All posts by n8rngtd.top

Fast bowler was sidelined by abdominal soreness during his third game of the season and has missed four matches since

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-20249:56

The Mayank Yadav story – A 21-year-old boy from Delhi with express pace

Lucknow Super Giants fast bowler Mayank Yadav has resumed bowling in the nets and is “pretty close” to returning to action after having been sidelined by injury, according to LSG’s assistant coach S Sriram.”He’s bowling today in the nets,” Sriram said on the eve of LSG’s match against Rajasthan Royals on Saturday. “So we’ll find out how he pulls up after today, he’s pretty close, so ya hopefully, fingers crossed.”Mayank made his IPL debut in LSG’s second game this season and was Player of the Match for his three-wicket haul against Punjab Kings. He was Player of the Match once again for another three-wicket haul in their next game against RCB, hitting speeds above 150 kph consistently. However, he walked off after bowling just one over against Gujarat Titans, complaining of abdominal soreness. He has missed four games for LSG since.Related

• India need to make an effort to invest in Mayank Yadav

Mayank was picked by LSG in the auction ahead of IPL 2022 but did not play a game that season and missed the following edition with a torn hamstring. He made heads turn after clocking speeds north of 155kph in his first two matches, leaving people wondering if he could be in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup.Mayank Yadav clocked speeds north of 155kph in his first two IPL matches•BCCI

“I think he’s a pretty grounded person, I’ve just worked with him for the last month or so,” Sriram said. “He seems very mature and he knows his body well, which is very good for a young rookie fast bowler. I think coming from Delhi he has that cricket culture with him. He knows how to look after himself, he has a good cricketing sense in terms of the areas he bowls in, his execution has been very good.”More than the pace that he’s provided I think his execution and the lengths that he’s hit have been standout for me. The number 155 is a by-product of his rhythm and the run-up speed and the arm speed, but accuracy with which he’s bowled has stood out and for me that is critical.”Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop, an expert on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut, wrote in his column of the need for India to invest in Mayank, given his history of injuries. “Whether it’s Lucknow Super Giants, Mayank’s IPL team, or the BCCI, they can undertake a project – not an experiment, mind you – to say, ‘This guy is a diamond. Let us see if we can allocate some sort of funding and see where this goes’,” he wrote.”Give him a personal strength-and-conditioning trainer for, say, a year. Attach that person to him, not just have the player fly somewhere every six weeks for those resources. Maybe have another medical person on the panel as well. And perhaps a dietician too. Build him up.”LSG are fourth in the points table with five wins in eight matches. LSG head into their home game against RR with back-to-back wins against Chennai Super Kings.

Jamie Overton injury offers route to recall for 35-year-old allrounder, with Hartley also set for inclusion

Vithushan Ehantharajah and Matt Roller29-Apr-2024Chris Jordan is set for an England recall as part of their provisional T20 World Cup squad, which will be announced on Tuesday.Jordan earned the last of 88 T20I caps at the end of the 2023 summer against New Zealand, and missed the white-ball tour of the Caribbean in December. However, with Jamie Overton ruled out through injury, Jordan is the beneficiary as a bowler capable of valuable cameos with the bat lower down the order.ESPNcricinfo understands that Jordan’s recall is expected to spell bad news for Chris Woakes, who is yet to feature for Punjab Kings at the IPL this season. Ben Duckett has also made the cut as England’s spare batter – and a rare left-hander – while the uncapped Tom Hartley is expected to edge Rehan Ahmed out as the second frontline spinner, behind Adil Rashid.Jordan brings a wealth of experience, with five previous World Cups under his belt and two seasons as Surrey’s T20 captain. The 35-year-old played two matches in England’s successful 2022 campaign, which was his fourth global T20 tournament. Though he is likely to feature sparingly in the Caribbean, he remains an exceptional fielder – often used as a sub – and a willing death bowler.Possible England World T20 squad•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

England tracked Overton closely through the winter and were keen on him as a genuine allrounder. But inconclusive scans on a back injury have resulted in his omission from the provisional squad. In his absence, Jordan’s recent improvement with the bat is a relevant factor: since the start of the 2023 Vitality Blast, he has averaged 30.05 and struck at 160.53 in all T20 cricket.Despite his omission from England’s squad that lost 3-2 in the T20I series against West Indies, Jordan had a busy winter, representing Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL, Gulf Giants in the ILT20 and Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League. He has not played since March, but will tune up for the World Cup with England’s four-match T20I series against Pakistan from May 22.Related

• England at the IPL: 'Refreshed' Buttler, rusty Livingstone, and WC tune-ups for fringe players

• Rashid: 'Things change quickly… we have the mindset of champions'

• Jamie Overton back injury hands England T20 World Cup selection dilemma

• India's T20 World Cup squad: IPL form unlikely to heavily influence selection

• South Africa's batting options for T20 World Cup: de Kock? Hendricks? Du Plessis?

England are expected to pick a top four comprising Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Jonny Bairstow, all of whom have found form at the IPL. Buttler (twice), Jacks and Bairstow have all hit centuries for their respective franchises, while Salt’s first eight innings brought him three half-centuries and a strike rate of 176.08.Jofra Archer is also expected to feature in the provisional squad, despite a long-standing elbow injury that has prevented him from playing a competitive fixture since May 2023.Though Archer recently admitted that another “stop-start year” could lead him to consider his future at the age of 29, the ECB hope the four-match Pakistan series can offer him a return to international cricket, ahead of a World Cup campaign that could include a maiden England appearance in front of his friends and family in his native Barbados. There is the possibility that he will warm up with some T20 appearances for Sussex’s 2nd XI in the coming weeks.England will also be missing the services of Ben Stokes, their matchwinner in both the 2019 (50-over) and 2022 World Cups, who announced last month that he would not be making himself available as he continues his rehabilitation following recent knee surgery.Possible England T20 World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali (vice-captain), Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tom Hartley, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Reece Topley

Veteran seamer acknowledges T20 version is unlikely goal as she focuses on 2025 campaign

Andrew Miller28-May-2024Kate Cross, England’s veteran seamer, says she hasn’t given up hope of competing for a berth in England’s T20 World Cup squad in Bangladesh this winter, but admits her more realistic goal is the 50-over version in 2025, as she prepares to lead the line once more in the third ODI against Pakistan at Chelmsford.Cross, 32, claimed two wickets in England’s 37-run victory in the series opener at Derby on Thursday, and with a total of 85 at 25.35 in 64 ODIs to date, is by a distance the most experienced seamer in England’s white-ball ranks.In the T20I format, however, she has played just three matches in the last four years, and by her own admission, she missed her chance to impress when recalled for England’s shock series loss to Sri Lanka in September last year. The second of those three matches also took place at Chelmsford, where Cross returned figures of 0 for 33 in 2.2 overs as Chamari Athapaththu inspired her side to victory.As such, while the squad’s main focus is on building towards Bangladesh in October, Cross acknowledges that this final ODI is a big chance for her to hone the skills that have kept her at the forefront of England’s 50-over plans for the past five years – and to help raise the team’s standards after an “untidy” display, studded with 31 wides, in last week’s win in the series opener.Related

• Jon Lewis challenges England Women to keep up with their world-class stars

• Nat Sciver-Brunt 'sore' but satisfied after learning on the job in allround display

• Nat Sciver-Brunt century drives England to imposing 178-run victory

• Heather Knight challenges England's batters to adapt aggression to 50-over format

• Capsey the mainstay as England close out 'scrappy' 37-run win

“I think how we played in Derby probably wasn’t how we would like to play the game,” Cross said. “We were a little bit untidy with the ball, probably not at our best in the field. And we probably didn’t put as much pressure on the Pakistan bowling attack as we would like.”We actually haven’t lost an ODI series under Jon Lewis [since November 2022] so it goes to show we’re doing a lot of really good things, but how do we keep that mindset positive all the time? We were probably disappointed with ourselves in Derby, that we could have been a little bit more ruthless in some of those moments.”We know on our best day we can beat any team, we saw that in the Ashes last year when we were able to put Australia under pressure in real key moments. But what we sometimes forget is that we’re asking some really young, inexperienced players to be perfect. The group is trying to learn and improve whilst we play international cricket and that’s a really difficult place to be.”We’ve not got these windows now where you’ve got eight weeks at your region or at Loughborough training, and purposely just working on one thing. Because you’re in an England shirt, you’re expected to be absolutely perfect all the time, but that’s something we have to measure ourselves on correctly. As much as we don’t want to be bowling 40 wides in a game, we obviously don’t do that on purpose.”With bad weather in Chelmsford on Tuesday, England’s practice was limited to some indoor sessions for the batters, but as Cross admitted, the team’s mental preparation is the key factor given the intensity of their current workloads across formats and tournaments – which includes the white-ball series against New Zealand in June and July, followed by the next edition of the Hundred, which culminates in August.”There’s always something around the corner,” she said. “We’ve got South Africa this winter, we’ve got an Ashes just after in January, and then we’ve got the 50-over World Cup next year as well. So you always feel like you’re constantly building for something. And underlying all of that are the basic skills that we’re trying to top up all the time.”So the priority is T20 cricket at the moment for us, but for me, I’m probably thinking more about the 50-over stuff and prepping for that World Cup in 18 months’ time. That might be different for Alice Capsey and Lauren Bell, so it’s exciting that we’ve got all this stuff on in the calendar and so much to look forward to. But in terms of this series, it’s really important to be able to practice with the mindset that we want to take into that [50-over] World Cup.”As for the T20 World Cup, Cross insists she can still be involved, and plans to use both the Charlotte Edwards Cup and Northern Superchargers’ Hundred campaign to push her case for a squad berth. But, given Bell’s pre-eminence as England’s frontline seamer, and her own failure to seize the moment last year, she accepts her place in the pecking order.”I was in the squad for about four years without getting an opportunity, but I hold my hand up, in the Sri Lanka series I didn’t execute anything that I wanted to,” Cross said. “I know that I’ve probably lost my opportunity there. I’ve had a chat with Lewey [Jon Lewis] a few times and he just needs to see me be successful in T20 cricket. But the way the team is balanced at the moment, we’ve got one out-and-out seamer in Lauren Bell who’s been exceptional in that format, so you’ve basically got to be knocking her out of the team.”What Belly does brilliantly is swing the new ball and then come back and take wickets at the death to close games out. So it’s quite a nice blueprint to be able to follow and aspire to.”But it’s just about knowing yourself as well,” she added. “Obviously, as a 32-year-old, I probably know my limitations a little bit more than some of the younger girls, but you still want to take those opportunities if you do get them. It’s a real fine balancing act. But our priority is wearing this shirt and doing the best that we can for England.”

The allrounder called Suryakumar’s leadership skills “amazing” for thinking out of the box

Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Jul-20241:44

Washington lauds Suryakumar’s ‘amazing leadership skills’

Sri Lanka needed nine to win off the last two overs in the third T20I. India still had the bowling of Mohammed Siraj to call on (Siraj had conceded just 11 off his first three overs). They also had one over from Khaleel Ahmed, who could have bowled the 20th.But with Kusal Perera still at the crease, captain Suryakumar Yadav went to the offspin of Rinku Singh, which had never before been seen in a T20 international. It worked out brilliantly – Perera first top-edging a cross-batted shot so badly, Rinku himself could get under it. Later in the over, Ramesh Mendis also holed out, to deep midwicket.Having watched Rinku concede only three runs and claim two wickets in a pressure over, Suryakumar made the decision to bowl his own offspin in the final over, taking two further wickets himself, and conceding only five to win the match.Related

• Washington, Suryakumar, Rinku bowl India to Super Over win

• Suryakumar after Super Over heist: I told the team I had seen such games

• Sri Lanka's latest collapse a chef's kiss on their incompetence

After the match, Washington Sundar, the frontline offspin bowler in the team described this spell of captaincy as “amazing”. The pitch was taking big turn, and Sri Lanka were struggling hugely against the slow bowlers. Suryakumar gambled on two rank part-timers.”It was amazing from Surya and his leadership skills,” Washington said. “I think he felt given the situation if he bowled more spinners we’d have a good chance to win the game. Given the wicket and the situation, he took one or two options, and it did wonders for us.”There were only 12 balls to go and Kusal Perera was batting. Rinku got him out and Surya himself came on in the last over and almost won the game for us. We all know he has a big heart when he goes out there to bat, but he also has a big heart in leadership as well.”Washington himself then played a key role, bowling a Super Over in which he conceded just two runs, but took two wickets. In regular play he had taken 2 for 23.”Honestly, I had no idea I was going to bowl. It was after the batsmen walked out that Surya turned behind and said: ‘Washy, you’re on.’ I was very happy, to be honest. When the captain wants you to bowl especially in tough situations, in a Super Over. I thought it was a great opportunity for me to step up and win games for my country. Thank God it went well.”Although India didn’t seem capable of defending 137 for the vast majority of the chase, Suryakumar never lost hope, Washington said. Sri Lanka, at one stage, needed 28 runs off 28 balls, with nine wickets in hand. India would then set in motion a huge collapse.”Surya kept teling us that one or two wickets, and the game would definitely change,” Washington said. “In these kinds of wickets, in low-scoring games, even run-a-ball could be a lot of pressure on the batsmen because there’s something for the bowlers in the wicket.”He said one or two wickets in the middle overs would get us in the game, and that’s exactly what happened. I hope the audience enjoyed it because you will only see such games every now and then. To be a part of this game feels great.”

Head coach says his side are in “good spirits” ahead of second Test at Trent Bridge

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jul-2024West Indies coach Andre Coley has called on his players to channel the resilience they showed in Australia earlier this year in their ongoing series against England, as they look to respond from an innings defeat in the first Test at Lord’s.At Adelaide Oval in January, West Indies were thrashed by 10 wickets by Australia in the first of two Tests before responding with a famous win at the Gabba, with Shamar Joseph taking seven second-innings wickets. Ahead of the second Test at Trent Bridge, which starts on Thursday, Coley implored his players to believe they can set up a decider at Edgbaston.”They would’ve taken a lot of positives from that,” Coley said on Monday, when asked about the Gabba Test. “In terms of how we were able to bounce back, the process that we went through to be able to do that I believe is a lot more powerful [than the result].”It reinforces the fact that in a series you could actually not start well but then compose yourself and come back in the series and be quite competitive, potentially set it up for a game-three decider. So there are real positives to be taken away, not only from the first Test here, but what we would’ve [faced in the] last six months.”West Indies Test coach Andre Coley at a training session•Getty Images

Coley suggested that his side have learned from the first Test, despite their heavy defeat. “Having been here now about two weeks, having a bit of time to acclimatise to conditions and actually getting time in the middle… yes, the result was not what we would’ve wanted and planned for, but I do believe that there’s a lot to be had in terms of learning and takeaways.”We admit that the side we have, it is young and emerging… but we are still very positive about how we are approaching the second Test. Everybody’s in good spirits. We’ve been catching up with the players one-on-one and this will really be the first time that we’ll be settled as a squad.”There’s been quite a bit of activity on and off the field leading up to the first Test and it’s been a lot, I can imagine, for some of our players to have been able to absorb. So it’s a massive learning for everyone, players and staff, and we are still very positive as we head to Nottingham.”Related

• Athanaze: 'Haven't set the world on fire as yet but that is something I'm looking to do'

• Ben Stokes feels the need for speed as England move on from Anderson-Broad era

• Brathwaite hoping his batters 'find a way' to challenge England at Trent Bridge

• Ben Duckett braced for birth of child as Dan Lawrence stands by

• England go back to the future as post-Anderson era begins at Trent Bridge

Coley said there were positives to take from how his team fared with the ball in the first Test, having bowled England out for 371 in their only innings. But he called on his batters to try and put longer partnerships together, and also told them to raise their intensity in the field.”We know the conditions will be testing: that’s why it’s called a Test match,” he said. “We’re not playing at home. Our conditions are going to be slightly different, but we do have it within our ranks to be at our best and to compete with England.”There were periods in the game where [England] actually had to show really good application and grit… Jayden Seales, Jason Holder; you had Alzarri Joseph, his pace was back up; Gudakesh Motie played a fantastic role in terms of helping the captain, Kraigg [Brathwaite] to be able to control and [took the] key wicket of the captain [Ben] Stokes.”So yes, quite a few positives. I would love to see us with a lot more intensity that we’re known to show in the field. I thought in this Test match, we weren’t at our best in terms of imposing ourselves on the England batters. That is definitely something that we need to be better at for the next Test.”Shamar Joseph suffered stiffness in his left hamstring during the first Test, at one stage leaving the field mid-over. A CWI spokesperson said that no decision has been made on his availability for the second Test, with West Indies due to train at Trent Bridge on Tuesday morning.

Lancashire bowled out for 204 with no one making fifty, Surrey reply at 83 without loss

ECB Reporters Network22-Aug-2024Rocky Flintoff made a creditable 32 on debut, as Lancashire’s youngest first-class cricketer at the age of 16 years and 137 days, but it was champions Surrey who ruthlessly took first-day honours at the Kia Oval.Put in, Lancashire were bowled out for 204 inside 59 overs, with no one making it to 50, and Surrey then replied with 83 for no wicket before bad light ended play 15.4 overs early. Skipper Rory Burns was 44 not out, including straight driving George Balderson’s medium pace for successive fours, and Dom Sibley unbeaten on 37.Jordan Clark (4 for 57) and Dan Worrall (3 for 31) continued their fine red-ball seasons by spearheading a five-pronged seam attack in which Conor McKerr also took two wickets and Sam Curran one in what was, for both, their first Vitality County Championship appearance of the summer.Matty Hurst, with 46 from 64 balls, played Lancashire’s best and most assertive innings, while Balderson’s 33 and Josh Bohannon’s 26 were other worthy efforts in seam-friendly overhead and pitch conditions.But most eyes were on Flintoff, who made 167 runs in seven Metro Bank One-Day Cup innings after becoming his county’s youngest player in any format last month, and who came in at 33 for 2 in the 11th over after both Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings had fallen to the new ball.Wells went in the fourth over for 9, dragging an attempted off drive into his stumps against Clark, while Jennings looked aggrieved to be given out leg-before for 12, pushing forward to an inswinger from Worrall.Off the mark first ball, clipping Worrall confidently for two off his pads, young Flintoff was soon living up to his reputation as one of the best players of his age to emerge in recent decades – on a day when most 16-year-olds around the country were more concerned about getting their GCSE results.Uncannily like his father Andrew in build and mannerisms – the former England captain and television celebrity was watching proudly from a hospitality box – the young Flintoff saw off Worrall’s fine opening spell of 7-3-9-1 and helped Bohannon to add 40 for Lancashire’s third wicket in tough, overcast conditions.He did have some moments of good fortune, being dropped at third slip on 13 when he edged Tom Lawes and later also flailing a returning Worrall just over the cordon for four as lunch approached, but otherwise he looked comfortable at the crease and mature beyond his years as Lancashire reached lunch on 98 for 3.Bohannon had gone by then, chopping on to McKerr for 26, and unfortunately for Flintoff he sliced a drive at the first ball after lunch, and his 64th – from Clark – and saw Sai Sudharsan dive forward at backward point to scoop up a brilliant catch.Jordan Clark celebrates a wicket•Getty Images for Surrey CCC

Hurst played some superb shots but was dropped by Clark from a skier on 45 before McKerr dived to his right to hold a magnificent low catch at leg slip in Curran’s next over and from 155 for 4 the Lancashire first innings fizzled out as Worrall, McKerr and Clark combined to overpower the tail.Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, on his Championship debut, played one memorable cover drive before optimistically jumping down the pitch to swing at Worrall and edge behind while Balderson, playing defensively, nicked the same bowler to first slip.McKerr’s pace and lift did for Tom Hartley, caught at the wicket for 5, and only some defiance from Tom Aspinwall – who hooked McKerr for six and extra cover drove him for four in a bright 23 not out – took Lancashire past 200 before they lost both Josh Boyden, who lifted a simple catch to mid off on 5, and Will Williams, caught behind, from successive deliveries from Clark.

New Zealand’s lower middle order put up a fight, but couldn’t avoid an innings defeat

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Sep-2024New Zealand battled on day four, with overnight batters Glenn Phillips, and Tom Blundell completing half centuries, before Mitchell Santner struck 67, batting partly in the company of the tail. But this fight only served to throw into relief their abysmal 88 in the first innings, rather than provide any serious hope of avoiding even an innings defeat.In the end, having played out 40.4 overs on day four, they lost their final wicket – Santner – still 154 runs behind Sri Lanka. The hosts had only batted once.For Sri Lanka, it was their third Test win in a row. With four matches to go in their World Test Championship cycle, they are now in the hunt for one of those final two spots, though they must hope for other results to go their way too, to have a better chance.Sri Lanka will be buoyed too by the six-wicket haul achieved by debutant offspinner Nishan Peiris, even if he was expensive as New Zealand’s batters went hard at him. He finished with figures of 9 for 203 in the match, having taken 6 for 170 in the second dig.Peiris dismissed each of the three half-centurions on day four. Blundell was out on the third over of the morning, when he missed a reverse sweep (he was trying his second one in a row, having nailed the first for four), and been struck in front of the stumps. Later, Phillips attempted to launch Peiris over the straight boundary, but found Dimuth Karunaratne at long on. After lunch, Peiris had Santner stumped when the batter had allowed his back foot to slide out of the crease – the last New Zealand wicket to fall.In between, Prabath Jayasuriya had bowled both Tim Southee and Ajaz Patel, the latter with a vicious one that leapt back at Ajaz from the rough. He himself finished with 9 for 181 from the game.Phillips and Santner were New Zealand’s best day four batters, however. Phillips’ main strategy was to get on the back foot as often as possible, and play off the surface. This frequently worked – allowing him to pounce on even slightly short deliveries, while forcing bowlers to go fuller to him, presenting scoring opportunities down the ground. He completed his fifty off 66 balls, and would go on to be involved in a 64-run seventh-wicket stand with Santner, to follow the 95-run stand he’d shared with Blundell.Santner, meanwhile, was not quite as proactive as Phillips, but found the offside productive. Occasionally, he would dance down the track and look to hit Peiris in particular down the ground. He collected two sixes and a four this way, and completed his half century soon after lunch, off the 97th ball he faced. He was out off the third delivery Sri Lanka bowled with their second new ball.

The defending champions were 18 for 4 in their small chase before Hilton Cartwright and the in-form Josh Inglis guided them home

Tristan Lavalette23-Oct-2024Cameron Bancroft’s bid for a Test recall took another hit after a fourth consecutive failure to start the Sheffield Shield season. But Josh Inglis continued to press his case while Hilton Cartwright capped a whirlwind few days to guide Western Australia to a six-wicket victory over Tasmania at the WACA.With WA chasing just 83 runs under sunny conditions early on the final day, Bancroft had a golden opportunity for a confidence boosting innings having scored just eight runs in his first three Shield innings.Related

• Cartwright makes baby dash after Bancroft's lean start continues

• Victoria steamroll New South Wales but Starc primed for India

• 'A right-handed version of Warner': Josh Inglis launched into opening debate

But he looked uncomfortable from the get go against probing new ball bowling from quicks Riley Meredith and Kieran Elliott. With the pressure building having scored just two runs from his first 15 deliveries, Bancroft decided to attack but miscued a pull shot off Meredith to fine leg and trudged off with his Test hopes to fill the vacant opener’s slot having seemingly nosedived.”He’s pretty good to be honest…keeping things really simple,” WA captain Sam Whiteman said of Bancroft. “I think it’s a matter of time. Each fail…he’s one closer to a big score. He’s a pretty positive guy.”The low target proved tricky for WA and the tension heightened among the sprinkling of fans when they slumped to 18 for 4 after Whiteman, Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Hardie fell to Elliott, who conjured movement from the grassy wicket.It was a quiet match for Marsh, who had scores of 9 and 6 as a specialist batter at No. 4. He had stated ahead of the match that he would build up his bowling loads, but a return with the ball has been put on hold.There appeared to be some tense scenes between Hilton Cartwright and Tasmania•Getty Images

Inglis and Cartwright steadied the ship with a quick half-century partnership to guide WA over the line. Having scored two game-changing centuries to start the season, Inglis again looked at ease to finish 26 not out from 36 balls.Cartwright remained unbeaten on 39 from 50 balls to cap a remarkable match after he had to dash from the ground at tea on day two when his wife went into labour. He returned on day three to resume his innings on 52 after the birth of his second child in the early hours. Cartwright needed Tasmania to agree for him to return to the crease.There appeared to be tension on the field on day four with Cartwright engaged in a war of words with Tasmania opener Jake Weatherald. They had a lengthy exchange while shaking hands after the match.Tasmania started day four in a forlorn position with a lead of just 80 runs and one wicket in hand. They only added two runs before quick Brody Couch claimed his fourth wicket of the innings after trapping Meredith in front of the creaseAfter a patchy performance in his WA debut against Queensland, Couch was outstanding throughout to finish with match figures of 7 for 83 and touching speeds of 143kph.

The suspension was backdated to commence on April 11, which was the date of the provisional suspension order, so Bracewell is eligible to play now

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2024Doug Bracewell, the New Zealand seamer, has been suspended for one month by the country’s Sports Tribunal for “the presence and use” of cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine.Bracewell “was provisionally suspended without opposition” on April 11 this year following an
“adverse analytical finding” from an in-competition test on January 13 at the Super Smash match between Wellington Firebirds and Central Stags in Wellington, the tribunal said in a statement.The statement added that Bracewell had “admitted using cocaine but maintained that his use occurred out-of-competition, being prior to midnight on the day before the match, and that it was unrelated to sport performance”. The Sport Integrity Commission did not accept that and “contended that the use must have occurred in-competition”.Following that, expert evidence on the matter was filed by both the Commission and Bracewell, and a hearing before the tribunal was scheduled for December 11 and 12. But last week, on November 11, “counsel filed a joint memorandum in which the Commission indicated that, having considered all the evidence filed in this proceeding, on balance, it accepted Mr Bracewell’s position”. As a result, it was “agreed that the appropriate sanction was a period of ineligibility of three months, which would be reduced to one month, as Mr Bracewell had satisfactorily completed a Substance of Abuse treatment programme approved by the Commission”.The tribunal subsequently imposed an “ineligibility period of one month”, which was backdated to commence on April 11, which was the date of the provisional suspension order.Bracewell, 34, has played 28 Tests (74 wickets), 21 ODIs (26 wickets) and 20 T20Is (20 wickets) after making his international debut in October 2011. He last played for New Zealand in a Test match against Sri Lanka in Wellington in March 2023.A Central Districts player right through his domestic career, Bracewell recently opted out of a contract with the club to become a freelancer. He is next expected to be in action at the Abu Dhabi T10 league, where he is a part of New York Strikers, and then at the SA20 early next year as part of Joburg Super Kings.

Captain Matthews leads chase with an unbeaten 47-ball 85 after Dottin’s excellence with the ball and on the field restricts India

Shashank Kishore17-Dec-2024West Indies levelled the T20I series in style, with captain Hayley Matthews at the forefront of a robust batting performance in a nine-wicket thrashing. Matthews hit an unbeaten 85, courtesy 17 fours, just four less than India’s 21, to help West Indies break a sequence of nine straight T20I losses to India.Matthews’ brilliance helped cover for a shoddy fielding display in which Qiana Joseph, who also fuelled the chase with 38, put down India’s stand-in captain Smriti Mandhanaonce, one of three lives she got on the night. However, India’s 159 for 9, in the face of dew and some serious batting muscle in the opposition, was never going to be enough.

Chetry, debutant Bist fall cheaply

India’s inexperienced top order left them wobbling. Deandra Dottin castled Uma Chetry with an in-ducker for 4. Afy Fletcher, who went for 39 in her four overs two nights ago, had debutant Raghvi Bist lbw for 5. In between these two strikes, Jemimah Rodrigues fell attempting to get inside the line and paddle. At 48 for 3 in the ninth over, West Indies had India on the ropes.Smriti Mandhana was dropped thrice before she completed her fifty•BCCI

Dropped catches let Mandhana off the hook

India received a massive fillip thanks to some West Indian generosity; they dropped Mandhana three times – twice by Chinelle Henry – between overs 11 to 14. Mandhana would soon run out of luck, though, in the 14th over, but not before raising a second straight half-century, off 37 balls. Between those dropped catches, India hit six fours and a six in a two-over period that fetched 36, going from 72 for 3 in 12 overs to 108 for 4 in 14.

Dottin brilliance helps West Indies pull things back

If overs 12 to 14 produced boundaries, the next two applied the skids as West Indies removed Deepti and S Sajana. But Richa Ghosh cut, pulled and flat-batted the spinners to race to 32 off 16. Just as she raised hopes of a sparkling half-century, she was sent back by a flying Shemaine Campbelle behind the stumps, caught as she attempted to scythe Dottin’s yorker.Then, in the final over, Dottin showed off her athleticism in running at least 20 yards around the long-on fence to pull off a stunning catch on the move to dismiss Radha Yadav.Hayley Matthews got to a fifty off 31 balls•BCCI

Joseph sets it up

Joseph made up for her fielding lapses by laying into rookie Titas Sadhu to kickstart the chase. Her fast hands and clean slogging brought her three fours and a six in an 18-run second over. Renuka Singh then came in for punishment as Joseph muscled a monstrous six in a 14-run over. The openers brought up a half-century opening stand inside five overs. Saima Thakor picked up her first T20I wicket when she deceived Joseph with a back-of-the-hand slower ball in the seventh over, but by then the base had been laid with a 66-run stand.

Matthews finishes it in style

That was to be India’s only moment of comfort on the field as Matthews quickly took charge to raise a 31-ball half-century in an over when she despatched left-armer Radha Yadav for four back-to-back fours. India managed 21 fours and a six in their entire innings. West Indies had matched that boundary count by the 13th over itself to make it one-way traffic. The series couldn’t have been levelled with a more emphatic chase.