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Martin Saggers has been added to the full list of First Class umpires for 2012, replacing John Steele who retired at the end of the last season.

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2011Martin Saggers, the former England bowler, has been added to the full list of first-class umpires for 2012, replacing John Steele who retired at the end of last season.Saggers, 39, was capped three times by England in 2003 and 2004 and has been on the reserve umpires list since 2010. He took 415 wickets in a first-class career for Durham and Kent between 1996 and 2009. He made his Test debut against Bangladesh, at Chittagong, and also claimed a wicket – Mark Richardson of New Zealand – with his first ball in Test cricket in England.”We would like to congratulate Martin on his promotion to the full list,” said the ECB umpires’ manager Chris Kelly. “This has been the result of some outstanding performances in matches over the last couple of seasons. His commitment and attitude on the reserve list has been exemplary and his promotion is thoroughly deserved.”Three other umpires have been added to the reserve list: Paul Pollard, who scored almost 10,000 first-class runs for Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire; Mike Burns, the former Warwickshire and Somerset all-rounder; and Ben DebenhamECB full list 2012

Rob Bailey, Neil Bainton, Mark Benson, Martin Bodenham, Nick Cook, Nigel Cowley, Jeff Evans, Steve Gale, Steve Garratt, Michael Gough, Ian Gould, Peter Hartley, Richard Illingworth, Trevor Jesty, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Jeremy Lloyds, Neil Mallender, David Millns, Steve O’Shaughnessy, Tim Robinson, Martin Saggers, George Sharp, Peter Willey.ECB reserve list 2012

Paul Baldwin, Mike Burns, Ismail Dawood, Ben Debenham, Mark Eggleston, Russell Evans, Graham Lloyd, Paul Pollard, Billy Taylor, Alex Wharf.

A round-up of the first day of the second round of matches in the Plate League of the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2010Group AHyderabad bounced back from their mauling against Rajasthan in dominate the first day against Jharkhand at the International Cricket Stadium Complex in Ranchi, having bowled the hosts out for 200 before ending the day at 50 for 0. Jharkhand chose to bat, but only Saurabh Tiwary (45) and Shiv Gautam (48) managed to make any impact, the pair adding 83 for the fifth wicket. It was only because the visitors conceded 40 extras that Jharkhand were even able to get to 200. Alfred Absolem, Vishal Sharma and Pagadala Naidu were among the wickets, while two dismissals came through run outs.Deepak Chahar was among the wickets again as Rajasthan knocked over Goa for 216 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Chahar followed up his record-making debut with 4 for 67, and fellow new-ball bowler Pankaj Singh took 5 for 58, to give Rajasthan the upper hand. Chahar struck early once again, when he bowled Advait Katkar for 2. Pankaj then got rid of Goa captain Sagun Kamat, getting him to nick one behind for 25. The middle-order trio of Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Ajay Ratra and Rahul Keni all got starts, but none of them were able to extend their innings, with Keni’s 40 being the best of the bunch. Vidyut and Keni fell to Pankaj, while Chahar dismissed Ratra, as Goa slipped to 141 for 5 and then 183 for 9. It took a 33-run partnership for the last wicket between Robin D’Souza and Harshad Gadekar to carry them past 200. In reply, Rajasthan were 48 for the loss of Aakash Chopra’s early wicket.Tripura laboured to 218 for 6 against Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. Yogesh Takawale faced 18 deliveries before departing without scoring to leave Tripura 0 for 1. Rajib Saha and Biswajit Dey then took the score to 70 before Dey was dismissed by seamer Devendra Bundela. Saha completed his half-century but was snapped up soon after by Bundela for a well-made 53. Rajesh Banik and Nishit Shetty then added 52 before Shetty’s departure triggered a mini-collapse in which Tripura lost three wickets for 27 runs. Captain Rajib Dutta and Timir Chandra then played out the rest of the rest of the day, putting on 44 together. Bundela was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 31 from 16.5 overs.Group BKerala‘s bowlers ran through Jammu & Kashmir, bundling them out for 173, and vindicating their decision to bowl first at the Perintalmanna Cricket Stadium in Malappuram. Prasanth Parameswaran did the early damage, removing Ian Dev Singh and Arshad Bhatt, both of whom failed to trouble the scorers, to reduce the visitors to 4 for 2. A 66-run partnership between Asif Jeelani and Javed Ahmad steadied the innings somewhat, but three quick wickets had J&K reeling at 80 for 5. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, and it took a 44-run stand between Abid Nabi and No. 10 Sameer Khajuria to take the visitors to 173. Parameswaran was the most successful bowler, taking 4 for 55. In reply, Kerala had moved to 19 for 0 by stumps.Suraj Yadav’s second career five-wicket haul helped Services bowl Andhra Pradesh out for 223 at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur. The visitors won the toss and chose to field, and Yadav struck early, bowling Prasad Reddy for 15. Hemal Watekar and Satyakumar Varma took AP to 81 before Amrinder Singh dismissed Watekar for 48 from 77 balls, with seven fours. Varma was the next to go, caught off the bowling of Nishan Singh for 33. Five overs later, Yadav took two wickets in two balls, to leave AP struggling at 131 for 5, and the home side needed a 49-run stand between Manoj Sai and AG Pradeep for the seventh-wicket to give their score some degree of respectability. At stumps, Services were 23 for 1, having lost Pratik Desai for a duck.Only 13 overs were possible in the game between Maharashtra and Vidarbha at the Golf Club Ground, but it was enough time for the hosts to reduce Vidharba to 42 for 3. Shrikant Mundhe caught opposing captain Akshay Kolhar (0) in front of the stumps before Samad Fallah had Amit Paunikar caught for 12. Mundhe picked up the victim of Amit Deshpande (6) as well, to leave the vistors stuttering at 24 for 3, before Alind Naidu and Azhar Sheikh shepherded them to stumps.

Close but no cigar for New Zealand. They needed 118 from a minimum of 23 overs to win the series but rain forced a draw

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera15-Dec-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
BJ Watling gave New Zealand hope before rain had the final say in Napier•Getty Images

Close but no cigar for New Zealand. They needed 118 from a minimum of 23 overs to win the series, BJ Watling was leading the chase with a spirited half-century and no Pakistan bowler looked threatening when the rain came down in Napier to kill the contest. The target looked within reach but the steady shower ensured that an absorbing series ended 1-1.New Zealand were set a target of 208 in a minimum of 43 overs and, when Watling opened with Tim McIntosh, the most likely result appeared to be a draw, given how slowly these openers batted in the first innings. Watling, however, played an innings of character to send a shiver down Pakistan’s spine. It was high-drama in overcast Napier: The fielders continually looked at the clouds, Mohammad Yousuf kept nudging the umpires to stop play, the batsmen were trying not to look concerned and moods in the dressing rooms were of stark contrast.Watling, after a sedate first innings on debut, was serenely destructive in the second. There wasn’t a single shot that was out of the book and he took few risks, yet runs came at a brisk pace. He played a pull and a cover drive but it was the cut that really caught the eye. The shot that really got him going came when he was on 11: The ball from Gul was short of a length and there wasn’t much width on offer but Watling played a delicate late cut to the third-man boundary.Gul tried to intimidate with two bouncers but Watling delicately side-stepped to unfurl upper cuts and collect fours. Pakistan attacked with spin from Danish Kaneria but Watling refused to be contained. He counterattacked with a stunning slog-swept flat six and a delicate paddle-swept four. With McIntosh rotating the strike adeptly, Pakistan were beginning to run out of ideas when rain came to their rescue.New Zealand’s brisk batting was in contrast to Pakistan’s slow approach in the morning. Their batsmen were playing a game that doesn’t come naturally to them and it made for absorbing viewing.The moment that captured their dilemma came when Kamran Akmal hit a four and shook his head, seemingly unhappy with his shot selection. It was a stunning hit over extra cover; he had knifed through the line of a length delivery from Chris Martin but when the camera panned on him, he was shaking his head and admonishing himself. It was a risky shot in the context of the game, with the team trying to secure a safe lead before thinking of anything beyond, and he knew it. However, the shot was a natural, almost reflexive, reaction from an attacking batsman and it was that kind of a battle that Umar and Misbah too fought without success.Misbah’s failing was greater than that of Umar for he was not only more experienced but also someone who can, in theory, play the patient game. And he had started well, nudging, pushing and leaving anything that he didn’t have to play. However New Zealand suffocated him with their relentless discipline and a feeling of claustrophobia set in. And the brain freeze eventually came when Misbah faced up to Daniel Vettori for the first time in the day. He went for an almighty heave – his critics would call it a dirty slog – missed it completely, and was quickly stumped by Brendon McCullum with his back foot still on the line.Umar, unlike on the fourth day, was more sedate this morning. Iain O’Brien and the close-in fielders teased him to have a go but he continued batting defensively. Occasionally, though, the impishness in him threatened to crack open the lid of self-control. There was a hoick against O’Brien and a couple of plays and misses but no damage was done till he came up against the new ball, when he feathered an edge off an attempted cut shot to McCullum. A brain freeze by Mohammad Aamer, who had played out 52 balls with caution, threw open all possibilities yet again as Pakistan were bundled out soon after the break. The rains, however, came down to douse a cracker of a contest.

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.

The opener has been a powerhouse T20 player and the second-highest run-scorer in the BBL

Andrew McGlashan04-Jan-2024Aaron Finch will bring his illustrious T20 career to a close after announcing his retirement from the BBL at the end of the current season with Melbourne Renegades.Although Thursday’s announcement only relates to the BBL, it’s understood that Finch is unlikely to play in any mainstream leagues overseas but may continue to take part in legends tournaments. Finch had recently indicated in an interview with Channel 7 that this would likely be his final BBL season.”There’ve been some real lows but great highs [too], and I’ve loved every bit of the journey”, Finch said. “No moment can compare to winning the BBL title. That, for me, was very special, and something I’ll remember. I’m really proud to have played at one club for the entirety of my career. The Renegades have been a huge part of my life, and I’m so grateful for everything they’ve given me.”To everyone who’s been part of the journey with me – our members, fans, supporters, my team-mates and all who have had a part to play at the club at all levels – thank you.”Finch is not currently part of Renegades’ XI, having previously played on December 23, but the club may give him a farewell outing against Melbourne Stars on January 13 at the Marvel Stadium. Renegades are unlikely to be in contention for a finals spot.He currently stands as the seventh-highest run-scorer in T20 cricket, with 11,458 runs at 33.70 and a strike rate of 138.21. His highest score of 172 came for Australia against Zimbabwe in 2018.In the BBL, he is the second-highest run-scorer behind Chris Lynn.Finch had announced his international retirement in February 2023, having quit ODIs late in 2022. He captained Australia to the 2021 T20 World Cup title.David Saker, head coach of Renegades, has known Finch through much of his cricket journey.”Finchy has been an outstanding servant and leader with the Renegades; it’s such a rare feat in the Big Bash to spend your career at the one club,” Saker said. “Everything that’s been successful with the Renegades, Finchy has had everything to do with it.”I first coached Finchy when he captained Victoria’s Under-19s, and I’ve seen him develop as a leader and person. He’s a unique type of leader – very tactically aware – while he bases a lot of his decisions on gut feel, and that’s a courageous thing to do out in the field.”Renegades general manager James Rosengarten lauded Finch on his BBL career.”It’s almost impossible to quantify what Finchy has done for the Melbourne Renegades as a club and brand, and for the BBL as a competition,” he said. “He brought fans through the gates and led this club through highs and lows – all with the trademark grit and determination that we know him for.”

“I understand the need to try and play in slightly inclement weather to try and get a result. But we overstepped that mark in this game.”

Danyal Rasool24-Oct-20222:47

Houghton: ‘I don’t think we should have bowled even one ball’

Zimbabwe coach Dave Houghton was fiercely critical of the decision to carry on with his side’s game against South Africa even as the rain in Hobart grew heavier, saying he didn’t believe the “conditions were right to play”, and that Zimbabwe “shouldn’t have bowled a ball”.Related

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• As it happened – South Africa vs Zimbabwe in Hobart

Rain halted Monday’s game in Hobart on multiple occasions, before it was finally called off with South Africa on the verge of victory. South Africa needed a further 13 runs to win with all ten wickets in hand and 24 balls to go, but the innings hadn’t yet reached the five-over mark, the mandatory cut-off for a game to produce a result. During the chase, Zimbabwe’s bowlers and fielders complained several times about the wet outfield as the rain grew steadily heavier. Even when fast bowler Richard Ngarava slipped and had to be taken off injured, the umpires kept the players on.It was a decision that left Houghton furious. “He’s lying in the changing room with a bunch of ice strapped to his ankle,” Houghton said. “Obviously we’re not too happy about the fact he’s not in a great space for bowling at the moment. We’ll have to assess it in the next day or so.”I thought the rain had got so heavy it was ridiculous. Most of the evening or nighttime, it was misty. But it got to the stage where we could actually hear it thumping on the rooftop in the dugout. To me, that’s no longer drizzle; that’s time to get off the field. The field was wet when we started and when South Africa fielded. They were difficult conditions for both sides but it just got more and more wet as we bowled. When your keeper’s sliding trying to move down the leg side standing up to the spinners, it’s too wet. I don’t think the conditions were right to carry on playing.”Richard Ngarava had to leave the field after taking a tumble•AFP/Getty Images

ESPNcricinfo understands the entire Zimbabwe unit were unhappy at what they considered were dangerous conditions, and believed higher-profile teams wouldn’t have been put in that position. While Houghton declined to comment publicly on whether he thought the umpires would have made the same decision if the roles had been reversed, he was emphatic in his disagreement with the call.”I understand the need to try and get these games on for the public and for TV.” he said. “I understand the need to try and play in slightly inclement weather to try and get a result. But we overstepped that mark in this game. The umpires are the guys making those decisions in the middle and they seemed to think it was fit to play. I disagree with them. But there’s not much I can do off the field.”After Ngarava’s injury, Zimbabwe turned to spin rather than risk their premier pace bowlers, with Sikandar Raza bowling the third over. But when Sean Williams was handed the ball for the fourth over, Houghton revealed Williams thought enough was enough.”Craig [Ervine, Zimbabwe’s captain] and Raza had had a word with the umpires and asked “what do you constitute as rain because we’re getting quite wet here?” Eventually Sean Williams said just as he was about to start bowling he didn’t think he could bowl. It was too wet. And then they brought us off.”South Africa coach Mark Boucher, meanwhile, suggested that the situation of the game may have played a part in Zimbabwe’s reluctance to carry on. “If Zimbabwe were in our position they would have wanted to carry on playing,” he said. “We bowled with a ball that was quite wet as well. We were in a very good position. You walk away from this game thinking we were hard done by. We are not there to make the calls, that’s what officials do and officials made the call and we’ve got to live with their decisions.”The abandonment leaves South Africa and Zimbabwe with one point each, putting South Africa under early pressure in a group where, on paper, they’re expected to compete for two available semi-finals slots with India and Pakistan. On a frigid night in Hobart, there was plenty of heat from both coaches as an incensed Zimbabwe fumed at an injury to a key fast bowler while South Africa seethed at a win that, not for the first time at a World Cup, was denied to them by rain.

Strong competition among seamers for first Test but balancing XI could be an issue

George Dobell17-May-2021

Top order

England are likely to pick four men who are seen as contenders for the top three: Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Rory Burns and James Bracey. While Sibley is just coming back from a broken finger – he is playing a 2nd XI match at present – the England management are confident he will be fine and he has enough credit in the bank to retain his place.Of the four, Burns is perhaps the least certain of a spot. Having been dropped in India, he is not “in possession” and with England wanting to take a look at Bracey, he could be squeezed. But he has been in consistent form in the Championship (only Kiran Carlson has reached 50 more often than his five occasions this season) and is seen as being relatively well equipped for the Ashes.The form of Haseeb Hameed (and, to a lesser extent, Adam Lyth) has been noted by the England management, but he will need to sustain it a while longer to win a Test recall. If a Lions squad was required tomorrow, however, he would have an excellent chance of involvement.

Middle order

With Joe Root and Ollie Pope assured of their places, England have to decide whether to play Bracey in the middle-order or stick with Dan Lawrence. Both will be in the squad.

Wicketkeeping

With Jos Buttler resting, Ben Foakes looks likely to keep the gloves and play his first home Tests. Bracey is also a more than competent keeper and provides back-up if required. Pope’s brief career as a Test keeper – remember the Hamilton Test of 2019? – would appear to be over.Related

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Spin

Jack Leach is now established as England’s first-choice spin bowler and is certain to be in the squad. With an even chance that he will not be required in the first Test, though – Middlesex have claimed one wicket with spin bowling at Lord’s this season, though Leach took four there in the first match of the season – it is likely Silverwood will feel that only one spinner is required. He is also keen to ensure fringe members of the squad play cricket rather than remain part of an enlarged squad.If they do feel the need for a second spinner, Dom Bess (who has nine wickets at 42.66 this season) could be included, while Matt Parkinson (who has taken 19 wickets at 19.21 so far this season) is also a contender. But it is expected that Leach will be the only specialist spinner.

Seam

Given the reaction when Stuart Broad was left out of the first Test of last summer, it will be interesting to see how the England management approach this series. They have made it apparent, however, that they want to take a look at Craig Overton (32 wickets at 13.96 this season) and Ollie Robinson (29 at 14.72), so it may be that Broad and Anderson are rotated as they were in the winter and play in one Test apiece. Olly Stone is understood to have recovered from a toe infection and, with Jofra Archer absent through injury, is also likely to rotate with Mark Wood to give England a genuine fast bowler in each Test.Craig Overton sits second behind Simon Harmer on the Championship wicket-taking charts•Getty Images

Balance

Injuries and the absence of the IPL players renders it tough to balance the side. It means all their viable all-round options (Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes) are unavailable and leaves them with the prospect of either batting Foakes at No. 6, and leaving a long tail but a five-man attack, or at No. 7 to allow six specialist batters and make do with four bowlers. The latter is the more likely scenario and would leave England with the option of either playing four seamers or three seamers and spinner. The four-seamer option again appears more likely.The toughest decision might be over where to bat Bracey. While he generally bats in the top order for Gloucestershire, he could also bat at No. 5 or No. 6 or even do that and keep wicket. He is seen as an unusually versatile player by the England management and may well allow them to only name a 15-man squad.Other options that might have been considered – picking Matt Critchley (averaging 51.20 with the bat and 36.18 with his legspin this season) as a spinning allrounder to bat at No. 6, for example – would appear to have been resisted.Likely squad: Joe Root (capt), James Anderson, James Bracey, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Dom Sibley, Olly Stone, Mark Wood

The inexperience in the bowling ranks didn’t help, the Zimbabwe captain says

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur25-Feb-2020Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine has said that his batsmen should have taken advantage of the drizzle to stay in the one-off Test against Bangladesh for longer. The visitors were bowled out for 189 in their second innings, eventually losing by an innings and 106 runs. They lasted just 52.3 overs on a cloudy fourth day with occasional drizzle.Ervine said that the batsmen shouldn’t have played shots in the air, rather let the ball get soaked more in the rain. “Batting first, we should have got at least 400,” Ervine said. “The wicket was good enough to post a score like that. Getting bowled out for 265 put us on the back foot and allowed Bangladesh to go past us. We could have also batted better in the second innings. The wicket wasn’t really that bad. I thought our bowlers worked hard to get those six wickets. Obviously [we] didn’t hit the right areas enough, but I just thought that our batting let us down.”It was a combination of application and execution. The guys obviously tried to go over the top and didn’t execute the plans properly. In the past, it has been difficult to bat last in Dhaka. Possibly, guys played a few too many shots because of the turn. But the ball was wet because of the drizzle.”Zimbabwe still had some conviction left in their batting when Ervine, who made a century in the first innings, got set with Sikandar Raza. They added 60 for the fifth wicket before Mominul Haque ran out his opposite number with an excellent direct hit from the covers.”It was very disappointing,” said Ervine. “At the time it seemed like myself and Raza were going well. We got some momentum on our side, and then we basically gave it back to Bangladesh. I have always wanted to get back-to-back hundreds in a game, and I thought today was the perfect opportunity.”He said that Zimbabwe missed Sean Williams the most, but also suffered due to an inexperienced bowling attack.”Sean Williams is a big part of our team,” Ervine said. “He contributes with the bat, ball and field. We missed him hugely.”We have an inexperienced bowling line-up. Charlton Tshuma was playing his first game. Victor was playing his third Test match. Ainsley played a handful of games. Donald Tiripano is the experienced one. We just didn’t hit the right areas for long enough. Without doing that, you can’t build any pressure.”

Abdur Razzak’s match haul of 12 for 144 helped curb North Zone after South Zone’s strong batting innings

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2018South Zone retained the Bangladesh Cricket League first-class title after their nine-wicket win over North Zone in Chittagong. This is the fourth time they have won the competition, having earlier been champions in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.Veteran left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak struck the decisive blows in South Zone’s last round match, taking 12 for 144 to pick up the Player-of-the-Match honours.Razzak took seven wickets in North Zone’s first innings, restricting them to 293 runs in 83.4 overs. Ariful Haque missed a century by two runs as he made 98 off 151 balls with six fours and three sixes. He added 135 runs for the seventh wicket with Ziaur Rahman, who scored 69 off 103 balls with seven fours and two sixes.South Zone replied strongly, making 541 in 125.3 overs, with centuries from Anamul Haque and Al-Amin. The pair added 176 for the fourth wicket before Al-Amin retired hurt when he was on 110. He eventually made 128 off 161 balls with 12 fours and three sixes. Anamul struck 16 fours in his 180 off 314 balls, that spanned seven hours and 44 minutes. Sunzamul Islam took 6-158.North Zone, behind by 248, were then bowled out for 280 in 82.2 overs with Razzak taking 5-75 from his 32.2 overs. Junaid Siddiqui (77), Naeem Islam (67) and Ziaur (77 not out) struck fifties but neither could push past the sixties or seventies.Anamul and Fazle completed the very short fourth-innings chase of 33, making 35 for 1 in 7.1 overs.

Hayley Matthews, Afy Fletcher and Stafanie Taylor led the charge for West Indies as Sri Lanka collapsed from 63 for 1 to 136 all out

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2017WICB Media

The spin combination of Hayley Matthews, Afy Fletcher and Stafanie Taylor worked through Sri Lanka’s batting order to set up a six-wicket victory for West Indies in the first match between the two – which counts for points in the ICC Women’s Championship – in Tarouba. Sri Lanka’s batting floundered against the three, who picked three apiece, as they collapsed from 63 for 1 to 136 all out.Sri Lanka lost their first wicket in the 12th over after opener Nipuni Hansika was struck on the pads by legspinner Fletcher. Yasoda Mendis and Chamari Atapattu set up a 41-run second-wicket partnership, with the latter becoming the first Sri Lanka batswoman to score 2000 runs in ODI. Matthews’ charge, however, removed both the batsmen before they could build on their starts. She also dismissed the No. 5 Prasadani Weerakkody for 8.Taylor and Fletcher scythed through the rest of the order as Sri Lanka fell away quickly.West Indies were off to a shaky start as they lost Kycia Knight and Taylor inside the first five overs. With 49 for 2 on the scoreboard, Matthews retired hurt on 22 and had to be stretchered off after the third ball of the 20th over. Having pulled the ball to short square leg, she dropped on her knees, clutching her right thigh. Earlier, following the third ball of the 14th over, she had received medical assistance for what seemed to be slight unease with her left hamstring. However, later she confirmed to ESPNcricinfo: “It was just bad cramp, but I’m all good”.After Matthews departed, Chedean Nation and Deandra Dottin kept the chase ticking along before slow left-armer Inoka Ranaweera removed both of them and reached the 50th-wicket milestone in ODIs. However, Merissa Aguilleira (32 of 48 balls) and Kyshona Knight (21 off 36 balls) finished the job over the next ten overs.Matthews was named the Player of the Match for her spell of 10-2-18-3.