Stokes reported a tight left hamstring during training in Leeds and will be assessed again on Thursday

George Dobell30-May-2018Sam Curran has been drafted into England’s Test squad after Ben Stokes sustained a hamstring strain. Stokes was only fit enough to bat in the nets on Thursday morning, with a scan due later in the day*.Curran, the 19-year-old Surrey left-arm swing bowler, travelled to Leeds on Wednesday night in order to train with the squad on Thursday. His brother, Tom, represented England in the final two Tests of the Ashes.Stokes sustained the strain during fielding practice on Wednesday. He is expected to take a late fitness test on Friday, before the start of the second Test against Pakistan, and it remains possible he could play as a specialist batsman.”Until we know how serious it is it’s hard to make decisions and because of that we can’t name a team today,” England captain Joe Root told Sky Sports News. “Of course if Ben’s fit we want him in the side, he’s one of our best players, he brings a lot to the table and offers so much to this team.”If Curran were to play, he would be the seventh youngest man – at 19 years and 363 days – to debut for England in Test cricket. He would also be the third man aged 20 or under to represent England in their last five Tests. Mason Crane made his Test debut in Sydney while Dom Bess made his at Lord’s. Both are 20. He was previously called into England’s T20 squad during the tri-series involving Australia and New Zealand earlier this year but did not play.Despite his relative youth, Curran has long been tipped for the future. He made his Championship debut aged just 17 – and took a five-for; the youngest man to do so in Championship history – and claimed a 10-wicket haul in his last Championship match, against Yorkshire a couple of weeks ago.In that match he dismissed the England captain, Joe Root, with a lovely inswinger in the first innings and the Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara in both innings.While not especially quick, his action – and ability to swing the ball – has drawn comparisons with Wasim Akram and he also has some pedigree with the bat. He is the son of former Zimbabwe allrounder, the late Kevin Curran.As well as being preferred to the likes of Craig Overton and Jake Ball, who represented England over the winter, Curran also appears to have leap-frogged his older brother. While Tom Curran’s commitment was impressive in Australia, his lack of pace was an issue on the flat wickets encountered in Melbourne and Sydney.Having just returned from the IPL, Tom has also not played a first-class game this season though whether than influenced the selectors is currently unclear.Stokes injury might also mean good news for Chris Woakes. He was 12th man at Lord’s but could come back into the side in place of either Stokes or, perhaps, Dom Bess if Stokes is cleared to play as a batsman only. Root and Dawid Malan could be asked to provide the spin bowling. Keaton Jennings also bowls serviceable medium-pace.*1100 BST, 31 May – Story updated with news of Stokes fitness and Root quote

Ben Stokes summoned a powerful retort in his first match since he tore a hamstring a month ago but Yorkshire ran out comfortable winners at Headingley

ECB Reporters Network05-Jul-2018
ScorecardYorkshire comfortably defended a 201 target against a Ben Stokes boosted Durham side at Emerald Headingley to make a winning start to this summer’s Vitality Blast.England all-rounder Stokes opened the batting in the chase and hit 90 not out off 68 balls in a 44-run defeat.But all in all, this was a comparatively subdued return to competitive action following the left hamstring tear he sustained in training prior to England’s Test against Pakistan here in early June.Delighted Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale said: “Adam Lyth was the glue throughout the innings. I thought he played really well. But the two debutants were outstanding. Harry Brook and Jonny Tattersall showed us what they can do. “I thought we backed it up in the field. We set the tone early. We starved Ben Stokes of the strike, and you could see how frustrated he was when he came off.”Stokes was never going to bowl against a Vikings side who amassed 200 for 3 thanks to 94 not out from Adam Lyth and an unbeaten 53 from Jonny Tattersall, the pair sharing an unbroken 110 in 8.5 overs.

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Stokes was tied down at the start of his innings, reaching four off 16 balls, but later accelerated without looking entirely comfortable, fitness wise. He reached 50 off 52 balls with a leg-side six and hit five in all.”Ben keeps getting a ball in the [right] foot,” Durham coach Jon Lewis said. “He got one there in the practice match he played on Tuesday, and he drilled one into his ankle in warm-ups before this game. It’s just bruising. The hamstring, to the best of my knowledge, is not an issue.”I think it was the running up and down which started to have an impact on what was already there. I think he’s alright. He’s certainly battled a bit and wasn’t happy with himself at the end. He’s not bowling yet fully, but I think he’s ready as a batter.”The visitors slipped to 13 for 2 and failed to recover as Jack Brooks excelled with three for 21 during his first T20 appearance in three years. They finished on 156 for 4.Although Yorkshire’s innings was built around Lyth’s effort, including nine fours and three sixes, it was lifted with the arrival of Tattersall at 90 for three in the 12th.When he came in, Lyth had 39. By the time the left-hander reached his fifty, Tattersall had 37 as he found the gaps with plenty of innovation.The Vikings wicketkeeper reached 50 off 26 balls with the penultimate ball of the innings.The game started with Yorkshire, invited to bat first, losing Tom Kohler-Cadmore to a top-edged pull at Chris Rushworth in the second over as the score fell to nine for one.Lyth then shared 81 in nine overs with Harry Brook, also on T20 debut like Tattersall.Brook hit two sixes and four fours in a brisk 44 before was caught at long-on off Imran Tahir at the end of the eleventh over.Gary Ballance then fell to Ryan Pringle at the start of the next over, superbly caught at cover by Tom Latham off a leading edge for a golden duck. But that was Durham’s last success as the Lyth and Tattersall attacked.Yorkshire started superbly with the ball as Brooks removed Graham Clark and Paul Collingwood in the space of three balls in the fourth over.Clark was caught at deep mid-wicket and Collingwood lbw for a golden duck.Although Stokes, who could play for England against India in Sunday’s T20 at Bristol, warmed to his task, he never looked like getting the Jets home.By the time he reached his fifty off 52 balls with a third six in the 15th over, Durham were 106 for four having lost Tom Latham and Will Smith to Steve Patterson and Brooks.And it was very much stand and deliver stuff at the end from the 27-year-old.

Jos Buttler fell for a first-ball duck but the first Blast quarter-final fell to a Lancashire side that could not believe its luck

David Hopps23-Aug-2018
ScorecardOnly one score lower than Kent’s 133 had ever been successfully defended in a T20 tie at Canterbury, but the overwrought faces on the Lancashire bench were a reminder that nothing would be automatic now the knockout stages in the Vitality Blast were spreading anxiety into every corner of this grand old ground. Although Lancashire took this quarter-final by six wickets with eight balls to spare, it felt closer.Lancashire had stiffened their ranks with two top-order England batsmen, Jos Buttler and Keaton Jennings, but Buttler was stumped first ball for a duck, Jennings (46 from 50) got out with the chase not quite broken. Sam Billings was a highly-resourceful captain and Kent fielded tigerishly.Memories of a horrendous collapse in the group stages against Durham at Old Trafford, culminating in three wickets lost in the final over, lurked below the surface. “Never again,” they had vowed in a dressing room inquest which burned the paint from the walls. There will be another occasion one day, there always is, but at least for Lancashire it was not to be this night.Lancashire hit one six all night and it as good as settled matters. When Jordan Clark swung Mitch Claydon over midwicket, the requirement was reduced to 11 from two overs. Only four more balls were needed as Clark and Dane Vilas stretched their unbroken fifth-wicket diving and scampering to 50 from 33 balls.Buttler will not be the first high-profile England player to be propelled into a county cup tie as if slightly disorientated. His emotions this week have been consumed by a maiden Test hundred at Trent Bridge and a heavy England defeat: vice-captain these days as well, remember. Too often, England players fail in high-profile county games and psychologically in such a crowded fixture list it is easy to understand why.It was a night when Lancashire could not believe their luck. They had bowled 52% of their overs in the group stages with spin bowling, with legspinners Matt Parkinson and Zahir Khan two of the most influential players in the tournament. By failing to win a home quarter-final the danger was that their spinners might be negated, but instead they found themselves on a Canterbury slow turner. They could not have planned it better themselves.”The worst we have batted all summer,” said Billings. “We certainly didn’t want to prepare a turning wicket like that against Lancashire with all their spin.” That he could smile through his frustration was a measure of the man, although he could not resist adding to BBC Radio Kent: “Whenever we play on good, flat, pacy pitches we play better than anyone. The only time we come unstuck is on slow snotheaps like that.”It has been a hot summer, county squares are heavily used and tired, and TV gantries can limit the choice even more. Quarter-finals can be hard to plan for. All that said, Kent could not have been more accommodating. Parkinson, with 3 for 27, took his competition tally to 23 wickets, second only to Worcestershire seamer Patrick Brown. “It spun more than we thought,” he said.Sam Billings stumps Jos Buttler first ball•Getty Images

Billings rose to the challenge with a run-a-ball 37, but even this was an innings constrained by circumstance. Parkinson dominated with 3 for 27 and, although Zahir was clearly frustrated by his own inaccuracy, the final ball of his spell was a resounding one – a big chinaman from around the wicket, delivered from wide out, which turned back to strike Billings’ off stump.Kent lost three wickets in the Powerplay before the spinners showed their hand. Daniel Bell-Drummond sacrificed himself to Joe Denly’s optimistic call for a single to square leg, second ball. Bell-Drummond might have made it without hesitation, he certainly had time to send Denly back; instead he courteously spared his partner and was run out by yards.Worse followed when Heino Kuhn was caught at the wicket, trying to guide Toby Lester to third man and Denly gave Buttler a second keeper’s catch when he tried to cut Jordan Clark.Billings has supervised a fine Kent season since returning from IPL and sporadic England limited-over duties: a more professional set-up, with not as much universal supremacy for the captain, has helped. Kent were runners-up at Lord’s in the Royal London Cup final, they lie third in Division Two of the Championship, and were in a quarter-final of the Blast. But plugging holes in an innings feels much the same whatever the details.The next three Kent wickets belonged to Parkinson, fair hair tightly cropped. Sean Dickson came in at No 5 as a stabilising influence, helped add 40 in six overs and then advanced down the track but holed out at long off. Australian Marcus Stoinis made a third-ball duck. Alex Blake’s potential for devastation ended quickly at deep midwicket.Stoinis had recovered from a hamstring strain and Kent chose not to risk him in their last two group matches for fear of a recurrence. The danger remained, though, that he would be rusty. Parkinson beat him second ball with dip and turn and then replicated the delivery to have him caught at slip. Billings’ departure made it 102 for 7 with four overs remaining and a packed Canterbury crowd took refuge in ironic cheers for some late-over scrambling.Lancashire took a long time to recover from the loss of Buttler, stumped by Billings off Joe Denly’s leg spin. Aaron Lilley’s pinch hitting at No 3 was silenced by the pace of Adam Milne and Alex Davies’ fraught innings was not that of a batsman boasting an average of 63.75 in the competition: he tried to tick along, but survived a return catch to Imran Qayyum, might have been thrown out by Billings at the non-striker’s end when he dawdled a single on the last ball of the Powerplay, and finally chipped Qayyum down the ground.Jennings, coming in at No 4, assessed the target calmly before he, too, was stumped off Qayyum, another spinner to have a good night. But Lancashire saw it through. On the bench, their injured captain, Liam Livingstone, looked as if it would be an act of mercy to pass him fit for Finals Day even if his broken thumb is in three pieces.

He was also the manager of the Virat Kohli-led Under-19 side that won the World Cup in 2008

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-2018Gopal Bose, the former India batsman and Bengal captain, died aged 71, in Birmingham on Sunday.
Bose represented Bengal in 78 first-class games from 1968 to 1978, scoring 3757 runs at 30.79 with eight hundreds. He also took 72 wickets with his offspin, with a best of 5 for 67. He also featured in eight List A games.The bespectacled opener was known for his ability to play long innings and once shared a 194-run opening stand with Sunil Gavaskar in a first-class game during the tour of Sri Lanka in 1973-74. He made 104.His only ODI appearance came against England at The Oval in 1974. He scored 13 runs and picked up the wicket of David Lloyd.Bose later served as a Bengal selector and coached their junior team as well. He was also the manager of the Virat Kohli-led India Under-19 side that won the World Cup in 2008.

Adil Rashid’s importance to Yorkshire is also highly symbolic and the county will be relieved that differences have been patched up

David Hopps18-Sep-2018Adil Rashid is on the verge of confirming his commitment as a Yorkshire cricketer and signing a new all-format deal with the county.An anticipated four-year deal would bring a successful end to a fraught period during which Yorkshire expressed their dismay that Rashid had been recalled for England in Test cricket even though he was only on a white-ball contract for the county which was due to expire at the end of this season.To some extent, if Rashid retains international form, the deal is largely a public relations exercise because he will rarely be available for county cricket anyway, but it is an important symbolic moment for Yorkshire nonetheless.They have defied many off-the-mark assumptions that Rashid would never play for the county again and, as such, have prevented collateral damage to a concerted player development programme in Asian communities, headed by investment in the historic Park Avenue ground in Rashid’s home city of Bradford.Rashid initially responded angrily to Yorkshire’s complaints about his selection, saying: “If they treat me like they have done I have to think about the future in terms of which county I play for.”That led Yorkshire to make rapid attempts to defuse the situation, explaining that their issue was not with him but with the national selector Ed Smith. They contended that allowing England players to play Tests on white-ball only contracts would jeopardise the future of the County Championship and cause a gradual fall in England’s Test standards as a consequence.That protest was successful with Smith quickly conceding that next summer any player chosen for England in Tests must have signed a multi-format contract.Rashid has had many suitors – not least of them Worcestershire where he could have teamed up with his friend and England colleague, Moeen Ali.Joe Root has a word with Adil Rashid•Getty Images

But he is reluctant to leave Bradford where he has iconic status, and where faith in him has never wavered. He has been with Yorkshire’s age group sides since 10 years old and became the first Yorkshire-born cricketer of Pakistani heritage to represent the county. There would seem to be a natural role for him in the city once his career is completed.Yorkshire have also worked hard to address any misunderstandings, led by the chief executive Mark Arthur and director of cricket Martyn Moxon, with both involved in what appeared to be successful negotiations on Tuesday while Yorkshire played the opening day of their Championship match against Hampshire at Headingley.Differences with the coach Andrew Gale have also been part of the discussions, perhaps belatedly. Gale and Rashid had tactical differences when Gale was captain and then Gale was outraged when Rashid pleaded fatigue and did not play in a Championship-decider against Middlesex at Lord’s two years ago. Rashid also explained that his grandmother was ill.Notably, the coach at the time, Jason Gillespie, was more understanding about the decision which had been a long-standing arrangement.Yorkshire are now in the unlikely position of having two specialist leg-spinners on their staff, having signed Josh Poysden from Warwickshire on the assumption that Rashid’s white-ball deal would continue. It is not unique, however, as Mark Lawson was only on the Yorkshire staff when he first broke into the side.Such disruption to their squad building, at a time when their cricket budget faced cutbacks, was barely addressed by critics who could see no further than England’s international needs.Rashid is likely to be instructed by England to rest, in any event, before England’s World Cup preparations begin in early May with a limited overs series at home to Pakistan.In April, with the seamers predominating, Poysden will not hold high hopes of any cricket either.Rashid made limited impact in England’s 4-1 Test series victory over India, claiming 10 wickets at 30 apiece, but he produced one of the memories of the summer on the last day at the final Test Kia Oval when he intervened at a critical time with a monumental leg-break out of the footmarks to bowl India’s century-maker KL Rahul.A Test and one-day tour next month to Sri Lanka – the one-day squad will be announced on Wednesday – is inevitable.

Andhra’s Hanuma Vihari was running away with the match before Siraj sprang into action with double-strikes in his match-turning second spell

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu in Bengaluru15-Oct-2018Mohammed Siraj reacts after dismantling the stumps•BCCI

A day after being released from India’s Test squad that swept West Indies 2-0, both Mohammed Siraj and Hanuma Vihari starred in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final at the Just Cricket Academy Ground in Bengaluru. But it was the fast bowler’s double-strike, taking the key wickets of Vihari (95) and Ricky Bhui (52), that cracked the game open and helped Hyderabad defend 281 to reach the semi-finals.After nipping out wicketkeeper-batsman Srikar Bharat for 12 in an erratic first spell that read 5-1-31-1, Siraj returned for his second to break the third-wicket stand with Bhui’s wicket to trigger a collapse that limited Andhra to 267 for 9.It began when he found extra bounce and had Bhui ramping a catch to third man for 52 off 71 balls. In his next over, Siraj hit an in-between length – neither full nor short – and found sharp reverse swing to have Vihari chopping on, when the Andhra captain seemed on track for his fifth List A hundred. Siraj could have made it three wickets in three overs had Tanmay Agarwal not dropped B Sumanth’s heathy edge at slip. No problem, Andhra’s lower order panicked under pressure as they crumbled from 198 for 2 to 259 for 9 and ultimately lost by 14 runs.Siraj ended with 3 for 50, setting up a semi-final clash with Mumbai, who will be bolstered by the addition of Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane. Andhra were gliding towards their second successive semi-final in the 50-over tournament, when Vihari was in his shot-making stride. He latched on to anything that was remotely full and wide of off. He even created his own lengths by taking regular trips down the pitch. After unfurling a variety of drives in the arc between backward point and the covers, he forced Siraj to shorten his lengths. When the fast bowler banged in a chest-high short ball on middle, Vihari swiftly swivelled on the back foot and hooked a six into the sparse but vocal crowd over long leg.Vihari then surged down the track against left-arm spinners B Sandeep and Mehdi Hasan and sent them out of the ground. He meted out the same treatment to legspinner Akash Bhandari and raised a run-a-ball fifty with another mighty six. When he was on 59, he shimmied out and belted a legbreak back to Bhandari, but the force of the shot ensured the return catch burst through the hands.Bhui, at the other end, was particularly fluent square on the off side, and progressed to a fifty of his own. Enter Siraj, again with his reverse swing at rapid speed. Game over for Andhra, despite late blows from No. 9 KV Sasikanth. Siraj’s team-mates jumped onto him and celebrated wildly in the middle of the pitch amid fading light.After overnight rains had delayed the start of the game by 15 minutes, Sasikanth and B Ayyappa swung the new ball and explored the channel outside off. Andhra also packed the off-side ring for left-handed opener Agarwal and cut off his drives. It was debutant left-arm seamer, 20-year old Prithvi Raj, who produced the breakthrough when he got rid of Akshath Reddy for 18 with his fourth ball, in the 11th over. Five overs later, Girinath Reddy coaxed an outside edge from Agarwal for 31.When Prithvi Raj pinned Rohit Rayudu in front for 21 in the 22nd over, Hyderabad were 97 for 3. The left-armer got the ball to fizz off the pitch and tested Rayudu – Ambati – with bouncers. After seeing off that spell, Ambati Rayudu stretched out and slog-swept legspinner Karn Sharma for a six over square leg.Vihari, who introduced himself into the attack after 25 overs, sprayed a full toss down the leg side for four and continued to struggle with his lines and lengths, as did Karn. They had combined figures of 10-0-65-0.After Ambati Rayudu ran himself out off a free hit, Sandeep, Hyderabad’s top-scorer in this competition, extended his fine run with 96 off 97 balls. He reverse-swept Karn for four, slammed Bandaru over his head and muscled Girinath Reddy over midwicket into the media zone. He led Hyderabad’s late burst – they took 34 runs in the last four overs – before holing out in the final over.Andhra’s openers Ashwin Hebbar and Bharat began the chase brightly and then Vihari hit higher notes, but it was Siraj who had the final say.

They had a night’s sleep, but Pakistan and New Zealand might well have just carried on unbroken by stumps last night, so similar was the tempo today

The Report by Danyal Rasool25-Nov-2018
They had a night’s sleep, but Pakistan and New Zealand might well have just carried on unbroken by stumps last night, so similar was the tempo today.Haris Sohail and Babar Azam’s 70-over behemoth of a partnership sought to grind New Zealand into the dirt, amassing 186 runs. Both reached Test hundreds, Babar belatedly his maiden one in the format, before a surprise declaration with the score at 418 – the lowest ever for a first innings declaration in the UAE – saw New Zealand have to keep their wits about them. That they did successfully enough, going in at stumps without having lost a wicket but still trailing by almost 400 runs.Curiously, Pakistan didn’t quite pick up the pace even as the pressure lifted. Heaps of credit must go to New Zealand’s bowlers for that, whose large-hearted efforts ensured they were never – not once in 167 overs – simply going through the motions awaiting a declaration. The lines were kept tight, the plans were still being hatched, and attempts to take wickets never wavered even as it seemed the toil of a treacherously unhelpful wicket would finally take its toll.That Pakistan only managed 418 might prove crucial over the next three days; only once before has a team declared at a score under 500 in this country. That was Sri Lanka in 2014, and they ended up losing with mere overs to spare.Pakistan, however, went back to what served them best during the halcyon days of Misbah-ul-Haq. They won the toss, and they set about batting for two days, shutting everything and everyone else out. It was the sort of steel that had been absent from their soft capitulation in Abu Dhabi, and they were eager to wipe it clean from everyone’s memories. Because of that, day two was almost a cut and paste of day one, Babar replacing Azhar Ali in a monstrously energy-sapping partnership with the indefatigable Sohail.Only 67 runs had come off a morning session where Kane Williamson called upon all of his five bowlers – as well as himself – at various times in an attempt to break through with no success. Perhaps surprisingly, Ajaz Patel bowled the first over instead of Trent Boult, but once he was taken out of the attack, he wouldn’t return all session. Boult wasn’t exactly subdued, but never quite possessed the penetrative threat he had carried this time around yesterday. Sodhi continues to struggle with the considerable challenge of bowling a consistent line in Test cricket, and found himself punished whenever he wavered, particularly by Babar in an over that went for 12, accounting for almost a fifth of all the runs this morning.Despite some eyebrows raised at the particularly snail-paced nature of the scoring yesterday, Haris and Babar made it clear they would not be changing their ways. Beginning today at 207, Pakistan were still not out of the woods, and a batting collapse would have seen all the grind of yesterday count for nothing.Haris looked slightly jittery when one run from completing a deserved hundred, charging down the wicket to Sodhi to several balls without ever getting to the pitch. It was only a rushed single that got him there before he was able to revert to type, and once more looking like the player who had bet his life upon his wicket.It wasn’t that Babar went unnoticed, but so effortless was the manner of his first Test century, you forgot this was a player who barely averaged 30 in this format. Batting for the first time since being agonisingly dismissed for 99 against Australia last month, he was determined to set the record straight against their trans-Tasman neighbours. And while Sohail toiled, Babar was, relative to the pace of the game, free-flowing. He, too, stuttered upon reaching his 90s and spent the entirety of the tea break stranded on 99, but there was never any question he would be denied once again. Where much was expected of Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq in the most Misbah era, Pakistan will be heartened to see a younger duo stepping up.Sohail’s vigil did end in a lively hour after tea when he was three runs short of 150, Boult finally claiming a wicket he was due about five sessions ago. Babar and Sarfraz Ahmed picked up the pace somewhat, but never to the extent that suggested a declaration tonight was imminent. The pair added 62 runs in 18 overs, and when Babar lofted a long hop from a wicketless Sodhi for six, it looked as if a Pakistan charge was on the cards. They turned out to be the last runs Pakistan would score, however, with the Pakistan captain pulling the plug after 167 to give his bowlers a crack at a tiring New Zealand.Tests like these in this part of the world have a reputation of bursting into life over the latter half. That bodes well for any viewers who sat through the first two days; they might feel they’ve earned a bit of excitement. The challenge for New Zealand will be to gear themselves up mentally to produce the sort of patience and determination Pakistan showed after toiling in the field for nearly two days.Pakistan, meanwhile, have consciously, forcefully and successfully dredged up the formula that Misbah imparted upon them, and as things stand right now, all the equations seem to match.

Pakistan captain critical of his seamers’ lack of pace after his team were beaten by nine wickets in Cape Town

Danyal Rasool at Newlands06-Jan-2019Sarfraz Ahmed was withering in his assessment of his own fast bowlers in the wake of South Africa’s nine-wicket win that sealed the series here in Cape Town. In the post-match press conference, a visibly irritated Pakistan captain bemoaned the “big difference” between his seamers and South Africa’s, saying the lack of pace with which Pakistan had bowled “won’t get you wickets”.For much of the second day, which saw a 156-run partnership between Faf du Plessis and Temba Bavuma effectively take the game out of the visitors’ reach, Pakistan’s pace had declined. Mohammad Amir’s reduced speed was the most notable, with the left-armer bowling 61% of his deliveries between 120-132 kph, the slowest he has bowled in his career, according to CricViz. Sarfraz said it was not the first time his bowlers had been down on pace in Cape Town, but was at a loss to explain why.”If you talk about our bowling and their bowling, I think there’s a big difference in the two,” he said. “The way our bowlers are bowling is not up to the mark in this Test match. If you see our bowlers, they’re bowling 128-129, and the average speed is 130, while their bowlers are bowling at 145. If you are going to bowl with that lack of pace here you won’t get wickets.”I don’t know what’s going on there. Previously it happened, too, when I came here in 2013, the same problem occurred. At the time we had [Mohammad] Irfan, Umar Gul and Tanvir Ahmed. Their pace was down too. I don’t know what’s happening here in Cape Town.”He made clear he thought South Africa “were fitter than us”, and while he acknowledged the batsmen didn’t put enough runs on the board, he repeatedly criticised the bowling for not keeping his side in the contest, even unfavourably comparing them to Pakistan’s batting.”Credit goes to their bowlers, they bowled really well and did not give us any bad balls,” he said. “If you look at our batsmen, our batsmen played some quality shots. When they batted, they played good shots too, but we gave them so many loose balls.”We are very disappointed, but as a team we are not playing well in Test cricket. We’re playing worse in Tests than all other forms. The way we bowled in Centurion was far better so we were hopeful we would get wickets here. But if we took wickets here in this Test that would have helped because we didn’t have enough runs on the board; we had just over 170 runs [in the first innings]. If we had taken wickets we would have restricted them to 250, 300 or something like that. I think that would have been a different story but we didn’t capitalise in those moments.”Temba Bavuma was felled by a Mohammad Amir delivery•AFP

Sarfraz’s castigation of the bowlers marks a dramatic fall from grace of a pace attack that was thought to be Pakistan’s best hope of keeping this series competitive. Before the series, Sarfraz had talked about the bowling being “our strength”, while South Africa captain Faf du Plessis had praised Pakistan for “having a fantastic group of bowlers”. It was also surprising, in that most observers attributed Pakistan’s lack of fight to the failure of the batsmen to put runs on the board; Pakistan’s second innings was the first time this series they crossed 200 in an innings.It also brings into sharp focus the debate surrounding Pakistan’s decision to go with four specialist bowlers and leave out Faheem Ashraf, who would have bolstered their seam-bowling options without lengthening the tail. However, Mickey Arthur said after the second day he wasn’t yet confident enough in Ashraf’s batting to view him as a legitimate allrounder, leading to the decision to play six specialist batsmen at Newlands.Sarfraz praised the batsmen for the fight they showed on the third day, helping Pakistan avoid an innings defeat, but said if they were to convert combativeness into wins, they needed to get the opposition out twice.”For the third Test match, we need to bat like we batted in the second innings,” he said. “I think we have nothing to lose. If you want to win Test matches, you have to take 20 wickets. If you don’t take 20 wickets, you’re not going to win. All Asian teams who win away, like India did in Johannesburg last year, take 20 wickets.”Sarfraz also said Pakistan’s decision to rejig the batting order, promoting the inform Shan Masood to open while pushing Fakhar Zaman down to No. 6, was an attempt to play to Fakhar’s strengths and shield him from the new ball. While Masood managed to record a half-century in his regular position, Fakhar going down the order didn’t help him discover the form he has searched for all series, scoring just 7 before being dismissed off yet another short ball.”Fakhar likes to play shots. He’s facing problems with the new ball and Shan Masood is playing really well, so that’s why we changed the order to see if Fakhar played better at number six.”

Table-toppers Cape Town Blitz faltered badly on the day it mattered most and were beaten by eight wickets

Liam Brickhill in Cape Town16-Dec-2018Jozi Stars claimed the inaugural Mzansi Super League title with a barnstorming eight-wicket win over Cape Town Blitz in the grand final at Newlands. Blitz lost their talisman Quinton de Kock early, having chosen to set a total, and never recovered. They limped to 113 for 7 on a slow, slightly two-paced pitch that eased out in baking afternoon sunshine, allowing Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen to steal the show, and seal the title, with an 86-run second wicket stand. Van der Dussen raised his third fifty in a row.Already unsettled by the illness that ruled regular opener Janneman Malan out before the game, Blitz were in big trouble by the second-over dismissal of de Kock, upon whom they have relied so heavily to get this far. De Kock scored 412 runs for Blitz in eight MSL innings, Malan 305 in nine, while no-one else in the squad came close to those numbers. Asif Ali was next best with 150, but 80 of those came in his very first innings of the tournament. Over-reliant on de Kock’s brilliance, Blitz floundered when he failed.After two half-chances in the first over, bowled by Simon Harmer, it was Beuran Hendricks who struck the vital early blow. Two balls after de Kock had slashed him over point for the first boundary of the innings, Hendricks surprised the left-hander with another lifter. De Kock lost his shape and sent a swirling top edge towards midwicket, where Reeza Hendricks sprinted backwards, keeping his eye on the ball plunging towards him out of a brilliant blue sky, and finally dived at full-stretch to hold the catch inches from the turf. While there were a few twists and turns thereafter, that play essentially sealed the game.Dawid Malan struggled to 3 from the first 16 balls he faced before cracking three boundaries in three balls off Kagiso Rabada and Duanne Olivier, and then got out attempting a fourth, chipping a drive to mid-off. His dismissal meant Blitz ended the Powerplay at a paltry 29 for 2.Mohammad Nawaz and Asif Ali came and went quickly, adding just seven runs to the total between them, and halfway through the innings Blitz were going nowhere slowly at 54 for 4. They continued to stumble, Kyle Verreynne mis-reading a slower one from Rabada to be trapped in front of his stumps for 23, and Andile Phehlukwayo needlessly run out chasing a second run as the score dipped to 80 for 6 with just under five overs to go.Rassie van der Dussen and Dane Vilas celebrate their title win•MSL

While Nono Pongolo didn’t feature with the ball today, he pulled off an acrobatic catch at third man to get rid of Blitz captain and their last hope Farhaan Behardien in the 17th over. Pongolo positioned himself to catch an upper cut off Beuran Hendricks, but the momentum carried him over the boundary, where he expertly parried the ball back into play and then leapt back himself to pull off the dismissal.Without a sizeable score to defend, Blitz gambled on their strike bowlers up front. Dale Steyn beat Reeza Hendricks’ outside edge three times in a row in the first over, and then burst one through Ryan Rickelton’s defences to make a mess of the stumps. He was kept on for three overs, with two slips in place, but Reeza Hendricks and van der Dussen were happy to play him out, even conceding a maiden.Once Steyn and Nandre Burger were seen off, the pressure swiftly dissipated. Malusi Siboto leaked 12 runs in his first over, van der Dussen slamming three fours in a row through the off side, while medium pacer Ferisco Adams was carted for 14 by Reeza Hendricks, including a handsome cut over backward point for six.With that, the required rate dipped under a-run-a-ball, and stayed there. Despite their wiles, Phehlukwayo and Nawaz were unable to break through, and Reeza Hendricks raised the fifty stand with a single down the ground in the 10th over.Reeza Hendricks eventually clipped Siboto into the hands of Malan at deep square leg, but van der Dussen took on the returning fast bowlers, pulling Steyn flat and hard for six and drilling Burger over mid-off to motor into the 40s. He raised a perfectly-paced 49-ball fifty with a cut off Adams in the 17th over, and took the equation to 5 required from 19 balls with a second characteristically clean hit through the covers in the same over.Van der Dussen’s crisp hitting has raised his stocks notably through this tournament, but he has also won friends and fans with his self-effacing, team-first approach. Fittingly, he left it to his captain Dane Vilas to hit the winning runs, who clubbed Burger through midwicket to spark hugs, handshakes and a booming fireworks display around the ground.

Saurashtra have the quality to win their semi-final against Karnataka, and, according to their superstar batsman, ‘perhaps even the final’

Saurabh Somani at the Chinnaswamy22-Jan-2019Cheteshwar Pujara averages 68.01 in the Ranji Trophy, but even in a tournament he’s dominated, he has taken his batting a notch higher against Karnataka. In six games against the eight-time champions, he averages 85.44 with two centuries and three fifties, including his first-class highest of 352 in Rajkot.On Thursday, Pujara and Saurashtra will meet Karnataka for the first time since that match in 2013. This time theyy’ll meet in the Ranji semi-finals, at Karnataka’s home ground, another venue that holds fond memories for Pujara. “I made my Test debut at the Chinnaswamy Stadium,” he said on Tuesday. “It is a special ground for me.”Pujara comes into this game on the back of two history-making events – he was Player of the Series in a first-ever Test series win for India in Australia, and part of the batting line-up that gunned down a record 372 against Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji quarter-finals.That chase has filled Pujara with confidence with regards to Saurashtra’s chances against Karnataka.”At times, we have been very desperate about winning the Ranji Trophy but this time there’s no pressure,” Pujara said. “I’m going to talk about this to all the players. Even if we lose, the kind of cricket we’ve played this season has been exceptional. The quarter-final victory was very special to me. I’m sure it is special to everyone. To make a comeback like that…”We have a very good chance of winning the semi-final and perhaps even the final. Because it shows that all the players are very determined. Throughout the season, all the players have contributed at some stage. Everyone is in form. If we play to our potential, we have a very good chance of winning this game. But there’s no pressure on any of the players.”Pujara wasn’t too keen to discuss his 2013 triple-hundred.”That’s in the past. We’ve played good cricket against them and won in Rajkot this season. I wasn’t there but the guys have played one game against Karnataka and know what to expect. The good thing is it’s a five-day game and we saw what we can do as a team. We didn’t do well in the first innings against UP but we had enough time to make a comeback. Now we’re a confident unit after chasing 372.”Cheteshwar Pujara plays the pull shot•Getty Images

He also admitted that being the batsman the team looked up to brings extra pressure.”Sometimes there is extra pressure. When I was playing the quarter-final I knew there was a lot of responsibility on my shoulders,” Pujara said. “But I also need to understand that I need to be normal to perform well. I just have to focus on the process rather than worrying about the pressure or expectations which are there. I’ve already started my preparation today. I’ll have one more net session tomorrow.”Given this desire to prepare, Pujara came straight to the Chinnaswamy from the airport, not bothering to stop at the team hotel in between. The rest of the Saurashtra team reached Bengaluru on Monday night, and Pujara joined them directly at the nets.”I feel it is important to be part of the Ranji Trophy,” he said. “For me, playing for Saurashtra is an honour. I’ve grown up playing Ranji Trophy cricket. It has helped me immensely when I’ve played international cricket. Being part of the Saurashtra unit is something I’ve always looked forward to. Especially when we are in the knockout stage, I feel if I’m around, if I can share my experience with young players, it can help the team. It’s a bit of a change coming here from Australia and playing with the SG ball… it’s slightly different. But fortunately, I got to play in the quarter-final.”I always respect the Ranji Trophy. It is always special for me. I feel youngsters should look forward to playing this tournament because it prepares you for the longer format. I made my Ranji debut for Saurashtra in 2005. After that, the number of matches I’ve played…it’s taught me many lessons on playing long innings.”Those words were echoed by Mayank Agarwal, who will be on the opposite side after having batted alongside Pujara in Australia. Agarwal has recovered from the thumb soreness that kept him out of Karnataka’s quarter-final against Rajasthan.”It means a lot,” Agarwal said, about playing for Karnataka. “The state has given a lot of opportunities and facilities and as a player. Whatever you do, you have to come back and play for the state. And put in that effort, which you did before you went to play for the country. So nothing changes.”The preparation remains the same. Whether you have played for India or not, you have to go out there and give your best and do the same things right, again and again. Obviously, you will have some confidence under your belt. Also, you have a bit more experience so that is something which you can carry forward.”