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“If Chennai were to think back, they wouldn’t have let go of Faf du Plessis”

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Apr-20227:52

Runorder: Will Super Kings make the playoffs?

If MS Dhoni had been thinking of giving up the Chennai Super Kings captaincy, the franchise should not have released Faf du Plessis and, instead, should have passed on the reins to him, according to Ravi Shastri. That, according to the former India head coach, would have let Ravindra Jadeja – Dhoni’s replacement – play freely, and “things could have been different for Chennai” this IPL season.”I feel that someone like Jadeja, he should focus on his own game. If Chennai were to think back, they wouldn’t have let go of Faf du Plessis,” Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out Hindi after Super Kings lost their fourth match on the bounce, this one by eight wickets to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday afternoon. “He [du Plessis] is a match-winner, he has won the IPL with Chennai, he has a lot of experience.”Super Kings are being led by Jadeja after Dhoni, who had captained them since the start of the IPL in 2008, bar the two seasons when the team was suspended, stepped away from the role two days before the start of the 2022 edition. Jadeja was given the job even though he came into it with little leadership experience – his only past gig as captain at a representative level was with the India Under-19 team, for a while, in 2007. One of the premier all-format allrounders in the world, Jadeja has since had four results go against him, leaving the four-time – and defending – IPL champions in an uphill battle to make the playoffs.At the time the news about Dhoni’s resignation became public, Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan had told ESPNcricinfo that Dhoni had been thinking about giving up the top job, and that “he felt it is the right time to hand over captaincy to Jaddu [Jadeja]”.Shastri argued, “If Dhoni was thinking of giving up the captaincy, then Faf should have been given the job, and Jadeja should have continued as [just] a player. He would have played freely, without the pressure of captaincy. Things could have been different for Chennai then.”As it is, du Plessis was released by Super Kings before the 2022 auction, and was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore and appointed their captain; Virat Kohli too had given up the job after the 2021 season. Royal Challengers have started the season with two wins in three games.du Plessis had also played a key role with the bat for Super Kings in their run to the title in 2021, hitting 633 runs at the top of the order at 45.21, with a strike rate of 138.20 and six fifties in 16 innings.

Chattogram bowled their opposition out for below 100 while Tamim’s 77*, Rabbi’s four-for helped defeat Rajshahi

Mohammad Isam28-Nov-2020Gazi Group Chattogram bowled out a side for a double-digit total for the second game in a row in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup, trouncing Gemcon Khulna by nine wickets and reaching their 87-run target in just 13.4 overs. The win took Chattogram to the top of the points table, equal with Rajshahi who have also won two out of two.Mustafizur Rahman finished with incredible figures of 4 for 5 from 3.5 overs as Khulna’s lower order collapsed; their last five wickets falling for 13 runs in 29 balls. The left-arm quick snuffed out any chance of a late resistance after deceiving Shamim Hossain with a slower ball, and getting Ariful Haque caught at deep square-leg.Chattogram’s performance was very similar to how they had brushed aside Beximco Dhaka in their previous game, beating them with 55 balls to spare.The groundwork was laid by offspinner Nahidul Islam who dismissed Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah in the fifth over; Shakib mistimed one to mid-on while Mahmudullah was given out lbw. For the third game in a row, Khulna’s two most experienced batsmen fell cheaply, while Jahurul Islam and Imrul Kayes also failed to make a decent contribution.Mustafizur finished off the innings with his four-wicket haul, while Nahidul and left-arm spinner Taijul Islam took two wickets each.As they had done against Dhaka on Thursday, Chattogram openers Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das blazed to a half-century stand, but this time at a slightly slower pace.Soumya fell in the 11th over, having made 26 off 29 balls, with four boundaries, and Liton saw the chase through, finishing unbeaten on 53 off 46 balls with nine fours.Tamim Iqbal goes inside out•Raton Gomes/BCB

Tamim Iqbal got Fortune Barishal their first win, and handed Minister Rajshahi their first defeat, with an unbeaten 77, his first half-century of the tournament. Barishal’s five-wicket win was a bounce back from their final-over blowout against Gemcon Khulna last week.Tamim added 61 for the second wicket with Parvez Hossain Emon and another 46 with Towhid Hridoy for the third wicket. He struck ten fours and two sixes in his 61-ball knock as he ensured Barishal won with an over to spare.Earlier, Rajshahi squandered a steady start by their openers, Anisul Islam Emon and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, after they slipped from 61 for 2 to 63 for 5 in the space of eight deliveries. Mohammad Ashraful was run out before Emon and Nurul Hasan holed out in the deep square-leg boundary.
They were brought back into the game with a 65-run stand between Mahedi Hasan and Fazle Mahmud. Mahedi struck three sixes in his 23-ball 34, and looked in great nick; Mahmud supported him with 31.Kamrul Islam Rabbi took four wickets while Mehidy Hasan Miraz took 2 for 18.

Fast bowler to play second XI match to continue recovery from calf injury, hopes to play in fourth Ashes Test

Andrew Miller19-Aug-2019James Anderson will play for Lancashire’s second XI in a three-day game against Leicestershire in Liverpool this week instead of linking up with the Ashes squad in Headingley, as England’s selectors named an unchanged 12-man squad for the third Test of the series which gets underway on Thursday.Anderson, who aggravated a minor calf tear on the first morning of the series and bowled just four overs in England’s 251-run defeat, missed this week’s Lord’s Test where Jofra Archer made an eye-catching debut in his place, but remained with the squad so that his recovery could be monitored.He will continue to be assessed by the ECB on an ongoing basis, with a view to being recalled for the fourth Test of the series at Old Trafford in just over two weeks’ time.”Anderson is making progress from his injured right calf,” said the ECB in a statement. “[He] will step up his rehabilitation this week by playing for Lancashire second XI against Leicestershire in a three-day friendly at Northern Cricket Club, Liverpool.”Archer’s impact notwithstanding, Anderson’s absence was felt at Lord’s, where he has taken 103 wickets at 23.89 including six five-wicket hauls, especially on an overcast third morning when his ability to swing the Dukes ball would have been a priceless asset as England look to battle back in the series.In his continuing absence, the left-arm swing of Sam Curran remains the only alternative bowling option in a 12-man squad, while England have kept faith with a batting line-up that began to find some form in the second innings at Lord’s.Ben Stokes led the way with the bat, scoring his seventh Test hundred in the second innings, and his first since the Bristol incident in September 2017, while Jonny Bairstow made a battling fifty in the first innings and an unbeaten 30 in the second. Jos Buttler also showed some glimpses of form in making 31 in a 90-run partnership on the final day.But Joe Denly, who made starts in both innings but was unable to go beyond 30, and Jason Roy, who made scores of 0 and 2, remain under scrutiny going into a match that England now cannot afford to lose if they are to maintain a winning record in home Ashes series that dates back to 2005.And Joe Root, who picked up the first golden duck of his Test career at Lord’s, is also in need of a substantial innings after moving up to No.3 at the start of the series.England squad Jason Roy, Rory Burns, Joe Root (capt), Joe Denly, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Sam Curran.

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.”

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur admitted to being frustrated at taking “three steps forward and a step and a half back” but insisted results in Australia hadn’t pulled down the team’s spirits

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2017Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, believed the 4-1 ODI series defeat to Australia that was sealed in Adelaide highlighted the gulf between the two teams – the hosts are the top-ranked side in the format while the visitors languished in eighth place. The latest loss, by 57 runs in the final ODI, also brought the curtain down on a long and disappointing tour of New Zealand and Australia, on which Pakistan won just one international match out of ten.”Results-wise obviously it has been disappointing,” Arthur said on Thursday. “We came here thinking we had a real chance, certainly in the Test matches. We [are] still a fledgling ODI side. There are some gaps in our ODI side that we need to work hard to fill for us. We’re ranked eighth at the moment and I think you could see the gap between eight and one. So we’ve got a lot of work to do in that regard.”Arthur was frank in his assessment of Pakistan’s fielding standards and levels of fitness. They have improved, he argued, but not by enough. “Believe it or not, we have worked extremely hard at our fielding,” he said. “Me and my support staff have been around for seven months now. That has been our focus and priority. Fitness levels have improved dramatically in terms of our day-to-day reports but we’re way behind the rest of the pack.”So, fitness and fielding is again going to be total priority before we go to the West Indies (in April). We will have time to have a camp after the PSL (Pakistan Super League) and we will put in a hell of a lot of work into it because we are just not up to the mark in those. With the ball and the bat we compete perfectly well. I think we saw the difference here. Davey Warner gets in and gets 170-odd today and he gets it very very quick. That is the difference between chasing 310 and 370-odd. Warner and our fielding has probably been the key difference between the teams.”Arthur did find silver linings in the Adelaide loss and was effusive in his praise for the batsmen. Sharjeel Khan hit his third successive fifty – a 69-ball 79 that gave Pakistan the trigger in their chase of 370. Babar Azam hit his fourth ODI ton and finished the series with 282 runs; Sharjeel, with 250 runs, was the only other batsman to top 200 runs.The two of them, Arthur said, would be instrumental to the growth of the Pakistan side.Mickey Arthur felt Babar Azam would go on ‘to score a lot of runs. He is only very young at the moment but he is going to be very, very good’•Getty Images

“If you look at a lot of our guys over a period of time, their strike-rates are only mid-70s, upper 70s. So for us to be able to chase down 300, guys have to be able to play above where they have for their career,” he said. “Sharjeel is different. Sharjeel gives us that start, gives us that momentum. I was quite hard on him after the Brisbane ODI. Since then he has played extremely well for us.”Tonight was the best innings he played because the one thing we know is he can hit boundaries and he hits them at will. He didn’t have the strike rotation in his game, which he has now. And with Sharjeel going, it allows young Babar Azam to just play his normal game. I have made a lot of statements about him, I think he will be an outstanding player for Pakistan, he really is. He is going to score a lot of runs. He is only very young at the moment but he is going to be very, very good. Sharjeel takes that pressure off him. In terms of us building an ODI unit they both are pivotal to where we go with our team now.”Arthur did, however, admit to being frustrated at taking “three steps forward and a step and a half back” but insisted results in Australia hadn’t pulled down the team’s spirits. “I can’t fault the guys in terms of their work ethic, the way they have prepared, the way the team has bonded, there’s no factions, no groups, a very, very pleasant bunch of guys to work with,” he said. “We are working extremely hard, we really are. We are taking significant steps. We get three steps forward and take a step and a half back. It is frustrating, it is disappointing, but we will keep working but when the signs are good and we see some good stuff, it is very very rewarding as well.”Pakistan’s schedule has also been demanding. They have been on the road almost non-stop since the tour of England last summer. “Yeah look, and that’s never an excuse, fatigue has played a massive role,” Arthur said. “I can see guys are mentally tired. We finished in England at end of August. We had seven day off, then we had the West Indies series, then straight to New Zealand and then here.”We have been on the road for an extremely long time and it has started to show. Coupled with the fact that our boys never play at home, they are never at home. it is tough, it is not an excuse but it is tough for these guys.”

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy Group C matches on December 3, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2015

ScorecardFile photo: Kamlesh Makvana picked up 7 for 100 to run through Jammu & Kashmir’s line-up•K Sivaraman

Saurashtra wrapped up an innings and 63-run victory against Jammu & Kashmir to book their spot in the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, thanks to a seven-for from offspinner Kamlesh Makvana. Saurashtra, who had ridden on a century from Sheldon Jackson and fifties from Samarth Vyas and Jaydev Unadkat, eventually ended their innings on 497, earning a lead of 359 runs. J&K, who had folded for 138 in their first innings, once again lost wickets in a hump in their second, falling to 89 for 4. Ian Dev Singh held the innings together by scoring a brisk 127, but no other batsman gave him company at the other end to forge a threatening partnership. Makvana collected 7 for 100 to run through the line-up and bowl J&K out for 296.
ScorecardJharkhand were on course to qualifying for the knockouts, as Saurabh Tiwary’s unbeaten double-hundred earned the team a big lead, before the bowlers reduced Hyderabad to 169 for 6 in their second innings. Four more wickets on day four in Uppal will mean Jharkhand will join Saurashtra from Group C in the knockout stage. Jharkhand, who began the day at 360 for 6, declared for 388 for 8 soon after Tiwary, the overnight batsman, reached his double-hundred, meaning that Hyderabad needed to score at least 243 to make the visitors bat again. Those plans were thrown into disarray, as Hyderabad lost wickets at key intervals. Despite a half-century from Bavanaka Sandeep, three blows towards the end of the day meant the team was staring at defeat. Rahul Shukla and Shahbaz Nadeem picked up two wickets apiece.
ScorecardServices took firm control of their clash in Tripura, after bowling Tripura out for 229 and enforcing the follow on, though they are now out of the running for a place in the knockouts. Tripura, who began the day at 45 for 1, failed to gather any momentum in their innings and lost wickets at regular intervals, with Diwesh Pathania (3 for 49), Muzzaffaruddin Khalid (2 for 62) and Anshul Gupta (2 for 11) making key strikes. Saurabh Das, the No.8 batsman, was the team’s highest scorer with 53, but it was not enough to drag Tripura anywhere close to Services’ first-innings total of 512, as the hosts folded for 229. After being asked to bat again, Tripura saw out the last three overs of the day in their second innings without any damage.

Chris Lynn has become the second Australian cricketer this week, after David Warner, to be fined for his remarks over Twitter

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2013Chris Lynn has become the second Australian cricketer in the last week, after David Warner, to be fined for his remarks over Twitter. Lynn, who plays for Queensland, pleaded guilty to breaching Rule 6 of Cricket Australia’s Code of Conduct, dealing with “Unbecoming Behaviour”. Lynn was fined A$2000 by Queensland-based Code of Behaviour Commissioner Glen Williams.Rule 6 states: “Without limiting any other rule, players and officials must not at any time engage in behaviour unbecoming to a representative player or official that could (a) bring them or the game of game into cricket or (b) be harmful to the interests of cricket.”Lynn used his Twitter account to comment on the assault allegations made against rugby player Ben Te’o by a Brisbane woman. Te’o vehemently denies the accusations of assault and police said on Wednesday they were no longer investigating the alleged incident. Lynn tweeted that “The girl accusing Ben Teo is bad news” and then agreed with another tweeter, who had said “She should serve 2 months in jail for her make up! #booyah”. Lynn replied that “She definately (sic) should!” and went on to tweet: “it does my head in …”The tweets have been since deleted, and Lynn apologised for his comments. “It was inappropriate to express my personal view on a forum like Twitter and I apologise whole-heartedly for that to the individual involved,” Lynn said. “Violence against women is not acceptable and I’m sorry that my words could been seen to condone that.”Warner was fined A$5750 for his angry tweets at two journalists last week.

Misbah-ul-Haq has stepped down as Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2012Misbah-ul-Haq has stepped down* as Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain and Mohammad Hafeez has been named his successor for the Sri Lanka series in June.

Pakistan Twenty20 squad

Khalid Latif, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad Hafeez (capt), Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Shakeel Ansar (wk), Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hasan, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Sami, Hammad Azam, Nasir Jamshed
In: Mohammad Sami, Shakeel Ansar, Haris Sohail, Raza Hasan

Misbah had captained Pakistan in eight games. His last Twenty20 assignment was the three-match series against England in the UAE in February, which England won 2-1. Misbah scored 67 runs there, with a strike-rate of just over 80.Hafeez said he was looking forward to the additonal responsibility. “Representing Pakistan is always an honour and captaining it is more than that. Now being a captain, I don’t see any added pressure,” Hafeez said. “The strategy might be different but while implementing them I will take my coaches and the PCB on board to get the best results for the team.”Fast bowler Mohammad Sami, who last played for Pakistan in 2010, made a comeback. Sami had taken only one wicket in five matches for Karachi Dophins in the domestic Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup in March, but had finished as the joint leading wicket-taker in the Bangladesh Premier League for Duronto Rajshahi. He was particularly successful against Dhaka Gladiators, claiming a hat-trick and then figures of 5 for 6 against them in two league games.The new faces in the squad include Sialkot Stallions batsmen Shakeel Ansar, who came into the limelight with his maiden Twenty20 hundred against Peshawar Panthers in March in the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Cup, and Haris Sohail who went through that tournament scoring 173 runs in four matches without being dismissed. Left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, who claimed 12 wickets in five games in the Super Eight T20 Cup for Sialkot, also made it to the squad.Pakistan will play two Twenty20s, five ODIs and three Tests between June 1 and July 12 in Sri Lanka.*This story has been updated to reflect that Misbah-ul-Haq has not announced an official retirement from Twenty20 cricket

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge26-Apr-2011
ScorecardJames Cameron fell to a neat catch in the slips but it was the exception rather than the rule from Nottinghamshire’s fielders•PA Photos

After a while, you start to wonder if Nottinghamshire go out of their way to make life difficult for themselves, as if they need a particular kind of challenge to make winning cricket matches worthwhile.Close examination of the facts would probably prove it was not the case but by the end of last year’s title-winning campaign it felt like they had pulled themselves out of a hole time and again and wound up champions despite themselves.This year they have carried on in similar vein, beating Hampshire first up after a wobbly batting performance rescued by Samit Patel’s hundred and improbably overcoming Yorkshire last week from a first-innings deficit of 193.After the first day here, there is every reason to suspect that Worcestershire will not offer them an easy ride. So far, certainly, there has been more credit due to the relegation favourites than the defending champions, who chose this occasion to squander chances in the field.They gave their opponents the benefit of four dropped catches, three of which were of the kind that Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, would them to take in their sleep.Alex Hales and Neil Edwards, at first and third slips respectively, took it in turns to drop Gareth Andrew off Charlie Shreck, both of them routine slip catches. Hales missed another opportunity – admittedly somewhat harder – when Matt Pardoe’s drive against Luke Fletcher flew off the edge.Newell, perched in his eyrie on the third level of the pavilion, was wearing a face like thunder at this point – but that was not the end of it. Mark Wagh then compounded his frustration by spilling the most straightforward chance of them all at midwicket, with Pardoe again fortunate, although Newell’s expression was most likely out-thundered by Paul Franks, the unfortunate bowler.They weren’t exactly inexpensive misses, either. Andrew, who had scored 4 at the point of his double escape, added 44 before he lobbed an ordinary ball from Patel’s left-arm spin straight to Andre Adams at cover. Pardoe, given his second chances on 15 and 35, was 56 not out at the close and Worcestershire, having surrendered from a good position against Warwickshire last week, will be satisfied with their day’s work.”Four missed catches, all of the which should have been taken, have cost us a lot of runs and a lot of time in the field,” Newell said. “I can’t really explain it because we are generally pretty good in that respect. I’m frustrated and I know the bowlers are too.”Newell is disarmingly frank about Nottinghamshire’s strengths and weaknesses. In his own words, they are a “one-dimensional” team, heavily reliant on their seam attack’s ability to exploit bowler-friendly conditions at Trent Bridge and make up for the shortcomings of a brittle batting line-up.Sharp fielding is also part of the game plan and, given that slip fielders don’t usually find their concentration drifting here, it is one area in which Newell has every reason to expect flawless execution.Worcestershire’s slips are likely to have their chance in due course and they will look to extend a potentially strong position on the second day. Pardoe, for all his moments of luck, looked impressive. The 20-year-old left-hander from Stourbridge is in only his third match but he looks organised at the crease and times his shots well, with the confidence, honed in the tough world of Birmingham League cricket, to take an opportunity when it presents itself. He already has two Championship half-centuries and this is his best score to date.His runs, with support from Andrew and veteran Aussie Damien Wright helped Worcestershire recover from a much less promising position just after lunch, when they were rocking at 102 for 5 after having been 55 without loss and Adams already had four wickets, the last of which came with the help of a brilliant leg-side catch by the peerless Chris Read behind the stumps.It appeared they had wasted a good start, with Vikram Solanki having been guilty of a loose stroke when he was caught at third slip and Moeen Ali of an error of judgment when he lost his off stump offering no stroke.Read’s outstanding athleticism and safe hands stopped Alexei Kervezee in his tracks when the Dutchman looked to be setting himself up for a substantial innings, which was probably a critical moment. There is no better wicketkeeper in the Championship than the Nottinghamshire captain. It was a pity for his team that others could not follow his example.

Contrasting hundreds from Durham’s Dale Benkenstein and Ben Stokes ensured that the County Champions reached a respectable 347 for 6 and
held their own against fellow strugglers Kent on the second day in Canterbury

Cricinfo staff18-May-2010
Scorecard
Contrasting hundreds from Durham’s Dale Benkenstein and Ben Stokes ensured that the County Champions reached a respectable 347 for 6 and
held their own against fellow strugglers Kent on the second day in Canterbury.While Benkenstein played the tortoise, as his hundred took almost four hours after he became marooned in the nervous 90s for 14 overs, the England Under-19 prospect Stokes became the hare.Stokes was the star of the U19s’ winter World Cup campaign in New Zealand, and followed his 106 against Nottinghamshire six days earlier with a sumptuous career-best 122 not out to move Durham within 77 runs of Kent’s first innings 424 come the mid-point of the game.While Benkenstein nudged and nurdled, Stokes took on a weakened Kent attack with drives and lusty pulls that earned him 15 fours and a brace of sixes.The first session had belonged to Kent who, through Makhaya Ntini, Azhar
Mahmood and Amjad Khan, bowled tightly and intelligently to limit the visitors to only 67 runs in the 28 overs through to lunch.Ntini trapped Kyle Coetzer (12) lbw with an off-cutter that hit the
him just above the knee roll on his front pad as he pushed half-forward then, four overs later, Scott Borthwick (2) pushed away from his
body after Ntini attacked around the wicket to steer a catch to second slip.Kent should have had a third victim before lunch when Michael Di Venuto, on 32, edged a turning ball from Rob Ferley to slip only to see Martin van
Jaarsveld drop a chance down by his left boot.Ferley finally got his man 19 overs after the interval, but only after he had contributed 67 to a third-wicket stand of 118 in 31 overs with Benkenstein. Pushing at a looping, turning delivery he was bowled
through the gate.After a breezy 17 Ian Blackwell chopped on to his off stump when aiming a
back-foot force against Amjad Khan and at 165 for 4 Kent were seemingly
fighting back, but Ferley lost his length and Stokes came in to make hay.Stokes took toll of two full tosses to lift them over the ropes at midwicket on his way to a 58-ball half-century, as he and Benkenstein posted 143 for the fifth wicket.It took the second new ball to break the partnership as Amjad
Khan persuaded Benkenstein to leave his first delivery on length and he lost his off stump and go for a stoic 114 from 179 balls.Durham captain Phil Mustard (10) went soon after, driving at one angled across him to give Ntini figures of 3 for 58, but Stokes ploughed on until stumps to further endorse his status as a Test batsman in the making.