All posts by n8rngtd.top

England have been hamstrung by injuries to the bowlers who could have added some extra zip to the Ashes squad, but regardless of success at home they must address the need for speed

George Dobell in Adelaide03-Dec-2017It speaks volumes for the uneven contest in Adelaide that the groundstaff’s struggle to pull the covers on to the pitch in the face of strong wind was the most competitive thing the crowd saw on day two of this match.As England’s bowlers made Australia’s No. 9 look like Don Bradman (to be fair, Pat Cummins is a terrific cricketer), as Australia’s selectors started to look like geniuses and as the score stretched beyond 400 – a substantial total on this surface – a familiar sensation began to creep over England: the Ashes were slipping away and there is almost nothing they can do about it. The air in Delhi may be full of smog. Here in Adelaide it was, from an England perspective, full only of despair.It was on the second day of the Adelaide Test in 2013 that it became clear the Ashes were gone. This doesn’t feel quite like that. There isn’t a chasm between the sides and Australia do not have a once in a generation bowler like Mitchell Johnson. But they do look slightly the better team and England are going to have to produce a magnificent batting performance over the next couple of days if this series isn’t to slide in a similar direction.Might such talk be premature? England have lost only one wicket, after all, and in Joe Root and co. they have the batsmen to defy Australia. If they can make it to Perth only one down in the series, their hopes survive.But England probably needed to win here. Having failed to take advantage of their opportunities in Brisbane, they will leave Adelaide knowing that conditions in the remaining venues are likely to suit Australia far more. England have won just once in Perth and it was before any of this team were born.Besides, the series may only be seven days old, but some key points of difference have emerged between the sides. One is the batting of Steven Smith, another might well turn out to be the spin bowling of Nathan Lyon but the most obvious and defining is the difference in pace between the two attacks.Sure, pace isn’t everything. It is still necessary to move the ball laterally. It is still necessary to bowl with accuracy.But just because something isn’t everything, it doesn’t mean it is nothing. The extra pace of the Australian bowlers asks questions of the England batsmen – especially the lower-order batsmen – that England’s bowlers cannot ask in return. It creates cheap wickets while every breakthrough for England is something of a triumph. After three innings and 329.3 overs in the series, England have claimed just 18 wickets, after all.There were times on the second day here when England bowled well. Stuart Broad’s opening burst with the second new ball was excellent and Trevor Bayliss was probably exaggerating just a touch afterwards when he suggested the difference between this spell (which claimed one wicket) and the one at Trent Bridge in 2015 (which claimed eight wickets) was fortune. “At Trent Bridge they nicked everything,” he said. “Here we didn’t get the results we deserved.”But once the ball wears, once batsmen have settled in, trying to make a breakthrough becomes desperately hard work for this England attack. Even lower-order batsmen are able to settle in without the physical peril experienced by England’s tail. And while Australia can blast out batsmen with pace – think of the dismissal of Jake Ball in Brisbane, fending the ball off his face – England are obliged to rely on the subtle skills of changes of pace and variations. The result? In Adelaide and Brisbane, England have suffered death by a thousand off-cutters.England endured another tough day in the field•Getty Images

It was England’s lack of bite that persuaded Root to bowl first on winning the toss. Recognising that England have struggled to bowl sides out away from the green, green grass of home, he reasoned their best chance of making inroads was in the first session of the first day. There was some logic in that, too, but his senior seamers failed to bowl full enough and, as a consequence, failed to utilise any help there may have been from the conditions.If Root’s logic appears flawed, it is worth reflecting on the number of overs bowled by England in the first innings of their last seven Tests overseas. It is: 162 (Rajkot); 129.4 (Vizag); 138.2 (Mohali); 182.3 (Mumbai); 190.4 (Chennai); 130.3 (Brisbane); 149 (Adelaide). It provides clear and irrefutable proof that, away from home, England lack the weapons to damage opposition batting line-ups. They desperately lack quality fast bowlers and a spinner that can, at least, ease the burden on the seamers in the first innings. Craig Overton, it might be noted, bowled over 30 overs in an innings for the first time in his career in Adelaide.Asked about the lack of fast bowlers available to England at present – and the depressing truth is, the best bowlers in England are either playing or injured – Bayliss had a couple of theories. One was that pitches in England didn’t suit them (“They aren’t conducive to fast bowling,” he said. “Maybe that’s a little disheartening”), another that the high volume of cricket might be a factor – and it is true the likes of Jamie Overton, Steven Finn, Liam Plunkett and Mark Wood have all had fitness problems in the recent past – and another that it may simply be a cyclical issue.But when this series is reviewed by the ECB in a few months, it’s worth recalling a couple of things. For a start, they – ‘Teflon’ Strauss et al – were the ones who pushed the County Championship ever further into the margins of the season – thereby negating the need for spinners and fast bowlers – to create windows for white-ball cricket. And they are the ones who appoint the coaches and set the policies at Bluffborough where, for all the millions invested, the number of quality spinners and fast bowlers produced is negligible.There are alternative theories. Fast bowling coaches such as Ian Pont and Steffan Jones – both of whom are outside the ECB ‘bubble’ – insist – that “pace can be taught,” as Jones puts it. It is, as he says, “about having the knowledge and skills as a coach.” Both men maintain that coaching has become too much about emotional support and tactics and not enough about technical insight. And, as England battle with an epidemic of stress fractures to their fast bowlers, they are words that have some resonance.”It is remarkable that in every other throwing, running, jumping and ballistic movement sport, things improve year on year,” Pont told ESPNcricinfo on Sunday. “Yet in fast bowling, we saw balls bowling in excess of 90mph in the 1930s Bodyline series by Harold Larwood and 40 years ago we had Jeff Thomson bowling faster than anyone today. I don’t know of another sport that has moved on so little in speed terms than fast bowling.”Pace unravels the best of batting defences but more importantly gives you options. When you see a medium pace bowling attack in Test cricket you realise the captain is out of options.”We have a coach appointed with the title of fast bowling coach, but they do not have any idea how to coach speed. We have coaches out there teaching fast bowling with no idea where pace is generated or how to develop it.”The technical aspect of fast bowling is overlooked in England and we are paying for it. Speed is coachable. But you have to understand what technical factors create that speed and then coach them in with the right drills. The answer is to go back to where you train and change those protocols.”There is a danger that all these issues will all be forgotten when England return home. If the counties produce green-seamers for the 2018 Test series against Pakistan and India, England may again prove hard to beat and delude themselves that all is well. But if England really want to improve, if they want to be better than home-track bullies, they need to confront the overwhelming evidence of the statistics and reflect on both the underlying reasons and the long-term solutions.

The participation of Ishant Sharma for Delhi’s semi-final against Bengal remains in doubt given his troublesome ankle

Arun Venugopal14-Dec-20172:20

Rohan Gavaskar: Test stars will have profound impact on youngsters

India players Mohammed Shami, Wriddhiman Saha and Umesh Yadav will provide the star quotient to the Ranji Trophy semi-final clashes beginning on December 17. While Shami and Saha will turn out for Bengal against Delhi in Pune, Umesh will join the Vidarbha side that takes on Karnataka in Kolkata.The participation of Ishant Sharma, who was named Delhi’s captain at the start of the season, though, remains in doubt given his troublesome ankle. Ishant has picked up 20 wickets at an average of 12.80 from four matches this Ranji season, including a five-for against Assam, and if fit, would be a big boost to his side’s chances of making the final.”He had a bit of a problem with the ankle, so that’s why we need a clearance from [India coach] Ravi Shastri and the board,” Delhi’s chairman of selectors Atul Wassan told ESPNcricinfo. “We are in touch with the team management. He wants to play, I think, but by tomorrow it will be more clear. As yet, we are waiting for the all-clear from the team management.”Meanwhile, Karnataka State Cricket Association officials denied reports that KL Rahul would be released from India’s T20 squad against Sri Lanka for the Ranji Trophy. “Rahul and Manish Pandey are part of the India squad playing against Sri Lanka and haven’t been released for the semi-finals,” an official said.There was some confusion earlier among the teams around the availability of their stars. It is understood while the selectors were against risking the fast bowlers ahead of the South Africa tour, the BCCI made the decision to play them in the semi-finals following requests from the state sides. It is learnt Bengal and Vidarbha had requested the board to allow the participation of Shami and Saha, and Umesh respectively.While Saha has made 230 runs from seven innings, including two fifties at an average of 38.33, Shami picked up 18 wickets from three games, with two five-wicket hauls. Umesh, on the other hand, took nine wickets from two matches for Vidarbha during the league phase.

The allrounder is peeved at the West Indies selection panel for sending out mixed signals on the matter

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2018Dwayne Bravo has hit back at Cricket West Indies (CWI) for building a perception that he isn’t interested in playing one-day internationals. The 34-year old allrounder hasn’t played one in nearly four years, but he insists that such a situation arose because of a lack of clarity from the selectors regarding his role in the team as opposed to his not wanting to play ODIs.In addition, Bravo has also called out the chairman of the panel Courtney Browne for purporting that the two of them had been in contact with each other.While announcing West Indies’ squad for the 2019 World Cup Qualifiers, Browne was quoted in a CWI release saying, “Dwayne Bravo was not contacted as he had indicated previously that he is no longer available to play cricket for the West Indies.”Bravo, however, was firm that he has never expressed any desire to end his West Indies career; at least not to CWI or the team management. “Let me make it clear that I have never had any conversation in last six months with the chairman or anyone from board about any West Indies cricket,” he told . “The only time we spoke about cricket was during the T20 series in Dubai 2016 when he said I was poison to West indies cricket and bad influence on young players, ridiculously.”What I said recently in an interview with a journalist in the Bangladesh Premier League was that, however, I don’t see myself playing 50-overs cricket again, despite my interest, because of the lack of communication from the board. So I would challenge the chairman to say otherwise.”A similar situation arose last year when West Indies were deliberating on a squad to play England. In August 2017, Browne had ruled out the possibility of Bravo’s inclusion, despite the board offering to relax the rules and pick even those players who didn’t take part in the one-day domestic tournament, on fitness grounds but that he may be considered for a spot in the future.”The person who actually spoke to me was captain Jason Holder, during Caribbean Premier League,” Bravo said, “And it was him I told that after just coming back from my 2017 Big Bash League injury my body wasn’t ready to play one-day cricket in England, but when I’m stronger I would consider playing one-day cricket in 2018.”Bravo last represented West Indies in September 2016 but remains a popular figure in T20 franchise cricket. He is currently in Australia, with the Melbourne Renegades, who have made it to the playoffs of the Big Bash League. On Saturday, he was bought by Chennai Super Kings to play the IPL for USD 1 million approx.”What I would like the Caribbean people to be aware of is that since India 2014 saga [when West Indies left the country midway through the tour over a contract dispute with the board] I never said much about West Indies cricket, because I am living my life stress free, enjoying my cricket around the world,” Bravo said. “Yet my name is still being called up in West Indies cricket controversy.”While the CWI signed a temporary truce with their cricketers last year, and have now instituted white-ball contracts, the board made it clear that playing the domestic one-day tournament was still a requirement. Last week, the CEO Johnny Grave told ESPNcricnfo that Andre Ruseell, Sunil Narine and Chris Gayle would play some matches in the this year’s Super50 season. These players, Grave said, would then be available for ODI selection in the future, based on form and fitness.It is not clear whether Bravo and the selectors have had any conversations about him featuring in domestic cricket again. He hasn’t played a List A match since January 2015, and even as a one-day international player, he averaged a middling 25 with the bat but did markedly better with ball in hand, as 199 wickets at 29 apiece suggests.”I was dropped from the Test team at age of 26, in 2010, before I retired in 2015 after being fed up of asking the selectors when I’d play again,” Bravo said. “I was dropped from the one-day team before the 2015 World Cup. I have never turned my back on West Indies cricket, it is them who have turned their back on me.”

After the 5-1 defeat in the ODIs, the hosts will be led by JP Duminy in the T20Is while Suresh Raina may feature in India’ XI

The Preview by Firdose Moonda17-Feb-20183:56

Pathan: India favourites to win the first T20I

Big picture

A tour of two halves now reaches its bonus add-on: three T20s in a week, played as double-headers with the same women’s teams of these two nations, who are in completely contrasting moods.India are on a high. Led by a captain that is considered among the best players not just of his generation, but ever, they have won a bilateral series in South Africa for the first time. In so doing, they have also humiliated the hosts and derailed their plans for “Vision 2019”. South Africa can only accept that they have been dealt “a good hiding”, and will spend the T20 series skulking away, with most of their big names absent and their egos bruised.South Africa’s experimental squad is mostly a result of timing. They start a four-Test series against Australia five days after the last T20 and have rested all but AB de Villiers from the T20s. It’s fair to say their focus will be elsewhere and expectations from these three matches will be quite low.JP Duminy, who was overlooked for the ODI captaincy, will lead the T20 outfit, as he has done five times before. Duminy has a win-loss record of 3-2 with a series win over Bangladesh and a loss against Australia to his name. Though his chances of captaining much in future are slim, Duminy will still want to make a good impression against India, who are intent on dominating.Since winning the Wanderers Test, India’s only missed step was falling short in the rain-affected ODI at the same venue. On their return for the final time this summer, they will want to show just how much they enjoy this stadium and thrive being on top. Expect nothing less than a ruthless display.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: WWLWL
India: WWWWL

In the spotlight

Farhaan Behardien was considered hard done by after he was initially left out of the one-day squad despite being among the domestic competition’s top performers. He then seemed harder done by when he only got to play one game, by which time the series was lost. It didn’t help that he lasted just five balls and was dismissed for 1. Behardien should have a much greater role in the T20s, as one of the senior-most batsman in the squad, and could use it as an opportunity to show his value across white-ball formats.India’s senior statesman MS Dhoni did not have enough time at the crease to bring up 10,000 ODI runs and now needs to turn his attention to not needing time. Dhoni’s slow starts in T20s, especially given his position in the middle order, have now become a cause for concern and he will need to fire quickly to re-establish himself as the finisher.

Team news

An experimental South African side could see as many as three new caps with wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen guaranteed a start and middle-order batsman Christiaan Jonker and seamer Junior Dala in the mix. South Africa’s experience is sandwiched between an inexperienced opening pair in Reeza Hendricks and Jon-Jon Smuts and a younger middle-to-lower order and tail.South Africa: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Jon-Jon Smuts, 3 AB de Villiers, 4 JP Duminy (capt), 5 David Miller/Farhaan Behardien, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Christiaan Jonker/Chris Morris, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Junior Dala, 10 Dane Paterson, 11 Aaron PhangisoIndia’s big decision will be in the middle order, where they are likely to have a choice between Suresh Raina – who has been selected in India’s squad after a long absence – and Manish Pandey.India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Manish Pandey/Dinesh Karthik, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

The Wanderers’ demerit points haven’t gone anywhere but as long as the surface is similar to the one the ODI was played on, it should be another batsman-friendly pitch and fast outfield, which should lead to a high-scoring game. Afternoon thundershowers are forecast but should be nothing more than a quick burst.

Stats and trivia

• India have a 6-2 record against South Africa in all T20Is.
• South Africa have played exactly 100 T20Is, winning 59 and losing 40.
• Virat Kohli is 43 runs away from becoming the first Indian batsman to reach 2000 T20I runs.

Afghanistan slipped to 54 for 5 in the chase, but eventually overcame a plucky United Arab Emirates, who lost their appetite for a fight on a stiflingly hot afternoon

The Report by Liam Brickhill in Harare20-Mar-2018
ScorecardAfghanistan overcame a plucky United Arab Emirates in their Super Sixes match at Old Hararians to win by five wickets. Rashid Khan’s 5 for 41 helped to bowl UAE out for just 177 in 43 overs, but Afghanistan slipped to 54 for 5 in their chase, and were put under serious pressure by UAE’s new-ball bowlers, Mohammad Naveed and Qadeer Ahmed. A 124-run partnership between Gulbadin Naib and Najibullah Zadran repaired Afghanistan’s chase, as UAE lost their appetite for a fight on a stiflingly hot afternoon. Both men passed fifty before guiding their team home with more than 15 overs to spare.While UAE have lost all of their Super Sixes matches, Afghanistan’s win takes them to four points, level with Ireland, whom they will meet in their final game on Friday. If they win that game by a big margin, and Scotland and Zimbabwe both lose their remaining matches, this victory will give Afghanistan a slim chance of making it into the final.

Naveed fined 15% of match fee

UAE quick Mohammad Naveed lost 15% of his match fee and picked up a demerit point for questioning the umpire’s not-out decision during his side’s five-wicket loss to Afghanistan.
Naveed was found to have violated Article 2.1.5 of the ICC code of conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during an international match”. No formal hearing was held, as Naveed pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction.

It seemed that the match might be over very quickly when UAE were asked to bat on a helpful surface and were reduced to 18 for 3 inside the Powerplay. Opener Chirag Suri dug in tenaciously, taking 72 balls for his 22, but it was not until Shaiman Anwar arrived at the crease that UAE started to show some real grit.Fittingly, Anwar wore a a floppy sun hat, continuing a fine UAE tradition that started with Sultan Zarawani’s incredibly brave decision to bat against Allan Donald at the 1996 World Cup wearing only a wide-brimmed floppy for protection. Disappointingly, Anwar traded his hat for a helmet when Afghanistan’s quicks were on, but his knock was anything but disappointing.Mixing stolid defense with daring attack, he reached a 69-ball fifty with a fiercely struck six down the ground off Mujeeb ur Rahman. Naveed’s knock was even more adventurous, and he showed scant regard for Afghanistan’s attack as he plundered seven fours and two sixes in his 45. But theirs were the only innings of substance for UAE, and Rashid took advantage of the batsmen’s inability to read his variations to record his fourth five-wicket haul in ODIs. Rashid now has 96 wickets in this format, and needs just four more within his next nine ODIs to become the quickest bowler to 100 ODIs wickets in the history of the game.So dominant had Afghanistan been with the ball – Naveed’s 45 and Anwar’s competent fifty notwithstanding – that much of the lunchtime chat around the ground revolved around how quickly Afghanistan might want to chase down the middling target to boost their net run rate.But as Boycott’s third law states, one should never judge how good a score is until both sides have batted on the pitch. Mohammad Shahzad, in his second match back from a demerit suspension during the group stages, didn’t even last two overs before Qadeer Ahmed’s bustling medium pace trapped him lbw. Energy buzzed through UAE after the early strike, and it quickly became apparent that this chase could be a lot more tricky than Afghanistan might have hoped.Gulbadin Naib, elevated to No. 3, endured a particularly torrid time from Naveed. Naib struggled to lay bat on ball, repeatedly playing and missing, as Naveed found just as much lift and movement off the surface as Dawlat Zadran had earlier in the day.Importantly, though, he did enough to survive, while Rahmat Shah kept the scoreboard ticking over with flicked boundaries on the leg side. But just as the pressure brought about by the early wicket seemed to be dissipating, UAE struck again. Naveed burst a quick length delivery through Shah’s defensive push, tipping the bails off, sparking off a mini collapse. Naveed trapped Samiullah Shenwari lbw in the same over, and in the very next, Qadeer had a hooking Asghar Stanikzai caught behind as Afghanistan slipped to 43 for 4.Mohammad Nabi has pulled Afghanistan out of situations like these in the past, but the drinks break seemed to break his concentration, and he nicked Ahmed Raza behind first ball after the resumption. With Afghanistan tottering at 54 for 5, UAE had the game by the scruff of the neck.Naib, who had so obviously struggled against the new ball and watched wickets tumble from the other end, was joined by Najibullah, and despite a couple of early scares, they soon set about rebuilding the innings. Najibullah’s boundary-hitting ability was particularly valuable, each hit bringing the target a little closer and allowing Naib the time and freedom to grind his way into some sort of form.Najibullah was into double figures at better than a run a ball, his first boundary coming via a shimmy-and-swipe six over long-on off Ahmed Raza’s left-arm spin in the 18th over. Najibullah also put the reverse sweep to good use, particularly against Imran Haider’s legspin, and with his second six, he joined Naib in the 40s. Naib reached his fifty from 84 deliveries; Najibullah followed him to the milestone two overs later, from a more rapid 53 deliveries.With the afternoon sun lifting moisture out of the earth, enormous billowing cumulonimbus clouds built up around the ground, and the extreme heat seemed to sap UAE’s energy with the game slipping out of their grasp. When Rohan Mustafa let slip with a chest high no-ball, which was carted to the square leg boundary, and followed that up with a leg-stump half volley that was smashed to wide long-on, the white flag was raised. With the pressure off, Naib finally came into his own, lifting Naveed and Mustafa for massive leg-side sixes. His gritty innings won him the Player of the Match award, while Afghanistan’s win kept them in the competition. Just.

India slip to No.2 as England’s annus horribilis in 2014-15 is taken out of the ICC calculations

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2018

Latest ODI rankings

• 1. England 125 (+8)
  2. India 122 (-1)
  3. South Africa 113 (-4)
  4. New Zealand 112 (-2)
  5. Australia 104 (-8)
  6. Pakistan 102 (+6)

• 7. Bangladesh 93 (+3)
  8. Sri Lanka 77 (-7)
  9. Windies 69 (-5)
  10. Afghanistan 63 (+5)
  11. Zimbabwe 55 (+4)
  12. Ireland 38 (-3)

England’s burgeoning status as a white-ball team has been confirmed by their ascent to the top of the latest ICC one-day rankings, with India slipping to No. 2 on the list.England’s ascent to the top spot was cemented by two impressive away victories this winter – they beat Australia 4-1 in January before seeing off New Zealand 3-2 in March.However, they owe much of their rise to the removal from the permutations of their dismal run of form in 2014-15, when they won just seven out of 25 ODIs and bombed out of the World Cup at the group stages following an infamous defeat against Bangladesh at Adelaide.That 2014-15 season, which also featured the removal of Alastair Cook as ODI captain in the wake of a losing tour of Sri Lanka, is now widely recognised as a watershed moment for English cricket.Eoin Morgan’s appointment as captain was unable to salvage their World Cup campaign, but England’s form in the subsequent home summer was revelatory. Against New Zealand at Edgbaston, in their first completed fixture of the post-World Cup era, England posted their first 400-plus total in ODIs, and have made 300 or more in 27 of their 60 completed innings.England, who last topped the ODI rankings in January 2013, have gained eight points and moved to 125 points. India, who were at the top before the update, have lost a solitary point and are in second place with a total of 122 points.South Africa, who were second, have dropped down to third place after losing four points, from 117 to 113, leaving them nine points adrift of India and only one point ahead of fourth- placed New Zealand.The remaining places remain unchanged, confirming that the current top 10 ranked sides are the ones who will be playing at next year’s World Cup in England. However, there have been some significant changes in points.World champions Australia have lost eight points to go down to 104 in fifth position and are only two points ahead Pakistan, last year’s Champions Trophy winners, who have gained six points.In other changes, Bangladesh (93 points) have gained three points, Sri Lanka (77) have lost seven points, the Windies (69) have lost five points, Afghanistan (63) have gained five points, Zimbabwe (55) have gained four points and 12th-placed Ireland (38) have lost three points.In the T20I rankings, led by Pakistan, there is no change in the top seven places but Afghanistan are now ahead of Sri Lanka in eighth slot.

“Players on both sides didn’t hesitate at the end and shook hands knowing it was the finish,” the Ireland team manager said

Peter Della Penna18-Jun-2018Team representatives from both Ireland and Scotland camps have said there was no plan in place for a Super Over to be played after their tied match on Sunday in Deventer. The fourth game of the tri-series became the first T20 international that ended in a tie which wasn’t decided by either a Super Over or a bowl-out, even though playing a Super Over is the current provision in the ICC’s playing conditions in T20Is after a match is tied.”We weren’t expecting one,” Ireland team manager Chris Siddell told ESPNcricinfo shortly after the match when he was asked why no Super Over had been played. The match had been livestreamed online by the Netherlands Cricket Board (KNCB), but players on both sides started shaking hands immediately after Stuart Thompson scampered a two to long-on off the final ball to level the scores in Ireland’s chase of 186.”Players on both sides didn’t hesitate at the end and shook hands knowing it was the finish,” Siddell said.Under the ICC playing conditions for T20Is adopted on September 28, 2017, Law 16.3.1 reads: “If the scores are equal, the result shall be a tie and no account shall be taken of the number of wickets that have fallen. In the event of a tied match the teams shall compete in a Super Over to determine the winner.”Siddell said he was well aware of the law. “My understanding is it’s not mandatory and playing conditions of specific tournaments or series dictate if there is or isn’t one,” he said before referencing Appendix F of the ICC playing conditions, which lays out regulations for a Super Over and the reasons for not having one.The reasons given for a Super Over not being played are weather conditions such as rain or failing light between the final ball of the match and the 10-minute interval before the start of the Super Over, or previous delays resulting in the match exceeding its allotted time. However, there were no delays in Sunday’s T20I due to weather or any other reasons. The final ball was bowled at 8.22pm local time and the official sunset time in Deventer was 9.59pm.Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer said that, like Siddell, he was also under the impression that the Super Over had been discarded for the tri-series.”It was just said at the start of the competition that there will be no Super Over,” Coetzer wrote in a text to ESPNcricinfo after the tie. “I think [ICC match referee David] Jukes said it. Not sure where or why the decision was made.”ESPNcricinfo reached out to ICC officials in Dubai for a comment on the matter but repeated emails did not receive a response.In the nine prior ties in men’s T20 internationals, the first three were decided by a bowl-out, with the most famous instance occurring during the group stage of the 2007 World T20 in South Africa when India defeated Pakistan. The subsequent six tied matches were all decided by a Super Over, with the most recent being England beating Pakistan in the third T20I in Sharjah in November 2015.

Also, the CSK coach explains how shifting their home matches out of Chennai affected team dynamics

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-20182:32

‘A lot of emotion in the franchise, a lot of desire’ – Fleming

They were trolled as the “dad’s army” after the auction, but Chennai Super Kings managed to convert their perceived weakness into their biggest strength. Shane Watson, 36, was one of their many over-30s stars, and he came good when it mattered most, his unbeaten century delivering their third IPL crown. MS Dhoni, two months shy of 37, felt the key to their campaign lay in managing experienced players like Watson, even if it meant giving them slight leeway on the field.”I think we talk a lot about age, but what’s important is the fitness aspect,” he said. “[Ambati] Rayudu is 33, but he covers good ground. Even if he plays a few games where he’s spent a lot of time on the field, he’s not going to turn up and say ‘I’m stiff’. So fitness matters more than age. What we have seen is that our fitness has improved. Most of the captains want players who move well on the field.”It doesn’t matter who was born in which year, you have to be fit and agile. At the same time, we knew the shortcomings and had to accept areas that we won’t be brilliant in. If I am pushing a Watson to stop a single, there’s a good chance he would burst his hamstring and won’t be available. You don’t want Watson or a [Dwayne] Bravo injured because that will mean shuffling a lot of players to get the right combination or the same strength. So managing them well was the key. But yes, age is just a number.”If having to deal with injury-prone players was one challenge, having their home games shifted from Chennai after just one match to Pune proved to be another challenge. Stephen Fleming, the head coach, termed this an “adversity” that they dealt with with a lot of calm.”I will admit moving from Chennai had quite an impact, given, at the auction table, we were picking a team to play in Chennai conditions,” Fleming said. “We had to scramble through the year to try and find a combination. We made more changes to the team that we usually would, just because we all of a sudden had to become a seam-based side and a little bit [less] spin. And that’s quite a big turnaround when you place your strategy to be a slow team with players who play spin well.”So, I’m really proud of the way we adapted to that. I am proud of the way different individuals stood up at key times.”Fleming, like Dhoni, spoke of Super Kings not worrying about the age factor. While Dhoni said fitness was more important, Fleming put the spotlight on experience. “I am really proud of the way experienced players showed their value,” he said, “in a way that validated our faith in them, none finer than the innings from Watson [in the final].”We just believed experience for us, coming back into the competition [after a two-year ban for the franchise’s role in the 2013 spot-fixing scandal], was going to be a key component. The best people to deal with that was players who have dealt with expectations before. That was the reasoning behind this year’s team. Yeah, we got some criticism for it [after the auction]. But we believed that was our best chance of winning.”It’s a tough competition. It’s the toughest year just because teams have become smarter with who they pick. The auctions are much more competitive and there’s a much better grasp on what franchises want with the player. So this was a tough one. And, again, we valued experience for consistency. Guys who could repeatedly do it and not one-offs because we figured those guys could get on a roll – the Rayudus, the Watsons, the Dhonis and Rainas. They take you deep in the tournament. Good enough to win? Who knows? It [depends] on that day. Today, thankfully, was ours.”

England have the chance to expose India’s middle-order muddle again as teams square up for another decider

The Preview by Alan Gardner16-Jul-20181:15

What is your favourite MS Dhoni shot?

Big Picture

For the second series in a row, England-India goes down to a decider. For the second series in a row, England have come back from being befuddled by Kuldeep Yadav to level things up. For the second series in a row, India will be hoping that one of the big guns of their top order fires them to victory and secures another trophy ahead of the marquee five-Test series.Spiking those cannons at Lord’s was the major contributor to England eventually running out comfortable winners. The common denominator in India’s three white-ball victories so far has been a centurion in the top three: KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma at Old Trafford and Bristol in the T20Is, and Rohit – backed up by a slick 75 from Virat Kohli – in the first ODI at Trent Bridge. India’s middle order has been less productive, and the match at Headingley could hinge on whether England can make inroads again.The scrutiny on MS Dhoni may go up a notch, too. India’s veteran tank commander rumbled into a ditch during the second ODI, a tepid 59-ball 37 so far removed from what is expected from him as a finisher that it left fans on both sides scratching their heads. He has talked about deciding to go up the order in T20, and maybe that is something to explore as India focus their World Cup plans.England were reassured twice over by their Lord’s performance. Despite Kuldeep striking with his second and 13th deliveries, they continued to attack the wristspinner; both openers fell taking the attacking option of sweeping, while Eoin Morgan hit a full toss to a fielder on the rope, but figures of 3 for 68 were eminently manageable. The performance of Joe Root, with his 12th ODI hundred (equalling Marcus Trescothick’s record for England), then reinforced the view that his method of busy accumulation has a home in an otherwise-macho hitting line-up.With anticipation of Kuldeep being named in India’s Test line-up growing, it will be interesting to see if Kohli is minded to protect him again – as occurred during the T20 decider at Bristol. With England and India set to remain No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings whatever the result, Headingley will provide a useful marker as the last ODI to be played in England before World Cup year – with a little knockout pressure into the mix. It could also contribute another thread in the Test tapestry to come.Mark Wood trains ahead of the third ODI•Getty Images

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWWW
India LWWWL

In the spotlight

Armed with a white ball that rarely swings and asked to bowl on the most benign of surfaces, all but the quickest of quicks face a fight for survival every time they walk out in ODIs. David Willey is a man with as much fighting spirit as any member of the England squad, however, and he is having a quietly effective season in coloured clothing. He can still just about talk the new ball into doing a bit, while his death bowling has improved – and his batting has also shone through, with a maiden half-century at Lord’s to follow a match-sealing contribution against Australia at The Oval last month. He is still a little way off being classed as a genuine allrounder, but his wickets and runs have helped make up for the absence of Chris Woakes.Suresh Raina had an opportunity to shepherd the chase after a top-order wobble at Lord’s. While he managed 48, the top score of the innings, his age-old nemesis, the short ball, had him hopping and fending awkwardly. His footwork lacked assuredness even to pitched-up deliveries. After being dropped twice, he was out bowled failing to read Adil Rashid’s googly. As key as his contributions have been in the past, the room for failures currently is minimal with India’s middle order still testing the waters as far as their combinations for the World Cup go. With Dinesh Karthik and Shreyas Iyer breathing down his neck, the onus is on Raina to ensure his return to the ODI squad after nearly three years is not short-lived.

Teams news

England have called up James Vince as the spare batsman in the squad, with Dawid Malan heading to play first-class cricket with the Lions, and he could come straight into the side if Jason Roy is not fit to play, although Sam Billings has also been called into an ever-expanding squad. Roy suffered a “laceration” to the little finger on his right hand going for a catch at Lord’s and sat out of training on Monday. He remains a doubt, according to the ECB, and will have a fitness test in the morning to ascertain whether he’ll be fit to play. Sam Curran has also been released to play for the Lions against India A, but Jake Ball remains an option.England (probable) 1 Jason Roy/James Vince, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 David Willey, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Mark WoodIndia seem set to continue with Raina, so the only change is likely to be in the seam-bowling attack. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was bowling smoothly in practice, having missed three games with a stiff back, and should replaces Siddarth Kaul.India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 KL Rahul, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Umesh Yadav

Pitch and conditions

The surface at Headingley is usually good for run-scoring, with the white Kookaburra unlikely to be persuaded to do much whatever the overhead conditions: England piled up 339 for 6 at the venue against South Africa last year. The UK’s extended dry spell has resulted in a very brown surface with hardly any grass, which should bring the spinners from both sides into play.

Stats and trivia

• England have won their last four ODIs at Headingley, with their most-recent defeat coming against Sri Lanka in 2011.
• Kuldeep needs two wickets for 50 in ODIs – if he gets them at Headingley, in his 23rd match, he will equal Ajit Agarkar as the fastest for India.
• Dhoni became only the 12th man, and fourth Indian, to record 10,000 ODI runs during his innings at Lord’s.
• Jonny Bairstow needs 68 runs to reach 2000.

Quotes

“If we can use this game as a semi-final, a must-win with the pressure on, we can learn what we are doing wrong if we don’t win or what we are doing right if we do. Over the past year we have dealt with these situations well and hopefully we can carry on that trend.”
Going forward, still 16-17 games to go [before the World Cup], we are looking at in terms of the games remaining where we could look at settling the middle-order slots.”

Worcestershire’s hopes of a home quarter-final remain in abeyance after Leicestershire silenced dangerman Callum Ferguson in the nick of time to claim their first home win

ECB Reporters Network10-Aug-2018
ScorecardDespite the best efforts of Callum Ferguson, Worcestershire Rapids fell short completing the victory that might have guaranteed themselves a home Vitality Blast quarter-final in their bid to reach Twenty20 finals day for the first time in their history.The 33-year-old Australian, who registered his maiden T20 century against Nottinghamshire a week ago, played a superbly measured innings after Leicestershire had made 155 for 9 in their 20 overs.He seemed on course to lead the Rapids to a fifth straight win after rescuing his side from a difficult start that had seen them in trouble at 32 for 3 in the fifth over, despite needing to maintain a run requirement of 10 per over from the halfway stage.Worcestershire still needed 30 from the final three overs but Ferguson was hitting the ball so nicely it was difficult to see him not seeing them home.However, his legs let him down when sixth-wicket partner Wayne Parnell called him through for a second run off the fifth ball of the 18th over and Mohammad Nabi’s throw from long-on comfortably ran him out for 68, an innings that included nine fours and a six off 49 balls.No one was more relieved than Neil Dexter, who had let him off by dropping a real sitter at midwicket earlier in the same Zak Chappell over.There was still a scare to come when Chappell conceded three boundaries in his final over but hitting the six off the final ball to win the match and make up for his error over the run out proved beyond the crestfallen Parnell.It was not all bad for Worcestershire: despite defeat at least they are certain of a last-eight place.It was a first home win of the season for Leicestershire, who again looked to have come up short in their 20 overs as key batsmen gave themselves a platform to make a big contribution to the Foxes’ cause only to squander their chance.No one was more wasteful than Ben Raine, who looked in the mood to do some significant damage when he punished Pat Brown’s opening over in aggressive style, cracking the country’s top T20 wicket-taker this season with a six over extra cover and another back over the bowler’s head before following up with two fours.But having raced to 32 off 18 balls with the Foxes 45 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay he swung at and missed a ball from Daryl Mitchell that was rightly signalled a wide but neglected to anchor himself in the crease and Worcestershire’ fine wicketkeeper Ben Cox is not one to squander such gifts.Nabi was also the victim of his own carelessness, moments after he had cleared the ropes off the costly Brown, when he optimistically went for a second run to Ross Whiteley on the midwicket boundary off the same bowler and failed to make his ground by some distance.Brown failed to add to his 22 wickets, his four overs costing 45 runs, but a poor day for the skilful 19-year-old was balanced by better ones for Wood and Wayne Parnell, who took an early wicket each as the Foxes stumbled to 6 for 2 in the second over and came back to strike important blows near the end.Nabi came back well with the ball for the Foxes, conceding only 21 in his three overs and being unlucky not to claim a wicket or two. In combination with Callum Parkinson and Neil Dexter, who was also effective in taking the pace of the ball, he created the pressure on Worcestershire in the latter stages of the innings that was always likely to provoke mistakes.And there were three key wickets for Gavin Griffiths, who made sure that Joe Clarke, Damian D’Oliveira nor Ross Whiteley could come up with the supporting innings for Ferguson that might have swung it for Worcestershire.