Suryakumar takes down the Titans with first IPL ton

For a little while, it looked like Suryakumar Yadav would actually finish a T20 without playing that one shot that made people’s jaws drop. And then he hit the most incredible six. It propelled him to his first IPL century and Mumbai Indians to a comfortable victory over the defending champions Gujarat Titans.You know how Kane Williamson dabs to third man to get singles? Well, Suryakumar accessed the same area, except he cleared the boundary. He saw a ball on off stump. He knew he could get under it. At the point where he made contact, he opened the face, just as Williamson does, and then the strength in his forearms and his wrists did the rest.This is Suryakumar. He sees T20 cricket the way nobody else sees it.

Rashid ends up a footnote

Titans came into this game knowing a win would not only secure a spot in the playoffs but give them two shots at making the final.And they turned to their main man to make it happen. Rashid Khan produced four wickets for 30 runs in a format that continues to be hostile to his kind. Even today, Suryakumar spent 49 balls proving that bowlers and their plans exist just so batters could come in and rip them all to shreds.But Rashid wouldn’t buy that. He had Rohit Sharma caught at slip with a gorgeous legbreak. He upended Ishan Kishan by a simple change in length, the premeditated sweep shot failing against a ball that was too full for it. Titans saved the last six balls they had from Rashid for the match up against Tim David. Those are high stakes. It was the 17th over. This is the time David comes to life. Except he couldn’t because Rashid took him out for 5 off 3.Very few are capable of producing wickets on demand like this. Even fewer are able to do so when the opposition comes hard at them.Hardik Pandya gave Suryakumar Yadav a hug after he brought up his hundred off the final ball•AFP/Getty Images

Suryakumar turns it on

When Mumbai lost their third wicket in the ninth over, they spent a little while scoring just a run a ball. 15 off 15. And then all of a sudden, they crashed 32 in 10.It was during this time that Vishnu Vinod, the Kerala wicketkeeper making his Mumbai debut, carved Mohammed Shami for a scarcely believable six. A ball ending up on top of off stump scythed over point thanks to his fast hands and wicked wrists.That would have been shot of the game if not for SKY doing SKY things.He needed 32 balls to get to his fifty. That’s slow by his standards, and he was building his innings with orthodox shots. The only luxury he afforded himself were those straight sixes, where his weight is usually on the back foot, right up to the point where he meets the ball, and then he hops, lifting both himself and the ball up off the ground. That’s how he creates leverage. It’s his own unique thing.Then Rashid took David out and something snapped. Suryakumar was 53 off 34 at the start of the 18th over. He hit Mohit Sharma for three fours and a six to move to 73 off 40. Then he met Shami in the 19th over and played a front-foot drive for six over third man, just by opening the face of the bat. Finally, on 97, with only one ball left in the innings, he did what he has done to fast bowlers all over the world, sweeping Alzarri Joseph from way outside off into the crowd past the square leg boundary.Rashid Khan smashed 10 sixes in his innings of 79 off 32 balls•BCCI

Rashid or bust for Titans

As good as Titans are in a chase, they were up against it very quickly when all of their top three batters fell for single digits. Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya and Wriddhiman Saha totalled 12 runs between them.Vijay Shankar kept hopes of the improbable alive with a sweet little cameo. But he fell to Piyush Chawla’s first ball of the match, this IPL legend having the best season of his career at 34 years of age.Way on the other end of the spectrum is Akash Madhwal. He came into the tournament because Mumbai were having so much trouble with their bowling attack. This was only his fourth game of the IPL and the 26th of his T20 career. And already he has shown an appetite for the tough job. Bowling at the death, bowling to big hitters, bowling with games on the line.Madhwal has a lovely yorker. And now, it appears his other balls are just as deadly, because when he hits a hard length, they keep skidding through. He bowled Gill with one that stayed lower than the batter expected. And he had David Miller lbw in just the same way.Rashid carried the Titans with the bat as well, making his highest score in T20s, 79 off 32 with 10 sixes. A total of 103 for 8 in 14 overs rose to 191 for 8 in 20. But it was not enough. Imagine going three-fourth of the way to a century after picking up one short of five wickets and still losing the game.

Josh Tongue has Steven Smith back in his sights after notable county clash

Josh Tongue has only taken 11 wickets for Worcestershire in the County Championship’s second division this season but one of them earned him more attention than the other 10 put together.In his first innings of a controversial three-match stint with Sussex, Steven Smith had made 30 when Tongue’s nip-backer struck him just above the top of his pad at New Road. Smith did not seem thrilled with the lbw decision as he dragged himself off, but Tongue clenched both fists, becoming the first England bowler to dismiss him this summer.At Lord’s this week, he has the chance to repeat the trick. “It would be great to get Steve Smith out again,” Tongue said on Tuesday, after being named in England’s team for the second Ashes Test. “I was pretty happy the first time so, if I can do it on a second occasion, that would be good for the team as well and hopefully that will happen.”

Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, hadn’t realised that Tongue had been one of the bowlers to dismiss Smith during his time with Sussex. “I didn’t know he was bowling,” Cummins said. “[But] I certainly heard there were a couple of LBWs Smithy didn’t totally agree with.”Getting Smith out did no harm to Tongue’s case for selection at Lord’s, but it was hardly the only factor. Rob Key, England’s director of men’s cricket, was on hand to watch him take a five-wicket haul for England Lions in Sri Lanka earlier this year and his success on Test debut against Ireland at the start of this month – he took 5 for 66 in the second innings – came at the same venue.”I knew the step up from county cricket to international cricket would be a big one, and playing here at Lord’s was a very special moment for myself, having never played here before,” Tongue said. “To then get five wickets against Ireland on my debut was an incredible feeling and should give me confidence ahead of another chance against Australia.Related

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“There was a bit of pace in the wicket against Ireland so more of that would be nice,” he added. “There is a green tinge to the pitch at the moment which would benefit all of our seamers. And if there is a bit of nip and movement in the air then I think our bowling unit can benefit from that and use the conditions in our favour.”Ben Stokes, England’s captain, said he was “particularly impressed” with Tongue’s ability to play “different roles with the ball” on debut – specifically, his willingness to deliver short-ball barrages. “His first spell was just running up and bowling, trying to bowl wicket-taking deliveries,” Stokes said.”But then we used him in a different way, where we attacked the Ireland batters with our short-ball plan. Broady, Jimmy and Robbo will tell you it’s always nice having someone who can bowl at 90mph doing it. Just having that versatility as a bowler this week is going to be very useful.”And Tongue believes he is up to the task. “Coming into the side now for the next Test, I feel like I can add a bit more pace and bounce to the attack – and hopefully I can get a few wickets for the team as well,” he said. “Whatever Stokesy asks me to do for the team, I’m here to do it as best I can.”

Joe Clarke sets Notts off to blistering start in win over Foxes

Joe Clarke hit three sixes in a 41-ball 72 and Colin Munro 28 off 17 as a blistering start by the Outlaws proved to be enough to set up a 22-run North Group victory over Leicestershire Foxes in the Vitality Blast.The Outlaws were 78 for 1 after eight overs having opted to bat first, and though the Foxes came back strongly with the ball to restrict the visitors to 165 for 8, their efforts with the bat proved woefully inadequate.Nick Welsh (32 from 30) and Peter Handscomb (28 from 30) put on 63 for the first wicket but despite Wiaan Mulder striking 38 from 26 balls late in the innings, the Foxes fell 23 runs short of their target, Steven Mullaney taking 3 for 18 from his four overs, leg spinner Calvin Harrison 2 for 14 and Shaheen Shah Afridi 2 for 28.Pace-bowling all-rounder Tom Scriven took a career-best 4 for 21 for the Foxes in only his fifth Blast appearance, backed up by 3 for 22 from canny left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson, while Mike Finan equalled the county record for the format with four outfield catches.Yet they ended on the losing side again as their side suffered their ninth defeat from 11 matches to remain rooted to the bottom of the group.A seventh win for the Outlaws puts them in a strong position to claim a quarter-final place, although they suffered a double blow on the night with overseas star Munro unable to field after suffering what looked like a hamstring injury while batting, and veteran all-rounder Samit Patel leaving the field with an apparent ankle injury after the fourth ball of his third over.The Outlaws were 60 for 1 after an eventful powerplay which saw Parkinson dismiss Alex Hales for the fourth time in five seasons but then drop one of two catching chances the Foxes failed to hold.Munro was put down at short fine leg on five off left-armer Finan before Parkinson spilled an easier one at short third man as Clarke, on 26, went for the ramp against Matt Salisbury, Munro finishing the over with four and six. The Foxes were generally sloppy in the field in the powerplay.Munro needed lengthy treatment in the seventh over, was able to continue as Colin Ackermann’s first over went for 15 but fell in the ninth as he mistimed a lofted drive against Rehan Ahmed to be caught at long on, two tidy overs from the leg-spinner checking the Outlaws’ progress a little as they reached the halfway point at 91 for 2.Clarke stepped on the accelerator, adding sixes off Finan and Scriven to an earlier maximum off Ackermann as the next 22 balls saw the Foxes leak 41 runs but the shape of the Outlaws innings then changed dramatically with the loss of three wickets in seven balls.Scriven, hammered down the ground for six by Clarke the previous delivery, took revenge when the Outlaws’ leading run-scorer miscued high in the air to backward point, before Parkinson struck twice in five balls, having Matt Montomery caught at long off before trapping Tom Moores leg before on the back foot.Notts had slipped from 133 for 2 to 136 for 5, a triple blow that cost them all their momentum with only 29 added in the final five overs as Scriven rounded off a fine performance with three wickets and just eight runs conceded in his two death overs.Samit Patel holed out to long off and Finan became the third Foxes player – along with Arron Lilley and Wiaan Mulder – to take four outfield catches in a single Blast innings by safely pouching Shaheen Afridi and then Mullaney in the deep on the leg side.Foxes openers Welch and Handscomb were not able to match the Outlaws’ explosive start but did not lose a wicket in posting 42 runs from the powerplay, although the Australian would have been run out on seven had a Hales’ throw hit.Yet they struggled to find any acceleration and were already lagging behind the required rate at 74 for 1 after 10, having by then lost Handscomb, stumped going down the pitch to Mullaney, as Moores made amends for missing him off Samit Patel the over before.Rishi Patel announced himself with a pulled six off Calvin Harrison but perished in the next over, well caught on the extra cover boundary as a reverse-sweep went wrong and Mullaney claimed a second wicket.Next over, Welch holed out to Hales at deep midwicket before Ackermann departed in the most bizarre fashion, handing Mullaney a caught-and-bowled chance which he dropped but claimed at a juggling second attempt as the ball bounced back to him off the chest of Mulder, who was standing a yard from him at the non-striker’s end.By now, the run-rate was beginning to look beyond the Foxes, who lost Ahmed caught behind as Harrison completed the stricken Samit Patel’s unfinished over before Scriven found Hales on the long-on boundary, with 70 needed from 27 balls.Mulder launched back-to-back sixes off Jake Ball but they were no more than a consolation with 29 needed off a final over in which Shaheen bowled him and Finan in the space of four balls.

Hayley Matthews stars with bat and ball as Welsh Fire end Southern Brave's home run

Hayley Matthews ended Southern Brave’s unbeaten home record with a magnificent individual performance as Welsh Fire claimed a four-run win.Matthews struck an impressive 65 to propel Fire to 165 for 3 – their record score in The Hundred – before the West Indies international defended nine in the final set.Danni Wyatt and Smriti Mandhana both scored half-centuries in the chase but it was not enough as the Brave’s women’s team lost at the Ageas Bowl for the first time since the competition began.Sent in to bat by Anya Shrubsole, Welsh Fire immediately looked a different prospect to previous seasons and were full of intent from the start of their innings.Matthews timed her first ball from Shrubsole through the covers and struck an array of impressive drives, sweeps, and punches as she raced to her fifty off just 26 balls, the quickest half-century in Welsh Fire history.Fire captain and England star Tammy Beaumont joined in the fun in the final set of the powerplay, cutting loose and hitting Chloe Tryon for three boundaries.The Fire had raced to 80 when Beaumont became the first wicket to fall, stumped off Georgia Adams’ bowling.The hard-hitting Laura Harris was promoted up the order to capitalise on the fast start, and she struck two enormous sixes to race to 20 off seven balls, before an incredible piece of fielding from Maia Bouchier with a direct-hit from the long-on boundary brought about her demise. Matthews finally fell for a fantastic 65 chipping a return catch back to Tryon.Sarah Bryce and Georgia Elwiss rotated the strike well before finishing with a flurry in a partnership of 48 to bring the score to 165 for 3, only one run short of matching the record score in The Women’s Hundred.Mandhana and Wyatt seemed to relish the task of pulling off a record run chase, and were quickly into their work. Wyatt struck boundaries all around the ground, including two enormous sixes over the leg side, as she raced to a sublime half-century off just 31 balls.Alex Griffiths brought the much-needed breakthrough for Fire, as Wyatt holed out on 67 to Matthews at long on to end a 96-run opening stand.Mandhana then assumed the responsibility of leading the home charge and dominated the Fire bowling, not deterred by losing Bouchier who was smartly stumped by Bryce of Griffiths.Mandhana accelerated to a classy half-century from 33 balls, and continued to score freely, finishing on a stylish 70 from just 42 deliveries. But she was unable to see enough of the strike late on and while Brave looked on course with nine required off the final-set of five balls, Matthews took centre stage.Matthews had Tryon stumped off the first ball, and then limited Mandhana and Freya Kemp to just three singles off her remaining balls to secure a historic win for Welsh Fire.

Trent Boult relieved to be back in Black after decision to go freelance

Trent Boult is “very happy” to be back playing international cricket ahead of the World Cup in India, but said that New Zealand Cricket (NZC) had never given him any guarantees about selection for the tournament when he negotiated a release from his central contract last year.Boult won his 100th ODI cap in New Zealand’s defeat to England at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday, taking 3 for 37 to mark his first international appearance since last year’s T20 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan. Hours later, his name was included in the provisional 15-man squad announced by New Zealand for next month’s 50-over World Cup.”It was great to be back in familiar surroundings,” Boult said ahead of Wednesday’s third ODI at The Oval. “It was a very good feeling, chucking back on the black ODI kit – and on the side, the individual milestone of 100 games added to that feeling as well.”When Boult stepped away from his central contract last year, he did not seek or expect assurances from NZC about selection for the World Cup but made his ambitions to play in the tournament clear, telling ESPNcricinfo earlier this year that he had “a big desire” to return to the ODI fold.Related

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“Your spot is never guaranteed, and the decision was made over a year ago,” Boult said. “I decided to step aside and fully appreciated that giving my contract back would open the door to other players to come through. Selections were prioritised for the contracted 20 [players] in New Zealand and I fully appreciated that.”The decision was solely made around time away… with a young family, I couldn’t travel as much. It just became too hard. I prioritised my time with them and gave myself a chance to play some cricket around to world, to see what I could learn.”Selection for the World Cup was never guaranteed and I was never expecting it to be. I had to work for it and I’m very happy to be here. I just hope I can add value and take the tournament very deep, like we have in the last couple of attempts. I feel like we can really push this tournament to the final stages and give it a good crack.”New Zealand were runners-up in the last two 50-over World Cups and Boult admitted he still finds it hard to let the tied 2019 final go. “What was probably a little bit hard was coming back, after a year, to play for New Zealand, and it’s a rain delay and it’s the only game playing on the big screens at the ground,” he joked. “That pushed me a little bit.”The ODI World Cup is that big tournament that everyone wants to be a part of. I’ve been part of a couple so far and although there seems to be a world event every year, this ODI World Cup has always got a special feeling around it… once we touch down in India, I’m sure the feelings will be pretty strong with a lot of excitement.”

Marcus Trescothick: Involvement with England has helped Andrew Flintoff 'grow back into Freddie'

Marcus Trescothick says he has been buoyed seeing Andrew Flintoff “grow back into Freddie” during his stint with the limited-overs squad, and hopes to see more of his former England team-mate in a coaching capacity in the future.Flintoff, 45, has been working as an unpaid assistant coach for England’s men during their one-day series against New Zealand and Ireland, as part of his recovery from a near-fatal accident while filming an episode of last December. His presence within the dressing-room proved hugely popular with the World Cup-bound players who featured in the New Zealand series, many of whom grew up idolising him, especially during the 2005 Ashes, and his stint was extended to take in the current series against Ireland, for which a separate 13-man squad was chosen.There are no concrete plans to extend Flintoff’s working relationship with the ECB after the third ODI in Bristol on Tuesday, which concludes the international summer. However, both sides have an appetite for more involvement going forward after the last few weeks. Having attended a few days during the Ashes with the encouragement of Rob Key, director of men’s cricket and a long-term friend, Flintoff has become a more visible presence around England training sessions, taking the mitt to the bowlers, and offering advice to those who seek it.His command of a room has also been noteworthy behind closed doors. He was given the floor to speak at The Oval after Jos Buttler’s side had beaten New Zealand, stating his admiration for what he felt was one of the best England environments he had been privy to. On Saturday at Trent Bridge, Flintoff was given the honour of presenting Tom Hartley, a fellow Lancastrian, with his maiden England cap ahead of the second ODI.Speaking to The Telegraph, Ben Stokes said “you can picture him being involved as a full-time coach”, adding that Flintoff “grew more confident within himself” as he became more familiar with the group. Those sentiments are echoed by assistant coach Trescothick, a fellow 2005 hero and international team-mate of Flintoff’s on 133 occasions between 2000 and 2006, though he also joked there would be a drawback in having someone he knows so well in the set-up.”It’s been hard actually because he hammers me more than anyone else,” Trescothick said. “I’m the first target for his banter at the moment, but having him around has been superb, it really has.Flintoff has proven popular in his role with England’s back-room staff•ECB via Getty Images

“Seeing him grow back into Freddie and getting back into the cricket…obviously he’s been away from cricket for a long period of time. But this is where it all starts and where it belongs for him. The guys have really taken to him.'”He’s been brilliant. A couple of times he’s spoken in the changing-room it’s been like, ‘wow’. You can see the difference, and I’ve seen the progression of him as a character; the way he talks and delivers messages to players has been superb. To have him sprinkling a bit of gold dust around the team and having the younger players working with that has been invaluable, really. You can’t put a price on it.”It was during the first ODI against New Zealand at Cardiff that Flintoff was first spotted as part of the staff. This happened to be his first public appearance since he had been left with facial scars following a crash at Dunsfold Park Aerodrome while shooting an episode for ‘s 34th series.As a legend of English cricket, and a key personality in the lineage of talismanic allrounders now carried forward by Stokes, Trescothick was particularly enamoured with how Flintoff has grown into his role. While he has been around the game recently, having worked with England’s Under-19s and frequent visits to Emirates Old Trafford given his sons Corey (17) and Rocky (14) are part of Lancashire’s age-group sides, he was understandably wary ahead of this opportunity with the national team.”I think he was a little bit nervous coming into the environment,” Trescothick said. “He doesn’t know many of the people so, from where he was coming in first at Cardiff to where he is now, he’s grown massively.”He’s back into the person you expect to be around cricket because that’s what I’ve seen for so many years and it’s been great, really good. He’s really enjoyed the opportunity and the team have taken to him being around. Hopefully, we’ll see more of him in the future.”Trescothick, like Flintoff, knows all about cricket’s ability to aid recovery. His mental-health struggles, especially when on tour, meant his international career ended in 2006, at the age of 30. With the help of those within the game, Trescothick has begun to take on more overseas trips in retirement. He returned to Pakistan for England’s Test tour last winter for the first time since 2005, a series which he believes triggered his depression, and he will be assisting England at the upcoming World Cup in India.”You become more comfortable, don’t you?” Trescothick said, recognising how cricket had helped Flintoff as it had helped him. “This is what we know, this is what we’ve grown up with for so many years. Once you come to your comfortable environment, you know what goes on and you understand the place, people have respect for what he has done and enjoy seeing him improving.”That’s really good from our point of view. If we as players and squads and cricket in general keep doing that for people who have fallen on tougher times, then great, we’re doing something right.”

Engelbrecht: 'We've got really good cricketers in our changing room and it will show as we go along'

If this was the Netherlands of 2007, or perhaps even 2011, Sybrand Engelbrecht may have soaked in the satisfaction of notching up an important personal milestone – a maiden ODI half-century – in a World Cup fixture. But the class of 2023 thinks differently.Three nights after stunning South Africa in a sensational defence in Dharamsala, Netherlands appeared to have gone cold early on against Sri Lanka in Lucknow. Feet weren’t moving, wickets kept tumbling, the scoreboard appeared stalled and there was a sense of hopelessness to proceedings at 91 for 6. Teams of the past may have unravelled. This Netherlands team didn’t.Related

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Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek hit sprightly half-centuries in a 130-run stand that brought them back into the game and gave their bowlers a score to defend. It wasn’t to be, though, despite the best efforts of their spinners who had combined figures of 4 for 125 off 28.1 overs in a defence of 263; Aryan Dutt was particularly impressive with his offspin that brought him 3 for 44.”I must admit it’s still a bitter pill to swallow,” Engelbrecht said after Netherlands’ six-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in which he made 79. “Getting 260-odd after that start we thought it was a very competitive score. Maybe the pitch got a little bit better, but I thought they controlled the innings really well. And we just didn’t quite pitch up today with the ball, unfortunately. So, yeah, not the ideal result for us, but we’ll move forward and we’ll try and be better and learn from this as quickly as possible.”Engelbrecht was particularly effusive in his praise for van Beek, who struck his maiden half-century (59) on Saturday. His enterprise during their partnership helped take the pressure off Engelbrecht, who was the more industrious of the two.”I think a lot of credit needs to go to Logan, I thought he batted brilliantly, and we just tried take it as deep as possible,” he said. “We just told ourselves, if we can get to the last ten overs with six down, we’re giving ourselves a good chance.”So, for us, it really wasn’t necessarily about trying to accumulate runs. It was just about making sure that we got into positive positions and pick up the runs when we could. But to try and lay a bit of a foundation for us to start scoring a little bit more freely to the back end, which we managed to do. So, happy with the partnership.”Would they have taken 262 after all that?”At the halfway stage we thought we had a decent score,” Engelbrecht said. “I don’t think we would have taken it necessarily. I think, you know, the pitch definitely got better as the day went on, but I mean, I spoke to Max [O’Dowd] about it as well, and there was still consistently something in the pitch if we bowled the right areas. And I just thought we didn’t string enough good balls together for long enough to put the Sri Lanka team under pressure.”In recent times, Sri Lanka have been a bit of a bogey team for the Netherlands. Twice at the World Cup Qualifiers in June, they fell short, including in the final. In both games, Netherlands were more than in with a shout at the halfway mark but collapsed at the first sign of spin. Which is why their revival on Saturday feels like a vindication of the work they’ve put in behind the scenes, including a long pre-World Cup camp in Bengaluru to acclimatise to different surfaces and conditions.Sybrand Engelbrecht brought up his first ODI half-century•AFP/Getty Images

“We were very confident in the growth that we’ve shown as a team over the last 6-12 months,” Engelbrecht said. “We’re a better team now than we were when we played them at the Qualifier and we thought that if we stick to our processes, if we implement our plans and execute well for long enough, we stood a really good chance. And I think there were periods in the game that you could definitely see that. So, credit goes to them. They played well. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t string it together for long enough.”At a personal level, Engelbrecht has had to grapple with challenges, like several others in the team, of working a day job and balancing cricket on the sidelines. In the highest level of club cricket back in Netherlands, Engelbrecht has been a heavy scorer for Voorburg Cricket Club, who he helped steer to three straight finals.Engelbrecht said he hadn’t made too many adjustments to his game coming into the World Cup. It’s understandable too, considering he didn’t think he even stood a chance of playing in the tournament and only came into the system after the Qualifiers in June-July.”I haven’t made a lot of adjustments,” he said. “I’ve tried to keep it as simple as possible. I think when you do make the step up from club cricket in the Netherlands, you could maybe sometimes think, ‘oh wow, I need to do so much more, you know, things differently.'”But the reality is, in our changing room we’ve got really good cricketers and we just need to back ourselves and our processes and stick to our plans. So, nothing really changed, it’s just trying to be as clear as possible and to watch the ball as closely as possible. So, I’m happy that it came off for me personally today, but as I said, we’ve got really, really good cricketers in our changing room and it will show as we go along.”

'I enjoy watching it' – Gilchrist feels sense of deja vu watching Head cause carnage

Adam Gilchrist paused and pondered. Did Travis Head’s merciless and muscular batting stir emotions within the Australian cricket legend?”In some ways. Obviously, he’s playing very aggressively and that was my role,” Gilchrist told ESPNcricinfo after a deliberation.Comparisons to Gilchrist have generally been considered sacrilege, but Head’s cavalier batting at No.5 in Test cricket and as an ODI opener has meant evocations can’t be helped. Like Gilchrist, Head loves to hit the ball square and extremely hard.Related

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With two counterattacking centuries in the 2021-22 Ashes series, Head was something of a precursor to ‘Bazball’ and he hasn’t slowed down since. He is the only opener in the history of ODI cricket who has scored more than 1000 runs while averaging over 50 and striking at over 110.”There are some shots he hits, where if I watch footage or myself, even when I was playing, it didn’t look like how it felt,” Gilchrist said. “When it was happening, it felt like a beautiful looking shot, but on replay it’s actually just been bludgeoned and he’s got that ability.”He can lose what we term traditional shape of a shot, but because he’s going so aggressively and he’s got such power and great hand-eye coordination, he still gets the ball away.”I really enjoy that part of his batting and watching it.”Adam Gilchrist launches a six over long-on in the 2007 World Cup•Getty Images

Head’s importance to Australia’s World Cup title hopes was showcased when he smashed a 59-ball century against New Zealand in his return from a broken hand. With Head matching David Warner blow for blow, the openers clubbed 118 of their 175-run partnership in the opening powerplay as Australia ultimately claimed a vital win.Head’s successful comeback vindicated the gamble from Australia’s hierarchy to stick with him after he was unavailable for the early part of the tournament due to a broken hand.”He clearly made an impact against New Zealand. He’s one of a number of important factors for Australia’s title hopes,” Gilchrist said. “His style is something that if you’re on board with it you have to ride the highs and the inevitable lows.”He won’t necessarily get the big score every time and have the consistency when you’re that style of player. It’s about making an impact and with that comes getting out early sometimes.”But as long as everyone is riding that journey with him…they’ll know that when he fires it’s going to go a long way to helping Australia win.”Gilchrist and Test great Justin Langer were at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Monday as part of the early build-up for next month’s first Test between Australia and Pakistan.After a modest crowd of 42,517 fans attended last summer’s Australia and West Indies Test – the first Test in Perth since the Covid-19 pandemic – WA Cricket has sought an inventive approach to woo back spectators.Rebranded the ‘West Test’, the match starting on December 14 will feature a new three-tiered hill that can hold up to 500 fans. A portion of seats at the 60,000-capacity Optus Stadium will be taken out in a bid to mimic the famous grass banks on either side of the WACA ground, which is under redevelopment.”Bringing part of that history and heritage to this modern facility is really exciting,” Gilchrist said. “These opportunities to bring some of that old heritage into the new [stadium] is a great starting point to build tradition and history.”Pakistan last played a Test match in Perth in December 2004 when Australia won by 491 runs at the WACA.

Soumya 169 in vain as Nicholls, Young power New Zealand to series win

Soumya Sarkar cracked a career-best 169 out of Bangladesh’s total of 291 in the second ODI against New Zealand, but the visitors still fell well short in Nelson. Henry Nicholls hit 95 and Will Young continued his good form by smashing 89, and each of the hosts’ other top five batters helped them ease their way to the chase, which was completed with 22 balls and seven wickets in the bank.As a result, New Zealand went 2-0 up in the three-match series, having won the first ODI in Dunedin by 44 runs on Sunday.Opening the batting on Wednesday, Bangladesh slipped to 80 for 4 in the 17th over, with Jacob Duffy having struck twice for New Zealand. Regular wickets had forced Soumya to slow down after a quick start, during which he had moved to 26 off his first 23 deliveries, including hitting six boundaries.However, Soumya joined Mushfiqur Rahim to resurrect the innings. While Mushfiqur took his time to get going, Soumya kept ticking steadily, getting to his fifty from 58 balls with a boundary off Josh Clarkson to start the 21st over. Both batters hit the occasional boundary while keeping the scoreboard moving with singles and twos, before Duffy broke the game open. He had Mushfiqur caught behind for 45 in the 35th over, thus ending a stand of 91 in 18 overs.But Soumya then added 61 with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, in the process getting to his third ODI century off 116 balls at the beginning of the 40th over, though he was dropped by Young when on 92. But from 102 off 119 balls at one stage, Soumya hit 67 from his next 32 deliveries in the death overs. That aggression featured nine fours and two sixes – 13 of his other fours had all come earlier – before Bangladesh lost three wickets to Will O’Rourke in the final over.But Bangladesh still posted their highest score while batting first away from home against New Zealand, and started the defence of 291 by bowling two tight overs. Yet, New Zealand ended the powerplay at 61 without loss, as Young and Rachin Ravindra, fresh after pocketing his first IPL cheque, combined to hit nine boundaries. And though debutant legspinner Rishad Hossain ended that union at 76 by having Ravindra caught for 45 in the 11th over, more trouble awaited Bangladesh.Nicholls arrived at No. 3, and combined with Young to add 128 at almost a run a ball. He managed only 3 from his first 13 deliveries, while Young got to his eighth ODI fifty off 51 balls in the 17th over. But the pair maintained a consistent pace throughout their stand, rarely seeming to be in a hurry to hunt the total down, as Nicholls’ first boundary came only off his 17th ball.Young rode his luck twice – first on 76, when Towhid Hridoy couldn’t grab a difficult chance at extra cover, and then on 83, when he used DRS to reverse a caught-down-the-leg-side decision – before eventually perishing for 89 in the 33rd over. By then, Nicholls had got to a fifty of his own, which he could not convert into a century when he pulled Shoriful Isam to midwicket in the 41st over.Nicholls’ only ODI century had come almost five years ago in January 2019, but he wouldn’t have minded seeing Tom Latham and Tom Blundell wrap the game up for New Zealand. All that, despite Soumya’s monumental knock – the second-highest by a Bangladesh batter in ODIs – which went in vain.

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

India drew level in the five-match series with a 107-run win over England in Visakhapatnam, but the batting performance remains an area of concern. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a double-century in the first innings and Shubman Gill hit a hundred under pressure in the second, but no other batter could get a big score. Captain Rohit Sharma said that is something the team needs to look at, while also pointing out that it is a young squad that will learn with experience.”The wicket was really good to bat on. That’s where, if I have to point anything, a lot of the batters got the start, but didn’t convert into a big score, and [that’s] something that we really need to look into,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.”But, again, having said that, I do understand they’re very young, [and] they’re very new to this form of the game. So obviously, it will take some time for us. It’s important from our side to give them confidence, and this win, obviously, will give them a lot of confidence, and [tell them] just to go out there and play freely.”Related

  • Stats – Jaiswal and Lara in a club of their own

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Rohit emphasised on winning against an in-form England side with a relatively inexperienced squad.”Very, very proud of such a young squad in terms of the Test matches that they’ve played. To come up against a team like that, [who] won the first Test match, and then to come out and play like that for us, [it’s] very, very positive,” he said.”Like I said, a lot of the guys are quite young in terms of playing this form of the game for us. So it’ll take some time, obviously, to be absolutely spot on, but you’ve got to give it to them. [They need] a little more time, little more freedom as well. And that is something that we are constantly talking in the changing room that we want these guys to have some time in the middle, go and play freely without any pressure.”Among the Indian players with limited Test experience is Rohit’s opening partner Jaiswal. In just his sixth Test, the 22-year-old followed up his 80-run knock in the first Test with his second Test century, and went on to convert it into a double. Rohit hailed the innings of 209 as “an exceptional knock”, and said Jaiswal is looking to make the most of every opportunity.”Looks like a very good player, understands his game really well,” Rohit said about Jaiswal. “He’s got a long way to go, of course. He’s just coming to the side now, and every opportunity he’s trying to make the most of it.”That was an exceptional knock, what he did in the first day. Long way to go, like I said. He’s got a lot to offer to our team, and I hope he stays quite humble and focuses on what is needed for the team.”

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