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Fynn Hudson-Prentice’s determined 65 from No. 7 held up Leicestershire for a while

ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2023A season’s best 5 for 73 by fast bowler Matt Salisbury gave Leicestershire the early advantage against Sussex in a LV= Insurance County Championship match they must win to keep up their chances of promotion from Division Two.Fynn Hudson-Prentice’s determined 65 from No. 7 held up Leicestershire for a while at Hove but the visitors were still happy enough, after putting Sussex in, to bowl them out for 262 and then score 68 for 2 in reply in 21 overs’ batting before the close, with opener Rishi Patel finishing unbeaten on 36 – exactly the score he needed to complete 1,000 championship runs for the season.Sol Budinger fell early for a duck, skying a pull at Ari Karvelas high to midwicket, but Patel continued to impress in what has been a breakthrough season for the 25-year-old former Essex player, who is averaging more than 50, and Leicestershire’s only other wicket to fall was that of Lewis Hill, caught off Tom Haines’ medium pace swingers for 11.On a hard-fought day the 30-year-old Salisbury brushed off a disappointing new ball spell, when 28 runs came from his first four overs, to take the prized wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara on his return to the attack before lunch and then, in the afternoon, also remove James Coles for 44.And there was more to come from him at the start of the final session when Salisbury reacted well to hold Hudson-Prentice’s leading edge off his own bowling before dismissing Henry Crocombe lbw for six and Karvelas brilliantly held by a diving Colin Ackermann at second slip for 18.Leicestershire came into the match in third place in Division Two, 24 points behind Worcestershire but with a game in hand on the county currently in the other promotion position behind near-certain second tier champions Durham.There were four wickets for Leicestershire’s seamers in an entertaining morning’s session, after they initially saw Haines and Tom Clark get Sussex’s first innings off to a flying start.Haines, in particular, scored freely and the pair also scampered a number of quick singles to rotate the strike and frustrate the visiting attack, but after the fifty partnership had arrived in the eighth over it was Chris Wright who made the breakthrough an over later.Clark, pushing forward on 15, was beaten off the pitch and edged low to third slip where Budinger scooped up a good low catch and, in the 10th over, Haines’ 29-ball 39 – featuring eight fours – ended when, after driving Scott Currie’s first and third balls to the straight boundary, he edged another attempted forcing shot waist-high to Budinger.It was 80 for 3 when Tom Alsop was brilliantly caught by a diving Umar Amin at midwicket for 10 from a solid clip off his toes against Tom Scriven’s medium pace, and a good-sized crowd then saw Indian Test star Pujara settle in with some excellent strokes as the runs continued to flow despite Leicestershire’s early successes.And the visitors’ decision to bowl first was fully vindicated when Pujara, on 26, was drawn into an indeterminate push at a fine ball from Salisbury and edged low for Ackermann to fall to his left at second slip and take a sharp low catch.Honours were even in the afternoon session, with Leicestershire taking another three wickets but both Hudson-Prentice and Coles looked comfortable in predominantly cloudy, warm and humid conditions.Oli Carter went for 16, steering a rising leg-cutter from Currie – on loan from Hampshire for the last three fixtures of the summer – to second slip, but Sussex’s total had moved steadily from 135 to 179 before Coles, who hit seven fours, clipped Salisbury to mid wicket.Jack Carson also looked disgusted with himself when he too lifted a full delivery on his pads from Scriven to mid wicket to go for five, but Karvelas hoisted Currie into the pavilion for six and Hudson-Prentice completed his half-century just before the tea interval, at which Sussex were 231 for seven.Hudson-Prentice hit eight fours in his 92-ball effort, spanning almost two and a half hours, but it was Salisbury who had the final word to give Leicestershire the edge going into day two.

The two matches will provide Australia’s preparation for the Champions Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2025An extra ODI has been added to Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka which will provide the visitors additional preparation for the Champions Trophy.The two matches will now take place on February 12 and 14 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and will be day games.The first of the games begins just two days after the scheduled fifth day of the second Test in Galle so it remains to be seen how many players featuring in that match can turnaround for the one-dayer if the Test goes the distance.However, Australia have nine players in their preliminary Champions Trophy squad who aren’t part of the Test series, including captain Pat Cummins and fellow quick Josh Hazlewood.But Cummins’ participation remains uncertain as he is carrying an ankle injury which he played with during the India Test series.Australia’s ODI players are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka around the start of the second Test. Their first match in the Champions Trophy is against England on February 22 followed by South Africa on February 25 and Afghanistan on February 28.The first semi-final will take place in Dubai on March 4 with the second in Lahore on March 5 following confirmation of the hybrid model due to India not traveling to Pakistan. The final will be on March 9, in either Dubai or Lahore depending on whether India qualify.

England captain seeks positives after 4-1 loss as he backs team to stick to positive style

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-20242:42

Did England run out of steam in Dharamsala?

England were outplayed by the better team since winning the first Test against India – that was Ben Stokes’ assessment of his side’s 4-1 series defeat, delivered well inside three days of the final match in Dharamsala.Faced with a first-innings defict of 259, England were bowled out for 195 in their second as India won by an innings and 64 runs. Stokes’ response immediately after the match was measured in the face of R Ashwin’s five-wicket haul – he took nine for the match in his 100th Test – which sealed the result. Centuries to Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma helped India to an imposing 477 after Kuldeep Yadav’s five-for helped restrict England to 218 in their first innings.”Now that the series has come to an end – I don’t give too much away, obviously, whilst the series is going on – but since the first Test match of the series, we’re man enough and we’re big enough to say that we’ve been outplayed by the better team in the series,” Stokes said at the post-match presentation. “But we’ve got so much cricket coming up in our summer, and then Pakistan and New Zealand. Taking the positives that we’ve got from the series is something that I’m really looking forward to. I’m excited to be a part of driving this team even further forward.”Speaking to broadcaster TNT afterwards, Stokes added that the tour result had done nothing to dent England’s Bazball ethos, saying “we ain’t gonna let the last two years go to waste over this series in isolation”, having said during the presentation that he wasn’t troubled by a lack of batting consistency.”When you look at the game as a whole, and the series as a whole, there’s been really small moments throughout every Test match where we wrestled a bit of momentum back towards us, but we’ve not just been able to maintain and keep that going,” Stokes said. “And in Test-match cricket, especially out here where the game can turn really fast on you, it’s about understanding that and trying to understand those moments and being a bit more relentless with it. How that looks, I’m not sure, but we’re all here at the highest level playing cricket. I think we all know as individuals that that’s probably where it’s gone wrong for us, on more than one occasion.Related

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“When India get on top, especially with the ball, you see a lot of men come around the bat, and when you’ve got the quality bowlers that they do – Ashwin, [Ravindra] Jadeja, Kuldeep – you’ve got to find ways of getting the guys around the bat out of there. Sometimes that comes with risk. Risk doesn’t always pay off, but you get a couple of sweeps away and then you find you’ve only got one man around the bat. You’ve just got to be positive enough to be able to take that risk, and know that sometimes it can be your downfall.”You can look and say, ‘could I have done something better?’ But when the intent and the application is there, with the real reason as to why you’re playing that shot, then you can’t really say too much else.”In spite of the margin of England’s defeat, Stokes reiterated that there were positives to take from the match and series. Young spinner Shoaib Bashir overcame illness on the eve of the match to take his second five-wicket haul in as many Tests (just the second and third of his career). Tom Hartley stepped in as lead spinner in the absence of an injured Jack Leach, while Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett continued to develop their partnership at the top of the batting line-up with seven 45-plus stands in the series.Some of the senior players had their moments at the end of the series, too, with Joe Root coming into form with a century in the fourth Test and 84 in the second innings of the fifth, while at the age of 41, James Anderson took the 700th wicket of a Test career spanning nearly 21 years.”I’ve been lucky enough to be on the field with some of the lads there, the milestones that Jimmy’s got to, but being there for 700 wickets as a seamer, it is quite phenomenal,” Stokes added.”I’ve said many a time that he’s someone who every young kid, if he wants to be a fast bowler, should look up to and try and emulate,” he continued. “Everything that he has done from the day he first started being a cricketer, let alone international cricketer, to where he is now … 41 years old, he’s as fit as I’ve ever seen him, and I honestly just don’t know when he’s going to stop, because the desire to commit is still there. It’s great to watch.”

“It’s nice to go out and show everyone the last 10 years haven’t been a fluke”

Andrew McGlashan17-Jun-2023Some centuries mean a bit more than others. But a few of Usman Khawaja’s since his triumphant return to the Test side have had added significance.Firstly, there was the comeback itself at Sydney in the last Ashes, an opportunity he thought may never come around. Then, having long carried a tag of being unable to play spin, which should really have been shed when he saved the game in Abu Dhabi in 2018, he dominated in Pakistan on a hugely significant homecoming tour. Then he followed that with a century against India in Ahmedabad a few months ago.And now Edgbaston in 2023, ten years on from his first Test tour of the country which had brought his only other fifty. Despite a prolific return to the side, his average in England – 17.78 before this match after two low scores in the World Test Championship final last week – had not gone unnoticed.When he late cut Ben Stokes down to deep third to bring up a 15th Test hundred the celebration showed what it meant. Never mind the dab or the LeBron James inspired dance, this was something more guttural as he let out a roar and hurled his bat in the air, leaving him standing with arms aloft holding his helmet.”I honestly don’t know,” Khawaja, with daughter Aisha on his knee at the press conference, said of what prompted the celebration. “Think it was a combination of three Ashes tours in England, being dropped in two of them. I don’t read the media, genuinely I don’t, but I’m getting sprayed by the crowd as I’m walking out there today and as I’m going to the nets that I can’t score runs in England, so guess it was more emotional than normal.Related

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“Feel like I’m saying this all the time, same thing happened in India. Not that I have a point to prove, but it’s nice to go out and score runs for Australia just to show everyone that the last 10 years haven’t been a fluke.”The theme from Khawaja over the last few years has been how comfortable he now is being himself. “It’s just what you see is what you get, this is Usman,” he said. “I don’t try to hide it. I’m not perfect, I make mistakes, but I’m happy to be out there and show everyone the real me. Don’t know why the bat throw happened, but it happened. That was me.”As Khawaja said, his previous Ashes history in England had not been a happy one. A top score of 54 in the first of six previous meetings in 2013. He was dropped for the final match of that series at The Oval. He did not make the 2015 tour during a near two-year absence from the Test side, then in 2019 he was the fall guy to accommodate Marnus Labuschagne on Steven Smith’s return from concussion at Old Trafford. This time he had come prepared.”England is, in my opinion, the toughest place in the world to bat for top-three batsmen,” Khawaja said before the tour. “If I’ve learned anything, it is work hard, train hard and [when] going to England, go with low expectations. You are going to fail as a batsman, but when you do score you try to cash in as much as you can.”Usman Khawaja celebrates reaching his ton•PA Images via Getty Images

Cash in he did. And how Australia needed him. Khawaja had watched from the other end as David Warner dragged on against his arch nemesis Stuart Broad. He watched as Labuschagne edged behind for the first golden duck of his Test career. He watched as Smith was given lbw to Stokes to leave Australia three down before lunch.With some help from Travis Head, Cameron Green and latterly Alex Carey, he has been the key difference between Australia having a chance to stay level with England on first innings and conceding a likely match-defining lead.The century was in a mould of the previous six he had made on his return to Test cricket, with an almost zen-like calmness. Led by Broad, England were very good with the new ball early in the day. Khawaja was beaten on occasions but never ruffled although there was not the amount of seam or swing that has previously troubled him.While runs have flowed at home, he has equally left his mark overseas. Since January 2022, Khawaja has scored more than 1000 runs outside Australia. No batter has scored more runs in away Tests with the next most prolific batter in away Tests in this period being Joe Root, who has 802 runs in an equal 19 innings.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

It appeared that the second new ball had finally done for him on 112 when Broad, from around the wicket, a line that has not troubled Khawaja the same as it has Warner, brought a terrific delivery back into off stump only for his foot to have been inches over the line.His play against Moeen Ali brought back memories of how he had dominated Pakistan’s spinners last year on some docile surfaces. Watchfully respecting the good balls, but quick to apply some pressure (not that Stokes sees his bowlers being hit for boundaries that way) with sweet, crisp footwork. He rarely misjudges length against the spin.”England, to their credit, they stuck to their guns, kept the field up and eventually got the wicket of Heady by just keeping the guys up,” Khawaja said. “It was good cat and mouse.”The comparison between Khawaja and his opening partner is hard to ignore. While Warner battles to get the ending he wants in Sydney early next year, Khawaja is mapping out the most glorious final coming to an international career littered with ups and downs. And though this is likely a final tour of England – “unless I pull a James Anderson,” he said – that finishing point may be some time off yet.

Fast bowler to continue in consultant role for Pakistan and New Zealand Test series this winter

Vithushan Ehantharajah06-Sep-2024James Anderson will carry on as England men’s bowling consultant on their upcoming winter tours of Pakistan and New Zealand.Anderson has been working in the role since retiring in June after the first Test of the summer, against West Indies. Both the 42-year-old and the England management decided upon an initial stint through the home series with West Indies and Sri Lanka. That agreement has now been extended through to the end of the year.Anderson was informed earlier this year that the team would be moving on without him, during a meeting with head coach Brendon McCullum, captain Ben Stokes and managing director Rob Key, and bowed out at Lord’s with 704 Test wickets from 188 caps. With the ECB keen to retain his expertise as they build towards the 2025-26 Ashes, his initial stint as a bowling consultant was to ascertain if Anderson was interested in pursuing a coaching career, and, importantly, whether the situation worked for both parties.It does, for the time being at least. Anderson will now continue for the three-match tours of Pakistan (in October) and New Zealand (November and December). With no Test cricket scheduled for the first five months of 2025, Anderson may also get the opportunity to work with the limited-overs set-up, particularly when McCullum takes charge of the white-ball teams from the start of next year.”At the minute, I’m due to go to Pakistan and New Zealand in the winter,” Anderson told Sky Sports at the Kia Oval ahead of Day One of the third Test with Sri Lanka. “Then nothing concrete after that.Related

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“I’m very new to this, I’m still learning as we go. It’s partly me trying to figure out if this is where I want to go with the next stage of my career and also for them to figure out if I’m any good at it as well.”The subsequent evolution of England’s bowling attack since Anderson’s enforced departure stepped up this week with a debut handed to Leicestershire’s 6ft 7in left-arm seamer Josh Hull. Since joining the squad ahead of the second Test after Mark Wood was ruled out through injury, the 20-year-old Hull has been working closely with Anderson. Speaking to Test Match Special at lunch, Key lauded that exposure to someone of Anderson’s knowledge and experience.”There was a great moment at Lord’s where you saw Josh Hull bowling in the middle and Jimmy standing top of his mark,” Key said. “You think ‘how good this is?’. All of that knowledge, you don’t want to lose. Then he is able to pass it on.”Jimmy is not always the most outgoing. He has really taken to it. You felt with Jimmy, for him to be a coach, you make the running with these people.”Some of these have not known life without James Anderson opening the bowling for England. if you can, without being forceful, make the running and just say ‘well bowled’. Even Mark Wood, when he comes in at lunch. That can have such an impact. A coach’s job is to make people feel confident. Someone like James Anderson, him telling you something will carry more weight. He seems to be loving it.”It would be great to have Jimmy in Pakistan, the same in New Zealand and who knows going forward. Jimmy has a few itches to scratch along the way but it is great to have him involved with us.”Anderson revealed recently that one of those itches is to play on the franchise circuit. He has not played any white-ball cricket since 2019, with his last T20 appearance more than a decade ago for Lancashire in 2014’s NatWest Blast final.At present, Anderson is not aware of any interest in his services. It remains to be seen whether he will continue playing for Lancashire next season.”No,” Anderson replied, when asked if conversations had taken place with prospective franchises. “But there might be people behind the scenes chatting to people.”I have no played white-ball cricket for a while so that is the first thing I need, to get back to it, if I am to think about doing it. And I don’t know if there is any interest so I will just ask around.”

Visitors leave Glamorgan with plenty to do at Sophia Gardens

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay25-Sep-2025Glamorgan 265 and 41 for 2 trail Lancashire 374 (Wells 78, Jones 62, Balderson 51) by 68 runsLancashire have left Glamorgan with much to do to force a positive result after gaining a three-figure lead at Sophia Gardens.

Luke Wells’ dogged 78 to pass 1,000 runs for the season along with a much-needed 62 for Scottish international Michael Jones and George Balderson took Lancashire to 374. Several other starts, including Keaton Jennings’ 1,000-run landmark, also boosted the visitors to a 109-run lead.Allrounder Timm van der Gugten’s involvement in his 100th first-class match wasn’t finished with a half-century on day one as he took the reigns to take 5 for 85, Glamorgan fighting back with the final four wickets inside nine overs with the second new ball.Resuming overnight on 55, openers Wells and Jennings resumed momentum with the expectation to bat all day. Jennings’ half-century looked inevitable before being removed on 49 as Van der Gugten’s first victim despite Jennings’ tall stature batting outside his ground on a rising delivery.George Bell was next to fall short of a half-century with a stylish 45 while Wells remained quiet since pulling a boundary to bring up his thousand-run season.Partnerships of substance without kicking on continued to be the theme. When Wells eventually was undone by Mason Crane finding some turn, a chance to rip through the middle order looked possible, Jones struggling to line up Crane initially in a good battle. Even after two sixes in quick succession from the Scot, Sam Northeast persevered with bowling the former England leg-spinner who created numerous chances in a long spell which deserved more than his 2 for 109 suggests.Ned Leonard hobbling off two balls into a spell left more pressure on Glamorgan. Jones’ second half-century of the season came after just 42 balls and Hurst was the next to fall short of the milestone.Tom Hartley pleasantly drove the first ball of the 89th over (Glamorgan’s first with the new ball) for four, giving warning signs of more to come at 337 for 6 – but Van der Gugten’s experience to gain his 300th first-class Glamorgan wicket, and one for Harris, was enough to wrap up before more potential damage on a variable pitch.Similar to the previous day, the opening pair would need to negate 17 overs as the sun lowered at Sophia Gardens. Zain Ul Hassan avoided his pair and stuck out the day after an important spell of bowling claiming both Jones and Hurst, who put together 88 in the afternoon.Asa Tribe and nightwatcher Harris couldn’t grind out Lancs’ seamers despite a positive start from the former; a low ball making him the latest to succumb to that method on the deteriorating Cardiff pitch.

There has been a lot of rain in Bengaluru and the pitch has been under covers, so the teams might wait till late to finalise their XIs

Sidharth Monga15-Oct-20241:52

Turning pitches will give New Zealand a ‘tough time’

Big picture – India look to continue WTC march

When they started their home season, India needed seven wins out of their ten remaining Tests to put beyond reasonable doubt their qualification for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. In certain scenarios, even five wins would be enough. With five of these Tests in Australia, India wanted to go there with the five minimum wins already in the bag.Rain and poor facilities in Kanpur threatened to deny them one of those wins, but an extraordinarily enterprising batting approach manufactured a win there. They face a similar scenario when they start the three-Test series against New Zealand in Bengaluru, where rain disrupted the teams’ preparation, and is threatening to significantly impact the Test.Related

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Former world Test champions New Zealand will want to prove silly the assumption that rain threatens to cost India certain points as was the case with Bangladesh in Kanpur, but the fact is that not much separates New Zealand and Bangladesh on the WTC points table. They have won only 37.5% of the points they have contested, about half of what India have. What’s worse is that they are away from home comforts and are coming off a 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka, which is just a teaser of the challenges they can expect to face in India, who are on a six-match winning streak. New Zealand will have to start this challenge without the services of Kane Williamson, who is racing against time to be fit for the second Test.Then again, the rain does offer New Zealand a window of opportunity. In case it lets up and leaves the pitch sweating, there could be value in inserting the opposition an unprecedented three times in a row in India. If they manage to cash in on that window, they have a chance in the Test, but equally, India will back themselves in any conditions because they still might have a better pace attack even with Mohammed Shami missing. In fact, they might even relish seaming conditions because they also have one eye on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.

Form guide

India WWWWW
New Zealand LLLLW

In the spotlight – Virat Kohli and Tim Southee

It can be difficult to judge where Virat Kohli‘s game is at because everything around him is always heightened – be it optimism or pessimism. India haven’t played a lot of Test cricket in the recent past, but Kohli does have two centuries in his last eight Tests. However, before that, he had endured a long dry patch. Now people are keen to know how he is faring given the big series in Australia at the end of the year. At his IPL home ground, at a venue where he led India to a rousing Test win against Australia in 2017, Kohli is bound to be the centre of attention.1:45

Manjrekar doesn’t feel Kuldeep should get game time ahead of Australia tour

Kohli’s rival from his Under-19 days, Tim Southee was New Zealand’s captain only about a fortnight ago. He stepped down with a record of 6-6-2, but on the back of the whitewash in Sri Lanka. Eighteen short of 400 wickets, Southee continues to remain a vital part of New Zealand’s attack, especially in India, where he can use his experience to remain effective even when the conditions aren’t helpful. He took five-wicket hauls on two of his three previous trips here – one of them in overcast Bengaluru in 2012, and another in dry Kanpur in 2021, which shows his versatility, something New Zealand will need desperately in order to remain competitive.

Pitch and conditions

Early intelligence suggests India might return to tracks that call for three spinners after the Bangladesh series, where they played three quicks in both Tests and the side winning the toss chose to field on either occasion. However, the inclement weather in the lead-up to the Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru could end up producing seam-friendly conditions. The weather is likely to play spoilsport through the game, with the first two days likely to be the worst affected. However, the drainage facilities in Bengaluru are as good as anywhere.

Team news – Three quicks or three spinners?

Shubman Gill has a stiff neck, which could unsettle a settled batting line-up. If he doesn’t wake up fit to play, Gill could be replaced by Sarfaraz Khan in the XI and KL Rahul at No. 3. The question for them is whether to field an extra spinner or a third quick. It is likely to eventually come down to how much rain there is in the lead-up to the toss and how the conditions are at the time.India (likely): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Shubman Gill/Sarfaraz Khan, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 KL Rahul, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Akash Deep/Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj3:36

Rohit: Bumrah has always been in our leadership group

Mark Chapman is Williamson’s cover in New Zealand’s squad, but the slot has gone to Will Young. Mitchell Santner will be under pressure to keep his place after averaging 197 and being outbowled by Glenn Phillips in Sri Lanka.New Zealand (possible): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Tom Latham (capt), 3 Will Young, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner/Michael Bracewell, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 Will O’Rourke

Stats and trivia

• The last time New Zealand played in India, Ajaz Patel became the third man in Test history to take all ten wickets in an innings
• Kohli is 53 short of becoming the fourth Indian to 9000 Test runs
• India have already hit 97 sixes this year, going past the previous record, 89, which England had in 2022

Quotes

“No matter who the opposition is, what is important for us is to be an even better version of ourselves. So our focus will be on how we can do better than what we did in the previous series.”
“Obviously the wicket being under covers for a longer duration, and it not necessarily being as hot as what we would usually expect here, that potentially brings the fast bowlers into play. We’ve had a little bit of a look at the previous game that was played here maybe a month ago. And I think the seam took a lot of wickets.”

Both teams still seeking first win after final-ball drama

ECB Media30-Jul-2024Northern Superchargers 100 for 7 (Davidson-Richard’s 27, Bell 4-11) tied with Southern Brave 100 for 8 (Tryon 25, Smith 2-24)Kate Cross scrambled two runs off the final ball to level the scores and secure a tie between Northern Superchargers and Southern Brave in the Hundred.On a slow and used wicket, boundary-hitting never looked easy and Superchargers’ chase of 100 was a nervous and fraught affair throughout, off the back of a first-innings batting effort from Southern Brave that was equally scrappy.Brave – well marshalled by captain Georgia Adams – used the conditions and kept the stumps in play to maintain the pressure in the chase, and were thankful to England seamer Lauren Bell whose 4 for 11 was the standout performance of the game.Both Phoebe Litchfield and Alice Davidson-Richards looked to have the chase in hand for Hollie Armitage’s side, but on a nip-and-tuck day that saw momentum swing this way and that, both players were dismissed just as they seemed to be putting their team’s nose in front.Only Maia Bouchier and Chloe Tryon passed 20 for Southern Brave, but Rhianna Southby and Bell played a hugely important role with bat in hand to inch their team up to the psychologically important three-figure total.As it was, Southern Brave’s total was just enough to not be surpassed by Superchargers, but both sides will feel they missed the opportunity to get their first win of the Hundred on the board.Meerkat Match Hero Lauren Bell said: “The emotions were up and down! In that last set of five I had a lot of adrenaline. It was cool, that’s what we play cricket for.”You just go ball by ball at the death, and see what player you’re bowling at. Pace-off was working on this pitch, and pace-on was a good variation, so it was ball by ball.”The ideal final ball was a straight yorker and I don’t think I was too far away from executing. Maybe we should have just looked at the field a bit but what can you do, hindsight is lovely.”

Lewis Hill’s 71* also pivotal in eight-wicket win over Yorkshire

ECB Reporters Network08-Aug-2024Ian Holland starred for champions Leicestershire with ball and bat as they maintained hopes of a Metro Bank One-Day Cup title defence with a rain-affected eight-wicket win over Yorkshire at Scarborough, the Foxes chasing a revised 22-over target of 150.All-rounder Holland took the new ball and returned 2 for 39 from 10 overs before opening the batting with 42 off 25 balls as Leicestershire won for the fourth time in six fixtures to move into the top three places in Group B.Helped by captain Lewis Hill’s excellent 71 not out off 54 balls with four sixes, Holland dented Yorkshire’s chances. They lost for the third time in six having made 236 for 7 from 50 overs after being inserted before rain at the mid-innings interval forced a two-hour delay to 5pm.The Vikings recovered from 118 for 6 thanks to a career-best 60 from Dom Bess and 55 not out for Matthew Revis, the seventh-wicket pair sharing 112. But the exploits of Holland and then Hill usurped their contributions.Alongside Holland, Tom Scriven and 17-year-old debutant Alex Green also struck twice apiece in Leicestershire’s five-man seam attack.The champions were exceptional with the ball during the first half of the innings having elected to bowl on the same pitch used for Yorkshire’s win against Essex on Tuesday.Along with taking four early wickets, reducing the Vikings to 79 for 4 inside 25 overs, they exerted significant control and conceded only three boundaries in that time.Tall Academy seamer Green encouraged after Holland had struck twice with the new ball to get Fin Bean caught behind and Shan Masood at cover.Holland also had a hand in the third wicket as he took the catch at mid-on after Harry Duke had miscued a pull at Scriven before James Wharton, for 23, pulled Roman Walker to deep midwicket.
Just when Yorkshire tried to accelerate, with George Hill and Luxton hitting a six apiece, they were checked by both men departing in quick succession as the score fell to 118 for six in the 35th over.Hill was caught in the ring off a miscued pull at Green before Luxton was caught behind against Scriven.But as good as Leicestershire were early on, Bess and Revis matched them late on in their century partnership to give Yorkshire a competitive total.They shared three leg-side sixes and reached their fifties late in an innings which saw 93 runs come from the last 10 overs. Revis got to 50 first off 47 balls and before Bess’s came off 48. Both finished having faced 51 balls.Bess had hit an unbeaten 53 – also a career best – in Tuesday’s win against Essex.Even though Leicestershire were helped by Duckworth Lewis Stern, their task still didn’t look straightforwards given ideal bowling conditions under gloomy skies.But Holland set the tone by square driving Hill for four after three balls of the chase.He found the boundary regularly afterwards and was strong on both sides of the wicket.And the loss of opening partner Sol Budinger – caught at mid-on off Hill, 18 for one – was not costly.When Holland fell, well caught at square-leg by diving sub-fielder Yash Vagadia off Dom Leech, the Foxes had control at 62 for two in the eighth over.Hill hit Dan Moriarty’s left-arm spin for six over long-off – his second six – as Leicestershire reached the 10-over mark at 80 for two. And when Hill reached his fifty off 37 balls, the game was all but over at 113 for two in the 14th.Hill dominated an unbroken 90 stand with third-wicket partner Ajinkya Rahane (28) as victory was sealed with 2.2 overs remaining.

By winning their last regular-season game Renegades also improved to fourth, while Sixers are third

AAP05-Dec-2025Melbourne Renegades duo Georgia Wareham and Courtney Webb have produced a match-winning partnership to sink Sydney Sixers and keep the defending WBBL champions in finals contention.The win had significant ramifications ahead of next week’s finals, ending Sixers’ three-game winning streak and meaning Hobart Hurricanes will finish top of the ladder.That means Hurricanes will host the final on Saturday week. Adelaide will host Hurricanes tonight at Karen Rolton Oval, with Strikers needing an upset win to stay in the top-four hunt.By winning their last regular-season game Renegades also improved to fourth, while Sixers are third. But Renegades must sweat on other results to find out whether they play in the finals.Chasing 131 for victory, Wareham (49 not out) and Webb (33 not out) took Renegades to 134 for 4 from 16.2 overs on Friday in Melbourne.The pair put on a whirlwind unbroken 85-run stand, rescuing Renegades from a wobbly 49 for 4 in the tenth over.Wareham, who earlier took three wickets, finished with a furious flourish, cracking five fours and two sixes from her 29 deliveries. And Webb also found the boundary four times as Renegades (five wins, five losses) climbed from sixth to fourth on the table.Sixers (five wins, three losses) remain third after failing to capitalise on an Ellyse Perryspecial with the bat.Perry top-scored with 65 from 47 balls but Sixers struggled to 130 for 9. The allrounder dominated Sixers’ innings, hitting nine fours and a six, despite frequently losing partners.Only one other team-mate – Ash Gardner (16) – reached double figures amid some excellent legspin bowling from Wareham (3 for 21 from four overs).Alyssa Healy made a six-ball duck and the middle order failed to fire around Perry, who was dismissed in the 18th over when caught at long-on from the bowling of Alice Capsey (2 for 27).Ellyse Perry put on a one-woman show with the bat for Sixers•Getty Images

Renegades hit early trouble in their chase when Maitlan Brown snared two wickets in the second over.Opener Davina Perrin (28 from 27) and Capsey (10 from 15) briefly steadied before both fell in a three-over patch, leaving Renegades in serious strife four down.But Wareham and Webb launched a power-packed counter-punch with Brown (2 for 45) the only multiple wicket-taker for Sixers.All three games over the weekend will affect the top-four finishing order. The Melbourne Stars are second and on Saturday cannot afford a slip-up when they host the Sydney Thunder, who are out of finals contention.The late Saturday game will feature fifth-placed Perth Scorchers at home against bottom side Heat, while Sixers host Adelaide Strikers on Sunday in a massive end to the regular season.Only three points separates Stars from the sixth-placed Strikers.Tuesday’s knockout final will feature the third-placed team at home against fourth.The winner of that game travels to the second-placed team on Thursday for the challenger final and that will decide who faces Hurricanes for the title.