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The left-arm spinner lost her spot earlier this year and has been unable to find a way back in for the T20 World Cup

Andrew McGlashan26-Aug-2024Jess Jonassen has been given hope of forcing her way back into the Australia side after she was omitted from a World Cup squad for the first time where she has been available.Despite having 105 T20Is to her name, the writing was on the wall for Jonassen when she was left out of the squad to tour Bangladesh earlier this year and it was always going to be difficult to find her way back in amid a strong spin group that features Georgia Wareham, Sophie Molineux, Alana King and Ash Gardner.The only previous occasion that Jonassen has missed a World Cup was the 2013 ODI edition when she was ruled out through injury after originally being selected.Related

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It is Molineux’s return to fitness after a couple of injury-hit seasons, alongside the selectors’ preference to have two legspinners in the squad, that played a big part in forcing Jonassen out. She lost her spot in the T20I team last summer after being given some heavy punishment by Hayley Matthews at North Sydney Oval and has not played an ODI since last July in Ireland.Jonassen took 11 wickets in seven matches for Delhi Capitals in the WPL earlier this year and is currently at the WCPL playing for Trinbago Knight Riders off the back of an impressive Hundred campaign which brought 12 wickets and 176 runs for Welsh Fire.”Hundred per cent, the path’s still there, the door is still wide open,” Australia captain Alyssa Healy said of Jonassen. “You look at her career and how it’s progressed, particularly over the past five or six years, she’s been in the squad, out of the squad, her and Sophie Molineux have sort of [gone] tit-for-tat along the way.”I’m disappointed for Jono myself. I have played a lot of cricket with her over the years and know exactly what she can contribute to the Australian team in big tournaments and how clutch she can be. I still see a big future for her in the Aussie side, there’s always a niggle or whatnot around [during] the summer, and she’ll still be around this summer no doubt.”Jonassen’s absence is another part of the subtle evolution of the Australia side over the last couple of years which has seen the retirement of Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning, although a senior core of Healy, Gardner, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt remains.The depth in Australian cricket is such that replacements have been close to hand and they are now starting to be given a greater role in the side. This upcoming World Cup will be a first for Phoebe Litchfield, who has a T20I strike rate of 161.86 after a breakout 2023-24 season in the middle order, while allrounder Annabel Sutherland is coming off a Player-of-the-Tournament performance in the Hundred.There is a chance that Tayla Vlaeminck could team up with fellow quick Darcie Brown•Getty Images

“We’ve seen a fair bit of change,” Healy said. “You even look at the last 12-18 months, the turnover we’ve had, we’ve lost over 700 games of experience. It’s got to come at some point in time, [but] fortunately there’s still a few of us old birds still floating around who can hopefully impart some wisdom on how to win tournaments. Think the youth in our group is really exciting and hopefully we can just help mentor or lead them in the right direction because think the youth in our squad is going to win this World Cup for us.”There is also a chance that Australia could field the pace duo of Darcie Brown and Tayla Vlaeminck in an XI together for the first time, either in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand in September, which provides preparation for the World Cup, or the tournament itself, although that will be dictated by conditions in the UAE.Even if it doesn’t happen over the next couple of months, it’s an enticing prospect for the Ashes, which will take place in January.”I’d love to see it,” Healy said of the two playing together. “We are so blessed with ample allrounders that I think we can play around a little bit with our fast-bowling attack. Think having those two in our side is huge point of difference, especially in [the] conditions potentially we are going to get, having real pace in your side is a real advantage.”We’ll have to wait and see what the make-ups of the side are but it’s really exciting for the future that those two are in the squad in together and hopefully we can get them firing at the same time.”

DC have just one win in five matches; LSG are coming into this contest having won their last three matches

Himanshu Agrawal11-Apr-20244:01

‘Nicholas Pooran can hit boundaries from wherever he bats’ – Deep Dasgupta

Big picture – Spin to win again?

Lucknow Super Giants started the season with a defeat, but have won three on the bounce since. Their most recent victory came against Gujarat Titans on a spin-friendly pitch at home. LSG’s spinners were central to that result – Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi and M Siddharth combined for figures of 10-0-48-4 to help defend 163 – and they could consider laying out a similar surface on Friday, especially against the visiting Delhi Capitals.Batting has been a struggle for the Capitals this season. Their collective average of 23.35 is the lowest among all teams, and they have had to deal with the absence of key players like Kuldeep Yadav and Mitchell Marsh due to injuries. So that doubles Capitals’ worries: a misfiring batting line-up on a potentially spin-friendly pitch, and Capitals have the second lowest batting average against spin (28.44) this season behind Kolkata Knight Riders.Unlike LSG, Capitals come into the contest having lost their previous two games and are at the bottom of the table with just one win in their first five matches. And they are still looking for their first win against LSG, having lost all three of their matches so far.

Form guide

LSG LWWW
DC LLWLL

Team news and Impact Player strategy

Lucknow Super Giants
Fast bowler Mayank Yadav had walked off the field after bowling one over in their last game, against Titans. LSG said he will have his workload managed over the coming week as a “precaution”, and head coach Justin Langer all but ruled him out of the next two games. LSG also continue to wait on the fitness of Mohsin, who had a sore hamstring and missed his side’s last two games.If both Mayank and Mohsin miss out against DC, LSG could play left-arm pacer Arshad Khan or right-arm quick Yudhvir Singh. They have two other overseas fast-bowling options in Matt Henry and Shamar Joseph.Probable XII: 1 Quinton de Kock, 2 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Ayush Badoni, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Yash Thakur, 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Arshad Khan, 12 M SiddharthDelhi CapitalsRicky Ponting, the Capitals coach, is hopeful that Kuldeep and Mukesh Kumar will be available to play in Lucknow. Marsh, however, is still side-lined by injury.Probable XII: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 David Warner, 3 Abishek Porel, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Tristan Stubbs, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Lalit Yadav, 8 Jhye Richardson, 9 Anrich Nortje, 10 Ishant Sharma, ,

In the spotlight – Nicholas Pooran and Tristan Stubbs

Nicholas Pooran is LSG’s top run-scorer so far this season – 178 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 169.52. He has been especially impactful in the death overs, where his six-hitting abilities takes his strike rate up to 180. Pooran has been dismissed only once so far this season, and holds the key to LSG getting a strong finish to their innings.Tristan Stubbs leads the run charts for Delhi•BCCI

Tristan Stubbs has been Capitals’ best batter this season. He is their top-scorer with 174 runs and has been particularly good against spin. His strike rate of 207 against the spinners is the highest for anyone who has faced at least 35 balls, so he will be key against LSG’s spinners on the day.

Stats that matter

• In the IPL, Quinton de Kock’s combined record against Ishant Sharma, Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel and Khaleel Ahmed stands at 193 runs at an average of 64.33. All four are expected to start for Capitals against LSG on Friday. Ishant, Nortje and Axar have got de Kock once each, with Khaleel yet to dismiss him.
• At 13.43, Nortje has the highest economy rate for any bowler to have bowled at least 90 balls this season. Umesh Yadav, second on the list, has conceded at 10.55 per over.
• Since 2022, LSG have won nine of their 18 home games, the third highest win-loss ratio among all teams. By contrast, DC have won only six out of 17 away games, the fewest by any team.
  

  Pitch and conditions

  It is expected to be hot and humid in Lucknow and Langer said they would play on a black-soil pitch against Capitals. That could mean another slow, spin-friendly surface, like the one on which LSG scored a convincing victory against Titans.

  Quotes

  “What I was most proud about the last game was that with Mayank coming out of the team after only one over, we had to find another way to win – and we were able to do that. So it shows we’ve got some depth in our squad.”
  “We are very aware that time is running out… We’ve got a lot of work to do. I absolutely have full trust in the players that we can win enough games from here.”

Strong showing in Tests gives visitors hopes of springing a surprise in opening fixture

Madushka Balasuriya23-Mar-2023

Big picture: Test thrills augur well

Despite the eventual 2-0 scoreline in favour of the hosts, it’s safe to say Sri Lanka might have surprised a fair few folks that tuned into the Tests in Christchurch and Wellington – okay, maybe not so much the latter, but certainly over the course of that epic first Test.In that game, the visitors, in pursuit of an unlikely World Test Championship berth, ran the defending WTC champions as close as pretty much anyone could have imagined. And in the process garnered some well-deserved respect from the wider cricketing world.That, though, was the Sri Lankan red-ball side, one propelled not through individual exceptionalism but an almost New Zealand-esque sense of collectivism. And while their white-ball outings have also seen a marked improvement in recent times, culminating in a memorable Asia Cup T20 victory last year, their ODI unit has largely underwhelmed.Since the start of the ODI World Cup Super League, Sri Lanka have lost away to West Indies, Bangladesh and England, while their home record has been marginally better, losing to India, beating South Africa and, most recently, drawing against Afghanistan.The ODI side’s nadir was arguably reached earlier this year during a 3-0 drubbing in India – a particularly tough pill to swallow in a World Cup year in the same country, especially as the T20I series that preceded had seen them take the hosts to series decider. While any silver linings in Sri Lanka’s recent one-day history might seem like wizard-level straw-clutching, the record will nevertheless also show a 3-2 series win at home to Australia last year – so, yeah, there is that.Which brings us to the present, where for Sri Lanka to have any hopes of automatic qualification for the World Cup later this year they need to complete a whitewash of New Zealand in the week or so ahead – and even then, they’re heavily dependent on South Africa fluffing their lines in a series against Netherlands.What they might have going for them is that the hosts won’t exactly be at full strength. With World Cup qualification secured, and conditions in India unlikely to be anything like what the likes of Auckland, Christchurch and Hamilton have to offer, New Zealand have given clearance for no less than nine ODI regulars to play in the IPL.Sri Lanka meanwhile have a relatively settled unit and, save for the absence of Dushmantha Chameera, will likely be able to put out their strongest XI. On paper at least they look the stronger side.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)New Zealand: WWWWW

Sri Lanka: LLLWL

In the spotlight: Matt Henry and Angelo Mathews

With 65 ODIs to his name, in terms of experience Matt Henry comfortably eclipses the combined match tally of Blair Tickner (9), Henry Shipley (3) and the uncapped Ben Lister – New Zealand’s other seam bowling options for this series – while even the addition of Daryll Mitchell (19) to the list doesn’t help all that much. Lockie Ferguson’s 53 caps certainly would have evened the scales, but even without his recently picked-up hamstring strain, he was due to play only the first ODI before jetting off to the IPL. Henry is coming in on the back of an excellent Test outing against Sri Lanka, and if this youthful New Zealand outfit are to maintain their excellent home record, Henry will have a key role to play in it.Angelo Mathews hasn’t turned out for a Sri Lankan white-ball side since March 2021, and for much of that time a recall could have been categorised under hopeful at best. But if T20 cricket is a young man’s game, well, ODI cricket might still have room for some greying heads, even if Mathews’s recall at 35 in a World Cup year certainly does scream ‘last dance’. An average of 41.67 and nearly 6,000 runs, of course, is nothing to be scoffed at – not to mention his most recent LPL stint where he played the role of finisher in impressive fashion. Sri Lanka will need him to call on all of that vast experience if they are to have any chance at securing automatic qualification.

Pitch and conditions: Bright conditions in prospect

Eden Park hasn’t had much ODI cricket of late, but the last two games have seen 300-plus chased down and 273 defended. The pitch has also been known to aid spin. Weather is expected to be nice and sunny.

Team news: Bowes and Ravindra to debut

On the eve of the match, New Zealand captain Tom Latham announced that Chad Bowes and Rachin Ravindra would make their ODI debuts. He said, however, that the team hadn’t yet finalised their full XI, and would make a decision on the bowling attack keeping workloads in mind.New Zealand (probable) XI: 1 Finn Allen, 2 Chad Bowes, 3 Will Young, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Rachin Ravindra, 8 Blair Tickner/Ben Lister, 9 Henry Shipley/Lockie Ferguson, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Ish SodhiMost of Sri Lanka’s XI picks itself but a few key areas remain up for grabs. At the top of the order Nuwanidu Fernando is the likely option alongside Pathum Nissanka. Then with five seamers in the squad, Sri Lanka certainly have options, with allrounder Chamika Karunaratne also able come in if Sri Lanka want an additional batter lower down.Sri Lanka (probable) XI: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Nuwanidu Fernando, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Charith Asalanka, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Dhananjaya De Silva, 7 Dasun Shanaka (capt.), 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Lahiru Kumara, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Maheesh Theekshana/Matheesha Pathirana

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka last won an ODI series in New Zealand in 2001 (4-1). Since then they’ve won six of 23 completed ODIs in New Zealand.
• Angelo Mathews needs 165 runs to score 6,000 ODI runs. He will become the ninth Sri Lankan to do so.
• Since the 2019 World Cup New Zealand have won seven of 10 ODI series home and away.

March 24, GMT 0330 The preview was updated with the news that Bowes and Ravindra would debut for New Zealand.

Allrounder will return to UK after jarring his knee in the field on debut in Rawalpindi

Vithushan Ehantharajah05-Dec-2022England allrounder Liam Livingstone has been ruled out of the ongoing Test series with Pakistan after sustaining a right knee injury during the first Test.Livingstone, who was making his debut in the format, jarred his knee while fielding a ball on the boundary on day two, after England had posted 657 in their first innings. He remained off the field for all of Pakistan’s first innings, but did bat in England’s second effort, scoring an unbeaten 7 but looking in clear discomfort as he hobbled between the wickets. He scored 9 in the first innings and did not bowl.A scan on Sunday morning (day four) revealed the extent of the damage. He will now return to the UK on Tuesday and begin a rehabilitation programme under the supervision of the ECB and the Lancashire medical teams.Related

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At this stage, England have yet to make a decision on whether to call up a replacement. A destructive batter in the shorter formats, Livingstone’s main selling point on this tour was his spin capabilities, offering legspin and offspin options to the team. Will Jacks, drafted into the XI for this Test at the very last minute following illness to Ben Foakes, took 6 for 161 with offies of his own on debut. Meanwhile, Leicestershire’s Rehan Ahmed offers an exciting albeit raw option as a legspinning allrounder.Fast bowler Mark Wood, also with the squad, seems the most likely to replace Livingstone in the XI in the short term. The second Test at Multan, which begins on Friday, is expected to play out on a similar docile surface. The Durham quick’s lightning pace will no doubt be a boost provided he can return to match sharpness in the next few days after missing the opening Test with a hip injury.

The two teams will hope to give their T20 World Cup plans a little more shape in the deciding game in Hyderabad

Alex Malcolm24-Sep-20222:55

What changes should India and Australia make for the third T20I?

Big picture

An eight-overs-a-side sprint in Nagpur ended with India levelling the T20I series 1-1 thanks to some outstanding bowling from Axar Patel and a supreme display of ball-striking from Rohit Sharma. But it’s difficult for the two sides to gain a lot from the experience on Friday, other than gleaning some insight into how to set up tactically for a rain-shortened game in the World Cup.India selected the extra batter, but Rishabh Pant was not even required, and they only needed four specialist bowlers and Hardik Pandya in an eight-over game, a luxury they can’t afford in a normal 20-overs-a-side contest. The death-overs bowling remains a question mark, although Jasprit Bumrah’s return was a welcome one, and he bowled superbly.Australia are truly experimenting on this tour with so many of their first-choice players missing. They went even further than usual in Nagpur, opting for an extra bowler for the first time since 2021, just to trial something in case the pitch played differently than expected. It did leave them a touch light on batting, though, when Axar ripped through Glenn Maxwell and Tim David.But Matthew Wade’s incredible form and Aaron Finch finding some runs are positive signs. Adam Zampa also bowled an outstanding spell to once again prove himself as one of the best legspinners in T20 cricket.However, like India, Australia have a death-overs problem. Nathan Ellis was injured and missed last night’s game, while Kane Richardson has a minor side niggle and won’t play in the final T20I in Hyderabad. In the absence of Mitchell Starc, Australia haven’t been able to trust their big guns in Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins at the death as often as they would like. They would like to find a solution to that issue ahead of the World Cup.”He’s really grown into that finishing role” – Aaron Finch on Matthew Wade•BCCI

Form guide

India WLWLL (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)

Australia LWLWW

In the spotlight

Harshal Patel has found the going tough in this series so far after being preferred to bowl some of the tough overs as India search for a solution to their dearth of death specialists. Wade, in particular, has proved a nemesis for Harshal. The dew factor in both games has not helped him execute his slower balls and yorkers under pressure either. That won’t be an issue when he gets to Australia, and slower-ball bouncers and short cutters are usually very effective on the true and dry surfaces there, especially with the large square boundaries at most venues barring Adelaide. But he and India’s management would love a good outing just to elevate the confidence levels and bed down the structure of India’s bowling unit.Whisper it quietly, but is Pat Cummins still a lock-in in Australia’s best T20I bowling unit? Notionally, it seems blasphemous to say it out loud. But his form since the start of the last IPL does pose the question. It is a small sample size of seven games but his economy rate in that time is 10.91 and he has only had one game where he has conceded less than ten runs per over. Australia’s management are confident he can find his groove given he rarely gets an extended run at T20 cricket because of his Test duties. Part of the problem is that his Test-match lengths don’t translate well in T20s, and it takes a while for him to adjust. Opposition batters feel his natural length is the perfect hitting length in T20 cricket. He executed some excellent slower-ball bouncers last night in Nagpur. He will need to sharpen his execution of those and his yorkers ahead of the World Cup.Pat Cummins showed some good slower-ball varations in the second game•BCCI

Team news

The teams should revert to a more normal setup in Hyderabad. Pant will likely make way given he wasn’t required with the bat, and India will need an extra bowler for a full game. Bhuvneshwar Kumar seems the logical choice to return. India could also consider bringing in R Ashwin for Yuzvendra Chahal.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal/R AshwinAustralia will go back to a seven-batter strategy with Josh Inglis slotting straight back into the middle order. One of Sean Abbott and Daniel Sams will make way. If Ellis is fit, he will come straight back in for the other. Australia may also be very cautious with Cummins and Hazlewood. Three games in six days, albeit one shortened by rain, and several long-haul flights is a recipe for injury. Any hint of soreness in their thoroughbreds and they will be rested. But with Richardson unavailable, they can’t rest both.Australia (probable): 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 Cameron Green, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Nathan Ellis/Daniel Sams/Sean Abbott, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions

It’s been three years since a T20 match was held in Hyderabad. There have been no IPL matches there since 2019 and the last match was a run feast between India and West Indies. Our man at the ground says that the pitch has a nice beige tinge to it, with little or no grass in sight. It looks full of runs, so it could be another tough night for the bowlers. Virat Kohli will have fond memories walking through the gates. He averages 53.62 and strikes at 139.73 in ten matches there, including 94 not out off 50 against West Indies.The weather, warm and dry in the build-up to the weekend, has changed a bit, with dark clouds hovering on the eve of the match.3:21

Karthik on his 10 off two: I do a lot of scenario practices

Stats and trivia

• The toss may not be as important in Hyderabad. In the last 16 T20s dating back to the start of the 2018 IPL, it is eight wins each to the teams batting first and second.
• In his last four T20Is, Axar has taken eight wickets at an average of 8.62, with a strike rate of 9.7 and an economy rate of 5.3.
• In his last eight T20I innings dating back to his World Cup semi-final heroics against Pakistan in 2021, Wade has scored 228 runs (only dismissed once) with a strike rate of 178.12.
• Hazlewood is two short of 50 T20I wickets. If he gets there on Friday, in what will be his 33rd T20I, he will better Starc’s Australian record of 40 matches.

Quotes

“He can bowl in any phase of the game. That gives me an advantage to use him, especially if I have four overs of his, to use him in the powerplay. That frees up some of our fast bowlers in the middle if I want to use it. So he brings a lot to the table. This guy has been playing cricket for such a long time doing well for his franchise, India, about time he grabs these kinds of opportunity. And in the last two games, what we saw is what Axar Patel is really all about. We are just waiting to see some of his batting skills as well. “
“He’s such a calm customer at the back end of the innings there. He’s really grown into that finishing role. He’s been either at the top of the order or the bottom and I think he’s starting to do a wonderful job down there.”

Call-up for the Brisbane Heat allrounder backs up selectors’ talk of specialist T20 players

AAP20-Jan-2022Grace Harris will replace injured batter Beth Mooney, called into Australia’s Ashes squad hours out from the series opener in Adelaide.Harris was confirmed as Mooney’s replacement on Thursday, added ahead of Elyse Villani and Georgia Redmayne for the T20 matches.Her call up is a further sign Australia will opt for a specialist opener alongside Alyssa Healy, after Mooney was struck in the jaw at training earlier this week.The world’s top-ranked T20 batter has since undergone surgery, with Australian officials unsure how long she will be out. Rachael Haynes had loomed as a likely option to replace Mooney, but selectors have indicated they want her to play in the middle order.Related

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If Harris does open in Thursday night’s T20, it will likely create a middle-order squeeze and result in superstar allrounder Ellyse Perry being left out.Haynes did not play in the most recent India series, but is a certainty to return against England at No.4 or No.5.Tahlia McGrath also stepped up in her absence, leaving Perry as the likely odd one out. Perry would likely still be in Australia’s best team for the Test and one-day components of the series.Meanwhile the hard-hitting Harris last played for Australia in 2016, and has since developed a cult-hero status at the Brisbane Heat. She made 50 and 15 in a warm-up match for Australia A against Australia earlier this week, convincing selectors she was the woman for the job.”Whilst the injury to Beth is unfortunate it does provide an opportunity for someone else to step in to the squad,” chief selector Shawn Flegler said. “Grace has a great skill set for the T20 format and has the ability to play multiple roles if required.”

South Australia were denied a place in the final when they lost in the last over against ACT

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2021For the first time in the competition’s 25-year history, New South Wales will not appear in the final of the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL).Their last league match against Queensland in Sydney was abandoned without a ball bowled removing any chance they had of finishing in the top two.Queensland then clung onto second place in the table, to play Victoria in the final on March 27, when ACT pulled off a last-over chase against South Australia to deny them the victory which would have booked their spot in the decider.New South Wales had appeared in every final (or finals series) since the tournament began in 1996-97, winning 20 of the 24 titles with one of their final losses coming last season against Western Australia meaning this is the first time they have gone back-to-back seasons without claiming the title.They made a poor start to the competition with losses in their first two games against Victoria then had a tie against Tasmania before three wins in a row kept them in the hunt. However, a heavy defeat against Queensland in Sydney two days ago ultimately proved costly.”The group’s proud of a lot of things we’ve achieved this year, it’s been such a tough year with Covid,” stand-in captain Sammy-Jo Johnson said. “We’ve done so many training sessions, the group’s had people come and go, there’s so many good things we’ve taken from this year.”To look towards next year it’s such a big positive that we’ll see some similar faces around the squad and hopefully push to get back in the final.”There have been a record number of centuries scored in this season’s tournament with Victoria’s Elyse Villani leading the way with three. Notably, 12 of the 16 centuries have come from players not currently in the Australia set-up.”Some new players have put their hands up with centuries and that’s something we speak about, about dominating the game you play and hundreds in one-day cricket are game-changing,” Australia captain Meg Lanning said last week. “It’s been great to see a number of new players doing that.”I think it’s just the overall professionalism of the game, people are training more, we’ve got access to better coaches and better facilities. Just being able to put all our effort into trying to get better as cricketers, I think that’s the reason there’s been really good performances being put out on the board.”Victoria have lost six players to Australia duty along with the injured Annabel Sutherland while Queensland will be without Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen.

Bjorn Fortuin and Tabraiz Shamsi strangled the Giants with two wickets apiece, as the hosts lost their first match of the season

The Report by Sreshth Shah27-Nov-2019It took a team performance, in the truest sense of the phrase, for the Paarl Rocks to beat the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants and go on top of the points table in the Mzansi Super League. The Rocks’ top-scorer made only 37 before each of their bowlers took two wickets to bowl out the Giants. The result was a comfortable 31-run win to silence the home crowd.The Giants had done well with the ball to restrict the Rocks to 166 for 7 with four wickets in four consecutive overs when the death overs started to avoid what could have been a bigger total. But barring Ben Dunk, none of their batsmen made use of their starts, and they fell prey to the spin attack of Tabraiz Shamsi and Bjorn Fortuin under the lights to fold for 135.Spin rocks the Rocks earlyAsked to bat, the Rocks began slowly after Beuran Hendricks delivered two tight overs, but openers Henry Davids and Cameron Delport shellacked Chris Morris and Junior Dala for plenty. Dala’s first over went for 19 as Delport struck a hat-trick of boundaries to end the fourth.Imran Tahir then struck within three balls of the fifth over when Delport flat-batted one to mid-off. Faf du Plessis, who has had a lukewarm season, ramped Morris in the next over for four over fine leg and followed it up with a six over long-on.After two quiet overs, du Plessis also smashed Onke Nyaku over long-on but a two-wicket over from the Giants captain JJ Smuts turned the tide. Off the first ball of Smuts’ second over, Davids holed out to long-off and five balls later, a miscommunication between the new man James Vince and du Plessis saw the latter depart for 27.The Rocks finish strongThe run-out may have played a part in Vince taking on the anchor’s role thereafter. He struck boundaries in the next three overs to take the Rocks past three figures before they lost four late wickets, including that of Vince for 37 and the hard-hitting Isuru Udana. But No. 8 Ferisco Adams struck 23 in 12 balls to lift the Rocks to a respectable score.Bravery favours FortuinLeft-arm spinner Fortuin was handed the new ball in the chase, and a full drifting delivery saw Jason Roy bowled for a golden duck as he made room to smash the ball but missed it completely. Smuts and Matthew Breetzke then kept the score ticking, but Hardus Viljoen broke the partnership in the fifth over by knocking over Smuts. He was timing the ball well, but Smuts found Vince at mid-on while trying to flick one.No. 4 Dunk didn’t let the intensity drop by slogging Shamsi for six, but Breetzke couldn’t get the same result off Fortuin as he mistimed one to du Plessis at long-on for 22. Although Dunk then whacked Fortuin for a six in the final over of his spell, he finished with 2 for 28 in four overs. When Fortuin’s spell ended, the Giants required 89 from 54 balls, at nearly 10 runs per over, with seven wickets in hand.Bizarre Dunk dismissal ends Giants’ hopesTill Dunk was in the middle, the home crowd had hope even though Heino Kuhn and Marco Marais fell cheaply to Shamsi in the 14th over. With No. 7 Morris, Dunk struck a few boundaries off the pacers, but the required run rate kept rising. Two balls after Morris’ dismissal to a yorker from Adams, Dunk was adjudged hit wicket after replays showed his heel had knocked the bails off. With 49 still required from 17, the Giants never recovered and the Rocks missed a bonus point by not being able to restrict the Giants to 132.

Karthik was spotted in the Trinbago Knight Riders dressing room during the inaugural match of the Caribbean Premier League 2019

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2019India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has been issued a notice by the BCCI for violating the guidelines of his central contract. Karthik was spotted in the Trinbago Knight Riders dressing room during the inaugural match of the Caribbean Premier League 2019 on Thursday.As per the BCCI contracts, players are not allowed to participate in or be present at any other sporting activity or sport without prior permission from the board.It is understood that Karthik was issued the notice, signed by BCCI chief executive officer Rahul Johri, on Friday and has been given a week to respond, and the three-person Committee of Administrators will adjudicate on the matter once Karthik’s response comes in.Karthik captains Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL franchise that shares owners with Trinbago. He was shown on live broadcast during the match in a Trinbago jersey, seated next to coach Brendon McCullum, and personal mentor Abhishek Nayar, who is also on the coaching staff of Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. McCullum was also recently handed charge of the Kolkata team for the next IPL season.Karthik, 34, last played for India at the World Cup in England, as a specialist batsman in their semi-final loss to New Zealand. Since then, he has been out of the ODI and T20I squads, and turned up in one Tamil Nadu Premier League match. He was, however, appointed captain of Tamil Nadu for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which is set to begin from September 24.It has been a far from ideal year for Karthik, who led Kolkata Knight Riders with some success last IPL while also bringing himself strongly back into national team reckoning. However, the multiple IPL winners couldn’t replicate the performance in 2019. Apart from a dip in scoring, Karthik had to deal with off-field issues too. In the second half of the tournament, amid a string of losses, he copped what looked like public criticism from his star player Andre Russell, who suggested he was willing to bat higher up the order days after Karthik had told the press there had been no complaints from the allrounder about his batting position.

Derbyshire wrapped up a 125-run win despite half-centuries from Durham openers Alex Lees and Gareth Harte

ECB Reporters Network08-Apr-2019Matt Critchley and Logan van Beek inspired Derbyshire to a 125-run victory after Durham looked set to save the Division Two match at Derby.Alex Lees and Gareth Harte scored half centuries but Durham, set an improbable 361 to win the game, collapsed from 177 for 4 to 235 all out. Critchley took 3 for 54, including two wickets in two balls, and van Beek followed a stunning catch to remove Jack Burnham for 32 by bowling Harte for 69 and then removing Stuart Poynter in his next over.Ravi Rampaul also took two wickets and after the second new ball sealed Durham’s fate, there were just over 18 overs remaining when Luis Reece clinched a 19-point victory.Durham’s chances of saving the match looked good after Lees and Harte batted through most of a sunny morning before Critchley struck twice in consecutive balls. There had been few alarms for the openers on a pitch which had flattened out but after Lees swung Critchley’s first ball for six, he edged the third to short leg and the next had Will Smith taken at slip.Alex Hughes just failed to take what would have been a brilliant one-handed catch at second slip when Michael Richardson edged a drive at Critchley before he had scored.Richardson could do nothing with one from Rampaul that kept low and bowled him five overs after lunch but Harte and Jack Burnham played with increasing authority to suggest Durham might be in with a chance of chasing down the 361 target. But the game turned back towards Derbyshire as both were dismissed in the space of six balls after adding 57 in 17 overs.Burnham tried to whip Wayne Madsen through midwicket but van Beek plunged to his left to take a breathtaking catch and in the next over the New Zealander brought one back to end Harte’s 258-minute occupation.Poynter was caught behind in van Beek’s next over and the rest of the innings fell away rapidly with the lower order offering little resistance. Ben Raine drove back a return catch to Critchley, James Weighell was run out by a direct hit from mid off and Matt Salisbury edged Rampaul to first slip.Liam Trevaskis and Chris Rushworth delayed Derbyshire’s celebrations but the inevitable was confirmed when Reece swung what was the last ball before the delayed tea interval in to trap Rushworth lbw.