All posts by n8rngtd.top

Epic final over against Surrey epitomises contribution of team’s pivotal personality

David Hopps14-Jul-2022Jordan Thompson’s rescue act in the last over of Yorkshire’s Vitality Blast quarter-final against Surrey not only secured a place in Finals Day, it also underlined what many people already knew: he is now the heartbeat of the Yorkshire side.What’s more, he has given his strongest indication yet that, like his team-mate Harry Brook, who has already committed his long-term future to the county, he wants to stay with Yorkshire as they try to negotiate the most turbulent period in the club’s history.”Like Brooky says, we are building a decent squad of players here and, as a Yorkshire lad, it would be great to play all my career at Headingley and hopefully win some silverware as well,” he said.Thompson has had quite a week or so. He defended five off the last over at the Kia Oval last Wednesday and when the county caravan moved on to Scarborough, he was awarded his county cap. “Number 189,” he says, still as proud as punch. “It will stick with me forever. It’s an absolute privilege.Beset by racism allegations for the past year, for Yorkshire the emphasis is on cricket again. Thompson, who plays that cricket in combative fashion with bat and ball, welcomes the chance to create a new narrative.”Last Wednesday night, the quarter-final was massive. It’s up there as the greatest day of my career, along with being capped, so everything is coming at once,” he says. “Now, playing the Roses game in the semi-final, hopefully we can turn them over and win the whole thing, but to get to Finals Day itself was the aim as a squad.That final over is worth a recap. “We probably thought it was out of our hands,” he says. “I don’t think there were many nerves. There was no pressure on me til the last ball. That last ball was the worst ball of the lot. It probably should have gone for six. I feel like I’m one of the senior players now, so it’s now on me to stand up in big situations.”He was faced by two powerful Surrey hitters, Laurie Evans and Jamie Overton, both in the 30s and on the verge of completing victory. A bouncer to Overton to pep things up a bit; two yorkers, allowing singles to each batter; a back-of-the-hand slower ball which ended with Overton being sent back and run out at the striker’s end, another full ball which saw Sunil Narine brilliantly caught at deep square by Will Fraine; and – the coup de grace – a wide half-volley with three to win, a swing and a miss by Gus Atkinson, and a futile bye taken with Yorkshire already celebrating.Thompson broke into the Yorkshire side as a first-change bowler batting at No. 7 or 8. This year, partly through necessity, he has been utilised as a new-ball bowler batting at nine. Ask him what his perfect role is and, emotionally, he wants both. He has a great appetite for the fray.”It’s hard to say. I’ll just do what I’m told. Batting 7 or 8 and opening the bowling for me is a perfect role. I feel like I’m growing year on year in different roles. Obviously, it’s about doing the job that suits the team best. Staying fit in the main thing.”Fitness, so far has rarely been a problem. It is that robustness that explains a lot of his appeal. He appears to be a bit of a throwback. He has attracted enough attention in the past year to get late deals at the Big Bash and the PSL, although he caught Covid soon after arriving in Pakistan which disrupted his tournament.Related

• Luke Wood returns to Edgbaston as Finals Day's Denominator

• Harry Brook brings scintillating form into Blast as Yorkshire make winning start

• Warwickshire squeeze home Blast quarter-final into Edgbaston's packed schedule

• Jordan Thompson applies nerveless finish as Yorkshire prevail in final-ball thriller

• Star turn on Lions debut leaves England feeling the need for Will Smeed

“The lads will take the mickey out of me because I am probably one of the unfittest in the team in terms of running stats and things like that,” he says. “Touch wood, I’m probably born with a body that can take high-impact force. I am built pretty strong, I’m not sure if I have strong bones or whatever. Maybe because I bowl a lot, I just get used to it.”That resilience makes him an excellent ambassador for Diabetes UK. He has Type 1 diabetes, and needs to take insulin injections to control his glucose levels, but energetic performances seem to define him.”I have to take care to control my glucose levels when I’m playing because running around and exercise actually makes your blood sugar levels drop. That’s why the lads will see me with a lot of Lucozades and Red Bulls and making sure I have the sugar to keep me going through the day. I test myself regularly. I often come off after a bowling spell if I feel a bit iffy. The umpires will know, and I’ll make sure that everything’s alright and then get myself back on again.”There was a lot of laughter in the Yorkshire dressing room when his T20 captain, David Willey, said in his post-match interview that Thompson “likes to call himself ‘The Big Show'” – a moniker adopted by the American professional wrestler, Paul Wight.”I’ve been thrown under the bus with that,” Thompson smiles. “I was actually named that three or four years ago by Jared Warner who is at Gloucestershire now. The lads think I have a bit of a swagger. I think I’m quite down to earth. I haven’t got a big ego but they do it to wind me up. I’d just say I’m a bit of a personality in the dressing room, but nothing too bad.”Is there another T20 big show left for Thompson in the Blast this season? We are about to find out.

Before Mohali, Green’s highest T20 score was only 36. After Mohali, he may just be the ideal understudy to Australia’s T20I openers

Andrew McGlashan21-Sep-20223:12

Hardik Pandya – ‘Green played some really good shots’

In his most recent YouTube round-up of the world of cricket, India offspinner R Ashwin picked out his players to watch. The third of them was Cameron Green, in itself hardly a left-field choice – given his recent form – but Ashwin added this comment: “I am sure some team will break the bank for him in this year’s [IPL] auctions.”He couched it by saying if Green was available and there are a whole load of factors which mean he might not be – everything about his career has been very carefully managed so far – but it was a mark of his standing in the global game after barely two years of his international career. Even more so because, when Ashwin made his remark, Green had played 14 T20s and had a top score of 36.However, it was only a matter of when, not if, he would make an impact in the format, and it came on Tuesday in Mohali. Having never opened in his professional career – “I’m assuming that won’t be the batting order,” Matthew Hayden said on commentary when the team list was put up – Green strode out with a record chase in front of Australia and promptly dispatched his first four deliveries against Umesh Yadav to the boundary. His brute force was later on display when he peppered the crowd on the leg side.Related

• Spotlight on India's death bowling as Australia look to seal series

• Wade and Green stun India to ace 209 chase

It has been quite the few weeks for Green with the white ball: he claimed a maiden ODI five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe, then secured a backs-to-the-wall chase against New Zealand in Cairns, at the end of which he was barely able to move due to cramp. If you go back a little further to the tour of Sri Lanka, he calmly saw Australia across the line in a low-scoring scrap in Colombo.”[I was] kind of got thrown in the deep end a little bit,” Green said at the post-match presentation where he was named Player of the Match for his 61 off 30 balls. If the aquatic theme is continued, he’s taking to each new challenge like a duck to water.Green is a certainty in the Test side at No. 6 and the ODI spot is now looking increasingly secure, but even as recently as a couple of weeks ago, he was uncertain about the route his T20 career would take, at least in the short term. “Everyone aspires to be [a three-format player] but will just have to wait and see how heavy the schedule is, how much time you get to actually improve your T20 game,” he said during the series against New Zealand.Cameron Green started off with four consecutive fours•Getty ImagesHe had not been named in the World Cup squad and was on this tour because David Warner was rested. If Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis had both been fit, he may still not have got this chance. He signed a deal with Perth Scorchers which means he will play in the BBL for the first time since 2020 after the Test series against South Africa, but it still felt as though it could be the format that played third fiddle for a while. Things might have changed now.The move to open the batting was not a last-minute call. It’s an option that has been discussed by both Australia and Scorchers for quite some time as way of giving the teams more flexibility. A hallmark of Green’s early white-ball career is proving to be his adaptability. He has gone from being an ODI No. 8 to being a T20I opener in the space of a few weeks.”He impresses every time I see him,” Matthew Wade said. “I saw him a couple of years ago for WA and he was a bowler who batted nine, to see where he is now is quite remarkable. The plan was always for Greeny to open, the coach and captain feel like that’s the best spot for him to really find his feet at T20 level and he showed tonight that will be the spot for him going forward for a while.”Warner will return for the World Cup (and the final string of warm-up matches in Australia) while there is confidence that Marsh and Stoinis will be fit, but Green is now clearly the first-reserve should batting reinforcements be needed. Wade said he is viewed as the ideal understudy should anything happen to the incumbent top three.”[It’s] really impressive to see a young player go out in front of a packed stadium chasing [209] – and he copped a bit of tap in his last over bowling – to seem to be able to just turn it around and go and put a performance forward like, that is good signs,” Wade said.This was one innings, in belting batting conditions and it’s easy to get carried away, but evidence is only mounting that Green will be a generational player. And these days that invariably means a player in great demand. Whether it’s next year or not, Ashwin is unlikely to have been far off the mark.

The Ireland keeper and umpire talks about how she came to cricket after nearly making it in football

S Sudarshanan11-Feb-2023Cricket was nowhere on Mary Waldron’s radar.”My only recollection of it growing up was watching my dad watching a cricket match on Channel 4 during my school holidays,” she chuckles. “And I was mad because I was like, ‘What is this on TV? This is ridiculous!'”About 25 years on, Waldron has played not just as a wicketkeeper for Ireland Women, she has also represented Ireland in football. She also tried her hand at basketball and hockey in school.She was among the first players to benefit from Cricket Ireland’s part-time contracts for women in 2019 and also among the 20 first fully professional women cricketers for Ireland, when the board invested £1.5 million in the game last year. She has also been on the ICC’s International Panel of Development Umpires for over three years.Related

• Mary Waldron retires from international cricket

• Cricket Ireland to invest €1.5m in women's game; hands full-time contracts for the first time

Waldron is now in South Africa for the T20 World Cup – her fourth, after Ireland narrowly missed out in 2020 – and at 38 is the oldest player in the competition. Her enthusiasm belies her age, though. She believes this is the best time to be playing cricket for Ireland.”We have been crying out for more support over the years and it’s finally here,” she says. “The bus is nearly full with all the support staff. To be part of that journey and to see it come to fruition and see all the other players just at the start of their journey. It’s actually really exciting.”Gutted not to play in the last World Cup, purely because you get to play against the best in the world on such a cool occasion.”Because even a couple years ago, we’d be like, ‘What’s the fixture list for the year? We might be going on one tour’ – or you just never really knew. But now we have a Future Tours Programme. We know what we’re doing. And it’s very exciting.”Growing up in hill country south of Dublin, Waldron only got into organised sport at 12, in secondary school, when she joined a football club. She was picked for the Ireland Under-16s when she was 13. She also played basketball, volleyball, and a bit of hockey at school but football was her focus. Transport was limited in the mountains, so her parents – whom she calls “very good sports parents” – drove her around. There was only one occasion, she recalls, when her father said no to her on a matter to do with sport.Waldron prudently wears protective gear standing up to the stumps in a 2022 T20I. “In hindsight now, looking at some of the fielding I did – like standing far too close to the batter and that sort of stupid stuff – I didn’t know what I was doing!” she says•Ramsey Cards/Sportsfile/Getty Images”I asked my dad if I could join a basketball club as well and he said no,” she says. “And that was just purely because there was not enough hours in the day. I was already going to hockey training at that stage, going to soccer, going into school games and stuff. It was just not logistically possible.”Her first brush with cricket came when she was at University College, Dublin. By then she had represented Ireland in football and had played all the age groups in the sport. One of her friends was “obsessed with cricket” and asked her to come watch her play. Waldron went along and liked what she saw, and ended up joining Pembroke Cricket Club in Sandymount, which her cricket-mad friend played for. While football was important to her – she was training hard and playing at a high level – playing cricket allowed her to socialise and network outside of her primary sport, which she liked.Once, when Pembroke’s wicketkeeper was unavailable, they picked Waldron to keep because of her ability to be unflinching. “I wasn’t scared of the ball, and actually in hindsight now, looking at some of the fielding I did – like standing far too close to the batter and that sort of stupid stuff – I didn’t know what I was doing!” she says. “I kept for a few games even though football was still priority.”The following pre-season I was keeping in a game and the Ireland A coach saw me and said I should come to training the following Friday. So it was very random, very organic, how that came about, but I just loved it from there.”She made her ODI debut in July 2010 and played her first T20I three months later. Her rise was too rapid for it all to sink in – in her mind, football, which she played for Raheny United and Shelbourne FC, who played the Premier Division in the Irish league, was still her real game.Waldron stands in a game in the men’s T20 World Cup Europe Region Qualifiers in 2019•Martin Gray/ICC”It was all a bit of a whirlwind. And I don’t think I thought too much about it at the time. And looking back, it was kind of mad. I remember playing in the European championships in cricket, and we’re in Holland, and I remember saying that I can’t stay because I had to go back – this was after about a year after my debut – because we had a training camp for the soccer team. It did take me a few years to transition my mindset that cricket was actually more important.”With Ireland rising as a cricketing team, it was increasingly tough for Waldron to juggle her two sports. Ireland qualified for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2014 and with cricket activities – gym, conditioning, skills work – taking up the better part of the week, she had to let go of football.”I just knew that I wouldn’t be able to commit to the soccer training,” Waldron says. “Playing in a World Cup has always been a goal, though I never wrote it down as a goal. I knew that I’d always love to play in a World Cup, and I assumed that would have been with soccer. But it just turned out that it was in cricket.”An invitation from 1990s Australia wicketkeeper Julia Price, who coached Tasmania and wanted to expand the club structure there, took Waldron to Hobart in 2015. While playing and training in Australia, she completed the Level 1 umpiring course. Back home she was a cricket development officer in a club in Malahide, where she coached the Under-15 boys’ side and also scored for and umpired in those games.That kicked off a period where, unless Ireland had a winter tour, she would travel to Australia to play and umpire. Ahead of the qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup in 2017, she moved from Hobart to Adelaide to be able to play more 50-over matches. There she took more umpiring courses and got more games under her belt as an umpire.Waldron (right) with Eloise Sheridan. The two became the first women to umpire in a men’s first-grade game in Australia in 2019•Ramsey CardsIn 2018, Waldron was appointed to the first-class panel of Umpires in Ireland and became the first woman to umpire in a men’s List A match, between Ireland Wolves and Bangladesh A. She and Eloise Sheridan of Australia became the first pair of women to umpire in a men’s first grade game in Australia in 2019. That year she stood as one of the umpires in the men’s T20 World Cup Europe Region Qualifiers. She also has officiated in the men’s and women’s Big Bash League and in the Women’s National Cricket League in Australia.When the pandemic struck in 2020, cricket in Ireland was thrown into uncertainty. They had missed out on making it to the Women’s T20 World Cup and the next tournament was at least two years away. The 50-overs World Cup, originally to be played in 2021, was postponed.Waldron was clear – cricket was her priority and umpiring had to wait. “The potential progression for Irish women’s cricket at that stage was still huge, so even though I love umpiring, I wasn’t ready to finish playing,” she says. “There was a lot of unfinished business. Many people told me that I should retire and umpire.”I enjoyed the opportunity to train even when it was a two-day-week contract. To be fair, Cricket Ireland still gave me the opportunity to go away whenever we didn’t have a winter tour. Between time at home and being able to travel in the winter, it still was a great lifestyle. I wasn’t planning on giving that up anytime soon.”I have to be based in Ireland now for full-time contracts. But that’s not hard. Having the opportunity to play full-time and train full-time is brilliant. I wasn’t able to go to Australia for the winter but I’ll be playing [the T20 World Cup]. I don’t mind missing out on a few umpiring opportunities because I’m sure there will be chances down the line. And even if they are not, I still wouldn’t miss a chance to play in the World Cup for anything.”

KKR needed 29 to win in the last over, and Rinku targetted Yash Dayal, who ended up conceding 69 in four overs

Sampath Bandarupalli09-Apr-20234 Batters to have hit five sixes in an over in the IPL: Chris Gayle hit five in a row off Rahul Sharma in 2012, Rahul Tewatia against Sheldon Cottrell in 2020, and Ravindra Jadeja off Harshal Patel in 2021 were the previous three instances. Rinku Singh becomes the fourth player on this list after his feat against Yash Dayal.Related

• Sparkling Rinku among few bright spots in disappointing KKR campaign

• Rinku Singh goes 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 off last five balls to script miracle win for Knight Riders

• 'All hail Lord Rinku Singh' – Virender Sehwag and more pay tribute to KKR match-winner

• 'Umesh bhaiya told me, hit it, Rinku, don't think'

31 Runs scored by Knight Riders in the last over, the highest any team has managed in the 20th over to win a men’s T20 chase (where ball-by-ball data is available). The previous highest was 26 by Deccan Chargers against Knight Riders in 2009 when 21 runs were needed in the last over.29 Runs needed for Kolkata Knight Riders in the final over for a win against Gujarat Titans. These are the most runs any team has successfully chased in the 20th over of a men’s T20 (where ball-by-ball data is available).The previous highest was 23, achieved twice: by Sydney Sixers against Sydney Thunder in 2015, and by Rising Pune Supergiants against the erstwhile Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2016.ESPNcricinfo Ltd1 Number of instances of a team scoring 30-plus runs in the 20th over of a men’s T20 chase before Knight Riders on Sunday (where ball-by-ball data is available). Somerset scored 34 against Kent in a T20 Blast game in 2015 when they needed 57 from the last over.3 Successful 200-plus chases by Knight Riders in the IPL, the joint second-most for a team, drawing level with Chennai Super Kings (3). Only Punjab Kings with four 200-plus chases are ahead of the two. The 205-target Knight Riders chased down in Ahmedabad was Knight Riders’ second highest behind the 206 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2019.0.61 Win probability per ESPNCricinfo’s forecaster when Knight Riders needed 28 runs off the last five balls. After Rinku’s first four sixes, the numbers changed to 1.05, 1.98, 10.0 and 20.56, respectively.Getty Images4 Hat-tricks for Rashid Khan in T20s – the most by any bowler in the format. Rashid was level with five other bowlers on three hat-tricks prior to this game: Amit Mishra, Mohammad Sami, Andre Russell, Andrew Tye and Imran Tahir.69 Runs conceded by Yash Dayal in his four overs. These are the second-most runs conceded by a bowler in an IPL match, behind Basil Thampi’s 70 for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers in 2018.

Which players currently hold the orange and purple caps in the 2023 IPL?

ESPNcricinfo staffUpdated on 27-May-2023

Who is the orange cap holder in the 2023 IPL?

Gujarat Titans opener Shubman Gill may not have ended up winning the title, but he finished as the highest scorer of the tournament, with 890 runs. Gill overtook Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis late in the season to take the orange cap. Du Plessis finished on 830 runs, in second place. Devon Conway of title winners Chennai Super Kings, who made 47 in the final, ended with 672 runs, which places him third, and Virat Kohli, also of RCB, is in fourth, with 639 runs. Gill is the only player with three hundreds this season; Kohli has two.The other seven century-makers of this season are Yashasvi Jaiswal of Rajasthan Royals, Suryakumar Yadav of Mumbai Indians, Cameron Green, also of MI; Prabhsimran Singh of Punjab Kings; Harry Brook and Heinrich Klaasen of Sunrisers Hyderabad; and Venkatesh Iyer of Kolkata Knight Riders.In addition to the top four run-makers, four other batters scored over 500 runs this season: Jaiswal; Suryakumar (605); Conway’s opening partner, Ruturaj Gaikwad (590); and Delhi Capitals captain David Warner (516). The top strike rate among batters to have scored at least 150 runs this season is 183, by Glenn Maxwell of RCB.Rinku Singh of KKR is at No. 9 on the run-makers’ list, with 474 runs. Ishan Kishan of MI rounds out the top ten with 454.Here’s the full list of the top scorers in the 2023 IPL.

Who is the purple cap holder in the 2023 IPL?

Gujarat Titans seamer Mohammed Shami finished the season as the leading wicket-taker, with 28 wickets at an economy of 8.03. His team-mates Rashid Khan and Mohit Sharma (who took three wickets in the final) follow, tied on 27 wickets apiece; Mohit has the better economy rate of the two, 8.17. The three bowlers accounted for 83 wickets among them.Mumbai Indians legspinner Piyush Chawla is in fourth place, with 22 wickets from 16 games. In fifth place, with 21 wickets each are Yuzvendra Chahal (Rajasthan Royals) and CSK fast bowler Tushar Deshpande.Varun Chakravarthy of KKR and Ravindra Jadeja of CSK follow with 20 each, and then come two bowlers tied on 19 – Matheesha Pathirana of CSK, who took 2 for 44 in the final, and seamer Mohammed Siraj of RCB. Siraj is the most economical bowler in the top ten, with 7.50 runs per over.Four five-fors have been taken this season – by LSG fast bowler Mark Wood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar of SRH, Akash Madhwal of Mumbai Indians, and Mohit Sharma of Titans in the Qualifier against Mumbai.Here’s the full list of the top wicket-takers in the 2023 IPL.

Our list includes a left-hand batter with boundless potential and an allrounder who shares Andre Russell’s birthday and some of his skills as well

Deivarayan Muthu14-Aug-2023

Alick Athanaze (Barbados Royals)

When Alick Athanaze was on his way to the joint-fastest half-century on ODI debut, Carlos Brathwaite, who was on TV commentary at the time, dubbed him the “future of West Indies cricket”. Then, after the left-hand batter made his Test debut against India at his home ground in Dominica, in front of his family, R Ashwin picked him among a group of players who could dominate the next decade in cricket. A CPL debut for Barbados Royals this season will only embellish his CV.Athanaze hasn’t played any official T20 cricket yet, but showed during the ODIs against UAE and India that he has a variety of shots in his repertoire, including the reverse-sweep. He also has the experience of having featured in Global T20 Canada and the Vincy T10 league. His ability to bowl offspin and patrol the infield as the outfield makes him a particularly attractive package.Related

• Jamaica Tallawahs trade Rovman Powell to Barbados Royals

• Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers retained by Barbados Royals for CPL 2023

• Pollard, Narine, Russell, Pooran among TKR's retentions for CPL 2023

• In a first, CPL to use 'red card' in bid to combat slow over-rates

Kevin Wickham (Barbados Royals)

Another former West Indies Under-19 player and another Royal, Kevin Wickham is also set for his CPL debut. Wickham, now 20, has played just six first-class and six List A games so far, but has already been part of CWI’s Emerging Players camp and was recently name-checked by Ian Bishop during an interview with ESPNcricinfo.Like Athanaze, Wickham is yet to play any official T20 cricket, but he did produce a Player-of-the-Match performance in the Barbados T10 final, which Settlers won. Opening the batting, he cracked 45 off 21 balls in that final, and could be among the top-order options for Royals too in the CPL. Wickham had also been on St Kitts & Nevis Patriots’ radar and even played for their developmental team against a visiting Scotland side earlier this year.

Matthew Forde (St Lucia Kings)

Matthew Forde shares a birthday with Andre Russell and has modelled his game on the T20 phenom. He can launch sixes down the order, hit hard lengths with the ball, and also bowl deceptive slower cutters, skills that have put him on the radar of T20 leagues even outside the Caribbean.Most recently, he finished Global T20 Canada as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, with 15 wickets in eight games at an average of 10.80 and economy rate of 6.43 in Surrey Jaguars’ run to the final. Though his hero Russell had the final say in that final for Montreal Tigers, Forde did well enough to keep Chris Lynn and Sherfane Rutherford quiet. Forde was also impressive with the ball during the Cool & Smooth T20 tournament, conceding just five runs an over across seven matches.Forde played only seven games for Kings last season but could have a bigger role this CPL after having proven his white-ball chops in the LPL and GT20 Canada.Nicholson Gordon can leak runs but has the knack of picking up key wickets in pressure situations•CPL T20 via Getty Images

Kofi James (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots)

Kofi James was part of Patriots’ development sides and is a product of their extensive scouting system. James started his career as a lower-order batter but has now slid up the order after having expanded his range. It was on display during the Cool & Smooth T20 tournament, where he was the top-scorer with 330 runs in nine innings, including a century, ahead of Scotland internationals like Richie Berrington and Matthew Cross. James’ dart-it-in offspin has also attracted the attention of Patriots’ new head coach Malolan Rangarajan.”Adhishwar (The director of cricket at St Kitts) was on ground during our scouting camps, and he was speaking very highly about Kofi’s potential,” Malolan told ESPNcricinfo in the lead-up to CPL 2023. “I would term him under the ‘potential’ category. He has tremendous potential, but if given an opportunity, he has the tools to come up and produce the goods required.”He is someone who bowls real fast offspin and his batting has improved leaps and bounds. He’s batting at one-down and scoring hundreds in T20 cricket. So that’s the amount of work he’s put in, in his game. Also, he’s a brilliant fielder, so I think the world is his oyster now and he will only get better playing with experienced players at St Kitts.”

Nicholson Gordon (Jamaica Tallawahs)

Nicholson Gordon, 31, is the oldest among the five players in this list but is young in terms of T20 experience. The fast bowler hadn’t played an official T20 until CPL 2022 and ended up winning the tournament with Jamaica Tallawahs. In the final against Royals, Gordon stepped up in the absence of the injured Mohammad Amir, taking out Najibullah Zadran, Corbin Bosch and Devon Thomas.Gordon is a bit like India’s Shardul Thakur. He has a tendency to leak runs but also has the knack of taking key wickets under pressure. And going for boundaries doesn’t prevent him from exploring attacking lengths. Gordon suffered a thigh injury earlier this year but is fit now and ready to bowl the difficult overs for Tallawahs once again.

The crowd, rooted in logic, lived every moment of the India vs New Zealand semi-final

Yash Jha15-Nov-20232:35

Is Shami India’s greatest ODI bowler of all time?

Overheard while walking into the Wankhede on Wednesday: ” [Trent] Boult spell [They need to see off Boult’s first spell, that’s it].” Also: “New Zealand [Wonder what happens every time India meet New Zealand].”They don’t have the “knowledgeable” tag attached, but the Mumbai cricket crowd, by and large, is rooted in logic. So the nerves, while a bit relaxed after India won the toss and took first strike, are in evidence as the first semi-final kicks off. It takes one ball for them to ease – Rohit Sharma’s flick has got the scoreboard, the day, and the crowd ticking.But they have been here before. Two weeks ago, Rohit had started India’s game against Sri Lanka with a first-ball four, only to see his off stump knocked back next ball by Dilshan Madushanka. It had hushed the Wankhede.Related

• 'After-effects of dengue' to blame for Gill cramping up at Wankhede

• India waltz into World Cup final after Shami seven-for and centuries from Iyer and Kohli

• Stats – Shami, Kohli and Rohit on a record-breaking spree

None of that today, though. Rohit defends the next two, and then crashes fours off the next two, and we have lift off. The Wankhede is roaring in relief.Third ball of Boult’s next, they are soaring as Rohit delivers the first six of the day. There are many more to come – 19 in India’s innings alone, their joint-most in an ODI – but the collective “shot!” isn’t to be bettered.The voice doesn’t drop for the first eight overs, as the man who became a cricketer in these parts puts India on course for a ten-over total that is second only to one in the history of men’s ODI World Cup knockout games.They are hushed for the first time when Kane Williamson clings on to a skier – not too dissimilar to his grab to end Ravindra Jadeja’s act in the 2019 semi-final – and the silence is truly stunning, for it stays long enough for the fresh roar and crescendo accompanies India’s No. 3 walking out to the middle. Virat Kohli has walked nearly halfway to the pitch when normal service resumes. Come to think of it, that’s as fitting a tribute as the Wankhede could give to Rohit’s effort.Rohit Sharma gives Trent Boult the charge early in the script•Getty ImagesShubman Gill unfurls his range of strokes to keep Wankhede going, even as Kohli eases himself in. The crowd has some colourful chants in them – more to do with the personal than the professional – but they all sink as Gill has to leave the stage prematurely to cramps.Shreyas Iyer takes off from where he had left in Bengaluru three days back, as indeed out here two weeks ago, and Wankhede swells in pride to the newest Mumbai boy doing it at the highest level. But Iyer’s time will have to wait…The “Kohli, Kohli” chants begin when he’s on 49, and of course there’s a huge roar when he gets to fifty. It’s his first in ODI World Cup knockouts, but that’s not the 50 they are here to see. And so, even though Iyer races to a 35-ball half-century himself, he has to make do with (relatively) quieter adulation, for Kohli is now within touching distance of that second 50.And… at 5.08pm local time, with the Sachin Tendulkar Stand in front of him as he played the shot that would put him on uncharted ground, with the statue in the background by the time he has completed the run, and the man himself sitting in front of him as he hits the ground in celebration, Kohli gets to #50.Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer rolled with the good times in their 163-run stand•AFP/Getty ImagesHe has spoken in the past of how the Wankhede going silent when Tendulkar fell in the 2011 final made him nervous, and that he felt like no one expected anything from him. Then. Here he is now, ten years to the day Tendulkar batted for the last time for India, at the same cauldron, with all of Wankhede having expected – nay, demanded. And he has delivered. They erupt. As one.World record witnessed, the crowd goes back to lapping up the son of the soil as Iyer notches up a 67-ball hundred. For him, they have got the chant that India’s head coach might not approve of: ” Pepsi, Iyer sexy”! (Don’t bother translating!)They enjoy the death overs as India pile up the highest total in a men’s ODI World Cup knockout game – even counting down to Tim Southee’s ignominious century with almost as much glee as Iyer’s a few minutes earlier.With India’s new-ball bowlers for once not striking early, the Wankhede is quieter than usual. But the introduction of Mohammed Shami is met with eager anticipation. “Shami , Shami [Shami’s here],” they go – and when he delivers first ball, they explode into “Shami, Shami”.Mohammed Shami, the first Indian to pick a seven-for in a World Cup game, poses with his loot•ICC via Getty ImagesWhile Shami’s first double-strike of the night wakes them up, his second double lifts them after a tense passage where Williamson and Daryl Mitchell are bringing New Zealand back in the chase. India’s leading wicket-taker of the tournament has the Wankhede properly buzzing.There are moments through the finish. The most common refrain: “Everybody, back to original seats!” Also, “Let’s wrap it up guys, let’s wrap it up!” There’s not much sympathy for Mitchell when he cramps up on 104: “Maxwell [you’re not going to do a Maxwell]!”It’s fitting that the second act concludes with another milestone to add – the first seven-wicket haul in the history of men’s World Cup knockouts – from the man they’ve been screaming for the loudest through the innings.They got it all: a high-scoring World Cup semi-final, with their team winning, and a world record plus two World Cup records to boot. Twelve years ago, this was where India ended a 28-year wait; this time, we witnessed what India had been searching for, for over eight years – victory in a men’s World Cup knockout, in any format. And that, they’ll probably shout from the rooftops for years to come, makes this a Wednesday to remember for the Wankhede.

Mitchell hasn’t got himself a big score yet, but his approach has aligned with that of CSK’s, like when he took Sunil Narine down in the KKR game

Deivarayan Muthu13-Apr-2024Bat up the order? Yes, sir.Demolish spin in the middle? No problem.Turn up at the death and smash sixes? Sure.Floating in the batting line-up is one of the most difficult jobs in T20 cricket, and Ambati Rayudu did it for two of the most successful franchises in the IPL – Mumbai Indians and CSK. He is now retired, but Daryl Mitchell is easing himself into that role for CSK.Mitchell himself has been New Zealand’s do-it-all man for a while. He opened the batting for them in his first ICC tournament – the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021 – and in the ODI World Cup last year he was the most prolific middle-order batter. His versatility tempted CSK to bid up to INR 14 crore for him at the last IPL auction.Related

• CSK-Mumbai rivalry enters new era

• Mumbai look to stretch home streak and keep CSK winless away

• Chepauk roars as Dhonimania caps CSK's perfect night

• How CSK put opposites together to become a batting behemoth

There has been a bit of outside noise around Mitchell not getting a big score yet this IPL. The directive, though, from coach Stephen Fleming to the middle-order batters is clear: make small but quick contributions across the board to reach a big total. Mitchell has produced some cameos so far, helping CSK to three wins in five matches. The approach makes sense because CSK have batting depth all the way down to No. 10 or No. 11. Why not make full use of it?”I am six foot three, I am 100 kgs. So, it’s making sure I use my size and my base and finding ways to put pressure back on the spinners in my own way,” Mitchell told reporters in Chennai before CSK’s third home game, against KKR. “And also learning off other players around the world. We have obviously got a guy called Kane Williamson in our team back home.”He is a pretty good player of spin and I have learned a lot off him, but also watching other players all around the world to see how they go about different conditions, and you’re trying to adapt that to your game.”On Monday against KKR, Mitchell was bumped up to No. 3 instead of Ajinkya Rahane, who had spent a substantial amount of time off the field with a niggle. CSK were 27 for 1 in the fourth over, chasing 138 on a sluggish, grippy Chepauk pitch. The new ball was still doing a bit and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad had decided to anchor the chase in the absence of Rahane.

“It doesn’t worry me where I bat in the order. I am a competitor at heart, that’s what drives me. So, whatever role I’ve got to do for the team to help us try and win games of cricket, I’ll do that”Daryl Mitchell

It was over to Mitchell to take risks and disrupt KKR’s bowling. Sunil Narine, with 538 (!) T20 wickets, was up against him, with a wide long-on in place. Mitchell didn’t care. He charged at Narine, used his reach to meet an into-the-pitch offbreak early and launched him into the stands beyond long-on.That shot forced Narine to dart a slider at middle stump, but Mitchell reverse-swept from the stumps and picked it away to the right of short third and left of deep point. He took 13 off Narine’s first over.When Mitchell stepped out to Narine once again in his next over, he did not meet the pitch of the ball and was bowled for 25 off 19 balls. But the damage had been done. Mitchell had scored 17 of those against Narine off just eight balls at a strike rate of 212.50. It wasn’t quite Rayudu vs Rashid Khan, but Mitchell’s attacking intent aligned with CSK’s approach.”It’s just, again, trying to be as present as you can in that moment,” Mitchell said of his game plan against spin. “And working out what their threats are to you as a batsman and trying to find ways to put pressure back on them. That’s the nature of the game that we play. Sometimes it can look ugly, but you get the runs and get the job done and other times it looks beautiful. So, it’s just working out what’s the surface doing, what are the bowlers trying to do to get me out, and I will keep trying to find ways to put pressure back on them as well.”Daryl Mitchell has chipped in with the ball too, and manned the hotspots in the outfield•AFP/Getty ImagesMitchell has batted in four different positions in five innings so far for CSK. But if Rahane is fit to play in Mumbai, where the pitch is usually quicker and bouncier than Chennai’s, or if Shivam Dube is to be pushed up to counter spin, Mitchell might have to slide down the order on Sunday.”It doesn’t worry me where I bat in the order,” Mitchell said. “I am a competitor at heart, that’s what drives me. So, whatever role I’ve got to do for the team to help us try and win games of cricket, I’ll do that. Whether it’s opening, batting at No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6.”Mitchell has also pitched in with the ball and has manned the hotspots in the outfield. CSK’s team management believes that Mitchell has the game to succeed across conditions, which is why they also picked him for their affiliate, Texas Super Kings, in the MLC, even before he had made his IPL debut for them.The last time Mitchell and the Wankhede came together, he cracked 134 and gave India a scare in the ODI World Cup semi-finals last year. His role at CSK in the IPL is different, and another rapid cameo with a risk-taking appetite would do for them against an MI side that also drips with batting depth and power.Life after Rayudu isn’t looking too bad after all for CSK.

A heated exchange put the South African “in the zone” as he hammered a belligerent century to win Jaffna their fourth title

Madushka Balasuriya22-Jul-2024Bhanuka Rajapaksa kept Galle Marvels in Sunday’s Lanka Premier League final with an 82 off 34 deliveries, but his most consequential role in the game might have been in riling up Rilee Rossouw.It’s not uncommon for athletes to search for added motivation in high-pressure contests. This was revealed about Michael Jordan, for example, in the Last Dance documentary, which showed him picking fights and sometimes even conjure slights out of thin air to help fuel his game.On Sunday, Rossouw might have just taken a page out of Jordan’s book, as he produced a knock of utmost belligerence – an unbeaten 106 off 53 deliveries – to fire Jaffna Kings to a fourth title in five years. The catalyst for Rossouw’s outstanding play, however, had taken place a little earlier.Related

• LPL team of 2024 – Avishka, Udana, Theekshana, Pathirana

• Who is the Lanka Premier League actually for?

It was the 18th over of Galle’s innings, and Jaffna were reeling from Rajapaksa’s epic counter-attack which had peaked just minutes prior when he ransacked Charith Asalanka for 28 in a single over. With emotions fraying and Galle in the ascendancy, the third ball of the 18th saw Rajapaksa complete a single after Kusal Mendis’ throw had ricocheted off the stumps. So far, so innocuous.But when the second throw also deflected, this time off Rajapaksa just as he was creasing at the non-striker’s end, the point of contention arose as Rajapaksa turned and hurried through for a second run.The Jaffna players immediately protested, citing that the ball had deflected off the batter’s body. Rajapaksa, to his credit, had initially put his hand up to stop his partner Dwaine Pretorius from coming back for the second before eventually running once he realised his partner wasn’t stopping. He had even sought to seemingly apologise to his national mates, Mendis and Asalanka, but when the second bye was eventually awarded to Galle, matters boiled over.Rossouw, stationed at mid-off, took a particularly dim view of the incident during a heated exchange with Rajapaksa. Following this, the umpire ushered Rossouw and Jaffna skipper Asalanka over to address the matter, but Rossouw wasn’t backing down. Some amateur lip-reading suggested that the South African was pointing out that that he did indeed know the rules. He was then seen facing up to umpire Kumar Dharmasena as well, before proceedings eventually simmered down.But Rossouw was seething.

“Rilee had told Bhanuka that he had brought the game into disrepute, to which Bhanuka had responded – and then exchanged some words”Charith Asalanka

“Hundred per cent,” Rossouw said after the game when asked by Roshan Abeysinghe if his altercation with Rajapaksa had spurred him on. “People that know me don’t abuse me… it just puts me more in the zone.”As these words were uttered, the camera panned to a stone-faced Rajapaksa. Penny for his thoughts indeed. But boy was Rossouw in the zone. Nine fours and seven sixes meant 78 of his 106 came in boundaries, and some of those strokes exuded disdain – a couple of cross-batted swipes in particular had more than a tinge of anger about them.And so impactful was his knock, it shifted the pendulum considerably in terms of the Player of the Tournament stakes, moving away from tournament top-scorer Tim Seifert and Jaffna’s middle order enforcer Avishka Fernando – the overwhelming favourites pre-game – to Rossouw. His hundred, his second of the season, was by far his best and shot him up to second in the run-scoring charts, while his strike rate moved up enough notches to be the best of those in the top ten.Asalanka was questioned on the incident after the game as well, and he sought to play it down as would be expected.”Usually batters don’t run after something like that, but I think to give Rajapaksa the benefit of the doubt, he was called through for the second and he just responded,” he explained. “Rilee had told Bhanuka that he had brought the game into disrepute, to which Bhanuka had responded – and then exchanged some words.”But you suspect there was not much Rajapaksa could have said in any case to change the outcome. Rossouw, after all, had found his fuel.

Rana has repeatedly shut down some of the biggest hitters in the world and his spell in the IPL 2024 final only enhanced his reputation

Deivarayan Muthu27-May-20241:09

Moody: Difference between KKR and SRH became evident tonight

Mitchell Starc bowled arguably the ball of IPL 2024 in the final to hit the top of Abhishek Sharma’s off stump with a ripping outswinger. In the next over, Vaibhav Arora bowled an outswinger of his own to make Travis Head look silly. Harshit Rana’s dismissal of Nitish Kumar Reddy wasn’t as headline-grabbing, but it was deception at its best.In his very first over, Rana dug in three straight slower offcutters into the red-soil Chennai pitch. He found grip and bounce and bowled it so slow that it seemed more like an offbreak. Aiden Markram and Reddy were desperate to break free. Rana knew it and cranked the fourth ball up to 146kph. He got it to angle in towards off and straighten late off the seam. Reddy was beaten for pace, and could do nothing but nick it behind to the keeper.Slow. Slow. Slow. Frighteningly fast.Related

• Shreyas on final over: Told Harshit this was his time to 'become a hero'

• IPL 2024 trend – the high-impact emergence of the uncapped Indian player

• KKR's bowlers rip through SRH to win third IPL title

• The two Starora overs that defined the IPL final

Most other bowlers do it the other way. But there are some like Dwayne Bravo, Harshal Patel and now Rana who are bucking that T20 convention.Once the ball became older and the Chepauk track slower, Rana rolled out one cutter after another. Heinrich Klaasen was on a run-a-ball 16. He was desperate to get a move on now. But Rana denied him the pace and shifted his line even wider – possibly wider than a set of stumps outside off – to have him chopping on the next ball with a 116.4kph offcutter. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were 90 for 8 in 15 overs. Their last recognised batter was gone. Game over.Simon Helmot, SRH assistant coach,who has worked closely with Bravo in the CPL, delivered a glowing appraisal of Rana’s defensive skills.Harshit Rana showed his bowling chops in the IPL 2024 final•BCCI”He has some variations and I think his variation was his quicker ball and fuller ball,” Helmot said after KKR thumped SRH to win their third IPL title. “Obviously, he has those slower deliveries as well. No excuses but nothing certainly went right for us with the bat. I think Klaasy [Klaasen] playing the ball onto the stumps from wide outside off stump was probably something that didn’t go our way.”He seems to have the ability to adapt his bowling style depending on the conditions. Obviously, he’s well-versed with what the opposition are trying to do. Look, there’s a rich battery of fast bowlers here in India that are exciting, I think, and that’s what the IPL often to bring out – a lot of talent – which bodes well for the Indian cricket team and obviously we’ll be looking for lots of players like him when it comes to auction time next year .”In the first meeting between the two teams this season, Rana had similarly bested Klaasen with his slower cutter. The stakes weren’t as high as on Sunday, but still defending seven off five balls after having conceded a six to Klaasen in the first ball of the final over on a flat Eden Gardens pitch is no mean feat.The guy has been repeatedly shutting down some of the biggest hitters in the world. Against Lucknow Super Giants in Kolkata, Rana restricted Nicholas Pooran to 16 off 11 balls with cunning pace variations on wide lines from over the wicket.In all, Rana picked up 19 wickets in 13 games, the most by an uncapped Indian player and only Jasprit Bumrah (20), Varun Chakravarthy (21) and Harshal (24) have more wickets than him this IPL. The slower ball has been responsible for ten of Rana’s 19 wickets, according to ESPNcricinfo’s logs. The variations have particularly served him well in the middle overs (between seven and 16) where he has the best economy rate (7.88) among fast bowlers who have bowled at least 100 balls during the phase this season. It’s better than the likes of Pat Cummins (7.92), Harshal (8.96) and his own team-mate Andre Russell (10.31).1:20

How dominant were KKR this season?

What makes Rana so difficult to put away?”Oh! I haven’t had to face him . He’s learning his skills or he’s learning what his skills are capable of this IPL,” Starc said. “I obviously didn’t know him beforehand. So, he seems pretty confident in his abilities. He started the season having had to close out a game against the second-best team in the tournament. He’s bowled some tough overs and he’s had to bowl the last overs in some games and he’s taken a good amount of wickets throughout.”I think he’s certainly open to listening – whether it would be from Shreyas [Iyer] as captain or working around [with other bowlers at] training. He’s certainly got the ability and he’s only young. He’s going to get better and better the more he works at it. The variations in his pace or slower balls have worked a treat at certain stages as well.”Rana was just a net bowler with Gujarat Titans in 2022 before KKR brought him in as a replacement player in the same season after Nitish Rana, his Delhi team-mate in the domestic circuit at the time, had suggested his name to the team management. In two seasons, he has improved beyond sight.He is also a capable batter – he has a first-class hundred to his name and averages nearly 50 after nine innings – though KKR didn’t require his secondary skill this season. He is already part of the India A system and IPL success could well put him in contention for higher honours.