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Nottinghamshire, already assured of a home quarter-final, suffer only second defeat of season

ECB Reporters Network16-Jul-2021Nottinghamshire Outlaws, already assured of a home quarter-final, suffered only a second defeat of the season in the Vitality Blast as bottom-of-the-table Leicestershire Foxes won by two wickets with two balls to spare.Josh Inglis and Arron Lilley were joint top-scorers with 42 and though the Foxes suffered some jitters after needing 35 from 25 balls and six off the last over, Naveen-ul-Haq hit back-to-back fours off former Leicestershire fast bowler Zak Chappell to get them over line after Steven Mullaney had taken 3 for 33 and Calvin Harrison 2 for 21.The Foxes had dismissed Nottinghamshire for 173 in 19.2 overs, Naveen picking up 3 for 33 and Colin Ackermann 3 for 35. Joe Clarke hit 57 in 27 balls and Ben Duckett 45 off 27 but the Outlaws lost their last six wickets for 22 runs, Lilley holding four outfield catches.Ackermann claimed an early blow for the Foxes after winning the toss when Alex Hales hit a full toss straight to deep midwicket but Clarke launched Gavin Griffiths for back-to-back sixes and Naveen for three consecutive fours as the Outlaws ended the Powerplay on 62 for 1.Clarke struck two more sixes off Ben Mike as he reached fifty from 24 balls and cleared long-on for a fifth six as Ackermann returned, only to follow Hales in finding Lilley at deep midwicket. Three fours in a row by Duckett off Ackermann advanced the total to 110 for 2 at halfway.Lilley then applied the brakes with the ball, conceding only 20 in his four overs of off-spin and dismissing Mullaney as the Outlaws innings fell apart. The demise of Duckett, leg before sweeping, sparked the loss of their last six wickets for 22 in 23 deliveries, Naveen taking three wickets in seven balls.The Foxes lost Rishi Patel early but with Inglis hitting sixes off Dane Paterson, Chappell and Matt Carter and Lilley another off Samit Patel, the home side were ahead of what was needed at 75 for 1 after six.Inglis and Lilley fell in turn to Harrison, both perhaps guilty of taking liberties with the young leg-spinner, Inglis hitting straight to long-on, Lilley comfortably stumped, yet at 107 for 3 after 10 overs, the game was there to be won.Scares followed for the home crowds as Harry Swindells was caught behind off a bottom edge, Ackermann sliced to short third man, Lewis Hill ramped straight to short fine leg, Louis Kimber was caught at midwicket and Callum Parkinson at cover but Naveen picked up four off the edge before pulling Chappell for the winning boundary.

The Ireland captain was struck on the helmet after scoring a century in the first ODI

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2023Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie has been withdrawn from the ODI series against Zimbabwe after getting hit on the helmet in the opening match. Left-hand batter Murray Commins has received his first call-up as Balbirnie’s replacement and Paul Stirling will stand-in as captain.Balbirnie scored his eighth ODI hundred and was on 121 when a low full toss from Brad Evans deflected off his bat onto his helmet. A stretcher brought out but he managed to walk off the field, and Ireland did not use the concussion substitute.”Andrew Balbirnie sustained a suspected mild concussive episode after being struck on the helmet while batting in yesterday’s match against Zimbabwe,” Mark Rausa, head of physiotherapy and medical services for Cricket Ireland, said. “He retired hurt and did not take the field in the second innings in line with concussion protocols. He was reassessed this morning, but the decision has been made to withdraw him from the remaining two matches of this series as a precaution.”Related

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When Zimbabwe had toured Ireland in 2021, Commins, playing for the A side, scored a half-century at the top of the order. He had low returns in Ireland’s domestic 50-overs competition last year but struck a century in the T20 competition.”It’s extremely disappointing to lose our skipper in this manner, particularly after his outstanding century in his 200th match for Ireland,” Ireland selector Andrew White said. W”e all hope his recovery is quick and he is back on the park soon.”With Andrew’s withdrawal, we have called up Murray Commins. Murray is a talented top-order batter that we see as a direct replacement – we know he has the stroke play, technique and mindset to build big scores and being left-handed, he will also add a new dimension to the top order. Given the volume of cricket coming up, this is also an opportunity to give Murray exposure to the international arena.”After losing the T20I series 1-2, Ireland lost the opening ODI – a rain-hit contest – by three wickets off the final delivery. The second and third ODIs will be played on January 21 and 23 at Harare Sports Club.

Hosts haven’t been afraid to try new things against formidable Australians

Valkerie Baynes11-Jul-2023Sophia Dunkley will open the batting as England seek to embrace their role as “disruptors”, and win the opening ODI against Australia to keep their Ashes hopes alive.Opener Tammy Beaumont, who scored a record-breaking 208 in the Test, which Australia won by 89 runs, returned to the England squad named on Monday after missing out on the T20I leg. But Emma Lamb, who had become her regular partner in the 50-over format, was overlooked after a string of low scores including innings of 10 and 28 in the Test then 8 and 0 in for England A in their one-day series against Australia A.Dunkley scored a century having moved from the middle order up to No.3 in an ODI against South Africa almost exactly a year ago in Bristol, the venue of Wednesday’s match. Heather Knight, the England captain, has confirmed that she herself will step up to that role now.”Sophia’s going to open the batting,” Knight said. “She moved up to three last year, was brilliant, really successful, made an impact, so she’s going to move up to open and do exactly how she has done in the ODI team at three.”We want to maximise the powerplay and that was a change we made with Sophia moving up to three last year to try and take on the powerplay a little bit more. But with Sophia, she’s a proper batter as well. She’s not just a little pinch-hitter at the top.”Related

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• Tahlia McGrath calls for 'fearless' cricket as Australia return to their favoured ODIs

Dunkley scored a half-century in a losing cause during the first T20I against Australia and shared an important 57-run stand with Danni Wyatt in the second, where Wyatt scored 76 from 46 balls to lead England to victory. While Dunkley only scored 9 in the third T20I at Lord’s, a 39-run opening stand dominated by Wyatt’s 26 from 15 balls set England on track for a 2-1 victory in that leg of the series. An in-form Wyatt provides a England with a strong option in the middle order for the ODIs.”Their partnership at Lord’s was outstanding,” Knight said. “I thought that probably won us the game, the way they started, Danni in particular taking on the game, and Sophia plays that role so brilliantly for us.”Naturally she scores quite quickly so she can score big runs as well. It’s for her to play her natural game and put the bad balls away and then also try and put pressure back on the bowler, maybe not quite at the tempo she does in T20 but that’s the logic behind it.”Also crucial in the victory at Lord’s was Alice Capsey’s 46 off just 23 balls, which broke a run of five T20Is for England in which she scored just 17 runs in total.”She’s obviously very attacking and she’s not always going to be Mrs. Consistent and that’s not the role we want her to play, we want her to go and take the game on and do exactly what she did the other night,” Knight said. “I think she’ll become more consistent as she goes on, but she’s only 18 and the talent that she’s got is unbelievable.”I was really pleased with her. Obviously she found it a bit tough leading into it, hadn’t performed the way she wanted to, so for her to come in and do that and win a key game is a really good sign.”Lauren Filer returns after making her international debut during the Test and taking two wickets in each innings, troubling the Australia batters at times with her raw pace, bowling at speeds in excess of 75mph/120kph. Playing regional cricket for Western Storm, she is a strong chance to play the opening ODI on her home ground.”Potentially we see her as someone that can disrupt a little bit and bowl quick in those middle overs and try and take wickets,” Knight said. “She knows the ground very well and she’s really exciting. She’s still quite raw, you saw that in the Test match, but the way she played even surprised me, how she rose to the occasion and just made things happen every time she bowled.”It felt like something was going to happen and that was exactly the role we gave to her, very clear, to run in, bowl fast and try and make an impact. That’s what she did and that’s the role if she gets in the 11 that we see her playing in this ODI series.”England haven’t been afraid to try new things in a bid to throw the Australians off course and Knight believes such a mentality shift is beginning to bear fruit. But with Australia on a 15-game winning streak in ODIs and the hosts needing to win all three if they are to win the Ashes while their opponents need to win just one to retain them, she expects a tough contest.”It’s things like picking Lauren Filer in a Test match when she’s completely unknown, just because she can bowl quick and try and shake things up and try and make an impact,” Knight said. “Doing things a little bit differently, like using [offspiner] Charlie Dean first over [at Lord’s] just to do things that the Australians don’t expect and things that we feel are good things to do tactically and good things for us as a group.”The mentality is probably the most important thing and trying to chase a very, very good team that have had a lot of success, we feel like we have to try and maximise how we do things as much as we can, and try and disrupt what’s a very good thing.”

Rizwan’s unbeaten fifty in vain as UAE fall short by 32 runs

Mohammad Isam27-Sep-2022Bangladesh predictably claimed the hastily arranged two-match T20I series against the UAE, beating the home side by 32 runs in the second game in Dubai. The visitors would be relieved with the two wins under their belt in a season of slim pickings, but UAE, too, will be heartened by their performances in these matches.Running well behind the eight-ball, Basil Hameed and captain Chundangapoyil Rizwan added 90 runs, a T20I record for the fifth wicket in the UAE, after they had slipped to 29 for 4 in the seventh over. Hameed made 42 off 40 balls with four boundaries, while Rizwan struck his maiden fifty in the format, hitting some crisp shots among his four boundaries that included two sixes.For Bangladesh, Mosaddek Hossain took two wickets while Taskin Ahmed built a fantastic spell of 1 for 22, including 12 dot balls.During their innings, Mehidy Hasan Miraz top-scored with 46 but none of the other batters could really push on after making starts.Aggressive batters fall softlyBangladesh were generally a little more forceful during this innings as opposed to their timid start in the first game. But still, the batters’ intent didn’t translate to good starts. Sabbir Rahman struck a four and a six before being given out lbw, playing a lap sweep in the fourth over. Litton Das, on the comeback trail after missing the Asia Cup, looked in good touch hitting four boundaries in his first 19 balls, but then his uppish square-cut looped to point.Afif Hossain, who made a career-best unbeaten 77 in the last game, also took a similar route. He dinked one towards square-leg, playing a half-shot to an Aayan Azal Khan full-toss. Karthik Meiyappan took a great catch diving forward, but it looked like a huge waste of a wicket for Afif.Miraz keeping the faithGood news for Bangladesh is how Mehidy has taken to opening the batting. His 46 off 37 balls contained five fours, but his pacing of the innings should be encouraging for the team management. After allowing Sabbir, Litton and Afif to dominate, he took on the mantle when Mosaddek took a bit of time to get settled.Mehidy has also developed a few shots that is helping him score regularly during and after the powerplay overs. He plays the cut and the pull freely in the air, but when the field is spread, he plays the percentage shots quite well.UAE claw backKeeping Bangladesh down to 43 runs in the last five overs would be something that captain Rizwan and coach Robin Singh can take heart from. Zahoor Khan, who replaced Junaid Siddique for this game, gave away 30 runs in three of those overs, but more importantly foxed Nurul Hasan and Yasir Ali several times with his change of pace.Zawar Farid and Meiyappan too bowled well during the end of the innings, ensuring they preyed on Bangladesh’s lack of intent. The visitors finished on just two sixes and a four in the last 30 balls, even though they looked well set on 126 for 4 after 15 overs.Bangladesh take four earlyChirag Suri, top-scorer for the UAE in the first game, couldn’t connect properly for two overs, before eventually skying one towards cover. The bowler, Nasum Ahmed, completed the easy catch, as the UAE began to stutter. After hitting two sixes off Nasum, Muhammad Waseem was trapped lbw by Taskin in the sixth over, before things got worse for the home side.Mosaddek removed Aryan Lakra and Vritya Aravind off successive balls in his first over, to reduce the UAE to 29 for 4 in the seventh over. Lakra holed out to Mohammad Saifuddin at cover, while Aravind missed a delivery that spun back on to his stumps as he went back to cut the ball.Rizwan, Hameed dig deepBangladesh could have shut up shop but allowed the game to meander. It meant Hameed and Rizwan rebuild the UAE innings, adding 90 runs in the following 11.5 overs. Yasir Ali helped them along the way by dropping Rizwan on 13 at the deep square-leg boundary.But the pair scampered hard for ones and twos, while peppering the scoring with a number of boundaries. Hameed’s four boundaries included a risky ramp shot off the stumps against Saifuddin. Rizwan reached his fifty with a rasping cover drive in the penultimate over, but he was left with too much to do by himself.

Mumbai’s batting looks settled but they need their bowlers to step up

Srinidhi Ramanujam24-Apr-20235:09

Moody: Mumbai should give Arjun Tendulkar another chance to finish games

Big picture: Rohit Sharma vs Hardik Pandya

Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan vs Rashid Khan. Hardik Pandya vs Jofra Archer. Wriddhiman Saha vs Piyush Chawla. Well, it’s also Rohit versus Hardik, only the second time in the IPL. The only two Indian players in this competition who have tasted success on their debut season as captains will go head-to-head in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.Mumbai Indians lost their first two matches, clinched their next three games in a row, before going down to Punjab Kings in a high-scoring game. They sit at the seventh position with six points whereas Gujarat Titans are fourth on the table with eight points. And after four weeks, it’s tough to pick a favourite between them.Mumbai are a batting-heavy side, with their top-six batters striking at more than 140 in this season. With Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav showing results in the last few matches, Rohit will be content with their middle order that also includes the aggressive Tilak Varma and Tim David.However, the same can’t be said of their bowling department. Chawla has bowled the most for Mumbai, has picked up the most wickets (nine) and his economy rate (6.86) is also the best for his side (minimum two games). But the rest of the lot – who have played two or more matches this season – has leaked more than nine runs per over.On the other hand, Titans have fared well in bowling, thanks largely to Mohammed Shami and Rashid. Both have combined to take 22 of the 40 wickets Titans have taken in six games. Mohit Sharma is back and has been bowling at a stunning economy rate of 4.66 from nine overs.Even though Titans return to their home ground, they have lost two of the three games there in IPL 2023. In fact, their defeats have only come at home. In the batting line-up, Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha, despite not clicking as an opening pair, have performed as individuals.However, despite the likes of David Miller and Hardik chipping in, Titans have struggled to score freely in the middle overs. At 7.37 runs per over, they have one of the lowest run rates among all teams from overs 7 to 15. This is an area which Mumbai would be keen to exploit against a team that fires away in the final five.

Form guide

Gujarat Titans WLWLW

Mumbai Indians LWWWL

Team news

Jofra Archer is back for Mumbai after being on the bench due to soreness in his right elbow.

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Gujarat TitansAllrounder Jayant Yadav took over Gill’s place in the XI when the team was bowling and they are likely to continue with this approach. The opposite will work too if they bowl first.Probable XII: 1 , 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Hardik Pandya (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 Abhinav Manohar, 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Josh Little/Noor Ahmad, 12 Mumbai IndiansMumbai might bring in Riley Meredith for Jason Behrendorff in their XI, with batter Nehal Wadhera and one of these two overseas bowlers as impact players.Probable XII: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Tim David, 7 Arjun Tendulkar, 8 Hrithik Shokeen, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 , 12 Nehal Wadhera

Stats that matter

• Shami has taken six wickets in the powerplay this IPL and has bowled 61 dot balls in this phase, the second-most among bowlers this IPL.
• Rohit has scored 43 runs off 29 balls against Rashid in T20s, and has been dismissed by the legspinner in three out of six matches.
• Titans haven’t made it out of the powerplay without losing one of openers Saha or Gill. The pair’s highest stand is 48 runs.
• Mumbai have hit 16 sixes so far in the powerplay, the third-most in this IPL. Titans have hit only five, the second-lowest.

Pitch and conditions

One can expect a another high-scoring game. In the three games played at the Narendra Modi Stadium this season, teams have put up totals in excess of 175 on all occasions. Tuesday evening will be very warm, with temperature touching 40 degrees Celsius during the day.

Quotes

“If a batsman scores a hundred and 60% of the runs comes from cover drives, nobody asks him why he played that shot so many times. This is what (bowling googlies) I have been doing since the beginning. My 60-odd % of wickets come in googlies.

Piyush Chawla answers a straight one

England have slipped from second to third place on the WTC table

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-20254:06

‘Couldn’t take your eyes off it’ – Lord’s Test among the most engrossing

England have been docked two World Test Championship (WTC) points for their slow over rate during the slim 22-run victory in the third Test against India at Lord’s. England’s tally has, as a result, fallen from 24 points to 22 on the WTC points table, and the percentage points have slipped from 66.67% to 61.11%, taking them down a spot from second to third, behind Australia and Sri Lanka.England were also fined 10% of their match fees for falling short of the allotted time for over rates.As per Article 16.11.2 of the WTC playing conditions, a side is penalised one point for each over short after time allowances are taken into consideration.England captain Ben Stokes pleaded guilty to the offence, which meant there was no need for a formal hearing.The third Test, which England won to edge ahead in the series with a 2-1 lead, was a high-octane and thrilling game full of heated battles in which players often came face to face, intensity that surged towards the end of the day, individual brilliance that saw one of the fastest spells from Jofra Archer in Tests, centuries from Joe Root and KL Rahul, and a five-wicket haul from Jasprit Bumrah.The intensity of the Test went up soon after the teams went toe to toe with identical first-innings scores of 387 that reduced the Test to a second-innings showdown. Once India were set 193 to win, they took the the game to the last session with vital lower-order partnerships that Ravindra Jadeja stitched with Nitish Kumar Reddy, Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj before Shoaib Bashir, with a broken finger on his left hand, dismissed Siraj in dramatic fashion to spark off England’s celebrations as Indian hearts were left broken.Bashir has now been ruled out of the series, and replaced by Liam Dawson for the fourth Test, which begins from July 23 at Old Trafford.

Sam Cook, Matt Critchley take three wickets each as Essex cruise home

ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2022Feroze Khushi brought his Second XI form to the Essex first team as he blazed a first Vitality Blast half-century to help his side to a 61-run victory over Middlesex.Batter Khushi averaged 91 in the Second XI T20 competition with three scores over 70 and continued that run with a stylish 67 at the Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford.Paul Walter also clocked up 58 not out as the Eagles set 187, before Matt Critchley took his Blast tally to 12 scalps with 3 for 22 and Sam Cook returned a magnificent 3 for 18. Middlesex were bowled out for 125 to extend their losing run to five defeats.Khushi was exceptional in his ball-striking but he was given three helping hands. John Simpson shelled a simple catch before he had got off the mark before he was also dropped on 36 and 40. In fact, Middlesex’s general fielding display will have disappointed head coach Richard Johnson, with Michael Pepper also surviving.Related

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Khushi eased into his work, with Adam Rossington, Pepper and Matt Critchley all departing in the powerplay having been put in, but found boundaries thanks to his strong wrist work. Having reached a 33-ball fifty, he unleashed a pair of sixes into the Hayes Close End – one of which landed on the roof of one of the houses.Two balls later though he holed out to the deep midwicket boundary, to end a 69-run stand with Walter. That came in a three-over spell which saw Essex score 45 runs, a key to their large total. Walter kept things moving, bringing up his second T20 half-century in 31 balls, with partnerships of 38 and 27 with Tom Westley and Simon Harmer.Martin Andersson picked up 3 for 42, including a wicked yorker to bowl Westley, as Essex piled up 186 for 6.Cook bowled Stephen Eskinazi with the fourth ball of the reply, before Max Holden followed an over later when Ben Allison found his outside edge.Joe Cracknell and John Simpson smashed five sixes between them but still couldn’t match the required run rate. Both departed attempting to up the ante, Simpson miscuing to extra cover and Cracknell bowled trying to sweep Critchley.Luke Hollman and Jack Davies both reached the 20s before they both departed, the former attacked Westley before Critchley had Davies lbw and Chris Green stumped.The home victory was confirmed when Cook returned to find Tom Helm edging to short third man and Andersson picked out a sprawling Harmer at long-on and Thailan Walallawita was run out.

Rinku Singh nearly pulled off a stunning chase as KKR’s campaign came to an end

Hemant Brar20-May-2023Lucknow Super Giants 176 for 8 (Pooran 58, Shardul Thakur 2-27, Narine 2-28) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 175 for 7 (Rinku 67*, Roy 45, Bishnoi 2-23, Yash Thakur 2-31) by one runLucknow Super Giants survived a Rinku Singh scare to become the third team to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2023 as they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by one run at Eden Gardens. They ended with 17 points, tied with Chennai Super Kings, but LSG’s inferior net run rate meant they finished third. They will now face the fourth qualifying team in the Eliminator in Chennai on May 24.At the start of the day, LSG had a chance to secure a top-two finish. However, CSK’s 77-run win over Delhi Capitals in the earlier game meant LSG needed to beat KKR by a margin of around 97 runs to go above CSK. That was not going to be easy, especially after LSG posted 176 batting first. At 73 for 5 in the 11th over, they didn’t look like scoring even that many, but Nicholas Pooran’s 30-ball 58 lifted them.KKR had a flying start before they lost their way in the middle overs. It came down to 56 needed from the last four overs, and then 41 from two. Rinku took 20 off Naveen-ul-Haq in the 19th, leaving 21 for the last.Vaibhav Arora took a single on the first ball of the final over, bowled Yash Thakur. That was followed by two dots and two wides, making it 18 required from three balls. Rinku hit the next one for a six but could pick up only a four off the fifth. A six on the final delivery only reduced the margin of defeat.

LSG’s hit-and-miss start

After being sent in, LSG lost a wicket in the third over of the innings when Harshit Rana bounced out Karan Sharma for 3. Prerak Mankad tried to attack but he was more like a cat on a hot tin roof. After being on 4 off eight balls, he picked up five fours in the next two overs but hardly looked comfortable. Once the powerplay ended, his attempted upper cut against Arora was taken at deep cover. Two balls later, Arora bounced out Marcus Stoinis for a duck, making it 55 for 3.Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine dragged LSG back further. Narine had Krunal Pandya mistiming a slog sweep to deep square leg in the tenth over, and Varun got Quinton de Kock to top-edge to deep midwicket. De Kock, who picked up two sixes in the powerplay – his only boundaries on the night – ended with 28 off 27 balls.

Pooran hits them beyond the boundary

Pooran came in at No. 7, a ball after the halfway mark in the innings. Varun induced an outside edge straightaway but Pooran had played it with soft hands, resulting in the ball falling short and to the left of first slip and going for four. The next ball, though, was too short, and Pooran cut it for four. Varun then overcompensated, erring on the fuller side and was duly smashed for a straight six.With another six in the spinner’s next over, Pooran moved to 23 off just ten balls. KKR had brought in Suyash Sharma as the Impact Player for Harshit, who had bowled three overs for 1 for 21. Pooran welcomed Suyash with yet another six, and ended the over with a four, making sure the legspinner didn’t bowl another over in the game.In the 19th over, Pooran brought up his half-century with a six off Shardul Thakur. He sent the next ball over the boundary line as well, but Thakur had him caught at deep third when the batter attempted a hat-trick of sixes. Andre Russell conceded only three off the first four deliveries of the 20th over before K Gowtham hit the last two for a six and four to take LSG past 175.

KKR quick out of the blocks

KKR had an almost impossible task in front of them: they needed to win in 8.5 overs to lift their net run rate above Rajasthan Royals’ to stay alive for the playoffs. Jason Roy and Venkatesh Iyer smashed 30 in the first two overs but the next two brought only 15. Roy did hit three fours off Krunal’s first three balls in the fifth over but Iyer fell to Gowtham in the next, and KKR finished the powerplay on 61 for 1.

Rinku takes it close

As far as this match was concerned, KKR were well ahead of the required rate. After eight overs, they were 78 for 1, but could score only 30 in the next six for the loss of three wickets. Ravi Bishnoi had Nitish Rana caught at extra cover, Krunal bowled Roy for 45 off 28, and Yash Thakur’s slower ball accounted for Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 10 off 15.With 63 needed from 28 balls, Russell hit Bishnoi for a six but was bowled on the next ball. Rinku was still in the middle, and if there is one thing this season has taught us, it is that no game is over till Rinku is batting. En route to his unbeaten 67 off 33 balls, he took Naveen for three fours and six in the 19th over but with 18 needed from three balls, he could hit only 6, 4 and 6.

Pakistan allrounder goes straight into squad for upcoming fixture against Nottinghamshire

Matt Roller25-Apr-2024Warwickshire have signed allrounder Aamer Jamal on a multi-format contract until the end of July, after he was left out of Pakistan’s ongoing T20I series against New Zealand.Jamal announced himself to the world by taking 18 wickets in three matches in his maiden Test series for Pakistan in Australia late last year, and has also played six T20Is. He was part of a training camp at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul earlier this month, but does not appear to be part of their T20 World Cup plans after missing out on selection against New Zealand.He will be available until the end of the T20 Blast group stages and has been named in Warwickshire’s 14-man County Championship squad to face Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston from Friday. “He’s jumping out of his skin to be on the park on Friday,” Gavin Larsen, Warwickshire’s performance director, said.Related

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Mark Robinson, their coach, said he would make a late call on Jamal’s inclusion after he arrived in Birmingham on Thursday. “He’s raring to go. It’s fantastic he’s itching to get straight into action with us but he hasn’t played a competitive game for a few weeks, so we’ll see where he’s at and make a decision tomorrow.”Larsen said: “He really captured the cricket world’s attention in Australia. He took the Aussies on with good pace, bounce, and a combative approach, all attributes you want in a fast bowler. Pat Cummins was named player of the series but you could have made a very strong argument for Jamal to have been awarded that title.”Jamal joins his compatriot Hasan Ali in Warwickshire’s squad, who was also left out of the ongoing New Zealand series after being invited to Pakistan’s recent training camp. They will fill Warwickshire’s two permitted overseas spots until the end of July, while Hasan’s contract includes an option to extend into September.Warwickshire will be without Moeen Ali, their T20 captain, for at least the first half of the Blast as he is expected to be named in England’s provisional T20 World Cup squad next week. The club said in January when Alex Davies was appointed club captain that a decision over the T20 captaincy would be made nearer the start of the Blast.They have strengthened their T20 bowling attack significantly in the off-season with the additions of George Garton and Richard Gleeson, though Gleeson could yet miss the start of the Blast. He was recently signed by Chennai Super Kings as an injury replacement at the IPL, and they are on course to qualify for the play-offs which run until May 26, five days before Warwickshire’s opening match.Sam Hain, who has missed the start of the Championship season due to personal reasons, played for Warwickshire’s 2nd XI but does not feature in their first-team squad this week. For Notts, Olly Stone – who left Warwickshire at the end of the 2022 season – is back in the squad after a groin injury and could play his first Championship game since May 2023.Elsewhere, Sam Cook will lead Essex for the first time this week when they face Durham, with club captain Tom Westley on paternity leave. They have brought in Harry Duke on a short-term loan deal from Yorkshire with Adam Rossington and Michael Pepper both injured and Jordan Cox unable to keep wicket after breaking his finger during the Hundred last year.Ollie Pope and Gus Atkinson are both in Surrey’s squad to face Hampshire at The Oval, though Ben Foakes has been rested by the ECB. In Division Two, Rehan Ahmed is back in Leicestershire’s squad after two weeks away on a pilgrimage, while Josh Hull – a tall left-arm seamer recently name-checked by Rob Key as an England prospect – returns from a side strain.

Pennington puts Lancashire on brink of ignominious defeat with three second-innings wickets

ECB Reporters Network12-May-2024Haseeb Hameed struck a record-breaking career-best 247 not out as Nottinghamshire took control of their Division One match against Lancashire in the Vitality County Championship at Trent Bridge.The sometime England opener scored almost half his side’s runs as Nottinghamshire, all out for 503, turned an overnight deficit of 52 with seven wickets down into a first-innings lead of 172 before the visitors closed in deep trouble on 100 for 6 in their second innings, still 72 behind.Hameed’s score is the highest by a Nottinghamshire player carrying his bat through an innings in the county’s first-class history, eclipsing the 239 not out made by opener Charlie Harris in 1950 in an all-out score of 401 against Hampshire at Trent Bridge. There have been only 10 higher carried-bat innings in the history of county cricket.Hameed, who is in his first season as Nottinghamshire’s red-ball captain, was at the crease for 10 hours and 21 minutes and found brilliant support from an unlikely source in England fast bowler Olly Stone, his overnight partner, who made a career-best 90 in stand of 163, an eighth-wicket record in matches between these sides.”I wasn’t aware of the record until you told me just now,” Hameed said. “I guess it’s one of those things that maybe I’ll look back on down the line and be proud of the achievement. To break a record that had stood for 74 years is pleasing. And it’s my first double-hundred at first-class level too, so it is nice to get that one ticked off”I know Stoney is a very capable batter. We had a nice little partnership in the same fixture last year. I know he can play having seen him bat in the nets, so it came as no surprise.”Stone’s new-ball partner Dillon Pennington then followed up his three first-innings wickets with three more as Lancashire made a woeful start to their second innings, before Dane Paterson and Lyndon James combined to take another three, with all six casualties caught in the slips or behind the wicket.It was Hameed’s maiden double-hundred, yet Stone’s performance came as the biggest surprise of the day. Prior to this match, the 30-year-old had only once gone past fifty in his whole career, making 60 for Northamptonshire against Kent in 2016.Indeed, as he dusted off a few shots from his batting repertoire at the start of the day, it was easy to imagine that the back end of the Nottinghamshire innings might follow a similar pattern to Lancashire’s 24 hours earlier: a quick dart at an extra batting point or two before the opposing bowlers brought things to a conclusion.Dillon Pennington removed three of the Lancashire top four•Getty Images

But where Lancashire’s tail was done wagging within 26 balls of the restart, with 25 extra runs that gained nothing in terms of points before Stone picked up the last two wickets, a Nottinghamshire game-plan that must have had roughly the same goals turned into the biggest partnership of the match, tipping the balance in the home side’s favour.Indeed, it was Stone who played the lead role. As Hameed, whose fluent striking had taken him to 137 not out on day two, found himself scratching around by comparison, perhaps wary of a deteriorating pitch, Stone played as if big scores were second nature to him.While Hameed was taking 11 overs to find the 13 runs he needed for the second 150 of his career, Stone was profiting so readily from authentic shots across a fast outfield that he clearly felt he may as well see how far it would take him.The answer was undoubtedly much further than he could have imagined. Nottinghamshire increased their batting bonus points tally from one to three and by lunch they were 63 runs in front, Stone having gone past his eight-year-old career-best. Hameed, ever patient, was on 182.Lancashire finally broke through 65 overs into the day as Tom Bailey uprooted Stone’s off stump. As he walked off, Stone must have wondered if such a chance to make a first-class hundred would come his way again but surely allowed himself to enjoy the appreciation of the crowd. He had hit 15 fours, with scarcely a false shot among them.Hameed, meanwhile, was just past his own milestone, a double-hundred of which half the runs had literally been run. It beat his previous best of 196 against Derbyshire in 2022.Remarkably, it is the third double-hundred in consecutive matches by a Nottinghamshire batter following Joe Clarke’s unbeaten 213 against Somerset and Ben Duckett’s 218 versus Warwickshire last month.Even with the eighth-wicket stand broken, Lancashire still needed another 19 overs to finish the job. Pennington was leg before without scoring but Paterson stuck around for almost an hour, finding the boundary four times before he was bowled by leg-spinner Luke Wells for 18.Wells was the first casualty of Lancashire’s second innings, caught at third slip by a diving Will Young off Pennington, who struck again three balls later as Josh Bohannon nicked into the gloves of wicketkeeper Clarke.Pennington struck for a third time when George Bell edged to second slip before Paterson had Lancashire skipper Keaton Jennings caught at first slip, the South African almost grabbing what would have been a brilliant catch off his own bowling when George Balderson was on four.Lyndon James had the visitors in more trouble when New Zealand batter Tom Bruce was caught behind for 15, Paterson further reducing them to 61 for six as Balderson was grabbed at third slip, having not added to his score.