Playing her 57th ODI, Meg Lanning surpassed Charlotte Edwards on the list of most centuries in women’s ODI and helped clinch the series against New Zealand 2-1

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
File photo – Meg Lanning hit her tenth ODI century•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Australia captain Meg Lanning struck a record tenth century, the most in women’s ODIs, to lead her side to a five-wicket win over New Zealand on Sunday, helping them claim the series 2-1 and maintain their 18-year hold on the Rose Bowl Trophy.Lanning, who surpassed Charlotte Edwards to top the list for most centuries in women’s ODIs in only her 57th match, struck an unbeaten 104 off 116 balls to help her side chase down 271 with four balls to spare.Lanning, who struck seven fours and a six, capitalised on a reprieve from New Zealand in the 22nd over after replays suggested that Rachel Priest had fumbled a stumping off the bowling of legspinner Amelia Kerr. Lanning went on to bring up her half-century off 62 deliveries and brought up her century off 111 balls in 48th over, with the win in sight.”It’s obviously nice [to get the record] but I’m more glad that we got the win, to be honest,” Lanning said after the match. “I had a pretty quiet series so I felt it was time to contribute and lead the side home. I was keen to finish it off well and we needed someone to bat long and deep and I put my hand up to do that. It was nice to be able to get there at the end but I thought Mooney helped the top there, Villani and Blackwell certainly made it a lot easy for me to display my natural game.”The Australia captain was well-supported by opener Beth Mooney, who scored a 73-ball 69 and shared a 93-run second-wicket partnership. Mooney, who had scores of 100 and 57 in the first two ODIs, was hardly deterred by the early loss of her opening partner, Nicole Bolton, as she played an aggressive innings, striking nine fours and racing to a half-century off 47 balls.Mooney’s run-out in the 20th over brought Ellyse Perry out to bat for her first innings since January 2017 – having returned to the side after a hamstring injury during the Women’s Big Bash League, Perry did not come out to bat in the second ODI after injuring her elbow. Perry, however, was dismissed for 1 by New Zealand medium-pacer Holly Huddleston, who also dismissed Bolton and Elyse Villani to finish with 3 for 44, the best returns for her side in the game.Once Villani fell for 37 off 42 balls, having helped Lanning bring the chase under control, Alex Blackwell (32) and Alyssa Healy (21) stepped up in supporting roles and helped seal the win.Earlier, having been put in to bat, New Zealand began with a 60-run opening partnership before Suzie Bates was dismissed by Amanda-Jade Wellington in the 11th over for 27. Rachel Priest and Katey Martin, who both struck 77, then strung a 97-run partnership for the third wicket, before Martin added another 60 for the fourth wicket with Katie Perkins to take New Zealand to 230. Martin’s 86-ball knock included ten fours but her dismissal triggered a slump in the end overs, which saw New Zealand lose six wickets for 38 runs.Spinners Jess Jonassen and Ashleigh Gardner took five of the six wickets to fall in this period as New Zealand finished their innings on 270 for 9. Gardner took 3 for 56, while Jonassen had returns of 3 for 47.Australia won the Rose Bowl for the 23rd time since the inception of the competition in February 1985. New Zealand have won it three times. Sunday’s game was the 100th between the two sides in the competition.

The Islamabad United coach believes his team can bounce back after a win and a loss in their first two matches of the 2017 PSL

Umar Farooq in Dubai11-Feb-20171:03

WATCH – Misbah-ul-Haq smashes 61 off 36 balls

Islamabad United coach Dean Jones said his side has “been through hell” over the last few days after two of their players, Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif, were provisionally suspended by the PCB as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged attempts to corrupt the 2017 Pakistan Super League. Three other players – Mohammad Irfan, who also plays for Islamabad, Zulfiqar Babar and Shahzaib Hasan – were questioned by the PCB’s Anti-Corruption Unit as part of the investigation.Sharjeel and Latif were suspended a day after the defending champions won the opening match of the 2017 edition, beating Peshawar Zalmi by seven wickets (D/L method). They lost their second match, however, on Saturday, going down by six wickets against Lahore Qalandars.”Emotionally and physically the team has been through hell,” Jones said after the match on Saturday. “All in all, we’re trying to prepare these guys coming into the match and it’s not been the best preparation, I’ll be honest with that. The boys came here, they wanted to get out here and have some fun and play. Unfortunately it hasn’t worked that way.”Irfan made way for Rumman Raees in the XI for the second match, while Asif Ali took Sharjeel’s place. Put in to bat, Islamabad made a solid start with a 73-run opening stand between Dwayne Smith and Sam Billings. They went on to score 158 for 7, with captain Misbah-ul-Haq hitting 61 not out off 36 balls.Islamabad United could not check Lahore Qalandars’ chase led by a confident Jason Roy half-century•PCB

Qalandars, however, chased down the target with 10 balls to spare. “When you lose, it’s always difficult,” Jones said. “It’s our first loss in seven games if you want to look back from last year to now. It was a big game for us in a lot of ways but it’s one and one [a victory and a loss in 2017], and we are in a position a lot of teams would want to be in.”The good thing is we’ve got a four-day spell now before our next game, when we go down to Sharjah. We’ll regroup, go out and enjoy each other’s company like we always do. It’s my job as a coach to remind them that we failed a bit today but we’re in a pretty good position.”Jones said that Misbah had been a calming influence on the side.”Misbah’s always calm, cool and collected,” he said. “He doesn’t give a lot of emotion away, that’s the good thing about him as not many people see the humorous side of him, but we’ve seen a bit of that over the past 24 hours to loosen things up. From our owners to Wasim and our senior players, it’s been a bit of a tough time but now we’ll regroup and we’ll get together and move on.”Can I just say well done to the PCB? I think they have handled everything over the past 48 hours really well. We’re here to keep this great game clean and we’ll do everything we can to do that.”

Sri Lanka, who were clinical in the first game, will look to stretch Bangladesh’s losing streak in T20Is to nine

The Preview by Mohammad Isam05-Apr-2017

Match Facts

Thursday, April 6, 2017
Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)Mashrafe Mortaza will play his final T20I on Thursday•Associated Press

Big picture

The second T20 international against Sri Lanka will be Mashrafe Mortaza’s last, and Bangladesh will be keen to farewell their captain with a victory. If Bangladesh come back from Tuesday’s thrashing and win, the T20I series will end in a draw, like the ODI and Test series did.Sri Lanka, who were clinical in the first game, will look to stretch Bangladesh’s losing streak in T20Is to nine.It was the returning Kusal Perera who led Sri Lanka’s charge in the first match with a 53-ball 77. He found little support from the other end, but that did not stop Sri Lanka from acing a chase of 156. Lasith Malinga, predictably, was Sri Lanka’s most effective bowler with two wickets. Vikum Sanjaya’s swing, Asela Gunaratne’s dibbly-dobblers, and Seekugge Prasanna’s accurate legspin ably complemented Malinga.Mosaddek Hossain and Mahmudullah played cameos to rescue Bangladesh’s innings, but the side will need more from the top order, especially Soumya Sarkar who has a tendency to throw away starts.To give Mashrafe the perfect send-off in this format, Bangladesh will have to improve their fielding, and they also must find a way to absorb pressure. That is how they won at the P Sara Test and Dambulla ODI.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WLWWW (completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh LLLLL

In the spotlight

Kusal Perera‘s renewed vigour enabled him to make a match-winning half-century in the first game, and now will look to blend that vigour with consistency.All eyes will be on Mashrafe Mortaza, who had announced his retirement from T20Is at the toss in the previous game. Will it turn out to be a happy ending for Mashrafe?

Team news

Sri Lanka are likely to retain their winning combination from the first T20I.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Upul Tharanga (capt), 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Dilshan Munaweera, 4 Chamara Kapugedara, 5 Asela Gunaratne, 6 Seekkuge Prasanna, 7 Milinda Siriwardana, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Vikum SanjayaBangladesh, on the other hand, might consider replacing Taskin Ahmed with offspinning allrounder Mehedi Hasan, who is uncapped in T20Is.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt.), 9 Mohammad Saifuddin, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Taskin Ahmed/Mehedi Hasan

Pitch and conditions

The second T20I will be played on the same pitch that was used for the first one. It is expected to be good for batting, but is likely to assist the spinners as the game wears on. Showers have been forecast for the day but the chance of rain in the evening is small.

Stats and trivia

• Mashrafe Mortaza will finish his T20I career as Bangladesh’s highest wicket-taker among fast bowlers.
• Bangladesh have now lost eight T20Is in a row, their second-worst run in the format

Despite the eliminator ending at 1.27am, Muttiah Muralitharan’s wits were intact as he broke down Sunrisers Hyderabad’s season and the loss against Kolkata Knight Riders in Bengaluru

Shashank Kishore in Bengaluru18-May-2017The city where they were crowned IPL champions last year was the same city which wrecked their hopes this year. Sunrisers Hyderabad arrived in Bangalore late last month and saw a potential win against a struggling host slip away because of rain. Now, in the Eliminator, they were 20 minutes away from having a shot at Qualifier 2 and perhaps even defending their crown as it rained for a better part of three hours immediately after they posted 128, numbers-wise a sub-par score at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. But then it stopped, making way for a six-over chase in which Kolkata Knight Riders had to get 48.To not get there, Knight Riders needed a serious meltdown, and they almost had one when they lost three wickets in the first seven deliveries, but the advantage of a truncated game always favours the chasing team. Gautam Gambhir demonstrated as much with his unbeaten 19-ball 32, which helped Knight Riders home with four balls to spare. Muttiah Muralitharan, Sunrisers’ bowling coach, said it was his team’s “destiny” to not progress.Asked if prior playing experience on this surface, which they were denied because of rain during the league phase, might have helped approach their batting better this time around, Muralitharan said with a laugh: “Had we played and won [against RCB], we would have been in Mumbai [for Qualifier 1]. It’s destiny. Twenty more minutes and we would have gone through. It’s all about destiny. It’s part and parcel of the game.”Muralitharan isn’t a stranger at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, having spent two seasons with Royal Challengers Bangalore. But he may have well been mistaken into believing it was his first time here, upon looking at the 22 yards for this game. The ground where Royal Challengers nearly chased down 209 to beat Sunrisers in the final last year was now throwing up vastly different conditions. The reasons attributed to the sudden change in the nature of the square are many.A change in composition of the soil and a reduction in thickness of clay to aid bounce hasn’t worked because of the dry heat, according to the ground’s curator. This has also caused the tracks to break down faster because of cracks opening up. Unlike last year, where five totals of 200 or more were scored, the average first-innings score here this season was 148, something Sunrisers were targeting upon being put in to bat.Muttiah Muralitharan: ‘The batsmen played well, the bowlers who we picked at the auction did well. Overall we are satisfied with the performance’•AFP

Knight Riders’ Nathan Coulter-Nile kept bowling cross-seam and got the ball to stop on the batsmen. Manufacturing strokes was hard as David Warner and Kane Williamson found out. It was only when the bowlers pitched short did they have any leeway. Despite having seven wickets in hand, Sunrisers could only manage 30 off their last five.”The wicket was not great to play shots, we would’ve been bowled out for 70-80 if we tried to play shots,” Muralitharan said. “We were thinking of 140 and finished 10 short because they bowled well. We had the bowling to defend it across 20 overs. Had we taken two or three wickets early, they would have struggled. We’ve seen how teams have defended 130-135 here. It’s unfortunate. They won the toss and so they deserved to win.”Muralitharan chose not to focus on the playing conditions. A regulation cut-off time for this match – the cut-off time for play to begin in the playoffs is one hour more than the cut-off time for the league-phase games – would have meant Sunrisers would have qualified. Asked whether a reserve day, instead, would have been the way to go, he laughed it off.”We all prefer 20 overs. We didn’t expect it to rain. Anyone can win or lose, but we had a great season,” he said. “The batsmen played well, the bowlers who we picked at the auction did well. Overall we are satisfied with the performance – eight wins and five losses before this. It doesn’t always go your way.”We are all disappointed not getting through, but we had some great performances. Unfortunately you can’t win every time. We made sure we gave our best and our best was not good enough. We have to take it on the chin. Let’s see, hopefully if we can get the same team next year – I don’t know what the rules are going to be – we can once again try and win.”

A rush of wickets followed by a last-wicket stand brought excitement but the match remained well balanced at Chester-le-Street

ECB Reporters Network21-Jun-2017
ScorecardChris Rushworth was part of a spirited last-wicket stand•Getty Images

Signs of a positive result when Durham lost five wickets for six runs proved misleading as only four more wickets fell in the two sessions of play against Glamorgan at Chester-le-Street.After thundery storms play began an 1.10 on the third day of the Specsavers County Championship match and when Glamorgan were faced with a deficit of 107 and 42 overs to bat after tea they reached 92 for 2.After the collapse Durham’s last-wicket pair, Chris Rushworth and Barry McCarthy, put on 68 to achieve maximum batting points with two balls to spare.McCarthy was then unlucky to take no wickets in a spell of 8-3-5-0 as Jacques Rudolph survived a searching examination from Durham’s four seamers until two overs from the close, when he was strangled down the leg side for 43.It was a deserved reward for academy boy Matty Potts, who also took the other wicket when he had Nick Selman lbw for 16.Rudolph twice edged Potts for four through the vacant third slip area and the youngster conceded only eight more runs in his eight overs.When Durham resumed on 281 for four, Paul Collingwood and Ryan Pringle added 47 in the first 12 overs. Pringle hit Michael Hogan for three fours in four balls, but he fell lbw to the next to start the slide.Graham Wagg had Paul Coughlin caught behind first ball, then Collingwood departed for 92 when a steeply-bouncing ball which Marchant de Lange lobbed off a glove to Aneurin Donald at gully.An inswinger from Wagg had Stuart Poynter lbw before de Lange banged another one in to have Potts caught at short leg.Durham still needed 16 for the fourth batting point when Rushworth joined McCarthy. But they were relatively untroubled once de Lange rested after a 12-over spell, in which his two for 30 took his overall figures to five for 95.McCarthy was on 30 when Rushworth fell for 38, chipping Hogan to mid-on with the total on 402.

Zimbabwe bowled with venom, fielded with pep and batted with intelligence to win the deciding fifth ODI in Hambantota and stun Sri Lanka 3-2 for their first away series win since 2009

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Jul-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:46

Fernando: SL have lot of soul-searching to do

They came to Sri Lanka ranked 11th, having been defeated by Scotland in the previous month, and having lost a series to Afghanistan earlier in the year. But bowling with venom, fielding with pep, and batting with intelligence, helped Zimbabwe win the deciding fifth ODI by three wickets in Hambantota, and stun the hosts 3-2. It is their first away series victory since 2009, and one of Zimbabwe cricket’s finest moments ever.Though their quartet of miserly spinners had trussed Sri Lanka up for 203 in their 50 overs, and though their openers slammed 92 for the first wicket, victory still had to be prised from their opposition on a slowing, turning deck. Zimbabwe were 137 for 1, when a Sri Lanka surge, led by Akila Dananjaya, claimed six wickets for 38.But as long as Sikandar Raza was at the crease, Zimbabwe’s chances of victory remained good. He survived the last of Dananjaya’s overs, and alongside Graeme Cremer, saw out a burst of swinging Lasith Malinga yorkers. Having been such a high-impact player over the past nine days, perhaps it was also fitting that Raza made the series’ final play. With six to get, he ran down the pitch and deposited Wanindu Hasaranga over the straight boundary to spark elation in the dressing room. His 27 nerveless runs followed an excellent turn with the ball, with which he captured 3 for 27 – two of those wickets having come in the tone-setting first 10 overs.Hamilton Masakadza capped an outstanding series with an 86-ball 73, Solomon Mire and Tarisai Musakanda made useful batting contributions, and the other spinners – Cremer, Malcolm Waller and Sean Williams – all made important breakthroughs as well. So many in this Zimbawe outfit can take credit for the series triumph – almost every batsman has produced an impactful innings, Tendai Chatara has been reliable, and they have outfielded Sri Lanka too – though that is not the compliment it once was.Sri Lanka will be left to rue their timidity with the bat – which was brought into sharp relief by Zimbabwe’s openers – and their lack of ambition with the ball in the early overs. Where Raza had been immediately menacing, slowing the ball down, and tossing it tantalisingly up, Sri Lanka’s spinners bowled too quickly through the early overs, when Mire and Masakadza were mowing them down. Even Dananjaya, who later found rhythm and wound up with 4 for 47, went wicketless in his first four overs and conceded 25 runs. In their defence, three of the six main bowlers in this match had played less than 15 ODIs.For the third time in the series, Chatara took the first Sri Lanka wicket, but it was through Raza’s calculative first spell that Zimbabwe truly applied their tentacles to this innings. He got Kusal Mendis to chip a ball to short midwicket after drawing him down the pitch, then ripped a perfectly-pitched ball past Upul Tharanga’s forward defence to rattle off stump. Where in each of the previous two matches, Sri Lanka put up opening stands in excess of 200, they were 34 for three after 11 overs in this game. Raza had bowled six of those overs, and his two wickets had cost only 11 runs.No Sri Lanka batsman appeared fluent, but Danushka Gunathilaka was the best of them in the early overs, using his long stride to smother some of the spin that foxed his teammates. Even so, his 47-run fourth-wicket partnership with Angelo Mathews was stilted. Mathews had picked up what seemed to be a groin strain early in his innings, and was unable to take the tight singles and twos that are perhaps at a premium on a pitch such as this. When he was caught at slip for 24, playing a tired drive to Graeme Cremer, Sri Lanka were 78 for 4, and already in serious trouble.Gunathilaka passed fifty for the fourth time in the series, but then lost concentration, and his wicket. Before long, Sri Lanka were 126 for 7 in the 35th over, and it took an intelligent 59 not out from Asela Gunaratne to help them bat through to the 50th over and put up a serviceable score. He had gelled well with No. 10 batsman Dushmantha Chameera. Together, they mustered 34 off the last four overs – Gunaratne shuffling around the crease to hit square boundaries. Their unbeaten 50-run stand was the best of the innings.Each of Zimbabwe’s openers survived close calls early: a Lasith Malinga slower ball missing Hamilton Masakadza’s off stump by centimetres, before Solomon Mire successfully overturned an lbw decision against him off Nuwan Kulasekara. But if there were early nerves, they would soon be clobbered into submission.Sikandar Raza took three wickets before making a vital contribution with the bat to see Zimbabwe through in a tense chase•AFP

Mire biffed three fours and a six off the fourth over – bowled by Kulasekara – and once Zimbabwe were off, it was more or less a Powerplay boundary binge. The batsmen would hit one six apiece, and nine fours in total by the end of the 10th over, many of those hits coming down the ground. At that stage, Zimbabwe had knocked 62 off the total. Though Mire would soon lose his stumps, trying to paddle sweep Gunaratne, a further 40 would come off the next six overs, and Zimbabwe would be halfway to the winning score.Malinga’s dismissal of Masakadza in the 24th over seemed a mere bump at the time, with so much batting to come, but bowling to left-handers now, flight, dip and rip returned to Dananjaya’s game, and he threatened to derail the chase. He first had Craig Ervine lbw, had Williams caught at short midwicket soon after, had Musakanda holing out to long on, and in his final over, had Peter Moor caught at leg gully. Malinga supported him with a tight spell and the wicket of Waller at the other end, but Zimbabwe could almost taste victory by now.Raza and Cremer tiptoed onwards through the last of these bowlers’ spells, and saw the team through to a famous victory. Much will be made of Sri Lanka’s failures in the series, but Zimbabwe played some clever and courageous cricket to overturn their hosts.

The spoils were shared in Cardiff where the match was abandoned after 17.2 overs of Glamorgan’s innings

ECB Reporters Network15-Jul-2017
ScorecardJacques Rudolph was leading Glamorgan to a hefty total•Getty Images

The spoils were shared in Cardiff where the match was abandoned after 17.2 overs of Glamorgan’s innings which was set to leave a demanding target with Jacques Rudolph unbeaten on 65 off 37 balls.Despite a 35-minute delay because of rain before the start there was no reduction in overs and, after winning the toss, Somerset, who had lost their previous nine games in the competition, elected to bowl first.They quickly gained success when Lewis Gregory, with the second ball of his first over, had David Lloyd caught behind. Aneurin Donald, however, was soon into his stride, pulling Craig Overton for four, before sweeping him over the wicketkeeper for six.Colin Ingram, who scored a 46-ball century against Sussex last week, then struck Tim Groenewald for fourteen runs in an over, which included a huge six fourteen rows back into the members enclosure.Somerset took their second wicket when Donald skied Gregory to mid-on after scoring 24 from 13 balls, but Ingram kept attacking, hitting Allenby for another six, before he was caught on the midwicket boundary for 39 from 21 balls.Glamorgan were 92 for 3 at the halfway stage, but then lost their fourth wicket when Andrew Salter was well held by Max Waller off his own bowling.Rudolph and Chris Cooke maintained the momentum with a rapid partnership of 52 in 4.2 overs, which ended when Cooke struck a full toss from Groenewald to mid-off.Rudolph then reached his fifty from only 28 balls, which included four fours and two sixes, with Glamorgan reaching 158 for 5 after 16 overs but after eight deliveries the rain returned.

The Sri Lanka captain has pinned his hopes on the inexperienced quicks to deliver in the absence of injured seniors Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Pallekele11-Aug-2017Sri Lanka are willing to try just about anything to win. There was the “high altitude” training camp at Pallekele before the Champions Trophy, the high profile appointment of Allan Donald ahead of the same tournament, three trips to Kandy’s Temple of the Tooth over the past 13 months, a fast-bowling workshop with Wasim Akram, the appointment of a cricket manager, the appointment of a number of supplementary coaches and the elbowing out of Graham Ford.In this series alone, they have tried to beat India on a flat deck. They have tried to beat India on a dry track. Now, they appear to be pinning their hopes on fast bowling, with what appears to be a seam-friendly surface unveiled at Pallekele. The only problem is that with both Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal unavailable for this Test, Sri Lanka are forced to rely on a seam attack even greener than the pitch they will play on. The most experienced frontline quick in the battery is Lahiru Kumara, who has played all of seven Tests. Dushmantha Chameera has played six Tests, Vishwa Fernando has played one, and Lahiru Gamage is uncapped in this format.Despite the inexperience, Dinesh Chandimal did his best to appear upbeat ahead of what could be another rough Test match. Kumara and Chameera have both had impressive outings on such surfaces before, and they will need to recapture that form to end India’s batting dominance in this series. Chameera, in any case, may not play ahead of Vishwa Fernando, who has been in the squad since the start of the series. Chameera was only added to the squad on Thursday.”Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando are bowling really well these days,” Chandimal said. “As the two senior bowlers are not in contention, it’s a good opportunity for them to put their hands up, put us on track to a win, and show us what they’ve got. I think they’ll take that opportunity. It’s a big challenge for both of them, and for me as a captain.”Among the other things Sri Lanka have tried is trimming their training hours – partly also due to the prevailing bad weather in Pallekele. Though it seems counterintuitive for a losing team to practice less, Chandimal believed refreshed minds could put his team in better stead for this game than further sweating in the nets. In any case, Sri Lanka had had an extensive training schedule ahead of the first two Tests, and that approach had not prevented two thumping defeats.Sri Lanka’s practice two days out from the Test was optional. There was no training at all on the eve of the game.”We did practice yesterday (Thursday) at the indoor nets because it was raining, but certain batsmen are not that keen on batting in indoor nets,” Chandimal said. “Today, we were going to practice in the morning, but it rained and we lost the opportunity. The trainers gave us some exercises and we did them. We also thought it’s good to come for tomorrow’s game with a bit of a rest to the mind as well.”While the team has searched for creative solutions to their many problems, SLC has also intervened, having requested the team to attend a “recoup and regroup” meeting on what would have been the fifth day of the second Test, in Colombo. With SLC’s top coaches also in attendance, presentations had been made and motivational speeches delivered. As is often the case, it is difficult to tell where the PR stunt ends, and where the cricket value of such an event begins. In any case, Chandimal said the meeting, which had also featured a pep talk by Aravinda de Silva, had helped raise spirits.”That was a very important meeting. All the players were there and we discussed how we could take our game forward, and how we’re going to win games. All the players also contributed their ideas to that. A lot of positives came out. At the end of the meeting, all the players were in a bit of an upbeat mood and that looks really good. After Aravinda talked to us, the players also felt confident.”

David Warner scored the slowest hundred of his career in an uncharacteristic manner and says it gave him the confidence to score more runs in Asia

Brydon Coverdale06-Sep-2017If you were told that one of Australia’s openers had spent six hours at the crease for 123 runs, painstakingly accumulated from 234 balls, with only seven boundaries, you would have complete confidence in declaring that the man in question would be Matt Renshaw. But you would be wrong. This was David Warner posting most un-Warner-like numbers in the first innings in Chittagong, where he put Australia into a strong position with two days to play.This was Warner’s 20th Test century – more than were made by Mark Taylor, or Michael Hussey, or Doug Walters, or Bill Lawry, or Ian Chappell, or Michael Slater, or Adam Gilchrist, all of whom played more Tests than Warner’s current tally of 66. It was also the slowest hundred of his Test career, completed from his 209th delivery, and in extreme heat. And his patience has brought Australia back into the series.”You pretty much felt in from ball one with the fields that they set, they didn’t really have any attacking men around the bat compared to last game,” Warner said after the day’s play. “It allowed me just to rotate the strike and not really have any need to leave your crease all the time.”At the end of the day, they try and shut down the scoreboard. They try and cut your boundaries out and play that way, try and get you caught around the crease and obviously look for that lbw dismissal or bowled through the gate. If you can negate that and you can manipulate the field, you’re going to be facing a lot of balls and you’ve got to be prepared to bat long periods of time.”It was also Warner’s second consecutive century, after his fourth-innings 112 in Mirpur last week, which he described at the time as his best innings. But for sheer single-mindedness and adaptability from his usual verve, this hundred must also be up there. “I think from a patience point of view, definitely,” Warner said. “I always talk about trying to bat long periods for time in these conditions and by far that’s the hottest I’ve ever played in. It was quite challenging to be out there. Coming off yesterday, it was every minute that I was out there.”We were out there for 100 overs the day before. A lot of credit has to go to the two fast bowlers as well. The amount of work that they’ve put in, I think they’ve both bowled 20 overs apiece in this heat. It takes someone with some good fitness to bowl through that, definitely.”Warner’s productive tour has boosted his record in Asia – he arrived for this series with only one century from 26 previous Test innings on the continent. Now, Warner believes that he might finally have found a method that can bring him success in Asia more generally.”It’s a tough environment to come out and try to play your shots and play your natural game,” he said. “You have to find a way and for me it’s taken almost 16, 17 Tests in these conditions to work out what my game plan is and stick to it. As I said before, they play on your ego a little bit, they shut down your runs, they shut down your boundary options, and you’ve got to milk the ones.”You’ve got to be prepared to bat time and you’ve got to have the fitness edge as well to do that. That’s probably the thing that’s going to keep motivating me more now to show to myself that I’ve done that, and now moving forward I can achieve the same success that I’ve had so far over here moving down the line.”Warner’s innings helped Australia gain a 72-run lead by stumps on the third day, though with only one wicket in hand they will aim to bump that advantage up a little further on the fourth morning. There remains plenty of work if Australia are to achieve the victory needed to level the series 1-1, but the batting work led by Warner has at least given them hope.”It’s crucial that we try and put as many runs on the board as possible,” he said. “I wouldn’t say the wicket is deteriorating, there’s a little bit of rough out there created from the bowlers. The middle of the wicket is still nice and true. But as the spinners do, they’ll work out what they need to do and hit those rough areas.”

The board is preparing for a net loss of US $25 million from the inaugural edition of the T20 Global League, an amount that accounts for more than half its current cash reserves

Firdose Moonda06-Oct-2017Cricket South Africa is preparing for a net loss of US $25 million (approx R342.58 million) from the inaugural edition of the T20 Global League, an amount that accounts for more than half its current cash reserves.In its 2016-17 integrated report, CSA reported a bank balance of $47.8 million (approx R655.44 million) at the end of April but the costs of running the tournament with reduced revenue and stadium upgrades of $25.5 million (approx R350 million) spread over three years, means the glamour competition will initially cost much more money than anticipated.While CSA had always predicted it would take at least three seasons before the T20 Global League turned a profit, much like the Big Bash League, the extent of the losses was alarming. Cricket Australia incurred similar losses over the first two years but offset that with revenue from the Champions League T20, a luxury that CSA don’t have. With the broadcast deal and sponsorship yet to be sewn up, there could be more bad news to come for South. Africa.Revenue from television rights and sponsorship has been reduced from what CSA hoped for, as acting CEO Thabang Moroe explained in Bloemfontein. “The numbers have changed, not as drastically as has been reported. Initially we were looking at a total net revenue of $32 million (approx R438.50 million) as far as broadcast and central sponsorship is concerned. At the moment it will be in its 20s.”Moroe expected the broadcast deal, which was due to be completed on Thursday but has still not been signed, to be worth between US $17 and 18 million dollars (approx R233.35 million and R247.09 million). At the same time, Moroe and his team are also seeking out a title sponsor and cutting costs on everything from the opening and closing ceremony to marketing, to cushion the blow.”We have cut down, but it’s not to wane the quality of the tournament. We are making sure our members don’t get hurt the most. As CSA, we have decided to absorb some of the losses that our members would have incurred, but we’re doing so because when we look at our numbers, we’re pretty confident that we can help them regain them in the following year,” Moroe said. “We as CSA and the team owners will still suffer losses. Hopefully, depending on how well we negotiate with all the broadcasters, the team owners will break even in year three. Our model is pretty watertight, it’s now just a matter of making sure that we deliver operationally.”Morne Morkel, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis at the inaugural player draft of the T20 Global League•T20 Global League

The team owners, of whom all but one are from overseas, were aware that losses were expected. Moroe said the “bigger teams,” referring to those owned by IPL franchises, for example will have to incur a loss of $1.5 million (approx R20.5 million). Despite that, Moroe, who has had meetings with the owners, was reassured they were all on board. “All owners are committed to staying in the league. The owners are happy to accept those losses for the first two years.”While that may buy CSA some time to make the T20 Global League financially viable, it does not decrease the pressure to produce a product that can be profitable. For that, a broadcast deal must be secured and Moroe understood the seriousness of that. “Obviously everything is tied to the broadcast deal,” he said. “When you go and see a sponsor the first thing they ask is, ‘Where is my brand going to be seen?”CSA has been in protracted negotiations with Africa’s biggest sports broadcaster, , for months and while all indications are that they will air the tournament, a sticking point is the price. Former CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat is believed to have turned down previous offers while also excluding CFO Naasei Appiah from meetings, but CSA has been forced to go back to their long-time television partners and will likely have to accept a lower deal.CSA President Chris Nenzani did not blame Lorgat for the current predicament, and said Lorgat’s failure to sign the broadcast deal was not the only reason he and CSA parted ways last week. Nenzani would not go into detail over why Lorgat’s relationship with the CSA board had become untenable but would only say the issues began in January and came to a head at a board meeting on May 13. Though Nenzani himself believed the relationship could be saved, the board did not.CSA is in the process of negotiating a payout with Lorgat, which is believed to be between $218,823 and $437,646 (approx 3 to 6 million rand), small change compared to the other losses.Ironically, the initial idea behind the creation of the T20 Global League was to enable CSA to become financially self-sufficient, so it would not have to rely on incoming tours from India, England or Australia to make money. Now, this summer’s visit by two of those teams, India and Australia, will bring in much-needed money to pump up the depleted reserves.*One US dollar = 13.71 Rand as on October 6, 2017