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Paul Stirling put Khulna Titans in a strong position with his 61, but Carlos Brathwaite and Jahurul Islam couldn’t quite finish off the chase

The Report by Mohammad Isam06-Jan-2019How the game played outRangpur Riders picked up their first win in the BPL, after beating Khulna Titans by eight runs in a contest that was alive until the penultimate ball of the match. Farhad Reza defended 20 runs in the last over, keeping Carlos Brathwaite quiet.Paul Stirling’s 61 off 46 balls had put the Titans in a strong position chasing 170, but his dismissal in the 14th over, and captain Mahmudullah’s in the 18th over, put them under pressure in the last two overs.The Riders, after being bowled out for 98 in the first game, corrected their batting strategy significantly, despite losing Mehedi Maruf in the fourth over. They lost two more wickets by the tenth over before Rossouw and Bopara put on the game’s most important partnership, adding an unbroken 104 for the fourth wicket.Rossouw struck eight fours and two sixes, both off Ali Khan in the 16th over, while Bopara, who made 44 in the first game, struck three fours and a six in his unbeaten 40 off 29 balls.Turning points

• Rossouw and Bopara blast 67 off the last five overs, including 21 off Carlos Brathwaite’s 18th.
• Stirling and Junaid Siddique propel Titans to 85 for no loss in 10 overs.
• Stirling falls to Mashrafe Mortaza in the 14th over with his side still needing 62 off 41 balls.
• Mahmudullah falls with Titans needing 30 off the last 14 balls.

Star of the dayRossouw exacted revenge on the Titans, for whom he had made 187 runs in nine innings in last season’s BPL. This was his first fifty in the competition too – he paced himself initially before launching into the big shots in the last few overs.The big missAfter removing Ariful Haque off the first ball of the penultimate over of the Titans innings, Shafiul Islam conceded 10 runs off the rest of the over, including three consecutive wides.Where the teams standRangpur’s first win, especially after a poor performance in the first game, comes as a significant confidence builder.

Chhattisgarh recover despite Umesh Yadav’s three for, Nikhil Gangta and Ankush Bains rescue Himachal

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2017Centuries from Amandeep Khare and Ashutosh Singh helped Chhattisgarh recover from Umesh Yadav’s twin-strikes upfront to end the day at a comfortable 246 for 3 against Vidarbha in Nagpur. The pair added 227 for the third wicket before Umesh dismissed Ashutosh for 113 in the day’s final over. Karn Sharma, the legspinner, who impressed for India A and has 31 wickets in four first-class games so far this season, finished with none for 65 off 24 overs in his first game for Vidarbha.Punjab, searching for points after conceding a lead and losing outright in their first two games, racked up 396 for 3 against Goa in Poorvorim. Jiwanjot Singh, the opener, struck 215 of those and was still going strong when stumps were drawn.Jiwanjot struck an unbroken 236-run fourth-wicket stand with Anmolpreet Singh, 103 not out, when play ended. Anmolpreet, promoted No. 4 in the absence of Yuvraj Singh, struck 11 fours and two sixes. Uday Kaul missed out converting a start into three figures, falling for 66, while Manan Vohra was out for a three-ball duck in the first over.Half-centuries from Nikhil Gangta (89*) and Ankush Bains (68) spared Himachal the blushes against Services in New Delhi. They recovered from a precarious 92 for 4 to finish on 273 for 5 at stumps. Prashant Chopra, the opener who struck a triple century in the tournament opener, failed to convert, falling for 55. Bains and Gangta, chasing his second century of the season, batted for a better part of the day to add 159 and help the side stage a remarkable recovery.

Mohammad Nawaz picked up two wickets and defended ten runs off the final over to hand Karachi Blues the title

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Mohammad Nawaz struck twice in the final over•Chris Whiteoak

Karachi Whites threatened to chase down 183 with a rapid 61-run opening stand and late blows from Tariq Haroon and Sohail Khan, but Mohammad Nawaz defended ten runs off the final over to give Karachi Blues the National T20 Cup title.With Whites needing 11 off the last over with four wickets in hand, Mohammad Hasan reverse-swept Nawaz’s first ball for four. Nawaz came back with a dot and then an arm-ball that took Hasan’s middle stump. Azam Hussain sliced a couple over the covers before falling lbw off the next ball. It ultimately boiled down to five off the last ball. Mir Hamza heaved at it, and could only manage a double.Nawaz, playing only his second game of the tournament, finished with figures of 4 for 26. He had taken the first two wickets of the Whites’ innings as well. He bowled Asif Zakir for 32, and in his next over removed Asad Shafiq for 6. The two wickets dragged Whites back after they had raced to 60 in the first seven overs.Nawaz was helped by his fellow spinners – Saeed Ajmal, who capped the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps, and Mohammad Asghar. They picked up two wickets each. Karachi Whites eventually got to 179 for 8 thanks to late cameos from Tariq and Sohail. Haroon hit 38 off 17 balls, while Sohail 24 off 11 balls.Blues’ win was set up by half-centuries from Khurram Manzoor and Fawad Alam. Alam set about reviving the innings after the early loss of the openers, with a brace of pulled fours. Manzoor, becalmed till then, struck three fours in four balls, and motored to his half-century in 36 balls, bringing it up in the 15th over. By then, Blues were 118 for 2.Manzoor kicked into a higher gear when he crashed back-to-back sixes off Azam in the 17th over. But he fell next ball, skewing a catch to gully. Alam then reached his own half-century off 35 balls, and was assisted by Mohammad Sami’s unbeaten 20 off 10 balls. Blues took 64 off the last five overs, and it proved just enough to deny Whites.

Losing the toss in Sri Lanka usually demoralises visiting sides, but India – led by R Ashwin’s second successive five-for and his best figures away from home – did a stellar job to seemingly neutralise Sri Lanka’s advantage of batting first

The Report by Sidharth Monga12-Aug-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
1:02

‘Ashwin was willing to pitch it up fuller’

Sri Lanka is not a place where you want to lose the toss as an opposition captain. Over the last 14 years, only two visiting captains have managed to win despite losing the toss. Virat Kohli raised the possibility of becoming the third after R Ashwin registered the best figures for an India bowler in the first innings of an away Test to bundle the hosts out for 183. India stumbled in response initially, but Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli steadied them with an unbroken 100-run partnership.On a pitch that offered turn and bounce as early as the first session, this toss was all the more important to win, which is what will rankle the home captain Angelo Mathews the most. Not only did he win the toss, he also showed the others with his 64 that it was possible to bat on this pitch. There was little resistance from the other end – Dinesh Chandimal’s half-century was a charmed innings and included a drop on 5 – as Ashwin ran away to his fastest five-for in Tests, also his second in two Tests and the best figures by an Indian in Sri Lanka. Had India taken all their catches – to go with two excellent ones by KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma – Sri Lanka would have been bundled out for much less.It took Ashwin only 63 balls to reach his fifth wicket, and left-hand batsmen in particular were easy pickings for him. He took out four of them, including Kumar Sangakkara for 5 in his penultimate Test, in 30 balls. As well as Ashwin bowled, a six-wicket haul in 82 balls for a visiting spinner on day one should worry the batting side. Ashwin, who has been through tough times in away series in the last two years, will gladly take it. He will also be glad that by the time he came on to bowl in the 12th over, India’s quick bowlers had already softened Sri Lanka up.It did not start all that well for India, though, as ordinary slip catching reared its head again, with Dhawan dropping Kaushal Silva at first slip in the fourth over. Kohli will be glad his quick bowlers responded with pace, bounce and hostility to send back the openers. Dimuth Karunaratne edged while fending a bouncer from Ishant Sharma, and Silva was given out caught off the arm guard as he went to hook Varun Aaron. Dhawan redeemed himself with a diving catch, but DRS would have made for an interesting decision.R Ashwin collected 6 for 46, the best figures by an Indian in Sri Lanka•AFP

That brought in Sangakkara in the eight over. At the end of the first hour, Kohli went to Ashwin, and the procession continued. In his first over, Ashwin beat Sangakkara in the flight before a freak dismissal sent the celebrated veteran back. The third ball that Ashwin bowled was short of a length, and drew a defensive shot from Sangakkara, which went fast towards Rahul at silly point. Rahul stayed low, pushed his hands in the general direction of the path of the ball, and it stuck in his fingertips. This was no edge, and nor did it come off the pad to soften the impact.Lahiru Thirimanne looked to block, and captain Mathews – playing his 50th Test – looked to hit a few shots to get the close-in fielders out of his face. Having come together at 27 for 3, they doubled the score before Thirimanne fell to an Ashwin beauty. Until then Thirimanne had faced only four balls from the offspinner, and had looked really comfortable facing only one of them. The fifth one, though, was perfect: nicely flighted, dipping short of Thirimanne’s reach, and then turning away to take the edge on a tame push. Poor Mubarak got to face only Ashwin, and the seventh such delivery did not turn, bounced and resulted in a bat-pad catch. Mubarak’s duck made it 60 for 5, and the only consolation for the hosts going into lunch was that their last recognised pair were both right-hand batsmen: Mathews and Chandimal.Soon after lunch, the consolation ended. Ishant bowled beautifully and drew Chandimal’s edge with one that held its line, but Wriddhiman Saha dropped an absolute sitter. What is more disturbing for India is that Saha is showing a bit of a tendency to drop the easier ones. That was not the only time India took the eye off the game. Ashwin, 6-1-15-3 now, was taken out of the attack for the other offspinner Harbhajan Singh. It would have been okay to give the fifth bowler a chance had Kohli not persisted with Harbhajan for too long. While Harbhajan showed no patience, often bowling round the wicket, often too straight, Kohli showed remarkable patience as Mathews and Chandimal added 79.While Chandimal’s effort was charmed, Mathews played a calculated and clever innings. He attacked only to get the fielders out, and then picked the ones and twos easily. Finally Kohli gave in, and gave Ashwin the end he had taken the three earlier wickets from. The pay-off was immediate, but it needed an exceptional catch from Rohit. In his second over back, Ashwin got one to dip on Mathews, but the bat-pad looked destined to loop over forward short leg’s head. Rohit, though, sprung up, got a hand to it, and ended up deflecting it back towards the wicket. He then dived back against his momentum, and took it one-handed.The floodgates now opened. Only a breezy 24-run stand between Chandimal and the adventurous Rangana Herath – who scored 23 off 24 – resisted India’s march. The innings ended when Herath had had one slog too many, but his real job was only about to begin.Before Herath and Tharindu Kaushal were asked to do their job, though, Dhammika Prasad and Mathews got rid of Rahul and Rohit. The rest of the bowling, though, failed to test Dhawan and Kohli for long enough. Dhawan and Kohli were prepared to defend and wait for loose balls, which Kaushal in particular provided readily. Dhawan, who scored a hundred in his last Test, went past 50 by stumps, and Kohli looked set to do so. More importantly, India could entertain thoughts of batting only once.

The Cape Town pitch was expected to make Saeed Ajmal a central figure towards the end of the Test but he made a massive impact on the second day itself

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran15-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSaeed Ajmal conjured five wickets in a beguiling display of spin bowling•Getty Images

The Cape Town pitch was expected to make Saeed Ajmal a central figure towards the end of the Test but he made an impact as early as the second day, first with the bat in a combative 64-run ninth-wicket stand and then, far more damagingly, with a mesmerising display of spin bowling that left South Africa stuttering for the first time in their home summer.Though this was not a tailor-made turner for Ajmal, and it had been widely predicted to be a great day for batting, he got the ball to rear up and fizz off the track in an unbroken 25-over spell that could well end up as his greatest performance. The mighty South African batting was nonplussed, and an hour before stumps there was even the outside chance of them being forced to follow-on. And this wasn’t even one of those old South African teams who were frazzled by the sight of the turning ball.Though Pakistan had three specialist quick bowlers, they turned to Ajmal as early as the 12th over, and he bowled unchanged from midway through the second session to stumps. Tanvir Ahmed was a disappointment with the new ball, bowling only around 120kph and not troubling the batsmen much, though he put in an improved second spell. The other two fast bowlers, Umar Gul and debutant Mohammad Irfan, were both regularly around 140kph, but the closest either of them came to a wicket was when Gul had Graeme Smith jabbing a simple catch to second slip, only for the usually reliable Younis Khan to grass the ball.

Smart stats

• Pakistan’s total of 338 is their highest in Tests in South Africa. Their previous best was 329 in Johannesburg exactly 15 years ago.

• Vernon Philander’s 5 for 59 is his ninth five-for in 15 Tests. In Cape Town he has taken 26 wickets in four Tests at an average of 12.30.

• Saeed Ajmal’s 5 for 41 is his first five-for against South Africa. In two previous Tests against them he had taken four wickets at 84.75.

• The last time a spinner took a five-for in the opposition’s first innings in a Cape Town Test was way back in 1970, when Ashley Mallett took 5 for 126.

• For the first time in Test cricket, two batsmen scored 111 in a Test innings. The highest individual score by two batsmen in an innings is 234, by Don Bradman and Sid Barnes against England in 1946.

It was left to Ajmal to do the damage, and he duly delivered a masterclass of spin bowling. Just when the openers were looking settled, Ajmal struck in his second over, getting Smith lbw on the sweep. The umpire turned down the appeal but Ajmal emphatically and repeatedly asked his team-mates to go for the review, which resulted in Smith being sent on his way. He had more success soon after as Alviro Petersen nicked to short leg where Azhar Ali pulled off a smart, low catch.Ajmal’s battle with Hashim Amla, the world’s top-ranked batsman, was engrossing, with Amla repeatedly using the reverse-sweep and also frequently shuffling across the stumps to try counter Ajmal. Though Amla seemed to have got on top of Ajmal when he picked off a couple of leg-side boundaries in successive overs, Ajmal emerged the winner as he rapped Amla on the back foot to get him lbw, again after using the DRS.The DRS has already been one of the most controversial innovations in cricket, diving opinion on many levels, and there was one more talking point when South Africa’s most experienced batsman, Jacques Kallis, was adjudged lbw on referral. He was originally given out caught at short leg, and he immediately referred the decision, and the replays suggested there was no edge. The umpires then checked whether it was an lbw, and the predicted path said that it was just shaving leg stump, and that it would stick with the “umpire’s call”, though the umpire hadn’t ruled on whether the ball would hit the stumps. The rules state that when the mode of dismissal changes, the batsman should originally be considered to be not out, which means Kallis should have remained in the middle, but he was given out lbw after much confusion.That Kallis wicket had South Africa in deep trouble. Soon after, Ajmal produced what was perhaps the ball of the day, as he got one to zip from round the wicket past a befuddled Faf du Plessis, who could only edge it to the slips, where Younis safely pouched it to consign South Africa to 109 for 5.Several South African batsmen didn’t help themselves by taking a guard on or outside off stump, and virtually cut off the off side as a scoring area against Ajmal, adding to the pressure caused by the relentless probing by the spinner.AB de Villiers and Dean Elgar had some scares but survived the final hour to take South Africa past the follow-on mark to complete one of those rare days when the home side had been outplayed.It was all so different in the morning when Vernon Philander’s love affair with Newlands continued as he bagged another five-for – his ninth in 15 Tests. A quick close to the Pakistan innings seemed imminent when he took three wickets in his first three overs on the second day before Tanvir and Ajmal lifted Pakistan to their highest total in South Africa with a 64-run partnership.With the ball swerving around, regularly beating the bat and most of the runs being scored through streaky edges past the slips or the leg stump, South Africa were looking forward to an early end to the innings. There was little sign that Tanvir and Ajmal would prove so hard to dislodge. With the pitch easing up, though, they began to look increasingly solid. Ahmed punched Morne Morkel past long-on for four, and Ajmal raised his front foot as he smacked Dale Steyn over midwicket for a boundary, a shot he’ll treasure as much as any of his wickets today.It wasn’t till just before lunch that the pair were separated, after which it was all about Ajmal and his bewitching brand of spin bowling.

Sachin Tendulkar has been picked in India’s ODI squad for the first time since the World Cup. He will stay on after the Test series in Australia for the one-day tri-series that also features Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2012Sachin Tendulkar has been picked in India’s limited-overs squad for the first time since the World Cup. He will stay on after the Test series in Australia for the one-day tri-series that also features Sri Lanka. Praveen Kumar, the India medium-pacer who missed the Tests due to a fractured rib, is also a part of the 17-man limited-overs squad. India will play two Twenty20 internationals in Australia followed by the ODI tri-series, which will be played from February 5 to March 8.The rest of the limited-overs squad is similar to the one that was picked for the fourth and fifth ODIs against West Indies at home in December last year. Irfan Pathan, who played his first international for India in more than two years during that series, has retained his place in the squad. Zaheer Khan, who like Tendulkar has not played an ODI since the World Cup final, will also stay on for the limited-over games. Umesh Yadav and R Vinay Kumar make up the rest of the fast-bowling department.Rahul Sharma, the legspinner who impressed during the series against West Indies, has been selected as the second spinner alongside R Ashwin. Manoj Tiwary scored his maiden ODI hundred in the fifth ODI against West Indies and is part of the squad again, which means there is no place for Ajinkya Rahane, who was part of the Test squad. Parthiv Patel has been picked as the reserve wicketkeeper despite his poor run with the bat in recent ODIs. Ravindra Jadeja, who has occupied the allrounder’s spot in the limited-overs side since the one-day leg of the tour of England, has also been selected.Yuvraj Singh’s time away from cricket continues as he has not yet fully recovered from the non-malignant lung tumour that has kept him out of the team since the home ODIs against West Indies.Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Manoj Tiwary, Parthiv Patel (wk), Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan, R Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Rahul Sharma, R Ashwin

The Bombay High Court has stayed until January 10, 2011 the proceedings of the BCCI’s disciplinary committee that is investigating charges against former IPL chairman Lalit Modi

Tariq Engineer25-Dec-2010The Bombay High Court has stayed until January 10, 2011 the proceedings of the BCCI’s disciplinary committee that is investigating charges against former IPL chairman Lalit Modi. Modi had filed a case claiming that the committee was improperly appointed, and Justice S.J. Kathawala, the vacation judge, held that prima facie there was an argument for halting the hearings.Modi’s lawyers contended that according to the BCCI’s constitution, the board is required to appoint three members to the disciplinary committee at its annual general meeting (AGM) every year. However, at the AGM held on September 29, 2010, the BCCI failed to appoint any members to the committee, thereby stripping it of its existence.When the board realised its error, it held a special general meeting (SGM) on December 11 where it appointed the same three members – Arun Jaitley, Chirayu Amin and Jyotiraditya Scindia – to the committee. At the time, the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan told that the reappointment of the committee was “a minor thing”.Modi’s lawyers countered in Court that this too violates the BCCI’s constitution and bye-laws, as the AGM is the only venue to appoint the committee. They argued that the board needs to first amend its constitution and bye-laws to allow for the appointment of a new committee at an SGM.In light of the judge’s ruling, the next set of disciplinary committee hearings scheduled for December 27 and 28 in New Delhi have been cancelled, according to a statement sent to ESPNcricinfo by Modi’s attorney, Mehmood Abdi.Modi has repeatedly challenged the composition of the committee, particularly objecting to the presence of current IPL chairman Chirayu Amin and BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley on the grounds of bias against him. His case was rejected by the Bombay High Court but the Supreme Court told the board and Modi in October to come to a compromise on the issue. However, the two sides have failed to do so and the case is still pending.

Pakistan are looking to hit back in the one-day series against Australia, which starts in Brisbane on Friday

The Preview by Peter English20-Jan-2010

Match Facts

Friday, January 22, the Gabba

Start time 1325 (0325 GMT)Look out: Younis Khan is back in Pakistan’s squad without the responsibility of being captain•AFP

The Big Picture

After the three Tests come the five ODIs and a Twenty20 to complete Pakistan’s tour. While the opening segment of the trip ended in a 3-0 victory for Australia, the limited-overs arrangements will be much more competitive.Despite the result, Pakistan’s squad became more united as the tour went on and they have received some key reinforcements, with Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi added to the unit. The tourists have also troubled Australia in their most recent engagements and their fast-bowling unit, which includes Mohammad Aamer, will worry the hosts at times. Australia won a tight series in the UAE 3-2 last year and the teams also ran into each other at the Champions Trophy, when Australia sneaked home by two wickets.This series will be an important gauge of the popularity of the 50-over game. Twenty20 crowds have been huge for the domestic Big Bash and five-match head-to-head series against Pakistan and West Indies will test Australia’s love affair with the format that began here in the 1970s.

Form guide (most recent first)

Australia NWWWL

Pakistan LLWLL

Watch out for…

Younis Khan is back after resigning the captaincy and Pakistan are glad to have his services. One of the game’s finest batsmen, Younis averages 33.12 over 197 ODIs and will bring some much-needed experience to the young line-up. He won’t be captain – that job is still Mohammad Yousuf’s – but he will be leading from the front.Shane Watson has just come off the best Test campaign of his career, with 609 runs in six Tests, and it will be interesting to see whether that form translates back to the one-day arena. It was his performances at the Champions Trophy and in India that set up his fine summer. He will be a main man with bat and ball as he returns to an old home ground.

Team news

The Australians have picked their 12 and the only tricky decision is whether to leave out a batsman or the allrounder James Hopes, who is only in the squad for the first game. Ricky Ponting is keen for Nathan Hauritz to continue to build on the momentum he picked up during the Test summer and with Mitchell Johnson resting, there are only three front-line fast men in Clint McKay, Peter Siddle and Doug Bollinger. Despite Shane Watson’s heavy five-day campaign, Ponting expects him to deliver 10 overs as well as open the batting with Shaun Marsh.Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Cameron White, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Nathan Hauritz, 9 Clint McKay, 10 Peter Siddle, 11 Doug Bollinger, 12 James Hopes.Things are less clear for Pakistan, who are lugging around a 17-man squad. Expect Kamran Akmal to return, more for his power hitting as an opener than his glovework, after he was dropped for the third Test in Hobart. The final bowling place appears to be between Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who has been playing for Tasmania in the Big Bash, and Umar Gul. Younis and Afridi come back to offer some serious strike power.Pakistan (possible) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf (capt), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Mohammad Asif, 10 Mohammed Aamer, 11 Saeed Ajmal.

Pitch and conditions

The Gabba has been excellent for batting during the domestic Twenty20 matches over the past month and whoever wins the toss will want to set a big target. In the early overs of the second innings the ball can swing as darkness falls, making life harder for the run-makers, and the extra bounce will take the Pakistanis some time to adjust to. The weather is expected to be fine throughout Friday, with a top of 32C.

Stats and trivia

• Australia and Pakistan have two wins each in five head-to-head contests at the Gabba, with one game rained out.
• Pakistan have won six and lost seven of their 14 matches at the ground while Australia have been successful 14 times in 31 appearances.
• The tourists own the lowest score at the Gabba in an ODI after managing 71 against West Indies in 1992-93.
• Dean Jones has the most runs in Brisbane with 513, while Ricky Ponting is the best of the current group with 324.
• Shoaib Akhtar’s 5 for 25 in 2002 equalled the best figures at the ground for an ODI.
  

  Quotes

  “If you read through their side, it looks a better team on paper than their Test team does. Guys like Afridi and Rana are very experienced and have been match-winners. Their one-day side does look particularly strong.”
  
  Ricky Ponting
  “It’s the best team we are playing against. We will give some fight, we have a young side, and I’m happy with it.”
  
  Mohammad Yousuf

Brathwaite scored just 0 and 7 in Grenada following 4 and 4 in Barbados with Sammy acknowledging a discussion would be had about his spot for Jamaica

Alex Malcolm07-Jul-2025West Indies coach Daren Sammy says there will be a serious discussion around Kraigg Brathwaite’s position ahead of the Jamaica Test, while remaining hopeful that his struggling batting group can find a way to back up the performances of the fast bowlers following a series-conceding defeat to Australia in Grenada.West Indies were bundled for 143 in the fourth innings, chasing 277 to win, on the fourth day with the margin of victory flattered slightly by Shamar Joseph’s late-innings hitting in the same manner it was in the first Test in Barbados.The hosts’ top order was against steamrolled by Australia’s relentless fast-bowling cartel, slumping to 33 for 4 at lunch on the fourth day. But while West Indies’ top-order struggles have mirrored Australia’s, the middle and lower-order were unable to rescue them as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood ripped the game away in a six-over burst in the middle session to leave West Indies 99 for 7 and without a recognised batter left.Related

• Starc, Hazlewood make quick work of West Indies to help Australia retain Frank Worrell Trophy

• Lights for Sabina Park day-night Test need final approval

Sammy acknowledged that there was pressure on former captain Brathwaite, who is the only West Indies batter not to reach double-figures in the series to date. His 100th Test was a forgettable one, with scores of just 0 and 7 following 4 and 4 in Barbados. Brathwaite averages 18.68 in his last 35 Test innings with just three half-centuries.”He hasn’t looked good this series, and in a team where you are searching for performances, you get very close to say ‘okay, do we give somebody else a chance?'” Sammy said after the loss in Grenada. “But we will really have a good discussion, myself, the selection group, and the captain himself, about that particular situation.”Sammy conceded that it was a tough ask for his batting line-up to handle Australia’s attack on the two pitches that have been presented in the series so far and noted that most of the new-look line-up were at the start of a journey to becoming a more reliable Test batting unit. But he cited the example of Steven Smith in terms of how to make technical adaptations on a difficult surface to have success.1:08

Starc stars from around the wicket

“But I do understand the journey that I took on, and Rome is not going to be built in a day. So a little bit of patience, a little bit of reality as to where we are at is something that we are aware of, and then continue to put in the work.”The way the guys have bought into what we’re trying to do, yes, the results have not shown, but some of the attitudes that are changing and understanding what we’re trying to do, it gives me hope.”Sammy said there was a need for first-class pitches in the Caribbean to be better so that West Indies could produce some stronger batting stocks for Test cricket.”It’s hard to produce the quality of batters that we want to compete,” Sammy said. “When you look at the surfaces that we play on, it’s hard. If you look at all the averages, we barely have guys averaging 40-plus in [first-class] cricket. Those type of pitches, it doesn’t allow you to come up technically sound, because you’re really unsure. There’s always doubt. And in an ideal world, you want to see our guys perform because of, not in spite of.”It’s something myself, the director of cricket, the franchise system, we’ve looked at very, very closely in trying to change that, trying to send the head groundsmen all over, trying to get the sort of wickets that allow batters to trust their techniques and stuff like that. And we also have some probably technical deficiencies that carry on from the Under-19, the youth level up to the national team.”In spite of all of that, we still find ourselves in positions to win and compete, and that’s where you will need more of the mental toughness of the game to restrict you from getting too ahead of your stroke-play and show a little bit more fight and understand that we are playing against the No. 1 team, and be a little tighter, and when opportunities present to score then we do that.”1:36

Cummins heaps praise on ‘warrior’ Starc and ‘prolific’ Carey

Sammy was delighted with his team’s bowling performance overall after they bowled Australia out for 286 and 243 in Grenada to give themselves a chance at victory, although he was hopeful they could tighten the screws against the visitors’ middle order, having twice let Australia off the hook following early breakthroughs.”For some reason, after lunch, that session, whether we bat or bowl, we’ve been really poor,” Sammy said. “If you put our bowling between yesterday’s last 12 overs and this morning’s session, however many we bowled, this is a level of consistency we look at.”Our bowling, we can’t fault them, they’ve gotten 40 wickets. I don’t know when last we got 40 wickets against a top-three team in two Test matches. So the bowlers are doing the job.”Like Australia, Sammy said his side had yet to procure any pink Dukes balls ahead of the day-night pink-ball Test in Jamaica. But despite some concerns surrounding the preparation of the ground at Sabina Park, Sammy said it would be a historic event and was confident the match would be played under lights as planned.

Wicketkeeper-batter, who also holds Australian citizenship, will replace Quinton de Kock for Renegades’ final two BBL games

Alex Malcolm04-Jan-2024Melbourne Renegades have sent an SOS to Netherlands captain Scott Edwards to be available for the last two games of the BBL season as a replacement for the injured Joe Clarke.Edwards is currently in South Africa with the Netherlands team on a training tour that includes five practice matches against SA20 teams before the start of that tournament and a month-long camp.But Edwards, who also holds Australian citizenship, is leaving South Africa early to return to Melbourne, where he grew up, to be available for Renegades’ final two BBL matches, as they will be without a specialist wicketkeeper-batter after Quinton de Kock departs for the SA20 following the match against Hobart Hurricanes on Thursday.Related

• Edwards, Dutchman from Melbourne, is coming home for World Cup

• Mujeeb's BBL season cut short by Afghanistan Cricket Board

Renegades don’t have a local wicketkeeper on their list, having traded Sam Harper to Melbourne Stars for legspinner Adam Zampa. They had recruited de Kock to keep in the six games he was available for, and were relying on Clarke to fill the role for the remaining matches. But Clarke’s season-ending quad injury threw a spanner in the works.Englishman Jordan Cox was recruited as a replacement player for de Kock, and has played two matches for Renegades already as a specialist batter – one before de Kock’s arrival, and the other as Clarke’s replacement in the Melbourne derby on Tuesday. Cox has played as a wicketkeeper in 24 of his 88 T20s at professional level, but has not kept in his last 26 matches dating back to January last year.Edwards, 27, qualifies as an Australian local, and had played in Renegades’ practice matches before the BBL. But the Netherlands ODI and T20I captain, who had a very impressive ODI World Cup in India with both bat and gloves, was not signed by any of the BBL teams despite being fully available for the tournament, even as Stars only carried one specialist wicketkeeper in their 18-man squad.Edwards instead spent December playing club cricket in Melbourne before heading to South Africa with the Netherlands team. But he will return to Melbourne on January 11, and will be available for the second Melbourne derby against Stars at the Marvel Stadium on January 13 and for their final match of the home-and-away season against Sydney Thunder on January 17 if required.Edwards has never played in the BBL or been contracted despite winning the Ryder Medal as the best player in Victoria’s Premier Cricket competition in 2021. He has also never been contracted to play domestically in Australia despite being eligible as a local, although he has played second XI cricket for Victoria in Cricket Australia’s second-tier four-day competition that sits underneath Sheffield Shield cricket.

Renegades replace Mujeeb with Hosein

Renegades have also added West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein for the last two games of the season after Mujeeb Ur Rahman was ruled out of the remainder of the BBL following the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s decision to revoke his No-Objection Certificate.It continues a tumultuous season for Renegades, with their captain Nic Maddinson dropping himself mid-season due to being out of form, while long-time captain and all-time leading run-scorer Aaron Finch was also left out of their most recent match despite being fit, and has announced he will retire at the end of the season despite having a year to run on his contract.