ESPNcricinfo’s picks for the best eleven performers at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifer in the UAE

Peter Della Penna01-Dec-2013Tony Ura (Papua New Guinea)
336 runs at 37.33Papua New Guinea came desperately close to securing a spot in the top six, and Ura was a big reason why. His two best scores were against the two toughest teams in Group B. He hit a 100 in an emphatic win over the Netherlands and 56 in a frustrating loss to Afghanistan. He was the second-highest scorer in the tournament, and had the most runs of any opening batsman. Although not physically imposing, his timing is crisp and he tied for the most sixes at the event with 14. He’s only 24-years-old so PNG have plenty of years to build around him.Paul Stirling (Ireland)
292 runs at 36.50, 11 wickets at 11.00One of only two players to remain from last year’s Tournament XI, Stirling continues to evolve from being just a devastating hitter at the top of the order to an allrounder who makes a handy contribution with the ball. Kenya’s Steve Tikolo, Nepal’s Paras Khadka and Stirling were the only players to be in the top 20 for both runs and wickets. He was named Man of the Match twice. The first time was against Namibia for making 52 in 36 balls, and the second against Hong Kong for scoring 77 off 46 and taking 4 for 10 in four overs. He arguably should have had a third award for his belligerent 76 off 43 balls against Afghanistan in the final, but Trent Johnston won out in a sentimental vote seeing as it was his last T20 match for Ireland. Stirling has a growing reputation for saving his best when it matters most for Ireland and this tournament was no exception.Matt Machan (Scotland)
364 runs at 45.50After starting 1-3 in Group B, Scotland were very nearly eliminated from contention for the top six before the play-offs began but they bounced back in a big way only to fall just short of a spot in Bangladesh. Machan was a big reason his team stayed in contention until the bitter end against the Netherlands. He scored four half-centuries, tied with teammate Calum MacLeod for most in the tournament, including one in each game against the Netherlands. He was the leading tournament run-scorer and set a new event record, breaking Paul Stirling’s total of 357 runs from a year ago.Wesley Barresi (Netherlands)
264 runs at 33.00The Dutch wicketkeeper started poorly with back-to-back ducks against Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea before making modest contributions with the bat during the rest of the group stage, but his team may not have secured a spot in Bangladesh were it not for his fearless 75 not out against Scotland in the play-offs. The Netherlands looked shell-shocked after failing to chase the UAE’s 117, but Barresi put the team on his back a day later to knock off Scotland’s 147. He had the second-most dismissals behind the stumps in the tournament with 10.Paras Khadka (Nepal)
232 runs at 29.00, 11 wickets at 18.18Along with Stirling, Khadka is a mainstay from the 2012 Tournament XI. With more than half of Nepal’s games being broadcast either online or on television at this tournament, many cricket fans outside of Kathmandu will have gotten their first glimpse of why this man means so much to his country. His raw stats don’t tell the full story as his numbers are not as glamorous compared to others in the list, not to mention those outside of the XI. After a first-day win over Denmark, Khadka stayed to the end with 54 not out as Nepal chased Kenya’s 182. The performance validated Nepal’s ambitions of finishing in the top six, though they might not have progressed to Bangladesh without his Man-of-the-Match performance against Hong Kong, when he anchored the chase of 143 with a cool 46 in 39 balls.Khurram Khan (UAE)
255 runs at 36.42, 9 wickets at 19.00Khurram Khan steered the host country into the main draw in Bangladesh with his all-round exploits. At 42, Khan has showed no signs of slowing down, and was his team’s leading scorer at the event, finishing ninth overall. A Man-of-the-Match performance with 2 for 18 and 67 not out against Hong Kong ensured UAE would finish in the top three of Group A and get two cracks at securing a spot in Bangladesh. They would only need one though after thwarting the Netherlands in defense of 117.Samiullah Shenwari (Afghanistan)
85 runs at 17.00, 16 wickets at 8.25Shenwari can easily get lost in the plethora of bowling options available to captain Mohammad Nabi, and he wasn’t even handed the ball in two of Afghanistan’s nine games, but he outshone the rest of his teammates over the previous 16 days to be named Player of the Tournament. The legspinning allrounder nabbed three Man-of-the-Match awards during the event, the most by any player, for his performances in wins over Papua New Guinea, Kenya and in the semifinal against Nepal. His 5 for 13 against Kenya was one of only four five-wicket hauls in the tournament, but Shenwari was a much more consistent threat than the other three who pulled it off, and he wound up tied for third overall in the tournament wickets’ column with 16.Despite being on the wrong side of 40, Munir Dar impressed with the ball•Graham Crouch/IDI/GettyMunir Dar (Hong Kong)
17 wickets at 13.05In a team full of young guns, Dar is the wily old fox still hanging around to impart not just wisdom, but plenty of skill as well. The left-arm spinner took 17 wickets, which was second overall, and the most of any slow bowler at the tournament. Twice he took 4 for 17, against the USA and Canada, but his most important contribution came in the play-offs against Papua New Guinea. With qualification into the World Twenty20 at stake, he chipped in with a vital 22 in the first innings before taking 3 for 26 and effecting a run out in a 29-run win to book a place for Hong Kong in Bangladesh.Mudassar Bukhari (Netherlands)
16 wickets at 15.31The medium pacer had to shoulder a bigger load at this tournament without Timm van der Gugten, but he more than handled it. Bukhari finished with 16 wickets overall, tied for third in the tournament with Shenwari. He was named Man of the Match twice, first in a win over Nepal with figures of 3 for 15, and later against Kenya with a return of 3 for 14. There has been much turnover in his team’s bowling options over the past few years, but he has remained a constant and useful presence.Max Sorensen (Ireland)
14 wickets at 10.64Sorensen is a fast bowler chiseled out of granite and he possessed the requisite intimidation factor both with physique and pace to keep opposing batsmen in check. He finished with 14 wickets, which only puts him tied for eighth, but part of that is down to the fact that Ireland had a group game washed out and also played two less games by virtue of booking a place straight into the semifinals after an undefeated run in Group A. A more telling stat was his average of 10.64, which put him behind only Shenwari and Ahsan Malik for bowlers in the top 20 wickets’ list. His lethal spell of 4 for 15 against UAE in the semifinal meant Ireland’s 147 was too steep a target.Ahsan Malik (Netherlands)
21 wickets at 10.00Malik and Sorensen were the only two bowlers in the tournament to bowl and take a wicket in every one of their team’s games. Malik took 12 in seven group games, but was just as prolific in the playoffs, taking eight in the final three matches of the tournament. His value was not just a knack for taking wickets but also in his ability to keep batsmen off balance. He was difficult to get away and his 5.67 economy rate was the second best of any pace bowler in the top 20 wickets list at the tournament.

A lot of people have commented on Ahmed Shehzad’s mild facial resemblance to Virat Kohli, but there’s also a bit of Kohli about the way he sets up at the crease

Karthik Krishnaswamy07-Mar-2014On Tuesday, with a single to long-off off Abdur Razzak, Ahmed Shehzad became only the fourth Pakistan batsman to score five centuries as opener. He had taken 43 innings to reach that mark. Aamer Sohail, with whom Shehzad drew level, scored five centuries in 132 innings as opener.It was a significant moment. Since the days when Sohail opened with Saeed Anwar, Pakistan haven’t just struggled to settle on an opening pair. They haven’t even managed to settle on one name as a long-term option. They have given a bunch of candidates a large number of opportunities, putting them together in various combinations in the hope that they would work. They didn’t, usually.Shehzad, however, might be different. For one, there’s something about how he bats, how he looks at the crease. A lot of people have commented on a mild facial resemblance to Virat Kohli, but there’s also a bit of Kohli about the way he sets up at the crease.He has got a similar upright stance, and, in recent times, has added a back-and-across trigger movement that takes him almost to off stump by the time the bowler delivers. From that position, like Kohli, he often plays the off-stump ball into the leg side off the quicker bowlers.Shehzad’s follow through isn’t as wristy as Kohli’s, though, and his drives through the off side are achieved with a full-faced punch rather than a bottom-handed swish. At this stage of his career, he doesn’t have the range of strokes Kohli does, and his strike-rate isn’t nearly as impressive, but all of this, perhaps, might come in time.But apart from the way he looks, Shehzad has done enough in his still young career – even though he made his ODI debut way back in 2009 – to suggest he’s different from other Pakistan openers of recent vintage.There have been two other openers in Pakistan’s recent history who have averaged over 35 and scored multiple hundreds. Both of them, however, have been India specialists. Five of Salman Butt’s eight centuries as opener came against India, and two others against Bangladesh.All three of Nasir Jamshed’s centuries, meanwhile, have come against India. He averages 45.52 in Asia and 22.47 elsewhere. Jamshed probably deserves more chances at this stage in his career, but we don’t know yet if he’ll make it or not.With Shehzad, though, you get the feeling he will. His five centuries so far have come in four different continents, against five different opponents. It’s a good-looking list: New Zealand in Hamilton, West Indies in Gros Islet, South Africa in Port Elizabeth, Sri Lanka in Dubai, Bangladesh in Dhaka.He took a while to get going against Bangladesh. When he reached his half-century, off the 87th ball he had faced, Pakistan were 127 for three. At that point, they needed exactly 200 runs to win from 133 balls.From there, Shehzad accelerated with a flurry of boundaries, and took just 30 balls to go from 50 to 100. After the match, when everyone was asking him about the Shahid Afridi blitz that powered Pakistan over the line, Misbah-ul-Haq had to remind them that other batsmen had played a role too. “After his fifty, the way he [Shehzad] picked up the run rate, it was almost 10 an over and he brought it down to eight. In the end it was a great combination of all these batsmen who really won us the game.”Afridi does that to cricket matches, and to entire tournaments. It’s sort of slipped under the radar that Shehzad is Pakistan’s highest run-scorer in the Asia Cup, so far, and that he stands a chance to finish at the top of the pile overall. But if he keeps scoring runs as he has been, over recent months, Shehzad won’t stay under the radar for too much longer.

Is there any silver lining in the 3-0 loss? Likely not, but a valiant attempt will be made nevertheless

Andy Zaltzman25-Dec-2013Happy Christmas, Confectionery Stallers. If Christmas is your bag. If not, happy late December, I hope Santa gives you as wide a berth as he seems to have given the England cricket team so far in their not-even-slightly-festive season. I imagine that when Alastair Cook packed his Christmas stocking in his suitcase a couple of months ago, he would have assumed that he would wake on Christmas morning – his own birthday also, although even Jesus might have struggled to finesse a series draw from England’s current position – and find it packed with the usual goodies, from cricket gloves to farming equipment, from satsumas and chocolate coins to sticker books.Instead, he will have woken in Melbourne desperately hoping that his stocking contained some, or preferably all, of the following: a new spinner (preferably one of the expensive ones that can also bat, field and crack the odd gag); an in-form wicketkeeper; some footwork; a genuine fully operational Len Hutton; some t-shirts for his top-order batsmen, emblazoned with the slogan “I will not get out playing a stupid shot at the first available opportunity”; a coin that works for the MCG toss, some replacement batteries suitable for use in a struggling swing bowler; and a signed affidavit from Australia’s bowlers promising not to bowl him unplayable jaffas at the top of his off stump for the rest of the series.These are troubling, fascinating times for the England cricket team. For a long time you could predict what the likely line-up of the Test XI would be a couple of years in advance. In fact, of the team that played the final Test before Andy Flower took over as head coach – the Mohali Test of December 2008 – seven were playing in Perth (Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Prior, Broad, Swann and Anderson, all almost ever-present during the Flower years), and an eighth (Panesar) played in Adelaide.Now, after Australia’s Samsonesque demolition of the pillars of the England team, it is in a state of flux, much as it was between every single match in the late 1980s, when the England selectors seems to be on a crazed mission to produce enough former Test cricketers to form a new political party and win a parliamentary majority within two elections.England have had three major failures in the last two years – against Pakistan, South Africa and now Australia – and avoided a fourth, in New Zealand, largely due to some rogue physics operating on Matt Prior’s stumps en route to his match-saving hundred in Auckland. Cook is their highest-averaging regular batsman in that time, at 40.9, and even he has only had one good series out of the nine played in that time. With the ball, only Broad is averaging under 30 since January 2012.Before that Pakistan series, England had three of the top four bowlers in the world rankings, and four of the top ten batsmen (including two of the top three). At the start of last summer’s Ashes, they still had Cook, Trott, Swann, Anderson and Broad in the top tens. Now Broad – currently ninth in the Test bowling rankings – is England’s only top-ten representative with either bat or ball.This team needs renewal. Ideally not the kind of 20-year process of unending and often gratuitous renewal that seemed to happen in the 1980s and 1990s, but renewal nonetheless. Hopefully, if Santa is kind to Cook, beginning at the MCG, with another entry in the impressive catalogue of Pointless England Consolation Victories In Dead Ashes Test Matches.* Just a short blog this week, as I need to stake out my garden to see if I can catch a reindeer, or at least hurl abuse at them and their irresponsible owner after they befouled my lawn last year after gorging on carrots and mince pies. I will address the captivating simultaneous snatching of a draw from the jaws of victory and the gullet of defeat by both South Africa and India in next week’s Confectionery Stall. Suffice to say, it was a brilliant Test match that has set the stage for a truly unforgettable Test series. Unfortunately, that stage will be instantly dismantled after the second Test in Durban. Congratulations to all those responsible for this travesty. I hope you enjoyed your petty power games. They must have been fun. Please pop an apology note in the post when you have time, addressed to “Cricket In General, c/o The World”.

Batsmen had a generally dominant season in IPL 2014, with the sixes count exceeding 700 for only the second time

S Rajesh03-Jun-2014Over the last few IPL seasons, there’s been plenty of talk about how bowlers have held their own in a format which is heavily stacked against them, but IPL 2014 was largely about batsmen dominating. It didn’t start that way when the tournament was in the UAE, but the momentum shift in favour of batting was clear the moment the bandwagon shifted to India. The scores became bigger, the ball cleared the boundary far more often, and the bowlers – especially the faster ones – struggled. The overall result was a tournament run rate of 8.20, which is the second-best in IPL history. The highest was 8.30, in the inaugural edition in 2008, but since then and before this year the rate was less than eight in four out of five years.The overall tournament run rate this time was 8.20, but that’s been brought down by the UAE leg: in the 40 games played in India, the rate was 8.52, almost a run more than in the first 20 games. With the seamers getting more assistance in the UAE, the scores were generally kept to manageable proportions: in 40 innings, only 12 times did teams score 160 or more, a percentage of 30; on the other hand, in 80 innings in India, there were 47 scores of 160 or more (59%).On the smaller grounds in India, the batsmen found it much easier to hit sixes too: in the UAE, there was an average of 8.65 sixes per match; in India, it increased to 13.5 per match. Thanks to the flurry of sixes in India, the total for the tournament exceeded 700 for only the second time in IPL history: it was 714 this year, second only to 731 in 2012, but there’d been 15 more matches in 2012. Going at the rate of 13.5 sixes per match, there’d have been 916 sixes this year, had the tournament consisted of 75 matches. (Click here for the list of highest totals this year.)There were also an unusually large number of matches won by the team batting second this time – the teams chasing had a 37-22 win-loss record, and it was fitting that the tournament ended with Knight Riders chasing down 200. The win-loss ratio of 1.68 is the best ever for chasing teams, marginally better than the ratio of 1.63 in 2008. (These ratios exclude matches which were tied and decided by the Super Over). Last year the win-loss was 37-37, and in 2012 it was 40-34.

The tournament was largely dominated by batsmen and by tall scores, but the team that won was the one with the best bowling attack. Knight Riders were the only team with an economy rate of less than eight, and while their batting run rate was only the third-best, their bowlers ensured they seldom had to chase tall targets. Kings XI, on the other hand, had a run rate of 9.09, which is the highest by any team in a season across all editions of the IPL, and the first time a team has touched nine. However, their economy rate of 8.42 was also the second-worst among all teams this year, next only to Delhi Daredevils’ 8.71. However, despite the poor economy rate, the positive difference between the run rate and economy rate was highest for Kings XI – at 0.67, they were marginally better than Knight Riders’ 0.52. Kings XI also had the best win-loss ratio in the tournament, and were the only team to take 100-plus wickets (though they also played at least one match more than any other side this year).The batting might of Kings XI shone through most strongly in the middle overs (6.1 to 15), where they were clearly the best team of the tournament, scoring at 8.93 runs per over – the second-best were Knight Riders with an average of 8.19. Of the 11 instances this year when teams scored 90 or more runs during this stage of their innings, seven were by Kings XI. This includes the final, when they scored 99 in those nine overs.Similarly, the biggest advantage for Knight Riders was their bowling in the last five overs of an innings, when they conceded only 8.73 runs per over, and also took 41 wickets. Six out of eight teams conceded more than ten runs per over during that stage, while Sunrisers went at 9.14. Sunil Narine didn’t have a memorable final with the ball, but in all the other matches he was superb in the last overs, taking 14 wickets at an average of 12.92 and an economy rate of 6.46. He also bowled 28 overs at the death; no other bowler in the tournament bowled more than 21 during the last five overs of an innings.

The dot-ball factorAmong batsmen who faced at least 150 balls in IPL 2014, Knight Riders’ Shakib had the lowest dot-ball percentage, of marginally under 27%. Most of the batsmen in the list below are those who play in the middle order, which is understandable as they don’t usually bat during the Powerplay, when fielding restrictions increase the likelihood of dot balls.Batsmen with very similar dot-ball percentage have fairly different strike rates, though, which indicate the scoring patterns – specifically the boundary-hitting tendencies – of different batsmen. For instance, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers have similar dot percentages, but de Villiers has a strike rate which is 30 more than du Plessis’. That’s because de Villiers struck 26 fours and 24 sixes in the 249 balls he faced, compared to du Plessis’ 26 fours and seven sixes in 235 deliveries.

Among the bowlers, Morne Morkel had the highest dot percentage, among those who bowled at least 30 overs. The list below is dominated by the quick bowlers, which is again expected since they bowl during the Powerplay overs, when the fielding restrictions ensure a higher number of dots. However, they also tend to go for more boundaries, because of which some of the economy rates are in excess of eight.Also, bowlers with similar dot percentages have very different economy rates. Sandeep Sharma, for instance, has a dot-ball percentage of almost 47, but an economy rate of 8.81; Lasith Malinga, with a dot percentage of 44.26, has an economy rate of 6.45. That’s because of the number of boundaries conceded by them: while Sandeep went for 40 fours and 14 sixes in 241 balls, Malinga conceded only 22 fours and six sixes in 235. Like Sandeep, Varun Aaron also went for plenty of boundaries, especially in India – 27 fours and 12 sixes in 220 balls – due to which his economy rate exceeds eight despite a dot-ball percentage of more than 44.

Tough going for paceIn the UAE leg of the tournament, the fast bowlers and medium-pacers savoured the conditions, taking 156 wickets at 23.32 and an economy rate of 7.35, but it was all downhill in India, where they averaged 35.64 at an economy rate of 8.81. Those are the worst numbers for fast bowlers in any IPL season, but thanks to the UAE leg, the overall economy rate is 8.29, which is still the second-highest in any IPL season. For the spinners, the shift to India didn’t make such a huge impact: in the UAE they averaged 32.17 at an economy rate of 7.42.Overall, spinners also bowled more this season – they contributed 40% of the total overs, compared with 29% last year and 35.5% in 2012. The small boundaries in India and the lack of assistance in the pitches were challenges that the fast bowlers struggled to overcome this season.

The team-wise bowling stats indicate that Knight Riders’ spinners did an excellent job, taking 46 wickets at an economy rate of 6.82. Apart from Narine, Shakib also had a superb tournament with the ball, bowling 50 overs at an economy rate of 6.68. The only other team whose spinners went at less than seven an over were Rajasthan Royals. The team for which spin was a huge disappointment was Sunrisers: Amit Mishra finished with an economy rate of 9.06, while the spinners for the team had a combined economy rate of 8.21, the joint-highest with Daredevils.Kings XI’s seamers fetched 71 wickets, easily the highest among all teams, but they also went for plenty of runs, conceding 8.70 per over. In the UAE they took 28 wickets at an average of 17.92 and an economy rate of 7.20, but in India they leaked 9.45 per over, and conceded 30.95 per wicket. The difference in those numbers was largely the reason why they had a perfect 5-0 win-loss in the UAE, but only 7-5 in India.

Rajasthan Royals were in a pretty much unassailable position to reach the playoffs with five matches to go, but their season collapsed dramatically amid a raft of odd tactical decisions

Karthik Krishnaswamy26-May-20147:56

Agarkar: Silly changes hurt Royals

Where they finishedFifth, with seven wins from 14 matches.Karun Nair was a bright spot with the bat, scoring three half-centuries and finishing with a strike rate of 142.24•BCCIWhat went rightAs they so often do, Rajasthan Royals squeezed the most out of their uncapped Indian players. Pravin Tambe, Rajat Bhatia, Ankit Sharma, Rahul Tewatia were mostly economical with the ball, and Karun Nair was a revelation with the bat.Royals’ Australian finishers – Steven Smith, Brad Hodge and James Faulkner – all performed well when called upon, with Smith and Faulkner pulling off a spectacular heist against Royal Challengers Bangalore. All three finished with 30-plus averages and 130-plus strike rates, but it was not an unqualified success; Royals could have made much better use of them. It tells you something that all three players ended with highest scores in the 40s, and that two of them were not-outs.What went wrongTactics, tactics, tactics. It started early in the season, with Royals choosing to open with Abhishek Nayar and persisting with a clearly out-of-form Stuart Binny at No. 5, ahead of Steven Smith and James Faulkner. These decisions did not attract too much opprobrium, however, since Royals were putting the results on the table.In fact, after they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore on May 11, the table suggested they were in a pretty unassailable position as far as qualification was concerned. They were third, with a four-point cushion separating them from Kolkata Knight Riders in fourth, and had a healthy, positive net run rate of +0.250. They had five matches left, and two wins would seal the deal for them. Even one win might have been enough.At that precise point, they chose to hand the responsibility of drawing up their tactics to the nine-year-old nephew of a member of their match-day catering staff. Or so their team management made it look, with every bizarre decision they made.Against Chennai Super Kings, right after Karun Nair and Ajinkya Rahane had put on a brisk half-century stand against Royal Challengers, they chose to open with Ankit Sharma and Shane Watson. Against Mumbai Indians, chasing 179, they sent in Kevon Cooper, Stuart Binny and Ankit ahead of Brad Hodge (who had replaced Steven Smith out of the blue) and James Faulkner.Against Kings XI Punjab, at a time when they knew the race for fourth was getting tight, they brought in Vikramjeet Malik for his first game of the season. And then, chasing 180, they sent in Binny and Rahul Tewatia ahead of Hodge and Faulkner.They lost all three games, all fairly narrowly, but a win over the hapless Delhi Daredevils meant they were still favourites to go through ahead of their final game against Mumbai Indians. They did as well as they could with the bat in that game, but their bowlers went through a collective brain-freeze. It might not have come to this had they been consistent with their selections and played their best eleven, with everyone in their best position in the crunch games, leading up to the final day of the league phase.Key statRoyals won five out of six games against the teams that finished below them. They also beat Kolkata Knight Riders twice, in two freakish matches – they won one of them on boundary count following a tied Super Over, and the other by 10 runs, after Knight Riders collapsed to lose six wickets for two runs – and these were Royals’ only wins against teams that finished above them. They failed to win a single game against Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings or Kings XI Punjab.Best player In a productive tournament for quickish, accurate legspinners – Royal Challengers’ Yuzvendra Chahal and Sunrisers’ Karn Sharma enjoyed similar levels of success – Pravin Tambe was Royals’ go-to bowler and a regular source of wickets in the middle overs. All his 15 wickets came in the 10-over period between the end of the Powerplay and the start of the 17th over – he was, in fact, the tournament’s highest wicket-taker in that phase.Tambe wasn’t really expected to repeat his success from last year’s Champions League, but he remained just as hard to hit, and just as capable of surprising batsmen and on occasion, even ran through teams. He finished with figures of 4 for 20 as Royals rolled Royal Challengers over for 70 in Abu Dhabi. And then, most memorably, he took a hat-trick against Knight Riders in Ahmedabad to stop what looked an odds-on chase of 171 in its tracks.Worst playerStuart Binny can lay claim to this title, having been retained by Royals, having batted mostly at No. 5, usually ahead of Steven Smith, and for ending the tournament with an average of 12.30 and a strike rate of 101.65. But because more was expected from him, the honour will instead go to Royals’ captain, Shane Watson.Watson flickered only sporadically with the bat, and ended the season with an average of 20 and a strike rate of 122.44. He did not bowl all that often, and did not bowl particularly well when he had a go. It is probably unfair to pin the blame on him for Royals’ tactical messes, considering their backroom staff probably played a bigger role in selection and batting-order decisions, but he often looked a confused leader on the field as well.Watson’s worst performance came in Royals’ final game, when he opened the batting and scored 8 off 18 balls, gave away 33 runs in two overs – bowling short and wide with third man in the circle – and wore a blank look on his face as Brad Hodge took charge of the field placements.Surprise packageKarun Nair had enjoyed a spectacular debut season in first-class cricket, in which he had scored three consecutive centuries to help Karnataka win the Ranji Trophy. Spectacular first-class seasons, however, do not always translate into IPL opportunities, and IPL opportunities often don’t translate into instant success.Nair, though, looked a natural right from the start, composed at the crease and full of scoring options. He did not have to deviate too much from orthodox cricket shots to score quickly, and used the square cut to particularly good effect against the spinners. He scored three half-centuries, including an ice-cool 27-ball 50 in the fourth-place decider against Mumbai Indians, and a 39-ball 56 that set up Royals’ spectacular chase against Royal Challengers.Memorable momentFor 16 overs, Royal Challengers had dominated proceedings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Yuvraj Singh had returned to form in spectacular fashion to propel them to 190, and he had demolished Royals’ middle order, taking four wickets with his left-arm spin. And then, with 65 to get from the last four overs, Smith and Faulkner exploded to life. Faulkner smashed two fours and a six as Mitchell Starc went for 21 in the 17th over, and Smith took 14 off the first three balls of the next over, from Ashok Dinda. Royals were suddenly within sight. In the end, they didn’t even need a 20th over, as Faulkner finished it off with a clinical assault on a helpless Varun Aaron, taking Royals home with seven balls to spare.Unused playersAmit Mishra, Ankush Bains, and Deepak Hooda.

When you take over the captaincy of a side with an outstanding T20 pedigree it can come with significant pressure, but James Vince has taken to the role with aplomb in a season where his England credentials have risen

Alan Gardner21-Aug-2014James Vince is the batting saviour that England do not need. At least, not right now. Having waited until the last six months before the World Cup to soup up their ODI top three with a belligerent boundary-hitter, in the form of Alex Hales, England have had two (three if you count Surrey’s punkish white-ball opener Jason Roy) come along at once.The inclusion of Hales for the forthcoming one-day series against India had become something of a cause celebre, an unstoppable juggernaut accompanied by the sense that denying the public a chance to see his Popeye forearms engaged in bowler destruction over 50 overs for England would be a grave affront; the apparent obsession with “building a platform” likely to drive a significant section of those who follow the team to erect a scaffold of their own.Vince is understanding, even if the promotion for his England Lions room-mate provided an inevitable buzzkill for his own chances. The pair opened together four times in the Lions’ triangular series earlier this month, during which Hales scored the second of four List A hundreds in as many weeks. “He’s a high-class player,” Vince says, equably.”I think Hales has proved himself in international T20 cricket, he’s done well for Notts this year in all formats, he did well for the Lions and I think he rightly deserves a go.””High-class” is the sort of epithet often attached to Vince’s batting, his elegance drawing almost contractual comparisons with Michael Vaughan. Vince, having played T20 all his career, is a more aggressive hitter than Vaughan, if not quite up to Hales’ level of blunt-force barbarism, and has attracted attention as a future international player ever since breaking into the Hampshire side as a teenager. A tally of 1220 first-class runs at 61.00 this season, alongside 398 at a strike rate of 151.33 in NatWest T20 Blast, indicates the breadth of Vince’s talent.While a dip in form around the start of the Royal London Cup may have cooled his chances of an ODI call-up even before Hales unleashed a storm, it is the Blast that provides Vince with another chance to buff his credentials. In his first season as Hampshire’s T20 captain, he has led them to a record fifth successive finals day, having scored an unbeaten 93 off 51 balls to upstage Hales – who dropped Vince along the way – and Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in the last eight.Vince, tall and rangy, with big, wide eyes that in other circumstances might be described as soulful, is considerably quieter than his two predecessors, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Dominic Cork. That is not surprising, given that his is still only 23, having being appointed Hampshire’s youngest post-war captain. He was not an obvious candidate, having rarely done the job while coming through Hampshire’s academy system but, according to Giles White, the director of cricket, his increasing maturity, not to mention greater consistency with the bat, encouraged the gamble.It probably helps that in domestic T20, Hampshire are cricket’s equivalent of , so smoothly do the team’s component parts work. White calls Vince an “astute leader, tactically” and believes he could do the job in longer formats and, potentially, at a higher level. “With captaincy comes a management part off field, making decisions and being responsible and that’s something he’s in tune with.”Vince admits that, given the side’s run of success, there was added pressure in accepting the role. “In a way, having made four finals days in a row and won it twice, I didn’t want to take the captaincy and end up going out in the group stages,” he says. “We made the quarter-finals and that was rewarding and then to go away to a very strong Notts side and win there, that was a special day.”As I’ve gone on I’ve become more confident in the decisions I’ve been making. I’m sure the other guys, when I first started, they weren’t too sure how I was going to go in the job. Hopefully they’ve got a bit more confidence in me now, as I’ve got more confidence in myself. I’m less hesitant and backing myself to take decisions.”Added media responsibilities are another chore and, to begin with, Vince tugs compulsively at his tracksuit sleeve when answering questions. Like many modern players, he prefers to let his cricket do the talking. Before signing a contract with Hampshire, he played as either a centre-half or target-man forward with Reading’s academy and still goes to watch QPR with his dad – though it is hard to imagine him putting in a “reducer” tackle or bellowing from the terraces.As a forceful limited-overs opener capable of flowing middle-order strokeplay, it is tempting to see him as a potential successor to Ian Bell in England’s set-up. Hales may be packing a couple of extra sticks of dynamite but Vince’s first-class record suggests a stronger base for Test cricket. Here again, though, England are suddenly well stocked, with Joe Root and Gary Ballance, both a few months older than Vince, flanking the effervescent Bell in England’s resurgent (for now) Test side.He says it is “quite hard to gauge” how he is currently viewed by England and, naturally, was disappointed not to score more than 58 runs in four innings for the Lions. The T20 against India at the end of tour could offer another opportunity, perhaps as a partner for Hales. After the 12 months England have had, another saviour might come in handy after all.”Seeing those guys go on and play gives you belief that you would be able to cope at that level, having trained with them and played with them. I’ve always wanted to play for England and I’m going to try my hardest to do that, if my time comes soon or if it doesn’t, it’s out of my control really.”Although not completely out of his control, as he will attempt to show at Edgbaston on Saturday, beginning with the Blast semi-final against Lancashire. Leading his side to another title would be “extra special”, he says. Just as Hampshire have found the majority of their T20 opponents vincible in recent years, so their bright young captain has been rapidly overcoming obstacles. Maybe England will soon consider some of their white-ball problems Vince-able too.

Plays of the day from the Champions League T20 final between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders

Abhishek Purohit04-Oct-2014Uthappa’s timing
Robin Uthappa temporarily became the leading run-getter of the main edition of the tournament during his 39, and his timing was as good as it has been through the IPL and CLT20. Off the last ball of R Ashwin’s first over, Uthappa took a step out and drove at a pitched up delivery. He checked the shot in the end and held his followthrough. But the ball took flight and went soaring over long-on as if it had been clobbered.Raina’s miss
Two balls after he had put down a diving chance off Jacques Kallis at slip, Suresh Raina tried to anticipate a stroke from Gautam Gambhir at short fine leg. Gambhir prepared to tuck Ravindra Jadeja off his pads behind square and Raina started to move to his right early. However, Gambhir ended up going finer than Raina had expected him to, and the ball ran away for four to the fielder’s left, leaving Jadeja furious.Du Plessis’ attempt
Gambhir swung Pawan Negi flat down the ground and the commentator said it was heading for six, but Faf du Plessis decided to intervene at long-on. He jumped high and plucked the ball with both hands. He landed back on the ground, threw the ball up as he teetered beyond the rope and came back in to take it again. Replays showed he had stepped onto the boundary the first time he took the ball, and Gambhir stayed.Cummins’ slow yorker
Dwayne Smith had already cracked Pat Cummins for two fours in the first over of the chase when the fast bowler slipped in a slow yorker. Smith brought his bat down too early to try and keep it out. It hit the ground before the ball arrived and bounced up. The ball now hit the bat, and slid under the small opening to disturb the bails.Yadav’s misfields
Suryakumar Yadav seemed to have a sweep from Brendon McCullum covered with a sprint and a slide at deep square leg. Only, the ball slid under his slide to roll into the rope. The next ball was swept straight to him, and he bent down on his knee for a regulation stop, only to let the ball slip through his fingers for another embarrassing four.

Twenty years on, Shivnarine Chanderpaul continues to be understated, underestimated. And that doesn’t bother him. What’s not to like?

Brydon Coverdale19-Sep-2014Run machine. It’s one of those pervasive cricket clichés, like Ravi Shastri’s tracer bullet. But for a while I thought that Shivnarine Chanderpaul might have been an run machine, a technically advanced automaton whose purpose was to keep West Indies competitive. The evidence was compelling.How else could Chanderpaul be struck in the head by a Brett Lee bouncer in Jamaica in 2008, crumple to the ground in total numbness, both physical and cognitive, but then get up, bat on, and score a century? It was a -like revival, from a figure more Danny DeVito than his twin, Arnold Schwarzenegger.How else could he bat for more than 25 hours in a Test series between dismissals, face 1050 consecutive Test deliveries without losing his wicket, as he did against India in 2002? How could he bat for more than 17 hours between dismissals in 2004, again in 2007, and more than 18 hours in 2008? It’s like John Isner winning a set 70-68 at Wimbledon and then doing it again, and again, and again.The proof that finally convinced me Chanderpaul was flesh and blood was the discovery that he has produced a son. That and the fact that we’re living in an age of planned obsolescence. Machines are no longer built to last, certainly not for 20 years. Chanderpaul functions as effectively today as on his Test debut in 1994.Yes, Shiv is a man. A quiet man, an inspiration to introverts like me everywhere. He goes to work, does his thing, does it damn well, and does it over and over and over again. He is understated and underestimated. How can a man with nearly 12,000 Test runs still be viewed as an underdog? In part because his team rarely wins. But also, I suspect, because of his nature.

If a stubborn batsman can be said to be married to his wicket, Chanderpaul and his are celebrating their 20th anniversary and still going strong

Twitter tells me more than I ever thought I would know about Shane Warne’s relationships, Chris Gayle’s eating habits, Kevin Pietersen’s opinions. I couldn’t care less. In Chanderpaul I sense a kindred spirit, reserved and self-contained. He seems not to care what anyone thinks, and I respect that. He has played Test cricket for two decades but is still a mystery. I like that.Chanderpaul has been so good for so long that he has played with the 163rd West Indies Test cricketer, Desmond Haynes, and with the 300th, Leon Johnson. And most in between. He knows that quicker and easier doesn’t mean better. When your name is Shivnarine Chanderpaul, you probably work that lesson out when you first learn to write your name.There were other things Chanderpaul learnt early in life. If a stubborn batsman can be said to be married to his wicket, Chanderpaul and his are celebrating their 20th anniversary and still going strong. Mind you, they’d been going steady for 12 years prior. At 8, he was fending off concrete balls hurled by grown men in a training method his father believed would make him tough.If it sounds harsh, it was at least effective. It also led to his unique stance, originally concocted to protect himself. Chanderpaul is now 40, but he still faces up that same way, 90 degrees askew, as if expecting the square-leg umpire to bowl to him. Glenn McGrath usually seemed unshakeable but said it was off-putting to run in while the batsman stood front-on with his bat behind his shoulder.For the viewer, it’s mesmerising. He’s not in position, he can’t be ready, oh he’s punched a three through cover. He’s not watching, he can’t play that shot, oh he’s tickled another two behind square. Of course, he’s always watching intently from behind the supermarket-bought anti-glare strips under his eyes. Always ready to nudge and nurdle.Fittingly, he shares his name with a small stabbing weapon. A shiv can bring death by a thousand cuts. What better description of Chanderpaul? Alas, his work often does not prove fatal to his opponents. He has played in 74 losing Tests, more than any other player in history. Sachin Tendulkar won fewer Tests than Chanderpaul has lost. Still he chooses to bat on.7:41

The coach’s nightmare

And on, and on. Most recently it was another series without losing his wicket. He batted more than 12 hours against Bangladesh without once being dismissed. He became the first 40-year-old in 20 years to score a Test century, and moved up to third on the ICC’s Test batting rankings. By the ICC’s reckoning, only Kumar Sangakkara and AB de Villiers are currently better Test batsmen than Chanderpaul.Where would West Indies be without him? His Test record is notable for its strength against the best opposition teams. He averages 63 against India, 52 against England, 50 against South Africa, 49 against Australia. Chanderpaul has his critics, those who say he should bat higher than No. 5, take on more responsibility in a team that lacks potency. I say get off his back, just let Shiv do his thing.Usually his thing is to demoralise bowlers slowly, silently. But occasionally, he can destroy them. Consider the list of the fastest Test hundreds: Viv Richards, Adam Gilchrist, Jack Gregory, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, David Warner, Chris Gayle. Sorry, what? Shivnarine Chanderpaul? You no more expect to see his name in that company than you do Chris Tavaré’s or Bill Lawry’s.His 69-ball century against Australia in Guyana in 2003 proved that he cannot be defined solely by his seriousness. There were hooks and pulls off Lee and Jason Gillespie, no quarter given to loose balls from Stuart MacGill and Brad Hogg. And the next match it was back to normal, a cautious 21 off 92 balls. It was like seeing Lloyd Bridges turn comedian in , just to prove that he could.But he can’t do everything. Captaincy wasn’t for Shiv. He led West Indies in 14 Tests but the role did not fit him. Not everyone is suited to leadership. Little wonder this little wonder was among them.”As a captain you have more responsibilities, you have to say more things, you have to be more open, you can’t be quiet, you have to try and get involved in everything,” Chanderpaul once said. “At times it can make you stressed out, doing these things over and over.”I hear you, Shiv. You may get called a run machine, but I know you’re just a man. man. Keep doing your own thing, what you’ve been doing at 20, 30 and 40. I hope you’re still doing it at 50.

Stats highlights from West Indies’ clean sweep of the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh, after their win in St Kitts

Shiva Jayaraman26-Aug-2014169 Runs Denesh Ramdin scored in this ODI, the highest by a West Indies batsman at home, beating Desmond Haynes’ 152 not out against India in Georgetown, way back in 1989. This is also the second-highest ODI score by a batsman in West Indies. Upul Tharanga’s unbeaten 174 against India in Kingston in the tri-series last year is the highest by a batsman in West Indies.11 Sixes hit by Ramdin in this match, the highest by any batsman in ODIs in West Indies, beating Chris Gayle’s nine sixes against New Zealand in Kingston in 2012. Ramdin’s 11 sixes are the second highest by a West Indies batsman in an ODI, just one short of Xavier Marshall’s 12 sixes against Canada in 2008. Ramdin’s 11 sixes in this match are also the highest by a wicketkeeper in an innings, beating MS Dhoni’s 10 sixes against Sri Lanka in Jaipur in 2005.258 Runs added for the third wicket by Darren Bravo and Ramdin, the highest by a West Indies pair for any wicket. They beat the 226-run partnership between Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Carl Hooper for the fourth wicket against South Africa in East London in 1999. This is also the highest third-wicket partnership in ODIs beating the 238-run stand between Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers against Pakistan in Johannesburg in 2013. This was also the highest partnership for any wicket against Bangladesh beating the 250-run stand between Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott at Edgbaston in 2010.338 Runs scored by West Indies in this match – their highest total at home in ODIs, beating the 337 they scored against Zimbabwe in St George’s last year. This was also the fifth-highest score posted by West Indies in an ODI.8 Scores of 150 or more by No. 4 batsmen in ODIs, including Ramdin’s in this match. His 169 is now the third highest by a No. 4 after Viv Richards’ 189 not out against England at Old Trafford in 1984 and 181 against Sri Lanka in Karachi in the 1987 World Cup. Of the eight scores of 150 or more by No. 4 batsmen, five have been by West Indies batsmen.11 Number of instances, including this match, when two West Indies batsmen have hit centuries in the same ODI. The last such instance came against New Zealand earlier this year in Hamilton, when Kirk Edwards and Dwayne Bravo hit centuries.19 Sixes hit by West Indies batsmen – the highest they have ever hit in an ODI. Their previous highest was 14 sixes, which they hit against Canada in 2008. This was also the most sixes hit against Bangladesh in an ODI, beating the 16 that Australia struck in Dhaka in 2011.2 ODI centuries by West Indies wicketkeepers including Ramdin’s in this match. The previous one was also hit by him, against England in North Sound earlier this year.241 Runs scored by wicketkeepers in this match – the third-highest total runs scored by the designated wicketkeepers of both teams in an ODI. The highest such aggregate came in a match between India and Sri Lanka in 2005, when India’s wicketkeeper MS Dhoni got 183 and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara hit 138, taking the total by wicketkeepers in that match to 321 runs.13 Number of consecutive ODIs Bangladesh have now played without winning. The last time they won was against New Zealand in Fatullah last year. Click here for the list of the longest winless streaks in ODIs.

There are few things more Aussie than thwacking the tennis ball into the Indian Ocean

Lee McDonald09-Dec-2014Three runs to win and I am the last man standing. This is the stuff of dreams. I survey the field to determine where the best scoring opportunities are.Midwicket, the most productive run-scoring area during my innings, is well covered, both short and deep. The fielders in the deep stand at the ready with their feet buried in the golden white sand to avoid the tops of their feet being burnt by the sun.The off side is less populated, but wading up to his waist in the soft rolling tide of the Indian Ocean is a fielder who is clearly a mulleted reincarnation of Jonty Rhodes. He has taken two diving one-handed “classic” catches, one to his left and one to his right, though they ended with splashes about as graceful as a cat trying to swim. His fielding exploits have swelled his confidence and he is quick to say, “Hey, did you see my catch?” to any bikini-clad woman who saunters by.Long-on and straight back over the bowler’s head are vacant. That is my spot.I wipe the sweat from my brow with my forearm but only really succeed in wiping sand all over my face, the legacy of an eager dive to make my ground just two balls earlier. I blow the sand and flies from my face like an annoyed camel, smooth out the cool, half-wet sand in front of me with my feet and mark the crease with my bat for the umpteenth time today.City Beach: Perth’s most popular beach•UniversalImagesGroupI take my guard and turn to face the bowler and I have to squint. Partly because of the bright Western Australian sun and sky, partly because the bowler has a run-up to rival Dennis Lillee at his peak. I am not sure what is closer, the iconic Cottesloe Indiana Tea Rooms a couple of hundred metres south or the bowler.The bowler begins his run-up, water spraying from his body as he gains pace. Water, not sweat: he decided to take a dip in the ocean in between balls to cool off. I tap my bat lightly in the sand to settle my nerves. In an instant the bowler is at the crease, he flays his arms, and the sandy, wet tennis ball is hurtling towards me.It is a low full toss. My eyes light up; this was exactly the ball I’d hoped for. But in my eagerness I have played too early and I get a touch too far underneath the ball, which goes soaring into the air.I set off on my first run in a whirlwind of sand being kicked up by my feet. The ball is clearly not going to go as far as I’d hoped and will probably land around the vacant mid-on area. The bowler and midwicket look skyward, mouths open like baby birds waiting to be fed by their mother.The ball appears to still be travelling upwards. I have turned for my second run before it begins its descent. Scampering back for the second I turn to see both midwicket and the bowler shouting “Mine, mine!” But through excitement, miscommunication, wind, and losing the ball in the sun, they have both misjudged the catch. The tennis ball thuds into the ground, bouncing up only ever so slightly.I complete the second run just as the bowler dives towards ball in a desperate attempt to complete a “one-hand-one-bounce” catch. The attempt is in vain and he only succeeds in knocking the ball further away from the pitch. This is my chance for glory. In my excitement to take off for the third run my sandy hands lose their grip on the bat handle and I drop the bat. The midwicket fielder takes a few steps to the now stationary ball, picks it up, turns to face the solitary stump at the bowler’s end and takes aim.You haven’t experienced anything till you have had sand in every crevice of your body•Getty ImagesThe fielder’s throw is strong. It looks accurate. I throw myself in the air, my arms outstretched in order to make my ground. As I soar through the air like a movie hero diving in front of a gunshot, the ball drifts just wide of the lonely, crooked stump. My arms and face plunge into the sand and I am covered head to toe. A victory swim is a certainty. This is the stuff of dreams.My favourite beaches

Western Australia has some beautiful beaches. If you come to Perth when the World Cup matches are being held, the weather is likely be mostly sunny and 30 degrees Celsius. It will be a great time to head to the beach for some sun, swimming and the Aussie tradition of beach cricket. So grab your bathers, bat, tennis ball and esky and head to one of these.City Beach
About 10km out of the Perth CBD, this is a great activities beach with surfers, windsurfers and kite surfers frequenting the water. There are also beach volleyball courts available for use. For a quality meal in a relaxing atmosphere with a stunning view, visit Clancy’s Fish Pub, which is all but on the beach.The Indiana Tea Rooms on Cottesloe Beach•UniversalImagesGroupCottesloe Beach
Cottesloe is about 11km west-south-west of the city and is probably Perth’s most popular beach. Its grassy banks are shaded by pine trees and a multitude of cafés and restaurants, the beaches are golden, and the water created for swimming.
If you go to the beach you have to have ice cream, and there are few better than Red Spoon in Cottesloe.Scarborough Beach
A favourite with young people and teens, Scarborough won an award for Western Australia’s best, cleanest and friendliest beach in 2008. About 14km north-west of Perth, it has some quality surf breaks and the precinct has family-friendly grassed and barbeque areas, as well as a recently reinvigorated suite of bars and cafés such as The Sandbar.