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A break up of the eight IPL squads at the end of the first day of the 2018 player auction, and a quick look at the gaps the teams need to fill on Sunday

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2018.0:40

‘Very pleased with the way the auction has gone so far’ – Laxman

Chennai Super KingsTotal players: 11
Minimum number of players they need to buy: 7
Number of overseas players they can buy: 4
Purse remaining: INR 17 crores (USD 2,656,250)
Openers: Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson
Middle-order batsmen: Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu
Wicketkeepers: MS Dhoni
Allrounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo
Wristspinners: Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir
Fingerspinners: Harbhajan Singh
Fast bowlers:
What CSK need on Sunday: Another opener, to ensure they aren’t forced to keep picking the same two overseas openers. Fast bowlers – they only have Watson and Bravo at present, and Watson isn’t the bowler he used to be, while Bravo is more of a change-of-pace bowler than fast these days. They need several proper fast bowlers.They might also want a few younger players, to bring the average down below 30! They haven’t bought a single uncapped player yet.Delhi DaredevilsTotal players: 15
Minimum number of players they need to buy: 3
Number of overseas players they can buy: 3
Purse remaining: INR 12.3 crores (USD 1,921,875)
Openers: Colin Munro, Jason Roy, Gautam Gambhir, Prithvi Shaw
Middle-order batsmen: Shreyas Iyer, Glenn Maxwell
Wicketkeeper: Rishabh Pant
Allrounders: Chris Morris, Vijay Shankar
Wristspinners: Amit Mishra, Rahul Tewatia
Fingerspinners:
Fast Bowlers: Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan
What Daredevils need on Sunday: A fingerspinner, unless they are counting Glenn Maxwell as one. Another allrounder, because Chris Morris and Vijay Shankar are the only genuine ones at present. An overseas batsman who is a reliable performer in Indian conditions – Munro and Roy are untested in Indian conditions and Maxwell was hit or miss last season. And a back-up wicketkeeper for Rishabh Pant and another overseas fast bowler.Kings XI PunjabTotal players: 10
Minimum number of players they need to buy: 8
Number of overseas players they can buy: 5
Purse remaining: INR 21.9 crores (USD 3,421,875)
Openers: Aaron Finch, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal
Middle-order batsmen: Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller
Wicketkeepers:
Allrounders: Axar Patel, Marcus Stoinis
Wristspinners:
Fingerspinners: R Ashwin
Fast bowlers: Ankit Rajpoot
What KXIP need on Sunday: They bid a lot on Saturday, but ended up with only ten players. They don’t have a specialist wicketkeeper – KL Rahul can keep but wasn’t very safe for RCB. And they have no specialist bowlers apart from R Ashwin and Ankit Rajpoot, so they need a lot more of those. They also have only three overseas players, so they could use a few more across skillsets.Kolkata Knight RidersTotal players: 12
Minimum number of players they need to buy: 6
Number of overseas players they can buy: 4
Purse remaining: INR 7.6 crores (USD 1,187,500)
Openers: Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa
Middle-order batsmen: Shubman Gill, Ishank Jaggi, Nitish Rana
Wicketkeepers: Dinesh Karthik
Allrounders: Andre Russell
Wristspinners: Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav
Fingerspinners: Sunil Narine
Fast bowlers: Mitchell Starc, Kamlesh Nagarkoti
What KKR need on Sunday: Bargain buys. On Saturday, they had only four players in the squad by the time they exhausted half their purse. And then they bought two more millionaires. So KKR have INR 7.6 crores to spend and at least six players to buy to make up the minimum squad strength stipulated by the IPL. And they have holes to fill: back-up opener, a quality capped middle-order batsmen, more fast bowlers, and more international players.0:53

Price of players drop as they get older – Ponting

Mumbai IndiansTotal players: 9
Minimum number of players they need to buy: 9
Number of overseas players they can buy: 5
Purse remaining: INR 15.8 crore (USD 2,468,750)
Openers:Middle-order batsmen: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav
Wicketkeepers: Ishan Kishan
Allrounders: Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya
Wristspinners:
Fingerspinners:
Fast bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman, Pat Cummins
What Mumbai need on Sunday: Mumbai began the auction with the smallest purse (along with CSK and Daredevils). They bought only a few players, and while only Krunal Pandya was a millionaire, none of the others were especially cheap. Their most inexpensive player was Mustafizur Rahman at INR 2.2 crore. So they have only INR 15.8 crore to buy at least nine players and fill significant holes: they have no openers (unless Rohit Sharma wants to open), no specialist spinners, no back-up keeper, few specialist batsmen, and few fast bowlers.Rajasthan RoyalsTotal players: 9
Minimum number of players they need to buy: 9
Number of overseas players they can buy: 3
Purse remaining: INR 23.5 crore (USD 3,671,875)
Openers: Ajinkya Rahane, D’Arcy Short, Rahul Tripathi
Middle-order batsmen: Steven Smith, Sanju Samson
Wicketkeepers: Jos Buttler
Allrounders: Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Jofra Archer
Wristspinners:
Fingerspinners:
Fast bowlers:
What Royals need on Sunday: Royals have five overseas players and only four Indians. They have four all-rounders, two of which are part-time, and absolutely no specialist bowlers (Stokes and Archer can bowl four overs each though). They also have only three Indian batsmen. So they need several more Indian batsmen, a whole lot of bowlers (especially spinners) and a back-up keeper for Buttler.Royal Challengers BangaloreTotal players: 14
Minimum number of players they need to buy: 4
Number of overseas players they can buy: 2
Purse remaining: INR 15.85 crore (USD 2,476,562)
Openers: Brendon McCullum, Manan Vohra
Middle-order batsmen: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan
Wicketkeepers: Quinton de Kock
Allrounders: Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Chris Woakes
Wristspinners: Yuzvendra Chahal
Fingerspinners:
Fast bowlers: Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Aniket Choudhary, Navdeep Saini
What RCB need on Sunday: Indian batsmen, because they have only three in the squad. An Indian allrounder, because all of theirs are overseas. They’d like another Indian spinner – they have only two spinners in the squad at present, and an overseas fast bowler. Their overseas batting and all-round contingent looks solid.Sunrisers HyderabadTotal players: 16
Minimum number of players they need to buy: 2
Number of overseas players they can buy: 3
Purse remaining: INR 7.95 crores (USD 1,242,187)
Openers: David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan
Middle-order batsmen: Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson
Wicketkeepers: Wriddhiman Saha, Ricky Bhui
Allrounders: Shakib Al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite, Yusuf Pathan, Deepak Hooda
Wristspinners: Rashid Khan
Fingerspinners:
Fast Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Siddarth Kaul, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan
What Sunrisers need on Sunday: They have the largest squad at present, and most bases covered. Three of their allrounders can bowl fingerspin. They would like another Indian batsman to give the selection flexibility, but what they really need is a batsman that can go berserk at the finish. Brathwaite could, but he’s average against spin. They also need an overseas quick.

تمكن ليفربول من تحقيق الفوز على خصمه ساوثهامبتون بنتيجة 2/1، في إطار منافسات كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية “كاراباو”.

وواجه ليفربول نظيره ساوثهامبتون، ضمن منافسات الدور ربع النهائي من كأس كاراباو، على ملعب “سانت ميري”.

وشهد تشكيل ليفربول بقيادة مدربه آرني سلوت، استبعاد الدولي المصري محمد صلاح، وقائد الريدز فيرجيل فان دايك للراحة.

اقرأ أيضاً.. فيديو | هاتريك جيسوس يقود آرسنال لنصف نهائي كأس كاراباو أمام كريستال بالاس

في الشوط الأول وعند الدقيقة 19، أتيجت فرصة لـ ديبلينج مهاجم ساوثهامبتون، لكن تسديدته كانت ضعيفة على مرمى الريدز.

وبحلول الدقيقة 23 أحرز داروين نونيز هدف ليفربول الأول، بعدما تلقى تمريرة حاسمة من أرنولد من وسط الملعب، وحاول مدافع الخصم تشتيت الكرة لكنها انتهت بإنفراد للمهاجم الأوروجوياني الذي سدد الكرة في الشباك معلناً تقدم ليفربول.

وبتمريرة حاسمة من كودي جاكبو، وقع هارفي إليوت على ثاني أهداف ليفربول بتسديدة يمينية في شباك أصحاب الأرض عند الدقيقة 31.

وكاد ليفربول قريباً من تعزيز تقدمه بهدف ثالث عن طريق أليكسيس ماك أليستر لولا تألق مكارثي حارس ساوثهامبتون.

في الشوط الثاني وعند الدقيقة 58، أحرز كاميرون اتشر هدف ساوثهامبتون بتسديدة قوية في مرمى كيليهر، ليقلص نتيجة المباراة.

وكاد اتشر قريباً من التوقيع على ثنائيته الخاصة والهدف الثاني لأصحاب الأرض لولا إنقاذ كيليهر.

وأهدر فيدريكو كييزا فرصة هدف مؤكدة لـ ليفربول، بعدما نجح هاروود مدافع ساوثهامبتون في إبعادها من على خط المرمى.

وبهذا الفوز تأهل ليفربول إلى منافسات دور نصف النهائي من مسابقة كأس كاراباو في انتظار القرعة.

وقدم بطولات تغطية مباشرة لأحداث مباراة ليفربول وساوثهامبتون في كأس كاراباو من خلال هذا الرابط.  اهداف مباراة ليفربول وساوثهامبتون 2 1 كأس الرابطة الانجليزية

Kumar Sangakkara produced a mesmeric sixth Championship hundred – his 56th in all first class cricket – to leave Somerset smarting having conceded 394 in a day’s play

Vithushan Ehantharajah at The Oval24-Apr-2016
ScorecardKumar Sangakkara passed 1000 runs for Surrey during his innings of 171 (file photo)•Getty Images

The first day of the season at The Oval was given a grandstand beginning as one of game’s leading stars gave Surrey the perfect home start. Kumar Sangakkara, still glistening as bright as ever, produced a mesmeric sixth Championship hundred – his 56th in all first class cricket – to leave Somerset smarting having conceded 394 in a day’s play.As it happens, both teams read the pitch well. What green there was only spanned the middle of the track, from good length to good length and those within the Surrey camp hoped Somerset might be lured into bowling first. Chris Rogers did not bite and asked for the coin, but failed to call correctly. That was the starter pistol for a run-fest on a chilly day in south London.The breath of each exposed spectator and player was visible as scenes resembled something out of . The only difference might have been that after a few hours, Somerset’s fielders would have welcomed a bear’s forced embrace. Instead, they were mauled by Sangakkara.The familiar jaunt to three figures took just 94 balls and saw him pass 1000 first class runs for Surrey in this, his 22nd innings. To say he had it his own way would be an understatement.Craig Overton, in his first start of the season, was particularly charitable to the 38-year-old, feeding the cuts and drives. Even the pull shot was given a decent run out as Overton tried to find something in the pitch that wasn’t there. His generosity, and that of the rest of the attack, towards Sangakkara might only have been bettered had they offered to pick up his dry cleaning and wash his car.It is worth noting that Overton did find Sangakkara’s edge, only for the ball to die on its way through to Peter Trego at first slip, who had to dive to gather. Trego himself also missed out on Sangakkara’s wicket when, on 34, he was pulled to Roelof van der Merwe at midwicket. A difficult low chance was not taken.Otherwise, Sangakkara was unfazed. He strolled down the wicket to hit Trego for six over midwicket and lashed Tim Groenewald through cover and cover-point in the opening 50 runs of his first hundred of the season. On 99, he was greeted with a packed ring field and van der Merwe bowling darts. After a couple of plinks into the leg side, he skipped down the track and sent the left-arm spinner into the covers for six.When he holed out to deep midwicket for 171 – his highest first class score in county cricket – Surrey had 313 on the board in the 69th over. For that, they also owed thanks to Rory Burns.While Sangakkara worked with flourishes, Burns dealt in straight lines. Perhaps the most flamboyant aspect of Burns’ game is his set-up: knees bent, backside sitting directly above his heels, wrists cocked sending his bat out towards gully. It is a set-up that has now accrued him more than 4000 first class runs.There was a degree of annoyance at The Oval when Burns was not selected for the winter’s Lions tour, though that can be argued away as it was very much a limited-overs party. Here, he showcased why long-form is his strongest suit.He had 13 from 48 balls before a four from his bat off Lewis Gregory brought up Surrey’s 50. Gregory was perhaps the pick of the seamers on show, but no number of deliveries passing the outside edge could make up for his 18 overs of toil.Burns showed him respect but, eventually, in bringing up his half-century off 88 balls, made hay on the front foot, even hitting van der Merwe over his head for six. Perhaps the biggest compliment that could be paid to Burns’ change of pace in the latter half of his innings was that this shot was met by one unsuspecting punter sat a matter of feet away from where the six landed saying, “Was that Kumar again?” Their partnership of 187 was ended when Burns gave van der Merwe an easy return catch of a leading edge.And so the stage was set for Jason Roy to hammer a weary attack into the ground, getting off the mark with a gorgeous on drive that said he meant business. In the end, 85 at just below a run a ball was his lot – Gregory’s endeavour rewarded by a delivery that might have been a bit high but was adjudged to have trapped him lbw. By then Roy had taken a few casualties, stinging the fingers of fielders with fierce drives, with one of his 11 boundaries going literally through cover.While his wicket buoyed Somerset late in the evening, they also saw Zafar Ansari dropped at gully, off the bowling of Gregory, on 28. Ansari, in his first game back after badly injuring his hand last September on the day of his England call-up, had looked characteristically obdurate during his 57 balls.He and Ben Foakes will have 500 in their sights going into day two. They may need that and then some as the pitch suggested Somerset may still be able to bat their way out of trouble. On this showing with the ball, that may well be their only hope.

Kane Williamson has said the fourth victory of his captaincy will go down as “one of the great” Test wins, after New Zealand claimed nine wickets in the final session to seal a 138-run win

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Hamilton29-Nov-20162:00

Plan was always to get the asking rate up – Hesson

Kane Williamson said the fourth victory of his captaincy will go down as “one of the great” Test wins, after New Zealand claimed nine wickets in the final session to seal a 138-run win. A draw had appeared the most likely result for most of day five, and although New Zealand had gone wicketless with the first new ball, they claimed six scalps with the second – Pakistan losing the last four wickets for one run, in the space of 14 balls.Pakistan had also lost Sarfraz Ahmed to a run out shortly before the second new ball was due. “The wicket of Sarfraz was a big moment, but I guess when you take nine wickets in a session, they are all pretty big moments,” Williamson said. “It all happens pretty quickly. With the new ball around the corner, we thought if we could open up an end, and get a new batsman out to face the new ball, we would be in with a slim sniff. The feeling at tea time and now is pretty contrasting. This will go down as a great Test victory. For it to completely flip-turn was something pretty sudden, certainly.”Williamson suggested Pakistan’s collapse had not been spurred by any cataclysmic shifts on strategy on New Zealand’s part. With the visitors having batted the first four hours of the day without losing a wicket, it was assumed that the Hamilton pitch had lost its sting.”That surface was pretty good for batting,” Williamson said. “That certainly showed when first new ball didn’t do a huge amount. They batted very well and we weren’t able pick up those early wickets. Only thing we could do was stick with it and try and control the game. To get that breakthrough – which took a long time – we did have to stay patient.”New Zealand had given themselves 101 overs to bowl Pakistan out, after declaring late on the fourth day. With 369 needed for victory in the fourth innings, Pakistan had also had incentive to attempt the chase, as they were trailing in the series.”If you look back to yesterday and discussions around declaration in terms of giving the opposition an opportunity to track down the total and play a few shots – that perhaps worked in our favour,” Williamson said. “It was a big target. To chase it down, you have to play very well. They were getting themselves into a position – nowadays, with T20 cricket, you give yourselves 30 overs and think about what you can chase. That seemed to be how they were taking down the total.”Where we were really good in those first two sessions is keeping the run rate down below two. It kept pushing the required rate up a bit higher, and made them go hard a bit earlier. That presented us with a few opportunities. Pakistan are a very good side who know how to bat time, so perhaps we were fortunate to get nine in the last session.”The 2-0 victory means New Zealand will now move into the remainder of their seven-Test home summer with some confidence. They had suffered four consecutive Test losses before this series had begun.”It was going to be a big challenge coming home from India and a tough series against South Africa. The guys picked themselves up,” Williamson said. “I suppose we went back to the drawing board with how we’d like to play our cricket at home. Sometimes the baggage from previous results can be tough to get past, but the guys were fantastic. They had a couple of days off and they came back fresh, raring to go. They’re all looking forward to a big home summer.”

The CoA has put out a directive on the BCCI website, saying the office bearers cannot take any decisions independently without its permission

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Mar-2017

The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) has reiterated to the BCCI office bearers that it remains in charge of the Indian board.On Sunday, the CoA put out a directive on the BCCI website, saying the office bearers cannot take any decisions independently without its permission. Also, any decision reached by any of the BCCI committees will not be binding unless the CoA had given it approval.This fresh communique, the CoA said, was necessitated by the court order on March 24, which clarified that an office bearer could hold nine-year terms at the BCCI and state association separately.That meant virtually all the existing BCCI office bearers could continue in their position. These included Amitabh Choudhry (joint-secretary), Anirudh Chaudhry (treasurer) and at least three of the five vice-presidents – CK Khanna (central zone), TC Mathew (west), Goutam Roy (east).According to the CoA, three office beaers – Choudhry, Chaudhry and Khanna – had filed petitions asking the court to offer clarity on their powers. On January 2 the court had removed the pair of Anurag Thakur (BCCI president) and Ajay Shirke (secretary) for failing to comply with the Lodha Committee recommendations.Till the BCCI elected a fresh administration based on the Lodha Committee recommendations, the court said the most senior BCCI vice-president would be in charge of the board while the joint-secretary would be the acting secretary. Consequently Khanna, who is the most senior vice-president in terms of his tenure, thought he was eligible to be the acting president while Choudhry would take over as acting secretary.As far as the CoA is concerned, though, it is clear about the court giving it the authority to supervise and control the BCCI. “Each of the existing office bearers shall be bound to act in accordance with the instructions of the Committee of Administrators and/or shall discharge their duties only with the prior written approval of the Committee of Administrators,” the COA said in its directive. “Any actions already taken by any of the existing office bearers after the order dated 24th March 2017 shall immediately be intimated in writing by the concerned office bearer(s) to the Committee of Administrators for their permission and shall be continued/proceeded with only after written permission for the same is granted by the Committee of Administrators.”The existing office bearers shall not make any statements, representations or commitments on behalf of the BCCI to any third party including to Government, Court, Tribunal, regulatory authority, media or any cricket body or organisation without the prior written approval of the Committee of Administrators.”Over the weekend there have been unconfirmed reports about some of the BCCI members – state associations – thinking of calling a special general meeting on April 9. Despite repeated diktats from the court, the state associations have remained resolute about not adopting the Lodha Committee recommendations and have filed fresh counter petitions. The CoA has submitted two status reports in the court on the “intransigence” of the state associations.To rein in the rebelling, the CoA issued a stern message. “In order for any action/decision (including without limitation any action/decision taken by any Committee or the General Body) to be valid and binding on the BCCI, the same must be taken with the prior approval of the Committee of Administrators.”According to the CoA, going forward all payments would need the “joint approval” of the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and Choudhry. In case one of them did not approve or failed to sign off on any payment within three days of the other doing it, the CoA would make the final decision. Johri had been given the complete authority to sign all decisions concerning legal issues of the BCCI. It was also pointed out that both Johri and the Santosh Rangnekar, the BCCI’s chief financial officer, will report to the CoA and not the office bearers.

South Africa’s T20 competition enters the final week with all six franchises still in contention for the playoffs. With eight matches left, here’s how things stack up for each team

Firdose Moonda06-Dec-2016

South Africa’s T20 competition enters the final week with all six franchises still in contention for the playoffs. With eight matches left, here’s how things stack up for each team.Titans Eight matches, 24 points
The defending champions are sitting comfortably at the top of the table and only need one win to secure a playoff spot. Two could give them a home final, provided they are not leapfrogged by the Warriors. They will be mindful of being pipped at the post after tailing off in their last two games. The Titans won their first five completed matches but have since been defeated twice.Tabraiz Shamsi has already been put back in the squad and they also have Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock – although he is suffering from a virus – in their ranks. AB de Villiers is in contention to play in their final league match on Sunday but Morne Morkel, who was due to get a game in a bid to prove his fitness ahead of the Sri Lanka series, is unlikely to feature as he continues to nurse a back niggle.Warriors Seven matches, 23 points
The Warriors put in dominant performances through the mid-section of the league phase – winning four matches in a row – and are a win away from guaranteeing themselves progression. They could go ahead of the Titans and slip straight into the final with three wins and some help from other results.Without many big names in their ranks, the Warriors have relied on team efforts. But one man, Andrew Birch, has stood out. He leads the wicket charts with 17 scalps at 9.23 and will likely keep Kyle Abbott on the sidelines. Sisanda Magala and JJ Smuts have also put in prominent performances so far.Lions Seven matches, 16 points
A stop-start campaign from the Lions could have finally taken off after they surged back into contention for the playoffs with a five-run win over the Warriors at the weekend. They need to win all three remaining games to be assured of a playoff place but can get there with two if other results go their way.They will have to do so without Kagiso Rabada, who is being given some time off in the middle of a busy season, but in his absence Hardus Viljoen has lead the attack impeccably. He is second on the wicket-takers’ charts currently. Consistency in their batting is the Lions’ main issue; they’ll be hopeful Temba Bavuma’s return does the trick for them.Dolphins Eight matches, 15 points
Kevin Pietersen’s return did not inspire the Dolphins to a victory that would have left them well-placed for the qualifiers. Instead, they now need to win both their remaining matches, preferably with bonus points, to get into the semi-final. However, their fate is no longer in their hands.Keshav Maharaj is back for them but they will want more from the likes of Cameron Delport and Robbie Frylinck, especially after their attack was depleted by Andile Phehlukwayo’s injury. They will remain hopeful of their chances, especially because Morne van Wyk has been in good form with the bat.Cobras Seven matches, 12 points
A season marred by off-field drama sparked to life when the Cobras beat the Dolphins to keep their trophy hopes alive. They need three bonus-point wins to qualify for the semi-final but could get there with three ordinary wins, provided other results go their way.They have already welcomed back Dane Vilas and will be boosted by the inclusion of JP Duminy. Even without their other national stars – Vernon Philander (rested) and Hashim Amla (neck injury) – the Cobras have a formidable XI, with Kieron Pollard and Wayne Parnell forming a powerful middle order.Knights Seven matches, five points
After storming to second on the first-class log earlier in the season, the Knights have hit a snag and sit bottom of the T20 competition. They will need to win all three of their remaining fixtures and hope for plenty of favours to qualify.Both David Miller and Rilee Rossouw are injured, which has left it to Theunis de Bruyn to carry the batting without too much support. Marchant de Lange has continued his fine first-class form but they need a few more wicket-takers.

Mahela Jayawardene has praised the character shown by England’s young batsmen after they pulled off the second-highest successful run chase in T20 internationals

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-20163:26

Jayawardene: It was something special

Mahela Jayawardene has praised the character shown by England’s young batsmen after they pulled off the second-highest successful run chase in T20 internationals. Led by Joe Root’s 83 from 44 balls, England achieved a target of 230 to beat South Africa with two balls to spare in Mumbai and Jayawardene, who has been working with the team as a batting consultant, called it a “special” performance.Jayawardene, who was part of the Sri Lanka side that won the previous World T20 in 2014, has now concluded his part-time role with England and joined ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day analysis line-up, and he played down his part in their success.”To be honest, I haven’t done much,” he said. “When you work with a talented group of players, and when they do something like that, everyone thinks you had a huge role to play… but I’ve really enjoyed working with the England boys, they’re a young team with not much experience in international T20s but they want to play a brand of cricket which they have been playing for 12 months and they are still finding their way.”It was a great win last night, I really enjoyed it. In the dressing room it was nervous moments at points and at the halfway mark obviously everyone was disappointed. But they showed a lot of character to regroup and go out and the way they played was something special.”A former Sri Lanka captain, Jayawardene retired from international cricket for good after last year’s World Cup and first worked with England on their tour of the UAE before returning for the World T20. His relationship with the coach, Trevor Bayliss, goes back to their time together with Sri Lanka and Jayawardene credited the Australian with helping to change England’s approach.While chasing down 230 requires a capacity for powerful ball-striking, Jayawardene identified the “smartness” of Root and the captain, Eoin Morgan, as a key factor, as well as a degree of freedom and flexibility that has allowed the rest of the top six – openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales, as well as Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler – to flourish.”This is something that they have developed since Trevor Bayliss has taken over, they have put a lot of emphasis on white-ball cricket, not just T20 but one-day cricket as well,” Jayawardene said. “They’ve managed to get a group of young cricketers, looking towards the next 50-over World Cup as well. It’s not just power hitting, the way Joe batted in that middle period and the way Buttler controlled a tough situation when they lost Morgan. They’re still finding ways of doing things, they definitely have the power if they need to use it but [they are] trying to be much more structured going about things.”They have given licence to Jason because that’s the way he bats, Alex Hales still hasn’t really found his rhythm but he showed something yesterday. They can use Stokes anywhere because the flexibility is there, he plays pace and spin well. What they have got is the smartness of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, who’s got the experience of playing in the subcontinent, in that middle. Jos Buttler has been in great form as well, so they’ve got six batsmen who can change a game and they do bat deep as well, so they’ve got the freedom to go out and express themselves.”While acknowledging there would be challenges ahead if England were to progress, Jayawardene was impressed by the players’ willingness to improve. Chief among them is Root, described by Morgan as “the most complete batsmen we’ve ever had”. Despite having played just 14 T20I innings – and 39 in the shortest format overall – he has become central to their World T20 plans and Jayawardene was impressed by his attitude to batting, calling him a “very skillful cricketer and a very bright cricketer as well”.”He wants to learn new things and to evolve as a cricketer,” Jayawardene said. “What you have to understand is that Joe hasn’t played that much T20 cricket, he hasn’t had that much experience of playing in the subcontinent, he’s still finding his way.”So for him to go out in a tough situation – probably the situation dictated the way he had to play, started slowly but to keep up with the run rate he had to be innovative. But he just kept his cool, made sure the guys around him do a bit of work as well, so when you look at the bigger concept, he’s the guy that England would want to do that kind of role for them in this tournament.”Jayawardene added: “[He is a] good all-round cricketer, there are about four-five young good players in this tournament that everyone is going to look out for and he is one of them.”

Australia had announced that their A side and National Performance Squad would play a quadrangular one-day series against South Africa A and another international team at the start of May, which has now been confirmed as India A

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2016

At the start of May, Australia had announced that their A side and National Performance Squad would play a quadrangular one-day series against South Africa A and another international team. Cricket Australia has now confirmed that the fourth team would be India A. Townsville will host the first six matches of the series; the remaining six and the two finals will be played in Mackay.One-day quadrangular schedule

August 13 South Africa A v NPS
August 14 Australia A v India A
August 16 Australia A v NPS
August 17 South Africa A v India A
August 20 Australia A v South Africa A
August 21 India A v NPS
August 24 NPS v Australia A
August 25 South Africa A v India A
August 27 NPS v India A
August 28 Australia A v South Africa A
August 30 Australia A v India A
August 31 South Africa A v NPS
September 3 Final 3 v 4
September 4 Final 1 v 2

India A are also set to play two four-day matches against the hosts in Brisbane in September. Australia A and South Africa A play a couple of four-day matches as well in July-August.”This is an important series for developing and growing the depth of talent in our pathways,” Australia’s team performance manager Pat Howard said. “Players in the Australia A and National Performance Squad have been identified as having the potential to play for their country and the national selectors will be watching this series with interest.”Pat Cummins is expected to make a comeback to competitive cricket after injury, during the limited-overs leg, while several emerging batsmen like Matt Renshaw, Sam Heazlett, Alex Ross, Travis Dean, Kurtis Patterson and Jake Lehmann, the son of national coach Darren Lehmann, have also been called up to the 24-man squad.The A sides from Australia and South Africa A had been in India to play two unofficial Tests each and a 50-over triangular series in July-August 2015. Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns produced standout performances on that tour and have since had success in international cricket as well.Australia A won one of the four-day matches while the other was drawn. They made the final of the one-day tri-series but lost to India A. The South African side was unable to win any of their six matches on the tour. Several of their squad members had been affected by food poisoning, which had contributed to the slump.Four-day matches schedule
July 30 to August 2: Australia A v South Africa A, Brisbane
August 6 to 9: Australia A v South Africa A, Townsville
September 8 to 11: Australia A v India A, Brisbane
September 15 to 18: Australia A v India A, Brisbane

Pakistan lose 6 for 38 in small chase before No. 11 debutant Fatima hits boundary off the penultimate delivery to seal one-wicket win

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2018

ScorecardPakistan women maintained their all-win record on tour in Sri Lanka – they swept the ODIs 3-0 – but endured a fair few nerves en route a chase they looked set to kill very easily in Colombo. Cruising at 89 for 3 in 12 overs chasing 130, they lost six for 38 to set up a thrilling finish. In the end, No. 11 Ghulam Fatima, on T20I debut, hit the penultimate ball for a boundary to help Pakistan record their highest chase in the format.Sugandika Kumari, the left-arm spinner, orchestrated the collapse to pick three wickets, including that of Javeria Khan, but not before she smashed the fastest T20I fifty for a Pakistani woman. By then, Pakistan were within touching distance even though they kept losing wickets.Bismah Maroof, the captain and No. 3, helped consolidate early in the innings with a brisk 31-ball 42 that set the tone of the chase. With these two innings knocking off nearly three quarter of the target, the others needed to just chip in, which they barely managed in the end.That Sri Lanka were able to make a match of this was courtesy Anushka Sanjeewani’s maiden T20 half-century. Playing in just her eighth T20I, she struck eight fours in her 58-ball 61 at the top of the order, even as Sri Lanka endured a top-order collapse that reduced them to 38 for 5 in the ninth over. Sana Mir, the offspinner, and Diana Baig, the medium pacer, picked up four of those wickets between them to maintain a stranglehold over proceedings.Sanjeewani found support from Nilakshi de Silva, the No. 7 batsman, whose unbeaten 34-ball 35 during the course of a 84-run stand off just 11.5 overs helped Sri Lanka stage a remarkable recovery. Sanjeewani looked set to carry her bat through, but was run out off the penultimate delivery of the innings.

SLC announced an extraordinary general meeting with a view to holding board elections on May 31, subject to approval from the country’s sports ministry

Madushka Balasuriya01-May-2018

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced an extraordinary general meeting with a view to holding board elections on May 31 – the day the board’s term is set to end – subject to approval from the country’s sports ministry.The EGM will take place on May 19, the date elections were originally set to take place prior to being postponed on technical grounds, and the SLC membership will appoint an independent election committee.As per the SLC constitution, members need to be given at least 14 days notice ahead of an EGM, and then a further 40 days must lapse before an Annual General Meeting and an election can be held. While this would normally prevent holding elections until the end of June at the earliest, SLC have sought permission from the country’s sports minister to hold elections early, so as to be able to pass the year’s audited accounts at the AGM.If elections aren’t held before May 31 then sports law dictates that an interim committee be appointed, which would likely mean the present Executive Committee remains in charge until the election date but won’t have the power to pass annual accounts. With the deadline for nominations being April 27, SLC believes the 40-day waiting period can be bypassed as no new nominations are being accepted.It is expected that two camps headed by former SLC office bearers Nishantha Ranatunga and Jayantha Dharmadasa will be contesting against the incumbent board headed by SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala.Elections were postponed last week by Sri Lanka’s sports ministry after it adjudged that by appointing an election committee at an Executive Committee meeting as opposed to at an EGM, SLC had contravened the country’s sports law. SLC contested that it had received permission from the previous sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekera in this regard, however Faiszer Mustapha – the new sports minister – insisted on following constitutional protocol.”Our position earlier was to bring the elections committee into the SLC constitution at an ExCo meeting, and then appoint the committee members at the floor of the house,” Sumathipala said.”Therefore we gave notice to the general membership on April 6, informing them that on May 19 at an EGM [prior to holding the AGM later that same day] we will pass the resolution and bring the due changes to our constitution. And subsequent to that to appoint an elections committee.”For this we informed the former minister of sports and with his permission we agreed to go ahead, but we have since been informed that it is better that we follow proper procedure.”