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Sunrisers Hyderabad face the problem of finding the best eleven and in Kolkata Knight Riders they have a side that has started to put together clinical performances

Karthik Krishnaswamy21-Apr-20151:56

Agarkar: Sunrisers should get Williamson back

Match facts

Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Start time 1600 local (1030 GMT)

Big picture

Before the start of the season, Sunrisers Hyderabad seemed to have stitched together a fairly good-looking squad on paper, with excellent overseas additions in Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan adding to their core of David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan and Dale Steyn. Trouble is, you can only play four overseas players at the same time, and Sunrisers have struggled to find their best eleven.In that struggle they have lost three of their first four games, while winning the other convincingly enough – against Royal Challengers Bangalore – to suggest there’s definite potential for improvement. But potential only means so much, and they will have to start stringing together actual performances right away, starting with their home game against Kolkata Knight Riders, to climb out of the crowded bottom of the table.It won’t be easy. Knight Riders’ win over Delhi Daredevils on Monday was a performance that distilled their strengths so clinically – expert constriction with the ball, despite an uncharacteristically expensive spell from Sunil Narine, followed by a sensibly constructed chase – it was a little boring to watch. Knight Riders won’t mind being called boring if they keep playing like that, though. They know their strengths, they know their best eleven, and pride themselves on the standards they set. Unless they have a rare bad day, Sunrisers will have to be at or close to their best to beat them.

Watch out for…

Eoin Morgan came into the IPL on the back of perhaps the worst form slump of his career, and came into the Sunrisers XI in place of a massive name in Kane Williamson. He’s there for a reason – Williamson fits best in the top three, where Sunrisers have a decent number of options, while Morgan is a number five or six, where they have a hole to fill – but he hasn’t really convinced in his two innings so far. A match against his old team might be a good starting point for him to turn his form around.After a seemingly never-ending streak of 40-plus scores last season, Robin Uthappa‘s form has dipped, and he’s made scores of 9, 35, 13 and 13 this season. He’s played some sparkling shots in the brief time he’s spent in the middle, suggesting he isn’t in particularly bad touch, and his run of scores hasn’t really affected Knight Riders’ performances too much, but he will certainly want to contribute more to their cause.

Stats and trivia

• Sunil Narine has been his usual economical self this season, conceding only 6.81 runs an over, but his wicket-taking ability seems to have diminished: he’s only taken two wickets in four matches, at an average of 54.50.
• Yusuf Pathan is the only batsman to score more than 100 runs in matches between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
• No Sunrisers batsman has scored a half-century against Knight Riders.

Opening batsman Martin Guptill has claimed the top honour at the New Zealand Cricket Awards in Auckland, winning the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2012Opening batsman Martin Guptill has claimed the top honour at the New Zealand Cricket Awards in Auckland, winning the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2011-12. Guptill was also named ODI and Twenty20 player of the year, based on performances between September 1, 2011, and August 31, 2012. Young fast bowler Doug Bracewell picked up the other big award of the evening, being named Test Player of the Year.

Full list of award winners

• Martin Guptill: Sir Richard Hadlee Medal

• Doug Bracewell: Test Player of the Year

• Martin Guptill: ODI Player of the Year

• Martin Guptill: Twenty20 Player of the Year

• Amy Satterthwaite: International Women’s Player of the Year

• Frances McKay: Women’s Domestic Player of the Year

• Gareth Hopkins: Men’s Domestic Player of the Year

• Simon Hickey: Gillette Young Player of the Year

• Cran Bull: Bert Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding services to cricket

• Doug Bracewell: Fans Choice for Outstanding Individual Performance

• Doug Bracewell: Winsor Cup for best bowler in first-class cricket

• Martin Guptill: Redpath Cup for the best batsman in first-class cricket

Batsman Amy Satterthwaite, who averaged 51.75 in five ODIs during the judging period, was named Women’s Player of the Year.Guptill scored 681 runs in 11 Tests in the same period. He was one of the few bright spots for New Zealand on their tour of the Caribbean, where they lost in all three formats; he made 97, 67, 71 and 42 there, top scoring in three of the four innings. In ODIs, against Zimbabwe home and away, his sequence of scores read 74, 105, 70, 77 and 85. In all, he scored 579 runs in 13 matches in the format. In 13 Twenty20s, he scored 454 at 45.40 with strong showings against South Africa and Zimbabwe.Bracewell, who debuted in November last year, took 40 wickets in 11 games at 28.02. His best of 6 for 40 came in New Zealand’s famous 7-run win against Australia in Hobart, where he claimed the wickets of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey with the score on 159 to upend their chase of 241. For that performance, Bracewell also picked up the Fans Choice for Outstanding Individual Performance award.The winners were decided by an independent selection panel headed by former New Zealand Cricket president Don Neely, and included former New Zealand wicketkeeper Ian Smith and veteran radio commentator, Bryan Waddle.

A round-up of the matches from the second day of the Faysal Bank T20, 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Sep-2011Seamer Sarfraz Ahmed and left-arm spinner Raza Hasan took seven wickets between them as Sialkot Stallions restricted Hyderabad Hawks to 96 for 8 and went on to win by nine wickets at the National Stadium in Karachi. Sarfraz did the early damage, taking three wickets in his first two overs, leaving Hyderabad 12 for 3. Shahzad Haider and Rizwan Ahmed then put on 51 runs for the fourth wicket but it took them ten overs as they tried to rebuild after the early losses.Abdur Rehman dismissed Haider for 42, Sarfraz came back to take his fourth wicket, and Hasan took three scalps as Sialkot did not allow Hyderabad’s innings to get going. Hasan conceded just 12 runs in his four overs, Sarfraz 13 and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan went for 14. Shoaib Malik ensured Sialkot did not waste time getting to the meagre target, and scored a run-a-ball 50, helping them get there with 20 balls to spare.Khurram Manzoor’s half-century laid the foundation for Karachi Zebras comfortable 44-run win over Quetta Bears at the National Stadium in Karachi. Manzoor and Rameez Aziz got the innings off to a quick start, adding 36 from the first four overs. Anwar Ali then came in and made a rapid 32 as he and Manzoor put on 57. Manzoor eventually fell for 62 in the 16th over but some lusty blows from Akbar-ur-Rehman pushed their total to 172. Quetta started steadily, but Uzair-ul-Haq removed both openers in the sixth over. Abid Ali and Mir Wais kept the innings ticking but Ali’s dismissal with the score on 110 triggered a collapse as Quetta lost their last seven wickets for 18 runs.An all-round bowling effort from Lahore Eagles helped them beat Abbottabad Eagles by 15 runs. Pakistan batsmen Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar got Lahore’s innings off to a brisk start, with Farhat the more aggressive partner, racing to 43 from 31 balls with four fours and a six. Azhar Ali kept up the momentum once Farhat fell but Lahore weren’t able to push on in the closing overs, despite having wickets in hand, as the Abbottabad bowlers kept them to 150. Yasir Hameed and Yasir Shah steadied the Abbottabad innings after the early loss of Ghulam Mohammad, but the innings lost its way once the pair departed. Six bowlers took at least one wicket, but the standout was Junaid Zia, who took 2 for 9 from 3.3 overs. Umar backed up his innings of 35 with 2 from 16 was named the Player of the Match.

Shane Watson believes Stuart Broad is the biggest fast-bowling threat during the Ashes but expects James Anderson and Steven Finn to struggle in Australia

Peter English30-Oct-2010Shane Watson believes Stuart Broad is the biggest fast-bowling threat during the Ashes but expects James Anderson and Steven Finn to struggle in Australian conditions. While the three men starred during the 3-1 home win over Pakistan, Watson has told them it will be a different game Down Under.Watson, who has grown into one of Australia’s key men, said Broad had the skills to adapt to the harder, flatter surfaces during the five Tests, but he is not convinced by the credentials of the other two members of England’s first-choice attack. When asked by ESPNcricinfo if he thought Anderson and Finn would struggle he said: “I do. It’s obviously a very challenging place to come out and play and it’s very different to England with the way the ball swings all day.”That’s why Jimmy Anderson is so skilful when the ball is swinging. When the ball is not swinging it makes it easier to bat.” Watson is looking forward to the period when the Kookaburra loses its shine and there is less risk in driving through the off-side.When Anderson was in Australia four years ago he took five wickets at 82.6 while Finn, the 21-year-old, will be on Ashes debut. “There’s no doubt it’s a really big challenge for Anderson,” Watson said. “There’s no doubt he’ll have some mental scars from the last series he played out here. But he’ll be trying to find a way to be more successful.”Watson also offered a warning for Finn, who has stormed to 32 wickets in his first eight Tests. “It’s something very new to him,” he said. “The ball won’t be moving around here anywhere as near as much as it did in England, so it’s going to be a really big challenge.”The home side has won the Ashes in the past four series and Watson is convinced Australia will be more comfortable than they were in 2009. “It is different to England, no doubt about that,” he said. “It’s going to take the English quite a while to be able to adapt and find ways of being successful over here, that’s our big advantage.”Watson has excelled at Test level since returning to the side during last year’s Ashes defeat, so his opinions are gaining weight. He is unsure whether England’s seamers will focus on a fuller length in the hope of achieving any available swing, or operate more in line with the Australian method of bowling shorter and pushing the batsmen back.He felt Broad was the only England fast man who could fulfil both roles. “Stuart Broad is a very skilful bowler,” he said. “He will be their main man out here. He’s got the skills to adapt to different conditions, and got the height to make the most out of his bounce. I really think he’s going to be their main man. If we’re able to negate him that will be a big plus.”England arrived in Perth on Saturday afternoon ahead of three first-class tour matches. Their opening game is against Western Australia from Friday while they also face South Australia and Australia A before heading to the Gabba for November 25.

The event will clash with the third and fourth days of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Nov-2024The IPL 2025 mega auction will be held on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is being held overseas for the second successive year – 2024 was in Dubai – and will clash with the third and fourth days of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth.Unlike regular auctions, the mega auction that takes place every three years is spread over two days instead of just one and it is one of the most-followed events in cricket, as the ten IPL franchises build their squads for the next three years (2025-27).A total of 1574 players (1165 Indian and 409 overseas) had registered for the auction, which will be held at the Abady Al Johar Arena (also known as Benchmark Arena), by the deadline of November 4, the BCCI said. They range from countries like Italy, Canada, Netherlands, Scotland, USA and UAE, apart from the Full Member nations excluding Pakistan. Each franchise can build a squad of up to 25 players, which means that there are 204 slots available at the auction after the retention.On October 31, the deadline for teams to finalise which of their players they were keeping from their 2024 squads, a total of 46 players were retained across the ten franchises. Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen was the most expensive retention at INR 23 crore, while Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Nicholas Pooran (Lucknow Super Giants) were joint second at INR 21 crore. But perhaps the highlight of retention day was Mumbai Indians keeping all their big Indian players – Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Varma – for a total of INR 75 crore.Each team has a total purse of INR 120 crore to build their squads, but following the retention, Punjab Kings have the biggest purse remaining (INR 110.5 crore) to spend at the mega auction, having retained just two uncapped players – Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh – for a total of INR 9.5 crore. Rajasthan Royals have the smallest purse of INR 41 crore after they, along with Kolkata Knight Riders, retained the maximum of six players. KKR will have INR 51 crore to spend at the auction.The IPL has allowed teams to retain up to six players this time – of which a maximum of five can be capped and a maximum of two can be uncapped. The six players can either be retained outright ahead of the auction, or can be bought back using Right-to-Match (RTM) options at the auction, or a combination of both.If a player has been bought by another franchise at the mega auction, the franchise that he was part of in IPL 2024 can step in at the end of the bidding process and buy back their player using the RTM option by matching the highest bid. After that, the franchise that made the winning bid will be given another opportunity to raise the bid to whatever amount they wish. In that case, the player’s previous team will have to match the increased bid to buy back their player.Having retained just two players, PBKS have the most RTM options (four) at the auction. RCB, who retained three players, have three while Delhi Capitals, who retained four players, have two. Five teams – MI, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, SRH and LSG – retained five players each and have just one RTM option at the auction, while RR and KKR have no RTM options.There is of course no limit on the number of players a franchise can buy back if they place the highest bids for them during regular bidding at the auction.

The two teams play three ODIs in Sri Lanka between August 22 and 26

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2023Teenager Noor Ahmad appears to be in Afghanistan’s Asia Cup and World Cup plans having been called up to play a three-match ODI series against Pakistan. These matches, scheduled for August 22, 24 and 26, will be played in Sri Lanka and are the only ODIs on Afghanistan’s docket before they embark on the two biggest tournaments of the year in September and October.Noor, 18, has only played three ODIs for his country since making his debut in November 2022. He has, however, been one of the brightest talents on the franchise T20 circuit and gained considerable acclaim playing for Gujarat Titans in the IPL this year. The left-arm wristspinner at times out bowled senior pro Rashid Khan to finish with 16 wickets in the tournament.Noor has also been part of the Big Bash League in Australia, the Pakistan Super League and the Hundred in England as well. Although he wasn’t with Afghanistan for their most recent ODIs during the tour of Bangladesh last month, he did play two of the three matches against Sri Lanka in June 2023. Those were chastening experiences, though, both for him and the team. Afghanistan were beaten after going 1-0 up and Noor took just two wickets in 17 overs at an average of 62 and an economy rate of 7.29.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A bulk of the squad that made history by winning their first bilateral ODI series against Bangladesh have been retained. Izharulhaq Naveed, Nijat Masood and Zia-ur-Rehman, however, did not make the cut.ACB chief selector Asadullah Khan said: “Our whole concentration is to prepare the team for the upcoming two big events of Asia Cup and the World Cup 2023. This three-match ODI series against Pakistan provides us with a wonderful opportunity to prepare the team for the forthcoming two events.”The preparations for the Pakistan series are progressing well; the players have recently performed well in the Kabul Camp, which has been supervised by ACB’s high performance centre staff. The team will also undergo a week-long conditioning camp prior to the Pakistan series.”Afghanistan and Pakistan have only met each other four times in ODIs, and never in an actual bilateral series. At the end of these three games, Afghanistan have about a week’s gap before the start of the Asia Cup, where their campaign begins against Bangladesh in Lahore on September 3.

The South Africa quick had suffered back and hip injuries last year

Hemant Brar16-Jun-20221:36

Nortje – ‘This series teaches us a lot of skills’

South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje is still some way away from being at the level he was before his back and hip injuries, which kept him out of action for almost five months.Nortje was cleared of any serious injury just before IPL 2022 and allowed to continue his rehabilitation with Delhi Capitals. He made his comeback in Capitals’ third game of the tournament but it took him almost one more month to play his next match and feature regularly in the playing XI. Nortje finished the tournament with nine wickets from six games at an economy rate of 9.71. In the ongoing T20I series against India, he has three wickets so far from as many games, at an economy rate of 9.50.Related

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“No, not yet,” Nortje said when asked if he was back to his best. “I am still working on it, still trying to find one or two things, and body-wise also I am not 100% yet there where I want to be. It’s just about slowly increasing and slowly building it up. I would probably rate myself from where I was last year in the IPL and at the start of the World Cup, so still trying to get there.”Some of the bowling is limited, you can’t always just go out and bowl eight or nine overs in a day. But so far it has been a good challenge. I think it’s something that will help me a lot if there are any other niggles or injuries going forward. But it has been a long time and [there are] some important things to remember and take out of this.”But could he pinpoint what was missing? “If I knew exactly what it was, I would have done it,” he laughed. “I generally keep it very simple, stick to the basics. So it’s just going to be a small, minor adjustment. I am working on something at this stage and will see how it goes. Hopefully, I am on the right path. It’s not like it’s completely out of shape. It’s just small margins for me.”Anrich Nortje has picked three wickets so far in the T20I series against India•BCCI

When fully fit, Nortje is one of the fastest bowlers in the world. In IPL 2020, he clocked 156.2kph, which was the fastest delivery in the tournament between 2012 and 2020. This year, Umran Malik, who is part of India’s current T20I squad, broke his record by bowling at 156.9kph, before Gujarat Titans’ Lockie Ferguson went one ahead with 157.3kph in the final against Rajasthan Royals. Nortje, though, is more focused on winning the matches for his team than being the fastest bowler around.”At this stage, I’m not bothered too much about who is the fastest and what the speed gun says,” he said. “It’s about what I can contribute for the team. When you train, when you are not playing, you obviously think about how you can crank it faster with your work, your training, your gym, or whatever you’re doing. So in the back of my mind, it’s something that I would like to keep on striving towards. But it’s not something I’m thinking about when I go onto the field.”Malik is a very good bowler, very fast bowler. He showed what he can do. And if he gets faster, great for him. If I get faster, great for me. But I don’t think we are at that stage where we are competing to try and just bowl the fastest ball. It’s about winning games and trying to contribute.”South Africa currently lead the five-match T20I series 2-1, and Nortje reiterated that the team is aiming to seal the series as early as possible, without giving India a chance.”I said at the last game as well that this was sort of like a final for us. We obviously didn’t perform well or anything to what we are capable of. So this would probably be like a final again for us. A second chance but we need to seal the series as soon as possible and not give them an opportunity or any sniff, that’s the main goal of this series as well.”

Perth Scorchers set up 189-run chase but never really threaten to overhaul the target

Daniel Brettig06-Feb-2021Finally on home soil after the Covid-19 summer kept them at neutral venues for all 15 of their previous games, the Sydney Sixers rode on the back of another James Vince special to become the second Big Bash League club to claim back-to-back titles. Fittingly, at a joyous SCG, they defeated the Perth Scorchers, the only previous club to claim two crowns in a row, to get there.The Sydney Sixers players celebrate after clinching victory in the BBL 2020-21 final•Getty Images

Vince’s contribution was elegant as ever and summed up why the Sixers had the measure of the Scorchers in both of their finals meetings. This is not to say things could not have been different. Perhaps overly influenced by showers that passed through Sydney comfortably before the 7.40pm start time, the Scorchers had decided to bowl first upon winning the bat flip and then did not use the full allocation of the wristspinner Fawad Ahmed, comfortably their best bowler on the night.Those mis-steps aided the Sixers in compiling a total that, while not match-sealing, was going to be unreachable if the hosts put in a solid shift with the ball and in the field. Blessed with plenty of experience to bowl the right spells at the right times, the Sixers were never seriously challenged after the exit of Liam Livingstone.The seasoned trio of Jackson Bird, Steve O’Keefe and Dan Christian all put in excellent displays with the ball. Christian has now been part of nine domestic T20 title-winning combinations; the coach Greg Shipperd was at the helm for his sixth Australian T20 tournament win spanning both state and club-based eras. Old blokes do indeed win stuff.Vince turns platform into launchpad
Back against the Scorchers after his decisive 98 in Canberra which vaulted the Sixers into the final, Vince carried on almost as though he was continuing the same innings. Commanding through the off side as ever, but also feasting on short stuff from Jhye Richardson, Vince was almost totally at ease, even if the Sixers’ early progress was pockmarked by a horrid mix-up to end in the run-out of Josh Philippe after he and Vince ended up at the same end.One of Vince’s sixes, an inside-out lofted drive well over the cover boundary on the long side of the ground, was almost worth the price of a ticket alone, and the rest of the Sixers order contributed a series of complementary cameos around him. Denied a century by a possible accidental wide from Andrew Tye at Manuka Oval, Vince began to look a little ragged as he neared the milestone for a second time in as many innings, being dropped twice. He fell when slicing Ahmed to gully, a dismissal that hinted at how the wristspinner might have been better used.James Vince led the Sixers’ batting effort with a 60-ball 95•Getty Images

Fawad Ahmed: 3-0-16-1
On an SCG pitch that had to offer some assistance for spin, the Scorchers’ captain Ashton Turner appeared to get his sums wrong. How he managed not to find room for Ahmed to bowl his full four overs, conceding just 16 from three and also claiming the wicket of Vince, while bowling Livingstone’s occasionals for two that cost 21, stretched credulity. Certainly the exit of Daniel Hughes opened up a vast array of right-handers for Ahmed, and they proved far more adept at attacking pace.Richardson’s late-tournament fade continued with his most expensive analysis, while Aaron Hardie was also notably expensive. The final over of the innings had Carlos Brathwaite coming to the middle for his first ball and finding himself able to cosh a pull shot and then a straight drive after a typically effective contribution from Christian ended with a tight call on a full toss that may or may not have been worthy of a no-ball call. The Sixers walked off satisfied with what they had to defend.Sixers correct early errors in line
The sight of Cameron Bancroft walking out to open the batting must often cause intriguing thoughts for opponents, who respect his dogged attitude but can question his shot-making ability. Bancroft tried to clear the boundary in Bird’s opening over but saw the ball mistimed and plugged short of the rope, but he was to be rather more successful in subsequent overs as the Sixers bowlers drifted too short and straight, allowing him to ping the leg-side boundary numerous times.At length, the hosts made the requisite corrections, and Bird had Bancroft skewing a pull-shot attempt to mid-on. After having scored 36 from three overs, the Scorchers managed only 22 from the next four and lost the vital wicket of Colin Munro. Josh Inglis was promoted, and for a time he and Livingstone appeared to be rebuilding for a well-positioned dash at the target, doing just enough to keep the required rate around 10 per over.Jackson Bird removed both the Scorchers openers after they had settled in•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

A successful squeeze to the title
Bird returned for the 11th over of the innings with the game very much open. His subtle variations in length and line were successful in slowing the Scorchers, however, and made a pivotal contribution when Livingstone was pouched on the midwicket boundary. What followed were a pair of outstanding overs from the wily O’Keefe, who went from figures of 0 for 17 from two overs to a critical 0 for 26 from four: four dots and seven singles in those final 12 balls put an extreme squeeze on the Scorchers.Suddenly the required rate was pushing 13, and wickets followed inevitably even as the Scorchers took the Power Surge. Mitchell Marsh was wonderfully caught off Ben Dwarshuis – who picked up three overall – by Vince moving as smoothly in the field as he had done at the crease, and Inglis’ muted final innings of a successful campaign was ended with a miscue to mid-off. Christian delivered a typically canny follow-up over, and though Brathwaite conceded 16 from the 17th over, the Sixers always appeared to have enough in reserve.Having had to make homes away from home this summer, they celebrated as though the SCG decider was a long-awaited Saturday night house warming.

Somerset fight back after disastrous morning as Keshav Maharaj claims another five-for against them

Paul Edwards at Taunton10-Sep-2019
It is all too easy for folk in the West Country to fall in love with Somerset cricket and all too tempting at times to think their heroes have spurned such devotion. It is not so, of course; the players share that love, but as Yorkshire’s bowlers took six wickets for 85 runs and seamers’ cloud gave way to batsmen’s sunlight on this first morning many spectators at the County Ground feared this would be another September in which their hopes of a first title would founder.They may yet do so, of course. Yorkshire are only 129 runs behind the home team’s 199 and still have seven wickets in hand. But the day finished rather more evenly poised than had seemed likely when Somerset were in their lunchtime doldrums. Moreover, supporters have enjoyed unforgettable occasions at Taunton in recent years and few are more clearly printed on the mind than the morning four years ago to the day when Tom Abell reached his maiden first-class century. So perhaps it was fitting that it should be Abell, now Somerset’s captain, who rescued his team against Yorkshire with a patient innings of 66 which revealed all the nous the young skipper has picked up during four years in which his own resources, both mental and physical, have been tested to their limit.On a pitch offering slow turn and help to seamers who adhered to their disciplines, Abell eschewed the rashness which brought the downfall of Steve Davies, who was caught at point off Steve Patterson for 11 in the ninth over of the day. He also exhibited little of the technical looseness which caused James Hildreth to be bowled through the gate for a single by Duanne Olivier. Instead, he played late and watchfully, rarely driving through the V, wisely preferring to wait for the balls that were either too short or too wide.Somerset needed Abell’s vigilance. This is a game the home side may need to win if they are to sustain their dreams of the title. It is certainly a match Yorkshire must win if their own slender chances are to be anything more than arithmetical. So imagine the glee with which Abell and his players greeted the news that slow left-armer Keshav Maharaj would be available for this game. It may be compared to the joy likely to be felt by Andrea Leadsom were she to be told that John Bercow was dropping round for a cuppa and a chinwag. Maharaj, you see, took eleven wickets when playing for Lancashire in the tied match at Taunton last year; he then took another ten for Yorkshire in their innings victory over Somerset in July. And on this first day, he remained true to form by picking up another five, thus taking his total against Abell’s team to 26 in five innings at an average of 10.88.After the seamers had taken the first four wickets Maharaj was summoned to bowl at the River End ten minutes before lunch. His first wicket was something of a charity donation when George Bartlett decided it would be a good wheeze to reverse sweep the second ball after lunch. He duly edged a catch to Adam Lyth at slip. Young cricketers perceive reverse sweeps and scoops very differently to the old pro’s. They are part of their stock in trade. But it is still fair to ask whether the risk against reward equation worked in Bartlett’s favour on this occasion.In truth, Abell had little help until Jamie Overton joined him in a 51-run stand for the ninth wicket. Six of the first eight batsmen dismissed by Yorkshire’s bowlers reached double figures but none could manage more than the 15 notched by Dom Bess before he carelessly drove Maharaj to Tim Bresnan at short cover in the same over in which he had hit two fine fours. Bess was the seventh batsman dismissed but the fourth to be complicit in his departure. Overton, on the other hand, selected the ball to hit and celebrated the award of his county cap, after 153 games in all formats if you please, by clumping six fours in an unbeaten 40. Maharaj, of course, had the last word, removing both Abell and Josh Davey leg before wicket in the space of three balls to leave Somerset one run short of a batting point.Yorkshire began their innings as if intent on taking a first-innings lead this evening. Lyth hooked and pulled Davey for two sixes in the same over, thus taking him past 10,000 first-class runs for Yorkshire. But both he and Will Fraine were caught behind in the first six overs and after Gary Ballance had accumulated 35 runs in a little less than an hour, Dom Bess had Yorkshire’s top scorer leg before wicket ten balls before the close. We are thus set for a close contest, although no one is betting it will last into a fourth day.

The rugby side will be led by All Blacks captain Kieran Read while Brendon McCullum and Stephen Fleming will be among the cricketers on show

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Aug-2018The reputation of some of New Zealand’s most well-known cricketers will be on the line in January when they take on a side comprising current and former All Blacks, led by captain Kieran Read, in a charity T20 match in Christchurch.Billed as the Black Clash, the game will take place on January 25 at Hagley Oval with funds raised for the benevolent funds of the rugby and cricket player associations. The idea was put together by former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming who will act as player-coach of Team Cricket with Brendon McCullum among the names also set to feature.Kyle Mills, the former New Zealand pace bowler, will also be involved along with Grant Elliott, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket last week, and Luke Ronchi. There could be an interesting tussle to see who has the services of Jeff Wilson, the former dual international who played both rugby and cricket for New Zealand.Team Rugby will be coached by Sir Graham Henry and is expected to include Richie McCaw as well as Beauden and Jordie Barrett and Israel Dagg who were excellent cricketers before opting for the rugby career route. As a schoolboy fast bowler, Dagg impressed the Australians during a net session in Napier in 2005.Read, meanwhile, played age-group cricket for Northern Districts in a team that featured Daniel Flynn, Anton Devcich, and BJ Watling but admitted there would be a few nerves ahead of his comeback”I’m going to be a bit nervous, to be honest,” he told Stuff.co.nz “You lose your hand-eye [co-ordination] pretty quick in this game. I’ll have to get out and hit a few balls to get my eye back in.”The event is based around South Africa’s Nelson Mandela Legacy Cup where the Springboks, the South African Rugby team, take on the Proteas, the national cricket team.”I thought if we had the opportunity with a brand as big as the All Blacks, it would pique my interest,” Fleming told the . “There is almost a bit of romanticism around this one, bringing a game to Christchurch in its rebuild.”We’re putting our reputations on the line here,” he added. “We know just how good the likes of Kieran and his rugby mates are at cricket. They’re exceptional athletes and many of them could have been international cricketers had they chosen another path. So we’re on high alert, that’s for sure.”