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The PCB is also pushing to permanently move the PSL window into April and May, where it will clash with the IPL

Danyal Rasool17-May-2024The PSL will get two new franchises from 2026, making it an eight-team league. This was officially confirmed in a statement by the PCB on Friday, which called the upcoming season in 2025 – the tenth edition – the “last six-team event”.While this had been likely from the day the PCB and the PSL franchises agreed not to add further teams until after the tenth season, this is the first time the PCB has publicly confirmed the PSL expansion. Multan Sultans’ entry in 2018 has been the only addition to the original five so far. The process for deciding which cities the new teams represent has not begun yet.The year following the tenth season is potentially one of sizeable flux and jeopardy for the PSL, with the ten-year lease ownership agreements the PSL reached with franchise owners expiring in 2025. ESPNcricinfo understands Sultans’ lease is also up for renewal next year, despite them joining the PSL two years after the rest. All six owners have right of first refusal, meaning ownership of a franchise only goes up for sale in the event of a current owner declining to match the franchise’s valuation.What is more contentious, however, is when the PSL will be played from next season onwards. The Champions Trophy will be played in the traditional PSL window in February-March, and with the ILT20 and the SA20 cutting in on PSL territory, the PCB wants a more reliable window. Their current preferred solution is the move the PSL into April and May, carving out a six week window from April 7 to May 20 next year, and clashing directly with the IPL. More contentiously, the PCB aims to make this the PSL’s permanent window rather than an ad hoc solution to a crowded calendar next year.Related

• Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi agree to extend PSL ownership rights for another ten years

• Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars to kick off PSL 2025 on April 11; final on May 18

• PSL draft to take place on January 11

• PSL set for IPL clash as PCB proposes move to April-May window

• ILT20 2025 to begin on January 11, set to clash with BBL and SA20

There is by no means universal agreement for this option. Most of the PSL franchises initially opposed the idea because of the implications it would have on player availability and the inevitability of playing second fiddle to the IPL, and at least three of the six franchises remain firmly opposed to it. A PCB official, though, told ESPNcricinfo they remain confident the franchises will come around to it. It is also worth noting that franchise opposition to the idea cannot necessarily stop it happening; those decisions are made by the PSL governing council. De facto, that means the PCB could decide to play the tournament in any window, with or without the support of the franchises.The PCB has offered to tweak player recruitment rules and open up fiscal space to allow franchises to sign one marquee player independently of the draft to alleviate concerns around player availability. With their current broadcast partnership ending in 2025, the next season could effectively become a test case for the future viability of hosting the league at the same time as the IPL. In addition, the league’s expansion to eight teams would have necessitated a larger window anyway, with the three-month window currently carved out for the IPL providing enough time for a slightly extended PSL.However, this also necessarily means the PSL will effectively only have overseas players available to them who go unselected at the IPL, given the large financial disparity between the two leagues. This, for example, effectively rules out Rashid Khan turning out for the Lahore Qalandars – one of the franchises opposed to the window – for the foreseeable future. Qalandars opted to retain him for PSL 2024 despite knowing he would not be fit to ensure they would be able to keep the Afghanistan legspinner the following year. However, it is likely he would turn out for the IPL if the two leagues clash.ESPNcricinfo also understands the PCB is seriously exploring the possibility of hosting the playoffs and final of PSL 2025 in the UK if this April/May window is finalised. Lahore is unseasonably hot in mid-May – temperatures are currently hovering in the mid-40s. The move to the UK, according to the PCB, does more than mitigate against the weather, though; it also globalises the reach of the PSL. The UK is also believed to be a more cost-effective option than the UAE, which has, in the past, hosted every PSL match that did not take place in Pakistan.

CSA will use her WPL campaign to facilitate her return to the national side after she previously failed the board’s fitness test

Firdose Moonda13-Feb-2023ESPNcricinfo understands that Cricket South Africa is willing to give Dané van Niekerk a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to play in the inaugural WPL after she was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore. Van Niekerk was sold for her base price of 30 lakh (approx. US$37,000) and told ESPNcricinfo that she was “[in] a bit in shock but absolutely thrilled” to get a deal.She was left out of South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad after failing to pass the two-kilometre trial and is currently at the tournament in the capacity of a commentator.Even though CSA’s policy is to only grant NOCs to players who meet the minimum fitness requirements, a source told ESPNcricinfo that it is unlikely that the board will stand in van Niekerk’s way. Instead, the board would use the WPL to facilitate her return to the national side. An insider said that it would be “churlish” for CSA to stand in the way of her playing in the WPL. A final decision on the NOC will be taken after a meeting with CSA’s director of cricket Enoch Nkwe and the CSA medical team.Related

• Van Niekerk in women's T20 World Cup commentary panel

• Dane van Niekerk left out of T20 World Cup squad, Luus to captain

• Lizelle Lee retired over fears of being dropped, denied NOC for overseas leagues because of poor fitness

The decision is likely to cause some controversy after now-retired opener Lizelle Lee revealed last year that CSA threatened to deny her an NOC to play at the Hundred after she failed to meet their weight requirement. Lee was going to be dropped on the tour of England but chose to step away from international cricket and has since relocated to Australia. She put her name for the WPL but was not called up at the auction on Monday.The source described the difference in Lee and van Niekerk’s case as being that Lee “fabricated test results, and when that came up for discussion, she walked away.” On BBC’s , Lee admitted she self recorded her weight instead of letting the CSA biokineticist take her measurements.Van Niekerk’s case is similar to that of men’s fast bowler Anrich Nortje. Nortje was granted an NOC to play in the IPL after he suffered a hip and back injury at the 2021 T20 World Cup which kept him out of the tournament. Because Nortje was close to full fitness at the time of the 2022 IPL, he was permitted to complete his return-to-play program at the Delhi Capitals. He has since also made a return to the national side. Van Niekerk is likely to be given the same concession.She is currently 18 seconds off South Africa’s requirement of 9 minutes, 30 seconds for the two-kilometre run, and will not need to take the test again before the WPL. She will need to pass the test to play for the national team, though, who do not have any confirmed fixtures after the T20 World Cup. According to the FTP, South Africa are scheduled to tour Pakistan in August.Van Niekerk remains a centrally contracted player and there were concerns that, like Lee, she would walk away from South Africa if her WPL deal proved more lucrative than a national contract. Her deal of approx. US$37,000 is understood to be near, in terms of value, to her CSA contract but with endorsements and match fees, she can expect to earn more than double of that from South Africa. In contrast, van Niekerk’s wife, Marizanne Kapp, was bought for US$ 183,000 which is worth over R3.2 million and is significantly more than any domestic deal.The other South Africans to get picked up at the auction were Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon. Stand-in captain Sune Luus, Laura Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Ayabonga Khaka and Nonkululeko Mlaba went unsold. Former captain Mignon du Preez, who retired from international cricket last year did not even have her name come up.

Stokes insists under-fire Chris Silverwood retains dressing room’s support

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jan-2022Ben Stokes has insisted that he has never held any ambition to be England’s Test captain on a permanent basis and that Joe Root and Chris Silverwood retain the “thorough support” of the dressing room.Root enjoyed a remarkable period with the bat in 2021, breaking England’s record for most runs in a calendar year, but has come under fire for his captaincy during the Ashes with Geoffrey Boycott, Michael Atherton, Ian Chappell and Ricky Ponting among his more high-profile critics.Stokes, England’s designated vice-captain, led the Test side against West Indies in July 2020 when Root was on paternity leave and stood in as ODI captain against Pakistan last summer following a Covid-19 outbreak. He is widely seen as the only viable candidate to replace Root, but insisted that he had no intentions of doing so.Related

• Broad will not take 'spur-of-the-moment calls' on Test future

• 'Just not fearing them' – Crawley's plan against Aussie quicks

• Lyon excited about bowling partnership with Swepson

• Buttler holds onto Test ambitions despite Ashes disappointment

• Isolating England coach Silverwood found to be Covid positive

“I’ve never really had an ambition to be a captain,” Stokes told reporters in Sydney. “That’s totally Joe’s decision. He shouldn’t be forced into doing it. I’m sure Cooky [Alastair Cook] felt the same way. He did it for so long. When he knew his time was up, his time was up [but] those discussions haven’t been entered anywhere near Joe.”I don’t sense that at all with Joe. He’s brought this team a long way. He’s done some great things. Obviously this series hasn’t gone too well – not from a captaincy point of view but from a team and results point of view. Unfortunately, the captain and coach bear the scrutiny for that but there are 10 other guys out there in the field beside the captain.”Captaincy is more than about setting fields, picking the team, making decisions out there in the middle. A captain is someone you want to go out and play for. Joe Root is someone I always want to play for.”Stokes also threw his support behind Silverwood, who on Sunday became the latest confirmed Covid case in England’s touring party and is self-isolating in Melbourne with his family. Silverwood looks likely to pay for England’s crushing defeat with his job but Stokes insisted that he retained the players’ support.”At the end of the day, the most important people’s opinions are those guys in the dressing room and they’ve got our thorough support,” he said. “Chris Silverwood… he’s a real players’ coach. He stands up for you as individuals and players as well.”All the hype in the media recently about their futures, it’s your [the media’s] job to write that. But they know full well they have the support of everyone in there and that’s all that matters.”Chris Silverwood is under growing pressure•Getty Images

Stokes has struggled to make an impact on his return to the Test side after missing the summer series against New Zealand and India due to a finger injury and then a mental health break. He has managed only 101 runs across six innings and has taken four wickets at 62.25, and described his own series as “pretty average”.”I look at things from a team point of view and obviously coming into the fourth game 3-0 down, there’s not a lot of positives when you say it like that,” he said.”Just getting back out there from a personal point of view – being back out amongst the lads has been great. I’d much rather the results were going our way and obviously they haven’t been. But you’re representing your country, representing England in an Ashes series, so you take the rough with the smooth.”We’ve shown in small stages that we’re capable… but we’ve not done it for long enough or consistently enough and Australia have managed to get through those periods where we’ve had the upper hand. It’s about doing it for longer than that and putting some pride back into the badge.”

Spin coach hopes seamers can expose England’s “long tail” on second day

Danyal Rasool21-Aug-2020Spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed admitted Pakistan had found bowling in “tough conditions” hard work on the first day of the third Test, but maintained levelling the series remained within their grasp.On a day dominated by an unbroken 205-run partnership between Zak Crawley – who scored his maiden Test hundred and stands 29 runs from a double – and Jos Buttler, unbeaten on 87, Mushtaq admitted it would take time for a “very young bowling attack” to learn how to handle pressure.”It was quite tough,” Mushtaq said at the post-day press conference. “The weather played a huge role. The pitch was very flat, and the toss was vital on that pitch. And because the wind was there the whole day, it was very difficult for the bowlers to control their line and length consistently. It was tough especially for young bowlers like Naseem [Shah] and Shaheen [Shah Afridi]. They are new to Test cricket but they made a huge effort and they can be proud of it.”I think we are working on how to deal with being under pressure. When the opposition attacks your young bowlers, it naturally is difficult for them to handle it. But obviously, the credit goes to Crawley and Buttler. They played very well, and this is a flat first-day pitch. The wind made it even tougher, and that’s not an excuse, but it’s also reality.”ALSO READ: Crawley’s maiden ton puts England in driving seatThere were moments during the day when it appeared unlikely Pakistan would have to walk off at stumps quite so despondent. The visiting side had the better of the first half-hour with Shaheen coaxing a nick from Rory Burns to the slips in just his third over, while Crawley was put under pressure early on in a hostile spell where Shaheen honed in on the right-hander’s stumps. Even though England settled soon after and a sharp counter-attack guided them out of danger at lunch, Pakistan would strike back after the interval, England precariously poised at 127 for 4 at one point, with no specialist batsmen to follow.But England repeated the tactic that had served them so well before lunch, and indeed on the fourth day at Old Trafford. A quick counter saw Pakistan spread the field, and any thoughts they harboured of running through the England line-up were quickly replaced by more conservative ideas. That freed up Crawley, who looked invincible by then, and Buttler, who, in an over that seemed to herald a decisive shift in momentum, took Yasir Shah apart, smashing two sixes and a boundary in one over to bring up the 100-partnership.”When a spinner goes out with young quicks, he has two kinds of responsibilities,” Mushtaq said. “You have to ensure you’re not too expensive, and also be the man who needs to break partnerships. He bowled 29 overs in a spell, and it was all against the wind. All series, England’s plan has been to attack him so he doesn’t settle. So there’s a lot of pressure on Yasir, but we’d been telling him what a match-winner he is.”His responsibilities this series have increased. Previously, we used to have [Mohammad] Amir and other senior bowlers who kept a lid on the scoring, and that way Yasir was free to just attack. So the burden on him has increased but he bowled very well today, and he’s enjoying the challenge on. But they attacked him well, and without life in the wicket, he struggled.”Rory Burns sees an outside edge scooped up at gully•AFP

He also backed Naseem to come good after a challenging day despite bowling arguably the ball of the innings so far to get rid of the England captain, Joe Root. After a wayward start, he produced a pearler which seemed away from middle and off, and all Root could do was get a thick outside edge, a brilliant moment of play for Pakistan capped by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan snaring a sensational diving catch from in front of first slip.It was one that caught everyone, not least Root, by surprise. But as figures of 17-4-66-1 suggest, it wasn’t all hunky-dory for the teenager. Mushtaq denied he was tired and needed a rest, instead emphasising the importance of experience for Naseem.”Naseem didn’t bowl too many overs in the first two Tests, so fatigue isn’t the issue,” he said. “To learn Test cricket, he needs to play Test cricket. The more he bowls and the more difficult conditions in which he bowls, the better it is for his career. He has the talent, but this is a learning process.”Today was a difficult day to bowl on, but he’ll learn from it and it will come good later in his career. Sometimes when you have tough days, you learn, and this is what Waqar [Younis] was teaching him, about how much effort to put in, and how to bowl to specific batsmen. The quicker he learns, the stronger Pakistan’s bowling attack will get.”We need to try and bowl them out in the first session under 400. That leaves us with over three-and-a-half days and an opportunity to put up a big total ourselves. You never know what can happen in the fourth innings, and we have to believe in ourselves. They may have had a good day, but we’ll come out fresh tomorrow.”The ball is still new, and even if one of our bowlers stands up and makes a contribution, they have a long tail. The pitch is flat and the conditions are there to be exploited. England’s bowlers will find it difficult, too, and we believe we can still win the Test.”

At the time, Royals were 108 for 1. Then the Kings XI captain ran Jos Buttler out for backing up too far and the game changed on its head

The Report by Alagappan Muthu25-Mar-20191:57

Kings XI captain Ashwin mankads Buttler to trigger Rajasthan collapse

Kings XI had never beaten Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. But R Ashwin, at the toss, said this team didn’t carry “excess baggage” like that and they showed it. With the bat they overcame a slow start thanks to Chris Gayle’s 79 off 47, and with the ball they weathered a Jos Buttler onslaught, Ashwin himself running the batsman out for backing up too far at the non-strikers’ end.At the time, Royals were 108 for 1. Then they lost eight wickets for 62 runs, going from outright favourites to downright fumblers.(Universe) Boss modeGayle was 14 off 18 at the end of seven overs. And that’s credit to the Royals. They started with Dhawal Kulkarni, who has dismissed the West Indian three times in 31 deliveries in the IPL. Then came K Gowtham, possibly because Gayle has a strike-rate of 115 against offspin in this tournament. And finally Jofra Archer, whose extra pace and skill at hitting a hard length (not short enough to cut nor full enough to drive) continued to keep the boss quiet.All of that changed in the 12th over when Gayle walloped Jaydev Unadkat for four successive boundaries. And there’s a reason why he was able to do so. Each ball gave the batsman loads of width to pounce on. And when he fell for 79 off 47 balls, there was a telling break-up based on the line where the ball arrived: down leg: 2 off 10, on the stumps: 13 off 10, outside off: 64 off 27Chris Gayle became the fastest to score 4000 IPL runs – in just 112 innings•BCCI

Khan canEven when Gayle was at the crease, the highest score that Kings XI might reach, according to ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster, was 180. They ended up with 184 thanks to a superb cameo from Sarfaraz Khan. The 21-year-old may well have ended up with this team because they wanted to address the weakness that cost them a playoff spot in 2018 – a middle order that couldn’t match up to the openers – and on Monday, with an array of the most audacious scoop shots, he showed he is up to the challenge. He finished unbeaten on 46 off 29, including smacking Ben Stokes over midwicket for six off the last ball of the innings.Jos Buttler plays a scoop•BCCI

Buttler bash“The idea of peaking isn’t really an idea that sits naturally in my mindset,” Buttler told reporters prior to his departure to India. “Sometimes you hear people talking about going to another level. Why can’t you just stay at peak level?” Based on his last seven IPL scores – 67, 51, 82, 95*, 94*, 39 and now 69 – the answer to that question is a loud Y-E-S.He has a fantastic eye. He’s strong driving down the ground. And he also scoops short balls – regardless of their line – over the keeper. All that meant the Kings XI bowlers just didn’t know where to bowl to him. With him 43 off 22 and Royals on 64 for 0 at the end of the Powerplay, Forecaster had them winning at 72.4%The gamechangerR Ashwin was about to bowl the penultimate ball of his spell and Buttler was at the non-striker’s end, backing up. The offspinner saw it, turned around and calmly broke the stumps. The event sparked visibly heated exchanges between the two players, and prompted outrage , but it was, technically, within the laws of the game.
Buttler was out of his crease before the bowler “would normally have been expected to release the ball” (as the Laws state) – which has happened before – and like then he was made to pay with his wicket. Meanwhile, Royals’ win probability dropped from 50% to 36% – all during the course of the six balls of the 13th over.Tye gone, Curran onAndrew Tye was the highest wicket-taker in IPL 2018, but he was still in Australia and unavailable for this game. So on came Sam Curran, who was bought for over a million dollars at the auction, and was walloped for seven boundaries in his first 12 balls. With Royals needing 39 off 24 balls, the England allrounder came back for his final over, dismissed the returning Steven Smith Shane Warne’s tip for MVP of the IPL, Sanju Samson – and virtually sealed the game.

Chasing 190, Pakistan were wobbling at 111 for 5 before Ali Zaryab scored an unbeaten and patient 74 off 111 balls to see his side through

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2018Ali Zaryab’s second straight half-century steered Pakistan into the semi-finals of the Under-19 World Cup, with a slightly tense three-wicket win against South Africa in Christchurch. Chasing 190, Pakistan were wobbling at 111 for 5 before Zaryab scored an unbeaten and patient 74 off 111 balls to see his side through.Pakistan started slow in the chase, losing their top order for 63 runs in 15.1 overs. Zaryab, batting at No. 4, tried to stitch partnerships but could not put together more than 32 runs with captain Hasan Khan as offspinner Jason Niemand struck twice and Pakistan were five down after 26 overs. Zaryab was on 31 then and Pakistan needed 79 more, but at a required rate of just over three runs per over.After Zaryab and Saad Khan played out two maidens, they kept the score ticking with singles and doubles. Zaryab soon brought up his half-century and Saad struck three fours in their sixth-wicket stand of 65 but holed out to deep midwicket for 26. South Africa gave them another scare by dismissing Pakistan’s seventh wicket for a first-ball duck but Zaryab’s knock took them home.Earlier, Pakistan made good use of their decision to bowl as left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi removed the openers in the first 10 overs and right-arm quick Muhammad Musa struck in consecutive overs to leave South Africa reeling on 43 for 4 in 15 overs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Wandile Makwetu revived the innings with a counter-attacking half-century with some support from the lower order. He took them past 100 with Jean du Plessis (21) but was accounted for by Musa with a short ball which Makwetu pulled to deep square leg for 60. Niemand scored a crucial 36 runs at No. 7 to take them close to 200 but a couple of run-outs restricted them to 189 for 9.Musa finished with 3 for 29 after bowling 44 dot balls in his 10 overs and Afridi ended with 2 for 30 to lead the wicket-takers’ chart in the tournament with a tally of 11 wickets from four matches.

Another green track is expected to greet New Zealand and Pakistan at Seddon Park for the second Test

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando in Hamilton24-Nov-2016

Match facts

November 25-29, 2016
Start time 1100 local (2200 GMT)1:26

Even contest ahead where Pakistan will look to put spinners to use – but for them to do that, the game must last long enough

Big Picture

While tawny Asian pitches can still prompt outrage and consternation, tracks coloured a lurid, nausea-inducing green have quietly become a New Zealand trademark. The response from most touring sides has been perfectly even-handed. “These are their home conditions,” is the consensus. “We just have to play on what we get.”On the eve of the Test, Hamilton’s track has as much grass as the pitch did in Christchurch, and as the air is warmer up north, the ball may swing more here, as well as seam. Word around the ground is that the toss may also prove significant; teams that have won it in the last four Tests have inserted the opposition. They have always wound up victorious.It is the batting that gave Pakistan most cause for concern in Christchurch and, as can often be the case with batsmen in unfamiliar conditions, they veered between extreme approaches – too loose in the first innings, too tight in the second. Now they are preaching the “get runs, before the good ball gets you” philosophy that has recently found credence on tough tracks. They will also want to take the game deep – it is legspinner Yasir Shah who has most consistently wrenched matches open for them, and it is the quality of his spin that marks the visitors’ clearest advantage over New Zealand.The hosts are without Trent Boult for the first time in over three years, but have the firepower of Matt Henry sliding in to replace him. With a win behind them, and a damp surface underfoot again, banished is talk of the dusty whitewash in India, even if the batsmen haven’t all reclaimed their form just yet.They remain wary of Pakistan’s propensity to work out foreign conditions, and hit back after losses, but will be happier with the forecast than the visitors. Rain is expected on the first day, and may continue, in patches, all through the weekend. Less sunshine, means less evaporation, means less turn off the pitch for Yasir.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)


New Zealand: WLLLL

Pakistan: LLWWW

In the spotlight

Tim Macintosh, Jamie How, Peter Ingram, Martin Guptill, Hamish Rutherford, Michael Papps, Craig Cumming – just pick any Anglo-Saxon first name and there will have been a modest New Zealand opener that answered to it, over the last ten years. The latest man to take guard is Gujarat-born Jeet Raval. Stylish and composed in his debut outing, and emerging with the highest match aggregate on a difficult pitch, Raval knows Pakistan will have better plans for him in this Test. If he is effective again in Hamilton, he will raise hopes that he can break the great New Zealand openers’ curse.The quality of Yasir Shah’s spin marks Pakistan’s clearest advantage over New Zealand•AFP

With long-term collaborator Misbah-ul-Haq now out of the picture, the middle-order batting/recovery responsibilities fall heavily on the shoulders of Younis Khan. There are mild whispers he is no longer his old self on sporting pitches, but surely this is premature; the man has scores of 218 and 127 and 51 in his last seven innings. Nevertheless, such is life in international sport when you reach a certain age. Pakistan will look to him for leadership in this match. After three consecutive single-figure scores, Younis will want a big score more than anyone.

Teams news

In addition to Henry, Mitchell Santner appears likely to play – displacing Todd Astle. The top order will likely remain unchanged after Ross Taylor was cleared to play.New Zealand (probable) 1. Jeet Raval, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt.), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 Colin de Grandhomme, 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Neil Wagner, 11 Matt HenryOn a spicy surface, Pakistan have hinted they prefer Mohammad Rizwan over Sharjeel Khan. As a bonus, Rizwan can also fit into the middle order without causing changes elsewhere. Rahat Ali took 4 for 62 in the first innings at Christchurch, but looks likeliest to miss out if Wahab Riaz enters the fray.Pakistan (probable) 1 Sami Aslam, 2 Azhar Ali (capt.), 3 Babar Azam, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Mohammad Rizwan, 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Sohail Khan

Pitch and conditions

Green and damp on this occasion, Hamilton has seen bounce, turn, reverse swing and conventional swing, at different points over the past few years, so it is difficult to know what to expect. Unless rain washes out several sessions, a result appears likely, though.

Stats and trivia

• Until this match, Trent Boult had not missed a New Zealand Test since early 2012 – he had played in 44 on the trot.
• New Zealand have lost three of their last five Tests at Seddon Park – they beat West Indies and Sri Lanka, and lost to Australia, Pakistan and South Africa
• Mohammad Amir’s 3 for 43 in the first innings at Hagley Oval was his best analysis since his return from suspension.
• Pakistan have not lost a series since August 2014, when they were defeated 0-2 in Sri Lanka


Quotes

“I think it will swing more in Hamilton than in Christchurch, with the humidity.””Younis has gone through a lot of times in his career like this – when he hasn’t scored runs in the first match, but he always bounces back.”

Two days after South Africa piled up the highest total in an ODI on Indian soil, Sachin Tendulkar has said that allowing only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle has paved the way for bigger totals

Amol Karhadkar27-Oct-2015Two days after South Africa piled up the highest total in an ODI on Indian soil, Sachin Tendulkar has said that allowing only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle has paved the way for bigger totals.”It is the rules which have made all the difference. When I played, I remember the four-fielder rule was there throughout the 50 overs and in the Powerplay you could change your field but here more or less (for) all 50 overs the rule changed. You could only have four fielders outside and that definitely put more pressure on the bowlers,” Tendulkar said on the sidelines of a training session for next month’s Cricket All Stars series.

Nationality of coach does not matter – Tendulkar

With Ravi Shastri at the helm till next year’s World Twenty20, the India team has had an Indian heading the support staff for the first time in a decade. Sachin Tendulkar, however, insisted that the nationality of the India coach does not matter.
“I believe that a coach should be a capable coach and it doesn’t matter whether he is a foreign coach or an Indian coach. The coach is one who keeps the team in a good space mentally and also conducts the practice sessions well,” said Tendulkar, who had his share of differences during Greg Chappell’s controversial two-year stint from 2005 to 2007.
“From my experience I can say that a good coach is one who can treat you as a friend, who can be a guide for the team. He should be someone who can always come to your help when you have a problem whether with batting or bowling or something else, you should feel comfortable to go and discuss it with him. I like those type of coaches.”

“With four fielders outside the circle the batsman has more option of scoring runs in boundaries, the batsmen who are prepared to take more risks. That is also to do with the T20 format, the batsmen have been practising certain shots which earlier nobody would play.”The statistics itself show that in the last three years, the amount of matches played in Australia, you see the number of times teams have gone 320-plus. In the last 20 years they have not done that and in the last two years if you are able to do it then (it) is definitely to do with the laws.”Tendulkar refrained from commenting on the India team combination but showered praise on the South Africa batting unit, especially the trio of centurions in the series-decider in Mumbai – Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers, who alone scored three hundreds in the five-match series.”I felt that South Africa batted really well. I wouldn’t want to take away credit away from de Kock, du Plessis and de Villiers. I thought de Villiers batted really well.”I was watching a little bit and Shaun Pollock kept saying he has not shifted to sixth and seventh gear. It was rightly so, he has figured out how to pace his innings and he did it beautifully. I would give credit to the way he batted.”Maybe he is possibly at the peak of his career. He is really, really batting unbelievably well and it seems that he has got more time than anyone else.”Tendulkar hoped India would fare better in the Test series and appealed to fans to stand by the team during a difficult phase.”We have a very good team. Each team will go through phases. There will be patches where you will play well and there will be tough phases where things will get really difficult and things won’t go to your plans. But that doesn’t mean that every weekend you pass a judgment on your team.”When they do well you say ‘wow they have done really well’ and following week if they don’t do well you start criticising them. I think we need to show more balance. We all are passionate about cricket and we need to be patient also.”

It was a match neither team seemed to want to win, and was low on quality but Royal Challengers Bangalore finally prevailed

The Report by Sidharth Monga16-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Royal Challengers Bangalore won the Super OverAB de Villiers’ two sixes in the Super Over arrested an almighty choke•BCCI

It was a match neither team seemed to want to win. Low on quality, it headed towards what looked like a natural result, a Royal Challengers Bangalore victory, for about 33 overs. Out of the other seven, two produced 30 runs for Delhi Daredevils at the end, two were a contest between Morne Morkel and Chris Gayle that the bowler won, and the other three featured an almighty choke from Royal Challengers that resulted in a tie despite a Ravi Rampaul six in the last over when they needed 12.Umesh Yadav nearly won it for Delhi in the Super Over with four yorkers or near-yorkers at the top, which went for three runs, but he missed the length on the last two, and AB de Villiers deposited both of them over deep midwicket for sixes. Royal Challengers, nursing their demons of ties and close matches, called upon Rampaul, who has demons of his own in Super Overs, but he had also bowled a maiden and hit that six over extra cover when it seemed Royal Challengers had seen a ghost and forgotten how to bat.Daredevils had a surprise in store too. Neither Virender Sehwag nor Mahela Jayawardene batted. David Warner found point first ball, and out came Irfan Pathan with two right gloves in hand. The glove changed, he picked up a length ball over square leg for four. Rampaul came back with a yorker, but Irfan pulled out an absolute rabbit by walking down to the fourth ball and ramping it over fine leg for a huge six.With six required off the last two, Rampaul dished out a full toss, and got lucky. Irfan flicked it nicely, but found square leg. Six feet either side, and it would have been over. That bullet bitten, Rampaul bowled full and straight, and bowled out IPL debutant Ben Rohrer.All this sporadic excitement, though, was like an old man out on a pacemaker at times. Except for a blinder of a return catch from R Vinay Kumar, that contest between Morkel and Gayle, and Rampaul’s six, it was all curiously unspectacular. On a flat skiddy pitch with a quick small outfield around it, no Daredevils batsman reached 30, no Royal Challengers Bangalore bowler extracted disconcerting movement or extraordinary fortune, but somehow Daredevils remained subdued throughout their innings to end up with a paltry total by Bangalore standards. Most strikingly, Jayawardene scratched around for 28 off 31.There was some spark to the Daredevils’ start, but it was short-lived. Sehwag and Warner seemed to have set up a good base with 42 off the first five overs, but then Vinay plucked an unbelievable catch when Warner smashed one back at him. In the next over, Sehwag chipped a gentle loosener from Andrew McDonald straight to midwicket. Just like that, Daredevils found themselves in the jail, and couldn’t find a way out.Over after over of steady bowling went by, but Jayawardene could neither find his touch nor get out. Jaydev Unadkat then worked Manprit Juneja over with bouncers, and the latter was eventually caught back for a length ball and holed out to long-on. Rohrer then found deep midwicket with a long hop. Just like that, Daredevils found themselves in solitary confinement.There were periods of mercy for Daredevils. Royal Challengers omitted to appeal on a run-out, gave one more last over to RP Singh, but Daredevils could still muster only 152.Daredevils’ bowling might not be the most rounded for Twenty20 environment, but it sure is exciting. The Powerplay of the chase was all drama. In the first over, Ashish Nehra was denied a plumb lbw of KL Rahul, but he came back to get him a second time and gave him a justified send-off.At the other end, Morkel went hard at Gayle, bowling 145kmph and upwards and short of a length. Gayle was equal to it, putting behind the plays-and-misses, and hitting two sixes off Morkel. Eventually the bowler prevailed with a thick edge flying all the way to third man. That, though, was only a third of the work done for Daredevils.Coming together at 26 for 2 in the fourth over, the other two-thirds turned it on, matching each other shot for shot before Kohli ran away with it when he targeted the left-arm spin of Shahbaz Nadeem in the middle overs. When Kolhi pulled a long hop from Irfan for four in the 14th over, he brought up yet another fifty, and also brought the asking rate down to a run a ball. And the two could have strolled the rest of the way through.When de Villiers was run out at the end of the 16th over, Royal Challengers needed 24 off 24 with seven wickets in hand. Daredevils didn’t do anything spectacular after that, just held their catches and saw Royal Challengers implode. McDonald chipped one back to Nadeem. Arun Karthik ran himself out when he didn’t want to take the third off the last ball of the 18th over because that would mean Kohli would be off strike at the start of the next over. Kohli disagreed.At any rate, Kohli didn’t have the strike, and J Syed Mohammad lobbed one straight to long-on. Kohli drove the next ball inside-out, and found Jayawardene. It was 15 off eight now. Irfan, though, began the next over with a wide half-volley, which Rampaul picked the bones out of. Irfan came back well in the rest of the over, and then almost got his own back at Rampaul in the Super Over, but after a twist or two the match did reach its natural conclusion.

An aggressive half-century from Chandan Madan helped Punjab knockout Mumbai and enter the final against Baroda, to be played tomorrow

The Report by Nagraj Gollapudi in Mumbai26-Mar-2012
Scorecard
Notwithstanding a mini collapse late in their innings, an aggressive half-century from Chandan Madan helped Punjab knock out Mumbai and enter the final against Baroda, to be played tomorrow. Madan started aggressively, was dropped on 21, but stayed calm thereafter to stitch a match-winning 60-run partnership for the third wicket with Mandeep Singh.With five overs to go, Punjab needed just 18 runs. But what seemed a formality, almost turned into an ordeal for Punjab as Iqbal Abdulla, Mumbai’s leading spinner, provided a late twist to the second semi-final, at the Bandra-Kurla Complex ground. Off the fourth delivery in his third over, Abdulla lured Mandeep Singh with a flighted ball outside the offstump, which he pushed straight into the hands of Rohit Sharma at short extra-cover. Two balls later, Abdulla got the prized wicket of Madan when he drew the batsman out of his crease with a ball that dipped and then turned away. Aditya Tare, the Mumbai wicketkeeper, snapped the bails easily.Abdulla, who had taken two wickets in the quarter-final against Tamil Nadu, stuck another blow in his final over when the left-handed Bipul Sharma swept him in the air. Dhawal Kulkarni covered a good ten yards to complete a neat catch in the deep and pump some late adrenalin into the match.But Amitoze Singh slog-swept Mumbai’s second left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan for a six in the 18th over to push Punjab nine runs closer to victory. He followed it up with a straight hit over the bowler’s head for four in the 19th over off Ajit Agarkar. With seven balls to go, Taruwar Kohli dispatched a low full-toss from Agarkar for a boundary past mid-off to win the game.Mumbai coach Sulakshan Kulkarni would be an unhappy man considering Mumbai finished second to Punjab in all areas of the game. Madan had started confidently against the new ball and found the medium pace from the pair of Kulkarni and Javed Khan easy to hit. A couple of pull-shots and some strong flicks pushed him into the 20s. On 21, though, he tried to hit Khan over Suryakumar Yadav at mid-off but mistimed his shot completely. Unfortunately, for Mumbai, Yadav spilled a dolly. He had let a ball through his legs in the previous over too, leaving Khan exasperated.But it was the failure of Mumbai’s batsmen that proved the difference between the two sides. Wasim Jaffer cut to a wide delivery from Manpreet Gony straight into the hands of the point fielder; Abhishek Nayar limped out of the ground after being run-out and Ajinkya Rahane was beaten in flight to a turning ball from left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma that pegged his off-stump back.At 42 for 3 after seven overs, Mumbai were reliant on the pair of Rohit Sharma and Yadav. Rohit Sharma started fluently with two boundaries off Amitoze ; a back-foot punch behind square and then a pull over midwicket. Yadav, too, got into the groove easily with his favourite stroke, the sweep, against Bipul, which raced to the square-leg boundary.Yadav was not in the mood to wait as he welcomed Harbhajan Singh with a reverse-swept four. But going for a suicidal single, Yadav was beaten by a fine throw from Mandeep. Ten runs later, Rohit Sharma went for a casual loft against Rahul Sharma, holing out to Amitoze Singh at long-off. Mumbai then lost five quick wickets for the addition of just 22 runs, thereby losing the plot.Edited by Devashish Fuloria