The Plays of the day from the CLT20 match between Kings XI Punjab and Northern Knights, in Mohali

Siddarth Ravindran26-Sep-2014Six of the best
When he was waylaying bowling attacks in his pomp, Virender Sehwag played the upper cut as well as any other batsman in the world. Even as age catches up with the 35-year-old, he still showed sparks of his genius during his 52. One such moment was in the fourth over, when he hit the most effortless of sixes; he spotted a short and wide ball from Scott Kuggeleijn, bent his knees to get under it and gently coaxed the ball not just over slip but also the leaping Tim Southee at third man.The drop
Glenn Maxwell may have only been with Kings XI Punjab for one IPL season so far, but he has firmly established himself as a crowd favourite in Mohali. With Kings XI already sprinting at more than 10 an over, the fans were already at full volume when he walked in during the 12th over. In the next one, he top edged a shot and sent the ball high and towards the wicketkeeper. BJ Watling had plenty of time to pedal back and get under it, he did pedal back but a step too far and he had to lunge forward to try pouch what should have been a regulation catch. The ball slipped through his gloves, and he was left distraught, unlike the Mohali faithful.The catch
If dropped catches have been a familiar sight in the CLT20, acrobatic takes at the boundary have also been a common occurrence. In the 19th over, George Bailey slammed the ball towards the long-off boundary, only for Anton Devcich to snag the ball overhead with his fingertips. Devcich was inches from the rope, and was set to go over, so he nonchalantly tossed the ball up, went over and came back to complete the catch. Just a few years ago, these sort of catches were unheard of, much less attempted. Now, it is a disappointment if the fielder doesn’t complete them.The run-out
Northern Knights were in disarray by the midway stage of their chase. Things became even more bleak after a moment of brilliance from Maxwell. Watling pushed the ball towards cover, and the non-striker Scott Styris was racing for a single. Watling was hesitant, Styris had to turn back. In that time, Maxwell had sprung on to the ball, swivelled and lasered in a throw at the base of the off stump at the non-strikers’ end. They called for the third umpire, but Styris was so far out that he didn’t wait for the replay.

Mominul Haque has been Bangladesh’s leading Test run-getter over the past year and his stability will be crucial against Zimbabwe. If he is given the space he deserves, he has shown he has the ability to prop up the team

Mohammad Isam22-Oct-2014Very little is left to be said about the Bangladesh batsmen this year. They have been held predominantly responsible for the repeated failures and ahead of the three-match Test series against Zimbabwe, their closest rival in the game, the spotlight has once again fallen on this weary lot.Even when they bat in the nets, the focus is on their sudden burst of big hits. All of them do it and from afar, it looks out of place while preparing for a Test match. It has been happening during preparation for this series too, but maybe the eyes subconsciously look for these chinks in their make-up. Or perhaps they do play too many shots in the nets. Has that brought about their downfall?In 2014, they have put together only one performance worth remembering in Test cricket, when Mominul Haque’s hundred against Sri Lanka ensured a draw in Chittagong in February. It came after a dreadful first Test in Dhaka, and afterwards too, the brittle batting has come in the way of recovery, safety and dominance. Often, it has led to that dreaded collapse or a steady disintegration that never looked like being overturned.A steady development of bad habits caught up with the batting unit, making it malfunction and making 2014 look bad. Only five batsmen have been regulars in the team in the four Tests this year, which means at least two to three have come in and gone out of the XI every game.Nasir Hossain, Anamul Haque and Imrul Kayes have been casualties after being dropped for poor form, while Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah restored some confidence and esteem with half-centuries against West Indies. Shamsur Rahman can feel lucky to have been picked for one more series. Many Bangladesh batsmen have had their international careers ended for lesser indiscretion than what he did in the West Indies.Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul have been the ones feeling good with the bat this year. Mominul is Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in the previous 12 months. He started the 2013-14 season with two centuries against New Zealand, helping Bangladesh to a drawn two-Test series. After his hundred against Sri Lanka paved the way for their third draw in four Tests, he was quietly appreciated. It was hard to fathom that ahead of the first Test against West Indies, which came seven months after the Sri Lanka Tests, there was a strong argument to drop him because of a sudden concern over his ability to handle short-pitched bowling.He batted well against West Indies without setting the world ablaze – “I didn’t play up to my expectations” – but this episode of questioning a batsman of his form and quality illustrates the entire picture of Bangladesh’s struggle. Patience within the selection committee, who pick the squad, and the team management, who pick the XI, is evidently quite low, and that must go hand in hand with results on the field.As the leading run-getter in the team for a period, Mominul naturally has to shoulder expectations which he feels can only be countered by mental strength. He said that his target would be to score more runs. As simple as it may sound, the complexity of Bangladesh’s batting can only be untied with runs.”A big score is a matter of mentality,” Mominul said. “It is not about extra responsibility or a challenge. I have done it by scoring three Test hundreds and some runs. If you do something good, people will have expectations. It is my duty to perform. It is not a challenge or extra pressure. I will play as I have done in the past. I will try to do more than what I have already done. I don’t really have a personal target. I just want to make more in the second game than what I do in the first.”Mominul said that the team is focused on beating Zimbabwe, and there was a hint of desperation in his words. But he steered clear of any talk of revenge, after the 1-1 draw in the last Test series between the two sides in Zimbabwe.”We talk among ourselves, to try to work on our shortcomings. We try to find out ways to improve ourselves. The whole team is very focused about this series. Everyone wants to do well. We want to win, and win handsomely.”There is no talk of revenge. It is better to forget what happened in the past. There’s no space for negativity. We are going forward with positive thoughts. We will try to do well in the Tests, one by one. We will try to win every game through day-by-day performance.”For Bangladesh to do well, Mominul will definitely have to fire. His stability will be crucial in a Test series that promises to be closely fought. Whenever he got out against West Indies, chunks of Bangladesh’s confidence ebbed away. In a contest which has traditionally been laden with errors, the man who can make the least mistakes will stand tall. If he is given the space he deserves and the time he needs, Mominul has shown he has the ability to prop up the team.

Stats highlights from the third day of the second Test between Australia and Pakistan, in Abu Dhabi

Bishen Jeswant01-Nov-2014369 The highest successful fourth-innings chase against Pakistan. This was by Australia at Hobart in 1999. Pakistan already have a lead of 370 at the end of the third day.26 Number of years since Pakistan have achieved a first-innings lead of 300 runs or more against Australia. The last time was in Karachi in 1988. Pakistan have achieved such a lead on three occasions against Australia, and all three after batting first.87 Number of runs scored by Mitchell Marsh, the highest by a No. 7 batsman, who is not a keeper, in the UAE. This is also the fourth-highest score by an Australia No. 7 against Pakistan.15 Number of instances of Australia batsmen being dismissed on 87, considered an unlucky number by Australians. However, one country, England, has had more instances (21) of their batsmen being dismissed on 87. The number 111 is considered unlucky by the English, but only nine English batsmen have been dismissed on 111, while 13 Australian batsmen have been dismissed on this score.100 Number of 50-plus ninth-wicket partnerships for Australia. The 62-run stand between Marsh and Peter Siddle was the 100th. No other country apart from England (84), has more than 51.62 Number of runs posted by Marsh and Siddle for the ninth wicket, during Australia’s first innings. This is the third-highest ninth-wicket stand in the UAE, and the fourth-highest for Australia against Pakistan.12 Number of times that Pakistan have won a Test after setting their opposition a 400-plus target. They have drawn three such games, totaling 15 instances in all of Pakistan setting a 400-plus target. With a current lead of 370, this is all set to be the 16th such instance.5 Number of times that Nathan Lyon has been used as a nightwatchman in Tests, including twice in this series. While this match is still in progress, Australia lost on the previous four occasions.14 Number of runs that Pakistan scored in the first over of their second innings. This is the most that Pakistan have scored in the first over of a Test innings since 2001. This is also the most runs scored off the first over by any team in this period, when a wicket has fallen.34 Number of runs that Pakistan scored in the first five overs of their second innings, at a run rate of 6.8. In the remaining 16 overs on the third day, they scored 27 runs, at a run rate of 1.7.

All his cricketing life MS Dhoni has been obsessed with keeping the emotion out of it. He was never going to make leaving an emotional act. No farewell Test, speech or even press conference. Boom. Gone

Sidharth Monga at the MCG30-Dec-20145:40

Dravid: Dhoni would not have thought about 100 Tests

There will be no farewell Test for India’s most successful Test captain, most successful wicketkeeper and most prolific keeper-batsman. No home series will be sold at exorbitant prices. No home association will be allowed to exploit the moment. There won’t be farewell speeches. There wasn’t even a farewell press conference. Without any fanfare, 44 minutes after MS Dhoni had finished his press conference post the Boxing Day Test, the BCCI sent a press release with the news. An hour after India had managed to draw an away Test, the first time in the last 14 Australia-India Tests that a team hasn’t lost away from home. In the middle of a series. Just like that.This was vintage Dhoni. Indian cricket’s biggest outsider. India’s most practical cricketer. He cared, we know, but not for numbers. He was 10 short of a 100 Tests, a landmark only 10 other Indians have reached. Nobody would have dropped him. We know what happened the last time a selector wanted to. He could have easily gone on. He could have easily rolled on for another Test or ruled himself out of the next one, and made the big announcement after the World Cup; there is a long way to go before India play a Test after this series.But that’s not Dhoni. Remember what he told us when asked to compare the two whitewashes in 2011 and 2011-12: you die, you die; you don’t see which is a better way to die. You end your Test career, you end your Test career. You don’t see which is a better way to end your Test career.We all knew he would end it all one fine day without anyone knowing it. We knew he would just vanish. Boom. Gone. Off to the army or the air force or with his dogs or his bikes. He has never liked personal goals coming in the way of the team. He wouldn’t have wanted the farewell to take the focus away from the actual cricket. He loves the game, but he is also detached from the other paraphernalia. He always gave you the impression this wasn’t the life he loved or craved; this was just a job that was his responsibility for whatever few years he had. He managed the task of being the India captain while being an immensely private person. He was never going to make leaving an emotional act. All his cricketing life he has been obsessed with keeping the emotion out of it. He was not going to let it infiltrate his final Test.We can use hindsight and look for signs all we want. Those two dives to his right to take catches on the fourth day. These are the ones he is infamous for not attempting. Was he teasing us? Telling us he could do it all along. Was he just freer in his mind, now not worried about injuring himself when going for those catches? The stump he took with him while walking back after securing the draw. But stumps he usually takes, even from inconsequential ODIs. Talking and laughing with David Warner when walking back. Did he know this was it? Was he relieved? Was he wistful? He’ll never really let you know.We all knew he would end it all one fine day without anyone knowing it. We knew he would just vanish•Getty ImagesIf Dhoni knew then that he was done, he didn’t let it show. He did a normal post-match presentation interview, and came in for a normal press conference, where he was more statesmanlike than Virat Kohli, David Warner and Steven Smith have been. He saw Australia back off, wary of India’s batting from the Adelaide chase, and painstakingly bat India out of the game before giving themselves too few overs to bowl the visitors out. Kohli would have driven in the screw in the press conference. Dhoni said he could give a spicy reply, but it wouldn’t be right for him to analyse the opposition’s moves in a press conference. Asked if he was surprised by Australia shaking hands four overs before the scheduled end, Dhoni said he was ready to bat four more overs. “I had batted so long, could have batted more. Now that’s an Aussie answer.” And everybody laughed. He had some charm in these matters.The relations between the two teams in this series have been acrimonious. Dhoni says he believes the cricketers shouldn’t behave in a manner they wouldn’t want the kids to see. Some of the player behaviour in the series has not been appropriate for kids’ viewing. He made the first mature comments about it. He said he has told his team-mates that abusing the opponents is unacceptable. He said he has even told the umpires to let him know if his players are up to no good, that appropriate action will be taken should that be the case. He asked for more tolerance and understanding from both sides should a player stray in the heat of the moment on the odd occasion.Dhoni patiently explained why he promoted KL Rahul, keeping Cheteshwar Pujara as a fail-safe should some blocking be required. He also felt this would be a good test for Rahul, who he said had been batting well in the nets. Most importantly he said Rahul shouldn’t be judged based on one Test alone. Dhoni doesn’t seem the kind who frets over legacy, but that is his biggest legacy: that players got a decent run under him. Had he been as impatient with Kohli as the rest of the world had been on the previous tour of Australia, a replacement for Dhoni would not have been ready.Now it is not for Dhoni to decide if Rahul should be judged based on this one Test or not. Just like Dhoni did from Anil Kumble, in the middle of another series against Australia, Kohli has taken over. It is his team to take forward. Our last real link with the recent golden era of Indian Test cricketers is gone. He has left us with a quote that can be added to the Big Fat Book of Dhoni Analogies. He was asked what is the solution for the disparity between India’s Doberman-like and Australia’s Hanuman-like tails. This was right up Dhoni’s alley.”Now even PETA has said you can’t cosmetically remove the tail.”Batting out 39 nervous balls to save the match is not a bad last act at all, but beat that for last official words spoken as a Test captain.

‘It comes down to the way I train and my lifestyle off the field. Clean living. Green smoothies,’ says Morne Morkel about his new diet plan

Firdose Moonda17-Feb-2015Not long after Peter Siddle went bananas, Morne Morkel decided to go green. Not with envy but in his diet.Australia’s workhorse adopted a vegan lifestyle, which includes eating up to 20 bananas a day, three years ago, with the encouragement of his partner Anna Weatherlake. Morkel, who is married to former Channel Nine presenter-turned-holistic health-and-wellness coach Roz Kelly, a friend of Weatherlake, has done something similar.”Roz is really into her health stuff and it’s helped me a lot. She’s guided me with the whole healthy lifestyle,” Morkel told ESPNcricinfo at South Africa’s World Cup squad announcement last month. “It comes down to the way I train and my lifestyle off the field. Clean living. Green smoothies.”Unlike Siddle, who has since had problems with form and fatigue, Morkel has not gone cold turkey on the typical South African diet but tweaked it to suit his needs. “I still eat meat,” Morkel admitted. “I’ve just cut out my sugar intake , I am very conscious about my sugar intake and the stuff I put into my body. I’ve cut out fizzy drinks. I drink water and I’ll mix a lot of green smoothies.”The result is a fitter, faster Morkel who has averaged higher on the speed gun than Dale Steyn, and can clock longer hours. “I feel a lot more energy when I bowl. I don’t have energy spikes,” Morkel said. “I have been bowling longer spells and I’ve been quicker in my spells. With the training I have been putting in, I have to believe it’s working.”Last year, Morkel bowled more overs than both Steyn and Vernon Philander in both, the eight Tests South Africa played and the 14 ODIs he featured in. He was their second highest wicket-taker in the longest format behind Steyn, and their chief assassin in 50-over cricket with 24 scalps at an average of 28.He found the consistency he has sometimes been criticised for and the time to work on his craft. “I’ve enough time to work on death bowling, to work on slower [balls] and to practice my skills. I’ve found a rhythm and built on it and that gives me a lot of confidence,” Morkel said. “In any sport, when you have confidence, you walk around with a bit more mongrel inside you. I feel very confident with my game at the moment, and the way the ball is coming out.”Morkel left South African shores with self-belief and planned to transfer it to the World Cup by sticking to what worked. “I’ve got a good set of drills and a structure to my training,” he said. “It’s not just about bowling now, it’s about trusting that plan and not over-thinking. Once we get get to the World Cup it will be about finding my feet.”The whole South African squad appeared to be testing the waters in their opener against Zimbabwe. Although they won the match comfortably, they were under pressure with both bat and ball, which may not bother Morkel too much. “With Kolkata [Knights Riders], we lost seven games on the bounce and won the last nine. So it’s also about peaking at the right time,” he said.But that was said before the tournament had kicked-off, when Morkel also urged his team-mates to “switch on and start to eat, play and live cricket at the World Cup. We’ve got a great team and great names on paper but going there and winning the World Cup isn’t going to be easy and it’s important for us to realise that,” he said then.It was equally important to acknowledge the weight of expectation that has been placed on this side, by everyone including themselves and Morkel has done that. “I’ve been part of this team getting Test awards and winning in that format; beating Australia in Australia; beating England in England,” Morkel said. “Speaking to Jacques [Kallis] and those guys before that, this is the ultimate dream for them as well and to win that trophy for them and the guys before us and the whole country, that will be the ultimate. It will be the ultimate for me, it will be the ultimate for everyone.”So will it be a green smoothie, rather than champagne to celebrate if South Africa end up as champions? “A green and gold one,” Morkel said. “I’ll add an extra bit of mango to it.”  And maybe a steak on the side.

The Australia players would have heard of Michael Clarke’s retirement many times before. But hearing it from Clarke for the final time should give the words plenty of meaning

Daniel Brettig28-Mar-20155:15

Brettig: Can quibble with the timing, not decision

In the minutes after Australia secured passage to the World Cup final with a thumping victory over India, Michael Clarke filed into the basement of the Bradman Stand at the SCG for his post-match press conference. He had made this journey many times before, not least on the morning when he was unveiled as Australia’s captain, almost four years to the day, in the same basement.Often, Clarke has made this walk alone, save for the Cricket Australia media manager of the moment. This time Clarke had company, in the form of Steven Smith. As man of the match, Smith would usually expect to answer only a handful of questions while the captain took most of them. This time however he took the first one, and many more after that. Clarke has always looked and spoken like the captain of his team; now it was Smith taking on that bearing, even as Clarke sat beside him.It was noticeable that Smith looked and spoke as a leader. Clarke clearly noticed it too, for after he made the drive home from the SCG to his home in the eastern suburb of Vaucluse and found his wife Kyly asleep in bed, he awoke her with the words that he had decided the World Cup final would be his final ODI match. Often, press conferences offer nothing of significance – the most widely reported quote from this one happened to be a journalist’s slip of the tongue about “tremendous sex, er, success”. But it had actually provided an accurate window into the evolution of the Australia team, and Clarke’s diminishing place in it.”Through this World Cup in the back of my mind I’ve been thinking ‘am I a chance of playing in the next World Cup’ and about 48 hours ago I made the decision that I don’t think I will be,” Clarke said. “That answered a lot of questions for me, then it was about speaking to my family and working out what I think is best for the team. There’s no doubt I could keep playing for the next couple of years, but I think the team and the next captain deserves the time I certainly got as captain in preparation for a major event like the World Cup.”It really helped me to have that preparation, to have that four years of being able to build my own team and set my own style as a captain. I think that’s give me my best chance to captain the team in this tournament. I’d like the next captain to have that same opportunity. Over the last few weeks I’ve thought about if there was a chance I was going to be able to make it to the next World Cup, and as soon as I answered that question in my own head, I think my decision was made.”Signs that Clarke was thinking about ODI retirement emerged during the World Cup pool phase with reports about talks with the Melbourne Stars. Clarke could not join and captain the Stars without giving up ODIs, freeing him up to play Twenty20 matches at the back end of the Big Bash League after the Test season concludes with Sydney’s New Year Test. Clarke has forgone T20 cash at times over the years to preserve himself for Tests, so the Stars approach – via their president Eddie McGuire – was significant.Equally, others had been thinking about Clarke’s ODI future even before the man himself. A summer of tension between Clarke, the coach Darren Lehmann and the selectors was epitomised by the fact he was set a tight fitness deadline to recover from hamstring surgery or be left out of the World Cup entirely. As much as the deadline was geared at ensuring the team would be settled one way or the other at the pointy end of the tournament, it was also a message from the hierarchy to Clarke that “we can do this without you”.It was in the midst of this struggle, which had its origins early in the summer when Clarke’s chronic hamstring problem left him at odds with the panel over how he would prove his fitness for the first Test of the summer, that Clarke’s predecessor Ricky Ponting spoke out to say that the best plan for Australian cricket would have Clarke retiring from ODIs at the conclusion of the World Cup. In doing so he would allow room for Smith to establish himself as a leader, while also granting his body extra rest to be fit for Test assignments such as the Ashes and next summer’s eagerly anticipated matches against New Zealand.”I believe that the right time for Michael to hand over the one-day captaincy to Steve will be after the conclusion of this World Cup,” Ponting wrote in his ESPNcricinfo column. “In Michael’s body and mind he may only have another two or three years left at Test level, and I think it would be a good time for Steven to take over the one-day job and Michael to remain as Test captain. This would give Smithy a bit more of a chance to get used to the idea of captaining his country long-term.”Ponting’s is a voice deeply respected in Australian cricket’s upper echelons: he still speaks regularly with the team performance manager Pat Howard among others, and when captain always communicated closely with the chief executive James Sutherland. It was Sutherland who stepped in to reassure Clarke of his role as captain on the day of the Allan Border Medal – a time when Clarke, Lehmann and the selectors were at a particularly fraught stage of their relationship.Sutherland’s intervention served to ease things, but there also needed to be some ground given by Clarke. It has arrived in the shape of his ODI retirement, an announcement that will clear the air for the team about what is to happen in the future, while also providing yet another motivator for victory over Brendon McCullum’s team on Sunday. After all the speculation, tension and disagreement of this longest and most draining of summers, the band will happily work together on one final masterpiece, as the Beatles did on Abbey Road.Clarke said his final message to the Cup side was about playing the decider with freedom, not worrying about the consequences of mistakes and trusting themselves and each other. “A lesson I learned at a very young age was that’s why you go to training every day, that’s why you work so hard at your preparation, so when you walk onto that big stage under pressure, you just go out and play with freedom,” he said. “I don’t think I have to say too much to be honest, I think the guys are ready to play. Mentally we are ready for this final, physically we’ve got another day to recover or get what you need to be right for tomorrow. But the team’s ready.From the opener David Warner down to the No. 11 Josh Hazlewood, they would all have heard this many times before. But the knowledge that they are hearing it from Clarke for the final time should provide a these words with plenty of meaning.

To merely give India a good game won’t be enough at this stage – a knockout is sudden death and being ‘valiant losers’ stands for nothing when you are packing your bags as winners are trumpeting their success

Sharda Ugra in Melbourne16-Mar-2015There are, according to 2011 census figures, just over 27,000 Bangladesh-born Australian residents and the entire state of Victoria has a little over 5000. If each and every Bangladesh-born human being in Australia turned up to cheer for their team in the World Cup quarter-final against India on Thursday, they could easily be drowned by the noise generated by expatriate and travelling fans on the other side.Yet, Bangladesh would know that, on the biggest day in their country’s cricket, they would want to generate not merely the noise of the crowd, but a sonic boom that carries home to their millions of fans. To be able to do that, they would have to bring amongst themselves, a certain stillness of being and yet acute presence of mind.It is what Bangladesh are trying to do: the team has shut itself out from individual attention to media demands and they are grateful for their itinerant travels during the group stages which would make MS Dhoni and his Support Staff XI very cross. Bangladesh have gone from Canberra to Brisbane to Melbourne, to Nelson in New Zealand, back to Adelaide and then another time-difference buster back to Hamilton. The travel has also kept the Bangladesh squad away from excessive attention of local fans in the larger centres. It’s not that they are absent.The MCG today had scatterings of families taking photographs and inching close to the field where the Bangladeshis trained, but they were a miniscule presence in the great bulk of the ground. The last time Bangladesh had turned up in the World Cup, they gave hosts New Zealand their most nervy game of the competition. Yet, to merely give the Indians a good game won’t be enough at this stage – a knockout is sudden death and being ‘valiant losers’ stands for nothing when you are packing your bags as winners are trumpeting their success.Yet, at the moment, the main point is that Bangladesh are here. Where they had originally intended to be, in the knockout stage of the competition, their first target through this competition. Collect the points, any which way, get in contention and see what happens on the day. What happens next, though, depends on other factors.Of the least concern to coach Chandika Hathurusingha was the prospect of an afternoon thunderstorm being predicted somewhere or the fact that India’s spinners could have a feast in terms of their options on the vast expanse of the MCG. “See, we can’t plan anything for weather and I don’t think the wicket is going to spin that much, it is too early to say.” Hathurusingha said that the quarter-final would be held on the same strip that hosted Bangladesh’s match against Sri Lanka. That scoresheet read like a vintage Bangladesh dark day, but that was well before they turned England turtle and Rubel Hussain hit 140kph.Hathurusingha, who had earned his stripes as a coach with New South Wales and later the Sydney Thunder, said his team was peaking at the right time and their best chance was being at the top of their game on the big day and “catching the established sides off guard… if they have an ordinary day and if we play to our potential we can beat any side.”Potential can often be used as a euphemism for underperforming sides or to cover game-day efforts; in the case of Bangladesh, though, they have been able to show off their stuff and what they are capable of, at the sharper end of the tournament. The new centrifugal force of their batting has been Mahmudullah, and Soumya Sarkar is a confident gen-next figure. Like all great competitors and skillful athletes, Shakib Al Hasan has no doubt spent years waiting for a day like this.The last India-Bangladesh World Cup match was the opening game of 2011 event in Dhaka, but whenever the sides resume their skirmishes no one forgets Queen’s Park Oval 2007 and the ambush on India. Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib, Tamim Iqbal and Mashrafe Mortaza belong to the class of 2007, and will allow themselves a little giggle. Hathurusingha said that the team did not talk about that match at all. “Because that is in the past and I don’t think we have [talked about it]. Until you reminded me [about the four players], I don’t even know about it.”India have had their revenge for that match in 2007, but this is an ICC event knockout match, and they remain among the strongest teams of the competition. Hathurusingha is not about to make the giant angry: he does not throw down any gauntlets or offer any lip to the Indians. His role is to keep his team’s temperatures down, to ensure decision making in the camp is clear and as free of emotion as it can be. He said the team which on Thursday “enjoys the occasion,” will succeed. He would want the young men under his charge to “enjoy the opportunity that has represented itself” in front of Bangladesh, over and above the fear of instant death and opportunities. “For us it’s the first time but we know we are good enough and that’s why we are here.”An entire nation is on the edge of its sofas.

Plays of the Day from the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab

Abhishek Purohit09-May-2015The three mistakesKolkata Knight Riders put down M Vijay as many as three times during his innings of 28. A jumping Gautam Gambhir could not hold on to an airy drive at short extra cover off Andre Russell. Sunil Narine would suffer twice next. Brad Hogg messed up at square leg and then Umesh Yadav grassed the simplest of the three chances at short fine leg.The Narine DIY methodThree balls after Umesh had denied him, Narine took his unreliable fielders out of the equation to finally get his man. Vijay had been relying on the sweep but went too far across this time in trying to sweep an offbreak. The ball bounced and spun past the batsman to hit leg stump.The first non-Narine strikeIt took 99 balls for someone other than Narine to also be involved in a dismissal. Glenn Maxwell heaved one high over midwicket, and Johan Botha came in from the boundary to take it safely. It was an occasion for Knight Riders given how many chances they had shelled, and Botha celebrated by kicking the ball away. The bowler was… Narine.

Stats highlights from the third day of Australia’s nine-wicket win over the West Indies in Roseau

Bishen Jeswant06-Jun-201510 Instances of Australia beating West Indies by 9 or 10 wickets in a Test match – 7 of those 10 Tests have been played in the West Indies.144 The partnership between Shane Dowrich and Marlon Samuels, the highest by either team in this Test. The second-highest stand for West Indies was 40, between Shai Hope and Darren Bravo in their first innings.1 Total runs scored by Nos. 9, 10 and 11 during West Indies’ second innings, cumulatively the fewest for West Indies versus Australia. The previous low was two runs, in Jamaica in 1955.16 Number of wickets taken by Australia’s pacers in this Test, the joint-most for them in West Indies in the last 42 years. They have taken more only once, 19 wickets in Guyana, in 1973.9.4 Australia’s run rate in the fourth innings, the highest for them in Test history (min. 40 runs) and the third-highest by any team in a Test innings.5 Number of Australian players who have won Man-of-the-Match on Test debut in an away game – after Adam Voges secured the honor in Roseau. The other four are Michael Clarke (2004, Bangalore), Stuart Clark (2006, Cape Town), Jason Krejza (2008, Nagpur) and Pat Cummins (2011, Johannesburg).6 Number of West Indies batsmen who were dismissed in single figures during the second innings. They cumulatively scored 11 runs, which is their third-fewest out of 42 such innings for West Indies against Australia.

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2015Parthiv made 59 off 36 balls but was was dismissed by Karanveer Singh attempting one big shot too many•BCCISimmons though continued his good form, making 71 from 56 balls as Mumbai looked set for a total over 200•BCCIBut Rohit Sharma fell for a scratchy 26 as Kings XI’s bowlers managed a yorker barrage to keep Mumbai to 172 for 3•BCCIKings XI lost Virender Sehwag in the second over, but M Vijay hung around for 39 off 33 balls•BCCIGlenn Maxwell fell for 12 in the fifth over, playing one of his trademark reverse sweeps which was pouched by Vinay Kumar at short third man•BCCIThe chase fell away after that. David Miller managed 43 off 37, but could barely dent the asking rate•BCCIKings XI needed 68 off the final six, but Lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan strangled them in the death•BCCI