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Delhi’s dropped chances and unclear strategic decisions hurt them on the third day as Vidarbha piled on the runs in Indore

The Report by Vishal Dikshit in Indore31-Dec-2017Akshay Wadkar struck his maiden first-class hundred•PTI

If one had to compile the top cricket surprises of 2017, Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy campaign would feature fairly high. They continued to impress right until the last day of the year with a solid lower-order performance that gave them an imposing lead of 233 against Delhi, who have slowly been pushed towards the runners-up position.Vidarbha’s ascendancy came with a seventh-wicket stand of 169 runs between wicketkeeper-batsman Akshay Wadkar, who scored his maiden first-class century, and allrounder Aditya Sarwate. Delhi’s showing was marred by dropped catches, a missed stumping and a feeble bowling attack that could do little on a pitch that has started to favour batsmen. Wadkar’s unbeaten innings was later complemented by a barrage of boundaries from Siddhesh Neral (56*) who struck his maiden first-class half-century with four fours and as many sixes.

Akshay Wadkar on…

Coming into the squad late in the season: “Initially I wasn’t picked in the team so I performed in the local matches. After scoring two hundreds and three fifties I was picked in the team. Initially I could not perform but in the the quarter-final, we were not in a good position and I like performing under pressure so that’s what I did. I have the confidence for that.”
The pressure after losing Wasim Jaffer: “There was pressure obviously, because we were still trailing and it was important that I stuck around. It was crucial to build a partnership, if we had lost a wicket then we may not have taken a lead.”
Century partnership with Aditya Sarwate: “We share a very good bonding so we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We kept communicating especially when one of us felt dicey or in doubt.”
Siddhesh Neral’s attacking shots: “He himself said, ‘I’ll play my shots since I’m hitting well and I have luck with that drop and being caught off a no ball’. He wanted to score today because who knows what will happen tomorrow.”
His plan when he was batting: “We wanted to play the entire day. [Chandrakant Pandit] sir had said ‘play as much as you can and try to stay unbeaten’. I did not even think I’d score a hundred. My only plan was to stay not out and make the team win with my contribution. I also got to score after I settled in and as the match went on.”

The day began with Wasim Jaffer edging the fourth ball into the cordon, but Kunal Chandela dropped it while diving to his left from second slip when the ball was headed straight to first. Vidarbha were still trailing by 89 then. To rub salt into Delhi’s wounds, Jaffer steered a short delivery two balls later to third man for four.Navdeep Saini was extracting pace and reverse swing with the old ball but Delhi captain Rishabh Pant made the mistake of bowling him for too long at a stretch. Saini did account for nightwatchman Aditya Wakhare and later Jaffer (78) too, aided by a poor lbw decision, but to make him bowl eight overs with the old ball and then hand him the new one too proved detrimental. Five balls into his ninth over, Saini walked off.By then, Sarwate was scoring at more than run-a-ball with authoritative drives. A more sedate Wakhare gathered confidence by slapping a short ball from Kulwant Khejroliya down the ground to level the scores and followed it with a cut for four more two balls later. The second chance of the session went down when Sarwate edged left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra to slip where the ball went through Gambhir and the batsman brought up a 62-ball fifty.Siddhesh Neral was ecstatic after getting to fifty•PTI

The Vidarbha lower order wore Delhi down even more in the second session. Even though Wadkar and Sarwate slowed their scoring rate, Pant barely had any bowling options to fall back on with left-arm spinner Manan Sharma down with a knee injury he picked up while fielding. Akash Sudan ran in without much threat, Khejroliya banged in plenty of half-trackers and Mishra kept darting deliveries that were blocked in front of the stumps. Saini returned after lunch but Vidarbha had gone past 350 by then.The extents to which Delhi were stretched was clear in how Nitish Rana stopped bowling medium-pace and turned to offspin. Pant brought on part-time offspinner Dhruv Shorey too to try his luck and Shorey’s third delivery created a chance. Sarwate, on 67, came down and missed a flick but Pant himself failed to execute a sharp stumping. Four overs later, Sarwate, still on 67, was dropped by short leg off Shorey again.Wadkar had overtaken Sarwate by now and Saini had begun to tire again. This made Pant bring back Rana and the change surprisingly worked when Sarwate was caught behind off a flat delivery, with Pant holding on this time. Wadkar stamped his authority further when he stepped out and hit Mishra for a six and a four straight down the ground to celebrate his century in animated fashion.Sarwate’s wicket brought no respite for Delhi. Neral had already smacked Rana for a six before Wadkar’s century and belted more boundaries in the last session by backing away against the pacers for slashes and pulls. After collecting two fours off Khejroliya, he ramped a short delivery to straight third man, and though the fielder held on this time, it was called a no-ball for being the third bouncer of the over.Neral whacked two sixes off Khejroliya and cracked his fourth four to bring up his fifty. Two balls later, he miscued a pull and Khejroliya ran in from long-on for a skier but could not take it cleanly. Like Marvel’s superhero movies that always leave something post credits, Delhi had another problem coming. On 53, Neral pulled Khejroliya and the leading edge was pouched easily by the bowler, but this wasn’t a legal delivery either. Khejroliya had overstepped.Such instances summed up the day for Delhi as Vidarbha amassed 322 runs for the loss of only three wickets.

The allrounder picked up 5 for 40 and coupled it with an innings of 108 off 217 balls to beat Trinidad & Tobago

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2018Raymon Reifer was on song in Providence, combining his fourth five-for with a maiden century, to help Guyana victory by an innings and 81 runs. Much of that result was the consequence of a poor first innings for Trinidad & Tobago who, after winning the toss, were bundled out for 135. There were five ducks in the innings, with Reifer dealing out three of them to finish with 5 for 40.Another star turn followed, this time with the bat. He had watched his team cruise to 109 for 0 and then falter to 198 for 5. That was when Reifer walked in. With 19-year old Sherfane Rutherford (93) and former Under-19 fast bowler Keemo Paul (53) for company, led a defining lower-order charge and finished unbeaten on 108 from 217 balls when the declaration came with the score at 540 for 9.Trinidad & Tobago put in a much improved performance in the second innings, with two of the men who made ducks in the first, Jason Mohammed and Tion Webster, scoring 103 and 77 respectively. But it was still not enough. Guyana wrapped up the win – their sixth in nine matches – with Paul taking 3 for 118

Seven weeks ago, India began their tour of South Africa at Newlands. They return there with all to play for in the T20I series decider

The Preview by Firdose Moonda23-Feb-20187:14

‘SA need a win to salvage this tour’ – Graeme Smith

Big Picture

Here we are. Back where it all began.Exactly seven weeks ago, India’s tour to South Africa began with the (later-than-usual) New Year’s Test. The first day saw South Africa bowled out for 286 and India finish on 28 for 3. If nothing else, it promised a fiery, competitive clash, with two teams desperate to outdo each other, more desperate than usual because of the recent history between them.South Africa scars from their tour to India were fresh and they hoped to heal them with revenge pitches, full of pace and bounce that would hurt and humiliate India. Instead, they only got one surface in the three Tests that they truly enjoyed, and it was at Newlands, where they find themselves again now, at the end of a tour that has not gone the way the hosts wanted.After their win in the second Test, there was talk of 12-nil as South Africa sought complete domination over India. Instead it is 7-4 the other way, and despite losing the Test series, India will be the happier side, whatever happens in the deciding T20. They’ve done what Ravi Shastri promised they would and found home comforts in foreign conditions, with their top order all in good form and success for their spinners. For India, the final match should not matter. They’ve already done more than expected.For South Africa, it matters a great deal. Victory in what they are calling a “final” will give them a major boost after they lost several players to injury over the course of the series and a large chunk of their confidence.Defeat in the final Test with that series won was not the end of the world, but it was the start of a spiral that saw South Africa’s “Vision 2019,” fall out of focus and then completely blur. Their ODI side needs work and their T20 team may have showed what kind of work. The younger players, particularly Lungi Ngidi, Heinrich Klaasen and Junior Dala, have stood up even as the seniors have faded and though South Africa’s depth remains an area of concern, they do have players worth investing in, especially if they provide a return at Newlands.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: WLWWL
India: LWWWW

In the spotlight

It’s David Miller’s turn to come under scrutiny as a senior batsman whose contributions do not match his reputation. Miller played in five of the six ODIs and only managed a top score of 39, and has been dismissed in single-figures in both T20s. These white-ball matches have only emphasised that South Africa need players they can rely on in crunch situations and while Miller’s immense talent provides some reassurance, they will need big numbers from him as well as the World Cup draws closer.For the final time, Virat Kohli will be India’s player to watch, not least because he needs less than 20 runs to become only the third batsman in the world to 2000 T20I runs. Kohli has already led India to their most successful tour of South Africa, with a Test win and their first ODI series win in the country. Whatever happens in the final match, he can be proud, but he will be that much prouder if he can return home with two trophies instead of one.3:38

Cullinan: ‘I would seriously consider two wristspinners’

Team news

With a series win front and centre of their minds, South Africa may not be able to give Christiaan Jonker an opportunity and could stick with the same batting line-up. A change may come in the attack, which could feature two specialist spinners. If South Africa opt for both Tabraiz Shamsi and Aaron Phangiso, Dane Paterson may have to miss out.South Africa: 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 JJ Smuts, 3 JP Duminy (capt), 4 David Miller, 5 Farhaan Behardien, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Chris Morris, 9 Junior Dala, 10 and 11 two out of Dane Paterson, Tabraiz Shamsi and Aaron PhangisoHad India won at SuperSport Park, they would have wanted to use this match to trial some new combinations but now they need to field the XI they believe can win them the series. The team that lost had one change from the team that won at the Wanderers with Shardul Thakur replacing Jasprit Bumrah, who was out with an abdominal niggle. That spot may be the only one India change, with the possibility of Axar Patel or – if he has recovered from the hand injury that kept him out of the first two T20Is – Kuldeep Yadav coming in as second spinner on the surface most likely to take turn.India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Manish Pandey, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Jasprit Bumrah/Shardul Thakur/Axar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav

Pitch and conditions

The change in altitude will require the biggest adjustment from the players, who will need to be wary that mishits are unlikely to sail for six at the coast and they could end up caught on the boundary instead. Still, the Newlands strip is expected to have plenty of runs in it, with Farhaan Behardien calling it “not far from a Highveld wicket”. It will be a cool day in Cape Town, with temperatures below 20 degrees and a small chance of some rain, which could negate spin.

Stats and trivia

• After the Indian wristspinners claimed 33 wickets between across the six ODIs, Yuzvendra Chahal has only managed one wicket in the two T20s so far.
• Virat Kohli needs just 17 runs to become the first India batsman to 2000 T20I runs.

Quotes

“We came unstuck but we are sticking together as a unit. Tomorrow is a massive opportunity for us to turn it around. To win two out of the three series against a strong Indian unit, that’s a big plus. We went over to India, we beat them in the ODIs 3-2, in the T20 series two-nil, we lost the Test. It’s basically a reversal but we have the opportunity to go one up on them tomorrow. Everybody is upbeat.”
“Whenever you’re playing in the first six overs, you have to play your shots. When you have a lot of batting depth in the middle order you need to play really well in [the first] six overs. When you have a good middle order they can always execute later on, so you need to take a chance [in the Powerplay].”

Corey Anderson has not played since suffering a stress fracture while with Somerset last year

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2018Corey Anderson, the New Zealand allrounder, will return to Somerset for this season’s Vitality Blast. Anderson has not played since suffering a stress fracture while with Somerset last year but is hoping to return to action during the latter part of the New Zealand domestic season.Having made 81 off 45 balls on debut for Somerset at The Oval last July, Anderson only managed three more appearances before succumbing to back pain. He underwent surgery in September and has been working on his rehabilitation back at home ahead of an anticipated comeback for Northern Districts.Anderson, 27, is expected to be available for the entirety of the Blast. Somerset begin their campaign with the west country derby against Gloucestershire on July 6.”I’m really excited to be returning to Somerset for this year’s Vitality Blast,” Anderson said. “Having had my time at Taunton cut short with injury last season, I feel I have unfinished business and I hope I can help Somerset go all the way in 2018.”Although Anderson was overlooked at the IPL auction earlier this month, he has pedigree as one of the most powerful hitters in the game. He briefly held the record for the fastest ODI hundred, off 36 balls, and has scored 1768 runs at a strike rate of 138.23 in his T20 career. He also offers a handy left-arm bowling option.Somerset’s, director of cricket, Andy Hurry, said: “We are delighted to have secured Corey for the entire Vitality Blast campaign. I believe that continuity throughout this competition is going to be key in achieving success and therefore it was crucial for us to be able to bring in a high-quality player who would be available for the duration of the tournament.”Corey has a vast amount of experience and is very well known here at Somerset. His all-round ability will have a huge impact on our performances.”

Shake-up of new-ball options may help end cycle of overseas failure, but England captain realistic about challenge

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland20-Mar-2018The England captain Joe Root hopes his team can “turn a corner” overseas after a dreadful run in Test cricket away from home, when they take on New Zealand over two Tests, starting in Auckland on Thursday.England have lost nine of their last 12 Tests overseas with 4-0 defeats in both India and Australia. When they last toured New Zealand in 2012-13 it came on the back of one of their greatest victories on opposition soil after they overturned India, but since then there has been just one series win in eight on their travels – when they beat South Africa in 2015-16.”It is one of the biggest challenges within that format to try to make sure you can go overseas and adapt well to the conditions and make sure you can get something from the series,” Root said. “I suppose there will be a lot of similarities in terms of the conditions and certain aspects of the cricket here in New Zealand to home. So I think it is a good opportunity for us to try to turn the corner in that respect and make sure we change our recent history outside England.”

Root still roots for No.4 role

Joe Root still believes No. 4 is the best position for him in the England Test team. However, James Vince, who struggled in the Ashes, will still be the man to make way at No.3 if the doubts over Ben Stokes’ bowling fitness require England to pick an extra seamer.
Coach Trevor Bayliss has previously said he would like Root at first drop but the captain insisted he has the support of Bayliss in his preference, which could mean Dawid Malan moving up should a new No. 3 be needed.
“He’s been very supportive of me and he wants me to be comfortable as captain and for me to bat where I think I’m going to get the best out of myself, scoring consistently as many runs as possible,” Root said. “Throughout this period I definitely feel that has been at four and I still think that is probably the best place for me to bat within this team.”
While Root’s opposite number in this series, Kane Williamson, will at No. 3, Root can point to the fact that Steven Smith and Virat Kohli are No. 4s.

England are not alone in their travails when they travel, a point Root himself made, but believes that a few new ideas are needed to buck the trend. The first sign of that could come with a change in new-ball partnership with all the indications being that Stuart Broad will move, at least on some occasions, to be first-change having dominated the new-ball role with James Anderson since 2010.”Over the last couple of years our form outside the UK has been quite disappointing so we need to make sure we are doing everything we can to put that right and change things slightly to give us a better chance of being more consistent on different surfaces,” Root said.”You don’t want to detract from your strengths as a team but if we keep doing things as we have done, we’re not necessarily going to get different results. I think it’s just making sure that there’s nothing too radical and so extreme that no-one understands it or gets it within the group, but trying to maximise everyone’s skills in the conditions.”While Root did not completely nail his colours to the mast over Broad’s role – as with the bowler himself, the word ‘flexible’ was used often – it is clearly at the forefront of his mind as he looks to solutions to England’s slipping Test fortunes on the road.”I think this is where we’re looking at doing things slightly differently away from home, and if it is going to swing then we need to maximise that. Having continued pressure from both ends for a longer period of time is something which will definitely be brought to the table if Stuart is first change.”If we keep doing things exactly the same way then we might get exactly the same results. This is one small thing that might make a difference, it might not.”Another difference for Root compared to the Ashes will be the availability of Ben Stokes. Quite how much bowling he will be able to do remains uncertain, but he came through a five-over spell outdoors at Eden Park on Tuesday to follow his indoor stint the day before as he builds up his workload. He is due another five overs on Wednesday.Regardless, he will be back in some capacity and his batting and fielding alone will lift England. “You get three players with Ben and certainly on his day probably the best three players within the side all in one. It is a huge boost to have him coming back into the team,” Root said. “He is such a good character around the dressing-room. When he speaks about the game, he gets everyone’s attention and people listen.”Stokes has been around the team for the best part of a month now and seemed at ease during the one-day series. That was under Eoin Morgan’s captaincy, so this Test series is the first time Root has had him under his charge since the West Indies home series, which was also Stokes’ last first-class cricket at the start of September. Part of Root’s challenge could be knowing how far to stretch Stokes’ workload with the ball.”There’s only so much you can stop him doing. He’s just desperate to play. It’s been a while since he’s had the chance to play red-ball cricket, he’s just so excited and you don’t want to take that out of him. Also, it is really good to see players with that attitude and so desperate to come back in and prove a point and do well.”For Root this is his third series as captain. With Stokes back and the discussions over Broad’s role, there is a sense of him edging the team in a new direction although he was reluctant to paint it as a personal mission.”With the amount of injuries and Ben in the Ashes it has restricted a little bit how I wanted to do things,” he said. “This is the first opportunity I’ve had to do that away from home.”I wouldn’t say I’m using Stuart as an example, I’m just trying to find the best way of making us successful here and maximising our chance of winning. I would hate to go into any series and say this is about me putting my stamp on things. This is about us winning and if we can find a way of doing that then I will have put my stamp on things.”

The Sussex openers added an unbeaten 86 in the 21 overs possible on the opening day

ECB Reporters Network27-Apr-2018
ScorecardSussex openers Phil Salt and Luke Wells made an impressive start to their Specsavers County Championship game against Gloucestershire before rain swept in to ruin the first day at Hove.Salt, 21, was unbeaten on 54 and Wells had contributed 25 to a stand of 86 for the first wicket before rain arrived at 12.30pm. Umpires Martin Saggers and Russell Warren abandoned play at 4pm with no sign of an improvement in conditions after taking an early tea.After losing Chris Nash to Nottinghamshire during the winter Sussex are giving Salt, who is making only his tenth first-class appearance, a run as opener and although he played some false shots there was a lot to admire in his aggressive approach after Sussex had batted first following an uncontested toss.Australian Dan Worrall troubled both batsmen during a lively nine-over burst with the new ball up the slope. Salt came down the pitch to try and smear him through the off side and was then struck on the helmet by the next delivery when he misjudged a bouncer and needed to make repairs to his headgear.But in the last over before the rain arrived, Salt drove Matt Taylor for four then pulled his next ball over square leg for six. A single off the next delivery took him to his second Championship half-century from 59 balls which has included nine boundaries. Earlier, in the tenth over, he had taken three fours off Taylor with two drives through the off side and a pull to the midwicket rope.Wells, fresh from an unbeaten 102 on Monday in Sussex’s last match against Leicestershire, batted with more reserve but looked solid enough. His innings, from 66 balls so far, has included four boundaries.Gloucestershire, who won their opening Division Two game against Kent before losing to Glamorgan last week, used just Worrall, Taylor and Craig Miles and although Worrall in particular beat the bat on several occasions their trio of seamers could not make a breakthrough.Sussex made one change with left-arm spinner Danny Briggs making his first appearance of the season with legspinner Will Beer dropping out. Gloucestershire were without last year’s leading wicket-taker Liam Norwell and David Payne because of injury.

Joe Denly has handed over the captaincy to Sam Billings with Kent in excellent shape

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2018
ScorecardHeino Kuhn and Joe Denly hit centuries as Kent secured their fifth successive Royal London One-day Cup win and their second high-scoring victory in Beckenham within 72 hours by sweeping aside Gloucestershire to triumph by seven wickets.Chasing 323 for victory, Spitfires eased home with 21 balls to spare with Denly unbeaten on 109 for a victory that moves Kent up to second place in a highly combative south group.Kent made a solid start to their pursuit, reaching 66 within their 10 powerplay overs before opening bat Daniel Bell-Drummond chipped a Craig Miles’ length ball to mid-wicket to go for 40.With good running between the wickets Heino Kuhn and Joe Denly took the hosts to three figures in the 16th over to ensure they remained on track with the required rate.Fresh from his maiden Kent hundred on this ground on Friday, Kolpak signing Heino continued his fine form with a 44-ball half-century with six fours and a six as Kent reached 164 for one at the half-way stage.Denly posted his 50 from 61 balls as he and Kuhn beat Kent’s second-wicket record for List A cricket of 131 set by Trevor Ward and Chris Cowdrey at Canterbury in 1990.The experienced second-wicket pair marched on, setting the highest List A stand for any wicket on the ground and then reaching 152 to pass Kent’s List A best stand for any wicket against Gloucestershire recorded by Ed Smith and Matt Walker at the St Lawrence ground in 1984.
Kuhn notched the 10th List A century of his career and his second here inside three days by cutting his 90th delivery from Benny Howell to the ropes for his 11 four to go with his two sixes.Kuhn’s fun ended with his score on 110 when he just failed to clear the ropes at long-off where George Hankins held on to a good overhead chance to end the stand worth 186 in 28.1 overs. Kuhn had faced 102 balls.Craig Miles held a stunning low catch in his follow-through that accounted for Sam Billings cheaply and, with 64 required off the last 10 overs, Denly reached his second century of the competition from 104 balls with seven fours and three sixes.While Denly continued to supply the finesse, Alex Blake sidled in to provide the muscle with an unbeaten 44. Blake hit the six over mid-wicket off Miles to raise Kent’s 300 and 22 in total off the over as Kent won at the canter.Gloucestershire, batting first after winning the toss, made good use of another Beckenham shirtfront prepared by Kent’s deputy head groundsman Adrian Llong, to post 322 for eight – comfortably their best List A total in the 56 previous one-day meetings between the counties.Visiting openers Chris Dent and Hankins raced to 70 without loss after clobbering 10 fours and a six during the 10-over powerplay.
Hankins reached his third 50 of the campaign from 55 balls and with seven fours, then Dent clipped six over mid-wicket off Darren Stevens to raise the Gloucestershire 100. The left-hander then reached his half-century from 39 balls and with seven fours to go with a brace of sixes.The visiting openers added 132 before Darren Stevens, fresh from his career-best figures here on Friday, broke through to have Dent, on 63, well held at mid-wicket by a diving Calum Haggett.Stevens struck again to have Benny Howell caught at fine leg when attempting to lap-sweep, then Gareth Roderick holed out to ‘cow corner’ to give leg-spinner Joe Denly his only success.Hankins was eight runs short of his hundred when he advanced looking to drive against Matt Henry only to york himself, lose off stump and depart after a 120-ball stay.With wickets in hand and more than 13 overs remaining, the experienced pairing of Jack Taylor and Ian Cockbain went for their shots and upped the tempo. Taylor took three sixes off a Mitch Claydon over to reach a 37-ball 50 then Cockbain reached the milestone from 41 balls as Gloucestershire.Taylor clipped to long off in the penultimate over to give, then four balls later, Ryan Higgins holed out to Sean Dickson on the ropes at long on to give Haggett a couple of deserved wickets.Two run outs in the final over accounted for Coackbain and Ryan Higgins as Kent were left to chase at 6.46 an over.

Board says ICC’s controlled spending plan has “slowed down release of expected funds”, but both organisations working on fast-tracking some monies towards salaries as an exception

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jul-2018Zimbabwe Cricket will renege on its promise to clear all outstanding player and support staff salaries by July 25, because of the financial lifeline given to it at the ICC’s annual conference in June.While that sounds contradictory, the ICC’s controlled spending plan, given to ZC at the June meeting, has resulted in what ZC called a “slowed down release of expected funds”, which means it cannot fulfil its financial commitments. ZC and ICC are looking into fast-tracking some monies, as an exception, for salaries to be paid but whether that will happen will only be confirmed in the next two days.In a statement released on Monday afternoon, ZC apologised to all affected and explained: “When the commitment to pay the salaries and match fees was made, ZC was not aware of the stringent measures that the International Cricket Council (ICC) would introduce as part of the controlled spending which has slowed down the release of expected funds.”However, the ICC and ZC have worked on an interim arrangement to fast-track an exceptional payment specifically for staff and players. The exact details and timing of this payment will be known within 48 hours.”The non-payment of dues has already severely affected the team, which played a T20I tri-series involving Australia and Pakistan, and then a five-match ODI series against Pakistan with a depleted line-up. None of Brendan Taylor, Sikandar Raza, Graeme Cremer, Sean Williams or Craig Ervine were part of either series, due to the escalating fracas over pending salaries not being paid. On the eve of the Pakistan ODIs, Malcolm Waller pulled out of the squad as well.While exact details of ZC’s arrangement with the ICC have not been made public, ZC called them “stringent” but recognised the need for such a plan to “ensure good governance” and a “sustainable cricket future”. A source who asked not to be named told ESPNcricinfo that the latter seems “further away than ever”, with ZC on the verge of collapse, player discontent at all time high, and recent results reflecting the behind-the-scenes drama.Zimbabwe do not play cricket for the next two months, with their next assignment a limited-overs tour of South Africa that starts on September 30. ESPNcricinfo understands that player availability for that series will depend on whether salaries are settled in the interim.The ICC, on the other hand, were positive about the financial plan. At the time the decision was made, Shashank Manohar, the ICC chairman said: “I am satisfied we have mapped out a way forward to enable Zimbabwe Cricket to get back on track. It will require significant change to their financial, managerial and cricketing operations, along with support from the ICC.”ZC and the ICC are also working on payment proposals for creditors, which will help the beleaguered organisation crawl out of its debt, which is understood to be in the region of USD 18 million.

Richard Johnson will take on Scott’s role for the remainder of the Championship campaign with Daniel Vettori already in position to be coach for T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2018Middlesex’s head coach, Richard Scott, has left his role with the county, who are mid-table in Division Two of the County Championship and failed to qualify for the knockouts in the Royal London Cup.Richard Johnson, the assistant coach, will take on Scott’s role for the remainder of the Championship campaign. Daniel Vettori is already in position to be coach for T20 Blast, which starts this week, although since winning the T20 title in 2008 they have underwhelmed in that format.Scott took the head coach position in 2009 and guided Middlesex to promotion in 2011 before they won the Championship on a thrilling final day of the 2016 season when Toby Roland-Jones (who has been ruled out for this season with a back injury) claimed a hat-trick.The following summer, however, they were relegated and their attempts for an immediate return to Division One have not been convincing this season with two wins in seven matches. In their most recent match against Kent they were bowled out for 56 and 124.”On behalf of Middlesex Cricket I would like to thank Richard for all that he has given the club as head coach during the past 10 years; he has been a loyal, hard-working, committed and high quality coach,” Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s managing director of cricket, said.”As with every coach in professional sport we have shared highs and lows but to play a leading role in a side winning the County Championship is a triumph very few coaches can claim. Under his guidance more than a dozen cricketers have gone on to gain international recognition.”A process to recruit a new head coach for 2019 will commence immediately.”

India A rode on Vihari’s unbeaten 138 and Bawne’s 80 to finish the first day on 322 for 4 in the second unofficial Test against South Africa A

The Report by Sreshth Shah in Alur10-Aug-2018Hanuma Vihari drives the ball square•PTI

After two sessions of domination by either side – first by South Africa A in the morning and then by India A in the afternoon – the hosts, led by Hanuma Vihari’s unbeaten 138 and a half-century from Ankit Bawne, moved into a commanding position. The duo’s 177-run partnership for the fourth wicket ensured that no matter how the day had started, India had the advantage at the close, reaching 322 for 4 at stumps on the opening day of the second four-day game in Alur.Asked to bat under overcast conditions, the India A openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal failed to recreate their wonderful form from the first unofficial Test. They had put on a 277-run stand in Bengaluru only last week, but both batsmen fell inside the first hour of play to South Africa’s new-ball bowlers, who utilised a strong cross-wind from the east to generate enough lateral movement early on. Stand-in captain Dane Piedt’s gamble – to make first use of the Alur surface – seemed to pay off as India stumbled to 18 for 2.Mayank, who smashed 220 last week, was out on the day’s fourth delivery, when a length ball from Duanne Olivier zipped away and took the outside edge of his attempted cover drive. From the other end, Anrich Nortje – in for the rested Beuran Hendricks – applied the pressure too, forcing Shaw to edge his front-foot drives – either over or past the slip cordon on three occasions – before having him caught behind when he tried to punch through the off side. Shreyas Iyer, the captain, then played a free-flowing innings of 39 – including six fours in 54 balls – but when he sliced a catch to cover in the 24th over, the visitors were well and truly on top as the umpires called for lunch.The South Africans were welcomed by team-mates and their support staff with a loud round of applause after a job well done in the day’s first couple of hours, but that’s where the visitors’ authority over the day’s proceedings ended. After lunch, Vihari and Bawne started cautiously, blocking out Olivier and Nortje’s new spells, but as soon as spin was introduced into the attack, the two batsmen began to hit their stride.Senuran Muthusamy, South Africa’s left-arm spinner with roots in Chennai, found ample support from the little crowd that had turned up at the KSCA Ground. But he failed to convert those cheers into a productive spell. Motivated, perhaps, by the shouts of “c’mon, Muthu” from the spectators, Muthusamy chose to toss the ball up with more regularity after lunch, and there began South Africa’s downfall.Neither Vihari nor Bawne was afraid to use his feet to Muthusamy and Piedt, driving and whipping anything that landed near the toes, and by tea, they had already put on 102 runs. The duo took particular liking to Piedt’s loopy offspinners, putting away anything that landed too full, including a sweep in the 44th over that brought up Vihari’s second 50-plus score of the series. When the teams walked in after the tea break, the momentum had completely shifted and so had the mood as the Indians welcomed the two unbeaten batsmen with thundering applause.After tea, it was more of the same from Vihari and Bawne. A drive to long-on brought up Bawne’s 29th first-class fifty. Vihari then took charge, crunching back-to-back boundaries, and soon navigated to his 15th first-class century, much to the delight of coach Rahul Dravid, who circumnavigated 13 times around the boundary-line between the lunch and tea sessions. The partnership was eventually broken in the 75th over by Piedt, with Bawne looking to repeat a six over long-on from the previous over. However, the ball sneaked under his bat and he was stumped for a well composed 80.With 15 overs to go in the day’s play, and the skies going dark once again, in came Srikar Bharat to give state-mate Vihari company. But the wicketkeeper-batsman looked tentative, top-edging a boundary over the keeper and thick-edging a drive down to third man at the start. Seeing this, South Africa took the new ball in the 82nd over, but Vihari and Bharat staved off the challenge, knocking around singles and twos while finding the occasional boundary. They posted a brisk, unbeaten 65-run stand by stumps to take India past 300.Earlier, Iyer’s 62-run stand with Vihari – who moved up two batting spots to No. 3 for this game – had helped India recover after a shaky start, following a spell of play that saw more runs come off the edges than off the middle. By the time Iyer was dismissed, the sun was beginning to peep out of the gloomy skies – much to the relief of the batting side. Nortje’s new-ball spell from the South End, and his return spell after lunch from the North End kept Shaw, Vihari, Iyer and Bawne on their toes, but his spell wasn’t penetrative enough to prise out another wicket. And having seen off the more dangerous Nortje and Olivier for the most part as the day, India walloped medium-pacer Mthiwekhaya Nabe for 46 in ten overs and Muthusamy for 51 off 12 to push the run rate up whenever it looked like flatlining.South Africa had made the surprising decision to rest their captain Khaya Zondo in lieu of Rassie van der Dussen while Nortke’s inclusion was the other change. For India, top-order batsman R Samarth was swapped out for Bawne, while Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Rajneesh Gurbani were the other squad members left out.