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For the longest time, MI New York seemed to have done enough to win two points, but then Xavier Bartlett smashed them for a 25-ball 59 not out

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2025Xavier Bartlett walked out at No. 8 against MI New York, with San Francisco Unicorns at 108 for 6 in 12.2 overs, still 74 behind. Before this game, he had a T20 batting average of 14.10 and a strike rate of 108.50. On Sunday, he smashed a bowling attack headlined by Trent Boult, Naveen-ul-Haq, Michael Bracewell and Ehsan Adil for four fours and five sixes on his way to an unbeaten 25-ball 59. And with it, Unicorns snatched a win that was MINY’s for the taking, and were three wins out of three and strong at the top of the MLC 2025 points table.For Unicorns, chasing 183 for victory, Finn Allen was gone in the second over, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Sanjay Krishnamurthi in the third and fourth respectively, and Cooper Connolly on the last ball of the powerplay, which ended at 42 for 4. MINY were very much on top and it felt like their first win of the season was just a matter of time.But Hassan Khan, who had earlier conceded 54 runs in his four overs, then joined Tim Seifert. Seifert had been waging a lone battle till then, but Hassan provided the impetus, contributing 43 runs in 17 balls in their 64-run stand in just 31 balls. Despite that, when Bartlett walked out and Unicorns lost captain Corey Anderson soon after, MINY were still favourites. Till they were hit by the Bartlett blitz.Earlier, after being asked to bat, MINY rode on Quinton de Kock’s 38-ball 63 at the top of the order and cameos from Kieron Pollard and Sunny Patel to get to a competitive total.De Kock scored his 63 from just 38 balls, but there was little from the other end while he was around, and when he was dismissed in the 12th over, with the scoreboard reading 102 for 4, it seemed like MINY would stop under par. But Pollard slammed four sixes in a nine-ball 16th over from Hassan to turn the tide and Sunny chipped in with an unbeaten 11-ball 20 from No. 8. For a long time, it seemed like the total would be enough but Bartlett ensured it wasn’t so.

India captain happy with the work his team’s done pre-tournament in Australia, and says players have been spoken to about remaining flexible in their plans

Sidharth Monga22-Oct-20229:06

Rohit: ‘Want to have an open mind’ when selecting the team

India have often started Men’s T20 World Cups with little or no preparation or acclimatisation to the conditions, but this time they left for Australia about 20 days before their first match. And it is important too, because securing progress to the semi-finals often turns out to be a tri-series within each group between the three top teams – as it happened last year. And when you play one of the big teams – Pakistan – first up, you need to hit the ground running.”That’s something we’ve been talking about for a while, like when you go on big tours, you need to prepare well, especially when you travel outside India,” India’s captain Rohit Sharma said on the eve of the match against Pakistan. “You need to have time in hand to prepare the way you want to prepare, because it takes time.Related

• Rohit: Saving Bumrah's career more important than this T20 WC

• Weather improves on match eve, but Rohit says India 'ready' for shortened game too

• 'Wanted to give him a bit of a challenge' – Rohit on Shami in warm-up

“A lot of the guys are not used to playing in foreign conditions, be it Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand, and all those countries. It’s always nice to have time in hand, and this was a conscious effort from the team management, the BCCI, that come the big tournament, we want to have time in hand to prepare ourselves. The talk of having time in hand started right after the last World Cup.”We said, we know where the World Cup is happening, and we made a very conscious decision of going to Australia a little earlier than expected because we were supposed to play the [ODI] series against South Africa, which unfortunately we all had to miss to prepare for this big event. That is something that was happening in the background right after the [2021] World Cup. We know how key the preparation is. A lot of the guys who are part of this team have not been to Australia, so that was also one of the reasons we wanted to come here early.”Rohit spoke a little about what the preparations entailed. “We had a great time in Perth,” he said. “We were there for nine days, and then we came to Brisbane. We prepared, we played a couple of practice games in Perth just to get used to the conditions, the pitches. Obviously you can’t travel all around Australia and play on all pitches, but we could get whatever we could get.Rohit Sharma with head coach Rahul Dravid during India’s training session•Getty Images

“I thought Perth was the right time [zone] for us to start. Obviously, the time difference is not too much, also, so you can easily get acclimatised to the time zone, and that was also one of the reasons. I thought the way we went about the entire Perth leg was good for us. We could specifically focus on certain things when it comes to batting, and the bowlers could work on certain things … and we were lucky enough to get that time in hand to prepare ourselves and come here to Melbourne.”Rohit comes with the reputation of being a meticulous captain who prepares well, knows his match-ups and hardly ever makes an unplanned move. However, he spoke of the need for instinct too, because a lot of data of T20s in Australia is from their summer and not early spring.”You’ve got to be instinctive as well,” Rohit said. “Sometimes you just have that feeling that this is the guy who will do the job for you. Yes, you have to look at the match-ups as well. We’ve been going through a lot of numbers all these days about how people have been successful in Australia. Although it’s a different time, not a lot of cricket has been played during this month in Australia, it was important for us to get some kind of data around what happens in October-November in Australia and what are the kind of people who have been successful here [then].”We saw a lot of things about how you need to be successful firstly as a team and then as an individual, as well. We went through all of it, but obviously, like I said, it’s a bit of both. Sometimes you just feel that this guy is bowling pretty well, you need to just get him to play the game; he’s in good form.”On the other side, you will look at the match-ups, as well. It’s a bit of both. On that given day, whatever we feel is the right playing XI, we will go by that. I certainly want to keep my mind open on that when it comes to playing XI. We don’t want to get stuck with one particular way of making your playing XI. We want to be open about it. If we have to change one or two players in every game, we’ve got to be ready for it.”That’s how we have prepared all our guys as well. The message was given long before we came here, that if we need to change one or two players for the match-ups for what sort of conditions we are playing in, guys will be ready for it. So it’s not a last-minute thing where we are changing the players. This is the talk that has happened in the team long [time] back, and guys are ready for it.”Rohit was asked if this was the biggest match of his career, seeing as he was leading the team against arch-rivals Pakistan in a World Cup match. He didn’t agree with the assessment because he has played a T20 World Cup final against Pakistan and won it, and has played a Champions Trophy final and lost it. He laughed off some war parallels. And quickly went back to cricket: that they knew they needed to change the way they played, the players needed to be given the security to go out and play that way, and that they as ready as they can be in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence.

Warwickshire bundled out for 78 on home soil

ECB Reporters Network17-Sep-2024Essex’s seamers bowled Warwickshire out for just 78 to take immediate control of their Vitality County Championship match at Edgbaston.Put in on a bowler-friendly track, the home side was skittled in 27.4 overs by Shane Snater – with 5 for 13 – Jamie Porter and Sam Cook. Sustained resistance came only from Will Rhodes (29) on his last home appearance before joining Durham.Essex then dipped to 50 for 5 but recovered to close the opening day on 189 for 9 thanks to astute contributions from Michael Pepper (37), Snater (33 not out) Matt Critchley (32) and Simon Harmer (31). Ed Barnard took 3 for 36 and Craig Miles 3 for 53 but a lead of 111 already looks decisive.Essex have laid the platform for a second successive emphatic win while Warwickshire’s supporters digest one last moderate instalment of a deeply uninspiring home championship campaign.Porter and Olly Hannon-Dalby started the day as the country’s joint leading wicket-takers on 46 and the former took just 16 balls to move to 48 by removing Warwickshire’s openers; Rob Yates lbw and Alex Davies caught at third slip. When Sam Hain, trapped in the crease, was lbw to Cook, Warwickshire were 18 for 3.Eighteen-year-old Hamza Shaikh got stuck in for 37 balls for eight runs before Snater struck twice in seven balls. Shaikh’s off-stump was sent flying and Barnard’s would have been if his pads hadn’t been in the way.Rhodes, warmly applauded to the crease by supporters aware of the void he will leave in Warwickshire’s top order, eked 29 from 98 minutes of toil before edging a peach of an away-cutter from Snater to wicketkeeper Pepper. Any Bears’ hope of recovery vanished with the last ball of the morning when Cook knocked out Michael Burgess’s middle stump.From 73 for 7 at lunch, the innings imploded in another 16 balls, Snater wrapping it up with an lbw decision against Hannon-Dalby to secure his eighth first-class five-for.Batting remained troublesome at first when Essex replied and they lost Robin Das, lbw to Hannon-Dalby, to the 13th ball. Westley decided that positivity was the solution and struck seven fours in a 22-ball 30 but was then also trapped in front by the big Yorkshireman.When Barnard broke through twice in three balls – Dean Elgar caught at first slip and Paul Walter played on – and Noah Thain edged Chris Rushworth airily to second slip, Essex were 50 for 5, but the lower order batted wisely and patiently as the pitch eased in the late afternoon sunshine.Critchley reined in his attacking instincts, taking 23 balls to get off the mark, and with Pepper added 55 in 18 overs against an attack which lost Rushworth injured. Critchley edged Barnard to second slip and Pepper leading-edged a return catch to Miles but Harmer and Snater added a valuable 39.Miles removed Harmer and Cook in three balls but Snater’s cameo, including three successive fours off Miles, lifted the lead over 100.

Pakistan secured a spot in the tri-series final against New Zealand; South Africa have now lost six successive ODIs

Firdose Moonda12-Feb-2025Salman Agha’s first ODI century and Mohammad Rizwan’s fourth combined as Pakistan completed their highest successful chase in ODIs and secured a spot in the tri-series final against New Zealand on Saturday. Rizwan and Salman, Pakistan’s captain and vice-captain, shared in a record fourth-wicket stand of 260, the highest-ever against South Africa, and the fourth-highest by any pair while chasing. South Africa have never had a bigger score chased against them.On a pitch perfect for batting, Pakistan’s efforts trumped Temba Bavuma’s highest ODI score since September 2023, Matthew Breetzke becoming the player with the most runs after two matches (233) and Heinrich Klaasen’s fourth successive 80-plus score in the highest-scoring encounter between these two sides.It goes without saying that it was a difficult day for bowlers, and seamers in particular. Pakistan’s quicks conceded 206 runs in 28 overs, of which Mohammad Hasnain’s eight cost 72, and South Africa’s pace attack gave away 223 runs in 27 overs. South Africa have now lost six successive ODIs.Ultimately, South Africa will be more concerned about the loss of Klaasen to a thumb injury than the match. Klaasen left the field in the 32nd over and handed the wicket-keeping gloves to Kyle Verreynne, after a ball that kept low from Corbin Bosch struck him on the right thumb. There was no immediate update on Klaasen’s condition.Pakistan had never conceded more runs in Karachi and only once allowed South Africa to score more against them so their task was tough from the outset. But their chase got underway briskly when Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam put on 56 in the first six overs, and took apart both Lungi Ngidi and Corbin Bosch. Wiaan Mulder was introduced as first-change early, in the seventh over, and struck with his first legitimate ball. He cramped Babar for room as he tried to flick the ball away and struck him on the front pad. Babar reviewed immediately but Ultraedge confirmed there was no bat and the ball was going on to hit the middle stump.Saud Shakeel, brought into the side for this match, kept the pressure on and scored 15 off 16 balls before mistiming a pull off Bosch to Mulder at deep mid-wicket. Pakistan’s powerplay score of 91 for 2 was their third-highest since 2002 and set them up well.South Africa soon edged ahead when, four balls into the 11th over, Fakhar played inside the line of a Mulder ball, got an edge and Klaasen took a diving catch to his left. Rizwan had only faced two balls, and pulled one of them for four, when he was joined by Salman, with a rebuilding job to do.Pakistan scored only one boundary in the next seven overs and the required run-rate climbed over 7.3 but slowly, Pakistan started to find more boundaries. Salman picked on anything full from the spinners and the pair rotated strike well to take Pakistan to 163 for 3 at the halfway stage, still needing 190 runs.Senuran Muthusamy came into the attack at that point and by his third over, Rizwan lined him up and launched him over long-on to bring up the hundred partnership. By then, Rizwan already had fifty and Salman soon brought up his fifty off 51 balls.Matthew Breetzke and Temba Bavuma made 83 and 82, respectively•Associated Press

Though the required run-rate hovered between seven to eight runs an over, neither Salman nor Rizwan panicked and they were supplied with enough boundary balls to keep the score ticking over. South Africa were guilty of offering too much width, failing to adjust their lengths and the occasional piece of ordinary fielding. By the time Pakistan got to their last ten overs, they needed 82 runs. South Africa had scored 110 in the same period, so Pakistan knew what was possible.Both set batters were on the doorstep of the 90s and Rizwan got there first when he launched Mulder over deep mid-wicket, off the 106th ball he faced. In the same over, Salman got to his milestone off a single. His hundred took just 87 balls. Pakistan brought 300 up in the 44th over and needed just 32 runs in the last five overs. Despite Salman falling before the winning runs were scored, Pakistan got there with six balls to spare, leaving South Africa wondering how many they left out there.They started strongly with a powerplay that saw them total 64 for 1 and both Bavuma and Breetzke in good touch. Breetzke, in particular, was soon striking at over 100, and allowed Bavuma to dial it down slightly as he approached his first fifty in 17 innings. He got there with a single off Salman, and then accelerated once again. In general, Bavuma played more riskily than we are used to and went for an expansive drive off left-arm spinner Khusdil Shah but edged past Rizwan. Later that over, he tried to slog Khusdil over square leg but top-edged. Naseem Shah misjudged the catch and put Bavuma down on 60.Pakistan were able to keep South Africa fairly quiet for the next eight overs, and they scored at under five an over but grew frustrated with their inability to break through. Breetzke brought up fifty off 46 balls before Hasnain thought he had him out lbw when he missed a leg-side whip and Rizwan was convinced to review but ball-tracking showed it going down leg.Sensing an opportunity to create something, Rizwan brought Shaheen Shah back on in the 27th over and he tested the batters with pace and personality. There were stare-downs and words. At one point, Afridi moved into Breetzke’s path as he was completing a single and there was contact. Breetzke didn’t back down, got in Shaheen’s face and the pair had to be separated by the umpires and team-mates. In the next over, Bavuma played Hasnain to backward point and raced away for a single before checking with Breetzke, who sent him back. It was too late.Saud Shakeel swooped in and with a one-handed pick up and throw ran Bavuma out and celebrated in his face for good measure. Bavuma was stranded on 82, with a golden chance at a century gone begging, but South Africa still had 21.5 overs to face.Klaasen was sent in at No.4 and faced 14 balls for seven runs before he remembered who he was. He smoked Hasnain for four fours in his sixth over, over mid-on, mid-off, square-leg and deep mid-wicket to bring up 200 and get the innings going again. That over cost 16 runs and the next four for 36 and South Africa were back in sight of a massive score.Breetzke was out to a stunning Salman catch when he tried to smash Khusdil through the covers but Salman, who dived across and reached out with his right hand to pluck the ball close to the ground. Mulder was caught at point in the next over and South Africa entered the final ten overs on 242 for 4 but with Klaasen there, would have been comfortable.He unleashed a 95-metre six five balls into that period, brought up fifty off 38 balls and then completely cut loose. His next 37 runs came off 18 balls and he spared no-one. Afridi was treated particularly severely as Klaasen took him for back to back sixes in an over that cost 20. When he tried to give Naseem the same treatment, Klaasen sent a low full toss to long-on. In the end, Pakistan’s two centuries to South Africa’s none was the difference.

Kyle Mayers’ 73 went in vain for West Indies, with Rohit Sharma’s back injury a matter of concern for the visitors

Sidharth Monga02-Aug-20223:18

Hardik Pandya – ‘When I bowl it gives a lot of balance to the side’

Suryakumar Yadav put on a workshop on how to hit hard lengths after Hardik Pandya and R Ashwin helped India keep West Indies down to 164 in their 20 overs. Riding on Suryakumar’s 76 off 44 balls, India got to their target and a 2-1 lead in the five-match series with an over to spare.The only matter of concern for India was the fitness of their captain Rohit Sharma, who retired hurt with a suspected back spasm when batting.Put in on a bouncy track that was hosting its second match in two days, West Indies got off to a quick start in the powerplay, but Pandya and Ashwin dragged them back with their changes of pace. Between them, they conceded just 45 in eight overs.While Kyle Mayers scored a 50-ball 73, run-a-ball 20s from Brandon King and Nicholas Pooran hurt West Indies’ momentum. Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell helped them get 80 off the last seven but it wasn’t enough to trouble Suryakumar.Right from the first ball he faced, Suryakumar looked in imperious touch, squeezing out a near-yorker for four through cover. He followed it with scarcely believable shots to perfectly acceptable balls bowled on hard lengths.Five of his 12 boundaries came behind square on the off side, and one behind square on the leg side, but his best shot was an aerial inside-out drive to a short-of-a-length ball on middle stump, getting a six over wide long-off. It was but one of an exhibition put on by Suryakumar, who at one point threatened to score a century in a small chase.By the time he was done, India needed just 30 off 33 balls.Mayers signals intent
India snuck in a quiet over from Deepak Hooda with the new ball, but Mayers got stuck into any pace on offer, especially that of Avesh Khan. If he went over the leg side against Avesh, he made room to slice open the covers when Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled. Arshdeep Singh did well in the final powerplay over, but Mayers and King punished two slight errors of length from Ashwin in the seventh over to make it 56 for 0.1:02

Kyle Mayers – ‘India assessed the conditions better than us’

Pandya, Ashwin choke the middle overs
Pandya, who had been pulled for a six in his first over, got a change of ends, which meant Mayers was hitting into a stiff wind if he pulled. Extra bounce, hard lengths and changes of pace followed in the next three overs, which went for just 11 runs, and also brought the wicket of King, who played on when slogging at Pandya.Ashwin had two left-hand batters in sight, and he stifled them with his guile and variations on a pitch with little turn. Mayers and Pooran managed to hit a four and a six in his remaining three overs, but had to take big risks. By the time the duo was done, West Indies had reached just 84 in 13 overs.Honours even in final exchanges
West Indies managed to successfully target Avesh in the final exchanges, but Arshdeep and Bhuvneshwar kept pulling them back, denying them the finishing kick they badly needed after that middle-overs slowdown. Mayers and Rovman Powell played some incredible shots to get them the 80 runs they did in these seven overs, but they were about to pale in comparison.The Suryakumar show
The first ball Suryakumar – opening for the third time this series – faced was a low full-toss with not much room, but he squeezed it out for a four through the covers. He was just warming up those whippy wrists of his. In the fourth over, he played a mix of a ramp and a drive to send Azlarri Joseph for a six over third.India took 56 off the powerplay, which is when West Indies would have hoped to have brought on a slowdown like the one they experienced.However, Suryakumar took Jason Holder on in the eighth over, and then punished Joseph for no fault of his in the tenth. The drive off a short-of-a-length delivery for six over wide long-off was followed by a ramp from around leg stump, with Suryakumar almost on his back as he arched back to make room. It was the halfway mark, and India needed just another 69.Before he signed off, Suryakumar played another outrageous shot, a sweep off left-arm seamer Dominic Drakes from wide outside off and over short fine. When he tried a repeat, Suryakumar fell, leaving India just 30 to get in 33 balls, which they did comfortably thanks to Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 33 off 26 deliveries.

KKR have been one of the form teams this season, while Punjab Kings, down in ninth place, have failed to bat at the speeds other teams have

S Sudarshanan25-Apr-20242:16

Moody: ‘KKR need to take a long-term view with Starc’

Match details

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR; 2nd place) vs Punjab Kings (PBKS; 9th place)
Eden Gardens, Kolkata, 7:30pm IST (2pm GMT)

Big picture – Best bowling side at batters’ paradise

Punjab Kings (PBKS) have many issues to solve, but despite IPL 2024 being dominated by batters, bowling is not one of them.PBKS are the only side not to concede 200 or more in an innings yet – 199, twice, is the most scored against them. Their bowling average of 24.94 is the best among all the teams this season, with Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) 25.47 next in line. At the death (overs 17 to 20), PBKS have struck 23 times, the most by a team in IPL 2024, and their average in that phase (15.73) is again the best. They have been the third-most economical bowling team (8.98) this season too.Now they are at a venue – Eden Gardens – where 200 has been crossed in both innings in three of the four matches so far. It has been the venue with the third-highest scoring rate (10.43) this season, with Hyderabad (10.92) and Delhi (11.48) ahead.All of which brings the PBKS batters into sharp focus. They are the second-slowest scoring team (with a strike rate of 137.31) and also have the second-lowest batting average (23.84). None of their batters have totalled 200 yet, even though 24 batters have crossed the mark – Shashank Singh with 195 runs is their leading scorer.KKR have not been an easy side to either score against or bowl to this season. They are favourites here. So PBKS have to score bigger than they have so far and expect the bowlers to do what they have been doing, in KKR’s den. Not to forget, PBKS have only won three of their 12 games – only one in the last eight – at Eden Gardens.

Form guide

KKR WLWLW
PBKS LLLLW1:52

How can Jitesh Sharma find himself some form?

Team news and impact player strategy

Kolkata Knight Riders: KKR have subbed out a batter for a fast bowler or a spinner, depending on the conditions and the situation of the game, in each game. Usually, Rinku Singh has not been used in the fielding innings, with one of Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma brought in. Expect them to continue with that.Probable XII: 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Venkatesh Iyer, 5 Shreyas Iyer (capt), , 7 Andre Russell, 8 Ramandeep Singh, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Harshit Rana, Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan will only be fit for PBKS’ next game, according to spin-bowling coach Sunil Joshi. Whether that means Sam Curran opens again or one of Rilee Rossouw and Jonny Bairstow partners Prabhsimran Singh is anybody’s guess.Probable XII: , 2 Rilee Rossouw/Jonny Bairstow, 3 Sam Curran (capt), 4 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Ashutosh Sharma, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Arshdeep Singh,

In the spotlight – Mitchell Starc and Harshal Patel

Of all the IPL grounds, the poorest economy rate (13.50) when fast bowlers bowl full under lights is at Eden Gardens. It’s the venue Mitchell Starc, who loves to swing the ball from fuller lengths, has to call home in IPL 2024, and his returns have mirrored those stats. His best performance this season – 3 for 28 against Lucknow Super Giants – came in Kolkata while bowling first in an afternoon game. Starc’s economy rate this season – 11.48 – is the poorest among bowlers who have bowled at least 25 overs, and is the poorest for any bowler to have bowled at least 20 overs in the first seven games of an IPL season. Most expensive in more ways than one, Starc has to live up to his reputation at some stage.Harshal Patel had a forgettable start to IPL 2024 – four wickets at an average of over 45 and an economy rate of 11.31 in the first four games. But since then, he has returned nine wickets – seven of those at the death – at an average of a shade under 11 and an economy of 7.46. He has been effective with his changes of pace as well as angles, and has bowled in each of the three phases in the last four matches. About 80% of his wickets are of right-hand batters, and KKR have plenty of them, including Andre Russell – Harshal has dismissed him twice in 26 balls in all T20s.Sunil Narine has been one of the star performers this IPL, with bat and with ball•BCCI

Pitch and conditions

The KKR batters, especially the openers, have thrived on the high-scoring pitches in Kolkata. Expect a similar surface on Friday. Fast bowlers have had an economy of 10.74 in Kolkata as opposed to the spinners’ 9.31, and a lot of that has to do with the success of Sunil Narine (16 overs, six wickets, economy 6.25) and Varun Chakravarthy (16 overs, five wickets, economy 9.81).

Stats that matter

• Narine’s 33 wickets against PBKS are the most for him against a single opponent in the IPL. He averages 19.90 against them and has an economy of 7.06
• In the IPL, Shreyas Iyer has scored 12 off five balls against Kagiso Rabada, but in all T20s, it’s 19 off 21. However, Rabada has never dismissed Iyer
• Russell vs Curran is a proper cat-and-mouse game. Russell strikes at 221.4 against Curran for three dismissals in 28 balls in all T20s. Curran also gives it back: 39 runs in 21 balls for one dismissal against Russell in T20s.

Quotes

“I will get to bowl when the opportunity arises, I am working on my bowling. The Impact Player rule is such that the use of the allrounder is reduced. Every team wants to bowl with their main fast bowlers.”
“Jitesh is a quality batter, and we know that the time has come for him to fire. There are multiple players in the IPL, who are eager to be part of India’s T20 World Cup squad. For most of the players, making it to the Indian team will keep haunting them. So focus on the basics. You’ve got to perform and take it ball-by-ball, leave selection to the people who decide.”

“Drawing is maybe as big as a loss for us,” the opener said ahead of his final Test, where he will also be standing in as captain

Firdose Moonda02-Jan-2024Dean Elgar likened the emotions of a Test series victory to winning a World Cup, while recognising that he has never played in one of the latter.”I only play the game to win,” Elgar said on the eve of his final Test. “I don’t care about stats. I care about wins. I care about series wins. That’s the greatest memories you can ever share with your team, everyone that has got an influential role in the background. Test series wins – you don’t top that. Maybe a World Cup win is up there. I have never had that opportunity but this is my World Cup. This is my arena where I want to win.”Elgar’s career will end this week with 86 Test caps and with him as one of only eight South Africans to have scored more than 5000 runs in Test cricket. He is 167 runs away from catching Mark Boucher, who is seventh on the list and will equal Herbie Taylor, with 18 Tests as captain, the fifth-most by a South African. While the runs are something Elgar hopes to reflect on in the future, being asked to lead the side, 11 months after being stood down from the captaincy because of an injury to regular skipper Temba Bavuma, is among Elgar’s proudest achievements.Related

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“I don’t think you get a bigger accolade or bigger credit than to be asked to captain. I did it in the past for a year-and-a-half or whatever it was and it has been the best learning experience for me as an individual – not just from a cricketing point of view but off-field stuff,” he said. “I give my 100% whether I am playing or captaining and I am going to have that mentality going into this game. For me, it’s about showing the right ways for the younger players and hopefully that catches on.”Playing against India, the team Elgar led South Africa to a 2-1 win against in the 2021-22 summer, holds extra meaning for him. “There’s no bigger honour than to captain your country irrespective of who you are playing against but being against India adds more flavour. India is the powerhouse nation in the world and we are in a situation where I can influence and try to get a 2-nil win.”Though South Africa’s innings win at SuperSport Park last week means that they cannot lose the series, Elgar does not want them to settle for that. Instead, he wants them to adopt a mindset that this is a series they should not share, because it will be played at home and with the final match at many of the players’ favourite venue: Newlands.”We are in a fortunate position knowing that we can’t lose the series but drawing is maybe as big as a loss for us,” he said. “It’s a massive Test for us, being our highlighted Test of the year. The New Year’s Test at Newlands, they don’t get much bigger and better, against really tough opposition. Playing the New Year’s Test is big for guys and they are going to have a lot of firsts so we want them to just live in that moment but be mindful of the opportunity of winning 2-nil. Drawing the series is not something we are thinking about at all.”This is South Africa’s first series of the 2023-2025 WTC, during which they will only play two-Test series and will not face England or Australia at all. The dearth of fixtures was believed to be part of the reason Elgar chose to retire, despite his 185 in the Boxing Day Test suggesting he still has much to offer, and though he did not confirm that, he also made it clear he will not be changing his mind. “One thing people need to understand is that I made my decision long ago,” he said. “A couple of months ago, I chose this to be my last series, irrespective of what is happening behind the scenes. I made my bed and I am sleeping in it quite nicely.”

Club chairman signals intention to convert ownership model from members club

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2024Colin Graves has given the strongest indication yet that Yorkshire’s traditional member-owned status is no longer viable given their dire financial situation, saying that a process of demutualisation – the conversion of the club to a private structure model, thereby unlocking the potential for outside investment – “appears at this point essential for the club’s future”.Graves, who was re-elected as Yorkshire’s chairman for a second stint in February, helped to save the club from bankruptcy during his original tenure in 2002. As a consequence of that intervention, his family trust – which is managed by independent trustees – is still owed approximately £15 million, or almost three-quarters of the £20million of “long-term borrowing” that he claims is required to keep the club afloat.Now, in a letter circulated to members on Monday, Graves has warned that Yorkshire will be “fighting for its survival” during 2024 unless they take “swift and decisive action”.Related

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According to their latest financial results, the club recorded a trading loss of £2.7 million in 2023, including £1.9 million of “exceptional” expenses, most of which relate to the legal costs and settlements incurred during the racism scandal that had previously caused a raft of high-profile sponsors to sever ties with the club.The picture is all the more concerning for Yorkshire given that they hosted a lucrative Ashes Test in 2023. Their recent accumulated losses now stand at more than £9 million, and that picture is likely to worsen this year given that Headingley has no men’s Test scheduled for 2024, nor in 2027 or 2028, which Graves warned in his letter would amount to “double fallow” years.Despite stating in the run-up to his election as chairman that he had no plans to demutualise the club, Graves subsequently warned that “nothing can be ruled out in the future”.The prospect of private investment within English cricket is already on the table via the ECB’s discussions over the future of the Hundred. Headingley is the host venue for Northern Superchargers, and stands to be awarded a 51% equity share in the team, while Graves’ consortium at Yorkshire includes a number of the tournament’s original architects, including Sanjay Patel, the former tournament director.”As discussed at our AGM in April, the club’s current status as a mutual society continues to prove a blocker to attracting private financing,” Graves wrote in his letter. “A demutualisation – thereby converting the club to a private structure, which unlocks potential private investment – appears at this point essential for the club’s future.”My firm intention is that members’ current rights are protected and that a demutualisation would represent no change to their current interaction with YCCC,” he added. “The club would be better structured to be self-sustaining, still in existence, and to capture maximum value for YCCC from any processes such as the Hundred.”Any move to demutualise the county – a process which has already been undertaken at Hampshire, Northamptonshire and Durham – would need the involvement of at least 50% of Yorkshire’s 6,000 members with voting rights, and a 75% majority therein.

Left-arm spinner returns career-best figures to help hosts defend 275

Danyal Rasool10-Jun-2022Pakistan 275 for 8 (Babar 77, Imam 72, Hosein 3-52) beatWest Indies 155 (Brooks 42, Nawaz 4-19, Wasim 3-34) by 120 runs
Mohammad Nawaz allayed any concerns Pakistan might have had about posting a below-par total, producing the best bowling performance of his career to bundle West Indies out for 155. Coming in with Pakistan under pressure after West Indies’ pugnacious start to the chase of 276, Nawaz struck four times to gut the visitors’ middle order, figures of 4 for18 in his allotted ten sealing West Indies fate, and giving Pakistan a 120-run win to wrap up the series 2-0.West Indies’ innings began disastrously, with Shaheen Afridi removing their best batter Shai Hope in the first over, trapping him on his crease as he spooned a catch to cover. But what followed suggested West Indies were giving the chase a serious go, with the powerplay dominated by positive, fearless strokeplay from Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks. Haris Rauf was the man they targeted early on, a gloriously nonchalant pulled six over square leg from Mayers perhaps the shot of the innings.Mayers then smashed Mohammad Wasim for a couple of fours and Shaheen for six straight back over his head as the visitors put on 71 in the powerplay. But off that phase’s final ball, Wasim cleaned him up to open the door for Pakistan’s spinners, and it was time for Nawaz to shine.Nawaz’s fourth ball was a harbinger of what would follow. He flighted it up to Brandon King, drawing him out of his crease before getting the ball to spin away and kiss the edge. The game had swung, despite a brief fourth-wicket stand, and Nawaz soon sent the last set batter, Brooks, on his way for 42, trapping him in front as he horribly miscued a sweep to leave them tottering at 102 for 4.But Nawaz was only halfway through. West Indies’ last hopes, Rovman Powell and Nicholas Pooran were sent back within three balls of each other as Nawaz exercised his full mastery over the opposition, varying the flight and exploiting the dip and turn to penetrate both players’ defences.Shadab Khan, at the other end, sent Romario Shepherd packing; by this time all realistic attempts at a chase were done. West Indies had lost four wickets for 18 runs, and while they limped along for another 35 runs, it was only a matter of time before they were put out of their misery.If you watched that Pakistan innings up first, you’d have seen what was coming, and if you didn’t, you’d know exactly how it panned out. Fakhar Zaman fell early, before Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam put on their customary century stand. It was followed by a stuttering of momentum and a collapse of the middle and lower order, once those two fell, leading Pakistan to stumble to 275. You’ve seen it before, you’ll see it again, you saw it today.West Indies’ left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein also had a good day in Multan•AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan were fortunate enough to win the toss and not have to put their bowlers through another rigorous day out in the heat. Hasan Ali was finally taken out of the side, with Mohammad Wasim Jnr brought in. But at the top, it was a similar pattern for Pakistan, with a struggling Fakhar falling for an unconvincing 28-ball 17 as Pakistan made a slow start in the face of accurate West Indian bowling. It was Anderson Phillip, replacing Jayden Seales in the visitors’ XI, who got the wicket after Zaman top-edged one.Babar and Imam took over from there, steadying the innings for the next fifty runs or so before slowly moving through the gears and nudging the run rate up. It was nothing dramatic, just the usual platform-building, but as so often happens when these two are on song, it looked like there was no breaking that stand. Each of them brought up half-centuries, the sixth consecutive fifties for each of them, and little appeared to stand in the way of them bringing up personal three-figure scores.The only way a wicket would come about was if it were self-inflicted, and that indeed was what happened. In a moment that swung the momentum of the innings around, Imam set off for a run without looking up at his captain, who was busy ball-watching. When Babar looked up, Imam was barely two metres from him, and his fate was sealed. The opener smashed his bat into the turf in frustration while he walked off, but West Indies had been gifted a creek of hope.Babar was undone by some brilliant left arm orthodox bowling from Akeal Hosein, who managed both grip and turn on a surface that had offered up neither in such generous quantities two days ago. Looking to play against the turn saw the Pakistan captain fall 23 short of a hundred Pakistan have come to expect from him almost every game, his leading edge finding a cover fielder.Mohammad Haris came in and sought to inject some pace in the innings without ever looking like he had the ability to, in the face of a couple of quality West Indian bowlers, and promptly nicked off for a run-a-ball six. The final ten overs saw the West Indian bowling at their best, putting pressure on Pakistan with clumps of dot balls thanks to some glorious execution, both in terms of line and length and changes of pace. Alzarri Joseph led the way in that regard, his figures of 10-1-33-2 just rewards for what he produced.Khushdil Shah found batting a struggle, and while Pakistan got away the occasional boundary and big hit, the general trend by this stage all favoured West Indies. The last 15 overs saw just 89 runs scored as six wickets fell, and while Pakistan’s middle-order questions only deepened, West Indies will have sniffed an opportunity. It had seemed like a very realistic possibility until Nawaz came in and snuffed it out emphatically.