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After Sri Lanka lost a wicket before they had even scored a run, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Silva wiped 187 runs off Bangladesh’s 513

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Feb-2018Stumps Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva run between the wickets•Associated Press

Mahmudullah’s 83 not out heaved Bangladesh to 513, before the two big hopes of Sri Lanka’s top order – Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis – wiped 187 runs off the deficit together, and remained unbeaten at the close of play.Though the spinners had a little more purchase, this was, in short, another batting day in Chittagong. Rangana Herath did impose himself on the match for the first time and Mehidy Hasan took the only Sri Lanka wicket with the new ball, when the opposition were still scoreless. But only the occasional ball turned sharply, and the quicks had little assistance. By mounting such a monumental score, however, Bangladesh have given themselves a cushion – Sri Lanka must bat well again on Friday to come to a position of parity.De Silva, rarely rattled, was calm and assertive from the outset, driving impeccably, and never shy to flit around the crease in the course of manufacturing of a dab or a lap sweep against the spinners. There is growing sentiment that he is one of Sri Lanka’s most versatile Test batsmen, and this innings was further evidence. No portion of the field was unfruitful for Dananjaya, and bowler could trouble him for long. If a few dot balls mounted, he would slink down the pitch to loft the spinner over the offside, or back away to punch him square of the pitch. Where many batsmen fear losing their wickets just before a break, Dananjaya saw opportunity; thrice he ran at Taijul Islam in the over before tea, and thrice he hoisted him over the infield for boundaries. In between the big blows, singles and twos, eased comfortably through the field – no fuss, just confident Test batting.The only half-chance off de Silva’s bat came when he was on 65, and Mustafizur Rahman drew an edge with a ball that straightened. The chance flew low between first and second slip, neither fielder getting close to the ball. A few overs later, Taijul Islam hit him on the pad after he had skipped down the track, and Bangladesh burned one of their reviews, now quite desperate to dislodge him. As he had been struck more than three metres from the stumps, the ball tracking did not even come into play. Six overs later, after a minor deceleration during the nineties, Dananjaya struck a sublime backfoot punch off Taijul to complete a 122-ball century. It was his second triple-figure score in as many innings: the excellent match-saving hundred at Delhi being his most recent effort.Mendis’ innings, was not nearly as convincing. He had been beaten repeatedly by Sunzamul Islam in the early overs, and was often uncomfortable against each of Bangladesh’s three left-arm spinners, right until the final over of the day. He could have been caught in the slips twice. He was dropped by a diving Mehidy on four, off the bowling of Mustafizur, and later, Mehidy had a similarly difficult chance go down of his own bowling. Batting on 57, Mendis edged a straighter delivery, that just evaded he keeper’s gloves, but was too fine for slip to lay a hand on it. There was an lbw review against him also, but as the ball was passing over the stumps, the original decision prevailed.In between the tetchy moments, were flashes of Mendis skill – the rocket-powered flat sweeps, and the rapid pull shots whenever the bowlers dropped short. All six of Mendis’ intentional boundaries came on the legside, as did a majority of his singles. This being his comeback Test innings after being dropped for the tour of India, Mendis stuck largely to his stronger scoring areas. The two had come together after Dimuth Karunaratne fell in the third over, edging Mehidy to slip.Earlier on day two, Mahmudullah had been the spine in a good lower-order batting effort from Bangladesh. Though they had lost two quick wickets inside the first seven overs – including that of overnight centurion Mominul Haque – Mahmudullah had combined with Sunzamul Islam to ensure Bangladesh remained on track for a score of over 500. The two put on 58 for the eighth wicket, before Sunzamul was stumped down the legside, having failed to read a Lakshan Sandakan googly. Mahmudhullah trusted his tail-end partners. Only when No. 11 Mustafizur came to the crease did he kick his own innings into a higher tempo, and even then, did not turn down singles.Suranga Lakmal dismissed Mustafizur with a short ball to finish with the innings’ best figures of 3 for 58. The spinners’ returned far less flattering numbers. Dilruwan Perera and Herath both conceded well over a hundred runs, and Lakshan Sandakan had 2 for 92.

A strong all-round performance from Arjun Nair was not enough to drag the Cricket Australia XI to its first win of the season, as Victoria claimed a double bonus point in their four-wicket win

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2016

ScorecardArjun Nair scored 67 and then picked up 3 for 53 to earn the Man of the Match honour in a losing cause•Getty Images

A strong all-round performance from Arjun Nair was not enough to drag the Cricket Australia XI to its first win of the season, as Victoria claimed a double bonus point in their four-wicket win. Chasing 154, the Bushrangers reached the target inside 25 overs, but lost six wickets along the way, including three to Nair.Nair had opened the batting for the CA XI earlier in the day and made 67, the only batsman in his side to pass 20. Fawad Ahmed picked up 4 for 43 from his 10 overs, including the important wicket of Nair, who holed out to long-on in the 30th over at a time when he could still have lifted the CA XI to a competitive total.Marcus Stoinis picked up 3 for 28 and helped ensure the CA XI innings petered out, dismissed for 153 in the 38th over. Victoria’s win was never in serious doubt, especially after a 69-run opening stand between Cameron White (29) and Marcus Harris, which ended when Harris was bowled by Nair for 36.But in their push for the double bonus point, the Victorians did lose a few more wickets than they might have liked, as Nair and Brendan Doggett (2 for 36) did their best to keep the CA XI in the contest. However, the result meant that after four games the CA XI was still without a win, while Victoria jumped to second place from just three matches.

The four-team Asia Cup T20 Qualifier will be held in Bangladesh from February 19 to 22

Peter Della Penna04-Nov-2015The four-team Asia Cup T20 Qualifier will be held in Bangladesh from February 19 to 22. Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Oman and UAE will play each other to decide the one Associate who will advance to the main draw involving the region’s four Full Member teams.ESPNcricinfo understands the format for the qualifier will feature a single round-robin stage with each team playing three matches and the team that finishes on top will advance to the main event. In case two teams finish with the same points, their net run rates will be used as tiebreaker.Sources had earlier indicated that the qualifier might be played in November in the UAE due to the fact that Hong Kong are touring to play UAE for a four-day Intercontinental Cup match and two WCL Championship ODIs while Afghanistan are hosting Papua New Guinea at Sharjah in the I-Cup a few days later.Oman’s geographical proximity to the UAE was also a factor, but the four Asian teams will be playing a series of bilateral T20Is against each other from November 25 to 30. They will be the first T20Is for each country since the World T20 Qualifier in June. Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Oman have all qualified for the World T20 next March in India.

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored her seventh ODI fifty to guide the side to a five-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first ODI in Ahmedabad

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2013
ScorecardIndia captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s seventh ODI fifty guided the side to a five-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first of the three ODIs in Ahmedabad.Chasing 195, India had a sluggish start and Harmanpreet came in to bat when the score was 37 for 2 in the 13th over. An 83-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Harmanpreet and Anagha Deshpande revived the chase for India. Once Deshpande was out for a 50-ball 47, Harmanpreet and the lower middle order took India home with four balls to spare. Harmanpreet’s unbeaten 63 came off 100 balls and had only three fours.Earlier, Bangladesh chose to bat first and scored 194 for 9. They began at a fair pace but lost their openers quickly. Rumana Ahmed (38) and Lata Mondal (39) steadied the innings, but their partnership of 57 took 98 balls, slowing down the innings. After the pair was dismissed, captain Salma Khatun held one end up, bringing up her first ODI fifty. She received little support from the other end, however, as the Indian bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht, dismissed the middle and lower order. Khatun was unbeaten on 75 at the end of the innings and her 82-ball knock included 11 fours. Bisht finished with 3 for 27 while Shubhlakshmi Sharma picked up two wickets.

The fast bowler Jackson Bird has been named the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year after a remarkable debut season for Tasmania

Brydon Coverdale14-Mar-2012The fast bowler Jackson Bird has been named the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year after a remarkable debut season for Tasmania. Bird, 25, moved from New South Wales to Hobart last winter after being offered his first state contract and he has rewarded the Tigers by topping the Sheffield Shield wicket tally and helping them reach the Shield final against Queensland, which starts on Friday.Bird was handed his prize at the State Cricket Awards in Brisbane, winning the peer-voted award on 21 votes, ahead of Queensland’s Ben Cutting on 16, and a further three players – George Bailey, Ed Cowan and Liam Davis – all on 15. Bird did not make his first-class debut until the fourth game of Tasmania’s campaign, but he quickly made up for lost time.In his seven matches he has collected five five-wicket hauls and twice has taken ten wickets in a match. He also completed a hat-trick in Tasmania’s most recent game, and has surprised all onlookers, including the Tasmania bowling coach Ali de Winter, who recruited Bird after being impressed by his work in Sydney grade cricket and in the New South Wales Second XI.”It’s been an outstanding year for him, with 48 wickets in just the seven games,” de Winter told ESPNcricinfo after the awards. “It’s his consistency across all games and on various surfaces across the country that has been the really pleasing thing. His bowling has been way above expectations for us.”The South Australia batsman Tom Cooper was named the Ryobi Cup Player of the Year for his 366 runs at an average of 73.20. Cowan finished second in the one-day poll and Klinger, who led South Australia to the title and scored 81 in the final having made 112 in the game that secured them the home decider, came third.The ACA teams of the year for the three formats were also named, with Cooper and Victoria’s Rob Quiney the only m3n to feature in both the four-day and one-day 12-man squads. Surprisingly, the T20 side did not feature any players from the Sydney Sixers, who won the tournament.Leah Poulton and Lisa Sthalekar shared the Women’s National Cricket League award and Meg Lanning was named the Women’s T20 Player of the Year. The New South Wales fast bowler Josh Lalor was named the Lord’s Taverners Indigenous Cricketer of the Year. Simon Taufel won the Cricket Australia Umpire Award. Queensland won the Benaud Spirit of Cricket Award and the New South Wales women’s side won the WNCL Spirit of Cricket Award.Four-day Team of the Year Rob Quiney, Liam Davis, George Bailey (capt), Peter Forrest, Adam Voges (vice-capt), Daniel Christian, Peter Nevill (wk), Ben Cutting, Jayde Herrick, Jackson Bird, Michael Hogan, Tom Cooper (12th man).One-day Interstate Team of the Year Michael Klinger (capt), Matthew Wade (wk), Ed Cowan (vice-capt), Tom Cooper, Nathan Reardon, Rob Quiney, James Faulkner, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Jason Krejza, Alister McDermott, Callum Ferguson (12th man).Big Bash League Team of the Year Chris Gayle (vice-capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Travis Birt, Owais Shah, David Hussey (capt), Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Brad Hogg, Daniel Christian (12th man).

Sourav Ganguly has said he wasn’t bought in the IPL auction for reasons that have nothing to do with cricket, and that he doesn’t see a role for himself with the Kolkata Knight Riders

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2011Sourav Ganguly, who failed to attract bids from any of the 10 IPL franchises during the auction on January 8 and 9, has said he wasn’t bought for reasons that have nothing to do with cricket, and that he doesn’t see a place for himself in the Kolkata Knight Riders set-up.Kolkata, a team Ganguly led in the first and third seasons of the tournament, had offered him a role within the organisation. “Shah Rukh Khan spoke to me about a possible role as mentor. I don’t think Kolkata Knight Riders needs a mentor. I see no role there,” Ganguly told . The team already has enough expertise in [Dav] Whatmore and [Wasim] Akram. I wanted to play and not mentor the team. I didn’t see myself in the sort of a role [Anil] Kumble has chosen [with Royal Challengers Bangalore].”The franchise struggled to produce consistent results on the field, and Ganguly said that was because the team suffered from a “confidence problem”. “I felt there was panic every time we lost. There was panic among the owners, panic among the players. But you need continuity in a team to deliver, like Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.”When we don’t win three seasons in a row, there’s an opportunity to rebuild. I understand Kolkata felt they deserved better and when they got an opportunity to rebuild the team, they wanted to bring in some fresh faces.”He also expressed disbelief that none of the franchises thought he was worth a place based on his cricketing ability. “I had the runs. Players of my age, [Adam] Gilchrist, [Rahul] Dravid and [VVS] Laxman are still actively involved. I haven’t been able to put the finger on the button why I was left out. Cricketing logic and past form suggests I should have been picked. There are several reasons I could have been dropped, but not for cricket.”At the same time, Ganguly rubbished the perception that he comes with baggage and plays politics. “I have played cricket, five years as captain and eight years under different skippers. I have helped in building what the Indian team is today. And this doesn’t come by playing politics.”The Kochi franchise did write to the BCCI after the auction to ask if they could sign Ganguly, but some of the other franchises objected to the proposal, and it was shelved, to Ganguly’s dismay. “I was very disappointed when the franchises stalled the repurchase. The rules of the IPL have been changed in the past. Every rule in sport should give an opportunity to play, not keep them out. Whether it’s Sourav Ganguly today or some other player sometime.”When he is finally done playing the game, Ganguly plans to turn his attention to running it. “I am mentally preparing myself for an administrator’s role at some stage. I would love to be part of the Cricket Association of Bengal at some point of my life. I also would love to coach the Indian cricket team as well.”

The winners of the ICC’s Development Programme annual awards have been announced

Cricinfo staff01-Mar-2010The winners of the ICC’s Development Programme annual awards have been announced, with individuals and initiatives from associate and affiliate member countries from around the world being honoured.While Nepal celebrate their victory in the final of the World Cricket League Division 5, Binaya Raj Pandey, president of the Cricket Association of Nepal, received the programme’s Lifetime Service award. Namibia’s cricket development programme won Best Overall Cricket Development Programme, while the Deutsche Cricket Bund picked up the Best Women’s Cricket Initiative award.The Israel Cricket Association won the Best Spirit of Cricket Initiative for their programme, in partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF, which has introduced cricket as a means of bringing together Jewish and Bedouin children in the Negev Desert to promote co-existence and tolerance among those caught up in the Israel-Arab conflict.”It is wonderful to see so many of our Associates and Affiliates being recognised for all the hard work and effort they put into their cricket programmes,” said ICC global development manager Matthew Kennedy. “Everyone who has won and those who were not successful this time round should be congratulated for their continuing effort and dedication to improving cricket in their nation.”Ireland’s James Bennett and S Gopalkrishnan of Indonesia shared the Volunteer of the Year Award for their dedication and contribution to the game in 2009. The Photo of the Year also came from Ireland and was taken by Rob O’Connor. His picture captured the celebrations following the match-winning run out in a game between Leinster and West Glamorgan Under-13s.”This is great news for Irish cricket and I’m delighted for both winners, said Arthur Vincent, Cricket Ireland’s president. “Jim Bennett is a dedicated and tireless volunteer for Irish youth cricket, and it’s thanks to the likes of stalwarts like Jim why our youth system is the envy of many countries. He is quite simply a fantastic servant to the cause of cricket in the country and the award is richly deserved. Jim is a gentleman and a great ambassador for Irish cricket.”Rob O’Connor is involved with Irish cricket at many levels, and is a superb photographer,” he added. “His image captures for me the essence and the unspoilt sheer exuberance and enjoyment of young cricketers playing the game. It’s a great honour for both to have won these prestigious awards and a marvellous reflection on the healthy standard of cricket here.”The judging panel for the awards featured current ICC President David Morgan, former presidents Ehsan Mani, Malcolm Gray and Ray Mali, and Keith Bradshaw, MCC’s secretary and chief executive.

Australian keeper-batter has only played six games in past two BBL seasons

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2024Peter Handscomb will captain Leicestershire in the T20 Blast this season, with director of cricket Claude Henderson saying he has “all the necessary qualities” despite a lack of recent exposure to the format.Handscomb has only made six appearances across the last two seasons of Australia’s Big Bash League, and did not have a contract last year until Melbourne Stars called him in as a last-minute replacement following a sickening injury to their first-choice wicketkeeper Sam Harper.But Leicestershire are banking on Handscomb’s wider experience as they aim to qualify for T20 Finals Day for the first time since 2011, when they won their third T20 title. “I’m very excited to lead this team,” Handscomb said. “The balance of the side looks good and hopefully we can perform to the standards we’ve set ourselves.”Handscomb initially signed for Leicestershire for six County Championship fixtures last year but had his deal extended and ended up playing five times in the Blast, including three as captain. He signed a two-year extension to cover 2024 and 2025 at the end of last season and is their leading Championship run-scorer this season, with a century and three fifties in five innings.Related

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Leicestershire won the Metro Bank Cup last year and hope their 50-over form will translate to the T20 Blast. “We showed in the One Day Cup last year what we can do in white-ball cricket, so it’s an exciting prospect to try and replicate that in the T20s this year,” Handscomb said. “We want to entertain and play a fun brand of cricket.”Henderson said: “Pete holds all the necessary qualities we are looking for in a captain. Not only does he possess extensive leadership experience, but he is also an incredibly calm head on the field and a highly respected voice in the changing room.”Leicestershire finished bottom of the North Group last summer with two wins from 14 games, at a time when chief executive Sean Jarvis was forced to deny the club was in crisis following the sudden departure of coach Paul Nixon.They have added Ben Mike, Liam Trevaskis, Scott Currie and Ben Cox to their squad in the off-season and will also welcome Wiaan Mulder back to the club as their other overseas player, alongside Handscomb. Rehan Ahmed should be available throughout after he was left out of England’s T20 World Cup squad.Leicestershire’s first Blast fixture is against Yorkshire on May 31. The tournament’s group stage runs until July 19, with the quarter-finals and Finals Day due to take place in September.

Fast bowler has been out of action since injuring his back at Trent Bridge in June last year

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2023Fast-bowling allrounder Kyle Jamieson makes a comeback to New Zealand’s squad for the two-Test series against England at home in February. It is the first time Jamieson has been selected since he injured his back on the tour of England in June last year.Jamieson returned to New Zealand’s domestic cricket circuit only in January this year, and at the time of his selection in the Test squad, he had played two matches each in the Ford Trophy and Super Smash for Auckland.Related

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“Kyle is a very determined character with a strong desire to play international cricket for New Zealand,” head coach Gary Stead said. “Since he was forced from the field in Nottingham he’s been very clear that he wants to get his body right to return.”He’s reported good progress since his return to professional cricket with Auckland and he will get the opportunity to play some long-form cricket as part of the New Zealand XI squad to face England in their warm-up match next week at Seddon Park.”Legspinner Ish Sodhi also kept his place in the 14-man squad after impressive returns in the two-match series in Pakistan in December-January, which was his first Test series since 2018. Sodhi took 13 wickets in the two matches, and also scored a half-century.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Ish really impressed us with his approach with bat and ball,” Stead said. “He’s worked very hard on both in recent years and it was great to see that on the international Test stage.”Offspinning-allrounder Michael Bracewell is the second spin option in the squad, while left-armer Ajaz Patel and batter Glenn Phillips were the omissions from the group that travelled to Pakistan. Wicketkeeper Tom Blundell and fast bowler Matt Henry are expected to recover from injuries sustained in Pakistan by the time the squad assembles in Tauranga on February 12.The first Test against England from February 16 to 20 will be a day-night contest at the Bay Oval, after which the teams will travel to Wellington for the second Test at the Basin Reserve from February 24-28.The series will be Tim Southee’s first as full-time Test captain on home soil. He took over from Kane Williamson just before the tour of Pakistan. Trent Boult, who had given up his central contract, was not selected, though New Zealand’s selection manager Gavin Larsen hoped the left-arm quick would play the ODI World Cup in India in October-November.

Australia coach concedes that India his team was behind for the best part in the one-off Test, points to dropped catches as part of the reason for it

Andrew McGlashan03-Oct-2021Australia coach Matthew Mott has admitted that his team had been playing catch-up since the first hour of the day-night Test against India after a wayward display with the new ball, and were also left to rue the number of dropped chances.”We knew India would be a great challenge for us, and we thought we’d hit happy times winning the toss and the wicket had a tinge of green,” he said. “We had a very good pace attack, but we probably just missed our mark in the first hour and they got away to a really good start. From there on we just felt like we were clawing back a little bit.”Related

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While the weather was a large factor in the game ending in stalemate with the first two days severely impacted by storms – twice preventing Australia from bowling for an extended period under lights – the Australians also had themselves to blame after putting India in, something Mott insisted was the right decision from Meg Lanning.At the end of the first hour, India were 70 for 0 from 15 overs with Smriti Mandhana having brought up a run-a-ball half-century, which she would convert into a dominant 127 as India ended up batting for 145 overs. Before dinner on the opening day, Australia had to rely on their spinners, Sophie Molineux and Ash Gardner, to give them some control.”I thought India played really well,” Mott said. “Mandhana’s innings was exceptional. But we were behind for the rest of the match and they held all the aces, they earned the right to put us under pressure. And we never really got back in the game.”Think our catching was a bit of an issue, obviously had upwards of eight chances in the first inning so the bowlers created the opportunities but unfortunately we weren’t good enough to capitalise so left to rue that. But I was really proud of the way we hung in there we kept our standards right the end.”For much of the opening session of the final day, it looked as though Australia would comfortably avoid the follow-on when Ellyse Perry, who continued her astonishing Test run-scoring record going back to 2017, and Gardner were making good progress against the old ball. However, they were shaken by Meghna Singh’s new-ball spell, and when Pooja Vastrakar removed Georgia Wareham to leave them eight down, they still needed five more runs.”Batting-wise, we were under the pump today but we showed a bit of fight, making sure we got past that follow-on because that could have made it really interesting,” Mott said. “Ellyse Perry again showed her skill and determination to get us over the line there… and it’s something the rest of the group could probably learn a little bit from.For a while, India looked like they might be able to enforce the follow-on•Getty Images

“We don’t get exposed to that too often but I’m sure the batting group will reflect on what worked for her in this Test and why she was able to keep out more good balls. We probably played at a few we didn’t have to, but the pressure that India built up led us that way as well.”Australia had included four debutants with Stella Campbell and Annabel Sutherland producing impressive spells, while legspinner Wareham was able to sneak in for her maiden Test wicket shortly before India’s second-innings declaration having only had 11 overs in the match.”Georgia probably didn’t get as many overs as she would have liked and that was a talking point, but the rain didn’t help her,” Mott said. “Darcie [Brown], that’s her first crack at this format and think she’ll get better and better. Stella really showed what she could do and is also someone who probably wasn’t on the radar 12 months ago. Annabel Sutherland, I thought she was extraordinary in the first innings. Everything we talked about that we got wrong in the first session, she then delivered throughout so thought she was a real beacon.”At times it felt as though Lanning had too many bowling options and that there was room for another specialist batter (the injured Rachael Haynes was replaced by allrounder Sutherland) but Mott said that the selection had been partly based on being able to spread the workload around a young attack. There will likely be a number of changes for Australia’s next Test, against England in the Ashes in late January, with Haynes, Megan Schutt and Jess Jonassen certain to return if they are available.