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Kolkata Knight Riders began nervously, Mumbai Indians finished similarly, but it was Mumbai who booked a place in the Champions League T20 and in semi-final equivalent of this IPL

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga25-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Aiden Blizzard’s early blitz allowed Mumbai Indians the cushion to overcome a middle-overs crisis•Associated Press

Kolkata Knight Riders began nervously, Mumbai Indians finished similarly, but it was Mumbai who booked a place in the Champions League T20 and in the semi-final equivalent of IPL 2009. What will irk Kolkata is that they were the better side for 39 overs in the previous match between these sides, but one bad over then set up this rematch in the quarter-final equivalent. Mumbai then did enough to make use on the second chance.Kolkata’s top order came out trying too hard for a big start, losing four wickets for 20, and Ryan ten Doeschate’s 70 was not recovery enough on a good Wankhede track with short boundaries. A blazing start from Aiden Blizzard and Sachin Tendulkar seemed to have put to rest Mumbai’s habit of muddled chases, but they choked again. For the second consecutive game, though, James Franklin scuppered Kolkata’s hopes. This time, with much more on the line, he produced a less dramatic, but more assured 29.Munaf Patel bowled smartly to capitalise on Kolkata’s palpable nervous energy, taking three wickets, including those of Jacques Kallis and Yusuf Pathan. It was a subtle change-up immediately after being driven for four that sent Kallis back. The wicket-taking delivery was pitched in the same area, but was bowled with a scrambled seam and was hence a touch slower. The slice settled with a diving Tendulkar.Gautam Gambhir, Shreevats Goswami and Manoj Tiwary concentrated just on the boundaries, in the process failing to place the good balls for singles. The dot balls mounted, and all three fell to shots they would normally not play. ten Deoschate played sensibly, though, looking for singles and punishing the bad balls. That calm rubbed off on Yusuf, their 60-run stand took the run-rate past six an over, and a big finish could not have been ruled out.Munaf, though, returned to interrupt the comeback with more clever bowling. Convinced that the short ball would trouble Yusuf, he let his Baroda team-mate have some. The first one took a top edge for four, the second went for a single along the ground, and the third one was mistimed over midwicket. Munaf persisted, and with his fourth bouncer of the over, he sent his man back.Ambati Rayudu, a part-time wicketkeeper, proceeded to miss ten Doeschate and Shakib Al Hasan in the next two overs. ten Doeschate went on to score the highest for a No. 6 this IPL and Kolkata got 60 in the last six, yet a blazing start to the chase was always going to knock them out. Blizzard and Tendulkar provided just that.Blizzard relished the pace of Brett Lee, while Tendulkar took care of the spin of Iqbal Abdulla and Yusuf Pathan. A lot of class and a lot of power merged effectively to bring up the fifty in the fifth over. There was a remote semblance of redemption for Lee when he came back to remove Blizzard, but not before the batsman had hit him for four and six in that over.Then Mumbai stumbled. Rohit Sharma ran himself out, Tendulkar fell to a sharp bouncer, and Rayudu seemed to have been sawn off. From 81 for 0 in the eighth over, Mumbai had been reduced to 103 for 4 in the 13th. A mini-partnership ensued, but Shakib trapped Pollard to make it 123 for 5. T Suman couldn’t handle the nerves and holed out to long-off.The asking-rate crept past run-a-ball for the last two overs, but a top edge off Lee’s first ball brought it back to 11 off 11. L Balaji, who failed to defend 21 in the last match, didn’t get a shot at redemption. The last over went to Shakib – his figures 3-0-17-2 until then – who needed to defend seven. Harbhajan lofted the second ball over midwicket, and let out a roar.

Nicky Shaw, the England fast-bowler, has retired from international cricket at the age of 28

Cricinfo staff10-Jul-2010Nicky Shaw, the England fast-bowler, has retired from international cricket at the age of 28.Shaw was the Player of the Match in the 2009 World Cup final for taking 4 for 34 to help England defeat New Zealand in Sydney. It was the highlight of a career that brought 46 wickets in 70 ODIs, in addition to 11 wickets in five Tests.”Whilst I have enjoyed my time playing, I feel it is now time to retire from the international game ahead of my move to Australia,” she explained. Isa Guha replaced her for the ODI series against New Zealand which began on Saturday.Shaw made her debut in 1999 aged 17 and also featured in England’s Ashes-winning side in 2008 and the team that won the World Twenty20 at Lord’s last year.Yet the 50-over World Cup final was her dream performance as she only came into the side as a late replacement when Jenny Gunn suffered a calf injury on the morning of the match. Her four wickets helped England sink New Zealand and take the title. “I started the day crying, and I finished the day crying,” she said.

Bad weather spares Leicestershire further examination but innings defeat looms

ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2024Yorkshire remain on course for a victory that they believe may be enough to realise their promotion ambitions despite bad weather washing out more than half of the second day of their Vitality County Championship match at Leicester.Leicestershire will resume on day three at 35 for two in their second innings, trailing by 246 after Yorkshire had posted 379 following an excellent 126 from captain Jonny Tattersall and a career-best 88 from pace bowler Matthew Fisher, who also claimed both Leicestershire wickets.Rain forced the players off shortly before two o’clock and they were unable to return. It meant 57 scheduled overs were lost but with two full days still to come Yorkshire would be mightily disappointed should they fail to turn their strong position into a win.Ahead of this fixture, head coach Ottis Gibson predicted that one win from his side’s final three Division Two matches would be enough to secure a top-two finish, even though they trailed second-placed Middlesex by a point going into this round.In the play that was possible, Leicestershire’s hopes of limiting Yorkshire’s lead after they were dismissed for 98 on day one went unfulfilled in an opening session dominated by a 138-run ninth-wicket partnership between Tattersall and Fisher, who could not be parted for an hour and a half, and only when home skipper Lewis Hill had belatedly recalled Rehan Ahmed into the attack.The England wrist spinner, who turned 20 last month and has been named in the squad to tour Pakistan next month, was successful with his fourth delivery (having struck with his second in his first spell on day one) as Tattersall’s fine innings ended with an edge to slip. He finished with three for 60.The Yorkshire captain had completed his second hundred of the season in the sixth over of the morning from 170 balls. He celebrated with two lovely straight driven fours off Scott Currie and had raised his boundary count to 14 by the time he was out.The pitch appeared to offer far less to the bowlers than it had 24 hours earlier, when the first dozen overs of the morning saw Leicestershire lose seven wickets for 15. The corresponding period this time resulted in Yorkshire adding 51 without loss as Fisher posted his maiden first-class half-century for the county. Even the new ball, taken as soon as available nine overs into the day, had little effect.More to the point, in the broader context, the shift in the balance of the contest had enabled Yorkshire to turn one batting bonus point overnight to three, which may be vital as they bid to seal their return to Division One, matching Middlesex’s haul against Gloucestershire. They were one short when Tattersall was out, but Fisher and Ben Coad added another 31 from just 26 balls before Ahmed dismissed Fisher, helped by a sharp catch snapped up at ankle height by wicketkeeper Ben Cox.Seamer Tom Scriven, still searching for his first five-wicket bag in first-class cricket, finished with four for 103.There was time for Leicestershire to face one nervy over before lunch, and though they survived that one, they slipped to 34 for two for two shortly before the rain arrived, Fisher continuing his productive day by taking both wickets.Opener Rishi Patel, whose approach to his side’s 281-run first-innings deficit was to be ultra aggressive, profited only briefly from it before he was leg before playing a horrible hoick across the line. Partner Ian Holland was more cautious but departed quickly nonetheless, caught at first slip.

Lack of runs leads to resignation, with Jack Leaning taking over Championship duties

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2023Sam Billings has stepped down as Kent red-ball captain for the rest of the season, with Jack Leaning set to take charge of the side when their County Championship campaign resumes against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road on Sunday.Billings, who made three Test appearances in 2022 – most recently in England’s seven-wicket win against India at Edgbaston – opted out of a stint with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL to focus on his role at Kent.However, he has endured a grim run of form in the County Championship, making 92 runs in 10 innings, including three ducks and a highest score of 31.Kent are currently second-from-bottom of the Division One standings, with one win from seven matches, and Billings’ form prompted him to leave himself out of their most recent Championship match, a five-wicket loss to table-toppers Surrey at Canterbury.”Kent cricket can confirm that men’s captain, Sam Billings, has decided to step down as captain in red-ball cricket for the rest of the 2023 season,” a club statement read.”Jack Leaning, who captained Kent against Surrey last time out in the Championship, will captain the side in Sam’s absence.”Billings will continue to lead the side in the Vitality Blast and remains the club captain in men’s cricket.”His fortunes as white-ball captain have been rather better, however. Kent have won their last six T20 Blast games under Billings’ leadership, and are currently fourth in the South Group, with a place in the quarter-finals within their grasp.Kent have named a 13-man squad for their trip to Northamptonshire, who are the only team below them in the current Division One standings.Arafat Bhuiyan, Arshdeep Singh and Matt Quinn all feature after not being involved in the Blast, while Ben Compton is set to slot back in at the top of the order. Harry Finch is included in the first XI squad after impressing in the Second XI Championship, Michael Hogan and Grant Stewart have been rested to focus on this week’s Blast contest against Sussex.

Pakistan are set to host SL, tour Australia, and play Ireland home and away as well as feature in the Commonwealth and Asian Games

Umar Farooq28-Mar-2022The PCB has chalked out a year-long calendar for women’s cricket, comprising extensive international and domestic cricket including home series against Sri Lanka and Ireland and Pakistan’s participation in the Commonwealth and Asian Games this year. The board has also revived its Under-19 tournament after eight-and-a-half years.The Women’s PSL is not part of this year’s calendar, though ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB is working out the feasibility of the tournament and, under chairman Ramiz Raja, has ambitions of organising the event in March 2023.Related

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The series against Sri Lanka, which was postponed last year following a change of leadership in the PCB, is now scheduled to be played from May 18 to June 7, with the series falling under the ICC Women’s Championship cycle.Following this, Pakistan are set to tour Ireland in July for a triangular series that also includes Australia as the third team. This will be immediately followed by the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July-August.In September, Pakistan are due to travel to Hangzhou, China, for the 2022 Asian Games, before returning home for a three-ODI, three-T20I series against Ireland in October-November. The year is then set to end with the Women’s T20 Asia Cup, which is due to take place in December, though further details are still awaited.The Women’s T20 World Cup is set to be played in South Africa in February 2023, and Pakistan’s preparations for the event will conclude with a tour of Australia from January 4 to Feb 1, comprising three ODIs and three T20Is.Under-19 domestic tournament to serve as talent pathway
The year-long calendar – the first one the PCB has announced for women’s cricket – includes a blueprint for the domestic circuit as well.The national youth-level tournament was disbanded in 2013 due to a policy shift and a change of leadership in the PCB. Before that, there had been a national Under-17 event that took place from 2004 to 2008, which was replaced by a regional Under-19 tournament that was a regular event from 2009 to 2013. A Pakistan A team was formed thereafter, comprising players from the Under-19 circuit and those on the fringes of the senior national side.The PCB is reviving its Under-19 women’s domestic tournament after an eight-year gap•AFP via Getty Images

The pathway to the national team, however, had always been vague, with no solid link between the grassroots and the top 30-35 women players in the country. The investment in women’s cricket had narrowed down to two major tournaments, with three teams playing the National T20 and ODI Challenge Cups.Seeking to expand the talent pool in women’s cricket, the PCB has announced a new T20 tournament featuring six provincial Under-19 teams, which will take place in August 2022. The best players from this level could go on to feature in the senior domestic season.The senior season will begin with a two-phase T20 tournament in September-October. The first phase is a four-team event featuring the best players from the six provincial associations; the top performers from this phase will play alongside the best international players in the second phase of the championship, a three-team tournament.The women’s domestic season will conclude in April-May 2023 with a 50-overs tournament featuring four teams playing each other in a double-round-robin format.Pakistan exited the ongoing ODI World Cup campaign at the league stage, but managed to break their 18-match losing streak in the tournament. However, they lost six out of seven games to finish bottom of the table, their only win an upset of West Indies in a rain-hit contest. The last team Pakistan had beaten in a World Cup was also West Indies, back in 2009.”The past few weeks have brought to light the gulf between our side and the leading international teams,” Tania Mallick, the PCB’s head of women’s cricket, said. “To develop and strengthen our national side, it is imperative to have a strong and competitive domestic structure and provide more opportunities to the national side to play in challenging conditions so we continue to gauge where we stand.”We have put in a lot of thinking before penning down our upcoming season. I am grateful to all six Cricket Associations who have jumped on board and expressed their desire and willingness to develop women’s cricket at age group and senior rungs in their jurisdictions. Their help and support will unearth talent from all parts of the country and, with a strong system in place, I am sure we will be able to produce players who are capable of performing according to the contemporary demands and needs.”

Opener ready to dig deep again as she struggles for runs

Valkerie Baynes15-Nov-2020Tammy Beaumont has been here before, not so long ago, battling for runs but with a hand still firmly in her own destiny.Having scored just 96 runs from nine innings so far, with a strike rate of 71.64 and highest score of 30 for Sydney Thunder in this edition of the WBBL, opener Beaumont is determined to “put that right”. Thunder need all the contributions they can get with four matches remaining ahead of the finals after defeats to Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers over the weekend saw them drop from second to fourth on the table.”It’s a strange one, I can’t really put my finger on it,” Beaumont said. “I feel like I’ve been playing really well in the nets and then just getting out while I’m in the middle or not really getting off to a good start, which is obviously what we need. Hopefully I can put that right in the last few games and play a good knock for the team.”ALSO READ: Former FA chairman’s comments show there’s work to do – KnightBeaumont found herself in a similar situation heading into England’s behind-closed-doors T20 series against West Indies in September, having played a limited role at the T20 World Cup as a floating batsman before a second-ball duck in her preferred position as opener when the same sides met in their last match of the global tournament.She retained her place at the top of the order though, and her 62 from 49 balls handed hosts England a comfortable victory in the first match of the series they went on to sweep 5-0 against West Indies. Beaumont admitted to harbouring self-doubts going into that first game.”I had a bit of a word to myself, said, ‘you’ve still got a hand in it, you’ve still got four or five games, just do your best, and just enjoy it and really embrace it,'” Beaumont said at the time.Her half-century against West Indies remained her best score of the series and Thunder could do with a similar knock when they take on bottom side Melbourne Renegades on Tuesday.Stars are three points clear on top, while the second-placed Scorchers are two points ahead of Brisbane Heat, then Thunder and Sydney Sixers, who are all locked on 10 points each and separated only by net run rate.Having ground out 14 off 27 deliveries against Stars on Saturday, Beaumont unleashed a signature reverse sweep only to find England team-mate Nat Sciver, who sprung high to her left and pulled down a stunning catch at point. On Sunday, Beaumont faced just two balls for one run against Scorchers before she was caught behind by Beth Mooney off Nicole Bolton.”It’s really full-on this season,” Beaumont said. “It’s almost games every two days so that’s something a little bit different to try and make sure you’re really on top of your recovery and all of that.”I haven’t necessarily played as well as I wanted to yet… the standard is as strong as it’s ever been. I guess with this one because the games are coming so fast you don’t always get a chance to really prepare for your certain opposition. You’ve just got to bounce from one to the other.”Despite facing a further onslaught of four matches in this coming week, it was the not playing before the tournament which Beaumont said she found the hardest, having to spend two weeks in strict quarantine.”Being literally locked in a hotel room for 14 days with your treadmill was certainly a different experience but since we’ve been out, the bubble here is pretty big,” she said. “They’ve put a lot on for us. We just had a trivia night run by Grace Harris so there’s plenty going on.”Beaumont’s on-field experience so far this tournament is in contrast to Thunder team-mate Heather Knight, the England captain, who is the competition’s fourth-highest run-scorer for the season with 295 at a strike rate of 121.90 and with three fifties. She has also taken eight wickets.Knight hit back after a duck against Stars to strike 44 from as many balls against Scorchers but it was not enough as Thunder were bundled out for 97 chasing 132 to win.

Former Australian fast bowler says heckling Smith after he ‘braved up’ to bat again is beyond the pale

Andrew Miller at Lord's18-Aug-2019Mitchell Johnson, the former Australia fast bowler, has condemned the minority of spectators at Lord’s who booed Steven Smith on his return to the crease after being felled by a Jofra Archer bouncer, telling ESPNcricinfo that they are “not cricket fans”.Smith’s return to Test cricket, after serving a year-long ban for his role in Australia’s ball-tampering scandal, has been spectacular, with matchwinning scores of 144 and 142 at Edgbaston last week, followed by yesterday’s 92 out in Australia’s first-innings total of 250.However, his visits to the crease have been greeted with a chorus of boos from some spectators who still maintain that he ought to be judged by his actions in Cape Town 18 months ago rather than his current exploits. And while Johnson believes they are broadly within their rights to do so, he felt that his reception on Saturday afternoon – as he resumed his innings on 80 not out after receiving treatment for two heavy blows to the neck and the left forearm – was beyond the pale.”One of the biggest disappointments for me was the crowd,” said Johnson. “Not the whole crowd, obviously, but a couple of boos could be heard through the effects mic, and that really disappointed me when he came back out to bat.”I don’t care what people say, they can say ‘yes, he’s a cheat and that’s why we’re booing him’, but that’s a load of rubbish to me. Yes, he’s done what he’s done, and you can boo him at the start of play when he comes onto the field if that’s how you feel. But for me, he’s taken a heavy knock – two heavy knocks – but he’s said ‘I can still bat here’. He’s braved up, he’s come through the concussion tests, and not many people would be able to do that.”Also read: Steven Smith blow brings cricket to a standstillJohnson, one of the few fast bowlers in recent Test history who was capable of bowling at the exceptional speed that Archer generated on day four of the second Test, also recalled the moment at Sydney in 2008-09, when South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith reappeared at No.11 in a bid to save the Test for his team, despite having had his hand broken by Johnson earlier in the match.”I remember in 2008 when Graeme Smith came out to bat, and the crowd were on their feet,” he said. “The majority of the fans here were, but for me, the ones that booed were not cricket fans.”Johnson, who had been commentating on Test Match Special when Smith was struck in the neck, recalled his unease at the incident, and said that he had sympathy with the England players – in particular Archer and Jos Buttler – who attracted some criticism on social media for appearing to laugh while Smith was receiving treatment.”I was on the radio when it happened, and I found it quite difficult to speak at the time because of the way Steve Smith hit the ground and lay there,” he said. “You could see he was moving around, but it obviously hurt him.”But what the England players did well was that Jos Buttler rushed straight up to him, and though Jofra Archer went back to the crease and rubbed his hands in the dirt, he then walked over to make sure he was okay.”In that situation they did everything they could as players. They made sure he was okay as best they could. They are not professionals in the medical world, so they have to leave that up to the professionals to make those decisions and sort that out.””There is a bit of stuff going around in social media about Buttler and Archer laughing and smiling, but you don’t know what they were laughing at, and for me they weren’t laughing at Steve Smith,” he added.”There was a bit of nervousness in the laughter. Archer was a bit shaken by it, he’s a cool character, really calm, but you could tell in his eyes there was a little bit of concern there as well.””But the game is played with the short ball,” Johnson added. “We saw Patty Cummins earlier in the Test going quite hard at Archer, so it’s expected in this game. There was nothing illegal about the delivery, I don’t think there was too much of it.”Speaking to Sky Sports before the start of the final day, Archer insisted that his primary aim had been to get Smith out, with a short leg and leg slip in place to combat his habit of working the short ball off his hip.”I honestly don’t know what I was thinking at the time,” Archer said. “Seeing someone go down, you don’t ever want to see anyone carried off on a stretcher, or you don’t want to see them missing a day, or a game, especially with what happened a few years ago [to Phil Hughes] as well. It’s never a nice sight.”Johnson agreed that England’s tactics were fair and appropriate, given the skill that Smith has displayed in the series to date.”How do you get Steve Smith out? We keep talking about it and England hadn’t tried that tactic of really going after him,” he said. “Unfortunately for Steve it has really rattled him up. He got hit on the arm first and he played a pull not too long after that he would not normally do. It definitely played on his emotions, his head, his skills. It’s part of the game and there’s been a little too much taken out of what’s happened out there today.”As a cricket watcher, I know everyone around the ground enjoyed that [battle], and even as an Australian fan back home, it would have been very exciting to watch a young up-and-coming superstar, going up against the best in the world, and getting the crowd riled up, and right behind him.”

Despite being the highest scorer in England’s world record total, Alex Hales knows he still can’t be sure of his place in the one-day side

Melinda Farrell20-Jun-2018It’s not often you hear a batsman muse that he isn’t guaranteed a place in his side after making almost 150 as part of a record-setting innings. So it speaks volumes about the strength of England’s current batting options that Alex Hales did so after his magnificent century in the third ODI against Australia.Hales’ blistering 147 off 92 balls was the highest score in England’s batting frenzy and yet, once Ben Stokes returns from injury, he still expects to be in a three-way battle with Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy for two positions in the top order.”To get a score like that at my home ground and get the record score is one of the days I’ll never forget in my life,” Hales said. “I don’t think my situation has changed much since yesterday [the day before the game] in terms of those two guys being ahead of me.”You’ve got Jonny who’s got four hundreds in five games and Jason, when in form, is one of the best players in the world. The situation stays the same for me. I need to keep knocking on the door and scoring as many runs as I can. Today was one step towards that.”It’s a nice problem for the selectors and the coaches to have: a squad as strong as we are at the moment, with the depth we’ve got, and guys not even in the 15 who are knocking on the door. It’s healthy competition and keeps everybody striving to improve.”To put together such an impressive team performance against a tough, strong nation. It’s probably our best ever team performance in terms of what we did with the bat and the way we fielded, and particularly the way the spinners bowled. It was as good as I’ve ever played in. A special day.”If Stokes is fully fit by the start of the India one-day series it gives Hales two more ODIs against Australia, then four T20Is to further press his claims.”I think that’s the situation I’m in,” said Hales. “It’s almost like what Jonny was in for a couple of years. Every time he got a chance, he scored a lot of runs.”Every opportunity I get is going to be gold dust moving forward. [It] was a great day for me but, again, it’s something I’m just building over the next couple of games.”The stunning victory at Trent Bridge was the second time Hales has racked up a major score in a record ODI innings for England at his home ground; he made 171 off 122 balls when England belted 444 for 3 to defeat Pakistan in 2016. At times, particularly during Hales’ partnerships with Bairstow and Eoin Morgan, it seemed possible that England could reach 500 runs. It’s a milestone Hales thinks this team can crack in the near future.”I think so,” said Hales. “The way the game is going now, the 50-over game has changed so much, even since the last World Cup. The standard has gone through the roof. There were murmurs of it when Morgan came out to bat between me and him today.”They bowled quite well at the death so it wasn’t to be today. It was as good a chance as we have. But who knows – the way the game has progressed in the last few years, there’s no reason why it can’t happen.”[There was] just a little tongue-in-cheek ‘today’s the day we’re going to do it – this is our chance’. When we got past the 444 we got last time, we had a little smirk to each other and said let’s push to that 500, it’s a great chance. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.”

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.”

“Every second person asks me when the IPL will have a women’s edition. I hope it’s sooner rather than later,” says India Women’s captain

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2016Mithali Raj, captain of the India Women’s team, believes winning the World T20 in March-April could change the game in the country. Raj, speaking ahead of the limited-overs series in Australia, also revealed that she and Jhulan Goswami, the senior-most members of the squad, were approached to play for Adelaide Strikers in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Big Bash League, but had to turn down the offer because of the domestic commitments.”The T20 World Cup will be important in popularising the game. If we do well in it, it will definitely give birth to the women’s IPL,” Raj said at a press conference in Mumbai. “It’s not a bad idea. Every second person asks me when the IPL will have a women’s edition. I hope it’s sooner rather than later.”Women’s cricket in India seems to have taken a turn for the better in recent times. Central contracts were formally announced in November, with Raj being one of eleven women cricketers to receive a fixed yearly remuneration. Earlier this month, the Lodha Committee report called for a greater presence of women in the BCCI’s power structure, with representation in key decision-making bodies.Citing the example of the World T20, where the semifinals and finals are played just before the men’s game, Raj said the women’s game in India needed better marketing if it had to attract the kind of popularity the sport enjoys in Australia and England.”If you’d asked me this question three or four years back, I wouldn’t have known,” she said. “But this is an ideal time to promote women’s cricket through the IPL, because people are aware of it (professional T20 leagues). A lot is happening for women’s cricket at this point, with the contract system in place. The World T20 will be very important in terms of popularising the game more. The girls have responded well during the T20 games and one-dayers.”Raj, who will lead India in three T20Is and three ODIs during their two-week tour of Australia starting with a warm-up fixture against Governor General’s XI in Sydney on January 22, hoped the exposure against the reigning World T20 champions would toughen her side. Interestingly, Raj is just one of four players – Goswami, Punam Raut, Harmanpreet Kaur and Thirush Kamini being the others – to have played international cricket in Australia.”Except two or three players, we do not have big experience, but the young side has worked together for the last two years. I am hopeful the young team will give their best on the tour,” she said. “We will be touring Australia for the first time since 2009. Though the wickets there will be different, with a lot of bounce, it will help us in preparing for the World T20. As a player, before playing the T20 World Cup, it is important to play in batting-friendly wickets and playing is Australia is the best option. The girls will get good exposure ahead of the big tournament.”With just two wins in nine matches, India are placed seventh out of eight teams in the ICC Women’s World Championship table. That means, the upcoming three ODIs in Australia are vital if India are to finish in the top four and earn a direct entry into the 2017 Women’s World Cup. Raj said, while the focus was on T20s, they weren’t losing sight of what they needed to do in the longer format.”The ODIs are also important as we won the last series against New Zealand but lost out a spot in the women’s World Cup on points. We need to be in the top four to qualify for the 2017 World Cup.”India kick off their tour of Australia, their first overseas assignment since the England tour in 2014, with a T20I double header on January 26, with the women’s game preceding the men’s match. The three T20Is will be followed by three ODIs.