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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

Cameron Bancroft’s first experience of county cricket proved to be a galling one after he was penalised under the ECB’s discipline code for dissent on his Gloucestershire debut

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2016Cameron Bancroft’s first experience of county cricket proved to be a galling one after he was penalised under the ECB’s discipline code for dissent on his Gloucestershire debut.Bancroft showed his displeasure after he was adjudged caught at the wicket off Essex’s pace bowler Jamie Porter for a third-ball duck – his second single-figure score of the match while opening the batting in Gloucestershire’s opening Specsavers Championship match.He was reported by umpires Michael Gough and Jeff Evans for a Level One breach of the code (showing dissent at an umpire’s decision by word or action).Although Bancroft escaped with a reprimand, the penalty remains on his record for a period of two years and the accumulation of nine or more penalty points in any two year period will result in an automatic suspension.Bancroft, the Western Australia wicketkeeper-batsman, has signed for Gloucestershire for the first two months of the English season. He made his Australia debut in the final T20 against India in Sydney earlier this year.He is one of three Western Australia players signed by Gloucestershire. Michael Klinger, captain in limited-overs cricket, returns towards the end of May, alongside the T20 specialist Andrew Tye.Surrey’s Tom Curran was also reported by umpires David Millns and Tim Robinson for a Level One offence during Surrey’s Championship match against Nottinghamshire.

India’s captain Virat Kohli said he had no problem with pitches like the one in Nagpur, calling them preferable to flat decks that produced 500-plus totals

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur27-Nov-20152:21

Kohli denies ‘undue home advantage’

Spinners have had plenty of help from the pitches during India’s Test series against South Africa, and the extent of the help they have had has been the topic of a fair few debates. Some have felt batting has been a lottery, others that batsmen from both sides have made them look worse than they actually are.At the end of the third Test in Nagpur, India had wrapped up their second straight Test series win, and ended South Africa’s nine-year unbeaten run away from home. They were impressive achievements, but the bulk of the questions posed to Virat Kohli at his post-match press conference were about the pitch.Kohli said he had no problem with pitches like the one in Nagpur, calling them preferable to flat decks that produced 500-plus totals.”It is not a policy [to play on such pitches], it is the conditions that you get in India. Otherwise you will just play Test matches which will get you 500 runs in an innings. You don’t create bowlers like that, you don’t win Test matches like that. The key is to win Test matches.”I have said this before, wherever you go to play in the world, you’ve got to be prepared to face those conditions and tune your game accordingly. Today was a classic example of two guys [Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis] applying themselves and showing that it can be done. I don’t know why is there so much hype created around the issue.”There are a lot of people writing a lot of things about the pitch. ‘It should not be like this’, or ‘it is turning too much’, people sitting somewhere else and speaking about the pitch in India. I think it is just a matter of mindset where people are just giving their opinions and they are free to do so. I don’t feel that way, we have never complained when we had challenging conditions and won’t complain in the future either.”We have tried to improve our game, it is always a matter of us not having the technique or us not having the mental strength to cope with conditions away from home. But when these sorts of things happen, everybody starts talking about how it is an undue home advantage. In the last few years if you see the stats of any team they are dominating at home and that is how Test cricket has gone. Whoever has won away from home is the No. 1 or No. 2 side in the world. I think that takes a lot of character and that won’t happen every time.”South Africa hadn’t lost in nine years and it is very hard to maintain that sort of record. Credit to them, they have not lost an away series for nine years but I would give credit to our boys for putting equal amount of pressure in the course of these three Test matches and actually win the series. I don’t see anything more or less to it.”Virat Kohli – “Wherever you go to play in the world, you’ve got to be prepared to face those conditions and tune your game accordingly”•BCCI

According to Kohli, India’s batsmen could themselves have dealt with the conditions better.”I would not like to comment on what the opposition did not do,” he said. “Us as a batting unit, and I said this in Mohali as well, we haven’t applied ourselves properly. One or two batsmen have but I think to play well consistently you have to apply as a batsman so we are talking of four guys out of six. But that’s not what happened and it has been two-odd guys every innings and that does not get you to a big total.”We have still been able to get to 220-225-odd three times out of four but as I said, if two guys apply themselves and the rest don’t, then things don’t go as planned. I am talking about our batting group. Even on turning pitches, if you apply yourself and if you are determined to dig in and play a game that is not natural to you, you can score runs.”Our batsmen did that in Mohali and Vijay got a decent start in the first innings [in Nagpur]. Pujara played well, in the second innings Shikhar got 40-odd, so everyone showed that runs can be scored. It was more a case of batsmen making mistakes rather than the ball doing some crazy things out in the middle. I think it was more of a mental thing which needed more application.”Playing in similar conditions, Kohli said, would help India’s batsmen improve their game against spin – which some experts felt had deteriorated when they lost the first Test on their tour to Sri Lanka in August.”As I said, these are the conditions that you get in India,” he said. “When we collapsed in Galle, someone was saying that we have improved our fast-bowling play but we don’t how to play spin. And now we are playing on spin-friendly wickets and this is the problem as well. I don’t know where we find the balance.”We as a team feel we have to improve our play against spin as well. These are the conditions we get in subcontinent and we have to play a lot of Test matches [in the subcontinent] in future as well. So, as a team in future, this is a learning phase as well for us. We need to step up our game in order to win Test matches like we have done this time.”Kohli said he did not mind continuing to play on pitches like the one on Nagpur, even if it meant his batting record, and those of the rest of India’s top order, suffered as a consequence.”I don’t mind compromising on [batsmen’s] averages as long as we are winning Test matches,” he said. “I think that’s our main concern, we are not playing for records, we are not playing for numbers or averages. Let’s not get into that matter. Yeah, that’s all there is to it. In Sri Lanka our performances weren’t that great with the bat but we still won the series. It’s the bowlers who are going to win you Test matches, as simple as that.”If you don’t take 20 wickets, you can have an average of 55, it doesn’t matter. These small contributions and team winning are more important rather than having an average of 50 and above and bowlers not being able to take wickets. I think you need to find an appropriate balance and sometime small contributions are more important than the big hundreds that we get in Test cricket.”

Kapil Dev, India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain, has said that the BCCI cannot question Indian cricketers who are not employed by or contracted to it on matters that the board considers contradictory to its policies

ESPNcricinfo staff29-May-2012Kapil Dev, India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain, has said that the BCCI cannot question Indian cricketers who are not employed by or contracted to it on matters that the board considers contradictory to its policies. His comments come in the wake of his exclusion from the BCCI’s list of former players who received a one-time benefit payment out of the profits of the IPL playoffs. It is believed Kapil was excluded because he had not accepted the amnesty offered by the BCCI following his involvement in the ICL – the now-defunct Twenty20 league that was not recognised by the ICC or the Indian board.”It [the BCCI] should realise that only those cricketers — present or former — who are contracted to it and are paid salaries, like selectors or coaches, are accountable to it,” Kapil wrote in the . “Not all cricketers are answerable to the board.”You can’t deny that player his due, which he is being given for the services rendered during his playing days. If you are taking money from the board — like the late Tiger Pataudi and Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, to be on the IPL board — then the board or any organisation has a right to question you. But a Dilip Vengsarkar, [he] is not answerable because he is not holding any post today where he is drawing money from the board.”He took up the ICL post, Kapil said, with a view to promoting cricket. “If they don’t want to recognise my game, I would like to say thank you and move on. Yes, I was connected with the ICL – if someone gives me a job, I would love to do it, especially when it is for the promotion of the game and when I am not an employee of any other institution.”There is one common thing in what the board [the BCCI] does and what I did, and that is promoting the game. If by doing that I have hurt someone, what can I do? All I can say is that I have no intention of hurting anyone, but it is too bad if it has been taken that way.”The BCCI has also excluded Kirti Azad, Kapil’s team-mate during the 1983 World Cup, from its list of beneficiaries. This was after Azad, a member of the Indian parliament, had spoken out against the IPL and the controversies surrounding the tournament. The board should have “reached out to Azad”, Kapil said, instead of ostracising him. “It should have heard his [Azad’s] views and sorted out the issue.”He was an India player and is now an MP. Ideally, the BCCI should have ensured he becomes a voice for it in parliament. It is the duty of the board, as patron of the cricketing fraternity, to find out why he spoke against it [the IPL] and resolve the issue. I am proud to see cricketers entering parliament — Kirti, Azhar [Azharuddin], [Navjot] Sidhu and Sachin. The board should ensure they become its backbone where national policy is being made.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the fifth ODI between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Johannesburg

The Preview by Abhishek Purohit21-Jan-2012

Match facts

January 22, Johannesburg
Start time 1000 (0800 GMT)There have been plenty of calls for Tillakaratne Dilshan to be sacked•Getty Images

The Big Picture

It is hard to believe that less than ten months ago, Sri Lanka were World Cup finalists. After the heartbreak of April 2, 2011, they have lost series to England, Australia, Pakistan and now South Africa. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s helpless, yet inwardly hurting, visage has been a common sight in all those defeats. Sunday’s game could be Dilshan’s last as Sri Lanka captain. There have been calls back home to sack him as leader. Some even want him to be dropped from the side. They want change.What is being forgotten is that it is not only Dilshan who has failed. Sri Lanka’s senior batsmen have consistently failed. Their fast bowlers have picked up more injuries than wickets. The hunt for a match-winning spinner continues. To hold Dilshan responsible for all these failures is to ask the world of what was only a stop-gap appointment.It hasn’t helped that leadership does not come to Dilshan as naturally as attacking batting does. The only way he knew was to lead by example, and on that count, he has definitely failed. Even more revealing than a disappointing batting average of 19.95 has been his bowling return of three wickets at 129.33. Dilshan the bowler was Sri Lanka’s partnership breaker. Dilshan the captain has turned Dilshan the bowler into a default Plan B. When the wickets are not coming, he brings himself on. When the runs are flowing, he brings himself on. It shows cluelessness, it shows desperation, and it hasn’t worked.Dilshan finally put it together in the fourth ODI with an innings that seemed to have shaken off the shackles binding him. Sri Lanka took the cue from their captain and an uninhibited Thisara Perera blazed them to their first win of the series. If this indeed turns out to be Dilshan’s final game as captain, he would want his side to play like he has throughout his career. Without apprehension.Sri Lanka’s struggles have made AB de Villiers’ first series as captain much easier than he would have thought. There were signs of panic, though, when Perera started to hit out. Suddenly, the fielding came down several notches, catches were spilled and de Villiers lost control over proceedings. He admitted after the game to have erred tactically. There will be time for him to learn on the job. A win in South Africa’s final game of the home summer season would not be a bad start on the learning curve.

Form guide

South Africa LWWWL
Sri Lanka WLLLL

Watch out for …

The under-pressure Graeme Smith made only his second half-century in 17 innings in Kimberley. At the very least, his 68 has silenced the critics till Sunday. Another failure will renew the calls for him to be dropped from the limited-overs side. South Africa’s Test captain can do without such added pressure ahead of the tours of New Zealand and England. He needs one more meaty performance tomorrow.For a proud performer who has looked in supreme touch in the previous two matches, Kumar Sangakkara’s 77 runs for the series don’t do him justice. He was run-out after a mix-up in Bloemfontein while what should have been a six was turned into a catch by Alviro Petersen in Kimberley. Will he have better luck in Johannesburg?

Team news

Robin Peterson has taken only four wickets in four games and hasn’t been able to squeeze the flow of runs as well. South Africa have run out of reasons to deny Johan Botha, a better batsman than Peterson, a place in the XI. Albie Morkel was “rested” for the fourth ODI after having bowled ten overs in three games. Both Albie and Botha could play tomorrow. That will mean Vernon Philander and Peterson sit out.South Africa: (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Alviro Petersen, 3 Colin Ingram, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Wayne Parnell, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe.Sri Lanka would not want to tinker with the XI that won in Kimberley. That means the offspinner Sachithra Senanayake could get another game ahead of Dhammika Prasad.Sri Lanka: (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Lahiru Thirimanne, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Sachithra Senanayake/Dhammika Prasad

Pitch and conditions

The Wanderers will have a pitch with more bounce than any of the four venues where the ODIs have been played. Sri Lanka don’t enjoy bounce; South Africa do.Johannesburg has had quite a bit of rain of late and there is a chance of thunderstorms tomorrow.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have lost their previous two completed one-dayers at The Wanderers, the latter by one run to India a year ago
• With 191 runs at an average of 63.66, Dinesh Chandimal has been Sri Lanka’s best batsman of the series

Quotes

“We want to finish strongly. 2-3 will be a fantastic result considering how we started this series.”
“We spoke about ruthlessness before this game [Kimberley] but we weren’t that ruthless. We wanted a whitewash but we didn’t do that. We want to make it 4-1 now.”

CWI will be initiating a “comprehensive recruitment process to select the next CEO”

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2024Johnny Grave’s role as chief executive officer of Cricket West Indies (CWI) is set to end in October 2024. Grave had taken up the position in February 2017, before which he served as commercial director at the Professional Cricketers’ Association [PCA] in England for nine years.”It has been an absolute privilege to have been CEO of CWI since February 2017,” Grave said in a CWI press release. “Having just hosted a successful T20 World Cup and delivered significant surpluses for CWI for the third consecutive year, I do feel it is the right time for me and my family to seek a new challenge.”I have received tremendous support from so many people since becoming CEO and I’d like to thank everyone, especially the staff and the players, particularly during the difficult pandemic, for their trust in me and their commitment to West Indies cricket. I have put everything into this role, and now is the right time for someone new with fresh energy to lead the organisation and continue this important work and build on the strong foundations that are now in place.”Related

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Grave had assumed the position vacated by Michael Muirhead. During his time at the helm, he oversaw three World Cups hosted in the West Indies: the 2018 women’s T20 World Cup, the 2022 Under-19 World Cup and the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup co-hosted with the USA. He was also the T20 World Cup CEO for the event in June this year.Grave had also earlier this year sounded a warning to the ICC that its revenue-share model was “completely broken” and urged the board of India, Australia and England to work with the ICC to change the economics of Test cricket.”Johnny’s efforts, particularly through challenging times such as the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as successfully hosting three World Cups including have made a lasting impact on CWI,” Kishore Shallow, CWI President said. “Appreciably, the organisation has taken many positive strides during his tenure. A standout achievement is the acquisition and full ownership of the Coolidge Cricket Ground (CCG), which is now our headquarters and home to our Men’s and Women’s Academies.”The CWI release also further stated the board will be initiating a “comprehensive recruitment process to select the next CEO.””The organisation is dedicated to ensuring a thorough and transparent selection process,” the release stated. “Details regarding the recruitment process will be announced shortly and will be published across various media platforms to keep stakeholders informed.”

He was given a reprimand and a demerit point after an argument over a dead ball not being called

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jun-2024Matthew Wade has escaped a fine from the ICC following a heated on-field argument with umpire Nitin Menon during Australia’s 36-run win over England in Barbados in the T20 World Cup 2024, though he has been handed an “official reprimand” and one demerit point.Facing Adil Rashid in the 18th over of Australia’s innings, Wade backed away to the leg side as the bowler was in his action, and dead-batted the ball back down the pitch. The ICC said in a press release: “[Wade] expected it to be called a ‘dead ball’ by the umpire. When it wasn’t, Wade then argued with the umpires over the decision.”Wade exchanged words with Jos Buttler, England’s wicketkeeper, and continued to argue with Menon after taking a single off the following delivery. He accepted a Level 1 breach of the ICC’s code of conduct but avoided the maximum penalty of a 50% match fee fine, instead having a demerit point added to his record for the next two years.Related

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Buttler suggested he could have intervened, but said that Wade had backed away “very late”. He said: “[I’m not sure] whether I should have said, ‘I don’t know if he pulled away and let’s just carry on’. But the umpire seemed to be like, ‘well, because he played it, it’s a dot ball’… he seemed ready, and then pulled out very late.”Adam Zampa, who took 2 for 28 in Australia’s win, said that Wade had been fired up by the incident. “Wadey is a fiery guy, super competitive, and something ticked him over a little bit. That’s what we love about Wadey… having him behind the stumps, so competitive, you can hear his voice and that makes a huge difference.”If you’ve got a wicketkeeper who’s quiet, whose body language is the opposite to someone like Wadey, you can feel that as well. I love playing with Wadey. He’s so competitive… He backed away and he played that shot, and I think he felt like it was basically the same as letting it hit him in the leg, kind of a dead ball. But yeah, it doesn’t take much to fire Wadey up.”Zampa was also critical of England’s body language in the field, suggesting that they let their frustrations get the better of them – particularly when bowling to Travis Head and David Warner. “They were under the pump and it showed,” he said. “It’s so hard to bowl to those two in the powerplay.”If your bowlers aren’t summing up the conditions quickly, I guess it can be frustrating, and Heady and Davey took advantage of it. We try not to be like that. We speak about it a bit. Our leadership isn’t like that. They are very calm, and I think that helps us as bowlers as well.”

“It does affect each person. And anyone who says that doesn’t affect them at all, I’m sure is lying”

Sidharth Monga27-Dec-20234:01

Rahul: Huge luck factor for me in scoring runs here

KL Rahul has spoken of his struggle with online abuse and how it had begun to change him as a person. After he capped off his international comeback with a superlative century, his sixth away from Asia out of eight in all, this one with the added responsibility of keeping wicket, Rahul spoke of the work he put on his mind during the injury break just before the World Cup.”It is difficult obviously,” Rahul said of handling what is said about him. “You have your own personality, personality traits, characteristics. When you play international cricket, they all get challenged. As a person, as a cricketer, as an individual, you are challenged each day, each moment. Social media is a pressure. Today I have scored a hundred so people are singing praises. Three-four months ago, everybody was abusing me. It’s part of the game, but I can’t say it doesn’t affect you; it does. The sooner you realise that staying away from it is good for your game and your mindset the better it is.Related

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“You can perform or you can be in a better mindset if you slightly know where to draw the line. Nobody’s that great that they can completely avoid what has been said and the criticism they’re getting. It does affect each person. And anyone who says that doesn’t affect them at all, I’m sure is lying. But each person has to find their way. And for me, when I was injured and was away from the game for such a long time, I worked on myself. I tried to go back to the person that I am, and worked on how I don’t change myself by getting affected by these things. It is difficult to remain true to yourself and true to your personality with so much happening. It is the hardest thing.”But like anything else in cricket, like anything else in life, there’s, there are ways to work on it. There are people who can help you if your mind is open. So that’s what I did when I was out of the game. I worked on myself and then worked on remaining calmer, and taking care of my head. And what happens inside as well.”Rahul said there was never any point retaliating because those who want to abuse carry on regardless. He said that the only way to keep negative comments away as a public-facing professional was to keep performing, but what he spoke about his innings also suggested that he perhaps appreciates the role of luck much more now. That when the runs are not coming, it is not necessarily your fault, that you do need luck in this sport. Interestingly, it came through in his acknowledgement of luck in this innings, a sensational 101 off 137 in a team score of 245 in testing conditions.Rahul was answering a question about batting in Centurion, where he has now scored two consecutive hundreds, when he brought up luck. “I’ve quite enjoyed playing here,” Rahul said. “The wicket really keeps reminding you that you need to focus throughout, and you’re never really set. You’re never really in or you’re never really out of the game. It’s a fast outfield. The minute you time the ball, you get boundaries and there will be times when you can score your runs really fast and there will be times when you can’t get a run at all. So that’s quite challenging.”And I enjoyed doing that here in Centurion, and I guess I just got lucky twice. Did a few things right, but also it was a huge luck factor. Played and missed a lot of balls. So yeah, that’s it.”Rahul, and most cricketers, knows that on another day an early play and miss resulting in an edge doesn’t necessarily make them a bad player, but that needs to be reinforced once in a while because people eventually judge you on the results.Having scored this century, Rahul retained the calmness that should naturally follow as the other side of the coin. He said he was humbled that Sunil Gavaskar called it one of the 10 best centuries of all time by Indians. He also confirmed what has been said about him: that middle order is perhaps the better place for him because there he just needs to react to situations rather than create situations when opening the batting.”Batting in the middle order, what I’ve realised is that you can’t really plan your innings all that much,” Rahul said. “When you walk in, there’s a situation in front of you. The game tells you how you need to play and what you need to do in that time and in that moment. That’s what I try to do. I try to walk in with a very free and very empty mindset when I’m batting in the middle order, and then see what the game demands of me and then try and do my best in that moment.”

Rohit Sharma’s team are clear favourites, although they will know not to underestimate a World Cup opposition

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Oct-20224:01

Kumble: ‘Not fair’ to leave Ashwin or Axar out against Netherlands

Big Picture

Thursday will be the first instance of India and Netherlands contesting in a T20 international. While India will enter as clear favourites, they will also be the first to point out the danger that Scott Edwards’ team poses. Netherlands are the only Associates in the Super 12s. They have worked hard to earn their place and now their players want to enjoy playing alongside the big boys, a long-cherished dream. India, Pakistan and South Africa are in their group, and the Dutch want to ensure they push themselves to create an upset.Exposure – that has been the catchphrase Associate coaches and players have holding up outside the gates of the ICC and bigger countries. Playing better teams will make them better has been the punch line. And Netherlands have proved that this season: in 2022 they have played ODI series against England, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies and Afghanistan along with the twin T20Is against New Zealand as well as the T20 World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe before arriving in Australia.Related

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Equipped with that experience, Netherlands believed they could beat Bangladesh in their first Super 12 match on Monday and nearly achieved that aim, if not for a couple of unnecessary run-outs, the reason behind the eventual nine-run defeat. Netherlands know India are on a whole other level and on an almighty high after a dramatic win against Pakistan. While their bowlers have executed the plans every match, Netherlands’ batting has been a virtual one-man show named Max O’Dowd. He needs support from Vikramjit Singh, Colin Ackermann, Tom Cooper and Edwards.The Netherlands captain could tell his players, ‘we have nothing to lose so let’s just enjoy’. Such an attitude, Paul van Meerkeren, Netherlands’ strike bowler, said, has the potential to help players raise the performance bar. And given their history of shocking big teams at T20 World Cups – England in 2009 and 2014 – India will want to be on high alert.Bas de Leede has been turning a lot of heads at the T20 World Cup•AFP/Getty Images

Form guide

India WLWWW
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Netherlands LLWWL

In the spotlight

As a captain Rohit Sharma has been loud, clear and fearless. He is one of the best tacticians in the game and is more than capable of thinking on the fly too. But Rohit the batter has been flying low recently: in his last five T20Is, Rohit has scored just 64 runs including two ducks at a strike rate of 103. This dip in form is in contrast to the stroke-filled 46 he hit against Australia in the rain-shortened match in Nagpur which earned him the Player-of-the-Match award. His last fifty came in a losing cause, seven matches ago, against Sri Lanka, in the Asia Cup. Rohit knows he needs to dictate with the bat and show consistency.Multiple World Cup-winner Ricky Ponting likes to keep an eye on young talent and he thinks Netherlands allrounder Bas de Leede has something special about him. Ponting feels de Leede has the tools to grow bigger, and his local BBL team Hobart Hurricanes could be thinking about having him on their roster. Other T20 franchise scouts have also tracked de Leede, who was recently picked up by MI Emirates for the inaugural season of the International League T20, starting in the UAE from January 2023. De Leede, who is 22, was also Player of the Match in Netherlands’ two victories in the first round of this World Cup and their second-highest run-maker in the World Cup Qualifiers that preceded it.

Team news

With just one left-hander in the Netherlands’ top eight, India could be tempted to bring in Yuzvendra Chahal, but their bowling coach Paras Mhambrey pointed out on Wednesday that they prefer the balance R Ashwin brings to their batting and may continue playing with him.India (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 R Ashwin/ Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Arshdeep SinghIndia are coming off a massing emotional high from their last game•ICC via Getty Images

Netherlands, too, are unlikely to tinker but remain concerned by the injury to Roelof van der Merwe. Edwards said a final call on would be taken based on how the left-arm spinner holds up after the training on Wednesday.Netherlands (possible): 1 Max O’Dowd, 2 Vikramjit Singh. 3 Bas de Leede, 4 Colin Ackermann, 5 Tom Cooper, 6 Scott Edwards (capt & wk), 7 Tim Pringle, 8 Timm van der Gugten, 9 Fred Klaassen 10 Paul van Meekeren, 11 Shariz Ahmed/Roelof van der Merwe

Pitch and conditions

New Zealand blasted 200 in the tournament opener at the SCG on Saturday. So it is fair to expect runs to flow once again. There was some threat of rain, but it looks pretty clear on match eve.

Stats and trivia

• Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene is the only batter to have scored 1000-plus runs in T20 World Cups. Jayawardene scored 1016 runs in 31 innings across five World Cups. But that record is set to be surpassed by Kohli, who is 73 runs adrift of the 1000-run mark.
• Kohli, who is playing his fifth T20 World Cup, is currently the third-highest run-maker, but has the highest average 84.3 (min. seven innings played) alongside 11 half-centuries (a tournament record). Oh, and the SCG is his favourite venue when it comes to T20Is as no batter has scored more than his 236 runs which have been cracked at an average of nearly 79 and a strike rate of 146.
• Van Meekeren needs one more wicket to go past Pieter Seelaar to become Netherlands’ leading T20 wicket-taker. Currently, van Meekeren has 58 wickets in 52 innings with an average of 21.5 and economy rate of 6.9

Quotes

“The discussion we always had was every game in a tournament like this is important. Yes, the first game [was against Pakistan and] we knew the hype around it. We knew it’s always going to be a high intensity and big clash, but having such games done and dusted in the first phase itself, it’s good. Had this game been maybe the third or fourth game, it would really sometimes take that effect on the following games, but having this game out of our group, it’s good.”
“Yeah, it’s huge. You always dream of playing World Cups, and the SCG is one of the most famous grounds in the world. And then add in you’re playing against arguably one of the best teams in the world, yes, it’s pretty surreal. The boys are looking forward to it.”
on how keen his team is to face India.