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After finishing last in the last three editions of the PSL, Lahore Qalandars have turned to Hafeez in a bid to improve their record

Umar Farooq09-Dec-2018Lahore Qalandars have appointed Mohammad Hafeez as captain for the fourth season of the Pakistan Super League. Fakhar Zaman and Yasir Shah had also been considered, but Qalandars went with the more experienced captain.In the last three seasons, Lahore Qalandars went with the Pakistan Test batsman Azhar Alias captain, followed by Brendon McCullum for the following two seasons. Azhar, their first captain, was removed from the job and never played again even though he was initially retained for the 2017 season, before being released. Two seasons with McCullum as captain did not help improve their fate either, with the side finishing bottom every year since the PSL’s inception. Over the three seasons, they lost 18 out of 26 games.Since the first season, other teams retaining their local captains had left the Qalandars short on options. But for the upcoming fourth season, they had a wider pool of Pakistan players to pick a captain from, with Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez and Shahid Afridi all in the draft. They went on to pick Hafeez as their platinum player last month, believing a local captain would bring better results.Both Yasir and Fakhar were considered for the top job, with the proposition never quite materialising. The release of Hafeez from the Peshawar Zalmi roster this year made Hafeez the favoured pick.Hafeez, 38, retired from Test cricket after the recently concluded Test series against New Zealand in UAE in a bid to focus on his limited-overs career. He has played 248 T20 matches, scoring 5244 runs at a strike rate of 122.35. He captained Pakistan in T20Is between 2012 and 2014 before stepping down just days after the team’s exit from the group stage of the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh.During his stint as T20I captain, he led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka. However, the team exited at the group stage of the 2014 edition, after losing to West Indies by 84 runs. It was the first time Pakistan had failed to progress to the semi-finals in five editions of the tournament. Hafeez’s overall T20I record stands at 18 wins (one via a one-over eliminator) and 11 losses from 29 matches.

Tamil Nadu walked away with three points by virtue of having taken the first-innings lead, while Odisha’s lower order halted Madhya Pradesh’s push for victory

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2017For a little while, there was the promise of a thrilling finish between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu at the BKC, but it was duly extinguished once Shreyas Iyer’s (138 off 124 balls) pyrotechnics came to an end. Tamil Nadu walked away with three points by virtue of having taken the first-innings lead in the drawn encounter, after Mumbai declared on 371 for 5. Akhil Herwadkar (132) produced a polished effort to bring up his seventh first-class hundred, but it was of little more than academic significance.The only piece of meaningful action came in the morning when Iyer ripped the Tamil Nadu attack. His 11th first-class hundred, breathtaking and calculative in equal measure, took the game forward. With little assistance from the pitch, the bowlers, including R Ashwin, were taken down with ease by Iyer who added four sixes to his five from the third day. The Mumbai batsman brought up his run-a-ball hundred with a four and a six off consecutive deliveries from Yo Mahesh. Iyer then continued to tonk the ball around with slap-pulls and square cuts. However, an ill-advised second run in the 45th over resulted in his dismissal. K Vignesh fired in a strong throw from the deep and despite a dive, Iyer found himself short of the crease.Herwadkar said later that Mumbai didn’t look at declaration given that the pitch didn’t help the bowlers much. “There was hardly any turn,” he said. “We just wanted to bat out the day.” Tamil Nadu captain Abhinav Mukund could empathise with Mumbai’s decision given that it was only their second match of the season. “We were prepared for about 40 or 50 overs. I thought they would put us back,” he said. “But considering they had four more games this season, I think they didn’t want to take the risk.” Ashwin’s 26 overs in the second innings yielded no wickets and he went for over four runs an over, with Iyer and Herwadkar playing him with ease. Abhinav credited the batsmen, but was surprised that the pitch didn’t break up. “There wasn’t as much assistance as I thought there would be on the fourth day,” he said. “It was quite unlike BKC because I thought end third day or the fourth day there will be balls turning. But there was hardly any turn even on the fourth day.” With seven points from three games, Tamil Nadu are now third on the standings, while Mumbai, having played one fewer game, are fourth with four points.Odisha‘s lower order clung on to avoid outright defeat, finishing on 152 for 7 in their second innings after Andhra had enforced the follow-on in Vizianagaram.Resuming their first innings on 294 for 6, Odisha lost Subham Nayak in the first over of the day. However, Biplab Samantray (72) strung useful partnerships of 36 and 49 with Basant Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan respectively, but Odisha inevitably conceded a lead of 193 runs. Asked to bat again, Odisha got off to a shaky start for the second time in a match, losing Natraj Behera in the fourth over.They lost two more wickets inside the next 13 overs and slipped to 43 for 3. Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt, who picked up four wickets in the first dig, accounted for opener Sandeep Pattanaik, Subhranshu Senapati, Saurabh Rawat and Abinash Saha to reduce Odisha to 81 for 6. It was then left to Samantray to mount another rescue mission, as he shared a 50-run partnership with Nayak. Eventually, Samantray finished on an unbeaten 112-ball 62 to ensure Odisha weren’t bowled out and got away with one point. Andhra’s three points, though, have taken them to second place on the standings behind Madhya Pradesh.

Facing a side resting three first-choice bowlers in a dead rubber, Steven Smith’s Australia were shot out for 167 as South Africa romped to a six-wicket win and a 4-0 lead in the series

The Report by Daniel Brettig09-Oct-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:56

By the Numbers – SA bowlers equal lbw record

Australian hand-wringing about taking an under-strength bowling attack to South Africa was placed in sharp perspective on a breezy morning in Port Elizabeth. Facing a South African side resting three first-choice bowlers in a dead rubber, Steven Smith’s side were shot out for a mere 167 to set-up a six-wicket win.Kyle Abbott and Tabraiz Shamsi were the chief tormentors of the tourists, the former finding exactly the right length to best use the early movement on offer, the latter re-opening the sorts of wounds inflicted by Sri Lanka’s spin bowlers on Australia’s previous tour with a clever spell of left arm wrist-spin. Neither had been needed in the live matches.Save for a 50 by Mitchell Marsh and a punchy contribution from Matthew Wade, the most notable moment for Australia was Wade’s running battle with Shamsi. This culminated in something very near to a physical clash as Wade hung his elbow out while running past Shamsi, causing the umpires to intervene.There were further exchanges as the Australians sought to defend their meagre total. Clearly the visitors had intended to fight this one out, but despite an improved bowling effort they never really had a chance to bowl South Africa out. A pair of missed chances did not help either, most notably a sitter dropped by Adam Zampa off Faf du Plessis, who went on to top-score with 69.Overall this was another performance South Africa could be proud of, demonstrating that their ODI squad presently has plenty of depth to it. South Africa had withdrawn the injured David Miller plus Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir. In their places were Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Aaron Phangiso and Shamsi.The visitors made only one change to the team that lost from such a strong position in Durban, recalling Scott Boland for Daniel Worrall. Australia’s batsmen had regained some of their former strut at Kingsmead, and after Smith won the toss the expectation would have been to capitalise on a seemingly weakened home attack.However, Abbott took full advantage of both his first start in the series and a modicum of early seam movement with the new ball. First he bowled Aaron Finch through the gate with a lovely delivery that shaped to swing away before cutting back, then followed up with an appreciably quicker ball that surprised Warner with pace and movement back between bat and pad.Kyle Abbott picked up 4 for 40 in his first game of the series•Associated Press

At the other end, Dwaine Pretorius provided a neat contrast with his greater height and high action, angling one back to George Bailey for an lbw verdict from the umpire Nigel Llong. All of a sudden Australia were 12 for 3, the innings in grim shape and the allrounder Marsh already at the crease.He and Smith tried to steady things for a time, but the introduction of Shamsi’s left-arm wristspin brought another period of South African jubilation. Smith propped forward to a ball straightening down the line of the stumps, and a review found he was struck in line for the lbw. In the same over, Travis Head played inside a delivery that straightened past his groping blade, and a scoreline of 50 for 5 was the deflating result.Not for the first time in his career, Wade came out spoiling for a fight, and a series of verbal confrontations with Shamsi escalated to the point that he hung out an elbow while running more or less straight at the bowler. That moment caused Llong to speak to both players and call for calm.Marsh played sensibly meanwhile, forging to 50 and offering Australia the faintest hope of a reasonable tally. However he had not made another run when Abbott returned to coax an outside edge, and re-commence the procession of wickets. Wade and Chris Tremain were able to add a pesky 46, but even that still left Australia with comfortably their lowest ODI total at St George’s Park.Tremain delivered a decent opening spell at the start of South Africa’s pursuit, which began before the scheduled innings break because Australia’s innings had ended so quickly. Hashim Amla was lbw to a break-back before Quinton de Kock picked out deep square leg with a sweetly-struck pull shot.However du Plessis and JP Duminy were able to carry the hosts past halfway to the target, notably getting on top of the experienced John Hastings once again: his high economy has been one of many problems for Smith’s team. Zampa’s drop of du Plessis did not help either, causing plenty of befuddled looks on the team balcony.When du Plessis did finally fall, the tourists upped their intensity in the middle, “chirping” frequently at the new batsman Farhaan Behardien. But it was sound and fury signifying nothing, as the total was reeled in with 87 balls to spare. A whitewash looms in Cape Town.

Openers Mark Pettini and Tom Westley both scored centuries as Essex inflicted a 152-run defeat on Warwickshire in their Royal London Cup Group B clash at Chelmsford

ECB/PA29-Jul-2015
ScorecardTom Westley continued his fine form with 108 runs in an opening stand of 191•Getty Images

Openers Mark Pettini and Tom Westley both scored centuries as Essex inflicted a 152-run defeat on Warwickshire in their Royal London Cup Group B clash at Chelmsford.Essex’s dominance of the visiting attack resulted in a total of 320 for 5, which proved well beyond Warwickshire’s capabilitie as they were bowled out for 168 in 40.2 overs.It proved an unhappy return for the former Essex batsman, Varun Chopra. He was soon regretting his decision to insert the home side as Pettini and Westley launched the Essex innings with an opening stand of 191 in 34 overs. He then suffered the ignominy of being out first ball when Warwickshire began their reply.The Essex openers never looked in the slightest trouble as they treated pace and spin with equal comfort, producing a succession of drives, pulls and square cuts to progress at nearly a run a ball.Respite only came when Westley was trapped lbw to offspinner Jeetan Patel but not before he had amassed 108, his second List A century with the help of a dozen fours and a six.Pettini has been overlooked at Championship level, the form of Nick Browne relegating him to the sidelines. But in the one-day format, he is considered a vital component of their batting line-up in addition to his fine fielding. And he was to confirm his pedigree with a forceful 126 from 127 balls before he swung Oliver Hannon-Dalby to deep midwicket and was fourth out in the 48th over after striking 10 fours and two sixes.Before Pettini’s demise, Ravi Bopara also struck two sixes in making 39 from 33 balls before he dragged on against Chris Woakes.The Essex innings finished on a high when Ryan ten Doeschate struck the final delivery over long-on for six to finish unbeaten on 21 from 12 balls.Faced with such a daunting task, Warwickshire desperately needed to start their reply on a firm foundation but their hopes of doing so were soon shattered.Chopra was caught and bowled by Topley, an inside edge finding its way into the bowler’s hands via the batsman’s pad. The tall left-arm paceman soon claimed another wicket, that of Will Porterfield, when the opener holed out to deep square leg.Only 37 runs were on the board when Tim Ambrose became the third wicket to fall as he clipped Graham Napier to third man where David Masters pocketed a catch in the 13th over.By the halfway stage, Warwickshire had limped to 92 for 5, by which time Rikki Clarke and Laurie Evans had been despatched to the pavilion leaving Jonathan Trott to salvage a little bit of pride for his team.By then, however, he was fully aware that victory was out of the question for last season’s beaten finalists but he did make something of a fight of it.He reached his half-century by pulling Bopara for six but was out immediately afterwards for 51, made from 79 balls, when Kishen Velani took the third of his four catches at deep square leg to give off-spinner Westley another wicket and leave Warwickshire on 101 for 6. The same combination had earlier got rid of Clarke.Although the tail wagged, putting on a further 67 runs in 13 overs, Essex were able to celebrate a comfortable victory and gain consolation for the misery Warwickshire inflicted upon them last season when they triumphed at Chelmsford in both the Royal London Cup and Twenty20 Blast at the quarter-final stage.

A wrap of the opening day of the eighth round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group C

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2012
ScorecardSreesanth took 4 for 28 (file photo)•PA Photos

Playing his second match on comeback from injury, Sreesanth took 4 for 28 to bowl Jharkhand out for 120 in Mallapuram. Robert Fernandez and VA Jagadeesh then drove home the advantage by reaching 165 for 1 despite the loss of a wicket first ball.The day began with Sreesanth dismissing Akash Verma in the first over. He then took the big wickets of Ramiz Nemat and Ishank Jaggi in his fourth and sixth overs. When Sandeep Warrier took out Saurabh Tiwary, Jharkhand had been reduced to 62 for 5. Sp Gautam and Sunny Gupta added 28 for the sixth wicket, but the next five well within 30 runs.Jaskaran Singh gave Jharkhand a dream start with the ball, but that was the only success they would enjoy on a horror day.
ScorecardVikramjeet Malik took the only five-for in all 11 matches on day one, helping Himachal Pradesh bowl Jammu & Kashmir out for 175. This was his 14th five-wicket haul in 65 first-class games.It was allrounder Rishi Dhawan who provided the first breakthrough, getting Ian Dev Singh out for 2 in the sixth over. Malik ran through the rest of the top order, including the big wicket of Parvez Rassol. Obaid Haroon and Owais Shah added 47 for the fifth wicket, but Malik returned to remove Shah and make it 103 for 5. The sixth-wicket stand, between Haroon and Ram Dayal, added 53, but after that J7K just subsided.The Himachal openers saw through the rest of the day without incident.
ScorecardAsked to bat first in the early start in Guwahati, Andhra got off to a poor start before B Sumanth and veteran Amol Muzumdar lent their score some respectability. Arup Das rattled them with three wickets in the first spell, but from 26 for 3 Andhra did well to end the day at 214 for 8.Sumanth and Muzumdar added 80 fir the fourth wicket before another slide began. At 136 for 6, though, Muzumdar found a fighting partner in Rajesh Pawar, formerly of Baroda. They added 65 for the seventh wicket before Assam struck twice just before stumps. Muzumdar was 18 short of a century at stumps, with only two wickets standing.In Agartala, no play was possible between Tripura and Goa because of fog and bad light.

Queensland were pushed all the way by New South Wales captain Steve O’Keefe before claiming a 14-run victory in Brisbane to remain unbeaten in four matches

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2011
ScorecardQueensland were pushed all the way by New South Wales captain Steve O’Keefe before claiming a 14-run victory in Brisbane to remain unbeaten in four matches and extend their advantage at the top of the Sheffield Shield table.Led by the Australia A-selected Ben Cutting, the Bulls were on course for a comfortable win when the Blues slid to 7 for 85 in pursuit of 224, but O’Keefe added 70 with wicketkeeper Peter Nevill and then 54 with the No. 10 Josh Hazlewood to creep to within 15 runs of a first outright victory of the season.However the legspinner Cameron Boyce, who had earlier snuffed out Nevill’s innings, found a way through Hazlewood’s defence, and with an injured Doug Bollinger hobbled at the other end, O’Keefe edged Cutting behind to leave all six points in the hands of the Bulls.Cutting was named man of the match for his seven wickets and 58 first innings runs.