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Alzarri Joseph again bowled well for West Indies but their chase never really threatned

Andrew McGlashan07-Oct-2022David Warner and Tim David produced sparkling innings as Australia wrapped up a 2-0 victory over a West Indies side still working into their World Cup build-up. Warner dominated the first half of the innings and David turned on the power in the latter stages before West Indies’ chase struggled to build a consistent tempo then faded away.Warner and Aaron Finch, who this time batted No. 3, added 85 for the second wicket of which Finch contributed 15. A brief wobble, where three wickets fell for five runs, was then righted by David who struck at over 200.Brandon King was the most assured of West Indies’ top order but when he charged and missed at Adam Zampa no one else threatened to take the chase on. Mitchell Starc top and tailed the innings to take a career-best 4 for 20.Related

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West Indies now continue their preparations with two official warm-up matches against UAE and Netherlands while Australia – minus their first-choice bowlers and Glenn Maxwell – head to Perth to face England before two more games in Canberra.Warner goes it alone
It wasn’t so much Australia against West Indies early on, but Warner against West Indies. Of the 45 runs in the powerplay, Warner made 37. Of the 96 when he was dismissed, he had made 75. His first six was a sweep off Jason Holder’s slower ball and the timing was impeccable throughout with his last six, a straight drive off Obed McCoy, among the best of his strokes. Given the way he had dominated the scoring, and the fact the innings was only just past halfway, there were thoughts turning towards what could be possible when he was caught and bowled by Odean Smith.David fires, rest of middle order not so much
It was an innings of contrasts from Australia. While Warner motored, Finch stuttered with an ungainly 15 off 19 balls. Then as David lit up the latter part of the innings, life was much harder for Steven Smith who managed 17 off 16 deliveries. To add to that was Maxwell’s run out, which ultimately looked his error albeit Smith had started to come, and it meant another short stay. Maxwell’s lack of recent runs makes it a little curious he is missing the next game in Perth. However, David did what he has done so many times around the world in recent times – leather the ball into the stands with awesome power. And again he gave himself a little bit of time: 12 off 10 balls became 42 off 20 in the blink of an eye.When Mitchell Starc gets his yorker right, it really is a sight to behold•AFP/Getty Images

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West Indies were so slow that they had to have an extra fielder inside the ring for the final two overs. But they contended with it well, the last two going for 16 runs as Australia didn’t quite pull off the ideal finish. After David’s dismissal they made just 21 off the last 19 deliveries. A big part in the good finish from West Indies was Alzarri Joseph who went for 11 in his last two, completing an impressive pair of outings early in the tour. Australia, too, were slow and bowled their last over with five inside the ring. Neither team faced severe consequences for this error tonight, but that may not be so lucky at the World Cup.Can West Indies find the batting balance?
Both powerplay scores were identical: 45 for 1. So it may seem harsh to single out West Indies, but the 24 dot balls they faced in the first six suggested there were a few runs left unscored. Australia faced 18 in the same period. The batters are still trying to find touch after a long journey, but there was a significant amount of swinging and missing, especially from Johnson Charles.Another Gabba special from Starc
It didn’t quite have the same impact or feeling as his first ball in the Ashes to Rory Burns, but Starc again did something special in his first over at the Gabba. After Kyle Mayers, who played a shot for the ages at Metricon Stadium, produced a wonderful straight drive for six, Starc somehow managed to grab hold of a fiercely struck straight drive in front of his shin. It was a good evening for Starc who also claimed the key wickets of Nicholas Pooran and Holder as West Indies never really threatened to chase the target. They have work to do before their World Cup begins.

Respected former fast bowlers given new roles in sign of ECB commitment to diversity

George Dobell28-May-2021Devon Malcolm and Dean Headley have been added to the panel of ECB match referees as the organisation seeks to address a long-standing failure to appoint non-white officials.ESPNcricinfo revealed in November that John Holder, the former Test umpire, had called for an inquiry following the revelation that the ECB had not appointed a non-white match official to the first-class list since 1992. Holder also claimed they had never appointed a non-white Pitch Liaison Officer, Cricket Liaison Officer, Match Referee, Umpires’ Mentor or Umpires’ Coach.Malcolm and Headley, both highly-respected former England fast bowlers of African-Caribbean heritage who have remained involved in the game in coaching roles, are among the five names added to a ‘supplementary match referees’ panel, alongside Simon Hinks, Alec Swann and Will Smith, Durham’s former County Championship-winning captain. Headley is expected to officiate in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy next week.Malcolm has previously told ESPNcricinfo that when he expressed an interest in qualifying as an umpire he “was basically told ‘I wouldn’t bother if I was you’.”As a result of such stories, the ECB acknowledged “areas where we need to be better and do more to be inclusive and diverse”.Related

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They also announced several measures aimed at improving diversity, including a commitment to ensure that a minimum of 15 percent of umpires on the national panel (the panel operating at county second XI and National County level) are from a Black and minority ethnic (BAME) background by the end of 2021. At present the figure is 8 percent.In addition, the ECB committed to establishing a mentoring programme to encourage umpires from a BAME background and promised to ensure BAME representation on all umpire selection panels.The appointment of Malcolm and Headley would appear to be a first tangible sign of such policies in action. Both men have impeccable records in the game: Malcolm took over 1,000 first-class wickets – 128 of them in Test cricket – while Headley’s fine Test career – he took his 60 wickets at a cost of 27.85 apiece – was curtailed by injury.Meanwhile, Sue Laister, who has served as a Competitions Officer for Recreational Cricket at the ECB, is set to become English cricket’s first female match referee when she oversees Northern Diamonds versus Central Sparks in the first round of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, at Headingley on Saturday.ECB Managing Director of County Cricket, Neil Snowball, said: “I am delighted to announce these appointments as we look to develop, expand and diversify our group of officials.”Sue Laister will make history when she becomes the first female Referee this weekend and our five new appointments to the Supplementary Panel bring a further wealth of experience to benefit the men’s and women’s game.”

The New Zealand quick is back home and is hoping to be playing cricket again as soon as possible

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2020There’s been a few times that Lockie Ferguson had been down with a cold in the course of his career, but it was different this time. After reporting a sore throat to the New Zealand team management on Friday, he was sent for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) tests and then asked to isolate himself in his hotel room. Now he’s back home with his family, who wasted no time checking up on him.”Certainly got a few texts on Saturday but I was quick to announce that it was only a few cold symptoms and happy to be home now,” he said upon arrival in Auckland on Sunday.Ferguson was in Sydney to play a three-match ODI series, but with the New Zealand government increasing travel restrictions, including a mandate that said people coming back from Australia had to go under self-isolation for 14 days, the series was called off a third of the way through.Well before that, news of Ferguson’s condition emerged, but the man himself thinks it was blown out of proportion.”No. Probably a bit over-exaggerated as to how I was,” he said. “I just sort of had very, very mild cold symptoms and the procedures were as they were and followed by Tommy [Simsek, physio] and the support staff. Completely understandable. So yeah, kinda had a day in the hotel room by myself.ALSO READ: How the coronavirus has affected the cricket world“It was strange certainly playing the game under the circumstances and with an empty crowd. For sure, that was an odd experience. At the same time, we were a little bit disappointed with how the game ended up. And yeah, that night I was sort of taken to get swabs and talked to the doctor there and fortunately all was good and yeah happy to be home.”Did Ferguson feel nervous at all, given how rapidly the coronavirus had spread throughout the planet? “Um, from my point of view, I just thought it was normal small cold symptoms,” he said. “Get quite rundown from time to time playing cricket and travelling a bit. So not too unusual for me. But as I said, Tommy our physio and the doctors followed procedure as is needed. So yes, been 24 hours in isolation but that’s okay. And I’ll be honest, I actually felt good the next day I woke up. I was fine.”New Zealand’s border restrictions were supposed to go in place at midnight on Sunday and while the rest of the team were able to return home on Saturday itself, Ferguson had to stay back in Sydney as precaution and could only travel on the day of the deadline.”We had pretty clear comms from our support staff. We knew if we got back tonight it’d be all good,” he said. “So when we got the negative test for the virus last night we just took it as we can and then it was nice to come home today. Fortunately, it was only the day. So not too bad. They went home last night and just had to stay the one more night in Sydney. Not too many issues there.”Ferguson understood the need for taking every safeguard but hoped he could get back to work as quickly as possible. “I think everyone in every industry is probably feeling it a little bit,” he said. “Not just us in sport. Certainly we want to play cricket but under these circumstances we are following the directions of people in much higher power than me. Yeah just taking it in my stride but looking forward to playing cricket soon. So I’ll get back with the Aces boys tomorrow and see what the plan is going forward.”

There were also useful contributions from Shreyas Iyer and Krunal Pandya, while Sam Billings’ unbeaten 108 went in vain for England Lions

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2019Contrasting half-centuries from Ajinkya Rahane and Ishan Kishan helped India A take a 1-0 lead in the unofficial ODI series against England Lions in Thiruvananthapuram. For the visitors, Sam Billings’ unbeaten century went in vain.Set a target of 286, India A made a steady start courtesy Rahane’s 87-ball 59 (4×4). The India A captain put on 66 for the first wicket with Anmolpreet Singh (33), 73 for the second with Shreyas Iyer (45) and 26 for the third with Hanuma Vihari (16). The left-arm spinner Danny Briggs then dismissed both Rahane and Vihari in the same over, leaving India A needing 120 off 97 balls with six wickets in hand and two new batsmen at the crease.Those two, Kishan and Krunal Pandya, provided the necessary acceleration in a fifth-wicket stand of 60 in 53 balls before Krunal fell in the 43rd over for 29. With Axar Patel (18) and Shardul Thakur (11*) offering handy support, Kishan steered India A home with five balls to spare, finishing unbeaten on 57 off 48 balls, having hit five fours and a six.Sent in to bat, the Lions made a bright start courtesy Alex Davies (54 off 64) and his partnerships of 37 with Ben Duckett (23) and 61 with Sam Hain (21) for the first two wickets. Then Billings took over even as India A’s bowlers chipped away at the other end. He fuelled a late surge in the Lions’ scoring rate, as they tonked 66 off the last 37 balls of the innings, and finished unbeaten on 108 off 104 balls, with five fours and four sixes.

The Australia captain revealed he had spoken with Peter Nevill about the need for the gloveman to use more voice in the middle, a quality that helped Matthew Wade replace him earlier

Daniel Brettig03-Nov-2017Australia captain Steven Smith has demanded more of the Ashes wicketkeeping frontrunner Peter Nevill, and also lashed out at accusations that he has allowed the personal to interfere with the professional in team selection.Speaking candidly on the eve of a Sheffield Shield match in which he will lead a full-strength New South Wales against Western Australia – including his likely bowling attack for the first Test at the Gabba – Smith revealed he had spoken with Nevill about the need for the gloveman to use more voice in the middle, a quality that helped Matthew Wade usurp the Blues wicketkeeper in the first place.”I’ve spoken to Pete; we had a chat and I said I probably just need a little bit more from you, and I need you to drive the boys and get the boys up and about,” Smith said in Sydney. “That’s the pretty important job of a wicketkeeper, to ensure the guys have the energy out in the middle and that we are doing everything we can. I’ve spoken to him about that.”It’s just a presence sort of thing. For a captain out in the middle, I’ve always got a lot on my mind, I’m doing different things. So for a keeper, it’s about ensuring that the energy’s up and if someone needs a little pick-me-up, go and get them, go and touch them and make sure that we’re doing what we need to do. Those are important things to do for a wicketkeeper.”I don’t think it’s ‘nice’, I don’t think that’s an issue, I don’t have a problem with people being nice. It’s just making sure that there’s a presence out in the middle and guys are getting the energy around and ensuring that we’re doing everything we can to be ready to go and taking our half chances.”Nevill, on his part, has always defined himself as a leader by actions as much as words. Last year, when speaking to ESPNcricinfo, he denied he was “quiet” on the field, but indicated he would be open to change if Smith ever asked him directly. Smith’s deputy David Warner recently indicated he would be more vocal in this Ashes series than he had been for the past two years, when he earned the nickname “the reverend” for eschewing earlier combative tendencies.”I think that’s a common misconception: saying that I’m not vocal, because I’d be the most vocal person on the field – it’s just purely directed towards our team,” Nevill had said. “But if Steve was to tap me on the shoulder and say, ‘I’d like a bit more of that out of you’, then I’d certainly oblige.”Even without thinking about it, you find a nice little equilibrium where you’re comfortable operating at. For some guys, they like to get into a verbal contest, and they find that gets the best out of them. I’ve never needed to do that to get myself in that optimal space. It hasn’t been something I’ve ever thought would that help me play better if I did that’.”Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Wade has always taken pride in his ability to unsettle opposition players as a competitive advantage, and Smith has said numerous times previously that he admires the Victorian’s terrier-like qualities. However, a batting average of barely 20 since returning to the Test team a year ago has left the door open for Nevill and also the untried South Australian Alex Carey.”I’ve said for a while that Matty brings a lot to the team,” Smith said. “He provides some good energy, he’s a good sounding board for me too. He understands the game really well, but in the end, you need guys that are performing. He’s got another opportunity this week to come out and keep well and hopefully get some runs and keep putting his name up there. So it’s a big week this week, no doubt.”The balance of body language and energy on the field for Australia has been an issue at times under Smith’s leadership, and he admitted he was still a work-in-progress as far as his own comportment was concerned. “Fair point; it’s something that I’ve been working on for a while; I probably don’t do myself any favours with my hand gestures,” he said.”I’ve got long arms and you see the way I fidget when I bat that it’s just there. I’ve tried a few different techniques to try to keep my emotions in check, it’s still something I’m working on, that’s for sure.”As for the contention that he has been involved in picking “mates” rather than superior players for Australia, levelled by the former fast bowler Rodney Hogg among others, Smith was blunt. Hogg had raised the example of Nic Maddinson playing for Australia last summer, while there has also been plenty of discussion about the call to play Daniel Hughes ahead of Ed Cowan in the NSW XI.”I’m not a selector, but I certainly speak to the selectors a lot and express my views – all this rubbish about me picking my mates is absolute garbage. I certainly don’t agree with that,” Smith said. “People can say what they like, I’ll read it. So it doesn’t bother me and I just get on with it.”More bothersome for Smith is the fact he is looking for runs to groove his technique ahead of the Ashes, after wrist and shoulder problems restricted him at times during the year. “I just need to figure out how to hold the bat again,” he said. “Haven’t felt great for a little while now and just need to spend some time in the middle. Had a really good hit today, felt like I figured things out at the end and hopefully I can put that into the middle.”It happens every now and again. I just haven’t felt quite right the last couple of weeks, just trying to get it right and make sure that everything’s okay. I think I’ve made some progress the last couple of days. It’ll be good to spend some time in the middle to just reaffirm that.”The pitch for the Shield match at Hurstville Oval is expected to be well-grassed, meaning Smith and his teammates may yet find the going difficult against WA’s seamers, including the left-arm swingman Jason Behrendorff.

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy Group C matches that began on October 6, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2016

Group C

Sanju Samson started the Ranji Trophy season with a bang, scoring an unbeaten hundred to steer Kerala to 263 for 7 against Jammu & Kashmir in Kalyani. Walking in at 9 for 2, Samson steered Kerala out of trouble, putting on 97 for the third wicket with Jalaj Saxena, Kerala’s new signing from Madhya Pradesh, who scored 69 (88b, 11×4, 1×6). Wickets fell frequently thereafter, but Samson kept one end going to end the day batting on 129. He hit 19 fours and a six in his 251-ball innings. Medium-pacer Samiullah Beigh was J&K’s most successful bowler, ending the day with figures of 4 for 68.Centuries from Prashant Chopra and Sumeet Verma dragged Himachal Pradesh out of a tricky situation against Andhra and lifted them to 318 for 7 in Bhubaneswar. Verma joined the opener Chopra with Himachal 103 for 5, and the two put on 89 for the sixth wicket before Chopra fell for 117 off 152 balls, having scored 80 of his runs in boundaries.Verma then batted through to stumps to finish not out on 116 off 156, having struck 12 fours and three sixes. By then, he had put on 105 for the seventh wicket with debutant Mayank Dagar (42, 75b, 5×4, 1×6), who was dismissed 8.1 overs before stumps. For Andhra, medium-pacers D Siva Kumar and CV Stephen took two wickets each.Chhattisgarh made a strong start to life in the Ranji Trophy, bowling Tripura out for 118 in Ranchi before closing the day 41 runs behind with seven wickets in hand. Choosing to bat first, Tripura only lasted 54 overs as each member of Chhattisgarh’s five-man bowling attack, four of whom were first-class debutants (the team contained eight debutants in all), took at least one wicket. Left-arm orthodox spinner Ajay Mandal was the most successful Chhattisgarh bowler, with figures of 3 for 41.In reply, Chhattisgarh closed the day 77 for 3, with opener Rishabh Tiwary and Ashutosh Singh, both on debut, scoring 31 each, with the latter remaining not out at stumps with captain Mohammad Kaif for company.A four-wicket haul by Mohammed Siraj, a medium-pacer playing only his second first-class match, gave Hyderabad a strong start against Goa, who were bowled out for 164 after choosing to bat in Nagpur. Six of Goa’s batsmen got into double-figures, but only Snehal Kauthankar (38) and Saurabh Bandekar (59, 144b, 8×4, 1×6) got past 20, as Hyderabad’s seamers shared seven wickets between them. Siraj was the pick of them, finishing with figures of 15-9-14-4. Needing to bat out the last 10 overs of the day, Hyderabad ended the day at 28 for 1, with Tanmay Agarwal the batsman dismissed.Rajat Paliwal took two wickets against his old team Services as Haryana enjoyed the better of a truncated day at the Brabourne Stadium. Sent in to bat after a wet outfield ruled out any play in the first session, Services limped to 143 for 6 in 57.4 overs. Opener Anshul Gupta scored 69 off 150 balls (11×4), putting on 40 for the first wicket with Soumik Chatterjee and 117 for the second with Nakul Verma to move Services to 117 for 1, but they lost their way thereafter as offspinner Paliwal and medium-pacer Harshal Patel took two wickets each to run through the middle order.

After yet another series of almosts and if-onlys, Zimbabwe’s batting coach Andy Waller has suggested that the team may simply not be “hungry enough” for victory

Liam Brickhill in Harare05-Oct-2015After yet another series of almosts and if-onlys, Zimbabwe’s batting coach Andy Waller has suggested that the team may simply not be “hungry enough” for victory. From the World Cup, to their tour of Pakistan, the close call against India, the opportunities versus New Zealand and the most recent series against Pakistan, Zimbabwe have not often been able to convert dominant positions into tangible results. Have Zimbabwe just become used to losing?”We had a good sit-down after one of the games, we were allowed to thrash it out, and my one real feeling was that I don’t see that we want it enough,” Waller said. “We’re not hungry enough. We’ve just got to be hungrier than the opposition. When you’re playing against a side like Pakistan or New Zealand, who we know are stronger than us, to me there are two ways you can beat them. One: you can try and out-think them. Two: you have to want it more than the opposition.”And at the moment, to be honest, I don’t see that want. That hunger. So we talk about it, and I’m hoping that with the help of Dav [Whatmore] and everyone that we can get that back. But at times, we don’t look like we want it as badly as we should want it. It’s a worry.”Another worry for Waller has been Zimbabwe’s handling of spin bowling during Pakistan’s visit. After left-arm spinner Imad Wasim’s combined haul of 5 for 25 in the two T20I matches, Zimbabwe lost all 10 wickets to spin in the first one-day international, with legspinner Yasir Shah taking 6 for 26, and nine in the third including Bilal Asif’s 5 for 25 in just his second international.”We’ve lost 19 wickets to spin in two [one-day] games, but up until this series spin hasn’t really been a worry for us,” Waller said. “We played spin well at the World Cup, we played well in Pakistan. Admittedly the wickets weren’t great in the T20s and the first one-dayer, but that’s not an excuse. If you look at how the guys got out, it was just really poor shot selection.”Whether it’s pressure or what it is, it’s hard for me to pinpoint. After playing spin really well this year, we’ve practiced hard in the last two weeks and we’ve got a lot of spin bowlers bowling to us in the nets and it hasn’t looked like we have a problem. And then all of a sudden we do it in the middle. We were probably facing one of the best legspinners in the world in the first ODI, but when you look at [Yasir Shah’s] wickets it was probably only the one of Brian Chari who might not have read the wrong ‘un, but the rest of the guys it was just poor shots.”And then you look at the dismissals today, and yes [Bilal Asif] is a reasonably good offspinner but he’s not supposed to be picking up five wickets like that I don’t think. Look at the wickets to the left-arm spinner. Guys were suddenly going back to balls that they knew he wasn’t trying to turn, he was just drifting them in. We said to the guys ‘play it like a gentle inswing bowler’, and the guys kept playing the same shots. We talk about it between each game, ‘don’t do it again’, and the guys continue doing it. Guys have to look at themselves, and we’ve got to do some serious chatting about it.”It has not all been bad for Zimbabwe, and Waller was heartened by the way some of Zimbabwe’s rookies and fringe players have acquitted themselves in this series. He singled out wicketkeeper-batsman Richmond Mutumbami, who top-scored with 67 in the third ODI, for particular praise.During his innings, Mutumbami had to receive on-field treatment for a blow to his wrist by an express Wahab Riaz delivery and then had his helmet knocked clear off his head by a Mohammad Irfan bouncer. “It was a brilliant knock, a really brave knock,” Waller said. “Under pressure, he came out and he played good positive cricket. He’s a positive young man, he’s a tough little guy, and I can see him going really good places as an opening batter.”Today we had a situation where we needed him, and it’s great because now it’s given him that belief which us coaches already had in him. I think he has got that belief, and hopefully we’ll see a good combination from him and Chamu [Chibhabha].””We need to get the young guys blooded, and whether it’s over a two or three year period, we need to be having a look at them. I think some of the guys have put their hands up. Young Brian Chari, Richmond and Luke Jongwe. A month ago, I wouldn’t have picked Luke as my second seam bowler. He has proved to be a damn good bowler, and he has come in and batted well for a youngster. We’ve got potential in these youngsters, and we must now persevere with them. There’s nothing worse than knowing ‘I’ve only got two or three games to prove myself, and if I don’t then I’m the next one who’s going to get the axe’. We’ve got to give those opportunities. I’m a big believer in that.”

Mumbai allrounder Abhishek Nayar sent down 10 wides and a no-ball in a 17-ball over in the semi-final of the inter-zone Deodhar Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2013Mumbai allrounder Abhishek Nayar sent down 10 wides and a no-ball in a 17-ball over in the semi-final of the inter-zone Deodhar Trophy. Mohammad Sami, the Pakistan quick, holds the record in ODIs, with his famous 17-ball over against Bangladesh in an Asia Cup match in 2004.As with Sami’s wild over against Bangladesh, Nayar’s didn’t have an effect on the outcome of the match: Nayar’s West Zone won with nearly nine overs to spare. Nayar himself had handy figures of 7-0-49-2 with wickets of two specialist batsmen, Hanuma Vihari and CM Gautam. Nayar didn’t look pleased with some of the wide calls, but later said it was more disappointment than dissent. “These things happen,” Nayar told . “I had a bad day, and I was not provoked by the umpire’s call. I was a little rusty initially but I’m happy with my figures for the day.”Nayar come on to bowl in the 12th over of South Zone’s innings, and began with the wicket of opener Vihari first ball. The wide malaise began with the third delivery of the over. Fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th were all wides. All bar one of those were off-side wides. Nayar even tried to shorten his run-up, but to no avail.Finally, when Nayar seemed to have got the last delivery on target, he over-stepped. He survived being penalised harshly on the free hit as Dinesh Karthik, who saw all those wides go through, failed to connect with a wild swing. Nayar was taken off immediately, but he came back on to bowl the 19th over, and delivered only one more wide in his remaining six overs.

An incisive bowling attack and a half-century from Dwayne Smith combined to give Khulna Royal Bengals victory by seven wickets and 16 balls to spare in Mirpur

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2012
ScorecardAn incisive bowling attack and a half-century from Dwayne Smith combined to give Khulna Royal Bengals victory by seven wickets and 16 balls to spare in Mirpur. It was Barisal Burners’ first defeat in the Bangladesh Premier League.After brushing aside opposition bowlers in their first two games, the Burners batsmen failed collectively for the first time. Shafiul Islam dismissed Ahmed Shehzad and Chris Gayle for 0 and 2 on his way to figures of 2 for 7 in four overs. Shakib Al Hasan helped keep the run-rate well below six and, when he dismissed Brad Hodge in the sixth over, the Burners were 15 for 3. They slipped further to 67 for 7 before Mominul Haque made 42 to set Royal Bengals a target of 126.Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Herschelle Gibbs began the chase with a partnership of 36. After they were dismissed, Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya added 45 for the third wicket. Jayasuriya made 23 but it was Smith’s innings of 58 off 41 balls, which included four sixes, that sealed victory for the Royal Bengals.

A hat-trick and five wickets for Rene Farrell set up a tense final day of the one-off Test between Australia and England

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2011
Scorecard
Hat-trick hero: Rene Farrell is ecstatic after having Danielle Hazell lbw•Getty Images

A hat-trick and five wickets for Rene Farrell set up a tense final day of the one-off Test between Australia and England, with the hosts needing another 169 runs to regain the women’s Ashes. Farrell stormed to 5 for 23 off 17 overs, mixing control and destruction as England fell for 149 in their second innings at Bankstown Oval.That left Australia with a target of 198 and they lost Rachael Haynes (4) before Shelley Nitschke and Sarah Elliott both scored 12 as they guided the side to 1 for 29 at stumps. Farrell, whose stock ball is an inswinger, reduced England to 7 for 95 with her hat-trick, which began with the vital wicket of Charlotte Edwards.Edwards, who scored 114 in the first innings, was again looking comfortable until she was lbw on 28 when attempting to hit across the line. Katherine Brunt played-on and the locals erupted when Danielle Hazell missed a full ball and was caught in front, giving Farrell her hat-trick and fifth wicket.In her previous over Farrell had removed Jenny Gunn, who top scored with 30, and had picked up Caroline Atkins in the second over of the day. “Winning the Twenty20 World Cup last year was a massive highlight but this sits up there very high on the list and I’ll remember it for a long time,” Farrell said.”The girls asked me what I was thinking before the hat-trick and I just said what we had been saying all Test – that’s to take it one ball at a time. I wanted to bowl it nice and straight and make her play and I was lucky to get the lbw. It’s a great feeling now and to also finish with a five-for was nice.”England resumed on 0 for 9 and were soon suffering at 3 for 35. Edwards and Gunn slowly rebuilt the innings during a 57-run stand in 28.1 overs, while Isa Guha (26) and Holly Colvin (21) were even more gritty when they added a crucial 41 for the ninth wicket.While Farrell was outstanding and the conditions have been tough for scoring throughout the match, England were not helped by three run-outs. Australia have not held the trophy since 2005 and face a testing assignment to regain the prize.”It was a very good day for us but there is still a long way to go in this Test match and it will be an even better feeling if we can chase these runs,” Farrell said. “I love celebrating any wicket for Australia and if we can pull this win off tomorrow we’ll be celebrating a great win.”