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He was the ACB’s first media manager and a longtime manager of the national side

Daniel Brettig09-Jun-2020Ian McDonald, the Australian Cricket Board’s first media manager and also longtime manager of the national team, has died aged 88 on the Gold Coast after a long illness.McDonald led the internal investigation that confirmed Mark Waugh and Shane Warne had been paid for their exchange of information with “John the bookie” during the 1994-95 season. Waugh (A$10,000) and Warne (A$8,000) were privately fined by the ACB immediately before travelling to the West Indies in 1995, and while McDonald drafted a press release to announce the decision, the story was kept in-house by the ACB and did not reach the public eye until December 1998, well after his departure.A long and eventful career as a journalist and sports editor for publications including , and the , and then as media manager for the VFL, set up McDonald to be recruited to the ACB by then chief executive David Richards in August 1983.The governing body was still coming to terms with the demands of the new era heralded by the “peace treaty” with Kerry Packer after World Series Cricket and needed a better idea of public relations. At the time, McDonald described his role as bringing a “more human public image” to a “faceless and mysterious body”. McDonald would remain at the ACB until 1997, an instantly recognisable figure with his stocky build, moustache and brown-framed glasses.Over that time, McDonald’s duties were many and varied, as the go-between for a cricket board and national team that struggled amid the many ructions of the early 1980s before taking on a more robust and successful form under the leadership of Allan Border and Bob Simpson on the cricket field and Richards, cricket manager Graham Halbish and chairman Malcolm Gray in the latter years of the decade.McDonald was a confidante and advisor for all these leaders, presiding over events such as Kim Hughes’ tear-filled resignation as captain in 1984, some 80 home Test matches, the World Cup co-hosted with New Zealand in 1992 and ultimately Australia’s rise to the summit of the game by defeating the West Indies in the Caribbean in 1995. McDonald’s duel role as media and team manager gave him a unique perspective on a time when support staff were few and players and administrators worked closely together on limited budgets.In January 1992, when the selectors chose to drop Border’s longtime lieutenant Geoff Marsh from the final Test of a series against India, causing the captain to refuse to walk onto the field for day five of the fourth match at Adelaide Oval, McDonald fielded calls from the press box about his absence. His immortal reply when asked why Border was absent, “he’s got the s***s”, momentarily had the fourth estate concluding that the captain was battling gastro.As a media manager, McDonald was pivotal to creating a system of national media accreditation to allow access to all Australian venues during the international summer. He recruited and mentored Patrick Keane, a former Australian Associated Press journalist, as Australian team media manager, before he went on to a long and influential career with the AFL.

After months of hype, controversy and excitement, the IPL is ready for kick off

The Retropreview by Jamie Alter17-Apr-2020

Big Picture

After months of hype, excitement, controversy and speculation the high-profile Indian Premier League kicks off in Bangalore with the Royal Challengers hosting the Kolkata Knight Riders. “Eight teams, without any players, only warriors” is the maxim for the inaugural tournament and there’s plenty riding on it. Fans from all around the world will zoom in to see players who have squared off on the international level come together to try and trump others, and many, not least the organisers who have gone to town promoting the event, will follow with bated breath. Not since Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket has an event so divided and stirred up the fraternity. It might be too much for a traditionalist but against the backdrop of a cricket-crazy host country, and with plenty of huge names involved, there’s little going against the lucrative tournament.

Watch out for…

After the Chinnaswamy Stadium is plunged in darkness, a spotlight will focus on the rival captains, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. The duo has been solid for India for over well over a decade and would’ve played against each other on the domestic front but this is something completely new.Dravid and Jacques Kallis are champions for their respective countries, one recently going past 10,000 Test runs and the other soon to get there, but they’ve done little of note in Twenty20 cricket. Kallis was unceremoniously axed from the ICC World Twenty20 at home and has only played seven matches; Dravid has played only two domestic matches. Pitted together in the same team, its going to be interesting to see how they adapt.Just 21 years and six first-class games old, young Debabrata Das could be forgiven for being a bit overawed around some of his acclaimed Kolkata team-mates. But with Pakistan’s Salman Butt on international duty, Das finds himself on the verge of playing in the big opener. He’s up against fellow Bengal batsman Wriddhiman Saha, but being a wicketkeeper may go against Saha given that Kolkata have Brendon McCullum. It’s a great opportunity to impress.Not many in India would’ve followed Ashley Noffke‘s career. Ushered in for Bangalore as cover for fellow Australian Nathan Bracken, he can be expected to play the first game. Noffke, 30, has played one ODI and two Twenty20s for Australia, and apart from his skills with the ball he is also a capable lower-order batsman, with two first-class centuries.

Team news

With only four overseas player allowed in a team, its unlikely that Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Cameron White will both play and White’s excellent Twenty20 record puts him ahead. With Anil Kumble ruled out through injury, White is also placed to take the lone spinner’s slot ahead of local lad KP Appanna. Kallis and Mark Boucher were expected to leave for the South African domestic Twenty20 competition but will now stay back but with Dale Steyn absent, Noffke could easily fill in. Misbah-ul-Haq will miss the opening clash because of the ongoing series in Pakistan and Chanderpaul is reportedly carrying an injury so another of the local boys, B Akhil or Bharat Chipli, could come into the middle order.Royal Challengers Bangalore (likely) 1 Praveen Kumar, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 Rahul Dravid (capt), 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Cameron White, 7 B Akhil, 8 Mark Boucher (wk), 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ashley Noffke, 11 R Vinay KumarKolkata are without Butt and Umar Gul, in Bangladesh, and that opens up slots for young Das and Ashok Dinda, the Bengal medium pacer. Ganguly has said he will open, which means the explosive McCullum would come in after Ricky Ponting at No. 3. David Hussey and an in-form Laxmi Ratan Shukla strengthen the middle order. Shukla will assist Ishant Sharma and Ajit Agarkar and Murali Kartik – with Twenty20 experience in England – adds variety with his left-arm spin and handy lower-order batting. Chris Gayle has yet to arrive for the match and so his place in some doubt.Kolkata Knight Riders (likely) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Brendon McCullum (wk), 5 David Hussey, 6 Debabrata Das, 7 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Murali Kartik, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Ashok Dinda.

Stats and trivia

• White has a record 55-ball Twenty20 century on the English county circuit and with a batting average of 43.90 in this format he’s clearly one to watch. He has hit 62 fours and 49 sixes in 546 balls faced in Twenty20 cricket – that’s a four or a six every 4.92 balls.
• The last time Gayle played in the first match of a Twenty20 tournament, he blasted a 57-ball 117 v South Africa in the World Cup; the 10 sixes he struck is the highest in a Twenty20 innings.
• In 21 overs that Kartik has bowled in Twenty20 games, he has only gone at 5.90 per over, taking nine wickets at 13.77.

Quotes

“The opening ceremony is expected to only be a short function. I don’t think it will affect the game that follows. Kolkata has a good side and we are prepared with strategies for them.”
“There is no clear favourite in the shortest version of the game. Difference between teams lessens in the T20 format as the contest is too short. I consider this event as a contest between state sides with world-class players.”
Sourav Ganguly“Sourav is a very cool-headed captain. He is very experienced. We expect him to lead from the front.”

It hasn’t been an entirely smooth route to England’s final 15-man squad, but it’s a vast improvement on past campaigns

George Dobell at Lord's21-May-2019There are some things – flights, cups of tea, and your heartbeat, for example – you want should be predictable.And perhaps it is the same with squad announcements. Squad announcements for global tournaments, anyway.Selectors have had four years to plan. They have had four years to ensure that every player knows their role and every player knows what to expect from their team-mates. At this stage, squads should be settled and predictable.England have achieved that pretty well. Yes, David Willey is unfortunate. Yes, Joe Denly will be disappointed. But, for the first time in many, many years, England are going into a World Cup with a relatively settled, well-balanced side that has a realistic chance of victory. The position that provoked most debate and discussion on Tuesday was that of reserve spin bowler. It’s a detail, really. An important one, but nothing compared to what we have seen before.Perhaps, to appreciate how smooth this process has been, it is worth comparing it to the chaos with which we have become accustomed. In 2015, for example, England sacked their captain, Alastair Cook, a few weeks before the tournament. Then, on its eve, they changed the new-ball attack (demoting Chris Woakes to first-change) and fiddled with the batting order (swapping Gary Ballance and James Taylor at No. 3 and No. 6). In the tournaments before that, it became customary for them to change their wicketkeeper (2007 and 2011) or opening partnership (1999) at the last minute. Indeed, in 1999, they dropped their captain (Adam Hollioake) and their opening batsman (Nick Knight) shortly before the tournament and prepared for a home event with a training camp in… Lahore. You could hardly make that up.And, even if England did go into a tournament with their best side, there was usually some crisis (the Zimbabwe affair of 2003, for example) or late change of approach that threatened to derail their progress. They rarely had a chance to define plans or develop well-rehearsed strategies. In a format in which role-definition and planning is so important, England have invariably gone into World Cups hoping it would all come together on the night. It rarely has done.Mark Wood and Jofra Archer both returned to the starting line-up•Getty Images

It doesn’t feel like that this time. While the introduction of Jofra Archer has come at a late stage, anyone taken by surprise simply hasn’t been paying attention. While England would, in an ideal world, like him to have played more than three ODIs – and, indeed, more than 17 List A matches – the experience he has of playing in high-profile, high-pressure T20 leagues suggests he has the talent and temperament to succeed. His range of skills – not least his well-controlled pace – are a huge asset to a team that, Mark Wood apart, can look a little pedestrian. They were, remember, thrashed for sixes by Chris Gayle every 8.10 balls he faced in the recent series in the Caribbean. Archer’s batting and fielding are also more than useful. He is British, he is eligible, and he is very good. His is not, at this stage, a remotely controversial selection.Nor is Liam Dawson. He is, quite simply, a more experienced, more reliable spin bowler than Denly. And while Denly is almost certainly a better batsman, Dawson’s average of 45.33 in the Royal London Cup is proof that he’s no mug either. Besides, the role essentially demands that the occupant can come into the side at short notice and fill the hole left by injury to either Moeen Ali or Adil Rashid. Dawson is a better fit for that specific job. Denly may console himself with the knowledge that he now has the opportunity to return to county cricket and score heavily in the Championship with a bid to securing a place in the Ashes. He is the man in possession of the No. 3 spot in the Test side, after all.Willey could yet win a recall mid-tournament. While he is not officially on any reserve list, it stands to reason that he – and perhaps Chris Jordan – would be next in line should one of England’s seamers suffer an injury. His left-arm variations, the swing he can generate with the new ball and the control he demonstrates at the death, are all attractive qualities. But it was his ill-fortune to be competing for the new ball, in particular, with Archer, Wood and Woakes. Leaving him out was a tough decision, but it was also probably right.Again, in an ideal world, England might have liked Dawson to have been with them throughout the Pakistan series. Or at least for the final couple of games, when it became apparent the selectors were not in total agreement over the suitability of Denly for the role. But at least Dawson was playing cricket rather than running drinks on for his colleagues, and it is not as if he is a stranger to either the environment or the players.There have been other bumps on the road. The loss of Alex Hales – who may be remembered as the Pete Best of cricket if England go on to win the trophy (Denly may be remembered as the Jimmie Nicol) – might have destabilised some squads. Equally, the introduction of Archer might have unsettled the bowlers and provoked reasonable concerns about talent pathways in both England and the Caribbean.But, whatever feathers within the squad were ruffled by Archer’s arrival have long since been patted back down – not least by evidence of his obvious ability and his amiable, equable nature – while Hales has simply been left behind. This team, like kids cramming ahead of important exams, no longer had time for the class joker. Damning though it sounds, his absence has hardly been mentioned in recent times.So England go into this tournament confident, settled and united. Their squad has bite with the ball, punch with the bat and balance through the depth provided by the allrounders. This may well be the best World Cup squad they have ever assembled; it certainly represents their best chance to win in many years.

Test captain prefers to stay available for England as he seeks to re-establish himself in shortest form of the game

George Dobell26-Feb-2019It’s emerged that Joe Root had declined the opportunity to rest during the T20I series against West Indies as he “loves playing cricket for England”.

England fined for over-rate offence

The ICC announced on Tuesday that England had been fined for a slow over-rate in the second ODI in Barbados.
The team as a whole were fined 10% of their match fee, with Eoin Morgan, the captain, fined 20%. While that may seem a minor issue now – indeed, it is defined by the ICC as ‘a minor over-rate offence’; England were deemed to be only one over short – it could lead to a suspension for Morgan if repeated in ODIs in the next 12 months.
That does not apply to the World Cup, however, where ICC regulations state that “all Team Captains will be treated, for the purposes of the ICC Event only, as having not committed any Minimum Over Rate Offences within the previous twelve month period.”

With a relentlessly busy year of high-profile cricket looming for England, the team management has been keen to ensure their key players – and Root certainly fits into that category – were kept as fresh as possible. As a result, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes were rested for the three-match T20I series, with Moeen Ali belatedly given the chance to join them. However, Root, who has struggled with a back problem at times, preferred to stay with the squad.While Root does not have quite the same demands on his time as Buttler and Stokes, who are both expected to feature prominently in the IPL, he has given himself very little time off in recent months. He spent the Christmas period in between the tours of Sri Lanka and the Caribbean in Australia playing in the BBL, and has now forgone the extra ten days he may have had at the end of this tour.The cynical explanation for such a move is that Root is keen to make his name in T20 cricket so he can pick up more lucrative franchise offers. He has, at present, had little interest from that market and was not picked up in the IPL auction.The more realistic interpretation is that Root’s enthusiasm for cricket – and his desire to continue to develop and improve as a batsman – drives him on to take every opportunity he has to play; particularly with a World Cup this year and a T20 World Cup in 2020. He has not always won selection for England’s T20I side and is keen to cement his place in the team.”Why did I not want to miss the T20 games? Because I love playing cricket for England, simple as that,” Root said. “And I’ve not had much opportunity to play T20 cricket in the last couple of years.”I don’t want to miss out on opportunities to play when I’m fit and I feel I’m in a good place to help the side to win and be part of a squad that has a very exciting couple of years ahead of it. After that three-match series we have a good chunk of time at home. I’m sure I’ll spend some time with Yorkshire, which will be nice as well. I’m very aware of when those gaps will be in the next year or so. I feel this is a good opportunity to play.”Joe Root clips one off the legs•Getty Images

While Root did not enjoy an especially successful time at the BBL – he failed to pass 26 in seven innings for Sydney Thunder – he insists the experience was beneficial and did not take too much out of him. He married right before leaving for the competition and was able to take his family with him to Sydney.”It was a new adventure,” he said. “I’ve not played any franchise cricket before, so it was very eye-opening and I learned a lot about my own game. And when you have your family with you, it does make life a lot easier.”It’s easy to come away from a tournament not having scored many runs and not saying I got something out of it. But genuinely I feel like there was a big development in that side of my game. More than anything, we’re looking at breaking the score down and how best to approach it. And how best to approach it with who you bat with at any given time. If that can transfer over into 50-over cricket as well, that will be fantastic. And it feels like it has in a way. With those T20s coming up, it will be great to see some of that going into those games.”While Root does not have the outrageous power of Chris Gayle, for example, his range of stroke is so great that he actually reached his century in the first ODI quicker than Gayle (96 balls compared to 100) and in scoring just 36 in boundaries (nine fours) compared to Gayle’s 66 (three fours and nine sixes). Their career strike rates are also almost identical (Root’s is 86.77 and Gayle’s 86.00), though Gayle’s career started in a different era of ODI cricket and they bat in different positions in the order.”Just because I don’t hit as many sixes as others might do, I still feel I can score as quickly,” Root said. “I can’t hit it over the stands like Chris can consistently unless there is a gale-force wind and I’ve got a top edge off a 95mph bowler. You have to play to your strengths and advantages. You’ve always got to look for ways to get better but ultimately getting the best out of yourself is the main thing.”I am quite settled in the way that I play. Having that understanding of your own game is important. I don’t hit four or five sixes every time I go out, but I like to feel I can strike at a similar sort of rate if I needed to. It’s an area I’m always trying to get better at. If I can add that to what I’ve got already, I’d like to think you’ll see even more improvement.”

The Supreme Court had mandated the Law Commission to undertake such a study after the Lodha Committee recommended in its report that betting on cricket be made legal in India

Arun Venugopal08-Aug-2017Tasked with examining the possibility of legalising betting, the Law Commission of India has sought the suggestions of the BCCI’s member units before submitting its recommendations. The Supreme Court had mandated the Law Commission to undertake such a study after the Lodha Committee had recommended in its exhaustive report that betting on cricket be made legal in India.In a letter to the board’s member associations, Sanjay Singh, member secretary of the Law Commission, said the Commission would examine both betting and gambling given their “intertwining nature.””While the Law Commission has been reaching out to the various stakeholders to seek their observations and suggestions, it considers that the views of your association will be valuable in formulating its recommendations on betting,” Singh wrote in the letter accessed by ESPNcricinfo.”I would, therefore, request you to forward the views of the association on the matter to the Commission at the earliest, as we would like to submit our report in line with the directions of the Supreme Court, at an early date.”The debate over legalising betting has been a topic in Indian cricket ever since the match-fixing scandal rocked the sport in 2000. In fact, the creation of the Lodha Committee, which recommended a structural overhaul of cricket administration in India, was a direct consequence of the 2013 spot-fixing episode in the Indian Premier League.As things stand, horse racing is the only sport on which betting is legal in India, as a result of which betting on cricket operates in an unregulated environment run by illegal bookmakers.The Committee stated in its report that many respondents appearing before it were of the view that legalising betting would benefit both the sport and the country’s economy.”It cannot be overlooked that the worldwide legal sports betting market is worth over 400 billion dollars,” the Lodha Committee’s report stated. “However, with the interest of cricket being foremost in our minds, it would always be necessary to protect and invoke transparency from those involved in the game.”The Committee, however, was clear that betting must be legalised only with the following safeguards in place: “a) Regulatory watchdogs would be necessary to ensure that the betting houses as well as those transacting there are strictly monitored, failing which their registrations would be susceptible to cancellation; b) The Players, Administrators and others closely associated with the sport would be required to furnish the details of their incomes and assets for the sake of transparency; c) Licenses would have to be issued to those placing the bets as well, with age and identification details recorded; d) Strict penal sanctions would have to be imposed on those transgressing the license and other requirements.”BS Chauhan, the chairman of the Law Commission, had reckoned that there was a case for regulating betting through an enactment of a law rather than a blanket ban. “Harm resulting from excess is not limited to gambling alone, as an excess of anything may negate its benefits,” he was quoted as saying at a seminar organised by FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and the All India Gaming Federation in March in a report.”The response of the state in such a situation should be to regulate the activity, not seek to stop it completely. Legalisation would give the government the opportunity to bring gambling out from the dark corners of society, impose controls and extract some revenue … if betting were legal then a huge chunk of money that, at the moment, circulates only round the black market, would quickly become available,” he said.A BCCI official said, however, that legalising betting and gambling was a complex argument that required adequate spadework. “If you want to do it and make it successful, there is a lot to be done because it can’t be half-baked,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “If you legalise betting, then who runs the betting houses? Will it be done by the government or will there be certain companies? Is there going to be a structure in place for those companies? Have you thought of a system where you need gambling de-addiction centres? There are not enough liquor de-addiction centres in India, forget betting.”

Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 55 off only 37 balls to lead India to an 11th victory over Pakistan in a World Cup match

The Report by Alagappan Muthu19-Mar-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:55

Dravid: Kohli the difference between the two teams

There was rain, but the Eden Gardens was not submerged. There was a pitch that made spinners seem like grenade launchers. There were 61337 people including certifiable legends of the game from Sachin Tendulkar to Imran Khan. All of it added to the spectacle of India-Pakistan cricket, but Virat Kohli rose one step above with an innings of gumption and class.India needed to win tonight to stay in control of their fate at the World T20. A few tactical errors left them with a competitive 119 to chase. When the ball grips into the deck, slows down and simultaneously turns, a batsman’s judgment becomes of great importance. Hitting on the up carries risk. Playing too far away carries risk. Finding a run a ball can be troublesome. Kohli found 55 of them in only 37 balls to beat Pakistan for an 11th time in a World Cup match.Kohli’s thirst to compete was apparent when he said a cricketer needs tough pitches. He had the 18 overs that Pakistan had to bat to assess the one in Kolkata. There were a few shots that he needed to avoid, and a few things he needed to exploit – like his speed between the wickets. He fed his innings with 19 singles and a two, playing his shots as late as he could, and every time he played one, it was with the intent to get some runs. Kohli allowed only nine dots in his innings. Perhaps Pakistan made the task slightly easier by not bowling out Mohammad Amir.The loss to New Zealand had “hurt” Kohli. “We don’t perform like that at home,” he said in the post-match presentation. The shots that he hit tonight as he neared his half-century – two scorching cover drives when the bat barely strayed away from his body – typified exactly how one should play on such pitches. The longer he was at the crease, the weaker Pakistan became and the night eventually ended with the man who Kohli bowed to upon reaching his fifty – Tendulkar – waving the India flag aloft.It wasn’t a flawless day for the hosts though. They had a chance to be chasing far less. India did not bowl R Ashwin out on a surface made for him and their fast bowlers bowled length balls and full tosses in the death when the offcutter seemed the logical choice. Pakistan’s lower order, marshaled by Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal, swung into the leg side with glee and ransacked 51 runs off the last five overs.Even after such a rich return in the death, Pakistan’s total remained in the competitive range. And that was because of the control India had in the early going.Bats these days have a lot of wood in their middle. The ball and the Kolkata pitch colluded never to find it. The leading edge was allowed a peek. The outside edge tried to pipe up, but it was always beaten. On-and-off rain since 5 pm had shortened the game to 18-overs a side, but the pitch was dry enough that all anyone had to do was roll their fingers over the ball to be menacing. Ashwin turned it square in the second over. Ravindra Jadeja could not bowl his wicket-to-wicket line because he could not believe how much the ball was deviating.Considering that, it seemed Pakistan had stabbed themselves by dropping a spinner, and a handy batsman, in Imad Wasim to add Mohammad Sami to their XI. However, Pakistan being Pakistan and Sami being Sami turned a liability into a strength. Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina – two men who seem to struggle badly in a touch situation – chopped onto their stumps and Sami was on the cusp of a hat-trick in every form of cricket. Yuvraj Singh soaked in that pressure and contributed 24 runs to a match-winning 61-run partnership with Kohli.Pakistan’s batsmen, who were heavily maligned leading into the tournament, acquitted themselves quite well when the ball was darting around. Ahmed Shehzad laid a solid foundation with his 25 off 28 balls. They eased past the first 10 overs with only two wickets lost. Ashwin had only one left in his quota and Jadeja had two. Dhoni did not think about Yuvraj at any point in the game, and kept at it with his seamers. Pandya gave away 15 runs in 14th over and Bumrah 13 in the very next.At that point, it seemed Pakistan had the edge. Then Kohli came out and took it away from them.

Chris Gayle, ransacked an unbeaten 109 but ironically ended up on the losing side as Mid West Rhinos beat Matabeleland Tuskers by seven wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2011The star attraction of the tournament, Chris Gayle, ransacked an unbeaten 109 but ironically ended up on the losing side as Mid West Rhinos beat Matabeleland Tuskers by seven wickets. Brendan Taylor’s unbeaten 75 turned out to be the matchwinning knock as the Rhinos registered their first win.The Tuskers lost Tom Smith early and that brought Gayle and Paul Horton together for an unbroken stand of 166. Gayle smashed eight fours and seven sixes in his 59-ball knock. Horton remained unbeaten on 47, off 58 balls.The target of 172 was achieved with three balls to spare. Taylor shared stands of 56 with the New Zealander Lou Vincent and 105 for the third wicket with Gary Ballance. Ballance made a quickfire 67 off 34 balls, including four sixes.Ironically for Gayle again, he leaked 47 off 3.3 overs, the most expensive figures of the day.

Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back to inflict a comprehensive defeat on Royal Challengers Bangalore and keep their own hopes alive in the Champions League

The Report by Siddhartha Talya29-Sep-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Brad Haddin delivered a blistering start to the chase•Associated Press

Kolkata Knight Riders bounced back to inflict a comprehensive defeat on Royal Challengers Bangalore and keep their own hopes alive in the Champions League while making survival difficult for their opponents. A delightful cameo from the home captain, Daniel Vettori, seemed to have set up a close encounter, but the Knight Riders dominated the chase, reminding the Royal Challengers top order of what they should have done with the bat on a good pitch. Brad Haddin, replacing Shakib Al Hasan, did full justice to his role by delivering a flier at the start while Jacques Kallis anchored the reply with support from Gautam Gambhir.The Knight Riders were left angered and frustrated by Vettori’s crafty batting at the death in the Royal Challengers’ innings, but didn’t let that affect them in the chase. A spate of misfields and fumbles drew ire from Gambhir, but the batting was calm and clinical in its approach. Haddin gave the initial push by stepping up in the second over to smack the left-arm seamer S Aravind, who’s won a call-up to the India squad for the ODIs against England, for three consecutive fours as the bowler struggled with his line.Haddin’s approach came with risks but it wasn’t mindless aggression. He used his feet well against spin, charging out to J Syed Mohammad and dispatching him over long-on, and waiting patiently for Vettori to slip in a bad ball – and he did – before punishing it past point. He was unforgiving against a clutter of length deliveries from a struggling Aravind, carving them for sixes over midwicket and the bowler’s head, interspersed by a slog for a four. When he fell with the score on 62 in the eighth over, the platform had been laid.The rest of the innings seemed meticulously planned. Kallis ceded the floor to Gambhi after launching a six over long-on early in the innings, and the Knight Riders captain played his role superbly. The Royal Challengers had faltered in the field in their previous defeat, and a half-chance that went down was perhaps the one big opportunity they had of a comeback. Saurabh Tiwary failed to latch on to a catch from Gambhir at the long-off boundary, lost his balance and crashed into a member of the support staff in the dugout. Gambhir was on 2 then.As the field spread out, plenty of singles were on offer and the pair rotated the strike comfortably, the required rate in control all through. The timely bursts were provided by Gambhir, who hammered Syed to the straight boundary and past point and clipped an off-the-mark Dirk Nannes past short fine leg. The Royal Challengers didn’t help their cause by doling out extra runs, either by way of overthrows or wides. Nannes was singled out for punishment in the final surge, Kallis reaching his fifty, albeit with a streaky bottom edge, while Gambhir smashed him for two massive sixes over long-on and square leg. That over, the 16th, fetched 24, the win was completed shortly after.A spirited performance from the Knight Riders bowlers had given them the advantage for 14 overs of the hosts’ innings, the early assault from Chris Gayle being the only highlight with the bat until then. Kallis’ stirring reply after being hit for six – a yorker that knocked out Gayle’s leg stump – backed up by Brett Lee’s extra bounce that dislodged Virat Kohli, made up for the early damage.The Royal Challengers didn’t make use of their line-up’s depth, losing wickets after their batsmen got partnerships going, holing out needlessly while an uncharacteristically quiet Tillakaratne Dilshan was stumped smartly by Haddin. With his sly shuffles to the off and the use of those powerful wrists, Vettori, kept company by Syed and Raju Bhatkal, sparked a recovery that left the hosts with the momentum at the end of the innings. It would not be with them for long.After the game, Gambhir was fined $3000 while the rest of the the Knight Riders were fined $1500 per player for being two overs behind the required over rate. The penalty for a slow over rate is $1500 per over for the captain and $750 per over for each of the other players in the starting XI.

The second ODI will now restart on Saturday with the final match taking place on Monday

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2021The ODI series between West Indies and Australia will resume on Saturday with the final match now taking place on Monday after no further positive Covid-19 tests were reported in the bubble.The second ODI was suspended moments before play was due to begin on Thursday with the toss having already taken place when a positive test came through from a non-playing member of the West Indies squad.That game will now resume from the position it was halted with Australia batting first on Saturday and the teams remaining as named.The two squads as well as match officials and TV crew were immediately returned to the hotel after the positive result on Thursday and put into room isolation where they were retested with all 152 coming back negative on Friday morning.All those involved remained in isolation on Friday while negotiations went on between Cricket West Indies, Cricket Australia and health officials and further investigations took place over the source of the positive test.”We are happy to be able to announce the restart of the CG Insurance ODI series at Kensington Oval tomorrow,” Ricky Skerritt, the CWI president said. “We want to thank our counterparts at CA for their co-operation in this matter as we look to get the games going again.”Special thanks to our CEO Johnny Grave, Chairman of Cricket Australia, Earl Eddings, his CEO Nick Hockley along with our respective medical and operations teams. I appreciate the crucial role of the BCA and the Government of Barbados for working closely with CWI to ensure everything is in place for resuming the series. “”It has been a challenging two days and we have worked very swiftly and safely, following all the established medical protocols, to make sure that all necessary precautions are in place to ensure that we can go-ahead to resume play safely, tomorrow. We will continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly.”With the ODI series now extended to Monday, CWI will have discussions with the Pakistan Cricket Board about potential adjustments to the T20I series which is due to start in Barbados on Tuesday.Australia were already due to stay on the island for three days after the end of the one-day series before taking a charter fight to Dhaka ahead of the five-match T20I series against Bangladesh which was confirmed earlier this week.

He secured over 96% of the votes in his constituency as part of a landslide victory for Awami League

Mohammad Isam31-Dec-2018Mashrafe Mortaza has secured the Narail-2 seat in Bangladesh’s national elections, winning over 96% of the votes in his constituency. His result is part of Awami League’s landslide victory, their third consecutive win in the country’s general elections. He becomes the first active international cricketer to be a member of parliament in his country.Mashrafe had started campaigning on December 22, later than most candidates during this election, as he was nursing a hamstring injury after the Bangladesh-West Indies ODI series ended on December 14. He will now shift his focus back to cricket, with the 20-over Bangladesh Premier League set to begin on January 5 next year. He will be leading defending champions Rangpur Riders in the competition.Immediately after the BPL, Bangladesh will travel to New Zealand for three ODIs and three Tests. Bangladesh will then play an ODI tri-series in Ireland as part of their build-up for the World Cup in England.Mashrafe had officially entered politics in November when he received confirmation of his nomination from Awami League. Besides Mashrafe, Naimur Rahman, Bangladesh’s first Test captain, and BCB president Nazmul Hassan also won seats in Manikganj-1 and Kishoreganj-6 respectively for Awami League.