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A round-up of the third day of the ninth round of Division Two in the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2011Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited have finished the group stage with eight wins out of nine matches, after beating United Bank Limited at the Jinnah Stadium. SNGPL now have an extra day’s rest before their December 8-12 final against Peshawar, who are playing Quetta in the final round of matches. SNGPL’s new-ball pair of Asad Ali and Bilawal Bhatti took six wickets between them to bowl United Bank Limited out for 301 in their second innings and set up an eight-wicket victory. Most of the work had been done on the first two days over which SNGPL had established a 266-run first-innings lead. United Bank lost wickets steadily on the third day and were 138 for 6 before Kashif Bhatti’s 88 and Zafar Ali’s 52 helped them get past the 300 mark. It was merely enough to set SNGPL a 36-run target, which they reached in five overs.Peshawar are also on course for a win ahead of the final. They need six more wickets to beat Quetta, who finished the third day on 47 for 4 chasing 407 at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. Mohammad Fayyaz’s 178 ensured Peshawar got to 212 for 8 declared in their second innings, leaving Quetta with a massive target. Fayazz’s innings came off 247 balls and included 31 fours and a six. Twenty-year-old legspinner Shahzaib Ahmed took 6 for 90, giving him ten wickets in the match, but it is likely to come in a losing cause. Quetta’s top order crumbled to left-arm quick Waqar Ahmed in the 16 overs they had to face at the end of the day and it will now take a remarkable turnaround for them to get anything out of the game.Four wickets from left-arm spinner Nayyer Abbas, and unbeaten half-centuries from Saeed Anwar junior and Zain Abbas helped Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) win a low-scoring match against Lahore Ravi at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground by ten wickets. The win was a convincing one in the end as Anwar and Zain Abbas chased down a target of 132 in just 18.4 overs without losing a wicket. Anwar hit nine fours and a six in reaching 63 not out off 56 balls while Zain Abbas had 12 fours and a six in his 69 off 57 balls. Nayyer has set up the win by helping bowl Lahore Ravi out for 175 in their second innings.Karachi Whites need five more wickets to beat Lahore Shalimar at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex in Karachi despite a bizarre decision from Karachi not to enforce the follow-on and then declare four overs into their second innings. Three wickets from seamer Tabish Khan helped Karachi bowl Lahore Shalimar out for 178, giving Karachi a 373-run first-innings lead. However, their captain Akbar-ur-Rehman did not enforce the follow-on, though his bowlers had only been in the field for 68 overs. Even more strangely, he let his batsmen bat just four overs, in which they reached 21 for 1, before declaring and leaving Lahore Shalimar 395 to chase in a day and around 25 overs. Lahore Shalimar then crumbled to 78 for 5 and look on course for a seventh loss of the season.A century from Naved Yasin offered some resistance but Hyderabad are still favourites to beat Multan at the Bahawal Stadium in Bahawalpur. Yasin’s 122 and Faisal Elahi’s 52 were two of only three double-digit scores in Multan’s first innings, in which they were bowled out for 249. Left-arm spinner Imran Chandio took 5 for 76 as Multan gave Hyderabad a 251-run lead. Hyderabad enforced the follow-on and reduced Multan to 37 for 3 by the end of the day.

Chennai Super Kings’ exceptional run of form has been built on the principle of unity, a theme also visible in the other team led by MS Dhoni

Nitin Sundar07-Apr-2011Big PictureChennai Super Kings’ exceptional run of form has been built on the principle of unity, a theme also visible in the other team led by MS Dhoni. While most sides used the 2011 auction as an opportunity to clean out the closet, Chennai focussed on minimising churn. The four best players were held back, and the franchise fought hard to repurchase the likes of R Ashwin, Doug Bollinger, Mike Hussey, Shadab Jakati and S Badrinath from the auction pool. With a solid bunch of performers at their disposal, and the added advantage of familiarity among their ranks, Chennai are primed for another good season.On-field success is only one half of Chennai’s story, though. Chennai is arguably the most successfully branded IPL franchises, with their PR campaign capturing the very essence of cricket on the streets and beaches of the city. Year after year, they come up with the most endearing promos, with everyone from Dhoni to Bollinger joining the Chennai layman in the chorus. The party will resume in full force at Chepauk when they stride out in their yellow jerseys on Friday.Key playersUntil famous bat-twirl after the winning six in the World Cup, the most enduring MS Dhoni image was the uppercut he landed on his own helmet after whacking Chennai into the 2010 IPL semi-finals. It was a rare show of emotion from a man who seldom loses his composure on the field. As wicketkeeper-captain, Dhoni is the team’s brains and the nerve-centre rolled into one. His perceptive use of R Ashwin with the new ball, and positioning of a very straight mid-off to snare Kieron Pollard in the 2010 final are now part of IPL folklore.Michael Hussey is an unusual choice at the top, yet Chennai’s decision to open with him ensures stability and a solid foundation for the muscular middle order to launch from. After a personally fulfilling Ashes, Hussey was laid low by a serious hamstring injury that kept him out of the initial stages of the World Cup. With Matthew Hayden missing in action this year, Hussey should face no hindrance in resuming his alliance with M Vijay at the top of the order. He will, however, join the party a little late after Australia’s one-day tour of Bangladesh.R Ashwin‘s prowess with the new ball, bowling to fields that are pulled in, is based on his accuracy. He may not be able to bowl six different balls in an over, yet he can get each one of them to land them on the same spot, and get the odd one to surprise the batsman by going away. Having picked up the carom ball by watching Ajantha Mendis bowling in Chepauk before he became an international sensation, Ashwin has become as lethal in its use as the inventor himself. Ashwin’s biggest strength, though, is not his variety, but his reluctance to over-use it.Big name inChennai have picked wisely in including Nuwan Kulasekara and Tim Southee for the new season. Their bowling attack in past editions often included three spinners, but this time they have two high-quality seaming options to fall back on. Both Kulasekara and Southee rely on exemplary seam position, and while Southee’s stock ball is the outswinger, Kulasekara specialises in mixing legcutters with huge induckers. Bollinger and Morkel are likely to be the first-choice fast bowlers, but Southee and Kulasekara could come into the picture as the tournament wears on.Big name outTwenty20 was clearly not Muttiah Muralitharan‘s format, yet he found a way to be effective, by going round the wicket and twirling his offspinners and doosras from the same spot around middle and off. He formed a formidable tweak-trio with Ashwin and Shadab Jakati, and Chennai – the team and the city – will miss his presence and personality, as much as his immense skills.Below the radarS Badrinath‘s India days might be behind him, but year after year he turns in stellar middle-order performances for Chennai. Badrinath’s methods will not fill up the stands – his high elbow, straight bat and along-the-ground shots are incongruous in this format, but he is the kind of man Dhoni backs. Badrinath’s domestic record speaks of a man whose appetite for runs borders on gluttony. He provides the stability in a middle order that features attackers like Raina, Morkel and Dhoni himself. Expect more of those typically unsung, unnoticed but invaluable gems from Badrinath this season.Last three seasonsChennai have been the most consistent IPL team, having made the semi-finals in each edition of the tournament. Not once was their passage into the last four straightforward – at one point in the 2010 season, they were languishing at seventh in a field of eight teams – but each time they managed to find a game-breaking performance to see them through trouble. In 2008, they had the upperhand for most of the final against Rajasthan before losing off the last ball. Their 2009 campaign was halted at the semi-final stage by Bangalore, powered by a cool innings from Manish Pandey. Chennai were unstoppable at the business end of the 2010 edition, and easily trumped a nervous Mumbai in the final.

Southern Vipers slip to rare home defeat but qualify for knockouts regardless

ECB Reporters Network07-Sep-2024Sunrisers reached the knockout stages of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for the first time after beating holders Southern Vipers in a rain-affected thriller. Grace Scrivens’ side failed to win a match in the first three editions of the competition, before narrowly missing out on qualification last year.But after fifties for Cordelia Griffith and Lissy MacLeod set them up for 281 in the face of former Sunriser Naomi Dattani’s maiden five-wicket haul, they restricted Vipers to 88 in their 10-over chase of 94 for their seventh win of the tournament.Despite a winless return from the Hundred, holders Vipers had already qualified for next Saturday’s semi-final and had hopes of a home tie ended by South East Stars victory over Northern Diamonds. Vipers will face Stars in their semi-final, while Sunrisers will travel to Diamonds. The winners of those matches will face off at Leicester on September 21.Dattani bowled in two spells, plus a one-off over at the death, which each changed the flow of Sunrisers’ innings. Scrivens and Jo Gardner had serenely pocketed 70 runs in the first 13 overs, after Vipers had put them in, before Dattani schemed to work a way to dismiss the former.She began with four deliveries tight to the stumps before offering width, with Scrivens trying to fashion her own, and found an uncomfortable jab to point, before Gardner was bowled two overs later to one that nipped away.Dattani exited the attack and Sunrisers sprouted again through Griffith and Jodi Grewcock’s 75-run partnership, although both were tested by Rebecca Tyson and Ava Lee’s tight spin.But Dattani’s return immediately saw Grewcock pinned lbw and Eva Grey comprehensively bowled either side of Lee getting her reward by having Griffith stumped – after a 10th half-century for Sunrisers.At 174 for 5, the visitors needed a counter, and found one through the enterprising hitting of MacLeod and Flo Miller. MacLeod biffed a 37-ball fifty – her first in the RHFT since 2021, but third in all competitions this season – while Miller struck 41 off 31 balls in the rapid 90-run stand.But the final three overs saw wickets fall, as MacLeod skewed to short third and Amara Carr was leg before first ball to Georgia Adams. Dattani’s crowning moment – just the third five-for in Vipers history – came when Miller swung straight to deep backward point, before a pair of run outs in the final over saw Sunrisers end on 281.Rain came in the interval, and stayed until it had restricted the Vipers’ innings to just 10 overs – with 94 now their unlikely target, even with minuscule boundaries.Rhianna Southby sliced to backward point in the second over, Ella McCaughan struck a trio of boundaries but took on one ball too many to sky straight up and Dattani swept to short fine leg. Even after Adams was run out, they had stayed ahead of the dizzying rate, helped by Emily Windsor and Nancy Harman’s smart running in a stand worth 26But Harman and Windsor holed out and Abi Norgrove was run out to leave 13 needed off the last over, of which Vipers could only muster seven.After five seasons of regional cricket, Sunrisers are the only team to win a Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy match at the Utilita Bowl, having also tasted victory on the ground last season.

CSK’s bowlers executed their plans perfectly on a slow pitch to consign Royals to their third straight defeat

Sidharth Monga12-May-20241:19

‘Royals were a batter short so couldn’t take risk’

Chennai Super Kings signed off their home league campaign with a win, giving themselves a decent chance of coming back to Chennai for the last two playoff games. Despite losing their 11th toss out of 13 and being asked to field in the afternoon heat 40 hours after finishing their last match in Ahmedabad, the CSK bowlers used a slow pitch expertly to keep Rajasthan Royals down to 141, which they chased down with relative ease.The slow pitch was right up the home bowlers’ alley, and they kept Royals quiet in a wicketless powerplay after which Simarjeet Singh kept getting wickets every time Royals tried to push back. Royals never really succeeded in mounting an attack, which CSK’s New Zealand batters, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, successfully did to put their chase on course with a Shivam Dube putting them on top.Related

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The win took CSK up to 14 points from 13 matches, level with Sunrisers Hyderabad who have a game in hand, and two points clear of the nearest challengers outside the top four. Royals suffered their third straight defeat, which will be a cause for concern for them going into the playoffs, especially with Jos Buttler not expected to be available for the final week.RR’s power-less-play
These are the two slowest teams in the first two overs of the IPL. They like to suss the pitch out before they start attacking. Royals stayed true to form, scoring just seven off the first two, but they couldn’t kick on even after that with Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana and Shardul Thakur giving them nothing to drive. Their 42 for 0 was the slowest wicketless powerplay of IPL 2024, one run behind their 43 for 0 against Punjab Kings, but that came in a small chase.Simarjeet Singh exults after dismissing Jos Buttler•BCCI

Simarjeet cashes in
Usually CSK go to Ravindra Jadeja in the seventh over, but perhaps because of the right-left combination, which didn’t let their orthodox spinners bowl in their last match against Gujarat Titans, they bowled Simarjeet in the seventh over. Playing only his third match this year, Simarjeet had ground to make up after going for 60 in that Titans match. On this slow pitch, he was immediately on target: hard lengths and no room. When Yashasvi Jaiswal tried to take him on, the ball got big on him and resulted in a skier to cover. In his next over, Simarjeet became the beneficiary of an odd shot from a frustrated Buttler: a ramp on a slow pitch with fine leg back on the fence.With Royals’ only left-hand top-order batter gone, Jadeja rattled through his four overs for just 24 runs to go with Theekshana’s four overs for 28. Sanju Samson just kept looking for singles while Riyan Parag tried the odd boundary. It seemed as if Royals had decided they needed to get somewhere around 160 and not aim too high.The final kick doesn’t arrive
Even to get to 160, they would need two a ball for the last six overs after getting to 89 for 2 in 14 overs, which is when the spinners bowled out. Royals were banking on cashing in on pace, but just when they tried to go hard they handed Simarjeet another wicket: Samson caught at mid-off. Again Royals were pushed back.Deshpande and Thakur stuck to their plans in the death overs, and Royals never got the big overs. Only Parag’s 47 off 35 took them to 141, which was 23 less than the lowest total successfully defended in this IPL. Royals attacked just 30 balls in their innings, the sixth-lowest figure this season in non-all-out innings when setting a target.Shivam Dube played a crucial cameo after CSK had gone 39 balls without a boundary•Associated Press

Ravindra, Mitchell get chase going
CSK have been the only team slower than Royals in the early goings but they were mindful of not letting the bowlers settle into their defence. Ravindra flicked Sandeep Sharma for a six over midwicket in the second over, and went after compatriot Trent Boult in the third. Even though R Ashwin got Ravindra out in the fourth, Mitchell kept up the intent. Their 56 for 1 was their fourth-highest powerplay of this IPL.Royals claw back but Dube breaks chase open
In the middle overs, Royals clawed their way back. Yuzvendra Chahal got Mitchell, the spinners kept Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad quiet, Moeen got out for 10 off 13, and 39 balls went without a boundary. Still it was 50 needed off seven overs. This was when Ashwin came on to bowl his last over with Dube on strike. Dube took the veteran spinner on for 6, 4, 4, with a leg-side wide in between, and while Ashwin came back with Dube’s wicket, CSK needed 35 off the last six.Captain Gaikwad stayed true to his anchor role for this chase, and saw his team home despite Jadeja getting himself out obstructing the field.

Maphaka takes five as South Africa crush Zimbabwe, while Borson and Jibon set up Bangladesh’s win over Nepal

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2024Australia captain Hugh Weibgen led his side from the front to dismantle England in a rain-hit game in Kimberley. England, who came into the game with just two points and an NRR of -0.08, are now on the brink of elimination.Weibgen made 120 after being sent in and lifted Australia to a competitive 266 for 6 on a tough pitch. He started watchfully along with Harry Dixon after Sebastian Morgan breached Sam Konstas’ defence in the first over.Both Weibgen and Dixon defended firmly and ran quick singles in the powerplay. England had a chance to break the promising stand in the 12th over but Luc Benkenstein dropped Weibgen – on 20 at the time – at backward point off seamer Eddie Jack.Dixon cruised along with Weibgen and reached his fifty in the 20th over. But Theo Wylie, the pick of the England bowlers, had him holed out at deep midwicket right after. Ryan Hicks and Tom Campbell were not quick to get off the blocks but stuck around with Weibgen as Australia moved to 176 for 5 in 38 overs.Weibgen hit a pair of boundaries in the 39th and did the same in the 42nd and brought up his hundred in the 44th. Wylie knocked over Weibgen on return but Raf MacMillan smacked two fours and a six in a 20-run final over that carried Australia to 266.England started positively, hitting ten fours and a six in the first 57 balls but also lost four wickets to a red-hot Callum Vidler. They were reeling at 60 for 4 in the tenth over when lightning and rain forced the players off the field.The revised target, after a 140-minute break, was a daunting 215 off 24 overs. So England needed another 155 from 87 balls. But Tom Straker and MacMillan took five wickets in the next six overs to flatten them. Campbell finished off the game by dismissing Tazeem Ali in the 17th over.

Borson, Jibon help Bangladesh take down Nepal

Ariful Islam and Rohanat Doullah Borson celebrate Akash Chand’s wicket•ICC/Getty Images

Medium-pacer Rohanat Doullah Borson and offspinner Sheikh Paevez Jibon shared seven wickets to set up Bangladesh’s five-wicket win over Nepal in Bloemfontein.After opting to bat, Nepal did not have a great start and lost three wickets for just 29 runs. Captain Dev Khanal and Bishal Bikram KC stabilised the innings by adding 62 off 115 balls for the fourth wicket. The stand was broken when Jishan Alam dismissed Khanal for 35.Bikram and Gulsan Jha had steered the side to 121 for 4 when Jibon triggered a collapse that had Nepal losing five wickets in 21 runs. He dismissed Jha and Dipak Bohara in his successive overs before Borson cleaned up Bikram, for 48, and the tail. Despite the last wicket adding 27, Nepal were all out for 169 on the penultimate ball of their innings.Nepal’s hopes of a comeback were dashed by Alam, who raced to 55 off just 43 balls at the top of the order. After he got out, Ariful Islam took over and smashed an unbeaten 59 off 38 to take Bangladesh over the line in the 26th over.For Nepal, offspinner Subash Bhandari made regular strikes and took all five wickets that Bangladesh lost but there were not enough runs on the board.

Maphaka takes five as South Africa crush Zimbabwe

Kwena Maphaka took 5 for 34•ICC/Getty Images

Left-arm quick Kwena Maphaka picked up 5 for 34, including three of the top four batters, as South Africa crushed Zimbabwe in the Super Sixes of the Under-19 World Cup. Maphaka’s spell helped bundle Zimbabwe out for 102, with the hosts’ top order hunting down the target in less than 14 overs.Zimbabwe were reduced to 16 for 4 at the start of the fifth over, and three of those wickets had gone to Maphaka. He had struck first in the third over of the innings, removing both Brandon Sunguro and Campbell Macmillan without scoring. That is when Ronak Patel and Ryan Kamwemba got down for a repair job with a half-century stand.But right-arm quick Tristan Luus ensured that partnership didn’t last too long, as he started the 16th over by dismissing Ronak for a better-than-a-run-a-ball 32, which included five boundaries. Four balls later, Luus struck again to get the opposition captain Matthew Schonken for a duck. That started another slide for Zimbabwe, who lost 6 for 33 in a middle and lower-order collapse.Maphaka returned to nab two lower-order wickets, as he and Luus wrapped the tail up.South Africa’s chase got off to a flyer, with openers Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Steve Stolk pumping boundaries regularly. The first four overs fetched 42, while the powerplay ended with 86 runs already getting knocked off. Next ball, Anesu Kamuriwo got Stolk for 37, but Pretorius continued in a hurry, getting to his fifty off 38 balls to end the 12th over.Come the 14th over, David Teeger hit the winning runs, as South Africa won with plenty to spare. The victory put South Africa at second place in Group 2, with the margin of victory giving their net run rate a massive boost.

England have had the wood over India in their last two meetings at ICC tournaments

Shashank Kishore29-Sep-20232:20

Chawla: ‘Street-smart’ Ashwin could get into India’s XI straightaway

Over the last four weeks, the cricket caravan has taken India on quite a journey: Bengaluru-Colombo-Pallekele-Colombo-Mohali-Indore-Rajkot. The latest pit stop is Guwahati in India’s northeast, for the first lap of their World Cup campaign, to play England in their first warm-up on Saturday.India arrived from Rajkot, via a charter flight, late on Thursday and had an optional training session on Friday afternoon, attended by four players – Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, R Ashwin and Shardul Thakur.England weren’t as lucky and spent nearly 38 hours on the road, travelling from London to Guwahati with long layovers in Dubai and Mumbai. While the “chaos” – as put by Jonny Bairstow in an Instagram story – could die down, the travel is unlikely to, they will crisscross India during the tournament and play in eight cities.England can draw some comfort from the fact that they will stay put in Guwahati for both their warm-up games, unlike India, who will travel down south to Thiruvananthapuram for their second warm-up on October 2 against Netherlands.England can also draw comfort from the fact that they have had the wood over India in their last two meetings at ICC tournaments. At the T20 World Cup semi-final last year, they handed India a ten-wicket thrashing with Alex Hales and Jos Buttler making merry.Prior to that, England were the only side to beat India in the league stage of the 2019 ODI World Cup, after which India jettisoned their two-wristspinner strategy. As it turns out, only one of them, Kuldeep Yadav, has made it to this World Cup, but he has done so after two years in the wilderness, after going back to the drawing board, working on his run-up and rhythm, and rediscovering his verve to become one of India’s trump cards.Harry Brook made it to the World Cup squad at Jason Roy’s expense•Getty Images

The other significant bit is Ashwin’s late entry into the squad on the back of an injury to Axar Patel. Ashwin, a key cog in India’s previous ICC triumphs at the 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy, has made it despite having only played four ODIs – including two last week against Australia, where he registered combined figures of 4 for 88 across 17 overs – over the last six years.Having forced his way into the squad, Ashwin will fancy his chances of making the first XI, given the team’s inclination to field someone who can bat at No. 8. This means Ashwin will tussle with Thakur for that spot, depending on the kind of surfaces and match-ups India are likely to encounter.England are coming off a series against New Zealand where they overturned a 1-0 deficit to clinch the trophy 3-1, with Ben Stokes making an unreal 182 in the third game. That Stokes is here having un-retired from the format follows lengthy discussions with the backroom staff who were keen that he played in a bid to help England defend their title.Harry Brook, who had his fair share of troubles in India earlier this year at the IPL, will have a chance to show why Luke Wright and Co were right in picking him, albeit belatedly, at Jason Roy’s expense.Brook showed glimpses of his domineering best when he made a barnstorming IPL hundred for Sunrisers Hyderabad early in the IPL season but tapered off after his frailties against spin came to the fore. He eventually lost his place in the XI, but for someone so young, the stint was an eye-opener in helping him adapt to the vagaries of subcontinent pitches.As is the norm in warm-ups, both teams can field all 15 players from the squad. Players returning from injuries or searching for form will be in extra focus. India have ticked most boxes, having played extensively in these conditions. England will want to tick off their own priority items.Unlike India, who are thin on batting after No. 7, England have no such concerns with a line-up capable of batting until No. 10. All said, how quickly they adapt to spin-friendly conditions will be among the things to watch out for as they aim to emulate West Indies and Australia in defending their World Cup crown.

Royal Challengers’ poor net run rate makes their final league match, against Gujarat Titans, almost a must-win contest

S Rajesh15-May-2022Rajasthan Royals: Mat 13, Pts 16, NRR 0.304
A comfortable 24-run win against Lucknow Super Giants means Rajasthan Royals are almost certain of qualifying for the playoffs. Only five teams can now get to 16 or more points – Delhi Capitals play Punjab Kings, so only one of them can reach that tally – and Royals’ excellent net run rate (NRR) of 0.304, coupled with Royal Challengers Bangalore’s poor -0.323, means Royals are very well placed. For them to drop below Royal Challengers, they will have to lose to Super Kings by a huge margin and Royal Challengers will need a big win against Gujarat Titans – the combined margin of those two results will need to be around 160 runs. (If Royal Challengers win by 70, Royals will need to lose by around 90.)They also play their last game after Royal Challengers, so they will know exactly what they need to do to finish in the top four. The target for Royals will now actually be to win their last game and finish among the top two.Lucknow Super Giants: Mat 13, Pts 16, NRR 0.262
In their last two matches, Super Giants’ NRR has dropped from 0.703 to 0.262, thanks to losses in these games by a combined margin of 86 runs. However, like Royals, Super Giants are also comfortably placed to qualify because of Royal Challengers’ poor NRR. For them to lose out on a playoffs spot, the combined margin of their defeat and Royal Challengers’ win will have to be around 150 runs.Like Royals, Super Giants, too, have the chance to finish among the top two. If both these teams win their last match, they will finish on 18 points each and NRR will decide who finishes second.Delhi Capitals: Mat 12, Pts 12, NRR 0.210
With Royals also reaching 16 points, there is less wriggle room for teams which are at the middle of the table. Delhi Capitals are still the best placed among those teams, thanks to their excellent NRR of 0.210. If they win their last two matches, they will go through. Even if they lose one of those matches and finish on 14, they could still qualify if Kings and Royal Challengers don’t reach 16, and if Knight Riders and Sunrisers don’t win their last games and go past Capitals on run rate. In fact, it is still possible for all these five teams to finish on 14 points, fighting for the last playoff spot.Punjab Kings: Mat 12, Pts 12, NRR 0.023
Kings currently have an NRR of 0.023, which is lower than Capitals’ 0.210 whom they play on Monday. If they win that game and their last one against Sunrisers, they will qualify.If they lose to Capitals, they will have to win their last game against Sunrisers, and then hope that Capitals and Royal Challengers lose theirs. It will then come down to NRR among the teams on 14 points.For instance, if Kings lose to Capitals by a run on Monday and beat Sunrisers by 25 runs after scoring 180, their NRR will improve to 0.112; if Capitals lose their last game against Mumbai Indians by 25 runs, their NRR will drop to 0.086. Thus, it’s possible for Kings to stay in contention even if they lose to Capitals, as long as they lose by a small margin.Royal Challengers Bangalore: Mat 13, Pts 14, NRR -0.323
Given their poor NRR, Royal Challengers will probably have to win their last game to stand a chance of qualification. If they lose that, it is highly unlikely that they can survive the NRR battle against the other team(s) on 14.Even if they lose by just one run and Punjab Kings beat Capitals by a run, Punjab Kings will have to lose to Sunrisers by around 90 runs for their NRR to drop below that of Royal Challengers. Thus, a defeat against Titans will effectively end their qualification chances. A victory might not be enough either, if Capitals or Punjab Kings also finish on 16.Kolkata Knight Riders: Mat 13, Pts 12, NRR 0.160
Knight Riders can reach a maximum of 14, which means they too must hope that no other team reaches 16. Their NRR of 0.160 is quite healthy; if they score 180 and win their last game by 25 runs, it will improve further to 0.241, which means they will be in the hunt for the playoffs if none of the other teams go up to 16.Sunrisers Hyderabad: Mat 12, Pts 10, NRR -0.270
Sunrisers will have to win their last two games by big margins, and then hope that no other team moves up to 16 points. They will obviously stand a better chance if Capitals lose both matches and stay on 12, and if Knight Riders lose their last game too.If Sunrisers win their last two by 30 runs each, then their NRR will be -0.010. If Kings beat Capitals by a run and lose to Sunrisers by 30, their NRR will drop to -0.085 (assuming scores of 180 and 150).

New head coach along with the team director Mike Hesson outline their vision for IPL 2020 and beyond

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2019Excerpts:
Royal Challengers Bangalore haven’t made the playoffs for three seasons now. How can you turn it around?
Mike Hesson: We have spent a lot of time in the last two weeks looking at how we want to structure things as a support staff. With the structure we have got and people we’ve got around us, we’re well aware that we have to make a few tweaks in the squad to get the balance that we think we need moving forward. We are not going to talk about player names. Obviously, we are not going to give too much away, but there has certainly been a lot of behind-the-scenes thinking about how we want to structure things.ALSO READ – RCB overhaul: Kirsten, Nehra out, Hesson, Katich inHas there been any thought at all of looking at a different captain?
Simon Katich: Not at all.How will the team management set-up work in the new structure?
Hesson: I will be having input pre-game, but Simon and Virat will be in charge on game days in terms of the XI they put on the park. The dealings I had with both are inclusive as well. I am sure coaches have experience at certain venues against opposition, but it’s a collective agreement. But Simon and Virat will be in charge on game days.Kohli has led for the past seven seasons. The outside perception is that he calls the shots. Is that a strength or do you have any apprehensions about working with him?
Katich: From our point of view, we have been aligned about how we are going to go about things. We haven’t got that perception about Virat at all. Potentially there is a learning from that and the fact that what he has done in the past, maybe he has learnt from that and wants to go about things differently moving forward. But from what we’ve discussed with him so far, he has very much been aligned about how we want to move forward, and happy to take advice from our experience and how we see things.There are always going to be different opinions, but it is about what is best for the team and I think we have both (him and Hesson) spoken about it over the last couple of weeks. There’s no question, for us Virat is captain.PA Photos

How easy or difficult is it to talk to with superstar players like Kohli or Brendon McCullum (at New Zealand when he was head coach) to have an open discussion on decision-making?
Hesson: Simon, Virat and myself, everybody has been working together to this point and so far those relationships have been very good. There is a time and place for everything, but the three of us have to be brutally honest with each other behind closed doors around every decision.There will be decisions we all make where we might say: “hang on, what were we thinking there?” And it might not necessarily be saying you have done something wrong. It’s just asking for clarity on what you were thinking. I think this is a responsibility for all of us, to challenge the three of us as a leadership group to make sure we are getting the best out of each other. We are not going to be passive and not be afraid of having honest discussions. There is no value in that for anybody.Royal Challengers have never been short of talent. As a coach, how do you get that talent to work together?
Katich: A big part of it is identifying what sort of style of players will bat well with each other or potentially bowl well in partnerships together in different phases of the innings. So that’s something we are working through at the moment. But then, when it comes to a team’s style of play, you need to have guys with that character that they are prepared to put the team first over their individual needs of trying keep getting a game, or just potentially do well for the next auction.So that’s the balancing act of trying to put a squad together and that’s where the character side of it comes into it because yes, there are a lot of players out there with lots of talent but are they playing in winning teams and how are they contributing in being part of winning teams? So that’s all the things we have to weigh up when we are making these judgments over the next few months.How do you make sure the Chinnaswamy pitch will favour RCB so that they utilise home advantage, a crucial determining factor in making the playoffs?
Katich: It was probably the first thing I mentioned when I first came on about the job, asking the question about the wicket because I have seen it evolve over the last four years. Obviously in 2017, it was a different type of wicket given what happened with the drainage. And obviously, it affected the balance of the team because it was playing differently to what the team had been used to in the past.So that was one of the first questions asked because you want to really utilise your home ground advantage for seven games, and if you make it a fortress which others teams have done at their venues, whether it’s at Chennai (Chennai Super Kings) or whoever it is, that becomes a big determining factor whether you can make it to the playoffs. So that’s one thing we certainly will be taking into account and making sure that it suits the balance of our team. We have to understand how it is going to play.

The Australia coach was anxious for his team to not spoil their enviable Brisbane record, and also about how Kurtis Patterson’s late inclusion would be received

Andrew McGlashan27-Jan-2019It says a lot about the challenges Justin Langer has faced in his short time as Australia coach that he admitted to having sleepless nights ahead of the Gabba Test against Sri Lanka, knowing the pressure the team were under not to be beaten at a ground that has become a banker for victory.Langer also worried about how the decision to parachute Kurtis Patterson into the squad three days before the Test, then hand him a debut ahead of Will Pucovski, would be received in a season where Australia’s selectors have often appeared confused and uncertain.In the end, neither of Langer’s fears came to pass with the team securing an innings-and-40-run win to maintain an unbeaten record in Brisbane which dates back to 1988, and though Pucovski’s omission sparked debate Patterson looking at home on debut with a neat 30 and four catches, the last of which was a blinder in the gully to remove Dilruwan Perera.”I kept thinking before the game, imagine if we get beaten by Sri Lanka at the Gabba. That’s why I haven’t slept much the past week. Hopefully I’ll sleep a bit easier tonight,” Langer said.He knew the late inclusion of Patterson, following his twin hundreds in the tour match, would divide opinion especially as it meant 20-year-old Pucovski was sidelined once the experience Joe Burns was also preferred in the final XI.”We decided and it was controversial. To see how it would be received from the public picking someone from outside the [squad], spoke to a few people I trusted about it and we just felt it was a really common sense thing to do. You agonise more probably at this point of the season about what’s going to get reported on, if I’m completely frank. Hopefully I’ll get tougher over the years that way and won’t think about that.”He got 100 in both innings against Sri Lanka and you talk about rewarding performance. So when it came down to that, although we’d selected the squad before, I was really glad we had the courage to have that flexibility and bring someone in from outside that original squad.”ALSO READ: Present tense but future can be perfect for Tim Paine’s young AustraliaLanger gave a strong endorsement to an unchanged XI for the second Test in Canberra – although he was speaking before Marcus Stoinis’ call-up was confirmed and did say conditions would have to be assessed – which means Pucovski will likely have to wait his turn. The 166-run stand between Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head was Australia’s highest since the final Test of the 2017-18 Ashes and has earned the pair some breathing space even though both missed hundreds.”Marnus and Travis Head’s partnership was significant. Both threw away an opportunity to score 100s,” Langer said. “The best way to learn how to make hundreds is to make hundreds, so they know they missed an opportunity yesterday. I thought Kurtis Patterson looked like a Test batsman.”Though it was pace bowling which dominated the Test, Langer was impressed by the work of Labuschagne and Head against spin on a surface which offered turn and bounce.”More than just the runs, [Marnus] had good footwork, he plays spin really well. I thought he played the spin so well. He plays almost like an Indian batsman, he gets back, uses his feet, and uses his hands [to get the ball] into gaps, uses the sweep shot well, gets down the wicket.”I think Heady hit one loose shot and it was almost like, ‘oh snap, that’s right, everything I’ve been talking about’… and then he let the ball come to him and he looked like a really good Test player. The thing that’s most impressive about Travis is how he keeps learning, keeps getting better. The way he’s playing spin from a year ago, his forward defence against offspin, the way he’s able to come down the wicket, he’s improving all the time and that’s all you can ask for.”There was also backing from Langer for the struggling senior pair of Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Starc. Khawaja fell for 11, bowled for the third time in the last three balls he’d faced from Dilruwan Perera in Test cricket. Starc managed his 200th Test but he was the least impressive of the attack following on from an underwhelming finish to the India series.”I suppose there’s high expectation on Mitchell but he’s a very good player and is really important for our team. Same with Usman. He still averages 40 in Test cricket. He’s our most experienced player. He’s very calm. He brings a lot of calmness and composure and experience to the group, so we’re happy with the way he’s going at the moment.”

Azeem Rafiq has signed a new contract with Yorkshire after almost two years out of the professional game

George Dobell16-Jun-2016Azeem Rafiq has signed a new contract with Yorkshire after almost two years out of the professional game.Rafiq, an off-spinning allrounder who became the first player of Asian origin to captain Yorkshire in 2012, was released in 2014 after failing to build on the potential that saw him captain England at age-group level and win a place on the ECB’s performance programme in 2013.He has continued to represent Barnsley in club cricket and recently returned to the Yorkshire second team. With the club losing several players to England duty in the coming weeks, notably their lead spinner Adil Rashid, Rafiq has signed for the club until the end of the season and is in the squad for the NatWest Blast match against Nottinghamshire in Leeds on Friday.If he plays, it will be his first game for the first team since July 2014. He will be considered for all formats of the game.Rafiq, born in Karachi and raised in Barnsley, played 25 first-class matches, 20 List A matches and 60 T20 games since making his debut in a T20 match at Trent Bridge as a 17-year-old in 2008. Through no fault of his own, he was deemed ineligible to play in the game due to passport and registration issues. Yorkshire had just taken him along for the ride but were shocked to find an old Trent Bridge pitch designed for spinners. They played Rafiq without reflecting on the paperwork and were subsequently thrown out of the competition.He played a crucial role in the club’s promotion season of 2012 and was integral in the final match against Essex, where he made a fifty in both innings and took 8 for 115 with the ball.Yorkshire will hope that his period out of the professional game will have helped him mature. Aged 25, there is no reason why his best years should not be ahead of him.Yorkshire have also recalled Josh Shaw from his loan spell at Gloucestershire with immediate effect. The seam bowler has taken 19 first-class wickets this season, including two four-wicket hauls.”Azeem has played for the second team over the last couple of weeks and in light of his positive performances, we are delighted to offer him a new contract at Headingley,” Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said. “Josh’s loan spell at Gloucestershire has helped with his development this year and this is clear to see from the wickets that he has taken.”With Liam Plunkett and David Willey being called up to the England ODI squad and with injuries to Ryan Sidebottom, Matthew Fisher and Jack Brooks, our seam bowling resources are stretched.”Therefore we have requested that Josh returns from his loan spell with immediate effect. An option is in place for Josh to return to Gloucestershire at some stage during the season.”