All posts by n8rngtd.top

Participants’ account of the thriller between Baroda and Haryana in Lahli, only the 14th one-wicket win in Ranji history

Sidharth Monga and Amol Karhadkar27-Nov-2012Lahli in Haryana is a village 14 km from Rohtak, which is a further 70km from Delhi, the nearest city you can trust an average cricket fan in India to know of. It is cold there these days. Temperatures have begun to fall to a low of single digits. On Tuesday, though, two Ranji teams warmed the place up with frenetic action.Fourteen wickets fell in the space of 30 overs and 81 runs, a total of 17 fell on the day, the ball turned and seamed, there was a ‘mankading’, an injured opener batted at No. 7 to help his side, a desperate fast bowler bowled 15 overs on the trot, there was a six hit by a No. 11 batsman with 16 runs to win, and finally the visitors, Baroda, went on to register only the 14th one-wicket win in the history of Ranji Trophy.Only a handful watched the match, and the players don’t know of any reporter’s presence. Yet it was a day everyone was proud to have been a part of. “There was action in every over,” Ambati Rayudu, Baroda’s captain, told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s one of the best games of first-class cricket I have been a part of. I am fortunate and privileged to have led the winning side.””An amazing but harrowing day” is how Baroda’s coach, Sanath Kumar, described it.Even the vanquished, although bitterly disappointed, took a lot out of it. “Yes we are gutted,” Amit Mishra, Haryana’s captain, said. “But we also look at it the other way. If we can fight this well when defending 130, we can do a lot more.” Haryana are in need of that belief. They have already registered two of their lowest totals this season – 55 and 66 – and are the only team without a point.The overwhelming feeling, though, remains that of disappointment. They began the day at 127 for 2, with a lead of 98, one of their better starts in recent history. But too soon the craziness began with the run-out of Abhimanyu Khod, in the second over of the day. The partnership was broken, and as it happens with sides low on confidence, Haryana couldn’t arrest the slide.Rayudu had sensed that too. He said Baroda knew they could convert their first-innings lead into an outright win if they could get early wickets. They were relying on reminding Haryana of their previous collapses. It worked. A little more than an hour later, Baroda could sniff those six full points. Haryana had lost their last eight wickets for the addition of just 33 runs.Lahli is set in open fields. The water table is high too. The pitch hardly ever loses its moisture, and the wind keeps the bowlers interested too. Mishra said that the Baroda bowlers managed both seam and reverse swing.”When we got them all out for 150-odd, we felt a target of around 130 shouldn’t take much out of our batsmen,” Sanath said, before adding he couldn’t have been more wrong. For starters, they couldn’t open the innings with their first-innings centurion, Saurabh Wakaskar, who was injured and had been off the field.Mishra, on the other hand, told his side that they have won such games in the past too, and they just needed to keep fighting. He also thought that if they could get a couple of early wickets, Baroda would have everything to lose — not only the opportunity to gain six points, but also the three they had already secured via the first-innings lead.Mohit Sharma, who had taken four wickets in the first innings, began with the wicket of Kedar Devdhar with the first ball of Haryana’s defence. The real collapse, though, began with the run-out of No. 3 Abhimanyu Chauhan in the eight over. That was the last ball before lunch. Thereafter, it became a contest between a bicycle stand and house of cards. Four wickets fell in the next 28 balls, and Haryana were now favourites at 48 for 6.Wakaskar, though, came out to bat, without a runner, and he and Gagandeep Singh took Baroda to 85. The needle was on, and so was the heat. Mishra, who saw the help for the quicks and brought himself on quite late despite a five-for in the first innings, lost the grip on the ball as he was about to deliver. He saw Wakaskar was backing up too far … And this is where the stories from the two sides differ: Haryana say they clearly warned Wakaskar here, Baroda say they didn’t.A little later, Ashish Hooda ‘mankaded’ Wakaskar. Baroda say they were shocked. The umpires confirmed with Haryana whether they wanted to go through with the appeal. Haryana did. And Wakaskar was gone. The Ranji Trophy, where teams try every trick for every single point, is not the place for such charity. Moreover, there is legally nothing wrong with ‘mankading’. Neither side reported ugly scenes. Eighty-five for 7 then.Mishra said it was difficult to take the ball away from Mohit. He was enjoying bowling here, had had a tea break in between, and wanted to continue bowling until he had won the side the game. Three overs after the run-out, he produced the wicket of Gagandeep too, completing his second first-class five-for. At 91 for 8, Haryana were favourites again.However, Murtuja Vahora, who had triggered the Haryana collapse, was not going to watch his hard work being washed away. He hit two boundaries in a crucial 12, taking Baroda to 108 before he fell to Mishra. Twenty-four still required. Just the time for the biggest partnership of the innings.Enter left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt to join offspinner Utkarsh Patel. A reaffirmation that this is the week of spin twins in India (though not necessarily to the benefit of the home side). “When I walked in to bat after Murtuja was dismissed, not much was said in the dressing room,” Bhatt said. “When I joined Utkarsh, all we said was ” [we have to stay at the wicket].”They did more than just stay in. Both began to attack. Mishra was taken on but kept himself on. With 16 required, Bhatt played the shot that rang around Lahli. The ball turned into him, and he stretched and lofted it for a six. “That wasn’t predetermined,” Bhatt said. “We required 16 or 17 then. He tossed it up and I felt I could reach it and stepped out and connected well.”Mishra opted for Sachin Rana now. He felt the different pace could do the trick, but it didn’t. “It was sensible batting,” Sanath said. “They were positive, very positive. When the ball was there to be hit, they played their shots. One over of Mishra – they hit him for 12 runs. They were scoring off the balls that needed to be scored off. As a result, they didn’t let the tension rise.”In 3.5 overs, the two added 25 to take Baroda to the top of the table in Group B, and broke Haryana’s hearts. A game of four days was won or lost in the final 23 balls.

The batsman Aiden Blizzard has moved to his third state, Tasmania, in an effort to earn more chances in first-class and one-day cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2012The batsman Aiden Blizzard has moved to his third state, Tasmania, in an effort to earn more chances in first-class and one-day cricket. Blizzard, 28, and the former New South Wales fast bowler Timm van der Gugten have been signed for next summer by the Tigers, who like all states must finalise their contract lists by the end of this week.Blizzard began his career in Victoria, where he was viewed largely as a Twenty20 specialist, and he moved to South Australia in 2010, hoping to find more opportunities in the longer formats. He grabbed his chances in his first year with the Redbacks, scoring 659 first-class runs at 34.68, but was given only three Sheffield Shield games last summer and was overlooked completely in the Ryobi Cup.He will be joined at Tasmania by van der Gugten, 21, who played his first games for New South Wales last season and has also played ODIs and Twenty20s for the Netherlands, thanks to his Dutch passport. The Tigers have gradually announced their contracted players over the past week and will confirm their remaining players on Friday.Western Australia and Queensland have already named their complete contract lists for next season, but Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales have kept the majority of their announcements for the end of the week.

West Indies’ fast bowlers made best use of the early morning conditions in Townsville to give their team an advantage that India failed to bridge as the day wore on

The Report by George Binoy in Townsville12-Aug-2012
West Indies’ fast bowlers made best use of the early morning conditions in Townsville to give their team an advantage that India failed to bridge as the day wore on. They took the field after an aggressive war cry during the team huddle on the boundary, after which their four quicks worked their way through India’s top order with a primarily short-of-a-length attack. Deprived of scoring opportunities and losing wickets regularly, India stagnated and managed only 166.Faced with a middling target, West Indies could afford to see off the new ball but they lost two early wickets in the process. India’s pace options were limited, though, and once the spinners came on the middle-order batsmen settled in without much trouble. John Campbell and Anthony Alleyne charted the course with a 58-run partnership and Kyle Mayers helped finish it with 17 balls to spare. Mayers’ 43 complemented his performance earlier in the day – 10-0-35-2.The early work, however, was done by Mayers’ colleagues, Ronsford Beaton and Jerome Jones. Beaton hit speeds of 143kph bowling with the wind, while Jones ran into it and delivered at 135 kph. They focused on keeping the ball back of a length and quite straight, giving the Indian batsmen very little to come forward to. There were cracks on the surface, which resulted in some uneven bounce.Jones, the left-armer, struck first, having Prashant Chopra caught at square leg in the second over. Beaton hit Unmukt Chand on the body, forcing the batsman to take a breather on his haunches. Chand and Baba Aparajith concentrated on survival but in the ninth over Aparajith tried to hook a bouncer from Beaton and gloved it to the wicketkeeper.India were 25 for 2 after the mandatory Powerplay and Beaton and Jones finished their first spells with maiden overs. Their replacements, Justin Greaves and Mayers, kept the Indians pinned to their crease. India had hobbled to 50 for 3 when Chand’s patience wore thin in the 20th over. He had been let off by the keeper Sunil Ambris earlier but the second edge, off Mayers, was taken.Smit Patel, India’s wicketkeeper, settled against West Indies’ spinners and was instrumental in getting India over 150. He made 51 but was unable to stay until the end, when Beaton and Jones returned to check India at the death.India’s new-ball bowlers weren’t as fast but they were accurate. Sandeep Sharma moved the ball both ways. His inswing was significant but it was two perfect outswingers that found Ambris’ edge and the top of Kraigg Brathwaite’s off stump. His first spell read 5-2-5-2.Campbell and Alleyne had to see off a few overs of pace before spin was introduced in the 12th over, and from then on the chase got easier. They kept driving to long-on and long-off to pick up singles with little risk. The scoring wasn’t quick but it didn’t need to be. West Indies and India were level around the 31st over mark, at 87 and 86 for 4, but the gap grew after that.Harmeet Singh, the left-arm spinner, picked up three wickets but India needed to trigger a collapse to avert a West Indian victory. Alleyne and Mayers did not allow that to happen, and their 58-run stand secured the gam

Bopara’s half-century, Mahmood’s double-strike in vain for Peshawar Zalmi

Saurabh Somani21-Feb-2021Shaheen Afridi started it, Rashid Khan did his thing in the middle with the ball, and then came back with the bat as Lahore Qalandars sealed a four-wicket win against Peshawar Zalmi that was nervy in parts, but impressive nonetheless.Afridi had begun by nailing his yorkers, mixing them up with some well-directed short ones, and not giving batsmen room to work with. Some of them might have felt like space to breathe was at a premium too, with having to negotiate the left-arm quick’s accurate hostility. Khan, playing his first Pakistan Super League match, then dived into the game with the ease of the veteran that he is in T20 cricket, giving up only 14 runs in four overs before starring with the bat too. The Afridi-Khan duo had played the lead role in keeping Zalmi to 140 for 6, but Qalandars were wobbly in their chase. When Khan walked in, he was facing a hat-trick ball with his team 109 for 6, needing 32 from 26 balls. He coolly hit 27 not out off 15 balls to turn a skittish chase into a canter.Qalandars, the finalists in the last edition, began on a terrific note, with Afridi getting Imam-ul-Haq caught behind first ball. That set the tone for a rickety powerplay, which yielded 36 for 3 for Zalmi.While Afridi had only a two-over burst at the top of the innings, the Zalmi batsmen had to deal with Khan after the powerplay. Their only substantial partnership was for the fifth wicket between Ravi Bopara and Sherfane Rutherford, but the 64-run stand took 56 balls, partly due to the rush of early wickets. The stabilising did give a platform for a late launch, but against Afridi at the death, that wasn’t going to be easy. A 16-run final over meant they touched 140, but they would need exceptional bowling more or less through their defence to achieve victory.They did have their moments, Saqib Mahmood, in particular, was devastating in his second spell while Wahab Riaz reverse-swung out Ben Dunk, but in between the brilliance there were enough pressure-releasing deliveries too. Mahmood had sent back Samit Patel and David Wiese in his final over, leaving a tricky 32 to get with Mohammad Hafeez the only recognised batsman for the Qalandars. However, an over later, Riaz began with a no-ball for height that was hit to the boundary and sprayed the ball around in a 14-run over that meant Zalmi’s final comeback in the match was done.Star of the day
Khan didn’t concede more than a single in his entire quota of four overs, and though he didn’t pick up a wicket, giving up only 14 runs in four overs was as valuable as his batting cameo.Khan was into his bowling rhythm from the first ball. The Zalmi batsmen were intent on playing him with more caution due to the wickets already lost, true, but he still gave them nothing. Rutherford often had to read him off the pitch, while Bopara was also very watchful.The bowling performance was stellar, but Khan’s batting came to the fore too, and at a moment where his team particularly needed it to. There was no hint of nerves when facing Mahmood, who was reversing the ball, and clinical execution when Wahab erred in length.Miss of the day
There wasn’t too much the Zalmi batsmen could have done with two top T20 bowlers bringing their A games and conceding 28 runs off their combined eight overs, so they needed to make that up with a similar bowling show. The chase was delicately poised with Khan yet to hit a boundary and the equation reading 26 off 19, when the bowling lost its discipline. Mohammad Imran, who had an otherwise impressive debut, bowled a half-tracker off his final ball that Hafeez dispatched for four. Then came the Riaz over that swung the game decisively away from Zalmi, a full-toss above waist height first ball followed by lengths going all over the place for the rest of the over.Honourable mention
Afridi was irresistible whenever he came on to bowl. He was given only a two-over opening spell, but he took 1 for 4 in that, with half the runs coming via a couple of wides.He returned to bowl the 17th and 19th overs, and took out both men who had spent time at the crease in Rutherford and Bopara. The best ball he bowled didn’t even get a wicket, a searing toe-crusher that swung in viciously to Rutherford and had him overbalancing without connecting with the ball. The keeper couldn’t hold on either and it went for four byes. Afridi got Rutherford with the very next ball.

A round-up of matches on August 14 during the Under-19 World Cup 2012

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2012New Zealand‘s bowlers overcame a spirited resistance from Afghanistan‘s lower order to seal a thrilling nine-run win at the Kev Hackney Oval in Buderim. This win puts New Zealand at No. 2 in Group B, behind Pakistan, on run-rate, while Afghanistan are at the bottom.New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat, but struggled against the opening bowling duo of Aftab Alam and Sayed Shirzad as they slumped to 20 for 3 in the eighth over. Robert O’Donnell and Henry Walsh then set about rebuilding the innings as both stroked half-centuries. Their 108-run stand for the fourth wicket lifted New Zealand to 128 before Yamin Ahmadzai dismissed Walsh to pick up the first of his four wickets. New Zealand then lost wickets in a heap as Ahmadzai (4 for 35) and Shirzad (4 for 34) combined to restrict them to 198.Afghanistan’s chase started disastrously as New Zealand’s opening bowlers Jacob Duffy and Matthew Quinn reduced them to 26 for 5. However, Afghanistan’s lower order put up a fight – Najibullah Zadran (69) was involved in two half-century stands for the sixth and seventh wicket to lift Afghanistan to 139 for 6 before he was dismissed. No. 8 Afsar Khan (42) held firm as Afghanistan inched closer to the target. They needed 22 runs off the last two overs with three wickets in hand but Quinn and Duffy picked up a wicket each including that of Afsar in the final over as Afghanistan fell nine runs short to give New Zealand a close win.Australia ensured they would finish on top of the table in Group A thanks to a dominant performance against Ireland in Townsville. Ireland captain George Dockrell won the toss and chose to bat, but things didn’t go to plan with the 33-run opening stand between Robin Kelly and Ryan Hunter being the highest partnership of the innings. Fast bowler Alex Gregory got rid of both the openers and the No. 3, Jason van der Merwe. Shane Cassell (3 for 24) and the rest of the attack then ran through the middle order to bowl Ireland out for 129 in the 43rd over. Hunter was the top-scorer for Ireland with 31.It turned out to be a relatively straightforward chase for the hosts, although they were reduced to 45 for 3 at one stage. Captain Will Bosisto (36 not out) combined with Travis Head, who scored a quick 25, and then Sam Hain (26 not out) as the Australians cruised to the target in the 41st over.South Africa completed their second victory in as many games, comprehensively beating Namibia in Brisbane. The 209-run victory was set up by a double-century opening stand between Quinton de Kock and Chad Bowes, both scoring centuries in the process.South Africa chose to bat and the match was taken away from Namibia’s reach in the first 31.5 overs. De Kock and Bowes put on 212 in 191 balls, smacking 24 fours and three sixes between them. Once the stand was broken, none of the other batsmen could get an extended partnership going – Zhivago Groenewald struck with regularity to finish with three wickets, despite going for 85 in nine overs – but quick cameos made sure South Africa powered past 350.Chasing 360, Namibia were never in the match. No one in the line-up managed to get past Pelham Myburgh’s 37, and they could not score at a quick rate either. Namibia were bowled out for 150 in 46 overs – the lower order being cleaned up by offspinner Theunis de Bruyn, who finished with figures of 5-0-20-4.”Chad and I got off to a good start but it was difficult in the morning with a sticky and bouncy wicket,” de Kock said. “We had to work hard for our runs and I’m proud of our achievements today, they were well fought for.”Bowes said his side had gained good momentum ahead of their next game against Sri Lanka tomorrow. The confidence is up and the spirit within the side is high,” Bowes said. “We have a good net run-rate so it will take a little bit of the pressure off going into the game, but we’re ready to give it our best shot.”

Heavy rain on the fourth day in Port-of-Spain severely reduced the chances of a positive result as Australia closed 127 ahead following a hostile spell from Kemar Roach

The Report by Andrew McGlashan18-Apr-2012
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKemar Roach made a mess of Shane Watson’s stumps•AFP

Heavy rain on the fourth day in Port-of-Spain severely reduced the chances of a positive result as Australia closed 127 ahead following a hostile spell from Kemar Roach who removed the top of the visitors’ batting. Ricky Ponting was threatening to play his first major innings of the series to keep West Indies at bay before the weather closed in early during the afternoon and did not allow the players back.Roach has been the stand-out fast bowler during a match dominated by spin and added another impressive collection of scalps to his first-innings five-wicket haul. Australia had wrapped up West Indies’ innings four balls into the day, to earn a 54-run cushion, and Roach had to wait for his opening spell when Shane Shillingford started the attack alongside Fidel Edwards. Roach, though, wasted no time in making an impact when his turn arrived.Starting from round the wicket, a line that has troubled Australia’s left-handers, he drew an edge from David Warner which carried low to Darren Bravo at first slip. Warner had flirted with the catching cordon during his stay although had started with three crisp boundaries. Then, three deliveries later, Roach beat Shane Watson for pace with a ball that perhaps kept a fraction low and took out the off stump to leave Australia 26 for 2.It meant another head-to-head between Roach and Ponting which the former won in the first innings. Ponting did not find life easy and could have been run out by Edwards from mid-off when he had given up the chance of making his ground only for the throw to miss and Carlton Baugh had not reached the stumps. A second chance was offered an over later when he lunged at Shillingford and an inside edge carried low to Adrian Barath at short leg who could not hold on.Ed Cowan had also been offered a life before he had scored and it was the simplest of the lot when he edged Edwards to Darren Sammy in the slips but it went to ground. He was made to battle for his runs, his one release coming when he swept Shillingford for four although the offspinner caused him, and Ponting, plenty of problems and unveiled his doosra during a probing unbroken 15-over spell.At the start of the afternoon session West Indies spurned another opportunity for a run out, this time to remove Cowan, when Baugh could not produce a good throw to the bowler. Cowan, having once again forged a base for his innings, fell in very similar fashion to the first innings when Roach speared one into his pads from around the wicket which the batsman tried to work to leg. For the second time in the game Cowan tried the DRS but there was no escape.Earlier in the same over West Indies had used up their first review when Roach jagged a delivery into Ponting which brought a massive appeal. Sammy trusted his paceman’s instincts and asked for the TV umpire but, as has often been shown, the bowler is often the least reliable person to ask.Although Ponting was far from fluent – few batsmen have been on this surface – he was beginning to tick over more comfortably and moments before the rain flicked Shillingford through midwicket with timing that has not often been seen during the match. The contest was at another fascinating stage but was not allowed to progress any further.

Lancashire lost five wickets with just 54 on the board and are already staring at defeat after Warwickshire amassed 557 for 6

Jon Culley at Edgbaston17-May-2012
ScorecardSimon Kerrigan took three wickets but Lancashire endured another difficult day•PA Photos

Unless the weather takes a drastic turn for the worse, it is impossible to see Lancashire escaping another confidence-sapping defeat after finishing five wickets down and still the small matter of 347 runs shy of even avoiding the follow-on.This was in reply to a Warwickshire total that was more than five sessions in the making, which was significant in itself in that it left Lancashire weary and dispirited and not in the best of shape, in terms of physical and mental readiness, to face a Warwickshire bowling attack with 25 overs in which to bend their backs and put pressure on a batting unit already short of confidence.Glen Chapple, whose absence from the bowling attack clearly eased the way for Warwickshire’s batsmen, spoke boldly of having players at his disposal with the quality to build partnerships. So far, though, apart from the 31 runs Paul Horton and Stephen Moore managed to put on before everything began to unravel, no combination has managed more than 14 and Lancashire are already down to Ashwell Prince and the wicketkeeper, Gareth Cross, with only the wounded Chapple and the explosive Ajmal Shahzad to come before the genuine tailenders, Gary Keedy and Simon Kerrigan.Their dreadful start to the season, therefore, shows little sign of getting better very soon. Warwickshire’s dominance of the opening day simply carried forward into the second. Chapple, who will have a scan on Monday to ascertain whether his side strain is a short-term problem or something more inconvenient, had to leave the first overs, with the ball still fairly new, in the hands of Luke Procter and Shahzad. But the latter, who had bowled well without much luck on Wednesday, did not have the same control this time, giving away too many cheap runs.Keedy and Kerrigan, therefore, were pressed into tandem service inside the first hour and barely rested from then on. Kerrigan’s 49 overs represented the heaviest workload of his career so far. Keedy wound up bowling 50, which he has done before but not as a 37-year-old.By the end they were understandably weary, their sterling efforts at least to restrict Warwickshire’s progress interrupted from time to time by Rikki Clarke letting rip with one of his four sixes. They had found some turn, but not to a degree that troubled anyone much.When the declaration came, perhaps a little later than it might have, Warwickshire’s attack, in form and bolstered by the return of Chris Woakes, scented blood.Woakes had not played since damaging ankle ligaments in March but you would not have known it. Confidence tuned up after hitting half a dozen boundaries in an unbeaten 43, he ran in with purpose and took a wicket with his 10th ball, adding a second in the penultimate over, at which point Lancashire were 54 for 5.Earlier, he had persuaded umpire Michael Gough that he had Karl Brown caught off the glove with a ball that spat off a length, rocking Lancashire on their heels at 32 for 2 after opener Horton had been leg-before to a full length delivery from the left-armer Keith Barker, who was being assessed by one of England’s talent spotters, Geoff Arnold.Then Barker’s new-ball partner, Chris Wright, who had switched ends after giving way to Woakes at the Birmingham End, took two wickets in four balls, beating Moore for pace with one that plucked out his off stump, then having Steven Croft caught behind with another that found some venomous bounce.Clarke, who had an escape on 57 when Kerrigan failed to hang on to a difficult return catch, finished unbeaten on 123, having batted for more than three and a half hours with a level of discipline and self-restraint that reflects a more mature approach to his game.He put on 147 for the sixth wicket with Tim Ambrose, who was within sight of his first century for three years when he chipped to short midwicket for 96. The only other wicket to fall, after half an hour of the opening session, had been that of Darren Maddy, who miscued Keedy to be caught at mid-off.

Zaman got Khyber Pakhtunkhwa off to a flying start with 67 off 40 before Malik’s blistering half-century took them to a formidable total

Umar Farooq18-Oct-2020Khyber Pakhtunkhwa edged out Southern Punjab by ten runs in the final to lift the National T20 Cup. Put in to bat first, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s openers – Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan – put up a 76-run partnership, with Zaman’s 40-ball 67 leading the way. When Rizwan fell, Mohammad Hafeez (38 off 26) took over and helped set up an ideal platform for the death overs, where Shoaib Malik rolled back the years and the smashed the fastest fifty of his T20 career, off just 20 balls, to take the side past 200.In the end, it might have been a scoreline that read slightly harshly on Aamer Yamin, Zahid Mahmood, and Mohammad Imran, who took a wicket each and created plenty of chances, but sloppiness in the field cost Southern Punjab. Shan Masood’s side put down no fewer than five catches – three benefitted Mohammad Hafeez alone. It was generosity they could ill-afford to extend to a side as good as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and if they were to win the title, they’d have to chase 207.They didn’t get off to the best start, with Shaheen Afridi getting rid of Shan Masood early. It wasn’t the only damage the tournament’s leading wicket-taker inflicted; he removed Sohaib Maqsood off the next delivery to deal a huge blow to Southern Punjab’s chances. Zeeshan Ashraf’s 16 off 19 came to an end when he offered a regulation catch to extra cover off Wahab Riaz, who snared him off his second ball of the evening. With Southern Punjab 34 for 3 in 5.2 overs, Hussain Talat and Khushdil Shah were left with what seemed like an insurmountable task.Both shared a fighting stand to keep the case alive and put up 74 for the fourth wicket before Usman Shinwari removed Shah. A remarkable diving catch on the boundary by Malik sent Talat back. He had smashed a spirited 33-ball 63, but it wasn’t enough, with Southern Punjab needing a further 76 from 34 balls when he departed. That was never a realistic prospect, with the asking rate always just out of reach, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wrapped up a deserved win with relative ease by the end.

Jonathan Trott responded diplomatically to questions about Kevin Pietersen’s international retirement and the resting of James Anderson

George Dobell05-Jun-2012Jonathan Trott did not earn his reputation as a cricketer through playing an array of dashing shots, so it should be of little surprise that he took a similarly cautious approach to a tricky off-pitch episode at Edgbaston on Tuesday.Placed in a potentially awkward position – charged with talking to the media a few days after the retirement from limited-overs cricket of Kevin Pietersen and the enforced resting of James Anderson – Trott adopted a characteristically dead bat to all questions in a safety-first display which a generation of bowlers would recognise in an instant. Indeed, had Trott paused the press conference to mark his guard, it would have hardly have seemed incongruous.”You can understand it in a way, but it’s a huge disappointment as well,” Trott said of Pietersen’s decision, thereby ensuring he neither offended Pietersen nor the England team management. “It wasn’t a huge surprise. Kev is his own guy and has to make his own decisions. The team fully support his decision. Whatever he decides to do with his cricketing career is fine.”Trott’s diplomatic response – as admirable as it was sensible – did inadvertently highlight the uneasy truce that pervades within the England camp at present. It will take careful management over the coming months to ensure that the constructive working environment that helped England to No. 1 in the Test and T20I rankings is maintained.A recurring theme of the next 18-months or so will be the schedule. Those members of the squad who play all three formats of the game can expect to spend less than two weeks in the UK between mid-October and April. Those involved in the World Twenty20 will be absent for several weeks before that. Irrespective of the actual amount of cricket the squad play or of the comparison with teams of the past, the fact of the matter is that men with young families – be they players or coaches – are uneasy with those demands.Trott’s situation is somewhat different from Pietersen’s. Trott is not currently in the England T20 side and he did not even enter the draw for the 2012 IPL season. His T20 record is better than might be presumed, too: only five men (Marcus Trescothick, Darren Stevens, Darren Maddy, Murray Goodwin and Owais Shah) have scored more runs in English domestic T20 cricket and none of their averages comes anywhere near Trott’s 39.20. Indeed, no England-qualified player with more than a dozen games behind them has a higher T20 average than Trott, while the 525 runs he scored in the 2009 T20 Cup was a then-record.”Not being involved in T20, you get that little break,” Trott said. “You have to speak to the guys who play all three about how they feel, but I’m really happy with the scheduling for me. It’s really busy but that’s part of being an England cricketer. We’re the only country who play constantly from April through until September and there are always places to go in the winter. It has got a little bit busier, but it’s part and parcel. You have to accept and get on with it.”I didn’t put my name forward for this IPL because I knew the workload. I’d been in international cricket for a year at the point when I did, but you now realise it is a lot of cricket. You make a decision and you’ve got to live with your own decision. Kevin’s made his mind up about what he wants to do and that’s fine. The guys support and understand the decision he’s made. There’s plenty of talent to come in and take his place. It’s a bit of a blow, but you have to pick yourself up and get on with it.”Kev was playing all three formats and he’s been doing it since 2004, a lot longer than myself. He’ll have his reasons. It is quite strenuous but you accept that when you get selected, you go there knowing what’s ahead of you. From my side, I’ve no complaints about how the schedule has been.”Trott did admit, however, that he could see the logic in rotating players. “It’s happened in the past, and probably will in the future with the schedule getting busier and busier,” he said. “It’s only right that these things happen.”Jimmy Anderson would have liked to have played and quite rightly. He’s the spearhead of our bowling attack, and you can understand that he will probably be a little bit disappointed. But with the bowlers and their heavy workload, it’s going to happen from time to time. But it’s not as if you’re giving away international caps. We have guys who are vying to play and whoever takes his place should do a great job.”

A round-up of the action from the third day of the fifth round of matches from the Ranji Trophy Elite League 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2011

Group A

Former India left-arm spinner Murali Kartik picked up his second five-for of the season to help Railways to an incredible victory by an innings and 94 runs with a day to spare against Uttar Pradesh at the Mohan Meakins Cricket Stadium in Ghaziabad. Having been dismissed for 79, the eighth-lowest total in Ranji history, UP put up more of a fight the second time around, but lost wickets at regular intervals.Sanjay Bangar and Krishnakant Upadyay, Railways’ new-ball bowlers responsible for Uttar Pradesh’s downfall in the first innings, got rid of overnight pair of Bhuvenesh Kumar and Mohammad Kaif before lunch. Kartik, who had bowled just one over in the previous innings, overwhelmed the lower order, picking five of the last six wickets to fall and seal Railways’ first victory of the season. For Uttar Pradesh this was the second time in two years they were beaten at home. If last year it was Haryana, this time Railways enjoyed a hearty laugh at the expense of their hosts.Railways had suffered two huge defeats at the start of the season, but now with this win they have ten points in the bag and will be positive about their knockout chances with two home games against Orissa and Saurashtra. In contrast Uttar Pradesh play favourites Mumbai and Karnataka in the next two rounds. “We did not bat well at all. Now we have our backs to the wall,” Gynanedra Pandey, UP coach, said of his team’s predicament.Saurashtra achieved the enviable honour of inflicting the follow-on for the second time in three years against Mumbai, who finished 220 runs short of their opponent’s first-innings target on the penultimate day. Full report here.An unbroken 185-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Robin Bist and Rashmi Parida kept Rajasthan‘s hopes alive against Punjab. At stumps on the penultimate day the defending champions were 321 for 4 in pursuit of 597 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. They still need another 126 runs to avoid the follow-on and 276 to take the lead.The hosts started the day on a steady note as their most experienced batting pair of Aakash Chopra and Hrishikesh Kanitkar played patiently in the first hour. But immediately after the drinks break Chopra was cleaned up by Birender Sran. At 136 for 4, Rajasthan were in deep trouble but Bist and Parida combined well to quell Punjab’s determined bowling attack, which missed Manpreet Gony, who sat out after bowling 11 overs due to a side strain.The match between Karnataka and Orissa at the East Coast Railway Sports Association in Bhubaneshwar is set for an interesting final day after the visitors finished the third 192 runs ahead with four wickets remaining.Karnataka threatened to pull away at 80 for 1 in their second innings, after taking a 23-run first-innings lead, but diligent bowling on a helpful pitch by Orissa’s bowling attack had the visitors wobbling at 114 for 5. But Amit Verma, who already has a century this season in Mumbai, dug in deep and found support from Sunil Raju, to take Karnataka to 169 for 6. At the start of play Orissa needed 67 runs to take the lead and the eighth-wicket pair of Govind Podder and Basanth Mohanty gave Karnataka pair a scare with a stoic 30-run alliance. But Stuart Binny cleaned up Podder as Orissa eventually managed to add 44 runs to their overnight score of 211 for 7. Binny picked up two wickets on the day, enough to bag his maiden five-for (5-87).

Group B

Ambati Rayudu’s second hundred of the season helped Baroda set Gujarat a daunting target of 365 to win on the last day at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara.Baroda had ended the second day 43 runs ahead with the match still in the balance. But they took control on the third, thanks to Rayudu’s 105 that helped them 330 in their second innings. Rayudu had to deal with losing partners at fairly regular intervals – the highest partnership of the innings was 77 for the sixth wicket – but kept playing his strokes, maintaining a strike-rate of 77.20 in an innings that contained 18 fours and a six. Gujarat had an opening at 174 for 5, but Shatrunjay Gaekwad and Abhimanyu Chauhan chipped in with 30s to take the match to a position where Baroda look the only likely winners.Six wickets in the day from seamer Yo Mahesh left Tamil Nadu needing six wickets to beat Bengal, who were still 52 runs behind at Eden Gardens. Mahesh took four in Bengal’s first innings, in which they were bowled out for 176 and made to follow-on. He then struck twice early in Bengal’s second innings, sending back both openers. A counterattacking unbeaten half-century from Laxmi Ratan Shukla, his second of the match, gave Bengal some hope but they will have a tough fight on their hands on the final day.Bengal had a horrific start to the day: they slipped from 84 for 2 to 87 for 5 within the first six overs, all three wickets falling to Mahesh. Shukla tried to get Bengal back in the game and hit eight fours and two sixes in his 62 off 59 balls. But wickets kept tumbling at the other end, and Bengal conceded a 215-run first-innings lead.Their second innings was rocked early: they slipped to 8 for 2 before a 64-run stand for the third wicket between Shreevats Goswami and Writam Porel steadied them briefly. The pair was dismissed in quick succession and Bengal were in danger of losing by an innings. Shukla, though, produced his second half-century of the match, reaching 50 not out off 55 balls by stumps. For company, he had Sourav Ganguly, who had taken a more measured approach on the way to 28 not out off 68 balls.A century from Naman Ojha has made Madhya Pradesh favourites to beat Delhi at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore, though three wickets late in the day set up a tense finish. MP needed 59 runs more to snatch a victory with five wickets in hand.It had looked like MP would cruise to the total when Ojha and Devendra Bundela took them to 187 for 2 with a 186-run partnership. However, seamer Rajat Bhatia kept Delhi in the game with three strikes that left MP 240 for 5 at stumps. Ojha and Bundela’s stand came after two wickets had fallen off consecutive balls in the second over of MP’s chase, bowled by Parvinder Awana. Ojha was the aggressor, striking at 72.29 and hitting four sixes in his 107, while Bundela was more patient while scoring 68. Ojha was lucky to get away when on 13, 82 and 96, as Delhi fielded sloppily all through.