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Scotland came close to making history, but the power and depth in Australia’s batting ultimately proved to be too much

Andrew McGlashan16-Jun-20244:16

Finch on Australia’s six drops: They were uncharacteristically sloppy

Scotland could almost touch a history-making moment. Australia’s asking rate was approaching 13 going into the final seven overs of their chase in what, until then, had been an underwhelming performance. But Marcus Stoinis, with help from Travis Head and later Tim David, shattered their dreams and in turn left England breathing a sigh of relief in Antigua, the result securing their Super Eight berth in the T20 World Cup 2024.Stoinis, who mixed deftness and power in another impressive performance in what is becoming an outstanding tournament for him, put it back in Australia’s favour with a 25-ball half-century while Head turned on the afterburners after compiling a somewhat sedate 45-ball fifty with three sixes off consecutive legitimate deliveries.Although both departed, Australia entered the last over needing just five but there was one final twist. With three needed off four balls, David was dropped at deep midwicket by Chris Sole and with that went Scotland’s last hope. The next ball was sent into the stands.For three-quarters of the contest, Scotland had been outstanding. Their platform was laid by a blistering display from Brandon McMullen on one of the better batting surfaces of the tournament so far. Australia, who shelled six chances in a poor fielding display, clawed it back in the second 10 overs but in their powerplay were held to 36 for 2 by some excellent bowling. However, ultimately the depth and power of their batting order was too much leaving a host of emotions across two islands.

Deftness and power from Stoinis

Australia could not get up or ahead of the asking rate through the first half of the innings. When Glenn Maxwell, who had struck one six over long-on, was defeated by a wonderful delivery from Mark Watt, which pitched on off stump and straightened, Scotland were buoyant and there was a sense that Australia could pay for being off the pace.However, Stoinis got away from his first ball with the help of a misfield, square cutting one of Watt’s 24-yard deliveries. So often known for sheer brute force, he then deftly reverse-swept Michael Leask from the first delivery of the next over and looked on his game. Still, the requirement had become a demanding 87 off 39 balls when Stoinis took down Leask with a reverse-hit six over point then another down the ground.When Head slammed three sixes off Safyaan Sharif the tide had firmly turned; at one stage a series of 12 legitimate deliveries brought 46 runs. Sharif did strike back to have Head taken at long-off, but Australia had given themselves breathing room.Brandon McMullen struck six sixes in his knock•ICC/Getty Images

Scotland’s Bazball

Having been put in, it took Scotland a couple of overs to size up conditions and midway through the third they were still to reach double figures. That changed when McMullen lofted Nathan Ellis stylishly over long off. Even better was to follow as he used his feet against Mitchell Starc and flayed him into the stands over cover.When Adam Zampa was introduced he showed excellent footwork to send him for six, then drive through the off side against a shorter delivery, with another brace of sixes coming off Ashton Agar in the eighth over as he brought up a 26-ball fifty.At the other end, George Munsey had laboured somewhat to 4 off 10 balls but then followed the lead of McMullen by taking on Glenn Maxwell’s over inside the powerplay with 14 off the last three balls. He swept Maxwell for another six before dragging a wider delivery into the hands of deep midwicket next ball. From 92 for 1 after 8.5 overs, Scotland will look back with some regret that the remaining 11.1 overs only brought 88 runs. A large amount of the credit for that has to go to a pair of skillful death overs from Ellis who continued to impress.

Australia’s hat-trick of drops

Australia had an uncharacteristically poor day in the field. None of the chances were simple, but in all they missed six catches – the most in a Men’s T20 World Cup match according to ESPNcricinfo data. At one stage, they put down three in consecutive balls: Zampa palming Matthew Cross’ pull over the fine leg rope, Mitchell Marsh spilling a low one at cover and then Matthew Wade being unable to take a glove down the leg side when Cross swept at Maxwell. Earlier, there had been two put down in Starc’s second over when Marsh couldn’t hold a chance above his head at mid-on and Head grassed a tough one at cover from McMullen.Mitchell Marsh wrings his hand after dropping a tough catch•Getty Images

Agar ends long wait

By the time the game ended, a lot had happened since Agar struck in the opening over of the contest to remove Michael Jones. He was playing his first T20I since the previous World Cup in October 2022 as Australia had one eye on potential match-ups in the Super Eight.”Deep in a tournament, when the same grounds are being used a lot, we’re starting to see some wickets that are starting to show a bit of fatigue in the West Indies,” national selector George Bailey told reporters. “A lot of the guys we’ve got in the group have got a bunch of cricket behind them, either through the IPL most recently or have played quite a bit in this team.”But Ash [Agar], just coming off his injuries and the way we’ve structured up when he has been available, he just hasn’t been able to get much game time, as much as he’d probably like…just getting that opportunity in the middle to be able to put that into place, for Mitch to be able to navigate what it’s like with a number of spinners in the team.”Australia ended up using 12 overs of spin with Agar, Maxwell and Zampa all bowling their full complement. They will be back in St Lucia to face India in their final Super Eight fixture. For a while it appeared Scotland would be joining them but that proved agonisingly out of reach.

All three matches at the venue so far have produced 200-plus first-innings totals, so expect more fireworks

Alagappan Muthu28-Apr-20235:32

Muzumdar: Jason Roy has improved his spin game

Big picture: Will we witness Rinku magic again?

There isn’t a lot to talk about when talking about this game, is there? Just kidding. Where my Rinku fans at?Living up to that epic night three weeks ago is not going to be possible. 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 to win a game feels like a once-in-a-lifetime event.And in any case, both teams will want to focus on making the game as boring as possible. That sounds like a blasphemous way to build up to an IPL match, especially one that pits a side that kept defying the odds all the way to the title last year and one that has produced this year’s most outrageous result.But here’s the thing. Both Gujarat Titans (7 games) and Kolkata Knight Riders (8) have had enough of a go at this to figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are and how to play to them. In other words, their experience will help them manage difficult situations better, instead of letting them go so far that they end up needing a miracle.

Form guide

Gujarat Titans: WWLWL (Last five matches, most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders: WLLLL

Team news

KKR’s Litton Das left the IPL on Friday to attend to a medical emergency in his family in Bangladesh.Shubman Gill batting deep into the innings could enable Titans to mitigate the KKR mystery spin threat•BCCI

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Kolkata has not been kind to fast bowlers, so Titans, who have barely had to use Rahul Tewatia’s legspin, might decide to give him a proper run here. They’re also likely to swap Shubman Gill for Josh Little or Alzarri Joseph when they have to bring in their Impact Player.Gujarat Titans possible XII: 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 , 3 Hardik Pandya (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Abhinav Manohar, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Mohit Sharma, 12 KKR will be pleased to see Jason Roy finding form. With Venkatesh Iyer and Suyash Sharma settling into life as Impact Subs, they aren’t short on options. They’ll want their quicks to buck up, though. With just 13 wickets at an average of 55.5 and an economy rate of 11.5, they are the worst-performing seam unit in the competition.Kolkata Knight Riders possible XII: 1 N Jagadeesan (wk), 2 Jason Roy, 3 , 4 Nitish Rana (capt), 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Andre Russell, 7 David Wiese, 8 Vaibhav Arora, 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12

Stats that matter

• Andre Russell is averaging 18 – his second-lowest in an IPL season – with five single-digit scores in eight innings. Not the best time to come up against Rashid Khan, who has dismissed him five times in 39 balls for 54 runs in T20 cricket.
• 3.6 vs 13.8. Those are Rinku Singh’s balls-per-boundary numbers against pace and spin this season. So if you’re the Titans captain, do the right thing. Don’t give him pace.
• Shubman Gill has an average of 59.2 and a strike rate of 143 against spin since IPL 2022. His batting deep into the innings might enable Titans to mitigate KKR’s mystery spin threat.
• Though right now one of them is not feeling so great. Sunil Narine has an economy rate of 8.9 in IPL 2023. Never in the history of this tournament has he been so expensive. Also, he hasn’t picked up a wicket for five matches straight. That’s another first for him in the IPL.
• Hardik Pandya has a strike rate of 102 against pace this season. This is the second-lowest among all batters who have faced at least 50 balls.

Pitch and conditions

Eden Gardens, after hosting three matches in this year’s IPL, has produced an average first-innings score of 222. It is the highest out of all the grounds on show in the tournament. So expect a few runs. Spin has offered a bit of respite, though – 21 wickets at an economy rate of 8.7 (versus 10.9 for pace) and a strike rate of 15.6, which is another season-topping metric among the grounds this IPL.

Uncapped trio set to win opportunities in absence of players involved on Ashes tour

Matt Roller23-Dec-2021England could hand T20I debuts to George Garton, David Payne and Phil Salt against West Indies in January but have stuck with the core of the squad that was knocked out in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.The five-match series is due to start in Barbados four days after the final day of England’s fifth Test against Australia, and members of the Ashes squad were not considered for selection. Several seamers including Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Sam and Tom Curran, Lewis Gregory, Olly Stone and David Willey were also unavailable due to injuries, putting England’s fast-bowling depth to the test.Eleven of the 16-man squad – including Eoin Morgan, who continues as captain as expected despite a poor year with the bat – were in the UAE for the World Cup in October and November, either as squad members or travelling reserves. This series signals the start of England’s preparations for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, with six T20Is following in July (three each against India and South Africa) before seven in Pakistan in September-October and three more in Australia in the immediate build-up to the tournament.The five additions to the World Cup touring party – Garton, Payne, Salt, Tom Banton and Saqib Mahmood – have all featured in England squads over the last two years. Mahmood, Payne and Salt were part of the hastily assembled ODI squad that beat Pakistan 3-0 after a Covid outbreak in July, with Banton and Garton among those forced into self-isolation.In the absence of Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow due to their involvement in the Ashes, England will field a new-look top order. Salt has earned his call-up after an impressive winter on the franchise circuit – he was the second-highest run-scorer at the Abu Dhabi T10 and led the Lanka Premier League’s run charts heading into the final – and is likely to win opportunities to impress on the island where he lived for six years while growing up.Banton’s recall comes as a surprise after a lean period for him. He has struggled for form over the last 18 months, averaging 17.02 with a strike rate of 136.32 since the start of the Pakistan Super League in 2020, but England have stuck to their belief that he is a batter with a high ceiling. He was preferred to other promising young batters like Joe Clarke, Ben Duckett and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.There are four left-arm seamers in the squad despite injuries to Sam Curran and Willey, with Garton, Tymal Mills, Payne and Reece Topley all included. Garton has been on England’s radar for a number of years and has earned contracts with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Adelaide Strikers in recent months, while Payne has impressed with his pace and bounce and has taken regular new-ball wickets for Gloucestershire in the Blast.Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, is the surprise omission, with Liam Dawson – who is seen by England as a more versatile bowler and offers more with the bat and in the field – again preferred as the back-up spin option. Parkinson is understood to have been placed on standby as a reserve.Related

• Garton set for another wild ride with RCB in rollercoaster career

• Salt, Banton show off their credentials at Abu Dhabi T10

• Mahmood not thinking of Ashes as BBL debut looms

• Collingwood to stand in as England head coach during WI T20Is

Six players in the squad – Sam Billings, Garton, Mahmood, Mills, Topley and James Vince – have full-season deals in the ongoing Big Bash League. Their inclusion in this squad means that they will miss the knockout stages of the competition, should their respective teams qualify. Seven more – Jordan, Livingstone, Mahmood, Jason Roy, Salt, Topley and Vince – will miss the opening rounds of the PSL.As revealed by ESPNcricinfo, Paul Collingwood will stand in as head coach, with Marcus Trescothick acting as his assistant coach. The ECB has also advertised for three roles as “support coaches” for the tour – one fast-bowling, one fielding/wicketkeeping, one batting.”We have selected a strong squad with some serious batting power and a balanced attack as we begin preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia,” Collingwood said. “The World Cup is less than a year away and there will be increased opportunities for the squad in the absence of those players who are with the Ashes squad.”I have good memories winning a World Cup in Barbados and I’m really looking forward to going back there with this squad to face a very good West Indies who will test all aspects of our skills.”England T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tymal Mills, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince

Six talking points after England were held to a 1-1 draw in their T20I series against Pakistan

George Dobell01-Sep-2020After England were held to a 1-1 draw in their T20I series against Pakistan, we look at six talking points from the seriesTop-order depth
As things stand, it seems England intend to use Jos Buttler at the top of the order in T20I cricket. That means Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Tom Banton and Dawid Malan are all competing for a couple of spots in the top three. And we haven’t even mentioned Joe Root who, but for a last-over miracle, would have been named Player of the Match in the last World T20 final.It seems incredible that Malan, who reached 50 seven times in his first 12 T20I innings, and Banton, who looks a hugely promising player, might be struggling for a place in the squad. But with Butter pencilled in and Bairstow and Roy established, there are going to be some very disappointed players when England do finally settle on a World Cup squad.Middle-order issues
In Eoin Morgan England have one batsman they can rely upon to float between No. 4 and No. 6 as required. In Ben Stokes they have another. But there is still a vacancy for one batting spot in the middle-order. One solution would be to move Buttler back to where he began. While that might not maximise his own potential, England are blessed with several good top-order options and many fewer ‘finishers’. And it would certainly go some way to solving their top-order selection headaches. Sam Billings wasn’t quite able to take the opportunity here; he scored 39 in his three innings – albeit one of them was not out – and averages 17.59 across his 29-match T20I career.England’s Powerplay bowling
Heading into the final match of this series, England had taken just one wicket in the Powerplay overs in their four T20s this year. Although they took two here – one to Moeen Ali’s spin – the point remains: unless they are able to strike more in those opening overs, opposition teams are liable to establish strong platforms. Against the best sides, that will prove a fatal weakness. In this series Saqib Mahmood, who finished wicketless across his seven overs, was unable to take his opportunity to impress.ALSO READ: Hafeez, Haider shine as Pakistan square the seriesIt seems odd that David Willey, in particular, was overlooked in this series and not selected for the games against Australia. Not only would his left-arm angle have provided some variation, but his T20 Powerplay record is exceptionally good. He also looked in decent form with bat and ball in the ODIs against Ireland.The need for speed; or variation, at least
In the absence of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, England looked a little one-paced at times in this series. Whatever the all-round merits of Lewis Gregory and Tom Curran, neither were able to take their chance here, with Chris Jordan the pick of England’s seamers. With Wood, Archer and Stokes all set to return when England pick their strongest side, it could prove hard for Curran or Gregory to retain their places.Rashid reliance
Adil Rashid has long been a vital player for England in white-ball cricket. While Moeen was picked in all three of these games, he delivered only two overs and, even though Rashid wasn’t at his best – he conceded an average of 10.28 runs per over – the fact is that, with Liam Dawson and Matt Parkinson not deemed fit for selection, the back-up spinner in the squad was Joe Denly, who has taken 31 wickets in his 206-game T20 career. The conclusion? There is still a vacancy for a spinner in the squad that England will take to India for the T20 World Cup. Could Root have a role to play as back-up spinner and floating batsman?Moeen could still provide many of the answers
Moeen had looked in miserable form coming into this match. He had reached double-figures with the bat only five times in 19 innings (and 20 only twice) across formats (four innings in Tests, five in T20Is and 10 in ODIs); a spell that included five ducks. He has also bowled his full allocation of overs only once in his last seven international limited-overs matches across formats. But here he provided a reminder of his ability with an excellent innings of 61 that kept England in the hunt until the final couple of overs. Maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised. This is a man who was good enough to score four Test centuries within eight months in 2016 and has three ODI centuries as well. If England can find a way to unlock his undoubted talent on a more consistent basis, they still have a valuable all-rounder to help balance the side.

Length of tournament, and nature of injuries, means that players who miss the cut should not give up hope of involvement, says skipper

George Dobell at Headingley19-May-2019Eoin Morgan has confessed that he is still not sure who will make England’s final World Cup squad.Morgan, the England captain, and his fellow selectors, Ed Smith and Trevor Bayliss, will meet on Monday to finalise the 15-man squad. They plan to announce it at 9.30am on Tuesday morning.With England having beaten Pakistan 4-0 to secure an unbeaten run of 11 ODI series (of more than one match) in succession, Morgan feels he has an embarrassment of riches available to him among the 16-men used against Pakistan and described the final decision as “extremely difficult”.But while Morgan knows there will some hugely disappointed players on Tuesday morning, he has urged them to take pride in their achievements in recent years and to remain prepared in the expectation that illness or injury could grant them a reprieve in the coming weeks. England will go into the World Cup as the No. 1-ranked side, having improved immensely over the four-year cycle since the debacle of their previous World Cup appearance in Australia and New Zealand.”I don’t know the 15,” Morgan told Sky Sports after the game in Leeds. “Every one of these guys should be proud of what we’ve achieved so far. The continuous improvement of performances makes the selection meeting extremely difficult.”But every single member of the 17-man squad here will play some role, due to the nature of injuries and illness and call-ups.”While Chris Woakes, who claimed a five-wicket haul in Leeds, has surely done enough to guarantee his own selection, he admitted he would be nervously awaiting a confirmation.ALSO READ: Dobell: The final contenders for England’s World Cup 15“Everyone will be wary of that phone call,” he said. “Even if you feel like you’ve got a good chance to being in the squad, until you hear it from selectors’ mouths, it’s not quite set in stone. You’re still probably a little bit on edge, particularly with these 16 and 17 players, because everyone has performed at some point. It’s a tricky decision for the selectors. Everyone will be looking at their phones tomorrow I suppose, if that’s when we find out.”Woakes, who revealed his post-wicket celebration was a tongue-in-cheek homage to Sir Ian Botham’s celebrations during the 1992 World Cup, also accepted, however, that the competition for places has “driven everyone forward”.”It’s certainly driven everyone forward to try and improve,” he said. “And to make sure you’re on top of your game. Whenever you get the opportunity to bowl in practice, or bat or field, you constantly feel, not like you’re on audition, but like it’s an opportunity to show your skills. It’s certainly driven everyone to try and improve and it’s certainly showed in our performances over the series.””The series went as well as we could have hoped,” Morgan agreed. “Pakistan are a strong side and they played some competitive cricket. We’ve chopped and changed our side a lot but the performance has never been compromised. That emphasises how competitive positions are as well as everyone’s hunger and determination to constantly improve their games.”

Run outs, poor shots hamper Peshawar Zalmi as they slump to second loss in three matches

The Report by Danyal Rasool25-Feb-2018Shahid Afridi goes through his trademark celebratory routine•PCB/PSL

In a nutshellKarachi Kings completed a day of low-scoring runs and comfortable chases with a five-wicket win against Peshawar Zalmi to maintain their perfect record in PSL 2018. It was tighter than it needed to be, the chase completed with only two balls to spare. However, the defeat was no less than Peshawar deserved after a feckless first innings in which they were out to poor shots. They were even more indolent with their running: three run-outs meaning they gifted wickets to Karachi who bowled well enough to not require assistance anyway.An ephemeral cameo from Kamran Akmal at the top aside, Peshawar struggled to score at a good enough run rate, with the crease becoming a revolving door for batsmen to waltz in and out of. Dwayne Smith was the only one to chip in with an innings of any note, responsible for 71 of Peshawar’s 131. Karachi’s bowlers – particularly Mohammad Amir early on – were magnificent, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.A late surge had given Peshawar hope of eking out a scrappy win, but Karachi were clinical when they came out. They prioritised keeping wickets in hand, knowing the run rate wasn’t going to be an issue. Joe Denly and Babar Azam kept Karachi on course, before Colin Ingram injected some impetus with a 14-ball 23. A pair of late wickets and good bowling at the death meant Peshawar made it tight, but Imad Wasim’s men were never in real danger of blowing this, with the captain himself smashing the last ball for six to secure victory.Where the match was wonKarachi Kings effectively sewed up the contest with a superb effort in the field. Once Kamran was dismissed in the second over, they kept their foot on Peshawar’s throats. No bowler was a weak link as the run rate remained well below six for nearly the entirety of the first innings. Even though Darren Sammy’s men managed 48 in the last four overs, Karachi’s good work in the first 16 meant the target was still well within the Karachi’s reach.The men that won it
Mohammad Amir sustained an injury which meant he couldn’t bowl any more than two overs. Which was a shame, as he had been majestic in the first two. He swung the ball at pace and extracted every ounce of bounce the surface had to offer. He put an end to Kamran’s barrage at the start, which, if left unchecked, could have taken the game away from Karachi in the first Powerplay, as happened with Islamabad on Saturday. He also accounted for Tamim Iqbal with late swing, thereby setting the tone for an innings that was going to be heavily dominated by the bowlers.Dwayne’s distinctive day
If you hadn’t watched the game, the scorecard would give you the impressions Dwayne Smith was the only Peshawar batsman who had a good day. After all, he scored an unbeaten 71 off 51 in a low-scoring game, accounting for nearly 55% of his side’s runs. But the other side of the coin is he was atrocious with his running and calling, at fault for at least two of the three run-outs that happened while he was at the crease. There is a case that the batsmen dismissed, Ibtisam Shiekh, Darren Sammy and Wahab Riaz may have been able to make useful contributions that made the difference in what ended up being a tight contest. But Smith’s consistency across the three editions of the PSL is unquestionable, and he once again demonstrated his destructiveness with the bat.Where they stand
Karachi are the only side with a perfect record in the PSL so far, and move to the top of the table. Zalmi now have one win from three, and are fourth.

Steven Smith said he did edge the ball to the wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed when he was on 97 but felt it was a bizarre that nothing came off it

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane16-Dec-2016Steven Smith was due some luck, and on the first day at the Gabba, he got it. Having lost six consecutive tosses, Smith finally won one. He chose to bat. Smith batted well, but on 53 edged behind part-timer Azhar Ali’s delivery and was dropped by wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed. Pakistan would rue that miss.Then, on 97, Smith again edged behind, but this time was caught by Sarfraz off Mohammad Amir. The chance for a hundred could have vanished, but Smith could hardly believe his eyes as Pakistan were deceived by their ears. None of the Pakistan players had heard Smith’s edge, and none appealed. Smith played it cool, batted on, and reached his 16th Test century, and first against Pakistan.”I was very surprised, it was pretty loud, obviously I was on 97, there was a fair bit going on in the crowd,” Smith told on Friday morning. “It was pretty loud, but yeah, I did nick it, and no one went up so I wasn’t going to walk.”Asked if he had a good poker face, Smith replied: “Yeah, I didn’t look behind. Not sure why, I just played the ball and it was a bit bizarre that nothing came of it.”At the end of the over, Smith was seen in conversation with umpire Ian Gould, who had been standing at square leg while his colleague Richard Illingworth was not called on by the Pakistan players to make a decision.”I told ‘Gunner’ Gould at the end of the over: ‘I’m pretty sure I hit that one last over,'” Smith said. “He said: ‘I’m pretty sure you’ve said that to me before. I reckon it was out here as well.’ So it’s happened before, you take the good with the bad.”The concept of “walking” – a batsman voluntarily ending their innings because they know they have edged the ball – was sometimes seen in past eras, particularly in county cricket in England. But rarely does it take place in the modern era, with most batsmen these days preferring to wait on umpires, reasoning that good and bad decisions even out in the long run.

Offspinner Ramesh Powar has announced he will retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season

Arun Venugopal10-Nov-2015Offspinner Ramesh Powar has announced he will retire from all forms of cricket at the end of the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season. Thirty-seven-year-old Powar, with 341 Ranji wickets till date, has the most wickets among active bowlers in the tournament.He has played for Gujarat since the 2014-15 season, following a year with Rajasthan. Before that, he had represented Mumbai for 14 seasons. Between 2004 and 2007, he had played for the country too, in two Tests and 31 ODIs, taking six wickets in the longest format and 34 in the one-dayers. Handy with the bat, he also has an ODI fifty.Powar’s decision allows him to play in the Masters Cricket League in January; the tournament rules require a player to be retired from all forms of competitive cricket, including the IPL, to participate.”After leaving Mumbai, I thought I’ll keep on playing, but then again I’ve thought it can’t keep going this way,” Powar told ESPNcricinfo. “There has got to be some motivation. If you aren’t going to get picked for India, you can’t just keep on playing. So I just thought I’ll rather play cricket on my own terms.”Luckily, there is the Masters League in January. Some of my old buddies are playing so I might enjoy that and have some fun. I’ll play out this whole season for Gujarat though. The last league game ends on December 4. If we make the knockouts [which spill over to 2016], I’ll speak to people and take a call.”Powar, understandably, picked out his time with the national team as his most cherished cricket memories. “To share the Indian dressing room with [VVS] Laxman, Sachin [Tendulkar], Rahul [Dravid] and Sourav [Ganguly] was the ultimate dream come true, because I never thought I’ll play cricket professionally and to get where I got was a big thing for me.”Through his career, Powar often attracted attention for a perceived lack of fitness and a fascination for funky sunglasses. “Lots of people thought I was looking for style in those glasses, but glasses only helped me stay focussed,” Powar said. “I had put a lot of effort in my bowling and would bowl two hours, three hours every day. It’s debatable [what people said about my fitness].”When I was playing for India, someone asked me about my fitness. I said I can’t be Mohammad Kaif or Yuvraj Singh. I’m Ramesh Powar, this is my frame and this is how I play cricket. I tried to lose weight during the West Indies series in 2006, and I lost my bowling also. I’m a classical bowler and I said I’d rather work on my bowling. I always tried to be fit through cricket and tried to be a safe fielder.”Now, once he is done playing, Powar said, he would look to give back to the game by coaching young spinners.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers kept their home run going, stopping Mumbai Indians just short of 130 on a slow pitch which the visiting batsmen could never get going on, despite losing only four wickets

The Report by Abhishek Purohit01-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIshant Sharma’s spell of 2 for 15 kept Mumbai Indians to a low score•BCCI

This was a clash between the IPL’s most powerful line-up and its most effective attack. Here was a line-up that had had just one failure in nine games. Here was an attack that was still to concede more than 130 at home. The Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers kept their home run going, stopping Mumbai Indians just short of 130 on a slow pitch which the visiting batsmen could never get going on, despite losing only four wickets. Shikhar Dhawan guided the chase single-handedly, peppering both square boundaries as he motored to his second fifty in three innings.Apart from the pitch and the home attack, what went against Mumbai Indians was that they lost their four wickets in groups of two each, sucking out whatever momentum they had managed to build on both occasions. The first time it happened, a start of 32 in 4.2 overs was squandered. The second time, two batsmen, Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma, who had spent enough time in the middle to have assessed the wicket, fell in the same over.It was Ishant Sharma who began Sunrisers’ dominance. Sachin Tendulkar had whipped and lofted Dale Steyn for successive fours but Ishant’s short of a good length stuff was to prove difficult to time. Tendulkar backed away and missed one that nipped in from that length. Two balls later, the in-form Dinesh Karthik reached for one that wasn’t quite there for the drive, and sliced it to backward point.As he usually does, Dwayne Smith took his time in the Powerplay but unlike normally, he found the runs weren’t coming even during the middle overs. Ishant was bowling a superb line and length, and the two legspinners, Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma, were getting grip and turn.Smith was dropped by Ishant at long-off in Mishra’s second over but got a poor decision in the bowler’s next, given out lbw after gloving an attempted sweep onto the pads. Four balls later, Rohit mishit in front of long-off and this time, Ishant made no mistake.Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard had seven overs to go, and managed to last till the end, but as evidence of how accurate the Sunrisers bowlers were, the partnership went over run a ball only twice in those overs.Steyn came back well after an expensive opening over, signing off with six full and low balls in his last over. Thisara Perera wasn’t far behind apart from the 20th over that went for 16, finding swing on his full deliveries.Mumbai Indians don’t have a bad attack at all, but Dhawan is not in bad form either after Test debut against Australia. A chase of 130 could easily have got close – Sunrisers defended 126 here against Pune Warriors – but Dhawan was in a different mood.Pragyan Ojha created some pressure, giving just 18 in four overs, but Sunrisers broke away in the 12th over as Rohit tried Smith. Dhawan and Hanuma Vihari took 15 off Smith’s mediums. Dhawan bossed the attack after that, cutting, pulling and lofting over extra cover at will to end the game with a couple of overs left.

A round-up of the second days’ action of the One-Day National Cup Division Two matches

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Feb-2012Group ALahore Lions were routed for 81, owing to a combined bowling performanc, led by the right-arm seamer Asad Ali at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) finished the chase in just 11.1 overs to register their maiden win in the tournament. Early strikes by Asad and Imran Ali left the Lions tottering at 5 for 5. Farhan Asghar and Saad Nasim were the only players to pass 20. Asad finished with the best figures of 4 for 14, while the other three bowlers took two wickets apiece. The SNGPL openers Ali Waqas and Imran Ali (the opener) ensured they attained the target without any loss of wickets.A half-century by Musadiq Ahmed and a five-wicket haul by Mohammad Fayyaz set up Peshawar Panthers‘ 28-run win over Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in Peshawar. Musadiq hit 66 off 96 balls with five fours to take the Panthers to 227. Mohammad Irfan took 3 for 35. KRL began their chase steadily, taking the score to 100 for 2. But the Panthers hit back, taking four wickets for 29 runs. Bazid Khan was the top scorer with 60 but was dismissed by Fayyaz, who ran through the middle and lower order to finish with 5 for 26 off six overs, his maiden five-for in domestic one-dayers.Group BA century by Bismilliah Khan set up Quetta Bears’ 140-run victory against Multan Tigers in Karachi. Bismilliah scored 142 off 141 balls and was supported by Abid Ali, who made 73, in an opening stand of 177. Quetta finished on 326 for 5 in 50 overs, the only wicket-taker for Multan being Haziq Habibullah, who claimed 4 for 64. Multan floundered in their chase, and collapsed from 109 for 2 to 186 all out in 39.5 overs. Mohibullah took 3 for 19 and Arun Lal 3 for 36 for Quetta. Moinuddin and Maqbool Ahmed top scored with 40 each for Multan, woefully inadequate contributions when chasing such a tall target.Lahore Eagles restricted Karachi Zebras to a below-par 199 for 9 and completed a five-wicket victory at the National Stadium. Lahore struck early and repeatedly after winning the toss, reducing Karachi to 69 for 5, before the lower-order batsmen rallied and prolonged the innings until the 50th over. The opener Behram Khan top scored with 71, the next best being Sohail Khan’s 39 at No. 9. Lahore stumbled from 50 for 0 to 63 for 3 in their chase but Rana Adnan cored 58 and Usman Salahuddin 42 to take their team towards victory. The target was achieved with nine overs to spare.