Skipper Jitesh Sharma hammered an unbeaten 85 and Virat Kohli hit 54 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru stormed into qualifier 1 of the IPL playoffs with a six-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday.
Roland Butcher: ‘West Indies are struggling – we’ve not hit rock bottom yet’
The Barbados-born former England player on being jettisoned as a West Indies selector, the risks of their new cricket structure and his thwarted football dreams
After West Indies secured a one-day series draw against Ireland on Sunday their captain, Shai Hope, was asked about the team’s imminent visit to England. “We played them at the end of last year and we won that series so we know they’re going to be coming at us even harder this time,” he said. “We’re looking forward to it. We know they’re going to be a tough, tough opponent but we’re always ready to play anyone.”
Roland Butcher, child of Barbados, once of England and more recently a West Indies selector, has a less optimistic outlook: “We’re struggling, and the struggle is not over. We haven’t hit rock bottom yet.” The concentration of power across all three formats in the hands of one coach and selector – Daren Sammy – is what Butcher fears “is going to finally push us to the bottom”.
Continue reading...County cricket: Nottinghamshire flying in Division One at the break
It’s an East Midlands double in the County Championship, with Leicestershire topping Division Two
Nottinghamshire bounced back from last week’s defeat to go into the T20 Blast break with a handy 10-point lead at the top of the County Championship. Yorkshire, enduring a tricky return to the top flight, were their victims, the leaders simply too strong at Headingley.
Continue reading...Jimmy Anderson: ‘I know my body has got a certain amount of deliveries left in it’
The Lancashire bowler, 43 in July, talks about life on and off the pitch, and why cricket was never about money for him
Sir Jimmy Anderson is running late, five, then 10 minutes past 10 before he arrives in front of his computer. He is dishevelled, like he is just up and into his T-shirt and jeans. He finished his first match since July the previous evening, Lancashire against Derbyshire in the County Championship, on a flat pitch at Old Trafford, and is still feeling it.
The fourth day had been hard going: 16 overs, eight maidens, two for 25, in a thwarted attempt to force victory against a Derbyshire team hell-bent on securing a draw. Lancashire finished two wickets short. “I’ve woken up feeling like absolute death,” Anderson says. “It was a bit of a wake-up call.”
Continue reading...‘He could open’: WTC final selection dilemma unsolved as Aussie coach weighs up options
Australian coach Andrew McDonald says a decision on playing an all-rounder in the World Test Championship final will determine if one of Sam Konstas or Marnus Labuschagne misses out as selectors weigh up doing something “we’ve never done before” at Lord’s and promote Labuschagne to opener.
English club side bowled out for 2, lost by 424 runs and it was Gilly’s old mob!
In one of the most lopsided scorecards in cricket history, a London club side lost a 45-over per side match by 424 runs after being bowled out for just two runs on Saturday.
‘Something special’: Ponting praised, Aussie star fires as stunning IPL turnaround continues
Australia’s Josh Inglis scored 73 while coach Ricky Ponting earned special praise as Punjab Kings scored a seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians to secure a top two finish moving into the IPL playoffs.
Notts beat Yorkshire, Surrey draw with Essex, and more: county cricket day four – as it happened
Nottinghamshire dance into the Championship’s early summer break at the top of Division One, after bowling Yorkshire out just before tea at Headingley
And now D’Oliveira follows at New Road…a third for Rushworth. This turning into rather a sad little procession.
Worcestershire lost two in two balls and suddenly that run chase tilting uphill – one for Woakes, one for Rushworth., Roderick and Kashif gone.
Continue reading...Green’s stunning form continues with another hundred as Marnus struggles again – County Wrap
Cameron Green’s preparation for an all but certain return to Australia’s top order in the World Test Championship final could hardly be going better.
Head finishes season with blistering knock as Sunrisers smash third highest ever IPL score
South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen struck his second IPL century on Sunday as he powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a mammoth 278-3 and a 110-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders.
Pope determined to prove he warrants England place and Stokes’ defence
Batter relaxed about Jacob Bethell’s potential return after century against Zimbabwe with India and Australia to come
A Test match that began with England saying they wanted to be better at media interactions and show a touch more humility ended with the captain growling about his words being twisted. And they say a week is a long time in politics …
It was my question that sparked all this, as it happens. The day before the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, I asked Ben Stokes about Jacob Bethell, the conversations that surrounded his absence to play in the Indian Premier League, and whether, as the “incumbent No 3” who made such an impression in New Zealand, he would be “straight back in” for the series against India.
Continue reading...Stokes slams ‘agenda’ against centurion as England star stuns with unbelievable one-handed catch
Ben Stokes came to the defence of Ollie Pope by saying the vice-captain’s century against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge had answered an “agenda” against the Surrey batsman.
Stoinis, Inglis flurries not enough for Punjab as Delhi prevail in final over IPL thriller
Samir Rizvi hit an unbeaten 58 after Karun Nair celebrated his India Test recall with 44 as Delhi Capitals ended their IPL season with a consolation win over Punjab Kings on Saturday.
Time for the ‘Prince’: India entrusts 25yo star to lead new era as 18-man series squad revealed
Shubman Gill, long Indian cricket’s “Prince” in waiting, has been entrusted with leading a new era as India announced the team for next month’s all-important tour of England.
Telling Sam Konstas act emerges as Aussie teen expected to be left out for World Test Championship
Sam Konstas is reportedly set to be snubbed for the World Test Championship final for a batsman who has never opened at the international level, but the teenager is doing all he can to change selectors’ minds.