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Dottin led the fight for West Indies with a rapid fifty, but her team still fell 49 runs short

Sruthi Ravindranath15-Dec-2024An aggressive 81-run stand between Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana combined with some excellent catching gave India a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series against West Indies.Deandra Dottin led the fight in the 196 chase with a 28-ball 52 along with Qiana Joseph, but in the end West Indies fell 49 short with young medium-pacer Titas Sadhu taking three crucial wickets for India.Mandhana’s new opening partnerWith Shafali Verma dropped, Mandhana had a new opening partner in Uma Chetry, who was playing her fifth T20I. West Indies introduced spin as early as the second over after opting to bowl first, bringing in left-arm spinner Zaida James to bowl to Mandhana. Thirteen runs came off it, with Mandhana pulling her for a four first ball and Chetry punishing her with back-to-back boundaries through the covers. Hayley Matthews brought herself on in the fourth over to bowl against the left-handed Mandhana but she was instead taken for two consecutive fours off the first two balls. Mandhana found her flow, making more than half of the runs in the openers’ 50-run stand at the end of the powerplay.Despite getting a life on 14, having been dropped in the slips, Chetry couldn’t capitalise on it, struggling to score in the legside and slowing down against offspinner Karishma Ramharack. She was eventually bowled trying to flick Ramharack for a 26-ball 24.Rodrigues on fireThe wicket, however, ended up being a positive for India, with Rodrigues joining Mandhana in the middle. Rodrigues stuck to her strengths, sweeping and reverse-sweeping the ball well from the get-go for her boundaries. Mandhana, meanwhile, went on the back foot to put the spinners away and was scoring boundaries at regular intervals as well, as the duo went hard at the balls that were pitched up. Together they took on Matthews for 19 runs in the 13th over. Their partnership just crossed 80 when Ramharack came back to dismiss Mandhana for 54.Richa Ghosh, coming in at No. 4, made sure India did not slow down, hitting two fours and six off the first seven balls she faced. But she did not last long, with Dottin having her caught at deep midwicket. Rodrigues, however, continued to pile on the runs, bringing her fifty off just 28 balls. She hit boundaries all around the ground and also ran quickly between the wickets without tiring. She was run out in the last over for 73 off 35 balls but not before giving India a massive total.Minnu Mani, super subWith Harmanpreet Kaur not taking the field for the chase, Mandhana took over captaincy duties and Minnu Mani filled in as a sub. Mani made sure to make the most of her chance by taking excellent catches both in the infield and outfield on a foggy evening in Navi Mumbai. In the second over, when Sadhu had Matthews top edge a pull, Mani ran back diagonally from mid-on, dived and caught the ball that came down from a height with stretched hands. She took another one near long-on when Chinelle Henry miscued Radha Yadav straight up in the air.The dangerous Dottin was dropped first by Rodrigues and then by Mandhana, she eventually ended up smashing it into the hands of Radha, who moved left from long-on to take the catch. While India’s catching under the lights has previously been a subject of scrutiny, they did the job quite neatly on the day.Dangerous Dottin, cool SadhuSadhu made her comeback after an injury layoff in the Australia ODIs earlier this month but that did not go well. But on Sunday, with plenty of dew around, she kept mixing up her lines and lengths, managing to get three crucial wickets. While an excellent catch by Mani accounted for Matthews, she caught Qiana Joseph by surprise by shortening her length right after being smacked for a six. Joseph ended up hitting the ball towards mid-off for a simple catch and departed for a 33-ball 49.But with Dottin going strong, West Indies still had a chance to turn the game around. Dottin was at her usual best – she got off the mark with an 80m hit over deep midwicket and single-handedly kept the scoring rate up despite little help from the other end. After being dropped the first time on 40, she went on to smash a six and a four to get to her half-century off just 26 balls. But she could not capitalise on her second life after being dropped on 52, getting out the next ball to Sadhu. That was pretty much the game for West Indies, who at that point needed 70 off 31 balls.

A prominent figure in the franchise leagues around the world, Hasaranga played just four Tests, picking up four wickets

Andrew Fidel Fernando15-Aug-2023Sri Lanka allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga has retired from Test cricket at age 26. He is understood to have made this decision in order to be more available for franchise cricket tournaments.Hasaranga has not been a regular member of Sri Lanka’s Test squad over the last two years, but has played four Tests. He had largely failed to impress with the ball in those matches, taking four wickets at an average of 100.75, though he did hit a half-century in South Africa.In any case, Hasaranga had recently been included in some wider training groups ahead of Test series, and then not picked for the Test squad itself. His involvement in training in Sri Lanka had prevented him from taking up franchise cricket offers. He had, for example pulled out of Major League Cricket in the weeks before the tournament was to commence.Although according to the Sri Lanka Cricket release, the reason Hasaranga retires from Tests is in order “to prolong his career as a limited-overs specialist”, Hasaranga has no history with long-term injury.Unlike with, say, Thisara Perera, who had also attempted to retire from Test cricket in his 20s, but had been told to hold off by Sri Lanka Cricket, Hasaranga’s discussions with SLC are believed to have been cordial. Essentially, the board no longer sees him as a potential Test player, and is happy for him to pursue other opportunities so long as he remains available for Sri Lanka’s white-ball games.”We will accept his decision and are confident that Hasaranga will be a vital part of our white-ball program going forward,” Ashley De Silva, CEO of SLC, said.Overall, Hasaranga played 44 first-class games, picking up 102 wickets. He also has three first-class centuries and 19 half-centuries.Hasaranga has so far represented Sri Lanka in 48 ODIs and 58 T20Is and is an key member in the limited-overs setup.Hasaranga is currently captaining his Lanka Premier League side B-Love Kandy, and will be part of Sri Lanka’s forthcoming Asia Cup and World Cup campaigns.

Allrounder could be out for six weeks but expected to be fit to play in the Hundred

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2022Kieron Pollard has been ruled out of the rest of the T20 Blast but is expected to be fit in time to play in the Hundred after knee surgery.Pollard, 35, was a marquee signing for Surrey as one of their two overseas players alongside his compatriot and close friend Sunil Narine, but suffered a knee injury early in their T20 season.”Despite treatment, he has failed to improve significantly and therefore a decision was taken to gain a surgical opinion,” Surrey said in a statement. “He has undergone successful surgery this [Tuesday] morning which will keep him out of action for the next four to six weeks whilst he rehabilitates.”Surrey have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the Blast with four group-stage games remaining, with nine wins and a no-result from their first ten fixtures. Pollard made 99 runs in his five innings, with a strike rate of 141.42, and took one wicket and one catch.”This is hugely frustrating as we have been a dominant force and I felt I was part of something special,” Pollard said. “But I wish the lads all the best for the rest of the campaign whilst I get myself fit and firing again.”Pollard, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, was a £125,000 signing by London Spirit in the Hundred draft and is expected to return in time to play for them when the tournament starts in early August.

The Hurricanes, however, took the point for the Bash Boost

Daniel Brettig07-Jan-2021Runs at the top from Usman Khawaja and the bottom from Alex Ross and Ben Cutting gave the Sydney Thunder a tally defended grandly by their spin trio of Tanveer Sangha, Chris Green and Arjun Nair against the Hobart Hurricanes to leap to first place on the Big Bash Leage table in the match at Perth Stadium.The Hurricanes appeared to have gained a foothold in the contest when Khawaja’s free scoring against the new ball gave way to a nifty spell of left-arm wristspin from D’Arcy Short, but Ross and Cutting hammered their way to a vital stand worth 57 from the final 31 balls of the innings to give the Thunder something to bowl at.Hobart’s chase appeared to be on course and was good enough to secure the Bash Boost point for forging ahead of the Thunder at the 10-over mark. But Tanveer’s wiles, which took him to the top of the BBL wicket-takers list, were too much for Peter Handscomb and Colin Ingram, before the Hurricanes’ innings petered out as 6 wickets fell for 26.Khawaja tops the inningsA neutral afternoon fixture in Perth was arguably on the opposite side of the country to where Khawaja may rather have been, given that the SCG Test was still underway at the time he walked out to bat with Alex Hales. But a beautifully clear day and a batting-friendly pitch gave Khawaja plenty of reason to get off to a fluent start against the Hurricanes, with a series of boundaries that were as attractive as they were effective.The Thunder were aided, too, by the late withdrawal of Riley Meredith from the Hobart XI due to a rib complaint, counterbalancing their own loss of Daniel Sams. Khawaja got started with a nifty cut and sweep at Johan Botha, before climbing into Scott Boland with three boundaries in five balls: a paddle around the corner followed by two imperious cover drives. Sydney were up to 65, with Khawaja having made 42 of these from just 23 balls, after seven overs. But Khawaja could add only seven more runs from his final 10 balls and fell lbw to Short: the Thunder’s early rush had slowed to a trickle.Usman Khawaja made an inventive 33-ball 49•Getty Images

Ross, Cutting put sting in the tailHaving seen the ball fly to all parts early on, the Hurricanes were clearly chuffed to see the Thunder then decline to 5 for 110 with 31 balls of the innings remaining. That scoreline, however, brought Cutting to the middle to join Alex Ross, one of the more dangerous middle-order pairings a bowling attack can face at the back end of a BBL innings. Ross had made a sturdy start when Arjun Nair was run out, and he and Cutting took a couple of overs to gather themselves before sizing up Boland at the start of the 18th over.After Boland chose to deliver from around the wicket, Ross found himself with enough room to drive powerfully beyond long-on for six before then flicking fruitfully behind square leg. Ross was to follow up with one of the biggest sixes of the tournament to date, again over long-on when Boland drifted into his hitting zone in the final over. Cutting, meanwhile, had gloved a fortunate first boundary before going far closer to the meat of the bat with a brace of boundaries off Boland in the 18th over. Cutting cleared the fence off Nathan Ellis in the 19th before scrambling two from the final ball of the innings, to make the sixth-wicket stand worth 57.Dawid Malan is bowled by Chris Green•Cricket Australia via Getty Images

Handscomb, Malan set it upHobart did a decent enough job in the early part of their chase, without finding the boundary often enough to put the result out of the question. Short and Ben McDermott both hinted at domination during their opening stand, only to both be dismissed by Nathan McAndrew as he continued his consistent harvesting of wickets for Callum Ferguson. The Hurricanes captain Handscomb batted with the focused look of a leader conscious of taking his team home, and for 48 runs in 40 balls he and Dawid Malan looked capable of doing so.Handscomb and Malan did allow near enough to five overs go by without finding the rope, but it appeared they had accelerated at just the right time when a pair of boundaries off Tanveer’s bowling took them to the Boost point at the 10-over mark. As the score climbed to 91, with 75 needed from 51 balls, the Hurricanes’ eight wickets in hand appeared to be the key difference given how the Thunder had slumped in their middle overs.Tanveer closes it downFerguson, though, had left plenty of spin overs up his sleeve, and after Green was able to fire a full delivery under the bat of Malan, Tanveer returned to spin a beautifully pitched leg break past a groping Handscomb. Tim David was still more charitable, tugging a short ball from Nair to a delighted Ferguson at midwicket, leaving the contest more or less in the hands of Colin Ingram, who had nudged his way to a platform for something similar to what Cutting and Ross had achieved.Tanveer had one more over remaining, and he completed another superbly mature performance by conceding four singles before following a dot ball to Ingram with a tempting googly wide of the off stump and a thin edge through to Sam Billings to tilt the contest very much towards the Thunder. When the X-Factor substitute Mac Wright was beaten for pace by Adam Milne five balls later, the game was effectively up.

A stunning century from Somerset prodigy stole the plaudits at Taunton

David Hopps10-Aug-2019Somerset 206 for 8 (Banton 100, Abell 63) beat Kent 151 (C Overton 3-32) by 55 runsThere is no more exciting young T20 batsman in England than Tom Banton. In fact, let’s not beat about the bush, there is no more exciting young batsman in the world. A maiden T20 hundred at the 13th time of asking was a momentous moment in an emerging career, assuredly the prelude to greater things.Banton’s breathtaking 100 from 52 balls, with nine fours and five sixes, even managed to end one of T20 cricket’s great losing sequences along the way. Somerset had lost 11 successive T20 contests against Kent, equalled only by Zimbabwe’s frequent capitulations against Pakistan, but that run was ended emphatically by 55 runs as Kent found Somerset’s 206 for 8 beyond them.Kent remain second in South Group but Somerset have entered the top four and, although both have now played one more match than their rivals, they have the quality to progress to the quarter-finals.Somerset should enjoy Banton while they can because, in the way of county cricket, he will soon be spirited away, blooded by England in their next T20I (against New Zealand in November) if they have any sense, and pursued by T20 franchises around the globe. IPL negotiators are already studying highlight reels and after this they should request an update because the story gets better all the time.”Everywhere you look on social media, people are going crazy about him,” said Somerset’s captain, Tom Abell. “He is a phenomenal talent.”Banton, a tall and audacious strokemaker awash with scoring options, has something of Kevin Pietersen about him and is arguably more rhythmical. He has also found his self-belief somewhat sooner. About this stage of his career, KP still imagined he was an offspinner.In Somerset they joke that Banton bats faster than he talks, which is a something of a relief otherwise his front teeth would be in permanent danger of splattering into a pasty stall on Taunton High Street. He had a superb 50-over campaign and struck his previous T20-best, 71 against Surrey, only eight days ago. To keep his feet on the ground, the wise counsel of Marcus Trescothick will play a major role.From the moment that Banton square-drove the pace of Adam Milne in the opening over, one sensed that something special might be about to unfold. Freddie Klaasen’s left-arm disappeared for three boundaries in an over: a half volley along the ground, through extra cover; the length dragged back so struck on the up in the same direction; and then the reminder that nobody in England reverse-sweeps with such disdain.There was the odd hiccup along the way. Mohammad Nabi deceived him in the flight when he had 42 from 23 balls, but he escaped with three runs over the keeper’s head. On 57 from 31, he was badly dropped by Milne when he miscued to cover. The bowler? “Hardus Viljoen, I think his name is,” he told Sky TV at the interval. “He bowled very well.”Somehow, amidst the mayhem, Daniel Bell-Drummond, purveyor of only 45 previous deliveries in 86 T20s, stole in with an over conceding six singles. Bell-Drummond conceded the boundary that brought up Banton’s hundred but had him caught next ball at long on – his first T20 wicket.Banton had an excellent accomplice in an innings where only one other Somerset batsman reached double figures. Tom Abell’s combative 63 from 33 balls kept pace in a third-wicket stand of 102 in 54 balls. Rarely have so many deliberate shots been fashioned down past the keeper, none better than two retreats to leg against the left-arm round of Klaasen to deflect him to third man off leg stump.Whereas Banton plays with long-limbed fluency, almost dreamlike in his ease, Abell is more pugnacious, his chest expanding more determinedly than one might deem possible from a well-spoken young man of such modest stature. Once Banton had fallen at 169 for 3 with 22 balls remaining, it was Abell who helped gather a further 39 to bat Kent out of the game.It all ensured an unhappy return for Sam Billings, who was making his first appearance of the season after recovering from a left shoulder injury. Billings certainly tested it out in a jolting dive in the outfield which narrowly failed to end Abell’s innings on 56. When Abell was caught at deep mid-off by Zak Crawley, Billings slipped and almost collided with him. He survived to fight another day and Kent will be relieved about that.Crawley, another highly-regarded young talent (well ahead of Banton when it comes to considering future England Test batsmen) gave Kent early impetus, striking 35 from 24 balls in an opening stand of 50 in 5.2 overs with Bell-Drummond before he drove Jerome Taylor to cover.But Craig Overton broke Kent in the 13th over with three wickets in five balls. Bell-Drummond slashed into the off side and was well caught by Eddie Byrom, Billings departed to an off-side loft and Mohammad Nabi fell for nought, flicking to Taylor at short long leg. Two run outs by Tom Lammonby rounded off a tigerish Somerset fielding display on another memorable Taunton T20 night.

George Dobell11-May-2018The founder of the Professional Cricketers’ Association has urged the organisation to “remember what they are there to do”.Fred Rumsey, who set up the PCA (the players’ union) in 1967, has reminded the current management that their only concern should be “representing the interests of players”.He is particularly disappointed at the prospect of an eight-team competition, which will exclude the involvement of more than half of current PCA members, and is concerned the association may be powerless to prevent the new, 100-ball-a-side competition, which he dismisses as such a “ludicrous” idea it “should be played in clowns’ clothing”.”They’ll probably dismiss my views as those of an old fogey,” Rumsey, the former England seamer, told ESPNcricinfo. “But the PCA was founded to represent players. Not to devise new formats or even to look at the overall health of the game. Other bodies do those things. The PCA was founded to represent players.”Yet now we’re going to have an eight-team competition that will mean most current PCA members won’t have any involvement. How can that be in their interests?”And then we learn there is to be a ludicrous new competition – this 100-ball nonsense that sounds as if was the idea of Fred Karno [credited as the inventor of slapstick comedy] – and the PCA were hardly even consulted before it was unveiled. Well, that doesn’t sound to me as if they are taken very seriously by the ECB. It doesn’t sound as if they have much of a voice. There is no reason at all the players couldn’t have been consulted months ago.”Rumsey, now aged 82 but as sharp as ever mentally (he is currently putting the finishing touches to an autobiography), concedes he is not party to the what happens behind the scenes at the PCA these days and says he was “encouraged” by Daryl Mitchell’s veiled warning to the ECB that they had “no competition without players”.But he urged the PCA management to stick to their guns and ensure they continue to “look after the interests of players”.”Mitchell was quite right to remind the ECB that they don’t have a competition without players,” Rumsey said. “But I wonder if a split has emerged in the PCA? Are the players, represented by Daryl, supported as much as they should be by the commercial side of the organisation? I’m not at all convinced they are.”I know the PCA still do much good work but my concern, on this issue, is whether they are doing enough to look after the interests of players. I wonder if former players – who are not under contract and do not fear the consequences of their words – should now get together and form an association to ensure the players have a powerful voice once more?”The PCA declined to comment but pointed out they continue to work hard, sometimes in private, in the best interests of their members.

Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni turned the clocks back, adding 256 runs for the fourth wicket to pull India from 25 for 3 to 381, a score which helped them seal the three-match series against England

The Report by Alagappan Muthu19-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:54

Agarkar: Something has to be done for the bowlers

Remember the time chasing was hard in ODIs? A second match of this series assumed heart-stopping proportions as a flat track, a fast outfield, short boundaries and batsmen with self-belief the size of a small planet came together. India put up 381, fuelled by a career-best 150 from Yuvraj Singh and a 10th hundred from MS Dhoni. But they only just came away the victors of the match, and the series, as Eoin Morgan responded with one of the great innings by a batsman in England colours.

England fined for slow over rate

Having fallen one over short of their target, England’s players were fined 10% of their match fees and their captain Eoin Morgan twice that amount.
Match referee Andy Pycroft handed out the punishment after the concern was raised by the four umpires in the match. Morgan pleaded guilty but, should his team commit another minor over rate offence in ODIs within a 12-month period from now, he could end up facing suspension.

Beyond the runs Morgan made [102 off 81], beyond his ball-striking and the weird areas he exploited with those whiplash wrists – his composure under pressure was unreal. There were over 40, 000 people in Cuttack bellowing against him. The Indian spinners had done well despite the dew to complicate matters. The required run-rate had nudged over 10 at the end of the 36th over but, since England had lost half their side by then, Morgan had to wait. He was the set batsman – 46 off 48 balls – and his team needed him to last till the end. To that effect, he would defend his way through an R Ashwin over because after that it would be him against the Indian quicks. Morgan was gambling, and it was even paying off for a while.In the end, a match that featured 747 runs, 19 sixes and 81 fours went down to the penultimate over when Jasprit Bumrah held his nerve to run Morgan out while he was backing up to get back on strike.To get to that stage took a huge effort from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, playing his first ODI in a year. He began his second spell in the 42nd over, conceding just eight runs. He could have had a wicket, too, had Ravindra Jadeja been able to take a skier from Moeen Ali at long-on. In his next over, he gave away only three singles and bowled Moeen, who had hammered back-to-back fours to reach a half-century mere minutes ago. The wicket was the result of a little sleight of hand. With the required rate – two runs a ball – suffocating him, the batsman never saw the offcutter coming. As a result, instead of two well-set hitters at the crease, India had the comfort of aiming at England’s lower order.The other big play came in the middle overs, when Jadeja bowled the dangerous Jason Roy for 82 and Ashwin took care of Joe Root for 54. The offspinner then befuddled both Ben Stokes for 1 and Jos Buttler for 10 to rob England of a majority of their firepower, with the side 176 runs adrift of the target and nearly 20 overs left in the chase. Jadeja was remarkable. In a game where runs were scored at more than seven runs an over, he kept an economy rate of 4.5 by bowling wicket-to-wicket. And Ashwin went back to his old ways of deceiving batsmen in flight – Root top-edged a sweep, probably thinking the trajectory was flatter than it was. That broke a partnership of 100 between him and Roy at over run-a-ball. The crowd at Barabati stadium breathed easier.They had spent the first innings in pure nostalgia with each ball that Yuvraj and Dhoni sent their way during a partnership of 256 in 230 balls. At one end, there were flowing drives with scintillating timing and from the other came brutal swats. No one was safe. Not Stokes, who was winded when Dhoni whacked a ball back at his chest. Not Alex Hales, who was wringing his fingers after trying to get under a pull from Dhoni. Not even the Spidercam was spared damage.Yuvraj wasn’t quite as murderous, or maybe he was and was just a little bit kinder to things both living and non-living on the ground. He came in at the end of the third over, enjoyed England trying to bounce him out on a pitch that barely had any in the first place, and bedded in to make his first hundred since the 2011 World Cup. It came off his 98th delivery and the celebrations made it clear how much the innings meant to him. He looked skyward, with his hands aloft. Then the bat handle thumped into his chest and he may even have become misty-eyed. At 35 years, having spent three years nowhere near the ODI team, wondering what would become of his career, coming back with his highest score had to be sweet.There was no place for such emotion with Dhoni. He was what the situation made him. When he came in at the fall of Shikhar Dhawan’s wicket in the fifth over, he blocked 14 straight deliveries from Chris Woakes, who was the sole reason India were 25 for 3. The next time those two faced each other, the ball was muscled over the midwicket boundary. Dhoni finished on 134 off 122 balls – having been 6 off 22 once – and became the first Indian to hit 200 sixes in ODIs. The shot that took him there – eerily similar to the one that won India the World Cup in 2011 – hit the top tier behind long-on. There was another reminder of that night in Mumbai; the final was the last time Yuvraj and Dhoni had put on 50 runs or more together.But the clear-headed England that made all the early breakthroughs happen by bowling full and keeping a tight line on off stump fell into a trap. They bowled too short at Yuvraj, who eventually realised there was nothing in the pitch to make him fear such a line of attack. It is true that extreme pace has unsettled him regardless of conditions but he didn’t have to face any on Thursday. A one-bounce pull for four got him going, drives through mid-off and cover showcased his timing and a pristine punch down the ground told the crowd they were in for something special. With Dhoni concentrating on staying at the crease to such a point that he barely even thought about runs early in his innings, and a severe lack of wickets, the middle overs became party time.India hammered 94 runs in the 10 overs between the 30th and the 40th and finished with 73 off the last five. Also responsible for the late flourish were Kedar Jadhav, who belted three fours and a six in 10 balls, Hardik Pandya ,who began his innings with a four and six, and Jadeja, who helped take 14 runs off the final over.

Dan Christian, the hard-hitting Australia batsman, has agreed terms to play for Nottinghamshire again in this summer’s NatWest T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2016Dan Christian, the hard-hitting Australia batsman whose exploits have been a talking point of the Big Bash, has agreed terms to play for Nottinghamshire again in this summer’s NatWest T20 Blast.Christian featured in the final seven T20 matches of the 2015 before helping the Outlaws reach the semi-finals of the 50-over Royal London Cup, where they lost to Surrey by four runs in a thrilling run-chase.His seam bowling claimed 13 wickets across the two competitions, including a five-wicket haul to help secure victory over the Birmingham Bears at Welbeck.”He got better and better over the course of his time with us last season which made him a player we were very keen to bring back,” said Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell.”We’ll use him in a different role in Twenty20 cricket, higher up the order where he can make more of a batting impact.”Christian’s impressive form has since continued back home in Australia. He helped Victoria to the Elimination Final of the 50-over Matador Cup with 60 not out against Western Australia and 38 not out off 14 balls against Tasmania and then, having joined the Hobart Hurricanes for the Big Bash, he hit the headlines by striking a 117-metre six over the roof of the Gabba, en route to 56 not out off 24 balls against his former franchise, Brisbane Heat.”He is performing really well in the Big Bash and I’m sure other clubs showed some interest,” said Newell, “but he enjoyed his time here and that’s the kind of relationship we want to build with our overseas players.”Christian’s contribution extended to captaining Nottinghamshire’s second XI in between his weekly stints in the T20 Blast, an experience that Newell is keen for him to repeat.”Twenty20 overseas can be a bit of a lonely lifestyle because you are only required once a week,” added Newell. “But he wanted to play in the second team games in-between to keep ticking over, something I’m sure he’ll do again.”It was great that he wanted to play, he captained the second team on some occasions and great that the other players could have that quality around them.”

On the opening day of the Ashes, it was Middlesex’s Australian import Adam Voges who stood firm to deny Warwickshire a three-day win after the hosts were forced to follow-on in Uxbridge.

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2013
ScorecardAdam Voges is putting Australia’s poor showing in the Champions Trophy behind with•AFP

On the opening day of the Ashes, it was Middlesex’s Australian import Adam Voges who stood firm to deny Warwickshire a three-day win after the hosts were forced to follow-on in Uxbridge.Voges, a 33-year-old right-hander from Perth, followed his sublime first innings 150 with a stoic, unbeaten 15 in 83 minutes as Middlesex limped to 147 for 5 in their second innings and still trail by 30 going into the final day.Having conceded a first innings deficit of 177, Middlesex were batting again just after lunch on the third day after being dismissed for 309 – just 28 short of surviving the follow-on – and were soon on the slide once more.Only 16 deliveries into their second innings left-hander Dawid Malan attempted to cut against Chris Woakes only to chop the ball onto his middle stump.Then, just before tea, Sam Robson fenced a Boyd Rankin lifter to Rikki Clarke at second slip to bring together former Kent team-mates Neil Dexter and Joe Denly.After a sticky start the pair added 68 inside 15 overs before Dexter (36) aimed to drive at Barker and only feathered it through to the keeper.Voges, batting again before 5pm and with his side still 72 runs in arrears, then watched as Denly edged onto middle stump, while John Simpson fenced at a Rankin lifter to be caught behind just before stumps .Resuming on their overnight first innings score of 177 for 4 and requiring a further 160 to avoid the follow-on, Middlesex made a steady start through Voges and John Simpson.They posted a record fifth-wicket partnership for Middlesex against Warwickshire eclipsing the county’s previous best of 175 set by Paul Weekes and Jamie Dalrymple set at Edgbaston in 2004.Then, with their stand worth 180, Simpson, shuffling forward to Jeetan Patel’s skidding arm-ball, went leg before for 63 to make it 208 for 5.In the next over, Voges moved to a 151-ball hundred with 13 fours with a single against left-arm seamer Keith Barker.He became only the seventh Middlesex batsman since to score a first-class hundred on debut since Edward Lyttelton took a hundred off the Australians at Lord’s in 1878.Voges was the first to achieve the feat for the county since his fellow countryman Phil Hughes achieved the feat against Glamorgan at Lord’s in 2009.However, it was Warwickshire who were soon celebrating when Gareth Berg followed the next ball from Barker outside off and edged through to keeper Tim Ambrose to go without scoring.
Barker was soon in the action again, taking a sharp low catch at short square leg to send back Ollie Rayner off the bowling of Patel. Tthen in the next over, Barker had Toby Roland-Jones (nought) caught at first slip off an airy drive.With Chris Wright out of the Warwickshire attack with a back strain, Voges reached his 150 after lunch from 215 balls but, having helped add 72 in tandem with Ravi Patel, he danced down the pitch to clip a return catch to Jeetan Patel off a full-toss.The hosts posted a third batting bonus point before their last man Corey Collymore drove a catch to mid-off, leaving Ravi Patel unbeaten on a career-best 26 as Warwickshire enforced the follow-on.

West Indies A redressed a disappointing second-innings collapse during a spirited last hour with the new ball on the third day

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jun-2012
ScorecardJonathan Carter held a catch that consigned Abhinav Mukund to a pair in the match•WICB

West Indies A redressed a disappointing second-innings collapse during a spirited last hour with the new ball on the third day, nipping out three India A batsmen to leave the chase of a middling target in the balance. The hosts had failed to consolidate two positions of advantage during their innings and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rohit Sharma made India A favourites, until the twist late in the day.Defending 186, Jason Holder and Delorn Johnson, two six-foot fast bowlers, struck three times in ten overs. Holder had Abhinav Mukund caught at third slip with an outswinger, handing the India A opener his second duck of the game, and hit Ajinkya Rahane’s off stump after the batsman offered no shot. Johnson got rid of the nightwatchman, inducing an edge to slip from Rahul Sharma, which meant Cheteshwar Pujara had to survive 21 scoreless minutes before stumps. Shikhar Dhawan remained not out on 13; India were 22 for 3 and needed 165 on the final day.West Indies A could have been in a stronger position had their middle and lower order shown more mettle earlier in the day – they lost eight wickets for 76 runs and were dismissed for 210. No one was caught; six batsmen were leg before and the other four were bowled. They had made a sound start, with Lendl Simmons scoring 53 off 77 balls in an opening stand of 68, before two wickets fell in quick succession. Simmons and Donovan Pagon were lbw to Shami Ahmed and Rahul Sharma; West Indies A were 69 for 2.The second-wicket partnership between Kraigg Brathwaite and Nkrumah Bonner produced 65. Brathwaite was slow and steady at his end, but once Bonner was lbw to Kumar for 36, the collapse began at the other. West Indies A lost two wickets with the score on 134. Kumar also dismissed Brathwaite for 50 during a six-over spell of reverse swing that produced 3 for 9, after which part-time offspinner Rohit began to spin through the lower order to pick up career-best figures of 4 for 41.