Sharing the new ball in conditions that initially encouraged seam and swing, Hardik Pandya and Umesh Yadav ran through New Zealand’s top order to set India up for a six-wicket win in the first ODI in Dharamsala

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy16-Oct-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:46

O’Brien: NZ batsmen didn’t read the pitch right

Sharing the new ball in conditions that initially encouraged seam and swing, Hardik Pandya and Umesh Yadav ran through New Zealand’s top order to set India up for a six-wicket win in the first ODI in Dharamsala. From 65 for 7, New Zealand recovered to post a relatively respectable total thanks to Tom Latham, who became the tenth batsman to carry his bat through an ODI innings, and Tim Southee, who struck a 45-ball 55 at No. 10, but a target of 191 was never really going to test India.Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma got India off to a solid start with a 49-run opening stand, and Virat Kohli took over thereafter, as he does so often in chases big and small, and his unbeaten 81-ball 85, full of trademark cover drives – the straight-bat punched variety as well as the wristy flat-bat swishes – guided India home with 101 balls remaining. He brought up the winning runs with a cleanly struck six off Ish Sodhi, skipping out of his crease and clattering the sightscreen behind the bowler.Sent in to bat, New Zealand would have been disappointed to get bowled out with 37 balls still remaining in their innings. There was swing early on, a bit of seam movement, and a tendency for the ball to stop on the batsmen occasionally, but nothing so devilish in the conditions to cause their top order to collapse so rapidly.Opting to bowl first, India sprang a bit of a surprise by handing Hardik Pandya the new ball ahead of Jasprit Bumrah, but the allrounder soon showed why MS Dhoni may have taken this decision.Fifteen minutes before the toss, Pandya had received his ODI cap from Kapil Dev. He may also have absorbed some lessons about new-ball bowling from the great man: where he has bowled predominantly short in his 16 T20Is so far, Pandya here pitched the ball up and swung it away from the right-handers, while consistently hitting the high 130s.Having produced two edges and a play-and-miss from Martin Guptill in his first over, Pandya broke through with one that straightened towards off stump, forcing the batsman to play from the crease and nick to second slip.Then, Umesh Yadav removed New Zealand’s two most accomplished batsmen. Kane Williamson slashed the last ball of his third over to third man; then, off the first ball of his fourth over, Ross Taylor, late to withdraw his bat from the line of the ball, edged a perfectly-pitched outswinger to the keeper.India frustrated Corey Anderson by bowling into his body and denying him room to free his arms, and he made 4 off 13 before seeing a rare glimpse of width and flat-batting Pandya uppishly to the right of mid-off, where Umesh completed a stunning diving catch. The same combination of bowler and fielder then sent back Luke Ronchi, who flicked in the air to mid-on.When Kedar Jadhav, given the ball for the first time in his ODI career, sent back James Neesham and Mitchell Santner with successive deliveries in the 19th over, New Zealand’s innings seemed unlikely to last beyond the 30th over.Watching all this from the non-striker’s end, Latham may have felt slightly puzzled, because he had looked utterly at ease at the crease, playing close to his body, and driving crisply through the covers and down the ground. He needed someone to stay with him. Doug Bracewell did that for 45 balls before flicking Amit Mishra to short midwicket, helping New Zealand past 100, before Southee arrived at the crease.He could have been out for 2, but Umesh let him off by dropping a straightforward chance at fine leg after he had skied a pull off Bumrah. Southee thanked Umesh and hit two fours in the same over, off the unfortunate Bumrah, punching him on the up through the covers and pulling him through midwicket.He then skipped down the pitch to Mishra and lofted him inside-out over the covers before launching the first six of his innings, off Axar Patel, over long-off. Before this match, Southee had hit a six every 24 balls, roughly, in his international career. This one came off his 25th ball, evidence of the restraint he had shown initially.He hit two more sixes on his way to his maiden ODI half-century before skying Mishra to cover in the 42nd over. By then, he had scored 55 out of a partnership of 71 for the ninth wicket. With only No. 11 left for company, Latham went after Mishra, chipping him inside-out for four and slog-sweeping him for six off successive balls, but the innings wasn’t to last too much longer. Almost as soon as he had Ish Sodhi in his sights, Mishra trapped him on the crease with one that hurried on straight, legspinner foxing legspinner.

A round-up of the CSA T20 Challenge matches on December 7

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2016JJ Smuts lashed nine sixes in his 107 off 58 balls in East London, where Warriors chased down a target of 217 with an over to spare against Dolphins. The result kept Warriors within two points of Titans, the table leaders.Warriors lost opener Clyde Fortuin for a duck in the first over of the imposing chase, but Smuts and Colin Ingram made shrugged away that setback. They added 107 in nine overs before Ingram was out for 55 off 26, lbw to Imran Tahir. Colin Ackerman fell cheaply, but Christiaan Jonker made an unbeaten 36 off 20 balls in a partnership of 88 with Smuts to complete the seven-wicket victory.Smuts’ performance meant that for a second successive game Kevin Pietersen made a half-century in defeat. Pietersen had scored 79 in Dolphins’ loss against Cobras on December 4, and against Warriors he clobbered 81 off 46 with six sixes. His partnership of 145 for the second wicket with opener Morne van Wyk, who made 77 off 52, led Warriors to 216 for 5. Of the 14 bowlers used at Buffalo Park, only Smuts conceded less than 8.50 per over, finishing with figures of 0 for 23 in four overs for Warriors.A powerful batting performance at Supersport Park helped Titans beat Lions by 46 runs and open up a two-point lead at the top of the league. Opener Jonathan Vandiar headlined the show, smacking 67 off 41 balls, but the thrust that spurred Titans to 230 for 5 came from their middle and lower order. Heinrich Klassen made 26 off 15, Heino Kuhn 29 off 11, Albie Morkel 32 off 17, Farhaan Behardien 19 off 9, and David Wiese 17 off 5. Though Titans did not have big individual scores, their relentless hitting ensured that all the Lions bowlers, except for Bjorn Fortuin, went for over eight an over.Rassie van der Dussen got the Lions chase off to a cracking start, his 45 off 18 balls charging them to 53 before he fell in the fifth over. The chase fell away after that – only Temba Bavuma passed 30 – with batsmen failing to convert starts and score at the same intensity that Titans did. Malusi Siboto took three top order wickets for Titans, but it was Wiese’s spell of 1 for 21 in four overs that was the bowling performance of the match.Wayne Parnell led a Cobras bowling performance that set up victory against Knights in a low-scoring contest in Cape Town, after the 200-plus run fests in the other two games. Parnell took 3 for 20 in four overs, Kieron Pollard 2 for 18 in three, and Rory Kleinveldt 1 for 21 in four. Patrick Kruger and Theunis de Bruyn, who made 52, took Knights to 94 for 1 in the 12th over, but they fell away after that, losing 7 for 52 to finish with 146 for 8.Richard Levi’s 58 off 32 balls led the Cobras chase. He put on 78 for the first wicket with Wayne Parnell, who scored 34. Pollard smashed 39 off 12 balls to complete an eight-wicket victory with 32 balls to spare.

On the eve of Hashim Amla’s 100 Test, captain Faf du Plessis said there may not be another South African to reach that landmark in the format

Firdose Moonda in Johannesburg11-Jan-2017Hashim Amla is unique in many ways – his backlift, his beard, his batting records – and he could soon find himself the holder of another individual milestone. Test captain Faf du Plessis said there is a chance no other South African will follow in Amla’s footsteps and play in 100 Tests.”I am going to make a big call and say Hash (Amla) is probably going to be the last guy that plays 100 Tests for South Africa because of the way that the game is changing,” du Plessis said. “Quinnie (de Kock) and KG (Rabada) are possibly looking at that as youngsters but it’s a long way into the future.”Du Plessis is not being overly dramatic in that assessment. The average age of South Africa’s 13-man squad is 27.85, including two 24-year-olds who are yet to play a Test: Theunis de Bruyn and Duanne Olivier. Take them out and the average age of the expected playing XI at the Wanderers, with Wayne Parnell being swapped for Kyle Abbott, is 28.54.Of those, five players: du Plessis, Amla, Stephen Cook, JP Duminy and Vernon Philander are over 30. Dean Elgar is 29. De Kock and Rabada, who are 23 and 21 respectively, are expected to have lengthy careers but du Plessis said that does not necessarily mean a large collection of Test caps.”It’s a massive call to make. Test cricket these days, the game has evolved so much. If you look at Hashim and AB (de Villiers) and Jacques (Kallis) and Graeme (Smith) and all those guys, it was a period of a lot of Test cricket that was played over a long period of time. Now, there’s lots of T20s, so I think the game is changing a little bit, that you won’t play for as long because there is so much more cricket,” du Plessis said. “What I mean by that, is that its really special for Hash to do something like that. I’m not going to get to 100. The guys in the team that are playing now, JP, all those guys, its something we will never get to.”South Africa depend on Hashim Amla’s calming demeanour on and off the field•Getty Images

Du Plessis had forgotten the one man closest to Amla, Dale Steyn. He has 85 Test caps but is not expected to return to action until June as he recovers form a shoulder injury. Steyn told ESPNcricinfo he thinks it could take him as long as three years to reach 100 Tests but after watching tribute videos to Amla on television in the lead-up to the Wanderers Test, he is motivated to get there. Perhaps any player would be, because as du Plessis said it is an “amazing, amazing effort”.It’s also a time to celebrate what a player has done over a sustained period of time and although Amla has stayed out of the limelight, attention has found him. His team-mates have heaped praise on him, with du Plessis the latest to join the chorus.For du Plessis, Amla has been an example of consistency, not just in runs but in attitude. “He has been the rock of our batting. He has been the most consistent player I reckon with Jacques Kallis that South Africa have ever had,” he said. “Of course he is not scoring as much runs now but what he brings off the field still offers a lot. Hashim when he is scoring runs or when he is not scoring runs is exactly the same person and that brings a calmness to the dressing room. Even when he is not scoring runs, he is offering a lot of value and for me as a player, I’ve learned a lot from that. You need to look at success and failure in exactly the same way.”Du Plessis said he’d like to see the rest of the South African batsmen learn how to bat big and long, like Amla•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Although Amla is no longer captain, he continues to offer leadership which is of particular importance to du Plessis, who has just taken over. “As a leader he’s a huge asset to me – I rely on his knowledge a lot. Take away the runs, the demeanour and person he is in the dressing room is very calm. Even if he goes to the wicket and doesn’t score runs it feels like he relaxes the batting unit – he’s just got that personality,” du Plessis said.Du Plessis would like the rest of the line-up to learn how to bat big, like Amla. Not only is Amla the holder of South Africa’s highest individual Test score but he also has the second-most number of double hundreds behind Smith, and his conversion rate is something du Plessis wants the team to try and emulate.”Hash’s concentration – that’s his biggest thing and his biggest asset. It’s something that I admire and it’s something that I challenge myself and the other batters with,” du Plessis said. “It’s happening too often these days that you don’t get enough guys to anchor big and score big runs. To score hundreds is great – we want to score hundreds – but to push ourselves to get even better to get to 150s and 200s. Hash is normally a guy that leads that.”While Amla will be celebrated at the Wanderers, there will be also be questions about his future. After 100 Tests and at his age, 33, there are people wondering whether Amla will retire in the near future. Du Plessis brought news that for now, they can shelve that thought.”I’ve spoken to him and he’s still very keen to push it as long as that great body of his will let him go. But he’s not even thinking about retirement.”

AB de Villiers’ Test future appears to be up in the air once again, as he prepares to meet with the South Africa team management to discuss his role in the side

Firdose Moonda at the Wanderers14-Jan-2017AB de Villiers’ Test future appears to be up in the air once again, as he prepares to meet with the South Africa team management to discuss his role in the side when he completes his comeback from injury.Although de Villiers has completely recovered from the elbow surgery which sidelined him for the last three Test series since the end of the CPL in June, and was expected to slot straight back into the XI as soon as he became available, there are renewed questions over whether he wants to continue in the longest format.”We need to sit down with him and plan his future,” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach said. “AB has got to make that decision, I can’t decide on whether he plays or not.”When I say that, I mean AB has got to make the decision about whether he is available and the selectors have got to make the decision whether he plays. He has obviously got to make some decision about his future in cricket.”Domingo’s comments came after current Test captain, Faf du Plessis, indicated de Villiers was wavering over whether to make a return to the longest format, and was looking at one-day cricket as a priority.”I’m not sure how AB will feel in terms of Test cricket so we will have to see,” du Plessis said. “We are excited to have him back in the one-day team. I am hoping he decides to play [Tests] for us. He is obviously a world-class batter and I, as a captain, would love to have him as a leader in our team, and obviously as a batter. He is a fantastic player.”Du Plessis, a long-time friend of de Villiers, was also asked whether the pair had spoken about de Villiers not returning to Test cricket. He claimed not to have not had that conversation but suggested de Villiers’ six-month absence from the game may prompt him not to continue anyway.”He hasn’t played for a while. The plan was for him to play in this series and then the one-dayers start, but now we will see what AB’s plans are – whether he wants to play,” du Plessis said.De Villiers, who was named permanent Test captain last January, stepped down in early December, before the Sri Lanka series, when it became clear he would not be fit to play in it. Having already missed the New Zealand and Australia Tests – in which du Plessis was a successful stand-in skipper – and with his recovery period becoming more drawn out, de Villiers felt the team needed to move on.During those series, Domingo was always firm in his stance that, when de Villiers was available, “someone will have to make way,” and a common talking point has been the identity of that player.With du Plessis installed as captain and JP Duminy finding form at No.4, the spotlight has been on Temba Bavuma, who has struggled in this series, but all official word, including that of the convener of selectors Linda Zondi who was speaking on public broadcaster SABC, is that Bavuma will be retained. That means it is difficult to make room for de Villiers, despite his reputation.Whether the pressure to find a place, or the concerns over how his elbow will hold up, are playing on de Villiers’ mind is not known, but this is the longest he has been out of the game since making his debut 12 years ago.Ultimately his decision may be based on something entirely different. De Villiers is in demand at T20 leagues around the world and even publicly revealed that he turned down an opportunity to play in the Big Bash last summer. He is also a hot corporate commodity and his MRF bat sponsorship was conditional on him playing all three formats. If that has changed, there is a chance that so too has de Villiers’ mind.Still, he would not be entirely lost to South Africa, and will still lead their ODI side. De Villiers will play a List A match for Northerns next Sunday and, if all goes well, he will play in the third T20 against Sri Lanka before assuming the captaincy ahead of the ODIs. His long-term plan is to take the team to the Champions Trophy and ultimately, the 2019 World Cup.Morne Morkel was also due to play in that Northerns’ match but has suffered a recurrence of some of symptoms of his back niggle. He will need to be reassessed before a call is taken on his availability.

Shahid Afridi turned back the clock with a brisk 45 not out to take Peshawar Zalmi past Quetta Gladiators by two wickets and into first place on the PSL table

The Report by Danyal Rasool25-Feb-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn a nutshellFor a large number of people, this was the day the PSL finally fulfilled its purpose: giving Shahid Afridi the platform to win a game for his side once more. In a contest between two teams where it looked like neither wanted to win at times, Afridi scored a 23-ball 45 to give Peshawar Zalmi a last-over, two-wicket win over first-place Quetta Gladiators.The chase of 129 appeared comfortable for Peshawar near the halfway mark, whatever demons the pitch contained. But it was the demons in the mind that really frightened Darren Sammy’s men, and, as has been the theme of the competition over the last few days, Peshawar found a way to complicate a straightforward chase. Five wickets were lost for two runs over 12 balls as Quetta looked like they were about to do to Peshawar what Peshawar had done to Lahore on Friday.Then Afridi – yes, Afridi! – restored some sanity to proceedings in a crucial 37-run partnership with Mohammad Hafeez, before taking charge of the run chase. He threatened to run out of partners, and overs, but finished the match with two fours off the first two balls of the 20th.Peshawar had earlier kept the opposition down to 128 by exploiting the prodigious turn the surface provided, putting Quetta on the back foot immediately when Mohammad Asghar dismissed both openers in the second over. Rilee Rossouw and Kevin Pietersen then consolidated with a mature 86-run partnership, but superb death bowling by Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali meant Peshawar could never build on the good work earlier, and only 16 came off the last four overs as Quetta limped to the end of the innings to a total they couldn’t quite defend.Where the match was wonWhen a collapse of the magnitude that struck Peshawar today happens, it’s not unusual for a side to crumble altogether. So when 50 for 1 became 52 for 6, it was imperative for Peshawar to slow things down and take the sting out of the game so heads could be cleared and brains unscrambled.Hafeez and Afridi played a vital role for the 6.3 overs they were together. They might have added only 37 runs in that period, but in a small chase, the asking rate was never going to be as much of a problem as the wickets in hand. When Hafeez finally nicked Tymal Mills – who in his own right was also sensational – to Sarfraz Ahmed, the asking rate was still under ten. With Afridi there, the game was on.The men that won itThat it was a good pitch for the spinners was fairly obvious, but what most caught the eye were the bowling efforts of Wahab and Hasan, whose combined figures of 8-0-39-4 were testament to their excellence. Hasan was impressive at both top and tail of the innings, varying his pace intelligently and nailing the yorker almost on command, in addition to taking three catches. Wahab’s most impressive attribute was his raw pace and bounce in the death overs, which was simply too good for Peshawar’s middle order as they began to lose wickets in a heap. A perhaps unintentional contribution from Wahab came in the dismissal of Umar Gul, who went off rubbing his hand and didn’t bowl an over during Peshawar’s innings.Moment of the matchIn a game of small margins such as this one, Zulfiqar Babar will look back at his first over and think he might have done better. Defending 128, Quetta would have wanted a good start but Zulfiqar, mildly put, failed to provide them that. The first four balls of the innings all went for wides. One even escaped Sarfraz and cost Quetta a couple of extra runs, and it wasn’t until the fifth ball went down that a legitimate delivery had been bowled. The over included one more wide after that, and despite only four runs coming off the bat, Peshawar had eleven on the board at the end of their first over. It might not have been decisive, but it certainly wasn’t helpful.Where they standPeshawar take Quetta’s place at the top of the table with this win, with the Gladiators slipping to second. Both sides are on nine points, but Sammy’s side has a superior net run rate.

While AB de Villiers graded the conditions at Seddon Park as a “0 out of 10” as far as Champions Trophy preparation goes, he gave the match itself full marks for demanding a fight from South Africa ahead of the major tournament

Firdose Moonda19-Feb-2017While AB de Villiers graded the conditions at Seddon Park as a “0 out of 10” as far as Champions Trophy preparation goes, he gave the match itself full marks for demanding a fight from South Africa ahead of the major tournament. After cruising past Sri Lanka 5-0 at home, South Africa were looking for more of a challenge from New Zealand and that’s exactly what the got in a closely-fought, low-scoring game in Hamilton. And they managed to get home in what were “the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in”, according to de Villiers.”Experience-wise it was 10 out of 10 to be put under pressure like that with the bat in hand. Conditions-wise? Zero out of 10. I don’t think we’re going to face any conditions like that in the UK,” de Villiers said.Both sides were surprised by the amount of turn, although South Africa’s decision to play both specialist spinners suggest they were expecting things to be on the slower side. But Imran Tahir went wicketless and conceded a run a ball, and Tabraiz Shamsi’s sole scalp cost 39 runs. So there were few hints that Michael Santner, Ish Sodhi and then Tim Southee, who bowled what were essentially fast offcutters towards the end, would cause so much trouble.”I didn’t see the ball turn that much when we bowled,” de Villiers said. “Early on with the new ball it wasn’t so bad, but it’s easy to say that now. It would have sounded like an excuse if we’d lost.”After an 88-run opening stand between Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, South Africa were well-set but they lost 5 for 39 in the middle period of the chase and an eerily familiar falter seemed in their future. Bar de Villiers, the big men were all dismissed and it was up to a 20-year-old Andile Phehlukwayo to hold his nerve and help his captain score 50 off the final seven overs. Even de Villiers himself wondered if the game was gone.”Not for a second were we in control,” de Villiers said. “Our two openers gave us a really good foundation, but I felt they were the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in.”De Villiers knew if he hung around until the end, South Africa would be in with a chance. “I decided to stay patient and take it as deep as we can and then maybe we’ll get close,” he said. But he also knew he would need some help. He had to trust Phehlukwayo; he would have known he could.The young allrounder partnered David Miler in giving South Africa a memorable win over Australia last October, showing maturity beyond his years. He has also showed an ability to hit hard – and took sixes off both Trent Boult and Tim Southee as proof – and although he rarely gets the opportunity to finish games, South Africa now know that he can. “He was hitting it pretty sweet. It was very impressive the way Andile played. There is a lot of talent in that young man,” de Villiers said. “He was one of the very few guys tonight who could pick up the pace of the wicket and he played it under his eyes. I was very impressed with him.”As impressed, perhaps, as with the form the side is currently in. South Africa have equalled their best winning streak with a 12th victory in succession and are building up steam ahead of the Champions Trophy. Even though they insist the numbers don’t mean too much, there’s no doubt it’s still a nice thing to have achieved. “We don’t play for those kind of records but it’s a nice one to have. We are very aware of it. We are only human and will lose one. That’s the nature of the beast. So we’ll go to Christchurch, hopefully play a good game and make it another one,” de Villiers said. “That was a great win for us. But there’s lots of games left in the series and we know it’s nowhere near done.”

A fire accident at the Jharkhand team hotel forced their Vijay Hazare Trophy game against Bengal to be postponed to Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2017A fire accident at Jharkhand’s team hotel in New Delhi’s Dwarka area on Friday morning has resulted in postponement of the second semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The match between Jharkhand and Bengal will now be played on Saturday at Feroz Shah Kotla.”We were to assemble in the lobby at 7.30am as we usually do before a game, but at 7, I was asked to stay back in the room by Pratyush Singh as there was lot of fire and smoke at the ground floor lobby,” Ishank Jaggi, the Jharkhand batsman, told ESPNcricinfo. “It spread quite quickly and when we finally got out of our seventh floor rooms, all we could see around us was smoke. It was so thick that we couldn’t even see the far end of the lobby.”What added to our concern was the fire alarm didn’t go off, so we assumed it to be a small fire accident. But when there was a strong burning smell, we were asked to vacate immediately. The seriousness of it struck us only when we got out. The smoke spread to our rooms as well. That is when we were asked to run down the stairs.”After getting out of the hotel, MS Dhoni, the captain, along with the rest of the players and support staff were driven to the Palam grounds, where they are currently housed.The final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Feroz Shah Kotla was subsequently postponed to Monday.

Part-time legspinner Joe Denly was the unlikely bowling hero as Kent opened their Royal London Cup win account with a 46-run victory over South Group rivals Middlesex in Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network07-May-2017
ScorecardSouth Africa’s Wayne Parnell was Man of the Match•AFP

Part-time legspinner Joe Denly was the unlikely bowling hero as Kent opened their Royal London Cup win account with a 46-run victory over South Group rivals Middlesex in Canterbury.Having failed to defend 330-plus scores in their previous two games, Kent managed to protect a modest all out total of 200 with Denly bagging 3 for 20 to secure his side’s first win in four starts and inflict a third defeat on Middlesex. Needing to score at a shade over four an over to record their second win of the campaign, Middlesex committed cardinal one-day errors in losing cheap wickets at regular intervals to fall woefully short.The visitors lost Dawid Malan in the third over when the left-hander sparred outside off against Wayne Parnell to nick to second slip. Four balls later, Parnell, in his last home game of his current spell as Kent’s overseas allrounder, ran one back up the Canterbury slope to trap Nick Gubbins lbw for a single.Adam Voges and Nick Compton added 47 before Kent struck through Darren Stevens, who belied his 41 years by taking a stunning return catch from a Voges’ drive to make it 49 for 3. Eleven runs later and Kent were celebrating again when a direct hit from 12th man Will Gidman, substituting for the injured Matt Coles, ran out John Simpson after Nick Compton had called for a sharp single to the cover fielder.Coles returned after treatment for a sore shin to pocket a comfortable catch off the bowling of James Tredwell that ended Compton’s 85-ball stay for a painstaking 37 and left Tredwell with 1 for 29 from his 10 overs.Keeping pace off the ball, Denly struck to have Ryan Higgins caught behind and then, in his next over, he trapped Toby Roland-Jones lbw when working across the line. Middlesex, with only three wickets remaining, still required 78 going into their final 10 overs when Denly, leaping full-length to his left caught a rasping James Franklin drive one-handed to send the visiting skipper packing for 33.Mitch Claydon replaced Denly to have James Fuller caught off a skier leaving Parnell to finish it with another reflex return caught-and-bowled catch that accounted for Ravi Patel and gave Parnell, the Man of the Match, deserved figures of 3 for 33.Kent’s day started badly when they again lost the toss in overcast conditions and were duly invited to bat with the floodlights already on. Their gloom deepened after only two deliveries when Daniel Bell-Drummond, fresh from scoring back-to-back hundreds in losing causes, feathered a defensive push against Roland-Jones into the gloves of Simpson to depart without scoring.Home skipper Sam Northeast and second-wicket partner Denly, batting against his former county, steadied Kent with a stand of 52 that ended in the 13th over when Denly pulled a short one to midwicket where Voges held a stinging overhead chance.Northeast, who enjoyed a life when on 24 after Voges downed a regulation slip chance, posted his 13th List A half-century from 73 balls and with six fours. He and Sean Dickson added 44 before the latter miscued his attempted pull against Franklin to mid-on to go for 29.Northeast followed, sweeping against Patel to give a catch to the keeper for 55, having spent almost two hours at the crease. Alex Blake lasted only five minutes, tamely hanging his bat out to dry against Franklin, the left-hander went for 2 after edging a third catch to Simpson behind the timbers.The procession of Kent batsmen to the pavilion continued when Stevens miscued to extra cover to gift Patel a second scalp, bringing together Adam Rouse and Parnell for a face-saving seventh-wicket stand worth 34. .With little to lose Parnell went for his strokes only to smear Malan’s first ball of the day, a low full-toss, straight into the hands of Tom Helm at deep midwicket.Coles edged an attempted drive against Helm to slip where Voges took off to hold a stunning overhead catch diving to his left, then, to the first ball of the third and final Powerplay, Rouse nicked an attempted cut to his Middlesex counterpart Simpson to give Helm a second wicket.With four of their 50 overs still to be bowled, Kent’s last man Claydon, who had just hooked the only six of his side’s innings, was yorked by Roland-Jones, the pick of the Middlesex attack with 3 for 35 from his 10 overs.

Essex were in the box seat after hundreds from Alastair Cook and Ryan ten Doeschate set Nottinghamshire 371 in the Royal London Cup semi-final, but hundreds in return from Samit Patel and Steven Mullaney won one of the great games with three balls left

David Hopps16-Jun-2017
ScorecardAlastair Cook made his third hundred of the competition but to no avail•Getty Images

This was an enthralling game, deserving the accolade as one of the finest one-day matches in the history of English domestic cricket. It fell to Nottinghamshire who pulled off a record county cricket run chase by overhauling a target of 371 with three balls to spare and who reached the final of the Royal London Cup in the process.But how Essex played their part. It felt like Alastair Cook’s match when they rattled up 370 for 5, Cook’s limited-overs pedigree never more apparent in making 133 from 128 balls. It felt even more Essex’s game when Ryan ten Doeschate, their captain, smashed an unbeaten 102 from 66 balls.Instead, hundreds in reply from Samit Patel, who would have needed life support on standby if he had batted on much longer, and Steven Mullaney, matching what ten Doeschate had produced before in a classy retort which insisted he must be termed “unsung” no longer, squeezed Nottinghamshire into the final at Lord’s where they will face the winners of Saturday’s semi-final between Worcestershire and Surrey.Their chase surpassed Hampshire’s 359 for 8 against Surrey at the Kia Oval in 2005 when Australian Shane Watson opened his shoulders.County cricket struggles to gain attention these days. But this was exceptional, a feast of entertainment, a reminder of the quality potentially on offer on England’s professional circuit when the best players are released from an overblown international circuit which has long become too repetitive for its own good. It challenged those English cricket lovers whose eyes never stray below the international game and then it challenged them again.A record 185-run fifth-wicket partnership in 24 overs between Patel and Mullaney helped carry Nottinghamshire home on a day when 743 runs were scored for the loss of only 10 wickets. They had begun in gung-ho fashion, 80 for 3 in 9.2 overs, all of the wickets to Jamie Porter, with Essex arguably one more wicket away from killing the game.

‘Wind back the clock’ – ten Doeschate

Ryan ten Doeschate, Essex captain:
“I’d like to start again by winding the clock back three-and-a-half hours. At that point you’d think there is no way you could lose that game. I don’t think we could have batted much better than that.
“With the ball there are a lot of questions that need to be answered and reviewed: what we said we were going to do and what we did. You need to be smart and keep your composure.”
Steven Mullaney, Notts century-maker:
“Within five days we have played on two of the best one-day pitches I have ever played on. In our team meetings we are always saying we need just one more run than the opposition and that is what we have done twice this week.
“I don’t care who we get in the final. They are both great teams and both pose an equal amount of threat. We’re confident of taking anyone at the minute.”

Essex’s hopes flared again when Patel, who majors in hangdog shoulders even when creaming the ball to all parts, was involved in the run out of Brendan Taylor for 62. He did little wrong, striking the ball square on the off side, screaming “no” more than once but finding Taylor alongside him: the same Taylor whose 154 at Taunton had carried Notts to 429 a few days earlier, among the highest domestic scores in history. Not a man to stay in your crease for, even if you were as blameless and talented as Samit Patel.It was a burden he shouldered admirably, finishing triumphant with 122 from 123 balls, helped by a marginal third umpire’s decision on 81 when Ravi Bopara fell agonisingly short of claiming a diving catch from ten Doeschate’s first ball.Mullaney’s breaking of the offspinner, Simon Harmer, early in his innings was a crucual moment. He grabbed the chase by the scruff, a fifth six, over long-on off Bopara, bringing up his first List A century before he fell, for 111 from 75 balls, attempting to uppercut Neil Wagner and caught behind. Wagner had been untidy in his new-ball spell, but not to complete his allocation felt unwise.That left six from nine balls, with Patel told by Mullaney to get the job done. Two desperate edges in the final over from Paul Walter sufficed, the first causing ten Doeschate to yank his hat over his head in disbelief, the second settling it. “You need a little bit of luck and I rode it a bit,” said Patel, glowing with magnificent near-exhaustion.All of which meant the story changed, because before then it was all about the irony. England crash out of the Champions Trophy and almost immediately the most high-profile batsman they rejected on the way to inventing their brave new world plays one of the limited-overs innings of his life.Samit Patel celebrates the winning runs•Getty Images

Cook, still a stalwart in the Test format, last played an ODI for England before the last World Cup where their approach was deemed so outdated that it tipped them into a new positive approach under Eoin Morgan which won such acclaim that they were regarded as a strong chance to win their first global 50-over trophy… until it all went wrong against Pakistan in Cardiff.Cook will have shared England’s disappointment. He does not do grudges. But he is capable of meaningful displays of his own prowess. It is what makes him such a fierce campaigner. As he came within four runs below his highest one-day score, he was at his most fluent, a high-class Nottinghamshire pace attack repelled. Ten Doeschate, the Essex captain, then came in at No 5 and struck around him with upright power.Cook played at a canter. Square cuts and nudges off his hips came with absolute certainty. A late dab off Mullaney to reach 50 displayed finesse. Stuart Broad, an England team-mate, taunted him with no mid-off – he rarely drives down the ground – and Cook, 77 by then, took a boundary with a smile. He repeated the shot against Broad for his hundred, mid-off now in place but to no avail. He fell to a slog sweep against Patel, eight overs from time, the ball not quite up for the shot.It took ten Doeschate to bring a capacity crowd at Chelmsford to its feet, taking three sixes off Harry Gurney in the penultimate over. Seventy-two came off the last five overs. It felt like a matchwinning phase. It turned out to be nothing of the sort.

Shapoor Zadran gave the large contingent of Afghanistan fans plenty to cheer at Lord’s during their historic first match at the ground before the weather closed in

Peter Della Penna at Lord's11-Jul-2017
Scorecard1:40

‘Keenly waiting to play Test cricket’ – Rashid

The sight of Shapoor Zadran running in with his long mop of hair flopping about as he leaps into his delivery stride has warmed more than a few Afghan hearts in the eight years since he made his national team debut.That warmth was needed on a damp and chilly day in London, and Shapoor provided more than enough to keep the 8000 fans who showed up in St. John’s Wood feeling snug and toasty. His three wickets shone through the intermittent rain on Afghanistan’s debut at Lord’s, the standout performance on a festive but frustrating day that ended with no result.When Shapoor bounded in with the new ball, he brought a declaration of intensity to his team-mates and the opposition that this was going to be treated as much more than a friendly exhibition. By his seventh ball, he had bounced out Brendon McCullum, cramped for room attempting an uppercut. At that stage, there were only about 3000 fans in the ground, but by the time he dismissed Chris Read for his third wicket more than three hours later, the crowd had swelled to more than double that.They may have taken up less than half the ground, but the full-throated roars for each diving stop, each sharp throw, each catch taken may very well have surpassed the decibel levels heard for the sellout crowds that turned out daily for the Test match completed on this ground just two days earlier. The Afghanistan fans were raucous, rowdy and resolute in their unwavering support despite the rain and a staunch challenge put forth by a very competitive MCC line-up.Sam Hain put up the biggest resistance. The other man involved in the Luke Fletcher incident from Saturday night at Edgbaston, Hain had a nervy start, perhaps the events of that day still fresh. It took him 17 balls to get off the mark, but two balls later he bashed a pull over midwicket for his first four. He settled into a groove soon after, producing a series of crisp drives through the off side and finished with eight boundaries in his 76 to top-score for MCC in their 40-over total of 217 for 6.Shapoor Zadran made his mark with early wickets•Getty Images

After Shapoor claimed Misbah-ul-Haq caught behind in the seventh over, Hain combined with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and then Samit Patel after Chanderpaul retired hurt, for a combined 150-run third-wicket stand. The partnership was interrupted twice by rain delays, the second of which came at the 18-over mark with the score 83 for 2 and lasted for an hour and 45 minutes. Lunch was taken during the delay, meaning only 10 overs were slashed from the original 50.Bigger than the roars for the wickets of Shapoor was the introduction of Rashid Khan, who was serenaded with chants of “Rah-SHEED! Rah-SHEED!” But the wily Chanderpaul blunted the star legspinner, and the crowd’s excitement simultaneously, with his arsenal of nudges and nurdles. Chanderpaul was forced off injured after being struck on the body attempting a pull against Dawlat Zadran in the 25th over. Samit joined Hain and the pair continued to keep Afghanistan’s bowlers at bay.It wasn’t until the slog overs that Afghanistan’s spirits were lifted once again in the field, rattling off a series of wickets caught in the deep to restrict MCC. Hain finally fell to end the 34th, pulling Gulbadin Naib to deep midwicket. Chris Read fell two overs later going after Shapoor for another caught behind. Samit slogged Rashid to the deep midwicket rope in the 38th for a well-made 52 and Naib had Yasir Shah edging behind on a big heavy with two balls left in the innings.After going wicketless in the field, most of the crowd were looking forward to Mohammad Nabi coming out to showcase his skills with the bat. Listed at No. 4, he never got the chance as rain ended play after just five overs of the Afghanistan chase. Noor Ali Zadran was the only wicket to fall, chopping on in the third over. After waiting for more than 90 minutes, the fans were delivered the inevitable news that there would be no more play. But it may have been enough of a taster to make them hungry for a return visit, possibly as soon as the 2019 World Cup.