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With no wins in South Africa or New Zealand, questions over two of their young but experienced batsmen and uncertainty over the bowling, India have plenty to sort out in their ODI side

Sidharth Monga in London23-Aug-2014″India should play Tests in colours, and they’ll start winning.””Give Virat Kohli a white ball, and he will start getting those cover-drives right.””India will win the ODIs, and those three-day defeats will be forgotten.”Except, will India?The above sentiments, or similar such, expressed by Indian fans are a sign of resignation, and a statement of fact that if India do well in ODIs, the Tests debacle will be forgotten. It is, however, not as straightforward. India’s ODI form outside Asia and the West Indies – similar slow pitches as back home – has been awful except for the Champions Trophy win last year. Even counting those five wins, India have won eight and lost 13 of their ODIs in England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand since the last World Cup.This includes tours of South Africa and New Zealand where their Test side actually looked better than the ODI one, which didn’t win a single game. Especially in South Africa, where you needed to do more than just the put the ball there, India looked hopeless. Their batting depth was exposed in both South Africa and New Zealand, something they haven’t yet addressed. India have these five ODIs and the tri-series in Australia to sort out a combination before their World Cup defence. Conditions in ODIs in India will be so different they may as well not play them.The two biggest questions India need to ask themselves are, if Rohit Sharma is still a viable ODI opener, and if Suresh Raina is the right man in the lower-middle order. The bowling, India can never figure out so far in advance. It has to be about whatever works on the day.The opening act India will need to sort out. It might sound strange to even doubt an opener who is only one of the three double-centurions in the game, but Rohit is a naturalised opener, and he has been having a tough time of it of late. It was just before the Champions Trophy last year that he moved to the top of the order. His first innings there was an 83, followed by two half-centuries in the Champions Trophy. An unbeaten 141 and that double-century in the high-scoring ODI series at home seemed to have bedded him into that role as an opener.However, the tours of South Africa and New Zealand raised question marks. He scored 182 in seven innings, including a chancy 79 in Hamilton, but his strike rate was a big problem. He begins slowly, faces a lot of dots, which puts pressure on himself and the rest. His technique is slightly too loose, in theory, for an opener. If he gets out after getting in, he almost always ends up owing the team a few balls. This will be an important series both for Rohit and the experiment. India haven’t quite hedged their bets there. If Rohit fails again, it leaves the team in trouble close to the World Cup, and Rohit with another new role in the team.Raina, much like Rohit the opener, is a valuable player in Asia. On tougher pitches he becomes a lesser player. His technique comes under scrutiny, and his part-time offspin becomes less effective. He still brings a lot of energy to the side, but he needs runs in tough conditions to justify being one of the top six batsmen – and India can play only six because the new fielding restrictions demand five proper bowlers. He will be under pressure because he was dropped after the New Zealand tour, and came back only as a captain in Bangladesh because all other experienced players were resting. That comeback has quietly continued, but will come under fire if Raina can’t score runs here.The bowling as usual will remain a bit of a hit and miss. India went to South Africa with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma as their lead bowlers, but soon realised they needed more forceful operators. In came Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma. By the time they reached New Zealand, India had gone to Bhuvneshwar, Ishant and Mohammed Shami. Varun Aaron made an appearance somewhere too. On this ODI tour, there is no Ishant or Aaron. The only constants are the two spinners, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, as much because of their batting as their bowling.This series is also important because India need a bigger roadmap to arrest their overseas free-fall. There is no guarantee Ravi Shastri and the new band of domestic assistant coaches will be effective, or if Shastri will remain with the team after the series. He has had a few informal one-on-ones with Duncan Fletcher and a couple of players. He is expected to address the team formally for the first time on Saturday evening. Just pep talk won’t do. He will have to come with solutions to the problems.These are uncertain, and interesting, times for the team. They still have time before the World Cup, but not a lot of it.

Bangladesh have become the latest country to split the captaincy across formats with Mashrafe Mortaza put in charge of the one-day side. Mushfiqur remains Test captain

Mohammad Isam30-Sep-2014Mashrafe Mortaza will lead the Bangladesh ODI side in the five-match series against Zimbabwe from November 21. Mushfiqur Rahim remains the Test captain but only for the upcoming series, which effectively means his reign as captain has been terminated by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Mushfiqur’s term was to go on until the 2015 World Cup when he was retained as captain in November 2013.Shakib Al Hasan has been named Mashrafe’s deputy, while Tamim Iqbal will be vice-captain in Tests. Bangladesh will have split captaincy for the first time and the three new appointments create a larger leadership group, with the team’s four most experienced cricketers involved.”The board has decided to appoint Mashrafe Mortaza as ODI captain for the Zimbabwe series,” BCB president Nazmul Hassan said. “His deputy will be Shakib Al Hasan. Mushfiqur Rahim will remain as Test captain, with Tamim Iqbal being his vice-captain. Before we announced the new captain, the board has spoken to Mushfiqur, who was not negative about any of this.”What we decide for the future will depend on what happens in the Zimbabwe series. This [split captaincy] is an experiment before we take a final decision on the World Cup. Prior to their departure for the Asian Games, I spoke to Mashrafe, Shakib and Tamim. They know of their responsibilities, but I reminded them that they are senior cricketers and our best players. Everything that they do – their attitude and behaviour – is linked to the team spirit.”Shakib assumes a position of greater responsibility for the first time since being sacked as captain in 2011. Tamim was made vice-captain for the Sri Lanka tour at the start of 2014, but it was Mashrafe who was made stop-gap T20 captain when Mushfiqur got injured in the Test series. There had been tension in the Bangladesh camp, after which Tamim stepped down from the vice-captain’s role.Mushfiqur’s reign as captain in stats

Mushfiqur Rahim won 11 ODIs as captain making him the third-most successful among the 13 players to captain Bangladesh

Mushfiqur hit 1065 ODI runs at an average of 34.35 as captain of Bangladesh. His eight fifty-plus scores are the second-highest in ODIs by a Bangladesh captain

His 1065 runs as captain came at an average of 34.35, much higher than his average of 25.68 when he wasn’t leading Bangladesh

Mushfiqur’s 117 against India in the 2014 Asia Cup is the highest ODI score by a Bangladesh captain.Under Mushfiqur’s captaincy Bangladesh went 13 consecutive ODIs without a win leading up to his sacking as the ODI captain

The decision to release Mushfiqur from ODI captaincy was made to help preserve his batting form. He is Bangladesh’s highest run-scorer in fifty-over cricket this year, with 491 runs at an average of 44.63 with a hundred and four fifties. As captain, Mushfiqur averages 34.35 with the bat, while his career average is 28.26.In Tests during the same period, he is second only to Mominul Haque, with 274 runs at an average of 45.66, including a hundred and a fifty. Mushfiqur’s average as captain is 44.50 while his overall average is 33.60.”We considered Mushfiqur’s form as a batsman as one of the major reasons to relieve him of the ODI captaincy. He is batting very well, and he can improve even more. So to captain the team, keep wicket and bat in this manner must be very difficult.”He will remain as Test captain in the Zimbabwe series, and see how he performs. We believe of seeing a positive outcome of this decision in the Zimbabwe series,” said Hassan.Bangladesh have endured a string of 13 ODIs without a win this year, all under Mushfiqur, and that has raised the most questions about his leadership qualities. Till the end of 2013, he had won 11 out of 24 matches. But losing a tight series to Sri Lanka, the Asia Cup blunders against Afghanistan and Pakistan, an embarrassing loss to Hong Kong in the World T20 and the latest drubbing in West Indies have contributed to this BCB decision.Hassan also clarified the board’s position on Shakib, who they banned for six months in July due to “serious misbehavior.” But the penalty period was later reduced to three months.”There was a misunderstanding among people who are not related to cricket that the board had a problem with Shakib. We only had a problem with his behaviour. We believe he is improving, but we will keep an eye on him whether he is a regular member of the side or a vice-captain. He has to keep this in mind. I hope he will uphold the faith and belief that we have placed on him.Shakib also finds himself to a similar position as in 2009-10 season, when Mashrafe’s injuries put him in charge.”Mashrafe is injury prone so he won’t feel let down if we change the captain. When I told him about taking over the one-day team, he offered to be the vice-captain. He will give the same effort if he is not the captain. If he is fit, he will be the captain, but if he injured, the vice-captain will take over,” Hassan said.

Mitchell Marsh can be a future captain of Australia, according to the current leader Michael Clarke

Brydon Coverdale21-Oct-2014Mitchell Marsh can be a future captain of Australia, according to the current leader Michael Clarke. Marsh is likely to make his Test debut against Pakistan in Dubai on Wednesday and potentially has a long international future ahead if he grabs his opportunities, given that the incumbent allrounder Shane Watson is now 33.But it is not just as a top-six batsman and fifth bowler that Marsh can contribute to the Australia outfit, according to Clarke. Marsh captained Australia to an Under-19 World Cup triumph in 2010 and if Clarke’s assessment is correct, he could join the likes of Steven Smith as candidates to take over the captaincy after Clarke has retired.”I believe Mitchell Marsh can be a future captain of Australia,” Clarke wrote in his column on Tuesday. “That might sound like a big call for a bloke who only turned 23 on Monday and has yet to play a Test match. But I have toured with him quite a few times now and continue to be impressed with his talent, knowledge and game awareness.”His cricketing maturity is at least five years ahead of the date of birth printed on his passport. I don’t have any plans to give up the captaincy yet – there’s plenty more cricket left in me – but I genuinely see Mitch as future leadership material. When he sets fields, you can see that he is thinking not from the bowler’s perspective, but the batsman’s.”He is assessing conditions, the batsman’s strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities to exploit the latter. And when he is batting, he is not one of those guys running around without a plan. He is thinking about how to construct an innings. I also love how much he cares about the team. If Mitch has a game in which he doesn’t get among the runs or wickets, he always goes out of his way to congratulate those that have. He doesn’t get lost in his own little world. He is all about the team.”A significant contributing factor to Marsh’s cricketing nous is the amount of time he spent around elite cricket when he was a child. His father Geoff Marsh coached Australia and Zimbabwe during Marsh’s youth and if he debuts, he and brother Shaun will become only the third combination of a father and two sons to have played Test cricket, after the Hadlees and the Amarnaths.”He has been exposed to overseas conditions, players and theories about the game from a young age,” Clarke wrote. “He’s obviously got plenty of talent – he might just be the cleanest hitter of the ball for a bloke who can also bowl 130kph that I’ve seen – but his understanding of the game is well beyond his years.”Assuming he’s fit, Mitch is a big chance of earning his Test debut against Pakistan this week. Should that happen, you just know he’ll be the kind of guy to treasure the baggy green. He has an extremely bright future.”

Moeen Ali produced an abundant one-day innings to raise horizons and rouse spirits, but it will take more than a one-man masterclass, however brilliant, to turn England into fancied World Cup contenders

The Report by David Hopps26-Nov-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMoeen Ali made a wonderful maiden ODI hundred but could not help England to victory•Getty ImagesMoeen Ali produced an abundant one-day innings to raise horizons and rouse spirits, but it will take more than a one-man masterclass, however brilliant, to turn England into fancied World Cup contenders. Moeen clocked the third fastest ODI hundred in England’s history, but ultimately it was Sri Lanka whose 25-run victory gave them first strike in the seven-match series.To surpass Sri Lanka’s 317 for 6, England would have needed to scale unsurpassed heights. They had never chased more than 306 to achieve victory; no side had won at the Premadasa Stadium with more than 286 to its name. Moeen’s 119 from 87 balls, with his hundred coming off 72 deliveries, the third fastest for England, the latest eye-catching performance in an outstanding start to his international career, kept the faith, but when he knocked back a soft return catch to Jeevan Mendis, sixth out at 203, England subsided.If the initial thrust was Moeen’s, the sad-faced finale, as so often, belonged to Ravi Bopara. He was last out for 65 from 62 balls, a judicious innings which ended when a mishit leg-side skier was plucked by the diving Kusal Perera. This was lone, admirable and predictably unrewarded resistance. Too often his doughty efforts achieve nothing. But his presence in the squad should be a given.After their troubled one-day tour of India – reluctantly undertaken at India’s request after the failure of the Caribbean malcontents to fulfil their obligation to complete the tour – Sri Lanka deserved something restorative on their return to home shores. They found it in the shape of a disorientated England bowling attack, which was perhaps surprised to find itself called into service after the monsoon – particularly persistent this year apparently – conveniently relented in the nick of time.Moeen was England’s main comfort. When he surged to 50 in 25 balls, fed width, particularly from Dhammika Prasad, only Paul Collingwood had struck a faster ODI half-century for England. Briefly, his focus wandered slightly, only for him to rally with some ringing leg-side blows, five sixes, all as crisp as a winter’s bell, all against the spinners. He offered one chance, on 72, a flat chance to Jeevan Mendis at deep square leg off the fielder’s namesake Ajantha.Compare that excitement to the labours of his opening partner, Alastair Cook. Cook’s travails have been endlessly chronicled, and to be given out lbw twice in the first over, on nought, as Angelo Mathews outdid him with fullish deliveries, only for Cook to successfully review the decisions, was quite a start. When Tillakaratne Dilshan ran another ball into Cook’s pads, by now with 10 runs to his name, he knew in his heart that another review would not only be futile but mildly embarrassing.Thisara Perera’s hefty aggression, and excellent line, accounted for Ian Bell and Joe Root. There were no mid-innings explosions from Eoin Morgan, who poked at Ajantha Mendis to drag on, or Jos Buttler; Ben Stokes’ limitations against spin were evidenced when he was stumped against the left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who then outwitted Chris Woakes in similar fashion.Grouchy skies delayed the start by an hour, but the pitch was excellent considering the months of rain and England’s pace bowlers initially fell well below expectations. Harry Gurney recovered slightly in later spells, and has probably deserved a chance to pronounce himself a World Cup death bowler, but Stokes’ lack of direction brought four overs for 36 in three spells and was best forgotten.England had also lost Steven Finn to a failed fitness test and dropped Chris Jordan after a poor performance in the sole warm-up match against Sri Lanka A had extended a run of inaccurate displays. Shorn, too, of the old firm of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, they bowled 16 wides, Gurney the chief offender. Only the complexities of “World Cup planning” could justify Cook’s decision to limit Bopara to four overs.For Sri Lanka, inured to poor opening stands, it was quite a turn-up for Kusal Perera and Dilshan to survive into the 23rd over, assembling 120. Perera gradually muscled his way into his innings whilst Dilshan, 38 now with 17 ODI hundreds behind him, took his chance less conspicuously, milking the leg side at will.It took a run out to bring England their first wicket, Kusal Perera’s initial reluctance to share Dilshan’s understandable enthusiasm for a second run to Joe Root at deep midwicket causing Dilshan to return to his crease and run out Perera, by then awakening to his task, in the process.James Tredwell, unfazed by the faltering displays around him, found occasional turn. He was involved in England’s occasional near misses, failing to pull off an excellent leaping catch off Bopara at midwicket when Kusal Perera was 57 and suffering himself in mid-innings when Morgan, also at midwicket, failed to pull off what would have been a stupendous catch when Mahela Jayawardene was 7.Kumar Sangakkara, who has abandoned his retirement plans at the behest of the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, failed to bring immediate contentment in high office, managing only 2 before Moeen turned one to have him lbw; Sangakkara’s carelessly-wasted review seemed very out of character.After Dilshan fell for 88 to a leading edge, and a return catch by Woakes, so missing out on an 18th ODI hundred that had seemed well within his grasp, a thin but noisy crowd awaited fireworks from Mathews. He did not disappoint. His 33 from 24 balls was climaxed by two successive long-on sixes off Tredwell, an attempting third picking out Stokes who held a steepler.When England ended Jayawardene’s composed half-century two balls later, Buttler holding a leg-side catch off Tredwell, and Thisara Perera, promoted up the order, self-destructed against Woakes – a good running catch over his head by Cook at extra cover – England had reason for relief. But 94 off the last 10 overs – including 21 off the penultimate over as Jeeven Mendis made light work of Woakes – again thrust the game back in Sri Lanka’s favour.

ESPNcricinfo previews the first T20 international between South Africa and West Indies at Newlands

The Preview by Firdose Moonda08-Jan-2015Match facts Friday, January 9
Start time 1800 local (1600 GMT)1:12

West Indies boosted by return of Gayle

Big Picture After a Test series spent competing against each other and the elements and the drama of World Cup squad decisions, it is time for a bit of fun in this series. Three Twenty20s break the tension for the next six days and should provide some entertainment to a public thirsty for cricket.West Indies are the only visitors to these shores in a curtailed summer, made shorter because of the World Cup, and so far they have almost been bystanders in the contest. They challenged South Africa only briefly in the Tests and will want to compete more convincingly in the format many think they were made to play.It will help that four of the West Indies squad – Darren Sammy, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard – were playing in South Africa a little less than a month ago, in the domestic twenty-over tournament, and will be familiar with conditions. It may also help that South Africa believe West Indies are “the dominant T20 team in the world at the moment”, according to their captain Faf du Plessis.In fact, West Indies are ranked No. 7, three below South Africa, but the hosts’ neglect of the shortest format recently may leave them exposed. South Africa are resting their core, with AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel given some time off and JP Duminy yet to fully recover from his knee injury. That leaves them with an experimental outfit from which they are hoping to identify talent for the future.Form guide South Africa LLWLW
West Indies WLLWWIn the spotlight With Quinton de Kock’s injury in the back of their minds South Africa’s opening pair will know that runs in an international – whatever the format – could put them in line for an emergency World Cup call-up. Morne van Wyk is certain to be one of the top two and would be an ideal fit to replace de Kock if needed because he also keeps wicket. Who his partner will be is less certain but if team management had World Cup plans in mind, they may go with Rilee Rossouw, who is the spare batsman in the 50-over squad.”Are you ready for me?” Chris Gayle asked the media as he walked past the press conference venue at the end of the third Test. He should have directed the question to the opposition change room, who saw little more than a month ago how dangerous he can be. Gayle missed the Test series with a back injury but was previously playing for a South African franchise, the Lions, in the local T20 tournament. He hit the competition’s first hundred and finished as the fifth-highest run scorer overall and will no doubt want to pick up where he left off.Chris Gayle will return to West Indies colours after sitting out the Test series with a back problem•WICB Media/Philip SpoonerTeam news Being without their big names, leaves South Africa with an inexperienced batting line-up, propped up by the captain at No. 3, but provides opportunity for World Cup squad members like Farhaan Behardien and David Miller to find early form. Justin Ontong may also feature, as a replacement for JP Duminy, who is with the squad despite injury. Wayne Parnell will likely lead a young attack, which should see speedster Marchant de Lange alongside Under-19 World Cup winner Kagiso Rabada.South Africa: (probable) 1 Morne van Wyk (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks/Rilee Rossouw, 3 Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 Farhaan Behardien, 5 David Miller, 6 David Wiese/Justin Ontong, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 David Wiese, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Marchant de Lange, 11 Imran TahirUnlike South Africa, West Indies have their marquee men back for this series – although they are without the ICC’s No. 1 and No. 2-ranked T20 bowlers, Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine. Gayle, Pollard and Sammy will take up places in the starting XI.West Indies: (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Lendl Simmons, 4 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Darren Sammy (capt), 9 Andre Russell, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Sheldon CottrellPitch and conditions The Newlands surface may be on the green side but the pace and bounce should still aid run-scoring. The forecast is for a clear, balmy day, which will cool down a touch come the evening.Stats and Trivia These two teams have not met in T20 cricket since 2010 West Indies have only won one of their six encounters in the shortest format, at Port Elizabeth back in 2007 Morne van Wyk’s last international appearance came at the 2011 World Cup Badree and Krishmar Santokie, missing for West Indies through injury, were the leading T20 wicket-takers in 2014Quotes “Twenty20 is about getting new guys into international cricket and it’s a good opportunity for guys that have been in the squad for a while, like myself and JP, to share what we have created as a culture with them so they can also grow as cricketers.”
“In T20 every ball is an event. The momentum of the game will shift every ball.”

Pace bowler Max Sorensen and wicketkeeper-batsman Andrew Poynter have missed out on Ireland’s squad for the tour to UAE, which is a part of the side’s final preparations for the 2015 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2014Pace bowler Max Sorensen and wicketkeeper-batsman Andrew Poynter have missed out on Ireland’s squad for the tour to UAE, which is a part of the side’s final preparations for the 2015 World Cup. Allrounder Andrew White has also been ruled out due to a finger injury. The selectors have brought back Ed Joyce who had been rested from the side’s tour to Australia and New Zealand.Ireland are scheduled to play four ODIs between January 4 and 19, against Afghanistan and Scotland, and their World Cup squad is expected to be announced in early January.Sorensen and Poynter were in the Ireland squad that played two one-day matches against New Zealand in the UAE recently. Prior to the series in the UAE, Poynter played the Associate Warm-up Matches in Australia and New Zealand, a tour Sorensen missed due to a fractured right wrist.Phil Simmons, Ireland’s head coach, said the selectors’ decision to leave out Poynter and Sorensen was difficult but underlined the competition for places in the side. Simmons also praised pacer Craig Young, who made his ODI debut for Ireland earlier this year, and also picked out Peter Chase as an important player for the World Cup.”We are backing young Donemana spinner Andrew McBrine who particularly impressed in the New Zealand leg of the acclimatisation tour, but it’s very unfortunate for Andrew White that his finger injury came at such a bad time for him.”Craig Young has been fantastic since he broke into the team, and has continued to develop, while Peter Chase is growing in confidence and skill all the time. Peter, with his pace and extra bounce, is important for the type of Australian wickets we will play on in the UAE.”Simmons also said that Andy Balbirnie had forced his way into the squad on the back of a string of consistent scores. Balbirnie was the top run-getter for Ireland XI during the Associate Warm-up Matches, and he followed it up with a century against New Zealand A in the UAE.”Andrew Balbirnie’s form with the bat has been outstanding, with excellent performances in Australasia and in Dubai recently against a strong New Zealand ‘A’ team,” Simmons said. “His runs on tour have helped him force his way into the squad.”It was a very difficult decision for the selectors to leave out Max Sorensen and Andrew Poynter but this just shows the competition for places in the squad.”Ireland squad for UAE: William Porterfield, Andrew Balbirnie , Peter Chase, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andrew McBrine, John Mooney, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young

A round-up for the Ranji Trophy Group C games on February 6, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Parthiv Patel’s 44-ball 43 was the top-score on a day when 26 wickets fell in Ahmedabad•K SivaramanTwenty-six wickets tumbled on the opening day at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad as neither Gujarat nor Haryana could gain the ascendancy. Only on one previous instance in the Ranji Trophy has more wickets fallen on a single day.Deciding to bat, Haryana’s innings lasted 31.5 overs as left-arm seamer Rush Kalaria and off-spinner Ramesh Powar shared nine wickets between them.Gujarat’s first innings concluded in the 30th over, captain Parthiv Patel’s 43 off 44 being the highest score in the match so far. Legspinner Amit Mishra claimed his 21st five-wicket haul and offspinner Jayant Yadav finished with 4 for 45 in 11 overs.Haryana’s second innings conformed to the same pattern as they went to stumps on 71 for 6 as Kalaria extended his wickets tally to eight for the day.
ScorecardMaharashra prospered with fifties from opener Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne against Vidarbha in Pune.Gugale and Harshad Khadiwale added 39, but allrounder Shrikant Wagh broke the stand. Gugale then added fifty-plus stands with Rohit Motwani and Bawne to keep the Vidarbha bowlers at bay. All the Maharastra batsmen except Kedar Jadhav moved into double-figures. Jadhav was dismissed by Swapnil Bandiwar for 9, four balls after captain Motwani fell.Gugale was undone by Rakesh Dhurv for 76 in the 60th over, but Bawne remained undefeated on 56, his third consecutive half-century and had good support from Rahul Tripathi, who grafted 38 from 116 balls.
ScorecardA collective bowling effort helped Punjab bundle Delhi out for 249 in Patiala, but the visitors hit back with two before stumps.Delhi had slipped to 84 for 5 having opted to bat, courtesy left-arm spinners Rajwinder Singh and Vinay Choudhary. Gautam Gambhir had begun the resistance with 44 off 73 deliveries, which was taken over by Rajat Bhatia and Manan Sharma, who added 55 for the sixth wicket.Manan carried on to record a second first-class fifty and remained unbeaten on 77. He was supported by handy lower-order contributions from Sumit Narwal (18) and Varun Sood (30) as Delhi went past the 200-mark. But Sandeep Sharma removed Shivam Sharma and Parvinder Awana off successive balls to end the innings and finish with 3 for 38.In reply, Punjab lost openers Jiwanjot Singh and Amitoze Singh in the third and fourth overs, leaving them 219 runs behind Delhi. Mandeep Singh and Himanshu Chawla were unbeaten on 2 and 7 respectively.
ScorecardBasant Mohanty, who extended his wickets tally to 38, and Alok Mangaraj collected four each as Odisha bowled Saurashta out for 218 in Cuttack.After opting to bowl, the hosts struck at regular intervals as Saurashtra slumped to 77 for 5 and then to 99 for 8. However, Chirag Jani, coming in at No.7, raised a third first-class fifty that lent some respectability to the innings.He was the dominant partner in a 47-run alliance for the ninth wicket with Siddharth Trivedi, before adding 72 for the last wicket with Sudeep Tyagi. Jani was left stranded on 99 when Mangaraj had Tyagi caught behind for 9.The Odisha openers batted out one over before stumps to cap off a good day.

After being bundled out for their second-lowest total in first-class cricket, Mumbai captain Aditya Tare did not have much to take away, but backed his team to come good in their second innings

Amol Karhadkar25-Feb-2015As Karnataka dispersed from the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the Mumbai players sat down at Adigas, the famous south Indian eatery in the stadium premises. They were not at all in a mood to celebrate Shardul Thakur becoming the leading wicket-taker of the season. They just wanted to put a shambolic day with the bat behind them. They had been bundled out for 44, Mumbai’s second-lowest total in first-class cricket.As has been the case throughout the season, Mumbai’s batting crumbled under pressure, leaving themselves with too much to do while batting fourth on a difficult wicket. This was, in fact, the seventh batting collapse of the season for Mumbai. And it was the worst of them all. The captain Aditya Tare had no qualms admitting it.”We have had a bad day as you can see. Getting all out in 15 overs is not acceptable by any means, especially at this stage of the tournament. But yeah, we have had off days in the entire season. The best thing is how we come out of it. We have to look up to that first,” Tare said.Tare, however, was also quick to point out the umpiring howlers which he and his team-mates were at the end of. While Robin Uthappa was adjudged not out early in the day by umpire Vineet Kulkarni when he was plumb in front, the same umpire ruled Tare caught behind when the ball didn’t hit anything on the way to wicketkeeper CM Gautam.Nayar cleared of serious injury

Abhishek Nayar will spend a night in the hospital after falling awkwardly on his head while chasing a ball in his follow-through. Though the bowler is cleared of any special damage, he will be monitored for 24 hours before being released.
During the 52nd over of the innings, Vinay Kumar dabbed Nayar on the off-side and took off for a single. Nayar ran towards the ball and fell on his head while trying to flick it towards the stump. Though he completed the over after receiving medical attention, he was getting blackouts soon after exiting the field. He was then rushed to the hospital for scans.
“The player was admitted to our hospital this afternoon after complaining of headache and vomiting. He has a concussive head injury. The brain and cervical scans are normal, so there is nothing to worry. He is in the ICU for a 24-hour observation,” Ajit Benedict Ryan, the vice president of Hosmat Hospital, said.

“Things haven’t gone in our favour as well. Robin [Uthappa] was plumb in front, they would have been 30 for 3 and probably [we would have bowled them out for] 100-150, you never know. I wasn’t out and from there, it completely changed. The momentum completely swung,” Tare said. “And Mumbai have been suffering from bad decisions throughout the last two-three years. But it’s part of the game, we have to accept it. But we still have four more days.”Tare’s Karnataka counterpart, Vinay Kumar, was, as expected, thrilled with the effort of his boys. Vinay, who lead from the front with a six-wicket haul, admitted they hadn’t expected to run through the Mumbai side.”The cracks were a bit open in the morning itself, which is why elected to bat first. Batting fourth would be very difficult on this wicket. [After getting bowled out for 202] we tried to bowl in the right areas, we were planning to get five-six wickets, we were lucky enough to get them all out,” Vinay said.Despite being dejected, Tare stressed on the excellent work of Karnataka’s pace triumvirate of Vinay, Abhimanyu Mithun and S Aravind.”We just wanted play normally, as if we were batting in the first innings. We had no target in our mind. We knew that there are lots of cracks on the pith and obviously, it will do a bit,” he said. “You can’t take away credit from them. They have got three bowlers with 30-plus wickets in the season, so they have a bowling unit which is in tremendous form. You can’t take away credit from them.”While Vinay was thrilled to have bowled Mumbai out for their lowest total against Karnataka, Tare found it difficult to deal with the fact that Mumbai had been bundled out for only their third sub-50 total. “That’s a record I can’t be proud of for sure but obviously we will look to bounce back for sure.”

ESPNcricinfo looks at Somerset’s prospects for 2015

Alex Winter07-Apr-2015Last season
IN: Tim Groenewald (Derbyshire), Jim Allenby (Glamorgan), Tom Cooper
OUT: James Burke (Surrey), Nick Compton (Middlesex), Craig Meschede (Glamorgan, season-long loan)
Overseas: Abdur Rehman, Sohail Tanvir, Corey Anderson, Chris Gayle2014 in a nutshell
Somerset bettered their showing in the Championship by one win and 52 points yet Dave Nosworthy left as director of cricket at the end of the season. They failed to force enough results – no one drew more matches than Somerset’s 10. A look at their statistics suggests there was a failure to find enough runs but in seven matches they only batted once – and six of those games were drawn. So they suffered for a lack of wicket-takers? Well not really either. Four bowlers took more than 40 wickets and the returns of Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton were fillips for the club’s academy. Perhaps the lack of a consistent spinner cost them but if just three of those draws were turned to victories they would have challenged for the title. T20 was a bigger disappointment as Somerset failed to qualify for the knockout stage for the first time since 2008.2015 prospects
Matthew Maynard is the new director of cricket and inherits a squad full of potential. Three top-order batsman – Nick Compton, Alviro Petersen and Chris Jones – left the club but Australian Tom Cooper, with a European passport, has been signed. Tom Abell is also a promising young player up the order. Jim Allenby has been one of the leading allrounders in recent seasons and appears an excellent signing, with his one-day bowling a particular asset. Alex Barrow is a competent replacement for Craig Kieswetter, who has not recovered from an eye injury and is expected to miss the whole season, with fears his career could be over. But the crucial addition could be Pakistan’s Abdur Rehman. Not much needs to swing in Somerset’s favour for their 2015 to be very successful and they are perhaps worth an outside bet for the title. Power brokers
From a strong shortlist, Maynard won the race to become the new director of cricket and brings a good record from South African domestic cricket, as well as experience of the Caribbean Premier League. But there has been a clear-out of backroom staff, with high performance director Andy Hurry leaving to join the England set-up at Loughborough and batting coach Dave Houghton moving to Middlesex. Marcus Trescothick proved his talent remains with over 1000 Championship runs last season and ploughs on as four-day captain but Alfonso Thomas takes over in one-day cricket.Key player
Somerset needed a quality spinner last season to round off their attack and this year one has been brought in with Pakistan’s Rehman available for the whole season, having been overlooked for international duty. He took 27 wickets at 14.18 during four matches in 2012 and has the potential to win Somerset a few of the matches they failed to get home in last season. He could prove the difference between mid-table and another tilt at a maiden Championship.Bright young thing
It is not so long since Jamie Overton was being hyped up as an outside pick for the 2013-14 Ashes tour after several eye-catching performances. Tall and blessed with natural pace he has the makings of a top-class fast bowler. Injury hampered him last season, and his chances with England Lions, but the hope is he can now continue his development and become a dangerous weapon in Somerset’s attack. But he is only 20 and needs time to get his game together, as other young quicks in England have proven.ESPNcricinfo verdict
There is much to like about Somerset; a fine blend of youth and experience and plenty of exciting cricketers. They have potential to push for an elusive Championship title but whether they have the depth to maintain a challenge is questionable. This season may just be another development step but with Rehman more is possible. Trescothick enters the final year of his contract and, approaching 40, this could potentially be his swansong; what better retirement gift than a Championship pennant.Bet365 odds: Championship Div 1: 9-1, T20 Blast: 7-1, Royal London Cup: 8-1

The Mumbai Cricket Association has decided to withhold the match fees of Sarfaraz Khan and Suryakumar Yadav as a punishment for their on and off-field indiscipline

Amol Karhadkar30-Apr-2015Suryakumar Yadav and Sarfaraz Khan have made the headlines in the past few weeks with a couple of valuable knocks, laced with aggressive and unorthodox strokeplay during the Indian Premier League. If you believe the administration of their Ranji team, Mumbai, they show as little deference to authority as they do to conventional batsmanship.So both men’s match fees have been held as insurance. “The MCA managing committee has decided to withhold Sarfaraz and Surya’s match fees for the next two years as an assurance for their good behaviour,” Ravi Sawant, MCA vice-president, said.Technically, an association can only block a part of a cricketer’s match fees. Domestic players are paid Rs 10000 per match day by their respective states at the end of the season and the remaining dues are settled by the BCCI based on profits gained. The amount paid by the host association is then reimbursed by the BCCI, so with the MCA withholding players’ dues, it cannot seek the money from the Board till the players are paid.But MCA officials said they were compelled to take the decision to stress the importance of discipline among the younger generation.Suryakumar has been appointed vice-captain of defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, while Sarfaraz nearly became the youngest player to score a fifty in IPL history last night against Rajasthan Royals. However, multiple indiscretions – on and off the field – had initially left Sarfaraz and Suryakumar out of Mumbai’s list of probables for the domestic Twenty20 tournament. The duo were considered for selection only after they tendered an unconditional apology to the MCA disciplinary committee.Suryakumar, who led Mumbai for the first six Ranji Trophy matches, used abusive language towards MCA office bearers in a taped telephonic conversation with a team-mate. He had also complained against his team-mates to the match referee, and had in turn had been the subject of one from his team-mates for using abusive language in the dressing room and on the field.Sarfaraz was dropped from the Ranji squad and later found himself in controversy when he made offensive gestures at the selectors after after leading Mumbai to a victory in the Under-19 championship semi-final.