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Elgar: 'When KG's got his tail up, there's no better bowler than him'

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Dean Elgar has taken credit for sparking the flame that lit up Kagiso Rabada’s performance in the Wanderers Test. While Elgar told the broadcasters he was “not going to get into” what had riled Rabada up in the immediate aftermath of the Test, he later revealed at the post-match press conference that it was him who confronted Rabada after the first Test, where he went wicketless on the opening day but finished with seven wickets.”I went up to KG and I said to him, ‘You are an immensely respected cricketer within our group and at the moment I don’t think you are conducting yourself extremely well.” Elgar said. “I know what KG is capable of. When KG’s got his tail up, there’s no better bowler than him and I have experienced quite a few guys who have been part of this team. It was a good chat. I can have those chats with KG and he responds extremely well. He takes it away, he lets it process and thinks about it overnight and then he comes back the next day with a scenario for me.”Related

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The conversation clearly had an impact on Rabada, who later went to Elgar and said he had considered the criticism leveled against him. “He was the one who came to me and said what we spoke about: I hit the nail on the head,” Elgar said.But what exactly was Elgar’s issue with Rabada?”He can sometimes be a little bit too relaxed and he needs to understand that his performance on the field and his performance in the change-room is huge,” Elgar said.On the third day of this Test, ESPNcricinfo published an analysis of Rabada’s performances over the course of his career and leading into the series. Specifically, it looked at how his performances have changed from when he was the best in the world in 2016 and 2017, and his inconsistencies since then. What the piece was unable to do was come to a conclusive reason for Rabada’s performance, with reasons ranging from injury to being overbowled to the big money of the IPL.It turns out that South Africa also don’t know exactly what it is that happens when Rabada does not perform as expected, except that it occasionally happens to superstar bowlers.”I think Eric Simons was talking about it in on air about getting a guy in a sweet spot to come out there and bowl,” Mark Boucher, South Africa’s coach told SuperSport. “There’s certain guys – Dale Steyn was one of them – who at certain times in his career needed harsh words behind closed doors to bring the best out of him.”KG – that spell he bowled, broke the game open for us. There was a bit of a spark in the dressing room, maybe it was what was needed in order to get him into that space. and we know when KG is like that it’s difficult to get the ball away from him but also you want him on your side rather than the opposition team. There were fair words that were said and I think he’s taken it on board and we’re hoping we can get him into that sweet spot again for the next Test because it can only bode well for us.”Essentially, for Rabada to find his sweet spot, South Africa need something to happen that really irritates him. In this match, it was when Ajinkya Rahane was dropped by Aiden Markram and Keegan Petersen early on the third day, when neither of them reacted quickly enough to take the chance off the edge.”I think that catch that happened off I think it was Rahane that landed between two guys. I think that also spurred him up a hell of a lot and you can almost sense that intensity on the field,” Elgar said. “He was so focused and zoned in on his job at hand. And every time I asked him, do you want one more, he just said to me he is bowling now.”Rabada went on to take three wickets in 11 deliveries in a long morning spell, where he wouldn’t let the ball go.”KG has got that attitude, and he’s got the want and he wants to bowl and he wants to contribute in a massive way. I mean, you have to utilise that as a captain. So it was awesome to see him fire,” Elgar said.Rabada is now the leading wicket-taker in the series, with 13 at 19.61, one ahead of Marco Jansen and two ahead of Lungi Ngidi and Mohammed Shami. He has assumed what Elgar believes is his rightful place at the top.”I think he executed. He was understanding his value within the group.”

Lance Klusener not to extend contract as Afghanistan head coach

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Lance Klusener and the Afghanistan Cricket Board have mutually agreed to part ways, and not extend the former South Africa allrounder’s contract as head coach of the national men’s team. Klusener, who was appointed in the role in September 2019, has a contract that runs till December 31 this year, and will step away from his position after that.”Having spent two years with the team, I will take away some memorable moments with me,” Klusener said in a press statement on Monday. “As I walk away from Afghanistan cricket team and its cricketing structure, I look forward to the next stage in my coaching career and opportunities it brings.”Thanking Klusener for his contributions to Afghanistan cricket, the ACB confirmed in a statement that the hunt for the next head coach had started: “The ACB has launched the recruitment process for hiring a new head coach and is looking forward to have the services of another reasonable option to replace Lance Klusener as the head coach of Afghanistan for the upcoming events.”While they hardly played any cricket in 2020 due to Covid-19, Afghanistan performed fairly well under Klusener, winning one out of the three Tests, three out of the six ODIs and nine out of 14 T20Is. During his first series as the coach, Afghanistan beat West Indies 2-1 in the T20I series in India. They also beat Ireland 3-0 in the ODIs and 2-1 in the T20I series earlier this year. In the recently-concluded T20 World Cup, they crashed out of the group stage after winning just two out of the five matches. He had resorted to online coaching when Covid-19 had struck last year.Klusener had taken over from Andy Moles, who was serving as the team’s interim head coach after the exit of Phil Simmons following the 2019 World Cup. Klusener’s contract was then extended at the end of 2020.Klusener played 49 Tests and 171 ODIs for South Africa from 1996 to 2004. Considered one of the best ODI allrounders of his time, he scored 1906 runs and took 80 wickets in Tests, as well as 3576 runs and 192 wickets in ODIs. He has served in various coaching roles following his retirement, working with international and domestic teams as well as IPL franchises.

Chennai Braves break their duck in style with ten-wicket rout of Northern Warriors

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Chennai Braves 114 for 0 (Rajapaksa 55*, Shahzad 54*) beat Northern Warriors 108 (Bopara 2-6) by ten wicketsEleven days and 26 games later, the Chennai Braves finally got themselves their first win of the Abu Dhabi T10, at the ninth time of asking.”Better late than never,” as player of the match, Bhanuka Rajapaksa said post-match. They had the Sri Lankan to thank as he notched up his third half-century of the tournament with 55 not out off just 23 deliveries. Alongside the always-entertaining Mohammad Shahzad, who hit 54 not out off 29 balls, the pair ensured that the Braves got their first points on the board.Of course, it was all a little too late. After eight consecutive defeats, the Braves looked all but destined to end their first experience at the Abu Dhabi T10 without a win to their name. Without Nicholas Pooran – their icon player – throughout the tournament, the Braves have lacked match-winners and an injury to Yusuf Pathan certainly didn’t help.Angelo Perera, handed the captaincy midway through the tournament, praised two of their more experienced players in Ravi Bopara and Munaf Patel for orchestrating their win, as Northern Warriors were bowled out for 108. It was the first time that the Braves had managed to take more than five wickets in an innings.From the moment Curtis Campher trapped the devastating Kennar Lewis for a golden duck, the Braves looked like a team determined to end their hoodoo thus far. Campher had Moeen Ali caught at deep backward square leg, just as he was getting going and despite the tournament top scorer, Rovman Powell smashing young Englishman, Roman Walker, for three sixes in the seventh over, Shanaka got the West Indian in the next, Powell sending one straight to Campher in the deep.With the very next ball, Shanaka dismissed Umair Ali and after Bopara picked up two wickets in the penultimate over. It was left to Dhananjaya Lakshan to get rid of Imran Tahir, before Oshane Thomas was run out with a ball to spare.”A lot of credit goes to the bowling unit and also, we had a good outing in the field,” said Perera. “Yes, it was frustrating [to be winless], but today we had a different plan and Ravi and Munaf took the responsibility of talking to the bowlers and their experience has shown today. I think they executed the plan really well.”In their previous three matches, the Braves had managed totals of 107, 89 & 57, so chasing 109 was never going to be a walk in the park. However Rajapaksa and Shahzad got the job done in style. After a tight first over from Tahir, Shahzad let loose with five boundaries off Abhimanyu Mithun in the second. Together, the pair picked away at the total, sucking the energy out of the Warriors – who knew that they also had no chance of progressing to the play-offs.There was still 21 needed off three overs when Oshane Thomas was brought back into the attack. Thomas has had a fascinating tournament thus far, picking up the only hat-trick of the T10 in his first game, before returning the worst figures in T10 history with 0 for 50 in his two overs against Team Abu Dhabi. Yet, he came back from that, with three wickets the following night against the Deccan Gladiators.Related

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However, Rajapaksa ensured that this was another night to forget for the West Indian, who after getting run-out for a duck, was dispatched by the Sri Lankan for 20 in his second over. With a majestic drive over the sweeper cover, the 30-year-old brought up his fifty in style.And it was left for Shahzad to bring up his half-century too with a six, which also sealed the win. Between them, the pair hit 15 fours and six sixes and at long last, the Chennai outfit had some points on the table and something to shout about.”When I was batting with Shazy [Shahzad], I can’t really run so it’s really a case of see ball, hit ball,” said Rajapaksa. “I guess it worked tonight!”As the league stage of the tournament comes to a conclusion with just four games remaining, the four play-off spots have already been decided. Team Abu Dhabi, Deccan Gladiators, Bangla Tigers and Delhi Bulls will make up the sides ready to battle it out over two play-off days on Friday and Saturday. It remains to be seen which two sides will finish as the top two and thus have two bites of the cherry, as they look to make the final of the Abu Dhabi T10.In the earlier game, Liam Livingstone smashed a brutal 59 off 24 to help Team Abu Dhabi reclaim top spot, as they edged out Deccan Gladiators by eight runs.

Queensland kit stolen ahead of rescheduled Sheffield Shield clash in Adelaide

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Queensland’s rescheduled trip to Adelaide got off on the wrong foot after the team van was broken into and some playing equipment stolen ahead of Thursday’s Sheffield Shield clash with Tasmania at Karen Rolton Oval.Thieves broke the van’s window while it was parked outside the team hotel and stole some gear. Queensland wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson posted a photo on his Instagram of the van’s broken window stating that he was “the unlucky one” to have a couple of brand new bats stolen.Queensland have reported the incident to South Australia police who are investigating the matter using the hotel’s CCTV footage.

The Bulls begin their title defence on Thursday against Tasmania having been forced to fly out of Queensland after a Covid-19 outbreak in Brisbane. The game was initially set to start last Tuesday at Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane but the game was postponed due to four cases being reported in the city. Tasmania made the decision to fly home.Cricket Australia subsequently rescheduled the fixture to be played in Adelaide this week. The Queensland players and staff have been free to enter South Australia and do not have to quarantine however they did have to undergo a Covid-19 test on arrival, with all members of the travelling party returning negative results. The squad can move around Adelaide freely but do have to undergo two more tests on days five and 12 after their arrival.CA is still yet to confirm whether New South Wales and Victoria will be able to enter South Australia and begin their Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup campaigns. NSW were scheduled to fly to Adelaide on Monday to undergo a 14-day hard hotel quarantine but those plans were put on hold by the South Australian government. CA, NSW and Victoria are continuing talks with the SA government in the hopes an agreement can be reached.Both states have requested seven days of training for their players after any potential 14-day isolated quarantine meaning that neither side will be able to play until at least late October or early November.

Hildreth's fortunes stir as Somerset scent a rare victory

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ScorecardLast September James Hildreth broke his ankle in the early stages of an innings against Nottinghamshire. The monopedal century he then made on that lustrous day at Taunton has quite rightly passed into his county’s folklore as an example of devotion to the cause. Hildreth’s travails this season – 294 runs in 14 innings – have therefore been all the more painful to his many supporters and to a player whose loyalty to Somerset is both quiet and deep.All the greater then will have been the pleasure in the pubs of Taunton on the third evening of this game when it became known that Hildreth had returned to the pavilion at North Marine Road with 85 unbeaten runs against his name. He had made his first fifty of the season and helped build a strong position from which Somerset may yet win their first championship victory of the season.There were few of the Hildreth flourishes in his 111-ball innings and none of the dreamy cover-drives that make one wonder why the selectors have not looked more closely at him. What the 3002 spectators saw was a fine demonstration of the batsman’s craft by a player who may have thought himself deserted by the muse. There were six boundary fours but what was quite as impressive was the security of Hildreth’s defence and his determination to capitalise on the opportunity to bat against a Yorkshire attack containing only two front-line seamers.Indeed, just as the spectators in the Peasholm Park Stand applauded Hildreth’s half-century, they had probably also bemoaned their fate when Liam Plunkett left the field with a yet-to-be-diagnosed injury. Like Ryan Sidebottom, Plunkett will not bowl again in this match although he will bat if required.But this day’s cricket was not only memorable for Hildreth’s return to something like form. It also saw significant innings played by two young batsmen who probably wondered if any opportunities at all would come their way in 2017. And at the midpoint of a rather troubling summer in the West Country, it might revive the yeomen of Bicknoller and Combe Florey a little to note that both Eddie Byrom and Tim Rouse revealed a mature appreciation of their side’s needs in their contrasting contributions.James Hildreth has been stuck in a lean spell this season•Getty Images

On yet another grey day at Scarborough, one on which the monochrome sky was reflected in the subdued appreciation of Yorkshire supporters, Byrom’s 40 in 136 minutes against the new ball showed an understanding of the fundamental truth that there are times when the only purpose of facing a set of six deliveries is still to be there when the next set begins. Later in the afternoon Rouse brought up his maiden first-class half-century on his championship debut and shared an increasingly fluent partnership of 144 with Hildreth against Yorkshire bowlers who flagged a little as their workloads increased.However, any praise one accords to the Somerset freshmen should still be edged with caution. “Youth is to all the glad season of life,” wrote Thomas Carlyle, “but often only by what it hopes, not by what it attains or what it escapes.” Those stinging qualifications (or something like them) may be on Tom Abell’s mind this summer as he seeks to find some form. For those who saw Abell’s maiden century for Somerset a couple of years ago, his struggles are troubling to see and a reminder that the progression of a cricket career is rarely smooth.Byrom, of course, is only one of five young batsmen in this game who looking to make their way in professional cricket. His innings was ended by another of the quintet, Harry Brook, whose inswinging yorker defeated Byrom’s jab. And Brook’s medium-pacers were useful to Yorkshire, as was Ben Coad’s ability to concede little more than two runs an over while taking the wickets of both Marcus Trescothick, who made 27 before edging to slip, and Rouse, who played on for 69.The desire to make a career in professional cricket is also shared by Adam Hose and the slightly more experienced Tom Kohler-Cadmore and only life’s curmudgeons are not encouraged by their enthusiasm. Ambition is always a fine thing, though it comes in many forms. One recalls a college friend who was a great fan of the American soul singer, Gladys Knight, and aspired to join her backing group. While others dreamed of a career in academe or the foreign office, he wanted nothing more from life than to be a Pip. But things do not always turn out as we envisage: the friend became a Labour MP and Kohler-Cadmore has taken the midnight train to Yorkshire.The former Worcestershire batsman will probably get another opportunity to prove the wisdom of that choice when he bats on the final day of this match. Somerset, for their part, will surely seek to build on their 55-run first innings lead and extend their advantage over 300 before declaring. Then they will challenge Bresnan’s batsmen to chase a target and secure the victory they need to strengthen their championship hopes. Somerset also need a win, though, and the last day at Scarborough may be memorable for even more than the Hildreth century few would begrudge.

Smith and Windward bowlers overwhelm Jamaica

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An unbeaten first-innings century from Devon Smith, coupled with Kyle Mayers and Shane Shillingford’s resounding returns, piloted Windward Islands to an eight-wicket victory inside three days over Jamaica at the Arnos Vale Ground.Jamaica’s decision to bat received little validation from their batsmen as they were bowled out for a paltry 56 in 19.4 overs. Only two of their batsmen got into double-figures, with wicketkeeper Devon Thomas registering a top score of 15. Their undoing was spearheaded by the fast-bowling duo of Mayers (6 for 29) and Delorn Johnson (4 for 26).Windward’s reply was led by Smith’s unbeaten 253-ball 100. His second ton in three matches, and 29th overall, all but nullified opposition captain Nikita Miller’s 5 for 58 and secured a lead of 167 for his side. That began to look match-winning as soon as Mayers picked up two wickets in successive overs to reduce Jamaica to 21 for 2. Offspinner Shane Shillingford then took over, picking up his 37th first-class five-wicket haul and finishing with 7 for 91. Raul Palmer, with 46 off 128 balls, and Fabian Allen, with 77 off 95 balls, were the strongest sources of the Jamaican resistance as they were bowled out for 262.Left with a target of 96, Windward were able to win despite Smith retiring hurt and Tyrone Theophile (36) and Jerlani Robinson (19) losing their wickets.Two half-centuries and a match haul of 9 for 42 from Roshon Primus helped Trinidad and Tobago hammer Barbados by 130 runs at Kensington OvalBatting at No. 7 Primus lifted T&T from 122 for 5 to 196 in the first innings with an 80-ball 60 – his third first-class fifty. It was the only notable contribution besides a 53-run second-wicket stand between Amir Jangoo (32) and Isaiah Rajah’s (38) and at that point it seemed like Barbados had the upper hand with Kevin Stoute and Justin Greaves taking seven wickets between them.But then they slumped to 34 for 6 in their first innings with Primus doing the star turn again as he removed three of the top five batsmen for single-digit scores. Stoute (81) and Kenroy Williams (46) tried to wrest the initiative back with a 90-run stand for the seventh wicket but Primus’ returns of 4 for 21 along with Bryan Charles’ 3 for 32 bowled Barbados out for 168 and gave T&T a 28-run lead.T&T wicketkeeper Jangoo then plundered seven fours and two sixes to amass a top score of 71 off 131 balls in the second innings, while Primus chipped in with a 62-ball 51, before Greaves’ 5 for 63 ended the T&T innings at 211.Set a target of 240, Barbados plummeted from 62 for 4 to 78 for 9 within the space of eight overs, with Primus taking 5 for 21. No batsman scored more than 20 as Barbados were bowled out for 109 in 40 overs.

Harris and Dean put Victoria on top

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ScorecardFor the second time in his career, Marcus Harris scored a century in a Sheffield Shield final•Getty Images

Openers Marcus Harris and Travis Dean gave Victoria the perfect start in their push to complete a hat-trick of Sheffield Shield titles, setting up a strong first day with the bat for the Bushrangers. Harris scored his second century of the Shield season and Dean fell just short of doing the same, but their 224-run opening stand put Victoria on the path to a hefty total against South Australia.At stumps on the first day in Alice Springs, Victoria had moved along to 3 for 322, with Rob Quiney on 44 and Cameron White on 7. It brought an end to a tough day in the field for the Redbacks, who are searching for their first Shield title in more than two decades. However, they had brought some of the misery on themselves through a lacklustre fielding display, with both Harris and Dean given lives.Harris was first dropped on 54 when he edged Joe Mennie to first slip, where Daniel Worrall put down a sitter; Harris had another let-off on 59 when a drive off Chadd Sayers skewed to backward point, where Jake Lehmann dropped a harder opportunity. In between those two misses, Callum Ferguson at gully also grassed a chance to give Dean a reprieve.South Australia also missed a couple of run-out opportunities, and the Victorians made the Redbacks pay for their sloppy work, raising the second-highest opening stand of this Sheffield Shield summer. Harris brought up his hundred and in his first season for Victoria continued to build his reputation as a big-game player: in the 2014-15 final he had made 81 and 158* for Western Australia to be Man of the Match.The partnership ended only when Dean was bowled by a well-flighted delivery from Adam Zampa for 94, and Harris fell in the next over for 120 when he drove at Sayers and was caught by Mennie at gully, but Rob Quiney and Aaron Finch continued to frustrate the Redbacks with a 72-run stand that came to an end when Finch was lbw to Sayers for 38. But at stumps, Victoria remained firmly in control of the contest.

Jayasuriya exposes Lions' frailties against spin

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Sri Lanka A 187 for 6 (Jayasuriya 83) beat England Lions 184 (Bell-Drummond 51, Jayasuriya 5-35) by four wickets
ScorecardShehan Jayasuriya starred with bat and ball in a comfortable Sri Lanka victory•AFP

Beneath the shadow of Elephant Rock, England Lions produced the sort of under-par display that even an elephant would want to forget in a hurry. There are some Lions on this tour, batsmen and bowlers alike, who will hope the selectors also have an uncharacteristic attack of amnesia about the events of the past week as Sri Lanka A have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.Sri Lanka’s tormenter with bat and ball was Shehan Jayasuriya, stocky and bearded, whose offspin in his home country has only ever been regarded as serviceable, but who took 5 for 35 as the Lions managed 184 in a sub-standard batting display. Jayasuriya completed a thoroughly satisfying day with a doughty, run-a-ball 83. His follow-up was needed, too, Sri Lanka A’s sense of superiority being somewhat tarnished when they lost six wickets in overhauling an untaxing target with 13 overs to spare.To his credit, Jayasuriya has won a smattering of full caps over the past two years and he does have a habit of tormenting touring teams: he also took five wickets against the Australians at the P Sara stadium in July. Steve O’Keefe took five wickets in the same match and has done all right for himself since.Jayasuriya also caught the attention when he moved last season from Colombo to the less fashionable outstation club, Chilaw Marians, a fishing town on Sri Lanka’s north-west coast – although they play their games closer to the capital, near the airport. Nevertheless, players normally move in the opposite direction but, if Jayasuriya helps to build the status of cricket outside the main centres, it will be a thoroughly good thing. It proved a successful move: Chilaw finished second in the league and Jayasuriya scored 853 runs at 47, but even at club level his impact as a bowler was limited.For the second match in a row, therefore, England Lions fell to a slow bowler regarded as serviceable but rarely seen as a matchwinner. In the second match in Dambulla, the skipper, Milinda Siriwardana, another spin bowler of limited reputation, took four.Now it was Jayasuriya’s turn to prosper – two wickets held at slip, two at leg slip and, to begin the procession, Keaton Jennings slicing to long off as he never quite locked on to a slower, wider delivery. Throughout the tour, whether over four days or one, the captain has got a start then got out.Only Ben Duckett, who set up the innings with some brief, low-slung pillaging before he was yorked by Asitha Fernando, making room to drive, and Daniel Bell-Drummond, who provided a reflective half-century while wickets fell around him, could draw some satisfaction from this Lions batting display.Bell-Drummond has received intense tuition about playing spin bowling from Graham Thorpe and Andy Flower in Dubai in the past two winters, and he knocked the ball around contentedly, but even he will have been frustrated by his edged drive to slip the over after he reached fifty.The rest was a sorry affair. Jayasuriya took wickets in successive balls when he removed Tom Alsop, who cut a ball too close to him after ignoring a chance to cut earlier in the over, and Liam Livingstone for a duck. Livingstone’s first-baller as he deflected to leg slip came after three exhausting innings in little more than a week so at least he could get out of the sun for a while. Jeffrey Vandersay made a legspinner bounce to have Joe Clarke caught at slip before Jayasuriya returned at the media end to defeat Ben Foakes on the sweep and remove Sam Curran, beaten in the flight, at first slip.The Lions were purposeful in the field and, when Sri Lanka lost their third wicket at 95, in the 22nd over, they were actually worse off at the same stage. But Jayasuriya’s range grew with every over, finishing with a fusillade of blows against Curran and Livingstone before falling to a lofted off-drive in the manner of a man who felt the match was as good as won.That confidence might have wobbled briefly when England’s spinners, Ollie Rayner and Livingstone, then took a wicket apiece, but a decent crowd in a ground starved of top-level cricket were able to celebrate the finish they wanted.On three occasions, twice in Dambulla and now in Kurunegala, the Lions have been thoroughly outplayed on low, slow turners. England’s capitulation in India when they fell 4-0 in the Test series and were also beaten in both one-day formats, deepened concern about their slow-bowling resources.There are no easy remedies. A lack of top-class county spinners, it seems, has also naturally led to a generation of batsmen unpracticed in the art of playing slow bowling. The toss regulations introduced last season, which gave the visiting side first option to bowl, should help by controlling the reliance on green seamers, but it is a constant challenge to raise standards.With three matches gone, hindsight suggests that it might have been wise for Tom Westley to remain with the squad after his success in the four-day matches. The departure of Tom Curran to join England’s senior squad in the Caribbean was also unfortunate for the Lions because he was the seam bowler most adept at the change-ups so beneficial on such surfaces.With the series won, Sri Lanka will take the chance to blood many others in Colombo. Danushka Gunathilaka has already joined the senior squad which faces Bangladesh in the first Test in Galle on Tuesday. They arrive with tales of a Lions side struggling to compete.One English-born spinner is having a happy close-season, however. Mason Crane, the Hampshire legspinner, might conceivably have been on this trip, but instead he is playing Sydney grade cricket on an ECB Overseas Placement and receiving tuition from the former Australian leggie Stuart MacGill. With three seven-fors for Gordon to his name, he has been called into the New South Wales squad to face South Australia at the SCG and could become the first overseas player to represent NSW since Imran Khan in 1984.

Powell century helps Leeward thump Kent by 105 runs

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Kieran Powell’s third century of the tournament and a three-for from Alzarri Joseph helped Leeward Islands open up a six-point lead in the Group A table, following a 105-run win over Kent in Antigua.Opening the innings, Powell shared half-century stands with Montcin Hodge and Nkrumah Bonner for the first and second wickets respectively, guiding his team to 170 for 2 in the 37th over before he was dismissed. Powell’s 106 came off 111 balls and included five fours and four sixes, and was also his fourth consecutive fifty-plus score. After Powell’s departure, contributions from Rahkeem Cornwall (43 off 28 balls) and Gavin Tonge (28 off 15 balls) pushed the score to 275.Kent were reduced to 60 for 4 by the 15th over before Will Gidman and Alex Blake (44 off 76 balls) added the highest partnership of the innings – 41 for the fifth wicket. Once that stand was broken, they suffered another slump, losing four wickets for 36 runs by the 35th over. They were eventually dismissed for 170 in the 40th over. Apart from Joseph, who took 3 for 62, Jason Campbell and Akeal Hosein picked up two wickets each, with Hosein conceding only 28 runs in his 10 overs.Windward Islands eased to a five-wicket win over West Indies Under-19s, banking on seamer Kyle Mayers’ 4 for 38 and Shane Shillingford’s 3 for 22. The pair ensured that WI U-19s were limited to 207 for 9 after a first-wicket partnership off 88 and promising knocks from openers, Shian Brathwaite (42) and Matthew Patrick (45). Shillingford began WI U-19s’ slide with the wickets of Brathwaite and Bhaskar Yadram before Mayers cut through the middle order. Windward suffered a wobble in their pursuit, but an unbeaten 67 off 78 balls from Sunil Ambris – his fourth half-century of the tournament – saw the side home in the 41st over. Shillingford’s supporting role with the bat, an unbeaten 25 off 16 deliveries, helped him clinch the Player-of-the-Match award.

Thunder gain momentum with Hurricanes rout

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe Hobart Hurricanes batsmen, save George Bailey, failed to help themselves at a raucous Bellerive Oval•Cricket Australia

Before this tournament, the Sydney Thunder general manager Nick Cummins indicated that the defending champions needed to attack BBL06 as though they were the bottom team.Having started with four consecutive defeats, they had no choice but to follow this dictum. Two wins later, the Thunder will have a few other sides looking over their shoulders.This was a comfortable victory over the Hobart Hurricanes at a raucous Bellerive Oval, made all the more significant for the identities of the principal contributors: Fawad Ahmed, Carlos Brathwaite, James Vince and Shane Watson.Containing interestsLegspin is an inherently attacking art, devised to fool batsmen and harvest wickets for the price of a few boundaries. However, the truncated nature of T20 means economy can be as valuable as incisiveness, as Fawad amply showed on the same ground where he prospered for Victoria in the 2015 Sheffield Shield final.Conceding just 19 from four overs, Fawad sapped much of any potential momentum from the Hurricanes’ innings, following up from the early wickets procured by Clint McKay and Pat Cummins in the first two overs of the innings. His accuracy also meant a rare expensive outing for Chris Green was not overly damaging, and kept George Bailey from spreading his wings too far in the most spinal innings from among Hobart’s batsmen.Carlos Brathwaite contributed to Sydney Thunder’s win with two wickets on debut•Getty Images

Taking chargeWatson is the only man left from the powerful Khawaja-Kallis-Hussey-Watson quartet that drove the Thunder so far towards a maiden BBL title last summer. Early in this tournament he was absent through injury, much as the Thunder themselves were unable to offer the sort of presence expected.But a superb return catch to account for Kevin Pietersen in the narrow home win over Melbourne Stars marked Watson’s first major contribution to the campaign, and here he followed up with an innings to not only secure victory but also add to the Thunder’s problematic net run-rate. In the space of 31 balls he struck five sixes, a haul not quite in Chris Lynn territory but still two more than the Hurricanes managed in their entire innings.New dogs, old tricksHaving lost Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell to England and injury respectively, the Thunder needed swift returns for their investments in their replacements James Vince and Brathwaite; both came to the party in welcome ways.Brathwaite’s fast medium lacks Russell’s potential for the explosive, but he made up for the pace differential with canny slower balls to deceive first Dan Christian and then Jon Wells. Vince then put together a smart introductory innings, helping to pile up 58 without loss from the opening Powerplay and effectively muting the Hurricanes and their decidedly partisan crowd. The Thunder are still in with a chance, and Brathwaite and Vince did plenty to keep them there.