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Can Dinesh Karthik lead Knight Riders to a win and spoil the party for what is otherwise his home crowd?

The Preview by Varun Shetty09-Apr-20184:39

Dasgupta: CSK wouldn’t want to open with Rayudu again

Big picture

If Chennai Super Kings are capable of doing anything without a flourish, we won’t be seeing evidence of it on Tuesday. Having put up a red-carpet premiere in Mumbai on their return, MS Dhoni’s ensemble are ready for the full public release in Chennai. A full house awaits in the ground where they have a 70% win rate. Into this scene will walk Kolkata Knight Riders, who answered questions about their bench strength with a full display of the power of their starting XI against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.There’s little doubt that this game’s rhythm will be dictated by spin. Super Kings have spinners in abundance this year and the pitch will be in their favour. However, Knight Riders have historically been a team that relies on spin as well. Can their middle order of Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana and Dinesh Karthik counter the home team’s bowling-centric strategy to win the middle overs? They won’t have too many batting issues at the start and end of the innings.This will be both teams’ second game of the season and while it’s too early to worry about the table, it’s an early chance to go to first place and set up the momentum for a winning streak for the two teams that copped most criticism after the auction.

In the news

Super Kings have lost Kedar Jadhav to a hamstring tear, and are waiting on Faf du Plessis, who has picked up a side strain alongside his finger troubles. Having both of them fortifying the batting with a promoted Dhoni would have been central to their strategy, with the belligerent confidence of Dwayne Bravo to follow. They’ll now be forced to rethink that plan. The good news is, M Vijay, who missed the last game because of a knock to the ribs in training, is set to return.

The likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: 1 M Vijay, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Mark Wood/Lungi Ngidi, 11 Imran TahirKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Chris Lynn, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Dinesh Karthik (capt & wk), 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Vinay Kumar/Shivam Mavi/Kamlesh NagarkotiESPNcricinfo Ltd

Strategy punt

• Since IPL 2015, Narine has only been dismissed twice against spin and scores at a staggering strike rate of 247.2 against them. Super Kings’ opening bowlers in the last match – seamers Deepak Chahar and Shane Watson – will be a better bet than the spinners against him in the Powerplay, but they will set themselves up for an early wicket if they hand the new ball to whichever overseas fast bowler they choose – Mark Wood and Lungi Ngidi are two options.

Stats that matter

• Knight Riders have only beaten Super Kings twice in Chennai in seven attempts
• Dhoni continues to show signs of a weakness against right-arm spinners. Since 2015, his strike rate against offspin is 71.7 and against legspin it is 103. Only Suresh Raina (seven) has more IPL fifties than Dhoni (six) at this ground and no one has more 30-plus scores (18) than him
• Andre Russell has been destructive against Dwayne Bravo in T20s – 175 runs off 88 balls and strikes a boundary against him every 3.52 balls
• But Bravo fares much better against Karthik, whom he has dismissed thrice in seven innings and has only conceded 25 runs off 21 balls
• Super Kings openers Shane Watson (117.81) and M Vijay (110.36) have significantly lower Smart Strike Rates than Knight Riders’ openers Narine (191.97) and Lynn (215.79).

Fantasy picks

• Imran Tahir didn’t have a great time against Mumbai Indians, but he is likely to get another shot and is a good pick, especially on the dry pitch in Chennai. Tahir has the best career bowling strike rate in the IPL among all his team-mates – 15.2 – and has taken more than two wickets 17 times in 54 matches in all T20s since the start of 2017. He is also the leader on that front among his Super Kings team-mates.

Quotes

“We feel like we’ve got the necessary backup or depth to be able to cover it. It’s certainly going to be a focus going forward. The players at the top of the order, Nos. 1-4, need to take the responsibility to try and score the bulk of the runs.”

As Bangladesh find themselves scrambling to avoid a series loss to Afghanistan, captain Mashrafe Mortaza said that one bad day should not overshadow the side’s progress in recent months

Mohammad Isam30-Sep-2016Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said that the side’s improved performance since the 2015 World Cup should not be forgotten even as they find themselves scrambling to avoid an embarrassing series loss to Afghanistan ahead of the third ODI in Mirpur on Saturday.”We definitely have the confidence and belief to win the series,” Mashrafe said. “I don’t think that one defeat will end all the work that we have done and all our achievements so far. We were all obviously disappointed but that doesn’t mean that we have forgotten all the good work that we have done. It was a bad day. If we think about that when we get on the field it will be difficult for us, so we are trying to get on the field with a free mentality.”He said that Afghanistan would deserve the ODI series win if they go on to beat Bangladesh in the third game, and added that they never took their opponents lightly at any point.”[If they win the series] I will feel that they are deserving winners. In the past, we won many matches and people called them upsets, but we didn’t accept them as upsets. It is not right. They should definitely get the credit.”We never took them as an easy opponent, which was clear after the first game. In the second match our batting collapsed. At one point we recovered, but still we kept losing wickets. We couldn’t play our best game.”Bangladesh’s batsmen have been guilty of throwing their wickets away after spending some time in the middle. While they reached 265 in the first game, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah got out at the wrong time and Shakib Al Hasan was unable to press on from his 48. In the second game, it was their entire top five – Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib – who failed to convert starts to big scores.Perhaps treating a bowling attack from a lower-ranked team with disregard was a contributing factor, especially given how Tamim and Soumya got out in the second ODI. Mashrafe said that his batsmen could learn from the way someone like Kumar Sangakkara played Bangladesh in the past, and apply those lessons when facing Afghanistan.Sangakkara is the highest run-getter against Bangladesh in Tests and ODIs, including a triple-hundred and two double-hundreds in Tests and another nine 100-plus scores across both formats.”We have all discussed this in the dressing room. If someone can score a 150, then it becomes a big deal for his career. Kumar Sangakkara has scored so many 150s and 200s against us. I am sure that our batsmen aren’t taking them lightly. Maybe there was a bit of a break in concentration.”We are all mature individuals. If you see the top five batsmen in our line-up, at least one of them scored big in each game in the last 18 months. But when they don’t, we will always get a low score.”

Roston Chase has said that variations and slowing the ball down helped him find success after his five-wicket haul in India’s first innings at Sabina Park

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-20161:29

Five-for is a big confidence-booster – Chase

Roston Chase, the 24-year-old West Indies batting allrounder, had endured an underwhelming debut in the first Test against India in Antigua. He scored 23 and 8, sent down 34 fruitless overs, giving away 102 runs.However, Chase put the disappointment behind and picked up his maiden five-wicket haul on Monday in India’s first innings score of 500 for 9 at Sabina Park. “It is a great feeling to get five wickets in any match, but at Test level, it is a great feeling for me,” he said. “I have just started my Test career and it is a great confidence boost for me that I can do it at this level.”Chase had earned his maiden call-up to the Test side after a good run in the WICB’s regional first-class tournament in which he was fourth on the run-scoring charts with 710 runs at 59.16.In Kingston, West Indies were made to earn every wicket as India’s batsmen mentally wore them down by displaying ample patience and discipline in their defence and shot-making. “Yes, it was hard for me. It’s Test cricket, so you are never taught that it will be easy,” Chase admitted. “But [in] the first game, I found out that my line was a bit too wide. So I adjusted my line and length in this match and the skipper told me to do that – to attack the batsmen more and hold a tighter line, and it worked for me.”Chase, whose wickets included those of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, felt that variations helped him improve in this game, and cutting down on pace helped him extract more turn. “As I am 6’4″, I tend to get a lot of bounce, but I found that I wasn’t only getting bounce this time but I was also getting some turn as well, so that helped me a lot,” he said. “I was spinning some balls and straightening some of them as well. I also tried to vary my pace in the game as I found that in the last match, I was a bit too quick. So when I slowed the ball down, I got more results in the match.”Chase turned his arm over for 36.1 overs, the most for his team in India’s first innings, but said he was used to it despite being in the side as a batting allrounder. “I am mainly a batsman, but earlier, in our local first-class season, I wasn’t bowling a lot earlier on. But some of our players left for West Indies duty, so that’s when I got an opportunity to express myself as a bowler. I am a bit accustomed to bowling now.”While there was uncertainty on the weather front due to expected tropical storms, West Indies may have to bat for a significant amount of time, rain interruptions notwithstanding, with two days left in the match. With a 304-run deficit after India’s declaration, Chase admitted that they would need more than the odd spark of brilliance.”We are a bit behind the eight-ball, but I believe that once the team pulls together, we have been seeing glimpses in the first game and this game that we have the ability to compete at this level. But we just need to streamline it a bit more so that we can have a better collective effort. As I said, we have had some glimpses, but we just have to streamline it and we will be fine”.

The BCCI has convened a special general body meeting on May 22 in Mumbai to elect its new president after Shashank Manohar stepped down earlier this week

Nagraj Gollapudi14-May-2016The BCCI has convened a special general body meeting on May 22 in Mumbai to elect its new president after Shashank Manohar stepped down earlier this week. According to various office-bearers ESPNcricinfo spoke with, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur has emerged as a favourite to replace Manohar.According to the rules, for Thakur to be elected one of the six member associations from the east zone will have to propose the board secretary’s name. If there is more than one nomination, then an election will be held. Thakur has the backing of powerful east zone members including Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Tripura and the National Cricket Club. Thakur reportedly has been calling members around the country to state his interest in the president’s post. The last date for filing nominations is May 21.Thakur will have to resign as BCCI secretary to contest for the president’s post. The newly elected president will then choose the new board secretary, according to BCCI members.Manohar stepped down on May 10 to contest for the post of ICC chairman, to which he was elected unopposed two days later. According to the ICC’s rules, the chairman has to be independent and cannot have a position with the respective home board. Manohar had been elected BCCI president in October 2015 – his second term – after the death of Jagmohan Dalmiya.

Tasmania have picked 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Jake Doran and uncapped 21-year-old bowler Ryan Lees in their squad for next month’s Matador Cup one-day competition

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-2015Tasmania have picked 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Jake Doran and uncapped 21-year-old right-arm pacer Ryan Lees in their squad for next month’s Matador Cup one-day competition. The 14-member squad also includes fast bowler Jackson Bird, who has not played a List A game for Tasmania since December 2012.The side will be captained by George Bailey, with Alex Doolan serving as his deputy. The squad includes left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty and allrounder James Faulkner, who, along with Bailey, were part of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad.Lees, who hails from Flinders Island, has represented Tasmania in the Imparja Cup and earned a rookie contract in the 2013-14 season. He was picked in the squad after strong pre-season performances, according to Michael Farrell, Tasmania’s chairman of selectors.Doran, who is uncapped in List A and first-class cricket and moved from New South Wales to Tasmania recently, has performed consistently in Under-19 cricket. The left-handed batsman is Australia’s highest run-getter in Under-19 cricket with more than 1000 runs in 30 Youth ODIs between 2013 and 2015. He was also the leading run-getter for Australia Under-19s in the 2014 World Cup and made his Twenty20 debut for a Cricket Australia XI against the touring South Africans last November.”Ryan Lees has been rewarded with selection due to strong performances in various games throughout the preseason, and we are delighted with the form of our newly recruited player Jake Doran,” Farrell said.Tasmania, though, will be without the services of fast bowler Andrew Fekete, who has been picked for the Tests against Bangladesh. Batsman Jordan Silk was unavailable for selection due to personal reasons, according to Farrell.Tasmania’s first match of the competition will be against Queensland on October 5.Tasmania squad: George Bailey (c), Alex Doolan (vc), Jackson Bird, Xavier Doherty, Jake Doran, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Evan Gulbis, Hamish Kingston, Ryan Lees, Dominic Michael, Tim Paine, Sam Rainbird, Clive Rose

Joe Denly’s first century for three years helped Kent coast home against Gloucestershire at Bristol. In conjunction with Sam Northeast the pair saw their side to a target of 241 with eight wickets in hand.

Press Association21-May-2015
ScorecardJoe Denly, seen here in his Middlesex days, made his first century for three years•Getty Images

Joe Denly’s first century for three years helped Kent coast home against Gloucestershire at Bristol. In conjunction with Sam Northeast the pair saw their side to a target of 241 with eight wickets in hand.Denly was 117 not out and skipper Northeast unbeaten on 88 as the visitors reached their target with 29 overs to spare to claim 20 points to three for Gloucestershire, who slumped to a second home defeat following excellent away wins over Essex and Lancashire.Kent were 35 for 2 at one point but Denly rode his luck early on to blossom with 12 fours and 3 sixes in reaching his ton off 179 balls. It was the first time he had reached three figures in first class cricket since May 2012. Northeast provided solid support and once the shine went off the ball the result was never in serious doubt.The tone for the day was set by the very first ball, which saw Gloucestershire lose their last second innings wicket on 282. Matt Taylor clipped a catch to midwicket off Ivan Thomas, who finished with 4 for 53 and the home side’s hopes of adding 10 or 20 more valuable runs were dashed.Even so a close contest looked in the offing when Kent opener Daniel Bell-Drummond fell with the total on only three, snapped up at second slip by Chris Dent off Craig Miles.Gloucestershire’s bowlers maintained a testing line and length with the new ball, causing Denly to play and miss several times.
The second breakthrough came when Brendan Nash, who had played positively for his 25, was well caught by diving wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick in Liam Norwell’s first over of the innings.That gave Norwell five wickets in the match and took his first class tally for the season to 33. But it was as good as it got for Gloucestershire as their opponents progressed to 85 for 2 at lunch. With the sun shining in clear skies, the pair blossomed in the afternoon session, playing with increasing confidence as the boundaries started to flow.Denly began to go for his shots and there were few alarms as Northeast also started to flow against the softer ball.The job had virtually been done when Denly reached three figures with a pull shot off Matt Taylor that brought his 12th four. There were also three sixes in his hundred. It was his 15th four that sealed Kent’s win, with Northeast still there, having faced 146 balls and hit 14 boundaries.”Everything suddenly seems to be going in the right direction,” victorious Kent skipper Sam Northeast said. “We thought that was the case going into the game and we have now recorded a very good victory on top of a promising start in the T20. I’m thrilled for Joe Denly because he had really been striving for that hundred. But it was a great team effort and the bowlers, led by Matt Coles, did a brilliant job, particularly on day three when the pitch had flattened out.”Gloucestershire director of cricket Richard Dawson added: “I would rather look at how we have played over our first five Championship games than merely at this one. That has been very encouraging. It was a good toss for Kent to win and batting wasn’t easy on the first day, but in England you have to be able to cope with whatever weather conditions are thrown at you.”

This Test has been played with pay strife and load shedding as the sightscreens, but Zimbabwe were five wickets short of lifting that gloom momentarily

The Report by Sidharth Monga13-Sep-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsZimbabwe could sense a famous win•AFP

This Test has been played with pay strife and load shedding as the sightscreens, but Zimbabwe were five wickets short of lifting that gloom momentarily. Misbah-ul-Haq stood between them and only their fifth Test win against teams other than Bangladesh, their first since 2001. It seemed they had given up a significant bit of their advantage as they lost their last six wickets for 78 and as the Pakistan openers attacked them for quick early runs, but Tendai Chatara and Prosper Utseya pulled Pakistan back with timely strikes.Pakistan themselves were chasing a bit of a landmark: a win here will be their third-highest successful chase, and their first of a 200-run target in close to last 10 years. Having fallen behind over the first three days, Pakistan tried the classical big-team trick: bowl tight and let the opposition batsmen make the mistake, and try to demoralise them when they bowl.The first part worked well. Rahat Ali led a bowling unit that aimed for the cracks as opposed to trying anything spectacular. The scoring stalled with in-and-out fields in place. Three of the six Zimbabweans to be dismissed today fell to poor shots. But when Pakistan’s batsmen tried to dominate the bowlers, though, they couldn’t keep it up for long enough. Chatara struck the first blows with wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali, and Utseya accounted for the dangerous Khurram Manzoor for 54, and Asad Shafiq.That batting freely would be difficult was evident for the morning session. Rahat and Abdur Rehman began with the simple plan of landing the ball near the crack that runs down the middle of the pitch. The ball would jag either side after hitting the crack, and a wicket always looked around the corner. Rahat first got Vusi Sibanda, who batted at No. 6 because he was unwell on the third day.The pressure – the two bowled the first 12.4 overs of the day for just 25 runs – was palpable. When Saeed Ajmal came on to bowl, Malcolm Waller saw release in a short and wide ball, but failed to keep it down and gave point the catch. Junaid Khan, the other change, hit the crack even more regularly. Once when he did, the ball moved away from Elton Chigumbura, beating his outside edge. From a similar area, the next ball didn’t move, but the muscle memory had already drawn Chigumbura across, and the edge was taken.The chaos continued after lunch when Brendan Taylor ended his fighting innings with a limp drive at a full and wide delivery. The lead hadn’t yet reached 250. Richmond Mutumbani now began to attack, scoring 21 off the 25 balls he faced after Taylor got out. Those crucial runs added, he got a leading edge to Ajmal, followed shortly by a flailing pull from Tendai Chatara.Chatara was much more effective when it came to bowling. The Pakistan openers had somewhat rattled the Zimbabwe bowlers a bit as they began to walk at them and drive prodigiously. By the end of the seventh over, they had reached 29. Only one of those 29 was run. Taylor then called on Chatara. Hafeez continued to walk down the wicket. His premeditation consumed him. First he pulled a ball he should have been cutting. If this one fell short of mid-on, the next early walk down the wicket resulted in a leading edge that was swallowed by mid-on. It was followed up by a beauty to Azhar, a length ball that held its line in front of off, squaring the batsman up and hitting the off stump.All this didn’t deter the first-innings half-centurion, Manzoor, who remained positive and kept attacking loose deliveries. The attitude seemed to rub onto Younis Khan too: they added they added 44 in 11 overs. Zimbabwe refused to let up, though. Utseya, despite being hit for two fours by Manzoor, troubled him with the dip he got. Soon after Manzoor reached his second fifty of the match, he fell to the dip. He pushed forward to defend, but the ball dropped shorter than he expected, and popped up for a bat-pad catch.Younis soon moved too far across to a straight delivery from Brian Vitori, losing his leg stump. Between them, the top four hit 21 boundaries in 99 runs. Attacking the inexperienced bowlers seemed something that was discussed beforehand. With four wickets down for 100, though, Misbah went back to the way he has become used to. For company was Asad Shafiq. They defended and defended, but they – Shafiq in particular – never really looked comfortable. Vitori especially troubled him from round the stumps, a wide angle that has got him more than once in this series.Shafiq’s end, though, came to Utseya when he went back to cut a ball that wasn’t short enough, and edged it through to Mutumbani. Misbah and Adnan Akmal saw off the remaining 9.4 overs without further incident, making sure neither team could sleep more comfortably than the other.

The preview of the final ODI between South Africa and Pakistan in Benoni

The Preview by Firdose Moonda23-Mar-2013

Match Facts

March 24, 2013
Start time 1000 local (0800GMT)

Big Picture

Can Pakistan win their first bilateral series in South Africa?•Getty Images

Sunday could well be Benoni’s biggest day since Charlize Theron won the Oscar. International cricket seldom reaches Johannesburg’s East Rand and when it does, it is unlikely to be this meaningful. For both South Africa and Pakistan, its Benoni or bust in their last outing before the Champions Trophy and they will have a sell-out crowd to do that in front of.The series has got steadily more competitive as it has progressed, so the 8,500-odd people can expect a fiery affair especially because there is more than just a trophy on the line for both teams. Reputation tends to mean more than silverware in bilateral ODI series anyway.For South Africa, it is a chance to give their home fans a format to cheer them in that is not Test cricket and to prove to them they have developed as a limited-overs unit. After winning all five longest form fixtures, South Africa’s Twenty20 and ODI squads did not follow suit. They are in transition but even a phase of change cannot go on without some reward.Sporadically, South Africa have had it. They blew Pakistan away in Bloemfontein and defended stoically at the Wanderers. But consistently, they have not. When forced into situations from which they have to respond unconventionally, they struggle – an indication that the evolution into a complete unit is still, as Gary Kirsten would put it, in process.For Pakistan, the picture may not be that big. They are more likely to be focused on the immediate goal of leaving this tour with enough to be able to call it a success. Misbah-ul-Haq indicated at the very beginning that he expected the Test phase to be difficult but the limited-overs contests to be the area in which Pakistan could push South Africa and even topple them over.So far, they have. They’ve exposed the hosts’ obvious weaknesses and demonstrated some of their own major strengths. They will want one more big effort to underline those and there would be no better place to that than in the decider.

Form guide

(Most recent first)South Africa: LWLWWPakistan: WLWLL

In the Spotlight:

Instead of one player, it will be South Africa’s collective mental strength under scrutiny as they find themselves in a must-win situation. Understandably, it is not a major tournament knockout game and it may have absolutely no bearing on one, but is still a test of character more than it is one of skill and if South Africa have lacked in either department, it is the first. The team will have to take responsibility as a whole and watching how they work together in trying to win the series will be more important than any individual brilliance.Similarly, Pakistan’s big match temperament will be challenged. Twice, they have needed to come back in the rubber and twice they have. Both times, they’ve got the bit between their teeth early. If that happens again, they are likely to run away with it. If it doesn’t, they will have to be up to clambering their way out of trouble. Shahid Afridi showed how to do it at the Wanderers but it may take more than one firework to light up the contest.

Team news:

Graeme Smith’s ankle injury means that Quinton de Kock will appear for the first time in the series in the position he prefers. Morne Morkel has been declared fit to play and could come in place of Dale Steyn if Steyn’s shoulder is still acting up after he hurt it in the field.South Africa: (probable) 1 Quinton de Kock, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Colin Ingram, 4 AB de Villiers (capt, wk), 5 David Miller, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Ryan McLaren 8 Robin Peterson 9 Dale Steyn/Morne Morkel, 10 Rory Kleinveldt, 11 Lonwabo TsotsobeImran Farhat’s successful recall means Nasir Jamshed will miss out again. The only batting place up for debate is Younis Khan’s. Pakistan may look to bring in Asad Shafiq in place of the underperforming Younis. If Umar Gul is available, he may replace Wahab Riaz but the rest of the bowing will remain unchanged.Pakistan: (probable) 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Kamran Akmal (wkt), 4 Younis Khan/Asad Shafiq, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Saeed Ajmal 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammed Irfan

Pitch and conditions:

Known to be as lifeless as the town around it can sometimes seem, the Benoni pitch will not be expected to do anything too special. It should be sluggish, a few will keep low and it will be hard work for batsmen and bowlers alike. A typical late summer’s day with warm temperatures is forecast but there is a chance of an afternoon thundershower.

Stats and Trivia:

* Victory for Pakistan would give them their first win in a bilateral series over South Africa* Willowmoore Park is best known for two things: it was the first ground in the country to have floodlights and it was the venue of Dennis Compton’s 300 in a first-class match in 1948-49

Quotes:

“It’s two great teams and it was bound to happen that the results would go up and down like a rollercoaster.”
“Whenever you come to different conditions, you struggle and not sure when you’re starting a series, what you can do in these sorts of surfaces, but after winning two games and levelling the series 2-2 and after seeing different players perform, we are a bit sure and you grow your confidence.”

Yorkshire’s new Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc made a great impression on his debut with 3 for 28 but it was Gary Ballance’s 77 that propelled the home side to a seven-wicket win against Derbyshire at Headingley.

20-May-2012
ScorecardYorkshire’s new Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc made a great impression on his debut with 3 for 28 but it was Gary Ballance’s 77 that propelled the home side to a seven-wicket win against Derbyshire at Headingley.Ballance, in prime form at the moment, timed his innings to perfection as Yorkshire reached their 220-run target with 14 balls to spare. He faced 60 deliveries and thumped six fours and four sixes, putting on 69 for the third wicket with Phil Jaques and an unbroken 70 for the fourth with Joe Root.Ballance has now scored 121 not out, 76 and 77 not out in his last three innings and his last three partnerships with Jaques have seen them add 203, 149 and 69 together.All of Yorkshire’s five batsmen made telling contributions, skipper Andrew Gale (33) and Adam Lyth (31) sharing an opening stand of 56 and Jaques and Root later weighing in with 47 and 28 not out respectively. But it was Ballance and Root who made it look easy for Yorkshire in the end by cracking 41 off three overs to leave the scores level at the start of the 38th over.Ballance began the onslaught by striking Garry Park for consecutive sixes backward of square leg, following up by steering him for four to third man and Root joined in the spree with two successive boundaries off Tim Groenewald.Yorkshire’s target turned out to be a lot easier than appeared likely while Derbyshire’s openers, Chesney Hughes and Martin Guptill, were putting together a rousing partnership of 137 in 25 overs. But once they had been parted, Yorkshire tightened the screw to such an extent that Derbyshire could only add 82 from 15 overs, during which time they lost eight wickets.Hughes was first to go, bowled leg stump by Moin Ashraf for 50 from 73 balls with four boundaries, but it was Guptill who provided the real firepower with his 89 from 83 deliveries with four fours and five sixes, most of them coming from full-blooded drives.Guptill was third out when he tried to force Anthony McGrath outside off-stump and wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy held on to the catch.Confident batting by Hughes and Guptill had denied Starc a wicket in his opening burst of five overs but he came back strongly later on to claim 3 for 11 in his second spell. His first wicket for Yorkshire was that of Ross Whiteley who was held on the cover boundary by Lyth before Dan Redfern was caught behind attempting an audacious reverse paddle. Starc struck again with the final ball of the innings which knocked back Tom Poynton’s stumps as he went for a wild swing.Former Yorkshire all-rounder David Wainwright, who moved to Derbyshire in the close season, received a generous ovation from the home fans when he went out to bat and his unbeaten 13 included a cheeky six off Iain Wardlaw over the top of Brophy’s head. Wardlaw proved expensive, conceding 63 runs.Yorkshire omitted their out-of-form leg-spinner Adil Rashid but off-spinner Azeem Rafiq enjoyed only limited success in his place. He went for 44 runs from his eight overs and his only wicket came when he held on to a smart low return catch from Durston.

Teenage spinner now has 15 wickets in five One-Day Cup appearances as Lancashire stumble

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay22-Aug-2025Warwickshire 253 for 5 (Shaikh 75, Malik 72, Blatherwick 4-48) beat Lancashire 249 for 9 (Tazeem 3-39) by five wicketsHamza Shaikh made 75 and legspinner Tazeem Ali took 3 for 39 to help Warwickshire beat Lancashire by five wickets at Aigburth and thereby consolidate their bid to reach the knock-out stages of the Metro Bank One Day Cup.Having restricted the home side to 249 for 9 on a pitch that aided spin, Ed Barnard’s side reached their target with 61 balls to spare, Kai Smith finishing on 45 not out having put on 77 with Shaikh.The one consolation for a severely under-strength Lancashire was that Jack Blatherwick took a career-best 4 for 48 but Marcus Harris’s side have now won just one of their seven matches in this competition and their own slim chances of making further progress had vanished with Wednesday’s defeat to Durham.Michael Jones was caught behind without scoring off Ethan Bamber’s second ball of the game but George Bell and Kesh Fonseka then batted positively against the Bears’ seamers to give their side a respectable platform of 69 for 1 after 15 overs.However, 33 of the next 35 overs were bowled by the Warwickshire spinners and scoring runs never looked as straightforward as it had done in the first hour of the game. Lancashire’s second-wicket pair put on 87 before Fonseka was caught at cover by Shaikh for 43 when driving Tazeem and the legspinner took his second wicket in his next over when Bell was leg-before for 46 when attempted to sweep.Harris and Harry Singh then tried to rebuild the innings with a stand of 68 in 13 overs only for Singh to depart for 29 when he pulled Rob Yates straight to Alex Davies at deep midwicket and the left-handed Harris to be bowled for 41 by a lovely offbreak from Yates.File photo: Shaikh led the way in Warwickshire’s run chase•ECB via Getty Images

Tazeem took his third wicket when George Balderson pulled him straight to Zen Malik and the remainder of Lancashire’s innings was dominated by Arav Shetty, who consolidated the good impression he has made during this competition by making 40 off 30 balls.Shetty, though, was one of two wickets to fall to Jake Lintott in the 49th over of the innings and the experienced Warwickshire wristspinner finished with 2 for 62 from his ten overs. Yates finished with 2 for 44 but it was Tazeem’s bowling that had taken the eye – and not for the first time this month.Warwickshire’s reply got off to a thunderous start, eight boundaries being struck and 44 runs scored in the opening four overs. But the visitors’ progress was slowed, first when Ed Barnard was caught by Bell when trying to scoop Blatherwick for 21 and then when Yates tried to slap Blatherwick through mid-on but only found Balderson’s safe hands and departed for 23.Former Lancashire batter Alex Davies was then surprised by the lift Blatherwick extracted from the Aigburth pitch and was caught behind for eight to leave his side on 71 for three in the eleventh over. That, though, was as near the home side got to upsetting the form book.Sheikh put on 97 with Malik, who reached his maiden List A fifty off 39 balls and seemed set for a century when his attempt to hit Blatherwick for six over mid-off only found the safe hands of Jones on the cover boundary and he departed for 72. Seemingly untroubled by this setback, Shaikh reached his own fifty off 74 balls and Warwickshire’s victory was all but certain long before Shaikh was bowled by Luke Hands when his side needed five runs.