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The medium-pacer took four wickets off four balls in a sensational finish, helping Abahani Limited to an 11-run win

Mohammad Isam06-Mar-2018Mashrafe Mortaza’s four wickets off four balls in the last over made for was a sensational finish as he powered Abahani Limited to an 11-run win over Agrani Bank in the Dhaka Premier League.

Mashrafe on his four in four

Mashrafe Mortaza said that he used the offcutter to take all four wickets in the last over against Agrani Bank in the Dhaka Premier League.
“My performance is helping me prepare for the rest of the year,” Mashrafe said. “With the old ball, my strength is the cutter and it is with this delivery that I took the last four wickets. There’s always pressure on the bowler. I was bowling with the third-man up so an edge was going to go for four. I thought of pushing him back but then again, being positive is very important in these situations.”
Mashrafe has already taken 25 wickets at 11.92 bowling average in eight DPL matches. He said that it has been a great way to keep himself in form as he has to wait till mid-July to play ODIs again.
“Others may be playing Tests and T20s but this tournament is a great chance for me to stay fit and in form. I want to play all 16 matches so that I can start the next ODI series with the same rhythm I finished the [January] tri-series,” he said.

At the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, Agrani Bank needed 13 runs off the last over with four wickets in hand, but after Abdur Razzak took a single off the first ball, Dhiman Ghosh holed out to long-on after making a 27-ball 46. In the next two balls, Mashrafe had Razzak caught at short fine-leg and Shafiul Islam at deep midwicket to complete his first hat-trick in a List-A match.
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To top off the celebration, Fazle Rabby’s top edge was comfortably caught by wicket-keeper Mohammad Mithun as Mashrafe became the first Bangladeshi bowler to take four wickets in four balls in List-A cricket, finishing with 6 for 44 in 9.5 overs. He became the seventh bowler in List-A history to achieve the feat, while this was the third hat-trick in this season’s Dhaka Premier League.Mashrafe’s performance completely upended the other performers in this match. Up until that last over Agrani Bank had reached within 12 runs of Abahani’s 290 for 6, thanks mainly to Shahriar Nafees’ 121 off 119 balls with 13 fours and three sixes. Nafees added 146 runs for the third wicket with Raza Ali Dar, who contributed with 62 off 80 balls.But the pair fell within 16 balls of each other, but Dhiman was holding firm until Mashrafe struck four times.Earlier, Nazmul Hossain Shanto took Abahani to the big score with his unbeaten 133. He struck 11 fours and three sixes as Shanto added 140 runs for the fifth wicket with Mohammad Mithun.Getty Images

There was drama at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, too, where Gazi Group Cricketers beat Mohammedan Sporting Club by 29 runs in a low-scoring contest.The defending champions’ struggle in this year’s competition continued having been bowled out for 137 in 35.4 overs, batting first. But Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Nayeem Hasan led a fine bowling effort; they took three wickets each while Mahedi Hasan and Tipu Sultan took two each as Mohammedan were bowled out for 108 runs in 33.2 overs.Sultan took the first two wickets before the lunch break. Raqibul Hasan and Shamsur Rahman, whose 22 and 19 respectively were Mohammedan’s highest scores, both fell to Nayeem. Bipul Sharma, Mohammedan’s foreign recruit, lasted 35 minutes at the crease before getting caught behind off Rabbi for fourShafiul Hayet’s brilliant one-handed reflex catch at silly mid-off to remove Qazi Onek was one of the highlights of Gazi Group’s performance.

Rabbi finished the game getting Mohammad Azim’s wicket, to hand them only their third win this year, though they remain in the relegation zone.Raton Gomes/BCB

The dramatic day was rounded off at the BKSP-3 Gound where Prime Bank Cricket Club plundered 16 runs off the last over to beat Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club by one wicket with only two balls to spare.Mamun Hossain dismissed Monir Hossain off the first ball of the 50th over, before Sajjadul Haque struck a six. But he fell next ball, having made 51 off 38 balls. No 10 Shoriful Haque took two runs off the next ball before depositing Mamun’s next delivery, a no-ball, for a six. He bowled another no-ball to concede the game.Prime Bank were kept on track of their 287-run chase by Mehrab Hossain jnr and Mehedi Maruf who added 147 runs for the opening stand. Mehedi made 82 off 90 balls with six fours and three sixes but Mehrab stuck around after Prime Bank suffered a batting collapse in their middle-order. He fell in the 44th over, having made 102 off 125 balls with 13 fours. Sajjadul had kept them afloat with his three sixes and one four, before Mamun’s meltdown.Earlier, Marshall Ayub’s 135 took Doleshwar to 286-5 in 50 overs. Marshall struck 14 fours and two sixes; he added 124 runs for the third wicket with Fazle Mahmud, and another 132 runs for the fourth wicket with Farhad Hossain, who chipped in with a 53-ball 67 that had two fours and three sixes.

MSK Prasad expressed surprise at the circumspection over MS Dhoni’s inclusion in India’s 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, calling him an invaluable asset to the team

Nagraj Gollapudi08-May-2017″How many of us still believe that MSD is the best wicketkeeper in the world?” When MSK Prasad, India’s chairman of selectors, asked for a show of hands in response to that question, about three to four hands went up out of 25-odd people. Prasad expressed surprise at the circumspection over MS Dhoni’s inclusion in the 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, after he was asked if there was concern among the selectors over Dhoni’s spot in the squad.”We all believe he is still the best wicketkeeper in the world,” Prasad said. “We are only talking and focusing on his batting form. He is an invaluable asset to this team. When it comes to crunch situations, [with] his inputs, I think he has got one of the best brains. He is the best person to guide Virat [Kohli].”Prasad’s praise is not misplaced, considering Dhoni still is a key player for India as far as strategising goes. But as a batsman, he has struggled recently in limited-overs cricket. In 13 ODIs since January last year, Dhoni has scored 443 runs at an average of 34.07, compared to his career average of 51. He has struck them at a strike rate of 86.69 and has one century and one fifty.In this period, Dhoni has played both at No. 4 and 5, but his strike rate is 10th among 17 players. As a No. 4 during that period, Dhoni averages 30 and strikes at 76.14. Batting one position lower, the average and strike rate climb to 36.62 and 93.31 respectively.So far this IPL, Dhoni has compiled 235 runs for Rising Pune Supergiant at an underwhelming strike rate of 114.07 – his worst across seasons – which has further strengthened concerns over his quick scoring ability. Just last season, he was striking them at 135. Dhoni has also scored at less than run a ball in six out of 12 innings so far this IPL.This dip in Dhoni’s form has coincided with the soaring mettle of Rishabh Pant, the 19-year old Delhi Daredevils wicketkeeper. Pant, who was also an emerging player last domestic season, has lit up this IPL with his enterprising strokeplay, scoring 281 runs from 11 innings at an impressive strike rate of 172.39.Nonetheless, Prasad felt Dhoni remained the best option right now to play for India. “Not many people realise that in the last 10-12 years, whatever MSD has played for the country, he never had a bad day as far as his gloves is concerned. We always treat him more like a batsman, but the phenomenal stuff he does behind the wickets, not many people appreciate. According to me, he is still the best wicketkeeper in the world.”As for Pant, the selectors named him as one of the five standbys who will travel to England in case India seek a replacement. According to Prasad, the selectors did deliberate on Pant, but felt he did not fit into the “combinations”, although he will be groomed. “We are completely impressed the way Rishabh Pant is playing. It is just some combinations where he missed out. He is one cricketer whom we are looking at for the future. We will groom him, nurture him and back him.”

A couple of weeks ago, Ajinkya Rahane couldn’t even make India’s ODI XI, but after surprisingly being named captain for the limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe, the batsman has said that he is “very confident to handle this new responsibility.”

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-20153:55

‘I’ve learned a lot from Dhoni, Virat and Dravid’

A couple of weeks ago, Ajinkya Rahane couldn’t even make India’s ODI XI, but after surprisingly being named captain for the limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe, the batsman has said that he is “very confident to handle this new responsibility.”Rahane’s game had come under criticism during the Bangladesh ODIs, with MS Dhoni suggesting that Rahane struggled to rotate the strike on slower pitches. Rahane, though, felt the captaincy offered him an opportunity to improve his batting in the shorter formats, and said that he had a “great hunger to learn”.”I know how capable I am and I believe in myself. I have learned a lot from whatever cricket I have played in the last four-five years,” Rahane told . “I wasn’t thinking about the captaincy. I didn’t know about it. It came as a surprise, but whatever domestic and international cricket I’ve played gave me confidence. I am a very hardworking guy. I always want to be the best in the world and I know my capabilities.”While Rahane has led in just two matches in senior representative cricket, he said he had picked up a “lot of ideas” from playing under Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rahul Dravid, his captain at Rajasthan Royals.”Under Dhoni , I have learnt a lot from his calmness and the way he handles everything on the field. Virat’s controlled aggression, which you can see in his batting and captaincy, is something I want to learn from him.”Rahul (Dravid) likes to keep things really simple and I was with him in Rajasthan Royals. I have my own ideas and I know what I have to do on the field. Obviously the senior players who will be there with me will advise me. The three things I have learned from those three captains are calmness, controlled aggression, and keeping things simple.”This has always been a part of me and I never spoke to Rahul about captaincy in particular, but he spoke about how he would plan things as a captain. I’ve also observed Dhoni closely, how he would plan, how his mindset would be. As a captain, you need to think from different angles according to the situation which is very important.”Speaking specifically about the forthcoming challenge from Zimbabwe, Rahane said he had always taken every international side seriously, irrespective of their ranking, and that it wouldn’t change next week. He added that he had full faith in the squad picked by the BCCI.”As a captain, it’s important to back your players and give them confidence. It is very important to lead from the front, be positive and back your team. Whatever international side we play, we take them seriously. My motive would be to give all youngsters confidence; guys who came back, speak with them, give them confidence and motivate them.”I think this is a good team. Guys who did well in the IPL and domestic season have got their rewards. Every player played their part, and I’m really excited. They are great team-mates and I am looking forward to joining them.”

Nathan McCullum was the hero for New Zealand, with an all-round performance that helped seal victory with one delivery to spare

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran30-Apr-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Mahela Jayawardene’s 81 went in vain•Getty Images

New Zealand edged Sri Lanka in just the sort of cliffhanger the organisers would have wanted to kick off the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean. If McCullum is talked of as a match-winner, it is probably Brendon that one thinks of, but it was his brother Nathan who was the hero with an all-round performance, topped off by a six over long-off to seal a tense victory with one delivery to go.On a track that lived up to it’s pre-match billing of being sluggish, basic line-and-length bowling from New Zealand’s slow bowlers was enough to curtail Sri Lanka to 135, despite Mahela Jayawardene’s polished 81, his highest score in Twenty20s.The balance swung from one side to the other through the chase: New Zealand looked in control after Jesse Ryder’s power-hitting at the top, but tight spells from the two oldest players in the tournament, Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan, seemingly shut New Zealand out of the game.When Ajantha Mendis nipped out Scott Styris in the 17th over, the asking rate was over 10 and half the New Zealand side was dismissed. Jacob Oram, though, kept the game alive with two consecutive hits over long-on for six to round off the over. Lasith Malinga sent down an over of patented hard-to-hit full deliveries in the 18th, and two wickets – of Oram and Gareth Hopkins – fell in the first two deliveries of the penultimate over to again put Sri Lanka in charge.With 18 needed off nine, Daniel Vettori shuffled across and swung Chanaka Welegedara for four in front of deep square leg, and McCullum mishit a low full toss over mid-on to scramble three off the final delivery.Ten off the final over, from Malinga, was still a tough ask. The first delivery was squeezed to mid-on for a single and they comically stole a bye after Vettori missed a full delivery – with McCullum charging down the track, both batsmen were at the keeper’s end, Sangakkara lobbed the ball to Malinga who missed the stumps from a few yards even though he could have walked and taken the bails off.McCullum then swiped a full delivery to long leg for four to reduce it to 4 off 3, making New Zealand fans believe again. A hard drive to long-on resulted in Vettori’s run-out as he attempted a non-existent second, but McCullum’s glorious hit over long-off for six off the penultimate delivery confirmed New Zealand’s victory.Such a close finish didn’t look likely at the halfway stage after Ryder and Martin Guptill piled on 62 in eight mostly trouble-free overs. Ryder feasted on some leg-side gifts, and also threw in some muscular hits over midwicket to race to 42 off 25 before being bowled by a quicker one from Murali.Jayasuriya didn’t get to bat, but showed his value with the ball, knocking out Guptill’s middle stump with a quick yorker, before Murali got rid of danger-man Ross Taylor in the 15th over. Only sixteen runs came in the six overs after Ryder’s dismissal, to propel the required-rate and ask for some late heroics.McCullum had been superb at the start of the match as well, when handed the new ball, stifling the most explosive batsman of the previous World Twenty20, Tillakaratne Dilshan.The big guns at the top of Sri Lanka’s batting order carried on their form from the IPL: Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara, who had forgettable campaigns in India, scratched around looking uncomfortable, while Jayawardene, who was close to his best towards the end of the tournament, was rarely troubled in his first outing as an international Twenty20 opener.Jayawardene made virtually all of Sri Lanka’s runs during the early stages of their innings. He started off with a powerful swat over square leg for six off Shane Bond, then finessed McCullum through covers for four. On a pitch where pace was a disadvantage, Bond was expensive: Jayawardene taking him for two fours in the fourth over.The best phase of Sri Lanka’s innings was a fluent 59-run partnership between debutant Dinesh Chandimal and Jayawardene. The pair began cautiously, with an over of singles off Vettori, before Chandimal boosted the innings with a big six over long-on off Styris in the 11th over – the first boundary for 35 deliveries. Jayawardene then took charge again, picking off the bad deliveries on offer to hit a boundary an over. A stunning parried, overhead catch from Taylor ended Chandimal’s stay, and series of yorkers from Tim Southee kept the runs down, before a raft of outfield catches restricted Sri Lanka to what still proved a competitive total.Sri Lanka now need to win on Monday against Zimbabwe, who have surprised Australia and Pakistan in the warm-ups, if they are to avoid early elimination.

Andy Flower, the England coach, has singled out Tim Bresnan as one of the major successes of the tour of Bangladesh

Cricinfo staff25-Mar-2010Andy Flower, the England coach, has singled out Tim Bresnan as one of the major successes from the tour of Bangladesh which finished on Wednesday with the visitors securing a 2-0 victory in the Test series to follow their one-day whitewash.However, the Tests were much tougher than the final margins of 181 runs and nine wickets suggest with England having to toil hard for their rewards on two very docile surfaces at Chittagong and Dhaka. They also had a weakened attack without James Anderson, Graham Onions and Ryan Sidebottom but Bresnan, who wasn’t in the original Test squad, took his chance, emerging as the leading paceman and also contributed a vital 91 at Dhaka.”Tim Bresnan wasn’t originally selected in the Test party but with the opportunity given to him by the injury to Ryan Sidebottom, and after his performances in the one-day series, he sort of leapfrogged his way into the side,” Flower told reporters before the team left Dhaka. “He performed superbly and I think he was the standout seamer in the Test series and probably the one-dayers too.”The most impressive aspect of his display with the ball was the reverse swing he obtained and he also produced the ball of the series to remove Tamim Iqbal in the first Test.”He reverse swung the ball both ways, he was controlled and accurate, bowled a heavy bouncer and was strong enough to keep going for long periods of time,” Flower said. “I thought our players held strong in some trying conditions weather-wise and on some very flat pitches.”But while Bresnan took much of Flower’s praise he also commended his attack at managing to dismiss Bangladesh twice – not the simple task it used to be. With Steven Finn making his debut in the first Test and Stuart Broad the senior man it was one of most inexperienced England attacks of recent times.”To get 40 wickets in the series was a very good effort and we’ve seen some good cricket as well as excellent individual performances,” Flower said. “Our guys needed a lot of discipline on these surfaces.””Both the grounds had very flat pitches and it was hard to accelerate the game. But there was some hard, disciplined work with ball in hand. The experience gained from having to bowl reverse swing and learning about the different fields that are necessary when you are doing that will be very valuable in the future.”We had a very young bowling attack, a young captain and a young side and this experience will be invaluable.”The bowling attack was marshalled by Alastair Cook on his first tour as captain. Flower was impressed with how he responded to the challenge and developed during the series while maintaining his batting form with scores of 173 and an unbeaten 109.”Alastair has handled himself very well on this tour,” Flower said. “He’s grown every day and his batting has thrived with the extra responsibility. Some captains seem to respond to that. I think he feels a little more comfortable in the role now too. He’s loved the experience, loved the challenge and it was a great opportunity to see him in that role.”Cook, though, won’t be part of England’s next assignment which is the World Twenty20 in West Indies having been left out of the preliminary 30-man squad. The final 15 will be named next Tuesday and the tournament starts on April 30 with England’s opening match, against West Indies, on May 3.

Former India captain feels Rodrigues could be the right person to lead in T20Is

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2024If India are looking at moving on from Harmanpreet Kaur as their captain, the time is now. That’s the opinion of Mithali Raj, following India’s group-stage exit from the women’s T20 World Cup. Harmanpreet has been in charge since replacing Raj in 2016 and has led the team at four T20 World Cups, but the latest one has been the poorest in terms of results – they made at least the semi-finals in the three previous editions.”If the selectors decide to change, I would go for a young captain,” Raj told . “This is the time [to change]; if you delay more then we have another [ODI] World Cup on the horizon [October 2025]. If you are not doing it now, then don’t do it later. Then it is too close to the World Cup.”Smriti [Mandhana, the vice-captain since 2016] is there but I think someone like Jemimah [Rodrigues], she’s 24, she’s young, she will serve you more. And [she] is someone who I feel on the field gets that energy. She speaks to everybody. I was very impressed by her in this tournament.Related

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“Despite playing those cameo roles, she never could convert her starts, but [she is] someone who really made an effort to build a momentum if there was no momentum; and if there was momentum, she tried to carry that momentum [forward].”Raj highlighted India’s inability to adapt quickly as the main reason for their poor show. India came into this tournament on the back of two months of camps and match simulation in Bengaluru, unlike Australia or New Zealand, who played each other, or South Africa, who scheduled a late tour to Pakistan.”Surprisingly, we took time to adjust to the slowness of the wicket,” Raj said. “Unlike an ODI World Cup, it is a short tournament, you don’t have a lot of time to adjust to the conditions. Someone like [New Zealand captain] Sophie Devine was able to score that many runs [57 not out] against us and she is not used to playing on slow tracks. We were not quick enough to adjust.”Looking at the bigger picture, Raj lamented the India team’s lack of “growth” over the past three years. She felt India had been “content” beating the lower-ranked teams and were “saturated” when it came to tackling big teams like Australia.”I feel that in the last two-three years, I’ve not really seen any growth in this team,” Raj said. “In the sense, like, I mean, beating the best side is what you always prepare for, but it seems like we are saturated in the sense we are beating other teams, and we are pretty happy in that. Every other team has shown growth despite limited depth, a case in point being South Africa. We have not.”Raj questioned some of the team management’s tactics in the lead-up to the World Cup too. Like at the Asia Cup, where India chose to field the regulars and did not give opportunities to fringe players.”I was doing commentary in the Asia Cup. To be very honest, I didn’t know what was happening,” she said. “I’m sure they were aware that Asia Cup is the last series of matches that they’re going to play before the World Cup. When you know that this is the last game time that you’re going to have before you enter the big tournament, you do at least 70% of your planning or 80% of your planning. Like who your No. 5 or No. 6 is, these are people who would walk in a particular situation. But there it seemed they were playing only for that tournament.Mithali Raj wants to see Jemimah Rodrigues given the reins of the T20I team•ICC/Getty Images

“It didn’t seem like it was anywhere closer to… what we got to see in the World Cup. We could have given more opportunities to the bench against lower-ranked teams in Asia Cup, but we didn’t. Why does the men’s team do well? Immediately after a big series or a big tournament, they try others. If we are talking about depth, then when are we giving them chances?”Raj was also critical of the fitness levels of some of the players, which she felt contributed to them dropping catches. Against Australia, India dropped three catches and could have possibly converted two more half-chances.”Against Australia, I was very disappointed to see, other than Radha Yadav and Jemi to some extent, I don’t think there was anybody,” she said. “So we cannot have just two players out of 11 being good.”In terms of fitness, we need to have a benchmark. Honestly, how much can you work in a month? It’s something that you do around the year. It’s not like just before the tournament, you have a camp and it’s just going to really show the difference on the field.”

Two people were arrested with fake accreditations; on a different day, one man came in the garb of a cleaner

PTI05-May-2021Potential corruptors were spotted at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on different days of the IPL 2021 season, including during the May 2 match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) chief Shabir Hussein Shekhadam Khandwawala told PTI. Two people with fake IPL accreditations were arrested by the Delhi Police on the day of that Royals-Sunrisers match.In another incident – on a different match day, at the same venue – one man “in the garb of a cleaner” fled after ACU officials had caught him having a telephone conversation. He is currently being traced by Delhi police after the ACU managed to retrieved two mobile phones from him.Related

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It was suspected that he could have been engaging in ‘pitch-siding’, which is the act of relaying information from the ground to a remote location to beat the delay in the TV feed. It can be used to get an advantage while betting on passages in play before the live computerised odds shift.”One of my ACU officers caught a person and handed over the details to Delhi Police. While that particular offender managed to flee leaving behind his two mobile phones, ACU lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police,” Hussein told PTI on Wednesday.”We are thankful to Delhi Police that in a separate incident they caught two other persons from the Kotla on ACU tip-off.”So on two separate days, these people managed to get access to Kotla. The one who fled came in the garb of a cleaner. However, we have all his details as he was employed for the tournament. His Aadhar Card details have been handed over to Delhi Police,” Hussein said. “I am confident that he will be nabbed in a day or two. He is a small fry working for a couple of hundred or some thousand bucks may be.”The man who fled came under suspicion when he was spotted on the phone, by himself, in a secluded area.”He was standing (inside Feroz Shah Kotla premises) in a secluded area all by himself and so one of our officers approached and asked him: ‘What are you doing here?’ He said: “” [I am talking to my girlfriend].”My officer then asked him to dial the number he was talking to and then asked him to hand over the phones. Just when he was going through the contents of his phone, the guy fled from the spot,” Hussein said, without divulging which match-day this incident took place on.”It was one of the evening matches in Delhi. He was wearing an ID card. Also what raised suspicion was he had two mobiles,” he said.”The information he may be supplying could be to someone more influential among bookmakers, and so we needed to inform the Delhi Police. Delhi Police has responded positively and thus next instance two people were arrested.”Hussain also confirmed that the ACU didn’t receive any complaint of corrupt approaches being made to players or support staff involved in IPL during the 29 games that were held before the tournament was postponed.”Obviously with bio-bubble and no crowd around, it certainly becomes a bit easier to manage as there is no physical proximity of questionable characters. When there is a crowd, it becomes difficult to check anyone and everyone,” Hussein said.He also said that during the Mumbai leg, the hotel in which the Sunrisers team was staying had three people with questionable records, and whose names were in the ACU database. However, they couldn’t come in contact with any of the players.”The moment we had information, we got in touch with Mumbai Police. The Police Commissioner of Mumbai took immediate cognisance and the Mumbai Police got hold of those three,” he added.

David Warner and Will Pucovski will both miss the first Test while Joe Burns has struggled for form

Andrew McGlashan13-Dec-2020It is not beyond the realms that Australia go into the first Test in Adelaide with one opener who wasn’t in the squad two days ago and another who has never done it in Test cricket.As far as the top of the order goes, it has been a chaotic week or so. David Warner and the uncapped Will Pucovski are both ruled out – the latter perhaps more likely to feature on Boxing Day than the former – and the other incumbent Joe Burns has barely been able to score a run. He has been dusted up by the attack he would face on Thursday, and the man who appears most likely to play, Marcus Harris, is returning to the side after a gap of 16 months.Moments after Burns walked off the field on Sunday, pinned lbw by Mohammed Shami, following the dismissal of Harris, cameras panned to national selector Trevor Hohns on the phone. He has been a busy man and the toughest call may be yet to come. Justin Langer and Tim Paine will hope a sense of order emerges over the next few days in Adelaide, which involves a day off on Monday, an intense training session on Tuesday and lighter work on Wednesday before Paine and Virat Kohli (in his last assignment of the tour) head out for the toss on Thursday afternoon.”There is some pressure on him, no doubt,” Chris Rogers, part of the Australia A coaching staff, said of Burns before his second innings at the SCG. “He’s not stupid. So he has to make the most of this opportunity, that’s pretty important, and then it’s up to the selectors.”There has been some good news for Australia with Mitchell Starc rejoining the squad on Monday following his compassionate leave due to a family illness – he is a formidable threat with the pink ball – and Cameron Green, the uncapped allrounder, will travel to Adelaide having made promising progress after the blow on the head in his follow through at the SCG which left him with a mild concussion.However, given the tight time frame, it is far from certain that Green will be ready to be in contention. Before these Australia A matches it felt unlikely he would make his debut early in the series, but such have been the issues at the top of the order that one of the options gaining traction is a promotion to open for Marnus Labuschagne (or even Matthew Wade) which then creates a natural vacancy for Green at No. 6.He made a very fine 125 against the Indians at Drummoyne Oval, and while he is still restricted to four-over spells, he is chipping out wickets. However, under lights, it’s unlikely Australia’s big three quicks (alongside Nathan Lyon who has an impressive record with the pink ball) would need too much support. Green would have earned selection as a batsman.That, though, relies on him clearing the various concussion protocols and a return to full training. Former Australia doctor Peter Brukner suggested on Saturday that the turnaround would probably be too tight.Where that leaves Australia remains unclear. As yet they have not pressed the full panic button and summoned someone from outside the A-team that has been in Sydney. But the call will have to be taken if Burns remains unselectable.”That’s where Joe Burns is at with his technique at the moment – he is just shot. It’s a sad sight, isn’t it, seeing a bloke really struggling to find any sort of form,” former Australia captain Allan Border told Fox Cricket after the dismissal against Shami.”My gut feel is just no [for Burns]. He has been given these little windows of opportunity because of injury, concussion, circumstances with other guys without nailing down a spot,” Border said. “If he had just shown something, even if he had 20-odd today and batted okay and got a good ball to get out – you might think: ‘Okay, we’ll stick with the incumbent’.”The members of the Test squad already in Adelaide have been having centre-wicket practice at the ground with a handful of them – including Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood – having played no long-form cricket since the first week of January.”It’s been an unusual one, a different lead-in for everyone, guys playing Shield, IPL then we’ve started with one-day cricket and T20,” Hazlewood said. “Every international cricketer is prepared for that, they know the things they have to tick off and we’ve had a really good leading up here, a few days out on Adelaide Oval, and we’ve still got a number of sessions to go before the game.”Whether those sessions are enough for Burns, or if a decision has already been made, is the big question.

Shreyas Gopal and Prasidh Krishna had limited South Africa A to 231 before Manish Pandey posted an unbeaten 95 to take India to a comfortable victory

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Aug-2018An unbeaten 95 from Manish Pandey powered India B to a 30-run win against South Africa A at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur. Chasing 220 in 45 overs in a rain-affected game, India B were just six runs short of a win with 4.3 overs left before rain ended play, and they were adjudged to be well ahead via the Duckworth/Lewis method.India B’s pacers mowed down South Africa A’s top order after sending them in to bat. With the visitors reduced to 57 for 4, the No. 5 Farhaan Beherdien struck a 104-run partnership with Senuran Muthuswamy to save South Africa A from a collapse. But legspinner Shreyas Gopal came in to cause more damage in the middle, picking up three wickets – including that of Behardien and Muthuswamy – in the space of eight balls to leave South Africa reeling at 164 for 7. Medium pacer Prasidh Krishna came back to dismiss the tailenders and finished with figures of 4 for 49.In their chase, India B lost Mayank Agarwal and Deepak Hooda within six overs to Dane Paterson, but an 88-run stand between Pandey and opener Shubman Gill ensured they kept the scoring well above the asking rate. Following a brief rain stoppage which called for a shortening of the match, Pandey stitched partnerships together with the middle order to set India B up for a comfortable win.

Eoin Morgan largely exonerated his batsmen despite a record-breaking collapse at the start of the third ODI against South Africa

George Dobell at Lord's29-May-2017Eoin Morgan largely exonerated his batsmen despite a record-breaking collapse at the start of the third ODI against South Africa.England were 20 for 6 after 30 deliveries – the first time in history a side has lost six wickets in the first five overs of an ODI – as they struggled against a fine attack in conditions offering assistance to bowlers. While Jonny Bairstow engineered a partial recovery, he could not prevent England slipping to their first defeat in nine ODIs.But Morgan, the England captain, felt the wicket was more to blame than the batsmen and praised South Africa’s seamers – Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell – for harnessing conditions expertly.Suggesting the pitch was not suitable for ODI cricket, Morgan hinted that the toss – which was won by South Africa’s captain, AB de Villiers – was disproportionately important and went a long way towards deciding the game.”I’d be disappointed if we did come across surfaces like that in the ICC Champions Trophy,” Morgan said. “To win or lose the game on the toss in a major tournament is hard to take. Any side batting first has the potential to lose the game.”I don’t think it was an ODI wicket. It makes it one-sided which I don’t think is good for anybody. There was a lot of live, green grass on the wicket.”We saw the shots they played when they batted. We couldn’t play shots like that early this morning.”But South Africa bowled beautifully. They did not give us anything to hit and if they did we managed to nick it. Credit goes to South Africa, they came back really well.”While Morgan did accept that England might do well to reflect on the platform they built at the start of their innings in the second ODI in Southampton – they were 42 for 1 at the end of the first 10-over Powerplay- he did not think his batsmen had taken an overly aggressive approach in conditions that might have necessitated a more calculated game plan.”You earn the right to play positive cricket,” he said. “And we do need to keep our feet on the ground. But we didn’t play too aggressively. A lot of our shots were defensive shots. When it moves around like that, you nick the half-volleys.”The good news for England is that they can expect much more batting-friendly conditions on the grounds used for their Champions Trophy game. But there may be some disquiet in the camp if they find themselves inserted on an overcast morning on a pitch showing any sign of moisture.Still, Morgan is unlikely to admit any such fears at this stage – his team has been built on a commitment to attacking cricket that will only be inhibited by doubts – and will instead hope his batsmen can put this reverse out of their mind and continue to play the fearless cricket that has served them so well in recent months.Morgan also hinted that England will keep faith with Jason Roy in their Champions Trophy side.Roy endured a miserable series against South Africa, scoring just 13 runs in three innings. And with Bairstow continuing his fine run of form with another half-century – his third in his four most recent ODI innings – there might be a temptation to bring him into the side in place of Roy.But despite admitting telling Bairstow he was not selected was “the hardest thing,” Morgan remains committed to selecting Roy for the start of the Champions Trophy and agreed that last minute changes to the side – something of a characteristic of England going into global tournaments in recent times – might send out an unhelpful message.”It’s the hardest thing telling Jonny he’s not playing when he’s done nothing wrong and he scores a huge amount of runs,” Morgan said. “I’m very, very impressed by him. He never lets us down. Whenever he comes in he scores runs and he continues to bang on the door.”But as regards selection, Jason is the No.1 pick at the moment. Him and Alex Hales have been our 1 and 2 for quite a long time. They have had ups and downs but ultimately they have played in the fashion that we have played as a team and they have been very important to that.”England remain confident that all the first choice players who missed this match will be fit for Thursday’s opening Champions Trophy encounter against Bangladesh. Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes could, according to Morgan, have played on Monday if required, while the seamers, Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett, were just rested to ensure they remain fresh. Chris Woakes, too, was said to have “pulled up really well” with Morgan anticipating he will be “fully fit for Thursday.”Whether, in the case of Stokes, that means as an allrounder or a specialist batsman remains to be seen. Such is his long-term importance to England, they will be loathe to risk his fitness.”He can run around in the field like a mad man,” the coach, Trevor Bayliss, told Sky Sports. “And when he got his hundred over the weekend, he didn’t even feel it. I’s just when he’s bowling at full tilt. Hopefully that means it’s not much and hopefully an extra day or two and it’ll come good.He’s a very important part of the team. He brings energy to the team. And, as we saw, he can hold his position in the team as a batter as well, so I’m sure he’ll be there on Thursday.”