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Phoebe Litchfield had earlier slammed the joint-fastest fifty in women’s T20Is to power Australia to 212, but West Indies overhauled that target with a ball to spare

Andrew McGlashan02-Oct-2023Inspired by their captain Hayley Matthews and supported by Stafanie Taylor, West Indies produced a stunning world-record T20I chase to sink Australia at North Sydney Oval.After the first innings, it appeared Phoebe Litchfield would be the performance talked about as she equaled the record for the fastest fifty in women’s T20Is off 18 balls, but that was put well in the shade.Matthews, who was left stranded on 99 in the opening match of the series, surged to a 53-ball century this time and carried her team to the brink when she finally fell for a magnificent 132 off 64 balls having taken four consecutive boundaries off Jess Jonassen in the penultimate over.It left West Indies needing 9 off 7 deliveries which Shemaine Campbelle and Chinelle Henry were able to scamper in the final over against Ash Gardner with a ball to spare when Australia had to have an extra fielder inside the ring due to a slow over-rate.Taylor had overcome a sluggish start to play a vital hand with 59 off 41 balls in a stand of 174 in 14 overs with Matthews. Australia’s bowlers had no answers and they paid the price for dropping Matthews twice, on 30 and 87. Their tactics will also have to be called into question with Matthews repeatedly exploiting an unprotected off-side boundary.She scored 19 off her 25 boundaries on the off side with 77 runs coming from cover drives and in all 110 of her runs came in fours and sixes.Overall, it was the highest scoring women’s T20I in history with 425 runs and Matthews collected her seven consecutive player-of-the-match award.West Indies had made the perfect start to the game when Alyssa Healy fell first ball, spectacularly caught at backward point by Campbelle and Australia were 7 for 2 when Tahila McGrath was bowled by an excellent delivery from Matthews.From there, however, the home side rebuilt through a stand of 70 between Beth Mooney and Ellyse Perry before two more wickets fell in quick succession to leave them 89 for 4 when Litchfield walked in.There had been some surprise when she was preferred to Grace Harris at No. 6 for this series, but Australia have wanted to try a left hander in that position. It will be difficult to shift her now. She collected her first six from her second delivery when she advanced at Aaliyah Alleyne and pulled over deep backward square. That was followed by consecutive sixes off Henry, the second as she advanced and drove over long-off.For a little while she lost the strike as Georgia Wareham took over with her own powerful strokeplay, but Litchfield found the boundary from five of her next six deliveries with her fifth six equaling the record.A brutal stand of 66 off 22 balls between Litchfield and Georgia Wareham, who made 32 off 13, enable the home side to put on a power packed finish that produced 88 runs from the last five overs – a record for where complete data is available. Astonishingly, it ended up coming in a losing cause.

Harmer and Adam Rossington fifties leave Hampshire needing 299 to win in fourth innings

David Hopps27-Jun-2022How to play Simon Harmer on a pitch offering turn and bounce will again be the main topic of conversation at Chelmsford. Harmer soon took the last four Hampshire wickets to fall on the second morning and, as many had imagined he might, returned the best Championship figures this season in the process.His 8 for 46 was the first eight-for in Division One this summer, and also surpassed Dane Paterson’s 8 for 52 for Nottinghamshire against Worcestershire in Division Two. A pitch the colour of a peeled banana should continue to offer plenty of assistance on the third day and, despite signs of defiance, Hampshire’s target of 299 remains a distant dream.How should Hampshire combat Harmer? Limit vertical-bat shots, stay inside the line and, when you do hunt out the leg side do so with vigour and scare the close fielders to death might be one theory. Felix Organ appeared to have done a lot of thinking roughly along those lines and, with 13 overs to survive at the end of the day, his approach was particularly decisive. He swung Harmer for three leg-side sixes, the bowler conceded 30 from six overs and Hampshire closed their 13 overs somewhat enriched at 35 without loss.Dismissals at the start of day two included a reverse sweep (Keith Barker), a top-edged flat bat through cover (James Fuller) and a swing to deep midwicket (Kyle Abbott). Ben Brown, who played well for 38, was unfortunate and conveyed the fact the ball flicked the top of his pad with a meaningful pad bash, followed by an exasperated swing of his arm and spin of his bat.Liam Dawson, as Hampshire’s senior spinner, then responded with a creditable 7 for 68. As well as the first time he had taken 10 wickets in a match, he was also the first spinner to take five or more wickets at Chelmsford other than Harmer since 2014.”You have to cash in on these pitch as you don’t get many that turn off the straight in England,” Dawson said. “Harmer is world-class. Facing him and the bounce he gets is something every spinner wants and he has shown over the years how good he is. It is going to be a tough chase. We are going to have to be brave and take risks against Harmer. It is going to be a fun day. You might see some lads get out playing some big shots but that is better sitting around waiting to get caught around the bat.”Dawson is not a big turner of the ball, but he is a thoughtful bowler and approached every delivery with an air of great care as if he was not just bowling the ball but computing it. Nick Browne met the turning ball as he does swing and seam, with great deliberation, his 33 from 98 balls the most considered innings of the match. Adam Rossington’s 60 from 71 balls, his highest Championship score of the season, was a more pugnacious response from No. 7 after the loss of five early wickets. Harmer, as if to rub it in, then contributed 61 as he mowed regularly and spiritedly to midwicket.Rossington’s sudden move from Northamptonshire on the eve of the season, partly driven by a disagreement with Northants’ coaching staff over fitness regimes, was soon followed by Adam Wheater’s announcement that he would retire his Essex career at the end of the season, since when he has disappeared from view and Rossington is now established behind the stumps. He is a much more assertive batter and his bulk is making him one of the most recognisable figures in the game.It is a safe assumption that Essex did not discuss how to survive Organ with the same focus that Hampshire gave to Harmer. Organ, trying to make his way as an opening batter offering an offspin option, has a tidy first-class record, nonetheless, with his 29 wickets before this game costing under 23 runs.Along with Dawson, he kept Essex’s second innings honest. They had a first-innings lead of 75, knowing that another 150 would make them overwhelming favourites. The spinners were in tandem by the sixth over – perhaps uniquely this season – and, with half of Essex’s side dispatched for 51 just after lunch, the match was still very much alive.Organ took two in two, finding nice dip to beat Alastair Cook on the drive and have him caught at first slip, then seeing Tom Westley caught at short leg, a firm clip into Aneurin Donald’s midriff. Paul Walter, covering up in front of off stump, was trapped lbw on the back foot. Dawson had Dan Lawrence lbw flicking across his front pad. Michael Pepper, who is standing in for the injured Matt Critchley, has had an unrewarding match – after his tentative first-ball dismissal in the first innings, he opted for a reverse sweep and picked out cover. Dawson picked his way through the tail.Down in the furthest reaches of the County Ground, where the view is at its worst, two supporters watched Hampshire’s fielders agitating for wickets as Browne and Rossington began to reclaim Essex’s advantage. Seasoned county supporters, by and large, are not yet in the habit of checking the video replay when a contentious moment occurs. They draw on decades of experience, flavoured by a healthy seasoning of bias. Emotion often trumps facts, as in the real world beyond.So it was that when Browne survived a catch at short leg, Hampshire fielders dancing around, a portly man in a red polo shirt complained “clearly out” from fully 90 metres away, slightly downhill. Next ball, Browne’s defiant innings came to grief as he turned Dawson to backward short leg. “Should have walked the first time,” said the man, a little self-righteously, his faith in some sort of religious intervention confirmed. It would have been surprising if God had had the time to intervene considering that a minority of fundamentalists claim He has been more involved in Roe v Wade than Browne v Dawson.Minutes later, Harmer rode a blow from Abbott which brushed his chest on the way through to the wicketkeeper, Hampshire’s wailing for a wicket again refused. “They’re all cheating now,” said the man, before adding with no sense of irony: “Looked out from here.” All this time, umpires have been standing behind the stumps when clearly a better vantage point has existed all along.

Shadman Islam and Saif Hassan are Bangladesh’s options for the vacant opening spot

Mohammad Isam01-Feb-2021Bangladesh’s management is yet to decide on who will open with Tamim Iqbal against West Indies as one half of Bangladesh’s opening batting continues to be a riddle. The toss-up this time is between Shadman Islam, who has been out for more than a year due to a wrist injury after playing six Tests, and Saif Hassan, the 22-year old who had played Bangladesh’s last Test against Zimbabwe in February 2020.But neither has nailed down the position with any conviction, nor has any of the other opener in the last five years. Tamim has had six different opening partners in the last six years, out of the eleven opening pairs during this period. It is in stark contrast with the rest of the batting order where most of the batsmen have been consistent fixtures.Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo said he will discuss the position with the selectors before they take a final decision, but he was certain about the middle-order, with the good news that Shakib Al Hasan is getting close to full fitness after a recent groin niggle.”The batting order needs some discussions,” Domingo said on Monday. “I have got an idea of who is going to bat at No 3, 4, 5 and 6. Obviously we need to have final discussions with the selectors later today, about the opening spot to go with Tamim. We have a few options. Saif played the last Test and before him, Shadman was the man in that position before he broke his finger.”Shakib is an important player for us with his batting and bowling. He is a world-class allrounder who is very difficult to replace in any format. Preparations for him hasn’t been easy after picking up a groin niggle in the last ODI. He has gone through his rehab. He is still not 100 per cent but he has a day or so, but we are pretty confident that he will be ready for the first Test. He has worked really hard on his rehab. He is not feeling too much discomfort, so we are confident that he will be ready to play.”Domingo, however, was slightly more clear about the sort of bowling attack he is about to choose, judging from the pitches that he has seen at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. “We have some exciting new fast bowlers coming through… but looking at the wickets in Chattogram, the pace bowlers don’t seem to be too much of a threat. It is an unfortunate thing. It just seems to be the nature of the wicket. We have to make sure we play to our strengths.”We are very committed to get some fast bowlers through the system. We have showed that in our one-day side where we are trying to develop our fast bowling stock. When we go away from home, they will be crucially important for us.”But we also can’t be stupid to pick out-and-out pace attacks when you are playing on wickets that don’t offer them anything. It is also very difficult for bowlers to make debuts on these type of pitches. We will make a final decision on the make-up of the team, once we have seen the pitch one day before the Test,” he said.Among the pace bowlers, Domingo said that Mustafizur Rahman developing the inswinger to the right-hander gives him a headstart for Test match selection.”I think I have said months ago that Mustafizur will struggle in Tests until he swings the ball back into the right-hander. He has worked really hard with our bowling coach to make sure he gets the shape more consistently. I am sure you can see from his white-ball performances that he has been able to do that. It is still not a 100 per cent consistent but there has been a big improvement in the way he is shaping the ball.”He is an experienced and quality performer. He is a left-armer, which is a variety. He can also create some rough outside the right-hander’s off-stump for our offspinners to come into the game. He is definitely an option going into this Test. I definitely see him as part of our Test team going forward, after the improvement we have seen in the last eight or nine months,” said Domingo.He, however, pointed out that taking the West Indies side lightly would be dangerous for Bangladesh. “I definitely think this will be a closely-contested event. West Indies have some quality cricketers in their side. If we take them lightly, it will be at our own peril. They have some wonderful cricketers in the side.”(Kraigg) Brathwaite has been a consistent performer for them. Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach are world-class bowlers. We are by no means complacent. We know that they are a formidable side under any conditions. We will have to be on our A-game to compete and come out on the right side of the result against them,” said Domingo.

Pat Cummins’ pearler may go down as the moment Australia truly believed they were set to win the Ashes

Daniel Brettig in Manchester07-Sep-2019It may well go down as the moment Australia truly believed they were set to win the Ashes on English soil for the first time in 18 years. At the very least, Pat Cummins’ top-of-off-stump pearler to defeat England’s captain Joe Root first ball has set down a definitive blueprint for what the Australians will be attempting on day five at Old Trafford, according to no less an authority on batting than their talismanic run maker Steven Smith.There was a period on day four when England looked capable of elbowing their way back into the contest, as Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer delivered two of the most compelling spells of a series dominated by the bowlers on both sides. However Smith emerged as Australia’s’ bulwark yet again, cuffing 82 with help from Matthew Wade and Tim Paine to grant the visitors a handsome lead and the chance to bowl in murky light during the final half an hour.Cummins responded by drawing an error from Rory Burns in the first over, and followed up with a ball that could not have been bettered to flick Root’s off stump. He had copped a similar delivery from Ryan Harris at Durham in 2013, but this one will be remembered not only for the quality of the ball but the importance of the moment. Smith said that it made crystal clear what the Australians needed to do on the final day.”I think it will be difficult, particularly while the ball is hard. I found when I first went out to the middle, when you bowl a good length, there was enough up and down and sideways movement. My first 20 or 30 balls, I felt pretty vulnerable when they were bowling that good length,” Smith said. “Patty hit it beautifully tonight, I think that ball to Root is a blueprint of what we need to do tomorrow, first thing in the morning, and the quicks to keep hitting that top-of-the-stump length and let the pitch do its thing.”Mixed in with a good bouncer to play with their feet, and maybe get a bit of up and down as well. It’s the length we’ve been trying to hit on Root, particularly early in the innings. It’s worked a few times. He’s got out first ball a couple of times and early on a few time with a very similar ball. That’s the sort of length we tried to hit. Fortunately Patty did it first ball. I have no idea if it moved, kept low or what but I think it’s the length that’s the most important thing. That was a good length.”Bowlers on both sides have been able to dictate terms with seam more so than swing, and Smith believed this was deliberate: a scrambled seam delivery that can move either way off the pitch being far harder to adjust for than something that moves through the air, though as Mitchell Starc demonstrated to Johnny Bairstow, it can make for a devastating variation if conditions are right. At the same time, David Warner’s struggles have been unprecedented in his career, leaving him asking Smith, among others, for answers.”I think it’s off the pitch, that’s the key to try and hit that,” Smith said. “I don’t know what it does when they scramble it, but I guess it just hits the ball in a different spot then can move sideways, there is no doubt in my mind that the seaming ball is the hardest thing to play in the game. You don’t have time to react so you have to play the line and if it goes in, you are a chance of hitting the stumps and getting lbw, and if it goes away you are a chance of nicking it.”A couple of our guys have exploited that pretty well on this wicket and if they do that again and hit the top of the stumps, that same length as the Root ball, hopefully we can see a lot of bowled, lbws and caught behind the wickets. It’s been tough on the new ball for both sides. The ball’s probably done its most when it’s new. When it gets a little bit softer it doesn’t do quite as much, it gets a little bit easier. They’ve bowled pretty well with the new ball. They’re both particularly good bowlers to left-handed batters, both Broad and Archer. It’s not been easy for Davey and Marcus but they’re trying their hardest.”We’ve talked, a few different things here and there. Just trying to form a plan to get through Broad. He’s admitted himself that Broad’s had the wood on him throughout this series and he’s been talking to myself and Justin and Hicky, I think, about ways he can play. He’s tried a couple different ways and they haven’t quite worked. but Davey’s a quality player and he hasn’t had a great deal of luck this series either, hopefully he can turn it around and get a big one for us at The Oval.”As for his own incredibly prolific series with so much chaos around him, Smith said he had wanted to be involved when the games were at their most difficult, using his singular skills to turn numerous scenarios back around to Australia’s’ favour. “I think when it is tough you want your experienced players to step up,” he said. “I’ve played quite a lot of cricket now. I like to get into those situations and try and be the one to take the team through.”I was able to form a really good partnership with Matty Wade, who I thought played really well today as well. That partnership was really handy for us at that stage. England were really up and about with us four down but a good half an hour of batting and things got a bit easier for us and we were able to form a nice partnership, and hopefully one that will set us up for this game.”I’m not in the game for personal accolades, I’m here to do my job and score as many runs for the team as I can and fortunately this series I’ve been able to score quite a few and help the team as much as I can. Hopefully I can do that again next game.”

Vince scored 171 from 126 balls to set up a match-winning total as Hampshire eased past Yorkshire

Paul Edwards at the Ageas Bowl18-Jun-2018
ScorecardThe fourth ball James Vince received in this match was pitched slightly short and would have passed a foot outside off stump had he not hit it between mid-off and extra cover for four. Most batsmen would probably have let the thing go and acquired a little more knowledge about the pace of the Ageas Bowl wicket. But Vince is not to be numbered among that majority, a point made plain when he rocked back and put his bat to the ball with a minimum of force. Perhaps at that moment Yorkshire’s new captain Steve Patterson knew his team might be in for some trouble; for their part, Hampshire supporters knew they might be in for a treat. Both parties were correct. The bowler, Matthew Fisher, trudged back to his mark.Five other Yorkshire cricketers had similarly reflective walks ahead of them this memorable afternoon. By the time he was dismissed, caught at long-on off Adam Lyth in the 46th over of the innings, Vince had hit 19 further fours and three sixes in 171 runs scored off 126 balls. Hampshire’s total of 348 proved far too many for their opponents, who lost their first three wickets for 47 and were eventually bowled out for 241. Yorkshire’s only consolation was provided by Jonathan Tattersall, whose career-best 89 gave matters a patina of respectability. The truth, however, was that much of Yorkshire’s innings seemed weirdly unrelated to the one it had followed.The talk will now be of consequences and contexts. It is Hampshire who will face Kent in the penultimate Lord’s final a week on Saturday. That will be something of an occasion for Sam Northeast, who will play against the side he used to captain. Yorkshire folk may argue that they would be in St John’s Wood had they been able to select the five players currently on England duty. Yet nothing, including the easy-paced pitch on which this game was played, should detract from Vince’s artistry or the ease with which he and Northeast dissected Yorkshire’s attack during their 142-run stand for the third wicket. Some of the Hampshire’s captain’s shots were so perfect in their execution that it barely mattered that this was a match of some importance. “Do not choose a coward’s explanation that hides behind the cause and the effect,” sang Leonard Cohen in “Alexandra Leaving”.Vince is an alchemist. When he bats as he did against Yorkshire it is difficult to believe even Tom Graveney’s timing possessed greater caressive power. His pulls through midwicket are Laxmanesque in their effrontery. On afternoons like this he takes his place at cricket’s top table. Curiously there were none of the signature front-foot cover drives after which the ball accelerates to the rope as if late for something. But there was a whip through the leg side off Fisher, a drive through point off Ben Coad and a sweep off Kyle Carver. Vince’s eloquence at the wicket makes post-match interviews unnecessary. What can he say that he has not already shown?Yorkshire’s bowlers took two early wickets but their others could be viewed by Hampshire as acceptable collateral damage in the headlong pursuit of runs. Ben Coad removed Jimmy Adams and Joe Weatherly but Kyle Carver’s slow left-arm was savaged. When the pundits stopped talking about Vince, they agreed Yorkshire’s batsmen would need to mount one of their great run-chases if they were to chase down 349.As it turned out, though, the second half of this non-contest was the sort of anti-climax typical of one-sided limited-overs games. Chris Wood had Lyth leg before in the fourth over of the innings, although there were suggestions the ball was going over the top; Dale Steyn, who immediately bowled with more pace and purpose than anyone else, had Cheteshwar Pujara caught at slip off the shoulder of the bat for nought. Four of Yorkshire’s middle-order made twenties while Tattersall learned something about first-team cricket. Liam Dawson picked up two early wickets and two more in his final over to finish with 4 for 47. Wood took the last wicket when he had Coad caught at mid-off by Vince.Now a November evening, rain scudding against the windows. A night for the hearth. One thinks of the cricket season which ended a couple of months ago. It takes a moment to recall who won the major honours. But one image is stored safely and summoned without effort. It captures a batsman playing a square drive, the ball passing a few yards to the right of a motionless backward point. Just for that moment, one believes the gentle lie that art is simple ease.

South Africa women are currently ranked sixth in the ICC Team Rankings but they put their underperformance down to not having their best players available for all of those matches, either through injury or suspension

Firdose Moonda17-Feb-2017The South African management is eyeing a semi-final finish or better for their women’s team, who qualified for the World Cup with victory over Sri Lanka on Friday. South Africa missed out on automatic entry into the tournament after finishing outside the top four in the ICC Women’s Championship but secured their spots through the qualifier, with a game to play, and are getting stronger as the showpiece event looms.”We have the players to be in the top four. It is just about being consistent as a team and as individual players,” Vincent Barnes, CSA High Performance Manager, who works with the men’s, women’s, A side and age-group teams told ESPNcricinfo. “If you look at teams like Australia or England, they have three or four match-winners in their side and those players will perform in three or four out of every five games. We need to develop that as well.”South Africa are currently ranked sixth in the ICC Team Rankings and lost recent series against New Zealand and Australia, which did not allow them to proceed straight to the World Cup. But they put their underperformance down to not having their best players available for all of those matches, either through injury or suspension. Pace spearhead Shabnim Ismail and wicket-keeper batsman Trisha Chetty were left out for disciplinary breaches – for which they underwent counseling – while Ayabonga Khaka and Laura Wolvaardt missed parts of the two series with niggles. Having all four back has made a big difference. “We’ve been able to put our best squad out there and we can see how well they have combined,” Barnes said.While Ismail and Chetty are experienced players whose quality is well-known, Khaka and Wolvaardt have made particularly crucial impressions now – Khaka for her aggressive bowling and 17-year-old Wolvaardt, who is the head girl at her school, for her composure opening the batting. But there have also been strategic changes to the way South Africa play. Lizelle Lee and Sune Luus have been moved up the order and Mignon du Preez handed the captaincy over to Dane van Niekerk, which has allowed both of them to blossom.”Captaincy is still new to Dane but she is extremely knowledgable about the game. Dane is very focused, very hard on herself,” Barnes said. “And it has allowed Mignon to concentrate on her batting because we always thought she could offer a bit more.”Since October, when du Preez effectively stood down, she has scored four half-centuries in 20 ODI innings. In the same time period, van Niekerk’s has soared – she has been batting an average of 49.90 as captain, compared to 32.75 overall and has contributed with the ball. Doubtless, van Niekerk’s experience at the Women’s BBL has also had some effect on her performances and Barnes hopes more South African players will get opportunities in overseas leagues. “We want them to experience competitive environments because it really does wonders for them.”As women’s cricket continues to grow and offer players more commercial opportunities, Cricket South Africa are doing what they can to keep up. Two years ago, they upped their contracts for female cricketers from six to 14 players and they have also moved women’s cricket to the high performance division. That means the players have specialised camps at one of the world’s best facilities at the University of Pretoria and there is also a women’s academy intake who are trained there. The aim is to ensure there is a steady pipeline of quality women’s players, who can join and ultimately take over from the current crop.”What happens is that when the women graduate to international cricket, there is a big step up from domestic game, that gap is widening all the time. At the high performance centre, our job is to close that gap,” Barnes said. “It’s similar to the structure of international teams – you have a strong top eight and then the rest.”That top eight will compete at the World Cup, for which South Africa have one more series in preparation. They will host India, Ireland and Zimbabwe for a quadrangular rubber in Potchefstroom in May before traveling to the UK 10 days before the World Cup starts.

Hong Kong’s hopes of qualifying for the main round of the Asia Cup T20 were extinguished by Mohammad Shahzad as UAE beat them by six wickets to register their second successive win in Fatullah

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Amjad Javed sealed the game with a straight six as UAE took a giant leap towards the main round of the Asia Cup T20•AFP

Hong Kong’s hopes of qualifying for the main round of the Asia Cup T20 were extinguished by Mohammad Shahzad as UAE beat them by six wickets to move to the top of the points table with one game to play.If it was Rohan Mustafa who led the way in their tournament opener against Afghanistan, Shahzad put his hand up to make a 39-ball 52 in the chase of 147 as UAE crossed the line with nine balls to spare. In doing so, they also ensured their net run rate received a boost, a factor that could decide the qualifier if teams are tied on points.Hong Kong were struggling at 26 for 2 after they opted to bat. It took the belligerence of the in-form Babar Hayat to give them the momentum, even as Mark Chapman’s aggression fetched 29 runs off just 17 balls. Hayat, who made 122 in a losing cause in Hong Kong’s opener, hit eight fours in his 45-ball 54, before being dismissed in the 16th over. That allowed UAE to apply the choke as they conceded just 24 off the last five overs, with Mohammad Naveed, the pacer, finishing with figures of 3 for 14.With perhaps lesser runs than they would have liked, Hong Kong prised out the wickets of Mustafa and Muhammad Kaleem to leave UAE at 22 for 2. Shahzad, who came in to bat at No. 3, arrested the wobble and helped UAE steer ahead of the asking rate during the course of a third-wicket stand of 79 with Muhammad Usman (41). Shahzad took the game right till the end in Shaiman Anwar’s company, before Amjad Javed, the captain, sealed the deal with a straight six.Having come up with two dominating displays, UAE have a straightforward equation. A win against Oman will see them through to the main round, while a loss that coincides with an Afghanistan win over Hong Kong could force a three-way tie in terms of points.

Jason Holder, the West Indies fast bowler, has few batting credentials to brag about, but was confident he could hit the 15 runs needed off the final over

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2013Jason Holder, the West Indies fast bowler, has few batting credentials to brag about, but was confident he could hit the 15 runs needed off the final over to win the third ODI against Pakistan. The No. 11 Holder managed to crack 14 to miraculously tie a game which West Indies seemed destined to lose, when they needed 39 off the final three overs with only two wickets remaining.Holder powered a four over cover and a six over extra cover off Wahab Riaz in the final over before scampering two off the last delivery to level the scores. “I know my hitting area and I knew exactly the area I was targeting. I kept looking at the field and I knew the bowler would offer width on the off-stump,” Holder said. “With my reach I knew I could make good contact and I backed myself to win the game. Coming close to the end I was focused on getting the runs.”Kemar Roach, who was involved in a similarly tense finish against India three weeks ago, was on the non-striker’s end in the final over. Though the more experienced Roach faced only one ball in the final over, Holder said Roach’s role was crucial.”I have to give a lot of credit to Kemar,” Holder said. “He had a lot of faith in me and he told me ‘you can do it!’… we both believed and in the end it was quite good to get the runs and at least come away with a tie.”Before Holder’s heroics in the final over, Lendl Simmons had shepherded the chase with his 75, but was dismissed in the 46th over with West Indies still some way away from victory. “I’m a bit disappointed that I was not able to carry on and win it for the team,” Simmons said. “I was playing really well, but got out at a crucial stage in the run chase.”Sunil Narine then gave West Indies an outside chance by lashing 14 off five deliveries off Saeed Ajmal in the 48th over. Ajmal had proven miserly before the over, with figures of 9-1-21-2, but the boundaries from Narine kept West Indies in the game.”Credit to Sunil and Jason for the way they played in a pressure situation,” Simmons said. “They are two of the younger members of the team and they really held their nerve … their batting was superb. At one stage it looked like we could not reach the target but they played the big shots, under pressure, and pulled off a great tie in the end.”The crowd at Beausejour Stadium was delighted with the result, but Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore could be seen fuming in the Pakistan dressing room. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was also unhappy at letting the match slip after having been on top for much of the game. “It’s really disappointing, we were in a really good position but the way Holder played, he took the game away from us,” Misbah said. “We bowled too many full deliveries to the tailender … but hats off to them, they played really well.”

Tim Southee has been added to New Zealand’s Test squad for the ongoing tour of the West Indies as a replacement for Mark Gillespie, who was ruled out last week due to an ankle injury

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jul-2012Tim Southee has been added to New Zealand’s Test squad for the ongoing tour of the West Indies as a replacement for Mark Gillespie, who was ruled out last week due to an ankle injury. New Zealand did not confirm at the time who would take Gillespie’s place but Southee, who has played 17 Tests and was already in the Caribbean for the ODIs, appeared the logical answer.”Tim has impressed with the way he bowled in the one-day series so far and we have seen an improvement from where he was at the end of the home summer,” Kim Littlejohn, the national selection manager, said. “He’s a like-for-like replacement for Mark in terms of the type of bowler he is and his ability to unsettle the opposition batsmen with pace and bounce.”The loss of Gillespie was a blow for New Zealand after he was their leading wicket taker in the Test series against South Africa earlier this year. The two-Test series begins in Antigua on July 25 and finishes in Jamaica in the first week of August.

Cricinfo previews the first ODI of Sri Lanka’s tour of England

The Preview by Andrew Miller27-Jun-2011

Match facts

Tuesday, June 28, The Oval

Start time 1300 (1200 GMT)

Big Picture

Alastair Cook has a tough challenge lying ahead of him•Getty Images

This time last week, Andrew Strauss was England’s man at the helm. On Saturday, for a perfunctory 37.2 overs, Stuart Broad took over as national captain, and at 12.30pm tomorrow afternoon, Alastair Cook will line up at the toss as England’s third skipper in eight days. The policy of separate leaders for all three formats always looked like a bit of a gamble, but right at this moment, following the most anticlimactic coronation imaginable for Broad at Bristol, there’s an additional layer of scrutiny pending.On the bright side for Cook, his first game as full-time ODI captain is unlikely to go quite as badly as Strauss’s last in the role, in Colombo three months ago. England’s ten-wicket drubbing in that fixture was inflicted by Upul Tharanga, who is currently serving a suspension for the use of a prohibited substance, and Tillakaratne Dilshan who, although passed fit, is still feeling the effects of his broken thumb. Nevertheless, there was a yawning gulf in class on display at Bristol. In the 50-over format, England have four years in which to get their act together ahead of the 2015 World Cup. Few people are expecting them to pull it off at the first time of asking.There will be other factors at play at The Oval. After a handy cameo with the ball, if not the bat, at Bristol, Sanath Jayasuriya is preparing to sign off from international cricket at the ground where, in 1998, his blazing double-century set the stage for Muttiah Muralitharan’s 16-wicket masterclass in the one-off Test against England. The circumstances of his recall have been controversial, even though with Dilshan missing for a week his experience has not been unwelcome. Meanwhile off the pitch, Stuart Law has confirmed he will be moving on to become coach of Bangladesh. Distractions abound for Sri Lanka, but they are pretty accustomed to such things.But the major focus will be on a left-handed opener with a somewhat different reputation in short-form cricket. The success of the three-captain policy requires each of the leaders to display personal form while producing the victories expected of them. So far this summer, Strauss has won a Test series without scoring runs, while Broad has been hammered in his solitary outing without showing much evidence of a return to his best. Cook, meanwhile, has been scoring runs for fun in Test cricket, but struggled to raise his game in an ODI scenario at Lord’s last month, where he was stumped for the first time in his first-class career. He will know, better than anyone, how much he has to prove.

Form guide (most recent first)

England LWLWL

Sri Lanka LWWWW

The spotlight

Where else to look but Alastair Cook? Stuart Broad may have had a tough time on his captaincy debut at Bristol on Saturday, but at least his value as a limited-overs performer has rarely been called into question. Cook, on the other hand, wasn’t deemed worthy of a place in England’s 30-man squad for the World Cup earlier this year, and yet has now been parachuted back straight back into the set-up as skipper. In his defence he performed admirably in a stand-in capacity in Bangladesh last year, but the doubts about his suitability have been voiced already, with the former England captain Mike Atherton denouncing him as a “plodder” on Sunday morning. “Takes one to know one,” was Cook’s wry reply.Lasith Malinga’s four overs at Bristol were as perfect as one could hope to witness in Twenty20 cricket. His first Powerplay over cost just three runs, his second accounted for the vital wicket of Eoin Morgan, his third leaked five singles as England tried and failed to up the tempo, and his last resulted in two wickets, three scrambled byes and not a single run off the bat. His absence from the Test series was understandable given the nature of his role and the workload required in five-day games, but this was a hint as to what exactly Sri Lanka had missed.

Team news

Andrew Strauss’s ODI retirement means there will be no change more notable than the one at the top of the order, where Cook will be reunited with his opening partner from last year’s tour of Bangladesh, Craig Kieswetter. Of the two rookies who opened the bowling in the Twenty20, Chris Woakes seems the likelier to make way for the returning James Anderson, which means Jade Dernbach should make his ODI debut on his home ground. Tim Bresnan’s late inclusion in the squad could squeeze Samit Patel out of the starting XI, despite his five-wicket haul on this ground against South Africa in 2008.England (probable) 1 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 2 Alastair Cook (capt), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Samit Patel/Tim Bresnan, 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson, 11 Jade Dernbach.Sri Lanka had good news late on Monday when Tillakaratne Dilshan was passed fit after his broken thumb and he’ll open with Sanath Jayasuriya, meaning Mahela Jayawardene reverts to his middle-order role. Angelo Mathews is still doubtful to bowl and Dilshan may not be risked with the ball, either.Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt) 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilina Kandamby, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekera, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Suraj Randiv, 11 Lasith Malinga,

Pitch and conditions

London’s dank June has given way to a mini-heatwave in the two days leading up to the start of the match, although that is all set to end with thunderstorms forecast for Monday evening. The wet weather should have cleared sufficiently to allow a prompt start at 1pm, but the clouds may still be lingering.

Stats and trivia

• England and Sri Lanka’s last meeting in 50-overs cricket was the World Cup quarter-final in Colombo back in March, which – thanks to their ten-wicket trouncing – also happens to have been England’s most recent ODI.
• Inauspiciously for England, their home record against Sri Lanka is scarcely any better in recent times. In 2006 they were thumped out of sight, five matches out of five, with Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga racking up an opening stand of 286 at Headingley. Only two England squad members remain from that game – the new captain Cook, and the returning Tim Bresnan.
• Alastair Cook averages 33.00 in 26 ODI appearances, with a solitary century against India in 2007, and a strike-rate of 71.38.
  

  Quotes

  “I just see myself as the one-day captain. I’m just concentrating on tomorrow’s game and doing the best job I can. We can worry about the other stuff later.”
  
  Alastair Cook presents a straight bat to questions about his Test captaincy ambitions.”Sanath won’t be staying on for the rest of the series. He has already decided to retire after the first one-day. That’s his call and we can’t help it.”
  Thilina Kandamby prepares to say farewell to Sanath Jayasuriya.