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Richmond Mutumbami’s 74 helped Zimbabwe to secure a 2-1 series lead with a six-wicket victory in the third one-day international against Afghanistan at Queens Sports Club

The Report by Liam Brickhill20-Oct-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRichmond Mutumbami struck four fours and two sixes in his 74•Zimbabwe Cricket

Richmond Mutumbami’s 74 helped Zimbabwe secure a 2-1 series lead with a six-wicket victory in the third one-day international against Afghanistan at the Queens Sports Club. Mutumbami’s aggressive knock, which included four fours and two sixes, ensured a steady start to Zimbabwe’s pursuit of Afghanistan’s 223 for 8. The visitors chipped away at the middle order, but Zimbabwe never lost wickets in clusters, with Elton Chigumbura and Sikandar Raza’s unbeaten 51-run stand seeing the side home in the final over.That had not been the case when Afghanistan batted, and they will rue the collapse which ruined the platform that had been set by their top order. Noor Ali Zadran scored his second consecutive fifty in the series, and Mohammad Nabi chipped in with 42 but Afghanistan slipped from 124 for 1 to 149 for 6 against some disciplined bowling. Had they held together more firmly, Zimbabwe might have sweated a bit more in their chase.Mutumbami burst out of the blocks with three fours in the first five overs and Zimbabwe had cruised to 40 before Afghanistan broke through with the wicket of Chamu Chibhabha. He had been happy to lay down an anchor as Mutumbami took the bowlers on, but was then dismissed in unusual circumstances. Chibhabha stepped away to cut left-arm spinner Amir Hamza, who had opened the bowling, but chopped the ball close to his stumps. He stuck his hand out to catch the ball, tossing it away, but wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad immediately appealed. Umpire Nigel Llong upheld the appeal, and Chibhabha became the first Zimbabwe batsman to be given out for handling the ball.For a while Mutumbami tempered his attacking instincts, but he should have been out for 36 when he chipped a regulation catch to Samiullah Shenwari at midwicket. The ball went straight into the fielder’s hands, and then straight out again when his elbows hit the ground. Again the batsmen buckled down, but Afghanistan forced another opening when Hamza bowled Craig Ervine for 11 in the 22nd over.That dismissal brought Sean Williams to the crease, and he clashed almost immediately with Shahzad, who was a constantly chatty presence behind the stumps. At one point, the umpires had to step in when Williams and Shahzad faced off mid-pitch, but Mutumbami – who had also exchanged a few words with the wicketkeeper – didn’t lose his focus and put Zimbabwe back on top with a pair of sixes off Nabi and teenage legspinner Rashid Khan. He was offered another life when he was dropped at long-off on 68, and eventually fell for a career-best 74, slog-sweeping Hamza out to Rashid on the deep-midwicket boundary.As tempers calmed, Chigumbura and Williams eased into accumulation mode, and they had taken the runs needed to under 50 before Williams chipped a catch to long-on. Chigumbura and Raza forestalled any chance of an Afghanistan fightback with a chanceless fifty partnership, and though the match went into the final over, Zimbabwe were always ahead of the game.Afghanistan’s middle-order implosion meant they had always been chasing it. Asghar Stanikzai had chosen to bat once again, and the decision appeared to be validated when Afghanistan cruised past 120 in the 30th over. But Noor Ali was then bowled behind his legs, attempting to sweep, and two balls later Nawroz Mangal picked out Luke Jongwe on the deep-midwicket boundary for the second wicket of the over. Afghanistan needed to steady themselves, but Stanikzai heaved wildly at his third ball to be caught behind for a duck, and 124 for 1 had become 124 for 4.Miscommunication between Nabi and Shenwari brought another dismissal, with both batsmen at the same end when Nabi was run-out for 42. Shenwari was then bowled, slog-sweeping at Wellington Masakadza’s left-arm spin, and Afghanistan were sinking fast at 149 for 6 in the 40th over. They might have been bowled out for under 200 had the recalled Shafiqullah not led a spirited lower-order counter-assault, ably helped by Dawlat Zadran’s sparky cameo. Despite their efforts, Afghanistan’s total was always below par for the conditions.

Hasan Ali replaces Mohammad Hasnain, whose action was found to be illegal

Umar Farooq17-Mar-2022Pakistan have called up uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Haris and allrounder Asif Afridi to their white-ball squads for the upcoming home series against Australia.The selectors have largely retained the squad that faced West Indies at home last December. Fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain, whose bowling action was recently found to be illegal, makes way for Hasan Ali, who has played just one white-ball international for Pakistan since he went for 0 for 44 in his four overs during the T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia last year in Dubai.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Haris, 20, was among the breakout stars of PSL 2022, hitting 166 runs in five innings at an average of 33.20 and strike rate of nearly 187 for Peshawar Zalmi. Haris’ strike rate was the highest by any top-order batter in PSL 2022. He had made an immediate impact on PSL debut, slamming a match-winning 49 off 27 balls, against Karachi Kings.Haris also displayed strong form in the 50-over Pakistan Cup last year, scoring 289 runs in eight innings at an average of 41.28 and strike rate of over 100, during Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s run to the title. This is Haris’ second call-up to the Pakistan squad after having made the cut for the New Zealand series, which was eventually postponed last year.Haris’ selection effectively shuts the door on Sarfaraz Ahmed who has been part of the larger squad over the past two years as a back-up for Mohammad Rizwan. Rohail Nazir was also on the selectors’ radar previously, but Haris has now got the nod.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Asif Afridi, too, has been rewarded for impressing in the PSL. The 35-year-old took eight wickets in five matches for Multan Sultans at an economy rate of 6.52. He has been picked as a cover for the first-choice Mohammad Nawaz who missed a part of the PSL with a foot injury. Nawaz had also missed the ongoing Benaud-Qadir Trophy and his participation in the following white-ball series is subject to clearing a fitness test.Related

• Political situation could force PCB to shift white-ball series out of Rawalpindi

• Breakout stars of PSL 2022: Zaman Khan, Mohammad Haris

The selectors have put faith in Haider Ali despite his poor returns in PSL 2022: 152 runs in nine innings at an average of 21.71 and strike rate of 116.03.Pakistan have named a 20-man squad for the ODI leg and a 17-man squad for the T20Is, with Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel and Imam-ul-Haq being excluded for the shortest format. The white-ball players will assemble in Lahore on March 22 and will undergo a three-day in-room isolation before linking up with the squad.The tense political climate in Pakistan’s capital could cause the PCB to relocate the white-ball series against Australia out of Rawalpindi, with Lahore likely to be the new venue. With Prime Minister Imran Khan set to face a no-confidence vote, Rawalpindi and its twin city Islamabad are gearing up to become the focal point of political gatherings led by both the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and the opposition-formed Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).As of now, Rawalpindi is scheduled to host three ODIs on March 29, March 31 and April 2, and a one-off T20I on April 5. The PCB has confirmed it is monitoring the situation and that it has “a contingency plan in place”, which will only be applied if advised by experts.

The pace bowler expects a much better showing from New Zealand than they managed against England

AAP06-Aug-2022″We want to hold all the jewellery.”In seven short words, fast bowler Megan Schutt has delivered an insight into the mindset driving Australia towards dizzying new heights.They go into Saturday’s Commonwealth Games semi-final against New Zealand knowing they are just two wins away from setting a new benchmark for limited-overs success, as they look to add a gold medal to a glut of T20 and ODI World Cup triumphs. This is a team driven to succeed, and happy to embrace all that comes with it.”We’re coming in as favourites, but we come in expecting to win every single game we play and have been the favourites for a lot of tournaments now, so we’re kind of used to it,” Schutt said. “It’s a tag that we’re humbled by. We are the favourites but we thrive on that.”They also thrive on avenging missed opportunities. Cricket’s reintroduction to the Games is the 10th major limited-overs tournament for Australia since 2010, and they have won seven of the previous nine, a run that includes five T20 World Cup crowns.But while the wins are what define this team as one of the greatest national teams of all time, it is the losses – like the upset against the West Indies in the 2016 T20 World Cup final and the ODI World Cup semi-final loss to India in 2017 – that provide the motivation.”There are obviously two tournaments in the past that have haunted us, and something that kind of reinvigorated our team is that 2017 loss,” Schutt said. “We do talk about that a lot, that has been a new era for us.”Losses drive you forward and for us we want to win every single game that we play, we want to win every major championship. It’s about getting better and evolving as a team and each new tournament brings a new challenge.”On Saturday that challenge is New Zealand, who were well below par in their loss to England in Thursday night’s final pool game.New Zealand made just 71 off their 20 overs, a target England reeled in within 12 overs, with star duo Suzie Bates and skipper Sophie Devine both failing with the bat.”That was un-New Zealand like,” Schutt said of the heavy defeat. “They never turn up twice like that in a row and its T20 cricket where any team can win, so we certainly are not taking them lightly.”Saturday’s semi-final – which will be played on a traditional turf pitch at Edgbaston after hybrid surfaces were used during the preliminary rounds – is due to start at 1800 local time (Sunday 0300 AEST).

Disillusioned by a supposed lack of support while playing for Rajasthan, Robin Bist has moved to Himachal Pradesh

Amol Karhadkar04-Aug-2015Disillusioned by a supposed lack of support while playing for Rajasthan, Robin Bist has moved to Himachal Pradesh for the upcoming domestic season. He has signed a two-year deal with the northern association, which is headed by BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur.With the Rajasthan Cricket Association having been suspended by the BCCI in May last year, the players turning out for the association were in danger of missing out on the 2014-15 season. Following court intervention, they played as Team Rajasthan under the BCCI banner. It left very little time for the team to prepare and two-time Ranji champions barely impressed across formats.”Following the BCCI suspension, it was becoming very difficult to remain focussed on the game. I tried hard to be loyal with Rajasthan, who had given me so many opportunities all through the career, but with time running out and no signs of improvement, I thought it was best to move away,” Bist told ESPNcricinfo.Bist admitted that playing for a suspended team he felt the lack of support when it came to “realising the dream” of playing for India. “You need that push in all aspects, whether you are playing well or not. But when you are playing for a suspended association, nobody tends to push your case. After having played for India A, I hope to make a stronger case with a stronger performance which cannot be ignored.”Bist becomes the third player to snap ties with Rajasthan ever since the association’s suspension for having elected Lalit Modi – who is expelled for life from the BCCI – as president. While fast bowler Rituraj Singh had moved to Jharkhand, offspinner Ramesh Powar had joined Gujarat to ensure better opportunities.Bist, a middle-order batsman, played for India A during their tour to the West Indies in 2012 following a breakaway 2011-12 season.”Even last year, Himachal Pradesh had approached me but I declined,” he said. “But when Thakur sir called this year, I gave it a serious thought decided to accept it. It’s a good team that is doing well. Since players like Paras [Dogra] and Rishi [Dhawan] play in Delhi [in the IPL] along with me, I know many players and am looking forward to justifying the faith Himachal has shown in me.”Himachal Pradesh missed out on being promoted from the lowest rung of the Ranji Trophy last season. They are placed in Group C along with Jharkhand, Saurashtra, Hyderabad, Kerala, Tripura, Services, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir.

A 32-ball 39 from Ellyse Perry, followed by two wickets apiece from the spinners Jess Jonassen and Erin Osborne powered Australia Women to a 55-run win against Ireland Women in Dublin

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Ellyse Perry top-scored with 39 and helped Australia to a competitive total•Getty Images

A 32-ball 39 from Ellyse Perry, followed by two wickets apiece from the spin of Jess Jonassen and Erin Osborne powered Australia Women to a 55-run win against Ireland Women in Dublin. The victory also meant that the visitors secured the three-match T20 series.Australia, opting to bat, began brightly with the opener Elyse Villani striking three fours in the second over, but Kim Garth fought back for Ireland, dismissing Villani and Jonassen off successive deliveries in the third. The double-blow helped Ireland wrest the momentum, as Garth returned in her next over to also remove Alyssa Healy. With even captain Meg Lanning falling cheaply, Australia found themselves in a spot of bother at 38 for 4, but Jess Cameron and Perry steadied the innings with small, but crucial knocks.Cameron fell for a slow 20, but Perry and Alex Blackwell counterattacked by adding a 44-run partnership for the sixth wicket off just 38 balls. Perry, too, was dismissed towards the end of the innings, but the No.8 batsman Grace Harris provided a late thrust, drilling 19 off seven balls with four fours to lift her team to 131 for 6.Her blitz left Ireland needing more than six an over from the off, and the hosts never really got going, losing wickets at regular intervals. Ireland’s opener Isabel Joyce top-scored with 24, but was run out in the sixth over, as the team struggled to string together any meaningful partnership. With Australia’s spinners ensuring a firm grip on the game, the hosts struggled to find the boundaries; Perry and Harris hit eight fours between them, while the entire Ireland team could muster just six.Medium-pacer Sarah Coyte was the only Australia bowler to go at more than six an over, as the visitors restricted Ireland to just 76 for 7. Osborne picked up 2 for 10 from her three overs, while Jonassen finished with figures of 4-0-8-2.

Among the more sweeping of the Lodha committee’s recommendations is a players’ association, intended as a “necessary” mechanism for addressing player concerns

Arun Venugopal04-Jan-20163:27

Joshi: Players’ association not just for collective bargaining

Among the more sweeping of the Lodha committee’s recommendations is a players’ association, intended as a “necessary” mechanism for addressing player concerns. It would be radical because India is the only Test-playing nation not to have a players’ association – and has not contemplated one in the recent past. The BCCI has historically opposed the idea and two earlier attempts have come to naught; this latest venture, if mandated, will be financed by the board and comprise only those players who have retired from competitive cricket in all forms.

Stricter rules for player agents

The Lodha Committee has proposed a rigorous system for a person to be accredited as a player agent, who will be monitored by the BCCI in conjunction with the players’ association.
1. An applicant needs to submit a clearance certificate issued by the ICC ACSU, and must not have any criminal record
2. There should no conflict of interest or dual representation
3. A player agent is required to undertake that he will charge no more than a maximum agent fee of 2% of the total annual revenue earned
4. The five-member committee on agent regulation will have powers to initiate disciplinary proceedings against agents

The committee has appointed a four-member standing committee, comprising former union home secretary GK Pillai (chairperson) and former India cricketers Mohinder Amarnath, Anil Kumble and former India women captain Diana Edulji, to “identify and invite all eligible ex-cricketers to be members, to open bank accounts, receive funds from the BCCI, conduct the first elections for office bearers, communicate the names of BCCI player nominees to the board.”The committee, having taken note of the BCCI’s “apprehension of unionisation”, has deemed it important to give the players “a voice to raise their concerns” while barring them from forming a “trade union of any sort.” It recommends the need to advance the welfare of players, including insurance, medical and other commercial benefits.In the early 2000s, a group of players, including MAK Pataudi (president), Arun Lal (secretary), Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Ravi Shastri and Abbas Ali Baig were the founding members of a players’ association, but that eventually served as no more than a means to the end of player contracts.”The BCCI would tell the senior players ‘we will give you what you want, why do you need an association?’,” a source privy to the formation of the association then told ESPNcricinfo. “They would talk to Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar and Kumble as senior players but not as representatives of a players’ association.”He said there was an effort to organise a body under Kapil Dev as the president in the late 80s as well to put forward genuine concerns. “Playing cricket was not a career then. Ranji Trophy cricketers would only get Rs 50 a day to play a match. This was not [an attempt to get] a larger share of the pie, it’s just genuine concerns.”The source said the board always looked at players’ associations as “anti-establishment” bodies, and would discourage them overtly and covertly. “Everybody didn’t join because they were scared. I don’t blame them. If my state association secretary warns me against joining such an association, how will I dare join then?”Former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath felt the players’ association was a greater responsibility of the players than the board. “It’s up to the boys,” he said. “At that time we felt there was a need for all of us to come together. We started cricket as a profession [for the first time]. Anything of that sort is always a start and stop kind of thing in India.”Even if it was started by someone there have to be reasons for players to see what could be achieved from players’ association.”The source, however, felt the senior players in the early 2000s didn’t carry forward the early momentum that was achieved. “It’s also the fault of the players because you start something with conviction and you don’t follow it through,” he said. “They were the power base at the time and owed it to the next generation to carry it through.”The BCCI was willing to help out as long as you approached them as players and not as players’ association representatives. The best way to kill an association is give them what they want so that there is no need for one for a while, and it dies a natural death.”Srinath, though, was of the belief the time was ripe for such an association to come into being, given that players have a more professional outlook.”Cricket has taken such a big professional dimension in India. It will be good for the game, the board and the players,” he said. “I think more than addressing the rights, it’s players coming under the umbrella, players starting to accept various contracts.”It’s just not about fighting for your rights alone, because most things are taken care of. The odd incident has to be customised, but I don’t think any player is put under any financial discomfort. “A BCCI official took a contrarian view and suggested that the creation of such associations would encourage politicisation and politicking among players.”Such politics is already there in the BCCI and a lot of state associations, and you curse it day in and day out,” he said. “You will have a situation where this will happen among players as well. Why would you want that? Won’t these associations have control over players and create lobbies? In any case, the interests of the players have been traditionally looked after by the BCCI more than anybody else.”

New Road proves too small for new England captain as 17 sixes rain down on hosts

David Hopps06-May-2022Worcestershire 169 for 6 (Barnard 55, Potts 5-35) trail Durham 580 for 6 dec (Stokes 161, Bedingham 135, Dickson 104) by 411 runsFor my first trick, how about a county-record number of sixes? Ben Stokes marked his first appearance since his elevation to the England captaincy in extraordinary fashion with 17 of them for Durham in the LV= Championship. It was bold, it was brutal and it was utterly contemptuous, and those present to see it at Worcester delighted in an assault that, long before the end, had entered the realms of fantasy.For Stokes, the business part of the season begins on June 2 when New Zealand visit Lord’s for the first Test, but it was as if his ambitions for the challenge ahead, his hopes and his fears, burst forth in an imposing display of power-hitting. He was an untameable force of nature. Every member of Worcestershire’s attack, to some extent or other, was brushed from his presence. This was murder beneath the cathedral.”It was a good day, wasn’t it?” he said, with a broad smile.Stokes came to the crease in the third over of the morning and left it 28 overs later in the fourth over of the afternoon. In that time, he made 161 from 88 balls, permitted such freedom by a scoreboard reading 360 for 4. Along the way, he used four bats, explaining that he had just received a new batch and was testing them out for the summer ahead. The verdict, as if you didn’t know? “They were all good.”Elderly spectators smiled upon his feat as if infused with the spirit of youth. The most unfortunate onlooker must have been the woman who arrived immediately after lunch, her arrival delayed because her boiler had been dripping, but she appeared to be quite content, unable to countenance the thought that watching Worcestershire’s attack so mistreated would have been remotely enjoyable.There were free-flowing swings through the line and gentle cuffs. There were mighty blows and there were sweetly-tuned caresses. And there were so nearly six sixes in an over: when his final blow fell a few metres short at long-on, Stokes swished his bat and flung back his head in disappointment. “I knew as soon as I hit the final delivery that it didn’t quite have the legs,” he said.Josh Baker, an England U-19 left-arm spinner, will be grateful to have been spared that anguish. Long consultations after the fourth and fifth balls of the over told of Worcestershire’s protective instincts. Stokes shared that kindly eye. He has known what it is like to be on the receiving end – and in a World T20 final. “Hopefully he can use the experience and doesn’t look into it too much.”Twice now, he has launched sixes off the first five balls of an over without quite being able to land the final blow. Oh, for such a sweet failure. The first time, in 2011, he was still a teenager seeking to make his way when he assaulted Hampshire’s Liam Dawson at the Ageas Bowl. Enough water has flowed under the bridge for several lifetimes since, some of it somewhat polluted, but his power remains immense, his appetite undimmed.Baker’s first three balls to Stokes had all been dot-balls, but he still ended up conceding 34 from nine deliveries all told. Leach, huffing and puffing to no good effect, was taken for 42 from 22, five sixes among them. Thirteen of Stokes’ 17 sixes flew over the leg-side, every blow in front of square. There were no slogs, just authentic cricket shots of disturbing force. As the weather constantly switched from warm to chill, a day of contradictions, Stokes was a constant. The game became a thing of rare simplicity. The only way he seemed likely to be stopped was if a council official intervened on the grounds of health and safety.This was his first innings since England’s ten-wicket defeat against West Indies in March; his first for Durham since Warwickshire last July when he left halfway through to captain a hastily-convened England shadow squad because of a Covid outbreak. He began with a solid, front-foot defensive. So far, so routine. To his next ball, he took a stride down the pitch, his intent now clear. The pitch was benevolent, the bowling unthreatening. As the bells rang for noon, his range had lengthened. He was in his element.Related