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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.

For Sri Lanka, on a flat, dry surface that offered little assistance to their trio of seamers, it was the dependable Suranga Lakmal who fared the best

The Report by Madushka Balasuriya27-Jan-2020Sean Williams produced a consummate captain’s knock, scoring his second Test century, and Zimbabwe, with cameos from Brendan Taylor and Sikandar Raza, seized control of proceedings on the first day of the second Harare Test. While Williams’ dismissal in the final hour of play gave a slightly more balanced look to proceedings, the hosts still ended the day on 352 for 6 with Regis Chakabva and debutant Tinotenda Mutombodzi at the crease, their partnership unbeaten on 28.For Sri Lanka, on a flat, dry surface that offered little assistance to their trio of seamers, it was the dependable Suranga Lakmal that was nevertheless the catalyst for their most incisive period of play, as he ended the day with two wickets. Dhananjaya de Silva too picked up a pair.Williams was aided for a majority of his stay by Raza, the pair coming together with Zimbabwe in a spot of bother at 133 for 4. Lakmal’s probing lines and ability to seam the ball both ways caused them a few problems early on, but once they weathered that storm they found runs easier to come by. Both Williams and Raza utilised the sweep to good effect, while they were also unafraid to use their feet to smother spin and play down the ground.It helped that early on in their partnership – which would eventually yield 159 runs – Lasith Embuldeniya was forced off the field, having copped a blow on his bowling hand attempting to take a difficult chance offered up by Raza. Embuldeniya would later return to bowl, seemingly without much discomfort.During this period, it was Williams who was by far the more aggressive of the two, regularly using his feat against the spinners, with the nature of the pitch such that anything full was there to be driven. Williams lofted Embuldeniya down the ground for six more than once in this manner.Raza for his part was more selective. Though an entertaining period of play did see him attempt a series of pulls off Lahiru Kumara to varying degrees of success, culminating in one being creamed for six over the midwicket boundary.It was Kumara, however, that got the last laugh, as one pull too many saw Raza find an onrushing Angelo Mathews in the deep, who completed a good diving catch.Williams though would continue to hold firm putting on 32 more runs with Chakabva, before a tired attempt at a slog sweep against Dhananjaya saw his stumps rattled, bringing a disappointing end to what had been an outstanding innings.Brendan Taylor sweeps one fine•Associated Press

Earlier, Brendan Taylor’s run-a-ball 62 had resurrected Zimbabwe’s innings after they had crawled to 50 for 2 at the end of the 20th over, in danger of squandering the best of the batting conditions. Off just his sixth delivery Taylor signalled his intent, coming down the track to Embuldeniya, and lofting him for six over long-off.On a pitch that had shown some bite and turn, most of the Zimbabwean batters had for the most part done well to prevent Sri Lanka’s spinners from settling. It was first Craig Ervine, then Taylor, and eventually Williams who took it upon themselves to play the role of aggressor, either coming down the track, sweeping or cutting.It didn’t help Sri Lanka’s cause that the pitch seemed to slow quite a bit as the day wore on with the seamers gradually losing their potency. It raised the question as to whether the think tank had missed a trick in choosing to bring in an extra seamer in Vishwa Fernando, as opposed to the spin of Lakshan Sandakan.It also looked to be a concerted plan from Zimbabwe to target Sri Lanka’s spinners – and Embuldeniya in particular – as Ervine, in his brief cameo had also launched the young left-arm spinner down the ground for six and a four.Ervine had looked in good touch, but was dismissed after failing to read a slider from Dhananjaya that caught the inside edge of his bat on the way to short leg.Prince Masvaure had nicked a wide one from Kumara through to the keeper, to give Sri Lanka their first breakthrough of the day.Despite the fall of wickets, Taylor would proceed to sweep and reverse sweep frequently as Zimbabwe continued their counter-attack. This tactic, though, may well have been his downfall had the umpire not failed to spot Taylor gloving a reverse sweep to the keeper when he was on 7. With DRS not available for this series, Zimbabwe’s most experienced player survived.Taylor fell shortly after the lunch interval, when Lakmal was causing all sorts of trouble. Unerring in his examination of the area outside off stump, Lakmal would tail a fuller delivery in towards leg stump, catching Taylor flush on the pads.Kevin Kasuza, meanwhile, had looked uncertain throughout his innings, which ended with an ill-advised leave off Lakmal as the ball to jagged back in from outside off and hit the top of off stump.At that point Sri Lanka’s bowlers would’ve been looking to scythe through Zimbabwe’s middle order, but Williams and Raza had other ideas.

NZC are fully supportive of his trip home after the aborted IPL and the left-armer will be available for the WTC final

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2021Trent Boult will return to New Zealand after the aborted IPL instead of heading straight to England with the other Test players and could miss the two-match series although will still be available for the World Test Championship final against India.Boult, along with New Zealand trainer Chris Donaldson, who has been with the Kolkata Knight Riders, will spend about a week with their families after undergoing the mandatory two weeks in managed isolation on their return before joining the Test squad in England.An NZC statement said that Boult would be back with the squad “possibly in time to be picked for the second Test against England but certainly in time for the ICC WTC final.”Had the IPL run its full course, Boult would likely have been unavailable for the first Test at Lord’s which starts on June 2 and it may have been tight for the second Test due to quarantine requirements.Related

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“We’re completely supportive of Chris and Trent taking the opportunity to see their families before heading to the UK,” David White, the NZC chief executive, said. “They’ve always been the consummate professionals and we’re more than happy to accommodate these arrangements.”Boult and Donaldson are due to depart New Delhi on Friday on one of two charter flights along with the other New Zealand-based players, support staff and commentators who are returning on home.They are due back in Auckland on Saturday which means that their managed isolation should be complete by May 22. The plan for Boult is that he will then spend his week at home alongside training at Mount Maunganui before leaving for England in early June.Kane Williamson, Kyle Jamieson and Mitchell Santner, along with physio Tommy Simsek, will travel to England on May 11.”We’ve worked closely with the BCCI and the IPL franchises on the various departure strategies and we’re very appreciative of their support during what is, clearly, a very challenging time,” White said. “Were also very grateful to the England and Wales Cricket Board for accommodating the early arrival of the four members of the Test squad currently in India.”The New Zealand-based members of the Test squad, who have just had the first of two training camps in Christchurch, will depart for England on May 16 and 17.

‘Mindset over physical preparation’ for the allrounder as he makes a match-winning 96

Mohammad Isam18-Jul-2021There is something maddening about playing against Shakib Al Hasan in a high-pressure game. He gives you nothing. No reactions. No window into his thoughts. No hope. Shakib’s stony façade is his first line of defense, and then the rest of him works in calculative movements.His unbeaten 96 against Zimbabwe in the second ODI had all those qualities. There’s calmness on the outside, and deep wells of belief in his own ability on the inside. Combining the two, he reads the opposition – a batter, bowler or fielder – better than most around him.Shakib’s ability to transfer pressure back onto the opponent is subtle, but effective. For example, whenever he completes one, two or three runs, he always pretends that he could have had more. Fielders end up rushing, panicking, making mistakes. Same for a bowler. Shakib, meanwhile, attacks and then retreats. He attacks and then retreats and then wins.Zimbabwe may have thought that they had the second ODI in the bag when Bangladesh were 173 for 7 in the 39th over, chasing 241 runs. Shakib was unbeaten on 63, and Mohammad Saifuddin was the last recognised batter. Shakib soaked up and deflected so much of the pressure that his batting partner was obligated to support the match-winner.After finishing the chase with a finely cut boundary in the final over, Shakib said he needed to make some mental adjustments ahead of this game. It was a rare peek into a man known for being utterly inscrutable.”I think the mindset is more important than physical preparation at this level,” Shakib said. “I think I was thinking too much. I stopped doing it before this game, and a few things helped me get back my focus. I want to hold on to this focus. After playing for so long, I don’t have a lot of technical problems. I think if I can win the mental game within myself, I can score runs regularly.”Shakib said he had to struggle for runs in the first half of his innings, particularly on a slow pitch and with team-mates falling quickly at the other end. “It was a different wicket. The ball wasn’t coming on to the bat, so one had to play shots to get the runs. There had to be a lot of adjustment as a batsman.”I took my time but I wouldn’t have done much more as wickets were falling regularly at the other end. Credit goes to Saifuddin for finishing the game with me.Shakib said that his only message to Afif Hossain and Saifuddin was to stick around with him till the end. “Even when I was batting with Afif, all I was telling him was that we batsmen should be around till the 45th over. At that stage, scoring 30 runs in the last two overs becomes possible in this day and age.”We wanted to take the game close. We never talked about needing 60-70 runs, which should be chased quickly. Run-a-ball chasing in ODI cricket is now very much possible,” he said.

Eddie Byrom fifty guides hosts to resounding win over Worcestershire

ECB Reporters Network13-May-2023Glamorgan 258 (Neser 86, Finch 5-74) and 82 for 0 (Byrom 51*, Lloyd 30*) beat Worcestershire 109 (Roderick 38, Harris 4-18, Neser 4-40) and 227 (Waite 45, van der Gugten 5-48) by 10 wicketsTimm van der Gugten cemented his place as the season’s leading bowler in the LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two with his third five-wicket hall of the campaign as Glamorgan wrapped up victory against Worcestershire on the third day in Cardiff.Glamorgan won by 10 wickets after they finished off the Worcestershire second innings inside the first hour of day three. Set a target of just 79 to win, Glamorgan were seen home by Eddie Byrom, who top scored with 51, and David Lloyd.After the Worcestershire top order had failed for the second time in the match it was left to the tail to set a challenging target, but only 32 runs were added on the third morning before they were bowled out for 227.This win gives Glamorgan their first victory of the season and 20 points to keep them in the hunt for a promotion spot. Worcestershire have now lost two and drawn two since their opening-round victory against Derbyshire.No runs had been added to the overnight score when Glamorgan got their first breakthrough as Matthew Waite was bowled off an inside edge by Jamie McIlroy. Waite is Worcestershire’s leading run-scorer this season and his innings of 45 was the highest score by his team in this match. His wicket left Worcestershire eight wickets down and only 45 runs in front.Van der Gugten completed his five-wicket haul when he had Josh Tongue caught at point by Byrom. Joe Leach scored 24, an innings that included the only six of the match, before he was bowled by a ball that kept low from James Harris. As the last wicket fell Worcestershire were 78 runs in front.The pitch started slow and without much bounce and these features only became more pronounced as the match wore on. Despite this, the Worcestershire bowlers did not have enough runs to defend.Lloyd and Byrom took Glamorgan to 34 without loss at lunch, meaning they needed anther 45 runs to win after the interval. The two carried on as they had started after the break as they saw their side home with an unbroken stand of 82.

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.