Steven Finn has admitted he was frustrated by England’s decision not to take him to India as part of the World T20 squad, insisting he would have been fully fit for the tournament

George Dobell14-Apr-2016Steven Finn has admitted he was frustrated by England’s decision not to take him to India as part of the World T20 squad, insisting he would have been fully fit for the tournament.Finn, who was replaced in the squad by Liam Plunkett after suffering a calf injury, assured the England management that he would be fit and subsequently played a full part on Middlesex’s pre-season tour.While he celebrated England’s relative success in the tournament, joking that they would have been “knocked out in the group stages if I’d been there”, he felt the latest in a succession of injuries robbed him of “a big winter”.”It’s frustrating,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I would have been fit. I told them I would be fit.”There wasn’t actually much wrong with me. I was back up and running within a week of the calf injury but the decision was made quite quickly to pull me out of the squad. There were still 10 days before the squad left to go for India and I was pretty much bowling 100% by the time the guys started the World Cup.”They played fantastically and got better as the tournament went on. I was frustrated not to be out there with them, but you get over that and accept the decision is made.”

Helm ‘something special’

Tom Helm has been rated the “the most talented young bowler I’ve ever seen” by his team-mate Steven Finn.
Helm, a 21-year-old fast bowler, missed most of the 2015 season with a stress fracture but is tipped to play around half of Middlesex’s Championship matches this season if fitness allows. Finn believes he has the pace and skill to enjoy great success.
“In my opinion, he is the most talented young bowler I’ve ever seen,” Finn said. “He’s got something that different and special. You watch him bowl and you think: this is beautiful.
“It’s quick, it’s easy and he swings it both ways at will. He’s got something special. If he stays fit he’ll be a very big player for Middlesex and probably higher than that.”

The calf injury was the latest in a series of setbacks that have interrupted Finn’s progress since his return to the Test team during the 2015 summer. A foot injury kept him out of the Test series in the UAE, while a side strain ended his tour to South Africa. In between times, he cut his head on a street sign while looking at his phone while walking.”Injuries at this stage of my career, when it looked like I could have had a big winter, are frustrating,” he said. “But I’ve taken solace in the fact that when I’ve come back I’ve bowled well straight away. In the past it has taken a while.”Middlesex’s Championship season starts at Lord’s on Sunday with a game against Warwickshire. Finn knows that his performances in the opening games will determine whether he wins selection for the Test series against Sri Lanka and hopes that the newly developed ability to swing the ball – evident during the 2015 Ashes series – will give him an edge.”I feel I’ve something to offer in all three formats,” Finn said. “But Test cricket is what I desperately, desperately want to play.”That third seamer spot has been up for grabs at the start of the summer for the last four or five years. There’s a lot of people out there wanting to stake a claim for it and I’m in that category as well. Whoever takes the most wickets or is the most impressive in those games will probably get the nod for the third seamer.”You have to move the ball to be successful and I’ve been working on a genuine inswinger. I have chatted to Jimmy Anderson about it, but he is a genuine genius. I can only do it to left-handers at the moment, so it’s a work in progress.”Finn also expressed sympathy for Ben Stokes, who was hit for four successive sixes in the final of the World T20 as West Indies won the trophy. Finn conceded 49 in two overs – including six sixes – in a drubbing at the hands of New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum in the 2015 World Cup and knows better than most how such an experience feels. Finn suggested that, while he became flustered during the McCullum assault, Stokes retained his composure admirably.”When I got hit by Brendon I went to things that I wasn’t sure whether they were going to work,” Finn said. “You have to take yourself out of the situation and remember what worked well for you and Stokesy did that very well. He tried to deliver the skills he had all tournament.”Stoksey’s yorker had worked for him all tournament and, if you look at the pitch map of that over, apart from the first ball, they were very close to being good yorkers that wouldn’t normally be hit for six.”Ben can take solace in the fact that he did deliver his skill. He just got met on that day by someone who was having a freakish innings.”It will have hurt a lot at the time, but he’ll be fine. He’ll still be the heart and soul of the team. He’ll still be the life of the team. And if there is a last over to bowl again, I’m sure he’ll put his hand up to do it because he’s that sort of character.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim to secure a top-two finish in the league phase when they meet hosts Delhi Daredevils in Raipur on Friday

The Preview by Deivarayan Muthu19-May-2016

Match facts

Friday, May 20, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Big Picture

It’s that time of the season when teams scramble for the playoffs. Sunrisers Hyderabad are well placed to qualify, and a win against Delhi Daredevils on Friday or Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday would guarantee them a top-two finish. Wins in both the games would help them top the charts. They are one of only three teams in the scramble to have a positive net rate (+0.4), which means that they could qualify with two losses as well. The only concern for them is the void left by Ashish Nehra, who has been ruled out of the rest of the IPL with a hamstring injury.With four losses in their last five matches, Daredevils are floating on thin ice. They have to win both their games to have a shot at the playoffs for the first time since 2012. That the wounded Daredevils have to play two peaking sides – Sunrisers and Royal Challengers Bangalore – means they have to lift their game by several notches. They will also have to adjust to their second ‘home’ in Raipur, where the mercury levels are hovering over the 40 degree mark.Daredevils have been undone by constant chopping and changing after a sprightly start. Sample this: only Amit Mishra, Karun Nair and Sanju Samson have featured in all their matches so far this season. In comparison, seven Sunrisers players – David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mustafizur Rahman and Naman Ojha – have featured in each of their games.The Powerplay, where Daredevils score at 6.95, the lowest among all teams, has been another area of concern. Zaheer Khan, the captain, attributed a part of that to decisions not going in his side’s favour, after the 19-run loss via D/L method to Rising Pune Supergiants. Quinton de Kock, the highest run-getter for Daredevils this season and the side’s ninth highest overall, had been incorrectly given out caught behind twice in three matches. That Daredevils have had five opening combinations – the joint most along with Mumbai Indians – has not helped their cause either.

Form guide

Delhi Daredevils LLWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Sunrisers Hyderabad WLWWW

In the spotlight

Zaheer’s variety – slower offcutter, quick offcutter and the knuckle ball – and funky fields had been crucial to Daredevils’ early success. Even when Krunal Pandya swatted away the rest of the attack last weekend, Zaheer held his own, giving away only 23 runs in four overs. The reward for his persistence was the wicket of Martin Guptill. Can he deliver again under pressure?Henriques has been a constant for Sunrisers this season. He may not muscle the ball like David Warner or unfurl a bag of cutters like Mustafizur Rahman, but his small contributions have played a part in Sunrisers’ upswing. The last time these two sides met in Raipur, Henriques fashioned Sunrisers’ win with an unbeaten 74. So a return to the eastern city is sure to elicit happy memories?

Team news

Nehra’s injury will force Sunrisers to make a change by default. Barinder Sran is likely to return to the line-up in a like-for-like swap although Sunrisers have other options in right-arm seamer Abhimanyu Mithun and left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma. They may also consider recalling Kane Williamson in place of Ben Cutting, despite the Australia allrounder’s unbeaten 18 off 11 balls that sealed the game on Sunday.Sunrisers Hyderabad (probable): 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Ben Cutting/Kane Williamson, 6 Naman Ojha(wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar 9 Karn Sharma 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Barinder SranGiven Daredevils’ tactics, everyone in the squad has the chance to make the XI.Delhi Daredevils (probable): 1 Quinton de Kock(wk), 2 Shreyas Iyer/Mayank Agarwal, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Rishabh Pant, 6 JP Duminy/Carlos Brathwaite/Sam Billings, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Zaheer Khan(capt), 10 Nathan Coulter-Nile/Imran Tahir, 11 Mohammed Shami/Jayant Yadav/Pawan Negi/Shahbaz Nadeem

Pitch and conditions

The surface in Raipur offered early assistance to the seamers last season. Friday is expected to be a warm day with showers forecast later in the evening. Both teams will have to factor in the big boundaries.

Stats and trivia

• Yuzvendra Chahal (16 wickets) and Amit Mishra (13 wickets) are the only spinners in the top-ten list of wicket-takers this season.
• Warner has scored over 500 runs in three consecutive seasons – 528 in 2014, 562 in 2015, and 567 so far in 2016. He is only the second player to achieve the feat after Chris Gayle, who made 608 in 2011, 733 in 2012 and 708 in 2013.

Quote

“Once we bat well we are a different team. I think we delivered our best batting performance against Royal Challengers in Bangalore. We have to bat like the way we did there while chasing 191. We also have very good memories of also playing in Raipur.”

Sanjay Bangar has been appointed India’s batting coach for their four-Test tour of West Indies. Abhay Sharma, who had been with the team in Zimbabwe as fielding coach, has been retained for the series in the Caribbean

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2016Sanjay Bangar has been re-appointed India’s batting coach for their four-Test tour of West Indies. Abhay Sharma, who had been with the team in Zimbabwe as fielding coach, has been retained for the series in the Caribbean.Bangar had been the batting coach when Ravi Shastri had been team director for nearly two years from August 2014. His contract lapsed after the end of the World T20 in April, but was put in charge of the Indian team on an interim basis for the limited-overs series in Harare.The appointments were made after consulting with India’s new head coach Anil Kumble, but a BCCI release was specific that they pertained only to the seven weeks they would be playing against the West Indian teams from July 6. There won’t be a bowling coach travelling with the Indian team making Bangar the only one of the previous support staff, which had also included to B Arun and R Sridhar, to be retained.Regarding the absence of a bowling coach, BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke told : “Anil himself is one of the greatest bowlers. He insisted on not having a bowling coach for the West Indies tour since he is in charge.”Abhay Sharma had previously worked with Rahul Dravid and the India A and Under-19 teams. He was also among the Rest of India staff when they beat Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai in the 2016 Irani Cup.

The number of bouncers bowled to Phillip Hughes in his final innings will be among the issues addressed by the New South Wales Coronial inquest into his death

Daniel Brettig13-Jun-2016The number of bouncers bowled to Phillip Hughes in his final innings will be among the issues addressed by the New South Wales Coronial inquest into his death, a directions hearing has confirmed.The NSW coroner Michael Barnes will pursue multiple avenues during an inquest to be held from October 10-14, as he examines the death of Hughes after he was struck by a short-pitched ball while playing for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG in November 2014.At a directions hearing in Sydney on Friday, the areas to be investigated were outlined, including the “nature of play” on the day Hughes was struck and whether it complied with the rules of the competition. The response times of ambulances, the possibility of whether additional head protection could have deflected the blow, the vast media coverage of Hughes’ collapse and subsequent death will be among other issues explored.Players on the field at the time, including Australia’s vice-captain David Warner and allrounder Sean Abbott, who was bowling when Hughes was struck, are expected to give evidence. Cricket Australia are to schedule the season-opening limited overs tournament in such a way that witness testimony does not clash with matches.A CA-commissioned review of events was completed last year and released to the public in May. Conducted by David Curtain QC, it concluded that neither greater head protection for Hughes nor swifter transport from the SCG to the nearest hospital would have prevented his death, while also recommending a raft of changes to head and heart-related safety precautions around the game.When releasing the report, CA’s chief executive James Sutherland expressed hope that the coronial inquest would not tear at the fabric of the game by calling for greater restrictions on the use of short-pitched bowling.”You’ll see in the brief terms of reference we gave David Curtain that we needed to draw a line about the laws of the game and to have some perspective around that,” Sutherland said. “You can make the game of cricket a lot safer by playing with a tennis ball, but that’s not how Test cricket has been played and it would obviously be a very different game.”We’re not wanting to go there, but we do need to find the right balance in the circumstances to not compromise the way the game’s played and not compromise the way in which the players are best equipped to show their skills.”The ICC’s cricket committee recently rejected a CA-driven call for mandatory concussion substitutes to be brought into first-class matches and potentially Tests.

Yorkshire may learn between now and the end of the season how much they have missed Ryan Sidebottom during the seven matches he has been forced to miss because of an ankle injury

Jon Culley at Headingley05-Aug-2016
ScorecardRyan Sidebottom is back in the wickets after a seven-match lay-off•Getty Images

Yorkshire may learn between now and the end of the season how much they have missed Ryan Sidebottom during the seven matches he has been forced to miss because of an ankle injury. In that time they have won only twice and while there have been other factors at play, not least the weather, it is not unreasonable to speculate that, had he been steaming in, business as usual, they might have created a few more opportunities at the very least.The veteran left-armer will be 39 in January, far too old, you would say, to be doing what he does, yet there has been no evidence during the last couple of years that his powers are waning. Last year he finished top of Yorkshire’s averages with 41 wickets at a stingy 17.9 runs each; in 2014 it was 48 at 18.35.His longevity as a bowler is a wonder, given that he hardly lopes in off a few gentle strides. It would not be Ryan Sidebottom if he were not thundering in, nostrils flaring, that familiar leonine mane adding to the sense of speed and menace. It is a testament to how well he looks after himself, and how well Yorkshire have managed his workload.It was doubtless a little embarrassing, then, that the hairline fracture that has kept him out of action since April had to be put down not to what he did to himself in that match against Warwickshire, but to a mishap incurred subsequently, when he managed to do further damage to the same ankle playing a football game in the dressing room.It goes without saying that the consequences of this could have been pretty depressing. Happily, though, all looks well. Reassuming his customary role as the leader of the Yorkshire attack, he bowled 15 overs, taking the second Warwickshire wicket and the last, either side of the one that happened to be the 400th first-class wicket of his Yorkshire career.”It is a relief to be okay, a huge relief,” he admitted afterwards.”It was one of those stupid accidents that can happen and at this stage of my career, of course there is always that worry in the back of you mind. You wonder what’s going to happen, am I going to be back next year?”But Yorkshire have looked after me well, I’ve played the last three weeks in the seconds to get some bowling under my belt and it is great to be back and to contribute.”We’ve got seven games left and if I can contribute to the team winning a couple we are going to be there or thereabouts again at the end of the season.”There was pride, too, that he had been able to add another milestone, having passed 700 career first-class wickets last season. “Dizzy (Jason Gillespie) congratulated me and announced it to all the lads in the dressing room and that was really nice of him,” he said.The bigger proportion of those Yorkshire wickets – 238 out of 401 now – have come since he returned to his home county from Nottinghamshire in 2011, when the Trent Bridge club decided the three-year contract he wanted was too big a risk. Even he thought it would be the last one he signed. In the event, he has extended it twice, to six years. Moreover, those 238 wickets have come at 20.99 runs each, compared with an overall career average of 23.99. He genuinely has improved with age.The 400th, fittingly, was an important one, prising out Sam Hain on 48 when it seemed the talented 21-year-old right-hander could be set to compensate for the failures of Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell by bookending a string of good performances in white-ball cricket with back-to-back Championship hundreds, following on from his one against Hampshire in early July.Trott, miscueing a pull, gave a return catch to Jack Brooks, another whose return from injury may have come at a timely moment, while Bell, on the drive, sliced a ball from Steve Patterson straight to backward point. With Hain’s demise, Warwickshire were in trouble at 112 for 6.That they managed to scrape their way from there to 179 all out was almost entirely down to Rikki Clarke, another who would argue that age is just a number. At 34 he’s just a young ‘un next to Sidebottom but there are a few miles on the clock. Yet as an all-rounder – batsman, bowler and brilliant slip fielder – he still stands above the rest in the county game.He proved it here, first with the unbeaten 50 that kept Warwickshire in the game and then, in a superb evening’s work, with four wickets, reducing Yorkshire to 68 for 5. He had Adam Lyth and Travis Head caught by Varun Chopra at first slip and later, in consecutive deliveries, bowled Jack Leaning with a swinging full-length ball and had nightwatchman Patterson leg before.”To score an unbeaten 50 and then take four wickets in 15 overs made it an outstanding day for him,” Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Dougie Brown, said. “We needed someone to step forward and do something and that is exactly what Rikki did. He has brought us back into the game and far closer than before Yorkshire started their second innings.”Yorkshire closed on 78 for 5, their lead just 156. The pitch is dry, there is turn and bounce and what Jeetan Patel does on day three could be as important as Clarke’s contribution on day two.

Kent collapsed to 15 for 4 after Ben Duckett’s double-hundred gave Northamptonshire a healthy first-innings lead

Tim Wigmore at Beckenham07-Sep-2016
ScorecardBen Duckett’s outstanding form continued at Beckenham•Getty Images

As Northamptonshire ended the day at Beckenham dancing, revelling in how their end of season buoyancy has extended to the County Championship, they had trampled on Kent’s promotion hopes. Kent now face requiring something wondrous from the returning Sam Billings to extend their hopes of a return to Division One beyond tomorrow.In the evening Kent’s destroyer was Rory Kleinveldt, swinging the ball late to eviscerate Kent’s top order, and locating a perfect yorker to uproot Joe Denly’s middle stump. In a half hour of bedlam, he claimed four wickets and only accentuated the brilliance of what had come earlier: 208 magnificent runs from Ben Duckett, born six miles from Beckenham and making Kent rue his family for moving away in his youth.A little after four o’clock, Kent summoned Hardus Viljoen, their overseas quick and a man who played Test cricket earlier this year, back into the attack. He might have assumed that his pedigree would command respect. Instead, he saw his first delivery scythed through midwicket for four, pulled with contempt off the front foot. The same result met Viljoen’s second ball though, to add to the ignominy, this was hit gun-barrel straight, a little to mid-on’s right.In these two balls was the distillation of a singular and rare talent. Duckett is only 21, and yet has spent the summer mocking the notion that the harum-scarum county schedule should act as an impediment to all-format excellence. He now has 2619 runs in all formats this summer, the highest tally in the land.It is the mark of Duckett’s summer that, in the pantheon of his most spectacular innings this year – 220* for England Lions in a 50-over game for England Lions against Sri Lanka A, an unbeaten 163 to lift England Lions to their target of 248 against Pakistan A, a brazen 84 in the semi-finals of the T20 Blast, 282 in the County Championship against Sussex and 180 on a pitch turning viciously against Glamorgan – this double century would not even sneak into the top five.For vast swathes of this innings, there were little sign of the pyrotechnics that are the hallmark of Duckett in T20, but rather copious impeccably-judged leaves against Kent’s seamers, married with scurrying between the wickets and skilful working the ball into gaps. Duckett possesses copious power and 360-degree hitting, yet his greatest quality might just be the dexterity of his wrists, enabling him to manipulate deliveries past fielders placed for the exact shot. While there were a sprinkling of sublime extra cover drives, the most striking thing about Duckett’s 149-ball century was the sense of a man playing within himself, of there being more to unleash.And then it happened: an absurd reverse-pull off James Tredwell, hit with such nonchalance that Kent’s fielders could only laugh, followed by a conventional pull the next delivery: same ball, same result, very different means to that end. It was a sign of a man bent on raising hell, and raise hell he did, pummelling Kent with insouciance and inevitability in taking 91 balls over his second century. The only thing that was lacking was a six: perhaps just as well for Mathieu Flamini, who spent the day having a medical at Crystal Palace’s training ground, adjacent to the straight boundaries.This outrageous skill is matched by an awareness of the vicissitudes inherent in batsmanship. Duckett knows that the life of the opening batsman is often nasty, brutish and short – after play, he said that he’d been dismissed for single figures 16 times this year. So he has resolved to strain for every when he is set. Four Championship centuries this season have brought a lowest score of 185. “I’m desperate to score big runs. I could have ended up with four double hundreds this year which would have been unbelievable,” he said.As Duckett’s star has soared so, inevitably, have whispers developed that he could leave Wantage Road, just as David Willey did a year ago, despite having a year left of his contract. Yet Northants are confident that Duckett will stay in 2017, which he is already contracted for, and long beyond. They envisage in Duckett not another David Willey, a player who is developed and then effectively sold, football-style, at a profit, but rather a Moeen Ali: a cricketer who rises from an unfashionable county to win England recognition, at which point there is no need for them to leave at all.”I’m very happy at this club,” he said after play. “You can see from all the boys now how happy we are playing with each other. We’ll have a beer tonight [he was already nursing one] – we do celebrate very well together and get on well.”As the carnage from Duckett’s bat ensued, it would have been easy for Kent to rue their misfortune: not just at coming up against a man in such transcendent form, but also for playing their best County Championship cricket since 2009 in a year in which only one team will be promoted. “In any other season we’d have gone up,” chuntered one disgruntled supporter.Yet, rather than be demoralised by Duckett’s assault, Kent displayed fortitude that would make them worthy of a cherished return to the top flight. Chicanery from Viljoen and Darren Stevens with the second new ball accounted for Northants’ last six wickets for just 37 runs in 12.1 overs, but this foreshadowed the destruction Kleinveldt would unleash when it was Northants’ turn with a new ball.

Dougie Brown has stepped down as Warwickshire’s director of cricket by mutual consent, inviting the belief that Ashley Giles could make a return to Edgbaston

George Dobell and David Hopps05-Oct-2016Dougie Brown has stepped down as Warwickshire’s director of cricket by mutual consent.His departure invites the possibility that Ashley Giles could be enticed back to Warwickshire to take up the role that he relinquished to join England’s coaching set-up.Giles has made an impact as Lancashire’s director of cricket, with homegrown players at the core, but his impatience with criticism from a minority of supporters has been evident and he retains strong emotional and family ties with Warwickshire where he spent his playing career.He spends most of the week in a hotel near Manchester and his family still live in Droitwich, 25 miles south of Birmingham. If he expressed an interest, it would be a surprise if Lancashire tried to stand in his way.Brown’s position seemed strengthened when Warwickshire won the Royal London Cup, following their victory in the NatWest Blast in 2014, but even two trophies in three years could not satisfy the hankering for change among senior figures in the county.Brown responded philosophically, saying: “The club has a very proud history of challenging for silverware and despite winning the Royal London One-Day Cup this season, failure to qualify for the NatWest T20 Blast quarter finals and narrowly avoiding relegation from Division One of the Specsavers County Championship on the last day of the season is not where the club should be.”It is, therefore, the right time for me to agree to step down from my role as director of cricket. I wish the club and the players all the very best in 2017 and thank everyone for a fantastic journey over the past 27 years.”Brown, 46, assumed Giles’ role at Edgbaston four years ago, stepping up from the role of academy coach and, in keeping with his 27-year involcement with the county, he has fulfilled it with undoubted passion and energy.But the sense has grown at Edgbaston that the squad is ageing, with few signs of high-quality, long-term replacements emerging from the academy. Warwickshire remain burdened by debt, with around £20m owed to Birmingham City Council, and Twenty20 crowds have not grown as fast as in some other areas of the country.Ian Bell, who took over the captaincy last season after losing his England place, has taken on a central role in Warwickshire’s affairs and his belief that the county would make a strong Championship challenge did not bear examination as they found themselves in a final match against Lancashire at Edgbaston in which either side, had results gone against them, could have been relegated.Neil Snowball, the chief executive of Warwickshire, said: “Dougie is a true Bear, having served the club with great distinction for many years as a player, coach and director of cricket.”On behalf of the players, members and supporters, I would like to thank him for everything that he has contributed to Warwickshire CCC and wish him the very best for the future.”Snowball, who held senior organising roles for the 2012 London Olympics and the 2015 Rugby World Cup, set high expectations when he assumed the chief executive’s role earlier this year, calling for the county to challenge across all three competitions and produce more than 50% of its players.Giles extended his contract with Lancashire until 2018 following the double success of winning the NatWest T20 Blast and securing Championship promotion during his first summer.Jim Troughton, a former captain, is also among the favourites for a role of 1st team coach.

A round-up of the second day of Group B matches in the second round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2016R Samarth’s maiden first-class double-century was the highlight of Karnataka’s dominant batting performance against Jharkhand in Greater Noida. Karnataka had gone into stumps on the opening day on 248 for 3, with Samarth on 118 and Kaunain Abbas on 28. On Friday, Samarth scored 235 and Abbas made 55, while every batsman who followed came good as Karnataka piled on 577 for 6 before declaring. Jharkhand ended the day on 9 for no loss, trailing by 568 runs.After the Samarth-Abbas stand ended, having realised 115, Samarth and Stuart Binny (97) added 185 for the fifth wicket. Samarth added another 46 with CM Gautam, the wicketkeeper, before being dismissed. Gautam remained unbeaten on 36, and Shreyas Gopal was 21 not out when the declaration was made.Rajasthan came up with a strong reply to Assam’s first-innings total of 195 to gain a 13-run lead in Visakhapatnam. Rajasthan had bowled Assam out for 195 after Pankaj Singh’s 24th five-wicket haul on the opening day.Starting their innings afresh on the second day, Rajasthan ended on 208 for 3, with Mahipal Lomror unbeaten on 84. Rajasthan lost Manender Singh with just 8 on the board. Lomror and Vineet Saxena then joined hands for a 76-run second-wicket stand. Lomror added 75 more for the third wicket with Ashok Menaria (44), before taking the side to stumps in the company of Rajat Bhatia (28 not out). Arup Das, Abu Nechim and Pallavkumar Das took a wicket apiece.At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, Odisha’s bowlers combined to give them the first-innings lead, bowling Saurashtra out for 186. Odisha had been bowled out for 228, despite opener Sandeep Pattnaik’s century, after which Saurashtra had gone into stumps on the first day at 4 for no loss.New-ball bowlers Basant Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan and left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh took all 10 wickets to keep Saurashtra to 186. Mohanty took 4 for 58, while Pradhan and Dhiraj took three each. Jaydev Shah, the Saurashtra captain, top-scored with 64, and Chirag Jani scored 45, but there was no other contribution of note. Although Dharmendrasinh Jadeja resisted with an unbeaten 28 at No. 10, it wasn’t enough to give them the lead.Odisha lost first-innings centurion Pattnaik and their captain Govinda Poddar early in the second innings, and went into stumps on 62 for 2, leading by 104 runs.