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A relaxed approach to a must-win game paid rich dividends for India in Harare on Monday, as they put on a near flawless performance

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2016How did India react to an unexpected loss to Zimbabwe on Saturday? By unwinding.Mandeep Singh said the team concentrated on not putting additional pressure on themselves: “A few boys went to see a movie yesterday, we played FIFA, so we had quite a relaxed day yesterday, and obviously we discussed quite a lot about the previous game, and I think we played really well today.”Perhaps that helped India regain some freshness ahead of the second match, for they bossed it from start to finish. They lost the toss and were asked to chase on a used pitch, which showed hints of uneven bounce, and it could have been a decisive factor had the target posed a challenge. But India kept Zimbabwe to a mere 99 for 9 and secured a ten-wicket victory with nearly seven overs to spare.Mandeep struck the winning runs – a fierce square cut over the infield to record his maiden T20I fifty. An excellent return considering he had not “been able to sleep” on the eve of the match. “Call it pressure or nervousness, whatever you want,” he said. “But when you go in to bat, it becomes a little easier, at least for me. At that time I just thought, the target is 100, how do I achieve that.”Once I’m inside these things don’t bother me, that the selectors are watching, that this series is very important. Before the match these things do play on my mind, this series is obviously very important [for me], but honestly once I go in, it’s only I have to bat and win the match, and obviously [things like] reading the wicket, what is the situation. So it’s a good thing that I forget [all the pressure] once I’m in.”Much of the work for India’s victory was done by the bowlers though. Barinder Sran picked up 4 for 10, the best figures by an Indian on T20I debut and Jasprit Bumrah chipped in with 3 for 11 to become the highest wicket-taker in the format in 2016.At times, it seemed that all of India’s wickets on Monday had come rather easily, like they were still playing a computer game. The Zimbabwe batsmen slogged at good-length balls and lost their stumps, pressure mounted and their release shots invariably found the fielders. No one could manage a strike-rate of 100.Bumrah told that strangling the opposition formed a key part of his process: “Whenever I try to take a wicket, I never get a wicket. So I always try to hit the correct areas and try to contain the batsmen. So that gives me the best opportunity to take a wicket. That’s the only thing I do.”Sran’s “dream debut” – he took three wickets in an over – was set up by his ability to pick up on the batsman’s intentions.”The big thing is to handle pressure and utilise ideas for T20 cricket,” he said. “You have to read the batsman quickly. When the batsman is trying to hit you, you have to vary your pace and length. Ashish Nehra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have given me a lot of these ideas. Bhuvneshwar has also helped me with tips on swing and seam position.”Bumrah rounded up the tail and produced a top-class inswinger to topple Elton Chigumbura’s middle stump in the 17th over and dismiss him for 8 off 19 balls. Chigumbura had been Zimbabwe’s match-winner on Saturday and taking him out early pleased Bumrah greatly. “All the wickets were satisfying, but my favourite wicket was Chigumbura’s because he could have taken the game away from us.”

With his attacking double-hundred, Virat Kohli led the way in taking up the extra responsibility with the bat that his favoured five-bowler strategy demands

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-20161:17

‘Great to see Kohli’s intensity and desire to score big runs’

Since taking over the reins as Test captain, Virat Kohli has consistently favoured a five-bowler strategy, signalling a result-orientated mindset and a willingness to place greater responsibility on the top five batsmen. On the first two days of the ongoing Antigua Test, Kohli showed what it meant to shoulder that responsibility by shoring up a line-up that had wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha listed at No. 6 with his maiden first-class double-hundred.”Playing five batsmen is a bit of an added pressure on the batsmen but that is what we want to take up as a challenge,” Kohli told , after his 200 led India to 566 for 8 in the first innings against West Indies. “The batsmen decided to take up the responsibility. As captain, I would never ask the players to do what I cannot do myself first.”On a sluggish pitch, the onus on the batsmen was not only to score, but to score fast enough to give the bowlers time to take 20 wickets. Kohli was the only one to take up this dual responsibility. He stayed in and scored big, while also displaying a positive, busy approach that was missing in many of his colleagues. He finished with a strike rate of 70.”I backed myself to be positive, backed myself to score quickly because I knew if we had to bowl the opposition out, we need enough time for the bowlers to be fresh again and also have breaks in between,” Kohli said. “I had decided in the change room that I am going to go out there, be positive and show intent, and the runs started flowing.”Kohli also spoke of the differences between his mindset in the dressing room and in the middle, and said he was “at peace” most while batting. “When you are in the change room, you’re interacting with people, you get to know what people are saying and what people close to you expect from you. I think those are the things that give pressure.”When I go out to bat, I am all by myself and my batting partner. People don’t understand that I am actually at a lot of peace when I am batting alone out there because I don’t have to interact with too many people and don’t have to listen to their expectations or know what they require of me. I can literally reflect on myself, understand what my thoughts and mood are and then work on those things. That is why I always prefer being out there in the middle than getting to know these things from people.”Kohli’s 200 was also the first double-century by an India captain away from home, five years after he made his Test debut in the Caribbean.”I made my debut here and it wasn’t a memorable series for me. Coming back here and getting a double-hundred gives me a lot of satisfaction, purely because of the fact that I have missed a couple of big scores in the past. I know I have the ability to get big hundreds. This is my first double-hundred in first-class matches in general, so this is something I always wanted to do and I am feeling really grateful today that I was able to cross the mark.”

When Graham Onions chipped Ollie Rayner to midwicket, Middlesex were able to toast their first Championship victory at Lord’s this season

Tim Wigmore at Lord's15-Aug-2016
ScorecardOllie Rayner finished with nine wickets in the match•Getty Images

August 15 is late in summer for a first home victory. Yet not until Graham Onions chipped Ollie Rayner to midwicket had Middlesex been able to toast a triumph at Lord’s, their primary home, in the 2016 County Championship. Even allowing for a victory in their single home game away from HQ, it has been an exasperating wait.Five times Middlesex had played Championship matches at Lord’s; five times they had ended in draws. So they will be entitled to feel as if they have not merely defeated Durham, but also the pitch here. After a succession of slow pitches in previous home games, here Middlesex got a one with more pace, bounce and carry: a fine surface for Championship cricket.No one exploited it better than Rayner. If his limits – the absence of prodigious turn or anything resembling a doosra – are well-know, Rayner has made himself into an indispensable cricketer for Middlesex, and one of the finest spin bowlers in the county game.It has been a triumph for willpower, resolve and bloodymindedness. Rayner moved from Sussex, his home town club, in pursuit of more opportunities. He had to remodel his action after being called for throwing. He has honed his batting to make himself harder to drop, last year declaring: “When I see young kids around the grounds in county matches and their mums tell me that they bowl spin and do I have any tips for them, I say, yeah, learn to bat.” Never has Rayner shied from bowling when conditions are toughest.Last year, Jeetan Patel criticised English spinners for not spending enough time honing their art. “Without wishing to sound full of self-pity, it is not easy being an English spin bowler at this moment in time”, Rayner wrote for ESPNcricinfo in response. “I, like many other spinners around the country, bowl the majority of my overs on green pitches such as Lord’s where we are often being used in short bursts to pick up the over rate.”Those days are over. Rayner has moved from being a stock bowler to one entrusted to take wickets at crucial times. Indeed, when Durham’s openers had begun serenely on the first day, Rayner was tossed the ball at 12.12pm. He promptly took 4 for 17.Here, when Rayner punched the air in jubilation at the match-clinching wicket – he is never one to knowingly undercelebrate any wicket, prizing each as if it is his last – it was the latest proof of his growing importance to Middlesex. A few minutes later, Rayner doffed his caps to the MCC members, and had the honour of leading Middlesex off. How he had earned the right. Rayner had done what spinners are meant to, bowling Middlesex to victory in the second innings. Match figures of 9 for 102, and a haul of 35 Championship wickets at 22.51 this season, are a triumph for his thirst for self-improvement – and, perhaps, the ECB’s attempts to encourage spin bowling.”Ollie was still a good spinner last year but because his understanding of what he’s trying to do has improved, I think he’s really improved as a spin bowler,” James Franklin, Middlesex’s captain in this game, said. “The wickets have obviously helped: it helps when you see the ball grip as a spinner, so I think he’s taken huge confidence and encouragement from what he’s done this year.”Ollie is starting to understand his art, and the different paces that he needs to bowl on different wickets and to different batsmen and also the field’s he’s setting. He’s prepared to give the ball a bit of air this year, and long may that continue.”For Middlesex these three days could scarcely have gone better. Frolics from Toby Roland-Jones lifted their lead to 332 in the morning while, in between Rayner’s wickets in the afternoon, Harry Podmore showcased a strong repeatable action in a fine spell that included the scalp of Paul Collingwood, playing on to a ball that nipped back down the slope. It was the latest evidence of the depth of Middlesex’s squad; even the absence of Steve Finn, Eoin Morgan, Sam Robson and an overseas player for this game never looked like stymying them. “We don’t just back 12 or 13 players – we back the whole squad” Franklin said. “Guys like Stevie Eskinazi have come in and had an outstanding start to their careers. Harry Podmore’s another one.”But Durham could reflect with no pride on their performance in this game. Unbeaten until August, this was their second consecutive defeat inside three days. While at Taunton they had reason to grumble about the pitch, here they had no excuse: if the Lord’s track had bounce and turn on the third day, it only magnified Durham’s implosion on the first day, when 74 for 0 became 74 for 4 in 17 crushing deliveries.”It was a good toss to win but we didn’t take advantage of that,” Collingwood said. “We didn’t have the desire to get through hard periods and the desire to score good runs when we had the best of the conditions.” The weaknesses of his side’s batting are obvious, and will be exacerbated by the departure of Mark Stoneman to Surrey. A good thing, then, that Keaton Jennings has just signed on for another four years: when he thrashed Roland-Jones through the covers, Jennings became the first man this summer to 1000 Championship runs.Even his 45 could only briefly delay Middlesex’s waltz to victory. As Lord’s basked in blissful sunshine, and Middlesex’s players headed to the Lord’s Tavern for a well-earned post-match pint – they have the rare luxury of a 16-day wait until their next fixture in any competition – they could revel in having opened up a hearty gap at the summit of Division One. While onerous fixtures at Edgbaston, Trent Bridge and Old Trafford await, it would be remiss of Middlesex not to dream of lifting the County Championship crown when they next return to Lord’s, to play Yorkshire on September 20. “It would be immodest of me to say ‘no we’re not’,” Franklin smiled, a thoroughly contented stand-in skipper who will now hand the reins back to Adam Voges. “There’s an opportunity there.”

On a day when the Lodha Committee handed over to the BCCI its first set of timelines for the implementation of its reforms, the Indian board has said it began the process of implementing them soon after the Supreme Court order on July 18

Arun Venugopal09-Aug-2016On a day when the Lodha Committee handed over to the BCCI its first set of timelines for the implementation of its reforms, the Indian board has said it began the process of implementing them immediately after the Supreme Court issued its order on the matter on July 18. This is a markedly conciliatory position from the BCCI – it is the first time it has admitted to beginning the process of implementing the recommendations – which had till now adopted a combative stance for the most part.The BCCI has till September 30 to, among other things, amend its rules and regulations, as per the Lodha directive issued on Tuesday. The first phase of reform, comprising recommendations on 11 topics with sub-divisions, is to be completed by October 15. In all, the court had given the BCCI a maximum of six months to implement all the recommendations, from the date of issue of the order.

Key reforms and deadlines in first phase

September 30
— Adopting amended BCCI MoA, and Rules and Regulations
— Amending constitutions of state associations
— Establishing 15-day gap between the national calendar and the IPL
— Amending the anti-corruption and related codes of the IPL
— Amending player-agent registration norms
— Deciding order of the rotational vote in states with more than one association
— Deciding on fund disbursements among members
— Establishing transparency of tenders
— Pondicherry to be made Associate member
— Setting in motion creation of players’ association
October 15
— Appointment of electoral officers at BCCI and state levels
— Reorganising the zones
— Various websites to be created/updated, including providing links to facilities in stadiums
— Handbooks to be made for differently-abled and age-group cricket

Despite the process being set in motion, BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke, who had met with the Lodha Committee on Tuesday to discuss the deadlines, indicated that the board’s reservations over the verdict remained; he said it would continue to pursue its legal challenge of the verdict.”Whatever BCCI is doing… the implementation process is going on; there is unanimous agreement on both sides that till – or if – the court stays it, this report is to be implemented,” Shirke told ESPNcricinfo after meeting with the Lodha Committee in Delhi. “The process [of implementation] is already going on. The process started from July 18.”The legal process [against the verdict] is a totally different matter; the implementation [of the recommendations] is a totally different matter. [Filing the review petition against the verdict] is a totally separate process. We have time till August 18 [30 days since the Supreme Court’s verdict]. We will file it whenever it’s ready.”According to a press release from the Lodha Committee, Shirke will have to furnish a report of compliance to the timelines by August 25. The BCCI was also directed to ensure “full transparency” of all tenders floated and bids invited by it, and all contracts entered into with effect from July 18. This will include the broadcast rights awarded to Star India for the two-match T20I series to be played in the USA later this month.The first list of recommendations to be implemented include adopting amendments to the Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations of the BCCI, the amendment of constitutions of state and member associations, reorganisation of the zones, and setting in motion the creation of the players’ association.Shirke said the meeting had been “very good”, and that there was no acrimony in light of the remarks made by former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, who was appointed by the BCCI to advise it on the Lodha verdict. “[There was] no problem,” Shirke said. “They are all justices of the highest court. What do you expect? People at a certain level can easily differentiate things.”How does Justice Katju’s [remarks] come up in this meeting? When the meeting was called for implementation of [the Lodha recommendations] how does he feature in that?”BCCI president Anurag Thakur, who is also a member of parliament with India’s ruling party, the BJP, couldn’t attend the meeting with parliament in session. Shirke felt Thakur’s absence was unlikely to attract contempt proceedings from the Lodha Committee, considering that he had a legitimate reason.”It is not a problem because he has already given a very valid reason,” Shirke said. “The parliament is on and the letter to that effect has already been submitted. According to me, that’s not an issue. If the committee feels it’s an issue then it’s for them to decide.”

Peter Handscomb will captain Victoria in the Matador Cup next month and will lead a squad featuring four players uncapped in one-day cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Sep-2016Peter Handscomb will captain Victoria in the Matador Cup next month and will lead a squad featuring four players uncapped in one-day cricket. Fast bowlers Jackson Coleman and Matt Doric have been included in the 14-man group, having not played state cricket in any format, while the Bushrangers also named allrounder Ian Holland and wicketkeeper Aaron Ayre, both of whom debuted in the Sheffield Shield last summer.Former Test spinner Michael Beer is also in line to play for Victoria for the first time. Beer was originally from Melbourne, but did not get a chance in state cricket until he moved to Western Australia. However, having lost his contract with the Warriors last year, he is back in Victoria and at 32 is set to make his Bushrangers debut.Batsman Marcus Harris is also set to play for Victoria for the first time, having switched from Western Australia this year. Last summer, Harris played in the Cricket Australia XI during the Matador Cup and was the leading run scorer for the young side, with 184 at 36.80.Victoria will be without usual captain Matthew Wade, opening batsman Aaron Finch and fast bowlers Scott Boland and John Hastings, all of whom are with the Australia ODI squad in South Africa. However, the axing of Glenn Maxwell from the ODI side could prove a bonus for Victoria’s hopes in the Matador Cup, as he should be available for the whole tournament.”Coleman and Doric have shown promising form in both Premier Cricket and Pathway competitions, and will help fill the roles left by our frontline pace attack currently missing through injury and overseas commitments,” Victoria’s chairman of selectors, Andrew Lynch, said. “Add to that a solid mix of young all-rounders, as well as experienced campaigners like Glenn Maxwell, Cameron White, Bobby Quiney and Dan Christian, and we’re set for a really positive month of cricket.”Beer comes in as a seasoned campaigner, and will really add depth to our spin attack led by Fawad Ahmed and Jon Holland. To have those three as well as part-timers Maxwell and White is incredibly beneficial, and leaves us with plenty of options next month.”Peter Siddle, who retained his Cricket Australia contract this year despite the likelihood he would be sidelined for a lengthy portion of the year with stress fractures in his back, was not named in the squad. James Pattinson was not named either, as he continues to work towards a return from injury.”James has been consistent with his training output over winter,” Lynch said. “He’s working hard to have his body in the physical shape required to sustain the demands of bowling when the time comes. We don’t have a definitive date for his return yet, but his strong progress to date is promising heading into summer.”Victoria squad Peter Handscomb (capt), Fawad Ahmed, Aaron Ayre, Michael Beer, Daniel Christian, Jackson Coleman, Matt Doric, Marcus Harris, Ian Holland, Jon Holland, Glenn Maxwell, Rob Quiney, Marcus Stoinis, Cameron White.

A round-up of the final day of Group B matches in the second round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2016Maharashtra picked up the all-important first-innings points, despite a triple century from Rishabh Pant, as their run glut against Delhi, which was only the second first-class match to have two triple centuries, ended in a predictable draw at the Wankhede Stadium. The first match took place in the 1988-89 edition, between Tamil Nadu and Goa, which saw triples from WV Raman and Kripal Singh.Delhi had ended the third day on 376 for 5 in their first innings. That, after Maharashtra had piled on 635 for 2 declared, courtesy Swapnil Gugale’s triple century and Ankit Bawne’s double century, and the duo’s unbeaten, record-breaking third-wicket stand of 594 – the second-highest for any wicket in first-class history.Pant, resuming on 155, scored 308 at breathtaking speed, off just 326 balls, studded with 42 fours and nine sixes. He became the third-youngest Indian to score a first-class triple century, after Wasim Jaffer and Abhinav Mukund, as well as the second wicketkeeper to score a triple ton in the Ranji Trophy, and seventh in first-class cricket. When he fell, stumped off the left-arm spin of Satyajeet Bachhav, Delhi were 577 for 7, still 58 shy of Maharashtra’s total. However, they were bowled out 46 balls later, for 590.Maharashtra reached 58 for no loss in the second innings when play ended.A low-scoring encounter between Odisha and Saurashtra ended with Odisha picking up a narrow 32-run win at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, thanks to right-arm medium pacer Suryakant Pradhan’s 5 for 69. Odisha had taken 42-run first-innings lead, before getting dismissed for 169 in their second innings. Set 212, Saurashtra had limped to 96 for 5 at the end of the third day, with Sagar Jogiyani on 42 and Arpit Vasavada on 1. The two added 60 more, before Jogiyani fell lbw to Deepak Behera for 68. Vasavada fell for 45 eight overs later, and was the ninth man dismissed. Soon after, Saurashtra were bowled out for 179, having lost their last four wickets for 23 runs.Karnataka collected first-innings points, courtesy their first-innings lead of 203 against Jharkhand in Greater Noida. Karnataka had put up 577 for 6 after making first use of the surface, courtesy R Samarth’s maiden double century. Jharkhand were 309 for 6, with Ishan Kishan unbeaten on 118 when the final day began. They folded for 374, with Kishan unbeaten on 159.Legspinner Samar Quadri dismissed Karnataka’s top-three, before unbeaten half-centuries from Karun Nair and Kaunain Abbas took them to 162 for 3 when play ended.

The custodians of EagleEye have stood by the projection that led to Mitchell Marsh being dismissed in Perth, despite a chorus of criticism from former players and captains

Daniel Brettig09-Nov-2016Mitchell Marsh’s hotly-debated LBW on the final day of the Perth Test was correctly tracked from its initial point of impact on the allrounder’s front toe, the custodians of EagleEye have confirmed.The decision, which was reversed from Aleem Dar’s initial verdict of not out due to the widening of the zone in which the stumps can be projected to hit by the ICC earlier this year, was openly questioned by a succession of television commentators and also Australia’s captain, Steven Smith, who said it was like Kagiso Rabada was bowling “leg-spin”.The former captain Michael Clarke stated on Channel Nine’s cricket coverage that he was certain the ball was going down the leg side. “I was certain that was missing the stumps,” Clarke said. “When you look at that replay, I thought it was definitely swinging too far and missing the leg stump.”He’ll be really disappointed with that. It has clipped his toe, then clipped his pad, and then got onto the bat. But what I don’t agree with is the line of the delivery once the ball hits him on the toe … I believe the line of that delivery is going down and missing leg stump.”Similar sentiments were echoed by Clarke’s predecessor Ricky Ponting, while another former captain in Mark Taylor – until recently a member of the ICC cricket committee that has long advocated the use of the DRS and ball-tracking – offered his own criticism of the projection.However Ian Taylor, head of the New Zealand company Animation Research that provides EagleEye for Nine’s broadcast, told ESPNcricinfo that the tracking used for Marsh’s dismissal had been reviewed and not found to be in error, either in terms of the projection reached or the process used to get there.”I talked to my guys [in Perth] and we talked to the ICC and showed the process we went through, and we’re happy with it,” Taylor said. “They had a really good pitching point off the pitch, and a really good contact point on the shoe, it wasn’t on the pad. They felt confident they could extrapolate from those two points to make the prediction.”They have the choice there of saying they think there was insufficient data, but they saw it really clearly and it didn’t continue out on that line [down leg], it hit the foot right in front of middle stump. We saw the impact on the toe before anyone else did, and we saw the impact on the toe with our four cameras, and our guys confirmed it with the HotSpot guys sitting with them. That’s where the projection was made, the line from the bounce to the foot, to the stumps.”Taylor offered an open invitation to any sceptical commentators, officials or even umpires to visit the technology operators and see things for themselves – not unlike the process by which the BCCI recently approved the use of ball-tracking as part of the DRS, a system to be used in the just-begun Test series between India and England.”What surprises me is so many people can make a call straight away with just seeing the replay from the end-on view, when we’re going through four super slo-mo cameras and HotSpot,” Taylor said. “That was the process they went through. I fully respect the guys who spent their whole careers out in the middle, it’s an instinct they have and that umpires have.”We definitely don’t dismiss that and we take very seriously the views of those people. Our doors were open to all of the commentators to come down at lunchtime – we had people wait there because we thought someone might. We’ve also re-affirmed to the ICC and all the umpires as well that the door is always open, come on down and talk it through so we all learn from it.”Technology operators have advocated for some time that either the third umpire or an ICC-accredited official sit alongside those working HotSpot, EagleEye/HawkEye or other devices to provide clearer lines of accountability.”The issue for us is if we did this properly with a third umpire who was trained and there [with the technology operators], he could have made the call that my guys made,” he said. “That’s what we talk about – here’s all the information we’ve got, and you make a call whether you want us to project this on or not, because you’re an umpire.”The argument we have about a third umpire or ICC-accredited person who sits with our guys, the third umpire sitting up in the box does not know what’s going on down in our room. Who’s talking, what we’re seeing, what we’re looking at, what we’re replaying and what our thought process is. We’ve always argued if we had a fully qualified person from the ICC sitting in that room with everybody, we would go with that.”

Of all grounds in Australia, the designated spinner’s wicket at the SCG was where Lyon had found least success before this Test

Brydon Coverdale at the SCG05-Jan-2017Strange as it may seem, before this match the SCG was Nathan Lyon’s worst Test venue in Australia. He had fewer wickets at Bellerive and the WACA, but nowhere was his bowling average worse than at the SCG, where in five Tests he had 13 wickets at 54.15. Perhaps even more remarkably, his overall first-class record at the venue was even worse: 14 wickets at 64.85 from seven matches. So much for the spinner’s pitch.So, Lyon could have been forgiven for approaching the Test with a certain amount of trepidation, especially at the end of a summer in which he has struggled for wickets, would have lost his spot for the Adelaide Test had Steve O’Keefe been fit, and appeared on the precipice again at the MCG before bowling Australia to victory on their last day of Test cricket for the year. As it happened, Lyon has started 2017 as he hopes to go on.He finished the third day of the Test against Pakistan with 3 for 98, figures that, temporarily at least, were his best in a Sydney Test. He had Misbah-ul-Haq caught at deep midwicket, then added the wicket of Mohammad Amir, who was beaten by flight and drove a catch to mid-off. And finally, he produced the perfect wicket for an offspinner, gaining sharp bite off the pitch to turn the ball through an admittedly large gate to bowl Wahab Riaz.”It was a beautiful offspinner’s wicket,” Australia’s bowling coach, David Saker, said after play. “He’d be very happy with it and we were very happy with it. He threatened to do that quite a bit today, with that sort of ball.Lyon finished 2016 as one Australia’s most successful bowlers despite a difficult summer•Cricket Australia

“But that one, it was really pleasing to see it spin that much, and the pleasing also was it didn’t bounce too much – it still hit the stumps. He bowled really well. I thought he hasn’t had a lot of luck all summer, but he bowled really well and got some good rewards.”Earlier in the summer, Lyon had endured a 660-ball drought between first-class wickets, but he still finished the year with 41 Test wickets at 36.34 – one lesser than Josh Hazlewood’s 42 wickets from the same number of matches, although Lyon’s average was much higher. Only Mitchell Starc, with 50 wickets, made more Test breakthroughs than them for Australia in 2016.”He obviously felt a little bit of pressure on him, because of the results he didn’t want,” Saker said of Lyon. “But we thought he’s been unlucky at times. He hasn’t bowled on wickets that have helped him all that much this summer. To come out and do what he did in Melbourne, to get some really crucial wickets for us in that second innings, and then come out today and bowl like he did – I think he’d be on top of the moon.”Lyon’s late dismissal of Wahab, which came in the penultimate over of a day that was shortened by early rain, left Australia needing just two more breakthroughs to finish off Pakistan, with 68 runs still needed to avoid the follow-on. However, Saker indicated that Australia might lean towards batting again if given the follow-on decision, to have Pakistan bat last on a pitch that will offer more and more spin.”It did spin quite a bit,” he said. “It’s been under the covers a bit more than a normal game because of the rain, so it’s holding together a bit better than a normal Sydney wicket. Hopefully it’ll start playing some tricks. We’ve still got a decent lead, but we’ve got to get two more wickets.”We’ll probably assess what we’re going to do with the game after we get the two wickets. But I would probably assume we’d go out and have another bat and put some more wear in the wicket, and then have a bowl on the last day and a bit.”

Ben Foakes passed another searching examination from Afghanistan’s exciting legspin talent, Rashid Khan, to set up a fascinating fourth-day finish in Abu Dhabi

ECB Reporters Network09-Dec-2016Afghanistan 273 (Stanikzai 51, Nabi 51, Roland-Jones 6-73) and 18 for 3 need another 199 runs to beat England Lions 279 (Westley 84, Foakes 70, Alsop 40, Rashid Khan 4-48) and 210 (Foakes 89*, Gubbins 53, Rashid 8-74)

ScorecardRashid Khan celebrates with his team-mates after bowling Joe Clarke•Getty Images

Ben Foakes passed another searching examination from Afghanistan’s exciting legspin talent, Rashid Khan, to set up a fascinating fourth-day finish in Abu Dhabi.Foakes, who had made 70 in the first innings, followed up with a patient and skilful unbeaten 89 second time around, compiled from 154 balls in 222 minutes.The Surrey wicketkeeper shared partnerships of 66 with Middlesex opener Nick Gubbins, who was fifth out after grafting to 53 from 152 balls, and 51 with the Lions captain Toby Roland-Jones.But there was no denying Rashid top billing in front of a small but highly enthusiastic crowd of Afghanistan supporters at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.He had made quite an impression with 4 for 48 in the first innings but proved even more of a handful in the second, ending with 8 for 74 from 35 overs – giving him astonishing match figures of 12 for 122 on his first-class debut.Lalchand Rajput, Afghanistan’s experienced Indian coach, revealed afterwards that Rashid had only played T20 and 50-over cricket since playing in the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh earlier this year.”I think he has bowled superbly in this game,” said Rajput. “He came from the under-19s and he was playing a lot of one-day cricket and T20 – this is the first four-day game he has played, and he has really done well. That shows that he’s ready for all formats. We picked him because sometimes the wrist spinners you just get naturally – he is one of those.”The Lions were all out for 210 in their second innings, leaving Afghanistan needing 217 to win – and Tom Curran struck a huge double blow in his first over, pinning Javed Ahmadi lbw then having Rahmat Shah snapped up by Ollie Rayner at second slip in the space of three balls.Curran’s younger brother Sam chipped in with the wicket of Afsar Zazai, lbw to his second ball, and the Afghans closed on 18 for 3 – needing another 199 to win.The day had started with Roland-Jones taking less than an over to collect the last wicket of Afghanistan’s first innings, completing figures of 6 for 73.The Lions lost Tom Alsop in the fifth over of their second innings, edging to second slip where Rahmat claimed a low catch.But Tom Westley, who had top-scored with 84 in the Lions’ first innings, started well again and shared a stand of 44 with Gubbins until he was lbw to Rashid’s googly.Joe Clarke was bowled by Rashid for the second time in the match four overs later, and the legspinner then switched ends to have Liam Livingstone lbw sweeping and leave the Lions tottering on 68 for 4.Foakes joined Gubbins to steady the ship and the pair batted deep into the afternoon session until another flurry of wickets before tea.They all went to Rashid – Gubbins adjudged caught behind off the bottom edge, Sam Curran edging the next ball, and Tom lbw to another googly, although in his case on the front foot.At 152 for 7, the Lions were only 158 ahead, and seemingly short of a defendable total. So the 51 runs added by Roland-Jones and Foakes were precious, although the last three wickets tumbled quickly as Roland-Jones was yorked by the young Afghan seamer Karim Janat, Rayner was given caught behind off Rashid, and finally Jack Leach popped a catch to short leg.Foakes ran out of partners after hitting nine fours and a six, but the late treble from the Curran brothers left the game finely balanced going into the last day.

Offspinner Morna Nielsen, pacer Hannah Rowe and batsman Samantha Curtis, who were in the squad for the home series against Pakistan, have been left out

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2017Legspinner Erin Bermingham and offspinner Leigh Kasperek have returned to the New Zealand women’s limited-overs squads for the upcoming home and away series against Australia women, after recovering from their injuries. Maddy Green, who missed the home series against Pakistan women in November, has also been included for the ODIs and T20 internationals.Bermingham had missed the series against Pakistan due to a fractured thumb, while a fracture of the right index finger in October had sidelined Kasperek for eight weeks.Offspinner Morna Nielsen, pacer Hannah Rowe and batsman Samantha Curtis, who were in the squad for the Pakistan series, have been left out, although coach Haidee Tiffen stated that all three players will remain in contention for spots in the Women’s World Cup squad. New Zealand have already confirmed their place in the competition, which will be held in June-July in England.Tiffen said hard choices had to be made while selecting the squads, highlighting the depth and competition for spots in the side. She said the selections were based on the performance of the players in New Zealand’s own domestic tournaments and the Women’s Big Bash League, which featured players like Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu and Rachel Priest.”Good players have missed out because the competition for spots in our world-class side is now more intense than ever,” Tiffen said. “We have improved depth, so we have hard choices to make – and that is exactly the situation we want to be in building up to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.”We have seen some very special performances – from Amy Satterthwaite’s hat-trick to Sophie Devine’s fastest century, and it’s been an added bonus for us having two White Ferns in Suzie Bates and Rachel Priest captaining WBBL teams in high-intensity T20 cricket.”I’ve watched every single delivery of the WBBL and it’s been a timely insight. It has provided a litmus test for a number of our players against Australia’s top cricketers whom we will be facing very soon in both the T20 and one-day international formats.”New Zealand will travel to Australia for three T20Is, which will be played between February 17 and 22 in Melbourne, South Geelong and Adelaide. Australia will then visit New Zealand for three ODIs, which will be played in Mount Maunganui between February 26 and March 5.New Zealand women’s ODI squad: Suzie Bates (capt), Erin Bermingham, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Holly Huddleston, Leigh Kasperek, Amelia Kerr, Katey Martin, Thamsyn Newton, Katie Perkins, Liz Perry, Rachel Priest, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea TahuhuNew Zealand women’s T20I squad: Suzie Bates (capt), Erin Bermingham, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Holly Huddleston, Leigh Kasperek, Katey Martin, Thamsyn Newton, Katie Perkins, Liz Perry, Rachel Priest, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu