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They join Afridi, Malik, Shakib, Tamim, Thisara and Rashid and will be taking on West Indies in a charity T20 on May 31

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2018India allrounder Hardik Pandya and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik have been named in a World XI squad that will take on West Indies in the Hurricane Relief Twenty20 Challenge on May 31 at Lord’s.Hardik and Karthik, who are currently playing in the IPL for Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively are among nine players who have been confirmed for the World XI squad. The team, led by the England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, also includes Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik from Pakistan, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal from Bangladesh, Thisara Perera from Sri Lanka and Rashid Khan from Afghanistan.The charity fixture will mark Hardik’s debut at Lord’s while Karthik has already featured in an ODI and a Test at the venue.”This is a fantastic opportunity for fans of the Indian team to come out and watch these two flamboyant players, who bring both class and star value to what I’m sure will be a memorable match at Lord’s,” former ECB chief Giles Clarke, who is supporting the event, said.”People would remember Pandya’s valiant 43-ball 76 against Pakistan in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy last year while Karthik too has played Test cricket at Lord’s. He has been in terrific form and recently blasted 29 off eight deliveries and sealed victory over Bangladesh in the final of the Nidahas Trophy with a last-ball six.”The West Indies side will be captained by Carlos Brathwaite and will include Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Evin Lewis.The proceeds from the game will go towards the restoration of five cricket venues in the Caribbean that bore the brunt of the Category 5 hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Australia allrounder Mitchell Marsh has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test series in India due to a shoulder injury

Daniel Brettig08-Mar-20170:53

Quick facts – Marcus Stoinis

Victoria allrounder Marcus Stoinis has been called into Australia’s squad for the remainder of the Test series in India after Mitchell Marsh was ruled out due to an ongoing shoulder injury. Stoinis will fly to India after the conclusion of Victoria’s current Sheffield Shield match, which began in Alice Springs on Wednesday, and will arrive during Australia’s 10-day break between the second and third Tests.Marsh will head home with plenty to think about as both a bowler and a batsman. Having hurled the ball down at speeds in excess of 140kph during 2016, Marsh’s pace dropped away alarmingly during a home summer in which he was also axed from the Test team due to a string of poor scores. When recalled for the India series, Marsh was withdrawn from the limited-overs squad in order to rest his shoulder in the hope of recovery.However, in five overs across the two Tests, his pace remained in the 120kph bracket, and it is for this reason, rather than three low scores in four innings at No.6, that the selectors have been compelled to look elsewhere. “Mitch Marsh will go back to Melbourne with his shoulder,” coach Darren Lehmann said after the Bengaluru Test. “We’ll decide in the next day or so the replacement there, and then work out what our best XI is from there.”He had the injury through the summer, he was fine when he got here but it just got worse. I was really happy with the way he played the second innings in Pune. It’s unlucky for Mitch and we move to whoever the next person comes in. Whether we go with Usman Khawaja or Glenn Maxwell or whoever is selected, we’ll wait and see.”David Beakley, the team physio, explained how Marsh’s shoulder had deteriorated: “Mitchell has been playing with a shoulder injury for most of the summer, which we have been managing up until now, but unfortunately it has progressively deteriorated to a point where he is unable to function at the level required. Consequently he will return to Australia to consult with specialists to advise the best course of action.”In mid-January, when Marsh was pulled out of the ODI team, Beakley had made a remarkably similar statement: “Mitchell has had an ongoing shoulder injury which we have been managing but it is now at a point where he is unable to function at the level required. He now requires a period of rest and rehabilitation in order to return to full fitness.”Stoinis was preferred ahead of other all-round options such as Hilton Cartwright, who made his Test debut against Pakistan in the first week of January, and Moises Henriques, who played on last year’s Test tour of India. Henriques has 659 Sheffield Shield runs at 65.90 this summer and Cartwright has 520 at 37.14, compared to Stoinis’ more modest tally of 172 at 15.63.However, Stoinis impressed the selectors by stepping up to international level during the recent Chappell-Hadlee ODI series in New Zealand, when he smashed an unbeaten 146 in Australia’s unsuccessful chase in Auckland. There is no guarantee that Stoinis will play in India, though, with Usman Khawaja and Glenn Maxwell among the other options to replace Marsh in the XI.Mitchell Marsh will take no further part in the series•Associated Press

The break between Tests will allow Australia’s bowlers to freshen up physically, particularly the pacemen and also the spin bowler Nathan Lyon, who is battling a raw and bleeding spinning finger.Lehmann noted the up-and-down fortunes of the left-armer Mitchell Starc in Bengaluru, but said the tourists needed to accept that his ability to strike as violently as he did on the fourth morning always came at the risk of conceding runs.”That’s what you get with a Mitchell Starc who can blow a game or change a game like he did with those wickets,” Lehmann said. “You’d love him to be more consistent, but if he’s more consistent then maybe he doesn’t blow games apart. For us the challenge is making sure he’s fresh to go and he just does what he does. You’ve got to take that sometimes as a coach and a captain, he might go for runs but he’s going to take some key wickets for you.”Assessing the overall mood of the team following the loss of a Test they had started so strongly, Lehmann said it was important for the tourists to move on quickly, given that the surface for the third match in Ranchi was likely to offer up an outright result once again.”They’re pretty good. We had a bad 33 overs [on day four], so you’ve got to move on quite quickly,” he said. “We’ve got a break, it’s been a long summer and we’ve come here with the challenge of retaining the trophy first and foremost, we’re very close but not good enough. We’ve got to regroup quickly for Ranchi.”I presume the wicket will be very similar and that’s a great thing, you know there’s going to be a result when you rock up for the game, so for us to be on the right side of the ledger if that makes sense and play well. If you’d said to us 1-1 after two Test matches you’re not in a bad position, barring not getting enough runs [on final day]. Pleased where we’re at, we’ve got to play well next Test match.”

Australia’s Steven Smith doesn’t think the send-off he got from India’s Virat Kohli, after being dismissed in the first T20 on Tuesday night, has a place on the cricket field

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2016Australia’s Steven Smith doesn’t think the send-off he got from India’s Virat Kohli, after being dismissed in the first T20 on Tuesday night, has a place on the cricket field. While it’s okay to have a bit of “banter” going around the field, Smith said, the kind of aggression Kohli showed was not needed.”I don’t think you need to do that kind of thing when someone gets out,” Smith told . “It’s fine to have a little bit of banter when you’re out in the field, but when someone’s out I don’t really think that’s on. He gets pretty emotional out there, doesn’t he?”Kohli was fielding at cover when he took the catch to dismiss Smith for 21 off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling in Adelaide and gave the batsman a long, animated send-off. Smith was connected to a microphone at the time and had been conducting an interview with Channel Nine commentators during the over, and Kohli’s gestures seemed to refer to that.India offspinner R Ashwin played down the incident, saying it was “probably a personal battle” between Kohli and Smith. He also added that Kohli’s competitive streak was beneficial for the Indian dressing room. Kohli had also earlier exchanged words with Australia’s allrounder James Faulkner during the ODI series.”It’s probably a personal battle between those two of them,” Ashwin said. “I think both of them are very good competitors. They know what they’re doing, they don’t go down without a fight. It’s good to have such competition on the field. Both of them are champion cricketers. I think it just adds to the spice of the game so I don’t mind it at all.”Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, who made his international debut in Adelaide, received an official reprimand for his celebrations after he dismissed Chris Lynn in the 16th over of Australia’s chase. Pandya’s Level 1 breach of article 2.1.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel relates to: “Using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an International Match.”The charge was leveled by on-field umpires Simon Fry and John Ward, third umpire Paul Wilson and fourth umpire Gerard Abood. Pandya admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Jeff Crowe.

Both sides will expect more from their top order to lead the way, with the series now at 1-1 with two more to play

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran20-Jul-2013

Match facts

Sunday, July 21, 2013
Start time 0900 local (1830 GMT)Will West Indies shuffle their batting order and promote Lendl Simmons?•WICB

Big Picture

Attribute it to the impact of Twenty20 if you may, but with the recent trend in one-dayers, even a cushion of 15 runs to defend off the final over may not be enough for fielding sides to feel safe. Ask Pakistan. In the last two months, they have choked while defending the exact number, first against Ireland and yesterday against West Indies. Both ended in ties. More recently, Sri Lanka too cracked under pressure against last-minute specialist MS Dhoni, the only difference being they conceded the match and the tri-series trophy to India. Such is the standard of death bowling these days that it is possible for Nos 9 and 11 to finish off improbable chases.Friday’s game was Pakistan’s to lose with West Indies needing 39 off the last three with two wickets remaining. A combination of poor field placings and equally poor bowling cost them. Even with 15 to defend off six, Pakistan were better off saving boundaries than cutting off singles. Wahab Riaz bowled length instead of firing in yorkers, that Junaid Khan did so effectively. One of the commentators suggested that Mohammad Hafeez would have been a better choice.Despite the choke, Pakistan had positives to draw from the game, most notably their fielding. Excluding a couple of blunders that cost boundaries – a misfield from Shahid Afridi at the start of the chase and Riaz moving the wrong way at long-on during the climax – the commitment was pleasing. Ahmed Shehzad and Hafeez took a couple of sharp catches and the number of sliding stops inches from the rope only made West Indies’ task harder. In the batting, Umar Akmal and Riaz played positively in the slog overs to take 52 off the last 4.2 overs. Misbah-ul-Haq laid the platform with 75, but it was another laborious knock that consumed too many balls.One thing the two sides have in common is an undependable top order. A spectator held a placard asking for Chris Gayle to be demoted down the order, given his lackluster form. Gayle has been struggling against two new balls and a quality seam attack, so it may not be a bad idea for him to swap places with an in-form Lendl Simmons. West Indies have also put more pressure on themselves by not rotating the strike enough. Pakistan don’t really have a weak fifth bowler, so the batsmen can’t expect too many boundary balls. As the captain Dwayne Bravo said after the match, the tie was not a satisfactory result for the hosts because the batsmen had no business leaving the dirty work to the tailenders.

Form guide

(most recent first, last five completed matches)
West Indies TWLLL
Pakistan TLWLL

In the spotlight

A glance at the scorecard shows that Marlon Samuels‘ 46 was the second-highest score of the match. A closer look reveals an unpalatable strike rate of 43.39, that of a painful 106-ball stint that really slowed West Indies down. He hasn’t been himself in these three matches, facing 246 balls for 92 runs. Something’s been bothering him. It could be the nature of the pitches or a quality bowling attack, or both. West Indies might still place their faith in him to rediscover his touch, but will the short turnaround time between matches be enough?Pakistan experimented with a one-dimensional left-arm seam attack and among the three, Mohammad Irfan was the most probing, with his steep bounce and angle that made the likes of Gayle and Samuels think twice about going for their shots. He has the pace as well to go with those attributes, making him a handful in the bowler-friendly conditions.

Team news

The teams could go in with unchanged line-ups.West Indies: (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Darren Sammy, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Jason HolderPakistan: (probable) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Haris Sohail, 6 Umar Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Junaid Khan, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammad Irfan

Stats and trivia

• Kieron Pollard has six ducks in 2013. The record-holder for the most ducks in a calendar year is Herschelle Gibbs, who had eight in 2002
• Misbah-ul-Haq is currently the leading run-scorer in 2013 with 692 runs at 53.23
• Pakistan and West Indies have been involved in three tied one-dayers, the first two coming in Lahore and Guyana
• Since making a comeback in September 2010, Mohammad Hafeez has played 125 consecutive internationals for Pakistan

Quotes

“At this level, the number of dot balls in our innings was unacceptable. We need to come up with a plan to cut down on that, go back to the drawing board.”

Paul Collingwood has replaced Phil Mustard as Durham captain as the county try to pull around a season that sees them threatened with relegation from Division One of County Championship.

George Dobell03-Jul-2012Paul Collingwood has been appointed as captain of Durham’s County Championship side as the club seek to reverse a disappointing start to the season which has seen them fail to win any of their first eight games.Collingwood, who led England to the World T20 title in 2010, replaces Phil Mustard, who was appointed in May 2010 after Will Smith was removed as captain in similar circumstances. Dale Benkenstein remains Durham captain in the limited-overs formats.Durham’s head coach Geoff Cook said: “We’re delighted that Paul has agreed to take on the captaincy and lead the side in the four-day competition. Paul’s international experience is an excellent asset to the team, at a time when we need to be delivering our best results.”We are grateful for Phil Mustard’s efforts as captain and he remains an integral part of the team as a key contributor behind the stumps and with the bat.”Whether a change of captaincy will arrest the decline of an ageing squad remains to be seen. Aged 36 and with a top score of 50 in 12 championship innings this season, Collingwood is probably not a long-term solution.Collingwood’s first game in charge will be next week, when Durham travel to New Road to take on Worcestershire, the only other side in the top division without a win in the championship this season.Collingwood said: “I’m excited to have the opportunity to use my experience to help us progress in the LV= County Championship and get us back to winning ways.”Durham had been touted as championship challengers, but a side that has grown old together has been bereft of top-order runs and two former England fast bowlers, Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett, have been conspicuous by their absence.Mustard took over little more than two years ago when another poor start caused Durham to sack Smith after a heavy defeat at Trent Bridge. The decision was officially one of “mutual consent,” but Smith was persuaded that he had lost the trust of senior personnel on a coach journey back from the game.Now Mustard, who was regarded as the player to restore harmony, has failed to address the championship slide of a county for which successive championships of 2008 and 2009 are now a distant memory.

Allan Donald, the newly-appointed South Africa bowling coach, wants to create an attack that is “cocky and arrogant in all the right ways,” during his time with the national team

Firdose Moonda20-Jun-2011Allan Donald, the newly-appointed South Africa bowling coach, wants to create an attack that is “cocky and arrogant in all the right ways,” during his time with the national team. Donald, who retired from international cricket after the 2003 World Cup, believes that bowlers who don’t back down will be key to South Africa’s success in the future.”The training ground is meant to be the most hostile,” he told ESPNCricinfo. “That’s where it must all happen so when the captain goes in the match, he will be absolutely sure of what everyone can give him.” Donald aims to use net sessions to inject a match-day type of antagonism into the bowlers, similar to the one he had in his playing days.South Africa’s bowling attack can hardly be accused of a lack of aggression, especially after their performance at the 2011 World Cup. They were the only side to bowl out their opposition in all six of their group stage matches. The pace and swing of Dale Steyn combined with the bounce of Morne Morkel has earned them the reputation of being the most feared new ball pair in Test cricket. Donald said that although the two men were as “technically sound” as can be, mindset was something that could always be worked on, both with Steyn and Morkel and with the younger players coming through the ranks.”It starts with the A team. That’s where the message must get across so that the players aren’t scared and know what international cricket is about.” Donald’s first task as the bowling coach will be to travel with the A team to Zimbabwe later this week, where they will take part in an ODI tri-series which includes the hosts and Australia A. The trip means that Donald’s work will begin a month earlier than head coach Gary Kirsten and assistant Russell Domingo, who will report for duty on August 1, because of Donald’s desire to get to know the country’s bowlers.Despite having worked with England, the Mountaineers in Zimbabwe’s domestic competition, and most recently New Zealand, Donald has never coached in South Africa. He has watched some of the bowlers but wants to take the time to get to know them in order to “get into the psyche”.Most importantly, Donald wants to create an internal environment of competition, to ensure a strong of supply of players for the national team. “I want the younger guys to punch a hole into the line up and not just sit and wait for their turn.”Donald’s commitment to developing the best South African attack he can stems from his passion for the country he represented, the one he was willing to change his future plans for at short notice. He accepted the job of bowling coach on the eve of relocating his family and signing a two-year deal with New Zealand, who he had worked with since January and was involved with when they knocked South Africa out of the World Cup in March.Donald applied for the Australian bowling job, which Craig McDermott won, before recommitting New Zealand and has expressed his commitment to them. “We had just started to spark something there and I think the players were looking forward to what was going to happen. I had been in close contact with some of the guys during the IPL, like Brendon and Nathan McCullum.”Some of New Zealand’s players, including Jacob Oram, credited Donald with teaching them to be more aggressive and infusing them with self-belief. Even though he won’t be around to continue that work, Donald says he hopes to “stay good friends” with the players and administrators at New Zealand cricket.He singled out Tim Southee and stood by his statement that the 22-year-old would go on to become the best swing bowler in the world. Donald also added to his prediction, saying that Southee has the potential to become a genuine allrounder.”He is such a talented guy. We were working on some other variations to his bowling which I hope he develops. What people don’t know about him is that he can hit a cricket ball a very long way. He has the skills to become a very good allrounder.”

Steven Croft’s first 20-over half-century of the season set up Lancashire’s
thumping 50-run Friends Provident t20 win over Durham Dynamos at Old Trafford
this evening

22-Jun-2010
Scorecard
Steven Croft’s first 20-over half-century of the season set up Lancashire’s
thumping 50-run Friends Provident t20 win over Durham Dynamos at Old Trafford
this evening.The 25-year-old’s 68 off 45 balls, including seven fours and two sixes, was the
fourth of his career in this format. The Lightning comfortably defended their imposing 187 for 8 which also
included 36 off 26 from Australian overseas star Simon Katich and 32 not out off
19 from New Zealand all-rounder Nathan McCullum.Left-arm spinner Stephen Parry claimed 4 for 28 from his four overs as
Durham slumped to 137 all out in the 19th over. Liam Plunkett top scored with 31
off 24.Steve Harmison claimed a career best 5 for 41 from his four overs for Durham
and became the first man to take five wickets in this season’s competition. Peter Moores re-jigged his batting order by promoting Stephen Moore (21 off 12) to open and Croft to bat at three.Lancashire lost Tom Smith, Moore and Paul Horton in the first six overs to
Steve Harmison, Ben Harmison and Liam Plunkett but scored 55 runs.Croft and Katich shared a fourth wicket partnership of 67 in seven overs
through the middle of the innings.Croft flicked Ben Harmison into the seats under the Point – opened to the
public for the first time – before Katich swept Dale Benkenstein for another
maximum over square leg and Croft did the same to Ian Blackwell over
mid-wicket.Katich was bowled by Plunkett in the 14th over and Croft later edged Harmison
behind to Phil Mustard to leave the hosts at 163 for five in the 18th. Harmison then bowled Gareth Cross and Glen Chapple and had Sajid Mahmood caught at mid on by his brother in the last over of the innings.But Durham’s response got off to a disastrous start because they lost Blackwell
and destructive Kiwi batsman Ross Taylor within three overs. McCullum had Blackwell caught at backward point by Smith in the first and Taylor caught by Parry at short third man to leave the score at 13 for 2.Mustard hit 21 off 17 balls but was bowled by Mahmood in the sixth. And
although their run rate was reasonable they could not halt the flow of wickets. Parry had Ben Stokes and Benkenstein caught at long off and long on by Simon Kerrigan and Croft in successive balls to leave the score at 63 for 5in the eighth.Parry later had Gareth Breese lbw and Will Smith caught in the covers by Katich
with successive balls in the 12th. Plunkett and Ben Harmison (24) shared a consolatory ninth wicket partnership of 52 but Kerrigan and Chapple added further wickets.

World Cup winning captain from 1975 and 1979 has been given the region’s highest honour

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2024Clive Lloyd, the back-to-back World Cup winning captain of the West Indies, has been conferred the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC). It is the region’s highest honour.Lloyd was the face of West Indies’ success in the late 1970s and the early 1980s. As a batter, he was hard-hitting, capable of scoring big runs in no time at all. As a tactician, he was astute and it was under his leadership that West Indies were crowned cricket’s first ever world champions. Lloyd spearheaded two decades of dominance. He was the first West Indian to 100 Tests. He captained them in 74 and lost only 12.Lloyd, 79, was conferred the OCC at the 47th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), held in Grenada on Sunday.Cricket West Indies president, Dr. Kishore Shallow, was at the ceremony and he said: “This honor is a fitting tribute to a man who has not only exemplified excellence on the cricket field but has also been an unwavering pillar of inspiration and leadership for the Caribbean and the world. Sir Clive’s contributions to cricket and his dedication to the development of the sport are truly unparalleled.”Sir Clive’s legacy is one that resonates deeply with every West Indian. His leadership, determination, and sportsmanship have set the standard for what it means to be a true champion. This recognition by CARICOM is a testament to his enduring impact on our region and the sport of cricket. We are honored to celebrate this moment with him.”Lloyd’s association with cricket continued even after the end of his playing career as a coach, selector and match referee. He has also worked as a civil servant for Guyana Ministry of Health and was knighted in 2019.

Afghan spinners Rashid and Noor share five wickets to seal Gujarat Titans’ 55-run win

Vishal Dikshit25-Apr-2023Batting fireworks from Gujarat Titans in the death overs and five wickets shared by Afghan spinners Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad gave the hosts their second win in a row as they steamrolled Mumbai Indians for their second straight loss on a hot and humid evening in Ahmedabad. After defending the big score of 207 for 6 comfortably, Titans jumped to second place with 10 points, the same as table-toppers Chennai Super Kings.Mumbai’s death bowling came in the spotlight again with Jofra Archer sitting out with an illness, Arjun Tendulkar not bowling in that phase, and their quicks leaking 70 runs in the last four overs, after conceding 65 in the same phase against Punjab Kings in their last game.After Shubman Gill’s fifty and a boundary-laden partnership of 71 off just 35 balls between Abhinav Manohar and David Miller for the fifth wicket, Mumbai’s batting firepower fizzled against Afghanistan’s spin duo as only one of their top six crossed 25 and they fell short by 55 runs after being reduced to 59 for 5 in the 11th over.

Gill lays the platform

Tendulkar kept it tight with his inswing early on that had Wriddhiman Saha caught down leg and along with Jason Behrendorff, he kept Titans to 33 for 1 after five overs. Gill then started his onslaught by milking Cameron Green for 17 in the last over of the powerplay, with a powerful pull, a scythe through off and a stunning lofted straight drive for six to power the run rate past eight.Mumbai brought on Piyush Chawla immediately and Hardik Pandya holed out to long-off immediately for 13. But that didn’t deter Gill’s tempo. He drilled Chawla through the covers for four and smashed Kumar Kartikeya to the leg side next over to reach a 30-ball fifty and lead Titans to 84 for 2 at the halfway mark.David Miller was in a marauding mood at the death•BCCI

The take off from Manohar and Miller (and Tewatia)

Gill and Vijay Shankar holed out to long-on against the spinners in successive overs, and at 103 for 4 after 13 overs, the innings could have tilted either ways.Manohar bravely took on a miserly Chawla and tilted the pendulum in Titans’ favour in such a way that Mumbai never recovered. With the field spread out, Chawla started the 15th over with two full deliveries and Manohar blasted both to the cover boundary. On the fifth ball, Manohar charged down and smoked a straight six which made it a 17-run over, the same runs Chawla had conceded in his first three.There was no stopping Manohar and Miller after that. The duo hammered three batches of back-to-back sixes in the last three overs – with the help of Rahul Tewatia – and gave Mumbai’s bowling lots to think about before their next game. Manohar used his brute force to slam Green for the first of those batches in the 18th over, Miller did it with his golf swings to end Meredith’s last over, which also saw Manohar hole out to long-off for 42 off 21.Tewatia swept his first ball for six before slamming two more off Behrendorff’s slower ones in the last over on the leg side to finish on 20 off 5, and Miller’s dismissal for 46 off 22 on the penultimate ball was hardly a consolation for Mumbai because by then Titans had crossed 200.

Shami’s masterclass

The WTC final is still month and a half away, but Mohammed Shami was so accurate with his pace and swing early on that Mumbai and India captain Rohit Sharma might have something to smile about. Maybe not. Shami fired in one quick delivery after another outside Ishan Kishan’s off stump and made him look like a deer caught in the headlights, which meant Mumbai never took off in the chase. Kishan poked, jabbed and prodded at many such Shami deliveries to score eight off his 13 balls and crawled to 10 off 17 at the end of the powerplay.From the other end, Hardik fired in deliveries around 140-145kmh with outswing and took Rohit’s return catch off a leading edge for just 2, before also beating Green’s swings many a times in the powerplay that saw Mumbai struggling on 29 for 1.Nehal Wadhera impressed with his hard-hitting late in the order•AFP/Getty Images

The Rashid and Noor strangle

Titans unleashed the Afghan spinners together after the powerplay and Rashid struck immediately. He first had Kishan caught off a heave on the leg side to end a painful stay of 13 off 21, and three balls later trapped the Impact Player Tilak Varma for 2 with the help of a review. Green had by now collected two sixes and slammed a third off Noor in the ninth over even though the asking rate crossed 14.Noor then landed a double blow himself by rattling Green’s stumps in the 11th over and also had the big-hitting Tim David caught off a full toss for a two-ball duck. At 59 for 5 after 11, Mumbai hardly any chance of bouncing back.Apart from a cameo from Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai will be thrilled about unearthing another young batter, the 22-year-old Nehal Wadhera from Punjab. Wadhera manipulated the field to find gaps, hit big sixes down the ground and on the leg side, and impressed with his temperament under pressure even if the chase was virtually over when he batted. He and Suryakumar took down Noor for 15 runs in the 13th over and Wadhera finished with 40 off 21 studded with three sixes and as many fours even as Mumbai stumbled in another big chase.

He has admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Neeyamur Rashid

Mohammad Isam04-Feb-2022Mohammad Shahzad was reprimanded by match officials after he smoked at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Friday. A demerit point was also added to Shahzad’s disciplinary record as his action was found to be in breach of Article 2.20 of the BCB code of conduct, which relates to “conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game”.Shahzad was among the players who were milling around the ground waiting for Minister Group Dhaka’s BPL match against Comilla Victorians to begin. Both of Friday’s matches were abandoned due to rain, but the talking point was how Shahzad flouted smoking rules inside the stadium.According to the BCB’s press release, Shahzad admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Neeyamur Rashid and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.Several media outlets carried photographs of Shahzad smoking in the stadium while standing next to some other players. There are also reports of Dhaka coach Mizanur Rahman being the first to warn Shahzad not to smoke on the outfield. Later, Tamim Iqbal apparently asked him to get inside the dressing room.Shahzad has been a Dhaka regular, having made 53 and 42 apart from four single-digit scores in the tournament so far. Dhaka are third on the table with seven points from seven games after Friday’s washout.