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Afghanistan have nine wickets left as they seek to wipe out the 42 runs remaining in their deficit

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Feb-2024Afghanistan came surging back into the Test on day three, first polishing off the Sri Lanka tail quickly, before Ibrahim Zadran put up big stands with Noor Ali Zadran and Rahmat Shah, as he completed a valiant maiden Test century.Ibrahim and Shah remained unbeaten at the close, which means Afghanistan have nine wickets left as they seek to wipe out the 42 runs remaining in their deficit, and establish a lead that will test Sri Lanka. The surface had not yet begun to take ripping turn, and remained excellent for batting. But Afghanistan do have two spinners in their attack – albeit very inexperienced – who may be able to exploit what assistance there is.Sri Lanka will rue their missed chances. Ibrahim had been on 39 when he came down the pitch to smash a Prabath Jayasuriya delivery straight back to the bowler, who let it burst through his fingers and on to the boundary for four. The easier of the chances came to Nishan Madushka at short mid on when Ibrahim was on 63. This was again struck hard, but at a catchable height near his head. He got his hands up, but couldn’t quite wrap his fingers around the ball.Related

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Sri Lanka’s bowlers were largely disciplined, even if they could not coax life out of a pitch that had become good for batting. Asitha Fernando was the best of them, delivering some excellent bursts of short-pitched bowling, as well as some outstanding fuller deliveries, one of which yielded the only Afghanistan wicket to fall – that of Noor, for 47.But the day belonged to Ibrahim. He had his outside edge occasionally beaten with the new ball and was scoreless for 14 deliveries, but once he got moving, he kept a steady tempo. His first runs were via a glance to the fine leg boundary, but early in his innings he was mostly strong in the arc between cover and mid off. Between the boundaries, which came principally off full and slightly wide deliveries, there was a substantial diet of singles all around the wicket. Ibrahim took 84 balls to get into his 30s. During his 106-run partnership with Noor, the primary goal seemed to be to bat time.The half-century came off the last over before tea, and in the evening Ibrahim consolidated. He was hitting boundaries through long on and midwicket now. Sri Lanka attempted all sorts of catching men to try and lure a mistake, but aside from that dropped chance on 63, Ibrahim found ways to progress without taking risks. He was mostly only trying to hit fours off the bad deliveries – usually ones that were overpitched. He got to his hundred – the fourth ever for Afghanistan – off the last over of the day.Asitha Fernando removed Noor Ali Zadran•AFP/Getty Images

Noor’s innings, in contrast to Ibrahim’s was troubled, but he nevertheless stuck it out for 136 deliveries and fell only three runs short of what would have been a maiden fifty on debut. He was particularly uncomfortable against Asitha’s burst of bouncers soon after lunch, but he survived it narrowly, and it would only be in the third session that Asitha would get him out, pinging him in front of leg stump with a fast, full delivery. Noor made the majority of his runs behind the wicket – a reflection, partly, of how short Sri Lanka bowled to him.Rahmat, who got to 46 off 98 before stumps, and was part of a 93-run unbeaten partnership with Ibrahim, made all but 11 of his runs on the offside. He was strong down the ground, especially, finding thre of his five boundaries there.Sri Lanka’s attack was upset by a blow to Chamika Gunasekara, who in the morning was hit on the head, seemed to suffer the effects a few overs after he was hit, and was taken off the field and to further tests in hospital. Kasun Rajitha, who replaced him as concussion substitute, was the most expensive of Sri Lanka’s bowlers on Sunday, going at 4.30 across his 10 overs.The others were more disciplined, even if only Asitha seriously threatened to take wickets through much of the day. Jayasuriya will be especially disappointed he has nothing in the wickets column after delivering 32 overs, though nine of those were maidens.Early in the day, Afghanistan had claimed three wickets for 39 to close out Sri Lanka’s first innings at 439. The most important wicket of the morning was the first – that of Sri Lanka’s last recognised batter Sadeera Smarawickrama, who edged Naveed Zadran to gully.The two next wickets were not long in falling. Naveed hit the top of Jayasuriya’s off stump before, next over, Nijat Masood bowled Asitha Fernando first ball, with Asitha having come in after Gunasekara retired hurt.Naveed’s take for the innings was 4 for 83. Masood and Qais Ahmed claimed two wickets apiece.

Lahore Qalandars lost their third game in a row, as their much-trumpeted pace attack failed to defend yet again

Associated Press22-Feb-2024Multan Sultans continued their dream start by handing defending champions Lahore Qalandars their third straight loss in the Pakistan Super League on Wednesday. Iftikhar Ahmed smashed 24 runs in the penultimate over, and earned Sultans a five-wicket win over defending champions Qalandars in a rematch of last season’s final.Qalandars’ much-trumpeted pace attack, led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, has now failed to defend in three successive games, as Haris Rauf continued to struggle and Zaman Khan also proving expensive (2-52).Sultans now sit pretty on top of the table with six points from three straight home wins, while Qalandars are yet to get first win under their belt.Skipper Mohammad Rizwan, who was dropped on 40 by Afridi, went on to compile this season’s top-score of 82 off 59 balls before Ifthikar charged against Zaman’s pace in the 19th over, smacking two sixes and three fours, and guided the home team to 170 for 5.Iftikhar wiped the hopes of Qalandars for its first win with a robust knock of unbeaten 34 off 11 balls after the home team needed 21 off the last two overs.The inclusion of left-arm spinner George Linde (1 for 26) of South Africa seemed to have beefed up Qalandars’ bowling in the absence of injured Rashid Khan when he bowled brilliantly in the middle overs after Qalandars posted 166 for 5, but Iftikhar’s onslaught against Zaman sealed the game.Earlier, Rassie van der Dussen (54) scored his second half-century in three games and Fakhar Zaman made 41 as they put on 94 runs for the second-wicket stand and pushed for a daunting total before Sultans pulled back despite dropping four catches.Khushdil Shah, who dropped two catches in the last game against Islamabad United, floored two more chances on Wednesday, but fast bowler Mohammad Ali (2 for 28) continued to impress with his swing and variations which restricted Qalandars in the end.

But Colin Ingram heads Glamorgan fightback with unbeaten 69 off 110 balls on even day

ECB Reporters Network19-Apr-2024Evergreen Northamptonshire seamer Ben Sanderson led the charge with three wickets as Northamptonshire’s attack made the most of having a new Dukes ball back in their hands on the opening day of this Vitality County Championship clash at Wantage Road.But despite slumping to 27 for 4 after 10.4 overs, Colin Ingram led Glamorgan’s fightback with an unbeaten 69 off 110 balls. He steered the visitors to 203 for 7 at the close, with honours just about even on the first evening.Looking solid in defence, Ingram played some crisp attacking shots, as he rebuilt, first in a partnership of 69 in 18.3 overs with Chris Cooke (28). Despite losing Cooke after tea, the in-form Ingram pushed on, passing a second consecutive half-century of the season to go with a century in his opening game. He found another willing partner in Dan Douthwaite, whose bustling 50 came off just 63 balls in a sixth wicket stand worth 74 off 102 balls.Earlier Northamptonshire won the toss and decided to bowl after overnight heavy rain washed out the morning session. The atmospherics aided movement through the air and off the seam as Northamptonshire’s bowlers stuck rigidly to a controlled, probing line around off-stump.Sanderson, in particular, proved unplayable at times. He was well supported by Australian international Chris Tremain, while England Under-19 Raphy Weatherall also bowled impressively, taking two wickets. It stood in stark contrast to the run fest last weekend against the Kookaburra ball.It was Tremain who struck first when he got a fuller delivery to swing in and then seam away to take the edge of Zain-ul-Hassan’s bat, keeper Lewis McManus taking the catch.Sanderson challenged Billy Root outside off-stump, the batter repeatedly playing and missing before the bowler got one to come back in and trap him leg before wicket.Colin Ingram’s unbeaten 69 was vital for the visitors•Getty Images

Glamorgan skipper Sam Northeast (13) drove Sanderson down the ground for four but survived a tight lbw decision against Sanderson, while Tremain beat his bat. His brief innings ended when he flashed needlessly at a Sanderson delivery which lifted slightly, Ricardo Vasconcelos holding onto the edge at third slip.Kiran Carlson drove fluently through extra cover for four off Tremain, but when he got stuck in his crease facing a delivery from Weatherall, he was bowled by a ball which knocked back his off-stump.Cooke lived a charmed life early on against Weatherall, the bowler angling one back in and enticing an edge which fell just short of the slip cordon.Ingram meanwhile got off the mark by squeezing Tremain behind square for four but took on Weatherall when he went round the wicket, punching him away off the back foot for four and then pulling his next delivery high over square leg and out of the ground as Glamorgan reached 50 for four after 17 overs.Cooke drove Luke Procter off the back foot for four, but the Northamptonshire captain maintained a tight line to keep the pressure firmly on the batting side as he rotated his attack.Cooke punched Sanderson away for four to bring up the 50 partnership but the bowler had a strong shout for lbw turned down shortly before the rain returned and the players went off for an early tea.After the resumption, Sanderson finally got his man with his first delivery of the evening session, when Cooke drove loosely away from his body and was well caught by Emilio Gay at second slip.Ingram tucked into a floaty, full delivery from Tremain, driving it to the cover boundary and tucked Procter off his hips to bring up his half-century off 78 balls.Douthwaite saw off Sanderson’s post-tea spell, playing him through the covers for four and took the attacking option. He clipped Procter off his legs through midwicket and drove Weatherall down the pitch, striking seven boundaries in all before he was trapped leg before wicket to give Weatherall a second wicket. Procter then picked up James Harris, also lbw, without scoring to leave Glamorgan 171 for 7.Mason Crane though kept Ingram company until the close, scoring 17 to ensure no more scares for the visiting team.Before play started, the players and officials stood for a minute’s silence in memory of former Northamptonshire captain Raman Subba Row CBE who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 92.

Northern Districts had given themselves a chance of pushing for victory but rain ended their hopes

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2024Wellington have been crowned Plunket Shield champions after the final day against Northern Districts in Hamilton was washed out.The match at Seddon Park was effectively a final with Wellington and Northern Districts the only two sides in with a chance of claiming the title in the final round.Wellington had entered the game with a small lead at the top of the table and were able to accrue enough bonus points over the first two innings to stay ahead.Northern Districts had given themselves a chance of claiming the title after Tim Seifert’s century had earned them a small lead of 88 then they had Wellington 127 for 4 in their second innings but they were unable to get into the field on the final day.Wellington’s Nathan Smith was the leading wicket-taker of the season•Getty Images

“Ideally, you want to see the game go the distance, but it’s a competition [where] you work hard throughout the season, we’re unbeaten the whole season, so I think for me, we are the deserving winners,” Wellington captain Tom Blundell said.”It’s a pretty special day. For me the Plunket Shield is probably the most rewarding trophy in domestic cricket, you play a whole season, and to come away with the Plunket Shield is pretty special memory.”Blundell had earlier played a key role with a century in Wellington’s first innings to lift them 323 in a final-wicket stand of 77 with Ben Sears which earned vital bonus points.Otago’s Dale Phillips ended as the leading run-scorer for the season with 686 at 49.00 having hit two centuries in the final two rounds.Central Districts’ Greg Hay, who finished third with 643 runs at 49.46, announced his retirement from the game at the end of the season. He signed off with 179 off 434 balls against Otago.Wellington’s Nathan Smith was the top wicket-taker with 33 at 17.18 including two five-wicket hauls.

Taskin, who suffered a side strain during the recent series against Zimbabwe, will receive treatment for the next few weeks

Mohammad Isam14-May-2024Taskin Ahmed has been named in Bangladesh’s 15-member squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup despite his injury. Taskin, who has also been named vice-captain, suffered a side strain during the recent series against Zimbabwe and will receive treatment for the next few weeks to get fit before the tournament starts next month.Taskin suffered the injury before the fifth T20I against Zimbabwe on May 12 and missed the match as a result. He was named Player of the Series for his eight wickets in four games. Bangladesh chief selector Gazi Ashraf said the BCB’s medical team is confident of Taskin’s recovery before the start of the tournament.Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead the team that also includes Shakib Al Hasan, who has played every T20 World Cup since the inaugural edition in 2007. Litton Das has also found a place in the squad despite his poor form in white-ball cricket this year.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Bangladesh have also picked young right-arm pacer Tanzim Hasan over Mohammad Saifuddin, with Ashraf saying that the call was taken after assessing the duo’s performances in the Zimbabwe series. Saifuddin had taken 15 wickets in the BPL and eight against Zimbabwe, while Tanzim has 12 wickets in these two competitions. Ashraf said that Saifuddin’s lack of yorkers in the death overs against Zimbabwe was one of the reasons he was left out.”We kept Saifuddin in the squad that we submitted to the ICC on April 30,” Ashraf said. “We wanted to observe and analyse Saifuddin’s performance in the Zimbabwe series. But when we considered what the team needs at the moment, Tanzim was ahead of Saifuddin. It was a close call between the two.”We saw Tanzim against Sri Lanka. His dedication and hunger kept him ahead. He is also a good fielder. We didn’t see enough yorkers in the death overs from Saifuddin. He did it in domestic cricket but didn’t do it in against Zimbabwe. Some of his short-pitched balls went over the batters’ head. He was the only player who got changed from the squad we submitted to ICC on April 30.”Ashraf also backed Litton to return to form after he had scored just 79 runs in six T20Is against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.”We needed a wicketkeeper-batter to replace Litton,” Ashraf said. “We need two wicketkeepers in the squad, also considering the concussion sub situation. We discussed Anamul Haque Bijoy in this equation. But despite his poor form, we put our trust in Litton. He has been working on his batting.”Bangladesh are set to tour USA for a three-match T20I series in May to prepare for the big tournament. Taskin will not be part of the series.Bangladesh open their T20 World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka on June 8 in Dallas.

Bangladesh squad:

Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Taskin Ahmed (vice-capt), Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Tanvir Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan
Traveling reserves: Hasan Mahmud, Afif Hossain

Josh Hazlewood hinted his team would rather see Scotland through at defending champions’ expense

Andrew McGlashan12-Jun-20241:43

Hazlewood: Zampa ‘has been fantastic for us’

Josh Hazlewood has said Australia could try and manipulate any margin of victory over Scotland to try and knock England out of the T20 World Cup 2024 though his captain Mitchell Marsh could face a ban if found guilty of doing so by match officials.The exact sums won’t be known until England have played Oman and Namibia, and a defeat against either will end their campaign. But there is a good chance a scenario emerges whereby Australia could win their final group match by a narrow-enough margin to ensure Scotland go through at England’s expense on net run-rate, with the teams level on five points each.”In this tournament you potentially come up against England at some stage again,” Hazlewood said after Australia confirmed their Super Eight spot with a clinical win over Namibia before stressing any tactical decisions were not his to make. “They’re probably one of the top few teams on their day and we’ve had some real struggles against them in T20 cricket, so if we can get them out of the tournament that’s in our best interest as well as probably everyone else.”It’ll be interesting to see. We’ve never really been in this position before as a team, I don’t think, so whether we have discussions or not, we’ll just try and play it again the way we did tonight. That’ll be up to [other] people, not me.”But if Australia decided to do so, they would risk Marsh being banned for up to two of their three Super Eight fixtures. He could be charged under Article 2.11 of the ICC’s code of conduct, which is designed to prevent the manipulation of games for “inappropriate strategic or tactical reasons… such as when a team deliberately loses a pool match in an ICC Event in order to affect the standings of other teams in that ICC Event.”The code of conduct clarifies it could also apply to “the inappropriate manipulation of a net run rate” and the captain would be held responsible, and charged with a Level Two offence. Depending on the severity of the offence, this could carry a minimum sanction of a 50% match fee fine, with a maximum of four demerit points and two suspension points – which would rule Marsh out of Australia’s first two Super Eight matches.In practice, it could be difficult for umpires to say categorically Australia had deliberately attempted to manipulate net run-rate, barring an obvious shift in tempo from a position of dominance. In any case, Andrew McDonald, Australia’s head coach, will consider resting players for the Scotland fixture with nothing on the line.Such a scenario would also revive memories of when Australia attempted to game the system at the 1999 ODI World Cup against West Indies with a go-slow batting performance to ensure they could take extra points into the Super Sixes.”Whether you get close and you just knock it around and drag it out,” Hazlewood suggested of how it could play out. “There’s a few options there but… to take confidence from winning and winning well, I think that’s almost more important than potentially trying to knock someone else out. They [England] have still got a lot to do on their behalf as well, so I think it’ll become clearer the closer we get to that sort of stuff.”Related

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With run-rates not carrying forward to the Super Eights in this tournament, there would be no damage to Australia’s hopes should they take their foot off the gas. On that factor, Hazlewood said he thought it was odd that no benefits were taken forwards from group-stage performances.”It’s a little bit strange that it doesn’t go through the tournament,” he said. “This is probably the first T20 World Cup I’ve played that’s set up this way, or first World Cup in general that’s set up this way, so it’s a little bit different. I think the work that you do in the round games and if you go through undefeated and have a good net run-rate, doesn’t really account for much once you’re in the Super Eights. So, yeah, it’s a strange one but that’s how it is.”For their part, Namibia could render all calculations unnecessary if they are able to pull off an upset in their final game against England although captain Gerhard Erasmus was remaining diplomatic in the midst of the Australia-England rivalry.”Obviously, also in the Australian press that will be pretty liked,” he said. “But for us, we’re pretty neutral so I can’t really comment on any of that. We’re here to continue playing at our best abilities. Unfortunately, as the captain I sort of have to say that we haven’t quite reached our full potential in this tournament.”I guess you’re all Aussies here [at this press conference], so you’re really cheering us on to maybe try and get that win. But I’d have to rein it back a little bit and say that we probably need to play our best cricket and nothing more than that.”

Smith, Maxwell and Head lead the charge for Washington, who lost just one game in MLC 2024

Andrew McGlashan29-Jul-2024Steven Smith led Washington Freedom to the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2024 title as they romped to an overwhelming 96-run victory against San Francisco Unicorns in Dallas. Smith and Australia team-mate Glenn Maxwell dominated with the bat then Unicorns’ chase disintegrated with Marco Jansen claiming both openers among his three wickets.The result cemented Freedom’s standing as the team of the season having secured five wins in the group stage before progressing direct to the final with victory over Unicorns in the Qualifier. This contest turned their way through a stand of 83 off 39 balls between Smith and Maxwell as Freedom added 121 in the second half of their innings.Smith, who was overlooked for Australia’s T20 World Cup squad earlier this year, overcame a sluggish start in the powerplay to make 88 off 52 balls including six sixes. Having been 10 off 12 balls in the sixth over he sped to a 34-ball fifty and ended the season as the joint second-leading run-scorer, alongside Travis Head, with 336 at a strike-rate of 148.67.Head, who has struck at over 170 during the tournament, fell early to Pat Cummins when he edged to slip, where Finn Allen held on at the second attempt, having been given a life in the opening over. But Andries Gous gave Freedom’s innings impetus as Smith found his feet although when Haris Rauf removed Rachin Ravindra after the midway mark, it was an even contest at 86 for 3.Glenn Maxwell found form towards the end of the tournament•MLC

Then Smith and Maxwell, the latter having found form in the closing stages of the tournament, took charge included 28 coming off the 13th over from Juanoy Drysdale. Smith produced an outrageous scoop for six off Rauf and was in sight of a century when he got a top edge off Cummins.It appears likely that Smith’s T20I career is over following his World Cup omission and absence from the squad to face Scotland and England in September as the selectors look to the future, but it has been a profitable few weeks for him in the US.Though Maxwell also fell in the next over, superbly caught by Josh Inglis, Freedom were still able to cross 200.Unicorns’ chase never got off the ground. Jake Fraser-McGurk’s low-key tournament ended when he edged into the stumps against Jansen to leave him with 81 runs at 11.57 then both Sanjay Krishnamurthi and Allen also fell inside the powerplay to leave a daunting task. Sherfane Rutherford was superbly caught at deep backward square by Ian Holland the ball after being dropped and the rest of the batting fell away amid a huge asking rate.Freedom’s victory gave Ricky Ponting a title as coach a couple of weeks after leaving his role with Delhi Capitals.

Invincibles still in the hunt for top spot as Winfield-Hill and Kapp ease hosts to London Derby win

ECB Media11-Aug-2024Oval Invincibles 121 for 2 (Winfield-Hill 61, Kapp 30*) beat London Spirit 120 for 8 (Sharma 46*, Smale 2-25) by eight wicketsA half-century from Lauren Winfield-Hill took Oval Invincibles to a crucial win against London Spirit in front of 14,721 fans in The Hundred at The Kia Oval.Chasing 120, Invincibles captain Winfield-Hill made 61 from 40 balls – her first half-century this season – and combined effectively with Marizanne Kapp to make light work of a chase that could have been far more taxing.That Invincibles had anything to chase was down to the first-innings heroics of Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who guided the visitors to a total of 120 for 8 from the perilous position of 47 for 7.Sharma and Eva Gray rebuilt with a record eight-wicket partnership after Invincibles bowlers took a wicket apiece to get ahead of the game early on – Kapp winning the battle of overseas superstars with a third-ball dismissal of Meg Lanning.The game was in the balance at the interval but Winfield-Hill batted intelligently throughout, nullifying the threat of Spirit’s trio of spinners by manipulating the field and accessing behind square with ease. Chances were few and far between, though Spirit could have sent Winfield-Hill on her way had they opted to review a tight LBW call that went against the bowler Dani Gibson.Kapp came in after birthday girl Alice Capsey was bowled ramping, and added some impetus to the foundations laid by Winfield-Hill to see the chase ticked off with nine balls to go.Invincibles’ win confirmed Manchester Originals’ tournament is over, but more importantly for the home side leaves them in control of their own destiny with one game to go ahead of The Hundred Eliminator and The Hundred Final.For London Spirit, also with one game to play, they now need to win their last game and hope other results go their way to secure a place in the top three.Meerkat Match Hero Winfield-Hill said: “It’s a great feeling. I was due so it’s really nice to contribute, especially at the business end. I’m really pleased to get another good performance and another win.”There was a little bit of hold in the wicket. There wasn’t a lot of turn but it just seemed to hold and there was a little bit of bounce. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever played that many reverse sweeps in my whole career but it was just one of those things where it was working and I just kept doing the things that were working.”I was really determined to put in a good performance today, and to be there at the end with Kappy is a really nice feeling.”[On hoping Southern Brave beat Welsh Fire to help Invincibles’ hopes of getting straight to The Hundred Final] “It’s always hard this time of the competition. You’re looking at other results a lot and willing other teams to do well, and I think sometimes you can take your eye off what you’re trying to do. The more we can focus on what we’re trying to do and play our best cricket, the better – but come on Danni Wyatt and co, that would be really useful!”