The victory was set up by the bowlers who dismissed Zimbabwe for 124 in Chattogram

Mohammad Isam03-May-2024Bangladesh’s bowlers set up a comfortable eight-wicket victory in the first T20 against Zimbabwe by dismissing the visitors for 124 in Chattogram. Rain interrupted the chase twice, but debutant Tanzid Hasan remained unbeaten, steering his team to victory in just 15.2 overs with 67 off 47 balls.Tanzid got into Bangladesh’s T20I side on the back of a strong BPL season and struck two sixes and eight fours in his innings. He was only the second Bangladesh batter – after Junaid Siddique in 2007 – to score a half-century on T20I debut.Zimbabwe’s 124 was their lowest total against Bangladesh – the previous low was 131 in 2015 – but it could have been lower after they slipped to 41 for 7. Taskin Ahmed and the returning Mohammad Saifuddin took three wickets each while Mahedi Hasan bowled economically for his two scalps.

Bennett’s bright start

Zimbabwe’s innings had got off to a bright start. 20-year-old Brian Bennett struck Shoriful Islam for three consecutive boundaries in the third over after senior batter Craig Ervine had fallen in the previous one. Bennett’s first boundary was a cover drive, the second a ramp past third man, and the third a well-timed punch off the back foot through cover. But that bright start was short-lived.

Zimbabwe collapse

Taskin Ahmed’s first over, full of 140 kph-plus deliveries, was an omen for Zimbabwe’s next half hour. Bennett and debutant Joylord Gumbie struggled to connect with most of his deliveries, but the next dismissal was a soft one against Mohammad Saifuddin. Gumbie swivelled awkwardly at a poor delivery down the leg-side and gave Taskin a simple catch at short fine-leg.Bennett was run out first ball of the sixth over, and then Mahedi Hasan dismissed Zimbabwe’s captain Sikandar Raza for a golden duck. Raza’s attempt at a lap sweep resulted in him gloving a catch to slip. Three wickets had fallen off three balls, and then Taskin dismissed Sean Williams and Ryan Burl with the first two deliveries of the seventh over. When Saifuddin got Juke Jongwe out for 2, Zimbabwe had gone from 36 for 1 to 41 for 7 in 17 balls.Blessing Muzarabani and Joylord Gumbie collide and drop Tanzid Hasan•AFP via Getty Images

Madande and Masakadza’s record stand

Clive Madande was Zimbabwe’s last recognised batter and he found support in Wellington Masakadza. They rotated strike regularly as Bangladesh eased the pressure for a little while. The pair added 75 runs, Zimbabwe’s highest partnership for the eighth wicket in T20Is. It nearly broke the all-time record of 80. Madande struck six fours in his 39-ball 43, while Masakadza made his highest T20I score, hitting 34 off 38 balls.

Muzarabani superb start goes sour

Blessing Muzarabani gave Zimbabwe the perfect start to the defence of 124 when he got his second ball to scissor through Litton Das’ forward press. Litton’s white-ball misery continued with scores of 0, 36, 7, 0, 0 and now 1 in 2024.In his next over though, Muzarabani first collided with wicketkeeper Gumbie when Tanzid had skied a catch. The ball was high above the batter himself but Muzarabani wandered close to the advancing Gumbie, before the wicketkeeper dropped the catch as they collided.Later in the over, Bennett dropped a sitter at cover off Tanzid, who was on 4 at the time. In Muzarabani’s next over, Tanzid smashed two sixes and a four through midwicket to exacerbate the bowler’s disappointment.

Tanzid cashes in

It took Tanzid 14 balls to score his first boundary on T20I debut, but once he laid into Muzarabani in the sixth over, the left-hander looked more at ease. After the second rain break, Tanzid struck a couple of fours off Luke Jongwe, and another pair got him close to his fifty.Bangladesh lost Najmul Hossain Shanto in the tenth over for 21, but Tanzid enjoyed some more luck. He got a third life when Gumbie dropped him for a second time on 56. Towhid Hridoy struck Ainsley Ndlovu, who had come on as a concussion sub for Masakadza, for 15 runs in his first over. Hridoy remained not out on 33 off 18 balls, as Tanzid struck the winning runs with 28 balls to spare in the chase.

Fynn Hudson-Prentice top-scores as visitors recover from 140 for 6 to 278 all out

ECB Reporters Network10-May-2024Wickets came in clusters on the first day of the Vitality County Championship match between Glamorgan and Sussex in Cardiff with the visitors posting 278 in their first innings after a middle-order collapse left them in trouble.Four wickets apiece from James Harris and Mir Hamza were the highlight for Glamorgan but Sussex did well to recover from 140 for 6 thanks to late-order runs from Jack Carson, Ari Karvelas and Jayden Seales.Several Sussex players got starts but none went on to make a big score on a pitch where it seemed difficult to get fully settled, Fynn Hudson-Prentice producing the top-score with 48. In recent years this Cardiff square has flattened out as the match wears on, so those extra runs could prove vital.Glamorgan faced six overs before the close of play and finished on 21 for 1 with Eddie Byrom falling lbw to Karvelas for 12.Glamorgan’s decision to bowl first on a beautifully sunny day in Cardiff was a matter of some debate before the game started, and a quick start from the Sussex opening pair of Tom Clark and Tom Haines only added to those questions. Haines had reached 19 from just 22 balls when he was trapped lbw by Hamza and that slowed things down.Clark was dismissed playing a pull shot that took a top edge and was easily caught by Chris Cooke, the first of a number of wickets that suggested that there was a two-paced nature to this Sophia Gardens surface.A stand of 50 between Tom Alsop and Cheteshwar Pujara steadied things after the loss of both openers but a flurry of wickets after the lunch break justified Glamorgan’s decision at the toss. A brilliant 18-ball spell from Hamza saw him claim three wickets while conceding just four runs as Sussex went from 131 for 3 to 136 for 5.One of those wickets was that of Pujara who was caught behind to a ball that Hamza got to seam away. Despite his sustained success in county cricket, Glamorgan were something of a bogey team for Pujara before this match. He had made just nine runs in four innings, his last outing against them resulting in an 11-ball duck. His average of 2.25 going into this game was the worst of his career against any first-class opposition. The 41 runs he made in this were well put together but he could not go on.Harris claimed his third wicket when he had Danny Lamb caught at third slip by Andy Gorvin to leave the visitors 140 for 6. A 66-run partnership between Carson and Hudson-Prentice took Sussex past 200 but when Harris forced a second drag on to the stumps it saw the end of Hudson-Prentice.Crane took the ninth wicket when he had Carson caught at slip by Colin Ingram for a well-made 39 before a last-wicket stand took Sussex past 250 for their first bonus point. Karvelas and Seales eventually put on 43, but they were aided by Glamorgan fielding. Karvelas was dropped on 18 and 32 and finished undefeated on 39.The final wicket was claimed by Gorvin who was playing in his first game for Glamorgan this season on his 27th birthday. He bowled Seales for 17 as Sussex finished 278 all out.The one Glamorgan wicket to fall before the close was Byrom who was trapped by a lovely ball from Karvelas which swung in to leave him leg before.

Glamorgan looked set to win before three dropped catches in last three overs came back to haunt them

ECB Reporters Network20-Jun-2024Gloucestershire 142 for 8 (J Taylor 70, van der Gugten 2-8) beat Glamorgan 140 for 6 (Northeast 46*, M Taylor 3-21) by two wicketsGloucestershire completed a superb win over Glamorgan with Jack Taylor’s 70 setting up a remarkable comeback from 45 for 5 to secure a two-wicket victory.Glamorgan looked certain to claim the win before three dropped catches in the last three overs came back to haunt them as Josh Shaw hit the last ball for six to take the visitors past their target.Runs for Sam Northeast and an excellent spell from Timm van der Gugten had put Glamorgan into a winning position before Taylor’s 70 from 48 balls set up the victory for Gloucestershire.Gloucestershire looked to be heading for a large defeat before Taylor’s innings allowed them snatch the win from the very last ball.The Glamorgan innings was characterised more by touch than by power with their top three looking to work the ball around in very bowling friendly conditions. Kiran Carlson tried some early innovation and was dismissed as a result. He attempted to scoop a ball from Shaw over the keeper and was caught at backward point by Matt Taylor.With the early wickets of Carlson and Labuschagne, Northeast was happy to soak up the pressure that the Gloucestershire seamers applied, and he was going at under a run a run a ball for much of his innings. Northeast finished on 46 not out from 42 balls, the lowest not out score by an opener in a full 20-over innings in the competition’s history. Colin Ingram looked to be more aggressive and fell when he attempted to on drive down the ground off the bowling of Matt Taylor for 25. When Chris Cooke fell to the next ball Glamorgan were 76 for 4. When Ben Kellaway was caught at deep square leg in the next over off Marchant De Lange that became 81 for 5.Dan Douthwaite and Northeast put on the biggest stand of the Glamorgan innings but that was broken after the pair had added 37. Northeast added 22 in the final overs with van der Gugten to get Glamorgan to 140 for 6 from their 20 overs.The Gloucestershire innings got off to a poor start with the new ball once again causing serious difficulties for the batting side. They were 29 for 3 at the end of the powerplay and really struggling to get going.Van der Gugten bowled four consecutive overs from the Cathedral Road end to finish with figures of 2 for 8 in a spell that included a maiden and just one boundary.The introduction of the very first over of spin in this match brought immediate rewards for Glamorgan when Marnus Labuschagne took a spectacular one-handed catch while diving full length off the bowling of Mason Crane to dismiss Ben Charlesworth as Gloucestershire stumbled to 53 for 5 after 10 overs.Jack Taylor batted brilliantly throughout but benefited from some sloppy fielding after he had passed fifty with both Carlson and McIlroy putting him down off the bowling of Crane.Taylor was run out in the last over to seemingly end Gloucestershire’s hopes but Northeast dropped Shaw off the penultimate ball to give him the chance to win the game with his six off the final delivery.

He played four Tests between 1964 and 1967 and was the first Pakistan batter to score a century on Test debut

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2024Former Pakistan allrounder Billy Ibadulla died on Friday at the age of 88. He had a short, but notable international career, playing only four Tests for Pakistan between 1964 and 1967, but became the first from his country to score a hundred on Test debut.Ibadulla made his Test debut against Australia in Karachi in 1964, one of six Test debutants in that game as Pakistan regenerated after their early years of success. Ibadulla had been drafted into the side at the insistence of the captain Hanif Mohammad and he immediately repaid that faith, with 166 in the first innings.He was part of a 249-run opening partnership with fellow debutant, and wicketkeeper, Abdul Kadir. It remains the highest partnership between two debutants for any wicket in Test cricket, and was a national record for the first wicket until Aamer Sohail and Ijaz Ahmed broke it in 1997.He would only go on to play three more Tests though, instead building a fine career with Warwickshire. He was one of the first Pakistanis to play county cricket (AH Kardar had played for Warwickshire for three seasons when Pakistan were not a full member and Khan Mohammad played one game for Somerset), after being overlooked for Pakistan selection for the 1954 tour to England. Unhappy, he came to England to forge a career as a professional cricketer and did so successfully, playing for nearly 18 seasons.That included key roles in two limited-overs cup titles in three years; he took 3-25 and scored 28 in Warwickshire’s four-wicket win in the 1968 final.After he finished at the county, he became a coach at a school in the UK, a sign of things to come. Soon after he moved to New Zealand to play for Otago (and some games for Tasmania in Australia) as well as do some coaching, He played a key role in the early development of Glenn Turner, one of New Zealand’s greatest batters.He ended with a prolific first-class career, scoring 17,078 runs at 27.28 and picking up 462 wickets at 30.96. Of his 417 first-class outings, 377 were for Warwickshire, for whom he played for more than a decade.”He was a special cricketer, one of the greatest, and we had lots of fun times together,” Warwickshire president Dennis Amiss, who played alongside Ibadulla at the club, wrote in a tribute to his former team-mate. “He could be really naughty at times, lots of mickey taking and he gave as good as he got. We loved him at Warwickshire.”In 64 List A matches, Ibadulla scored 829 runs and took 84 wickets. He also stood as an umpire in 20 first-class matches and 12 List A games. He also ran a private coaching clinic in New Zealand.His son, Kassem Ibadulla, also played 31 first-class games and 19 List A games for Gloucestershire and Otago.

Jeffrey Vandersay, who played his lone Test back in June 2022, has also been included

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Aug-2024Sri Lanka have named uncapped right-arm seamer Milan Rathnayake and fast-bowling allrounder Nisala Tharaka in an 18-member squad for the three-match Test series against England later this month.The squad also marks the return of Pathum Nissanka in the longest format. Nissanka made his Test debut in March 2021 but has not played a Test match since the middle of 2022, having since been displaced by Nishan Madushka at the top of the order.Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay, who played his lone Test back in June 2022 against Australia, has also been brought back after an impressive showing in the second ODI against India where he picked a career-best 6 for 33.This is a first call-up for 33-year-old Tharaka, a veteran of 107 first-class games in which he has picked 257 wickets and scored 2358 runs with a highest score of 107. His most recent performance of significance was for Sri Lanka A against Afghanistan A in May when he took six wickets for 42 runs in the second innings.Rathnayake, 28, had been selected in Sri Lanka’s Test squad earlier, most recently for a one-off Test against Afghanistan but is yet to get a game. He has played 39 first-class matches and picked 79 wickets and also scored 633 runs with a highest score of 59. Rathnayake has been a consistent performer in the Sri Lanka A side.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Dhananjaya de Silva will lead the side with Kusal Mendis as his deputy. Sri Lanka have gone with a pace-heavy squad which includes Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Tharaka and Ratnayake as the fast bowlers. Angelo Mathews, who has had occasional success with his seam bowling in England, is also in the squad.Vandersay, Ramesh Mendis and Prabath Jayasuriya are the main spin options. Ramesh and Jayasuriya have been Sri Lanka’s primary Test spinners over the past 18 months.Although many of the players named in this squad are currently involved in the ODI series against India, six Test specialists flew on Saturday to England to begin training. Vishwa also played three County Championship matches for Yorkshire as part of his own preparation.The first Test between Sri Lanka and England gets underway on August 21 in Manchester before the teams travel to Lord’s for the second Test on August 29. They will finish with the third Test at The Oval on September 6.

Sri Lanka squad for Tests vs England

Dhananjaya De Silva (capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (vice-capt), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Nisala Tharaka, Prabath Jayasuriya, Ramesh Mendis, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milan Rathnayake

New Zealand batter also touches on the importance of learning to play differently in the subcontinent

Alagappan Muthu07-Sep-20241:08

Williamson: We’re going to be challenged in a number of ways

New Zealand are about to embark on a period where they will play six Tests in two months. That’s rare, on two counts. First, it’s almost a whole year’s work for them – like in 2020 and 2021, when they went on to become the inaugural World Test Champions. And second, all of those matches are in Asia. In the last decade, they have never played more than three subcontinent Tests in a single year. This eight-week trip, starting with the one-off game against Afghanistan on Monday, then the two against Sri Lanka, and finally the three against India, is essentially uncharted territory.Kane Williamson acknowledged it when speaking to the media on Saturday. “You know such a volume of Test cricket that we don’t usually get, and obviously in this part of the world,” he said in Greater Noida.New Zealand’s record in Asia is underwhelming, with 16 wins from 90 Tests. They have found it even harder to succeed in India – 2 wins in 36 Tests. Lots of effort is being made to improve on this. Domestic teams have been touring the country for a good while now. The next generation of New Zealand batters and bowlers have put in a lot of time trying to expand their game to succeed in conditions where spin plays a huge role. Allrounder Rachin Ravindra and fast bowler Ben Sears joined the Test squad in Uttar Pradesh after a four-day training camp in Chennai with their Wellington team-mates.Related

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Williamson highlighted the importance of New Zealand learning to play differently in Asia and touched on the difficulty of playing long-form cricket in just staccato bursts.”I think it’s absolutely about trying to adjust your game,” he said, “because we’re not here consistently in this format. We go through quite long intervals of not playing here. So you know it is trying to sort of familiarise yourself again and for us, our last Test match was sort of six or eight months ago. So you know, as a team it’s really connecting with that again as a red-ball group and looking to apply our skills, our plans as well as we can.”0:32

Williamson: Root has been something else for a period of time

Williamson, himself, a veteran of over 100 Tests and a leading member of the Fab Four, is yet to fully crack batting in India and Sri Lanka. In 22 innings, he averages 31.36 and has managed only five fifty-plus scores. One of them was his debut innings, back in 2010, when he was at the crease for 299 balls to score 131. Since then, however, only five of his knocks have lasted 100 balls or more. The defensive skill which sets him apart, and enables him to shape so much of New Zealand’s fortunes on their own turf, is severely tested by the quality of the bowling and the nature of the conditions here.Williamson was looking forward, though, to facing that challenge again, starting with New Zealand’s first ever Test match against Afghanistan. “It’s really important that we look to grow as a unit,” he said. “It’s nice and clear on how we want to play over here. We always know that it’s a tough challenge whenever you play in these parts of the world, slightly different from back home. But you know always a great experience and playing against a really, really strong side.”New Zealand have bolstered their support staff, on a short-term basis, with the additions of Sri Lankan spin legend Rangana Herath and former India batting coach Vikram Rathour as they push for a better result in the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship. They finished sixth out of nine teams last time. This time, they occupy third place, behind India and Australia.”In some ways it’s like tournament sport, isn’t it?” Williamson said. “Even though it’s over a longer period of time in the Test Championship, but the value of games is high. The context around Test cricket with the Test Championship is really key and it’s brought out a lot of really exciting games. And so naturally having six Test matches together is a big part of our Test Championship calendar and one that we’re excited about.”

McMullen scored his third half-century in four matches against Australia, but once again it went in vain

Abhimanyu Bose07-Sep-2024An all-round display from Cameron Green, coupled with some excellent fielding, helped Australia complete a 3-0 sweep against Scotland at Edinburgh.Green first registered his career-best figures to help restrict the hosts to 149 for 9 before anchoring the chase with his highest score as Australia overcame the challenge of losing their openers early and completed the chase with 23 balls to spare.Brandon McMullen scored his third half-century in four matches against Australia, but once again, it wasn’t enough as he and opener George Munsey were the only batters to make significant contributions for Scotland.

Currie gets Australia’s openers again

Unlike in the first match of the series, where they blitzed 156 inside ten overs, Australia got off to a nervy start in their chase. McMullen took a blinder, diving low to his left at backward point, to dismiss Jake Fraser-McGurk off Brad Currie for the batter’s second duck of the series.In his next over, Currie had Head hole out to long-on to account for both Australia openers in his first two overs for two matches in a row.Brad Currie dismissed the Australia openers for the second straight match•Getty Images

Green, Marsh bring the chase under control

But Mitchell Marsh, back at No. 3 after demoting himself down the order in the second game, and Cameron Green stitched a 61-run stand that put Australia in control.Currie was given a third consecutive over in the powerplay as Scotland looked to make the most of the early movement on offer. But Marsh and Green took on the left-arm quick in the sixth over, with both batters hitting him for sixes between long-on and deep midwicket.Marsh then pulled Chris Sole for a six before getting a boundary off Safyaan Sharif. When Mark Watt entered the attack, Green drove him down the ground for four before launching him for a six over long-on.Jack Jarvis then got a breakthrough for Scotland when Marsh chopped on trying to pull a length ball that stuck in the pitch.But Green and Tim David continued to attack, hitting a six in each of the next three overs, the best of which came off Watt’s bowling as Green reverse-swept him over backward point.Green then drove Jarvis down the ground before getting to a 33-ball fifty with a single.David, who hit two fours to end that Jarvis over, holed out off Sole’s slower short ball to deep-backward square leg, but by then Australia just needed 19 off 34 balls.Green continued to take on Watt, hitting him for another six, before Aaron Hardie hit the winning runs with a square drive for his second boundary.Brandon McMullen scored his third fifty in four T20Is against Australia•SNS Group/Getty Images

Munsey drives Scotland’s good start

An injury to Michael Jones brought Ollie Hairs back into the side, and he was the one who gave Scotland the early momentum after Australia chose to bowl. He hit Hardie over covers for four before pulling Sean Abbott for six. But Hardie then had him chopping on to give Australia their first breakthrough.Munsey, who was struggling till then, ended the third over with a six whipped over midwicket with fast hands. Debutant Cooper Connolly was given the ball in the powerplay and was greeted by McMullen with a six over long-on. In the next over, McMullen hooked Stoinis for four.Green was entrusted with the sixth over, and drew Munsey’s inside edge that went past the stumps for four. Munsey deposited the next ball over cow corner but Green then cramped him for room and had him steering a catch to backward point.

McMullen stands tall for Scotland

The scoring slowed down after the fielding restrictions were relaxed. Green then bowled Richie Berrington through the gate with one that jagged in from outside off. But McMullen continued his excellent form against Australia, hooking Green for a six. When Cross was bowled by Adam Zampa three overs later, McMullen responded by lofting the legspinner over long-on.McMullen held steady even as Michael Leask holed out to a good diving catch by David at long-on off Abbott. He hit Connolly for a four to bring up his half-century off 32 balls.But Head took a stunning catch at short fine leg to end McMullen’s innings. McMullen looked to scoop a short ball around off over his shoulder and it was timed well, but Head moved to his right and plucked it.Scotland managed just 11 runs for the loss of three wickets in the remaining 20 deliveries, with Green dismissing Mark Watt in the final over to register his first three-wicket haul in all T20s.

The umpires replaced the ball before the start of the final day in Mackay

Andrew McGlashan03-Nov-2024Ishan Kishan will not be charged with dissent despite an on-field argument with an umpire on the fourth day in Mackay after India A were unhappy with the ball being changed.Before the first ball of the final day, umpire Shawn Craig told the Indian players the ball was changed because it was scratched, which raised the spectre of ball tampering, but a Cricket Australia statement later said it was due to “deterioration”.”You scratch it, we change the ball. No more discussion, let’s play,” Craig was heard saying over the stump microphones.That led to a heated exchange with Kishan who replied: “So we are going to play with this ball…that’s a very stupid decision.”Craig responded: “Excuse me, you’ll be on report for dissent. That’s inappropriate behaviour. Because of your actions we changed the ball.”Under the CA playing conditions, umpires are able to change the ball without awarding a five-run penalty, which is part of the laws and playing conditions for altering the condition of the ball, if there is uncertainty over how the damage occurred.CA playing condition 41.3.4 reads: “If the umpires together suspect, but are not certain, that the condition of the ball has been unfairly changed, or that its condition is inconsistent with the use it has received, the umpires may: Change the ball forthwith. The umpires shall choose a replacement ball for one of similar wear and of the same brand as the ball in use prior to the contravention; Bowler’s end umpire shall issue the captain with a first and final warning.”Three hours after the match finished, CA issued a statement saying the ball had been changed because of “deterioration” despite what was heard over the stump microphones on the coverage.”The ball used in the fourth innings of the match was changed due to deterioration,” a CA spokesperson said. “Both teams’ captain and manager were informed of the decision prior to the start of play. No further action is being taken.”Kishan will also escape any punishment despite his exchange with Craig.Australia A captain Nathan McSweeney was at the crease when play resumed but was involved in what went on.”I was at the striker’s end when the umpires said they’d changed the ball, I’m not sure what quite for, I didn’t notice any change in the ball personally,” he said.Kishan is not part of India’s Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and neither is India A captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. However, from the XI which featured for the first game Abhimanyu Easwaran, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prasidh Krishna will stay on for the Test series.The scenes at the start of play added unexpected drama to the closing stages of the first four-day game which saw McSweeney make a strong claim for a place in Australia’s Test squad as he finished unbeaten on 88 in the chase. He added an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 141 with Beau Webster who also produced a very controlled innings.Once India A didn’t make early breakthroughs on the final morning they started to go through the motions with Sai Sudharsan sending down six overs of rather friendly spin.