Where one relied on his sublime timing, the other was ruthless in his approach, making for very contrasting but effective innings

Hemant Brar in Hyderabad30-Mar-20192:56

Dasgupta: Warner looked in control and took calculated chances

“To me, Sanju Samson will be the MVP of the IPL; he’ll be player of the tournament,” Rajasthan Royals brand ambassador Shane Warne had said before the start of IPL 2019. Although it’s still early days in the tournament, for a brief period on Friday, Samson was the Orange Cap holder.The first centurion of the season, Samson scored an unbeaten 102 off 55 balls, studded with ten fours and four sixes, to steer Royals to 198 for 2 against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.However, David Warner’s equally brilliant 37-ball 69 meant Sunrisers overhauled the target with one over to spare, and registered their highest successful chase in the IPL.While Samson relied on his timing and was more sublime in his stroke-making, Warner was ruthless in his approach. Such was the quality of both innings, even opposition players couldn’t help lavishing praise. After the match, Sunrisers allrounder Vijay Shankar dubbed Samson’s innings “outstanding”, and the opposition camp’s Rahul Tripathi conceded Warner dashed all their plans by the way he batted.Sanju Samson pulls powerfully•BCCIHere’s a look at the two contrasting but equally effective knocks:Different challenges
After opting to bat first, Royals lost Jos Buttler in the fourth over of the innings. With the surface playing a bit slower than expected, Royals were aiming for a total of 150-odd. Therefore, the goal for Samson was to lay a solid foundation for the batsmen to come and his 119-run stand with captain Ajinkya Rahane did exactly that.On the other hand, a 199-run target meant Sunrisers couldn’t afford to waste any time. After scoring 85 in the last game, Warner once again led the charge and almost singlehandedly set up the chase, with Jonny Bairstow playing second fiddle. Sunrisers took 69 from the Powerplay without losing a wicket, and by the time Warner departed, the side had cruised to 110 in 9.4 overs. At that stage, Sunrisers still required 89 off 62, but Warner’s innings meant the asking rate never got out of control.Stepping on the gas
Samson took his time to get his eye in; scoring at only a-run-a-ball for the first ten balls he faced as Royals finished the Powerplay on 35 for 1. The next ten balls, though, brought Samson 22 runs. The sequence started with a six off Shahbaz Nadeem and included another six off Siddarth Kaul – the two big hits coming in consecutive overs.David Warner smokes one into the leg side•BCCISamson reached his fifty off 34 balls but it wasn’t until the 18th over that he hit the top gear. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who had conceded only ten off his first two overs, was carted for 24, with Samson staying leg side of the ball through the over. He started with lofting the first ball over wide long-off for a six before bringing his wrists into play to squeeze four fours through the point region. Samson got to his hundred off 54 balls – with yet another four off Bhuvneshwar – as he smashed 45 off the last 15 balls he faced.For Warner, the situation dictated that he attack from the start, and attack he did. The first ball of the chase was glanced to the fine-leg boundary and the fourth bludgeoned over deep midwicket for a six. Warner had sprinted to 18 off eight before his opening partner Bairstow could face a ball. He walloped his way to 40 off 20 and then 60 off 30 balls before Ben Stokes hurried him with a bouncer to end his innings.Method behind madness
Just like the situations they batted in and the way they accelerated, both batsmen’s execution was also different. While four of Samson’s ten fours came behind square on the off side, Warner scored a solitary single in that region. Samson notched up 23 off 9 balls on either side of the point.In contrast, Warner seemed happy to chip even the short-of-length deliveries over long-off instead of cutting them away. During his innings, Warner scored 23 off 8 in the direction of long-off, including three fours and a six.Choosing their battles
Bhuvneshwar bore most of the brunt when Samson accelerated towards the end. The batsman’s strike rate against Bhuvneshwar was a whopping 375 (30 off 8). Apart from Rashid Khan – against whom he scored 14 off 11 – Samson’s strike rate against all other bowlers was between 140 and 180.Before this game, Dhawal Kulkarni had bowled 52 balls to Warner in the IPL, conceding just 44 runs and dismissing the opener twice. But here Warner set the tone with 14 off the seamer’s first over, and, in all, took 21 off the 11 Kulkarni deliveries he faced. The only bowler Warner was more brutal against was offspinner K Gowtham, who went for 22 off 8 against the Australian.

Stats wise, it’s been the worst ground for spinners in the IPL this season, but Imran Tahir showed that can be overcome

Sreshth Shah in Kolkata14-Apr-20194:19

Kartik: Tahir credits Dhoni for IPL success

Fortune favours the brave. We’ve heard commentators say that when an aggressive slash flies over the keeper’s head. But what about spinners? You give the ball a bit of air, and more often than not, you crane your neck back to see the ball fly over your head.But not Imran Tahir. At 40, Tahir may not be the quickest on the field but he sure has the biggest heart. On an Eden Gardens surface where spinners averaged 70 runs per wicket and conceded 9.23 runs per over this season before the start of the game, Tahir produced his best IPL figures – 4 for 27 – by attacking the Kolkata Knight Riders top order with a lovely mix of flight, guile and turn. Oh, and he also very nearly ran the fastest 100m sprint by any man on a cricket field.On the eve of the match, Knight Riders batting coach Simon Katich joked that his spinners – the most potent trio before the start of the season – may need to have a chat with the curators. Before this game, only six wickets fell to spinners in the three games played at Eden Gardens this year. But when Knight Riders’ innings ended, Tahir had singlehandedly reminded everyone that spin still rules here – if you have the skills, but more importantly, if you have the guts.Imran Tahir roars after taking a wicket•BCCIIt all began in the 11th over when Tahir knocked out two Indian top-order batsmen within three balls to reduce Knight Riders from 79 for 1 to 80 for 3. Unafraid of batsman taking him on, Tahir’s legbreak first found the inside-half of Nitish Rana’s leg-side swipe, only to find Faf du Plessis at long-on. Two balls later, another legbreak landed outside off and enticed Robin Uthappa so much, that he couldn’t resist a big shot off just his first ball. It took a leading edge, and there was du Plessis, running in from long-off to take a superlative diving catch. Both times, Tahir’s ability to get the ball to dip late, forced the error from the batsmen. Thinking it would land fuller, both Rana and Uthappa felt they were closer to the ball that it actually was, and met their end in similar fashion.With a couple of wickets under Super Kings’ belt, MS Dhoni took Tahir out of the attack. A 40-run spell of three overs between Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner, however, forced Dhoni to turn to Tahir again. And Tahir did not disappoint.

Tahir, today, reminded everyone that spin still rules at Eden Gardens – if you have the skills, but more importantly, if you have the guts.

He slid one into Lynn – who was looking menacing on 82 – and tempted him to swing across the line, only to find the fielder to square leg. But that bought in Andre Russell, and it set us up for the game’s most mouth-watering contest.Russell, not one to give an inch himself, drilled Tahir’s first ball to the leg-side fence. Later in the over, he erred for perhaps the only time on the day, going too full against IPL’s hottest hitter and paid the price, as the ball flew over his head and nearly took the sponsor’s car out.Andre Russell was again Knight Riders’ best batsman•BCCIIt was crunch time now. Would Tahir stick to his tried and tested method of enticing batsmen with his flight or would he panic?Well, he did something in between. The legspinner went for a slider, flattening his trajectory, but still keeping the length full. And this time with an extra zip from his wrists, all Russell could do was find the substitute fielder manning the long-on fence.In the space of four balls, Tahir had removed Knight Riders’ top scorer and their danger man.”Look, I could’ve bowled so that I could take a few dot balls or that Russell played me for a single, but I took it up as a challenge,” he said at the post-match press conference. “I wanted to get Russell out, it’s as simple as that. I don’t mind getting hit for sixes, but I got his wicket. The team needed the wicket at that stage, so happy we got him out. I don’t bowl for personal numbers. “When Tahir walked off the ground at the end of the first innings, he was hurried by the producers for a TV op. He had leapfrogged from sixth to first on the list of highest wicket-takers for the season and was presented with the purple cap. When the photographer asked him to strike a pose, Tahir wore the cap but asked the person to wait a moment. He wanted to tuck his Super Kings cap between his folded arms, a simple reminder that team comes first, and individual performances mattered very little to the man playing his 22nd year of top-flight cricket.

Hardik Pandya had a slice of luck early in his innings, but he was good enough to make the most of it even as his brother had a night to forget at the Wankhede

ESPNcricinfo stats team15-Apr-2019″Take those half-chances. The catch that went down off Hardik could have been a game-changer.” Those were Virat Kohli’s words in the post-match interview, as Royal Challengers Bangalore lost their seventh game of the season.The half-chance he was talking about came off the last ball of the 17th over, when Tim Southee ran back from mid-off in an attempt to hold on to a miscue from Hardik Pandya, but just failed to latch on. Hardik was then on six off five balls, and went on to slam an unbeaten 37 from 16, which means he scored 31 from 11 balls after the chance (including the let-off delivery).ESPNcricinfo LtdAccording to ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index, which quantifies the impact of every lucky event in a match, that catch cost Royal Challengers 18 runs, and was indeed a game-changer. Had that catch been taken, according to Luck Index the remaining Mumbai Indian batsmen would have only scored 13 runs off the ten balls, and Royal Challengers would have had a second win this season.As it turned out, though, Hardik turned in another outstanding display of clean and destructive power-hitting under pressure, and easily had the biggest role to play in the win. According to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, Hardik’s total contribution to Mumbai Indians’ victory was a whopping 38.5%; the next highest was 17.3%, for Quinton de Kock. This is calculated by including the batting and bowling performances of every player in the team, by factoring in the strike rate and the context in which the runs were scored for the batsmen, and the quality of wickets taken and the context in which the economy rates were achieved for the bowler.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe contribution percentage for Hardik was so high because of the context in which he made the 16-ball 37. He came in to bat in the 16th over, when Mumbai Indians needed 43 to win off 27 balls. Of those 43 runs, Hardik ended up scoring 37, while at the other end Krunal Pandya contributed only three off five. Since Smart Stats takes into account the context and pressure on the batsman when he scored his runs, Hardik’s 37 was worth 52 Smart Runs.On the other hand, Krunal had a game to forget, struggling through 21 balls for his 11. His strike rate of 52.4 is the lowest ever by a Mumbai Indians batsman who has faced at least 20 balls in the IPL. Not surprisingly, his contribution to his team for the night stood at -11.1%, easily the lowest among all Mumbai Indians players in the match.Fortunately for him, his brother was around to bail the team out.Luck Index and Smart Stats is a part of Superstats, a new set of metrics by ESPNcricinfo to tell more enriching and insightful numbers-based stories. To know more about Superstats, click here.

The numbers suggest New Zealand have the best pace attack at the World Cup. Can they live up to those numbers one more time?

Osman Samiuddin13-Jul-2019Sometime in the early years of this century, Scott Styris once said, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) decided to change the nature of the pitches in the country. You might remember the greentops New Zealand had become renowned for, as in 2002-03, when India’s highest total, across 11 international innings on tour, was 219.It wasn’t much helping New Zealand’s batsmanship, NZC thought, and it was aiding the wrong kind of bowler, a bowler like Styris, in fact, who didn’t need to have much pace, who didn’t need to do too much because the pitch did it for him, and who could also bat.They started producing better pitches, surfaces batting could prosper on and, as a result, surfaces on which a fast bowler had to have a little something to prosper. Pace, most preferably, but good skill too, the wrist and discipline to extract swing and seam where and when possible.Now a zillion things go into producing elite fast bowlers and, along the way, a gazillion things can and do go wrong. But this is being put out here that a decade and a half on from that change, New Zealand have got Trent Boult, Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson, and are in their second consecutive World Cup final. Tim Southee’s here too and has only been needed for one game.And back home, there’s a few more who could’ve been here – Adam Milne, super-quick and injury-prone. Doug Bracewell. Neil Wagner, who arrived from South Africa as a traditional left-arm swing bowler, and when presented with the challenges of New Zealand conditions transformed himself into the one-of-a-kind short-ball monster that he is in Test cricket. And though he made himself unavailable a couple of years ago, Mitchell McClenaghan too. More await. This is serious depth.

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Pitches, sure. But pitches alone? That would be to ignore a big, romantic unquantifiable like Shane Bond. If a kid growing up had seen Bond 1.0 bowl in the early 2000s, how could they not want to bowl like him? That Henry and Milne both have such Bond moves – sleek run-ins, a proper hurl at the crease – cannot be coincidence.Whatever it is, it has meant New Zealand have had not only one of the best pace attacks at this World Cup, but one of its most rounded. Whatever your poison, New Zealand are dealing in it. Swing? There’s few better than Boult at sniffing out every last degree of it. Traditional fast-medium seam? Henry’s your man, just about enough pace to keep batsmen honest with the added threat of movement off the surface. Out-and-out pace? Not many are quicker than Ferguson this tournament and maybe only Jofra Archer has bowled better bouncers.And so, Boult and Henry have been among the tournament’s most effective Powerplay 1 bowlers. No pair has more than their 13 wickets in that phase, though it is particularly relevant for Sunday that Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer also have 13. Neither is this effectiveness a sudden blooming, or a one-off. Since the last World Cup, no side has better bowling figures in the first ten overs than New Zealand. Not only have they taken the most wickets, but they have the best strike rate and the second-best economy rate, and are the only side to average under than 30 in the phase.

Boult has been central, the constant even as his long-time partner Southee has faded and Henry has stepped up. Most conversations will – and if not, they should – have Boult in their top three fast bowlers, not just because he has the most wickets in the world since the last World Cup among his breed. But especially at the front end of an innings, he has turned New Zealand into the side they are now: other than Afghanistan, no team in the last four years has so often reduced the opposition to five down for less than 100.

Since the end of 2016, they’ve had Ferguson to start bossing those middle overs. More than any other New Zealand fast bowler, the causality of truer, better batting surfaces producing faster bowlers is evident in Ferguson. Look at this picture of him, just as he is about to release. This doesn’t give as clear a sense as a screenshot of this point from front-on would, because his upper half is almost ninety degrees sideways – as in, bent over his left hip – to his base. It’s almost a yoga stretch.Lockie Ferguson at his point of release•NurPhoto/Getty ImagesThe one thing nobody will disagree on upon seeing this picture is that whatever the nature of the surface, this guy is going to extract express pace, bounce, something, anything out of it. That is how much effort is going into this release. If the action ended up causing injuries it wouldn’t be a surprise, but the effectiveness right now is not in dispute.Once the ball is softer, in those middle overs, Ferguson has been a game-changer. His pace, the bouncer of course, and the variations – along with Mitchell Starc, he’s the leading wicket-taker this tournament in the second Powerplay (overs 11-40). Starc has the better strike rate but Ferguson’s 12 wickets have come at a better average and a lower economy rate. If New Zealand miss a really attacking spinner in those middle overs, Ferguson more than makes up for it, and that’s without throwing in James Neesham’s nine wickets in that phase and Boult’s five. It isn’t a surprise that New Zealand have the best middle-overs average (30.66) and economy rate (4.61) of any team at this World Cup.And they haven’t been bad at the death either. While five other teams have more wickets in that phase, only England have a better economy rate.Given all this, the whys and hows of New Zealand’s run becomes clear. Bowling sides out is the new-old-always mantra in ODIs and New Zealand have done it the joint-most this tournament – five times, the same as England and Australia. But let’s give this a better spin: they’ve done it five times in nine games and not in 10 as the other two.Trent Boult breathes fire after wreaking havoc on India’s top order•IDI via Getty ImagesThe spin could go on. Boult, Henry and Ferguson have played together seven times in this World Cup and New Zealand have won six of those matches (their overall ODI record is 11-2). Two of the times they didn’t play (against Australia and England), New Zealand lost.But – and New Zealand, ever honest, understand this themselves – they have come across some of the less batting-friendly surfaces this tournament. Not exactly bowler-friendly, but there’s been different degrees of assistance for them and New Zealand have exploited every last drop of help. The one time they didn’t, in Durham against England, Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy took them apart – until the pitch swiftly slowed down and New Zealand hauled things back. (Though, partly in excitement, partly in hope that he makes it a contest, it would be negligent to not point out that Ferguson missed the Durham game.) One other time, during Carlos Brathwaite’s assault at Old Trafford, Henry especially looked rattled.Excuses don’t work in World Cup finals, whatever the conditions, so the three will have to be as good as they’ve been in this tournament, as good as they’ve been over the last four years, as good, perhaps, as they’ve ever needed to be.

Despite another towering performance from their superstar, Australia have lost control of the Test, and maybe also an outright Ashes win

Daniel Brettig at The Oval13-Sep-2019For a second or two after Steven Smith shuffled across and missed the first ball of a Chris Woakes spell in the final hour at The Oval, 24,000 people suspended their disbelief. So impassable for so long, and so seemingly impervious to the ball that optically looks as though it might best dismiss him, Smith had fallen lbw in a remarkably nondescript fashion. There was as much surprise as there was delight in the subsequent roar from the crowd.A score of 80, dropped once on 66 by Joe Root off Sam Curran, was in actual fact Smith’s lowest score of an incredible series, which to date has reaped him 751 runs in six innings. He will return to Australia at the end of this tour as both a hero and an undisputed genius, and the main reason why, for the first time since 2001, the men in baggy green will have the Ashes in their keeping.How much of a difference Smith had made to Australia’s chances was writ large across a day that brought with it another definitive conclusion – this is an Ashes retention a world away from those of 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2001. On each occasion, Australia’s batsmen dominated either for an entire series or at its critical junctures, and on each occasion the same preferred top six employed for the tour was able to turn out again, unchanged, for the first home Test of the following summer.Here and now, however, only Smith and his erstwhile substitute Marnus Labuschagne have watertight cases to play against Pakistan at the Gabba from November 21. While the Australian tourists will go home with the satisfaction of a goal achieved, most of the batsmen among their number will not do so with a huge amount of comfort about the manner in which it has taken place. The numbers for the balance of Australia’s batting line-up are eye-watering, meaning the celebrations that take place post-series will need to be tempered by plenty of uncertainty about what happens next for many of those involved.Of the seven batsmen tried apart from Smith and Labuschagne, only Travis Head has managed to average better than 25 – something that made his omission for this Test a valid point to question. The only scores of 50 or better are owned by Head, Matthew Wade, and David Warner, and even then only once each. For Warner, it has been a tour of rare horrors, and by one measure unprecedented. No batsman in history has made more single figure scores in the one Test series than his eight out of nine innings so far.This one ended no less wretchedly than others, though a little curiously as his abortive cut shot at Jofra Archer appeared to have daylight between the bat and the ball when Warner was deemed to have nicked it. Warner will doubtless be hoping to reacquaint himself with his beloved Kookaburra ball, the better for clattering pickets with it on friendlier home surfaces, but he would not want to start the domestic season slowly.

The thought of an Australian batting line-up in two years’ time, on harder pitches against Archer’s pace, is far less comforting for Langer than it should be

Marcus Harris went next, edging a ball straightening up on him from around the wicket as now appears standard, giving him an average of less than half a run better than Warner’s 9.33, albeit from three matches instead of five. These returns have been so poor as to make Cameron Bancroft’s earlier contributions: 44 runs at 11, but facing 162 balls to Harris’ 106, positively productive. As beautiful a player as Harris can be at his best, he has been unable to make a difference to the raging tide against Australia’s left-handers this series. Nine Test matches in and he is still to make a century: a straightforward dropped catch in the day’s final over off Josh Hazlewood will not help him either.Labuschagne, as may have been expected, provided the only prolonged support for Smith. His innings was earmarked by pleasant strokeplay off his pads, though England’s pacemen have gradually enjoyed more success against him in trying for lbw, as Archer eventually did after lunch. Well as Labuschagne has played in this series, he will be annoyed he has not capitalised on such sound starts with at least one hundred, but he can expect to be batting in the top order at the Gabba.Of all the day’s dismissals, that of Wade was arguably the most unfortunate. While his head position was not great, falling over towards the off side as Curran swerved the ball into him, the curvature of the delivery suggested that a not out lbw verdict would have been reasonable – something more or less backed up by the fact that ball-tracking had the leg stump only being shaved rather than squarely struck.Even so, Wade has made precisely half his 220 runs in a single innings, making this a slimmer return than desired on the strength of the pre-Ashes run-making that had him jokingly referred to as “Don” by Australia A teammates a couple of months ago. Whether he is still a part of the team at home may well depend on whether the selectors choose to prefer the younger Alex Carey, who in terms of character and performance trends appears destined for a long career as a cricketer and possible leader for Australia, the major question being when he is introduced.Mitchell Marsh, then, completed the top six, and initially looked to be doing better than he had managed in a dreadful run of performances in the UAE and at home against Pakistan and India last year. He defended stoutly, rotated strike and looked to punish the bad ball for 51 minutes, suggesting he was in decent fettle to help accompany Smith to his fourth century of the series.However it was to a bad ball that Marsh fell, one of Archer’s few poor ones to get a wicket over four matches. Short, down the leg side and not particularly dangerous, Marsh swivelled to dispatch it, only to pick out Jack Leach at fine leg. Australia’s hopes of a substantial first innings lead evaporated there and then.The rest were to be bewitched by Curran’s swing – leaving plenty to rightly wonder why he had not been utilised by England earlier in the series – and then finished off by Archer’s pace and a stunning final catch from Rory Burns. Joe Root’s team enjoyed the sequence, not least Curran’s two in two balls to defeat Tim Paine, nicking a good one that shaped in then seamed away, then pin Pat Cummins in front of all three stumps. Australia, it must be said, had done far better in far harsher conditions on numerous other days this series.”I felt pretty good at the crease,” Smith said, though he did admit to a touch of flu that may, at a pinch, have hampered his focus. “Unfortunately I couldn’t bat with the tail for as long as I would’ve liked, but it was a nice little partnership with Pete and Nathan. It would have been good if I could have stayed out there a bit longer and done something similar to what Jos did for their tail, get the runs a bit closer together. But I felt pretty good again today.”An English victory here would make this the first tied Ashes encounter since 1972, and provide a reminder of the fine margins by which Australia retained the urn in Manchester. For Paine and Justin Langer, there is a reminder here that for all their good work over the first four Tests, this is not an Australian side that can afford to rest easy upon this achievement. The likes of Kurtis Patterson, Joe Burns, Will Pucovski and Matt Renshaw all have plenty of incentive to start next summer swiftly; Usman Khawaja’s record at home virtually demands his recall.And apart from anything else, Smith’s dismissal and the collective failure of Australia’s batsmen on a sun-dappled day in south London ensured that England will finish this series with the distinct feeling that they are not too far away at all from having the measure of the touring side. Right now the thought of an Australian batting line-up in two years’ time, on harder pitches against Archer’s pace, is far less comforting for Langer than it should be.

KL Rahul also became the third fastest batsman to 1000 T20I runs in men’s cricket

Bharath Seervi06-Dec-2019208 – The target chased down by India in the first T20I against West Indies is their highest ever in T20Is. The previous biggest target chased down was 207 against Sri Lanka in Mohali in 2009. Overall, this is the fifth-highest successful run-chase in T20Is.3 – Number of times India have successfully chased 200-plus targets, which is now the most among all teams. Australia and South Africa have each done it twice. All the three successful 200-plus chases of India have come in India. In fact, the visitors have put on 200-plus scores against India four times in India and three of those scores were chased down by the hosts.ESPNcricinfo Ltd94* – Virat Kohli’s score in this match – his highest of T20I career. His previous best was 90 not out versus Australia at Adelaide in 2016. He hit six sixes in his innings, which are also the joint-most he has hit in a T20I. This was Kohli’s 23rd fifty-plus score in the format, which is also the most among all batsmen.10-2 – India’s win-loss record when chasing at home in T20Is since 2016. Both the defeats were against New Zealand. India’s win-loss ratio of 5.00 is the best among all teams at home when chasing.60 – Runs conceded by Kesrick Williams, are the most by a West Indies bowler in a T20I. They are also the joint second-worst figures by a bowler against India.50 – Runs scored by Kohli from 15th over onwards, in just 16 balls. He smashed two fours and five sixes in these overs to seal the chase with eight balls to spare. The other two batsmen in this phase – Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer – scored only 16 runs from 14 balls they faced.ESPNcricinfo Ltd29 – Innings taken by KL Rahul to complete 1000 runs in his T20I career. Only two batsmen have got to the milestone in fewer innings – Babar Azam (26 innings) and Kohli (27). Aaron Finch also took 29 innings for the same. Rahul became the seventh India batsman to score 1000 runs in the format.12 – Number of Man-of-the-Match awards for Kohli in T20Is – the joint-most for a player, equalling Mohammad Nabi. This is his second award in T20Is this year.

It will be Tamil Nadu v Rajasthan and Haryana v Karnataka in Friday’s final-four clashes in Surat

Shamya Dasgupta28-Nov-2019

Semi-final 1 – Haryana v Karnataka in Surat, 2.30pm

Karnataka did stretch their remarkable winning spree to 15 games, but then came unstuck against Baroda’s Lukman Meriwala to go down by 14 runs. After that, though, they were back to their awesome selves, putting up a 5-1 win-loss record in the group stage – they finished behind Baroda on net run rate – and winning three of their four Super League games.They come into the semi-final without momentum, though, as the loss came against Mumbai in their last Super League game. That’s pretty similar to Haryana, who had their own super streak of nine wins in a row this season. They lost to Mumbai by eight wickets in their first group game, but then won six in a row to make it to the Super League as the second-ranked team in Group D, behind only Mumbai. That spree went up to nine as they won their first three Super League games, enough to put them in the semi-finals even though they lost the last game to Maharashtra by two runs. Yuzvendra Chahal’s presence has been of great benefit to Haryana, as he has almost always kept things tight and been among the wickets, and if they can beat star-studded Karnataka, it would be something to crow about.Players to watch
Harshal Patel
Remember the medium-pacer who was such a familiar face at the IPL? Well, he is very much around, and is now a batting option at the top of the Haryana order too. Pushed up, Patel has hit 340 runs from 11 innings, including two half-centuries, and has scored his runs at a strike rate of 165.04. That’s put him at No. 8 in the run-scorers’ chart too, and he is second on the wicket-takers’ list too, with 18 strikes from 11 innings with an economy rate of 6.87. There’s a medium-pace-bowling allrounder made for the format.Devdutt Padikkal
Padikkal, just 19, has been one of the stories of the domestic circuit in recent times, the latest in a long line of fantastic Karnataka batsmen. He’s brought his form to this competition, sitting pretty atop the charts with 461 runs from ten innings, with one swashbuckling century and four fifties, an average of 65.85, and a spectacular strike rate of 173.96. Padikkal also has the record for most sixes in the tournament so far – 27 – and his tally of 45 fours is only behind Mumbai man Aditya Tare’s 49.R Sai Kishore prepares to bowl at the Chennai Super Kings nets•R Sai Kishore

Semi-final 2 – Tamil Nadu v Rajasthan in Surat, 6.30pm

It’s a repeat of the Group B fixture early on in the competition, when Tamil Nadu, riding on good hands with the bat from a number of their stalwarts and R Sai Kishore’s 3 for 19 emerged 39-run victors. That was on November 9, far away from Surat in Thumba in Kerala. A lot has happened since then, but Tamil Nadu continue to look the stronger of the two sides based on their progress to the semi-finals. And R Ashwin’s presence.In Group B, Tamil Nadu lost just the one game, against Uttar Pradesh, when their opponents chased down the 169 with one ball in hand.Rajasthan, apart from losing to Tamil Nadu, also lost to Vidarbha by one run (VJD method), and then lost two of their four Super League games, to Baroda and Haryana, before beating Maharashtra and Delhi to make the final four. This, even as Tamil Nadu, except an insipid performance against Karnataka, have looked solid in beating Mumbai, Punjab and Jharkhand.All said, it needs to be remembered that this one will be played under lights. How much of an effect will the dew have?Players to watch
R Sai Kishore
First up, read this one on ‘spinning fingers and Madipakkam dreams by Deivarayan Muthu.Then we come to the numbers the 23-year-old left-arm spinner has recorded this season: 19 wickets from ten innings, returns of 4 for 6 against Tripura the best of his outings; his economy rate is a measly 4.21, and he has an average of 8.84. Remember, most of this is in the powerplay. One man can’t win a tournament, but Tamil Nadu have been well-served by Sai Kishore this season – aided by some very spin-friendly tracks – and if they do go on to win the tournament, the young man would have been the big reason for it.Deepak Chahar
There isn’t an outsider like Sai Kishore to prop up for Rajasthan, though Ankit Lamba has been steady without being spectacular as the batting frontman and quicks Aniket Choudhary and Khaleel Ahmed have been among the wickets. But Deepak Chahar, after his heroics internationally, has kept up the good work for Rajasthan, with 11 wickets from six innings including the hat-trick-that-wasn’t. And just in case anyone thought he was one-dimensional, there’s the 55* from 42 balls from No. 7 that gave Rajasthan a two-run win over Delhi in the last game.

Brooks, in his second coming as a batsman, passed the test posed by Afghanistan spinners on his way to a maiden Test hundred

Saurabh Somani in Lucknow28-Nov-2019If a genie ever grants you a wish and you ask to be an international cricketer, there’s a secondary wish you must make if you are given Shamarh Brooks’ career. You must wish for the ability to not look back.Don’t look back at the ball that has just beaten your bat on a spicy pitch. Don’t look back at the way you were run out after keeping the world’s No. 1 team at bay for 200 minutes. Don’t look back at the decade lost between being captain at the Under-19 World Cup to finally making your Test debut. And don’t look back at the 13-year-old boy who was thought of so highly that Everton Weekes gave him advice on playing spin bowling.Actually, scratch that last one. Because if you’re Shamarh Brooks, you’ll need to remember Weekes’ advice when you get your moment in the sun: on a turning pitch in India, against an array of spinners who might not be consistent but can bowl wicket-taking balls out of nowhere. And you end up making a maiden century in your third Test for West Indies, having come in at 34 for 2 and taken the team to a commanding lead by the time you are the ninth batsman out.Brooks’ 111 against Afghanistan on the second day of their one-off Test was at once a masterclass in patience and eye-catching strokeplay. He was not in control for about one fifth of the 214 balls he faced as per ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, but he was able to shrug the mis-hits away and get on with the job of carving boundaries to every area of the outfield. His innings gave West Indies 277 and a lead of 90 runs. By stumps on the second day, Afghanistan had capitulated to 109 for 7, leaving the visitors in sight of victory.It was a particularly satisfying knock given how Brooks’ last Test innings had ended in a run-out after he reached 50, being too casual in getting back to his crease while Virat Kohli swooped in and fired in a direct hit.”I guess playing in the India series was a rude awakening for me in terms of playing at this level,” Brooks said on Thursday. “We were demolished in the series (against India) and our batsmen didn’t put up a good show. But I guess to come up with a half-century in my second Test match, for me confidence-wise it did a lot.”I think it was pretty difficult to bat today,” he added. “Yesterday when we batted for 45 minutes or so, it wasn’t as difficult. But I guess as the ball got a bit softer, it started to turn a bit more… then it was about being patient and just picking off the bad balls. That proved vital today in our first-innings total.”What held Brooks in good stead on a tricky pitch was remembering the words of Weekes. “When I was 13 years old, the great Sir Everton Weekes told me that when you’re batting against spin, you have to get very close to it, or very far from it,” he said. “On a pitch like this against their quality bowlers, I think it was just about trusting your defence. That was important. Looking to spend as much time as possible and just pick off the bad balls. Be happy with a single, look at some balls from the other end. Get accustomed to the pace and how much bounce and turn they’re getting on the pitch.”Shamarh Brooks defends after stretching forward•AFPThe promise that Brooks held was spotted early. It’s easy to see why – he’s fluid with his shots, well-balanced at the crease, has shown he can be unflustered, and is able to hit the ball to all parts of the ground. But that promise has taken a while to turn into performance. Brooks led West Indies at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup. Everyone in that squad who would go on to play international cricket did so well before Brooks: Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Veerasammy Permaul, Kieron Powell, Devon Thomas, Nkrumah Bonner.”When I was younger, I can definitely say I took a lot of things for granted,” Brooks reflected. “I started first-class cricket very young [barely a few months past his 16th birthday]. It was just the situation, I played with guys who were much older than me and I was just a bit content with that. Then when I was dropped for two or three seasons from the Barbados team it was a wake-up call for me. That is when my career really turned around and I started to be consistent and realised the importance of scoring runs. Since then I’ve never looked back.”The years Brooks spent out of first-class cricket were 2013 and 2014. His overall first-class average is a none-too-flattering 33.43, but since 2015, it’s a healthier 38.41. More crucially, each of his six centuries and 23 of his 24 half-centuries have come in this latter period. The tale of a promising youngster who didn’t make it is as old as the sport. Making it as a veteran after having been a promising youngster is more rare. But Brooks wouldn’t have had it any other way.”I’m someone who believes in nothing [happening] before it’s time,” he said. “I guess I was highly touted from when I was a young man and I’ve been through my trials and tribulations, and I think they’ve definitely helped me in reaching where I am today, so… I would never say, ‘No, I wanted it to happen in 2009’ [as opposed to 2019]. I think it’s happened at the right time.”

Already thinking ahead about potential summer reinforcements, Aston Villa have now reportedly made contact over a deal to sign a £25m sensation who recently dominated England’s U21 side.

Aston Villa join race to sign France U21 star

Whilst it has seemed as though they’ve endured a season full of inconsistency at times, Aston Villa find themselves in an FA Cup semi-final, a Champions League quarter-final and in with every chance of qualifying for Europe’s top competition for a second season running in the Premier League. And that qualification would undoubtedly play a large part in their pursuit of summer targets.

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On that front, a number of potential reinforcements have already emerged, including the likes of Arda Guler. The Real Madrid youngster has struggled for game time in Spain in the face of such talented competition and has now reportedly attracted the attention of Villa sporting director Monchi.

The Turkish international would certainly be quite the coup. Although he has struggled to steal the headlines at Madrid, Guler could become an instant star in the Midlands just as Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford have fresh from their own struggles.

He’s not the only young star that the Villans have set their sights on, however. According to The Boot Room, Aston Villa have now made contact to sign Rayan Cherki, asking Lyon to be kept informed about the winger’s transfer status in the coming months.

Available for just £25m this summer, Cherki is likely to be one of the bargains of the window and has already attracted a list of interested parties as a result. Joining Villa in the race for his signature is reportedly Manchester United, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur in what should prove to be a hectic battle to welcome one of Europe’s rising stars when the summer arrives.

"Magnificent" Cherki is a rising star

The interest in Cherki from the Premier League should come as little surprise after he put on the show of all shows against England U21s during the international break, scoring once and assisting twice in a 5-3 victory for France. It was an evening stroll for a player whose quality belongs and is destined for the highest level.

It’s not the first time that the 21-year-old has impressed this season either, having scored eight goals and assisted an eye-watering 18 in all competitions for Lyon to earn the praise of Jacek Kulig. The scout/analyst described Cherki’s campaign as “magnificent” at the beginning of March and has seen him get better and better ever since.

As the race for his signature heats up, Cherki looks destined to have a decision to make which could yet end in a summer switch to Villa Park.

Liverpool’s victory over bitter rivals Everton last night saw Arne Slot’s side claim their 22nd Premier League win of the season, pushing them one step closer to the title.

The Reds may have struggled to produce their best display, but Diogo Jota’s strike in the 57th minute secured all three points – making amends for their draw against the Toffees in February.

Slot’s side now have a 12-point buffer over Arsenal with just eight league outings remaining – looking to be in pole position to claim their second title in the last six seasons.

Serious credit should be given in the direction of the Dutchman for his work in 2024/25, allowing for a seamless transition after taking the reins from Jürgen Klopp in the summer.

Numerous players managed to thrive in the Derby Day environment, many of which will have given the manager a selection headache ahead of the last couple of outings.

Liverpool’s star performers against Everton

Curtis Jones was forced to operate in a natural right-back role given the injuries to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Conor Bradley over the last few weeks.

However, the academy graduate produced a superb display, completing 93% of the passes he attempted, whilst also completing 100% of dribbles – thriving with the ball at his feet.

Luis Diaz has been an inconsistent figure in recent months, only netting one goal in 2025, but managed to tee up Jota for the only goal of the encounter.

The Colombian created six chances during his spell on the pitch – the most of any player – whilst also completing five dribbles, highlighting the threat he posed in the final third.

One other first-team member impressed throughout, undoubtedly cementing himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet as a result of his showing.

The Liverpool player who’s now as important as Salah

Mohamed Salah has been a crucial reason for Liverpool’s success in 2024/25, registering a staggering 54 combined goal contributions in his 44 outings to date.

However, the Egyptian’s future remains up in the air with just a couple of months remaining on his contract, with no news yet to be released on whether he will sign a new deal.

Undoubtedly, losing a player of his quality would be a huge loss for the Reds, with the hierarchy desperately needing to prevent losing the star man on a free transfer.

Midfielder Ryan Gravenberch has enjoyed a superb rise during his compatriot’s reign, becoming a key player in their success and cementing his place at the heart of the side.

He’s started every single Premier League outing this campaign, notching two assists and forming an excellent partnership with Alexis Mac Allister in recent months.

Last night was no different for the 22-year-old, completing 72 passes at a completion rate of 89%, with ten of his passes going into the final third and finding a teammate.

Minutes played

90

Touches

102

Passes completed

72/81 (89%)

Passes into final third

10

Dribbles completed

1/1 (100%)

Clearances made

2

Interceptions made

2

He also notched a tally of 102 touches, whilst also managing to complete a dribble and looking positive every time he had the ball at his feet.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Defensively, he also managed to impress, making two clearances and two interceptions whilst also managing to make seven recoveries – highlighting his impressive performance at the base of midfield.

As a result of his showing, he was handed a 7/10 match rating by Football Insider journalist Toby Wilding, showcasing how impressive his showing was for Slot’s men.

Given his performance, it’s evident that the former Bayern Munich man has enjoyed a revival at Anfield, looking to be a shrewd addition under his compatriot.

His showing last night was evidence of the talent possesses, undoubtedly being one of the first names on the teamsheet, arguably being as important as Salah to Slot given his emergence this season.

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