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Ajmal Shahzad bowled with pace and aggression to check Sussex’s progress after half-centuries from Luke Wells and Ed Joyce

Paul Edwards at Aigburth01-Jun-2013
ScorecardAlex Gidman was the chief resistance for Gloucestershire on day four•PA Photos

A match which had never lacked interest throughout its four days had a fitting conclusion when Gloucestershire’s No. 11 Liam Norwell played Andrea Agathangelou’s final delivery of the game safely to gully to secure a draw against Lancashire.That outcome will have cheered Michel Klinger’s men, some of whom had defied Lancashire’s six-man attack with outstanding technical skill, but it was, of course, a colossal frustration for Glen Chapple and his team, who probably thought that Aigburth was going to supply them with another victory that would shred the nerves before lifting the heart.But when they review this match the Lancashire hierarchy will assess their decision to bat on for 6.3 overs at the start of the day add 31 runs to their overnight score and extend their lead to 358. Gloucestershire’s batsmen never appeared remotely interested in chasing this target down but the same may not have been quite so true of the overnight lead of 327.Batting a side out of the game has become the norm for many teams these days in preference to setting a tempting target and invites a more attacking strategy. For spectators and players this diminution of cricket’s tactical nuances is a great shame. Many Lancashire supporters were hoping their team would declare overnight; many others were bemoaning the decision not have done so when Gloucestershire’s last pair survived. It was difficult to supply an effective counter-argument. Sometimes you really do have to run a slight risk of losing a match in order to give yourselves the best chance of winning it. It’s an old song but it’s still a good ‘un.None of which sermonising should detract from the enthralling sport which both sides provided for the Liverpool public. No Gloucestershire batsman scored a half-century and no Lancashire bowler took more than two wickets and this was strangely appropriate too: these four days have been more about collective effort than individual brilliance.Nevertheless, the major contributors to Gloucestershire’s resistance on the last day of this match were Alex Gidman, who made 46 before becoming Agathangelou’s first Championship victim when he played back to the offspinner’s quicker ball, and Hamish Marshall, who faced 206 balls for his technically accomplished 44.Agathangelou was to claim the ninth wicket, that of Graeme McCarter, in addition to taking the catches at short leg and slip that disposed of Michael Klinger and Craig Miles. Agathangelou , a South African-born Cypriot, is rapidly turning into a mighty useful first-team cricketer.All the same, in the middle portion of the innings, Lancashire’s bowlers never took wickets with the sort of rapidity required if they were to win the game. Kyle Hogg removed both Chris Dent and Dan Housego and Simon Kerrigan claimed the key wicket of Klinger to leave Gloucestershire 60 for 3 just after lunch but Gidman and Marshall’s fourth-wicket stand of 54 occupied 29 vital overs. Marshall then found Benny Howell an equally obdurate partner until Kerrigan trapped Howell lbw for 17 to begin a period of play which saw four wickets fall in twelve overs and the refrain of “Oh Lanky, Lanky” echo around the ground.In the event it wasn’t quite enough. Ed Young defied a wrist-injury to come out and bat 6.1 overs with Graeme McCarter, this after Marshall had been dismissing fending Wayne White to Ashwell Prince. White even hit McCarter on the head but he held out until the penultimate ball of the 99th and last over of the innings. Norwell then needed to show a bit of nerve in facing the last delivery. He did so, and Gloucestershire survived. What’s more, no one could really begrudge them their draw.

West Indies Women made a winning start to the five-match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka Women, winning by 23 runs in Barbados

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2012
ScorecardPlayer of the series from the ODIs, Shanel Daley, extended her top form•WICB

West Indies Women made a winning start to the five-match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka Women, winning by 23 runs in Barbados. Shanel Daley, who was adjudged player of the series during the ODIs, continued her fine form, top scoring, picking up a wicket and effecting a run out in the game.Useful partnerships from the West Indies top order – 30, 21 and 39 – ensured they set a competitive target for the visitors. Daley narrowly missed her half-century; she scored 48 off 28 balls to push the scoring-rate in the second half. She was out on the penultimate ball of the innings to Shashikala Siriwardene, who also accounted for Anisa Mohammed off the next ball.Sri Lanka chase began steadily as well, as they go to 48 for two after eleven overs. But a few tight overs and two wickets off consecutive balls followed, accounting for Deepika Rasangika and Sripali Weerakkody and derailing the chase. Stafanie Taylor and Anisa shared four wickets between them, stalling any chances of recovery by the visitors.

India’s visit to Australia in 2011-12 has ushered the return of the limited overs tri-series and the reinstatement of the Australia Day Test match at Adelaide Oval.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2011India’s visit to Australia in 2011-12 has ushered in the return of the limited overs tri-series and the reinstatement of the Australia Day Test match at Adelaide Oval.The summer from which Cricket Australia makes the lion’s share of its total income, via the sale of television rights for India matches, features two Tests against New Zealand in December, and four against the Indian tourists, starting on Boxing Day at the MCG.Sydney, Perth and Adelaide will round out the Test summer, before Sri Lanka arrive to be the third team in the revived triangular tournament.Other notable fixture choices include the Sydney Olympic Stadium’s elevation to international status for the first time, to host a Twenty20 international between Australia and India on February 1, while Bellerive Oval will welcome the New Zealand tourists for the second Test of the Trans-Tasman series.The tri-series, which was last seen in Australia in 2007-08, has been redeployed as a way of providing the requisite number of matches for subcontinental television rights, and pits the world’s top three limited overs sides – Australia, the World Cup champion India and the finalist Sri Lanka – against one another.”ICC Cricket World Cup winner India is also the number one-ranked Test team in the world at the moment,” said James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive. “Sri Lanka has also been in great form as we saw in the World Cup, while we know New Zealand is always a formidable opponent that thrives when playing Australia.”With the commencement of the ICC World Test Championship we know that every Test win is vital and the Australian team will be keen to start the home season positively against New Zealand.”Australia’s November series in South Africa and the late arrival of the Indian touring party means the international summer will stretch well into March, again leaving CA to battle with the onset of the football season and its various codes, for crowds and television ratings.As has become customary, India will have only one tour warm-up match before the first Test, while New Zealand have not been granted any.Test SeriesDecember 1 – 5: Australia v New Zealand, BrisbaneDecember 9 – 13: Australia v New Zealand, HobartDecember 26 – 30: Australia v India, MelbourneJanuary 3 – 7: Australia v India, SydneyJanuary 13 – 17: Australia v India, PerthJanuary 24 – 28: Australia v India, AdelaideTwenty20 InternationalsFebruary 1: Australia v India, 1st Twenty20, SydneyFebruary 3: Australia v India, MelbourneLimited Overs SeriesFebruary 5: Australia v India, MelbourneFebruary 8: India v Sri Lanka, PerthFebruary 10: Australia v Sri Lanka, PerthFebruary 12: Australia v India, AdelaideFebruary 14: India v Sri Lanka, AdelaideFebruary 17: Australia v Sri Lanka, SydneyFebruary 19: Australia v India, BrisbaneFebruary 21: India v Sri Lanka, BrisbaneFebruary 24: Australia v Sri Lanka, HobartFebruary 26: Australia v India, SydneyFebruary 28: India v Sri Lanka, HobartMarch 2: Australia v Sri Lanka, MelbourneMarch 4: 1st Final, BrisbaneMarch 6: 2nd Final, AdelaideMarch 8: 3rd Final, AdelaideTour matchesDecember 18 – 21, CA Chairman’s XI v India, Manuka OvalTBC, PM’s XI v Sri Lanka, Manuka Oval

Lalit Modi, in his reply to the second show-cause notice served on him by the BCCI – which was prompted by a letter from Giles Clarke – has said that Clarke’s allegations were “motivated” and “not worthy of credence”

Nagraj Gollapudi01-Jun-2010Lalit Modi, in his reply to the second show-cause notice served on him by the BCCI – which was prompted by a letter from Giles Clarke, the ECB president – has said Clarke’s allegations were “motivated”, given their “history of run-ins”, and “not worthy of credence”. His reply – a copy of which is with Cricinfo – also said that the board, knowing this background, should have backed him and sought his comment before issuing the notice.The notice was issued to Modi on May 6, ten days after he was suspended from his position as IPL chairman. It followed an email sent by Clarke to BCCI president Shashank Manohar alleging activities by Modi that were “detrimental to Indian cricket, English cricket and world cricket at large.” Both communications referred to a meeting Modi held on March 31 in Delhi with representatives of three English counties in which he is alleged to have discussed a parallel IPL in England and Wales.In his reply, which runs to 24 pages and has five supporting documents, Modi has cited specific examples of his differences with Clarke which, he claims, began during the inaugural season of the IPL. “It is well known in informed cricketing circles that Mr. Clarke holds a personal grudge against me. This started as far back as 2008. Mr. Clarke came to India at the time of the IPL Season 1 and noticed that the IPL was a resounding success.”He has mentioned the ECB’s brief relationship under Clarke with Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire, which ended in early 2009 when the latter was charged with fraud. The contrast between that scenario and the IPL, which was “going from strength to strength”, is offered as a reason for the animus.Other examples cited include the ECB’s decision to not accept the stakeholding offered to it for the Champions League; the IPL’s decision to stage the second season in South Africa instead of England; the general scheduling of the IPL, whose later games clashed with the English domestic season and the scheduling of the 2010 Champions League; the IPL’s insistence that its franchises be given the preference by players taking part in the Champions League; and the status of English players with the unofficial ICL.Part of his reply dealt with the way the issue has been handled by the BCCI and he has some strong words for N Srinivasan, the board secretary, who sent him the notice. “The manner in which, on completely flimsy and frivolous grounds, a Show Cause Notice has been issued shows the prejudged, premeditated and biased mind set with which the Hon Secretary is working. The fact that Hon. Secretary had chosen to act on the basis of an email which was merely a perception of the sender with no confirmation or acknowledgement at any stage by me itself shows that the 2nd Show Cause Notice has been issued on flimsy and/or non-existent grounds.”He also repeated his request to Manohar and Srinivasan for them to step down from the probe against him and instead appoint an independent panel to adjudicate the matter.

The Nepal legspinner’s chances of making the T20 World Cup received a jolt

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2024Sandeep Lamichhane’s prospects of making the T20 World Cup 2024 received a jolt after he was denied a US visa. ESPNcricinfo had reported last week that he was in line to be considered for Nepal’s squad for the T20 World Cup, to be played in the USA and the West Indies from June 1, after he had been acquitted of rape charges.”And the @USEmbassyNepal did it again what they did back in 2019, they denied my Visa for the T-20 World Cup happening in USA and West Indies. Unfortunate. I am sorry to all the well wishers of Nepal Cricket,” Lamichhane posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.The last date for boards to submit their final squads to the ICC is May 25. ESPNcricinfo tried reaching out to Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) but is yet to receive a response about their future course of action. Lamichhane had picked up nine wickets in the T20 World Cup Asia Qualifiers last year, the most for Nepal, and that sealed their spot for the tournament proper.Related

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Nepal’s provisional squad is already in the Caribbean and has been training in St Vincent. They will soon travel to the USA for their two warm-ups on May 27 and 30 against Canada and USA respectively, both in Dallas. Their first match in the main event is on June 4 against Netherlands in Dallas.Last week, the Patan High Court in Nepal acquitted Lamichhane of rape because of “a lack of evidence”, allowing him to resume playing cricket with immediate effect. “Since the high court has cleared Sandeep Lamichhane from all the allegations, he is now cleared to play all forms of cricket,” a CAN spokesperson had said then.On January 10, a single-judge bench of the Kathmandu court had found Lamichhane guilty of raping an 18-year-old woman and sentenced him and also fined him approximately USD 2255, ordering him to pay approximately USD 1500 in compensation to the victim. On the following day, CAN suspended him.In early September 2022, Lamichhane, then the Nepal captain, was suspended by CAN for the first time after an arrest warrant was issued against him in Kathmandu over the matter. It followed the news that a complaint against Lamichhane had been lodged in a Kathmandu police station.At the time, Lamichhane was in the West Indies with Jamaica Tallawahs taking part in CPL 2022. The club announced that Lamichhane would be leaving the tournament with immediate effect. Upon landing at the airport in Kathmandu in early October, he had been taken into custody.He returned to the Nepal side in February last year – amid protests from rights groups at home – for a Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series at home, against Namibia and Scotland, during which opposition players did not greet him before or after the games.Subsequently, he was not considered for Nepal’s squad for the Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series in Dubai in early 2023, but joined the team later as an injury replacement. He has continued to turn out for Nepal since then, including at the ODI World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe in June-July last year and the ODI Asia Cup in August-September.

Belligerent batting display ensures visitors make good use of only practice ahead of Tests

Vithushan Ehantharajah08-Feb-2023England XI 465 (Brook 97, Lawrence 85, Root 77, Foakes 57) vs New Zealand XIFor a warm-up fixture that had started to feel like an afterthought before it had even begun, England made the first meaningful day of cricket on this tour count. A score of 465 was blitzed in 69.2 overs against a New Zealand XI, with 55 fours and 17 sixes hammering home a mantra that the hosts are all too familiar with.As New Zealand’s favourite son Brendon McCullum watched those under his care squeeze plenty of juice from their only competitive day’s batting before the first Test begins a week Thursday, it was clear the apparently blasé approach to this fixture did not carry over onto the field. There was no toss, with England given the opportunity to bat the entirety of day one ahead of bowling all of day two. There was no Ben Stokes, either, with the captain opting to go through his own preparations to offer up an extra batting spot and give Ollie Pope another small dose of leadership. Only nine tourists were named in the XI ahead of the 2pm start.Adding to the cushty nature was the presence of Blackcaps captain Tim Southee. A white baseball cap hinted at an incognito look at the opposition, but any whiff of espionage was quashed when Southee caught up with McCullum before sitting down with Stokes and the England staff to chat about anything and everything. Better concealed was the former New Zealand limited-overs batter Anton Devcich in full England training gear. The Hamilton local has been lending a helping hand in training.Though play ended prematurely at 8:23pm with 20.4 overs of the 90 remaining, this had been a worthwhile endeavour. Particularly for Harry Brook, leading the way with a pugnacious 97, followed by 85 for Dan Lawrence, 77 for Joe Root and an accomplished 57 from Ben Foakes.Brook’s knock was the one of note, fast-tracking the innings, notably during a five-over spell before tea in which he and Yorkshire team-mate Root hammered 47. The pair combined for 115 in 16.1 overs for the fourth wicket, following starts from Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Pope that had lifted England to 95 from 17 overs.This was originally pencilled in as a four-day affair, as per the posters dotted throughout the ground, before the reduction to two to focus solely on the pink-ball elements ahead of the day-night opener in Mount Maunganui. That decision was ultimately made in Pakistan, a series also preceded by a reduced two-day scrimmage against England Lions. On that occasion, the decision to trim off a day was taken after conversations among the players at stumps on day two.Joe Root steers into the covers during his innings of 77•Getty Images

The knock-on effect of that discussion has been to give the players more ownership of their individual games, particularly when off-duty. That includes rest. Brook, for example, pulled out of a deal with SA20 franchise Joburg Super Kings to spend a bit more time at home after his player-of-the-series exploits in Pakistan.”I made the decision with England to pull out of the new South Africa competition and that was massive for me,” Brook said. “I was meant to travel on the 7th and I wasn’t quite ready to be completely honest, and I’m glad I pulled out in the end. That month was massive, just to be able to spend some time with the family and relax and not really touch a cricket bat was good. Hopefully I can come back in full flow this year and dominate.”Not that he’ll be lacking for the experience or coin. A £1.3million deal with Sunrisers Hyderabad for the upcoming IPL has only just sunk in. It is the fulfilment of a dream, even if he wasn’t expecting to go for as much. “Every little helps,” he said with a wry smile.This time last year, Brook was a non-playing member of England’s white-ball tour to West Indies. As he says, a fair bit has changed.”Last year was probably the best year of my life, lifestyle and cricket-wise, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Standing here saying I’m a World cup winner is unbelievable and nobody can ever take that away from me. It was a phenomenal year.”Related

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His work on Wednesday afternoon in Hamilton was far more attacking than his three innings across six days in Bloemfontein and Kimberley had been in last week’s ODI series: 97 off 71 versus 86 from 87. All four of his sixes during the ODIs came in the same knock of 80 in the second match. Today, five in a row came in the 36th over after Brook had played out a first-ball dot from legspinner Adithya Ashok. The first of those blows – comfortably the biggest of his nine – landed on Tristram Street which runs along the west of the ground. An attempted attempt for a 10th to take Brook to three figures was snared smartly on the thirf boundary to give Jarrod McKay the second of his 3 for 72. The first – cartwheeling Crawley’s middle stump – was the most spectacular blow landed.”To be honest, the way we’re playing cricket at the minute, it doesn’t really change,” Brook said, when asked about switching continents and ball colours in the space of a week. “I batted a lot slower for the 80 I got in South Africa than I did out there. We’re looking to put pressure on the bowlers, trying to hit them off the spot and keep the pressure on throughout.”He admitted to a degree of pressure in his own head to score briskly, which in turn meant his movements were a bit off by his own exacting standards. Nevertheless, he was impressed with his ball-striking beyond that one devastating over.”I think I’ve got a little bit stronger so I feel like I’m hitting the ball a bit harder,” he said. “Whether that’s just because I’ve been given the freedom to go out and play in a positive way and take the match on or I’ve just got stronger. I just feel like I’m hitting the ball a lot harder than I was before.”It was hard not to sympathise with those chasing leather, particularly given the heavy green tinge to their side. Ashok, for instance, only has one first-class appearance under his belt for Auckland against Central Districts back in October, though he did take 5 for 108 in his only innings of that game. Even with the misfortune of being thrashed around here for 82 from nine overs, he did at least emerge with the dismissal of Root, albeit a fortuitous caught-behind down the leg side off a lackadaisical sweep.By then Root had had his fun, pulling out the now-characteristic lap over third man for the first of two sixes, sending a reminder to the watching Southee after the hard launch of that shot in last summer’s Trent Bridge Test. By the time Lawrence got stuck in, the inferiority of the New Zealand attack was shining through as the sun dimmed.Play was at its most competitive when Kyle Jamieson had the ball in hand, and 15 overs of constant pressure throughout the day will have boosted Southee more than his eventual haul of 3 for 65. Jamieson has not played international cricket since picking up a back injury in that same Test in Nottingham, and has been working up to full fitness with limited-overs cricket.After shaking out a bit of rust on his return to whites, he removed Duckett with a neat delivery that drew the left-hander forward and slightly across for an edge through to Tom Bruce at second slip. A return in the final session exploited a bit of extra juice with the floodlights to square Lawrence up for another catch to Bruce in the cordon, before Will Jacks was turned inside-out to be caught at first slip this time.New Zealand’s coach Gary Stead has not confirmed whether Jamieson will make his comeback in the first or second Test. The decision won’t be made on this outing alone, although given England’s mood, and the absence of Trent Boult, perhaps it should be.

Broadcaster says “his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest”

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2021The BBC has dropped Michael Vaughan from its coverage of the upcoming Ashes series in Australia, and BT Sport may yet follow suit, after he was named in the Azeem Rafiq racism probe.Vaughan, the former England captain turned commentator, was stood down from his BBC Radio 5 Live show earlier this month after it emerged that he was the subject of a complaint by Rafiq in Yorkshire’s report into Rafiq’s allegations of racism at the club.On Wednesday, the BBC released a statement saying that Vaughan would also not be involved in its “wider coverage of the sport at the moment”.”While he is involved in a significant story in cricket, for editorial reasons we do not believe that it would be appropriate for Michael Vaughan to have a role in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the moment,” the BBC statement said.”We require our contributors to talk about relevant topics and his involvement in the Yorkshire story represents a conflict of interest.”Related

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Responding in a post on Instagram, Vaughan admitted he was “very disappointed” at the decision, and would “miss working with great colleagues & friends”.However, he confirmed that he will still be a part of the Ashes coverage in his TV role with Fox Cricket in Australia, which is also due to be heard in the UK, following BT Sport’s decision not to send a bespoke commentary team.”The issues facing cricket are bigger than any individual case,” Vaughan added. “I want to be part of the solution, listening, educating myself and helping to make it a more welcoming sport for all.”Now, however, BT Sport too are considering Vaughan’s place in their plans, with a spokesman confirming that the decision to share the Australian host broadcasting feed – originally made “as a result of Covid and travel restrictions” – was now under review.”The recent report presented to UK Parliament uncovering institutional racism within cricket and specifically Yorkshire County Cricket Club is extremely disappointing and a concern for all,” the BT Sport spokesman added. “Given these recent events we are reviewing and discussing our commentary plans with Cricket Australia.”The issue stems from Rafiq’s allegation that Vaughan had noted the inclusion of four players of Asian heritage in the Yorkshire side playing a county fixture against Nottinghamshire in 2009 and said: “There are too many of you lot; we need to do something about it.” Vaughan has denied the allegations against him.Rafiq’s account was supported by former Pakistan bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and England leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who said they heard the comment.Appearing before a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing last week, Rafiq said: “I think it’s important on Michael [Vaughan] that we don’t make it all about Michael. It was a long time ago, Michael might not remember it as I said about earlier because it doesn’t mean anything. But three of us remember it.”Vaughan joined the BBC’s Test Match Special radio team as a summariser in 2009.

Yorkshire reach 96-run first-innings lead before Durham edge ahead with more spirited second knock

Paul Edwards at Chester-le-Street02-Aug-2020
To walk around a near-deserted Riverside at the moment is to be reminded of a different summer. Signs and notices still advertise last year’s World Cup and one realises with a jolt that this match began on the first anniversary of the start of the Ashes series. We have gone from Steve Smith to squirts of sanitiser in twelve months. Professional cricketers, of course, have little time for such reflections. Some moved counties in the winter and were hoping to make an impact in April; many others are out of contract this year and have nine weeks in which to prove they deserve a new deal. They are playing for more than a one-off trophy in a truncated season.For the moment, though, harvesting a decent haul of points in the Bob Willis Trophy is all they can do, so Yorkshire’s coaches will have been slightly disappointed just after lunch when Ben Coad’s limp waft edged a catch to Ned Eckersley, thus ending his side’s first innings on 199, one run shy of a batting bonus point. But any irritation at Coad’s final shot will have been balanced by pleasure at the five boundaries he had clumped during a valuable last-wicket stand of 35 with Jack Shutt. Two of those fours were cheery thwacks down the ground off Ben Raine and they rather summed up Yorkshire’s approach to batting during the first half of a day in which they established a 96-run first-innings lead.However, after managing only 103 all out in their first attempt, Durham’s batsmen offered far tougher resistance on Sunday afternoon and were 106 for 2 at the close. The home’s obduracy would have done credit to Democratic Unionists. It was epitomised by the openers, Alex Lees, who was batting against his old county, and Sean Dickson, who was trying to impress his new one after his recent move from Kent. The pair had added 47 in 26 overs when Dickson was caught off the inside edge by Jonny Tattersall for 14, and though their approach was as staid as a maiden aunts’ sherry party, it was at least safe.More to the point, neither Steve Patterson nor any of his bowlers could build on their success, partly because this Riverside pitch has lost a little of its spice but mainly because Lees ground out an unbeaten 58 in 150 balls. Yet the opener’s pleasure may have been moderated by his part in the run out which saw Cameron Steel dismissed for 11. That mix-up occurred when the batsmen attempted a third run only to see Ben Coad’s throw from third man be collected by Tattersall, who threw the stumps down at the bowler’s end with a galloping Steel short of his ground. Nevertheless a game which once threatened not to last beyond its second day may now stretch into a fourth.Durham’s resilience may have pleased their absent supporters watching the live stream on their laptops, but their run rate is so pedestrian – 106 runs in 51 overs – that they may have to bat most of the third day in order to set any sort of target on a pitch which has eased a little since the first morning when a heavy atmosphere made batting even more of a trial. Yorkshire’s batsmen, by contrast, were never chary of playing their shots and that approach worked for them in the morning session. The visitors scored 80 runs in 28 overs, thus establishing a 61-run lead at a cost of four wickets, two of which fell when neither Jordan Thompson nor Tattersall played shots to straight balls. Harry Brook, too, rather gave it away when he pulled Matthew Potts straight to Jack Burnham at deep midwicket, the fielder having been carefully placed 20 yards in from the rope. By then, though, the 21-year-old Brook had made 41 and had hit seven boundaries, the majority of them intentional and precise.From the opening exchanges there was a busyness about Yorkshire’s batting which their opponents have so far lacked. Twenty of the 58.4 overs in Durham’s innings had been maidens; the home bowlers managed just six in their first 24, some of them delivered in the first day’s last knockings when Dawid Malan and Brook were playing for the close. The departure of Malan, superbly caught by Ned Eckersley off the inside edge for 30, gave Chris Rushworth the second of his three wickets but the Durham spearhead was otherwise roughly treated by Yorkshire’s batsmen and it is probably some time since he has gone for four an over in a first-class innings.But while home supporters were prohibited from watching experienced cricketers like the 34-year-old Rushworth, yesterday they were at least able to watch the county’s academy cricketers take on Chester-le-Street, whose Ropery Lane home lies about 500 yards from the Riverside. That game was attended, on a much smaller ground, by over 100 spectators and catering facilities were available. Yet no one apart from players, officials and media is being allowed into the Riverside, whose capacity is currently around 15,000.Such inconsistency is perhaps to be expected during an emergency almost without precedent in modern British history. But it would still need nothing more than a gentle relaxation to remove it and it is hard to see what the hazard might be in allowing a thousand or so folk watch cricket in the open air.

Supernovas needed 19 off the last over and Harmanpreet struck four fours but they weren’t enough

The Report by Annesha Ghosh06-May-2019Two big stars of Indian women’s cricket took centrestage in Jaipur as the multi-team Women’s T20 Challenge kicked off with a final-ball thriller, much like how the one-off exhibition game had ended in Mumbai last year. Except this time, Trailblazers captain Smriti Mandhana’s enterprising 90 trumped her opposite number Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten 46 as Supernovas fell short by an agonising two runs.Chasing 19 off the last over, Harmanpreet nearly pulled off an encore of her performance on her Lancashire Thunder debut at last year’s Kia Super League, when she struck a last-ball six in a chase, carting Jhulan Goswami for four fours off the first five balls, the last one landing only inside the rope. Needing three off the last ball, Harmanpreet slashed hard but couldn’t connect with the length ball outside off, and the attempted bye ended with wicketkeeper R Kalpana catching non-striker Lea Tahuhu short of her ground at her end.The near-perfect Harman-Devine showWhen Harmanpreet walked in at No. 4 after eight overs, Supernovas’ asking rate (7.16) was only a shade above their run rate 6.87. With Trailblazers shelling several chances, little suggested Mandhana’s side won’t have to pay for the drops. Keeping to her scratchy-at-first-sublime-thereafter template, Harmanpreet scored six off her first 10 balls. An unforgiving punch off Harleen Deol in the 12th over fetched Harmanpreet the first of her eight fours, the same number collected by the six other Supernovas batsmen.During her 48-run stand with No. 6 Sophie Devine, Harmanpreet was off the strike for the major part as Devine herself, with her 22-ball 32, looked set to hand Trailblazers the finality. Having taken Supernovas to 122, Devine was trapped in front by Sophie Ecclestone. Devine used the review, the first of the tournament, but it wasn’t overturned. The dismissal, eventually, proved a match-winning one as Ecclestone rounded out her 20th birthday with 2 for 11 that played a key role in victory for her side.Below-par fielding a worry for TrailblazersA misfield in the third over from Deepti Sharma handed Jemimah Rodrigues her first four. In the sixth, Deepti dropped the same batsman on 16, the ball popping out of her hands over her head at mid-on after she got both hands to it, and it was just the start of more telling shoddiness that was to follow.Chamari Atapattu got two lives in the eighth over, bowled by Shakera Selman. Stafanie Taylor first put down a straightforward chance at deep square leg on the first ball before D Hemalatha ran in hard from sweeper cover two balls later, but couldn’t hold on despite getting her hands under the ball.The first drop had Mandhana clutch her knees, the second brought out a huge sigh (of disbelief) from Selman. But then came a moment of brilliance, courtesy Selman herself. Anticipating the striker Atapattu’s call for a quick single on the leg side, Selman swooped in while carrying on from her follow-through, and put in a full-length forward-stretch to fire a direct hit at the wicketkeeper’s end to catch Rodrigues well short of her ground, for a 19-ball 24.The drop that nearly cost them the game came in the 17th over. Harmanpreet, on 25, launched Taylor down the ground, where Hemalatha went to her left from long-on and shelled her second catch of the night. Four drops, yet ending on the winning side? Trailblazers should be thanking their stars captain.Mandhana magic: sedate and scintillatingMandhana lived up to her reputation with an uncharacteristic 67-ball 90, her second-highest T20 score.If her maiden T20 ton, for Western Storm in KSL 2018, against Harmanpreet’s Lancashire Thunder was all menace, the magic took time to unfold on Monday. It wasn’t until the 35th ball of her innings that Mandhana’s strike rate touched 100. That was largely down to Harmanpreet persisting with spin for the major part of that period, and Mandhana’s early struggle was borne out in the seven runs she scored off her Maharashtra team-mate Anuja Patil, the offspinner. Her first two fours – in a combined tally of 10 fours and three sixes – came 23 balls apart.As she loves pace on the ball, the four she broke her shackles with came off the first delivery bowled by Tahuhu. Thereafter, her willow oozed the class the 22-year-old is famed for. The highlight of her 119-run second-wicket stand with Deol (36 off 44) was the six – the first of the match – off wristpinner Poonam Yadav that floated over the extra cover boundary. Dragging her side to a respectable total has become second-nature to Mandhana in the recent past, thanks to India’s middle-order woes. But on Monday, her knock also cushioned her side amid an otherwise deplorable fielding performance.