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Faf du Plessis scored his first century in 17 innings since December 2014 and South Africa’s seamers picked from where they left off in Durban to give the hosts control of the series decider

The Report by Firdose Moonda28-Aug-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:31

Moonda: South Africa would regard themselves as favourites to win

Faf du Plessis scored his first century in 17 innings since December 2014 and South Africa’s seamers picked from where they left off in Durban to give the hosts control of the series decider. Du Plessis was one of a quintet of batsmen to cross fifty – only the second time all of South Africa’s top five have done so – as they wore New Zealand out before declaring on a day of toil for the visitors.When they have sent their opponents in, the current New Zealand crop have never been kept in the field for more overs than the 154 they were during South Africa’s innings. As a team, they have spent more time on the park eight times before when they have chosen to bowl first, most recently in 1999. The consolation for them was that Neil Wagner claimed his fourth five-wicket haul on his first Test appearance at his former home ground while the rest of the attack went largely luckless. Trent Boult will be particularly envious of the returns the other seamers enjoyed after he went wicketless despite creating numerous chances, beating the bat, finding movement and several edges.Instead, it was South Africa who reaped reward, as they plucked out New Zealand’s openers early. This time Vernon Philander was in on the action too. He created the first chance when he squared Martin Guptill up with a delivery that straightened from leg stump and took the edge but went over the slips where Stiaan van Zyl was reaching for it. Van Zyl only had to wait until Philander’s next over to make amends. Guptill was fishing outside off again and van Zyl took the catch off the edge.At the other end, Dale Steyn was trying to force the batsmen to drive, and got one to nip back into Tom Latham and appealed for caught behind. Umpire Paul Reiffel gave it not out but Steyn was insistent and South Africa reviewed. Replays suggested the ball had brushed the pocket but a thin spike on Ultra Edge convinced the third umpire Richard Illingworth Latham was out off the inside edge.The decision fired Steyn up even more. He greeted Ross Taylor with a 140kph bouncer that struck him on the shoulder and another, even faster, at 145 kph, on the arm. Taylor weathered the storm but the the pressure got to him. As the first change was made – Kagiso Rabada took over from Philander – he nudged into the leg side set off a single. Temba Bavuma swooped to his left from short leg and his direct hit found Taylor short of his ground and dismissed for the first time on New Zealand’s African tour.Kane Williamson batted to the close but the “oh no,” he uttered when he squandered a review earlier in the day – agreeing to go upstairs when Wagner thought he had Philander out lbw – could have applied to the whole day for New Zealand.They started strongly when Boult continued his blistering new-ball spell and threatened a wicket in almost every over. He could have had one off the first ball of the morning, which nipped back into du Plessis and almost took out off stump. Later he drew an inside-edge, rapped du Plessis on the pads and had him pulling to deep square leg where Henry Nicholls let it slip through his grasp.Fortune was with South Africa as JP Duminy survived too. He could have been caught in the slips but the edge fell short and he was regularly beaten but he fought his way into form. Duminy seemed destined for a first Test hundred in two years but then got a bottom edge off a rash pull to finish 12 short.Wagner used a signature short ball to remove Temba Bavuma, the only batsmen not to get into double figures, but South Africa’s long line-up meant New Zealand were not through. Stiaan van Zyl – now batting in the middle order after an unsuccessful stint at the top – joined du Plessis in circumspection and batted most of the second session while du Plessis patiently played for a century.His strike rate only climbed when he moved from 60 to 80 in 15 deliveries. For the rest of his innings, du Plessis was willing to wait and it was only after van Zyl and Philander were dismissed that he got there. In two emotional overs, Wagner celebrated a five-for in front of friends and family from his hometown and du Plessis was vindicated after being dropped in the last Test series and brought back as stand-in captain for this one. Personal performance aside, du Plessis doubtless ended the day the happier man.

George Burrows claims maiden first-class wicket as game heads towards a draw

Paul Edwards at Headingley23-Aug-2020This may well be one of those Roses matches from which both sets of supporters must take whatever gobbets of comfort as they can. The loss of all but 13 balls on the first day and then 35 overs on the second, combined with a wretched forecast for Tuesday, have made it very probable that partial victories will be the only variety available.Adam Lyth will not be complaining too loudly. Bowled by the admirable George Balderson when on 45, the Yorkshire opener returned to the pavilion on this Sunday evening just 14 runs short of his fourth century in first-class Roses matches. The majority of home supporters who are missing their first game against Lancashire since the Rhodesian crisis would argue there is no other kind of Roses match and Lyth might well agree with them. The prospect of playing the old enemy in a red-ball game brings out the best in him.Danny Lamb and George Burrows will not be skriking too loudly either. As the rain gusted across Headingley this afternoon both Lancastrian bowlers could reflect that their careers had taken a step forward, even if they had both had to take some punishment before earning their rewards.Burrows’ progress was the most momentous. Resuming his maiden spell in first-class cricket this morning the 22-year-old Wiganer discovered that Lyth has a short way with leg-stump half-volleys and is similarly intolerant of leg-stump long hops. Less than an hour into the day’s play Burrows had bowled five overs for 35 runs and he was wisely withdrawn from the attack. Some thought he might have a few hours’ fielding ahead of him but Dane Vilas, Lancashire’s captain, is too wise a skipper to let a freshman stew in his own disappointment.Given an opportunity to recall Burrows by the fall of three wickets in seven overs, Vilas was rewarded for his boldness by the wicket of Harry Brook, who slapped a very short ball outside the off stump to Josh Bohannon at point. Brook stood aghast for a moment; it was the short of shot that would have earned him a severe wigging from Martin Speight, his old coach at Sedbergh.Burrows’ happiness was properly trumped by his embarrassment but at least he had a first-class wicket in his tucker bag and his second set of five overs cost only 12 runs. Out of such tiny victories are careers fashioned. James Anderson could tell Burrows that. He could also point out the more obvious truth that Burrows probably would not have had that second spell had not Yorkshire wasted the fine start that saw them bring up their fifty in exactly ten overs.The ever-reliable Tom Bailey made the first breakthrough when he had Tom Kohler-Cadmore caught by Keaton Jennings at first slip for 18, but it was Lamb who changed the balance of the session. Bowling in only his seventh first-class game, Lamb produced a fine outswinger to have Will Fraine caught by Davies for 5 and then had Tom Loten lbw second ball with a delivery that did little more than compel a shot from Loten, who was playing only his second first-class innings.Things could have been very different, and probably even better, for Lancashire had Bailey’s very good appeal against Lyth in the first over of the morning found favour with James Middlebrook. And while Lancashire will have been happy with taking four wickets in what was the first full session of this game, their luncheon would have been even sweeter had Jennings caught what appeared a straightforward slip catch off Bailey when Jonny Tattersall nicked an attempted cut.The afternoon session was wrecked by the weather and many thought they had seen their last cricket of the day. But the Headingley drainage and the efforts of the groundstaff combined to give us an evening in which Lyth progressed with few alarms towards another landmark. His hooked six off Lamb was his second of the day – Burrows had been the first sufferer – and the opener also hit a dozen fours in what has so far been a 267-minute innings made memorable by the batsman’s calm ability to resume his innings as well as his ever cultured strokeplay.Lancashire also had their successes towards evensong. Having dropped Tattersall, Jennings had the Yorkshire wicketkeeper caught at slip by Steven Croft for 25 and Burrows also enjoyed a late triumph when he bowled Jordan Thompson off the inside edge four overs before the close. The freshman had made his point, but then points, whether bonus or otherwise, are surely what this Roses match will be all about.

New Zealand seamer Neil Wagner is looking to savour the experience of playing at the WACA ground, a place at which he has never bowled but can vividly recall the exploits of many a fast bowler

Daniel Brettig11-Nov-20151:34

‘No doubt Southee will be fit for WACA’ – Wagner

Like his German composer namesake, Neil Wagner does not mind a hint of the dramatic. Where New Zealand have gained a reputation for even temper and a lack of on field histrionics, Wagner’s Afrikaner blood gets up at times, as shown by an on-field posture that can look more Dale Steyn than Tim Southee.

‘Olden days’ WACA pitch in prospect

With as few as two Test matches left for the WACA Ground to host before major international cricket moves to the drop-in pitches of the nascent Burswood Stadium, the curator Matthew Page is as intent on keeping things as retro as possible.
“With us being the WACA, it’s all about trying to replicate the olden days and provide a traditional WACA wicket,” Page said. “It goes back to the 70s, that sort of thing, so for us every wicket we do we’re trying to replicate those conditions.”
Page replaced Cameron Sutherland only a matter of weeks before the Ashes Test two years ago, and his knowledge of the surface has grown since, including the constant historical comparisons.
“They changed the clay back to what it originally was about six or seven years ago, and I guess the pace and the bounce has returned since then,” he said. “We’re always compared with the olden days. For us, it’s about trying to get it as close as we can.”

Given New Zealand’s poorly display in Brisbane, where they were bullied by an Australia side as aggressive in deed as they are infamous for being in word, Wagner’s occasionally fiery countenance may be a useful tonic for Brendon McCullum’s side as they seek to fight their way out of the hole they find themselves in.Wagner certainly likes the look of the WACA, a place at which he has never bowled but can vividly recall the exploits of many a fast bowler at the ground. Plans to shift major international matches to the Burswood Stadium and a drop-in pitch mean all pacemen are running out of chances.”I’d love to play Australia, I’d love to get that chance,” Wagner said. “I had a training session yesterday at the Melville club and they told me it was the last two Tests at the WACA or something like that because they’re talking about a different ground. That’s a bit of a shame because it’s quite a nice ground, I loved watching it growing up, a lot of history over there and I’d love to play there. It’s pretty awesome, a very special place for fast bowlers.”Just watching cricket here over the years, I think overseas teams have come here and bowled a bit too short. They get carried away with the bounce and the pace sometimes. Sometimes you’ve got to bowl a touch fuller length, sort of top of the stumps. For us I think the thing is to not get carried away with it. Hit consistent areas and ask good questions for longer periods of time and things will happen.”Even though Southee bowled soundly in the morning at nets to prove his fitness after suffering from an irritated disc in his back at the Gabba, Wagner is still a chance to play. The New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has forecast a five-man bowling attack for the WACA Ground with the spinner Mark Craig batting at No. 7, meaning the pace options for McCullum will be many and varied. New Zealand are also sustained by the knowledge they are chronically slow starters to Test series, but invariably improve as they go on.”As a bowling unit we’ve always complemented each other quite well over past times and our success over the past two years or so is we’ve bowled in partnerships and other guys have stepped up too,” Wagner said. “I think that has made Tim and Trent bowl really well in the past. It was just a little bit inconsistency and a bit of a tough start.”We have had that in the past as well, our first Test we haven’t always started that well and we’ve picked it up as the series has gone on. Lucky for us it’s a three-match series, there’s a lot more cricket left to be played and hopefully we can set it back from ball one in this next Test.”Overall the team will be better for that hit [in Brisbane], being out in the heat and humidity and bouncy wickets, just adapting to everything, it’s now for us to go out and set it right in the second Test from day one.”One man Wagner may be asked to confront should he get the nod to play, is David Warner, the dominant batting force of the Gabba Test and now one of only three batsman ever to have thrice scored a hundred in each innings of a Test match. That sort of scoring can force opposition teams to re-think their strategies, but Wagner said it was simply a matter of being tighter for longer.”I think we still stick to our guns and our plans. If we execute it better for longer periods of time, I’m sure we’ll get more rewards,” he said. “I think our attack is up there with the best in the world. When Tim, Trent and Dougy and the rest of them all get it right – they’re pretty good bowlers. If we can be more consistent for long periods of time, we’ll definitely show that. The boys are up for the task and the challenge in this Test.”Richard Wagner’s operatic Ring Cycle is a 15-hour affair. Success for Wagner and New Zealand this week will require a similarly sustained effort.

A round-up of the Vijay Hazare Trophy Group D matches played on December 11, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2015Half-centuries from Prashant Chopra (91), Robin Bist (84) and Paras Dogra (78) powered Himachal Pradesh to an 89-run win over Bengal. Sent in to bat, Himachal lost Ankush Bains early before Chopra and Bist got them going with a 157-run second-wicket stand. With that platform in place, Dogra (78 off 48 balls, 2×4, 6×6) and Rishi Dhawan (31, 26b, 4×4) exploded, putting on 101 off a mere 61 balls, eventually helping Himachal post a total of 308 for 7.Having slipped to 20 for 2 inside the fourth over, Bengal were always up against it. Sudip Chatterjee and Manoj Tiwary steadied them with a 65-run third-wicket stand, but both of them fell in a collapse that saw Bengal lose five wickets for 17 runs. From 102 for 7, Pankaj Shaw (68, 53b, 6xr, 2×6) fought alongside the lower order, but Bengal had too much left to get and too few wickets in hand. They were eventually bowled out for 219 with 13.3 overs still to play.Centuries from Sheldon Jackson and Ravindra Jadeja trumped a fighting hundred from Jalaj Saxena, as Saurashtra hung on for a seven-run win against Madhya Pradesh in Rajkot. Saurashtra, batting first, were precariously placed at 53 for 3 before Jackson and Jadeja counterattacked by adding 135 runs in 24 overs. Jackson hit 11 fours and four sixes in his 108-ball 111, while Jadeja’s 134 featured eight fours and six sixes. After Jackson was run out in the 37th over, Jadeja added a further 152 runs with Chirag Jani, who blasted 77 off 43 balls, with three fours and six sixes. Their efforts boosted Saurashtra to 340 for 5.MP began their mammoth chase positively, as the openers Jalaj and Rajat Patidar (53) put up a stand of 109 runs in 91 balls. Despite the wicket of Patidar, Jalaj kept MP within touch of the asking rate, stroking a run-a-ball 133 with 17 fours. He also received much-needed support from Naman Ojha, as the pair’s 86-run partnership deflated the Saurashtra bowlers. At 286 for 5, with Jalaj still at the crease, MP’s equation of 55 needed off 42 balls seemed doable. However, MP suffered a big blow in the 47th over, as Saurya Sanandiya (3 for 59) struck to remove Jalaj. Wickets continued to tumble after that, and MP’s final pair of Ishwar Pandey and Puneet Datey were unable to get the eight runs required off the final over, as the team was bowled out for 333.

New Zealand A stay stuck on 276 for 5 with Dane Cleaver and Daryl Mitchell at the crease

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2020Stumps It was all rather damp and disappointing across in Lincoln, where the second day of the second and final four-day game between New Zealand A and India A had no cricket whatsoever. That left New Zealand at their overnight 276 for 5, with Dane Cleaver (46*) and Daryl Mitchell (36*) at the crease.On the first day, Cleaver was again the thorn in India’s side, playing a stubborn knock to make sure honours were even when play ended. After choosing to bat, New Zealand were in danger of finishing at a low score when they were 190 for 5, but Cleaver, fresh off his rearguard 196 in the previous game, dug in to keep the visitors at bay.He received good support from Mitchell, who is back in the A team after the T20Is for the senior team against India. Mitchell ended the day with 36 against his name, and the two have so far added 86 for the sixth wicket.The New Zealand top order – with the exception of Rachin Ravindra, who scored 12 – all got starts, but none of them could really carry on to score a big one. Glenn Phillips scored 65, but Hamish Rutherford stopped at 40, Will Young at 26, and Tim Seifert at 30.Mohammed Siraj got India their first wickets, in back-to-back overs, when he ended the 67-run first-wicket stand with Rutherford’s wicket in the 26th over and then accounted for Ravindra in the 28th. Shahbaz Nadeem had Young stumped not long after, and then, after a 76-run stand between Phillips and Seifert, Avesh Khan got into the act, removing both batsmen soon after one another.Many of the India Test squad are taking part in the game – of them, R Ashwin is the only bowler, and he had a fruitless day, bowling 22 overs without success while conceding 63 runs.The first four-day fixture, played at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval, had ended in a draw.

Vernon Philander has recovered from the illness that affected him during the third Test and hopes to bring his ability with bat and ball to bear on leveling the series in Manchester

Firdose Moonda02-Aug-2017If Vernon Philander could do The Oval Test all over again, he would. And he would do it feeling the way he does now because that is infinitely better than the way he felt last week.Philander spent most of the third Test in the toilet, “losing quite a lot of fluids, top and bottom”. The same could be said of South Africa’s performance.The top order was guilty of not posting enough runs, especially in the first innings, and the bowling lacked the discipline required to contain England. Philander’s all-round ability was missed and he knew it. “In any bowling line-up, if there’s a link missing, you feel it and I’m quite an important part in that line-up,” Philander said. “I could feel my intensity was missed.”Don’t read that as a man talking himself up, read it as an international sportsperson speaking from a place of professionalism. Philander was picked to play – and the merits of including someone who was obviously ill have already been discussed on these pages – so that is what he wanted to do.He fronted up on the first morning and took the new ball even though South Africa’s initial hope was that they would bat first and he would have some extra time to recover. That day, Philander bowled 12 overs; in the innings, he bowled 17; and in the match, 32, which amounted to 17.4% of the total overs South Africa sent down. It cannot be a coincidence that at Lord’s, where Philander was coming back from an ankle injury sustained in a county stint and where South Africa also lost, he only bowled 13% of the total overs whereas at Trent Bridge, where Philander was Man of the Match, he delivered 23.9%, almost a quarter.Perhaps the more telling impact of Philander’s absence was that the most he could provide in a single spell at The Oval was five overs. While he could create pressure early on, he was unable to sustain it and neither was anyone else in the attack despite tailor-made conditions. Under thick cloud and in humidity, Morne Morkel turned in one of his best performances for little reward but Kagiso Rabada struggled for rhythm and Chris Morris with inconsistency. All Philander wanted to do was get better enough to get in on the action. “It was frustrating not to be out there or to bowl longer spells,” he said.It was even more frustrating watching the chance to win the series slip past South Africa, especially as Philander knows what victory in England tastes like. He is one of only three members of the current squad who played in the 2012 matches and took the Test mace off England at Lord’s. Philander had one of the most important hands in that victory after scoring fifty and taking a five-for. Then, a South Africa side that shone with superstars like Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn may not have realised how much they relied on Philander. Now, they know exactly how much they do. It is more than they should be comfortable with because, as demonstrated last week, if Philander is unavailable, South Africa need to have other options.It may be something that comes up in their team talks, which Philander explained involved severe self-reflection. “We’ve had a few hard chats,” he said. “We have an honesty policy and we all admitted it wasn’t our best Test match. We let ourselves down with the bat in the first innings and that’s something we would like to correct.”Philander will have a role to play in that regard because he has been promoted to No. 7 and, now that he is healthier, he can show why he has long wanted to bat higher up. “I think No. 7 is ideal for me. I enjoy having to bat longer periods,” he said. But his main role will remain with the ball in hand.With heavy cloud hanging over Manchester, rain in the week prior to the team’s arrival in the city hampering pitch preparation and drizzle expected throughout the final Test, Philander may get the chance to do at Old Trafford what he would have done at The Oval. And this time, he thinks, “there’s everything to play for”.

The pacers took seven Bangladesh wickets before Pujara, Agarwal extended India’s domination

The Report by Alagappan Muthu14-Nov-20194:31

Star Sports Match Point: Gavaskar says India’s bowling attack can excel anywhere

It’s weird. For someone who has like the most amazing seam position, Mohammed Shami with the old ball looks way, way, waaaay better than Mohammed Shami with the new ball. And if you’re not convinced, see what he did to Mushfiqur Rahim in Indore. It was pure poetry and that’s without getting into how it took out Bangladesh’s top-scorer and sent them crashing to 150 all out.The game had just ticked past 50 overs, somewhere near the time reverse swing comes into play. India had already dismissed half the opposition and Bangladesh were just trying to make the best of a bad situation. All hopes of doing that vanished when Shami came for his fourth spell. For some reason he decided to go wide of the crease. The ball kissed the good length but it was so far away from the off stump that Mushfiqur was preparing to leave it altogether. Then it swung in. Sharply. Quickly. Violently.The batsman had no chance. Especially because, in that same over, Shami was moving the ball conventionally away from the right-hander. How can you prepare for that? #AskingForAFriend. India finished the day only 64 runs behind, with Rohit Sharma out for 6 but Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara fairly dominant.No plan survives contact with the enemy. Mushfiqur’s was swing. For the rest of his team-mates, it was, well, mostly themselves. Bangladesh had won a good toss. Their captain Mominul Haque had made a brave call to bat first. The pitch had enough grass cover to make India pick three seamers, all of whom have improved so much since the start of their careers that Virat Kohli now commands one of the best bowling attacks in history. Still, the visitors backed themselves to put runs on the board because that’s what you do in the subcontinent. And in short phases of their innings, they showed they were capable of it.Mominul was the best of them, walking in with the score 12 for 1, seeing it become 12 for 2 and reviving it until it was a much healthier 99 for 3. He didn’t really do much to pull off that recovery. It was just careful Test-match batting, playing close to the body, leaving as much as he could outside off stump and most importantly using soft hands as much as possible. His openers failed to do that.Imrul Kayes was caught at third slip off Umesh Yadav for 6, Shadman Islam was sucked in by a full and wide delivery from Ishant Sharma and it was hard not to think about Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. One of them could have helped Bangladesh withstand the early pressure from India, the other might have counterattacked and the contest would have been even.Mohammed Shami was at his best•BCCI

It still was for a little period in the lead up to and then after the lunch break. Mominul had steadied the ship, scoring 37 off 80 balls, all of his six boundaries coming behind the wicket as he lured India into bowling at his body and to his strengths. That is why it was so bizarre when he left a straight ball and got bowled.R Ashwin was responsible for that little misjudgment; the India offspinner had snuck onto the Bangladesh vessel, all whistling and innocent-like, and gently elbowed their captain overboard. It was his 250th wicket in 42 Tests at home. He had been lovely to watch on a pitch that offered him nothing. His control in the air – varying the flight of the ball – his tricks – getting one to spin and the other to hold its line – and that sixth sense of when to bowl what were all on show. On a better day, when Ajinkya Rahane doesn’t drop three catches off his bowling, Ashwin would have got more than 2 for 43.It was the 19th time in the last two years that India had bowled out an opposition for a sub-200 total. Their bowlers are relentless. They stay patient. They have a variety of skills. They can out-think batsmen. They’re a threat no matter the condition of the ball. Heck, they take wickets even when they’re fielding down at deep fine leg as Ravindra Jadeja proved with a pin-point throw that led to Taijul Islam’s run-out. It was a day for the bowling coach B Arun to sit back and revel in a job well done.

The introduction of the second new ball, well utilised by Bird and Rogers, ushered a shattering collapse as seven wickets fell for 21 runs in 50 balls

Daniel Brettig26-Feb-2019Jackson Bird’s 11 wickets took Tasmania to a six-wicket victory over South Australia in their Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval after the hosts fell in a heap to the second new ball just when they appeared to have scrapped their way to a position from which a draw was likely.Jake Weatherald’s first century of a hitherto wretched season, accompanied by half-centuries for Travis Head and Callum Ferguson, pushed the Redbacks to 3 for 298 approaching tea, a lead nearing 100 and overs running out for the Tigers.However, the introduction of the second new ball, well utilised by Bird and Tom Rogers, ushered a shattering collapse for SA, as seven wickets fell for 21 runs in 50 balls, including the last six for three runs in 21 balls following Weatherald’s exit. SA’s injured last man Chadd Sayers was granted a runner by Tigers’ captain Matthew Wade.Bird’s performance, extracting plenty of swing and nip from the Dukes ball, gave him 38 victims at 19.10 in the Shield so far this season, as he continued to press his claims for a place in the Australian Ashes touring squad after he made the trip in 2013.Left with a target of 110 to win with plenty of overs in hand, the visitors strode to outright points for the loss of Alex Doolan, Jordan Silk, Wade and Charlie Wakim, the debutant whose first-innings century had set the Tigers up to pressure the Redbacks into defeat, to continue their push for a place in the tournament final.

After Harris gave the Renegades a usefully rapidfire start, Harper and Cooper needed only to keep their heads, something they did with the help of dropped catches by the Heat

The Report by Daniel Brettig10-Jan-2019Melbourne Renegades administered a hiding to Brisbane Heat at a subdued Gabba, set on their path by excellent spells from Cameron Boyce and Usman Shinwari before Marcus Harris, Sam Harper and Tom Cooper shepherded the chase.The Heat were unable to build any momentum at the crease despite a long innings by Brendon McCullum, as Boyce found useful assistance from the surface and Shinwari shrugged off being struck for one telling six by Max Bryant to concede only 10 more runs from his four overs.After Harris gave the Renegades a usefully rapid-fire start, Harper and Cooper needed only to keep their heads, something they did with the help of dropped catches by the Heat, who now find themselves in some danger of missing out on the BBL finals.Boyce trumps McCullumSent in to bat, the Heat might have expected a rapid start on what looked a good and pacy pitch, but save for one box office drive over long-on by Bryant, their early overs were characterised by a struggle for timing and poise against diligent Renegades bowling. This all added up to that most rare of spectacles – a slow (for him) innings by McCullum.After Bryant departed and Chris Lynn was unable to get himself going, McCullum seemed to have set himself to bat through the innings, but was unable to impose himself upon the former Queensland spin bowler Boyce, whose legbreaks were also once favoured by Australia’s Twenty20 set-up. Gaining useful turn and bounce from the Gabba surface, Boyce coaxed numerous miscues before removing McCullum when the Heat opener picked out deep midwicket with an attempted slog sweep.Having already deceived Lynn, Boyce could be more than content with a return of 2 for 17 from four overs, playing a major role in limiting the horizons of the Heat innings.Cutting’s catchup exerciseOver recent seasons the Heat have had a couple of familiar threats for opponents, the “bash brothers” McCullum and Lynn up the top and then the heavy hitting of Ben Cutting in the lower middle order. While Cutting’s first ball from Boyce left him groping in the manner of McCullum before him, the tall allrounder was able to size up Joe Mennie and seemed capable of driving Brisbane into the 160s when he took 13 runs from the first five balls of the 18th over.However, Mennie was able to provoke a skywards pull shot from a wide, short delivery, and after Beau Webster held on in similar fashion to the catch he took to dismiss McCullum, the Heat innings petered out. Shinwari, on the receiving end of Bryant’s big driven six, completed an otherwise exemplary spell worth 3 for 16, while the recalled Test batsmen Matt Renshaw and Joe Burns could cobble a mere 10 off 10 balls between them.Harris goes after PattinsonIt was the Renegades who drew first blood, literally, when a Harris skier off James Pattinson burst through the hands of Cutting and he walked off for treatment to a bloody nose. There was some debate over whether Cutting had actually controlled the ball after it struck his nose and he fell to the ground, before the umpires eventually ruled it a non-catch.More definitive was Harris’ treatment of Pattinson in his second over. A full toss scythed through cover, a length ball heaved over wide mid-on, another length ball inside edged past the stumps to the boundary then an extraordinary launch inside out over cover for six made the over worth 19 and gave the Renegades a swift start to ease pressure on the rest of the batting order. Harris would only get as far as 28, but he had made his presence felt.Harper, Cooper keep composedThe value of Harris’ early acceleration was to be underlined by the way that Harper and Cooper were able to calmly close in on their target, even though at one point they allowed 20 balls to elapse without a boundary off the bat. Cooper had not previously passed 16 in six innings, and he was to be dropped twice in getting as far as 20. Harper was rather more fluent, teasing the Heat captain Lynn in his efforts to plug gaps.By their union, and the Heat’s obliging fielding, the Renegades were able to gallop to their target with no fewer than 26 balls to spare, going up to four wins while also improving their net run rate appreciably. The Heat, meanwhile, were left two games out of the BBL top four.

No. 1-ranked T20I batsman will be available for all 14 group-stage matches and any potential quarter-final

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2019Somerset have agreed a deal to bring in Pakistan batsman Babar Azam for the Vitality Blast later this summer, subject to receiving a No-Objection Certificate. Babar, currently ranked the No. 1 T20 batsman by the ICC, will join in July and be available for the entire group stage as well as a possible quarter-final.This will be a first stint in county cricket for Babar, who is currently in the UK for Pakistan’s tour, which will be followed by the World Cup. He will take over from fellow Pakistan international Azhar Ali as one of two overseas players for the Blast, alongside West Indies quick Jerome Taylor.”To be able to sign a player of the calibre of Babar Azam is tremendously exciting, said Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket. “He is a proven performer at the very highest level and that is highlighted by the fact that he is the top rated international T20 batsman in the world.”Obviously, everyone wants to sign a world-class performer, but we feel that continuity of selection is equally important. For us it is about securing the services of someone as talented as Babar Azam for more than just a handful of fixtures.”Babar made his T20I debut at Old Trafford in 2016 and currently averages 53.12 with a strike rate of 127.78 in the format. He was in good form at this year’s Pakistan Super League, finishing as the sixth-leading run-scorer in the competition.His availability for the Vitality Blast Finals Day, if Somerset get that far, will be determined by his Pakistan commitments, although they do not have anything scheduled after the World Cup until a home series against Sri Lanka in October.”I am looking forward to the new challenge that playing T20 cricket in England will bring,” Babar said. “I have heard good things about Somerset from Azhar Ali and I want to play a part in the club winning matches. I know that Somerset get good support and I hope that I can give them something to cheer about this year.”