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The diagnosis, carried out a couple of days ago at a Dhaka hospital, revealed that the tumour is in its early stages

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2019Bangladesh cricketer Mosharraf Hossain has been diagnosed with brain tumour. Mosharraf is currently trying to complete visa formalities for Singapore where he wants to get the tumorous lump removed. The diagnosis, carried out a couple of days ago at a Dhaka hospital, revealed that the tumour is in its early stages.”It needs an operation,” Mosharraf told the Dhaka-based newspaper . “I want to get the operation done abroad. The visa is under process, and is likely to take a couple of days more. I will leave as soon as I get the visa. What is giving me relief is that the tumour is at an early stage. My family had completely broken down but now I think they are feeling a little better.”Mosharraf is yet to inform the BCB officially although senior cricketers including Shakib Al Hasan and board officials such as Akram Khan have already contacted him.”I haven’t informed the BCB [yet],” Mosharraf said. “I came to know myself only earlier this week. Everyone is telling me not to worry. Mental support is giving me a lot of confidence, and it is also making me quite emotional.”By Mosharraf’s estimation, the initial cost of the first operation is likely to be at least Tk 40 lakh (USD 50,000 approximately) which will increase further if any follow-up is needed.Mosharraf, who has played five ODIs for Bangladesh, made a brief comeback in 2016, eight years after his debut. A domestic stalwart, he has taken 392 first-class wickets and scored over 3,000 runs from 112 games.

The three teams join table-toppers Netherlands in the qualifiers while Kenya drop to division two ahead of the final set of WCL matches

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2017
ScorecardSafyaan Sharif holds his arms aloft after taking the final wicket•Peter Della Penna

Scotland claimed a place in the World Cup qualifier in March 2018 with an eight-wicket victory over Kenya in Dubai. Put in to bat, Kenya were bowled out for 140 and watched their opponents bash through to the target with 132 balls to spare.Fast bowler Safyaan Sharif vindicated Scotland’s decision to field at the toss by picking up a wicket in the very first over. Opener Rushab Patel was the first of the procession as four of the top six batsmen were kept to single digits. Collins Obuya, the 36-year old who was part of the 2003 squad that made the World Cup semi-final, top-scored with 26 as Kenya lurched from 31 for 2 in the 10th over to 95 for 6 in the 32nd. The tail did its best to play out the full quota of overs, but they couldn’t handle Sharif (3 for 33) and Chris Sole (2 for 20) when they came back in the death overs. Left-arm spinner Mark Watt had a fine day as well, finishing with figures of 10-2-17-1.Half-centuries from captain Kyle Coetzer (52) and Calum MacLeod (56*) put the finishing touches on a game Scotland dominated from start to finish.
ScorecardRohan Mustafa gave UAE a solid start at the top of the order•Getty Images

An unbeaten 81 from Ghulam Shabber, assisted by a fifty from the captain Rohan Mustafa helped UAE cruise to a comfortable win against Nepal in Abu Dhabi. UAE won by seven wickets, and with 25 balls to spare, to go one spot above last-placed Namibia.That Nepal managed to score only 221 in the first innings, despite losing only five wickets, stems from the fact that their openers started slow. When the first Nepal wicket fell in the 15th over, they were only at 43. Ahmed Raza and Amir Hayat kept the brakes on the Nepal batsmen, together conceding only 41 runs in their combined 18 overs. Sharad Vesawkar, Nepal’s No. 3, also scored an unbeaten 81, but he found no assistance from the middle order.The UAE openers Mustafa and Ashfaq Ahmed (17-ball 19) gave them a flying start to the 222 chase, before the partnership was broken for 42 in the seventh over. Shabber took over from Ashfaq, adding 81 for the second wicket with Mustafa in quick time. Mustafa fell in the 23rd over, but not before completing his fourth List A fifty, after while Shabber shepherded UAE till the end.Babar Hayat raises a half-century•Peter Della Penna

ScorecardPapua New Guinea’s 23-run loss to Hong Kong handed the WCL Championship to Netherlands. PNG failed to chase down 231, but did well to recover from a position of 29 for 4 in the ninth over. Babar Hayat set up the first innings, with 77 off 120 balls, to take Hong Kong to a respectable total.Hayat was helped by Anshy Rath (37) the rest of Hong Kong’s middle order, as they went past 200 despite losing regular wickets. Four PNG bowlers took two wickets each, and they never allowed Hong Kong’s batsmen – except Hayat – to settle. A late surge from Tanwir Afzal (21-ball 26) helped Hong Kong set a 231 target.PNG’s innings started poorly, with Afzal and Nadeem Ahmed running through their opponents’ top order. It took a 98-run fifth-wicket stand between Mahuru Dai (60) and Sese Bau (59) to give PNG some sort of hope, but the end of that partnership brought another collapse, with the team eventually folding for 207 in the 45th over.With the top four slots decided, the final day of WCL games are set to be dead rubbers.

The BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke has requested the ECB to bear the expenses of its team during England’s upcoming tour of India

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2016The BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke has requested the ECB to bear the expenses of its team during England’s upcoming tour of India. Shirke said the BCCI was unable to sign the MoU with the ECB at this time because the board could not enter into contracts without directions from the Lodha Committee.”Dear Phil, I warmly welcome you for the upcoming cricket series. I am however at great pains to inform you that the BCCI is at present not in a position to execute the MoU between the Indian Cricket Board and the ECB,” Shirke wrote to the England team’s operations manager, Phil Neale, according to the . “This is due to restrictions on execution of contracts imposed on the BCCI by a Court order.”Certain courtesies such as hotel, travel and various other arrangements have been extended to you on arrival of the team in India. However, till the MoU is executed, the BCCI is not in a position to commit to paying for the same. Please make arrangements to remit such payments. The BCCI will inform you as and when further instructions are received by the BCCI from the Lodha Committee. I apologise on behalf of the BCCI for inconvenience that is being caused.”While the BCCI had contacted the Lodha Committee seeking approval for the MoU, the Lodha Committee in its response to the board said forming cricket policy was not part of its remit, but that directions regarding payments could only be given after the BCCI provided more information about the transactions involved.It is understood that Shirke then sent the committee the unsigned MoU via email late on November 3 evening, but despite being asked for details the email did not contain what the Lodha Committee wanted.However, there is a larger issue between the Lodha Committee and the BCCI. On October 21, the Supreme Court had directed the BCCI not to distribute funds to state associations until they agreed to comply with the Lodha Committee’s recommendations, which the court had approved in an order on July 18. The court also asked Shirke and Thakur to meet the Lodha Committee in two weeks’ time and placed several restrictions on the board’s ability to enter into contracts, which forced the IPL broadcast and digital rights tender process to be put off indefinitely and prevented the BCCI from signing the MoU with the ECB.The Lodha Committee then asked the BCCI for an undertaking from Thakur that the board would implement the Supreme Court order of October 21, a step that would indicate that the BCCI was willing to implement the recommendations of the Lodha Committee. As of November 3, Thakur had not given such an undertaking and he and Shirke had not met the committee either.The Lodha Committee – comprising former Chief Justice of India RM Lodha and retired Supreme Court judges Ashok Bhan and R Raveendran – was formed in January 2015 to determine appropriate punishments for some of the officials involved in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, and also to propose changes to streamline the BCCI, reform its functioning, prevent sporting fraud and conflict of interest.

ESPNcricinfo previews the third Test between Pakistan and England

The Preview by Andrew Miller31-Oct-2015

Match facts

November 1-5, 2015
Start time 10am local (0600 GMT)1:28

Team changes for England and Pakistan

Big Picture

It’s been an unexpectedly tough struggle for supremacy, but after 10 out of a possible 15 days of their series against England, Pakistan have established the primacy that they had always assumed would be on the cards. The valiant struggles of Alastair Cook’s men to stay in touch and, for a heady afternoon in Abu Dhabi, to surge into the ascendancy have come to nought. The hosts are now dormie as they head into the Sharjah finale, their proud unbeaten record in series in the UAE guaranteed for another year.England have had a week to recover from the agony of their near-miss in Dubai, where Adil Rashid’s late-evening aberration against his legspinning counterpart Yasir Shah rendered futile the resolve he had shown through his preceding 171 deliveries. Thirty-nine more deliveries of dead-batted obduracy and England could genuinely be scenting a slice of history this week. From bad light to bad shot selection, the margins in both Tests have been extraordinarily fine.However, the fault, as Cook rightly pointed out after the Dubai defeat, lay not in that lax moment from Rashid but instead in England’s hopeless performance on the third morning of the match. That day had dawned amid visions of a decisive first-innings lead; instead it degenerated into the session from hell that England had always feared might come to pass in such hostile conditions.It has been isolated in its ignominy as well. The competitive spirit on show for the other nine-and-two-thirds days of the series has been faultless, but that morning’s loss of seven wickets for 36 would prove insurmountable.And so, with lessons learnt and changes – enforced and otherwise – made, England regroup and Pakistan restart, with one last five-day push to the finish in the offing. The batting of both teams has proven fallible and faultless in equal measure, with the magisterial performances of Alastair Cook and Joe Root for England and Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan for Pakistan atoning for some notable weaknesses elsewhere in both line-ups.For Pakistan, Shan Masood has spent most of the series in James Anderson’s pocket, while even Shoaib Malik, with series scores of 245, 0, 2 and 7, has been more bust than boom. And as for England’s middle order, the less said the better. The best of a bad bunch have been Ian Bell, who with scores of 63 and 46 appears to be battling himself as much as the conditions, and Jonny Bairstow, who has shown grit on occasions as well as a technique against the spinners that is fraught with danger.The unsung heroes on both teams have been the seam bowlers – Wahab Riaz’s Man of the Match award at Dubai was hugely deserved and a tribute to his stamina and impact in strength-sapping conditions, even though his overall match figures of 5 for 144 aren’t much to write home about. He has been matched in menace if not method by England’s quiet achiever, Anderson, whose canny spells with new ball and old have been repelled (or not, in Masood’s case) with utmost respect and caution.Jos Buttler is set to be replaced behind the stumps by Jonny Bairstow•Getty Images

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WDWLW

England LDLWW

In the spotlight

The most likely quick bowler on either side to open up a game, Wahab Riaz continues to mature as Pakistan’s attack leader. His pace, stamina and ability to extract significant reverse swing have been impressive but he will have to back it up again after a five-day gap, particularly with his new-ball partner, the steady Imran Khan, missing through injury.James Taylor is back in an England Test shirt and raring to go. A confident player of spin, he thrived on his return to the ODI side in Sri Lanka last year and added a maiden hundred against Australia in September. Looked in good touch during his one tour appearance so far and is ostensibly in the sort of form to shore up England’s middle-order issues.

Team news

Azhar Ali missed the first Test with a toe infection and the second because of the death of his mother-in-law, but he is ready and waiting to resume his place in the side, with Masood making way. Whether it will be in his preferred slot at No. 3 or as an opener, for only the fourth time in Tests, remains to be seen. Pakistan are definitely on the lookout for a replacement opener in the bowling stakes, following the news of Imran’s hand injury, sustained while fielding on Friday and requiring four stitches and ten days’ rest. Rahat Ali, the left-arm seamer, is set to resume his place in the side having missed out in the second Test to accommodate Yasir Shah’s return. In better news for Pakistan, their reserve spinner Bilal Asif has been cleared to resume bowling by the ICC after undergoing biomechanical testing in Chennai.Pakistan (possible) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Zulfiqar Babar, 10 Yasir Shah, 11 Rahat AliChanges are afoot in the England line-up, for a variety of reasons. Mark Wood’s gallantry at Abu Dhabi and Dubai cannot mask a bowling style that seems destined to send him to the knacker’s yard before his spirit is even close to waning. He has received injections in his troublesome ankle and will rest up ahead of the one-day series next month. Into the picture, most probably, comes Liam Plunkett, although Samit Patel retains a chance of playing if England think the pitch will support a third spinner. Plunkett is arguably the fastest of the England quicks on tour and a man who can be relied upon to keep up the aerial bombardment that has been a feature of England’s competitive spirit in this series.England have confirmed that Jos Buttler will be given a break from the front line – a top score of 42 in seven Tests since July would be no justification for selection even if his wicketkeeping was at its sharpest, and as a couple of galling errors behind the stumps in Dubai would testify, his all-round game has suffered. Bairstow is primed to take over the gauntlets, with Nottinghamshire’s Taylor making his first Test appearance since 2012. Moeen Ali has been backed to continue as Cook’s opening partner, so Taylor’s county team-mate Alex Hales will have to wait at least until the South Africa tour in December to make his bow.England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Moeen Ali, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Joe Root, 5 James Taylor, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Ben Stokes, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 James Anderson

Pitch and conditions

Cricket in Sharjah has come a long way since pitches were just “rolled sand”. England played their warm-up matches at the ground, with Steven Finn recording notable success in the second, but the Test surface is very dry and likely to favour spin – if it favours anything other than run-making. The forecast, unsurprisingly, is for another hot one.

Stats and trivia

• This will be England’s first Test in Sharjah, although they have tasted ODI success here, winning the 1997 Akai-Singer Champions Trophy
• Two of Pakistan’s three lowest Test totals – 53 and 59 – came in the same match against Australia at Sharjah in 2002
• The team batting second has won the last two Tests at the ground

Quotes

“Obviously you have to think positively and we will do our best not leave any stone unturned and play well and win. Obviously your confidence is high after winning the last game and our team’s confidence is high, so its an important match for us and we will do our best to win it.”
Misbah-ul-Haq promises there will be no let up now Pakistan are ahead in the series“Over this tour I think we’ve been a fairly consistent side, just that third morning in the second Test has cost us the result. Nine-and-a-half days we’ve matched Pakistan really well. The challenge is not having that session and about coming into the latter stages of the game and putting Pakistan under some pressure with the series at stake.”

Denesh Ramdin, the West Indies wicketkeeper, said that he is mentally and physically ready for the ODI series against Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2013Denesh Ramdin, the West Indies wicketkeeper, said he is mentally and physically ready for the ODI series against Zimbabwe. Ramdin, who was left out of the ODI team for the Bangladesh and Australia tours, replaced Devon Thomas in the squad.”My form is ‘there’ and I am feeling confident with the bat and I have been working twice as hard to make sure I get runs when I’m out in the middle,” Ramdin said. “Behind the stumps I worked overtime to make sure that I was fit and ready when the selectors called on me.”Ramdin was part of the team that won the World Twenty20 title and travelled to Bangladesh for the Test series, but Thomas replaced him in the ODI series that followed. Thomas managed 48 runs in five innings in Australia forcing the selectors to recall Ramdin.Ramdin, who has played 94 ODIs since making his debut in 2005, said he was clear on his role within the team.”While I was out I did a lot of work on all areas of my game. I think my role with the bat is mainly to hit the ball in the gaps, run really hard between the wickets and accumulate good scores for the team.”There are other guys in the team, like Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell, who have the power to clear the boundaries and other guys who can come and hit the ball down at the bottom. So basically, I see myself as someone to keep things ticking and look to bat through the end once I get that chance.”The first ODI of the three-match series will be played at St. George’s on February 22.

Colin Ingram says he would prefer to bat at No.3 if picked in the playing XI for the ODIs against Sri Lanka

Firdose Moonda16-Jan-2012There are large shoes to fill and then there are boots. Colin Ingram will need feet the size of the latter if he is named in South Africa’s starting XI to play Sri Lanka in the third ODI on Tuesday in Bloemfontein.Ingram will likely slot in at No. 3, the spot previously occupied by Jacques Kallis who is being rested for the remainder of the series. Kallis played an important part in holding South Africa’s batting together in the previous two matches, with scores of 72 and 37.However, Kallis has indicated his desire to play in the 2015 World Cup and is currently being managed carefully in order to make it to the tournament. He will miss some of South Africa’s future ODIs, opening a spot for players like Ingram to fill.”I am hoping to bat at No.3. That’s the feeling I get about where my role will be,” Ingram told ESPNcricinfo. “That’s definitely my preferred spot. I used to open as a youngster but I am most comfortable at three.”Ingram’s ability to open the batting gives the selectors options at the top, which they will need as they attempt to finalise an unsettled top three. Hashim Amla will also not feature in the rest of the series as he has been given time off for paternal duties and former captain Graeme Smith is struggling for form. Alviro Petersen has also been called up, presumably to replace Amla, which leaves the No. 3 position to Ingram.Ingram has played 12 ODIs, scored two centuries and has an average of 41.55. He last featured during the 2011 World Cup, where he played one match, against Ireland in Kolkata and scored 46. The experience was a painful one for South Africa after they crashed out in the quarter-finals in an all too familiar fashion. While most of the players were badly affected by the manner of the defeat, Ingram said he escaped any serious emotional scarring.”It was a big disappointment especially because there was such a good vibe and belief in the squad. I’d say we left with some pages unwritten,” he said. “But, I didn’t play much so I got over it quite quickly. I could see it as an outsider looking in as well.”Since then, Ingram captained the Warriors franchise to the final of the 1-day cup. He was the third highest run-scorer in the competition with 505 runs at an average of 45.90. “Captaincy pushed me to a degree,” Ingram said. “It was good for my game as well. I was lucky because I had a few guys in the team who had captained before and supported me.” The Warriors franchise includes stalwarts like Nicky Boje, Arno Jacobs and Makhaya Ntini, who would have all helped Ingram develop his leadership.Always a player with a solid head on his shoulders, Ingram now has the experience to back up a sustained run in the national side. Ingram’s attitude to the game will sit well with team management that has stressed the need for cool heads as the series reaches a possible turning point. Victory in Bloemfontein will see South Africa win the series, defeat will put some pressure on them and how they deal with that will be vital.Ingram expects Sri Lanka to turn up the heat as they continue improving. “They are a very proud team and their bowling unit offers a few different things,” he said. “They are lacking a few seamers at the moment to back [Lasith] Malinga up but they will come back.”As much Sri Lanka grow in confidence, South Africa will have to on wariness and Ingram believes they will make the mental adjustments. A youthful squad, led by the feisty AB de Villiers, has shown creativity and innovation, which Ingram said will continue, despite the changes in team make-up.Although South Africa will have to juggle their line-up, they have maintained a continuity of sorts in the squad by recalling players who have been part of the set up before, such as Ingram. He’s worked with Gary Kirsten before, when Kirsten was a batting consultant at the Warriors franchise and also attended the 28-man national training camp held in late August, which was Kirsten’s first introduction to the national team. Ingram said that experience means he knows exactly what to expect from both coach and captain. “Gary and AB will promote an open, honest environment. They set high standards and expect big things.”

John Wright, the New Zealand coach, has said he remains optimistic his team will put up a good show in the World Cup despite their poor performances in each of the three host countries over the past eight months

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2011John Wright, the New Zealand coach, has said he remains optimistic his team will put up a good show in the World Cup despite their poor performances in each of the three host countries over the past eight months. New Zealand also lost their recent six-match one-day series against Pakistan, at home.In the World Cup, four teams out of each group of seven qualify for the quarter-finals, a format which Wright felt could work in New Zealand’s favour. Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya are the minnows in New Zealand’s group and finishing the league phase ahead of them will put New Zealand in the quarters.”You just have to get through the group phase,” Wright told . “We are playing teams that we have to beat, then we have got Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan and we have to try and get [results in] some of those games.””That gets you to the next stage, then she’s a one-off situation and that’s exciting. Some of those teams have enormous pressure on them and if we put it together on the day, we can beat anyone.”New Zealand’s squad fly out to India on Tuesday, and have warm-up fixtures against Ireland on the February 12 and India on the February 16, before the tournament starts on February 19.

South Africa’s were never in the hunt and eventually slumped to a 153-run defeat, after Sachin Tendulkar rewrote history in the first innings in Gwalior, making the first ever 200 in ODIs

The Bulletin by Kanishkaa Balachandran24-Feb-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

HawkeyeMS Dhoni and the other batsmen were relegated to bit roles on a day when Sachin Tendulkar lorded over all he purveyed, bringing up the first ever ODI 200•Associated Press

It took nearly 40 years of waiting and it was well worth it. Sachin Tendulkar chose one of the better bowling attacks doing the rounds, to eclipse the record for the highest score, before bringing up the first double-hundred in ODI history. The spectators at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium became the envy of cricket fans as they witnessed one of the country’s favourite sporting heroes play a breathtaking innings which not only set up a 153-run annihilation but also the series victory. He may have been run-out cheaply in the previous match, but nothing could deny him today – be it bowlers, fielders, mix-ups or cramps. Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni stood by and admired as the master unfurled all the shots in his repertoire.At 36, Tendulkar hasn’t shown signs of ageing, and his sparkling touch in both forms of the game has ruled out all possibilities of him checking out anytime soon. Fatigue, cramps and paucity of time have stood in the way of batsmen going that extra mile to get to the 200-mark. Tendulkar did cramp up after crossing 150, but he didn’t opt for a runner. His experience of 20 years at the international level came into play in this historic innings, staying at the crease from the first ball to the last, never once losing focus. There were no chances offered, no dropped catches, making his innings absolutely flawless.A swirl of emotions must have run through his mind as he approached one record after another but he ensured he was never lost in the moment. His running between the wickets remained just as swift as it had been at the start of the innings. The humidity in Gwalior was bound to test him but he stood above it all and played like he owned the game, toying with the bowling with a mix of nonchalance and brute power.In the 46th over, with a flick for two past short fine-leg, Tendulkar broke the record for the highest ODI score, going past the 194 made by Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry and Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar, and to say that he acknowledged his feat modestly would be an understatement. His muted celebration on going past 194, true to style, made his innings all the more endearing. He didn’t raise his bat, merely shook hands with Mark Boucher and simply carried on batting amid the din. Coming from a man who is not known to showing too much emotion with the bat in hand, it wasn’t surprising. He reserved his celebrations for the magic figure of 200, which he reached in the final over with a squirt off Charl Langeveldt past backward point. He raised his bat, took off his helmet and looked up at the skies and it was only fitting that one-day cricket’s highest run-getter reached the landmark.Tendulkar’s innings featured strokes of the highest quality, but his true genius was exemplified by one particular shot which rendered even the best bowler in the world helpless. In the first over of the batting Powerplay – taken in the 35th over – Dale Steyn fired it in the block-hole for three deliveries outside off to keep him quiet. Tendulkar, feeling the need to improvise, walked right across his stumps and nonchalantly flicked him across the line, hopping in his crease on one leg to bisect the gap at midwicket. A helpless Steyn watched the ball speed away and merely shrugged his shoulders. There was no use searching for excuses or venting frustrations at the temerity of that shot. It was just kind of afternoon for the bowlers.It wasn’t all just about the cheekiness of his shots. His timing and placement were the hallmarks at the start of his innings. On a road of a pitch which offered margin of error for the bowlers, he squeezed out full deliveries past the covers and off his pads. With no seam movement on offer, Jacques Kallis took the slips off and placed them in catching positions within the 15-yard circle, hoping to induce a mistake. But Tendulkar outplayed all of them, making room to manoeuver it past a number of green shirts. There were a minimum of two runs on offer each time the ball was placed wide of them and the quick outfield did the rest.Once he got his eye in, the short boundaries and the flat pitch were too inviting. Virender Sehwag’s dismissal for 11, caught at third man, was just an aberration as Karthik, Pathan and Dhoni traded cricket bats for golf clubs. Driving and lofting through the line had never been this easy. Tendulkar could have driven them inside out in his sleep.The two century stands, with Karthik and then with Dhoni, may well get lost in the scorecard but they were vital building blocks. Karthik rotated the strike well in their stand of 194, struck three clean sixes and helped himself to his career-best performance. That partnership sent out ominous signs to the South Africans that they were in for something massive. Add Dhoni’s bludgeoning hits and scoops and you had a score in excess of 400.Tendulkar reached his fifty off 37 balls and his century off 90. Ironically, he struck his first six – over long-on – when on 111. Pathan bashed it around at the other end, clubbing full tosses and short deliveries in his 23-ball 36, as India amassed 63 runs in the batting Powerplay. The South African seamers made the mistake of trying to bowl too fast and as a result, sent down too many full tosses and full deliveries. The unplayable yorkers remained elusive and Tendulkar, who was seeing it like a beach ball, picked the gaps, made room and improvised.He reached his 150 by making room to Parnell and chipping him over midwicket with a simple bat twirl at the point of contact. The heartbreak of Hyderabad, when his scintillating 175 all but won India the match against Australia last year, must have lingered in his mind as he approached that score again. A towering six over long-on later, he not only eclipsed Kapil Dev’s 175 but also looked set to wipe out his own record. He started clutching his thighs, indicating that cramps had set in, but even that could not stop him today.He equalled his highest score of 186 by pulling a lollipop of a full toss off Kallis and broke his own and India’s record with a single to square leg. Fortunately, he didn’t have to do much running and played the spectator’s role for a change as Dhoni bulldozed his way to a 35-ball 68, muscling four sixes. The Dhoni bottom-hand is the strongest in the business these days and the exhausted spectators had enough energy left in their vocal chords to cheer him on as well.The record of 200, however, was yet to be attained and the crowd were desperate for Tendulkar to get the strike. Dhoni tore into Steyn for 17 off the 49th over and retained the strike for the 50th. After hammering the first ball of the 50th for six, he shoveled a full toss to deep midwicket where Hashim Amla made a brilliant save. Tendulkar settled for a single and the crowd were on their feet as they watched him make history. It was all the more fitting for another reason because it was on this very day, back in 1988, that he and Vinod Kambli added a mammoth 664 – then a world record – in a school match.There was to be no repeat of the 434-chase at the Wanderers, when South Africa took guard, perhaps mentally and physically shaken after the assault, and with a partisan crowd to contend with. AB de Villiers’ attacking ton got completely lost in the chase as South Africa merely went through the motions. It was all a question of how quickly India could wrap it up.Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, Roelof van der Merwe and Jacques Kallis all got out cheaply within the first 15 overs. de Villiers motored along at more than a run-a-ball, and collected 13 fours and two sixes. South Africa had to rely on the services of nine men to muster 200 – for India one man sufficed.Tendulkar’s knock drew parallels with Brendon McCullum’s frenetic 158 in the IPL opener in Bangalore two years ago. The match was all about individual brilliance but a contest. While such games are good in small doses, for one-day cricket to survive on the whole, it needs more contests between bat and ball.

The defending champions suffered a warm-up defeat to England but coach Shelley Nitschke feels the team are well placed

Andrew McGlashan29-Sep-2025Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke is prepared to face some “tough” selection calls ahead of the team’s opening ODI World Cup match against New Zealand on Wednesday.The defending champions completed their preparations with a four-wicket defeat against England in Bengaluru, but Nitschke was not too concerned by the result as Australia utilised a rejigged batting order. At 127 for 2 in the 16th over, they were on course for a huge total. But when Ashleigh Gardner and Phoebe Litchfield, who raced to 71 off 48 balls, fell in the space of four balls to legspinner Sarah Glenn, the middle order stumbled.The match saw left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux in action for the first time since last December after she sat out the series against India to complete the final stages of her recovery from knee surgery. She made 5 off 10 balls and claimed 1 for 37, but prior to heading to India captain Alyssa Healy had indicated that Molineux would be a first-choice pick if she proved her fitness.Related

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That would leave a likely decision to be made between the two legspinners, Georgia Wareham and Alana King, when it comes to the final XI against New Zealand in Indore.”Just to see her [Molineux] out there was fantastic,” Nitschke said. “It’s been close on 12 months, but just to have her out there bowling again, that’s a really good thing for us and our squad.”I guess we’ll sit down in the next couple of days and assess everything and see how we line up. I think we’re going to be faced with some pretty tough calls throughout the whole tournament. We’ve got a really good squad here. You know, everyone’s sort of at some point played really well, so we’ve got some decisions to make for sure.”The selectors will also need to make a call on the make-up of the pace attack. Nitschke praised an “excellent” performance from Darcie Brown, who took 1 for 30 in six overs against England after returning from a back spasm, but Megan Schutt and Kim Garth would appear the first-choice pair.Georgia Voll, who is averaging 63.50 across her first five ODIs, appears likely to be the frontline batter to miss out. Allrounder Heather Graham, who has replaced the injured Grace Harris, neither batted or bowled against England.Georgia Voll might be the top-order batter to miss out•Getty Images

Nitschke conceded Australia had not played Glenn “particularly well” but that it was a question of shot selection rather than needing to temper the aggressive approach which has been a hallmark of the team’s recent ODI batting.Having faced India in three full ODIs earlier in the month, Nitschke believed Australia, who only opted for one extra warm-up match rather than the two they could have had, would go into the World Cup battle-hardened.”I think the bilateral series against India was a hard-fought series in some tough bowling conditions and a real challenge. So I thought that was excellent prep,” she said. “We come out here tonight, [in] slightly different conditions, a red-clay pitch as opposed to some black soil that we were playing on in the bilateral, so certainly have been exposed to some different conditions and learnt a lot and have to adapt to that.”I’d like to think that now we’re in a good place and had enough exposure. We’ve been here for long enough to acclimatise… and just looking forward to getting into it.”

All four teams were stuck in traffic for hours while trying to get to the BKSP grounds in Savar

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2024A highway accident forced the postponement of two Dhaka Premier League matches at the BKSP grounds in Savar on Tuesday, as all four teams were stuck in traffic for hours on the Dhaka-Aricha highway, according to tournament officials.Both matches have been shifted to Wednesday, while the already scheduled matches on Wednesday will move to Thursday. The matches were between Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club and Legends of Rupganj at the BKSP-3 ground, and between Prime Bank Cricket Club and Partex Sporting Club at the BKSP-4 ground. They were supposed to start at 9am local time.According to news reports, an oil lorry caught fire at 5.30am on Tuesday morning, after it turned upside down near the Hemayetpur bus stand on the Dhaka-Aricha highway. Four other trucks and a private car nearby also caught fire.Savar’s fire service and civil defense station officer Mohammad Nurul Islam told the daily that one person has died while eight others were hospitalised at the Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.The accident created a massive tailback in the area on both sides of the road. The four teams were trying to reach the Savar venues, some 25km away. Teams usually take the Dhaka-Aricha highway, taking the exit through the city’s Gabtoli area.BKSP matches are often a headache for teams in the Dhaka leagues as it is 40km from the capital. Surjo Tarun Club and Cricket Coaching School (CCS) were summarily demoted from the Dhaka Premier League after they arrived late for their DPL matches in BKSP in 2012 and 2013, respectively.Mohammedan Sporting Club and Kalabagan Krira Chakra had also arrived late for a DPL match in 2018. By then, however, the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis, the BCB body that runs the leagues, added a clause in the tournament by-laws to avoid a similar incident.The clause empowers the match referee to consider the matter. If a team informs the match referee of its reason for coming to the ground late and the match referee finds logic in it, he can start the game late, according to CCDM officials.