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New signing shines and Dan Lawrence adds 17-ball 50 as Essex rack up 226 for 4 in innings reduced to 15 overs

ECB Reporters Network19-Jul-2019Cameron Delport smashed an astonishing 129 from only 49 balls as Essex crushed Surrey by 52 runs in their Vitality Blast battle at Chelmsford that had been reduced to 15 overs per side because of a rain delay.It was carnage and had the crowd repeatedly taking evasive action as a torrent of sixes rained down upon them. In all Delport cleared the ropes on 14 occasions while recording the fastest century in the competition by an Essex player.He reached three figures from only 38 deliveries but was not the only one that had the spectators ducking for cover as Essex ran up a remarkable 226 for 4.Dan Lawrence joined in the big-hitting spectacular with an unbeaten 57 from 22 balls that included six sixes and two fours. He reached his half-century from just 17 deliveries while creating another slice of Essex history. It was the fastest 50 for the county in the competition and with Delport added 135 in only seven overs.Delport walked off to a standing ovation after being caught on the long-on boundary off Jade Durnbach, the only Surrey bowler who emerged with decent figures. His permitted three overs went for only 21 while in complete contrast Tom Curran conceded 63 in his permitted three overs while being hammered for six sixes and five fours.Surrey needed something bordering on the miraculous if they were to make a fight of it and Will Jacks very briefly suggested the impossible might be achieved. He smashed four successive fours in Shane Snater’s opening over and then dispatched the first two deliveries from Matt Quinn for six.But in the same over, one which proved remarkable, he was caught at midwicket by Ravi Bopara. That was the first of three wickets that Quinn collected in the space of four deliveries as Surrey crashed to 32 for 4. Sam Curran was caught behind while Ben Foakes was caught in the deep. Adam Zampa then weighed in with the dismissal of Rikki Clarke, the third duck of the innings as the visitors lurched from one disaster to another.Aaron Finch who watched the demise of his colleagues at the other end did his best to give the Surrey innings a hint of respectability by making 40 from 19 balls, that included two sixes and four fours, before he was bowled by Bopara.Tom Curran’s night to forget was compounded by him scoring only four runs before he became a victim of Snater.Rory Burns and Jordan Clark also tried bravely whilst scoring 47 not out and 45 respectively at better than a run a ball as they posted a partnership of 79 in seven overs late in the innings but it was not enough to save Surrey from their first defeat at the hands of Essex in five matches in the competition, as their innings closed on 174 for 7.

Bowling coach B Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar are going to retain their positions for another two years

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-20192:07

India support staff interviews done in fair manner – chief selector MSK Prasad

Former India batsman and selector Vikram Rathour is all set to replace Sanjay Bangar as the new batting coach of the senior men’s team, with only formalities left to be completed. However, bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar will retain their positions for another two years. India’s selection panel, led by MSK Prasad, shortlisted three candidates each for all the support staff positions with Rathour, Arun and Sridhar leading their respective lists in “order of priority” as “unanimous” choices, and will be officially appointed after formalities, barring any conflict-of-interest possibilities.The two other candidates shortlisted in each category were Bangar and former England batsman Mark Ramprakash for batting coach, Paras Mhambrey and Venkatesh Prasad for bowling coach, and Abhay Sharma and T Dilip for fielding coach. These men, barring Ramprakash, will work with the ‘A’ team, and at times at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.The support staff will be appointed for a period of two years, starting with the home series against South Africa in September and lasting till the T20 World Cup in 2021.Prasad did not give a specific reason why only Bangar was being replaced in the support staff. “In the last five years, there is definitely some amount of improvement. Looking ahead, with the Test Championship coming up and two T20 World Cups, we thought that there should be freshness in the department,” Prasad explained. “That’s the reason why we went ahead with Vikram Rathour as first choice.”He was the director of HPCA [Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association], he was also the coach of Punjab Cricket Association, he was also an assistant coach with Kings XI Punjab, so he’s got enough experience behind him. Apart from that, he has been doing a lot of assignments with the National Cricket Academy, so we are convinced with his skill-sets and we thought that he’d be our first preference.”Associated Press

That Rathour is the brother-in-law of former India offspinner and current Under-19 selector Aashish Kapoor also came up as a possible conflict-of-interest possibility but BCCI chief executive Rahul Johri clarified that there were no such issues.”This was discussed at the CoA meeting also because the CoA was presented with the shortlist,” Johri said. “Now, his brother-in-law is the selector of the Under-19 junior committee, and this is the batting coach of the men’s senior team, so we do not think there’s any conflict of interest.”A total of 14 candidates were interviewed for batting coach, 12 for bowling coach, nine for fielding coach, 16 for physiotherapist, 12 for strength and conditioning coach, and 24 for administrative manager. All the interviews for the above positions took place in Mumbai from Monday to Thursday.When asked, Prasad said that the team management and two Cricket Advisory Committee members – Kapil Dev and Anshuman Gaekwad – were also asked for their views for the support staff positions but the selection committee took the final decisions on its own “in a fair manner”. Prasad, however, suggested that going ahead, officially involving the CAC chairman could be helpful in picking the support staff. “The CAC chairman will definitely add value because they’ve conducted the interview for the head coach so there will be continuity and consistency,” he said.Among the selectors, Prasad, Sarandeep Singh, Gagan Khoda and Jatin Paranjape were present in person, while Devang Gandhi attended via video conference from the West Indies while conducting the interviews.The candidates shortlisted for the post of physiotherapist were Nitin Patel, Andrew Leipus and Vaibhav Daga, and the three finalised for the post of administrative manager were Girish Dongre, Venkatesh Rajagopalan and Anand Yalvigi. The selection panel also decided to call the following candidates for a second round of interviews for the post of strength and conditioning coach: Luke Woodhouse, Grant Luden, Rajnikanth Sivagnanam, Nick Webb and Anand Date.The contracts of head coach Ravi Shastri and the entire support staff had expired after the World Cup before they got a temporary extension for the ongoing tour of the West Indies and the USA. Shastri was then reappointed for a two-year period earlier this month by the CAC and the selection panel was tasked with appointing the support staff.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh are in danger of losing a fourth consecutive ODI

The Preview by Madushka Balasuriya in Colombo27-Jul-2019

Big picture

The margin of defeat may have been large, but Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal was optimistic in his analysis of the first ODI.”I thought the wicket was really good, 310 [314] I felt was a decent score. At half time we were happy, because I thought we came back strongly. And we believed that we had a chance of chasing this down,” he said after the game on Friday.But, of course, that analysis was with a certain Lasith Malinga removed from the equation. Fortunately for Bangladesh, all their future equations for the remainder of this series will not involve Malinga.While that may give their top order a little more cause for optimism, there were nevertheless a few other concerns. In the field Bangladesh were sloppy, their bowlers wayward, and their batsman – Malinga yorker victims aside – wasteful. In summary, this looked a far cry from the team that had performed so admirably at the World Cup, and they will be fired up to take this series to a decider.For Sri Lanka, much went right in the first game. They will have been pleased to see the top order clicking into gear, and the pace and threat of seamers Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep would also have offered hope going forward. However, a lack of finishing ability at the death with the bat could have come back to haunt them on another, Malinga-less night, while their continuing inability to pick up wickets in the middle overs, nor stem the flow of runs therein, was again highlighted.All things considered, expect a much closer affair second time around.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh LLLWL

In the spotlight

Tamim Iqbal got a Malinga classic to uproot his stumps in the first game, to go with a dropped catch earlier in the match. With Malinga now no longer a threat, Tamim will be hoping to build a better platform for his middle order to capitalise on.Lasith Malinga was almost a one-man wrecking crew on Friday night, but his performance overshadowed that of Nuwan Pradeep, who picked up three wickets himself. Now tasked with leading the line on his own, Pradeep needs to show Sri Lanka’s fast-bowling legacy is in good hands.

Team news

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Dhananjaya de Silva, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Dasun Shanaka, 10 Nuwan Pradeep, 11 Lahiru KumaraBangladesh (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Mohammad Mithun, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Sabbir Rahman, 7 Mossadek Hossain, 8 Mehidy Hasan, 9 Shafiul Islam, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Rubel Hossain

Pitch and conditions

Khettarama has always been good for batting, as it proved in the first ODI. With the skies expected to be clear, winning the toss and batting should be a no-brainer.

Stats and trivia

• It has been 23 completed games since Sri Lanka last won two ODIs in a row, dating back to August 2018. They haven’t won a home series since defeating West Indies in November 2015
• Apart from Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka is now Bangladesh’s most frequent ODI opponent with 46 games played between them
• Bangladesh haven’t lost four ODIs in a row since 2017

Quotes

“I thought we started very poorly with the ball, we gave away way too many easy boundaries to them. The whole batting line-up, right throughout, was also very disappointing.”

“We have some good fast bowlers, but we also need to keep an eye out for new talent that we can fast track. Do they bowl a good slower ball, or a good yorker? We need to find bowlers like that and get them to focus on improving those particular skills. If we keep waiting for bowlers to gain experience before coming into the side, we’re going to miss out on talent.”

New Zealand spinner to fill vacancy left by Keshav Maharaj and the injured Adil Rashid for last two games of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2019Ajaz Patel, the New Zealand spinner, will play the final two games of the County Championship season for Yorkshire, replacing Keshav Maharaj as the club’s overseas player.Patel, who took nine wickets in New Zealand’s 1-1 draw in their Test series in Sri Lanka last month, has spent most of the English summer playing club cricket as Cranleigh’s overseas professional.Yorkshire can mathematically still win the Championship – though would be reliant on Essex and Somerset suffering a severe downturn in form if they were to win the title.”I came over to play at Cranleigh CC this winter, hopefully with the opportunity to pick up some county cricket while I was over here,” Patel said. “But I obviously got called into the New Zealand squad for the Sri Lanka Tests while I was over there. It all happened pretty quickly from there, I got the call and jumped at the opportunity really.”It’s exciting and Yorkshire are in with a chance of winning another County Championship. It’s a club with a lot of history and one that’s been pretty successful in the championship in the past. I’m coming for two games and hope to contribute as much as I can and to try to do as much as I can to help Yorkshire into the best position to be able to win the competition as they approach the end of the season.”I’ve had a good tour of Sri Lanka, where I was quite successful in their conditions. Confidence-wise I’m feeling good and the ball is coming out really nicely.”Yorkshire have been without Adil Rashid for the entirety of their Championship season due to international duty and injuries, while Josh Poysden has missed the second half of the campaign due to a freak head injury after being struck during a nets session.As a result, they have had to recruit from elsewhere to find a spinner. Dom Bess played four games on loan from Somerset, while Maharaj is the same number of games into his stint as an overseas player.Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, said: “Ajaz has had a good last two or three seasons in domestic cricket and he’s currently in the New Zealand Test squad. We feel he’s well qualified to come in and be available for the last two games for us, when hopefully we can continue our push to finish as high as possible in the County Championship.”We want to finish as high in the County Championship as possible; mathematically it’s possible that we can still win it and we want to give ourselves the best possible opportunity. We looked at the options to fill Kesh’s shoes and we think Ajaz is the best to do that.”We’ve spoken to those that know him well and he has been one of the most consistent performers in domestic cricket and he has done well in Sri Lanka for New Zealand recently.”

The development comes after Narendra Hirwani and T Dilip were chosen as bowling and fielding coaches for India women’s upcoming tour of the West Indies

Nagraj Gollapudi18-Oct-2019Former India women captains Diana Edulji and Shanta Rangaswamy have pulled up the BCCI management over the appointments of ad-hoc assistant coaches for the Indian women’s team, which they pointed out were done without the consent of the women’s selection committee.On Friday, both women sent separate e-mails to BCCI chief executive officer Rahul Johri objecting to the process involved in appointing the support staff. While Edulji called the process a “sham”, Rangaswamy questioned why there were no women being appointed.Edulji is part of the committee of administrators (CoA), which is the supervisory authority of the board till a fresh elected administration takes charge. Rangaswamy will be part of that new administration after being elected as one of the two representatives from the Indian Cricketers’ Association to sit on the Apex Council.The development comes a day after the women’s selection committee sent an email to Johri asking why the five-woman panel was not consulted before Narendra Hirwani was appointed the bowling coach and T Dilip was installed as the fielding coach for India’s forthcoming tour of West Indies.The Caribbean trip comprises three ODIs followed by five T20Is between November 1 and 20. The head coach of the team is former India opening batsman WV Raman, who was shortlisted by an ad-hoc cricket advisory committee that incidentally featured Rangaswamy.According to the , the email to Johri was sent by Hemalata Kala, the chairman of the senior women’s selection committee, and was signed by the four other selectors comprising Sudha Shah, Anjali Pendharkar, Shashi Gupta and Lopamudra Banerjee. Kala and her colleagues wanted to know why they were not consulted before the BCCI management finalised the support staff including the appointment of a trainer, as well as renewing the contract of the physiotherapist.Diana Edulji and Vinod Rai emerge from a CoA meeting•Getty Images

Incidentally, the selectors were asked by the BCCI management to conduct interviews on Friday for the post of the video analyst that would travel for the West Indies series. However, in her email to Johri, Edulji pointed out that Pushkar Sawant, who works as an analyst at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), had already been booked on the flight to the Caribbean after he was chosen by Saba Karim, BCCI’s general manager of cricket.”I am shocked reading the article quoting the email from Women Selectors to you regarding the sham process being followed for selection of the video analyst,” Edjulji said in her e-mail, seen by ESPNcricinfo. “It is even more worrisome that the person Mr Pushkar Sawant, wanted by Saba and NCA is already booked on the flight to West Indies. The whole process looks like an eyewash.”Although Johri is at the top of the BCCI management tree, women’s cricket falls under the purview of Karim, the former India wicketkeeper and former national men’s selector. It is understood that on October 1, the coaching and support staff appointment for the women’s team was discussed at a meeting of the committee of administrators (CoA) along with Karim and Johri. Also present at the meeting was former India captain Rahul Dravid, who is director of cricket at the NCA.According to one of the officials present at the meeting, Dravid agreed with the BCCI management viewpoint that ad-hoc assistant coaches for the women’s team were fine as they could be picked based on the conditions. However, Edulji argued that the BCCI rules dictate that only the selection committee could appoint any support staff. It is believed that Dravid then said that the process should be followed.Edulji noted that Karim had defied “repeated instructions” because he wanted to “place” people in positions without “due process.” Edulji said Karim’s actions amounted to “insubordination” and said that rules had to be followed. If not, Johri was equally “culpable” she pointed out. “This is the National Indian Team that is travelling and such shabby treatment is being doled out to them. I wonder if you would do this to the men’s team.”Edulji also told Johri she had received the email Rangaswamy had sent him overnight saying “established practices” concerning coaching and support staff appointment were being bypassed “deliberately by the powers that be” to “accommodate” the people they had shortlisted.Rangaswamy told ESPNcricnfo that she was forced to write that email after she had a word with Kala on Thursday. “The selectors were not even aware of the appointments,” Rangaswamy said. “It seems they did it purposely to accommodate person(s) of someone’s choice.”Rangaswamy said she also wanted to understand the policy of BCCI appointing men to take lead coaching roles of various women’s teams. “Are they averse to women in coaching? As far as possible they must encourage the women (coaches) with the women’s team. If you don’t have sufficient women capable of handling, but when they are equipped and willing why are we not giving them the opportunities?”Rangaswamy presented two examples of women coaches leading India successfully. In 2005 Sudha Shah, who is on the senior women’s selection panel currently, was the head coach when India finished runner-up at the ODI World Cup. Then former India batsman Purnima Rau was the head coach when the Indian women won the one-off Tests in England (in July) and then at home in November against South Africa. Rau was also in charge when India beat New Zealand to win the ODI series at home in 2015.Rangaswamy said she had nothing personal against any individual in the BCCI. She reiterated that stance when Karim and Johri spoke to her on Friday, assuring her that the process set in the BCCI constitution would be followed.Johri was not available for comment, but it is understood that the management wanted the best qualified hands to oversee the Indian women teams. One official said that as much he agrees with the point that women coaches need to be given exposure, one could just not blindly allow former women players to take key jobs without due consideration.Rangaswamy said that players like Neetu David and Nooshin al Kadeer, who had enough experience and pedigree, could be part of the system and given some coaching roles including at the NCA. “Let them train under Raman or at the NCA zonal camps.”

He cited a lack of “confidence” in the administration while announcing his decision via social media on Thursday

Firdose Moonda14-Nov-2019Graeme Smith has withdrawn his interest from Cricket South Africa’s director of cricket role, citing a lack of “confidence” in the administration. Smith announced his decision via social media on Thursday.”I would love to have taken on the role. However, despite my obvious desire to make a difference, during the long and, at times, frustrating process over the last ten or so weeks of discussions, I have not developed the necessary confidence that I would be given the level of freedom and support to initiate the required changes,” he wrote in his statement. Last Saturday, ESPNcricinfo broke the news that Smith was interviewed for the position alongside at least two other candidates: suspended interim director of cricket Corrie van Zyl and former national selector Hussein Manack. Local media has since reported that a fourth person, Dave Nosworthy, who has coached in South Africa and the United Kingdom is also in contention. A decision is expected to be made imminently, with the appointment due to be confirmed before England tour South Africa next month.While Smith did not go into detail about the reasons for U-turning on what will be the most important position in South African cricket, he used words that have become part of the cricketing rhetoric in the country.CSA is fighting fires on several counts including against the players’ association (SACA), that has taken the board to court over a proposed domestic restructure, and against the second-biggest association in the country, Western Province, whose board has been suspended. Like Smith, SACA has reported frustrations in their dealings with CSA, dating back 18 months when a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CSA and SACA, which governs the players’ employment conditions, was being negotiated. Delays saw the previous MoU expire and a new one only come into place three months later.CSA’s most significant battle is financial and they have projected losses of R654 million in the next four-year cycle. A large portion of those losses are caused by the ongoing Mzansi Super League (MSL), which is in its second season. After failing to sell broadcast rights for the first edition, CSA had to foot the entire bill for the tournament, which is believed to be in the region of R80 million. This season, the public broadcaster, the SABC, is understood to have paid a small fee as a token gesture and CSA will once again spend millions of Rands.Smith has no involvement with the competition, despite carving out a career as a commentator, because it is not being broadcast on the pay television channel SuperSport. Smith did not elaborate on his future plans but he is expected to be behind the microphone when England visit, and said he remains available to “give my advice and guidance wherever I can.”

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2019December 8Time to make South African cricket ‘great again’ – Faf du PlessisDecember 7Jacques Faul appointed acting CEODecember 6
ECB keep ‘watching brief’ as chaos mounts in South AfricaCSA CEO Thabang Moroe suspended for alleged misconductSouth Africa lose title sponsor as freefall continuesDecember 5
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The BCB, however, is willing to play the T20I leg of the tour in Pakistan

Umar Farooq18-Dec-2019Bangladesh’s tour of Pakistan, scheduled for next month, is now facing uncertainty with the BCB offering to play only T20Is in Pakistan, while asking that the two-Test series be shifted to a neutral venue.”We have had a round of correspondence with them [the BCB] and they are happy to play three T20s in Pakistan but they are slightly reluctant to play two Tests,” Wasim Khan, the PCB CEO, told a press conference on Wednesday. “I have written back to them, being very strong in my response, and asked the reason why. We have our security plans signed off by ICC and it has been signed off for a while now.”Sri Lanka are going to compete their series here and everything went very safely with all security provisions in place. So we are asking Bangladesh what is the reason for you not wanting to come. It (correspondence) is not finished yet and it doesn’t mean they are not coming. They are talking about three T20s, but for us playing Test cricket in another country isn’t an option now.”ALSO READ – BCB chief positive about getting security clearance for Pakistan tourSri Lanka are in the middle of a two-Test series in Pakistan – the first Tests in the country since the terrorist attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore in March 2009 – with the second Test set to begin in Karachi on Thursday. The visiting players have given positive feedback about the security arrangements on the tour. An MCC team, led by Kumar Sangakkara, is also scheduled to tour Pakistan next year, and the PCB is set to host the entirety of the Pakistan Super League in Pakistan as well.These moves are part of the PCB’s plan to bring all of Pakistan’s home cricket back to Pakistan, and away from neutral venues such as the UAE, which had been the primary “home” venue since 2009. ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB felt it was not financially viable to host lower-ranked teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the UAE.The Bangladesh tour of Pakistan comprises three T20Is, scheduled to be held in Lahore on January 23, 25 and 27, followed by two Tests, which were originally slated to be held in Rawalpindi and Karachi. Before the new offer to split the series, the tour was hanging in the balance with the BCB awaiting government approval on touring a country Bangladesh has not enjoyed friendly terms with historically.Bangladeshi sides have toured Pakistan in the recent past, but the senior men’s team hasn’t done so since playing a five-match ODI series there in 2007-08. Since then, Pakistan have toured Bangladesh twice, in 2011-12 and 2015. . Seven years ago, they were close to deciding on a tour to Pakistan, only for the AHM Mustafa Kamal-led BCB to pull out shortly after the decision to tour was taken.The move aggravated relations between the PCB and the BCB. The PCB stopped communications with the BCB and barred Pakistan’s cricketers – who had already been auctioned to various teams – from featuring in the Bangladesh Premier League. Relations later improved during Shahryar Khan’s term as PCB chairman, and Pakistan invited Bangladesh for a two-match T20I series in 2017, only for the BCB to rebuff the invitation.

The hosts were bundled out for 129 before Imran and Ibrahim struck fifties to shrug off the target

The Report by Sreshth Shah in Kimberley17-Jan-2020What began as a carnival in Kimberley, soon turned to a nightmare for the home fans as South Africa were bamboozled by Afghanistan’s wristspinners to lose their opening game by seven wickets. Shafiqullah Ghafari was Afghanistan’s wrecker-in-chief, taking 6 for 15 – the joint seventh-best figures in the tournament’s history – as South Africa collapsed from 62 for 2 to 129 all out in the space of 16.3 overs.For nearly that whole period of play, Ghafari bowled relentlessly from one end, troubling a batting unit that looked out of place against quality spin bowling. Once he put South Africa on the mat, Afghanistan’s experienced batting unit – led by Test player Ibrahim Zadran – helped the visitors claim victory with 150 balls to spare, handing them a massive net run-rate boost. For South Africa, their net run-rate went in the opposite direction, and are now looking at the prospect of an early exit from their home World Cup if they don’t defeat both UAE and Canada in their following games.Afghanistan’s victory should not come as a surprise. Two months ago, they lost 3-2 to India in a five-game series, but not before giving the defending Under-19 champions a scare in two of those games. Barring Noor Ahmad, the 15-year-old who recently became the youngest man to feature in an IPL auction, each of their players are regular members of their first-class teams. In Zadran, they even have someone who has played Test and ODI cricket for Afghanistan.On the other hand, among South Africa’s top six batsmen, only one – Jonathan Bird – has played first-class cricket, while their captain Bryce Parsons and Andrew Louw have played two and three senior-level T20s, respectively. Although their bowlers have more experience in senior-level cricket, they eventually had too few runs to play with. That gap in experience came to the fore, and has now made Afghanistan a favourite to progress to the next stage.The day had begun with the opening ceremony at the Diamond Oval, attended by children from local schools, who saw a traditional dance show performed by 130 men, women and children from the Galeshewe local township. It ended with most of those schoolkids engrossed in their own little games of cricket on the grass-banks as No.5 Abid Mohammadi struck the winning runs in the 25th over.Afghanistan’s celebrations were muted, however, perhaps a reflection of their self-belief and confidence, as the two captains shook hands and brought the first game of the tournament to a close, much to the disappointment of the locals who began to exit the arena long before the game’s conclusion.The toss was won by South Africa, and after that, they were given a pep talk from former international captain Graeme Smith and past U-19 captain Aiden Markram. The Afghan players, instead, were spotted practicing their fielding in the deep, taking boundary catches in combination with other players that are now common in T20 cricket, before taking the field for the game.For the hosts, their only bright spot was the third-wicket partnership between Parsons (40) and No. 4 Luke Beaufort (25). But it was sandwiched between a fiery fast-bowling spell delivered by left-arm seamer Fazal Haque – who took two wickets in his first two overs – and Ghafari’s magic. After Fazal’s early breakthroughs, Parsons and Beaufort put on 55 for the third wicket to restore some belief in the home crowd, but that ended when Noor was introduced into the attack.Once Noor dismissed Parsons, it opened one end up, and Ghafari removed Levert Manje and Jack Lees for ducks in his first two overs. Noor then dismissed the set Beaufort, the sixth South African wicket and after that, Ghafari removed the four lower-order batsmen across his next five overs. In all, seven South Africa batsmen were out for 8 or less, and if it wasn’t for Gerald Coetzee’s 23-ball cameo of 38 from No. 9, South Africa could well have been dismissed for less than 100.In their chase, Afghanistan found the gaps against the pace bowlers regularly to keep the scoreboard moving. Zadran’s experience as a member of the senior Afghnaistan team came to prominence, as he anchored his team’s innings with a 72-ball 52 while Imran Mir enthralled the crowd with some lofty shots, scoring 57 in 48 balls. Both reached half-centuries and fell only after bringing Afghanistan close to the target.

A change in approach and finals pressure worked beautifully in concert for Stars, allowing them to squeeze Thunder into defeat

The Report by Daniel Brettig06-Feb-2020A change in approach and finals pressure worked beautifully in concert for the Melbourne Stars, allowing them to squeeze the Sydney Thunder into defeat after a rousing post-season campaign and delivering the hosts a place in the Big Bash League decider against the Sydney Sixers at the SCG, on what is likely to be a very soggy Saturday night at the SCG.Batting first at their captain Glenn Maxwell’s request, Marcus Stoinis and Nick Larkin provided the spine of the innings with a pair of identical scores that had contrasting constructions and also expectations. Stoinis, as the tournament’s leading run-maker, did what has been expected of him at the top of the order in the style of an experienced professional, while Larkin showed why the Stars had kept faith with him over the past two seasons, coming to the boil beautifully with one of the best and certainly most high profile innings of his career in front of 13,067 spectators.Their efforts gave the Stars 194 to defend, and with Nathan Coulter-Nile providing an impactful contribution to see off Alex Hales and Usman Khawaja before Haris Rauf accounted for the Thunder captain Callum Ferguson, Maxwell and his bowlers were able to steadily ramp up the squeeze on the visitors. Rearguards from Alex Ross and Arjun Nair were not enough, meaning the Stars will travel north for a final they would have hosted had they not been beaten badly by the Sixers in the battle between first and second last week.Role reversal suits StarsNot since 2014 had the Stars last chosen to bat first in a BBL final when given the option, and only Maxwell, Stoinis and Dan Worrall were still playing for them back then. So it was a major change in approach when the coin came down on the right side for Maxwell, but a shrewd one given the Stars had lost four in a row batting second, while the Thunder’s rise from fifth on the ladder to the cusp of the tournament decider has been characterised by their staunch defence in the field and with the ball as Callum Ferguson swung his bowlers around with supple captaincy.And as the Stars crunched 26 from the first two overs and the Thunder reprieved both Stoinis and Larkin with early dropped catches – Jay Lenton’s off a Stoinis leg glance from Chris Morris one of the worst of the entire season – the role reversal appeared to create a dominant theme for the evening. Stoinis certainly enjoyed the chance to reprise the role he took up when coshing 147 against the Sydney Sixers at the MCG after the Stars had been sent in, while Larkin grew into his innings with a calmness that allowed the rate to slow to 7.76 after 13 overs before acceleration.Nick Larkin uses his power to good effect•Getty Images

Cook attacked, Maxwell not neededOne of the Thunder’s strongest suits against the Hurricanes and the Strikers was the whippy wrist spin of Jono Cook, who had returned figures of 5 for 37 from the two finals and revelled in bowling second to put opponents under pressure. He seemed destined for a more difficult night from his second ball this night, as he drifted full to Stoinis and was punched back down the ground. For a bowler with a style that lends itself to targeting the stumps, Cook strayed wide too often, giving Stoinis room to free his arms, and only bowled for three overs costing 36 for 0.As a result of that analysis and the keeping of wickets in hand, Stoinis and Larkin were able to free their arms with terrifying effect for the visitors in the final overs. Tallies of 18, 14 and 12 came from overs 14, 15 and 16, and after Stoinis was bowled behind his pads by a relieved Morris – having reached the highest ever aggregate for a single BBL – it was Larkin who was able to take control as Maxwell arrived for the closing overs. Forty-nine were clumped from the final four overs, of which Maxwell was required to score only four: there’s a ratio no-one expected before the start of the game.Coulter-Nile has one of those nightsFor the Thunder to be a chance, they needed Alex Hales to maintain his run of five consecutive scores over 40 and Usman Khawaja to support him in the manner seen when they helped usurp the Hurricanes at Bellerive Oval. But the Stars had in their line-ups one of the more mercurial players in recent Australian cricket history: Coulter-Nile. Team-mates and opponents alike have spoken of days and sessions in which Coulter-Nile “clicks” and turns a game, and here he did it in the field with the ball.Unable to find the boundary early, Hales chanced a quick single to Coulter-Nile’s right arm at mid on and paid for it with a direct hit that saw him run out by about a centimetre. When Maxwell called Coulter Nile into the attack he scythed through Khawaja’s attempted slog to splay the stumps, celebrating raucously with Adam Zampa after he did so. By way of a follow-up, Haris maintained his domination of Ferguson, a bouncer down the leg side snaffling the Thunder skipper for the third time in 10 balls faced this tournament, and placing the game all but in the Stars’ keeping.Ross rearguard can’t save ThunderOne quality batsman remained in the path of the Stars. Ross’ ability to combine improvisation and power has made him a valuable commodity in Australian domestic cricket for some years, and in the company of Nair, among the league’s most unconventional hitters, he was still capable of wresting the match from the hosts’ strong grasp. After a period of slowing down and taking stock as Nair sliced boundaries where he could, Ross looked to take on the task of wrenching the runs he needed.His first target, having reached his second 50 of this tournament, was the Australian limited-overs spin bowler Zampa, and he got a hold of one leg break with sufficient force to send it flying well into the seats in between the two team dug outs, and next ball shouldered arms to a wide. Zampa, though, was able to respond with something tighter to Ross’ legs and thus harder to get under, resulting in a catching chance in the deep. Nic Maddinson, for all his batting struggles over the competition, took a tremendous running catch, and that was to be more or less that.