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Harvey Hosein’s gutsy fifty clawed Derbyshire to a thrilling one-wicket victory over Northamptonshire on an afternoon that ebbed and flowed at Wantage Road

ECB Reporters Network13-Sep-2018
ScorecardHarvey Hosein’s gutsy fifty clawed Derbyshire to a thrilling one-wicket victory over Northamptonshire on an afternoon that ebbed and flowed at Wantage Road.Set 233 to win, Derbyshire were in control at 94 for 1 through Wayne Madsen and Tom Lace but lost 4 for 24 in nine overs after lunch. Hosein then got together first with Alex Hughes and then Anuj Dal to reduce the target to 37 needed with four wickets in hand.But Luke Procter conjured up two wickets in two overs and when Nathan Buck cleaned up No. 10 Tony Palladino, Derbyshire needed nine runs with only one wicket in hand. Hosein dived across the off stump to paddle-sweep Ben Sanderson for four and worked singles to bring the target to within one boundary.Buck had one delivery at No. 11 Ravi Rampaul, who touched him off his hip to fine leg for four to seal a memorable victory with Hosein the hero, unbeaten on 54.It was the eighth time in their history that Derbyshire won by one wicket and the tenth time Northants have lost by the same margin.The day began in brilliant sunshine and a perfect start for the visitors as Palladino had Buck well caught by Gary Wilson at slip to the fourth ball of the day before he bowled Sanderson second ball to dismiss Northants for 199, adding only one run to their overnight total, leaving Derbyshire 233 to win in 93 overs.The chase got off to a poor start as Billy Godleman was bowled by Sanderson second ball, but Lace and Madsen managed to get through the rest of the session where a wicket looked likely every ball. But having survived countless plays and misses and a huge appeal each for lbw, the pair steered Derbyshire into a commanding position after lunch.Finally Northants broke through as Brett Hutton took out Tom Lace’s off stump after a stand of 94 in 37.2 overs and it prompted a collapse that left Derbyshire needing 111 with five wickets in hand and suddenly the home side were favourites.Sanderson was a big part of the turnaround, sending down 13 overs unchanged from the Wantage Road End after lunch, bowling three maidens and taking 2 for 21 – eventually trapping Madsen lbw for 62 and getting one to bounce on Matt Critchley and take the glove to be well held down low by Ricardo Vasconcelos at third slip. Wilson also ran himself out, sent back trying to take a single to mid-on that was never available.Enter Hosein, who helped add 36 for the sixth wicket to ease the tension before Hughes was caught well by Richard Levi at second slip for 28 in the second over after tea. Dal worked the target down further with Hosein but he was then brilliantly yorked by Procter who pinned Hardus Viljoen lbw in his next over.Palladino helped narrow the target into single figures but it took Rampaul, who survived one more play and miss against Sanderson, to flick the winning runs.

The 27-year old has been diagnosed with pneumonia; Rangana Herath likely to lead

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2017Dinesh Chandimal, the newly-appointed Sri Lanka Test captain, will miss at least the first Test against India after contracting pneumonia. Rangana Herath, who captained Sri Lanka in four Tests in the 2016-17 season, will lead the side in Galle, in Chandimal’s stead.”We were actually only told late last night – the blood Test came a bit late. He’s got pneumonia,” Asanka Gurusinha, Sri Lanka’s cricket manager, said of Chandimal on Friday. “He was admitted to hospital this morning at 9am, and he’s definitely out of the first Test.”The doctors have advised us this morning to say: ‘Finish the first Test’ and they’ll advise us afterwards. If they tell us he needs another week to recover, that’s it. We can’t do anything. He had started feeling unwell on Tuesday after the Zimbabwe Test, but we never suspected it would be anything like pneumonia.” Chandimal has, however, been cleared of dengue, which has been rife in Sri Lanka over the past few months.His absence is a significant blow to the team, not just because Chandimal is captain, but also as he is part of a relatively settled top order. In addition, Chandimal will have had fond memories of the most recent India Test in Galle, where his rapid 162 not out helped overturn a first-innings deficit of 193.Although limited-overs captain Upul Tharanga is in the side, Herath’s experience has landed him stand-in captaincy. Herath most recently led the Test side in the 1-1 draw against Bangladesh, in March.”Most probably the captain is going to be Rangana, because for now it’s just one Test, and he has done the job before,” Gurusinha said.The news is slightly better for Sri Lanka elsewhere on the injury front. Asela Gunaratne, who had experienced tightness in the hamstring during the Zimbabwe Test, is likely to be available for the match. “He’s good – we got the green light from the physio this morning, but we’ll still have to put him through his paces over the next few days,” Gurusinha said. “Asela is a very resilient guy. Very tough.”Fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep, who had also missed the Zimbabwe Test also with a hamstring injury, has recovered sufficiently to be named in the squad Gurusinha confirmed. The full squad is expected to be announced late on Friday.

Women’s Big Bash League players Hayley Jensen and Corinne Hall have been banned for six months each for betting on matches by Cricket Australia

Brydon Coverdale06-Jul-2016Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) players Hayley Jensen and Corinne Hall have been banned for six months each for betting on matches as Cricket Australia continues its crackdown on any betting involvement from contracted players.Jensen and Hall both voluntarily accepted identical sanctions imposed by Cricket Australia – a two-year ban of which 18 months was suspended – after admitting the charges of betting on men’s international games. South Australia Futures League player Joel Logan also received a suspended ban after he also breached Cricket Australia’s Anti-Corruption Code.Jensen, who has played international cricket for New Zealand and represented Victoria and Melbourne Stars in the 2015-16 Australian domestic season, admitted the charge of placing one bet on the result of the Brisbane Test between Australia and New Zealand in November.Hall, who played for Hobart Hurricanes in the WBBL, admitted the charge of placing two bets relating to two matches in the Matador Cup competition last summer.Logan admitted the charge of placing two bets relating to the World T20 earlier this year.The punishments for Hall and Jensen prevent them from “participating in any form of cricket or cricket-related event” until October 21. Unlike Hall and Jensen, Logan was not on a full state contract and was contracted on a match-by-match basis for the Futures League, which was taken into account in determining his lesser punishment.The bans were not the first to concern Australian cricketers in the past year: ACT and Sydney Sixers legspinner Angela Reakes was handed a suspended sentence last December for betting on the 2015 World Cup final, and Western Australia’s Piepa Cleary was banned in February after betting on the Adelaide Test between Australia and New Zealand last November.Cricket Australia’s Head of Integrity, Iain Roy, said: “We take a proactive, zero-tolerance approach to maintaining the integrity of our sport and this includes any form of betting on cricket globally.”Players in Australia are required to complete an anti-corruption education session before they can compete in any competition, including all players in our Underage National Championships. We continually remind players that betting on any form of cricket is strictly prohibited, and this is written into our Anti-Corruption Code.”These players have accepted the seriousness of their errors and have voluntarily accepted their sanctions. This serves as a timely reminder to all players in cricket that the integrity of our game is a high priority and we won’t accept this being compromised.”

Royal Challengers Bangalore set up a clash with Chennai Super Kings for a place in the final as they sent Rajasthan Royals out of the tournament with a commanding performance

The Report by Abhishek Purohit20-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:57

Agarkar: Royals needed openers to get some runs

Royal Challengers Bangalore set up a clash with Chennai Super Kings for a place in the final as they sent Rajasthan Royals out of the tournament with a commanding performance.Two of the big three Royal Challengers batsmen failed, but the third, AB de Villiers, made up for that with 66 off 38. Mandeep Singh chose a knockout game to make the first half-century of the season from a Royal Challengers batsman not answering to those three big names. De Villiers and Mandeep added 113 for the third wicket at more than 10 an over to propel Royal Challengers to 180 for 4. On a ground with a highest successful chase of 166 in the IPL, it was too many runs in the pressure of a must-win chase. Royals crumbled without any fight, losing wickets regularly to go down by 71 runs.On a hard and grassy but also two-paced pitch, Royal Challengers lost Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli to Dhawal Kulkarni by the eighth over before reaching 50. Mandeep and de Villiers took a few deliveries to get their bearings before decisively batting Royals out of the match.Mandeep started the counter when he pulled and lofted Kulkarni for consecutive boundaries in the tenth over. Still, Royal Challengers were going at run a ball at the halfway mark. They were to take 86 off the last six overs, Royals’ death-bowling letting them down again as none of those overs went for less than 11.No batsman barring Mandeep and de Villiers was able to time the ball consistently on the Pune pitch. Mandeep was strong on the pull and the cut. Gradually, de Villiers found his hitting rhythm too, against left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma in the 15th over, when he slogged two sixes and powered a four to deep extra cover.James Faulkner went for 42 from four overs to end a disappointing season with an economy-rate of 9.46. Chris Morris had a rare off day too, leaking the same number of runs.With such a stiff target, Royals needed their top order to come good. It wasn’t to be. Shane Watson chased and nicked a wide one from S Aravind in the second over. Sanju Samson’s promotion to No. 3 did not work as Harshal Patel bounced him out. With the asking-rate galloping, Steven Smith grew desperate for the big hit and holed out off David Wiese.Helpless to stop the exit of batsmen at the other end, and struggling to get the measure of the pitch, Ajinkya Rahane departed for 42 off 39 in the 14th over. There was to be no sparkle from Deepak Hooda. There was to be no finishing from Faulkner. There was to be only a heavy defeat.

On a surface that even New Zealand’s tail made seem friendly, three of Sri Lanka’s big four batsmen could not manage better than single figures, and Kane Williamson said the value of those wickets could not be understated

Andrew Fernando at the P Sara26-Nov-2012On a surface that even New Zealand’s tail made seem friendly, three of Sri Lanka’s big four batsmen could not manage better than single figures, and Kane Williamson said the value of those wickets could not be understated, given the pitch remained good for batting.New Zealand amassed 412 on the P Sara surface, thanks in the main to a 262-run partnership between Ross Taylor and Williamson, which was almost chanceless beyond the first hour of their union. In reply, however, Sri Lanka were reduced to 12 for 3 inside the first six overs of their innings, with their most experienced men in the top order all falling to New Zealand’s opening bowlers.Angelo Mathews then joined Tharanga Paranavitana at the crease and the pair survived the remaining 11.5 overs until stumps, but two boundaries that Mathews ventured in one Tim Southee over suggested the wicket had plenty more runs to give. The New Zealand bowlers also had far less assistance from the conditions than in Galle, achieving only a fraction of the movement they had showed themselves capable of gaining in the first Test.”It’s great to finish the evening the way we did, getting those three wickets,” Williamson said. “I guess that makes our first innings total look a lot better, and there is a lot of pressure going on the Sri Lankan side tomorrow.
“But as Mathews showed towards the end when he started playing some shots, it is still a good wicket.”Few would have imagined New Zealand would be in a position to pursue a large first-innings total only a few days ago, after their batsmen had collapsed woefully in their second innings in Galle, recording their lowest total in an already bleak year. Williamson’s doughty 135 and a measured 142 from Taylor were the backbone of New Zealand’s innings and Williamson said time in the nets had been key to their turnaround, in the absence of adequate match practice. The limited-overs leg of the tour was ravaged by rain, and the match schedule did not allow New Zealand time to play a warm-up before the Tests.”It’s been tough not having time in the middle and batting in the one-dayers, the circumstances didn’t allow you to figure out whether you were hitting the ball well or not. I’ve been practising hard this week and it was very nice to put together an innings. I had a lot of time with batting coach, and hit a lot of balls.”Williamson’s century was the third of his Test career and his second in the subcontinent, but he had only passed fifty once since his last hundred, a match saving 102 not out in Wellington. He said encouragement and insight from his more experienced team-mates helped him overcome the dry spell.”I talked to Brendon McCullum and a few of the other batsmen, just to get my head around a few things because I hadn’t scored for a few Tests. They all helped out and the team were supportive. Having not scored in the first Test, it was good to get the word from them on how things played here and take that into this match.”Despite their terrific position, New Zealand must still take 17 more wickets on a surface showing few signs of wear, if they are to score an unexpected triumph. Thilan Samaraweera moved down the order after he received stitches on his hand for split webbing, but he is expected to bat in Sri Lanka’s first innings, and beyond the batsmen, the tail is one of the more capable Sri Lanka have fielded, with last man in Shaminda Eranga having made a first-class ton.”They’ve got some seriously good cricketers, and to bowl them out twice is not going to be an easy feat,” Williamson said. “We’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves and we know we have to play good cricket each time we go out there.”

N Srinivasan has said the BCCI convinced the other member boards of the ICC to make the DRS optional by showing them a presentation on how Hot Spot had failed during India’s tour of England

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Oct-2011N Srinivasan, the new BCCI president, has said the Indian board convinced the other member boards of the ICC to make the DRS optional by showing them a presentation on how Hot Spot had failed during India’s tour of England. In an interview with , Srinivasan said the BCCI was not a bully but brought up the issue of the DRS again at the ICC executive board meeting in Dubai because the problems with Hot Spot were apparent.”The BCCI takes positions based not just on its own interests but also on its view on cricket,” he said. “In England, everyone could see the problems with Hot Spot, so we took the matter up again. We made a presentation of the decisions that clearly showed that Hot Spot was lacking accuracy. That is what convinced the members to revert to an optional DRS.” It is learned that the BCCI’s presentation showed eight correct decisions using the Hot Spot technology and also eight errors to make its point about the technology not being close to the 100% accuracy that is sought of the DRS.”We are not at all the bullies of world cricket,” Srinivasan said, “but on the contrary we go out of our way to assist other member nations. It’s difficult to dispel the notion that we are [bullies] because it is constantly referred to, but it is not a fact.”Srinivasan has taken over as president at a difficult time for the board, which is facing criticism after India’s disastrous tour of England. He refused to accept the claims that India’s slew of injuries during the England tour was down to a packed schedule or poor player management, repeating what he had said earlier about India playing the same amount of cricket as all other countries. “If we had won on the England tour no-one would have brought up the packed schedule,” he said. “It was a tour where we had bad luck. A number of players got injured during matches. Also, cricketers are highly paid professionals and are expected to take care of themselves.”He did say the board would look at the schedule again, “critically to see if anything can be done but I don’t accept the criticism that there is too much cricket being played.” He said it would be difficult to rework the schedule because the FTP was already decided and added, “It’s not so much the IPL and the Champions League, we have now got one ICC event every year … on the whole it is a crowded calendar.”Another issue that has been raised against the BCCI is that their earnings should be taxed as they are a profit-driven private body. Srinivasan denied this and said
(video) the Rs 1.89 billion ($39.68 million) surplus the board made last year would all be spent on cricketing activities.”We are not a profit-driven organisation. As a professional, I would naturally like to get the best value for the product I have. So why would I sell my media rights short? Only to that extent do we run as a business.”Beyond that all the income we have is applied to cricketing activities: 26% goes back to the players, we spend on infrastructure, 70% of our income goes to the state cricketing associations and we also give them subsidies to build stadiums, plus the National Cricket Academy has a budget of 10 crores every year.”So, the 190 crores is a surplus, not a profit. By our own charter we have to spend 85% of the money we make in a year on cricket activities. If we don’t we can keep it in a fund but that needs to be spent in five years.”The reason it is important for the BCCI to have tax exemption, Srinivasan said, is because there is a lot of infrastructure that needs to be put in place and that will get delayed if the BCCI’s earnings are taxed.”If you take the number of venues we have in our country as compared to the population and size, we should have many more stadiums. It may cost thousands of crores of rupees to have all these built and the benefit of tax exemption is this can be done quickly and cricket can be taken to all parts of India.”One criticism often made of Srinivasan is that he has a conflict of interest from being a member of the IPL’s governing council and the head of the company India Cements, which owns the franchise Chennai Super Kings. Former BCCI president AC Muthiah has filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking them to pass an interim order preventing Srinivasan from functioning as the board’s president. Srinivasan said (video) there had been no occurrence in the running of the IPL to suggest any conflict of interest.”I don’t see any conflict of interest affecting my role as BCCI chief. On the IPL’s governing council there are eminent people, all independently capable of making their minds up on things. Nothing has been done specifically for one team. Everything that is decided is common for all teams.”I don’t think anything has happened which can be a cause of concern to anyone. All decisions have been fair and everyone has taken part in them. I have not really spoken on Chennai Super Kings. I have enough propriety.”Srinivasan said his first aim as the BCCI president was to ensure a better performance from the Indian cricket team than the one they put in on the England tour, and also said he wanted to “change the perception of the BCCI”.

The faction-ridden Kochi franchise has asked the BCCI for more time to sort out its ownership disputes in a letter to the board president.

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Oct-2010In a last-ditch attempt to save itself, the Kochi franchise has reportedly asked the BCCI for a ten-day extension to resolve the dispute over its ownership pattern. The request was filed by two sets of solicitors representing the rival factions of the Kochi franchise a few hours before the BCCI deadline, within which time the owners were expected to form a joint venture company, lapsed.The members of the Kochi franchise were issued a show cause notice by the BCCI on October 12 ordered them to form a joint venture company to settle their internal ownership differences. The two factions, one headed by the promoters of the franchise Rendezvous Sports and the other by Mehul Shah of Anchor Group, had responded to this notice by sending identical requests this evening.”We have requested a ten-day extension because we are at an advanced stage of resolving the issue,” a Kochi franchise official told ESPNcricinfo.The groups within the five-partner consortium had failed to come to an agreement after a series of meetings held late on Tuesday night, but after talking to their solicitors decided to ask for more time rather than walk away from the discussions. The official explained that the groups would require more time, “to resolve all pending disputes in order to tie up amicably to form a fruitful joint venture into a regular company”.Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said the Kochi franchise had, “held a few meetings in the last two or three days and submitted a letter, which has been sent to the president.” The BCCI’s legal team was looking into the letter, Shetty said, but added that no meeting of the IPL’s governing council had yet been scheduled. “The president will study it, our legal team will study it before taking a decision.”By asking for more time, Kochi have prevented the rest of the IPL franchises from getting any clarity on all the major issues around the fourth IPL season, which until now has been dogged by drama and controversy. At the moment, it is not yet known how many teams will be involved, what format it would follow or how many matches would be played.In responding to the query about the doubts around IPL four, a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo that despite all the uncertainty, the number of teams in IPL 4 was not in doubt. “All our contracts around the IPL tell us that the minimum teams will be eight, so I don’t think that’s a problem, we just have to get this sorted out and see what happens when the president responds to the letter from Kochi.”An IPL franchise official said that it was unlikely that the BCCI would field fewer teams in IPL4 than in its first three seasons, “Look at the Board’s attitude to Lalit Modi, there is no way they want the first IPL without Modi’s involvement to be smaller than the old IPL which Lalit controlled.”The Kochi franchise has been controversial from its very inception in March. Rendezvous Sports World, a consortium of five companies, became the tenth IPL franchise after a successful bid of US$333.33m, but almost immediately ran into trouble over the composition of its ownership, after the discovery of a few “secret partners” in the consortium. A new agreement was then signed by both the parties but fresh controversy broke when Lalit Modi, the then IPL chairman, made the ownership details public on his Twitter feed.Six months after the auction Kochi has still failed to resolve its various internal disputes, which revolve around the distribution of shares in the consortium. The investors are unhappy with the promoters, who do not want to give up the rights to lead the franchise. Despite several lengthy meetings over the past few days, the two factions remain at loggerheads.

Graeme Swann is a jovial character at the best of times, but he will go into the first Test against South Africa with a spring in his step after bagging a six-wicket haul against the Invitational XI at Buffalo Park

Andrew McGlashan in East London10-Dec-2009
ScorecardGraeme Swann will hope for similar success when the first Test gets under way•Getty Images

Graeme Swann is a jovial character at the best of times, but he will go into the first Test against South Africa with a spring in his step after bagging a six-wicket haul against the Invitational XI at Buffalo Park. His collection included three wickets in four balls although some of the shot selection from the home side provided Swann with the sort of freebies that won’t be on offer at Centurion next week.It was a good day all-round for Swann who hit a sprightly 39 off 31 balls as England declared mid-way through the afternoon on 328 for 8 with Ian Bell (48) and Matt Prior (44) also adding 83 for the sixth wicket before the pair retired. Swann then struck with his second ball before running through the line-up during the final session as he tossed the ball up against batsmen happy to swing from the hip. The most impressive of them was Sammy-Joe Avontuur who made an attractive 68 before missing a wild swipe at Swann. David Wiese edged an ambitious drive to slip and Swann was within a whisker of a hat-trick when the ball just missed the stumps.The quick bowlers enjoyed less success as they tried to shake off the rust. Graham Onions made the opening breakthrough but Stuart Broad’s first spell cost 42 runs as he dropped too short on a surface that remained slow. He ended with 11 overs in the tank although looked as though he needs another run-out in the second match, when James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom are both set to play after resting their respective knee and side injuries.Sidebottom has been given the all-clear while Anderson had an outdoor net to test out his right knee that has had three injections for a mystery problem. England’s bowling plans revolve around Anderson so all eyes will be on him over the next two days. As far as this game goes, the visitors will be pleased they managed to get as much action as they did.The fact that any play was possible at all on the second day was miraculous after further heavy rain fell the previous day and left the outfield underwater. However, hard work by the ground staff and impressive keenness from the home side to continue the game meant play started on time despite large mud patches on the outfield covered in heaps of sawdust.Alastair Cook began the day on 66 and lost his overnight partner, Paul Collingwood, in the second over when he chipped a soft catch to midwicket. Cook again had to dig in for his runs and the reworked technique benefited him with another well-timed straight drive, however, he too was undone by the sluggish surface when he chipped a low catch to mid-on. Although a hundred would have been a satisfying landmark for him, he has had more time than most in the middle lately and his dismissal benefited the middle order.Whatever Bell does over the next few days it may not be enough to force the selectors’ hands if they decide to go with five frontline batsmen alongside Prior for the first Test. However, he made batting look comfortable and, like Cook, showed the value of his spell with the Performance Squad in Pretoria. Prior only had a single innings during the one-day series but was soon reacquainting himself with bat on ball. Ironically, it is Prior’s ability to bat at No. 6 that is likely to leave Bell on the sidelines.The sixth-wicket pair retired during lunch so Broad and Swann emerged from the pavilion for the afternoon session. Broad, who may yet bat at No. 7 next week, inside-edged an attempted drive into his stumps but Swann struck the ball cleanly before the declaration.Andrea Agathagelou could have gone lbw a couple of times during his brief innings before finally being trapped as he shuffled across his crease against Onions. van Wyk dispatched Broad for consecutive boundaries before planting his front foot across the crease against Swann and Temba Bavuma was undone by some extra bounce as he gloved to short leg.Mark Davies, the Durham quick called up as cover for Anderson and Sidebottom, bustled in when handed his chance for ten tight overs. He is due to be released back to the Performance Squad when the team arrives in Johannesburg on Monday barring any further injury problems. England will be keeping their fingers crossed that he isn’t needed again.