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The open stance was there, and so was the grit, as Tagenarine played a knock reminiscent of Shivnarine’s first innings in Australia

Alex Malcolm02-Dec-2022Cricket fans have been chasing nostalgia in one of the most low-key Australia West Indies Test series in memory, and they might have got some in the form of Tagenarine Chanderpaul.The son of a gun made a half-century on debut in Perth, and the familiarity of his fight, his technique, and his general presence at the crease left an impression on the locals as he looks set to forge an impressive Test career.Related

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There were parallels to his father’s first Test innings in Australia in 1996, when Shivnarine made 82 off 230 deliveries. Tagenarine batted after watching Australia pile up 598 in five sessions of batting at Perth Stadium, just as Shivnarine had watched Australia pile up 479 in five sessions at the Gabba.But unlike his father who batted at No. 5 in that Brisbane Test, Tagenarine had to walk straight back out to bat with captain Kraigg Brathwaite and negotiate Australia’s attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon. Incredibly, Starc and Lyon had both bowled to his father in Test cricket in 2012 and dismissed him once each.Tagenarine was able to survive on the second night, and did so with aplomb, showcasing bravery and skill. He got off the mark with a streaky outside edge through a vacant fourth slip first ball. But thereafter he looked every bit a Test-match cricketer.He copped a nasty blow in the groin that floored him and left the fans in the stadium feeling his pain. He contorted himself backward into an extraordinary limbo position as he took another blow to the body. He was fortunate to survive an umpire’s call lbw decision that went his way off Starc, as he was squared up deep in the crease.Tagenarine Chanderpaul contorts himself into an extraordinary position against a short ball•Getty Images and Cricket AustraliaBut he never took a backward step, with that familiar, open Chanderpaul stance, getting into line time and again, withdrawing the bat inside the line late to avoid nicking anything that nipped off the seam.As Australia’s quicks pushed fuller he punched them down the ground. When Cummins banged in short, he swiveled inside the line and pulled him high into the stands over fine leg, bringing back memories of his father hooking a Brett Lee bumper in the same fashion during his 69-ball century in Georgetown in 2003.He finished the second day unbeaten on 47 from 73 balls with six fours and a six to steer West Indies to close without loss after spending nearly two days in the field chasing leather. His performance came as no shock to his captain, who has now batted with both Chanderpauls in Test cricket.”He’s a fighter so it isn’t surprising. It was good to see,” Brathwaite said on the second night. “I knew for a while playing against him that he always has fight, for he always takes his time and bats long periods. No surprise at all. I think he has a bright future for the West Indies.”He’s going to be special. He’s going do a great job. I look forward to batting with him for many years to come.”The pair weren’t able to bat for long on the third morning. Chanderpaul edged Hazlewood along the ground through fourth slip to bring up a half-century on Test debut, matching his father’s feat from 1994.But he fell next ball, edging a superb delivery from Hazlewood to slip. It will be difficult for the 26-year-old late bloomer to match his father’s hall-of-fame Test career, particularly in an age when West Indies are starved of Test cricket compared to the days of old. But the Chanderpaul name and technique live on in Test cricket and look set to stay for a while yet.

Tailormade home conditions and the Impact Player rule could make MishiMania a thing this season

Sidharth Monga07-Apr-2023The start of the IPL usually coincides with the end of the WrestleMania season. This is the time WWE brings out the veterans of pro wrestling, and usually books them in spots where they come out looking good. It just creates a warm, fuzzy feel around the edgier product. And nostalgia never doesn’t sell.In that regard, the IPL is cricket’s WrestleMania. MS Dhoni is the part-timer who has moved in years and on to Hollywood, but has a few big matches left in him. There are enough legends in the back rooms to spark nostalgia. There are Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and until last year, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard.Still, nothing screams WrestleMania season more than Amit Mishra turning up at 40 – and looking every bit 40 – and ripping big legbreaks and wrong’uns and returning figures of 4-0-23-2 with two overs bowled at the death.Related

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This, though, is cricket. An unscripted sport. Not professional wrestling where the promoters create matches and stipulations where the legends – code for oldies – can hang in with young pro wrestlers. If the legend is struggling, they can call an audible and finish early. Where’s that option in cricket, you are no doubt asking.The IPL in its current form, though, can make it possible. Under the Impact Player regulation, Mishra doesn’t have to be on the field for the length of the match. It creates space for super specialists, who come in, execute their primary skill, and don’t have to bother about fielding and the other skill. Mishra, though, stayed on just long enough to pull off a diving catch. The rest of the greatest hits were with the ball.Also making it possible for Mishra to play is Lucknow Super Giants’ shrewd premiere of the future of home advantage. For their last home match, they had rolled out a quick red-soil pitch against Delhi Capitals, who were still awaiting Anrich Nortje’s arrival. Against a pace-heavy Sunrisers Hyderabad, who let go of Rashid Khan before the 2022 season, Super Giants chose to play on the black soil that famously produced a sub-100 thriller not long ago.Keep an eye out for the pitches Super Giants play their remaining five home games on.2:53

Did SRH make best use of their Impact Player?

We are not complaining. We got to see Mishra playing on the telly for the first time since April 2021. He doesn’t play first-class or List A cricket anymore. He turns up for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy to keep himself available for the IPL, but had no takers last year. This pitch and the Impact Player regulation gave him a comeback, and his fifth IPL team. He must have resisted the “legends leagues” money just for this one opportunity.Make no mistake, Mishra is a legend of the IPL. He is its fourth-highest wicket-taker, he has taken three hat-tricks, and has gone at only 7.33 an over. He didn’t walk out to the kind of pop returning wrestling legends get, but he did come out with an experimental look: long hair, thick beard, thicker moustache. You would have been forgiven for thinking: here’s the neighbourhood bully who can’t run around but stands and brutalises bowlers with boundaries.Except that Mishra bowls. And there is nothing brutal about what he does. Introduced in the 13th over, the second ball he bowled – the first to a right-hand batter – spun past Rahul Tripathi. Those supple wrists were imparting the revs just fine. You may as well have had Michael Cole screaming “vintage Amit Mishra” into his microphone.

It will take only a particular set of circumstances for Mishra to keep playing, but if ever there was a time for it to happen, the first year of the Impact Player rule and a team that can produce tailored conditions for its home games is it.

Jokes aside, there was an unscripted contest on. Mishra had to prove he was fit for purpose. Just the greatest hits wouldn’t do. To the left-hand batter, he bowled a restrictive trajectory, and the slider and the wrong’un. He tried to get out of overs with flatter deliveries last ball. And then he also bluffed with a really slow legbreak to end the 17th. He even put in a full-length dive to make up for his slow early movement to take a catch at short third.In the 19th came two wickets, as Mishra beat Washington Sundar off the track and Adil Rashid in the air. There aren’t many warmer and fuzzier feelings in T20 cricket than Mishra slowing it down and bowling orthodox, traditional, hard-spun legbreaks when spinners are losing out on selection because they are too slow in the air. He then went off as soon as he completed his allotment of overs, which might happen earlier in future games now that Mishra has dispelled fears of ring rust.It will take only a particular set of circumstances for Mishra to keep playing, but if ever there was a time for it to happen, the first year of the Impact Player rule and a team that can produce tailored conditions for its home games is it. Could it be? Could it just be MishiMania this year?

One bounced batters out, the other had them playing and missing in a typically crafty showing – India’s selectors will be a pleased lot as they firm up plans for bigger challenges ahead

Shashank Kishore20-Aug-2023In today’s day and age of myriad sponsor awards, one for the smoothest bowling action seems to be an obvious miss. If one were to be instituted, Prasidh Krishna will be a front-runner to snap it up. Like he is for a spot in India’s Asia Cup squad which will be announced on Monday in New Delhi, a squad which will in all likelihood also be India’s World Cup squad.After making a whirring first impression on Friday upon return after a year out, injury-ravaged, repaired and realigned Prasidh was back at it again on Sunday, with the old vigour and verve. His 2 for 32 in the series opener served as a perfect prelude to the chin music he inflicted on a better batting deck and under sunny skies today. He was generating pace, getting balls to rear up awkwardly and catching batters on the hop, all without seemingly making it look like he was huffing in.Unlike Jasprit Bumrah, who builds momentum only in his final few strides before delivery, Prasidh is like a steam engine who chugs in, almost robot-like, before he eases into a silky-smooth load up and release. It’s sleek, a neatly contained force that must make batters feel like he’s been warming up for hours elsewhere before coming on.Related

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Paul Stirling must have definitely felt that way when he was snuffed out by a ripper. Imagine knowing what’s coming and what you want to do and yet being unable to have any control over what ensues. That’s how Stirling must have felt when he was all tangled up and beaten for pace as a meek top-edged pull landed in Arshdeep Singh’s hands at fine leg.It was a shoulder-high short-ball that Stirling made the mistake of trying to fetch from outside off. A split-second’s indecision set Ireland back early in a tall chase. Their powerplay enforcer, their most-accomplished batter, among the most experienced across both XIs, was taken out for a four-ball duck.Lorcan Tucker, who replaced Stirling, also got an early taste of this fire when he was late on the pull, the ball lobbing off the splice to mid-on for a three-ball duck in the same over. It was a giant blow to Ireland’s aspirations of upsetting India. It was also a ringing endorsement of Prasidh’s rhythm and form upon return from injury.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe rest of Prasidh’s evening on the field wasn’t quite as thrilling as his opening burst, but there was enough to tick off a box full of markers the selectors and team management would’ve been looking for. Prasidh effortlessly cranked up pace in his second over, hitting upwards of 140 clicks regularly, and also narrowly missed out on a third wicket when Andy Balbirnie’s attempted short-arm jab eluded Ruturaj Gaikwad at extra cover.Balbirnie and Mark Adair would later take the challenge to Prasidh by muscling him over the ropes for three sixes between them in his third and fourth overs – the 15th and 19th of the innings respectively – but by then the asking rate had already spiralled beyond reach. Prasidh finished with 2 for 29 from his four overs and, to go with his two scalps from Friday, he must have been satisfied overall.The other key piece in India’s fast-bowling jigsaw, Bumrah, had a mellower outing. But there were shades of his mastery in his very first delivery when he beat Balbirnie with a ripper that angled in and deviated ever-so-slightly to whizz past a feeble forward push. In the same over, there was also wicked inward movement. Even though it drifted away for five wides, it kept the batters honest, in that they knew he was whizzing it both ways.Bumrah mixed these variations with a mean bouncer, slower length balls later on with batters swinging for the hills, and toe-crushers that had batters scrambling. Most importantly, Bumrah walked the talk, in that, like he had said ahead of the series, at no stage did it appear like he was holding back. And he spoke on the same lines at the post-match presentation today, saying he would not let the immense expectations all around get to him.”Feeling good. Today, I could run in and bowl a little faster,” Bumrah said. “If you play with the baggage of expectation, you are going to be under pressure. You have to keep those expectations aside. You are not doing yourself 100% justice if you are playing with so many expectations. You have to learn to manage the expectations and keep it on the side.”Happy to be back and couldn’t have asked for anything more.”Bumrah’s first strike came in the 17th over, which began with Ireland needing 62 off 24. Prime territory for the batters to go after the bowling you’d think, but he went for just four runs in the over, not a boundary conceded. He did not concede one all day, in fact, and he closed out the game with a particularly mean final over that ended with a dipping slower ball that beat Josh Little to wrap up a wicket maiden, figures of 4-1-15-2 in the bag. The smile at the end, four byes notwithstanding, was that of a content man who knows he’s back to where he belongs.

He almost took the Chinnaswamy pitch out of the equation, forming a potent partnership with Vidwath Kaverappa

Himanshu Agrawal07-Jul-2023The 35th over of North Zone’s second innings of the Duleep Trophy semi-final began with a change in plan from South Zone: after continuing to pitch the ball up for a while under overcast skies to try and find movement and wickets, South switched to the short-ball strategy.Prabhsimran Singh and Ankit Kumar, who had got together at a tricky 61 for 3 after North had only squeezed out a three-run first-innings lead, were starting to steady the innings. Their partnership soon crossed fifty and they looked good for even more, thanks to the new-found nimbleness of Prabhsimran, who, until then, had struck eight of his 11 boundaries on the third morning itself.With a short leg, straightish fine leg, deepish fine leg and deep square leg in place, Prabhsimran swatted at a short ball from around the wicket from Vyshak Vijaykumar. Vyshak continued with the plan in the 37th over – the fourth delivery of the over was pulled by Prabhsimran between midwicket and mid-on. However, Vyshak had the last laugh when Prabhsimran found deep square leg with another attempted pull.Related

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That wicket started a collapse as North lost 7 for 65 to fold for 211. That wicket fell in the second over of Vyshak’s third spell in the second innings. After his third spell, his figures read 9-0-54-2, and that trigger helped him end the day with 15-0-76-5.While that final economy rate was still on the higher side, Vyshak showed the willingness to hit back before the game slipped out of South’s grasp. He looked confident after every short ball he banged, almost taking the slowness of the pitch out of the equation. Prabhsimran had slammed two fours off the short balls, and the boundaries at the Chinnaswamy Stadium were short too, but Vyshak tirelessly dug the ball into the pitch.”I thought that [in] the second innings, the wicket was a little flatter. So I had to pull my lengths back,” Vyshak said after the third day’s play. “Prabhsimran was batting really well, so the plan was to get him to pull, and it worked. I got my rhythm back.”Vyshak continued to stay on the shorter side, and took three more wickets with that length. On the fourth ball of the 46th over, Jayant Yadav got an inside edge on to the stumps as he looked to block a good-length ball angling in from outside off. Two balls later, Pulkit Narang was cramped by a short ball that came into him and ended up slashing to slip.He got his fifth wicket with another one which rose sharply, this time at the left-handed Nishant Sindhu, who ended up gloving a pull behind to the wicketkeeper. It invited an animated celebration from Vyshak, whose roar reverberated around the quiet and empty Chinnaswamy.Since Vyshak’s first-class debut for Karnataka in February 2022, only Krishnappa Gowtham has taken more wickets for the side. While Vyshak has 38 wickets in the period, Gowtham has 48. However, Gowtham (506 overs) has had the benefit of bowling more overs than Vyshak (291) during the time.South also had Vyshak’s new-ball partner Vidwath Kaverappa to thank for helping restrict North. Kaverappa had extracted two of the three wickets on the second evening, and Vyshak spoke of their rapport, which has brought success for Karnataka too.Since June 2022, when Kaverappa made his first-class debut, the pair has combined to pick up 78 wickets at 19.77 in games where they have played together. That is the second-best among all bowling pairs in the format in India, among those to have taken a minimum of 75 combined wickets at an average of less than 20. That includes combined figures of 59.3-11-177-13 in this match, where Kaverappa grabbed 5 for 28 in the first innings. So what makes them click?”He was telling me what we can do. I was trying to bowl quick, and he said that if you try to backspin, you will get bounce from this wicket,” Vyshak said. “The partnership is working out well. We exchange thoughts, and our understanding is good.”Set 215 to enter the final, South are now 194 away from victory ahead of the final day’s play. Much of that credit goes to Vyshak and Kaverappa. There is promise, and with that, the prospect of shining again in the upcoming Ranji Trophy.

Batting depth has been their hallmark but the side beaten by South Africa was neither one thing nor the other

Matt Roller22-Oct-20231:40

What’s gone wrong for England?

England’s teamsheet encapsulated just how quickly their plans have been thrown out of the window. Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Chris Woakes all played in Ahmedabad on the opening night of the tournament; 16 days later, they found themselves relegated to the dugout.Matthew Mott had rejected the idea of “wholesale changes” in a media briefing in Mumbai on Tuesday, but England made three out of a possible four against South Africa. Ben Stokes, David Willey and Gus Atkinson featured for the first time in the tournament, with Curran, Livingstone and Woakes all left out.Four players who have collectively embodied one of England’s great strengths, their wealth of all-round talent, found themselves running the drinks. In fact, Curran and Livingstone ended up spending the majority of South Africa’s innings on the field as substitutes, as England tried to mitigate injuries and illness.Related

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In theory, it meant strengthening the bowling attack – Curran and Woakes had both leaked runs in England’s first three games – while allowing England to pick an extra specialist batter: Harry Brook was retained alongside Stokes, who will not bowl a ball at this World Cup due to his chronic knee injury.But in practice, it meant that England were vulnerable to any of their bowlers going down injured or having an off-day. When Reece Topley hurt a finger in his fourth over, Jos Buttler felt compelled to throw the ball to Joe Root, who had rattled through 6.1 expensive overs by the end of the 23rd.And it meant that with the bat, England were unusually reliant on their top six, with Willey batting at No. 7 for the first time in four years and Adil Rashid at No. 8 for the first time in five. There was some irony in the fact that it was their ninth-wicket pair of Atkinson and Mark Wood who saved some face with a 70-run partnership.Mott’s explanation was that Stokes’ return and the form of Curran and Woakes meant that England had little choice but to alter their balance. “We always knew something had to give and we wanted to do was go with the most aggressive option, which was to try to bowl them out,” he said.”We knew we were a bit light with the bat, but we were prepared to back our top six batters, who are our best six batters. When you lose a few in the Powerplay and you’re behind it [the game], it certainly doesn’t look like a great decision. But that was the method, and we’ll have to rethink that for the next game.”Ben Stokes’ return saw England change the balance of their side•ICC/Getty ImagesSpeaking to Sky, he added: “We’ll definitely look back and reflect on that. For a long time, having someone at No. 7 who can really influence a match like a Livingstone or an Ali has been, definitely, the blueprint… but I don’t think that was the difference between the two teams today. They thoroughly outplayed us.”That much was true: England’s defeat did not owe to selection. Atkinson and Willey took 2 for 60 and 0 for 61 respectively from nine overs each, and were England’s most economical seamers; based on their performances in the first three games, Curran and Woakes may have proved even more expensive, and they have hardly contributed with the bat either.Alternatives were scant. Stokes’ highly-anticipated return proved a non-event – he made 5 off 8 balls, walking out with England 23 for 2 in pursuit of 400 – but his inclusion was a necessity, to the extent Mott repeatedly described it as “a forced change”. With Brook the only batter to exert himself in defeat against Afghanistan, a shift in formation was unavoidable.But the balance of the side – or lack thereof – exposed the extent to which England have lost their identity in ODIs. Batting has always been their strength and picking several allrounders liberated their top order to follow their attacking instincts: the team that faced South Africa looked like neither one thing nor the other.Four years ago, England used 13 players across the 2019 World Cup; four matches into the tournament, they have already used all 15 players in their initial squad. Consistency of selection was once a hallmark of their white-ball set-up, but England have determined that it will be difficult to achieve in India due to the diversity of conditions.”Our message has been really clear: we will go from place to place, and pick the best team we think,” Mott said. “I don’t shy away from the fact that the balance of that team was a little bit out today… That’s what happens when you lose: every decision is questioned. When you win, you can gloss over it a bit, but we paid heavily for it today.”Mott also explained that England went with a fourth seamer, rather than a spin-bowling allrounder, because they believed South Africa would be vulnerable against pace. “Looking at our match-ups with South Africa, we wanted to go a little bit pace-heavy,” he said. “We thought that was our best way of taking wickets throughout the innings.”Instead, England’s seamers conceded 8.42 runs per over collectively, while their spinners went at 6.74 an over. It was further evidence of the extent to which they misread conditions, added to their decision to bowl first in the afternoon sun, which Mott said was “pretty unanimous”.Mott also admitted his frustrations that England play so little ODI cricket: they played 42 ODIs between the 2019-23 World Cups, compared to 88 in the 2015-19 cycle, and almost none with a full-strength side available. “I would love us to play a little bit more cricket, if I’m being honest,” he said.”When you’re looking at trying to get your combinations and confidence, certainly, the more you can play together – and win and lose going into series – is going to help… we knew coming into this tournament we were guessing a little bit; we knew that with selections, in terms of being able to compare different players.”But there is nothing that Mott can do about perceived systemic issues in the next three weeks. Instead, he must convince his players that, as he told the press, “they’re still bloody good” – good enough to win their next five group-stage games, starting on Thursday against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.”I still think we picked our best 15, and I still think we can win this tournament,” Mott insisted. “But it needs to turn around pretty quickly.”

“I am planning for the next match already,” says the big-hitter, after a heartbreak at his home ground, close on the heels of defeat in the BPL final

Mohammad Isam04-Mar-2024Midway through the press conference after Sri Lanka’s three-run win against Bangladesh in Sylhet, journalist Shakila Bobby asked Jaker Ali a question. The young batter had just come off a breathtaking 68 off 34 balls, which included a Bangladesh record of six sixes in the innings.”You just played your first game at home in Sylhet. The crowd was chanting your name. What was that like?” Shakila asked from the back of the press-conference room.” [sister], I have always loved playing at this venue. I made my first-class debut at this ground. I know the wicket and atmosphere of this place. It was all good, but it would have been great had we won the game,” Jaker responded.Related

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Wait, sister? Few in the room knew beforehand that Jaker and Shakila were siblings. Most of the Dhaka-based journalists who had travelled to Sylhet had no idea. But now interest was piqued. Another journalist asked Jaker how it felt to take a question from his sister.”She must be proud of me. She looks happy,” Jaker responded, with a shy smile.Shakila is the Sylhet correspondent for the Bangladesh daily . Her husband Mamun Hossain is a photographer with the same newspaper. They brought their toddler Saiyara Mahek along, and watched the game from the press box. The niece cheered a few times as Jaker was hitting his big sixes, the crowd going wild around her.After the press conference, Jaker caught up with his sister’s family. And then Shakila spoke to the other journalists. “It was my dream to ask Jaker a question in a press conference,” she said, beaming. “I never knew that it would come true one day.”Shakila Bobby, Jaker Ali’s sister, with her husband Mamun Hossain and their daughter Saiyara Mahek•Bangladesh Cricket BoardShakila said the whole family is into sports. Shakila herself is a former captain of her district’s cricket team. Their father, who died in 2017, was an athlete in the Bangladesh Army. They hail from Habiganj, a town 75km to the southwest of Sylhet.Jaker plays his first-class cricket for Sylhet Division, which is why he felt so at ease at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, the team’s home venue. Jaker struck five of his six sixes after Mahmudullah got out, having given his senior partner support when he was going all guns blazing.Jaker took the game into the last over, but started if off strike, with No. 8 Rishad Hossain facing up. When Jaker got the strike, it was 10 needed off four balls. He could not get the job done, but expanded on all of it at the press conference. “[Mahmudullah] Riyad told me to bat normally. I didn’t have any extra plans. He was getting boundaries with calculative risks. It freed me up. It made life easier for me.”[Later] I asked Rishad to give me the strike, but he got out. I was on strike when we needed 10 off the last four balls. I was confident that we could win the game. I was playing a good innings. But I didn’t connect with the ball and it went to hand.”When Riyad was taking chances, my plan was to ensure that we would get 10 or 12 runs in the over. This was my role with Riyad at the crease. I shifted my gear after he got out.”

“My face is telling you how I feel. Losing is always heart-breaking. I didn’t sleep the night after losing the BPL final. I would have felt great if we could have won today. But I am planning for the next match already.”Jaker Ali is not dwelling on the tough times

Jaker got into this Bangladesh T20I squad because Aliss Al Islam sustained a finger injury. He had done enough in this season’s BPL to be in the reckoning (in fact, his Comilla Victorians coach Mohammad Salahuddin had blasted the outgoing chief selector Minhajul Abedin for not picking him in the first place). His exploits included unbeaten knocks of 40, 38 and 18, all featuring explosive hitting.”My BPL form really helped me here,” Jaker said. “We got here in Sylhet just two days after we finished the BPL in Dhaka. No changing in format was good for me. I also knew about this ground well, this being my home ground.”Jaker said captain Najmul Hossain Shanto had given him a heads-up about his call-up, which allowed him a bit of time to prepare mentally. Jaker had not got the job done in the BPL final against Fortune Barishal, which gnawed at him. He had lost a night’s sleep, but then he had to prepare for his first home game for Bangladesh. Tonight was a bit of a repeat for him, but, importantly, he seemed keen to learn from these experiences.”My face is telling you how I feel. Losing is always heart-breaking. I didn’t sleep the night after losing the BPL final. I would have felt great if we could have won today,” he said. “But I am planning for the next match already. We can take note of plenty of positives from today’s game.”

India had won 12 consecutive internationals across formats before their shock defeat in Harare

Sampath Bandarupalli06-Jul-20242 – India became only the second men’s T20 World Cup champions to lose their first T20I after the title win, though of course this was a completely different playing XI in Harare to the one that clinched the title in West Indies last week. England, who won the title in November 2022, also lost their first T20I outing as the World Champions, against Bangladesh in March 2023.116 – The target India failed to chase against Zimbabwe in Harare is the lowest they have failed to get in a full 20-over men’s T20I. The previous lowest failed chase was 127 against New Zealand in the 2016 T20 World Cup.Related

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12 – Consecutive wins for India in men’s internationals before this defeat. It was their joint-longest winning streak across formats, levelling their feat in 2017.India’s last defeat was against England in the Hyderabad Test, after which they won four Tests on the trot and all eight matches at the T20 World Cup.12 – T20I matches without a defeat for India before the loss against Zimbabwe on Saturday. Their last defeat in this format came against South Africa in December 2023.India won outright 11 of the 12 T20Is between their two recent defeats, while another game ended in a tie, which they won in the Super Over. It was India’s longest unbeaten streak in the format, equaling their 12-match winning streak between 2021 and 2022.102 – India’s total against Zimbabwe is their second-lowest in a run chase in men’s T20Is. Their lowest is 76 all-out against New Zealand in pursuit of the 127-run target in the 2016 World Cup.It is also the third-lowest total for a Full Member against Zimbabwe in T20Is, behind West Indies’ 79 for 7 in 2010 and Pakistan’s 99 all out in 2021.15 – Player-of-the-Match awards in T20Is for Sikandar Raza. These are the joint-second most awards for anyone in men’s T20Is, alongside Suryakumar Yadav (15) and only behind Virat Kohli (16). Six of Raza’s 16 match awards have come while leading Zimbabwe in 20 T20Is.7 – Number of batters dismissed for a duck in Harare between Zimbabwe (4) and India (3). These are the second-most ducks in a men’s T20I involving Full Members, behind the eight ducks in the 2010 T20I between West Indies and Zimbabwe in Port-of-Spain.25* – Partnership runs for the tenth wicket between Clive Madande and Tendai Chatara in Zimbabwe’s innings. Madande scored all 25, off the 18 balls he faced in that partnership, while Chatara remained unbeaten on zero off nine balls.

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-20249.1, Rishad Hossain to Samson, no run
Good length, no turn, beats his slog, hits the pad, but headed down leg9.2, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
Too full as he often was last match. Samson clears the front leg, and eases him back over his head for another nonchalant-looking six9.3, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
He is having his way with Hossain. Again, right in the drop zone. This is poor spin bowling. You can’t bowl so full that a batter can hit you down the ground without using his feet. Goes over long-off this time9.4, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
Dead straight, lower in trajectory, but a third straight six. Again Samson doesn’t even have to stretch himself. Not a half-volley but this is a true pitch9.5, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
Goes slower in the air, but gives him another half-volley. This is just average bowling. He clears the front leg, and goes over long-on for the fourth six in a rowAround the wicket.9.6, Rishad Hossain to Samson, SIX runs
That is five sixes in a row. Not a bad ball, but Samson goes deep in the crease to manage to pull it with a vertical bat, and goes over deep midwicket for a small six. Does that matter when it is the fifth in the over? Samson into the 90s

Record-breaking ton the latest crowd-pleasing feat from England’s most-accomplished batter

Vithushan Ehantharajah31-Aug-2024A historic 34th, putting him above every other England Test batter. The quickest of his haul, coming in at 111 deliveries. And yet, on a day where English cricket celebrated Joe Root, this Test century felt a lot like the others.It was very Root to make a largely unremarkable scenario unmissable by wedding history with a career-best (he also now has centuries in both innings for the first time). England had begun their third innings late on Friday evening boasting a lead of 235 over Sri Lanka. Saturday was so overcast the floodlights were in play from the off. And yet, Root’s entry in the fourth over of day three brightened the gloom and brought more value to those who were short-changed by 67.3 overs of play at Lord’s.Watching Root at the crease always has the feel of exceptionally good background music, and this was no different. It was soothing, uplifting, high-calibre, low fuss as you waited for an appointment with jeopardy that never came. He never quite demanded your attention, but was still able to grab it and leave an impression on you forever. As the rest of the world was preoccupied watching their numbers on a screen slowly tick down, Root’s on the ones atop the Allen Stand were moving sharply in the other direction.Every crouch over, double tap of the bat and move back upright brought its usual expectation – even more so after he edged Lahiru Kumara through a vacant second slip on just 2. He rotated the strike and yet somehow always seemed to be on strike. He’d cut late and pull early, finding gaps even after Dhananjaya de Silva had sought to cover where previous versions of those shots had gone.Related

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He danced down to plant Prabath Jayasuriya into the advertising hoardings in front of the Pavilion, then reverse swept the left-arm spinner after conventional sweeps had seen midwicket plugged. Neither seemed particularly risky but still elicited awe.Even when a bumper-vs-pull-shot contest tended towards a stalemate, Root made room to carve through cover to take him to a seventh century at Lord’s. Kumara bowled that particular short ball, having tagged in for Asitha Fernando, who Root had worn down on the way. Despite laser focus on his primary mission, he still had time for sidequests.Making the routine remarkable has always been typically Root. Even the ramp shot – which he missed again here – has an oddly rudimentary feel. But the reactions to Saturday’s feat hinted of much more.A leap at the non-striker’s end was followed by a raise of the bat and a kiss blown towards his wife and two kids in the ECB box. His father was at the steps of the pavilion to hug him as he walked off. Root admitted he almost blanked him completely. Presumably, because he was busy chastising himself for holing out to deep square leg.Alastair Cook, who had just been passed as the previous leading English centurion , was commentating live on BBC Test Match Special for the moment. “It’s absolutely right he should have the record on his own,” beamed someone who built a hall-of-fame career on never ceding his ground.Joe Root gives his dad, Matt Root, a hug as he walks back after registering 103•Getty ImagesHundred No. 34 comes with its own bigger-picture neatness. From his debut in Nagpur at the age of 21, Root had notched 17 centuries by the time he turned 30, on December 30, 2020. That tally has since doubled.The annual schedule has been unrelenting either side of that landmark birthday. But the enforced pause due to Covid-19 allowed Root to get off the “hamster wheel” momentarily and lay his game out in front of him. And it is that pause he attributes to this startling period of success.”I had a deep dive into what my strengths were, where I was making mistakes, and how could I eradicate them and become a more rounded player off the back of it?” he said after play.Not all of the tweaks were technical or necessarily related to adopting a more ruthless mindset: “Can you create certain angles to certain bowlers, or try and take modes of dismissal out of the game? And I guess just having a different way of looking at things has opened a few doors for me.”Well, Joe, it has worked. Not only is he averaging 56.92 since turning 30, but his fifty-to-hundred conversion rate has gone from 34.47% to 53.13%It is not strictly maturity considering he credits a more expressive environment under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, which encourages the inner child to be let loose. But it does seem to have emanated from a personal, inner peace. So much of Root’s early struggles could be attributed to a search for perfection. Now he has come to terms with the fact that it probably doesn’t exist.What does exist, however, in a sport that preys on your imperfections, are moments when Test cricket occasionally bends to your whims and morphs into an opportunity for greatness rather than a threat to it.”I think that’s what you try and get to is that even when it’s not feeling perfect, you can still manage the game. You never know what’s going to happen next and you just got to keep giving yourself the best chance by putting the work in behind the scenes but just enjoying the times when it’s going nicely.”While it is going nicely, more history beckons. Root is 96 away from usurping Cook’s overall tally as England’s all-time Test runscorer, which would move him fifth on the all-time list. Given the volume of Test cricket England play, the physical (and fiscal) management of their star talent and the enthusiasm still coursing through Root’s veins, “probable” replaces “possible” in the idle conversation of whether he can make up the 3,555 runs needed to beat Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 15,921.Other quests remain, namely a hundred in Australia, ideally during an Ashes success. That remains the ambition for the team as a whole, but it is predicated on this iteration of Root.Maybe only then will Root come close to the perfection he once sought. But if those boxes remain unticked, his value to English cricket will not be diminished. Even before Saturday at Lord’s confirmed it in one metric, the truth has long been indisputable – Root is the most accomplished batter England have ever been lucky enough to call their own.

Extraordinary century bends The Oval narrative to his will before India’s fightback threatens nightmare ending

Vithushan Ehantharajah03-Aug-20251:58

Bangar: Brook largely responsible for what unraveled

On Saturday evening, with England one down and still 324 away from winning this fifth Test and the series, Brendon McCullum ran through the ways they could do it all.The runs would not be squarely on one man, he said. Partnerships, as they were for both previous 370-odd chases against India, would be crucial. With spirits and belief raised, McCullum sent his players away with one request: “Dream the dream”.Now, they must dream another dream. And the gorgeous nonsense of this sport is those final 35 runs will bring a more restless sleep than the night before. With Chris Woakes expected to bat if required, they at least have four wickets to come, and a heavy roller to make their beds a little comfier. Related

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They do not, however, have either Joe Root or Harry Brook. But England owe their favourable position to both. For 55.3 overs between their coming-together at 106 for 3, and Root’s dismissal at 337 for 6, Yorkshire’s favourite sons were making those dreams come true.It was during their stand of 195 that England and their fans were deep in the REM cycle: revelling in lucid streams concocted from previous happy memories, and not simply those from previous Test chases. Mohammed Siraj’s misstep on the boundary sponge at long leg, after clinging on to a Brook hook for 19, was surely just a lazy re-interpretation of Trent Boult’s similar costly error during the 2019 World Cup final.Brook, even by that point, was in his flow state, having charged Akash Deep to send him over cover for six. And so, rather than stir, he went deeper, clearing cover and then the cordon (deliberately) in the same over.At times, Brook’s tenth century felt like contorted reality, altering a few universal laws across the 91 balls it took to get there.Root, on his way to a 39th century, was playing his trusty anchor role, which offered the dressing-room and home fans grounding during such tense times. But, suddenly, the man who was No. 2 on the all-time Test run-scorers’ charts was, well, in the way. Thanks for the memories Joe, but piss off for a bit – Harry’s on one.3:37

Root: ‘Amazing spectacle to look forward to’ on fifth day

India’s pace trio, who had run roughshod over England’s line-up only two days earlier, were now being reduced to million-dollar cannon fodder.Throughout the series, India’s support staff have been stationed around the boundary – saving the fielders’ legs and buying back time for overs – but now they were contributing to the very things they were supposed to prevent.The balls were coming back from the boundary as quickly as they were heading there. At times, it was as if Shubman Gill had opted for Sisyphus at both ends. India at one point were six behind on overs, but also unable to slow the game down in a meaningful way.The clarity of Brook’s boundaries lifted the atmosphere and quietened the , despite how reliant the former had previously been on the latter. None of it really made sense.Brook’s celebration, too, was out of the ordinary. He is, by his own admission, a muted celebrator, believing hundreds are just his job. But this time he pumped his fist, screamed towards the floor, cut the air with a fling of his bat and raised both arms aloft.It was as much relief at England’s situation as a chance to draw a line under the last few weeks. Until this innings, an impressive series that ends with 481 runs at 53.44 had threatened to end with a bitter after-taste.Brook’s part in the verbals in the closing overs at Lord’s had been followed by a bigger role in the dissent that marred the end of the Emirates Old Trafford Test. It put a target on his back, and it was clear that some quarters sensed an opportunity to get at a player still relatively early in his career, despite the size of the role he plays in this batting line-up.A vital 53 on day two has now been followed by a stellar fourth-innings hundred, his second meaningful contribution in the last throes of a Test after his 75 against Australia at Headingley in 2023. This, too, may prove to be another match-winning contribution from a talent whose strike rate of 87 is the highest of anyone with more than 1000 runs to their name.”He mentioned that out there,” Root said, on Brook acknowledging the extra feeling fueling his celebrations. “I don’t even think he knew where it came from, but clearly it’s been a hard-fought series and, and he’s desperate to win games of cricket for England.”Brook’s eye-catching demise then put the onus back on Root, who did not so much assume the lead role, but took it upon himself, as he picked apart the moments that India felt might have been heading their way.Brook’s century celebrations were unusually demonstrative•Getty ImagesAfter Prasidh Krishna removed Jacob Bethell, he beat Jamie Smith twice, then Siraj attempted to pin Root down. A dabbed single to point punctured the crescendo-ing pressure, drawing relieved cheers from fans starting to wake up and face reality once more. And like all dreams, there was one last chance to clasp at a memory of love rather than fiction.A shuffle across his stumps, and a tip around the corner took Root to his hundred. After removing his helmet and initially saluting all corners, he pulled out a commemorative white headband made in honour of the late Graham Thorpe, put it on and saluted to the heavens.You always hope to do right by your mentors. And for all the work Thorpe put into Root throughout his career – the fruits of which labour have given him a shot of becoming Test cricket’s all-time run-scorer – there would have been uncertainty in the moment for Root. Doing right by someone when they pass is a duty for life.All of us are made up of pieces of those who have reared us. Root’s third century of this series, and his general standing in the game’s history, is a testament to the part that Thorpe played in that development. But the ability to pay tribute with a knock of such guts and class, in a Test dedicated to Thorpe’s legacy at his home ground, merely underlined the romance of what was unfolding in front of us.But then … a jolt of inspired bowling from Prasidh removed Root, before Siraj’s unrelenting attitude sent the day’s final half-hour into nightmare territory as far as England were concerned.Nerves rattled. Heads in space. A night’s sleep (if they can get it) will do everyone some good.What dreams await this time may finally be realised on Monday.