Manchester Originals coach Simon Katich has urged the ECB to rethink staging the Hundred eliminator 24 hours before the final. Speaking after his team lost a nail-biter at Lord’s to eventual 2022 champions Trent Rockets, Katich lamented what he saw as a tired performance with the bat and was in no doubt that playing at the Ageas Bowl on Friday night contributed to such a display. Originals posted 120 for…
Trent Rockets 121 for 8 (Malan 19, Little 2-18) beat Manchester Originals 120 for 9 (Turner 26, Cook 4-18) by two wickets One of the many criticisms of the 2022 edition of the men’s Hundred was the lack of close finishes. The kind which build legends and tear down legacies, or even simply give mortals a taste of nectar or soul-crushing agony. Now, in the 32nd and final game, we…
Hear it loud and clear. Rahul Dravid is not concerned over Virat Kohli‘s form and while people on the outside may be “a bit obsessed with his statistics and numbers”, the people on the inside know their former captain is worth much more than the fifties and hundreds he can score. “He played very well in the last match [against Hong Kong], and we are happy with his performance,” Dravid…
Oval Invincibles 105 for 5 (Kapp 37*) beat Southern Brave 101 for 7 (Dunkley 26, Ismail 2-12) by five wickets Oval Invincibles defended their Hundred title thanks to Marizanne Kapp‘s nerveless, unbeaten innings of 37 off 33 to steer them past Southern Brave in a rematch of last year’s final. After choosing to bat first, Brave collapsed from 83 for 2 after 74 balls to post just 101 for 7,…
Rahul Dravid is clear that India will look to play their best XI from now on, leading into the men’s T20 World Cup, without worrying about workload management. “Unless there’s an injury or a niggle, or someone needs to be kept out, we’ve always come here wanting to play our best possible squad or the best possible XI that we can select,” Dravid said a day before India’s Asia Cup…
Rajat Patidar‘s scores in his last few innings, across formats and tournaments, suggests that he is in the middle of a dream run. An unbeaten 170, with the promise of more to come, for India A against New Zealand A in Bengaluru is just the latest. The plan, now, is not to get too far ahead of himself. “It’s all a mental thing and is different for every individual. If…
Durham have announced that James Franklin, their head coach, will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season. Franklin has been at the club since 2019 but has overseen a disappointing 2022 season: they sit third-bottom in Division Two heading into the final month of the County Championship and failed to progress in either white-ball competition. Durham said in a statement that Franklin had “overseen…
Punjab Kings have settled on Trevor Bayliss as their next head coach, ahead of IPL 2023, after Anil Kumble‘s contract was not renewed. Kings had failed to make the playoffs for three consecutive seasons under Kumble. Bayliss comes with a lot of pedigree, not just internationally but also in the IPL. He was the head coach of England when they won the 2019 ODI World Cup and was also the…
Big picture It wasn’t until Friday night that this fixture was officially confirmed, but make no mistake, the second instalment of India versus Pakistan had long been pencilled-in in the minds of supporters, organisers and players for this Sunday. Its proximity to the sides’ most recent contest, just a week ago, gives it that added layer of intrigue and context, with the sides not quite as unfamiliar with each other…
Toss Sri Lanka opt to bowl vs Afghanistan The Super 4 stage of the 2022 Asia Cup got underway with a coin toss in Sharjah that eventually proved redundant since its winners Sri Lanka chose to chase and Afghanistan wanted to bat first anyway. Dasun Shanaka said Sri Lanka preferred to bowl since his side are better chasers while Mohammad Nabi said that he expects the pitch to slow down…