All posts by h716a5.icu

Gareth Berg might just have played one of the finest all-round hands in Hampshire’s recent history

Vithushan Ehantharajah at the Ageas Bowl22-Apr-2017
ScorecardHeard the one about the Italian allrounder with a Batman tattoo? He might just have played one of the finest all-round hands in Hampshire’s recent history. No jokes, here: Gareth Berg, having made hay against a weary Yorkshire attack to pilfer 99 unbeaten runs, turned the tie with a new-ball spell of 3 for 11 in his first six overs.Giving himself every chance with lengths that tempted and lines that probed, Berg removed both Yorkshire openers and then had the prized scalp of Joe Root in his first innings for Yorkshire since becoming England Test captain. Berg would late return later to take a fourth – Tim Bresnan adjudged caught behind. Jonny Bairstow, also batting for the first time this season after the ECB’s contentiously imposed rest, was trapped on the crease by Brad Wheal for 7.Berg’s knock and demolition job overlapped in the most pulsating hour of play in two days that have, largely, tested the patience of anyone without Hampshire allegiances. This type of pitch that is far worse than any minefield that leads to an ECB reprimand. Which makes Berg’s new ball performance all the more impressive. His story so far is a heck of a tale.He left South Africa to pro on the club cricket scene, eventually getting some 2nd XI games for Northamptonshire in 2004. While that came to nothing, a switch to Radlett Cricket Club got him an in with Middlesex that eventually turned into his first full-time contract in 2007, aged 26.It was for Middlesex that he scored his last first-class hundred: 130 not out in the first innings of a match against Leicestershire in 2011 that secured the county’s promotion to Division One. In the second innings, with 124 needed for victory, Berg smashed six, four, then six to seal victory.The moment is immortalised in a tattoo of three dice on his left forearm showing six, four, six. It supplemented a Batman tattoo on the same arm. A year later, he was representing Italy in the 2012 World T20 qualifiers through the Italian passport that helped bring him to the UK.His departure from Middlesex was a sad one for all parties: a popular member of the dressing room and lower-order firefighter restricted to just one game in his final year because of a shoulder injury. Overcoming it was no certainty, so the fact that Berg is playing in his 31st first-class match for Hampshire since his first season at the Ageas Bowl in 2015 speaks volumes of his work ethic.Here, a third Championship century looked nailed on. Yorkshire had the best of the morning session, taking four wickets and conceding just 68, leaving Hampshire 349 for 8 at lunch. But just as hopes of a sizeable first innings were diminishing, Berg resurrected them. He drove powerfully from a still base but perhaps did his best work when moving forward to Adil Rashid: 46 runs came from their seven overs against each other, with Berg depositing Rashid for two huge sixes, too. Rashid came close to his wicket, drawing a flashy edge that Lyth put down at first slip.But, on 99, Berg watched on as No. 11 Wheal guided a tame delivery from Root into the hands of Lyth at slip. Berg did well to hide his anger, turning almost immediately to the dressing room and walking off (Wheal a long way behind). It was the second time that Berg had finished on 99 for Hampshire – his highest score for the county – after a match against Sussex in 2015 in which he was run out having a dart for that single to take him to three figures. There’s no doubt the frustration fuelled what was to come.While the first two dismissals of Alex Lees lbw and Lyth bowled were all his own work, Kyle Abbott deserves an assist for the wicket of Root. Bowling with good pace from the Pavilion End, Abbott tested Root’s resilience outside off stump, beating both edges of the bat. Aside from a leg stump delivery that Root worked away for four through square leg, almost everything Abbott sent down had Root second-guessing his footwork. Abbott’s former international team-mates should take notes. A tempter from Berg that got big was enough to tempt Root into a poke behind. Yorkshire were left reeling on 18 for 3.Abbott was eventually rewarded with the scalp of Peter Handscomb, though the Australia did look to have been struck outside the line while playing forward. Yorkshire’s hopes of rescuing this game lie with their captain Gary Ballance. At times passive in the field, he set his stall out early: one run from his opening 25 deliveries, then the 49 runs for his half-century coming in the next 64.He remained unmoved with Rashid, willed on by a dressing room disgruntled by a handful of key decisions that did not go their way. As recent history shows, this Ageas Bowl pitch will not deteriorate much and this game is still very salvageable.

Travis Head, the Australia limited-overs batsman, will return to Headingley this summer as Yorkshire’s overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2017Travis Head, the Australia limited-overs batsman, will return to Headingley this summer as Yorkshire’s overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast.Head, 23, played four times for the club in last season’s competition, scoring 113 runs at a strike rate of 134.52 before being called up for Australia’s ODI series in Sri Lanka.He has played 29 matches for Australia in white-ball cricket since January 2016, and has earned a reputation with Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League as one of the most explosive batsmen in T20 cricket.”I am looking forward to returning to Headingley to play for the Yorkshire Vikings in 2017,” said Head. “I really enjoyed my time in Yorkshire last year and I can’t wait to meet up with the lads again.”As an overseas player, I would like to help the team go further than last year and hopefully win the NatWest T20 Blast.”Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, confirmed the signing during the club’s Annual General Meeting at Headingley.”When Travis came over last year, although his stay was relatively brief, he showed his capabilities in that short period. He has gone from strength to strength since then, so it an easy decision to bring him back.”Travis is now an established international cricketer and we are really looking forward to having him on board. Together with Peter Handscomb, I believe that we have two outstanding overseas players.”We have all bases covered now, so it is something to look forward to.”Andrew Gale, the first XI coach, added: “It was a no-brainer to bring Travis back. If we had the opportunity to bring him back, we were always going to. He has gone from strength-to-strength since he left us last summer, getting into the Australia team and being a consistent performer for them.”We have been looking at someone to make a big impact and Travis did that for us last year. He is a fantastic player around the dressing room and a fantastic one on the pitch.”That middle order batting position has been key for us in T20 over the last few years, getting someone who is explosive and can win you a game. Travis did that for us last year and given his availability, we were always going to try and sign him again.”

Everton target Joel Piroe is "interested" in joining the club this summer thanks to the successful "groundwork" done by the Toffees to convince the Swansea City man, journalist Paul Brown has told GIVEMESPORT.

Everton transfer news – What's the latest on Joel Piroe?

It was another near-cataclysmic season for the blue half of Merseyside last year, with Sean Dyche's men only staving off Premier League relegation thanks to an incredibly nervy 1-0 win at home to Bournemouth on the last day of the season.

It's perhaps no surprise then that the summer has already seen the start of a massive overhaul of the playing squad, with players like Conor Coady, Yerry Mina, and Tom Davies all leaving Goodison Park.

One of those touted for an exit is academy product Ellis Simms, with the Mailonline reporting that Championship side Swansea have proposed a swap deal with Everton that would see their striker Piroe don the blue and white of the Toffees.

With forward being a position of the team Dyche needs to improve, the offer could prove too good to turn down, especially as the Daily Mail report that the Swans value him at £12m, meaning a swap deal could significantly reduce that fee, if not erase it entirely.

What has Paul Brown said about Joel Piroe to Everton?

Brown revealed that Everton have already been speaking to the player and his team regarding a move to Merseyside, with those efforts appearing to pay off.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said: "Piroe is certainly an interesting one, and it seems that Everton have done their groundwork there, because his camp are saying that Everton are one of the clubs that he'd be interested in joining.

"He's only got a year left on his contract, as far as I'm aware, which means there wouldn't be a huge fee involved."

Would Joel Piroe be good enough for Everton?

It was an excellent season for the 23-year-old in the Championship last season as he scored 19 goals and assisted another two in 43 appearances, giving him a goal contribution every two games.

In stark contrast, Everton's top scorer in the league last season was Dwight McNeil, who managed just seven, or 0.24 goals per 90, a huge difference in productivity.

According to WhoScored, the Dutchman also averaged a very impressive rating of 6.93 across those 43 league games, maintaining a pass success rate of 82.8% and having 3.3 shots per game.

Swans manager Russell Martin was full of praise for the dynamic forward upon reaching 40 goals for the team last season, saying:

“Joel has been amazing since we have been here, he is just a great young man, first and foremost. As a footballer, he is adaptable and intelligent. He is technically really gifted with both feet and good movement.

"His willingness and capacity to learn is incredible, and his understanding of what we are trying to do is amazing."

Whilst Piroe certainly looks like the real deal, it is worth remembering that he is entirely unproven in the Premier League, and so there is an element of risk in signing him, but if the club can get him for a cut price fee with Sims going the other way it seems well worth the gamble.

Newcastle United are hopeful of trying to land Federico Chiesa this summer and are planning to hold new discussions over a potential move for the player, according to a report from Corriere dello Sport, via Sport Witness.

How good is Federico Chiesa?

The winger once dazzled with his displays for former club Fiorentina, hitting ten league goals and six assists as a 21-year-old in Serie A. It eventually earned him a move to current club Juventus, where he continued to produce the goods until injury got in the way.

Prior to being sidelined, the Italian had managed eight goals and eight assists in 30 league outings back in 2020/21. However, after suffering knocks and sitting out of action, both his gametime and his output has recently tailed off.

In the 2022/23 season for example, the 25-year-old had to make do with mostly substitute appearances. He started only six Serie A games for Juve but played on 21 occasions, managing just 9.5 lots of 90 minutes. That is his lowest total ever for a league season – and shows just how much of a struggle it has been to get regular minutes after falling down the pecking order. However, he still managed to score two goals and bag five assists over the year – and that actually led to an impressive goal contribution rate of 0.74 per 90.

Are Newcastle United signing Federico Chiesa?

With his future potentially lying away from the Turin outfit now, with the Old Lady also needing to sell thanks to falling out of Europe amid FFP trouble, there is interest in Chiesa's services.

It's mainly been Premier League sides Liverpool and Newcastle who have been linked with a transfer for the winger, with the Reds preparing to speak to his agents over a potential move.

However, according to a report from Corriere dello Sport, via Sport Witness, the Toon are also stepping up their pursuit of the Italy international. They are set to undergo new talks over a potential switch for the 25-year-old and want to speak to both the player and Juventus over a deal.

They are hopeful – and want to make a move for Chiesa happen – as it also states that they have an "excellent" relationship with the player's agent that they will use to their advantage. Newcastle then are ready to go all out and try to swoop in for the forward from under the noses of Liverpool this summer.

It could be a steal for the club too. It shows how talented Chiesa can be that when he suffered an ACL injury last year, football journalist Josh Bunting was quick to admit his sadness at the player being ruled out. He added that the winger is a real "difference maker" and is also "one of the most exciting" players that you can see.

On his game then, and fully fit, the Italian looks to be the real deal and someone who can really stand out at a club. If Newcastle can pull off a deal, it could be a huge help to them in both the league and Europe.

Faf du Plessis has urged his batsmen to deliver a series victory in Hamilton by being more consistent, as South Africa target to finish the season as the No.2 ranked Test side

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton24-Mar-2017This may sound counter-intuitive but South Africa don’t want a hero. Not one, anyway. They want many.”In every series, every time there has been a saviour in the batting line-up. If we don’t have those guys who save us on the day, there would have been a few times when we would have been rolled out cheaply,” Faf du Plessis said ahead of the Hamilton Test. “That’s aconcern. It’s not good enough. We want more consistency.”Despite being 1-0 up in the series, South Africa’s batting has not been at its best with half of the top six struggling. Stephen Cook, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy have yet to score a fifty and South Africa only have one hundred in this series, from Dean Elgar, compared to New Zealand’stwo, scored by Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls.Though Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock have five fifties between them, South Africa see that as below-par because they do not have any player racking up more than one hundred in the series. “The standards we set for ourselves as abatting unit are extremely high and we haven’t delivered on that,” du Plessis said.After du Plessis’ lone hundred in the two home Tests against New Zealand in August, South Africa set their batsmen a challenge to try and score more than one century in a series. Essentially, they want those who find form to make the most of it. No one managed that in Australia – though they had five centuries – or the home series against Sri Lanka, where they had another five. Cook came closest, when he scored hundreds in successive Tests in Adelaideand Port Elizabeth.That means the pressure is as much on Elgar to try to add another three-figure score as it is on the out-of-form players to get among the runs. If he does that, it may not have much of an impact on continuity because the season ends here, but it will ensure South Africa have achieved everything they set out to do at the start of a season they began at No.7 in the Test rankings.”Our goal was to get to No.2 at the end – we knew No.1 was going to be a little bit steep because India were so far ahead – so our goal was to get to No.2 and if we do that, it will be an incredible year,” du Plessis sad. “We would have ticked every box, won every series we’ve played and I saw there will be a nice little bonus for second place as well, so that will be nice to get the guys going.”A cash award of $500,000 is awarded to the team in second place in the Test rankings and though it is only half of what South Africa have received in previous years, when they topped the rankings, it is much more than they would have expected after last season’s disappointments. And the money is only one reason South Africa have their eye on a series win.Victory in New Zealand will restore their road warrior reputation, which extended nine years before being dented by defeat in India in 2015. That remains the only series South Africa have lost away from home in a decade, a testament to their ability to adapt.”I don’t think people appreciate and understand exactly how well the South African team before me and the guys that are playing now did. The record was exceptional. That India series was the one series where we were outplayed but apart from that we’ve been really good,” du Plessis said. “Mentally we are a very resilient team. We know that whatever the situation on the day, you have to find a way and try and make sure you deliver. You can never use an excuse, whether it’s green or spinning. You just have to get on and do the job. Our mental toughness has helped us.”

A round-up of the Group A matches from the Vijay Hazare Trophy played on March 4, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2017Allrounder Krunal Pandya followed his 72 off 101 balls with career-best returns of 4 for 20 to headline Baroda’s 92-run victory over Assam at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh also impressed with the ball, taking 3 for 37 as Assam were bowled out for 141, chasing 234.Rishav Das (44 off 99 balls) provided the lone source of resistance for Assam as Krunal and Swapnil ran through their batting line-up. Barring Rishav, only captain Arun Karthik passed 20 as Assam were dismissed in 42.3 overs.Earlier Yusuf Pathan (71) and Krunal drove Baroda’s innings, before Irfan Pathan’s unbeaten 50 off 59 balls provided the late impetus. Baroda finished at 233, which proved 92 too many for Assam.Vidarbha completed a 68-run win at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi after Akshay Karnewar’s 4 for 29 and Akshay Wakhare’s 3 for 38 dismissed Haryana for 169 in a chase of 238.Haryana lost opener Nitin Saini off the first ball of their chase and were soon reduced to 29 for 3. Shivam Chauhan struck 46 off 62 balls and Rajat Paliwal scored a more patient 32, but the rest of the batting line-up fell away.Having chosen to bat, Vidarbha had lost their openers cheaply as well, but Ganesh Satish’s 78 and Apoorv Wankhade’s 45-ball 64 not out rallied the team to 237 for 9. Mohit Sharma, Sanjay Pahal, and Rahul Tewatia picked up two wickets each for Haryana.Wicketkeeper-batsman Mahesh Rawat’s unbeaten 88 off 97 balls helped Railways beat Odisha with six wickets and six balls to spare at the Palam ground in Delhi. Rawat was ably supported by Shivakant Shukla (30), Ashish Yadav (45) and Arindam Ghosh (45) as Railways sealed the chase of 229.Four Railways bowlers had taken two wickets as Odisha were restricted to 228 for 8. Opener Sandeep Pattnaik scored 85, allrounder Biplab Samantray hit 33, but they lacked substantial support from the other end. Ambikeshwar Mishra came away with figures of 2 for 45 on List A debut.

Liverpool’s talks with OGC Nice for midfielder Khephren Thuram are reportedly progressing.

What’s the latest Liverpool transfer news?

The Reds and Jurgen Klopp have made a start on their summer business by bringing in Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton in a deal worth an initial £35m but could rise to £55m.

However, the Argentine midfielder doesn’t look like he’ll be the only addition in the middle of the pitch, especially with James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita all leaving the club when their contracts officially expire at the end of the month.

Liverpool were linked with a move for Thuram back in April and recent reports suggested a bid was expected to arrive in July, and it looks as if the Frenchman could soon be on his way to Merseyside.

Journalist Rudy Galetti shared an update regarding Liverpool and Thuram on Thursday morning, saying on Twitter that talks are progressing over a deal that could be worth £38m, with terms between the Reds and player not an issue.

“Talks between Liverpool and OGC Nice for Khephren Thuram are progressing.

“The 2 clubs are working to reach an agreement for around €40/45m. No issues on personal terms.”

Who is Khephren Thuram?

Thuram is primarily a central midfielder who can play in a holding role or on the left of midfield and appears to be going from strength to strength with a career-high €40m Transfermarkt valuation.

The 22-year-old has made 138 appearances for his current employers, contributing to 19 goals, and journalist Zach Lowy feels he could be the perfect signing for Klopp’s team.

“Khephren Thuram is just the sort of player that Liverpool need to transform their midfield. Elite ball carrier for someone of his size and really effective at winning the ball high up the pitch — perfect signing for Klopp’s side.”

As per FBref, Thuram ranks in the top 1% of midfielders for successful take-ons that lead to a shot and top 4% for progressive carrying distance, showing how he could be a shrewd box-to-box midfielder under Klopp.

He was one of Nice’s top performers last season, as per WhoScored, with his average 6.91 match rating a better score than any other Liverpool midfielder, again showing how he could be a solid addition in both the short and long run.

It looks as if a transfer is going in the right direction, so a deal will be one to watch over the coming weeks with the new season rapidly approaching.

Brentford goalkeeper David Raya is "expected to join" Spurs this summer if Tottenham can finally agree on a fee, according to The Mail's Simon Jones.

Who will Spurs sign this summer?

Of the major transfer priorities for chairman Daniel Levy and manager Ange Postecoglou, it has been widely reported that the north Londoners are chasing a new shot-stopper to replace Hugo Lloris.

Lloris, whose contract expires in 2024, is entering the final 12 months of his deal. Since the end of the 2022/2023 Premier League season, the Frenchman has also confirmed his intention to depart this window.

Speaking to Nice-Matin, Lloris admitted he wanted a fresh challenge after over a decade serving as Tottenham's number one, with some reports claiming he is being chased by clubs in Saudi Arabia.

“We have reached an important moment, whether it be for the club or me,” said Lloris

“It’s the end of an era. I have a desire for something else. I will carefully study what is possible. However, I haven’t forgotten that I have a year left on my contract at Tottenham, and in football, it’s always hard to predict what will happen."

Since that point, Spurs have been chasing a new keeper, with Raya of Brentford standing out as a top target and personal terms have apparently already been agreed.

However, the issue appears to be both clubs agreeing on an overall transfer fee, with the Bees holding out for £40 million whilst Postecoglou's side appear unwilling to meet that asking price.

Sharing a small update for The Daily Mail, reporter Jones says Raya is "still expected to join Tottenham" this summer, but there is still an issue regarding price and how much Levy is willing to pay for the Spaniard.

Other sources have claimed that the likes of AC Milan's Mike Maignan, Everton's Jordan Pickford and Croatia number one Dominik Livakovic have been looked at as alternatives.

What's been said about David Raya?

Brentford manager Thomas Frank holds no doubts over Raya's ability, raving over his mentality to overcome certain "setbacks" and praising his "very aggressive" style of play after a first ever Spain call-up last year.

"You can't have a strong mentality if you don't have any setbacks," said Frank.

"I know setbacks are different to a lot of people, but his clear and obvious abilities in terms of playing with his feet, high position, very aggressive in terms of his positioning and going for crosses, he definitely deserves this."

Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni turned the clocks back, adding 256 runs for the fourth wicket to pull India from 25 for 3 to 381, a score which helped them seal the three-match series against England

The Report by Alagappan Muthu19-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:54

Agarkar: Something has to be done for the bowlers

Remember the time chasing was hard in ODIs? A second match of this series assumed heart-stopping proportions as a flat track, a fast outfield, short boundaries and batsmen with self-belief the size of a small planet came together. India put up 381, fuelled by a career-best 150 from Yuvraj Singh and a 10th hundred from MS Dhoni. But they only just came away the victors of the match, and the series, as Eoin Morgan responded with one of the great innings by a batsman in England colours.England fined for slow over rate

Having fallen one over short of their target, England’s players were fined 10% of their match fees and their captain Eoin Morgan twice that amount.
Match referee Andy Pycroft handed out the punishment after the concern was raised by the four umpires in the match. Morgan pleaded guilty but, should his team commit another minor over rate offence in ODIs within a 12-month period from now, he could end up facing suspension.

Beyond the runs Morgan made [102 off 81], beyond his ball-striking and the weird areas he exploited with those whiplash wrists – his composure under pressure was unreal. There were over 40, 000 people in Cuttack bellowing against him. The Indian spinners had done well despite the dew to complicate matters. The required run-rate had nudged over 10 at the end of the 36th over but, since England had lost half their side by then, Morgan had to wait. He was the set batsman – 46 off 48 balls – and his team needed him to last till the end. To that effect, he would defend his way through an R Ashwin over because after that it would be him against the Indian quicks. Morgan was gambling, and it was even paying off for a while.In the end, a match that featured 747 runs, 19 sixes and 81 fours went down to the penultimate over when Jasprit Bumrah held his nerve to run Morgan out while he was backing up to get back on strike.To get to that stage took a huge effort from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, playing his first ODI in a year. He began his second spell in the 42nd over, conceding just eight runs. He could have had a wicket, too, had Ravindra Jadeja been able to take a skier from Moeen Ali at long-on. In his next over, he gave away only three singles and bowled Moeen, who had hammered back-to-back fours to reach a half-century mere minutes ago. The wicket was the result of a little sleight of hand. With the required rate – two runs a ball – suffocating him, the batsman never saw the offcutter coming. As a result, instead of two well-set hitters at the crease, India had the comfort of aiming at England’s lower order.The other big play came in the middle overs, when Jadeja bowled the dangerous Jason Roy for 82 and Ashwin took care of Joe Root for 54. The offspinner then befuddled both Ben Stokes for 1 and Jos Buttler for 10 to rob England of a majority of their firepower, with the side 176 runs adrift of the target and nearly 20 overs left in the chase. Jadeja was remarkable. In a game where runs were scored at more than seven runs an over, he kept an economy rate of 4.5 by bowling wicket-to-wicket. And Ashwin went back to his old ways of deceiving batsmen in flight – Root top-edged a sweep, probably thinking the trajectory was flatter than it was. That broke a partnership of 100 between him and Roy at over run-a-ball. The crowd at Barabati stadium breathed easier.They had spent the first innings in pure nostalgia with each ball that Yuvraj and Dhoni sent their way during a partnership of 256 in 230 balls. At one end, there were flowing drives with scintillating timing and from the other came brutal swats. No one was safe. Not Stokes, who was winded when Dhoni whacked a ball back at his chest. Not Alex Hales, who was wringing his fingers after trying to get under a pull from Dhoni. Not even the Spidercam was spared damage.Yuvraj wasn’t quite as murderous, or maybe he was and was just a little bit kinder to things both living and non-living on the ground. He came in at the end of the third over, enjoyed England trying to bounce him out on a pitch that barely had any in the first place, and bedded in to make his first hundred since the 2011 World Cup. It came off his 98th delivery and the celebrations made it clear how much the innings meant to him. He looked skyward, with his hands aloft. Then the bat handle thumped into his chest and he may even have become misty-eyed. At 35 years, having spent three years nowhere near the ODI team, wondering what would become of his career, coming back with his highest score had to be sweet.There was no place for such emotion with Dhoni. He was what the situation made him. When he came in at the fall of Shikhar Dhawan’s wicket in the fifth over, he blocked 14 straight deliveries from Chris Woakes, who was the sole reason India were 25 for 3. The next time those two faced each other, the ball was muscled over the midwicket boundary. Dhoni finished on 134 off 122 balls – having been 6 off 22 once – and became the first Indian to hit 200 sixes in ODIs. The shot that took him there – eerily similar to the one that won India the World Cup in 2011 – hit the top tier behind long-on. There was another reminder of that night in Mumbai; the final was the last time Yuvraj and Dhoni had put on 50 runs or more together.But the clear-headed England that made all the early breakthroughs happen by bowling full and keeping a tight line on off stump fell into a trap. They bowled too short at Yuvraj, who eventually realised there was nothing in the pitch to make him fear such a line of attack. It is true that extreme pace has unsettled him regardless of conditions but he didn’t have to face any on Thursday. A one-bounce pull for four got him going, drives through mid-off and cover showcased his timing and a pristine punch down the ground told the crowd they were in for something special. With Dhoni concentrating on staying at the crease to such a point that he barely even thought about runs early in his innings, and a severe lack of wickets, the middle overs became party time.India hammered 94 runs in the 10 overs between the 30th and the 40th and finished with 73 off the last five. Also responsible for the late flourish were Kedar Jadhav, who belted three fours and a six in 10 balls, Hardik Pandya ,who began his innings with a four and six, and Jadeja, who helped take 14 runs off the final over.

Peter Handscomb has impressed with the way he has tackled spin against Pakistan, and Australia will hope he can master it soon as they embark on a tough tour of India

Brydon Coverdale01-Jan-2017Peter Handscomb’s Test career is only three matches old, but he has already achieved a feat matched by few Australians. By scoring 54 on debut in Adelaide, 105 at the Gabba and 54 at the MCG, Handscomb became one of only five men to make a 50-plus score in each of his first three Tests for Australia. The only others to have done so are Bill Brown, Frank Iredale, Michael Bevan and Herbie Collins – Collins, in fact, did so in his fourth Test, too.It is testament not only to Handscomb’s skill as a batsman – although he has shown plenty of that since being handed his baggy green less than six weeks ago – but also to his temperament. At the crease as a Test batsman, Handscomb has appeared as unflustered as if he was playing a club game for St Kilda, a sign of the mental strength that others have observed in Handscomb since his teenage years.But beyond this home summer – and whether or not Handscomb matches Collins’ Australia record by making a 50-plus score in his fourth straight Test from debut – Australia hope that Handscomb can achieve another feat that few of his countrymen have managed. At least, few in recent years. That goal is to master the Indian conditions when Australia embark on a Test tour there next month, their first since being crushed 0-4 in 2013.That trip is perhaps best remembered for the homework saga and the off-field unravelling of Australia’s fracturing squad, but the off-field chaos was born of on-field failures. On the first day of the series, in Chennai, Michael Clarke went to stumps on 103. It was the only century any Australia batsman would make all series. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were utterly dominant, and 65 of the 79 wickets Australia lost went to spin.Australia will embark on this year’s tour with a fresh batting line-up – it is likely that of the top six, only Steven Smith and David Warner will have played Test cricket in India – so there will be a significant learning curve for several of the new batsmen. However, one encouraging sign has been the way that Handscomb has handled spin against Pakistan, mixing up his footwork between playing back and advancing.”That’s something I did growing up,” Handscomb said in Sydney, ahead of the third Test against Pakistan. “My dad used to take me down to the local nets or the local indoor, and get on the bowling machine and pretty much send the ball down and I had to run at everything, and find a way to deal with it, whether it was kick it away or defend or attack it, you just find your own way.”But, since being in India a couple of times, and I’ve been to Sri Lanka once as well, I’ve watched how they play over there, and they play a lot off the back foot as well. I’ve been doing a fair bit of work trying to emulate that, guys like Ajinkya Rahane, who’s an amazing player of spin.”Handscomb toured India with Australia A in 2015 and was on the verge of a century when he was stumped off Amit Mishra for 91. A pair of ducks followed in his next two innings, so he knows he has much to learn about playing on subcontinental surfaces and, to that end, he is likely to alternate his BBL commitments when the Pakistan Test series ends, with training on a specially prepared spinning pitch at the MCG.”I’ll probably try and get a wicket at the MCG that can turn, so I can get a little bit of practice there before heading over,” he said. “We’ve done that a couple of times, we actually did it before we came up to the SCG in a Shield game, and it’s all about training hard so that when you go out into the middle, it’s easier than when you were training. It’s never easy out in the middle, but it makes it a little bit better.”One thing Handscomb will shy away from is the training method of batting without pads against spinners, which has previously been used in Asia by Michael Clarke, who wanted to ensure his footwork was good and that he was always laying bat on ball.”I definitely wear pads. The ball hurts,” Handscomb said. “I guess I’ll try to work on my sweep shot, make sure I’m hitting pretty much every ball out of the middle there. But also, I’ll have a session where I try to hit everything on the off side, and then I’ll have a session where I try to hit everything on the leg side, and just find ways to manipulate the ball.”For the time being, in familiar home conditions, Handscomb seems to be having little trouble hitting the ball where he wants.