Half-centuries from Meg Lanning and Nicole Bolton trumped a maiden hundred from Smriti Mandhana, as Australia Women gunned down 253 against India Women to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODI series

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2016
ScorecardNicole Bolton’s 77 laid a strong platform for Australia’s chase•Getty Images

Half-centuries from Meg Lanning and Nicole Bolton trumped a maiden hundred from Smriti Mandhana, as Australia Women gunned down 253 against India Women to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ODI series.India, opting to bat, lost their opener Thirush Kamini off the very first ball of the match, but Mandhana and the captain Mithali Raj led a recovery, batting together for 31 overs to put up a 150-run partnership. Mandhana struck 11 fours for her 102, while Raj played the more patient foil, stroking 58 off 98 balls. However, a flurry of wickets towards the end halted India’s charge, as despite a 33-run blast from Shikha Pandey, the visitors could only manage a total of 8 for 252. Ellyse Perry was the pick of Australia’s bowlers, collecting 3 for 54.Australia began their chase on the front foot, as their openers Lanning and Bolton scored at more than six an over right from the off, stringing together a 138-run association. Bolton struck 77 and Lanning scored 61, as the pair stayed together at the crease for 22.3 overs. Four wickets in quick succession briefly threatened to derail Australia’s chase, but Jess Jonassen (29*) and Alyssa Healy (29*) guided the team home inside 47 overs.

Surrey’s desire to add depth to their bowling options has resulted in two young South Africans switching allegiance in order to play county cricket

Firdose Moonda01-Mar-2016Surrey’s desire to add depth to their bowling options has resulted in two young South Africans switching allegiance in order to play county cricket, increasing concerns in their home country about a drain of talent due to a lack of opportunity.Dolphins fast bowler Mathew Pillans has signed a three-year deal the day after teenager and former Under-19 player Conor McKerr also agreed to join Surrey. Both have ambitions of playing for England although it will take them seven years to qualify.McKerr has a British passport but the ECB’s tightening of qualification rules means that, because he will arrive in the UK after his 18th birthday, he must serve a longer qualification period. However, he will only be 25 by the time he is eligible.Pillans, who has secured an ancestral visa giving him the right to work in the UK, will be 31 but an an insider told ESPNcricinfo, “Mathew believes he has a better chance of playing for England in seven years’ time than he does of playing for South Africa. He is not even in a franchise team here.”Pillans was schooled in Pretoria and played for the University of Pretoria team before moving to Kwa-Zulu Natal in 2013, when he could not find a regular place at Northerns. He featured sporadically for the Dolphins but played more regularly in the amateur Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland team this season. He took 21 wickets at 20.76 in five first-class matches and seven wickets at 9.42 in three List A games for the amateur side and nine wickets at 26.33 in two first-class games for the Dolphins.Last season, it seemed Pillans had earned the right to a more regular place in the franchise team when he finished as the seventh-highest wicket-taker overall in the first-class competition and as the Dolphins’ best performing quick. He took 29 wickets at 23.79, which included a ten-for against the Knights. Recently sacked coach Lance Klusener took a particular liking to Pillans and described him as a bowler who could “run in all day for you” but Pillans still found himself on the sidelines.He was on a rookie contract with the Dolphins, earning R140,000 a year (US$8,943) and was becoming increasingly “frustrated by the lack of opportunity,” said the source. When Graham Ford, who coached Surrey until leaving to take charge of Sri Lanka earlier this year, approached people in South Africa for assistance in finding recruits for the county, Pillans was one of the players recommended to him. Ford was involved in the negotiations between Pillans and Surrey, and he has been released from his Dolphins deal with immediate effect.”It has been a really tough decision to make but I have been given a great opportunity that I’m looking forward to,” Pillans said. “It has been great to have had the chance to work with the senior guys at the Dolphins; playing alongside them and to be around them to listen has really helped me take my game forward. I’m going to miss the Durban vibe and all the people but I’m also very, very excited about what my new opportunity holds.”The source warned that more players could be headed to other countries. South Africa’s 2014 Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Aiden Markram has been approached by a team in New Zealand although the Titans told ESPNcricinfo they believe they will be able to hold on to him. Corbin Bosch, who played in the 2014 team under Markram, is moving to Australia and Obus Pienaar, another former Under-19 who plays in Bloemfontein, is also considering New Zealand as an option.When asked if the exodus of players had to do with CSA’s transformation targets, the source stayed away from making a direct link but hinted that it could be related. “I don’t want to talk about quotas but I’ll say that the balance of teams is affecting the opportunities people are getting. There are also other factors like the declining Rand.”

India and West Indies have typified there are various ways to dominate T20 cricket. With a shot at a World Championship on the line, who will succeed?

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu30-Mar-2016

Match facts

Thursday, March 31, 2016
Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)2:43

Match Day: Who should replace Yuvraj in India’s XI?

Big picture

Chris Gayle. Virat Kohli. Dwayne Bravo. MS Dhoni. The Wankhede stadium will be screening an ensemble-driven action movie as much it hosts a cricket match on Thursday night. Those individuals and their styles of play contribute to a lot of the interest surrounding this game, and also typify there are various ways to establish T20 batting dominance.India’s has been to simply extend their Test and one-day game into the Twenty20s arena, and when all goes well, they get the bulk of their runs through orthodox cricket. West Indies, ideally, wouldn’t want their long-format form anywhere near them right now. Helpfully, this format has a tight cap on the number of overs so the big-hitters can keep hitting big without worrying about consequences.Case in point are the methods that their marquee players use. Gayle likes to “beat” the ball. No wonder it rockets as far away from him as it can, hoping to be lost somewhere in the rings of Saturn. Kohli is kinder in assisting with the ball’s travels, and even throws in a few surprises – patrons waiting in the off stump line could end up at midwicket almost as often as they do in the covers.Both teams clearly have lots of cream at the top, but the middle looks a bit squishy. It’s been over two years since Denesh Ramdin or Suresh Raina have hit a T20 fifty. Dwayne Bravo, at No. 5, has looked unsure whether he needs to be the aggressor or the anchor. Yuvraj Singh has been similarly jittery, but an ankle injury ruled him out of the World T20. That leads West Indies to the prospect of bowling at a player – one of Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey or Pawan Negi – who hasn’t faced a ball in this tournament. But Mumbai is just about the perfect venue for the out-of-form and brand new batsmen to get into the swing of things – the lowest total in the tournament here has been Afghanistan’s 172 against South Africa.Quite apart from tactics and strategy, there are players from both sides who may be playing their last World Cup, so the incentive to make it to Eden Gardens – for the final – for one more match will be very strong.

Form guide

India WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies LWWWW

In the spotlight

The last time India were in Mumbai, they missed the hell out of R Ashwin. It was an ODI, three of the opposition batsmen scored centuries and they were left chasing a 400-plus total. He did not have his best game against Australia, but his presence in the XI still goes a long way to adding confidence to the team.Samuel Badree seems to take the mickey out of the Powerplay overs every time he bowls. He doesn’t rely on turn, doesn’t often believe in flight, but faithfully follows a wicket-to-wicket line. The batsmen are tied down, and when they try to escape, they tend to fall. Hard.

Team news

India haven’t made any changes to their XI since the start of the tournament. But now, with Yuvraj ruled out, they will be forced to do so ahead of the semi-final of the tournament.India 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Manish Pandey/Ajinkya Rahane/Pawan Negi, 6 MS Dhoni (capt and wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Ashish NehraWest Indies will be without Andre Fletcher, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury. His replacement Lendl Simmons has a chance at getting a game straight away.West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Lendl Simmons, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Carlos Brathwaite, 10 Suliemann Benn, 11 Samuel Badree

Pitch and conditions

Mumbai has been an oasis this World T20. Tough pitches have left batsmen parched for runs, but at the Wankhede they can come and go wheee. In terms of the weather, a clear night is expected.

Stats and trivia

• Virat Kohli, the No. 1-ranked T20I batsman, averages 91.80 batting second but 35.22 batting first.
• Chris Gayle is two sixes short of being the first player ever to hit 100 sixes in T20I cricket

Quotes

“We’ve played to 70% of our abilities in this tournament. So there’s still 30% in areas we need to improve, so lets hope it happens tomorrow”
“No not really, have you ever heard of Chris Gayle?”

Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 108 off 58 balls made a chase of 192 look almost routine as Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Rising Pune Supergiants

The Report by Sirish Raghavan07-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVirat Kohli made 108 off 58 balls, batting through the chase•BCCI

“I hope it doesn’t prove costly,” a miked-up George Bailey murmured after narrowly missing an opportunity to run Virat Kohli out. Kohli had been on 4 at the time. He ended up smoking an unbeaten 108 off 58, made a chase of 192 look almost routine and steered Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory over Rising Pune Supergiants.Supergiants’ total was founded on fifties from Ajinkya Rahane and Saurabh Tiwary and, even more so, on a litany of errors from Royal Challengers in the field. But, led by Kohli, and boosted by crucial knocks from KL Rahul and Shane Watson, Royal Challengers brought the full force of their batting might to bear on a hapless bowling attack.A chase of 192 requires a good start, and it was provided by Kohli and Rahul. There were three quiet at the start before a series of classy drives – along the ground and through the air – took the score to 94 without loss by the 11th over. Supergiants hit back in the next over when legspinner Adam Zampa, on IPL debut, dismissed Rahul and then the dangerous AB de Villiers as well.With 89 needed off 42, Shane Watson combined lusty strikes with streaky edges and before the bowler Thisara Perera knew it he had given away five fours in an over. With back-to-back sixes off Rajat Bhatia, whose slow cutters had started to become predictable, Watson brought the equation to 50 off 30 balls.The next two overs belonged to Supergiants – RP Singh dismissed Watson and R Ashwin, introduced in the 17th over, conceded just seven. But Kohli remained. He plundered four sixes and a four off Zampa and RP Singh to leave just four runs to get off the final over, and applied the finishing touch himself. Kohli became the quickest batsman to 500 runs in an IPL season; achieving the landmark in eight innings, one better than his team-mate Chris Gayle, who was left out of the XI on Saturday.Unlike their captain, the Royal Challengers bowlers and fielders were off their game. Missed chances have been a persistent irritant for them this season, but they graduated to a battering ram of woe today.Tiwary was dropped twice in as many balls in the sixth over; Stuart Binny missed a straightforward chance at short cover and Sachin Baby was unable to hold on despite getting both hands behind the ball at point. Tiwary received a third life, on 25, when Rahul fluffed a stumping and went on to make 52 off 39 balls. It was his second fifty in three matches.The worst of Royal Challengers’ errors came in the eighth over, when Rahane was surprised by Varun Aaron’s extra bounce and the ball popped up towards where silly mid-on might have been. Both the bowler and Watson, running in from midwicket attempted to get under it, but no one went for the catch. The ball landed barely a foot from Watson.Rahane finished with 78 off 48 balls, with eight fours and two sixes. His sixth half-century of the season put Supergiants on course for a total over 200. They went into the final five overs with eight wickets in hand and that allowed the batsmen coming in to look for runs despite risk. Supergiants did get 53 off these overs, but they needed a lot more considering Kohli was going to be in his happy place – with a target to chase.

Cricket South Africa have secured the financial backing of one of the largest financial institutions in the country, Standard Bank, who have signed on as headline sponsor for the national men’s team in all three formats

Firdose Moonda18-May-2016Cricket South Africa have secured the financial backing of one of the largest financial institutions in the country, Standard Bank, who have signed on as the headline sponsor for the national men’s team in all three formats. The bank replaces Castle Lager and Blue Label Telecoms, who are still expected to be involved in some capacity.The new sponsor is not new to cricket. Standard Bank was previously one of the biggest backers of the game and had a 14-year period as the title sponsors of the ODI and T20 team (then called Pro20 in South Africa) which ended in 2011. Then, Standard Bank also sponsored the Pro20 domestic championship, a 20-over schools competition, CSA’s high performance programme including the national academy, the schools development programme, and the national Under-13 cricket week.However, that year the bank cut ties will all sports sponsorships including that of two of the country’s most popular football clubs, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. With the global economy deep in recession at the time, Standard Bank said they had to “reassess the costs of these sponsorships and the benefits for Standard Bank in the light of changed business needs”.The up-turn in world finances since then has put Standard Bank in a position to resume it’s sports affiliations. A spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo that “a different economic climate” was the main reason for Standard Bank’s renewed interest in the game. The four-year deal is limited to the sponsorship of the national team and not to any of the other areas Standard Bank was previously involved in.It also comes with the debate continuing over banning alcohol advertising and sponsorships, particularly in sport, which is the category Castle Lager are in. In 2013, the Cabinet approved a draft bill to reduce the exposure of alcohol advertising, which had yet to be ratified by Parliament when it was withdrawn. In August 2015, the ruling African National Congress said if the draft bill proceeds it would have “devastating consequences for the sport and recreation sector”, and chose to target regulating sales of alcohol instead. Castle Lager remain associated with the national rugby side, the Springboks.

Matt Quinn took seven wickets – including six in one spell – to give Essex control on the opening day against Gloucestershire

Paul Edwards at Cheltenham13-Jul-2016
ScorecardMatt Quinn burst through Gloucestershire’s middle order•Getty Images

Even on a milk-sun morning the College Ground retains its grandeur. There is Prothero’s famous chapel, of course, its proportions unsullied by the angular excrescence beyond it; there is also that long pavilion where, in 1992, the Marquess of Reading won the Cheltenham Gold Racquet; and there are the marquees, 10 of them this year, plus assorted gazebos and even the odd tent.Prime Ministers resign and Prime Ministers are appointed but Cheltenham smiles indulgently on such occasional changes. Gladstone was in charge when Gloucestershire played their first county match here and it is to be hoped that the ground sees off several dozen more First Lords of the Treasury before it is done. Never mind Brexit, old boy, on afternoons such as this it was difficult to believe we’d ever lost India.Matt Quinn’s recollections of Cheltenham will be equally fond but rather fresher. For after play had been interrupted for over two hours by ferocious westerly showers the New Zealand-born seamer took six wickets in a ten-over spell from the Chapel End which may go a long way towards determining the shape of this game.In 75 minutes Quinn tore out the heart of the Gloucestershire batting, sending the home side spinning from 99 for 1 to 140 for 7, at one stage taking four wickets for seven runs for 17 balls. He had never taken more than four wickets in a completed innings before. In 1930 Agatha Christie published ; Gloucestershire certainly found the eponymous sleuth’s near-namesake a puzzle on a pitch freshened by the stoppage and warmed under the covers.What was particularly impressive about Quinn’s bowling was the number of good batsmen he got out when they were playing defensively. Rather like say, Stuart Broad or Kyle Jarvis, he is not lightning-fast but he gets it down at a tidy old lick. And while he does not swing the ball vast distances, he hoops it enough. Graeme van Buuren being pinned on the back foot with the third ball after the resumption was mundane enough but six overs later Quinn snaked one back between bat and pad to bowl Michael Klinger for 5.  And, rather like the glass-in-hand brigade enjoying corporate hospitality at the College Lawn End, he was only warming up.Twenty minutes later Gareth Roderick prodded forward but only his pad made contact with the ball. Umpire Billy Taylor assessed the justice of the appeal and, slightly echoing the famous line in decided he could not reprieve Roderick. Two overs after Gloucestershire skipper had departed for a pleasant 61, Hamish Marshall joined him when his tentative push gave a catch to Tom Westley at second slip.Kieran Noema-Barnett played on and was much more culpable. His rather wild cover-drive was a gin-and-tonic stroke where mineral water was required. And when Jack Taylor was bowled next over for 3, Quinn’s excellent afternoon’s work was done. He received a standing ovation when he came in for tea, Gloucestershire’s not-out batsmen, Craig Miles and David Payne, courteously waiting for him to make his way in.Miles and Payne then batted with simple good sense to add 65 for the eighth wicket by blocking straight balls and giving half-volleys a rare malleting. Still, though, Quinn was not finished. After a brief break for rain and bad light, he had Payne brilliantly caught in the gully, Jaik Mickleburgh diving to his right to complete a one-handed catch. Quinn trooped off to more applause with 7 for 61; his best analysis for a match is 8 for 107.  Gloucestershire had a batting bonus point they may not have expected and Miles is 45 not out but Essex have the advantage in this game.”The wicket didn’t offer much but it swung a bit all day,” said Quinn. “We put it down to the overhead conditions after it rained. The ball was shaping nicely and if you bowl on off stump and it swings, it’s always going to difficult to play. I don’t think we bowled very well early on but the margin of error is quite small on that wicket. The rain break made us regroup as a team and think about our plans.”The piquant thing is that Quinn has not been an automatic pick this season, for Essex are decently placed for seamers. Jamie Porter and Graham Napier are bowling well and the visitors could afford to rest David Masters for this game. One wondered how they would get on without their venerable linchpin. Essex had certainly shown more disregard for Masters than would be permitted in this place during term-time.And all this drama followed a morning in which Gloucestershire’s batsmen had made Ryan ten Doeschate’s decision to bowl first look unwise at best. Batting on a surface they knew they could trust, Roderick and Chris Dent had driven confidently in the wide arc between extra cover at midwicket, adding 77 in 80 minutes before Dent edged Porter to Westley.It made good watching for the chattering schoolchildren, who, still in uniform, sat patiently in the stand opposite the great pavilion. Arranged in rows of scarlet, navy blue and cyan, they offered a colour-chart of innocence and promise. More adult matters were being discussed in the pavilion: a chap was spotted carrying an early glass of fortifying cordial. “It’s a bit early for Holy Communion, isn’t it?” asked a friend.Less than ten minutes before lunch the rain swept in and sent spectators scurrying. Scorecards gusted across the outfield. Cleeve Hill was shrouded in mist, and before long its ancient companion, Nottingham Hill, disappeared completely. A couple of hours later Gloucestershire’s middle order did so as well.