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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.

Sussex produced their best bowling performance of this season’s NatWest T20 Blast but are out of the competition after rain robbed them of victory against Glamorgan at Hove

ECB Reporters Network28-Jul-2016
ScorecardGeorge Garton (centre) impressed with four wickets in county colours•Getty Images

Sussex produced their best bowling performance of this season’s NatWest T20 Blast but are out of the competition after rain robbed them of victory against Glamorgan at Hove.Having dismissed Glamorgan for 101 in 13.2 overs, Sussex were 30 for 1 when the rain, which had reduced the contest to 14 overs a side, returned after four overs of their reply.The teams got back out for one more ball before it started to rain again and they were unable to return to bowl the five more deliveries which would have constituted a game. Umpires Peter Hartley and Steve Gale abandoned the game at 9.50pm with both sides taking one point each.As it was Essex’s win over Middlesex at Lord’s knocked Sussex out of contention for the knockout stages anyway.Chris Nash drove to cover in the second over of the reply but Sussex were ahead on Duckworth/Lewis when the rain returned.They will rue the fact that they might have had time to face the five more balls needed to constitute a match had they not had to bowl five extra deliveries because of no-balls in the Glamorgan innings.Star of the show for Sussex was 19-year-old left-armer George Garton who bowled superbly to take career-best figures of 4 for 16. Glamorgan only got as many as they did thanks to 26 extras and a last-wicket stand of 24 between Michael Hogan and Shaun Tait.A crowd of 6,500 were rewarded for their patience when the game started at 7.30pm as the Sussex quick bowlers relished a pitch with bounce and carry while too many Glamorgan batsmen gave their wickets away with loose shots.Garton came on in the fifth over with Glamorgan already in trouble. Tymal Mills first over consisted of ten deliveries and included seven no-balls and a wide but he finished it by inducing Mark Wallace to drive his slower delivery to extra cover and give Matt Machan the first of five catches, a new county record in the competition.Colin Ingram fell in identical fashion in Mills’ next over and David Lloyd was caught at cover having been squared up by Jofra Archer.Garton has Aneurin Donald brilliantly caught by Machan running around the deep mid-wicket boundary and in his next over Garton held an easy return catch when Graham Wagg mis-timed a pull. The 19-year-old then claimed two wickets in his final over as Andrew Salter was bowled heaving across the line and Timm van der Gugten caught at short fine leg.Skipper Jacques Rudolph joined the procession when he mis-timed a pull off leg-spinner Will Beer. At 62 for 8 Glamorgan were in a sorry state but their last two wickets did manage to add 39 runs before Chris Jordan had Craig Meschede and Tait both caught at mid-off by safe hands Machan.

For the fourth time in four games, Netherlands batted first and set Nepal a challenging target, but unlike the previous three matches, the visitors held their nerve to register a consolatory three-wicket win in Rotterdam

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Paras Khadka hit six fours for his maiden T20I fifty•Peter Lim/ACC

For the fourth time in four games, Netherlands batted first and set Nepal a challenging target, but unlike the previous three matches, the visitors held their nerve to register a consolatory three-wicket win in Rotterdam. Netherlands took the series 3-1.Set 140 for the win, Nepal looked to be heading for a 0-4 whitewash when they fell to 76 for 4 by the 13th over. However, their captain, Paras Khadka, steered the team back on track with a crucial half-century, his first in T20Is. Khadka scored 54 off 40 balls, with six fours, and anchored a match-changing 44-run stand for the fifth wicket with Sharad Vesawkar. Khadka took Nepal to within 10 runs of victory, but his dismissal off Mudassar Bukhari in the penultimate over offered Netherlands a glimmer.Sompal Kami, the No.8 batsman, then stroked the first delivery he faced for four, reducing the equation to six needed off the last over. Ahsan Malik bowled Pradeep Airee first ball, but Kami and Basant Regmi held on to take Nepal home with two balls remaining, Kami sealing the win with a cover drive for four.Earlier, a poor start from Netherlands saw them restricted to 139 for 7. With Sagar Pun (3 for 26) and Regmi (2 for 31) striking at regular intervals, the hosts soon found themselves struggling at 83 for 7. Roelof van der Merwe, who switched permanently to Netherlands on Tuesday, counterattacked by blasting a 27-ball 40, but it would not prove to be enough.

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.”

Lendl Simmons finally made his first international hundred and, with the help of Marlon Samuels, powered West Indies to a total that proved too much for Bangladesh

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran13-Oct-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons had a partnership of 150•Associated Press

Five years after his debut, Lendl Simmons finally made his first international hundred, and with the help of another batsman who has resurrected his international career this year, Marlon Samuels, powered West Indies to a total that proved too much for Bangladesh in the first ODI in Mirpur. The pair put on 150 for the first wicket before a power-packed Kieron Pollard cameo further demoralised a Bangladesh team that was on a high after their dramatic win in the Twenty20 two days ago.Bangladesh were asked to chase down 299, which was higher than any ODI score they have made in the past two years, and despite a quick half-century from former captain Shakib Al Hasan and a patient one from makeshift opener Naeem Islam, they ended well short.Simmons had made half-centuries in six of his previous nine ODI innings, but failed to reach triple-digits each time. On Thursday, he made a fidgety start before settling in on a surface that didn’t have much in it for either the medium-pacers or the spinners.In the sixth over, he was hurried into a pull which was top-edged just wide of the bowler, then he mistimed a straight drive with which he still managed to find the boundary, before jumping outside leg as he looked to crash a short ball through off without managing to connect. He punched the air in frustration after missing out on a cut in the next over, but then showed how good he could be with fours through cover off the back and front foot.Simmons was the dominant partner in an opening stand with Adrian Barath, whose usual effervescent batting style wasn’t on display in a watchful 21 that consumed 47 deliveries. Barath was struggling with a hamstring problem, and retired hurt after the 15th over, the first victim of the newly introduced ban on runners.That provided no relief for Bangladesh as Samuels began aggressively – muscling a six over wide long-on and following it up with a slap past cover for four. Both Samuels and Simmons soon settled down and largely dealt in singles against an unthreatening Bangladeshi attack. The odd poor delivery was smacked for a boundary, like the high full toss offered by Shakib in the 29th over, and West Indies smoothly progressed to 133 for 0 after 30 overs.

Smart stats

• Lendl Simmons’ 122 is the fifth century and the highest ODI score made by a West Indian batsman against Bangladesh. He surpassed Brian Lara’s 117 scored in Dhaka in 1999.

• Simmons’ century is his first in ODIs. He has scored eight half-centuries in 30 matches and averages 34.07.

• West Indies lost their first wicket with the score on 217. The 150-run stand between Marlon Samuels and Simmons after Adrian Barath retired hurt is the third-highest opening stand for West Indies against Bangladesh.

• West Indies’ score of 298 is their second-highest score in ODIs against Bangladesh behind the 314 in Dhaka in 1999.

• The 78-run stand between Imrul Keyes and Naeem Islam is the second-highest second-wicket stand for Bangladesh against West Indies.

Simmons then unfurled a couple of nonchalant sixes over long-on off Abdur Razzak to close in on his century. He reached the milestone in the 37th over, a delivery after Samuels was dropped by the keeper. There were more opportunities that Bangladesh wasted in the field, with Simmons, a notoriously poor runner, reprieved at least twice when a direct hit would have run him out.The final onslaught began in the 40th over, the last of the batting Powerplay, with Simmons bludgeoning a series of fours. The bowler, Shafiul Islam, also sprayed one down the leg side to concede five wides as 21 runs came off the over, leaving the new captain Mushfiqur Rahim with his hands on his head. Both Simmons and Samuels perished in a Rubel Hossain over soon after, but Pollard pulled out some massive hits in a 25-ball 41 to push West Indies close to 300.Bangladesh never looked like they could keep up with the tall asking-rate. Their best chance was if Tamim Iqbal gave them a flier but he was bogged down by the West Indies new-ball pair of Kemar Roach and Ravi Rampaul. He tried to break free when spin was introduced, trying to hammer Devendra Bishoo’s first ball, but could only edge it to the keeper.The other opener, Naeem, had even more trouble in providing the early momentum. At one stage he was 19 off 50 deliveries, and Bangladesh were crawling along at well below four an over when a much brisker rate was called for. Imrul Kayes, the regular opener, had to come in at No. 3 as he was off the field towards the end of the West Indies innings. He tried to inject some momentum with early boundaries and at the halfway stage Bangladesh still had an outside chance after reaching 101 for 1.That was snuffed out in the batting Powerplay that was taken after 25 overs, in accordance with the new rules that mandate that it should be completed within the 40th over. As it has done so often, the batting Powerplay resulted in a slew of wickets: both set batsmen, Kayes and Naeem, were dismissed, and Mohammad Ashraful edged a catch to the keeper.At 130 for 4, the game was pretty much over though Shakib raised some hopes with an enterprising 67. Still, it wasn’t enough to spoil Denesh Ramdin’s day – he captaining West Indies for the first time, on his return to ODI cricket, in the absence of Darren Sammy who was out with an upset stomach.

Manoj Badale, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, has said he doesn’t understand why the board did not give the IPL franchise a chance to defend itself

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2010Manoj Badale, co-owner of Rajasthan Royals, has said the team has provided the BCCI and the government with all the information they had asked for but was not given a chance to defend itself before being expelled from the league.”That seems to us at least unfair,” he told the news channel . “It seems surprising to us that these issues, all of which were communicated, all of which were documented for the past three years, are suddenly brought up when there is regime change as opposed to being brought up in time.”Badale said he met with BCCI president Shashank Manohar last week and was told the team would be treated fairly. He did not reveal any other details of the meeting, however, saying it was a private conversation and not something he wanted to discuss with the media.While the franchise issued a statement in the wake of the announcement saying it would be considering legal action, Badale told another news channel, , that in his experience these things get resolved around a table, and it is only if negotiations fail that legal action will be considered. He also defended his franchise’s record of transparency.

The ripple effects

The ramifications of the case go far beyond these two franchises. Rajasthan had close ties with the English county side Hampshire, who on Monday issued a statement clarifying that no final deal had been signed as yet. The ties with Hampshire were part of a four-nation “global sporting franchise” planned by Rajasthan, but the plans are now presumably on hold.

“We voluntarily chose to submit an enormous document with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board back in July 2009, which went into extraordinary detail about our ownership structure.”The IPL governing council ejected Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab from the league this past Sunday on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms that threatened to “shake the very foundation of the tender process”.The two franchises are now considering their options. A statement from Rajasthan Royals hinted at legal redress without explicitly mentioning it. The Punjab franchise said its legal team was studying the BCCI’s decision, which it also called unfair and not in the IPL’s collaborative spirit, and hoped for negotiations to settle the issue.

The county champions, Durham, will play against MCC in the world’s first floodlit four-day game in Abu Dhabi next March, after it was confirmed that the traditional opening fixture of the English season would be shifted from Lord’s to the Zayed Internatio

Andrew Miller11-Dec-2009The county champions, Durham, will play against MCC in a floodlit four-day game in Abu Dhabi next March, after it was confirmed that the traditional opening fixture of the English season would be shifted from Lord’s to the Zayed International Stadium.The match, which will be contested from March 29 to April 1 using the pink balls that MCC has been pioneering in recent seasons, was confirmed this week at an MCC Committee meeting, and according to MCC’s head of cricket, John Stephenson, such a radical step could pave the way for a new future for Test cricket.”We are delighted to confirm the MCC-Champion County match will take place in Abu Dhabi, and greatly appreciate Durham’s enthusiasm and co-operation,” said Stephenson. “Ultimately, this match is being played in Abu Dhabi for two reasons. Firstly, we felt that the proposed fixture schedule for Lord’s (April 3-5) was far too early in the year to play meaningful cricket, with poor weather a very likely possibility.”Secondly, we’ve been asking cricket authorities around the world to help us trial the pink ball under floodlights. If this match is a success, it could help to re-invigorate Test cricket. We have an opportunity to play our part for the good of the game and we’re determined to grasp it.”The logistics of the fixture are still to be confirmed, including the hours of play and its first-class status, but MCC’s chief executive, Keith Bradshaw, told Cricinfo that he would be addressing the latter issue directly with the ICC. “Give the work that we’ve been doing with respect to the pink ball,” he said, “we feel that this is an innovative trial that needs to be undertaken to see if it is suitable for Test cricket.”It is not a decision that we have taken lightly, and I know some MCC members and public might not agree with it,” Bradshaw added. “We are not suggesting for one minute that we intend to take the Champion County fixture away from Lord’s permanently, but this comes hot on the heels of our World Cricket Committee meeting in Dubai, at which we felt that a match under lights in white clothing was an innovation worth exploring.”The Zayed international cricket stadium is the home ground is the home of Abu Dhabi CC, who last month signed an agreement with MCC to become Associate Club partners. It recently hosted a series of one-day internationals between Pakistan and New Zealand.”Although it is a disappointment not to have the traditional season opener at Lord’s we fully understand and support the reasons for that and are therefore honoured to have the opportunity to take part in this innovative and historic match,” said Durham’s head coach, Geoff Cook.”As the game of cricket generally is moving forward, the possibility of playing with pink cricket balls for the first time in a four-day match, under floodlights, is an experience that the players will be really looking forward to.”Cook’s stance represents a significant change of heart, because as recently as September, he was outspoken in his refusal to trial the MCC’s pink ball in the dead-rubber county fixture between Durham and their already-relegated opponents, Worcestershire.”I was not keen,” said Cook at the time. “It was a first-class match and I thought we should retain the game’s integrity.” The MCC’s inability to test the pink ball in first-class conditions was the principle reason why next May’s proposed day/night Test against Bangladesh had to be shelved.MCC will select a competitive team to face Durham, with the best county, MCC University and United Arab Emirates cricketers in line for selection.Meanwhile, an ECB meeting has approved a change in the points system for the 2010 County Championship season. In a bid to increasing attacking intent, 16 points will now be awarded for a victory and just three for a draw in 2010 – a change from the previous 14 and four.Bonus points remain unchanged, with five for batting and three available for bowling in first innings, although they will now only be awarded for the first 110 overs. Use of the heavy roller is now outlawed once play has commenced.

Warriorz’s fielding lapses of three dropped chances and misfields in the last over cost them the game after Lanning smashed 69

Vishal Dikshit19-Feb-2025The Delhi Capitals middle order stepped up for the first time in this WPL and didn’t squander the blazing start provided by their prolific opening pair of Shafali Verma and Meg Lanning to consign UP Warriorz to their second straight loss. Capitals’ seven-wicket win ended the Vadodara leg of the tournament with the chasing team winning all six games, before the action moves to Bengaluru, and then Lucknow and Mumbai.It was not all smooth and easy for Capitals though. Once Lanning fell for 69, they needed a tricky 48 off 32 on a pitch that was keeping low. The ever-dependable Marizanne Kapp tilted the game in their favour with consecutive fours off Sophie Ecclestone when the equation read 31 off 17 and Annabel Sutherland all but sealed the chase in the last over – off which they needed 11 – by handing similar treatment to Grace Harris. This was also the highest total chased by Capitals in WPL.Related

• Warriorz's Athapaththu to leave WPL early to play for Sri Lanka

• If the shoe fits: Chinelle Henry ready to step up for Alyssa Healy

Warriorz’s fielding lapses of three dropped chances and misfields in the last over cost them the game, after their own middle order was unable to capitalise on the rapid start given by Kiran Navgire’s 51 off 27.

Navgire’s big hits against the big names

Navgire put all the doubts around Warriorz’s inexperienced top order to bed by taking on the big names in Captilas’ attack. She got going from ball one, smacking Kapp for back-to-back fours with a pull and straight loft. In the next over she repeated the act by making room against Shikha Pandey’s inswingers with glorious drives. She upped the level further when she walloped Kapp and Jess Jonassen for two sixes and a one-bounce four all within the space of three balls to race to 35 off 13. With a straight six off Pandey at the start of the fifth over, Navgire brought up Warriorz’s fastest team fifty, off 25 balls, and then brought up her own fifty off 24 balls, the joint-fastest by a Warriorz batter.Kiran Navgire got UP Warriorz off to a flying start•WPL

Sutherland sends Warriorz ‘scrambling’

After starting this WPL with a three-for last week, Sutherland showed her bowling smarts again by sending down short balls with scrambled seams and the bigger boundary on the leg side. Both Vrinda Dinesh and Navgire couldn’t clear the rope and Warriorz went from 66 for 0 to 73 for 2.The Capitals spinners stepped up from the other end. Jonassen fired one outside off to have Tahlia McGrath stumped and Deepti Sharma suffered the same fate when she couldn’t connect against the drift and turn of offspinner Minnu Mani. In a matter of 23 balls, Warriotz had lost 4 for 16 that eventually cost them the match.

Henry shines on WPL debut

Warriorz were headed towards more misery when Harris miscued an offcutter for 12 and they were reeling at 118 for 5. But with five overs to go, it was WPL debutant Chinelle Henry who struck the big hits as Shweta Sehrawat also showed her hitting skills with 37 off 33. Henry, who had scored 61 in her last game at the same ground for West Indies, lifted Warriorz from 128 to 150 single-handedly by smashing Pandey all around the park for three sixes and a four in four balls for a 23-run 17th over. Capitals, however, bounced back to concede just 16 runs in the last three as Jonassen varied her pace and Arundhati Reddy and Kapp took the pace off.

Lanning and Shafali pepper the boundaries, again

That Lanning and Shafali brought up their second fifty stand in three games was nothing new in the WPL, but this time it was with Lanning looking far more confident. Following two scratchy innings, she led her team for nearly three-fourths of the chase with a solid 69 off 49 after Shafali’s 26 off 16 deflated UPW in the powerplay. Shafali punished Kranti Goud in the first over, Lanning dabbed Sophie Ecclestone for two fours in the second, they went after Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Goud together in the third and fifth, and with three fours off Henry’s two overs, Capitals had 59 in the powerplay and the batting pair had their tenth 50-plus opening stand in WPL, the most by a distance.Meg Lanning brought up a quick half-century•BCCI

Sutherland, Kapp see Capitals home after a stutter

Warriorz put down their first chance when Henry dropped Shafali on 25 at deep midwicket although it didn’t cost them much because the batter pulled again to Henry four balls later on 26. It became two wickets in five balls when Jemimah Rodrigues paddled to short fine leg for her third duck in WPL. Once the wickets slowed things down briefly, Lanning’s nifty footwork fetched her three fours in two overs to pull things back while a steady Sutherland kept going at run a ball.Once Ecclestone and Harris sent down two boundary-less overs to bring the equation from 57 off 42 to 47 off 30 along with the wicket of Lanning, Warriorz were clawing back in the game. But Eccelstone put down a sitter of Sutherland and Kapp reeled off boundaries with placement and power to bring Capitals back and she also got a life in the penultimate over.With 11 needed from six, Warriorz conceded two fours that could have been stopped in the outfield and McGrath failed to collect the ball at the bowler’s end from mid-on which could have led to a run-out but turned out to be the winning run.

Only two players from associate teams make the cut – Netherlands’ van Meekeren and Namibia’s Wiese

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2023World Cup winners Travis Head, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, all likely to attract big bucks, are among the first sets of players in their respective categories (capped batters, allrounders and bowlers, respectively) who will be up for bidding at the IPL 2024 auction that will be held in Dubai on December 19. Also among the allrounders list is the World Cup’s breakout star Rachin Ravindra, who has listed his base price at INR 50 lakh.From an initial auction pool of 1166 players, the released list has been pruned down to 333. Of these, 119 are overseas players, including two from Associate nations – Netherlands’ fast bowler Paul van Meekeren and Namibia allrounder David Wiese. Among the prominent Indian names in the capped sets are Shardul Thakur, Harshal Patel, Manish Pandey and Umesh Yadav.The auction will begin with capped players, starting off with batters, followed by allrounders, wicketkeepers, fast bowlers and spinners in the listed order. The same sequence will be followed for the uncapped players.The first set comprising capped batters also has in the mix England’s Harry Brook, who was among three of the five most expensive buys at the previous auction. After three teams went aggressively for him, he was eventually signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 13.25 crores. He had underwhelming returns – 190 runs in 11 innings, 100 of those coming in one innings alone – and was subsequently released.Head, meanwhile, hasn’t featured in the IPL for six seasons now. However, his recent success – he was Player of the Match in both the semi-finals and finals at the World Cup – could force multiple teams to break the bank to secure his services. Head has also been a prolific scorer in the BBL for the Adelaide Strikers.Another breakout star from the World Cup who could attract significant interest is Afghanistan’s seam-bowling allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai, who comes with a base price of INR 50 lakh. Omarzai was Afghanistan’s highest run-getter – 353 runs in eight innings at an average of 70.60 and strike rate of 97.78 – in the tournament. He also picked up seven wickets. Interestingly, the youngest player to feature in the shortlist is also from Afghanistan – Allah Ghazanfar, the 16-year-old mystery spinner. The oldest is his countryman Mohammad Nabi at 39.Last season’s runners-up Gujarat Titans head into the auction with the biggest purse of INR 38.15 crore – 15 crore of which have come through an all-cash deal that saw their captain Hardik Pandya move to Mumbai Indians. They have since named Shubman Gill, last season’s highest run-getter as the new captain. Sunrisers Hyderabad (34 crores) and Kolkata Knight Riders (32.7 crores) will come with the second and third-biggest purse.The auction, which is being held overseas for the first time, will begin at 2.30pm IST (1pm local). The event will also feature a live audience for the first time.

Lancashire have been in the running for three competitions this season and won nothing

David Hopps17-Sep-2022Lancashire have been in the running for three competitions this season and have won nothing. Defeat in the Royal London Cup final followed an agonising near-miss in the T20 Blast final that Hampshire famously won twice, and a Championship challenge that was finally extinguished by a six-point penalty for disciplinary reasons.For Keaton Jennings, Lancashire’s captain in the 50-over competition, another disappointment was hard to take, and it was testimony to his good nature and maturity that he was able to smile in the face of failure.”I suppose one positive is we gave ourselves a chance to win,” he said. “We got into two finals and in the Championship we have played some really good cricket and had we been able to force a result in a couple of games it might have been different.”It is tough to take. You can look back on every bad moment and be incredibly hard on yourself but the fact is the guys have played some really good cricket.”Jennings had been one of the culprits in a surprisingly error-ridden Lancashire fielding display – Kent’s outfielding comfortably outdid them – and then was dismissed for 72 when an untroubled innings was promising to set up victory.”Our catching was a factor,” he said. “Our fielding throughout the competition has been a stand-out for me. I don’t want to say exceptional, but the guys have thrown their bodies around and caught some seriously good catches.”He must be in the running for the reserve opener’s position on England’s Test tour of Pakistan, but it was not the time for him to wonder about it.”I’m not particularly wondering right now,” he said. “As far as England selection is concerned it’s completely out of my hands. This defeat is hard to take and I don’t want to look any further.”Kent’s player of the match as they took their first List A title for 44 years, ending a run of eight consecutive defeats in final since then, was Joey Evison, who collected his award while chants rang around the ground for the allrounder he is earmarked to replace – Darren Stevens, 26 years his senior, and stricken by a groin injury which ended his spell after eight oversEvison struck 97 on his return to Trent Bridge – he was loaned out to Kent for this season ahead of a three-year deal – and he also bowled a decisive penultimate over with Lancashire 22 short and the last pair at the crease. He looked nerveless, but revealed that he was troubled by cramp.”I was cramping up a bit so I was a bit worried about that,” he said. “I obviously didn’t drink enough. I was stretching quite a lot. It could have gone the other way. Liam Hurt can be quite dangerous in those situations, but the final ball came out nicely.”If you’d have told me at the start of the day I would get 97, as well as two wickets and a catch, and I would have bitten your hand off.”I think we outfielded Lancashire. They dropped a few catches and we managed to take them.”If Stevens could be expected to limp happily around the bar throughout the evening, his season, his Kent career, his entire career perhaps now at an end, Kent’s celebrations would have to be tempered. They are still not clear of potential relegation and face a demanding penultimate match against Championship-chasing Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl on Tuesday.