw those spells out too. When Sadeera Samarawickrama came out for his tenth Test innings, de Silva was constantly in his ear, the pair putting on 57 together. When he got to his tenth century, he was batting in the company of the tail – something he’s become accustomed to.He had to do it ugly at the start, but by the time he got to his century, he was looking like the Dhananjaya de Silva we know•Associated PressIn 24 innings at No. 6, he averages 50.90 – his best in any position, by a distance.”I think the best chance I got was to bat in the same spot – at No. 6,” de Silva said after this innings. He’d been yanked up and down the order in the early part of his career. “I’ve been there for three or four years. It’s easy to put a gameplan together when you’ve played in one spot for a while. You figure out how to bat when wickets have fallen, and how to bat when a partnership is under way. These are things that naturally enter your body and your head when you play consistently in one spot.”On other recent occasions, he’s helped provide substance to what is – let’s be fair – a decidedly non-elite batting order. Some examples of this includes his Wellington 98 in an innings defeat, a 46 and 47 not out in the previous match in Christchurch that helped Sri Lanka stay in the match, and the 109 against Pakistan in Galle last year, when Sri Lanka sought to level the series.And then there are the other things. The catching behind the stumps off the spinners. Today, a sharp diving take, low to his right, sent Abdullah Shafique packing off the bowling of Prabath Jayasuriya. Plus the handy offspin overs, which come with the very occasional breakthrough (he has 34 Test wickets, one more than Angelo Mathews, by the way).For someone who makes the game look so easy, this is no insignificant body of work.

He can be a match-winner on designer tracks in Bangladesh, but flat pitches like the one in Hamilton expose the offspinner’s limitations all too often

Mohammad Isam in Hamilton02-Mar-2019In the space of his first two-and-a-half years in international cricket, Mehidy Hasan Miraz has experienced both extremes. He has taken 12-wicket hauls in historic wins over England and West Indies, which occupy the top two slots among Bangladesh bowlers’ best match figures in Test cricket. Now, with his 2 for 246 in Hamilton, he also has the most expensive innings figures for a Bangladesh bowler.Neither extreme has been a one-off, which is a worry. When Mehidy has done well, he has been a match-winner. But when he bowls poorly, there’s nowhere to hide, no middle ground.The difference, of course, comes down to conditions, and Mehidy has certainly struggled on pitches that haven’t offered him much. He averages 20.68 at home and 55.28 away, and even at home, when pitches haven’t been responsive, he has had little to show for against good batsmen.Towards the end of Mehidy’s spell on the third afternoon in Hamilton, Colin de Grandhomme struck him for three sixes to push him towards more unwanted records. He is now sixth among Test cricket’s most expensive innings figures, but it’s important to note that other bowlers to have conceded 200-plus runs in an innings include spin greats such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble, Rangana Herath and Saqlain Mushtaq, among others.Sunil Joshi, Bangladesh’s spin bowling coach, said it was natural for a spinner from the subcontinent to struggle in these conditions, and hoped he would learn to adjust more quickly as he gains experience.”Finger spinners from the sub-continent travel abroad, they have a challenge,” Joshi said. “Miraz had an off day on the first day. We knew that he’d come back. I think he bowled well in patches. They batted really well. It is bound to happen. We need to change our mindset about playing Tests in this part of the world.”It is a very thin line. Most of the western teams will struggle against spin in the subcontinent. It is how you interpret. Challenges are for the bowlers. He is young so he will learn. We have to give him leverage. I am sure he will come out successful.”Joshi said he found nothing wrong with Mehidy’s fundamentals, but insisted that he needed to be more disciplined. “I think there’s nothing wrong with his technique. It is in the mindset. You have to be disciplined on the first day.”Taking nothing away from the New Zealand batsmen, but when they travel to subcontinent, we all know how they will struggle against spin. They will adapt to the situation and mindset. Similarly, our spinners have to adapt to the situation.”Mehidy, though, must be alarmed by the way he keeps leaking runs. By dint of his home performances since his breakthrough series against England in 2016, he has become an important cog in Bangladesh’s overall scheme of things. But for half the time, he will have to bowl to quality batsmen on flat pitches like this one in Hamilton.Away from home, he won’t find designer surfaces like the ones in Mirpur or Chittagong, where the ball turns, bites, and takes off or keeps low from the second afternoon onwards. It is true that most teams struggle to score runs against him, Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam at these two venues in Bangladesh, but overseas, only Shakib stands out with his disciplined line and length.The alarm bells should ring loud not just for Mehidy but also for Joshi and the rest of the decision-makers and coaches within Bangladesh’s setup. They have now conceded 700 runs on three occasions, all since 2013, and been on the receiving end of four 200-plus opening stands, three of them since 2015.

Desperation stakes for Joe Root as West Indies swarm towards famous series win

Alan Gardner27-Mar-2022Farewell then, the Red-Ball Reset. We hardly knew you. There may be successors, of course, a reboot of the franchise in a couple of months’ time, once the ECB have found themselves a new coaching team and management structure worthy of the Inspiring Generations tagline. But with the Grenada Test all over bar the shouting and the continuation of England’s barren record in the Caribbean, we have surely heard the last of that phrase for a while.Right from the moment this England touring party was announced, with their two all-time leading Test wicket-takers conspicuously absent, there was a suspicion that this was a mission doomed to fail. England have been beaten often enough in the Caribbean over the past 50 years while fielding their best personnel to know that chucking together a group of semi-regulars and sort-of-new faces to accompany Joe Root and Ben Stokes was unlikely to work.Even so, and allowing for the fact that the best-laid plans gang aft a-gley (and these probably weren’t the best-laid plans, let’s be honest…), this was a sucker punch for those following back home amid balmy spring weather and the first stirrings of the cricket season to come. After draws on the front foot in Antigua and Barbados, the last thing most were expecting when flicking on BT Sport in the evening was the sight of England being monstered by the mediums of Kyle Mayers.Eight down at the close and leading by just 10 runs, the jig was almost up. And barring the gallows-humour take that, in Saqib Mahmood, they still had their best batter to come, there was precious little to cling to for the put-upon fan of England’s Test side.Related

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Afterwards, Marcus Trescothick, the England batting coach, tried to suggest that the team’s calamitous tumble towards likely defeat and a series loss on the decisive day of action should not provide the final word for the tour.”We’ve had one bad day today and over the course of the series this is the first bad day we’ve had,” he said. “Day one in Antigua we had a challenging day, but fought back really well. Barbados we were really strong and controlled most of the game and today it’s gone wrong.”It’s easy over the course of what we’ve had over the winter to throw it back and throw the baby out with the bath water. It’s all gone wrong, yes, we’ve had a really bad day and we’re really disappointed. We believe as coaching staff and players in that dressing room that we’ve made strides as a team over the course of the Test matches we’ve had. We’ll lick our wounds and try to come back from it but it’s been a really tough day and we’ve put the series in jeopardy.”Root and his men had at least resumed on the third morning still in touch, having been 114 for 9 at one stage during their first innings, and with the potential for setting West Indies a testing target on a pitch that has offered variable bounce throughout. All they needed to do was limit the damage, take two tail-end wickets and start making amends with the bat. But at the first whiff of grapeshot, they scattered.It was a day littered with instructive vignettes. Several came during an extended morning session during which England’s attack once again struggled to finish off the opposition – as at Lord’s and The Oval against India last summer, say, or at various points during the Ashes. Kemar Roach was dislodged inside the first five overs by Mahmood, one of the few actual bright spots on tour, and the same bowler could have had Jayden Seales lbw shortly after, without addition to the score, only for England to have run out of reviews.Mahmood kicked the ground in frustration, with Hawk-Eye confirming Gregory Brathwaite’s error. But Root had spent his allocation the previous day, all three of them speculative: an appeal for a leg-side catch off Jermaine Blackwood and failed lbw shouts against Josh Da Silva and Alzarri Joseph.West Indies were 41 runs in front at the time, but would more than double that advantage through a magnificently resourceful and nuggety maiden Test hundred from Da Silva. For a period the innings almost went into reverse, as England bowled maiden after maiden while unsuccessfully trying to create another chance against Seales. But Da Silva kept chipping away and then went on the attack to bring up his hundred with success thumps down the ground off Craig Overton. Root once again powerless as the game ebbed further away.Although Da Silva was given out caught behind to his very next ball, a punt of a review saw all the players have to retake their places, just when England thought the misery was finally over. Their frustrations were evident as Overton, fielding in his followthrough, hurled the ball back at Da Silva. Root dismissed Seales himself, but the jeopardy of England’s position, 93 runs in arrears, was palpable.Joshua Da Silva celebrates the dismissal of Jonny Bairstow•Getty ImagesCue another grisly top-order collapse, with Zak Crawley and Root particularly culpable for their dismissals. Root wore a hollow look as he trudged off after falling to Mayers for the second time in the match, and that had developed into a thousand-yard stare watching on from the balcony as Stokes tickled behind while attempting to leave, England 39 for 4 and deep in the mire. While there are few other options as captain, Root knows he doesn’t have to do this any more if he doesn’t want to.Another revealing moment was to come. Alex Lees and Jonny Bairstow lashed together a partnership from the flotsam and jetsam of the innings, eking out 41 runs from almost 25 overs and seemingly giving England a chance to transfer some of the pressure back. But with Da Silva returning some of the commentary about slow scoring he had received from Bairstow earlier in the day, West Indies were gifted another opening late on. As if to prove right Da Silva’s sledge that “He has more shots than me”, Bairstow tried to pull a Joseph short ball from round the wicket in the following over, only for an under-edge to nestle in his antagonist’s gloves.”We didn’t stand up in the pressure moments when it was going down to the wire,” Trescothick said. “We haven’t stood up and performed as we have in the rest of the series, whereas they’ve had a couple of guys really step up and make a difference. Mayers bowled brilliantly and got something out of the pitch, Da Silva batted well for a hundred, his first one. We need to try and put in those performances when these times come around.”It is not long since this tour began with well-intentioned but facile observations from the likes of Root and the interim coach, Paul Collingwood, about the “good, in-depth conversations” players were having, the “feel-good factor” and “opportunities for the group”. When Ollie Robinson limped out of the warm-up game, Collingwood said he would not be panicking; when Mark Wood hurt his elbow in Antigua, there was no SOS to James Anderson or Stuart Broad.But barring a miracle of a magnitude beyond the last-wicket stand between Leach and Mahmood on day one, England are set to extend their abysmal recent record to one win in 17 Tests, across five series without success. Once again it is clear how deep their red-ball problems run – and there isn’t a button marked ‘reset’ that can fix them.

Ravindra’s knowledge of the conditions makes him as local as anyone can be, while Williamson, who’s working towards his comeback, is no stranger to these shores either

Shashank Kishore08-Oct-2023YH Chandrasekhar, the curator at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, has one final look at the square at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, seemingly happy with the work behind the scenes to get ready for the New Zealand vs Netherlands match on Monday. He suddenly gazes left, where Rachin Ravindra is training. He signals to him, but Ravindra is focused on the ball. The curator walks towards the centre nonetheless to exchange pleasantries. It dawns then that there’s a sense of familiarity between the two.In July, Ravindra was part of the Hutt Hawks, the Wellington-based club that his father runs, on an exchange programme to Hyderabad where they trained and played a series of 50-overs matches against the academy team run by MSK Prasad, the former India wicketkeeper and chief selector. Four of those matches were in Uppal, where Ravindra batted on three different centre strips, “training like mad” – according to Prasad – to fine-tune his game against pace and spin.He’d have a bowling session in the early morning, followed by breakfast. And then a 50-overs game until 4.30pm, followed by an hour’s rest and another indoor net session with the ball before calling it a day. It’s a routine he followed for the entire duration of his stay in Hyderabad, before he travelled to Anantapur, adjoining the Karnataka border, for more game time before returning home to Wellington.Related

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Ferguson, Southee likely to be fit; Williamson remains on sidelines for Netherlands clash

All this cricket was packed into a two-week calendar that was originally meant for him to be off to rest and recuperate ahead of the long season. While New Zealand’s squad hadn’t entirely been firmed up yet, Ravindra had been sounded out to be ready as he was among the probables picked for the high-performance camp.It’s this sense of familiarity that Ravindra will bank on as he returns to Hyderabad to play Netherlands in their second World Cup fixture. He may not be a local, but his knowledge of conditions and pitches makes him as local as anyone can be. His return to the venue couldn’t have been more grand, given he’s coming off a memorable World Cup hundred on debut against England in a sensational takedown with his good mate Devon Conway.A little over a week ago in Hyderabad, Ravindra batted with composure and poise to make 97 against a high-quality Pakistan attack in a warm-up game. Yet, he may have not played the World Cup opener had Kane Williamson been fit and available. But with Williamson still recuperating from an ACL injury, Ravindra had his chance and he’s made the most of it, giving Williamson and the team management healthy selection headaches.Rachin Ravindra hit a fine century on World Cup debut•Associated PressWilliamson himself is no stranger to these shores, having played eight IPL seasons for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He’s Kane to the local staff and fans. , a salutation in the local language Telugu, is reserved for someone much admired as Williamson is. But merely playing for the local franchise doesn’t guarantee cult status. With David Warner and Williamson, to a lesser extent, the popularity stems from their embracing the local culture, making them as much a fan favourite as a Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma.If Warner did an imitation of the dance to send the small crowd into a tizzy during the warm-up game last week, Williamson has given them moments to cheer with his imitation of a dance gig from , an Oscar-winning chartbuster, during an ICC promotion. Beyond the familiarity and colour, the real reel fans, especially those back home, are interested in is from the nets, where they want to see if Williamson has managed to get back the whole range of his movements, if Tim Southee is bowling full tilt and if Lockie Ferguson brings his bristling energy to training.Williamson surveyed the ground, and pointed to the bright orange seating that hits your eye as the peak afternoon sun glows bright. It’s a humid day, he’s already guzzled quite a few bottles of water already, and is out to train. Williamson has been confirmed to sit out, but he’s the central focus of the team’s physio and trainers.He goes through a series of carefully orchestrated movements to test his full range of mobility. Like doing forward stretches to defend, playing the sweep to test his hamstring, rising onto his toes to tuck the ball, sprinting between the wickets, the trigger movement when he turns at full stretch – they were all carefully monitored and ticked off. The hope is he’ll be fit in time to play Bangladesh on Friday. And for him to get there, Williamson seems to have done most things in his capacity.Southee too bowled a fair bit, even if not full tilt, feeling his way back into full rhythm in an afternoon session where temperatures hovered over the mid-30s. Southee was carefully monitored by Trent Boult, whose late swing back in was quite a sight. Every now and then, there was laughter, banter and wholesome encouragement for each other as they pushed hard on match eve. Daryll Mitchell batted and batted, as did Will Young and Ravindra before they retired to the dressing room. Or so you thought as they all began to walk off.Williamson then nudged assistant coach Luke Ronchi as they walked right back into the nets again. Williamson wasn’t satisfied with the full range of his straight hitting. So, he tried to perfect hitting on length deliveries, asking Ronchi to chuck him balls in an area he circled out, focusing on holding his shape and then carefully feeling his side. Then to top off the session, Ronchi fed him full tosses which Williamson kept pulling until it got to a point where he couldn’t stay out any longer, with the sun going down.Watching Williamson train was watching a perfectionist practice his craft, oblivious to the world around him. The police sirens that marked the arrival of Netherlands, the chaos of the shutterbugs that followed to snap the team getting off the bus, the sound of the generator that was running full throttle behind him and smoke from the fumigation around the nets area – none of this seemed to cross his mind. He was simply, to quote the old cliche, seeing ball, hitting ball until the last lux of light allowed him to.

Managing his own workload, a team in transition, and finding a refreshed ODI strategy are on the list

Alex Malcolm13-Apr-2022Maintain the Test rage on the road
Australia waltzed through the Ashes 4-0 under Justin Langer but their patchy Test form prior to that was part of what made Langer vulnerable to the internal and external criticism that ultimately contributed to his exit. Australia have started brightly under McDonald with a 1-0 away win in Pakistan. It was Australia’s first Test series win in Asia since 2011 and their first away series victory anywhere since 2016. McDonald is keen for this current Test team to be known as Pat Cummins’ team and one that he will simply support. But the strategy that he helped implement paid off in Pakistan, and Australia now have the challenge of replicating it in Sri Lanka in July and India next year if they want to play in the World Test Championship final.Related

• Andrew McDonald, the quiet achiever

• Jeff Vaughan leaves Australia assistant post to coach Tasmania

• McDonald appointed as full-time Australia men's coach

• McDonald backs Finch to regain form for T20 World Cup

• 'The boys absolutely love him' – Cummins praises McDonald

Defend the T20 title
The only thing harder than winning a T20 World Cup is defending it and Australia face the unique challenge of needing to do it just 12 months after last year’s triumph in the UAE. The advantage is that it comes in home conditions. The challenge is that Australia will need to improve again. There are questions surrounding the form of captain Aaron Finch, but McDonald is in no doubt he is the man to lead Australia at the World Cup. The emergence of Josh Inglis in the middle order, while the form of Nathan Ellis and Sean Abbott in Pakistan, as well as the possibility of using Tim David as a lower-order hitter, creates both options and headaches in terms of what is the best team structure and strategy for Australia to win the title in Australia. Preparation may also be an issue given their best side might not play much together ahead of the tournament. But that wasn’t an issue last year.Finding a 50-over formula
ODI cricket was the least prioritised format during Langer’s tenure. Australia struggled in the lead-up to the 2019 ODI World Cup but found a way to be very competitive in the tournament only to be blown away by a far superior England side in the semi-final. From then on it was an afterthought. The ODI team has played well during the pandemic but has largely used second-choice players as Australia’s stars rested for key Test and T20I assignments. But Australia now only have 18 months to prepare for an ODI World Cup in India. They did have an extraordinary ODI series win in India in 2019 courtesy of a magical chase in Mohali. But they have lost four of their last five ODI series there and were bounced out of the 2011 World Cup in the quarter-final. The brand of cricket Australia played in 2019 was behind the times. McDonald and Australia need a refreshed strategy ahead of the 2023 tournament.McDonald has to manage a Test team in transition•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesA team in transition
At the end of the 2023 World Cup, even before that, there could be a big turnover of players in all three forms. Finch and David Warner are unlikely to continue after the 2023 World Cup. Nathan Lyon and Usman Khawaja will be 35 and 36 respectively at the end of the 2023 Ashes. Matthew Wade could also finish his international career at the end of the 2022 T20 World Cup while a host of other players will be heading towards their mid-30s. McDonald and the selectors will need to manage all of the exits carefully while getting younger players up to international level quickly in order to keep producing results heading into the second half of his four-year contract.Managing the coaching workload
Langer did rest for three series during his four-year tenure, although one, the 2021 T20I tour of New Zealand, only came about because the simultaneous Test tour to South Africa was cancelled. Australia have a relentless schedule coming up over the next 18 months and it will be impossible for McDonald to coach every assignment. He has already put in place a strategy with CA to rest for certain white-ball series in that period and wants to elevate assistants and consultants during that time to increase the depth in Australian coaching. The idea is a good one, the execution is the challenge.Relinquishing the reins and empowering an assistant to take full control is never an easy thing for any coach to do. McDonald has stressed it is possible provided the right personalities work together towards a common goal of making the team better across all forms. In the age of working remotely, it is also possible for coaches to still be of value to the team environment while working from home for short periods, provided the communication lines are open and the leadership structures are clear.

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