Grace Scrivens anchors chase with unbeaten 63 as Sunrisers start campaign with victory

ECB Reporters Network20-Apr-2024

Nicola Hancock enjoyed a successful Sunrisers debut•Getty Images

Jodi Grewcock and Nicola Hancock claimed three wickets apiece as Sunrisers launched their Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy campaign with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Western Storm at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.Seamer Hancock took 3 for 15 in 5.4 overs and teenager Grewcock bowled unchanged for 10 overs to return impressive figures of 3 for 28 with her legbreaks as Storm were dismissed for a wholly inadequate 114 in 30.4 overs.Offspinner Mady Villiers weighed in with 2 for 36, while Esmae MacGregor took a wicket and contributed a run out as Sunrisers produced a disciplined performance in the field after winning the toss. Only Nat Wraith offered meaningful resistance with the bat, top-scoring with 42 as Storm opened this campaign as they finished the last, by suffering heavy defeat.Sunrisers skipper Grace Scrivens then led by example, compiling a composed innings of 63 and sharing in a reassuring partnership of 59 with Cordelia Griffith for the second wicket as the visitors comfortably overhauled their target with 16.2 overs to spare.Victorious in their final four matches of last season, Sunrisers have picked up where they left off and will go into their next match against Thunder at Sale in confident mood. For their part, Storm have now been beaten in their last five outings in the 50-over competition and will need to find improvement ahead of their trip to play Northern Diamonds at Headingley on Wednesday.Put into bat, Storm were unable to recover from the loss of early wickets and were shot out inside 31 overs, only three batters managing double-figures in an innings which the home side will no doubt want to forget in a hurry.Hancock produced a probing new-ball spell to remove Alex Griffiths for 2, but fellow opener Sophia Smale responded in positive fashion, helping herself to three leg-side boundaries to advance her score to 16. Calamity then struck, Smale clipping Villiers behind point and setting off for a quick single, only to collide with partner Sophie Luff halfway down the track and be run out by MacGregor while getting back to her feet.That unfortunate mishap sparked a dramatic collapse which saw five wickets fall in just 8.1 overs as Storm subsided to 64 for 6, their top and middle-order batting undermined by spin. Luff played and missed at a delivery from Grewcock that nipped back and was adjudged lbw for 7, while Dani Gibson was also undone by the England Under-19 legspinner, playing back to a ball that struck her on the pad and departing for 3.Plying her offbreaks at the other end, Villiers trapped Katie Jones in the crease and then struck a telling blow, inducing former England international Fran Wilson to drive straight to Jo Gardner at mid-on. Wilson had made 18 and with her went Storm’s best chance of posting a competitive total.Fearing she might run out of partners before she was able to do anything to remedy a parlous situation, Wraith adopted a forthright approach and dominated stands of 24 and 26 with Niamh Holland and Amanda-Jade Wellington for the seventh and eighth wickets respectively. But Holland eventually offered a return catch to MacGregor and Wellington miscued a drive to extra cover as Grewcock continued to deploy clever variation in flight to strike again in her final over.Attempting to take matters into her own hands, Wraith plundered half a dozen boundaries in carrying the fight to the Sunrisers bowlers, her luck finally running out when she hoisted a ball from the returning Hancock to deep midwicket. Her combative innings of 42 spanned 52 balls and at least enabled embattled Storm to realise three figures.Hancock required just four deliveries to wrap-up the innings, having Chloe Skelton caught at the wicket, the seventh Storm player to perish either in single figures or without scoring.Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Storm’s bowlers did their utmost to build pressure and new overseas recruit Wellington provided a silver lining when gaining an lbw decision to remove Ariana Dowse with the score on 21 in the eighth over. Making a good first impression on her debut, the Australian international spinner finished with 1 for 24 from nine overs and discomfited the top-order batters sufficiently to suggest she is going to make a positive impact in Storm colours this season.But the implacable Scrivens overcame all attempts to unseat her, playing a captain’s innings to ensure her team reached their target without enduring any undue dramas. She found the perfect partner in Griffith, who adopted the role of chief support in an innings of 28 that spanned 48 balls and included a quartet of fours before she holed out to Holland in the deep off the bowling of Skelton.Unperturbed by that setback, Scrivens went to 50 via 65 balls with her ninth four, a fluent cover drive plundered at the expense of Griffiths. Perhaps fittingly given her performance with the ball earlier, Grewcock hit the winning runs as she finished unbeaten on 15.

India’s spinners came to the party on day three in Ranchi after their wicketkeeper dug them out of a hole

Valkerie Baynes25-Feb-20241:11

Manjrekar: Ashwin’s artistry on show once again

R Ashwin’s five-wicket haul, and Kuldeep Yadav’s four, spun India to an achievable target for victory in the third Test, and the series.On a day when two youngsters, each playing their second Tests, confirmed their arrival by exerting considerable influence on the match, it was the vastly experienced Ashwin who lit up India’s efforts to seize some control, with Kuldeep stepping in for an economical 4 for 22 from his 15 overs to help contain England’s advantage to 191.Ashwin followed two wickets in as many balls with that of first-innings centurion Joe Root as England slipped to 65 for 3, then sealed his 35th Test five-for late in the day to bowl England out for 145 in their second innings and give India’s openers a nibble at the deficit over the final 20 minutes or so before the close. Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal negotiated that period safely, reducing their task to 152 runs.It came after 23-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel had posted his maiden Test fifty, falling just 10 runs shy of a ton to be India’s top-scorer as he pushed his side to 307 all out, closing the first-innings gap to 46 after they started the day 134 runs adrift with three wickets in hand. Shoaib Bashir, England’s 20-year-old offspinner who toiled through 32 overs – 31 of them on the trot – for his four wickets on the second day, became the second-youngest England bowler to take a five-for in men’s Tests behind Rehan Ahmed, whom he replaced for this match.England lost 5 for 25 in 21 overs after the tea break as the pitch began to grip and turn more frequently. They were 19 for 2 in the fifth over after Ashwin had Ben Duckett caught at short leg off a length ball which drifted in and found the inside edge, popping to Sarfaraz Khan for a regulation catch. Ollie Pope was out for a pair when Ashwin pinned him lbw next ball, one which didn’t turn as much as the batter had perhaps expected as he was rapped on the back pad in line with leg stump.Root shared a 46-run partnership with Zak Crawley before Ashwin struck again, finding some turn from around the wicket with a full ball that beat Root’s inside edge and rapped the pad. Adjudged not out initially, India reviewed with question marks hanging over whether the ball had pitched outside leg stump, with replays suggesting the ball had pitched marginally in line with leg and was going on to hit it.2:08

Did Kuldeep’s slower pace help him be more dangerous?

Crawley raised his 13th in Test fifty and third of this series, and settled into another stand with Jonny Bairstow, worth 45. Jurel missed a stumping chance off Bairstow when he was on 23 with England 106 for 3 but Kuldeep began to find appreciable turn which accounted for Crawley, bowled on middle stump for 60.Stokes couldn’t stifle a wry smile when he survived an lbw appeal off Ravindra Jadeja on umpire’s call, given his questioning of that element of the DRS earlier in this series, as Jadeja beat him on the inside edge with a delivery that ball-tracking suggested was headed for the top of leg stump.Jadeja and Kuldeep were getting the ball to turn more often late in the middle session on a pitch that was still behaving unpredictably and Kuldeep got Stokes with a gem that stayed low, slid onto the back pad, between the batter’s legs and into the stumps.That left England on 120 for 5 at tea, but Jadeja made it 120 for 6 with the first delivery after the interval, tossing one up off stump which turned away out of a crack as Bairstow jabbed towards Rajat Patidar for a simple catch at short cover.Kuldeep doubled his tally in his ninth over – an eventful one in which he had Tom Hartley well caught by Sarfaraz at mid-on, bringing Ollie Robinson to the crease following his first-innings half-century. Robinson had to call for a review immediately after he was given out lbw attempting a reverse-sweep with replays showing the ball struck his glove on its way through to the pad. There was no reprieve two balls later though, Robinson’s attempt to overturn another lbw decision failing when Kuldeep turned the ball in towards middle and leg, hitting the pad below the knee roll and he was given out umpire’s call on leg stump.Ashwin claimed his fourth with a return catch when Ben Foakes, who had just overturned an lbw decision off the same bowler, failed to pick the carrom ball and chipped straight back. He removed James Anderson for a pair three balls later when Jurel took an excellent one-handed catch behind the stumps.Earlier, Jurel and Kuldeep capitalised on the most favourable batting conditions of the day as they put on a 76-run partnership for the eighth wicket in a steady first hour.Jurel upped the tempo after Anderson bowled Kuldeep for 28 off 131 balls. With a maximum already to his name when he resumed the day on 22, Jurel smashed Bashir down the ground for six and four off consecutive deliveries. He struck two more sixes, off Bashir and Hartley, before he was last man out, bowled by an excellent Hartley delivery which angled in and spun past his defence, crashing into middle and off stump to end an innings of great maturity.Before his dismissal, however, came that of Akash Deep, who also struck a six off Bashir before he provided the spinner’s crucial fifth wicket, lbw for 9 in a decision which stood on umpire’s call despite his hopeful review.

The stop clock to help speed up over rates will become a permanent feature in men’s ODIs and T20Is between Full Members from June 1, the ICC announced after its board meetings in Dubai this week.According to the rule, which has been trialled in international cricket since December last year, the fielding side must be ready to start an over within a minute of the previous one ending. If they fail to do so, they will be allowed two warnings by the umpires, after which a five-run penalty will be imposed for the third offence and every subsequent one.”The results of the stop-clock trial were presented to the Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC), which demonstrated that around 20 minutes per ODI match had been saved in time,” an ICC said in a statement laying out the reasons for making the rule permanent. During the trial period, no team was found to have exceeded the one-minute limit between overs three times in an innings, and so the five-run penalty has not yet been imposed for this offence.In addition to the stop clock, there are two other penalties that can be imposed to police over-rates in limited-overs cricket – a fielding penalty and monetary fines.The fielding penalty is laid out as follows: if the fielding side fails to begin the final over of the innings by the stipulated cut-off time, after accounting for delays, they will have to bring an extra fielder into the 30-yard circle for however many overs are remaining in the innings. So they will be allowed only four fielders outside the circle, instead of five, for the duration of the penalty. This rule, introduced in early 2022, applies to both men’s and women’s limited-overs games.The monetary fine includes a 5% cut in the team’s match fee for every over they are short of the minimum required over rate, after the umpires have taken into account allowances for unavoidable delays. The fine for the captain is double that of his team-mates, and the fines are capped at 50% of the match fee.

2024 T20 World Cup: 10 overs minimum for knockout games

The 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies in June will have reserve days in place for the semi-finals and final, in case of delays and interruptions. And each of those knockout games will require a minimum of 10 overs per innings to constitute a completed game. For the group stages, the minimum requirement remains five-overs-per-side to constitute a match, as is the norm for T20 cricket.

2026 T20 World Cup qualification at stake in 2024 edition

The 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, like the upcoming edition, will comprise 20 teams, with 12 automatic qualifiers: the two hosts India and Sri Lanka as well as the other teams that make the Super Eights at the 2024 T20 World Cup. Then, two to four teams (it will be fewer than four if India or Sri Lanka finish outside the top eight in 2024) are decided by who are the next highest-ranked teams in the ICC’s T20I rankings on June 30, 2024. The remaining eight spots for 2026 will be decided through the usual regional qualifiers pathway.

Martin Williamson16-Dec-2005

Methuen, 237pp rrp £18.99

I approached this book with a degree of weariness – another book on Lord’s – there are almost as many as there are books about this summer’s Ashes – and one seemingly concentrating on the tenure of Tom Graveney as MCC president. I expected a fairly routine tale of the comings and going in St John’s Wood. I am happy to admit that I was very wide of the mark.Stephen Fay, the former editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly, has managed to produce an entertaining and informative behind-the-scenes account of a year in the life of Lord’s . Graveney’s one-year reign gives the book its frame, and he is a colourful character in his own right, but it is the daily machinations of a multimillion-pound business that really captivate.The last major book about life behind the scenes at Lord’s was by Geoffrey Moorhouse in 1984. In the intervening 21 years, the world has moved on, and even Lord’s has been dragged kicking and screaming from the 19th into the 21st century.Here I must declare an interest. As a member of MCC, perhaps this book appealed to me a little more than it might to some others. But while I thought that I knew a fair amount of what the running of the ground involved, Fay soon made me realise I didn’t really have the first inkling of what went on when the crowds had left.Lord’s does so much more than just stage cricket. MCC organises more than 400 out -matches against clubs and schools each summer as well as high-profile overseas tours to emerging countries. Its role running world cricket might have all but disappeared, but that has been replaced with the important one of being the ambassadors and nurturers of the game.It’s the characters that provide the colour. From the groundsman who would prefer that people stayed off his pitches, to the pride of the man responsible for producing the members’ passes, to the men who take more than 30,000 people a year on guided tours. All have their tales to tell, and to his credit, Fay gives them the space to do so.Graveney’s time at Lord’s also coincided with the beginning of the end of Roger Knight’s time as Secretary. That he has now also assumed the title of chief executive highlights that MCC has ceased to be a private members’ club and is now a business. And perhaps there is an element of regret over what has happened when he says: “We talk about cricket too little … there is a huge danger we become just a money-making machine.”The appointment of Graveney as president shows that it’s not all a smooth system. His son was asked about his father’s health – there were doubts whether, at 77, Graveney was up to the task. That query was mistaken as a formal invitation and it pre-empted any change of heart by the powers-that-be.The book is illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings by the talented Karen Neale, the MCC cricket artist this year. While it would have been tempting to use well-worn photographs, Neale’s vignettes are a refreshing addition.All in all, this book would appeal to anyone with an interest in cricket, all the more so if they happen to be an MCC member or a regular visitors to Lord’s. Perhaps we will all be a little more attentive to the details on our next visit.Click here to buy a copy from Cricshop

The Ranji Trophy is set to kick off from November 23 and Cricinfo previews the Elite Group’s teams in bunches of three

Anand Vasu and Jamie Alter18-Nov-2006

Hemang Badani’s contributions with the bat will be crucial for Tamil Nadu this season © AFP

Tamil NaduTamil Nadu have consistently fielded strong teams in the Ranji Trophy and yet they have won the competition only twice in the history of the tournament. WV Raman, the former Tamil Nadu and India batsman, is now their coach, and he was a member of the team that won in 1987-88, led them to the final in 1991-92 and was also in the mix when they reached the final in 1995-96. After reaching the finals in both 2003 and 2004, they were thwarted by Mumbai, and have since failed to make it to the knockout stage.Under Raman, a shrewd thinker of the game and a clever motivator of men, there’s every reason to believe that a change in fortunes is on the cards. Only the faithful – many of whom come to the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk year after year to watch their team – will expect instant results.”We’ve got a fair amount of strength in the medium-pace department. And the advantage is that we have a settled middle order,” Raman told Cricinfo. “If we fall short anywhere it is in the spin department, and the fact that there has been a lot of chopping and changing in the opening combination. They need a bit of time to settle down.”That said, Tamil Nadu, who play all but two of their games at home in Chennai – their away games being against Delhi and in Rajkot against Saurashtra – should have no excuse to fail to qualify for the knockout stage of the competition.What they did last seasonTamil Nadu won only one of their seven matches in the last season, and that was against Bengal when Hemang Badani made an invaluable 157 in the
second innings, supported by Sridharan Sriram (96) after both teams had collapsed in the first innings. Crucially they lost two matches outright,
to Mumbai and Maharashtra, and this hurt their chances badly, leaving them with only 11 points at the end of the league matches, and well behind
Mumbai’s 16. “The ability of players to raise their game when it comes to big matches is a key issue,” said Raman. “Also the team as a whole needs
to maintain focus for the eight-week period.” (Click here for Tamil Nadu’s batting and bowling stats last season.)Men to watchS Badrinath has been spoken about in hushed tones in Chennai circles for
years now but was only pitchforked into
the national mainstream last year. An outstanding fielder at point, or anywhere else
in the circle, and a batsman who has grown from being a grafter to one who
can express himself freely, Badri topped the Ranji averages in the last
season for anyone who had played five games or more, racking up over 600
runs at just under 80 with an unbeaten double-hundred in the bag.
Another key person to look out for in the forthcoming season will be Lakshmipathy
Balaji – how soon, and how strongly he comes back to full potency remains
to be seen. Then, there’s always Badani. Although his chances of playing for India
appear bleak, he is a vital member of the Tamil Nadu squad, and when he scores runs the team usually does well.HaryanaHaryana have never been a domestic heavyweight – they’ve only featured in two Ranji finals -but have produced Kapil Dev and two domestic stalwarts – Rajinder Goel, whose tally of wickets remains a record till today, and Amarjeet Kaypee, whose run-scoring ability is yet to be surpassed. They haven’t thrown up any stars in the past decade but two current players are creating a buzz – Mahesh Rawat, the young wicketkeeper-batsman, and Joginder Sharma, the allrounder who has represented India. Amit Mishra, the talented legspinner, was talked about as a potential national player but has since faded away. There’s a batting line-up capable of posting match-winning scores, but it’s in the bowling department that Haryana lacks penetration. What they did last season:
Haryana’s 2005-06 campaign read one win, one loss, and four draws. Sitting third from the bottom in the points table, they were a far cry from the big two in their group – Baroda and UP. Mahesh Rawat and Sachin Rana scored the bulk of the team’s runs, but only three batsmen made hundreds. The bowling was even more disappointing: Joginder topped the list with 34, followed by Rana with 23, but the next on the list was Mishra with 14. No back-up bowler left a mark, and to his credit Joginder turned in fine spells throughout the season. (Click here for Haryana’s batting and bowling stats last season.)Men to watch:
If pre-season form is a yardstick, Rawat and Joginder will be the men to carry Haryana. Rawat, who scored his maiden first-class hundred against Punjab last season, opened this year’s Duleep Trophy season with two hundreds – 115 against Central Zone and an unbeaten 104 in the title triumph over Sri Lanka A – and a half-century against East. Joginder has been Haryana’s most successful bowler over the past three years, and his batting has evolved significantly. With two successive hundreds and a ten-wicket haul at the start of the 2004-05 Ranji Trophy season, he won a place in India’s one-day squad for the tour to Bangladesh, and played three ODIs. In this year’s Duleep Trophy, he picked up hundreds against Central and East and a half-century in the final. Hopefully for Haryana, the buck won’t stop with these two talents.Rajasthan

Can Vikram Solanki help Rajasthan compete with the big boys in the Super League? © Getty Images

A powerhouse in the 1960s, Rajasthan has faced a steady decline since and never been able to relive the glory years. Things are slowly looking up, though, as a promotion to the Elite Group suggests. The biggest news has been that of the overseas imports, Vikram Solanki and Kabir Ali, from England. The Worcestershire cricketers will turn out for Rajasthan in the Super League of the Ranji Trophy as well as in the domestic one-day competition. .The Lalit Modi-let Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) has seemingly changed the face of the state’s cricket, first remodelling the Sawai Mansingh Stadium and then installing state-of-the-art facilities at the academy. Still, without a large talent pool, Rajasthan will need to play out of their skins in the Elite Group.What they did last season:
Rajasthan made the jump up to the next level despite going down by an innings and 34 runs to Saurashtra in the division final. There were two outright wins, no losses and vital first-innings lead points in the league matches. Undoubtedly, Jadeja’s presence had a huge impact on Rajasthan’s season, both tactically and statistically. Barring Jadeja – who scored 684 runs at 97.71 – no batsman averaged more than 34.00 and there was just one other centurion, the former ODI batsman Gagan Khoda, whose stock has slipped over the years. How Rajasthan cope against more formidable opposition remains to be seen. (Click here for Rajasthan’s batting and bowling stats last season.)Men to watch:
Sanjay Gill is a senior right-arm medium-fast bowler who has been among the wickets for Rajasthan in the last few seasons, and if the side hopes to be incisive with the ball, Gill will be a key figure. He had a devastating spell against Orissa last season when he picked up career-best figures of 6 for 20 from 17 nagging overs and bowled them out for 94. Nikhil Doru, the wicketkeeper, and Rahul Kanwat are capable batsman and have bailed Rajasthan out of trouble more than once.

Old Trafford has been the most draw-friendly venue in England, with 47% of the Tests here ending in stalemates

S Rajesh06-Jun-2007Already down 1-0 in the four-Test series after being at the receiving end of a drubbing at Headingley, West Indies need to avoid a defeat to stay in the series, and among all the venues in England, Old Trafford probably provides them the best chance of at least coming away with a draw. In 71 Tests here since 1884, 34 have ended in a stalemate – that’s a whopping 47%, the highest among all Test venues in England. The catch, though, is that most of those stalemates have happened later in the season, in July and August: as the summary of results indicates, only three out of 13 Tests in May and June have ended in draws, but that number has gone up to 31 out of 56 in July and August, when the sun comes out and conditions usually become much better for batting.In all, England have a 22-14 win-loss record here – including three victories in their last four Tests – while West Indies have won and lost five times each in 14 Tests.

Draw percentages at each venue in England

Venue Tests Draws Draw %

Old Trafford, Manchester 71 34 47 Trent Bridge, Nottingham 53 22 41 The Oval, London 89 35 39 Lord’s London 113 43 38 Edgbaston, Birmingham 42 13 30 Headingley, Leeds 67 17 25 Winning the toss and batting first is the norm here – in 71 Tests only eight times has the opposition been put in. Seven of those eight games ended in stalemates, while Graham Gooch was made to rue that decision against Australia in the first Test of the 1993 Ashes, as England were thumped by 179 runs. And here’s further proof that batting first is the way to go at Old Trafford: 25 of the 37 decisive Tests here have been won by the team taking first strike.For a West Indian bowling attack which has struggled to make any sort of an impression in the two Tests so far, the next set of stats won’t be encouraging: most of England’s top order have all been among the runs here. Michael Vaughan, their captain, leads the way, with two centuries in five Tests and an excellent average of 56. Andrew Strauss isn’t far behind, with 256 runs at an average of 51.20, while Ian Bell has a lowest score of 59 in three innings and Alastair Cook tucked into a century in his only innings here. The exception to the rule is Kevin Pietersen, who has a highest of 38 in three innings, including a duck. Given his form in the current series, though – 361 runs at 120.33 – it’ll take a brave man to bet against him breaking that lean trot at Old Trafford.Among the England bowlers, both Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar will have pleasant memories of the venue: Harmison has 18 wickets from three Tests, including 11 in his previous one against Pakistan last year, while Panesar took eight in that game, which England won by an innings and 120 runs.Old Trafford was the venue where Jim Laker achieved that famous ten in an innings and 19 in a match – against the Australians in 1956 – but more recently spinners have struggled there, taking their wickets at an average of more than 40 over the last decade. Fast bowlers, on the other hand, average less than 33 per wicket.

Pace and spin in Tests at Old Trafford since 1997

Type Wickets Average 5WI/ 10WM

Pace 205 32.71 6/ 1 Spin 64 40.81 2/ 0 West Indies’ successes here have been fashioned by fast bowling – in fact, their last triumph here, in 1988, came on the back of an exceptional spell by Malcolm Marshall, who destroyed England with a spell of 7 for 22. Since then, though, England versus West Indies at Old Trafford has largely been one-way traffic.

Stats highlights from the fifth ODI between India and Australia in Vadodara

HR Gopalakrishna and Mathew Varghese11-Oct-2007

Adam Gilchrist had a field day behind the stumps © AFP

Sachin Tendulkar became the second player after Sanath Jayasuriya to play 400 ODIs. Tendulkar becomes the first to play 400 for a national team, as four of Jayasuriya’s 402 matches have not been played in Sri Lanka colours.

Adam Gilchrist took six catches during India’s innings, the ninth time a wicketkeeper has taken six dismissals in an ODI. Gilchrist himself has taken six dismissals on five occasions, but this is his first against India. On two of those occasions – including this match – Gilchrist has scored a fifty as well, making him the only keeper to do so.

Gilchrist overtook Moin Khan as the wicketkeeper with the most catches against India. Gilchrist’s 59 is one better than Moin’s 58.

Mitchell Johnson picked up career-best figures of 5 for 26, which happens to be the 50th time an Australian bowler has taken a five-for in ODIs. Pakistan are the only other team whose bowler have taken 50 five-fors. Johnson’s previous best was the 4 for 11 he took last year against the same opponents in Kuala Lumpur.

Johnson joined Chaminda Vaas, Richard Collinge, Bruce Reid and Ashley Giles as the only left-arm bowlers to take five wickets in an ODI against India.

Rahul Dravid’s fifth first-ball duck was also his fourth against Australia, joining Javagal Srinath and Kris Srikkanth as the player with most number of ducks in matches between the two sides.

Zaheer Khan and RP Singh’s tenth-wicket partnership of 41 is the fourth-best for India and their best against Australia, going past the earlier record of 32 between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sreesanth in the second ODI of the series in Kochi.

India’s total of 148 is their lowest first-innings total at home after their 136 against Sri Lanka in Margao in 1990. It’s also India’s lowest total at home against Australia.

Harbhajan Singh became the second Indian spinner to bowl the first over of an innings in an ODI. Rajesh Chauhan has done it thrice previously, in the 1997 ODI series against Sri Lanka. However, the two offspinners haven’t managed to pick up a wicket in those innings.

With his unbeaten 79, Gilchrist became the highest run-getter for Australia against India. Gilchrist is two runs shy of 1500 runs against India, while Ricky Ponting has 1462.

The victory margin of nine wickets and with 145 balls to spare is also India’s worst defeat – both in terms of wickets remaining and balls to spare – against Australia at home.

Irrespective of what has gone in this series and what lies ahead, Ishant Sharma’s mesmeric spell to Ricky Ponting will remain one of the highlights of this series, and will be remembered for years to come

Sambit Bal at the WACA19-Jan-2008

Ishant Sharma charged on, hurrying Ricky Ponting, cutting him in half with a ball that rose and cut off the seam and got him to mistime repeatedly © Getty Images
Irrespective of what has gone in this series and what lies ahead, Ishant Sharma’s mesmeric spell to Ricky Ponting will remain one of the highlights of the series, and will be remembered for years to come. Cricket lovers still talk about the working-over Andrew Flintoff gave Ponting at Edgbaston but that lasted only one over. Here at the WACA, the torment continued for an hour. Harbhajan Singh has had his number for some time now but rarely has Ponting been shown up as so vulnerable for such a long period of time since he established himself as Australia’s best batsman. That Ishant is 19 and playing his fourth Test only added to the drama and romance.Ishant had a close lbw against Ponting turned down last evening and, given the ball in the fifth over of the innings, he made it talk. In his first over, an edge from Michael Hussey fell just short of second slip, and in the next over, which was nearly as sensational as Flintoff’s, he could have had Ponting twice. One ball jagged in and had Ponting fending; another, that perfect ball which is every right-arm bowler’s dream, came in with arm and left Ponting as he shaped to defend, missing the edge by a whisker. And then one came in to trap Ponting in front; it was a decision the umpire wouldn’t have been roasted for had he given it to the bowler, but only a doubt about the height will have saved Ponting.Many would have been excused for thinking that the moment had passed, for an exceptional over such as that would be hard to reproduce, certainly by a bowler of his experience. But Ishant charged on, hurrying Ponting, cutting him in half with a ball that rose and cut off the seam and got him to mistime repeatedly. With every over, Ponting seemed to have weathered the storm for undoubtedly the young man couldn’t carry on for ever. Indeed, RP Singh was seen approaching the bowling end after Ishant had bowled seven overs, but a last-minute change of mind – prompted by Virender Sehwag, his Delhi captain – kept Ishant in the fray and the reward came off the very next ball.It was almost the same ball that got Ponting in the first innings. It pitched around the off stump and rose and left Ponting, who could only edge it to Rahul Dravid at first slip. It was one of those moments where you just had to suspend your national loyalties and rejoice in the triumph of a spirited and skilful youngster over one of the titans of his age. Justice would have got a bad name had he been denied.Ishant made it to Australia only because of injuries to Sreesanth and Munaf Patel, and played in Sydney because Zaheer Khan went home. But in his short international career so far, he has got better by every Test. Against Pakistan in Bangalore, he shook off a couple of indifferent early spells to claim five wickets in the first innings, and in Sydney, he bowled far better than his returns – no wicket for 146 – suggested. Certainly, he had Andrew Symonds caught behind, only to be denied by Steve Bucknor who failed to hear a thumping edge.Ishant’s ability to get the ball to rise and bowl long spells – last year he bowled 15 successive overs in searing heat in Vijayawada against Andhra Pradesh to earn Delhi a draw they desperately needed – was well known. But in this Test, he showed another facet: getting the ball to hold its line, and even move it a shade away. From the angle he comes in and with the bounce he can generate, that’s a deadly ball when he can get the line right. It’s no coincidence that all his three wickets in this Test came with that ball.When they look up the scorecard years later, Ishant Sharma will be found to have only one entry in the wickets column in the second innings. But scorecards don’t often tell the story. It was a day when Ishant Sharma shook up Ricky Ponting and set up a famous win.

Pakistan lost the series today, to Tendulkar’s majesty, but for all intents and purposes, it was the uncertainty and instability around the team since Shoaib Malik’s captaincy began, that lost it for them

Osman Samiuddin15-Nov-2007

As a batting side, only two positions are fixed in Pakistan’s line-up: Younis Khan at one down and Mohammad Yousuf behind him © AFP
Behaving like a twenty-something when you’re actually 34 is frowned upon in the real world. In sport, of course, it is craved, especially if Sachin Tendulkar insists on playing the burden-bearing, pressure-free behemoth of his youth. In which case very little can be done about it.There shouldn’t be any shame in being eclipsed by such an innings, even if it is the losing of a series. Pakistan lost the series today, to Tendulkar’s majesty, but for all intents and purposes, it was the uncertainty and instability around the team since Shoaib Malik’s captaincy began, that lost it for them.Replace the shame with real worry and concern instead for Pakistan’s march in to a new era has now officially become a stumble. The worry is not over losing a series or two, for that would’ve been acceptable had something even a little solid, something a tiny bit concrete emerged from those losses about how this Pakistan team will shape up in this new age.But since May, over the course of 12 matches, what has emerged? No clear vision, no sense of planning. Captains are expected to impose a way, a personality when they begin: how does Malik want his team to play, what does he expect from his seniors, how does he fit into those plans? None of those questions seems to have been answered since he took over.As a batting side, only two positions are fixed in Pakistan’s line-up: Younis Khan at one down and Mohammad Yousuf behind him. Above and below those nothing is set. In those 12 matches, Pakistan have shown only haste as tasteless as OJ Simpson’s last book, already using eight different opening pairs and seven different players.Considering the troubles they have had in recent years, one of the first priorities you would’ve thought would be to bed in one pair and give them an extended run. Three pairs have been tried in this series alone. So to no great surprise, there has been only one fifty partnership in those 12 matches – the one between Imran Nazir and Salman Butt in Abu Dhabi against Sri Lanka – in the very first match under Malik.Pakistan are fortunate the two Ys are in such touch for without them, as Graeme Smith observed last month, they are regularly up a creek without a paddle. Shahid Afridi has batted in three different positions in India, Kamran Akmal has opened and played No. 8: flexibility, as Malik wants, is fine but there is a difference between that and simply not knowing what your best batting order is, as appears the case presently.Injuries and absences to bowlers have been out of his control admittedly but it hasn’t helped Malik and Pakistan that they haven’t been able to bring Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif together for even a Twenty20 game. Even in matters in his control, like giving Rao Iftikhar Anjum an extended run, Malik has fluffed. Anjum was Pakistan’s best bowler over five matches against South Africa as well as today, yet he sat out the last game after just two poor performances.The uncertainty is everywhere. Vice-captaincy is often lambasted as a dud role, but most sides are happy with sticking to one, no matter how nominal the role. Pakistan have had three in those 12 ODIs. Akmal didn’t drop a catch today, a source of pleasant surprise given he had dropped at least one in each of his last five matches. His form has been poor before too, but instead of trying out another keeper, Pakistan bizarrely and blindly insist that Akmal is second only to Adam Gilchrist.But the most vivid impression they have left through this series is of a disparate bunch of individuals, not fractious, but just not glued together. Occasionally players have sparked something fantastic, but there doesn’t appear to be a direction. That fizz, that unique Pakistani (spice) has been absent, leaving a very bland taste in the mouth. An appalling over-rate has showed up their sluggishness.The situation isn’t by any means unsalvageable. Even his predecessor, that most inert of leaders, Inzamam-ul-Haq, brought this team together. However he did it, it worked for a brief period, so there must be hope with Malik. Young leaders of Pakistan have rarely been given the time and crucially the support they require. Malik seems to have both these precious, rare gifts. But in that time, he has to announce himself, take his team by the collar, give it a kick up the backside and give it some semblance of shape and direction.

Jenny Thompson descends on the stands at the Cathedral End where India fans are chanting ‘Sachin Sachin Sachin!’

Jenny Thompson in Adelaide24-Jan-2008

	Tendulkar clips a single through midwicket off Stuart Clark to bring up his half-century and immediately turns and points his bat to acknowledge the Bharat Army before anyone else © AFP

Don’t try to interview passionate India fans (as if there’s any other kind) when Sachin Tendulkar is batting. For one, they’ve barely got half an ear on the questions, while you have more stop-starts with the tape than a nervous sprint-race starter.You simply can’t hear anything other than a roar of “Sachin! Sachin! Sachin!” when he so much as touches the ball if you’re sitting anywhere near the three main 30-strong clumps of India fans at the Cathedral End, which should be renamed the Sachin Stand.All are based in Adelaide, most studying potentially lucrative IT, engineering or business. Even the majority of the Bharat Army, one of the three groups, have made Adelaide their semi-permanent home as students here, although these loyal followers have travelled throughout Australia following India since Boxing Day.”No-one else matches his class,” murmurs Gill, a Bharat Army member, over three takes of the tape. “I want to watch him just get a century.” Does Tendulkar love the support? “Definitely he does, he looks back over here when he gets a half-century,” he smiles proudly. “Keep a close eye.”Two overs later Gill’s proven right: Tendulkar clips a single through midwicket off Stuart Clark to bring up his half-century and immediately turns and points his bat to acknowledge the Bharat Army before anyone else, even his team-mates.Rajeed, another Army member, is not surprised. “He is a good man, very polite, and he has not changed,” he said, echoing everyone canvassed. “That’s why he’s so popular in India. He is like a God and he’s treated just next to the prime minister. I’m sure that if he participated in the prime ministerial elections he is going to be the next prime minister.”It’s not just that he’s the best in his field – “He is legend!” smiles Harish, “Legend is ultimate word,” adds Vamshi – it’s that he’s the best in cricket, too. “Cricket has murdered other sports in India,” says Lovepreet, yet another student, who also thinks Tendulkar’s appearance accounts for 25% of the Indian fans here. “He has done a lot for India, even his record doesn’t tell the full story. He’s been consistent.”Has Tendulkar unwittingly, albeit beautifully, massacred anyone else’s chances to be held so reverently in the future? “There will be no-one like him,” reckons Vamshi, but Lovepreet is not so sure. “People used to say when Sunil Gavaskar retired, ‘Who will bat for India now?’ but time goes on, people come and go, it’s not going to stop. I will still go on India tours when he’s gone.”Tendulkar has to retire one day and this could be his last Test in Australia. Most people are expecting this, but not Rajeed. “I think he is planning for a long time. He is saying that ‘I can play at least for four or five years’. The people are saying, he is not saying ‘I am retiring after this series’. I think he will play the next World Cup in 2011.”Regardless, while the Army has had t-shirts made to spell out one word if they line up properly, it’s not the word ‘Sachin’ emblazoned. It’s that of their country. And in among the joyous “Sachin! Sachin! Sachin!”, an equally infectious “India! India. India! India.” starts up and it’s impossible not to join in.Not everyone is in raptures over the man who has scored more than 11,000 Test runs. While most of the home fans undoubtedly respect Tendulkar – Australians loves a champion – some are indifferent. “I don’t rate him very highly,” says 26-year-old Andy. “He’s not really a phenomenon here. We just feel the ripple effects from India and through other Indians and expats here in Australia.”But when he hears that while Tendulkar was coming into bat, among the resounding cheers were jeers and boos and someone even shouted: “You suck, Tendulkar”, Andy is quick in response. “That’s disrespectful and offensive. You wouldn’t do it to anyone.”Later, Tendulkar brings up his century cover-driving Michael Clarke and the whole ground stands as one, Australian fans leading the bowing in fact. Tendulkar, it seems, has won yet another set of fans over.If this is his last Test here then he has picked his moment well, particularly as he came averaging 20.33 here, way down on his in-Australia average of 55.50. He more than surpassed it though, with an innings that will live long in the memory.