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Fifties from the middle-order pair helped Pakistan overhaul a 263-run target against co-hosts New Zealand

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy01-May-2020 #RetroLive They lost three of their first five matches, and should probably have lost a fourth too, when England bowled them out for 74. Rain saved them there, and gave them an underserved point, a point that was eventually critical to their progress into the last four of this World Cup.But don’t take anything away from Pakistan for what they’ve done since that early run. They beat Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand on the bounce to reach the semi-finals. And now they’re in their first World Cup final, having pulled off a sensational chase to dump out New Zealand, the co-hosts and league-table toppers, on their own turf.They’ve pulled off the fourth-biggest successful chase in any World Cup match. Of the three above it, two came in 60-over matches, and the third against an Associate side, Zimbabwe. And none of the top three chases came in a knockout match.It was challenge enough for Pakistan to chase 263. When Imran Khan and Saleem Malik fell in the space of five balls, their task had grown immeasurably more difficult: 123 needed off 95 balls, with six wickets in hand.It was here that Inzamam-ul-Haq, all of 22, with only 15 ODIs behind him, joined Javed Miandad at the crease. Inzamam wasn’t unknown or unproven at this level; he’d scored back-to-back ODI hundreds against Sri Lanka earlier this year. But this had been a quiet World Cup for him up to this point, and this was a semi-final.For a player of quality, though, a semi-final is a cricket match like any other. And Inzamam is most definitely a player of quality. How else do you score a half-century in 31 balls while exuding the air of someone taking a leisurely stroll around the neighbourhood, pausing occasionally to chomp on an apple?It wasn’t an in-your-face explosion of sixes and fours. There were moments of sublime timing, such as when Inzamam stepped out to Gavin Larsen and sent the ball racing to the midwicket boundary with the gentlest of nudges, and shots that hinted at supreme judgment of length, such as a pulled four off a Chris Harris delivery that was only marginally short. But more than all that, it was an innings of awareness, of where the gaps were and how to find them; to that end, his best shot was probably a dancing flick over midwicket off Willie Watson, which landed in a wide, unguarded area to the left of deep square leg and allowed him to run three.There was some poor bowling too; Harris kept floating the ball wide of off stump when the batsmen advanced at him, with no sweeper protecting the off-side boundary. Inzamam and Miandad threaded fours through the off-side infield once each in successive overs. Dipak Patel, the offspinner, kept bowling into Inzamam’s sweeping and pulling arc despite leaving a massive gap between deep backward-square leg and deep midwicket.Inzamam, in truth, was showing up a limited New Zealand attack for what it was. Their dibbly-dobblers – Harris, Larsen and Watson – have been unhittable at times during this World Cup, especially on the slower pitches in New Zealand, but there’s a sameness to this attack, and a lack of genuinely attacking bowlers apart from Danny Morrison.Once Inzamam and Miandad brought the required rate back under control with an 87-run partnership off 63 balls, New Zealand needed a couple of quick wickets to bring themselves back in the match, and lacked the bowling firepower with which to do it.Their fielding could have brought them a couple of wickets, though. Two direct hits from Harris had Miandad – batting on 1 at that stage – and Moin Khan – on 5, with Pakistan needing 16 off 16 with four wickets in hand – scrambling for safety. Replays showed both of them marginally, but clearly, short of their crease. There was no way the square-leg umpire could have given either of them out, but with technology playing an increasingly influential role at this level, expect video umpires to make an appearance soon.Who knows what might have happened had Miandad been run out so early, with Pakistan needing 177 off 161 balls. The fallout of Moin’s non-dismissal was clearer; he’s still new to this level, but he showed Miandadesque calmness and smarts in helping the senior man finish off the match, and clubbed a pair of unorthodox, Miandadesque boundaries to seal the deal.That Pakistan had needed to hustle to such a degree at the finish was down to their turgid scoring through the first two-thirds of their innings, which was largely down to Imran Khan’s struggle, after promoting himself to No. 3 once again, to pierce the field, and, on occasion, to put bat to ball. It lasted 93 balls, and brought him only 40 runs, 12 of them coming in two hits.A similar struggle took root at a similar stage of New Zealand’s innings, after they had chosen to bat first with a grim forecast in mind. Mark Greatbatch, as he has done through this tournament, clubbed a couple of early sixes, before failing to pick up a back-of-the-hand slower ball from Aaqib Javed that spun like a googly. John Wright and the No. 3 Andrew Jones struggled to time the ball, though, and Ken Rutherford, batting at No. 5, took an age to get going, remaining scoreless for 20 balls, and taking 43 balls to reach double figures.If it wasn’t for the in-form Martin Crowe, who moved his feet with precision and timed the ball like a dream from the moment he stepped in, New Zealand’s innings could have come to a complete standstill. Mushtaq Ahmed, who had returned figures of 2 for 18 in 10 overs in the league-stage meeting between these sides, dismissed Jones with a brilliant quicker one, and gave Rutherford a torrid time as well, and with Pakistan’s second legspinner, Iqbal Sikander, starting tidily as well, New Zealand crawled to 119 for 3 in 34 overs. Getting to 220 looked unlikely.But as if a switch had been clicked on, Rutherford suddenly found his rhythm, and his feet began to twinkle against the spinners, bringing him a series of boundaries including a straight six off Sikander. Crowe, like Inzamam would do later in the match, began punishing the smallest errors in line and length, sweeping and pulling the spinners at every opportunity, and whipping Wasim Akram for a stupendous six off his hip, over backward square leg. Crowe raced to his fifty in 51 balls. Rutherford flew from 17 off 47 balls to 50 off 67, before a miscued pull off Akram ended their partnership at 107.New Zealand’s innings had legs now, but their captain’s legs gave way in the 44th over, Crowe injuring his left hamstring while taking a single off Sikander. On 79 then, he would add 12 more to his score, before a mix-up involving his runner, Greatbatch, sent him back in the 47th over, right after another brutal pull off a barely-short delivery had moved him into the 90s.Crowe’s injury didn’t have any immediate effect on New Zealand’s morale, with Ian Smith leading their plundering of 40 runs off the last 22 balls of their innings. But their tactics during Pakistan’s innings lacked the Crowe stamp. Rather than swap his bowlers around constantly as Crowe has done through this tournament, the stand-in captain Wright kept his bowlers on for long spells, refusing to use Jones’ offspin as a sixth option. With Inzamam new to the crease, he delayed the reintroduction of Morrison, who had four overs left, and kept plugging away with his slow-medium trio.It’s hard to say, though, that this same New Zealand attack, shuffled into a different configuration, could have dealt with Inzamam in the mood he was in. Today was simply his day, and this tournament may simply be Pakistan’s, though England or South Africa may have something to say about that. RetroLive

West Indies captain and fellow Bajan Dowrich take command with brilliant 295-run stand

Andrew Miller25-Jan-2019Jason Holder fulfilled one of the most cherished ambitions of his career, as he converted a Test century in front of his home crowd at the Kensington Oval into a brilliant unbeaten 202, to put his side into an unassailable position against England on the third day in Barbados.In partnership with his fellow Bajan and age-group team-mate, Shane Dowrich, Holder made a mockery of England’s feeble efforts in their 77 all out on the second day. Together they added an unbeaten 295 for the seventh wicket, in the process lifting the total from 120 for 6 to 415 for 6 declared, a lead of 627.Though England dug deep to reach 56 for 0 at the close, they face a massive challenge to bat out the final two days of the Test, on a wicket that has clearly eased up after 18 wickets tumbled on the second day, but which still offers a bit of life for the seamers and signs of turn for the offspin of Roston Chase and John Campbell.”It was a good day,” said Holder at the close. “My friends and family were here to enjoy it, as I really wanted to achieve this from the very start of my career.”It was the third Test century of Holder’s 37-Test career, and his second against England, after a gutsy innings in Antigua four years ago helped to save the first Test of that series. But, having made several starts in his previous appearances on his home island, this was the performance he had been longing for.”I was fortunate to make my debut here in front of my home crowd [against New Zealand in 2014], and since then I’ve made four or five half-centuries, it was just a matter of converting one into a hundred. I finally got the hundred and made it into a double.”West Indies had been in a commanding position going into the third day’s play, although their dominance had looked rather shakier when Dowrich came to the crease in the midst of a collapse of 5 for 9. And the memory of that struggle for the ascendancy helped the pair through a tough first hour, when James Anderson and Ben Stokes combined to put the squeeze on once more.”It was a taxing day,” said Dowrich. “At the start we had to get through that initial period with Jimmy and Stokesy, but we knew it would get easier. We stuck to our guns and it paid off.Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder put on a record stand for West Indies•AFP

“I found it very challenging up front,” Holder said. “Jimmy and Stokesy made us play a lot of deliveries in the channel, particularly Stokes with his angle and getting the ball to leave.”He was a threat all day and credit to him, he made us work hard for our runs, but it was a really pleasing day, to bat up past tea and form the partnership that we did.”Thereafter, however, England’s selection errors played emphatically into West Indies’ hands. In the absence of Stuart Broad, whose deck-hitting lengths would clearly have been an asset, the remainder of the attack – Sam Curran, Moeen Ali and the barely-used legspin of Adil Rashid – were unable to make an impact, with Moeen being thumped for three fours in a row by Holder when he joined the attack in the second hour.”Two of them are two of the best bowlers in the world right now, and challenging, but Moeen we thought we could get him off the square a bit easier,” Dowrich said. “We didn’t discuss [batting at] any pace, it was just play the ball on merit, look to bat as long as possible, and tire out the English as much as possible.”Holder then took a shine to Rashid as his hundred approached, twice flogging him into the stands for two of his eight sixes – a tally which broke Viv Richards’ record for an innings against England, at Antigua in 1986 during his 56-ball hundred.”Rashid had mid-off up when he was round the wicket,” Holder said. “I felt with my reach and height, I could get closer and hit it over his head, I got one off the inner portion of the bat which got lucky, I was just shouting ‘go ball, go ball’, but it went over his head and I continued on.”The only question as the partnership wore on was the timing of Holder’s declaration. With two full days still to come in the match, however, there was clearly never any rush.”We wanted to declare at some point this evening,” Holder said. “It was important to keep England on their feet as long as possible. We wanted to wear them down as there’s still a lot of time left in the Test match and we didn’t want a silly declaration and make it too easy.”We got to tea and thought we’d have another 45 minutes, then have a good crack this evening. But I don’t think we used the new ball as well as we liked, we’d have liked a few more deliveries to make them play a bit more.”Both men, however, were confident that there would be plenty still in the pitch to exploit in the final innings.”There’s a bit of spin and a bit of bounce,” Dowrich said. “There are a few rough patches outside off causing problems, so hopefully our offspinners can come into the game tomorrow.”You have to err on the fuller side and take a drive or two,” said Holder of the seamers’ challenge. “We’ve got runs on the board, so we can afford to express ourselves a bit. There were occasions tonight when the ball did a bit but we were just a tiny bit too short.”

The 18-year old leads rally with Siddesh Lad before Andhra strike back; Madhya Pradesh recover after TN inflict early blows and Baroda firm against Odisha

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-20170:36

Pathan: Prithvi Shaw’s initiation much like Tendulkar’s

Prithvi Shaw’s fifth century in his seventh first-class match provided the thrust for Mumbai, but they couldn’t build on, slipping to 248 for 6 at stumps against Andhra in Ongole. That the hosts made inroads was because of the twin-threat posed by seamers B Ayyappa (3 for 87) and P Vijay Kumar (2 for 55).Put into bat, Mumbai wobbled, losing Jay Bista and Shreyas Iyer (0) inside three deliveries. From 20 for 2 they slumped to 64 for 3 when vice-captain Surya Kumar Yadav was caught behind off Ayyappa. Shaw then teamed up with Siddhesh Lad (86), fresh from a second-innings rescue-act against Baroda, to add 125 before yet another stutter.Ayyappa came back to remove Shaw in the 61st over. When Aditya Tare, the captain, fell for a duck, Mumbai were precariously placed at 193 for 5. Lad and Abhishek Nayar, though, put on 55 runs, but frustratingly for Mumbai, they couldn’t carry on as Lad’s dismissal in the penultimate over of the day set them back further.Madhya Pradesh recovered from 67 for 5 to post a more respectable 224 for 7 on the opening day against Tamil Nadu in Indore. K Vignesh and M Mohammed, the seam bowling duo, inflicted maximum damage, but MP were rescued by the two Ankits – Sharma (75*) and Dane (63) – through a 120-run stand. Offspinner Washington Sundar made a couple of late strikes, including one to remove Dane, but Sharma and Mihir Hirwani couldn’t be dislodged.In the morning, Mohammed (2 for 46) removed openers Aditya Shrivastava and Rajat Patidar before Vignesh got into the act. In the space of six overs, he removed Shubham Sharma, Harpreet Singh Bhatia and captain Devendra Bundela to knock half the side out. He finished the day with figures of 19-7-27-3.Kedar Devdhar’s seventh first-class hundred led Baroda’s dominant batting performance against Odisha in Vadodara. Two other batsmen – Aditya Waghmode (52) and captain Deepak Hooda (51) – made half-centuries as Baroda ended on 281 for 3.In fact, it wasn’t until the 51st over that Odisha, who elected to bowl, had their first breakthrough as seamer Basant Mohanty dismissed Waghmode. They would account for another Baroda batsmen in the next four overs, as Biplab Samantray sent back Devdhar, whose 150-ball 104 included 15 fours and a six.A 70-run stand for the fourth wicket between Hooda and Vishnu Solanki (46*) meant Baroda would consolidate their position further before Hooda fell in the 73rd over. Solanki and Swapnil Singh, though, made sure Odisha didn’t have the satisfaction of another late wicket.

Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh’s captain, and his team-mate Sabbir Rahman have been fined 20 percent of their match fees by the ICC, following their role in the on-field row with Jos Buttler

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2016Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh’s captain, and his team-mate Sabbir Rahman have been fined 20 percent of their match fees by the ICC, following their role in the on-field row with Jos Buttler, England’s one-day captain, that marred the second one-day international against Bangladesh on Sunday.Buttler, who received an official reprimand for his own actions, reacted angrily to provocation from Bangladesh’s fielders after being given out for 57, via a third-umpire review, during England’s 34-run defeat at Mirpur.All three players admitted the offences and accepted the sanctions proposed by the ICC match referee, Javagal Srinath, meaning there was no need for a formal hearing.”The Bangladesh players overstepped in their celebration of Jos Buttler’s wicket, which prompted an inappropriate reaction from the dismissed batsman and required the on-field umpires’ intervention,” said Srinath. “We all want to see high intensity on the field of play, but only as long as it is not provoking or antagonising or disrespecting the opponent.”The Bangladesh players were found to have violated article 2.1.7 of the ICC code of conduct which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his/her dismissal during an international match”.Buttler was found in breach of article 2.1.4, “using language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an international match”.All three players pleaded guilty to the offences and accepted the sanctions, which also include one demerit point being added to the disciplinary records of each player.If any of the trio are given four demerit points within the next two years then that will be converted into at least two suspension points which carry a ban from one Test or two ODIs or two T20 internationals, depending on the fixture schedule.While it was a first offence for the two captains, Sabbir now has three demerit points on his record after being given his first two for breaching the ICC’s code of conduct against Afghanistan last month.Buttler’s run-a-ball 57 had given England renewed hope of sealing the series win after slumping to 26 for 4, but his dismissal left them 123 for 7 and facing near-certain defeat.”I was just a little bit disappointed in the fashion they celebrated,” he said afterwards. “Mainly just the way they celebrated by running towards me and giving me a bit of a send-off.”You don’t have to run up to a guy. I’m disappointed to get out, but emotions were running high, they were obviously delighted to get the wicket, maybe I should have just walked away.”There has, as yet, been no ICC investigation into another flashpoint at the end of the match – as raised by Ben Stokes on Twitter, and reportedly involving Tamim Iqbal and Jonny Bairstow.”Congrats to Bangladesh on the win tonight,” Stokes tweeted. “Outplayed us, what I won’t stand for is someone putting a shoulder to my teammate at handshakes.”

Gloucestershire dodged early rain on day four in Swansea as they posted their fifth LV= County Championship win of the season. Chris Dent led the victory charge as his unbeaten 65 helped the visitors to their 108-run winning target for the loss of three w

ECB/PA09-Aug-2015
ScorecardChris Dent’s half-century saw Gloucestershire comfortably to their target•PA Photos

Gloucestershire avoided being knocked out of their stride by early rain on day four in Swansea as they posted their fifth LV= County Championship win of the season. Chris Dent led the victory charge in the Division Two match against Glamorgan as his unbeaten 65 helped the visitors to their 108-run winning target for the loss of three wickets.Although 15 overs were lost to wet weather before lunch, Gloucestershire were in no danger of missing out. Will Tavare, in his first match as captain, Gareth Roderick and Benny Howell all fell cheaply, but the target was so small it only called for one batsman to make a substantial knock for a seven-wicket victory to become a formality.Having bowled out Glamorgan second time around for 224 on Saturday evening, Gloucestershire began from scratch on Sunday, and Tavare struck Craig Meschede for two fours in his first over. Michael Hogan produced an accurate spell with the ball, bowling five successive maidens in an opening spell of 7-5-7-0, and in one over beat Tavare five times outside the off stump.But it was Graham Wagg who made the initial breakthrough in his first over, when he had Tavare caught at the wicket for 12. Wagg bowled at a lively pace and two overs later dismissed Roderick who struck a lifting delivery low down to cover, perishing for seven.Andrew Salter’s offspin was introduced, but after being struck for six and another boundary by Dent he was taken off after conceding 14 runs. Dent, meanwhile, played every ball on its merit, and reached a chanceless half-century from 99 balls which included a six and eight fours.Hogan continued to command respect and was rewarded for his accuracy when he had Howell caught at slip from a rising delivery, Gloucestershire at that stage 84 for 3. The result was soon sealed, with Gloucestershire’s reward a handsome 23 points and Glamorgan were left to ponder their punishment for a dangerous pitch in the Royal London Cup last Sunday – the case will be heard on Monday.

Attacking knocks from opener Meg Lanning, who scored a century, and Jess Cameron helped Australia defeat New Zealand by seven wickets in Cuttack

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2013
ScorecardSuzie Bates’ century was her third big innings in three games for New Zealand•ICC/Solaris Images

Attacking knocks from opener Meg Lanning and Jess Cameron helped Australia to a seven-wicket win against New Zealand in Cuttack. The victory means Australia will take four points to the Super Sixes. Chasing 228, the pair added 182 runs for the second wicket, and when they were finally separated, the contest was virtually over.New Zealand’s innings revolved around captain Suzie Bates’ knock of 102. New Zealand were tottering at 39 for 4 after 13 overs as seamer Megan Schutt ripped through the top order. Bates led the recovery, adding 103 with Katie Perkings, who scored 42, and Nicola Browne scored a quick 39 towards the end of the innings to push the total to 227.Australia lost an early wicket in their chase, with Rachel Haynes dismissed in the fifth over but the huge stand between Lanning and Cameron, at more than a run-a-ball, took the game away from New Zealand.New Zealand had already qualified for the Super Sixes before this game, and will start the next stage with two points.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between South Africa and Sri Lanka, in East London

Firdose Moonda in East London13-Jan-2012Sri Lanka have had two days to digest, dissect and debate their largest ODI defeat and their lowest ODI score. This is what they have concluded. “We have to just address all areas: our batting, bowling, fielding and mental approach to the game,” Geoff Marsh, the Sri Lanka coach, said, covering the entire spectrum of cricketing skills in his analysis. “The whole game [in Paarl], we didn’t play well.”Marsh’s remarks summarised Sri Lanka’s problems succinctly; he somehow managed to make the huge improvement they needed from the first ODI sound manageable. “We can explain the batting, it was very quick,” he joked. “We didn’t bowl consistently enough, we didn’t build pressure and we didn’t take wickets.”After Lasith Malinga dismissed Graeme Smith in the third over, Sri Lanka did not see success for more than half the innings. Twenty-six overs and 144 runs later, they were able to remove Jacques Kallis. By then, they had bled too much and the life had been drained from their attack.”Against South Africa you’ve got to take early wickets; you can’t allow their players to build big partnerships at the start or you are going to be chasing 300 plus,” Marsh said. Malinga’s burst at the end, in which he took four wickets in three overs, was the only reason Sri Lanka were not left chasing 330.As it happened, 130 would have been enough. Pace, bounce and determination from South Africa’s fast bowlers buried a Sri Lanka batting line-up that was impressive on paper but limp on the pitch.One of Sri Lanka’s chief concerns is the form of former captain Mahela Jayawardene, who has had a dismal tour. His only score of significance came in a practice one-day match against an Emerging Cape Cobras side, in which he was dropped twice on his way to 74. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews have also struggled for runs, making the core of Sri Lanka’s line-up, which was so impressive nine months ago during the World Cup, look fragile. Marsh, though, said he still had faith in the batsmen.”We believe that they are only a couple of shots away from getting back into form. Our players have got fantastic records and they just need to get started and get going. We are very happy to stick with them and back them all the way.”Though Sri Lanka’s experienced players have struggled on the field, Marsh said they had taken on a leadership role behind the scenes. “Although they are not scoring runs, they are still making an effort to lift the team as they did before the second Test match. As a coach, you look at that, and it’s great that they are still having a huge impact.”The Durban Test match remains the only high-point of Sri Lanka’s tour. After a thrashing in Centurion, the team regrouped and, within a week, were playing with more commitment and confidence. Although the win was historic – it was their first Test win in South Africa – Sri Lanka did not seem to get carried away with it, and Marsh wants to use that recovery as inspiration for an ODI series that has started in eerily similar fashion to the Tests.”It’s not as if we can’t do it because we did in the second Test match. If you look at the second Test, we were consistent in all areas. We got early wickets, kept the pressure on, got our heads down against some really good bowling and got a score that our bowlers could bowl at. Nothing changes in the one-day game; we’ve got to get enough runs on the board to allow our bowlers to bowl South Africa out.”A simple plan, but one that will take fortitude and force to achieve. Marsh said Sri Lanka had the desire. “We’ve got a wonderful bunch of guys and the spirit is fantastic. If you attend our team meetings, you will see how much we want to win.”

Cricket has always been a sport that has conjured up images of fair play and basic decency

Paul McGregor14-Jan-2011Cricket has always been a sport that has conjured up images of fair play and basic decency. Despite episodes from the last 25 years or so that have seen players pushing, shoving and kicking each other, or trying other methods of unfairly dismissing the opposition, cricket has not often been blighted like soccer has by the curse of cheating. After the unseemly events of Port Elizabeth and the reaction to them, cricket is in danger of going the way of soccer. Why?Most of the critics of Mike Denness seem to me to miss a basic point. Match referees were brought in to the game precisely because umpires around the world were being put under intolerable pressure by events both on and off the field of play. The still-evolving job of the match referee was set up to buttress the authority of the umpires, and on a wider level to promote respect in general for the laws and spirit of the game. What a position to reach – having to appoint extra officials merely to uphold respect for the umpires!In soccer, many of the 22 players who start a match do so only with as much regard for the rules as the referee on the pitch can impose. When he is not watching, or is “on the blind side” of an incident, foul play often results. Some incidents are still graced with the term “professional foul”. This is why video evidence is now used to cover incidents that on-field referees may have missed. It is hardly surprising that the referee misses things in the “win at any cost” culture which prevails in the so-called beautiful game.This is what is now happening in cricket. It is irrelevant that the umpires on the field may or may not complain about ball-tampering. If players deliberately alter the condition of the ball they are hardly going to do it in front of the umpire. The TV or stills lens finds them out, just as it does in soccer.Umpires have found themselves on the proverbial back foot in many other areas. The authorities struggle to rein in excessive appealing and sledging. Players fail to help the umpire with disputed catches, or to determine whether the ball has crossed the boundary rope.Cricket authorities have decided to appoint “neutral” umpires, referees and disciplinary panels, to combat the deterioration of player behaviour and/or outright cheating. If members of the media take a swipe at the umpire or referee, they are behaving exactly like football managers who blame the referee for a poor team performance, as if the players bear no responsibility for their own actions. Denness should not be the target. It is the players who are primarily responsible for incidents connected with the play.Unless the players clean up their act, these unsavoury incidents will continue. The referees and umpires, just as in football, are easy targets for the media just as they are for governing bodies with a wider agenda. Some players behave not with decency but indecency. For them the spirit of cricket tastes sour indeed.

Eoin Morgan, the England and Middlesex batsman, was the only English national player to walk away from this year’s IPL bid with a new contract. He was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who also have Kevin Pietersen in their stable, for $220,000,

Cricinfo staff19-Jan-2010Eoin Morgan, the England and Middlesex batsman, was the only English national player to walk away from this year’s IPL bid with a new contract. He was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who also have Kevin Pietersen in their stable, for $220,000, surpassing the $210,000 offered by the Chennai Super Kings.The seven other England internationals in the auction – Graeme Swann, Mark Ramprakash, Tim Bresnan, Anthony McGrath, Jonathan Trott, Monty Panesar and Robert Key – failed to secure contracts in a relatively quiet auction. One other Englishman was gifted a contract, however. Hampshire’s Michael Lumb, who has a domestic Twenty20 hundred to his name, agreed to a $50,000 deal with the Rajasthan Royals. As Lumb has never played international cricket, his move was finalised outside the auction room.Swann’s omission is perhaps the most surprising, as his variety and control with the ball, allied to his lusty lower-order hitting, has cemented his position as England’s first-choice spinner in all formats in the last 12 months. Indeed, Swann was one of only three players to start the auction with the inflated base price of $250,000, and it is thought that his unavailability for part of the IPL season – due to England’s tour of Bangladesh – harmed his chances.Trott, whose base price was a relatively modest $100,000, will also be disappointed not to have aroused any interest as he has an exceptional record in domestic Twenty20 cricket, averaging over 40 from 61 games. Of the other English IPL hopefuls, McGrath, Panesar, Ramprakash and Key did not even make it as far as the final auction list, while Bresnan failed to secure a single bid.

She last played for India in 2014, and returned to the limelight in the WPL a decade later

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-2025India left-arm spinner Gouher Sultana has announced her retirement from all forms of the game. She played 50 ODIs and 37 T20Is after making her debut in 2008, and last represented India in April 2014. Thereafter, Sultana came back into the limelight a decade later when she featured in the 2024 and 2025 WPL seasons.”To have represented India at the highest level – in World Cups, tours and battles that tested both skill and spirit – has been the greatest honour of my life,” Sultana wrote in her retirement announcement on Instagram. “Every wicket taken, every dive in the field, every huddle with my teammates has shaped the cricketer and the person I am today.”Sultana finished with 66 ODI wickets at an average of 19.39, the third-best for any India bowler to have taken at least 50 wickets in the format.Related

• Gouher Sultana's ten-year hiatus

• WPL is changing how Indian players think about cricket

Sultana played in two ODI World Cups, in 2009 and 2013, and picked up 12 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 30.58. She also played in three T20 World Cups from 2009 to 2014, and took seven wickets while going at an economy rate of 5.81.Sultana was signed by UP Warriorz (UPW) ahead of WPL 2024. She played two matches in the tournament, going wicketless across five overs. In 2025, Sultana again played two games for UPW, and only got to bowl the one over.”There were times when I thought of quitting – seasons I didn’t do well, my mental health was affected,” Sultana told ESPNcricinfo before her comeback tournament in 2024. “But then even when I was about to give up, I was like, ‘No, this shouldn’t be the end. I want to end it the way I want it.’ It was not to prove anything to anybody, but I enjoyed playing and I still enjoy playing. That’s the primary reason I am still here.”Sultana, 37, is also a BCCI Level 2 coach.