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India captain MS Dhoni says his side’s ability to stay calm under intense pressure was a key factor in escaping with a one-run win over Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Mar-20162:33

‘Pandya executed the plan well’ – Dhoni

India captain MS Dhoni says his side’s ability to stay calm under intense pressure was a key factor in escaping with a one-run win over Bangladesh in Bangalore. With India in danger of falling short of the semi-final stage, Dhoni’s charges held their nerve and when asked afterward about the end of game situation he said it was important to keep cool in such hectic situations.”In a situation like this, it’s literally chaos. What you are trying to do is you’re trying to manage chaos,” Dhoni said after the match. “Everybody will come and he’ll have his own opinion. Often the opinion of a batsman is very different to the opinion of a bowler. But what you have to do is you have to see what the strength of the batsman is who is batting at that point of time, how the wicket is behaving, whether there is some kind of reverse swing or no reverse swing on offer. All these things you need to calculate and I feel what really helps is you listen to all of them.”But at the end of the day you push the bowler to bowl what you feel is good at that point of time. If I am convinced that this is something I want to do, I will go ahead with it but definitely having an open mind at that point of time really helps because at times in situations like these under pressure, that’s where the input of others comes in. But you have to assess everything and it has to happen in a very short span of time.”Dhoni hailed the younger players in the India side for stepping up and performing in key roles. In particular, he gave credit to Jasprit Bumrah for overcoming a rough start to the second innings – a misfield turned boundary and a dropped chance off Tamim Iqbal were followed by four boundaries off Bumrah to Tamim in the sixth over – to bowl a crucial 17th and 19th overs, conceding 13 runs across the 12 deliveries.”After the first misfield, if you see actually his international career, this was the first game where he was under pressure,” Dhoni said. “It’s not only the pressure of bowling. I consider him slightly weak when it comes to the fielding department and today’s game was very important. We all knew how important it was. To start, the very first ball if you miss, as a youngster you are under pressure and I feel that actually reflected in his bowling also, then he dropped a catch.”It’s important at that point of time to tell him that it doesn’t really matter because what has happened has happened. You can’t do anything about it. Even if you sit there for half an hour, the batsman won’t get out. What was important was to get away from it and at the same time try to execute your plans, what your strength is. But I felt when he came for the second over where he went for runs, I don’t think he was completely out of it. So after that we had one more conversation. I won’t say what I said but definitely it worked.”Like Bumrah, Hardik Pandya’s international career is in its infancy with both players having made their international debuts in January. However, Dhoni was pleased with the way Pandya responded after conceding boundaries from two of the first three deliveries in the final over, which left India with no margin for error needing to defend two runs off the final three balls with four Bangladesh wickets in hand.Dhoni further elaborated on the sequence afterwards saying that he came to choose Pandya to bowl the final over by going to his specialist bowlers first, including Bumrah and Ashish Nehra, in the three overs prior as a means of stretching out the game as long as possible before seeing what the final-over equation would be.”The batsmen were scoring quite freely at that point of time,” Dhoni said. “I knew I had to take that one over from somebody whether it was a spinner or Hardik Pandya. I said what is important right now is to make a game out of it and that’s where I said I’ll use the proper bowlers at this point of time and we’ll see how many runs are needed in the last over. Then according to that we’ll decide who is the person who can bowl.”There were quite a few options. There was Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya was there. That was the reason behind it. Often it’s quite an easy one. You want to give a cushion of an extra few runs and you go back to your main bowlers, you back their strength and say whatever runs you save it all keeps mounting on the last over and if he’s able to execute his plans then we’ll be on the winning side.”More than anything, Dhoni was proud of the way the team was able to still win on a day where multiple players had rocky outings. The resiliency on display for younger players like Bumrah to compose themselves and manage to do enough to win is something that Dhoni says is a valuable learning experience they can take with them through the rest of the tournament and beyond in their careers.”It was still a very good effort by the team. I felt majority members of the team had a tough day. Ash had a very good day when it comes to bowling but still there were patches where he went for runs where he thought maybe the batsman played a very good shot. All the bowlers went for runs but they came back and everybody contributed. So I feel it’s a very good game for us, especially for youngsters who have not played under a lot of pressure.”Somebody like Hardik or Bumrah, this was a first proper interaction with pressure and what pressure can really do. So I feel they must have learned a lot out of this game and these are the games that really make you better players because it pushes you to think in a different way, pushes you to have that confidence in your strength at the time when it’s really needed. So I think it was a very good game for us.”The media conference began with Dhoni castigating a journalist for asking the following question in Hindi: “From talking about winning by a large margin to increase the net run rate, and to win by around 50 runs from being close to losing this game and winning narrowly. How satisfied are you with this win?”As the reporter began his second query, Dhoni said, “One question at a time… Because I know you are not happy that India has won.” As the reporter sought to clarify, Dhoni went said, “No listen. From your voice, your tone and you question, I feel you are not happy that India has won. Okay? And when it comes to a cricket match, it doesn’t have a script.”It is not about the script. You need to analyse that after losing the toss the kind of wicket we had to bat on, what was the reason we couldnt make a lot more runs. If while sitting on the outside, you are not analysing all these thing, then you shouldn’t ask these questions.”

Australia’s former coach Mickey Arthur has revealed the tourists planned to inflict damage and gain intelligence on England in the away series before pushing hardest to regain the Ashes in the return bout at home

Daniel Brettig21-Aug-2013Australia’s former coach Mickey Arthur has revealed the tourists planned to inflict damage and gain intelligence on England in the away series before pushing hardest to regain the Ashes in the return bout at home. He also said the 3-0 scoreline would not have changed irrespective of selections because “that is what we’ve got at the moment”.While the new coach Darren Lehmann had stated before the series that his objective was simply to “win, win, win”, there had been some suggestions that Cricket Australia would be content with a competitive showing in England, provided the home matches would reap a winning result. Arthur confirmed that he and the captain Michael Clarke had been talking in terms of using the first series to prepare for the second.”We had a goal that I will reveal. We wanted to try to push England really hard in England, but we wanted to win in Australia, this is what Michael and I wanted to do,” Arthur told ABC Radio. “We didn’t go into the series ever to lose it, but we wanted to develop enough intelligence on all the England players, we had a lot but there was going to be some current stuff we could use.”We were going to really push them close, give the players in our team the confidence to see that England could get beaten, and then go for them in Australia. That was how we wanted to go about our escapade there. You could have put anybody in [the team], the results were going to be the results because that is what we’ve got at the moment. That is the current crop of players. But as coaches it’s such a good challenge because there’s so much unfulfilled potential that you can make better.”Arthur was not the only senior CA figure pushing this view before the start of the series, and some players are understood to have been taken aback by the attitude when they assembled together in Bristol before the tour officially began. It remains to be seen whether the current leadership of Clarke and Lehmann have managed to glean enough from this series to help them at home.Looking back on his time as coach, a period ended suddenly in England before the Ashes tour and then played out acrimoniously in a legal battle with CA over severance payments, Arthur said a 4-0 defeat in India and its associated disciplinary problems had been a major blow. For that he cited the BCCI’s desire to avenge an identical series ledger in Australia in 2011-12, duly preparing pitches to suit the purpose.”India was a really tough tour for us in so many ways. I’ve been privileged to tour India a couple of times and those were the worst conditions that I’d ever seen,” Arthur said. “They hijacked us, and they clearly wanted revenge for the 4-0 series win we had got when they toured here the last time.”One goes back to the Perth Test where the wicket was green and we played to our strengths and won the Test in two and a half days. They clearly wanted retribution for that and produced some of the toughest conditions I’d ever seen. They went out of their way to prepare those conditions and I can’t argue with that.”Despite the circumstances of his departure, Arthur said he had been watching the Ashes series very closely. Too closely, perhaps, for members of his family, who had asked him why he could not let it go. “I’ve been watching every ball of the Ashes,” he said. “My family has been saying ‘let it go’ and I can’t. I’ve spent too much time with these boys trying to make them better cricketers, I’ve got to watch it.”I am talking to the television. The funny thing as a coach is with a trained eye and knowing the psyche of all the players, I can sit and watch something developing and know what’s going to happen an over later. I’m going ‘don’t do that again, keep hitting straight, they’re trying to set you up for the lbw … keep hitting straight, oh across the line, damn lbw again’.”

Unmukt Chand, the captain of the Under-19 World Cup winning India team, is focused on the job ahead

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Aug-2012Unmukt Chand, captain of the Under-19 World Cup winning India team, said that he is not thinking too far ahead and is fully focused on performing positively during India A’s tour to New Zealand in September, for which he had been selected before the World Cup. “I take one tournament at a time. I want to play for India but don’t want to think about it now. I want to do well for India A,” Chand told .Chand, who led India’s win in the final with a century, thereby becoming India’s highest run-getter in the tournament, was speaking during a function organised by the BCCI to felicitate the Under-19 squad. He said that the team had prepared itself mentally to overcome the challenges in the tournament.India lost the first match against West Indies, but won all their matches thereafter, including a narrow one-wicket win over Pakistan in the quarter-final. However, the batsmen failed to dominate and the team was repeatedly bailed out by the bowlers.”All the batsmen go out to score runs but most of the time it does not happen,” Chand said. “We lost the first match against West Indies, but even from that we took the positives like our bowling and fielding. That we carried in further matches.”The best part was, we didn’t know what was happening in India, [which] really kept us on target. The belief was very strong among the guys and we always felt we will go and lift the trophy. [It] only took us further and win the tournament.”He said his team’s half-hour session with Sachin Tendulkar ahead of the event helped.”We had a half an hour session with him before leaving. The session was quite helpful. He told what we would face there and how we need to tackle it. He helped us a lot and told us the do’s and don’ts.”Though happy to be able to overcome a tough test as a team, he said he was aware that they would have to be more mature to deal with future challenges.”Under-19 is a good platform and the boys have showcased their talent and proved that they are good enough. Our boys are extremely talented and can match anybody but they need to be more matured as a player. It would be a bigger challenge to climb up the ladder now.”

Whangarei’s Cobham Oval has been handed its first international fixture, a Waitangi Day ODI against Zimbabwe next summer

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2011Whangarei’s Cobham Oval has been handed its first international fixture, a Waitangi Day ODI against Zimbabwe next summer. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has released its home schedule for 2011-12, and the four Tests against Zimbabwe and South Africa have been allocated to Napier, Dunedin, Hamilton and Wellington, while Christchurch was ruled out due to AMI Stadium’s earthquake damage.”Unfortunately we have not been able to allocate any matches to AMI Stadium, in Christchurch,” Justin Vaughan, the chief executive of NZC, said. “Following damage to AMI Stadium from the February earthquakes and subsequent uncertainty about timelines for remediation due to ongoing aftershocks, Vbase advised New Zealand Cricket that it could not absolutely guarantee that the venue would be available to host international cricket in the coming season.”In the latest start to an international summer in New Zealand for 17 years, the opening clash is the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Napier’s McLean Park, beginning on January 26. The window between the final Test against Australia in Hobart from December 9-13 and the Napier match could allow New Zealand’s international players to play almost all of the domestic Twenty20 tournament, which is likely to run in December and January.The Zimbabwe Test is followed by ODIs in Dunedin, Whangarei and Napier, and two Twenty20s in Auckland and Hamilton. Justin Vaughan, the chief executive officer of NZC, said it was good to see Cobham Oval win its first New Zealand match after being approved as an international venue by the ICC earlier this week.”It is pleasing to be able to reward Northland Cricket by allocating an ODI to Cobham Oval,” Vaughan said. “It is a credit to their hard work and I know they are thrilled to host Zimbabwe in February.”The schedule is also good news for fans in Dunedin, with University Oval back on the international circuit following improvement works last summer. The venue will host an ODI against Zimbabwe and the first Test against South Africa, beginning on March 11, before the series moves on to Seddon Park from March 15-19 and the Basin Reserve from March 23-27.Ross Taylor, the new captain of New Zealand, said the summer would be a tough one for his team, with nine matches against the strong South African outfit. “It will be a very challenging summer of international cricket and we are looking forward to taking on South Africa and Zimbabwe at home in front of our fans,” Taylor said. “South Africa is currently ranked second in world Test rankings so the three-Test series against them will be an excellent gauge of our progress.”New Zealand v ZimbabweJanuary 26-30: Only Test, McLean Park, NapierFebruary 3: 1st ODI, University Oval, DunedinFebruary 6: 2nd ODI, Cobham Oval, WhangareiFebruary 9: 3rd ODI, McLean Park, NapierFebruary 12: 1st Twenty20, Eden Park, AucklandFebruary 14: 2nd Twenty20, Seddon Park, HamiltonNew Zealand v South AfricaFebruary 17: 1st Twenty20, Westpac Stadium, WellingtonFebruary 19: 2nd Twenty20, Seddon Park, HamiltonFebruary 22: 3rd Twenty20, Eden Park, AucklandFebruary 25: 1st ODI, Westpac Stadium, WellingtonFebruary 29, 2nd ODI: McLean Park, NapierMarch 3: 3rd ODI, Eden Park, AucklandMarch 7-11: 1st Test, University Oval, DunedinMarch 15-19: 2nd Test, Seddon Park, HamiltonMarch 23-27: 3rd Test, Basin Reserve, Wellington

Doug Bollinger is going to take it upon himself to target England captain Andrew Strauss in the upcoming one-dayers

Andrew McGlashan18-Jun-2010Doug Bollinger is going to take it upon himself to target England captain Andrew Strauss in the forthcoming one-day series because Australia know how important he will be to the Ashes campaign which starts in November. Bollinger has enjoyed considerable success since reclaiming his Test spot last December with 37 wickets in seven matches and is eager to make an important mark on this tour.Glenn McGrath used to make it one of his prime roles to home in on the opposition captain – and he had a vice-like grip on Mike Atherton who he dismissed a world-record 19 times – with Australia believing that if you can make the leader struggle the rest of the team will soon follow.In the 2009 series that was meant to be Mitchell Johnson’s role, but the plans went array when the left-armer dramatically lost his form and Strauss cashed in with a dominant 161 at Lord’s which set up England’s 115-run victory. Even though the first Ashes Test is still five months away, Bollinger feels there is no time like the present to make a few statements.”Obviously you have to start well against the openers and he’s the type of player that can get you down if you are bowling badly to him,” he said. “I think if I get him out that’s a pretty solid way to show that we are here to go well and knock the captain over.”In the absence of the injured Johnson – along with Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle from the previous Ashes series – Bollinger, who couldn’t make Australia’s World Twenty20 squad despite taking 12 wickets for Chennai Super Kings with an economy rate of 6.67 in the IPL, has now been elevated to the team’s No. 1 strike bowler in an inexperienced attack.”It’s a good name to have, but doesn’t really bother me,” he said. “I just enjoy playing for Australia and if I get called the spearhead that’s probably a bonus for me but I just go out and do my things and get as many wickets as I can.”There’s no extra pressure, it’s enjoyment really at having the extra responsibility while playing for my country. We’d love to have Mitch here but it means an opportunity for some else like Clint McKay or Josh Hazelwood.”One factor in Bollinger’s favour going into the one-day series is that England have yet to face him at international level. Although all teams spend hours watching footage of opposition attacks it can never quite match facing the real thing and Bollinger may just be able to catch a few batsmen off guard.”I’d like to think so,” he said, “but you can’t worry about things like that. We are just going to worry about our own games and concentrate on their batsmen, just as their bowlers will study our bowlers. We are just going to be as fresh as we can and keep it simple because if we complicate things we just end up sideways.”Simplicity is one of the main ingredients to Bollinger’s game. “If I worry about too many things I end up not doing as well,” he said. “I just try to figure out the conditions I’m in and adjust my game to it. Patience is the key because eventually things will figure themselves out.”The Bollinger now on show in Australian colours is a different vintage to the one who represented Worcestershire during the 2007 season and finished with an unflattering 16 first-class wickets at 44.56. However, it’s an experience he looks back on as having played a vital role in his development.”It was good but it seemed to rain non-stop while I was here,” he said. “It did help with the different conditions it certainly made me a better bowler.”

Stokes backed for return to form in New Zealand with short turnaround between tours

Matt Roller27-Oct-2024Brendon McCullum, England’s coach, said that Ben Stokes is “hurting” after struggling to make an impact in their 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan, but has backed his “tough bugger” captain to return to his best in New Zealand next month.Stokes returned from two months on the sidelines with a torn hamstring ahead of England’s second Test in Multan last week but failed to contribute as Pakistan staged their comeback. He apologised to his players for losing his temper following a string of fielding lapses in the second Test, bowled 10 wicketless overs in the series, and made 53 runs in four innings, with two slapstick dismissals.After England’s nine-wicket defeat in Rawalpindi, Stokes said that the last three weeks had “felt like a very long tour” due to his intense rehabilitation, which McCullum suggested had inhibited his performance both as a batter and as a captain.Related

• 'No excuses' says McCullum as England succumb to Pakistan's spin cycle

• Captain Stokes loses his sheen as Rawalpindi return ends in flat defeat

• Stokes bullish after defeat: 'We've got the best top six in England'

“That injury was quite a significant injury,” McCullum said. “He had to work incredibly hard to get back. As the driven athlete he is, he’s all in when he does something. He had to put in a lot of graft there, and subconsciously, it can… not cloud things, but maybe you’re not quite as screwed down as you can be in terms of decision-making.”That’s natural, as long as you learn from that and make sure next time you’re presented with that situation you’re able to block out the noise and stay crystal clear in the moment. He’s disappointed, but he’s our skipper and we know he’s a tough bugger. He’ll make sure he’ll come back and it’s our job to make sure we wrap our arms around him and help him along the way.”The series defeat was only England’s second since Stokes took over from Joe Root as captain two-and-a-half years ago, but both have come in the subcontinent this year. The first, a 4-1 loss in India, prompted McCullum to call for “refinement” ahead of England’s home summer, but this time there is only a short turnaround before their three-match series in New Zealand.Ben Stokes could not exert his usual influence, despite winning the toss in Rawalpindi•Getty Images

McCullum said it would be his own responsibility to ensure that England’s management are consistent in their messaging. “We all know how competitive and driven the skipper is,” he said. “He’ll be hurting right now, with how the series has unfolded. It’s my job to make sure I’m there to support him, and make sure we still remain on-task with what we are trying to do as a collective, and our messaging to the group about how we want to keep playing cricket moving forward.”Sometimes as leaders, if you do suffer a little bit of disappointment yourself, it can be very easy to allow that to permeate through in your messaging to the group. But since Stokesy came on board as captain, he’s been very clear and precise about how he wants his team to play.”What’s really important is to never flinch with that and stay true to it, even if you’re struggling yourself. You’ve still got to keep using the same messaging. He’ll be better for the run, no doubt: a couple of weeks off, freshen up and back to conditions which are a bit more similar to back in England. It’s another opportunity for us.”England have lost six of their eight Tests in Asia this year, and are not due to return to the subcontinent until a two-match series in Bangladesh in February 2027. McCullum said the team would look back with “disappointment” and this tour and that their method in spin-friendly conditions needed to be “a little bit better” than it has been”If we’re being honest with ourselves, we’ve had opportunities to put up a better record than that, so it’s disappointing,” McCullum said. “You don’t get too many opportunities to nail down big series in the subcontinent. We’ve had those chances, and we weren’t quite good enough.”I know we don’t come back to the subcontinent for a couple of years, but there’s still times even in other countries when we’re presented with spinning wickets, and we’ve got to make sure our approach is a little bit more screwed down, a little bit better than it is. That will be some of the conversations we have.”It’s a matter of trying to get that environment to a place where it’s confident, it’s clear and the messaging is very simple. With failure, sometimes it brings about a little bit of deeper thought and that’s something we’ll have to do over the next little while.”We’ve also got a very quick turnaround for the New Zealand series, but we have to make sure we’ve learned some lessons from this and be better when we get the chance. That’s the nice thing: we do get an opportunity, and it would be nice to bounce back in New Zealand.”

Luke Wood three-for puts seal on comfortable victory at Wantage Road

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2023Steven Croft smashed his maiden T20 century to power Lancashire Lightning to an imposing 204 for seven and set up a 35-run victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Wantage Road.Croft took the attack to the Steelbacks attack, blasting seven sixes and five fours in his 101 and shared a 146-run partnership in 12 overs with Daryl Mitchell (48). The pair had led a belligerent fightback after Ben Sanderson (2 for 29) had raised home fans’ hopes by removing England power hitters Jos Buttler (0) and Phil Salt (12) in his first two overs.With Luke Wood (3 for 39) taking three wickets in an over in the powerplay, the hosts’ hopes rested once more on Australian big hitter Chris Lynn but when he fell for 21, it was left to all-rounders Tom Taylor (40) and AJ Tye (35) to entertain the crowds in a lively stand of 58 in five overs as the Steelbacks fell to their sixth defeat of the campaign. Lightning now have five wins from nine games, keeping them firmly in contention for a playoff spot.The Steelbacks’ evening had started promisingly when they restricted Lightning to just 39 for three off the powerplay. Sanderson trapped Buttler leg before in his first over and removed Salt in his second thanks to keeper Lewis McManus who took a diving legside catch. Wells became the third wicket to fall when he holed out off Taylor with Willey taking a well-judged catch.That though brought Mitchell and Croft together who were quick to go on the attack. Mitchell hit his first delivery for four and later dispatched Tye high over extra cover.Croft hit the first six of the game over long on off Sanderson and greeted Freddie Heldreich by sweeping him over square leg for two sixes and a four in his first over. He pulled Taylor over deep square for six and then hit the next two balls he faced, both from Heldreich, for two further maximums.Mitchell was also clearing the ropes, smashing two sixes down the ground off Zaib’s only over. He offered the bowler a sharp return chance though, but the bowler could not hold on.Justin Broad, playing his maiden first-team game for Northamptonshire finally made the breakthrough in his only over, accounting for Mitchell who was caught by Lynn off an attempted scoop.Croft fell soon after reaching his century thanks to Zaib who held onto a steepling chance at deep backward square off Tye, who also removed Tom Hartley in the final over.Liam Livingstone (25) played some big shots, clubbing England teammate Willey down the ground for six before he was run out off the final ball of the innings.Northamptonshire’s new opening pair Ricardo Vasconelos (15) and Emilio Gay (13) took 22 off the first two overs. Gay hit three consecutive boundaries off Jack Blatherwick before he was caught off the leading edge off the first ball of a highly eventful over from Wood.Vasconcelos pulled a free hit from Wood for six but departed to the next delivery when the bowler took a sharp low return catch. Wood then accounted for Willey next ball, caught by Salt, before Zaib safely survived the hattrick ball.Zaib hit Blatherwick into the top of the Turner Stand but was caught behind by Buttler off the next delivery to leave the Steelbacks in real trouble on 47 for four.Broad (14) looked unfazed on the big occasion, reverse sweeping Hartley for four and crunching Wells through extra cover before he was put down at long-on. Wells soon had his man though when Broad was caught by Mitchell at long-off.Lynn needed to play another powerhouse innings for the Steelbacks and had a stroke of luck when he was put down on the boundary off Hartley with the ball running away for four. But Hartley struck soon afterwards when he had Lynn caught off a top edge attempting to hook. Three overs later Wells picked up his second wicket when he bowled Lewis McManus (11).Tye and Taylor were determined to go down all guns blazing and took on the bowlers to give the home fans something to cheer. Tye dispatched Livingstone over the ropes and hit Blatherwick for an even bigger six over deep square leg. The fun ended when the Australian tried to uppercut Mitchell over the infield on one leg and was caught by Blatherwick for 35 (two sixes, three fours). Mitchell then had Sanderson caught and bowled two balls later.Taylor continued to blaze away, ending the game with an enormous six over deep midwicket to finish unbeaten on 40 (one six, two fours).

After a century opening stand, Bangladesh hit back in the middle session by taking 3 for 33

Firdose Moonda31-Mar-2022Stumps Temba Bavuma scored his 18th Test half-century in his 50th Test and held South Africa’s middle order together after a strong start and a small wobble on the opening day against Bangladesh. South Africa’s opening pair of Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee took advantage of an indifferent Bangladesh new-ball performance to post their second successive century stand before they were dismissed within six balls of each other as Bangladesh found a way back. Then, Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne shared an unbroken 53-run fifth-wicket stand to leave South Africa in a position they will be fairly comfortable with despite the run-rate slowing as the day progressed.On a differently coloured pitch to what is usually presented at Kingsmead, Mominul Haque chose to bowl first but Bangladesh would have wanted more wickets to justify his decision. Their seamers did not find much assistance up front, though there was some evidence of extra bounce later on, and South Africa seem to be anticipating turn later on. They included two specialist spinners in their XI for the first time in a home Test since 1970, with Simon Harmer returning from his Kolpak exodus after last playing for South Africa in 2015, to partner Keshav Maharaj.After a 35-minute delay to sort out malfunctioning sightscreens, Elgar got South Africa off the blocks quickly and breached the boundary nine times in the first 12 overs as he took advantage of anything overpitched or wide. He brought up his fifty off 60 balls but not before Bangladesh had shown their first signs of bite. Taskin Ahmed beat Erwee, who spent most of the morning leaving well, twice and Mehidy Hasan could have dismissed him on the stroke of lunch when Erwee tried to slash him through the off side, top-edged, and was dropped by Litton Das.South Africa went to the break on 95 without loss and Bangladesh with many questions but they surged back in the first hour of the afternoon session and took 3 for 33 thanks to a more disciplined approach. As Bangladesh adjusted to tighter lines, Elgar could add only seven to his score off 24 balls in the second session before he got a good ball from Khaled Ahmed, who found extra bounce. Elgar was late in trying to pull out of the shot and the ball took the edge to end the opening stand on 113. Five balls later, Erwee tried to cut Mehidy and under-edged onto his stumps.Dean Elgar brought up his fifty off just 60 balls•AFP/Getty Images

With two new batters at the crease, Bangladesh would have been looking to squeeze South Africa but Keegan Petersen and Temba Bavuma were picture-perfect at first. Bavuma clipped Mehidy Hasan through midwicket for his first boundary and Petersen pulled Khaled in front of midwicket. With two compact techniques and quick runners at the crease, South Africa would have banked on their third-wicket stand to produce big runs, and Petersen was fortunate Bangladesh didn’t review a chance for caught-behind when he was on 18 and Taskin Ahmed lured him into the drive. But he was then unfortunate to be run-out when Bavuma called for a run after dabbing the ball to point, where Mehidy dived, picked up and threw with one stump to aim at and Petersen was found out of his ground.Debutant Ryan Rickelton scored his first runs in Test cricket off a reverse-sweep and showed aggressive intent after tea. He sent a wide Ebadot Hossain delivery through cover, then tried again but got an outside edge that sped through third man, and eventually fell on his sword when he tried to pull Ebadot in front of square but top-edged to mid-on. Bavuma was on 27 off 66 balls at the time and he upped the ante, scoring his next 23 runs off 38 balls including two cover drives and a top-edge off Taskin that went between first and second slip for four, to bring up 50 off 104 balls.With Verreynne at the other end, Bavuma took South Africa to the close, 47 runs away from a much-anticipated, much-talked-about second Test century after scoring his first more than six years ago, in 2016.

Batsman will spend whole season in Cardiff and is unlikely to play IPL or CPL

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2020Glamorgan have announced that Colin Ingram has signed a two-year contract extension with the club as an overseas player after the cancellation of his Kolpak registration.Ingram has spent five seasons in Cardiff to date, playing as a local player throughout on a Kolpak deal. He did not play in 2020 due to international travel restrictions, and will return on an overseas deal next year with the end of the UK’s transition period with the European Union bringing an halt to the Kolpak era.Ingram has signed for the T20 Blast first and foremost, having dominated Glamorgan’s run-scoring charts in the competition since his debut in 2015. He fills the club’s second overseas spot in the Blast, after Marnus Labuschagne signed for all formats.ALSO READ: County ins and outs, 2020-21Glamorgan have also signed Labuschagne’s Queensland team-mate Michael Neser as their second overseas player for the County Championship and Royal London Cup, but Ingram will be available in those competitions should either Australian be called up for international duty.A Glamorgan press release said that Ingram, 35, would spend the full summer in Cardiff, and that he would become a mentor for academy batsmen and a pathway coach when not playing or training. As a result, it seems unlikely that he will take part in the IPL or the CPL next year.”Cardiff is where I want to be,” Ingram said. “I love playing here and my family love the city and being in Wales. I love playing T20 cricket, but I also want to challenge myself again in the longer formats of the game and I’m excited to have the opportunity to do that at the club I love.”I’ve always been passionate about helping the next generation of cricketers and it’s really exciting for me to work with these young Welsh players, help them improve and share some knowledge I’ve gained at the international and franchise level.”Mark Wallace, Glamorgan’s director of cricket, said: “He’s played around the world and brings invaluable experience to our players and now we are able to fully utilise these experiences across the pathway.”Colin’s got plenty of experience in all three formats and has excelled for Glamorgan across the last five years, and he’ll be a fantastic reserve option should he be needed in the longer formats of the game.”

Moody and Jayawardene stress on importance of consistency in rules for image of the league

Mohammad Isam08-Aug-2019Mahela Jayawardene and Tom Moody, head coaches of Khulna Titans and Rangpur Riders, have slammed the constant changes to the Bangladesh Premier League’s rules and regulations. Their criticisms follow the BPL governing council’s announcement of August 4, which said that existing teams require a fresh franchise agreement to be part of the next four-year cycle as BPL franchise owners. One of the key issues affected by this announcement is also the transfer of players, like Shakib Al Hasan’s recent move to Rangpur Riders from Dhaka Dynamites.BCB director Mahbubul Anam, at a press conference on August 4, stated that player deals will become null and void because the franchises haven’t signed the new deal with the BCB yet. “Since we have not yet made a new agreement for the new cycle, we cannot endorse whatever deals that have been struck by the franchises for the seventh edition,” he said.But according to a May 11, 2019, letter sent to the franchises, the BCB told them to “take necessary preparation” for the upcoming edition. According to multiple franchise officials, the renewal of their franchisee agreement is a mere formality, which they would have done in the background, while preparing for tournament.Moody, who coaches Riders stated that “the consistency of the playing conditions and the rules set out for the franchises” was one of the most important elements in a T20 league, while Jayawardene said that changing the rules every year was “not healthy” for franchise cricket.The timing of the governing council’s announcement has irked most teams, who signed up local and foreign players for their four direct signings, and were planning to speak to existing and prospective sponsors. It has also brought into question the manner of functioning of the BPL governing council. Their press conference on August 4, which was attended by BCB director Mahbubul Anam, governing council chairman Sheikh Sohel and BPL secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, was called four days after Shakib Al Hasan left Dhaka Dynamites to join Rangpur Riders.The Dynamites team also expressed its disappointment at not having been informed of the transfer by the player. The Dynamites franchise is owned by Beximco, where BCB president Namzul Hassan and Mallick are both employed. Their current coach is Khaled Mahmud, the BCB director. Shakib has played for the Dynamites since 2016, coincidentally, after having moved there from the Riders.BPL’s current rules suggest that Shakib, one of the league’s “icon” players, is free to move. This rule was changed to reflect this a few seasons ago, and previously Mashrafe Mortaza and Mushfiqur Rahim also moved to move to the Riders and Rajshahi Kings, respectively, in 2016. Under the same rule, Khulna Titans and Comilla Victorians have reportedly roped in Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur for the 2019-20 edition.Moody, who guided the Riders to their maiden title in 2017, said that constant rule changes could bring the integrity of a tournament into question, locally and internationally.”Having been involved in many T20 leagues over the past 12 years it has become very clear that one of the most important elements is the consistency of the playing conditions and the rules set out for the franchises,” Moody said. “It is not important only for the franchises or the management, it is crucial for the fan base to have an understanding of what playing group not only local but international they are following. It gives them a loyal fan base. If we see things constantly changing on a whim the integrity of the tournament can be questioned both locally and internationally.”Jayawardene, who has been the Titan coach since 2017, said the constant changes were not fair on teams.”Having long-term planning is important because what I felt when you keep changing rules every year and even while the tournament is on it is not healthy for any franchise cricket. If you see all the other tournaments around the world they always have consistent set of rules which guides all franchises and it is quite fair for everyone,” he said.Moody and Jayawardene are not the first to question the procedures and the fairness of rules in the BPL. The tournament has seen several modifications of rules and regulations, and playing conditions, and has faced issues of conflict of interest since its inception. Board officials either directly owning or indirectly connected with franchises is one of the issues. Apart from Hassan and Mallick’s links with Dynamites, the Titans managing director Kazi Inam Ahmed is a BCB director, while chief selector Minhajul Abedin ran the Chittagong Vikings franchise last season.