All posts by n8rngtd.top

He added 212 for the second wicket with Mahmudul Hasan Joy, as Afghanistan paid for too many no-balls and wides

Mohammad Isam14-Jun-2023Stumps Bangladesh 362 for 5 (Mehidy 43*, Mushfiqur 41*, Masood 2-67) vs AfghanistanNajmul Hossain Shanto’s attacking 146 – his first Test century at home – gave Bangladesh a high-scoring opening day in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Dhaka. Shanto made 146, his third century overall – and the first since 2021 – as the hosts reached 362 for 5 at stumps. The total was Bangladesh’s second-highest score on the first day of a Test, only behind the 374 they put against Sri Lanka in Chattogram in 2018.At stumps, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz were unbeaten on 41 and 43, respectively, after Bangladesh had lost 3 for 34 in a mini middle-order collapse from 256 for 2. That came after Shanto and Mahmudul Hasan Joy had added 212 for the second wicket, Bangladesh’s only third 200-plus second-wicket stand. Incidentally, Shanto had been involved in their last four 100-plus partnerships for this wicket too.On Wednesday, Mahmudul complemented him with a steady 76 of his own, although his innings was cut short due to a lapse of concentration against part-timer Rahmat Shah. That broke his partnership with Shanto in what would turn out to be a forgettable day for Afghanistan, who bowled 15 no-balls – one of which saw Shanto getting bowled on 143 – and seven wides on the day, apart from often misfielding and overthrowing. The heat also played a part, as only 79 overs were bowled in the day.Shanto had started the third session just like he had started the previous one – with boundaries. He swatted two bouncers from debutant Nijat Masood for a four and a six in the 51st over, but two overs later, the bowler retorted with Mominul Haque’s wicket. Come the 55th over, Masood had Shanto chopping on to his stumps, before the delivery turned out to be a no-ball.But luckily for Afghanistan, Shanto could add only three more to his score, with Amir Hamza having him caught at deep midwicket. Shanto’s innings of 146 took only 175 balls, and included 23 fours and two sixes. The day ended with Mushfiqur and Mehidy’s partnership unbeaten on 72, although Bangladesh’s dominance had began once Shanto was at the crease in the second over of the innings.Nijat Masood struck with his first ball in Test cricket•AFP/Getty Images

Masood had taken a wicket with his first ball in his Test career when Zakir Hasan was undone by a ball which jagged away sharply, taking the outside edge on the way to wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai. Thus, Masood became the seventh bowler in the 21st century to strike first ball in Tests, and the first from Afghanistan to do so.However, Shanto attacked with a plethora of boundaries in the first hour itself. He hardly gave fast bowlers Masood and Yamin Ahmadzai any room to relax, even as left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan was welcomed with three fours in his first spell. An enterprising Shanto reached his fifty in the first session, while Mahmudul held up one end.Shanto accelerated further in the post-lunch session, reaching his third century with another flurry of boundaries. After hitting 11 fours in the morning, Shanto began the second session with three fours in the same over off Masood. He struck him through the covers twice, and pulled him once. Two more fours off Hamza in the next over was followed by driving Karim Janat down the ground.Meanwhile, Mahmudul reached his fifty in the 35th over, shortly before Shanto got to his hundred, benefitting from the five runs resulting due to an overthrow. Three overs later, Shanto reached his century with a quick single.Shanto’s innings saw most of the boundaries coming down the ground, crashing nine fours through cover and mid-off. Seven of his fours came through midwicket, while both his sixes were hit over square leg. His heavy scoring on the leg side had much to do with how poorly Afghanistan bowled to him.Mahmudul struck the ball to his preferred areas of covers and midwicket. He fell before the tea break to Rahmat, as Ibrahim Zadran took a stunner at slip.

“I don’t think it’s unfair for someone to say ‘I think the technology has got it wrong on this occasion.'”

Vithushan Ehantharajah05-Feb-20243:48

Where did India win the Vizag Test?

Ben Stokes has questioned the DRS for giving Zak Crawley out lbw but does not believe it was the reason England lost the second Test in Visakhapatnam.India levelled the series 1-1 with victory by 106 runs on day four, bowling the tourists out for 292 in pursuit of 399. Just as in the first innings, Crawley was the leading scorer, this time with 73, while no one else passed 36.Crawley was holding firm as wickets fell around him in the morning session. At the end of the 42nd over, he was struck on the pad by a length delivery from Kuldeep Yadav, which was given not out on the field by standing umpire Marais Erasmus.India captain Rohit Sharma took his time before asking for a review and was rewarded when Erasmus had to subsequently overturn his original decision. The contentious element seemed to be the impact of the ball into leg stump, which, to the England captain, looked far less certain than DRS’ projected path.Related

• Stokes: 'Had full belief we could chase down 399'

• Bazball wrote a cheque batters couldn't cash

• Bumrah and Ashwin beat England's bazballers as India draw level

• Rohit 'proud' of winning with inexperienced squad, but wants more from batters

“Technology in the game is obviously there,” said Stokes at stumps. “Everyone has an understanding of the reasons it can never be 100% which is why we have the umpire’s call. That’s why it’s in place.”When it’s not 100% as everyone says, I don’t think it’s unfair for someone to say ‘I think the technology has got it wrong on this occasion’. And that is my personal opinion. I will say that.”But in a game full of ifs, buts and maybes, I am not going to say that’s the reason why we haven’t got the result we wanted. I’m just saying my personal opinion is that the technology has gone wrong on this occasion, and I think that’s fair to say.”India appeal for an lbw against Zak Crawley•Getty Images

Crawley walked off with 205 still to get, closely followed by Jonny Bairstow five balls later, leaving England 194 for 6 going into the afternoon session. India needed just 26.4 overs to take the remaining four wickets to square matters ahead of a 10-day break in the series. The teams will meet again for the third Test in Rajkot, which begins on February 15.Asked if he was looking to escalate his complaints, Stokes added: “You can’t really do much with things that have been and gone. A decision has been made, and you can’t really overturn a decision that has been made. That is where I stand on that.”

The captain made another half century and with help from the lower order lifted the visitors from 77 for 6

Andrew McGlashan22-Mar-2024Heather Knight was again to the fore as she lifted England out of trouble in Nelson and into a position where the visiting spinners were able to squeeze the life out of New Zealand’s chase to take a 2-0 lead in the T20I series.At various stages it looked like the return of Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr would inspire New Zealand to bounce back from their opening loss in Dunedin. But when Kerr fell having got the requirement down to an achievable 50 off 33 balls, the home side’s middle and lower order fell away.Between them England’s three frontline spinners – Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith and Sarah Glenn – produced figures of 12-0-74-4. Dean and Glenn had earlier played key roles with the bat in partnership with Knight as they lifted England from 77 for 6 to what became a very impressive victory.

Sophie Devine’s early impact

It did not take long for Devine to get back into the action after her delayed arrival in the series due to the WPL. With her first delivery she had the dangerous Sophia Dunkley caught at midwicket and later in the powerplay cleaned up Tammy Beaumont as England struggled for early momentum.New Zealand were well on top when Maia Bouchier toe-ended an attempted reverse scoop into the covers after labouring for 12 off 20 balls and when Amy Jones lofted into the deep off Lea Tahuhu it left England 57 for 4 at the midway point.Heather Knight played her second superb innings of the series•Getty Images

Heather Knight’s rescue act

Things got worse for England before they got better as Danielle Gibson and Bess Heath both departed to leave them seemingly in a heap at 77 for 6 in the 14th over. But, crucially, the in-form Knight was still there and put together another superbly crafted half-century to follow her match-winning hand in the opening match.Such was the way she was able to play alongside Dean and Glenn that, despite the problems England faced, 59 runs came off the last six overs which included Knight twice clearing the rope and Glenn finding the boundary twice in the final over from Devine which cost 18.Having initially had to hold the innings together, Knight went from 22 off 23 balls to finish with 56 not out off 40.

Linsey Smith’s perfect return

A direct-hit run out from Glenn to find Bernadine Bezuidenhout short gave England an early boost in the field, but New Zealand were tracking well at 35 for 1 after four overs with Suzie Bates and Kerr together.Then, with her first ball in international cricket for nearly five years, left-arm spinner Smith had Bates top-edging to short fine leg, a success that was greeted by joyous celebrations from her team-mates. It was the start of a big role for England’s spinners.Smith went on to concede just one boundary in her four overs, as did Glenn, while Dean picked up the huge wicket of Devine when the New Zealand captain missed a sweep to be lbw.However, it was the medium-pace of Gibson that put England firmly on course for victory when she had Kerr taken at short fine leg having played confidently for 44 off 36 balls. As in the first game, Maddy Green became stuck and the asking rate quickly climbed. Lauren Bell returned to claim two wickets in three balls and there was far too much for the lower order to do.

The defending champions started WPL 2025 with two wins, but five straight losses cost them a knockout spot

Vishal Dikshit12-Mar-2025Smriti Mandhana had a poor WPL 2025, both as captain of a team that didn’t make the knockouts and as a batter with mediocre returns. WPL winners in 2024, RCB finished second-last this time, just above UP Warriorz, and that too on net run-rate.Mandhana’s demeanour at her final press conference of this season after an 11-run win against against Mumbai Indians, however, gave us a wise and pragmatic captain who had ended on a high, and not a sullen leader after a disappointing season. She became slightly philosophical, too, almost summoning the cricketing gods as she rued her team’s failure to clinched some of the crucial moments.”Yeah, we were just having a joke post the match that we started the season on a high, ended it on a high and midway we just lost somewhere,” Mandhana said after the game on Tuesday. “Pretty much that sums up our season. But yeah, having lost a lot of players from last season post the auction, definitely we had our thinking shoes on in between the auction and the season. But the way we started, I really thought that we are in it.”Related

• Mandhana, Wareham, Rana breach Brabourne fortress to deny MI top spot

The defending champions started with two wins before stuttering to five straight losses that cost them a knockout spot.Injuries to Asha Sobhana, Shreyanka Patil and Sophie Molineux, and Sophie Devine opting for a break didn’t help, and the big setback was that RCB didn’t win even one out of their four home games, in stark contrast to 2024 when they won three out of five in Bengaluru.What hurt them further was that at home, where local fans again filled the stands, RCB lost two matches by agonisingly close margins: by four wickets with one ball to spare to MI and then the Super Over loss to Warriorz.”I think in Bangalore, a lot of things didn’t go our way,” Mandhana said. “But I am really proud of the way the team showed the character. Losing a lot of close matches is not easy on a team and I think we lost first two to three matches, which were pretty close. But everyone was really positive, which is something I am really pleased [about] as a captain. You win or lose. Sometimes in franchise cricket, these things go your way, and you win it. But when it doesn’t go your way, and the team sticks together, that is a team for me.”5:25

Mel Jones: ‘Phenomenal’ Perry played a different sort of innings

What also didn’t work for RCB at home was the toss. Teams opted to chase as the league moved from Vadodara to Bengaluru to Lucknow to finally Mumbai, and with the lack of dew and big totals in the first innings, chasing teams won most matches.RCB, in their home leg, lost all four tosses and were inserted by oppositions. At their home stretch also came Mandhana’s own lean patch, which meant the team largely relied on No. 3 Ellyse Perry for the bulk of the runs. But their totals were never enough.Perry’s prolific run placed her second among the run-scorers this season and on top in the WPL overall.”Sometimes, there’s something called cricketing god, which I believe a lot in,” Mandhana said. “You do a lot of things right and in the last two or three overs, things don’t go your way. We won [the title] last year by winning those moments. And this year, in the first two matches in Bangalore, we couldn’t make those moments ours, which is, I feel, a turning point for us, especially the first two matches.”Looking back, I wouldn’t want to throw anyone under the bus saying that would have changed it. We all, together as a team, could have contributed a lot more. Me as a batter in the mid phase, I was not able to score a lot of runs.”I think especially the Bangalore leg, losing the toss, not many teams could actually put up more than 160, but we could do that only because the way she [Perry] batted out there. Just really good to have her around the team, around all the Indians as well, because [there’s] a lot to take from her, lot to learn from her. And I am sure a lot of people in the team watch her and try and take a lot of things from her. And I hope that it only goes well for Indian cricket because people like that make you work really hard.”Richa Ghosh struck at 175.57 in WPL 2025•BCCI

The other positive for RCB was the big hitting of Richa Ghosh, whose strike rate of 175.57 was the best in the team (minimum 30 balls faced). She smashed 13 sixes and 25 fours on her way to 230 runs off 131 balls. She ended the RCB campaign also in style, particularly when going after Shabnim Ismail. Ghosh scooped and reverse scooped Ismail and reverse swept Hayley Matthews for boundaries on her way to 36 off 22 on Tuesday.”She is just amazing to watch,” Mandhana said of Ghosh. “I have seen her grow throughout the last three seasons of WPL and with the Indian team. The way she can change the game single-handedly is a sight to watch. When she is out there, the other dugout can’t sit peacefully, and no equation is less or more for her.”I mean, for us to chase 223-odd runs [against Warriorz] and just losing by ten runs and the way she batted… For batters like us, we see the smaller side [of the boundary], but for batters like Richa, they just see the ball and hit with their power.”The variety of shots is something she has really worked on. People always just relate Richa with a lot of power, but the cuts, the reverse sweeps today, which she switch hit. A lot of things have gone in, a lot of work, and her work ethics have been really good for the past year. [I am] really happy for her, and I hope she keeps going because [Ghosh] batting like that is amazing signs for Indian cricket.”

The leading wicket-taker of the Test series has also bowled the most overs among seamers across both teams

Alagappan Muthu30-Dec-2024India have had Jasprit Bumrah bowling like few ever have in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He has 30 wickets at an average of 12.83. The rest have 36 wickets at 41.33. Soon after India lost the Melbourne Test, where the 31-year-old fast bowler picked up a five-for, and went 1-2 down with one Test to play, Rohit Sharma, the captain, was asked if there is a risk of over-bowling Bumrah.”Yeah, there is,” Rohit said. “To be honest, he has bowled a lot of overs. There is no doubt about it. But again, every Test match we play, we keep that in mind. You know, the workloads of all the bowlers in fact. But again, if somebody is in such a great form, you want to try and maximise that form how much ever you can. And that is what we’ve been trying to do with Bumrah.”But there comes a time where you need to step back a little bit and give him that little bit of extra breather as well. So, we’ve been very careful. I’ve been very careful. I talk to him about how he feels and stuff like that. So, yeah. Those things should be managed carefully. And I’m trying to do that on the field.”Related

• Bumrah leaves SCG for scans after experiencing back spasms

• Rohit: Pant needs to figure out the risk-reward game himself

• Jaiswal dismissed as third umpire sees 'conclusive evidence' to overturn not-out decision

• No Gabba 2021 at MCG 2024 as India lose a Test they needn't have

Bumrah’s 53.2 overs at the MCG are the most he’s ever bowled in a Test match. That’s taken his tally for the series to 141.2 which puts his workloads ahead of Pat Cummins (136.4) and Mitchell Starc (131.2) and Mohammed Siraj (129.1).India gave up one big, match-turning century in Adelaide, two in Brisbane and another one in Melbourne, not to mention a whirlwind fifty to a 19-year-old debutant on Boxing Day. Would India have posed more of a threat if they’d gone in with another frontline bowling option instead of packing the back-end of the XI with allrounders?”Look, Akash Deep (five wickets at 54) and Mohammed Siraj (16 wickets at 31) are the frontline seamers,” Rohit said. “It’s just that they’ve been very unfortunate not to be seen on the wicket column.”Siraj, especially, is bowling his heart out. I don’t think there’s anything else that he can do. Obviously, there are technical aspects of his game that he’s looking into. But other than that, in terms of his effort, his attitude, bowling those long spells, he’s always up there. It’s just that the wicket column doesn’t show how well he’s bowled.”So is Akash. In Brisbane and here, in both the games, he’s bowled really well. It’s just unfortunate that he couldn’t get the wickets under his name. It’s just everyone’s job to make sure that whoever plays needs to get the job done for the team. It’s not about one or two individuals.”India’s other seamer is Nitish Kumar Reddy and he admitted on Sunday that as well as his batting is going – he scored a maiden Test century which helped India recover from 191 for 6 in the first innings – he wanted to do more with the ball. Reddy has contributed only 35 of India’s 542.2 overs in their last four Tests.”When we saw him [Reddy] for the first time, we saw there’s a lot of potential, which is why he came here in the first place,” Rohit said. “And he’s come and shown here what he’s capable of. You know, with the bat, he was brilliant.”He understood the situation pretty well, read the situation pretty well. And he’s got solid technique as well. And superb mind, not to forget.””Right now it’s very hard to say the growth part because it’s only been four test matches for him but I hope that he plays for long enough for India in all forms.”

KL Rahul headed to stumps unbeaten on 53 with India 242 runs behind England’s first innings 387

Alagappan Muthu11-Jul-20251:41

Manjrekar: ‘Bumrah did the hard work, played the waiting game’

Stumps Jasprit Bumrah was saved, or he had saved himself, for Lord’s. The temptation of the most famous honours board in the world might have had something to do with it, and if so, the plan worked. Bumrah claimed a five-for that helped bowl England out for 387 but he was far from the only fast bowler that set the pulse racing.Jofra Archer would have spent three years thinking about this moment, being told of the light at the end of the tunnel as he willed himself through the rehab his body needed to shoulder the burden that comes with Test cricket. Three balls into his first over back, the light wasn’t hypothetical anymore. His day in the sun had finally come and he was bathed in its glow as he celebrated a wicket. Yashasvi Jaiswal was sent back, wondering what he could have done against an 89mph rocket that had squared him up. Karun Nair was greeted by a 93mph missile.Related

• The wait is Over: Six balls and a lifetime later, Jofra Archer returns with a bang

• Gillnetting: Woakes and Smith make England's grand plan work

• India unhappy with replacement ball as Dukes loses shape

• Bumrah uses money in the bank for Lord's honours

Bumrah was carving out legacy. Archer was clearing away the cobwebs. Lord’s was spoiled rotten. KL Rahul went to stumps unbeaten on 53 and holds in his hands much of India’s hopes of getting close to England’s total. They are 242 behind.The fans stood up as one to salute Joe Root when he got the chance the vent the nerves of spending the night on 99, the first ball offering him width. An outside edge squirted away to the deep-third boundary to signal his 37th Test century – which puts him in the top five in all of Test cricket. He went past Rahul Dravid and Steven Smith. Late in the day, he stooped to conquer the world, a beautiful diving catch to his left securing an unprecedented 211th catch.It was a special occasion at Lord’s – Red for Ruth Day, where everyone is encouraged to wear their support for the charity run by former captain Andrew Strauss on their sleeves. It seemed to have moved inanimate objects as well because the pitch became a lot more generous to those willing to bend their backs. The quicker pace it offered made the sideways movement all the more deadly.3:04

Root: ‘Great to see Archer smiling, enjoying his cricket’

Set batters found themselves undone when they least expected it. Ben Stokes’ off stump was off to the races immediately after he hit a boundary. Root, on 104, turned lead-footed all of a sudden, which created a gap between bat and pad for Bumrah to hurtle through. Shubman Gill, who came into this game with 585 runs in four innings, was snapped up for just 16. Jamie Smith went to lunch having rescued England from 271 for 7 to 355 for 7 but as soon as he came back, Mohammed Siraj found his outside edge. He celebrated the wicket by signalling the number 20, like many footballers have done this week to pay tribute to Diogo Jota, the 28-year-old Liverpool forward who died in a car crash recently.There was one who proved adept, so much that the very concept of dismissal started to look remote. Rahul made 53 off 113 balls and went to stumps unbeaten. This innings was built on his discipline and his judgment outside the off stump and his alertness for scoring opportunities when England shifted their lines straighter. Equally, his focus stood out.Archer tested him with a 142kph bouncer. Rahul was surprised by it – his feet off the floor, his balance shot to hell and yet, even in that vulnerable state, he was able to get his hands over the ball and cushion its journey back into the ground. There was another example of his defensive skills in the next over, when Stokes went wide of the wicket to maximise the away movement that he gets. Rahul was aware of what the bowler was trying to do and he was very careful to present a straight bat instead of being sucked in by the angle and offering a closed one.2:19

Manjrekar: Day two a learning curve for Gill

Rishabh Pant batted through injury. Nair almost got his redemption but fell 10 short of a half-century. England overloaded Gill. Targeting him with a bouncer barrage armed with five men on the leg side. Coaxing him across his stumps to bring lbw into play. Filling up the front of the wicket with catchers and also blockers that prevented easy singles. The India captain lost his patience this time, attempted to find loopholes, like backing away to cut a short ball way down leg, and didn’t see his wicket coming. Chris Woakes, with the keeper up to the stumps, switched up the play and went for his outside edge. He got it. England went to stumps with a lead that looks stronger for this bit of enterprise.A great many things happened on Friday, even though only 72.3 of the scheduled 90 overs were possible, and the most memorable were the work of a fast bowler who has turned modern-day cricket into his own playground. Nobody really came up to Bumrah’s level – he was getting the ball to swing one way and seam the other and four different batters could do nothing more than just give up their stumps to him.1:41

Manjrekar: ‘Bumrah did the hard work, played the waiting game’

Bumrah rested at Edgbaston so that he could play at Lord’s. He wanted to play here to get a five-wicket haul and a place on the honours board. When he did, he was merely relieved. Siraj had to act as puppet master, grabbing his new-ball partner’s hand and raising it aloft while the Indians in the crowd cheered. Kapil Dev was calmly brushed aside. He is no longer the Indian with the most five-fors away from home.In the middle of all this, there was a small victory for the visitors when Gill secured his first successful review on tour to get rid of Woakes.India continued to challenge the umpires, their irritation sparked by a second new ball that needed to be changed – a mere 10.3 overs into its use – and the replacement looking much the worse for wear. Gill spent the entire morning drinks break with umpires Paul Reiffel and Sharfuddoula voicing his dissatisfaction, which had to have played a role in the officials eventually switching out even the replacement ball, after eight overs.Away in the background, Smith, who was dropped by Rahul on 5, just kept his head down and did his thing. Once more, he led an England lower-order recovery mission, his skillset perfectly suited to the task. A 52-ball half-century was the result of a man concentrating on the job at hand while the opposition was too busy fretting about what could have been. India tried to forget about Smith and blow away the other end, but that didn’t work either. Brydon Carse was batting well enough to hit Akash Deep on the up through the covers and getting down on bent knee to slash Bumrah past point. He completed an entertaining maiden half-century in Tests as England’s last three wickets added 116 runs.

Pakistan’s IPC ministry asks for “immediate termination of services of all heads of institutions appointed on political basis”

Danyal Rasool23-Aug-2023Political developments could make their impact felt on the PCB yet again after Pakistan’s Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) ministry sent a note to the Prime Minister’s office that places the spotlight on the future of PCB head Zaka Ashraf.The letter references guidelines issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan, asking to “ensure immediate termination of services of all heads of institutions appointed on political basis and to send all such cases to the commission for approval of termination or otherwise”. Ashraf is highlighted as the first such case worthy of consideration, denoting him as a political appointee with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).The letter was signed off by the secretary of the IPC, Ahmed Orakzai, on August 15, and was addressed to the caretaker government, but only came to light a week later. The caretaker Prime Minister, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, was appointed the day before the communication was written. It is worth noting that the IPC, the ministry which sent the note to the PM’s office, does not currently have a sitting minister and in such cases, the PM assumes temporary charge of the ministry; effectively, Kakar is head of the ministry that issued the letter, as well as the one that received it.While caretaker governments have historically shown little desire to interfere with the workings of the PCB, there are reasons to believe it could be different this time around. The primary task of caretaker governments in Pakistan is to facilitate conditions for elections to be held within 90 days. But days after the caretaker government was set up, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced that elections scheduled for no later than November would be postponed by several months. That means this caretaker government could take on the role of a regular government, and make decisions on a wider remit of things beyond just election preparations.While the note was issued over a week ago, serious ramifications have not yet been felt at the PCB. The board officials are confident that Ashraf’s position remains safe, and ESPNcricinfo understands that the government had offered the current PCB setup assurances they were not looking to bring about changes at the top. A PCB source criticised what it called “the recent campaign against the PCB’s head” as “malafide”, and said it was intended “to destabilise Pakistan cricket”.It has been pointed out that Ashraf resigned from the PPP on June 19, and therefore could not be considered a political appointee. It was also pointed out that the PCB has never played any part in Pakistan’s national or federal elections, and thus no caretaker government had any cause to make changes at the board.Ashraf was approved as head of a management committee by former PM Shahbaz Sharif to take charge at the PCB for a period of four months in July, after Najam Sethi resigned from the position. At the time, the political implications of the move were significant, with Sethi specifically citing a desire not to cause a rift between the PML(N)’s leader Shahbaz Sharif, and the PPP leader Asif Zardari, with the latter preferring Ashraf to Sethi as PCB head.In the coalition between the two parties, the sports ministry was held by Zardari’s PPP government, who insisted that meant they had the right to appoint a PCB head of choice. Two weeks later, Ashraf assumed charge at the helm of the PCB.

Tasmania also made late inroads with the ball leaving them well-placed for a three-day win

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2023Jake Doran, Beau Webster and Bradley Hope scored centuries to put Tasmania within striking distance of victory just two days into their Sheffield Shield clash with New South Wales at Blundstone Arena.In reply to NSW’s substandard first-innings total of 181, Tasmania plundered 493 on the back of trio big knocks from the middle order including Hope’s maiden first-class century.The 312-run first-innings lead for Tasmania looked even more daunting by stumps on Sunday after NSW limped to the end of the day at 46 for 3.Daniel Hughes, edging to the safe hands of Webster at second slip, Blake Macdonald and nightwatchman Jack Nisbet were the batters to depart, leaving opener Ryan Hackney and Matthew Gilkes with a huge mountain to climb.Tasmania had been struggling at 48 for 4 in their first innings on Saturday before the three centurions dug them out of trouble on Sunday and set the home side up for victory. In all, their last six wickets added 445 runs.”It’s been a poor day for us today,” NSW coach Greg Shipperd said.  “Not enough penetration with the ball right across the day. To Tasmania’s credit, they batted wonderfully well.  Disappointingly for us, we’ve not found any rhythm in this game.”We’re in a tough spot, but we’ll fight and see what we can bring in terms of a second-innings total and keep the game alive.”Hope was brutal on the way to posting his maiden first-class century, cracking 21 boundaries during his unbeaten innings.”It’s pretty special,” Hope said. “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I’m just happy to get it done for the boys. I think [my aim] was just to bat as normally as possible. Dorsy and Beau had done all the hard work.”Webster’s century continued an outstanding Shield season which now sees him average 97.40 alongside side claiming 11 wickets and catching superbly in the slips.For the left-handed Doran, his hundred was a fourth in first-class cricket.

Musheer, Sarfaraz, Rinku, and Reddy all fell cheaply to Kamboj and let go of the advantage India B had going into day three

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2024Even as Abhimanyu Easwaran stood tall from one end to post an unbeaten 143 for India B, Anshul Kamboj ran through the batting unit to take 5 for 66 to give India C the advantage by stumps on day three in Anantapur. With one day of action remaining, India C are now favourites to claim the first-innings-lead points, with India B still 216 runs behind at 309 for 7.Day three began with India B on 124 for 0. The opening pair of Easwaran and N Jagadeesan were looking to build towards overcoming India C’s first-innings score of 525, but Kamboj struck in the day’s fourth over, dismissing Jagadeesan for 70.That triggered a slide that had India B sipping to 194 for 5, with each of those dismissals belonging to Kamboj. After getting Jagadeesan caught behind, the seam-bowling allrounder had both Khan brothers – Musheer (1) and Sarfaraz (16) – dismissed lbw, and then followed it up with the wickets of Rinku Singh (6) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (2). While Ishan Kishan caught Rinku off Kamboj, Reddy was out bowled.However, Easwaran, from an overnight score of 51, could not be dislodged through the day. He brought up his 24th first-class century after lunch, and with the help of 12 fours and a solitary six finished the day seven short of his 150. With Washington Sundar (13), he added a 43-run sixth-wicket stand, and with Sai Kishore (21), he stitched a 46-run partnership for the seventh wicket.The two promising lower-order partnerships were ended by Vijaykumar Vyshak and Mayank Markande respectively, while Rahul Chahar (18*), coming in at No. 9, saw off the last eight overs with Easwaran on a day when only 65 overs were bowled.India B’s middle-order crumble, which saw them lose 5 for 65, now leaves them with very slim chances of earning any points from this round two fixture. If India C take the last three wickets and claim the lead – which they are favourites to do – they will earn three points and be guaranteed to move to the top of the Duleep Trophy table. India C’s best-case scenario, though, would be to enforce follow-on early on the final day and then hunt for the six points on offer for an outright win.

Brian Bennett and JJ Smit were the heroes for Zimbabwe and Namibia, respectively, in Harare

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2025Zimbabwe joined Namibia in the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup after they eased past Kenya in the second semi-final of the ICC’s Africa qualifiers in Harare. South Africa are the third African team in the World Cup, having qualified directly. Earlier in the day, Namibia had qualified after beating Tanzania in their semi-final contest without much fuss at the same venue.After the bowlers restricted Kenya to 122 for 6, Zimbabwe aced the chase in 15 overs with seven wickets to spare. Openers Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani smashed 70 together in the first six overs – only three times have Zimbabwe hit more runs in the powerplay in T20Is where ESPNcricinfo has data. Vraj Patel ended the partnership in the next over when he removed Bennett for 51 off 25 balls. Bennett’s innings featured eight fours and a six, including a sequence of 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 in the fourth over, bowled by Lucas Oluoch. He is currently the highest scorer in the tournament, with 299 runs in four innings at an average of 74.75 and a strike rate of 184.56.Vraj also got rid of Marumani for 39 off 27 balls in the 11th over, but by then Zimbabwe had reached 100. Captain Sikandar Raza fell for 10 off 18 balls, but Ryan Burl and Tony Munyonga got the job done for Zimbabwe without any further setbacks. Brendan Taylor, who had cracked 123 off 54 balls against Botswana in Zimbabwe’s 170-run win last week, was not needed with the bat.Zimbabwe’s bowlers had set up the win, with Blessing Muzarabani leading the line with figures of 4-0-19-2. Rakep Patel was the only Kenya batter to cross 20. He scored 65 off 47 balls before falling to Richard Ngarava, who finished with 1 for 31.File photo – JJ Smit was the best batter and best bowler on show for Namibia•AFP/Getty Images

As for Namibia, this will be their fourth appearance at the men’s T20 World Cup. They had also taken part in the editions in 2021 (Super 12s), 2022 (group stage) and 2024 (group stage).On Thursday, Namibia were asked to bat by Tanzania captain Kassim Nassoro, and put up a strong 174 for 6, familiar hands Gerhard Erasmus, the captain, and JJ Smit hitting fifties to help their cause.It hadn’t started so well for Namibia, with four wickets – Jan Frylinck, Malan Kruger, Louren Steenkamp and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton – falling within the powerplay. But Erasmus and Smit got together at that point and scored quickly to snatch the momentum away from Tanzania. Erasmus scored 55 in 41 balls with six fours, while Smit hit 61 not out in 43 balls with one four and four sixes.That gave Namibia the runs they needed, and Smit was back in action, this time with the ball, to hurt the Tanzania top order. He picked up the first two wickets to fall, those of Arun Yadav and Dhrumit Mehta, off consecutive balls in the sixth over, and later removed Mukesh Suthar to finish with 3 for 16. Ben Shikongo was the other main wicket-taker for Namibia, returning 3 for 21.There were pockets of resistance from Tanzania, but nothing effective enough to change the course of the match as they finished 63 runs short despite batting out their overs.