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Martin Guptill’s 13th ODI century and Matt Henry’s four-wicket haul led the way as New Zealand endured a late attack from Pakistan’s lower order to seal the series

The Report by Danyal Rasool18-Jan-2018 by 15 runs
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At five matches, this ODI series may have seemed excessively lengthy, but only because it appeared to have been one interminable match stretched out over a fortnight. It didn’t need five games for anyone to find out that Pakistan have serious trouble facing the new ball in conditions that New Zealand offers. But the home side hammered that point home ad nauseam, sealing it with a 15-run win that was more comprehensive than the scorecard suggests, and delivering just their second whitewash in a five-match series.The chase, as on every other occasion, was effectively over before it began. Matt Henry, coming in for the rested Trent Boult, made full use of his opportunity, taking three wickets in his first four overs. Fakhar Zaman was harassed, hit on the helmet, dropped and finally caught at extra cover. With no movement on offer, Henry bowled a steady off stump line, cleverly waiting for Pakistan’s batsmen to make their own mistakes. Ever the gentlemen, they didn’t keep him waiting long. Umar Amin and Babar Azam edged behind and Pakistan were reduced to 31 for 3. Azam may still average over 50, but his dismissal on Friday was an act of mercy, releasing him from a series in which he scored 31 runs at 6.20.Three wickets soon became five, thanks to a pair of sharp catches in the infield, and it was left to Haris Sohail and Shadab Khan to do the face-saving again. They showed the fight they have demonstrated whenever given the chance, putting on a century-partnership without ever really threatening a result. That wasn’t their fault – it merely illustrated the extent to which the top order has let the visitors down all series.Both fell after scoring half-centuries, looking to pick up the scoring rate to meet an ever-rising asking rate. Mohammad Nawaz and Aamer Yamin put on an entertaining little partnership that briefly called the result into question, riding their luck as Pakistan took the game to the
penultimate over. However, New Zealand had just enough runs, and had inflicted just enough damage at the top of the innings, to ensure their winning streak – now eight ODIs – remained intact.Earlier, a 112-run partnership between Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor guided New Zealand through the middle overs and steered them to 271 on a tricky surface. Guptill scored a hundred – the 13th of his ODI career – while Taylor recorded his 58th 50-plus score, surpassing the record for a New Zealand batsman. Run-scoring through the middle overs was harder work than it had seemed in the first ODI at the Basin Reserve, but that could at least partially be put down to a solid bowling performance by Pakistan, complemented by their best day in the field this series. A late implosion from New Zealand, combined by fabulous end-overs bowling, meant the innings fell away after flattering to deceive for most of the first 40 overs.For a series involving Pakistan, it was surprisingly predictable in some respects. To nobody’s surprise, New Zealand, batting first, set about taking advantage of the opening Powerplay. As usual, it was Colin Munro doing the early damage, complemented by the occasional destructively elegant shot from Guptill – a straight six off Rumman Raees the pick of the bunch. Yamin bore the brunt of the aggression but neither opening bowler was spared the heat as New Zealand brought up fifty inside six overs. Munro perished as he had thrived, top-edging Raees while looking to slog across the line, but the platform had been set. Kane Williamson and Guptill built on it, the early onslaught giving them the space and time to construct the partnership at their own pace. Pakistan began to come back into the contest, too, with Shadab and Nawaz bowling tight lines to choke the batsmen.It might have accounted for the second wicket. With the partnership on 49, the New Zealand captain lifted Yamin into the leg side, looking to clear deep midwicket. Amin took the catch to dismiss Williamson in the strangest of ways. Pakistan took control through the middle overs, the bowlers varying their pace and length adeptly as Taylor and Guptill struggled for timing. The ground fielding improved too, as New Zealand were starved of the singles they usually take for granted, and the run rate dipped below five at the 30-over mark. However, what Pakistan didn’t manage was more wickets, and with the duo getting their eye in, New Zealand were gearing up for a big finish.It didn’t quite materialise that way as they fell within a few overs of each other. Colin de Grandhomme couldn’t get going with the fluency with
which he had devastated Pakistan in Hamilton. Other wickets fell as Pakistan began to strangle the New Zealand middle and lower order; Henry Nicholls was caught in the deep trying to get Raees away, while Faheem Ashraf got rid of Tom Latham as he attempted a scoop.
The innings turned sloppy – Mitchell Santner was run out off the first ball he faced, and a total that had looked to push past 300 fizzled out.As it turned out, though, the ineptitude of Pakistan’s top order ensured they wouldn’t have to pay for their profligacy.

He was forced to spend two months away from cricket due to dengue fever, but he came back to the game in style with his 33rd Test hundred

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2016A stroll through Younis Khan’s recent statistics in Test cricket suggested nothing had changed. He had amassed a double-hundred in his last match. Now he had made a century. He had been scratchy early on, but was sublime by the end and Pakistan once again were in a position to dictate terms.Except between his 218 against England in London and 127 against West Indies in Abu Dhabi, there were two months’ time away from the game. In September, he had contracted dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease that leaves the body weak and fatigued. “I lost six-seven kilograms,” he said at the post-match press conference at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. “But now I’m working on my weight and my fitness, so I will be 100% soon.”Younis was not in shape to play the series opener in Dubai, which had also been Pakistan 400th Test, not to mention their first day-night Test. And coming into the second Test, he had to contend with a lack of match practice.”I was a little worried because after the Oval Test [I had not played anything],” Younis said. “I wanted to play a couple of domestic games, which is always good for you. No matter how much you practice in the nets, you need game time.”His illness did not allow that luxury. “But I got to play three or four matches for my club on cement wickets,” Younis said. “They weren’t tough conditions, but I’m glad I played. Karachi was very hot at the time, and I struggled in the first match. But playing those three-four matches really helped me.”Having come to the crease in the 14th over, Younis had looked set to bat out the day’s play when he slog swept an innocuous looking offbreak from part-timer Kraigg Brathwaite straight into the hands of deep midwicket. Before the next batsman could take guard, the umpires called for stumps citing bad light and Pakistan went in at 304 for 4.After making his 33rd Test hundred, Younis credited his doctors, saying they “helped me recover quickly because usually, you don’t have any energy for one month after dengue. I think they took care of me very well, and that’s why I’m here right now.”During the course of a 175-run stand, Younis and Misbah-ul-Haq became the owners of Pakistan’s most prolific partnership in Test cricket. When asked what the secret to their success was, he said: “I don’t know… there’s no secret. Maybe we’re the seniors, we have the responsibility to carry the batting line-up, although we have very nice and fantastic youngsters in the team, the responsibility is always there for us. So whenever we play together, we know that [getting] 200-300 is important for our team.”Everybody knows that we like to take our time, and then suddenly [we go] after the spinners and sometimes against fast bowlers as well. So I think there’s no secret, it’s all about mental preparations.”

Karun Nair, who made an unbeaten 119, said that he benefited from Manish Pandey’s positive approach

Vishal Dikshit in Bangalore09-Oct-2015Karun Nair has already been a part of the India Test squad. He has had a taste of the international circuit by spending time in the Indian dressing room after being picked for the third Test in Sri Lanka as M Vijay’s replacement, less than two months ago.Nair had been picked on the back of an unbeaten first-class century against South Africa A and a stellar 2014-15 season. Nair didn’t get an international debut and he is back to where he belonged – the Karnataka dressing room – to score more runs, more centuries, and register more wins for his side. His sixth first-class hundred and his third fifty-plus score in four first-class matches, including a 71 against Bangladesh A recently, placed Karnataka on top after two well-fought days against Bengal.”I wanted to start the season well and once you get starts…I got a start in the first game, I scored 30-odd and then couldn’t convert well. So it’s a relief of starting the season well and making it big,” Nair said.

Bhavane fit to bat on third day

Karnataka manager B Siddaramu said at the end of the second day’s play that No. 3 Shishir Bhavane, who had retired hurt on 32, was fit to bat on the third day as scans revealed there was no injury.
“He’s ok, he went to the hospital and he took an X-ray and CT scan. It’s only the impact when he got hit, no swelling, no fracture, he’s fit and ready to bat,” Siddaramu said. “He would have batted today but it’s good these two [Karun Nair and Shreyas Gopal] batted well and he’ll get one more day extra [to rest] and it will be slightly easier to bat.”
Bhavane was facing Ashok Dinda in the 27th over when a short ball climbed and hit him on the right wrist in the last over before lunch before Bhavane could drop his hands. Karnataka physio Sharavan came out and assessed Bhavane’s wrist before they walked off and the umpires ended the session there with only four balls left in the over.

Nair’s century today can be split into two parts – the supporing role and the lead role. The risk-free nature of his strokes did not change through the day but his partner and approach did. His first rescuing act was with Manish Pandey in a brisk partnership of 98 runs in 21 overs after the score was effectively 76 for 3, since Shishir Bhavane retired hurt, and Pandey dominated the stand with as many as nine fours. Nair said it was Pandey’s attacking approach that helped him bat without pressure.”Manish batted really well, he came out and batted very positively and that helped me also,” Nair said. “I got a lot of loose balls because of him playing positively. It was disappointing that he got out on 50-odd, still we are in a good position right now and we’d like to capitalise tomorrow.”There was no plan as to how to go about our partnership. Manish played his natural game, he scored off good balls and in between he received loose balls as well. The only plan was to bat throughout the day… Bat tight and straight.”Nair hopped into the driver’s seat once he saw Pandey and CM Gautam fall within half an hour. Karnataka were now 209 for 4 and unaware if Bhavane was going to bat again or not since he was sent to a hospital for scans after being hit on the wrist by a Ashok Dinda short ball. That did not perturb Nair and he marshaled Shreyas Gopal in the third session that went wicketless. In those two hours, Nair faced plenty of deliveries from spinners Pragyan Ojha and Manoj Tiwary, who pitched several ones outside the leg stump, only to see Nair play the ball late, use his feet to go back and forth, and find boundaries regularly.”I think I’ve been naturally like that [against the spinners],” Nair said. “I play spin naturally and haven’t done any special preparation as such, just the normal net sessions. It is one of my strengths but I think all-round I play quite well.”I was patient throughout, I didn’t play any rash shots, I was waiting for the loose balls and it all worked out well.”What also worked out well was that Karnataka got a lead by the end of the day with six wickets in hand as Bhavane was declared fit. Nair said they would look to bat the whole day on Saturday and the pitch had developed some cracks which could get worse by the end of the third day.”We should bat the whole day [tomorrow], we shouldn’t think about the runs, bat out the day and take whatever comes.”Pitch is right now good only. Outside the leg stump obviously the footmarks will be there but generally the pitch is good, the cracks are coming a little bit. Maybe tomorrow end of day it might become difficult to bat on, maybe till lunch or till tea it will still remain the same.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between West Indies and Zimbabwe in Grenada

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria23-Feb-2013

Match facts

February 24, 2013
Start time 0930 local (1330 GMT)Could Darren Bravo’s hundred in the first ODI be his breakthrough innings?• WICB Media/Randy Brooks Photo

Big picture

In a short three-ODI series that doesn’t last a week, a heavy defeat in the first game can quickly become a nightmare. It wouldn’t be outlandish to say that 3-0 to West Indies is an expected result, but for Zimbabwe, who hardly play international cricket these days, this series offers a vital chance to show improvement. Their first outing was forgettable, but they need to avoid a repeat performance.Their bowlers were battered by the West Indies batsmen, who could have got more than the 337 they eventually did, and when it was their turn to bat, their batsmen slipped at the first sight of Sunil Narine. In the end, it became a question of how badly would they lose. That they lasted 50 overs was largely due to a 67-ball 18 by No. 8 Prosper Utseya. In both innings, there were only a couple of performers of note and in international cricket, other teams feast upon such weaknesses. Zimbabwe need to regroup quickly, as a team, and must show the will and confidence to stay competitive.West Indies, on the other hand, need to find the ruthlessness that went missing after their World Twenty20 title win. They are expected to steamroll the opposition in this series and the only competition is with themselves. Can they get more if they bat first? Can they bowl out Zimbabwe within 40 overs? These are the challenges that Dwayne Bravo would want his team to take head on after the recent reverses in ODIs in Australia.

Form guide

West Indies WLLLL
Zimbabwe LLLLW

In the spotlight

Darren Bravo has been around for close to four years now. He has shown numerous glimpses of his talent in the past – especially in Tests – but the hundred on Friday was his first in 51 ODI outings. He followed up his maiden Test hundred with two more soon after. With the quality of bowling Zimbabwe offer, he would certainly be hoping for another one in this series.If Zimbabwe need to show improvement, it has to start from two of their experienced batsmen, Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza. The two were out in consecutive overs without getting into double-digit scores. With 249 matches between them, Zimbabwe would hope the pillars of their batting line-up show some resistance.

Team news

Kieron Pollard, who missed the previous match due to travel difficulties in getting to Grenada, will be available for selection for the second ODI.West Indies: (probable) 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Tino Best, 11 Sunil NarineZimbabwe (from) Brendan Taylor (capt), Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Tino Mawoyo, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Prosper Utseya, Regis Chakabva, Malcolm Waller, Keegan Meth, Craig Ervine, Chamu Chibhabha, Tino Mutombodzi, Natsai M’shangwe

Stats and trivia

• Zimbabwe’s first ODI win against West Indies came in their ninth encounter – in July 2000.
• Their last win against West Indies was three years ago, in Providence.

Quotes

“A first century in a winning cause is a great feeling. The hard work is paying off and the aim is to continue and get more big scores.”
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Jean Symes, a South African allrounder who plays for Lions and Gauteng, will be Scotland’s overseas player for the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2012Jean Symes, a South African allrounder who plays for Lions and Gauteng, will be Scotland’s overseas player for the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition.Symes, 25, replaces George Worker from New Zealand who has been called into the Emerging Player squad. Symes will also play for Watsonian in the Eastern Premier League when not on Scotland duty.He has a one-day high score of 170 and a career strike-rate in List A cricket of 86.13 from 56 games, while his left-arm spin has gathered 47 wickets at 25.98. He represented South Africa Under-19s at the 2006 World Cup in Sri Lanka where he won the Man-of-the-Match award against Scotland.On a previous spell in the Lancashire Leagues playing for Norden he scored an unbeaten 268 against Royton in 2009.”We are delighted to have secured Jean to replace George Worker,” Roddy Smith, the Cricket Scotland chief executive, said. “As a top order batter and left-arm spinner, he was exactly the type of cricketer we were looking for. I’m sure he will be a useful addition for Scotland and Watsonian CC for the 2012 season.”

A game against Kenya should not be a thing to be fussed about and New Zealand would actually be worrying how not to get complacent. Instead, Daniel Vettori said that intensity will be even bigger for the “must win game.”

Sriram Veera in Chennai19-Feb-2011These are desperate times for New Zealand. On better days, a game against Kenya should not be a thing to be fussed about and they would actually be worrying how not to get complacent ahead of the contest. Instead, they feel the pressure of a “must-win game”. “Intensity will be even bigger because this is a must win game for us,” Daniel Vettori said. “We will be strong and play well.”For the past few months, New Zealand have been psyching themselves to look to the future. The recent past has been dispiriting: a whitewash in Bangladesh, losses in India, defeats against Pakistan at home, and a soul-crushing pasting against India in the warm-up game. Gloom shadowed them everywhere. Harsh criticism floated up first: “We batted like dicks,” was the frank assessment of the then coach Mark Greatbach. Saner post-mortem followed with the inclusion of John Wright as the new coach. The losses continued, meanwhile.Brendon McCullum recently agreed to the assessment that they had forgotten how to win. Will tomorrow’s game against Kenya be the first step out of the sordid mess or a further slide into the abyss? Daniel Vettori, the captain, tried to sound positive in the pre-game conference. “We are sure to up our confidence levels after our match tomorrow. It is quite a fluid concept when we play bigger teams but our guys have the abilities to bounce back. But I prefer to look at that rather than dwelling on the past.”The past though couldn’t be shoved under the carpet. “We acknowledge the comments [about New Zealand being low on confidence] since we lost a lot of games in recent times and they were disappointing performances, particularly in the sub-continent, but hope we can look at the World Cup as a fresh start.”The first game against Kenya shouldn’t be difficult to win but Vettori, understandably, chose to be cautious. “The hardest thing about playing a qualifier is that you do not see much of them. Some of their players will be a bit of a surprise. You prepare may be after seeing them on television. In a way it is a challenge but it does not matter as we got to turn up and play tomorrow.” It’s something they haven’t done well in the recent past.Things could kickstart if the batsmen start performing. A line-up that reads Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, an in-form Martin Guptill, Scott Styris and Jacob Oram should make the Kenyans sweat. Even in the defeat against India in the warm-up game, the way Brendon and Guptill batted against the seamers would have given a lot of heart to New Zealand fans. It’s their batting against spin that has let them down. And their bowling.The bowlers, especially the seamers, have been so lacklustre that Vettori was prompted to say that their bowling coach Allan Donald “is even now bowling better than all fast bowlers”. It was meant to be a compliment to Donald but it didn’t seem way off the mark. “We have fixed too much on batting and that does not give us enough in bowling,” Vettori said. “Allan has been an exciting addition to the team because he is bringing obviously his own personal skills and his own confidence. Ever since he came on board, he speaks with a position of authority to our players and the guys listen when he says what it takes to succeed in the sub-continent and other parts of the world.”New Zealand have a selection worry ahead of the game as Nathan McCullum is a doubtful starter after running high temperature yesterday and being kept under observation in an hospital. He returned for a light training session this morning but it’s unlikely they will take a risk by playing him against Kenya. “As of now, we plan to play three pacers and two spinners. It depends on Nathan’s fitness. We will play two spinners and look at the possibilities in balancing if the third one is coming in. I think there is plenty of runs on the track, if you bowl well, you can restrict the batting side. Generally, it is a batting wicket. It is incredibly difficult for the fast bowlers on these kinds of wickets to make their presence felt.” For New Zealand’s sake, they must.

Ian Blackwell hopes a strong start to the domestic season can propel him back into the England reckoning after a conversation with national selector Geoff Miller

Andrew McGlashan19-Mar-2010Ian Blackwell hopes a strong start to the domestic season can propel him back into the England reckoning after a conversation with national selector Geoff Miller. Blackwell, who has one Test cap, played that last of his 34 one-day internationals in April 2006, but Miller got in touch with the Durham allrounder earlier this year to offer words of encouragement.Blackwell enjoyed a productive 2009 season as Durham defended their Championship title, scoring 801 runs at 40.05 and taking 43 wickets and 23.53 after his move from Somerset, and it could well be his bowling that provides his route back to the top level.Following the one-day series win against Bangladesh Andy Flower, the England coach, said he would ideally like a left-arm spinner in the squad instead of the duel offspin options of Graeme Swann and James Tredwell. With Samit Patel still under a fitness cloud and Monty Panesar unlikely to feature in limited-overs cricket it leaves the door ajar for Blackwell to earn another chance.”I’ve still got ambitions to play for England and I had a brief chat with Geoff Miller about a month ago,” he told Cricinfo. “They spelt out that my door isn’t closed to international cricket which is nice to hear and with such a good season last year that I was deserving of a call and a meeting with Geoff.”With the World Cup being held on the subcontinent next year England will certainly want more than Swann as their slow-bowling option. Blackwell wasn’t a candidate for the preliminary World Twenty20 squad following an off-season shoulder operation and has competition for a spin-bowling position from Michael Yardy, Adil Rashid and David Wainwright who were all named in the 30-man party.For much of the 2009 campaign Blackwell played with a troublesome bowling shoulder and he had surgery in October. He is still undergoing rehab, but is confident he will be back to full fitness for the start of the county season next month and will test out the injury during Durham’s pre-season trip to Abu Dhabi to play MCC in the pink ball trial match.”First thing is I need to get my shoulder right,” he said. “It still feels a bit weak, but the more I play and the more I throw things will strengthen up. Hopefully everything is good and if that’s strong enough and I keep performing the way I did last year then I’m still hopeful of a recall. It’s a job I think I can fulfil.”Like Patel, who has been sidelined from the England set-up since failing fitness requirements on the Lions tour of New Zealand last year, Blackwell’s career has been stalled by concerns over his physique and he would still have to convince Andy Flower that he could buy into the current teams fitness philosophy. However, he believes he has developed as a player since moving counties and has relished the opportunity to take a lead role in the bowling attack.”It was nice to be called upon as an attacking spinner instead of a defensive bowler playing on the wickets I used to at Taunton,” he said. “It was more about me going at two an over rather than taking wickets, but last year I was able to have more success.”To remain in the selectors’ thoughts Blackwell will need a strong season across all formats, including the new 40-over tournament which replaces the Friends Provident Trophy and means there is no 50-over domestic cricket. As someone who is aiming to break back into one-day internationals, Blackwell isn’t convinced it is the best way to go.”I think you have to try and mirror international cricket to be honest,” he said. “I think a lot of players will vote for it because it’s fewer overs to field and the crowds will probably welcome it, but I don’t see how that will improve us in 50-over cricket on the international stage.”I think there has to be some form of give, but whether it should be 10 overs off a competition I’m not sure. Trends are followed from English cricket and whether this is one that will perhaps go international I’m not sure.”

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.

Former Essex and Sussex allrounder agrees one-year deal at Wantage Road

Matt Roller26-Mar-2024Ravi Bopara said he still feels “like a young man in the game” after signing a contract with Northamptonshire which ensures he will play in England’s T20 Blast for the 22nd consecutive season, at the age of 39.Bopara is one of three men to have played more than 200 matches in the Blast and one of two, alongside Samit Patel, to have featured in each of the tournament’s first 21 seasons. He has been in discussions with several counties since his release by Sussex last summer and was ultimately unveiled as a Northants player on Tuesday morning.He has initially signed a one-year, T20-only contract and will celebrate his 39th birthday a few weeks before Northants start their Blast season on May 30 against Derbyshire, who will be captained by their own new signing in Patel. “I’m really happy to have joined Northamptonshire for the T20s this year,” Bopara said in a press release.Bopara captained Sussex in the Blast last year. He had a productive season – he scored 408 runs with a strike rate of 146.23 and chipped in with eight wickets – but Sussex missed out on the quarter-finals and he was not offered a new contract, a decision he described as “very disappointing”.He spent the winter playing overseas for Delhi Bulls (Abu Dhabi T10) and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ILT20) and has recently finished a stint as assistant coach at Karachi Kings. “I felt great in the Blast last year and my game is in a really good place at the moment,” he said. “I’m looking forward to joining the Steelbacks and putting on a show for the fans at Wantage Road.”Northants won the Blast in 2013 and 2016 but have only reached the quarter-finals once in the last seven seasons. They have brought in George Bartlett (Somerset) and George Scrimshaw (Derbyshire) over the winter, with Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza signing for the Blast, while Tom Taylor and Josh Cobb have both left for Worcestershire.”We have a really exciting squad: there’s a lot of quality in that list and I’m hoping to play a big part in bringing a third Blast trophy to the club,” Bopara said. “I’m still learning a great deal about this game at my age. I have a burning desire and hunger to up-skill my game to new heights and I still feel like a young man in the game. There’s so much more for me to achieve in the T20 space.”John Sadler, Northants’ head coach, said: “Ravi is a phenomenal signing for us and we’re delighted to get it over the line. He’s been an incredible performer across all formats for many years and brings a huge presence on and off the field.”

“If we try to force the issue, it won’t work. We will leak runs. We have to get the new ball to swing a bit”

Mohammad Isam12-Dec-2022Taskin Ahmed reckons the Bangladesh bowlers will have to show patience on what is expected to be a flat batting surface at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, in Chattogram- the venue for the first Test against India.The pitch curator, Praveen Hinganikar, has left a bit of grass on all of the centre surfaces two days out from the Test, but as it was quite evident in the third ODI on Saturday, the batters should enjoy their time here. Fast bowlers can expect a long toil, but Taskin believes the only way forward would be to bowl with discipline.Related

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• Bangladesh reaping rewards of Taskin and Litton's changed mindsets in ODIs

Taskin has been Bangladesh’s leading fast bowler over the last two years but has had injury concerns in recent times. He missed the first two ODIs against India due to a back injury, before returning with figures of 2 for 89 from his nine overs in the third outing as Ishan Kishan took the bowlers to the sword.The bowling average for seamers at Chattogram in Tests too is high, but Taskin believes it is up to the bowlers to make themselves “so skilful” so as to remove the type of surface out of the equation.”It’s the same everywhere: top of off [stump],” Taskin said on the lines fast bowlers should target in Chattogram. “If we try to force the issue, it won’t work in our favour. We will leak runs. They are good players, so we have to get the new ball to swing a bit. Maybe get reverse swing with the old ball. We have to try to break their patience. We have to bowl patiently and wait for their mistakes. It won’t be right to say that we want to blow them away.”Fast bowlers ideally want to bowl on green tops. Conditions are not in our hands. We have got slow and flat tracks in South Africa and New Zealand. We have to make ourselves so skilful that we can bowl well on all types of wickets. Great bowlers are also getting five-fors on flat tracks. We have to focus on our self-improvement rather than [look at] conditions.”Taskin Ahmed has been under an injury cloud lately•AFP/Getty Images

Taskin isn’t a sure starter for the first Test that gets underway on Wednesday. As he slowly works himself back to full fitness, he admits he isn’t entirely sure whether his workload build-up is up to the standard set by the team management.”The team management is concerned about my workload build-up. I have just returned from an injury, so I am working on increasing workload build-up, fitness and bowling load.”If I can fulfil the load before this game, they may think of playing me. If not, then I might not play this Test. I might be playing the second Test in that case. I have spoken to them about it. I am following my workload plan,” he said.While their ODI outfit is flourishing, Bangladesh have struggled in the Test format, having won just a solitary game this year in eight attempts. They have been on the losing side six times with one Test ending in a draw. They are yet to beat India in a Test match, and Taskin feels Bangladesh’s first attempt will be to take the game into the final day, and then hope for a positive finish.”Chattogram is a batting paradise in Bangladesh. It has never been easy for fast bowlers here. We are improving but we are yet to get favourable wickets. It is usually a batting track,” he said.”Test cricket is always challenging. We have won Tests by taking it to the fifth day, so here too, we have to take the game into the fifth day.”Bangladesh are likely to go into the first Test with two fast bowlers, a combination favoured by the team management at home. Still, Taskin, Khaled Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain have shown enough evidence that they can carry the bowling attack in most conditions. Taskin believes that Bangladesh’s fast-bowling unit has shown improvement in all three formats, with the focus being on better work ethic and desire.”As a pace bowling group, we are hungry for improvement. We are all in it together. Work ethic has improved. This is all we have in our hands. The management is with us, so if our desire remains, we can do better,” he said.