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Perennial wooden-spooners, they cruised to victory in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy’s final season

ECB Reporters Network21-Sep-2024Sunrisers completed their turnaround from perennial wooden spoon winners to become the last-ever regional winners of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Sunrisers failed to win a match in the first three editions of the competition – first held in 2020 – but Kate Coppack’s 4 for 27 and Cordelia Griffith’s half-century set up a 27-run DLS victory over South East Stars.Coppack’s career-best ripped out the Stars top order to leave them 53 for 4, but Alice Davidson-Richards formed half-century partnerships with Aylish Cranstone and Phoebe Franklin on her way to 93.Stars eventually reached 212, which Griffith attacked with her fourth fifty in her last five innings – and by the time the rain came they were on 121 for 3 and comfortably ahead of the 94 DLS par score.It meant Sunrisers were the last to win the tournament in this format, with counties replacing the regions and the Metro Bank One-Day Cup becoming the women’s 50-over competition in 2025 – although they will still compete to lift the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Sunrisers stuck Stars in and proceeded to dismantle their top order – specifically through the uber-accurate Coppack, who returned her Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy best of 4 for 27.Coppack is one of the game’s most interesting characters. A full-time lawyer, she has played international cricket for Peru and her parents own an alpaca farm. But first and foremost she is a deadly new-ball bowler.The ball to bowl Alexa Stonehouse was seam-bowling perfection, as it kissed the top stump, even if the big hooping inswinger to castle a swinging Paige Scholfield was more aesthetically pleasing.She hit the stumps again, this time to run out Bryony Smith after a mix-up with Davidson-Richards, before pinning Kira Chathli in front an over after the powerplay had ended.Coppack’s exit from the attack after an opening spell of 3 for 17, saw Davidson-Richards flourish into a partnership with Cranstone. The stand, eventually worth 70, was built on Davidson-Richards’ ability of knowing when to use her power and when to push the runs on an expansive outfield.She reached a fourth successive fifty with the former tactic, a picked-up ping through midwicket, in 61 balls. But at the other end, Cranstone was stumped – injuring herself in the process of sprawling backwards and requiring assistance to return to the dressing room.Phoebe Franklin followed in Cranstone’s footsteps to provide the company for Davidson-Richards to thrive. But Coppack’s return saw the back of Franklin – bowled after a well-made 33 – and began the collapse which saw the last five wickets fall for 39 runs, as Davidson-Richards ran out of partners.Ryana MacDonald-Gay and Tilly Corteen-Coleman were carelessly run out, Kalea Moore was lbw and eventually Davidson-Richards ran out of steam seven runs shy of a second Stars century when Mady Villiers dismissed her leg before.Sunrisers’ response started abysmally as Jo Gardner was lbw to teenager Corteen-Coleman for a golden duck. But from there the in-form Griffith saw the ball like a pumpkin with a series of increasingly middled shots to the boundary.Her 54-ball fifty saw caressed cover drives, pumped pulls and sweeps to the boundary, as Grace Scrivens largely just passed over the strike in their 79-run stand.Griffith, a Sunriser since the beginning, departed when she chased a wide Moore delivery to cover before the spinner got one to stick in the pitch to have Jodi Grewcock caught and bowled.About a quarter of an hour later, and 25 overs into the innings, and lighting in the area took the players off, before torrential rain turned the outfield into a lake. At 4.20pm it was called off and Sunrisers had completed their zero-to-hero arch.

Javeria Khan, Sadia Iqbal, Tuba Hassan, Aiman Anwer and Sidra Nawaz left out; Anosha Nasir and Shawaal Zulfiqar get maiden call-ups

S Sudarshanan25-Jul-2023Explosive Pakistan batter Ayesha Naseem has retired from international cricket and, as a result, been left out of the squad for the women’s cricket competition at the upcoming Asian Games, to be played in China’s Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8.Naseem’s decision, for “personal reasons”, has been speculated about over the last week but was confirmed by the board in its squad announcement. “We wish the best of luck to Ayesha Naseem in her future endeavours as the PCB understands and respects her decision to quit the game for personal reasons,” Tania Mallick, PCB’s head of women’s cricket, said in a board statement.Naseem, 18, played four ODIs and 30 T20Is – including the T20 World Cups in 2020 and 2023 – after making her debut against Thailand in March 2020. She grabbed headlines for her power-hitting skills down the order and finished her career with a strike rate of 128.12, the best for a Pakistan batter in T20Is. Her tally of 18 T20I sixes is also only behind Nida Dar’s 27 for Pakistan, despite Naseem playing for only three years as compared to Dar’s decade-long career.The Asian Games will be Dar’s first as full-time captain after Bismah Maroof stepped down from the role following Pakistan’s group-stage exit in the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Dar, the second-highest wicket-takers in women’s T20Is, captained the team for the first time in Pakistan’s last game of the T20 World Cup in South Africa. Maroof missed out on the event because of regulations that would not allow her to take her baby daughter along.The squad has reaped the benefits of Pakistan’s participation in the Under-19 T20 World Cup earlier this year. Left-arm spinner Anosha Nasir and batter Shawaal Zulfiqar – both part of that inaugural Under-19 women’s team – were rewarded with maiden national call-ups. The two also played the women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup in June where Anosha picked up three wickets and Shawaal opened the batting and scored 39 runs in two innings. The captain of the Under-19 side, the legspin-bowling allrounder Syeda Aroob Shah, also returned to the senior side after three years.Javeria Khan is among the regulars who have been left out of the squad•Getty Images

Diana Baig, who missed the T20 World Cup because of a finger injury, returned to the squad to pair up with the impressive Fatima Sana with the new ball. Allrounder Natalia Pervaiz, 27, also got a look-in, having last played internationals in 2018.Javeria Khan, Sadia Iqbal, Tuba Hassan, Aiman Anwer and Sidra Nawaz, all part of the T20 World Cup squad, missed out.”Our squad for the Asian Games represents the future of women’s cricket in Pakistan,” Saleem Jaffer, PCB women’s chief selector, said. “With a mix of emerging talent and seasoned campaigners, I expect the players to do well in the event.”Pakistan won the gold medal at the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014, the last two times cricket was a part of the competition. This will also be Mark Coles’ first assignment in his second stint as the head coach of the team.Pakistan women’s squad for Asian Games: Nida Dar (capt), Aliya Riaz, Anosha Nasir, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Muneeba Ali, Najiha Alvi, Nashra Sandhu, Nataliya Pervaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Ameen, Syeda Aroob Shah, Umm-e-Hani

While Titans pace attack proved too much for Knight Riders, Sunrisers’ pace battery floored Royal Challengers in their previous outings

Deivarayan Muthu26-Apr-20222:25

Can Gujarat cope without Hardik the bowler?

Big picture

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Marco Jansen and T Natarajan on one side. Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph and Rashid Khan on the other. Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Gujarat Titans.Sunrisers (20.69) have the best bowling average this season, followed by Titans’ 25.79. Sunrisers’ attack also has the best economy rate of 7.99, with Titans – 8.22 – hot on their heels. Plus, there’s the tasty narrative of Rashid going up against his former franchise once again.Related

• Short proves sweet for Gujarat Titans' pace quartet

• IPL 2022: Five players who have gone from being back-ups to certainties

• Umran Malik, bringing the IPL alive with raw pace

The last time these two sides met, earlier this month, Rashid bagged a duck with the bat and his bowling was largely diffused by Sunrisers as Titans suffered their first – and only – defeat of the season. Can Sunrisers now do the double over Titans?While Sunrisers’ batting looks in healthy shape, with the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, and Abhishek Sharma contributing handsomely, Titans’ has largely revolved around their captain Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill. While Abhinav Manohar and Rahul Tewatia have applied finishing touches at different points, the overall balance of the line-up still appears shaky, especially when Pandya isn’t fit enough to bowl and when Tewatia, Rashid and Abhinav are Nos. 5, 6 and 7. Titans have also had some luck along the way, but can they find a way once it runs out?

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Considering that both the attacks drip with supreme skill and variety, it is the batting that could decide this game.

In the news

Sunrisers’ premier spinner Washington Sundar has now missed three successive matches with a hand injury. Speaking to Star Sports, the host broadcaster, last week, Hemang Badani, Sunrisers’ fielding coach and talent scout, hinted that Washington wouldn’t be rushed back into action and that he will return only after he withstands some load during practice. Washington trained with the squad on Tuesday, but it remains to be seen whether he is fit enough to play on Wednesday.

Likely XIs

Gujarat Titans: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Hardik Pandya (capt), 4 David Miller, 5 Rahul Tewatia, 6 Abhinav Manohar, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Yash DayalSunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Kane Williamson (capt), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Shashank Singh, 7 J Suchith/Washington Sundar, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Marco Jansen, 10 Umran Malik, 11 T NatarajanGujarat Titans have used their bowling resources well this season•BCCI

Strategy punt

The sample size is fairly small – 35 runs off 26 balls – but the in-form Rahul Tripathi could be Sunrisers’ best bet to deal with Rashid. He has struck at nearly 135 against the wristspinner while being dismissed just once in the IPL.

Stats that matter

• Natarajan has been among the best bowlers both at the top and tail this IPL. Nobody has picked up more wickets than his six in the powerplay. Only Dwayne Bravo (9) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (7) have taken more wickets than his six at the death.
• Gill has struggled against Bhuvneshwar in the IPL, managing only 32 runs off 37 balls at a strike rate of 86.48 while being dismissed twice.
• Sunrisers (40) and Titans (37) have hit the least sixes among the ten teams this season.
• Shami has removed Kane Williamson four times in ten T20 innings while giving up 66 runs off 47 balls.
• Sunrisers have won just one of the seven IPL games they have played at the Wankhede Stadium.

All the action and talking points around England’s IPL contingent after the second week

Andrew Miller05-Oct-2020Another week of action in the IPL has flown by, with England’s contingent once again in the thick of things. Here’s a rundown on how they have fared to date. Click here for last week’s update.Archer in silken form, but little to show for itRajasthan’s hot form from the first week of the tournament has somewhat frittered away, but there’s not much more that Jofra Archer could have done to keep them competitive in consecutive defeats to KKR and RCB. With the ball he has been a dementor, sizzlingly quick and with such command of his variations, and with the bat he just keeps landing his punches – maybe not with quite the alacrity of week one, but he’s still got eight sixes to show for 25 deliveries in the tournament, a higher ratio than any other player. Talking of ratios, Archer has so far served up 51 dot-balls in the competition, the most by any bowler – 29 of which came from this week’s 48 deliveries. At one stage against KKR, he had figures of 2 for 4 in three overs. Who knows what might have happened had his last ball of the night, an uppercut from Eoin Morgan, not been palmed over the ropes by Tom Curran for six.Sam Curran, the finisher with unfinished businessWhat are we supposed to make of a world in which CSK’s best chance of pulling off a stiff run-chase is to get the GOAT of finishing off-strike, and hand the cudgels to England’s pint-sized pugilist, Sam Curran? For the umpteenth time since India’s World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, MS Dhoni’s wonky pace-maker has cost his side dear, but when Curran strode to the crease in Dubai on Friday night with 51 still needed from 14, and deposited his first ball high over midwicket for six, the prospect of another miracle was revived. Curran had, after all, been rattling along at a strike-rate of close to 300 in the first week of the tournament, but alas for CSK, he only faced two of the last 11 balls of the innings – including a last-ball lump down the ground for another six. With the ball, Curran had a bit of a mixed bag this week. One disastrous over against Sunrisers ruined an otherwise good impression with the new ball, but he did the needful in their ten-wicket stroll against KXIP.Morgan’s wise old head keeps KKR competitiveThat post-World Cup glow continues to radiate from the bat of Eoin Morgan, who is playing with a freedom that he probably hasn’t known since the earliest days of his cross-over from the Ireland to England camps more than a decade ago. He played two vastly contrasting innings this week, each of them an unflappable display from a player who’s come through the pressure cooker and now is ready to savour any situation – whether it’s Archer hunting for his head in Dubai, or an asking rate of 16 with wickets running out in Sharjah. In the former, he kept his cool (and rode his luck) to make a vital 34 not out from 23 balls; in the latter, he watched three wickets fall before he’d faced his first ball, and promptly lumped Anrich Nortje for the first of five sixes in an 18-ball 44. It wouldn’t be enough, but it took his side closer than they could realistically have hoped.Eoin Morgan hit three sixes in a row off Kagiso Rabada•BCCI

Buttler finds his range in low-key weekNothing much to write home about from Jos Buttler just yet. However, this week’s scores of 21 from 16 against KKR and 22 from 12 against RCB suggest that most aspects of his game are in good working order, and his usual full-throttle service should only be a matter of time. Certainly, his solitary six in the latter match – an effortless front-foot pick-up off an Isuru Udana slower ball – was a remarkable feat of timing and wristwork. But as his England team-mates discovered against Australia this summer, Buttler’s serenity can at times give a misleading impression of the pitch conditions, and without him on hand to power through the middle overs, Rajasthan are leaving themselves with too much catching-up to do at the death.Hard yakka for Tom Curran as Rajasthan stumbleIf Tom Curran was relieved to escape the six-hitting slaughterhouse of Sharjah – the scene of some uncomfortable moments in his opening two games of the tournament, then his bowling figures didn’t get much of a massage on the friendlier surfaces at Dubai and Abu Dhabi – 1 for 77 in 7.1 overs all told, including a bit of a schooling from a revitalised Virat Kohli against RCB. In mitigation, Curran has regularly been handed the toughest overs at the back-end of the innings – ones in which his team-mate Buttler said that conceding 15 was a win if it meant you weren’t clattered for 20-plus. His appetite for the scrap has been undiminished in the circumstances, as exemplified by his hard-earned half-century in a losing cause against KKR. In a tight table, who knows how crucial that salvaging of RR’s net run-rate may be.Bairstow proving it’s tough at the topIt’s all gone a bit Test-match for Jonny Bairstow this week – for better and for worse. An uncomfortable grind against Delhi Capitals was amply justified in hindsight, as he resisted some tight bowling on a two-paced deck to make 53 from 48 and give Rashid Khan more than enough runs to defend. But three days later against CSK, he fell victim to an outstanding opening gambit from Deepak Chahar – length ball, outswinger, savage inswinger, the latter uprooting Bairstow’s off stump for a duck as his initial plans for a cover drive were contorted into a wretched hack across the line. His week was completed with 25 from 15 against Mumbai, an innings which was arguably undone by David Warner’s lack of fluency at the other end. Their bromance is still smouldering but it’s not quite igniting the passions as it did last year.Johnny Bairstow drives on the up•BCCI

Chris Jordan’s birthday bumpsIt was Chris Jordan’s 32nd birthday on Sunday, but it wasn’t a very happy return to the Kings XI side. After conceding 30 runs in the final over of his previous appearance against Delhi, Jordan was pumped for a further 19 in his comeback over against CSK, with Faf du Plessis cashing in on his variations with four fours in five balls at the end of the Powerplay. It got no better as he returned for the 11th over, Shane Watson this time dispatching him for consecutive fours to bring up his first fifty of the tournament. By which stage the game was long gone. You can’t pin a ten-wicket defeat on the travails of one man, but Jordan’s lack of confidence epitomises a team with one win in five to date.Stokes primed for action; Banton, Moeen wait for the callBen Stokes has landed in the UAE after his compassionate leave in New Zealand, and could be ready when Rajasthan return to Sharjah for their rematch against KXIP, assuming he comes through his six-day quarantine period. Meanwhile, Moeen Ali (RCB) and Tom Banton (KKR) are still itching for their first outings of the competition – Banton could conceivably get a trial run at the top of KKR’s order this week, following a run of misfires from Sunil Narine.

Bangladesh’s new coach stresses on the need to adapt to the local culture instead of expecting the players to change to his ways

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-2019Russell Domingo’s appointment as the seventh Bangladesh head coach in eight years does suggest a somewhat rough next few months for the South African, but he sounded upbeat and up for the challenge in his first interaction with the media after reaching Dhaka. The theme was adapting to Bangladesh’s ways, and not expecting the players to adapt to his style, while also stressing that “monitoring the players just beneath the national side” would be one of his targets.No Bangladesh head coach has completed his tenure since Jamie Siddons left in 2011, and it has been a bit of a rough and tumble at the best of times. But, if making the right noises is a good start, Domingo played it well to begin with.”We [the overseas coaching contingent, including new bowling coach Charl Langeveldt] can’t expect Bangladesh cricket to adapt to us, we’ve got to adapt to Bangladesh cricket. And we’ve got to find a way to make our processes and our systems work with the cricket organisation and with the players,” Domingo said. “So we might need to alter the way we go about things to fit in with the culture, more so than the culture changing to fit in with us.”My immediate goal is to make some sort of connection with the players, to understand the players, build some relationships over the next week or two – I think that’s massively important, to try and gain the players’ trust, see how the players go about their work.”ALSO READ: Isam – Seven points to ponder for Russell DomingoWith the domestic structure in a bit of a shambles, the emergence of quality new players hasn’t always happened in an ideal manner. This was an aspect Domingo had also stressed on in his presentation to the Bangladesh Cricket Board.”Because I have worked at a lot of different levels of cricket, from Under-15 to Under-17 to domestic cricket to international cricket, I think I am very aware of how important feeder systems are,” he explained. “That’s where your next tier of players come from. I want to place a lot of emphasis on monitoring the players just beneath the national side, and when there are opportunities to play some of those players, you need to take those opportunities.”And it can’t be for one or two games, you need to try and give players a little bit of a run. Young players especially, so they can find their feet in international cricket. We’ve got a good national side but it’s important that we are evaluating the players just below the national side to sustain the success of Bangladesh cricket.”After our [triangular T20I] series against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, I’m hoping to go to Sri Lanka to watch the ‘A’ side play. It’s impossible to watch all the cricket, there’s no doubt about that. I’ve got to make sure I surround myself with people I can trust, selectors who are going to give me good inputs, connect with the high-performance coaches, with the ‘A’ side coaches, and find out who they think the best players are that we can invite closer to the national side.”Bangladesh are a team on the ascendance, especially at home, where they have had some excellent results in the last few years. But an eighth-place finish at the recent World Cup – where Shakib Al Hasan almost single-handedly drove their fortunes – and then a 3-0 ODI series defeat in Sri Lanka has hurt the team and their legions of fans.”I don’t think they are a bad team because they lost to Sri Lanka. Touring straight after a World Cup is always going to be hard. Sri Lanka probably had a bit more to gain from it with a few players leaving, it was the last game for Lasith [Malinga], [Nuwan] Kulasekara was given a farewell, they had a bit more to prove,” Domingo said. “The World Cup performances, I thought they played really well. They were really close to winning some of the games that they lost.”You think of the game against New Zealand, maybe a missed run out [of Kane Williamson, by Mushfiqur Rahim] cost them the game. The margins of winning and losing international games are minimal, so … I think the team is really close to becoming a real force in world cricket. If they just make the right decisions, at the right times, on the right days, I don’t think they are really very far off other sides at the moment.”The log will say they ended in seventh [eighth], I think they played better than that. And I’ve been in international cricket long enough to know that sometimes the results can hinge on a decision here and there, so it’s not always a fair reflection of where you are as a team. There were a lot of positives to come out of the World Cup that they can build on going forward for sure. There are a lot of areas they can improve in, but there were a lot of positives in the World Cup.”Russell Domingo and Charl Langeveldt catch up with Akram Khan, BCB chairman of cricket operations•BCB

While Bangladesh have shown promise in 50-overs cricket, results in Test matches and T20Is have largely been disappointing, and that’s something Domingo is aware of.”It’s hard to get any sort of rhythm in your Test match cricket if you’re not playing that many Test matches. With the new Test Championship, that allows a team to focus a lot more on Test match cricket. We know often Bangladesh play one- or two-Test series. Hopefully now there will be three-Test series, four-Test series, which gets them more into that format,” he said. “A lot of that focus now needs to move away from the World Cup and the 50-over format into Test match cricket. So it will be a good start to put a lot more focus and emphasis on our red-ball skills in the next couple of months.”It’s a massive opportunity for Bangladesh to compete regularly in Test match cricket. Their last Test match was maybe six months ago, we can hardly remember when it was. The more you play the better you’re going to get in the format. That’s probably where they have been lacking, they haven’t played a lot of Test match cricket. If you look at England, Australia, India, and weigh those up against the number of Tests Bangladesh have played, you can understand why they are the leading sides in the world in that format.”To be a leading side, however, there are many creases to iron out, and a big one is the country’s fast bowling. And that’s where Langeveldt comes in.”That’s a challenge. When I was coaching in Afghanistan, it was a challenge there too. If you can rectify that, if you can strike with the new ball, it will make life easier for the spinners, and you will compete a lot more in 50-overs and Test cricket,” he said. “It could be a small thing, a technical thing. The new ball is important in one-day cricket, even in Test cricket, especially in these conditions.”The test for me is going to be to find seamers that can bowl outside Bangladesh, that can bowl in conditions in South Africa, Australia. If you look at India now, they’ve got three seamers and they are winning games in South Africa and Australia. We’ve got to find somehow seamers, so when we go abroad, in those conditions we can compete.”

Ian Bell completed a memorable return to form with Jonathan Trott again in support as one of county cricket’s best-known double acts proved too much for Glamorgan

Jon Culley at Edgbaston12-Jun-20181:55

Somerset chase down Notts to top Division One

Warwickshire 250 (Bell 106, Trott 57, van der Gugten 4-65) and 294 for 6 (Bell 115*, Trott 67, Salter 4-80) beat Glamorgan 220 (Poysden 5-29) and 323 (Khawaja 125, Cooke 59) by four wickets
ScorecardThe difficult final day Warwickshire might have anticipated turned out to be relatively comfortable as another handsome partnership between the two old stagers, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott, set them up for a fourth consecutive victory.Bell, who had gone more than two years without a Championship century until two days ago, completed a second in the match, unbeaten in both. A return to Division One of the Championship at the first attempt already looks highly likely.The season is only a third of the way through but already Warwickshire’s points total, from five matches, is 11 more than they garnered from 14 last year, which says quite a lot about the difference in quality between the divisions. Barring two or three changes, this is the same Warwickshire team that suffered nine defeats in 2017 and finished 60 points behind the rest.There are questions to be answered, clearly, about the structure of the Championship, while Warwickshire will know that they may struggle again at the higher level without more changes. But those are for another day.For the moment, their supporters can at least anticipate a decent summer and hope to enjoy watching Bell and Trott turn back the clock just a few more times. Although Bell has not yet given any hints about retirement – he is contracted for another two seasons after this – Trott is finishing at the end of the current year. There will not be many more days like these.Almost 74 years and 170 Test caps between them is the measure of their experience and they drew on it to good effect here, adding 113 runs in 30 overs for the third wicket to take Warwickshire a good chunk of the way to their target of 294 to win. On a used wicket, Glamorgan felt their spinners might give them a decent chance of winning here for the first time in 30 years but Andrew Salter, the off-spinner who is their senior slow bowler in this game, will not have faced many batsmen more adept than these two against spin, certainly not in tandem.Until Glamorgan turned to David Lloyd’s seam at the pavilion end just after tea and Trott, falling over slightly, was leg before trying to work to leg, it seemed unlikely the partnership would end unless, as in the first innings, one of them ran the other out. Indeed, there were a couple of times it nearly happened.Trott fell for 67 but Bell, for the second time in the match, was going nowhere, completing his second century off 160 balls with 14 boundaries, achieving the feat of two hundreds in the same match for the second time in his career. He did it before against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 2004, which was the last time, in fact, that any Warwickshire batsman has made 100 or more in both innings.In the end, then, Glamorgan missed Michael Hogan and Marchant de Lange, sidelined with hamstring injuries, as much as they thought they might at the start and it will be a relief to have both back to face Derbyshire next week.Wickets in the morning session was always likely to be the determining factor in the outcome and Warwickshire lost only one as Will Rhodes and Dominic Sibley compiled their first hundred stand as an opening partnership. There was a brief hint of a wobble when Sam Hain was bowled by Lloyd second ball and another when Salter, who had dismissed both openers, removed Tim Ambrose and Keith Barker in the space of three balls to claim career-best figures, but Bell remained to hit the winning boundary at around ten past five.

Titans won the Momentum One Day Cup in Centurion after amassing a score of 425 to hand Warriors a 236-run defeat in the final

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2017Emphatic centuries from Titans‘ openers Aiden Markram and Henry Davids handed Warriors a 236-run drubbing in the final of the Momentum One Day Cup at SuperSport Park in Centurion. A record opening stand of 212 propelled Titans to 425 for 5 – the highest total in the history of South African franchise cricket – before Warriors were bowled out in 31 overs.Having elected to bat, Titans raced to 100 in 16.2 overs, as Markram peppered eight fours and two sixes to bring up his century off 96 balls. In the next 27 deliveries he faced, the 22-year-old cleared the boundary five more times and clobbered three more fours to register his second-highest score in the tournament (161), after his 183 against Lions in Johannesburg. Davids, who finished the competition as the leading run-scorer with 673 runs at 84.12, joined in the run-fest with a fluent 98-ball 114 – studded with 13 fours and four sixes – in what was his third century and sixth 50-plus knock in eight innings.Once Warriors captain JJ Smuts broke the stand with Davids’ dismissal in the 30th over, wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen – a late replacement for AB de Villiers, who pulled out due to a back injury – sustained the onslaught with a 50-ball 60, before Chris Morris plundered six sixes and a four to inflict a final salvo with an unbeaten 47 off only 12 balls. Heino Kuhn and Morris added 52 for the sixth wicket in the final 2.2 overs, helping Titans post a total in excess of 400 for the third time this season.Of the eight bowlers used by Warriors, Smuts was the only one to leak less than seven runs an over. Anrich Nortje took the bulk of the beating, conceding 62 in six overs despite having picked up two wickets.The fate of Warriors’ massive chase depended heavily on strong starts from openers Smuts and Gihahn Clote – the side’s top two scorers in the tournament. But an early strike from Morris (2 for 41) set them back, as he bowled Cloete (3) in the second over of the innings. Lungi Ngidi’s subsequent double-strike off successive overs accounted for Colin Ingram (1) and Smuts (13), reducing the opposition to 22 for 3 in the fifth over. While Warriors failed to recover thereon, only Jerry Nqolo (40) offered any resistance before falling to Markram (1 for 7), who was named the Player of the Match. Junior Dala further dented Warriors’ chances with two wickets, taking his tournament tally to 16 – joint with Robbie Frylinck and Shadley van Schalkwyk at the top – before Tabraiz Shamsi’s treble closed out the game, skittling Warriors for 189.

Yorkshire have signed Travis Head, the South Australia, Adelaide Strikers and Australia batsman, for the second half of the English season

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2016Yorkshire have signed Travis Head, the South Australia, Adelaide Strikers and Australia batsman, for the second half of the English season.Head, 22, who made his debut for Australia in the T20 series against India last month, will replace Kane Williamson from July 18 when he returns to international duty.The move will reunite Head with Jason Gillespie who was the Strikers coach during the 2015-16 Big Bash where Head excelled with 299 runs at a strike-rate of 154.92 runs. His standout innings was an unbeaten 101 against Sydney Sixers when he took 51 runs off the last three overs to win the match for the Strikers.His returns in the current Sheffield Shield season are not as eye-catching with 322 runs in seven matches at an average 24.76, but Gillespie expects him to play a key role in all three formats.”Travis is a great signing for us,” Gillespie said. “He has had a terrific season in Australia and is eager to develop his skills in England.”The fact that he can adapt to all formats is beneficial to us. He will add something different to the squad with his aggressive batting style and his ability with the ball as a genuine spinner.”He has a lot of maturity for a young man and his cricket intelligence is improving with every match. He will fit in nicely to our system.”Head said: “To play across all formats is important to me and playing in English conditions will be a good challenge. I can’t wait to get over and make an impact.”

The start of the 2012-13 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League has been deferred for the fourth time. The player transfers/recruitment programme, which was supposed to be held on Thursday, has also been delayed further, possibly till the end of August

Mohammad Isam24-Jul-2013The start of the 2012-13 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League has been deferred for the fourth time. The player transfers/recruitment programme, which was supposed to be held on Thursday, has also been delayed further, possibly till the end of August.This time the reason for the delay is the Dhaka clubs’ reluctance to take part in the recruitment programme before Eid-ul-Fitr, which is supposed to be held in the second week of August. Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) chairman Jalal Yunus however said that the commencement date of the Premier League will not be delayed by too long.”The clubs have asked us to hold the recruitment programme after Eid,” Yunus said. “They wouldn’t be able to make payments during this time. But the league itself will only be delayed by three to four days because it will now most probably begin on September 2 instead of August 29.”We hope to declare specific dates for the player recruitment programme and the start of the Premier Division Cricket League after the board meeting on July 29.”The players’ representative body has criticised the BCB for this latest delay, though, saying the board hadn’t considered the effect the decision would have on the players. Cricketers’ Welfare Association Bangladesh general secretary Debabrata Paul said: “Many of the players are struggling to make ends meet ahead of the Eid holidays. The BCB and the clubs only considered their own interests, instead of the basic needs of the players. They could have held the players recruiting programme tomorrow (July 25).”The BCB’s ad-hoc committee had announced the new dates at its July 3 meeting, but the clubs continued to push the board to change dates. This has been the case since March this year when the league was originally scheduled to be held. Then, the clubs’ objection was the ongoing Sri Lanka tour, which meant all national cricketers wouldn’t be available to play.Some of the clubs also complained about players asking for too much money, so the players’ transfer system was changed, the new programme resembling the American draft system. The old system, which will return next season, had the players and clubs negotiate rather than go through a lottery.The Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League is Bangladesh’s top domestic one-day tournament, played between twelve Dhaka-based clubs. The board granted it List-A status this year, after the National Cricket League’s one-day tournament fell through for the last three seasons.

At England Under-19’s match against Australia in Townsville, the Overton twins, allrounder Craig and fast bowler Jamie, performed creditably in defeat

George Binoy in Townsville11-Aug-2012Caught C Overton bowled J Overton. A fielder-bowler combination that is almost certain to appear in many Somerset scorecards of the future. It appeared twice today, in England Under-19’s match against Australia in Townsville, where the twins, allrounder Craig and fast bowler Jamie, both tall and strong, performed creditably in defeat.Craig top scored for England, making 35 in tough conditions, and bowled 8.1 overs for 31 runs without a wicket. Batting at No. 4, he was in as early as the ninth delivery of the morning, after his team had slumped to 8 for 2. Under attack from Australia’s three quick bowlers, Craig watched the situation steadily get worse.”It did a bit early on,” he said. “So we had to battle through it and unfortunately today we didn’t do it. Not ideal losing the toss, but you’re never going to win a game batting like that. A disappointing performance really.”Craig battled 81 deliveries for his runs, playing the quicks with care and attacking when he could. “They bowled really well, made it a struggle for us to score runs. They never let us get away. I just tried to stay there, just to battle through it, bat as long as possible.”His resistance ended in the 27th over, by which time England were 96 for 7. Jamie managed 14 off 15 deliveries and England were eventually bowled out for 143 in the 39th over.Australia had a short period to bat before the lunch break and during that time Jamie did his thing, bowling at speeds approaching 150kph. With the equally impressive Reece Topley troubling the batsmen from his end, Jamie hustled and harried the Australians with his pace.”Even with [about] 140 we felt comfortable, we have a really good bowling attack and we felt we could have bowled them out,” Jamie said. “We probably would have liked to stay out there [at lunch], the way the situation was.”England had Australia at 54 for 4 but the next breakthrough never came. For his part, Jamie may have got carried away because of the pace and bounce in the pitch. In his first over, he had dug in a bouncer that soared over the keeper’s head. Later on, he began to pitch on the shorter side, as England’s desperation for wickets grew. He’ll be wiser for the experience.Jamie did find two edges, though, on either side of lunch, and Craig caught both at slip. “I rely on him quite often,” said Jamie. “He’s been in the slips often and I normally get quite a few edges [while bowling]. He doesn’t drop that many and has a good pair of hands.”After the backyard cricket when they were toddlers, where Jamie would bowl “little medium pacers at Craig”, the broken windows and the shattered vases, the twins started playing together in teams from the age of eight. They played together in Devon’s age-group sides, working their way up towards the Somerset Second XIs. Their progress has not always been simultaneous, but the twin behind never took long to catch up. The competition helped their growth.”Say I’ve gone ahead,” said Jamie. “He [Craig] has always tried to catch up with me. When he’s gone ahead, I’ve always caught up with him. We’ve always been really competitive with each other.””I did,” said Craig, when asked who made their first-class debut for Somerset first. “We were told that one of us wasn’t going to play. So we just knew that if one didn’t play, we’d support him as much as possible. That’s what we do, try and get each other going, try and get our performances going.”Craig made his Somerset debut against Lancashire in April this year. Less than a month later, Jamie was alongside him. “It made me want to get it more,” said Jamie. “Hopefully we’ll get a few more chances together with them [Somerset].”In the years to come, Craig and Jamie Overton may get chances with England’s Emerging Players and Lions. They probably won’t get it together, but the twin behind will strive to get there too, with the twin ahead hoping he does.