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Canada remain the last undefeated team in Group B after coasting past Nigeria by 50 runs in Abu Dhabi on Monday

Peter Della Penna 22-Oct-2019Canada remain the last undefeated team in Group B of the T20 World Cup Qualifier after coasting past Nigeria by 50 runs in Abu Dhabi on Monday night. Nitish Kumar once again top-scored making an unbeaten 57 off 36 balls, though he and the rest of the Canada line-up were beneficiaries of some porous fielding from Nigeria.Nigeria’s bowlers put in a diligent effort led by Chima Akachukwu in the Powerplay. The medium pacer dislodged both openers, captain Navneet Dhaliwal and Rodrigo Thomas, by sticking to a full length as the former holed out to long-off while the latter was bowled driving to make it 41 for 2.Kumar arrived in the fourth and stayed until the end, unfurling a series of drives and cuts to pepper the off side boundary. Wickets continued to fall at the other end though as Abraash Khan could not capitalize on a botched runout chance after the keeper took the bails off before the ball arrived, eventually driving a catch to long-off for Daniel Gim’s first wicket. Sylvester Okpe covered 20 yards to hold onto a skied slog off his own bowling to dismiss Ravinderpal Singh. Saad Bin Zafar was given leg before to fall to Daniel Akeju in the 17th to make it 112 for 6 in the 17th.It could have been even trickier for Canada had Sulaimon Runsewe held onto a simple skied chance at point when Kumar was on 37 off Akeju, but the chance went down. Kumar survived another close shave on 43 when a lofted drive pierced through a leaping effort at long-on for six, then brought up his 50 off 32 balls on the next delivery with a scorching straight drive past the umpire for a boundary.Hamza Tariq showed little mercy at the opposite end. The former Trinbago Knight Riders representative hammered three sixes – over long-off, cow corner and extra cover – in his rapid cameo to lift Canada to an easily defendable total.Only two out of the top eight in Nigeria’s batting order made it into double-digits in reply. Runsewe and Chimezie Onwuzulike shared a 57-run third-wicket stand to rebuild after Dillon Heyliger’s double-strike in the second over had reduced Nigeria to 2 for 2. But the most memorable moment during 18-year-old Runsewe’s run-a-ball 27 was his sprint off the field at the end of the seventh over for a toilet break. The umpires held up play for Runsewe, and he was greeted with uproarious applause and laughter from the Nigeria bench upon his return.But there weren’t too many more smiles from Nigeria afterwards. Runsewe eventually fell slicing Saad’s left-arm spin to Dhaliwal at point. Onwuzulike ran out the captain Onikoyi two overs later with a poor call to cover before his own innings ended missing a flick across the line to Dhaliwal’s part-time medium pace to make it 77 for 5 in the 13th. Nigeria’s lower order did their best to stretch the match to the full 20 overs, but Canada was under little pressure the rest of the way.

Kaitano, Masvaure, Madhevere and Matigimu have been left out while Brendan Taylor is expected to return

Firdose Moonda21-Jul-2025Ben Curran has recovered from a fractured hand sustained in a warm-up match against South Africa in Arundel and has been named in Zimbabwe’s 16-player squad to take on New Zealand next month.At the moment, the squad does not include Brendan Taylor, whose three-and-a-half-year ban for breaching the ICC anti-corruption code ends on July 25. ESPNcricinfo understands he will be added to the squad once his ban expires on Saturday and is expected to be available for the first Test that starts July 30. The squad does feature four other changes from the one that lost 2-0 to South Africa.Sikandar Raza, who was playing in the MLC during the South Africa Tests, returns to the squad alongside Roy Kaia and Tanunurwa Makoni. Opening batters Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Prince Masvaure, middle-order batter Wessly Madhevere and seamer Kundai Matigimu, who debuted against South Africa, have been left out.Related

• Matt Fisher earns first NZ call-up, Williamson remains unavailable for Zimbabwe Tests

• Glenn Phillips ruled out of Zimbabwe tour with groin injury

Blessing Muzarabani leads the seam attack, but there was no room for Richard Ngarava. The left-arm quick had injured his back in the Test against England but returned in the ongoing T20 tri-series featuring Zimbabwe, South Africa and New Zealand.Brian Bennett, who was concussed in the first Test against South Africa and had returned in the T20Is, is also in the Test squad. Dion Myers, who was covering for Bennett, has been released.Both Tests will be held in Bulawayo, where conditions are difficult for quicks and run-scoring can typically be slow, though South Africa scored at 5.49 runs to the over in the most recent Test there.This is the first time Zimbabwe will play Tests against New Zealand since 2016, when New Zealand visited Bulawayo and won the series 2-0. It also marks the end of a busy period of Tests for Zimbabwe for the time being.Since December last year, they have played eight Tests, including five at home, all at Queens Sports Club. Zimbabwe have lost all their home games and only won one of their last 15 Tests. They will next play Tests towards the end of the year when they host Afghanistan.The matches are not part of the current World Test Championship cycle.Zimbabwe squad: Craig Ervine (Captain), Brian Bennett, Tanaka Chivanga, Ben Curran, Trevor Gwandu, Roy Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Clive Madande, Vincent Masekesa, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Newman Nyamhuri, Sikandar Raza, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Nicholas Welch, Sean Williams

Head coach suggests England camp read conditions incorrectly ahead of toss

Matt Roller29-Dec-2019England head coach Chris Silverwood has defended captain Joe Root’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss against South Africa, despite the decision backfiring as South Africa sealed a 107-run win at Centurion.On the first morning of the game, Root admitted that he faced a “tricky decision” at the toss but said England had a “great opportunity” to dismiss South Africa for a low first-innings total. In the event, the hosts rallied from 111 for 5 to reach 284 all out, and made use of excellent bowling conditions on the second day to bowl England out for 181.”It was pretty simple really,” Silverwood told Sky Sports. “When we got here, the wicket was a little bit damp, and we suspected it would do a little bit with the new ball, which it did. It did something for most of the day, and we suspected that days two and three would be the best days to bat, and [the pitch] would deteriorate. As it turned out, day three was the best day to bat.”Root said he maintained the decision was “a 50-50 call” and blamed the defeat on a collapse of 7 wickets for 39 runs in the first innings, rather than his choice to bowl first.”It’s very easy to stand here now and say that, but [when] you get a side 111 for 5, you really think you’ve got ahead of the game if you like. Maybe [that was] a slight opportunity missed, but ultimately you have to give credit to South Africa.”That [collapse] was the real crux of it – that’s where the game was won and lost. It’s really disappointing, but in the same sense it’s really pleasing to see us very quickly put a better performance [in the] second innings.”While there may have been some logic to Root’s decision to bowl, the record of visiting teams who choose to bowl first in recent Test history is extremely poor.In the past two-and-a-half years, there have been 13 occasions on which an away captain has won the toss and inserted the home team, and only once has that resulted in a victory – Sri Lanka’s Kusal Perera-inspired win in Durban in February. Similarly, only once has a visiting team won after winning the toss and choosing to bowl at Centurion, in the infamous 2000 Test between these teams which saw both sides forfeit an innings.ALSO READ: South Africa end Test drought with 107-run winSilverwood also defended the decision to field an all-seam attack for the second consecutive Test match, despite the fact that Keshav Maharaj, South Africa’s left-arm spinner, made two crucial breakthroughs in dismissing Dom Sibley on the third evening and Ben Stokes on the fourth afternoon.”It was a gameplan that we had,” he said. “We looked at the wicket, and it was a direction that we decided to take. There’s plenty of parts of the game you could pick to pieces and say ‘if we’d done better there’ or ‘if we’d made a different decision there’, but we decided to go that way.”We went for it, and when you stick a team in you expect to bowl them out in a day and we did [South Africa were 277 for 9 at the close]. Obviously then to concede a 100-run deficit in that first innings was hard.”Asked if he would feel confident throwing Matt Parkinson, the young legspinner, into the side for the Cape Town Test assuming Jack Leach remains unwell, Silverwood said: “Obviously we’ve got Parky here, we’ve got [Dom] Bess here, and we’ve got to see how Leach recovers first.”We’ll be working closely with the medical staff, but we have got some good spinners here, so if we’ve got to play one then yes, I’m confident.”

Both score 80-somethings to chip away at lead but Lawrence keeps England in it with last-ball strike

Valkerie Baynes11-Jun-2021New Zealand boasted an embarrassment of riches for a second day running as Devon Conway and Will Young frustrated England’s bowlers and moved to within 74 runs of England’s first-innings total with seven wickets in hand at Edgbaston.Conway, who cemented his place in the side with 200 on debut in the series opener at Lord’s, produced another valuable, though not chance-less, innings of 80. And, while he would have been disappointed not to press on to triple figures again, a gutsy 82 from Young – in the side as a replacement for injured captain Kane Williamson – mitigated the damage.Stuart Broad bowled superbly for his 2 for 22 from 15 overs, including six maidens, but he was the only England bowler to reap any reward for his considerable efforts – until Young’s dismissal by part-time off-spinner Dan Lawrence on the last ball of the day.England had resumed on 258 for 7 with Lawrence on 67 and Mark Wood 16. Wood provided serious entertainment as he pushed his score up to 41. He hit Trent Boult for three fours in six balls across two overs followed by back-to-back boundaries off Matt Henry as he punished New Zealand’s persistence with short-pitched bowling.Wood eventually fell, bowled by a Henry outswinger which found an inside edge onto the stumps.Lawrence remained not out 81 to share top-scoring honours for England with Rory Burns, while Boult polished off Broad and James Anderson to end as New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker with 4 for 85.When Broad had Tom Latham, New Zealand’s stand-in captain, out lbw in the sixth over of the innings, the visitors were 15 for 2.Mark Wood and Dan Lawrence added vital runs for England•PA Photos/Getty Images

Young ground out eight runs from 45 balls to begin with before settling into his stride, unfurling a beautiful on-drive to the rope off Olly Stone and then lacing another past third slip. In Stone’s next over, Young jabbed another four through point, his feet leaving the ground as he latched onto a short ball.Having survived on seven when Joe Root juggled and dropped a standard-looking slips catch off Stone’s bowling, Young brought up his maiden Test fifty with a single off Anderson’s late-moving inswinger.Conway had earlier done well to make it back to his crease when Latham struck a Broad delivery straight back down the pitch and the bowler, following through, managed to get his fingers to it before it crashed into the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Conway, who was advancing, tracked the ball like a hawk and managed to turn and stretch his bat back to safety.That was positively skilful, whereas his next nervous moment – on 22 – fell more in the lap of fortune. Having edged Broad towards Zak Crawley at third slip, the soft signal given on the field was not-out, suggesting the ball had touched the ground first. Broad was incensed but, upon review, there was enough doubt for the decision to stand – and spark debate over the existence of the soft signal.Conway and Young put on 122 runs together before Conway holed out to Crawley at deep backward square leg, giving Broad his second wicket, having conceded just 18 runs to that point midway through his 12th over. Conway’s scores of 200, 23 and 80 meant he had scored more runs in his first three Test innings than any other New Zealand batter.Broad gave Ross Taylor a thorough examination, beating the bat on numerous occasions while Anderson provided excellent support from the other end. It was Anderson who had Taylor given out lbw shortly after Broad had wrapped up his spell but the decision was overturned on review, which showed the ball was missing leg stump by a distance.Taylor managed to grit his way towards a half-century and was 46 not out at stumps when part-time off-spinner Lawrence finally broke through in the last over of the day. Lawrence ended Young’s knock with his ninth ball, finding an inside edge onto the pad, which Ollie Pope swallowed diving forward at short leg.Young was playing just his third Test – he earned both his previous caps in the home series against West Indies in December – and had scored two centuries in three innings for Durham in the County Championship in the lead-up to this match, earning his place among six changes to the New Zealand side which drew at Lord’s. Based on his performance at Edgbaston, he gave selectors plenty to think about going forward.

Only 20.2 overs required for home side to chase down meagre target

ECB Reporters' Network01-Aug-2021Nottinghamshire advanced their Royal London Cup ambitions in ruthless style, cruising past Leicestershire by seven wickets with almost 30 overs to balls to spare in front of an appreciative audience at Welbeck Cricket Club.Skipper Peter Trego hit two sixes off pace bowler Chris Wright in his 31-ball 39, Ben Slater picked up six boundaries in his 38 and the young South African batter Matthew Montgomery made 27 not out, reaching a target of 145 in 20.2 overs.Earlier, Luke Fletcher had taken 4 for 30 and Dane Paterson 3 for 25 as Leicestershire were bowled out in 43.1 overs, 16-year-old legspinning all-rounder Rehan Ahmed top-scoring with 35 not out, the highest score of a fledgling senior career, as he and Ben Mike shared a 70-run stand for the eighth wicket.In overcast conditions after Nottinghamshire had won the toss, Fletcher had Rishi Patel edging to second slip and nipped one back to bowl Harry Swindells in his first three overs, as well as having Lewis Hill dropped at second slip before he had scored.Fletcher removed Marcus Harris, the Australian left-hander nicking behind for 16, and Hill had another escape a couple of balls later as a miscued pull fell just out of the reach of midwicket.Paterson dismissed George Rhodes via a low catch to second slip before Fletcher, who ultimately bowled through for his full 10 overs, picked up his fourth wicket as an Arron Lilley prod outside off lodged in the gloves of the wicketkeeper. When Louis Kimber edged Paterson to first slip, Leicestershire were 53 for 6 in the 18th, which became 68 for 7 as Hill departed for 25, a third victim for ‘keeper Dane Schadendorf a day after his 19th birthday.Ahmed and Mike fought back, adding 70 for the eighth wicket with the teenager looking entirely unfazed in only his third senior game, but once Mike had been caught on the midwicket boundary, Slater parrying the ball into the air before ensuring his feet were the right side of the rope as he took the catch, the innings ended quickly, Ed Barnes playing across one from Trego before Chris Wright was caught behind.Sol Budinger set the tone for the Outlaws chase by smashing three of his first 11 balls for four before edging behind as he went for another expansive drive, with Slater and Trego soon rattling along at a similar pace as the Powerplay overs yielded 62 for 1 compared with the Foxes’ 21 for 2.Trego pulled Wright for six and picked up another maximum from a steepling top edge and though both fell to quick succession, the double breakthrough won merely a stay of execution for Leicestershire before Montgomery and Lyndon James added 48 runs in 39 balls to finish the job.After Trego feathered a catch behind shaping to cut Ahmed’s legspin, Slater perished in similar fashion to Mike, having timed the ball superbly until then. Remarkably, it was the first time in seven completed innings in List A matches for Nottinghamshire that he had failed to pass fifty.

The opener says that a spot in the World Cup squad will be “a dream”, but he insists that his focus is much more short-term

Liam Brickhill21-Jan-2019South Africa are wary of a resurgent Pakistan team that cruised to a five-wicket win in the first of five one-day internationals in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.”We know Pakistan is a good one-day outfit,” opener Reeza Hendricks, who contributed 45 to an opening stand of 82 in the first ODI, said. “They’ve been performing really well over the years in one-day cricket, so we’re quite wary and know that they’re a good team. They proved it by beating us in P.E.”Hendricks’ opening partnership with Hashim Amla allowed South Africa to set a platform, but a sluggish track and a committed bowling effort meant the hosts were never able to substantially up the run rate. Hendricks struck at 67.16 during his knock, and after him neither Amla or Rassie van der Dussen were able to raise their strike rates as high as a run a ball. Although David Miller capped the innings with a 12-ball 16, South Africa’s 266 for 2 was not enough to challenge a Pakistan top order that took more risks but completed the chase with five balls to spare.”In our minds, we thought it would be a good score,” Hendricks said. “There were slower conditions in the day, and it did quicken up at night. In our minds, we thought we went about it the right way. The batters that were in the middle felt it was a good score.”We’ve had a good discussion around the PE game, what went wrong and what we can learn from. It’s been those discussions we’ve had, and a good training session today ahead of tomorrow’s game.”With the World Cup five months away, the tournament is providing increasing context to the one-day cricket being played in the interim and every member of South Africa’s squad will see the series against Pakistan as a chance to stake a claim. Rassie van der Dussen made an immediate impact on debut with his 93, but his performance did not come as a surprise to Hendricks, who has shared a dressing room with van der Dussen with the Lions franchise for several seasons.”I was quite proud to see him make his debut and contributing the way he has,” Hendricks said of van der Dussen. “Obviously disappointed that he couldn’t get to his three-figure mark, but at the end of the day he played really well to contribute as well as he did. I’ve played a couple of seasons now with him. I know his capabilities and seen him improve over the years. He showed what he’s about to deserve a spot in the team.”Hendricks admitted that a spot in the World Cup squad would be “a dream” and would mean “a hell of a lot” to him, but he insisted that his focus is much more short-term.”I’m not looking at it like that,” he said. “Yes, the World Cup is around the corner but we’ve got a series on hand now at the moment and this is an opportunity that we get as well. We take it as it comes. Personally, I’m taking it game by game, trying to contribute as well as I can to each game and every opportunity I get, and the rest will take care of itself. I’m not looking too far ahead, or looking who’s around me, because at the end of the day if I don’t get selected I know the player next to me and the guys that are going will do the job, and I back them 100 percent.”Aside from individual aspirations, the remaining nine ODIs scheduled for South Africa before the World Cup also provide an opportunity to fine-tune ‘Vision 2019’, the team’s blueprint for what they believe will bring success at the tournament.”We’re quite close,” Hendricks said. “I think we’re on the right track. We’ve had a good chat in how to go about it and how we’re playing, and as a unit we’re all buying into it. We’re doing good things. There are still a couple of months to try and get it right for the World Cup.”

Visitors need to re-write history after fifties to Clarke, James and Hameed set lofty target

ECB Reporters Network06-Sep-2022Leicestershire 93 and 20 for 0 (Evans 10*, Azad 4*) need 479 runs to beat Nottinghamshire 201 and 390 for 7 dec (Clarke 67, James 61, Hameed 60)Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire put their foot firmly on Leicestershire’s throat on day two of their rapidly evolving LV= Insurance County Championship match at Trent Bridge, setting their winless opponents a fourth-innings target way beyond anything achieved in the county’s history.After Monday saw 20 wickets fall on a first-day pitch conducive to swing and seam movement, with the home side bowled out for 201 but Leicestershire succumbing for a paltry 93 in reply, Nottinghamshire made good use of much more docile conditions before declaring their second innings on 390 for 7.It left Callum Parkinson’s team needing 499 runs to win – 105 runs more than the 394 the post-war Leicestershire team scored to beat Derbyshire at Grace Road in 1947, which remains the county’s highest fourth-innings total to win a Championship match.After the declaration, openers Sam Evans and Hassan Azad negotiated 13 overs at the close without mishap – although Azad was dropped at third slip off Dane Paterson on one – but two more days is too long for Leicestershire to survive, realistically, against a Nottinghamshire side intent on completing a seventh win of the season and stretching their lead over Middlesex, currently in second place, to 50 points.Earlier, there were half-centuries for Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke, Haseeb Hameed and Lyndon James. Michael Finan, the left-arm seamer, dismissed Hameed and Matt Montgomery to claim two more debut wickets, but such good balls as he did deliver had to be set against his 10 no-balls, giving him a match total of 17.In the morning, under cloud cover so heavy and threatening that bad light caused an interruption after only 39 minutes, Leicestershire had hoped wickets might tumble as they had on day one as Nottinghamshire resumed on 15 without loss. Yet they were disappointed.Instead, the home side progressed to 112 for 1 at lunch, with Ben Slater the solitary casualty. The pitch was offering less help to the bowler after the heavy roller was deployed, but Leicestershire served up too many loose deliveries.Slater – dropped on nine off Finan as third slip Rishi Patel spilled his fourth catch of the match – fell on 39, giving a rather tame return catch to Ed Barnes. Hameed completed an 80-ball half-century just before the interval.The Leicestershire vice-captain, enjoying his most productive summer since his breakthrough season with Lancashire in 2016, looked in complete control, so it came as a surprise when he was dismissed half an hour or so after lunch for 60, seeming to change his mind about whatever shot he intended to play to a short ball from Finan, yet still getting a touch, which Harry Swindells eagerly grabbed behind the stumps.If a second breakthrough was some kind of encouragement for Leicestershire, the next 75 minutes or so were not, thanks largely to Clarke, who looked as comfortable at the crease as he has all season, punishing every error as he rushed to a 45-ball half-century with nine fours.Combined with Montgomery’s 32 and another batch of no-balls from Finan, Clarke’s runs were enough to put the contest effectively out of reach of Leicestershire, the third wicket partnership adding 101 in 112 balls before Montgomery miscued a short ball from the errant Finan, the one bright spot in an awful over that cost 17 runs.Clarke, still without a first-class hundred this season, fell soon afterwards as Parkinson found his outside edge, but by then the Nottinghamshire lead was 353.James and Steven Mullaney extended it to 403 in less than 10 overs before the latter, making room for himself, was caught at slip off Louis Kimber. James went past fifty for the seventh time this season before he was caught behind off a rank legside delivery by Roman Walker and after Tom Moores was caught at deep backward point, terminating a six-over thrash with Liam Patterson-White, Mullaney signalled the declaration.

Scarborough’s new tourist attraction might not go down with the locals with a Yorkshire victory about as likely as a huge payout in the Amusement Arcade

Paul Edwards at North Marine Road27-Jun-2018
Scorecard”Roll up, roll up, roll up and see the Mighty Morkel! He’s 6ft 5ins tall, he bowls at 85mph, he eats Tykes for breakfast.” Well, yes, in the era of furled brollies and homburg hats the imposing skills of the Surrey quick bowler might have earned him a job entertaining the holidaymakers in Scarborough’s Peasholm Park End. This afternoon, however, he was more gainfully employed destroying Yorkshire’s batting with a rare display of fierce pace allied to steep bounce and accuracy. Then he watched his batsmen take strides as great as his own towards victory.It in intriguing to ponder the contribution Morkel might make to Surrey’s attempt to win their first County Championship since 2002. On this sunburning Wednesday he made light of his side conceding a 75-run first-innings lead but was surely impressed by the manner in which Ollie Pope’s unbeaten 69 limited that advantage to manageable proportions. Bowling from the Peasholm Park and displaying barely unassuageable aggression, Morkel then whipped out the first three Yorkshire batsmen with only 24 runs on the board.Alex Lees, whose shot selection currently comes from the Chamber of Horrors, tried to drive him down the ground – yes, really – and was caught at mid-on by Jade Dernbach. Adam Lyth was less culpable; his leg glance was pouched by Pope, for whom cricket is a gloriously simple game at present. Gary Ballance was cramped for room and caught at point by Will Jacks.His task accomplished for the moment, Morkel let others put their hands to the plough. Harry Brook fenced outside off stump and fell to Rikki Clarke. Chesteshwar Pujara, whose time in the Broad Acres has not been a success, was bowled when playing no stroke to Jade Dernbach. Yorkshire were then 48 for 5 and Peter May’s Boys took in some sun. For summer returned to Scarborough after Tuesday’s mist and Yorkshiremen also enjoyed it, even as they agonised over the state of their county’s top order. This is still one of the great weeks of their year, after all.For others, the holiday has not begun. Trains arrow through York, Malton and Seamer before reaching this town with its curious division of the littoral. In the South Bay, “Kiss Me Quick”; in the North, “Have We Met”. In the first sun-trap, folk who have only lately arrived wear holiday uniforms and race towards holiday tans and blurred memories. In the second, a loftier location in so many ways, they take the air, ponder the view and remember the times when they, too, went in search of something. One sees John Betjeman, trousers rolled up to his knees, giggling at the fun of it all.Inside the ground Surrey went in search of further wickets. Jack Leaning perished when nibbling at Morkel but the change bowlers were frustrated by the obduracy of Jonny Tattersall and the barely concealed belligerence of Tim Bresnan. Amar Virdi wheeled away from the Peasholm Park End as the hills towards Cromer Point and Burniston jellied in the haze.Then Bresnan pushed forward to Ryan Patel’s medium pace and Pope took his fourth catch of the day. For Surrey’s supporters the scent of victory was as strong as that of the sea and they enjoyed seeing a Northern summer in full blazon. Gulls curved without effort in front of Trafalgar Square’s four-storey houses, some of which could do with renovation. “Voyez, ces oiseaux blancs et ces maisons rouillées,” sang Charles Trenet joyously in “La Mer”.Morkel collected his first five-wicket haul for Surrey when he had Tattersall leg before and Dernbach dismissed the final two batsmen in the space of three balls. Surrey needed 228 to win and the home crowd looked forward to a wicket-strewn evening. Instead Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman ended a frenetic day, on and off the field, by putting on 89 in 25 overs, their perfect composure stifling opponents and spectators alike.Surrey require another 139 runs and are now very strong favourites. If Yorkshiremen need some consolation or tranquillity, there is, as ever, the ocean. Looking out into the North Bay this perfect evening, a mighty ship seemed motionless on the horizon, a grey hyphen between the different blues of sky and sea

Greece international blunts Middlesex attack after Helm’s burst brings him nine match wickets

ECB Reporters Network22-Jul-2022Debutant Sussex tailender Aristides Karvelas thwarted Middlesex’s hopes of victory with a defiant career-best half-century to secure a draw at Lord’s despite Tom Helm’s best efforts with the ball.Karvelas, a Johannesburg-born Greece international, batted for over two hours to blunt the Middlesex attack after Helm’s morning burst – which earned him record match figures of 9 for 146 – had raised the prospects of a final-session run chase.Helm picked up three wickets in 14 balls to reduce Sussex to 96 for 7, an overall lead of just 134, but a stubborn partnership of 45 between Karvelas and Archie Lenham steered the visitors towards safety.The 28-year-old was eventually dismissed after top-scoring with 57, but by then his efforts had saved the game and the captains agreed on a draw with Sussex on 181 for 9 in their second innings.Although Ali Orr perished cheaply for the second time in the match – run out by Toby Roland-Jones’ direct hit from mid-off – there were few indications during the opening hour that a clatter of wickets might accelerate the game.Tom Clark batted well for a chirpy 56, hitting successive fours off Roland-Jones and also depositing Helm over the short boundary for a maximum as Sussex progressed to 53 for 1.But Helm, following up a tight spell by Tim Murtagh at the Nursery End, then blitzed the visitors with a trio of rapid wickets – including the prize scalp of Cheteshwar Pujara, a rising delivery looping off the shoulder of the bat to second slip.When Clark played on to Umesh Yadav on the stroke of lunch, Sussex had slid to 69 for 5 and were looking vulnerable – even more so after Helm claimed his fourth wicket, with Delray Rawlins taken low at first slip.Sussex’s advantage still looked fragile when Murtagh bowled Dan Ibrahim through the gate, but Karvelas swiftly increased it by heaving a series of short-pitched deliveries from the Middlesex captain away to the short boundary.Murtagh rotated his seamers without success as Sussex’s eighth-wicket pair repaired the damage, using up 16.2 precious overs before Roland-Jones finally made the breakthrough, with Lenham (19) leaving the ball alone as it careered back to hit off stump.However, former Middlesex man Steven Finn joined Karvelas to snuff out any thoughts of a positive result, finishing 10 not out after his partner was finally dismissed, pushing forward at Sam Robson and offering a catch to gully.

“Our batting has to be up if we’re aiming for the World Cup,” says the India Women head coach

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2021Ramesh Powar, the India Women head coach, has echoed team captain Mithali Raj’s thoughts, calling Sneh Rana the “find of the England series”. Rana has sparkled with bat and ball so far, and has “played her role to the core”, Powar said.”Sneh Rana is the find of this series,” Powar told the BCCI website. “The way she was bowling in the practice sessions in Southampton [India’s base prior to the start of the tour], we thought we should give her a chance. It was a difficult decision to play two offspinners [Deepti Sharma is the other], but she has played her role to the core.Related

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• The love, loss and comeback of Sneh Rana

• Mithali Raj calls Sneh Rana a key allrounder for the future

“I am really happy for her. Being an offspinner myself, I can see the talent. She is someone who can play in crunch situations, and that is what we need right now. When the big tournaments and the big series come up, we need players of calibre, who can take pressure.”Rana, 27, was given a go for the all-format tour of England after a superb domestic one-day competition, where she was the leading wicket-taker for title-winners Railways. In the XI in the one-off Test, Rana, in the XI primarily as a bowler, scored 80* from No. 8 in over three hours and partnered Taniya Bhatia (44*) in an unbroken stand of 104 for the ninth wicket to help India salvage a draw. She was also India’s most successful bowler in England’s only innings, returning 4 for 131.Then, in the ODIs, she picked up two wickets in two games, conceding runs at an economy rate of 4.35, and played a key role in India’s only win, following up her 7-0-31-1 with a 22-ball 24 in a tight run chase. Her half-century stand for the sixth wicket with Raj took India home in a last-ball finish.Powar was equally effusive in his praise for Raj, who finished her England tour [she is retired from T20Is] with three back-to-back half-centuries. Raj finished the ODI series as the highest run-scorer, her tally of 206 runs a whopping 64 more than second-placed Nat Sciver. During the series, Raj surpassed former England captain Charlotte Edwards to become the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket, and her 58 fifties are the most by a woman in ODIs.”She deserves every praising word out there,” Powar said. “She has been a fantastic servant of the game for 22 years. She is a role model for a lot of girls; she single-handedly won us the game [third ODI].”The next few months are going to be crucial for India’s preparations for the 50-over World Cup next year in New Zealand. The England tour would be followed by a multi-format tour of Australia. Then, India play Australia and New Zealand in a tri-series before the marquee tournament, where India finished runners-up in 2017.For India to go one step better, the batters must come to the party. Raj aside, no Indian batter managed a half-century in the ODI series, and there have been concerns about the form of some of the batters, T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues among them. “We have to learn a lot many things from this series,” Powar said. “The fielding improved immensely; the bowling improved immensely. Our batting has to be up if we’re aiming for the World Cup.”