Fifteen wickets fall on opening day as Hampshire blink first at Ageas Bowl

ECB Reporters Network25-Jul-2023Jamie Porter claimed a five-wicket haul as Essex rolled title rivals Hampshire out for 120 in the LV=Insurance County Championship.Fast bowler Porter took 5 for 37 on a bowler-friendly Ageas Bowl pitch, with Simon Harmer assisting with 3 for 26.Essex replied by reaching 145 for 6 before close, to take a 25-run lead into day two, with two wickets apiece for Kyle Abbott and John Turner kept the visitors in check.Essex won the toss and Tom Westley gleefully put his hosts into bat first on a pitch on which appeared to have been prepared to promote a positive result.That outcome is needed for both sides, placed second and third coming into this round of fixtures, in their quests to chase down runaway leaders Surrey – who led Essex and Hampshire by 14 and 29 points with four matches to go.Hampshire are 50 years without a Championship title and is the only trophy Rod Bransgrove hasn’t won in his 23 years as chairman – this will be his last chance after announcing his decision to step down at the end of the season before play.Hampshire openers Ian Holland and Fletcha Middleton were both snared out by Porter before seven overs had been completed.But Essex’s early joy was tainted by Shane Snater – who had replaced the ill Doug Bracewell – limping off after five balls, having pulled out of a delivery just before reaching his stride.The loss of a main bowler mattered little as Paul Walter stepped up and angled across James Vince, and with Hampshire eventually bowled out inside 39 overs it meant fewer miles in the legs.Ben Brown was well caught at first slip by Simon Harmer, Nick Gubbins was loose on the drive off Porter and Liam Dawson top-edged a sweep to fine leg to leave Hampshire 79 for six at lunch.Porter is back to his destructive best this season after a series of lean seasons, by his high standards.Having put himself on the England radar with Championship wicket tallies of at least 48 between 2015 and 2019, Porter claimed 34 scalps in 2021 and only 19 wickets last season, with Sam Cook rising to lead the attack.His five at the Ageas Bowl took him to 42 wickets for the season – only spinning team-mate Harmer and Nottinghamshire’s Brett Hutton have more.Porter was rewarded for his potent accuracy with his second five-for of the season by spearing into Felix Organ’s back pad, before James Fuller advanced and slapped the next ball he bowled to deep cover.Harmer wrapped up the tail with Turner edging to slip and Mohammad Abbas slogged to long on as Hampshire were bowled out for 120.In reply, Nick Browne was bowled by Abbas in the fifth over. as the pitch remained unmoved in its bowling friendliness.Abbott picked up Alastair Cook and Paul Walter in a double wicket maiden to see Essex to 16 for three and in danger of copying Hampshire’s low score.But Essex did something Hampshire couldn’t do; form partnerships.Only Gubbins and Vince’s 39-run stand had topped 20, while Tom Westley and Matt Critchley added 41 before Critchley and Michael Pepper scored 36 together before Pepper and Adam Rossington joined forces for 25.Vince, who managed to negotiate his way to three replacement balls, only called on Vitality Blast hero Turner in the 34th over.The wait had Turner raring to go as he bounded in to crash into Critchley’s pads first ball before later finding Pepper’s outside edge.Essex edged into a first-innings lead with Rossington and Harmer reaching the end of the day with a platform to secure an important first-innings lead.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck Afghanistan’s fastest ODI fifty, but the 269-run target proved a bridge too far

Ashish Pant26-Aug-2023No Naseem Shah, no Haris Rauf, no problem, said Pakistan as they stitched together another splendid bowling performance to secure a clinical 59-run win over Afghanistan to sweep the ODIs 3-0. Crucially, with the win, they also zoomed to the top of the ODI rankings just ahead of the Asia Cup.Batting first on a two-paced Colombo surface, attritional half-centuries from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan helped them reach 268 for 8. In reply, Afghanistan never really found their bearings on a pitch that seemed to have quickened up under lights. Mujeeb Ur Rahman tried his best to briefly throw a spanner into Pakistan’s works as he struck the fastest fifty by an Afghanistan batter in ODIs – off 26 balls and eventually finishing on a 37-ball 64. But the target proved to be a bridge too far.Eventually, they were bowled out for 209 in 48.4 overs with Shadab Khan being the pick of the bowlers taking 3 for 42.Chasing 269, Afghanistan needed a strong start from their openers which they never got. It did not help that Ibrahim Zadran couldn’t open, because he spent the last few minutes of the first innings off the field and hence had to serve time before walking out. Riaz Hassan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz were all at sea against the Pakistan fast bowlers, with Faheem Ashraf causing the most problems.Mujeeb Ur Rahman registered Afghanistan’s fastest ODI fifty•AFP/Getty Images

Shaheen Shah Afridi got the ball to nip around, but his radar was off initially. Ashraf, however, was exemplary with his lines and lengths. He kept the ball in the channel outside off, back of a length and had the batters guessing. He prised out the key scalp of Gurbaz, who missed a straight ball and was trapped in front of the stumps as he missed a flick. DRS confirmed the ball would have clipped the leg bail. Ashraf then claimed Zadran, who fell for a 11-ball duck. The two batters, who had amassed a collective 231 off 252 in the second ODI, could only muster 5 off 26 in the third.Hashmatullah Shahidi and Riaz added a brief 30-run stand for the third wicket but took 61 balls. There were plays and misses all through as the Pakistan bowlers stuck to a plan and more importantly, delivered.Riaz’s chancy 66-ball 34 was ended by Shadab, who then also sent back Shahidi in the same over as Afghanistan stared down the barrel. From 60 for 2, they slipped to 75 for 6 and then 97 for 7. At that point, it seemed another quick end was certain. But Mujeeb and Shahidullah Kamal held fort.They added 57 off 42 balls for the eighth wicket with Mujeeb doing the bulk of the damage. The only Afghan batter to show intent, he hammered five fours and five sixes during his knock which ended with him being dismissed for hit-wicket. He had his chances, took them on and frustrated the bowlers to no end.Earlier, Pakistan’s was an innings of two halves. The first 30 overs yielded only 103 runs, the last 20 got them 165. At no stage did the batters look comfortable. Babar and Rizwan added 110 runs for the third wicket, but took 145 balls and had 84 dots. As it turned out, it was their innings which formed the cornerstone of Pakistan’s batting.Babar Azam made a solid 60 on a tricky pitch•AFP/Getty Images

The under-fire Fakhar Zaman was off the blocks early climbing into Fazalhaq Farooqi, slamming him for five fours in the 20 balls he faced. Imam-ul-Haq, on the other hand, struggled all through. He played back-to-back maidens off Mujeeb and in general lacked timing.Pakistan still managed to get going at a tick over four an over, with Fakhar finding his groove. But a bowling change got the hosts back into the game. Gulbadin Naib, playing his first game of the series, made an immediate impact.A couple of outswingers beat Fakhar’s outstretched blade before he tried a release shot only to miscue a length ball straight up with the catch intercepted well by Riaz. Naib then removed Imam as well. He came dashing down the track to a short-of-a-length ball outside off, but could only manage a thick edge with Gurbaz doing the rest.Babar and Rizwan got together in the 13th over and for the next few overs, run-scoring became a massive task. Only four fours were hit in the next 18 overs, with the run rate dropping to below 3.50.But the duo flicked a switch after drinks. Pakistan collected 85 runs between overs 31 to 40 to up the ante. Rizwan was the one to break the shackles and he reached his tenth ODI fifty off 69 balls while Babar joined him soon taking 77 balls to reach the landmark.Both batters, however, failed to post a three-figure score. While Rashid Khan induced an outside edge off Babar’s blade, Rizwan fell lbw to Fareed Ahmed. In between, Afghanistan also ran out Saud Shakeel as Pakistan lost 3 for 9 in 15 balls. Mohammad Nawaz and Agha Salman, however, made sure to give Pakistan a good end. They stitched a 61-run stand off 47 balls for the seventh wicket. Afghanistan, who were brilliant in the field in the top half of the innings, started to make mistakes. There were a number of misfields and dropped chances with Pakistan going past 250 with ease, smoking 80 runs off the last ten overs.

Legspinner took 5 for 39 as Victoria slumped to their second successive innings defeat to start the Shield season

AAP and ESPNCricinfo staff17-Oct-2023Queensland spinner Mitchell Swepson has snared career-best figures of 5 for 39 to consign Victoria to back-to-back innings defeats to start their Sheffield Shield season.Victoria entered the final day in Mackay precariously placed at 104 for 7 and requiring a further 144 runs to make the Bulls bat again.Peter Handscomb (43 off 147 balls) and Todd Murphy (40 off 107) moved the scoreboard along to 144 for 7 in a promising start to Tuesday’s action.But it was a disaster from that point as Victoria lost 3 for 0 in the space of seven balls to lose the match by an innings and 104 runs.The defeat followed their season-opening loss to Western Australia, when they were crushed by an innings and 53 runs in Perth.Handscomb was the first to fall on Tuesday when he nudged paceman Jack Wildermuth down the leg side and was caught by wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson. It was Peirson’s fifth catch of the innings.Next over, Murphy was left cursing himself after whacking Swepson straight to mid-on.And it was game over two balls later when Cameron McClure was caught in close after struggling to deal with a sharp-turning Swepson delivery.Queensland opener Matt Renshaw was named player-of-the-match for his knock of 135 in his team’s first-innings total of 501 for 9 declared.

The allrounder who has recently returned from India hauled his team out of early trouble in Mackay

AAP14-Oct-2023Matt Short’s stellar year continued with a century that roused Victoria from the brink of outright collapse on day one of their Sheffield Shield match with Queensland in Mackay.Victoria threatened to fall in a heap twice after being sent in, first falling to 40 for 4 in the morning and then losing two wickets in the same Mitch Swepson over late on Saturday.But Short was their anchor through it all, steadying the visitors after they fell to 19 for 3 and then bringing up a fourth first-class century that helped them finished the day all out for 253.Related

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Gurinder Sandhu bowled the 27-year-old with the third ball he faced after posting his ton.The performance continued a stellar year for Short, who was named the Big Bash League’s player of the tournament in January and made his T20I and ODI debuts in the respective tours of South Africa and India.Queensland had managed 26 without loss in reply at stumps in the absence of opener and captain Usman Khawaja, who was rested in preparation for the Test summer.Victoria were 0 for 1 when Marcus Harris edged Mark Steketee to former Test opening partner Joe Burns in the slips, and further off the pace after Travis Dean and Campbell Kellaway fell in consecutive overs.Of the first four Victorians dismissed, three edged pace deliveries behind and were caught, with captain Peter Handscomb the third of those as the visitors went to lunch at 64 for 4.No. 5 batter Short copped a ball to his right hip in the second session and appeared hampered but played through the pain.He went on to forge a 104-run partnership with fast bowler Mitchell Perry that salvaged Victoria’s innings.The lone six of Victoria’s innings, hit off Jack Wildermuth’s bowling over deep midwicket, was a highlight of Short’s time at the crease.After working his way patiently through the 90s, Short slapped Swepson up the ground to mid-on for a quick single that confirmed his hundred from 172 balls.

Today, the South Africa captain did some hopping and stretching exercises, sideways running, fielding and shadow-batting at the team’s training session

Firdose Moonda15-Nov-2023Temba Bavuma has confirmed that he feels “alright, but obviously not 100%” after sustaining a hamstring injury in South Africa’s last league match against Afghanistan last Friday, and he is “quite confident” of playing in the semi-final against Australia.”Physically, I feel alright. Obviously not 100%,” he said in Kolkata. “So obviously this day [today] becomes important in terms of the decision about tomorrow [match day]. I’m quite confident but it’s not a unilateral decision that will be made.”South Africa no longer have a selection panel in place and decisions on the final XI are left entirely to the coach. That means the buck will stop with Rob Walter, who, yesterday, said there was no conversation around dropping Bavuma on form (he has scored 145 runs from seven matches at an average of 20) and that Bavuma would be given “best chance to play for his country”. Walter could not confirm when the final call will be taken but said “in an ideal world” he would not wait until the morning of the match. Bavuma himself said the team would be announced at a private meeting tonight, while a team spokesperson said the media and public would find out about Bavuma at the toss.Related

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All we have to go on then, is what we’ve been told and what we have seen from Bavuma this week. After he strained his hamstring, he was not taken for a scan but had the weekend to rest. The squad had a day off on Saturday and travelled from Ahmedabad to Kolkata on Sunday. Questions on why he did not need a scan were unanswered.They have since attended three training sessions, but both Monday’s and Wednesday’s were optional, and Bavuma was in attendance at all of them. On Monday, he did fitness drills and batted for more than an hour and team management said he was making “objective signs of improvement”. On Tuesday, he did more intense running drills including some sprinting, a fielding session with one-handed pick-up and throws, and batted again, with an emphasis on footwork. And today, after addressing the media, Bavuma did some hopping and stretching exercises, sideways running and more fielding before some shadow-batting on the pitch. ESPNcricinfo has confirmed that he did not do a fitness test.What we don’t know is what, if anything, Bavuma still needs to do to be passed fit. Asked directly which boxes he still needed to tick today, Bavuma said: “I think it’s just using the rest day to continue with my rehab and I’ll be doing some fielding stuff. I can’t tell you medically, but I think for me, from a feeling point of view, that’s what I can attest to.”

State broadcaster PTV suspended coverage of the game due to the superimposed adverts on the outfield

Danyal Rasool27-Dec-2023Pakistan will be provided an advertisement-free feed of the ongoing Test series in Australia. The broadcast pictures provided to the Pakistani market until now had included a gambling sponsor superimposed into the coverage, and had led to the Pakistan state broadcaster, PTV, not broadcasting the first day of the Boxing Day Test. Ten Sports, which also has rights to air the series between Pakistan and Australia, continued to broadcast the game.However, Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) issued a notification on Tuesday prohibiting “broadcast/distribution of advertisement of surrogate companies which are promoting gambling/betting in different sporting events being telecast/broadcast in the country”.That led to concerns the Test wouldn’t be broadcast in Pakistan at all, though Ten Sports continued to broadcast the game from the start of the second day with a betting sponsor superimposed into the on-field coverage.However, ESPNcricinfo understands the feed provided to Pakistan will no longer include any such advertisements that may breach local laws, which theoretically enables PTV to begin showing live pictures from Melbourne as well, even though at the time of writing, coverage on the state broadcaster has not yet resumed. The clean feed provided to Pakistan is expected to begin imminently.PTV had issued a statement yesterday saying they had pulled coverage adhering to the government’s “zero tolerance policy” for surrogate advertising and “had taken up the issue with the relevant broadcaster”, saying the “series will be telecast live once the matter is resolved”.The first Test was broadcast on both the PTV and all private broadcasters without interruption.

The India batter has a style of play and he wants to stick to it

Vishal Dikshit15-Jan-2024Shreyas Iyer is going to play attacking cricket whatever the situation. The India batter returned to Ranji Trophy after a gap of five years to prepare for the five-match Test series against England starting next week, and warmed-up with a run-a-ball 48 in Mumbai’s 10-wicket win against Andhra at home.Iyer batted at No. 5 in the only chance he got in the game, on the first day, and even though the Andhra quicks bowled “negative” to him by going around the wicket and pitching it short at times, he was not bothered. Iyer flicked the full deliveries, pulled the short ones and scored as many as 75% of his runs on the leg side and struck only one of his seven fours on the off side.”I’m going to play attacking irrespective of the situation,” he said after Mumbai’s win. “And also when you bowl negative, when you bowl safe and defensive at the start, you want to score runs and you need to take your team through up to a certain point. So that was my mindset and that’s why stuck with. Yeah, I was happy [with my knock] irrespective of the score.”[As] I said, they were bowling defensive and they didn’t let me play to my strengths. Even though they started with the short balls, I was able to execute them for boundaries and get a lot of runs out of it. Again, they were bowling negative so there was literally no scope to…other than leaving the ball I couldn’t have done much. I knew that leaving the ball would, to be honest, bore me. I would rather go and play some strokes. That’s what I considered at that point of time.”Was he pleased with his shots against the short ball? “I’m happy,” Iyer said succinctly.His strike rate of 101.27 in ODIs and 136.12 in T20Is speak to the way he likes to play, and it’s largely the same approach he has adopted in first-class matches too, by striking at 78.63 even though it reduces to 65.34 in Tests. Iyer could play a crucial role with his attacking game against the spinners if India and England play on turners in the upcoming Test series.Even though it was not a turning track at the BKC Ground in Mumbai, Iyer was content with his progress, fielding for long hours in the heat (there’s no winter in Mumbai), especially after a recurring back injury that kept him out of action for large parts in 2023. He was back in India colours in September and played a key role in the run up to the final of the ODI World Cup.Shreyas Iyer made scores of 0, 4*, 31 and 6 in the two Tests against South Africa•AFP/Getty Images

“It wasn’t a turning track, to be honest, he said. “I’m assuming that we would be getting turning wickets against England. But other than that, it was just for my match fitness, to stay on the field as long as possible, that’s what mainly I was focusing on because especially after my injury it has been tough for me to stick on the outfield for long. So this was great practice for me.”Iyer returned to domestic cricket because he was not picked for the ongoing home series against Afghanistan, India’s last T20 games before the World Cup in June. He isn’t worried about missing time with the national team. His focus is on what’s coming next.”See, right now I’m being in the present,” he said of being dropped from the T20I side. “I’ve finished the match which I was asked to play, I came, and I executed, so I’m happy with what I’m doing. Something that is not in my control, I can’t be focusing on that. Coming here and winning the match was my focus and that’s what we did today.”It’s important to take one match at a time, not think about five-match Test series. The team is only for the first two games. The motto would be to perform in the first two games and then look forward to the rest of the games.”After scores of 0, 4*, 31 and 6 in the South Africa Tests where both matches finished in under three days, Iyer could be competing for a middle-order spot with KL Rahul if India pick a specialist wicketkeeper instead of Rahul because of the challenges of keeping to spinners on turning tracks.”To be honest I just have to think about the three days,” he said in jest. “See, the last two Test matches we played in South Africa it finished in three days. The third day is always important so I just have to focus on the three days and fourth and fifth will follow if it has to.”When asked about the competition for places in the Indian middle order, he said: “It’s fun. I love competition, and when competition is there, you face more challenges. And that’s what I thrive on personally. So I enjoy having competition around because then you can go at each other and also against the opponents to show your talent and skills.”Iyer finished his day on the field by batting on the center BKC pitch for a couple of hours after the game with his coach Pravin Amre while the other players left the ground.Iyer has so far played 12 Tests after a glittering start to his career with a century and half-century on debut against New Zealand in November 2021. He has since struck four more half-centuries, and averages 39.27 from 20 innings.

NSW were in deep trouble at 73 for 5 on a day where Scott Boland broke a Sheffield Shield record

AAP16-Feb-2024A day after Australian women’s captain Alyssa Healy was out for 99 in the Perth Test, fellow New South Wales batter Jack Edwards fell on the same dreaded number.The emerging allrounder was out one run short of his third Sheffield Shield century in the Blues’ clash with Victoria at the SCG.Edwards was dismissed by Test quick Scott Boland after being caught by Victoria wicketkeeper Sam Harper in the final session of day one on Friday.The 23-year-old’s dismissal came less than 24 hours after Healy made 99 and was denied a maiden Test century, equalling the highest score of her husband, Mitchell Starc.But Edwards’ contribution was still vital, helping NSW to 252 after Victoria captain Will Sutherland won the toss and elected to bowl. Sutherland, who made his international debut in Australia’s ODI series against West Indies only two weeks ago, more than played his part with the ball, taking 5 for 51 for the sixth five-wicket haul of his first-class career.Sutherland’s heroics were almost overshadowed by Boland passing Paul Reiffel, who played 35 Tests for Australia between 1992 and 1998, as Victoria’s greatest Shield wicket-taker.By finishing with figures of 3 for 47, Boland went to 321 career scalps, ahead of Reiffel on 318. It is the 34-year-old’s last Shield appearance before he heads to New Zealand for Australia’s two-Test series, starting in Wellington on February 29.Young NSW opener Sam Konstas, fresh off an Under-19 World Cup win, made a bright start the Blues’ innings by making 26. Wicketkeeper Matthew Gilkes was the hosts’ second-best contributor behind Edwards, hitting a patient 51 at No.4.Victoria will start their first innings on Saturday after stumps was called when NSW lost their final wicket. All eyes will be on talented opener Will Pucovski, who is returning to the Victoria side after recovering from his most recent concussion.