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In spite of the presence of a few big names, Mumbai will have to assess their batting order as they take on Bangalore, who out-batted Delhi in their last encounter

The Preview by Rachna Shetty18-Apr-20143:23

Pollard batting too low

Match factsSaturday, April 19, 2014
Start time 1430 (1030 GMT, 1600 IST)Varun Aaron has no intention of cutting down on his pace•BCCIBig pictureAs two of the most glamorous sides in the IPL, the focus of the match between Mumbai and Bangalore will invariably be on the middle-order axis in both sides – Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson, and Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.Mumbai, though, have a unique problem on their hands of deciding where they want their big batsmen to bat. Michael Hussey’s innings could be an aberration, but there will be some debate on whether Pollard’s position in the batting order needs to be more flexible, especially in a tall chase. If they do that, it will leave Corey Anderson as a buffer between the batting and the tail. The manner in which the top-order struggled to get the innings moving along after Hussey’s scratchy innings would leave Bangalore’s pacers believing they can choke the side.There are kinks for Bangalore, too. Ashok Dinda’s T20 league has started from where it ended last year and as impressive as the bowling was in restricting Delhi to a below-par score, their profligacy with wides was a glaring problem. Chris Gayle’s availability is also in doubt.The match will also be the first of the tournament to be held in Dubai. The last T20 match at the ground saw Sri Lanka smash 211 and Pakistan responded with 187. Given the firepower in both line-ups, even without the prospect of Gayle, the Dubai crowd may see another high-scorer.Players to watchOne of the things Varun Aaron is certain of is that he is unlikely to cut down on his pace anytime soon to prevent injuries. His statement to that effect came after the match against Delhi where he finished with 1 for 9 and troubled the batsmen with sharp speed. His pace, and more importantly, a more disciplined line, will help Bangalore rein in Mumbai’s flamboyant top-order.Just when he looked like he was settling at the crease, Rohit Sharma tried to clear the boundary and was out caught in the deep. At the start of the over in which he was out, Mumbai needed 69 off 30 and his presence at the crease would no doubt have helped the chase along. He quickly needs to find his feet in a role not unlike the one Virat Kohli essayed for Bangalore in their first gameStats and trivia Mumbai have had the better of Bangalore in seven times in 13 encounters. Ambati Rayudu is the leading run-getter for Mumbai against Bangalore. In 11 games he has 298 runs with two fifties. Chris Gayle has 292 runs against Mumbai in six games at an average of 73 and a strike rate of 143.13.

England Women will tour New Zealand for five ODIs and three T20s between February 11 and 28, 2015.

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Aug-2014England Women will tour New Zealand for five ODIs and three T20s between February 11 and 28, 2015.The first three ODIs between England Women and New Zealand Women will be part of the second round of the ICC Women’s Championship, which was introduced as a preliminary qualifying stage for the 2017 Women’s World Cup. The three matches will be held at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui on February 11, 13 and 15, after which the T20 series will be played. The last two ODIs will be played at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln on February 26 and 28.The first two games of the three-match T20 series will be played on February 19 and 20 at the Cobham Oval in Whangarei, while the third match will be played at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval on February 24.England Women had last toured New Zealand in February-March 2012, and were undefeated in the five-match T20 series and in the three ODIs. Hamish Barton, the New Zealand Women’s coach, said his side would target a different result in the forthcoming series.”We know England is an incredibly strong side with some of the best players in the world, but that makes the opportunity all the more exciting for us,” said Barton. “Our aim is to be the No.1 side in the world and to do that we have to beat teams like England. We absolutely believe that if we play to our potential then we can achieve that.”England Women recently won an ODI series against India Women at home and are scheduled to play three T20s against South Africa Women in September. New Zealand Women will begin their first leg of the ICC Women’s Championship on their tour to the West Indies in September.

Which of the wonderkids featuring in Israel could become big names for African national sides?

Getty ImagesEl Chadaille Bitshiabu

The towering centre-back will be the rock at the heart of the France backline during the U-17 Euros, where he’ll be keen to bring his outstanding form from Paris Saint-Germain’s Youth League campaign to bear in Israel.

He’s already featured for Mauricio Pochettino’s side at senior level, although with his route to more playing time with PSG’s first team arguably blocked, the likes of Bayern Munich, ManchesterCity and RB Leipzig are all understood to be monitoring his services.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesDario Essugo

With experience already of having played with Portugal’s U-19 team, Essugo has the potential to dominate contests at the U-17 Euro.

He’s already become Sporting Lisbon’s youngest ever player—a remarkable achievement at such an institution—and the youngster, who’s also eligible for Angola, should impress with his defensive qualities and work with the ball.

Realmadrid.comElyaz Zidane

Son of French footballing royalty, Zinedine’s son Elyaz certainly has some high standards to live up to, although having progressed through the ranks at Real Madrid, he’s well used to demanding environments.

Eligible for both Algeria and Spain, Zidane jr is turning out for France at the U-17 Euros, and while he’s the youngest of Zidane’s four boys, he may turn out to be the most exciting.

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Antoni Milambo

Feyenoord’s youngest ever first team player, Milambo made his debut for the Dutch giants only four months and nine days after his 16th birthday—testament to his maturity and his raw ability.

Eligible for the Democratic Republic of Congo, but featuring for the Netherlands at the U-17 showpiece, Milambo has the quality to hurt teams between the lines, and there won’t be too many players at the tournament who already have experience of playing in senior level continental club competitions.

In a must-win match, Zimbabwe found themselves in a spot of bother more than once against UAE, but Elton Chigumbura’s belted a quickfire 53 from No. 6 to complete the chase in 13.4 overs

The Report by Devashish Fuloria21-Mar-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsElton Chigumbura lifted Zimbabwe’s net run-rate to 0.3 points above Ireland’s•ICCIn a must-win match against UAE, Zimbabwe found themselves in a spot of bother more than once, but Elton Chigumbura’s belted a quickfire 53 from No. 6 to complete the chase in 13.4 overs. The win lifted Zimbabwe’s net run-rate above Ireland’s, moving the attention firmly to the Ireland v Netherlands match.Facing the twin opponents – UAE and the pressure of upping their net run-rate – Zimbabwe lost two of their best batsmen in no time: Hamilton Masakadza heaved at a straight delivery from Manjula Guruge in the second over only to see his stumps flattened and Brendan Taylor, after laying out his plans bare with a couple of lofted boundaries, was brilliantly caught by Shaiman Anwar running backwards from mid-off. The script threatened to go horribly wrong for Zimbabwe, as 22 for 2 soon became 34 for 4.Chigumbura though avoided the embarrassment with a fantastic riposte. He opened his account with a six and a four in his first two balls, and maintained the same intensity throughout his innings. His last shot – a straight six – not only took Zimbabwe over the line, it also brought him his half-century off 21 balls.UAE have looked every bit an amateur side among professionals in this tournament and while that makes for a good story, it doesn’t really translate to good cricket. Hong Kong’s unlikely win over Bangladesh, however, seemed to have given UAE the will to fight. Anwar’s catch to dismiss Taylor was an indicator, so was Kamran Shazad’s catch at deep cover to send Sikandar Raza back (two nights ago, they dropped a number of simple chances). Once Chigumbura took the bowling on though, the familiar problems started showing up. Misfields. Drops. In the end, UAE didn’t really have much cushion.They had batted well in the first half of the innings. The period between the second and the tenth overs, when Khurram Khan and Swapnil Patil were batting, gave them hope of a competitive total. The two started tentatively, scoring ten runs in the first 20 deliveries of the partnership, before Patil opened up in the sixth over of the innings with three boundaries.The aggression rubbed off on Khurram. He was on 3 off 12 balls before he hit his first boundary – a powerful sweep off Natsai Mushangwe’s first delivery – and followed it up with a couple of beautifully executed inside-out drives in Mushangwe’s next over that went for 16. From a lowly 17 for 2 at the end of five overs, UAE propped up their run rate to 6.88 in a matter of four overs.The hopes quickly dwindled though as UAE slipped to 75 for 7 from 66 for 2 in the space of 25 balls. It worsened to 88 for 8 as the spin-combo of Sean Williams and Raza snared five batsmen between them, including Khurram and Patil, who had added 58 for the third wicket. Khurram was the first to go, top-edging a sweep to deep square leg off Williams. Five balls later, Patil played around a Raza delivery and was trapped in front. The rest of the batting lacked the skill to counter the spinner and proved to be sitting ducks. Was it not for the 27-run stand between Shazad and Shadeep Silva, UAE would have struggled to make it to three figures.

Khurram Khan, the UAE captain, has said that poor catching and bowling were why his side lost to Netherlands despite posting what he felt was a reasonable total

Abhishek Purohit in Sylhet17-Mar-2014Khurram Khan, the UAE captain, has said that poor catching and bowling were why his side lost to Netherlands despite posting what he felt was a reasonable total. UAE made 151 after choosing to bat and, although they were in a position at various stages to have made a few more runs, Khurram felt it was their defence of the target that left a lot to be desired.”I do not think it was big match nerves,” Khurram said. “Fielding was a real concern for the last few games. We dropped them in the last game as well. We are giving too many chances in the field, dropped too many and in the end we paid for that.”UAE put down at least four chances and also gave away runs through misfields. The Netherlands openers effectively ran away with the game when they added 69 inside seven overs but Khurram said UAE’s bowlers had also contributed to that by not sticking to disciplined lines and lengths.”There is no doubt about it. They batted really well. But that is what happens in the first six overs if you don’t bowl well, in the good areas. Obviously you are going to go for runs and then we kept giving them chances, we dropped so many catches.”Khurram admitted UAE should have managed a bigger total, given that they were 79 for 2 in the 11th over and 127 for 4 in the 16th. “I said 150 would have been a good target but you have to keep in mind that you have to bowl very well and take your catches. At one stage, we could have got 170-175. We were 25 runs short. That was the difference in the end.”It was Khurram who, along with Swapnil Patil, had rebuilt UAE’s innings from 12 for 2. However, both batsmen were dismissed in the space of four deliveries, bowled by Tom Cooper as they tried late-cutting despite not having much room. Khurram said that as set batsmen, they should have pushed on for longer.”It is the responsibility of the batsman who is there. I gave away my wicket in the same over Swapnil got out and then in the 15th-16th over we lost three wickets in the span of three-four runs. Both Rohan [Mustafa] and Shaiman [Anwar] were playing very well and Amjad Javed is a very good batsman for us. That cost us dearly.”

Right from the moment Alastair Cook padded up to the second ball of the morning and was lbw to Ryan Harris, this was a disastrous day for England. It was the day on which an Australian 5-0 clean sweep became all but inevitable.

The Report by Brydon Coverdale04-Jan-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:00

Jarrod Kimber’s Ashes Report: England downed in one gulp

Just as Alastair Cookie presents ‘s regular Monsterpiece Theatre segment, his near namesake Alastair Cook provided the introduction for another horror show of England batting on the second day in Sydney. Right from the moment that Cook padded up to the second ball of the morning and was lbw to Ryan Harris, this was a disastrous day for England. It was the day on which an Australian 5-0 clean sweep became all but inevitable.The morning began with Harris, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle all bowling brilliant spells that exploited the seam-friendly conditions, and England’s batsmen were flustered, flummoxed and 5 for 23. Not since 1887 have England been five for so few and gone on to win a Test; don’t expect the record books to be rewritten. The day closed with Australia extending their lead to 311 runs with six wickets in hand. There is no hurry; three days remain for Australia to finish off England a fifth time.Chris Rogers was doing his bit and by stumps had moved on to 73, eyeing off a possible third Test hundred. While Johnson, Brad Haddin, David Warner and Steven Smith have gained much of the attention Rogers has, in his understated way, become the highest scorer from either team in these back-to-back Ashes campaigns. Not bad for a 36-year-old who nearly lost his state contract 18 months ago.Rogers accumulated his runs in brisk fashion, showing the same intent he had during his Melbourne century. He struck nine boundaries and even joined the rare club of players to score a seven, when his edge through the cordon was saved on the boundary and returned to the wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, who needlessly hurled the ball at the non-striker’s end to add four overthrows to the three Rogers and Michael Clarke had already run. It was that sort of day for England.Smart Stats

England’s first innings was only the seventh time in Tests that their top-five batsmen all got out for either a duck or a single-digit score. The last such occurrence came against West Indies at Sabina Park, Kingston, when England’s top-five batsmen scored a total of 15 runs, none of them scoring ten.

England’s top-five wickets managed just 23 runs. This is the lowest scored by a team for the fall of their fifth wicket at the SCG in over 100 years. The three instances of a team scoring lesser than this came in the 19th century.

Gary Ballance was Brad Haddin’s 20th catch of the series. Haddin’s become only the third wicketkeeper to score 400-plus runs and collect 20 dismissals in a Test series. Alec Stewart, 465 runs and 23 dismissals against South Africa in 1998, and Denis Lindsay, 606 runs and 24 dismissals against Australia in 1966, are the other wicketkeepers to achieve this.

Chris Rogers hit his fifth fifty-plus score of this Ashes, in Australia’s second innings today. He’s the first Australia opener since Mark Taylor in 1994-95 to hit five or more fifty-plus scores in an Ashes series.

Australia’s 311-run lead is already past the highest a team has successfully chased at the SCG to win a Test – a target of 287 runs by the hosts against South Africa in 2006. Among visiting teams, England’s 194 in 1903-04, is the highest score in the fourth innings to win a Test at the SCG.

At stumps, Rogers had helped push Australia’s total on to 4 for 140 and George Bailey, perhaps playing for his Test career, was on 20. Earlier, James Anderson had pitched the ball full enough to trouble the batsmen, having David Warner lbw around the wicket for 16 and Shane Watson brilliantly caught by a diving Bairstow. Stuart Broad also drew an edge behind off Michael Clarke for 6 and Ben Stokes had Smith caught at slip for 7.In isolation, it seemed a decent period for England. But, to butcher John Donne, no session is an island. By the time tea arrived with the loss of England’s last wicket, they had lost 9 for 147 from their overnight position. They were lucky to even make that many. All that could be said for their batting was that they avoided the follow on – just. Their 155 was their lowest total since their first innings of the series.None of their top five batsmen reached double figures and while the pitch offered some seam movement it was not extravagant; Australia’s bowlers just exploited it far better than England’s attack had on the first day. Bowl full, let it swing and if it doesn’t it might seam. Draw the batsman forward. It was textbook stuff. From the moment Cook padded up England were in disarray.The ball angled across Cook and straightened, but at no point did Cook appear interested in using his bat, and Aleem Dar’s finger was up almost before Harris had even turned around to ask the question. England’s 2 for 8 should have become 3 for 8 when Ian Bell edged his first ball to slip off Harris but was reprieved by Watson, who spilled a chance he should comfortably have taken. It barely mattered, for Australia were creating so many opportunities that it was only a matter of time.The nightwatchman Anderson was worked over by Johnson. Bouncers lobbed off the bat into gaps, another one jammed his right hand onto the handle of the bat and when Anderson edged a regulation catch to second slip off Johnson he must have been glad to get out of there.Ben Stokes showed some fight but not even he could save England•Getty ImagesThree for 14 became 4 for 17 when Kevin Pietersen was drawn forward by the impeccable length of Harris. On 3, Pietersen drove hard and edged Harris to slip, where Watson held on this time. His drop of Bell wasn’t costly in any way either, for on 2 from 32 balls Bell edged behind off a lovely delivery from Siddle that moved away just enough.There had been other close calls – a couple of reviews, a few balls that didn’t go to hand for the fielders – but at 5 for 23 England’s all-time lowest Test total of 45 looked in danger regardless. It took two of England’s newest Test cricketers, Stokes and the debutant Gary Ballance, to fight and steer the team to lunch without further loss, although a Johnson bouncer to the helmet left Ballance uneasy just before the break.Soon after it he was outdone by Nathan Lyon, who had Ballance prodding forward and edging behind to Haddin for 18. At 6 for 62, England weren’t even halfway to avoiding the follow-on. Bairstow tamely drove Siddle straight to the catching man at short mid-on for 18 and later in the same over Stokes was bowled shouldering arms to Siddle.At least Stokes had really shown something, driving confidently and ticking the scoreboard over on his way to 47. He has been the stand-out player for England since his debut in Perth, but he cannot carry the team on his own. Scott Borthwick tamely edged Harris to third slip for 1 and it was only through the last pair, Broad and Boyd Rankin, that England moved past the follow-on target.It was largely academic, for Clarke would surely have batted again anyway. Broad whacked a few late boundaries in his 30 not out before Johnson bowled Rankin for 13. Johnson, Siddle and Harris finished with three wickets each, and finished any hopes England had of avoiding a clean sweep. Alastair Cook – or Cookie – has rarely presided over a more monstrous day.

Steve Rixon, Australia’s outgoing assistant coach, has declared that he had “very little respect” for Cricket Australia and in particular what saw as interference with cricket decisions from above

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2014Steve Rixon, Australia’s outgoing assistant coach, has declared that he had “very little respect” for Cricket Australia and in particular what saw as interference with cricket decisions from above.Rixon has been axed from the coaching staff, although he said he had no problem with head coach Darren Lehmann’s desire to build his own coaching group and he would have finished his tenure before this year’s IPL anyway. However, in a radio interview on Thursday, Rixon took a parting shot at Cricket Australia and its general manager of team performance, Pat Howard.”I’m not getting into a slinging match … I have very little respect for the organisation, so I think we best just leave it there,” Rixon said on Sky Sports Radio. “I don’t like a lot of things they do. They interfere basically with a lot of the cricket decisions over the period of time and I don’t necessarily agree with that.”It’s none of my business. At the end of the day, I do what I do, I go out and do it to the best I know how. But it’s probably just draining and the one thing I’ve lived my cricket life with is a major passion for the game.”When pressed on whether it was Howard, a former rugby union international, who Rixon had a problem with, Rixon replied: “Let me say, I hope he was a good rugby player.”Rixon was brought into the setup as fielding coach in June 2011, before Mickey Arthur was named head coach later that year. Rixon said as well as his duties in drilling the fielders, part of his role was to be a sounding board for the then new captain Michael Clarke, with whom he had a long-standing relationship from Clarke’s junior years.”With Michael now being very content with where he is, Boof’s obviously come in with a stronger approach to that,” he said. “That’s why I think cricket’s in a very good shape with Australia, we’re starting to get all those bits and pieces.”Darren will eventually get a team around him that he’s very, very comfortable with and that’s fine. That’s the way life is, that’s the way it is with coaching. He’s come in with some heavy hands and he’s done a very good job in actually sorting a few of these things out and I complimented him for that. If he continues down this road, he’ll get the best out of this Australian cricket team.”

Doug Bollinger provided a reminder of his focus and fitness with six wickets and a sharp evening spell to set NSW on the course for first-innings points against Tasmania

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2013
ScorecardDoug Bollinger was the pick of the NSW bowlers•Getty ImagesDoug Bollinger provided a reminder of his renewed focus and fitness with six wickets and a sharp evening spell to set New South Wales on the course for first-innings points over Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield match at Blacktown.On a day when scoring was difficult and 11 wickets fell, Bollinger’s haul ensured the Tigers could not establish a meaningful partnership, despite a succession of starts by Ed Cowan, Alex Doolan, Jon Wells, Tim Paine and Luke Butterworth.At 4 for 161 the visitors harboured thoughts of creeping ahead in the match, but Bollinger persuaded Paine to leave a ball that flicked the stumps, then had Wells fending a short ball to the slips. From there the innings spluttered to its current state of modesty.Bollinger had earlier plucked the wicket of Jordan Silk for a duck with the new ball following the Blues’ morning dismissal for 288. Sam Rainbird claimed Bollinger’s wicket to finish with his own six-wicket haul for the Tigers.

Centuries from Thirush Kamini and Poonam Raut was underpinned by Harmanpreet Kaur’s nine wickets as India Women beat South Africa Women by an innings and 34-run win in the only Test in Mysore

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2014
ScorecardFile photo: Poonam Raut and Thirush Kamini added a record 275 runs for the second wicket in the first innings•AFPCenturies from Thirush Kamini and Poonam Raut imposed enough scoreboard pressure for Harmanpreet Kaur to run through South Africa Women as India Women recorded an innings and 34-run win in the only Test in Mysore.India had won the toss and their top-order ensured the advantage would be converted despite an early setback. Smrithi Mandhana, who was dismissed for 8, was the only wicket to fall on the first day as Kamini and Raut strung a 275-run second-wicket stand – a world record – that smothered South Africa. Kamini’s 192 took 430 balls, with 24 four and a six and is the second-best score by an India batsman in Women’s Tests after her captain Mithali Raj’s 214 against England in August 2002. Raut struck 130 off 255 balls, with 18 fours. India declared on 400 for 6, with offspinner Sunette Loubser responsible for three of those wicketsEight of the visitors’ XI were making their debuts, including captain Mignon du Preez who rallied with 102 off 253 balls which formed the spine of the South African reply until it was broken. She struck 15 fours and had added 102 runs for the fifth wicket with Trisha Chetty, who reached a maiden fifty before India hit back. Seamer Kaur took 5 for 44, while Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s offspin accounted for four batsmen as South Africa unravelled from 209 for 4 to be 234 all out – four of those wickets fell on 234.Asked to follow-on, South Africa could only muster 132 with Chetty’s 35 off 131 balls being the top score. The openers were dismissed for single-figures, and were joined by five of their team-mates as Kaur picked up 4 for 41 to finish with 9 for 85 for the match, the second-best figures by an Indian bowler.

In his first Ranji match of the season, RP Singh 4 for 50 to send Baroda collapsing to 228 on the second day in Moti Bagh

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Nov-2013
ScorecardFile photo – RP Singh took 4 for 50 with the old ball•Associated PressAfter missing the entire 2012-13 Ranji season, RP Singh had marked his comeback to first-class cricket with a three-wicket haul against the touring West Indians recently. He went one step further in his first Ranji match in nearly two years, taking 4 for 50 to send Baroda collapsing to 228 on the second day in Moti Bagh. On a pitch dominated by the spinners, RP found sharp swing late in the afternoon to lead UP’s fightback after Baroda were sitting comfortably at 184 for 3.The day began with the Baroda offspinner Utkarsh Patel taking his fifth wicket to bowl out UP for 302. Patel and the left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt both finished with five-wicket hauls. Seeing the amount of turn and bounce available on a surface that was only a day old, the captain Suresh Raina brought himself on and struck with two wickets very early in his spell. The left-handed opener, Saurabh Wakaskar, steadied the innings with 70 before he fell to the left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta.Rakesh Solanki and Ambati Rayudu then added 84 for the fourth wicket, the highest of the innings. Baroda dominated the second session, but like UP did on the opening day, let the advantage slip in the third.The slide began when Solanki was caught at short leg off Gupta before the captain Yusuf Pathan holed out to long-off off the legspinner Piyush Chawla. Yusuf began the season with an explosive 70 in a one-day game for India A against West Indies A, but since then his performance has slipped. Looking to attack early, he charged Chawla and fell for a disappointing 7.RP claimed the first wicket by a seamer in the match when he trapped Pinal Shah lbw from round the wicket. Bowling from wide of the crease, RP got the ball to swerve in to the right-handers, hitting the stumps on two occasions. RP, who last played for India during the England tour of 2011, has struggled with injuries over the last few years. His aim would be to play as many four-day games as possible to convince the selectors he can make a comeback for India’s future tours.