Temba Bavuma top-scored in his first win as T20I captain

Firdose Moonda27-Jun-2021South Africa earned their first T20I victory under new white-ball captain Temba Bavuma and successfully defended a score under 170 for just the third time since the 2016 World T20 to level the five-match series against West Indies 1-1.While Kagiso Rabada took wickets at the start and end of the innings, South Africa had their spinners George Linde and Tabraiz Shamsi to thank for the win. Between them, Linde and Shamsi bowled eight overs, conceded 35 runs and took three wickets to take West Indies from 62 for 2 in the ninth over to 70 for 5 in the 11th, in pursuit of 167.Despite late cameos from Jason Holder and Fabian Allen, the required rate proved too high. Both teams will be concerned with the performances of their middle orders, who failed to build on promising starts. No South African batter outside the top three scored more than 11 while West Indies’ No. 3-6 batters were all dismissed in single figures.Positive in the powerplay With as many as five potential opening batters in their squad, South Africa have several combinations to choose from but stuck with Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock for the second successive match. After putting on 33 in 3.4 overs on Saturday, the pair came good with 73 in 6.4 overs in this match. They scored 69 runs in the Powerplay including seven fours and three sixes and were aggressive against the opening spin pair and the seamers that followed.

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De Kock took 14 runs off Holder’s opening over, including the first six of the innings as he cleared midwicket. At the other end, Hendricks plundered 14 off Allen, and hit him back over his head for six before hitting two fours off the next three balls and then being gifted four leg-byes. South Africa have only scored more runs in a Powerplay three times – 88 for 0 and 83 for 0 against England in 2016, and 78 for 0 against Zimbabwe in 2010. In the end, it set them up for a match-winning total.Ultra-Edge fails…Hendricks was well-set to score the sixth fifty of his T20I career but two balls after the halfway mark was beaten as he attempted a reverse-sweep off Kevin Sinclair. He was given out on-field and reviewed after consultation with his captain, Bavuma. A cutaway of the players was shown but Ultra-Edge was not available and the television umpire, Joel Wilson, eventually had to make his call based on the split-screen. There was a clear gap between bat and ball and ball-tracking upheld the on-field call, with the ball clipping off stump, so had to go. South Africa were 96 for 2, with 200 still well within sight.Temba Bavuma plays one fine on the on side•AFP/Getty Images

…and so does South Africa’s middle-orderSouth Africa’s top-heavy squad has left them with a soft middle-order and that showed after the Powerplay and particularly in the second half of their innings. They lost 7 for 97 between the 7th and 20th over, adding only 21 for the loss of three wickets in the last four overs.Left-arm seamer Obed McCoy was the standout performer at the death. After his first over cost 10 runs in the Powerplay, he conceded only 15 runs in his next three and claimed the wickets of David Miller, caught at deep midwicket, Linde, lbw on review, and Heinrich Klaasen, holing out in the last over. Dwayne Bravo bowled the penultimate over and gave away just six runs to build on the start Sinclair had given West Indies. He opened the bowling and finished with 2 for 23 in his four overs, the most economical West Indian return and his own career-best.South African spinRelated

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Linde and Shamsi bowled six overs in tandem after the Powerplay and gave away just 23 runs between them. Importantly, they picked up three wickets in that period to put South Africa in a winning position. After the seventh and eighth overs yielded just eight runs between them, Nicholas Pooran, batting at No. 4, felt he needed to do something; he tried to hit Linde over long-on but played for turn when there wasn’t any and skied the ball to Miller on the boundary. Pooran has been dismissed in single figures in eight out of his last 10 T20 innings.In the next over, Kieron Pollard attempted a slog-sweep off a Shamsi legbreak and found a diving Hendricks at midwicket. Four balls later, Andre Russell did not get hold of a leg-side heave off Linde, whom he tried to dispatch over deep midwicket. Klaasen negotiated between staring into the sun and losing the ball in the shadows and ended up taking the catch of the match to leave West Indies 70 for 4.How’s that?We all know the old trick when the fielding side appeal for caught behind when the ball has drifted down the leg side to avoid having the umpire call wide, don’t we? Well, South Africa did that at the start of the 17th over when Allen missed a pull off Anrich Nortje, which was called wide. For once, it worked: de Kock convinced Bavuma to review but a working Ultra-Edge showed no contact between bat, or glove, and ball – though the wide was reversed, with the ball flicking the thigh pad.In the event, the next ball brought a wicket: Allen drove Nortje to Bavuma at extra-cover, whose quick pick-up and release back to Nortje allowed him to catch Holder short of his crease coming back for two, all but ending West Indies’ chances of a successful chase. Allen hit the expensive Lungi Ngidi for three sixes in the final over, but by then the game was lost.

Bowler has suffered a fractured left thumb in the Indians’ warm-up match against County Select XI

Nikhil Sharma21-Jul-2021Avesh Khan’s tour of England is likely to have come to an end as ESPNcricinfo has learned that the Madhya Pradesh fast bowler has suffered a fracture in his left thumb, which he hurt on the first day of the warm-up match between the Indians and the County Select XI at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday. It is understood that Khan will undergo a couple of scans and tests this week, after which he will return to India to recover in time for the IPL where he represents the Delhi Capitals. Khan was a key part of the Capitals in the first half of IPL 2021, picking up 14 wickets, the joint second-highest in the competition so far.Related

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Khan was representing the County Select XI, and immediately after lunch on Tuesday, he successfully intercepted a punched drive from Hanuma Vihari, but winced in pain. Minutes later he walked off, alongside the Indian physiotherapist, with a strapped left thumb.The Indians ended the first day’s play on 306 for 9, with KL Rahul having cracked a century (101), and Ravindra Jadeja making 75.On Wednesday, the BCCI’s media team sent an update on Khan, saying he would “not be taking any further part” in the warm-up match and that he “remains under observation”. Khan and Washington Sundar had both been permitted by the Indian team management to turn up for the County Select XI, which had two vacant slots since the pair of James Bracey and Zak Chappell were not available. Bracey had been identified as contact of a Covid-19 positive case and had to be pulled out of the squad, while Chappell suffered an injury on Tuesday morning.Khan had been named as one of the five reserves by the Indian selectors in the 25-man squad which was announced in May. He becomes the second player, after Shubman Gill, to be ruled out of the series. The details of Gill’s injury have not yet been put out by the BCCI, but it is learned that the opening batter had been hampered by a niggle in the lower half of his left leg, which surfaced post the World Test Championship final in June.Virat Kohli bats in the netsA day after the BCCI said that Virat Kohli was being rested for the three-day warm-up match due to a stiff back, the Indian captain turned up to bat in the nets. At lunch on Day 2 in Durham, Kohli took throwdowns from Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour, with India head coach Ravi Shastri observing from a distance. The development is a welcome one for the Indians, who also are concerned by the fitness of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, who has a swollen hamstring. Also part of the nets was India’s seniormost fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who has bounced back from the hand injury he picked on the final day of the World Test Championshp final. Sharma had received stitches on his bowling hand.

The 55-run defeat left Bismillah Khan’s team in fifth place on the six-team table

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2021Khyber Pakhtunkhwa rose to No. 2 on the six-team Pakistan National T20 Cup table, while Balochistan stayed at fifth, after Mohammad Rizwan’s side put in a dominant performance in their game in Rawalpindi on Saturday evening. The lower order did the job with the bat to take Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from what looked likely to be a good total, around 180, to a huge 202 for 5 after they were asked to bat. Asif Afridi and Arshad Iqbal then returned three-fors to script a 55-run win.It was Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s fourth win in five matches, and gave them eight points, leaving only Sindh ahead of them. As for Balochistan, there’s only the winless, and luckless, Southern Punjab below them.Rizwan, who scored a 34-ball 40, and Israrullah gave Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a decent but unspectacular start, getting to 43 midway into the sixth over before the latter was dismissed, and the scoring rate didn’t spike much as Rizwan and Sahibzada Farhan (43 in 31) added 37 for the second wicket. At the halfway stage, they were at 80.The real impetus came after that. Asif Afridi hit a four and two sixes in his four-ball 16 from No. 4, while Iftikhar Ahmed’s 36 came from 18 balls, Musadiq Ahmed hit an unbeaten 17 in nine balls, and Adil Amin hit 26 not out in 13 balls; 122 runs were added in the last ten overs.It would have been tough for any side to chase that down, and Balochistan have been in a bit of a hole anyway. On the day, they were 8 for 1 and then 16 for 2, with Shaheen Shah Afridi calling the shots, and the seventh wicket had fallen by the 14th over with the total just 83. By then, Asif and Arshad were in charge, and the game was as good as over.Balochistan batted through to the end, though, and that was mainly down to Sohail Akhtar, who scored an unbeaten 61 in 43 balls, with two fours and five sixes, to at least give Balochistan’s NRR a bit of a boost.

KS Bharat wallops a match-winning 161 for Andhra while Nagaland crash to 48 all out against Tripura

Himanshu Agrawal12-Dec-2021

Iyer’s blitz downs Vohra, Kaushik’s centuries

Iyer arrived when Madhya Pradesh were 56 for 4, and added 122 with his captain Aditya Shrivastava, who departed after hitting 70. Cameos from the lower order propelled them to 331, but Iyer did most of the heavy lifting as the last five overs of the innings yielded a whopping 70 runs. Chandigarh were in turn reduced to 77 for 3 in the chase before captain Manan Vohra and Ankit Kaushik added 166. While Vohra fell for 105 and Kaushik hit 111, no other notable contribution meant Chandigarh fell short despite the tail threatening to stage an upset.

Dhawan fails again, Bharat shines, Pandey dips

In the midst of a competition for places in the Indian top-order, Shikhar Dhawan fell for 18 against Haryana. This follows on from the 0, 12 and 14 he got in the previous three matches. But despite that batting wobble, Delhi managed to inch past the opposition by 10 runs, thanks to Jonty Sidhu’s century and Anuj Rawat’s unbeaten 16-ball 44.Just days after being left out of India’s Test squad for the South Africa tour, Andhra captain KS Bharat kept knocking on the India selectors’ doors with 161 off just 109 balls against Himachal Pradesh. Accompanied by Ashwin Hebbar’s hundred, Andhra posted 322 to win by 30 runs in Mumbai.Meanwhile, Karnataka captain Manish Pandey had started the tournament with respectable scores of 64* and 40, but followed it up with 5 against Mumbai on Saturday and 19 in a paltry chase against Baroda on Sunday.Washington Sundar picked up a five-wicket haul for Tamil Nadu, but it went in vain•Getty Images

Youngsters Abhishek, Nagarkoti, Bishnoi and Parag deliver

Punjab opener Abhishek Sharma cracked a career-best 169* from 117 balls, as they eased past Services, who set them 261 to win. Abhishek’s innings featured 17 fours and nine sixes, ensuring Punjab romped home by nine wickets and more than 12 overs in the bank. Also, Rajasthan crushed Assam by 142 runs following centuries from Manender Singh and Mahipal Lomror, before legspinner Ravi Bishnoi and fast bowler Kamlesh Nagarkoti combined to share seven wickets in the defense. Bishnoi, who claimed 4 for 45, ripped through the middle and lower orders after Nagarkoti’s twin early blows. The Assam batters struggled to keep up in a tall chase, with Riyan Parag top scoring with 51 from only 28 deliveries.

Sundar’s five in vain; Nagaland’s low

Washington Sundar nabbed his best List A figures of 5 for 48, as Tamil Nadu restricted Puducherry to 225. However, the effort went in vain after the match was truncated to 44 overs, in which Tamil Nadu were to get 205 but fell short by one run. They were 159 for 3 after 35 overs but lost their way once half-centurions N Jagadeesan and Dinesh Karthik were dismissed.In a Plate Group match in Jaipur, Nagaland were skittled for 48 as Tripura’s Manisankar Murasingh grabbed 5 for 19, with only Imliwati Lemtur getting into double-figures. Six out of the 11 batters were dismissed for ducks, before the Tripura openers knocked off the target with 239 balls to spare.

Sam Billings, Saqib Mahmood, George Garton, Tymal Mills, Reece Topley and James Vince to head home by January 7

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jan-2022Six members of England’s T20I squad will be withdrawn from their respective BBL sides by January 7 to allow them time at home in the UK before flying out for the tour of the West Indies.Sam Billings, Saqib Mahmood, George Garton, Tymal Mills, Reece Topley and James Vince will all head home in the next week prior to England’s T20I squad flying to Barbados on January 15 for the five-match T20I series, which is scheduled to start on January 22.Related

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While the last day of the Ashes series is January 18, none of England’s Test squad members are involved in the T20I series and coach Chris Silverwood will also be absent. Assistant coach Paul Collingwood, who left Australia prior to Christmas, will stand in for the T20I portion of the Caribbean tour, with Marcus Trescothick assisting him. The ECB also recently advertised for three additional coaching roles on short-term contracts for the T20Is in Barbados.The withdrawal of the BBL players leaves Sydney Thunder (Billings and Mahmood), Adelaide Strikers (Garton), Melbourne Renegades (Topley), Perth Scorchers (Mills) and Sydney Sixers (Vince) without key players for the back-end of the tournament – though Garton was left out of the Strikers’ defeat to Sydney Thunder on Sunday after a run of poor form. However, the teams had been aware of this scenario since the England squad was selected on December 23.The ECB confirmed that the players selected were always set to return early to prepare for the Caribbean tour with safe-living guidelines and Covid-19 protocols at the forefront of the ECB’s thinking. Each player will coordinate with their own BBL club as to how many more fixtures they can play prior to heading home to the UK.

Dasun Shanaka’s century in vain as Sri Lanka fall short in chase of 303

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Jan-2022Regis Chakabva provided the innings’ early impetus, Craig Ervine hit 91 and put on 106 with Sean Williams, and Sikandar Raza struck a half-century late in the piece to get Zimbabwe to 302 for 7. But the visiting bowlers had to hold their nerve too. In the face of a Dasun Shanaka hundred, which threatened to turn the game after Sri Lanka’s terrible start, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava bowled exceptional final spells to suck the oxygen out of Sri Lanka’s desperate chase, eventually sealing a 22-run win that leveled the series.Earlier in Sri Lanka’s innings, Zimbabwe’s seamers had struck perhaps the most decisive blows of the match. Tendai Chatara bowled Kusal Mendis in the fifth over, Muzarabani then had Pathum Nissanka caught behind for 16, before having Dinesh Chandimal out at slip in his next over. Sri Lanka were 31 for 3, then when Charith Asalanka got out, 63 for 4 in the 15th over.That the hosts recovered was down to Shanaka, and the 118-run fourth-wicket stand he put on with Kamindu Mendis. But the required rate continued to climb right through that partnership, and although Shanaka progressed to his first international century in the company of Chamika Karunaratne, he could never quite push his team into the ascendancy. He got to triple figures with a six over deep square leg, but when he holed out to long off the next ball, with 56 still to get off 32 deliveries, Sri Lanka’s chase essentially lost its last serious hope.Sri Lanka went down by 22 runs in the end, their last wicket pair in the middle at the close. Chatara and Muzarabani shared three wickets apiece, while Ngarava and Wessley Madhevere took one each. Left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza contributed to Zimbabwe’s defence too, conceding just 34 from his eight overs.Zimbabwe had only hit seven less in the previous ODI, on a very similar surface, and at the same ground. But this time, they took Sri Lanka by the collar by claiming early wickets.Kusal Mendis had been dropped at third man off Muzarabani in the second over, but Chatara ensured the mistake would barely cost Zimbabwe, nipping one back off the pitch to breach his defences, for 7. Nissanka, arguably Sri Lanka’s best batter in the previous ODI, was out next over, edging a teasing Muzarabani delivery behind.Blessing Muzarabani celebrates after dismissing Pathum Nissanka•AFP/Getty Images

When Chandimal edged Muzarabani to the slips in the eighth over, it left Sri Lanka at 31 for 3. Already the hosts’ chances were dwindling. When Asalanka departed for 23, the hosts’ plight appeared pretty much shot.Kamindu Mendis and Shanaka kept the hosts alive with the biggest stand of the game. Where Kamindu was watchful, Shanaka was aggressive from very early in his innings, smoking Madhevere over midwicket for six off the sixth ball he faced, before crashing him for four through cover later in that over. Shanaka continued to find regular boundaries, particularly square of the wicket. But as briskly as he scored, it never seemed quick enough to put Sri Lanka in control, particularly as Kamindu scored at a measured pace through the course of his knock.By the end of the 30th over, the required rate had crept up to 7.65. After the 35th, it was up to 8.06, and Kamindu had just got out. Shanaka and Karunaratne then put on 66 together, but the runs didn’t come fast enough, and the partnership was not sufficiently substantial.Zimbabwe’s own innings had been, like it was on Sunday, a group project in which a middle-order left-hander took the lead. This time, it was captain Ervine that played the defining knock. He put the bad legside balls away to begin his innings, and then settled into a diet of frequent singles and twos into the outfield, rarely missing the opportunity for a risk-free run. He and Williams ensured Zimbabwe’s run rate skipped along at more than 5.5 an over through the course of their big partnership, with Ervine reaching his fifty off the 56th ball he faced.Later, Raza played a vital innings too. He hit a six off the sixth ball he faced, in the 37th over, and did not let his strike rate dip below fifty for the majority of his innings, getting to his half-century off the 41st ball he faced.Zimbabwe had rolled up to the 40th over on 232 for 4, and Sri Lanka would perhaps reflect that from that position, they had done well to keep the opposition to 70 runs in the last 10 overs. But when Zimbabwe’s quicks made those early strikes, the outlook of the the match changed dramatically.

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

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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.

Captains Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb spoke to the media ahead of the five-day final starting on Thursday

Tristan Lavalette30-Mar-2022As Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb posed for the cameras, the iconic Sheffield Shield nestled between the skippers made for a magnificent sight in front of the WACA’s famous scoreboard.After a 23-year drought, the burly trophy was back on Western Australian turf but not yet in the WACA’s possession, reinforced by a Cricket Australia official whisking the Shield away when the media event on Wednesday ended.A desperate Western Australia will be aiming to end their curse when they host Victoria in the five-day Sheffield Shield final starting on Thursday. Perhaps no one has endured the drought more than 38-year-old Marsh, who made his first-class debut for Western Australia in 2000-01 – just two seasons after Tom Moody held aloft the Shield at the Gabba after repeating as champions.Ever since those glory days – that 1998-99 winning team featured Adam Gilchrist, Mike Hussey, Simon Katich and Damien Martyn – Western Australia have mostly been mired near the bottom of the Shield competition. Even Justin Langer, who helped fuel the Perth Scorchers into a BBL powerhouse, was unable to deliver a title with Western Australia falling short in consecutive Shield finals in 2013-14 and 2014-15 during his coaching tenure.”I wouldn’t say it’s been a curse,” Marsh said. “It’s been a long time between drinks. Probably three years ago when I knew my Australian days were over, I made a real conscious effort to come back here and try to be part of something like tomorrow.”Western Australia enter as warm favourites after securing their first home final since 1997-98 with a thumping innings and 51 run victory over Victoria at the WACA last week. They have a good blend of youth and experience with batter Hilton Cartwright in aggressive form, while their pace attack is varied and boasts left-arm quick Joel Paris and speedster Lance Morris who combined for 10 wickets as Victoria crumbled for 114 and 172.Marsh said their final eleven hadn’t been confirmed but hinted at it remaining unchanged meaning 17-year-old Teague Wyllie, who starred at the recent Under-19 World Cup, would hold his place after making 42 in the middle order in his first-class debut.”He’s pretty lucky, I’ve waited 20 years to play in a home Shield final and he’s playing one in his second game,” Marsh said. “It’s a great story. He’s played so well over the last 18 months and thoroughly deserves his opportunity and I’m really excited for him.”Victoria have received a boost with the inclusion of Ashes hero Scott Boland•Getty Images

While Marsh remained unsure if this would be the swansong of his long first-class cricket, which netted six tons in 38 Tests, he remained focused on Western Australia’s bid for a trifecta of titles after winning the Marsh Cup and Scorchers triumphed in the BBL.”This would certainly cap it off but there is a lot of hard work and we are looking forward to giving it a big shake in front of family, friends and fans,” he said.While anticipation is building internally, the final is a relatively low-key affair in Perth amid Australian football season heightened by the suffocating build-up of the marquee local AFL fixture between crosstown rivals West Coast and Fremantle. Even so, Marsh hoped for a strong turnout at the WACA.”Hopefully we get a big crowd and the supporters can get right behind us,” he said.Hoping to spoil the party, Victoria – who last won the Shield in 2018-19 – boast a strong top order through newly joint player of the season Travis Dean, Will Pucovski, Nic Maddinson and Handscomb.But they’ve been left shorthanded with opener Marcus Harris forced out due to testing positive to Covid-19 on his return from the Test tour of Pakistan. Harris joins veteran James Pattinson on the sidelines after the former Test quick was ruled out with a calf injury.Victoria, however, received a much-needed boost with the inclusion of Ashes hero Scott Boland, who will return to the field after being unused during the Pakistan Test series.”I’m sure (Boland) has trained the house down in Pakistan and done all the workloads,” Handscomb said. “Scotty knows his body well and what he needs to do, so he’ll be ready tomorrow.”With the final set to be played in humid and overcast conditions throughout, Boland looms as a major handful on the WACA surface although Handscomb preferred sticking with Victoria’s underdog tag. “The conditions are probably going to suit WA because it’s their home ground,” he said.”We had a good run last week so we have an understanding of what we are going to get. Hopefully we will learn from that and be better for it.”Western Australia (possible): 1 Cameron Bancroft, 2 Sam Whiteman, 3 Shaun Marsh (capt), 4 Hilton Cartwright, 5 Teague Wyllie, 6 Josh Philippe (wk), 7 Aaron Hardie, 8 Joel Paris, 9 Matthew Kelly, 10 Corey Rocchiccioli, 11 Lance MorrisVictoria (possible): 1 Will Pucovski, 2 Travis Dean, 3 Peter Handscomb (capt), 4 Nic Maddinson, 5 Matt Short, 6 Jono Merlo, 7 Sam Harper (wk), 8 Will Sutherland, 9 Scott Boland, 10 Mitch Perry, 11 Jon Holland

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