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England allrounder praises youngsters after thrilling victory in second Test

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2020Ben Stokes has said that England’s young team should use a memorable victory over South Africa as a stepping stone towards greater things, after he helped seal a 189-run win with three late wickets on a thrilling final day at Newlands.Stokes, who also scored 119 runs in the match and claimed six wickets at slip in an outstanding personal display, paid particular tribute to Dom Sibley, whose maiden Test century in the second innings laid the platform for his own explosive contribution of 72 from 47 balls.Stokes even tried to persuade Sibley to join him on the podium after being named Player of the Match, and later insisted that he keep the trophy as a memento of his own role in a famous win.”I came in in situations where it was do-or-die, really, and I thought Dom put all the hard yards in to get us into a position of winning,” Stokes said during the post-match presentations. “He’s the Man of the Match. He’s the one who should be up here.”So we are sitting next to each other in the dressing room and I walked in, gave [the trophy] to him, and he put it in my place. I went ‘no’, and put it in his bag. I walked back in and it was back in my bag. I said ‘you’ve shafted me once by making me do the interviews, if it ends up back in my spot we are never sitting next to each other again’. He has got it now!”Full credit’s got to go to Dom for how he played in his first Test hundred, at the most beautiful ground in the world. And full credit’s got to go to everyone who played this week. We’ve got three members of the group who are 21 years of age, and have had to step up on the biggest stage.””Sam Curran, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and even Dom himself, they are so inexperienced in that batting unit but they’ve shown how good they are. The future looks great for us, and hopefully this is a stepping stone because we’ve shown a serious amount of character, and what we’re all about.”Joe Root, however, ensured that Stokes could not deflect all the praise, after another display of selfless team-orientated Test cricket helped England to their first victory at Cape Town in 63 years.As if his runs and catches were not enough, the manner in which Stokes stepped up on the final afternoon, amid doubts about James Anderson’s fitness, was exemplary. He effectively ensured the win with two wickets in as many balls to prise out Dwaine Pretorius and Anrich Nortje first ball, then sealed the deal with 8.2 overs remaining as Vernon Philander fenced to gully.”He makes things happen, he’s a golden nugget in our side,” Root said. “And it’s not happened by accident, he works bloody hard and sets a great example to the young guys around in our team as they come into this side, seeing what Test cricket is like and how different it is to county cricket.”They are having to learn on their feet, and in situations like that and they’re standing up as well, which this week has really pleased me, and made me really proud of a very young set of lads.”But you can you can throw the ball to Stokes or you can put him in any situation and know he’s going to stand up for you,” Root added. “He’s going to do absolutely everything for the rest of the guys, he plays 100 percent for the team. And he’s a brilliant role model for all the other guys coming through.”He’s a brilliant senior player. He stands up and puts in a spell like that, a nine-over spell, he just keep running him free all the time. and as we’ve seen with the bat, he can he can really change the game from any situation. So he’s a world-class player and deserves all the plaudits he can get from the game.”For Stokes himself, the performance came after a torrid fortnight in which his father Ged was taken ill before Christmas. He is now thankfully out of hospital, and Stokes hoped the change of fortune on and off the field wasn’t a prelude to another dip in his personal rollercoaster.”2020 can only really go downhill from here after that,” he said. “I’ve had a few knee issues and stuff like that, but this game here I’ve got the three Lions on my chest, which is such a proud thing to be standing on a field doing.”But I always had my Dad in the back of my mind, and that took any injury worries or niggles out of my head. I was thinking that he came out here to watch me and unfortunately he’s not been able to so there was a lot more in my efforts this game, doing it for him. I haven’t managed to speak to him yet but hopefully I’ve made him proud.”

With Test squad not announced, it is unclear whether Gill is to replace Rohit in the XI or in the squad

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Feb-2020BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said that Shubman Gill will be replacing Rohit Sharma for the Test leg of the New Zealand tour, which will commence with the first Test in Wellington from February 21. The second Test, scheduled in Christchurch, begins on February 29.In a brief, informal chat with the media on Monday evening, outside the BCCI’s headquarters in Mumbai, Ganguly confirmed Rohit’s injury, said he had approved the Test squad, and that Gill was going to be Rohit’s replacement. Till midnight on Monday, the BCCI had not announced the Test squad. It is understood that the board was still awaiting final approvals, which might mean from BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who usually signs off on the media releases. Shah, as per PTI, was en route to New Zealand on Monday.Also it could not be ascertained what exactly Ganguly meant when he said Gill was going to be Rohit’s replacement. Did he mean Gill was now going to be part of Indian Test XI considering the Punjab batsman was part the squad in the series against Bangladesh, the last Test outing for India?Gill does have the form to increase his chances of making his Test debut. Over the weekend, he cracked a double century for India A in the first unofficial Test against New Zealand A. He was picked by the selectors in the Test squad for the first time during the home series against South Africa after KL Rahul, had fallen out of favour due to his dip in form over the last two years.The BCCI has delayed announcing the Test squad despite the selectors having discussed it at the meeting on January 12. It is understood the selectors had more or less finalised the squad but wanted to wait on the form and fitness of some of the key players. One certainty on that day who became doubtful a few days later was fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who hurt his ankle in a Ranji Trophy match while playing a home match for Delhi.Although there were strong doubts about Ishant making the New Zealand trip with six weeks rest recommended, it is believed that the fast bowler was recuperating rapidly at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. It is understood that Ishant, who is four matches short of reaching the 100-Test landmark, had started to bowl during training steadily.

90mph man back from injury, targeting role alongside Jofra Archer and Mark Wood in 2021-22 series

George Dobell02-Mar-2020Amid the drama of Jofra Archer’s baptism into international cricket and the explosive impact made in the fleeting appearances of Mark Wood, it might be forgotten that England have at least one more bowler capable of generating speeds well over 90mph (145kph).Olly Stone could easily be described as England’s forgotten fast bowler. He’s only played one Test. He’s only taken one ODI wicket. But in those brief opportunities, he has shown he has the pace to complement the threat offered by Archer and Wood. And, right now, he’s said to be bowling better than ever.With a bit of fortune, Stone might already have established himself in the England set-up. It wasn’t so much that he struck with his seventh ball in international cricket that made people take notice as much as it was the manner of the dismissal: Niroshan Dickwella caught off the glove as he tried to prevent a searing bouncer from hitting him in the throat. That was October 2018; before Archer’s debut and before Wood’s resurgence. Stone was, at that time, marked out as something a bit special.ALSO READ: ‘Nice to see batsmen ducking and diving’ – StoneBut injury kept intervening. He was sent home from the Caribbean tour 13 months ago almost the moment he landed due to a stress fracture of the lower back. He returned in July but, after three more first-class games (one of them his maiden Test) the injury emerged once more. Instead of appearing in the Ashes – as seemed likely – he was forced to watch it on TV and he has spent part of this winter exploring opportunities as a football commentator for once his playing career ends.”There were times, like watching the Ashes, when I felt really down,” Stone says now. “To see the other guys out there and to be with that squad at the start of it then to be told you can’t take part anymore… that is tough mentally. That taste of Test cricket makes you want more.”The demands of county and international cricket has taken its toll over the last few years. And being out for so long and so often means it takes your body a bit of time to get used to the demands. My body hasn’t adapted to that as much as it needed to.”But, in Graeme Welch’s opinion, the injury could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. In the view of Welch, Stone’s bowling coach at Warwickshire, the hiatus has given Stone a chance to reassess and improve.”If we’re really honest, he probably wasn’t fit and strong enough previously,” Welch says. “Yes, he could run in and bowl quick. But he couldn’t back it up and he didn’t have the skill he has now.”I look back at the Hampshire game last year: he bowled really well to Ajinkya Rahane [and dismissed him for four on the way to a five-wicket haul; a performance which saw him called-up for his Test debut] but then we played Essex a few days later and he couldn’t back it up. His action started to deteriorate and that’s when injuries can occur.”Maybe the latest injury was a blessing in disguise. He had never really had a chance to take a step back and reassess what he was doing. There was always another tour or a rush to regain fitness.”But he’s used this period really well. He’s lost some weight [6kg, according to Stone] he’s gained some strength and he’s worked on his alignment – feet, hips and shoulder – and his wrist position. He is swinging the ball really nicely and really late. And if you swing the ball at his pace, you’re going to trouble batsmen. He’s a much fitter, much more skilful cricketer and I really do think he can play for England again this summer.”Olly Stone bowls in England’s training session before the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston•Getty Images

It bodes well for England if Stone has improved. During his spell at Warwickshire, his Championship wickets have cost just 17.03 apiece – he claimed 43 at 12.30, albeit in Division Two, in 2018 – and he has claimed four five-wicket hauls in his 11 matches. Welch even suggests he can “replace James Anderson and be the perfect foil for Archer.””No, he doesn’t have the skills of Anderson,” Welch admits. “Anderson might be the best England have ever had. But Olly is still learning – we’re working on an inswinger now – and he is quicker. I can’t speak too highly of him.”He’s had some really dark days. If you’ve missed out on a tour of West Indies and the Ashes, it can be hard to drag yourself into the gym at 8am on a Monday morning. And when you’ve had three major injuries, you worry that every little ache may be another serious injury. But credit to him, he has worked really hard. There’s no faulting him there. He has a lot of character.”That is a view supported by David Smith, Stone’s former chief executive at Northants. “I think people sometimes underestimate him,” Smith says. “He’s is quietly spoken and likeable. He seems unassuming and easy going. Which he is. But under that, he is quietly ambitious and a bit tougher than many people think.”He surprised a few at Northants when he left to join Warwickshire. I think they thought he was pretty happy there. And I’m sure he was. But he wanted to get the best out of himself and knew it was time to move to a bigger club. Some players – Ben Duckett is probably a good example – get a bit comfortable at a club and stay a couple of years too long. But Olly knew that, if he was going to improve, he should move to a club with greater expectations.”I think there was an understanding that, at a bigger club, his workload might be managed a bit better, too. It was a shame to see him move on, but it was the right move for him. He is absolutely the sort of bowler – and the sort of character – who can do well in Australia. I think the ECB have done really well to identify him as a fast bowler who needs looking after. I hope he doesn’t play a lot of county cricket.”He probably won’t. Underlining the hopes England have in him, Stone was among the three men recently awarded the first round of pace-bowling development contracts. Welch will hold meetings with the ECB in the next couple of days which will outline how often Stone will be available for Warwickshire. It’s a tricky balance, though: Stone has only played 37 first-class games and, as Welch says “you learn to bowl by bowling.” But England will be very keen to avoid any recurrence of that stress fracture.All being well, Stone will depart with Warwickshire’s other seamers for some pre-season work in La Manga at the end of this week. And while Welch reckons he is currently bowling at something around 80% intensity – and a maximum of 32 overs a week – he is on course to be fit for the first round of Championship matches from April 12. The Ashes will still be 20 months away but Stone admits it remains his aim.”That would be the dream,” he says. “And it would be great to be there with Jofra and Mark Wood. I love seeing people bowl fast. And if there’s three of us that can terrorise people it would be great to watch and be a part of.”There’s a more immediate aspiration, too. Stone missed out on a place in one of squads for the Hundred’s inaugural season, but hopes to earn a late call-up by earning one of the wildcard selections by performing in the Vitality T20 Blast.”This year’s Blast is a real opportunity to show what I can do and maybe get a Hundred wildcard contract,” Stone says. “And hopefully I can put myself in the shop window for other T20 tournaments, too.”And from there, you never know. Maybe I can force my way into England’s squad for the T20 World Cup. ‘Til the squad is named, I have to have a chance.””If he’s bowling as I know he can, everyone will be after him,” Welch says. “All The Hundred sides and England, too. He’s that good.”

Squad will go into quarantine at Worcester before heading to Derby for final preparations

Danyal Rasool26-Jun-2020Ten Pakistan players who tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week will not be part of the squad that flies out to Manchester on Sunday. The 18 players who tested negative, alongside the support staff who have been tested, will be the only ones to board the charter plane arranged by the ECB – provided the results of their second test, which the PCB will announce on Saturday, also come out negative.This was confirmed after the ECB announced in a press release that members of the Pakistan travelling party who had tested positive would “not be permitted to travel with the advance group”. Though it did not specify if those players would need to return two negative tests to be permitted to travel, the idea of an “advance group” implied there would be members of the Pakistan side not part of the original travelling group on June 28.That would appear to end any hopes the PCB harboured of sending all 28 players in the squad on the same flight, after they were understood to be considering dropping the requirement of two negative tests before permission to depart for England was granted.That would have had implications for the ten Pakistan players and one member of the support staff who returned positive tests for Covid-19 earlier this week, though all of them were asymptomatic. They were tested a second time on Friday, and if the two-negative test rule had been ditched, would have been able to travel with the other 18 players if the test results turned out negative. As things stand, the PCB will revert to the original schedule, which means those ten players will be tested a third time on June 29, and catch a commercial flight to England later on once they have provided two negative tests.ALSO READ: Pakistan may drop need for two negative Covid testsFive reserve players were called up as cover and tested for the virus on Thursday, with the results expected on Saturday. Bilal Asif, Imran Butt, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Musa and Rohail Nazir have all undergone tests, as has masseur Mohammad Imran. Nazir, the PCB announced, was called up as a back-up wicketkeeper after Pakistan’s first-choice Mohammad Rizwan tested positive for Covid-19. Rizwan was, according to the PCB CEO Wasim Khan, the only one of the ten whose result had implications for the Test leg of Pakistan’s tour of England, which will be played before the three-match T20I series.On Thursday, the 18 players who tested negative, as well as 11 support staff personnel, underwent a second round of tests. Should all of them return negative tests once more, they will be cleared to depart for England on June 28 according to schedule.The ECB also announced that the Pakistan squad that lands in Manchester on Sunday will undergo a 14-day quarantine period in Worcestershire before transferring to Derbyshire’s Incora Country Ground on July 13. That would reflect a change in plan from the original schedule, which would have seen the Pakistan squad quarantine in Derbyshire, although an ECB spokesperson said that the original itinerary had not been set in stone.The tour comprises three Test matches and three T20Is in August and September. All six games will be played behind closed doors.

He is confident that the extra responsibility will not have an adverse effect on his batting

Umar Farooq18-May-2020Pakistan’s new white-ball leader Babar Azam wants to follow in former captain Imran Khan’s footsteps and embrace controlled aggression. Last week, Azam was appointed Pakistan’s ODI captain and the 25-year old is also the heir apparent to Azhar Ali in Test cricket.”I would like to go with what I have learnt that is attacking. So, I would like to follow Imran Khan style of captaincy,” Azam said in an online press conference on Monday. “As captain, you have to learn to be cool. You have to take players with you as well as planning with them against other teams. There are instances when you get angry inside but then you have to contain yourself and must have to control your aggression in the field. The confidence is the key and the more you back your players, they will give their best. With player support you can have a bed of thorns turn into a bed of roses.”Azam is Pakistan’s premier batsman across formats and his recent elevation to ODI captaincy confirmed his status as the highest-profile cricketer in Pakistan. When asked if he was feeling the additional pressure of leadership, Azam said he was ready for the new role.ALSO READ: Babar Azam named Pakistan captain for ODIs“It’s a challenge and you always have to get ready to take up the challenge,” Azam said. “When Wasim Khan (PCB CEO) called me first about handing me the captaincy, it naturally made me happy. It was written in my destiny and it did come to me. You can’t complain that you got it early or it’s a big responsibility. If they (PCB) invested their trust in me, obviously they thought it through and saw a potential in me and I am ready for this.”In addition to the challenges on the field, Azam will have to handle pressure from the media, senior players and power struggles in selection. Historically, many Pakistan captains have struggled to juggle multiple roles and as a result have drifted away from playing their natural game. Azam, though, was confident that leadership will not have an adverse effect on his batting.”I love to take challenges and there is a big difference between captaining and batting,” Azam said. “I don’t think there will be any effect on my batting. In fact, I never think about this because while batting I won’t think about captaincy, so my focus will always be there on my batting. After that I will look into how to handle rest of things and how to draw performances from the team and it is a challenge and I am up for it.”I am definitely not expecting a straight line of victories as a captain. Definitely there won’t be a decorated bed of roses. There will be ups and downs, there will be mistakes and there will be good performances – so this is a part and parcel of it.”Azam backed himself to take his own decisions as captain, but said that he would also take inputs from the senior players and the team management whenever he needed support.”Whenever I feel I need help, there are senior players to help and I look back to Misbah for advice,” Azam said. “It’s a wrong impression that head coach is controlling me as a captain with his decisions. It’s a different perspective. This is definitely not like captaining an Under-19 team or A team where you mostly rely on the dressing room for on-field decisions. I have learnt enough to drive the game on my own in the field with my decisions. But it’s a team game, you sometimes do need tips from the staff sitting outside and if they have a good suggestion, then I do consider it and apply. So this is how it works.”

Gubbins builds after resuming on 150 not out ahead of Middlesex declaration

ECB Reporters Network02-Aug-2020Surrey 189 for 3 (Borthwick 73*, Stoneman 45) trail Middlesex 347 for 6 dec (Gubbins 192, Simpson 53) by 158 runs Scott Borthwick’s four-hour unbeaten 73 anchored Surrey’s 189 for 3 from 67 overs in the Bob Willis Trophy’s London derby at the Kia Oval following an imaginative Middlesex first innings declaration on 347 for 6.Borthwick was joined in stands of 71, 69 and then an unbroken 40 that occupied almost 24 overs by Mark Stoneman, Will Jacks and Jamie Smith as Surrey’s top order battled hard on a sluggish pitch that did not make strokeplay a straightforward business.Stoneman’s 45 took him 88 balls, with nine fours – three of them in one Tim Murtagh over – while Jacks played the punchiest innings of day two with 36 from 50 balls, including a six and five fours.Smith, though, took a long time to get going, with Nathan Sowter’s leg spin proving particularly hard to score from with just 22 runs coming from his 11 overs. After facing 44 balls, Smith still only had a single to his name but, to his credit, he refused to get flustered and, by stumps, had fought his way to 15 not out.Borthwick, who batted throughout the afternoon and evening sessions and has faced 183 balls, hitting ten fours, played with great determination and did not play a false shot until he flapped at a short ball from Miguel Cummins on 50 and was fortunate to see it drop to the turf midway between the slips and third man.Thilan Walallawita, Middlesex’s Sri Lanka-born 22-year-old left-arm spinner, claimed a maiden first-class wicket on debut when Stoneman lifted a cut to backward point in his sixth over.The left-handed opener looked disgusted with himself for the mistake after he and Borthwick had built a solid foundation after Ryan Patel had fallen for just 4 in Murtagh’s second over.Murtagh, on his 39th birthday, saw keeper John Simpson dive to his left to take a brilliant low catch when Patel’s edge gave Middlesex early reward for their declaration with 8.3 of their maximum 120-over first innings allocation still unbowled, and which left Surrey with three overs to negotiate before the lunch interval.Jacks swung and swept Walallawita for fours as he accelerated smoothly, but was then pinned leg-before by an inswinger from James Harris.On 264 for 4 overnight, Middlesex earlier struggled to push on against some accurate Surrey bowling. Choosing not to take a second new ball that had become available towards the end of the first day after 90 overs, Surrey concentrated on containment and not even Nick Gubbins – who resumed on 150 – could break the shackles.Gubbins was finally out for 192, from 315 balls with a six and 19 fours, when he sliced Rikki Clarke to backward point in a vain attempt to get Middlesex to a fourth batting bonus point. Simpson, who had helped Gubbins to add 131 in 36 overs for the fifth wicket, was also dismissed, leg-before sweeping at Borthwick’s leg spin for 53, just ahead of the declaration.

RCB captain Virat Kohli, too, urges his players not to violate rules

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Aug-2020″If someone violates any rules or any guidelines that have been set by us a franchise, what happens? What are the repercussions?” Virat Kohli kicked off the inaugural virtual meeting of Royal Challengers Bangalore with that question, which was addressed to his team director Mike Hesson.Hesson, who took charge of Royal Challengers after last IPL, did not mince words, saying any “wilful” breach of the protocol would be dealt “very seriously.””We have a document the BCCI have written, which is basically part of your contract,” Hesson said while addressing the virtual meeting which was held in the Dubai. Royal Challengers reached the UAE last week to participate in the 2020 IPL, which was moved to the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”If there’s a breach of the bubble, if it’s a wilful act, then that becomes a contractual issue between the player and RCB; it will be dealt with very seriously,” Hesson told the players and support staff during a virtual team meeting.”ALSO READ – Steyn, de Villiers link up with RCB in UAEIf the breach was “accidental”, Hesson pointed out the person would be “removed” from the team bubble. “They have to go into isolation for seven days, have to repeat their [covid] tests before they’re allowed into the bubble again. So there are some protocols which we will go through.”As you [Kohli] alluded to, if there’s somebody who breaks this bubble, that we’ve worked incredibly hard to ascertain and put in place, it affects the whole tournament. It’s not just RCB, it’s actually the tournament, the TV rights. There will be strong consequences if players choose to do that. Every player from every team will need to sign a document which basically explains the consequences around that.”Kohli counted 34 members of the Royals Challengers squad, including the coaching staff led by Hesson and head coach Simon Katich, during the virtual meeting, which he said was first of a kind. Also present on the meeting were AB de Villers, Yuzvendra Chahal and Chris Morris, who was bought at the auction last December.Having moved the tournament out of India, which has the third-highest number of Covid-19 infections globally, the IPL has laid down rigorous protocols, including testing process for all stakeholders and teams. Currently all eight teams are holed up in their rooms, undergoing the mandatory six-day quarantine after which they can start training.Kohli said he “could not wait” to start the training having been in in lockdown for the past six months, but emphasised the need to stick to the guidelines. “If someone was to end up in such a situation or position, for me that’s letting the whole team down,” Kohli said.”Because it might happen at a stage of a tournament where we can’t afford to lose that player. If he does so, and we get harmed by it, then the whole team, the whole system and culture loses. I just wanted to talk about this so that everyone understands the repercussions that may take place if someone violates the rules.”Last month, England fast bowler Jofra Archer was dropped from a Test match against West Indies on disciplinary grounds for a biosecurity breach. Archer took an unauthorised detour to his home in Brighton while on his way from Southampton to Old Trafford. It is a move that “could have been a disaster” which cost English cricket “tens of millions of pounds,” according to ECB’s director of cricket Ashley Giles.Royal Challengers’ squad landed in Dubai on Friday. All members, barring four players – Aaron Finch, Kane Richardson, Joshua Phillipe and Moeen Ali – have linked up with the squad.

Sindh needed three off the last two deliveries, but successive run-outs condemned them to defeat.

Umar Farooq01-Oct-2020A late blitz by Sohail Khan nearly took away the game from Balochistan, only for Sindh to eventually fall short by two runs in a thriller in Multan. Sohail arrived with his side struggling at 121 for 6, needing another 60 off 27 balls. Sohail smoked 31 off 16 balls to open up the contest, but Umaid Asif defended 11 in the final over to seal victory for Balochistan.The match came down to the final two balls, with Sindh three away from a win. However, Hassan Khan and Mohammad Hasnain both crumbled under the pressure, getting run out successively, leaving Sohail stranded at the other end.Sindh had begun the chase of 181 slowly, making just 23 from the first 19 balls as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Sharjeel Khan was able to chip in with only 10, while the captain Sararaz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq both threw away good starts. Sohail and Anwar Ali (20 off 11) both tried their best to revive the innings, but Ali’s wicket in the 19th over left Sohail with a bit too much to do.Earlier in the day, Balochistan opted to bat and made a strong start. Sindh selected their part-time offspinner Asad Shafiq to bowl the opening over against the left-handed opening pair of Imam-ul-Haq and Awais Zia, who hammered 25 off just 9 balls. A half-century by Bismillah Khan, and his 67-run partnership for the fourth wicket with captain Haris Sohail helped propel Balochistan to 180 for 8.

RCB’s batsmen struggled on a slow track, managing only 120 for 7

Saurabh Somani31-Oct-202011:08

Ajit Agarkar: Wriddhiman Saha has been a revelation for Sunrisers Hyderabad

Exactly a week after the Sunrisers Hyderabad slid to perhaps their worst defeat of IPL 2020, failing to chase down a target of 127 against the Kings XI Punjab, they shrugged off middle-overs nerves to haul in a target of 121 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and keep their playsoffs hope alive.It was a win set up by the bowlers, led by Sandeep Sharma’s excellent 2 for 20. Each of the five bowlers that the Sunrisers used took at least one wicket, and the Royal Challengers innings never took off, stopping at 120 for 7. David Warner didn’t need to turn to Abhishek Sharma – in for the injured Vijay Shankar – or Abdul Samad for part-time overs, with the frontline bowlers doing the job splendidly.In the chase, Wriddhiman Saha continued his good form at the top of the order, and his 32-ball 39 meant the Sunrisers had enough of a run-rate cushion when Yuzvendra Chahal induced a middle-order wobble. The Sunrisers were cruising at 60 for 1 in the seventh over, but slid to 87 for 4, with all of Warner, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson and Saha dismissed. However, Jason Holder showed what a valuable addition to the line-up he could be, calmly swatting an unbeaten 26 off just 10 balls to bring up victory in 14.1 overs.After that defeat to Kings XI, the Sunrisers had needed to beat the top-three teams in the league in the Delhi Capitals, the Royal Challengers and the Mumbai Indians, a task that seemed daunting. Two thirds of the way into that final stretch, they’ve secured two handsome victories.Sandeep Sharma, powerplay star
Sharma gave the Sunrisers the perfect start getting both Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli inside the powerplay for single-digit scores. Sharma has done this often for whichever team he’s played for – not only getting wickets upfront but getting key wickets. He used the weapons he generally does, swing both ways coupled with hard-to-pick slower balls. He castled Padikkal with one that swung back in, and then foxed Kohli with an outswinger after having bowled the ball into him, and he ended up chipping to extra cover, falling to Sharma for the seventh time – the most he has gotten dismissed by a bowler in the IPL. That start, and continued tight bowling, meant the Royal Challengers could get to only 30 for 2 in the powerplay.Spinners strike
Rashid Khan continued to be fiendishly difficult to read, forget about being taken for runs. He conceded a boundary to AB de Villiers early on, when he pitched on too short, but that was after having beaten the batsman three balls in a row in his previous over. Josh Philippe had to read him off the pitch almost exclusively, not picking his leggies, googlies or sliders. The Royal Challengers had a brief moment of fortune when Shahbaz Nadeem put down a return catch from de Villiers when the batsman was on 4, but Nadeem got the wicket later on, when a rasping cut found deep point. In the next over, Rashid had Philippe holing out at deep midwicket.The Royal Challengers had brought in Isuru Udana and a fit-again Navdeep Saini for this game, leaving out Dale Steyn and Shivam Dube, and the gamble of strengthening their bowling at the expense of their batting backfired as they lost their top four inside 12 overs. Washington Sundar played a decent hand to avert a collapse, but their eventual total was still meagre.Saha, Pandey start, Holder finishes
The dew that set in made batting easier in the second innings, but on a slow pitch, the Royal Challengers seamers erred by going hard, and not bowling enough cutters and off-pace deliveries in the way the Sunrisers had – a mistake they had made in their loss against the Chennai Super Kings too.Warner fell in the second over, but Manish Pandey joined Saha for an aggressive 50-run stand in just 5.2 overs. They were both helped by the pace of the bowlers. Chahal was brought on only after the powerplay, with half the target almost achieved. He struck immediately, having Pandey hole out to long-on, beaten by the dip. In his third over, Chahal got Saha, too, the batsman having skipped down the track but beaten by the dip and turn. Kane Williamson then pushed Udana to cover, and the Sunrisers were 87 for 4, having lost three wickets in 5.3 overs while adding only 27 runs.The uncertainty of the Sunrisers middle order could have hurt them in a bigger chase, and might have caused some doubts to re-emerge in this one too, given the number of times in this tournament alone that they have faltered. But Holder settled the issue without letting things get too close, smacking three sixes in his brief stay, as both Udana and Saini tried to bowl short at him. His height, and the slowness of the surface, meant the balls came at just the right speed to be pulled powerfully.When Williamson fell, the Sunrisers needed 34 runs to win in 7.5 overs. Holder got them in two overs.

Emerging allrounder has not bowled in a match since November 2019 due to back issues

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2020Western Australia allrounder Cameron Green is hopeful of making his long-awaited return to bowling in Friday’s Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania.Green, 21, has not bowled in either a domestic or club fixture since November 2019 due to lower back concerns. He has had multiple stress fractures in his lower back dating back to junior cricket and the WACA have been ultra-conservative with him since his most recent fracture late last year.He has been bowling over the winter and has been making some technical changes with WA bowling coach Matt Mason and he is hopeful of finally bowling in a game this week.”I’m having a bowl today,” Green told RSN Radio. “I’m having a couple more sessions before game day. Hopefully maybe a couple of overs this game but if that doesn’t happen, hopefully, the game after. But it will only be a handful of overs I would say.”Green has two five-wicket hauls in Sheffield Shield cricket and both have come against Tasmania, including 5 for 24 on debut as a 17-year-old.But since being unable to bowl, Green has established himself as one of the best batsmen in the Sheffield Shield scoring 929 runs at 84.45 in nine games including four centuries.His career-best 197 against New South Wales last week has put him firmly in the Test selection frame but Green is determined to keep his head down.”I’m going okay,” he said. “I haven’t really gone through a bad patch since I scored my first hundred so I’m just going with the wave and going with the flow of doing well and for some reason, it’s just paying off at the moment but I’m trying to keep a level head.”Cricket doesn’t owe you anything. As soon as you think you’re better than you are, it catches up to you. I’m just trying to keep a level head.”