Tag Futebol

Alex Gidman said his team had improved from last season after once again securing their spot in the last eight

Richard Hobson at New Road28-Aug-2019No team has successfully defended the T20 Blast, but Worcestershire Rapids took a significant step towards becoming the first when they secured their quarter-final spot courtesy of a third abandoned game at New Road this season. Given that they adopted the “Rapids” moniker in a knowing nod towards the long and sad association between heavy rainfall and the ground it might seem a fitting way to progress.The point was all they needed to guarantee progress and they can now earn a home tie with victory against Northamptonshire Steelbacks on Friday as long as Nottinghamshire Outlaws lose at home to Durham Jets. As well as any cricketing advantage, the additional home fixture would be worth around £100,000 to the club, some compensation for the loss of the group matches to the weather.Alex Gidman, the first team coach, praised his side for overcoming a number of setbacks in recent weeks. Not least, given the importance of taking pace off the ball, has been the loss to injury of three spinners in Brett D’Oliveira, Ben Twohig and George Rhodes. Moeen Ali’s omission by England has provided strong recompense: 140 runs and six wickets at a strike rate of one every 11 balls in his three matches.In all, as many as 12 of the 18 counties have lifted the cup in its 16 seasons. Gidman knows a thing or two about the pressures of trying to retain trophies having been a young allrounder at Gloucestershire over the turn of the century, when they won seven one-day competitions in six years. Success, he thinks, brings its own complications.”Defending it has been harder this season,” he admitted. “We have found that teams are slightly better prepared either individually or collectively with certain plans. They have a better idea of how our guys perform and that sort-of happened too in the good old days at Gloucester. Teams know what to expect and pay you a bit more respect.”One example might be Pat Brown, a sensation last season with his quiver-full of variations which helped to bring 31 wickets. This time he has taken 13, not helped by the abandonments of course, and far from a disgrace for a lad who turned 21 only last week. He has just not been quite as prolific, even though he is, again, the county’s leading wicket-taker in the format.If you are going to learn then it may as well be from the best, and Gidman revealed that he has encouraged the squad to take heed of England’s white-ball example under Eoin Morgan. “I told someone the other day that I genuinely think we’ve improved this season,” he said, “and one thing we have taken from England is to embrace the fact we are champions, not fear it.”Why wouldn’t we try to draw from them given what they have done? They are literally the world champions, so it makes complete sense to copy the language and behaviours associated with them. And I’m very proud of our side. To make it to the quarters with a game to spare is a great effort. When teams have tried the different tactics I talk about, we’ve overcome them.”Which does beg a topical question: who is Worcestershire’s Ben Stokes? Gidman seems to sense a headline as he pauses and smiles, but he whispers his answer anyway. “Moeen.”As well as both reaching the last eight in T20, Worcester and Nottinghamshire, the would-have-been opponents here, share a less illustrious feature. Both are enduring dreadful first-class campaigns, with Nottinghamshire 42 points adrift at the bottom of the Championship first division and Worcester next to bottom of the second. If they are still there in a month’s time it will represent their lowest finish since 1992.One theory is that the white balls offer little movement so batsmen are able to hit through the line without fear of repercussion. In truth, the nature of the format would probably demand they do so anyway. But when the red ball seams and jags, the same approach can all too easily lead to a clatter of wickets. Interestingly, Worcestershire have qualified for quarter-finals in five of the last six white-ball competitions, but were relegated in the Championship in 2018.If this suggests they have concentrated on the shorter formats, it is a charge they would deny. They won their first two four-day games this season, but the top five has subsequently chopped, changed and struggled to perform. And so T20 is their one chance of success.Gidman said: “It was a huge day for the club last year and to win the first trophy for donkeys’ years [actually, since 2007] was a very proud moment for everyone. I think in the back of everyone’s minds here the desire to do it again this year is very strong.”

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”.

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

Sidharth Monga15-Oct-20241:52

Turning pitches will give New Zealand a ‘tough time’

Big picture – India look to continue WTC march

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

• Latham hopes cloudy Bengaluru brings NZ's seamers to life

• Rohit: We have found a great player in Jaiswal

• Rohit wants to expand India's fast-bowling bench strength

• Ravindra hopes to do 'what's true to us' with odds against NZ

• Gambhir: 'If you play only one way, you don't grow'

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

Form guide

India WWWWW
New Zealand LLLLW

In the spotlight – Virat Kohli and Tim Southee

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

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

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

Pitch and conditions

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

Team news – Three quicks or three spinners?

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

Rohit: Bumrah has always been in our leadership group

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

Stats and trivia

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

Quotes

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

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

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

• Khawaja: 'My favourite match ever in my life'

• Khawaja learns from past Ashes failures ahead of 'toughest' challenge

• Stuart Broad vs David Warner: 17 and counting

• Usman Khawaja's day as he and Alex Carey lead Australia fightback

• Stuart Broad runs and runs even deeper into Ashes folklore

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

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

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