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His maiden List A hat-trick came in the Vijay Hazare final; a month on, he has a T20 hat-trick too

Nagraj Gollapudi29-Nov-2019Abhimanyu Mithun is having a domestic season to remember. First, he picked up a birthday hat-trick and a maiden List A five-wicket haul in Karnataka’s win over Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final last month. On Friday, he not only picked up another hat-trick but became perhaps only the second bowler to pick five wickets in one over in T20 history. From the time ESPNcricinfo has been gathering ball-by-ball data, only Bangladesh’s Al-Amin Hossain has managed to knock over so many batsmen in a single over.Mithun’s 5 for 39 came in the semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – the domestic T20 competition – against Haryana in Surat. Coming into his fourth over after conceding 18 off his third – the most expensive over of the innings – Mithun’s strikes prevented Haryana from going past the 200-run mark.Before Mithun started the over, Haryana were rampant at 192 for 3, with Himanshu Rana and Rahul Tewatia having stitched together a robust partnership. Between overs 15 and 19, Haryana had scored 57 runs, and a 200-plus score was very much on the cards. But Mithun had plans up his sleeve – slow the pace down. And it worked.Rana, who had blasted his second fifty in the tournament, his highest in the format, mistimed a pull straight into the hands of Mayank Agarwal at deep midwicket. Tewatia then holed out to wide long-on. Mithun then achieved his maiden hat-trick in the format after Sumit Kumar failed to read a slower one and scooped it straight to the fielder behind square leg.Off the next delivery, he bowled a knuckle ball that Amit Mishra mistimed to cover to make it four in four. A back-of-the-hand slower delivery, which Jayant Yadav did not read, was easily pouched by KL Rahul behind the wicket off the last ball to complete the haul.

Lancashire have accused Somerset of producing a pitch that is “below average verging on poor” after 22 wickets fell on the first day of their Championship match at Taunton

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Sep-2018Lancashire have accused Somerset of producing a pitch that was “below average verging on poor” after 22 wickets fell on the first day of their Championship match at Taunton.Questions about the quality of the surface could leave Somerset open to a points penalty, as it is less than 12 months since they were reprimanded by the ECB for producing a “below average” pitch for their final game of the 2017 season. With Somerset second in Division One and attempting to keep pace with leaders Surrey, any deduction would likely have an impact on the title race.The result at Taunton could also have repercussions at the other end of the table. Lancashire went into the match in fifth, but only nine points ahead of bottom-placed Worcestershire, having played a game more.Although Paul Allott, Lancashire’s director of cricket, admitted that there had been “indifferent batting” on both sides, he referred directly to ECB regulations when interviewed on BBC Radio Lancashire. Having asked for and won a toss, Lancashire chose to bat only to be dismissed for 99, left-arm spinner Jack Leach taking 5 for 28; Somerset were then bowled out for 192, and Lancashire lost two more wickets before the close, both to Leach.”It’s the beginning of day two, so the game is still fully in progress,” Allott said. “And I’d just like to start by quoting the ECB pitch regulations.”The precursor to these is quite clear, it says for the purpose of maintaining the highest standard of pitches in all matches, the relevant provision is the following: ‘Each county shall actively seek to prepare the best quality cricket pitch that it can for the match that it is staging.’ And I firmly believe that that is not the best possible pitch that could have been prepared for this game”It’s disappointing because obviously the situation for both teams is an intriguing one, it’s hugely important for Somerset and for Lancashire. Somerset looking to put pressure on the leaders and try and win the County Championship and Lancashire obviously in a dogfight to avoid relegation.”I will say that yesterday even though 22 wickets fell there was some indifferent batting and that Somerset overall edged us in performance. But to be perfectly honest that pitch is below average verging on poor in my view. It looks like a fifth day Test match pitch, it’s worn, it’s pitted and there are some areas in it that are hugely conducive for spin bowling.”Paul Allott, Lancashire’s director of cricket, discusses the Taunton pitch with Cricket Liaison Officer Dean Cosker•Getty Images

After the first day, Jason Kerr, Somerset’s head coach, said he was not worried about a pitch penalty and suggested many of the wickets had gone down as a result of “very bad cricket”. He added: “I have not spoken to the Cricket Liaison Officer and probably won’t do so until the end of the game, but I don’t foresee a problem.”Any decision about the state of the pitch will rest with Dean Cosker, the former Glamorgan spinner who is the CLO present at Taunton, after discussion with the standing umpires, Paul Baldwin and Jeremy Lloyds.However, the threat of a penalty hangs over Somerset, after they were marked down for the pitch provided for their match against Middlesex last year – a relegation decider in which Somerset’s 231-run victory helped preserve Division One status by a single point.”I’ve no issue with what Jason Kerr says, it’s not my prerogative to agree or disagree with him,” Allott said. “All I can say is that in my view that pitch is not the best that could have been prepared and it’s disappointing to come all this way down to Taunton and be confronted with those conditions in such an important game.”

Centuries from Alex Wakely and Rob Keogh gave Northamptonshire an excellent chance to pick up a fifth victory, this time against Leicestershire at Wantage Road

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-2017
ScorecardAlex Wakely will be confident of a final-day victory•Getty Images

Centuries from Alex Wakely and Rob Keogh gave Northamptonshire an excellent chance to pick up a fifth victory in the Specsavers County Championship. They set Leicestershire 394 to win at Wantage Road but the visitors survived for 16 overs under the lights until the close of day three at 9.57pm, reaching 44 for 0.Both Wakely and Keogh made their first Championship centuries of the season as Northants quickly built up a big lead. They declared in perfect time with the skies dark enough to encourage the pink ball to swing but unlike on the first evening where the hosts took four wickets, they failed to find a breakthrough as Paul Horton and on-loan Surrey batsman Arun Harinath got through a very tricky period, several edges falling short of the slips cordon and strong lbw appeals from Richard Gleeson against Harinath and Azharullah against Horton turned down.Until the wicketless final hour, it was a perfect day for Northants. After a three hour delay due to a wet outfield, Wakely and Keogh resumed with their side 60 for 3 and the game still in the balance. But Leicestershire couldn’t swing the ball and didn’t bowl accurately enough to even contain Northants – 146 runs came in 28 overs before tea.Wakely suggested Northants would look to be positive before the start of play and was true to his word. He made half-centuries in the second innings of Northants’ previous two matches and here went past fifty again in 55 balls with five fours – only after being put down by Harinath at point on 44.He looked in excellent touch – rocking back to pull Dieter Klein over midwicket and lifting Rob Sayer’s off spin over long-on for six. A fierce cut against Matt Pillans raced to the cover point boundary to raise a century in 108 balls. Wakely was eventually caught at short third man for 112 trying to reserve sweep Sayer.With Keogh, Wakely shared 171 for the fourth wicket – a partnership that took the game away from Leicestershire, who bizarrely only used their strike bowler Klein for seven overs in the second innings.Keogh’s day began with a clip to fine leg for four and he played the shot of the match – a gorgeous extra-cover drive off Clint McKay – on his way to just a second Championship fifty of the season in 77 balls with seven fours.He then skipped down the pitch to lift Sayer over mid-off before sweeping the same bowler for another boundary in front of square. He took tea 70 not out and after the break was forced to work the bowling around against a defensive field, eventually going through to his seventh first-class century in 136 balls – a very pleasant innings and much-needed after a poor first half of the Championship season.

Zimbabwe consumed 32 overs in establishing a foundation and it came tumbling down when they lost four wickets in four balls. India didn’t lose that many over the entire series; a series which they took 3-0

The Report by Alagappan Muthu15-Jun-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJasprit Bumrah took 4 for 22, his second four-for in two matches•Associated Press

Zimbabwe consumed 32 overs in establishing a foundation, only for it to come tumbling down when they lost four wickets in four balls. India didn’t lose those many over the series, which they took 3-0 as MS Dhoni equalled Allan Border’s record of 107 wins to become the second most-successful ODI captain behind Ricky Ponting.The gulf in skill between the two sides was extremely stark. While one struggled to find a batsman who could produce a substantial innings, the other had rookies contributing heavily. KL Rahul, the first Indian ever to score a hundred on debut, made an unbeaten 63 on Wednesday. The 30-year old Faiz Fazal, the oldest Indian ODI debutant in 16 years, celebrated the occasion by hitting 55 off 61 balls and sealing the victory with an imperious pull for four.There were 169 balls and 10 wickets remaining when India breezed past a target of 124. The three wickets they did give up to secure the whitewash was the fewest any team had lost in a three-match series.Zimbabwe had won the toss and opted to bat on a pitch that was hard, true and excellent for strokeplay. Yet their top order bored the home crowd by playing 81 dots in the first 102 balls before the first drinks break. And it seemed like that was the plan. They wanted to save wickets, only to lose four in four balls. They hoped to make up for the dilly-dallying in the later overs, only to be bowled out with 7.4 overs to spare. Forget India, even irony was thumping Zimbabwe.Jasprit Bumrah lit the fuse for the hosts’ latest implosion. He hit the deck and hustled the Zimbabwe batsmen for pace. Zimbabwe were 102 for 3 when he began the 33rd over, then 104 for 7 in the 34th, and 19 runs later, all out. Bumrah finished with 4 for 22, his second four-for in three ODIs.Timycen Maruma, playing his first ODI in nearly two years, was the first to go in the collapse. He was too slow bringing his bat down and Bumrah had his off stump cartwheeling. Next, the 22-year old fast bowler showed he could get the ball to straighten too and had Elton Chigumbura caught behind for his second successive golden duck. It was MS Dhoni’s 350th dismissal in ODIs. That wicket ended the 33rd over.Off the first ball of the next one, Malcolm Waller dabbed Axar Patel into the covers and set off for what should have been a straightforward single. Except Richmond Mutumbami didn’t see it that way and sold his partner down the river. Captain Graeme Cremer was handed a golden duck as well when he played back to the left-arm spinner’s arm ball.Until those few minutes, the match was going along at a sleepy pace. Chamu Chibhabha and Vusi Sibanda refused to take even the slightest risk. The eighth over ended with a glorious, on-the-up cover drive. The ninth began with an off drive that screamed intent. But besides that the two batsmen did precious little to push the Indian bowlers. The next boundary did not come until the 25th over, after that partnership of 36 runs in 88 balls had been broken.Perhaps Zimbabwe were dissuaded from strokeplay by what had happened to Hamilton Masakadza. His wild slash in the sixth over settled in the hands of Rahul at first slip. Sibanda could have been caught for a duck in the next one had Yuzvendra Chahal not grassed a skier at midwicket. Worried by the amount of chances India were creating, Zimbabwe simply shut down in the first half of their innings.But that played into India’s hands. Axar was finishing an over in almost 60 seconds and Chahal was bowling with great deal of control and guile. He mixed his pace and his length – but never his line, that stayed firmly on middle and off. He tossed the ball up, but the revs he put on it ensured it would always dip before batsman’s front foot could reach it. Sibanda was worked over in this manner – sucked forward and, because of the drift inward, tempted into playing with the closed face. The leading edge was taken and Chahal completed the catch.Bumrah took care of the last specialist batsman Mutumbami with another ball that straightened off the seam in the 35th over. The tailenders Donald Tiripano, Neville Madziva and Tawanda Mupariwa couldn’t mount a fight either and were back on the field for the second innings before the lunch break.

Despite producing a gaffe-ridden performance, Rajasthan Royals managed to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs and booked their spot in the playoffs

The Report by Arun Venugopal16-May-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:10

O’Brien: Very strange bowling plan from Royals

Despite producing a gaffe-ridden performance, Rajasthan Royals managed to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by nine runs and booked their spot in the playoffs. Knight Riders are all but out of contention.Chasing 200, Knight Riders needed 16 off the last over bowled by Chris Morris, but despite Umesh Yadav smashing an unbeaten 24 off 11 balls deep in the innings, they fell short. There were substantial cameos from Yusuf Pathan and Andre Russell, but Royals’ seamers, led by Chris Morris, derailed their chase with wickets at critical junctures.Royals’ victory, though, was set up by Shane Watson’s unbeaten 104 off 59 balls, his second century in Twenty20 cricket.Knight Riders had a wobbly beginning, losing openers Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa inside the first three overs. But after a disciplined beginning, Royals’ seamers lost their bearings, registering the second most number of wides (18) in any IPL game.Pathan and Manish Pandey revived the innings with a 56-run stand, and after the latter departed, Pathan and Russell continued to target some patchy bowling. But, Morris’ dismissals of Russell and Suryakumar Yadav in the 14th over altered the course of the game.Knight Riders, though, weren’t down for the count yet, with their long batting line-up chipping in handy hits to reduce the margin. That the Royals bowling was erratic only contributed to their resurgence.With 36 required off 12 balls, Umesh threatened to snatch the game back by carting James Faulkner for 20 runs. Morris, however, dismissed Shakib Al Hasan off the first ball of the last over, and effectively killed off Knight Riders’ chase.When they opted to bat, Royals might have anticipated such a riposte from the opposition batsmen, having had an easy initiation into their innings themselves. Ajinkya Rahane and Watson delighted in whipping the ball through the off side off either foot. While Watson got into his low set-up to clatter drives through the cover, Rahane cracked a flat six over point. Together they went about knocking down a few records.Even as Rahane and Watson completed 3000 and 4000 runs respectively in T20 cricket, Royals zoomed to 66 in six overs, their highest score in the Powerplay this IPL. Some of the momentum was curtailed after Rahane was run-out after Watson bailed on a tight second run.
Royals, nevertheless, reached their 100 inside 10 overs for the first time this season. Their innings suffered a middle-overs blip with Russell sending back Steven Smith, Sanju Samson and James Faulkner in the space of four overs. Watson, though, was unaffected by the goings on, and progressively got better.He kept hitting straight, not losing his shape all along. Azhar Mahmood came in for a lot of punishment, conceding 41 runs in three overs while Umesh, Morne Morkel and Shakib went for more than nine runs an over.Both teams made a few strange selections with Knight Riders replacing Sunil Narine with Mahmood for his first game in IPL 2015. Royals, for their part, chose to play debutant left-arm seamer Brainder Sran, while omitting Rajat Bhatia and Pravin Tambe. The lack of variety in their attack, with no spinner, nearly cost them, but they clung on when it mattered the most.

James Fuller’s career-best County Championship bowling figures and 99 from Ian Cockbain put Gloucestershire in a winning position on the second day at Bristol.

05-Sep-2012
ScorecardJames Fuller’s career-best County Championship bowling figures and 99 from Ian Cockbain put Gloucestershire in a winning position on the second day at Bristol.Fuller claimed 5 for 29 from 10.4 overs as the visitors were bowled out for exactly 100 – their lowest score of the season – having begun the day on 73 for 7. That gave Gloucestershire a first innings lead of 120 and Cockbain ensured they built on it, striking 15 fours and a six in facing 130 balls. Will Gidman contributed 52 not out and brother Alex 40 as the hosts closed on 286 for 6, 406 in front.After 17 wickets fell on day one, bright sunshine suggested better fortunes for the batsmen, but there was no sign of it during the morning session. Northants were able to add only 27 runs as David Willey fell to Anthony Ireland and Fuller cleaned up the tail by sending back Jack Brooks and Luke Evans to complete his first five-wicket haul in the Championship.When Gloucestershire lost two wickets for as many runs at the start of their second innings a two-day finish looked possible. Ed Cowan contrived to run out partner Benny Howell with a poor call for a single and then fell to a catch at third slip, driving at a wide one from WilleyDan Housego (24) helped Alex Gidman steady the ship with a stand of 64 before also falling to a slip catch off Andrew Hall. At 70 for 4 when Alex Gidman was lbw playing across the line to Evans, Gloucestershire’s lead was only 190.Cockbain and Hamish Marshall then began to take the game away from Northants with a stand of 98, ended on the stroke of tea when Marshall fell to a sharp catch at point by Stephen Peters off Evans for 30.Cockbain has struck a rich vein of form recently with three half-centuries and a hundred in his last seven Championship innings. He looked set for three figures again when losing concentration and falling leg-before to Hall playing down the wrong line. By then Gloucestershire had 246 on the board and led by 366. But it was a crestfallen Cockbain who made his way slowly back to the pavilion, having mastered a pitch few batsmen looked at home on.Will Gidman piled on the agony for Northants with some meaty cover drives as the lead approached 400 on a near cloudless afternoon, reaching his fifty off 94 balls, with six fours to help put Gloucestershire in control.

Their key players may be coming off lengthy lay-offs, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore think-tank believes that won’t affect their Champions League campaign

Nitin Sundar in Bangalore19-Sep-2011Their key players may be coming off lengthy lay-offs, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore think-tank believes that won’t affect their Champions League campaign. Their captain Daniel Vettori, like talismanic opener Chris Gayle and South Africa import AB de Villiers, has not played any competitive cricket since the IPL ended in late May, but Vettori and coach Ray Jennings reckon the freshness can work in the team’s favour.”Too much cricket could put you in a bad state of mind, and that’s a big issue for me as the coach,” Jennings said in Bangalore. “Players never lose their talent. The fact that these guys are coming in fresh could be a blessing in disguise. Freshness is a very funny thing – if you are fresh in the mind, you could be fresh in expressing talent.”Vettori also stressed on the freshness aspect, insisting his four-month off-season – time he spent “looking after the kids” – could work in his favour going into the tournament. “Sometimes freshness of mind is the best thing coming into a tournament like this. Myself, AB and Chris haven’t played in a long time and are actually excited about playing cricket again. And you will see that intensity going into the first game.”The Bangalore players assembled from various parts of the world on September 18, and have their first full practice session only four days before their first game. Jennings underplayed the impact of the quick turnaround, and the potential disadvantage faced by his side compared to teams from other countries that have the luxury of spending most of the year together.”On the day, the team that connects better with the game technically and mentally will win in this format,” Jennings said. “There is a very good culture and unity in the team, everyone enjoys each other’s company. The local sides from other countries have certain problems – they don’t have a blend of different ideas [from around the world] like we do. Some of our guys have played in Indian conditions a lot more than the other sides.”Bangalore’s campaign has already suffered a huge blow, with pace spearhead Zaheer Khan missing the tournament due to the injury he picked up on India’s tour of England. Zaheer was one of many players to break down in England, a tour that brought cramped cricket schedules under scrutiny once again.”That is a problem, especially in Indian cricket,” Jennings said. “Unfortunately the pressure on India players is a lot more than others, especially fast bowlers like Zaheer. There’s not much we can do about it, we have given Virat Kohli [who joins the Bangalore team straight after the ODI series in England] some time off. The last thing I want to do is bring him to a net session to sharpen him up, since he has played so much. I need him to rest, get away from the cricket and come back fresh after 3-4 days. I am sure he will be ready for the game on Friday.”Bangalore are set to become the only side to feature in each of the first three editions of the Champions League, but they have no silverware to show for their efforts so far. Even in the IPL, they have made two finals and one semi-final without managing to go all the way. They will hope to change all that in this tournament. Bangalore begin their campaign with a match against Warriors on September 23.