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The two seamers ripped through SA once again, leaving the hosts two wickets away from another innings victory

The Report by Firdose Moonda21-Oct-20194:32

Bangar: Attacking the stumps worked for Umesh

India need two wickets to complete a whitewash over South Africa but they will have to wait until Tuesday morning to do it. The visitors might have one more night in India, awaiting a fate that was writ from the second innings in Visakhapatnam, when Mohammed Shami ripped through their middle order and showed how much of a role seam bowlers would play in this series.

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Though R Ashwin remains on top the wicket charts, it was Shami and Umesh Yadav who exposed a weakness South Africa would not have dreamed they had, especially not in the subcontinent.South Africa have been surprised by short balls, beaten by pace and caught off guard by bowlers who attack the stumps, the very same thing they have seen their own attack do, season after season. But this is the season of change and India have spent the series showing how much they have evolved. No longer a team that relies on conditions loaded in the spinners’ favour, they are now an outfit that wins away and that is not only happy to compete on fair-minded surfaces, but can dominate on them.Zubayr Hamza drives on his way to a half-century•BCCI

Sixteen South African wickets fell on day three as they were made to follow-on in consecutive Tests for the first time since 2002, and seven of their players were dismissed twice on the same day. A concussion substitute was required for the third time in Test history after Dean Elgar ducked into a Yadav short ball and was struck just above the ear. Theunis de Bruyn replaced him and was the top-scorer in the second innings, scant consolation after being dropped and watching his replacement make a strong enough case to stay in the No.3 spot for the foreseeable future.If there’s positive South Africa could take, it was Zubayr Hamza’s first-innings effort. After watching his captain Faf du Plessis get beaten and bowled by a Yadav beauty that swerved away from him in the first over of the day, Hamza played a sprightly knock. He was confident on the front foot, energetic in his approach and was the perfect foil for Temba Bavuma, who was circumspect but promised so much. Hamza and Bavuma put on a fourth-wicket stand of 91, but once Hamza was dismissed, the procession began.Ravindra Jadeja had Hamza caught on the back foot, when the batsman was shaping for a flick, but was beaten in the end. This, immediately after an unsuccessful review from India. In the next over, Bavuma came down the track to defend against debutant Shahbaz Nadeem but the ball turned away from him and into Wriddhiman Saha’s gloves. Bavuma was stumped for 32, a score which only added to his failure to covert starts. The tail wagged a little in the form of George Linde but India were all over South Africa. The visitors lost 7 for 55, getting dismissed for their lowest total of the series.With weather threatening to reduce the time left in the match, and South Africa so far behind, both in terms of runs and in their states of mind, Virat Kohli had no second thoughts about enforcing the follow-on. And within ten overs it was obvious he had made the right decision.South Africa were reduced to 26 for 4 when the blow to Elgar resulted in early tea. By then, Quinton de Kock had played down the wrong line to Yadav, Hamza was late on a ball that straightened from Shami, du Plessis took an unnecessary review when he was given out lbw off Shami, and Bavuma was out for a duck.Shami showed South Africa how it’s done once again. Hit the deck hard. Use the short ball aggressively. Keep the lines tight. The only thing he didn’t do was finish South Africa off. Not even Ashwin managed that. The South African tail has routinely frustrated India and this time Anrich Nortje hung on with de Bruyn till stumps. However, it’s only a matter of time before India complete the formalities.

Harry Podmore hounded his former county to leave Kent in tip-top frame of mind for the Royal London Cup final on Saturday and Middlesex’s Championship season in ruins

Matt Roller at Canterbury27-Jun-20181:57

Kent go top of Division Two

ScorecardMiddlesex slumped to a record first-class defeat against Kent, as Harry Podmore took a maiden five-wicket haul against his former employers. For Kent, the 342-run win secured a spot in the top two of the second division, and meant a winning start as Championship captain for Sam Billings ahead of Saturday’s Royal London Cup final.Not for the first time this season, Kent’s batsmen underwhelmed, only for the spirit of their inexperienced attack to bail them out of trouble. They sit at top of the Championship tonight – although will slip to second if Warwickshire win at Chester-le-Street – and on this showing, there is every reason to think they can seal promotion in the second half of the season.With an eye to the future, perhaps a Division One future, they have also confirmed that they have put a 28-day approach in for the Nottinghamshire seamer Matt Milnes.

Don’t blame the lights – Walker

Matt Walker, Kent’s coach, played down the impact of floodlit cricket on Kent’s win following Middlesex’s precipitous collapse on the first evening.
“I don’t really see the point of pink-ball cricket, to be honest… but the lights haven’t really played a part in it. There were about eight overs of it on the first night, and probably similar on the second night. I don’t know why the ECB are doing it – I know they’re trialling it, but I love the four-day format as it is. But look, we’ve won this game, and I’d like to think we’d have won the game if it had been a red ball starting at normal hours as well.”

Chasing an improbable 467 to win with eight wickets in hand, Middlesex went into the day with a clear task: bat, and bat long. But the game was over as a contest within the first hour. Sam Robson, Dawid Malan, and Hilton Cartwright – each a Test batsman – looked all at sea against the swinging ball, as Podmore and Grant Stewart ran riot.Steaming in from the Nackington Road end, Podmore bowled with pace and purpose to a packed slip cordon, and celebrated each wicket with a roar more guttural than the last. When Malan nicked off, he wheeled away in celebration, arms outstretched, before punching the air.The seamer never held down a place in the first team at Middlesex, and his release at the start of April was not mourned by their fans. But here, he looked every inch a Division One fast bowler, moving the ball into the right-hander and beating the bat time and again.Stewart, whose maiden century last night took the game away from Middlesex’s attack, struck first, removing the hapless Robson flashing at a wide one, before Podmore got Malan.The wickets began to tumble: nightwatchman Ravi Patel was caught at fourth slip off Stewart, before Podmore took his fifth and sixth of the innings, all before an hour had been played.Only Tim Murtagh’s bludgeoning 40 off 21 balls spared the visitors from their heaviest-ever first-class defeat in terms of runs, but that will be scant consolation. Middlesex sit fifth in Division Two, 36 points off second-placed Warwickshire; and that margin could increase depending on proceedings at Chester-le-Street.Middlesex have spoken out about the perceived injustices they have faced countless times over the past two seasons. Their relegation from Division One was blamed on the Taunton groundsman and a rogue archer outside the Oval; their struggles at home the fault of the Lord’s groundstaff, rather than their attack’s impotence.They had their excuses here, too: no doubt, they had the worse of the conditions, and they were missing as many as nine of the first-team squad due to international call-ups, injuries, or breakdowns in relationships.But the time for excuses must be over. For all their complaints about the pink Dukes ball, which swung around corners late on the first evening, and their absent stars, Middlesex were outplayed in every department by a fired-up Kent side. Today’s pathetic showing was the nadir: with no blame cast on the floodlights or the mischievous pink ball, they collapsed in spectacular fashion against a Kent attack missing its two spearheads.After an early exit in the Royal London Cup, and with a poor recent record in the T20 Blast, Middlesex’s season rests on the final seven games of the Championship season. With Nick Gubbins, Tom Helm, Paul Stirling, Eoin Morgan, and Steven Finn all in contention for those games, there is at least some reason for optimism, but the manner of the defeat here hints at a club in turmoil.Few could have foreseen the club’s current position after their dramatic, final-day title win in 2016, but their slump has come about on merit. The members will be demanding answers: why have talented young players like Podmore and Gloucestershire’s Ryan Higgins left the county? Why are two stars of the Championship-winning season now either surplus to requirements (Nick Compton) or on loan at a club in the division above (Ollie Rayner)?

West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo is almost certainly not going to play in the 2017 IPL because of his ongoing rehabilitation for a hamstring injury he suffered in December

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Apr-2017West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of the 2017 IPL because of his ongoing rehabilitation for the hamstring injury he suffered in December. Bravo has been with his IPL team – Gujarat Lions – this season but has not played a game, and his captain Suresh Raina said it was perhaps time to think about a replacement.”No Dwayne Bravo. He’s been doing proper rehab and it might take three-four weeks, so he might be out of the tournament,” Raina said at the toss of Lions’ game against Kings XI Punjab in Rajkot. “So now we have to talk to the management and think about a replacement.”A couple of hours after Lions lost to Kings XI, Bravo put out a statement confirming his withdrawal from the tournament this year. “While recovery is going well and I have made vast improvement and have participated in team trainings with the Lions, my body is not ready to perform at its fullest potential,” Bravo said.Lions are presently at the bottom of the table, having won only two out of their first seven games. In 2016, their debut IPL season, Lions had finished on top of the league with nine wins in 14 games, but did not make the final. Bravo had been their second highest wicket-taker last year, with 17 wickets.Bravo suffered the injury while fielding for Melbourne Renegades – his BBL team – against Perth Scorchers on December 29. He had been stationed on the off-side boundary, and injured himself when he ran across and lowered himself to field a ball. He clutched at his hamstring as soon as he went down, and had to be taken off on a MediCab.Bravo has not played a match since, missing the Pakistan Super League and West Indies’ fixtures in the lead up to the IPL. With West Indies not part of the Champions Trophy in June, their next fixtures are a home series against Afghanistan at that same time.

David Green, one of county cricket’s great entertainers, has died at the age of 76

David Hopps19-Mar-2016David Green, one of county cricket’s great entertainers, whether on the field for Lancashire and Gloucestershire or in the press boxes on the county circuit after his retirement, has died at the age of 76. He had been suffering from respiratory problems and had spent the past fortnight in hospital near his Devon home.When made Green – “Bodger” to his chums, and there were many – one of their Five Cricketers of the Year in 1969 their judgment could hardly have been more apt. “David Green is undoubtedly the sort of player the game demands – aggressive, talented and entertaining,” was their verdict.Green was true to an era when drinking after a day’s play was considered almost : a man who could down a pint with the same sort of indecent haste that he could hit a half-century. Perhaps his conviction that professional cricket was about camaraderie as well as victory meant that he did not entirely achieve his potential, but the game – and many who followed it – was richer for his presence. He was a raconteur par excellence, a man capable of filling a day with laughter. As one journalist struck by his presence remarked: “I wish I had seen him play; I am very glad I heard him talk.”After his retirement, he would often jovially relate that there was nothing finer than a run-a-ball fifty and the completion of the crossword before lunch on the first day of a Championship match. It was a rebellious act, too, because this was largely an era of dour, defensive cricket on bowler-friendly pitches.He had an acerbic, intelligent wit – his career at Lancashire ended prematurely when he called the chairman a “prat” – “I could have called him much worse,” Green would later reflect – but there was a fairness and gentleness about him, too, that was always reflected in the way he wrote about and discussed cricket. He cared deeply about the standards of the game.Although Green was born in the Caernarvonshire village of Llanengan in 1939, he was raised in Timperley in Cheshire and learned his cricket in Lancashire. He was regarded as a teenage prodigy at Manchester Grammar School and won his cricket Blue at Oxford University, where he studied history, for three seasons from 1959, making his Lancashire debut in the first of those and passing 1000 runs for the first of seven times.Famously, as Lancashire’s vice-captain, he topped 2000 first-class runs in 1965 without hitting a century – a unique statistic – but in 1967 his season was limited by a leg injury, and he was released at the end of the summer. He was snapped up by Gloucestershire and repaid them immediately by scoring 2137 runs at 40.32 including a career-best 233, an achievement that earned him his accolade from . It was his most driven of seasons: Lancashire had been well and truly put in their place. He regarded batting with his opening partner, Arthur Milton, as “an education”.When limited-overs cricket was introduced to English cricket in the late ’60s, it might have been designed for him.He was also a talented rugby union player, turning out for Sale and Cheshire, and later for Bristol. After retiring he worked as a journalist, almost exclusively for the . His writing style was antithetical to his cricket. Given his county cricket wordage for the day, often less than he would hope, he would draw lines down his page, each box representing a single word. He would have caused hilarity for much of the day but his copy was shrewd and analytical.His first book, , published in 2013 and covering both his cricket and rugby lives, was part-autobiographical, part-anecdotal, part-cricket analysis and always irreverent. David Green was not easily compartmentalised.

Charlotte Edwards has achieved a huge amount in her career but she put regaining the Ashes as among her finest moments after England secured the multi-format series with a match to spare.

Andrew McGlashan at the Ageas Bowl29-Aug-2013Charlotte Edwards has achieved a huge amount in her career but she put regaining the Ashes as among her finest moments after England secured the multi-format series with a match to spare.It has not been an easy few years for Edwards with England’s standing having slip from their 2009 high point of being Ashes holders, World Twenty20 champions and World Cup winners. They relinquished the Ashes in 2011 and have since suffered narrow losses in the World Cup and World T20 at the hands of Australia.Now they have an unassailable 10-4 lead in this summer’s series having drawn the Test and bounced back emphatically from defeat in the first ODI at Lord’s when there could have been a danger of the recent reversals overwhelming them.”It’s possibly one of my proudest moments in cricket,” Edwards said. “After the winter we had, a disappointing winter, to come back in the way we have done and beat the world champions on home soil as convincing as we have done is really pleasing for us. I’m incredibly proud of all of the team and the way that they have bounced back.”Edwards insisted there had been no magical formula for this Ashes success which has come under new head coach Paul Shaw after Mark Lane stood down earlier his year”The first thing is not to panic and that’s one thing our new coaching staff have instilled in us,” Edwards said. “We went away and worked on a few things and changed the order up a bit. The players bought into that and trained hard. We always believed we could beat this Australian team and that has been the biggest thing for us. We had complete belief in one another and everyone has contributed.”Their five-wicket victory at the Ageas Bowl was orchestrated by Lydia Greenway’s unbeaten 80 – the highest score for England in Twenty20 – an innings which Edwards lauded as the greatest she had seen.”This innings today was outstanding from her,” she said. “I’ve seen many innings, Sarah Taylor included, and this was the best innings I’ve seen certainly in T20 cricket under the circumstances.”Greenway acknowledged she had not played better: “As Charlotte said, under the circumstances – the Ashes were there to be won and we didn’t want to leave it until Durham. It’s great to have contributed.”And, like the men, there were plans in place for a hefty celebrations although perhaps not in quite the way Alastair Cook’s team finished at The Oval on Sunday evening. But the party, would have to start on the team bus as they headed to Gatwick for their flight up to the North East ahead of the final Twenty20 at Chester-le-Street on Saturday.”I’ve just seen a load of Budweiser. It could be a good trip to Gatwick. It’s important we celebrate. We’ve got a big game at Durham but you don’t win the Ashes every day. Watch out the M3.”Such revelry was far from Jodie Fields’s mind as another Australian captain was left to reflect on leaving an Ashes series empty-handed. “I’m pretty gutted to sit here and have lost the Ashes particularly after the men lost,” Fields said. “We saw it as our responsibility to work hard to bring it home and now both Australian teams will go home without the Ashes.”

Ruhuna Royals kept their semi-finals hopes alive with a comfortable four-wicket win, having restricted an uninspired Basnahira Cricket Dundee to 123 for 4

The Report by Andrew Fernando25-Aug-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNasir Jamshed guided Ruhuna’s chase with a half-century•Ron Gaunt/SPORTZPICS/SLPL

Ruhuna Royals kept their semi-final hopes alive with a comfortable four-wicket win, having restricted an uninspired Basnahira Cricket Dundee to 123 for 4. Nasir Jamshed guided Ruhuna home in 16.4 overs with a measured 51 from 46 balls, after Aaron Finch had provided an explosive start to the run chase. Wahab Riaz took 2 for 19 for Ruhuna in his last match before the Pakistan players depart for national duty in the UAE.Basnahira had little to play for, with last night’s Kandurata win ending their chances of reaching the semi-final, and at times in their final match, the lack of motivation showed. Tillakaratne Dilshan’s run out was almost solely down to lethargy. When Rilee Russouw called him for a single to mid-off, Dilshan sauntered down the pitch, when only a sprint would have got him home. A lunge at the end when he realised the throw was already coming in was not enough to save him.A failure to take risks even with plenty of wickets in hand also hamstrung the innings. Of the seven batsmen who came to the crease, only Cameron Borgas scored at quicker than a run a ball. Ruhuna bowled with discipline, but in failing to even attempt the big shots Basnahira resigned themselves to a poor total they would always struggle to defend. They may have also been hampered by an injury to Russouw, who was hit on the nose by Lasith Malinga as he and Borgas were progressing steadily after two early wickets.Aaron Finch led Ruhuna’s reply with four fours and two sixes in his bellicose 28, while Jamshed played anchor at the other end. Basnahira’s spinners crimped the flow of runs through the middle overs, but even Rangana Herath’s return of 2 for 16 couldn’t apply sufficient pressure to induce panic. Wickets fell towards the end as Lahiru Thirimanne and Riaz were dismissed in the same Mahmudullah over, but Jamshed ensured there would be no hiccups, crossing fifty just before the winning run came via a no-ball.

Explosive hitting from Nottinghamshire’s top order paved the way for a 19-run
victory over Gloucestershire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Cheltenham

24-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Explosive hitting from Nottinghamshire’s top order paved the way for a 19-run
victory over Gloucestershire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 match at Cheltenham.Alex Hales led the way with 61 off 32 balls, while Riki Wessels (37), Samit
Patel (45) and Scott Elstone (36) all scored briskly as the visitors took 174
off the first 20 overs on their way to a final total of 266 all out.Five of the wickets were taken by the Taylor brothers as 19-year-old spinner
Jack returned three for 50 and 17-year-old left-arm seamer Matthew claimed two
for 43 on his debut. Gloucestershire never seriously threatened to chase down their target, although Ian Cockbain made a fine 79 as the hosts finished on 247 for 9.It had looked as if Nottinghamshire would plunder well in excess of 300 after
reaching 96 for two off 10 overs and 174 for three off 20. After Ali Brown had been bowled by James Fuller in the second over, Hales and Wessels hammered 77 off 44 balls, which included taking 21 off an over from Kevin O’Brien.Wessels had scored 37 off 24 balls when he was caught on the mid-wicket
boundary by Cockbain off slow left-armer Ed Young. Hales followed him back to the pavilion three overs later when he was bowled swinging across the line at Jack Taylor, having hit 10 fours and two sixes in his 32-ball innings,Patel and Elstone kept the score rattling along with a partnership of 67 in 10
overs, which ended when Elstone miscued a pull off James Fuller to Hamish
Marshall at mid-on.Patel was brilliantly caught by the diving Kane Williamson at extra cover off
Jack Taylor, whose brother Matthew then got in the act with a double wicket
maiden. He accounted for Steven Mullaney, who skied a drive to Cockbain on the
midwicket boundary, and Chris Read, who cut to Marshall at point.The last three wickets fell in the final five overs as Williamson had Ben
Phillips taken by Matthew Taylor at short third man, Darren Pattinson skied
Fuller to Alex Gidman at cover and Luke Fletcher was bowled by Jack Taylor.Paul Franks was left unbeaten on 28 from 29 balls, having struck four
boundaries. In reply, Gloucestershire were reduced to 57 for three in the ninth over after
Fletcher yorked Marshall and had Williamson caught by Hales at deep mid-wicket
and Pattinson had Alex Gidman taken at point by Mullaney.Chris Taylor and Cockbain put on 40 for the fourth wicket, but the partnership
took 11 overs as Franks, Phillips and Patel bowled with impressive control and
variation. It looked all but over for Gloucestershire when Chris Taylor was lbw sweeping
at Patel to make it 97 for four in the 20th over.O’Brien and Cockbain briefly revived the home side’s hopes with a stand of 46
in six overs, which ended when O’Brien was leg before to Pattinson. Jon Batty, on 32, was next to go when holed out to Elstone at long-on off Patel, and Ed Young was caught by Patel at deep mid-wicket in the next over from Mullaney’s bowling.Then, after Jack Taylor was caught at square leg off Phillips, Cockbain’s
impressive 84-ball innings, which contained seven fours, ended when he was
bowled round his legs by Fletcher.Fuller and Matthew Taylor put on an unbroken 32 in an entertaining last-wicket
stand, but there was stopping the visitors registering a fourth win in the
competition.

Jesse Ryder has added another chapter to his troubled career after being fined for “intoxicated and rowdy” behaviour at a hotel

Cricinfo staff07-Aug-2010Jesse Ryder has added another chapter to his troubled career after being fined for “intoxicated and rowdy” behaviour at a hotel during an indoor cricket tournament in the first week of July. Ryder, who is currently out of the New Zealand side with an elbow injury, admitted to a serious misconduct charge but is expected to be available for the tour of Bangladesh in September.”I accept that being intoxicated and rowdy during the night put me in a position where I put New Zealand Cricket and my own reputation at risk and I accept this is not tolerable,” Ryder said in a letter to New Zealand Cricket. “The potential consequences of this event have distressed me over the last few weeks.”Ryder said he had apologised to the hotel for his behaviour after a noise complaint was lodged. He had been staying there with his indoor cricket team.”I have put a lot of time into working out a plan to prevent me being in this position again,” he said. “I am committed to making the right changes in my life as I really want a long career as a professional cricket player. I’ve had enough of getting into this sort of trouble and bringing attention to myself.”The most serious of Ryder’s indiscretions came in 2008 when he put his right hand through a glass window during a late-night session at a Christchurch bar. Early last year he gave up alcohol after another incident.”I know the changes I am making do not dismiss the misconduct issue, however I am fully committed to [New Zealand] and I am committed to doing what is necessary to be the best I can be,” he said. “I am grateful to NZC for sticking by me and I want to thank them by performing for many years to come.”Geoff Allott, NZC’s general manger of cricket, said the matter was viewed “very seriously”. “NZC is extremely disappointed in this breach of trust and protocol by Jesse,” he said. “We have seen some positive progress from Jesse in recent times, which makes this incident even more disappointing. Jesse has been fined in line with our serious misconduct provisions and clearly understands we will not tolerate a repetition of this type of behaviour.” He gave Ryder credit for letting NZC know about the incident.Allott told the that although NZC were aware of the incident before Ryder’s fitness test on July 21, which ruled him out of the Sri Lanka tri-series, the issue had “no influence on the decision to keep him back from Sri Lanka”.

“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.”

Kent muster just 170 despite belligerent counterattack from Grant Stewart

ECB Reporters Network 10-Jul-2023Warwickshire 155 for 2 (Yates 53*) trail Kent 171 (Stewart 50, Hannon-Dalby 4-56) by 16 runsWarwickshire dominated the first day of their LV= Insurance County Championship with Kent at Canterbury, reaching 155 for two at stumps, a deficit of just 16. Rob Yates was unbeaten on 53, while Sam Hain was 29 not out.Earlier Oliver Hannon-Dalby took 4 for 56 as Kent were bowled out for 171, a score that would have been even lower had Grant Stewart not blasted 50 from 45 balls. The hosts’ last three wickets added 93, more than half their total.Australia’s Glenn Maxwell, originally signed for the Vitality Blast, made a rare first-class appearance and bowled five overs, taking nought for 17, having been awarded his Warwickshire cap in a short ceremony before the start.Kent chose to bat in broad sunshine at the Spitfire Ground, but approached their innings as if they were still in T20 mode. Their openers were diligent enough in seeing out the first ten overs but the loss of Ben Compton seemed to flick a switch, ushering in a spell of four wickets for 19 runs in the space of 4.5 overs. Chris Rushworth started the collapse when he found Compton’s edge and he was caught behind for 9.Joe Denly lasted just just four balls before he was lbw to Henry Brookes for 1 and Harry Finch’s first red-ball appearance of the season was even shorter as he made a three-ball duck, Rushworth finding his bottom edge and Michael Burgess taking a sharp catch standing up to the stumps.Jack Leaning had made a relatively untroubled 7, but when Tawanda Muyeye nudged the ball to mid-on he hared down the wicket and made it almost as far as the striker’s end before realising his partner hadn’t moved, allowing Will Rhodes to walk in and break the wicket.Jordan Cox nearly met the same fate and although he was spared by a misfield, he’d made just 15 before he pulled Hannon-Dalby to Alex Davies at square leg. A disastrous session for the hosts came to an end when the same bowler had Muyeye lbw for 38.If that decision was harsh, Muyeye was the only batter who could really claim he had been unlucky. Joey Evison went for 4 in the second over after lunch, victim of a tumbling catch by Burgess after he’d nicked Hannon-Dalby and it was left to Stewart to play the Stokes role. He smashed Hannon-Dalby for a six that sailed over cow corner and through the branches of the St. Lawrence lime tree and was joined by Matt Quinn for a stand of 40 that proved the highest of the innings.Quinn’s frenetic 15-ball cameo yielded a six and three fours before Brookes had him caught by the sub fielder, his brother Ethan, for 25.Arshdeep Singh hit his first ball for six, but he left the pyrotechnics to Stewart, who dumped Hannon-Dalby for successive sixes over cow corner before his luck ran out when the same bowler had him caught on the boundary.It had been an entertaining hour, but it looked a low score and lower still as Warwickshire advanced to 69 without loss. The opening stand was broken when Alex Davies was lbw for 42, perhaps unluckily, to Evison. Hamid Qadri then had Will Rhodes caught behind for 25, but Yates was on 42 when Kent missed a difficult chance to run him out and he and Hain were otherwise unflustered as they batted through the evening session.