Plays of the day from England’s thrilling semi-final win over New Zealand

David Hopps30-Mar-2016The (not so) long wait
David Willey had taken a wicket in his first over three times in the tournament. He had to wait seven balls this time, but there was almost a wicket in his first over, courtesy of a run-out, when Martin Guptill stole a single from a gentle push down the ground and England’s captain Eoin Morgan could not pick up cleanly as he bore down on the stumps from mid-off.The loosener
Liam Plunkett’s first ball – a leg stump half-volley – invited punishment but it almost brought a wicket as Kane Williamson flicked to short fine leg, where Adil Rashid could not quite rescue a half-volley chance as he dived forward.The stumping chance
Rashid beat Williamson down the leg side on 16 and, even though the umpire called a wide, there was just the glimmer of a stumping chance for Jos Buttler had his take been at its slickest, but Williamson had time to ground his bat in the crease.The slugger’s demise
Colin Munro was the most successful of a succession of potentially destructive New Zealand batsmen, with 46 from 32 balls, but Plunkett out-thought him with a deliberate line wide of off stump and Munro perished via a top edge to third manThe squeeze
New Zealand managed only 20 runs from the last four overs – England’s best-ever effort during that segment of a T20 innings – as Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes again put on the squeeze at the death. By the time Stokes ran out Mitchell McClenaghan from the final ball, England imagined themselves slight favourites even against a side capable of defending modest totals.The fast start
A target of 154 would often encourage slightly conservative beginnings. England do not think like that these days; certainly Jason Roy didn’t. An unhampered start brought four boundaries off Corey Anderson as England took pleasure from the absence of Trent Boult and Tim Southee. A strong square drive set it all off, the most emphatic of the quartet..The stumping chance II
Luke Ronchi had a chance to stump Alex Hales, on 19, as he swung at the medium pace of Grant Elliott but the wicketkeeper failed to hold the ball. With England already halfway to their total in the eighth over, it was a slip they could ill afford. It was not costly, though, with Hales falling in the next over.The repeat failure
Morgan has had two first ballers in three innings, the first when he allowed a ball from Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi to strike his off stump, the latest when he was lbw propping forward to Ish Sodhi’s legbreak. England’s T20 reinvention under Morgan’s captaincy means it will be shrugged aside – certainly this week.The statement
Perhaps England will only really be fulfilled if they win the tournament but, after their tortuous World Cup challenge last year, to reach the final was an emphatic statement. Victory was brought up, too, in perfect fashion when Buttler crunched Mitchell Santner over midwicket for his third six in four balls – just the way England might have visualised it.

Always a monster at scoring on the leg side, Virat Kohli has become so adept at playing inside-out drives that he can now pierce any gap from point to mid-off, and this evolution has contributed to some insane numbers

Alagappan Muthu in Bangalore19-May-2016There was one thing Virat Kohli failed at on Wednesday night: trying to restrain his grin as he walked off with a century . He bit his lip. That didn’t help. He bowed his head. But that only made him look cooler.There was a time when Kohli simply seemed agitated playing Twenty20 cricket. He wasn’t always as strong as he is now. He couldn’t thwack sixes as often as he does now. It had bred frustration, which clouded his mind and reduced him to base instinct. For a bottom-handed player such as him, that roughly means slogging into the leg side. Until December 2015, he averaged 35.37 with a strike-rate of 128.97. No centuries. Thirty-two fifties.Kohli’s first boundary on Wednesday came off the first ball he faced, standing tall to dispatch a back of a length delivery through the covers. A shot like that depends on the top hand for timing and direction, so bottom-handed players have trouble getting the maximum out of them. The same holds true for inside-out drives through the off side.But Kohli is a master of those, against pace and spin. He has become so adept that he can pierce any gap from point to mid-off and this evolution has contributed to some insane numbers. Since January 2016, his average is 99.33 and his strike-rate 148.11. Four centuries. Twelve fifties. That is half as many 50-plus scores in one year as he had made in the previous eight.Kohli was always a monster on the leg side with the power he generates with his wrists. Now he is a phenom on the off side as well.You have to put yourself in the bowler’s shoes to understand the impact of that. You think you can be safe with a nice, fifth or sixth stump line, but he can carve it to third man, drill it through the covers or thump it back over your head. Okay, target the stumps then. But the bottom-handed meanie will whip it anywhere between square leg and mid-on. Is it any wonder that Kohli has hit 443 runs on the off side and 422 on the leg side in this IPL?A bottom-handed player being more productive on the off side is a sign he has broken his limitations. Kohli has done so by developing a shot that could eclipse his flick and become his new trademark, at least in one-day cricket, when there is considerably lesser swing and seam movement. The cover drive.It was the first thing he practiced when he got to the middle – off the front foot and the back foot – and it brought him the first of his eight sixes against King XI Punjab when he charged at KC Cariappa and hit with the legspin. He can play it from the crease, or outside it, on the up and any which way he pleases. Kohli’s strike-rate through the covers in this IPL is 156.20. In all T20s prior to the start of the season, that figure had been wallowing at a mere 118. Party to this improvement is his knowledge of when to use the shot.”Your head should always be where your toe is, that’s how your body is dictated when you’re playing the drive,” Kohli demonstrated in a batting masterclass for in April. “And that’s how you connect [with] the ball close to your body, close to your head and it stays in control.”If the ball pitches ahead of [where] your foot [can reach], you have to play it along with your pad and make sure your follow through is such that the ball bounces right in front of you. If the ball is a bit fuller, the sensible thing to do, which I do most often, is I collapse my back foot rather than bending on the front foot.”So many factors at play. So many decisions to make. And all Kohli gets is a split second. In addition to that, a bottom-handed player has to let go of his natural inclinations to play the drive well. Otherwise, he might hold the bat too tightly, the wrists lock up and a full flow of the arms is not easy.Creditably, Kohli hasn’t been pushed into overhauling his technique to expand his range. He has adjusted by moving his feet and himself into a position – usually quite a distance outside leg – where the bottom hand does all the work to get the cover drive away. There have been times when he has nailed the shot without making room too. Remember the fours he shovelled through the off side against West Indies and Australia in the World T20? The wristy flourishes at the end are a clear indication of his bottom-hand dominance.So Kohli, it appears, hasn’t abandoned his natural game. He has merely augmented it in the quest to become a complete batsman.Victory may not be that far off.

Watch @imVkohli battle stitches in his hand to score his fourth hundred in #IPL https://t.co/TIvU8BDVFO

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 19, 2016

Stats provided by Shiva Jayaraman and Bharath Seervi

England’s blushes were spared by a grandstand finish to an off-key performance, but the overall direction of the team remains on track

George Dobell22-Jun-2016An optimist, they say, sees the glass as half-full, the pessimist sees it as half-empty and the England cricket supporter sees it as an opportunity to make a beer snake.You can understand why spectators might have been conflicted as they left Trent Bridge on Tuesday night. On the one hand, they had seen one of the most wonderfully memorable games of cricket they could hope to witness. On the other, they had seen two flawed, mid-ranking teams make a catalogue of errors in a game of wildly varying quality.It would be churlish not to recognise England’s admirable spirit. The partnership between Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes – men whose softly-spoken modesty off the pitch conceals impressive confidence and determination on it – spoke volumes for the attitude and ability within the current England dressing room. While many previous sides would have capitulated to a heavy defeat – the World Cup match in Wellington springs to mind – this side is made of sterner stuff. There is a lot to admire and a lot to like in that dressing room, not least the reminder that you don’t have to be a brat to be a success in international sport.But when Eoin Morgan spoke after the match, it was clear that he was not going to allow the fightback to mask earlier failings. While recognising the belief in the dressing room as “quite incredible” he also rated the “general performance” as “really poor” and England’s batting in the first 10 overs of their innings “as bad as any time in the last year”. England were, he said, “very lucky” to escape with a tie.All of which is heartening. A weaker captain may well have simply ‘taken the positives’ from the match and allowed his side to be deluded into thinking they remain on track. But, when Morgan spoke at the launch of the 2017 Champions Trophy earlier this month, he talked of the change in attitude in the new England team and a sense that, while previous sides may have been happy to “reflect on how good you are”, his team “always want to be better”.So Morgan will know that, at best, England just about got away with their failings on Tuesday. They got away with the five-man attack that left Morgan scratching his head at times. They got away with the lack of movement obtained by two of the seamers, with only David Willey gaining any swing. They got away with a top-order collapse and they got away with the sort of fielding errors – Woakes diving over a ball at fine leg and Joe Root dropping a catch at long-on – that will be punished by the best teams.To some extent, these errors are what you would expect in a developing side. England are only one year into their rebuilding project and they are still in the process of identifying the players that will carry them into the 2019 World Cup.So Root, after a fantastic year, is entitled to a relatively unproductive period without it sparking any long-term concerns. And while Morgan’s wicket – attempting a late-cut but managing only a thin edge to the keeper – extended his run of international innings without a half-century to 19, he had looked in fluent form until his dismissal and he is leading the side impressively. Moeen Ali, the top-rated ODI bowler in this series according to the ICC rankings, Buttler and Alex Hales, who has two centuries and four half-centuries in his last nine ODIs, also look very likely to be the men around whom the side is built. Adil Rashid, who delivered a well-controlled spell of leg-spin in Nottingham and must be one of the best No. 11s in the business, increasingly looks to be in the same category.One or two others have some work to do. Jonny Bairstow needs a longer run in the side to demonstrate that he can translate his fine Test form into this format, but Liam Plunkett perhaps required that last-ball strike to deflect attention from a slightly unconvincing performance with the ball. He will be 34 by the time the 2019 World Cup is played and may have limited opportunities to impress. Jason Roy, who has not passed 20 in five ODIs, also has some work to do to prevent Moeen returning to the top-order position from where he scored two centuries.One man whose stock rose considerably on Tuesday night was Woakes. He had never scored a List A half-century until Tuesday and, while he will never be a power hitter – he admitted he was pleased that Plunkett was on strike for the final ball as he was the more likely to hit a six – he impressed with his calm head, his quick running and the pace of his bowling. He will be 30 by the time the World Cup is played and feels he should be at his peak by then.It has appeared, at times, as if Woakes might be unfortunate to see his career coincide with that of Ben Stokes. Both are fine cricketers but Stokes is a little younger, a little more talented and a little more established. But England can always find room for players capable of delivering runs and wickets; there is no reason the pair cannot play alongside one another. Indeed, it is Stokes who has a bit to do to improve a surprisingly modest record in ODI cricket – he has a batting average of 21.40 and a bowling average of 36.50.”I’d like to think we can play in the same team,” Woakes said. “The workload is very high in international cricket, especially for all-rounders like myself and Ben, so I suppose there will be times we rotate. If that’s the case, so be it. I’ll be happy just to do a job for the team.”Woakes was a member of the 2015 World Cup squad that underperformed so memorably. As such he is well-placed to comment on what has changed in a relatively short space of time. He specifies two issues: the selection of a slightly younger team and, perhaps partially because of that, greater self-belief.”We probably doubted ourselves before,” Woakes said. “There is more belief that we can do it now. We didn’t do it as players in 2015 and that was our own fault. We back ourselves more and we believe in ourselves to play fearless cricket.”We believe we can win a game from any position. At 80 for 6 you are not thinking about winning immediately, but you always know a partnership can give you a sniff. Me and Jos did that. The belief is that we can do that.”And you are looking at a slightly different team. T20 has helped ODI cricket there. Batters have more shots too and scoops are the norm rather than a shock.”But Woakes, like Morgan, accepted that England had underperformed for much of Tuesday’s game.”All-round we could have been better,” Woakes said. “With bat and ball.”We don’t want to be losing wickets like that. It makes it hard work. We could have protected our wickets more and chasing that sort of total our best batsmen should face the majority of balls.”And we’re disappointed with the way we bowled. To restrict them was good, but we felt we could have bowled better.”The important thing is we realise we have more to prove, we can play better than that and hopefully it starts on Friday.”

After Faf du Plessis chose to bat in cloudy conditions, several batsmen punched their way to starts but none pressed on, leaving South Africa needing a counterpunch

Firdose Moonda in Durban19-Aug-20161:17

Moonda: South Africa threw punches, but they didn’t land

South Africa promised to throw the first punch as part of the new approach to Test cricket and they did. But they didn’t land nearly as many as would they have wanted as they staggered through the first day of their first Test in seven months sans a major contribution from anyone in the line-up.It may have been a little easier for South Africa to stomach where they sit now had New Zealand’s attack been a little more aggressive. Although Trent Boult’s bowled two threatening spells, Tim Southee found movement and Neil Wagner got his short ball going, New Zealand were not a constant threat. In their attempts to assert themselves, South Africa brought on their own demise to some extent and will have to find other ways of being forceful upfront.With an overhead cloud, warm air and two of the best swing bowlers on the circuit, Southee and Boult, to face, Faf du Plessis made his first statement of intent when he chose to bat. Conventional wisdom still favours putting runs on the board before allowing the opposition to, but with South Africa, by their own admission scarred from last summer and specifically their tour of India in which only AB de Villiers – not playing this series because of injury – crossed the fifty mark, it was a brave decision.The first ball drew the immediate gasps of the few hundred people in the ground when it seemed to swing violently. Stephen Cook looked to play to square leg but his outside edge ended up bobbling through gully. But the ball had not danced around a corner, Cook was just early on the shot. That’s not to say there was no movement. Southee found enough to keep the openers watchful but it was Trent Boult who properly challenged them, with deliveries that moved late.Picture a puppy whose owner teases him by pretending to throw a ball. The puppy cranes his neck, even begins to run after the imaginary object, only to find that the ball is still in the man’s hand. Dean Elgar was that puppy. Sometimes he played too late, others times he was beaten and he never looked entirely comfortable.Much like Graeme Smith used to, Elgar survived through will rather than technique, which only made the way he got out look worse. He allowed Doug Bracewell to tempt him into the drive twice in the over. When Bracewell did it a third time, Elgar bit again and nicked a catch to second slip.Hashim Amla’s response to the loss of the two openers was to send the ball to the boundary seven times in the next five overs but it’s not as though New Zealand weren’t asking for it. Southee had offered several spank-me deliveries, often after he had strung together some better ones, and Amla spanked. Overpitched? Four. Short and wide? Four. Bracewell? Four. Four. Four.Who was this man and what had he done with the Amla who averaged less than 19 at the ground that was his home for more than a decade before he chose the Cape Town-based Cobras as his domestic team? He was a man making a statement. So was the person who decided to send in JP Duminy at No. 4, perhaps to keep the left-right hand combination going, but also to allow a man who is experienced enough to be taking more responsibility. Duminy squandered the chance.JP Duminy has failed to pass fifty in 10 completed innings dating back to August 2014•Associated PressAlthough he looked better than he did through all of last summer, especially on the front foot, his first sign of uncertainty came when he swept in the penultimate over before lunch. A short leg was in place for that exact shot and Duminy almost played the ball into his hands. It was hardly surprising then, that Duminy fell into another trap after the break when a fine leg was waiting for a mistimed pull and, on cue, Duminy top-edged Wagner straight to the man. His shot selection would come into discussion about his future in the Test side.Duminy has now failed to pass fifty in 10 completed innings dating back to August 2014 in Zimbabwe but whether South Africa have the depth to replace him still needs to be examined. For now, Temba Bavuma has shown he can hold his own. He began in the same aggressive vein as Amla but then followed du Plessis’ lead and shut shop mid-way through the second session.In 14 overs before tea, South Africa eked out just 15 runs but not because New Zealand forced that on them. The bowling was not particularly miserly, Kane Williamson had spread the field and the scoreboard needed runs. Du Plessis and Bavuma showed they had perfected the leave and the block, which may come in handy on another day, but only served to stall a decent start on this one.When du Plessis’ innings was ended by a headline-grabber of a catch from his opposite number, he had spent an hour and 53 minutes at the crease and faced 84 balls and all he had to show for it was a demonstration of why an overly defensive approach does not always work. In this situation, the reality was that if the watchfulness did not turn into something worthwhile, it would be in danger of being a wasted effort. So it was.Quinton de Kock was never in danger of doing that. He top-edged the first ball he faced and not even the realisation that he only got away because the fielder was too square to take the catch could force him into a more conservative style of play. De Kock took advantage of a New Zealand attack that went searching with width, and played some of the shots of the day. A full-blooded drive to long-on, a carve through the covers and then two charges to drill the ball over mid-off and through midwicket off Mitchell Santner. Like Elgar, de Kock went one strike too many. The third time he ran down the pitch to Santner, he did not get the contact he wanted and skied the ball to mid-off to end an innings that could have gone on to better Amla’s.So, South Africa find themselves on the ropes again, a position they are used to fighting back from. In pre-match build-up, du Plessis even went as far as to say there was a stage when South Africa were the only team around who were willing to take the time to dig themselves out of holes. They did not want to have to call on that skill but they have left themselves no choice. If things are to go their way in the rest of this Test match, they will have to counterpunch.

New Zealand have done many things right while facing R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but they are yet to find an answer to the two spinners’ biggest weapon: the one that looks like it will turn, but does not turn

Sidharth Monga27-Sep-20163:52

O’Brien: New Zealand couldn’t keep the pressure on for long enough

Kanpur is a city infamous for power theft. It is the subject of an excellent documentary, . Power is stolen through from official supply cables. A is a home-made wire used to make a connection between the supply cable and homes. A is an expert at handling , which is a daredevil act because the power-supply department is not going to stop the power supply while you install them. It is playing with livewires.Electricians who dabble in all have bent, burnt and disfigured fingers, relics of shocks suffered while doing their dangerous work. In the documentary, a says he holds his breath while touching livewires. “If there is no breath, how will the current travel? [I just play possum. You can’t kill what is already dead.]” Househlds that steal power have to be extremely vigilant of raids. Usually, the only come out at night.For New Zealand, playing on Kanpur’s pitch against India’s spinners was like being dared to steal power on your first trip to the city. A small mistake, and the livewire got them. One wrong movement of the feet, one slow reaction, and all of a sudden all the hard work of watching every ball and reacting perfectly – all the way to 159 for 1 in the first innings – was undone. Kane Williamson admitted his batsmen either – speaking in the language of the – released their breath too soon or were not vigilant for long enough.Sometimes, though, a batsman can do everything right and still succumb to the livewire. Just look at the enormity of New Zealand’s task. R Ashwin is at the top of his game. He gets drift and dip, with the new ball bowls a swerving delivery that almost swings away from the right-hand batsman, bowls a carrom ball, a legbreak, and keeps varying his angles, trajectories, release points, and revs imparted on the ball. Ravindra Jadeja doesn’t have the same amount of guile, but is an intelligent bowler. He looks to make you play every ball, while also changing his angles and pace, and when the ball is turning he bowls so fast he doesn’t give you time to recover from the smallest misjudgment.Imagine you watch out for all that, pick the length early and go right forward or right back, punish the loose balls, and then a left-hand batsman plays for an offbreak that doesn’t turn and gets trapped lbw. Zing. Ashwin dismissed Tom Latham in the same fashion twice in the first Test. The seam doesn’t say the ball is not going to turn. The drift suggests it is going to turn. Latham covers for the turn, and is beaten on the inside edge. It is these deliveries that are next to impossible to pick out of the hand. It is these deliveries that have made the difference between the two sides.R Ashwin had Tom Latham lbw with non-turning offbreaks from around the wicket in both innings in Kanpur•BCCIIn an instructional video, Ashwin had told that when he bowls an offbreak, his index finger is on top of the seam. For a topspinner, he has the inside of his knuckle on the ball. For the offbreak, the index finger cuts across the seam. For the topspinner, the index finger runs along the seam. Latham failed to pick the difference between the two releases. The seam in the air, though, suggested an offbreak on both occasions.If there is still a chance Ashwin intended to have the two balls go straight on, try deciphering Jadeja. He is always at the stumps, he turns some, doesn’t turn the others. New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan felt Jadeja’s pace comes in the way of picking the straighter one. “It’s hard to pick it out of the hand when he bowls so quick, and he bowls such a consistent line and length, which offers a lot of challenges,” McMillan said. “Our guys have used the depth of the crease really well, going forward and back, and picked up length really early, which is important.”BJ Watling wonders if Jadeja himself knows which one is going to go straight on. Take the back-to-back dismissals of Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi in the first innings for example. The index finger across the top of the ball, as Ashwin instructs, the thumb behind the ball, and no difference in the distance between the index finger and middle finger. The seam position in the air is identical. Craig, a left-hand batsman, is beaten on the inside edge by one that turns in. Sodhi, a right-hand batsman, is beaten on the inside edge by the one that goes straight on. Both are headed for the stumps. What do you do?

By all indications, these straighter ones are natural variations from the pitch, the frequency of which increases with the dryness of the surface. Perhaps even more than turn and bounce, natural variations are the most dangerous gift such pitches offer the spinners.

Not many domestic batsmen who have played against Jadeja can claim to have picked him on tracks that turn. Once, Ishan Kishan, a young Jharkhand batsman who captained India in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, scored 87 off 69 balls on a raging turner in Rajkot. Kishan said he picked Jadeja from his grip and his line. If the index finger and middle finger were split wider, he expected a turning delivery. It helped that Kishan is a left-hand batsman so Jadeja bowled wider when he intended to turn the ball.Watch some of the replays from the Kanpur Test, and you might think you are on to something. For example, when Jadeja turned one from over the wicket to dismiss Luke Ronchi, the fingers were split wide. The fingers were split just as wide when Jadeja got Ross Taylor out with a straighter one.By all indications, these straighter ones are natural variations from the pitch, the frequency of which increases with the dryness of the surface. Perhaps even more than turn and bounce, natural variations are the most dangerous gift such pitches offer the spinners. It’s like facing the magic ball on a greentop: the ball is seaming around, you face up for what seems an outswinger, from position of seam and initial trajectory, but then the ball pitches and seams back in, giving you no chance to adjust. Except the natural variations happen for longer and more frequently.You can watch out for all the obvious skills of Ashwin and Jadeja, which is hard enough, but how do you cope when you don’t know what the ball will do? When asked the same question that McMillan and Watling answered, Williamson chose to keep his cards close to his chest. Perhaps he has a way. Jadeja’s trajectory may provide some sort of hint. When he flights it, you can perhaps safely rule out a straighter one, but it is not necessary that his flatter ones won’t turn.What you can do, while remaining philosophical about uncontrollables, is two things. One: get either right forward or right back, so you either smother the turn or are deep enough in your crease to adjust. Two: try not to get beaten on the inside edge by the ball meant to turn away from you. Taylor did neither in the first innings and was trapped in front. The latter is to avoid lbws, India’s main weapon, and also Sri Lanka’s against Australia recently. If you are a right-hand batsman playing Jadeja, play the angle. If you are a left-hand batsman facing Ashwin from around the wicket, play the angle. If the ball turns past the edge, don’t bother. It is difficult for the ball to take the edge if you don’t follow it with your hands, because of the extent of turn, but if it does, hard luck.Some of New Zealand’s batsmen tried this; when interviewed by the broadcasters, Ashwin remarked that when the left-hand batsmen came on the front foot, they had come forward but not across, and played him inside-out.This is easy to say, but to do it in addition to what all they did right is incredibly tough: a batsman’s instinct is to score. And they have three days between Tests – one goes in travel and recovery – to figure this out. Nor will they get bowlers or bowling machines that do what Jadeja and Ashwin do. There will be a lot of video watched between these Tests, but if they don’t spot more than what McMillan and Watling said they had, New Zealand will need a lot more luck and errors from India to survive. Winning the toss might not be a bad start.

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2016But he was bowled on the sweep by Imad Wasim•AFP… who added the scalp of Jason Roy in a brilliant opening spell•AFPJoe Root attempted to improvise as the boundaries dried up•AFP… but Hasan Ali dismissed him for 6•Getty ImagesGetty Images… where the substitute, Amad Butt, took a well-judged catch•Getty Images… before Wahab Riaz had Eoin Morgan caught behind in a fiery spell•Getty ImagesBabar Azam had to be carried off the pitch after twisting his ankle•AFPPakistan’s fans were out in force at Old Trafford and made their presence felt•Getty ImagesIn reply, Sharjeel Khan laid into England’s bowlers•Getty Images… blasting a 30-ball fifty•Getty Images… while Khalid Latif finished unbeaten on 59 from 42 balls•Getty ImagesEoin Morgan led his dejected team from the field•Getty ImagesBut a nine-wicket win was the perfect way for Pakistan to sign off a memorable tour•Getty Images

Plays of the day from the first ODI between Bangladesh and England

Mohammad Isam at Mirpur07-Oct-2016The early breakSoumya Sarkar was marking his position at deep square-leg in the first over despite the fact some 30 minutes earlier at the toss, Mashrafe had confirmed that Soumya had been dropped for the first time in his international career, making way for Imrul Kayes. The confusion ended when it was noticed that Taskin Ahmed was missing among the fielders. He had apparently taken a comfort break, which meant that he missed the first two overs of the innings. There was no problem in making up time as he only came to bowl in the 25th over.The cheekBen Duckett lived up to his billing with his 60 in his debut innings, although Ben Stokes’ strokeplay at times made you forget that another bright left-hander was at the other end. But Duckett did have his moments during their 153-run fifth wicket stand, and one of them came in the 27th over when he shimmied towards off stump to lift the fast bowler Taskin Ahmed over the wicketkeeper’s head for a boundary. The newcomer’s presence of mind was laudable.The first dropWhen Stokes slammed one towards mid-on in the 31st over, here was Bangladesh’s chance for a major breakthrough. Stokes and Duckett had added 108 runs to that point and a wicket could had stopped Bangladesh’s sliding fortunes. Instead, Mahmudullah dropped a straightforward chance off the Stokes bunt and the home side’s fielding disintegrated. The ball was struck hard but it was right into Mahmudullah’s lap after he made a little ground to his right. Unfortunately, his fall to complete the catch resulted in the ball getting out of his control.The last strawThe Bangladesh bowlers didn’t offer much more than a scowl after Mahmudullah and Mosharraf Hossain managed to drop three chances between them, and catches fell between fielders twice. But Taskin had had enough when Tamim Iqbal and Mosaddek Hossain made a royal mess of a skier in the 49th over. Miscommunication was to be blamed as Mosaddek, who had the catch within his reach, didn’t go for it. Taskin screamed in anger, as his bowling stint ended wicketless.The hole in oneImrul’s intent was shown straight away when he deposited Chris Woakes into the stands at deep square leg. It was so well struck, that the ball got lodged into an advertising hoarding on the second level of the grandstand. A volunteer needed to climb up and fetch the ball, which took some finding. He took delight in doing so, while Woakes waited for the retrieval.The (other) captain’s approvalAs David Willey was sizing up a fiercely struck pull from Sabbir Rahman at deep midwicket, England’s Test captain Alastair Cook was standing nearby over the boundary rope. Willey completed the juggling act brilliantly, converting the half-chance into a timely breakthrough and removing Sabbir. Cook, meanwhile, was still standing in his spot but now he was celebrating with a clenched fist and a grin in his face.The freebieImrul batted splendidly until he had reached 98 off 104 balls, at which point Willey literally gifted him the hundred with four overthrows that, while close to effecting a run-out as he struck the stumps, could have been avoided. Willey undid a bit of his good work on the boundary to get rid of Sabbir. Imrul meanwhile was relieved to reach the landmark, his first in ODIs after six years.The missed sitterImrul’s first life, as such, was in the 40th over when the England captain and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler dropped a sitter off his top edge. Imrul was getting tired at this stage and when Jake Ball had bounced him, the attempted pull was a weak attempt. But what was even weaker was Buttler’s attempted grab, as he dropped the ball while trying to appeal for the caught behind.

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2016Umesh Yadav broke through when he swung one back in to trap Guptill lbw•Associated PressKane Williamson got off to a start, but then perished to the part-time offspin of Kedar Jadhav•Associated PressRoss Taylor shared a third-wicket stand of 73 with Tom Latham to lay a solid platform•AFPTaylor’s dismissal triggered a collapse. When Luke Ronchi was stumped – thanks to some lightning work behind the stumps from MS Dhoni – New Zealand had slid to 161 for 5•Associated PressBut Latham tried to keep the fight going with his fifth international half-century of the tour…•AFP… before Kedar Jadhav got him – his third wicket•Associated PressTim Southee chopped a short ball on and New Zealand were down to 199 for 8•Associated PressBut James Neesham biffed 57 off 47 balls and put together 84 for the ninth wicket with Matt Henry; New Zealand recovered to 285•Associated PressMatt Henry struck in the third over of the chase when Ajinkya Rahane chipped a simple catch to cover•AFPHenry was denied a second wicket when Ross Taylor dropped Virat Kohli at wide slip. Kohli was on 6•Associated PressBut with Tim Southee trapping Rohit Sharma lbw with a slower ball, New Zealand edged ahead in the first Powerplay•Associated PressMS Dhoni promoted himself, steadied the chase, and completed 9000 ODI runs•Associated PressWith Kohli also scoring freely at the other end, the duo added 151 for the third wicket•Associated PressHenry broke the stand when Dhoni mistimed a shot to cover on 80•Associated PressKohli stayed till the end, completing his 26th ODI century and racing away to 154, as India eased home with 10 balls and seven wickets to spare•Associated Press

Adil Rashid is quickly climbing the wicket-taking list for a visiting legspinner in India, and his success reduces the need for three spinners

George Dobell in Mohali27-Nov-20161:09

‘We stuck to our plans and got rewarded’ – Rashid

In the end, it may be that fielding makes the difference.Whereas, in Visakhapatnam, the tough but crucial chance offered by Virat Kohli went to ground, here Chris Woakes clung on to an even tougher chance to end Cheteshwar Pujara’s dangerous innings and precipitate a decline in which India lost three wickets for eight runs.The third of those, the run-out of the unfortunate Karun Nair (it would have been a brave man to send back Kohli on debut) was, again, the result of some outstanding fielding from Jos Buttler. From a position in which India appeared to have weathered the storm and were set to take control of the game, England had conjured wickets from nowhere. They were back in the match and the series.The ball that dismissed Pujara didn’t really deserve a wicket. It was a filthy long-hop. And though it wasn’t the only one Adil Rashid bowled – he had been pulled for boundaries by Pujara and Kohli in his previous couple of overs – his consistently improved form has been a feature of this series.He has already taken more wickets (16 so far) than Shane Warne managed in a series in India (14) and only two visiting legspinners (Danish Kaneria, who took 19 wickets in 2004-05) and Richie Benaud (who took 29 in 1959-60 and 23 in 1956-57) have taken more in a series in India. No England legspinner has taken more wickets in a series since Roly Jenkins claimed 16 in South Africa in 1948-49. The record by an England legspinner (22 by ‘Tich’ Freeman) is within reach. While being rated the best English legspinner is a bit like being rated the tallest dwarf, these are impressive statistics.There have been several occasions when it seemed Rashid wasn’t cut out for this level. He was told he was going to make his Test debut at Lord’s during the 2015 Ashes but pulled out of the game with a finger injury that provoked consternation among some in the team management who questioned whether he had withered in the spotlight. It was interesting to note that, despite the injury, he bowled for Yorkshire while the Test was in progress.He eventually made his debut in the UAE. While it took him 265 deliveries to claim his first wicket (he claimed 0 for 163 in his first innings), he finished with a five-for to help England within an ace of a memorable victory in Abu Dhabi (the first five-for by an England legspinner since Tommy Greenhough’s against India at Lord’s in 1959).But, by the end of the series, only three of the eight wickets he had claimed were of batsmen in the top six and one of those was with a delivery similar to the one that dismissed Pujara here. He didn’t make the tour party to South Africa (the selectors reasoned that he would benefit more from gaining experience in the BBL) and Moeen Ali retained his role as first choice spinner throughout the English summer.Adil Rashid’s economy has been as important as his penetration•Associated PressEven after the Bangladesh portion of this tour, when Rashid’s figures (seven wickets at 29.85) looked perfectly respectable, there were doubts. Those figures had been given a flattering sheen by some tail-end wickets as Bangladesh set up the game in Dhaka and it was noticeable that his captain had been reluctant to risk him at key moments. And while some suggested Alastair Cook should have shown more faith in his bowler, others would point out that Rashid had done quite a lot to earn the lack of faith.But he has bowled far better in India. Maybe because of the faith shown in him by Saqlain Mushtaq – while previous England coaches have focused on what Rashid cannot do (notably, they believed he bowled too slowly), Saqlain has focused on what he can (notably bowl a big leg-break) – he has bowled with more confidence and consistency.The wickets are obviously vital, but he has also conceded a relatively respectable 3.51 runs per over (it was 3.81 on surfaces that should have helped him more and against a less able batting line-up in Bangladesh) and, as a result, been entrusted with more overs than any of his team-mates. Trevor Bayliss called him England’s “best spinner” after Visakhapatnam and he has a better strike-rate in the series (48) than Ravi Ashwin (73.60). Cook now trusts him. He isn’t a luxury player; he is a key bowler.Perhaps Rashid’s development gives England new options? Perhaps, as the need for a third spinner – an insurance bowler, really – diminishes, England can consider changing the balance of their side.Certainly Gareth Batty, who was only introduced into the attack in the 47th over, looked an unnecessary extravagance here. While he could yet prove to be a match-winner in the fourth innings, he has only bowled five overs so far and leaked three boundaries in his first 14 deliveries.His presence reduced the opportunities for Moeen Ali, too. By the time Batty came on, Moeen had only bowled four overs. He wasn’t tired and he hadn’t been expensive. Indeed, he had conceded nine runs and had a catch dropped. He has been under-bowled of late.Increasingly, there is little evidence England require three spinners and even less that they require two offspinners.One option would be to add another seamer to the side. And it’s true, there were moments when Stuart Broad would have been a better bet to maintain the pressure established by Anderson and Woakes. It is a realistic option for the next Test in Mumbai.But do England really need six bowlers? In these conditions, with the temperature relatively cool, might they not be better served by strengthening the batting that continues to let them down?There may be options here. Haseeb Hameed is to have an X-ray on the little finger of his left hand in the next few days after sustaining a blow to it during his innings on Saturday. He did not field on Sunday and must be considered an injury doubt ahead of the fourth Test. Especially if he takes another blow when batting in England’s second innings, when he is sure to be tested by more short balls.England do have reinforcements within the current squad. But such have been the struggles of Ben Duckett and Gary Ballance, the management may be reluctant to rely upon them in the final two Tests of the series.That means England may be wise to call up at least one top-order player from the Lions squad or beyond. The three obvious candidates are Nick Gubbins, who looked a terrific player in the Championship season but is still learning to play spin bowling; Keaton Jennings, the County Championship player of the season in 2016, and Daniel Bell-Drummond, who has looked a fine prospect for a few years but may (rightly or wrongly) be disadvantaged by the fact that he plays his cricket in Division Two of the Championship. Duckett’s experience has reiterated the suspicion that a chasm exists between that level and Test cricket.Or, there is another more familiar option. If the England team management decide that parachuting any of those young players into such a demanding environment could damage their long-term development, they might be tempted to think about Nick Compton. Compton, who opened the batting on the 2012 tour when England beat India and played Test cricket as recently as June, is currently in Mumbai (working for Espncricinfo) and training each day. A recall remains unlikely, but stranger things have happened.Such dilemmas can wait a day or two. But Rashid’s improvement does offer a potential solution to the fragility of the batting as much as it improves the bowling. They are back in this series, but they will have to bat better – both in the second innings here and in the final two Tests – if they are to sustain that improvement.

A problem of this magnitude stretches beyond the players immediately concerned. Right now, Australia’s batting is driving down the value of the game in this country.

Daniel Brettig15-Nov-20164:30

Chappell: Australia have dug themselves into a hole since Argus review

On Saturday, a mate took his girlfriend out for birthday brunch at the same time David Warner and Joe Burns walked to the middle in Hobart. By the time they returned home, Australia had been bowled out for 85.On Tuesday, two former Australian Test players checked the scores to see the team were still two wickets down on the fourth morning before heading into work meetings. By the time the pair broke for lunch, the Test match was over.These are but two examples of how far the batting cancer in Australia’s Test team has spread. A collapse of 10 for 83 in the third Test of the series in Sri Lanka was noticed by some, being the third defeat in a row. But those of 10 for 86, 10 for 85 and 8 for 32 so far against South Africa are disturbing the rhythm of Australian life at a time when vast swathes of the community expect to be sitting down to watch the cricket. It is, quite literally, beyond a joke.A problem of this magnitude stretches beyond the players immediately concerned to affect the rest of the team, the support staff, coaches, selectors, management, the Cricket Australia board and the sporting public at large. Right now, Australia’s batting is driving down the value of the game in this country – a rude shock to those administrators who have at times made the team’s performance subservient to the “bigger picture” of growing the game.There was nothing particularly unusual about the way Australia’s batsmen folded at Bellerive Oval. A poor choice of shot by Usman Khawaja ended a partnership with Steven Smith, the new man Adam Voges was placed under immediate pressure, and once he was out the rest fell apart like a slow-cooked lamb leg off the bone.The only salient differences from other days were the fact that the short ball did as much damage as deliveries probing a length around off stump, as South Africa’s pacemen recognised the best way to utilise the indentations left in the Hobart pitch by their spells on day one when the surface was still fresh. Voges and Callum Ferguson both fell when trying to leave shortish deliveries, while Peter Nevill was out fending at a Kagiso Rabada throat ball, in a dismissal that could have been from any number of West Indian victories in the 1980s.It is beyond doubt that the South Africa seam and swing attack has been of the highest quality, as demonstrated by the present career averages of Vernon Philander (21.67), Kyle Abbott (21.83) and Rabada (22.75). But it is equally true that when other highly skilled pace ensembles have charged in at Australian batsmen in the past, whether it be the West Indians, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, or Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, they have found the baggy greens harder to shift.That’s what Smith referred to in an impassioned address after the match. “I need players who are willing to get into the contest and get into the battle and pride in playing for Australia and pride in the baggy green – that’s what I need,” he said. “At the moment it’s not good enough. I’m quite tired of saying it, to be honest with you. It’s happened five Tests in a row now, for an Australian cricket team that’s humiliating.”Something that has clouded Australia’s batsmen over the past five matches is a state of conflict between the philosophy that informs their approach and the match scenario in which they find themselves. Notions of driving the game forward, being proactive and entertaining are second nature to the team and the coach Darren Lehmann, but as one former player has put it, “you have to earn the right to play that way”.Intriguingly, there was little identification among some members of the team for the way JP Duminy and Dean Elgar dug in on day three of the Perth Test. They did not score at a rate deemed attractive to the public, but did as much as anyone, in their understated way, to decide the outcome of the series.Yet the overwhelming body of evidence now before everyone connected to Australian cricket is that this team is not good enough to attack at all costs, as much as they would like to do so. Basics, and stubborn application, must be rediscovered. “We’re only driving a game if we’re in a position, to be perfectly honest and we haven’t been for a while now,” Lehmann said. “We’ve got to stay in long enough to create those chances and put pressure on the opposition and we haven’t been able to do that.”South Africa have been driving the game barring day one of the Perth game and we had an opportunity there and we didn’t take it. That’s probably happened in the past few Test matches – even in Sri Lanka we had a couple of opportunities to grab the game and didn’t. It’s about these young guys getting better about grabbing the game and taking it from there.”Unquestionably, Australian cricket must refocus on the defensive basics of batting, and also on ensuring players are as focused, prepared and energised as possible when the time comes to pull on the national team kit. South Africa’s cricketers did something similar earlier this year, following an 18-month lull that followed the 2015 World Cup won by Australia at home. What they have now achieved is a strength in depth that Smith, Lehmann and the selectors can only dream about, without anything like the same budgets.After play, the Australians met with the chief executive James Sutherland, the team performance chief Pat Howard, and a quintet of former playing luminaries in Mark Taylor, Shane Warne, Ian Healy, Michael Slater and Tom Moody. That too, provided a reminder of how far this batting cancer has spread, for continued problems will affect the jobs of the administrators and also the salaries of the commentators – a new round of broadcast deals is to be decided over the next year. Chronic batting troubles could reduce the money available to the game.A third example of how Hobart’s events are spiralling ever outwards could be found on the boundary’s edge at Bellerive an hour or so after the final wicket fell. A man had picked up his primary school-aged grandson from school to take him to see the cricket, but there was none to see. Instead they were left to wander around an empty stadium, as South Africa’s winning players caroused in the middle of the ground.