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Somerset’s victory in the West Country derby satisfied local tastes as Taunton favourite Peter Trego lay waste to the Gloucestershire attack

ECB Reporters Network06-Jul-2018
ScorecardSomerset began their Vitality Blast campaign in style with a rousing six-wicket win over arch-rivals Gloucestershire at Taunton.A 7,000 crowd saw the visitors post 188 for 6 after losing the toss, Ryan Higgins leading the way with 55 off 35 balls and Jack Taylor contributing 34. Roelof van der Merwe was the pick of the Somerset bowlers, conceding only 22 from his four overs.In reply, Steve Davies (60) and Peter Trego (72 not out) set about an injury-hit Gloucestershire attack with a blistering second-wicket stand of 90 in 7.1 overs to lay the foundation for a convincing victory with 19 balls to spareGloucestershire were never able to go into overdrive on a true pitch, losing wickets at vital times. Jamie Overton conceded 20 off the final over and was grateful to see Tom Abell take a brilliant diving catch at wide long-on to end Higgins’ entertaining knock.The late blast meant took Gloucestershire to a reasonable total, having been 158 for five at the end of the 18th over, bowled by wily left-arm spinner van der Merwe.

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Miles Hammond, Michael Klinger, Benny Howell and Ian Cockbain all got starts only to surrender their wickets for scores of less than 23 as Somerset rotated their bowlers constantly,.It took a fifth-wicket stand of 58 in less than six overs between Taylor and Higgins to guide Gloucestershire to respectability. But the entire innings featured only 3 sixes on a high-scoring ground with some short boundaries.The second over of Somerset’s reply saw Davies spilled at deep square by Higgins off Liam Norwell, the ball dropping over the boundary for six. Davies then took a four and another six off the next two deliveries.Higgins then held a catch in the deep to dismiss Johann Myburgh off David Payne, but Gloucestershire’s problems worsened when Norwell, his season already ravaged by injury, hobbled off after bowling only three balls of his second over.Davies and Trego piled on the pressure with some savage strokeplay, taking Somerset to 94 for one off seven overs by smiting 53 off 18 balls, sent down by Howell, Thisara Perera.and Tom Smith. The half-century stand occupied just 25 deliveries.Davies went to 50 off 21 balls with a six off Howell in the eighth over, also bringing up the hundred and Gloucestershire needed a miracle.
Higgins had Davies caught on the deep-square boundary, but there was no let-up as James Hildreth smashed Payne for six and collected another maximum off Tom Smith with a reverse sweep.Hildreth fell for 25 to another big swing, but Trego moved to fifty off 30 balls and Corey Anderson (24) helped see Somerset home.

Our live report from Taunton for the opening rounds of the Women’s T20 Triangular

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2018Welcome to our live blog for the opening matches in the Women’s T20 Triangular between England, South Africa and New Zealand. We will be bringing you updates, stats and colour from the first two games at Taunton, starting with New Zealand v South Africa at 1pm, and continuing with England v South Africa at 5.40pm

Praveen Kumar has joined India’s long list of injured players on the tour of England, missing the fourth Test at The Oval because of an injury to his left ankle

Nagraj Gollapudi at The Oval18-Aug-2011Praveen Kumar has joined India’s long list of injured players on the tour of England, missing the fourth Test at The Oval because of an injury to his left ankle. Praveen sustained the injury during the second innings of the third Test at Edgbaston, which India lost by an innings and 242 runs to give up the No. 1 Test ranking.Praveen’s unavailability further depleted an Indian attack already missing its spearhead – Zaheer Khan. Zaheer played no more part in India’s campaign after limping out of the first innings at Lord’s with a hamstring problem. It was later revealed that he also had an ankle injury, for which he had surgery in London on August 15.”Praveen Kumar was suffering from pain in his left ankle from an injury sustained while bowling in the second innings of the third Test between England and India at Edgbaston,” Anirudh Chaudhary, India’s team manager, said. “Treatment was administered to him and he has been responding well. However, there are still some residual symptoms in his ankle due to which he was ruled out of the fourth Test.”The intrigue over Praveen’s availability at The Oval remained until the toss, when MS Dhoni said RP Singh would play ahead of Munaf Patel in Praveen’s absence.Praveen was India’s best bowler on the tour, and the third highest wicket-taker in the series, after Stuart Broad and James Anderson, with 15 wickets. He bowled seven overs on the third morning at Edgbaston, before returning late in the afternoon to bowl what turned out to be the penultimate over of the innings, with England declaring at the fall of Alastair Cook’s wicket. Next morning Praveen injured his right thumb off the fourth ball he faced, trying to fend off a short-ball from Anderson.

Sri Lanka survived Shahid Afridi’s finest innings and Shoaib Akhtar on comeback through some desperate fielding and lovely bowling from Lasith Malinga

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga15-Jun-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Hawk-eyeDon’t go by the strike-rate of 143.42, or the seven sixes – this was arguably Shahid Afridi’s most mature innings•Associated Press

Sri Lanka survived Shahid Afridi’s finest innings and Shoaib Akhtar on comeback through some desperate fielding and lovely bowling from Lasith Malinga. The batsmen before Afridi seemed either incompetent of or uninterested in the chase, the batsmen with him seemed intent on running themselves out, his cramp-induced groans could be heard through the stump microphone, he hobbled the last 17 of his runs, and he had taken Pakistan from 32 for 4 to within 39 of the target when Kumar Sangakkara produced a catch for the ages. Malinga, coming back into ODI cricket, then produced a lethal three-over spell inside the batting Powerplay to wipe the tail off much in the fashion Pakistanis are used to doing with others.It was a match of top-class performances all through. Shoaib struggled physically through his 10 overs, but bowled with pace and fire to keep Sri Lanka in rebuilding mode, the ever-improving Angelo Mathews scored a fifty with the tail to give Sri Lanka something to bowl at, Malinga had some fun with the Pakistan top order, Afridi played an absolute blinder, and then Malinga finished it off ruthlessly.Captaincy seems to have done something to Afridi. It was hands down his most mature innings. Don’t go by the strike-rate of 143.42, or the seven sixes, or the demolition of Muttiah Muralitharan (51 off 25), this was every bit a batsman’s knock and not a happy hitter’s. When he walked in, the game was so not on, with four wickets down for 32 in the 14th over.Afridi then reminded the crowd Pakistan were indeed trying to win the match. Just like that, he smacked the first two balls pitched up to him for sixes. Farveez Maharoof was at the receiving end, and learned his lesson fast: he hardly pitched anything up in the rest of his spell, and bowled some impressive cutters, but didn’t court success.You could sense Sri Lanka were now waiting for the inevitable mistake from Afridi. You could sense Afridi was not going to make that inevitable mistake. The deep fielders waited for catches, all they got was shots to their right or their left that got Pakistan couples. Umar Akmal joined in the process, and the pair began to use the big ground to their advantage. On nine occasions they managed to take couples during their 73-run fifth-wicket stand. In a further exhibition of calculated hitting, Afridi lofted Murali for four sixes in four overs, all over his head, all risk-free.With cause for worry, Sangakkara brought Malinga back for the 25th over, and Umar set off for a suicidal single having defended straight to short cover. And Tillakaratne Dilshan is not the man to steal sharp singles off. Umar’s brother, Kamran Akmal, way better with the batting gloves than the keeping ones, started another important partnership.Afridi now took his innings to a level higher, finding gaps through the field for fours. Murali was welcomed back with a swept boundary in the 32nd over, taking Afridi to 74, and Pakistan to 154. Off the second ball, Kamran got run out. Still no impact on Afridi. He was not fazed even by a short ball from Malinga that he couldn’t spot. A fantastic slower ball followed, which he was deceived by but still managed to glance it for four.Nuwan Kulasekara came back and bounced Afridi. The effort involved in playing one of those bumpers brought Afridi down like a sack of potatoes. He was 92 then. It isn’t clear whether he didn’t ask for a runner or wasn’t allowed one. In the 40th over, he punched Mathews to the point boundary to reach his hundred. More cramps. In the 41st, he lofted Murali for a fifth six, and before the ball could land, way beyond the straight boundary, Afridi was down on the ground again.Then came the turning point. Murali got one to break in big, Afridi was cramped down the leg side, it bounced on him, took his glove, went towards slip, and Sangakkara, who had already committed down the leg side, dived to his right and pulled off a one-handed blinder. Sangakkara sensed blood, Abdul Razzaq thought it was time to finish the game off. With 33 required in the last eight, the Powerplay was called for.Back came Malinga. He bowled to Mohammad Aamer with a 7-2 off-side field, pushed him back with back-of-a-length deliveries, and then gave him a full, reverse-swinging delivery that took out the off stump. Too good. Out came Shoaib, with a chance to redeem what could have been his day. He kept out a yorker, took a single, and was given strike for two balls. He expected another yorker, but got a crazy slower ball and holed out to mid-off. Too good.Last man Mohammad Asif played out the last ball, and Razzaq refused the single. In the next over, he took a boundary off Murali and a single off the last ball. Last over for Malinga, and of the Powerplay, with 19 required off 24, and one wicket in hand. Razzaq played out four deliveries. Off the fifth he was hit on the thigh and he took the risk of letting Asif play out one delivery. Mistake. Malinga hit the bull’s eye. Too good.While Malinga went on a celebratory run, an injured and broken Afridi couldn’t even come for the presentation. Perhaps he didn’t deserve to lose on the night, but then again many of his team-mates didn’t deserve to win. More importantly Malinga did enough to win.

Despite a quick 69-run opening stand, India were tested by the 229 target

Sidharth Monga20-Feb-20254:30

Manjrekar: There’s an air of dominance around Gill

Shubman Gill dug deep for his slowest ODI hundred and India’s slowest in the last six years to see India through a tricky chase of 229 that must have brought back memories of their 2-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka last August on similarly slow tracks. Despite a quick 69-run opening stand, India were tested by a target that was kept to 229 in the main by Mohammed Shami, who took his sixth ODI five-for and became the quickest man to 200 ODI wickets in terms of balls bowled to get there.Both sides will rue missed opportunities in their Champions Trophy opener. Bangladesh won a crucial toss on a tired pitch with no dew expected to make chasing easier, but they got off to such a poor start that they needed three dropped catches and a superlative fighting hundred from Towhid Hridoy to stay in the contest. India had Bangladesh down at 35 for 5, Axar Patel was on a hat-trick, and Rohit Sharma dropped a sitter, and that was followed by two more lives for the record-breaking sixth-wicket pair. It allowed Bangladesh to get to a total that denied India a net-run-rate boost, which can prove crucial if they happen to lose one of their three matches.Related

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India will still consider this a banana peel survived, having misread the conditions and wanted to field first should they have won the toss. On a slow pitch with no assistance for the quicks, they were gifted early wickets through some indiscriminate hitting. Bangladesh possibly felt the new ball was the best time to bat: they didn’t wait for a bad ball on offer and kept losing wickets. The first three fell to ambitious shots to plain good-length bowling with little seam.Bangladesh were 35 for 3 when Axar was introduced in the ninth over. Tanzid Hasan, the only batter who had looked comfortable, played him for the turn and paid the ultimate price with an outside edge. Mushfiqur Rahim, arguably batting too late at No. 6 especially in the absence of the injured Mahmudullah, played the original line, and was done in by the rare one that turned. Axar slowed down the hat-trick ball, Jaker Ali obliged with an edge, which Rohit spilled.Soon Hardik Pandya dropped Hridoy on 23 in Kuldeep Yadav’s first over. Scoring runs was still a task on the sluggish surface, more than ten overs went without a boundary, but also India went through the middle overs without a single wicket for the first time since the 2023 World Cup final. Jaker did provide an opportunity on 24 but this time KL Rahul missed the stumping off Ravindra Jadeja.

The duo found their touch deeper into the innings, but Hridoy was hampered by cramps. Shami returned to the challenging task of bowling with a short leg-side boundary but used the slower ball wide outside off to not just deny them boundaries but also collect three more wickets. A cameo from Rishad Hossain and Hridoy’s fight despite crippling cramps took Bangladesh to a total that proved competitive.Rohit continued his high-intent starts of recent times, and Gill matched him shot for shot as India raced away from the three Bangladesh quicks. Just before the field was about to spread, Rohit fell for 41 off 36 in a bid to make one last use of the field restrictions. Immediately, scoring became laborious. Even the master accumulator Virat Kohli struggled to manipulate the ball into gaps before falling to a legspinner again, this one with the letters scrambled from Rashid to Rishad.Shreyas Iyer played the conditions for a while, but once he got a couple and a boundary off Mustafizur Rahman, he over-reached and lobbed a slower ball to mid-off to be dismissed for 15 off 17. Promoted for the dual task of breaking the sequence of right-hand batters and also have an eye on the net run-rate, Axar skied a slog-sweep, failing to read the Rishad topspinner.Shubman Gill scored his slowest ODI hundred•AFP / Getty Images

The last three wickets had fallen for 75 runs and had taken 20.2 overs. You would have thought the sight of KL Rahul would have brought calm to the proceedings, but he tried an uncharacteristic hoick early on only to be dropped by Jaker, whom he had himself reprieved earlier in the day. That proved to be the last opportunity for Bangladesh even as India overcame the ghosts of the failed chases in Sri Lanka last year.The man to thank was Gill, who anchored the chase and made sure he was there at the end. He was 26 off 23 when Rohit got out, but as the conditions changed, he tightened his game and took only selective risks. His next boundary came only when the skiddy fast bowler Tanzim Hasan came back in the 32nd over. By that time had brought up his slowest half-century.Gill was content with singles off the spinners and even Mustafizur, who bowls a wicked slower ball to make use of these conditions. He scored just 30 off the 52 balls following Rohit’s dismissal, then went into middle gears before finishing it off in glory. He needed 12 out of the 19 runs to bring up a hundred, and hit a six and a four off Tanzim to get to the mark off 125 balls and take his customary bow. Rahul took India home with a six off Tanzim with 21 balls to spare.

England captain encouraged by improvement in left knee as he looks to reprise fourth-seamer role this summer

Vithushan Ehantharajah11-Apr-2023Ben Stokes has requested “fast, flat” wickets for the Ashes this summer and revealed he has an XI in mind for the first Test at Edgbaston on June 16.Since taking over as Test captain at the start of last summer, Stokes’ team, under the guidance of head coach Brendon McCullum, has adopted a quicker scoring rate that has propelled England to 10 wins out of 12. In that period, their 4.76 runs per over is the highest of the 11 nations to have played Test cricket. The approach and success has created optimism of reclaiming the urn off Australia for the first time since 2015.Speaking to Sky Sports while out in the IPL, Stokes said he has spoken to curators at the five venues and asked for pitches conducive to England’s style of play, even though he accepts this may play into Australia’s hands, given they possess a quicker bowling attack.”We’ve been very clear, especially with the ground staff around England, about what type of wickets we want,” Stokes said. “And they’ve been very responsive to us which has been good.”We want fast, flat wickets. We want to go out there and score quickly. It brings their [Australia’s] guys in: if they’ve got fast wickets to bowl on then they’ll be happy with that as well.”Stokes also reiterated his desire to have up to eight bowlers to choose from ahead of every match, emphasising his 90mph-plus options in Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Olly Stone.Wood is currently leading wicket-taker at the IPL with nine dismissals for Lucknow Super Giants, while Stone bowled 30 overs for Nottinghamshire in the opening round of the County Championship. Archer, however, seems to have suffered a setback in the last week.Ben Stokes was able to bowl “pain-free” for CSK as left knee improves•BCCI

The 28-year-old has missed two matches for Mumbai Indians after discomfort in his right elbow – the same elbow which kept him out for 18 months with a stress fracture. Mumbai are optimistic he will return for Sunday’s fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders.Stokes expects Archer to play some red-ball cricket before making a return to the squad after a two-year absence. That Wood and Stone are fit and firing does allow Archer breathing room, particularly given his lack of multi-day cricket since 2021. With James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson preparing for their opening round of County Championship cricket this week, England are well-stocked for the time being. The England captain has asked the ECB medical personnel to ensure that remains the case come June and across a schedule of five Ashes Tests in six weeks.”I think I know what the starting XI is going to be, there or thereabouts,” Stokes said. “I think having the option to have someone who can bowl above 90mph is what any captain wants. When it comes to that first Test match, I’ll be making sure that I pick the best team for that first game.”With our bowling group, I’ve asked the medical team to give us the best opportunity to have eight bowlers to select from for every game. I think this year’s Ashes in particular, the games are quite close together. Being able to have those resources available every game is something I’m really keen to have.”I could pick a 20-man squad (right now) because that’s how fortunate we are at the moment to be able to pick from this group of English players who are so good at the moment.”Related

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On his own fitness, Stokes believes there has been considerable improvement in his troublesome left knee, buoyed by a “pain-free” over for Chennai Super Kings against Lucknow Super Giants eight days ago. Though the over went for 18, and he missed Saturday’s victory over Mumbai Indians, albeit due to an issue with his foot, the allrounder is encouraged by the progress made so far. He has already come a long way since February’s tour of New Zealand when Stokes was only able to bowl nine overs across the two-match series.”I’ve worked so hard over the last month, five weeks, to get where I am now,” he said. “Being able to bowl pain-free – touch wood – has been good. Even (though that over), I went for 18 runs, but I was like ‘oh I managed to bowl an over without pain in my knee’. That’s down to a lot of hard work I’ve done – medically, in the gym and obviously had a bit of help with some cortisone injections (before travelling to India).”By no means a long-term remedy, Stokes has not ruled out further injections during the summer in a bid to fulfill his role as the fourth seamer.”The main priority for me is making sure that I can fulfil my role as fourth seamer in the Ashes.”I’ve had some good conversations with the people who are employed to look after us, body-wise. I said I’ll be doing everything I can whilst I’m in India to make sure that when we get to the Ashes, I’ll give myself the best opportunity to do my role.”I’ll do whatever I can to get myself through but, medical team, if there’s anything you guys can do to help to get me through that, then please do.”

Updates, analysis and colour from the 2nd Test

Alan Gardner14-Feb-2021*Most recent entry will appear at the top, please refresh your page for the latest updates. All times are local

4.30pm: Stumps

India took giant strides towards levelling the series in Chennai after running through England and then building steadily on a 195-run lead. Fifteen wickets fell in the day, R Ashwin claiming five of them in an innings for the 29th time in Tests, as England’s hopes of hanging in the contest on a turning pitch were obliterated in two sessions of skittish batting.England were in trouble from the outset of their reply, losing Rory Burns in the opening over and Joe Root, the batting talisman during three consecutive wins in Sri Lanka and India, before he had managed double – let alone triple – figures. They sneaked past the follow-on mark thanks to a nuggety, unbeaten 42 from Ben Foakes, but India were doubtless content to bat again on their commanding lead, and leave England to worry about facing their demons again on days three and four.

4.20pm: Shots fired (or not)