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Grant Elliott picked up his second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award, helping Quetta Gladiators become the first team to seal a spot in PSL playoffs following their five-wicket win against Karachi Kings in Sharjah

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGrant Elliot collected 4 for 15 to rip through Karachi Kings’ top order•PSL

Grant Elliott picked up his second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award, helping Quetta Gladiators become the first team to seal a spot in PSL playoffs following their five-wicket win against Karachi Kings in Sharjah.Elliott followed up his 3 for 25 against Islamabad United on Thursday with a career-best 4 for 15, carving through Karachi’s top order and restricting the team to a below-par 126 for 9. Karachi’s captain Shoaib Malik top-scored with 45, but nobody else made more than 23, as Elliott struck at regular intervals to thwart any momentum Karachi hoped of building. Anwar Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, Aizaz Cheema and Mohammad Nabi snared a scalp apiece, as Quetta were left needing just over six an over in their chase.Ahmed Shehzad ensured Quetta aced the small chase without any major worry, as his 27-ball 41 guided the team home inside 19 overs. Karachi kept striking blows at various points, but did not have enough left to defend with, as handy knocks from Kevin Pietersen (26) and Sarfraz Ahmed (29) lifted Quetta to their fifth win of the season.

South Africa suffered a fifth successive sub-standard batting performance in Sri Lanka to concede the final match in the series – a dead rubber – to opposition who have shown their superiority

The Report by Firdose Moonda31-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTillakaratne Dilshan and Lahiru Thirimanne set up the win with a stand of 163•Associated Press

South Africa suffered a fifth successive sub-standard batting performance in Sri Lanka to concede the final match in the series – a dead rubber – to opposition who have shown their superiority. Throughout the 12-day contest, Sri Lanka batted with more authority and bowled with more intent and just to emphasise that, they did both even better today despite resting three senior players.Tillakaratne Dilshan followed up his century in the previous match with 99 and shared in a second-wicket stand of 163 with Lahiru Thirimanne who found confidence with a half-century, while Kumar Sangakkara racked up milestones. He overtook Misbah-ul-Haq as the leading run-scorer in ODIs this year and become the top-scorer for Sri Lanka in a bilateral series with 372 runs. With all those accolades, his best mate, Mahela Jayawardene was hardly missed.Neither was Sri Lanka’s marquee fast bowler, Lasith Malinga, or leading spinner Rangana Herath. Their replacements, Suranga Lakmal and Sachithra Senanayake, did the damage with five wickets between them to ensure even the flicker of a challenge South Africa posed was suffocated before it find any oxygen.Although South Africa have scored more runs in each innings as this series wore on, they were always unlikely to chase down a score of 300-plus. They have a lethargic bowling performance and indifferent showing in the field to thank for being asked to do that.Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe started well with probing lines outside offstump and had early success. They kept Sri Lanka’s scoring rate under four an over and Morkel had Kusal Perera out when the opener bottom-edged to Quinton de Kock.What South Africa should have used as an opening, Sri Lanka grabbed onto as an opportunity. They moved Thirimanne up the order and he responded by building steadily alongside Dilshan.They pair gave themselves time against South Africa’s ineffectual spin duo so that when Morkel was brought back, he posed little threat. Dilshan reached his half-century with a backfoot drive off him, while Thrimanne’s came with a single off Phangiso. By the halfway mark, they were consistently scoring more than four runs an over and had laid enough foundation to up the aggression.And they did. The very next over, Thirimanne charged Phangiso and drove Morkel with confidence. He could have been stumped for 62 but Quinton de Kock missed the chance. It only cost six runs before JP Duminy took a tumbling catch to see Thirimanne out but illustrated a wider South African problem.Their fielding was not up to scratch, they didn’t back up enough, their throws were wayward and de Villiers’ communication in changing his fields was almost non-existent. All this while Sangakkara arrived and smoked Duminy back over his head and hit Morkel of all of his lengths. The three fours that came in the over where off a good length ball, a full one and a short one.Sangakkara missed out on a century the last time he batted with Dilshan but this time it was Dilshan’s turn to suffer that fate. He marched into the 90s with an authoritative pull and lingered on 99 for three balls before he was bowled by a McLaren slower ball.In celebration of his wicket, South Africa seemed to forget all their plans. Tsotsobe reverted back to short balls and Morkel could not find any workable line or length. His figures were the most expensive of his career. Mathews let loose and Thisara Perera had licence to go wild but it was Sangakkara’s presence that made a score over 300 possible.He smacked 49 runs on the on-side and helped himself to extravagant shots like scoops over de Kock’s head. He was largely responsible for the addition of 52 runs in the last five overs and for South Africa’s mountain being too high.They started gallantly, with de Kock showing his promise with powerful cuts, and 32 runs scored off the first five overs. He remained loose outside the offstump and when he left a gap between bat and pad against Senanayake, he was bowled. The 35 he put on with Hashim Amla was South Africa’s highest opening stand of the series.Amla and Duminy put on 25 before Amla also failed to read Senanayake and was plumb lbw. Dumimy padded up to Dilshan and Faf du Plessis’ lean run grew longer when was caught. At 69 for 4, South Africa were only headed one way.De Villiers scored a-run-a-ball 51 but was caught at point on his first attempt to lash out. South Africa they were eventually put out of their misery in the 44th over to hand Sri Lanka a 4-1 win and leave themselves with more questions than answers about the rebuilding of their one-day unit.

Brendon McCullum has strongly resisted claims that New Zealand have gone into the series against England with a mindset of trying to avoid defeat rather than aiming for victory

Andrew McGlashan in Wellington18-Mar-2013Brendon McCullum has strongly resisted claims that New Zealand have gone into the series against England with a mindset of trying to avoid defeat rather than aiming for victory. Their previous Test series had been a torrid affair in South Africa, where the top order understandably failed to cope with the No. 1 bowling attack in the world, but he insisted there was no hangover from that contest.The nature of the two Tests support McCullum’s stance; they set the pace in Dunedin, scoring at nearly four-an-over in their innings as they tried to make up for lost time and never stopped trying to dismiss England for a second time over the final two days. Their approach to this Test in Wellington was dictated by a poor first day, which left them trying to make up ground and they fought back on the second, but once England reached 465 they had to set their stall out to save the match.”If you’ve seen the way we’ve played in the last two Tests we’ve been reasonably proactive,” McCullum said. “We go into every game trying to win, it’s not about hanging on for a draw. We see it as a great opportunity to clinch a series win against England, which is something we’d all hold very fondly.”McCullum also defended the Test pitches and hopes the surface in Auckland is similar to those served up during the series so far. He is adamant that it has been the weather, rather than the nature of the 22 yards, which has led to two stalemates and set up a deciding match later in the week.It has been hard work for the bowlers on both sides during the series, but there has been success for some to enjoy notably Neil Wagner in Dunedin and Stuart Broad in Wellington. McCullum made a pointed reference to David Saker’s comments about the pitches not being ideal for Test cricket on Sunday, but is more than pleased with the conditions he has been given.”I’ve read and heard a lot about our pitches being too flat. It seems to be bowling coaches who have an issue with them. It’s always going to be the way,” he said. “If you look at the first Test we lost a whole day to rain and there would have been a result in that game and in this Test as well we’ve lost a day and a half to rain and it would have been interestingly poised. There would probably have been a result, too.”It’s not three or four-day Tests, it’s five-day grinding wickets were you have to work incredible hard for your fruits but I don’t see anything wrong with our wickets and they have certainly allowed both teams periods of dominance. For me, I’d like a wicket similar to these last two [in Auckland].”Alastair Cook maintained England’s view they would like more bounce from the pitches. “In an ideal world, we would,” he said. “It makes for slightly more exciting cricket certainly. Whichever wicket we get, we’ve got to try to find the best way of winning the game.”Even if there is more life on offer at Eden Park – which will use a drop-in surface and will host a Test just days after the latest rugby game at the ground – McCullum has seen enough of his batsmen that he is convinced they can adapt to the challenge.”If it is a bit bouncier than we’ve seen in this one, and especially in Dunedin, we’ll have to come up with a strategy to overcome it and I’m confident that the guys are treading in the right direction. We’ll see how we respond,” he said. “It’s been a good series for us so far, we are learning a bit about ourselves and were we are at. We have made some improvements from previous series but we know the third Test is what we will be decided on.”He also backed his decision to bowl by saying, as Tim Southee did during the match, that the bowlers did not make the most of conditions. “Certainly no regrets in this game,” he said. “If you do that you won’t be able to get out of bed each morning. It was about the best way to win this Test, which was to get some favourable conditions on day one. Even though the Test didn’t last five days we didn’t see the wicket breaking up. I don’t think it’s too bad a strategy for playing Test cricket in New Zealand.”McCullum suggested that he favours an unchanged team for the final Test – his pace bowlers have had a decent break after England enforced the follow-on followed by the rain – although he will wait to see how Doug Bracewell comes through his domestic one-day outing on Wednesday, where he will test his injured foot, before making a clearer plan over how he will attack the final Test.

Sri Lanka Cricket has named 56 foreign players who will play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2012Sri Lanka Cricket has named 56 foreign players who will play in the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League. There are no India or England players – apart from Azhar Mahmood – among the 56, who were picked by the seven franchises via a draft system in Colombo on Thursday.Shahid Afridi* was originally supposed to be the icon player for Nagenahira but all the franchises wanted to make sure their icon players were available throughout the tournament. Due to the recently announced Australia-Pakistan series that starts on August 28th, Afridi would potentially miss the semi-finals and finals of the SLPL if his team made it that far, leaving Nagenahira without their icon player at the business end of the tournament. With the agreement of the other franchises, Afridi was released by Naganahira in to the draft, where he was subsequently signed by Ruhuna. Lasith Malinga remains Ruhuna’s icon, while Nagenahira’s icon player will be named on Friday.The list is dominated by players from Australia (18) and Pakistan (13). Misbah-ul-Haq, who stepped down as Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain in May and was not picked for the Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka that followed, was picked up by Kandurata in the draft. Mohammad Hafeez, who replaced Misbah as Pakistan Twenty20 captain, was not on the list released by Sri Lanka Cricket.West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who has not featured in top-level cricket since May 2011, was drafted by Ruhuna.The release made no mention of the salaries that the players will be paid. Sri Lanka’s domestic players will be drafted on Friday.The franchises’ overseas signings
(all values in US $)
Uthura: Shakib Al Hasan (25,000), Brendan Taylor (10,000), Kevon Cooper (15,000), Imran Farhat (20,000), Fidel Edwards (20,000), David Miller (25,000), Dillon du Preez (20,000), Samuel Badree (20,000)
Nagenahira: Mitchell Marsh (30,000), Imran Nazir (20,000), Travis Birt (25,000), Ahmed Shahzad (20,000), Ben Laughlin (20,000), Elias Sunny (12,000), Musfiqur Rahim (20,000), Nasir Hossain (16,000)
Ruhuna: Shahid Afridi (50,000), Daniel Harris (30,000), Ryan Harris (30,000), Aaron Finch (30,000), Jerome Taylor (20,000), Nathan McCullum (25,000), Ryan McLaren (15,000), Richard Levi (25,000)
Wayamba: Azhar Mahmood (30,000), Umar Akmal (25,000), Tamim Iqbal (18,000), Colin Ingram (20,000), Kemar Roach (25,000), James Faulkner (25,000), Abdul Razzaq (25,000), Brad Hogg (25,000)
Kandurata: Saeed Ajmal (25,000), Misbah-ul-Haq (25,000), Sohail Tanvir (20,000), Chris Lynn (20,000), Dane Vilas (10,000), Albie Morkel (35,000), Johan Botha (25,000), Adam Voges (25,000)
Basnahira: Brad Hodge (30,000), Marlon Samuels (30,000), Daniel Smith (20,000), Dirk Nannes (35,000), Robin Peterson (20,000), Tim Southee (25,000), Clint McKay (25,000), Cameron Borgas (20,000)
Uva: Andrew McDonald (35,000), Umar Gul (25,000), Shoaib Malik (35,000), Callum Ferguson (30,000), James Franklin (30,000), Abdur Rehman (20,000), Hammad Azam (15,000), Chris Gayle (100,000)
*04:23 GMT, July 6: This article has been updated to state why Shahid Afridi is no longer playing for Nagenahira

MS Dhoni has defended the rotation policy between the three senior India openers in the triangular series, which may suggest that Gautam Gambhir might be rested for the next game despite consecutive scores in the 90s from him

Sidharth Monga15-Feb-2012MS Dhoni has defended the rotation policy between the three senior India openers in the triangular series, which may suggest that Gautam Gambhir might be rested for the next game despite consecutive scores in the 90s from him. After India tied their fourth match of the tournament, against Sri Lanka, Dhoni was asked if it made a lot of sense resting a batsman who had hit form. Dhoni’s argument remained that the youngsters should keep getting more chances.”What we want is, all the players should be fit by the time we come into the finals,” Dhoni said. “All of them should be scoring runs by that time. It’s a good exposure. Rohit [Sharma] is a very talented guy. Manoj Tiwary is on the bench. He scored in the last series that he played, so we are giving ample chances to them because these are players who, for sure, will come back to Australia once we play the next World Cup. There is no surety that some of us who are playing [will return], Sachin [Tendulkar] or Viru [Virender Sehwag] or even Gautam, all of us are 30-plus, and it’s big out-fields out here. So it’s about giving the youngsters a fair exposure as to how difficult it is or how easy it is, or how different it is to play here.”How difficult is it to rest a batsman who has scored 92 and 91 in his previous two outings? “As I said, what’s important is to get everybody going,” Dhoni said. “What may also happen is the guy who is playing all the games may get injured by the finals, and you will find someone coming in his place who has not played many games and not scored runs.”It’s a long tournament. It’s four games against each opposition before the finals. The first series that I played was three games against Bangladesh, so this is equivalent to three series and then the finals. It’s a very demanding tournament, in the sense that the out-fields are very big, the batsmen put pressure on you, you can get injured at any time. If you are looking to save that one run and you are in a bad position to throw, you may get injured. We want all the guys to be fit, and at the same time for the youngsters to get exposure by the start of the finals… if we reach the finals.”Moreover, Dhoni said, India could afford to experiment a bit now that they have had a decent start to the tournament, winning two and tying one of their first four matches. “The interest of the team comes first,” he said. “This is the time when we can really look to do that [experiment], because if were in a bad shape by the end of the fourth game, it would have been fair to say we wouldn’t really be in a position to give that chance to the other players. And we would have had to be careful.”Now we are in a position where we can do that. It’s good to see Gautam scoring runs. We want to see Viru get runs and Sachin also to get runs so that the best XI comes and plays the finals.”Dhoni was full of praise for Gambhir. “It [his coming into form] is really good because once he gets going he comes out with a big score, and he looks to play more than 35 to 40 overs, it allows the other batsmen to come in and play a bit freely. Of course the difficulty is, we have been chasing so you can’t always express yourself.”It’s good to have someone like Gautam in the side. Plays the spinners really well, and he runs well between the wickets well. It gives the team a chance to come back just in case a couple of batsmen make mistakes in the middle of the innings, because you have someone who is on one side going through with his innings.”After the previous game against Australia, though, which India won in the 50th over, Gambhir had said that India should have finished it off around the 48th over. It was Dhoni who had delayed the final assault, cutting it too tight before finishing it off in typical style. At the toss of the next game, against Sri Lanka, Dhoni said that if a batsman scores about 50 he should make sure he finishes the game off. Dhoni was asked if everything was fine between him and Gambhir.”There is nothing [uneasy between us],” Dhoni said. “It’s different when you are playing in the middle. If you see his innings today, he also found it difficult to rotate the strike consistently, and once you are in that situation it is very difficult to play a big shot. You can easily play big shots, but the difference is it always has to pay off. If it doesn’t, what do you say?”So I am never in a hurry to finish it in the 48th over or 47th over. Even if it goes to the 49th or 50th over, I am quite happy. [Since I bat down the order] I don’t have the luxury of batsmen behind me. If I go in to bat, I like to finish the job. It’s different with different people. Some people like to finish the game early, take a bit more risk in the middle and finish off the game, but I have a different perspective about it.”It’s a very individual thing. There’s nothing wrong. If you ask Viru [Sehwag], he would have said ‘why not 25 overs?'”

Sussex have signed the Danish-born paceman Amjad Khan from Kent on a three-year contract.

Cricinfo staff14-Sep-2010Sussex have signed the Danish-born paceman Amjad Khan from Kent on a three-year contract.Khan, 29, had been with Kent since his arrival on the county scene in 2002 but was unable to agree terms with the county for a new deal. He instead joins newly-promoted Sussex as their senior fast bowler, the day after Corey Collymore announced he was leaving Sussex for Middlesex.Khan was granted British citizenship in 2006 and attracted interest from the England selectors three years later, overcoming a career-threatening knee injury to make his Test debut against West Indies at Port of Spain in March 2009.Though he hasn’t played for England since, his reputation for pace and reverse-swing makes him an exciting prospect for Sussex coach Mark Robinson.”Amjad has genuine pace and is a potential match-winner in all formats of the game,” he said. “Having spoken at length with him, one thing that comes across is how hungry he is to re-establish himself as a potential England cricketer, and to make telling contributions to a winning team. His reasons for coming are all those, as a coach, that you want to hear. He will be a good spearhead to complement our other exciting young bowlers.”Khan has missed most of this season with injury and was sad to leave the county that had founded his career but he said he’s looking forward to a new challenge. “My nine years with Kent have been fantastic and it was a wrench to leave, but I have come to the point in my career where I need a new start and a fresh challenge.”Sussex has a great reputation for supporting and developing it’s squad and I am excited about the prospects for the rest of my career as I have no intention of being a one-cap Test cricketer.”

Nottinghamshire held their nerve under the Trent Bridge lights to knock
champions Sussex out of the Friends Provident t20 in a tight quarter-final
tonight

26-Jul-2010

ScorecardRyan Sidebottom gave Nottinghamshire some late impetus with a couple of boundaries•PA Photos

Nottinghamshire held their nerve under the Trent Bridge lights to knock
champions Sussex out of the Friends Provident t20 in a tight quarter-final
tonight.Mike Yardy’s visitors appeared on course to join their south coast neighbours
Hampshire – who earlier this evening scraped past Warwickshire – in the last
four for next month’s showpiece at the Rose Bowl, after the Outlaws had mustered
only 141 for 9.But in conditions when pace off the ball proved more effective throughout than
pace on it, Samit Patel replicated Yardy’s own bowling – and Steve Mullaney’s
seam also strangled the Sussex reply to give Nottinghamshire victory by 13
runs.Yardy had picked up two wickets in a typically miserly spell, and Yasir Arafat
finished with 4 for 34 as the home tail nonetheless eked out what proved a
defendable total.After Chris Nash – dropped on only two by Ryan Sidebottom at short fine-leg off
Dirk Nannes – and Luke Wright got the chase off to a handy start, Sussex
faltered alarmingly to Patel, Mullaney and Darren Pattinson (3 for 17).Wright was Pattinson’s first victim, mistiming a catch for Sidebottom at
mid-on, and Nash was then lbw trying to sweep Patel. His was the first of three wickets to fall for only 14 runs – Yardy run out in a mix-up with Murray Goodwin, and then Ed Joyce lbw sweeping at Graeme White.Andrew Hodd and Goodwin threatened to keep Sussex in it. But the wicketkeeper
drove Sidebottom to be well-caught by David Hussey at extra-cover – and after
Goodwin’s luck ran out when he fell to a good catch by Alex Hales on the
midwicket boundary, the game was up.Ali Brown had earlier helped to set the pace for the Outlaws, after Yardy had
chosen to bowl first under cloudy skies. But just after Brown clubbed two successive leg-side sixes off Chad Keegan, the seamer got his revenge when the ex-Surrey batsman missed another attempted big
hit and was bowled.His fellow opener Hales was already gone, edging on to off-stump as he attacked
Arafat. Then when Yardy introduced his notoriously effective, skiddy left-arm spin the
life appeared to be sucked out of Notts’ mid-innings.Patel and Mullaney were both cramped by his tight line and testing full length,
bowled looking for big shots. Number three Matt Wood stayed long enough to top-score with 36 before Goodwin’s direct hit from point ran him out. But danger man Hussey was fourth out, caught in the deep off Nash’s off-spin.From 100 for 6 with five overs to go, Nottinghamshire did well to salvage a
worthwhile total thanks to some late hitting from Chris Read and Sidebottom.Unexpectedly, it turned out to be enough too, the Outlaws booking themselves in
for the August 14 showpiece – only the second time they have reached finals
day.

Lewis Goldsworthy may scarcely rest easier on 93 not out with Somerset nine down

Vithushan Ehantharajah26-Sep-2022Would you rather be waiting overnight on a hat-trick or a hundred?The answer here at Canterbury was surely the former. Because Nathan Gilchrist, previously of Somerset, already has five wickets against his old team. In doing so, he has helped reduce them to 195 for 9. In Kent’s battle against relegation, the three bowling points go some way to preserving their Division One status for 2023.Confirming that is more important than the feats of an individual, even if this was Gilchrist’s first five-wicket haul of the season – and second overall in a first-class career that only began after making the shift across the south in 2020. One imagines the 22-year-old won’t mind all that much if Jack Brooks keeps him out first thing on Tuesday morning provided he’s seen off sharpish.Lewis Goldsworthy, 93 not out, is the other side of this hypothetical coin. The standout piece of resistance in a Somerset line-up who were undone by a relentlessly straight approach, with all nine dismissals hitting stumps, front pads or hands behind the wicket. The 21-year-old was not totally immune, edging behind but surviving with just five to his name. But this was an innings of learning from that misstep rather than riding luck. On another surface he might have been tested with some short stuff, but he answered all further questions posed to him, and few would begrudge a second career century. The county’s young player of the year in 2021 has grown into a reliable presence with red and white ball in 2022.Somerset had guaranteed their safety with victory over Northamptonshire last week. Kent, even after their surprise victory over Hampshire, still had that little bit more to do. A 14-point gap between them and ninth-placed Warwickshire meant a degree of comfort coming into a fixture that a month ago looked like being a “48-pointer”. Kent were also reinforced by Zak Crawley, returning to competitive action following a match- and series-winning 69 not out against South Africa at the Oval, along with Joe Denly who missed the Hampshire win to attend the birth of his third child. A freak injury to Ben Compton, who fell at home fetching a glass of water and hurt his side, ruled him out and means his season ends on an impressive 1,193 runs, four hundreds and an average of 54.22.Overnight and early rain meant play only began at 12pm in Canterbury – an hour and a half late. It was greeted with more apathy than up at Edgbaston where the hosts, needing to force a full-points win, only began their day one at 2:15pm.The maths was straightforward: 11 points would guarantee safety even if Warwickshire managed the unlikely, which equates to a draw and three bonus points. The latter was achieved with what turned out to be the final ball of the day when Gilchrist removed Sajid Khan lbw. They had their first within 28 minutes of play.Skipper Jack Leaning, who lost the toss with counterpart Tom Abell choosing to bat first, was involved in the opening dismissals. Sharp catches at second slip helped dismiss Tom Lammonby from the fourth ball of the match – delivered by Matthew Quinn – and then Abell himself off Gilchrist. When Andrew Umeed, making his first class debut for Somerset after Pakistan international Imam-Ul-Haq returned home, was trapped in front by Quinn, Somerset were reeling on 9 for 3.A fourth should have come sooner, but Ollie Robinson, off to Durham at the end of the summer, shelled a tough low chance to give Goldsworthy his life. When it did arrive – George Bartlett, six balls after the lunch break – Robinson claimed a simpler chance to make it up to Gilchrist. By then, however, Barlett had given a bit back with an engaging 28 from 30 deliveries: proactive beyond four boundaries, walking at bowlers early on, including when pulling Joey Evison for a six into the light blue seats under one of the floodlights at midwicket.Goldsworthy, who was 12 off 24 at the time, was clearly roused by his partner’s pluck, driving imperiously in the middle session as further inroads were made at the other end. Connor McKerr, on loan from Surrey, had left-hander James Rew caught smartly by Daniel Bell-Drummond tumbling to his right at third slip before Quinn nipped one through Ben Green to make it 116 for 6.Then, finally, Goldsworthy had some meaningful support in the form of Craig Overton. Quite apart from the ball being older than 40 overs old – the point when this Dukes stops playing ball – their 112-ball partnership for the seventh wicket brought 79 runs with minimal fuss. There was diligence ensuring the score was ticking over without missing out on anything slightly awry, particularly as Goldsworthy’s area for driving expanded with his confidence.The half-century came from 97 deliveries and featured seven fours, and that boundary count doubled in the space of 38 before finishing with 149 balls to his name after playing out a maiden in the penultimate over of the day and watching the late carnage from the sanctity of the nonstriker’s end.Kasey Aldridge, who played out six dots from Gilchrist, was caught behind before Khan came and went for a first-ball duck. No. 11 Brooks did make the fateful walk out to the middle to face the hat-trick ball only to be spared any immediate blushes when drops of rain fell from those clouds that had created a gloom that would have brought out the light meters.Brooks will have to do the walk again tomorrow, with Goldsworthy at the other end perhaps focusing more on his partner seeing out the over than the seven runs he has left to get.

Billy Godleman led a Derbyshire fightback after Leicestershire had passed 600 on the second day of the Division Two County Championship match at Derby

ECB Reporters Network26-May-2017
ScorecardNed Eckersley’s 91-ball hundred was part of a rapid double-century stand•Getty Images

Skipper Billy Godleman led a Derbyshire fightback after Leicestershire had passed 600 on the second day of the Division Two County Championship match at Derby.Godleman marked his 50th first-class appearance for the county with an unbeaten 60 as Derbyshire closed on 154 for 1 in reply to Leicestershire’s 619, still 465 behind.Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove top-scored with 188, adding 239 in 38 overs with Ned Eckersley who made a career-best 158 while Sri Lankan allrounder Jeevan Mendis took 6 for 204.It was a question of how many Leicestershire would score at the start of another hot day and the answer was plenty as Cosgrove and Eckersley plundered 100 in the first hour.Cosgrove passed his previous best for the county of 156 at Derby two years ago with a pull for four off Tony Palladino and he launched Mendis for two sixes to bring up the 500 before he was caught at long on.The fourth-wicket stand beat the previous highest for the county against Derbyshire of 207 by Maurice Hallam and Willie Watson in 1959 and there were more records as Leicestershire erased their previous highest score at Derby of 552 for 6 declared 12 years ago.When Eckersley completed his first hundred of the season from only 91 balls, it was only the 13th time in Leicestershire’s history that three batsmen had scored centuries in the same innings and another declaration looked like the only way Derbyshire would get off the field until Eckersley clipped Tom Taylor to deep midwicket.His departure sparked a collapse that saw the last six wickets go down for 38 with Mendis the main beneficiary of Leicestershire’s pursuit of quick runs as he returned the best figures by a Derbyshire legspinner since Kim Barnett, now director of cricket, took 6 for 28 against Glamorgan at Chesterfield in 1991.It was also the most expensive analysis by a Derbyshire bowler in 113 years although he had bowled 52 overs, 24.3 of them in one spell from the Racecourse end broken only be lunch.But the most relevant figure for Derbyshire was 470, the runs required to avoid the follow-on, and Slater and Godleman gave them a solid start although both had some narrow escapes before Slater was caught at short leg off Zak Chappell for 42.Shiv Thakor played and missed several times but hit Chappell for three successive fours although Derbyshire have a lot of batting to do to save the game.

In the match of the tournament, Scotland pulled off a stunning heist in defence of 148 to defeat Netherlands by seven runs

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi17-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCon de Lange produced a telling spell to slow Netherlands’ chase•Peter Della Penna

In the match of the tournament, Scotland pulled off a stunning heist in defence of 148 to defeat Netherlands by seven runs. Only two of the first eight matches have been won by the team fielding second and on both occasions Scotland has been the one to do it, but this victory was particularly remarkable considering the positions they clawed back from in both innings.Sent in to bat, Scotland ended the first six overs at 17 for 3, the worst start in the first six by any side in this event. The middle order led the rescue effort as Richie Berrington and Calum MacLeod added 57 for the fourth wicket. Scotland were seven down though by the end of the 18th over but Netherlands failed to land the knockout punch and paid the price. Safyaan Sharif hit two sixes among the 27 runs that came off the final 12 balls, including one off the final ball of the innings.Netherlands’ batting script was almost a 180-degree flip from the Scotland innings. They raced away in the Powerplay to reach 49 after five overs. Man of the Match Josh Davey sparked Netherlands’ slide by getting Ben Cooper out pulling to deep square leg for 24 and then nailed Tobias Visee on the crease three balls later. An hour later, Davey came back to take two more – Max O’Dowd pulling a bouncer to deep midwicket and Pieter Seelaar lacing another short ball straight to point – and Netherlands were on the verge of a complete meltdown entering the final over needing ten to win with two wickets in hand. Berrington and Sharif then teamed up for run outs off back-to-back balls to seal a memorable escape for Scotland.MacLeod-Berrington déjà vuThe two middle-order batsmen put on a Scotland T20I record 127-run stand for the third wicket against Oman on Saturday. In that situation, they were piling on to the robust start provided by George Munsey and Kyle Coetzer. On Tuesday night, the scenario was far more perilous with both openers plus Matthew Cross all dismissed on 4.Paul van Meekeren had claimed Coetzer and Cross, but Berrington took him on in the 10th, cracking a four through midwicket off a no ball and then used the free hit to smash him past mid-off to spark the Scotland revival. MacLeod targeted Michael Rippon’s left-arm wrist spin, sweeping him both ways for a pair of boundaries until his innings ended in fluke fashion when he chopped the bails off the stumps going back to cut. The pair had done the dirty work to dig Scotland out of the early hole though and give them a fighting chance through the rest of the match.Con Artist Netherlands looked like they were running away with victory behind Cooper and Rippon’s opening partnership. Davey may have struck twice in the sixth to thwart the stand, but it was left-arm spinner Con de Lange’s four-over spell that turned the tide Scotland’s way. He gave up just two off his first over, then struck on the second ball of his second by inducing Wesley Barresi to drive in the air to long-off.Borren swept him in the air barely wide of short fine-leg in his third over for the only boundary he conceded but he bounced back at the start of his final over, beating Rippon’s charge down the wicket to bowl the opener for 42. De Lange never takes big hauls, but the deft brushstrokes he paints on a match canvas via clever flight and control leave a distinct impression on the opposition.Action replayTimm van der Gugten was the man on strike to begin the final over bowled by Sharif. Berrington, arguably Scotland’s best all-round fielder, was positioned at long-on. Tasked with defending ten runs, Sharif was honed in on the blockhole to near perfection.Van der Gugten dug out the first ball back down the ground and it rolled gently to the edge of the circle at mid-on. Van der Gugten was desperate to stay on strike and called Malik back for a desperate second. Berrington charged and fired to Sharif over the stumps to put Scotland one wicket away from victory.Van Meekeren replaced Malik at the non-striker’s end with nine needed off five balls. Sharif ran in again and the sequence that followed was a virtual carbon copy of the previous delivery. Full and straight, chipped down the ground, Berrington locking in like a cyborg to scoop and throw almost all in one motion, Sharif with a clean take and break of the stumps. The second decision for the umpire wasn’t nearly as close as the first as Van Meekeren’s bat got stuck in the turf while his body momentum continued forward. A theatrical tumble to the ground ensued, providing a symbolic ending to the series of Netherlands’ missteps that led to defeat.