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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.

The CA board has proposed a change to their code of conduct to allow sanctions to be reviewed

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2022David Warner is on the verge of being granted leave to appeal against his lifetime leadership ban, with Cricket Australia proposing a change to its code of conduct.Warner is currently unable to hold a captaincy position in Australian cricket after copping a lifetime ban as a result of 2018’s ball-tampering scandal.The 35-year-old has long shown a desire to have that ban overturned, with Australian cricket having largely moved on from the saga. But it has since become clear an appeal is not as easy as Warner had hoped.Under the current rules, players do not have the right to have a sanction reviewed once it has been accepted. However CA officials on Friday went some way to opening the door for change.Related

• Warner – 'I'm not a criminal. You should get the right of an appeal'

• CA opens door to Warner leadership return after amending code of conduct

• Warner eyes Test retirement within a year

• Cummins named Australia's ODI captain with a 'wider' leadership group underneath

• Cummins: Unrealistic to be only captain across all formats

With Warner’s situation and the current code of conduct high on the agenda, the board has requested its head of integrity Jacqui Partridge proposes a change to its rules.Such a move would grant players or officials the right to request a penalty be reviewed after an “appropriate period of time”.”At the end of the day I’ve just got to accept what decision is handed down,” Warner told during the T20I in Canberra. “There is talk that I might be able to have a chat to the integrity unit. If that’s possible I’m happy to sit down with them and chew the fat a little bit and see where we’re at.”If it does get overturned then we have to go from there. For me I’m a leader in this team no matter what. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a ‘c’ or a ‘vc’ next to your name. You’ve got to put your best foot forward and lead by example.”On the prospect of captaining Australia again, he added: “If it ever presented itself it would be a privilege. For me it’s about focusing on the next game and what I have to do for the team. At this point in time that’s what I have to do.”A Cricket Australia statement said: “The onus would be on the applicant to prove they had undergone genuine reform relevant to the offence they were sanctioned for.”Any review would not revisit the original sanction, other than suspension of a penalty in recognition of genuine reform. The board has requested that the CA Head of Integrity propose an amendment to the code for consideration.”It was agreed that should an amendment in respect to long-term sanctions be adopted, any review of a penalty would be heard by an independent code of conduct commission.”Any such change would likely be made before Australia appoint a new full-time captain of the one-day team, following Aaron Finch’s retirement.Australia have three ODIs lined up against England next month after the T20 World Cup, but otherwise do not play again in the format until March.It is also likely Australia will be on the search for a new T20 captain shortly, with Finch every chance of retiring after the global tournament.Beyond that, Sydney Thunder are yet to appoint a captain for this season and Warner could fit the bill if eligible once back from Test duties.Warner’s move to sign with the Thunder on a two-summer deal and return to the Big Bash League has won him some credit with CA officials.Chairman Lachlan Henderson indicated after the organisation’s AGM on Thursday he was open to Warner’s case being reviewed.”The view within Cricket Australia is that David is doing particularly well on the field and making a great contribution off the field,” he said. “We need to be careful that we’re not reactive in relation to bans that have been imposed in the past.”But we also need to be aware that players and those subject to sanctions can change, can do very well in the future.  And we’d like to think that we need to adopt a principle of fairness as we look at David’s situation particularly.”

Harmer takes four for Essex but bad weather has final say in local rivalry

ECB Reporters' Network25-Jun-2021Daniel Bell-Drummond hammered 50 off 29 balls as Kent Spitfires beat Essex Eagles by 18 runs on DLS – after lightning and then rain brought an early end to the Vitality Blast match.Bell-Drummond clubbed his third fifty of the competition during an 89-run stand for the first wicket with Zak Crawley.The Spitfires endured two collapses to slump to 167 for 9 as Simon Harmer claimed 4 for 26, including his 50th Blast wicket for Essex, and Dan Lawrence a county T20 record of four catches in the innings.But 31 for 4, including two scalps for Matt Milnes, in five overs meant the Eagles were short of the DLS target of 59 – handing Kent their sixth victory of the campaign.Bell-Drummond and Crawley got the Spitfires off to a flyer having been stuck in by Harmer on a used hybrid track.Crawley received two lives, dropped on 1 and 14, as Bell-Drummond slapped Jamie Porter for two sixes – the visitors pummelling 82 off the Powerplay.But after two miserly overs, Kent collapsed in sensational style with five wickets lost for 22 runs in 25 balls, as spin took over.Nijjar, who eventually took 1 for 13 in an ungenerous spell, celebrated with Cristiano Ronaldo’s iconic ‘Sii’ leap after bowling Crawley for 43, before Joe Denly was caught by Lawrence at deep midwicket trying to replicate the six he had struck the previous ball and Jack Leaning was stumped off Harmer.Lawrence turned snarer when Bell Drummond – who had reached a 28-ball half-century – spliced to a sprawling Harmer and Alex Blake was caught behind.Newly-contracted Darren Stevens and Jordan Cox resuscitated the innings with a 44-run stand, with Stevens clubbing a pair of sixes, but another wicket furry ended the innings – this time four wickets falling in 16 balls.Stevens, Cox and Qais Ahmed were all caught by Lawrence and Matt Milnes was bowled by Jimmy Neesham with the last ball.Unlike the Spitfires, the Eagles did not pump runs early on. Will Buttleman was beaten by Milnes’ pace and bounce to be caught behind and Adam Wheater was leg-before attempting to sweep Joe Denly.Michael Pepper chipped a Milnes slower ball to mid-off and former Spitfire Jimmy Neesham edged Fred Klaassen thickly to gully.With lightning striking behind the Hayes Close End and then rain the game was called off after the fifth over – the minimum needed to create a result.

He will bring an end to his third captaincy stint, but will continue as a player

Mohammad Isam05-Mar-2020Mashrafe Mortaza will quit as Bangladesh’s ODI captain after the third final ODI against Zimbabwe on Friday. This gives him possibly one chance to lead Bangladesh to their 50th win under his leadership in this format, a landmark in one of the most important phases in Bangladesh cricket’s development. Mortaza will, however, continue to make himself available for selection and isn’t retiring just yet.Bangladesh’s next ODI assignment is a one-off game in Karachi on April 1. But Mortaza’s decision to resign as captain comes following BCB president Nazmul Hassan’s announcement two weeks ago that this series would be his last one at the helm.”I am leaving the Bangladesh captaincy,” Mashrafe said at the pre-match press conference in Sylhet. “The third ODI [against Zimbabwe] is going to be my last game as captain. I took the decision myself. As a player, I will keep trying to give my best if I get the opportunity. I wish the next captain all the best.”I believe that Bangladesh team will reach the next stage under him. I will try to give him all the support through my experience. I think the three available senior players each have the ability to lead the side. Hope the BCB takes the best one of them.”Mortaza has been an iconic captain, leading a turnaround of sorts through. The first signs of change came in 2015 when he lead Bangladesh to the World Cup quarter-final. That was followed by series wins over Pakistan, India and South Africa. Then, they made the 2017 Champions Trophy semi-final.In all, he won 49 out of 87 ODIs as captain. Bangladesh also won 10 T20Is in 28 matches under him. Bangladesh also won the only Test he captained in (2009), which also happened to be his final match in whites.BCB appointed him the limited-overs captain in 2014 to arrest the team’s slide under Mushfiqur Rahim, who continued to remain Test captain until end of 2017. During his tenure, he managed to bring the best out of a number of players, most notably Mahmudullah and Rubel Hossain during the 2015 World Cup.Players like Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman and Liton Das also got their big breaks under Mortaza. Two of his more notable series came in 2018 and 2019 when Bangladesh beat West Indies in their backyard, as well as lifting their first tri-series trophy in Ireland. Recently, Mortaza became the fifth bowler to take 100 wickets as captain, and during his 2014-20 captaincy reign, he was the side’s second highest wicket-taker behind Mustafizur.Mortaza said he was never interested in perks of captaincy, just like he has denied the perks that come with being a Member of Bangladesh’s parliament. “I never took myself to be an ambassador when I played or led Bangladesh,” he said. “Now I have another identity. I am an MP. But I have not taken the red passport [diplomatic passport], car or house. I try to stay as far away from them as possible.”My whole career was shaping up to take this chair [of captaincy], and the moment I got it, I had already attained what I wanted. I have no more ambitions. So I used this chair positively, rather than influence it differently.”Mortaza’s emotional press conference turned a tad light when he was asked of his future. “I am everything due to cricket. If I didn’t finish playing cricket, I would have been doing fish farming,” he said. “My future definitely includes cricket, and if a player requires me, I will give it my best. I have to do my work in my constituency until the next election.”Asked whether the country’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, knows about his decision, Mortaza replied in the affirmative. “I don’t think she should be bothered about something so small. Somehow she knows, though.”

With Rangpur requiring 10 off the last over, the left-arm pacer managed three dot balls to tie Rangpur down and deliver a tense win

The Report by Mohammad Isam13-Jan-2019How the game played outMustafizur Rahman’s superb death-overs bowling hauled Rajshahi Kings to an unlikely five-run win over Rangpur Riders, who had seemed to be cruising until the 19th over of their 136-run chase. Mustafizur tied down Farhad Reza for three balls, before Rilee Rossouw scampered through for a bye off the fifth ball.Rossouw, however, couldn’t force the game into a Super Over, as Mustafizur delivered a superb full ball that was squirted into the in-field for a single. Rossouw was unbeaten on 44 off 46 balls with three fours.Earlier, the faltering Kings were boosted by a 54-run fourth-wicket stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Zakir Hasan, who top-scored with an unbeaten 36-ball 42, that kept the Kings on track till the 14th over. But they lost their way thereafter, making only 39 runs in the last five.Turning points

• Mashrafe slowing the Kings down by removing Soumya Sarkar in the sixth over, caught at long-on. Soumya had made an aggressive start, hitting two fours and a six in his 13-ball 18.
• Ravi Bopara’s direct hit that ran out Mohammad Hafeez in the 14th over, after he and Zakir had helped the Kings recover with a 54-run stand following the three early wickets.
• Mustafizur Rahman conceding only three runs in the last over, when Riders needed nine. He bowled three dot balls to Farhad Reza who, despite having a set Rossouw at the other end, kept swinging and missing.

Star of the dayMustafizur kept his reputation as one of the best slog-over bowlers in the world, conceding just seven runs in two overs when the Kings needed to defend 22 runs off the last three overs.The big missRossouw would rue taking a single off the first ball of the last over, as Reza spent the next three swinging and missing.Where the teams standThe defending champions Riders have lost their third game in five outings, while Rajshahi have picked up their second win in four games.

The semi-finals and final of the National T20 Cup have been set for November 29 and 30, with Rawalpindi playing host

Danyal Rasool in Rawalpindi27-Nov-2017The semi-finals and final of the National T20 Cup have been rescheduled for November 29 and 30 after they were postponed by the PCB due to religious unrest in the country. The venue for the three games has not changed, with Rawalpindi playing host, just like it has for the rest of the tournament. The four remaining teams – Lahore Whites, who play Faisalabad, and FATA, who face Lahore Blues – are already in Islamabad, Rawalpindi’s sister city.The tournament had been set to conclude in the weekend, but an unrest that began when police tried to disperse a sit-in by a religious gathering at an interchange in Rawalpindi forced the PCB to postpone the event. With protests turning violent and escalating throughout the country, Islamabad had been in a state of effective lockdown over the weekend, with all roads leading to Karachi and Lahore closed off. Teams had found themselves confined to their hotels, and roads leading to the Rawalpindi stadium had also been blocked. Private news channels were taken off air for most of Saturday and Sunday, while access to social media sites Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was also suspended. All educational institutions in Lahore, which hosted the recent World XI series, as well as the third T20I against Sri Lanka, were closed on Monday, and will remain shut on Tuesday.But the situation has been defused for the most part, with life returning to some semblance of normality in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. That enables the postponed games in the National T20 Cup to be held earlier than what may have been expected on Monda or Tuesday. The decision to play these matches on Wednesday and Thursday, as opposed to the weekend, may be down to a religious holiday throughout Pakistan on Friday, with the PCB keen to avoid further hindrances to their premier domestic T20 tournament.The National T20 Cup faced several hindrances this year. Earlier, it had clashed with the ICC World XI’s trip. The rescheduled dates clashed with the Bangladesh Premier League and the now-postponed T20 Global League in South Africa. Even then, smog in Faisalabad and Multan forced a relocation to Rawalpindi once and for all.The scheduling of the National T20 Cup created uncertainty on other fronts as well. In August, the board revoked the No-Objection Certificates of 13 players participating in the Caribbean Premier League and the English domestic season, asking them to return home and fulfill national and domestic commitments. However, a few days later, PCB chairman Najam Sethi said the National T20 Cup had been postponed and the players could return to their franchises and counties after undergoing fitness tests.The tournament will also mark the end of Saeed Ajmal’s career, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Batsmen Joe Burns and Callum Ferguson have been included in Australia’s Test squad for the second Test against South Africa, which begins in Hobart on November 12

Daniel Brettig at the WACA07-Nov-2016Shaun Marsh has been ruled out of the rest of the South Africa series with a broken finger, meaning Joe Burns and Callum Ferguson have been included in Australia’s Test squad for the second Test in Hobart, which begins on Saturday.The injury occurred when Marsh was fielding on the first day of the Perth Test, a re-break of the same finger he injured during the limited-overs leg of the tour of Sri Lanka in August. However Cricket Australia kept the injury in-house until after the match.This was partly due to Marsh being undecided about whether he was going to submit to surgery that will rule him out of the remainder of the series and put him under pressure to be fit in time for the start of the Pakistan Tests in mid-December.On Monday, Cricket Australia physiotherapist David Beakley said of the injury: “Shaun re-injured his left little finger on day one while fielding. Subsequent x-rays have shown a similar break to the previous one and he will now require surgery to stabilise the bone fragment. At this stage, all going according to plan, we expect Shaun to be available for selection [for the Pakistan Test series].”However it was also the product of indecision among the selectors about who was to be called into the squad, a call not made until Monday afternoon when the panel settled on Burns and Ferguson. There is also doubt over the fitness of Adam Voges due to a hamstring strain, while the allrounder Mitchell Marsh is under severe pressure to hold on to his place in the team following a string of underwhelming scores.Before play on Sunday, the coach Darren Lehmann had denied there would be any changes to the team for Hobart, when asked on ABC Radio by the broadcaster Gerard Whateley.”Just to clarify, is the squad for Perth the squad for Hobart, as that’s how it was selected?” Whateley asked.”Yes,” replied Lehmann.”So the 12’s the 12?” Whateley pursued further.”The 12’s the 12,” concluded Lehmann.Ferguson, 31, is yet to debut in Test cricket, and although he has played 30 ODIs and three T20Is, he has not appeared for Australia since April 2011. He has had a mixed start to the Sheffield Shield this season, scoring a century and a duck in two games for South Australia. His longest run in the ODI team took place in 2009, ending when he suffered a serious knee injury while fielding in that year’s Champions Trophy final against New Zealand.Burns, who was dropped during Australia’s Test whitewash in Sri Lanka, was Man of the Match for his 170 and 65 against New Zealand in Christchurch in February – Australia’s previous Test assignment to the Sri Lanka tour. He too, like Ferguson, has one century in his first two Sheffield Shield games this season. In his 12 Tests, Burns, has 872 runs at 41.52 with three centuries and four fifties.Marsh, who made 63 and 15 in Perth, also had hamstring trouble before this Test series, and had to prove his fitness before being picked for the first Test.Australia are 1-0 down in the series, having lost the Perth Test by 177 runs after a poor showing with the bat. Fast bowler Joe Mennie, named 12th man in Perth, will again link up with the squad in Hobart.Squad for Hobart: David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (capt), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Callum Ferguson, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Siddle, Joe Mennie, Nathan Lyon

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford14-Sep-2015

ScorecardZafar Ansari fell one short of a very timely hundred•PA Photos

Milton can hardly have composed with more care than that exhibited by Zafar Ansari when he is playing a four-day innings. While the other members of Surrey’s top order are dashing off their attractive sonnets or villanelles, their opening batsman is sweating blood over his blank verse, accumulating the runs that so often hold an innings together.That attention to the details of batsmanship was very evident in Ansari’s innings of 99 against Lancashire on the first day of this game. Having opted to bat first, Surrey skipper Gareth Batty knew that his openers would receive a probing examination in cloudy conditions from an attack which included James Anderson, who was playing his first county match of the season. He was probably depending on Ansari to produce his normal obdurate stuff; Ansari did not let him down.Indeed, it was the opener’s 277-minute exercise in concentration which was largely responsible for Surrey ending a rather miserable, rain-dampened day on 262 for 4, which is a perfectly healthy position for the Division Two leaders to occupy after 83.2 overs in which they could have lost all their wickets in half the time.But Ansari will not be there on the second morning to oversee Surrey’s attempt to build a daunting first-innings total. His effort on Monday may have included all the frequently overlooked craftsmanship of batting – the soft hands, the careful leaves, the skilful rectitude in defence – but it was not faultless. On 33 he was badly dropped at second slip by Steven Croft off Tom Bailey. On 43 he may even have been a trifle lucky not to be given out leg before to Simon Kerrigan’s first ball of the day, but Jeff Evans was the umpire who had to make the decision; and on the evidence offered at Taunton last week and Old Trafford today, Dracula may be more willing to give blood than Evans is to grant an lbw. But Evans was the man in the best position to make the call and we had all better respect the fact.Having escaped at least once, though, it seemed that Ansari would proceed to his second century of the season. But it was not to be. On 99 and with the second new ball imminent, he received a full toss from Croft which he could have placed anywhere in the off side. However, the diligent poet mucked up his rhymes and drove the ball at about waist height wide to Anderson’s left. The England bowler dived and took the catch.Ansari paused a moment, tucked his bat under his arm and ambled off the field. He has now scored 771 runs as an opening bat and taken 44 wickets with his left-arm spin in the County Championship. These are comparatively rare combined skills and they are ones which the England selectors apparently have their eyes on. With the England squads for the series against Pakistan to be announced this week, these could yet be a very big few days in Ansari’s career.”He was very frustrating to bowl at and he rode his luck with the new ball,” said Anderson of his current opponent and possible future colleague. “He knuckled down and did a good job. He got through the tough periods and managed to make a good score.”Asked whether Ansari might slot into an England squad, Anderson responded: “I don’t see why not. What we’re missing at the moment is someone who turns the ball away from the bat and he’s had a good year. We’ll wait and see what happens.”Certainly on Monday, none of Ansari’s colleagues could match his application. Rory Burns made a good 50 in an opening stand of 89 before his attempted cut only under-edged the ball onto his stumps; Kumar Sangakkara made just 9 before he fell to Anderson for the eighth time in a first-class match when he edged a ball that was pushed cleverly across him to Croft at slip; then Ben Foakes made a pleasant 45 before his limp cut to Arron Lilley only gave slip Alviro Petersen a simple catch.Lancashire, though, will have wanted more than four wickets on this drear Mancunian Monday. However, they are nothing like out of things. A game which may well decide the destiny of the Second Division title is still very much in the hazard and that is something to relish at the end of a day when the incipience of autumn could not be avoided.

England have named Graham Thorpe as batting coach for the one-day international and Twenty20 series in New Zealand in a decision which moves further towards separate coaching set-ups for the Test and one-day sides.

David Hopps26-Jan-2013England have named Graham Thorpe as batting coach for the one-day international and Twenty20 series in New Zealand in a decision which moves closer towards separate coaching set-ups for the Test and one-day sides.Thorpe replaces Graham Gooch, whose role as Test batting coach for next summer’s Ashes series remains assured.The reshuffle follows the appointment of Ashley Giles as England’s new coach in the shorter formats of the game to reduce the touring workload on England’s director of cricket, Andy Flower, whose day-to-day coaching involvement is now restricted to the Test arena.England’s managing director Hugh Morris has stressed the appointment of Thorpe, who has cut his teeth as batting coach for England Lions, will be reviewed at the end of the New Zealand tour, although his fulltime appointment seems inevitable.Morris said: “Graham Gooch’s work in India made a real step change to the way we played spin bowling and was a factor in us winning that Test series. We’ve got an enormous amount of very high-profile Test cricket and we want Graham to focus his attention on working one-on-one with our Test players.”Graham Thorpe, who has been working alongside the Lions as one of our coaches for the last 12 months or so, will be going to New Zealand as one-day batting coach. He’s made a good impression as a batting coach and he is looking forward to the opportunity to go there.”England entered the final one-day international against India in Dharamsala on Sunday 3-1 down with one to play, and with the series already lost, but suggestions that Gooch has been removed from the one-day set-up at Giles’ behest because of another failure in an Indian ODI series are an overstatement of the case.England are committed to developing distinct coaching set-ups in Test and one-day cricket and Thorpe’s introduction, which has been built towards for some time, is a natural consequence of that .Nevertheless, Giles might welcome a more energising figure in the dressing room in the limited-overs formats. Gooch’s lugubrious commonsense has had a positive effect on England’s Test side, exemplified by the last Test they played as they had the mental strength to bat for for nearly 10 hours to draw the Test in Nagpur and win the series. Thorpe, though, might quicken the progress of young plyers such as Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, who have built a strong rel;ationship with him in Lions cricket and who are instrumental to England’s one-day future.Gooch, like Flower, has always had mixed feelings about the lengthy amount of time spent away from home in England’s crowded international schedule. David Saker, England’s bowling coach, was also briefly tempted by the Warwickshire director of cricket role for identical reasons before the lure of back-to-back Ashes series persuaded him that he had “unfinished business” with the England side. It would be no surprise if he was next.Challenges will come thick and fast for Thorpe if, as everybody expects, he passes his probationary period. Following the ICC Champions Trophy in England this summer England face a World T20 in Bangladesh in March 2014 and a World Cup in Australia and New Zealand the following year.

Rajasthan’s plan was to run Tamil Nadu ragged and then unleash their fresh fast-bowlers on tired batsmen. It worked, as the home side’s top order made a quick exit

The Report by Nagraj Gollapudi in Chennai21-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVineet Saxena and Robin Bist helped Rajasthan score their second-best Ranji Trophy total•K Sivaraman

Defending champions Rajasthan were criticised for crawling during the first two days of the final in Chennai, their batsmen accused of playing slow and shoddy cricket. Their critics asked why Rajasthan were adopting an extremely safe approach on a pitch that was dead. Despite being faced with such questions, their batsmen stayed patient and determined, and amassed Rajasthan’s second-highest total in the Ranji Trophy. Their best was the 641 for 7 against Maharashtra in Nasik in the 2010-11 Plate League semi-final.Rajasthan’s plan was to run Tamil Nadu ragged and then unleash their fresh fast-bowlers on tired batsmen. It worked, as the home side’s top order made a quick exit. At 24 for 3, Tamil Nadu needed rescuing and the pair of Dinesh Karthik and K Vasudevadas remained steady to deny Rajasthan any more wickets.Having been in the field for eight sessions, Tamil Nadu were mentally fragile at the start of their innings. Rajasthan’s new-ball bowlers, who have destroyed every batting line-up in their previous four matches, were once again precise. Despite the slowness of the pitch, Pankaj Singh and Rituraj Singh did not compromise on pace and bowled fuller lengths.Rituraj made the first breakthrough when he pitched a back-of-a-length delivery on middle stump and moved it in to Abhinav Mukund, who was caught in front of the wickets. Peter Hartley remained accurate in his decision-making and adjudged the batsman lbw.At the other end Pankaj was his usual self, maintaining the same lines at varying lengths. He used his biggest advantage – his height – to extract bounce by hitting the seam. There was variable bounce and S Badrinath was once beaten by a delivery that skidded past at shin height. Badrinath soon erred while driving across the line and found himself plumb lbw to an incoming delivery.M Vijay was the victim of a smart strategy. He had played fluent drives, and a clip off a fuller delivery from Rituraj that rushed to the midwicket boundary. Hrishikesh Kanitkar plugged the gap by moving Puneet Yadav from square leg to midwicket. On the penultimate delivery of that over, Rituraj hit a full length at slower pace and Vijay played pre-emptively, spooning a catch to Puneet. Tamil Nadu were 24 for 3 in ten overs; Rajasthan had been 221 for 0 after the first day, their go-slow tactics had come good.Having watched the ease with which Rajasthan’s Robin Bist scored in the morning, the Tamil Nadu batsmen went for their shots too early in their innings. The danger of such an approach was the risk of a casual stroke, which was also the cause of Bist’s dismissal.Bist had begun with a well-timed square cut against L Balaji in the second over of the morning. Though Balaji’s wicket-to-wicket line and fuller length tested him, Bist put his wrists to good use. And when Aushik Srinivas, who began with a slip and silly point, attacked off stump, Bist played a wristy flick to the midwicket boundary.He got to his fifty by glancing the offspinner Sunny Gupta in his first over. Just as he looked set for a bigger score, Bist flicked Gupta straight to Vasudevadas at square leg. He stood there stunned at his error. Not only he had forgotten his team’s plans but also missed the chance to become only the 12th batsman to score 1000 runs in a Ranji season.Bist’s dismissal meant that Vineet Saxena, who had already batted two days, had to be extra vigilant to ensure Rajasthan did not slip further. Saxena had a difficult start to the day. In its seventh over, after facing 575 deliveries, Saxena gave his first chance, flashing with hard hands at a length delivery from J Kaushik. The outside edge flew straight at Vasudevadas’ face at gully and he dropped a straightforward catch. Kaushik, wearing a wry smile on his sweat-stained face, just stood there.Thereafter Saxena watched Bist dominate at the other end and was involved in his third century partnership of the innings. But having grafted for the first two days, Saxena was bolder in his approach today. He stepped out against Srinivas, hitting the second six of the match over long-on.Immediately after lunch, though, Saxena leaned back to make room and push at a straight delivery from Srinivas. He was beaten for pace, had his off stump uprooted, and left without showing much emotion. In minutes, Saxena’s 665-ball effort was 108 fewer than the longest innings in Ranji Trophy. Himachal Pradesh’s captain Rajeev Nayyar had compiled 271 off 728 balls in 1015 minutes against Jammu & Kashmir in 1999-2000. Saxena’s wicket was a reward for Srinivas’ perseverance.Puneet and Dishant Yagnik departed quickly as Rajasthan lost three wickets in 19 deliveries and were eventually dismissed for 621. Their batsmen had done their job, and Rituraj and Pankaj began theirs effectively as well.