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Isa Guha, the former England seamer, has become the first woman to be appointed to the board of the Professional Cricketers’ Association

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2017
Isa Guha, the former England seamer, has become the first woman to be appointed to the board of the Professional Cricketers’ Association.Guha, 31, becomes a non-executive director of the players’ union.She retired from international cricket in 2012, having played a part in England’s victories in both the World Cup and the World T20 in 2009, as well as two Ashes triumphs in 2005 and 2007-08, when she took career-best match figures of 9 for 100 at Bowral.She has since gone on to forge a career in broadcasting, becoming the first female summariser on BBC Test Match Special in 2014, before co-hosting ESPN’s coverage of the 2015 World Cup in Australia.”Isa has a vast knowledge of the game from a men’s and women’s perspective,” said David Leatherdale, the PCA chief executive. “With our international women players now full members of the PCA, Isa will bring real insight to the PCA board.””I am delighted to be joining the PCA at an exciting time for the game here in England for our men and women at both domestic and international levels,” Guha said.”I look forward to working with the team at the PCA, and with all the many past and present players, as the country prepares for a number of major events, starting with the ICC Champions Trophy and the Women’s World Cup this summer.”

Bangladesh were in a difficult position when the third day of their 100th Test, against Sri Lanka, began but with Shakib Al Hasan’s century and debutant Mosaddek Hossain’s 75, they were able to recover

The Report by Mohammad Isam17-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:33

Isam: Bangladesh did many things right on day three

Bangladesh made a memorable comeback in their 100th Test as their last five wickets nearly batted through the entire day. Shakib Al Hasan was at the centre of it all, making his fifth century in the format and ensuring his team took the first-innings lead for only the second time while batting second away from home.When they were bowled out for 467, Bangladesh had pulled ahead by 129 runs and had just enough time for a quick burst at Sri Lanka’s openers too. Dimuth Karunaratne and Upul Tharanga, though, were able to withstand the hostility and reach stumps at 54 for 0. That the hosts were forced to play catch up in Colombo – they were still 75 runs behind – was largely because of Shakib.With Bangladesh starting the day 214 for 5 and 124 runs away from parity, they needed a senior batsman to show them the way. Shakib took the responsibility and the most striking aspect of his innings was that though he didn’t necessarily bat slowly, he didn’t play too many reckless shots. He persevered through the quiet periods to make a substantial contribution, one that he might remember for a long time considering the landmark occasion.Sri Lanka might remember it too, much to their chagrin, because they had dropped him on 11 and 67 and missed a run-out attempt when he was on 40.Mushfiqur Rahim also made an important contribution, hitting a half-century of his own and sharing in a 92-run partnership with Shakib. It was broken by Suranga Lakmal, who armed with the second new ball, induced a false shot and bowled the Bangladesh captain through the gate. If Sri Lanka had thought they might roll the rest of the batting line-up over, considering it was just a debutant and the tail to follow, they were in for an unpleasant surprise.The 21-year old Mosaddek Hossain showed great application to make 75 off 155 balls in his first Test innings to propel the total past 450. With plenty of their batsmen stepping up, Bangladesh added 102 runs in the first session, a further 112 in the middle session and each time they lost only one wicket.Galle 2013 was the first time in Bangladesh’s history that they had taken a first-innings lead batting second in an away Test but with Shakib and Mosaddek’s 131-run stand for the seventh wicket, they were able to emulate that feat in Colombo.Sri Lanka had an entry into the record books as well. Rangana Herath became only the second man from his country to take 1000 first-class wickets. He claimed the record by trapping Mustafizur Rahman lbw and finished with 4 for 82 in 24.1 overs. Left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan also finished with a four-for.Given the slowness of the P Sara pitch so far, the fate of the Test now depends on which team can hold their nerve better. Sri Lanka had done well to get through to the end of play without any mishaps – although Karunaratne did give a chance, tickling Subashis Roy down the leg side only for the wicketkeeper Mushfiqur to fumble a very difficult catch – but if Bangladesh’s bowlers can match the discipline shown by their batsmen they can look forward to causing some damage on the fourth day.

The offspinning allrounder is among the four new faces in the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s new salary scheme that has rewarded the players with a pay raise for 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2017

OUT: Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Al-Amin Hossain
IN: Mehedi Hasan, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain
List of contracted players for 2017: Grade A+: Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal
Grade A: Mahmudullah
Grade B: Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar
Grade C: Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mosaddek Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman
Grade D: Taijul Islam, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Mehedi Hasan

Mehedi Hasan is among the four new faces in the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s list of contracted players for 2017, along with other first-timers, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Mosaddek Hossain and Taskin Ahmed. Rubel Hossain has also been included on the list, after missing out in 2016.Nasir Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain and Arafat Sunny have not been offered a contract. All three have been out of the Bangladesh team for extended periods. Nasir, however, returned to the ODI squad for the Ireland tri-series, having last played the format at home in October.Mehedi, Rabbi and Taijul Islam have been included in the grade D category and will receive US $15,000 each this year, an increase from the $11,250 awarded to players in the category in the previous contract cycle. Over the past eight months, Mehedi has become a regular member of the Bangladesh side while Taskin and Mosaddek have, this year, appeared in all three formats for the first time in their international careers.Rubel, Taskin, Mosaddek and Mustafizur Rahman have been slotted a grade higher, and are set to receive $22,500 each. The previous remuneration for players in grade C was $15,000.Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar have all been classed in Grade B, and will earn $30,000 this year. Mahmudullah is the only player in the list of 16 to be included under grade A, having been handed a demotion from grade A-plus, and he will receive $45,000. Those in grade A-plus will receive $60,000 this year, coupled with an incentive for being a captain or a vice-captain. Among players in this bracket, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza are the highest paid, and will receive $63,000 each. In the last contract cycle, players in the A-plus grade were paid $37,500.The BCB increased the salary of its contracted players this year after protracted discussions with some of the senior players, who, pointed out that they earn far less than all other Test-playing nations and less than their counterparts in Ireland and Zimbabwe.

The best team at ICC events since 2010 marched into its fourth final in seven tournaments to set up a summit clash against Pakistan, pitting the tournament’s best bowling sides against each other

The Report by Sidharth Monga15-Jun-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Kiss of death: Kedar Jadhav gives Tamim Iqbal’s leg stump a peck•Getty Images

The best team at ICC events since 2010 marched into its fourth final in seven tournaments to set up a summit clash against Pakistan, pitting the tournament’s best bowling sides against each other.Like they did in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final, first time semi-finalists Bangladesh went toe to toe with India for about 30 overs – even inched ahead perhaps – but came apart against the non-turning, part-time, extremely slow offspin of Kedar Jadhav. They slipped from 142 for 2 in 25 overs to only 264 on a fresh pitch at Edgbaston. While Jadhav brought down the total from the realms of 320, Jasprit Bumrah’s final spell of 5-0-27-1 shaved a further 20 off what Bangladesh looked good for.In response, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan put up an exhibition, picking apart Bangladesh’s bowling with delectable stroke-play. Rohit brought up his first hundred of this tournament and moved to No. 2 on the run-scoring charts; Dhawan reclaimed the lead from Tamim Iqbal; and Kohli – who had been scoring runs despite not looking at his best – signalled a return to sublime form while becoming the fastest to 8000 ODI runs. It was an ominous sign for India’s opponents in what will be their third final appearance in the last four 50-over ICC events; in the other event they lost in the semi-final.There was a calm to how India chased down the target, the slickness of a team used to such situations. This was their sixth semi-final in ICC events in seven years. Veterans of big matches, they prefer to sit back while their oppositions work themselves into a frenzy; when they make a mistake, India swoop in.It looked like they had done that in the seventh over when Bhuvneshwar Kumar out-thought the aggressive Sabbir Rahman after he had raced away to 19 off 12. Having seen him chip down twice to clear mid-off, Bhuvneshwar started to mix bouncers and length balls. Bumrah did his bit by cramping Tamim Iqbal up at the other end. Thirteen straight dot balls brought the expected loose shot, and the wicket, to the sucker ball, reducing Bangladesh to 31 for 2.Mushfiqur Rahim kept attacking, dropping Bhuvneshwar over mid-off, but settled down soon, carrying the struggling Tamim. Signs were ominous for India – reminiscent of the World T20 semi-final last year – when Hardik Pandya overstepped when castling Tamim, who would have been out for 12 off 36 then.Instead Tamim and Mushfiqur batted perfectly against the India spinners. Mushfiqur is a hard man to bowl to for a spinner because his height means that good length balls end up getting cut or pulled. And he has the various sweeps to unsettle them when they start pitching it up. Tamim grew in confidence, too. Every time India strung together dot balls, either of them would hit a boundary. By the 25th over, they had added 111 in 19.1 overs. They had negated the main spinners, and had also taken 28 off Pandya’s three overs, which meant India now had a fifth-bowler problem.That fifth-bowler problem turned out to be their blessing in disguise. Bangladesh believed they should have hit four of the first 11 Jadhav deliveries for boundaries. They were short and they were juicy, but because Jadhav’s pace is off, they played with batsmen’s rhythm. Three of those were hit straight to fielders, and the fourth was rescued by a diving Bhuvneshwar at cover-point. Had any of these balls reached the fence, you can be pretty sure the 12th ball would have gone differently. Now, though, Tamim went for the slog sweep but the ball never arrived, and when it did it clipped the leg bail. India could sigh in relief: Tamim had taken 58 off the last 46 balls he faced.Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja – 25 in his first four overs – now began to rush through the overs. Shakib Al Hasan slowed them down a touch with a cut boundary off Jadeja, but when he went to repeat it in Jadeja’s next over, he chose a ball not short enough, and MS Dhoni produced a sensational catch. The coup de grâce of this death by slowness came in the 36th over, when Mushfiqur chipped a dipping full toss from Jadhav straight to short midwicket. Bangladesh since Jadhav’s introduction: 10.2 overs, 37 runs, and three wickets to rip the heart out of the batting.Of the core Bangladesh batting, only Mahmudullah was left. With Mosaddek Hossain, he took Bangladesh to the final 10 overs with five wickets in hand and 207 on the board, but in the final 10 came Bumrah. He had had an ordinary start to this tournament, but, like in the South Africa match, he bowled quick, he bowled smartly, and he cramped Mosaddek for a return catch and then hit the base of Mahmudullah’s off stump with what looked like a laser-guided yorker.The bowlers had done their job once again in what has arguably been their best tournament in adverse conditions. The ball hasn’t swung, but you can see – for the first time arguably – that India bowlers have had defensive plans in place, and have executed them, especially Bhuvneshwar and Bumrah. Now it was up to the batsmen to make sure this good work didn’t go to waste.Bangladesh’s only chance lay in accessing India’s suspect lower middle order early, but on a flat pitch with no deviation off the straight, India’s top order took them to school. Every shot hit with ease was a message to the Bangladesh batsmen who had ended at least 50 short. If Dhawan went deep to punch them square, Rohit stood tall and played punch-on drives; if Rohit cut with ease, Kohli unleashed some vintage cover drives that had not quite been coming off in the league stages. It was as if there was a contest within a contest: who will play the most glorious shots. It all worked for India, who ended the chase in 40.1 overs.

West Indies were aided by rain after putting up a strong batting display against Pakistan which saw Deandra Dottin reach her maiden ODI hundred, supported by Stafanie Taylor’s 90

The report by Varun Shetty11-Jul-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Deandra Dottin launched an attack in the back end of the innings to push West Indies to 285•ICC/Getty

Deandra Dottin’s first ODI century lifted West Indies to 285 and did half the job against Pakistan, a team that hadn’t made more than 150 for four innings in a row. And although Pakistan put up a solid response, a combination of rain and quick wickets meant their innings was cut short on 117 for 3 – 19 short of the DLS par score in 24 overs. It was their 13th successive loss in a World Cup match.Pakistan’s revised target was 245 in 38 overs and Javeria Khan was unbeaten on 58 when rain interrupted the game for a third time. She added 80 with opener Nahida Khan before offspinner Anisa Mohammed dismissed the opener for 40. Thirteen balls later, Iram Javed, promoted ahead of Nain Abidi, holed out to extra cover off what turned out to be the last ball of the match.It meant that the fluent stand between Javeria and Nahida, that kept Pakistan close to the DLS par score, went in vain. Pakistan captain Sana Mir admitted to a “lapse” in planning after the match, with the side preferring not to take the batting Powerplay when the drizzle started getting heavy.Earlier, rain had delayed the start of the game by an hour. Stafanie Taylor, who had lost the toss, found herself out in the middle after the end of the first over. Having hustled the openers by utilising the overcast conditions with a couple of swinging deliveries, seamer Asmavia Iqbal floated up an offcutter and had Hayley Matthews chipping a return catch.The left-handed Kycia Knight then threatened to monopolise the cover boundary, striking four dominant boundaries through the off-side belt. But Asmavia was back with another cutter, this one climbing away from Knight whose aimless prod outside off resulted in a outside edge that was smartly taken by Sidra Nawaz low to her left. Asmavia even ventured up the pitch to make the wicket a memorable one – shouting out a clear send-off to the perplexed batsman. By the time Pakistan captain Mir offered her an apologetic pat, she was an amused batsman. But one who was out, nonetheless.Chedean Nation joined her captain in the fifth over. West Indies continued to find the boundary regularly – at one point, 48 of the 63 runs had come in fours – to offset an otherwise tight bowling display from Pakistan. Taylor channeled Knight and was particularly punishing through the off side. She made most of the 87 runs the pair put on for the third wicket before Nation, who has faced some criticism for throwing away starts this tournament, walked across and exposed her middle stump in a bid to sweep. She would be Nashra Sandhu’s only wicket.When Taylor brought up her fifty, it was West Indies’ first of the tournament. There wasn’t a deliberate attempt to accelerate after she reached the landmark. The priority, it seemed, was to build a long innings and take an otherwise fragile batting line-up as deep into the innings as possible. Her own innings pushed into the 40th over, before an attempted drill past Diana Baig was caught by the bowler in her follow through. She missed out on a sixth ODI hundred by ten runs.The acceleration came from Dottin who, in the mid-innings break, acknowledged that she had looked to play straighter. With five fours and a six, she brought up her fifty off 49 balls in the 42nd over. And from there began West Indies’ acceleration. Seventy-four runs came off the last seven overs; 54 of those were pummeled from Dottin’s bat in just 27 balls, including a six that came from a launch over long-on to bring up a 71-ball hundred. She celebrated by flinging her bat to square leg – like someone who should have had a first hundred long before her 99th ODI innings.

Liam Norwell and David Payne produced an inspired new-ball spell as Gloucestershire roared back into the game at Wantage Road

Jon Culley at Wantage Road07-Aug-2017An impressive performance by a patched-up attack to secure a first-innings lead of 78 for Northamptonshire was severely undermined when they lost their first five second-innings wickets for 19.In a terrific display of new-ball bowling – in complete contrast to the first innings – Gloucestershire’s Liam Norwell and left-armer David Payne left Northamptonshire’s outside chance of promotion to Division One looking decidedly fragile in a match they probably need to win.They were backed up by some fine catching, too, as George Hankins dived to his right at third slip to snap up an edge as Payne removed Rob Newton for a single, before Will Tavare moved sharply to snare Ben Duckett at second slip and give Norwell his first success.Payne then came up with a beautiful delivery to uproot left-hander Max Holden’s off stump, before Norwell pinned Rob Keogh in his crease and produced another cracker four balls later to clip the top of off as Richard Levi groped helplessly.It had taken only six overs to wreck what had been shaping up as an excellent day for the perennial over-achievers, who are nicely placed to advance to the knockout stage again in the NatWest Blast, in which they are looking to become Twenty20 champions for the third time in five seasons, and had put themselves in contention to return to the top division by winning three of their last four red-ball matches.They recovered a little to 50 for 5 at the close but will need a big innings from captain Alex Wakely if they are to construct a lead substantial enough to have a chance of defending.A maiden five-wicket haul for Richard Gleeson had been the key factor in dismissing Gloucestershire for 265, despite the absence of their leading wicket-takers, Ben Sanderson and Nathan Buck, as well as spinner Graeme White, whose injuries have left them seriously short of bowling resources.In addition to Gleeson, the late starter whose success so far has been mainly in T20 and who had played only one first-class match in 2017 before this one, their attack included left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan, who has arrived on a month’s loan after falling down the pecking order with Lancashire, and Atif Sheikh – remember him? – who had played only one first-class match in more than two years.Each of them claimed a wicket, although neither seized his chance anywhere near as impressively as Gleeson. The 29-year-old right-arm seamer from Blackpool had not played any county cricket until two years ago and did not have a contract until this year.A huge success already in T20, in which he took 14 wickets last season despite missing Finals Day through injury and has another 10 this summer, Gleeson demonstrated transferable skills by removing both Gloucestershire openers with the new ball, backing that up with a fine spell in the afternoon that saw Jack Taylor and Craig Miles dismissed off consecutive deliveries and, after Kieran Noema-Barnett had defied his hat-trick attempt, completing the quintet with the wicket of academy offspinner George Drissell, who was making his debut.Late movement accounted for Gareth Roderick and Tavare, who edged to wicketkeeper and second slip respectively, while it was a brute of a ball that did for Taylor, who could only fend to the one slip. The yorker that he has used so effectively in T20 then did its job against Miles and Drissell.Gleeson was understandably chuffed with 5 for 46 against his name, although it would have been better still had Adam Rossington been able to bring the ball safely under his control as Hankins, who went on to make 73, edged one on 33 just before lunch.Kerrigan, who has never been the same since that horrible Test debut in 2013, has made only two Championship appearances this season for Lancashire, where Stephen Parry, Matt Parkinson and perhaps even Arron Lilley are seen to have moved above him in the spin-bowling hierarchy.He showed the skills were still intact when he lured Phil Mustard down the track and spun the ball on to the stumps past the inside edge, although Keogh’s offspin did more damage overall, removing Hankins and Ian Cockbain in the space of seven balls after a fourth-wicket stand of 69. Keogh later dismissed Noema-Barnett, lbw slog-sweeping for a feisty 59.Sheikh, who played for Derbyshire in 2010 and for Leicestershire from 2014 to 2016, does have a hat-trick against Gloucestershire to his name, in 2014, albeit one of limited impact given the opposition total was 591 at the time. He has been playing 2nd XI cricket for Northamptonshire in the hope of rebuilding his career.He took a while to find his rhythm but was eventually rewarded when he took out Payne’s middle stump.The weather forecast for the final two days is not encouraging, although the action thus far has unfolded swiftly enough to suggest a positive result is still likely.

A back inflammation has ruled James Pattinson out of the Test series

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Aug-20170:44

Quick Facts – Bird’s impressive figures

Fast bowler Jackson Bird has replaced James Pattinson in Australia’s squad for their upcoming tour of Bangladesh. Pattinson has been ruled out of the tour with inflammation in his back.The loss of Pattinson is the second blow suffered by Australia’s pace attack in less than 24 hours, with Mitchell Starc also ruled out, having failed to recover fully from a long-term foot injury. Legspinner Mitchell Swepson replaced Starc in the squad.Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Bird are now the only three frontline pace bowlers in Australia’s squad. The Boxing Day Test against Pakistan at the MCG last December was Bird’s last Test appearance. He was part of Australia’s squad on their tour of India in February-March, but did not get to play a Test.Australia will start their tour with a two-day warm-up game in Fatullah on August 22 and 23. The first of two Tests starts in Mirpur on August 27. After months of doubt over whether it would go ahead or not, the tour got its green signal following the resolution of the contracts dispute between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association.Australia squad: Steven Smith (capt), David Warner (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Jackson Bird.

A clash between the dates of the Pakistan National T20 Cup with the BPL and South Africa’s Global T20 means the participation of Pakistan’s players in overseas leagues is in doubt

Danyal Rasool and Umar Farooq06-Sep-2017The participation of Pakistan’s players in the Bangladesh Premier League and the inaugural edition of the Global T20 in South Africa is in doubt, as Pakistan’s national T20 competition is scheduled to clash with those dates. With the PCB strongly indicating that the National T20 Cup would “take precedence over global leagues” around the world, the possibility of around a dozen Pakistan players being unable to fulfil global T20 commitments looks very real.This is the second time in as many months that the scheduling of the National T20 Cup has created uncertainty. Last month, the PCB revoked the NOCs of 13 Pakistan players participating in the CPL and the English domestic circuit to participate in the National T20 Cup, then slotted to begin on August 25. The move especially frustrated the counties concerned and even led a senior member of the Pakistan team management to describe it as “a bit of a mess”. However, just days later, PCB chairman Najam Sethi announced the postponement of the National T20 Cup to November, saying the recalled players had to undergo fitness tests, after which they were free to resume their engagements abroad.The National T20 Cup is now scheduled to run from November 4-19, the entirety of which clashes with significant chunks of both the BPL and the Global T20. The BPL lasts from November 2 to December 10, while the Global T20 begins on November 3, with the final taking place on December 16. Further complicating the situation is the fact that the PCB has already gone ahead with a selection process last month with a draft ceremony. All sponsorship rights were sold, which means the PCB eventually has to hold the tournament sometime this year.When ESPNcricinfo approached a PCB spokesperson to enquire about the potential clash, he said that players would “naturally” have to fulfil their domestic commitments. “I can say that the National T20 Cup will take precedence over other league,” Amjad Hussain, director media and coordination, said.At least seven Pakistani players were expected to take part in the Global T20, with Wahab Riaz, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Nawaz, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Anwar Ali and Imad Wasim signed by various franchises. While the player list for the BPL is not yet out, Junaid Khan and Shahid Afridi had confirmed that they would take part in Bangladesh’s premier T20 competition.”We haven’t heard about anything from the Pakistan players as yet, officially or unofficially,” Ismail-Haider Mallick, secretary of the BCB governing council, told ESPNcricinfo. “But if it happens then it will be a big loss for the players as BPL is one of the most competitive leagues in the world. But we are not too worried about the situation as we have a lot of foreign players who can replace missing Pakistan players.”

The excessive media coverage that followed his reporting of an allegedly corrupt approach frightened the Pakistan captain

Umar Farooq25-Oct-2017Sarfraz Ahmed was relieved and scared in the aftermath of being the target of an allegedly corrupt approach.The Pakistan captain reported the approach last week and though the PCB did confirm a player was approached with a fixing offer, it refrained officially from revealing the identity of the player at the time. It had passed on the information to ICC, internally allowing the global body to take over the matter.Speaking about the approach for the first time on Wednesday, ahead of Pakistan’s first T20I against Sri Lanka, Sarfraz said though he found himself relieved after reporting the incident, he was also “scared” watching himself excessively discussed on television.When the news first broke last Saturday, as expected, it was widely covered by the Pakistan media. Sarfraz was lauded for his swift response, but, given Pakistan’s history with fixing incidents, it understandably jangled some nerves.”Whatever happened, it is done and I did what I was supposed to do,” Sarfraz said in Abu Dhabi. “But I wasn’t frightened after informing; in fact, I was more scared watching myself on TV. I was discussed on TV so much that at some stage I started to feel fear. But by the grace of Allah, everything is getting normal. When you are going into a series you need to be normal and everything is going good so far.”Earlier this year, the second edition of the PSL, in the UAE, was disrupted by a spot-fixing scandal. A number of Pakistan players were the target of corrupt approaches there and have since been punished by the PCB – a few for failing to report approaches and two players – Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif – for more serious breaches of the PCB’s anti-corruption code.”To be honest the player reacted unbelievably well, he did everything required of him and we had a chat straight afterwards,” coach Mickey Arthur said on Monday after the incident.”It was handled brilliantly and I think that is a real example to our team and to the cricket world that a really important player was approached and acted to the letter of the law and did exceptionally well as a true ambassador of the game. I am very comfortable with our players they are outstanding and I have no doubt that if anyone is approached they will do the same way as the individual did.”Pakistan’s tour of the UAE has come down to the final leg, with the first match of the three T20Is against Sri Lanka on Thursday at the Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi. A new-look Sri Lanka T20 squad was announced after several players, including regular limited-overs captain Upul Tharanga, had refused to travel to Pakistan to play the last match at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. Despite clean sweeping the opponents in the ODI series, Sarfraz did not wish to take the young Sri Lankan side for granted.”They have a new team but I know them as I have played against them when they were with A team,” Sarfraz said. “I know Mahela Udawatte, [Danushka] Gunathilaka, [Isuru] Udana and T20 is a different form of the game and whoever plays better on the day will win. It will be an interesting series and fans will be able to see good cricket.”We naturally are very happy because we will be playing at home and if we can go on to lift the trophy in front of home fans, then nothing like it.”

Mahedi Hasan and Rashid Khan returned combined figures of 4 for 34 in eight overs as Comilla defended 153 and rose to second on the table

The Report by Mohammad Isam18-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRaton Gomes/BCB

Comilla Victorians’ spin duo of Mahedi Hasan and Rashid Khan returned combined figures of 4 for 34 in eight overs to fire their team to a fourth successive win in the 2017-18 BPL and rise to second spot on the table. In a match whose value shot up simply by the presence of the number of marquee names, Comilla defended a total of 153 for 6 to beat Rangpur Riders by 14 runs in font of a packed Shere Bangla National Stadium.Rangpur were severely bolstered by the arrivals of Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum. But their explosive power at the top could not come to their aid in a chase of 154. Rashid, the 19-year old legspinner, struck with his second ball, trapping Gayle lbw and opening the gates, as Rangpur never quite recovered.Comilla’s innings was built around Imrul Kayes’ 32-ball 47 at the top, followed by a more sedate 41 off 34 balls from Marlon Samuels. Mashrafe Mortaza led his attack brilliantly, snaring 2 for 22 in four overs, while Thisara Perera’s 2 for 26 saw him become the Sri Lankan, after Lasith Malinga, to take 200 wickets in T20 cricket.Mashrafe calls the early shotsComilla boast a top four that can pack quite a punch, but for all their hitting prowess, Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das and Jos Buttler combined for a total of 33 runs and fell well inside the first half of their innings. Rubel Hossain struck first when he got rid of Tamim Iqbal after getting spanked for a brace of fours earlier in the over. Mashrafe then struck twice in three balls. First, Liton Das desperately charged down and swung clumsily to lose his middle stump. Then, with the second ball of his next over, Mashrafe had Buttler trapped in front of middle and off after the batsman looked to play across the line. Comilla were reduced to 55 for 3 in the ninth over.Kayes keeps Comilla tickingFrom 55 for 3, Kayes and Samuels steered them to 100, adding 45 runs for the fourth wicket. Kayes’ knock wasn’t the most convincing one, but it served its purpose and set Comilla up nicely for the slog overs. He went on to become Thisara Perera’s 200th scalp, when somelate reverse swing took out his leg stump.Samuels continued to find the boundary at timely intervals, before he too fell to Perera, reaching out to a wide yorker and nicking off to the keeper. Samuels struck four fours and a six in his knock. Mohammad Saifuddin launched the final over of the innings with a six and a four against Rubel as Comilla pinched 14 runs off it and crossed the 150 mark.Gayle and McCullum’s rocky startPerhaps the biggest talking point heading into this game was Gayle and McCullum joining forces at the top of the order for Rangpur. While the duo would make for a potent partnership on most days, Comilla chose to counter them by opening the bowling with the off-spin of Mahedi. The young offspinner pinged Gayle’s pad with the first ball he bowled to the left-hander. Though it looked dead plumb to the naked eye, umpire Ranmore Martinsez refused to budge despite Comilla desperately pleading with him. Replays later showed that the ball was heading towards Gayle’s legstump.Mahedi’s first over had cost just 1, but Brendon McCullum reversed the pressure on Comilla by crunching a six and a four in the next over, off Al-Amin Hossain. Mahedi was then denied a wicket for a second time when McCullum got down to sweep him and the ball just about shaved his legstump. Two deliveries after that, Hasan Ali had Gayle dropped off his bowling when Liton Das failed to latch on to a catch after running back. With Gayle punishing Hasan for three fours in the over, it seemed as though Comilla would be left to pay a heavy price for the lapses.Rashid, Mahedi rip through RangpurRashid Khan’s introduction immediately added a sense of eagerness to the game. The potential of a contest between two of the heaviest hitters and the opposition’s most wily bowler was exciting. Two balls were all it took for Rashid to come out on top of that one as he got one to skid into Gayle’s pads. Gayle, however, wasn’t second-time lucky as the umpire gave him out despite the ball having pitched outside leg. Two balls later, he had Kusal Perera sweeping at a googly and top-edge to backward square leg.Mahedi followed it up with a double-strike of his own in the next over. McCullum charged down to a length ball and got nowhere to the pitch of the delivery to be stumped. Shahriar Nafees had his off-stump flattened with one that gripped and turned, and Rangpur had lost four wickets in eight balls.Laboured consolidationRavi Bopara survived on 1 when Kayes couldn’t hold on to a spectacular effort at first slip. Thereafter, he and Mohammad Mithun got down to rebuilding Rangpur’s innings, although Comilla’s bowlers greatly slowed things down. By the time the partnership was broken, when Mithun drove Al-Amin Hossain straight to Tamim at extra cover, they had added 67. But in the face of a mounting required rate, the partnership did not have its desired impact, as Rangpur were left requiring 55 runs off the remaining 28 balls.