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Favourites from the start, Dhaka’s win came as no surprise to many, but that does not mean it was an easy ride to the title

Mohammad Isam10-Dec-2016Tournament overview
Everyone expected Dhaka Dynamites to win the BPL. But as their captain Shakib Al Hasan and coach Khaled Mahmud said after clinching the trophy, it was never an easy ride.With expectations come pressure, and Dhaka had a lot of that this season. They had the squad for every situation and all conditions but to pick an XI was a nightmare at times.If they hadn’t won the trophy, there would have been more questions about their ability but with so many match-winners in their team, Shakib managed to get everyone together and become a successful unit.Dhaka had Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell together towards the end of the tournament while Evin Lewis, Kumar Sangakkara, Seekkuge Prasanna and Matt Coles provided thrusts whenever required. The local players, led by Shakib and Mehedi Maruf, gave important performances too.Mosaddek Hossain, Sunzamul Islam and Mohammad Shahid made handy contributions while Nasir Hossain, Alauddin Babu and Abu Jayed chipped in at times.Kumar Sangakkara scored a 33-ball 36 in the final for Dhaka•Daily StarHigh point
Dhaka’s batting stumbled in the final but Sangakkara made sure they passed the 150-mark, which was always going to be a safe score in a night game in Mirpur. Their bowling and fielding did not relent as Rajshahi Kings were bowled out for just 103. The team effort that Shakib insisted was quite evident as they dominated a big final.Low point
The only time in the tournament that Dhaka Dynamites disappointed was when they couldn’t defend 182 against Rajshahi in Chittagong. For once their bowling fell apart, against Samit Patel’s big-hitting.Dwayne Bravo assisted the captain Shakib Al Hasan and was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker•BCBTop of the class
Dwayne Bravo was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, and Dhaka’s best bowler on most days. He took three wickets on four occasions, with his variation always posing a problem at the end of an innings. Bravo now has the most wickets in a calendar year in T20s.Under-par performer
Nasir Hossain started the BPL with a decent innings and a great catch but ended it with a whimper. He finished with 195 runs in 10 innings, without a fifty. His bowling was irregular throughout the tournament.Tip for 2017
A similar team may be hard to put together, but Dhaka’s finances and overall resources could still see them building another championship worthy team for 2017.

With three double-hundreds in first-class cricket, consistent scores in the domestic circuit, and scope to improve even further, 19-year-old Mosaddek Hossain has been labelled the “next big thing” in Bangladesh

Mohammad Isam14-Oct-2015Unlike his Bangladesh A team-mates, Mosaddek Hossain’s fortunes during the tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe will be heavily scrutinised back home. Three double-hundreds in the last eight months in first-class cricket has earned Mosaddek the tag of Bangladesh cricket’s “next big thing”.The label has come after a consistent run of big scores in domestic cricket, which dates back to Mosaddek’s first season in the Dhaka Premier League when he single-handedly led Abahani Limited’s title fight in 2013. After being chosen on the A-team tour that left Dhaka on Wednesday night, Mosaddek is now among the second line of Bangladesh cricketers at a time when the senior team is having different requirements for the three formats.Many have observed that Mosaddek’s greatest asset – apart from his physical powers and concentration- is his awareness of his own strength and weakness. After making an unbeaten 200 against Sylhet earlier this month, Mosaddek holds the record for most double-hundreds by a Bangladesh batsman. The first of those three knocks was his 250 against Rangpur, and the second a 282 against Chittagong during the 2014-15 season.It is rare for such a young batsman, particularly in Bangladesh, to bat in so many long innings within a short span of time. Recent batsmen like Liton Das, Rony Talukdar and Marshall Ayub, and before them, Mohammad Ashraful and Raqibul Hasan, all made great starts to their domestic career with significant knocks and run-heavy seasons.Liton made it to the Bangladesh team this year, but has not proved himself at the international level yet. Talukdar also got a single chance, but that is still not enough for someone who has done so well in the domestic circuit. Marshall was given chances in 2013, while Raqibul’s international career has stalled. Ashraful started off at blistering pace in both domestic and international cricket, but a 12-year career hardly reflected his early promise.Mosaddek hails from Mymensingh, 130 km north of Dhaka. He is the second of four children. He learned the game in the Circuit House club, and made it to Dhaka through BCB’s age-group programmes. He made an early impression on his coaches during the nets, and showed his temperament at the crease by averaging 54.37 in Abahani’s 2013-14 Premier League campaign.Still, Mosaddek has a long way to go. As a youngster, he needs to be afforded some protection from inevitable failures. He should also be given time to mature for the international stage. Bangladesh A captain Shuvagata Hom called him “a rare talent”, so expectations must also be managed.Mosaddek sees the Bangladesh A tour as a starting point in his career, but admitted that he might find it hard to adjust to new conditions.”I am seeing this as a big opportunity for a good performance,” Mosaddek told ESPNcricinfo. “I have played for the A team before but missed out on a couple of series in between. I am back now and I want to contribute to the A team by batting consistently as I did in domestic cricket. I won’t get pitches like I do in domestic cricket in South Africa and Zimbabwe. I haven’t been on a foreign tour in some time so it will take time for me to adjust to the conditions.”Mosaddek’s game, from No 5, has been quite simple. He likes to bat within his limitations, which for now is a fair array of shots.He was also seen to have handled batting with the tail quite well, especially against Sylhet during the 2014-15 season. During his maiden double-hundred, he added 423 runs with Al-Amin for the fifth wicket, against Rangpur. In the 282 against Chittagong, he had two late-order 100-plus stands, too.Mosaddek – “I just try to bat naturally. I try to get set and once I do that, like all batsmen, I see the ball better”•WICB Media”I just try to bat naturally. I try to get set and once I do that, like all batsmen, I see the ball better. It also depends on the type of wicket I am batting on. But now I have the confidence to score runs after getting set in the middle. I don’t make any shots. I have certain zones that I am good at, I stick to those usually. A big innings doesn’t come easily. I needed support of all the batsmen at the other end whenever I scored the double-hundreds.”Sometimes it was the tail-enders who really helped me, especially our captain Kamrul Islam Rabbi. He was helpful in my last double-hundred. Time and luck also matter when you play for a long time without getting dismissed. I did think of a triple-hundred when I made 282 against Chittagong. Confidence and remaining hungry are also important factors.”Shahriar Nafees, Mosaddek’s senior team-mate in Barisal, was very impressed by Mosaddek’s ability to bat long. “He bats fluently, fearlessly. He has a sense of his strength and weakness while batting. One thing that stands out for Mosaddek is that he has batted naturally through every situation. He plays exactly how a No 5 should play. All his big innings have been about batting rhythm, and he tended to repeat what he had done before. For a young guy he is a powerful hitter too,” Nafees said.Mosaddek wants to manage his areas of weakness, rather than master it. “It will be wrong on my part to think about the national team now. I will hope to do well on this A tour so that ultimately, by god’s grace, I make it to the national team.”I will have to perform and the rest will be up to the selectors. I play spin quite well but I wouldn’t say I am not good at pace either. I may not be able to master the areas where I lack but I can certainly manage them.”

Beuran Hendricks proved his mettle as a death bowler in the domestic T20 competition. That should be enough to pick him over more experienced bowlers like Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Firdose Moonda31-Mar-2014South Africa are into the World T20 semi-finals in the most un-South African way: unconvincingly. They lost their first match, snuck through in the next two and were almost derailed in the fourth but hung on.With the knockouts looming, South Africa will have to guard against slipping back into old habits of succumbing to pressure and predictability. There is not much they can do about the first until game day but they can avoid the second in their team selection, specifically their choice of bowlers.The importance of being in the final four will present a temptation to return to the experience of Morne Morkel or Lonwabo Tsotsobe at the expense of Beuran Hendricks and that would be a mistake. “I’d pick Beuran Hendricks straight away,” Paul Adams, Cobras’ coach, told ESPNcricinfo. “He’s got a real feel for when to bowl certain deliveries and what happens at the back end of an innings.”Adams has overseen Hendricks’ development through the Western Province structures, but he is not simply backing his own horse. Hendricks has the form and the skill to justify Adams’ statement and merit a place in the semi-final.Hendricks finished the domestic twenty-over competition as the top wicket-taker, 12 scalps ahead of his nearest competitor. His 28 wickets were collected at an average of 10.28 but the numbers, as they often do, only tell half the story. Hendricks was instrumental in the Cobras reaching the final because of the role he played in defending totals the batsmen posted.The Cobras batted first in seven matches in the competition and won six. Four of those victories were by a margin of less than 20 runs, an indication of how close and tense the finishes were. That was when Hendricks was at his best.In the team’s opener, against the Knights, the Cobras set their opposition a target of 154. The Knights needed 15 off the last over. Not only did Hendricks prevent that with a selection of slower balls but he also took three wickets in the over to end with a match-haul of 6 for 29 – his career-best.Hendricks helped the Cobras defend 161 against the Warriors with a return of 1 for 15 in four overs. The Warriors needed 25 off the last over, a steep ask, but not an impossible one. Hendricks gave away six. Against the Lions, the Cobras’ 187 was always thought to be a safe bet but the Lions batted well enough to need 55 off the last four overs. Hendricks bowled two of those, conceded 17 runs and took two wickets. Even when the runs seemed insufficient, like the 129 against the Titans, Hendricks made chasing look a tall order. He took 3 for 18 in his four overs in that match to bowl the Cobras to a win.”He is really good at just focusing on what needs to be done and not getting too flustered,” Adams said. For a 23-year-old, who is only in his second full season of professional cricket, that temperament is rare. Adams explained it was honed in training. “Beuran understands that in twenty-over cricket you have to be on the button 90% of the time. So when he practices his yorkers, for example, he makes sure he hits the spot every time he bowls the ball.”His skills at the death got him picked for the South African squad because they were still searching for a last-over hangman. Dale Steyn has since made that role his own but Hendricks has a useful part to play in supporting him. He showed that against Netherlands when he was asked to bowl the penultimate over with the Dutch needing nine runs off 12 balls.They only had a wicket in hand but most teams would back even their last pair to get close. Hendricks gave away only two runs and took the final wicket. He was South Africa’s most economical bowler in that match, costing them less than 4.5 runs an over, against a team who were scoring at a rate of 10 runs an over at one stage.The going was a lot tougher against England. Hendricks’ recorded a half-century of the undesirable kind when his four overs cost 50. Despite that, Hendricks found the block hole and took pace off the ball, a vital ability on the tracks being used in this tournament.That should be the prime reason Hendricks plays ahead of Morkel or Tsotsobe. He may lack the experience both players have, but it may be worth remembering the experienced pair have each conceded 50-plus in a match on this trip as well.”The team management are showing confidence in Beuran, which is a good sign,” Adams said. “When it comes to performing in big situations, he knows how to get the thing done.” And that is all South Africa need.

The CB40 final provided a glorious end to a forgettable season, with a match to stand alongside the many dramas of this remarkable summer of sport

Alex Winter at Lord's16-Sep-2012Cricket seems to have been surplus to requirements in this Great British summer but at Lord’s, the Clydesdale Bank 40 final provided it with a memorable send off. It was a match the competition badly needed and restored the glory of cricket’s cup final.The one-day competition has been in almost terminal decline since the advent of Twenty20. The switch to 40-overs and a day-night timeslot pushed the tournament further into the wilderness: the inaugural edition in 2010 finished later than the last train home for Somerset fans. But a walk into any of the pubs around St John’s Wood on Saturday evening brought a feeling that the magic was back. 16,500 fans had seen a thriller.Hampshire’s last ball win was their second success in three years by virtue of losing fewer wickets, having taken the 2010 Friends Life t20 by the same condition, but this victory usurped that and this year’s FLt20 title put together. Players, supporters, commentators, coach drivers, were all kept wondering throughout an afternoon that bobbed and weaved and had more shifts of tide than the River Severn. It came down to one ball; a ball which Kabir Ali used to put himself back on the cricketing map.He wouldn’t have played in this match were it not for the absence of Danny Briggs or Dimitri Mascarenhas. Hampshire captain Jimmy Adams admitted it was a “tough pick” but Kabir’s experience and good showing in practice won him a place in the side. He proved a worthy selection, has been included in Hampshire’s squad for the T20 Champions League and possibly earned himself a new contract for next season. “I’m very happy for him, he’s had a tough couple of years,” Adams said.Kabir began in the Warwickshire academy before making New Road his home and excelling for Worcestershire, earning 14 ODI caps for England, all but his debut in 2005 and 2006. His move to Hampshire, for a generous salary, was the move to springboard him back into the England team but injury has seen his two years on the south coast turn him into a forgotten man. But he got over a long knee injury to play his part in one of the great Lord’s finals.”Obviously I was a bit nervous but I’ve worked hard on the yorkers in the last few weeks and it paid off,” said Kabir, who played with a hand injury that he was “a bit lazy” about and didn’t tape up. “I think with seven off the last over, you’re in a situation where you expect the batters to win the game so in a weird way there’s not that much pressure until the last two balls.”The last ball wasn’t exactly where I wanted it but if you get a half-decent Yorker in it’s always difficult to hit, especially with the keeper standing up.”I played a lot of youth cricket at Warwickshire and I’ve grown up with many of the boys so it was special. Neil Carter has hit me a long way a few times.”Carter seemed destined to finish his Warwickshire career in Roy of the Rovers perfection. His boundary off the penultimate ball tied the scores but he failed to get anything on the final delivery and bowed out in desperate defeat. But the old campaigner showed no sign of it dampening his send off as he chatted merrily in the Lord’s Tavern, a return to Cape Town and an international debut for Scotland await.”We thought it was written in the stars for him, especially when he hit that one through extra cover,” Warwickshire captain Jim Troughton said. “I thought it was a gettable total, we posted 250 in the semi-final on a not-as-good wicket, and I backed us in that last over.”It didn’t help losing Chris Wright after three overs. He’s our death bowler but he went in the side and made us jig things around a bit. But we would have taken that total with the batting we’ve got.”Wright removed Michael Carberry after he blazed two sixes in 35 from 31 balls, looking set to replicate his hitting in the semi-final. Wright’s injury forced Troughton to use five overs of Darren Maddy but it was his new-ball pair, Chris Woakes, who conceded 59 in eight overs, and Carter, bowling four wides and going at almost eight-an-over, that accounted for Hampshire’s late-innings surge.It was Simon Katich, Hampshire’s overseas player, who played the best hand in helping Hampshire score 88 in the final 10 overs. He adapted his awkward technique to shuffle around on the crease, deflecting and flicking 35 in 26 balls. He and Sean Ervine, who knows all about crucial innings in finals, added 69 in 43 balls.Katich continually used the word “special” in his post-match comments and it was very apt for an afternoon that restored pride to domestic cricket fans. A season of steady showers and damp squibs was burned away by a glorious September afternoon.Adams seemed ready to talk about it all night. “It’s just brilliant,” he said, accepting that Hampshire enjoyed their slice of luck. “You dare to have a think about how it might be like but I wouldn’t have scripted it like that. Thankfully we’ve come out on the right side of it.”Special mention to Chris Wood, I thought he was outstanding. His first seven overs were fantastic. I had him waving at me saying I’ve got to bowl now and he comes on and takes a wicket. The guy has got an amazing appetite for the game.”David Bowie has been the soundtrack to the summer and Wood, Adams and Kabir made themselves

Each IPL game fetches upwards of £10 million in legal bets. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Will legalising betting in India end the fixing menace once and for all?

Ashok Malik15-Jul-2010What is the quantum of money bet on cricket in India? An exact number is impossible to arrive at but the few statistics that are authoritatively available are revealing. Betfair is the world’s leading sports betting company. It accepts bets online from registered punters who pay using a credit card. It is also an industry innovator in that odds at Betfair are not set by an individual bookmaker or a consortium but by the market: the odds change as the amount bet on or against a particular team or individual player grows.Betfair was born in the summer of 2000, coincidentally within a few weeks of the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal. The two occurrences were, of course, unrelated. Even so the volume of cash Betfair attracts during cricket matches is telling.According to insiders, a top golf tournament, say the US Masters, would attract bets worth £2 to 3 million on Betfair. For a smaller sport, with a very limited geography, cricket seems to do better. During the 2010 World Twenty20 in the West Indies, each match drew bets worth £3 to 4 million. In contrast, this year’s Indian Premier League, which preceded the World Twenty20 by a few days, saw betting amounting to over £12 million on Betfair. “Some of the matches,” says an unimpeachable source, “crossed £15 million in bets.”What do these figures indicate? Frankly, they tell us more about India than about the nature of sport. Cricket is big in India and so is betting. That’s why cricket matches are magnets for such huge betting opportunities. In contrast, golf is not a mass sport in India and there is no great interest in betting on it. Quite obviously, a large percentage of Betfair’s incremental clients – those who become active only during cricket matches and are dormant when it comes to, say, rugby or poker – are either Indian or have an India connection.Betting is illegal in India and Indian credit cards cannot easily be used on betting sites. To access Betfair, an Indian punter has to have either a bank account or a credit card overseas – perhaps borrowed from a friend or cousin. Alternatively, he has to have legal status (as a foreign-exchange earner or non-resident Indian) permitting him to park money abroad. It is not an easy process.It is much smoother, however, to get in touch with a bookie in your town. Indian bookies run trusted client networks. Most of them are honest, in that, even if they cheat the tax man, they don’t lie about the odds available and ensure payments are made on time. If a would-be punter is introduced to a bookie by another client, he can enter the circle, and must play by the rules.When a cricket match is on, all one needs to do is call the bookie. (The bookie changes his mobile number frequently but is certain to keep his clients updated.) On being called, the client is offered two figures and two options: “” and “”.

Indian bookies run trusted client networks. Most of them are honest, in that, even if they cheat the tax man, they don’t lie about the odds available and ensure payments are made on time. If a would-be punter is introduced to a bookie by another client, he can enter the circle, and must play by the rules

This exercise of choice is also a test of the bookie’s business ethics. Let’s suppose India are playing Australia in an ODI and you want to bet on Australia. The bookie offers you the “” (putting) odds. To show he’s not being unfair and giving you incorrect odds, he offers you an option: “” (eating), the odds on betting against Australia, and on India. “In this manner you can back a team or ‘eat’ a team,” says a veteran punter. “The bookie has come clean with you.”How large is this bookie-by-phone market? If an IPL match on Betfair gets about £12 to 15 million per match, it would be a safe expectation that the unofficial, cash-only betting economy is much larger. “I would estimate it is 20-25 times as large,” says a betting specialist, “maybe even 50 times.”Then and now
Online betting wasn’t always this sophisticated or massive, setting odds wasn’t as transparent, and the betting revenue was smaller. Even so, much of the narrative in the section above was true 10 years ago. The secretive network of Indian (or South Asian) bookies and their mobile phones, complete with their code language, still dominated cricket-related gambling and fixing.So what has changed in the past decade? First, the IPL as a phenomenon has gripped not just cricket fans and sponsors but the betting industry as well. That single tournament in the Indian summer attracts a disproportionate amount of betting money. Combined with the fact that the Twenty20 format is so susceptible to a match outcome being decided by just one bad over or one batsman failing at a crucial time, this makes the IPL a potential target for the fixing mafia.These concerns have been voiced elsewhere. The ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit has spoken on the issue. When the two additional IPL teams were auctioned earlier this year, BCCI officials were worried that if a franchise was won by a small-time bidder that promised to pay an unrealistic licence fee and did not have the backing of an obviously rich business house or billionaire, then it would leave the individual franchise vulnerable to manipulation by the betting mafia. This fear was mentioned in the context of at least one bidder who seemed to have somewhat opaque business links.The methodology of fixing – or attempted fixing, since very few matches have been proven to have been fixed – has also evolved. A Test match lasts five days. To pre-determine its result, a large number of players, including at least one of the captains, may need to be compromised. Twenty20 cricket is a much shorter format. Here, fixing one or two players is all a corrupt bookie needs to do.How does this work? Let’s say a team is 45 for 2, chasing 150. An in-form batsman walks in and is expected to hit his team out of trouble. As he reaches the crease, the odds still favour his team but marginally. If he fails and gets out in single figures, then the odds could change substantially.
Now what if a corrupt bookie knows this cricketer is going to fail? What if he has bet a certain amount using the odds available as the batsman walked in and now waits for him to fail, and for the odds to fall?”It’s a bit like the stock market,” explains a punter. “You agree to sell a scrip at Rs 20 at 2pm. But you don’t actually have the stock. You know there’s a big announcement coming that will cause the stock to drop to Rs 18 at 4pm, and you plan to buy then. So you agree to sell at Rs 20 but wait to buy at Rs 18.”The introduction of market-determined odds and the ability of some websites to allow the punter to – within reasonable limits – set his odds or to “buy” or “sell” his wager on a team at differential odds (and so make a profit) have made such situations feasible.Such parameters create conditions for what is called “spot fixing”: asking a single player to do something – whether get out or bowl three successive loose balls that concede boundaries – that significantly alters the immediate odds but may not necessarily decide the final result. Has this happened in the IPL? Frankly, despite rumours, innuendo and apprehensions, there is no hard evidence. Nevertheless, this is a potential pitfall Twenty20 leagues have to look out for.Would legalising betting in India, like it is elsewhere, help in solving the fixing problem?•Getty ImagesLegalise it?
Will legalising betting in India end the fixing menace once and for all? Would bringing Betfair in as a sort of IPL partner – which Lalit Modi had reportedly considered in his time as IPL commissioner – be a good idea?The answer is a mixed one. In a country that bets on everything from cricket matches to the amount of rain that will fall in a day, legal betting would seem logical. It would earn the government revenue in the form of service tax and income tax. Those who run large-scale betting companies are unlikely to want to corrupt sport and bribe players. A Betfair or a Ladbrokes is a genuine corporate operation, not a cartel of the corrupt.Yet what happens when a betting company becomes the setting – rather than the protagonist – of a sports corruption scandal? A prostitution racket may be run out of a hotel with the hotel’s management being completely innocent of what its guests are doing. Legalising betting, especially online betting, cannot eliminate the potential for fixing.In the end, it boils down to that one cricketer who is induced by a smarmy man in a shiny suit to throw his wicket away or bowl that one very expensive over, with two no-balls and a wide for good measure. At the root of that is temptation and greed. It is a basic instinct; and you can’t use the law to defeat it.

Younis Khan was run out for 199 in the Test against India

Steven Lynch16-Jan-2006The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket:

Younis Khan was run out for 199 in the Test against India at Lahore – is this unique? asked Gulfraz Ali from Delhi
Younis Khan was the seventh person to be out for 199 in a Test match, but he was the first one to be run out. An unlucky thirteen people have been run out for 99 in Tests (for a full list of 99s – and 199s – click here). During the 2005 English domestic season, Jason Gallian of Nottinghamshire was run out for 199 twice, an unwanted feat that is unique in first-class cricket.I recently heard that Michael Slater made nine 99s in Tests. This seems like a lot – is it a record? asked Mark Berger from Australia
Fortunately for Michael Slater, he didn’t make nine 99s in Tests – but he was out nine times in the nineties (i.e. between 90 and 99), which is indeed a record. Steve Waugh, Slater’s sometime team-mate and captain, recorded ten scores in the nineties, but two of those were not outs. As this list shows, among current players Rahul Dravid has had eight Test scores in the nineties and Inzamam-ul-Haq seven, both with one not-out.Is Jeetan Patel, New Zealand’s new offspinner, related to Dipak Patel, who played for them in the 1980s? asked Bob Andrews from Stourbridge
Jeetan Patel, who was born in Wellington in 1980, made his debut for New Zealand last August, and has so far played four one-day internationals for them. As far as I know he is not related to Dipak Patel, who was born in Kenya, was talked of as an England prospect when he played for Worcestershire, and later moved to Auckland. He played 37 Tests and 75 ODIs for New Zealand, with a highest score of 99 at Christchurch in 1991-91 – when he was run out by England’s Derek Pringle, who was also born in Kenya.

I remember Kapil Dev taking nine wickets in a Test innings, how many people have missed out on the “Perfect Ten” by just one wicket? asked Mukul Naik from Bangalore
There have been 15 instances of a bowler taking nine wickets in a Test innings: Muttiah Muralitharan is the only man to have done it twice. Jim Laker, who took 9 for 37 for England against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956, went one better in the second innings and took all 10 for 53. The only other bowler to capture all ten wickets in a Test innings is Anil Kumble, for India against Pakistan at Delhi in 1998-99. The unluckiest of the nine-for men was arguably Richard Hadlee, against Australia at Brisbane in 1985-86: he took the first eight wickets to fall, then caught the ninth one off the bowling off Vaughan Brown (it was his only Test wicket). For a full list of bowlers taking nine or ten wickets in an innings, click here.Who was the bowler who dismissed Don Bradman for 0 in his final Test innings? asked Terry Beale from Aberdeen
The man who brought The Don`s Test career to an end a boundary short of an average of 100 was the legspinner Eric Hollies. It was Bradman’s second ball at The Oval in 1948, and Hollies was bowling over the wicket (not round it, as some newsreel films suggest). Bradman groped a little for a googly and was bowled – he later denied that he had “tears in his eyes at the thought that this was his last Test match. Hollies had a long career – he played for Warwickshire from 1932 to 1957, and still heads their wicket-taking lists with 2201 at 20.45. He first played for England in 1934-35, and took 44 wickets in 13 Tests in all. He died in 1981, aged 68.Has anyone been stranded on 99 in a one-day international when the overs ran out? asked Johnny Boxall from Adelaide
This annoying fate has befallen four batsmen. The first was Bruce Edgar of New Zealand, who was one short of his hundred against India at Auckland in 1980-81 when the overs ran out. At Adelaide in 1984-85 it happened to Dean Jones, for Australia against Sri Lanka (Allan Border did reach three figures, though). Andy Flower was stranded on 99 for Zimbabwe against Australia at Harare in 1999-2000, and so was Ramnaresh Sarwan for West Indies against India at Ahmedabad in 2002-03. In slightly different circumstances, Richie Richardson of West Indies had reached 99 not out when the winning run was scored in a match against Pakistan at Sharjah in 1985-86. A similar bitter-sweet fate awaited Alistair Campbell, for Zimbabwe against New Zealand at Bulawayo in 2000-01. For a full list of batsmen scoring 99 in an ODI, click here.

Prior success against South Africa counts for nothing in tournament-ending loss

Valkerie Baynes24-Feb-2023England Women leave the T20 World Cup determined that their shock semi-final defeat at the hands of South Africa won’t define them or do anything to alter their newly branded attacking style.South Africa stifled England with a perfect performance before a 7,507-strong home crowd at Newlands to secure a place in Sunday’s final against Australia, after asking England to break their own record for the highest successful run-chase at a T20 World Cup – they got within seven runs of doing so.England put in a scratchy performance in the field as South Africa reached a total of 164 for 4, then lost five wickets in the last five overs of their pursuit. However, Heather Knight, their captain, credited the result to the hosts’ ability to assert pressure, rather than any nerves on her side’s part.”There’s certainly things you can do better,” Knight said. “The experience of playing under what was an awesome crowd was a great experience and I think the younger players in particular will learn a lot from that. A lot of them have played in front of big crowds, but when there’s so much on it and when it’s a World Cup semi-final, that does add to it.”But I think remembering, as a side, this match doesn’t define us. The way we’ve made a mentality shift and changed the way we want to play a little bit, and really tried to take the game forward, is something we should be really proud of and we’ll keep faith in. In T20 cricket, sometimes you’re going to lose games unfortunately. And today wasn’t our day.”The more assertive approach cemented since Jon Lewis’s appointment as head coach late last year saw England, like Australia, go undefeated through the group stage where they bludgeoned 213 for 5 in a record-breaking 114-run victory over Pakistan.”The way we’ve played has certainly been entertaining and it’s certainly the way forward to being successful,” Knight said. “There’s always risk in playing that way, but it shows that we’ve nearly chased that down. That is the right strategy to go forward. I think we’re building something nicely, obviously it hasn’t quite come off in this tournament, unfortunately, and today, but I think the future looks bright.”South Africa, meanwhile, had dropped two group games, including the tournament opener at Newlands against Sri Lanka. They also lost by six wickets in Gqeberha to Australia, who have beaten South Africa in all six of their T20I meetings. England, too, had a favourable 19-3 win-loss record against South Africa heading into this match, and they had beaten them three times in as many World Cup semi-finals – once at the 2014 T20 tournament and at the 2017 and 2022 ODI events.”We certainly believed as a side that we could win,” Knight said. “The crowd behind them was certainly a factor, you certainly felt it as the opposition. I think they held their nerve pretty well. Their bowlers took it as deep as they could and picked up a few wickets, which meant the rate climbed quite quickly. They seemed pretty clear under pressure.”Related

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England were well ahead in the powerplay at 55 for 2 after South Africa had recovered from a slow start which had them 14 for 0 after four overs and 37 for 0 after six. Even at the halfway point of England’s innings they were in front, but after Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits had laid a foundation with a 96-run opening stand, Marizanne Kapp held her nerve despite Sophie Ecclestone’s two wickets in three balls in the penultimate over of the innings. Katherine Sciver-Brunt conceded 18 runs off the final over and Kapp ended 27 not out off 13 balls.England lost wickets in clusters as Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka piled on the pressure, first with Ismail’s raw pace and later by taking pace off and making it difficult for the batters to find the boundary. Add in Brits’ record-equalling four catches, including a wonderful diving effort at midwicket to remove Alice Capsey for a duck – one of six England batters who failed to reach double figures – and the efforts of Danni Wyatt and Sophia Dunkley to get them off to good start and 47-run stand between Nat Sciver-Brunt and Knight was negated.Amy Jones, who had contributed two valuable scores in the 40s in the previous two matches but fell victim to Khaka early on this occasion, said England simply failed to execute in the key moments.”South Africa came at us hard and in front of a home crowd really put on a show,” Jones said. “There were times when it was in the balance and we started really well for both innings and we were ahead of the game, so the back end of both innings is where we lost it and in the field at times as well.”Throughout this tournament we’ve said we want to put pressure on the opposition at any point and stick to our strengths, and in the field that looks like completely attacking the ball and throwing yourself around and supporting your team-mates as much as possible. We did that, I think it was just execution and, similarly at the back end as well with the bat, we took positive options and stuck to our strengths, but lost too many wickets.”We wanted to win this game more than anything, but I think going forward, it’s something we believe in, something that we’ll continue to do and will stand us in good stead.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Em duelo válido pela8ª rodada do Campeonato Paulista, Portuguesa e Corinthians se enfrentam em Brasília, neste domingo (12), às 16h.O confronto, que originalmente foi marcado para o estádio do Canindé, em São Paulo, teve o seu local modificado para a Arena Mané Garrincha a pedido do time mandante, que vendeu o evento para o portal Metrópoles, que é sediado em Brasília.

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasCorinthiansTítulos, investimento e engajamento: especialistas analisam hegemonia do Corinthians no futebol femininoCorinthians11/02/2023CorinthiansDupla retorna, e Corinthians fecha preparação para encarar a Portuguesa sem Maycon; veja provável escalaçãoCorinthians11/02/2023Futebol LatinoEx-Corinthians, Araos vive ‘drama’ no mercado da bola; entendaFutebol Latino11/02/2023

+ Erro de Balbuena custa caro em noite desastrosa da defesa do Corinthians

O veículo pagou R$ 1 milhão ao clube rubro-verde para que o jogo acontecesse na capital federal, conforme informação publicada em primeira mão pelo LANCE!, no dia 18 de janeiro.

+ Veja as movimentações do mercado da bola no LANCE!

A Lusa, lanterna do Grupo D com quatro pontos, é o primeiro time dentro da zona do rebaixamento. A equipe de Gilson Kleina vem de quatro derrotas consecutivas e quer os três pontos para respirar no Paulistão.

Já o Timão teve a sua sequência de vitórias interrompida pelo São Bernardo, que venceu a equipe de Fernando Lázaro por 2 a 0 na última quinta-feira (9). O técnico corintiano terá os retornos de Renato Augusto e Yuri Alberto, mas Fagner e Maycon não viajaram com o elenco alvinegro para Brasília.

+ Veja tabela e simule os jogos do Campeonato Paulista

PORTUGUESA X CORINTHIANS
CAMPEONATO PAULISTA – 8ª RODADA
Local: Arena Mané Garrincha, em Brasília (DF)
Data e hora: 12 de fevereiro de 2023, às 16h
Árbitro: Douglas Marques das Flores (SP)
Assistentes: Daniel Luis Marques (SP) e Robson Ferreira Oliveira (SP)
Árbitro de vídeo: José Cláudio Rocha Filho (SP)
Onde assistir: Paulistão Play, Premiere, Record e no tempo real do LANCE!

PORTUGUESA (Técnico: Gilson Kleina)
Thomazella; Pará, Vitor Ramos, Bruno e Thallyson; Madison, Lucas Nathan, Tauã e Daniel Costa; Lucas Paraizo e João Victor.

DESFALQUES:-

PENDURADOS:-

CORINTHIANS (Técnico: Fernando Lázaro)
Cássio; Rafael Ramos, Bruno Méndez, Gil (Balbuena) e Fábio Santos; Fausto Vera (Roni), Du Queiroz, Renato Augusto (Giuliano) e Adson; Róger Guedes e Yuri Alberto (Romero).

DESFALQUES:Fagner (suspenso); Maycon (transição); Cantillo (trabalho individual no gramado); Gustavo Mosquito (rompimento ligamento cruzado anterior do joelho direito) e Ruan Oliveira rompimento (ligamento cruzado anterior do joelho esquerdo)

PENDURADOS:Roni

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Need to adapt techniques in full glare of international spotlight makes team a work in progress

Valkerie Baynes26-May-2024England’s pursuit of the perfect ODI performance must wait until their final fixture against Pakistan at least, after their second match was washed out.A heavy storm which forced Sunday’s abandonment at Taunton after just 6.5 overs means Pakistan must wait until the last match of their tour at Chelmsford on Wednesday for another chance to level the series. With Pakistan all but out of the race to qualify directly for next year’s 50-over World Cup, it may be the best they can hope for, along with more match experience. England, meanwhile, can go undefeated if they win there, having swept the T20Is 3-0 and secured what Knight branded a “scrappy” 37-run victory in the first 50-over match.”We just want to put in a good performance,” Knight said. “I think probably we haven’t done that so far … well, I don’t think we’ve done it in our last few ODIs, to be honest. So yeah, you’re striving for that perfect performance aren’t you, and trying to put all facets of the game together. We want to finish this leg of the summer really well.”But Knight also revealed there’s more at stake for England’s players, namely trying out new things in the glare of the international spotlight.Seamer Lauren Bell, who was rested from the Taunton match in favour of Lauren Filer, has been experimenting with changes to her action during games, while Sophia Dunkley, who was recalled to the ODI side for the final two matches against Pakistan, told ESPNcricinfo in December that she had made some technical changes, a process Knight said had continued heading into the winter tour of New Zealand where Dunkley ultimately lost her spot amid a prolonged lean spell.Dunkley was listed on the team sheet at No. 12 in Taunton, having made a century, a fifty and an unbeaten 48 for South East Stars in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Related

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“The amount of work that she did, around not just her technical stuff, but around her mental side of things and having a bit of a pre-ball routine, there’s no doubt that those things would pay off eventually, they just didn’t pay off for her in New Zealand,” Knight said. “It has been really great to see Dunks going away and getting runs, that’s exactly what we wanted her to do.”Lauren Bell is tweaking something technically with her bowling and she’s doing it in games, which is a really hard thing to do and it can affect your output a little bit as well. But the girls are really good at seeing it as long-term progress and in order to be it in the future you have to kind of do it in the here and now.”Knight added that learning on the hop was a growing facet of the women’s game amid an increasingly busy schedule, which culminates this year in the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh followed by the 2025 ODI event in India.”With the amount of cricket we now play, there’s not huge blocks where you can go and really hone your game and improve those things technically, so it’s important that we keep trying to move forward as cricketers, and then sometimes you do have to do it in games,” she said. “That’s really a tricky thing to do and I think it’s really brave thing to do, and it’s a philosophy of us as a group that we want to keep moving forward. To do that sometimes you might have to maybe go backwards little bit, to then make a huge leap forward.”Knight was pleased with what little her bowlers were able to do on Sunday. Kate Cross sent down one maiden and conceded 11 runs from her 3.5 overs while quick Filer had a catch put down by Sophie Ecclestone at slip off Sidra Amin, as well as a further half-chance at point off Sadaf Shamas, and was 0 for 18 from her three overs. Shamas edged another off Filer which just eluded Knight at second slip and Nat Sciver-Brunt also missed a shy at the stumps in a bid to run out Sidra.”As a bowling unit, I think the girls were quite disappointed with the other day, it was a little bit scrappy and not quite up to our best,” Knight said of the first ODI in Derby, where England were unable to take the final wicket to bowl Pakistan out. “We had some really good conversations about trying to put it right today. I thought the control that Kate showed and then Lauren at the other end just making things happen, it felt like there was a lot going on. With a few chances, we felt like we should have had a couple of on the board.”

Alex Carey was the beneficiary when Shamar Joseph breached his defences only for a spinning bail to remain on its groove

Andrew McGlashan26-Jan-20241:57

Gabba Test, Day 2: Australia climb out of a hole

Do West Indies believe they can win? For a little while, as they cut through Australia’s top order in double quick time at the Gabba, it was just possible for the mind to drift back to the past. The quicks roaring in, a line of five slips stood well back and the ball climbing through past the edges, shoulders and heads of the batters, plenty of whom were soon in the dressing room.Steven Smith missed one that nipped back, Marnus Labuschagne fended into the cordon and was brilliantly held by debutant Kevin Sinclair, who had already scored his maiden Test fifty, Cameron Green drove to mid-off and Travis Head glanced down the leg side first ball. Australia went to dinner on 24 for 4. A short while later Mitchell Marsh’s brief counterattack ended with a miscued pull to mid-on.Then Alex Carey’s off bail refused to drop. The ball from Shamar Joseph nipped past the inside edge and there was an appeal for caught behind because of the sound. West Indies didn’t review. The replay showed the zing bail spinning in its groove. clocked the ball was travelling at 115kph. Carey was on 8 and had the bail fallen they would have been 72 for 6.Related

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“We only saw it on TV inside. No one knew,” Kemar Roach said. “There was a noise, but everyone thought it was the pad. Sometimes you need some luck and it didn’t go for us today. Would have been a different game, I think, at 70 for 6.”At the end of the over Carey was on 10 off 15 balls; in another 23 deliveries he had brought up his half-century and the mood was changing. When he flicked to deep square leg and Mitchell Starc soon followed, the deficit was still 150. Yet before the close Pat Cummins, having flayed his career-best, felt confident enough to declare behind and have a crack at West Indies’ top with the new ball under lights.Alex Carey raced to his half-century in 38 balls•Cricket Australia/Getty Images”I didn’t go out there with that [his scoring rate] in mind,” Carey said. “I felt like I reacted pretty well to what was bowled at me and had good intent. Think we’ve seen that this summer with Mitch Marsh and Travis Head, they play that way. Would have been nice to get a few more but to be where we are after a difficult start, we are certainly in this game of cricket.”Having made the major inroads, the West Indies were in a position rarely seen for visiting sides in Australia. Pakistan had a taste of it at the MCG when they had the home side 16 for 4, but Australia had taken a first-innings lead on that occasion. There was a realistic chance West Indies could earn a decisive advantage but, after Carey’s moment of fortune, they couldn’t stem the run rate. It finished as Australia’s fourth-quickest 250-plus total in Tests – two of those above it were in the second innings to set a target and the other back in 1902.”We knew that the wicket gets better after the new ball disappears so we knew it would be hard work and Australia bat deep,” Roach said. “We haven’t won [in Australia] in a long time. We don’t really come here too often, but guys really want to come here and leave a mark. To win a Test match in Australia as a young side with a lot of debutants and guys who have played less than ten Tests, that would set a really good mark for us.”Until the dying moments of the day it appeared West Indies’ openers would get through a nasty 35 minutes unscathed after Smith spilled a chance at second slip. Then Tagenarine Chanderpaul was given out caught behind on review to the smallest of spikes. West Indies lead by 35. Do they believe?