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Plays of the day from the Champions League match between Rajasthan Royals and Lions in Jaipur

Devashish Fuloria25-Sep-2013The bat
Off the last ball of the 12th over, Shane Watson attempted his trademark hoick over long-on off a length delivery, but the low bounce meant that the ball hit the inside half of the bat. Watson immediately looked at his blade to check if there was any damage. But all doubts on the state of the bat were dispensed with as he muscled two sixes and a four in his next four deliveries.The luck
Sanju Samson had scored a half-century in Royals’ win against Mumbai Indians, an innings that was replete with unconvincing shots and numerous edges. That was a good day. Samson brought the same form to this match but only brought half the luck. In his brief stay, he edged one through gully, then edged one to first slip to be dropped by Alviro Petersen, and ultimately ran out of luck, edging an angled delivery from Lonwabo Tsotsobe to the wicketkeeper.The comeback
Sohail Tanvir was the leading wicket-taker in the first season of the IPL when he was part of the title-winning Rajasthan Royals squad and the way he bowled his first three overs today, it felt like he had never left Jaipur. He mixed up the lengths, varied pace, changed angles and kept the Royals batsmen guessing. His last over though undid his good work. Brad Hodge slogged the second and third deliveries to the boundary, then went one better as he smashed two sixes in the remaining three balls, ruining Tanvir’s figures to 4-0-36-1.The drop
Rahul Dravid may have taken more catches than anyone in his Test career, but in his last season of active cricket, that is one area in which he has struggled to maintain standards. He took a simple chance at mid-on when Rassie van der Dussen mistimed a slog, but made a mess of the second that came his way. He had stationed himself at long-on and when Hardus Viljoen chipped one to his right, he ran a few paces to his right, settled into a good position, but dropped the dolly.

Bangladesh batting coach Corey Richards wants his batsmen to cut out reckless shots and play percentage cricket at the same time

Mohammad Isam13-Feb-2014Bangladesh are slowly mastering the Twenty20 approach to batting but as Wednesday night showed, they are still prone to getting their calculations wrong. Unlike Sri Lanka, who found a way back in Chittagong after losing their way in the middle overs, Bangladesh usually go down quickly when they face a good spell of bowling, which in Twenty20s, can also be a single over.Tamim Iqbal fell to a superb Angelo Mathews catch while Shakib Al Hasan and Nasir Hossain fell at critical times in the 169-run chase – in the 14th and 17th overs. Tamim failed at the pull, Shakib at the slog and Nasir at clearing the straight field.Bangladesh’s batting coach Corey Richards said that aggressive strokeplay should be complemented by caution at all times. Bangladesh batsmen have the habit of waiting for boundary balls in all formats, cutting out other options like an aggressively run single or two.”Our philosophy is to promote aggressive but responsible batting, and by that allowing the players to express themselves but with a common sense approach,” Richards said. “Sometimes if you play aggressively without responsibility then that is when you can become reckless, which is what we have been guilty of in the past and what we are trying to rectify within the players’ mentality. It is important to have an aggressive mindset, but to play percentage cricket at the same time.”For Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka’s assistant coach, batting in Twenty20s is all about keeping the mind uncluttered, especially if those in the middle have enough confidence. “It is about picking the right guys to perform at this format,” Atapattu said. “You (need to) have people who are in the right frame of mind and who have the right mental capacity to try and execute skills under pressure.”The game moves so quickly, you should be able to express yourself freely. Whoever is willing to do that, they can be successful,” he said.It is slightly more challenging for Richards, who has to correct the wrong habits that players have developed, and make sure they don’t come back even in the nets. “Good habits come from practicing with intent, being specific and under match simulation.”From a coaching side of things, one has to continually communicate with the player on what they are trying to do regarding the plans,” he said.Richards believes that by bringing in Sabbir Rahman in the batting line-up, Bangladesh can have two attacking batsmen in the end overs, instead of just Nasir.”I think that someone like Sabbir Rahman has shown at domestic level that he is a good finisher and if those two [Sabbir and Nasir] are in at the death then it will be good to watch.”It is important that the tail has the ability to clear the ropes and with [Farhad] Reza, [Sohag] Gazi and Mashrafe, we have three of those guys if required,” he said.Coaches will talk about plans and how they ought to be executed, and it can sometimes be mind-numbing. But for a team like Bangladesh, gaining a lot of information about themselves gives them confidence. Atapattu’s batsmen can bank on that given their quality and volume of experience, but it is one game at a time for Richards’ batsmen.

Plays of the day from the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals

Devashish Fuloria29-Apr-2014The over
Rajasthan Royals had made slow progress to be 25 for 1 at the end of five overs before receiving a boost in the sixth – the last over of the Powerplay – as Morne Morkel leaked 20 runs. But apart from a wide delivery that cost his team three runs, he didn’t do much wrong. Morkel’s second delivery was slogged through mid-on by Sanju Samson without much timing, the third went to the fine-leg boundary off the inside half of the bat, the fifth was top-edged to fine-leg boundary again and the last teased the fielder to the midwicket boundary.The replacement
Shakib Al Hasan was included over Chris Lynn for his value as a wily bowler and he bowled an economical spell of 4-0-23-1. But fielding is where Knight Riders would have missed Lynn. The other night, he took a screamer at the boundary to win them a match. A similar chance flew off Ajinkya Rahane’s bat towards Shakib at deep midwicket. Unfortunately, Shakib misjudged it completely, first running in, then, only managing to get a hand. Had he jumped, he could have taken the catch. The shot went for six runs.The boundary
Hitting a four is a non-event for most top-order batsmen. But not if you are Gautam Gambhir. Since April 4, he had played five matches – four of them in this IPL – and had just a single run. The wait for a boundary – for any runs really – must have been excruciating for Gambhir. He came close to getting there in the first over of the Knight Riders’ innings as he pulled Stuart Binny to deep square leg and made it eventually in the second over, to his relief, punching one through point. The first one was followed by a confident one in the third over – a one-bounce four through midwicket – and finally the monkey was off his back.The referral
Jacques Kallis quickly put his bat under his shoulder and walked off after getting a faint inside edge to the wicketkeeper off a Shane Watson delivery. He didn’t wait for the umpire to raise his finger. Fortunately for him, he got immediate return on his ‘being honest’ policy as the replays showed the bowler had overstepped.The knock
In an age where the fielders and bowlers appeal for anything close, it was strange to hear silence follow a loud woody knock as the ball flew past the outside edge of Kallis’ bat. The wicketkeeper had his hands on his head, the slip fielder had the same expression and the bowler too had despair writ on his face. The sound was heard loud and clear in the replays too with the only thing being close to the ball being the bat.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the third T20 between West Indies and England

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2014Contrast of the dayAfter six overs in the second T20 England were 30 for 3. This time they found their mojo with Michael Lumb, especially, cutting loose as they were 64 without loss in the field restrictions. The openers enjoyed three overs of pace, in the absence of Samuel Badree, before confronting Sunil Narine and although there was not quite the six-hitting frenzy that West Indies can produce, 11 fours in the six overs was certainly an improvement.Slower ball of the dayKrishmar Santokie found the going tougher early on in this match than he had done two days ago, but came back superbly in the latter part of the innings. He removed the dangerous Jos Buttler, however the highlight was his slower ball that confounded the out-of-form Ben Stokes. The ball gripped on the surface, turned and sailed through the considerable gap left by Stokes’ lunge forward. Just to cap it off for Santokie, the middle stump was flattened.Salute of the daySheldon Cottrell was a soldier before being an international cricketer. He used to stand guard at Sabina Park when matches were being played. Now, when claiming wickets on his T20 debut – Michael Lumb and Alex Hales in consecutive overs – he saluted his team-mates in a reminder of his former profession.Catch of the dayTowards the end of the match a rainbow appeared in the sky about Bridgetown. It would not have been out of place landing on Chris Jordan, because everything he touched turned to gold. First came the runs, then the wickets. But just to round it off he also pulled off a superb outfield catch, running around from deep midwicket, to remove Dwayne Bravo.Non-wide of the dayInstinct took over for Darren Sammy on the last ball of the match. Knowing West Indies needed six for the win, after a wide the previous delivery from Jade Dernbach, he went after the next ball which, if he had not got the toe-end of the bat on it, would also have been signalled a wide and given him another chance of launching one out of the ground. Still, with the series wrapped and at the end of a highly entertaining content, he was still able to draw a wry smile.

Stats highlights from Australia’s 62-run win against South Africa in Harare

S Rajesh02-Sep-201462 The margin of victory for Australia; also the number of runs they scored in the last four overs of their innings, which propelled them from 220 after 46 overs, to 282 after 50. Australia scored the following number of runs in each of the last four overs: 21 off Dale Steyn, 16 off Ryan McLaren, 9 off Morne Morkel, and 16 off McLaren.3 The number of times a South African No. 3 batsman has scored more than 126 against one of the top seven Test-playing teams, excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Including all opposition, du Plessis’ knock is the eighth-best score for a South African No. 3 in ODIs.57.3 The percentage of South Africa’s runs scored by du Plessis, which is the third-best for South Africa in a completed ODI innings. The two higher ones are Gary Kirsten’s unbeaten 188 out of South Africa’s 321 in the 1996 World Cup against UAE, and Herschelle Gibbs’ unbeaten 59 out of 101 against Pakistan in Sharjah in 2000.86 Mitchell Marsh’s score, the third-best in ODIs by a No. 6 batsman against South Africa, after Chris Cairns’ unbeaten 102 and Ajay Jadeja’s 92.168.6 Marsh’s strike rate in his innings of 86 is the fourth-best – and the best by an Australian – for a batsman at No. 6 or lower in an ODI innings in which he faced at least 50 balls. The best is Shahid Afridi’s 124 off 60 balls (strike rate 206.66) in Dambulla in 2010.3 The number of sixes that were hit off Dale Steyn in the 47th over of the Australian innings. It was the first time Steyn’s disappeared for three sixes in an over in international cricket. He has been hit for two in an over five times in ODIs, three times in Tests, and twice in Twenty20 internationals.5 The number of times Steyn has gone at more than seven runs an over, when he has bowled at least eight overs in an ODI. The last such instance was in November 2010 against Pakistan in Dubai, when he conceded 79 from 10 overs.60 The number of instances of batsmen getting out hit-wicket. Du Plessis’ score of 126 is the highest among those 60 instances. The only other batsman to get out in this manner after scoring a century is Virat Kohli, for 107 against England in Cardiff in 2011.133 The margin by which Zimbabwe need to beat South Africa to eliminate them from the final, if Zimbabwe bat first and score 250. If South Africa bat first and score 200, Zimbabwe will need to chase the total down in about 23.3 overs.

Also, most runs in boundaries in a Test innings, and ODI debuts in the World Cup

Steven Lynch09-Dec-2014There were 396 runs in boundaries in New Zealand’s total in Sharjah. Is that a record for a Test innings? asked Steve Rafferty from Hong Kong

New Zealand’s 690 against Pakistan in Sharjah recently included 66 fours and a record 22 sixes, a total of 396 in boundaries. It turns out that there have been four higher boundary-counts in all Tests: India hit 101 fours and a six (410 runs) in their 705 for 7 dec against Australia in Sydney in 2003-04; Pakistan’s 643 against New Zealand in Lahore in 2002 included 422 in boundaries; and Australia’s 735 for 6 dec against Zimbabwe in Perth in 2003-04 featured 434 runs in fours and sixes. But the record was set by Sri Lanka, in the course of making the Test-record total of 952 for 6 dec against India in Colombo in 1997: their batsmen struck 109 fours and two sixes, or 448 in boundaries. For the full list, click here.Thisara Perera is approaching 1000 runs, after 87 one-day internationals, and has already reached 100 wickets. What is the record for the fastest double? asked Ali from the United States

After 87 matches (I’m writing after the third game of the current series against England), Thisara Perera was 51 runs short of completing this double – he’s already got 108 wickets. He’s not going to beat the overall record: Shaun Pollock completed the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in his 68th one-day international, Abdul Razzaq of Pakistan did it in 69 matches, and Pollock’s South African team-mate Lance Klusener in 70. Six other players got there in fewer than 87 matches. However, Perera should comfortably set a new record for Sri Lanka: currently their fastest double was achieved by Farveez Maharoof, in his 99th match. Of the 56 players who have done this double so far, the slowest was Sourav Ganguly, who completed it in his 311th and last match, in November 2007.Brendon McCullum’s triple-century against India earlier this year came in his side’s second innings. Has anyone ever done this before in a Test? asked Michael Phillips from New Zealand

Brendon McCullum’s 302 against India in Wellington earlier this year was only the second Test triple-century in a side’s second innings. The first was scored by Hanif Mohammad, who made 337 to stave off defeat after Pakistan followed on 473 runs behind against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957-58. Someone who came very close was Martin Crowe, with 299 – New Zealand’s previous-highest Test score – in the second innings against Sri Lanka in Wellington in 1990-91. There have been only 32 scores of 200 and above in Test second innings. Only five of those have come in the fourth innings, in which George Headley’s 223 for West Indies against England in Kingston in 1929-30 remains the highest.Taijul Islam took a hat trick on his one-day international debut recently. Has anyone ever done this before? asked Cherise Asha Clarke from Trinidad

Slow left-armer Taijul Islam, playing against Zimbabwe in Mirpur last week, took the 36th hat-trick in one-day internationals – the fourth for Bangladesh – but the first by anyone on debut. The Pakistan paceman Jalal-ud-Din’s hat-trick – the first in one-day internationals – against Australia in Hyderabad in 1982-83 came in only his second match. Australia’s Anthony Stuart took one in his third ODI – against Pakistan in Melbourne in 1996-97 – and rather surprisingly never played another one. Three bowlers – Maurice Allom (England), Peter Petherick (New Zealand) and Damien Fleming (Australia) – took hat-tricks on their Test debuts.Is Mohammad Hafeez the first player to be dismissed in the 190s twice in Tests? asked Ibrahim Kamara from Sierra Leone

There have been 72 scores between 190 and 199 in Tests now, eight of them not-outs. Mohammad Hafeez – who followed 196 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2012 with 197 against New Zealand in Sharjah recently – is the 13th to register two, after Mohammad Azharuddin, Ian Chappell, Rahul Dravid, Herschelle Gibbs, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar (one not out), Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Everton Weekes, Frank Worrell (both not out) and Younis Khan. But there are three batsmen who have three to their names: Mohammad Yousuf was out for 192 against England, then 192 and 191 against West Indies, in the space of four Tests in 2006; and Kumar Sangakkara was out for 192 against Australia in Hobart in 2007-08, then made 199 not out and 192 in successive Tests against Pakistan at Galle and Colombo in 2012.Are there any players who have made their ODI debut in the World Cup? I can’t think of any from India, asked Anurag Manke from India

There have actually been 194 players whose first official one-day international has come during a World Cup. Most of those are either from early on, when there weren’t many ODIs going on elsewhere – there were 39 debutants in the first World Cup in 1975, and 27 in the second in 1979 – or come from Associate teams, which didn’t have a programme of matches outside the World Cup until quite recently. Things have settled down now: in 2007, the only debutant from anywhere was the West Indian Kieron Pollard, while in 2011 there were seven – Devendra Bishoo, Kirk Edwards and Andre Russell of West Indies, the Canadian pair of Tyson Gordon and Karl Whatham, Imran Tahir of South Africa, and Holland’s Berend Westdijk. Overall, six players from India have made their ODI debuts in the World Cup, but none since 1992: Mohinder Amarnath, Anshuman Gaekwad and Karsan Ghavri in 1975, Surinder Khanna in 1979, Navjot Singh Sidhu in 1987, and Ajay Jadeja in 1992.

The pain of this defeat will haunt Scotland all the more with their future participation at World Cups under threat

George Dobell in Dunedin26-Feb-2015When Majid Haq is an old man, dozing by the fire, he will still wake in a cold sweat replaying chance.When memories of his fine innings have faded, when he has forgotten about the two good catches he took or the fact that he bowled his first nine overs for just 26 runs, edge will still be looping its way to him. He will still move for it, still feel he has it covered. And the ball will still end up on the grass next to him.Regrets, like tattoos and former partners, can linger long after their charm has gone.Samiullah Shenwari had scored 20 when he edged Richie Berrington to Haq at slip. It is often said that no slip catch is easy, but this was the exception. Mark Waugh might have taken the ball behind his back. With one hand. Blindfolded. On a unicycle. Afghanistan would have been 88 for 5 had it been caught.Shenwari went on to make a match-defining 96. To add to Haq’s woes, Shenwari thrashed him for three sixes in the bowler’s final over. It ruined his figures and put Afghanistan back on track.It is pointless to deny it: had Haq taken the catch, Scotland would surely have won. But you lose, as you win, as a team. And if each man in Scotland’s side is honest, they will reflect that they were the architects of this defeat.

Mommsen praises ‘brilliant’ Shenwari innings

Amid the pain of defeat, Preston Mommsen found warm words for his Afghanistan opponents as they celebrated their first World Cup victory.
“I am pleased for them,” he said. “We have huge amounts of respect for the Afghanistan national team and the pride they have and the way they go about their business and the journey that they’ve gone on and are still going on. We respect what they do.
“We threw everything at them to try to get those [last] three wickets and we just couldn’t. It was obviously credit as well to the way Shenwari played. He had a serious knock and individually he’s got them over the line.
“We were trying to manage the innings, but somehow Shenwari managed to manage things better than us. He just kept on top, and kept up with the run rate. He managed to find a way to keep in there. It was a brilliant innings by him.”

The bowlers will know that, in conceding 11 extras in no-balls and wides, they donated runs that might have cost the game. Calum MacLeod will know that, by steering a long-hop to backward point, he gave his wicket away softly. Matt Machan will know the shot that cost him his wicket – an awful attempted smear through the off side – displayed a lack of composure and match awareness that may have defined the game.Kyle Coetzer will be cursing the lack of foot movement that left a gate so large, Dawlat Zadran could have driven a truck through it and Iain Wardlaw will be ruing the leg-side full toss that allowed Shapoor Zadran to flick the fate-sealing boundary.Even from the penultimate ball of the game, victory was there for the taking. Had Machan, tearing in from square leg, hit with his throw from a few feet, Shapoor would have been run out.Scotland may never have a better chance to win a World Cup game. In their third appearance in the tournament, in their 11th match, they had this game in their grasp. When they claimed the eighth Afghanistan wicket, their opponents were still 79 runs from victory.”We didn’t play our best cricket, but it’s still a game that we should have won,” Preston Mommsen, the Scotland captain, said. “Both with the bat and with the ball we got into winning positions, but we couldn’t find the killer punch, which is regrettable.”We managed to gain quite a bit of control when we got to 93 for 3. Then soft dismissals just handed it back to them.”We had the opportunity to really nail it. So that is disappointing. That is something that we need to look at as a batting group. Guys are getting in, doing all the hard work, and then not going on to make it count.”Six guys getting in and no one getting to 50, well, that’s not something that we’re proud of.”What was the most galling aspect of this defeat?Was it that Scotland performed so admirably in clawing their way back into the contest? Was it that, after losing an important toss on a pitch offering Afghanistan’s potent attack substantial assistance, they earned a good foothold in the game, first through Machan and Mommsen and then through Haq and Ali Evans?Haq and Evans’ partnership was little short of heroic. Adding 62 for the ninth wicket, they demonstrated composure and game awareness in simply picking off the singles, benefiting from Afghanistan’s porous fielding – certainly the weakest aspect of their game – and picking off the odd bad ball. But it was also a stand that showed up the profligacy of their top order.And then, later, Evans in particular bowled an immaculate first spell to put the brakes on Afghanistan before Berrington, the weak link in the bowling attack, really, claimed career-best figures in a demonstration of skill and nerve.But the most galling part may be that, in essence, this match Scotland’s World Cup. This was their opportunity – possibly their last opportunity – to demonstrate the progress they have made. This was their most realistic opportunity to win a game. This was their opportunity to show the ICC, and the watching world, that they belonged.Richie Berrington’s four-wicket haul was not enough to secure Scotland a maiden World Cup win•AFPOh, yes. will know it. Keen followers of Associate cricket will know it. But the rest? In years to come, they may leaf through the pages of Wisden and view this Scotland team in the same way we view the East Africa team that contested the 1975 World Cup. Something of an oddity. Arcane. No-hopers. And they are much, much better than that. Cricket can be cruel.”Experience is a huge thing,” Mommsen continued as he tried to make sense of the loss. “Particularly as a global event. We are still new boys. Maybe that showed today.”The answer, clearly, is to provide more opportunities. To nurture and encourage cricket in Scotland. To help it flourish and grow. But the current ICC doesn’t see it like that and, as things stand, Scotland may struggle to pass this way again. Life doesn’t always provide second chances.It will be no help right now but, in years to come, Scotland’s players might console themselves in the knowledge that they were involved in one of the great World Cup encounters. One of only five one-wicket margins in the tournament’s history. They may, in time, also take consolation in the joy of their Associate brothers from Afghanistan. No-one could begrudge them their maiden World Cup victory – the first of many – or fail to enjoy the uninhibited passion with which they play.This was a good day for cricket. It showed, for the second day in succession, that Associate nations enrich the World Cup. It provided an eloquent case for their ongoing inclusion. It may, sooner rather than later, become impossible for the ICC to deny it.But none of that will matter to Scotland right now. They’ve squandered a chance that may never come round again. And they know it.

MS Dhoni’s batting has shown signs of decline. The big hits have grown less frequent and there is a definite sense that we are seeing a most singular career winding down

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Chennai10-Apr-2015It was a chest-high short ball on an off-stumpish line, quick and skiddy. MS Dhoni, shaping to pull, was late on his shot and the ball hit the sticker of his bat and rolled to mid-on.A few years ago, he might have picked up the length a fraction earlier, and given himself time to swing his entire body through the shot, the vicious force of it lifting both his feet off the ground. The ball might have hit the sweet spot of his bat with a resonant crack and sped away through midwicket.Four overs earlier, Dhoni had played that trademark pull, but against the gentler pace of Albie Morkel. Now he was facing the genuinely quick Nathan Coulter-Nile.The next ball was slower, and Dhoni couldn’t muscle it past mid-off. Coulter-Nile then speared one very full, almost in the blockhole, and Dhoni clipped it straight to midwicket. This was the 18th over of Chennai Super Kings’ innings and Coulter-Nile had sent down three straight dot balls.Scattered applause rang out in the Upper G stand of the MA Chidambaram Stadium. It is a cliché to call the Chennai crowd ‘knowledgeable’, but here was evidence that they still appreciated good cricket from an opposition player, even in the hyper-partisan IPL era. This was uncomfortable watching for the mostly yellow-clad spectators, but it was good bowling, and they recognised it.They may have wondered, though, if a younger Dhoni might not have sent that last ball soaring over wide long-on with that famous whip of his bottom wrist. They may have wondered when they had last seen their hero play the helicopter shot.Such thoughts had seemed farthest from their minds when the stadium announcer called out the XIs after the toss. They had greeted the other names – notably Suresh Raina’s – with raucous cheers, but they didn’t even wait for Dhoni’s to be called out before they exploded.And that was nothing compared to the reception they gave him when he stepped over the boundary rope in the 13th over, at the fall of Faf du Plessis’ wicket. It was a wraparound wall of noise, broken only by the I, J and K stands that had been left vacant because the Supreme Court had ruled they had violated safety norms. It took until Dhoni had faced a couple of balls and picked up a nurdled single and a late-cut two off Amit Mishra for the whistles and insistent chants of ‘Dhoni, Dhoni’ to subside.But now they had gone quiet. Coulter-Nile bent his back and pounded the ball into the middle of the pitch. It leapt over Dhoni’s shoulder before he could swivel around fully to hook it. A leg bye the next ball took Dhoni to the non-striker’s end. He was batting on 15 off 21 balls, and had faced five balls in the 18th over of a Twenty20 innings without managing a run off the bat.

They found their voice again when Dhoni hit Coulter-Nile for two sixes in the final over, but there was a flatness to the noise they made, a recognition that these were fortuitous runs

R Ashwin hit the last ball of the over for four, simply standing tall and caressing it into the gap between point and third man, and picked up three intelligently placed twos in the next over, the 19th of the Super Kings innings. Ordinarily, the Chennai crowd would have grown restless at Dhoni being kept off strike at this stage of the innings, but now they may have almost been thankful for it.They found their voice again when Dhoni hit Coulter-Nile for two sixes in the final over, but there was a flatness to the noise they made, a recognition that these were fortuitous runs. The first one was an attempted leg-side slog that went off the top edge and carried all the way over the backward point boundary. The second was a slower ball that Dhoni swung too early at, and met much further in front of his body than he intended. Dhoni fell away to the leg side and his bottom hand came off the handle, but he made good enough contact for the ball to sail over the straight boundary.He skied the next ball into mid-off’s hands off the top-edge, late on another pull against another well-directed short ball. He had made 30 off 27. It was an un-Dhoni-like innings, but he’s played plenty of them in recent times.There were two innings at the World Cup that resembled this one against Daredevils. India batted first both times, and their top order had laid the perfect platform for a final flourish.Against Pakistan, Dhoni walked in to bat in the 46th over, and kept finding the fielders on his way to 18 off 13 balls. Against South Africa, he entered in the 45th and made 18 off 11. He punished the wayward Wayne Parnell for three successive fours but struggled against Morne Morkel’s pace and bounce. Both innings – like the one against Daredevils – ended with top-edged pulls.Dhoni could have been out to a top-edged pull even in the semi-final against Australia. On 42 he was rushed by an accurate short ball from Josh Hazlewood, but Michael Clarke put down the skied chance at midwicket. Dhoni had walked into a desperate situation, and winning seemed out of the question, but the discomfiting thing about his innings was the sense that none of the bowlers seemed particularly scared of bowling to him. That was never the case a couple of years ago, no matter what the situation was.The feeling of watching a fading Dhoni subsided when Super Kings were on the field. Here were the comfortingly familiar idiosyncrasies of his captaincy. Here were the traffic-policeman-like gestures to his fielders. Here were the weird field placements – leg gully made an appearance; mid-on stood directly in line with long-on when Ashwin bowled to Morkel; two backward points prowled within handshaking distance of each other when Dwayne Bravo bowled to Yuvraj Singh and Morkel. Here was the feeling of certainty that Ravindra Jadeja would not get a bowl as long as any of the left-handed trio of Morkel, Yuvraj and JP Duminy were at the crease. Here was the Dhoni you knew and despaired over and maybe even loved.Dhoni has retired from Test cricket. He has said he will think about his ODI future after the World T20 next year. Going by that, we might see him play for India for a while yet. “I’m 33,” he had said after India’s World Cup exit. “I’m still running, I’m still fit.”That he is. But his batting has shown signs of decline. The big hits have grown less frequent, as have the fire-and-ice finishing knocks. He may yet play one or two during this IPL season and dispel thoughts of his cricketing mortality for a while, but there is a definite sense that we are seeing a most singular career winding down. Enjoy him while he’s still around.

He has been much derided, has had his share of luck and tested the faith shown in him. Now he has paid it back, and with this win, so has Bangladesh

Mohammad Isam09-Mar-2015If you like an underdog character in an underdog story, Mahmudullah is your man. He rode through a lot of criticism, tested the establishment’s faith, survived a bit of fortune, worked hard to lose some weight in the last two years and it culminated in him becoming Bangladesh’s first World Cup centurion. It was apt that the record went to a batsman who needed a big score on a big occasion.Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque had publicly stated they wanted the honour. Tamim missed out against Scotland by five runs while Anamul had to be withdrawn due to a shoulder injury. Mushfiqur Rahim is now the batting leader. Shakib Al Hasan the best allrounder in the world. In his 114th ODI, Mahmudullah needed this century more than any of Bangladesh’s top order players.From 8 for 2 in the third over, Mahmudullah held off James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who looked to be recovering from a lacklustre campaign. He rode his luck, provided stability at one end and looked after Soumya Sarkar when he played a couple of bad shots. They put on 86 runs for the third wicket and to a player like Soumya, only five ODIs old and in the middle of a high-pressure match, those mid-pitch talks are likely to stick for a long time.It is said when Shakib falls early, Bangladesh lose half the battle. Mahmudullah debunked that, adding 141 runs for the fifth wicket with Mushfiqur. He reached fifty off 69 balls, with three fours and a slapped six over midwicket. He maintained that pace and reached his maiden ODI hundred from the next 62 balls, with four more boundaries and another six. Mahmudullah ended up on 103 off 138 balls, substance on a big occasion he has treasured for long.He slowed down after getting his century, but this was the tenacious Mahmudullah England know all too well. He was there to turn around a hopeless chase in the 2011 World Cup and ensure Bangladesh won by two wickets in Chittagong. The difference was he was a late-order spare batsman then, only necessary when the top and middle order failed.The last time we saw as big a smile in Mahmudullah’s face was when he led the team in a Gangnam jig, following Bangladesh’s 3-2 series win over West Indies in 2012. It was against West Indies again that he turned a corner in 2014. Later, he struck two smooth fifties against Zimbabwe and at the start of the World Cup, made sure an early wicket against Scotland didn’t bother Bangladesh’s chase.But things hadn’t gone quite so well in between. Mahmudullah averaged 34 and 26 in 2013 and 2014 (6.40 and 38.18 in Tests) during this time.At his best, Mahmudullah is a stylist. When out of form, he gropes and flounders. Within 12 months, he was stripped of his vice-captaincy, dropped once and was suspected of favoritism due to his relation with then captain Mushfiqur. There was no end to the vitriol and even the BCB president was getting impatient. He was dropped ahead of the Asia Cup, which drew the ire of Mushfiqur, who never openly backed Mahmudullah without cricketing reasons.An injury in the team brought Mahmudullah back, but he still wasn’t convincing in the regional 50-over tournament and the ODI series against India and West Indies.Mahmudullah was lucky to have lots of faith from Bangladesh set-up more luck, in tangible form, came in St Vincent in September last year. On the fourth day of the first Test against West Indies, when Bangladesh were trying to avoid a disaster, Mahmudullah scored his first Test fifty after 21 months. But within minutes, he pulled across the line and skied the ball and began to walk off, his head bowed. Kirk Edwards dropped the catch, he batted a little longer to repay the faith.He came back home, worked hard with trainer Mario Villavarayan to shed some pounds and continued his good run leading up to the World Cup. His celebration was evidence that Mahmudullah is not one without emotion. The last time he scored a century before this game was in a domestic first-class match in May last year. After reaching the three-figure mark he threw a hissy fit at his own team management and was banned for three matches.Shakib is perhaps the first superstar of Bangladesh cricket. But Mahmudullah, in essence, is Bangladesh. Much derided, riding on a bit of luck but operating on faith. He has paid it back, and with this win, so has Bangladesh.

Royal Challengers Bangalore put up significantly better performances compared to last year, but still have areas of concern to address come next season

Arun Venugopal23-May-20151:34

Royal Challengers Bangalore couldn’t reach the final but had a much-improved season

Tournament overview

After three underachieving seasons, Royal Challengers Bangalore finally had reasons to be happy.Their quick course-corrections after a few defeats revealed a team that was tactically agile. Their bowling continued to be top-notch with Mitchell Starc continuing his fantastic form and the Indian complement of Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel and S Aravind punching above its weight. There was vital all-round intervention from David Wiese as well.The batting department, on the other hand, was largely a three-man assault system in AB de Villiers (513 runs), Chris Gayle (491) and Virat Kohli (505). While the first two were more about pounding opponents to dust, Kohli was the more composed counterpoint, fortifying one end and finishing games.Their Indian batsmen didn’t do as much consistently enough, but Daniel Vettori, the team’s head coach, thought otherwise. “There’s limited opportunities when those three guys step up. You can’t expect the same amount of runs from the middle order,” he said after the loss to Chennai Super Kings in the second Qualifier. “Mandeep (Singh) won us two games. Everytime he’s asked to perform, he did. Sarfaraz (Khan) similarly. He only had two opportunities to score runs, once against Rajasthan Royals and once today (against Chennai Super Kings), and he did that.”Vettori admitted his team had “battled for balance” last year. “I was really content with the make-up of the side this year. This year we got it right and we are really happy with the improvement.”

High Point

Royal Challengers’ 71-run victory against Royals in the Eliminator was a tour de force of everything that had carried them up to that point. One of the Big Three – de Villiers – stepped up with the bat; Mandeep provided a support-act that outshone de Villiers’ effort; and some purposeful fielding and bowling: save for Wiese, none of the bowlers went for more than 5.5 runs an over. More importantly, the performance revealed a willingness to embrace the pressure of the big stage.

Low Point

They would be grateful that their lowest point came at the start of the tournament. After winning their opening game, against Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers lost three games on the trot. This period coincided with injuries to Starc and Adam Milne and the constant shuffling of players to fill up the fourth foreign player’s slot. Milne was eventually replaced by Aravind, who turned out to be an excellent value addition.

Top of the class

It would only be fair to say that Starc was the catalysing force behind Royal Challengers’ turnaround. He carried his form from the World Cup to pick up 20 wickets at an average of 14.55 with an economy rate of 6.76 runs an over. His was an intimidating presence both at the start and end of an innings.

Under-par performer

With 141 runs from 11 innings at an average of 12.81, Dinesh Karthik was barely the middle-order marshall that Royal Challengers would have wanted when they picked him up for Rs 10.5 crore at the auction. The team resisted the temptation to replace him with another wicketkeeper, Manvinder Bisla, and hoped for that one telling contribution which never came. But Vettori called him “amazing from a wicket-keeping perspective and a leadership perspective”.

Tip for 2016

If there would be one criticism of Royal Challengers, it would be their tendency to not go all the way after faltering at crucial junctures. The dropped catches against Super Kings in the second Qualifier potentially dashed their chances of making the final. Also, if the uncapped Indian batsmen could shoulder greater load, it would make them a more rounded unit should the likes of de Villiers, Kohli and Gayle have a bad run.