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Throwback fifty from veteran seamer sets stage for England attack to prosper

The Report by Valkerie Baynes25-Jul-2020A throw-back performance with the bat and a more modern turn with the ball from Stuart Broad had England in control of their destiny after the second day of the deciding Test against West Indies.James Anderson weighed in heavily as part of an enviable England seam attack in favourable conditions at Emirates Old Trafford to leave West Indies 137 for 6 – still 33 short of avoiding the follow-on – when bad light stopped play.England’s position was not nearly as promising after a mini-collapse sent them from 258 for 4 at the start of play to 280 for 8 inside the first hour.The scene was set for Ollie Pope, resuming on 91 not out, to reach his second Test century and Jos Buttler, unbeaten on 56, to convert a confidence-boosting knock into a statement-making big score. But neither of the protagonists from the previous day featured and nor did the rain that was expected to wipe out all of Saturday’s play, but which didn’t make an entrance at all.Shannon Gabriel ignited West Indies’ charge with the second new ball – which was only 3.4 overs old before bad light had stopped play the previous evening – when he had Pope out without adding to his overnight score in an eventful spell.Gabriel twice over-stepped while hitting Buttler on the pad, with replays also suggesting he’d found an inside edge both times. He then had Pope put down at slip by Rahkeem Cornwall, who had taken a blinder there the previous day and whose slips fielding is highly rated. On this occasion, Cornwall got both hands to an outside edge from Pope at waist height but shelled it to hand the batsman a life.With the first ball of his next over, however, Gabriel got his man when Pope aimed to whip a straight ball into the leg side, but it whizzed past his bat and crashed into middle and off.Kemar Roach then claimed his 200th Test wicket when he had Chris Woakes out, chopping on. Having waited the best part of 11 months and 521 deliveries before breaking his wicket drought in last week’s second Test, Roach became the ninth West Indies player to reach the milestone.Gabriel had Buttler out for 67 to a sharp, low catch by Jason Holder at second slip, then and Roach and Holder combined to dismiss Jofra Archer, Holder taking another good slips catch.That brought Broad to the crease and it was the Broad of old, the one known for his batting ability and regarded as a genuine all-round talent before he was struck by a Varun Aaron bouncer on this ground in 2014. On this occasion, he raced to fifty off just 33 balls – equal third-fastest by an England batsman.He sent a thunderous six off Roach high over midwicket and drove Gabriel intently for four, but Broad took a particular liking to Holder’s bowling, picking off three fours from one over and two consecutive fours off his next. Broad also brought up his half-century with a blazing stroke over backward square off Holder.It was Roston Chase who got rid of him, Broad sending a low full toss straight to Jermaine Blackwood at deep midwicket, but not before he had put on a very handy 62 from 45 balls. It was Broad’s 13th Test half-century but his first since 2017.In keeping with the nostalgic theme, old heads Anderson and Broad opened the bowling for England. Broad, 34, may object to being put in the same age category, having recently stated his intention to emulate Anderson, who turns 38 this month, and keep taking wickets well into his late 30s.Broad started well, enticing an edge from Kraigg Brathwaite that went to Joe Root at slip with his fourth ball, the 10th of the innings.Anderson then watched as Ben Stokes produced a rare fumble to put down John Campbell at second slip. The outside edge reached him at a decent height but Stokes went low and dropped it as the under-pressure opener, on 10, survived.It was a while before England made another breakthrough, but they did it in style with Archer setting Campbell up with a series of full-length balls before unleashing a short one at his ribs, the ball flying off the bat handle and looping to Rory Burns at gully. Campbell was gone for 32.Anderson got his rewards with an excellent delivery that straightened late to have the struggling Shai Hope caught behind just before tea, and he removed the in-form Shamarh Brooks three balls after the resumption, this time finding the inside edge to give Buttler another catch.Broad had Chase out lbw to match Anderson’s figures of 2 for 17 and when Woakes flattened Jermaine Blackwood’s middle stump, West Indies were left needing a big partnership from captain Holder and Shane Dowrich.

Seamer suggests Sri Lanka series could be ‘tagged onto’ England’s tour of India in early 2021

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2020Stuart Broad has backed the “very tough, but necessary” decision made by the ECB to postpone England’s tour of Sri Lanka over fears about the COVID-19 pandemic.The ECB announced on Friday that the two-Test series had been postponed indefinitely, stating that “the physical and mental wellbeing of our players and support teams is paramount”, and the touring party were due to fly home this weekend.Writing in a column, Broad admitted that the players were “sad to be leaving”, but stressed that he supported the call to put the squad and the fans first.ALSO READ: Root admits ‘relief’ after postponement of Sri Lanka tour“It was quite an eerie feeling on Friday when Joe Root addressed us as a squad to let us know that the tour of Sri Lanka was off,” Broad wrote. “Out there we felt quite a long way from the levels of worry in England.”Obviously we had been kept up to date with what was happening back home via social media and it was quite surreal to see people fighting over loo roll in the supermarkets.”The atmosphere has been quite different in Sri Lanka because there have not been as many cases of coronavirus, so although as a squad we have instigated social spacing, and have been very careful, we have not witnessed any of the changes in daily life that have perhaps occurred here.”Broad said that there were several “what ifs” from the players’ perspective, with fears that if one member of the touring party tested positive for the illness then everyone else would have to go into self-isolation for two weeks.”What would happen if a family member fell ill at home, and we had been in quarantine overseas? That would have meant no way of getting back to them.ALSO READ: County pre-season tours affected by coronavirus pandemic“What would happen if one of our supporters got it and it then started spreading through the rest of the fans? There were an estimated 3,000 set to travel. Over the past couple of days it has almost been as if the world has started to realise how serious this really is, and started shutting down things.”The call came from the top, whether from Tom Harrison, or Ashley Giles, or others in the hierarchy at the ECB. They made a very tough but necessary decision and credit to them for putting the players and the fans first.”It can’t have been easy, with all the financial aspects of a tour like this, and ultimately we want to be playing cricket for England so we were sad to be leaving. Despite the disappointment, though, the right decision has been made and we all look forward to coming back and completing this series at some stage.”England head off the field after the postponement of their Test series is confirmed•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

As for when that is, Broad accepted that the busy nature of the Future Tours Programme seemed to leave very limited room for manoeuvre, but speculated that the planned two-Test series could be stuck onto the end of England’s tour to India in early 2021.”Cricket schedules are already pretty densely populated with fixtures and squeezing it in somewhere will not be easy,” he wrote. “It might not be possible to return for a whole month to fit the two Tests in as we had planned at this time, but they could possibly be tagged onto the end of the tour of India in early 2021.”Theoretically, they would need to be completed by around this time next year to count towards the final standings of the World Test Championship, the final of which is scheduled for June. Arguably, we could come back to play back-to-back matches. That would make seven huge Tests for England at the start of 2021.”Broad wrote that he is anticipating a “very strange” few weeks in the UK, but agreed with the line used by the ECB in their statement regarding the postponement of the tour: that “decisions like this go beyond cricket”.”Today we are flying back into a country that is quickly going to realise what life is like without sport,” he wrote.”It’s going to be very strange for a few weeks, as it affects a lot of people, but sometimes things are bigger than sports. This is a worldwide pandemic that needs acting upon very quickly.”

Worcestershire registered their first Friends Life t20 win of the season following another batting failure by Northamptonshire at New Road

10-Jun-2011
Scorecard
Moeen Ali’s 54 set the base for Worcestershire’s victory•Getty Images

Worcestershire registered their first Friends Life t20 win of the season following another batting failure by Northamptonshire at New Road. For the third time in four matches the Steelbacks failed to reach 150, and after their latest struggle to 134 for 9, they inevitably paid the price as the Royals strolled home by seven wickets.After Vikram Solanki’s departure in Jack Brooks’ second over, Moeen Ali and Alexei Kervezee put on 85 in 11 overs for the hosts despite batting through bad light and rain. Moeen picked up six boundaries in a 45-ball half-century and when Kervezee smashed a six and a four in James Middlebrook’s final over, the target was down to 41 from 36 deliveries.There was only a minor a blip when Johan Botha took wickets in successive balls. David Murphy stumped Moeen for 53 off a leg-side wide and Shakib Al Hasan was given out lbw before Gareth Andrew managed to survive the South African’s hat-trick attempt.In the end the Royals had two overs to spare as Kervezee reached an unbeaten 44 from 34 balls and Andrew smashed a couple of sixes in making 21 from 15 balls.A slow pitch served Worcestershire’s game plan as their trio of spinners tied down Northamptonshire with the exception of Alex Wakely. The whole innings included only 15 fours – seven of these to Wakely in a competition-best 62 from 45 balls. The former England Under-19 batsman steadied the side after a sticky start in which Jack Shantry knocked over openers Andrew Hall and Chaminda Vaas in a tidy spell of 2 for 12 from three overs.To make matters worse for Northamptonshire, David Sales had to retire with a hamstring injury after facing only seven balls, but Wakely and former Worcestershire batsman Stephen Peters (22) made some progress by adding 49 together.It was then the spinners took control with two wickets for Shaaiq Choudhry and one for Moeen before Shakib finished off with three in the space of five balls in the closing over. The Bangladesh left armer withstood an attempted bombardment with the help of two catches on the boundary by Moeen and another by Solanki at deep midwicket as Wakely fell to the last ball of the innings.

The youngster battled cramps, an injured hamstring and a fever to script a memorable innings

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2020Vijay Merchant, Ajit Wadekar, Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Wasim Jaffer, Rohit Sharma … and now Sarfaraz Khan, members of the Mumbai triple centurions’ club in Ranji Trophy cricket, after the 22-year-old hit an unbeaten 301 to help Mumbai take the first-innings honours despite conceding 625 against Uttar Pradesh at the Wankhede Stadium.While questions could – and should – be raised over the playing surface, where 1313 runs were scored over four days for the loss of just 15 wickets, it should take nothing away from the knock that has just about managed to keep Mumbai’s stuttering campaign alive. They are currently 12th in the combined Group A and B table, and are potentially just a win away from entering the top five. While the position they find themselves in isn’t ideal, they would be encouraged by the recent upswing in fortunes.ALSO READ: ‘I was determined to make this one count’ – Manoj Tiwary on historic tripleLast week in Chennai, they recovered from 129 for 5 on the first morning to post 488 on the back of a superb century from Aditya Tare, the stand-in captain. This set the tone for them to walk away with three points after they secured a lead against an equally deflated Tamil Nadu side.This time, they saw Uttar Pradesh notch up a big score after they had removed half the side with just 281 on the board, with wicketkeeper Upendra Yadav making a fifth of his career runs in a single innings alone from No. 7 (203 not out).Sarfaraz walked in to bat on the third day with Mumbai tottering on 128 for 4, 497 behind. He later admitted to walking out to a lot of chirp from the UP team. After all, three years ago, Sarfaraz was part of Wankhede’s away dressing room, playing for UP against Mumbai, the side that nurtured him from age-group cricket. Lack of assurance from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) in terms of his place in the side played a hand in Sarfaraz’s move to UP, his home state. His performances there weren’t inspiring, and issues with his fitness and discipline led to him being sidelined.”I was just delighted and would like to thank MCA for giving me another chance. It [century] was due for a long time. I am glad I scored my first century for Mumbai,” Sarfaraz told . “It was daddy’s [coach Naushad Khan] decision [to play for UP]. I still remember when I was leaving for UP and packing my Mumbai Ranji team’s clothing, I was literally crying because of my love for Mumbai. I never thought I would play for Mumbai again. I still can’t believe I came back and played for Mumbai. It’s like a dream.”This time in the home dressing room, after serving a cooling-off period, he was trying to give his career another push with his team in trouble. He had just made one half-century in three innings prior to the UP game, and shook off any signs of nerves by playing the way he does. He put together stands of 210 with Siddhesh Lad, 179 with Tare, and then 150 with Shams Mulani to give Mumbai a lead. It was a special effort given Sarfaraz battled cramps, a wonky hamstring, and a bout of fever during the course of the two days he batted.”Actually I wasn’t going to come out to bat,” Sarfaraz said. “Adu (Tare) was going to come in my place. I was having fever and cough, I wasn’t well for the last two or three days. Last night (Tuesday), I was okay-okay, but the fever returned during the lunch break. But I felt I should go out to bat, I felt I was the kind of player who could change the game if I remained in the middle.”Sarfaraz said the bouts of pain from his hamstring just prior to the tea interval was a result of cramping. “I hadn’t eaten anything since morning, I don’t eat usually while I’m batting,” he said. “I was tired. During the tea break, I said ‘ (that’s it, I’ve had enough)’. When I got to 250, I thought I must walk off, but the team kept backing me.”Sarfaraz’s return to form bodes well for a side that is without designated captain Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur, all of whom are either away in New Zealand or preparing to fly out to join the national team. Tare, who is currently leading Mumbai, felt Sarfaraz had matured as a player since he had last played for them.”He has a better head on his shoulders now than when he last played for us,” Tare said. “He was young, used to play a lot more shots then. He has matured a bit now. He is more selective, but still with the range of shots he has, he can bat at No. 5 and 6 and win matches for us.”

India and Pakistan have identical numbers and performances in the tournament so far as they prepare for a second consecutive U-19 World Cup semi-final meeting

Sreshth Shah in Potchefstroom03-Feb-2020

Big picture

India’s highest score this World Cup is 297. Pakistan’s is 294. India have taken 40 wickets in four games. Pakistan have taken 39. And that might’ve been 40 too, had their group stage game not been abandoned with Bangladesh at 106 for 9.Pakistan captain Rohail Nazir has beaten an Indian team before. He did it as a teenager while captaining the U-23 side at the ACC Emerging Cup last year, where Pakistan knocked India out in the semi-final.Among the 11 Pakistan players who will take the field on Tuesday, Nazir is the only player to have featured in the 2018 World Cup semi-final defeat against India. Nazir said he dropped a catch early on in Shubman Gill’s innings that allowed him to score a hundred and take the game away from Pakistan. This time, he vows to not make that same mistake.As for India, “process” is the one word that rings through the camp. Despite being pushed into a corner against Australia’s bowlers, their allrounders dragged them out of a difficult situation by looking to bat through till the 50th over. The last time both sides faced, once again at an ACC Emerging Cup competition – although this was for U-19s – it was India who won by 60 runs last year. Barring that batting wobble, there’s nothing else that’s gone wrong for the side in the World Cup.There’s not much to separate both sides, so the flimsy ground on which India have an edge is evidence from past World Cups. Pakistan’s U-19s haven’t beaten India at a World Cup since 2010 and as a unit have come together far later than the current India U-19s.And then there’s the bowling departments. Like India, Pakistan have a left-arm seamer, a right-arm quick and a handy left-arm orthodox bowler within their ranks. But what they lack is a frontline wristspinner, which India’s Ravi Bishnoi is. On a used and tired Potchefstroom pitch, that may be the difference between the two sides.It’s expected to be the most-watched World Cup game so far. It will probably have higher a viewership than the final. In recent history, India-Pakistan games have not lived up to their hype. Here’s hoping 2020 is different.

Form guide

India WWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWWWL

In the spotlight

India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, is by far, their most successful batsman in this tournament, scoring three fifties at an average of 103.50. His wicket will be key for Pakistan, since India’s second-highest run-scorer in the tournament – Diyaansh Saxena – has made only 89 runs. If Jaiswal can anchor through, then the remainder of India’s batting order can play around him. If he fails, the pressure shifts to a relatively untested Indian batting order.Pakistan’s left-arm quick Tahir Hussain is an unknown quantity for India. He was a late replacement for Naseem Shah in the squad and was discovered just months before the tournament, after being spotted by coach Ijaz Ahmed while he was a net bowler to the U-19 national team. The left-arm seamer can move the ball to move both ways – both in the air and off the deck – and poses a danger both with the new and old ball.

Team news

Both sides are injury-free and are likely to go unchanged from their quarterfinal wins.India (likely): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Divyaansh Saxena, 3 Tilak Verma, 4 Priyam Garg (capt), 5 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 6 Siddhesh Veer, 7 Atharva Ankolekar, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Sushant Mishra, 10 Kartik Tyagi, 11 Akash SinghPakistan (likely) : 1 Haider Ali, 2 Mohammad Huraira, 3 Rohail Nazir (capt, wk), 4 Fahad Munir, 5 Qasim Akram, 6 Mohammad Haris 7 Irfan Khan, 8 Abbas Afridi, 9 Tahir Hussain, 10 Amir Ali, 11 Mohammad Amir Khan

Pitch and conditions

Potchefstroom receives showers nearly everyday, and tournament rules say India will go through – because of more group stage wins – in case the game is washed out, but the chances of rain are only 20%. The pitch is a tired one, and team totals have fallen as the tournament has progressed. Batting conditions are tricky with the new ball and spinners get considerable purchase with the older ball.

Stats and trivia

• Pakistan last beat India at the U-19 World Cup in 2010
• Among games between nations that have senior Test teams at the 2020 U-19 World Cup, the highest score at Senwes Park is 261. The average first-innings score in games between such at this ground during the tournament has been 193.5 (completed matches only)
• Jaiswal needs 52 more runs to become the tournament’s leading run-scorer

A round-up of matches from the second week of the Standard Bank Pro20

Firdose Moonda06-Feb-2011The Dolphins have kicked off their Pro20 campaign with two wins in their first two matches, both times while defending a total. They lie on top of the table after week two. On Wednesday night, they recorded a six-run victory over the Knights in a rain-affected encounter in Bloemfontein. Loots Bosman was the mainstay of the Dolphins innings with a blistering 57 off 41 balls. He got the Dolphins off to a rollicking start and was beginning to form what could have been a dangerous partnership with David Miller. Miller was on 26 when a ball he hit off Dean Elgar struck Bosman on the helmet and flew to Ryan McLaren at cover. Miller was out, albeit bizarrely, and Bosman was left to bat with a headache. Vaughn van Jaarsveld’s 27 off 22 balls was the other contribution to the Dolphins 171 for six. McLaren ended with three for 34.The Knights chase began on the wrong foot when Adrian McLaren was bowled by Kyle Abbott for 8. Elgar scored an aggressive 48 off 33 and was helped by Rilee Rossouw’s 23 and Ryan Bailey’s 31. The Dolphins rotated eight bowlers to strangle the Knights and ensured they were in front of the Duckworth-Lewis target when the rain came down with the Knights on 117 for 3.Rain didn’t interrupt the Dolphins‘ second victory on Friday, an 11-run triumph over the Warriors in East London. Makhaya Ntini and Andrew Birch pegged the Dolphins back early with the wickets of Devon Conway for 18 and Bosman for 11. There was no freak dismissal for Miller this time and he put on a fine display of his best asset, the ability to hit the ball cleanly, scoring 90 off 57 balls. There wasn’t much to speak of for the rest of the line-up, and the Dolphins ended on 155 for four. Rusty Theron was the Warriors best bowler 1 for 20.Pakistan international Yasir Arafat claimed the Warriors’ first wicket, that of Davy Jacobs for 1. Ashwell Prince and Justin Kreusch also fell cheaply and the Warriors were in trouble at 28 for 3. Mark Boucher threatened to take the game away from the Dolphins with a quickfire 43 off 31 and a potentially match winning partnership with Jon-Jon Smuts, who scored 68 off 51. The Dolphins used seven bowlers this time and although they only took five Warriors wickets, they were able to control the run flow. Smuts remained unbeaten at the end with the Warriors finishing on 144 for five.The Titans beat the Lions by one wicket in a thrilling last-ball finish at the Wanderers on the same day. The Titans put the Lions in to bat and they were off to a brisk start. When Jonathan Vandiar fell in the sixth over, the Lions had scored 44. At the halfway stage they were 90 for 1. Alviro Petersen’s 54 off 42 balls held the innings together. David Wiese and Ethy Mbhalati bowled tightly to drag the Lions back from a score that looked destined to cross the 200 mark. The Lions ended on 169 for five.The Titans lost Blake Snijman without a run on the board when he was bowled by Ethan O’Reilly’s third ball. Roelof van der Merwe and Henry Davids didn’t last lone. Big hitters Farhaan Berhardien and Albie Morkel came and went quickly, the former to the first ball Neil McKenzie bowled. Jacques Rudolph’s 58 off 43 kept the scales in balance and when he went, the Titans needed 29 off three overs. Andre Nel helped skittle that down to 8 off the last over and Mbhalati’s cheeky leg-glance off the last ball gave the Titans their first victory in three matches.Rain had its say in the last match of the week between the Knights and the Cape Cobras in Bloemfontein which was reduced to 14 overs a side, and then to 10 overs after an interruption. The Cobras were put in to bat and the Knights were left to rue their decision as none of their bowlers claimed a wicket. Richard Levi scored 51 off 30 balls and Herschelle Gibbs finally made an impact with 33 off 26. He was run out by Reeza Hendricks and the Cobras totalled 91 for one.It was a tricky chase for the Knights, who lost six wickets in pursuit of the revised target of 95. Rossouw’s 35 off 17 balls was the only notable score. Charl Langeveldt removed Elgar and Ryan Bailey fell to Johan Louw cheaply. Philander, Claude Henderson and Justin Ontong leaked 43 in four overs but Langevedlt struck again at a crucial time to remove Johan van der Wath for 13. At 71 for six in the ninth over, 24 were needed off 10 balls. The Knights managed to ten to end on 81 and hand the Cobras a 13-run victory.Batsman of the week: After being left out of the World Cup squad, it would have been easy for David Miller to crawl into a shell. Instead, he showed his mettle with a convincing innings against the Warriors and displayed his intent for a national recall in the near future.Bowler of the week: Under pressure, he is still one of the best death bowlers in the country. Charl Langevedlt conceded 10 in two overs and took two key wickets for the Cobras as they beat the Knights.

Chris Lynn struck his third first-class century, and his highest score, to put Queensland in total control on the second day against Victoria in Brisbane

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2011

ScorecardChris Lynn made 172•Getty Images

Chris Lynn struck his third first-class century, and his highest score, to put Queensland in total control on the second day against Victoria in Brisbane. By stumps, the visitors were 3 for 71 in their second innings, still needing 238 more to make the Bulls bat again, with Chris Rogers unbeaten on 25 and a new batsman yet to join him after Rob Quiney fell for 34 with the last ball of the day.The first day comprehensively belonged to Queensland and so did the second, with Lynn’s 172 the standout. He rode his luck throughout the innings, caught on 60 off a no-ball and dropped again on 99, when Peter Siddle spilled a return chance that he should have taken, and again on 151 when Glenn Maxwell dropped a caught-and-bowled opportunity.Lynn, 20, is in his 12 first-class match but is already developing a strong reputation and passed his previous best score of 142. James Hopes made 84 for the Bulls, while Victoria’s leading wicket taker was James Pattinson with 4 for 128, while Damien Wright collected 3 for 86.