An unbroken third-wicket stand of 109 between Brian Chari and Craig Ervine led Zimbabwe’s recovery after tons from Dhananjaya de Silva and Asela Gunaratne hauled Sri Lanka to 504

The Report by Shashank Kishore07-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrian Chari’s maiden Test fifty led Zimbabwe’s revival late on the second day•Associated Press

An amateurish approach to spin upfront was somewhat covered up by Craig Ervine and Brian Chari, who hit unbeaten half-centuries, to lead Zimbabwe’s recovery from an early wobble. They closed the second day of the second Test in Harare at 126 for 2, still 378 runs adrift of Sri Lanka’s 504.Ervine and Chari’s unbroken 109-run stand for the third wicket stood out on a day in which most of the wickets were brought about by faulty shot selection, rather than demons in the pitch. Even so, Sri Lanka remained in control, having been powered by centuries from Dhananjaya de Silva and Asela Gunaratne.Rangana Herath, Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain, triggered what could have been a procession when he reduced Zimbabwe to 17 for 2. Opening the bowling, he beat Tino Mawoyo with drift to have him lbw. Then he dismissed Hamilton Masakadza, Zimbabwe’s most experienced batsman, with a delivery that drew him forward into a feeble push that resulted in an edge to slip. It could have been 26 for 3, had Chari not made successful use of the Decision Review System, trialled for the first time in Zimbabwe.Having been given out lbw playing forward to an arm-ball that struck him in front of off stump, Chari survived as replays pointed to a faint inside edge, and Ian Gould’s on-field decision was overturned. Zimbabwe had also benefitted from the prudent use of DRS when Chari survived a review in the third over after being given out by umpire Simon Fry. This time, replays showed the ball would have missed the stumps.All this came after flirting with a hit-out approach against Herath. He slog-swept his first ball for six, becoming the first Zimbabwe player to do so in Tests. Then got a thick edge past slip for four. The third shot, easily the best of the lot, was lofted inside-out with the spin, over mid-off. But, as the innings progressed and he had the calmness of Ervine at the other end, Chari mellowed down to play copybook cricket for the better part of the next 90 minutes. With a half-century in sight, he slog swept Herath boldly for his second six to bring up the landmark, his first in Tests.Ervine, meanwhile, adopted a more conventional approach, getting outside the line of the stumps and sweeping Herath with the spin, one such fierce hit behind square bringing up his half-century. By stumps, the two had steered Zimbabwe to 179 runs short of avoiding the follow-on.Things could have been much better for Zimbabwe had they not allowed Sri Lanka’s middle order to stage a robust recovery from an overnight score of 290 for 5. Contributions from the lower order, none more significant than Gunaratne’s 116, steered Sri Lanka to a formidable 500-plus first-innings score. Playing in only his second Test, Gunaratne was left with the unenviable task of marshalling No. 11 Lahiru Kumara, who had made a golden duck on debut last week, in his quest to get to a maiden Test ton.Kumara played his part, dead-batting the fast bowlers for over a dozen deliveries to give Gunaratne his chance. Gunaratne brought up the century with a loft that just about eluded mid-off, and then threw his arms up to acknowledge the applause of his team-mates in the change room. In the context of the match, it was a significant knock considering that he came in to bat with Sri Lanka not entirely safe at 255 for 5. By following up his debut half-century with a century, he may have given the team management a healthy selection dilemma for the Test series in South Africa next month.Dhananjaya, on 100 overnight, added 27 before chipping a low return catch to Graeme Cremer. Dilruwan Perera then made a cameo 34, in which he took a liking to the Zimbabwe captain, before being foxed by a flipper. Herath played his typically unorthodox sweeps and pulls. All this added to Zimbabwe’s frustration by keeping them in the field for much longer than they would have hoped for. It also exposed the wide gulf in experience between the two sides, which could yet decide which way this Test is headed.

Trevor Bayliss has suggested he will take a more prominent role in the England dressing room over the final two Tests of the series against India

George Dobell06-Dec-2016Trevor Bayliss has suggested he will take a more prominent role in the England dressing room over the final two Tests of the series against India.Bayliss, England’s head coach, has generally been happy to leave team talks to the captain, Alastair Cook. But he is concerned by what he sees as England’s passive cricket in the last couple of Tests and is keen to encourage the batsmen to play what he sees as the “positive” cricket they demonstrated at the start of the series.While it would be stretching a point to suggest that minor change of approach indicates a rift with Cook, it does seem fair to conclude that Bayliss wants to make certain the team are in no doubt about the way he wants them to play.England scored at well over three an over in the drawn match Rajkot (3.36 in the first innings and 3.44 in the second). But then, in the second innings of the second Test in Visakhapatnam, Cook set the tone by taking 50 overs to put on an opening stand of 75 with Haseeb Hameed as England attempted to bat for the best part of five sessions to seal a draw.But Bayliss clearly feels most of the team’s batsmen are at their best when they are given a clear license to attack and suggested that some indecision had led to their failures in the Mohali Test.”The first three innings of this series we had a nice positive approach to the game and with our mental approach,” Bayliss said. “Probably the last three innings we have got away from that a little bit.”If you look at the batters who scored runs in the first three innings of the Test series they were proactive, trying to be positive which means they will defend well. When the opportunity comes we leave and defend well but when opportunity comes along to attack we take them.”In the last three innings we have changed that mindset so it is more along the lines of survival. And when some of our naturally more positive players try to play that way they were in two minds.”I thought in the last innings of the last Test we gifted them some wickets when I thought we looked to be in two minds. We looked like we were trying to go over the top once or twice but did not really go through with it which meant we were in two minds over whether it was right approach or not.”The message to the guys in last two Tests will be to approach it a bit more like we did in the first Test and maybe the first innings of the second Test when Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes got together. That is how they played and it suits the way we played. If you do that it gives you opportunity to put pressure on the opposition. If you don’t do that they put pressure on you, which is what happened in the last two Tests.”Asked whether the captain would be passing that message on to the team, Bayliss replied: “It will be up to me to play a role there. Probably over the last few series Cooky has taken on more of a role there, which has been great. But I think for the coming couple of Tests it is time I stepped up to the mark to just remind them of how we have played when we have played well.”Bayliss also admitted he had never seen Keaton Jennings bat, but will encourage him to play his own way if, as expected, he opens the batting in the fourth Test.”I’ve not seen him bat,” Bayliss said. “I saw Haseeb Hameed bat once, when he got 50, but I have not seen Jennings at all.”It was said the two openers play a defensive role. I don’t see that. To me if they play their natural game they are being positive. If that means they have not got quite as many shots as the other guys that does not mean they are not playing positively. If each individual does that in their own way then it gives you the best opportunity to score runs. The same message will be to Keaton as well. You have been successful playing in a particular way there is no reason to change that.”

Joe Root is expected to be available for the opening ODI of the series between England and India after missing the start of the tour to witness the birth of his first child

George Dobell09-Jan-20171:10

Root will be back in time for the first ODI – Morgan

Joe Root is expected to be available for the opening ODI of the series between England and India after missing the start of the tour to witness the birth of his first child.Root, England’s highest rated ODI batsman (he is currently No. 7 in the ICC’s rankings), is expected to fly to India on Wednesday (January 11) having been by his partner’s side as she gave birth to their son. The rest of the squad flew to India on January 5, which was the baby’s due date.England play two warm-up matches in Mumbai on January 10 and 12 before the first ODI in Pune on January 15. While Root’s plans have not been confirmed, the ECB hope he will be able to play in that second warm-up game and anticipate him being available for the first ODI.Speaking at the Brabourne Stadium ahead of Tuesday’s fixture, England’s one-day captain, Eoin Morgan, confirmed that the plan was for Root to slot back into the starting line-up at the earliest opportunity, adding that England’s itinerary in the coming weeks is sufficiently light to allow him plenty of time off before English season begins.”Joe is probably one of three players first on the list to be rested if there is an opportunity,” Morgan said. “We feel certainty given that this is a very short series and we have three weeks at home before the [tour of] West Indies, which is a bit of a light load of a series as well.”We have about two-and-a-half weeks to play three or four games, and then the lead into our summer is pretty casual really, when you look at the international calendar and the opportunity for him to rest.”I think the weigh-up for is international cricket over domestic cricket – the last thing we want to do is rest Joe in an international game and let him go back and play cricket for Yorkshire, feeling that pressure to play cricket for Yorkshire. So, there is always a debate between both, and we feel at the moment there is enough rest in between here and the Champions Trophy for him to feel fresh come the start of June.”Nevertheless, the lack of time available for Root to spend with his new family is symptomatic of the pressures created by England’s busy schedule. Alastair Cook faced a similar journey in October when he flew back to England from Bangladesh to witness the birth of his second child, but was only able to spend a few hours with his family before re-joining the tour in time for the first Test.England’s schedule once the English summer gets fully underway is one of the most intense of all time – they depart for Australia and New Zealand in October and, for those playing all formats, will not return until April – therefore such journeys are likely to become the norm.

Andre Russell is praying and hoping that the independent anti-doping tribunal does not ban him for missing out on filing his whereabouts on three occasions in 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2017Andre Russell is praying and hoping that the independent anti-doping tribunal does not ban him for missing out on filing his whereabouts on three occasions in 2015. The three-member tribunal will deliver the verdict in Kingston on Tuesday.If found guilty, Russell could face a maximum ban of up to two years under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules. Missing three tests in 12-month period amounts to a failed dope test under the WADA guidelines.”It’s been stressing and hard playing cricket and all that’s in the back of your head. But at the end of the day you have to do what you have to do,” Russell told . “It’s like a big cloud over my head. If I get a ban then definitely I’m out of cricket [during the period of the suspension]; I mean all formats. So I’d just love to know I’m back and I can represent Jamaica Tallawahs, West Indies, and all the other teams I play for in the world.”Honestly, I’m being positive and I haven’t been thinking about anything else that I want to do apart from playing cricket; doing what I love. I have so many fans out there and they would be disappointed, just as I would be. I just want to remain positive at the moment. I think I can [avoid a suspension] with the help of God; I think it’s out of my control, so I just have to wait on what happens on Tuesday.”In March 2016, Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) pressed a legal charge against Russell for failing to provide his whereabouts between January and July 2015. According to JADCO Russell had failed to file his whereabouts on January 1, July 1 and July 25 that year despite several reminders over email, phone and letters.In his defence, Russell told the tribunal that he had not been properly trained to file the whereabouts, and that he had authorised his agent and travel agent to file his whereabouts since he was busy with cricket commitments.The three-member tribunal comprising Hugh Faulkner, Dr Marjorie Vassell and Dixeth Palmer, a former Jamaica cricketer, has been deliberating on the case for a long time and even delayed the original verdict date last December.Russell, who is recovering from a left hamstring injury which forced him out midway through the Big Bash League in Australia earlier this month, tested his fitness last Saturday when he turned to play a league game for St Catherine’s Cricket Club. He ended up with three wickets which played a role in his team’s victory.Last July, while playing for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League, Russell had said it had been “depressing” for him to carry on playing while the hearings were on. Ahead of the hearing, he hoped his prayers would be answered.”As I said in the team meeting to the guys, I just would love for them to say a prayer for me, and I’ve been praying for myself as well,” he said. “I have faith (in) the work that my lawyers put out… I think they summed up things very well.”

Yuvraj Singh, who struck his first ODI hundred since the 2011 World Cup, savoured his emotional knock against England in Cuttack

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-20171:59

Yuvraj admits he had doubts about his international career

Yuvraj Singh, who spent three years out of India’s ODI side, marked his return with his career-best score – 150 off 127 balls – in his 295th ODI, against England in Cuttack. Once he reached his century – his first since the 2011 World Cup in India, where he was Man of the Tournament – Yuvraj thumped his chest and grew emotional. The 35-year-old pressed on to make 150, before edging behind in the 43rd over. His knock was instrumental in launching India from 25 for 3 to 381 for 6, and Yuvraj rated it as probably one of his best.”Probably, one of my best – my highest score in ODIs,” Yuvraj told Star Sports. “The last time I got a hundred was the 2011 World Cup; I am pretty happy that I played a good innings.”I just tried to get a partnership. They [England] bowled really well upfront and we just wanted to rotate the strike and get into the rhythm, and take our time. There was a lot of time. I just wanted to play down the ground and not take many risks.”Yuvraj saw off Chris Woakes’ threatening opening burst (5-3-14-3) and rebuilt the innings with MS Dhoni before unfurling a gallery of shots, including the lofted drive over long-off and the pick-up flick over midwicket. Yuvraj credited his touch to a prolific run in the Ranji Trophy: he scored 672 runs in eight innings at 84, including a career-best 260 for Punjab against Baroda at Feroz Shah Kotla in October last year.”I think [in] the whole domestic season I had been batting well,” Yuvraj said. “I have been hitting the ball well. I have worked hard on my fitness and my batting. Even in the last game I was hitting the ball well. I knew if it’s my day… I just told Sanjay Bangar the way I’m hitting the ball I think I am going to score big. Whatever the stage is, we try to be positive, that’s the reason why me and Mahi were able to get the rhythm going.”Yuvraj Singh wound the clock back with a stylish century•Associated Press

Yuvraj lauded his former captain Dhoni with whom he added 256 in 38.2 overs for the fourth wicket. Ahead of the series, Yuvraj had said he was looking forward to “batting fearlessly” with a freed-up Dhoni, and on Thursday he reiterated that Dhoni was still a key cog in the middle order, despite relinquishing the limited-overs captaincy.”He [Dhoni] played a great innings,” Yuvraj said. “He is the most experienced middle-order batsman in the team. He is also a sensational captain. He was more free today, the way he was batting. I have always said when Mahi is not captaining he is more free and you saw the result today.”Later, at the post-match press conference, Yuvraj elaborated on how the pair had gone about building the partnership: “We two were the most experienced players in the team. He realised that I was getting boundaries. He was just there rotating the strike and our first target was to make a 50-run partnership. After that we wanted to take our partnership further to 100 runs.”Yuvraj also admitted there was a time after his battle with cancer where he thought “whether he should continue or not”.”I came back after recovering from cancer, the first two-three years were very hard,” he said. “I had to work hard on my fitness and I was in and out of the team. I was not able to get a permanent spot. There was a time when I was wondering whether to continue or not to continue. Never giving up is my theory. I knew time will change.”I don’t think about who’s reacting to what nor do I read newspapers. I don’t watch TV too. I try to focus on my game and prove a point to myself that I’m still good enough for international cricket.”

South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir has claimed the top spot in the ODI rankings for bowlers, to go with his No. 1 rank in T20 internationals

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-20170:45

Tahir tops ODI rankings for bowlers for the third time

South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir has claimed the top spot in the ODI rankings for bowlers, to go with his No. 1 rank in T20 internationals. South Africa have also overtaken Australia to become the No. 1 ranked ODI team after their 5-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka at home.Tahir passed New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult and West Indies spinner Sunil Narine in the ODI charts, after claiming ten wickets at 20 apiece against Sri Lanka. Kagiso Rabada, at No. 7, is the only other South African bowler in the top ten.South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis also achieved a career-high rank in ODIs – climbing seven places to No. 4 – after making 410 runs in five innings against Sri Lanka, at an average of 102 and strike rate of 105. His team-mates Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla are at No. 5 and 7, while AB de Villiers is at No. 2.After taking a 3-0 lead in the series against Sri Lanka, South Africa were in with a chance of taking the No. 1 spot from Australia because Aaron finch’s side lost the Chappell-Hadlee Series 0-2 in New Zealand.. AB de Villiers’s team duly went on to complete the 5-0 result.

New Zealand seamer Tim Southee has been ruled out of the third Test against South Africa in Hamilton due to a hamstring injury he sustained in the hosts’ eight wicket-loss in Wellington

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton23-Mar-20171:15

Moonda: Depleted New Zealand left with plenty of problems

New Zealand have suffered a third major injury blow in three Tests with news that vice-captain Tim Southee has been ruled out of the Hamilton match with a hamstring tear. Although only a grade one tear, Southee will not be risked in an attack that is still waiting on confirmation of whether Trent Boult, who sat out the Wellington Test with an upper leg injury, will be able to lead it. At the other end of the line-up, New Zealand are without their most experienced batsman Ross Taylor, who suffered a calf tear in the first Test and has not been able to participate in the remaining two.Southee’s absence leaves New Zealand with four other seam options: Neil Wagner, Matt Henry, who is yet to play in the series, and allrounders Colin de Grandhomme and Jimmy Neesham. It is likely New Zealand will choose between three of the quartet to feature in an attack that is set to include both specialist spinners.Jeetan Patel and Mitchell Santner are the two slower bowlers in the New Zealand squad and both played in the first Test in Dunedin, at the expense of Southee, on a slow, low surface. The Hamilton one is set to be similar, although it is also expected to take some turn. With New Zealand deciding not to add legspinner Ish Sodhi to their squad, the two tweakers will likely be in the starting XI.This is Southee’s second injury of the summer. In September, he was ruled out of the three-Test series in India after an ankle ligament strain. He went on to play the four home Tests against Pakistan and Bangladesh, against whom he picked up his 200th Test wicket, before sitting out the first Test against South Africa in Dunedin and being brought back for the second. There is no word on whether the injury will affect Southee’s participation in the IPL, which starts on April 5.Since Boult’s Test debut in December 2011, New Zealand have played only three matches without both Boult and Southee, none of which the side could win.South Africa have an injury concern of their own. Quinton de Kock suffered damage to a tendon on his right index finger and could need up to six weeks on the sidelines. A late call will be taken on de Kock’s availability on Friday afternoon.

Heather Knight, England women’s captain, has suffered a stress fracture in her left foot that is expected to rule her out for five-to-six weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2017England have suffered a blow ahead of the Women’s World Cup with the news that their captain, Heather Knight, has suffered a stress fracture in her left foot and is expected to be out for five-to-six weeks.Knight should be fit to return for the tournament, which starts in seven weeks’ time on June 24 with England playing India, but the injury could hamper her preparations. She will wear a protective boot for the first stage of her recovery, before returning to light training, with a goal of being ready for England’s World Cup warm-up match against Sri Lanka on June 19.England have been focused on this tournament since Knight was appointed as Charlotte Edwards’ replacement at the start of last summer. Speaking at the unveiling of England’s new kit on Tuesday, she was excited about the challenge of trying to win a global trophy for the first time since the 2009 Women’s World T20.”It’s been a long time coming, but it’s going to come round pretty quick now, and what a summer it’s hopefully going to be,” Knight said. “There’s nothing better than a home World Cup and being able to captain in it, so as a team we are pretty excited.”Knight and the coach, Mark Robinson, have enjoyed a successful 12 months working together, with four limited-overs series wins from four, and England will go into the Women’s World Cup ranked as the No. 2 ODI side in the world, behind reigning champions, Australia.However, England’s recent record in global tournaments has not been impressive, despite the advent of professionalism in 2014, and Robinson has suggested they still have improvements to make. The injury to Knight – whose all-round importance is emphasised by her averaging 38.75 with the bat and 19.00 with the ball as captain – is particularly unwelcome ahead of a competition she believes will be the “most scrutinised ever” for the women’s game.Heather Knight has led England to four series wins from four since being appointed captain•Getty Images

“It’s a massive opportunity for women’s cricket to put the sport out there and show how far the game’s come, and I think it’s going to be the most publicised and scrutinised World Cup ever,” she said. “As a team we are in a good place for that. It’s going to be slightly alien I think, the things we’ll come across, but we’ve worked hard in the last year to be ready for that added pressure and expectation, [and] that’s a good thing for our sport.”A positive for England in recent days has been the return to action of wicketkeeper-batsman Sarah Taylor, after almost a year away from the game, and Knight was encouraged by her progress and potential World Cup availability.”She’s done massively well to make that trip to Abu Dhabi and was involved in a lot more than we thought she would be. Seeing her back on a cricket pitch was really brilliant. She would still walk into any team in the world and we’d love to have her. She’s taking it one step at a time. The signs are positive, and we’ll see how it goes leading up to the World Cup”It’s brilliant that it is becoming easier to talk about [mental health], it’s made it a lot easier for a number of people. To see Sarah addressing those issues is good to see, it puts cricket in perspective a little bit. Mental health, and health in general, is a lot more important.”

The 36-year old former South Africa opener has relinquished captaincy of Glamorgan in four-day cricket, but will continue to lead them in T20s until his retirement

Firdose Moonda24-May-2017Former South African Test opener Jacques Rudolph will retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the 2017 English season. The 36-year old has stepped down as four-day captain for Glamorgan with immediate effect, but will continue leading the T20 side until his retirement.”The time feels right to call an end to my playing career,” Rudolph said. “I have been incredibly fortunate to have enjoyed playing the game I love for the last 20 years. But at the end of this summer it will be time to focus on a new venture away from cricket and spend more time with my young family.”Rudolph, a product of the famed Afrikaans Hoer Seunskool, made his first-class debut twenty seasons ago in the 1997-98 summer. He played 48 Tests in two stints – the first 35 came between 2003 and 2006 and the remaining 13 between 2011 and 2012 – because he had signed a Kolpak deal with Yorkshire in 2007.By scoring 1000 runs or more in his first four seasons with the county, Rudolph found his way back into the South African team. But his second coming yielded only one Test century and he was dropped in November 2012. Rudolph then turned his attention to playing franchise cricket for the Titans and eventually called time on his South Africa career after the 2015-16 season.Rudolph has been with Glamorgan since 2014 and has captained them for the last two seasons. In 2017, he scored 319 runs in five first-class matches at 35.44 and 305 runs in eight one-day matches at 38.12. The T20 competition he will lead Glamorgan in begins on July 7. While Rudolph has not detailed what life after cricket holds, he has interest in a game farm with fellow South African batsman Boeta Dippenaar.With Rudolph standing down, Glamorgan have given the Championship captaincy to their 35-year-old Australian seamer Michael Hogan until the end of the season.

Dougie Brown, the former England and Scotland allrounder, has been named coach of UAE

ESPNcricinfo staff28-May-2017Dougie Brown, the former England and Scotland allrounder, has been named coach of UAE. He will begin working with the team full-time on June 1, leading up to a limited-overs tour of the Netherlands in mid-July.Earlier this year, Brown had worked with UAE over a three-month spell as interim coach. UAE had been without a full-time coach since former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed resigned from the post in April 2016.Brown, who played 25 ODIs and two T20Is in an international career spanning a decade from 1997 to 2007, had also previously overseen Netherlands, during the Desert T20 tournament in the UAE in January. Before that, he had worked as English county Warwickshire’s director of cricket, and the club won the domestic one-day cup during his time in charge.Waleed Bukhatir, a member of the Emirates Cricket Board Member and UAE’s chief selector said: “Dougie’s influence with and impact on the players has been evident through their recent form and commitment, and we look forward to watching them continue this upward curve under his guidance.”Brown said he hoped to build on the strides he made during his three-month stint with the team. “We have had an outstanding three months and I continue to be impressed with both individual and team performances,” he said. “I relish the opportunity to further develop the team culture and reinforce our style of play.”