Learned from Chandimal's first-innings knock – Shakib

Shakib Al Hasan displayed patience on the third day to bring up his fifth Test ton © AFP Shakib Al Hasan was cagey about what drove him to recklessness on the second evening, but conceded he had done some hard thinking overnight before he resumed his innings where he went on to score a vital hundred on the third day of Bangladesh’s 100th Test against Sri Lanka. Bangladesh had lost…

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Plot watch – Ranchi pitch continues to behave itself

There was enough bounce on day two, contrary to pre-match expectations © Associated Press Day 2 Pitch watch Standard, slow Indian Test-match pitch with something in it for everyone: fact. Stitched-up, tailor-made, doctored, raging, cracking dustbowl, which spits venom like a basilisk: alternative fact. After 177.3 overs of competitive Test cricket, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Ravindra Jadeja, India’s openers and Australia’s fast bowlers deserve all the headlines. The pitch does…

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Spinners losing sting with old ball – Sandakan

Lakshan Sandakan has said that the slow pitch in Colombo is making life hard for Sri Lanka’s spinners © AFP The new ball remained key to the spinners’ menace on this P Sara deck, said Lakshan Sandakan, after he took 4 for 140 in the Colombo Test. Sri Lanka were not particularly effective with either the first or second new ball, taking most of their wickets after the shine had…

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Kusal Perera, Thisara return to Sri Lanka ODI squad

Upul Tharanga will remain Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain after Angelo Mathews failed to recover in time for the ODI series © AFP Kusal Perera and Thisara Perera were recalled to Sri Lanka’s ODI squad against Bangladesh, but captain Angelo Mathews continued to remain unavailable due to injury. Other additions in the ODI squad included opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka – fresh from an excellent run for Sri Lanka A – but…

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Pollard, Narine, Badree, Simmons to play Pak T20s

Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine are back in West Indies’ colours © AFP The Trinidad quartet of Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons and Samuel Badree has been picked by the West Indies selectors to play in the T20 segment of the limited-overs series against Pakistan. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the four players are part of a squad picked for the first two contests of the four-match series. The T20…

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Shahzaib Hasan provisionally suspended from cricket

Shahzaib Hasan made 19 and 0 in his only two PSL innings this year © PCB Batsman Shahzaib Hasan has become the fifth Pakistan player to be provisionally suspended by the PCB as part of its investigation into alleged corruption in the Pakistan Super League. Shahzaib was suspended with immediate effect from all forms of cricket for allegedly failing to report a suspect approach in time and in full detail,…

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Rashid six-for outshines Stirling heroics in Afghanistan win

Afghanistan 338 (Stanikzai 101, Rahmat 68, Shahzad 63, Stirling 6-55) beat Ireland 304 (Stirling 95, Joyce 55, Rashid 6-43, Dawlat 3-52) by 34 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details Rashid Khan ran through Ireland’s middle order, yet again © Associated Press A match lit up by stellar individual performances for most parts ended on a tame note as Ireland suffered two mini-collapses on either side of a sixth-wicket stand that kept them…

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Sarfraz puts onus on seniors for World Cup berth

Sarfraz: ‘Senior bowlers have played ample cricket and now have to step up’ © AFP Limited-overs captain Sarfraz Ahmed expects Pakistan’s senior players to step up in the West Indies in their bid for direct qualification to the 2019 World Cup. He emphasised the importance of senior fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz taking wickets to make a difference on the upcoming tour, which starts with four T20I games…

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Long run in Tests gives Umesh results

Play 01:09 ‘Now know my strengths, look to focus on them’ – Umesh Through the course of the 2016-17 home season, Umesh Yadav has played more matches and bowled more overs than any other Indian fast bowler. His efforts, though, haven’t always translated into wickets: before the start of the series against Australia, Umesh’s average for the season was 54.23. The rewards, though, have begun to arrive. Five bowling innings…

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Malan stars with century as South trounce North

South 205 for 0 (Malan 109*, Bell-Drummond 92*) beat North 202 (Clarke 57, Curran 3-19) by ten wicketsScorecard Dawid Malan’s century guided South to a thumping victory in Dubai © Getty Images Dawid Malan made a high-class century and shared an unbroken opening partnership of 205 with Daniel Bell-Drummond as the South crushed the North by ten wickets in the first game of the new North-South Series in Dubai. The…

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