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Kent put up decent total but unable to contain South Group leaders with ball

ECB Reporters Network01-Jul-2022Surrey, long-time leaders of the Vitality Blast’s South Group, clinched a home quarter-final by beating Kent Spitfires by four wickets with Jason Roy’s 27-ball 58 and Sam Curran’s 30-ball 50 leading a spectacular chase in a high-scoring affair.A full house crowd of 30,000 at the Kia Oval lapped it up as 25 sixes in all were struck as Surrey, with 14 of those blows in their 195 for 6, hunted down Kent’s 191 for 5 with nine balls to spare.It was Surrey’s tenth win from 13 group games, with one match rained off, and both Laurie Evans and Will Jacks also made solid contributions with the bat as Kent’s bowlers simply could not defend what seemed a challenging total.Alex Blake had earlier entertained the packed stands with 50 not out from 25 balls included four sixes and two fours, but even his hitting paled besides the extraordinary strokeplay of Roy and Curran.Fast bowler Matt Milnes, who finished with the painful figures of 3-0-48-0, felt the full force as Roy took three successive and almost contemptuous leg-side sixes and then a four from his second over, the sixth of the innings, which cost 24.And, when Milnes was recalled for the 17th over, Curran twice smashed him straight for six and also pulled him with whiplash force for another six over deep square leg as 19 more were plundered from it.Both Curran and Roy hit five sixes, with opener Roy also striking five fours before he was bowled by spinner Qais Ahmad in the seventh over.Aaron Hardie pulled Grant Stewart for six in 15 on debut, before being run out failing to answer Curran’s call for two, and Qais later removed both Jamie Overton and Curran in his final over to end up with a creditable 3 for 28. But, even though Kent tried seven bowlers, the fit-again Darren Stevens strangely did not bowl at all and Jamie Smith ended the game by crunching Fred Klaassen over cover for four.Kent’s total was based around three sparkling innings – 41 off 29 balls by Tuwanda Muyeye and Jordan Cox’s 31-ball 54 at the start, and then the explosive Blake at the end. Perhaps Blake, indeed, should have come in one place earlier, rather than at No. 5, so cleanly did he strike the ball.Blake’s most eye-catching stroke was when he skipped down the pitch to Sunil Narine, whose first three overs had cost only 12 runs, to smash the West Indies mystery spinner a long way over the wide long-on boundary for six. It was a stroke which also inspired George Linde to drive Narine back over his head for another six as the Trinidadian’s final over, the 18th, cost him 14.There were also maximums for Blake high over extra cover and square cover off Overton and Reece Topley, respectively, plus another huge blow mowed into the stands over wide mid wicket off Jordan.Put in, Kent lost Joe Denly for 5 in the second over when allrounder Hardie, Surrey’s overseas player replacement for the injured Kieron Pollard, struck with his third ball for the club to have the former England batter caught off a skier at extra cover.But, kick-started initially by Muyeye who later in that over superbly picked up a leg-stump ball and deposited it high over the deep square leg ropes for six, the second-wicket pair played beautifully to add 75 in 6.3 overs – in the process accelerating Kent to 67 for 1 after the six-over powerplay as 24 also came off Hardie’s second over, the fifth.Muyeye pulled Hardie for six over long leg and guided the next ball behind backward point for four before Cox hit the Australian for two sixes, first flicked over deep square leg and then hammered to wide mid wicket.A risky second run to deep midwicket in the eighth over saw Muyeye run out by Evans’ sprint to the ball, pick up and throw and Cox, after hitting Overton for three successive fours in the ninth over, fell to a good catch by Roy running back at short third five overs later, when he skied an attempted big hit at Overton.By then Jack Leaning had gone for 6, caught by keeper Smith sweeping at Dan Moriarty’s left-arm spin and Stevens kept Blake company for a while before, on 13, skying Narine to Roy running around behind the bowler from mid-off.

The allrounder is currently not in Australia’s T20 XI but has started the Hundred in fine form

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2022Ellyse Perry will remain with Sydney Sixers for at least another season, and will continue to captain the club as they look to revive their fortunes in the WBBL after missing finals for the last three campaigns.Sixers finished bottom last season for the first time in the tournament’s history, having been fifth in the previous two editions. During the first four years of the competition, they reached the final and were back-to-back winners in 2016-17 and 2017-18.”The club has been such a significant part of my career, and I am especially proud of what the team has been able to achieve both on and off the field over the last seven years, especially in terms of engaging and inspiring lots of young girls and boys to be involved in cricket,” Perry said.Related

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“I’m really looking forward to the challenge this season presents, and also the opportunity to play at home again.”Perry was comfortably Sixers’ leading run-scorer last season with 358 at 35.80 but only made one half-century, even as her strike rate of 91.32 put her under scrutiny.She subsequently lost her place in Australia’s T20I side for the Ashes, and continued to be on the sidelines for the recent Commonwealth Games where she was also recovering from a stress fracture of her back picked up at the ODI World Cup earlier this year.However, Perry has started the Hundred in fine style for Birmingham Phoenix with 58 off 31 balls, and an unbeaten 39 off 28 in her first two innings.”She is such a fantastic athlete,” Phoenix team-mate Sophie Devine said. “The way she has evolved her game as well. I know she has her critics around the shorter formats but what she has done these last two games she’s shown her class is permanent.”Meanwhile, Sixers will have a new coach this WBBL season, with former England captain Charlotte Edwards having taken over from Ben Sawyer.”I am elated that Ellyse has re-signed with the Sixers, and am very excited about working closely with her to return the club to the finals in WBBL08,” Edwards said.”Ellyse has been one of the world’s best players for a long, long time, and is part of the fabric of the Sydney Sixers. I have no doubt she will continue to lead the team by example as we look to play an attacking, exciting brand of cricket that our fans can be proud of.”Sixers begin their tournament against Brisbane Heat in Mackay on October 13, and will play their first three matches at that venue with games against Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne stars to follow.They have three matches at the North Sydney Oval to complete their regular season on November 16, 18 and 20.Current Sydney Sixers squad Jade Allen, Nicole Bolton, Maitlan Brown, Erin Burns, Stella Campbell, Lauren Cheatle, Ash Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry (capt)

Manchester Originals coach wants changes to Hundred play-off system

Vithushan Ehantharajah03-Sep-2022Manchester Originals coach Simon Katich has urged the ECB to rethink staging the Hundred eliminator 24 hours before the final.Speaking after his team lost a nail-biter at Lord’s to eventual 2022 champions Trent Rockets, Katich lamented what he saw as a tired performance with the bat and was in no doubt that playing at the Ageas Bowl on Friday night contributed to such a display. Originals posted 120 for 9 in their innings only for Rockets to snatch victory at the death, winning by two wickets with just two balls to spare.Having lost their first three matches in the group stages, Originals won their remaining five games to finish second and take on London Spirit in the eliminator. After successfully chasing down a target of 151 against Spirit, Originals jumped on the team bus and eventually got to the London Marriott Hotel Regents Park in the early hours of Saturday morning.Related

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Despite not doing themselves justice with the bat, it looked like they were turning things around with the ball until Rockets captain Lewis Gregory struck six, four and then a single to seal victory in the final set. Katich, while full of praise for how his team pulled things around in the second half of the match, was under no illusions that his team were having to rally against the fixture schedule.”Tonight, it just looked like we were a little bit tired with our decision-making,” Katich said. “And that was totally understandable given we had a great win last night at the Rose Bowl and then backed up again tonight.”I spoke to our board about it last night after our game. I don’t think there’s any other competition in the world [where a semi-final and final are played so close together at different venues]. Don’t get me wrong, this is a great competition. The last two years, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, speaking to the players, all the coaches who have come from overseas. But it’s probably something that needs to be looked at.”It’s not an excuse, but our boys just looked tired tonight, particularly with the bat. We didn’t string partnerships together and we’ve done that really well all tournament. It just probably affected our decision-making in the end.”It is tough because you get in at sort of 1am, 1-30am. It’s hard to sleep straight away because the adrenaline is buzzing after a game like we had last night. And then you’ve got to back up again straightaway.”Credit to our boys, I thought they were magnificent in what they were able to do, even with that. We gave ourselves a chance to win it. But it’s something that probably has to be looked at.”Katich also suggested further tweaks should consider home advantage for the team that finishes top of the group, with second-place hosting the eliminator. In this instance, that would have seen Originals host Spirit at Emirates Old Trafford, with the winner playing Rockets at Trent Bridge.”Had London Spirit got through last night, they’re basically playing at home in a final,” Katich said. “Lord’s is a very special place to play a final, don’t get me wrong. But that’s something that might be discussed down the track, whether second place gets to host the eliminator and then whether the top team gets to host at home as well.”ESPNcricinfo understands the Kia Oval will be floated as a potential candidate to host next year’s final. That case might be reinforced after this Finals Day, when the men and women had to contend with a tough pitch that was not conducive to engaging cricket, until the very end of the men’s final.Following Oval Invincibles’ victory over Southern Brave in the women’s Hundred, player of the match Marizanne Kapp described the surface as “really tough”. Those sentiments were echoed by Originals captain Laurie Evans: “The pitch wasn’t the best for fours and sixes, but it obviously gave a great game of cricket.”

The visitors are likely to try and field their strongest attack in what is a must-win series

Firdose Moonda05-Oct-20225:43

What should India’s XI for the first ODI be?

Big picture

The good news is that this series is not without context. South Africa will be playing for World Cup Super League points. And they are desperate to get them. The better news – for them – is that they are doing it against a second-string Indian side that doesn’t have too much riding on these three matches, and could be ripe for the picking.But the bad news? There isn’t any really, except if you were hoping to see India’s best ODI players on display over the next six days. Oh, and there is a lot of rain around – especially for the first two matches – which could put a dampener on the whole thing.According to the visitors’ opening batter Janneman Malan, they are approaching this series as if they are “in a submarine” to try to block out the distractions caused by Mark Boucher’s imminent departure as head coach, the disappointment over captain Temba Bavuma’s non-purchase at the SA20, and the concerns over his form leading onto the T20 World Cup (more on that later).Related

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Instead of pondering on all that, South Africa are applying a laser-like focus to the task at hand – getting themselves as close as possible to automatic qualification for the ODI World Cup next year, which will be played in India and where they are getting a small taste of the kind action they don’t want to miss out on.Since full-capacity crowds were allowed back into Indian grounds with South Africa’s visit for five T20Is in June earlier this year, the stadiums have been packed with the noise and colour the Covid-19 pandemic robbed us of. It is those people that India’s coach Rahul Dravid – who will not be in charge of the ODI team as he makes an early exit for Australia – told the broadcasters after the third T20I that India have relished playing for. They have had a glut of white-ball home fixtures – which, you could argue, will be lost in the bigger picture – but India coach Dravid recognised the joy it brought to spectators. Context matters, of course, but cricket can also be just cricket.And it is never really just cricket, is it? Indian fans will remember well that the team was swept 3-0 in a bilateral ODI series against South Africa in February this year, and will wonder what kind of response their team is preparing. South Africa may just emerge from the submarine for long enough to remember that was the last ODI series they won, and try to use it as an inspiration for this one.Shikhar Dhawan has three fifties in his last six ODI innings, but his last hundred came in 2019•AFP/Getty Images

Form guide

India WWWWW (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa LWLWL

In the spotlight

Temba Bavuma needs runs, and needs them quickly as he gears up for the T20 World Cup on the back of a comeback from injury. Until the T20Is on this tour, Bavuma had not played international cricket since April after missing South Africa’s tour of England with an elbow problem and has had a torrid time since returning.With two ducks and a score of 3 from the T20I series, his form is a major concern; but the longer white-ball format may just give him the opportunity to turn things around. With time to build an innings and little pressure to go full tilt from the first ball, Bavuma can concentrate on both the technique and the tempo of his game, and find some confidence ahead of the World Cup.Shikhar Dhawan‘s last ODI hundred came 26 innings ago at the 2019 World Cup. In that time, Rohit (2), Rahul (3) and Kohli (2) have scored seven hundreds between them. Shubman Gill established his white-ball credentials in the series against Zimbabwe and West Indies, scoring three half-centuries and a career-best 130 in his last six ODIs for India. Although more than a year away, the 2023 World Cup will be driving Dhawan, and if he wants to be absolutely sure of a spot, a good time to start piling on the runs is now.

Team news

The anticipation around Royal Challengers Bangalore star Rajat Patidar could come to an end if he makes his international debut in this series, but he is competing with Rahul Tripathi, who has been around the national set-up for the past few months.However, all eyes will still be on Deepak Chahar, who has made a successful comeback from a torn quadriceps, and is on the radar as one of Jasprit Bumrah’s replacements in India’s T20 World Cup squad.India (possible): 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Ishan Kishan, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Rahul Tripathi/Rajat Patidar, 7 Shardul Thakur, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Mohammed SirajAndile Phehlukwayo could come into contention for the allrounder’s spot•Getty Images

South Africa are not deploying any of their players to Australia for the T20 World Cup early, so will have their full-strength squad at their disposal. Bavuma is expected to be a straight swap for the injured Rassie van der Dussen from the England series, with the rest of the middle order – Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller – likely to remain consistent.Andile Phehlukwayo and Marco Jansen, both T20 World Cup squad reserves, could come into contention for the allrounder’s spot, with South Africa likely to try and field their strongest attack in what is a must-win series.South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Janneman Malan, 3 Temba Bavuma, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo/Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Anrich Nortje/Marco Jansen, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Kagiso Rabada

Pitch and conditions

Neither team has ever played an ODI at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium, with the majority of its international fixtures being between Afghanistan and West Indies in 2019. There, in three ODIs, the average first innings score was 230, which suggests the ground may not support quick scoring. However, India have played two T20Is at the ground and put up totals of 195 and 199, which may indicate differently. It has been raining significantly in Lucknow, and showers are expected for most of the day.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa lie in 11th place on the World Cup Super League points table, with four victories and 49 points from 13 games so far. After forfeiting the three-match series in Australia, the maximum number of points available to them from here is 80: 30 vs India, 30 vs England and 20 vs Netherlands.That means if they win all their remaining matches – and have no over-rate violations which result in a points penalty – they will end up on a total of 129 points. England, Australia, Bangladesh and Pakistan already have 120, with six matches left to play.
• South Africa and India were due to play in Lucknow in March 2020 but the match was cancelled as the Covid-19 pandemic began to impact the world and thus the sport. The stadium has hosted three other ODIs – all between Afghanistan and West Indies in 2019.

Quotes

“Everyone knows how important the next eight games are for the Proteas in the ODI format. We are trying to maximise the points. The World Cup is in India. It’s nice to get good prep and put in good performances to hopefully join the tournament.”

Suggests it would help him avoid the risk of being run-out backing up at the non-striker’s end

Andrew McGlashan29-Oct-2022Glenn Phillips’ innovative move to take up a sprinter’s start position at the non-strikers’ end was not pre-planned although he did suggest that it would help him avoid the risk of being run-out backing up which he said was an entirely justifiable dismissal.Phillips’ running between the wickets was a standout feature of his spectacular hundred against Sri Lanka at the SCG, but it was his position poised low in the crease as though in the starting blocks, rather than the traditional method of watching the bowler run in, that piqued interest – even if he later admitted he had actually got things slightly wrong.”I guess the position was to be able to see the bowlers and take off as quick as possible,” he said. “From a sprinter’s start when you’re trying not to be out of the crease as much as possible – there’s been a lot going around about Mankads and leaving the crease.”At the end of the day, it’s my responsibility to make sure that I’m in the crease and leave at the right time. If the bowler is doing his job, then he has the right to be able to take the bails off. For me to be able to get into that start, that position as quick as possible, it just made sense.””It was very much spur of the moment. I actually had my three-point start wrong, which my best mate’s going to probably give me a little bit of stick for later on. It’s supposed to be the other arm and other leg.Related

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Phillips was unsure whether his tactic would take off more widely, but felt his natural speed meant he benefited from it despite losing the extra reach that would be gained by the traditional method of having the bat behind the crease.”Maybe some people will use it. Maybe some people won’t,” he said. “Obviously the extension of the bat being in the crease gives you another extra foot or two, but at the end of the day, I’ve got little arms. So my speed is probably going to get me a little bit further than my reach is.”