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Essex carved out a first-innings lead but a draw looks the likeliest outcome after Surrey’s openers batted to the close

Alan Gardner at The Oval13-Apr-2019Surrey 395 and 68 for 0 lead Essex 448 (ten Doeschate 130, Lawrence 93) by 15 runs
The Championship season is only just stirring from its winter slumber but already Surrey have experienced the intrusion of a muffled alarm call. Ryan ten Doeschate’s propulsive hundred sent Essex into the ascendency just past the midpoint of this game and it needed some careful batting by the Surrey openers, Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman, to hit the snooze button again as they wrote off a 53-run deficit on the third evening.If Surrey are to build another trophy-laden dynasty to match those of previous eras in south London, they will have to take on all-comers. Being at the head of the pack comes with added challenges, opponents tooled up to knock you down – as in Mario Kart, sometimes a blue leader shell will hit you out of nowhere.Essex felt the heat themselves last season, when they quickly fell off the pace in their title defence, and came into this match off the back of a shellacking at Hampshire. But inspired by their captain they fought tenaciously to reach a position from which the only likely loser was Surrey – even if a benign pitch mitigated against a collapse.With only 20 wickets having fallen across three days a draw beckons, although it would have been interesting to note the effect if Jamie Porter, springing to his left in his follow through, had been able to grasp Burns’ leading edge from the first ball of the innings.Surrey may well end up being thankful for such a vigorous tussle in their first outing. They began the day hoping for a victory push but, with the pennant fluttering above the pavilion, having replaced the Union flag that flew on days one and two – rumour was Surrey’s scorer had been sleeping with it under his pillow – those windcheater-clad faithful who hunkered down beneath a patchwork of cloud cover had to endure a ten Doeschate masterclass as he took his first-class average against Surrey into the 80s with a first Oval hundred.It was ten Doeschate who rolled up his sleeves and got Essex over the line at this ground last year, an unbeaten 53 securing a one-wicket win that ended Surrey’s chances of going through the campaign unbeaten (as Essex had the year before). The captain set his jaw against the prevailing winds – whipped up principally by Morne Morkel – and made sure that the deposed champions would not achieve an unwanted record by losing on the back of a 410-run lead.Ten Doeschate may be approaching 39 and creaking a little more than he used to (he was unable to finish a solitary over of bowling on the first day of this match), but he can still summon bloody-minded belligerence for the cause. Essex’s last recognised batsman when he walked out at 168 for 4 on Friday afternoon, he helped fashion partnerships of 81 and 102 for the next two wickets, doing the bulk of the scoring himself.There were 20 fours in all, including a number of broad-beamed biffs through the off side, and one skip down the wicket to dump the spin of Freddie van den Bergh for six over long-on. No shot was finer than the straight drive off Morkel, armed with the second new ball, that took ten Doeschate to 99; the next delivery was dinked neatly into the covers for the scampered single that raised his 20th first-class hundred for Essex.Having been 20 not out overnight, ten Doeschate hustled another 110 from 140 balls to push Surrey on to the back foot – a turnaround that did not seem likely after Essex had been 20 for 2 in reply to 395. Other than the possibility of an inside edge on 66, with the ball ballooning up for a return catch to van den Bergh, he was as secure as a bank vault during almost four hours at the crease.Essex might have had two centurions but Dan Lawrence departed seven short, steering Rikki Clarke to slip having seen off the opening bursts from Morkel and Tom Curran. Middlesex loanee Robbie White was then neat and tidy in making 39 on his first Essex appearance.When ten Doeschate eventually fell, a first Surrey wicket for the persevering Liam Plunkett who came back well after a chastening start to his debut, Essex were still 10 runs in arrears. But Peter Siddle popped his collar to good effect at No. 9, while Porter got bravely into line against a peppering from Morkel, as the last two partnerships kept Surrey in the field for another 20 overs to secure a fifth batting point and a hard-won advantage.

Earlier in the one-day series, the India captain batted according to the match situation, did just what his team needed. Now, with the result of the game holding little value, he had the licence to let himself go, and boy did he put on a show

Sidharth Monga in Centurion17-Feb-2018After sealing the series in Port Elizabeth, with the temptation of a clean sweep not alive, Virat Kohli suggested he might rest some of India’s key players, not least because there are players in that ODI squad who haven’t had a go in the series. Come game day in the dead rubber, India were full strength again. The only man missing out was Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who hasn’t been at his best and was showing signs of fatigue. Despite having played in every match on the tour, Jasprit Bumrah continued to play on.And so did captain Kohli. You could see sense if Kohli wanted to rest it out before the T20I series in two days’ time, but after having watched him bat, you are thankful he didn’t. How could he miss this? He had played tough, tense cricket on the tour so far; now was the time to celebrate, to show South Africa what he was truly capable of after having batted in a certain role through the series, mindful of a slightly weaker lower-middle order.Through the series, it has looked impossible to get Kohli out once he has batted for 10 to 15 balls. In Durban, he offered a catch second ball, which claimed Faf du Plessis’ finger on the way to the boundary. In Cape Town, he was given out lbw third ball only for DRS to save him. That’s about the only two times he has looked in trouble. Yet he has mostly batted within himself. In Cape Town, for example, he kept losing partners, which meant he had to delay his charge. The Durban chase didn’t need any big hitting but required one big innings, which meant he had to play within himself again. In Johannesburg, he fell just as he was hitting a higher gear. In Port Elizabeth, he was run out.On Friday night, though, Kohli had the licence to let himself go. The target was small, the pitch wasn’t demanding, and South Africa were in no mood to play the long game. They were going to gamble with attacking fields. If he hadn’t already done it, Kohli was going to dominate on this night. And dominate he did with joyful stroke-play, scoring 129 off just 96 balls. For a change, Kohli hit the ball in the air early on in the innings. For a change, he scored 88 of his runs in boundaries. In Cape Town, with the series alive and a wicket gone in the first over, it had been the opposite: hitting in the air only towards the end and running 100 of his 160 runs.This was as if to show the world he could bat much more aggressively, but, in the better interest of the team, in adjusting to match situations, he batted the way he did earlier in the series. He still managed a small matter of two centuries in five matches.Still, Kohli wasn’t done. He had another score to settle. After celebrations, he walked to the same press-conference room where he had a run-in with reporters even as he nursed his wounds from the Test series. He was hurting that day, and clearly hadn’t forgotten the unpleasant press conference or the reporting thereafter. “One month back we were a very bad team,” Kohli said when asked if this was the biggest ODI series win for him. “Now we are being asked these questions [which glorify the team]. We haven’t changed our mindset. We have just focused on our cricket.”I don’t want to get lost in such thoughts: whether this is the biggest win or no. Our work is to play the game, strive hard, our work is to perform and try to win every match. Now whether this is the biggest win or not, whoever wants to analyse, write, [they] will do so. For us as a team, our only motive is to give 120% effort, strive hard in practice, keep our mindset good on every day of the tour and prepare so well that we can go and win. We have achieved that this series, and that gives us most happiness. Creating these tags or headlines is not our work. We just wanted to play cricket, which we have executed perfectly this series.”I know for a fact that 90% of the people didn’t give us a chance after two Tests. I was sitting in the same room giving a press conference. So we understand where we’ve come from. I’m not going to live in a dreamland right now and accept all the praise and sit here and feel good about this because it doesn’t matter to me. Honestly, it doesn’t. It didn’t matter when we were 2-0 down [in the Tests], it doesn’t matter when we’re 5-1 up. Because what matters is the respect in the change room. What matters is what the management thinks about me, what I think about the players and what the players think about me. That’s all that matters to me. These things do not matter. I know the headlines change day in and day out. Tomorrow I play a bad shot and get out for zero, everyone will conveniently do what they want to do.”Sitting next to Kohli, coach Ravi Shastri was in no mood to see the series win in the light of a weakened South African opposition, which missed three gun players in two of the six matches, two in three and one in one. “One thing history tells me, I have been coming here since 1992, there is not one South African side in the world that anyone can say is a weak side,” he said. “You just look at their bilateral record, and they are one of the great sides in bilateral cricket. I have followed this game for a long time. I have been a broadcaster as well and covered a lot of South Africa games, and I know how they play. So I would like my boys to enjoy every bit of this series win. Whatever the scoreline is, they must enjoy because it doesn’t happen every day.””We had the same mindset when we played in Sri Lanka recently, we had the same mindset when we beat Australia,” Kohli said. “When we beat Sri Lanka 9-0, everyone said it’s a weak team. When we beat Australia, they still said Australia is not a good ODI side. Then we beat New Zealand, then we beat Sri Lanka again, and we’ve beaten South Africa here again. So the focus has always been on the team. It doesn’t matter who is playing, who is not playing. Whether the team is what it is supposed to be or it’s not, it’s not in our hands and it’s none of our concern.”

Firdose Moonda09-Jan-20170:40

Quick Facts – Farhaan Behardien

Farhaan Behardien will captain a new-look South African T20 outfit in their series against Sri Lanka later this month, which includes six new caps. The 13-man squad for the first two matches has only four members – Behardien, David Miller, Imran Tahir, Aaron Phangiso – who were part of South Africa’s last T20 matches at the World T20 in March 2016.Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw and David Wiese were not considered because both have recently signed Kolpak deals to play in county cricket, thereby ending their international careers.The radical changes to the South Africa squad – including resting regular skipper Faf du Plessis and several senior players such as Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada – come as a result of a packed fixture list which has seen scant breaks since last November. South Africa had three weeks between their Tests in Australia to the home series against Sri Lanka and will only have four days between the end of that and their trip to New Zealand. They have identified the shortest format, which does not have a major tournament coming up until at least 2018, as the area they can afford to experiment in.

All change for SA T20

IN: Theunis de Bruyn, Reeza Hendricks, Heino Kuhn, Mangaliso Mosehle, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Jon-Jon Smuts, Wayne Parnell
OUT: Faf du Plessis, Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese

“We have decided to rest some of our key senior players for this series,” Linda Zondi, convener of selector said. “This is the last chance we have to do this as the ODI series that follows is an important part of our build-up to the Champions Trophy tournament in England in the middle of the year.”Those senior players who are involved in the Indian Premier League will be playing non-stop from now until the end of August with the tours coming up to New Zealand and England in addition to the ICC event.”There are two veterans who may return for the final fixture, though. AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel, neither of whom have played since the CPL in June because of elbow and back injuries respectively, are both due to play a List A game for Northerns on January 22, three days before the final T20 in Cape Town. Should they come through that match unscathed, they will be considered for the last match and South Africa’s tour to New Zealand.Some of the new inclusions will also be eyeing that trip. Although South Africa play just one T20 in Auckland, they will know there are places up for grabs in the ODI squad, especially with the new ball. Andile Phehlukwayo, who was South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in the recent ODI series against Australia and is likely to make his T20 debut against Sri Lanka, could be in contention for that role.Dane Paterson, the Cobras quick, will also fancy his chances. Paterson took just six wickets from nine matches at 39.00 in this season’s T20 competition but was in the top ten in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 editions. Titans bowler Lungi Ngidi, 20, who played a pivotal role in their victory in the domestic T20 final with 2 for 27 in four overs, is the other new face in the bowling department.Among the batsmen, some established players have been rewarded for seasons of consistency. Jon-Jon Smuts from the Warriors, who topped the T20 competition run charts with 371 runs at 41.22, is among them. Heino Kuhn was seventh on the list and has the chance to add to his five T20 caps while Reeza Hendricks, who has played the same number of T20 internationals but did not perform particularly well for the Lions, was also included. Theunis de Bruyn, who is the reserve batsmen in the Test squad and only played half this season’s T20 matches but scored 195 runs at 48.75, has also been included.In the absence of de Kock and de Villiers, Mangaliso Mosehle is set to take the wicketkeeping gloves. Mosehle is also a handy middle-order batsman and finished eighth on the run list in the T20 tournament.Among those overlooked were Rassie van der Dussen, who was fourth on the batting charts, Andrew Birch, who finished as the second highest wicket-taker, and Sisanda Magala, who was third. Chris Morris could not be considered because he has yet to make a comeback from a knee injury that has sidelined him for the last three months. Morris was due to play for the Titans in a first-class match last week but the fixture was rained out.South Africa T20 squad: Farhaan Behardien (capt), Theunis de Bruyn, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heino Kuhn, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle, Lungi Ngidi, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Jon-Jon Smuts

Punjab recover from 80 for 5 to end the opening day on 248 for 8 at Green Park in Kanpur

The Report by Vishal Dikshit in Kanpur23-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Gitansh Khera (in pic) and Mayank Sidhana revived Punjab with a 138-run stand after UP pacers ran riot in the opening session on Day 1 in Kanpur•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

There isn’t much going on in Kanpur to suggest a match involving international stars such as Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar is underway. You could experience a mash-up of several DJs in the evenings as marriages take place in wholesale amounts. You could also inadvertently be involved in arguments in tea shops over what the newly-elected government will do, or not do, in neighbouring state Bihar. Or you could try to estimate the size of the massive hoardings that have been up all over the city to celebrate Mulayam Singh Yadav’s birthday that was on Sunday.Amidst all this, low-profile batsmen Mayank Sidhana and Gitansh Khera led Punjab’s fight back at Green Park, where Uttar Pradesh had reduced the visitors to 80 for 5 just after lunch on the opening day. The pair combined to revive Punjab with a 138-run stand that saved the side from being bundled out for another paltry score. Sidhana was playing a first-class match for the first time in nearly two years, but his batting showed otherwise.

Sidhana makes hay in Gurkeerat’s absence

Punjab’s top-scorer Mayank Sidhana (85) last played a first-class match in December 2013 and would have sat out of today’s match it not been for one of his team-mates’ injury. Punjab had to make one change once allrounder Gurkeerat Singh was called up to join India’s Test squad, but his original replacement was not Sidhana.
“Now you can call it fate or anything that the player who was going to play had a stiff back and only five minutes before the toss I came to know that I had to play,” Sidhana said after the match.
“Taruwar Kohli was going to play initially. He was not in the squad originally but Gurkeerat Mann left to join the Indian team so Kohli was brought in. He bats and bowls some medium-pace, but he got a stiff back just before the toss.”

Punjab’s wickets fell thick and fast once they were put in on a green pitch. The UP bowlers made full use of the conditions early on by making the batsmen play most of the deliveries, even if they conceded the odd boundary. Praveen swung the ball both ways in trademark fashion with four slips, and Ankit Rajpoot used the corridor with back-of-length deliveries that reaped benefits.Even though Praveen started with a huge lbw appeal against Manan Vohra on the first ball of the match, it was Rajpoot who removed the openers. Rajpoot trapped Jiwanjot Singh lbw with an inswinger, and had Vohra caught behind with an outswinger off his next over. Praveen then got into the act and was rewarded after a brief stand of 35 runs between Uday Kaul and Mandeep Singh. Uday had nudged the ball around for his 16 runs, but lost his off stump when he played down the wrong line in Praveen’s second spell.The Kanpur crowd was then treated to a short bout between Praveen and Yuvraj. Praveen sent down a bouncer to welcome Yuvraj before the left-handed batsmen unleashed his symbolic flamingo flick to the midwicket boundary that drew big cheer. Praveen then resorted to an outside-off-stump line and the crowd “oooh”ed when an outside edge from Yuvraj fell just short of first slip. Four overs later, Praveen erred on the pads again and Yuvraj was happy to flick one more for four.Like a replay of the first edge, Praveen went back to outside off and Yuvraj got a faint edge for the wicketkeeper this time. Mandeep Singh had survived till now by defending plenty and pulling Imtiaz Ahmed for fours when he pitched the ball short. But the same bowler accounted for Mandeep off the 12th ball after lunch when he reached out for a widish delivery outside off to be caught behind.That brought together Sidhana and Khera. The two batsmen played out the rest of the second session with hardly any trouble. The ball was nearly 40 overs old, the sun was out and the pitch was being labelled a ” (fake) green top” by the locals. Sidhana and Khera are very similar batsmen – both are tall, right-handed, play the ball late and use the pace of the ball to steer it into gaps.In the second session they took minimal risk and started by pushing the ball for singles and doubles, did not hesitate to put away the loose balls for fours, and punished the spinners with hardly any turn on offer. Unlike the batsmen who preceded them, they scored at more than three runs per over and grew in confidence after tea. Soon after Sidhana brought up his ninth first-class fifty, Khera danced down the track to launch left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar over long-on to reach 50, and take the stand past 100. Sidhana also joined in by dispatching Piyush Chawla for six from the other end to approach the 80s.UP finally got some relief when part-time medium-pacer Akshdeep Nath broke the stand. Sidhana, too, paid the price for poking outside off and gave wicketkeeper Eklavya Dwivedi his fourth catch of the day. Two overs later Saurabh held on to an excellent catch running backwards from mid-on to dismiss Harbhajan. UP took the second new ball immediately and Rajpoot drew an edge from Khera’s bat but he was dropped on 61 at first slip. Two overs later, Rajpoot trapped Siddharth Kaul lbw and Punjab ended on 248 for 8 with Khera on 73 as bad light cut the day short by three overs.

The first-ever Twenty20 at the Queens Sports Club ground in Bulawayo was a thriller with the home team squeezing home by six runs

The Report by Mohammad Isam11-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shakib Al Hasan was superb with bat and ball, but it wasn’t enough for Bangladesh•AFP

The first-ever Twenty20 at the Queens Sports Club ground in Bulawayo was a thriller with the home team squeezing home by six runs. Zimbabwe fought back mightily when it mattered and Bangladesh imploded just when they could smell the win. The visitors collapsed from 120 for 1 in the 15th over to being kept down to 162 for 8. Tinashe Panyangara bowled a terrific final over, giving away just three runs as the Bangladesh lower-order failed to play smartly.Zimbabwe had earlier made 168 for 5 after deciding to bat first. Hamilton Masakadza struck his seventh fifty while captain Brendan Taylor made a quickfire 40 as they put Zimbabwe on course for a big total. Bangladesh were brought back into the game by their spinners after the Taylor-Masakadza partnership ended, with Shakib Al Hasan getting both wickets and bowling economically in between.Shakib was doing the job with the bat too, hammering 65 off 40 balls and helping add 118 for the second wicket with Shamsur Rahman. He struck eight disdainful fours and two sixes while Shamsur ended up with his maiden fifty, after a slow start.The pair had taken Bangladesh to within 49 of the target with 34 balls to go, but the moment Shakib was dismissed, the Bangladesh batsmen started to make a meal of the chase.Shamsur fell two balls later and it was down to the Bangladesh captain, Mushfiqur Rahman, to steer the chase. He began badly though, involved in two mix-ups that ended in run-outs of Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah in the 16th over. Nasir was inches short of safety as Tinotenda Mutombodzi broke the stumps. Mahmudullah was far from the crease at the other end after he got mixed calls from Mushfiqur; Mutombodzi swooped on the ball to his left and scored a direct-hit.Then the pressure got to Ziaur Rahman, the Twenty20 specialist who had a torrid time connecting bat on ball. He frustrated Mushfiqur, with whom he almost had a collision, before falling to Panyangara’s clever length in the 18th over. This wicket, and the eight runs from the over, perhaps swayed Taylor into picking Panyangara to bowl the last over.Mushfiqur hit two sixes in the melee of wickets, before holing out to deep square-leg off the first ball of the final over when 10 runs were required. Panyangara was more resourceful in his last two overs than his first two, keeping it full to choke the runs. Sohag Gazi has some batting credentials but looked out of his depth towards the end of the chase while Abdur Razzak missed everything even though he was given room to swing.Panyangara took three wickets while Prosper Utseya broke the Shakib-Shamsur partnership, taking both wickets. Brian Vitori was also excellent, giving away just 24 from his four overs and picking up the wicket of Tamim Iqbal in the first over.This, after the Bangladesh spinners brought them back into the game with some control over the big-hitting in the last seven overs. Taylor and Masakadza put on 74 for the second wicket with the Zimbabwe captain severe on anything pitched on legstump. He made 40 off 25 balls with six fours and a paddle-swept six. He fell in the ninth over, after which Masakadza tried to up the run-rate but wasn’t too successful.He was dismissed after making 59 off 48 balls with four boundaries and a six. They failed to get the big hits away in the last five overs, with Shakib taking 2 for 20 and one wicket apiece for Gazi, Shafiul Islam and Mahmudullah.Bangladesh now have a final shot at redeeming the tour on Sunday. Mushfiqur will be under some pressure as he was in charge after the Shakib-Shamsur partnership broke, but couldn’t see the team through.

Phil Jaques, the former Australia batsman, has had his registration as a non-overseas player for Yorkshire cleared by the ECB

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2012Phil Jaques, the former Australia batsman, has had his registration as a non-overseas player for Yorkshire cleared by the ECB but was unable to resume his county career when rain washed out the opening day against Essex at Headingley.Jaques, who has scored 2477 first-class at 61.92 runs for Yorkshire in his previous spells with the county, had a meeting on Monday where the paperwork was completed and now cannot play cricket in Australia except at club level.”It is quite a while now since I played for Yorkshire and I am really excited to get back into it,” he said. “There are a lot of good players at the club and I hope that I can help to get Yorkshire back into the Division One of the Championship where they belong.”Jaques was looking forward to working with former Australia team-mate Jason Gillespie, Yorkshire’s new coach, to turn the team’s fortunes around. “He was a senior player when I first got into Australia’s side and we will be in similar roles now,” he said.While Jaques’ situation was good news for Yorkshire, events across the Atlantic in the Caribbean have created difficulties in completing the signing of Mitchell Starc, Australia’s left-arm fast bowler, who is lined up to bolster their bowling resources.It had been hoped that Starc would be able to make his debut on May 9 against Gloucestershire but injuries to James Pattinson and Peter Siddle during the current Test series against West Indies mean that he could now be recalled for the third Test in Dominica next week. That, in turn, could impact when Cricket Australia are willing to release him for a county stint, although he has had little cricket recently.Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, hopes to have a clearer picture when the Test series is complete.

After bowling out Dhaka Division for 280, Rajshahi Division played out the one over they had to manoeuvre at the end of Day 1, going to stumps with all wickets intact to set up an interesting second day of the National Cricket League final in Mirpur

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2011
Scorecard
Rajshahi’s spinners troubled Dhaka on Day 1 of the National Cricket League final in Mirpur•BCB

After bowling out Dhaka Division for 280, Rajshahi Division played out the one over they had to manoeuvre at the end of Day 1, going to stumps with all wickets intact to set up an interesting second day of the National Cricket League final in Mirpur.Choosing to field, Rajshahi began ideally, with Shafiul Islam sending back opener Rony Talukder first ball. Shamsur Rahman and Anamul Haque put on a half-century partnership to steady Dhaka briefly, before a double-strike reduced them from 55 for 1 to 56 for 3. From then on the spinners – left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib and offspinner Farhad Hossain – took over, periodically striking to finish with five wickets between them. The middle order produced valuable cameos – Mahmudullah and Elias Sunny scoring fifties – to carry Dhaka to 280, but none of them could kick on to make a big score. First-change bowler Farhad Reza cleaned up the tail without too much effort late in the day, to finish with 3 for 41 off 17 overs.Rajshahi’s openers Jahurul Islam and Junaid Siddique survived the six-ball crack Dhaka had at them prior to stumps, and will resume Day 2 on 2 for no loss.

Pakistan rounded off their preparations for the ICC Women’s Twenty20 with a big win against West Indies

Cricinfo staff30-Apr-2010
Scorecard
Pakistan rounded off their preparations for the ICC Women’s Twenty20 with a big win against West Indies, one that denied the home side their second successive series sweep. Pakistan kept West Indies to just 105 and then knocked off the runs with eight wickets remaining in St Kitts.It was a disappointing card from a side that had dominated Sri Lanka over three Twenty20s and Pakistan in the first two. Corel Jack top-scored with 46 after Pakistan opted to field on a hard surface and no other batsman crossed 20. Pakistan captain, Sana Mir, led an accomplished bowling performance with 3 for 17 from three overs. In reply, the opener Sajjida Shah then anchored Pakistan to victory with five fours in an unbeaten 51 from 54 balls.The Women’s World Twenty20 begins on May 5.

The chief selector said Kohli’s experience was valuable to India’s T20 squad and that there was enough muscle in the middle order

Shashank Kishore02-May-20241:03

Agarkar: Someone with Kohli’s experience matters at World Cup level

“Are you concerned about Virat Kohli’s strike rate?”India’s chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar was asked that question at a press conference to discuss the squad for the T20 World Cup in Mumbai on Thursday. Though he didn’t specify, it’s possible the questioner may have meant Kohli’s strike rate against spin.”I don’t think we’ve been discussing it,” Agarkar said. “Look, he has been in great form fortunately in the IPL, so there are no concerns there at all with regards to how it’s going [for Kohli] in the IPL.”Kohli is currently the second highest run-scorer this season, with 500 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 147.49. But, among 16 players who have scored at least 100 runs against spin in IPL 2024, Kohli ‘s strike rate of 135.66 is the fifth lowest.Agarkar, however, said that Kohli’s experience was valuable and that they had made selections to give the middle order more power. “I mean we’ve obviously got some reinforcements. That’s the whole thing, but you want some experience in your team,” he said. “I mean these guys [Rohit, Kohli] have been around because they’ve been good enough to be around. That’s the reason they played. They have played multiple World Cups.Virat Kohli has 500 runs at a strike rate of 147.49 after 10 innings in IPL 2024•BCCI

“But look, like Rohit spoke before, we have tried to get in players who are going to bat a certain way in the middle of the innings where just presuming that a lot of teams will use spin sometimes. That has been an issue. We have tried to address that with some of the guys that we picked. We have tried to get in some left handers as well through the middle of that innings. Surya has been the number one T20 player in the world for a while. I don’t think he’s too bad through the middle either.”Last week in the IPL, Kohli played one of his best T20 innings against spin, scoring 70 not out off 44 balls against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. He scored 61 runs at a strike rate of 179 against Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Sai Kishore, the most he has ever scored against spin in a T20 game.”All the people who talk about strike rates and me not playing spin well are the ones who love talking about this stuff,” Kohli said after that innings. “But for me, it’s just about winning the game for the team. And there’s a reason why you do it for 15 years – because you’ve done this day in [and] day out; you’ve won games for your teams.”I am not quite sure if you’ve been in that situation yourself to sit and speak about the game from a box. I don’t really think it’s the same thing [as playing out there]. So for me, it’s just about doing my job. People can talk about their own ideas and assumptions of the game, but those who have done it day in [and] day out know what’s happening, and it’s kind of a muscle memory for me now.”

Yorkshire bring in Australian Mickey Edwards as a local player

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2023Somerset have signed Matt Henry, the New Zealand seamer, as an overseas player for seven County Championship games and the duration of the T20 Blast.Henry has been hugely effective whenever he has played Championship cricket, taking 87 wickets at 15.94 across two spells at Kent, and has also represented Derbyshire and Worcestershire in his English domestic career.Somerset hope he will complement a seam attack that includes Peter Siddle, Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton. “We’ve got a nucleus of bowlers who are capable of ensuring that we take 20 wickets in red-ball cricket alongside a group of talented young bowlers who are incredibly aspirational and have already shown what they are capable of,” Jason Kerr, their coach, said. “Matt’s arrival will bring us even more potency.Related

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“He is a world-class performer who has demonstrated what he can do across all formats already within the English domestic game. He’s got good pace and can swing the ball. What he will provide off the field will be equally as important. He has experienced playing all over the world and will be able to share a vast amount of knowledge.”It’s important that we can rotate the bowlers throughout the summer to ensure that we can compete across all formats. Being able to rest players in order to keep them as fresh as possible will give us the best chance to remain really competitive.”Henry is due to arrive in time for Somerset’s Championship match against Lancashire on May 11, after New Zealand’s ODI series in Pakistan, and will leave the club on July 31. “I enjoy playing in English conditions and I’m looking forward to joining up with Somerset,” he said. “They are a club that are held in high regard, and I’ve heard only good things about the setup there.”

Mickey Edwards joins Yorkshire as local player

Meanwhile, Yorkshire have signed Mickey Edwards, a 28-year-old Sydney Sixers and New South Wales seamer, on an 18-month deal as a local player, thanks to a British passport. He will be unavailable for his Australian teams next season unless they register him as an overseas player.Edwards has a modest career record – he has only made 18 appearances across formats – but declared his ambition “to fight for a spot in the England team across all formats” in a press release. “I am confident that being at Yorkshire is the best place for me to achieve that,” he said.Darren Gough, Yorkshire’s managing director, said: “We’ve been tracking him over the winter and are excited to be welcoming him to our side. He’s got pace, height and skill and will present a real challenge for batters in all formats.”