On a manic day in which 20 wickets fell and three innings unfolded, Tamil Nadu toppled a full-strength Karnataka side inside two days on a green Visakhapatnam track to march into the semi-final of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu in Visakhapatnam24-Dec-2016
ScorecardFile photo – T Natarajan (in pic) took three wickets to leave Tamil Nadu with 87 to win, which they chased down with seven wickets in hand•T Natarajan

On a manic day in which 19 wickets fell and three innings unfolded, Tamil Nadu toppled a full-strength Karnataka side inside two days on a green Visakhapatnam track to march into the semi-final of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy.The day began with Dinesh Karthik, playing his 100th Ranji match, nicking behind in the second over and ended with him launching a straight six to secure Tamil Nadu’s first outright victory over Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy since 2003-04. Karnataka’s current coach J Arunkumar was the captain, and L Balaji, the Tamil Nadu bowling coach, was only playing his 15th Ranji match then.KL Rahul made a fluent 77, Manish Pandey bagged a duck, and Karun Nair, suffering from lower abdominal pain, literally hobbled his way to 12 at No.8 as Karnataka, who conceded a lead of 64, were bowled out for 150 in the second dig. That was made possible largely due to the efforts of seamer K Vignesh, whose marathon spell of 12-1-43-4 cracked the game open.He ran in hard and hit the deck harder, and bounced out Karnataka’s middle order. T Natarajan then took care of the tail to dismiss Karnataka in just 38.1 overs. This had come after Tamil Nadu, resuming on 111 for 4, were bowled out for 152 an hour before lunch. Chasing 87, Tamil Nadu lost three wickets inside ten overs, but Karthik made a punchy 41 not out off 30 balls to seal the deal.At the start of the day, though, it had seemed like anybody’s game. Karnataka’s captain Vinay Kumar nudged his team ahead when he had Karthik, who failed to add to his overnight tally, for 31. B Aparajith then exited in the next over for a three-ball duck. That meant, Abhinav Mukund, who had come into bat at No.6 on the first day because of fever, was left with the tail.Vinay teased Aswin Crist with a brace of outswingers before pinning the batsman on the pad with an inswinger. But the sharp angle from over the wicket meant the ball would have slid down leg. Abhinav contributed 17 off 48 balls before he was the eighth Tamil Nadu batsman to be dismissed. They were ultimately all-out for in 53.3 overs.Karnataka started well in their second innings as KL Rahul unfurled a slew of ramps and upper-cuts over the cordon either side of lunch. One such ramp put Karnataka into the lead. Tamil Nadu went into a defensive mode against Rahul and even had a deep point in place at one stage.They, however, worked their way around Rahul. Kaunain Abbas’ off stump was tilted back by a sharp indipper from Vignesh. In his next over, the seamer got one to leap off the deck and Pandey gloved it behind for a nine-ball duck. When Stuart Binny was caught short by a direct hit from Ganga Sridhar Raju, who was substituting for an ill Abhinav, Karnataka were 82 for 4. Nair, who could barely run, was also caught unawares by the hit-the-deck bustle of Vignesh.An unfazed Rahul continued to play his shots. He imperiously lofted Crist over mid-on, and then survived a nervy moment on 69 when he flashed away from the body and sent a thick outside edge behind. Karthik, who was on the move, dropped a fairly straightforward catch. Rahul wasn’t second-time lucky: after adding eight runs he attempted the same shot and this time Karthik snaffled the catch.Four overs after Rahul’s dismissal, Karnataka folded, having managed to survive only 75.2 overs in the match. Karthik then fittingly provided the coup de grâce to spark off rapturous celebrations in the Tamil Nadu camp. Who would have thought the south Indian derby would end inside two days?

Moises Henriques, Kurtis Patterson and Nick Larkin made runs on the first day of New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield tie against Queensland at the SCG

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2017
ScorecardMoises Henriques struck 13 fours en route to his unbeaten ton•BCCI

Moises Henriques, the New South Wales captain, struck an unbeaten century to spearhead a sturdy batting display against Queensland on day one of the Sheffield Shield match at the SCG.On a day of high temperatures in Sydney, with more forecast for Saturday that forced the cancellation of weekend club matches, the hosts made the most of the conditions after Henriques won the toss.While Daniel Hughes fell to Peter George in the day’s first over and Ed Cowan was unable to replicate his double-century against Victoria at the MCG last week, falling lbw first ball to Michael Neser to leave the Blues 2 for 2, both Nick Larkin and Kurtis Patterson were able to sculpt substantial innings to guide NSW into a strong position.Opener Larkin struck 86 in a 156-run partnership for the third wicket with Patterson, who struck 88 himself, as NSW rescued their innings.Arriving at the crease with 158 on the board, Henriques built his innings sensibly before accelerating to capitalise on tiring bowlers in the final session, hitting 13 fours in his unbeaten knock of 102. The Bulls missed the legbreaks of Mitchell Swepson, presently training with the Australian Test squad in Dubai ahead of their imminent trip to India.

Wellington toppled Central Districts by five wickets in a closely-fought third preliminary final to set up a final date against Canterbury on Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2017
ScorecardMichael Papps put behind a string of low scores to score a half-century and take Wellington into the final•Getty Images

After falling short by 27 runs against Canterbury in the first preliminary final, Wellington did not squander their second chance as they toppled Central Districts by five wickets in the third preliminary final at the Basin Reserve to set up a final against Canterbury on Saturday. Medium pacer Anurag Verma’s 4 for 49 helped bowl out Central Districts for 247, and opening batsman Michael Papps scored 80 to help Wellington scale down the target with three balls to spare.Like Papps, George Worker shone opening the innings for Central Districts. Worker strung together a century stand with captain Will Young (57 off 60 balls) to lift his team to 176 for 2. But Central Districts slid thereafter, losing five wickets for 29 runs, including that of Worker for 85. They were shored up by Josh Clarkson’s rapid 42, off 33 balls, with four fours and two sixes.Wellington showcased their batting strength in the chase. Barring Scott Borthwick, who was caught in the sixth over for 1, all their batsmen made contributions. Papps was supported by captain Hamish Marshall (37), Tom Blundell (21) and Michael Pollard (24).Papps’ wicket was the last Central Districts would take, when he was stumped off left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel. At that point, Wellington still needed 58 with just 47 balls and five wickets remaining. Luke Woodcock slammed an unbeaten 41 off 35 balls with four fours and two sixes, while Matt Taylor raced to an unbeaten 31 off 29 balls to seal a tense chase in the final over.Blair Tickner and Kieran Noema-Barnett took two wickets each, although the latter was expensive, leaking 59 runs in 10 overs. Patel finished with 1 for 52.

Asela Gunaratne, who struck 84 runs in a match-winning effort in Geelong, said the support Sri Lanka received during the first two T20s helped win the series

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Feb-2017A partisan Melbourne crowd played its part in Sri Lanka’s exquisite series victory, Asela Gunaratne said after his unbeaten knock of 84 from 46 balls in only his sixth T20 international propelled Sri Lanka to their 174 target in Geelong.Partisan because although the first two T20s were ostensibly away matches, Sri Lanka’s limited-overs games in Melbourne have long attracted booming support from the large Sri Lankan population in the city. Most of the 41,000 in attendance at the MCG on Friday had been Sri Lanka supporters, and the Geelong – an hour’s drive from Melbourne – crowd had been no different. “Papare” music was heard in the stands, which also produced roars of delight when the winning runs were struck as Gunaratne’s team-mates charged the field to hoist him up on their shoulders.”There was so much support, it was like we were playing in Sri Lanka,” Gunaratne said. “That’s a huge strength for us – the way they were always cheering. It helped us finish the match.”We had a chance to win the series, and if we had missed that chance, it would have been a big waste. I was really happy. Winning a series in Australia is something special.”A Sri Lanka victory seemed unlikely for a large portion of the chase, because by the end of the fifth over they were reduced to 5 for 41. The required rate then climbed to ten by the halfway stage, but Gunaratne felt there always seemed a “good chance of winning” so he plotted Sri Lanka’s way out of the hole they had got themselves in.First came the 52-run stand with Chamara Kapugedera, which allowed Gunaratne to settle at the crease – even if those runs had come at only 6.5 an over. From there, Gunaratne worked to put Sri Lanka within striking distance in the final overs. When 36 runs were required from the last 12 balls, he sprung spectacularly into action.Asela Gunaratne struck three consecutive sixes in the penultimate over as Sri Lanka clinched a memorable series win•AFP

“My plan with two overs left was to hit 20 runs in that over – preferably without running at all,” Gunaratne said. “Thankfully, 22 came in that over and when it got down to 14 off the last one, that was much easier. Well, no matter how tough it is, it’s something that had to be done. In the end, it worked out.”Gunaratne had been kept scoreless off the first ball of that penultimate over, but struck sixes off each of the next three balls to loosen Australia’s grip on the game. He was constantly shuffling to the offside to open up leg, and said he always had a good idea where his best boundary options were.”I was always looking to target those small boundaries” he said. “The longer sides were obviously going to be harder to hit to. It all paid off and I’m very happy, because all I thought of was finishing the match.”Sri Lanka No. 3 Dilshan Munaweera said Gunaratne’s innings made his team-mates’ “dreams come true”.”From a Sri Lankan, I think that’s the best T20 knock I’ve seen,” Munaweera said. “He was hitting such good bowlers – the Australian bowlers have recently played the Big Bash, so they were on rhythm. He made it count and batted through the innings. We [the players] were like supporters [in the dugout] and he made our dreams come true.”Sri Lanka are yet to lose a T20 international in Australia after five matches there. Though they do not have a flagship T20 domestic tournament like Australia do, Munaweera said Sri Lanka have a natural inclination to the shortest format.”Altogether we have played so much competitive cricket in T20s – not just here,” he said. “If you look at our stats, we’ve been to plenty of finals in the World T20, and we have won once. I think it doesn’t matter where we play. The format is suited to us, and our boys are on the game.”

Playing his first International in over a year last week, Morne Morkel is set to do what’s necessary to “prolong his career”

Firdose Moonda13-Mar-2017The job of the crowd at a sporting event is to create the best possible atmosphere for their team. They need to be noisy in their support of the home team, nicely nasty when the opposition are around and never short of a contribution to the sporting spectacle in front of them. Dunedin’s university crowd got that exactly right, especially when it came to Morne Morkel, who had a cunning plan to win them over.”The best way to get them on your side for the rest of the day is to do something funny and I thought I will join the crowd and have a down-down,” Morkel said, referring to his antics on the third afternoon when the students were sculling their beers on the embankment and a thirsty Morkel suspected if he wanted to quench his thirst, he would have to copy their methods.”I knew if I went to the cooler box, they were going to shout ‘down down’. It has happened to me before, in Australia,” Morkel said. “After that Faf came to me and he wanted me to bowl another over but I was too bloated. So I said, ‘Faf, you need to give me half an hour here.'”Luckily for Morkel, a full stomach – and not his bad back – was the only thing that kept him from bowling at that point as he confirmed his return to the Test cricket, after 14 months out of the side. Morkel had not been part of the Test XI since January 2016, had not played an international match since June last year and had been nursing a bulging disc in his back since. During his rehabilitation, he had played just one full first-class game and coming into this Test series, the only game time he had was two List A matches.”I was more nervous that I don’t pull up [a back strain]. That’s the last thing you want, especially when you are playing three seam bowlers. I was a little bit nervous because I hadn’t been in the field for longer than 50 overs. In the back of my mind it was going to be a real test going for more 20 overs with the ball and 100 overs in the field,” Morkel said. “One of my biggest worries was that in Dunedin I knew it was going to be cold, so I was wondering if my muscles would recover. There were a lot of ifs and buts.”In total, Morkel spent 102 overs in the field and bowled 24 overs. Results aside, just to have put in that amount of time is reason enough for Morkel to declare his comeback a success. “For me to break that mental barrier was quite pleasing.and now I can put those things to rest and just focus on cricket,” he said. “All those demons that were on my mind, I managed to control it and get through it. I have that peace of mind that I can play Test matches again.”Over the last few months, Morkel has received some medical opinion that his injury would end his career. “In the back of my mind, I didn’t believe it,” he said.But he knew that in order to return, he would have to do extensive strengthening work. “The main issue was that my lower core was weak and in a way I needed to rewire my body,” he explained. “I had so many bad movements, mechanically with my body that created tension and inflammation. I had a massive bulge in the top of the core which caused spasms and all those sorts of things.”With an important tour of England coming up, Morkel has decided to skip the 2017 IPL•BCCI

Part of Morkel’s recovery has included the use of Pilates, some of it has concentrated on his action and a lot of it has been in his mind. “I’ve had a lot of work in getting certain muscles to switch on and switch off at certain times,” he said. “I needed to find a way to relax my upper core so my lower core could work.”Getting that right took time, which is why Morkel’s return was postponed several times. He was originally due to play Tests in Australia in November last year and went on the tour but only took part in the warm-up matches, he was then ruled out of the Sri Lanka series at home with a view to playing in the ODIs but a recurrence of symptoms meant he could only return for these Tests. And still, he cannot be absolutely certain the issue has disappeared.”I don’t think I have solved it. I need to take a lot of responsibility now, to look after my body. I can’t take any shortcuts with my training and my gym work. I need to manage my load with cricket outside the South African season and just be clever with that,” Morkel said.He is already doing that. Morkel opted out of this year’s IPL auction with a view to prolonging his international career as long as possible. “Because I haven’t played any cricket for South Africa for so long, if I put my name in the auction, it will be frowned upon, plus we have some big cricket coming in England. I thought if I go well in this New Zealand series, then I’ve got four weeks at home to really get strong. For me that was the important thing: to get myself fit for South Africa and to play well for South Africa,” Morkel said.He has not put a timeframe on how much longer he is looking to play at the highest level beyond “as long as possible”. But he is expecting to take his place in the team later this week at the Basin Reserve, where he took career-best figures of 6 for 23 the last time South Africa were in New Zealand, five years ago. He hopes he can draw on his experience to enjoy similar success this time.”I bowled quite well in that [2011-12] series and for some reason my length was a touch fuller. Depending on the sort of surfaces they are going to prepare – and it looks like they are going to go with slow, turning wickets – it’s going to be crucial for me to play with my lengths. Even though It looks pretty and you can control the right with back of a length, I reckon if you want to strike and you want to get wickets you have to go a touch fuller. It worked for me last time,” Morkel said. “Then again, I also need to play to my strengths. If I just bowl full, its going to be easy for the batsmen so I need to bowl that intimidating length and get the guys on the back foot and try and strike from there. It’s about the intensity that I bowl with and to have body language. It’s about reading the situation and knowing when to go fuller.”And about reading the crowd and when to join in the fun. Now that Morkel is in the twilight years of his career, he wants to do that as much as possible.

Mohammad Amir claimed his first five-wicket haul since the Lord’s Test in 2010 to leave West Indies at 278 for 9 on a truncated day

The Report by Danyal Rasool22-Apr-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMohammad Amir performs the after taking his first five-wicket haul since 2010•AFP

Mohammad Amir claimed his first five-wicket haul since that fateful Lord’s Test in 2010 to leave West Indies at 278 for 9 before rain put an end to a wet, miserable day in which only 11.3 overs were possible. The morning session was wiped out after the covers had leaked moisture on to the pitch. That, along with an outfield so wet that it had to be dried by lighting a fire over it, meant that over four hours had passed from the scheduled start when the players finally took the field.Jason Holder and Devendra Bishoo, carrying over a flamboyant partnership from the first day, were much more sedate now that Amir and Mohammad Abbas were in the attack. However, despite the heavy cloud cover, the new ball wasn’t nearly as lively as Pakistan might have hoped, and the batsmen looked fairly comfortable for the first half hour. But, soon after, Bishoo perished reaching for a delivery from Amir that was well outside off stump, getting a faint edge that carried comfortably to Sarfraz Ahmed.Holder, sensing he was running out of partners, took the attack to Abbas, walking down the track to launch him over mid-off for six, bringing up a brisk half-century. Next ball, he went from destructive to delicate, opening the face of his bat to guide the ball through the slips and taking his side closer to 300.Amir then had a whole over to bowl at Alzarri Joseph, and that was never going to end well for the No. 10 batsman. If Bishoo’s dismissal was scrappy, the one to dismiss Joseph and complete his five-wicket haul was all class. Class of 2009-10, to be precise. Not getting swing from over the wicket, Amir switched angles to Joseph, pitching the ball up at pace from around the wicket. It tailed in slightly, and crashed into Joseph’s off stump. Joseph could perhaps find some solace in the fact that the delivery would have done in many of his team-mates batting higher up the order.There was just enough time left for No. 11 Shannon Gabriel to play the shot of the day, driving Amir sweetly down the ground for four to take the West Indies total to 278. Two balls later, the heavens opened once more, forcing the players off the field for good. It might have felt like a wasted day, but you try telling Amir that.

Nottinghamshire dismissed Glamorgan for 187 to assume total control in Cardiff and spent the night reflecting whether to impose the follow on

ECB Reporters Network20-May-2017
ScorecardLuke Fletcher took four Glamorgan wickets [file picture]•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire assumed total control on day two of their Specsavers’ County Championship game against Glamorgan at the SSE Swalec in Cardiff.Having reached 448 all out with the bat, thanks to half centuries from Chris Read and Brett Hutton, they bowled out Glamorgan for 187 and will choose overnight whether or not to enforce the follow on.The Welsh county have yet to win a four-day game this season and on the evidence of their performance on day two, a change of fortune looks highly unlikely. In fact, if they attempt as many high risk shots in their second innings as they did in the first, they will do well to take the game past tea.Aneurin Donald, Glamorgan’s only batsman to pass 50, said: “I felt pretty good out there, but it was criminal to get out in the way I did and when I did. We bowled well for two sessions on Friday and then we lost our way a bit. Today we stuffed up with the bat and didn’t get the job done.”Although the morning’s play was fragmented due to a couple of heavy rain showers and injuries to both Read and Hutton, Notts arrived at lunch on 389 for 6. Hutton, who was struck on the head by Marchant de Lange was the more aggressive of the two players, whilst Read, who reached his 50 off 71 balls with eight fours and a six, thereafter set off in careful pursuit of a three figures.After an early lunch had been taken due to heavy rain, the seventh wicket pair upped the tempo with Read, who was forced to have a runner after damaging a hip, playing a secondary role to Hutton who passed 50 from 80 balls, with six fours.Read eventually departed, at 427 for 7, caught by Will Bragg off the bowling of Lukas Carey for 88 and thereafter, Glamorgan enjoyed their most productive spell of thye day.Stuart Broad was bowled by Colin Ingram for seven, Hutton top-edged Carey to de Lange at backward point for 61 and Harry Gurney was comprehensively bowled by Timm van der Gutgen for one.
Van der Gutgen was the pick of the Glamorgan bowlers, finishing with figures of 5 for 101. Carey helped himself to 3 for 100.Keen to make early inroads, with the ball, Notts took less than eight overs to make the initial breakthrough. Luke Fletcher, bowling from the River End, had Nick Selman caught behind by stand-in wicket keeper Rikki Wessels for 7. Thereafter, Glamorgan lost wickets at regular intervals.Bragg committed cricketing suicide when running himself out for five at 20 for 2 and though the host county were only two wickets down at tea, their plight worsened thereafter.Ingram departed for nine, caught by Steven Mullaney off Hutton at 47 for 3, before captain Jacques Rudolph (25) edged Gurney to Wessels at 51 for 4.David Lloyd and Donald batted with a degree of aggression and application to take the Welsh county past the 100 mark in the 34th over, but after Lloyd was caught at slip by Mullaney off the bowling of Broad, for 34, Chris Cooke had his off stump knocked back by the England seamer to leave Glamorgan on 125 for 6.Any faint hope Glamorgan might have had of avoiding the follow on disappeared when Donald (53) pulled Fletcher to the mid wicket boundary where substitute Luke Wood pulled off a remarkable one handed catch.De Lange followed, caught in a similar position, by Cheteshwar Pujara at 158 for 8 and after van der Gutgen gifted Samit Patel his first wicket, shortly after, Carey was last man out at 187, leaving Notts with a first innings lead of 261.

An injury in the right wrist has ruled M Vijay out of the upcoming Sri Lanka Tests

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jul-20170:54

Quick Facts – Dhawan returns to the Test fold

A wrist injury that had troubled M Vijay during the home series against Australia has resurfaced to rule him out of the upcoming Sri Lanka Tests. He has been replaced by Shikhar Dhawan in the 16-man squad. Vijay complained of pain in his right wrist while playing a preparatory match and the BCCI medical team has advised him to continue his rehabilitation programme.Vijay had missed only one Test – against Australia in Bengaluru – out of India’s long home season of 13 and later revealed he had been playing with a fractured wrist. He was subsequently ruled out of the IPL and flew to the UK for surgery. Vijay had also picked up an injury on the left shoulder during the final Test against England in Chennai, making him sit on the sidelines for a month.Dhawan was originally left out of the squad for Sri Lanka despite his impressive form in the Champions Trophy last month, making way for back-up opener Abhinav Mukund. The two left-handers and KL Rahul, also returning from a shoulder injury, will be India’s opening options for the three Tests beginning July 26 in Galle.

Hampshire channeled the sadistic spirit of Surrey’s Gareth Batty in racking up 648 for 7 declared before attempting to force victory with the ball

Tim Wigmore at Kia Oval04-Jul-2017
ScorecardGeorge Bailey’s 161 piled the pressure on Surrey•Getty Images

At the Ageas Bowl a year ago, Gareth Batty decided that Surrey’s first innings should bat on and on, until after tea on the second day. The reason was simple: “To piss their batters off”. Only when Surrey had reached 637 for 7 did Batty finally declare.Here, Batty was injured. But Hampshire channeled his sadistic spirit: Surrey were pummeled.From the moment that Sean Ervine eased the opening ball, from Amar Virdi, through long-off for four, the entire second day seemed an exercise in waiting for the moment when George Bailey would take pity on Surrey and declare.He did not seem in a generous mood. This was a characteristic innings – remorseless, efficient and exactly in keeping with his team’s needs. There were two sixes thundered over long-on against spin; mostly, though, his near six hours at the crease were characterised by cold, bloodless accumulation. Only when attempting his third six was Bailey dismissed, for 161. No matter: he had already continued his supreme recent form against Surrey; Hampshire had a round 600 runs and Surrey their spirits sapped.All Hampshire batsmen on the second day were united by their ravenous run-scoring. Ervine combined with Bailey to add a record fifth-wicket stand against Surrey of 167 in 44.5 overs, his seamless ascent towards a second Championship century of 2017 ended only when he dragged Conor McKerr on. It was McKerr’s maiden Championship wicket for Surrey but, after match figures of 10 for 141 in his last game of a profitable loan spell at Derbyshire, he will not be lacking in awareness of the gulf between Division One and Two.If there was a criticism of Hampshire’s approach, perhaps they could have been even more attacking. Not that they dawdled: the run rate for the innings ended on exactly four, thanks to late pyrotechnics from Gareth Berg, who gleefully feasted on Surrey’s spin in harrumphing 35 off 16 balls. When he was caught at long-on, Hampshire had already surpassed Surrey’s gargantuan total from last summer. The 648 for 7 declared they mustered was not merely their highest ever first-class score against Surrey, it was the fifth-highest total in Hampshire’s 153-year history.The upshot was that Surrey needed an absurd 499 just to avoid the follow on. Hampshire had clearly recognised that, on a pitch that has so far proved particularly docile, batting once, and very, very big, was their best and only hope of forcing a win.At 3.58pm, Kyle Abbott was entrusted with the new ball. Over 60 overs in the day had already passed, and yet they all seemed a mere prelude to the 30 that Surrey had to face. Three slips waited purposively as Abbott ran in to bowl, and all the intensity that had seeped out of the game on a meandering day suddenly returned. Abbott, the most potent pace bowler in county cricket this summer, had a couple of left-handers – his preferred prey – to feast upon, and could bowl without any regard for defending runs.His initial six overs could not, though, overcome an alliance of the pitch and some commendable opening batting. Mark Stoneman was renowned for stolid defence at Chester-le-Street but has shown an altogether more assertive game after moving south; fresh from 144 not out in Surrey’s cup final defeat on Saturday, he drove and cut with wonderful authority.So well-timed were his shots that they only needed to locate a couple of unguarded inches on the off side to reach the boundary. Together with his immaculate defence off Abbott – a contest that could easily have been played out at Lord’s on Thursday instead – it added to the impression that Stoneman might well be the finest English first-class batsman not required for the national team this week.The sight of Ervine bowling some exploratory offspin after Surrey’s openers had reached their century stand seemed to encapsulate Hampshire’s uncertainty over how they would be able to winkle out 20 wickets on this surface. And yet Ervine proceeded to snare Stoneman, who had looked so serene: he was caught at first slip from a flighted delivery, though he gave the impression of being underwhelmed by the decision.With that, and the knowledge that Kumar Sangakkara is absent for this game, Hampshire were imbued with a sliver of hope that a fourth victory of the season might be within their grasp. But as Rory Burns swept the day’s final ball, from Mason Crane, to fine leg for four, it reaffirmed the sense that this is the sort of wicket to make bowlers weep.Of course, the same seemed true at the Ageas Bowl a year ago, until Surrey clinched a fraught victory in the dying embers of the match. For all that, basic arithmetic remains squarely against Hampshire: a match that has seen only eight wickets in its opening two days will now require another 19 in the final two.

Billy Godleman’s second half-century of this season’s NatWest T20 Blast helped Derbyshire to the top of the North Group with a five-wicket win over Yorkshire at Headingley

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2017Derbyshire skipper Billy Godleman is closing on the last eight•Getty Images

Billy Godleman’s second half-century of this season’s NatWest T20 Blast helped Derbyshire to the top of the North Group with a five-wicket win over Yorkshire at Headingley.Godleman led the pursuit of 181 as the Falcons secured the double over Yorkshire, winning with two balls to spare.The opener hit 67 off 48 balls after Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed scored 42 of Yorkshire’s 180 for 5 on his debut.Derbyshire, who have never reached Finals Day, leapfrogged Birmingham due to a better net run-rate, while Yorkshire are still on course for qualification despite a first Blast defeat in 11 matches at Headingley.Yorkshire’s innings lacked the fireworks of previous efforts, with them posting over 220 three times this season. They reached 54 for 1 after six overs having elected to bat, losing Tom Kohler-Cadmore for a brisk 29 with two leg-side sixes.David Willey and Adam Lyth, who hit 34, fell in the space of four balls in the ninth and 10 overs to spinners Wayne Madsen and Imran Tahir, leaving the score at 81 for 3.Madsen was the pick of the Falcons bowlers with 1 for 29 from his four overs and later hit a crucial 47 with the bat.Sarfraz and Shaun Marsh shared 67 inside nine overs for the fourth wicket before Hardus Viljoen struck twice in four balls, bowling Sarfraz as he looked to give himself room to slash over cover and Jack Leaning to leave the score 154 for 5.Marsh later did not field due to concussion having been hit by a Matt Henry slower ball bouncer whilst batting. He complained of dizziness when warming up before Derbyshire’s chase and Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said he would probably be out for at least a week, missing the next T20 against Durham and the Championship match against Essex.Derbyshire debutant Tom Wood skied Bresnan to midwicket in the fourth over of the chase before Luis Reece was caught at short third-man trying to scoop Steve Patterson as the score fell to 46 for 2 in the sixth.With rain coming and going, all eyes were on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, but the visitors kept their noses in front thanks to Godleman.He reached his latest half-century off 33 balls in the 10th over, by which stage the score had reached 83 for 2.Godleman found an aide in in-form Madsen. They shared 77 inside eight overs for the third wicket before former was caught behind off Willey as the score fell to 123 for three in the 14th.Steven Patterson and Adil Rashid tightened things up as the target became 49 off five overs and 33 off three.Madsen and Henry fell to Patterson in the 19th before Alex Hughes, with 10 needed off the last, smashed the first ball from Bresnan for six before captain Gary Wilson hit the winning runs.