All posts by h716a5.icu

Mahela Jayawardene is set to join the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2013Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka batsman, is set to join the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League. He tweeted on Thursday morning that he had received a call-up from the franchise. The Sri Lanka batsman will replace South Africa’s Davy Jacobs, who was ruled out following an injury.Jayawardene is expected to fly out to the Caribbean on Thursday afternoon, ahead of T&T’s game against the St Lucia Zouks in Kingston on Saturday. “It’s going to be a long trip to get over there, but I am looking forward to meeting up with the guys as soon as possible and hopefully helping us secure a berth in the CPL semi-finals this coming weekend,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve always loved playing cricket in the Caribbean, so I am really looking forward to a short stint with T&T Red Steel.”He will be the second Sri Lanka player to feature in the CPL, with Muttiah Muralitharan turning out for the Jamaica Tallawahs. Jawayardene joins Ross Taylor and Kevin O’Brien as one of the franchise’s overseas players. Australian batsman Aaron Finch had earlier withdrawn from the squad to lead Australia A on their tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe.T&T, usually the powerhouse of regional T20 cricket in the Caribbean, suffered a poor start to the franchise-based CPL, losing three consecutive games before producing two wins. With two games to go in the league phase of the tournament, they sit fifth out of six teams on the points table. Their remaining matches are this weekend, against St Lucia – the only team below them on the points table – on Saturday and the Jamaica Tallawahs on Sunday.

Essex came crashing down to earth after a run of four consecutive Yorkshire Bank 40 victories as Derbyshire romped to a 63-run win with 41 balls to spare in a record-breaking Group B match at Leek.

09-Jun-2013
ScorecardShivnarine Chanderpaul provided a solid foundation for Derbyshire•Getty ImagesEssex came crashing down to earth after a run of four consecutive YorkshireBank 40 victories as Derbyshire romped to a 63-run win with 41 balls to spare ina record-breaking Group B match at Leek.Derbyshire’s total of 321 for 5 was their best ever in a 40-over game and wasthe highest score Essex had conceded in one-day cricket.Shivnarine Chanderpaul made an unbeaten 85, Wes Durston hammered 71 from 46balls and 21-year-old Staffordshire-born allrounder Alex Hughes made his firstsenior half century with 59 not out from 36 balls.Mark Pettini replied with 88 from 68 balls but Essex came up well short whenthey were bowled out for 258 in a game which contained 20 sixes with Hughestaking 3 for 56.Derbyshire’s batsmen turned up the heat in the Staffordshire sunshine from thestart with Chesney Hughes hitting the opening three deliveries from TimPhillips for four. Although David Masters trapped him lbw in the third over, Durston drove theseamer for two sixes and pulled Sajid Mahmood for another six as he raced to a34 ball fifty which also contained seven fours.The 100 came up in the 12th over and, although Durston was bowled trying topull Mahmood, Chanderpaul and Wayne Madsen kept Derbyshire on course for a bigtotal by adding 78 in 10 overs.Chanderpaul straight drove Phillips for six and pulled a Tom Westley full tossfor another and although Madsen got a leading edge to mid-off after a run a ball33, Hughes launched an explosive assault on the Essex bowlers in the last 10overs.He pulled and drove Masters for two sixes and two fours in an over which cost21 on his way to a 32 ball half-century and he ended the innings by drivingGraham Napier over long-off and into the trees for his third six.It left Napier with bruised figures of 1 for 76 from eight overs, his mostexpensive for Essex, five days after his 7 for 32 and four wickets in fourballs against Surrey.It was an impressive display of controlled hitting from Hughes whose stand withChanderpaul was worth 102 in 10 overs and left Essex chasing a formidable target,even on a small ground. Hamish Rutherford launched the chase by driving Durston for six but the New Zealand opener was caught behind trying to cut Mark Turner and Westley chipped the paceman to midwicket in his next over.Pettini was dropped by wicketkeeper Richard Johnson on 18 and he and OwaisShah took the score to 101 before Tim Groenewald had Shah lbw for 24 in the 15thover.He struck an even bigger blow in his next over when Ryan ten Doeschate playedacross the line and was lbw for 6 and when James Foster was caught a long leg,Essex were 130 for 5.Napier threatened to turn the game with four sixes in his 16 ball 38 until hecarved Mark Footitt to mid-off and after, Pettini drove Alex Hughes to mid-off as well,it was left to Phillips to strike some defiant blows before Hughes rounded off amemorable day by claiming the last wicket.

Allan Donald, the Pune Warriors coach, has said that his players were “scared” after the thunderous assault from Chris Gayle, which set up an enormous 130-run victory for Royal Challengers Bangalore

Nagraj Gollapudi24-Apr-2013Allan Donald, the Pune Warriors coach, has said that his players were “scared” after the thunderous assault from Chris Gayle, which set up an enormous 130-run victory for Royal Challengers Bangalore. A day after the demoralising defeat, Donald admitted that he feared the “mental damage” the innings might have caused his players and said his biggest challenge was to keep them positive for the remaining eight matches.”We came across a bloke yesterday who was just devastating,” Donald told ESPNcricinfo in Bangalore. “I have never seen hitting like that in all my life. To see our guys getting pummeled like that was unbelievable. When I walked out for the first strategy break, I just saw people scared, really scared. I just mentioned to the players that if we don’t pull this back here, he is going to take us down big time, which he did.”Donald realised that the bowlers were clueless and if he did not deliver a stern message, Gayle could play havoc, which he eventually did with ease. “When I looked at their faces and no one said a word, the only way for me was to be very firm in my message; we had to find a way,” he said. “We also discussed in the meeting on the morning of the match that we had to bowl out batsmen who were not going to give up their wicket. We needed someone to stand up and do something special and stop the flow of runs.”As a response Donald observed blank faces. By the second timeout, in the 16th over, Gayle had doubled the team score, taking it past 200 and Donald was frustrated. “To me that plan was about how we were going to limit the damage in the next four overs. The plan was to go full into his pads and also vary the pace,” Donald said.The mental scarring Gayle has inflicted on his players has left the coach worried. “How much damage has this done to us mentally? My job becomes even harder now and I have to make sure these guys are ready against another team that is struggling (Delhi Daredevils) on a ground we have never played (Raipur),” he said. “This group now needs to rally together.”Barring the pair of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-0-23-0) and Luke Wright (4-0-26-1), at the start and end of the Royal Challengers’ innings, Gayle attacked the rest mercilessly. Donald was not shy to take the blame. He said the bowlers lacked consistency and the team was one experienced strike bowler short.”We haven’t been brilliant,” he said. “We have been okay in certain games and really off the boil in the others. And that is one area where we have let ourselves down. We do not have an attack that is express pace; we don’t have a Dale Styen or a Shuan Tait, though, we have fair bit of class in Kumar and Ashok Dinda.”At the same time, Donald pointed out, Gayle was unstoppable and intimidated the bowlers. “There were times during that knock where he just went ballistic, and then he took a little timeout and then he went again,” Donald said with a chuckle.After the match, he asked Gayle, “Why us?” Gayle said he was in the mood. “He has just said that is the best he has ever hit the ball in his life,” Donald said.

I can’t find a solution as to why we are not responding. I cannot fault the squad that we have got this year. Is it the failures of the last two years that is playing on everyone’s minds or the losing streak that we are on at the moment? Is it affecting everybody?Allan Donald

After their confident victory against Chennai Super Kings, Warriors let the following two matches slip out of their hands against Sunrisers Hyderabad at home and then in Mohali against Kings XI Punjab. The erratic form has left even Donald confused.”I can’t find a solution as to why we are not responding,” he said. “I cannot fault the squad that we have got this year. Is it the failures of the last two years that is playing on everyone’s minds or the losing streak that we are on at the moment? Is it affecting everybody?”The failure of marquee players has made matters worse for Donald. Yuvraj Singh, Ross Taylor, Angelo Matthews and Robin Uthappa have not played any innings of impact. Acting captain Aaron Finch has been the only batsman to score a half-century, striking up three fifties in six games.”The whole team has been hot and cold,” Donald said, expressing his frustration. “If you look at Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, they win the RCB games. The same goes for teams like Super Kings.”The absence of a stable captain at Warriors has been a point of fierce debate. The first-choice captains – Mathews and Ross Taylor – have been battling for form, forcing the team management to appoint Finch, who has led in the Big Bash, as a stand-in leader. “We never had a captain in three years leading us solidly,” Donald said.In their debut season in 2011, Warriors finished eighth out of nine teams in the season. Last year, they slid to the last position. This season they are ahead of last-placed Daredevils. According to Donald, there is no place to hide for Warriors. “We can’t fault our preparations or our planning and strategies, we have been on the money,” he said. “We just haven’t been unable to put it together on the field. There are no excuses, there are no explanations and we have got to turn it around.”

Colin Metson, a former Glamorgan player and managing director, has been sacked after his downgraded role of cricket and community manager was made abolished.

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2013Colin Metson, whose appointment as Glamorgan managing director coincided with a turbulent period in the county’s affairs, has been sacked after his downgraded role of cricket and community manager was made redundant.Metson returned to Glamorgan with the county in crisis after the resignation of cricket manager Matthew Maynard, president Peter Walker and captain Jamie Dalrymple because of a managerial restructuring.But Metson’s power was soon on the wane and he was shunted away from first-team duties at the beginning of the 2012 season and given a lesser role in the community development programme. That role has now been made redundant and he will leave Glamorgan at the end of the week.

Ryan McLaren has much to do if he is to secure a place in the South African team for the Champions Trophy

Firdose Moonda08-Mar-2013Barring a few minor tweaks, the squad Gary Kirsten has for the current series against Pakistan is the one that will represent South Africa in the Champions Trophy in June. As a result, almost everyone in that unit knows they are not playing for their place but to enhance their skills and accumulate match practice. Almost.Ryan McLaren is one of those who is not.As the current first-choice allrounder, McLaren is likely to compete with Jacques Kallis for a spot in a major tournament XI and it does not take a rocket scientist to know who will win that battle. It puts McLaren in a tricky position because, although it may not be as harsh as him clinging on by his fingernails, it could get there.Kallis does not play bilateral one-day series anymore as part of his management programme. Kirsten said after 18 years of service that is a more than acceptable concession. But Kallis wants an ICC medal as much as the next South African cricketer, so management remain “in negotiation” with him for the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.Whether he will be at either of those events will depend on his fitness after the IPL and his own willingness. If he makes himself available and his body agrees, Kallis will definitely be part of the squad. McLaren will not be discarded completely but he may be an understudy. He remains the ODI all-rounder and all indications are that he will be given a fair run.Like Robin Peterson did when he was offered an extended rope, McLaren will have to do something with that to keep ahead of the likes of Chris Morris, who is emerging as another option at bay. Currently, one of the only things to choose between them is experience and McLaren’s is more valuable in time than numbers.His international record reads like that of a bit-part all-rounder. Ideally, he would like his batting and bowling statistics swapped around. In 16 matches over the last four years, McLaren averages 10.66 with willow and 32.52 with leather. His most memorable performance was probably only one moment long – the one in which he hit James Franklin for six off the last ball to win the third ODI against New Zealand in January in a series that South Africa had already lost.Domestically, McLaren has enjoyed far greater success. In 132 List A matches, he has scored eight half-centuries and averages 32.57. He has taken 157 wickets at 27.56 and is known for his dependability above everything.Noble a quality as that is, it is also forgettable because it is overshadowed by exciting talents who produce dramatic performances. McLaren knows that he has to come with a few of those in this series. “We know that when we go to the Champions Trophy, we will try and take the strongest squad available so there are a few guys in this team that want to try and cement a place in the side and put their hand up to make sure they go along,” he said, distancing himself from the obviousness of who those players are.Batting at No.7 and bowling behind the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Kyle Abbott may not give McLaren much opportunity but there will be a role for him to play. South Africa’s middle order is notoriously soft and often leaves it to the end for something to happen. A quickfire 15 or 20 runs are not immediately classed as valuable but when they prove the difference between two sides, they are exactly that.To that end, McLaren has been preparing for ways to break free with the bat, especially against the Pakistan attack. “Their strength is in their spinners and our preparation has been specifically focused on how we are going to play their spinners,” he said.In the bowling department, South Africa have lacked at the death but also appear to freeze when confronted with a batsman who has had the confidence to take control. Martin Guptill in the festive Twenty20 against New Zealand and Kane Williamson in the ODI series which followed are classic examples, as is Mohammad Hafeez’s 86 in the Centurion T20.For much of Hafeez’s innings it looked as though the better he got, the more South Africa’s bowlers allowed themselves to shrink away. No-one could come up with the breakthrough and it took a bizarre of hit wicket to end his knock. Guptill and Williamson were both unbeaten because South Africa could not apply sufficient pressure.McLaren said there has been much introspection from the attack in the aftermath. “There has been reflection. As bowlers, we got together and had a chat about what we learnt and what we felt we could improve on. It’s an on-going process, every game is about building for the Champions Trophy.” And for McLaren, it will be about ensuring he is part of the group that travels there.

Test cricket’s two leading wicket-takers, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, will face off in the Big Bash League season opener

Brydon Coverdale06-Dec-2012Muttiah Muralitharan could be forgiven for being a little vexed this Friday night. The Big Bash League begins with a cross-town battle between the Melbourne Renegades and the Melbourne Stars. Muralitharan will make his BBL debut for the Renegades, having been lured there by Brad Hodge and Andrew McDonald, whom he got to know during the IPL. Last summer, McDonald was captain of the Renegades and Hodge their star batsman. This season, neither is there anymore.McDonald signed with the Adelaide Strikers, and in any case has now suffered a hamstring injury that will rule him out of the whole tournament. Hodge is playing in the BBL. In fact, he’s playing in Friday’s season opener. It just happens to be for the Stars. A philosophical Muralitharan said he wouldn’t be seeking revenge when the teams meet, because he was happy to have been convinced to be part of the tournament.”When I was playing for Royal Challengers [Bangalore], Hodge and McDonald convinced me to come and play,” Muralitharan said in Melbourne on Thursday. “At the time they were in the Renegades and unfortunately now they’re not there. Still, we have a good side. Thanks to them, because of them I am here.”[Hodge] convinced me to come and play. After that he went to the Stars. I called him [to find out why he left], just a friendly call, that’s all. No revenge as such. We want to play a good game.”The Hodge-Muralitharan battle will be just one of the sub-plots in the Melbourne derby. There is also the much more significant attraction of seeing Test cricket’s two leading wicket-takers on opposing sides, which might not happen again after this tournament. Warne is the captain of the Stars and the BBL is his only playing commitment nowadays, while Muralitharan has suggested this might be his last year of Twenty20.Stars still dream of Bolt

The Melbourne Stars didn’t end up signing Usain Bolt for the BBL this year but the team’s president Eddie McGuire believes there is a very good chance Bolt will join the side next season, after his commitments at the 2013 Athletics World Championships.
“Hopefully next summer he’ll come out here and with a bit of luck we’ll get him to run with Athletics Australia, at a big athletics meet we’re hoping to put together at the new athletics centre in South Melbourne,” McGuire said. “At the same time, with a bit of luck we might get him to roll the arm over or do a little bit of fielding for us with the Stars.”

A week away from the Test series between Australia and Sri Lanka, who play for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, the men for whom the prize is named were reflecting on their careers as they prepared for one more contest. Muralitharan joked that given the large Sri Lankan population in Melbourne he might even be more popular in the city than Shane Warne, but he said he had the ultimate respect for what Warne had achieved during his career.”His art is very difficult,” Muralitharan said. “Legspin, I have tried it when I was young, and it was very hard to do. If you can land the ball like him, it’s very hard. Not many people can do it. Once in a hundred years you get a bowler like him. I have a lot of respect for him [now] and in our playing days as well.”Warne said Muralitharan, or “the whirly-twirly man” as he referred to him, would bring a lot to the BBL in his first appearance in the tournament. Warne remembered seeing Muralitharan for the first time on Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka in 1992, when he played for the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI in a tour match, and although the only batsman he dismissed was Tony Dodemaide, he baffled the Australians with his unusual style.”It was a tour game in Kandy when we first saw Murali in ’92,” Warne said. “Allan Border said to Murali ‘what are you bowling?’ He’d played for legspin.”He’s bamboozled batsmen for the best part of 20 years the way he goes about it. Facing Murali is very tough, he does some wonderful things with the ball. For what Murali has done for the game, what he has done for Sri Lanka … and to be still playing and bowling extremely well, it’s fantastic.”Muralitharan won’t be the only Sri Lankan playing in Friday night’s game, with Lasith Malinga set to line up for the Stars. Another Sri Lankan, allrounder Thisara Perera, will also be part of the BBL after joining the Brisbane Heat as a last-minute inclusion following their loss of Dale Steyn and Daniel Vettori.

Alastair Cook will turn his attention to being involved in deciding the future of Kevin Pietersen over the coming days after his international season drew to a close

Andrew McGlashan06-Sep-2012Alastair Cook will turn his attention to being involved in deciding the future of Kevin Pietersen over the coming days after his international season drew to a close with the final ODI against South Africa.At the moment, Cook is still due to play for Essex in their final Championship match of the summer against Yorkshire but, for the next month, hands the captaincy of England over to Stuart Broad for the Twenty20 series against South Africa followed by the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.Before that tournament starts it is expected that England will announce their Test squad for the series against India, which starts in mid-November, rather than wait until the team returns from Sri Lanka. The most pressing issue for Cook is the situation involving Pietersen and whether he will be welcomed back into the fold after his very public issues over the summer.Pietersen is believed to have already met with Andy Flower, the team director, to start the process of trying to solve the stand-off with further talks expected to be held shortly, which is when Cook, who replaced Andrew Strauss as Test captain last week, is likely to become involved.”I haven’t really been thinking about it too much, with the one-day series on,” Cook said after the final ODI at Trent Bridge. “Over the next couple of weeks, it’s certainly an issue which we as the ECB will have to get resolved. It is a situation which does need to get resolved. There is stuff which needs to be talked about behind closed doors. That will happen.”Flower took a break for the deciding one-day international and is due to link back up with squad ahead of the first Twenty20 international in Durham on Friday. With Cook not involved in the T20I set-up, and the final round of Championship matches taking place next week, there is precious little time for everyone to get round a table together with Pietersen before England fly out to Sri Lanka next Thursday.Although Pietersen is the dominant subject in the current discussions he will not be the only issue Cook and Flower will need to ponder ahead of the daunting prospect of four Tests in six weeks in India, although Cook is fairly sure what form he wants the squad to take. “I’m pretty clear,” he said. “Over the next few days we have to sit down.”Jonathan Trott is expected to be fit despite being diagnosed with a broken finger in his right hand, which has ruled him out for three to four weeks. However, another issue confronting Cook, Flower and the selectors is the likely absence of Ian Bell from the Mumbai Test, with his wife due to give birth.That is in addition to having to fill the vacancy at the top of the order left by Strauss’ retirement. A number of players have been mentioned – Nick Compton, Michael Carberry and Joe Root most strongly – plus the option of moving either Trott or Bell up the order.Jonny Bairstow can expect to be included after his successful return to the team while James Taylor, who made his debut at Headingley, will also be in the mix for a middle-order spot. Ravi Bopara, though, could well find his awful one-day series with the bat against South Africa has put paid to his Test aspirations, although having an Essex team-mate as captain could yet prove useful.

Alastair Cook picked up where he left off in the UAE with an unbeaten 163 on the second day of England’s warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Board XI

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2012
ScorecardAlastair Cook once again held England’s batting together•Getty ImagesAlastair Cook picked up where he left off in the UAE with an unbeaten 163 on the second day of England’s warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Board XI, but the middle-order display was less convincing with Ian Bell and Matt Prior collecting ducks.Cook showed the durable qualities that England will need during the Test series as he faced 293 deliveries to take the total to 303 for 8 at the close, a lead of 134, which continued his run of form from the one-day series against Pakistan where he scored two hundreds and an 80.Cook added 89 for the first wicket with Andrew Strauss (40) and 59 with Kevin Pietersen (39) for the third, but from 188 for 2 England slipped to 247 for 8 as legspinner Malinga Bandara and offspinner Sachithra Serasinghe caused problems. Of particular concern was another failure for Bell who endured a miserable Test series against Pakistan with 51 runs in six innings where he was constantly bamboozled by Saeed Ajmal.It was an offspinner that dismissed him again when he was bowled second ball by Serasinghe who could yet be the man to partner Rangana Herath in the Test series. Ravi Bopara, seemingly pencilled in for the No. 6 spot as a replacement for Eoin Morgan, made 12 off 55 deliveries before falling lbw to Dilruwan Perera and Matt Prior got an inside edge against Kaniskha Alvitigala.”To get 300 in a day is a great effort from the team. Today was my day to carry on and I’m sure some other people are disappointed it wasn’t their turn,” Cook said. “With Ravi’s shot, we were trying to push on then. We can only bat 100 overs in the first innings so we were trying to score at four an over which is tough with a long outfield and a ball that was pretty soft by the end.”With Belly, you can always miss one early doors. He’s a world-class player. His record over 18 months is that of a world-class player. He had a poor series in Abu Dhabi but I’d expect him to bounce back and I’m sure he will do.”And Straussy spent a couple of hours out there and hit some nice shots too. It’s a flat wicket and it doesn’t spin too much but it was quite hard to score quickly with the outfield. It’s a grind, that’s what happens in these conditions.”Bandara picked up two more wickets and it appeared England would be bowled out before the close, but James Anderson supported Cook in an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 56 with Cook continuing to push along with ease.England had made confident progress during the morning session as Strauss spent valuable time in the middle until falling lbw on the back foot against Perera shortly before lunch. Jonathan Trott became Bandara’s first wicket but seemed far from happy with the lbw decision he received.Pietersen began in positive style by using his feet against the spinners and employing the sweep and momentum was building for England as they took the lead. However, when Pietersen was given lbw against Serasinghe the ensuing collapse was a timely reminder that the next few weeks will be another severe test for this batting line-up.

Namibia eased to an eight-wicket win over Canada in Windhoek after the visitors were bowled out in their second innings for 213 on the fourth morning

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2012
ScorecardNamibia eased to an eight-wicket win over Canada in Windhoek after the visitors were bowled out in their second innings for 213 on the fourth morning. Starting the day on 167 for 7, Canada’s hopes were on Zeeshan Siddiqi, who was unbeaten on 45. While Siddiqi carried on to 73, Christi Viljoen polished off the tail to finish with career-best figures of 7 for 61. Namibia were set a target of 114. Ewald Steenkamp led with a breezy half-century in an opening stand of 86 with Pikky Ya France as Namibia motored to victory in the 26th over. Sarel Burger’s 135 in the first innings, which gave Namibia a lead of 100, proved crucial, as did his four wickets in Canada’s first innings.

Vineet Saxena remained unconquered for the second successive day as he notched his career-best score

The Report by Nagraj Gollapudi in Chennai20-Jan-2012
ScorecardRajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar carved out a patient 67•K SivaramanVineet Saxena remained unconquered for the second successive day as he notched his career-best score and became the 21st batsman to score a double-century in a Ranji Trophy final, breaking the drought after fourteen years. The last man to accomplish such a feat was Rahul Dravid, playing for Karnataka in 1997-98 season against Uttar Pradesh. Saxena’s marathon 12-hour effort helped Rajasthan to take a commanding position from where they can now dictate the outcome in the remaining three days.Considering that the run rate hovered around the two-per-over mark, critics are likely to question Rajasthan’s conservative approach on what has been an unthreatening pitch, which has remained a flat baking bed in the Chennai heat.Saxena silenced the opposition with his patience. His presence became more significant as the day progressed after Rajasthan had endured a tough morning session, when only 51 runs came in 36 overs for the loss of one wicket. Saxena lost his overnight partner Aakash Chopra, who paid the price for his defensiveness in the morning. Chopra began the day 14 short of his century, but struggled to catch a rhythm, managing only eight runs from 34 deliveries before losing his wicket.Only 15 runs were scored after the first hour, with the first boundary arriving after 63 deliveries. Probably that fact was weighing on Chopra’s mind when he reacted, a bit slowly, to a straighter delivery from the left-arm spinner Aushik Srinivas. The ball pitched on off and middle stump and rushed to catch Chopra plumb in front of the wicket. Finally after 105 overs, Tamil Nadu had their first wicket.The stagnating run rate, along with the suffocating fields, only increased the pressure on the batsmen. Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the new man, was beaten off successive deliveries by Srinivas half an hour before lunch: the first ball turned into his pads and hit him in line with the stump but the big stride forward saved the Rajasthan captain. Srinivas turned the next ball away with his arm and missed the outside edge marginally.Both Saxena and Kanitkar returned more positive post lunch. Kanitkar cut Yo Mahesh in front of square and then swept Srinivas when he persisted by attacking his leg stump. Saxena, who had been completely subdued for the entire morning session, pushed a firm drive, against the offspinner Sunny Gupta, through the thick off-side field to get to 150 and pass his previous first-class best of 143.Saxena brought up the first six of the match, over long-on, by giving Gupta the charge. Understandably anxious, Saxena spent a little while before getting to his double-century: trying to push a fuller delivery from Yo Mahesh to third man, the bottom edge travelled past the gully for a four. It was an incredible achievement in the art of grafting.Saxena could only thank the opposition bowlers for making life easy for him. The pitch, no doubt, was of little assistance but L Balaji had encountered many such surfaces in the past. Balaji, the Tamil Nadu captain and the bowling leader, had to use his cutters to make an impact. Sadly for the hosts, Balaji was wayward, as was the pair of Yo Mahesh and Kaushik, who offered more width when the need was to be accurate.Not that the slow bowlers did any better. In fact, it was a true test of patience for the 18-year-old Srinivas, who bowled the most number of overs in an innings in his three-year career. Unlike on Thursday, when he was darting the ball, today Srinivas offered more flight and also got the ball to jump from the widening cracks and the rough.But the absence of a plan, as well as an attacking field hurt the spinners. A good example was when Srinivas changed ends to make use of the rough outside Saxena’s leg stump at the Pavilion end. However, his first mistake was to pitch marginally outside the leg stump when a better line would have been to stick to middle and leg. Balaji then failed to crowd the batsman with a short leg and a leg slip to support his bowler’s lines. It only allowed Saxena to breathe easy.Earlier, Gupta, who had failed to get any sort of grip on the batsmen, had moved the slip to leg slip against Saxena. But instead of bowling on the middle stump, he pitched on the rough outside the leg stump, making it easier for the batsmen to play the sweep. The Tamil Nadu bowlers were clearly lost between trying to attack and squeezing the run rate.There was a cry of relief from Gupta when, immediately after the tea break, he floated a loopy off break to Kanitkar, who lazily tried to play it away from the body. The edge was picked nicely by Dinesh Karthik, to log his 250th victim in first-class cricket. There was not much joy for the hosts for the second day running.