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A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy Group B matches on October 11, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Left-arm spinner Rahil Shah took two wickets and complemented pacer Aswin Crist•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A four-wicket haul from the medium-pacer Aswin Crist helped Tamil Nadu to crucial first-innings points, against Madhya Pradesh in Indore. MP, who began the day well-placed at 181 for 0 in reply to Tamil Nadu’s 596, suffered a mini-blip once Rahil Shah provided the breakthrough to dismiss Aditya Shrivastava for 90. Shrivastava’s opening partner Jalaj Saxena made his way to a century, but quick strikes from Crist meant MP fell from 213 for 0, to 288 for 7. Naman Ojha offered a brief resistance, scoring 87 and putting up a 94-run stand with Puneet Datey, but Rahil and L Vignesh soon cleaned up the tail, ensuring MP were bowled out 407, and that TN took away three vital points.
ScorecardAndhra claimed three points against Gujarat on the back of a first-innings lead of 113 runs. Resuming the final day on 24 for 1, Gujarat were held together by four half-centuries. Opener Priyank Kirit Panchal added 109 with Bhargav Merai before he became Bodapati Sumanth’s maiden first-class victim. Panchal was the next fall when he was trapped lbw by Prasanth Kumar for 72 off 173 balls. Ruijul Bhatt and Parthiv Patel also hit fifties as Gujarat finished at 254 for 4 in 90 overs.Wicketkeeper-batsman Srikar Bharat, who scored 127 in the first innings, was named Man of the Match.Mumbai v Punjab: Herwadkar six-for seals Mumbai’s innings win

Virender Sehwag treated Vidarbha fans to some vintage cuts, early forward movement, and even a six, before in typical Sehwag fashion, falling to a lazy run out, on day one against his former team Delhi

The Report by Sidharth Monga in Delhi15-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Virender Sehwag hit some vintage fours before being lazily run out for 37•BCCI

It was typical Virender Sehwag. Before coming to the ground he, always the showman, tweeted, “If you are a true fan of Sehwag, then come to Kotla and watch the game.”If it is a big match, he says it is a big match. He is not one for diplomatic “every game is important for us”. Playing against his home side until now, Delhi, Sehwag asked for the support of “true fans of Sehwag”. Now true fans of Sehwag are familiar with his moments of ecstasy and deep frustration in equal measures. There was more of that frustration than ecstasy on day one in the match against Delhi, Sehwag’s original side.In the seventh over of the day, Ishant Sharma brought Sehwag in by drawing an edge from Rahul Dewan. Sehwag walked in amid a lot of chirping, the crowd began to swell to eventually reach about 200, and the anticipation arose. To the first ball, Sehwag typically planted his front foot down. But neither was this the old Sehwag, nor the old Ishant. The ball reared off just short of a length, and hit the shoulder of the bat. For the next ball, Sehwag stayed back.Ishant, the man whom Sehwag had famously asked to bowl one more over in Perth, was now asked to bowl a fifth over. Ishant had generally been bowling four-over spells in Sri Lanka. This was expected, too. The best bowler in the side asked to bowl one extra over to the biggest name in the opposition batting line-up.Tthe action, though, was all at the other end, as Ishant’s extra over went away uneventfully. Pradeep Sangwan, the bowler at the other end, bowled short. Sehwag cut in the air, but he cut so hard that Yogesh Nagar at short cover-point took evasive action. The ball hit the shin pad even before he knew it. Later in the over, Sehwag pushed at a wide length ball, with no feet, and edged past gully for four.Soon, though, Sehwag found the timing on the cuts. Twice, he cleared point with the cut. Once he edged Sangwan over slips, but that is not a risky shot for Sehwag. He knows if he connects them he gets four, and if he edges them it clears the slips. Then, he walked down to Sangwan and drove him wide of mid-on for another four. He began to stand a couple of yards outside the crease to the quicks. As Sehwag began to get settled, Manan Sharma, the left-arm spinner of Delhi, began to take wickets with a lack of turn. Chaitanya Bishnoi and Himanshu Rana fell in the space of two overs, lbw to Manan.Sehwag’s response was immediate. As the new batsman walked in, he found time to wave to his fans, sending them into a frenzy. He then began to chat with Ishant who was walking back to his mark. And then he tried to respond in the way he knows best: dance down, hit Manan off his rhythm by sending him into the grass bank behind wide long-on. Early on a Thursday morning, Kotla had come alive.Now was the true test of true Sehwag fans. In the same over, he hit to Ishant at mid-on, and called Sachin Rana through for a single. Sehwag ran hard, looked like he would make it easily, and then just plonked his bat in. To those watching from square it was obvious he had been caught short, but the third umpire was called on. The 200 people began to shout, “Not out, not out,” but Delhi began to celebrate. Sehwag walked back. Everything became quiet.Thirty-seven runs off 61 balls. Some vintage Sehwag cuts, a loose push, an early forward movement, a six, and a lazy run-out. A Haryana official who walked in late showed no surprise when told the way Sehwag got out. Nor did the fans. They are used to such disappointments: loose shots, lazy running et al. So they sat and watched Delhi chip away at the rest on a slow pitch and bowl the visitors out for 195 before negotiating nine overs for 22 runs without any loss.

Left-arm spinner Morna Nielsen’s maiden five-for meant New Zealand Women handed Sri Lanka Women another hammering, by 10 wickets in the fourth ODI in Lincoln

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Morna Nielsen’s career-best figures of 5 for 21 included a wicket maiden•ICC/Solaris Images

Left-arm spinner Morna Nielsen’s maiden five-for meant New Zealand Women handed Sri Lanka Women another hammering, by 10 wickets in the fourth ODI in Lincoln. Sri Lanka were first bowled out for 126, with the help of Nielsen’s 5 for 21 before the hosts’ openers whittled down the target in under 19 overs. It was New Zealand’s second 10-wicket win of the series.Sri Lanka’s top order started slow, after opting to bat, as the score read 23 when they lost opener Hasini Perera in the 10th over. They lost wickets regularly from there as medium-pacer Sophie Devine struck twice in consecutive overs even as opener and stand-in captain Chamari Atapattu worked her way along to her 10th ODI fifty. However, she was bowled by Nielsen, who came into the XI for Leigh Kasperek, for 56 in the 30th over and Sri Lanka were reeling at 87 for 6. A brief resistance of 37-ball 31 from No. 8 Ama Kanchana helped Sri Lanka past 100 but they were bowled out in 46.2 overs as Nielsen wiped the tail off.New Zealand captain Suzie Bates had a new opening partner in Amy Satterthwaite, instead of Rachel Priest, but the result was no different. The openers scored at nearly seven an over and while Bates struck 10 fours in her 51-ball 70, Satterthwaite fell short of her fifty by a run despite hitting six fours. It was Bates’ third consecutive ODI fifty and the first time New Zealand Women produced three straight century opening stands in ODIs.

Virat Kohli is the highest-paid cricketer in the IPL, according to salary figures released by the league on Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2016Virat Kohli is the highest-paid cricketer in the IPL, according to salary figures released by the league on Friday.While Kohli will cost his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore Rs 12.5 crore (approximately USD 1.89 million) from their salary purse, they will actually pay him Rs 15 crore (USD 2.26 million). MS Dhoni, for long believed to be the most expensive IPL cricketer, will be paid USD 1.89 million, which is equal to his purse deduction, by the Pune franchise. Pune secured Dhoni in a draft of players who were part of the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals franchises.Apart from Royal Challengers, who are paying Kohli and Chris Gayle more than the purse deduction, Mumbai Indians are paying Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and Ambati Rayudu more than the purse deduction they result in.However, contrary to the general perception that quite a few players used to get paid much more than the official purse deduction, quite a few have actually taken big cuts. Manan Vohra, retained by Kings XI Punjab, will get less than 10% of his Rs 4 crore (USD 600,000) purse deduction. Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and David Miller are among those getting paid less than the purse deduction they are responsible for.Each franchise is required to spend a minimum of Rs 40 crore (USD 6 million) but not more than Rs 66 crore (USD 9.96 million) on their squad. However, when the franchise retains players, the purse-deduction slots are what are considered for the purpose of calculation of what it can and should spend.Kings XI are thus keen on saving money; after negotiating the salary with Vohra, they can actually spend far less than USD 600,000 on him. However, they will still lose USD 600,000 from their purse ahead of the auction. Royal Challengers, on the other hand, don’t seem to mind spending extra.In the case of former Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals players, though, the new franchises didn’t have any room to negotiate. The BCCI had assured the players left without teams but drafted by the two new teams they would be paid the same amount as they were earning earlier. So while Ravindra Jadeja might take away Rs 9.5 crore (USD 1.43 million) from Rajkot’s purse, he will actually get only Rs 5.5 crore (USD 0.83 million).

Azhar Ali has said he and Mohammad Amir had “moved on” from the complications that beset Amir’s reintegration to the Pakistan team, in the approach to the New Zealand tour

Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Jan-2016Azhar Ali has said he and Mohammad Amir had “moved on” from the complications that beset Amir’s reintegration to the Pakistan team, in the approach to the New Zealand tour. He said he would focus on captaining Amir, and helping create an environment in which the bowler could thrive.The first ODI on Monday will be the first occasion in which the two will play together, since Amir’s return to international cricket. “He bowled well in the T20s I think,” Azhar said. “As the captain my job is to take the best out of him. Hopefully we will all be united and with Mohammad Amir, and we will allow him to bowl really well and get wickets for Pakistan.”

Elliott credits diligence for bowling contributions

New Zealand allrounder Grant Elliott said his recent effectiveness with the ball in T20s was thanks to “hard work”. Elliott took nine wickets on the four occasions he bowled in the recent T20 series, against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
“As an allrounder sometimes your batting’s not going as well and you want to be able to get into the game,” Elliott said. “I always think about what I wouldn’t want to face, when I’m bowling. For me in T20s, it’s about taking pace off the ball. In the one-dayers it’s slightly different. I want to try and swing the ball and hit the back of the length.”
New Zealand are without Ross Taylor in the ODI series, after the batsman sustained a muscle injury in his side during the final T20. Brendon McCullum is also injured, but Elliott said the team had enough skill and experience to cope with the absences.
“It’s unfortunate what’s happened to Ross, but that always creates opportunity for guys to step up. We’ve got a lot of experience in this team. I think what we’ve seen in the past is that guys have come in during the recent tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe, filled gaps and done pretty well.”

Four weeks ago, Azhar had been among two players who sought to avoid a pre-tour conditioning camp, stating: “I will not attend the camp as long as Amir is there.” He had also attempted to resign the ODI captaincy over Amir’s inclusion, before the Pakistan Cricket Board intervened. He struck a more philosophical tone in Wellington.”Whatever my stance was, my job is to lead this side and keep harmony in the dressing room,” he said. “We are all united and keen for this challenge.He did not want to be drawn on what has allowed his position to change since December. “We should not discuss more about it. We’ve moved on.”In the event Azhar is the passive-aggressive type, the Basin Reserve does present him with a unique opportunity. Bowlers who have upset their captains sometimes find themselves bowling into the stiff wind that is a feature of the Wellington climate. A strong northerly breeze is forecast for the day.”We already discussed it and we’re practicing in this wind,” Azhar said. “So everyone is prepared for that.”In addition to Amir, Azhar has a legion of left-armers in the squad. Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan and Rahat Ali are likely to play at some point in the series, and left-arm spinning allrounder Imad Wasim has also been effective with the ball since making his debut last year.”A lot of the good bowlers that are coming in – most of them are left-armers, in Pakistan,” Azhar said. “Sometimes it’s an advantage because not every team has left-armers. They bowl at good pace as well, so we’re lucky to have them.”With bounce and pace expected in the Basin Reserve surface, Azhar said he hoped Irfan could trouble opposition batsmen. New Zealand allrounder Grant Elliott said Irfan’s height and pace made him an “exciting” bowler to face.”I think I made the comment that playing Irfan was like batting on a trampoline,” Elliott said. “The height that he comes from is very different. It takes a little bit of getting used to – the first couple of balls. He’s another great player for the crowd to see bowl. He’s seven foot and bowls at 140 clicks.”

The International Cricket Council on Monday confirmed that it has charged and provisionally suspended Hong Kong batsman Irfan Ahmed for a breach of the anti-corruption code

Mohammad Isam11-Jan-2016The International Cricket Council on Monday confirmed that it has charged and provisionally suspended Hong Kong batsman Irfan Ahmed for a breach of the Anti-Corruption Code.The offence is under Article 2.4.2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code (effective from 10 October 2012 to 10 November 2014) which states, “Failing to disclose to the ACSU (without undue delay) full details of any approaches or invitations received by the Participant to engage in conduct that would amount to a breach of the Anti-Corruption Code.”An ICC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo that, “In accordance with the terms of the Code, a disciplinary process is currently underway and the ICC is not able to make any further comment on the matter pending the outcome of the disciplinary process.”Hong Kong Cricket Association CEO Tim Cutler said, “We are firmly committed to upholding the integrity of our sport and we fully support the ICC’s broadened concern around this grave threat to the soul of cricket. We must always put player welfare at the centre of our concerns and no matter what, there is a young man here who needs to be our immediate concern and we will be there for any support we can offer.”The 26-year old Ahmed has played six ODIs since his debut in 2008, as well as eight T20Is, the last of which was in July 2015. He had been in the top bracket for centrally contracted cricketers in Hong Kong in 2014-15, but was not retained for the 2015-16 season.

Pakistan and UAE will need their wobbling batting to take inspiration from their fabulous bowling to open their account in the Asia Cup

The preview by Alagappan Muthu28-Feb-2016

Match facts

Monday, February 29, 2016
Start time 1930 local (1330 GMT)1:11

‘Amir is world-class’ – Waqar

Big Picture

Pakistan arrived late from the PSL party, misread the threat in the Mirpur pitch and fell to a new low. Essentially they had come in to work hungover. UAE, on the other hand, have been at their desk for a while, but they seem to have forgotten something. All is well when they bowl, but when it is their turn to bat, they are left a little red-faced. Like the nervous new recruit who’d turned up at the office with a pristine shirt and no pants.Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis are aware of Pakistan’s problems, though neither chose to lay blame. The pitches in the UAE had been slow but straightforward otherwise; spinners were the major threat and once they were handled, batting became simple enough. Not so in Bangladesh, where the new ball keeps zinging off a green pitch. Pakistan were still holding on against India until a couple of run-outs totally derailed them. If they can be a little more careful, runs are still on offer as the innings wears on.Mohammad Amir’s performance against India can’t be called a revelation because he was always a freakish fast-bowling talent. But he could have lost that talent after five years in cricketing exile. The fact that he hasn’t is cause for Pakistan to stay upbeat.UAE captain Amjad Javed had expressed a hope that his own batsmen take inspiration from how his bowlers have set up matches for victory. Pakistan’s batsmen should be thinking along similar lines. If they’d made 30 more runs than the 83 they had crumbled to on Saturday, who knows what could have happened?It should help that Pakistan now play a lower-profile team than India. Minus the pressure, they can work on getting used to conditions and ticking the boxes that are required to win matches. UAE, at that point where they are here for the memories, will try their best to sneak in a few trick questions.

Form guide

Pakistan LLLWL (last five completed matches)
UAE LLWWW

Watch out for

Pakistan’s batting needs a steady hand, more so considering they’ve got a few players in the top order who are still new to international cricket. Shoaib Malik can be the man to take up that responsibility. He is a former captain and he has played over 300 matches across formats for his country. He’s also known to be partial towards singles and twos to begin with but can flex his muscles later on.He has helped put UAE’s results on the right track since taking over captaincy of the T20 team, so would it be too much to ask Amjad Javed to do the same to their batting? He is noted for his ability as a powerful ball-striker, but he has a century in first-class cricket, and a List A highest of 164 off 117 balls. For the T20 fan, he struck 76 off 42 balls against Scotland only three weeks ago. Maybe he should try batting up the order.

Team news

Four fast bowlers seems the best way forward for Pakistan, so Mohammad Nawaz may still be sidelined. Imad Wasim, although a left-arm spinner too, may not be excluded so easily considering he can be a handy middle-order batsman. Perhaps he might come into the XI in place of Khurram Manzoor.Pakistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Sharjeel Khan, 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Imad Wasim, 6 Shahid Afridi (capt), 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Mohammad Sami, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Mohammad IrfanUAE have had major issues with their batting, as totals of 82 and 115 for 9 suggest, but there are not many options in their squad.UAE (probable): 1 Rohan Mustafa, 2 Muhammad Kaleem, 3 Mohammad Shahzad, 4 Shaiman Anwar, 5 Mohammad Usman, 6 Amjad Javed (capt), 7 Swapnil Patil (wk), 8 Saqlain Haider, 9 Fahad Tariq, 10 Mohammad Naveed, 11 Ahmed Raza

Pitch and conditions

Oh, don’t act like you’ve not loved the fast bowlers having a little fun. Mirpur has been sporting and good batsmen seem to like it too. Virat Kohli, last night, said Mohammad Amir’s spell was the kind a batsman to play and prove himself with.

Stats and trivia

• This will be the first time Pakistan and UAE face each other in T20 internationals. They have played three ODIs before in 1994, 1996 and 2015
• Afridi has 66 sixes from 85 T20I innings. Three more can take him up to fourth place on the all-time list, beating David Warner’s 67 and Martin Guptill’s 68

Quotes

“When we expect our players to do well, it’s frankly at the Associate level… Pakistan has a fast-bowling attack that can run a team down really quickly.”
“It was tough to bat yesterday, but we had miscalculated somewhat, because we had no idea about the conditions. It wasn’t a typical T20 wicket where you look at 170 or 180. Obviously, you learn from your mistakes, and that’s why we are here to practice.”
.

There was time for Tony Palladino to pass another noteable milestone and Michael Hogan to strike two quick blows for Glamorgan before rain cut short the second day

ECB Reporters Network25-Apr-2016
ScorecardTony Palladino collected his 10th Derbyshire five-for (file photo)•PA Photos

There was time for Tony Palladino to pass another noteable milestone and Michael Hogan to strike two quick blows for Glamorgan before rain cut short the second day of the game at Derby.Derbyshire seamer Palladino took his tenth five-wicket haul for the county and the 12th of his career before Timm van der Gugten and Andrew Salter revived Glamorgan by adding 63 in 15 overs. Hogan then removed Chesney Hughes and Hamish Rutherford but Ben Slater and Wayne Madsen prevented further setbacks until the rain arrived and wiped out the final session.Batting was more demanding than on day one and Glamorgan’s lower order crumbled in the face of some fine bowling by Palladino, who struck in consecutive overs.Luke Fletcher made the first breakthrough, defeating Craig Meschede’s drive without addition to the overnight score, before Palladino got one to lift sharply at Graham Wagg, who was well caught by Hughes at first slip. When Hogan’s attempt to clear the ropes ended in the hands of Rutherford back-peddling from mid-off, Glamorgan had lost three wickets in four overs for six runs but Derbyshire were frustrated by a tenth-wicket stand that secured a fourth batting point.The bitterly cold conditions made bowling difficult for legspinner Matt Critchley, who was twice dispatched for six by van der Gugten, the second landing on the roof of the pavilion. The Netherlands seamer also hit four fours before he edged Wes Durston low to slip.Derbyshire’s reply was briefly halted by a sharp shower but Slater and Hughes profited from some loose bowling until Hogan broke through from the Racecourse End.Hughes had his off stump knocked back as he aimed an expansive drive with little foot movement and Rutherford also contributed to his own downfall six overs later. The New Zealand international lifted a short ball from Hogan over the slips but only picked out Salter at third man, where he took a well-judged catch just inside the ropes.Madsen did well to survive his first ball, which reared unpleasantly, but Glamorgan could not maintain the pressure as the third-wicket pair added another 40 runs before the rain clouds rolled in.

An unbeaten 58-ball 93 from David Warner, his eighth half-century of the season, steered Sunrisers Hyderabad through a tense chase against Gujarat Lions and into their maiden IPL final

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy27-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDavid Warner hit 11 fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 58-ball 93•BCCI

An unbeaten 58-ball 93 from David Warner, his eighth half-century of the season, steered Sunrisers Hyderabad into their maiden IPL final. Warner batted through a tense chase of 163 even as Lions chipped away at the wickets, and found a calm lower-order ally in Bipul Sharma at a critical juncture when Sunrisers needed 46 from 25 balls. They won with four wickets in hand.Bipul has excellent first-class numbers for an allrounder – a batting average of 43.45, a bowling average of 28.98 – and is perhaps more of a batsman than a bowler at that level: he has six hundreds and nine half-centuries in 38 matches, but only 76 wickets and two five-fors. He has had more opportunity to bowl his left-arm spin rather than bat in his IPL career, though he showed his ball-striking ability in the Eliminator, hitting two clean sixes off Morne Morkel in the final over of Sunrisers’ innings.Warner wasn’t in a good mood when Bipul came to the crease. He had addressed angry words to Tom Moody, the Sunrisers coach, who had come out with drinks and instructions at the fall of the sixth wicket. Warner was ostensibly displeased with the way Naman Ojha had got out, taking on Dwayne Bravo and picking out the fielder at deep midwicket.Bipul quickly gave Warner reason to trust him, taking the safe but clever option against Praveen Kumar’s yorker, shuffling across to clip into the deep-set leg side field, picking up two twos in three balls in this manner. In between, Praveen bowled a half-volley, and Bipul lofted it for a straight six. Dhawal Kulkarni began the next over with four wide yorkers, conceding only one run from them. But then, with Sunrisers needing 32 from 14, Bipul walked across his stumps, and scooped a full-toss over the square leg boundary.Bravo began his final over with figures of 3-0-13-2. He and the left-arm wristspinner Shivil Kaushik had been responsible for a mid-innings slump that had seen Sunrisers go from 61 for 2 in eight overs to 91 for 5 in 13. But now the momentum was with Sunrisers, and Warner confirmed it in the classic T20 manner – an attempted extra-cover loft that ended up streaking to the third man boundary. Another four from Warner – a surgically placed slap past point that was better representative of his innings – and another big six from Bipul down the ground left Sunrisers needing only five to win off the last over. Warner only needed two balls.Lions probably knew even before the match that Warner would be their biggest obstacle, and he reinforced that feeling with a boundary off the very first ball of the chase, a sweetly timed clip to the square-leg boundary off Praveen. But Lions soon discovered they didn’t necessarily have to go through Warner to win; they could go around him. The first two wickets were gifts – Shikhar Dhawan went for a silly run in the second over and paid the price; Moises Henriques slapped a short, wide ball straight to cover. Yuvraj Singh tried to hit his way out of the pressure of seven dots in 12 balls, and holed out to long-off.Bravo, mixing up his pace expertly, and Kaushik, not turning the ball all that much but turning it both ways from a length just beyond the reach of a safe front-foot hit, intensified the pressure on Sunrisers, consuming Deepak Hooda and Ben Cutting in the process. When Ojha came to the crease, Sunrisers needed 79 from 45.Warner kept Sunrisers in the hunt, swinging the last ball of Kaushik’s spell for a leg-side six and taking heavy toll of the 15th over, bowled by Dwayne Smith, flat-batting a short ball for a six over long-off and squeezing a wide yorker past point for four. Ojha joined in with a pulled six off the last ball, taking the tally from that over to 19, and bringing the equation down to 47 from 30. A sensational 16th over from Bravo, conceding only two and picking up Ojha’s wicket, seemed to swing it back Lions’ way, but Warner and Bipul had the final word.Sunrisers suffered a blow even before a ball had been bowled, with Mustafizur Rahman ruled out with a hamstring injury. Trent Boult came into the side and made an immediate impact, catching Eklavya Dwivedi at third man to leave Lions 7 for 1 at the end of the first over. Changing Brendon McCullum’s opening partner had not made any difference to Lions, whose last four opening partnerships had yielded 9, 0, 0 and 2.Boult then dismissed Suresh Raina in the fourth over, lbw playing across the line, and Lions were 19 for 2. There was little in the pitch to really bother the batsmen, but Lions’ progress was slow, with McCullum playing a strange innings, with a few fierce boundary hits, a number of dots arising from shots hit straight to fielders in the ring, and a general struggle for rhythm. Dinesh Karthik looked in good touch, piercing the gap between extra cover and mid-off with a sweet drive off Boult and shuffling across to sweep an off-stump ball from Bipul wide of short fine leg. But he was run out immediately after hitting Bipul for six in the ninth over, a Boult direct hit finding him short after a mix-up with McCullum.When McCullum picked out sweeper cover in the 12th over and fell for a 29-ball 32, Lions were 81 for 4. It became 83 for 5 when Smith slapped Ben Cutting straight to deep point in the next over. Lions were tottering.But Aaron Finch, demoted to No. 5, was already flowing, having hit Barinder Sran for a four and a massive six over long-off. He plundered two sixes and a four off Moises Henriques in the 14th over to take Lions to 100, and uppercut and drove Boult for successive fours in the 15th. He fell in the 18th, for 50 off 32, but Bravo carried the momentum forward, beating deep point – first to his right and then to his left – off successive Boult deliveries in the 19th. Lions finished on 162. Sunrisers had defended the same total, on the same ground, in their Eliminator. Lions couldn’t quite give them a taste of their own medicine.

Injured spinner Steve O’Keefe has been fined $10,000 by Cricket Australia after being issued with a criminal infringement notice by New South Wales Police following an incident at a Sydney hotel on Saturday night

Brydon Coverdale08-Aug-2016Injured spinner Steve O’Keefe has been fined $10,000 by Cricket Australia after being issued with a criminal infringement notice by New South Wales Police following an incident at a Sydney hotel on Saturday night.O’Keefe, who played the first Test of Australia’s ongoing tour of Sri Lanka before being forced home due to a hamstring injury, accepted his penalty from Cricket Australia for breaching the CA Code of Behaviour.”Just before 11pm, on Saturday 6 August 2016, a 31-year-old man attempted to enter licensed premises at The Corso, Manly,” a New South Wales Police media statement said, as reported by the . “It will be alleged the man behaved offensively towards a security guard, who had refused the man entry.”The man allegedly verbally abused the security and management personnel, and refused to leave. Officers attached to Northern Beaches Local Area Command attended and the man was issued a criminal infringement notice for offensive behaviour, and excluded person remain in vicinity of licensed premises.”O’Keefe was charged by Cricket Australia with “conduct unbecoming of a player”. Cricket Australia executive general manager of team performance, Pat Howard, said CA was “extremely disappointed” by O’Keefe’s behaviour.”We take a zero-tolerance approach to this type of behaviour from players at any level in Australian cricket,” Howard said. “Steve understands our expectations and that we’re extremely disappointed this situation occurred, particularly as he is recovering from an injury.”Andrew Jones, the chief executive officer of Cricket New South Wales, said: “Steve has had a difficult couple of weeks but that is no excuse. We expect a high standard from our players on and off the field and in this case Steve failed to meet those high standards.”I have spoken to Steve and he is very disappointed with his behaviour. He has apologised to the management of The Steyne Hotel and accepts that he will be sanctioned.”O’Keefe had only recently returned from Sri Lanka, where he played the third Test of his career. He said in a statement that he took full responsibility for his actions.”I know I failed to uphold the high standards expected of a NSW and Australian cricketer and apologise to all concerned,” O’Keefe said. “I take full responsibility for my actions and accept the sanction handed to me by Cricket Australia.”