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Islamabad recovered the vast ground they lost to Quetta and overcame a first-innings deficit to secure a nine-wicket win on the fourth day at the Diamond Club Ground

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2013Islamabad recovered the vast ground they lost to Quetta and overcame a large first-innings deficit to secure a nine-wicket win on the fourth day at the Diamond Club Ground. They took six points from the game, while Quetta earned none.Such a result seemed improbable after Quetta had scored 263 in the first innings and then dismissed Islamabad for 134. Quetta’s first ten batsmen all got starts but Qaiser Abbas’ 73 and Jalat Khan’s 40 were the most significant contributions. Zohaib Ahmed took 4 for 74 for Islamabad.Islamabad’s first innings was wrecked by Gohar Faiz, who took a career-best 8 for 50. Opener Raheel Majeed’s 31 was the top score for Islamabad.The turnaround began on the third day, when Nasrullah Khan took 5 for 27 to help Islamabad dismiss Quetta for 122 in 34.2 overs. He ensured Islamabad hadn’t been batted out of the game, and were chasing a target of only 252. They ended that day on 45 for 0.On the final day, Islamabad’s openers converted their start into a 207-run stand. Majeed made an unbeaten 124 and Shan Masood scored 96 before he edged to the wicketkeeper. By the time they were separated, victory was all but assured. The target was achieved in the 65th over with no further loss for Islamabad.

Maybe they are in denial or maybe he was simply in an impossible position, but there were times when it was hard to remain straight faced when Samit Patel spoke to the media after the second day’s play in Ahmedabad.

George Dobell in Ahmedabad16-Nov-2012Maybe they are in denial or maybe he was simply in an impossible position, but there were times when it was hard to remain straight faced when Samit Patel spoke to the media after the second day’s play in Ahmedabad.It was not his laudable faith in his teammates, or his admirable desire to fight from the desperate position in which England find themselves that provoked the raised eyebrows. Both are to his credit. It was the insistence, in the face of all facts, that England were “good players of spin” that was hard to take. For England, with one or two notable exceptions, are not good players of spin. The record does not suggest that. It grabs us by the shoulders and screams in our faces. It has been proved over the last year really rather often and no amount of insistence otherwise will change that. Only an improvement in form will do so.Patel’s explanation for England’s struggles in their reply was also grimly amusing. “The ball’s harder and I think it spins more when the ball’s harder,” he explained. And, while there is some truth in that, it ignores the fact that England also had a new ball. In fact they had two of them.To be fair to Patel, he was in an almost impossible position. Having been kept out in the field for the best part of two days and then lost early wickets, there was little positive to take from proceedings. At least when he spoke of the challenge ahead, his words rang true.”We have two world-class batsmen at the crease,” he said. “Ian Bell is still to come, there’s me and there is Matt Prior. There is a lot of batting. There’s no question about how long we can bat. We’ve got the same potential of batting as India have and we’ve got to keep believing that. I think the telling time will be when the ball gets soft; then we can get in.”We’ve put in the hard yards; we know what we can do. Tomorrow, we hope we can show what we’re made of. We’re going to have to play some good cricket. It’s hard work – but that’s Test cricket. We have to front up. We can’t go anywhere. We’ve got to stand up and be counted. It’s no place for hiding.”Patel was also quite right to acknowledge that India’s batsmen had played beautifully. “Sometimes you have to give credit to the batsmen,” he said. “Sehwag played outstandingly well and Pujara carried on. Yuvraj played as he does. They’re good players of spin. As the Indians showed, if you bat a long time, you can wear teams down. That’s what they did. It’s something we expected. You lose the toss, and field for two days. We knew what was coming and we’re prepared.”

Middlesex left Essex rooted at the bottom of the Clydesdale Bank40 Group A table as they carved out a nine wicket victory at Chelmsford.

19-Jul-2012
ScorecardMiddlesex left Essex rooted at the bottom of the Clydesdale Bank40 Group A table as they carved out a nine wicket victory at Chelmsford. After the home side totalled 146 for 7 in a clash reduced to 25 overs per side because of rain, Middlesex achieved success with 15 balls to spare.Their crushing triumph was inspired by Chris Rogers and Dawid Malan who gathered runs with embarrassing ease. They were cautious at the outset, scoring just 16 from the first five overs against David Masters and Graham Napier. But then they increased the tempo considerably as the 50 was raised in the 10th over and 100 in the 16th.The only early blemish came when Rogers offered a chance to a leaping Tom Westley at slip when he had made 16, but the Australian made good his escape to reach his half-century from 48 balls. He had moved to 64 with the aid of two sixes and six fours, before he holed out to Masters off Tymal Mills having taken his side to within 11 runs of their target.Malan finished unbeaten with 76 from 68 deliveries that included seven fours and two sixes and fittingly it was he who took Middlesex to their target with two boundaries in an over from left-arm fast bowler Mills.Apart from Mark Pettini, the Essex top-order struggled to make an impact in the face of tight bowling backed up by fine work in the field. It was one piece of great work in the deep that brought Pettini’s innings of 44 from 43 deliveries to an end. Rogers was responsible for that as he threw down the stumps from deep mid-wicket as the Essex captain for the day attempted a second run.Pettini, who was leading the side because James Foster was excused duty as his wife is due to give birth, scored his runs from 64 balls before he departed in the 14th over.It was another six overs before the 100 was raised but much needed impetus was provided late on by Adam Wheater and Jaik Mickleburgh. They put together 53 in five overs, Wheater smashing three sixes in making 33 from 19 balls before he was caught in the deep while Mickleburgh’s unbeaten 22 arrived in 15 balls.Toby Roland-Jones was the pick of the Middlesex bowlers with 3 for 25 from his permitted five overs, an effort that enabled the visitors to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stages in the competition.

Lalit Modi and Sanjay Dixit, one-time bitter rivals in the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), have announced a truce and decided to stand united against the current state administration, headed by CP Joshi

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Feb-2012Lalit Modi and Sanjay Dixit, one-time bitter rivals in the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA), have announced a truce and decided to stand united against the current state administration, headed by CP Joshi. Ousted IPL chairman Modi, who was defeated by Joshi – a minister in the federal government – in the 2009 RCA elections, announced his patch-up with Dixit via his Twitter account.
“RCA should only have people who will serve the game and [work for the] betterment of the game. There can be no compromise [on] that,” Modi wrote. “@Sanjay_Dixit has done that too. Others are there [in power now] because of our differences in the past. Not because they have done anything for the game.””When two persons with [a] passion for cricket combine, [the] sky is the limit,” Dixit wrote in reply to Modi’s positive tweet.Facing a common rival in Joshi has probably played its part in both Modi and Dixit joining forces. It was Joshi who suspended Dixit from his post of secretary, following a rift over the appointment of RCA officials last July. At the time, Modi had supported the move. “Dixit was ruining cricket in Rajasthan. Irregularities have become common in the RCA’s functioning,” Modi was quoted as saying by the . In response to that quote Dixit had tweeted: “Fugitives are not allowed in the RCA, whether through front door or back door”.But the bitterness of the past has seemingly now been replaced by a more accommodating attitude. Dixit told ESPNcricinfo, cryptically, that his past differences with Modi were “more of form than that of substance” and was reluctant to elaborate.The next RCA election is about fifteen months away and Dixit said that the patch-up was made keeping in mind the “long term” benefits. “He [Modi] was in power at the RCA, and I had two-and-a-half years [in charge]. We are the only two people who have done something for Rajasthan cricket,” he said. “Shri CP Joshi has no idea of cricket. So we have decided to bury our differences in the interest of Rajasthan cricket.”Dixit said that the current RCA setup, chaired by Joshi, had been keeping him from actively participating in the administration of cricket in the state. “I still am the honorary secretary [of the RCA] but because of some disputes, I am not getting [to play an] active part. [It’s] because of Dr CP Joshi’s style of functioning.”

Former Australia Women’s captain Belinda Clark has become only the second woman to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2011Former Australia Women’s captain Belinda Clark has become only the second woman to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Joining Clark in the Hall of Fame were former Australia allrounder Alan Davidson, former West Indies fast bowler Curtly Ambrose and the late Australia fast bowler Frederick Spofforth.Clark holds the record for the most matches as captain in the women’s game, and led Australia to victory in the 2005 World Cup. Australia lost only 17 of the 101 games under her leadership. She averaged 45.95 in 15 Tests with a top score of 136. Her ODI figures were better, an average of 47.49 in 118 games. The highlight of her batting career was the unbeaten 229 against Denmark in Mumbai in 1997, which made her the first player, male or female, to score a double-century in one-dayers. Since her retirement in 2005, nobody has beaten her record of 4844 ODI runs in the women’s game.”It is a great honour to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame and it has been an amazing five years for women’s cricket globally,” Clark said of her induction. “Recognition of female players in the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame is a great initiative and I am proud to join Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, to become the second female inductee, on a long list of outstanding cricketers.”It means a lot to be recognised by the international organization and I am very proud to be included.”Davidson, Ambrose and Clark will be inducted during the ICC awards in London, while Spofforth will be inducted later next year in a ceremony involving the former fast bowler’s family.

Matt Prior said that his team still fancied their chances of sealing the series against Sri Lanka with a game to spare, despite enduring a tough time in the field on the second day

Andrew Miller at Lord's04-Jun-2011England’s centurion, Matt Prior, has said that his team still fancied their chances of sealing the series against Sri Lanka with a game to spare, despite enduring a tough time in the field on the second day at Lord’s. Thanks to an unbeaten century from Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sri Lanka closed the second day on 231 for 1, a feisty response to their total of 82 all out in the second innings in Cardiff.”We’re an honest enough team to know that we didn’t bowl and field as well as we can do, as well as we have done,” said Prior at the close. “Things don’t always go perfectly to plan in Test cricket. But the thing I know about this team and its character is that we’ll come back tomorrow even harder, even better prepared and even more ready and willing to hit the mark again.”The day started well enough for England, with Prior converting his overnight 73 into an impressive 126 from 131 balls, his second Test century at the ground, and his fifth in 42 Tests overall. His performance helped lift England from a precarious 201 for 5 to an imposing 486 all out, although by the close, Dilshan’s first century as Sri Lanka captain had redressed the balance significantly.Asked whether England had expected too little from Sri Lanka in the aftermath of their Cardiff disaster, Prior denied that was the case. “You can’t expect to bowl a team out in 25 overs every time you walk out,” he said. “I think we just need to go back to basics, take stock of what’s happened today – and I’m sure you’ll see an improved bowling and fielding performance tomorrow.”We walked off after our first innings very, very pleased with the score we got. But then Tillakaratne Dilshan came in and played a very good innings, showing great intent on a pretty docile wicket.”Matt Prior’s fifth Test hundred drew him level with the great Alan Knott•PA Photos

England’s attack had a menacing look to it at the start of the Test, with Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn and Stuart Broad all registering between 6’6″ and 6’8″. However, the lofty approach lacked subtlety on a benign wicket, with Finn in particular struggling for line and length. England severely missed the lateral movement that the injured James Anderson could have provided.”You are always going to feel like you’re missing a guy like Jimmy Anderson, because he’s the best swing bowler in the world,” said Prior. “He’s absolute class, and you always want him in your team.”But Finny has come in and is a fantastic bowler in his own right. You saw how many wickets he took in the Ashes and in his short career so far. The line-up as it stands, three big guys and Swanny, is a world-class bowling outfit. We know that, and we back them 100%.”With that in mind, Prior reiterated his faith in his team-mates. “This team keeps surprising itself, keeps pulling things out even when it’s looking ominous,” he said. “To get that score on the board, when we’ve been 20-odd for 3, is a fantastic effort in the first place.”We are not in a bad position and still have a 250-lead. If we do bowl and field well tomorrow, there’s no reason why we can’t get a good first-innings lead. If we bat well again, we’re holding all the cards in this Test match.”On a personal note, Prior’s fifth Test hundred drew him level with Alan Knott, arguably the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman in England’s history, and it was a fact of which he was keenly aware. “It’s something I’m very, very proud of,” he said. “I do keep track of records of other England wicketkeepers from the past, so it’s a nice milestone.The bulk of his runs on the final day came in a 108-run stand for the seventh wicket with Stuart Broad. However, the manner in which he reached three figures was not the most convincing, as four consecutive edges, including a drop at slip by Mahela Jayawardene, carried him from 86 to 99, before a clip to midwicket secured his name on the honour’s board.”The plan is always to take a little moment to get yourself in, but it didn’t really happen … we went from first gear to sixth, which always happens with Broady,” he said. “But in a situation like that, if you’re feeling good you almost just have to go with the flow and ride your luck a little bit – and obviously I was very fortunate through the 90s.”I just thought ‘it’s my day’. Mahela Jayawardene is one of best, if not the best, slip fielders I’ve ever seen, so when he drops you you know you’re on a good thing. You need a bit of luck every now and then, and I had my fair share.”

Along with 90s from Shan Masood and Ben Cox, Foxes dominate Kent attack

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay16-Sep-2025Kent 17 for 0 trail Leicestershire 459 for 7 dec (Patel 114, Cox 93, Masood 90, Hill 54) by 442 runsA fine century from Rishi Patel, along with 90s from Shan Masood and Ben Cox, saw Leicestershire secure maximum batting bonus points and left them the verge of securing the Division Two title as they dominated a callow Kent attack after being put into bat at the UptonSteel County Ground.Beginning the match 25 points clear of second-placed Glamorgan, the Foxes could not have hoped for a better second day of this Rothesay County Championship match after the first was entirely lost to the weather.It made for a chastening first-class debut for 19-year-old all-rounder Corey Flintoff – one of a remarkable five teenagers in the Kent side – who, with father Andrew watching, bowled 15 wicket-less overs for 91 runs, though he did take a catch.Kent openers Harry Finch and Ben Dawkins survived a difficult nine overs before the light closed in.After the loss of the entire first day to the strong winds that made handling the covers too dangerous to undertake, it was a relief to see the ground ready for play from the start.Flintoff, the second son of former England allrounder Andrew to be embarking on a career as a professional cricketer, following in the footsteps of brother Rocky, took his place in what must surely have been the youngest slip cordon ever formed in county cricket, all three slips and gully being in their teens.They were in the game early, when Jaydn Denly at second slip dropped a straightforward chance given by Sol Budinger off the bowling of Joey Evison. To make matters worse, Denly left the field with illness soon afterwards, while Evison’s feelings will not have improved when Budinger casually swung an in-swinger over the midwicket boundary for six. The Kent allrounder had his revenge soon afterwards however, when Budinger again edged to second slip and this time Flintoff held on.Patel, however, looked in good touch from the start. The 27-year-old has struggled for consistency this season after missing the early weeks with a thumb injury, but has recently shown signs of finding the form which saw him called into an England Lions training camp, and he took full toll on the regular loose deliveries from the visiting attack.There were plenty of testing balls too, and George Garrett produced a beauty to square up and bowl Ian Holland, but a score of 151 for 2 off 30 overs at lunch told its own story. Having hit ten boundaries in going to his half-century, Patel hit another ten in going to three figures, his second Championship century of the season, shortly after lunch.Kent were already looking down the barrel, but Patel played too soon at an Ekansh Singh delivery and got a leading edge that looped to mid-on, a maiden first-class wicket for the 19-year-old, and Lewis Hill, having registered his seventh half-century of the season, slashed a wide short ball from Michael Cohen straight to point.When Steve Eskinazi, who never settled, went leg before to Evison, Leicestershire were in danger of wasting their flying start, but the elegant Masood was calmness personified, and he found lively support from Cox. Together they added 161 for the sixth wicket and both seemed certain to reach three figures, but Garrett, bowling with the new ball, pushed one across Masood to find an edge which carried to slip before Grant Stewart took a fine leaping catch at mid-on to dismiss Cox off the bowling of Evison.

Williams scored more than half of Zimbabwe’s first-innings total but the visitors still took a 167-run lead and ended day two 216 ahead

Himanshu Agrawal29-Jun-2025Since 2020, Zimbabwe have had ten individual hundreds in Tests. Sean Williams alone has scored five of those. One of those centuries came against South Africa in Bulawayo on Sunday, and formed the centerpiece of Zimbabwe’s innings.South Africa declared their first innings on their overnight score of 418 for 9, and in reply, Zimbabwe were struggling at 23 for 2. Williams walked in at No. 4, and Zimbabwe’s woes were further compounded when Brian Bennett walked back due to a delayed concussion. Bennett was struck on the helmet by a Kwena Maphaka short-of-a-length delivery and while he faced three more balls, he decided he couldn’t continue any further and walked off.Related

• Bennett walks off with concussion, Masvaure named replacement

From thereon, it was almost all about Williams. He found a little help from captain Craig Ervine, with the duo adding 91 runs. They got together with Zimbabwe 390 runs behind, and with Maphaka and debutant Codi Yusuf in good rhythm. Yusuf had Takudzwanashe Kaitano caught at backward short leg off his fifth ball in Tests, and Nick Welch edging behind to the wicketkeeper in his third over.Both of South Africa’s new-ball bowlers were extracting plenty of bounce and carry. South Africa may have opted to bowl on the second morning in anticipation of exactly that after they saw Zimbabwe’s quicks getting a lot of help from the surface in the first session on Saturday.Despite the early wickets and assistance for the seamers, Williams counterattacked. He got two early boundaries off Maphaka: one an outside edge flying past gully, and another a short-arm pull to deep-backward square leg. While Maphaka was taken for runs, Yusuf was much tighter: his in-between lengths drew the batters forward, and his line around the off stump checked the flow of runs.Zimbabwe however, ended the morning session without any further damage. Wiaan Mulder and Corbin Bosch replaced the new-ball bowlers, and continued to test the batters with accurate lines and lengths. Ervine was especially cautious, managing just nine runs off his first 44 balls. But he dispatched his second boundary when he cut hard at a short and wide delivery from Bosch in the 19th over, and that seemed to have injected some momentum into Zimbabwe’s innings.Sean Williams and Craig Ervine steadied Zimbabwe with a 91-run stand•Zimbabwe Cricket

Both Ervine and Williams found success by punching or slashing the ball behind – and in front of – square on the off side. Zimbabwe were chipping away with that partnership before Keshav Maharaj made things happen. He beat Williams after tossing one up at him in the 24th over, and could have had him stumped on 40 had Kyle Verreynne not fumbled on the first attempt.After lunch, with the ball turning into him, Williams decided to use the sweep against Maharaj. One of those attempts saw the ball pop up off his forearm, and just behind the slip fielder. Finally, it was Maharaj who broke through. Ervine skipped down the pitch to Maharaj, who floated one full and wide of off. Ervine, on 36, missed, and this time Verreynne flicked the bails off in time.Thereafter, it was all about the remaining batters playing a supporting role for Williams. Wessly Madhevere confidently swung Maharaj for six over long-on early in his innings, with the South Africa captain being attacked by Williams as well. Williams faced 52 balls from the left-arm spinner and scored 43 runs – a strike rate of 82.69 – including five boundaries.Twice Williams advanced down the pitch to convert potential length deliveries into full tosses, and heaved them away to the deep-midwicket boundary. Mulder trapped Madhevere for 15 in the 43rd over, but Williams remained firm. Four overs later, Williams got to his sixth Test hundred – the joint second-highest by a Zimbabwe batter – but next ball, saw Prince Masvaure, the concussion substitute for Bennett, edge Mulder behind.Wiaan Mulder finished with figures of 4 for 50•Zimbabwe Cricket

Mulder got his third when he had Tafadzwa Tsiga balloon a leading edge to point in the 49th over. Yusuf bagged his third wicket soon after when Wellington Masakadza got a faint tickle behind to Verreynne. At that stage, Zimbabwe were 217 for 7, still two runs short of avoiding the follow-on. But Williams comfortably got them past that mark in the company of Vincent Masekesa, who blocked and dabbed much to South Africa’s frustration.Williams’ stay ended at 137 when Maharaj had him stumped for Verreynne’s fifth dismissal of the innings. Masekesa, Blessing Muzarabani and Tanaka Chivanga added only two more runs from that point, as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 251, leaving South Africa 167 runs ahead in the first innings.Despite falling behind by a huge margin, Zimbabwe hit back early. Chivanga had Matthew Breetzke edging to gully for 1 in the second over, but Tony de Zorzi and Mulder kept South Africa on track. They survived the evening despite some help for the Zimbabwe seamers, and took the score to 49 and the lead to 216 without any further damage.

For the first time in the tournament, DRS will be used for all matches from the Super Sixes stage onwards

Firdose Moonda23-May-2023West Indies and Sri Lanka have been drawn in separate groups for the 2023 ODI World Cup qualifier, which will take place in Zimbabwe between June 18 and July 9. The ten-team event is made up of two groups of five, with hosts Zimbabwe, West Indies, Netherlands, Nepal and USA making up Group A, and Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland, Oman and UAE in Group B.After initially only confirming the presence of third umpires to monitor run-outs, the ICC has announced that DRS will be in use from the Super Sixes phase of the competition.In the first round of the competition, each side will play the other teams in their group once. The top three from each group will then progress to the Super Sixes stage, where they will only play the sides they did not meet in the group stage. The points won in the group stage against the other qualifiers will carry over to Super Sixes. The two teams with the most points at the end of the Super Sixes stage will compete in the final, though the outcome of that contest is of no immediate consequence, since both finalists will qualify for the World Cup, to be held in India in October and November this year.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The two finalists will join hosts India, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, defending champions England, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa, who qualified automatically through the World Cup Super League.The five bottom-placed teams from the Super League – West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Netherlands – along with the top-three teams from the World Cup League 2 – Nepal, Oman and Scotland – and two teams from a qualifier playoff – USA and UAE – will compete in the qualifier.Hosts Zimbabwe will take on Nepal while West Indies will face USA on the opening day at Harare Sports Club and Takashinga Cricket Club respectively.The competition consists of 34 matches and will be played across four venues in Zimbabwe: Harare Sports Club and Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare, and Queen’s Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club in Bulawayo.This is the second time the World Cup qualifier is being played in Zimbabwe, after they also hosted the 2018 edition of the tournament. There, with some fixtures affected by rain, Zimbabwe and Scotland narrowly missed out on qualification to the 2019 World Cup while West Indies and Afghanistan progressed to the tournament. West Indies will now make a second successive appearance at the qualifying tournament, while Sri Lanka appear for the first time. Zimbabwe, Ireland, UAE, Netherlands, Scotland and Nepal also feature for the second time.

Legspinner handed chance for game-time as stand-in for injured Matt Kuhnemann

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-2023Matt Parkinson will feature for Durham against Derbyshire in the LV= County Championship on Thursday, after joining the club from Lancashire on a two-week loan.Legspinner Parkinson, 26, has featured in just one of Lancashire’s three Championship fixtures to date, taking 5 for 120 in the second innings against Surrey, and comes into the Durham line-up as a replacement for the injured Australia spinner, Matt Kuhnemann.The extra game-time is opportune for Parkinson, who was surplus to international requirements this winter and was also overlooked in last month’s Hundred draft. He has featured 12 times for England across formats, including a solitary Test appearance against New Zealand at Lord’s last summer, when he was called up as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach.”Following conversations between Matt and the club’s coaching staff, it was agreed that game time in the County Championship would be preferable,” Mark Chilton, Lancashire director of cricket performance, said.”Earlier this week, an opportunity arose for Matt to join Durham on loan and the deal has been agreed between both counties and the player.”This is a great opportunity for him to get some more overs under his belt in a more competitive environment. We are looking forward to seeing how he performs and to welcoming him back into the squad.”Kuhnemann had himself replaced fellow Australian Todd Murphy at Durham, but was unable to take the field on the final day of their drawn match against Durham after suffering a back problem, and will continue to be assessed by the club’s medical staff.Parkinson’s two-week stint covers a solitary Championship game. Durham are one of ten teams in action this week, with Lancashire sitting out the round prior to their match against Nottinghamshire starting at Trent Bridge on May 4, for which he will now be ineligible.