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“I’ll put my hand up and and say I could have taken the game on a little bit earlier”

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2024New Zealand may have lost the first ODI in Dambulla on Wednesday by a fairly comprehensive 45-run margin, but for a youthful outfit with no less than three debutants in the playing XI, it was an opportunity to grab the “best seat in the house” in terms of learning how to play in unfamiliar conditions.”I think the experiences that you get in this part of the world, they’re obviously very different conditions from what we face back home in New Zealand,” Michael Bracewell said after the game. “Those experiences you bank and you learn from and hopefully come back better, that’s the true challenge of international cricket.”So as much as playing against them [Sri Lanka], you sort of watch them with the best seat in the house and see how they go about their business.”Related

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In that context, for around 35 overs they observed a masterclass in how to navigate a sometimes sluggish surface. While rain in the first over of the day had ensured that any dryness in the pitch would be mitigated, this still wasn’t an entirely batter friendly track.Getting in was crucial, and so proved Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando during a 206-run second-wicket stand off just 215 deliveries, one that effectively took the game away from the visitors.”It was difficult looking to start on as we saw, because after that big partnership between Fernando and Mendis, it was hard for the guys to come in and score straight away,” added Bracewell. “Partnerships are obviously hugely important and we saw that partnership in the first innings of some 200 runs. I think that’s what changed the game.”The majority of the time is obviously favourable here in Sri Lanka for spin, but batters can still play well on those wickets and put you under pressure. And I think we probably saw that today. The batters played really well and we’ll have to keep coming up with different answers and throwing different things at the Sri Lankan batters throughout the series, to try to break those partnerships a little bit earlier.”After Pathum Nissanka fell early, Mendis and Avishka ensured the scoring rate remained stable between five and six runs an over, rotating strike with the odd boundary thrown in. It was only closer to the halfway stage of the innings that they felt comfortable enough to up the scoring.Between the start of the 23rd over and end of the 28th over, they struck 52 runs, with the 200 coming up in the 35th over. Sri Lanka at this point were well set, but the new batters coming in after both Mendis and Avishka fell struggled to push the score to that 350 mark.Sri Lanka though, with their eventual 324 on the board, had done enough to ensure that even with a DLS-adjustment New Zealand would have a challenging target of 221 off 27 overs. In their chase, New Zealand got off to a similarly good start, as the opening pair of Will Young and Tim Robinson put on 88 off just 80 deliveries. But once they fell, the innings began to fall apart.”I think you look at the fine margins of when guys got out in our innings and things like that. And obviously there’s a little bit of scoreboard pressure, so guys coming in had to get going straight away.”So that that always makes it a challenge, but that’s part of the job of coming in that middle order. And we obviously didn’t get it right. But we’ll come again in a couple of days and we’ll be looking to resurrect that again.”Among those who perhaps could have done more was Bracewell himself. He remained unbeaten on a 32-ball 34, but with wickets tumbling at the other end he was left ruing over what could have been.”I think it was one of those ones where to chase to 221 in 27 overs was always going to be a pretty tough ask. I think we gave it a pretty good shot but we perhaps could have fired a few more shots there through the middle as well.”I’ll put my hand up and and say I could have taken the game on a little bit earlier, but yeah, I just don’t think we quite timed the chase very well.”

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.

The travel and border restrictions will require a new-look schedule for the 2020-21 season

Daniel Brettig10-Sep-2020The tenth edition of the Big Bash League may be played in 10-game blocks in individual centres in a concession to the constraints of Covid-19, and may venture as far afield as Launceston and the Northern Territory as the tournament turns its expansive venues footprint into a series of contingencies to get its gargantuan 61-game schedule completed.Anthony Everard, Cricket Australia’s executive in charge of fan engagement and one of the BBL’s principal architects from its very first edition in 2011, said that while there had been no conception of a global pandemic in planning to take the BBL to as many venues as possible over its first decade, a choice of as many as 15 venues in which to play out the tournament meant that probable obstacles to playing in Victoria, in particular, need not be catastrophic.”It wasn’t that long ago that we basically had the six Test-playing venues around the country available, and it’s been one of the great legacies of the BBL in opening up not just different parts of Australia but creating a footprint of venues around the country from Launceston to the Gold Coast, to Geelong, to Gippsland and everywhere in between,” he said. “That gives us a heap of options we might not have otherwise had.ALSO READ: BBL finale set to be given clear air for broadcasters by shifting New Zealand series“I’m not sure we had a global pandemic in mind when we made those decisions, but it certainly is going to be very helpful when it comes to needing to move the BBL festival from market to market, particularly when you factor in that you’ve got international cricket being played in parallel also. That’s something we’re spending an enormous amount of time trying to come up with a schedule that leverages that.”One concept on the drawing board is for a travelling circus style in which all clubs, players and broadcasters would stop over in a venue for around two weeks, play over 10 days at one or two grounds and then jet off to the next available hub.”We want to try and retain as many of the successful ingredients of the BBL as possible, which is that appointment viewing night after night, school holidays, but equally we need to be responsive to our environment,” Everard said. “I don’t reckon there’s a sports league in the country that would criss-cross state borders as rapidly as the BBL over summer, a different game in a different city every night, and that’s just not going to be realistic this year.”We’ve been watching, listening and learning from how the other sports have gone about it. There is another model on the table whereby we look at adopting a travelling roadshow of BBL festivals that come to your town, 10 nights only, 160 of the best T20 players from around Australia and the world, and then the show leaves town, moving on to the next market. So we’re going to be very reliant on the support of state governments to the extent we can move the BBL around the country. We’re just going to have to be really adaptable as things unfold.”Everard’s role also takes in the staging of international cricket around the country, with this season seeing a distinct move away from a central CA events team travelling to each venue, with far more reliance placed upon the staff of each state association to put on events at and around the scheduled fixtures.”Off the field it certainly builds resilience and it has galvanised Australian cricket in a way I haven’t seen in my time,” Everard said. “On the field, if I bring it back to the BBL, there’s a lot of commentary and speculation around who will and won’t play in the BBL, but one of the best features of the BBL is the surprise and delight element, you never quite know who is going to step up.”Whether that be Jofra Archer a few years ago at the Hurricanes, or in more recent times Josh Philippe and Riley Meredith are in the Australian squad now off the back of their BBL performances. I’m really excited about who is going to seize the opportunity to have their breakout year in the BBL.”

Four wickets and handy cameo with the bat put Birmingham Bears to the sword

ECB Reporters Network26-Jun-2021Durham 164 for 8 (Bancroft 60, Stokes 35, Brathwaite 3-32) beat Birmingham Bears 130 (Rhodes 45. Stokes 4-27) by 34 runsBen Stokes starred with bat and ball as Durham returned to winning ways in the Vitality Blast with a 34-run victory over Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston.Both sides went into action on the back of successive defeats and it was the visitors who ended their lean streak after they defended a total of 164 for 8, with Cameron Bancroft top-scoring with 60 from 45 balls, and Stokes chipping in with 35 from 20.

Carlos Brathwaite led the Bears’ bowling with 3 for 32, Tim Bresnan adding 2 for 25 and Will Rhodes 2 for 11.Durham then regularly took wickets at important times to bowl the Bears out for 130 in 18.3 overs. Rhodes’s perky 45 (27 balls) was ended by a run-out and Matt Lamb’s worthy 39 (33 balls, three fours, two sixes) was without support as Stokes, assisted by brilliant catching, added 4 for 27 to his cameo with the bat.Put in, Durham started slowly, losing openers Graham Clark and David Bedingham, caught in the deep off Craig Miles and Bresnan respectively, on the way to 25 for 2 from five overs.Stokes launched the counter-attack with two sixes off Brathwaite. The England star looked dangerous but perished in pursuit of another maximum off his old West Indian foe, superbly caught by Sam Hain running around the mid-wicket boundary.Related

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While Bancroft improvised impressively on the way to a 38-ball half-century, others flailed briefly around him. Scott Borthwick bashed a quickfire 18 before Bancroft sought his third six, over cover off Rhodes, and was held by Adam Hose on the rope. Late impetus arrived when Ned Eckersley and Liam Trevaskis took 20 from the final over.Trevaskis then opened the bowling and soon trapped Hose lbw, sweeping. Brydon Carss removed Ed Pollock, caught at mid off, to leave the Bears 18 for two and then Stokes took the big wicket of Hain, caught behind, in his first over.Rhodes moved sweetly to 45 but departed after a mix-up with Lamb which saw him easily run out by Bedingham’s throw.The Bears needed 86 from the last ten overs but the next two, tightly delivered by and Trevaskis and Matty Potts, yielded just eight runs. As the pressure increased, Michael Burgess hoisted Stokes to fine leg.Lamb launched a blow or two in anger but Borthwick bowled Brathwaite through an attempted sweep, and after Lamb fell to a stunning one-handed catch by Raine on the long leg boundary, the equation quickly spiralled beyond the Bears’ reach.

In-form opener sought return south for family reasons

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2022Somerset have announced the signing of top-order batter Sean Dickson from Durham. The 31-year-old joins on a three-year deal.Dickson, who was born in South Africa but holds a UK passport, has scored 824 runs at 54.93 in this season’s County Championship, with four centuries. He signed for Durham, initially on loan, from Kent in 2020 but recently informed the club that he wanted to return south for family reasons.”Sean has been an outstanding member on and off the field since joining the club two years ago,” Durham’s director of cricket, Marcus North, said. “Unfortunately for Durham, Sean has requested to leave so he can relocate to the south of England to be with his fiancé, his daughter Remi and family.”We thank him for his contribution and wish him success in the future at Somerset.”Dickson averaged 38.46 for Durham in first-class cricket, and 37.36 in List A as part of the side that reached the final of the 2021 Royal London Cup. His highest first-class score remains the 318 he made for Kent in 2017.Somerset’s director of cricket, Andy Hurry, said: “To secure a player of Sean’s quality is a coup for the club. He is a proven performer with the bat at this level and has strong aspirations to play on the very highest stage.”We have been looking to strengthen our batting at the top of the order and Sean fits that bill perfectly. He has started to establish himself as one of the more consistent openers within the English domestic game and will certainly add something to our dressing room.”Sean is a player that we’ve been monitoring for a while, and once we were aware of his availability it was paramount that we acted quickly.”Dickson added: “I’m delighted to be joining Somerset. They are a great club with a long tradition and I’m looking forward to getting started. I’ve admired how they go about playing the game from afar and it’s evident when playing against them that there is a genuine buzz about the place. I can’t wait to get started.”It’s an exciting challenge and I will be working hard to help the club win trophies. By doing that I will hopefully move myself closer to fulfilling my goals within the game over the next few years.”

South Africa captain also heaps praise on Keegan Petersen who, he says, has “gone into a ‘great player’ mould now”

Vishal Dikshit14-Jan-20223:41

Cullinan: ‘Jansen a great find, Rabada No. 1 pacer in the world’

South Africa Test captain Dean Elgar is “extremely proud” of his team for “responding brilliantly” after being down 1-0 in the series to fight back and claim the trophy against the No. 1 Test side in the world. After clinching the series 2-1 with a seven-wicket win in Cape Town, Elgar said his team was “thrown under the sword” a few times in the series, and he had a few “tough chats” with his players, which they responded to “and grew massively in the last two Tests.””Pretty elated, I think it will obviously sink in in a day or two, maybe this evening,” Elgar told the host broadcaster at the presentation. “Couldn’t be prouder of the group, of players I have underneath me. We were thrown under the sword quite a few times in the series and the guys responded brilliantly. After the first loss, the boys had a lot of hope going into the second and third [Tests] knowing we can still win this. We obviously had to follow our ways and processes going into those games. [I] asked the players to respond in a better nature, better way and they responded brilliantly. Extremely happy.Related

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When asked how the hosts turned things around despite not being as experienced as India, Elgar said: “Challenging your players within the group, characters as well. You need immense characters to stand up in these kinds of tough situations. The way our bowling unit came in and operated throughout the last two Tests has been brilliant; throughout the series they’ve been brilliant. Sixty wickets in a Test series is quite a tough challenge for them but I threw down the challenge after the first game and the guys responded brilliantly. We’ve got a young, talented group but the experience they’ve been gaining…in this environment every day we’re gaining this experience, which is brilliant for us. It was unreal to see how a group that doesn’t have the repertoire or names, how they could gel together and play as one. This is a proper unit that we’ve operated in and it’s a proper team, by no means I can single-handedly pick out players because everyone has played a big part in vital situations throughout the series. Extremely, extremely proud of this group.”Like Elgar said, South Africa’s bowling outshone their Indian counterparts throughout the series. Three of South Africa’s four fast bowlers – Kagiso Rabada (20), Marco Jansen (19) and Lungi Ngidi (15) – topped the wicket charts while no India bowler could get to 15 wickets in the series.India captain Virat Kohli also admitted at the presentation that South Africa’s bowlers “were better at applying pressure in long periods of time.” Elgar further said once he had laid down the challenge for his players, it was down to the XI to perform.”Ultimately, if you want to operate at a high performance level, you need to have tough chats,” Elgar said. “If guys don’t like it, that’s up for them to deal with. I’ve got an old-school mentality with bit of a new-school twist. I laid down some proper challenges to the senior players as well, to obviously stand up and respond and it was brilliant to see the guys take the message and follow it. It’s one of the bigger challenges to get everyone on your side and buy in from a captain’s point of view. The guys responded brilliantly. I’ve got absolutely no regrets going into the three-match series that we’ve played. I’d like to think I gave us the best message going forward in order to pull off a series win.”Elgar also extolled the determination Keegan Petersen showed in the series, to emerge as their biggest highlight and a prospect for the future. Petersen, 28, struck three half-centuries in the last two Tests, including 72 and 82 in the third game, to lead the scoring charts with a tally of 276, which earned him the Player-of-the-Match and Series awards in only his fifth Test.”Brilliant. He’s the one who responded since the first game,” Elgar said of Petersen. “He’s been immense. I’ve known Keegan for quite some time now, I’ve played a lot of domestic cricket against him. Always known he’s a good player. He’s gone into a ‘great player’ mould now which is obviously a lot to say for guys who’ve only played a few or handful of Tests. He’s only into his fifth Test now. I’ve always known he had this ability; he has dominated domestic cricket leagues from a run-scoring point of view and it’s awesome to see him have a great series in the second and third Tests obviously. And long may he grow.Keegan Petersen acknowledges the ovation as he walks back•AFP/Getty Images

“I think there’s still a lot of scope for improvement from his point of view. I think the world’s his oyster at the moment. Even though he’s a little bit older but he’s somebody who’s willing to learn, and you need characters like that. He’s a proper character in the change room as well. He’s got a bit of a light-hearted manner to him as well which is something you take for granted when you’re playing serious cricket. Extremely proud of what KP has achieved.”Elgar said his responsibility as captain was to pull the team together after the first loss in Centurion “hurt” them when they went down by 113 runs.”Us as a group, we’ve been hurting a little bit which is something for us to feed off,” he said. “We played as a unit, and the bottom of the line is if you’re playing as a unit, you can go a lot quicker.”I think as a unit, we’ve grown massively within the last two Tests. The first Test loss hurt us, and we know from a South African point of view, if you want to compete in Test cricket and you want to be world No. 1 one day, you have to compete and beat the best in the world. I’m extremely happy that things worked out for us after that. It could have gone wrong, and I could have had egg on my face but massive respect for the players for following my message.”Elgar also hinted the series win could be a sign of things to come for the future of South Africa’s Test cricket. After the ODIs against India, South Africa will fly to New Zealand for two Tests in February before they host Bangladesh for two Tests in March-April.”By no means we’re a finished article, I can tell you that,” Elgar said with a smile. “I’m already thinking about the next series, which is something I need to manage and control because I’m going to blow my brain out. It’s a lot of positives going into that next series, there’s a lot of negatives that we also have to work on. We have hit it on the head and in order to grow we need to curb those challenges that we have.”

The Brisbane Heat opener smashed 19 boundaries, including six sixes, to consign Melbourne Stars to a ten-wicket defeat

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2018Three years and a week since she lit up the inaugural edition of the WBBL with the first century of the tournament, Brisbane Heat opener Grace Harris smashed the tournament’s fastest hundred, off only 42 balls, in her side’s ten-wicket win over Melbourne Stars at the Gabba.During her unbeaten 101, studded with 19 boundaries, including six sixes, Harris attacked the three Stars wristspinners – Alana King, Kirsten Beams and Ange Reaks – with particular ferocity, taking 50 off 20 balls against them. The winning hit – a six over long-on off King – also brought up her hundred.
Harris put on 77 runs in the Powerplay with Beth Mooney, whose contribution in that time was a mere 10 runs – and carted Beams for 4, 4, 6, 6 in a 23-run sixth over. Along the way, she reached her fifty off 23 balls – the joint third-fastest in WBBL history, alongside Harmanpreet Kaur’s effort last week against the Heat.Having brought up their century stand off only 50 balls, Harris and Mooney took 24 runs off the 10th over – the most expensive of the match – with Harris clattering Reaks for two sixes.In what turned out to be a one-woman onslaught, Harris helped knock off the target in a mere 10.5 overs, after left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen had taken 3 for 17 to restrict Stars to 132 for 7. Mooney faced 25 balls for an unbeaten 28, and the unbroken opening stand steered Heat to their third win in five games this season, propelling them to the third place on the points table as the only side with a net run rate in excess of 1.Harris’s ton, the second-fastest in all women’s T20s, behind West Indies allrounder Deandra Dottin’s 38-ball hundred against South Africa in the 2010 World T20, is the third century of the season after 102 not-outs from Stars’ Lizelle Lee and Sydney Sixers’ Ellyse Perry. Harris’ is the eighth century across the four WBBL seasons. She is the only player with two WBBL tons to her name.

Sussex skipper Ben Brown took no part in their successful T20 Group campaign, but he made his presence felt as the Championship returned

David Hopps19-Aug-20181:40

Edwards leaves Notts with a headache

ScorecardSussex have a T20 quarter-final on Friday, but such is the nature of the English season that their immediate task is to blank it out. T20? Never heard of it. The emphasis is back on their promotion challenge in the Championship and 400 in a day against Derbyshire represented a job well done for a county currently lying second, seven points behind Warwickshire.It helped Sussex to have Ben Brown around to aid the transition. Brown does not have to blank out T20; T20 has blanked him. He has not played a game for Sussex all season, a well-meant enforced rest for a captain/wicketkeeper facing heavy demands in the other two formats, formats where his record is strikingly better. Itching to play some meaningful cricket, he struck his first Championship hundred of a highly-consistent season.It also helped Sussex that Derbyshire were looking somewhat ramshackle. Harvey Hosein, their young wicketkeeper, dislocated a finger in practice before the start so Wayne Madsen had to don the gloves while Daryl Smit travelled down from Derby. By the time he took the field at 10 to 4, Brown was on the verge of his first Championship hundred in a highly-consistent season.Smit had mixed feelings: his wife is pregnant and that was most on his mind on a relaxing Sunday morning. “I was lying on the sofa with my wife, hearing my baby boy breath through her tummy – hearing him for the first time – and five minutes later I got the call from Derbyshire,” he said. “And five minutes after that I was backing out of the drive for the four-hour drive down to Hove. I don’t think my wife was too impressed.”

Rampaul has hospital check-up

Ravi Rampaul, Derbyshire’s former West Indies player, left the field at Hove complaining of breathing difficulties and went to hospital for a precautionary check-up before returning to the ground later.
The match was delayed briefly in the final session when Rampaul, who had bowled 16 overs without signs of distress, needed treatment on the boundary edge.
Billy Godleman, Derbyshire’s captain, said: “I saw him panting at the start of his over. He’s not the kind of guy who complains easily. He told me was struggling to breath. He’s very much stable now but it’s always worrying to see something like that.”

There is also trouble at t’mill. Kim Barnett’s premature departure as cricket consultant because he felt cricket specialists were suffering too much interference (a regular Barnett refrain over the years) has left the county interviewing for a coach with the season far from spent; Dave Houghton, who has done the job once before, is among those shortlisted. The experiment with a specialist T20 coaching team – John Wright and Dominic Cork – is not certain to continue.Disagreements at Derbyshire are nothing new. If the club was run by only one person, they would automatically develop a split personality just so they could argue with themselves. In small clubs like Derbyshire, rich men can become all-powerful very quickly. That power needs to be used responsibly and that has not always been the case.Madsen is interesting Yorkshire, who are attracted by the reliability he brings in all competitions, the fact he will be 35 next season seemingly not an issue.But attention at Hove rested largely on Brown, another salt-of-the earth county performer. He made light of his month without a first-team fixture with his 15th first-class century, taking his season’s tally past 600, after Sussex had been under pressure at 111 for 4. Brown first put on 103 with Harry Finch and then added 142 for the sixth wicket with David Wiese to place his side in a commanding position.Derbyshire had looked dangerous on an unchanting morning marked by a stiff breeze and a light sea fret. Phil Salt, playing well away from his body, fell to a juggling catch in the slips, Tom Haines was caught low down at third slip by Matt Critchley. By lunch, Madsen also had two wicketkeeping catches: Luke Wells glanced Rampaul down the leg side and Michael Burgess edged Antonio Palladino.On a ground where Hardus Viljoen took 15 wickets for Derbyshire last season, and where Derbyshire have an excellent record (eight wins in 12 in the past 50 years), Brown’s combative qualities were in demand.He found a willing ally in Finch, who pulled Viljoen for two sixes in an over on his way to 82, before David Wiese, with an unbeaten 89, provided an emphatic conclusion to Sussex’s day.

“Let that [women’s IPL] announcement happen officially, and then I will decide,” she says of the future

S Sudarshanan23-Sep-20223:23

Goswami: 20 years, 350-plus wickets, countless memories

It was a press conference unlike any other in Indian women’s cricket. Jhulan Goswami, who is set to play her last international match on Saturday, had more than the usual handful of journalists there to meet her, virtually, of course. The questions ranged from her favourite memories and regrets to the big one: what next. And Goswami showed the patience of a fast bowler who has run in hard for 20 long years while tackling them.”For the last two years, I was thinking every series could be my last, especially with Covid-19 postponing cricket to 2021,” Goswami said. “I was going through a lot of injuries. I was taking it series by series. After the [2022 ODI] World Cup I thought maybe the tour to Sri Lanka would be my last. But during the World Cup, I got injured and I was not fit enough to tour Sri Lanka. This is the last ODI series before the T20 World Cup (in February 2023), and so I thought I will go to NCA [National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru], do a lot of rehab, and come to England for my last series.”Related

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Goswami was part of two 50-over World Cup finals – in 2005 and then in 2017, when India lost by a mere nine runs. The veteran fast bowler said not winning a World Cup was a regret but was hopeful of the current bunch of players going the distance.”If we would have won one of those [two World Cup finals], it would have been great for Team India and women’s cricket,” she said. “That is the ultimate goal for every athlete. When you put so much hard work, you prepare for four years and if you win the trophy, it is a dream come true. Unfortunately we played three finals including T20 [World Cup in 2020] but were not able to win the final. It has hurt feelings and that is one regret.”Goswami has been a constant feature despite the changing landscape of Indian women’s cricket, and will finish her two-decade-long career at Lord’s.She is not yet sure about playing the women’s IPL, which is expected to take place in March 2023.”Let that [women’s IPL] announcement happen officially, and then I will decide,” she said. “At this moment, I am ending my career from international cricket.”When I started, I never thought about playing for so long. Those days we used to represent WCAI (Women’s Cricket Association of India), and after 2006, we [have been] in the umbrella of BCCI. I used to undertake a two-and-a-half-hour one-way train journey from Chakdaha, train and go back home and then go back for practice the next day. [But the] best memory was when I represented India… getting my India cap from my captain [Anjum Chopra] and bowling the first over in my career. That was the most important moment in my life.”As a ball girl in the 1997 Women’s World Cup, I saw the final at Eden Gardens between Australia and New Zealand, and that day I dreamt that one day I might represent my country. That is how I started and put in a lot of efforts just to represent my country.”She made her international debut in Chennai in 2002 in an ODI against England, and her aim was to “just bowl fast”.”Nineteen-year-old Jhulan, when she was debuting in 2002 in Chennai, was absolutely raw,” she said. “She just wanted to bowl fast and wanted to take one wicket because she didn’t know if she would be able to continue or not. She didn’t know if her performance could be maintained or not. Her aim was to just represent India and bowl fast. That desire to bowl fast remained with me forever.”11:53

“Irreplaceable, role model, a once-in-a-generation player”

When Goswami was starting out, Indian women primarily played 50-overs cricket and four-day first-class cricket. However, with T20s being used as the vehicle to drive women’s cricket around the globe, days’ cricket gradually went out of the calendar. As a result, the way bowlers prepare now is vastly different from how she did.”As a bowler, cricket is changing day by day and there is more pressure on the bowlers because of the restrictions and how you prepare is the important thing,” Goswami said. “You have to be skillful and it requires effort from the player as well as team. You can’t decide you will play for next 10-12 years. You have to go season by season. You have to be fit, you have to be very strong to take the mental and physical pressure, and have to deliver in crunch situations. Now the girls are very professional and there are decent enough bowlers in this team. I am hopeful of the current bunch playing for a long time.”Goswami’s career had its share of injuries. She joked that she could have been better off had she been a batter.”Whenever I got injured, I realised I will be missing the series, [and some] matches [and] had to sit back and not participate,” she said. “But that is what a fast bowler is all about. You will get injured and that is when your character is required for you to come back every time you fall down. I felt then that it would have been better if I had not been a fast bowler. I wished then that I should have been a batter. I would not have had so many injuries.”With India having sealed the three-match ODI series against England – registering their first series win over the hosts in England since 1999 in the process – the stage is set for Goswami to have a grand exit. A good individual show will be the icing on the cake.

Bhut scored a century and fifty and picked up eight wickets in the match to take Saurashtra to a win over Punjab in the remaining quarter-final

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2023 • Updated on 06-Feb-2023

Allround Parth Bhut powers Saurashtra into semis

Full ScorecardParth Bhut’s 111* and 51 and a match-haul of 8 for 203 helped Saurashtra stage a stunning come-from-behind win over Punjab by 71 runs and book their place in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy. Bhut was ably backed by fellow left-arm spinner, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, who picked up eight wickets in the match for 165.Chasing 252, Punjab were undone by spin on the final day of the quarter-final in Rajkot. While Bhut returned 5 for 89 in 33 overs, Dharmendrasinh picked 3 for 56 in 38.1 overs as Punjab were skittled out for 180 despite taking a 128-run first-innings lead.Electing to bat first, Saurashtra lost Harvik Desai in the first over, but Snell Patel (70) and Vishvaraj Jadeja got them going. However, Mayank Markande ran through the middle order picking four wickets to reduce Saurashtra to 147 for 8. Baltej Singh also did his bit it picking 3 for 60. But Bhut, coming in at No. 9, recorded his maiden first-class century and helped his side get over the 300-mark. He added 61 runs with Chetan Sakariya (22) and then stitched a 95-run stand with No. 11 Yuvrajsinh Dodiya (17).In reply, Prabhsimran Singh (126) and Naman Dhir (131) added 212 runs for the opening wicket in quick time. The duo recorded centuries, while Mandeep Singh scored 91, and even though Dharmendrasinh picked up 5 for 109, Punjab were in the driver’s seat, having amassed 431 in the first innings.Saurashtra were once again reduced to 60 for 4 in their second innings, but captain Arpit Vasavada and Chirag Jani added 140 runs for the fifth wicket to take them in the lead. Both fell in quick time, but Prerak Mankad (88) and Bhut pulled them out of a hole. Vinay Choudhary put up a valiant effort in picking 7 for 179 as Saurashtra were bowled out for 379.Punjab’s chase never really took off and they lost wickets at regular intervals with Saurashtra’s three spinners wrapping up the win.

Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Deep star in Bengal’s big win

Shahbaz Ahmed played a key role with bat and ball in Bengal’s win•PTI

Full scorecardBengal got past Jharkhand by nine wickets at Eden Gardens to secure their spot in the semi-finals of the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy.Akash Deep, who picked six wickets in the game, was the star with the ball, while Shahbaz Ahmed, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sudip Gharami all played crucial knocks with the bat as Bengal cruised to victory in the first session of the fourth day.Related

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After putting Jharkhand in to bat, Akash Deep ran through their line-up, with some help from fellow quicks Mukesh Kumar and Akash Ghatak. Kumar Suraj was the only batter from Jharkhand’s top five to reach double-figures, hitting an unbeaten 89 to help take the team to 173, with the lower order batters also showing some resistance.When they batted first, Bengal lost opener Kazi Saifi early, but a 136-run partnership for the second wicket between Abhimanyu (77) and Gharami (68) put Bengal in a commanding position. Shahbaz (81) ensured they finished with a strong first-innings lead of 155.Akash Deep and Ghatak then took two wickets each as Jharkhand were left tottering at 21 for 4. Anukul Roy and Aryaman Sen added 71 runs for the fifth wicket to revive Jharkhand, but when Sen fell for 64 with Jharkhand still behind Bengal, it looked like game over.Supriyo Chakraborty’s 41, however, kept Jharkhand alive for a little longer, but Mukesh and Ghatak wrapped the innings up, with Bengal needing 67 to win. Saifi fell early once again, but Abhimanyu and Gharami raced to the target to put Bengal into the semi-finals, where they will meet the winners of the Madhya Pradesh vs Andhra game.

Shreyas Gopal 161* flattens Uttarakhand

Shreyas Gopal scored his fifth first-class century to lead Karnataka’s batting charge•PTI

Full scorecardShreyas Gopal hit an unbeaten 161 and followed it up with a three-wicket haul as Karnataka trounced Uttarakhand by an innings and 281 runs in their quarter-final at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.It was a game Karnataka dominated right from the start. After Karnataka won the toss and chose to field, young fast bowler M Venkatesh returned a five-wicket haul on first-class debut to help bundle Uttarakhand out for just 116.Half-centuries from each of Karnataka’s top four then put them in a commanding position. Openers Mayank Agarwal (83) and R Samarth (82) put on a 159-run stand to start with, and Devdutt Padikkal (69) and Nikin Jose (62) then put on 118 runs for the third wicket.Shreyas was, however, the star with the bat, hitting his fifth first-class century to take Karnataka to 606, leaving Uttarakhand with a huge ask.Swapnil Singh hit a fighting fifty for Uttarakhand in their second innings after they conceded a 490-run first-innings lead, but it was far from enough as they folded for 209. Shreyas and Vijaykumar Vyshak picked up three wickets each, while Venkatesh and Vidwath Kaverappa took two apiece.

Yash Dubey, Rajat Patidar set up MP’s win

Full scorecardHalf-centuries from Yash Dubey and Rajat Patidar took defending champions Madhya Pradesh to their 245-run target against Andhra and set up a semi-final contest against Bengal, who defeated Jharkhand earlier in the day.Madhya Pradesh did lose five wickets in the chase, but were largely untroubled as they completed a come-from-behind victory after conceding a 151-run first-innings lead.