Month: January 2020

11:43 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Faf du Plessis has admitted his “frustration” at Kagiso Rabada’s ban for the Wanderers Test and encouraged his fast bowler to “find a different way” to show his emotion on the field. Rabada was given one demerit point for his celebration after dismissing England’s captain Joe Root on the first day of the Port Elizabeth Test, taking his tally over the past 24 months to…

10:48 AM GMT ESPNcricinfo staff Joe Root equalled an unwanted record on the final day at Port Elizabeth, conceding 28 runs in a single over as Keshav Maharaj made a mockery of his decision to bowl himself with the new ball. Here’s how Varun Shetty recorded the brutalising on ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary… More Root, around the wicket 81.1, Root to Maharaj, FOUR runs, swiped to deep midwicket’s right. Full toss…

10:32 AM GMT Faf du Plessis has admitted that the fourth Test of the series against England at the Wanderers could be his final one on home soil. South Africa’s captain has found himself under pressure after a difficult run which has seen his side lose consecutive Test series at home to Sri Lanka and in India, and now 2-1 down at home to England. ALSO READ: Boucher has ‘no…

8:00 AM GMT Lunch Zimbabwe 260 for 5 (Chakabva 7*, Raza 6*, Lakmal 2-42) v Sri Lanka Having been stalled for most of day one by a flat surface and Zimbabwe’s diligent batting, Sri Lanka finally made headway in Harare, claiming three wickets before lunch. Thanks to day one’s hard work, however, Zimbabwe can still dream of a total in the range of 400, particularly as long as Sikandar Raza…

Jan 19, 2020 South Africa 209 (de Kock 63, Bess 5-51) and 102 for 6 (Root 4-20) trail England 499 for 9 dec by 188 runs England went to South Africa barely sure of their first-choice spinner, but it was spin that took them to the brink of victory inside four days in Port Elizabeth. A morning blitz from the quicks saw South Africa made to follow on, and although…

Play 06:58 The “Dhoni, Dhoni” chants reverberated around the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. The former India captain didn’t suddenly make an appearance. This was the crowd showing its displeasure towards KL Rahul‘s missed stumping to reprieve Steven Smith. Without the benefit of replays, it would have been hard to tell that the ball had ricocheted off Smith’s pads to evade Rahul. It happened that quickly. Virat Kohli didn’t like what…

Bowlers set up series-clinching win for India (4:10) We look at five reasons why India beat Australia by seven wickets in Bengaluru (4:10) 3:41 AM GMT Intensity, body language and learning to take tosses out of the equation have been key to India’s roaring start to 2020. This was Virat Kohli‘s assessment as he drew satisfaction from two hard-fought wins that helped India take the Australia series 2-1 after a…

8:00 AM GMT West Indies 140 for 1 (Simmons 91*, Lewis 46) beat Ireland 138 (O’Brien 36, Balbirnie 28, Pollard 3-17, Bravo 3-19) by nine wickets Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo picked up three wickets each before Lendl Simmons made short work of the chase as West Indies romped home by nine wickets to finish the three-match series 1-1. Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien gave Ireland another breezy start, taking…

8:10 PM GMT Fast bowling is a tough business. A tough, serious business. Think of Gus Fraser, trudging back to his mark with a face as long as Livery Street. Or Jimmy Anderson, scowling his way through another spell. And who can blame them? Invariably fast bowlers have spines held together by plates and screws, toe nails that come off in their socks and blisters as large as a side…