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Pace bowler admits he is “one of the guys under threat” by the qualification of Archer for England

George Dobell in Barbados 23-Feb-2019Mark Wood has admitted he is “one of the guys under threat” by the qualification of Jofra Archer as an England player.Wood has been one of the success stories of England’s tour of the Caribbean. After an explosive return to Test cricket in St Lucia, where he claimed his first five-wicket haul and was timed at 94.6mph, he has bowled with similar pace in the ODIs (touching 91.6mph in the first and 93.9mph in the second) offering his side an edge that has sometimes been lacking.But Wood, and most of England’s other seamers, know that Archer’s qualification could threaten their hopes of cementing a World Cup spot. Archer qualifies in about a month and, while his selection for the World Cup squad remains unlikely, it is clear his all-round skills and, in particular, his pace with the ball are likely to earn him a significant international career. In the short term, that could end the hopes of one of the seamers in England’s current 15.”I think I am one of the guys under threat,” Wood said. “Obviously he [Archer] is a world-class performer. I’d be stupid to think that if I didn’t put in the hard yards that my place wouldn’t be up for grabs. He bowls quick as well.”It is not really talked about in the dressing room or anything like that. I wouldn’t say that night and day I’m up worried about Archer’s role. I’m just going to continue with this bit of confidence I’ve got and half-decent form to push my own case.”I feel higher in the pecking order in Test match cricket, but I’m not so sure in ODIs. We’ve got such a good squad. I was left out most of the time in Sri Lanka so to come back in and put in two fairly decent performances with the newer ball is pretty pleasing.”While Eoin Morgan, the England captain, stopped just short of confirming Wood had done enough to cement his place in that World Cup squad – “he’s bowled quickly and accurately,” Morgan said, “which is all you can ask, but there’s a long way to go before selection” – he has certainly done his chances a power of good in recent times.Having fallen behind a host of other candidates in Sri Lanka – Wood played only one ODI, with Olly Stone among those preferred to him – the rediscovery of the pace that attracted England to him in the first place is likely to prove persuasive. And while he has taken only one wicket in the series so far, his speeds and ability to gain reverse swing have made him look the most dangerous member of the attack.Mark Wood during a net session•Getty Images

“I’d have liked a few more wickets,” he said. “My wickets-to-games ratio is still down so I’d like to improve that. I don’t think I have fulfilled the role that I would like to.”But Joe Root keeps saying little things to me. In the second ODI he said to me ‘well bowled’ after my spell and then he said ‘don’t worry the wickets will come, right now you’re getting wickets for other people.'”So there is more to it than just me trying to get five wickets every game. I think trying to help people at the other end and creating pressure for others to feed off is what I’ve done well over the past couple of games. I feel like I’ve had decent rhythm. If I keep doing the right things then more wickets will come.”As thing stand, England’s first-choice opening pair may well be Wood and Chris Woakes. Which means the likes of David Willey – who looks dangerous with the new ball – Liam Plunkett, and Tom Curran could be fighting over the final place in the side.That presupposes everyone is fit, though. And the decision to rest Woakes from the second ODI underlined both how important England see him to their plans and how fragile his knees have become.”He could have played but his risk of being injured would have been quite high,” Morgan said. “We don’t have to play two games in three days in the World Cup.”England’s bowling has not been at its best in this series. They bowled 13 wides in the second ODI to add to the 15 they bowled in the first ODI. They also delivered their first front-foot no ball in 45 ODIs and something like 11,000 deliveries. There were two more no-balls in the second ODI, from deliveries reaching the batsmen above waist height. In a game decided by a margin of 26 runs, such moments were crucial.”The wides you can forgive,” Morgan said. “But hopefully we’ll see a change in Grenada.”England flew to Grenada on Saturday. The third and fourth ODIs take place there on Monday and Wednesday.

After an impressive performance behind the stumps and his resistance against NSW’s pace attack, the 24-year-old could possibly be a contender for Australia’s Ashes wicketkeeping berth

Daniel Brettig05-Nov-2017
Cameron Bancroft walks up to play a shot•Getty Images

Cameron Bancroft emerged as a left-field contender for Australia’s Ashes wicketkeeping berth after he followed a pair of catches behind the stumps with a determined rearguard against Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Western Australia at Hurstville Oval.Intriguingly, given the wide-open race for the Nos. 6 and 7 spots in Steven Smith’s team for the first Test against England in Brisbane, the Warriors’ regular wicketkeeper Josh Inglis was dropped for the game, leaving Bancroft to take the gloves and open the batting. It is only the second time in his career he has kept wicket for WA in the Shield, though he has kept multiple times for the state and also the Perth Scorchers in limited overs and Twenty20 tournaments.Bancroft was also selected for Australia as a wicketkeeper in a single T20 international in 2016 against India at the SCG, and is believed to have been encouraged to work on his keeping in recent times. He was first considered for the Australian Test team as an opening batsman in 2015, when he was selected in the squad for that year’s tour of Bangladesh, which was subsequently postponed due to security concerns.After another wicketkeeping option Peter Nevill failed to add to his overnight tally of 32, Bancroft stood firm against Hazlewood in particular, after the tall right-armer bowled with impressive rhythm in his first match since a side strain. In doing so he damaged the Test prospects of Shaun Marsh and Hilton Cartwright, having the former caught behind waving at an angled ball, before the latter was pinned lbw by a ball cutting back.Hazlewood followed up by perforating the defence of the WA captain Mitchell Marsh, who is not expected to be considered for international selection until he is able to bowl again after shoulder surgery earlier in the year. Those wickets left much resting on the shoulders of Bancroft, who with Ashton Turner set about giving the visitors a foothold.Selectors are often said to consider domestic runs in the context of who they are scored against, and in Hazlewood, Starc, Cummins and Nathan Lyon, Bancroft occupied the crease against the very same bowlers who will line up against England in Brisbane. By stumps he had made it as far as 41 not out, already the highest score tallied by any wicketkeeper in this Shield round, topping the innings of Nevill and also the South Australian Alex Carey (36).The selection of Bancroft as the Test wicketkeeper would cause plenty of consternation given his relative lack of experience behind the stumps, but it is patently clear that Smith, Australia’s selectors and coaches are desperate for more runs from the middle order.

Lancashire batsman Haseeb Hameed will become the youngest debutant to open for England in Test cricket, in the first match against India in Rajkot

George Dobell in Rajkot08-Nov-20160:45

Quick Facts – Haseeb Hameed

Lancashire batsman Haseeb Hameed will become the youngest debutant to open for England in Test cricket, in the first match against India in Rajkot.Hameed, aged 19 and 297 days by the time the game starts, will become England’s fifth-youngest Test debutant, and Alastair Cook’s tenth opening partner since the 2012.Ben Duckett, who opened the batting in Bangladesh and made a sparky half-century in his final innings of the series, will move down to No. 4 to accommodate Hameed. Gary Ballance, who scored just 24 runs in four innings in Bangladesh, was dropped from the XI for Rajkot.Hameed enjoyed a breakthrough season in the 2016 Championship campaign. Opening the batting for Lancashire, he scored almost 1200 runs at an average of 49.91. The four centuries he scored included two in a match against a strong Yorkshire attack. As a right-hander, he will also correct a slight imbalance in an England top order that, in Bangladesh, saw five left-handers in their top six.While he was born in Bolton, Hameed has a strong affiliation with India and Gujarat in particular. His parents – who will be at the game – were born here and his brother was married here in recent days. He names Sachin Tendulkar, who he met as a seven-year-old, and Virat Kohli among his heroes and, in 2010, he travelled to Mumbai to learn to bat on the city’s maidans that have been the breeding ground of many fine cricketers.”Haseeb has impressed everyone so far on this trip,” Cook said. “You wonder if a 19-year-old, coming on tour, will be overawed but he hasn’t been at all. He has looked really good in the nets and the way he has gone about his business. It’s obviously a very special day to pick someone so young.”He is incredibly unflappable. He looks a very good player of spin. He picks length well and uses the crease well. Stuart Broad bowled at him last summer and was almost straight on the phone to me saying how impressed he was with this guy.”He is one of those natural run-scorers. All through his age group, whatever team and whatever standard, he has scored runs. It’s probably a year earlier than he would have thought. But to average 50-odd as an opener in Division One as a 19-year-old is an incredible feat. I was nowhere near the player he is at 19.”Of course there will be some tough moments for him over the next few of playing Test cricket, but I think this guy can play.”While Cook admitted it was “not ideal” to move Duckett down the order after two Tests, he did not foresee any negative impact. “He’s a pretty unflappable character,” Cook said. “Historically he has played all his cricket in the middle order until the last year. He’s comfortable batting anywhere.”Hameed’s selection means no place for Jos Buttler, who has only played one first-class match since he was dropped a year ago, or Ballance, who has averaged only 19.90 in the six Tests since he was recalled in July and failed to reach 30 in his last seven innings.”It was a tough decision,” Cook said. “Jos has played some really good one-day cricket on this tour and his batting looks in really good shape in the nets. But he hasn’t played that much first-class cricket. Gary hasn’t scored the runs he would have liked.”Cook also played down talk about his imminent retirement as captain, after being quoted by the magazine as saying: “I don’t know how much longer I am going to carry on. It could be two months, it could be a year.”But talking ahead of the Test, Cook reiterated his oft-stated view that he will take the role “series by series”.”It’s a mountain out of a mole hill,” he said. “It’s been blown out of proportion. Since the World Cup, I have been very open and we have taken it series by series. It could be two months, six months or two years.”The Rajkot game will represent the 55th time Cook has captained England at Test level, surpassing the previous record of 54 times by Michael Atherton.

Zimbabwe are in unfamiliar territory heading into their short one-day series against Ireland. It is not often that they can reasonably be expected to win a series, but they should have an advantage in home conditions

Liam Brickhill08-Oct-2015Zimbabwe are in unfamiliar territory heading into their short one-day series against Ireland. It is not often that they can reasonably be expected to win a series, but they should have an advantage in home conditions and captain Elton Chigumbura admitted that this has created a different sort of pressure for his team.”When we go out there we want to win every game that we play,” said Chigumbura. “We’ve got more expectation on us to win these games against Ireland, so obviously there’s a little more pressure on us. So we have to rise to the occasion. It’s an important series for us. I’m sure if we play our best cricket we’ll come out on top. We’ve been looking forward to this series. It’s going to be hard cricket.”Unusually, in recent months Zimbabwe have also had the task of managing the workload of some of their senior players a little more carefully. After years of their cricket suffering from a paucity of games, Zimbabwe have had a packed schedule this year, with visits from India and New Zealand followed by the recent series against Pakistan and Ireland’s visit. Afghanistan, who they will play in five ODIs and two T20Is later this month, are already in the country warming up.”We had a day off after Pakistan,” said Chigumbura. “There’s lots of cricket, especially this month, but that’s what we’ve been asking for for a long time: to have more games. Now we’ve got them so we just have to make sure that we deal well with the short breaks that we’ve got in between.”Bowling coach Douglas Hondo added that his bowlers are not suffering despite their increased workload. “At the moment the bowlers are still fresh enough,” he said. “We’ve been managing their workloads and telling them after games, ‘do absolutely nothing, just rest’. Then we do a little bit of analysis and the day before a game have a little bit of a run around. The ball is coming out well for them, so we don’t have to do a lot of physical stuff.”Workload and pressure aside, Zimbabwe have also had to deal with the situation presented by some under-performing seniors. Vusi Sibanda, Prosper Utseya and Hamilton Masakadza have all lost their places due to poor form. “He’s not in the squad, he has been dropped from the team,” Chigumbura explained somewhat awkwardly when asked about Masakadza. But he added that Zimbabwe also have much to be confident about.”If you look at the series we’ve played this year, compared to last year or two years ago, right now almost every series we’re winning a game so there’s lots of confidence from that. Some of the guys have been consistent, and hopefully the in-form guys can carry on with that.”

The preview for the third ODI between West Indies and Zimbabwe at George’s

The Preview by Vishal Dikshit25-Feb-2013

Match facts

February 26, 2013
Start time 0930 local (1330 GMT)Craig Ervine and Hamilton Masakadza would have to play big roles for Zimbabwe if they are to avoid a whitewash• WICB Media/Randy Brooks Photo

Big Picture

Going by the series scoreline so far, 2-0 in favour of West Indies, nothing out of the ordinary and unexpected has happened. A convincing 156-run victory in the first ODI and a seven-wicket win in the second. The second margin sounds comprehensive, but it wasn’t. Zimbabwe showed a marked improvement on Sunday and halfway through the match, would have even thought of leveling the series. What they are left with now, is to play for a solitary win in the final ODI and win their first one-dayer since October 2011, when they chased 329 against New Zealand. West Indies will be brimming with confidence after a forgettable summer in Australia and look set to complete a whitewash.
After being thrashed in the first ODI, Zimbabwe put up a strong batting display in the second, which stretched the hosts to the 49th over. Their bowling and fielding went up a notch, but they failed to pick wickets despite the pressure they created. They have picked only seven wickets in nearly 100 overs and have conceded 611 runs at a dismal average of 87.29. They will rely on Kyle Jarvis and their most experienced bowler, Prosper Utseya, to give them breakthroughs, especially in the opening overs. The 22-year old Natsai M’shangwe has been the most economical in the two ODIs, but it’s the wickets they need to win matches.West Indies, meanwhile, would not want to be in the pressure-cooker situation they found themselves in on Sunday. Even though their batsmen have done their job, curbing Zimbabwe to a lower score would be ideal for them. If they win the third, it will be their first whitewash over a Test-playing nation since beating Bangladesh 3-0 in 2004.

Form guide

West Indies WWLLL
Zimbabwe LLLLL

In the spotlight

Despite scoring two consecutive fifties, Kieran Powell threw his wicket away in both the ODIs. Against a feeble Zimbabwe attack and in the absence of Chris Gayle, this will be the apt time for Powell to convert a start into a three-digit score and boost his confidence before the Champions Trophy in June.Hamilton Masakadza was Zimbabwe’s top performer on Sunday with a fifty and figures of 2 for 27 from seven overs. If Zimbabwe have to win, he will have to extend his stay on the pitch to chase or set up a big total for the in-form West Indies batsmen.

Team news

West Indies are yet to announce their squad for the third ODI. Gayle and Darren Sammy were rested for the first two matches. With the series to their name, West Indies may want to give a chance to the left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul (if available), who has been in fine form for Guyana with 13 wickets in the last two Regional Four-Day matches.West Indies: (probable) 1 Kieran Powell, 2 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Narsingh Deonarine, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Tino Best, 11 Sunil Narine/Veerasammy PermaulZimbabwe: (from) Brendan Taylor (capt), Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Tino Mawoyo, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Prosper Utseya, Regis Chakabva, Malcolm Waller, Keegan Meth, Craig Ervine, Chamu Chibhabha, Tino Mutombodzi, Natsai M’shangwe

Stats and trivia

• The last time West Indies and Zimbabwe played a bilateral ODI series, West Indies won the series 4-1 in West Indies in 2010.
• West Indies have won six and lost six of the 12 ODIs they have played at St. George’s in Grenada.

Quotes

“I felt a burden lifted when I reached my hundred. I was lacking a little confidence before this performance so I have my confidence back now.”

Ben Hilfenhaus, the leading wicket-taker in Australia’s Test series victory over India, has been recalled to the national ODI squad to replace the injured Brett Lee

Daniel Brettig06-Feb-2012Ben Hilfenhaus, the leading wicket-taker in Australia’s Test series victory over India, has been recalled to the national ODI squad to replace the injured Brett Lee – his first limited overs duty in more than two years.The national selector John Inverarity and his panel chose an experienced name to cover for Lee rather than picking another youthful pace bowler, affording Hilfenhaus the chance to play his first 50-over internationals since a tour of India in late 2009.On that tour Hilfenhaus suffered from knee tendinitis that would subsequently keep him out of international cricket for most of the 2009-10 season, and had been employed exclusively in Test matches since.While naming Hilfenhaus, Inverarity suggested the XI for the Perth match against Sri Lanka on Friday was likely to be unchanged from the one that defeated India in Melbourne on Sunday. However Hilfenhaus may play in the third match, against India in Adelaide on Sunday at Adelaide Oval.”The NSP has named Ben Hilfenhaus in the squad for the game against Sri Lanka in Perth on Friday,” Inverarity said. “Ben will replace the injured Brett Lee. The bowling attack for Perth is likely to be the same as the one that did so well in Melbourne and Ben will be in Perth to provide cover.”Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle have been resting in reserve since the completion of the Test series, which reaped 27 wickets at 17.22 for the Tasmanian after he was recalled for the Boxing Day Test.Siddle (23 wickets at 18.65) is likely to come into contention for the second half of the ODI series, his exertions in nine consecutive Test matches deemed worthy of a longer break than Hilfenhaus’ four.As previously flagged by the selectors, Mitchell Marsh will join the ODI squad after the completion of the Sheffield Shield fixture between Queensland and Western Australia at the Gabba. Two of the other mooted contenders for Lee’s spot, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Alister McDermott, are also taking part in the match.

England allrounder Tim Bresnan has vowed to be fit for England’s first match of the World Cup, insisting that regular physiotherapy will have him “raring to go” when the tournament starts

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2011England allrounder Tim Bresnan has vowed to be fit for England’s first match of the World Cup, insisting that regular physiotherapy will have him “raring to go” when the tournament starts. Bresnan picked up a calf injury during the second ODI against Australia at Hobart, ruling him out of the remainder of the seven-match series.The World Cup gets underway in the subcontinent on February 20, with England beginning their campaign against Netherlands two days later. With England currently 3-1 down against Australia, weaknesses in the batting and bowling departments have been exposed and Andy Flower will be keen to have the likes of Bresnan and Stuart Broad back in contention for their first World Cup outing in Nagpur.”The injury is coming on well,” Bresnan, who is back in the UK for treatment on his injury, told . “I’m quite confident of being fit for the first game of the World Cup. I’ve been told some good news in the last couple of days and I’m having some physio every day up until we leave, so I’m putting my full trust in them [the medical team] that they’ll get me ready to go.”Bresnan added that he thought Graeme Swann, who has also flown home with back and knee problems, would be available for selection for England’s opener, and is expecting everyone to feel refreshed when they tackle their next challenge. “Hopefully everyone’s going to be raring to go for that first game. Hopefully everyone’s rested as well so that we are ready to go.”After helping England win the Ashes with a 3-1 series triumph, Bresnan admits the team are targeting the world No. 1 spot. “For that we need consistency,” he said. “If you look at the way the ranking system works it’s all about consistency, it’s not about having a couple of good series here and there. It’s about consistently winning games of cricket. With the strength and depth we’ve got in the ranks, the next target is definitely being the No. 1 in the world.”

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, has said his team’s victory in the Chappell-Hadlee trophy, was a fitting response to the 3-0 defeat inflicted by New Zealand two years ago

Cricinfo staff11-Mar-2010Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, has said his team’s victory in the Chappell-Hadlee trophy, was a fitting response to the 3-0 defeat inflicted by New Zealand two years ago. The hosts, then, had won the first game comfortably by ten wickets before going on to chase 300-plus targets in the next two.”It doesn’t matter how many series you play but you always remember the last series you played, especially if it’s a losing one,” Ponting, who didn’t play in that series, said. “That was just before the World Cup, and we were throroughly outplayed in that series and it led to people to write us off. We regrouped pretty well over there and obviously played well, and we’ve regrouped very well since we’ve been here.”Australia scaled down their revised target of 200 in 34 overs with almost three overs to spare, but the bulk of the hard work had been done by their bowlers, who hit back to bowl the hosts out for 238 after their openers had delivered a fiery start. Ponting, acknowledging the importance of change bowlers, lauded the performance of James Hopes and Nathan Hauritz, who shared five wickets to cripple the middle order and help consign New Zealand to a below-par score.”I think that’s pretty important out here,” Ponting said. “On this sort of ground, the new ball flies off the wicket and off the bat at a pretty good pace. And that’s what they [the New Zealand openers] did particularly well today, using the pace of our new ball bowlers really well, hit the boundaries and got the momentum going their way.”Then when Hauritz and Hopes came into the game, it was a lot harder to score. It was harder to hit those boundaries, we restricted them, took those boundaries away and created chances which we took. We got on a bit of a roll then, the momentum was in our favour.”Australia won their third consecutive game of the series to clinch the trophy, and Ponting, who led his team to its eighth successive ODI series win, said the turnaround, after the defeat in the first game, was a result of attacking cricket. The hosts have been bowled out in each of the last three games.”New Zealand got off to good starts in every game, it’s sometimes hard to reverse momentum in one-day games but we’ve been able to do that really well,” he said. “They got off to a fine start, we weren’t very good with the ball early on, so we just kept attacking and set attacking fields. We told the bowlers to keep hitting the areas and if they continued to play the big shots, we’ll take our chances and that’s how it worked out.”If you hit your spot and you challenge the batsmen to play big shots, or take risks to hit boundaries, then you have half a chance. The brand new ball didn’t do that today, we gave them too many soft balls to hit to the boundary and once we tightened things up a bit and challenged them, that’s when we were in the game a bit more.”Our fielding, too, has improved throughout the series and once you’ve put them under the kind of pressure that we did today, it becomes really hard to get back into the game. Our wicket-taking ability in the middle has been the difference in the game.”The Duckworth-Lewis system came into play again, and this time it was Australia who were left chasing a stiff target despite dominating with the ball. Ponting admitted the revised score had given New Zealand an opportunity to fight back, though his batsmen secured the target comfortably. “It was a bit stiff, I actually thought it might have been wrong,” Ponting said.”I thought that was about 30 runs too many. It just goes to show that none of those equations are going to be perfect. We probably needed to be rewarded more for having bowled them out in 44 overs. But when you’re chasing 200 in 34 overs on a ground like that – 200 in a T20 game is only a good score out here – we knew that if we didn’t buy ourselves out of the water early and lose too many wickets early, we should be able to manage the chase.”[Cameron] White played a very sensible and mature innings, and it was a good run-chase in the end.”Ponting hinted at changes for the final ODI in Wellington, and added the presence of experienced players in his side made his job easier despite the absence of Michael Clarke, who had to return to Australia for personal reasons. “It does present an opportunity to include some new names,” Ponting said. “A couple of guys are a little sore after the game tonight. We’ll see how they pull up in the morning. We’ll look at giving McKay a go. We need to look ahead at the Test matches.”I’m lucky to have people like Hussey and White, who have good cricket brains. . Although you’ve lost your vice-captain, there are plenty of experienced guys around. Little things like, I’d like to think, bring good teams closer.”

Despite Corbin Bosch’s best efforts, South Africa fell short of the 350-run target by 17 runs

Sidharth Monga30-Nov-20254:46

Takeaways – Kohli in comfort zone; Jansen, Kuldeep and Rana sparkle

Virat Kohli added to his world record of most ODI hundreds, Rohit Sharma brought up the world record for most ODI sixes, and a Sunday full house on a pleasant evening in Ranchi enjoyed watching India beat South Africa in a close first ODI of the three-match series. Kohli and Rohit turned back the clock in a 136-run partnership, Kohli went on long enough to hit seven sixes, and the fast bowlers inflicted just enough damage before the pitch eased out in the dew under the lights.The toss disadvantage that India had to overcome – having lost a 19th consecutive one in ODIs – was huge. During the afternoon, the old ball proved to be difficult to hit, resulting in a slowdown after the start Kohli and Rohit gave India. In the night, the pitch became dramatically easier to bat on.Related

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In the end, India needed every last bit of that start of 161 in 21.2 overs and the two wickets in the first over that Harshit Rana bowled with the new ball. Even after being 11 for 3, this is how South Africa’s next three partnerships went: 66 in 10.2 overs, 60 in 6.4 and 97 in 11.1. Marco Jansen and Matthew Breetzke scored 70s, Dewald Brevis and Tony de Zorzi 30s, and the target came down to 123 from 17 overs when Kuldeep Yadav got the wickets of Jansen and Bretzkee in the same over to ease India’s breath.South Africa still refused to go away with Corbin Bosch’s 67 bringing them to needing 19 off 10, but with only the last man for company, Borch found himself handcuffed against Arshdeep Singh’s yorkers. It was especially heartbreaking for Bosch after he had bowled overs 46, 48 and 50 for just 21 runs to keep India down to 349.This ODI followed the grammar of ODI cricket in recent years in India. The new ball does nothing in the afternoon, but you can cleverly offset it with the pitch’s slowness when the balls go soft. Under lights there is a small window of movement with the new ball, which you need to maximise, because once the dew sets in, batting gets easier on every count.Kuldeep Yadav celebrates after getting rid of Tony de Zorzi•BCCI

Kohli and Rohit respected the need to maximise the new ball themselves when the early wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal brought them together. For the first time when batting first in his career, Kohli hit two sixes in the first 10 overs, both off-drives that not long ago he might have kept down. Rohit, who is generally used to quicker starts, hit successive slog-swept sixes off offspinner Pernemal Subrayen to catch up with Kohli in no time.Rohit’s third six, a pull off Jansen moments after bringing up his fifty, took him past Shahid Afridi’s world-record tally of 351. It was also India’s eighth, the most they have hit in the first 20 overs of an innings. The next short ball from Jansen stayed low, trapping Rohit in front.Kohli, now 72 off 61, five sixes to his name, was deprived of strike as the next two batters struggled to come to terms with the slowness of the pitch. Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 8 off 14, Washington Sundar 13 off 19, and they also dominated the strike. Kohli had to grit his teeth and get through this period. He kept picking up singles with ease, but the period from Rohit’s dismissal to Kohli’s hundred brought India just 72 runs in 16.3 overs.When he brought up the hundred, Kohli broke into an emotional celebration. This was his first hundred since February; while he plays only one format, there is scrutiny around his and Rohit’s future. And now, Kohli went into a renewed assault, hitting two more sixes and scoring 35 off the next 17 balls. KL Rahul, who fought through the initial period, took India’s six tally to 16 and the score to 349.Rana immediately showed why the selectors and the team management show so much faith in him. In the second over of the innings, he swung the ball both ways and also found seam both ways to take the wickets of Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock for ducks. Rickelton lost the top of middle with the ball swinging away and nipping back. Away swing and away seam were enough to take de Kock’s outside edge. Aiden Markram, captaining in the absence of the resting Temba Bavuma, looked to manufacture a cut off Arshdeep at the start of the fifth over but edged through to Rahul.Marco Jansen struck several meaty blows•Associated Press

By now the ball had stopped moving, the pitch had begun to skid, and the outfield had become moist only to become damp pretty soon. Everything played into the batters’ hands, leaving you wondering what a massacre it would have been but for those three early wickets.Kuldeep got de Zorzi lbw for 39 off 35, clever bowling from Rana contained a marauding Brevis for 39 off 28, and still Jansen and Breetzke proceeded to give India a right scare. After de Zorzi’s dismissal, Breetzke took upon the role of taking singles and watching the damage other batters did. What damage Jansen did in his 39-ball 70, the fastest fifty by a South Africa batter in India and the second-fastest against India.The dew got so heavy India had to forget about spinners for a while. Washington bowled only three overs. It was after having run through the fast bowlers that Rahul went back to Kuldeep, who, as wristspinners can sometimes do, drew the toe end from Jansen on a long hop. In the same over, Breetzke holed out to long-on, perhaps having got too close to the pitch of the ball.Incredibly, South Africa still refused to go away. Bosch kept South Africa interested with his maiden fifty, but never had the support left to pull off this heist. Arshdeep’s wicket-maiden in the 47th over seemed to have sealed the game, but Bosch still kept gasping. In the end, it probably came down to the two full tosses he missed from Prasidh Krishna in the 46th over.

Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer made sure the job was done, in quick time, with the bat

Deivarayan Muthu21-May-20241:34

Aaron: ‘KKR bowled in great partnerships throughout the innings’

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma are used to going bang, bang and pretty much killing off games in the first six overs at IPL 2024. But in the first qualifier in Ahmedabad, it was Mitchell Starc who went bang, bang, bang in the powerplay to secure Kolkata Knight Riders’ spot in the IPL final on Sunday in Chennai.After Starc scythed through SRH’s top order in an opening spell of 3-0-22-3, Varun Chakravarthy took over in the middle overs to help dismiss SRH for 159 in 19.3 overs.Related

• Starc bowls Head to win bragging rights

In reply, Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer made unbeaten half-centuries as KKR ran down the target with more than six overs to spare.Sunrisers Hyderabad will face the winner of the Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, for a shot at a rematch with KKR in the final.

Swingin’ Starc

Starc’s first ball to Head was an outswinger that was squeezed to extra cover. His second threatened to angle in, but swung and seamed away late to breach the defences of Head and leave his stumps splayed.Travis Head had his stumps cleaned up second ball, bagging his second duck in a row•Associated Press

Head was gone for a duck. This was the fifth time that Starc had taken out Head across formats – four of those wickets ducks.In the second over, pacer Vaibhav Arora, who was picked ahead of spinner Anukul Roy on a surface that was a mix of red and black soil and had some early moisture, had Abhishek Sharma scooping a catch to Andre Russell at short cover for 3.SRH plunged into further trouble when Starc snagged Nitish Kumar Reddy (9) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0) off successive balls in his third over. Starc could have also dismissed Rahul Tripathi in his second over when he speared in a yorker that struck him flush on his boot and would have cannoned into leg stump. But KKR decided against a review and SRH went on to finish the powerplay on 45 for 4. Only twice in 14 innings have SRH scored fewer runs in the powerplay in IPL 2024.

Tripathi counters KKR

Tripathi, who kept his place at No. 3, repaired SRH’s innings with a half-century. He combined power with invention to manufacture scoring opportunities. He whacked Arora over midwicket and ramped a bouncer from Harshit Rana for six. He reached his fifty off 29 balls when he reverse-swept Varun for four.Rahul Tripathi hit a fifty off 29 balls•Associated Press

Tripathi, however, could not press on as Russell capitalised on a mix-up to run him out for 55 off 35 balls. Tripathi was so distraught that he sat on the stairs in Ahmedabad, with his head buried in his knee, for a long time. That image of Tripathi summed up SRH’s night.

Varun’s variations

Heinrich Klaasen had taken Sunil Narine for 16 off eight balls, but KKR’s other mystery spinner, Varun Chakravarthy, struck in his first over to cut Klaasen’s innings short on 32 off 21 balls. Varun darted one into the pitch and didn’t allow Klaasen underneath the length as he dragged a catch to deep midwicket. He then pinned Bhuvneshwar Kumar lbw with a wrong ‘un in the 16th over that cost KKR just one run. It was Varun’s 40th wicket in 27 IPL innings since the 2023 season started. No other spinner has more wickets than Varun during this period.At 126 for 9 in 16 overs, SRH were in danger of being bundled out for a sub-140 total, but Cummins’ 30 off 24 balls hauled them to a more respectable 159.Varun Chakravarthy finished with 2 for 26 off his four overs•Associated Press

KKR ace the chase

After doing a good job behind the stumps, Rahmanullah Gurbaz eased himself in with the bat in what was his first outing this season.Phil Salt had left the IPL to link up with the England side, and Gurbaz slotted into his role and picked off 23 off 14 balls. He hit four boundaries and when he aimed for a fifth, T Natarajan had him holing out in his first over.Three overs later, Cummins bounced out Narine for 21 off 16 balls, but KKR’s openers had already done enough damage in the powerplay by slashing 63 runs off their target.The Iyers – captain Shreyas and Venkatesh – then struck up an unbroken 97 partnership for the third wicket off only 44 balls to turn their chase into a cruise. Along the way, both batters posted half-centuries and it was Shreyas who finished it off in grand style in the 14th over, with a sequence of 6, 4, 6, 6 off Head.